THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 From the collection of 
 Julius Do’erner, Chicago 
 Purchased, 1918. 
 
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PICTORIAL 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE LONDON PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED, 
 
 LONDON AND NEW YORK. 
 
 SIXTY-THIRD THOUSAND. 
 
 SUNDAY BOOK 
 
 EDITED BY 4 
 
 DR. JOHN KITTO, F.S.A. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/pictorialsundaybOOkitt 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN KITTO, D.D 
 
 
 p 
 
 Pew lives have been more remarkable than that of the eminent man, of whose struggles with 
 adversity — “pursuit of knowledge under difficulties” — and final triumph — the following* sketch gives a 
 brief, but we trust not unsatisfactory, record. Brief as it is, it cannot be read without advantage; for, as 
 one of Dr. Kitto’s biographers has observed — “We feel ourselves grow stronger, and we become more 
 hopeful regarding* what we can do and endure, when we follow the course of a man who, though laden 
 with all our infirmities, it may be with greater, has, nevertheless, conquered circumstances ; overcome 
 what appeared insurmountable obstacles ; and, by dint of strong-hearted toil and courag;e, has fought his 
 way to usefulness and honour.” Such a man was John Kitto — whose example, like that, in another 
 walk of life, of George Stephenson, may be held out as a beacon of hope to all industrious and enter- 
 prising men, who, as was their case, may enter into life obscure and unknown ; but who, by imitating 
 their industry, energy, perseverance, sobriety, and honesty, may leave behind them names for their 
 children to revere, and for posterity to honour. 
 
 Towards the close of the last century, two brothers, named Kitto, were residing at Gwennap, in 
 Cornwall. One, the elder, was an engineer ; the younger, J OHN, the father of Dr. Kitto, followed the 
 trade of a mason. A higher rate of wages attracted them from their native parish to Plymouth, and 
 they happened to take lodgings in a street where a widow, named Picken, resided with her two 
 daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. In provincial towns, then as now, neighbours soon get to know each 
 other. An acquaintance commenced between the Kittos and the Picken family ; and it ended in the 
 two brothers marrying the two sisters — Elizabeth, the eldest, becoming* the wife of John. At that 
 time the prospects of both the brothers were favourable. The eldest had good employment, and also 
 some repute as an engineer, as he “constructed the Upper Hoad, across the Laira Marshes, from 
 Plymouth to Exeter, and embanked a great portion of it from the tide;”* whilst the youngest had 
 improved his position, and, from being* a journeyman, had commenced business as a master. When he 
 married he was in his twentieth, his wife being* in her eighteenth, year. Perhaps youth and inexpe- 
 rience contributed to the fall of John Kitto; or he might be misled by the example of his elder brother. 
 Both fell into habits of intemperance, and their prosperity vanished. The families were reduced from a 
 state of comfort to one of great poverty. Kitto’s father had to seek emplo} r ment as a journeyman — 
 whilst his uncle, in time, was so reduced, that he worked on the Hoe as a pauper. Well might Kitto 
 remark, that “Drunkenness is the bane of our family; the name of Kitto is synonymous with 
 drunkard.”! 
 
 John Kitto was born December 4, 1804; and, at the age of four years — before he could be 
 iufluenced by what were then becoming the depraved habits of his father — he was taken under the 
 charge of his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Picken, a most excellent woman ; and to whom he became 
 very much attached. He appears, for some time, to have had scarcely any other companion. They 
 attended church and walked in the green fields together ; and his first ideas of religious truth and 
 religious duty were imbibed from this venerable relative, who instilled into his mind a reverence alike for 
 the word and the ministers of God. Frequently, too, she appears to have amused him with those 
 nursery tales of fays and fairies, which have such influence on the mind of an imaginative child. She 
 also taught him to sew ; “ and such was his assiduity, that he exulted in having done the greater portion 
 of a ‘ gay patchwork’ for her bed, besides having finished quilts and kettle-holders enough for two 
 generations.”! At the age of eight he was sent to school, and continued there for three years. As 
 soon as he learned to read, he became eager to possess himself of books. His grandmother’s collection 
 was confined, he tells us, to “a Family Bible, with plenty of eng*ravings ; a Prayer-Book; Bunyan’s 
 Pilgrim; and Gulliver’s Travels.” “The two last,” he writes, “he soon devoured;” and every penny 
 that came into his possession was employed in purchasing the story-books which the septuagenarians 
 and sexagenarians amongst us can recollect as forming the attractions of the windows in the shops of 
 small booksellers, in country towns, in the early part of the century. He also borrowed books of every 
 person he knew, who had any to lend ; and those little works of his own, which were not “ornamented” 
 with “wood engraving’s,” he illustrated with rude drawings from his own ideas; colouring both his own 
 productions and the “cuts” in his books — first with the indigo bis grandmother used in washing; and 
 then with some colours contained in a “fourpenny box,” presented to him by a friend. At this early age 
 he was very thoughtful. He preferred sitting with his grandmother, and hearing her tales, and reading, 
 to play; and thus his studious habits were formed; though it is not improbable that this voluntary 
 sedentary confinement was the cause of those violent headaches which affected him in childhood, and 
 continued to visit him till his death. 
 
 He learnt to write almost contemporaneously with his instruction in reading; and he very early 
 made indexes to his books; and showed a talent for composition. His first effort at authorship was made 
 before he left school. His cousin was about to expend a penny for a story-book ; and he wanted that 
 * The Lost Senses ; by Dr. Kitto. + Workhouse Journal . \ Life of John Kitto , D . D .; by John Eadie, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 6 
 
 
 84 
 
IV 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN KITTO, D.D. 
 
 sum to make up fourpence, the price of a History of King Peppin, which he wished to possess. He 
 proposed to his cousin to write him a story for the penny, and this he accomplished quite to his relative's 
 satisfaction. All that either could recollect of this literary effort, some years after, was, that it was 
 “something 1 about what was done in England when wild men lived in it.” 
 
 During- these years the child was happy ; but that happiness was soon to be interrupted. His 
 grandmother;, whom he dearly loved, in 1814, lost the little property which afforded her the separate 
 means of subsistence. She was obliged to go and live with her youngest daughter. John returned to 
 his father’s, where his time was spent in nursing’ the children at home, to ease the household duties of 
 his mother; or in assisting* his father in his work as a mason. In 1815, he was placed as an apprentice 
 with a barber, whom he records as “Old Wig’inore” — one who “had practised on board a ship of war, 
 and related adventures which rivalled Baron Munchausen.” He did not remain long in this situation, 
 and ag’ain returned to carry the hod for his father. During- this time he occupied a closet at the top of 
 the house. There he kept his hooks, and many curiosities he had collected ; and there he appears to have 
 spent the few leisure hours he had, always contented if he had but his books. But a severe misfortune 
 awaited him. On the 13th of February, 1817, his father being’ engaged in repairing a house in Baker- 
 street, Plymouth, John, then in his thirteenth year, was, as usual, serving him as a “labourer.” About 
 half-past four in the afternoon, he was taking a hodful of slates up a ladder — his father being then 
 engaged on the roof. He had nearly reached the top, when he fell from a height of thirty-five 
 feet, into a court beneath. He was taken up insensible, and conveyed home, where he long lingered 
 between life and death; and when he was able to recognise what was passing around him, he found he was 
 deaf. So he remained to the end of his life ; and it was no common deafness. “ The action of the 
 auditory nerve,” says one of his biographers, “was completely paralysed. The sense was not simply 
 dulled, it was extinguished. He became deaf, not comparatively, as if he could hear only a little, and 
 that only with extreme pain and difficulty, but absolutely, for he could not hear at all.” But, remarks 
 another, “the mercy which ( tempers the wind to the shorn lamb/ mitigated, in the case of this poor 
 boy, the first agony of the tidings of his affliction. His weak state rendered silence pleasant; and, 
 before all hope of the restoration of his hearing was lost, the calamity had become familiar to him. The 
 seeming- calamity, we should say; for John Kitto afterwards acquired the blessed knowledge, that all 
 things worked together for his good.” 
 
 When convalescent, he was not able to resume his former occupation, and his father left him to do 
 as he pleased. His love of knowledge still remained ; and to enable him to obtain a few pence with 
 which to procure hooks, he accompanied the lads who used to wade in Sutton Pool, to collect the pieces 
 of rope, yarn, iron, and other nautical fragments, which found their way there. Laming’ himself, for a 
 time, by treading on a broken bottle, he next painted pictures — grotesque enough, no doubt, from his own 
 account of them — which he essayed to sell in the streets, and after a time, he procured a “standing” in 
 Plymouth fair, where he endeavoured to dispose of his artistic productions; and also of neatly-designed 
 and executed window labels — which he proposed to substitute for the badly-written and worse-spelled 
 specimens with which Plymouth then abounded. “ Occasionally he succeeded, but as often he failed 
 from bashfulness. The hoy’s infirmity sometimes secured him sympathy, and sometimes led to a testy 
 rebuff; and his inability to talk about his articles made his customers, in one place, kind and generous, 
 and in another, brief and surly in their dealings with him.”* Thus he went on — every week sinking 
 lower and lower in the scale of wretchedness — till he became “pinched with hunger, shivering in rags, 
 and crawling about with exposed and bleeding feet.” He had not been unobserved by some who pitied 
 him, though they could do little else. They thought he would be better in the workhouse than in the 
 streets; and representations to the authorities procured an order for his admission to what was called in 
 Plymouth the “ Hospital of the Poor’s Portion.” The boy himself loved liberty, and had to be allured 
 into the house by stratagem. This took place on the 15th of November, 1819; and, “when he learned 
 that he was in actual captivity, his sorrow was without bounds.” 
 
 His residence in the workhouse — and an apprenticeship with a man named Bowden, a shoemaker, 
 whose harshness and cruelty induced the magistrates to cancel his indentures — extended over nearly four 
 years. During’ that time he learnt to make list shoes ; and appears to have been very industrious. But 
 this did not prevent him from pursuing his studies, and following’ up his previous attempts at composition. 
 He kept what he calls “A Workhouse Journal,” which has been published, and well deserves perusal ; 
 and his good conduct attracted the notice of Mr. Roberts, the governor, when he entered the house, and 
 of Mr. Burnard, who succeeded him. The latter lent him hooks — chiefly directing his attention to the 
 Bible, and religious works ; and, after a time, he proposed that he should write a course of lectures to 
 deliver to the boys. “What !” he soliloquised, after this proposal was made to him, “I, John Kitto, to 
 write lectures to be read to the hoys ! Mr. Burnard seems to think me competent to it, too !” His 
 greatest trial while in the house was the loss of his grandmother. He narrates his feelings upon this 
 occasion in his journal. “Gone for ever!” he wrote; “that is a word of agonising poignancy. Yet not 
 tor ever — a few short years at most, and I may hope to meet her again ; there is my consolation.” 
 
 Better days were in store for him. Being utterly unable to hear, he was not very desirous of 
 speaking; and when he had to make a complaint against his master, Bowden, it was placed before the 
 
 * I>r. Eadie. + Ibid. 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN KITTO, D .D. 
 
 v 
 
 magistrates in writing’. They were astonished at the admirable manner in which his statement was 
 drawn up ; and that feeling was not confined to the bench. Subsequently he was led to send some essays 
 to the Plymouth Weekly Journal , which Mr. Nettleton, the editor, inserted. They excited attention ; and 
 Mr. Harvey, an eminent mathematician of the town, induced a few other gentlemen to join him in an 
 effort to place a youth so highly gifted, in a position somewhat superior to that he then filled. “ It has 
 been suggested,” they said, in a circular issued in their joint names, “ that as a temporary measure, 
 application should be made to the Committee of the Plymouth Public Library, to employ him as a 
 sub-librarian; and that a sum might be raised, by small subscriptions, to enable him to obtain board and 
 lodging- in some decent family, until something- permanently advantageous should be suggested.” The 
 appeal was successful; he was removed from the workhouse; placed with Mr. Burnard, as a boarder, in 
 his private house ; and whilst his mornings and evenings were spent there, most of his days were 
 devoted to the library, where he continued his pursuit of knowledg-e with unabated energy, perseverance, 
 and success. At this time he commenced studying* Latin ; and also thought of “ possessing himself of 
 Greek” — of which he ultimately acquired a competent knowledge. 
 
 On the 17th of July, 1823, John Kitto left the “Hospital of the Poor’s Portion.” He remained 
 some months unemployed, except with his studies. Various schemes were formed for his benefit — Mr. 
 Harvey thinking of a university education; and his own inclination pointing to a missionary life. 
 Before any conclusion was arrived at, Mr. Groves, a dentist, residing at Exeter, having- seen some 
 letters which Kitto had sent to Mr. Flindell, editor of the Western Luminary , a. paper published in 
 that city — made inquiries concerning the author, which led to an offer to instruct him in the profession of 
 a dentist; with a salary, in addition to his board and lodging, of £15 the first, and £20 the second year.* 
 His offer was accepted, and Kitto removed to Exeter in 1824; where, in the spring of 1825, his first 
 publication — Essays and Letters, by John Kitto — appeared, being patronised by a list of above 400 
 subscribers. Soon after, Mr. Groves determining- to devote himself to missionary work, gave up his 
 business at Exeter; and obtained for Kitto admission to the Church Missionary College at Islington — 
 for the purpose of learning the art of printing, that he might “ take part as a printer in the great 
 missionary enterprise.” Mr. Groves undertook to pay £50 per annum towards his expenses; and the 
 deaf litterateur , having been already a barber, bricklayer, shoemaker, and dentist, was now to add 
 another profession to his list. He removed to Islington in July, 1825 ; and eagerly endeavoured to learn 
 the occupation of a “compositor,” under Mr. Watts, who was then at the head of the printing-office of the 
 Church Missionary Society. A little waywardness of temper led to his separation from the Missionary 
 Institution in 1826 ; the committee thinking that he devoted more time to literature than was compatible 
 with the discharge of his duties as a printer, and he not submitting, very meekly, to remonstrance. 
 Reflection convinced him that he was wrong, and he renewed his eng’agement. During its continuance, 
 he went out to Malta, as one of the society’s printers, leaving England on the 20th of June, 1827. At 
 Malta the same cause of complaint as was made against him in England arose, and he finally withdrew 
 from the institution. When he arrived ag*ain in England, he found that most of the friends who had 
 originally taken up his cause in Plymouth, received him coldly, thinking that his conduct was wrong. 
 After-reflection induced Kitto himself to embrace this opinion, though he says there were mistakes 
 also, lie thinks, on the side of the committee. He had, at this time, another source of unhappiness. He 
 left England for Malta, under an engagement of marriage to a lady of Islington, who was to have 
 followed him abroad. She, however, proved faithless, and married another. The intelligence of this 
 event, received at Malta, caused him to keep his room for two days; and when he arrived in England, in 
 the spring of 1829, the sense of his desolation vividly returned. He never saw the lady again. She 
 died shortly after his return, expressing her regret for the wrong she had done him. 
 
 Mr. Groves had given up his business at Exeter in 1826, when Mr. Kitto went to Islington; but 
 in 1829, when the latter returned from Malta, the former was still in England. He was, however, 
 preparing for his missionary enterprise — not in connection with any society, but at the expense and risk 
 of himself and a few friends. Kitto had for many years longed to engage in missionary enterprise. 
 We find him writing- in his Workhouse Journal, as far back as 1820, when detailing his views and wishes 
 for the future — “ I had even thought of plans to enable me to visit Asia, and the ground consecrated by 
 the steps of the Saviour ! Even now, notwithstanding my deafness, it would not be impracticable, if 
 some kind gentleman, on his travels, would permit me to be his (though not expert) faithful servant.” His 
 wish was met in a way which he did not expect. Mr. Groves asked him to join in his enterprise, and 
 that, not as his servant, but as tutor to his sons. He consented; and on the 10th of June, 1829, the 
 party left England for Bagdad via St. Petersburg; arriving at the former city on the 6th of December. 
 On the route Mr. Kitto formed the friendship of Mr. (afterwards Sir John) M‘Neil — which was a 
 source of great comfort and utility to him. At Bagdad, Mr. Kitto and his friends encountered the 
 horrors of an inundation, a pestilence (of which Mrs. Groves died), and a siege ; after which time passed 
 more pleasantly; and during the years that he resided there, Mr. Kitto made marked progress, both in 
 spiritual and temporal learning. He left Mr. Groves arid Bagdad on the 19th of September, 1832; and 
 returned to England in company with Mr. Newman, by Trebizond — visiting Harnadan, Teheran, Erze- 
 roum, and other eastern cities ; at Teheran again meeting Mr. M‘Neil ; and everywhere adding to his store 
 
 * Dr. Eadie. 
 
VI 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN KITTO, D.D. 
 
 of information — especially directing- his inquiries to Biblical antiquities. Soon after his arrival in this 
 country, two of his early Plymouth friends, Mr. Lampen and Mr. Woolcombe, were the means of 
 introducing- him to the Society for Diffusing- Useful Knowledge ; and, after a short interval, he became a 
 contributor to the Penny Magazine, first, at the rate of £l 11s. 6cl. per page; his contributions being 
 limited, however, to two columns per week ; but soon, he had more room allowed him ; and his honorarium 
 was raised to £18 per month. This engagement was followed by his marriage. In the voyage home, 
 Mr. Shepherd, a fellow-passenger, died. This gentleman was to have been married, had he reached 
 England, to a Miss Fenwick. It was necessary, in order to execute a commission from Mr. Shepherd, 
 that Mr. Kitto should see this lady ; and the interview led to an intimacy : ultimately they were 
 married, on the 21st of September, 1833. They took up their residence in Islington; and the union 
 proved a happy one in every sense. 
 
 Thus fiir the life of Mr. Kitto had been one of severe trial, sorrow, privations, and change. 
 For a few } 7 ears subsequently he enjoyed repose, happiness, and quiet constant home labour. 
 During this period of his life, he wrote — u When I sit down alone, or with my excellent wife, 
 and retrace all that has passed over me, and all that has been done for me, since those early 
 times, my heart is very full, and I do most feelingly pray God, that I may be enabled to 
 walk, not unworthily, of the many mercies of my life, and of its many blessings and privileges.” 
 He lived twenty years after his marriage ; but the history of that period is little more than a 
 history of his works. His connection with the Useful Knowledg-e Society led to one with Mr. Charles 
 Knight, who entrusted to him certain portions of the Penny Cyclopedia. We learn, from a letter to 
 his friend, Mr. Harvey, that a large portion of his time was now spent in Mr. Charles Knight’s 
 room, at his establishment on Ludgate-hill ; and what leisure he had, was employed in perfecting his 
 knowledge of French and Italian, and in acquiring German. His engagements on the Magazine and 
 Cyclopedia did not satisfy him ; he longed for some medium through which he could place before the 
 public the knowledge he had made it his business especially to acquire; and he found it at last in the 
 Pictorial Bible. This work was commenced at the end of 1835, and was completed in May, 1838. It 
 was not intended that Mr. Kitto should be its editor at first ; but he ultimately became so ; and how 
 well he discharged his duties is best evinced by the popularity of the work. 
 
 The Pictorial Bible was followed by Uncle Olivers Travels in Persia, not. a very successful work; 
 the Pictorial History of Palestine and the Holy Land; and The Christian Traveller, a periodical, of which 
 only three numbers were published. About this time, 1841, the house of Charles Knight and Co. fell 
 into difficulties — a source of great trouble to Mr. Kitto, whose income had never enabled him, with his 
 increasing family, to save much. After an interval he produced a school History of Palestine, for 
 Messrs. Black, of Edinburgh; several small volumes for the Religious Tract Society; the Cyclopedia of 
 Biblical Literature, for Messrs. Black ; the Pictorial Sunday Book ; and the Lost Senses , in two volumes, for 
 Charles Knight (who had resumed business, the latter being- published in his Weekly Volumes); 
 Descriptions of the plates in the Gallery of Sacred Engravings, for Messrs. Fisher; The Journal of 
 Sacred Literature, of which he was the projector and editor for three years, when it passed into the hands 
 of Dr. Burgess; Scripture Lands Described, for Mr. Bohn; and Daily Bible Illustrations, in eig-ht 
 volumes, for William Oliphant and Sons, of Edinburgh. These were all works which required deep 
 thought and close application. His hours of employment were frequently from 4 and 5 a.m. till 9 and 
 10 at night; with intervals of domestic enjoyment certainly with his family (with whom his mother 
 resided), but with none of those recreations which we think are necessary to prevent the health of the 
 literary man from entirely succumbing*. But though he lived retired, he was not unnoticed. In 1844 
 the university of Giessen conferred upon him the degree of Doctor in Divinity. The same year the Society 
 of Antiquaries admitted him a member. In 1850 a pension of £100 per annum was conferred upon him, 
 from the royal fund; and in 1853 — when he was fast sinking- under disease — £l,800 were subscribed for 
 his aid, of which about £600 were expended before his death; and £l,200 have been invested for the 
 benefit of his widow and two surviving children ; the eldest and youngest dying before their father. 
 That father, having completed his last work, left England, with his wife and family, in August, 1854, in 
 search of that health which was never more to return to him. He fixed his abode at Cannstatt, in 
 Wiirtemburg: there, on the 25th of November, Dr. Kitto expired; and there he is interred — a neat 
 monument to his memory having been erected over his grave, by his friend, and the publisher of his 
 last work, Mr. Oliphant. 
 
 Such is a brief record of the life of one of the most remarkable “ Men of our Time.” One who owed 
 little to education ; much to himself- — aided and upheld by that Divine help, on which, from his earliest 
 years, he appears implicitly to have relied. In the words of his biographer — “In whatever aspect we 
 view him he is a wonder. It is a wonder that he rose in life at all; a wonder that he acquired so much; 
 and that he wrote so much is yet a higher wonder.” There is no one, however discouraging the circum- 
 stances in which he may be placed, to whom his example does not hold out strong- encouragement, and an 
 inducement not to despair; for, in his own words, his life evidently proves “ that there is no one so low 
 but that he may rise ; no condition so cast down, as to be really hopeless ; and no privation which need 
 of itself, shut out any man from the paths of honourable exertion, or from the hope of usefulness in life.” 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 " ^nnnnbcr that tjjou keep {join tljc sabbatlj ban. Si* bans sljalt tjjou labour, anb bo all that tjjou jjast 
 to bo : but tjje scbtutjj ban is tjjt sabbatj) of tjje f orb tjjn (Sob : in it tjjou sjjalt bo no manner of 
 tooth, tjjou, anb ijjn sou, anb tjjn baugjjter, tjjjr manserhant, anb tjjn maibserbant, anb fjjg rattle, anb 
 tjje stranger tjjat is toitjjiu tjjn gates : for in sit bans tjje f orb mabe jjeaben anb eartjj, tjje sea, anb 
 all tjjat in tjjent is, anb resteb tjje sebentjj ban : tojjerefore tjje f orb blesseb tjje sebentjj bag, anb 
 jjailotoeb it.” 
 
 It was in thorough accordance with a knowledge of our nature that, amid the thunders of Sinai, the 
 Divine command for the observance of one day in seven was given to the people of Israel. The institution of 
 the Sabbath — a day devoted to rest from toil, and to the exercise of religious duties — is of the greatest benefit, 
 in both a religious and political view. On the first day of the week, or “The Lord’s Day,” the great events of 
 the Christian system took place. On that day our Saviour arose from the dead. On that day he appeared 
 to his Apostles, a week from his resurrection, when he held his conversation with Thomas. On that day occurred 
 the feast of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out upon the Apostles, and the new dispensation may be said 
 to have commenced. It was also strictly kept as a day of rest and devotional exercise by the early 
 
 Christians; and the prosperity of individuals and of nations has, in all ages, followed its observance. When 
 Sunday is given up to the pursuit of frivolous amusement ; when man is unaccustomed to meet his God in 
 prayer, to practise self-examination, and take counsel with his own soul ; when he sacrifices, at the shrine of 
 miscalled pleasure, the time which ought to be spent on his improvement as a moral and intellectual being — 
 what is to be expected, but that the character of that man, or of that state in which this is common, will 
 become debased, frivolous, or contemptible ? 
 
 To the most casual observer it must be evident that the quiet and repose with which Sunday is observed in 
 Britain has a powerful influence on the social condition of the country, especially in a religious and educational 
 point of view. Contrasting the effect of this Sabbath-observance of the people of England with the round of 
 amusement to which Sunday is devoted on the Continent, there can be no question in the mind of the social 
 economist, but that the English system has a far higher educational tendency, and indicates and produces 
 a greatlv-superior intellectual and moral character in the people. Engaged in business for six days in the week, 
 the working-man — (and who, in this country, is not a working-man ?) — on the seventh is thrown back into 
 his own mind, to observe and reflect upon his duties to his Maker, to society, and to himself. He is not a mere 
 machine, whose existence is made up of six days of labour, and one of pleasure — without much of thought in the 
 exercise of one condition more than the other, as the Continental man is ; but he is a rational and responsible 
 being — using the reason which God has given him, studying his own nature, and exercising reflection, judgment, 
 and memory on what he knows, or has heard. Thus Sunday becomes a valuable pause in manual labour, which, 
 if spent in mere amusement, is lost to religious and intellectual culture. 
 
 To produce a work adapted to Sunday Reading, which shall offer to the mind — and especially to the mind 
 of the Young — the study of sacred subjects in an attractive form, and calculated to make the Word of God 
 interesting to Youth, — is what the Publishers propose to themselves in the SUNDAY BOOK. Aware of the 
 important aid which pictorial representation affords in the communication of instruction, and the power which it 
 has of arresting and fixing the attention, they have prepared a series of Engravings, illustrative of the 
 Bible History, the Prophecies, the Psalms, the Life of our Saviour, and the Acts of his Apostles; exhibiting the 
 scenes of the great events recorded in Scripture, the Customs of the Jews, the Natural History of the Holy J^and, 
 and the Antiquities which throw a light upon the Sacred Writings. Thus, by the aid of the artist’s pencil, we 
 are made familiar with the scenery among which the Patriarchs lived — where Jacob tended his flock, and 
 patiently served for years his deceitful father-in-law, Laban. Here, with our volume before us, we can behold 
 Mount Sinai, from whence was promulgated the great code of the Decalogue to mankind — there we may gaze 
 upon the gigantic architecture and monuments of the land of the Pharaohs and the Ptolemies, and observe 
 the Children of Israel in their sad and painful Egyptian bondage ; and while they sit by the streams of Babel, 
 and hang their harps upon the willows, let us drop a tear over the misfortunes of that race, who remain on 
 the earth as a living monument of the consequences entailed on man by sin and unbelief. We may follow 
 the path of Moses as he leads his countrymen on their dreary pilgrimage through the desert, until we arrive 
 at the encampment of the Israelites, in the plains of Moab, situate in the Arabian desert, after they had 
 conquered Qg, the King of Bashan. Let us here ascend the heights of Peor, and look down upon the magnificent 
 spectacle, gilded by the beams of the setting sun, which presents itself to our view. There we see, stretching 
 far into the horizon, the tents of the twelve tribes in the greatest regularity and completeness — with 
 their banners and standards floating in the evening breeze — arranged in the order as directed by the Divine 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 command— “ Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their 
 father’s house.” In the centre stands the sanctuary. Immediately around this holy place are the tents of the 
 priestly families; and beyond, and surrounding these, lie the twelve tribes, forming a square. Well might 
 Balaam, the Midianitish diviner, as he viewed this scene from the adjoining mountain, be struck with rapture at the 
 grandeur of the sight ; and instead of uttering the curse which he was sent to pronounce, exclaim, in the 
 language of Scripture — “How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob; and thy tabernacles, 0 Israel; as the valleys are 
 they spread forth, as gardens by the river-side, as the trees of lign-aloes, which the Lord hath planted, and as 
 cedar-trees beside the waters !” 
 
 And now, with the aid of our artist, let us look upon the last act of the leader of the Hebrews. Moses, 
 having performed his mission, and led his followers to the borders of the land of Canaan — into which he was not 
 to be permitted to enter — assembled the whole congregation of Israel, and addressed them for the last time ; and 
 having bestowed upon the tribes his solemn blessing, he received the Divine command to go up to Mount Nebo, 
 and survey from thence the Promised Land, before he closed his eyes in death. Here, ascending from the Plains 
 of Moab, he delivered up the charge he had received upon Mount Sinai. He died at the age of one hundred 
 and twenty years, when “ his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” 
 
 Having thus briefly indicated some of the scenes alluded to in the Old Testament Scriptures, let us take 
 a hurried glance at a few of those referred to in the New Testament. Our Engravings bring vividly before us 
 the scenes of our Saviour’s birth ; his early childhood ; his divine teaching ; his prayerful intercession for 
 guilty man; his spirit’s agony and bloody sweat; his sufferings, not for his own, but for our sins; his crucifixion 
 and death ; the Acts of his Apostles ; and the more important events in the history of Christianity to the present 
 time. Here we look upon the city of Jerusalem, its towers and domes, over which our Saviour prayed and 
 wept, as he predicted the calamities which were to befall it, and its present state of degradation. “ The days shall 
 come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee on 
 every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave thee 
 one stone upon another, because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation.” Beyond the Brook Kedron, 
 which skirts the city, rises the Mount of Olives, where Jesus so oft communed with his disciples, and 
 unfolded to them the benignant principles which he had come upon earth to preach. Between the city of 
 Jerusalem and this eminence lies the “Valley of Jehoshaphat.” Here, even to the present day, the Jews 
 believe that the world will be finally judged ; and here numbers of this dispersed people have for ages sought, 
 and still devoutly seek, a place of burial near their beloved city. Deprived of a heritage and a home during life, 
 in death they yet seek a place in the soil of their native land — 
 
 “The wild bird hath its nest, the fox his cave. 
 
 Mankind their country — Israel but the grave.” 
 
 Ascending the Mount of Olives, every spot of which is holy ground, and looking down on its eastern 
 side, we perceive the small hamlet of Bethany, embowered in trees. Here did Jesus retire after the toils of his 
 teaching in the city, and pass his time with the two sisters and Lazarus, their brother — and here was the scene of 
 one of the most stupendous of his miracles, when, breathing life into the inanimate corpse, he exclaimed — 
 “ Lazarus, come forth !” On the side of this hill, after partaking of the Last Supper with his disciples, had the 
 Saviour retired to the peaceful Garden of Gethsemane ; and here, by the gleam of torchlight, was he followed by 
 the murderous band, who, led on by the traitorous disciple, issued from the city, crossed the Kedron, and armed 
 “with swords and with staves,” proceeded to lay violent hands upon the Saviour of the World. And thus 
 may we trace, throughout the work, every important event in the Life of our Saviour and the Acts of his Apostles, 
 illustrated and rendered attractive by the pencil of the artist. 
 
 The Letterpress descriptions are divided into sections adapted to a Sunday’s reading ; and to each day is 
 devoted a portion of Bible History, a Chapter on the Life of our Saviour, a Commentary on the Psalms of David, 
 and a Biographical Sketch of the Lives of the Prophets and Patriarchs, and the Apostles of Jesus ; the whole 
 forming a course of Sunday reading and study, which, altogether avoiding the stormy regions of controversy, is 
 calculated to instruct the mind and reform the heart. In addition to the subjects indicated, the SUNDAY 
 BOOK will devote a portion of its space to the Physical Geography of the Holy Land. Great attention has 
 been paid to this division of the work by the Editor ; and there can be no doubt that, at the present time, when 
 events of such importance are occurring in the East, the Scripture Atlas, which this will form, must prove of 
 great interest to the reader, and add materially to the usefulness of the work in the family circle. Indeed, the 
 study of Geography is one of the most important and interesting which can engage the attention of man. It 
 interests the mind, enlarges the understanding, and improves the heart of every reasoning being ; and in it we 
 at once recognise the Wisdom, the Power, and the Goodness of the Creator. 
 
 With these few introductory remarks, the Proprietors present this work to the Reader ; and they trust that 
 their efforts in the cause of Religion and Education may tend to the moral and intellectual advancement cf the 
 people of this country, and that the seed which they sow may be like that which fell into good ground, which 
 grew and produced fruit abundantly, in some fifty, and in some an hundred-fold. 
 
THE PICTORIAL SUNDAY BOOK 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY.— ADAM TO NOAH. 
 
 GENESIS, Chaps. I.— IX. 
 
 HE Holy Scriptures commence 
 by declaring God to be the 
 Creator of the heavens and of 
 the earth, and by describing the 
 successive stages by which the 
 globe on which we dwell be- 
 came suitable for the abode and 
 sustenance of animal and vege- 
 table life. 
 
 At length, when the earth 
 was arrayed in all its vegetable 
 glories, and when the land, the 
 air, and the sea were filled with 
 living creatures, God made man 
 also “ in his own likeness,” and 
 “after his own image” — man, 
 perfect in beauty and glorious 
 in intellect, to inherit this rich 
 possession, to bear rule over all 
 its inferior creatures, and even- 
 tually to render all its elements 
 subservient to his use. 
 
 The infancy of human life needed some care from the Divine 
 Creator. The first man, to whom was given the name of Adam, 
 was therefore not placed upon the cold mountains, nor amidst 
 melancholy deserts, but in a garden watered by four perennial 
 streams. By a garden is understood, in the East, a large plantation 
 of fruit-bearing and pleasant trees, among which are interspersed 
 the flowering shrubs and beds of flowers ; and the whole watered 
 by reservoirs and running streams. Such was “ the garden of Eden” 
 in which the first of men was placed. But it was on a larger scale, 
 for it is evident that “ the garden” embraced a considerable dis- 
 trict, as did anciently, and still do, the “ gardens” or “ paradises” 
 of Eastern kings. The site of this garden of Eden has been much 
 disputed ; but the weight of opinion seems to be in favour of its being 
 placed in the country below and east of the ancient Babylonia, where 
 the Euphrates, Tigris, and other rivers form the great stream which, 
 under the name of Shat-ul-Arab, flows into the Persian Gulf. 
 
 In this garden Adam was placed, not merely to repose in the 
 umbrageous shades, or to saunter beside the wafers, but to lead a 
 useful life — “ to till it and to keep it.” But man has small enjoy- 
 ment in caring for that of which he is the sole possessor, and which 
 he only can enjoy. The concise narrative in Genesis gives us little 
 information respecting the feelings by which the new man was 
 influenced ; but from the result we may be sure that he longed for 
 the intercourse of a congenial mind, of an equal being, and without 
 this felt desolate even in Paradise. The gracious Creator, who had 
 allowed his new creature to feel this want, probably that he might 
 the more highly prize its gratification, then declared that “ it was 
 not good for man to be alone ;” and gave to him the first of women, 
 Eve, as a helpmate for him. We may conceive the joy, the fulness 
 of heart, with which the first of men thenceforth walked hand in 
 hand through Eden with the first of women. 
 
 Perfectly happy, alone in the earth, without the provocatives to 
 or even the means of vice, what was there to give to the new pair a 
 consciousness of moral responsibility and a sense of obedience to a 
 bountiful Creator? This had not been overlooked. There was one 
 tree of the garden, distinguished as “ the tree of knowledge,” whose 
 fruit they were forbidden to touch under grievous penalties, although 
 of all else that grew in that spacious garden they might partake 
 freely. This was established as the test of obedience: and if the 
 abounding evil which has grown up in the peopled world disposes 
 the mind to think lightly of such a test, it will be well to recollect 
 that, as Adam and Eve were then circumstanced, disobedience to 
 some necessarily arbitrary restriction of this nature was the highest 
 crime which it was in their power to commit. The crimes against 
 men which human laws deem worthy of death they could not 
 commit, seeing that they were alone in the world ; and there could 
 be no crime against God but through the infraction of some such 
 positive injunction as this. 
 
 What might have been the lot of the first human pair, had they 
 continued firm in their obedience, is impossible to say, and perhaps 
 useless to speculate. They fell ; and by that fall 
 
 “ Brought death into the world, and all our woe.” 
 
 Tempted by the glozing lies of the old Serpent, under whom Satan 
 is supposed to have been represented, the woman took of the for- 
 bidden fruit, and prevailed upon her husband to share her sin. 
 Hitherto they had been upright, knowing neither good nor evil, 
 for good is only a relative quality, and only recognisable in the 
 comparison with existing evil. But now their eyes were at once 
 “ opened to know both good and evil” — to know good lost, and evil 
 won. The innocence which before had covered them as a robe, was 
 gone, and “ they saw that they were naked.” Before this, in their 
 innocence of soul, “ they were naked and not ashamed but now 
 the same fact became to them a matter of shame and confusion of 
 face. Their first impulse was to seek wherewith to cover them ; 
 and they twisted fig-leaves together, “ and made themselves aprons,” 
 for that purpose. The same impulse of conscious guilt led them to 
 hide themselves among the trees, where “ they heard the voice of 
 the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” That 
 Voice they had never before heard without gladness ; but now it 
 was the voice of their Judge. After a mystical judgment on the 
 beguiling serpent, and after pronouncing the pangs of childbirth 
 as the doom of the woman, He turned to Adam and said, “ Cursed 
 is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the 
 days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to 
 thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy 
 face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out 
 of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt 
 return.” This sentence involved expulsion from Eden : and sub- 
 jected the guilty pair to the physical conditions which brought death 
 upon them, and upon all who sprang from them. Yet was not this 
 sentence, extorted from the Divine justice, unaccompanied by miti- 
 gating intimations; and promises, not perhaps intended to be then 
 clearly understood, were held out of some mighty deliverance from 
 the penalties of sin through one born of woman. 
 
 Expelled from their happy Eden, the further career of the first 
 human pair is only marked in the sacred volume by the children 
 which were given to them, and by the troubles which befell them. 
 They had two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Cain, 
 applied himself as he grew up to the culture of the ground ; while 
 the younger, Abel, was the keeper of a flock. Whether thes 
 employments were of their own choice, or were appointed them by 
 their father, does not appear ; but it clearly does appear that the 
 first men born of woman were brought up by their parents in habits 
 of active labour, and not of indolence and ease. 
 
 In process of time these two men made an offering to God, which 
 fact points to some kind of training in religious observances, with 
 the particulars of which we are unacquainted. These observances 
 were probably not unlike those which afterwards prevailed among 
 the Hebrew patriarchs, and of which we have a better knowledge. 
 The offering of Cain was of the first-fruits of the ground which he 
 had tilled, and that of Abel of the firstlings of his flock. The 
 offering of Abel was received with some sensible token of the 
 Divine favour and acceptance, which was withheld from the offering 
 of Cain. The reason for this distinction does not very clearly 
 appear in the narrative itself; but from the light of subsequent 
 events and usages, it has been conceived that animal sacrifice had 
 been already established as an offering for sin, while vegetable 
 offerings merely expressed thanks for the produce of the ground. 
 In this case Cain may be supposed to have stubbornly refused that 
 acknowledgment of sin, needing atonement by blood, which Abel 
 so readily offered ; and in this case the ground of acceptance and 
 rejection becomes very clear. From that time Cain cherished a 
 most bitter feeling against the brother who had been distinguished 
 by such signal tokens of the Divine preference ; but we know not 
 whether it was the sudden or predetermined result of this exaspe- 
 ration that, as they were together in the field, “ Cain rose up against 
 Abel his brother, and slew him.” Here was the fruit of the for- 
 bidden tree. The first human death was by murder, and the first 
 man born in the world a murderer and fratricide. 
 
 This first slaughter was too dreadful an offence for anv but the 
 
 B 2 
 
4. — Adam discovering the Dead Body ol Abel. Adda yn darganfod Corph Marw Abel. (Andrea Sacchi.) — Gen. iv. 
 
 3. — Syrian Sheep. Dafad Syriaidd. — Gen. iii 
 
 2. —Thorn. Draenen.— Gen. iii. 
 
 I. — Fig Leaves. Dail Ffigysbren. — Gen. iii. 
 
 5. — Bedouin Encampment. Gwersyll Bedowin.— Gen. iv. 20. 
 
 4 
 
9. — Olive branch with Fruit. — Gen. viii. 
 
 1, a flower ; 2, an oviary divided vertically ; 3, a ripe fruit cut in half; 
 4, a stone divided longitudinally. 
 
 Cangen Olewydden a’i ffrwyth. 
 
 1, blodeuyn ; 2, oddfyn wedi ei ranu yn unionsvth ; 4, ffrwyth addfed wedi 
 
 
 Birs N«mrod. (Babilon.) 
 
 12.— Carrying Corn.— Gen. Tin. 22. 
 Cludo Yd. 
 
6 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday I. 
 
 Giver of Life to judge : and He judged it, not by taking another a 
 life, but by dooming the wret<Aed and self-convicted criminal to f 
 wander forth in wild and infertile regions, afar from his kindred a 
 and parental home, with “ the voice of his brother’s blood ” crying 1 
 always In his ears. t 
 
 Under this sentence Cain wandered forth and established himself c 
 in the land of Nod. There his family increased, and his descendants 
 built cities, and became the inventors of many useful arts. One of 1 
 them, called Jabal, was the first who took to that nomade life — living c 
 in tents, and rearing cattle — to which so many tribes of men in Asia c 
 are still devoted ; another, named Jubal, was the inventor of the ( 
 lyre and the Pandean pipe ; another, named Tubal-cain, was the first i 
 who found out the use of iron and copper to man ; another, named £ 
 Lamech, seems to have been the first who devised the evil practice of c 
 polygamy, for of him it is told that he took two wives — Adah and t 
 Zillah. | i 
 
 Meanwhile other children were born to Adam and Eve, only one ( 
 of whom, Seth, is particularly mentioned, because from him sprang ] 
 the family which eventually survived the desolation of the habitable £ 
 world. ( 
 
 The remaining history to the Deluge is occupied chiefly with lists ] 
 of names and ages, which are of importance to us chiefly by showing 
 the length of the interval between the Creation and the Deluge, and j 
 which on this ground is commonly estimated at one thousand six ( 
 hundred and fifty-seven years. The names are not many, for before ] 
 the Deluge the lives of men were of immense duration, varying , 
 from nearly eight hundred to nearly a thousand years. The shortest , 
 life recorded is that of Lamech, the father of Noah, who died at , 
 the age of seven hundred and seventy-seven years ; the longest, that ] 
 of Methusaleh, who live nine hundred and sixty-nine years. This j 
 longevity must have been highly favourable to the increase of popu- | 
 lation — deaths being so few, and births so many. It must have been 
 also favourable to much progress in the arts of life — and perhaps a 
 correct notion has scarcely yet been formed of the extent to which . 
 the ancient world was probably peopled, or of the progress which 
 had been made in what are now called the arts of civilization. The 
 Scriptural intimations are exceedingly concise, and only enable us to ; 
 perceive that a most corrupt and criminal condition of society was 
 soon engendered among all the races of men which sprang from 
 Adam. 
 
 The race of Seth seems to have the longest retained its uprightness ■ 
 and fidelity to God ; but it was gradually led to contract alliances : 
 with the race of Cain, which in the end confounded the one and the 
 other in the same disorders by which the earth was filled with 
 violence and wrong. From such intermarriages sprang men cele- 
 brated not more for their large stature than for the corruption of 
 their manners. And in the end things came to such a pass, that the 
 fair creation was made abominable in the eyes of its Divine Creator, 
 and He made known to the still upright family of Noah his design 
 to purge the face of the earth, by a Flood of waters, of all its tainted 
 inhabitants. Noah was ordered to prepare a huge vessel, suited to 
 float upon the surface of the waters, and spacious enough to contain 
 not only the good man’s own family, but couples of the different 
 species of animals, destined eventually to replenish the desolated 
 earth. 
 
 The ark was a long. time in preparation, during which the guilty 
 men were warned of destruction, and, urged by Noah to repentance, 
 had ample time in which to turn from their evil ways. But they 
 turned not ; they repented not : and the terrible doom, so long de- 
 nounced and so mercifully delayed, came down at last. 
 
 Many have been the speculations about the ark of Noah, and 
 various the forms which have been assigned to it. It has been 
 usual to suppose its hull similar to that of a ship. But the hull of a 
 ship is expressly designed for progress through the waters ; whereas 
 for the ark it was only requisite that it should be upborne, at rest, 
 upon the surface. It was therefore, in all probability, flat-bottomed, 
 and shaped not unlike the houses which were at that time in use. 
 We know that it was divided into different decks, or stories, divided 
 doubtless into various stalls or cabins for the different bestial and 
 human inmates, and for the storing of provisions ; and the whole was 
 covered by a sloping roof. It was built of Gopher wood, which is 
 supposed to have been the same as the cypress ( Cupressus setnper- 
 virens,) and it was well covered inside and out with pitch. Its 
 dimensions were very vast, being three hundred cubits long, fifty 
 cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The cubit was about eighteen 
 inches ; and hence these dimensions may be expressed as equal to 
 four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty- 
 five feet high. 
 
 At length, about one thousand six hundred and fifty-seven years 
 from the Creation, the word was given to Noah, and he entered the 
 
 ark, with his immediate family, consisting of his wife, his three sons, 
 Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives — in all eight persons — who 
 alone, of all the multitudes inhabiting the earth, were destined to out- 
 live the coming desolation. The righteous family, in obedience to 
 the Divine command, took with them on board the ark seven pairs 
 of every clean beast, and one pair of every one that was not clean. 
 
 The stupendous event which now came on is related by the sacred 
 historian in a few apparently simple phrases, but containing images 
 of the most massive magnificence. “ All the fountains of the great 
 deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened,” &c. 
 (Gen. vii. 11.) It rained forty days and nights, so violently and 
 incessantly, that “ the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, 
 and all the high hills which were under the whole heaven were 
 covered.” The waters rose indeed fifteen cubits above the tops of 
 the highest mountains, and thus every living creature not capable of 
 inhabiting the waters was overwhelmed and destroyed. The Flood 
 continued for a considerable time after the inhabitants of the earth 
 had perished : but at length the rain ceased, the waters gradually 
 subsided, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month from the 
 commencement of the Deluge, the ark rested upon one of the sum- 
 mits of Mount Ararat. 
 
 Biblical geographers are not perfectly agreed as to the region 
 in which this mountain of Ararat should be sought ; but the general 
 current of opinion and tradition, together with the historical pro- 
 babilities of the case, seem sufficiently to agree in identifying it 
 with the mountain of Aradagh in Armenia, which travellers usually 
 describe under the name of Ararat. Contrary to the common 
 opinion, which supposes that the ark necessarily rested upon the 
 highest of the mountains in its neighbourhood, we should be more 
 inclined to suppose that it rested on the lower summit, or in the 
 gorge between the upper and the lower. It will occur to any one 
 who gazes upon that mountain, that had the ark rested on the 
 highest summit, covered, as that summit is, with perpetual ice, and 
 all but inaccessible to human foot, it would not have been possible 
 for the various inmates of the ark to have descended in safety to 
 the plain without some special miracle, of which the sacred text 
 affords no trace, and which would be rendered unnecessary by 
 placing the ark upon a lower level. 
 
 Forty days after the mountain tops had first become visible, Noah 
 became anxious to ascertain the condition of the earth, and to that 
 end let a raven fly forth from the ark. The raven went to and fro, 
 away from the ark, and then returning again to rest upon its top, 
 and at last remained away altogether. Seven days after Noah sent 
 forth a dove — a bird whose tender attachment to its mate gave 
 good assurance of its return. “ The dove found no rest for the sole 
 of her foot,” either because the mountains were far off, or remote 
 from the course she took, or, which is more likely, because doves in 
 general fly low, and seek only the valleys and the plains. The dove 
 returned, and the patriarch, who from this collected that the low 
 lands were still covered with water, received her again into the ark. 
 Seven more days passed, and he put the dove forth anew, and then 
 her speedy return brought great gladness to the prisoners of the ark, 
 for she bore in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off, by which 
 it was plain that even from the low lands the waters had now 
 abated. 
 
 In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, and on the first 
 day of the first month, the earth being completely dried, Noah 
 began to dismantle the ark ; and on the twenty-seventh day of the 
 second month, he finally quitted it, together with all his family, 
 after having been in it a year and two days. The animals were also 
 sent forth, and allowed to disperse themselves over the earth, except- 
 ing such of the tame animals as the only surviving family of man 
 chose to retain, as the foundation of future flocks and herds. 
 
 Thus ended that great catastrophe, which has left ineradicable 
 traces upon the surface and in the bowels of the earth, and the memory 
 of which has been preserved in the traditions of all mankind, in all 
 their languages. As it seems very evident that the object of the 
 Deluge was to extirpate evil, we must regard its resulting effects, 
 whether physical or moral, as beneficial upon the whole, whatever 
 estimate our untutored judgment might form of some of its more 
 particular effects — such as the shortening of human life, which after 
 the Deluge very rapidly declined to its present standard. It may 
 be well to keep in view that the objects of the Deluge were avowedly 
 “ to be the termination of a state of human nature which had be- 
 come incurably deteriorated in that form by the existing population ; 
 and to be also the commencement of a new generation and diffusion 
 of human beings of a superior kind, and from a selected stock, that 
 was the least vitiated by the demoralization of the rest.” (Sharon 
 Turner’s ‘ Sacred History of the World,’ ii. 307.) 
 
Sunday I.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 7 
 
 THE LIFE OF OUR SAVIOUR. 
 
 HI] time when the history of 
 Christ commences was that 
 period of civil quiet when the 
 Romans had subjected nearly 
 all the known world to their 
 power; and their empire — 
 the widest the world had ever 
 seen — extended from the 
 Tigris to the Atlantic, and 
 from the Northern Ocean to 
 Mount Atlas and the borders 
 of Ethiopia. The various na- 
 tions comprising this mighty 
 empire had ceased their strug- 
 gles for independence, and 
 their contentions among 
 themselves, and the whole lay 
 in the stillness of exhausted strength under the iron yoke of imperial 
 Rome. Most of these nations were under the direct rule of Governors 
 sent from Rome ; but a few were allowed the shadow of independence, 
 inasmuch as the internal government was administered by native 
 princes tributary to Rome. 
 
 Among these comparatively favoured nations was Judea, which 
 was at this time governed by a king of its ow n, called Herod, and 
 surnamed the Great. The family of Herod was of recent import- 
 ance in the country, and had risen upon the downfall of the 
 Asmonaean dynasty, founded by the illustrious Maccabees. Its 
 prosperity began with Antipater, the father of Herod, who was of 
 Idumaean (Edomitish) origin, and, under himself and his son, owed 
 its growtli to the patronage and favour of the successive masters of 
 the Roman world, Julius, Anthony, Augustus; the last of whom 
 seems to have entertained a personal liking for Herod, to whom he 
 allowed as much power as was perhaps compatible with his position 
 as a vassal of the empire. 
 
 The repose in which the world lay at this time was somewhat 
 animated by a very general expectation of some great event — of 
 the coming of some mysterious personage, who was to set right the 
 wrong things of the world, and subdue all things to his power. The 
 Jews claimed a peculiar property in him, knowing from their 
 prophecies that the Messiah was to arise from among themselves, out 
 of the house of David. But the expectation was not confined to them ; 
 lor there were abroad the whisperings of mysterious oracles, which 
 may be traced in the Ode of Virgil ( Pollio ), where we recognize 
 them as reflected from the inspired strains of the Hebrew prophets. 
 
 And He, for whom the earth was thus waiting, came — and men 
 knew him not — knew him not then, because he appeared not with 
 the visible glories and conquering powers which all expected ; but 
 came in poverty and humbleness, “a man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with grief.” 
 
 But the Son of God was not to enter without a harbinger the 
 world he came to redeem. 
 
 The turn of an old priest called Zacharias arrived to enter the 
 sanctuary, and to offer incense there in behalf of the people, who 
 remained in prayer outside. While employed in this sacred service, 
 an angel appeared suddenly before him, and saluted him as the parent 
 of the appointed harbinger, on whom the name of John and the 
 abstinence of a Nazarite were even then imposed. The astonished 
 priest, knowing that he and his wife Elizabeth had lived childless 
 to old age, could not conceal his bewilderment and doubt, and 
 murmured his wish for some sign from which he might gather 
 confidence. To punish this incredulity, the required sign was made 
 somewhat penal, and it was declared that he should be speechless 
 for a season. Accordingly he went forth dumb to the wondering 
 people, and he remained dumb until the things of Vhich he had 
 doubted were accomplished. 
 
 About six months after this, the same angel appeared in Nazareth, 
 an obscure town of Galilee, to a virgin named Mary, and hailed her 
 as the destined mother of the Saviour of the world. The pious 
 virgin, however, startled at so strange a visitant and his momentous 
 announcement, ventured to hint at a doubt naturally suggested by 
 her unmarried condition ; but she was assured that this immortal 
 birth was not to be according to the ordinary course of nature, but 
 would owe its origin to the “ power of the Most High.” Then, 
 perhaps, tliat meek virgin remembered the ancient prophecy, 
 
 “ Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his 
 name Immanuel” — God with us. (Isa. vii. 14.) She therefore 
 bowed her head in pious submission, saying, “ Behold the handmaid 
 of the Lord ; be it unto me according to thy word, even as thou 
 hast said.” When we consider the misconception under which even 
 the chosen disciples of Jesus laboured as to the real objects of his 
 mission, it seems very possible that Mary did not at this time fully 
 understand the greatness of her own destiny. She knew, however — 
 she could not but understand, — that her promised son was to be the 
 long foretold and earnestly desired Messiah, “ the desire of all 
 nations and that her lot was that which had been one of intense 
 desire to the daughters of Israel in past and present generations. 
 But the vastness of the idea which was presented to her, the 
 magnificence of the event, awed her spirit, kept down the joyful ness 
 that afterwards arose, and made that pious contentment which she 
 declared, the most proper expression of her feelings. 
 
 It was a custom among the Jews for damsels to be betrothed, or 
 legally pledged, to husbands fora long while, a year or much more, 
 before they were actually united. Now Mary, although not yet 
 actually married, was in this condition, being under betrotlmient to 
 a pious man of the same place, Joseph by name, and a carpenter by 
 trade. Such betrothal was in the view of the Jewish law regarded 
 as partaking so far of the nature of an actual marriage, that any 
 unfaithfulness to the engagement was regarded and punished as 
 adultery. When, therefore, this good man discovered that his 
 betrothed was in the way of becoming a mother, his mind was 
 filled with trouble both on her account and on his own. He was 
 reluctant to make Mary a public example, and to bring upon her 
 the harsh penalties of the law ; but was more inclined to find some 
 quiet way of dissolving the engagement between them, and of 
 thus releasing her from the worst consequences of her supposed 
 transgression. While these thoughts filled Joseph’s mind, he was 
 unexpectedly relieved by a visit from the angel, who made known 
 to him the real circumstance, and encouraged him to complete his 
 engagement with Mary, by taking her home as his wife, and thus afford 
 her the protection which her state required. This was accordingly 
 done, and it was thus that Jesus came to be considered the son of 
 Joseph. 
 
 It happened that Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias, was a cousin of 
 Mary, and when Mary heard that her aged relative was likely to be- 
 come at length a mother, she went to congratulate her upon an event 
 which was always a matter of great gladness to Hebrew women, and 
 which was of such peculiar importance to one who had for so many 
 years borne the reproach of barrenness. When they met, circum- 
 stances arose which enabled the mother of the Harbinger to recognize 
 in Mary the mother of one greater than he ; and her ardent recogni- 
 tion of this fact kindled in turn the happy virgin, who broke forth in 
 that beautiful chaunt, “ My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my 
 spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,” &c., which is not the less — 
 which is much the more, touching to us, from its being, in a great 
 degree, composed from recollections of the Psalms, and of the song 
 of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. We thus gather how well the 
 mother of Jesus was versed in the Sacred Scripture ; for her words 
 are the outpouring of a mind thoroughly imbued with the ideas and 
 phrases of the prophets and poets of the Old Testament. 
 
 The fact of this visit, and the relationship from which it arose, 
 have suggested the probability that Christ and his Harbinger were 
 known to each other in childhood ; and hence it is that in pictures 
 of the “ Holy Family” the infant Baptist is usually introduced. 
 There is probability in the conjecture; but we have no certain 
 knowledge of it as a fact. 
 
 In due time Elizabeth gave birth to a son. The father still 
 continued speechless; but on the eighth day, when the child was to 
 be circumcised and named, some difficulty was felt about the name, 
 which it was the usual province of the father to bestow. The 
 neighbours were disposed to call him Zacharias, after his parent; on 
 which the father took a tablet, and wrote, “ His name is John,” 
 being the name which had before been given by the angel. On 
 this his dumbness passed away, and he broke forth into an exulting 
 hymn, praising God that the long-expected time of the Messiah was 
 come, and that his son was destined to be his prophet and 
 Forerunner. That Zacharias so readily apprehended the position 
 which his son was to take is explained by the fact that the Jews 
 generally expected that the Messiah was to be preceded by a dignified 
 Harbinger. This expectation was founded upon passages in the 
 prophets (Isa. xl. 3 ; Mai. iv. 5), which also led to a prevalent 
 notion that this Forerunner was to be no other than Elijah the 
 Tishbite in person ; although some were content to expect one 
 equal to that great prophet in power, and endued with the same 
 spirit (Luke i. 17). 
 
2l . — The Angel appearing to Joseph. (See Lesson of Sunday after Christmas Day. ) 
 Ymddangosiad yr Angel i Joseph. (Gwel Llith y Sul gwedi’r Nadolig.) 
 
 6. — Gopher Wood. •Coed Gopher. — Gen. vi. 
 
 24. — Virgin and Child, from South 
 Porch at Amiens. 
 
 Morwyn a Baban, o Gyntedd 
 Gogleddol yn Amiens. 
 
 23. — The Nativity. Yr Enedigaeth. (Rembrandt.) 
 
 ]9. — Medal of Augustus. Reverse. 
 Bathodyn Augustus. Y Cefn. 
 
 16. — Julius Caesar. 
 
 25. — Virgin and Infant Christ. (Cimabue.) 
 Y Forwyn a’r Baban Crist. 
 
10 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday II. 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 N that division of the present 
 work which relates to the Psalms, 
 it is not intended to furnish a 
 commentary on them as spiritual 
 compositions, or to expatiate on 
 the sentiments which they dis- 
 close. It is more our object to 
 examine their external history 
 and character, than to explore 
 the inner sense and deeper mean- 
 ings. Much of our allotted space 
 will therefore be occupied with 
 considerations on the Psalms re- 
 garded in the mass, rather than 
 with the particular poems. We 
 shall regard them in their connection with the poetry and music of 
 the Hebrews ; we shall look into the circumstances under which 
 they were written ; state all that can be learned concerning their 
 authors ; and inquire into the origin and meaning of the singular 
 titles which many of them bear. The contents of the Psalms will 
 then be examined in the successive portions of the work, chiefly 
 with the view of selecting from them such points as may afford 
 information respecting the antiquities of the Jews and the natural 
 history of Palestine, or which may receive illustration from the 
 history, the customs, the laws, and manners of the East. 
 
 From this it will be seen that it is not our intention to read the 
 Psalms for our friends ; but to afford such helps as may enable 
 them to read for themselves once more — many times more, we 
 hope — with a new interest and delight, the most beautiful com- 
 positions in the world, which, in all the long ages since they were 
 written, have day by day been giving a form and voice to thoughts 
 and feelings which had else been void and dumb ; and have fur- 
 nished an unfailing well-spring of refreshment to the weary-minded, 
 of hope to the desponding, and of comfort to the desolate. 
 
 The Psalms Lyrical Poems. — The fact that the Psalms are to 
 be regarded as lyrical poems is indicated in the very title which they 
 bear. The Greek word 'itaXyoc psnlmos, whence our “ Psalm,” 
 signifies the music of a stringed instrument , the music of a lyre, and 
 thence a song sung to the music of the lyre. The collection of 
 poems got this Greek word for its title, because the Septuagint, or 
 the ancient Greek translation from the Hebrew of the Old Testa- 
 ment, uses this word for a Hebrew word ( mizmor ), which has the 
 signification of song accompanied with music, and which therefore 
 equally points out the Psalms as lyrical compositions. The name 
 Psalter, which also, in imitation of the Greek, we give to the 
 collection, properly denotes a stringed instrument, and is to be 
 nderstood in the same manner as when we give to a collection of 
 -rical poems the title of Lyre. The Jews themselves give to the 
 lms the name of Tehillim, meaning, songs of praise, which is not 
 a very proper title, seeing that a very large proportion of the 
 Psalms have not the character which it expresses. 
 
 't’he Psalms are lyrical in the strict and proper sense ; for with 
 the Hebrews, as in the ancient world generally, song and music 
 weri; connected, and the titles of most of the Psalms manifestly 
 point to their connection with music, although not in a manner 
 very intelligible to us. Moreover, these compositions deserve the 
 name of lyric on account of their character as works of taste. 
 “ The essence of lyric poetry (observes De Wette) is the immediate 
 expression of feeling ; and feeling is the sphere to which most of 
 the Psalms belong. Pain, sorrow, fear, hope, joy, confidence, grati- 
 tude, submission to God, everything that moves and elevates the 
 soul, is expressed in these hymns. Most of them are the warm out- 
 pourings of the excited, susceptible heart ; the fresh offspring of 
 inspiration and elevation of thought ; while only a few seem like 
 the colder productions of artificial imitation ; and a few others 
 are simply forms of prayer, Temple hymns, and collections of 
 proverbs.” 
 
 The Psalter contains the lyrical productions of different authors, 
 belonging to different periods ; for the title ‘ Psalms of David’ is 
 adopted only out of respect to the most distinguished portion of 
 them. It is chiefly composed of religious and devotional hymns, as 
 their place in the Sacrerl volume required ; but we are not from 
 
 this bound to conclude that all the lyric poetry of the Hebrews was 
 of this character. That it had a wider and more diversified ranse 
 is placed beyond doubt by the examples, few indeed, though precious, 
 of another species of lyric poetry, which are preserved in other 
 parts of the Sacred volume. Such are David’s elegy over Jonathan, 
 the Song at the Well (Num. xxi. 17), and even the Song of' 
 Solomon. 
 
 PSALMS I.-XIV. 
 
 We now proceed to select from this group of Psalms some principal 
 topic which admits of being considered in the point of view which 
 has already been indicated. 
 
 Lions. — These noble animals are mentioned about sixty times 
 in Scripture, and several of these notices are in the Psalms. This 
 frequency of allusion, united to the intimate acquaintance with the 
 habits of the lion which these allusions evince, renders it manifest 
 that the animal was in ancient times far from uncommon in Palestine. 
 Indeed there are passages in winch the presence of the lion in the 
 country is distinctly mentioned, as in Samson’s conflict witli the 
 lion in his journey to Timnath (Judg. xiv. 5), in David’s defeat of 
 the lion which sought to prey upon his flock (1 Sam. xvii. 34), in 
 the slaughter of the disobedient prophet by the lion which spared 
 the prophet’s ass (1 Kings xiii. 24), and in the allusion of Jeremiah 
 (xlix. 19) to the coming up of the lions from the brakes of the 
 Jordan, when that river periodically overflowed its lower banks. 
 There are certainly no lions in Palestine now ; and this is, there- 
 fore, one of the many instances of the disappearance of wild animals 
 in certain regions where they were once common. The complete 
 extirpation of wolves from our own country affords another example. 
 Lions are not now found nearer to Palestine than the rivers 
 Euphrates and Tigris ; for they prefer the banks of rivers, on account 
 of the more abundant prey which they obtain from among the 
 animals which resort to the streams for drink. It was thus that 
 they infested the Jordan in the time of Jeremiah. On the rivers 
 mentioned they live in dens, whence at night they prowl forth for 
 prey, or dart forth suddenly upon such animals as unwarily draw 
 near their hiding-place. 
 
 While at the mouth of his den or elsewhere watching for his prey, 
 the position and manner of the lion is like that of a cat while 
 watching the movements of a mouse. He eyes the approach of Ids 
 victim with the most cautious attention, carefully avoiding the least 
 noise, lest he should give warning of his presence and designs. This 
 is the habit alluded to by the Psalmist, “ He lieth in wait secretly as 
 a lion in his den ; He lieth in wait to catch the poor ; ... he croucheth 
 and humbleth himself that the poor may fall by his strong ones” 
 (Psalm x. 9, 10). Again, “ Like a lion that is greedy of his prey, 
 and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places” (Psalm xvii. 12) 
 From his lurking-place the lion commonly leaps upon his victim at 
 one spring, the extent and force of which are tremendous. There 
 is a curious allusion to tins in Dent, xxxiii. 22, “ Dan is a lion’s 
 whelp, he shall leap from Bashan which if regarded as a 
 prefigurement of the celebrated irruption of the tribe of Dan from 
 the south to the north of Palestine (Judg xviii.), finds a most 
 suggestive and picturesque comparison in the reference to the lion’s 
 leap. 
 
 The great force with which the mighty beast strikes dead and 
 rends its prey, supplies a figure in Psalm vii. 2 — “ Lest he tear my 
 soul like a lion, rending it in pieces while there is none to 
 deliver and many other of the Scriptural allusions to the lions 
 are to the same effect (See Deut. xxxiii. 20 ; Isa. xxxviii. 13; 
 Hos. v. 14). 
 
 In Psalm xvii. 12, the allusion to the greediness of the lion, “ like 
 a lion that is greedy of his prey,” must be understood with reference 
 to the indisposition of tins powerful beast to allow any other car- 
 nivorous animal to feed in its presence or to share its prey. A very 
 remarkable example of this occurred very recently in one of the mena- 
 geries. A lion had been brought to permit two leopards to partake its 
 cage, and they lived together on easy if not on friendly terms. The 
 leopards were always withdrawn at the time of feeding, but it was 
 at length resolved to try the dangerous experiment of feeding them 
 together. The meat was thrown in, but no sooner did the leopards 
 lay hold of their pieces than the lion rushed upon one of them and 
 slew him on the spot ; and the other would have shared the same 
 fate but for the keeper’s interference. 
 
 This is, without doubt, the habit which the Psalmist had in view ; 
 and the minute accuracy of observation evinced in all the Scriptural 
 allusions to the habits and character of animals is the more remark- 
 able by comparison with the fables and absurd or incorrect state- 
 ments which disfigure all our ancient accounts. 
 
27.— Psalm ii. 
 
 28.— Psalm iii. 
 
 26.— FSaTm i. 
 
 LESSED is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the 
 ungodly.— 1. 
 
 And he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side, that 
 will bring forth his fruit in due time.— 3. 
 
 Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judg- 
 ment.— 5. 
 
 29.— Psalm iv 
 
 36.— l’salm xi. 
 
 33 .— Psalm xiii. 
 
 37.— Psalm xii. 
 
 c 
 
 9 
 
Sunday II.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 11 
 
 SUNDAY II.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE instant the second father 
 of mankind set his foot upon 
 the earth, he proceeded to 
 erect an altar, and offer up 
 burnt offerings to God, in 
 token of fervent adoration, 
 and gratitude to the great 
 Deliverer, who had so wonder- 
 fully preserved him and his 
 alone, as the sole survivors on 
 the desolate earth. This first 
 impulse of the preserved fa- 
 mily, God regarded with com- 
 placency, and he was pleased 
 to renew to the appointed pro- 
 genitors of a new race of men the blessing pronounced originally upon 
 the first human pair : “ Be ye fruitful and multiply ; bring forth 
 abundantly in the earth and multiply therein.” Other matters were 
 added for their benefit and encouragement. The original grant of 
 dominion over the animal creation was renewed to them, but with 
 some variations on the original appointment, and with so marked an 
 emphasis in the permission to use beasts for food, “ even as the green 
 herb,” that many have been led to suppose that there was no use of the 
 Hesh of animals before the Deluge. To obviate the apprehensions 
 which must have been left in the mind of Noah by the terrible judg- 
 ment which he had witnessed, God was further pleased to assure him 
 that the world should never more be destroyed by “ a flood of waters,” 
 and that “ while the earth remained, seed time and harvest, and cold 
 and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, should not 
 cease.” Six divisions of the natural year are here indicated ; and 
 it seems that the Jews ultimately adopted the same division of the 
 seasons in reference to the labours of agriculture. They are still in 
 use among the Arabs. The rainbow, which is the effect of known 
 natural causes, was appointed by God as the appropriate seal and 
 pledge of this covenant. It has been thought from this that the 
 rainbow was a new object to Noah, in which case there could have 
 been no rain before the Deluge, and the earth must then have been 
 watered by streams and copious dews. In support of this view, 
 Gen. ii. 6, “ There went up a mist from the earth and watered the 
 face of the ground,” is quoted. 
 
 Noah proceeded to cultivate the ground in the plains to which he 
 had descended. A vineyard was among the objects of his culture ; 
 and the impartial sacred record, which unhesitatingly makes known 
 the crimes and errors of its greatest and best characters, proceeds 
 to inform us that he became inebriated with the wine, and, as he slept 
 the sleep of drunkenness, lay indecently exposed. In this state he 
 became the object of mockery to his son Ham. but of filial duty to 
 Shem and Japheth. This conduct brought upon Ham the dreaded 
 and predictive paternal curse, and the equally predictive blessing 
 upon Shem and Japheth. The curse and the blessing seem to have 
 been accomplished in the lot of their respective descendants, for 
 Ham is regarded as the progenitor of the African races, and Shem 
 of the Asiatic, and Japheth of the European families of men. 
 
 Noah lived after the Flood three hundred and fifty years, in ap- 
 parent happiness and peace, and in the enjoyment of every blessing ; 
 and he died at the age of nine hundred and fifty years, bewailed by 
 his children and their numerous descendants. 
 
 How long the fathers of mankind remained together in the region 
 where the ark rested, we are not informed. They were not likely 
 to remove soon, or until compelled to do so by the pressure of an 
 increased population, bound as they were together by the bonds of 
 a known relationship, and by the ties of a common language. 
 Eventually they arrived in the land of Shinar, where plains appa- 
 rently boundless seemed to offer ample room for their increase 
 without further wandering. This is the region watered by the 
 Tigris and Euphrates, in which Babylon was afterwards situated. 
 This region was then, as now, destitute of wood as well as of stone ; 
 but, deeming this a suitable home, they proceeded to make bricks, 
 with which to build “ a city and a tower.” By a strong hyperbole, 
 common in the East, they described this as a tower whose top should 
 “ reach unto heaven.” This means simply a very high tower. The 
 first of men were surely not idiots, and we have no right to suppose 
 them capable of the exceedingly absurd intentions which have been 
 ascribed to this erection. The plain Scriptural account is not only 
 the best and most reasonable, but the only one on which we can 
 rely. It amounts to this — that they feared being dispersed abroad, 
 separated from each other, lost in their needful wanderings with 
 
 their flocks in these vast plains. To prevent this, the tower was to 
 be so high as to serve for a landmark and rallying-point to all their 
 families. We know that the rotundity of the earth will, at a given 
 distance, throw out of sight, below the visible horizon, not only the 
 highest tower that man ever built, but the loftiest mountains- 
 The first men after the Deluge, being, however, new to the pheno- 
 mena which plains afford the best opportunities of observing, had 
 probably been in the habit of ascribing to other and accidental 
 causes such instances of the disappearance of visible objects as they 
 had found occasion to notice. The design of remaining together was, 
 however, contrary to the designs of God ; and a special interposition 
 of his Providence rendered all their plans abortive, and compelled 
 them to disperse and people the different regions of the earth. 
 
 This was effected by causing such a diversity in their language 
 that they were unable to understand one another, and were thus 
 constrained to abandon their design, and to separate from each other 
 in groups proportioned to the number of the dialects which were 
 thus created among them. 
 
 The word Babel means confusion , and it was from this “ confusion 
 of tongues ” at the place that the unfinished tower came to be called 
 the “ tower of Babel,” and the city of “ Babylon.” The historical 
 importance of the city was, however, of much later date, when it 
 became the seat of a mighty empire, and when, as it would seem, 
 the remains of the primitive fabric were made to form the basis of a 
 tower of extraordinary form and elevation, which was counted one of 
 the wonders of the world, and the supposed shape of which must be 
 familiar to the reader from the numerous figures which are abroad 
 under the name of the “ tower of Babel.” These figures are framed 
 from the descriptions left by ancient Greek travellers of the tower 
 which existed in and after the time of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 On the now desolate site of the once mighty Babylon, there are 
 two lofty and large mounds or hills of ruin, the one or the other of 
 which have been supposed to offer the remains of this celebrated 
 tower. One of them now bears the name of Birs Nimrod (tower of 
 Nimrod), and the other of Mujelibe; and the former is that which 
 is now usually identified with this ancient monument. 
 
 The Confusion of Tongues, and consequent dispersion from 
 Babel, took place, according to the common chronology, in the year 
 2230 b.c., being one hundred and seventeen years after the Deluge. 
 
 Among those who remained in this region was a person of active 
 and enterprising habits, named Nimrod, who is described as “ a mighty 
 hunter.” This person, doubtless by means of the bold and hardy 
 men who took part in his huntings, was enabled to establish his 
 dominion over several of the cities of this region, and thus to form 
 what seems to have been the first of human kingdoms. 
 
 In process of time a very general corruption of manners, con- 
 nected with and arising from a forgetfulness or neglect of the God 
 of Noah, seems to have arisen not only in the land of Sliinar, but 
 in the other countries to which the families of men had migrated, 
 and in which they had formed communities more or less organized. 
 
 At length, about three centuries after the Deluge, the Divine 
 Creator, who had declared that he would no more destroy the earth 
 for man’s sake, saw it right to commence the wondrous train of 
 operations whereby he designed to keep in the corrupting world a 
 testimony for the truth, until the arrival of the fully ripened time 
 for the appearance of the Redeemer — of Him who was to bring in 
 a new order of things, and to crush iniquity beneath his feet. This 
 was to be accomplished by making a single man — a family — a nation 
 springing from him, the special objects of the Divine care and 
 providence, and to commit to their keeping the great truths which 
 the world at large refused to retain in its knowledge. 
 
 The person chosen for this was a man named Abram, dwelling 
 in the district of “ Ur of the Chaldees,” and probably belonging to 
 that kingdom — if it still subsisted — which Nimrod had established. 
 In human estimation Abram would have seemed but ill suited for 
 the high destinies in which a numerous posterity was essentially 
 involved, for he and his wife Sarai were already old, and they had 
 no children. It will be found interesting to trace the successive 
 steps by which this renowned personage was prepared for and placed 
 under the circumstances necessary to the great designs of which he 
 was the object. 
 
 In the year 1936 b.c., when he was sixty years old, Abram 
 received his first communication from heaven, and was summoned in 
 general terms to quit his country', and proceed to a land that should 
 be shown him. The prompt obedience of Abram showed that, what- 
 ever was at that time the religious conditioq of his country, he knew 
 God, and was anxious to serve him ; and it was in after ages remem- 
 bered, to his honour, that he so readily abandoned, at this call, his 
 own country, “ and went forth, not knowing whither he went ” 
 (Heb. xi. 8). He appears not yet to have understood the full effect 
 
 C 2 
 

 41. — Syrian Ox, Camel, and Ass — Gen. xii. 
 Y°.h Syriaidd, Camel, ac Asyn. 
 
 42. — Terebinth Tree. — Gen. xiii. 
 Pren Terebinth. 
 
 44. — Plain of the Jordan. — Gen xiii. 
 Dyffryn yt Iorddonen 
 
 ^6- — Land of Edom. Mount Seir in the distance. — Gen. xiv. 
 Tir Edom. Mynydd Seir yn y Pellder. 
 
 40. — Urfah : supposed “ Ur of the Chaldees. — Gen. xL 
 Urffah : “ Ur y Caldeaid,” fel y tybir. 
 
 12 
 

 
 
 
 •r 
 
 
 
 r' 
 
 
 
 
 
49.— Ilajrar and Ishmael sent away. (Le Sueur.) 
 Agar ac Ismael yn cael eu gyro ymaith. 
 
 Gen. xx 
 
 48.— The Dead S*&.— Gen. xix. 25 
 Y Mdr Marw. 
 
 13 
 
14 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday II. 
 
 of the Divine call, for he proceeded no farther than Haran in 
 Mesopotamia, where he remained, being then seventy-five years 
 old, till the death of his aged fatner Terah. Soon after this (1291 
 b.c.) Abram received his second and more pointed call, which 
 is the first of those which in precise terms Moses has recorded (Gen. 
 xii. 1), and tin's was accompanied by the splendid promise which 
 forms the basis of the history of Abram and of the people de- 
 scended from him : “ I will make of thee a great nation, and I will 
 bless thee and make thy name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing. 
 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth 
 thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” 
 This last clause is understood to refer, as distinctly as then suited 
 the Divine purpose, to the greatest of Abraham’s descendants, Christ, 
 in whom all the promises made to the fathers were accomplished. 
 
 This time the land to which he was to go was made known?, to 
 him. It was the land of Canaan, which stands on the easternmost 
 shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and is enclosed between that sea and 
 the river Jordan. The previous life of Abram seems to have 
 been that of a pastoral chief ; and it was as a pastoral chief, with his 
 servants, his flocks and herds, that the patriarch entered the land of 
 Canaan. He was accompanied by his orphan nephew Lot, whom, 
 in the want of children, he seems to have regarded as his heir. 
 
 When Abram entered the land of Canaan, it was occupied by 
 several tribes, or small nations, descended from Canaan, the son of 
 Ham. A town, with its surrounding district and villages, formed 
 a little state, independent so far as regarded its own affairs, but 
 with a tie of general connection with the other towns of the same 
 origin. Each of these little states seems to have had its own head 
 man, or “ king,” whose function appears to have been entirely 
 administrative. He led the people in council and in war, but was 
 incapable of deciding on any measure of importance without the 
 advice of the elders and the consent of the people. 
 
 In this land there was much ground still left uncultivated, and 
 therefore without owner, for in the East ownership can only be 
 formed by cultivating the ground, or, if for pasturage, by the 
 digging and keeping up of wells. This explains how it was that 
 perfect strangers from beyond the Euphrates, like Abram and Lot, 
 were able to pasture their flocks freely, without molestation from 
 the natives, in the finest valleys of central and southern Palestine. 
 Thus they removed from place to place as the season or the wants 
 of their flocks required, God often cheering the patriarch by the 
 renewal of his promises ; and wherever God spoke to him, there 
 Abram set up an altar, and offered sacrifices in honour of His name. 
 In his first journeys, Abram traversed the plains of Shechem and of 
 Moreh, and then moved towards Luz, the Bethel of Jacob. 
 
 Not long after this, a famine, occasioned probably by drought, 
 arose in the land of Canaan, and constrained the patriarch to with- 
 draw into Egypt, which usually enjoys abundance from its overflowing 
 river, even when other countries are consumed through want of rain. 
 On entering Egypt, the patriarch was beset by an unseemly misgiving 
 lest the beauty of his wife Sarai should attract the notice of the dusky 
 Egyptians, and bring down ruin upon himself and her. He therefore 
 gave out that she was his sister. But this brought about the very 
 evil that he dreaded. His alleged sister was taken from him to the 
 royal harem, and a special interposition of providence was required 
 for her deliverance. The real case thus became known to the 
 Egyptian King, who then restored her to her husband, whom he loaded 
 with valuable gifts, so that when, soon after, Abram withdrew from 
 Egypt, he was veryricli in “sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men- 
 servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.” “ Silver 
 and gold ” he also possessed in abundance. 
 
 Abram then returned to the place where he had built an altar to 
 the Lord, between Bethel and Ilai. Here it was soon found that 
 the pasturages were unable to support the united flocks of Abram 
 and Lot ; and violent contentions soon arose between their respec- 
 tive herdsmen, to whom the choice of places for tents, or the 
 right to springs of water, shade, or a spot of thick and salubrious 
 herbage, afforded matter of continual strife. Abram saw that 
 separation was the only remedy for this evil, and he proposed that 
 remedy to his nephew, to whom he generously left the choice of 
 pasture-grounds. Lot did not hesitate to accept this advantage, and 
 made choice of the well-watered and garden-like plains of the 
 Jordan, to which he immediately removed. 
 
 Having parted from his nephew, Abram removed his camp to 
 the rich and pleasant valley of Mamre, near Hebron, where there 
 were many terebinth-trees, under one of the noblest of which the 
 patriarch’s own tent was set. He here entered into friendly relations 
 witli the Amorites, who also inhabited this valley ; and when news 
 came to him there that Lot, with all his family and possessions, had 
 been carried away by a marauding troop from the East, which had 
 
 ravaged all the region in which he dwelt, three of the Amoritish 
 chiefs readily joined him with their people in the pursuit to rescue 
 the captives. With this aid Abram, followed by three hundred and 
 eighteen of his own armed servants, pursued the retreating invaders, 
 and overtook them in the neighbourhood of Damascus. Their 
 camp being surprised in the dead of the night, they fled in all haste, 
 leaving in the hands of Abram their captives and their spoil. The 
 patriarch had thus the satisfaction not only of rescuing Lot, but of 
 rendering an important service to the people among whom he 
 sojourned. This victory filled all the country with his renown : 
 his return was a triumph, and kings went forth from their cities to 
 salute him on his way. One of these interviews, indeed the only 
 one recorded, is remarkable. It was that with Melchizedek, the king 
 of Salem, who seems to have been a worshipper of the true God, whom 
 he calls “ The Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.” 
 To him he was also priest ; for in those days the king or chief was 
 priest also of his people. He brought forth refreshment for the 
 weary victors, and Abram bestowed upon him a tenth part of the 
 spoil. The kings of the ravaged plain also came from some 
 distance to thank him ; and, refusing to use the undoubted right 
 which the custom of war gave to him, the patriarch restored not 
 only the recaptured people, but all the recovered spoil. Abram’s 
 answer to the proposition of the king of Sodom, that he should 
 retain the spoil and restore only the people, is characteristic : “ I 
 will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet [sandal-thong], 
 lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.” 
 
 Abram returned to Mamre, and Lot to the plain of Sodom. 
 
 Still there was trouble in the heart of the patriarch. He was 
 still childless, he was still without a son to inherit all the wealth 
 which God had given to him, and all the greatness to which he had 
 grown. This would be grievous in any case ; but in those days, 
 and under that condition in life, the desire of children was a 
 consuming passion. Hence the need of those frequent encourage- 
 ments which he received from God, who at length condescended to 
 enter into a solemn covenant to assure to him through his posterity 
 the inheritance of the land in which he wandered. This seems to 
 have satisfied the patriarch ; but Sarai, his wife, had less faith, and 
 she proposed to her husband a resource which was not seldom 
 resorted to in those times. She proposed to give him her handmaid 
 Hagar, as a secondary wife, with the view that any children which 
 came from this union might, by what we should call “ a legal 
 fiction,” be counted hers. This was done ; and in due time Hagar 
 gave birth to a son, who received the name of Ishmael, and whom 
 both Abram and Sarai were willing to regard as the promised heir. 
 
 Having long rested in this conclusion, the patriarch was twelve 
 years after not a little startled to learn that Sarai herself was the 
 destined mother of the promised son, and that the time for the 
 fulfilment of the promises made to him was near at hand. On this 
 occasion all these promises were solemnly renewed, the rite of cir- 
 cumcision was established as a sign of the covenant between him and 
 God ; and according to an Eastern custom of imposing or taking 
 new names with regard to altered circumstances, the name of Abram 
 (i exalted father) was now changed to Abraham ( father of a multi- 
 tude), and that of Sarai ( quarrelsome ) to Sarah (princess). 
 
 Now the inhabitants of the plain of Sodom were “ sinners before 
 the Lord exceedingly.” Their abominations were such as seemed 
 to require that they should be swept from the earth by some terrible 
 sudden stroke, to evince that a just and holy God still governed the 
 world. The avenging angels were at length sent down ; and as 
 Abraham sat in his tent door in the heat of the day, he beheld them 
 advancing in the likeness of wayfaring men, and persuaded them to 
 accept the hospitalities of his tent. As they departed the most 
 august of these personages tarried awhile, and revealed to Abraham 
 the doom of the cities of the plain. The patriarch interceded, with 
 respectful importunity, on their behalf, lest the righteous should 
 perish with the wicked ; and he at length obtained the promise that 
 if but ten righteous men were found in Sodom, the threatened ruin 
 should not come down. But the ten righteous men were not found ; 
 and when Abraham arose early in the morning and looked towards 
 the fertile vale in which the cities had lain, he saw that the whole 
 had been destroyed by fire from heaven, and the smoke of their 
 burning still arose “ like the smoke of a furnace and the vale, 
 once “ like the garden of the Lord,” has since, under the name of 
 the Dead Sea, remained an abiding wonder to all who have passed 
 that way. But Lot had not perished. The commissioned angels had 
 urged him forth, with his wife and his two daughters ; and they all 
 escaped, save the wife, who, lingering behind, was overtaken by the 
 destroying element, and remained, covered with a saline incrustation, 
 like “ a pillar of salt,” upon the borders of the plain. The bereaved 
 Lot withdrew to one of the caves which abound in that region. 
 
SUNDAY II.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HE Roman emperor, not long after this, 
 issued a decree for a general registra- 
 tion or census to be taken ; and, ac- 
 cording to the policy observed on such 
 occasions, the decree required every 
 one to be registered in his paternal 
 city. This obliged Joseph and Mary 
 to travel to Bethlehem, to which, being 
 of the house and lineage of David, they 
 belonged. The condition of Mary, thus 
 far gone with child, probably occasioned that lateness of arrival 
 which obliged them to take up their lodging in the stables which run 
 behind the Eastern inns or caravanseries, the lodging-room being 
 already occupied. 
 
 Here, among the beasts of the stall, was born the Saviour of 
 the world ; and here, when he had been wrapped in swaddling- 
 clothes, a manger was made to serve for his cradle. 
 
 This was the greatest event the world had ever seen — for it was 
 the coming of its Redeemer. It was an event which shook Hell, 
 and caused rejoicings through all the saints of heaven, but it 
 occurred, and might have passed as a common occurrence on the 
 earth — the birth of a son to a humble pair — had not the angels of 
 God taken notice of it. There were abroad that night in the 
 common around Bethlehem shepherds keeping their flocks ; for in 
 the Eastern countries, where there are no enclosures, flocks must 
 needs be watched by shepherds night and day. They were aroused 
 from their half-slumbering watch by a sudden radiance which shone 
 around them from the presence of an angel, whose appearance filled 
 them with dread. But they were re-assured by the glad and cheerful 
 voice with which he announced the glad tidings of great joy. 
 “ Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour — who 
 is Christ, the Lord.” There was not a man, woman, or child in 
 Israel who was not familiar with the general expectation of such a 
 personage. The shepherds there had not the slightest difficulty 
 in understanding this joyous intimation. And where were they to 
 seek this greatest of woman born ? They were told to seek him, 
 not in regal palaces or priestly courts, nor lapped in splendour in 
 the mansions of the great, but — “ Ye shall find the babe wrapped 
 in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger.” And immediately 
 there gathered around the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, 
 who broke forth in praise to God for his love to man, and pro- 
 claiming in exulting chants — “ Glory to God in the highest, and 
 on earth peace, good-will towards men.” 
 
 The shepherds thought no more of their flocks, but hastened away 
 to Bethlehem, and having found the infant lying in a manger, as 
 the angel had described, they made known all that they had seen and 
 heard. Many wondered, but most, even those who wondered, let 
 the matter pass from their minds, till some thirty or forty years 
 after, when the history of “ the prophet of Nazareth ” became a 
 matter of general talk, and then probably some old people called 
 to mind the circumstances which attended the birth of the holy 
 child at Bethlehem. Mary, now a blessed mother, wondered also ; 
 but she forgot nothing — “ she pondered these things in her heart ” 
 (Luke ii. 1 — 20). 
 
 On the eighth day from the birth, the child was circumcised ; 
 and, according to the custom of giving a name at the time of cir- 
 cumcision, he then received the name of Jesus, which had been 
 given to him by the angel who first ahnounced his birth. Jesus 
 is the Greek form (the New Testament being written in Greek) 
 of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was not uncommon among 
 the Hebrews. It means a Sciviouv ,* and was therefore the most 
 proper name in actual use which could have been chosen for the 
 Messiah. 
 
 The law required that every Hebrew woman should be separated 
 from the congregation for forty days after the birth of-a male, and 
 for eighty days after the birth of a female child. At the expiration 
 of that time the mother was to repair to the Temple, to make the 
 offerings for her purification. This offering was a lamb for those 
 who could afford it ; but those who were not able to bring a lamb 
 might offer a pair of turtle-doves or of young pigeons (Lev. xii. 2, 
 6, 8 ; Luke ii. 22—24). The mother of Jesus gave the humbler 
 offering, and as she probably would not have done this if a lamb 
 could have been afforded, we have thus an incidental but touching 
 
 evidence of the humble circumstances under which He who was 
 
 greater than all potentates — was born and reared. 
 
 This also shows that the visit of the Magi took place after and 
 
 not before the purification, for their rich gifts would have furnished 
 means for the more costly offering. 
 
 The Jewish traditions allege that mothers appeared at the Temple 
 on this occasion in white raiment. It is to this Milton alludes — 
 
 “ Mine, as whom washed from spot of child-bed taint 
 Purification in the old law did save, 
 
 Came vested all in white, pure as her mind.” 
 
 At the same time the child was to be presented before the Lord, 
 and if it were a first-born son he was to be redeemed from the 
 obligations of sacerdotal services by the payment of five shekels of 
 silver (Exod. xiii. 2, 11 — 14; Luke ii. 23). The presentation 
 of Jesus was distinguished by a very remarkable circumstance. 
 There was an aged man at Jerusalem of the name of Simeon, 
 whom some identify with a venerable Rabbi of that name who is 
 described by the Talmudical writers as the father of that Gamaliel 
 under which St. Paul completed his Jewish education at Jerusalem. 
 Whether so or not, this aged Simeon was one of those who lived 
 in earnest expectation of the manifestation of the long-promised 
 Messiah, and it had been revealed to him that his aged eyes should 
 behold the Lord’s Christ before they closed in death. He entered 
 the Temple at the moment of the presentation, and recognising in 
 the holy child the fulfilment of his hopes, he took him in his arms, 
 and we may conceive that tears of joy bedewed his venerable face 
 as he blessed God that the long-hoped-for day had dawned at last. 
 A very aged and devout woman, called Anna, who was a constant 
 frequenter of the Temple, was also present, and shared in the recog- 
 nition and the joy. 
 
 From Jerusalem the holy family did not proceed home to 
 Nazareth, but returned to Bethlehem. This is not said, but it is 
 implied in the connection of the narrative (Luke ii. 39 ; Matt. ii. 1). 
 Various reasons have been assigned for this step ; but the most 
 probable one seems to be that, as Jerusalem was only six miles from 
 Bethlehem, they proceeded to the Temple on the day appointed by 
 the law, and then returned to tarry a little longer with their friends, 
 or to wind up their affairs before they proceeded to their distant 
 home. It is, however, not unlikely that Mary, who, as we have 
 seen, was familiar with the Scriptures relating to the Messiah, may 
 have preferred Bethlehem on account of Micah v. 2, and from the 
 fame of the angelic vision which the shepherds witnessed. 
 
 Some time after the holy family had returned to Bethlehem, a 
 strong sensation was produced at Jerusalem by the arrival of certain 
 Eastern sages inquiring publicly for him who was born King of the 
 Jews, and declaring that, while in the far East, they had seen his 
 star and had come to offer him their homage. 
 
 The inquiries of these distinguished foreigners reached the ears of 
 Herod, and excited in him much jealousy and alarm. He was led 
 at once to conclude that the expected Messiah was at length come ; 
 and as he partook of the general delusion respecting the nature of 
 that kingdom which Christ would establish, he saw nothing in this 
 but ruin and overthrow to the dynasty which he had taken so much 
 trouble to establish. Nevertheless, although thus beholding in this 
 event the accomplishment of ancient prophecies, and of the desire 
 on which the heart of the nation was fixed, he arrived at the horrid 
 resolution of destroying in time so dangerous a claimant of sove- 
 reignty. To this end he assembled the ecclesiastical authorities, 
 and inquired of them the place which prophecy indicated as the 
 birth-place of Christ. Citing Micah v. 2 as their authority, they 
 with one voice declared that Bethlehem was the appointed place ; 
 and accordingly the crafty and unscrupulous tyrant directed the 
 Magi to seek him of whom they inquired in that city ; and he 
 desired that, when they had found him, they would return and 
 impart the result to him, that he also might go and tender his 
 homage. 
 
 The Magi then repaired to Bethlehem, and, being guided by the 
 star, which re-appeared before them, they soon discovered the infant 
 Jesus. The unexpectedly humble circumstances by which they 
 found him surrounded made no change in their purpose: “ they fell 
 down and worshipped him,” and then, according to the custom of 
 the East for all persons admitted to an audience to offer gifts of 
 more or less value, the strangers “ opened their treasures, and 
 presented to him gold, frankincense, and myrrh,” and these gifts 
 are supposed by many to have been typical of their allegiance and 
 their hopes. They then returned home, without passing through 
 Jerusalem as Herod had required, according to a warning which 
 they had received in a dream. Another warning, similarly con- 
 veyed to Joseph, occasioned the holy family to withdraw into 
 Egypt, which was then, and had long been, the general refuge for 
 all who were oppressed, or discontented, or apprehended danger in 
 Israel. 
 
54. — The Nativity. (Carlo Maratti.) 
 Yr Enedigaeth. 
 
 52. — Nazareth. 
 
 53. — Bethlehem. 
 
 
 56. — The Wise Men’s Offering- (Rubens.) 
 Offrwm y Doethion. 
 
 58. — The Infant St. John. (Murillo.) 
 Y Baban St. loan. 
 
 55. — The Presentation in the Temple. (F. Bartolomeo di S. Marco.) 
 Y Cyflwyniad yn y Demi. 
 
61. — The Phoenician Juniper. 
 Beryw Phenicaidd. 
 
 63.— Vineyard. 
 Gwinllan. 
 
 62.— The Valonidi Oak. 
 Derw Valonidi. 
 
 59. — Isaiah. 
 Esaiah. 
 
 64.— Watered Garden. 
 
 (Michael Angelo.) 
 
 60. — Cedars of Lebanon. 
 
 Gardd TMvfradwy. 
 
 D 
 
 Ctdrwydd Libanu*. 
 
 17 
 
18 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday III. 
 
 THE PROPHETS.— ISAIAH. 
 
 F tills, the first in time and rank of the 
 four greater prophets, vve possess no 
 authentic information beyond the few 
 scattered facts which may be gathered 
 from his own book and from those of 
 the Kings and Chronicles. 
 
 That Isaiah was the son of Amoz is 
 the only fact concerning his descent 
 with which we are acquainted. This 
 has suggested to some whether he was 
 not a son of Amos the prophet, who 
 certainly flourished before his time. But this question would not 
 occur to any one acquainted with the Hebrew language, in which 
 the name of this prophet is Amos and that of Isaiah’s father Amoz 
 or Amote. Many of the Jews themselves, indeed, claim for Isaiah 
 a prophetical pedigree, but they do this on the different and unte- 
 nable ground that in all cases in which the father of a prophet is 
 mentioned by name, he must have been himself a prophet. 
 
 Even a royal parentage has been claimed for Isaiah, but on no 
 better authority than that of a Rabbinical tradition, which alleges 
 that his father Amoz was brother to King Amaziah. All these 
 conjectures seem to have been framed with the view of better 
 accounting for his standing with king Hezekiah ; but it is altogether 
 unnecessary to suppose that this depended on his family and circum- 
 stances, or on anything save his piety and his vocation as a prophet. 
 
 From Isaiah vi. 1, vii. 1, &c., it has been concluded that Isaiah 
 commenced his prophetic career in the year that king Uzziah died 
 (750 b.c.). It is, however, possible that he had taken some part in 
 public affairs along while before, as it is expressly stated, in 2 Chron. 
 xxvi. 22, that he composed complete memoirs of that prince’s reign. 
 At all events, he must then have been past his first youth ; and if, as is 
 usually alleged, he lived to the reign of Manasseh, he must have 
 exercised the prophetic office for about fifty years, and could not 
 well have been under the age of eighty when he died. For common 
 knowledge it is, however, sufficient to understand that Isaiah pro- 
 phesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotliam, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings 
 of Judah. That he lived in the reign of Manasseh, and that this 
 monarch, enraged at his rebukes, commanded him to be sawn asunder, 
 is a mere tradition which comes with no authority to us. It has, 
 nevertheless, seemed to many that the nineteenth chapter bears 
 strong evidence of having been written during that monarch’s reign, 
 and the allusion in Heb. xi. 37, to those who had been “ sawn 
 asunder ” for tlteir testimony to the faith, has been supposed to refer 
 to him. 
 
 ISAIAH I.— V. 
 
 There is perhaps no sacred writer who affords more frequent and 
 interesting allusions than Isaiah to the natural scenery of Palestine, 
 its vegetation, and the culture of its soil. Many such occur in the 
 present chapters. 
 
 The Cedar-Trees supply many noble images and allusions to 
 this prophet. In Isa. ii. 12, abasement is threatened to every lofty 
 thing, and in proceeding to enumerate the loftiest objects in the 
 works of God and of man, “ the Cedars of Lebanon ” are mentioned 
 first of all. See also Isa. ix. 10; xxxvii. 24 ; xli. 19 ; and xliv. 14. 
 It has been doubted whether the tree which now bears the name of 
 “ Cedar of Lebanon ” is that which is really denoted by the Hebrew 
 word. Some rather strong arguments have been produced in favour 
 of regarding the Phoenician juniper as the Eres (the Hebrew word 
 rendered “ Cedar ”) of the Scriptures. But upon the whole we 
 prefer the usual opinion, for two reasons, — that there is no tree in 
 Lebanon which so well meets the ideas suggested by the magnificent 
 images connected with the tree by the Jewish prophets ; and that 
 its timber is still used for the purposes specified in the Scriptures. 
 
 Lebanon is still celebrated for its cedars, which are so often 
 mentioned in Scripture on account of their supplying the largest and 
 best timber for building witli which the Jews were acquainted — as 
 their own country, although not in those times so bare of wood as 
 at present, was rather deficient in timber-trees. There are plenty 
 of comparatively young cedars in different parts of Lebanon ; but 
 the attention of travellers is chiefly directed to a grove of them 
 near a village called Eden, high up the mountains, which contains 
 the largest and most venerable trees in all the mountains, and 
 which seems to have done so in Scriptural times, for Ezekiel 
 mentions “ the trees of Eden ” as “ the choicest and best of 
 Lebanon” (Ezek. xxxi.]G). Mr. Addison, in his ‘ Damascus and 
 Palmyra,’ thus speaks of these magnificent trees : — “ About mid- 
 
 night we arrived at the summit, the moon was shining brightly, and 
 we could distinguish the outlines of a glorious prospect around and 
 below. The moonlight was sufficiently strong for us to see the 
 cedars extending along an eminence beneath, — they looked like a 
 clump of juniper-bushes, much disappointing us in their appearance. 
 
 After descending two hours, we approached 
 
 the cedars, which now as much struck us by the magnitude and 
 venerableness of their appearance as they had before done by their 
 apparent insignificance. We could perceive the venerable old cedars 
 throwing up their leafless branches above the younger ones, and as 
 we approached the deep gloom cast by their wide-spreading branches, 
 through which a few solitary moonbeams trembled, a feeling of awe 
 came over us. Not a human dwelling was seen, and, fatigued and 
 wearied, we lay down and slept under one of the largest of the trees. 
 
 “ Daylight disclosed to us a grove of cedars, extending for near a 
 mile, and the only green objects in sight ; and a delicious prospect 
 in this country, where trees are so rare. In the midst of the grove 
 may be seen the venerable giant cedars, now only seven in number, 
 throwing up their white leafless branches, like wide-spreading stag- 
 horns, above the screen of green foliage that surrounds them ; inte- 
 resting as great curiosities of the vegetable world, from their magni- 
 tude and age, as well as from the associations connected with them. 
 
 “ These cedars of Lebanon are held in great veneration by the 
 inhabitants. The Christians celebrate an annual mass under their 
 shade, and the Mussulmen hold them in the greatest respect from 
 traditionary legends concerning them.” 
 
 The oa/is of Bashan, mentioned immediately after the cedars (Isa. 
 ii. 13), are throughout the Scriptures described in terms of prover- 
 bial distinction ; and even at the present day, it is in Bashan and 
 the neighbouring districts beyond the Jordan that oak-trees, which 
 are comparatively rare to the west of the river, take a leading part 
 in the scenery of the wooded hills. The Quercus robur, however, 
 which grows to so large a size and makes so imposing a figure among 
 our own forest-trees, is not to be found in Bashan. The evergreen 
 and prickly oaks are the most common, although other species are 
 sometimes met with. With these two trees, as we learn from Lord 
 Lindsay, many of the hills of Bashan and Gilead are covered to the 
 very summits, and in descending to the arid plains the evergreen 
 oak is the last by which the traveller is forsaken. He also mentions 
 a variety of the evergreen oak of broader leaf than usual, and 
 conjectures that this may be distinctively the oak of Bashan. But 
 it would appear that the term “oaks of Bashan” does not denote 
 any particular species, but merely indicates that the region was 
 distinguished for the finest oaks in Palestine, which is actually the 
 case at this day. The noble traveller describes the hills of Bashan 
 itself as richly wooded to the summits with noble prickly oaks 
 ( Quercus valonidi ?), a few pine-trees towering over them, and adds, 
 “ I never could have thought that the shrub I had seen covering the 
 hills of Hebron could have attained such size and beauty, yet the 
 leaf of the largest tree is not larger than that of the shrubs.” 
 
 “ A cottage in a vineyard , a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,” are 
 mentioned in Isa. i. 8. Both the “cottage ’’and the “ lodge ’’were 
 for the same purpose — for the use of the watchers stationed to 
 protect the ripening fruit from the depredations of men or animals. 
 As an isolated and solitary structure in the midst of large grounds, 
 and as abandoned during the greater part of the year, when those 
 which are of frailer materials, mere sheds or booths, fall to decay, 
 they furnish an apt emblem of the desolation which the prophet 
 describes. The terms “ cottage ” and “ lodge ” appear to describe 
 the two different kinds of fabrics used for this purpose: one, a mere 
 “booth which the keeper maketh ” (Job xxvii. 18), from year 
 to year, for the temporary purpose ; the other, a small cabin of stone, 
 which remains on the ground, and serves for many years. Sheds of 
 both kinds are still used in Palestine for the purposes indicated. 
 
 Another allusion to gardens is supplied in Isa. i, 30, “ A garden 
 that hath no water.” In the warmer parts of the Eastern countries, 
 a constant supply of water is so absolutely necessary for the cultiva- 
 tion, and even for the preservation and existence of a garden, that 
 should it want water but for a few days, everything in it would be 
 burnt up with heat and totally destroyed. There is, therefore, no 
 garden whatever in those countries but has such a certain supply, 
 either from some neighbouring river, or from a reservoir of water 
 collected from springs or filled with rain water in the proper season, 
 in sufficient quantity to form an ample provision for the rest of the 
 year. Solomon, in mentioning his gardens, does not fail to inform 
 us that he also “ made pools [reservoirs] of water, to water there- 
 with the wood that bringeth forth trees” (Eccles. ii. 6). The 
 manner in which the water is distributed through the gardens and 
 plantations, in small rills, for the purpose of irrigation, is shown in 
 the engraving. 
 
Sunday III ] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 19 
 
 SUNDAY III.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 Y the angels who had visited the tents 
 of Abraham a precise time had been 
 named for the birth of his Child. That 
 long promised, long expected day at 
 length arrived, and Sarah embraced a 
 son to whom was given the name of 
 Isaac (1896 b.c. ). Abraham was then 
 a hundred years old, and twenty-five 
 years had passed since this blessing had 
 been first promised to him ; and it is 
 perhaps difficult to conceive the glad- 
 ness winch filled the hearts of the aged pair at this accomplishment 
 of all their hopes. 
 
 The tenderness of the paternal heart towards Ishmael was unabated ; 
 but he was no longer even mistaken for the Child of the Promise, 
 no longer Sarah’s adopted son, and no longer his father’s heir by that 
 adoption. He had become the son of the bondwoman. As for Sarah, 
 the lad, who had appeared of some consequence in her eyes so long as 
 she had no hope of a child of her own, at once became as nothing in 
 her sight ; and what might have been merely a passive feeling in her, 
 was turned into bitterness and active dislike, against both Hagar 
 and her son, by the signs of discontent and even derision at her 
 happy lot which they suffered to transpire. At the great feast 
 u hich was held on the day that Isaac was weaned, these feelings 
 were so offensively manifested, that Sarah was roused to anger, 
 and she insisted with Abraham that they should be sent away from 
 the camp. This demand, which she had a right of custom to make, 
 was very grievous to Abraham because of his son ; but having been 
 assured from heaven that Ishmael, although not the promised heir, 
 should for his sake become a special object of the Divine care, and 
 that his posterity should become a mighty nation, his reluctance 
 subsided, and rising early in the morning, he sent them away with a 
 skin of water and such other provisions as the journey required. 
 
 It seems to have been the intention of Hagar to return to Egypt, 
 to which country she belonged. But having lost her way in the 
 southern wilderness, she wandered to and fro, till the water, which 
 was to have served her on the road, was altogether spent. The lad, 
 unused to hardships, was soon worn out. Overcome with heat, 
 fatigue, and thirst, he seemed at the point of death, when the 
 afflicted mother laid him down under the shade of a tree and with- 
 drew to some distance that she might not witness his dying pangs. 
 But God had not forgotten her. A Voice was heard in the solitude, 
 uttering words of comfort and promises of peace. Thus encouraged, 
 Hagar hastened to her son, raised him by the hand, and refreshed 
 him from a spring of water which had been disclosed to her view. 
 Painters and poets in representing this scene usually exhibit Hagar 
 as bearing her son in her arms, and laying him in the shade. This 
 is an error, for Ishmael was then fifteen or sixteen years of age, and, 
 conformably with this, the Voice directed her to take him “ by the 
 hand.” 
 
 After this they remained in the wilderness attached to some one 
 of the nomade tribes by which it was frequented ; and here the 
 son of Abraham became a famous person, to whom many of the 
 Arabian tribes have been proud to trace their origin. 
 
 The departure of Hagar and Ishmael restored peace to the tents 
 of Abraham ; and no incident of importance is recorded till Isaac 
 had reached the age of about twenty years old, when it pleased 
 God to subject the faith of the patriarch to a far more terrible 
 trial than any to which it had yet been subjected. He was com- 
 manded to take his son to the land of Moriah, and there offer him 
 up as a sacrifice to God. However the heart of the patriarch may 
 have been wrung, whatever thoughts crossed his mind, he faltered 
 not. "When others were in danger, he had interceded importunately 
 with God ; but now, when his own happiness and the life of his son 
 were in question, he was silent. This was the perfection of con- 
 fidence in God. W e should be in some doubt as to the precise 
 grounds in which he took comfort ; but the Apostle informs us that, 
 feeling assured that God, who had promised him a posterity through 
 Isaac, would undoubtedly perform his promise, he was persuaded that 
 God would, if needful, even raise Isaac from the dead after the 
 sacrifice had been accomplished (Heb. xi. 19). 
 
 In the morning Abraham set out on his journey, attended by two 
 servants, who carried the wood for the holocaust. At the end of 
 three days’ journey Abraham discerned the appointed place (supposed 
 by many to be the Mount Moriah on which the Temple eventually 
 stood), and bidding the servants remain, he went onward with his 
 son, who carried the wood destined to consume his own bodv. 
 
 Isaac, seeing all this usual preparation for a sacrifice, inquired 
 concerning the victim, which probably gave his father the 
 opportunity of making known the command under which he was 
 acting. That he did so is certain ; for he could not by constraint 
 have tied up the young man and laid him upon the altar. All was 
 ready, the knife was uplifted to give the death-stroke, when the 
 voice of an angel stayed his arm, and his attention was directed to a 
 ram (probably of the four-horned species), which he gladly substituted 
 for his son. Never were the promises made for the Father of the 
 Faithful pronounced with sucli marked emphasis as in the words 
 from heaven which rewarded this consummate act of high belief : — 
 
 “ By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast 
 done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that 
 in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply 
 thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon 
 the sea-shore : and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be 
 blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.” 
 
 About twelve years after this Abraham lost the companion of his 
 long pilgrimage, Sarah, who died at the age of one hundred and 
 twenty-seven years. She was buried with due observance in the 
 Cape of Machpelah near Hebron, which the patriarch purchased on 
 this occasion, and which became the family tomb of the patriarch. 
 Sepulchral caves, such as that in which Sarah was buried, are 
 common in the East. 
 
 The fact that his camp now wanted a female head, soon reminded 
 Abraham of providing a wife for his son Isaac. The measures 
 which he took on this occasion manifest his anxiety to observe the 
 family obligations which to this day constrain the heads of Arabian 
 families to seek wives for their sons among the cousins or near 
 relations ; and not less do they evince his desire to keep the blood 
 of the chosen race unmixed with that of strangers. He resolved to 
 send his eldest and most confidential servant to the present seat of 
 his family at Haran in Mesopotamia, to obtain thence a wife for 
 Isaac ; and before he set out he made him take a solemn oath that 
 he would faithfully perform this charge. And very faithfully did 
 he perform it. 
 
 With suitable presents, and with a train of camels corresponding 
 to the dignity and wealth of his master, Abraham’s servant set 
 forth upon his remarkable mission. Sixty-four years had now 
 passed since Abraham himself had quitted Haran, during which 
 little intercourse appears to have been kept up between him and 
 the elder branch of his family which tarried there. Some few 
 leading facts concerning each other they might gather from passing 
 caravans; and probably by this means Abraham knew that his 
 eldest brother Nahor had been favoured with several sons, one of 
 whom, named Bethuel, had a daughter called Rebekah, and a son 
 named Laban (Gen. xxii. 20 — 24). On the other hand, the family 
 in Haran appears to have been aware that Abraham still lived, and 
 was in prosperous circumstances in the land of Canaan. 
 
 The pious servant of a pious master at length arrived at Haran. 
 It was eventide when he came to the well outside the town, where 
 he allowed the camels to kneel down for rest, knowing that the 
 damsels of the place would soon be coming forth to fetch water for 
 the family use, and knowing also that the daughters of the besl 
 families were not exempted from this service, he prayed the God of 
 Abraham to indicate by a given sign which of all these virgins was 
 the destined wife of Isaac. The virgins of Haran soon came 
 Hocking forth for water, when he accosted one of them as she came 
 up from the well, and asked to drink a little water from her pitcher. 
 “ And she made haste and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, 
 and said, Drink, my lord, and I will give thy camels drink also.” 
 This was the very sign which he had requested ; and we may readily 
 believe that it was with no small anxiety that he awaited the result. 
 Having acknowledged her kindness by the princely gift of a frontlet 
 and massive bracelets of gold, he ventured to ask whose daughter she 
 was, and whether her family could afford him lodging. To his 
 great relief and joy he learned that the damsel was no other than 
 Rebekah, the daughter of his master’s nephew Bethuel, and that 
 there was ample accommodation in their dwelling for himself and 
 his camels. On this the grateful servant could not refrain from 
 blessing the God of Abraham, his master, on hearing which the 
 damsel ran off with the strange tidings to her home. The brother 
 Laban then hastened to the well, and brought the stranger to the 
 house. 
 
 Arrived there, this model of faithful servants refused to eat until 
 he had made known his errand and course of procedure. This of 
 course implied a claim for Rebekah as the wife of his young master ; 
 and he ended with “ And now if ye will deal truly and kindly with 
 my master, tell me ; and if not, tell me : that I may turn to the 
 right hand or to the left.” Bethuel and Laban answered with one 
 
 D 2 
 
67. Sepulchral Caves in the Cliffs of Wady Mousa (in Mount Seir).-Gen. xxiii. 
 
 Ogofaubeddrodol yng Ngblogwym Wauy Mousa (} ui Mynydd beii) 
 
 69. — Girl giving drink to a thirsty traveller.— Gen. xxiv. 
 Llangces yn rhoddi diod i deithiwr s*chedi£. 
 
 /U. — Women on Camels. — Gen. xxiv. 61. 
 Gwragedd ar Gamelod. 
 
 68. — Well, with Camels. — Gen. xxiv. Ffacbys. Ervum lent, 
 
 Pyde*, gjda Cnamelod. 
 
 20 
 
74.— Oriental Shepherds.— Gen. xxix. 3. 
 Bugeiliaid Dwyreiniol. 
 
 80.— River Jabbok. Zerka.— Gen. xxxii. 22. 
 Rhyd Jabboe. 
 
 81. — Booths or Sheds. — Gen. xxxili. 17. 
 Bythod neu Bentai. 
 
 83.— Rachel’s Sepulchre. 
 Beddrod RaheL. 
 
 75.— Laban searches for his Idols. (De la Hire.)— Gen. xxxi. 
 Laban yn cbwilio am ei Ddelvtau. 
 
 76.— Egyptian Scarabau. Engraved under-surfaces. 
 Gen. xxxi. 10. 
 
 Delwau Aiphtaidd. Tan-wynebau Cerfiedig. 
 
 82.— Tower in the Desert.— Gen. xxxv. 21. 
 Twr yn y Difleithwch. 
 
 73.— Billows of Stone and Wood.— Gen. xxviii. 11. 
 Gobeuyddiau Ceryg a Choed. 
 
 '7-— Egyptian Scarabaet. Back and side view.— 
 Gen. xxxi. 19. 
 
 Delwau Aiphtaidd. Gwelediad y cefn ac ochr. 
 
 76.— Egyptian Amulets.— Gen. xxxi. 19. 
 Cyfareddau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 79.— Teraphim t— Gen. xxxi. 19. 
 
 I3h 
 
 21 
 
22 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday III. 
 
 ■voice, that they could not gainsay a matter which was so clearly 
 under the Divine direction, and the consent of the damsel having 
 been obtained, she was mounted on one of the camels the next 
 morning, and witli a joyful heart and many blessings the servant of 
 Abraham commenced his homeward journey. Rebekah was accom- 
 panied by her nurse Deborah, for in the East nurses usually remain 
 as attached dependents, and often accompany to the home which 
 marriage brings her the maiden they have nourished. 
 
 As the party approached Beersheba, Isaac was walking out in 
 the fields “ to meditate at eventide.” He saw and was seen of the 
 advancing party, and when Rebekah heard from the servant that 
 this was her destined husband, she covered herself with her veil, 
 and as they approached she alighted from her camel. Isaac 
 conducted the fair stranger to his mother’s tent, the tent of the 
 lady of the camp ; and in her love — for he loved her greatly — found 
 comfort for the death of his mother, which he had taken deeply to 
 heart. 
 
 Not long after this Abraham himself took a second wife, named 
 Keturah, by whom he had six sons. He lived to see them grow up, 
 and sent them away to settle eastward with suitable portions, that 
 they might not interfere with Isaac, his heir and the child of the 
 promises. At length Abraham died, at the age of one hundred and 
 seventy-five years, exactly one hundred of which he had spent in 
 the land of Canaan. His great qualities and the dealings of God 
 with him, while a sojourner in that land, have made his name one 
 of the most illustrious in the world — a name preserved more than 
 most in the general memories of men. His name is found in the 
 history, traditions, worship, and annals of many nations. At this 
 day the East is full of his renown ; and the Jew, the Christian, 
 and the Moslem look up to him as their natural or spiritual 
 father. 
 
 Isaac was left the possessor of immense wealth, of that kind which 
 forms the possessions of a pastoral chief. He continued to reside at 
 Beersheba, without any other recorded trouble than the barrenness 
 of his wife Rebekah. But at length, after twenty years of mar- 
 riage, his prayers were heard, and two sons were given to him at 
 one birth. The first-born was called Esau, and the other Jacob ; 
 and it had been intimated to Rebekah, before the birth, that not 
 the elder, but the younger, was to be the heir of the promises. This 
 directs our attention to Jacob. As the boys grew up, a marked 
 distinction in their habits and character appeared. Esau was of 
 active and rough temperament, and employed much of his time in 
 hunting and the use of arms; whereas Jacob was of quiet and 
 sedentary habits, abiding in the tents, and occupied among the 
 flocks. Jacob was the favourite of his mother: but Isaac had 
 preference for Esau, who manifested his filial duty by making his 
 huntings the means of providing for his father the relishing food 
 which his growing infirmities required. 
 
 A famine which afflicted the part of Canaan which he inhabited, 
 inclined Isaac to withdraw into Egypt, but a Divine intimation 
 induced him to go into the territories of Abiinelech, the Philistine 
 king of Gerar. In this more compact little state, the presence of 
 so great a person was more sensibly felt than it had been in the 
 thinly inhabited districts in which the patriarchs had hitherto 
 encamped. The extent of his possessions was more clearly seen, 
 and the rapid increase they, by a perversity not unusual, seemed to 
 regard as at their expense. 
 
 Abraham had onqe been in that country, and had digged wells, 
 which the Philistines, after he withdrew, had filled up — in order to 
 extinguish that right to the soil which was created by forming wells 
 therein. These wells were cleared out by Isaac, who also formed new 
 ones ; and he proceeded to cultivate the ground, which returned him 
 increase a hundred-fold. The Philistines were, however, exceed- 
 ingly averse to see a right of property in the soil created by these 
 wells, and their opposition compelled the patriarch often to shift 
 his encampment. But at length, seeing how rapidly his wealth in- 
 creased, and believing that he was a special object of the Divine 
 care, they deemed it more prudent to cultivate his friendship. 
 Therefore, the king, attended by his officers, repaired to the camp of 
 the patriarch, and they entered into a covenant of peace in behalf 
 of themselves and of their heirs. 
 
 The uncertainties of the hunter’s life are strikingly illustrated by 
 the next important incident which we find recorded. Esau returned 
 one day to the tents unsuccessful, and ready to perish with hunger. 
 He found Jacob preparing a savoury mess of pottage, the odour of 
 which attracted the intense longing of the famishing hunter, and 
 for the enjoyment of it he readily surrendered the privileges which 
 belonged to him as the birthright of the elder son. When he had 
 leisure to reflect and to repent, he loved not the more that brother 
 who, taking advantage of his needs, had exacted so costly a price 
 
 for so small a benefit. The reckless character of Esau is further 
 illustrated by his taking two Hittite wives, Judith and Bashemath, 
 in defiance of the wishes of his parents, who, as he could not but 
 know, were highly averse to any such connection with the people 
 of the land. 
 
 Nevertheless, the now aged patriarch still desired to regard Esau 
 as the heir of the promises, and feeling his infirmities daily increase, 
 and his sight being entirely gone, he deemed it high time to bestow 
 upon his still favourite son the important “ blessing,” which, like a 
 modern will, would make over to him the headship of the tribe, 
 and the temporal and spiritual benefits which were in fact or pro- 
 spect connected with it. But first he desired some of that savoury 
 venison with which his rude son knew so well how to gratify his 
 enfeebled appetite. This interval gave Rebekah, who overheard the 
 arrangement, an opportunity of urging her favourite Jacob to 
 personate his brother, and thus add the coveted blessing to the 
 birthright he had already won. Jacob urged some faint scruples, 
 dictated more by the fear of detection than by virtuous principle, 
 and at length consented. It was not difficult to impose upon the 
 dulled senses of Iris blind father, and he received from him that free 
 and full blessing which could not be recalled. Esau soon came : 
 and the strong and fierce man wept like an infant when he learned 
 that his last hope had been riven from him. He vowed to be 
 avenged ; and yet, even in his passion being regardful of his father’s 
 peace, he postponed his vengeance till after the patriarch’s death, 
 which was then believed to be near at hand. 
 
 Learning his purpose, Rebekah resolved to send Jacob out of the 
 way to her own ancient home in Haran, where he might not only 
 remain till his brother’s anger had abated, but might obtain a wife 
 more suitable than those which Esau had chosen. Having received 
 the consent and blessing of his father, Jacob set forth alone upon 
 his long journey- This was necessary for his safety — but how 
 differently in a former day had the servant of Abraham gone the 
 same way, with his gifts and his camels, to seek a wife for 
 Isaac. 
 
 As he slept, with a stone for a pillow, at Bethel, he was cheered 
 by a vision, in which he beheld the angels ascending and descending 
 upon a ladder placed between earth and heaven, above which sat an 
 august personage who declared Himself to be the God of Abraham 
 and Isaac, and ratified to him in the fullest manner the blessings 
 originally promised to them. This was accompanied by assurances 
 and encouragements suited to his present circumstances, which 
 filled him with gratitude, and gave him such a lively sense of the 
 Divine providence, that he left Bethel a wiser and more single- 
 minded man, and with a lightened heart pursued his way to Padan-. 
 Aram. 
 
 On arriving at the well outside the town, Jacob entered into 
 conversation with some shepherds who were there to water their 
 flocks, and heard from them some particulars concerning the family 
 he had come to visit. While they talked, Rachel, the younger 
 daughter of Laban, and therefore Jacob’s first cousin, came to the 
 well to water the home-flock, which was under her charge. The 
 stranger assisted the damsel in watering her flock, and then made 
 himself known to her, and accompanied her to the house of her 
 father, where he was most cordially received. Laban soon per- 
 ceived the great skill and experience of Jacob in “ the shepherd’s 
 gentle trade,” and gladly entered into an agreement with Jacob to 
 give him his daughter Rachel as the reward of seven years’ service. 
 The marriage was accordingly celebrated with great rejoicings ; 
 but, by some deception, Laban contrived to substitute his elder 
 daughter Leah, for whom Jacob cared little, in the place of Rachel ; 
 and, when reproached with his conduct, alleged that the custom of 
 the country did not allow the younger to be married before the 
 elder sister. He, however, offered him Rachel also for seven more 
 years of his services, and, rather than be without one whom he 
 so tenderly loved, Jacob consented. The depth of his affection 
 for Rachel is beautifully suggested by the Sacred historian in one of 
 those simple but most natural strokes of moral portraiture which are 
 seldom found out of the Sacred book. “ Jacob served seven years 
 for Rachel : and they seemed unto him a few days , for the love he 
 bore to her.’' 
 
 This preference for Rachel led Jacob to treat Leah with some 
 indifference or neglect ; in consequence of which the Lord made 
 Leah the object of his favour and gave her children, which were 
 denied to Rachel. This induced Rachel to make use of her hand- 
 maid Bilhah, in the same capacity in which Hagar had been used 
 by Sarah. Leah followed the example by making the same use 
 of her handmaid Zilpah. By both there were children, and at 
 length Rachel herself was blessed with a son, who received the name 
 of Josech. 
 
 I 
 
Sunday III.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 23 
 
 SUNDAY III.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HEN King' Herod saw that the 
 Eastern magi had gone home without 
 a<jain visiting Jerusalem, his vexation 
 was great, for he thereby lost all means 
 of distinguishing from among all the 
 infants of Bethlehem the one whom he 
 had destined to destruction. He was 
 not a man who ever paused at any steps 
 necessary to the accomplishment of the 
 designs which he had once taken into 
 his mind. From this cause his reign 
 was full of horrors ; and much as we may be shocked, those who 
 know his character feel no surprise to find that he at once 
 determined to sweep away all the infants of Bethlehem under two 
 years old, that the one he had doomed might not escape. This 
 purpose was accomplished. The Evangelists give no particulars of 
 the dreadful scene, and the mind willingly declines the contemplation 
 of details so full of horror. No doubt the tyrant now thought 
 himself relieved from the cause of his misgivings, not knowing that 
 all this odium had been abortively incurred, and all this most 
 innocent blood shed without any profit even to him — for his destined 
 victim had escaped. 
 
 It may in some degree illustrate this transaction to bear in mind 
 that Herod must at this very time have been suffering great 
 torments from the painful malady of which he died. This 
 complaint was a dreadful disease in the bowels ; according to 
 Josephus, a devouring fire seemed to rage within him, and his 
 pains were unutterable, while his inner parts underwent a constant 
 dying and corruption. His person became loathsome to all who 
 approached him, and he was consumed by a fierce hunger which 
 nothing could appease. This kind of disease was regarded by the 
 Jews and other Asiatics as a chastisement especially reserved by God 
 for the punishment of unrighteous and tyrannous kings; and 
 certainly, such an ending of such a career is well calculated to 
 call forth the thought, “ Yerily, he is a God that judgeth in the 
 earth !” 
 
 In vain did Herod summon famous physicians from far countries 
 to Jerusalem ; in vain did he repair to the warm springs of 
 Callirhoe ; — there was no help for him, and he saw that his last hour 
 was at hand. He then sent an urgent summons to the principal 
 persons of Jerusalem to attend him at Jericho, and there caused 
 them to be shut up in the hippodrome, leaving orders that they 
 should all be slain as soon as he had expired. His avowed reason 
 was, that, knowing he was hated by the Jews, he was resolved there 
 should be mourning at his death. But a dead tyrant can no longer 
 ensure obedience, and when he actually died they were set free. 
 
 In his last will Herod made a distribution of his dominions 
 among his sons, which was in the main afterwards confirmed by the 
 emperor Augustus. The Kingdom of Judaea he gave to Archelaus ; 
 to Herod Antipas, the tetrarchy of Galilee and of Peraea beyond 
 Jordan ; to Philip, the tetrarchy formed by the districts of 
 Trachonitis, Gaulonitis, and Batanaea (Bashan), all beyond the 
 Jordan. 
 
 Soon after this Herod the Great expired, thirty years after he 
 had been declared king of the Jews by the Roman senate, and 
 thirty-four years from his actual possession of the throne. He was 
 honoured with a more magnificent funeral than any king of Israel 
 before him ; but few, if any, were the real tears shed at his death. 
 
 Meanwhile the Holy Family remained in Egypt. The gifts of 
 the Eastern sages no doubt enabled them to travel thither, and to 
 live there in comfort. But we have no authentic accounts of the 
 travel or the sojourn. An old tradition of the Greek Church 
 alleges that the family tarried at Hermopolis ; and at a place 
 called Matarieh, between Cairo and Heliopolis, corresponding to the 
 situation of the ancient city of that name, there is a fountain at 
 which it is pretended that the Virgin was wont to lave the infant 
 Jesus, and which is on that account held in much veneration 
 throughout the country. 
 
 ■When Herod was dead the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream 
 to Joseph, and enjoined him to return to the land of Israel. He 
 accordingly took the young child and its mother, and returned into 
 Judaea. It seems to have been his first intention to remain there, 
 probably at Bethlehem ; but finding that Archelaus reigned, and 
 fearing that he might have inherited the temper of his father, it 
 was deemed more prudent to proceed to Nazareth, which, being in 
 Galilee, was under the different government of Herod Antipas. 
 
 The abode from infancy in Nazareth, coupled with the fact that 
 
 Mary and Joseph belonged to that place, occasioned Jesus to be 
 regarded and called “ a Nazarene,” although, in fact, a native of 
 Bethlehem. This was afterwards often alleged as an objection to 
 his being recognised as the Messiah ; for it was well known 
 (especially since the formal decision which the priests and scribes 
 had communicated to Herod) that Bethlehem was the place from 
 which the Messiah was to come. Hence the strongly expressed 
 objection of some people, when at a future time his claim was under 
 discussion — “Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the 
 Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of 
 the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” (John vii. 42). 
 
 Bethlehem derives all its celebrity from having been the 
 birthplace of David and of Christ. It was, indeed, fortified by 
 Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 6), but does not seem to have been ever of 
 much consequence. It is expressly described as “ small ” by the 
 prophet Micah (v. 2), in the very passage which pointed it out as 
 the birthplace of the Messiah : — “ But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 
 though thou be little among the thousands of Judah , yet out of thee 
 shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel,” &c. 
 Ephrath {the fruitful ) was the name which the place bore in the 
 time of the patriarchs (Gen. xlviii. 7), and which was still 
 sometimes used after it had acquired the name of Bethlehem. It is 
 pleasantly situated about six miles to the south of Jerusalem, and 
 stands upon the brow of a hill which commands an extensive view 
 of the surrounding mountainous country. The hill itself is laid out 
 in terraced vineyards, almond-groves, and plantations of fig-trees, 
 watered by gentle rivulets that murmur through the terraces, and 
 diversified by watch-towers and wine-presses. It is now a large 
 village, chiefly composed of one long street of flat-roofed houses 
 built with clay and bricks. The inhabitants are about three 
 thousand in number, mostly native Christians. They are of a 
 turbulent character, and much employed in the manufacture of 
 rosaries and other memorials, which the pilgrims who visit the spot 
 of our Lord’s nativity are glad to purchase. A church, called the 
 Church of the Nativity, has been built over the supposed site of 
 this illustrious birth. The church is old, and is accounted the 
 finest architectural building now remaining in Palestine. It 
 contains a grotto, which is about twenty feet below the general 
 level of the church, and is shown, with very little probability, 
 as the place where the Saviour of men was born. This cave is 
 lined with Italian marbles, and lighted by numerous lamps ; and 
 here the reverent pilgrim is shown the exact spot where our Lord 
 was born, and of the manger in which he was laid. 
 
 Nazareth seems to have been a small and unimportant village, 
 for it is not mentioned either in the Old Testament or by Josephus. 
 It is situated about six miles W.N.W. from Mount Tabor, and 
 lies on the western side of a narrow oblong basin or depressed 
 valley about a mile long by a quarter broad. The houses stand 
 on the lower part of the slope of the western hill, which rises 
 steep and high above them. It is a small and more than usually 
 well-built place, containing about three thousand inhabitants of 
 whom about two-thirds are Christians. The flat-roofed houses are 
 built of stone, and mostly two stories high. The environs are 
 planted with luxuriantly growing fig-trees, olive-trees, and vines ; 
 and the crops of corn are scarcely equalled through the length and 
 breadth of Canaan. All the spots which could be supposed to be 
 in any way connected with the history of Christ are, of course, 
 pointed out by the monks and local guides, but on authority too 
 precarious to deserve any credit, and with circumstances too puerile 
 for reverence. It is enough to know our Lord dwelt here ; that for 
 thirty years he trod this spot of earth, and was familiar with the 
 scenes which are spread around. Professor Robinson, looking 
 around from the hill above, which commands an extensive prospect, 
 succeeded in realizing this more general point of view : — “ ] 
 remained for some hours upon the spot, lost in the contemplation 
 of the wide prospect, and of the events connected with the scenes 
 around. In the village below the Saviour of the world had 
 passed his childhood ; and although we have few particulars 
 of his life during those early years, yet there are certain 
 features of nature which meet our eyes now just as they once met 
 his. He must often have visited the fountain near which we 
 had pitched our tent ; his feet must frequently have wandered over 
 the adjacent hills ; and his eyes doubtless have gazed upon the 
 splendid prospect from this very spot. Here the Prince of Peace 
 looked down upon the great plain [of Esdraelon] where the din of 
 battle so oft had rolled, and the garments of the warrior been dyed 
 in blood ; and he looked out too upon that sea over which the swift 
 ships were to besr the tidings of his salvation to nations and to 
 continents then unknown !” 
 
o*. — Virgin and Child. (Vandyke.) 
 Y Forwyn a’r Mab bychan. 
 
 85.— The Holy Paniily. Y Teulu Sanctaidd. i&ir Joshua Reynolds.) 
 
 86.— Virgin, Child, and St. John. (Raphael.) 
 Y Forwyn, y Mab bychan, a St. loan. 
 
 88.— Cherubim and Seraphim. ^Reynolds.) 
 Y Cerubiuid a’r Seiaphiaid. 
 
 87.— Virgin, Child, and St. John. (Raphael.) 
 Y Forwyn, y Mab bychan, a St. loan. 
 
 24 
 
90. — rpoim xvi. 
 
 91. — Psalm xvii. 
 
 94. — Ps alm xx. 
 
 95.— Psalm xxi. 
 
 97.— Psalm xxiii. 
 
 98. — Figure supposed to repiesent King David. Engraved in Donius’s 
 *' Lyra Barberina.” 
 
 Llun Dafydd Frenin, fcl y tybir. 
 
 89. — Psalm xv. 
 
 ORD, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle ? or who shall rest 
 upon thy holy hill !— 1. 
 
 Psalm xviii. 
 
 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them : he cast forth 
 lightnings, and destroy* d them. — 14. 
 
 93. — Psalm xix. 
 
 HE heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
 sheweth his handy work. — 1. 
 
 Psalm xxii. 
 
 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my 
 vesture. — 18. 
 
 92. — Psalm xviii. 
 
 E 
 
 25 
 
26 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday IV. 
 
 SUNDAY IV.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 Hebrew Lyric Poetry. 
 
 OULD we implicitly follow the titles 
 of the Psalms and common opinion, 
 we might be led to conclude that the 
 lyric poetry of the Hebrews, as well 
 as the largest portion of the Psalms 
 themselves, was a production of David 
 and his contemporaries. There are, 
 indeed, a few specimens of such poetry 
 before his time ; but they scarcely enter 
 into consideration compared with the 
 fertility of that period in which he lived. In the earlier history 
 it is but occasionally that the voice of poetry is heard, as in the 
 song of Moses at the Red Sea, of Deborah, and of Hannah. We 
 are therefore surprised after so few attempts at lyric poetry, to 
 see so accomplished and fertile a poet as David rise up, as it were, 
 all at once, with several others in his company. So rapid a progress 
 pre-supposes some adequate occasion, some preparatory steps. 
 Seeking for these, many critics have lighted upon the schools of 
 the prophets, which existed in the immediately preceding times of 
 Samuel, if they were not founded by him. Here it is assumed that 
 the composition of Psalms was cultivated and brought to perfection, 
 and that here David and others received their education in min- 
 .strelsy. But this position, when closely examined, rests on no 
 solid foundation. If David had frequented the schools of the 
 prophets, he must have been known to Samuel ; but there is not 
 the least sign that the prophet knew him ; there is much to show 
 that he did not know him till he went to anoint one of Jesse’s sons 
 at Bethlehem, up to which time David appears to have been 
 entirely occupied with his father’s flock (1 Sam. xvi. 6). Indeed, 
 the great intimacy of David with all that belonged to the shepherd’s 
 life, which supplies so many beautiful and picturesque images to 
 his Psalms, evinces that his youth was entirely spent in the care of 
 flocks, and not in the schools of the prophets. In fact, David was 
 already famed for his minstrelsy before Samuel knew him (1 Sam. 
 xvi. 18) ; and as music and song were not in those ages separated, 
 we may conclude that as a poet also the son of Jesse was already 
 known and celebrated. Natural taste and capacity, joined to the 
 much practice which open-air leisure of the shepherd’s life afforded, 
 might have done quite as much for David as that mere artificial 
 system which is supposed, without good reason, to have prevailed 
 in the schools of the prophets. Indeed the well known tendency 
 to connect poetry and music with the pastoral life, as followed in 
 more genial climates than our own, shows that David, left so much 
 alone with his flock, with his God, and with nature, was in the 
 best possible school for creating such a poet and such a minstrel 
 as he became. 
 
 Thus far a pastoral origin may be ascribed to David’s poetical 
 character : but it was also popular ; for notwithstanding the scanti- 
 ness of the indications of a pre-existing taste for lyric poetry among 
 the Hebrews, there is quite enough to prove that it did not spring 
 at once out of the dry ground in the time of David, but existed in 
 at least a sufficient degree to impart the bent of mind which his 
 pastoral occupation enabled him with much advantage to cultivate. 
 This is shown even by the short pean with which the maidens of 
 Israel celebrated David’s own victory over Goliah — 
 
 lt Saul 8mote his thousands, 
 
 But David his ten thousands’' — 
 
 which exhibits a species of poetry truly lyric of its kind, though 
 rude and uncultivated. It also shows a rough example of that sort 
 of poetical parallelism which in the Psalms of David himself is 
 carried to a high degree of perfection. Still earlier, and in addition 
 to the son"s of Moses, Deborah and Hannah, to which we have 
 already alluded, we find, particularly among the women, the practice 
 of music and the dance, with which song could not fail to be con- 
 nected. Jephthah’s daughter came out to meet her father with 
 timbrels and with dances (Judges xi. 34). At Shiloh the damsels 
 held a yearly festival witli dances. It has been questioned whether 
 Samson was not a minstrel, from his having been called “ to play” 
 before the Philistines (Judges xvi. 25), which, even if understood, as 
 it usually is, of the dance, does not exclude the accompaniments of 
 song and instrumental music. Facts like these, however insulated, 
 seem abundantly sufficient to evince the existence of a poetical taste 
 and capacity among the Hebrew people before the appearance of 
 David, and relieve us from any necessity of sending David himself 
 to the schools of the prophets for his poetical education. 
 
 PSALMS XV.— XXIII. 
 
 In connection with some of the preceding remarks, our attention 
 is drawn to the pastoral images contained in the Psalms now before 
 us. Indeed, there is no single Psalm in which a larger number of 
 images are embodied than in the twenty-third. 
 
 The poet, gathering comfort in all troubles from the conviction cf 
 the loving-kindness, no less than of the power of the God whom he 
 had served, argues, “ The Lord is my shepherd : therefore can I want 
 nothing” (Psalm xxiii. 1). This image is obviously suggested by 
 the care, the forethought, the management, and the tenderness 
 exercised by the Eastern shepherds to provide for and to defend 
 their flocks in the unfrequented and wild regions into which they 
 were often led for pasture. In another Psalm (lxxx. 1) this com- 
 parison is even more emphatically produced : “ Give ear, O Shep- 
 herd of Israel — thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.” In the same 
 sense kings also are described as standing in this pastoral relation 
 to their people ; and although David did not originate this com- 
 parison, no man ever lived who could use it with the same degree 
 of force and propriety as one wdio, like him, had been called from 
 the pastures to a throne. This may be instanced by reference to 
 Psalm lxxviii. 70 — 73: “He chose David also his servant, and 
 took him away from the sheepfolds. As he w'as following the ewes 
 great with young ones, he took him, that he might feed Jacob his 
 people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them with a» faithful 
 and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power.” To 
 apprehend the force of this idea we should recollect some of the 
 peculiar conditions of the ancient pastoral life. The Hebrew 
 patriarchs, and i n a great measure their descendants, when settled 
 in Canaan, did not usually intrust their flocks to menials and 
 strangers, but either tended them in person or intrusted them to 
 their sons or near relations. The flock which David himself tended 
 was that of his father Jesse. In later times, the increase of popu- 
 lation and of the town life, led to the use of hired shepherds ; but 
 the difference of treatment which the flock received under the 
 different circumstances was most strongly felt by the Jews, and 
 was, on one occasion, most pointedly indicated by our Saviour, 
 who, in comparing himself to the shepherd-owner of a flock, says, 
 “ I am the good shepherd ; the good shepherd giveth his life for 
 the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose 
 own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep 
 
 and fleeth The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and 
 
 careth not for the sheep.” (John x. 11 — 13). This position of our 
 Saviour is admirably illustrated by the conduct of David himself, 
 who combated and slew both a lion and a bear in defence of his 
 father’s flock (1 Sam. xvii. 34, 35). If, therefore, the sheep under 
 the care of the shepherd-owner may rest in quiet, confident of 
 lacking nothing which the care of that shepherd can provide, how 
 much more he whose shepherd is the Lord ! 
 
 The Psalm pursues the image by considering that this kind and 
 powerful shepherd “ shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead me 
 forth beside the waters of comfort.” This is but one of many beau- 
 tiful passages of Scripture alluding to the practice of the Eastern 
 shepherds in leading their flocks from one region to another in search 
 of green pasture. In winter and early spring the rains compel the 
 roots and seeds of the desert to shoot, which in summer were kept 
 down by excessive drought- But the moisture clothes the wilderness 
 with verdure, and with the succulent and nutritive herbage in which 
 the flocks luxuriate and prosper. And when the periodical drought 
 returns to the wilderness, the shepherd leads off his flocks to the 
 mountains, the streams, and the habitable districts where herbage 
 yet remains. Thus it is an important point of the Eastern shepherd’s 
 character, that he should possess such a knowledge of the country and 
 its pasture-grounds as may enable him to move his flock from one 
 point to another with the moral certainty of finding good pasturage 
 in the place to which he is going. The bad, that is the ignorant 
 shepherd exposes his flock to the danger of perishing from hunger or 
 fatigue: from hunger, if no pasture is found in the expected place; 
 from fatigue, in hurrying the flock from one place to another, in the 
 vague expectation of finding that which he knows not where to find. 
 
 The Eastern shepherd has a staff of considerable length, with 
 which he keeps his sheep in order. This is of great use both to the 
 shepherd and the sheep. It helps the former to guide his sheep in 
 the right way, to keep them from danger, to extricate them from 
 difficulties, and to collect those that stray. Hence the rod or staff 
 is throughout the Scriptures described as a source of confidence, and 
 not of fear, to the sheep. It is to this the Psalmist alludes, “ Though 
 I walkthrough the valley of the shadow of death (t. c. through dan- 
 gerous and dreadful places), I will fear no evil, for Thou art with 
 i me ; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” 
 
Sunday IV.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 27 
 
 SUNDAY IV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 ORE than satisfied with the services of 
 Jacob, and well assured that the flocks 
 had been much advantaged by his su- 
 perintendence, Laban still desired to 
 avail himself of his services after the 
 fourteen years had expired ; and Jacob 
 on his part was not unwilling to remain 
 on any terms which afforded him a 
 prospect of acquiring a provision for 
 his family. It was then settled that 
 Jacob, for the services of seven other years, should be paid in kind, 
 by reserving for his own use such of the sheep and goats as might 
 happen to be parti-coloured, which is not usual in any flocks, and 
 very unusual in those of the East. In consequence of this arrange- 
 ment, the flock under the charge of Jacob was carefully severed 
 from that to which Laban and his sons attended ; and thenceforth 
 whenever a parti-coloured lamb or kid was born in the flock of 
 Jacob, he set it apart as his own. Through the special providence 
 of God, who at Bethel had promised to care for and make pros- 
 perous the grandson of Abraham, an extraordinary proportion of 
 parti-coloured animals was thenceforth born, and soon furnished a 
 large flock, which Jacob committed to the separate charge of his 
 elder sons. By the time the seven years had expired, this flock 
 had increased amazingly, and with its produce Jacob had been 
 enabled to obtain large possessions of what usually constitutes the 
 wealth of a pastoral chief — “much cattle, and men-servants, and 
 maid-servants, and camels, and asses.” 
 
 It was well known to Jacob that his prosperity was regarded 
 with no pleasure by Laban and his sons, who deemed all his gains 
 as so much loss to them. He thence became apprehensive that any 
 attempt to remove with his property would be resisted ; and as he 
 was now resolved to return to the land of Canaan, from which lie 
 had so long been absent, he went away secretly while Laban was at 
 the distance of three days’ journey. A pastoral migration, with 
 slow-going sheep, young animals, women, and infants, can never be 
 a very rapid movement. Hence we are not surprised to find that 
 he was overtaken by Laban by the time he reached the Mountains 
 of Gilead. We may be sure that Laban’s purposes were not very 
 amicable. But the night before he came up with Jacob, he was 
 warned in a dream to take heed how he molested one for whom 
 God cared. This changed his purpose ; but being now so near, he 
 went on, and joined the migrant party while at rest. His sterner 
 purposes now sunk to sharp complaints and strong expostulations 
 that no opportunity had been afforded him of embracing his 
 daughters and grandchildren, and of sending them away with music 
 and with song. He also complained that his gods — certain figures 
 called Teraphim, used as domestic idols — had been stolen from 
 him by some of Jacob’s party. This charge was indignantly 
 repelled by Jacob, who gave him authority to search for them, and 
 denounced death upon any person in whose possession they might 
 be found. Little did he know in what peril he thus put his beloved 
 Rachel: for she had them: having secreted them from some unknown 
 but probably superstitious motive. They were hid in the furniture 
 of her camel ; and as this formed her seat in the tent, they escaped 
 the search of her father ; who returned home the next day, after 
 having entered into solemn covenants of peace with the man he 
 had so wrathfully pursued. 
 
 Jacob’s next care was concerning Esau, with whose present state 
 of mind towards him he was by no means acquainted. But he 
 knew that he had established himself in the regions of Mount Seir, 
 and had there acquired great power as a military chief. He deemed 
 it prudent to send a most respectfully worded message, apprising 
 him of his return home. The messengers returned with no other 
 intimation than that E«au himself was coming to meet him with 
 four hundred men. This intimation filled Jacob with real and well- 
 grounded alarm. He made the best arrangements in his power to 
 meet the exigency, with the view, on the one hand, of mollifying his 
 brother, and, on the other, of securing the retreat of his rear (con- 
 sisting of the women and children), in case the van should be assaulted 
 by Esau’s troop. He then sent his people across the river Jabbok, 
 and remained behind himself, probably for the sake of that solitary 
 “ communing with God ” in which the Hebrew patriarchs found so 
 much of their strength and safety. Here he was comforted and 
 encouraged by the deep meanings of a mysterious conflict with an 
 angel of God, who seemed unable to prevail over Jacob till he put 
 forth a supernatural power, and disabled him for the time, by 
 
 causing the sinew of his thigh to shrink when he laid his hand 
 thereon. It was then that the name of Jacob ( supplantcr ) was 
 changed to Israel (a prince of God ) — “ Because (said the angel) 
 as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast 
 prevailed.” 
 
 Halting still upon his thigh, but greatly encouraged, the patriarch 
 passed over the river as the morning rose, and, on reaching tiie 
 top of the opposite bank, beheld Esau and his troop approaching in 
 the distance. Whatever may have been the intentions of that rude 
 but not ungenerous person, he was fairly softened by the marks of 
 respect and consideration which he received, as he passed along the 
 purposely extended line of flocks, and herds, and shepherds : and when 
 at length he came up with Jacob, who bowed before him, as one 
 doubting of his reception and his doom — he could contain himself no 
 longer, but “ ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his 
 neck and kissed him : — and they wept.” Blessed tears were these: 
 — the tears of a full heart ; “ tears such as angels shed,” if angels 
 ever weep. 
 
 Esau would very willingly have escorted Jacob the rest of his 
 way ; but the latter, intending to proceed very leisurely, respectfully 
 declined the offer, and his brother then returned to Mount Seir, 
 which continued for many ages to be ruled, and was in a great 
 measure peopled, by his descendants, and hence obtained the name 
 of the land of Edom and of Idumaea. 
 
 Before he crossed the Jordan, some stay was made by Jacob at 
 Succoth, where his camp was formed of booths or sheds, made of 
 the wood which was then, and is even now, abundant in that 
 quarter. 
 
 On crossing the river, he did not at once rejoin his father, who 
 was still living, but proceeded to the vale of Shechem, where 
 Abraham also had formed his first encampment in the land of 
 Canaan. Here he remained until the terrible vengeance which was 
 taken upon the people of Shechem, by the sons of Jacob, for an 
 outrage upon their sister Dinah, made it prudent for him to quit 
 that neighbourhood. He went to Bethel. There he built an altar, 
 and worshipped God, in grateful remembrance of the encourage- 
 ments which had been on that spot vouchsafed him on his way to 
 Padanaram. 
 
 After this, Jacob journeyed southward to visit his father. On 
 the way, when near Bethlehem, his beloved Rachel died in giving 
 birth to a second son, whom the mother, in her dying grief, called 
 Benoni (son of my sorrow), but which name the father afterwards 
 changed to Benjamin ( son of my right hand). A tomb, of Moslem 
 construction, called “ Rachel’s Sepulchre,” at this day marks the 
 supposed place of her burial. 
 
 After about thirty years’ absence, Jacob at length joined his 
 aged father Isaac, who was then at the old encampment of the 
 family at Mamre, near Hebron. The concise narrative gives 
 no particulars of the interview between the father and son ; and it 
 would appear that Rebekah had been some time dead. Isaac 
 himself survived the re-union with his son several years, arid died 
 at the age of one hundred and eighty years (1716 b.o.). 
 
 The interest of the Sacred history now turns to Jacob’s sons, 
 and in particular to Joseph, the first, and for a long while the only 
 son of his much loved Rachel. Jacob’s family consisted of twelve 
 sons, the founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Their names 
 were — 
 
 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judaii, Issaciiar, and Zebulon, sons 
 of Leah. 
 
 Gad and Asher, sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid. 
 
 Dan and Naphtali, sons of Billrah, Rachel’s handmaid. 
 
 JosErn and Benjamin, sons of Rachel. 
 
 Joseph was far more dear to his father than any of his other sons. 
 He made no secret of this, as a wise father would perhaps have 
 done. Nay, rather he gloried in making it known, and even went 
 so far as to clothe him in a peculiarly handsome dress — “a coat of 
 many colours,” as a mark of favour and distinction. These marks 
 of partiality were very displeasing to Joseph’s brothers, anil made 
 him odious in their eyes. These feelings were strengthened by 
 certain dreams which Joseph dreamed in early youth, and which 
 seemed to prefigure some unimaginable superiority and greatness to 
 him. At onetime they were binding sheaves in the field, when, lo! 
 their sheaves rose up and made obeisance to his sheaf. At another 
 time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars made obeisance to 
 him. Another cause of dislike was found in the fact that when 
 they had been abroad with the flocks, Joseph was in the habit of 
 reporting to his father their misconduct, and of bringing upon them 
 the dreaded rebuke of their parent. 
 
 One day, when Joseph was about seventeen years old, he was 
 sent by his father, who had kept him at home, to seek his brethre.n 
 
 E 2 
 
101.— Joseph relating his Dreams to his Brethren. 
 Joseph yn mynegi ei Freuddwydion i’w Frodyr, 
 
 103.— Egyptian Stewards.- Gen. iixix. 4 , 
 Goruchwylwyr Aiphtaidd. 
 
 107. — a Triticum sativum ; b Uolcus sorghum.— Gen. xlt. 4. 
 
 (Raffaelle.) — Gen xxxvii. 
 
 104 .— Egyptian Lady.— Gen. xxxix. 
 Boneddiges Aiphtaidd. 
 
 (Spagnoletti.)— Gen. xL 
 
 106.— Joseph interpreting the Dreams of the Butler and Baker. 
 Joseph yu deungli Breuddwydiou y Truliiad a'r Pobydd. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
108. — Egyptian King on his Throne. — Gen. xli. 14. 
 Brenin yr Aipht ar ei OrsedcL 
 
 111.— Signet Rings of Ancient Egypt.— Gen. xli, 42. 
 Sel-fodrwyau yr Aipht Hynafol. 
 
 116.— Egyptian Wine-cups. — Gen. xliv. 2. 
 Cwpanau Gwin yr Aipht. 
 
 109.— Egyptian Granary. — Gen. xli. 35. 
 Ystordy Aipbtaidd. 
 
 110.— Storing Corn.— Gen. xli. 35. 
 Ystorio Yd. 
 
so 
 
 BIBLE HISTOEY. 
 
 [Sunday IY. 
 
 who had for sonje time been out in distant pastures, and bring back 
 an account of their welfare. Joseph found them at Dothan. They 
 knew him afar off by his coat of many colours, and immediately 
 began to plot against his life. They had certainly killed him on 
 the spot, but for some scruple, suggested by Reuben, of shedding a 
 brother’s blood. They therefore cast him into a dry cistern, 
 intending to leave him there to perish, and to inform their father 
 that he had been destroyed by a wild beast. 
 
 Soon after, however, they observed the approach of a caravan of 
 Arabian merchants, proceeding with balm and other precious drugs 
 to Egypt, and it immediately struck them that they might quite as 
 safely, less guiltily, and with some profit besides, dispose of the 
 unhappy Joseph by selling him for a slave to these travelling 
 dealers. They accordingly drew him up out of the pit, and sold 
 him for twenty pieces of silver. They then took his coat, the 
 envied coat of many colours, and, after dipping it in the blood of a 
 slaughtered kid, they sent it to their father. The agonized father 
 immediately received the conviction they desired. “ It is my son’s 
 coat (he said) ; an evil beast hath devoured him : Joseph is without 
 doubt rent in pieces !” He mourned long and sorely for his lost 
 son ; and when at length time brought some calm to his feelings, 
 he continued faithful to that one affection of which Rachel, whose 
 idea lived to him in her sons, had so long been the true centre ; 
 for his love was now transferred to Benjamin, his youngest child, 
 and the only one by her who remained to hiin. 
 
 Meanwhile, Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and was there sold 
 to one of the officers of the royal court. In this country there then 
 existed an imperial court, with a minutely organized government, 
 an ecclesiastical establishment, a military force, and civil institutions 
 — all bearing the stamp of an advanced stage of civilization, and of 
 a condition of society very different from that which we have left 
 behind us in Palestine. 
 
 Joseph’s diligence, probity, attention, and fine qualities soon 
 recommended him to his master Potiphar, in whose confidence he 
 rose so high, that all the affairs of the household were eventually 
 left in his hands. 
 
 Now Joseph was a very handsome man, and it happened that he 
 attracted the too favourable notice of his master’s wife. She 
 tempted him to sin. But he remembered his God, he remembered 
 the generous confidence of his master, and firmly refused. Seeing 
 there was no hope, the woman’s love turned to vengeful hatred, 
 and she resolved to effect his ruin. To this end nothing seemed to 
 her more effectual than to accuse him of attempting the very crime 
 into which she had vainly endeavoured to draw him. And it was 
 .effectual ; for Potiphar was wroth, and cast his slave into prison. 
 But even in prison Joseph’s useful talents and engaging disposition 
 still availed him. He soon acquired the entire confidence of the 
 governor of the prison, who gave all the other prisoners into his 
 charge. 
 
 Among those who were sent into the prison after Joseph had 
 been thus favoured, were two important officers of Pharaoh’s court, 
 his chief butler, and his chief cook, or baker, who, from the nature 
 of their offices, we should suppose to have been accused of some 
 attempt to poison their royal master in his food or drink. 
 
 Dreams have always been much regarded in the East ; and one 
 night the butler and baker both had dreams which troubled them 
 greatly. The butler dreamed that, in the discharge of his office, 
 lie presented the wine-cup into Pharaoh’s hand ; the baker dreamed 
 that he was carrying upon his head baked meats for the royal table, 
 when the birds of the air descended and carried them away. Joseph 
 interpreted the dreams to signify, that before three days had passed 
 the butler should be restored to his office, and the baker put to 
 death. And so it happened. On Pharaoh’s birthday inquiry was 
 made into the matter, and the baker was beheaded, and the butler 
 was restored to his place. Joseph had earnestly represented his 
 case to this butler, and had implored him to use his recovered 
 influence in his behalf. But the prosperous have little remembrance 
 for the unhappy : and the butler altogether forgot Joseph, until, in 
 the good providence of God, an occasion arose which brought him 
 to remembrance. 
 
 The king himself was troubled with two dreams, which, although 
 composed of different materials, were obviously one as to any import 
 which might be collected from them. In the first, Pharaoh thought 
 that, as he stood beside the fertilizing Nile, seven fair and full- 
 Heshed kine came up out of the water, and were feeding in a 
 meadow, when seven gaunt and lean kine came up after them, and 
 devoured them all. Then, seven ears of good and full-bodied corn 
 seemed to spring up, all upon one stalk ; and after awhile came up 
 seven tlnn and starveling ears, by which the former were eaten 
 Yet the lean kine and the lean ears were none the better for 
 
 that which they had eaten. These dreams seemed to have some 
 unusually marked significance, and Pharaoh sent for the wise men 
 of Egypt, requiring of them an interpretation. But this dream 
 was beyond the depth even of their pretensions, and they could give 
 none. 
 
 This brought to the butler’s mind the Hebrew prisoner, whose 
 interpretation of his own and the baker’s dreams had been so 
 remarkably fulfilled. He mentioned the circumstances to the king, 
 who instantly sent to require his presence. Hastily shaving himself 
 and putting on becoming raiment, Joseph accompanied tfle mes- 
 sengers to the palace. The king related his dreams ; and Joseph 
 said they were to be regarded as warnings from God of coming 
 events, against which suitable provision should be made. The 
 dreams denoted, first, seven years of great and unexampled plenty, 
 to be followed by seven years of excessive dearth. He therefore 
 sagely counselled that the superabundant grain of the fertile 
 years should be bought up by the government, and stored for use 
 duripg the years of famine ; and he ventured to suggest that some 
 able and discreet man should be appointed, with proper officers 
 under him, to give effect to this great operation throughout the 
 country. Then said Pharaoh — “ Forasmuch as God has showed 
 thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou 
 shalt be over my house, gnd according unto thy word shall all my 
 people be ruled : only in the throne will I be greater than thou.” 
 Saying this, the great king took from his finger the signet-ring, 
 the impress of which gave the force of royal authority to any decree 
 or order on which it was placed ; and then he caused him to be 
 arrayed in robes of honour ; upon his neck was also placed a chain 
 of gold, by which we are doubtless to understand one of those 
 rich ornaments of wrought gold, such as are in the Egyptian monu- 
 ments seen upon the neck of kings and pobles. Thus gloriously 
 arrayed, Joseph — whoip the morning saw g prisoner and a slave — 
 was placed in the second of the royal chariots of state, and conducted 
 in grand procession through the streets of the metropolis, while 
 the heralds proclaimed before him the honours to which he had been 
 raised. 
 
 Joseph having thus been naturalized, and having received the 
 narpe ( Zaphnatli-paaneah) and dress of an Egyptian, was no longer 
 regarded in that country as a foreigner, but as a noble and a minister 
 of state. In the East it has never been unusual for foreigners and 
 slaves to rise to such distinctions. No doubt Joseph was well able 
 to support the high position in which he now appeared. Thirteen 
 of the best years of hjs life had been spent in Egypt ; and this 
 time would have more than sufficed for a man of much less aptitude 
 and talent than Joseph to acquire an intimate acquaintance with 
 the manners and language of the people among whom his lot had 
 .been cast. One thing he wanted — family connections and the influ- 
 ence which they >vould give in the country — and, above all, such 
 connection with the priestly caste, which was then and long after 
 all-powerful in Egypt. One unconnected with this caste could not 
 long hope to maintain his influence, or to work out his plans without 
 opposition and hindrance. The king of Egypt felt this very 
 strongly, and therefore lost no time in securing to Joseph the 
 undisturbed enjoyment of the rank and power to which he had 
 raised him, by bestowing upon him in marriage Asenath, the 
 daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, which place was afterwards 
 known among Greek writers by the name of Heliopolis. 
 
 The account of that part of the Bible history which contains the 
 sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt, has of late years received inter- 
 esting illustrations — we say not confirmation, for it needed none — 
 from the Egyptian monuments, and from critical researches in 
 history. From such sources we now know that Potipherah means 
 “ he who belongs to the sun it is a very common name on the 
 monuments, and was from its signification especially appropriate for 
 the priest of On, “ the city of the sun.” We also know that among 
 the Egyptian colleges of priests the one at. On took the precedence, 
 and consequently that the high-priest of On must have borne the 
 first rank among that powerful body. The great antiquity of 
 religious worship at On is also attested by the monuments. Wil- 
 kinson says, “ During the reign of Osirtasen (whom he makes con- 
 temporary with Moses), the temple of Heliopolis was either founded 
 or received additions, and one of the obelisks bearing his name 
 evinces the skill to which they had attained in the difficult art of 
 sculpturing granite.” 
 
 The part which the king himself took in bringing about this 
 marriage, is satisfactorily accounted for when we remember that the 
 sovereigns of Egypt were invested with the highest sacerdotal 
 dignity, and were therefore not merely the civil, but the ecclesias- 
 tical superiors of the whole priesthood. 
 
 By this marriage Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 
 
Sunday IV."J 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 31 
 
 SUNDAY IV.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 OT more than one incident of our 
 Lord’s childhood is recorded in the 
 Scriptures, and that occurred when he 
 was twelve years of age. There have 
 indeed been many spurious anecdotes of 
 this period, some of which, picked up in 
 the days of ignorance, still linger in 
 the memories of uneducated Deople. 
 These originated in certain traditions 
 and Apocryphal Gospels, some of 
 which still exist among the curiosities 
 of literature, but which no one regards as entitled to the slightest 
 credit in any of the statements which they offer. The canonical 
 Gospels are the only sources of our real information concerning 
 Jesus, and to them we must adhere. 
 
 But before Jesus attained the age of twelve years some changes 
 had taken place in Palestine. Judaea had ceased to be a kingdom, 
 and was become a Roman province, with a Roman governor. This 
 would at first seem to have been a disadvantage to the Jews. But 
 it was not so. The government of the Herodian family was never 
 considered by them as native, and was never popular among them. 
 The tyrannous conduct of Archelaus in his government rendered 
 him perfectly odious to both Jews and Samaritans ; it was in conse- 
 quence of their united complaints to the Emperor that he was, after 
 a proper investigation of the circumstances, deposed from his 
 ethnarchy or (as the Jews called it) kingdom, and banished to 
 Vienne in Gaul. At the earnest desire of the same parties Judaea 
 and Samaria were then constituted a Roman province, of which 
 Cyrenius or Quirinius was appointed the first Prefect or Governor. 
 We are not, however, to suppose that this arose from any attachment 
 to the Roman government on the part of the Jews. Far from it. 
 They detested the Romans and their government. But they feared 
 that another member of the Herodian family might be put in the 
 place of Archelaus ; and of two evils, all sensible men thought even 
 the stern but passionless rule of the Romans, directly exercised, far 
 preferable to the harassing and vexatious tyranny of the petty 
 despots and mock sovereigns to whom they had been subject. In 
 effecting this change of government, the complete enjoyment of 
 their own laws and religion was continued to the Jews. The power 
 of life and death was indeed taken from them, but they were allowed 
 to try offences in their own way, and the Governor seldom failed to 
 confirm and execute the sentences of their tribunals. 
 
 This change of government took place in the year 10 a.d. of the 
 actual year from Christ’s birth, but in the year 7 a.d. of the vulgar 
 era. Most of our readers know that at the time when the birth of 
 Christ was assumed as the era of Christians, a mistake of three or 
 four years was made in the calculation, that event having taken place 
 so much earlier than was then assumed. For general purposes 
 it is proper to retain the vulgar era, although known to be wrong ; 
 but as our purpose is limited to the life of Christ, and as within that 
 narrow range it is highly desirable tha.t the dates should be facts, 
 we shall date from the real year of Christ’s birth, assuming it to 
 have been three years before the vulgar era : the addition of three 
 will, therefore, in all cases reduce the date to the common account. 
 
 The law of Moses required that all the males of fit age in Israel 
 should three times in the year appear before God, at the place of 
 his altar and sanctuary. These times were, at the feast of the 
 Passover, of the Pentecost, and of Tabernacles, of which the first 
 was by far the most important as a matter of obligation, and the 
 most generally observed. Children were not usually taken to 
 Jerusalem till twelve years of age, at which time they were deemed 
 to come under the obligation of this law, and then commence their 
 periodical attendance at Jerusalem. • Women were not required 
 to take these journeys, nor did they usually do so ; but they 
 seldom failed to accompany their sons when they went for the first 
 time to discharge a duty to which much importance was attached 
 by the Mosaical institutions, and which marked the point of transi- 
 tion from childhood to adolescence. The son then assumed one of 
 the responsible obligations of manhood, and in one point of view the 
 first attendance at Jerusalem had the same import and significance 
 as the assumption of the toga virilis by the Roman youth. It was 
 therefore one of those marked points in the life of a son in which 
 mothers wish to take part, and which they love to celebrate. We 
 have in this the reason why Jesus was accompanied not only by 
 Joseph but by Mary, when, at the age of twelve vears, he went up 
 
 to the Passover-feast at Jerusalem. Indeed had not Mary been 
 I one of those women whom the duties of home allowed, or religious 
 feeling constrained, to accompany their husbands to Jerusalem, at 
 ! least at the Passover, her presence would alone have sufficed to point 
 J out the date and occasion of the visit, even had the age of Jesus not 
 been specified. 
 
 This, the first visit to Jerusalem, was an occasion to which every 
 male child in Israel looked forward with eager expectation and 
 desire. Conceive the glad assemblage of neighbours in the early 
 morning, outside the town or village, and the animated inter- 
 change of salutations and farewells till the appointed voice cried 
 “ It is time to depart.” Then they marched onward leisurely, 
 with minstrelsy and psalms, and as they went were joined at the 
 meeting of the roads, and in the villages, by new parties bent on the 
 same object — their happy faces suiting well their holiday attire. 
 They needed no provision for this journey ; for wherever they passed 
 they were received with shouts of joy and blessing ; and before every 
 door tables laden with bread, honey, and dates were set forth for 
 their refreshment. Conceive the pride of the lads who were for the 
 first time privileged to join this cheerful pilgrimage ; conceive the 
 sorrow of those who were not yet of the due age, when those who 
 were going thus up to “ the city of the Great King,” and to walk in 
 the courts of his “ holy and beautiful house,” passed on leaving them 
 behind. 
 
 When they drew near the city, parties who had already arrived, 
 and many of the stated inhabitants, would hasten forth to meet the 
 new-comers and conduct them to their respective quarters. At that 
 season no inhabitant of Jerusalem considered his house as his own. 
 The city was the city of the whole people, not of the inhabitants 
 alone : and when Israel came up to appear before Jehovah, every 
 citizen regarded his dwelling as belonging to his brethren as much 
 as to himself. Every house was thus filled with strangers, and the 
 master was usually the worst accommodated person in it. But the 
 utmost liberality of the inhabitants could not provide lodging for 
 all the vast multitudes which repaired on these occasions to Jerusar 
 lem. A large proportion of the pilgrims, therefore, remained in 
 tents during the festival. The whole environs of Jerusalem were 
 then turned into an encampment, and all the streets and open places, 
 and all the hills and valleys around the city, were covered with 
 tents. But the feast was at the finest season of the year ; the days 
 were balmy and the nights enjoyed the full moon, so that those who 
 remained altogether without shelter experienced little inconvenience. 
 
 Having celebrated the feast in Jerusalem, the party from Nazareth 
 returned ; and it was not until the evening of the first day’s journey 
 that Mary and Joseph became alarmed at the absence of their son, 
 whom they had supposed to be with some kinsfolk or neighbours in 
 another part of their large company. But as in sucli cases the 
 different members of the same family join each other jn the evening 
 camp, and as Jesus came not, and could not be found, they returned 
 the next day to Jerusalem to seek him there. This return occupied 
 the second day. On the third day they searched the city, and 
 at length found him in the Temple, “ sitting in the midst of the 
 doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all 
 that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers.” 
 (Luke ii. 46, 47.) We are not to suppose that he was in the 
 building of the Temple itself, which none but the priests might enter, 
 but in the art'i of the Temple — in one of the courts or porticoes, where 
 the doctors of the law used to sit and deliver their instructions. 
 Neither are we to suppose that he thus early, and among these 
 venerable persons, took the part of a teacher, for the allusion to his 
 “ questions” and his “ answers” is quite sufficiently explained by our 
 knowledge that the Jewish doctors pursued such a plan of instruction 
 as dealt much in interrogation on the part both of the teacher and 
 the taught. The fact that he sat among them does not require that 
 explanation ; for they might naturally wish to show this indulgence 
 towards so extraordinary and highly-gifted a child. 
 
 In answer to the gentle remonstrance of his mother, who said, 
 “ Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing:” Jesus answered, 
 “ How is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not that I must be about 
 my Father’s business?” This was a hard saying, and was not 
 understood by those that heard it; but Mary, ever mindful of his 
 mysterious birth, kept this among the other hard sayings which she 
 pondered in her loving heart. 
 
 They then returned to their home in Nazareth, where Jesus 
 rendered that willing obedience which children owe to their parents. 
 This obedience he rendered not only to Mary, but to Joseph, as his 
 reputed father, to whom he owed his living, and who seems to have 
 instructed him in his own trade of a carpenter. Thus Jesus remained 
 many years, “ increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with 
 God and man.” 
 
117 — Ministering Angel, by L. Signorelli, from the Chapel in 
 the Duotuo at Orvieto. 
 
 Ang^el G warcheidiol, gan L. Signorelli, o Gapel yn y 
 Duomo yn Orvieto. 
 
 118. — Angels from the Gates of San Giovanni. (Ghiberti.) 
 Angylion o Byrth San Giovanni. 
 
 119. — Virgin and Child. (Correggio.) 
 Y Forwyn a’r Mab bychan. 
 
 120 — Virgin, Child, and St. John. (Annibale Carracci.) 
 Y Forwyn, y Mab bychan, a St. loan. 
 
 32 
 
 121. — The Good Shepherd. (Murillo.) 
 Y Bugail da. 
 
 122. — St. John in the Wilderness. (Reynolds.) 
 St. loan yn v Diffeithwch. 
 
125. — Village of Shiloah. — Isa. viii. (i. 
 Dyffryn Siloah. 
 
 121.—“ Seraphim.” A supposed analogous figure, from 
 a Persian Sculpture at Mougr Aub. — Isa. vi. 2. 
 
 “ Seraphiaid.” Darlun tybiedig gogyfartal, o 
 gerfiad Persiaidd ym Mougr Aub. 
 
 127.— Egyptian Carpenters with Axe or Adze.— Isa. x. 15, 
 Seiri Aiphtaidd gyda Bwyell. 
 
 
 
 128.— Egyptian Carpenter with Saw.— Isa. x. 15. 
 Saer Aiphtaidd gyda Llif. 
 
 130.— Syiian Leopard. — Isa. xiii. 
 Llewpard Syriaidd. 
 
34 
 
 THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 [Sunday V. 
 
 SUNDAY V.— THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 E have the assurance of an apostle 
 that “ all Scripture is profitable 
 but the prophecies of Isaiah have 
 in all ages been deemed eminently 
 profitable for reading in the public 
 services of Christian worship. The 
 qualities which have acquired for 
 Isaiah the character of the Evange- 
 lical Prophet indicate the grounds of 
 this judgment. There are other parts 
 of Scripture which refer more or less 
 to the Messiah ; but in Isaiah the 
 coming Christ, his birth, his actions 
 and teaching, his sufferings and death, and the blessedness and glory 
 of his future kingdom, are the predominant and constantly recurring 
 themes. All these are indicated with so much circumstantial detail, 
 between seven and eight centuries before the events actually took 
 place, that there is no portion of Scripture which contains the same 
 amount of evidence for the Divine origin of both the Jewish and 
 Christian dispensations, or which so clearly evinces that the Messiah 
 promised to the fathers is already come, and that Jesus of Naza- 
 reth is he. Our Saviour was sensible of this, and more than once 
 appealed to the testimony of Isaiah concerning himself. 
 
 The literary character, or style, of Isaiah’s prophecies, has engaged 
 the close attention of many eminent scholars, who have been in 
 general so far acted upon by their subject, that their remarks on 
 this prophet’s style are invariably the finest parts of their own 
 writings. Indeed, the peculiar force and energy of this style is 
 felt by every reader ; and even under the disadvantage of a 
 translation, every one is conscious that he is reading poetry, and 
 that too of the highest order. Bishop Lowth says: — “This 
 prophet abounds in such transcendant excellencies that he may 
 properly be said to afford the most perfect model of prophetic 
 poetry. He is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamented ; 
 he unites energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In 
 his sentiments there is uncommon elevation and majesty ; in his 
 imagery the utmost propriety, elegance, dignity, diversity ; in 
 his language uncommon beauty and energy ; and, notwithstanding 
 the obscurity of his subjects, a surprising degree of clearness and 
 simplicity. To these we may add that there is such sweetness in 
 the poetical composition of the sentences, whether it proceed from 
 art or genius, that if the Hebrew poetry is at present possessed of 
 any remains of its native grace and harmony, we shall chiefly find 
 them in the writings of Isaiah ; so that the saying of Ezekiel may 
 most justly be applied to this prophet : 
 
 “ Tliou art the confirmed exemplar of measures. 
 
 Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty ! ” 
 
 To this we may add the less eloquent, but more discriminating, 
 statement of De Wette. “ The prophecies of Isaiah, both in form 
 and substance, are to be ranked among the noblest productions of 
 the golden age of prophetic literature. The discourse is, for the 
 most part, oratorical ; it rarely contains symbols or parables. The 
 style is noble, concise, rich in images and thoughts, and rarely 
 indulging in enumeration or antithesis. It makes (in the original 
 of course) a moderate use of a play upon words; but it is 
 without harshness and sudden transitions. The rhythm is strong 
 and full, often running out into beautiful periods. The thoughts are 
 earnest, natural, and free. Sometimes the style is sublime; some- 
 times it is full of a high inspiration. There is but one parable in 
 the book, and that is effective (v. 1 — 6) : there is but one vision, 
 and that is simple and sublime (ch. vi.). It contains but few- 
 symbolical actions, and these are performed without any pretensions.” 
 
 As we may have occasion to present the reader with such remarks 
 on other of the Sacred writings, we may here introduce the remark 
 with which Dr. Henderson, in his excellent translation and com- 
 mentary of this prophet, prefaces his observations on the same 
 subject. “Though the prophets were the subjects of Divine 
 inspiration, there is no reason to suppose they were bereft of the 
 mental peculiarities which constituted their individuality ofcharacter, 
 or that they employed any other style or manner of writing than 
 what was natural to them. It cannot, therefore, be improper to 
 inquire into these peculiarities, or to treat of the respective diction 
 of each, as we should those of merely human authors, only care 
 being taken to cherish due and becoming reverence for the Holy 
 Spirit, to whose infallible regulation and control it was constantly 
 subject.” 
 
 ISAIAH V.— XIII. 
 
 The prophecies of Isaiah are almost as abundant in images drawn 
 from the animal as from the vegetable kingdom and from the 
 processes of agriculture. Thus in one of the present chapters (xi. 6), 
 there is a very striking allusion to the Wolf and the Leopard. 
 In the highly figurative description of the peace which shall reign 
 under the Messiah’s kingdom, occurs the beautiful verse: — “The 
 wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid ; and the calf, and young lion, and fading together ; 
 and a little child shall lead them !” 
 
 The Wolf is not often mentioned in Scripture ; but when it 
 does occur, it is usually as opposed to the flocks ; and hence the 
 significance of the image which makes its dwelling with the lamb 
 a symbol of peace. The disposition of the wolf to prey especially 
 on those animals which are under the protection of man, and which 
 have, apart from him, but imperfect means of escape or defence, 
 makes the wolf the natural enemy of the flocks in every country ; 
 and conformably to this, is the character which the Scripture gives 
 to him. So, in the parable of the Good Shepherd, “ the hireling 
 fleeth on the appearance of the wolf,” and “ the wolf catcheth 
 them, and scattereth the sheep” (John x. 12) : and, in like manner, 
 St. Paul, comparing false teachers to wolves, says, “ I know this, 
 that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, 
 not sparing the sheep ” (Acts xx. 29). And as a sort of antithesis 
 to our text, occurs the question of the son of Sirach, “ What com- 
 munion is there, between a wolf and a lamb ?” 
 
 The rapacity of the animal is the other circumstance on which 
 chiefly the Scriptural allusions to the wolf turn. Hence corrupt 
 judges, extortionate governors, and all who are “ greedy of gain,” are 
 compared to “ evening wolves the phrase itself alluding to the 
 peculiar activity of the animal when he first roams abroad in the 
 evening. From all these references to wolves, it is manifest that 
 these animals were formerly very common in Palestine ; and 
 although not now of very frequent occurrence, there is no part of 
 Syria or Palestine in which they are not occasionally found. They 
 keep to the woods and open country, and seldom venture so near 
 to the town as the fox : but the villages as well as the flocks often 
 suffer from their depredations. An old traveller (Morison) names 
 them among the animals of Samaria ; Seetzen says that they are 
 common near the sources of the Jordan ; Lord Lindsay saw a wolf 
 near Mount Carmel ; the Rev. Y. Monro saw one in the country 
 of the Philistines : they are scarce in Syria, but are said to be not 
 unfrequently seen in the deserts of Arabia Petraea. 
 
 The Leopard could not iiave been uncommon in Palestine ; for 
 not only is it several times mentioned, but there were several places 
 which bear its name. That name is Nimr, whence such names of 
 places as Nimrah (Num. xxxii. 3; Beth-Nimrah (Num. xxxii 36; 
 Josh. xiii. 27); waters of Nimrim (Isa. xv. 6; Jer. xlviii. 34); 
 and it is even supposed that the name of Nimrod may be traced 
 to the same source. It feeds more on wild animals than the wolf ; 
 but it is still an enemy of the flocks, especially of the goats, and 
 hence the force of the present image, which describes the leopard as 
 lying down with the kid. The leopard is, however, more frequently 
 coupled with the lion than with the wolf; and in this there is much 
 fitness, the lion and the leopard being of the same great feline tribe, 
 and their habits very similar. The feline habit of the animal in 
 watching its prey, and then springing suddenly upon it, are the same 
 as that of the lion (as described in p. 10), and of the cat. This 
 habit is significantly noticed by a prophet (Hos. xiii. 7) : — “ I will 
 be unto them as a lion; as a leopard by the way will I observe 
 them.” The swiftness and agility of the leopard are so remarkable, 
 that one species (the Cheetah or hunting Leopard) has been in the 
 East much employed in hunting. This did not escape the notice 
 of Ilabakkuk, who, in describing the swiftness of the Chaldean 
 horses, could only say “ they are swifter than leopards.” So also 
 “ A leopard shall watch over their cities ; every one that goeth 
 thence shall be torn in pieces” (Jer. v. 6). The beautiful manner 
 in which the skin of this animal is spotted is well known. In this 
 respect no variety of the leopard excels that of Syria and Palestine. 
 We might expect to find some reference to this in Scripture, and, 
 accordingly, there is a striking one in Jer. xiii. 23, “ Can the 
 Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots,” &c. 
 
 The leopard still exists in Palestine. Different travellers in that 
 country have mentioned tigers, panthers, leopards, ounces; but the 
 leopard is the animal really intended by all of them, none of the 
 others being found in the country. From the engraving, which is 
 copied from Ehrenberg’s exact figure of the Syrian species as observed 
 in Mount Lebanon, it will be seen that it is one ot the most beau- 
 tiful varieties anywhere found. 
 
Sunday V.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 35 
 
 SUNDAY V.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 URING the seven years of plenty, 
 Egypt was carefully subjected to the 
 course of operations which Joseph 
 had at first recommended to the king 
 of Eg ypt. He made a tour through 
 the country to organize the opera- 
 tion of purchasing and storing up the 
 redundant produce, and to see that 
 his intentions were properly executed. 
 The superabundant produce of every 
 district was stored away in granaries 
 in the towns of that district : and we 
 are told, “ Joseph gathered corn as 
 the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering, for it was 
 without number.” These labours of Joseph are placed vividly before 
 us in the paintings upon the monuments, which show how common 
 the store-house was in ancient Egypt. In the tomb of Amenemhe 
 at Beni-Hassan, there is the painting of a great store-house, before 
 whose door lies a large heap of grain, already winnowed. The 
 measurer fills a bushel in order to pour it into the uniform sacks 
 of those who carry the grain to the corn magazine. The carriers 
 go to the door of the store-house, and lay down the sacks before an 
 officer who stands ready to receive the corn. This is the overseer 
 of the store-house. Near by stands the bushel with which it is 
 measured, and the registrar who takes the account. At the side 
 of the windows there are characters which indicate the quantity of 
 the mass which is deposited in the magazine. (Rosellini, ii. 314, &c.) 
 Compare this with the indication in the verse just cited, that the 
 stored grain was carefully measured, until the enormous quantity 
 of the increase would not allow this to be done. 
 
 But at the predicted time this plenty ceased, and was followed 
 by the most terrible scarcity which had ever been known. This 
 also lasted seven years. But there was plenty of corn in the 
 store-houses ; and as long as the Egyptians had money with which 
 to purchase out of the government stores, all was well. But when 
 all the money of Egypt had found its way into the royal coffers, the 
 nation cried to the government for bread. A nation could not be 
 allowed to starve while the granaries were still full of corn. The 
 king left the matter entirely in the hands of Joseph, who agreed 
 to take their cattle in exchange for corn. Tins resource lasted 
 them a year ; when nothing remained to the people but “ their 
 bodies and their lands,” they cried “ Buy us and our lands for 
 bread, and we and our lands will be servants unto Pharaoh.” 
 Joseph took them at their word, and on these terms undertook to 
 feed them to the end of the famine. The whole dispersed popu- 
 lation was then removed into the towns containing the granaries, 
 that the corn might be conveniently doled out to them ; and in 
 the last year of the famine seed was given to them, with which 
 they might sow, and resume the cultivation of their lands, as tenants 
 of the crown, at a rent of one-fifth of the produce. 
 
 This famine was not felt in Egypt only, but throughout all the 
 neighbouring regions. It was felt in the land of Canaan, and the 
 family of Jacob soon began to suffer from lack of corn. It then 
 transpired that corn might be obtained in Egypt ; and Jacob lost 
 no time in sending his sons — all except Benjamin — across the 
 desert to purchase the needful supply. 
 
 It seems that the permission to purchase corn was only granted 
 to such foreigners as obtained special permission from Joseph, 
 before whom, therefore, the ten brethren were bound to make 
 their appearance. The ancient dreams began, in the mysterious 
 providence of God, to be fulfilled, when they bowed themselves 
 low and reverently before this august personage, “ the lord of the 
 country,” little conceiving that he was the brother whom they had 
 so long ago sold for a slave, and supposed to be long since dead. 
 Him they could not know: but he knew them at once, and con- 
 trolled with a strong effort the generous emotions which filled 
 his bosom. Ignorant of their present state of feeling, he was 
 apparently alarmed at the absence of his own brother Benjamin. 
 He could not but fear that they might have acted treacherously 
 towards him also; and this probably induced him to make those 
 experiments upon their present dispositions which form so remark- 
 able a portion of this striking history. By assuming an austere 
 manner and charging them as spies, he succeeded in eliciting 
 from them such an account of themselves, as informed him that 
 his aged father was still living, and that his brother Benjamin 
 tarried with him at home. The governor of Egypt could not 
 
 but have been touched when they described themselves as “ twelve 
 brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; and behold 
 the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.” 
 
 Still, however, maintaining the tone he had assumed, Joseph 
 persisted in his charge, and required as a proof of their statement 
 that one of their number should be sent back for the absent 
 brother, while the rest were detained as prisoners in Egypt. They 
 
 I 
 
 were then thrust away ignominiously to the prison-house, and 
 kept there the following night. But in the morning Joseph again 
 sent for them, and in a milder tone they were assured that, if they 
 were indeed true men, no harm should happen to them ; and it 
 was decided that they should all be allowed to go back excepting 
 one, who should be detained as hostage for their return to Egypt 
 with their youngest brother. Dismayed at the predicament in 
 which they had become involved, the brethren looked one upon 
 another, and the same thought rose at once to their minds, that at 
 length the cry of their brother’s blood had been heard in heaven ; 
 and that at length the punishment of their sin had come upon 
 them. This they said aloud to one another in their own language ; 
 and little did they think that the illustrious person before whom 
 they were, heard and understood, and that their words struck upon 
 his heart : he turned away and wept. 
 
 The brethren departed, leaving Simeon behind. The sacks 
 which they had brought were filled with corn, and a further 
 supply for the road was given to them. Thus they returned 
 to their father ; and on opening their several sacks, were asto- 
 nished and somew'hat alarmed to find in them not only the grain, 
 but the money which they had paid for it. This in some degree 
 confirmed the report which they made to their father of the 
 strange and harsh conduct of the man — the lord of the country. 
 Jacob, however, could not endure the idea of sending Benjamin 
 with them to Egypt: “Me have ye bereaved of my children,” 
 said he, mournfully : “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and now 
 ye will take Benjamin away : all these things are against me ! ” 
 But he was mistaken. All these things were for him. All were 
 working together for the good of him and his. 
 
 The question stood over for a time ; but when the supply of 
 corn was exhausted, the matter could no longer be delayed. The 
 brethren were in too much dread of the austere personage in 
 Egypt to yield to the pressing instances of their father, who 
 urged them to go without Benjamin ; and, finding that their 
 firmness in this point could not be overcome, he gave a reluctant 
 and sorrowing consent. This time no precaution was omitted 
 which was deemed likely to soothe and satisfy the harsh “ ruler 
 of Egypt.” They took back again the money which had been 
 found in their sacks ; and they bore from Jacob a present 
 of the choice products of Palestine, which he knew must be 
 acceptable in Egypt. It was composed of “ a little balm, a little 
 honey, spices, and myrrh, pistachio-nuts, and almonds.” 
 
 They returned to Egypt, and stood once more in the presence 
 of Joseph. No sooner did he perceive them, and discover that 
 his Benjamin, the son of his mother, was among them, than he 
 directed his steward to “slay, and make ready ” a sufficient feast, 
 for that all these men should dine with him at noon. They were 
 accordingly conducted to the great man’s residence, where water 
 was given them to wash their weary feet. Joseph came home 
 at noon, and finding them in waiting, spoke to them. lie 
 asked if their father, the old man of whom they had told him, 
 was well ; and they bowed themselves very low, and answered, 
 “ Thy servant, our father, is in good health.” He then seemed 
 first to observe Benjamin, and asked, “ Is this your younger 
 brother, of whom ye spake unto me?” and, without waiting an 
 answer, said, “God bless thee, my son :” and then, dreading to 
 display his mastering emotions, he hastily withdrew, to give vent to 
 them in his chamber. 
 
 At the dinner which followed, it seems that, although the 
 brethren sat in the same room, they did not sit and eat together 
 with Joseph, who sat apart by himself, w hile his Egyptian friends 
 also sat apart by themselves. The reason for this is given — 
 “Because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; 
 for that is an abomination to the Egyptians” (Gen. xliii. 32). 
 Not merely as Hebrews, however, but as foreigners. And this 
 is remarkably in accordance with Herodotus, who tells us that 
 the Egyptians abstained from all familiar intercourse with foreign- 
 ers, since these were unclean to them, because they slew and ate 
 the animals which were sacred among the Egyptians. That 
 Joseph also sat alone, and not with the other Egyptians, is strictly 
 in accordance with the great difference of rank and with the spirit 
 of caste which prevailed among the Egyptians. 
 
 The brethren were placed according to their seniority by 
 
 F 2 
 
136.— Egyptian Man-Servant. 
 
 Gwasanaethwr Aiplitaidd. 
 
H7. — Mummy Cases and Marble Sarcophagi. — Gen. 1. 26. 
 Amwisgoedd Mymmiaidd a Marmor Sarcophagi. 
 
 Feu-bugail. 
 
 139.— Carts from Egyptian Sculptures.— Gen. xlv. 19. 
 Cerbydau oddi wrth Gerfiadau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 •* 
 
 H5.— A Mummy lying in its Case.— Gen. 1. 26. 
 Myinini yn gorwedd yn ei Amwisg. 
 
 37 
 
 I 
 
33 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday Y. 
 
 steward of the household, from the secret intimations of Joseph ; 
 and at this they were much astonished, as the difference of age 
 between many of them was too slight to be distinguishable in their 
 persons. A mess for each was sent from the table before Joseph, 
 and, according to Eastern custom, he distinguished Benjamin by 
 sending five times as much to him as to the others. The manner 
 in which the Egyptians sat at meat, by ones or twos, at small low 
 tables, is pictured in the ancient tombs, and throws much light on 
 tfiis description. 
 
 Notwithstanding this apparent friendliness of their illustrious 
 host, the sons of Jacob were by no means free from anxiety and 
 alarm. They were, therefore, exceedingly glad when they found 
 themselves safely on the road home the next day, laden with 
 the desired corn, and their hostage Simeon having been restored 
 to them. Their joy was of short duration ; for they were soon 
 overtaken by the well-known steward of Joseph’s household, who 
 roughly charged them with having stolen his master’s silver cup — 
 “ the cup out of which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed 
 he divineth.” This last clause may require explanation. Jam- 
 
 blichus, in his book on ‘Egyptian Mysteries,’ mentions the practice 
 of divining by cups ; and that this superstition, together with many 
 others, has survived from the most ancient times, is shown by a re- 
 markable passage in Norden’s Travels (vol. iii. p. 68). When this 
 author, with his companions, had arrived at Dehr, the most remote ex- 
 tremity of Egypt, or rather in Nubia, where they were able to de- 
 liver themselves from a perilous situation by great presence of mind, 
 they sent one of their company to a malicious and powerful Arab 
 to threaten him. He answered, “ I know what sort of people you 
 are. I have consulted my cup, and found in it that you are from a 
 people of whom one of our prophets has said — There will come 
 Franks under every kind of pretence to spy out the land.” The 
 very same charge that was alleged against Jacob’s sons. 
 
 The sons of Jacob felt themselves deeply wronged by such a 
 charge, of which every one among them knew himself to be entirely 
 innocent. They invited a search, and loudly consigned todeath every 
 one with whom the cup might be found, declaring that they also 
 would then remain the slaves of Joseph. But the steward waived 
 this excess of zeal, by declaring that only the actual thief should 
 remain a bondman, and the rest should be blameless. The search 
 then began. The sacks were opened in succession, beginning with 
 that of the eldest, and not small was their triumph as sack after sack 
 was opened without the missing property being found. But fear- 
 fully was their triumph checked when the steward produced the 
 silver cup from the last of the sacks which he had examined — the 
 sack of Benjamin. It had been placed there by the steward himself, 
 on the order of his master. 
 
 Now came the trying point, by which Joseph was to know whether 
 twenty-two years had passed over them in vain. He perhaps expected 
 that they would abandon Benjamin to his fate, and hasten home. 
 It was far otherwise. It is not clear whether they believed or not that 
 Benjamin had stolen the cup. They probably believed it ; and in 
 that case their conduct appears the more entitled to admiration. 
 
 They thought of their father, and of his last words : — “ If mischief 
 befall him [Benjamin] by the way which ye go, then shall ye bring 
 down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.” They rent their 
 clothes in the anguish of their hearts, and, hastily relading their 
 beasts, returned with their brother to the city. 
 
 On reaching Joseph’s house, they fell on the ground before him, 
 and, in answer to his stern rebuke, they repeated the proposal they 
 had before made— that all should remain his bondmen ; but they did 
 not this time suggest that the actual criminal should die. But Joseph 
 declared that this would be unjust: he would detain the culprit, 
 but they were free to depart. This drew forward Judah, who had 
 in an especial manner made himself responsible to his father for the 
 safe return of Benjamin ; and it was probably the confidence of 
 Jacob in his strength of character, that drew from him the reluctant 
 consent which he at length gave that Benjamin should share the 
 perils of the journey. Never was the confidence of a father in 
 the high qualities and the honour of a son more worthily bestowed. 
 Judah stood forward, and, in a strain of the most powerful and 
 touching eloquence, stated the case exactly as it stood with respect 
 to his father and Benjamin, in a manner full of those natural 
 touches and circumstances which go home to every heart, and which 
 a heart so tenderly interested as that of Joseph could not possibly 
 withstand. He concluded with imploring that Benjamin might be 
 allowed to return, and that he, wiio had become the surety for 
 him, might remain a bondman in his stead (Gen. xliv. 18 — 34). 
 Overcome by the emotions which the speech of Judah had roused, 
 Joseph could no longer support the part he had been acting. He 
 wept aloud, and made himself known to them — “ I am Joseph. 
 
 — Doth my father yet live ?” Perceiving the confusion which thi3 
 announcement produced among them, he hastened to reassure them 
 and to relieve their minds, by declaring his conviction that they, in 
 following the impulses of their blind will, had been the unconscious 
 instruments of accomplishing the purposes of God, whose providence 
 had marked out for him the greatness to which he had attained, 
 and the high duties which he had accomplished. He then proceeded 
 to explain to them the length of time which the dearth was still to 
 continue : and that the only course for them was to migrate to 
 Egypt, where it would be in his power to provide every comfort 
 and convenience for them during this terrible and trying season. 
 He apprised them, however, that “ every shepherd was an abomina- 
 tion to the Egyptians ori which account he would procure a district 
 called “ the land of Goshen ” to be assigned them, in which they 
 might live apart, and follow their own pastoral modes of life. We 
 have seen that foreigners, as such, were disliked by the Egyptians ; 
 and we may understand the further aversion, now intimated, to apply 
 particularly to those foreigners who followed the pastoral mode of 
 life, and whose aggressive character (as at present in the Bedouin 
 Arabs) and unsettled habits rendered them odious to the Egyptians. 
 That shepherds of every kind were despised by that people is shown 
 by the fact that the artists of Upper and Lower Egypt vie with each 
 other in caricaturing them whenever their figures are introduced 
 in the pictured tombs. Joseph ended his explanation by embracing 
 and weeping over his brother Benjamin without restraint. He 
 kissed them all, and they then talked more calmly together. 
 
 It was gratifying to know that when the news transpired that 
 Joseph’s brethren had come, every one was pleased at a circum- 
 stance calculated to give him satisfaction. The king himself 
 shared this pleasure, and, on receiving an explanation from Joseph, 
 he expressed much kind interest in the welfare and preservation of 
 the family, and directed that every facility should be given for 
 their migration to Egypt and their settlement in Goshen. 
 
 Well supplied with provisions for the journey, and with cars in 
 which the women and children might be the more conveniently 
 removed, the brethren set out with lightened hearts for the land of 
 Canaan. As they drew near the patriarchal camp, some of them 
 hastened on to announce the glad tidings to their father. This they 
 did somewhat abruptly : — “ Joseph (said they) is yet alive, and he 
 is governor over all the land of Egypt !” The aged man could not 
 readily believe this, and “ his heart fainted within him.” But they 
 proceeded to explanations ; and when he saw a confirmation of their 
 marvellous story in the approach of the carriages, he could no 
 longer disbelieve : his spirit revived, and he said, “ It is enough — 
 Joseph my son is yet alive — I will go and see him before I die.” 
 
 Accordingly Jacob began his journey to Egypt, with all his 
 family and all his possessions. On the way he paused at the old 
 station of his family in Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to God 
 upon the altar where his fathers had worshipped. In the following 
 night, God appeared to him, and encouraged him in the important 
 movement he was then making. He was assured that his family 
 should in Egypt grow rapidly into a nation, and as a nation should 
 go forth thence to take possession of the land of Canaan. Thus 
 cheered, Jacob proceeded on his way to the land of Goshen, on the 
 borders of which he was met by his long lost and late restored son, 
 who had hastened in his chariot to meet him when apprised of his 
 approach. Who shall describe the emotions of that great interview? 
 The sacred historian does not attempt it. He simply tells us that 
 Joseph “presented himself” (reverently) before his father, and then 
 “ he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while and so soon 
 as strong feeling left vent for words, Israel said to Joseph, “ Now, 
 let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive !” 
 
 Not long after, Joseph introduced five of his brethren to the king. 
 He doubtless selected those whose appearance he deemed likely to 
 make a favourable impression upon Pharaoh. The king asked them 
 about their occupation ; and they answered, “ Thy servants are 
 shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” The king then told 
 Joseph to place them in the land of Goshen, or in any other part 
 of Egypt that seemed best to him ; adding, “And if thou knowest 
 any men of activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle.” 
 Subsequently Jacob himself had an audience of the king, who, 
 struck by his venerable appearance, asked him, “ How old art thou ?” 
 And Jacob answered, “ The days of the years of my pilgrimage 
 are an hundred and thirty years : few and evil have the days of the 
 years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the 
 years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 
 The respect for honourable age was strong in Egypt : and it is ob- 
 servable that Jacob was granted a separate audience ; that he omitted 
 the usual formula of address, “ thy servant;” and that, as became a 
 I man of his age, he “blessed Pharaoh” on quitting his presence. 
 
Sunday V.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 39 
 
 SUNDAY V.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 
 OHN, the son of Zacharias and 
 Elizabeth, afterwards surnamed 
 the Baptist, was to be both in 
 his birth and ministry the Har- 
 binger of Christ — the Preparer 
 of his way — and hence the 
 Evangelical record returns to 
 him, as the time for the public 
 appearance of Jesus as the 
 Messiah approached. 
 
 As John grew up, he became 
 strong in spirit, and every day 
 manifested in him the endow- 
 ments needful for the high 
 mission to which he had, even 
 In his native mountains, for lie 
 he gradually formed habits of 
 
 before his birth, been appointed 
 was of “ the hill country of Judea, 
 life in accordance with his heaven-imposed condition of a Nazarite, 
 and suitable to the austere character of his destined ministry. At 
 length he assumed the camel’s hair vesture and leathern cincture of 
 a prophet, and withdrew into the rocky wildernesses near the Dead 
 Sea and the Jordan, and dwelt apart, subsisting on rock- honey 
 and on the locusts which are still in that country counted as 
 wholesome and nutritive food. 
 
 The precise date at which his ministry commenced is uncertain. 
 The voice of God at length came to him, in the wilderness, and he 
 commenced his mission by proclaiming the baptism of repentance for 
 the remission of sins. The appearance of the prophet of the wilder- 
 ness, whose garb and manner reminded the people of Elias, in whose 
 spirit and power he came, produced a strong sensation throughout 
 the country. Multitudes of all classes and sects followed him, or 
 resorted to him. He paused at Bethabara, one of the fords of the 
 Jordan, and there baptized in that venerable stream such of his 
 hearers as were duly impressed by what they heard from him. 
 Many flocked to his preaching at Bethabara, to whom he gave 
 exhortations suited to their condition and their faith. Some of 
 these have been preserved by the Evangelists, and convey to us a 
 clear impression of the important matter and the pointed and 
 forcible style of his instructions. The burden of all his preaching 
 was, “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand !” and he 
 constantly declared that his was the foretold Voice in the wilderness 
 appointed to cry, “ Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
 straight” (Isa. xl. 3 ; Matt. iii. 3). Alarmed by the warnings and 
 encouraged by the hopes which he held forth, the Jews were 
 numerously baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 
 To the questions of the diverse classes of people who addressed him, 
 the prophet replied by exhortations to charity and truth. The 
 publicans, he warned against extortion ; the soldiers in the pay of 
 Herod Antipas, he warned against violence ; and the formalists, the 
 scribes, and Pharisees, he attacked with a severity which showed 
 him in this also a precursor of Christ. “ O generation of vipers,’’ 
 he cried, “ who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ! 
 Think not to say unto yourselves, we have Abraham for our father 
 (i. e. relying on that as an all-sufficient merit) ; for verily I say 
 unto you, that God is able even out of these stones to raise up 
 children unto Abraham.” This was a hard saying for them, 
 especially from one who himself belonged to the priesthood. 
 
 All these things, and this new style of discourse, drew the most 
 earnest attention towards the prophet. The ecclesiastical authorities 
 at Jerusalem sent some of their own body to obtain clear information 
 respecting his claims, and the character in which he appeared. 
 They asked him if he was not himself the Christ so long expected; 
 but, faithful to his trust, and humble in his highest glory, he readily 
 admitted that he was not. Receiving similar answers to various 
 other conjectures, they at length impatiently asked, “ "Who art 
 thou ? What sayest thou of thyself?” He gave his usual answer to 
 such questions — “ I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” | 
 &c. They then asked on what ground he baptized, if he were not I 
 the Christ. To which he answered, “ I, indeed, baptize with water 
 unto repentance; but one mightier than I cometh, whose shoes 
 (sandals) I am not worthy to bear ; he shall baptize you with the 
 Holy Ghost and with fire.” 
 
 All this time that John was preaching the near approach of the 
 Messiah, he remained in ignorance of his person. In all probability | 
 he was acquainted with Jesus, who was his near relation, but he 
 
 knew not, he could scarcely suspect, that he was the Messiah : he 
 however knew that in due time the Christ of God would be pointed 
 out to him, in a manner not to be mistaken, and with this he was 
 satisfied. 
 
 At length, among those who came to be baptized at Bethabara, 
 w r as Jesus, who had hitherto lived and laboured with Joseph and 
 Mary at Nazareth. John, having some presentiment of the truth, 
 at first repelled him, saying, “ / have need to be baptized of thee, 
 and comest thou to we?” But Jesus persisted, and went down into 
 the river, where he received baptism at the hands of John. As he 
 came up out of the water, the sign expected by the Baptist to 
 denote the Messiah was given. He saw the heavens open, and the 
 Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested upon Jesus, while 
 a Voice was heard declaring, “ This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
 am well pleased.” From that time John bore witness that Jesus 
 was that Son of God, whom he had formerly in more general terms 
 proclaimed. 
 
 From Mark i. 25, we learn that it was immediately after his 
 baptism and public recognition as the Messiah, that Jesus withdrew 
 into the wilderness, where he remained for forty days without food. 
 It was usual for those who entered upon the prophetical office to 
 prepare themselves for its important duties by fasting and prayer, — 
 by prayer so earnest and long continued that they sometimes 
 neglected to take food, and this seems to have been the case with 
 Jesus. At the end of the forty days, Satan was permitted to subject 
 his virtue and high purposes to such a trial of proof as might 
 suitably introduce him to his public ministry. The particulars of 
 this Temptation are recorded, with some slight variations, in the 
 fourth chapter of Matthew and the fourth of Luke. Jesus was 
 hungry, and Satan tempted him to obtain food by an unwarranted 
 exercise of the miraculous powers which belonged to him. Failing 
 in this, he placed him in danger on the highest point of the temple, 
 and urged him to cast himself down, in the assurance that the angels 
 would bear him harmless up, if he were indeed the Son of God. 
 Foiled also in this, Satan transported him to tire top of a high 
 mountain, and promised him, in excliange for his homage, dominion 
 over the wide lands which he surveyed ; but receiving a signal and 
 final rebuff, he departed, leaving Jesus still in the mountainous 
 wilderness beyond the Jordan. 
 
 Returning from thence towards Galilee, Jesus had to cross the 
 Jordan at the ford of Bethabara, where John was still baptizing, and 
 made some pause in the neighbourhood. He was probably present 
 at the interview already mentioned between John and the commission 
 from Jerusalem ; for John said then, “ There is one standing among 
 you whom ye know not : he it is who, coming after me, is preferred 
 before me.” At all events, it was the very day after that interview, 
 that John, seeing Jesus coming towards him, publicly pointed him 
 out as the Messiah to all who were then present, in the emphatic 
 words, “ Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the 
 world. This is he of whom I said , After me cometh a man who is 
 preferred before me.” The next day John again pointed out Jesus 
 as “ the Lamb of God,” when he observed him walking by. Two of 
 John’s own disciples who heard this then went and followed Jesus. 
 One of these was John and the other Andrew, both of them fishermen 
 of the lake of Tiberias. Jesus, observing that they were following 
 his steps, turned and asked, “ What seek ye?” Which they 
 answered by another question, indicative of their desire to attach 
 themselves to him, and to know him better — “ Master, where 
 dwellest thou ?” He courteously answered, “ Come and see.” 
 They accordingly attended him to the place where he lodged, 
 and remained with him the rest of that day, which was then near 
 its close. 
 
 Andrew, after quitting Jesus for the day, rested not till he had 
 found his brother Simon, to whom he imparted the glad tidings — 
 “ We have found the Messias !” and the next day he took him to 
 Jesus. On his approach, and before he had been announced, Jesus 
 saluted him with “ Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be 
 called Cephas ! ” This word means ‘ a stone,’ and is accordingly 
 rendered in Greek by Peter, which has the same meaning, it was 
 not unusual in those times for chiefs, masters, and teachers, to im- 
 pose new and significant names, after tins manner, upon those who 
 became their servants or disciples (John i. 11, 42). 
 
 The next day Jesus proceeded into Galilee on his return to 
 Nazareth, and on the way met with Philip of Bethsaida, and said 
 to him, “Follow me.” Philip was of the same town as Andrew and 
 Peter, and, having been probably apprised by them that Jesus was 
 the Messiah, he unhesitatingly obeyed the call. This was the first 
 case in which Christ employed this form of summon, which he used 
 in making choice of those whom he intended inseparably to follow 
 him as his disciples. 
 
150. — The Jordan leaving 1 the Lake of Tiberias. 
 Yr Iorddonen yn gadael Llyn Tiberias. 
 
 152. — John preaching. (Stothard.) 
 loan yn pregethu. 
 
 151. — The River Jordan. 
 Yr iorddonen. 
 
 153.— John baptizing Christ. (Rubens.) 
 loan yn bedyddio Crist. 
 
 40 
 
154.— Psalm xxv. 
 
 155. — Psalm xxvi. 
 
 157.— Psalm xxviii. 
 
 156.— Psalm xxvii. 
 
 158. — Psalm xxix. 
 
 159.— Psalm xxix. 
 
 HE voice of the Lord breaketh the cedar-trees.— 5. 
 
 161.— Psalm xxxi. 
 
 162. — Psalm xxxii. 
 
 163.— Psalm xxxiii. 
 
 164.— Psalm xxxir. 
 
 G 
 
 41 
 
42 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday VI. 
 
 SUNDAY VI.—' THE PSALMS. 
 
 Hebrew Lyrical Poetry. 
 
 NE is not to suppose that a master like | 
 David was without companions and as- I 
 sistants in the poeiic art. Several of these 
 are indeed mentioned in the title of some 
 of the Psalms, although the authority 
 which ascribes to them the authorship of 
 these Psalms is much open to question, 
 David’s own son, Solomon, is testified 
 to have united to the sententious style 
 peculiar to him, such richness of lyric in- 
 vention, that in his time lyric poetry must have stood at a high point 
 of perfection — we say stood, for it must be admitted to be doubtful 
 whether it aver attained a higher degree of perfection than it j 
 reached in the time of David. However, Solomon not only ‘‘spake 
 three thousand proverbs,” but his songs were “a thousand and five 
 ( 1 Kings iv. 32). It is remarkable, and much to be regretted, that, j 
 with the exception of two, the ascription of which to him has little 
 authority, no Psalms of Solomon are preserved in the collection 
 which lias descended to us. Nor do we find in that collection any 
 Psalm with the author’s name, belonging to the period after 
 Solomon ; not even one which admits of being referred with cer- 
 tainty and of necessity to any particular event in the history of 
 those times. And yet it is very certain, from such lyric poems as | 
 the song of Hezekiah (Isa. xxxviii. 10 — 20) and the prophecy of j 
 Ilabakkuk, that during this period the culture of lyric poetry had | 
 by no means fallen into neglect. Indeed there are many of the j 
 Psalms in the present collection which, by all but universal consent, , 
 must be ascribed to the Captivity and the immediately succeeding 
 period : and these Psalms are admitted to rank with the finest in the 
 collection, and exhibit a purity of language, a sublimity, beauty, and 
 freshness of conception by no means inferior to what we find in the 
 poems of David and his contemporaries. Psalms xlv., lxxiv., lxxix., 
 cvii., and many, if not all, of the Psalms of Degrees, may be pointed 
 out in proof of this statement. 
 
 This, at the first view, seems to present a singular phenomenon. 
 
 In the words of De Wette (to whom, with some necessary modifica- 
 tion of his general views, we are much indebted in this branch of 
 our subject), “ The lyric poetry of the Hebrews, which was culti- 
 vated and brought to perfection in the . times of David, after pro- 
 ducing abundant fruit, sank into a repose of nearly five hundred 
 years ; and then, all at once, in the most calamitous period of the 
 state, arose again another golden age, and yielded a second harvest — 
 a phenomenon hardly corresponding with the common course of 
 events. The singularity, however, disappears as soon as we suppose 
 that the collection of Psalms contains several pieces, either anony- 
 mous or incorrectly named, which belong to the period extending 
 from David to the Captivity. Indeed it is in the highest degree 
 probable that lyric composition flourished side by side with the pro- ! 
 phetic poetry, and that many of the prophets themselves contributed 
 to the present collection, and might reclaim their productions from 
 David and others. In the Septuagint some of the prophets are actually 
 named as authors of the Psalms” ( Commentar uher die Psalmen). 
 
 PSALMS XXV.- XXXIV. 
 
 The Reem or “Unicorn.” — In the Psalms there are repeated 
 allusions to this animal, which has been the subject of no small 
 amount of speculation and conjecture. In xxix. 6, we have — “ He 
 maketh them (the cedars) to skip like a calf ; Lebanon also and 
 Sirion like a young ( reem or) unicorn in xxii. 21, “ Thou hast 
 heard me also from among the horns of the ( ree/ns or) unicorns.” 
 From this it is certain that the reem was a horned animal ; and 
 from xcii. 10, we learn that the horn was lofty : “ My horn shalt 
 thou exalt, like the horn of the ( reem or) unicorn.” This poetical 
 use of the singular for the plural appears to have originated the 
 notion that the Hebrew reem was the same with the fabulous unicorn. 
 But it is evident that the Hebrew writers did not even intend to 
 ascribe one horn to the reem, for in Deut. xxxiii. 17, we read, “ His 
 horns are like the horns of a reem,” where “ the horns of a unicorn ” | 
 (which means o«e-horned) would be absurd. Indeed no passage j 
 could be more conclusive than this, as the reference is to Joseph, 
 whose two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, or rather the two tribes 
 descended from them, are figuratively “the horns ” compared to the 
 horns of the reem. 
 
 As we are thus exonerated from the necessity of finding a one- j 
 horned animal to suit the Hebrew reem, we may with the more 
 
 advantage read the highly-coloured and truly poetical description 
 of the animal which is given in the book of Job (xxxix. 9 — 12) : — 
 
 “ Will the reem submit to serve thee ; 
 
 Will he go to rest at thy stall ; 
 
 Canst thou make the harness bind him in thy furrow ; 
 
 Will he plough up the valleys after thee? 
 
 Wilt thou rely upon him because his strength is great ; 
 
 Wilt thou leave thy labours to him? 
 
 Wilt thou trust him to carry out thy seed 
 
 And to bring home thy threshed grain?” 
 
 Here the horn is not mentioned, and the attention is chiefly 
 directed to the wildness of the animal, its swiftness, and strength. 
 
 The notion which has seemed in most translations to give the 
 sanction of Holy Scripture to a known fable appears to have origi- 
 nated with the Septuagint, which renders the Hebrew word by 
 Monoceros (govocepoe), whence the Latin Unicornis , and thence the 
 English Unicorn. 
 
 There has been a very general disposition to identify the reem of 
 Scripture with the rhinoceros, and obviously on the ground that this 
 is the only animal that has a single horn, which, as we have seen, is 
 by no means required for the Hebrew reem. Pennant, proceeding on 
 this ground, is very confident that the Indian rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros 
 Indicus ) is “ the unioorn ” of Scripture, chiefly, as it appears, 
 because this species has but one horn, whereas that of Africa has 
 two. But since his time an African species has been found with a 
 horn much longer, and more tapering, shapely, and erect than that 
 of the Asiatic species, and much resembling that which is popularly 
 ascribed to the unicorn. This species is called the Rhinoceros simus, 
 and belongs to Southern Africa. The species has become very rare. 
 A head was brought to this country by the Rev. John Campbell, the 
 missionary, and the whole animal has since been described and figured 
 with great exactness by Dr. Smith. 
 
 There seems, however, an insuperable objection to identifying 
 any rhinoceros with the Scriptural reem, whether the fables of the 
 unicorn did or did not originate with that animal. It is very cer- 
 tain that the rhinoceros does not, and never did, within historical 
 memory, inhabit Western Asia, and could not be known to the 
 Scriptural writers so familiarly as the reem evidently was. Sensible 
 of this, some writers have proposed to substitute the buffalo, which 
 is certainly known in Western Asia. But this animal, so far from 
 possessing the untameable wildness ascribed to the reem, is, and 
 has been immemorially, domesticated in all the countries where it 
 is known, and trained to the very labours for which the book of Job 
 describes the reem as unfit. 
 
 The reem was manifestly a wild animal, and, of all the wild 
 animals known in the Biblical region, it is difficult to fix on any 
 with so much of confidence and probability as on the Oryx leucoryx, 
 commonly called the wild ox, but very erroneously, seeing that it 
 belongs not to the bovine, but to the antilopine family of animals. 
 This animal is still found in the wilder regions of Syria and Arabia ; 
 and that it was so anciently, and was a favourite object of the chace, 
 is shown by the paintings in the Egyptian tombs. It is, for one of 
 this genus, a large and powerful animal, exceedingly swift in flight, 
 and of an unusually vicious and savage nature, and seems to answer 
 all the conditions required by the Hebrew reem. It may recommend 
 this explanation that, although we cannot allow that the reem of 
 Scripture has any necessary connection with the notions about 
 unicorns, it is highly probable that these notions were founded upon 
 this very animal, which we are disposed to identify with the Hebrew 
 reem : and, if so, it is easily to be understood how the Seventy came 
 to translate the word by monoceros, in which translation all the 
 discussion about Biblical unicorns has originated. A slight view of 
 the figure of the oryx will indicate a striking resemblance to the 
 fabled unicorn. From the form of its head, and the manner in 
 which the horns spring close to each other from the middle of the 
 forehead, it is clear that if one of the horns were broken off near 
 the root, and the fracture covered by the white hair which grows 
 around it, most unscientific observers would suppose that they beheld 
 an animal naturally one-horned. It is indeed a curious fact that 
 this animal is usually so figured as to show but one horn in the 
 Egyptian monuments, but it is not agreed whether these figures 
 intend to represent the animal as from accident or design one- 
 horned, or that the artist merely proposed to intimate that the 
 further horn was concealed by the nearer in the profile view of the 
 animal. 
 
 In speaking of its wildness, we must be understood with some 
 limitation ; for although the strength of the animal could not be 
 subdued to any useful service, it was so far tamed by the Egyptians 
 that large numbers of them were kept in the preserves of their 
 villas. 
 
Sunday VI.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 43 
 
 SUNDAY VI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OW the seven years of famine were suc- 
 ceeded by many years of great and com- 
 pensating plenty ; but the position of 
 Joseph does not appear to have been in 
 anywise affected by the cessation of the 
 special services for which power had been 
 given to him. There is no intimation 
 that down to the time of his death his 
 influence in the government of Egypt had 
 been in any respect impaired. 
 
 About seventeen years after the family 
 of Israel had been settled in Goshen, the news of his father’s illness 
 induced Joseph to hasten thither with his two sons Manasseh and 
 Ephraim. The dying patriarch raised himself up in his bed to receive 
 his ever best beloved son. After mutual endearments, Jacob related 
 to his son the promises of God, from which he gathered the assured 
 conviction that his posterity was to become a great nation, destined 
 not to remain in Egypt, but to inherit the land promised to him and 
 to his fathers. This, while it reminded Jacob of the true position 
 of his family in Egypt — that of sojourners, and not settlers — enhanced 
 the value of his declared intention to adopt the two sons of Joseph as 
 his own children, thereby to give to him a double share through 
 them in the heritage. The eye-sight of Jacob had failed from very 
 age — but he became aware that others were present, and being told 
 by Joseph “ They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this 
 place,” he desired them to be brought near to him. He kissed 
 and embraced them with all the tenderness of one who beheld 
 in them fresh memorials of that dear Rachel, whose presence to his 
 aged mind even in these final moments is touchingly evinced by the 
 words which had just before fallen from him, without any apparent 
 connection with the subject, save that which existed in the depths 
 of his own heart : — “As for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel 
 died by me in the way . . . and I buried her there, in the way to 
 Ephrath.” 
 
 Having intimated his intention to bestow on his grandsons the 
 blessing to which so much importance was in those times attached, 
 Joseph placed them before him, properly, as he thought — -the eldest, 
 Manasseh, being placed opposite his right hand : but Jacob, blind 
 as he was, crossed his hands so as to place his right hand upon the 
 head of Ephraim, the youngest ; and when Joseph, supposing this a 
 mistake, attempted to alter this position of his hands, remarking 
 that the other was the eldest, Jacob persisted, saying, “ I know it, 
 my son, I know it : he also shall become a people, and he also shall 
 become great : but truly his younger brother shall be greater 
 than he.” His blessing was given accordingly, and how remark- 
 ably its purport was accomplished in the relative destinies of the 
 tribes which sprang from Ephraim and Manasseh will appear 
 hereafter. 
 
 After this Jacob’s other sons, who had been summoned to the 
 bed-side of the dying patriarch, also arrived, and he bestowed upon 
 them blessings significantly and distinctively applicable to each of 
 them, and to the tribes which should spring front them. The final 
 scene of his eventful life cannot be related in other words than those 
 of the sacred historian : — “ And when Jacob had made an end of 
 commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, 
 and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. I 
 And Joseph fell upon his face, and wept upon him, and kissed 
 him.” 
 
 Jacob wets aged one hundred and forty-seven years at the time of 
 his death in the year 1689 b.c. 
 
 The death of the father of so great a man as Joseph could not 
 pass without much note in Egypt; and the circumstances indicated 
 are in the most exact conformity with the usages of that country as 
 described by ancient historians and represented on ancient monu- 
 ments. The body of Jacob received the embalmment of a prince, as 
 we know from the fact that forty days were taken up by the differ- 
 ent processes. These forty days, and the thirty days following, 
 together seventy days, the Egyptians observed as days of public 
 mourning, which also indicates that the ceremonies were scarcely 
 less than those which attended the death of royal personages ; for 
 we ate told that “ When a king died, all the Egyptians raised a ge- 
 neral lamentation, tore their garments, closed the temples, offered no 
 sacrifices, celebrated no festivals, for seventy-two days” (Herodotus, 
 ii. 86). 
 
 Jacob had strictly enjoined Joseph to deposit his remains in the 
 family sepulchre near Hebron, in the land which his descendants 
 
 were to possess. Thither it was therefore conveyed in great state, 
 being attended not only by the family of the patriarch, but by a 
 large body of Egyptians with chariots and horses : and their 
 
 presence and numbers gave a character so much Egyptian to the 
 proceeding, that when the party paused in “ the threshing-floor of 
 Atad ” to celebrate a final mourning of seven days before consign- 
 ing the body to the sepulchre, the neighbouring inhabitants 
 remarked, “ This is a great mourning for the Egyptians whence the 
 place received the name of Abel-Mitzraim, “ the mourning of the 
 Egyptians.” Joseph himself outlived his father about fifty-four 
 years, and died (1635 b.c.) at the age of one hundred and ten 
 years. Before his death, he called his brethren around him, and 
 after expressing his firm conviction that their descendants would 
 eventually be removed from Egypt to their promised possession, he 
 took a solemn oath from them, that when that time came, they 
 would take away his bones with them, and not leave them behind in 
 Egypt. After death, the corpse of Joseph was embalmed, and 
 deposited in one of those coffins or mummy-cases which the recent 
 spoliations of Egyptian sepulchres have in this day made familiar 
 to us. 
 
 The generation to which these events belong died out : and still 
 the Hebrews remained in Goshen, where they increased with 
 astonishing rapidity, and followed their old pastoral modes of life, 
 without altogether neglecting agriculture. 
 
 In the course of time, apparently about thirty-eight years after 
 the death of Joseph, a new dynasty, probably from Upper Egypt, 
 obtained possession of the throne of Lower Egypt, which we are 
 to regard as the Egypt of the patriarchal history. To the new 
 dynasty the services of Joseph, and the circumstances attending 
 the introduction of his family, could not be altogether unknown. 
 But they were not recognised, not appreciated, not understood, with 
 that fulness of apprehension which would belong to those who were 
 descended from and connected with the kings and princes who were 
 Joseph’s contemporaries. But the phenomenon of a people so dif- 
 ferent in character, habits, and religion, as the Hebrews, residing 
 within a frontier much exposed to aggression from tribes of similar 
 habits to theirs, and with whom they might be supposed to have a 
 common sympathy and interest — drew the attention and excited the 
 fears of the new government. It was apprehended, in the words of 
 the new king, “ that when there falleth out any war, they join also 
 unto our enemies, and fight against us” (Exod. i. 10). These 
 words were spoken perfectly in accordance with the state of things 
 in Egypt. Fruitful and cultivated Egypt lias for its natural enemies 
 the inhabitants of the neighbouring deserts, and it is never in 
 greater peril than when these enemies find allies among its own 
 inhabitants. 
 
 It was therefore determined to adopt a repressive policy towards 
 the Israelites, with a view of checking their alarmingly rapid in- 
 crease, and to break their spirit of independence. Hard and con- 
 stant labour was judged the means best suited to this end : and they 
 were therefore, in fact, enslaved, and compelled to labour on the 
 public works. In that part of Egypt buildings are and were for 
 the most part constructed of bricks made of clay compacted with 
 straw, and dried in the sun. There are even some pyramids built 
 with this material. This explains how it was that the Egyptians 
 are said to have “ made the life of the Israelites bitter with hard 
 bonda ge in mortar and in brick — nothing is said of stone. For 
 ! the further illustration of this it may be remarked that bricks were 
 in Egypt made under the direction of the government, or of some 
 person privileged by the crown, as appears by the stamp which is 
 still found upon many of them. A great multitude of strangers 
 were constantly employed in the brick-fields of Egypt, this being 
 one of the servile employments, in which the native Egyptians were 
 too proud to labour ; or, in other words, the great number of slaves 
 and captives made all unskilled labour too cheap to afford a rate of 
 wages which they deemed adequate. We are not informed what 
 works the Israelites constructed, excepting that “ they built for 
 Pharaoh treasure-cities, J’ithom and Raamses.’ The latter, and 
 probably the other, was in the land of Goshen, and they appear to 
 have been fortified towns, erected in the land of the Hebrews for the 
 purpose of keeping them in subjection, and of storing the propor- 
 tions of their pastoral or agricultural produce which the Egyptian 
 government required from them. 
 
 These rigid measures by no means answered the desired object. 
 The more the Israelites were oppressed, “the more they multiplied 
 and grew.” The atrocious plan was then devised of destroying, 
 through the midwives, all the male children of the Hebrews in the 
 , birth ; but this plan of secret massacre having been frustrated by 
 
 G 2 
 
Goly^fa ar yr Afon Nilus. 
 
 1G7. — Jacob blessing tne bone or josepn. (Kewbranat.) 
 Jacob yn bendithio Meibion Joseph. 
 
 170. — Finding of Moses. (Vandyke.)— Exod. ii. 
 Cun fod Moses. 
 
 171. — Moses and the Egyptian. 
 Moaes a’r Aiphtwr. 
 
a.tW 
 
 1 / 2 .— Chapel of the Burning Bush. 
 Cupel y Berth Losgedig. 
 
 ), with the Convent of St. Catherine, from the North, 
 lloreb, a Mynachlog St. Catherine, o’r tu Gogledd. 
 
 I 73 . —Mounts Sinai and Horeb, 
 Mynyddoedd Sinai a 1 
 
 H 
 
 \\ > YLs 
 
 
 s \l 
 
 ' \\ 
 
 
 
 JBt' "r** 
 
 rf f 
 
 h— Ascent to Mount Sinai, from the ‘ Voyage en Arabic Petree,’ par M M. Leon et Laborde. 
 Esgynfa Mynydd Sinai, o ‘ Daitb yn Arabia Garegog,’ gan y ileistri Leon a Laborde. 
 
 177.— Ornaments of Egyptian Females. 14 Jewels of gold and jewels of silver.” 
 Adourniadau iioovwaid Aiphtaidd. 44 Tlysau aur a tblysau arian.” 
 
 178.— Egyptian Bastinado. 
 Pastyniad Aiyhtaidd. 
 
46 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday VL 
 
 the reluctance of the midwives to be parties in it, the king no 
 longer hesitated to issue a public order that every male cliild thence- 
 forth born to the Hebrews should be cast into the river. 
 
 In those days, the wife of a man named Amram, descended from 
 Levi, gave birth to a son, whose singularly engaging and comely 
 appearance urged her maternal heart to risk the penalties of disobe- 
 dience by concealing its existence. Three months she hid her 
 child, when, finding it no longer possible to keep it concealed, 
 and knowing that if found it would certainly be destroyed, she 
 resolved to give it one only chance for life, by committing it to the 
 naked Providence of God. To this end she prepared a kind of 
 basket, made of the papyrus reed, and daubed over with bitumen to 
 render it impervious to the water. In this she placed thechdd, and 
 laid it among the rushes that grew upon the bank of the Nile. A 
 grown up sister, Miriam, stood watching in the distance to observe 
 what might befal. She had not stood long when, behold, the 
 daughter of the king came forth attended by her maidens to bathe 
 in the river. This fact implies, what we know from other sources, 
 that the women of ancient Egypt were less restrained than those of 
 the modern East ; and the fact of the princess bathing in the river 
 is explained from the peculiar sacredness of the Nile in the view of 
 the Egyptians. As the princess walked beside the stream, the ark 
 in which lay the Hebrew infant attracted her notice, and she sent 
 one of her maidens to bring it to her. When the ark was opened, 
 the babe wept, and his tears and beauty together touched the 
 womanly heart of the king’s daughter. She was moved with 
 compassion. “ This,” she said, “ is one of the Hebrews’ children 
 dearly discerning the cause of this exposure. By this time the 
 child’s sister had approached, and hearing this, she interposed the 
 suggestive and well-put question, “ Shall I go and call to thee a 
 nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for 
 thee?” On receiving the thrilling answer, “ Go,” the girl flew 
 and fetched the child’s own mother. Ah, who can tell the blessed- 
 ness of that mother, the fulness of her heart, as she received back 
 her babe from the king’s daughter, with the charge, “ Take this 
 child, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages?” 
 
 The child thus marvellously, for marvellous purposes, preserved, 
 received from the princess the name of Moses ( from the water •) in 
 commemoration of her taking him from the river. 
 
 When the days of his nursing had passed, the boy was taken to 
 the princess, -and remained with her. She adopted him for her son, 
 and lie was brought up as the son of the king’s daughter. We may 
 be sure that as such he received the highest education which the 
 most educated nation in the world could give. We are, indeed, 
 expressly told that he was “ learned in all the wisdom of the 
 Egyptians” (Acts vii. 22). We are also informed that he was 
 “ mighty in word and in deeds.” What these deeds were we do 
 not know, but the Jews believe that he was, on more than one 
 occasion, intrusted with the command of the Egyptian armies, and 
 gained great victories over the enemies of Egypt. 
 
 He, however, was aware of his origin, and acquainted with his 
 own family. He knew the destinies of Israel, and a part with them 
 seemed to him more desirable than the glories of Egypt. We are 
 told that “ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to 
 be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ; choosing rather to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
 sin for a season ” (Ileb. xi. 24, 25). But whether this refers to 
 something which occurred before that visit to his brethren in Goshen 
 which the regular narrative records, or is deduced from the conse- 
 'quences of that visit, we have no means of knowing. At all events, 
 when he was forty years old (1531 b.c.) Moses paid this visit, and 
 examined, with that largeness of view which belonged to him, the 
 condition of his people. They seemed to have remained in the same 
 enslaved condition in which they had been left by the first decree 
 of the Egyptian king, but the edict respecting the destruction of the 
 male children had not continued long in operation, having been 
 withdrawn probably at the solicitation of the princess. 
 
 Moses was much grieved and exasperated at the condition to which 
 ne beheld the descendants of Abraham reduced ; and when on one 
 occasion he saw an Egyptian smiting an Israelite, his indignation 
 was so highly kindled that he slew the oppressor and afterwards hid 
 the body in the sand. This he did, doubtless, to save the Israelites, 
 to whom the act would not fail to be attributed, from the conse- 
 quences. The next day Moses had one, among other, of those 
 opportunities of perceiving how the iron of the Egyptian bondage 
 had eaten into the soul of his countrymen, which probably occasioned 
 his reluctance, at a future day, to undertake the task of their de- 
 liverance. One object of the tyranny to which they were subject had 
 been fulfilled. 'I heir spirit was broken, their souls had fallen into 
 bondage; and there was nothing they so much dreaded as the dis- 
 
 pleasure of their tyrants, and they regarded with apprehension and 
 dislike any person or any act, however generous in character or 
 noble in motive, that seemed likely to draw upon them the unfa- 
 vourable notice of their taskmasters. Perceiving two Israelites 
 struggling with each other, he said to the one who was apparently 
 in the wrong, “ Wherefore sinitest thou thy fellow ?” To which 
 the other replied tauntingly, “ Who made dice a prince and a judge 
 over us? Intendest thou to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian?” 
 It thus appeared that his act was known, and known to persons not 
 favourably disposed towards him. The severity of the Egyptian 
 laws in such cases left him no choice but flight. That flight was 
 his only choice may seem to imply that in fact he had by this time 
 lost or given up his station at the Egyptian court ; but when we 
 recollect that his act evinced a sympathy with the bondaged Hebrews, 
 which the court would regard as dangerous in proportion to the 
 rank and station of the person by whom it was manifested, we cannot 
 be sure that this was not in itself the act of abandonment to which 
 the apostle refers. 
 
 He fled, and his course was directed towards that region which 
 was in after-years the scene of his glory. He made his way to the 
 country bordering on the eastern arm of the Red Sea, which was 
 anciently called the TElanitic Gulf, and now the Gulf of Akaba. 
 Arrived in the land of southern Midian, the exile rested beside a 
 well, and while he sat there the daughters of the emir and priest of 
 Midian, Jethro by name, arrived to water their father’s flock 
 They had drawn up the water and filled the troughs, when some 
 shepherds came and drove them off. These churlish shepherds were 
 proceeding to give to their flocks the water which had been drawn, 
 when Moses interposed, and himself watered the maidens’ flock. 
 They failed not to report this kindness of “ the Egyptian,” as 
 Moses appeared in their eyes, to their father Jethro, who sent to 
 offer him the hospitalities of his house. In the end Moses consented 
 to remain with Jethro, and take the charge of his flocks ; and ere 
 long he obtained in marriage one of Jethro’s daughters, named 
 Zipporah, by whom he had two sons ; one of them he called 
 Gershom (a stranger here), 11 because I have been a stranger in a 
 strange land and the other Eliezer ( God's-help ), “ because the 
 God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of 
 Pharaoh.” 
 
 Thus Moses, who had been in Egypt regarded as the son of 
 Pharaoh’s daughter, became a keeper of sheep, which, in the arid 
 season, when the plains are parched with drought, he often led to 
 feed in the green valleys of Sinai. 
 
 Forty years after he had quitted Egypt, and when he was eighty 
 years of age, he led his flock, as usual, into these favourite pastures, 
 when one day he was much astonished to perceive a bush burning 
 in the distance without being consumed. He drew near to see this 
 great sight, when a miraculous voice from out the bush charged 
 him to unloose the sandals from his feet — the Oriental mark of 
 respect — because the ground on which he stood was holy. By this 
 Moses might have guessed that he stood in the presence of that 
 God who had so often appeared to his patriarchal fathers ; for only 
 the presence of God could, in the sense intimated, render the ground 
 holy. On this point he could not be long in doubt, for the Voice 
 said : — “ I am the God of thy father : the God of Abraham, the 
 God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And when Moses heard 
 that, he hid his face, “ for he was afraid to look upon God,” or 
 even upon the burning symbol of his glory. The divine Voice 
 then proceeded to declare the object of this appearance. God had 
 seen the grievous and still continued oppression of his people in 
 Egypt, and the time for their deliverance was come. And they 
 were to be delivered, and conducted to their promised heritage, not 
 by the naked arm of God, but by that arm clothed with visible 
 agencies, and acting through human instruments — a human 
 deliverer. And who was he? Moses himself was called to the 
 glorious task of bringing forth the people of God from the house 
 of bondage, and he was encouraged to this undertaking by the 
 assurance that all his personal enemies, all those who once sought 
 his life in Egypt were now dead, so that he might safely return 
 thither. That the time was come for Israel to be delivered was 
 matter of great joy to Moses ; but time — forty years of pastoral 
 occupation — had subdued the early ardour of him who had once 
 been a self-appointed redresser of Israel’s wrongs, and had been 
 prematurely anxious to assume t lie task of a deliverer (Acts vii. 
 20). The repulse which he then received sunk deep into his soul, 
 and made him hopeless of rousing the spirit of a people so ac- 
 customed to their yoke, so enslaved in heart, as he knew them to be. 
 But the Divine Being condescended to answer his objections, and 
 reminded him that, in discharging the great duty to which he was 
 now called, he would act with power beyond his own. 
 
Sunday VI.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 47 
 
 SUNDAY VI.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 NDREW and Peter, although they 
 had in a certain sense attached them- 
 selves to our Lord, had not yet been 
 called in that peculiar manner which 
 required them to be in constant attend- 
 ance upon his person : it is, therefore, 
 to Philip that we may assign the 
 honour of being the first “ called ” 
 disciple of Christ. In this, as in the 
 former case, the discovery of the Christ 
 so long expected, and so earnestly 
 desired, was a matter of too high interest anil importance, a secret 
 too exciting, to be hidden by those to whom it was imparted. Ac- 
 cordingly, no sooner did Philip meet with an old acquaintance called 
 Nathaniel than he cried out, “ We have found him of whom Moses 
 in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son 
 of Joseph.” Nazareth, being a mean place, and the inhabitants of 
 indifferent character, was despised even among the Galileans, who 
 were themselves contemned by the people of Judea. Knowing this, 
 and being aware that the Christ was expected to come from 
 Bethlehem, Nathaniel caught at the word Nazareth, and asked, 
 Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip gave 
 the best possible answer, “ Come and see. They accordingly 
 went to Jesus, who no sooner saw Nathaniel approach than he said, 
 “ Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile !” Surprised 
 beyond measure at this recognition, Nathaniel asked, “ Whence 
 knowest thou me?” Jesus answered, “Before that Philip called 
 thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee/ It was not 
 unusual for educated men among the Jews to study the law under 
 fig-trees, and sometimes, although more rarely, to pray there. 
 This may indicate the act which Jesus had in view. I his answer 
 implied our Lord’s cognizance of the private conversation between 
 Philip and himself, and also of acts performed by him in the secrecy 
 of his own house or garden. Overcome by this, he at once burst 
 out into the free and full confession— “ Rabbi, thou art the Son of 
 God, thou art the King of Israel !” This gave occasion for what 
 may be regarded as the first prophecy of our Saviour, “ Because I 
 said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou ? Thou 
 shalt see greater things than these. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending 
 and descending upon tire Son of Man.” Many think from this that 
 Nathaniel had been studying under the fig-tree Jacob’s vision at 
 Bethel, of the ladder reaching unto heaven, and the angels of God 
 ascending and descending thereon ; and that Christ designed to 
 strengthen his conviction by disclosing his knowledge of this fact. 
 But this is what we cannot know. (John i. 43 — 51.) 
 
 Jesus had scarcely arrived at Nazareth when he was called with 
 his disciples to a marriage-feast at Cana, to which his mother had, 
 it seems, already gone ; we find him there on the third day after 
 leaving Bethabara. That Joseph was not also present, has led to 
 i he notion that he was already dead ; and this is more than probable, 
 as he is not once mentioned as living, nor does he on any occasion 
 appear throughout the period of our Lord’s ministry. Cana was a 
 small place about five miles to the north of Nazareth, and was 
 called Cana of Galilee, to distinguish it from another place of the 
 same name. The persons then married are supposed by some to 
 have been relations to Mary. It is shown to be probable that her 
 sister, the wife of Cleophas, lived at Cana, and had a grown-up 
 family in which this marriage may have taken place: and the some- 
 what prominent part taken by Mary in giving general orders to 
 the attendants has been cited in support of this conjecture. Among 
 the Jews a wedding-feast lasted seven days; and it would seem 
 that Christ and his disciples arrived in some of the latter days. 
 The wine then began to run short, probably from the arrival of 
 more guests than had been expected. The presence of Jesus, for 
 instance, could not have been provided for, as it could not be known 
 that he would return in time to be present, or that he would return 
 with several persons in his company. At such feasts the guests 
 were composed of two sorts of persons — those who came by special 
 invitation, and those who went of their own accord, but were 
 expected to make a present to the bridegroom and the bride. A 
 lack of wine towards the end of a feast might therefore very natu- 
 rally arise under the most careful provision ; and that this happened 
 at the marriage in Cana by no means implies, as usually stated, 
 that the persons then married were in humble circumstances. 
 
 The attention of Jesus was drawn to this want of wine by his 
 
 mother. The intent with which she did this has been much dis- 
 puted. That she expected he would remove it by a miraculous 
 supply is the general interpretation, and is the one which seems to 
 agree best with all the circumstances. Jesus, however, answered, 
 “ Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet 
 come.” The/bm of this answer was. among the Jews, anything 
 but disrespectful : but the sense implies a gentle reprehension of 
 any dictation to him in that capacity in which he was above all 
 human control, adding that the time for this manifestation of his 
 miraculous powers was not fully come. Gatliering from this that 
 the want would eventually be supplied in the way she expected, 
 Mary instructed the attendants to pay exact attention to whatever 
 instructions they might receive from him. 
 
 There were on the premises six of those large stone jars or 
 waterpots in which the Jews in those parts kept their water for use, 
 which had been brought in smaller vessels from the well or fountain. 
 They were preferred because they kept the water cool in summer, 
 and it is a remarkable fact that such jars of ancient date are at this 
 day found in the neighbourhood of Cana. These waterpots Jesus 
 secretly instructed the servants to fill with water ; and they filled 
 them to the very brim. 
 
 It was usual among the Jews and other ancient nations, at all their 
 larger entertainments, to appoint one person as a master of the 
 feast ( Architriclinus), to preserve order and to keep up good and 
 cheerful feeling. Among the Jews, a priest was usually chosen for 
 this purpose, as the influence of his character enabled him the more 
 easily to keep the festivities within the bounds of sobriety and 
 prudence, while his acquaintance with the law afforded some security 
 against ceremonial transgression. There was accordingly a master 
 to this marriage-feast in Cana. 
 
 Jesus now directed the servants to fill their goblets from the 
 jars which had been filled with water, and submit them to the 
 governor of the feast. They did so, and he, unknowing whence the 
 beverage came, pleasantly animadverted upon the impropriety of 
 which the bridegroom had been guilty in holding back the best wine 
 till the end of the feast. It was the custom of the Jews to give the 
 best wine at the beginning of a feast, and afterwards, when the taste 
 became blunted, an inferior sort. “ But thou,” said the master of 
 the feast to the bridegroom — “ thou hast kept the good wine until 
 now.” 
 
 This was the first miracle of Christ ; and it appears to have had 
 a specific significance, in drawing attention at the outset to the 
 difference between the austerities of John the Baptist’s ministry and 
 the amenities of his own. 
 
 Not long after this the approach of the Passover rendered it 
 necessary tliat Christ should go to Jerusalem, thereto celebrate the 
 feast, as the law required. The incidents of the journey are no 
 related. But on his arrival, Jesus commenced his public ministry 
 at Jerusalem by expelling the money-changers, and the dealers, 
 who at that season were wont to establish themselves in a certain 
 part of the temple’s outer court. It was not a common market ; 
 but was temporarily held for the use of those who resorted to the 
 temple in great numbers at this least. Such animals were there 
 sold as were required for sacrifices — oxen, sheep, lambs, and also 
 doves ; and there were tables, where the money-changers gave 
 Jewish money for the current Roman coins, it being held unlawful 
 to pay the temple tribute of half a shekel with heathen money. 
 This offended Jesus, who provided himself with a scourge of small 
 cords, and by the severity of his countenance and of his words, rather 
 than of his action, he compelled all these traffickers to withdraw in 
 confusion, as he exclaimed, “ Take these things hence : — Make not 
 my Father’s house a house of merchandise 1” (John ii. 13 — 17.) 
 
 This action of our Lord is carefully to be distinguished from the 
 similar action which he performed towards the end of his ministry, 
 and which is the only one related by the other Evangelists. The 
 second purification of the temple took place during the last week ol 
 our Lord’s life, after the death of John the Baptist, when it could 
 not be said, as is said here, that afterwards Christ dwelt and bap- 
 tized in Judaea. 
 
 This striking act could not fail to draw the attention of the 
 Jews towards our Saviour. It would be admitted by even tin 
 Pharisees that a divine messenger could claim a right to purifi 
 the theocracy in the manner of the ancient prophets, but they 
 would require him to produce the proofs of divine mission before 
 this right could be recognised. Therefore they gathered round 
 him, and asked, “ What sign showest thou, seeing that thiru dost 
 these things?” (John ii. 18). To which he returned the answer, 
 “ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” This 
 was an obscure allusion to nis own future death through them, and 
 his resurrection on the third day. 
 
179. — Clmst with the Doctors in the Temple. (Overbeck.) 
 
 Crist gyd a’r Doctoriaiil y n y Demi. 
 
 181.— Calling of St. Andrew and Simon Peter. 
 Ualw St. Andreas a Simon Petr. 
 
 ISO. — Lake and Town of Tiberias. 
 Llyn a Dinas Tiberias. 
 
 IS5. — Marriage at Cana. 
 Priodas yn Cana. 
 
 4fc 
 
192. — Screech uwi. — Isaiah xxxiv. . ** 
 
 Yr WylL 
 
 1 
 
 190.— Desolation of Idumea. View of a Portion of the Ruin* of Petra.— Iso. xxxiv. 5,6. 
 
 Angbyfannedd-dra Edora. Golyjfa Khan o Adfeiiion Petra. H 
 
 187. — Bittern. — Inalah xir. 23. 
 Aderyn t bwn. 
 
 49 
 
 j 
 
50 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday VII. 
 
 SUNDAY VJL— THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 ISAIAH XV.— XXXV. 
 
 OME of the many interesting al- 
 lusions in this group of chapters 
 to objects in nature and art, may 
 be indicated under the divisions to 
 which they severally belong. 
 
 In the Animal Kingdom the 
 most remarkable are the “ bittern ” 
 in xiv. 23, and the “satyr” and 
 “ screech-owl ” of xxxiv. 14. 
 
 The bird which our translation 
 calls a bittern is named in the 
 original Hebrew kippod. This 
 word occurs but thrice in Scrip- 
 ture, twice in Isaiah (xiv. 23 ; 
 xxxiv. 11), and once in Zephaniah (ii. 14). That the meaning of the 
 word is utterly uncertain, appears from the fact that nearly a dozen 
 different birds and animals have been pointed out for it, such as bit- 
 tern, bustard, heron, owl, osprey, porcupine, hedgehog, beaver, otter, 
 and even tortoise! This being the case, we may be readily ex- 
 cused from offering an opinion on the subject. In the text before 
 us the kippod is associated with pools of water amidst the desolations 
 of Babylon, which seems to point to some creature resorting to 
 fens and solitary wilds ; and in Zephaniah it is named among 
 several birds, and is described as perching, if not roosting, on the 
 highest points of buildings, and there uttering its notes. From 
 this there can be little doubt of its being a bird. The marshy de- 
 solations of Babylon are at this day frequented by immense numbers 
 of aquatic birds, from the pelican and heron down to the widgeon : 
 but aquatic animals are exceedingly rare ; and of the animals 
 named in the above list there is only one, the porcupine, which is 
 found in the region where the Scripture places the kippod , and that 
 animal does not resort to pools of water. 
 
 The “ screech-owl ” of xxxiv. 14, is a translation of the Hebrew 
 word lilith , from a root signifying “ night and some night-bird 
 inhabiting ruined places is undoubtedly intended : a species of owl 
 is probably denoted by the word. It is to be observed that the 
 prophet is speaking of the then future desolations of the land 
 of Edom ; and it is therefore well worthy of notice, that the me- 
 lancholy hoot of the owl is one of the few sounds which travellers 
 incidentally describe as breaking in upon the silence which hangs 
 over Petra, the forsaken metropolis of that land. In illustrating 
 one of the allusions to owls contained in this chapter, namely, 
 The owl also, and the raven (or crow) shall dwell in it,” xxxiv. 1 1, 
 I)r. Keith, in his ‘Evidence of Prophecy,’ says, “ The owl and 
 raven do dwell in it. Captain Mangles relates, that while he and 
 his fellow-travellers were examining the ruins and contemplating 
 the sublime scenery of Petra, the screams of the eagles, hawks, 
 and owls, which were soaring above their heads in considerable 
 numbers, seemingly annoyed at any one approaching their lonely 
 habitation, added much to the singularity of the scene.” 
 
 1 he “ satyr” of our text (xxxiv. 14) is allowed to be a species of 
 goat, and there is little doubt of its being the “ mountain-goat” called 
 by the Arabs beden, and which is in fact a variety of the ibex. It 
 is here mentioned as inhabiting the mountains of Edom ; and 
 Burckhardt informs us that in all the wadys south of the Arnon 
 these mountain-goats are found, in large herds, forty or fifty 
 together. Ihey are killed by the inhabitants of Kerek and Tayfle 
 (the only inhabited towns in this quarter), who hold the flesh in 
 high estimation. They sell the large horns to the Hebron mer- 
 chants, who carry them to Jerusalem, where they are worked into 
 handles for knives and daggers. The traveller himself saw at 
 Kerek a pair of horns three feet long. The Arabs told him it was 
 difficult to get a shot at them ; and that the hunters hide them- 
 selves among the reeds on the banks of the streams, to which the 
 animals resort in the evening to drink. They also asserted that, 
 when perceived, the animals will throw themselves from heights of 
 fifty feet and more, upon their heads, without receiving any injury. 
 
 1 he same thing is asserted of the same animal by the hunters in 
 the Alps. 
 
 In the Vegetable Kingdom we find particular notice of 
 Reeds (xix. 67), Olive-trees (xxiv. 13), and Fitches (xxviii. 25). 
 
 1 he reed , as is well known, is a shrub plant, out of whose knotty 
 root many long hollow stems are put forth, which by knots are 
 divided into several limbs. The leaves are sharp-edged and cutting ; 
 instead of blossoms, there appear outspread ears of the form of ostrich 
 feathers. It grows in humid marshy places, in ponds, and on the 
 
 banks of rivers (Exod. ii. 3; 1 Kings xiv. 15; Job viii. 11; 
 Isa. xix. 6; xxxv. 7). It has been noticed by several travellers 
 that the banks of the river Jordan and the margin of the lake 
 IJuleh (“ the waters of Merom ”), in Palestine, are covered with 
 various species of reed. Because reed, on account of the length 
 and weakness of its culm, is moved to and fro by the slightest 
 blast, it is used as an image of a tottering kingdom (1 Kings xiv. 15). 
 A man bent down by misfortune and sorrow is figuratively called 
 a broken reed (Isa. xlii. 3). When the Roman soldiers, in their 
 scorn and derision, hailed Jesus as the King of the Jews, they placed 
 in his hand for a sceptre a reed (Matt, xxvii. 29), to indicate the 
 frailness and futility of his kingdom. A tall and strong species of 
 reed (the Arundo d.onax ) was used as a stick for support, both in 
 standing and in walking ; but if such a stick broke, the point or 
 splinter of the broken reed wounded the hand bearing on it for 
 support. This explains a striking passage in the message sent by 
 the Assyrian general Rabshakeh to King llezekiah, as noticed by 
 our prophet (Isa. xxxvi. 6) : “ Behold, thou didst rely on that 
 broken reed Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his 
 hand and pierce it.” (Compare Ezek. xxix. 6, where the same figure 
 is in a manner equally applied to Egypt.) The splinter of a broken 
 reed inflicts a painful wound. And we are told by Theodoretus 
 that one of the tortures which the primitive Christians had to suffer 
 was that of having the broken and pointed sticks of reeds driven in 
 under the nails of their hands and feet, and into other parts of 
 their body. It appears that the Hebrews used the reed as a 
 measuring-rod for buildings. The length of such a measuring-rod 
 was six ells, and this is said to be the natural length of the strong 
 broad-leaved reed (Ezek. xl. 3, 5 ; Rev. xi. 1 ; xxi. 15, 16). 
 
 The word translated “ paper-reed ” in this chapter (Isa. 
 xxxiv. 7) denotes various kinds of green plants growing by rivers, 
 including the paper-reed ; but the paper-reed itself is denoted by 
 the word translated “ rush ” in the next chapter (xxxv. 7), and 
 denotes the rush from which a kind of writing-paper was made, 
 specimens of which may be seen in the papyrus rolls which are now 
 found in most collections of Egyptian antiquities. Our word 
 “ paper ” comes from the name of this plant. It is elsewhere men- 
 tioned by our prophet (viii. 2) as the material with which boats 
 were made. Such boats are often mentioned by ancient authors, 
 and, judging from what is now done on the Euphrates and Tigris 
 (where, however, the palm-leaf is used instead of rushes), it would 
 appear that in fabricating such boats the rushes were interwoven, 
 like basket-work, upon a frame-work of stout stems, and then ren- 
 dered impervious to water by being coated over with bitumen. 
 Accordingly the mother of Moses, when she made her little ark or 
 basket with these same rushes, did not neglect to “ daub it with 
 slime and pitch ” (Exod. ii. 3). 
 
 The olive-tree (xvii. 6 ; xxiv. 13) is constantly alluded to in the 
 Scriptures as the most important of all the fruit-trees in Palestine. 
 It was as common there as the palm-tree in Egypt, and was relatively 
 as important to Palestine as the palm-tree to that country. Its 
 fruit not only supplied a useful and wholesome article of food, but 
 furnished an oil which was much used as salad-oil and in the pre- 
 paration of food, as well as in lamps and for anointing the person. 
 Plantations of olives abounded in the land, and the remains of them 
 are observed in spots not now inhabited. On the Mount of Olives 
 near Jerusalem several venerable old olive-trees suit well with the 
 associations of the spot, although, of course, the identical trees can- 
 not be referred back to the time when the mount derived its name 
 from the olive-groves by which it was covered. From the com- 
 parison of the two passages in which olive-trees are mentioned in 
 these chapters, with the law which forbade the proprietor of an 
 olive-ground, when beating off the olives, to go over the boughs a 
 second time, in order that something might be left for the oiive- 
 gleaners — it appears, that the Hebrews followed the practice, still 
 usual in Italy and Palestine, of beating off' the ripe olives with 
 a long pole. This process was calculated to bring down more 
 of the olives, both ripe and unripe, than mere shaking, and was 
 therefore the more likely to be followed by persons who were pre- 
 cluded from a second operation. But as shaking the olive-tree is 
 mentioned in the text, it is probable that the poor were not allowed 
 to beat the olive-tree again (this being somewhat injurious), but 
 only to shake off, when ripe, those which had remained unripe upon 
 the tree at the first gathering. 
 
 The “fitches” in our translation of xxviii. 25, are supposed to be 
 represented bv the Nigella saliva, a ranunculaceous plant much 
 cultivated in Western Asia for the sake of the small black seeds, 
 which have from time immemorial been used as a condiment, much 
 in the same way that carraway and coriander seeds are employed by 
 ourselves. 
 
Sunday YII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 51 
 
 SUNDAY YII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 IIUS assured, Moses no 
 
 longer declined the task im- 
 posed upon him. He rendered 
 up his pastoral charge to Jeth- 
 ro ; and, taking his wife and 
 children, turned his steps to- 
 wards Egypt. Before he 
 
 reached that country, he was 
 met by his elder brother Aaron, 
 from whom he doubtless re- 
 ceived full information of the 
 state of affairs in Egypt, and 
 of the present condition and 
 feelings of the Israelites. 
 
 Arrived in Egypt, the 
 brothers assembled the elders 
 of Israel ; and Moses related the mission which he had received, and 
 exhibited the miraculous powers which had been intrusted to him to 
 prove its truth. Then the people believed, “ and when they heard 
 that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had 
 looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and wor- 
 shipped ” (Exod. iv. 3l_). 
 
 After this, Moses and Aaron, attended by the chiefs of Israel, 
 presented themselves before the throne of Egypt, and demanded, in 
 the name of Jehovah, that his people should go forth to hold a 
 solemn sacrifice and festival in the desert. 
 
 The insolent pride with which Pharaoh received the message 
 communicated by Moses, “ Who is Jehovah ! that I should obey 
 his voice, to let Israel go. I know not Jehovah, neither will I 
 let Israel go?” (Exod. v. 2) ; the obstinacy which he afterwards 
 exhibits, when the Divine punishments fall upon him one after 
 another, in choosing rather to see the destruction of his land and 
 people, than to yield — are proved by the monuments, which 
 the Egyptians have left behind them, to be in accordance with the 
 genuine spirit of a Pharaoh. A comparison of the representation 
 of the victory of Remeses Mi-amun in Thebes, as explained by 
 Champollion, is of special interest in this connection. The trophies 
 of victory (the severed right hand, and other members of the body) 
 are there laid at the feet of the king, who sits quietly in his chariot, 
 while the horses are held by his officers, and addresses this haughty 
 speech to his warriors : “ Give yourselves to mirth ; let it rise to 
 heaven. Strangers are dashed to the ground by my power. The 
 terror of my name has gone forth ; their hearts are full of it. I 
 appear before them as a lion ; I have pursued them as a hawk ; I 
 have annihilated their wicked souls ; I have passed over their rivers ; 
 
 I have set fire to their castles ; I am to Egypt what the god Man- 
 doo has been : I have vanquished the barbarians ; Amun-Re (the 
 greatest of the Egyptian gods), my father, has subdued the whole 
 world under my feet, and I am king on the throne for ever.” The 
 literal truth of this translation has indeed been disputed ; but the 
 spirit which the speech breathes, may easily be recognised from 
 it. There is no doubt that the Egyptian kings, in their pride, 
 named themselves kings of the whole world ; and it has been 
 established by the monuments, that they, in this arrogance, claimed 
 divine honours for themselves. 
 
 Not only was the application made by Moses refused, but the 
 exactions and the inflictions upon the Israelites were redoubled, 
 to punish them for having made it. Hitherto they had been 
 allowed straw with which to compact the bricks, the manufac- 
 ture of which formed their chief labour ; but now this was refused, 
 and although much of their time was consumed in collecting 
 the straw, the full tale of bricks was required from them ; and the 
 officers of the children of Israel, whom the overseers of Pharaoh 
 had placed over them, were beaten because the task was not per- 
 formed. This scene is placed vividly before us by the Egyptians, 
 which offer many representations of “ labour stimulated by the 
 persuasive powers of the stick.” 
 
 The Hebrew people now began to complain against Moses and 
 Aaron for having thus increased their troubles by their ill-considered 
 demands; and Moses himself complained to the Lord that the 
 condition of the people had not been bettered, but much worsened 
 by his interference. 
 
 visitations known as the Plagues of Egypt, for the purpose of 
 convincing the king of the power of the God whom the Hebrews 
 served, and of the dread consequences of resisting his demand. 
 
 The effect of some of these was weakened to the mind of Pharaoh 
 by the impostures of his magicians, by whom some of them were 
 simulated. But the terrible visitation which each plague brought 
 could only be removed at the intercession of Moses ; and at that 
 intercession they were successively removed, on promises from the 
 king of attention and compliance, which were neglected so soon as 
 the penal effects had ceased. Hence these visitations rose in 
 severity, till the last terrible and overwhelming calamity produced 
 the designed result. 
 
 They were preceded by a sign, or miracle, performed in the 
 presence of Pharaoh and his court, and intended to authenticate 
 the divine mission which Moses had received. Attended by the 
 elders of Israel, Moses and his brother Aaron again presented 
 themselves before the king ; and the latter having cast down his 
 rod upon the ground, it was at once changed into a serpent, in the 
 sight of all that illustrious audience. Instead of yielding to the 
 force of that evidence which this miracle conveyed, the king sent 
 for his “ wise men and sorcerers,” who “ did in like manner with 
 their enchantments ; for they cast down every man his rod, and they 
 became serpents.” This hardened the king in the course he had 
 marked out for himself : and although the inferiority of the seeming 
 miracle of the magicians was evinced by the fact of Aaron’s serpent- 
 rod swallowing up theirs, the king persuaded himself that he had an 
 excuse for withholding his consent to the demand made in the name of 
 Jehovah. We are expressly told, that the “wise men” of Egypt 
 performed their simulated wonder by “ enchantment,” which word 
 denotes not merely magical agencies, but any kind of legerdemain, or 
 scientific or artistical contrivance. The Egyptian priests were 
 deeply learned in all the secrets of nature and art, which were hidden 
 from their contemporaries, and which, indeed, they treasured up as 
 mysteries peculiar to their order, and to which none but the highest 
 members, even of that order, were admitted. Tnere is no manner of 
 doubt that it was by such means that they were enabled to imitate, in 
 appearance, some of the miracles performed by Moses and Aaron. 
 
 This counter-wonder of the Egyptian magicians was founded on 
 the peculiar condition of Egypt : and much more so was the Mosaic 
 sign ; for through it the prophet was furnished with power to per- 
 form that which the magicians of Egypt most especially gloried in, 
 and by which they most of all supported their authority. I he 
 charming of serpents has been native to Egypt, from the most 
 ancient even to the present time ; and although the art is now 
 beheld by us without those sacred associations which invested it 
 with awe and wonder in and after the time in which Moses lived, 
 enough remains to enable us to form some conception of tiie effects 
 then produced. Even those who have entered upon an examination 
 of the subject with the most absolute unbelief, such as the scientific 
 commissioners attached to the French army in Egypt, have been 
 forced into the conviction, that there was something in it, which 
 their philosophy could not reach, and which compelled them to 
 conclude that the Psylli (as these serpent-charmers were anciently 
 called) were in possession of some secret charm, which placed them 
 in a condition to bring about the most wonderful consequences. It 
 was at first believed that they removed the teeth of serpents and 
 the stings of scorpions, that they might handle them with impunity ; 
 but this suspicion has been disproved by repeated examination. 
 Indeed, this wondrous art is still a mystery ; it descends from father 
 to son, and the serpent-charmers in Egypt form an association 
 claiming to be the only individuals who are able to charm serpents 
 or free houses from them. Their sleight of hand is very various. 
 They are able, according to their own assertions, to make the Haje 
 (the species of serpent they especially make use of in their tricks) 
 rigid as a staff, and to appear as if dead ; and then, at pleasure, 
 make them relax into vitality again. An eminent naturalist, Col. 
 C. Hamilton Smith, (in Art. “ Adder ” in the ‘ Cyclop, of Biblical 
 Literature,’) informs us that the inflation of which this serpent is 
 capable can, by a peculiar pressure on the neck, be rendered «o 
 intensely rigid, that the serpent can be held out horizontally, as 
 if it were a rod'; and that the restoration of vitality is produced by 
 liberating the animal, or by throwing it on the ground. I his seems 
 quite to explain how the magicians were able to make their real 
 serpents appear, at first, as rods, which, when cast upon the ground, 
 recovered their vital action, imitating, by reversed effects, the deed 
 of Aaron, whose real rod became a serpent. 
 
 Then began the plagues. The first changed into blood the 
 pleasant waters of the health-giving Nile ; and although they 
 succeeded in apparently turning some water into blood, they were 
 not able to reverse the miracle, as Moses did when signs of contrition 
 were manifested by the king. We are not required to understand 
 that by this miracle the waters of Egypt were changed into real 
 blood, but only to a blood-red colour ; so that the blood here is tho 
 
 II 2 
 
194.— Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh. (N. Poussin.)-E*od. vii. 
 
 Moses ac Aaron per bron Pharaoh. 
 
 l l J8. — Egyptian Couches. 
 Glythau yr Aipht. 
 
 
 
 195. — Egyptian Frogs.— Exod. viii. 
 Llyffaint yr Aipht. 
 
 199.— Blatta A£gyptiaca. A Colossal Beetle, from the 
 Egyptian Collection in the British Museum. 
 Chwilen yr Aipht. Cnwilen fawr, o’r Casgliad Aipht- 
 aidd yn yr Amgueddfa Frutanaidd. 
 
 196 —Locusts. — Exod. x. 
 Locustiaid. 
 
205.— Eelauts in Persia. 
 Eelauts yn Persia. 
 
 200.— An Oriental Migration. 
 Ymfudiad Dwyreiniol. 
 
 203. — Egyptian Soldiers of different Corps. 
 Milwyr Aiplitaidd o wahanol Eyddinoedd. 
 
 201.— Birket el Hadj, or Pilgrims’ Pool (Succoth T). 
 Blrket el Hadj, neu Lyn y Pererin. 
 
 53 
 
54 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday VII. 
 
 same as the “ water red as blood ” in 2 Kings iii. 32. That there 
 is found something analogous to this in the natural phenomena of 
 Egypt has long since been pointed about. It is admitted that the 
 waters of the Nile, a short time before the inundation, take a green, 
 and at the beginning of the inundation a red colour. The cause 
 of this change has not been fully investigated In common 
 years the water when it is green and when it is red is drinkable : 
 but sometimes, in years of great heat, this peculiarity of the water 
 becomes a great calamity, as it then becomes so offensive that 
 people of delicate stomachs cannot drink it, and content themselves 
 with well-water. If that calamity which came at the word of 
 Moses were the same as this, then the wonder would consist in its 
 coming in at the time appointed by the prophet ; in its coming not, 
 as usual, gradually, but suddenly, at the moment when his rod was 
 lifted up ; and in the time itself not being the usual time, which is 
 about the middle of the year, but many months sooner than it has 
 ever been known to occur in the ordinary course of nature ; and 
 still more, in the extraordinary character of the visitation, indicated 
 by the fact that all the fish in the river died, which effect never 
 ensues from the natural reddening of the waters. There is an in- 
 tended emphasis in the information that “ the Egyptians loathed to 
 drink the waters of the river,” which must not be overlooked. It 
 is founded upon the importance which the Nile water has for the 
 Egyptians, and upon the almost passionate love of the inhabitants 
 of Egypt for it. The water of the Nile is, in fact, the only drink- 
 able water in Egypt ; for the water of the few wells is distasteful 
 and unwholesome. The Turks find this water so pleasant, that 
 they are said to eat salt on purpose to be able to drink the more 
 of it. They are accustomed to say, that if Mohammed had drunk 
 thereof, he would have asked an immortality on earth, that he might 
 always drink of this water. If the Egyptians undertake a pilgrim- 
 age to Mecca, or travel elsewhere, they speak of nothing but 
 the delight which they shall experience when, on their return, they 
 shall again drink the pleasant water of their great river. Under due 
 reference to these circumstances we shall perceive the peculiar force 
 of the terms employed in describing the Egyptians as loathing the 
 water which they usually prefer before all the water in the world ; 
 and as choosing rather to drink well-water, which is in their country 
 so unpleasant. 
 
 The second plague brought frogs in myriads upon every pleasant 
 place in Egypt ; and although the magicians simulated this miracle 
 also, Moses only, at a time previously appointed, could remove the 
 evil. 
 
 The third plague was formed by gnats, which are even in 
 ordinary years very troublesome in Egypt, and the vast increase of 
 which must have rendered life insupportable. In trying to imitate 
 this, the magicians failed, and they acknowledged “ This is the 
 finger of God.” But the heart of Pharaoh was still hardened. 
 
 Then came the fourth plague, that of the “ flies,” — probably the 
 dog-fly, which is remarkably troublesome in Egypt, from its disposi- 
 tion to alight upon the edge of the eye-lid. This brought Pharaoh 
 to urge the Hebrews to keep their feast and offer their sacrifices in 
 Egypt. But Moses answered — “ It is not meet so to do; for we 
 shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our 
 God : lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before 
 their eyes, and will they not stone us?” (Exod. viii. 26.) This is 
 usually understood to mean that the Egyptians would be offended 
 by the Israelites offering the same animals which they worshipped. 
 But an accomplished German divine, Hengstenberg, has suggested 
 a very different view. He argues that “ the designation ‘ abomi- 
 nation ’ is not appropriate to the consecrated animals. This 
 indicates that the animals which the Israelites slaughtered were not 
 considered too good, but too bad for offerings. The animals which 
 were commonly taken among the Israelites for offerings, were also 
 among the Egyptians not sacred. The only one of the larger 
 domestic animals which was usually regarded as sacred by them 
 was the cow; and this was not offered by the Israelites, except 
 under the peculiar and unusual circumstances described in Nutn. 
 xix. The offence was, rather, that the Israelites omitted the 
 inquiry concerning the cleanness of animals, which was practised 
 with the greatest caution by the Egyptians. That only clean 
 animals were offered by the Egyptians, Herodotus says, in that 
 remarkable passage (ii. 45) where he acquits the Egyptians from 
 the imputation of offering human sacrifices : — ‘ For since they are 
 not allowed to sacrifice any animals except the swine and the 
 bullock and calves, namely, those that are clean among them, and 
 the goose, how can they offer men ?’ What stress they laid upon 
 cleanness, and how truly it was considered an abomination to offer 
 an unclean animal, is seen from the same author (ii. 38). Only a 
 red ox could be offered, and a single black hair rendered it unclean. 
 
 They also placed dependence on a multitude of marks besides this; 
 the tongue, the tail, were accurately examined, &c. Every victim, 
 after a prescribed examination, in confirmation of its fitness was 
 sealed on the horns ; and to offer an unsealed ox was prohibited on 
 pain of death.” 
 
 Under the fifth plague the animals of Egypt were smitten by a 
 grievous murrain, while those of the Israelites sustained no harm. 
 
 The plague of boils and blains upon the bodies of all the 
 Egyptians, including the magicians, was the sixth. It was 
 miraculous chiefly in its circumstances and in its extent; the 
 disease itself having been so common in Egypt, that, in Dent, xxviii. 
 27, it is described as “ the boil of Egypt.” 
 
 The seventh plague was a tremendous tempest of hail, by which 
 men and cattle were slain, the trees broken, and the produce of the 
 fields crushed down. The whole crop of the flax and the barley 
 was smitten, for it had grown up ; but the wheat and spelt escaped, 
 as these came later to maturity. No hail fell in the land of Goshen, 
 which the Israelites inhabited. 
 
 As the heart of Pharaoh was not moved by all these wonders, 
 another plague was sent; it was that of the locusts, which came 
 over the land in numbers without example, and speedily consumed 
 every green thing which the hail had spared. 
 
 Then, as the ninth plague, came a terrible darkness over all that 
 sunny land — a darkness dense beyond description, — and which 
 allowed no one to stir from his place during the three days that 
 it lasted. But all this time the Israelites had abundant light in 
 Goshen. 
 
 One plague more, the tenth — terrible, fatal, effectual — was 
 threatened before it came, that timely submission might haply avert 
 the doom. It was the death of all the first-born in Egypt, from 
 the first-born of “ the king upon his throne, to the first-born of the 
 maid-servant behind the mill.” God, who knew the effect of this 
 terrible stroke, directed the institution of a festival in commemora- 
 tion of it, and that the Hebrews should stand ready for departure at 
 the appointed time. The festival was called the Passover, because 
 the destroying angel would pass over the doors marked with the 
 blood of a lamb, which every Hebrew family was directed to slay, 
 and eat in the posture of persons ready for a journey. 
 
 Already, according to the divine direction, the Hebrews had 
 borrowed of their Egyptian neighbours various articles and orna- 
 ments of gold and silver, with which, according to custom, they 
 might becomingly celebrate the great feast they were to hold in the 
 wilderness. And by this time the renown of Moses had so spread 
 among the people, and so lively a dread of his power was entertained, 
 that the Israelites obtained freely whatever they asked. It is, indeed, 
 evident from the whole narrative that the popular feeling among 
 the Egyptians was by no means favourable to the course taken by 
 the government in its obstinate and perilous refusal of the demand 
 made in behalf of the Israelites. 
 
 The fatal night at length came — a night which formed a chief 
 point of remembrance to the Jews in all succeeding generations. 
 That night the Passover was, for the first time, celebrated by them ; 
 and in that night the first-born of all the Egyptians were smitten 
 with instant death, so that no house was found in Egypt in which 
 the most valued of its members had not died. Then a great cry 
 arose in all the land, and the court, whatever might have been its 
 own feeling, saw that the popular voice would no longer be con- 
 trolled, and therefore, now, in this dreadful hour, the Hebrews 
 were not only permitted to quit Egypt, but were urged forth with 
 importunity and haste. Of this haste some notion may be formed 
 from the fact, that they were unable to bake or even to leaven the 
 dough which they had prepared for bread, and which they, there- 
 fore, took away with them as unleavened dough in their kneading- 
 troughs. 
 
 They were all assembled with their flocks and herds in the land 
 of Goshen, in the district of Rameses, and before the day had 
 dawned the vast host of the Israelites, of whom the adult males 
 alone numbered six hundred thousand, marched forth from the land 
 of Egypt, and proceeded northward into the wilderness. The last 
 day of bondage and the first of freedom is the most important in 
 the history of any nation. So the Israelites felt theirs to be, ann 
 the Almighty fixed it in their memory by institutions more durable 
 than monuments of brass or marble. Such was the Passover, and 
 such the new decree which consecrated to the service of the Lord 
 all the first-born of Israel in memory of their being spared when all 
 the first-born of Egypt died. 
 
 As the southern parts of Palestine w ere occupied by the Philistines 
 and other warlike nations, it was deemed inexpedient to lead the 
 undisciplined and encumbered Israelites in that direction, although 
 it was the nearest and the most usual route. 
 
Sunday TIL] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 55 
 
 SUNDAY VII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HE Evangelist tells us “ he spoke 
 of the temple of his body,” and 
 many suppose that he indicated this 
 signification by pointing to his own 
 body as he spoke. Whether so or 
 not, his audience understood him of 
 the temple in whose courts they 
 then stood, and they replied with 
 anger, “ Forty and six years was 
 this temple in building, and wilt 
 thou rear it up in three days?” 
 The deep feeling which this saying of our Lord’s produced may be 
 seen from the fact that it formed one of the most cogent accusations 
 against him in his trial before the high-priest (Matt. xxvi. 61). 
 
 Among the persons in Jerusalem whose attention had been drawn 
 to Jesus, was a member of the Sanhedrim, named Nicodemus, who 
 felt desirous of privately conversing with so remarkable a personage. 
 As a member of that ruling body, and on account of the rank 
 which he thence held, he was reluctant to visit Jesus openly in the 
 day-time, and therefore came to him in the night. 
 
 The manner in which he began the conversation seems to show 
 that there were other members of the body to which he belonged as 
 much impressed as himself with what they had seen and heard of 
 Jesus, but who were not bold enough to come to him even by night. 
 “ Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no 
 man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with 
 him.” This clear conviction, so heartily avowed, points out a man 
 seeking instruction in a candid and open spirit. Jesus, therefore, 
 sought by one word to turn the current of his thoughts from those 
 notions respecting the temporal nature of the Messiah’s kingdom 
 which he and all other Jews entertained, and answered with more of 
 apparent than of real abruptness, “ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
 except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” 
 (that is, cannot become my disciple). Nicodemus, full of earthly 
 notions, was unable to grasp the idea of this second birth ; and 
 after having been made to comprehend that it was of a spiritual 
 nature, he still inquired “ How can these things be?” And then 
 the Saviour, in a discourse full of divine instructions, and more 
 suited to the understanding of his hearer, developed to him the 
 holiness and final ends of his mission, so little in accordance with 
 the notions of the Jews, who supposed the Messiah’s kingdom was of 
 this present world. This instruction had due effect on Nicodemus, 
 who persevered in the faith imparted to him ; but he maintained 
 his position in the Sanhedrim, and declined a public avowal of his 
 convictions, till after Christ had been crucified, when he openly 
 joined Joseph of Arimathea in providing for the body an honourable 
 burial (John xix. 39). 
 
 Soon after Jesus quitted Jerusalem with his disciples ; but, 
 instead of at once returning to Galilee, he remained some time in 
 “ the land of Judea” (as distinguished from Jerusalem, the metro- 
 polis), and began to baptize, through his disciples. 
 
 As John the Baptist was at the same time baptizing at iEnon, 
 near Salim, a place near the Jordan, not far from that where Christ 
 had been baptized by him, some of his disciples took offence at 
 this. In general the disciples of John had more than those of 
 Jesus of the things which belonged to the strict character of 
 Judaism: they also fasted much. For this reason the Pharisees 
 were displeased that Jesus w r as soon more followed and baptized 
 more disciples than John, and by their representations, probably, 
 did much to foment in John’s disciples a discontent at the apparent 
 rivalry of Jesus, and a jealousy of his superior claims. 
 
 Some of John’s disciples came and reported these matters to him, 
 expecting, doubtless, that he would feel aggrieved at such 
 proceedings of one who had received baptism from his hands. 
 But the truly humble Baptist, who felt satisfied with his own divine 
 calling as a harbinger, and was ever mindful of his true position, 
 first directed their attention to the fact, that if any one was called 
 to occupy so great a sphere of action, this certainly could not be 
 done without the will of God. He therefore would not obtrude 
 himself, for this state of things was by no means unexpected by 
 him, as he had announced from the beginning that he had himself 
 only come to prepare the way of Christ. 
 
 It was not long after this that the Baptist was put in prison by 
 Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee- The occasion was this : — 
 
 Herod Antipas had at first married the daughter of Aretas, king 
 
 of Arabia. On a journey to Rome he visited his brother Herod, 
 surnamed Philip, whose wife was Herodias, daughter of another 
 brother, Aristobulus, and consequently niece both to her husband 
 and to Herod Antipas. With this lady the tetrarch formed a crimi- 
 nal attachment, and induced her to engage that on his return she 
 would quit her own husband and live with him, on his undertaking 
 to divorce the daughter of Aretas. She accordingly divorced herself 
 from Philip, and was then married to Herod, whose own wife 
 had retired to her father as soon as she heard of this atrocious 
 engagement. This affair of course made a strong impression 
 in the country. Few, however, ventured to say all they thought 
 of the matter. But the Baptist, with the honesty and bold- 
 ness which belonged to his character, publicly condemned the 
 conduct of the tetrarch, and plainly told him that it was not 
 lawful for him to live with his brother’s wife. For this Herod put 
 him into prison, not, it would appear, with any view of further 
 punishment, but to stop him from speaking in this manner to the 
 people, with whom his voice had great influence, of a transaction 
 which would not bear the light. Herodias herself, indeed, wished 
 to have him put to death, but the fear of the people, who regarded 
 John as a prophet, hindered Herod from yielding to her barbarous 
 desire. 
 
 It was not until John had been cast into prison, that Jesus 
 returned from Judea to Galilee. In doing this he must needs go 
 through the intermediate region of Samaria. The inhabitants of that 
 country, the Samaritans, were descended froma mixture of Jews with 
 the heathen colonists whom the kings of Assyria had settled in the 
 country after the native Israelites had been extirpated (2 Kings 
 xviii. 24). They eventually adopted the religion and manners of 
 the Jews, bdt with some variation, which, with the character of 
 their origin, rendered them odious to the Jews, who regarded them 
 as an unclean and inferior people, and were quite as strongly 
 disliked by the Samaritans in return. The principal, or at least 
 the most obvious, ground of difference was, that the Samaritans had 
 formed for themselves an ecclesiastical establishment and temple 
 upon Mount Gerizim, which they held to be the true seat of the 
 theocratical worship, as indicated by God himself. The Jews, on 
 the contrary, who believed the same of their own establishment at 
 Jerusalem, looked upon this schismatical temple with such abhor- 
 rence, that they deemed the land in which it stood, as well as the 
 worshippers thereat, to be polluted ; and the more strict among 
 them, rather than travel through it, in going to or returning from 
 the periodical festivals, were wont to cross the Jordan, and travel 
 through the country beyond that river, without setting foot in 
 Samaria. This circuitous route was, however, seldom taken by 
 those who travelled on foot, who naturally preferred the direct road 
 through Samaria, which in three days’ journey brought them from 
 Jerusalem to Galilee. 
 
 In the valley below the mountain on which their temple stood, 
 lay the chief city of the Samaritans. It was the ancient Shechem ; 
 but at this time bore among the Jews the name of Sychar, which 
 seems in its origin to have been a by-name, imposed upon the city 
 in disparagement. On the approach to the town was a well, which 
 being on the spot of ground which was the private property of 
 Jacob, and which he bestowed on his son Joseph, bore the name of 
 Jacob’s well. The present well, which passes under this name, 
 and which is in all probability the same, is situated at the foot of 
 Mount Gerizim, near the entrance of the valley towards Jerusalem. 
 It is above a mile from the present town, which accounts for its 
 being now deserted ; but it was probably nearer when the town 
 was larger, and extended farther in this direction. It bears marks 
 of high antiquity, and is dug in the solid rock. It is thirty-five feet 
 dee]), and fifteen feet of water were found in it by Maundrell in the 
 month of March ; but it was dry in the month of June, when visited 
 by Dr. Robinson. If this be really the well of Jacob, and if its waters 
 then failed in summer, these facts may assist in determining the time 
 of the year in which Christ made this journey; for there was then 
 water in the well, although it lay deep. 
 
 Jesus in his way to Galilee reached this well about noon, and, 
 being weary with the journey, rested here while his disciples went 
 forward into the town to purchase victuals. By this it would seein 
 that he intended, after rest and refreshment, lo continue his journey 
 without stopping in, or, perhaps, going through, the Samaritan 
 city. From the depth at which the water lay, Jesus, although 
 thirsty, was unable to obtain drink from it; when, therefore, a 
 woman came from the town to draw water, he said to her, “Give 
 me to drink.” It was not usual for Jews to speak to women in 
 public, and they avoided occasions of speaking to the Samaritan 
 people, and of eating or drinking with them, or of using, in eating 
 or drinking, the vessels which they employed. 
 
207.— Christ and Nicodemus. (Tintoretto.) 
 Crist a Nicodemus. 
 
 % 
 
 206 — Christ purifying the Temple. 
 Criat yn puro’r Demi. 
 
ill.— Egyptian Chariot, &c. (Composed from Plates, Gan’s • Nubia,’ &c.)— Exod. nr. 
 Cerbyd Aiphtaidd, 4c. (Cyfansoddedig o Lafnau, Gan’s ‘ Nubia,’ &c.) 
 
 Egyptian Soldiers. (From ‘ Description de 1’Egypte.’) — Exod. xlr. 
 Milwyr Aiphtaidd. (0 « Ddisgrifiad de 1’Egypte.’) 
 
 
 115.— Adjeroud. 
 
 216,-Suez, from the North-east. 
 Suez, o’r Gogledd-orllewin. 
 
 213,-The Red Sea, viewed from Ras Mohammed, on the South-west Coast of Arabia Petrsea.-Exod. xlr. 
 Y Mdr Coch, fel y’i gwelir o Ran Mohammed, ar Oror De-orllewin Arabia Garegog. 
 
 
58 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday YIII. 
 
 SUNDAY YIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OR this, among other reasons, 
 the departing host took the 
 road towards the Red Sea, 
 the neighbourhood of which 
 they reached after three days’ 
 journey. 
 
 This journey from the land 
 of Goshen to the Red Sea has 
 received much attention from 
 Biblical geographers, who 
 have scarcely succeeded in 
 relieving it from all the ob- 
 scurity in which they found it 
 involved. In a work of this 
 description the questions con- 
 nected with this and other 
 points in the journey of the Israelites do not admit of critical exa- 
 mination, and we must be content to state the results of those 
 investigations which appear to us to have led to the most probable 
 
 conclusions. . . 
 
 It is usual, when large parties prepare for a journey in the Last, 
 
 for all the travellers to assemble at a common rendezvous, where 
 they arrange the details of the journey, and prepare foi a regular 
 start. Thus a place by the river of Ahava was the rendezvous of 
 the exiles who returned to Judea under Ezra (viii. 15). And at 
 the present day the great pilgrim caravan from Egypt to Mecca 
 assembles at Birket-el-Hadj, or the Pilgrims’ Pool, which some 
 suppose may possibly have been the very place from which the 
 Hebrews took their departure. In the present case the Hebrews 
 knew well that they were to depart this night, and the point of 
 rendezvous seems to have been at Succoth, which was wheie they 
 first halted after quitting Raineses. To this point they seem to 
 have hastened in detached parties, and there received the organiza- 
 tion necessary for their movement in more regular order to their 
 destination. As the name Succoth means ** booths or ‘ tents, 
 it is more than probable that it was a well-known station for such 
 purposes. Such places are usually but a short distance from the 
 place which furnishes the principal number of pilgrims or travellers ; 
 and the first stage is therefore always short, being, in fact, only to 
 the place of meeting. This ought to satisfy those who cannot 
 understand how the. distance from Raineses to the border of the Red 
 Sea could occupy three days ; the shortness of the first stage ac- 
 counts for it. On the second day they arrived at “ Etham, on the 
 edge of the wilderness.” This is usually identified with the place 
 now called AtPeroud, which is at this day the third station of the 
 great pilgrim caravan, and where there is an ancient fortress gar- 
 risoned by Egyptian troops, with a poor village and a copious well 
 of water. Whether this be a correct identification or not, Etham 
 was undoubtedly situated not far from the head of the Gulf of 
 Suez; and in such a position, with reference to it, that the course 
 taken from it determined the direction of the journey. Accordingly 
 the Hebrew host here received orders to turn and encamp upon the 
 shore of the gulf, between the sea and the mountains by which it 
 was enclosed. If Etham were Adjeroud, they must have “ turned ” 
 as directed in order to gain this position. 
 
 The Egyptian court seems to have watched the movements of the 
 retiring host with great interest. The ostensible demand of the 
 Israelites was to take three days’ journey into the wilderness, and 
 there offer their sacrifices to Jehovah. At Etham they had at- 
 tained a point, whatever movement they made from which would 
 determine their real intentions. That their intention was not to 
 keep their feast at Etham and then return to Egypt, was evinced 
 by their farther movement. On learning this, the king resolved to 
 pursue them, and drive them bacx. In this design he was encou- 
 raged by learning the very strange position in which they were en- 
 camped, where, as he said, “ they are entangled in the land, the 
 wilderness hath shut them in.” He saw that from the position they 
 had taken up, if he came upon them in the north, and cut off their 
 retreat in that direction, they must of necessity be either driven 
 into the sea or back to Egypt through the valley of Badea. Alas ! 
 he knew not that the God who protected the house of Israel was 
 able to open a pathway through the waters for their deliverance. 
 
 The facility with which the king assembled his forces, as soon as 
 his resolution was formed, gives us an idea of the effective military 
 organization of the Egyptians, which is amply confirmed and illus- 
 trated by histories and monuments. The “ chosen ” chariots of war 
 were in number six hundred. These “ chosen ” chariots doubtless 
 formed the guard of the king; other chariots are mentioned, but 
 
 not the number, which must be estimated in this proportion. We 
 have no reason to suppose this number overwhelming ; but that it 
 composed such a body of this much dreaded force as seemed needful 
 for the immediate service. That service was one for cavalry, and, 
 conformably to the accounts of the sacred historian, we now know 
 that war-chariots composed the sole cavalry of Egypt. This formed 
 the chief arm of Egypt’s military strength, and was at once the force 
 the most suited to this service, and that of which a people of pastoral 
 habits like the Israelites, have always been found to stand in the 
 most dread. Accordingly when the Egyptian forces actually made 
 their appearance, the Hebrews seem not to have entertained the least 
 notion of resistance, which indeed their position would scarcely, under 
 any circumstances, have allowed. That position, however, protected 
 them from being taken in Hank by the Egyptians, who, on their 
 part, finding their prey safe, as they thought, in the toils, were in 
 no hurry to commence their operations, but rested themselves and 
 their horses against the following day. 
 
 The Israelites, when they saw the Egyptians, were filled with 
 alarm and terror, until they were re-assured by promises of a 
 great deliverance, and a signal and final overthrow of their haughty 
 pursuers. Accordingly, at the dead of night, the waters of the 
 gulf were miraculously divided, and stood up on either hand like a 
 wall, to afford the surrounded Hebrews a passage to the other side. 
 Nor was this all : for, to protect their rear, and to guide their passage, 
 there was a miraculous cloud placed between them and the Egyptians, 
 which turned its radiant side to the former, and left the latter in 
 utter darkness. This “ pillar of cloud ” had been before, and was 
 after, their guide, as a mass of cloud by day and of flame by night. 
 
 No sooner did the Egyptians perceive the escape of the Israelites, 
 than, with unparalleled hardihood, they hastened to pursue them by 
 the open path through the waters. The whole host was in the 
 channel, when He who had by his might upheld the waters, with- 
 drew his hand, and instantly the vast void was filled, and the host 
 of Pharaoh was overwhelmed by the returning waters. The ransomed 
 Hebrew's stood safely on the other side, and witnessed this great 
 overthrow and the destruction of their enemies. Their confidence 
 in both their Divineand human leader was restored, and they heartily 
 joined with Moses in the noble song of triumph with which he cele- 
 brated this great event (Exod. xv. 1 — 19), while all the virgins of 
 Israel followed Miriam with timbrels, dances, and exulting chants 
 for this signal deliverance. 
 
 The reader is doubtless aw r are that there has been much dispute 
 respecting the part of the Gulf of Suez at which the passage of the 
 Israelites took place. The course of the account we have given has 
 been to place it at a point several miles below the end of the gulf 
 (probably at Ain Mousa), where the waters are of considerable 
 depth, Many scholars and travellers have, however, strenuously 
 contended that the passage took place at a place near Suez, where 
 the ebb of the tide still leaves a practicable passage across the gulf. 
 The difficulties of this notion are, to our minds, so insuperable, that 
 it seems hard to understand how it can be held for a moment by the 
 many gifted and pious persons by whom we know that it is enter- 
 tained. If there ever was a special interposition of Divine Provi- 
 dence, or, in other words, a miracle, it was this passage of the 
 Red Sea; nor is there any single event in Scripture which the 
 sacred writers so repeatedly declare to be such. The condition of 
 the ford at Suez was either the same then as now, or it was not. If 
 it was not, the grounds which are now alleged for making this the 
 point of passage, rather than at any other place, could not then exist ; 
 and if it were, there was no need of the miracle which is declared 
 to have taken place ; and the sacred writers are subjected to the 
 serious imputation of claiming as a miracle a natural phenomenon 
 of daily occurrence. If they had made such a claim, as they did, 
 while the persons who had actually passed the sea were still living, 
 while they still remained in the neighbourhood, and when the facts 
 of the case could not be hidden from them, the prophet would have 
 been laughed to scorn who told them they were delivered by a 
 miracle. More than this, the Hebrews had been at least two days, 
 if not three, encamped in front of this very spot, and could not fail 
 to observe that it was twice a day left dry by the ebb of the tide. 
 How then was it, in this case, that both they and the Egyptians 
 deemed that no means of escape from their “ entanglement ” existed ? 
 and how was it that the Egyptians pursued the Hebrews, when they 
 must have been acquainted with the condition of the tide, and could 
 not but know that it would return upon them before they could get 
 across? In that case, would not any man have preferred to have 
 ridden round the beach, and attacked the Hebrews on the other side, 
 as they came up from the bed of the gulf? These objections to 
 the view x\hich has of late years become popular, have never been 
 fairly met and answered, nor do we believe that they are answerable. 
 
Sunday Till.] 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 59 
 
 SUNDAY VIII. — THE PSALMS. 
 
 Music of the Hebrews. 
 
 HE Psalms contain more al- 
 lu'ions to music and musical 
 instruments than any other 
 portion of Scripture. This 
 provides us with a suitable 
 opportunity of giving that 
 degree of attention to the 
 subject which the nature of the 
 present work will admit. 
 
 Music is coeval with poetry. 
 Musical instruments were the 
 invention of Jubal (Gen. iv. 
 21): and as early as the time 
 of Laban we are introduced to 
 a whole choir (Gen. xxxi. 27). After this, music and poetry went 
 hand in hand, and with equal pace. Music and (as we have seen) 
 poetry were held in high estimation ; and so long as such poetry 
 as that of the Hebrews was cultivated, we may conclude that music 
 was not neglected. This might also be inferred from the frequency 
 of its use among them. They had music at marriages, at birth days, 
 on the days which reminded them of victories over their enemies, at 
 the inauguration of their kings, and it even enlivened the journeys 
 which the Law required the Jews to make three times a year to 
 Jerusalem (Isa. xxx. 29). In the service of the holy tabernacle and 
 of the temple the Levites were the musicians ; but on other occasions 
 any one might use musical instruments. The magnificent choir of 
 Levites, under suitable leaders and directors, which David organized 
 for the temple service, was kept up by Solomon after the erection 
 of the temple, and was preserved till the overthrow of Jerusalem, 
 although subject to occasional interruption under idolatrous kings. 
 This choral establishment must have tended much to the cultivation 
 of musical taste and power among the Hebrews. Hence the music 
 and songs of Zion seem to have had a charm to the Babylonians. 
 One of the most beautiful of the Psalms, composed during the 
 Captivity, represents the exiles as disconsolately hanging their harps 
 upon the willows growing beside the Euphrates, and as being 
 pressed by the Babylonians to sing to them one of the songs of 
 Zion, which produced the striking reply — “ How shall we sing the 
 Lord’s song in a strange land ?” &c. (Ps. cxxxvii. 4). After the 
 Captivity, however, both the music and poetry of the Hebrews 
 became much deteriorated. 
 
 Respecting the nature of the Hebrew music, our information is 
 very scanty; but the similar history of the art among other ancient 
 nations may assist our conclusions. It then consisted not so much 
 in harmony as in unison or melody. This is the music of nature, 
 and for a long time, even after the period of antiquity, it was 
 common among the Greeks and Romans, and at this day charac- 
 terises the music of the East. It was not the harmony of differing 
 or dissonant sounds, but the voice, modulated after the tones of the 
 lyre, that constituted the charm of the ancient music. The whole of 
 antiquity is full of stories in praise of this music, and relating the 
 wonderful influence over human passion and feeling which it acquired. 
 That this ancient music did possess a wonderful mastery over the 
 heart of man, seems as well established as any of the historical facts 
 concerning which no doubt is entertained ; and that instances of 
 this are far more rare, if they ever occur, under the modern musical 
 system, might suggest an interesting inquiry respecting what we 
 have lost and what we have gained, — but this does not belong to 
 the present place. 
 
 It has been mentioned that the names of many musical instruments 
 occur in Scripture, especially in the Psalms. There is, however, 
 great difficulty in determining the particular instruments to which 
 these names refer. It is much more easy to form a general notion 
 of the instruments possessed by the Hebrews than to make this 
 special appropriation of the Hebrew' names. AVeare not to suppose 
 that there was anything peculiar in (he Hebrew instruments of 
 music, distinguishing them from those of other ancient Oriental 
 nations. The Hebrews were by no means remarkable for invention. 
 Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, doubtless originated most of the 
 instruments with which they were acquainted ; and such as they 
 might obtain from such sources could not be materially different 
 from those in use among the Greeks and Romans, who confessedly 
 derived their instruments from the East. We are scarcely 
 acquainted with the instruments of any of these nations except 
 those of ancient Egypt, the figures of which have been happily 
 preserved in the pictured tombs of that country, and supply an 
 
 ample and rich fund of illustrative information, which has scarcely, 
 until the present century, been brought fully to light. Next to 
 this, figures of ancient classical instruments may be produced, for the 
 reason indicated ; and, lastly, the instruments of the modern East 
 are not to be overlooked, supplying, as they do, the representatives 
 at least of those which were anciently in use in the same countries. 
 As the Psalms contain the names of all the musical instruments which 
 were in use among the Hebrews, our usual course through them w ill 
 afford sufficient opportunity of stating the results of the best infor- 
 mation which has been brought to bear on this interesting subject. 
 
 “ The Harp and Psaltery ” are mentioned together in 
 Ps. xxxiii. 2, and elsewhere; and the “harp” is named without 
 the psaltery in Ps. xliii. 4. It is to these two instruments that our 
 present attention will be confined. 
 
 It is a very singular fact that no instrument answering to a harp 
 exists in the modern East ; and we could not be certain that it even 
 ever did exist, but for the figures which appear in the Egyptian 
 tombs, where we find harps of different kinds. The word translated 
 “ harp” in our version is Kinnor, and was more probably a sort of 
 lyre than a harp. It is one of the instruments of which Jubal was 
 the inventor, and is that of which David was so complete a master. 
 One circumstance highly in favour of this conclusion is, that the 
 ancient versions of the Scripture translate the Hebrew word by 
 terms which were applied by the Greeks and Romans to their 
 different kinds of lyres, of which there were many ; and from their 
 selecting different names to translate the same word, it would appear 
 that the uncertainty of the translators only lefc them doubtful as to 
 the kind of lyre which might be intended. This doubt we must 
 be content to share, in offering the reader the most remarkable 
 specimens of ancient lyres which we have been able to bring 
 together. It may be further remarked, that from the brief 
 intimations in Scripture respecting the kinnor, it appears that it 
 was not a large and heavy instrument resting on the ground 
 when played, as the word “ harp ” would suggest to our minds ; 
 but a light and portable instrument, which the musician bore upon 
 his hand or arm, and might walk or dance as he played thereon. 
 In fact, the kinnor is described as being used for the purposes, on 
 the occasions, and in the manner in which we know the ancient lyre, 
 and not the harp, to have been employed. It is also to be observed 
 that the kinnor is described in the Scripture as the most ancient of 
 stringed instruments; and it is to the lyre that the classical ancients 
 ascribe the same priority of origin ; and in Egypt the lyre is found 
 on monuments more ancient than those on which the harp is seen. 
 The lyre was also the most common stringed instrument among the 
 ancient nations. It is impossible, therefore, that it should not have 
 been in use among the Hebrews, and being known to them, there is 
 no other of their instruments than the ldnnor which can be with 
 any probability referred to it. If they had the lyre, it must have 
 had a name ; and we cannot find a name for it anywhere but in that 
 of the kinnor. 
 
 These arguments, which are in substance the same that were first 
 urged by the editor of the ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ seem to furnish a mass 
 of evidence, which, although necessarily circumstantial, is as con- 
 clusive as can well be expected in a matter so obscure. From the 
 work just named, the following passage (under Ps. xliii.) maybe 
 cited as embodying all the information concerning the kinnor which 
 the Scriptures furnish. 
 
 “ This instrument was known before the Flood, being one of the two 
 invented by Jubal, ‘ the father of such as handle the kinnor and the 
 organ’ (Gen. iv. 21). It is not again mentioned till six hundred 
 years after the Deluge, and then so as to denote that it was used on 
 festal occasions ; since Laban complains that the private departure 
 of Jacob prevented him from sending him away ‘with songs, with 
 tabret, and with kinnor.’ The kinnor is not again noticed in the 
 Pentateuch, nor till the time of Samuel, when we first find it men- 
 tioned so as to show that it was used by the prophets in their sacred 
 music, for Samuel foretold Saul that he should meet a company of 
 prophets, ‘ coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, a 
 tabret, and a pipe, and a kinnor ’ (1 Sam. x. 5). Next we find it 
 noticed as used by private persons, such as shepherds and others for 
 their own solace; and that when skilfully played it was considered 
 to have much influence upon the human passions, and in soothing 
 the disturbed mind ; for when Saul was afflicted with his melancholy 
 madness, it was recommended that recourse should be had to ‘a 
 man who is a cunning player upon the kinnor:’ the shepherd David 
 was selected, and when the evil spirit came upon Saul, ‘ David took 
 a kinnor , and played with his hand : so Saul was refreshed and was 
 well| and the evil spirit departed from him.’ From this time we 
 read frequently of the kinnor. The example of David, as king, 
 probably recommended it to more extensive use ; besides which the 
 
218. — Instrument from Herculaneum. 
 Olferyn o Herculaneum. 
 
 219. — From Herculaneum. 
 O Herculaneum. 
 
 220.— Egyptian Instruments, from Rosellini. 
 Offeryn Aipbtaidd, o Rosellini. 
 
 Olferyn Aipbtaidd, o Rosellini. 
 
 217.— a, b. Ancient Tortoise Lyres; c, d, e, /, y, A, Grecian Lyres. 
 
 A, b, Hen lielynau o gregyn crwban; c, d, e,f, y, A, Telynau Groegaidd. 
 
 223. — Psalm xxxv. 
 
 LEAD thou my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me ; 
 and tight thou against them that fight against me.— 1. 
 
 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the 
 Lord persecute them.— 6. 
 
 Nevertheless, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth, and 
 humbled my soul with fasting.— 13. 
 
 224.— Psalm xxxvi. 
 
 225.— Psalm xxxviL 
 
 222. — Square Lyres. (Drawn from Vases found at Herculaneum.) 
 
 Telynau ysgwar. (Wedieu tynu Oddi wrth Dlws-gawgiau a gaed yn Herculaneum.) 
 
 60 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 of m 
 
 WERSITT OF ILLINOIS 
 

 
 
 

 a. Telan Roegaidd ; b t Telan Rufeinaidd, oddi with Fathodyn Nero; c, 
 Telan Timotheus ; </, Telan, oddi wi th sicl Iuddewig Simon Maccabeus 
 e, e, Telanau lthufeinig ; /, Ffurf a’r Modd o ddelnyddio’r Cy weirgorn. 
 
 Trionglyn Groegaidd. 
 
 231.— Psalm xxjtix. 
 
 232.— Psalm xl. 
 
 234.— Psalm xlii. 
 
 233.- Psalm xli. 
 
 230 — Psalm xxxviii. 
 
 UT me not to rebuke, O Lord, in thine anger ; neither chasten 
 me in thy heavy displeasure. — 1. 
 
 For thine arrows stick fast in me. — 2. 
 
 Psalm xlii. 
 
 Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks. — 1. 
 
 235.— Psalm xliii. 
 
 228.— Instrument and Plectrum. 
 Offeryu a Chyweirgorn. 
 
 229.— Egyptian Lyres, (From ancient Egyptian Paintings engraved in Rosellini.) 
 Telanau Aiphtaidd. (Oddi wrth hen Luniau Aiphtaidd a gerflwyd yn Rosellini.) 
 
 G1 
 
62 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday VIIL 
 
 kinnor acquired a very di-tinguished place in the musical establish- 
 ment which David formed for the tabernacle, and, prospectively, 
 for the temple. It is remarkable, indeed, that in the Law there are 
 no regulations concerning music, except as to the blowing of horns 
 and trumpets on stated occasions. As to David himself, his kinnor 
 is so often mentioned, and he- is so frequently described as playing 
 on it, that we seem to have a sort of notion that he had this favour- 
 ite instrument always at hand. Such, indeed, was the idea enter- 
 tained by the Christian fathers, one of whom, Eusebius, says that 
 David carried his lyre (so he calls it, and we doubt not correctly) 
 with him, w herever he went, to console him in his afflictions, and to 
 sing to it the praises of God. And, in his preface to the Psalms, 
 he asserts that this prince, as head of the prophets, was generally in 
 the tabernacle with his lyre, amidst the other prophets and singers ; 
 and that each of them prophesied, and sung his canticle as inspira- 
 tion came upon him. Another intimation informs us that the 
 frame of the kinnor was of wood ; for w r e are told that Solomon 
 ‘ made of the almug-trees harps (kinnoroth) also, and psalteries for 
 singing’ (1 Kings x. 12). It was the kinnor also which the cap- 
 tives at Eabylon suspended upon the willows by the Euphrates; 
 and from the Babylonians being desirous to hear them sing to the 
 lyre their native songs, it would seem that the Hebrews had become 
 noted not only for their music, but for their skill with this particular 
 instrument.” 
 
 On looking at the cuts which we offer, it will at once be per- 
 ceived how strikingly these particulars coincide with and are illus- 
 trated by the ancient lyre, in at least some of the many forms 
 which it bore. Among the various figures, there are but two, 
 indeed, which make the slightest claim to be regarded as Jewish 
 instruments, and the claim of these two has been much disputed. 
 The first is the first of the Egyptian figures, copied from a painting 
 which has been supposed to represent the arrival of Joseph’s brethren 
 in Egypt. If this conclusion could be implicitly relied upon, the 
 lyre there represented may be regarded as the native instrument 
 which the patriarchs brought with them into Egypt from the land 
 of Canaan ; it is rude and simple enough to have been such, and 
 probably underwent some modifications and improvements before 
 they quitted Egypt. Many very sound antiquarians believe that 
 the scene from which this figure is taken actually does represent 
 the Scriptural incident we have mentioned. Even those who 
 demur at this, admit that the painting belongs to the age in which 
 that incident occurred — and this admission renders the figure 
 almost of equal value for the purpose for which it is here produced. 
 The other supposed Jewish lyre is that represented in an alleged 
 shekel of Simon Maccabseus. It is a most shapely and handsome 
 instrument; but as the coin on which it is found, as well as the 
 other alleged coins of the Maccabaean period, are of disputed origin, 
 we are unable to place implicit confidence in the information which 
 they seem to offer. 
 
 On the Egyptian monuments no lyre occurs exactly similar to 
 that which is supposed to be the representation of a Jewish lyre by 
 an Egyptian artist. The difference forms its distinctive character 
 as a foreign instrument, for it is undoubtedly foreign, whether it be 
 Jewish or not. Yet it will be seen that it does not greatly differ 
 from the Egyptian instrument, and which is shown with the strings 
 obliterated. They are the same in size, in power, and in the general 
 form and principle of construction. In both alike the strings are 
 stretched upon an open frame, and then prolonged over a hollow 
 and sonorous body of wood. Several other lyres are found on the 
 monuments, and although their shapes and ornaments are different, 
 this is the principle in all of them. The Grecian fable respecting 
 the origin of the lyre shows that this must have been the case with 
 all the more ancient lyres, with which the weight of evidence would 
 class the Hebrew kinnor. It is very remarkable also that this fable 
 refers the origin of the lyre to the banks of the Nile, showing that 
 the Greeks at least had their instrument from that quarter. It is 
 thus related by the Athenian niythologist, Apollodorus : — “The 
 Nile, after having overflowed tjie whole country of Egypt, when it 
 returned within its natural bounds left on the shore a great number 
 of animals of various kinds, and among the rest a tortoise, the flesh 
 of which being dried and wasted bv the sun, nothing remained but 
 nerves and cartilages, and these, being braced and contracted by the 
 drying heat, became sonorous. Mercury, walking along the banks 
 of the river, happened to strike his foot against this shell, and was 
 so pleased with the sound produced, that the idea of a lyre presented 
 itself to his mind. He therefore constructed the instrument in the 
 form of a tortoise, and strung it with the dried sinews of dead 
 animals.” Hence we observe that many of the Greek lyres have 
 that tortoise-shape which this story would lead ns to expect. The 
 fable itself is, with some variation, related by Homer in his ‘Hymn 
 
 to Hermes.’ The description of the primitive instrument is thus 
 rendered by a modern poet : — 
 
 “ And through the stone-shelled tortoise’s strong skin 
 At proper distances small holes he made, 
 
 And fastened the cut sterns of seeds within 
 And with a piece of leather overlaid 
 The open space, and fixed the cubits in, 
 
 Fitting the bridge to both, and stretched o’er all 
 Symphonious chords of sheep-gut rhythmical. 
 
 When he had wrought the lovely instrument, 
 
 He tieil the chords, and made division meet. 
 
 Preluding with the plectrum, and there went 
 Up from beneath his hands a tumult sweet 
 Of mighty sounds, and from his lips he sent 
 A strain of unpremeditated wit. 
 
 Joyous and wild.” 
 
 It may further illustrate this to remark that Hermes, or Mercury, 
 to whom the invention of the lyre is thus ascribed, was himself of 
 Egyptian origin, like many other of the gods of the Grecian 
 mythology. So, Diodorus Siculus makes him one of the counsellors 
 of Osiris in Egypt ; and by this author he is said, among other useful 
 things, “ to have invented the lyre, furnishing it with three strings, 
 in allusion to the seasons of the year. For these strings producing 
 three different sounds, the grave, the mean, and the acute, he made 
 the grave answer to winter, the mean to spring, and the acute to 
 summer; and it is a well known fact that not only the Egyptians, 
 but the Greeks, divided their year into not more than three seasons, 
 spring, summer, and winter.” 
 
 Psaltery. — The instrument thus named in Psalm xxxiii. 2 ; 
 lvii. 8; xcii. 3; and in other Psalms, was some sort of stringed 
 instrument. The Hebrew word is Nebel; and our “ Psaltery ” is 
 from the Greek translation of that word by ^a\r>/ptov. This instru- 
 ment is first mentioned in 2 Sam. vi. 5, where it is described as being 
 made (as well as the harp) of the wood of the fir-tree, of which 
 the kinnor is also said to have been made; afterwards they 
 were made out of the rarer Almug tree (1 Kings x. 12) ; and per- 
 haps also, as Josephus alleges, of metal, unless the last is to be under- 
 stood merely particular parts of the instrument. This must apply 
 to the frame upon which the strings were extended. The number 
 of strings seems to have been ten ; but as Josephus names twelve, 
 they were probably increased to that number. The instrument was 
 employed in the services of religion in and after the time of David ; 
 but as it does not appear to have been used, like the kinnor, as a 
 private instrument, the probability is that it was less portable and 
 more costly. In many passages the “ harp and psaltery are named 
 together in such a manner as to show that they were of the same 
 class of instruments, and not very different from each other in their 
 use. Thus David seems to have employed almost indifferently the 
 kinnor and the nebel, although the former is more frequently named 
 as the instrument in which he excelled. 
 
 There has been so endless a variety of conjectures respecting the 
 form of this instrument, that it is useless to repeat them. The 
 best course is to take such tangible ideas as can be obtained, and 
 see how far they can be associated with any ancient instrument. 
 That it was a stringed instrument, and that the strings were numer- 
 ous, we gather from Scripture ; and that it was somewhat in the 
 shape of the Greek A, we gather from the Christian fathers, 
 who had the means of knowing at least to what instrument the 
 Greek word which translates the Hebrew was applied. Follow- 
 ing these hints, the editor of the ‘ Pictorial Bible ’ makes a 
 collection of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman instruments, 
 of the triangular form thus indicated, and contends that they 
 sufficiently answer all the conditions required for the Psaltery of 
 the Scriptures. One of the Egyptian figures is not after a paint- 
 in", but from an actual instrument found in one of the tombs, and 
 now deposited in the Museum at Florence. In this, the strings, 
 originally ten in number, form a triangle by their extension from 
 the upper end of a stem inserted at right angles into a hollow body 
 of wood. Portions of the strings still remain, and appear to have 
 been formed from the intestines of animals. Remembering that 
 Solomon obtained wood for his psalteries by distant commerce, it is 
 worthy of note that the wood of this instrument is described by 
 Rosellini as “a kind of mahogany ( swietana ) from the East Indies.” 
 
 In inquiries of this nature we must be content when a strong 
 probability is attained. The difficulty of obtaining a more precise 
 identification of the Hebrew instruments of music has been felt by 
 all writers who have turned their attention to the subject. But 
 this difficulty is not surprising when we consider the many names 
 which the Greeks had for their stringed instruments, and how the 
 harps and lyres represented in the Egyptian sculptures approach 
 each other in principle, so as often to render it doubtful to what 
 I class they should be referred. 
 
Sunday YIIL] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 63 
 
 SUNDAY VIII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HEREFORE, both as a 
 woman and a Samaritan, this 
 woman was astonished, and 
 asked, “IIow is it that thou, 
 being a Jew, askest drink of 
 me, who am a woman of 
 Samaria?” Jesus answered, 
 “ If thou knewest the gift of 
 God, and who it is that saith 
 unto thee. Give me to drink, 
 thou wouldst have asked of 
 him, and he would have given 
 thee living water.” Living 
 water, means water from a 
 perennial spring ; and from 
 the fact concerning the w r ell 
 which lias just been pointed out, we are led to conclude that Jesus 
 here intended an emphatic allusion to the circumstance that the well 
 to which she had then come was not (as usually has been supposed) 
 of liv ing water, or at least not from an unfailing spring. The woman 
 understood him literally, and answered accordingly : and when Jesus 
 endeavoured to draw her attention to his deeper meaning, she still 
 persisted in the literal understanding, by saying, “ Sir, give me this 
 water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.” Perceiving 
 that shedid not yet comprehend him, Our Lord changed the conver- 
 sation, and, by intimating his knowledge of private circumstances 
 of her life, which were discreditable, so wrought upon her, that she 
 acknowledged him to be a prophet : but she hastened to change a 
 topic so unpleasant to her, by reverting to the standing controversy 
 between the Jews and Samaritans — the temple at Gerizim, and 
 whether that or the one at Jerusalem “ were the place wdiere men 
 ought to worship.” Much astonished was the woman to find a topic 
 which never failed to rouse a Jew, quietly set aside by the Divine 
 Teacher with the remark, “ Woman, believe me, the hour cometh 
 when ye shall neither at this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, 
 worship the Father. . . .God is a Spirit, and they that worship him 
 must worship him in spirit and in truth.” This was still a deep 
 matter for the Samaritan woman, and she answered only by re- 
 ferring, as was the custom of the time, to the expected Messiah, 
 for the solution of this and all other difficult and obscure matters. 
 “ I know,” she said, “ that Messias cometh ; when he is come, he will 
 tell us all things.” Jesus answered, “ I that speak unto thee am 
 he!” Astonished, silenced, convinced, by this announcement, 
 which cast a sudden and strong light upon all that she had not 
 previously understood, the woman cared no more f<5r her water- 
 pot, but hastened away to the town, to make the glad tidings 
 known to her friends and neighbours, to whom she cried, “ Come, 
 see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the 
 Christ?” 
 
 The disciples returned from the town before this conversation of 
 Jesus with the woman of Samaria was quite concluded. For the 
 reasons assigned, they were astonished to find him talking with a 
 woman and a Samaritan ; but they made no remark. They pressed 
 him to partake of the food which they had brought; but he said, 
 
 “ I have meat to eat that ye know not of ;” and finding they 
 understood him literally, he added, “ My meat is to do the will of 
 him that sent me, and to finish his work.” 
 
 The intelligence of the woman brought a large number of the 
 Samaritans from the town to the well. They pressed him to make 
 some stay with them. This a mere Jew would have refused; but 
 Jesus entered the town, and remained there two days, during which 
 many of the Samaritans became believers in him as the Messiah 
 promised to the Hebrew fathers (John iv. 1 — 42). 
 
 Jesus then pursued his journey into Galilee, where he began to 
 preach his Gospel, to the effect of— “ The time is fulfilled, and the 
 kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the Gospel.” 
 His proceedings at Jerusalem, and the undescribed miracles which 
 he had there wrought, drew much attention to him on his return to 
 Galilee ; and the position of a public teacher, which he now assumed, 
 soon spread his fame throughout that region, and he was for the 
 time well received. 
 
 On again reaching Cana of Galilee, where his first miracle had 
 been performed, an officer in the court of Herod Antipas, whose 
 son was at the point of death, in Capernaum, came to implore him 
 to proceed to that place, and restore his son to health. This 
 application shows that the unspecified miracles of Christ at Jeru- 
 
 salem were of the same character as those which he afterwards 
 performed. Jesus told him to return home, and he would find his 
 son well. Believing this, he returned, and on the way was met by 
 messengers who had been sent to inform him that his son was 
 recovered. Finding that the fever had left his son at the very time 
 that Jesus had said to him, “ Thy son liveth,” he and his became 
 believers in Christ. 
 
 Jesus then proceeded to his own town of Nazareth, where he 
 attended the synagogue on the Sabbath days. 
 
 The synagogues were buildings in every town, in which the Jews 
 assembled for public worship, and reading and expounding the 
 Scriptures on the Sabbath days. In the time of Christ there was 
 no town in Judea which had not one or more of these synagogues. 
 Its affairs were managed by ten persons of property and influence, 
 three of whom enjoyed a kind of superiority, and were called Rulers 
 of the Synagogue. These formed a kind of magistracy for the 
 decision of differences between the members of the congregation, 
 for the maintenance of discipline, and for the proper ordering of 
 the public worship. Each synagogue had a minister, whose duty it 
 was to offer public prayer, and to exhort, if no one else undertook 
 the duty. The reading of the Scriptures formed no part of his 
 ordinary duty : but every Sabbath he called out seven of the 
 congregation in succession to perform that service. He of course 
 called forth only such as he knew or supposed capable of reading 
 correctly. If a priest were present, he was first called, then a Levite, 
 afterwards any persons on whom the minister might fix. The person 
 called upon went to the desk or raised platform in the middle of the 
 synagogue, and unrolled the volume till he came to the section he 
 was to read; he read standing, and when he had finished, was at 
 | liberty to add any words of exhortation which he desired. This 
 | explains the proceeding of our Saviour in the synagogue at 
 Nazareth. His re-appearance there was regarded with great interest 
 by the congregation ; and when “he stood up to read,” the section 
 for the day was a passage in Isaiah, which prophetically referred to 
 himself (Isa. Ixi. 1, 2). When he had read this, and returned 
 the roll to the minister, he sat down, which was the posture 
 in which the Jewish teachers addressed their audience. This, 
 therefore, being a signal that he intended to speak, every one 
 present watched with eager attention the words that fell from their 
 townsman, whose fame was now so widely spread. The Scripture 
 referred to the deeds of the Messiah, which were such as Jesus had 
 actually performed in other places. When, therefore, he began by 
 saying, “ This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears,” they were 
 charmed with his words, expecting to see the same beneficial acts 
 performed among themselves, which were wonderful things for 
 “Joseph’s son,” as they called him, to do. This was not his 
 intention ; and but for that reason it should be said that he was 
 not really the person to whom the prophecy applied, he proceeded 
 to explain why this could not be. They looked upon him as the 
 son of Joseph the carpenter, the relative of persons well known to 
 them, and were little disposed to recognise in such an one, whom 
 they had seen daily in their streets, the illustrious personage of 
 whom the prophets had spoken. Therefore, because they despised 
 him, because they would not see him in the character which he 
 claimed — because in this, as in every other instance, “ a prophet hath 
 no honour in his own country,” he would work no miracles among 
 them, but would confer his benefits on others, of whatsoever country, 
 who were desirous of his doctrine, and willing to receive his 
 instructions. 
 
 Nothing was ever more calculated to exasperate the Jews than 
 an implied or expressed preference of others. In this case the 
 exasperation ran so high, that the congregation rose upon Jesus, 
 and hurried him outside the city, to the brow of the hill on which 
 it stood, with the intention of casting him down headlong: hut he 
 escaped from them, whether by miracle or not has been disputed, 
 and proceeded to Capernaum. 
 
 There are several perpendicular precipices, forty or fifty feet 
 high, in the hills and around the present village ; and one of these is 
 doubtless that from which it was intended to cast Jesus down. 
 That which is now known as the Mount of Precipitation is, how- 
 ever, nearly two miles south east from the village. It is by no 
 means likely that the excited mob would take their intended victim 
 so far, to do that which there was equal facility for doing near at 
 hand ; and we may hence conclude that this precipice is pointed out 
 merely because it makes a more striking object as seen from the 
 plain of Esdraelon. Indeed, the intrinsic absurdity of this allocation 
 is so great, that the monks in Nazareth feel the necessity of obviating 
 objection by alleging that the city stood nearer to this precipice 
 formerly than it does at present, but this assertion is against pro- 
 bability, and unsupported by any kind of proof. 
 
Crist a’r Pendefig o Capernaum. 
 
 837. RMdine the Uw in a Modem Jewish Synagogue. (Prom Picart’s Religious Ceremonies.) 
 
 n \ Gyfraith mewn Synagog Iuddewig Ddiweddar. (O Picard’s Religious Ceremonies.) 
 
 Iuu a Charai Ai|)luaidd. 
 
24H.— Wild Date-palm, found in the Sinai Mountains.— Eiod. *v. 27. 
 Tal-baliuwydden Wyllt, a ganfyddwyd ym Mynyddocdd Sinai. 
 
 K 
 
 65 
 
G6 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday IX. 
 
 SUNDAY IX.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 EYERAL wells of water are found at 
 Ain Mousa {the Fountain of Moses), 
 where we assume that the Israelites 
 encamped after passing the sea (although 
 this particular point is by no means 
 necessary to the argument against 
 the passage at Suez). Dr. Robinson 
 counted seven ; but some of them 
 were mere recent excavations in the 
 sand, in which a little brackish water 
 was standing. Other of the wells 
 are older and more abundant ; but the water is dark-coloured and 
 brackish, and deposits a hard substance as it rises, so that mounds 
 have been formed around these larger springs, at the top of which 
 t he water flows out, and runs down for a few yards till it is lost in 
 the sand. The Arabs call the northernmost of these springs sweet, 
 but the traveller could not perceive that they differed much from the 
 others. About twenty stunted and untrimmed palm-trees, or rather 
 palm-bushes, grow around in the arid sand. 
 
 At this place (as we suppose) the Israelites remained some days, 
 to refresh their spirits, and to gather the harvest of the deep, which 
 was obtained from the costly spoils of the Egyptians whose bodies 
 were washed to the shore. 
 
 After leaving the shore where they had crossed the sea, the 
 emancipated Israelites proceeded on their journey towards the Sinai 
 mountains, among whose solitudes they were destined to be organised 
 as a nation, and to receive such training as was needful to fit them 
 for the peculiar destinies which lay before them. 
 
 Their journey at first lay over “ a desert region, sandy, gravelly, 
 and stony alternately. On the right hand their eyes rested on the 
 deep blue waters of the gulf so lately divided for their sake, while 
 on their left hand lay the mountain-chains of Er-Ruhat, stretching 
 away to a great distance as the pilgrims advanced. In about nine 
 miles they would enter upon a boundless desert plain, now called 
 El Ati, white and painfully glaring to the eye. Proceeding beyond 
 this, the ground became hilly, with sand-hills near the coast ” 
 (‘Piet. Hist, of Palestine,’ p. 191). By the time they had traversed 
 this region for three days, the wrnter, which they had doubtless 
 brought with them from Ain Mousa, became exhausted, and they 
 hastened forward gladly to the well of Marah, which at length 
 appeared to promise the water of which they stood so much in need. 
 They found the water of this well too bitter to drink ; and seeing no 
 prospect of relief, they, who had all their lives been accustomed to 
 drink their fill from the pleasant water of the Nile, quailed under 
 this privation, and openly vented their discontent against Moses for 
 having brought them into this miserable region. The well of 
 Marah has been, since the time of Burckhardt, identified with the 
 fountain of Ilawarah, which is about thirty-three geographical 
 miles from Ain Mousa, not too small a distance for a host so en- 
 cumbered as that of the Israelites to take three days in traversing. 
 The water of this fountain is of unpleasant taste, saltish, and some- 
 what bitter, and must have been intolerable to persons not yet 
 accustomed to bad water. Moses was directed by the Lord to cast 
 into the well the brandies of a certain unnamed “ tree,” which grew 
 near ; and when he had done this, the water became fit for use. 
 
 Proceeding on their way, the country became more pleasant, 
 and before them, as they advanced, the appearance of seventy palm- 
 trees promised a supply of naturally good water, w hich is seldom 
 absent where palm-trees grow. They were not disappointed, for 
 twelve wells were found on the spot, which have the name of Elim. 
 This is supposed to be the same with the present Wady Ghurundel. 
 This is a valley, through which a torrent flows in winter. This 
 valley is deeper and decked more profusely with trees and shrubs 
 than any which the Israelites had yet passed. A few palm-trees 
 are still found there, but tamarisks and acacias are more common. 
 The fountains, lying above a mile out of the common route, are 
 not visited by travellers, but water brought from them by attendant 
 Arabs is, like all the water of this region, somewhat brackish, but 
 much less unpleasant than that of Hawarah. This is still one of 
 the regular watering-places of the Arabs. After leaving Elim, 
 the Hebrews entered upon a more rugged country, called “ the 
 wilderness of Sinai, which is between Elim and Sinai.” In this 
 part of their route t hey had to pass through a plain or valley, formed 
 by the roots of the El Tyh mountains on the left hand, and a chain 
 of mountains which border the Red Sea on the right hand and shut 
 out all view of and access to it. Having passed through this valley, 
 the Hebrews came out again upon the shore of the Red Sea, and 
 there encamped. 
 
 By this time a month had passed since the Hebrews had quitted 
 Egypt, and the provisions which they had brought with them from 
 that country were quite spent. This soon threw them upon their 
 usual and most disgraceful complaints against Moses, and, by im- 
 plication, against the God who had wrought such great wonders for 
 their sakes. The abundance of Egypt rose before their minds, and 
 they scrupled not to avow that the bondage, sweetened by the plenty, 
 of that country, was, in their eyes, better than the glorious liberty, 
 accompanied by privation, to which they had now attained. Yet 
 while our indignation rises at the sight of a people so unworthy of, 
 and so unable to appreciate, the freedom bestowed upon them, let us 
 still remember that this enervation of soul was a natural and perhaps 
 inevitable result of the enslaved condition in which this generation 
 had been born and bred. 
 
 The answer to their murmurs was, the seemingly incredible promise 
 that they should have meat to excess before the evening closed. 
 Accordingly that very evening a wind arose, the direction of which 
 brought to the camp an immense flight of quails, which, being 
 weary, flew so heavily and low, that vast numbers of them were 
 secured by the greedy Israelites, who were thus enabled to feed 
 abundantly on a kind of game which was highly prized in Egypt. 
 
 Nor was this all, for when they arose the next morning the 
 Israelites found the ground covered with an appearance like that of 
 hoar frost, w hich, on examination, appeared to be composed of grains 
 of a pearl colour and of the form and size of coriander seeds. 
 They asked one another, “ What is this ?” ( Man-hu ), whence the 
 name of Manna was given to this unknown substance. They were 
 told that this was the “ bread” with which they should henceforth 
 be supplied every morning till the sources of natural supply from 
 corn were open to them. Every family was directed to collect 
 what it deemed an adequate supply ; and those who collected more 
 than enough, found their labour useless, as any portion which re- 
 mained over the day corrupted and was spoiled. And yet, as if on 
 purpose to evince the entirely miraculous nature of this provision, 
 this quality of the manna was intermitted once in every week : for 
 none of it fell on the Sabbath, but a double portion came and was 
 gathered on the preceding day, and that which was not consumed 
 on the first day continued fresh through the second. In the prepa- 
 ration for food this substance was dealt with like ordinary grain. 
 It was reduced to meal by being ground in hand-mills or pounded 
 iu mortars, and it was then kneaded and baked in loaves and cakes 
 after the usual manner. And yet, although thus prepared for food 
 by baking, such of the manna as remained ungathered on the ground 
 dissolved away daily in the heat of the sun. Eventually, also, a 
 quantity of the manna was laid up in a golden pot in the holy place 
 for a memorial ; and, to answer the purpose of a memorial, it must 
 have retained its original shape, although in the one instance it cor- 
 rupted and in the other dissolved in a single day. Under these cir- 
 cumstances no one who receives the books of Moses as the truth of 
 God can doubt that the manna, by which the Israelites were fed 
 for forty years, was altogether miraculously supplied, or that the 
 substance itself was altogether miraculous. Any attempt to explain 
 this matter on natural grounds involves greater difficulties than the 
 miracle itself. Thus, it has been attempted to show that the manna 
 was the exudation from certain trees ( Tamarix mannifera) which 
 grow sparingly in that region. But if the gummy distillation from 
 these trees even did correspond to the description of the manna, how 
 were the circumstances which constitute all that requires a miracle — 
 how are these to be accounted for? Where, above all, shall we 
 look for the interminable forests of manniferous trees w hich supplied 
 two or three millions of people with daily and unfailing provision 
 at all times of the year and in all their wanderings? 
 
 The manna seems to have had a sweetish taste, for the bread 
 made from it is described as being similar to the finest corn bread 
 made with honey or with oil. 
 
 In the leading narrative in Exodus, the next station, after the one 
 distinguished by these memorable circumstances, is Rephidim. This 
 is because that was the next station at which any remarkable circum- 
 stance occurred : for in the more minute list of stations given in 
 Numbers xxxiii. we find two other stations, Dophkah and Aluslg 
 between “ the desert of Sin” and Rephidim. It is worth w'hile to 
 mention this, because the occurrence of two intermediate stations 
 somewhat breaks the surprise with which we find the Israelites 
 giving w r ay to another outbreak of murmuring and discontent at 
 Rephidim. The cause w'as the want of water; and this time their 
 discontent grew to such a height that they were almost, ready to 
 stone their great leader for having brought them out of the land of 
 Egypt. 
 
 The usual appeal to the Lord was the only resource of Moses in 
 this emergency. The Lord, still merciful and forbearing towards 
 
Sunday IX.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 67 
 
 Ins wayward people, delayed not to perform another signal miracle 
 in their behalf. Moses was instructed to take with him certain 
 elders of the people, and proceed up the valley till he came to a 
 certain rock, which he was to smite with his rod. He did so : and 
 immediately the smitten rock poured forth a stream of water, which 
 Mowed down the valley to the Hebrew camp, and furnished an 
 abundant supply to all the host. Moses called that place Massah 
 {temptation), because the Israelites there tempted God ; and 
 Meribah {strife), because of the contention which there arose. 
 
 The rock which Moses smote, and from which the water flowed, is 
 pointed out to travellers in a narrow valley in the upper region of 
 Sinai. It is a large isolated cube of coarse red granite, which 
 appears to have fallen down from the eastern mountain. Down its 
 front, in an oblique line from top to bottom, runs a seam of a finer 
 texture, from twelve to fifteen inches broad, having in it several 
 horizontal crevices, somewhat resembling the human mouth, one 
 above another. These are said to be twelve in number, but Dr. 
 Robinson could only make out ten. The seam extends quite through 
 the rock, and is visible on the opposite or back side. The holes are 
 usually said to be manifestly artificial, but did not appear to be so to 
 this traveller, by whom they were particularly examined. They 
 belong rather to the nature of the seam ; yet it is probable that some 
 of them may have been enlarged by artificial means. The rock is a 
 singular one, and doubtless was selected on account of this very sin- 
 gularity as the scene of the miracle. There is no reason to suppose 
 that this was really the rock from which the water flowed, but there 
 is every possible reason to the contrary. In the ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ 
 under Exod. xvii., this subject is fully discussed : and it must be 
 gratifying to the editor of that work to find that the conclusions at 
 which he arrived, by a careful examination of all the evidence which 
 then existed, have since, in every particular, been confirmed by the 
 personal observations of Dr. Robinson. This could not be Rephidim, 
 because it is in the very heart of the uppermost region of Sinai, 
 where perennial springs abound, and no such supply could be 
 needed : because there was no room for the hosts of Israel in the 
 narrow valleys of this upper region : because when at Rephidim the 
 Hebrews were still a day’s journey from the Mount under which 
 they finally encamped: and because the attack which was made 
 upon the Israelites at Rephidim was scarcely possible in this upper 
 region. The people who made that attack are known to have had a 
 principal seat in the Wady Feiran, which lies on the outskirts of the 
 more mountainous region. The position of this valley agrees with 
 all the circumstances of the history, and it is here accordingly that 
 the ‘ Pictorial Bible’ and Dr. Robinson agree in seeking Rephidim. 
 
 Hitherto the Israelites had been unmolested by the inhabitants of 
 the country they had entered, which seems to have been then, as at 
 present, inhabited only by tribes of Bedouin or semi-Bedouin habits. 
 To such a people the Hebrew host, weak by its very numbers, imper- 
 fectly organized, encumbered with women, children, old men, and 
 flocks, and laden with valuable property, including the spoils of the 
 Egyptians — must have seemed to offer an easy and valuable prey. 
 The tribe which headed this attempt was that of the Amalekites, 
 who had at least a temporary seat in the valley where the Hebrews 
 lay encamped beside the waters which the smitten rock gave forth 
 for their use. 
 
 It seems from Deut. xxv. 17, that the Amalekites had in the 
 first instance fallen upon the weakest part of the host of Israel, 
 \\ hen “ faint and weary,” and that it was this which induced Moses 
 to order Joshua, a valiant young man who was attendant on his 
 own person, to draw out a party of choice men against the follow- 
 ing morning, and with them engage the Amalekites. This, being 
 the first warlike action in which the Israelites were engaged, was 
 to them no light matter ; and, therefore, to encourage the young 
 commander, Moses promised to stand on the top of the hill, in view 
 of the warriors, with the rod of God in his hands. 
 
 The next morning, when Joshua went forth to engage the 
 Amalekites, Moses proceeded to the hill-top, accompanied by his 
 brother Aaron and by Hur, holding in his hand the rod with which 
 such wonders had been wrought in Egypt and at the Red Sea. He 
 held it up as an ensign, and from the sight of it the warring Israelites 
 gathered confidence and strength ; but when the weariness of the 
 prophet’s arm prevented him from holding it up longer, they became 
 disheartened and gave way to the Amalekites. Perceiving this, the 
 companions of Moses supported his arm, and the rod being no longer 
 dropped, the Israelites prevailed till the Amalekites fled before them. 
 The history of Israel records no resentment so implacable and deep 
 as that with which this first assault upon them in the day of their 
 weakness was regarded, and the two nations remained bitter enemies 
 so long as the Amalekites continued to exist as a distinct people. 
 
 The Israelites were much encouraged by this success of their 
 
 first martial enterprise. The circumstances were, by the Divine 
 command, recorded in a book, in which also a direful remembrance 
 against Amalek was written down. Moses also erected an altar 
 whereon to offer sacrifices of thankfulness, and in memorial of the 
 victory: and he gave it the name of Jeiiovaii-nissi {the Lord is 
 my Banner), in allusion to the lifting up of the rod upon the hill. 
 
 Before they quitted this place, Jethro, with whom Moses had 
 lived so many long years in Midian, came to visit his now illus- 
 trious son-in-law, whose wife and sons he brought with him. This 
 must have been a great satisfaction to Moses. He gave Jethro an 
 account of all the wonders which the Lord had done fur his people, 
 and of all the kindness he had shown them: whereat, the pious 
 old man gave praise to God, and in his priestly character offered 
 solemn sacrifices of adoration, in which act Moses, Aaron (who was 
 not yet a priest), and the elders of Israel joined : and they then 
 feasted together. 
 
 Great as Moses was, in all that constitutes true greatness in man, 
 he was not above taking hints from the experience of the aged 
 Jethro, for the better government of the nation now under his 
 guidance. Observing that Moses sat all day long administering 
 justice among the people, the old sheikh strongly censured this 
 waste of strength, and advised him to appoint inferior magistrates, 
 in a gradually ascending scale, who should hear and determine all 
 ordinary causes, and only refer matters of great difficulty, and in 
 the last resort, to him. Moses saw the excellence of this advice, 
 and, after obtaining the Divine sanction, proceeded to put it in 
 execution, to the great comfort of himself and the people. Having 
 seen this matter settled to his satisfaction, Jethro took his leave, 
 and returned to his own land. 
 
 The Israelites appear to have remained about a month at Re- 
 phidim, they then departed ; and in about three months from their 
 quitting Egypt, reached the mount where the Lord had first ap- 
 peared to Moses, and encamped before it. For an account of this 
 region the reader is referred to the chapter on Mountains in the 
 geographical portion of the present work. This was the place 
 where the descendants of Abraham were to receive the laws and 
 instructions necessary to fit them for the peculiar position which they 
 were to occupy among the nations of the world. 
 
 The instructions through which the Israelites were to be 
 moulded into a peculiar nation, commenced by Moses being called 
 up into the mountain to receive the Divine communications. 
 Here the leading principle of the great compact between the Lord 
 and his people was opened to him, and he was required to return 
 and demand the formal assent of the people to it. The principle was 
 this: — the people on their part were required to forsake every false 
 way — the ways of idolatry ; and to worship, fear, and serve Jehovah 
 only : and then He, on his part, would become, in a peculiar sense, 
 their God — theirs by especial covenant : and not only their God, 
 but their political Head, their King, dwelling among them by 
 manifest symbols of presence, and directing their public affairs 
 by oracles delivered to appointed ministers, by which they would 
 become eminently his people, a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation. 
 The people having solemnly accepted this covenant, the Lord then 
 announced his intention, as their king, to issue a code of laws for 
 their government ; the fundamental principles of which he would 
 publicly deliver in the audience of all the people. This was done 
 in order to authenticate the further communications to be made 
 through Moses alone, and to make the people sensible that it was 
 more expedient for them that the divine commands should be 
 imparted to them through him than by more direct communication. 
 Not that God, who is a Spirit, purposed to make himself visible to 
 the people. No: they should behold the veil only which hid the 
 glory of his presence — the thick clouds darkening upon the 
 mountain, and a voice issuing from the midst of them. 
 
 But before the Israelites could formally appear in the presence of 
 the Lord, it was needful that they should be purified. Two days 
 were given them to make their garments and their persons clean, 
 and on the third they were to stand before the mountain and 
 receive the divine commands. But the presence of God upon the 
 mountain would render it a most holy place, which feet uncon- 
 secrated might not tread : therefore bounds were set around the 
 base of the mountain, beyond which no one, under pain of death, 
 might pass. 
 
 At length the great day arrived. The people stood in solemn 
 expectation around the mountain, which was already enveloped in 
 thick clouds, which shot forth vivid lightnings, and uttered mighty 
 thunderings. At length the sound of angelic trumpets announced 
 the coming Presence. God descended in fire, and the mountain 
 quaked beneath his feet; while the face of the mount was enveloped 
 in flame and smoke. 
 
 K 2 
 

 
 253.— Kneading. 
 Tylino. 
 
254. — Boat on a Tomb at Pompeii. 
 Cwch ar Feddrod yn Pompeii. 
 
 255. — Miraculous Draught of Fishes. (Rubens.) 
 Yr Helfa Wyrthiol o Bysgod. 
 
 256.— The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. (Raffaclle’s Cartoon.) 
 Yr Helfa Wyrthiol o Bysgod. 
 
 69 
 
70 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 [Sunday IX. 
 
 SUNDAY IX.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 N Capernaum, to which our Lord now 
 proceeded, he henceforth usually resided 
 when in Galilee. Often as this place is 
 mentioned in the New Testament, there 
 yet occurs no specification of its local 
 situation, except the somewhat indefinite 
 intimation that it lay upon the sea-coast 
 (£. e., the Sea of Tiberias), upon the 
 borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim 
 (Matt. iv. 13). It must therefore have 
 lain on the western shore of the lake, 
 and some incidental notices in the Gospels enable us to collect that 
 it lay in that part of the western shore known as the region of Gen- 
 nesareth, which was a fertile plain down upon the shore, below the 
 mountains which on that side form the basin of the lake. This 
 small plain occurs in about the mid-distance between the town of 
 Tiberias and the northern extremity of the lake, and is contained 
 within a triangular expansion of the shore from the backward bend- 
 ing of the mountains. Capernaum was evidently a place of some 
 importance in the time of Christ; but all trace of it has long since 
 disappeared, and the very site which it occupied has become uncer- 
 tain. In this we may find a striking fulfilment of our Lord’s 
 denunciation : “ And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto 
 heaven, shall be brought down to hell : for if the mighty works 
 which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would 
 have remained unto this day” (Matt. xi. 23). 
 
 The brothers Peter and Andrew, and the brothers John and 
 James, who had formerly acknowledged the divine mission of 
 Christ, were fishermen of the Lake of Tiberias, and as they had 
 not been called to a constant attendance upon the person of Jesus, 
 they had returned to the occupation by which they earned their 
 livelihood. They were partners together in the same concern ; 
 that is to say, they went out fishing together in their respective 
 fishing-smacks, and shared together the produce of their toil. 
 
 The prophet of Nazareth failed not to attract attention when 
 he came to Capernaum ; he was followed by crowds of persons, who 
 wished to hear his new and startling style of teaching. One day, 
 as he walked along the shore of the lake, he was thus attended, and, 
 being incommoded by the pressure, he went into Peter’s fishing-boat, 
 which happened to be on the shore, and desired him to thrust the 
 vessel out somewhat from the brink, that he might the more con- 
 veniently address the people, when he was thus separated from 
 them and raised above them. 
 
 When he had finished, he turned to the friendly fishermen, and 
 said, “ Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a 
 draught.” Peter, as an experienced fisherman, slightly demurred at 
 this. “ Master,” he said, “ we have toiled all the night, and 
 taken nothing.” If, therefore, they had taken nothing during the 
 night (the proper time for fishing), it seemed hopeless to cast the 
 net in the day-time, in the sight of the fish, and in comparatively 
 shallow water. But although this consideration was present to the 
 mind of Peter, it did not prevent him from adding — “ Nevertheless, 
 at thy word I will let down the net.” And richly was this faith 
 rewarded. The men who had toiled all the night and caught 
 nothing, now enclosed so many fish that their net began to break, 
 and they had to summon their partners in the other boat to their 
 assistance. 
 
 Peter’s previous hesitation makes us the better appreciate the 
 amazement with which he was filled by this event. A landsman 
 might not so readily have apprehended the full force of all the 
 bearings of this miracle ; and Peter himself had been less astonished 
 to see Christ heal the sick — perhaps from a notion, common among 
 the Jews, that the prayers of holy men accompanied by imposition 
 of hands might have power to heal diseases and to cast out evil 
 spirits. But here was a miracle more distinctly addressed to his 
 own perceptions, and which assured him that Jesus of Nazereth 
 held dominion even over the sea and its inhabitants. He could not 
 but conceive that there was some peculiar presence of God with a 
 person who could perform a miracle like tins ; and the consciousness 
 of sin made him fear to appear in the presence of such a one, lest 
 some infirmity or offence should expose him to more than ordinary 
 punishments. When, therefore, lie perceived that the fish which 
 had been taken at this draught, filled both the boats to that degree 
 that they began to sink, he fell down at the feet of Jesus, crying 
 “ Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” But the Lord 
 encouraged him and Andrew, whose sentiments he expressed, by 
 
 saying, “ Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers 
 of men.” They understood this conventional formula of “Come 
 after me,” or “ Follow me,” as a summons to exclusive attendance 
 upon him henceforth, and, accordingly, they had no sooner landed 
 than they abandoned all their fishing concerns and followed him. 
 John and James appear to have hastened to the shore with their 
 fish and nets in the other vessel, and had not heard this call, though 
 they shared in the feelings which produced it. When, however, 
 Christ had landed with Peter and Andrew, and proceeded a little 
 way along the shore, he beheld them busily engaged with their 
 father Zebedee in mending the broken nets. He called to them 
 “ Follow me,” and they immediately arose and followed him, leaving 
 their father in the boat with the hired servants. (Compare Luke 
 v. 1 — 10; Matt. iv. 18 — 22; Mark i. 16 — 20.) 
 
 During his residence at Capernaum, Jesus followed his usual 
 practice, and taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath-day. It may 
 be remarked that he was not now in his native place, where he 
 might be supposed to have had more facilities in this respect, accord- 
 ing to the rules of the synagogues. But the fact is, that the Jews in 
 their synagogues were always desirous of hearing any stranger who 
 had taken the character of a public teacher, or who seemed to have 
 any wish to address them, and hence when such persons happened 
 to be present, they were usually called upon by the minister of the 
 synagogue. We see an instance of this in Acts xiii. 15. Thus it 
 was that at Capernaum and other places, Jesus found frequent 
 opportunities of “ teaching in the synagogues.” 
 
 When Christ taught in the synagogue at Capernaum, the people 
 were astonished at his doctrine, “ for he taught them as one that 
 had authority, and not as the scribes.” By this we understand, that 
 he taught not as a commentator on the law of Moses, and on the 
 traditions of the fathers ; but as a prophet greater than Moses, 
 come with a new law and a new doctrine, and not bound by the 
 literal obligations of a covenant completed and finished by his own 
 appearance on the earth. Well might they, who regarded the law 
 and the traditions as the eternal counsel of God, be “astonished ” 
 at the new doctrine which Jesus taught. 
 
 Among those present, as he taught in the synagogue at Caper- 
 naum, was “a man with an unclean spirit.” He also was wrought 
 upon by that which he heard, and he cried out in the name of the 
 demons who tormented him, or the demons cried through him in 
 their own name (for the matter is disputed), “ Let us alone : what 
 have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ? Art thou come 
 to destroy us ? I know thee, who thou art : the Holy One of 
 God.” But Jesus now and on other occasions declined to avail 
 himself of such testimony, and rather endeavoured to suppress it ; 
 so now he said, “ Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” But 
 although forbidden to speak, piercing cries attested the agony of 
 the man, under the strong convulsions by which he was rent as the 
 evil spirit departed from him. The people were astonished beyond 
 measure at this transaction. With the phenomenon of such de- 
 moniacal possession they were indeed well acquainted, and the 
 process of cure followed by the Jewish exorcists was known to 
 them. It was the point of difference in action which struck them. 
 It was “ the authority with which he spake,” it was “ the new 
 doctrine,” that confounded them. The Jewish exorcists used invo- 
 cations in the Divine name to dislodge the demons ; but no one had 
 ever done this thing in his own name until now. It requires 
 larger considerations than this place admits, to show, from the 
 peculiar notions entertained by the Jewish people, how strikingly 
 calculated this act of Jesus was to arrest attention and excite 
 astonishment. But those who are already acquainted with those 
 notions, feel no surprise in learning that “immediately his fame 
 spread abroad through all the region round about Galilee” (Mark i. 
 21—28). 
 
 Christ appears to have lodged in the house of Peter during his 
 stay at Capernaum ; at least he proceeded thither on leaving the 
 synagogue. The marvellous cure just performed caused some 
 one to mention that Peter’s mother-in-law was in the house, lying 
 dangerously ill of a fever. On hearing this, Jesus went to her, and 
 as he took her by the hand to lift her up, the fever departed from 
 her, and she arose from her bed and attended upon him. 
 
 The fame of these miracles of healing spread rapidly through the 
 city, and excited new remembrances and new hopes of health and 
 strength, in all the incurables of the place. How impatiently they 
 waited till the setting of the sun ended the Sabbath, and enabled their 
 friends to take them to the prophet, by whose hands such deeds of 
 mercy had been wrought ! In the evening, therefore, crowds of 
 diseased persons were assembled before the door of Peter’s house. 
 Jesus came forth to them, healed them all by his word, and sent 
 them rejoicing home. Then, as the Evangelist remarks, was ful- 
 
Sunday IX.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 71 
 
 filled that saying of the prophet Isaiah — “ Himself took our infir- 
 mities and bare our sickness” (Matt. viii. 14 — 17; Mark i. 
 31—34). 
 
 The next morning, Jesus rose “ a great while before day,’ and 
 withdrew privately to a solitary place, that he might indulge in 
 prayer and meditation undisturbed by the crowds which now attended 
 his steps. Peter and his companions soon came to him there, and 
 apprised him of the multitudes which sought for him, and awaited 
 his appearance at Capernaum. This decided him not to return 
 thither. The fact of the attention which had been drawn to him, 
 sufficed to show that he had already borne sufficient testimony to 
 the new doctrine in that city, and that it now behoved him to de- 
 clare the will of God. and bear similar testimony in other places 
 also. He therefore said : “ Let us go into the next towns, that I 
 may preach there also : for therefore came I forth.” 
 
 The renown of his preaching and miracles had by this time spread 
 throughout Syria, and multitudes followed him, or gathered around 
 him wherever he went. Many persons came from the remotest 
 parts of the land to hear and see him — even from Jerusalem and 
 Judea, and from the country beyond the Jordan. Those who know 
 what throngs of diseased persons, at this day, in the East, gather 
 around any stranger 'who is supposed or rumoured to possess medi- 
 cines, or to be gifted with unusual powers of healing, and with 
 what urgent importunities and cries they appeal to him for relief, 
 may form some notion of the crowds of diseased persons who would 
 and did gather to one whose word, whose touch, whose look, had 
 power to drive away every kind of sickness and disease. Then, 
 and constantly during our Lord’s sojourning upon earth, were accom- 
 plished the prophecies which our poet has so beautifully embodied : — 
 
 “The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold : 
 
 Hear him, ye deaf ; and all ye blind behold! 
 
 He from thick films shall clear the visual ray, 
 
 And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day. 
 
 'T is he the obstructed paths of sound shall clear. 
 
 And bid new music charm the unfolding ear ; 
 
 The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, 
 
 And leap exulting like the bounding roe.” 
 
 Of all the miraculous cures which were effected during this 
 journey, only one has been selected by the Evangelists for particular 
 notice : this was the cure of a leper. 
 
 Leprosy was a cutaneous disorder to which the ancient nations 
 appear to have been much subject, and which was so common even in 
 Europe during the middle ages, that numerous hospitals, or rather 
 “ lazar-houses,” were established for their reception. The disease, 
 in at least one of its most usual forms, imparted an unearthly pallor 
 to the complexion, whence, when Gehazi was punished with the 
 leprosy of which Naaman had been cured, he is said to have gone 
 forth from his master’s presence “ a leper as white as snow ” (2 Kings 
 v. 27). The disease was deemed incurable by medicine; it was 
 certainly contagious, and was even believed to be hereditary. 
 Lepers were hence compelled to live in a state of separation outside 
 the towns by the law’s of Moses (Lev. xiii. 46), and so rigidly was 
 this law enforced, without respect of persons, that the sister of 
 Moses and Aaron, when smitten with leprosy, was put out of the 
 ramp (Num. xii. 15) ; and King Uzziah, when visited with a 
 similar affliction, was compelled to relinquish the government, and 
 live secluded in a separate house (2 Kings xv. 5). 
 
 The dread of this disease and of the disabilities connected with it 
 was so great, that still further precautions were judged necessary to 
 prevent contamination by accidental or unknowing contact with 
 lepers. They were compelled to wear their dress in such a manner 
 as sufficiently distinguished them even at a distance. His outer 
 garment was rent open in front, his head bare, and his lip was to be 
 covered either with his hand or the skirt of his garment. Nor was 
 this all, for it was his bounden duty, by cries of “ Unclean ! Un- 
 clean ! ” to give warning of his presence to those who might happen 
 to be near him. These latter precautions were found so effectual, 
 that, although lepers resided outside the towns, they were allowed 
 to enter them in the day-time, and to appear in the streets and 
 public places. 
 
 As this state of’the leper was one into which no one would willingly 
 ■'nter, it may easily be supposed that persons were not brought into 
 it without some kind of legal process or examination. The fact is, 
 that when a person was suspected of being afflicted with leprosy, it 
 became the interest of all his friends and neighbours to have the 
 fact determined, as they might all be subjected to unpleasant con- 
 sequences by continued intercourse with him. He was, therefore, 
 taken before the priest, whose bu-iness it was to be qualified, 
 under certain rules laid down by the law’, to distinguish true leprosy 
 from any disease which might appear like it ; and if it were a real 
 
 leprosy, the priest pronounced the man unclean, and lie went into 
 separation. And from this condition no one could be relieved but 
 by the same sanction. If a leper believed himself healed, he was 
 to go before the priest, who examined him, and pronounced whether 
 he were really cured or not. If it were so, the man then under- 
 went the ceremonies of purification, which are minutely described in 
 Levit. xiv. These chiefly consisted in the slaughter of one of 
 two birds which had been brought for the purpose, and the sprinkling 
 of the person with its blood after the body had been burned. The 
 other bird was set free, either to signify that the leprosy had de- 
 parted, or, as others allege, to indicate the man’s restoration to the 
 free intercourse of society in life. This restoration did not, how- 
 ever, take place all at once. The man remained apart both from 
 lepers and from clean persons for a week after the purification ; and 
 he then again presented himself before the priest, when, if no symptom 
 of leprosy had re-appeared, he presented a sacrifice, and all restraint 
 was withdrawn from him. 
 
 Under these circumstances we can have no difficulty in under- 
 standing how fervently a leper would desire to be relieved from his 
 miserable condition, and considering the usually incurable nature of 
 the disease, we can the better appreciate the strength of faith mani- 
 fested by the leper who fell down before Christ, and besought him, 
 saying, “ Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean ! ” The 
 Saviour of men was touched with compassion. He put forth his hand 
 and touched him, saying, “ I will : be thou clean and immediately 
 the man’s leprosy departed from him. Jesus then charged him not 
 to declare the manner of his cure, but to go and show himself to the 
 priest in the usual course. This was indeed necessary to restore 
 the man to his civil privileges ; but in this case it had also the 
 effect of rendering the inspection of the priest instrumental in 
 authenticating the miracle. The man, however, was unable to 
 control the expression of his wonder and gratitude. He published 
 the matter wherever he went, and such was the effect that Christ 
 was unable to enter any town openly, on account of the crowds which 
 beset his path. 
 
 Jesus returned to Capernaum, where diseased persons continued 
 to be brought to him, and large numbers of people from different 
 parts of the country attended his instructions. He was once teaching 
 in a house so crowded with auditors, even to the door, that all means 
 of access were cut off. Here a man entirely laid up with palsy was 
 brought to be cured by Jesus; and when his bearers found that 
 they could not in any other way bring him before Christ, they took 
 him to the top of the house, and slung him down through the tiling, 
 in his bed, to the feet of Jesus. This transaction appears somewhat 
 difficult, owing to the great difference between the construction of 
 Eastern houses and of our own. A little explanation will make it 
 clear. The houses have fiat roofs, protected by a rail or parapet, 
 and forming a fine terrace, to which the people resort for air and 
 exercise, and where they sleep during the nights of summer. There 
 is usually a flight of steps near the door, and another in the interior 
 part of the house communicating with the roof. If the bearers of 
 the palsied man could not get access to the door, they doubtless 
 carried him to the roof of a neighbouring house, and then passed 
 him over the separating parapet to the roof of that house in which 
 Christ was. 
 
 The buildings of an Eastern house form one or more sides of an 
 interior court or quadrangle. The ground floor is usually occupied 
 by offices ; the first floor is fronted by a covered gallery, into which 
 all the principal apartments of the house open. If there be a second 
 story, there is a similar gallery to it. Now the nature of the opera- 
 tion performed by the persons in charge of the paralytic depends 
 entirely upon the position which Christ at that time occupied. He 
 was not in the court preaching to the people there; because in that 
 case it would not have been needful to remove any tiling in order 
 to let the sick man down to him. Neither was he in a room, as is 
 usually interpreted, for that would have necessitated the removal or 
 opening of the roof ; and this, from the materials of which the roofs 
 are composed, and from the manner of their construction, would not 
 only have been a work of much time and labour, but would have 
 filled the room below with dust and rubbish. It only, therefor* 4 , 
 remains to conclude that Christ was in the gallery, surrounded by 
 the principal persons and by his own disciples, and thence addressed 
 the people assembled in the court below. This was not only 
 the position likely to be taken by an^ person desirous of being 
 heard by the largest number of persons, but the one which best 
 agrees with all the circumstances of the case. The bearers of the 
 paralytic man had, then, only to remove the covering or pent- 
 house of the gallery, which is usually formed of shingles or other 
 materials easy removed, and to let the sick man down before 
 Jesus, who sat there. 
 
208.— Christ cureth the Leper. 
 
 Crist yn iachau y Gwahanglwyfus. 
 
 239. — Christ cureth the Sick of the Palsy. 
 Crist yo iachau y Claf o’r Parlys. 
 
 
 260.— Lake of Gennesareth, with the Town of Tiberias. 
 Llyn Gennesaret, a Thref Tiberias. 
 
 72 
 
262.— Egyptians manufacturing Spears. 
 Aiphtiaid yn gwneuthur Gwaywffyn. 
 
 263.- Ancient Egyptian Sculptors blocking out Stone for the formation of an Idol.— Isa. xliv. 
 Hen Gerfwyr Aiphtaidd yn llunio Maen i wneud Eilun. 
 
 2C6. — Graven Images of Babylon. — Isa. xliv. 
 Delwau Cerfiedig Babilon. 
 
 265.— Painting an Idol.— Isa. xliv. 
 Paentio Eilun. 
 
 261. — Felling Trees in Lebanon. 
 Cymmyuu Coed yn Libuuus. 
 
 264. — Isa. xliv. 
 Ebu. xliv. 
 
 L 
 
 
74 
 
 THE PROPHETS. ' 
 
 [Sunday X. 
 
 SUNDAY X.— THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 ISAIAH XXXY. — L. 
 
 N the Sacred Scriptures — and 
 in Isaiah especially — there are 
 many derisive allusions to the 
 fabrication of idols. None of 
 these allusions are more pointed, 
 and in a certain degree de- 
 scriptive, than the one in Isaiah 
 xliv. 12 — 19, which, but for 
 its length, we should like to 
 transcribe in this place. The 
 essential or descriptive part is 
 thus given in Dr. Henderson’s 
 version : — 
 
 “ The smith prepareth an axe and worketh in the coals, 
 
 He fashioneth it with hammers and worketh it with his 
 powerful arm ; 
 
 He becometh hungry and has no strength ; 
 
 He drinketh no water and is faint. 
 
 The carpenter stretcheth out the line, 
 
 He sketcheth its figure with a sharp tool ; 
 
 He worketh it with chisels ; 
 
 He marketh it off with the compass; 
 
 He maketh it into human shape, 
 
 After the beauty of a man, 
 
 To dwell in a house. 
 
 He heweth down cedars for himself ; 
 
 He taketh the ilex and the oak, 
 
 And what he deemeth firm among the trees of the forest: 
 
 He planteth the pine, and the rain nourisheth it.” 
 
 He then goes on to describe the uses to which the wood is applied, 
 dwelling With strong and derisive emphasis on the point, that with 
 part of it he makes a fire to give him warmth and to dress his food, 
 and with another part of that very same wood he makes himself a 
 god for his worship : — 
 
 “ None reflecteth in his mind : 
 
 He hath neither the knowledge nor the intelligence to say — 
 Part of it I have burned in the fire ; 
 
 I have also baked bread over the coals thereof ; 
 
 I have roasted flesh and eaten it. 
 
 Shall I then make the remainder of it an abomination ? 
 
 Shall I bow down to a clump of wood ?” 
 
 The general force of the description and of the irony has been at 
 all times intelligible, but the recent discoveries in Egyptian anti- 
 quities have brought out the details with a degree of clearness and 
 effect which could not formerly be so well understood. "VVe have 
 there the whole process of idol-manufacture exhibited with remark- 
 able distinctness ; and much interest and instruction arise from 
 comparing these pictures with the description of the prophet. 
 
 It is observable that the prophet’s description applies to an image 
 of carved wood ; perhaps intended to be overlaid with metal, as 
 the operations of a smith are in the first instance mentioned. 
 These operations are more clearly described in chap, xl 19 : — 
 
 “ The workman formeth an image, 
 
 And the smith overlayeth it with gold ; 
 
 The smith beateth out silver chains.” 
 
 Pausanias thinks that all statues were in ancient times of wood, 
 particularly those made in Egypt. He had reasons for this opinion : 
 but the figures which are represented in the act of being made, 
 are chiefly of stone, although those of wood occasionally occur. 
 The description nevertheless applies strongly, notwithstanding the 
 difference of material. This is shown in the ‘ Pictorial Bible’ 
 under Isa. xliv. 13, from which what follows is chiefly taken. 
 
 W r hen the Egyptians intended to sculpture, they began by 
 smoothing the surface, and by drawing a number of parallel lines 
 at equal distances, at right angles to which were traced other lines 
 forming a series of squares. The size of these squares depended 
 upon that of the figure to be formed ; but, whatever was the size, 
 nineteen parts or spaces were always allowed for the height of the 
 human figure. If smaller figures were to be introduced, inter- 
 mediate lines were then ruled, which formed smaller squares, and 
 consequently a figure of smaller proportions. May not this ex- 
 plain the markingout with line and compass to which the text refers? 
 
 After tho outlines of the figure had been traced, it was inspected 
 
 by a master, who wrote in various parts of it such observations and 
 instructions as he wished to be attended to in the progress of the 
 work, and which of course were obliterated as the sculptures were 
 formed. These were the work of other artists distinct from the 
 draftsmen ; and the remainder was completed by others, who added 
 the colouring, gilding, or polish, and who introduced the minute 
 parts of dress or ornament. To this it may not be amiss to 
 add, that the sculptors were not only guided by certain artistical 
 rules, but in the representation of their gods were bound to observe 
 certain forms prescribed by the priests, which it was accounted 
 sacrilege to transgress. The more effectually to accomplish this 
 object, and to preclude the intervention of anything forbidden by 
 the laws in subjects accounted sacred, the profession of an artist was 
 not allowed to be exercised by any common or illiterate person. It 
 is indeed probable that the artists were in some sort attached to and 
 formed a branch of the priesthood. 
 
 All these observations apply principally to stone ; but, as already 
 intimated, the same essential principles appear to have been applied 
 to the carving of wooden images. The tomb-paintings in Egypt, 
 indeed, afford very ample illustrations of the modes of working in 
 wood, and of the general operations of carpenters, from the felling of 
 the tree, and the sawing up of the wood, to the fabrication of various 
 articles of warlike and domestic use. The engravings which we 
 have selected for the purpose of suggesting some notions of the tools 
 and modes of operation among the ancient carpenters appear to ex- 
 hibit different stages in the manufacture of spears or pikes. Of 
 these the small cut seems the most interesting. It shows that when 
 a beam was to be cut up into boards or poles, it was set on end and 
 sawn down perpendicularly, and was not held horizontally, as by 
 our sawyers. The beam was bound with ropes to keep the parts 
 together in the progress of the operation. In the cut the workman 
 has sawn nearly down to the band, and is fastening another below 
 it before he withdraws the one in his way. This is shown by the 
 saw which remains in the wood nearly down to the first rope. 
 Another man in the same cut is squaring a beam which he stays 
 with his foot. The axe in this case is exactly like the one we have 
 in common use, and the saw is not materially different: but the 
 adze and other tools represented in the other cuts are unlike any in 
 use among our carpenters. From these and other examples, we 
 learn that, as at present in the East, work-benches were unknown ; 
 but the workman pursued his labours seated or half-seated on the 
 ground, and when necessary stood up and rested the article on which 
 he was employed upon a block or any other convenience that offered. 
 
 From the mention of tools used by ancient carpenters which we 
 find in the text, it may be interesting to note those which existed 
 among the contemporary neighbouring Egyptians, which were in 
 all probability very similar to those employed by the Israelites. 
 They are the axe, arize, hand-saw (there was no double-handed 
 saw), chisels of various kinds, the drill, and two sorts of planes ; and 
 these, with the ruler, plummet, and right-angle, formed the principal, 
 and perhaps the only implements which were employed. After the 
 wood had been reduced to the proper size by the saw, the adze was 
 the principal tool employed for fashioning it ; and, as Sir J. G. 
 Wilkinson remarks, from the precision with which even the smallest 
 objects are worked with it at the present day by the unskilful carpen- 
 ters of modern Egypt, we may form some idea of its use in the 
 hands of their expert predecessors ; and we are less surprised to meet 
 witli it so frequently represented in the sculptures. Many of those 
 adzes, together with saws and chisels, have been found at Thebes ; 
 the blades of all are of bronze, and the handles of the acacia or 
 tamarisk ; and, which is very singular, the general mode of fasten- 
 ing the blade to the handle appears to have been by thongs of 
 hide. The drill was similar to that now in use in Egypt and 
 Western Asia, and was turned by a bow with a leathern thong. The 
 chisel was employed for the same purposes, and in the same manner 
 as at the present day. and was struck with a mallet, sometimes flat 
 at the two ends, sometimes of a circular or oval form. The handles 
 of the chisels were of compact wood, and the blades of bronze, va- 
 riously shaped according to the work for which they were intended. 
 
 From the same sources of information we learn that the use of 
 glue existed so early as the time of the Exodus ; and also the use 
 of it in the art of veneering, or the application of a thin plank of 
 rare wood to a thicker plank of some other wood more cheap and 
 common. It is highly interesting to be enabled thus to trace to 
 the most remote antiquity an art to which our own dwellings 
 owe so much of their beautiful furniture which would otherwise 
 be unattainable but at an immense expense ; and it is pleasant 
 to know, that the people of ancient times were not without many 
 of the advantages which we have until lately been accustomed to 
 regard as peculiar to our own <!»<« anil generation. 
 
Sunday X.] BIBLE HISTORY. 75 
 
 SUNDAY X.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE trumpet sounded a long 
 blast, and then, after a solemn 
 pause, was heard that voice 
 which then shook the earth, 
 and shall hereafter shake hea- 
 ven also. The words first ut- 
 tered were — “ I am the Lord 
 thy God, who brought thee out 
 of the land of Egypt : out of the 
 house of bondage.” And, then, 
 in that character, he proceeded 
 to declare the ten command- 
 ments, regarded as the text and 
 basis of the law afterwards to be 
 laid down in more detail. The 
 inode of communication, through Moses, for the future, was at 
 the express wish of the people themselves, who were very much 
 alarmed at the awful circumstances and stringent limitations of this 
 high audience. They said to Moses — “ Speak thou with us, and we 
 will hear : but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” This was 
 accordingly done in all subsequent communications with the people. 
 The prophet went up into the mountain, and received there the 
 divine words which, on his return, he made known to the people, 
 and then wrote down in a book. In the present case, after Moses 
 had written down the terms of the covenant, he read them to the 
 people, as if it were to receive their final ratification of its contents. 
 This they gave in the unanimous response, “ All the words which the 
 Lord hath said unto us we will do.” This public act of recognition 
 having taken place, Moses, who still acted as their priest, proceeded 
 to confirm and seal it in the most solemn manner known in ancient 
 times, namely, by sacrifices. An altar was erected, and twelve 
 stones, representing the twelve tribes, were set up ; sacrifices were 
 then offered ; and Moses having once more read the covenant and 
 the laws, and received the same answers, proceeded to sprinkle 
 the people with the blood of the sacrifices, saying “ This is the blood 
 of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you.” No cove- 
 nant could be more deliberately entered into, or more bindingly 
 confirmed, than this. We shall see, as we proceed, how it was 
 kept on the part of the Israelites. 
 
 After this, Moses went up in the mountain attended by his 
 brother Aaron, the two eldest sons of Aaron, and by seventy of the 
 elders of Israel, as if formally to communicate to the invisible King 
 the final acceptance of the covenant by the people of Israel. They 
 ate and drank there upon the mountain, as was usual in the com- 
 pletion of human covenants, and those who were with Moses were 
 permitted to behold the manifest indications of the divine presence. 
 At a distance they beheld “ the God of Israel : and there was 
 under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as 
 it were the body of heaven in its clearness.” Moses was permitted 
 to advance nearer to this glorious manifestation than the others ; and 
 was then enjoined to bring up two tablets of stone, on which God 
 himself would write the words of the ten commandments, which 
 involved the obligations of the completed covenant. This was 
 evidently for the purpose of giving the most permanent and 
 imposing form of record to that great compact. 
 
 When Moses went up next with the required tablets of stone, he 
 was accompanied only by Joshua, his personal attendant, who was 
 directed to tarry at a distance while the prophet entered the more 
 immediate presence of God. He was then hidden by the cloud 
 which enveloped the mountain, and was capped by “ devouring 
 fire,” which flamed upon the mountain top. This flaming appear- 
 ance was called “ the glory of the Lord.” 
 
 Moses was forty days and nights in the mountain, and during 
 this time he received full and particular directions respecting the 
 priesthood and the ecclesiastical establishment which he was to 
 organize for the people whom he had brought out of Egypt. 
 Moses had been aware that his absence would be of unusual 
 duration, and, therefore, he had delegated his authority to his 
 brother Aaron, assisted by Hur, until he should return. His long 
 absence, however, created uneasiness among the people, and 
 they at length gave him up for lost, concluding that he had been 
 consumed by the fire which still glowed upon the mountain. They 
 then went on to conclude that this loss left them to their own plans 
 and resources, and their first act was to release themselves from 
 the abstract and spiritual worship which had been imposed upon 
 them, and to betake themselves to the worship of God through 
 
 such visible images and symbols as they had accustomed themselves 
 to in Egypt. They were not yet content to separate the idea of 
 God from an image symbolizing his attributes. This may seem 
 strange to us; but it was the notion in which this generation had 
 grown up, and they found it not easy to dissociate ideas which 
 habit had connected. When, therefore, they said to Aaron, “ Up, 
 make us gods that may go before us !” they did not intend to 
 abandon Jehovah, but to have manifest to their senses such an 
 image or symbol representing him, as other nations had of the 
 gods they worshipped. But this had been strictly forbidden in 
 the foremost of the commandments which they had so recently 
 received, and which they had so solemnly pledged themselves to 
 obey. The reason of this prohibition is clear. Such images degraded 
 the Godhead, associated him with the false gods similarly repre- 
 sented, created the danger of transferring the worship to such other 
 gods, and even to the very image which in his origin may have 
 been intended for only a representative symbol. The crime and 
 error were, however, in this case much heightened by being in 
 such gross violation of the solemn covenant whereby the Lord had 
 made the Hebrews his peculiar people. That, however, no direct 
 or conscious revolt against the political authority of Jehovah was 
 intended, is shown by the fact that the application was made to 
 Aaron, and that his sanction was in the first place required. 
 
 Aaron proved unequal to this great emergency. He feared that 
 the authority committed to him, and now acknowledged by the 
 people, would be lost in the attempt to stem so strong a current of 
 popular feeling. He therefore yielded to it, and contented himself 
 with the hope of being able to make the Lord still the final end 
 and object of all their worship. His policy was indeed that so 
 often since, and probably before, followed — of leading public 
 opinion and subjecting it to useful influences by yielding to it, 
 instead of opposing its encroachments. He demanded their rings 
 with which to fabricate the image they required ; perhaps cal- 
 culating that some reluctance to part with their personal ornaments 
 would cool their ardour in this matter. If this were his thoughts 
 he was mistaken. They readily divested themselves of their 
 ornaments for the purpose ; and Aaron fashioned with them the 
 image of “a golden calf,” obviously an imitation of the Egyptian 
 ox-god Apis, or rather, perhaps, of the Mnevis of Lower Egypt 
 It is probably a mistake to suppose that this image was all of gold 
 No images wholly of metal appear to have been known in that 
 country, and the mention of its being “fashioned with a graving 
 tool,” as well as all the subsequent circumstances, imply that the 
 image was carved in wood and then overlaid with gold. This 
 explanation, entirely consistent as it is with the text, and with the 
 state of the arts at the time, removes many difficulties which have 
 arisen from the notion that the image was wholly of molten gold. 
 This image Aaron presented to the people, and that its final object 
 might not be forgotten, he immediately proclaimed a feast to 
 Jehovah. That this feast was celebrated before the image, is alone 
 sufficient to establish the correctness of the interpretation which 
 has been given. It was, however, celebrated with observances 
 proper to the worship of the Egyptian idol, the form of which had 
 been borrowed. We are told “the people rose up early in the 
 morning, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings, 
 and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play and 
 afterwards they are described as singing and dancing before the 
 golden calf. So, as we know from ancient writers, the most 
 popular rites of the ancient Egyptians were of the nature of orgies ; 
 and the fundamental character of their religion was what, for 
 want of a better word, may be called Bacchanalian — not, indeed, 
 in the modern sense of mere drunkenness, but as including all sorts 
 of sport and merriment. 
 
 When these melancholy transactions had arrived at this con- 
 summation, Moses was abruptly dismissed from the mountain, 
 with the intimation “ Go, get thee down, for thy people, whom 
 thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves, 
 and have turned quickly aside out of the way which I commanded.” 
 The prophet understood the terrible emphasis of the pronouns here 
 employed ; doubt was not indeed possible, for the Lord added — 
 “ Now, therefore, let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against 
 them, that I may consume them ; and I will make of thee a great 
 nation.” But the latter alternative had no charm for the noble- 
 minded prophet, who ventured reverently to represent that whatever 
 evil befell the race of Israel in the wilderness, would in the 
 estimation of the heathen, reflect discredit on Him in whose high 
 name their deliverance had been effected. This plea prevailed ; and 
 the prophet went down from the mountain, bearing in his hands the 
 tablets of stone, on which the words of the ten commandments 
 were now engraven by the hand of God. Joshua joined him in the 
 
 L 2 
 
.271. — Wady Feiron. 272. — Bedouin Encampment in a Valley of Sinai. 
 
 Gwersyll Bedowinaidd yn Nyffryn Sinai. 
 
 76 
 
27o. — “ Gods of Wood.” Idols of Painted Sycamore. — l)eut. iv. 
 “Duwiau o Bren.” Eilunod o Sycamorwydd Lliwiedig. 
 
 273. —Votaries dancing round the Golden Calf. (N. Poussin.)— Exod. xxxii. 
 Addolwyr yn dawnsio o amgylch y Llo Aur. 
 
 277.— Moses with the Tables of the Law.— Deut. ▼. 
 
78 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday X. 
 
 descent. As they drew within ear-shot of the camp, Joshua 
 distinguished a great noise in the distance, and remarked, “ There 
 is a noise of war in the camp.” But the prophet answered bitteriy, 
 “It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it 
 the voice of them that cry for being overcome ; but the voice of 
 them that sing do I hear.” A little further advance brought 
 them in view of the whole affair, with the people dancing and 
 shouting around their idol ; on which the prophet, in the intensity 
 of his indignation, Hung from him the tablets of the law, which 
 were broken in pieces, and hastened forward into the midst of the 
 infatuated crowd, which, confused and humbled at his sudden 
 re-appearance* cowered before him, and submitted quietly to his 
 discretion. He laid his hands upon their idol and cast it into the 
 fire, and then the calcined mass was reduced to powder, and strewed 
 upon the waters, so that the votaries were constrained to drink their 
 own abomination. 
 
 The painful duty then remained to Moses of calling his elder 
 brother to account for his part in this shameful transaction. 
 Aaron replied by giving a confused explanation of the matter, as 
 favourable to himself as he could make it ; and in a tone which 
 would not lead us to expect from him that force of character which 
 he afterwards found opportunities of manifesting. 
 
 After this Moses placed himself at the gate of the camp, and cried, 
 “ Who is on the Lord’s side ? Let him come to me !” This summons 
 could only be answered by those who had not polluted themselves 
 in the matter of the golden calf; and it was only answered by the 
 men of Levi, his own tribe, who gathered around him at that call. 
 These Moses ordered to take their swords and go through the camp, 
 executing summary justice' upon the people. And they did so, 
 with rigid impartiality, sparing neither friend nor foe whom they 
 could recognise as having taken a forward part in the worship of the 
 idol. The number they slew was three thousand. 
 
 Yet the divine indignation had not wholly turned away ; and Moses, 
 knowing this, returned to the mountain to intercede for them. He 
 said, “ Oh ! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made 
 them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — and 
 if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast 
 written.” The answ.er to this noble and touching supplication was 
 .such AS, we might expect from the justice of God. “Whosoever 
 i hath sipped against me, him will 1 blot out of my book.” The 
 Xord thep further intimated that, although the descendants of Abra- 
 ham should be conducted to the land promised to their fathers, He 
 would no longer take the direct charge of them, lest his anger at 
 their iniquities should break forth to their destruction, but would 
 leave, t!>em to the guidance of an angel. When the people heard 
 this— rwhen their highest privilege was threatened to be taken from 
 it,he,m, — they began to be sensible of its value, and they mourned 
 grgatly. Moses himself withdrew the public tent from among 
 them — and pitched it on the outside of the camp ; and the people 
 laid aside all their ornaments, and stood as mourners and criminals 
 to abide their final doom. It was favourable. The plea of Moses 
 prevailed, and the Lord promised to receive them again into his pro- 
 tection and peculiar care. 
 
 After this Moses was required to repair again to the mountain, 
 there to receive two other tables of stone, in the place of those 
 which had been broken, with the ten commandments engraven upon 
 them. The people were tried forty days more, during which Moses 
 remained in the mount; but this time they continued steady, having 
 been much bettered by the correction they had received. 
 
 During his absence Moses received the two “ tables of testimony ;” 
 the Lord thus renewing the covenant with the Israelites which their 
 misconduct had broken. At the same time the promise of con- 
 ducting them to the land of Canaan, and of making them triumphant 
 over all their enemies, was renewed. They were, however, strictly 
 enjoined not to imitate the idolatrous customs of the inhabitants of 
 the land which was to be given to them, and were commanded to 
 destroy every monument, of idolatry, however costly. They were 
 not to contract any treaties of alliance, friendship, or marriage with 
 idolaters. They were especially warned against falling again into 
 the crime of making an image to represent God. Moses also re- 
 ceived a number of ceremonial precepts, which he was directed to 
 write in a book ; and being in this and the previous interview fully 
 instructed in all the designs of God respecting his people, at the end 
 of forty days he descended to the camp. 
 
 Having been charged to organize a theocratical establishment, with 
 a priesthood, and with a course of ritual service of and attendance 
 on the Divine King, who had promised to dwell among them, Moses 
 delayed not to commence the required operations. In this he was 
 assisted with great zeal by all the people, who were not only actu- 
 ated by the wish to atone for their recent indiscretion, but were 
 
 delighted to have a worship, a visible and bodily service, with 
 material symbols of the divine presence, more adapted to their com- 
 prehension, and which they were better able to feel than they could 
 the more spiritual and abstract worship which, since their leaving 
 Egypt, had been required from them. They, therefore, readily sent 
 in the most profuse contributions of precious metals, and whatever 
 appeared needful for this great work. By this means and by a poll- 
 tax of half a shekel upon every male Israelite above twenty years 
 of age, ample funds were raised for the required purpose. The 
 poll-tax alone produced above thirty-five thousand pounds of our 
 money, and the voluntary offerings of the people were so very con- 
 siderable, that Moses was at length obliged to decline any more con- 
 tributions. 
 
 Two persons, Bezaleel and Aholiah, descendants of Judah, were 
 nominated to undertake the execution of the -work, and to instruct 
 and superintend their assistants. The arts brought into operation on 
 this occasion were chiefly those of carpentry, metallurgy, jewellery, 
 skin-dressing, weaving, and embroidery ; and that a man skilled in 
 art was expected to know something of all these crafts indicates that 
 early state of the arts in which a minute subdivision in the applica- 
 tions of skilled labour had not yet taken place. Hiram, who came 
 from Tyre to execute the interior decorations and furniture of the 
 temple five hundred years later, had an equally extensive knowledge 
 of different branches of art. 
 
 The first and greatest work was the erection of a structure in 
 which the Divine King might, after a certain manner, dwell among 
 his people, and in which he might be served as became his state, 
 by such officers, with such observances and offerings, and after 
 that peculiar manner which his twofold character of King and Goa 
 required. It is always to be remembered that the Lord of heaven 
 and earth stood in that relation to the Hebrews in which he never 
 stood to any other people. He was not only their God, in the 
 same way in which he was the God of the whole earth, but he was, 
 in a peculiar sense, theirs by especial covenant — the God of their 
 fathers So, he was not only their king, as he was king of all the 
 nations of men— but peculiarly their king by a solemn national 
 covenant, and his reign was not to be a mere abstraction, but a sen- 
 sible reality, a tangible fact. He would have his court and royal 
 attendance : he was, through his ministers, to determine all their 
 proceedings in peace and war, and at stated times all his respon- 
 sible subjects were to appear before him, to render their homage at 
 his throne. If this leading idea of the theocratical establishment be 
 kept in mind, all that follows will be the clearer. 
 
 As the Israelites were now in an unsettled condition, moving 
 from place to place, it became necessary that the temple-palace of 
 the great king should be of small dimensions, and capable of being- 
 moved from one place to another. This necessity for its being capable 
 of removal requiied that it should be so made that it might be taken 
 to pieces and packed up in convenient portions. It is sometimes , 
 called a “ tent ;” but “ tabernacle” is a more convenient term : for 
 as the framework and walls were of moveable boards, it was not pro- 
 perly a tent ; and as it had tent-like coverings and curtains of cloth, 
 neither was it altogether a hut or house. In fact, it was a fabric 
 most peculiarly adapted to its purpose, with as much of solidity as 
 was compatible with a movable condition. 
 
 This tabernacle was an oblong rectangular fabric, thirty cubits 
 long, by ten broad, and ten in height. The two sides were formed 
 by twenty boards standing upright, and fastened at the bottom by 
 tenons in each board, at the top by hasps, and at the sides by five 
 wooden bars which ran through rings fixed in the board. The 
 west end of the tabernacle had eight such boards, but at the east 
 it was only closed by a finely embroidered curtain, which was hung 
 upon five pillars made of acacia ( sliittim ) wood overlaid with gold. 
 All the bars and staves were similarly overlaid with gold, and the 
 rings and hasps were of the same metal. All the parts were mag- 
 nificent and costly throughout. Even the foundation was formed 
 of blocks of solid silver, which were provided with sockets to receive 
 the tenons of the boards. There were two of these silver blocks 
 under every board. 
 
 The tabernacle was covered with four curtains, one laid over the 
 other : the first, or inner curtain, in immediate contact with the 
 fabric, was made of fine linen richly embroidered with figures of 
 cherubim in shades of blue, purple, and scarlet; the next, which 
 was spread over the preceding, was made of a sort of mohair, the 
 breadths of which were joined together by clasps of brass; the third 
 curtain consisted of rams’-skins dyed red ; and the fourth, or outer- 
 most, which was designed to protect the whole from the weather, 
 was made with tachash-skins, erroneously called “ badger-skins ” in 
 the English translation ; for the badger does not inhabit that part of 
 the world, and what the word really denotes is unknown. 
 
Sunday X.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 79 
 
 SUNDAY X.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 IIE faith implied in the trou- 
 ble taken and the means em- 
 ployed in gaining access to 
 his presence, was that which 
 first and most strongly en- 
 gaged our Lord’s attention 
 when this poor creature was 
 lowered down to his feet. 
 Therefore, lie bestowed upon 
 him a greater boon than he 
 came to seek, in the words 
 “ Man, thy sins are forgiven 
 thee !” This saying utterly 
 confounded all the learned 
 and high-notioned persons — 
 the Scribes and Pharisees — who happened to be present. They 
 knew that, although a man honoured by the Almighty might work 
 marvels, as the prophets of old had done, the forgiveness of sin was 
 a peculiar and special attribute of God, and hence they thought among 
 themselves, “ Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can for- 
 give sins but God alone?” Although they did not speak this out, but 
 only thought it, Christ perceived their feeling in this matter, and, 
 turning to them, asked “ What reason ye in your hearts ? Whether 
 is it easier to say, ‘ Thy sins be forgiven thee,’ or to say, ‘ Rise up and 
 walk?’ ” And then, using his power to say the latter as an argu- 
 ment of his right to say the former, he added : — “ But that ye may 
 know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins” (and 
 here he turned to the palsied man) “ I say unto thee, Arise, and 
 take up thy couch, and go unto thine house !” And immediately 
 the man felt his miserable limbs loosened from their long bondage, 
 he felt them gather strength and substance, lie felt them roused 
 to vital action ; and he sprung upon his feet, he took up the couch 
 on which he had the moment before lain helpless and impotent, and 
 he hastened therewith to his own house glorifying God. The 
 astonished crowd also dispersed ; and men said to one another, “ We 
 have seen strange things to day !” 
 
 If there were any people whom the Jews detested more than 
 even the Samaritans, more than even the very heathen, it was the 
 Publicans. This constantly appears in the Gospels, where the 
 proud Pharisees make it a frequent matter of reproach to Christ 
 that he associated with “ Publicans and sinners.” The Publicans 
 were tax-gatherers — a body of men not much liked in any country, 
 but absolutely loathed in Palestine. This requires some explana- 
 tion. 
 
 The government taxes under the Romans were usually farmed by 
 persons of family and consideration, and although they were called 
 Publicans by the Romans, they are not to be confounded with the 
 Publicans of the New Testament. Even this office, however, had 
 considerably declined from its ancient reputation, as the fanners of 
 the revenue began to let it appear that they cared considerably more 
 for their own profits than for the revenues of the state, or for the well- 
 being of those by whom the taxes were paid. These personages of 
 course employed large numbers of persons to collect the taxes and cus- 
 toms, who were mostly natives of the country in which the taxes were 
 collected. These were also called Publicans, and were in general dis- 
 credit, — first, for their rapaciousness in the endeavour to make a purse 
 for themselves by extortionate exactions upon their own countrymen, 
 and that too in the payment of tributes odious in themselves; and, 
 then, on account of their connection with and dependence upon the 
 conquering people. In a conquered nation we always find those 
 persons odious who enter into the service of the conquering people, 
 and much more when the service in which they engage is one which 
 would be odious under any circumstances. Now, if this were tue 
 case generally, we may judge with what intensity these feelings 
 would operate among such a people as the Jews, who abhorred the 
 Roman yoke, who regarded as almost impious the payment of tribute 
 to the heathen, and who deemed that intercourse with the heathen, 
 which the office of the Publican involved, as amounting to an 
 absolute defilement. This disrepute of the office naturally operated 
 in throwing it into the hands of low and unprincipled per-ons, 
 whose conduct aggravated and in some degree justified the odium 
 in which the employment was held. This was so strong that the 
 publicans formed, as it were, a caste by themselves, with whom 
 few would sit down to meat, and into whose houses few would 
 enter. No doubt there were some exceptions to the character thus 
 given to them ; no doubt there were among them respectable and 
 
 fair-dealing men: but this was their general character, and there 
 were probably fewer persons who thought well of the publicans 
 than there were publicans who deserved to be well thought of. 
 
 One day when Jesus went forth from the town of Capernaum to 
 the border of the lake, attended by a crowd as usual, he observed a 
 publican named Matthew “sitting at. the receipt of custom.” Some 
 think that he sat in the maritime gate of the town, but it appears 
 that the publicans had booths or toll-houses at the foot of bridges, 
 at the mouth of rivers, and by the sea-shore. They received tolls 
 from those who crossed the water, and delivered a ticket which 
 exempted the person from any further payment on the other side. 
 In the present case Matthew probably received the tolls of those 
 who crossed the Lake of Germesareth at this point, trafficking in 
 fish and other goods. Jesus called to this person, “Follow me-” 
 and immediately “he left all, rose up, and followed him.” This 
 readiness to follow him who had not where to lay his head is the 
 more praiseworthy when we reflect that Matthew was a man of 
 some substance, as indeed most of the publicans were, even the fair 
 gains of the occupation being very considerable. That Matthew 
 was such, appears from the great feast which he gave to Jesus and 
 his disciples that same evening, and at which so many publicans 
 were present as gave occasion for the first murmur against our 
 Lord as one who kept company with publicans and sinners. 
 
 The time of the Passover again came round (32 a.d.), and Jesus 
 proceeded to Jerusalem with his disciples. 
 
 The gate by which sheep, especially those destined for the service 
 of the temple, were brought into the city, was called the Sheep-fate. 
 Not far from this gate was a bath or pool, called the Pool of 
 Bethesda. Under the north wall of the temple there is still a deep 
 reservoir which travellers identify with this pool. This reservoir 
 measures three hundred and sixty feet in length, one hundred and 
 thirty in breadth, and seventy-five feet in depth to the bottom, 
 besides the rubbish which has been accumulating in it for ages. It 
 has obviously been used as a reservoir, for the sides have been 
 cased internally with small stones, and these again covered with 
 plaster; but there are some signs that this is a comparatively recent 
 appropriation ; and Dr. Robinson is strongly persuaded that it 
 anciently formed part of the trench or ditch which on this side 
 bounded the temple. This matter requires and will doubtless 
 receive further investigation, and meanwhile we must be content to 
 remain in some doubt whether any traces of the Pool of Bethesda 
 now exist. This pool was a kind of bath with some healing pro- 
 perty in its waters, which occasioned it to be the resort of diseased 
 persons, for whose accommodation the place was provided with five 
 porches. The account given of this bath by the Evangelist is:— 
 “ An angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled 
 the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water 
 stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.” There 
 are difficulties in this, which are perhaps best met by the explanation 
 of our judicious Doddridge, who supposes that the water had at all 
 times more or less of a medicinal property ; but at some period, not 
 far distant from that in which the transactions here recorded took 
 place, it was endued with a miraculous power, an extraordinary 
 commotion being probably observed in the water, and Providence 
 so ordering it, that the next person who accidentally bathed there, 
 being under some great disorder, found an immediate and unexpected 
 cure ; the like phenomenon in some other desperate case was pro- 
 bably observed on a second commotion : and these commotions and 
 cures might happen periodically. 
 
 In the porches of the bath at this time lay a large number of 
 diseased persons, the blind, the halt, the withered, waiting the 
 opportunity of going into the water as soon as the commotion should 
 be observed. As our Lord passed this way his attention was directed 
 to a man who had been in a helpless condition for thirty-eight years. 
 To him Christ put the thrilling question — “ Wilt thou be made 
 whole?” But the man, not apprehending the full drift of the 
 question, replied by explaining that hitherto he had been unable to 
 step into the water at the time of cure ; for others, when the commo- 
 tion was observed, went in before him and reaped the benefit. Then 
 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk!” And he 
 was instantly obeyed ; the man arose perfectly whole, and departed 
 to his home bearing the bed on which he had a moment before lain 
 in cureless paralysis. 
 
 It happened to be the Sabbath-day, on which it was deemed un- 
 lawful to carry any burden. The man was reminded of this by the 
 persons whom he passed with his burden. He pleaded the order of 
 the person who had made him whole, but who was unknown to him. 
 He afterwards, however, saw Christ, and was spoken to by him in 
 the temple, and then he went and reported who it was that had 
 made him whole. 
 
80 
 
281. — Prooable Form of the Ark of the Covenant. — Exod. xxv. 
 Ffurf dybiedig Arch y Cyfainmod. 
 
 282.— Supposed Form of the Golden Candlestick.— Exod. xxv. 
 Ffurf dybiedig y Canwyllbren Aur. 
 
 284.— Probable Form of the Altar of Incense. — Exod. xxx. 
 Ffurf Dybiedig Allor yr Arogldarth. 
 
 283. — Probable Form of the Table of Shew-bread. (After Bernard Lamy.) Priests 
 removing the Old and placing the New. — Exod. xxv. 
 
 Ffurf dybiedig Bwrdd y Bara-gosod. (Yn ol Bernard Lamy.) Yr Offeiriaid yn 
 synuiiud yr lien ac yn gobod y Newydd. — Exod. xxv. 
 
 M 
 
 
 81 
 
82 
 
 BIBLE IITSTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XI. 
 
 SUNDAY XI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE interior of the tabernacle was 
 divided into two rooms, by a curtain 
 made of the richest stuff and em- 
 broidered with figures of cherubim. 
 The description in Exodus xxv. 
 10 — 22, does not state the distance 
 from either end of the tabernacle 
 at which this curtain was hung; but 
 it is concluded that it divided the 
 sacred apartments in the same pro- 
 portion which was afterwards ob- 
 served in the temple, where two-thirds of the whole space was 
 allotted to the outer chamber, or holy place, and one-third to 
 the inner chamber, or holy of holies. 
 
 Now a temple-palace like this needed a sort of furniture meet 
 for the Great Habitant, and such services as might indicate a 
 Living Presence therein. With such it was provided : and we 
 proceed to describe the sacred utensils which the two chambers 
 contained. 
 
 1. In the outer chamber, or holy place, to the right hand of the 
 priest as he walked up, was the table of shew-bread, or, more 
 properly, of presence-bread, because the bread placed therein was 
 set forth before or in the presence of the ark, over which Mas the 
 seat of the Divine King. This table was of shittim-wood over- 
 laid with gold. Its shape was oblong, and it was furnished at the 
 top with a raised and ornamental border of gold. There was at 
 each corner a golden ring or staple, through which were inserted 
 the poles, plated with gold, by which it was to be carried when the 
 tribes moved from place to place. 
 
 Upon this table were twelve loaves or cakes of bread, called the 
 shew-bread, or bread of the presence : these loaves were prepared 
 by the Levites, and were twelve in number, representing the twelve 
 tribes, each of whom was supposed to offer one of these loaves ; 
 and it may be well to add that this number was not diminished 
 even after ten of the tribes had apostatized from the worship of 
 God, for the children of Abraham were still regarded collectively 
 as a nation, and there was always a remnant of faithful worshippers 
 even in apostate Israel. Each of the cakes was made with two 
 outers of fine flour. According to the explanations of the sacred 
 text given by Jewish writers, they were placed one upon another 
 in two piles. Under the lowest cake was a golden plate, and 
 between every two cakes above, a golden plate, and the top of all 
 was a golden plate turned down as a cover, on the top of which 
 stood a golden vase with frankincense. Instead of the plates be- 
 tween the loaves, some interpreters place short golden rods, two 
 between each cake, which would seem more convenient, as the air 
 might then circulate between the cakes. 
 
 Belonging to the table there were also spoons, covers, and bowls, 
 all of gold, the seveial uses of which it is not easy to determine. 
 The covers were, however, probably, as already indicated, designed 
 to cover the piles of bread ; the spoons are supposed to have been 
 used for removing or replenishing frankincense ; and although 
 there was no wine on the table, the bowls representing its presence 
 may have been regarded as suitable to the furniture of the sacred 
 table. 
 
 Every Sabbath-day the loaves and the frankincense which had 
 stooil all the previous week were removed, and new bread and 
 frankincense set on. The old frankincense was burnt as an oblation, 
 and the old bread belonged to the priests, who, however, were 
 allowed to eat it only in the holy place. 
 
 2. The sacred dwelling had no windows, nor any other light than 
 it derived from the Limps of the golden candelabrum, which was by 
 far the richest article ; and as the place had no windows, it has 
 been supposed that the lamps were kept burning day and night. 
 Indeed Josephus, who was a priest, and could not be ignorant of the 
 matter, expressly states that this was the case. The passages, 
 therefore, which seem to describe the lamps as “ going out,” and 
 as being “ set on” (1 Sam. iii. 3; 1 Chron. xiii. 11), must pro- 
 bably be taken to apply to the times when they had burnt low, 
 and were taken off, and probably put out in succession, to be pro- 
 perly replenished, and then restored to their places. It is affirmed 
 by the Jews that the old dresses of the priests, which could not be 
 worn by others or applied to any common use, were shred up to 
 form wicks for the sacred lamps. 
 
 This golden candlestick stood opposite the table of shew- 
 
 bread. Its dimensions are not stated, but it is usually supposed 
 to have been about twice the height of the latter. It weighed 
 j a hundred pounds, and was made of solid gold. It contained 
 | seven lights, six branching out in three pairs from the upright 
 stem, and one at the top. r lhe figure of this splendid utensil 
 has happily been preserved to modern time by the sculpture on 
 the triumphal arch of I itus at Rome, and will convey a better 
 notion of it than any description. The top and the extremity 
 of each branch formed a stand for a movable lamp, the form 
 of which is not mentioned, but which were probably similar 
 to those in use among the Egyptians about the same period, 
 the forms of which are known to us. These lamps were fed 
 with pure olive-oil (that is, oil which was not pressed from the 
 olives, but which flowed freely from them when bruised with a 
 pestle). They were trimmed and replenished at stated intervals by 
 the priests. 
 
 3. Between the candlestick and the table of shew-bread, and in 
 the middle of the holy place, stood the altar of incense. This 
 was of the same materials and general construction as the table of 
 shew-bread, shittim-wood overlaid with gold, with an ornamental 
 golden rim, staples, and gold-covered staves : it had, moreover, 
 like all the Hebrew altars, raised and pointed corners called “ the 
 Horns,’ which also we find in the altars of other nations. Its di- 
 mensions were, however, smaller titan those of the table. It was a 
 cubit square, and two cubits high, which is half a cubit higher than 
 the table, and was probably intended to prevent the priest from 
 much stooping in the discharge of his duty. This altar was not 
 provided with any grate or fire-place, like the altar of sacrifice, but 
 on the top of it was set, at the time of offering incense, a golden 
 pan containing live coals, on which the incense was burned, and 
 which was removed when the incense had been offered. The in- 
 cense was burnt every morning and evening at the time of dressing 
 the lamps, and is called a “ perpetual incense,” because the offering 
 of it twice a day was never to be intermitted. The incense used in 
 this service was a peculiar preparation, which could not lawfully 
 be used for any other purpose. The fragrance emitted by it was 
 very sweet, and so powerful that the Jewish writers hyperboiically 
 affirm that wdien ottered at Jeru-alem it could be scented even at 
 Jericho. Nothing but incense was to be placerl or offered on this 
 altar ; but once a year, on the great day of atonement, it was 
 sprinkled by the high priest, and its “ horns” smeared with the 
 blood of the sin offering. 
 
 The inner chamber of the tabernacle, or the Holy of Holies, iD 
 which was only the Ark of the Covenant, was by far the most 
 sacred object in the tabernacle. It was regarded as a holy mys- 
 tery, the seat or throne of the Most High, the object witii which 
 his presence was more immediately connected. So sacred did the 
 place thus become in which it stood, that none but the high priest 
 might enter there, and lie only in one day of the year — the great 
 day of Atonement. The ark was, in fact, the shrine of Jehovah 
 as God of Israel, and his throne as King of the Israelites. The 
 ark was a chest two cubits and a half long, one and a half wide, 
 and one and a half high. It was made of shittim-wood plated over 
 with gold within and without, and richly chased. It contained 
 the two tables of stone upon which the ten commandments were 
 engraven. The lid of the ark was appropriately called the 
 “ Mercy-seat,” as some suppose on account of its being represented 
 as the throne of God, who is full of long-suffering and mercy ; or, 
 as others think, because it represented the effect of God’s mercy to 
 the transgressors of his law, by covering, as it were, their trans- 
 gressions. Upon the upper face of the mercy-seat were placed 
 two winged figures, called Cherubim: and it was between these 
 that the Shechinah, called the “ glory of God,” which was the 
 visible resplendence betokening his presence, was stationed ; w hence 
 it is that God is said to “dwell between the cherubim,” and to “sit 
 betwixt the cherubim.” 
 
 Such was the tabernacle and its contents. 
 
 The tabernacle stood in a court or area, which was one hundred 
 cubits long and fifty cubits broad. Its enclosure was formed by 
 pillars set in bases of copper and filleted with silver, to which 
 hangings made of fine tw ined linen were fastened by silver hooks. 
 The entrance into this area was at the east end, fronting the 
 tabernacle, where richer hangings than those which formed the 
 general enclosure were supported by four pillars; these w'ere not 
 fastened like the rest, but were made to draw or lift up. 
 
 It was in this court, immediately in front of the tabernacle, that 
 the principal services 6f the Jewish religion by sacrifices took 
 place. The principal utensils connected with these services, and 
 stationed in the court of the tabernacle, were the altar of burnt 
 offering and the brazen laver. 
 
Sunday XI.] 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 83 
 
 SUNDAY XI.— TIIE PSALMS. 
 
 Stringed Instruments of Music. 
 
 N opinion has already been ex- 
 pressed that the Kinnor, which 
 our translation renders by 
 “ harp,” was a kind of lyre; 
 and that the Nebel , which is 
 the psaltery of our version, was 
 probably a different, and perhaps 
 a triangular kind of lyre. 
 
 It may then be asked if the 
 Hebrews had no “ harp,” pro- 
 perly so called? We think 
 they had ; indeed we have no 
 doubt they had, although we 
 hesitate to say by which of 
 the Hebrew names of stringed 
 instruments it is described. And when we consider the dense 
 obscurity which envelops the subject, which is such as to defy 
 elucidation, and almost to discourage all research, let it be no matter 
 of reproach to us if, out of the thirty-six instruments of music which 
 the Jewish writers ascribe to their fathers, w r e doubt in what parti- 
 cular text or name to find one which we believe them to possess. 
 The harp may have been the nebel ; and it may have been “ the 
 solemn-sounding kinnor” (Ps. xcii. 3) ; or any other of the stringed 
 instruments the Hebrew names of which remain to be appropriated. 
 We certainly incline to think it must have been described under the 
 kinnor or nebel class of instruments ; because these were used in the 
 temple services, and we can scarcely conceive that a people which 
 had the harp would fail to include it among their instruments of 
 sacred music. 
 
 The reasons on which we conclude the Hebrews did possess the 
 harp are: — that if the harp then existed at all, and was accessible to 
 the Hebrews, it was almost certain to be used by them — attached 
 as they were to music, and especially to the music of stringed in- 
 struments : and as it did then exist, and was so accessible to them, 
 that it they had it not, it must have been wilfully neglected, the 
 proof is almost demonstrative that the harp did exist among the 
 Hebrew instruments. This could not be with reasonable confi- 
 dence affirmed until of late years, when the monuments of Egypt 
 have established the fact that the harp existed in that country 
 in times when the Hebrews could not fail to know it and to be 
 familiar with it. In a tomb at Thebes two magnificent harps are 
 figured on the walls, both alike, except that one has eleven strings 
 and the other thirteen. The former is that represented in our en- 
 graving, copied from Rosellini’s great work ‘I Monumenti del 
 Egitto,’ which is more accurate than the figure and description of 
 Bruce, who, in a letter to Dr. Burney, was the first to give the 
 public an account of this most interesting specimen of ancient art. 
 I he following is the portion of his interesting letter which refers 
 to it : — 
 
 “ Behind the ruins of the Egyptian Thebes, and a very little to 
 the N.W. of it, are a great number of mountains hollowed into 
 monstrous caverns ; — the sepulchres, according to tradition, of the 
 first kings of Thebes. The most considerable of these mountains 
 thus hollowed, contains a large sarcophagus. At the end of the 
 passage on the left hand, is the picture of a man playing upon the 
 harp, painted in fresco, and quite entire. 
 
 “ He is clad in a habit made like a shirt, such as the women 
 still wear in Abyssinia, and the men in Nubia. This seems to be 
 white linen or muslin, with narrow stripes of red. It reaches 
 down to his ankles; his feet are wiihout sandals, and bare; his 
 neck and arms are also bare ; his loose wide sleeves are gathered 
 above his elbows ; his head is close shaved ; he seems a corpu- 
 lent man of about fifty years of age, in colour rather of the darkest 
 for an Egyptian. 
 
 “ To guess by the detail of the figure, the painter should have had 
 the same degree of merit with a good sign-painter in Europe; yet 
 he has represented the action of the musician in a manner never 
 to be mistaken. His left hand seems employed in the upper part of 
 the instrument, among the notes in alio, as if in an arpeggio-, 
 while, stooping forwards, he seems with his right hand to be be<nn- 
 mng with the lowest string, and promising to ascend with the most 
 rapid execution : this action, so obviously rendered bv an indifferent 
 artist, shows that it was a common one in his time, or, in other words, 
 that great hands were then frequent, and, consequently, that music 
 was well understood, and diligently followed. 
 
 “ If we allow the performer’s stature to be about five feet ten 
 inches, then we may compute the harp, in its extreme length, to be 
 something less than six feet and a half. It seems to support itself 
 in equilibrio on its foot or base, and needs only the player’s guid- 
 ance to keep it steady. It has thirteen strings ; the length 
 of these, and the force and liberty with which they are treated, 
 show that they are made in a very different manner from those of 
 the lyre. 
 
 “ This instrument is of a much more elegant form than the Gre- 
 cian harp. It wants the forepiece of the frame, opposite to the 
 longest string, which certainly must have improved its tone, but 
 must likewise have rendered the instrument itself weaker, and more 
 liable to accidents, if carriage had not been so convenient in Egypt. 
 The back part is the sounding-board, compos d of four thin pieces 
 of wood, joined together in form of a cone, that is, growing wider 
 towards the bottom ; so that, as the length of the string increases, 
 the square of the corresponding space in the sounding-board, in 
 which the tone is to undulate, always increases in proportion. 
 
 Besides that, the principles upon which the harp is constructed 
 are rational and ingenious; the ornamental parts are likewise exe- 
 cuted in the very best manner ; the bottom and sides of the frame 
 seem to be veneered, or inlaid probably with ivory, tortoise-shell, 
 and with mother-of-pearl, the ordinary produce of the neighbour- 
 ing seas and deserts. It would be, even now, impossible to finish an 
 instrument with more taste and elegance. 
 
 “ Besides the elegance of its outward form, we must observe, 
 likewise, how near it approached to a perfect instrument ; for it 
 wanted only two strings of having two complete octaves in compass. 
 Whether these were intentionally omitted or not, we cannot now 
 determine, as we have no idea of the music or taste of that time ; 
 but if the harp be painted in the proportions in which it was made, 
 it might be demonstrated that it could scarce bear more than the 
 thirteen strings with which it was furnished. Indeed, the cross-bar 
 would break with the tension of the four longest, if they were made 
 of the size and consistence, and tuned to the pitch, that ours are at 
 present. 
 
 “ I look upon this instrument, then, as the Theban harp, before 
 and at the time of Sesostris, who adorned Thebes, and probably 
 caused it to be painted there, as well as the other figures in the 
 sepulchre of his father, as a monument of the superiority which 
 Egypt had in music at that time, over all the barbarous nations that 
 he had seen or conquered.” 
 
 To this we may add a few particulars from the more recent and 
 exact research of other travelled antiquarians. 
 
 The harps found in Bruce’s Tomb, as it is called, are to be 
 regarded as those of the royal minstrels, whose office seems to have 
 corresponded to that of Asaph, who was the chief master of music 
 under David (1 Chron. xvi. 7, xxv. 6). Hence the splendid manner 
 in which they are fitted up, and their adornment with the bust of 
 the king himself. There are, however, harps of very different 
 shape, and of much older date. There are, indeed, some so old as 
 the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, and it is important to mark 
 that these occur not in Upper, but in Lower Egypt, in a tomb near 
 the pyramids of Geezeh. These are more rude in shape than those 
 usually represented, and the number of their chords does not appear 
 to have exeeeded seven or eight. Thus it appears that the Israelites 
 had opportunities of becoming acquainted with the harp during 
 their long stay in Egypt ; and in their subsequent intercourse with 
 the Egyptians, especially during the time of Solomon, whose 
 principal wife was an Egyptian princess, they could not well avoid 
 becoming aware of the improvements which the instrument had in 
 the course of time received. 
 
 The Egyptian harps, as our engravings show, varied greatly in 
 form, size, and the number of their strings ; they are represented 
 in the ancient paintings with eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, four- 
 teen, seventeen, twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two chords. Indeed 
 harps of fourteen and lyres of seventeen strings were found to have 
 been used by the ordinary Egyptian musicians as early as the reign 
 of Amosis, who is supposed to have been the king “ who knew not 
 Joseph,” and in whose time Moses was born. They were frequently 
 very large, even exceeding the height of a man, tastefully painted 
 with flowers and fancy devices. 
 
 The strings of the Egyptian harps were of catgut; and some 
 have been discovered at Thebes which were so well preserved that 
 they emitted a sound on being touched. Some harps were placed 
 upon the ground, having an even broad base, like those in Bruce’s 
 Tomb ; others were placed upon a stool, or raised upon a stand or 
 limb attached to the lower part. 
 
 The harpers in Bruce’s Tomb play before Ao, one of the Egyptian 
 deities, and there are other examples of its employment in their 
 
 M 2 
 
290.— Psalm xlv. 
 
 291. — Psalm xlvi. 
 
 293.— Psalm xlviii. 
 
 Psalm xlv. 
 
 The King’s daughter is all glorious within : her clothing is of 
 wrought gold. — 13. 
 
 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework 
 the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company, and 
 shall be brought unto thee.— 14. 
 
 289.— Psalm xliv. 
 
 E have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us 
 what thou bast done in their time of old.— 1. 
 
 295.— From a Painting found in a Tomb at Thebes. 
 
 0 Bortreiad a gafwyd mewn Beddrod yn Thebes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 H4 
 
Pibau Pandeanaidd. 
 
 297. — Egyptian Concert. 
 Cyngherdd Aiphtaidd. 
 
 299.— Psalm li. 
 
 300. — Psalm lii. 
 
 302.— Psalm liv. 
 
 Psalm li. 
 
 Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness ; 
 according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine 
 offences. — 1. 
 
 29S. — Psalm 1. 
 
 HE Lord, even the most mighty God, hath spoken : and called, 
 the world, from the rising up of the sun to the going down 
 thereof.— 1. 
 
 301. — Psalm liii. 
 
 303.— Psalm lv. 
 
 304. — Egyptian Harp. 
 Telyn Aiphtaidd. 
 
 305.— Early Forms of Egyptian Harps. 
 Ffurfiau Boreuol o Delynau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 306. — Modern Arabian Guitar. 
 
 Cilbara, sef Telyn Arabaidd Ddiweddar. 
 
 85 
 
 
86 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XI. 
 
 worship, and to celebrate the praises of the gods. “ So suitable, 
 indeed (remarks Sir J. G. Wilkinson), was the harp considered for 
 this purpose that they represented it in the hands of the deities 
 themselves, as well as the tambourine and the sacred sistrum. It 
 was held in the same consideration by the Jews ; and there is reason 
 to believe that in this respect they followed the example of the 
 Egyptians, from whom many of their customs were derived.” 
 
 There is another instrument of the guitar kind, which seems to 
 have been as common among the Egyptians as the lyre and the 
 harp, and although we find a difficulty in saying with confidence 
 which of the Hebrew names refers to it, there seems every reason 
 to conclude that it was known under some one of these names to the 
 ancient inhabitants of Palestine. The reasons for this conclusion 
 are nearly the same as those on which we conclude that they had 
 an instrument similar to the Egyptian harp. It is, indeed, admitted 
 by the best writers on the subject, that they were in possession of a 
 kind of guitar, but they differ so much respecting t he name it bore 
 in Hebrew, that we prefer to express our opinion that they had the 
 instrument, but to acknowledge that we cannot tell by what name 
 they called it. The Jews themselves identify the guitar with the 
 cithara, which is named in Dan. iii. 15, and which is there translated 
 by “harp.” There is, in fact, considerable resemblance between the 
 words cithara and guitar. The instrument is undoubtedly Eastern ; 
 Spain obtained it, along with the name, from the Arabs, and imparted 
 it to Europe. The Spaniards themselves believe the instrument to 
 be as old as the lyre and the harp, and the monuments of Egypt 
 strongly confirm that opinion. Indeed the question of the antiquity 
 of these three instruments is by this evidence placed beyond all 
 further controversy. There are figured in the Egyptian tombs, and 
 there are preserved in collections of Egyptian antiquities, a number 
 of instruments of various forms, some bearing a resemblance to the 
 modern guitar, and others differing much from it in shape; but as 
 they all agree in the principle of the strings being drawn over a 
 sonorous box of wood, and prolonged over a stem connected there- 
 with, we are disposed to refer them all to the same class. If the 
 reader refers to the picture of an Egyptian concert — which contains 
 matter over which a musical antiquarian might muse for hours — he 
 will perceive that the figures 4 and 8 are plainly guitars, and he will 
 incline to think that the figure 2 may, however different in shape, be 
 referred to the same class, rather than to that of the harp or lyre. 
 To this belong also two other figures which we have introduced. 
 Sir J. G. Wilkinson, however, confines the denomination to the 
 former ; and the following is the substance of his description : — 
 
 The Egyptian guitar has only three chords, and it consists of 
 two parts, a long flat neck or handle, and a hollow oval body, either 
 wholly of wood or covered with leather, whose upper surface was 
 perforated with several holes to allow the sound to escape. Over 
 this body and the whole length of the handle extended three strings, 
 no doubt, as usual, of catgut, secured at the upper extremity either 
 by the same number of pegs or by some other means peculiar to the 
 instrument. It does not appear to have had any bridge, but the 
 chords were fastened at the lower end to a triangular piece of wood 
 or ivory, which raised them to a sufficient height. The length of 
 the handle was sometimes twice, sometimes thrice that of the body, 
 and the whole would seem to have often measured about four feet, 
 the breadth of the body being equal to half its length. It was 
 struck with the plectrum, which was attached by a string to the neck, 
 and the performers usually stood as they played. Both men and 
 women used this guitar. Some danced while fhey touched its strings, 
 supporting it on the right arm, and instances occur of its being 
 slung by a band around the neck like the Spanish guitar. 
 
 This Egyptian instrument may be regarded as the parent of that 
 which has descended to us through the Arabians. We have, there- 
 fore, given a figure of that now used among that people, a glance 
 at which will suffice to indicate the degree in which, in form and 
 use, it agrees with or differs from the one and the other. 
 
 In all the allusions to musical instruments in Scripture, no one 
 can fail to notice the remarkable predominance of stringed instru- 
 ments. The same is observed among other ancient nations, and 
 especially among the Egyptians, whose representations of other 
 instruments are very rare in comparison. In the cut representing 
 an Egyptian concert, at p. 85, there are twelve performers, of 
 whom eight have stringed instruments, and two of the remaining 
 four only beat time with their hands. Indeed, in most Egyptian 
 concerts we see persons thus engaged in beating time by clapping 
 their hands together. They probably sung at the same time. In 
 one piece, a blind harper is accompanied by seven blind choristers, 
 who all clap the time and sing with great animation. This may 
 explain some of the allusions to the clapping of hands which we 
 meet with in the Scriptures, and especially in the Psalms. 
 
 Wind Instruments. 
 
 We must now turn our attention to the wind instruments, of which 
 those in use among the Hebrews appear to have been few and 
 simple, unless some of the names given to them in Scripture are 
 generic rather than specific, denoting rather classes than individual 
 instruments. 
 
 The first which is mentioned in Scripture is the Ugab, which is 
 very unwisely rendered by “ organ” in the authorised version. This 
 word is calculated to excite very delusive notions in the English 
 reader — as if the Hebrews had anything which in form or principle 
 resembled the instrument which we call an organ. 
 
 The ugab is agreed to have been a kind of Pandean pipe, made 
 of a number of reeds of unequal length joined together, blown into 
 by the mouth, which is moved over them as the modulation of the 
 tune requires. This is the instrument still in familiar use among 
 ourselves. Assuming it to be the same with the ugab , it is certainly 
 one of the most ancient instruments in the world, having been one 
 of those invented by Jubal long before the Flood (Gen. iv. 21). 
 The only other places where it is mentioned in Scripture arc twice 
 in the book of Job (xxi. 12; xxx. 31), and once in the last Psalm 
 (cl. 4). We shall not here enter into the philological grounds on 
 which the Pandean pipe is identified with the ugab. But it may 
 be remarked, that the great age of the former is a circumstance 
 much in favour of this conclusion. The instrument is so old, 
 indeed, that the profane writers, seldom as they are at a loss in such 
 matters, do not know to whom the invention should be referred. 
 Some ascribe it to Pan ; Athenaeus to Marsyas and Silenus ; 
 Pindar to Mercury. The fable which ascribes it to Pan was the 
 most generally received. It states that he formed the instrument 
 of the reeds that grew by the river, and caused it to give/orth all 
 manner of agreeable sounds, while his goats were skipping around 
 him and feeding on the banks. This shows that it was regarded as 
 properly a sylvan and pastoral instrument, and so it seems to be 
 mentioned in Job (xxi. 11, 12). Another story shows that a very 
 good opinion of the instrument was entertained by the alleged 
 inventor. He even thought it superior to the lyre of Apollo, whom 
 lie challenged to the trial, and, the challenge being accepted, the 
 umpire (who was no other than Midas) decided in favour of Pan’s 
 pipe. 
 
 The extensive diffusion of this instrument corroborates the ac- 
 counts of its early invention ; unless, indeed, it may have been 
 invented by different nations which since the dispersion of mankind 
 have had no communication with one another. When, however, 
 we know that a thing existed before the Deluge, we have the means 
 of tracing its communication to all nations through the single family 
 which survived that event. It is still common in the East. Niebuhr 
 saw one made of reeds in the hands of a peasant at Cairo. It is 
 there somewhat in the form of a half moon, and has usually fourteen 
 or fifteen reeds. Formerly it had ordinarily seven. On ancient 
 monuments, however, we sometimes find it composed of a greater 
 number. It was properly the shepherd’s pipe, and is repeatedly 
 indicated as such in the Idylls of Theocritus; and although in the 
 first Idyll it is described as formed of seven reeds, two with nine 
 reeds are described in Idyll viii. 
 
 “ A pipe I formed of nine unequal reeds, 
 
 Sweet-ton’d, with whitest wax compacted tight.” 
 
 Dr. Russell, in his ‘ Natural History of Aleppo,’ also says, 
 
 “ The syrinx, or Pan’s pipe, is still a pastoral instrument in 
 
 Syria ; it is known also in the city, but very few performers can 
 
 sound it tolerably well. The high notes are clear and pleasing, 
 
 but the lower reeds are apt to make a hissing sound, though blown 
 by a good player.” 
 
 To this we may add the following, from Dr. Burney’s ‘ History of 
 Music:’ — “A syrinx, or Pan’s pipe, exactly resembling that of the 
 ancients, has been found to be in common nse in the island of New 
 Amsterdam in the South Seas, as flutes and drums have been in 
 Otaheite and New Zealand, which indisputably proves them to be 
 instruments natural to every people in a state of barbarism. They 
 were first used by the Greeks and Egyptians, during the infancy of 
 the musical art among them ; and they seem to have been invented 
 and practised at all times by nations remote from each other, and 
 between whom it is hardly possible that there ever could have been 
 the least intercourse or communication.” This, however, must be 
 modified by reference to the consideration already stated with 
 respect to instruments which existed, as the ugab did, before the 
 dispersion of mankind. But the fact of this general use of the in- 
 strument, increases the probability of its being among the instru- 
 ments of the Hebrew people. 
 
Sunday XI.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 87 
 
 SUNDAY XI.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 OW the man probably did this with 
 good intentions, but it furnished the 
 Jews with a ground of reproacli against 
 Jesus, not as one who had directed 
 another to break the Sabbath, but as 
 one who had broken it himself by per- 
 forming this cure on the Sabbath-day. 
 It was only in cases of urgent and 
 extreme necessity that the sick received 
 the usual attention on the Sabbath- 
 day, the rule being not to do anything 
 for them which could be postponed to the next day without 
 danger, and, therefore, in this case, they would argue that seeing 
 the man had lain so long in this state, the act of cure should have 
 been delayed till the next day, and not performed on the Sabbath. 
 We are not to suppose that Christ had any intention to slight the 
 Sabbath. The notions to which his practice was opposed were not 
 sanctioned by the law of Moses, but were the preposterous refine- 
 ments of a later age. But even if they had been required by the 
 Law of Moses, he — with his equal, his far higher commission — was 
 not bound by its restrictions; for lie came with a greater law of his 
 own, and was “ Lord even of the Sabbath-day.” 
 
 It is remarkable how many circumstances are reported by the 
 Evangelists to have taken place on the Sabbath-day. From this 
 we must infer that our Lord purposely wrought his more signal 
 miracles on that day, for the reasons already indicated, or the 
 Evangelists select these on account of the discussions to which they 
 gave rise. The latter seems the more probable conclusion. The 
 next ease on which this discussion was raised was, however, an inci- 
 dent involving no display of divine power. 
 
 On the Sabbath-day following that on which the paralytic at the 
 Pool of Bethesda was cured, Christ and his disciples were passing 
 through the corn-fields, when some of the latter, being hungry, 
 plucked some of the ears, and ate the grain after rubbing it out 
 between their hands. Some Pharisees who were present seized hold 
 of this incident, and asked, “ Why do ye that which it is not lawful 
 to do on the Sabbath day?” The reader conversant with the Law 
 of Moses will marvel at this question, for there is certainly no law 
 in the Books of Moses forbidding eating on the Sabbath-day, or 
 forbidding the plucking of the ears of corn, or rubbing them in the 
 hands. It arose from one of those preposterous refinements upon the 
 law to which the Jews of that age were prone. Every simple pro- 
 hibition of the law was traced out to its remotest associations, which 
 were all deemed unlawful by the Pharisees, which is another name 
 for persons strongly given to such refinements, and who deemed the 
 observance of them essential matters of the law. The act of the 
 disciples they would consider as forbidden by the law (Exod. xx. 
 10): “Thou shalt do no manner of work on the Sabbath-day.” 
 Now plucking the corn they regarded as a manner of work, a sort 
 of reaping or of plucking up corn — which is a mode in which it 
 was gathered among them ; nor was this all, for the rubbing with 
 the hands they held to be also a manner of work, of the same nature 
 and equivalent to the threshing of corn. 
 
 The remark made to the disciples was answered by Jesus himself, 
 with one of his usual arguments, namely, that even assuming that 
 such acts were contrary to the law, he had a power above the law, 
 and was not bound by the restrictions which it imposed. In this 
 case he alluded to the case of David, who, without blame, ate, when 
 hungry, of the shew-bread, which it was most decidedly unlawful 
 for any but the priests to eat. He also pointed out that, according 
 to their view, the very priests, in the sacrificial acts of their sacred 
 service, constantly profaned the Sabbath-day, and yet were blame- 
 less. If they enjoyed such exemption, how much more he, who was 
 greater than even the temple by which their priestly acts were con 
 secrated. In conclusion Jesus added; — “The Sabbath was made 
 for man, and not man for the Sabbath : therefore the Son of Man 
 is Lord also of the Sabbath.” AH this is more precisely levelled 
 at particular Jewish notions than we can find room to explain. But 
 it must be understood that the last expres.-ion amounted to an explicit 
 claim to be regarded as the Messiah ; for it was believed by the Jews 
 themselves that the Messiah was Lord of the Sabbath, and that in his 
 day all that was burdensome in its observance would be removed. 
 The gist of the argument, therefore, is, “ I am the Messiah ; and I 
 claim the privileges which you admit to belong to that character.” 
 Luke vi. 1 — 5; Mark ii. 25 — 28; Mat. xii. 4 — 7. 
 
 The same day, apparently, our Lord attended at one of the Syna- 
 gogues in Jerusalem. There was conspicuously present a man 
 
 whose hand was withered, and the Pharisees present, now fully alive 
 to his views in a matter which they deemed so essential, watched 
 him closely to observe his course of action, in order that they might, 
 if possible, find some ground of accusation against him in the San- 
 hedrim. Perceiving this, Jesus told the man to stand forward ; on 
 which the Pharisees, unable to contain themselves, asked, “Is it 
 lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day ?” This seems a most preposterous 
 question, and such it was; but we have already explained the view 
 on which it was founded. Christ answered by referring to a case 
 which the law itself declared to be legal (Exod. xxiii. 4, 5 ; Deut. 
 xxii. 4) ; — “ What man shall there be among- you, that shall have 
 one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not 
 lay hold on it and lift it out? — how much then is a man better than 
 a sheep?” They could not answer this; and Jesus, after looking 
 around upon them with righteous indignation, bade the man stretch 
 forth his shrunk-up hand. That hand, powerless so long, no longer 
 refused to obey his will ; he stretched it forth sound and perfect as 
 the other. 
 
 On this the Pharisees left the place in high exasperation ; this 
 act having been the first which was performed contrary to and in 
 defiance of their previous remonstrances. They then first began to 
 consult with the Ilerodians how they might destroy him. These 
 Herodians seem to have been a political party, anxious to secure for 
 Ilerod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, the regal titles and powers 
 which had been enjoyed by Herod the Great, and who, therefore, 
 had just the same grounds for resisting the claim of Jesus to be re- 
 garded as the Messiah, which had at a former time induced the 
 elder Ilerod to seek the destruction of the heaven-born “King of 
 the Jews.” 
 
 The time for Jesus to suffer death had, however, not yet come; 
 his mission on earth was not yet accomplished ; and therefore he 
 left Judea, attended by his disciples, and returned to the borders of 
 the Lake of Gennesareth. In this journey he was followed by 
 crowds of people, anxious to hear him and to see his mighty works — 
 not only from Jerusalem and Judea, and from the remote parts of 
 Galilee, but from Idumaea, the region beyond the river Jordan, and 
 even from Phoenicia. 
 
 Besides the thronging of this mixed multitude around the Saviour 
 whenever he appeared in public, those who were afflicted with 
 diseases pressed close around him, in the hope that, if they might 
 but touch him, the virtue which transpired from his sacred person 
 would suffice to accomplish their cure. The inconvenience of this 
 became at length so urgent, that it was arranged with the disciples, 
 who had been fishermen at this place, that a boat should be in 
 attendance on the shore to receive him when incommoded by the 
 crowd. 
 
 Jesus had now returned to Capernaum, which has more than 
 once been indicated as his usual place of residence when in Galilee. 
 The crowds by which he was followed from day to day, wherever 
 he appeared, made more dear to him the solitude, meet for prayer 
 and meditation, which he could only secure by withdrawing secretly . 
 from the tow n, and remaining all night in the neighbouring moun- 
 tains and wildernesses. Often in those days — 
 
 “ Cold mountains and the midnight air 
 Witness'd the fervour of his prayer.” 
 
 JYe are told of one night in which he thus withdrew to a moun- 
 tain, and “continued all night in prayer to God.” This was pre- 
 paratory to the nomination of the twelve apostles; and if He who 
 was “ without sin ” found it desirable to precede a measure of this 
 importance with earnest prayer, how much more should we, who 
 are compassed about with infirmity on every side, imitate the ex- 
 ample here set before us. 
 
 'I he selection of twelve from among his more constant followers, 
 to be always with him, and to act in his name, was dictated by 
 many important considerations ; the chief of which seems to have 
 been that they, being ever about him, hearing all he said and 
 seeing all he did, might, after his decease, become competent w it- 
 nesses of his whole course of life and action ; and be so well in- 
 structed in the things of God, as to carry on the work which it 
 was his commission only to commence. The persons chosen 
 included the six who had been already called to follow Christ, 
 namely, the brothers Peter and Andrew; the brothers John and 
 James; Philip, and Matthew: and six whose names have not 
 before occurred — Bartholomew (supposed to be the same with 
 Nathaniel) ; James and Jude, sons of Alphaeus and first cousins of 
 Christ, on which account they are sometimes called his “ brethren.” 
 Their mother appears to have been a sister of the Virgin Mary. 
 The others were Thomas, surnamed Didymus, or the “ twin 
 Simon, surnamed Zelotes; and Judas, surnamed Iscariot 
 

 
 
 310. 
 
 — Threshing by the Drag. 
 Dyrnu gyd a Men. 
 
 309.— Harvest in Palestine. 
 Cynhauaf yn Palestina. 
 
 311. — Threshing Drag of Syria and Asia Minor. 
 Men Ddyrnu Syria ac Asia Leiaf. 
 
 308.— Ears of Wheat. 
 Tywys 2 wenith. 
 
 
815, 316 — Patterns of Egyptian Mosaic. — Isa. liv. 
 
 Cynlluniau o Frithwaith Aiphtaidd. 
 
 321.— Hall of Abencerrages, Alhambra. 
 
 317, 318.— Patterns of Egyptian Mosaic. — Isa. liv. 
 Cynlluniau o Frithwaith Aiphtaidd. 
 
 Neuadd Abencerrages, Alhambra. 
 
 319, 320. — Patterns of Egyptian Mosaic. — Isa. liv. 
 
 Cynlluniau o Frithwaith Aiphtaidd. 
 
 N 
 
 89 
 
90 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XII. 
 
 SUNDAY XII.— THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 ISAIAH L. — LXVI. 
 
 HESE chapters contain se-. 
 veral allusions to the in- 
 terior decorations of houses, 
 to which chiefly our atten- 
 tion will be here directed. 
 
 In chap. liv. 11, the 
 church of God is compared, 
 by implication, to a ruined 
 building, which He will re- 
 build with greater magnifi- 
 cence than it anciently pos- 
 sessed. In following out this 
 image, details are introduced, 
 evidently borrowed from 
 the more splendid erection 
 of the time. First, he says, 
 
 “ Behold, I will lay thy 
 stones with fair colours and here the margin of our Bibles 
 refers us to 1 Chron. xxix. 2, where we read that among the 
 materials for the temple which were laid up by David, were 
 “ stones of divers colours.” As the colour was here in the stone 
 itself, we may conclude it to have been porphyry, which, as we now 
 know, might have been obtained in any quantity, and very fine 
 colours, from the mountains of Seir. But in the present text the 
 tenor of the sentence conveys the notion that the colour was laid upon 
 the stone. As this seems rather a strange practice, some Biblical 
 translators have sought to avoid this meaning, and to find some 
 other in the phrase. But there is really nothing to call for or 
 warrant this recourse, as the practice of painting interior walls, 
 even of stone, as well as ceilings, is now recognised as an ancient 
 practice, especially among the Egyptians. That people painted 
 in brilliant and in “ divers ” colours even their granite columns 
 and sculpture in stone. “ The walls and ceilings,” says Sir J. G. 
 Wilkinson, “ were richly painted, and frequently with admirable 
 taste ; but of their effect we can judge only from those of the tombs, 
 where they are preserved far more perfectly than in the houses.” 
 The ceilings are more than once alluded to in Scripture as being, 
 in the higher class of dwellings, of cedar, which, from Jer. xxii. 
 14, would appear to have been sometimes painted, which, according 
 to the above quotation, was also an Egyptian custom. The ceilings 
 were, among that people, laid out in compartments, each having a 
 pattern with an appropriate border. The favourite forms were the 
 lotus, the square, the diamond, and the circle, and above all a 
 succession of scrolls, and of square within square. Decorations of 
 this kind occur in times so early as the residence of the Hebrews in 
 Egypt. When colour was applied to stone in that country, the 
 stone was first covered with a kind of plaster or stucco, belter suited 
 than the naked stone to receive and retain the colour. This 
 practice, with which the Hebrews could not be unacquainted, 
 perhaps affords the best explanation which can be given of Deut. 
 xxvii. 3, a passage which used greatly to perplex the commentators. 
 There we find Moses directing that when the Israelites came to the 
 Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, they should “ take great stones, and 
 plaster them with plaster, and write upon them all the words of this 
 law.” That is, the stones were plastered in order that the words 
 might be the better and more legibly written on them. 
 
 The text proceeds — “ I will lay thy foundation witli sapphires.” 
 Here, and in some other similar texts, we very much incline to think 
 that a pavement rather than a foundation is meant. In that case 
 the image may be derived from the coloured marbles of which such 
 pavements were sometimes formed : and when stones of different 
 colours are specified, the allusion may be to a pavement formed of 
 differently coloured stones, and, if differently coloured, doubtless 
 arranged in some pattern which would display them to advantage. 
 Probably “ tlie pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black 
 marble” in the palace court of King Ahasuerus was of this kind. 
 This practice of paving in mosaic is now seldom seen in the courts 
 of Oriental dwellings, but is confined to the paved gallery into 
 which the principal apartments of the house open, or to that part 
 of it which is immediately in front of the principal room — the 
 receiving room. From the specimen in the page of engravings it 
 w 11 be seen that these mosaics are often very complicated and 
 composed of numerous minute parts. 
 
 Since much of the next verse (12th) appears to refer to the appli- 
 cation of ornamental stones to walls, it may be proper to remark 
 that the walls in great Oriental palaces are very often adorned in 
 
 the principal rooms with magnificent mosaics. The magnificent 
 Arabian palace, the Alhambra in Granada, affords many fine 
 examples of this. Thus, in the hall of Abencerrages, the walls, 
 from the floor to the spring of the arches which compose the mag- 
 nificent roof, are covered with most elegant mosaics, and, as in the 
 description of the prophet, “ all the borders are of pleasant stones.” 
 In these mosaics, however, as in the present palaces of Western 
 Asia, porcelain is often the substitute of marble. In the Alhambra 
 the pavement of the principal chambers appears to have been formed 
 originally with mosaics, and even the columns covered with the 
 same, but most of this has been destroyed. 
 
 The allusion in this verse (the 12th) to “ windows of agates,” 
 must be understood in the same connection. Where the practice 
 of interior decorations, which have been here described, exists, the 
 height of the art is reserved for the windows, where the marble-like 
 stucco is often laid out in patterns of foliage, something like the 
 head-pieces of old books, in which case the flowers or fruits are not 
 seldom represented by stones of price. The other raised parts of 
 the work representing the stems and leaves are displayed in the 
 same manner with colours and gilding. This kind of wreathed and 
 flowered work is also often seen in borders and cornices. 
 
 With reference to these passages generally, it is remarked in the 
 Pictorial Bible (liv. 12), that “ The idea of a palace of unexampled 
 magnificence — founded on the known style of ornament, but so 
 aggrandised that supernatural power was required to give effect to 
 the intention — is strikingly displayed in the well-known Eastern tale 
 of Aladdin, who thus gives his instructions : — ‘ I leave the choice of 
 materials to you, that is to say, porphyry, jasper, agate, lapis lazuli, 
 and the finest marbles of the most varied colours. But I expect that 
 in the highest story of the palace you will build me a large hall 
 with a dome and four equal fronts ; and that instead of layers of 
 brick, the walls be made of massy gold and silver, laid alternately ; 
 and that each front shall contain six windows, the lattices of all of 
 which, except one which must be left unfinished and imperfect, shall 
 be so enriched with art and symmetry, with diamonds , rubies, and 
 emeralds , that they shall exceed everything of the kind ever known 
 in the world.’ ” 
 
 The “ gates of carbuncles ” appear to us to contain a very 
 manifest allusion to the Eastern custom of using doors of stone. 
 This is not, indeed, so usual a custom now as it appears to have 
 been in ancient times. It is remarkable that such doors occur no- 
 where more frequently than in Palestine. There they occur chiefly 
 in the more grand sepulchres, perhaps because in other cases they 
 have perished with the buildings to which they belonged. In the 
 so-called Tombs of the Kings near Jerusalem the doors of the several 
 chambers were each formed of a single stone, seven inches thick, 
 sculptured so as to represent four panels, and resembling in all 
 respects a door made by a carpenter at the present day. That such 
 doors were not confined to sepulchres is evinced by the stone doors 
 of the ancient dwellings which still exist in the countiy of the 
 Ilaouran, beyond the river Jordan. These are sometimes of one 
 piece, and sometimes folding doors ; they turn upon hinges worked 
 out of the stone, and are about four inches thick, and seldom higher 
 than about four feet, though some of upwards of nine feet in height 
 have been met with. 
 
 In the way of general illustration nothing can be more appro- 
 priate than what Murphy, in his Arabian Antiquities of Spain , 
 says of the general style of the interior decorations of the Alham- 
 bra : — “ The Arabesque paintings and mosaics, which are finished 
 with great care and accuracy, give a consequence and interest even 
 to the smallest apartments. Instead of being papered and wain- 
 scoted, the walls are covered with Arabesques which had been cast 
 in moulds in a peculiar manner, and afterwards joined together, 
 although no separation appears. The receding ornaments are illu- 
 minated in just gradations with leaf gold, pink, light blue, and dusky 
 purple ; the first colour is the nearest, the last the most distant from 
 the eye, but the general surface is white. A multitude of sculptures 
 of unequal projection creates confusion ; an error avoided in this 
 place, where the ornaments are produced by incision, and their 
 boundless number excites an artificial infinity. Externally, where 
 projections are necessary, the line of continuity is uniformly pre- 
 served in every distinct series of parts. The domes and arcades are 
 also formed of ornamented casts, which are almost as light as wood 
 and as durable as marble ; specimens of the composition of which they 
 are formed may be seen in the early works of the Arabs, uninjured 
 after the lapse of ten centuries. The lower parts of’ the walls, to 
 the height of about four feet, are covered with porcelaiil mosaics of 
 various figures and colours, and it appears, from a few remaining 
 specimens, that the floors and columns of some of the apartments 
 were also covered with similar mosaics.’ 
 
Sunday XII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 91 
 
 SUNDAY XII.— BIBLE IIISTOEY. 
 
 proper to give a rough estimate of the cost of the materials 
 employed in its construction, according to their present value. 
 
 Gold, 29 talents and 730 shekels, at 41. per oz. . £175,460 
 
 Silver, 100 talents and 1775 shekels, at 5s. per oz. 37,722 
 Brass, or rather copper, 212,400 shekels, at Is. 3 cl. 
 
 per lb. . ... . 138 
 
 £213,320 
 
 This is the cost of the metals alone ; and a very moderate allow- 
 ance for the jewelled dress of the high priest, the dresses of the 
 other priests, the secondary materials, and the workmanship of the 
 whole, would raise the full amount to about 250,000/. ; a prodigious 
 sum to be expended on so small a structure. 
 
 This tabernacle occupied the centre of the vast Hebrew camp, 
 the centre being always the place of the chief in every Oriental 
 camp. A most beautiful system of orderly encampment and of 
 movement was soon organised around it ; and could a spectator 
 have taken in the whole of it from some lofty eminence, a most 
 interesting spectacle would have been presented to his view. We 
 only know of one whose feeling on thus beholding is recorded ; and 
 the scene extorted from his not too friendly breast the exclamation, 
 
 | “ How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob ; and thy tabernacles, O 
 I Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens, by the 
 river side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, 
 and as cedar trees beside the waters” (Nura, xxiv. 5, 6). These 
 comparisons are striking, and such as would naturally occur to an 
 Eastern mind. The lanes between the orderly rows of tents are 
 compared to valleys and to the channels in a watered garden ; and 
 the tents themselves to trees growing along these valleys and beside 
 these waters. Some idea of the just effect of this comparison may 
 be seen, by a reference to the cut representing a watered garden at 
 p. 17. The following plan will give a clearer notion of the general 
 distribution of the camp than could be realized by written de- 
 scription. 
 
 HE altar was placed at the 
 east end of the court, front- 
 ing the entrance of the taber- 
 nacle. It was made of sliittim- 
 wood overlaid with brass. It 
 was furnished with four rings, 
 through which were inserted 
 the poles by which, in re- 
 moval, it was borne upon the 
 shoulders of the priests. The 
 fire by which the sacrifices 
 were consumed was kept 
 upon a square grate, sus- 
 pended by rings at the cor- 
 ners, and possibly by chains 
 in the cavity of the altar. 
 The fire upon this altar having at first been kindled from heaven, 
 was considered as peculiarly holy ; and it was therefore kept 
 continually burning, and never allowed to be extinguished. 
 
 The brazen laver was placed between the altar and the taber- 
 nacle. It was made with the metal “ mirrors” (erroneously 
 called “ looking-glasses,” in the authorized version) of the women 
 who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
 Y e are not informed of its shape or size ; but it appears to have 
 been large, since it was for the use of all the priests, to wash their 
 hands and feet while engaged in the duties of the tabernacle. 
 
 Such was the tabernacle, which we are to regard as a temple 
 or chapel expressly adapted to the condition of a migratory 
 people, and abundantly making up, by the extreme richness of 
 its materials, for the lack of that stateliness of fabric which its 
 peculiar purpose rendered impossible. 
 
 To give an idea of the extreme richness of this fabric, it may be 
 
 EAST.— FIRST DIVISION— CAMP OF JUDAH: 1»6,400. 
 
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 Here it will be observed that a large area was left in the centre 
 of the camp, formed by the tabernacle court, and by the space left 
 between the wall of the sacred enclosure and the general camp. 
 This distance is considerable, and in Eastern camps is always pro- 
 portioned to the respect intended to be shown, or, in other words, 
 to the rank of the personage stationed in the centre. In such 
 camps the area is not, however, left wholly vacant, but is occupied 
 by the tents of the officers of the court (if the king be present), 
 and of other great personages. So in the present case, the area 
 contained on the east side the tents of Moses and Aaron, and of the 
 priests who were the sons of the latter. On the other sides, en- 
 closing the tabernacle like a guard of honour, were the Levites in 
 three great divisions : the Gershonites on the west, the Merarites 
 on the north, and the Kohathites on the south. 
 
 Beyond this area were the tents of the twelve tribes, who 
 encamped three on each side, under their several banners. The 
 three together formed one great camp, named after the leading 
 tribe, namely, the camp of Judah, containing the tribes of Judah, 
 Issachar, and Zebulun, in all 186,400 adult males with their fami- 
 lies, on the east ; the camp of Ephraim, containing the tribes of 
 Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, together 108,100 men, on the 
 west: the camp of Dan, comprising the tribes of Dan, Asher, and 
 Naphtali, 157,600 men, on the north; and the camp of Reuben, 
 containing the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, 151,450 men, 
 on the south. This must have been in fact a great town of tents, 
 with lanes and squares, and covering a vast extent of ground. 
 The Jewish writers affirm that the circumference of the entire camp 
 was about twelve miles, and this does not seem an exaggerated 
 
 N 2 ‘ 
 
323. — Setting up the Tabernacle.— Exod. xxvi. 
 Gosodiad y Tabemacl i fyny. 
 
 326.— Costume of an Aaronite or Priest.— Exod. xxviii. 
 Gwisg Aaroniad neu Offeiriad. 
 
330.— Cinnamon. — Exod. ui. 23. 
 Sinnamon. 
 
 331. Sanctification, or Setting apart, of the Sons or Aaron to the Priestly Office. (Raffaelle.) — Exod. xl. 
 Sancteidriiad, neu Neiilduad, Meibion Aaron i’r Swydd Offeiriadol. 
 
 327.— Tabernacle and Encampment of Israel in the Wilderness.— 
 
 328.— Supposed Form of the Laver. Ffurf Dybiedig y Noe Brea.— Exod. xxx. 
 
 Y Tabernacl a Gwersyllfa Israel yn yr Anialwch. 
 
 Kxod. xxvii. 
 
 320.— Frankincense. 
 
 Thus. 
 
 03 
 
94 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XII. 
 
 estimate when we take into account the large hollow square in the 
 centre, and the vast extent of ground which tents for the accommo- 
 dation of above two millions of people would require. 
 
 The movement of so vast an encampment must seem to Euro- 
 pean readers a difficult and laborious operation. But it was not so. 
 The perfect order of all the arrangements rendered the removal a 
 matter of facility and expedition, when the extent of the operation 
 is considered. The constant habit among the Orientals of moving 
 only in large bodies, still leaves them a degree of ease in the 
 forming and breaking up a camp, which is surprising to European 
 travellers; and this must have been still more admirable in a camp 
 so carefully organised as that of the Israelites. Indeed we are not 
 left in any doubt on this point, as the whole process of removal is 
 somewhat minutely described. 
 
 The movements of the camp were regulated by the pillar of 
 cloud, which rested over that part of the tabernacle in which the 
 ark was contained. When it was seen to move, the preparation for 
 departure immediately commenced ; and on the march the great 
 body followed the course which it indicated, and encamped where 
 it rested. 
 
 While the people were striking their tenls, and preparing for the 
 signal to start, the priests entered the tabernacle and covered up all 
 the sacred things in several enveloping cloths ; for although the 
 Levites (of the Kohathite branch) were to carry the sacred utensils, 
 they were not allowed to touch them on pain of death. The taber- 
 nacle was taken down, and its parts properly packed up for removal, 
 as well as the hangings and pillars which formed the enclosure of 
 the court. All the draperies were under the charge of the Gershon- 
 ites, and all the boards and pillars in the care of the Merarites. 
 In removal, the sacred utensils, such as the ark, the candlestick, 
 the two altars, and the table of shew-bread, and the laver, were 
 borne by poles upon the shoulders of the Kohathites ; but the 
 boards, poles, and coverings of the tabernacle and enclosure were 
 removed in waggons or carts drawn by oxen, two to each waggon. 
 The Gershonites, whose burden was the lightest, had two waggons 
 and four oxen ; but the more ponderous charge of the Merarites 
 required four waggons and eight oxen. 
 
 All being ascertained to be in readiness, the silver trumpets, 
 made for the purpose of giving signals, were sounded by the 
 Levites, and the bearers of the ark moved forward, followed by 
 ithe three tribes of the camp of Judah. Then the waggons moved 
 on with the cloths and boards of the tabernacle ; and while these 
 were on their march the trumpet sounded again, on which the 
 standard of Reuben’s camp advanced with the three tribes belonging 
 to it. Then came the Kohathites bearing the sacred utensils ; and 
 these were followed by the standard of Ephraim’s camp with the 
 three tribes belonging to it ; and lastly, the three tribes under the 
 standard of Dan brought up the rear. At the first movement 
 Moses used to say, “ Arise, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scat- 
 tered ; and let those that hate thee flee before thee.” And when 
 the ark rested, he would say, “ Return, O Lord, unto the many 
 thousands of Israel.” 
 
 We have given this connected account of all that belonged to 
 the tabernacle for the sake of bringing the matter under one view ; 
 and have been content to imply the presence of the priests and 
 Levites, the living agents and ministers of the great and splendid 
 theocratical establishment of which the tabernacle formed the 
 central object. 
 
 In ancient times it had been usual for the chief of the family to 
 officiate as priest for himself and people; and in communities the 
 sheikh, prince, or king exercised the priestly functions on public 
 occasions. Hence in some ancient languages, the Hebrew included, 
 the same word means both “ prince” and “ priest.” We find this 
 the case in the patriarchal history. When the first-born of Egypt 
 were destroyed, and the first-born of Israel spared, the Lord 
 directed, in memory of this, that thenceforth the first-born of men 
 and animals should be set apart for his service, and considered as 
 consecrated to him. The animals, if of the kinds fit for sacrifice, 
 were sacrificed upon the altar ; but if unfit, they were redeemed by 
 the owner. Under this regulation the first-born sons, therefore, 
 would naturally have become the priests and servitors of the taber- 
 nacle, had no alteration been subsequently made. When the 
 theocratical establishment was organized, the first-born were re- 
 lieved from their obligation, or rather it was reduced to a mere 
 form, and the whole tribe of Levi was taken in exchange for entire 
 and hereditary devotement to the sacred services. The Levites 
 thus became the court, the bodyguard, the immediate servants of 
 the Great King. A whole tribe could not be priests, and it was 
 requisite that one family should be selected for the higher services 
 of the theocratical government and worship, aud become the govern- 
 
 ing body of the whole. The family of Aaron was honoured with 
 this distinction, Aaron being nominated the high priest, and his 
 sons priests. Moses had sons of his own, and they remained 
 simple Levites; nor do the descendants of the great lawgiver 
 make any figure in subsequent times, as do the descendants of 
 Aaron. 
 
 In virtue of this appointment, the tribe of Levi was excluded 
 from any share in the territory of the Promised Land ; but in 
 political and territorial arrangements the number twelve was still 
 preserved by the descendants of Joseph being, through his two sons 
 Ephraim and Manasseh, counted as two tribes. 
 
 The Levites being thus deprived of the provision from the soil 
 which the other tribes were to enjoy, were to have instead certain 
 towns among the different tribes assigned them for their abode, and 
 their subsistence was to be secured out of the various dues which 
 were to be rendered to the Divine King as the sovereign proprietor 
 of the soil, and from which his servants were to be maintained, and 
 the dignity of his court upheld. 
 
 The priests did not wear any distinctive dress when not actually 
 on duty at the tabernacle ; but when on service their dress 
 was remarkable, and is described with considerable minuteness in 
 the book of Exodus. That of the high priest was truly magni- 
 ficent ; and, under different interpretations of the details, has been 
 imitated more or less in the official array of the different pontiffs 
 of Christendom. 
 
 The priests were arrayed in what our version describes as a coat 
 of fine white linen embroidered, and which may be more exactly 
 described in the words of Josephus, who himself had worn it, as 
 “a tunic fitting close to the body, with tight sleeves for the arms, 
 and reaching down to the heels.” They also wore linen drawers, 
 which do not seem fo have been in general use. The actual pre- 
 sence of drawers reaching to below the middle of the thigh, upon 
 various figures in the Egyptian paintings and sculptures, seems to 
 set at rest some discussion concerning this article of priestly 
 raiment, which some had fancied a kind of bandage, and others had 
 transformed into trousers. Around the waist was the girdle, which 
 is described as a long piece of fine-twined linen, wrought with blue, 
 purple, and scarlet needlework. That the girdle is and was an 
 indispensable article of Eastern dress sufficiently accounts for its 
 presence in the priestly raiment, without the special and peculiar 
 reasons which some have laboured to find. The head was covered 
 by a kind of bonnet, or turban, which seems to have been composed 
 of several rolls of linen twisted close about the head. 
 
 All ihese articles of dress, except the last, were worn also by 
 the high priest, the distinctive parts of his attired to it. The 
 garments of the priests, when they became old, were unravelled 
 to furnish wicks for the lamps of the golden candlestick ; but 
 we are not informed what became of the old raiment of the hisrh 
 priest. 
 
 The articles of dress and ornament peculiar to the high priest, 
 and indicative of his high station, were : — • 
 
 1. The Rohe of the Ephod, a garment which was worn over the 
 white gown common to all the priests, and under the ephod. This 
 robe of the ephod was of linen, of a sky-blue colour, extending 
 from the neck to the feet, all of one piece, or without seam. It 
 had an opening at the top for the head to pass through, and at the 
 sides for the arms, for there were no sleeves ; and at the bottom 
 were tassels of blue, purple, and scarlet, in the form of pome- 
 granates, interspersed with small golden bells, the tinkling of 
 which, as the pontiff moved, announced his approach when he 
 entered the holy place, and apprised the people of his coming when 
 he returned. 
 
 2 The Ephod was over this. It consisted of a rich and beau- 
 tiful cloth, composed of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen 
 interwoven with threads of gold. It formed a loose upper garment, 
 sleeveless, and reaching from the shoulders to below the loins. It 
 was fastened to the body by bindings above the shoulders and 
 around the middle. The bindings above the shoulders had the 
 name of ‘‘ shoulder-pieces they appear to have been formed of 
 the same kind of cloth as the ephod, and they had an ouch or socket 
 of >>old on the top of each shoulder, in which, as in a seal, were set 
 two onyx stones with the names of the children of Israel engraven 
 on them. The letters of the names were so divided, we are told, 
 as to make twenty-five on each shoulder, for which purpose Joseph’s 
 name was extended to Jehoseph. From these sockets wreathed 
 chains of gold were extended to join that and the ephod together. 
 
 Connected with this was “ the curious girdle of the ephod,” 
 which, passing underneath the arms, fastened the ephod to the 
 breast-plate below. It was composed of the same materials as the 
 ephod. 
 
Sunday XII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 95 
 
 SUNDAY XII. — LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 GREAT multitude, composed as usual, 
 and brought together by the usual mo- 
 tives, had by this time gathered to 
 Jesus in the open country. Per- 
 ceiving this, lie ascended an eminence, 
 and there delivered the famous Sermon 
 on the Mount. 
 
 That which is supposed to I>e the 
 mount from which this sermon was de- 
 livered, is now called by Christians the 
 Mount of Beatitudes. It is described 
 in the Geography (p. 427), and there is nothing to allege against 
 its being actually the mount in question ; but there is as little to 
 urge for it. The Evangelists specify no particular mountain, and 
 there are near the lake perhaps a dozen other mountains which 
 would answer just as well to the circumstances of the history. 
 
 But the Sermon itself : — who can speak of these Divine words 
 according to their claims upon our admiration and respect ? IIow 
 different from all that the philosophers and poets of the heathen 
 taught ! — and how different even from the teaching of the an- 
 cient Hebrew prophets ! — and, above all, how different in spirit 
 and essential matter from the mean talk and petty questions with 
 which the great Jewish doctors of that age amused their dis- 
 ciples! No wonder that this new style of teaching attracted 
 such multitudes to hear Jesus ; and drew from them, on more 
 than one occasion, the acknowledgment that never man spake like 
 him. 
 
 The scope of this discourse is to correct the false notions which 
 the Jews entertained concerning the Messiah’s kingdom, and to 
 teach what kind of happiness was to be expected from it, and to 
 describe the dispositions which were necessary to its attainment. 
 Of the multitude which Jesus addressed, a great part were men of 
 mean station and humble circumstances, held in contempt by the 
 rulers, the priests, and the Pharisees. Many of them, perhaps all of 
 them, expected from the Messiah — and, in acknowledging Christ to be 
 the Messiah, expected from him — at least the blessings promised by 
 Moses, affluence, prosperity, and whatever is thought promotive of 
 worldly well-being. But of that there seemed little hope from 
 Jesus, as those who had hitherto followed him were not, in that 
 respect, in any very enviable condition. Our Lord therefore teaches 
 them what was to be expected and aimed at by those who should submit 
 themselves to his direction. In order, too, that he might render his 
 hearers the more attentive, and that they might the better remember 
 his utterances, he, conformably to Eastern custom, propounds his 
 doctrine by certain paradoxes, which seem at first sight false, but 
 on examination turn out to be true. In this discourse also he ad- 
 vances in a very marked manner his claim to be considered as a 
 Legislator, not only equal to Moses, but superior to him. The Jews 
 allowed that the Messiah would be greater than Moses, and, there- 
 fore, in advancing this claim, Jesus declares himself the Messiah, 
 and was so understood. It is often supposed that Christ here comes 
 forward to explain what the Law of Moses really meant — thus 
 making himself in fact a commentator on that law : but it may rather 
 appear that he refers to the Law of Moses in order to illustrate by 
 particular examples the superiority of the new doctrine which he 
 came to teach — of the new law which he came to promulgate. So 
 when he says, “ Ye have heard that it hath been said, * An eye 
 for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say unto you that ye resist 
 not evil,” he surely does not mean to develop any inner meaning 
 of the old law which he cites, but to produce a new and better law 
 of his own. 
 
 It seems very certain that in delivering this discourse Jesus had 
 in view the city of Saphet, which is seated upon the summit of a 
 tall and very steep mountain, where it seems perched high in air, 
 and scarcely accessible to mortal foot. In fact this mountain and 
 city must have been visible from almost any point of the locality in 
 which the Sermon was delivered. This fact gives much force to 
 some of the allusions in the Sermon, as, “ A city that is set on a 
 hill cannot be hid” (Matt. v. 14) ; and above all to the magnificent 
 conclusion of the discourse : — “ Whosoever heareth these sayings of 
 mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his 
 house upon a rock : and the rain descended, and the floods 
 came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell 
 not ; for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that 
 heareth these sayings of mine, and doet.h them not, shall be likened 
 to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand : and the rain 
 
 descended, and the floods came, and the v inds blew, and beat upon 
 that house ; and it fell ; and great was the fall of it” (Matt. vii. 
 24—27). 
 
 Jesus then returned to Capernaum, where an incident awaited 
 him different in character from any which had yet occurred. It 
 seems that there was a garrison of Roman soldiers stationed in or 
 near this place, one of whose officers — perhaps the officer in com- 
 mand — was a centurion (captain of a hundred men), who entertained 
 towards the Jews a kind feeling, and for their religion a respect, by 
 no means common among the Roman legions. He had even built 
 for the people at Capernaum the synagogue in which they wor- 
 shipped, and in which they had heard the words of Christ and seen 
 his miracles. This centurion had a favourite slave, who had fallen 
 dangerously ill, and for whom he experienced great concern. Having 
 heard — for who had not heard ? — of the wonderful cures performed 
 by Christ, hope for his beloved servant arose within him. He was 
 filled with a far more exalted idea of the person and character ot 
 Jesus than the Jews themselves entertained ; and, diffident of ob- 
 taining attention from him, he persuaded the chief Jews of the place 
 to apply on his behalf, and to say that for him which he could not 
 say for himself. They did so, saying that he was worthy for whom 
 he should do this, “ for he loveth our nation and hath built us a 
 synagogue.” Then Jesus went with them to the centurion’s house : 
 but before they reached it, came a message from the centurion — 
 saying, “ Give not thyself this trouble : I am not worthy that thou 
 shouldest come under my roof ; nor did I deem myself worthy to 
 come in person to thee : but speak one word only, and my servant 
 will be well.” Jesus was much struck by this. The Jews ad- 
 mitted his power to heal, but deemed it needful that he should be 
 personally present and touch the diseased person with his hand. 
 But here was a foreigner, a heathen, who had the faith — who 
 believed that a word from Christ, spoken in the absence of the 
 diseased person, would suffice to effect the cure. Christ therefore 
 turned round to the people who followed him, and said, “ I have 
 not found such great faith — no, not in Israel and he added, “ Many 
 shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of 
 the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.” This is to us 
 a very intelligible allusion to the calling of the Gentiles and the 
 rejection of the Jews: but to the people it was obscure; and as 
 thev probably interpreted it to mean that many such heathen would 
 become proselytes to Judaism, it did not give the offence with which 
 some of our Lord’s later and plainer declarations on this point were 
 received. 
 
 The friends who had brought to Jesus the message of the centu- 
 rion returned to the house, and found that he had received the re- 
 ward of his faith in the perfect recovery of his servant. 
 
 The day after this Jesus proceeded to Nain, thirteen miles to 
 the south of the place where the Sermon on the Mount is sup- 
 posed to have been delivered. This was then a place of some 
 consequence, but has now dwindled to a small hamlet under the 
 name of Nein. On approaching the gate of this town the crowd 
 which attended our Lord was met by another, probably as numerous, 
 issuing from the city. It was the becoming custom of the Jews to 
 bury their dead outside the towns : nor was this peculiar to them, 
 but common to all the nations of the East and West, until the 
 present pernicious custom of burying in or near churches, first in- 
 troduced in honour of the martyrs, was extended into general use. 
 The crowd which issued from the gate of Nain was in attendance 
 upon the funeral of a young man, the only son of a poor woman, 
 and her only stay — for she was a widow. The attendance was so 
 o-reat on account of the number of persons who were anxious to 
 
 O 
 
 testify their sympathy and respect. 
 
 This scene was well calculated to move the compassion of him 
 “ w ho went about doing good and to lead him to do a greater 
 work than any which he had yet performed. Full of Divine ten- 
 derness, he cheered the desolate mother, and said unto her, “ Weep 
 not and the bearers of the corpse he directed to lay down their 
 melancholy burden. Among the Jews the dead were carried to 
 the (r rave upon open biers, and not in closed cotlins, the use of which 
 was, in the time of our Lord, confined to the higher classes. Turning 
 to the bier, Jesus said, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise!” 
 The “ dull cold ear of death” heard his voice ; the youth rose up, and 
 <rave the most satisfactory proof of his restoration to consciousness 
 and life by speaking to the persons around him. Jesus then con- 
 signed him to his mother. Who can tell the mysteries of human 
 feeling with which that mother received that son from the dead, and 
 held him once more in her embrace ? Then indeed did the “ widow’s 
 ! heart sing for joy” — a joy so great that in her case all wonder was 
 doubtless absorbed in it. 
 
332.— Christ exhorting his Disciples. 
 Crist yn cynghori ei Ddisgyblion. 
 
 333.— The Sermon on the Mount. 
 Y Bregeth ar y Mynydd. 
 
 337.— Roman Centurion.— Matt. viii. 
 Canwriad Rhufeinig. 
 
 
93 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 S the Breast-plate was the 
 most splendid article of the 
 pontifical raiment, it claims 
 more particular notice. It 
 is described to have been 
 a piece of embroidered 
 cloth of the same stuff as 
 the ephod. It was a span 
 square when doubled, and 
 was made thus strong that 
 it might the better hold the 
 precious stones which were 
 set in it. It had a gold ring 
 at each corner, from the two uppermost of which went two golden 
 chains of wreathed work to meet the chains that came from the 
 shoulder-pieces of the ephod, and fastened the one to the other ; while 
 from the two undermost rings of the breast-plate went two laces of 
 blue to fasten it to two rings in “ the curious girdle of the ephod.” 
 The breast-plate and the ephod, being thus attached to each other, 
 might not on any account be separated. In the breast-plate were 
 set twelve precious stones, in four rows of three each, on each of 
 which was engraven the name of one of the tribes of Israel. These 
 engraven stones were intended not merely for ornament, but con- 
 stantly to remind the high-priest that he bore with him and repre- 
 sented the interests of all the tribes, when he performed his sacred 
 ministrations. 
 
 The engraving of these stones is said to have been “ like the 
 engraving of a signet” (Exod. xxviii. 11), and suggests some 
 ideas in connection with an art which had doubtless been acquired 
 in Egypt. The art of cutting precious stones was very early prac- 
 tised in that country. There are several necklaces of gold and 
 cornelian in the new gallery of Egyptian antiquities in the British 
 Museum, whose exquisite workmanship could scarcely be surpassed 
 by modern artists, although, as we see from the engraving itself, 
 the apparatus of the jeweller was as simple as could well be 
 imagined. This is still the case in Hindostan, where the native 
 jeweller, travelling from house to house with his little furnace and 
 blowpipe, produces ornaments of considerable beauty. How very 
 much genuine precious stones were valued in those early times is 
 evinced by the circumstance that imitations of them were made in 
 considerable quantities. The Theban artists were particularly dis- 
 tinguished in this employment of counterfeiting. As, then, we find 
 it common among the Egyptians for the ornaments of the rich to 
 be imitated in cheaper materials for the use of the poorer classes, 
 it is very evident that the spirit of luxury, which belonged to an 
 advanced state of civilization, was already at a very early period 
 diffused among that people, and this gives every possible extrinsic 
 evidence and historical propriety to the accounts contained in 
 Scripture of the finer arts possessed by the Israelites when they 
 quitted Egypt. That the art of the engraver, in particular, was 
 native to that country, appears from the data which Wilkinson has 
 furnished with regard to the Egyptian signets. Of many of them 
 he gives engravings (see figures of some in our p. 29). There, 
 for instance, is described the signet, yet preserved, of one of the 
 earliest of the Pharaohs. On one side was the name of the kino- 
 
 O 
 
 (the successor of Amunoph III.), who lived about 1400 B.c., 
 and on the other a lion, with the legend “lord of strength,” re- 
 ferring to the monarch ; on one side a scorpion, on the other a 
 crocodile. Various other inscriptions are found engraved on Egypt- 
 ian rings. 
 
 Connected with the breast-plate was the mystery of the Urim 
 and Thummim, by which the high-priest obtained responses from 
 Cod, on which account the breast-plate itself was called “ the breast- 
 plate of judgment.” The words are understood to mean lights 
 and perfections. What is really denoted by them has been far 
 more variously conjectured than w'e have room to state. The 
 most general, and, upon the whole, the most probable opinion is 
 that which identifies the Urim and Thummim with the stone ot 
 the breast-plate itself, and which holds that the names apply to 
 the instrumental uses which they were made to subserve in the 
 symbolical economy of the priesthood. The question, how the di- 
 vine oracles were given through this ornament has been differently 
 answered. I he Jews believe that certain coruscations were emitted 
 in succession from such of the letters in the breast-plate as would 
 compose the response. To us it seems more probable that the ques- 
 tion was trained so as to require only an affirmative or negative indi- 
 
 cation, which may have been conveyed by the presence or absence 
 of certain irradiations upon the breast-plate, from the resplendence 
 over the ark, which formed the symbol of the divine presence.- ‘ 
 This explanation seems open to none of the very weighty objections 
 which have been urged against every other which has been pro- 
 duced. 
 
 4. The Head-dress of the high-priest was also a distinctive part 
 of his attire. The linen “bonnet,” indeed, was like that of the 
 other priests ; but, according to the description of Josephus, it had 
 over it another of purple or violet colour, and a diadem of gold in 
 three rows around that, which was finished at top with a small golden 
 calyx about the size of a joint of the middle finger. This suggests 
 the idea of something not unlike the turbans worn in the East at the 
 present day. In front of this, fastened to the mitre by a lace of 
 blue, was a golden plate, on which was engraven the remarkable 
 words — Holiness to the Lord. 
 
 These articles constituted what was, properly speaking, the 
 ordinary official dress of the high-priest : but he also had an extra- 
 ordinary one for entering the holy of holies on the great day of 
 atonement. This consisted of linen drawers, a linen gown, a linen 
 girdle, and a linen mitre. These the Jews called his “ white 
 garments,” and the others they called his “ garments of gold.” 
 
 It will be noticed that in the above description of the priestly 
 raiment there is no account of shoes or sandals. This was because 
 all the ministrations were performed with naked feet ; it being 
 then, as now, usual in the East to stand barefoot in the presence of 
 a superior as a mark of respect, or when engaged in any devotional 
 act of sacred ministration. 
 
 Aaron and his sons were consecrated with purifying rites and 
 much solemnity by Moses ; and eight days after — the tabernacle and 
 its furniture having meanwhile undergone a similar ceremony — the 
 priests entered upon their sacred ministrations. They began to 
 burn incense upon the altar, laid out the shew-bread, and offered 
 various sacrifices. At the same time it pleased the Lord to afford 
 the chosen people a visible sign of his acceptance of their oblations 
 and of the becoming services thus rendered, for the cloudy pillar 
 descended from on high and rested on the tabernacle, while a more 
 resplendent glory filled it, so that Moses himself was unable for a 
 time to enter. The priests continued thenceforth to offer the daily 
 and occasional sacrifices, as instructed by Moses in accordance with 
 the divine commands. 
 
 We must now proceed to give a brief account of the sacrifices 
 and oblations which formed so prominent a part of the system of 
 ritual service under which the Israelites were placed. The regu- 
 lations in these matters will always on that account obtain the 
 serious attention of religious persons, and even of those who regard 
 them as affording curious information and matter for inquiry re- 
 specting a state of things which has long passed away. These things 
 strike us very differently from the ancient Gentiles, who, being them- 
 selves familiar with sacrifices and oblations, were only anxious in 
 tracing the formal differences between their own usages and those 
 of the Hebrews ; and they were by no means surprised at many 
 points which appear strange and unaccountable to us, to whom the 
 whole subject is new, or rather, to whom it is old and passed away 
 out of actual knowledge. 
 
 It will be convenient to consider this subject under the heads of 
 1, Sacrifices; 2, Offerings; 3, Libations. 
 
 I. Sacrifices imply the infliction of death upon a living creature, 
 usually by the effusion of its blood, in the way of religious worship ; 
 and the presentation of this act to God as a supplication for the 
 pardon of sin, and as a supposed means of compensation for the insult 
 and injury offered by sin to his holy government. In all such 
 sacrifices it was essential that the animals to be slaughtered should 
 be of these called “ clean,” but it does not appear that all clean 
 animals might be sacrificed without distinction. Fishes were not 
 in any case brought to the altar; but all clean birds might be 
 offered, although the dove was the most common offering of the 
 class. Of quadrupeds, oxen, sheep, and goats were the only kinds 
 brought to the altar; and wild animals of every kind were inad- 
 missible. The utmost care was taken, in selecting the victims, 
 to choose only such as were free from every blemish. The animal 
 thus selected was led to the altar by the person offering the sacrifice, 
 who laid his hand upon its head, on which he leaned with all his 
 strength, and while the sacrifice was offering said some particular 
 prayers; and if several persons united in offering the same victim, 
 they all put their hands upon it in succession. He thus acknow- 
 ledged the sacrifice to be his own, that he loaded it with his 
 iniquities, that he offered it as an atonement for his sins, that he 
 was worthy of death because he had sinned, having forfeited his 
 life by violating the law of God; and that he implored God to 
 
Sunday XIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 99 
 
 accept the life of this innocent animal in the place of his own. 
 The serious reader will not need to be reminded how strikingly all 
 this prefigures, and was doubtless designed to prefigure, the great 
 atonement, which in the person of Jesus Christ “ was once offered 
 to bear the sins of many” (Heb. ix. 28). 
 
 When the victim was brought before the altar, the priest im- 
 plored the divine favour and assistance by prayer, and poured a 
 libation of wine upon its head. The animal was then slaughtered, 
 which was effected by cutting the throat and windpipe entirely 
 through at one stroke, the blood being caught in a vessel and 
 sprinkled round about the altar ; and that winch remained after 
 these aspersions, was poured out into a kind of trench at the foot of 
 the altar. The victim being thus immolated, the skin was then 
 stripped from the neck, the breast opened, the bowels taken out, 
 and the backbone cleft, and the carcase was then divided into four 
 quarters. Previous to laying this sacrifice upon the altar, it was 
 salted ; and, according to the nature of the offering, either the 
 whole or part of the victim was consumed on the altar, where the 
 fire was kept continually burning. The sacrifices thus offered by 
 the altar-fire to God were of four kinds : — 
 
 1. The Burnt-offerinys, or holocausts, which were voluntary 
 offerings wholly devoted to God. The victim to be offered was, ac- 
 cording to the person’s ability, a bullock without blemish, or a 
 male of the sheep or goats, or a turtle-dove or pigeon, which he 
 himself was to bring before the Lord, where they were offered in 
 the manner already described. If the party were too poor to bring 
 any of these offerings, he might bring “a meat-offering,” which 
 will presently be described. 
 
 2. The Peace-offerings were also voluntary, in token of peace and 
 reconciliation between God and man ; they were either offered in 
 thanksgiving for benefits received or for the impetration of mercies. 
 These sacrifices consisted either of animals, or of bread or dough : 
 if the former, part of them was to be consumed on the altar, and the 
 remainder was to be eaten by the priest or by the party presenting 
 the offering. 
 
 3. The Sin-offerings were offered for sins committed through 
 ignorance, or wilfully against knowledge, and which were liable to 
 punishment from God unless thus expiated. These offerings con- 
 sisted in general of a sin-offering to God, and a burnt-offering in 
 token of acceptance, accompanied with the restitution of all damage 
 which the sin thus expiated had occasioned to others. 
 
 4. The Trespass-offerings were made when the party who made 
 them had reason to doubt whether he had violated the law of God 
 or not. They do not appear to have materially differed from the 
 sin-offerings. In both these kinds of sacrifices the person who 
 offered them placed his hands on the victim’s head, and confessed 
 Ids sin or his trespass over it, saying : — “ I have sinned, I have 
 done iniquity, I have trespassed, and have done thus and thus, and 
 do return with repentance before thee, and with this make atone- 
 ment” The animal was then considered as vicariously bearing the 
 sins of the person who brought it. 
 
 All the sacrifices which have been mentioned were occasional, and 
 had reference to individuals ; but there were others which were 
 national and stated, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual. The 
 perpetual or daily sacrifice was a burnt-offering consisting of two 
 lambs, which were offered every day, morning and evening, at the 
 third and ninth hours. They w r ere burnt as holocausts, but by a 
 small fire, that they might continue burning tfie longer. With each 
 of these was offered a bread-offering, and a drink-offering of strong 
 wine. The morning sacrifice w r as intended to make atonement for 
 t Le sins committed in the night, and the evening sacrifice for those 
 committed during the day. 
 
 The weekly sacrifice, on every Sabbath-day, was the same as the 
 daily sacrifice, and was offered in addition to it. 
 
 The monthly sacrifice, on every new moon, or at the beginning 
 
 of each month, consisted of two young bullocks, one ram, and seven 
 
 lambs of a year old, together with a kid for a sin-offering, and a 
 
 suitable bread and drink-offering:. 
 
 “ • 
 
 The yearly sacrifices were those offered on the great annual 
 festivals, which will hereafter be particularly noticed. 
 
 II. The offerings not of blood, called “ Meat-offerings,” con- 
 sisted of meal, bread, cakes, ears of corn, and parched grain, with 
 oil and frankincense. The spirit of the law was that, as expressed 
 by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, “Without shedding 
 of blood there is no remission” (Ileb. ix. 22). Con-equently these 
 offerings could not be presented as sin-offerings, except in the single 
 case of a person who had sinned being- so poor that even the offering 
 of two young pigeons or two turtle-doves exceeded his means. They 
 were to be free from leaven or honey, but it was required that pure 
 salt should be added to all of them. 
 
 III. The Drink-offerings, or Libations , were accompaniments of 
 both the bloody and the bloodless offerings, and were never useu 
 apart from them. They consisted of wine, which appears to have 
 been partly poured upon the brow of the victim, in order to con- 
 secrate it, and partly allotted to the priests, who drank it with their 
 portions of both kinds of offerings. 
 
 Besides the various kinds of sacrifices which have been described, 
 there were likewise certain oblations made by the people, consisting 
 of wine, bread, oil, and incense. These were divided into three 
 sorts— the Ordinary, the Voluntary, and the Prescribed. 
 
 1. The Ordinary oblations were of a certain kind of perfume 
 called thumiama, which was burnt every day upon the altar of 
 incense; and also of the shew-bread, which was offered new every 
 Sabbath-day, when the old was taken away and eaten by the 
 priests. 
 
 2. The Voluntary or Free-will oblations were offerings made in 
 consequence of certain promises or vows. The former did not so 
 strictly bind as the latter, of which there were two kinds, namely, 
 the vow of consecration, when anything was devoted either for a 
 sacrifice or for the use of the tabernacle, as wine, wood, salt, and the 
 like; and the vow of engagement, when a person undertook to do 
 something which was not in itself unlawful, as not to eat of some 
 particular meat, nor to wear some particular garment, nor to cut 
 his hair, and other acts of self-denial. 
 
 3. The Prescribed oblations were the First-fruits and the Tithes. 
 
 The First-fruits of all animal and vegetable products were con- 
 secrated to God. Among animals, the first-born males only belonged 
 to them, and the people not only had the liberty, but were required 
 to redeem them in the case of men and unclean animals, which 
 could not be offered in sacrifice. This, as formerly mentioned, was 
 in memory of the first-born of Israel having been preserved when 
 those of the Egyptians were destroyed. The redemption for a 
 first-born son was fixed at five shekels, or about twelve shillings. 
 This redemption took place when the child was a month old ; but 
 the first-born of cattle were offered at eight days old, and, if fit for 
 sacrifice, could not be redeemed with money. The blood and fi t 
 were offered to the Lord, but the carcasses belonged to the priests. 
 Asses, being deemed unfit for food, were redeemed with a lamb, or 
 else slaughtered ; and in general the firstlings of all unsuitable 
 beasts were to be redeemed and the price given to the priests. And 
 then, as to the vegetable products ; these were of several kinds, 
 which it is not necessary to describe in this place further than for 
 the purpose of discrimination. The barley-harvest began the agri- 
 cultural gatherings of the year, and this harvest could not be com- 
 menced until the first sheaf had been offered before the Lord ; so, 
 likewise, the produce of the harvest could not be used for bread 
 until new loaves therefrom had first been offered to God on the day 
 of Pentecost, by which time the wheat-harvest was usually over. 
 It is not to be supposed that these offerings were made by every 
 family. They were single representative acts, at the common 
 charge, for the whole nation, in testimony of gratitude to the Lord 
 and Giver of Life for the fruits of the field, and of acknowledgment 
 that to him belonged the earth and the fulness thereof. 
 
 These two acts marked the beginning and ending of the harvest 
 season. But the real first-fruits, in which the priests had a sub- 
 stantial interest, were the portions which in the act of gathering the 
 owner set aside for the purpose of oblation. This was what the 
 owners took with them, with much ceremony and rejoicing, when 
 they went to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, forty days after the 
 Passover. There was another offering of first-fruits, for later 
 products, at the end of the agricultural year in autumn. This was 
 called the first-fruits of the threshing-floor, and was not taken to 
 the place of the tabernacle, or temple, but was delivered to the 
 priests at the barn or the wine-press. The proportion of these 
 offerings to the whole was not prescribed by the Law, and was 
 probably intended to be voluntary; but an interpretation of later 
 years founded upon Ezek. xiv. 13, fixed it at a sixtieth of the whole 
 produce. No one was then bound to give more ; but he who did not 
 was considered sordid: one-fortieth was, however, accounted liberal, 
 and the amount ranged between these numbers. 
 
 As the first-fruits formed an acknowledgment of God as the Lord 
 of the Earth and the Giver of all good, so the Tithes, which were 
 one-tenth of all the produce, formed an acknowledgment to him as 
 King of Israel, and formed the rent or tenure by which his subject? 
 held the land which he bestowed upon them, and of which he con- 
 stantly claimed to be the sovereign proprietor. This tenth appears 
 to have been a jus regium of ancient times, and is so mentioned 
 by Samuel (1 Sam. viii. 15) in describing the regal customs of 
 other nations, which the king whom the Israelites coveted would 
 follow. 
 
 O 2 
 
346.— Repentance. (Flaxman.) 
 Edifeirwch. 
 
 347.— Anointing tbe Feet of Jesus. (Sebastian Ricci.)— John xii. 
 Eneinio Traed yr Iesu. 
 
 Iachau Mab y Wraig Weddw. 
 
 3a 1.— Alabaster Eoxes. Roman Acerae.— Matt. xxvi. 
 Blychau Alabaster. Tbuserau Rbufemig. 
 
 340.— Mode* of Lying at Meat. (Poussin ) -John xiv. 
 Liulliau o Orwedd wrin Fwyta. 
 
 101 
 
102 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 [Sunday XIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XIII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 OW it was not so with the people 
 present. To heal the sick and to cast 
 out unclean spirits were indeed acts of 
 wonder to all who saw them ; but to 
 restore defunct nature, and snatch 
 from the grave its prey, was a prodigy 
 so great as filled the beholders not 
 only with amazement, but fear. They 
 glorified God for visiting his people 
 by sending a great prophet among 
 them ; for although this act taken 
 alone did not evince that Jesus was the very Christ, the greatness 
 of the deed satisfied them of the divine power with which he was 
 invested. They could not but see in Jesus one greater than even 
 Elisha, inasmuch as without the use of prayer, or stretching himself 
 upon the body, but by a simple order, he had in a manner utterly 
 unexampled restored the dead to life. 
 
 This great miracle gave a new impulse to the general discussion 
 respecting the prophet of Nazareth. It attracted the attention of 
 John the Baptist in his prison, and decided him to require of Jesus 
 an explicit declaration as to whether he was or was not the promised 
 Messiah. ~SYe may ask how it was that John, who had already 
 more than once declared his perfect satisfaction on this point, should 
 now be in any doubt. The answer may be, that John’s ideas in this 
 matter may have become unsettled by Jesus not having manifested 
 himself as the Messiah in the way which he expected, or advanced 
 his claim under the conditions which he had supposed. He therefore 
 sent two of his disciples to Christ fo ask the question, “ Art thou he 
 that should come? or look we for another?” Jesus, at the time 
 the messengers came, was engaged in healing the diseased, casting 
 out evil spirits, and restoring sight to the blind. Instead of return- 
 ing a direct answer, he desired the disciples to tell their master the 
 things they had seen performed : — “ Go and tell John what things 
 ye have seen and heard ; how the blind see, the lame walk, the 
 lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor 
 the Gospel is preached.” As these were the real characteristics of 
 the Messiah’s kingdom, according to the prophets, this explicit 
 reference to them as evidence , was calculated to satisfy John and 
 his disciples that the great deeds of Christ were not to be regarded 
 as the acts of a mere prophet, but as the required and appointed 
 testimonials of “ the Christ of God.” 
 
 When John’s disciples had departed, our Lord began to speak to 
 those around him of -John and his character and mission. He 
 passed a high encomium upon the austerity and holiness of his 
 person, the greatness of his function, and the divine character of his 
 mission. He affirmed that John was greater than any preceding 
 prophet, indeed, the greatest of men born of women ; for besides his 
 wonderful conception, and being himself the subject of ancient 
 prophecies, he had seen and known the Messiah and had been his 
 precursor. He was a burning and a shining light, the second Elias 
 of the prophets — and yet, added Christ, with startling abruptness. 
 
 “ He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he 
 meaning, that, as belonging to the old system about to be done 
 away, or at most occupying an intermediate place between the old 
 and the new, any Christian teacher, instructed in the things per- I 
 taining to Christ s spiritual kingdom, had points of superioritv even 
 over John the Baptist. Jesus concluded with a striking illustration 
 of the perversity of the nation, by reference to the reception which 
 he and the Baptist equally met with, notwithstanding the difference 
 in their course of conduct and procedure. The Baptist, who came 
 neither eating nor drinking, that by this austere and mortified deport- 
 ment he might gain the reverence of the people, could not obtain 
 acceptance ; neither could Jesus, who, on the contrarv, came eating 
 and drinking — that, by a moderate and affable life, framed after the 
 common use and habits of men, he might make to himself a place 
 in their sympathies and affections. The austerities of the one they 
 ascribed to insanity ; and the sociality of the other, to a conviviality ! 
 of disposition unseemly in a teacher and a prophet. This save him 
 occasion more especially to reprehend the towns which had witnessed 
 his greatest works, Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, in that their 
 hardness ami unbelief had remained unmoved. For this a doom 
 harder than that of Sodom was declared to be in store for them ; 
 for even Sodom had sinned against less light than had been shed 
 upon them. This implied the doctrine which Jesus took many other 
 occasions to inculcate — that men were to be judged not so much 
 v»!t i reference to the positive qualities of sin, as with regard to the 
 d-gree id light and knowledge, or means of knowledge, against 
 
 which sin is committed. He admitted, however, that the things he 
 taught were harder to receive by the high and lofty than by the 
 lowly and the poor and humble; and he thanked God that, although 
 these things were hidden from the wise and mighty of the world, 
 they were manifest even to babes. 
 
 Our Lord concluded his admirable discourse by calling upon his 
 auditors to exchange the heavy burden of the Levitical Law for the 
 ease, rest, and peace offered by the new revelation of the divine 
 will, which he came to promulgate. This invitation, equally appli- 
 cable to all the weary and heavy laden, from every cause, in every 
 age, was couched in the emphatic and ever-memorable words — 
 “ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I 
 am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
 
 This discourse seems to have made considerable impression upon 
 some even of the Pharisees who were present, and one of them, 
 named Simon, invited him to dine at his house. 
 
 It must be understood that the Roman custom of reclining on 
 couches at meal-time was at this period in common use among persons 
 of the higher and middle classes in Judea. It is not, indeed, 
 necessary to suppose that the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. 
 It was a Babylonian and Persian custom, which found its way to 
 the west of the Euphrates, and which the Hebrews probably ac- 
 quired during their subjection to the kings of the East. Three 
 benches were placed so as to form three sides of a hollow square 
 which contained the table- The guests reclined upon the benches 
 or couches, with their feet turned out behind and their faces towards 
 the table, resting their bodies in a half-raised position upon cushions 
 or upon the left arm. This explains several passages of the New 
 Testament, especially those which describe Lazarus as lying in 
 Abraham’s bosom (Luke xvi. 23), and John as leaning on his 
 Lord’s bosom at the last supper (John xiii. 23) : the person so 
 described as lving in the bosom of another was of course the one 
 who reclined next below that other, and whose head necessarily 
 approached to the ltosom of the one who lay above him. There 
 was usually a good space between the walls of the guest-chamber 
 and the back of the couches on which the guests reclined. 
 
 It was quite easv foranv persons, at an entertainment such as that 
 to which Simon invited Christ, to gain access to the public guest- 
 chamber, and to remain unmolested so long as they did not interfere 
 with the operations of the servants, which they were in little danger 
 of doing while they remained in the side space between the walls 
 and the back of the couches, seeing that the business of the servants 
 was almost confined to the open side of the square which the tricli- 
 nium formed. 
 
 'While they were at meat, a woman of the place came and planted 
 herself behind the place where Jesus reclined. She is described as 
 one, “ who had been a sinner.” by which it is understood that she had 
 led an impure life, and we see no reason to disturb this conclusion. 
 We must only contend that this woman, described distinctively as 
 “ a sinner,” is not to be confounded with Mary 3Iagdalene, nor with 
 Mary, the sister of Lazarus, of Bethany, of whom transactions 
 nearly similar are recorded. Much confusion has arisen from 
 regarding as one, three distinct persons and transactions. 
 
 This woman, as Jeremy Taylor finely expresses it, “ came tc 
 Jesus into the Pharisee’s house, not — as did the staring multitude — 
 to glut their eves with the sight of a miraculous and glorious person ; 
 nor — as did the centurion, or the Syro-Phceniciau. or the ruler of the 
 svnagogue — for the cure of her sickness, or in behalf of her friend, 
 or child, or servant : but — the only example of so coming — she 
 came in remorse and regret for her sins, she came to Jesus to lay her 
 burden at his feet, to present him with a broken heart, a weeping 
 eve, and great affection.” She came trembling, and wept bitterly 
 for her sins at his feet. Simon had neglected to order his servants 
 to wash the feet of Jesus, although this was an act of civility and 
 attention then frequently observed in Palestine, although less so 
 than it had been in more ancient times. Perceiving this, the weep- 
 ing sinner let fall her tears upon them, and, having bathed them 
 w ith that tribute of her grief, wiped them with the hair of her heaJ. 
 This in itself might have been misunderstood, but as a preparation 
 for the act which followed, it becomes very intelligible. She came 
 to anoint his feet with costly ointment. It was necessary they 
 should first be washed, and finding that this had been neglected by 
 the host, her fast-flowing tears suggested the means to which she 
 resorted. 
 
 Having thus bathed his feet, the woman drew forth the vessel of 
 precious nard, and breaking off the stopple, the place was filled w ith 
 the rich odour of the perfume she cast upon her Saviour’s feet. 
 
 This anointing of the feet was by no means a common act, and 
 
Sunday XIII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 103 
 
 the anointing them with this kind of ointment was accounted a lux- 
 urious extravagance even in kings. It must have been worth nine 
 or ten pounds of our money, or probably more in comparative value, 
 when the great difference in the general cost of commodities is con- 
 sidered. 
 
 The fragrance of the ointment drew the general attention of the 
 guests to this act of the woman. They formed their different 
 opinions upon it, and narrowly watched the effect which it would have 
 upon Jesus himself, and the manner in which it would be noticed 
 by him. The thought which arose in the mind of the host himself was 
 eminently characteristic of the Pharisee. We are told that “ he 
 spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would 
 have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth 
 him : for she is a sinner.” It was this unuttered thought of the 
 Pharisee which our Lord saw fit to mark out for his most pointed 
 notice. “ Simon,” he said, “ there was a certain creditor who had 
 two debtors : the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. 
 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. 
 Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most?” Simon 
 could not but answer, “ I suppose the one to whom he forgave 
 most.” Jesus answered — “ Thou hast rightly judged ;” and then 
 turnino- towards the woman, he added — “ Seest thou this woman ? 
 
 I entered into thine house : thou gavest me no water for my feet ; 
 but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the 
 hair of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss ; but this woman, since 
 the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with 
 oil thou didst not anoint ; but this woman hath anointed my 
 feet with ointment. 'Wherefore, I say unto thee, her sins, which 
 are many, are forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom little is 
 forgiven, the same loveth little.” He then said more formally to 
 the woman herself, those great words which man or woman never 
 heard from mortal lips before: “Thy sins are forgiven.” This 
 created a deep sensation among those who heard it ; for they knew 
 it was not for man to forgive sins ; and yet they were by no means 
 prepared to recognise Jesus as more than man. While they were 
 murmuring among themselves, “ AYho is this that forgiveth sins 
 also?” Christ, again turning round to the woman, dismissed her 
 with — “ Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace!” 
 
 After this Jesus set forth upon another tour in Galilee, performing 
 his usual works of mercy, and seizing all suitable occasions of pour- 
 ing forth those persuasive utterances on which the people generally 
 hung with admiration and delight, while those who were wise in 
 their own conceits, the bigots of a system, found in all he said 
 matter for cavil and reproach. In this excursion he was attended 
 by the twelve apostles, and also by some women of property and 
 consideration, who out of their abundance felt it their duty to 
 provide food and such other necessaries as the party required. 
 Among these women we find particular mention of Mary Magdalene, 
 so called from Magdala, near Capernaum, her native place ; she 
 was probably a widow, and is not to be confounded with “ the 
 woman who was a sinner,” who has just been under our notice. 
 She owed a debt of deep gratitude to Christ, who on some former 
 occasion had dispossessed her of “ seven devils.” Another of 
 these ladies was the wife, or more probably widow, of Chuza, the 
 steward of Herod Antipas ; and another is only known by her 
 name of Susanna. This incidental statement by St. Luke (viii. 3) 
 is corroborated, also very incidentally, by St. Mark (xv. 41), who, 
 speaking of the women who were present at our Lord’s crucifixion, 
 says that when .Jesus was in Galilee, “ they followed him and 
 ministered unto him of their substance.” We thus obtain informa- 
 tion respecting the mode in which Jesus and his apostles were 
 principally supported during those constant movements which 
 precluded them from earning their own subsistence. Most of them 
 had lived by their labour ; and the few who may be supposed 
 to have had some property, could not long have supported the ex- 
 penses of so large a body, but through the assistance obtained from 
 these and other pious women, who appear for the most part to have 
 received from our Lord — in the cure of painful diseases — benefits 
 which they estimated beyond all price. 
 
 The travelling of men and women in parties from all parts of the 
 country to Jerusalem, at the great festivals, familiarized the mind 
 to such associations in travel, and relieves all that seeming impro- 
 priety which the absence of any such circumstance in our own social 
 habits might induce as to connect with them. 
 
 Jesus did nothing more in this town which is recorded ; and at 
 length Christ again returned to Capernaum. On his arrival, he 
 went with his followers to the house which he commonly fre- 
 quented, which was speedily so beset by people anxious to see 
 and hear him, that the inmates were unable to take their usual 
 meals. Heedless of this. Christ, although just arrived from a 
 
 journey, and needing refreshment, went forth and spoke to the 
 multitude ; but when his friends within knew this, they declared 
 that he was carried by his zeal away beyond himself ; and they went 
 forth and constrained him to come in and obtain that refreshment 
 and rest which he was supposed much to need. (Mark iii. 19 — 21.) 
 
 The next recorded act of Christ, probably on the following day, 
 was the relief of a poor creature who was brought to him, “ pos- 
 sessed with a devil, deaf and dumb.” At his word, the man’s tongue 
 was loosened, and his ears unstopped, and he who had long been 
 mute to all the world, and all the many-voiced world mute to him, 
 both spake and saw. A man in this plight is usually well-known in 
 any place which he inhabits. This miracle, therefore, made a 
 strong impression upon the people, and led them to throng after 
 Jesus with fresh ardour wherever he appeared. 
 
 The Pharisees, and others of their mode of thinking, were much 
 troubled at this; and seeing that they could not deny so plain a‘ 
 miracle, they proceeded to account for it after a peculiar fashion 
 of their own. “ This fellow,” said they, “ doth not cast out devils 
 but through Beelzebub, the prince of devils that is, he expels 
 the weaker demons by the aid of the stronger. Christ was not 
 slow in exposing the absurdity of this reasoning. Citing a well- 
 known proverb, he said: — “Every kingdom divided against itself 
 is brought to desolation ; and every city or house divided against 
 itself shall not stand and by way of applying this, he continued, 
 “ If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself ; how shall 
 then his kingdom stand ?” And then he added — “ If I by Beelze- 
 bub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out ?” 
 This question supposes, what indeed appears from other passages 
 of Scripture, that besides Jesus and his apostles, several at this 
 time went about pretending to cast out demons, both by exorcisms 
 and medicaments (Luke xi. 19.; Acts xix. 13; compare Josephus, 
 
 ‘ Antiquities,’ vii. 6. 3 ; viii. 2. 5). It is probable that these exor- 
 cisms were sometimes effectual by means of the accompanying me- 
 dicaments. This superstition continued for some time after the 
 apostles, and even led in part to the use of exorcisms in the early 
 Christian church. 
 
 After some further remarks, Christ uttered those awful words, 
 which in all ages have engaged the profound attention of the 
 Church — “ All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto 
 men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be for- 
 given unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son 
 of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh a word 
 against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in 
 this world, neither in the world to come.” This awful declaration 
 has been variously understood : but taken in connection with what 
 precedes and follows, and with the circumstances which called it 
 forth, it seems to point to those who ascribed to the agency of devils 
 the manifest and glorious works of God, such as those which were 
 wrought by our divine Saviour. The crimes of the heart are 
 greater than those of the hand ; and surely, in the lowest depths 
 of the most bitter heart there lurks not a sin equally horrid with 
 that which Christ thus declares to be without forgiveness in this 
 world or in the world to come. 
 
 This seems to have silenced that set of Pharisees. But soon 
 after, Jesus was assailed by another set, who assumed the characters 
 not of accusers, but of doubters. They came around him, saying, 
 “ Master, we would see a sign from thee.” . They meant a sign 
 from heaven, such as some of those of Moses and Elias, and such as 
 the Messiah might be expected to afford. The implied argument 
 was, that the wonders he wrought on earth might be possibly 
 effected by the power of Satan ; but wonders from heaven would 
 be above all such suspicion, and would bring conviction to their 
 minds. But Christ knew that they asked not this from the desire 
 to be convinced, or from the wish to obtain satisfactory proof of 
 his divine mission, but in order to find new ground for cavil and 
 objection. Some believed him to be an impostor, who could not 
 give any such sign, and these hoped to confound him by the demand ; 
 others were prepared to cavil, even if such sign had been given — 
 they would doubtless have disputed its reality, alleging that by some 
 optical illusion things were made to seem to be which were not. 
 
 To this demand Christ replied by a keen rebuke of that rooted 
 unbelief which was always demanding proof, and would not be- 
 lieve proof when it was given. He refused them a sign from 
 heaven ; he refused them any but a sign from earth — a marvellous 
 sign, greater than any from heaven which they had demanded, and 
 could only be understood by the light of after-days : — “ An evil and 
 adulterous generation seeketh after a sign ; and there shall no sign 
 be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonas : for as Jonas was 
 three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of 
 Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” 
 
354.— The Sign of Jonah. (West.)— Luke xi. 
 Arwydd Jona. 
 
 352.— Parable of the Sower.— Luke viii. 
 Dammeg yr Ilauwr. 
 
 10* 
 
 M.— Christ in the Storm. (Rembrandt.) 
 Crist yn y Dymmesll. 
 
 -Parable of the Tares.— 
 Dammeg yr Efrau. 
 
 Matt. xiii. 
 
 353. 
 
 356.— Christ in the Storm.— Matt. 
 Crist yn y Dymmestl. 
 
 riii. 
 

 
 
 858.— Jeremiah among the Ruins of Jerusalem. (Bendemann.)— Lam. U. 
 Jeremiah ym mysg Adfcilion Jerusalem.— Galar. ii. 
 
 857. — Jeremiah. (From the Frescoes, by Michael Angelo, in the Sistine Chapel. — Jer. i. 
 Jeremiah. (O Frescoes, gan Michael Angelo, yng Nghapel Sistin.) 
 
 359. — “ My children are desolate.” (Bendemann.) 
 « Fy mhlant eydd yn anrhalth.” 
 
 P 
 
 105 
 
106 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XIV. 
 
 SUNDAY XIV. — THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 ILKIAH, the father of Jere- 
 miah, is supposed by some to 
 be the same who was high- 
 priest in the reign of Josiah. 
 This is uncertain : but we 
 know that he was of sacerdo- 
 tal extraction. He was a na- 
 tive of Anathoth, a town of 
 the priests, about three miles 
 to the north of Jerusalem, in 
 the territory of Benjamin. He 
 was called to the prophetic 
 office nearly at the same time 
 with Zephaniah, in the thir- 
 teenth year of king Josiah, 
 629 b.c., when he was of very 
 early age. He then diffidently sought to decline the appointment on 
 the score of his youth, until, under the Divine encouragements, he 
 obeyed, and continued to prophesy upwards of forty years, during 
 several successive reigns of the degenerate descendants of Josiah, to 
 whom he fearlessly revealed those marks of the Divine vengeance 
 which their fluctuating and rebellious conduct drew on themselves 
 and their country. As he had all along counselled submission to the 
 power of the Chaldeans, he was favourably noticed by them after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and he was suffered to remain, to bewail 
 the miseries and desolation of Judah. He knew, however, that the 
 exile and desolation had an appointed term, and he failed not to 
 send consolatory assurances to that effect to his captive countrymen. 
 
 Eventually, Jeremiah was carried away, with his disciple 
 Baruch, into Egypt, by Johanan, who, contrary to his advice and 
 prophetic admonitions, resolved to remove thither, out of dread of 
 the undistinguishing vengeance of the Chaldeans for the slaughter 
 which Ishmael had perpetrated (Jer. xliii. 1 — 7). This concludes 
 our authentic information respecting Jeremiah. According to the 
 account preserved by St. Jerome, he was stoned to death at 
 Tahpanhes, a royal city of Egypt, about 586 b.c., either by his own 
 countrymen there settled, as is usually stated, or by the Egyptians, 
 to both of which people he rendered himself obnoxious by the ter- 
 rifying prophecies which he uttered. The Chronicle of Alexandria 
 alleges that the prophet had incensed the Egyptians by foretelling 
 that their idols should be destroyed by an earthquake at the time 
 that the Saviour of men should be born and placed in a manger. 
 This is of course a fiction ; and, as Bishop Gray remarks ( Key to 
 the Old Testament , p. 368), his prophecies which are still extant 
 respecting the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, must alone 
 have been sufficient to excite the fears and hatred of those against 
 whom they were uttered. There are, however, other accounts 
 which relate that the prophet returned to his own country; and 
 travellers are still shown a place in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 
 where, as they are told, Jeremiah composed his prophecies, and 
 where a monument to his memory was erected by Constantine. 
 There is, however, more reason to conclude that he ended his life 
 in Egypt. 
 
 Many circumstances relating to Jeremiah are interspersed in his 
 own writings. He lived in that most eventful period when the king- 
 dom of Judah, torn asunder by intestine disorders, could only by 
 the special protection of God — to which it had forfeited all claim — 
 be prevented from falling a sacrifice in the collision of the two pre- 
 vailing powers, Babylon and Egypt. His efforts to retard or pre- 
 vent the ruin of his country, which he loved with the most exalted 
 patriotism, were rewarded by his corrupt contemporaries with 
 ingratitude, and even with a prison and attempts at murder. He 
 himself touchingly complains of this treatment : — 
 
 “ Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me, 
 
 A man of strife and contention with all the land ! 
 
 I have neither borrowed nor lent on usury. 
 
 Yet every one doth curse me.” — (xv. 10.) 
 
 Again : — 
 
 “ I knew not that they had devised devices against me. 
 
 [Saying], Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, 
 
 And let us cut him off-from the land of the living, 
 
 That his name may be no more remembered.” — (xi. 19.) 
 
 Jeremiah, who repeatedly claims the authorship of these prophecies, 
 eeems to have usually employed Baruch in committing them to 
 
 writing (xxxvi. 4; xlv. 1). He appears to have formed at dif- 
 ferent times collections of what he had delivered. The first seems 
 to have been formed in the first year of Jehoiakim, when the pro- 
 phet was expressly commanded by God to write upon a roll all the 
 prophecies which he had uttered concerning Israel, Judah, and other 
 nations ; and this he did by means of Baruch. But this roll having 
 been burnt by Jehoiakim, another was written under the prophet’s 
 direction, with many additional particulars (xxxvi. 32). In the 
 eleventh year of Zedekiah, the prophet seems to have collected into 
 one book all the prophecies which he had delivered before the taking 
 of Jerusalem (i. 3). To this he probably added such further 
 revelations as he had occasionally received during the government 
 of Gedaliah, and during the residence in Egypt, the account of 
 which terminates with the fifty -first chapter. The fifty-second chapter 
 is compiled from the five last chapters of the Second Book of Kings, 
 and was probably not written by Jeremiah, as it not only contains in 
 part a repetition of what the prophet had before in part related in 
 the thirty-ninth and fortieth chapters, but some circumstances 
 which it has been supposed did not happen till after his death. 
 
 “ Jeremiah appears to have been pre-ordained,” as Dr. Gray 
 states, “ as a prophet both to the Jews and Gentiles. He certainly 
 delivered many prophecies relative to foreign nations. His name 
 translated is, ‘ he shall exalt Jehovah,’ and his whole life was spent 
 in endeavouring to promote God’s glory. His reputation was so 
 considerable, that some of the fathers fancifully supposed that as his 
 death is nowhere mentioned in Scripture, he was living in the time 
 of Christ, whom, as the Gospel informs us, some supposed to have 
 been this prophet (Matt. xvi. 14). They likewise apply to him 
 and to Elias what St. John mysteriously speaks of — two witnesses 
 that should prophesy 1260 days : which superstitious fictions serve, at 
 least, to show the traditional reverence that was entertained for the 
 memory of the prophet, who long afterwards continued to be vene- 
 rated in the Romish Church as one of the greatest saints that had 
 flourished under the old covenant ; as having lived not only with 
 the general strictness of a Prophet, but, as was believed, in a 
 state of celibacy ; and as having terminated his righteous ministry 
 by martyrdom.” 
 
 The literary character or style of Jeremiah’s prophecies has been 
 examined by different biblical scholars with much attention. By 
 none has it been more carefully discriminated than by De Wette, 
 who thus writes on the subject : — 
 
 “ In Jeremiah’s prophecies the spirit of his time and the condition 
 of his people are faithfully reflected. His humour is sad, and 
 melancholy, and depressed. His thoughts have no great elevation, 
 and only attempt short, single flights. But he is by no means des- 
 titute of noble and expanded ideas ; nor does he lack deep feeling. 
 Of the last the following among other specimens may be quoted : — 
 
 ‘ For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart 
 wounded ; 
 
 I mourn ; amazement hath taken hold of me ; 
 
 Is there no balm in Gilead ? 
 
 Is there no physician there ? 
 
 Why then are not the wounds of my people healed ? 
 
 O that my head were waters, 
 
 And mine eyes a fountain of tears, 
 
 That I might weep day and night 
 
 For the slain of the daughter of my people.’ — (viii. 21.) 
 
 His style is without uniformity or consistency in regard to expres- 
 sion or rhythm. It is unequal ; frequently energetic and concise, 
 especially in the first twelve chapters ; but more frequently it is 
 tedious, running out into flatness. It is full of repetitions and of 
 fixed thoughts and expressions. But it is not without certain charms 
 of its own. Jerome says of him, ‘ As he is simple and easy in his 
 language, so is he the most profound in the majesty of his thoughts. 
 In lantruasre he seems more rustic than Isaiah or Hosea and some 
 other prophets among the Hebrews, but in thought he is equal to 
 them.’ The style, with its alternations, now rising to rhythm, now 
 sinking to prose, is attractive. It is like the flickering of a flame 
 which finds not sufficient fuel. Sometimes whole passages are re- 
 peated ; sometimes images, thoughts, and expressions.” This 
 writer adds, that the passages in the prophecies of Jeremiah which 
 relate to foreign nations are distinguished by a more energetic tone, 
 and by a more animated style, which has a tendency to rhythm. 
 Of this peculiarity different explanations have been given. It is 
 probably because most of these passages are composed of threaten- 
 ings ; for it has been remarked that the threatenings in the more 
 domestic portions of his prophecies are distinguished by the same 
 characteristic. His admonitions, on the other hand, are very little 
 elevated above prose. 
 
Sunday XIV.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 107 
 
 SUNDAY XIV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 T is mentioned by Aristotle as an an- 
 cient law of Babylon that this propor- 
 tion should be given to the kings ; and 
 Spencer shows, out of Aristophanes, 
 that it was the custom of Athens, al- 
 though a commonwealth, for a tenth 
 to be paid to the magistracy. Now as 
 the priests and Levites were properly 
 the officers and ministers of state under 
 God as King of Israel, the payment of 
 the tenth to them through their hands 
 was in agreement wit’h the custom of most nations in paying one- 
 tenth of their produce to the state. It is also to be observed that 
 this tithe extended not only to the fruits and grain, but to cattle — 
 the produce of the herd and of the flock. These tithes were re- 
 ceived by the Levites in their several towns, and out of this they 
 paid a tithe, or tenth, to the priests — which was a sufficiently liberal 
 proportion, seeing that the priests were but one family of the whole 
 Levitical tribe. 
 
 When this tithe had been paid, the husbandman drew forth from 
 the remainder a second tithe, which he took, either in money or kind, 
 to the place of the temple, and there made with it a feast, to which 
 he invited, among others, the priests and Levites ; but every third 
 year he spent this tithe at home, “ within his gates, upon the Levite, 
 the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” 
 
 The various sacrifices and oblations which we have thus briefly 
 described were attended with sundry ceremonial observances, wdiich 
 have been fully described in the book of Leviticus. At the first it 
 became the duty of Moses to instruct the priests in their ministerial 
 duties, and to enforce the observance of every ceremonial rite 
 attending the services of the altar and tabernacle : and an awful 
 lesson soon taught the priests and people the serious consequences 
 of neglect or disobedience. Nothing, it would seem, could be clearer 
 than the regulation that no fire was to be used in the sacred minis- 
 trations but that of the altar which had been kindled from heaven. 
 This had been carefully explained beforehand, and it had also ap- 
 peared that the offering of incense was one of the most honourable 
 and distinctive functions of the sacerdotal office ; and it was clearly 
 stated that only one priest could at one time enter the tabernacle in 
 discharge of this important and reverent ceremonial. Yet, at the 
 first institution of these observances, no sooner did the time of in- 
 cense arrive, while the people lay prostrate in adoration at the mira- 
 culous destruction of the sacrifices by a supernatural fire — than 
 two of the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, with unbecoming 
 haste and emulation, hasted to the tabernacle to burn incense, their 
 censers being filled with common lire — or with fire not taken from 
 the altar. The singular circumstance that two should thus attempt 
 to perform the duty of one, would suggest that there was a rivalry 
 between them as to which should be the first to execute this sacred 
 function in the holy place. But God knew how to vindicate his 
 own honour, and how to exact becoming reverence from all who 
 drew nigh to Him. No sooner did the feet of these rash young men 
 enter the sanctuary, than a fire came forth from before the Lord and 
 smote them dead, without in the slightest degree injuring their dress 
 or their bodies. In this state they were taken forth and buried be- 
 yond the camp. This was a terrible stroke : but the bereaved father, 
 mindful of his place and holy function, “ held his peace,” and allowed 
 no sign of the grief or horror which rent his heart to escape from 
 him. And henceforth it became a law that the priests were not on 
 any occasion or for any loss to manifest the signs of grief or mourn- 
 ing in which other men indulged. 
 
 In order to perpetuate by organized institutions and periodical 
 observances the great facts in his dealings with the race of Adam, 
 and in particular with the race of Abraham, it pleased God to 
 institute various festivals, which the chosen people were enjoined to 
 observe. This is in accordance with, or in conformity to, the re- 
 cognised quality, it may be infirmity, of our nature, which requires 
 some tangible and frequently-recurring act of reminiscent celebra- 
 tion, to keep constantly present in a nation’s mind the fact, in man’s 
 hi>tory or in God s doings, which it may be important to re- 
 member. 'I hus — to point to the only parallel illustration which our 
 own practice offers— the great facts of the life and death of Christ, 
 are, by authorized observances, brought in this country under the 
 periodical notice of the nation generally , including multitudes of 
 persons who otherwise would scarcely be aware of these facts, or 
 of the still greater numbers who, knowing them as historical facts, 
 would otherwise not give them a thought from the beginning to the 
 
 end of the year, or would not be aware that a Christian community 
 had an enduring interest in them. 
 
 On this principle were the great periodical festivals of the Jews 
 established. 
 
 First of these was the Sabbath, which was designed to keep in 
 constant remembrance that Jehovah, He who had made himself 
 peculiarly known to the Hebrew people, was not to be regarded 
 like the national and local gods of the heathen, but was in very 
 deed the Creator of heaven and earth : the very same who in six 
 days had formed their fair creation, and had “ rested on the seventh 
 day from all his works.” The importance of this fact was so great, 
 it lay so much at the root of the whole system, that it was made a 
 matter of more frequent celebration than any other. It was cele- 
 brated every seventh day, which, to render the reference more 
 distinct, was made a day of rest from all labour. The danger 
 which this solemnity was intended to obviate was very imminent. 
 In regarding Jehovah peculiarly as theirs, the Covenant God of 
 their fathers, the Hebrews would be apt to forget that he was the 
 great and universal Creator and Governor, who, for purposes then 
 but dimly revealed, had stooped to become such to them : and in 
 like manner, the strong reference of all their ritual observances to 
 him as their national God and King would strengthen this im- 
 pression, unless this tendency were counterbalanced by one pointing 
 with equal force to his universal character. It was impossible for 
 any Jew who duly observed the Sabbath to forget that his God was 
 the Lord and Creator of the world. In an age when the tendency 
 in all nations was to appropriate to themselves national and dis- 
 tinctive gods, who had no concern with other nations ; and when 
 they were inclined to consider, and actually did consider, Jehovah 
 as the same to the Hebrews which their own gods were to them- 
 selves, the great importance of the Sabbatic institutions cannot be 
 too highly estimated. It was, however, not without a more special 
 reference to the peculiar condition of the Hebrews ; for we are told 
 that it was to them a type of that rest into which, in the fulness of 
 time, Christ would introduce them. 
 
 The Jewish Sabbath, as is well known, was held on the seventh 
 day, being our Saturday. It was a true festival, and not a fast ; 
 all the regulations which refer to it, however stringent, being 
 designed to secure for man and beast on that day rest from all 
 their labours. As the Jewish day was counted from sunset to 
 sunset, and not, as with us, from midnight to midnight, the 
 Sabbath began at sunset on the Friday evening, and ended with 
 the sunset of Saturday. None but absolutely necessary labour was 
 allowed on this day ; nothing, in s'hort, which might have been done 
 on the preceding day, or could be done on the following day. 
 Hence if an ox or ass fell into a pit, the labour of releasing it 
 might be incurred even on the Sabbath-day ; but the preparation 
 of food was not allowed, seeing that for all essential uses it might 
 as well be done on the day before, especially in a climate where warm 
 meals were by no means so usual or so necessary as in our northern 
 regions. For this reason, even the manna fell in double quantity on 
 the day before the Sabbath, and none on that day, that the labour of 
 collecting and preparing it might be intermitted. 
 
 Of the other festivals, three were denominated the great festivals, 
 being the Passover, the Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 These were distinguished from all other observances by the cir- 
 cumstance that, in the land to which the Hebrews were going, 
 they were to be celebrated at the place which should there become 
 the central seat of their religion by the presence of the altar, the 
 ark, and the symbol of the Divine glory. This of course necessi- 
 tated a journey by all the adult males three times in the year, 
 from all parts of the country to that place, or, as we may say by 
 anticipation, to Jerusalem. To encourage them in this, they were 
 assured that their homes should, under the Divine protection, be 
 secure from hostile invasion during their attendance at these fes- 
 tivals. This regulation, when it came into operation in Palestine, 
 afforded the singular spectacle of a whole nation uniting at ap- 
 pointed seasons at one place, in the same acts of commemoration 
 and religious observances. The design of these meetings was 
 partly to unite the people, separated as they were into tribes with 
 distinct territories, among themselves, and impress upon them 
 their common origin, their common interests, and their common 
 worship ; teaching them to regard one another as brethren and 
 fellow-citizens, and also to give greater solemnity to their worship 
 by the concourse of so large a multitude. These excursions were 
 high holidays for the people. They travelled in large parties 
 from their several districts, and proceeded by easy journeys to 
 their destination. They all occurred at the pleasant seasons of the 
 year, when travelling was a pleasure, when food was naturally abun- 
 dant, and when shelter at night wa*> by no means necessary. 
 
 P 2 
 
LOS 
 
 J60- — Mo‘« consecrating Aaron. 
 Moses yn cyeaegru Aaron. 
 
 (Hoet.)— Lev. eiii. 
 
 363. — Well of Siloam. (Forbin.) 
 Ffyunon Siloam. 
 
All Sin© ©IP ILA^AMTLTS, 
 
 QiS'tr^o 6z& CZsja&yW t,y /^a^aie^, 
 
 <Z/' ' ' // ''- 
 
 '/). ' V4 
 
 ?<£, o/vuczan . 6\ t/Kf 
 
the imm 
 
109 
 
 364. The Princes’ Offering. ^T. Landseer.) Num. vii. 
 
 Offrxcm y Ty wysogm® 
 
110 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XIV. 
 
 The Passover, which took place about the vernal equinox, has 
 already been sufficiently noticed in this work. 
 
 The Pentecost has that name from a Greek word signifying 
 fiftieth, because it was held on the fiftieth day after the Passover. 
 In the Old Testament it is called the Feast of Weeks, because it 
 was celebrated seven weeks, or a week of weeks, after the Pass- 
 over. Our Whitsuntide answers to it, as does our Easter to the 
 Passover. 
 
 This was a festival of thanksgiving for the abundance of the 
 completed harvest; and it was on this occasion that the first-fruits 
 were carried up to Jerusalem. But it was not merely an agricul- 
 tural festival ; it also was designed to commemorate the giving of 
 the Law upon Mount Sinai, whereby it was made to bear the same 
 special reference as the other festivals to the peculiar circumstances 
 of the nation. 
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles, or of Tents, took place in the autumn 
 about the time of the autumnal equinox, at the conclusion of the 
 vintage, which formed the last principal labour of the agricultural 
 year. For this reason it was also called the Feast of Ingathering. 
 But its principal object, and that from which its usual name was 
 taken, was to celebrate the dwelling of the Israelites in tents while 
 they wandered in the desert. None of the festivals was celebrated 
 with greater rejoicing than this. The most remarkable observances 
 were, that during the week which this feast lasted, all the people 
 lived in tents or green booths, which while resident in Canaan they 
 usually erected upon the flat roofs of their houses (Nehem. viii. 16). 
 During this festival the people also went about bearing in their 
 hands citrons, and branches of palm-trees, myrtles, and willows, 
 with which they at times walked in procession round the altar. 
 Eventually a remarkable practice came to be connected with this 
 festival, which had no foundation in the law of Moses. It con- 
 sisted in pouring out upon the altar a libation of water drawn from 
 the well of Siloam. After the water had been fetched from the 
 pool, part was drunk with loud acclamations of joy and thanksgiv- 
 ing, and the rest was carried to the altar, where it was poured out 
 upon the evening sacrifice. This ceremony took place on the last 
 day of the feast, and was attended with great festivity and rejoic- 
 ings. To this the Prophet is supposed to refer when he says, 
 “ With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isa. 
 xii. 3). This curious observance has a peculiar interest to the 
 Christian reader from the fact that it was actually passing before 
 our Lord’s eyes, when, “ On the last day, that great day, of the 
 feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come 
 to me and drink !” (John vii. 37.) 
 
 To these three great annual festivals two others were added ; and 
 they were celebrated with great solemnity, although the presence 
 at them of every adult male in Israel was not required. These 
 were, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Great Day of Atonement — 
 the latter being, however, not a festival, but a very solemn fast. 
 
 The Feast of Trumpets was held on the first and second days of 
 the month Tisri, which was the commencement of the civil year of 
 the Hebrews. This was, therefore, in fact, the New Year festival, 
 and the trumpets answered to the bells with which it is our wont 
 to announce the same event. Nor is this comparison fanciful ; for 
 there were many other occasions in which trumpets were among 
 the Hebrews employed for the same purposes for which bells are 
 used among ourselves. The trumpets w'ere on this day blown in 
 the tabernacle with more than usual solemnity, the people abstained 
 from all labour, and particular sacrifices were offered. 
 
 The Great Day of Atonement , or Feast of Expiation , was ob- 
 served as a day of strict fasting and solemn humiliation. It was in 
 fact the only fast prescribed by the Law, which had so many festi- 
 vals. If was held on the tenth day of the month Tisri ; and the 
 sacrifices and other solemnities of the day were more important and 
 peculiar than any in the Jewish ritual. On this day alone was the 
 high-priest allowed to enter the inner sanctuary, and then, divested 
 of his magnificent pontifical raiment, and with purifying preparations 
 no one of which might be omitted on pain of death. He first pre- 
 sented a young bullock before the Lord as a sin-offering for himself) 
 the priests, and the Levites, together with a ram for a burnt-offer- 
 ing. Then two goats were appointed, one of which was to be a sin- 
 offering for the people, and the other to be sent away as a scape- 
 goat into the wilderness. The bullock was then sacrificed, and the 
 high-priest, bearing in one hand a vessel containing some of its blood, 
 and in the other a censer with incense, w r ent into the Most Holy 
 Place, and sprinkled the blood with his finger upon the cover of the 
 ark. By this act he symbolically purified himself and those for 
 whom he appeared from the sins and transgressions of the preceding 
 year. 
 
 He then returned, and one of the goats, chosen by lot, was 
 
 slaughtered, and its blood taken into the sanctuary, and sprinkled in 
 the same manner as an act of atonement for the people. The high 
 priest then took the live goat, and laying his hands upon its head, 
 confessed over it the sins of all the people, laying them as it were 
 on the head of the goat, which was then sent away by a fit person 
 into the wilderness, where it was purposely set loose and lost. The 
 meaning of this symbolical action seems very evident, although it 
 involves some difficulties which need not in this place be discussed. 
 
 This having been done, the high-priest bathed himself in water, 
 and resumed his official dress, and concluded the high solemnities 
 of this great day by offering burnt-offerings for himself and for the 
 people at the evening sacrifice. 
 
 It is not our intention to notice, except historically, the festivals 
 of more modern institution ; our present attention being confined to 
 those prescribed by the law of Moses. Most of these have now 
 been noticed ; and it only remains to describe the one monthly 
 feast, and those extraordinary festivals which were only celebrated 
 after the recurrence of a certain number of years. 
 
 The only monthly feast was that of the New Moon ; and this was 
 not formally described as a feast, but was directed to be marked by 
 particular observances, designed probably for the purpose of mark- 
 ing more distinctly the beginnings and endings of the months, which 
 were lunar among the Hebrews ; and the due computation of which 
 was of importance for the regular observance of the other festivals. 
 The ceremonies of the new moon festival consisted in the offering 
 of additional sacrifices, and in the proclamation of the new moon 
 by the sound of trumpets. 
 
 The Jews themselves were very sensible of the real object of this 
 celebration, and were remarkably solicitous in marking the real 
 time of the new moon’s appearance. Their writers speak of calcu- 
 lations and calendars, formed for the purpose of marking the first 
 time of the moon’s phases; the little reliance which was placed 
 upon them, in comparison with material evidence, is shown by the 
 fact that the new moon was never proclaimed until two credible 
 witnesses testified that they had actually seen the new moon. The 
 measures that were in the later times of the Jewish history taken 
 for this purpose are minutely described by the Rabbinical writers. 
 Those who had seen the new moon upon the hills or in the open 
 country, hastened to the city and made known the fact to the coun- 
 cil. Thus the circumstance was usually announced by several in- 
 dependent couples of witnesses, who in return for the trouble they 
 had taken were liberally entertained at the public expense. To the 
 town and immediate environs the fact was announced by the blow- 
 ing of the priestly trumpets; and to the country by a signal-fire 
 upon the summit of Mount Olivet, which being caught up and re- 
 peated from hill to hill, speedily conveyed the fact of the authorized 
 commencement of the festival to the most distant parts of the 
 land. 
 
 We have next to notice the Sabbatical Year, which was designed 
 as “ a rest for the land ;” a year in which the land lay fallow, and 
 which for the soil corresponded to the seventh day which the law 
 had provided for man and beast. The object of this institution 
 seems to have been to prevent the exhaustion of the soil under a 
 system of agriculture which knew little of manures, and had but an 
 imperfect notion of the advantages which might be realized by a 
 regulated rotation of crops. During this year the spontaneous 
 produce of the soil was dedicated to charitable uses, and was left to be 
 enjoyed by the servants of the family, by the poor, by the way- 
 faring stranger, and by the cattle. But how was want from scarcity 
 during this and ensuing years to be averted ? That was cared for 
 by the special providence of God, who promised to give in every 
 sixth year a triple produce, to serve the inhabitants until the 
 fruits or harvest sown in the eighth year were ripe It will by 
 this be discerned that the regulation made a strong claim upon the 
 faith of the Hebrews ; and they were far from meeting its require- 
 ments, for we learn in the sequel of their history, that they gene- 
 rally chose rather to place their trust upon the ordinary provisions 
 which man makes for his household, than to rely upon the special 
 covenants of God. And yet, let it be considered that the triple 
 produce of the sixth year was received before the obligations of the 
 seventh year accrued ; ami, therefore, the neglect of the resulting 
 obligation was not a matter of worldly prudence, or of distrust ; but 
 a breach of the conditions on which the superabundance had been 
 given. It was a greediness of gain, which, under the circumstances, 
 must have been hateful in the sight of God, and which is in fact 
 mentioned as one of the great public sins which were punished by 
 the seventy years of captivity in Babylon. The slightest mention 
 of this law suffices to indicate its very extraordinary character, 
 taking together the injunction itself and the compensatory redun- 
 dance of the sixth year. 
 
Sunday XIV.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 Ill 
 
 SUNDAY XIV.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 
 HIS was an allusion to the 
 sign hereafter to be given by 
 7fg his resurrection from the 
 grave, which would be suf- 
 ficient to convince and satisfy 
 all who were not wilfully and 
 desperately blind. 
 
 Our Lord then proceeded in 
 an eloquent and impressive 
 discourse to illustrate by com- 
 parisons, and to denounce for 
 condemnation, the unbelief of 
 the generation to which he 
 had appeared. He no sooner 
 concluded, than a woman in 
 the company cried out : — 
 “ Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou 
 hast sucked ! ” And she — the very woman thus declared to be 
 blessed above all others— she must have heard these words, for 
 at that very time she stood without, accompanied by some of his 
 relations, but unable to approach him for the crowd. She heard 
 the words, and she heard the answer — “ Yea, rather, blessed are 
 they that hear the word of God and keep it.” Not, as Jeremy 
 Taylor remarks, “ not denying her to be highly blessed who had 
 received the honour of being the mother of the Messias, but ad- 
 vancing the dignities of spiritual excellencies far above the greatest 
 temporal honour in the world.” Christ, when informed that his 
 mother and brethren were without, desirous of getting access to 
 him, still spoke in the same strain, for turning round to his disciples, 
 he said — “ Behold my mother and my brethren ; for whosoever 
 doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven, lie is my brother, 
 and sister, and mother.” 
 
 The occasion of this visit from the mother and near relatives of 
 Christ is not very clearly indicated. But it may seem that at 
 Nazareth, from which he had now been a good while absent, they 
 had heard so much of his proceedings, and of the bad feeling which 
 in various high quarters he had excited, that they had come over to 
 Capernaum, to see for themselves how matters stood, and possibly 
 to dissuade him from a course of life likely to bring him into 
 danger. Whatever was their object, the maternal affection of 
 Mary, and her natural desire to see her son, will furnish a sufficient 
 reason for her accompanying them, without supposing that she in 
 any way distrusted the proceedings of her glorious son, of whose 
 divine origin and illustrious destinies such convincing evidence had 
 in former days been given to her. 
 
 The discourse of Jesus on this occasion engaged a Pharisee to 
 invite him to a dinner, at which a considerable number of other 
 Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were present. As all the 
 Orientals feed themselves with their fingers, they are very careful 
 to wash their hands before they eat, and the Jews did so. But, 
 besides this, which was necessary to cleanliness, and which of course 
 our Lord and his disciples never omitted, the Pharisees, and all 
 those who made high professions of religious purity, washed them- 
 selves with particular scrupulosity, and after a peculiar manner: 
 and any one who did not this, they regarded quite as unclean as if 
 he had not washed at all. But Christ paid no attention to this, 
 which excited the surprise and secret reprehension of the self-satisfied 
 Pharisees there present. This gave our Lord occasion to speak in 
 strong language of the outward show of superior holiness which 
 these people affected, while their hearts were full of all abomination 
 and uncleanness. The home-thrust thus made at their consciences 
 had the effect which in their case might be expected. They were 
 in the highest degree enraged, and they “began to urge him vehe- 
 mently, and to provoke him to speak many things and this they 
 did in the hope that in his wrath some words might fall from him 
 which would give them matter for accusation against him, either 
 before the Roman government or the Jewish council. But the 
 prudence of Christ frustrated their malice, in the midst of all the 
 plainness of his uncompromising reproofs. 
 
 While Jesus was thus engaged in the house of the Pharisee, a 
 great crowd of people assembled outside, who trod one upon another 
 in their eagerness to be in the way of seeing and hearing him on his 
 coming forth. When he did come out, he began first in that large 
 audience to caution his own disciples against those principles of action 
 by which the character of the Pharisees was deformed ; and instead 
 of hypocritical appearances and pretences, to maintain a conscience 
 void of offence, at whatever cost. 
 
 While he spoke, one of the crowd implored him to use the au- 
 
 thority which belonged to his character, to induce his brother to give 
 to him that portion of the inheritance which, since the death of their 
 father, he had injuriously withheld. It was not unusual among the 
 Jews for men to submit their differences for arbitration to persons 
 venerated for their religious character, but who laid no legal power 
 of enforcing their own decrees. The inconveniences of judicial ap- 
 peal were thus avoided, and, from the confidence entertained in their 
 impartiality and wisdom, their awards were more cordially obeyed 
 than even those of the authorized magistrates. In the present case 
 the man might also have expected that Jesus, as the Messiah, would 
 act in the character of a prince, and so decide controversies relating 
 to property. But Christ always resisted this notion ; and he answered, 
 “ Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you ?” Which was 
 as much as to say, “My kingdom is of a spiritual nature, and J 
 meddle not with the civil rights and properties of men.” 
 
 It is probable that the other brother was present, and that there 
 was too eager a desire in both to obtain the largest possible portion 
 of the property in dispute. These suppositions are suggested by 
 the fact that Jesus, who was always ready to give to his discourses 
 whatever point they might derive from instant circumstances, pro- 
 ceeded to warn the assembled people against avarice and worldly- 
 mindedness, and to direct their wishes to divine attainments and 
 heavenly felicities. In the course of which he put forth the signi- 
 ficant parable of the prosperous man whose mind was fully occupied 
 in planning larger barns wherein to store the increasing produce 
 of his fields, when he was arrested by the awful intimation — “ Thou 
 fool ! this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall 
 those things be which thou hast provided?” 
 
 Most of those whom he addressed were, however, in such humble 
 circumstances of life, as to be in less danger from setting their 
 hearts upon earthly treasures, than from the cares of the passing day 
 and overmuch solicitude about the necessary supplies of life. 
 Against this also he therefore proceeded to caution them, and 
 encouraged them to ease of mind in all these respects, by the con- 
 sideration that divine Providence would not fail to make adequate 
 provision for the real wants of all those who made the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness the first objects of their solicitude. This 
 he enforced, as usual, by lively illustrations drawn from actual cir- 
 cumstances. Observing a flight of “ ravens,” or rather “ crows,” lie 
 said, “ Consider the ravens ; for they neither sow nor reap, neither 
 have storehouse nor barn : and God feedeth them. How much 
 more are ye better than the fowls?” There is the more force in 
 this, when we bear in mind how specially observable, in the opinion 
 of the ancients, was the good providence of God with respect to this 
 kind of bird. Several of them remark that young crows are driven 
 away from the nest as soon as they are able to fly, and are after- 
 wards supported, we scarce know how, by a remarkable providence 
 of God. Philo, a learned Jew of those times, also remarks that 
 many are naturally forgetful, and often fail to return to their nests : 
 yet, by the wise and merciful providence of God, they instinctively 
 heap together in their nests whatever may breed worms, by which 
 their abandoned young are nourished and preserved. Some of these 
 notions concerning crows are now known to be incorrect ; and we 
 mention them merely to .show the emphasis which their existence in 
 the popular mind must have afforded to the beautiful allusion which 
 our Lord makes to these birds. 
 
 Again, lilies are abundant in Palestine — and at the time of our 
 Saviour’s discourse they were probably in bloom. Referring to 
 these, Jesus said, pursuing his illustration, “ Consider the lilies 
 of the field,” — not of the garden, cultivated with care, — “ how they 
 grow. They toil not, ” — as men in their laborious employments, 
 
 “ neither do they spin ” — like women in their more sedentary 
 occupations; “and yet I say unto you, that Solomon, in all his 
 glory, was not arrayed like one of these.” And then came the 
 forcible application: “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of 
 the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
 how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith ! ” This 
 will be the better understood when it is remarked that, after the 
 moisture of spring has been absorbed, all wild herbage and decayed 
 plants become rapidly dry in Palestine under the fervent heat of 
 summer, and are, with all other decayed and dried vegetable pro- 
 ducts, collected for fuel. There was, and is, much scarcity of fuel 
 in Palestine ; but, except in the depth of winter, there was little 
 need of it but for cooking and baking bread. This is the reason that 
 fuel is usually described as being “ cast into the oven.” And this 
 phrase may be better understood if we remember that the oven was 
 usually a pit in the floor, the fire in which served both for fuel and, 
 in winter, for warmth. These dry stalks and twigs were particularly 
 suitable for the baking of bread, and were therefore preferred for 
 the oven when bread was to be baked. 
 
a 
 
 168. — Ancient Comets.— a, from Herculaneum ; 
 b, from Calmet. 
 
 Cyrn Hynafol.— a, o Herculaneum ; b, o Calmet. 
 
 359 (i Trumpet or Funeral Pipe, from an ancient lomb at 
 
 Troy ; b, Smaller, of the same kind, from Herculaneum. 
 
 a Yr Udgorn neu’r Bibell Angladdol, o Feddrod hynafol yn 
 ’ Troy ; b , Math llai, o’r un rliyw, o Herculaneum. 
 
 370.— Ancient Trumpet, Irom 
 Calmet.— Psalm xcviii. 
 Hen Udgorn, o Calmet. 
 
 jjl, Trumpets sounumg an Alarm. t MelviUe.)-Num. «-• 
 
 Udgyrn yn seinio Larwm. 
 
 873 — Kam’0 Horn Blower.— Joshua ■rt. 
 Chwythwr Corn Hwrdd. 
 
875. — Psalm lvii. 
 
 383.— Psalm ixv. 
 
 374.— Psalm Ivi. 
 
 E merciful unto me, 0 God, for man gocth about to devour me ; 
 he is daily fighting, and troubling me.— 1. 
 
 Psalm lvii. 
 
 They have laid a net for my feet, and pressed down my soul : 
 they have digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst 
 of it themselves. — 7. 
 
 379. — Psalm 1 xi. 
 
 377.— Psalm lix. 
 
 381.— Psalm lxiiL 
 
 382. — Psalm ixiv. 
 
 Psalm lxv. 
 
 The fold shall be full of sheep : the valleys also shall stand so 
 tnick with corn, that they shall laugh and fing.— 13. 
 
 380. — Psalm lxii. 
 
 Y soul truly waitetb still upon God : for of him cometh my sal- 
 vation. — 1. 
 
 384.— Psalm LxrL 
 
 376. — Psalm Iviii. 
 
 378. — Psalm lx. 
 
 Q 
 
 385.— Psalm Ixvii. 
 
 113 
 
114 
 
 THE TSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XV. 
 
 SUNDAY XV.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 Wind Instruments. 
 
 HE other wind instruments of 
 the Hebrews were horns, trum- 
 pets, and pipes. 
 
 The horns were the horns of 
 animals, and have, in most cases, 
 retained the name when they 
 came to be made of metals, in 
 the shape, more or less, of the 
 original instruments. This is 
 undoubtedly the most ancient 
 instrument of the trumpet kind 
 in the world. The facility of 
 the invention, or rather the dis- 
 covery, and the extreme sim- 
 plicity of the instrument, have 
 occasioned the natural horn of different animals to be in use among 
 all nations ; and its extreme antiquity is evinced by figures in the 
 most ancient existing monuments, whether Egyptian, Greek, or 
 Roman. 
 
 There is no doubt that the Hebrew word keren denotes a horn 
 as an instrument of music; and it seems probable that another 
 Hebrew word, sophar, denotes also a horn. We may conceive 
 that at first the former word denoted the natural, and the other the 
 artificial horn ; and that when the natural horn went out of use, 
 the former word denoted the instrument which was the most bent 
 into a resemblance of the natural horn, and the other the one which 
 was less bent and had less of that resemblance. It is of some im- 
 portance to take notice of tins, seeing that the word sophar is 
 always translated by “trumpet” in our version, which is likely to 
 mislead those who do not know that the word usually denoting a 
 “ trumpet,” and so translated, is different from this in the original 
 language. 
 
 There is a curious controversy whether the original “ horns ” of 
 the Hebrews were the horns of rams or of neat cattle; but the 
 general decision seems to be in favour of a kind of ram s horn, of 
 which in the East there are various species and sizes. Against 
 this conclusion, indeed, a great authority, Bochart, contends very 
 warmly ; and this he does on two grounds, first, that the ancient 
 Greeks and Romans did not employ rams’ horns for the purpose, 
 but those of neat cattle; and, second, that rams’ horns are not 
 hollow. In answer to the first, Pfeiffer, a very learned German 
 writer on the music of the Hebrews, remarks with great truth that 
 no general inference can be drawn from it, adding, “ Badly, indeed, 
 would it fare with our Hebrew antiquities, if we should always seek 
 for them at Rome or Athens.” The testimony of Josephus that 
 Gideon and his soldiers had rams’ horns, if in this case no better, 
 is at least as good as that of the Greek and Roman antiquities. On 
 the second point, it is very amusing to see the learned array of 
 authorities, pro and con , as to whether rams’ horns are hollow or 
 not ; when the matter is one of fact, which almost every one might, 
 with the least possible trouble, verify by his own observations. It 
 would then appear that the horns of the kind of animals supposed 
 to be comprehended under the general term of rams’ horns, are 
 more or less hollow through the lower part, and only become solid 
 towards the point, and that the hollow of the lower part can be 
 widened with little trouble, and can be extended through that 
 portion of the smaller extremity which remains solid after the tip 
 has been cut off. 
 
 The use of the instrument is clearly indicated in Scripture ; but 
 this is scarcely recognised by the English reader, as the word, 
 being more usually sophar than keren , occurs as “ trumpet ” in 
 i lie authorized version. It was usually employed in making an- 
 nouncements, as its strong sound would have confounded a choir of 
 singers rather than elevated their music. Accordingly we find it at 
 the giving of the law, where it was employed to call the people to 
 hear that law proclaimed (Exod. xix. 13). When the covenant was 
 again renewed, the people made known their joy amidst the blowing 
 of horns or horn-like trumpets (Num. x. 10). They were also 
 blown at every new moon, and every festival, even the burnt- 
 otferings and thanks-off'erings, as a memorial before God. At the 
 Feast of “ Trumpets ” they were blown by the priests and Levites 
 throughout the land. Of many other references to them, we must 
 be content to notice the one in Matt. vi. 2 — “ When thou doest an 
 alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee,” &c. This is often under- 
 stood metaphorically, but there is no need of doing this, for it is a 
 fact that beggars in the East, especially dervishes and other re- 
 
 ligious beggars, do often solicit alms in connection with music. 
 A little drum, or the rattling of some hard substance in a metal 
 bowl, are often employed; but there is also a “beggar’s horn,” 
 not unfrequently seen in the hands of dervishes. Something of this 
 kind is in all likelihood the practice which our Saviour had in 
 view. 
 
 Of the Trumpets (in Hebrew chatzotzroth), properly so called, our 
 information is more distinct than of the horns. They are dis- 
 tinguished from the latter by being without any bend, and by 
 being in all cases of metal. Among the Israelites their use was 
 prescribed by a divine regulation, by which Moses was directed to 
 make two trumpets of beaten silver for sacerdotal uses. There is 
 little doubt that the original form of these trumpets was perpetuated 
 in those in after-ages made for the temple service; and of these we 
 happen to have authentic figures in the sculptures on the arch of 
 Titus, which fully correspond with the Mosaical intimations, and 
 also with the description of Josephus, who, as a priest, doubtless 
 framed his account after those which were in his time actually in 
 use. Moses, he says, “ invented a species of trumpet of silver. 
 Its length was little less than a cubit, and it was somewhat thicker 
 than a flute. Its opening was oblong, so as to permit blowing in 
 it with the mouth. At the lower end it had the form of a bell,” &c. 
 These accounts tally very closely with the figures of trumpets 
 which we observe in the Egyptian monuments. It is about a foot 
 and a half long, apparently of brass (being coloured yellow) ; and 
 when sounded it was held witli both hands, and either used singly 
 or as part of the military band, with the drum and other instru- 
 ments. It was straight, like the Roman tuba, or our common 
 trumpet, and appears to have been particularly, although not ex- 
 clusively, appropriated to martial uses. 
 
 Moses was commanded to make only two trumpets, because the 
 priests for whose use they were intended were then only two. 
 Afterwards far more of them were made. When, however, riches 
 disappeared from Palestine, baser metal was employed in the 
 manufacture of these trumpets (2 Kings xii. 13). They were em- 
 ployed in calling the congregation together, in sacrifices, and in 
 battles. 
 
 It is agreed that Pipes or Flutes of some kind or other are 
 denoted by the Hebrew word chalil. People employed these 
 instruments in connection with others at the Feast of Tabernacles, 
 and in general at every feast, — especially, however, while journey- 
 ing up to Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts there. At least 
 Isaiah (xxx. 29) refers to such a use : — “ Ye shall have a song as 
 in the night, when a holy solemnity is kept ; and gladness of heart, 
 as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the 
 Lord.” To accompany travelling with music and singing is 
 common in the East even at the present day. We also find a 
 general usage of this kind, for the sons of the prophets went forth 
 to meet Saul with various kinds of music, and among others with 
 pipes (1 Sam. x. 5). This instrument was also employed at the 
 anointing of Solomon (1 Kings i. 40). For the most part it was 
 consecrated to joy and pleasure; hence, in the time of Judas 
 Maccabaeus, the Israelites complained “ that all joy had vanished 
 from Jacob, and the pipe and the cithara were silent” (1 Macc. iii. 
 45). It was, however, employed also on serious occasions, as there 
 was a distinct pipe of plaintive tone adapted to such occasions. 
 Players on such instruments were present in the death-chamber of 
 Jairus’s daughter ; and the attendance of pipers at funerals and 
 lamentations is often mentioned by the Jewish writers. Josephus 
 speaks of them, and says that many hired pipers (lie uses the very 
 word which is translated “ minstrels ” in Matt. ix. 23), led the way 
 in the wailings. We learn also from the Rabbinical writers that 
 even the poorest Israelite, when his wife died, had two pipers and 
 one wailing woman to make lamentations; and the sick had more, 
 according to their dignity or means of payment. 
 
 Much speculation respecting the form of the Hebrew pipes may 
 be regarded as superseded by the discovery of those figured on the 
 Egyptian monuments. These are of two kinds, single and double. 
 The former is sometimes of extraordinary length, and the holes 
 placed so low, that when playing the musician was obliged to extend 
 his arms. It is of equal breadth throughout, not spreading out at 
 the lower end like those in modern use. This pipe seems to have 
 belonged principally, if not exclusively, to male performers, who 
 held it with both their hands, and either stood, knelt, or sat upon 
 the ground. The double pipe consisted of two pipes, which seem 
 to have been occasionally united together by a common mouth- 
 piece, and played each with the corresponding hand. It was not 
 only used on solemn occasions, but very generally at festive banquets, 
 both among the Egyptians and the Greeks. Men, but more fre- 
 quently women, played upon it. 
 
Sunday XY.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 115 
 
 SUNDAY XV.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 A KING such facts as these into ac- 
 count, we begin to perceive that the 
 discourses of Christ often received a 
 strong - emphasis from surrounding cir- 
 cumstances, or from the sentiments 
 and manners of the people, which does 
 not readily or immediately occur to us 
 under the great differences in our 
 social condition, our climate, and our 
 age. 
 
 From this, by an easy transition, our 
 Lord proceeded to dwell upon the necessity of a state of constant 
 preparedness for removal from this world and for the awful solemni- 
 ties of the world to come. This, according to his wont, lie illustrates 
 by comparisons and parables, mostly drawn from the condition of 
 servants awaiting the return of their master. The good servants wait 
 with their loins girded for ready service, and, if it be night, with their 
 lamps burning, their very uncertainty as to the exact time of their 
 master’s return making them to be the more anxious to be ready 
 whenever he does come. But the bail servants, thinking their master 
 never will come, because his coming is delayed, begin to eat, to 
 drink, and to quarrel — when suddenly the master arrives, to their 
 shame and confusion, and inflicts upon them the due punishment of 
 their misdeeds (Luke xii. 35 — 48). 
 
 When Jesus had concluded his discourse, some of the persons 
 present began to speak of a matter which excited much attention 
 at that time. A demagogue named Judas of Gaulonitis went about 
 asserting that God was the only sovereign of the Hebrew nation, 
 and that consequently it was utterly unlawful to acknowledge any 
 human sovereignty, much less to pay tribute and yield obedience 
 to a heathen people like the Romans. He obtained many followers, 
 chiefly in Galilee, who gave much trouble to the Roman govern- 
 ment. Lately Pilate had circumvented and slain a body of these 
 men, when they had gone to Jerusalem at one of the public feasts, 
 so that, in effect, “ their blood was mingled with (that of) their 
 sacrifices.” 
 
 Now the Jews firmly believed that grievous disorders or heavy 
 calamities were sent by God in punishment for sin. Perceiving 
 that the case was mentioned by those present with this feeling 
 Jesus took occasion to give this notion his authoritative contradic- 
 tion ; affirming that those who heard him were equally sinners 
 before God, and should also perish unless they repented. With the 
 same view he also referred to an accident which formed the talk 
 of the day — the fall of the tower of Siloam, in .Jerusalem, whereby 
 eighteen persons had been killed ; asserting that these persons were 
 not necessarily sinners above others for having been thus destroyed ; 
 although this was the undoubted persuasion of all his auditors. 
 Mohammedanism, which borrowed much from the gospels, has pro- 
 duced a change of opinion in this respect in Western Asia, so that 
 any one who now dies by such an accident as the fall of a tower, or 
 of a wall, is regarded as a martyr. 
 
 The same day our Lord left the town, and went out by the sea- 
 shore ; and, being still attended by a great multitude of people, he 
 went into a boat, and addressed them from thence. His discourse 
 was still chiefly in parables. Speaking of this, Jeremy Taylor re- 
 marks : “ He taught them by parables, under which were hid 
 mysterious senses, which shined through their veil like a bright 
 sun through an eye closed with a thin eye-lid.” 
 
 It is very likely that most of them, being taken from the culture 
 of the soil, were suggested by the agricultural operations then 
 actually in progress before the eyes of the audience upon the sides 
 of the surrounding hills. 
 
 The first was the significant parable of the sower, in which the 
 different reception which the word of God finds in different hearts is 
 compared to the different soils on which the seed, broad-cast by the 
 sower, falls. 
 
 Then followed the parable of the tares sown maliciously among 
 good corn. I hese the indiscreet zeal of the husbandmen would 
 have rooted up as soon as they appeared ; but were prevented 
 by the sage discretion of the master, who feared that the tares could 
 not be pulled up without damage to the young wheat ; “ Let both 
 grow together unto the harvest,” he said: “and in the time of 
 harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, 
 and bind them into bundles to burn them : but gather the wheat 
 into my bam.” 
 
 The three following parables, that of the insensible growth of 
 
 corn, certain and timely, while man goes about the daily business 
 of life and heeds not of it (Mark iv. 26 — 29) ; that of the smallest 
 of seeds becoming a large tree, in whose branches the birds of the 
 air find shelter (Matt. xiii. 31, 32) ; and that of the small piece of 
 leaven which left in three measures of meal leavened the whole 
 mass; all have seemingly the same reference to the gradual but 
 sure spread of the gospel under the preaching of the Apostles ; 
 while, without doubt, there is in them a secondary reference to the 
 rise and progress of divine grace in the soul of every subject of 
 Christ’s spiritual kingdom. 
 
 After this Jesus returned to the town; and when he was alone 
 with his disciples, he expounded to them some of the parables which 
 he had delivered to the people. To them he then added some other 
 short parables designed yet further to illustrate the character and 
 objects of the divine kingdom. First, he compared it to a treasure 
 hid in a field, which when a man had discovered, he joyfully 
 hastened to sell all he possessed to buy that field. This, like most 
 of the other parables, had a foundation in local impressions which 
 are not at once apparent to a Western reader. But in the East, 
 where in times of trouble large amounts of property are concealed, 
 the owners of which are slain, or go away and never return to 
 reclaim what they hid, every one is more or less a treasure-seeker, 
 and lives in the hope of being some day or other enriched by the 
 discovery of hidden treasure. The same feeling was in this 
 country the growth of the civil wars and troubles of former ages, 
 till at length “treasure-finding” became a distinct branch of 
 the occult sciences : and at this day there are perhaps not many 
 villages in our rural districts which do not possess some tradition 
 referring the enrichment of some principal family in the neighbour- 
 hood to the discovery of a crock of gold. 
 
 The next parable, of a merchant — that is a travelling dealer in 
 jewels — seeking goodly pearls, and selling all that he had to buy 
 one pearl of great price which lie had found, describes a circum- 
 stance which at present occurs often to the highly intelligent 
 and most respectable class of men who follow that vocation, and 
 who not seldom spend the best years of their lives in travelling to 
 and from distant lands in search of “goodly pearls” and other 
 precious stones. There is perhaps not one of them w ho has not at 
 times met with a jewel of such great beauty and high price, that he 
 has been obliged to sell all his inferior jewels and every valuable 
 article he possessed in order to obtain it. 
 
 The next parable compared the kingdom of heaven to “ a net that 
 was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind ; and when it was 
 full they drew to shore, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast 
 the bad away.” This is of course done more or less by all fisher- 
 men, but it has perhaps not occurred to many readers that this 
 selection was a nice and important matter among the Hebrews, who 
 were forbidden to eat fish devoid of fins or scales, and among whom, 
 therefore, the fish described as “ bad” must have been more 
 numerous than among other people. 
 
 Afterwards, Christ perceiving that the crowd of persons as- 
 sembled in the neighbourhood began to increase very rapidly by 
 arrivals from the surrounding districts, thought it expedient to pass 
 over to the other side of the lake. But before he departed, he 
 found occasion to deliver some emphatic and pointed answers to 
 the declarations of two or three persons. 
 
 The first was one of the scribes, who being about to depart said, 
 “Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” Jesus 
 neither declined nor permitted this attendance, but said what pro- 
 bably was enough to deter a man in his condition — “ The foxes have 
 holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of Man 
 hath not where to lay his head ” — meaning that he had no certain 
 dwelling-place, no home, for any one who followed him: which 
 may satisfy us that even in Capernaum, which seems to have been 
 his most usual residence, lie either occupied a hired residence or 
 lived in the house of a disciple. 
 
 Another expressed the same intention, but said : — “ Lord, suffer 
 me first to go and bury my father.” It might certainly have 
 been expected, in the first view, that Jesus, full of kind affections, 
 would have complied with this, when even Elijah, severe as was 
 his character, allowed Elisha to bid adieu to his parents (1 Kings 
 xix. 20). But Jesus answered in a kind of sententia paradoxa, turn- 
 ing upon the metaphorical and physical meaning of the word 
 “dead.” “Let the dead ” (the unconverted or spiritually dead) 
 
 “ bury their dead, but go thou and preach the gospel.” Of two 
 duties the lesser must yield to the greater; and the duty of follow- 
 ing Christ and preaching his gospel was more urgent and quite aa 
 sacred as that which prevented the high priest among the Jews 
 from approaching the dead of his house, or showing any signs of 
 mourning for them. 
 
 Q2 
 

 
302 — Hare. — Lev. xi. 
 Ysgyfarnog. 
 
 391. Hyrax Syriacus. Cbney— Prov. xxx. 
 Cwningen. 
 
 394.— Dorcas Gazelle. 
 
 396.— Lacerta Stellio. — Lev. xi. 
 
 Ysteiio. 
 
 i 
 
 Gafrewig Dorcas. 
 
 397. -Lacerta Scincut. — Lev. xL 
 Lysard. 
 
118 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XV. 
 
 SUNDAY XV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 T is also to be observed, that 
 in this year, that is, in every 
 seventh year, all personal 
 bondage of one Hebrew 
 citizen to another ceased, and 
 all debts became void. The 
 former circumstance will be 
 understood by reference to 
 the fact, that a man who had 
 fallen into a distressed con- 
 dition might sell his services 
 to another for a given time, 
 or a creditor might attach 
 the services of the debtor in 
 payment of his debt. In either 
 way lie became a bondman ; 
 but as tli is power was liable to abuse, the bondage thus incurred could 
 not last beyond the Sabbatical year. There is a curious trace of this 
 in our seven years’ term of apprenticeship ; and the policy of civilized 
 nations has led them to imitate, whether designedly or not, the 
 other branch of this law, by statutes which, like our statute of limit- 
 ations, forbid debts to be claimed after a given number of years. 
 
 A more solemn Sabbatical year was the Jubilee , which was held 
 every seventh Sabbatical year, that is, at the end of avery forty-nine 
 years, or in the fiftieth current year. Besides the privileges common 
 to other Sabbatical years, it had some peculiar to itself, which raised 
 it to a high and honoured distinction. And as few could hope 
 to see more than one of these celebrations in their lifetime, the 
 people abandoned themselves the more entirely to the fulness of 
 joy which the benefits of this great year were calculated to inspire. 
 
 The festival commenced on the tenth day of the month Tishri, in 
 the evening of the Day of Atonement, when it was proclaimed by 
 sound of trumpet throughout the whole land. At that blast, which 
 blew but once in fifty years, thousands who lay in debt and bondage 
 started up free men, and thousands of poor and forlorn men, who 
 had long pined at seeing their heritage in the hands of strangers, be- 
 came once more the lords of their ancestral patrimonies. The Jubi- 
 lee not only relieved the seven years’ bondman, but terminated the 
 bondage even of those who had voluntarily declined the release of 
 the Sabbatical year, and had suffered their ears to be bored in token 
 of continued servitude in families to which they had become attached. 
 Even these became free ; for the trumpet proclaimed “ liberty 
 throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.” But the 
 grand distinction of this year was, as already intimated, that all 
 estates which had been sold reverted to their original possessors. The 
 first grants of land were designed to be perpetuated in the same 
 families to all generations. But as to deprive the proprietors of every- 
 thing like a right of sale might have been productive of much incon- 
 venience, the power of selling their possessions for a term of years — 
 not extending beyond the next year of Jubilee — was conceded. 
 There is much in this law which well deserves our serious examina- 
 tion ; and the more we examine it the better we shall be satisfied of 
 its peculiar fitness for the people and the condition of life for which 
 it was framed. In this view we are not to overlook two very 
 important considerations — one is, that the Lord himself was the 
 sovereign proprietor of the soil, the people occupying the station of 
 tenants in fee to him— which is expressly assigned as a reason why 
 it was put out of their power to alienate the land for ever. The 
 other is, that this law was confined to the land, and not to buildings. 
 Houses in a town might be sold in perpetuity, without being re- 
 leased in the Jubilee year. 
 
 In this survey our attention is necessarily limited to those parts 
 of the Law of Moses which took the character of public institutions 
 exhibited in material facts and stated observances. Some of these, 
 however, could have only applied to their migratory state. Such 
 were the services of the Merarites, the Kohathites, and the Ger- 
 shonites in transporting the tabernacle, of which we have spoken in 
 page 94, and probably also the hewers of wood were necessary 
 auxiliaries to the camp appointments. There are many other parts 
 of the law which it would be interesting to examine, did the necessity 
 of proceeding with the historical narrative admit of the delay. Such 
 in particular are the laws concerning Purifications, Vows, Naza- 
 riteship, Leprosy, Dress, and the distinction of Meats. On the last 
 subject, which must have had a remarkable influence on the social re- 
 lations of the people, we must allow ourselves to combine some remarks 
 which have been offered in the ‘ Pictorial History of Palestine,’ pp. 
 292 — 294, and the ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ under Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. 
 
 Distinctions of Food . — The code of Moses is remarkable, above 
 
 all others of early date, for the attention which it pays to the pre- 
 servation of the public health. This has been already noticed with 
 respect to the regulations concerning leprosy. The same appears 
 in many other matters, and may be particularly instanced with 
 respect to the distinctions of food as “ clean” or “ unclean,” that is, 
 “fit” or “ unfit” to be the food of man. But while the exclusive 
 use of wholesome kinds of food was secured to the people by the 
 law, which declared all which was in any degree unwholesome to 
 be ceremonially unclean ; the distinction also operated powerfully 
 in one of the great leading objects of the Mosaical institutions, that 
 of keeping them apart as a peculiar people. In fact, as Tappan 
 well observes— “This statute, above all others, established not only 
 a political and sacred, but a physical, separation of the Jews from 
 other people. It made it next to impossible for the one to mix 
 with the other, either in meals or in marriage, or in any familiar 
 connection. Their opposite customs in the article of diet not only 
 precluded a friendly and comfortable intimacy, but generated 
 mutual contempt and abhorrence. The Jew religiously abhorred 
 the society, manners, and institutions of the Gentiles, because they 
 viewed their own abstinence from forbidden meats as a token of 
 peculiar sanctity, and, of course, regarded other nations, who wanted 
 this sanctity, as vile and detestable. They considered themselves 
 as secluded by God himself from the profane world by a pe- 
 culiar worship, government, law, mode of living, and country. 
 Though this separation from other people, on which the law re- 
 specting food w'as founded, created in the Jews a criminal pride and 
 hatred of the Gentiles ; yet it forcibly operated as a preservative 
 from idolatry by precluding all familiarity with idolatrous nations.” 
 The separation thus effected is distinctly avowed as a principal 
 reason for this remarkable portion of the Mosaical law (Lev. xx. 25. 
 26). But at the same time there is no indistinct reference to some 
 inherent unsuitableness in the articles of food to which the pro- 
 hibition extends. These were as follows : — 
 
 1 . Quadrupeds which do not ruminate, and have not feet completely 
 cloven. This of course excluded all solid-footed animals, such as 
 the horse and ass, as well as those whose feet are imperfectly divided, 
 such as the camel, all many-toed animals, such as the hare and shapha.n 
 which appears to be the Syrian hyrax and not the “ coney” or rabbit, 
 as in our version. This animal has only of late been identified with 
 the shaphan. It is rather abundant in the region wherein the 
 Israelites wandered forty years. Laborde describes it thus : — “ These 
 creatures are very lively in their movements, and endeavour to bite 
 when they are ’caught. Their hair is brown yellow, which becomes 
 pale as the animals grow old. In appearance they somewhat re- 
 semble a guinea-pig. Their legs are all of the same length, but the 
 form of the feet is peculiar; instead of nails or claws, they have 
 three toes in front and four behind, and they walk, like rabbits, on 
 the whole length of the foot. The Arabs call it el-Wabber, and 
 know no other name for it. It is common in this part of the country 
 (about the Elanitic Gulf), and lives upon the scanty herbage with 
 which the hills in the neighbourhood of springs supply it. It 
 does not burrow in the earth, its feet not being calculated for that, 
 but it conceals itself in the natural holes or clefts which it finds in 
 the rocks.” None would suppose that this animal had much re- 
 semblance to a rhinoceros, yet Cuvier has shown that the skeleton 
 offers, on a small scale, a great resemblance to those of the rhinoceros 
 and tapir ; and from this he powerfully argues the importance of 
 anatomy in determining the real conformities of animals. 
 
 The prohibition extended also to all non-ruminant animals, even 
 though cloven-footed, such as the hog. In Lev. xi. 29. several of 
 the interdicted animals are specified by name, such as the weasel 
 and the mouse. The word rendered “ mouse” is akbar, and means 
 the jerboa, which is found abundantly in the deserts of Syria and 
 Arabia. The jerboa is about the size of a large rat, and its move- 
 ments have considerable resemblance to those of the kangaroo. 
 Though forbidden to the Hebrews, it is caught and eaten with 
 much satisfaction by the desert Arabs, nor do the inhabitants of 
 towns object to eat it. Other animals are prohibited by names 
 which, although rendered by “tortoise,” “ferret,” &c., in the 
 authorized version, are supposed to denote various kinds of lizards, 
 which abounded in Egypt and Palestine, and in the desert which 
 lies between these countries. In Deut. xiv. 4, o, some animals are 
 named as specimens of those which might be eaten. These are the 
 ox, the sheep, the hart, the roe-buck (the Arabian gazelle), the 
 fallow-deer, the wild goat (ibex), the pygarg ( antilope addax?), the 
 wild ox (the original word more probably denotes the North African 
 or dorcas gazelle), and the zemer , which some take to be the giraffe, 
 and others the kebsch, or ovis tragilaphus, figures of which are given 
 in p. 49. and which are often represented in Egyptian monuments ; 
 this animal is still found in the mountains of Sinai and Edom. 
 
Sunday XV.] 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 119 
 
 SUNDAY XV.— THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 X Jeremiah t here are several interesting- 
 allusions to birds, which it seems desirable 
 to bring together in the present page. 
 In viii. 7, there is the following beautiful 
 allusion to the periodical migrations of 
 certain kinds of birds: — “ Tea, the 
 stork in heaven knoweth her appointed 
 times; and the turtle, and the crane, and 
 the swallow observe the time of their 
 coming : but my people know not the 
 judgment of the Lord.” 
 
 On this subject the reader will be 
 pleased to see Mr. Sharon Turner’s remarks, in his 1 Sacred History 
 of the World ’ (i. 327). “ One of the most, special appointments of 
 
 the Creator, as to birds, and which nothing but this chosen design 
 and corresponding ordainment can explain, is the law that so many 
 kinds shall migrate from one country to another, and most commonly 
 at vast distances from each other. They might have been all framed 
 to breed, be born, live, and die in the same region, as occurs to some, 
 and as quadrupeds and insects do. But he has chosen to make them 
 travel from one climate to another, with unerring precision, from an 
 irresistible instinct, with a wonderful courage, with an untiring mo- 
 bility, and in a right and never-failing direction, tor this purpose 
 they cross oceans without fear, and with a persevering exertion that 
 makes our most exhausting labours a comparative amusement. Phi- 
 losophy in vain endeavours to account for the extraordinary pheno- 
 menon. It cannot discover any adequate physical reason. Warmer 
 temperatures are not essentially necessary to incubation, nor always 
 the object of the emigration ; for the snow-bunting, though a bird 
 of song, goes into the frozen zone to breed, lay, and nurture its 
 young. The snow-bird has the same taste or constitution for the 
 chilling weather which the majority recede from. We can only 
 resolve all these astonishing journeys into the appointment of the 
 Creator, who has assigned to every bird the habits, as well as 
 the form, which it was his pleasure to imagine and to attach to 
 it. The watchful naturalist may hear, if not see, several migrations 
 of those which frequent our island, both to and fro, as spring advances, 
 and as autumn declines; but as they take place chiefly in the night 
 or at early dawn, and in the higher regions of the atmosphere, they 
 are much oftener audible than visible to us on the surface of the 
 earth.” 
 
 The reader may also be referred to a note on this subject in the 
 ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ under the present text. There, among other 
 matter, will be found the following extract from Mr. Kirby’s 
 ‘ Bridgewater Treatise,’ which we cannot resist the opportunity of 
 bringing under the notice of our younger readers, as it develops the 
 sufficient object in these migrations, which appears to have escaped 
 the observation of Mr. Turner. 
 
 “If we give the subject of the migration of animals due con- 
 sideration, and reflect what would be the consequence if no animals 
 ever changed their quarters, we shall find abundant reasotis for 
 thankfulness to the Almighty Father of the Universe, for the care 
 he has taken of his whole family, and of his creature man in par- 
 ticular, consulting not only his sustentation and the gratification of 
 his palate, by multiplying and varying his food, but also that of his 
 other senses, by the beauty, motions, and music of the animals that 
 are his summer or winter visitors : did the nightingale forsake our 
 groves ; the swallow, our houses and gardens ; the cod-fish, mackerel, 
 salmon, and herring, our seas; and all the other animals that, oc- 
 casionally visit their several haunts, — how vast would be the abstrac- 
 tion from the pleasure and comfort of our lives ! 
 
 “ By means of these migrations, the profits and enjoyments deriv- 
 able from the animal creation are also more equally divided — at 
 one season visiting the south, and enlivening their winter ; and at 
 another adding to the vernal and summer delights of the inhabitant 
 of the less genial regions of the north, and making up to him for the 
 privations of winter. 
 
 “ Had the Creator so willed, all these animals might have been 
 organised so as not to require a warmer or a colder climate for the 
 breeding or rearing of their young ; but his will was, that some of 
 his best gifts should thus oscillate, as it were, between two points, 
 that the benefits they conferred might be the more widely dis- 
 tributed, and not become the sole property of the inhabitants of 
 one climate ; thus the swallow gladdens the sight both of the Briton 
 and African ; and the herring visits the coasts, and the salmon the 
 rivers of every region of the globe. What can more strongly 
 
 mark design and the intention of an all-powerful, all-wise, and 
 beneficent Being, than that such a variety of animals should be 
 so organised and circumstanced as to be directed annually, by some 
 pressing want, to seek distant climates ; and, after a certain period, 
 to return again to their former quarters ; and that this instinct 
 should be productive of so much good to mankind, and at the same 
 time be necessary, under its present circumstances, for the pre- 
 servation and propagation of the species of these several animals? ” 
 
 All the birds named in this verse are well-known migrants, and 
 as such are found in their season in Palestine. 
 
 The Stork is known in Scripture by a name, Chasidah , which 
 may be translated by “ kind ;” in manifest allusion to the great 
 kindness of disposition, the almost human consideration manifested 
 by the pairs, and by the old ones to the young, and (as is said) 
 by the young to the old. Their constant return to the same locali- 
 ties in towns and upon the tops of buildings, also suggested the 
 idea of local attachments, to which, by the associations which they 
 convey, the notion of ki/idty dispositions is inseparably connected. 
 Besides, its constant return, as often happens, to the higher points 
 of those house-tops to which the inhabitants themselves constantly 
 resort, conveys the notion of personal and family attachment ; and 
 it is impossible to see these large and respectable-looking birds re- 
 turn to the same house-top year after year at the appointed time, and 
 to the same large nest every evening after the labours of the day, 
 making themselves so quietly comfortable, without regarding them 
 as old arid attached members of the family, or retainers of the 
 house. They are not in the slightest degree disturbed by persons 
 walking, discoursing, singing, or playing music within three yards 
 of them. And the manner in which they turn or lift up their 
 heads when one comes to the house-top, and then relapse into re- 
 pose, or resume their former posture, implies something like per- 
 sonal recognition ; nor is there much reason to doubt that they do 
 become acquainted with the persons of the inmates of the house 
 which they have chosen for their own domicile. The degree of 
 confidence in man which all this implies is never in any country 
 abused. In some countries the murder of a man would occasion 
 far less sensation than the killing of a stork. In 'many places this 
 is a criminal offence punishable by the laws, and in others the 
 slayer of a stork would be very roughly handled, if not torn in 
 pieces, by the populace. It is known that many persons in high 
 station, in the countries which the stork frequents, have attributed 
 all the calamities of their lives to their having unintentionally 
 destroyed a stork ; and there are thousands now living in the world 
 who would consider this as nearly the greatest misfortune which 
 could befal them. 
 
 This confidence of the stork in man is, however, a grave and 
 respectful, not a familiar and intrusive confidence. We have seen 
 a great deal of storks first and last ; but can remember no instance 
 of their descending from their station — in or close by the nest, upon 
 the screen wall, turret, or wind-chimney — to the terraced roof itself; 
 or of their manifesting any inclination or readiness to cultivate any 
 closer intimacy with man. 
 
 It was, doubtless, under such aspects as these that the stork 
 appeared to the Israelites in Palestine. 
 
 The other birds mentioned in this verse are too well known to 
 require particular notice. 
 
 In xvii. 11, there is an interesting allusion to a bird, called in 
 Hebrew koie, which our version regards as a partridge : — “As the 
 partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatchet h them not.” This has been 
 curiously illustrated by different commentators, but the allusion 
 seems to be to the sedulous anxiety with which this bird sits upon 
 and watches the eggs, which are nevertheless more than commonly 
 liable, from the exposed situations in which the nest is placed, to be 
 trodden under foot, or devoured by the carnivorous animals, not- 
 withstanding all the care of both the parent birds, and the wiles by 
 which they seek to divert attention from their charge. Partridges are 
 not birds of the mountain ; but some of them, more especially those 
 red-legged species which most abound in Palestine, are partial to 
 the upland brushwood, and from this we obtain the explanation of 
 David’s expostulation with Saul, “ The King of Israel is come out 
 to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.” 
 
 From this last text it is clear that partridges were hunted by 
 the Hebrews, and probably the mode of hunting thus referred to is 
 that still practised by the Arabs, who observing that these birds 
 become languid and fatigued after they have been hastily put up 
 once or twice, rush in upon them and knock them down with their 
 staves. Tame partridges in cages are also employed to decoy into a 
 net the coveys within hearing; and to this also there appears to be 
 an allusion in Eccles. xi. 30. 
 

 o, Clapperton’ 
 
 
 Partridge. 
 
 402.— Collared Turtle. 
 Y Durtur Golerog. 
 
 398.— Swallow of Palestine.— Jer. viii. 
 Gwennol Palestina. 
 
 J2() Y Cicouia. 
 
409 — Heron. 
 Y Crvr. 
 
 404. — Hoopoe.— Lev. xi. 
 Y Gornehwigl. 
 
 405 —Cormorant.— Lev. xi. 
 Y Fuif'rua. 
 
 403 . — Oprav.— Lev . xi. 
 Y For-wennol. 
 
 406.— Ibis. —Lev. xL 
 Y Ddylluan. 
 
 407.— Hawk.— Lev. xi. 
 Y Gwalch (7 Cudyll). 
 
 410.— Ostrich.*— Lev. xi. 
 Yr Estrys. 
 
 411.— Horseshoe Bat. 
 tfr Ystlym (Ystlym Pcdol y March). 
 
 408. — Sea-Swallow.— Lev. xi. 
 Y Gog (y Pdr-wenfcol). 
 
 412. — Aquiline Vultnre. 
 Y Fwllur Eryraiild. 
 
 R 
 
 121 
 
122 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XYI. 
 
 SUNDAY XVI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE fat and other heavy and 
 innutritive parts of even 
 clean animals are forbidden. 
 They were set apart, as being- 
 consecrated to God, and were 
 the parts usually consumed 
 on the altar; a religious 
 sanction being thus given to 
 the inhibition. 
 
 3. Blood was also for- 
 bidden, and on the same 
 grounds, as being conse- 
 crated to God ; for which 
 reason none but animals 
 regularly slaughtered, so as 
 to discharge the blood completely from the body, could be eaten. 
 
 4. Serpents, and creeping vermin, also certain insects which some- 
 times fly and sometimes walk or creep upon their feet. An exception 
 is, however, made in favour of locusts and other insects, which, besides 
 four walking legs, have two larger springing legs ( pedes saltatorii). 
 
 5. With respect to birds, no particular characters are given for 
 dividing them into classes, as “clean” or “unclean;” but judging 
 from those that are specified, as far as the obsolete nature of the 
 Hebrew names will admit, it will be found that birds of prey gene- 
 rally are rejected, whether they prey on lesser fowls, or on animals, 
 or on fish ; while those that eat vegetables are admitted as lawful. 
 So that the same principle is observed, in a certain degree, as in 
 distinguishing quadrupeds. 
 
 The birds particularly named in Lev. xi. 13 — 19, are the eagle, 
 ossifrage, osprey, vulture (kite), raven, owl. The word rendered 
 “owl” is huth-hagyanah, and is now supposed to mean the ostrich : 
 it has indeed been questioned whether the ostrich exists in Syria ; but 
 Burckhardt assures us that they are found in the plains of the Haouran, 
 east of the Jordan, and that some are caught almost every year within 
 two days’ journey of Damascus. Night-hawk, cuckoo (more probably 
 the sea-swallow), hawk (sparrow-hawk), little owl (barn-owl), cormo- 
 rant, great owl (the word is yansuph, and probably denotes the Ibis), 
 swan ( tinslierneth , an uncertain bird), pelican, gier-eagle (in the 
 original racham, which probably denotes the aquiline vulture ( vultur 
 jiercnopterus), which is found in every part of Syria and Palestine, 
 particularly around the Lake of Tiberias, and on the plains of 
 Philistia. It feeds on carrion, and is of great use in clearing away 
 offal or dead carcasses. For this usefulness it is much respected, not- 
 withstanding its grim aspect. The Rev. V. Monro saw one of these 
 birds disputing with a wolf the possession of a dead buffalo in the 
 plains of Sharon. Stork, heron, lapwing (the word anapha more 
 probably denotes the hoopoe), and the bat, which, as a flying animal, 
 is here classed among birds. 
 
 6. All fish not having both fins and scales are declared unclean. 
 
 Now, in a warm climate, the heat, relaxing the fibres of the 
 
 stomach, makes digestion more slow and difficult than in our 
 colder climes, and therefore renders unwholesome and indigestible 
 to Orientals many articles of diet in which we find nothing dis- 
 agreeable. A practical illustration of this may be found in the 
 difference in our own appetites and digestive powers in winter and 
 in summer. It is not, therefore, necessary to contend that the pro- 
 hibited food was in itself, and in all climes, injurious or improper, 
 but that it was so in the particular clime and country which the 
 Hebrews were destined to inhabit ; or, at least, that there it was less 
 suited for use than the sorts of food which were declared to be 
 “ clean.” In this, as in other instances, the law was suited to a 
 particular country, and was never intended for general use or ap- 
 plication, as some have vainly supposed. It is, indeed, certain that 
 the use of the kinds of food which the law prohibits is very apt, in 
 warm climates, to produce various kinds of scorbutic and scrofulous 
 disorders — to which disorders the Hebrews appear, by the way, to 
 have been extremely liable. It is also certain that, generally speak- 
 ing, ruminating animals concoct their food better than others which 
 swallow it with little mastication, and therefore their flesh contains 
 more of the nutritious juices and is more easy of digestion, and, 
 consequently, of assimilation to the solids and fluids of the body, 
 and on this account they are particularly wholesome and fit for 
 food. The animals which do not ruminate concoct their food less 
 perfectly ; whence they abound in gross animal juices, which yield 
 a comparatively unwholesome nutriment to man. Hence it has 
 happened, in fact, that the chief supply of animal food is in most 
 countries derived from animals which ruminate, but not so exclu- 
 sively as among the Hebrews. 
 
 It is well known to all physiologists that the nutritive matter of 
 animal food is contained chiefly in the muscular fibre ; and it will 
 be seen that the law restricted the Hebrews, as much as possible, to 
 these parts, consecrating, and thereby prohibiting, the use of the 
 fattest parts as well as the blood and the liver* — or, at least, one 
 lobe of the liver, — all of which the physicians of our own day would 
 be glad to exclude from the dietary of any nation. 
 
 The unwholesomeness of blood in any form, taken as food, no one, 
 that we know of, has ever called in question ; and that this was a 
 reason for the very urgent prohibition of its use we may be well 
 assured, without denying that other reasons of a moral or typical 
 nature may also be found. Blood affords a very gross nutriment, 
 and is exceedingly difficult of digestion, and in some cases it is 
 actually dangerous to drink it, for if taken warm, and in a con- 
 siderable quantity, it may prove fatal. Blood, being also highly 
 alkalescent, particularly in warm climates, is subject to speedy 
 putrefaction, and consequently that flesh will be the most whole- 
 some, and best answer the purposes of life and health, from which 
 the blood has been the most completely drained, and it will remain 
 the longest suitable for food. Hence we see a sufficient reason for 
 the extreme care of the law that no allowed animal should be used 
 for food unless it were so slaughtered as completely to exhaust its 
 blood. The many barbarous or superstitious customs of ancient times 
 connected with the drinking of blood, and the eating of raw or 
 even living flesh, which were prevented by this law, deserve also to 
 be remembered, although they cannot be particularly specified in 
 this place. 
 
 With respect to the distinction of fish, it is only necessary to ob- 
 serve that those which are without scales, such as the conger eel, 
 and others, abound in gross juices and in fat which few stomachs 
 are able to digest with ease. 
 
 Larcherf remarks that the flesh of the eel, and of some other 
 fish, thickened the blood, and, by checking the perspiration, tended 
 to produce the diseases connected with leprosy ; and he thinks that 
 it was for this reason that the Egyptian priests forbade such fish to 
 be eaten, and, to render their prohibition effectual, caused them to 
 be accounted sacred. 
 
 From what has been said, the conclusions of Lowman may very 
 properly be stated as the result “ The food allowed the Hebrew 
 nation, as a holy people, were the gentler sort of creatures, and of 
 most common use, such as were bred about their houses and in their 
 fields, and were in a sort domestic. They were creatures of the 
 cleanest feeding, and which gave the most wholesome nourishment, 
 and were of a better taste, and might be had in greater plenty and 
 perfection by a proper care of their breeding and feeding: they 
 seem, therefore, naturally fit to be chosen as a better kind of food.” 
 
 The Israelites continued a whole year among the mountains of 
 Sinai, during which they received, through Moses, the laws by which 
 their worship and their social and political relations were to be regu- 
 lated, and the whole system under which they were thenceforth to 
 live was brought into practical operation by the establishment of 
 the priesthood and of the services connected with the tabernacle. 
 
 All this being completed, the order for removal was given, and 
 they departed from the spot which had been the scene of so many 
 great events in their history, and which was destined to become the 
 source of images magnificent and terrible to their poets, and of 
 awful retrospection to their latest descendants. 
 
 Their object was to proceed at once to take possession of their 
 promised heritage — the land of Canaan ; and this they would 
 speedily have done, had not this been prevented by conduct similar 
 to that which they had so often displayed before and after their 
 arrival at Sinai. The route which was taken on this march probably 
 lay in the direction to the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, 
 and from thence up the great valley of Arabah, to the south of the 
 Promised Land. We shall not trouble the reader with the perplexed 
 attempts of commentators to arrange this route from the scanty 
 materials which the books of Moses offer ; but shall be content to 
 report the principal circumstances which occurred by the way, and 
 to offer such remarks as may assist in determining the locality of 
 each occurrence. 
 
 The long repose in Sinai had, in some degree, unfitted the people 
 for the fatigues of travel ; and when again upon the march, they 
 soon broke forth into murmurs and complaints. At this the divine 
 anger was kindled against them ; and to make them sensible of their 
 offence, as well as to punish them for it, “ The fire of the Lord 
 
 * The Bedouins have a singular appetite for eating the liver raw and warm of 
 any sheep they kill, before they begin to dress the flesh. May not the consecration 
 of the liver L-e expressly levelled at such a custom among the Hebrews 1 
 f In Herodotus, Euterpe, Ixxi. 
 
Sunday XYL] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 123 
 
 burnt among them,” and consumed many persons on the outskirts I 
 of the camp. The fire of the Lord is a term often applied to 
 lightning in the Scriptures, and many suppose that this was the 
 agent employed on this occasion. Others think that the fire broke 
 forth from the cloud that rested over the tabernacle ; but in that 
 case it would seem as if the fire would have burned in the centre 
 rather than in the outskirts of the camp. There are some who 
 allege that the “ fell simoom,” or hot pestilential wind, was probably 
 the agent of this terrible chastisement. But the natural effects of 
 this wind have always been much exaggerated, and in the quarter 
 where the circumstances occurred no serious consequences from this 
 wind are ever experienced. The alternative of the lightning, or of 
 the fire from the cloud, may, therefore, be referred to that which 
 attempts to give the most of natural effect to this visitation. At 
 the prayer of Moses this fire ceased its burning, and the prophet 
 called the place Taherah, to commemorate the occurrence. 
 
 If, from the perversity of man’s fallen nature, anything were 
 incredible, it would seem to pass belief that any set of people should 
 be found, almost immediately after this, clamouring for meat. 
 The fact seems to have been that the fatigues of travel created a 
 craving for some more substantial diet than the manna, of which 
 they began to speak detractingly, saying, “ Our soul loatheth this 
 light food.” Then they looked back wistfully upon the abundant 
 and various fare of Egypt ; and these liberated bondmen, so un- 
 worthy of the freedom which had been so wonderfully won for 
 them, even wept as they exclaimed “ Who shall give us meat to 
 eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely, 
 the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and 
 the garlick. But now our soul is dried away : there is nothing at 
 all but this manna before our eyes ” (Num. xi. 5, 6). W hen 
 Moses heard the people weeping and groaning after this fashion at 
 the doors of their tents, his heart was filled with displeasure and 
 concern. He knew that the Lord could not but be angry : but this 
 time, instead of first seeking to avert the awful effects of that anger, 
 he could not refrain from giving vent to his own anguish and 
 despair. Addressing the Lord, he said, “ Wherefore hast thou 
 afflicted thy servant? And wherefore have I not found favour in 
 thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me ? 
 
 . . . Whence should I have flesh, to give this people? for they 
 weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not 
 able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And 
 if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have 
 found favour in thy sight, and let me not see my wretchedness.” 
 
 The first care of the Lord was to relieve his distressed servant 
 from a portion of that burden which he complained of being too 
 heavy for him, by directing him to take seventy of the elders of 
 Israel to be his assistants in the government of the people. He was 
 himself to select such as he knew to be possessed of the requisite 
 abilities and discretion, as well as of influence and authority in their 
 several tribes. These he was to bring to the door of the tabernacle 
 for the approval of the Divine King, who was pleased to promise 
 that he would endue them with special wisdom, and impart to them 
 a portion of that spirit which rested with Moses himself. This was 
 done; and when the Divine influence passed upon these venerable 
 men, “ They prophesied and did not cease.” The Lord was further 
 pleased to assure Moses that the people should have the meat for 
 which they craved, and that not for a day otdy, but for a month. 
 And so it happened. The miracle of the quails was repeated. A 
 vast flight of them was driven onward by a vehement wind ; and 
 dropped, wearied with their flight, in and around the camp of the 
 Israelites. They lay above a yard deep upon the ground for many 
 miles around, and utterly incapable of flying away. The people 
 were engaged for thirty-six hours in collecting them in such quan- 
 tities as they desired : and those which they could not consume 
 while fresh, they salted and dried, according to a practice much 
 followed in Egypt, and which they had doubtless learnt there. The 
 people fed so greedily on this poultry, that they speedily began to 
 loathe the meat they had so earnestly desired : and the Lord, having 
 evinced his power by this marvellous supply of food, next manifested 
 his anger by a grievous pestilence — probably generated from the 
 bodies of the vast quantities of birds which had been left upon the 
 ground — which swept away great numbers of the people. 
 
 The next movement was to Hazeroth, which seems to be iden- 
 tified with the present fountain El Hudhera. Here is the only 
 perennial water in those parts, and it is tolerably good, though 
 slightly brackish. It is lamentable to state that at Hazeroth an 
 outcry was raised against Moses by no less persons than his brother 
 Aaron, the high-priest, and his sister Miriam. It is difficult to 
 penetrate the grounds of this most painful outburst. The text 
 states, that it was “ because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had 
 
 married ; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.’’ It must have 
 been from some jealousy of the influence of this wife, whose arrival 
 probably made Miriam feel that she was no longer the chief 
 woman of the camp. That the discontent originated with her, and 
 was merely taken up by Aaron, appears from the fact that Miriam 
 alone was punished. The movement of the cloudy pillar to the 
 door of the tabernacle produced an awful pause, in the midst 
 of which the voice of the Lord was heard vindicating the authority 
 and divine mission of Moses, which would therefore seem to have 
 been more or less directly called in question. The result was, that 
 Miriam was struck with leprosy, the sight of which brought Aaron 
 to his senses. He confessed their folly to Moses, and interceded for 
 their sister, who, at the prayer of Moses, was restored, but for seven 
 days remained under legal exclusion from the camp. 
 
 Nothing more is recorded until the Israelites arrived at Kadesh- 
 barnea, where they made a pause to arrange their plans of operation 
 against the Canaanites. It has until lately been usual to fix this 
 difficult position in sacred geography about midway on a line 
 drawn between the southern end of the Dead Sea and the Mediter- 
 ranean. The editor of the ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ however, conceived 
 that this could not agree with the history, which required it to be 
 on the borders of Edom, near the opening of the great valley (El 
 Gheoyr), which leads through the mountains of Edom into the 
 eastern plains beyond. He therefore placed it at a point on the 
 Wady Arabah which these conditions indicated : and this is one 
 of the many critical emendations of the current allocation of sites, 
 which have since been confirmed and established by the actual ob- 
 servations of Professor Robinson. 
 
 As the Israelites were unacquainted, except from report, with the 
 condition of the country which they were about to invade, and 
 with the character of its inhabitants, Moses here made choice of 
 twelve eminent men, one from each tribe, for the dangerous and 
 confidential service of exploring the land of Canaan. They tra- 
 versed the country in its whole length, and found it a beautiful 
 country — a land of hills and valleys, watered by rivers and streams, 
 and in all respects very different from the land of Egypt, with which 
 they were best acquainted. Its luscious fruits were also very dif- 
 ferent ; the kinds most abundant being such as were very scarce, 
 very poor, or altogether unknown in Egypt. With these they were 
 so taken, that they determined to carry samples with them on their 
 return to the camp. Among the rest, was a magnificent cluster of 
 grapes from the valley of Eshcol, which they carried “ on a staff 
 between two,” partly from its great weight, and partly to prevent 
 As being bruised on the road. The people were delighted with the 
 sight of the grapes, the pomegranates, and the figs which the spies 
 brought home: and the latter did not conceal the natural advan- 
 tages of the country. “ We came,” said they to Moses, “ to the land 
 whither thou sentest us, and surely it is a land flowing with milk and 
 honey, and this is the fruit of it.” But at the same time, they declared 
 that this fine land was in the occupation of powerful and well-armed 
 nations, dwelling in strongly fortified towns ; and they gave it as 
 their own opinion that the Israelites were utterly unequal to the 
 invasion and conquest of such a country. 
 
 This was woful news for the Hebrews, who forthwith broke forth, 
 as usual, into complaints against Moses for having brought them 
 out of the land of Egypt, and into the wilderness, on this imprac- 
 ticable undertaking. Two of the explorers, Joshua and Caleb, loudly 
 expressed an opinion different from the others, and avowed their belief 
 that the host was fully equal to the enterprise which lay before it. 
 But their testimony — the testimony of two against ten — availed little- 
 The impression had been given, anil could not be removed even by 
 the consideration that the power by which they were to possess them- 
 selves of Canaan was not in them, but in Him who had promised 
 that land to their fathers, and whose power had snatched them from 
 the grasp of the mightiest nation in the world. 
 
 The hope which lay before them being overthrown by the report 
 of the spies, they now regarded themselves as a people without a 
 home or country, and by no means inclined to persevere in the 
 desert-life, so adverse to their early habits, which during the past 
 year they had led. What remained for them, they argued, but to 
 immolate the deceivers who had brought them thus far astray, and 
 appoint a new leader who should conduct them back to the fertile 
 banks of the Nile, where their voluntary return would perhaps be 
 received as a sufficient atonement for the calamities which their de- 
 parture had brought upon the Egyptians. 
 
 To this dangerous extent had the discontent grown : and it then 
 became high time that they should be taught to respect that power 
 which, both for mercy and punishment, they had so often expe- 
 rienced, but the very existence of which they seem on this occasion 
 ' to have altogether forgotten. 
 
 R 2 
 
415.— Summit of Mount Sinai. 
 Pen Mynydd Sinai. 
 
422.— Pomegranate. 
 Pomgranad. 
 
 421. — Spies, with the Grapes and Pomegranates. (Adapted from ltubens.)— Deut. i. 25. 
 Yr Ysbi'wyr, gyda Grawnwm a Phomgranadau. (Wedi ei gyfaddasu o Kubens.) 
 
 423.— Palestine Grapes. 
 Grawnwin Palestina. 
 
126 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 [Sunday XYI. 
 
 SUNDAY XVI.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HEN another said, “Lord, I will follow 
 thee, but let me first go and bid them 
 farewell that are at home in my house 
 the reply of Jesus was in an agricultural 
 metaphor — “ No man having put his 
 hand to the plough and looking back 
 is fit for the kingdom of God.” This 
 interaction “to cast one longing, linger- 
 ing look behind ” is beautifully ap- 
 propriate, from the peculiar necessity 
 which the plougher is under of keeping his attention fixed upon the 
 furrows and not allowing them to deviate ; and this necessity was 
 peculiarly imperative in Eastern countries, as the extreme shallow- 
 ness of the furrow, where the plough does little more than scratch 
 the surface of the soil, renders a deviation the inevitable effect of 
 the slightest inattention. It is indeed from this circumstance that 
 the proverb — for it is one — originated. 
 
 Jesus then entered the vessel which was to bear him to the other 
 side of the lake. 
 
 While they were on the passage they encountered one of those 
 sudden and furious storms which not unusually arise in lakes sur- 
 rounded by mountains. The waves broke over the frail bark, and the 
 danger was very great. And where was Jesus ? He was quietly asleep 
 in the hinder part of the vessel, and slept on undisturbed by the noise 
 and uproar the tempest occasioned. At length the disciples, who, 
 although familiar with the lake, were alarmed at this danger, went 
 and awoke him, with the words, “ Master, carest thou not that we 
 perish?” Christ immediately arose, and rebuked the wind, and 
 said to the raging sea, Peace, be still,” — and in an instant the 
 storm went down. It did not merely abate, but ceased altogether, 
 for “ immediately there was a great calm,” — not only a calm, but 
 a great calm. In one instant the storm was raging at the highest 
 pitch, in the next scarcely a ripple was upon its surface. Jesus 
 then turned to the disciples and said : “ Why are ye so fearful ? 
 How is it that ye have no faith?” thus gently rebuking them for 
 not having expected to be saved by him asleep as well as awake. 
 We must certainly deem them to have been somewhat excusable in 
 not having expected this even from him. They were filled with 
 astonishment, and said one to another, “ What manner of man is this 
 that even the wind and sea obey him?” They had seen him heal 
 the sick, which was no more than physicians professed to do; but 
 now they see the winds and the sea submissive to him, and in this 
 they recognise a superhuman power. Their words teach us that 
 they now begin to perceive in Jesus something more than human 
 greatness ; for the sovereignty over the seas and winds is an attribute 
 of God (Psalm lxv. 7). 
 
 Jesus then passed to the other side of the lake, and came into 
 the country of the Gadarenes, of which Gadara was the chief town, 
 and also the capital of Petraea. This country was inhabited by a 
 mixed population of Jews, proselytes, and Syrians, who were looked 
 down upon by the less mixed Jews of Judea. They were placed by 
 them much on the same level with the Galileans, and deemed but 
 one degree better than Samaritans. 
 
 Near the place where our Lord came to shore, there were many 
 tombs, which were either excavations in the living rock or such 
 roomy constructions as we still find in the East. These then, as 
 now, often furnished places of shelter to those destitute of or ex- 
 pelled from human habitations : and at the present day such 
 sepulchres are deemed the suitable abode of ghools and unclean 
 spirits. From these tombs came forth a man to meet Jesus as he 
 came up the road. This man was one of those demoniacs of whom 
 we so often read in the New Testament. He was one of a very 
 peculiar and terrible sort. He “had devils a long time, and wore no 
 clothes, who had his dwelling among the tombs ; and no man could 
 bind him, no, not with chains ; because he had been often bound 
 with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder 
 by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man 
 tame him. And always, day and night, he was in the mountains, 
 and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.” This 
 man, seeing Jesus afar off, ran and worshipped him, and cried with 
 a loud voice, acknowledging him as the Son of the most high God, 
 and imploring him not to inflict torments upon him. This sup- 
 plication is supposed to have been dictated by a vivid recollection 
 in such unfortunate persons of the whips and chains with which 
 they had been constrained, the severe operations to which they had 
 been subjected, and the nauseous medicaments which had been 
 forced upon them. The like of this they would naturally dread 
 
 from one in whom they recognised the power to cast out devils. 
 The man said, in the name of his indwelling demons, that their 
 name was Legion, “for we are many;” and, perceiving that Christ 
 would effect a cure, he in their name besought leave to enter into 
 a herd of swine which was feeding hard by upon the mountains. 
 This was done seemingly under the notion that, next to the se- 
 pulchres, the swine formed the most suiting habitation for them. 
 
 Jesus granted this request, “ And the unclean spirits went out 
 and entered into the swine ; and the herd ran violently down a 
 steep place into the sea (there were about two thousand), and were 
 choked in the sea.” 
 
 It has been remarked that this and the cursing of the barren 
 fig-tree are the only examples of severity recorded of our Lord. 
 The present case is usually explained by supposing that the owners 
 were Jews, whom the Levitical law prohibited from eating or 
 keeping swine. It is certain that they might not eat them, or 
 touch their dead carcass (Deut. xiv. 8), but it would be difficult to 
 find any order against feeding and taking care of them. The pro- 
 hibition of touching the dead carcass implies that the living carcass 
 might be touched ; and it has been suspected that when Moses ordered 
 the commutation of a shekel and a half in lieu of the first-born of 
 unclean animals, he had chiefly swine in view. There is, in fact, 
 no ground for the notion that the Jews might not keep swine, ex- 
 cept that there seems a want of a sufficient reason for keeping them 
 when they were not used for food. But they might rear them for 
 sale to the heathen, among whom they were in great demand. And 
 it appears that, in fact, they did so till about seventy years before 
 Christ, when the ceremonial pollution occasioned by the intro- 
 duction of a hog into the temple led to the issue of an order 
 against keeping hogs. And the terms of this order led to the 
 conclusion that the Jews then not only reared hogs for sale, but useil 
 their skins, and employed the fat for tallow and ointment. This 
 order seems, however, not to have been very strictly observed ; but 
 its existence sufficed to justify Christ in public opinion for per- 
 mitting this catastrophe. The owners, however, and the people of 
 this neighbourhood, who seem to have had more of these herds, 
 were by no means satisfied with this view of the matter. The 
 swineherds ran away and spread the news around. This brought 
 many people to meet Jesus, and that apparently with no very 
 friendly intention ; but when they saw the late furious maniac 
 sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus, “clothed and in his right 
 mind,” they were afraid to act offensively, and were content to 
 beseech the Lord that he would depart from them. 
 
 Jesus complied, and returned to the ship. The man who had 
 been healed implored leave to go with him. He probably feared 
 that he should again fall under the power of the devils, if separated 
 from his deliverer. But Jesus would not allow this, but told him, 
 “ Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord 
 hath done for thee, and how he hath had compassion upon thee.” 
 The man more than obeyed, for he went far and wide through 
 Decapolis, proclaiming the great deed which had been wrought on 
 his behalf. 
 
 On his return to Capernaum, the Apostle Matthew made a great 
 feast for his master and fellow-disciples in his own house. The 
 other persons who were present at this feast were chiefly “ publicans 
 and sinners,” as might be supposed from the position which Matthew 
 had filled, and the connections which that position had led him to 
 form. The Pharisees failed not, as usual, to take malicious notice 
 of this ; and some of them said to the disciples, “ Why eateth your 
 master with publicans and sinners?” This was probably at the 
 end of the feast, when they were leaving the house, for it was not 
 likely that Pharisees would enter the house of a publican. Jesus 
 heard this, and he himself answered, “ They that be whole need not a 
 physician, but they that are sick. ... I am not come to call the 
 righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 
 
 On the same occasion Jesus had to meet the implied objections 
 of some of the disciples of John. “ Why,” they asked, “ why do 
 we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not ? ” This, 
 doubtless, refers to private fasts; such, probably, as John’s disciples 
 kept on account of the imprisonment of their master, and such as 
 the Pharisees observed in obedience to the rules of their great 
 doctors. Jesus beautifully answered : “ Can the children of the 
 bride-chamber (the attendants on the bridegroom) fast while they 
 have the bridegroom with them ? As long as they have the 
 bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come 
 when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall 
 they fast in those days.” This, while it justified the disciples of 
 John for fasting, seeing that their bridegroom had been taken from 
 them, excused his own disciples for not fasting, seeing that their 
 bridegroom was still with them. 
 
Sunday XYL] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 127 
 
 Jesus added several short parables, probably suggested by their 
 present circumstances. One of them was — “No man putteth new 
 wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottle and 
 be spilled, and the bottle shall perish ; but new wine must be put 
 mto new bottles, and both are preserved.” And tins is only in- 
 telligible with reference to the skin bottles, or bags made of the 
 skins of kids, goats, and even oxen, such as are still in use through- 
 out the East, and even in some parts of Europe, such as Spain, 
 Hungary, Turkey, &c. Nor have they been unknown in this 
 country. And in some of our signs, such as “ The Old Leather 
 Bottle,” may possibly be traced a reference to the times when 
 crusades and pilgrimages occasioned a more constant intercourse 
 with the East than has been known in modern times. 
 
 While Jesus was speaking, one of the chief men of Capernaum, 
 as shown by his office as one of the riders of the synagogue, came 
 and threw himself at his feet. His name was Jairus. He had one 
 only child, a daughter, and she lay at the point of death. All help 
 had been vain, and now, in his despair, he came to Jesus, whom lie 
 had, probably, in more prosperous days contemned. “ Come,” he 
 cried, “ and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed ; and she 
 shall live.” This faith was less than that of the centurion, who 
 deemed that a word from Jesus might suffice to heal the distant 
 sick. Jesus, however, went, attended by his disciples, and followed 
 by a great throng — the greater, perhaps, from the circumstance 
 that Jairus was an eminent and well-known person at Capernaum. 
 As they went along, Jesus turned suddenly round, and demanded, 
 “ Who touched my clothes? ” The disciples, justly surprised at the 
 question, said, “ Master, the multitude throng thee, and press thee, 
 and sayest thou who touched me? ” But Jesus knew that some one 
 had touched him with a purpose, for he perceived “ that virtue had 
 gone out of him.” He said so : and then an afflicted woman cast 
 herself at his feet, and acknowledged the fact. Twelve long years 
 had she been afflicted with an issue of blood, and in that time she 
 had spent all her substance in seeking aid of the physicians, and was 
 nothing bettered, but rather worse. She then heard of Jesus, and 
 repaired to him. But when she saw him in all that crowd, her heart 
 seems, in one respect, to have failed her; she had not courage to 
 arrest his progress and reveal her peculiar maladies in that boisterous 
 audience. But her faith strengthened as her courage failed ; and 
 she thought within herself that if she could but manage to touch 
 the hem of his garment she should be cured. She did so ; and in- 
 stantly she felt within herself that her cause of grief had departed 
 from her. All this she declared as she lay trembling at the feet of 
 Jesus. He was struck by this act of strong faith, and said to her, 
 “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole: 
 go in peace.” We only add, that touching or kissing the hem of 
 the garment is an act of great and reverential respect throughout 
 the East; and that the “hem” of our Lord’s garment was probably 
 that hem or fringe which the law required all Jews to wear, and 
 which is still worn by the Jew's of all countries, whatever be their 
 ordinary garb, when actually engaged in the services of their religion. 
 
 While this was passing, some persons came from the house of 
 Jairus, apprising him that his daughter was actually dead, and that, 
 therefore, he need not trouble “the Master” any further. Jesus 
 heard this, and addressed to Jairus the consolatory words, “ Be not 
 afraid ; only believe, and she shall be made whole.” These comfort- 
 ing words went to the heart of the bereaved father, and he proceeded 
 with Jesus in silence to his own house. On arriving there, it was 
 found to be already changed to the house of death. The wailing 
 women and the minstrels were already there, the doleful plaints of 
 the former and the mournful notes of the latter filling the whole 
 place with the well-known sounds of mourning for the dead. When 
 Jesus entered he said, “ Why make ye this ado and weep? The 
 damsel is not dead but sleepeth.” Knowing that she was really dead, 
 and understanding these words literally, the audience laughed him to 
 scorn. Leaving them to be instructed by the event, Jesus entered 
 the chamber of the dead maiden, attended only by the afflicted 
 parents, and by his favoured disciples, Peter and the sons of Zebedee. 
 In their presence he approached the corpse, and taking the hand, said, 
 “ Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise.” And instantly the hand which 
 he had taken obeyed the impulse which his had given, and she arose 
 full of life and health from that couch on which she had sickened 
 and died. To evince that she was not only alive, but well, Jesus 
 ordered food to be set before her, of which, to the unutterable joy 
 of her parents, she heartily partook. Jesus departed not without 
 enjoining the parents to keep the matter a secret. But their 
 gratitude and wonder could not endure this restraint ; and the news 
 of this great event spread rapidly throughout the town and neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 No one can fail to admire the ease and unostentatious simplicity 
 
 which reigns throughout this transaction, as well as in the raising 
 of the widow’s son at Nain. The Divine tranquillity, the simple 
 words “ I say unto thee, Arise,” speak the presence of one who is 
 the conscious Master of all things — even of death. 
 
 The silence which the Lord imposed on the parents of the maiden 
 was obviously founded upon the dangers which this news, inconsider- 
 ately spread, might bring upon his person and doctrine. His hour, 
 as he repeatedly declared, was not yet come. The renown of this 
 great miracle, after he had so recently raised the son of the widow 
 of Nain, would be sure to bring upon him in tenfold activity the 
 hate of his enemies, and lead them to plot against him, as actually 
 happened afterwards, when he raised Lazarus from the dead. The 
 time was coming when these miracles might be referred to by 
 competent witnesses in proof of his Divine mission, and then the 
 benefit which the cause of the Gospel must derive from them would 
 be realized. There was, however, nothing contradictory in his 
 appealing to his works in proof of his mission, as in John x. 37, 38, 
 where he says — “ If I do not the works of my Father, believe me 
 not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works : 
 that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in 
 him.” For he had only under particular circumstances enjoined 
 this silence ; and when it had been enjoined, silence had rarely been 
 observed as he desired. 
 
 On his return from the house of Jairus, two blind men, hearing 
 who passed by, followed after him, crying, “ Thou son of David, 
 have mercy on us ! ” This calling him “ the son of David ” was a 
 recognition of him as the expected Messiah : and it is not a little 
 remarkable that this, in Gospel narratives, comes from blind men 
 almost exclusively. Is it that the celestial light “ shines inward,” 
 in proportion to the privation of the outward sense ? Is it that the 
 inner vision is “ purged with euphrasy and rue,” till it is enabled 
 to behold “things invisible to mortal sight?” Be this as it may, 
 the blind were, in Christ’s own time, ever the foremost to acknow- 
 ledge him in his true character : and the blind of that, one would 
 almost suppose, had left the heritage of their faith to the blind of 
 latter ages ; as among them we still find unusual intensity of love 
 towards the person and character of Jesus Christ, unusual reliance 
 of all the affections on him, and unusual strength of hope in his 
 salvation and glory. 
 
 Jesus did not appear to notice them till he reached the house to 
 which he was going ; he then said to them, “ Believe you that I am 
 able to do this?” They answered “ Yea, Lord;” on which he 
 touched their eyes, and said, “ According to your faith be it unto 
 you.” And they had much faith, for their eyes were opened. The 
 light of day shone in upon them, and the visible glories of this 
 beautiful world were no longer mysteries to them. 
 
 Soon after this our Lord once more visited what was considered 
 his native place, attended by his disciples. On the first Sabbath 
 after his arrival he taught in the synagogue. But the men of 
 Nazareth were not now better prepared than formerly to respect his 
 character and office. Their minds dwelt upon “ all the disadvan- 
 tages of his youth, and kindred, and trade, and poverty : still retaining 
 in their minds the infirmities and humilities of his first years, and 
 keeping the same apprehensions of him as a man and a glorious 
 prophet which they had to him as a child in the shop of a carpenter” 
 (Taylor). Jesus himself indicated the principle of their conduct 
 to him by quoting the well-known proverb — “ A prophet hath no- 
 where less honour than in his own country;” a proverb still con- 
 stantly verified by the daily experience of many who, after having 
 gathered renown and honour among strangers, find that in their 
 native town the circumstances out of which they have risen, are far 
 better remembered and more thought of than those to which they 
 have attained, so that at home they are greater strangers than in 
 remote cities and foreign lands. The influence of this feeling 
 prevented the Nazarenes from seeing Christ in his true greatness; 
 for it is emphatically remarked that “ He could do no mighty works 
 there because of their unbelief ;” and this in two ways — for, first, 
 their knowledge of his humble birth effectually prevented that 
 implicit reliance upon his power which he invariably exacted, and 
 which could alone render them worthy of his protection and help ; 
 and then, from the influence of the same feeling, they r would not 
 think it worth their while sedulously to bring their sick to Jesus, 
 and humbly to seek his aid. 
 
 It was not long after this that Jesus conferred upon the twelve 
 apostles power to accomplish such miracles as he had himself 
 wrought, even to the extent of raising the dead ; and they were 
 then sent forth, two and two, to preach the Gospel throughout 
 the country. Having dismissed them with an impressive charge 
 respecting their course of proceeding, Jesus himself quitted 
 Nazareth, and pursued his journey through Galilee. 
 
42(j. — The Fig-Tree. 
 Y Ffigysbren. 
 
 424. The Blind restored to Sight. (S. Ricci.) 
 
 Y Dali yn cael ei Olwg. 
 
 425. — Christ curing the Blind. 
 Crist yn iachau’r Dali. 
 
 429.— Christ raising the Daughter of Jairus. (Overbeck.) 
 Crist yn cyfodi Merch Jairus. 
 
 428 .— Mustard. 
 M wstard. 
 
 427.— Black Fig-Tree. 
 Y Ffigysbren Du. 
 
 128 
 
432. —Psalm lxx. 
 
 434.— Psalm Uaii. 
 
 436.— Psalm lixiv. 
 
 129 
 
THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XVII. 
 
 130 
 
 SUNDAY XVII.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 E have now passed under review all 
 the musical instruments which appear 
 to have been in use among the He- 
 brews, excepting those which produced 
 their sounds by being struck with the 
 hand, to which our attention must now 
 be turned. 
 
 Instrument of Percussion serves very 
 well as a general title for this class 
 of instruments. All the instruments of 
 the tambourine or drum kind appear to 
 be comprehended under the general word tuph, which is generally 
 translated “ tabret,” and sometimes, as in Psalm Ixviii. 29, and cxlix. 
 
 3, by “ timbrel.” Several sorts of drums are now in use among the 
 Orientals ; but it is by no means clear that any drum was among 
 the instruments of the Hebrews. The only one represented in the 
 Egyptian sculptures is a long drum shaped very much like one of 
 the tomtoms of India, and used chiefly in the army, apparently for 
 regulating its movements. It was beaten with the hands, and is 
 represented in sculptures so old as the time of Moses. 
 
 About the tabret or tambourine there is, however, no doubt. 
 
 It can be recognised by hints in Scripture indicating the mode in 
 which it was used, as well as from the remarkable fact that not 
 only the radical word tuph, but all the ancient translations, and the 
 still living Oriental languages, give one and the same meaning. 
 The instrument must be described generally as a wooden frame 
 covered with skin, and struck by the hands. But they were by no 
 means all of one shape ; and it appears that the Hebrew word com- 
 prehends every known shape of the instrument, just as we should 
 undoubtedly call every instrument of the kind a “ tambourine,” 
 whether it were round, oval, square, or oblong. 
 
 Tambourines w ere undoubtedly known in Syria before the Hebrew 
 fathers had any knowledge of Egypt, for we find that Laban 
 lamented that no opportunity had been given him of sending Jacob 
 away “ with songs, with tabret, and with harp” (Gen. xxxi. 27). 
 Miriam, the sister of Moses, and the females with her, accom- 
 panied their song of victory with the sound of this instrument 
 (Exod. xv. 20). Job was acquainted with it (Job xvii. 6; 
 xxi. 12), and David employed it in all the festivities of his religion 
 ^2 Sam. vi. 5). Isaiah adduces it as an instrument employed by 
 voluptuaries, but left in silence on the breaking out of wars and 
 desolations (Isa. v. 12; xxxiv. 8). The occasion in which this 
 instrument is mentioned is always one of joy ; and, for the most 
 part, those who play upon it are females, who on this very account 
 have the name of “ timbrel-playing damsels ” (Ps. Ixviii. 25) ; and 
 it is nowhere described as being employed in battle, or for any war- 
 like purpose. In short, it was applied to exactly the same purposes 
 as by other nations, who used it in dances, in attestations of glad- 
 ness, at festivals, and on such-like occasions. So we find it repre- 
 sented in the Egyptian sculptures, and it is more than likely that 
 the forms which are represented in these sculptures are the same as 
 those of the Hebrew instruments. These forms are shown in the 
 engravings. These are of three kinds, differing probably in sound, 
 as well as in form : one is circular, another oblong, and a third con- 
 sisting of two squares separated by a bar. They were all beaten by 
 the hand, and used as an accompaniment to the harp and other in- 
 struments. Men and women used them, but most usually the latter, 
 who are often represented as dancing to them unaccompanied by 
 other instruments. From the imperfect representation of those in 
 the tombs at Thebes, it is difficult to say whether the Egyptian 
 tambourine had the same moveable piece of metal let into its 
 wooden frame, as in those of the present day ; but their mode of 
 playing it was similar; and, as Sir J. G- Wilkinson remarks, from 
 the manner in which it is held up after having been struck, we may 
 venture to conclude that they were furnished with metal rings, for 
 the free emission of whose sound this position was peculiarly cal- 
 culated. These appendages of the tambourine were certainly very 
 ancient. It is seen from the paintings at Herculaneum that the 
 Greek tambourine was furnished with balls of metal, pendent from 
 the front part, or from the centre of its circular rim, to which 
 each appears to have been attached by a short thong. Here also, 
 on classic ground, the instrument was mostly confined to women, 
 and chiefly used in the festivals of Bacchus and Cybele. 
 
 There is even now no instrument of music more common in the 
 East than the tambourine. And it is also CQnstantly met with in 
 Northern and Western Africa. The Arabian tambourine, which 
 may be taken as a type of the whole, is a broad hoop covered with 
 
 a stretched skin. In the rim there are usually thin round pulleys, 
 or wheels of metal, which also make some noise. It is played in 
 the same way as with us ; and, indeed, our tambourine is derivec. 
 from this indirectly through Spain, where it is called by a name 
 adufe, which is no bad representative of the Hebrew tupii. No 
 musical instrument is perhaps so much employed in Turkey as this. 
 When the females in their harem dance, the time is always beaten 
 with this instrument. It is called doff , in which word we again 
 recognise the Hebrew tuph. It would seem that the Egyptian 
 females, dancing arid singing to the tambourine, and bearing palm 
 branches and green twigs, were wont to visit the tombs of their 
 deceased friends. Something of this may be traced in the Friday 
 visit of the Moslem women to the cemeteries, and, what is more 
 remarkable, the tambourine is still used on these occasions, when 
 the death is recent, to accompany the notes of wailing. For the 
 same purpose it is used by the professed wailing- women, when 
 employed in the house of mourning. In this respect it seems now 
 to occupy the place of the funeral pipe of the ancient Hebrews ; 
 and yet we are not sure that they had not some such use for the 
 tambourine ; for the image in which women in the act of mourning 
 are described as “ tabering upon their breasts” (Nahum ii. 7). 
 would seem to have been derived from some such usage. 
 
 Painters usually represent the Hebrew r tabret by a small kettle- 
 drum, as in the engraving at p. 65, and although the tambourine 
 is, without doubt, the instrument principally denoted, we should 
 be reluctant to aver that a kind of kettle-drum may not have been 
 included. We see something of this sort in the hands of the fore- 
 most of the Egyptian women represented in the cut. From its 
 general shape, as well as from being beaten by the hands, it appears 
 to have been similar to the present darookha drum of Egypt and 
 Arabia. It is made of parchment strained and glued over a funnel- 
 shaped case (often of pottery) which is a hollow cylinder, with a 
 truncated cone attached to it. It is beaten by the hand, and when 
 relaxed is braced by exposing it for a few moments to the sun or 
 the heat of the fire. An instrument more resembling a kettle-drum 
 is now used in Persia and other countries of Western Asia ; indeed, 
 it is admitted that our kettle-drum is derived from the East. Some 
 think they can discover an instrument of this kind in the instrument 
 called magraipliah, of which the Talmud makes mention. It is 
 said to have stood between the ante-court and the altar in the 
 temple, to have had ten holes, and in each of these holes a pipe, 
 which likewise had ten holes, so that the sound would admit of one 
 hundred variations. The occasions on which it was struck tvere the 
 calling together of the priests to prayer, of the Levites to singing, 
 and the conducting away of leprous persons to their purification. 
 It seems, however, difficult to recognise a drum in this description, 
 and Kircher makes it out to have been an organ ! 
 
 We may conclude with noticing a few other instruments which 
 come more property in this place than any other. 
 
 Cymbals are often mentioned in the Psalms ; and it is not 
 doubted that instruments of this kind are realty to be understood by 
 the word thus translated. These instruments were known to the 
 ancient Egyptians, of a shape nearly similar to our own, and made 
 of a mixed metal, apparently brass, or a compound of brass and 
 silver. The classical cymbals were also similar, and the same shape 
 is still preserved in the East, although others of the form repre- 
 sented by the figures a, b, in the group of cymbals, are also in use. 
 Cymbals were much employed in the religious processions and sacred 
 mysteries of the ancients. 
 
 Allied to the cymbals are the castanets, which were much used 
 by the ancients, and were known among the Egyptians. The an- 
 cient forms and modes of playing them are shown in the engravings 
 from the paintings at Herculaneum. These were regarded as a kind 
 of cymbals, and are supposed to be comprehended under that name. 
 Indeed, there are passages in which two kinds of cymbals seem to 
 be indicated, as in Psalm cl. 5, and there one is supposed to be the 
 true cymbal and the other the castanet. 
 
 Others .are for including the sistrum among the instruments of 
 this class, and we are strongly of opinion that it is denoted by the 
 word shalishm, which is in 1 Sam. xviii. 6, translated by instru- 
 ments of music.” Whatever probability formerly existed in favour 
 of this instrument is much strengthened by the recent discovery 
 that it was much used in Egypt, especially in religious solemnities. 
 The instrument consists of a metal frame, crossed by moveable 
 bars of metal, which produced a kind of musical jingling when the 
 sistrum was shaken by its cylindrical handles. In some cases the 
 moveable bars were laden with moveable rings, which must have 
 increased the clattering jingle this instrument seems to have been 
 designed to produce. There is an actual specimen of one of these 
 instruments in the British Museum. 
 
Sunday XYIL] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 131 
 
 SUNDAY XVII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 St 
 
 HE glory of the Lord ” was 
 then suddenly seen at the en- 
 trance of the tabernacle, and 
 a voice came forth to Moses, 
 ^<5 — “How long will this people 
 provoke me? How long will 
 it be before they believe me 
 for all the signs I have shown 
 unto them ? I will smite them 
 with the pestilence, and disin- 
 herit them, and make of thee 
 a greater nation and mightier 
 than they.” At the earnest 
 intercession of Moses this 
 doom was averted. But the 
 sentence went forth that the 
 rebels should never see the land promised to their fathers. They 
 should wander in the wilderness till they had all died away, and 
 their place become filled by the new generation, which was not of 
 adult age at the time of this rebellion. The sudden stroke was 
 spared ; but they should all as certainly perish there, all as certainly 
 leave their bones in the wilderness, as if their lives had that day been 
 taken from them by the pestilence. The Lord would thus reserve 
 the promised heritage for a new generation, more worthy and better 
 trained than the perverse and ill-conditioned crew which had grown 
 up in the land of Egypt. Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful ex- 
 plorers, were alone exempted from this doom ; and they, alone, of all 
 who were above twenty years of age at the time of the departure 
 from Egypt, entered the Promised Land. 
 
 The people murmured greatly at this decree, which seemed to 
 them in every way so terrible, that, forgetting they had heard the 
 settled purpose of God, they sought to reverse it by an act of con- 
 fidence and bravery, now as preposterous as their fears had been 
 before. In spite of the earnest remonstrances of Moses, who pointed 
 out to them that this was an act of disobedience against Him who 
 had declared that they should not enter the land, a large body of the 
 fighting men proceeded to invade the southern border, then occupied 
 by the Canaanites and Amalekites, who came down against them and 
 repelled them with fearful slaughter. 
 
 We are acquainted with the names of the principal stations which 
 the Israelites occupied during the long period of their wandering, 
 but few of these stations have been identified. The history of the 
 wandering, during which the generation which left Egypt died out, 
 is confined to the record of a few transactions, which, from the fact 
 of their being thus recorded, we may take to be the chief incidents 
 of that long period. 
 
 One of these was the case of the man who was found gathering 
 sticks on the Sabba'h-day, and who was taken to the outside of the 
 camp and stoned to death on that account. The offence was a less 
 simple breach of the Sabbath then may at the first view appear. 
 Not only was the rest of the Sabbath-day broken by the act of 
 labour, but the labour itself implied the contemplation of a further 
 transgression in the kindling of afire on that day for the preparation 
 of food. 
 
 A still more serious event was the rebellion of Korah, Datlian, 
 and Abiram. The two latter were chiefs of the tribe of Reuben, 
 and the first a Levite, who appears to have been the author of the 
 revolt. The chief ground of discontent appears to have been that 
 the great honours and privileges of the priesthood had been limited 
 to the family of Aaron. This seems to have displeased Korah, 
 who, as an hereditary chief of the Levitical tribe, considered that 
 in the tribe of Levi he had the highest claim to the dignity of the 
 high-priesthood ; and it also dissatisfied the Reubenites, who would 
 see no reason why the tribe of Levi should enjoy these privileges, 
 which custom and precedent assigned to the first-born, from whom 
 they were descended. Thus the proud Levite could make common 
 cause with the chiefs of Reuben as against Aaron, though, if Aaron 
 had been set aside, a question between him and them would have 
 been left for settlement. It is difficult to resist the conclusion 
 that Dathan and Abiram were, in a great degree, the dupes of this 
 Korah. 
 
 Having secured them, other persons of consequence and repu- 
 tation were, through their influence, drawn into the confederacy, 
 which eventually numbered two hundred and fifty “princes,” or 
 hereditary chiefs of divisions of the tribes, who were displeased to 
 see all civil and ecclesiastical power engrossed by Moses and Aaron. 
 This movement was very dangerous, not only from the station and 
 influence of the parties, but from the position which they took in 
 
 apparently advocating the rights of the whole people against the 
 usurpations of the legislator and high- priest, whom they accusod of 
 “ taking too much upon them,” and of “ lifting themselves up against 
 the congregation of the Lord.” They, therefore, openly contended 
 that it was time that this extraordinary authority should cease, and 
 that they and the other chiefs, the natural leaders of the people, 
 should take part in the government. From this it would seem, that 
 although the original complaint was levelled against the pontificate 
 of Aaron, the aim was soon extended to the civil government of 
 Moses, after the confederacy had been joined by chiefs who could 
 advance no claim to the priesthood. 
 
 The Lord himself now interposed to vindicate the authority of 
 his servants. Moses was directed to challenge those who aimed at 
 the priesthood, to appear the day following before the Lord at the 
 tabernacle, with censers to offer incense ; and then it would be 
 known whose services were acceptable to God, and whom he would 
 have to minister before him. Accordingly, on the following day, 
 all the revolters appeared in the court of the tabernacle, with 
 censers in their hands, prepared to compete with Aaron the highest 
 privileges of the sacerdotal office. That they thought themselves 
 right, and their conduct deemed right before God, they showed by 
 submitting to this awful appeal ; but they were not the less culpable 
 in shutting their eyes to the strong evidence by which the Lord had 
 already made known his will in this matter, in a way not to be 
 mistaken by any candid mind. 
 
 They were not unattended, for Korah had employed himself with 
 great diligence, and very successfully, in exciting the people in this 
 cause ; so that a vast multitude assembled about the tabernacle to 
 witness the result. An ominous intimation of that result was given 
 by Moses, exhorting the people to retire and separate themselves 
 from the revolters, that they might not share in their punishment. 
 Such is the instinctive deference for established authority, that the 
 great body of the people obeyed, and watched the issue at a safe 
 distance. Dreadful was that issue. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, 
 who had not come to the tabernacle, were swallowed up in their tents, 
 at the doors of which they stood, for the earth “ clave asunder” to 
 receive them, and closed over them again. Nor did those who 
 attended at the tabernacle escape, for “ the fire of the Lord ” broke 
 forth among them and destroyed them all. 
 
 This great stroke stunned and subdued the people for the moment : 
 but the discontent had taken deep root ; and the very next day they 
 assembled tumultuously, and accused them of having slain “ the 
 people of the Lord ;” and proceeded to behave so outrageously, that 
 Moses and Aaron were constrained to take refuge in the tabernacle. 
 
 This fresh outbreak was so displeasing to the Divine Ki ng, that, 
 notwithstanding the earnest intercession of Moses, he proceeded to 
 execute summary judgment upon the infatuated people. A pesti- 
 lence instantly broke forth among them, which smote them down in 
 great numbers. On perceiving this, the distressed prophet, careful 
 only for their safety, ordered Aaron to take his censer and hasten 
 forth among the dying Israelites. Aaron did so ; and where he stood, 
 burning incense “ between the living and the dead,” there the plague 
 was stayed. 
 
 So widely spread and so deep was the disaffection which had been 
 excited, that even these judgments did not altogether settle the 
 minds of the people. It therefore pleased God to signify his will in 
 a manner impossible to mistake, and to leave a standing monument 
 of that intimation to future eyes. 
 
 It was directed that the hereditary chiefs of each of the twelve 
 tribes should write his name upon his staff, that of Aaron being 
 placed for the tribe of Levi. The twelve staves were then laid up 
 in the tabernacle ; and it was foretold that the Lord would make 
 known his will concerning the priesthood by causing the dry stall of 
 the chosen tribe and family to blossom. In the morning it was 
 found that Aaron’s staff had blossomed, and not only blossomed, 
 but showed at the same time buds and fruit — the fruit of ripe 
 almonds, while all the other staves remained unchanged. 'I hus, 
 beyond all controversy, the Lord manifested his choice of the tribe 
 of Levi, and of Aaron as his priest. The miraculous staff was then 
 again laid up in the tabernacle as a standing record and testimonial 
 of this transaction. 
 
 At length, the long term of wandering drew near its close. All 
 but a few of those who were above twenty years of age at the time 
 of the Exode were now dead ; and those who were then under that 
 age, had by this time reached the wane of life, or were even old 
 and grey-headed. The active men forming the new generation had 
 been born in the desert, and had none of those Egyptian reminis- 
 cences which had been the bane of their fathers, nor had their spirit 
 been, like theirs, bent down under the yoke of bondage. They were 
 a better and more manly generation. And it may be fair to attri- 
 
 S 2 
 
440.— Ancient Sistrums.— Psalm cl. 
 Sistrymau Hynafol. 
 
 443.— Dancing Figures, with Castagnets. 
 
 laneum.) — Psalm cl. 
 
 ( From Hercu- 
 
 Dawn6-Luniau, gyda Chasteneliaid. (0 Herculaneum.) 
 
 430.— Egyptian Tambourine-players. (From Rosellini.) — Psalm cxlix. 
 Chwaieuyddion Tympanau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 441. — Ancient Cymbals, &c. (From Herculaneum ) — Psalm cl. 
 Symbuluu Hynafol, &c. (O Herculaneum.) 
 
 132 
 
 442.— Sistrums. (From Rosellini.)— Psalm cl. 
 Sistrymau. 
 

134 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XYII. 
 
 bute the misconduct into which they fell to the influence of the 
 older men, who were not entirely free from the Egyptian taint, 
 having been from ten to twenty years of age when the Israelites 
 quitted the “ house of bondage.” 
 
 As the appointed time drew nigh in which they were to receive 
 possession of their heritage, we find the hosts of Israel again ap- 
 proaching the south of Palestine, and encamping at their old station 
 i:i Kadesh Barnea. Here Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, 
 died and was buried. And here, the waters of the neighbourhood 
 having become exhausted, the people gave vent to complaints pain- 
 fully similar to those in which the past generation had been too apt 
 to indulge. They were not, however, punished, probably because 
 the want by which they were moved to complaint was real and 
 urgent. Moses and Aaron were directed to speak to the rock, and 
 told that waters should break forth at their word. Not content with 
 merely speaking to the rock, which would much have enhanced the 
 glory of the miracle, they struck it twice with vehemence, and not 
 without impatient expressions. The waters came forth at the stroke : 
 but the behaviour of the brothers on this occasion was displeasing 
 to God, who declared that for this neither of them should enter the 
 Promised Land. This seems a severe sentence. But it is to be 
 borne in mind that the eyes of all Israel were upon these two men, 
 and any indication in them of want of confidence, or of laxity in 
 interpretation of the Divine commands, was likely to have the most 
 dangerous consequences upon the minds and habits of the people, 
 unless reprehended and punished. 
 
 Soon after, it became evident to the leaders of the Hebrews, that 
 t lie Canaanites were too strong in the south to make it expedient for 
 the untrained Israelites to invade the land in that quarter. It 
 was therefore concluded to pass over into the country east of the 
 Dead Sea and the Jordan, and, by crossing the river, invade the land 
 in its most vulnerable quarter. To this end, it was desirable that 
 the host should pass to the east country, through one of the valleys 
 which intersect the mountains of Seir. These mountains were then, 
 and long before, occupied by the descendants of Esau, under the 
 name of Edomites ; and to their king Moses sent a deputation with 
 a very civil request for permission to pass through his territory. 
 He was reminded of their common origin by the phrase, “ Thus saith 
 thy brother Israel and was assured of their pacific intentions, and 
 that they would pay for whatever they required on the march, and 
 abstain from touching even the wells of water without payment. 
 But the king returned a very sharp refusal ; and manifested an 
 intention to resist by force of arms any attempt of the Israelites to 
 pass through the valley to which their attention seems to have been 
 turned. Out of regard to their brotherhood, the Israelites were 
 forbidden to force a passage, and directed to return down towards 
 the head of the Elanitic Gulf, and then pass eastward, and make 
 their way to the north through the plains which lie beyond the 
 mountains of Seir on the east. 
 
 In retracing their steps they had to pass Mount Ilor, the loftiest 
 and most conspicuous of all the Seir mountains. In front of this 
 they rested ; and it was here that Aaron received the intimation 
 that the end of his life’s journey had arrived. He was required to 
 proceed to the summit of the mountain, “ and die there.” Accord- 
 ingly, he ascended to the mountain top, arrayed in his pontifical 
 vestments, and attended by Moses and Eleazar. He was there 
 divested of his robes, which were placed upon his son, and then, 
 after one look towards the land from which he was excluded, the 
 utmost borders of which he could view from this high place, he 
 resigned his spirit to God, and his corpse was buried there upon the 
 mountain by Moses and Eleazar. 
 
 Thirty days the host of Israel mourned for the high-priest ; and 
 then they pursued their way. 
 
 On again continuing their way through a region parched with 
 excessive drought, and destitute of water, the Israelites, who had 
 hoped that when they arrived at Kadesh they had quitted the wil- 
 derness for ever, and were about to enter the Promised Land, began 
 to murmur at the weary march before them, and to utter sharp 
 invectives, not only against Moses, but against the Lord. This new 
 provocation brought immediate punishment, for the Lord sent 
 among them fiery serpents, by which many of the people were bitten 
 and died. The serpents are called “fiery” from their colour, 
 as some suppose, resembling polished brass, or, as others conceive, 
 from the intense and fatal inflammation which their bites produced. 
 Naturalists suppose this serpent to be the Naja Tripudians, or 
 Hooded Snake, the hood of which, when inflated, has sufficiently 
 the appearance of wings to explain the epithet “ flying,” which is 
 applied to these serpents. 
 
 By this terrible judgment the people were made sensible of their 
 fault, and implored Moses to intercede for the removal of the 
 
 serpents. This he readily did. The serpents, however, were not 
 immediately removed, but relief was granted after a very peculiar 
 manner. Moses was directed to make a serpent of brass, similar in 
 form to those which had bitten the people, and to fix it upon a pole 
 or standard, which was to be set up in a conspicuous part of the 
 camp. Every one then who was bitten, and raised his eyes to this 
 brazen serpent, was healed of his deadly wound and lived. No means 
 could be less suited than this in itself to give relief. And therefore 
 it was merely designed that the sufferers should by this token express 
 their dependence upon God, and that they looked to him alone for 
 help and cure. If we may conceive that any wanted faith in this 
 seemingly unlikely means of cure, and neglected to look up to the 
 brazen serpent, he undoubtedly perished in his misbelief. It may 
 thus be seen with what exquisite fitness Jesus refers to the brazen 
 serpent as a symbol of himself : “ For as Moses lifted up the ser- 
 pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 
 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life.” 
 
 After this the Israelites proceeded quietly on their way, without 
 any event of consequence till they reached the brook Zared, which 
 flows into the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Here they paused 
 awhile, and then proceeded to the Arnon, through the territories 
 in the actual possession of the Moabites, who seem to have wanted 
 the power more than the inclination to oppose their march. Beyond 
 the Arnon lay the territory of which the Canaanitish nation called 
 the Amorites had at some previous period dispossessed the Moabites, 
 but which is still called in Scripture “ the land of Moab.” With- 
 out troubling themselves with antecedent questions, the Israelites, 
 recognising the actual possessors, applied to Sihon, king of the 
 Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, for permission to march 
 through his territories to the banks of the Jordan, beyond which 
 lay the region against which their conquering mission was directed. 
 Sihon, however, being related to and in alliance with the nations 
 beyond the river, was by no means disposed to grant this permission, 
 but took the field to oppose their march. This brought on the first 
 battle fought by the new generation of the Israelites. They were 
 victorious ; Sihon was defeated, taken prisoner, and slain ; and the 
 conquerors took possession of his dominion, with all its towns. This 
 conquest necessitated another. For they were attacked in their 
 new possession by Og, the king of Bashan, who was in alliance with 
 Sihon, and whom the Jabbok now only separated from the Israelites. 
 This Og was “ of the race of the giants ;” and to give some idea of 
 his height, we are told that his bedstead was thirteen and a half 
 feet long by six feet broad, and that it was of iron, to sustain his 
 enormous weight. This bedstead was long after preserved, as a 
 curiosity and muniment, at the capital town of Rabbah. This 
 gigantic monarch must have seemed very formidable to the 
 Israelites ; but over him also they were victors. Thus, contrary 
 to their original intention, the Israelites came into possession of a 
 fine and fertile country, extending from the Arnon to Mount 
 Hermon, and full of cities “ fenced with high walls, gates, and bars ; 
 besides unwalled towns a great many.” The host, however, was 
 not allowed to disperse itself over the new possession, desirable as 
 it was, but remained encamped in “ the plains of Moab,” which lay 
 immediately east of the northern part of the Dead Sea, and the 
 lower course of the Jordan. 
 
 The neighbouring Moabites viewed these transactions with dis- 
 content and alarm ; discontent at seeing the Israelites in possession 
 of a country which had formerly belonged to themselves, and alarm 
 at the settlement on their border of a people so powerful, as com- 
 pared with themselves, and so manifestly favoured by heaven. The 
 Moabites were then governed by a king called Balak, who was 
 eager to attack the Israelites in their camp, but was afraid to do so 
 while they, even as he felt, enjoyed the assurance of victory in the 
 Divine iiivour. After much cogitation, the king arrived at the sage 
 conclusion, that if he could contrive to lay them under a curse, potent 
 enough to countervail the blessing of Jehovah, he might then meet 
 them, at least on equal terms. But how was this to be brought 
 about? There lived beyond the Euphrates a person called Balaam, 
 who enjoyed a high reputation as one whose curse was irresistible 
 for evil, and his blessing for good. To this person Balak sent a 
 deputation, with costly gifts, inviting him to come and lay his curse 
 upon the strangers, whom the message described in terms which 
 give a good notion of the point of view in which the Israelites were 
 regarded by the natives in their neighbourhood : “ There is a people 
 come out from Egypt : behold, they cover the face of the land, and 
 they abide over against me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee, 
 curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure 
 I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that we may drive 
 them out of the land.” 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 135 
 
 Sunday XVII.] 
 
 SUNDAY XVII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 UST about this time the birthday of 
 Herod the tetrarch was celebrated with 
 great festivity in the court of Galilee. 
 On this occasion Herod was so much 
 charmed with the dancing of young 
 Salome (so Josephus calls her), the 
 daughter, by her former husband, of 
 that Herodias whom Herod had taken 
 away from his brother Philip, that he 
 promised with an oath to give her 
 whatever she should ask. From the effect which this dancing pro- 
 duced upon the tetrarch, it would appear that it was not of that 
 comparatively rude and unformed style of dancing which was 
 anciently used by the Jewish maidens at public rejoicings; but 
 that lascivious and pantomimic sort which, by the movements 
 of the hands and other members of the body, expressed human 
 manners and affections, and which had then lately been introduced 
 from neighbourin'; nations into the Jewish court. The damsel 
 was old enough to know' the value of the promise thus given, and, 
 instead of giving utterance to any girlish wish, went to ask her 
 mother concerning the suit which she should prefer. Herodias 
 hated John the Baptist on account of the protest he had uttered 
 against her connection with Herod, but had never been able to 
 prevail upon the tetrarch to bring him to any further punishment 
 than imprisonment, and she seized with avidity the occasion now 
 offered, by instructing her daughter to demand the head of the 
 Baptist — “ in a charger” (salver), a barbarously-minute addition, 
 strikingly characteristic of a peculiarity often noticed in a woman’s 
 vengeance. Most men would have been content simply to demand 
 the head of the Baptist ; but she phrased it — “ Give me here the 
 head of John the Baptist in a charger:” — “ here" and “in a 
 charger ! ” 
 
 Herod was sorry that such a demand should have been made, for 
 he had a sort of awe for the Baptist, and justly dreaded the effect 
 which so barbarous an act might produce upon the people, by whom 
 the prophet was held in high veneration. But as his oath had been 
 taken in the presence of so many witnesses, he fancied that he could 
 not draw back. The word was given; John was beheaded in the 
 prison where he had so long been confined, and his head was brought 
 in a charger to Salome, who carried it to her mother. All the 
 circumstances of this transaction are exceedingly revolting, and give 
 a lively idea of an age in which blood was poured out like water, 
 and when even “tender and delicate women” were familiar with all 
 kinds of violence and with every ghastly form of death. 
 
 The people were greatly disgusted and provoked at the slaughter 
 of John, and although they did not rise in sedition, as perhaps 
 Herod had apprehended, Josephus informs us that they failed not 
 to ascribe to this enormity the destruction of his fine army by 
 Aretas, King of Arabia (the father of the tetrarch’s former wife), 
 which soon afterwards took place. 
 
 It was not long after this that the doings of Christ first came 
 under the notice of Herod, and perplexed him greatly : “ John,” 
 he said, “ have I beheaded ; but who is this of whom I hear such 
 things?” (Luke ix. 9.) This implies doubt, and, from the parallel 
 account in Matt. xiv. 2, it would seem that he was at length led to 
 conclude that Jesus was no other than the Baptist raised from the 
 dead, and became very desirous to see him. Jesus probably heard 
 of this; and, if so, we may conclude that it was from the desire to 
 avoid the court of Herod and the snares of the tyrant, that he took 
 ship and withdrew into the more solitary regions bordering the 
 Lake of Tiberias. The apprehension that the people, enraged at 
 the murder of John, and always prone to sedition, might rise into 
 actual rebellion, and he incur the blame, may also have been one of 
 the reasons for this step. The need of rest and refreshment after the 
 season of excessive fatigue to which he and his Apostles, who had 
 by this time rejoined him, had been exposed, is also mentioned as a 
 further reason for this retirement. 
 
 The desert place to which he withdrew was not far from the town 
 of Bethsaida. The solitude which he sought was not, however, 
 allowed him there. The people followed him, so that even in this 
 solitary place he was soon surrounded by a great multitude. When 
 Jesus beheld this large body of people, so far away from their homes 
 in the wilderness, he was moved with compassion towards them, 
 “ because they were as sheep not having a shepherd ;” and he as- 
 cended an eminence with his disciples, and he taught them many 
 things. Then perceiving that the day was far spent, and that the 
 
 people were exhausted with walking and want of food, while the 
 places were so distant where food might be procured, Jesus said to 
 Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” This, 
 we are told, he said to prove him, his own intentions having been 
 already formed. But Philip had no idea of any other source ol 
 supply than the words of Jesus indicated, and the expense was the 
 objection that rose to his mind : — “ Two hundred denarii (about 
 six pounds five shillings) worth is not sufficient for them, that every 
 one may take a little.” But Andrew added, “ There is a lad here 
 who hath five barley loaves and two small fishes ; but what are they 
 among so many ? ’’ The only answer Christ made was to direct them 
 to make the people sit down, in parties of fifty, upon the grass, 
 which abounded in that place. This was done, and the whole 
 number was then found to be about five thousand. Jesus then took 
 the five loaves and two fishes, and, with his eyes cast towards 
 heaven, he blessed this food, and broke it, delivering it as broken 
 to the disciples, who distributed it to the people ; and the supply 
 was unexhausted until every one had received enough. Not only 
 was there enough, there was surplus, there was abundance. For 
 when he who could create this abundance, with just economy directed 
 the fragments to be gathered up “ that nothing might be lost,” it 
 was found that twelve baskets were required for the fragments of 
 the loaves and fishes, which in their entire shape one basket would 
 have contained. Each of the twelve Apostles may be supposed to 
 have filled a basket, and probably carried down to the boat the 
 basket he had filled. 
 
 This was in many respects the most convincing, if not in itself 
 the greatest, miracle which Christ had yet performed. It accord- 
 ingly had a corresponding effect upon the multitude, who said, 
 “ This is, of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world.” 
 Believing him to be the Messiah, they were disposed to constrain 
 him to take the temporal sovereignty, which they conceived to 
 belong to that character, and which he was manifestly reluctant to 
 assume. Many have attained to thrones in this world with a less 
 promising beginning than the adhesion of five thousand men : and 
 if Christ had any objects of worldly ambition, an opportunity which 
 few would have neglected was here offered to him. But far different 
 were the objects of his coming, far different the mission to the world 
 with which he was charged. He therefore withdrew from the crowd, 
 alone, into the mountains, while the disciples entered their boat and 
 pushed off for Capernaum. 
 
 As night came on, the disciples were somewhat unpleasantly 
 circumstanced. The night was very dark ; and the sea became 
 rough, and the winds contrary. They were, besides, without their 
 Lord, and the encouragements which his presence always brought 
 to them. At length, in the dead of the night, they discerned dimly 
 in the darkness an object moving towards them on the waters. Not 
 being able to distinguish the form or features, they cried out with 
 alarm, supposing that they beheld a spirit ; but immediately they 
 heard the well-known voice of Jesus calling to them, “It is I ; be 
 not afraid !” On hearing this, Peter, with the usual impulsiveness 
 of his character, said, “ If it be thou, bid me come to thee on the 
 water !” Jesus said, “ Come !” and he went. Doddridge and some 
 others, in explanation of what follows, suppose that Peter could 
 swim, and that he ventured upon the sea with some secret depend- 
 ence upon his art. It is certain that when he felt himself upon the 
 waters, with the waves high around him, his heart failed him, and 
 as his faith departed, he began to sink. “While he believed, the 
 sea was brass ; when once he began to distrust, those waves were 
 water.” (Hall.) In this desperate case, he did the very best thing 
 that could be done, he cried to Jesus for help — “ Lord save me ; 
 I perish !” And Jesus saved him ; he stretched forth his hand, and 
 caught him saying, “ O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
 doubt?” They then entered the vessel; which they had no sooner 
 done than the wind went down. So strongly were the disciples 
 impressed by these circumstances, that they came and worshipped 
 him, saying, “ Of a truth, thou art the Son of God !” 
 
 They came to shore in the “ Land of Gennesaret,” in which 
 the town of Capernaum was situated. It was then morning, and 
 Christ being immediately recognised, he was soon attended by the 
 usual crowd. Wherever he went, the news of his coming went 
 before him, and all the sick were brought out hastily in their beds 
 and laid in the streets through which he was to pass; and they who 
 were so happy as but to touch the hem of his garment as he went 
 by, were immediately cured of the diseases with whicli they were 
 afflicted. 
 
 The morning after Christ had recrossed the lake, the people who 
 had partaken of the loaves and fishes, still continuing their search 
 for him, concluded, from the absence of the vessel in which he had 
 arrived, that he had taken his departure. 
 
448.— Christ Walking- on the Sea. 
 Cast yn Rhodio ar y M6r. 
 
 449. — Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. 
 Gwyrth y l'orthau a’r Pysgod. 
 
 450.— Oriental Basket. 
 Basged Ddwyreiniol. 
 
 451.— Dancing Women. 
 
 Dawns-wrageud 
 
 452. 
 
 ■Dancing Girl. 
 Da-n-ns-eneth. 
 
 
T 
 
133 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XVIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XVIII.— THE PROPHETS. 
 
 P Egypt and its people more than 
 usual notice is taken by the prophet 
 Jeremiah, as might be expected from 
 the circumstances which have been 
 described ; and several of the great 
 and flourishing Egyptian cities of that 
 time are named with striking predic- 
 tions of their future condition. In tiie 
 second chapter the prophet rebukes the 
 Jews for their reliance upon foreign 
 countries, especially Egypt ; and asks, 
 
 A Tfj “ What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the 
 •\\ij , j water of Sihor ?” Sihor is here the Nile, which is more than 
 y | ' ' [ once in Scripture made to stand as a symbol and representative of 
 | Egypt in general. Under this idea he again asks, in xlvi. 7 — 
 M “ Who is. this that cometh up like a flood, 
 
 Whose waters are moved as the rivers? 
 
 Egypt risetli up like a flood, 
 
 And his waters are moved like the rivers ; 
 
 And, he saith, I will go up and cover the earth.” 
 
 Here the outpouring of the Egyptian armies is, by a fine and 
 appropriate image, compared to the inundations of the Nile. 
 
 The city most frequently mentioned by Jeremiah is Noph, which 
 is generally, and with good reason, supposed the same with Mem- 
 phis, the renowned capital of Lower Egypt. It is named in 
 ii. 16, as one of the chief cities of Egypt — “The children of Noph 
 and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head and in xlvi. 
 19, we read, “Noph shall be waste and desolate, without an inha- 
 bitant.” How truly this prediction has been accomplished appears 
 from the fact that even the site of Memphis is unknown. Some 
 contend strongly for its being sought at Gliizeh, opposite Old 
 Cairo ; but the more general conclusion has been to fix it con- 
 siderably more to the south, near the present village of Metra- 
 lienny, on the western bank of the Nile, where there are manifest 
 indications of extensive ruins in the form of mounds, channels, and 
 blocks of granite, many of which are covered with hieroglyphics, 
 and are locally considered to form part of Memf (Memphis), the 
 royal seat of the Pharaohs. So complete is the desolation foretold 
 by Jeremiah, that the neighbouring village of Metrahenny is usually 
 chosen as its pictorial representative. 
 
 This is not the case with Thebes, which is repeatedly mentioned 
 by our prophet and others under the name of No, and No Ammon, 
 where, although the site be forsaken, except by the greedy Arabs 
 in their miserable huts, the ruins are still most magnificent, and so 
 extensive that an eminent explorer of that great city is reported to 
 have said, that all which has been explored and described of Thebes 
 conveys no more idea of the whole of the city, than Hyde Park Cor- 
 ner does of the whole of London. The following notice of these two 
 metropolitan cities in connection is partly derived from the careful 
 note on Jer. xxvi. 19, in the ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ as giving a clearer view 
 of the relation between the two cities than can be found elsewhere. 
 
 Thebes and Memphis were the two most famous and magnificent 
 cities of ancient Egypt ; the latter was, like the former, the resi- 
 dence of mighty kings, and the capital of a great empire. From 
 the confusion of dynasties and kingdoms, it is difficult to determine 
 the commencement and duration of the metropolitan character in 
 the different cities without entering into larger details than would 
 be in this place deemed interesting. We shall therefore only pre- 
 mise that although Memphis was the more ancient city, yet its 
 foundation, and still more its metropolitan rank, was posterior to 
 that of Thebes, which it eventually superseded as the capital of 
 Egypt. To explain this a little, it should be observed that the 
 ancient Egyptian traditions, which are amply confirmed, state that 
 Upper Egypt was first settled and brought under cultivation. 
 From thence colonies proceeded into Middle and Lower Egypt, 
 and these became the parents of other colonies, till the whole 
 country was settled and cultivated. It appears that the separate 
 colonies either immediately assumed or soon acquired the cha- 
 racter of independent states or kingdoms, each with its own me- 
 tropolis. But although Egypt thus contained several contemporary 
 kingdoms, and Thebes ceased to be the sole capital of the settled 
 country, it is evident from the nature of things, as well as from 
 history, that it must long have remained the general capital of the 
 whole country of Egypt. Memphis seems to have been the 
 earliest, or one of the earliest, of those settlements below the 
 Thebais, which became the seat of an independent kingdom. It 
 is said to have been founded by Menes, the first Egyptian king; 
 and the tradition that he gained its site by changing the course of 
 
 the Nile, which previously ran under the Libyan mountains, is, in 
 the opinion of Sir J. G. Wilkinson and others, strongly corroborated 
 by the actual appearance of the river at the spot where it is alleged 
 to have been “ dyked off.” The city gradually grew into import- 
 ance as the metropolis of a distinct state, and, by the consolidation 
 of several states into a single monarchy, ultimately became the sole 
 metropolis of Egypt. The date of this event cannot be determined, 
 but it seems quite safe to say that, first as the capital of Middle 
 Egypt, then as the paramount metropolis of the country, and as 
 still an important metropolitan city, after the residence of the 
 court had been removed to Sais, — this Noph, or Memphis, was 
 that great city of the Pharaohs with which the Hebrews were best 
 acquainted, and to which there are the most frequent references in 
 Scripture, by name or allusion, from the time that the Hebrew 
 family first went down into Egypt to the days of Jeremiah. At 
 the former date it was probably the capital of that part of Egypt 
 with which the Hebrews were the most familiar ; and at the latter 
 it remained, in effect, the metropolis of Egypt, for although the 
 royal court had then for some time (since the reign of Psam- 
 metichus) been held at Sais, the city of Memphis continued to be 
 regarded as the real capital of Egypt down to the conquest, of the 
 country by the Persians; and indeed, still later, till it was super- 
 seded by Alexandria. 
 
 It has been stated that there are no such magnificent remains of 
 Memphis as still exist of Thebes. But it has been suggested that 
 there are points of view under which the pyramids might be regarded 
 as belonging to Memphis. If we regard the site as marked by 
 Metrahenny, it is centrical with regard to the pyramids, being as it 
 were in the midst of them ; and the ancient historians usually con- 
 sidered these wonderful structures as belonging to Memphis. 
 
 In this place it is not our intention to dwell upon the pyramids 
 of Memphis on the one hand, or the massive temples and palaces of 
 Thebes upon the other. We cannot, however, but point out the 
 analogy which the latter bear to the excavated temples of India 
 and Ethiopia, which seems to occur spontaneously to those who visit 
 Thebes, after having seen the great cavern-temples of Elephanta or 
 Ellora, or that of Ipsambul in Nubia. 
 
 “ It appears probable (says Mr. Wathen, in his ‘ Arts and Anti- 
 quities of Egypt’) that many of the peculiarities of Egyptian 
 architecture were borrowed from large architectural excavations. 
 Such were perhaps the earliest works in the valley of the Nile and 
 in India. In our climate a cavern is always associated with ideas 
 of chill, dampness, and gloom : but to those who live under the 
 scorching sun of Egypt or India, it is known only as a delicious 
 retreat from the heat and glare of day. There ‘a great rock’ is 
 remembered as ‘a shadow from the heat;’ but such a shadow is 
 shifting and transient ; like Jonah’s gourd, it dies away under the 
 rising sun ; when the flaming orb has reached the zenith, you are 
 compelled to seek shelter in some retired nook. The obvious 
 remedy for this inconvenience was to scoop out a recess in the 
 rock by which a cool retreat would be secured throughout the day. 
 In the East, too, the configuration of rocks and mountains offers 
 facilities for the hollowing out habitable grottoes. Sometimes ledges 
 of rock rise with an upright face out of the plain ; sometimes a 
 valley is shut in by perpendicular cliffs. Either would be well 
 adapted for architectural grottoes, and the vertical face be readily 
 hewn into an ornamental front. Such excavations were par- 
 ticularly suitable for sepulchres : they were applied to this purpose 
 by almost every civilized nation of antiquity, and continued in 
 vogue long after architecture had been established into a system. 
 The vast tombs of Thebes are well known ; and sepulchral exca- 
 vations on a less magnificent scale may still be seen in Persia, 
 Palestine, Asia Minor, and Greece : such, probably, was the cave 
 of Machpelah, which Abraham bought to bury his dead out of his 
 sight. Such, too, was the tomb of the Redeemer of the world.” 
 
 Temples also were formed out of such excavations, as in the 
 instances which have already been indicated ; and the notion em- 
 bodied in these remarks is, that the Egyptians built their temples in 
 imitation of the hewn temples of the country from which they 
 came. Our engravings will enable the reader to trace this analogy, 
 which has been produced poetically, with good effect, by Mr. R. 
 M. Milnes, in his recently published ‘ Palm-Leaves — 
 
 “ 'T would seem as if some people that had held 
 Their pristine seat in lands of stony hill, 
 
 Once from their ancient boundaries outswelled 
 And took these vales to conquer and to till : 
 
 So where the memory and tradition still 
 Of temples cut in living rocks remains, 
 
 This one idea the artists’ breasts might fill, 
 
 Who built amid the Nile's alluvial plains, 
 
 First to erect the rocks and then work out the fanes.*’ 
 
Sunday XYIIL] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 139 
 
 SUNDAY NVIIL— BIBLE HISTORY 
 
 ALAAM was very willing to have 
 gone, for he was covetous of the gain 
 and honour which the adventure of- 
 fered. But he knew that he durst not 
 go uncommissioned ; and the com- 
 mission being refused him, he was 
 constrained reluctantly to dismiss the 
 ambassadors with this refusal. The 
 king of Moab, however, felt too deeply 
 interested to abandon his object. He 
 fancied that his offers had not been 
 high enough to tempt the known cupidity ot the prophet. He 
 therefore sent another embassy, composed of persons of higher rank, 
 bearing richer gifts and with promises of higher rewards. The pro- 
 phet was moved. But he still replied, “ If Balak would give me 
 Ids house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of 
 the Lord my God, to do less or more.” 
 
 Still, however, anxious to comply, he invited them to remain in his 
 house till he should once more have inquired the will of God. In 
 this he did wrong, for he ought at once to have been satisfied that 
 God, who changeth not, would not allow him to curse a people 
 whom he had so lately declared to be in the enjoyment of his bless- 
 ing. Besides, his alacrity to undertake for the love of gain what 
 would have been to an upright prophet a painful duty, was alone 
 likely to be very displeasing to the Most High. Nevertheless, still 
 further to try him, he was told, when he renewed his application, 
 that he might go. Joyfully did he then quit his bed early in the 
 morning, and saddle his ass to accompany the messengers. All 
 went on very well for a time ; but at length, on passing by a 
 narrow' way on the journey, the ass, hitherto so docile, became sud- 
 denly restive, and refused, even by the urgency of blows, to proceed 
 any further. But as Balaam with great passion persisted in forcing 
 the animal on, the mouth of the dumb beast was opened, and he 
 spoke, with most miraculous organ rebuking the conduct of the 
 prophet. At the same time, an angel standing in the way with a 
 drawn sword, the sight of whom had prevented the ass from pro- 
 ceeding, became visible to Balaam, and filled him with dread. 
 After a severe reprehension from the angel, he was allowed to com- 
 plete his journey, but with a strict injunction to act and speak on 
 his arrival only as authorized. 
 
 The king of Moab rejoiced to see him, and deemed the great 
 object of his present policy secured by his arrival. But his glad- 
 ness was somewhat damped when Balaam acquainted him with the 
 conditions under which he had come. Afterwards the king and the 
 prophet offered seven victims upon as many altars, and Balaam 
 viewed the camp of the Israelites from the high places of Baal. 
 Gladly would he have laid his curse upon them : but a mighty force 
 was on him, and, to the great disappointment of the king, he was 
 constrained to open his mouth in blessings. Having pacified the 
 king by explaining the inevitable necessity under which he acted, 
 the latter took him to a different eminence where he could only 
 behold a portion of the camp, hoping that this part might be aban- 
 doned to his curse. But the same thing happened as before ; and 
 when the king took the prophet to yet another mountain, whence 
 only the outskirts of the camp could be viewed, he was constrained 
 not only to bless the Israelites, but to curse their enemies. On 
 this the king’s patience was exhausted, and he sharply commanded 
 Balaam to depart to his own house. But again he was somewhat 
 calmed by Balaam’s reiterated declaration of his inability to say 
 one word more or less than the Divine influence put into his mouth : 
 and he allowed the prophet to proceed, and declare to him the 
 tilings that should come to pass in the last days. He then foretold 
 the subjugation of all the neighbouring nations to the Israelites, 
 especially in the time of David, who is not obscurely pointed out 
 in terms which, although they have a primary application to him, 
 cannot be understood but with an ultimate reference to the Messiah. 
 
 Finding himself unable to accomplish the objects for which he 
 came, Balaam prepared to return to his own country. But before 
 he departed, he suggested to the king of Moab a plan by which he 
 might be able to seduce the Israelites, so that they might bring a 
 curse upon themselves, or at least become deprived of the Lord’s 
 protection, and provoke such judgments against them as those by 
 which it was known that they had already suffered, and by which 
 their numbers might be much reduced, and their power much 
 weakened. 
 
 The Moabites, in conjunction with their neighbours the Midianites, 
 
 immediately proceeded to carry this plan into effect. They opened 
 apparently friendly communications with the Israelites, and employed 
 their women to allure them into criminal intercourse. This led to 
 still greater abominations ; for the men being thus ensnared were 
 easily persuaded to attend the idolatrous feasts, at which every kind 
 of licentiousness was practised, and even to join in sacrifices to Baal- 
 Peor. The extent of this degeneracy may be estimated from the 
 fact that many persons of high station in the several tribes were the 
 ringleaders in this transgression. 
 
 At length the divine anger broke forth against the transgressors, 
 and this time it was not manifested through miraculous agencies, 
 but by a judicial sentence to be executed by human hands. The 
 word was given to slay every one who had joined himself to Baal- 
 Peor. On this the people, conscious of their crime, humbled them- 
 selves before the Lord, with much weeping, in the hope of averting 
 his displeasure. At this very time one Zimri, a prince of Simeon, 
 was seen conducting a woman of Midian to his tent, in the presence 
 of Moses and the afflicted people. On this the zeal of Phinehas, 
 the son of the high priest, was kindled, and, obeying the impulse of 
 the moment, he pursued them into the tent, and smote them dead 
 with one thrust of a javelin. 
 
 Meanwhile as the sentence of slaughter had not been executed, 
 the Lord had taken the avengement into his own hand, for a pesti- 
 lence broke forth among the people. But the high act of Phinehas 
 was accepted as an atonement, and the plague then ceased, though 
 not until twenty four thousand men had been destroyed by it. 
 
 The Israelites were then ordered to take arms against the 
 Midianites, who had been peculiarly active in the too successful 
 attempt to seduce the people of God. A thousand men from each 
 of the twelve tribes, forming a body of twelve thousand picked men, 
 were appointed for this service, and placed under the command of 
 Phinehas. The contest was not of long duration. The Israelites 
 carried all before them, and they committed dreadful carnage among 
 the Midianites, slaying without quarter all the men who came in 
 their way. The country was not one which they were to occupy : 
 they therefore ravaged it completely, and destroyed the towns and 
 strongholds, with the view of disabling the Midianites from renew - 
 ing the war. The booty obtained in this expedition was very con- 
 siderable, and the items of the enumeration are full of suggestive 
 matter as regards the conditions of the conquered people and the 
 character of ancient warfare. It is thus given, — sheep six hundred 
 and seventy-five thousand ; beeves seventy-two thousand ; asses 
 sixty-one thousand ; persons (females) thirty-two thousand. To 
 this is added no less than sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty 
 shekels’ weight of gold, which had formed the ornaments of the 
 Midianites. From the quantity and from the articles enumerated 
 it would seem that these Midianites were well covered with “ bar- 
 baric pearl and gold.” The articles are named as “jewels of gold, 
 chains, bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets.” 
 
 This abundant spoil might have suggested a nice question with 
 respect to the distribution, as it was scarcely to be expected that the 
 comparatively small body of men actually engaged in the expedition 
 were to have the exclusive enjoyment of it. This, therefore, gave 
 occasion for the law which appears to have given satisfaction to all 
 the parties concerned, and which thenceforth regulated the practice 
 of the Hebrews with respect to booty. The whole of the “ prey,’’ 
 or beasts and captives, was divided into two parts, of which one 
 went to the soldiers who had been in action, and the other to 
 the general body of the people ; so that the twelve thousand 
 warriors had so much as five hundred and ninety thousand people. 
 But the actual victors seem to have had the entire of the per- 
 sonal “spoil” at their disposal, and in this instance they pre- 
 sented it as an oblation to the tabernacle. From the “ prey,” 
 or live stock, a tribute for the Lord was also levied, being at 
 the rate of one in fifty from the share of the warriors, and one 
 in five hundred from the share of the people. It may be re- 
 marked that the distribution of one-half to the general body of the 
 people arose from all the adult males in the camp being regarded 
 as forming an army, composed of men fit to bear arms, and liable 
 at any time to be called into the field ; and of whom, therefore, 
 the body at any time engaged in actual service was merely a de- 
 tachment. 
 
 As the time was at hand in which the Israelites were to take 
 ! possession of their long-promised heritage, Moses was commanded 
 to take the number of the people. They had before been num- 
 bered, before quitting Sinai, and it was then found that there were 
 603,550 males in the twelve tribes above the age of twenty years; 
 on the present occasion the number was found to be 601,730, being 
 a decrease upon the whole of 1820. But this does not include the 
 tribe of Levi, which numbered 23,000, being an increase of 727, 
 
 T 2 
 
458.— Balaam. (Northcote.)— Num. xxii. 
 
 459.— Egyptian A^ses, Saddled (ancient). 
 Asynod Aiphtaidd, wedi eu cyfrwyo (hynafol). 
 
 140 
 
 Purification of the Soldier and his Spoil. (Melville). -Num. xxai. 
 

 '/ j// // 
 
 
 pnBLI3HrNn COMPANY 
 

 
 
 m LIBRARY 
 
 or the 
 
 UMIRSITY 8F \mw 
 
462. —Eagle and Nest. 
 Eryr a Nyth. 
 
 464. — Ear-rings of Men. 
 Clust-dlysau Meibion. 
 
 463. — Jewels of Gold and Jewels of Silver. (Composed from Egyptian Drawings and 
 Sculptures in the British Museum.)— Baud. ill. 35. 
 
 Tlysau Aur a Thlysau Arian. (Wedi eu cyfansoddi oddi wrth Luniau a Cberf- 
 lumau yn yr Amgueddfa Brydeinig.) 
 
 165.— Moses beholding the Promised Land. ( B. West.) 
 Moses yn gweled Gwlad yr Addewid. 
 
 141 
 
142 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XYIII. 
 
 which reduces the total decrease to 1093. The following table 
 will show the numbers in the several tribes, and the increase and 
 decrease in each of them : 
 
 CHAP. I. CHAP. XXVI. INCREASE. 
 
 Reuben . 
 
 46,500 . 
 
 43,730 
 
 
 Simeon . 
 
 59,300 . 
 
 22,200 
 
 
 Gad . 
 
 45,650 
 
 40,500 
 
 
 Judah . 
 
 74,600 . 
 
 76,500 
 
 - 
 
 Issachar . 
 
 54,400 . 
 
 64,300 
 
 
 Zebulun 
 
 57,400 . 
 
 60,500 
 
 
 Ephraim . 
 
 40,500 . 
 
 . 32,500 
 
 • * 
 
 Manasseh 
 
 32,200 . 
 
 52,700 
 
 
 Beniamin 
 
 35,400 . 
 
 45,600 
 
 
 Dan . 
 
 62,700 . 
 
 . 64,400 
 
 • 
 
 Asher 
 
 41,500 . 
 
 . 53,400 
 
 • 
 
 Naphtali. 
 
 53,400 . 
 
 , 45,400 
 
 * 
 
 
 603,550 . 
 
 . 601,730 
 
 Deere 
 
 Levites from a 
 month old 
 
 . 22,273 . 
 
 . 23,000 
 
 • • 
 
 1.900 
 
 9.900 
 3,100 
 
 20.500 
 
 10,200 
 
 1,700 
 
 11,900 
 
 59,200 
 
 727 
 
 DECREASE. 
 
 2,770 
 
 37,100 
 
 5,150 
 
 8,000 
 
 8,000 
 
 01,020 
 
 1,820 
 
 As the adult males usually form about one-fourth of the entire 
 population, the entire number of the Israelites, including the tribe 
 of Levi, may be estimated at 2,500,000. Not only the tribes, but 
 the several families of Israel, were at this time registered under the 
 names of those sons or grandsons of the patriarchs who were the 
 progenitors of the grand subdivisions in the several tiibes. And it 
 was directed that the division of the land in Canaan should be made 
 according to the register thus formed. The quantity of the land 
 was to be proportioned to the numbers of each tribe, and of each 
 family in each tribe ; and the situation of the portions both of the 
 tribes and families was to be determined by lot. This was 
 eventually done in the manner which we shall have occasion to 
 describe. 
 
 As Moses was not to enter the Promised Land, it became evident 
 that his days were soon to close. In preparation of that solemn 
 event the prophet was commanded to appoint Joshua, the son of 
 Nun, who has so often been mentioned in the history, to the high 
 task of introducing the chosen people into their promised heritage. 
 He was not the successor of the legislator : Moses had no successor ; 
 neither had Joshua himself any when he died. They were both 
 raised up for particular and extraordinary services of an entirely 
 different nature — Moses, to deliver Israel from Egypt, and to or- 
 ganize the people so delivered : Joshua, who was endued with much 
 valour and high military talents, to lead the people in those wars 
 which were to give them possession of the land promised to their 
 fathers. 
 
 About this time the tribes of Reuben and Gad solicited Moses 
 for permission to take for their share of territory the lands which 
 had been conquered from Sihon and Og, east of the Jordan. The 
 ground of their application was, that the land was peculiarly suited 
 for pasturage, and they had large possessions of flocks and herds. 
 Moses was not at first pleased at this application, construing it 
 into a desire to provide for themselves on easy terms, by taking- 
 possession of what all the tribes had conquered, without assisting 
 the other tribes in the warfare for their possessions. But the appli- 
 cants explained, with much earnestness, that this was far from their 
 wish. If their suit were granted, they would leave their families 
 and substance in the land, but would themselves accompany the 
 main body of the Israelites across the river, and remain in arms 
 until they also had received their heritage. To the proposal, when 
 stated in this shape, Moses assented ; but as the territory appeared 
 too large for two tribes, he added half the tribe of Manasseh, to 
 which was given the northernmost portion of this fine territory. It 
 is probable that the extraordinary increase of Manasseh, which the 
 recent census had made apparent, suggested the selection of this 
 tribe, and the separation in it which accordingly took place. 
 
 After this Moses assembled the whole congregation of Israel, 
 and addressed them for the last time. lie recapitulated all the 
 remarkable events which had transpired from the departure of their 
 fathers out of Egypt to the present time. He assured them of the 
 Divine assistance in the conquest of Canaan, and cautioned them 
 against unbelief and distrust of the Divine word. To strengthen 
 this caution he reminded them of the former disobedience and 
 frequent rebellions of their fathers, in consequence of which they 
 had been doomed to wander forty years in the wilderness, and 
 denied admission to the Promised Land. He then reminded them 
 of their signal successes over the Amorites, whom they had attacked 
 with the Divine permission, and assured them that Joshua was 
 divinely appointed to put them in possession of the land of their 
 inheritance. 
 
 Moses then proceeeded to refresh the knowledge of the new 
 generation by repeating, with some alterations which the lapse of 
 
 time and the approaching change of life made necessary, the various 
 civil laws and ordinances which had from time to time been delivered 
 to him. With reference to these he emphatically remarked: — 
 
 “ Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the 
 Lord my God commanded me, that ye do so in the land whither 
 ye go to possess it. Keep, therefore, and do them ; for this is your 
 wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations. And what 
 nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so 
 righteous as all this law which I set before you this day ? Only 
 take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget 
 the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from 
 thy heart all the days of thy life ; but teach them to thy sons and 
 to thy sons’ sons ” (Deut. iv. 5 — 10). 
 
 When Moses had finished the recapitulation of the laws and 
 statutes of Jehovah, he proceeded to set before the people the 
 abundant blessings which should attend their obedience, and the 
 dreadful punishments which awaited their disobedience. These 
 punishments were such that “ Even all nations shall say, wherefore 
 hath the Lord done thus unto this land ? What meaneth the heat of 
 his great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken 
 the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with 
 them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.” How 
 truly and sadly the doom denounced against their disobedience was 
 accomplished, will in the ensuing pages appear too plainly. 
 
 Moses now wrote all the words of the law in a book. This is 
 the first mention of a book which occurs in the Scriptures ; and 
 the information which we possess concerning ancient books leaves 
 no question but that it was of skins made up into rolls. We are 
 not, however, to conclude that the skins were prepared into parch- 
 ment, as that was an invention of much later date, later than even 
 the papyrus, several interesting rolls of which are preserved in 
 collections of Egyptian antiquities. Those who have been privi- 
 leged to see Mr. Catlin’s Indian Museum, and have noticed the 
 white skin robes prepared by the rude Indians from the hide of the 
 bison, will have no difficulty in understanding how skins might be 
 made fit for writing on, even before the invention of parchment. 
 
 Moses then gave forth a magnificent poem, called in after 
 time “ the song of Moses,” in which the Divine care over the 
 people is celebrated by many interesting circumstances and striking 
 images, such as that of the eagle caring for its young : — 
 
 “ The Lord’s portion is his people: 
 
 Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, 
 lie found him in a desert land, 
 
 And in the waste howling wilderness ; 
 
 He led him about, he instructed him, 
 
 He kept him as the apple of his eye: 
 
 As an eagle stirreth up her nest 
 And fluttereth over her young, 
 
 Or spreadeth around her wings, and taketh them up 
 And beareth them on her wings : 
 
 So the Lord alone did lead him.” 
 
 Finally, Moses bestowed upon the tribes his last and solemn 
 blessing, similar in many respects to that which Jacob had in his 
 last days bestowed upon his sons. The prophet then received the 
 Divine command to ascend to the summit of Mount Nebo, and 
 survey from thence the Promised Land before he closed his eyes 
 in death. This summons he had long expected, and he obeyed 
 it without demur, knowing that the appointed hour was come. He 
 ascended from the plains of Moab, and upon Mount Nebo delivered 
 up the charge he had received upon Mount Sinai. He died at the 
 age of one hundred and twenty years, when “ his eye was not dim, 
 nor his natural force abated.” 
 
 The Israelites mourned thirty days for their great leader, and 
 then took immediate measures with reference to the high enterprise 
 which lay before them. The first act of Joshua, who now took the 
 chief place as military leader, was to send two spies across the 
 river. It was evident that the great city of Jericho, which lay 
 before them in the plain west of the Jordan, must become the first 
 object of the operations of the Hebrew host ; and the spies were 
 therefore directed to make their way into the town and obtain in- 
 formation respecting the strength of the place and the disposition of 
 the inhabitants. They succeeded in gaining an entrance into the 
 city ; but they had scarcely arrived before the king received intelli- 
 gence of it, and sent to apprehend them in a house near the wall, 
 belonging to a woman named Kahab, in whicli they had taken up 
 their abode. But the hostess, having timely notice of this, con- 
 cealed the spies under some flax which had been spread out to dry 
 upon the fiat roof of her house. 
 
Sunday XVIII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 143 
 
 SUNDAY XVIII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 N this, so many of them as could 
 find boats to convey them over, 
 hastened across the lake afer him. 
 When they had found him at Caper- 
 naum, they asked, il Rabbi, when 
 earnest thou hither ? ” which he an- 
 swered by reprehending them, as now 
 seeking him, only because they had 
 been, through him, satiated with 
 food for the body, and were now in 
 hopes that he would exhibit new mi. 
 rack's for their external benefit. Then, taking advantage of the state 
 of consciousness which this accusation had produced, he proceeded to 
 urge upon them the obligation of seeking that spiritual nourishment, 
 “ the bread of life,” which he only could bestow. The import- 
 ant discourse in which this view was enforced is continued in the 
 sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel ; and it is remarkable, beyond 
 many other parts of the sacred narrative, for the marked effect pro- 
 duced on the hearers, who frequently interposed their objections and 
 remarks, and who were so much offended at some of our Lord’s 
 sayings on this occasion, that many, even of the disciples, who had 
 hitherto followed Jesus, left him and departed to their own homes. 
 The chosen twelve, however, remained steady. When Christ 
 pointedly asked them, “ Will ye also go away ?” Peter in the name 
 of the rest answered, “ Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast 
 the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art 
 the Christ, the son of the living God.” 
 
 It was now the time of the Passover, being the third Passover 
 since the baptism of Jesus. But this year he did not go up to 
 Jerusalem, knowing that the Jews of Judea only sought an occa- 
 sion to put him to death. He, therefore, remained in Galilee with 
 his disciples. He was not, however, allowed to carry on his pro- 
 ceedings unquestioned in Galilee, for certain adepts in the law 
 came to him from Jerusalem after the Passover, hoping to con- 
 found him with their objections ; but they were only confounded by 
 the attempt. 
 
 Soon after Jesus proceeded to that part of Phoenicia dependent 
 upon Tyre and Sidon, which, as well as all the rest of Syria, was 
 now under the dominion of the Romans. Here the inhabitants 
 were chiefly Gentiles ; but many Jews were settled among them, 
 and they were, for Gentiles, unusually well accquainted with the 
 Jews, and with their religion and habits of life. As it was not the 
 object of Jesus to preach to tiie Gentiles, and he must have come 
 hither chiefly for privacy, and to keep himself out of Herod’s 
 jurisdiction without going to Judea, he desired his disciples not to 
 make him known. But “ he could not be hid.” The arrival in 
 those parts of the famous Jewish prophet soon became known. 
 One of the first to avail herself of his presence was a woman of 
 the country, “ whose daughter had an unclean spirit.” This woman 
 cast herself at his feet, beseeching him to heal her daughter. But 
 he answered not a word. This might have discouraged a less earnest 
 and less believing soul. But she would not be refused. A mother’s 
 love urged her on. She followed crying, “Have mercy on me!” 
 although it was not for herself, but for her daughter, that she besought 
 him : but in that daughter all the affections of her forlorn heart 
 were garnered up, and, therefore, she implored mercy as for her- 
 self. Still Jesus heeded not ; but the disciples, distressed by her 
 importunity, came to him, and begged him to send her away by a 
 favourable answer. But he answered, alluding to the relation in 
 which the covenant people stood to the rest of the world : — “ It is 
 not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs.” 
 Overhearing this, the woman returned the exceedingly neat reply — 
 
 “ Truth, Lord : yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from 
 their master’s table.” Jesus was moved at this, and answered, 
 
 “ O woman, great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” 
 The sacred historian adds, “And her daughter was made whole 
 from that very hour.” 
 
 Returning from Phoenicia towards the Sea of Galilee, a young 
 man deprived of hearing and speech was brought to him to be 
 cured. From the circumstance that he spoke as soon as his 
 tongue was loosened, which if deaf and dumb from birth he could 
 not have done without a distinct miracle, greater than even that of 
 the cure, it is supposed that the youth had become deaf and dumb 
 by disease or accident. Beholding him with pity, our Lord took 
 him aside, from the gathering crowd ; and then, touching the man’s 
 .ongue, and putting his fingers into his ears, he raised his eves to 
 
 heaven in the act of mental prayer, and said “ be opened.” At that 
 word the string which had so long held the tongue in bondage was 
 severed, and the ears, dead so long, became at once sensible of the 
 repercussion of each joyful sound upon them. He heard distinctly 
 and spoke plainly. And the Lord then returned him to his re- 
 joicing friends, who, although enjoined silence, could not control 
 their gladness, but proclaimed the matter everywhere, saying, “lie 
 hath done all things well ; he maketli the deaf to hear and the 
 dumb to speak.” 
 
 borne commentators remark that in the previous miracle Jesus, 
 by curing an idolatrous woman, and in this by curing’ one who, 
 as being deaf and dumb, was an atheist, knowing nothing of any 
 religion, showed he was the Saviour of the whole human race: this 
 assumes that the youth had been born deaf and dumb ; and, even so, 
 this may be a mistake, for do we not thus limit the grace of God, 
 which can find entrance to the soul of man when all the ordinary 
 avenues of human intercourse are shut up in silence or in darkness? 
 When the Hon. Mrs. Dawson Darner was travelling in Palestine, 
 she was attended by a deaf and dumb guide ; and on occasion of an 
 accident which befel her daughter, and might have been attended 
 with dangerous consequences, his manner touched the lady much. 
 “ He looked earnestly at me and then pointed towards heaven, as 
 if to direct my gratitude thither. As Syria is not likely to have 
 produced an Abbe de l’Epee, this poor man’s sense of religion must 
 have been innate, and its impression was the more pure and re- 
 markable ; no Christian of our party would thus have immediately 
 referred to a superintending Providence : I had observed it on 
 another occasion; on dividing some bread with him, he first kissed 
 it, and then looked upward most devoutly.” 
 
 The people who had gathered around him at this time were so 
 drawn on by their wonder at the miracles of mercy which they 
 were constantly witnessing, that they followed about for three suc- 
 cessive days. They became so much exhausted, that the benevolent 
 Saviour was unwilling to dismiss them to their homes without food, 
 “ lest they should faint by the way.” The recent miracle was 
 therefore repeated. The whole multitude, numbering four thousand 
 persons, was fed from seven loaves and a few small fishes, the 
 gathered fragments of which filled seven baskets. 
 
 Immediately after this our Lord and his disciples took ship upon 
 the Lake of Tiberias, to the coasts of Magdala and Balrnanatha. 
 On the passage the disciples were much concerned at discovering 
 that they had neglected to bring with them a supply of bread. 
 Christ at the same time began to caution them to beware of the 
 “ leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees.” This was levelled at the 
 hypocritical professions and self-exalting doctrines of these classes. 
 But the disciples, with their minds preoccupied with the want of 
 bread, fancied that this discourse was aimed at their neglect. Jesus 
 discerned this, and reproved them for their anxiety in this matter 
 by reminding them of the recent miracles by whicli thousands had 
 been abundantly fed. 
 
 They landed at Bethsaida, and, after curing a blind man at that 
 place, proceeded to Caesarea Philippi, which was out of Herod’s 
 jurisdiction, and in that of his brother Philip. Here Jesus began 
 to question the disciples respecting the opinions whch they had 
 heard of him. He was answered that some supposed that he was 
 John the Baptist ; some Elias ; others Jeremiah, or one of the 
 prophets. “ But whom,” asked Jesus, “ say ye that I am ?” Peter, 
 as usual, speaking for the rest, answered this important question by 
 repeating the declaration which he had made on a former occasion : 
 “Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.” This called 
 forth from Jesus the memorable words — “ Blessed art thou, Simon 
 Bar Jona [son of Jona] ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it 
 unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say unto thee 
 that thou art Peteii [a rock, in Hebrew Cephas], and upon this 
 rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom 
 of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound 
 in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed 
 in heaven.” 
 
 Without entering into the interpretations which have been given 
 to this charge to Peter, it is important to mark out distinctly the 
 important and formal declaration which preceded it, and is con- 
 nected with it ; because from that time our Lord began to speak 
 openly of the mode in and by which the great objects of his coming 
 were to be accomplished, namely, by his death on the cross, to be 
 followed by his resurrection from the dead. 
 
 Much had already occurred to prepare the disciples for this; 
 but having as yet no clear notion of our Lord’s spiritual king- 
 dom upon earth, they were much distressed at this declara- 
 tion. 
 
466.— Miracle of Curing the Deaf. — Mark vii. 
 Gwyrth Iuchad y Bydd - 
 
 467. — Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. — Mark Ti. 
 Gwyrth y Torthau a’r Pysgoa. 
 
 468.- Parable of the Blind leading the Blind. (After Tintoretto.)— Matt tv. 
 Dammeg y Dali yn tywys y Dali. (Yn ol Tintoretto.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
478. — Psalm Ixxxiii 
 
 480 —Psalm lxxxv 
 
 475 — Psalm Ixxx. 
 
 470.— Psalm lxxv. 
 
 NTO thee, O God, do we give thanks. — 1. 
 
 God is the Judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up 
 another. — 8. 
 
 Psalm lxxvii. 
 
 Thou leddest thy people like sheep : by the hands of Moses 
 and Aaron.— 20. 
 
 477.— Psalm Ixxxii. 
 
 479 —Psalm Ixxxiv 
 
 
 474.— Psalm lxxix. 
 
 GOD, the heathens are come into thine inheritance ; thy holy 
 temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem an heap of 
 etones. — 1. 
 
 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat 
 unto the fowls of the air; and the flesh of thy saints unto the 
 beasts of the land. — 2. 
 
 472. — Psalm lxxvii. 
 
 473. — Psalm lxxvili. 
 
 
 u 
 
 1 45 
 
 i 
 
146 
 
 TIIE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XIX. 
 
 SUNDAY XIX— TIIE PSALMS. 
 
 Inscriptions of tiie Psalms. 
 
 0 all the Psalms, with the ex- 
 ception of thirty-four, titles or 
 inscriptions are prefixed. Those 
 which are without titles the 
 Talmud calls Orphan Psalms. 
 The titles either designate their 
 authors, or the superintendents 
 of their music, or their sub- 
 jects, or their historical occa- 
 sions, or their style of poetry, 
 or their style of music. The 
 genuineness of these titles is 
 a matter of doubt. By many 
 they are all unconditionally re- 
 jected as spurious, by others 
 only in part. A comparison 
 of the arguments in favour 
 of their genuineness with those on the other side of the ques- 
 tion, seems to show that the preponderance lies with the latter. 
 The following view of these arguments is drawn chiefly from De 
 Wette’s ‘ Commentar fiber die Psalmen.’ 
 
 In favour of the titles it may be alleged : 
 
 1. That they are very ancient. The Seventy found them as 
 they now are. But in the time of the Seventy these titles were 
 already unintelligible, for the translations which they have given 
 are often destitute of meaning: they must, therefore, have had their 
 origin at a period so early, that the tradition of their sense was 
 now entirely lost. If, however, it were believed, as it is by many, 
 that the Seventy translators were Egyptian Jews, it might be al- 
 leged that their remoteness from Jerusalem, and their separation 
 from the temple service of Palestine, prevented them from becoming 
 acquainted with devotional music and other matters of that sort, 
 and they failed on that account to understand the titles. At any 
 rate, the argument from ignorance of the Seventy is carried too 
 far, if it leads us to fix the origin of the titles at an earlier period 
 than that of Ezra. 
 
 2. It is customary with the poets of the East to prefix their names 
 to their own songs. And to show that this custom prevailed among 
 the Hebrews, some writers point to Exod. xv., Deut. xxii., xxiii., 
 Judg. v.; but although the poets are there named, it is only in 
 connection with the narrative, and not, as among the Arabians, in a 
 proper title. Hence, no evidence of the existence of the custom is 
 to be derived from these passages. It may be allowed, however, 
 that Isa. xxxviii, 9, and the custom of designating the predictions 
 of the prophets by their names, are in favour of it. 
 
 3. Many of the titles accord very well with the subject matter. 
 The number of those, however, which do not thus accord, is 
 greater. 
 
 4. If the titles were annexed by later hands, perhaps from mere 
 conjecture, why were not all the Psalms provided with them ? The 
 circumstance that many of the Psalms have come down to us with- 
 out them, is a proof that nothing was given but what was found 
 already existing. The argument drawn from this circumstance to 
 prove the genuineness of the titles, possesses as little force as the ar- 
 gument which may be drawn from the same quarter to prove their 
 spuriousness. On many of the Psalms the authors of the titles had 
 no conjectures to give. 
 
 On the other hand it has been alleged, without ground, against 
 the genuineness of the titles, that they are found wanting or varied 
 in many of the ancient versions — for instance, the Septuagint, the 
 Syriac, and the Arabic. The Septuagint originally translated them 
 with the rest, as the manuscripts, as well as the citations of the 
 oldest fathers, prove. Hence they certainly lay also before the 
 still later Syrian translator, and the intervening Arabian possesses 
 no authority. Besides, the omission of many of the titles in the 
 versions above mentioned is merely a defect of particular manu- 
 scripts. That the translators, especially the Syrian, occasionally 
 have other titles and larger ones than the Hebrew text, is, to be 
 sure, a most remarkable circumstance ; but it may be accounted for 
 by supposing that whenever the titles were wanting in the original, 
 or were left out in the translation, either by accident or the fault 
 of the transcriber, or with the intention of the translator who could 
 not undertake to translate what was unintelligible (as we may ven- 
 ture to believe the Syrian translator would not). A decisive argu- 
 
 ment against the genuineness of the titles is the fact that they often 
 proveto be incorrect. Sometimes the author is incorrectly specified 
 (as when several Psalms are ascribed to David, and to Asaph, which 
 undeniably belong to later authors), sometimes the occasion. Proof 
 of this may be deduced from the titles as compared with the contents 
 of Psalms xxxiv., li., liv., lvi., lvii., lix., lx. Many of these titles 
 are taken from the historical books, from which they are some- 
 times literally transcribed. Why Psalm lvi. should be referred to 
 1 Sam. xxi. 1 1 ; and Psalm lvii. to 1 Sam. xxii., is not very apparent 
 from their respective subjects; the author of these titles seems to 
 have blindly followed the course of the narrative in the First Book 
 of Samuel. But if several of the titles may be proved to be false, 
 who will answer for the genuineness of the rest? This circumstance 
 exposes them all to the suspicion of being spurious. 
 
 Most writers and expositors take a middle course, and suppose 
 that there have been additions to the ancient genuine titles of others, 
 which are more recent and false, by means of marginal glosses 
 and interpolations. Rosenmuller and Sark regard the titles relat- 
 ing to music as being without exception of late origin. Gesenius 
 holds that the spurious titles sprung from the particular collections 
 which a parte potiori have the name of Psalms of David, Psalms of 
 the children of Korah, &c., but contained also other Psalms. When 
 they were incorporated in the great collection, each song was as- 
 cribed to the author after whom the whole collection was named, 
 just as in the Chronicles and in the New Testament the anonymous 
 Psalms are ascribed to David. 
 
 The view of the subject which has here been taken does not 
 materially differ from that of the Rev. T. H. Horne, whose 
 authority may be adduced to sanction the conclusions to which 
 it leads. “ That all the titles of the Psalms are canonical and 
 inspired we have no authority to affirm. Augustine, Hilary, 
 Theodoret, Cassiodorus, and many other ancient fathers, admit 
 that they have no relation to the body of the Psalms, and that 
 they contribute nothing to the sense. The Septuagint and other 
 Greek versions have added titles to some of the Psalms which 
 have none in the Hebrew : the Protestant and Romish churches 
 have determined nothing concerning them. If the titles of the 
 Psalms had been esteemed canonical, would it have been permitted 
 to alter them, to suppress them, or to add to them ? Which of the 
 commentators, Jewish or Christian, Catholic or Protestant, thinks 
 it incumbent upon him to follow the title of the Psalm in his Com- 
 mentary ? And yet both Jews and Christians receive the book of 
 Psalms as an integral part of Holy Writ. Although, therefore, 
 many of the titles prefixed to the Psalms are of very questionable 
 authority, as not being extant in Hebrew manuscripts, and some 
 of them are undoubtedly not of equal antiquity with the text, being 
 in all probability conjectural additions made by the collector of 
 the Psalms at different periods, who undertook to supply the defi- 
 ciency of titles from their own judgment or fancy, without a due 
 regard to manuscripts, yet we have no reason to suppose that very 
 many of them are not canonical parts of the Psalms ; because they 
 are perfectly in unison with the Oriental manner of giving titles to 
 books and poems.” 
 
 Admitting the correctness of this, the difficulty begins when we 
 attempt to distinguish the spurious from the genuine. A few of 
 the former are to be detected by want of agreement with the text ; 
 but by what rule shall the others be recognised ? And while they 
 remain undistinguished, no stress can be laid upon the titles pre- 
 fixed to any of the Psalms. 
 
 We shall now proceed to give the best explanations of the several 
 titles which can now be obtained. As they stand in our version 
 they are to most readers unintelligible, and matters of vague specu- 
 lation ; and such will feel it an advantage to be able to connect 
 some definite ideas with them. We shall put them in alphabetical 
 order. 
 
 Aijeletii Shahar. Psalm xxii. This phrase means, literally, 
 “ Hind of the Morning ; ” and is supposed either to designate the mat- 
 ter of the Psalm, or to be an indication of time, or the name of a 
 musical instrument, or the title of some other song to the melody 
 of which this Psalm was sung. The last opinion seems by far the 
 most probable. Possibly the expression denotes the sun, to which 
 the Arabian poets give the name of Gazelle. As for the rest, it is 
 not necessary to suppose that the words formed the commencement 
 of a song. If only the first and principal thing mentioned in a song 
 were a “ hind of the morning,” it would be sufficient to designate 
 the piece. An example of this may be seen in David’s elegy upon 
 Jonathan, which is called the “ Song of the Bow,” simply because 
 it contains the mention of a bow. The same custom still exists 
 among the Arabians. 
 
Sunday XIX] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 147 
 
 SUNDAY XIX. — BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HEX the men in search of them 
 came, Rahab by her answers led them 
 to conclude that the strangers had 
 already taken their departure, and 
 that she was herself very solicitous for 
 their apprehension. Having thus suc- 
 ceeded in putting them on a wrong 
 scent, she felt that the spies were no 
 longer safe in her house. She there- 
 fore went to them on the housetop, and 
 declaring her belief that the place would be taken by their country- 
 men, she requested them to promise that, in return for the service which 
 she had rendered, the lives of herself and her near kindred should 
 be spared. The men, believing that Joshua would sanction their 
 engagement, gave the required promise, and directed her to attach 
 a scarlet line to her window, in order that, during the assault upon 
 the town, her house might be distinguished from all others, and its 
 inmates spared. In stating the grounds of her belief in their suc- 
 cess, Rahab incidentally gave the spies much valuable information, 
 which enables us to perceive the state of mind in which the nearer 
 Canaanites awaited the invasion of the Hebrews. 
 
 It seems that the fame of the miracles which the Lord had 
 wrought in Egypt on the behalf of his people, and the wonders of 
 the W ilderness, as well as the victories on the east of the river, had 
 attracted much attention in Canaan, and had filled the inhabitants 
 
 with such alarm and discouragement as accounts well for their not 
 assembling to oppose the Hebrew host at the Jordan, across which 
 it was now manifest that they intended to enter the country. 
 Having given this information, Rahab assisted them in leaving 
 Jericho unobserved, by lowering them down by a rope through the 
 window : and on their return they gave Joshua an account of their 
 mission. 
 
 On the very day after receiving this encouraging intelligence, 
 Joshua took measures for the removal of the camp to the other side 
 of the river. It was then the time of flood, when the river was 
 full, deep, and rapid, and therefore presented a greater obstacle to 
 the passage than at any other time of the year. But this seemed 
 no great hinderance to those who had seen the Red Sea itself 
 separate to afford a passage to the descendants of Abraham. Indeed, 
 it was promised that the waters of the Jordan should in like manner 
 be divided to afford them a dryshod entrance to their heritage. 
 Pursuant to the directions which accompanied this promise, the 
 ark, borne by the priests, went about three-fourths of a mile in 
 advance of the great body of the host. No sooner had the feet of 
 these sacred persons touched the river’s brink, than the waters 
 divided to give them passage. The waters below the point went 
 on emptying themselves into the Dead Sea, while the stream above 
 was arrested in its impetuous course, leaving the channel dry from 
 the point where the priests entered to the head of the lake. The 
 priests went on, and when they reached the middle of the river’s 
 bed they rested there, beneath the shadow of the wall of waters, 
 the ark of God being thus interposed between the impending flood 
 and the people, who, as soon as they came up, passed across 
 between the ark and the head of the lake. When all had gone 
 over, the priests took up the ark and went up out of the bed of the 
 river ; and no sooner had their feet quitted the channel, than the 
 mighty hand which held back the flood was withdrawn, and the 
 accumulated waters rushed onward to the sea. 
 
 Before the priests quitted the bed of the Jordan a singular 
 operation was performed, which, taken in connection with other 
 circumstances, reminds one strongly of the Druidical monuments 
 and stones of memorial which are found in different parts of the 
 world. Twelve men, one from every tribe, were sent back into 
 the bed of the river, each bearing a large stone, which he deposited 
 there, and returned with a large stone from the river. The stones 
 thus obtained were set up as stones of memorial at Gilgal, where 
 the Israelites formed their first encampment in the land of Canaan. 
 
 This miraculous passage of the river must have much heightened 
 the consternation of the Canaanites ; and the manner in which the 
 Israelites obtained possession of .Jericho was well framed to strengthen 
 this feeling in them, as well as to give confidence to the Israelites, 
 from the conviction that a Divine power would be exerted to put them 
 in possession of those strong cities, the report of whose high walls 
 and towers had filled their fathers with alarm. 
 
 As soon as the Israelites had crossed the river, the miraculous 
 supply of manna, which they had hitherto enjoyed, ceased, and they 
 from that time ate bread made from the corn of the land. In the 
 
 wilderness the rite of circumcision had been neglected, and the 
 Passover had not been observed. But before commencing their 
 operations in Palestine, it was deemed right that the people should 
 be circumcised in their camp at Gilgal; and they then proceeded 
 to celebrate the Passover, the time for which had arrived. 
 
 After this, as Joshua was out alone reconnoitring the town of 
 Jericho, which he had placed under siege, he was surprised by the 
 sudden appearance of a personage with a drawn sword, who an- 
 nounced himself as the heavenly “captain of the Lord’s host,” and 
 proceeded to give to the prostrate Joshua instructions for the siege 
 of the city. He was directed to “compass the city by all the men 
 of war, and go round about it once; and do this six days.” “ And 
 seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns : 
 and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the 
 priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass 
 that when they make a long blast with the rams’ horns, and when 
 ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a 
 great shout ; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the 
 people ascend every man straight before him.” This course w as ex- 
 actly followed. The procession, however imposing, must have seemed 
 an idle show during six days ; but on the seventh, when the wall fell 
 down at the great shout which arose from that mighty host, and 
 while the earth yet shook with that terrible downfall, the Israelites 
 rushed into the now open city, which they sacked and utterly 
 destroyed. No living creature was spared (save Rahab and her 
 friends), and the buildings were destroyed by fire ; but the silver 
 and gold, and the vessels of brass and iron, were brought into the 
 treasury of the Lord. In fact the town had at the first been lain 
 under a solemn ban, or curse of devotement, which made it a high 
 crime for any one to save for himself any of the things doomed to 
 be destroyed, or of those which were to be saved only for the use 
 of the sanctuary. 
 
 The next attack of the Israelites was against the town of Ai ; 
 and they made it in all the confidence of victory which the mi- 
 raculous overthrow of Jericho inspired. But they were repulsed, 
 and fled before the men of Ai, who sallied out against them. This 
 was a terrible disaster, not merely from the discouragement of the 
 Israelites, but far more from the enemy being thus enabled to per- 
 ceive that the dreaded invaders were not after all invincible. It 
 was evident from this that the Lord had, for some unknown reason, 
 abandoned them to their own resources. A solemn inquiry was 
 then instituted, and it was discovered that one of the men engaged 
 in the sack of Jericho had been tempted to appropriate to his own 
 use from the devoted spoils a “ goodly Babylonish garment,” 
 together with some silver, and an ingot of gold. 
 
 By this act the man, whose name was Achan, had involved the 
 whole of the host in the infraction of a solemn covenant, which 
 had led to the disaster at Ai. The devoted articles were taken 
 from him and laid up before the Lord : Achan and his family were 
 stoned, and afterwards burned ; and by this expiation “ the fierce- 
 ness of the Lord’s anger was turned from Israel.” After this a 
 second expedition against Ai was undertaken ; and this time the 
 Israelites were more successful. The city was taken and burnt, 
 and all the inhabitants put to the sword ; but the spoil, consisting 
 of cattle and large quantities of gold and silver, was this time 
 divided among the people. 
 
 When the Gibeonites, a people of Canaan inhabiting this neigh- 
 bourhood, heard of the destruction of Jericho and Ai, with the 
 slaughter of the inhabitants, and that the Israelites were under a 
 command to destroy all the nations of the land without entering 
 into any league with them or giving them any quarter, they re- 
 solved to obtain exemption by means of a stratagem. With this 
 view they sent some of their principal men as ambassadors, who 
 were fitted out in such a manner that they seemed to have come 
 from a very distant country ; making it appear that the provisions 
 which they carried were either exhausted or spoiled by the length 
 of the journey, and even their clothes and wine-skins worn out. 
 These persons presented themselves before Joshua and the elders of 
 Israel ; and stated that their distant countrymen had heard of the 
 mighty deeds which God had brought for his people in rescuing 
 them from Egypt, and in destroying before them the powerful 
 kings of the Amorites: and these reports had so impressed their 
 minds, as to render them highly desirous of the friendship of a 
 people thus highly favoured by heaven. For this purpose they had 
 undertaken a long and fatiguing journey, as their nation was 
 even willing to become their tributaries, if they might have security 
 that they should not at any future period be destroyed by the 
 increasing power and dominion of Israel. Joshua and the elders 
 hastily deemed the condition in which these men appeared, and 
 the state of their provisions, as sufficient evidence for the truth of 
 
 U 2 
 
48iJ.— Conviction of Achan. (Agostino Carracci.) — Josh. vii. 
 Dal Achan. 
 
 -Craft of the Gibeonite. (Adapted from Agostino Carraeci.)-J° sh - >*• 
 
 
 
 
 1 „ A I 
 
 148 
 
455. — Water-Carrier. 
 Gwenydd Dwfr. 
 
 489.— Eastern Housetops. 
 Nenau Tai Dwyreiniol. 
 
 457.— An Egyptian Siege. (From an existing Bas-relief.) 
 Gwaiekau Aiphtaidd. (O satlun sydd ar gael.) 
 
 -Treading the Conquered under Feet. 
 Sathru’r Gorchtygedig dan draed. 
 
 490.— Eastern Housetops. 
 Nenau Tai Dwyreiniol. 
 
 486. — Water-Carriers. 
 Gwekynwyr Dwfr. 
 
 14<J 
 
150 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XIX. 
 
 this plausible tale: and they entered into a league with them, 
 engaging by a solemn oath not to destroy, but to protect, the people 
 they represented. The deception practised by the Gibeonites was, 
 however, soon after discovered. But in consideration of the solemn 
 engagement into which the Israelites had entered, their lives were 
 spared ; but their lands and cities were taken under the dominion 
 of Israel, and the inhabitants had imposed upon them the service 
 of providing wood and water for the use of the tabernacle — that 
 is, they had to carry the water in their skin bags, and to cut and 
 carry the wood for the sacrifices. This was a great relief to those by 
 whom these servile labours had hitherto been performed. It would 
 appear that the Gibeonites generally pursued their ordinary modes 
 of life, and had only to provide a sufficient number of men, 
 whether in rotation or by substitute, to be “ hewers of wood and 
 drawers of water.” 
 
 The exclusive alliance of the Gibeonites with the Israelites 
 was highly displeasing to the neighbouring states, and in particular 
 to Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, who formed a con- 
 federacy with four other kings of the small neighbouring mo- 
 narchies, for the purpose of attacking them, in order to prevent 
 others from following an example so discouraging to the defenders 
 of the country. When thus threatened by invasion, they sent to 
 Joshua to claim his protection. Mindful of the league between them, 
 however wrongfully obtained, and encouraged by the Divine assur- 
 ance of a complete victory — taking a considerable body of picked 
 men, and leaving the bulk of the army at Gilgal, which was still 
 the head-quarters of the Israelites, Joshua marched to the relief of 
 the Gibeonites. He concerted his measures on this occasion with 
 so much prudence, and executed them with so much vigour and 
 despatch, that in his attack upon the enemy, the next day, he suc- 
 ceeded in defeating and totally routing the superior force of the 
 confederated kings. As they tied, “ the Lord cast down great 
 stones from heaven upon them, and they died, and there were 
 more that died with hailstones than they whom the children of 
 Israel slew with the sword.” A still greater miracle was that which 
 followed: Joshua, fearing that the day would fail before he had 
 completed his victory, cried aloud, “Sun, stand thou still upon 
 Gibeon ; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon !” And we are 
 told “ the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the people had 
 avenged themselves upon their enemies.” This transaction has 
 been variously understood ; that there was a miracle, and a great 
 miracle, is clear ; but as the apparent diurnal motion of the sun 
 is really that of the earth on its own axis, it would seem to have 
 been described in terms conformable to the knowledge of the times 
 and the notions of the people. 
 
 Of the precise mode in which the miracle took place, two solu- 
 tions may be given, though it must necessarily ever be impossible 
 to determine positively which of them is the true one. Seeing that 
 “ all things are possible with God,” the effect may have been 
 owing to the actual cessation of the earth’s motion round the 
 sun. This, however, without a further and equally miraculous 
 interposition of Almighty power, would have produced the most 
 tremendous effects, not only upon the globe itself, but perhaps upon 
 the entire solar system, and, the equilibrium of the whole material 
 universe. The natural consequence of such a sudden check in the 
 course of the earth would have been, by means of the atmosphere, 
 to crush at once all animal and vegetable existence, to level with 
 the ground the most lofty and massive structures, and in fact to 
 sweep the whole surface of the globe as with the besom of destruc- 
 tion. Yet the same power which was competent to stay the globe 
 in its diurnal revolution, was equally competent to guard against 
 any destructive consequences arising from it, and the miracle may 
 have been wrought in the way now described. But the more pro- 
 bable explanation seems to be that which concludes the phenomenon 
 described to have been merely optical ; that the rotatory motion of 
 the earth was not disturbed ; but that, instead of this, the light of the 
 sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by the operation of 
 the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the 
 gm] to appear above the horizon when he really is below it. lie 
 who created the heavenly luminaries, and established the laws 
 which regulate the transmission of light, may at this time have so 
 influenced the medium through which the sun’s rays passed, as to 
 render the sun still visible long after the time when in ordinary 
 circumstances it would have disappeared. This would of course 
 have had all the visible effect of actually bringing the earth to a pause 
 in its revolution round its axis, and as this answers all the demands 
 of the text, no one need be solicitous to seek any more satisfactory 
 solution of the difficulty. 
 
 'W it h respect to the moon, the injunction addressed to it seems to 
 mean, that as the sun was to stay from setting over Gibeon, so the 
 
 moon should pause from rising or advancing over Ajalon, because 
 the appearance of the moon is the signal for the coming on of night, 
 which Joshua wished to be delayed. Certain it is that the light cf 
 the moon, even when visible, is of little consequence while the sun 
 is above the horizon. And as it would seem that the sun was at 
 this time near the horizon, this command to the moon may be 
 taken to have been introduced merely as a poetical ornament to 
 make out the parallelism so common to the poetical style of the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 This interposition of Divine Providence at the word of man 
 enabled the Israelites, to complete their victory by utterly dispers- 
 ing the enemy. The five kings who escaped from the field of battle 
 took shelter in a cave, where they were discovered and put to death 
 in a most ignominious manner, after the chiefs of Israel had set 
 their feet upon their necks, which was in those times a well-known 
 mode of expressing triumph over a vanquished foe, and as such is 
 often represented upon the monuments of Persia and of Egypt. 
 
 Encouraged by these successes, the Israelites no longer hesitated 
 to attack the strong, fortified towns, which had seemed impregnable 
 to their fathers, and under their able commander they soon made 
 themselves masters of all the strongholds and chief cities of Southern 
 Palestine, and with them the territories which they commanded. 
 
 The north, which, in the absence of imminent danger, had 
 hitherto rested in quiet, now became seriously alarmed ; and a 
 powerful confederacy was formed under Jabin, king of Hazor, to 
 resist the further progress of the invaders : all the remaining 
 strength of Canaan seems to have been concentrated in this opera- 
 tion, and great reliance seems to have been placed upon the iron- 
 armed war-chariots, which were, in fact, very dreadful to the 
 Hebrews. So formidable, indeed, was the confederacy, and so vast 
 the host assembled against Israel on this occasion, that the Lord 
 judged it needful to give Joshua renewed assurances of protection 
 and victory, and commanded him to attack the Canaanites on the 
 following day. Joshua obeyed, and obtained a complete and ap- 
 parently easy victory over the unwieldy host which lay encamped 
 by “ the waters of Meroin” (the lake Huleh). After this brilliant 
 success, the Hebrews found no power strong enough to make head 
 against them. They carried their victories to the northernmost 
 parts of Palestine, and to the borders of Zidon and the Phoenician 
 territory. On their return they destroyed Hazor, and its king, 
 who had taken refuge in his capital, and who had been lord 
 paramount of all the petty sovereigns in this part of Palestine. 
 Hazor was on this account destroyed, as an example of severity ■ but 
 all the other cities, which were either carried by assault or sur- 
 rendered, were preserved for the use of the Israelites. 
 
 It is observable that the history of this campaign offers the first 
 notice of horses in Palestine, and they are not again mentioned 
 directly till the time of David. So much vain-glory was attached 
 to the use of horses and war-chariots in military action, and the 
 possession of this kind of force so usually led to enterprises of 
 foreign conquest, that the use of them was forbidden to the 
 Israelites, whose possessions were to be limited to Palestine ; Joshua, 
 therefore, in obedience to the orders he received, destroyed the 
 horses and burned the chariots which fell into his hands. 
 
 Although many strong positions still remained in the hands of 
 the Canaanites, the land may be considered as having been by this 
 time subdued by the Israelites. It may be asked — What became of 
 the natives ? It is answered, that most of those who at the com- 
 mencement of the war fell into the hands of the Hebrews were 
 slain without mercy. The Canaanites without doubt would have 
 treated them with equal severity had they been the victors. No 
 quarter was given or taken in these ancient warfares : and the 
 pictures which the representations on the Egyptian monuments otter 
 of the revolting treatment of war-captives by a people so high in 
 material civilization as the ancient Egyptians, tend greatly to 
 diminish our surprise at the painful details which the books of 
 Joshua and Judges offer. 
 
 After the first heat of the warfare had passed, it does not appear 
 that the Israelites considered it their duty to destroy the conquered 
 Canaanites; but were content to lay them under tribute. Some 
 Canaanitish tribes seem to have quitted the country altogether. 
 It incidentally transpires in Josh. xxiv. 12, that some of them were 
 driven out by “ the hornet,” in accordance with a promise held out 
 in Exod. xxiii. 28, and Deut. vii. 20. This term of hornet pro- 
 bably denotes the formidable insect which Bruce describes under 
 the name of Zimb. The Lord, who promised thus to drive them 
 out, is able to make the humblest of his creatures the instruments 
 of his highest purposes ; but, even apart from this consideration, 
 there exist historical notices and traditions of nations thus driven 
 | Irom their seats by insect plagues. 
 
Sunday XIX.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 151 
 
 SUNDAY XIX.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ETER, in his ardent attachment to 
 his Master, was more especially moved, 
 and he began to reprehend notions 
 so unworthy the glory of the Messiah, 
 saying: — “ Be it far from thee, Lord; 
 this shall not be unto thee.” This 
 interference drew from the mild Jesus 
 one of the severest reprehensions lie 
 ever uttered, and which is the more 
 signal in connection with the high 
 encomium which the faith of this 
 Apostle had lately drawn from the same lips which now reproved 
 him. 
 
 About eight days after this, our Lord, accompanied by his three 
 most favoured Apostles, Peter, James, and John, withdrew into 
 the solitude of a mountain, supposed to be Mount Tabor, to pray. 
 While they were there, the Apostles were favoured with a glimpse 
 of that, heavenly glory in their Divine Master which belonged to 
 his higher nature. “ He was transfigured before them ; and his 
 face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” 
 Suddenly there also appeared with him Moses and Elias, who ap- 
 peared in glory, and were heard by the Apostles to speak with him 
 of the death he was soon to suffer in Jerusalem. There was a 
 significance in this, which may escape a reader who is not informed 
 that there was a general notion among the Jews that Moses and 
 Elias were to appear on earth in the time of the Messiah. Peter, 
 absorbed in the splendour of this appearance, and forgetful of 
 life’s cares and troubles, cried out in a rapture, “ Master, it is good 
 to be here : — and let us make three tabernacles, — one for thee, one 
 for Moses, and one for Elias.” By “ tabernacles” he meant booths 
 formed of branches of trees, such as travellers construct when 
 they meet with a pleasant spot, unmindful of time and business. 
 The words had scarce been finished, when a bright cloud over- 
 shadowed them, and a voice was heard from out of the cloud, say- 
 ing : — “ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear 
 ye him.” Overpowered by the radiant light, and awed by that 
 voice, the men fell to the ground as if struck by lightning ; and they 
 stirred not until Jesus himself touched them and told them to arise. 
 "When they then looked up, they saw that no one but their Master 
 was present, and he had resumed his usual appearance. He charged 
 them to relate this glorious vision to no one, till the Son of Man 
 should have risen from the dead : and they promised compliance, 
 although they could not but question one another as to what his 
 “ rising from the dead ” might mean. 
 
 On rejoining the other Apostles below the mountain, they were 
 found to be under much perplexity and concern ; it was about a 
 very distressing and violent case of demoniacal possession, which 
 the Apostles, in the absence of their Master, had attempted to 
 relieve; and the attempt being abortive, had been much chafed on 
 that account, by the Scribe who happened to be present. When 
 the approach of Jesus was perceived, one man hastened out of the 
 crowd to meet him, and kneeling down before him, explained the 
 matter. He said, “Lord, have mercy on my son (for he is mine only 
 child) : for he is lunatic, and sore vexed ; for oft-times he falleth 
 into the fire, and oft into the water. And lo ! a spirit taketh him, 
 and teareth him : and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, 
 and pineth away ; and I spake to thy disciples, that they should 
 cast him out, and they could not.” He added, that he had been thus I 
 affected from infancy. Christ then directed the lad to be brought to 
 him, and no sooner did he appear in that august presence, than he fell 
 into one of those violent convulsions of which the father had spoken, 
 and who now implored more earnestly for relief: “ If thou canst 
 do anything, have compassion upon us, and help us.” Jesus 
 answered, “ If thou canst believe, — all things are possible to him 
 that believeth.” The man replied, with tears, “ Lord, I believe ; 
 help thou mine unbelief.” Touched by this answer, .Jesus at once com- 
 manded the deaf and dumb spirit to come forth ; and he was obeyed, 
 though not without such rending throes as left the lad like one 
 dead. Some, indeed, said that he was dead : but Jesus took him 
 by the hand, lifted him up, and restored him perfectly cured to 
 his amazed and rejoicing parent. The disciples afterwards took 
 an opportunity of asking him why they could not effect this cure ; 
 end, as might be expected, he said that it arose from the defect of 
 their faith, and from their want of sufficient confidence in the powers 
 which he had bestowed upon them. 
 
 There was a sacred tribute paid yearly by every adult male in 
 
 Israel to the treasury of the Temple. The amount was half a shekel, 
 regarded in the time of Christ as equivalent to a didrachma, by 
 which name the piece of money that paid it is called in the Gospels. 
 When the usual time of payment came round, the collectors at 
 Capernaum inquired of Peter whether his master paid the tribute. 
 He replied in the affirmative : but. when he mentioned the matter 
 to Jesus, he was asked: “ What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom 
 do the kings of the earth take tribute? of their own children, or of 
 strangers?” Peter of course replied, “ Of strangers ;” and Jesus re- 
 joined, “ Then are the children free.” But although thus free, lie 
 directed the tribute to be paid, that there might be no occasion to 
 allege that he despised the Temple. But they had not the money. 
 The Saviour of the World was not possessed of fifteen pence. But 
 all things were in his power and knowledge. He directed Peter 
 to go and angle in the lake, and open the mouth of the first fish 
 he took The Apostle did so ; and lie found in the fish a coin 
 called a stater, equal to a shekel, which the fish had doubtless lately 
 swallowed. This was enough to pay two tributes, and Christ 
 directed Peter to pay with it for both. 
 
 When our Lord was afterwards with his disciples in the house 
 which they occupied, he questioned them respecting a discussion 
 in which they had been engaged on the road. But no one answered : 
 all being ashamed to confess that they had been disputing which of 
 them should be the greatest in their Master’s kingdom, which they 
 still conceived 'to be of this world. But Jesus, knowing their 
 thoughts, took a little child into his arms, and told them that they 
 who laid aside the pride of life, and became as unambitious, gentle, 
 and teachable as little children, were likely to take the highest place 
 in the kingdom of heaven. After some discourse with them, incul- 
 cating the necessity of such dispositions in the heritors of the 
 divine kingdom, our Lord concluded by the striking parable of the 
 king who commanded an officer, who owed ten thousand talents, to 
 be sold, with his wife and children, for slaves, in payment of the 
 debt : but was moved by his supplication to compassion, and forgave 
 his vast debt. The same person, on going forth from the presence, 
 found a fellow-servant, who owed him the paltry sum of a hundred 
 pence (denarii), and, instead of extending to him the mercy he 
 had just received, seized him by the throat, and cast him into 
 prison till he should pay the debt. But this act was the ruin of 
 the merciless creditor ; for when his lord heard of it, he was angry, 
 and, after administering a just rebuke, “ delivered him to the tor- 
 mentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” By this 
 parable Christ taught that they who hoped forgiveness of heaven 
 should be forgiving one to another. Soon after this, Christ sent forth 
 seventy of his disciples, to spread abroad the tidings by which their 
 own souls had been gladdened. In sending them forth, he enjoined 
 them to manifest such earnestness of demeanour, such freedom from 
 small cares, as might make it plain to every passer-by that their 
 minds were full of the most important business, and that they were 
 earnestly intent on the immediate despatch of it. They were 
 not to encumber themselves with provisions of food or cloth- 
 ing, nor tarry by the way to exchange the long and ceremonious 
 greetings for which the Orientals have always been notorious 
 For the same reason, Elisha gave the same injunction to Ge- 
 hazi, when he sent him on a message intended to be speedily 
 delivered. 
 
 It will be recollected that Jesus had abstained from attending at 
 Jerusalem at the last Passover. Autumn had now come, and with 
 it the pleasant Feast of Tabernacles. The “ brethren ” of Jesus 
 perceiving that he manifested no intention to attend this feast 
 either, urged him to do so. Their feeling in this it is not difficult 
 to discover. They, who had always had the human presence of 
 Christ before their eyes, found it peculiarly difficult to believe in 
 him with entire fixedness. The miracles which they saw him 
 perform inclined them to belief, but they were ever anxious to 
 receive proofs yet more manifest of the divine dignity to which lie 
 laid claim. They now wished to see him in the great theatre of 
 the metropolis; still expecting, probably, the arrival of a decisive 
 moment in which he would reveal himself with power as the 
 Messiah. This moment, they supposed, would come as soon as 
 matters should be brought to a crisis by his appearance among his 
 enemies at Jerusalem. Jesus, however, being unwilling to excite 
 attention without necessity, did not consider the present moment, 
 when the bulk of the people were in the road, as the most suitable. 
 He suffered his brethren to depart alone ; but afterwards went up 
 to the holy city in a private manner with his disciples. 
 
 At Jerusalem the expectations of the assembled multitudes were 
 alive concerning him, and with different feelings men talked eagerly 
 to one another about the probabilities of his appearance. At 
 length he appeared. 
 
491. — The Transfiguration. (Overbeck.) 
 Y Gweddnewidiad. 
 
 495. — Eastern Prisoner. 
 Carcharor Dwyreinioi. 
 
 492.— Mount Tabor. 
 Mynydd Tabor. 
 
 493 Grecian Pidrachma, conjectured to be one of Nerva's. From a Specimen in the National Collection 
 
 Didrachma Groegaidd, yr eiddo Nerva fel y tybir. Oddi wrlh esiampl yn y Casghau Ccnbe 
 
 494.— Parable of the King and the Debtor. 
 Dammeg y Brenin a'r Dyledwr. 
 
 152 
 
X 
 
 153 
 
 498.— Rock Valley in the vicinity of Petra — Jsr. xlix. . 
 
 The Entrance to a Toiiid is shown on the left, and the Remains of an Amphitheatre in t s d 
 
 DyfFryn Craig yn ardal Petra. 
 
 Arddangosir mynedfa i Feddrod ar y ciiwitn, a Gweddillion Amchwareula yn ▼ , c i 
 
154 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 SUNDAY XX.— THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 EREMIAH is peculiarly pointed in 
 Ids prophecies against the Edomites, 
 who dwelt in the mountains of 
 Seir; and in some recent publica- 
 tions, such as that of Dr. Keith on 
 the Evidence from Prophecy, it lias 
 been shown how strikingly those pro- 
 phecies have been accomplished. It 
 is not to be deided that the eager- 
 ness for illustrative points has been 
 carried by some pious and able wri- 
 ters into some extravagance and minuteness of detail, against which 
 the more recent travellers, even though themselves divines (such as 
 Dr. Olin), begin to protest. This is the natural recoil from an 
 attempt to prove too much, and to find in the language of prophecy 
 a more than usually minute application of the general images and 
 expressions by which the desolation of Edom is described. The 
 prophets foretold these desolations, they foretold many of the attend- 
 ant circumstances, and they employed expressions and images natu- 
 rally derived from the well-known position of the Edomites as a 
 people dwelling among rocks and precipices. It is indeed pro- 
 bable that many of the expressions apply in particular to the capital 
 n Petra, to whose wonderful excavated remains so much attention 
 has been of late years attracted. The present series appear indeed 
 to be of a date later than the prophets ; but the town was the capital 
 of Edom before the prophecies were delivered, and as such had been 
 taken by the kings of Judah (2 Kings xiv. 7), to whom the Edom- 
 ites were for some time tributary. 
 
 To show the just effect which may be obtained by putting in 
 juxtaposition some passages of these prophecies with the incidental 
 statements of travellers, who, for the most part, had anything but 
 the illustration of Scripture in view, we shall occupy this page with 
 a few striking examples. It may be proper to premise that Petra, 
 the name of the capital of Edom, means a rock , and Selah, which is 
 the scriptural name for it, has the same signification. 
 
 “ Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thy heart, 
 O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that boldest the height 
 of the hill; though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the 
 eagle , I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord” (Jer. 
 xlix. 16). 
 
 “ The ascent for a considerable distance up the side of the moun- 
 tains is not very steep ; and we saw many ruined terraces, the 
 evidences and remains of a flourishing agriculture, which in the 
 prosperous days of Edom clothed these now sterile mountains with 
 fertility and beauty. The region before us was crowded with red 
 perpendicular masses of rock, regularly stratified, very lofty and 
 broken into fragments of mountains, rather than forming a regular 
 chain. In their bosom is Petra. The ruined city lies in a narrow 
 valley surrounded by lofty and, for the most part, precipitous moun- 
 tains. Those which form its southern limit are not so steep as to 
 be impassable : and it was over these, or rather through them, along 
 an abrupt and difficult ravine, that we wound our laborious way 
 into this scene of magnificent desolation” (Olin’s ‘ Travels in the 
 East,’ ii. 15). 
 
 The same writer, however, with reference to this very passage, and 
 that of Obadiah (verse 3), “ Thou that dwellest in the clefts of 
 the rocks, whose habitation is high,” justly observes, that although 
 usually cited with reference to Petra, they are to be understood in a 
 more extended application. “ They are no doubt strikingly descrip- 
 tive of the situation of Petra in a deep fissure of the mountain, and at 
 the same time elevated three thousand feet or more above the level 
 of the sea, and not less than two thousand perhaps above Wady 
 Arabah. But they are equally applicable to the whole region of 
 Mount Seir, in reference to which they seem to have been used, at 
 least by Obadiah. The deep valleys, bounded by high steep cliffs 
 which pervade every part of the country, and which must always 
 have contained the chief part of the population, are well described 
 as ‘ clefts of the rocks, and heights of the hills,’ as ‘ high habita- 
 tions ’ ” (Olin, ii. 58). 
 
 “The barren state of the country, together with the desolate 
 condition of the inhabitants, seem strongly to verify the judgment 
 pronounced against it ’’(Irby and Mangles, p. 439). The same 
 travellers mention, that when Mr. Bankes applied at Constan- 
 tinople to have Kereh and Wady Mousa (Petra) inserted in his 
 firman, answer was returned that “ they knew of no such place 
 within the Grand Seignor’s dominions.” This has been adduced 
 
 [Sunday XX. 
 
 in illustration of Jer. xlix. 15, “ I will make thee small among the 
 heathen, and despised among men.” 
 
 “ If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not have left thee 
 some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, they will destroy till 
 they have enough. But I have made Esau bare. And Edom 
 shall be a desolation : every one that goeth by shall be astonished 
 and hiss at the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah, and the neighbouring cities thereof, saith the Lord, 
 no man shall abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell in it ” 
 (Jer. xlix. 9, 10, 17, 18). 
 
 “ The whole plain presented to the view an expanse of shifting 
 sands, whose surface was broken by innumerable inundations and 
 low hills. . . . And the Arabs told me that the valleys continue 
 to present the same appearance beyond the latitude of Wady 
 Mousa (Petra). In some parts of the valley the sand is very deep, 
 and there is not the slightest appearance of a road, or of any work 
 of human hand. A few trees grow among the sand-hills, but the 
 depth of sand precludes all vegetation of herbage. The sand which 
 thus covers the ancient cultivated soil appears to have been brought 
 from the shores of the Red Sea by the southern winds ” (Burckhardt, 
 p. 442). 
 
 With reference to the above and other prophecies of similar im- 
 port, Dr. Olin remarks : — “ Such was the language uttered by the 
 Jewish prophets while this doomed region was yet prosperous and 
 powerful. It portrays a state of desolation and ruin the most abso- 
 lute and irretrievable, such as probably no portion of the globe, 
 once fertile and populous, now exhibits. These fearful denuncia- 
 tions and their fulfilment furnish an invulnerable argument in favour 
 of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures ; and the present state of 
 this once rich and beautiful region is a terrible monument of the 
 divine displeasure against wickedness and idolatry.” 
 
 It is somewhat surprising how often the prophets mention the 
 presence of wild-fowl in connection with the desolations of Edom. 
 Perhaps there is nothing peculiar in this, as the presence of those 
 wild birds which shun the abodes of men naturally occur as images 
 of desolation, and are mentioned in connection with other desola- 
 tions than that of Edom. Still the combination of the ancient 
 prophecy and the present fact has a striking effect, and shows, as 
 strongly as any precise correspondence of details, the accomplish- 
 ment of the predictions. 
 
 “ The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it ; the owl also 
 and the raven shall dwell in it. . . . The screech-owl also shall 
 rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great 
 owl make her nest, and lay and hatch, and gather under her shadow : 
 there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate” 
 (Isa. xxxiv. 11, 14, 15). 
 
 “ I was often reminded of the prediction of the prophet (Isa. 
 xxxiv.) by the multitude and the noise of the wild-fowl, ‘each an- 
 swering to his mate.’ Our party shot two or three large eagles, and 
 many partridges — the cormorant, it is said, of the Old Testament” 
 (Olin, ii. 48). “ The screaming of the eagles, hawks, and owls, 
 
 who, soaring above our heads in considerable numbers, added much 
 to the irregularity of the scene” (Irby and Mangles, p. 413). Mr. 
 Ivinnear remarks, that vultures were the only birds of prey which 
 he observed ; they were generally seen in pairs, “ soaring above the 
 valley or perched upon the rocks. Partridges, pigeons, a species 
 of blackbird, and numbers of small singing birds were seen every 
 day.” This abundance of wild birds is certainly sufficiently 
 indicative of a desolated and unfrequented site. It is not likely that 
 more than this was intended to be indicated ; and the last-named 
 traveller (Kinnear’s ‘Cairo, Petra, and Damascus,’ pp. 155, 159) 
 with much good sense remarks, “ There is abundant evidence of 
 the complete fulfilment of the prophecies against Edom, without 
 descending to these minute and literal details, to which so much 
 importance has been attached. I have seen nothing to confirm the 
 statements we have read, of the very minute coincidences between 
 the present condition of the country and the very words of prophecy ; 
 as if there were not a plant or animal mentioned in the highly 
 figurative description of the desolation which was to come upon 
 Edom, that might not be found in or near the deserted city.” . . . 
 
 “ The ruins of Petra teach a far more impressive lesson than is to 
 be learned in curiously searching after these minute literalities. 
 We see in her present condition not only the accomplishment of all 
 the denunciations against Edom, but a warning of the certainty 
 with which all God’s righteous judgments against sin will be ful- 
 filled ; and, if we read the lesson aright, every fragment of the 
 desolated city will seem to address us with solemn admonition, 
 ‘Think ye that they were sinners above all men, because they 
 suffered such things : I tell ye nay, but except ye repent, ye shall 
 all likewise perish.’ ” 
 
Sunday XX.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 155 
 
 SUNDAY XX. — BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 IIE operations which have 
 been described, and which left 
 the Israelites paramount in 
 Canaan, seem to have occu- 
 pied about five years, during 
 which not fewer than thirty- 
 five of the petty kings of 
 Canaan had been dispossessed 
 of their dominions. It then 
 seemed that sufficient con- 
 nected territory had been ac- 
 quired to provide for three of 
 the tribes, on the same liberal 
 scale as the two tribes and a 
 half beyond the Jordan. The 
 decision of God in the dis- 
 tribution of this territory was appealed to by a solemn lot, which 
 assigned it to Judah, Ephraim, and the unprovided half-tribe of 
 Manasseh. This first division of lands took place in the year b.c. 
 1602 . 
 
 Before the internal distribution to particular families was made 
 of the territory thus assigned, Caleb put in a claim to a separate 
 provision, in virtue of a promise made by Moses, that he should 
 inherit the land in which he had beheld the gigantic Anakim, who 
 had struck such terror into the other spies, but by whom his own 
 faithful heart and that of Joshua himself had not been appalled. 
 This Caleb, it will be remembered, and Joshua, were the only two 
 who were adults at the exode, who were permitted to enter the 
 Promised Land. The lands which Caleb had in view were accord- 
 ingly assigned to him, being Hebron and its neighbourhood. This 
 territory was still in the hands of the enemy ; but Caleb undertook 
 to get possession of it when assigned to him. He did so. At 
 Debir he offered the hand of his daughter as a prize for him who 
 should take that place for him. The exploit was undertaken and 
 successfully accomplished by his nephew Othniel, to whom custom 
 gave a sort of right to her hand, and who would have incurred 
 some dishonour had he allowed the superior daring of another to 
 take that right from him. As Othniel was about to conduct home 
 his bride, she intimated to him her dissatisfaction at the unwatered 
 lands which Caleb had given as her dower, and got his consent to 
 allow her to ask her father for “ springs of water.” This was a 
 great thing to ask ; but Caleb was kind, and gave her “ both the 
 upper and the nether springs.” 
 
 Hitherto the camp had remained at Gilgal, and there was the 
 altar and tabernacle. But it now seemed desirable to remove the 
 head-quarters to a more centrical place; and Shiloh, in the land of 
 Ephraim, was deemed the most suitable station. The removal took 
 place with much pomp. On the way, Joshua was enabled to follow 
 the directions of Moses respecting an imposing ceremony which 
 he had ordered to be celebrated on the mountains of Ebal and 
 Gerizim. In the valley between the mountains were stationed 
 the priests with the ark, while the mountains themselves were 
 lined witli the tribes, six on each side. The curses of the law 
 upon the wrong-doer and the disobedient were then pronounced 
 from Mount Ebal, and its blessings upon the well-doer and the obe- 
 dient from Mount Gerizim ; and as each clause was pronounced, 
 one mighty “ Amen ” proclaimed the assent of the vast host to 
 the conditions upon which they were taking possession of their 
 heritage. 
 
 A sort of desultory warfare with the unsubdued natives seems to 
 have occupied the ensuing five or six years, without any such 
 vigorous operations as had marked the earlier warfare. From this 
 state of comparative inertion the tribes were roused by the reproof 
 from Joshua: “How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land 
 which the Lord, the God of your fathers, hath given you ?” It then 
 seems to have occurred to him that if the whole country, conquered 
 and unconquered, were actually distributed among the seven tribes 
 for which no provision had been made, a new and effectual stimulus 
 would be given to their exertions. But experience had shown that 
 the previous distribution had been made on insufficient information 
 as to the extent of the land to be divided ; and therefore it was 
 directed that a new survey of all the country should be made by 
 three competent persons from each tribe, who should write down 
 the particulars in a book. It is not improbable that some attempt 
 at mapping the surveyed lands was made on this occasion, espe- 
 cially when we bear in mind that the art of land-surveying had its 
 origin in the country from which the Hebrews had come. And 
 
 indeed it is difficult to make out how the nice discrimination of 
 particulars and boundary points which we find in the chapters 
 which follow this statement, and which are manifestly the results of 
 the survey, could have been intelligible without some kind of mapped 
 delineations. 
 
 After seven months, the surveyors returned with the requisite 
 particulars entered in their books. The lots for the distribution 
 of the territory among the seven tribes were then taken “ before 
 the Lord ” at Shiloh, and the lots drawn were found to be in very 
 exact accordance with the prophetic intimations respecting the 
 future condition of all the tribes which Jacob had delivered to his 
 sons. Tins second and final distribution took place in the year 
 b.c. 1596. 
 
 The whole of the territory being now distributed, it was found 
 that Judah possessed a large territory in southernmost Canaan, 
 containing one hundred and fourteen towns, besides many villages. 
 Jerusalem lay partly in this tribe, and partly in that of Benja- 
 min ; but the native inhabitants, the Jebusites, were not at tins 
 time expelled from it, and retained possession till a much later 
 period. The inheritance of Ephraim and of the half-tribe of 
 Manasseh extended from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, 
 across the land, and it lay to the north of Judah. This contained 
 most of the country which was eventually known by the name of 
 Samaria. Of this district, Ephraim had the southern, and Ma- 
 nasseh the northern portion. The portion of Benjamin was 
 situated between those of Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh. The 
 survey had shown that Judah had received more than its fair pro- 
 portion of territory, and therefore at this second distribution a 
 portion for another tribe was taken out of the south-west part of 
 it. This portion fell to Simeon. To Zebulon fell the tract 
 of country nearest to the lake of Gennesareth, in the region ol 
 Galilee. The possession of Issaciiar lay to the south of this, 
 and reached from the Jordan almost to the Mediterranean. The 
 lot of Asher formed the most northern portion of the land, and 
 reached to the roots of Lebanon, and was only excluded from 
 the sea by the strip of coast retained by the Zidonians. The in- 
 heritance of Naphtali lay to the east of Asher, and touched on 
 the waters of the Upper Jordan, and the northern part of the lake 
 of Tiberias. Dan’s proper territory lay to the north and north- 
 west of Judah ; but it afterwards acquired new possessions far to 
 the north among the sources of the Jordan. The portions al- 
 lotted to Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, on the other side of 
 the Jordan, have already been pointed out. The Levites had no 
 share in this distribution ; but in compensation, they had the use 
 of the tithes, and forty-eight towns for residence among the several 
 tribes were allotted to them. Six of these towns, three on each 
 side the Jordan, were made “ cities of refuge,” or places appointed 
 under the law of Moses as asylums for persons who had committed 
 homicide, and who, so soon as they came within the walls, were 
 safe from the pursuit of the avenger of blood, who, under old 
 Eastern usages, which still subsist in many countries, claimed the 
 right of slaying, wherever found, the slayer of his next of kin. 
 This institution imposed a strong restraint upon a custom liable to 
 much abuse, but which it seems to have been deemed not prudent 
 to abolish altogether. 
 
 The forty thousand men from the two tribes and a half beyond 
 the Jordan had hitherto, according to their agreement, faithfully 
 attended their brethren in all their wars against the Canaanites. 
 They had no territorial interest in the matter ; but they shared 
 and were enriched by the spoils of the armies they defeated and 
 the towns they conquered. The time was now come when they 
 might be dismissed to their own homes, in doing which Joshua 
 solemnly exhorted them to “ take diligent heed to do the com- 
 mandment and the law which Moses, the servant of our Lord, had 
 charged them, to love the Lord their God, and to walk in all 
 his ways, and to keep his commandments, to cleave unto him, and 
 to serve him with all their heart and with all their soul.” He then 
 blessed them, and sent them away. 
 
 When they reached the other side of the Jordan, these men set 
 up a great altar, probably in some distinguishing feature similar 
 to the one at Shiloh, as a monument, to prove to future ages their 
 relation to the tribes on the other side of the river, their in- 
 terest in the worship and service of God at his sanctuary, and 
 their right, and that of their posterity, to join in all the ordi- 
 nances there administered. To their brethren, however, this trans- 
 action bore a very different and suspicious appearance. They 
 concluded at once that the altar was intended for sacrifice, and 
 the basis of a separate establishment for worship, contrary to the 
 law which allowed but the one altar before the tabernacle, which 
 was designed to be the single object of attention to united Israel. 
 
 X 2 
 
156 
 
mi library 
 
 OF TFiE 
 
 OKiYEBSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 
 
 
506.— Captives Bound. 
 Ciiethion Rhwymedig. 
 
 504. — stones of Memorial. 
 Meini Coffadwriaeth. 
 
 500.— Hot net (Zimb of Bruce).— Josh. xxiv. 
 
 405.— Ancient Syrian Chief addressing the People. 
 Penaetn Synaidd Hynafol yn anerch y Bobl. 
 
 507.— Joshua and Eleasar dividing the Land by Lot. (Hoet.) — Josh, xviii. 
 Josua ac Eleaaar yn rhanu’r Tir wrth Goelbren. 
 
 157 
 
158 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XX. 
 
 This supposed defection and disobedience, therefore, threw the 
 tribes into a state of great excitement ; and they prepared for im- 
 mediate war to bring the apostates to punishment. The cooler 
 judgment of Joshua and of Eleazer the high-priest, however, sug- 
 gested the propriety of sending a deputation to inquire into the 
 matter. The men whose act had raised this commotion were 
 much startled at the design thus imputed to them, of seeking the 
 very object which it had been their solicitude to avert. They ex- 
 plained their real intention, with which the tribes west of the river 
 were not only satisfied, but pleased. 
 
 Several following years were distinguished by no great actions. 
 The tribes, having already as many towns and as much land as 
 their numbers allowed them to occupy, do not seem to have pro- 
 secuted the war with much vigour ; but were contented with the rest 
 and plenty they actually enjoyed. 
 
 About fourteen years after the final distribution of the lands, 
 Joshua, being then far advanced in years, and knowing that his 
 end drew nigh, convened the people, that he might give them his 
 last counsels, and receive from them the renewed assurance of 
 their faithfulness and obedience to the Divine institutions. After 
 briefly sketching their past history, and pointing out the special 
 mercies of God towards them, he called upon them to decide at 
 once and solemnly, whether they would accept the high destinies 
 and consequent obligations to which they had been called, or would 
 rather conform to the practices and worship of the nations around 
 them. “ But as for me, and my house,” lie added, “ we will serve 
 the Lord.” The people answered, “ The Lord our God will we 
 serve, and his voice will we obey !” This amounted to a formal 
 renewal of the covenant into which they had entered at Sinai. 
 So they intended it, and so it was accepted by Joshua, who wrote 
 down the terms of it in the book of the law ; and by way of public 
 testimonial, he, according to the custom of the times, set up a great 
 stone of memorial, under a tree which grew near the sanctuary of 
 God. The words he used on this occasion clearly point out the 
 object and leading idea of such stones of testimony : “ Behold, this 
 stone shall be a witness unto us ; for it hath heard all the words of 
 the Lord which he spake unto us : it shall therefore be a witness 
 unto you, lest ye deny your God.” Monuments of this kind, in 
 the shape of single stones, or heaped up, or variously arranged, or 
 formed into pillars of memorial, call to mind the still subsisting 
 and similar records of a remote age, which are found in different 
 parts of the world, and which are not wanting in Syria and 
 Palestine. 
 
 Not long after this Joshua died, at the age of one hundred and 
 ten years (b.c. 1582), being the oldest man then in Israel, unless 
 Caleb were still alive. 
 
 The character of Joshua affords an interesting study to those 
 who take interest in the history of the Jewish people. At the first 
 view he may seem to derive his eminence only from the great- 
 ness of the circumstances in which he is placed ; but a closer 
 inspection shows him always, under the Divine King, at the head 
 of these circumstances, and develops many traits of character 
 which claim our admiration and respect. In him we find that rare 
 combination of talents which go to form at once the warrior and 
 the statesman; and if his career was less brilliant and his position 
 less commanding than that of Moses, he showed himself equally 
 fit for the peculiar services which devolved upon him, and for the 
 station to which he was called. He was brave without temerity, 
 active without precipitation, and possessed the rare art of making 
 himself obeyed without becoming imperious. lie shrank from no 
 difficulties, lie neglected no duty, and he suffered no advantage to 
 be lost. In the passage of the Jordan, the judgment of Achan, the 
 taking of Ai, we find nothing neglected which might cause the 
 miracle to make a profound impression, the punishment to be 
 acknowledged just, and the victory to be decisive. The generation 
 which he governed was superior to that which came out of Egypt, 
 and he was in consequence better obeyed than Moses. As a minis- 
 ter of the Divine judgments, he executed them without weakness 
 or failure, but also with calmness, and without passion or fury. 
 His piety is gentle, though decisive, and his confidence firm, though 
 manifested more in action than in words. In his last charge to the 
 people, and in the effect which his solemn farewell was framed 
 to produce, we recognise the pupil of a Moses, and a faithful ser- 
 vant of the Theocracy. Lastly, we behold in Joshua a conqueror 
 more void of pride, and more dead to ambition, than any other which 
 history records. 
 
 The death of Joshua was soon followed by that of Eleazer the 
 high-priest, who was succeeded by his son Phinehas. Gradually 
 also “ the elders who outlived Joshua ” dropped off, and the people 
 ware left without that direction and control for general objects 
 
 under which they had hitherto been. It must not, however, be 
 supposed that they were entirely without control and government. 
 This was by no means the case ; the division into tribes gave them 
 hereditary chiefs and heads of families, whose authority was great 
 within the tribes to which they belonged, and quite sufficient for 
 the purposes of internal government. This explains how it was 
 that the Israelites managed their affairs even so well as they did 
 in the centuries between the death of Joshua and the election of 
 Saul. The appointment of the so-called Judges does not explain it, 
 for there were few of them who had any substantial authority, or 
 whose influence extended over more than a part of the nation. 
 
 But although the division into tribes was, as now in Tartary and 
 Arabia, sufficient for internal government of the tribes themselves, 
 it was insufficient for national objects. But if it be asked how it 
 happened that this was not provided for by the appointment of some 
 one to succeed Joshua, it is answered that provision was made, and 
 that the Israelites in the troubles which befel them reaped the fruit 
 of neglecting to avail themselves of this provision, and of carrying 
 into effect the Divine intention respecting the general govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Moses had a special mission to emancipate the people, and to 
 furnish them with laws and institutions suited to the condition they 
 were destined to occupy. Joshua had a special mission to conduct 
 the same people into the land of Canaan, and put them into posses- 
 sion of their heritage. Both these missions had been accomplished, 
 and then it behoved the people to go upon the rules which the law 
 had laid down for their government. Under these rules the in- 
 ternal government of the tribes remained undisturbed, unless the 
 establishment of the Jethroian magistracy interfered in some degree 
 with the powers of the hereditary chiefs, so far as the administra- 
 tion of justice was concerned. But to understand the general 
 government, we must recollect that it was designed to be a theocracy, 
 directly subject to the Divine king, who had in a special manner 
 been accepted as king of Israel. With them he dwelt in his taber- 
 nacle-palace, always ready to be consulted, through his high-priest 
 and minister, on matters of government and order. The high-priest, 
 as his representative, and as having more immediate access to 
 him, was the visible head or regent of this government, and his 
 directions were to be followed in matters which did not require an 
 appeal to the supreme king. Of his high court the priests were the 
 inferior ministers, and the Levites the officers and servants, and the 
 establishment for general government was thus perfect in all its 
 parts, and, for all that appears, was destined to be the permanent 
 government for the people. 
 
 But the people were not sensible of its importance to them. 
 Finding that they had in their tribes such a government as they 
 understood and had been used to, they soon fell back upon their 
 separate interests, and neglected the more general and larger object 
 in which the whole nation was concerned. The theocratical govern- 
 ment was hence neglected, and became inoperative for purposes of 
 good by not being used. And ere long, as they were still subject 
 to external pressure from the Canaanites who remained unsubdued, 
 the whole frame of society fell into disorder from the want of proper 
 cohesion in its parts, and the nation was subject to the calamities 
 which it is the purpose of the book of Judges to record. 
 
 Moreover, as the theocratical system was not properly brought 
 out, in all its admirable uses and high purposes, the charges for its 
 maintenance appeared the more burdensome ; and we can collect 
 from the record that for the most part the high -priest had by no 
 means the influence or power which his position demanded ; that 
 the tithes and other sacerdotal dues were to a great extent left un- 
 paid, so that the Levites who entirely depended upon this provision, 
 were often without the means of support ; that the people generally 
 neglected the yearly attendance at the altar which the law required, 
 and that, in consequence, a very general ignorance of their own 
 laws and religion, and of their peculiar place among the nations 
 with the privileges and duties which belonged to it, overspread the 
 nation to an extent which must be appreciated to enable us to under- 
 stand some of the very extraordinary circumstances which ere long 
 took place. 
 
 For a considerable time after the death of Joshua and the elders 
 who outlived him, the Israelites who had quite as much land and 
 as many towns as they could well occupy, rested quiet, minding 
 their own affairs, and tpok no pains to drive out those Canaanites 
 who still remained unsubdued and held possession of the strongest 
 posts in the country. The latter were thus enabled to gather 
 strength and confidence, and as the wonderful victories of the 
 Israelites and the miraculous interpositions of the Divine favour in 
 their behalf became more remote, they began to imagine that the in- 
 vaders were not, after all, so formidable as had at first been supposed. 
 
Sunday XX.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 159 
 
 SUNDAY XX.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 FTER his arrival, he taught his doc- 
 trines in his usual manner, openly 
 in the porticoes of the temple ; 
 and people who knew how strongly 
 the learned and priestly classes were 
 irritated against him, felt some sur- 
 prise that no one attempted to molest 
 him. “His hour was not yet come,” 
 is the simple and abundantly satisfac- 
 tory reason for this, which the 
 Evangelist assigns. 
 
 ' On the last day of the feast, the Pharisees, who were in authority, 
 did send officers to apprehend him as he taught in the temple ; for 
 by that time they perceived that the current of popular opinion 
 was setting in strongly in favour of his claims. Then said one to 
 another, “ When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than 
 those which this man hath done?” Some averred, “Of a truth 
 this is the Prophet (which Moses foretold).” Others said, “ This 
 is the Christ.” But some objected, “Shall Christ come out of 
 Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the 
 seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David 
 was ? ” The officers sent by the Pharisees paused to hear his dis- 
 course, and were so impressed by his words that they made no 
 attempt to arrest him, but returned to their employers, saying, 
 “ Never man spake like this man.” 
 
 Jesus spent the night following in the Mount of Olives, which 
 seems to have been his favourite resort when at Jerusalem. But 
 the next morning found him early in the temple. His enemies 
 then, pursuant to a plan they had formed for ensnaring him, 
 brought before him a woman taken in adultery, and required his 
 judgment upon her case. The law of Moses commanded that an 
 adulteress should be put to death ; but they could calculate with 
 some degree of certainty that the merciful Jesus, who had always 
 placed the humble and repentant sinner above the arrogant and 
 self-righteous, would exercise favour towards the offender, and 
 thereby convict himself as a despiser of the law. While they stood 
 accusing the woman and proposing the dilemma they had framed 
 for him, Jesus traced characters on the ground, as people are apt 
 to do when in deep meditation, and appeared to take no heed of 
 what passed. But suddenly he roused himself from his abstraction, 
 and said, “ Let him who is without sin among you cast the first 
 stone at her and then bent down again to the earth. The cor- 
 ruption of morals among the Jews of that time is notorious; 
 and it is susceptible of proof that many distinguished Rabbins of 
 that period were living in adultery. That all those whom Jesus 
 addressed were thus guilty it is not necessary to allege; for 
 every one in whom the consciousness of guilt is in general 
 awakened will hesitate before he plunges himself into condemnation 
 by condemning others. This was the case with them. Touched 
 to the quick by the answer of Jesus, they availed themselves of his 
 abstraction, and slunk away till not one of them remained. Jesus 
 then again raised himself, and perceiving that the woman alone 
 remained, he said. “ Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no 
 man condemned thee?” She answered, “No man, Lord:” and 
 he rejoined, “ Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no more.” 
 To exercise the functions of a judge did not belong to him. So he 
 dismissed her with pronouncing sentence upon her past sins. He 
 did not wish to say directly that she was pardoned. But the whole 
 conduct of Jesus, so serious and so solemn, could not fail in the mean 
 time to make a deep impression upon one who, during the whole of 
 the preceding scene, must have felt it necessary to prepare for death. 
 
 Several of the discourses which our Lord subsequently delivered 
 are preserved by St. John. In one of them he expressed Abraham’s 
 strong realization through faith of the Messianic period, in the 
 words, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw 
 it and was glad.” Grossly misunderstanding this of an earthly 
 intercourse with Abraham, they exclaimed, “ Thou art not yet 
 fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ?” And his answer, 
 
 “ Before Abraham was, I am,” so enraged them, that they took up 
 stones to cast at him ; but he evaded their assault and left the place. 
 
 There was a poor beggar, blind from his birth, who was well 
 known in the streets of Jerusalem. This man’s eyes Jesus anointed 
 with clay, and then sent him to wash them in the Pool of Siloam. 
 Instead of deriding means of themselves so inefficient, the man 
 obeyed, and he returned from the pool with the perfect use of both 
 his eyes. This cure upon a person so well known excited more 
 attention than any other miracle which Christ had yet performed. 
 
 The man was closely questioned, and even his parents were exa- 
 mined as to the previous state of his eyes. But finding no flaw in 
 this great act, they told the man, “ Give God the praise ; we know 
 that this man is a sinner.” To which he very properly replied, 
 “ Whether he be a sinner or no, I cannot tell ; one tiling I know, 
 that whereas I was blind, now I see.” His other answers to their 
 questions were so sharp, so much to the purpose, and evinced so 
 much grateful feeling towards his healer, that the questioners 
 became so exasperated, that “ they cast him out,” or passed a 
 sentence of excommunication upon him. When Jesus heard this, 
 he sought him out, and when he met with him, asked, “ Dost thou 
 believe on the Son of God?” He answered, “ Who is he, Lord, 
 that I might believe in him ? ” And when Jesus said, “ Thou hast 
 both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee,” he readily 
 answered, “ Lord, I believe ; ” and rendered worship to his deliverer. 
 
 After this, in order of time, follow several important discourses 
 of Christ. One of them contained the beautiful parable of the 
 Good Shepherd, followed soon after by that of the Good Samaritan. 
 
 The last of these parables arose in discourse with a Pharisee, who, 
 having stated the great commandments of the law were — “ Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ; ” and “ Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself ; ” — was told “ Thou hast answered 
 right : this do and thou shalt live.” But he, being willing to 
 justify himself in the narrow construction which he and all other 
 Jews of his class put upon the latter duty, asked, “ And who is my 
 neighbour?” To which Jesus answered by this parable, if it be 
 right to describe as a parable an incident real in all its circum- 
 stances, and which might have happened on any day. 
 
 It describes a man as '•’•going down ” from Jerusalem to Jericho, 
 which stands on a plain many hundred feet below the level of 
 Jerusalem, and the road to which lay in part through a rocky 
 wilderness, which was in those days (as Josephus vouches) more 
 beset by robbers than any other road in Palestine. This man 
 was attacked by thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, which is 
 at this day almost always done by Eastern robbers, because the 
 loose clothes of the Orientals can be worn by almost any person of 
 average stature into whose hands they come. And they not only 
 stripped him, but as he had made some resistance, they handled 
 him so severely, that he lay by the roadside half dead with wounds 
 and bruises. Jericho was then a great station for the priests, and 
 priests and Levites were continually passing on the road to and 
 from Jerusalem. A priest, who had been at Jerusalem offering up 
 prayers for the safety of the people, came hard upon the wounded 
 man on his return home ; “ but when he saw him, he passed by on 
 the other side.” Soon after a Levite passed on his way to Jerusa- 
 lem : he stopped, and even drew nigh and looked upon the poor 
 wretch ; but he also went on without rendering assistance to one 
 whom he could not have but recognised as a Jew, and as such a 
 “ neighbour,” to whom the law required him to show mercy. Next 
 came a Samaritan, one of the people between whom and the Jews 
 an inexorable enmity existed. But he paused not to consider this. 
 Although in haste, and on horseback, he instantly alighted ; and 
 hastened to comfort him with wine, and to mollify his stiffening 
 sores with oil. He then placed him carefully upon his own beast, 
 and led him tenderly to the nearest caravanserai, where he left 
 him in charge of the keeper to provide for his wants, with the 
 words, “ Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, 
 when I come again I will repay thee.” 
 
 When he had concluded this parable, Jesus pointedly asked the 
 questioner, “ Which now of these three thinkest thou was neigh- 
 bour to him that fell among thieves?” He could not but answer, 
 “ He that showed mercy on him to which our Lord rejoined, 
 “ Go thou and do likewise.” 
 
 About this time the seventy disciples returned to their Master 
 from the mission on which they had been sent. “Lord, even the 
 devils are subject to us through thy name,” was their exulting re- 
 port to him. He replied, “Behold I give you power to tread on 
 serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy ; and 
 nothing shall by any means hurt you.” But to repress in them 
 all pride and conceit in these preternatural gifts, and to correct the 
 notion that these formed their greatest honour, he added — “ Not- 
 withstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto 
 you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” 
 The future life is here brought forward under the image of an 
 earthly commonwealth, in which the names of citizens were 
 inscribed in a book, from which were occasionally expunged the 
 names of those who were thought unworthy, and who thereby 
 lost their civil rights. The image which ascribes such a book 
 to God is frequent in the Old Testament, and is not rare in the 
 New. 
 
512.— The Good Shepheid. (Caspar Poussin.)— John x. 
 Y Bugail Da. 
 
 510.— The W- man taken in Adultery. (Rubens.) -Jo 
 Y Wraig a ddaliwyd mewn Godineb. 
 
520.— Psalm xc. 
 
 ORD, thou hast been my refuge. — 1. 
 
 Psalm xciv. 
 
 They smite down thy people, 0 Lord • and trouble thine 
 heritage. — 5. 
 
 They murder the widow and the stranger: and put the 
 fatherless to death. — 6. 
 
 516. — Psalm lxxxvii. 
 
 517. — Psalm. Ixxxviii. 
 
 519. — Psalm, lxxxix. 
 
 161 
 
162 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXL 
 
 SUNDAY XXI.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 Titles of the Psalms. 
 
 IIE word al, which forms a prefix 
 to many of the titles which form 
 the subject of our present considera- 
 tion, means upon , after , or according 
 to , and designates the kind of 
 
 melody, or of accompaniment, or of 
 the key, after which the Psalms were 
 to be sung. 
 
 Alamoth, “ Virgin,” Psa. xlvi. 
 The word is supposed by many to 
 denote a musical instrument, and they 
 compare it with the Greek elymos (fhvpoo), a species of flute 
 made of box-wood, which was invented by the Phrygians. But 
 some writers on t he subject are inclined to refer the titles of this 
 class, which are supposed to denote musical instruments, to the same 
 class as the preceding, and are intended to refer to a melody or tune. 
 Of this opinion is a learned German writer on music, Forkel, who 
 alleges that it is improbable, considering the imperfect state of the 
 Hebrew music, that each song had its separate instrumental accompa- 
 niment. He appeals very pertinently to the custom of the German 
 Meister-sangers (master-singers), who give similar titles to their 
 songs, such as Jungfrau Weiss (Virgin-mode), Grund- Weiss, &c. It 
 is certainly also a weighty objection to the common mode of inter- 
 preting these words to denote musical instruments, that in this way 
 vve give the Hebrews too many musical instruments — more than we 
 find mentioned elsewhere in the historical books or in the Psalms 
 themselves. Many of the instruments supposed to be thus denoted 
 may, however, have been simply varieties of the common ones, 
 perhaps of the kinnor ; and where the probabilities are nearly equal, 
 it is the most prudent course to adhere to the general opinion. But 
 in the title now immediately before us, the probabilities are not alto- 
 gether equal, seeing that, in 1 Chron. xv. 20, this word alamoth is 
 connected with the mention of a musical instrument, “ psalteries upon 
 alamoth,” in such a way as to suggest that it can hardly itself denote 
 an instrument. 
 
 Al-taschith, “ Destroy not,” occurs in the titles of Psalms 
 lvii., lviii., lix., lxxv. On this title the same diversity of opinions 
 has been given as on Al-shaiiae ; and in this, as in that, it appears 
 best to regard it as the commencement of the title of seme unknown 
 song, to the melody of which the Psalms with this designation were 
 sung. 
 
 Gittith. Psalms viii., lxxxi., lxxxiv. This is usually thought 
 to denote a musical instrument, which perhaps derived its name 
 from the city of Gath-Rimmon, where it may be supposed to have 
 been invented. Others derive the name from the Hebrew word 
 gath, “ a wine-press,” and suppose it was particularly used in the 
 vintage season. We have already stated under alamoth that some 
 writers are inclined to regard the titles of this class rather as 
 the names of melodies than of musical instruments. If, however, 
 the general balance of probabilities between these interpretations 
 be equal, there is nothing in the present case to make it incline 
 in favour of the last of them ; and we may therefore be content, 
 in the absence of better information, to accept the usual explana- 
 tion. 
 
 Jonath-elem-rechoicim. Psalm lvi. This singular title, 
 prefixed by the usual al, may be translated “ Dove of the distant 
 terebinth trees.” There is nothing in the Psalm itself to suggest a 
 reason for this title, and it is therefore best to understand the words 
 as the commencement of some other song. The interpretation of 
 the words themselves is not, however, by any means certain. The 
 Vulgate makes it “ Of the dove of dumbness (i. e. the mute dove), 
 among strangers, or in distant places,” by which David is to be 
 understood. One writer (Knapp) has contrived to make out an 
 application between the title of the Psalm and its contents by trans- 
 lating the former into “ On the subjugation of foreign princes.” 
 We cannot in this place explain the process by which such very 
 different senses are elicited from the same words, but the difference 
 as it stands will serve to give the reader a lively idea of the ob- 
 scurities of the subject. 
 
 Jeduthun. Psalms xxxix., lxii., lxxvii. This is probably the 
 name of the person who was one of David’s chief musicians, who is 
 mentioned in 1 Chron. xvi. 41, 42, and xxi. 1. Our translation 
 supposes that this person is himself denoted, and translates the 
 whole phrase in which the name occurs by “ To the chief musician, 
 
 to Jeduthun.” But these titles are now more usually understood 
 to refer to his family or to the musical choir of Jeduthun, which 
 is also mentioned at a later period (2 Chron. xxxv. 15; Neh. xi. 
 17), so that the sense of the whole is “ To the head singers of the 
 Jeduthunites,” or, when singular, “ To the chief musician of the 
 Jeduthunites.” 
 
 Lehazkir. Psalms xxxviii., lxx. The word means literally, 
 u for remembrance ,” or “ to bring to remembrance,” and is so ren- 
 dered in the authorized version. The expression is regarded by 
 many as the commencement of some other song to the time of which 
 this was to be adapted. But it is more usually supposed to refer 
 to those sorrows in memory of which David composed the Psalms 
 designated by it, or as implying that Jehovah would remember 
 David and help him. 
 
 Lamnatzecha. This is the word which in the titles to fifty- 
 three of the Psalms is rendered “ To the chief musician.” Other 
 explanations have been suggested ; but it still remains the most 
 probable that it indicates the superintendent of the musical choir, or 
 the head singer. The prefixed l, “ to,” denotes the giving over of 
 the psalm to the chief musician for public exhibition. 
 
 Mizmar. This is the word rendered “ Psalm,” in a great 
 number of the titles, in such phrases as “ a psalm of David,” “a 
 psalm of praise,” &c. The word properly denotes a song or poem 
 with a musical accompaniment. 
 
 Maiialath. This occurs in the titles of Psalms liii. and lxxxviii. 
 In the last case it is connected with the word leannoth , “ for sine:- 
 ing,” “ to be sung,” whence it is probable that a musical instru- 
 ment is denoted, but what instrument is doubtful. According to 
 common opinion it is a sort of flute; but there is no better reason 
 for this than a supposed allusion to something perforated involved 
 in the word. In the Ethiopic language there is a word, mahhlet, 
 denoting “ song,” or “ psalm,” which some take to represent the 
 real signification of this title. 
 
 Michtam, “ Writing.” Psalms xvi., lvi. — lx. This word is 
 derived by many from the Hebrew word for “ gold ;” and is hence 
 supposed to denote either a psalm of distinguished excellence, or 
 one written in golden characters, like the Moallakat of the Arabians ; 
 and under this view the title is translated “ a golden psalm,” as in 
 the margin of our Bibles. But the word thus adduced is only a 
 poetical term for gold ; and no reason appears why these psalms in 
 particular should be distinguished by this appellation. In the 
 title of Psalm lx. the word stands connected with le-lammed, “ to 
 teach,” and is thus translated “ Michtam of David, to teach,” 
 which is certainly not remarkably intelligible. This is referred to 
 the Levitical music-masters, who were to teach their choir. But 
 abetter application may perhaps be collected from 2 Sam. i. 18, 
 “ And David commanded them to teach it (the elegy) to the 
 children of Israel;” and Deut. xxxi. 19, “And teach it (Moses’s 
 song) to the children of Israel.” 
 
 Maschil, Poem, occurs in the title of thirteen psalms (xxxii., 
 xlii., xliv., xlv., lii. — lv., lxxiv., lxxviii., lxxxviii., lxxxix., cxlii.). 
 The common interpretation, didactic poem, does not accord with 
 the character of all the psalms which are thus designated ; so that 
 if this were held to be the meaning, we should have to charge the 
 author of the titles with the error of considering some psalms as 
 didactic poems which are not such. However, the fact that the 
 word maschil etymologically denotes “ understanding,” or “ intel- 
 ligence,” creates no difficulty in understanding it as a general term 
 for poem, seeing that poets were the sages, the learned men of the 
 ancient world ; but with more particular reference to this derivation 
 it may denote a poem or song enforcing intelligence, wisdom, 
 piety — which is true of all the psalms to which the word is prefixed, 
 not excepting Psalm xlv., where every thing is referred to the 
 goodness of God (verses 3, 7, 8). 
 
 Neginotil Psalms vi., liv., lv., lxxvi. This word is usually 
 supposed to be a general term for every species of stringed instru- 
 ments ; and with the usual prefix after or to appears to denote “ to 
 the music of stringed instruments.” 
 
 Neciiiloth. Psalm v. The word probably denotes an instru- 
 ment of the flute or pipe kind, and therefore, with the usual prefix, 
 would signify “ to the mi/sic of pipes.” 
 
 Selah occurs seventy-one times in the Psalms, and three times 
 in Habakkuk, commonly at the end of a strophe: but in Psalms lv. 
 20 ; lvii. 4 ; Ilab. iii. 3, 9, in the middle of the verse, although at 
 the end of a member of a verse. Of the various opinions respecting 
 this enigmatical word, all those may at once be set aside which 
 assume that it forms any part of the text, or is in any way connected 
 with the sense. The opinion which regards it as a musical sign is. 
 without doubt, the otdy correct one. The explanation of this sign 
 is, however, attended with the greatest uncertainty. 
 
Sunday XXI.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 163 
 
 SUNDAY XXI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 BSERVING that it had become ne- 
 cessary for them to reduce tiie reviving 
 power of the inhabitants, in order to 
 secure what they had already won, the 
 Israelites once more appeared in arms. 
 As they had then no ostensible military 
 leader, they very properly inquired of 
 the Lord, through the high-priest, 
 which of the tribes should take the lead 
 in the warfare. In answer the Divine 
 King was pleased to direct that the numerous and valiant tribe of 
 Juuah should take precedence in the army, and in the assault of the 
 enemy ; and this was accompanied by the promise of complete success. 
 Accordingly the warriors of Judah, assisted by those of Simeon, 
 attacked the Canaanites and Perizzites, commanded by their king 
 Adonibezek, whom they succeeded in defeating. The loss of the 
 enemy was very heavy. Ten thousand of their host were left dead 
 on the field, and a great number of prisoners were taken, among 
 whom was Adonibezek. This prince had been a great warrior, 
 and had tyrannised severely over his vanquished enemies. Having 
 captured in battle at various times not fewer than seventy of the 
 petty princes who governed in these parts, he had disabled them by 
 cutting off their fingers and great toes, and kept them in humiliating 
 attendance at his court. This fact being notorious, the Israelites 
 now treated the tyrant himself in the same manner. And this act 
 of retaliation doubtless gave satisfaction in the small nations he 
 had oppressed. 
 
 After this victory the Israelites marched against Jerusalem, and 
 having carried and taken possession of it, they put the inhabitants 
 to the sword, and set it on fire. Hebron was also at this time 
 captured from the Canaanites, as well as a great many other large 
 towns; and the general result of the war was to put the southern 
 part of the country in substantial possession of the Israelites. At 
 Jerusalem oidy the lower city had been taken, and although the 
 Benjamites took possession of it, as it lay within their boundary, 
 and repaired the damage it had sustained in the war, they allowed 
 the .Jebusites to live in it with them. This course was also followed 
 in most of the other great towns which were taken ; and although 
 it probably arose from their own numbers being insufficient to 
 occupy advantageously all the towns which were taken by them, 
 the intermixture was clearly contrary to the Divine intention, and 
 proved in the end a great snare and danger to the chosen people. 
 They gradually adopted the manners, customs, and abominable 
 practices of the natives with whom they thus mingled, and soon 
 began to adopt their modes of worship and to serve their idols. 
 This was probably under the notion that these were the gods of 
 the country — the native gods, — and as such entitled to homage 
 from all the inhabitants of the land. This idea of local gods was 
 the besetting sin of ancient nations ; it is frequently noticed in the 
 Scriptures, and we know that the Israelites themselves were 
 exceedingly prone to this notion. When it did not lead them to 
 the worship of other gods, it led them often to degrade Jehovah 
 himself by unworthy notions of his power and greatness. We see 
 this even in a prophet (Jonah) when he took ship “ to flee from the 
 presence of the Lord ” (Jon. i. 3) ; and in the constant labour of 
 the prophets to impress upon the minds of the people the universal 
 character of the Divine power and greatness in such passages 
 as — “ Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off? saith the 
 Lord. Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see 
 him? Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” (Jer. 
 xxiii. 24.) 
 
 The downward course which the nation was now taking is 
 exemplified by the historical anecdotes which occupy the last four 
 chapters of the book of Judges, forming a sort of appendix to it, 
 the particulars in which are referred to the times of confusion 
 which followed the death of Joshua and of the elders who survived 
 him. The first of these anecdotes is thus related in the ‘ Pictorial 
 History of Palestine — 
 
 “ The history of Micah furnishes a very interesting example of 
 the extent to which even Israelites, well disposed in the main, had 
 become familiarized with superstitious and idolatrous practices, and 
 the curious manner in which they managed to make a monstrous 
 and most unseemly alliance between the true doctrine in which they 
 had been brought up, and the erroneous notions which they had 
 imbibed. 
 
 “ A woman of Ephraim had, through a mistaken zeal, dedicated 
 a large quantity of silver (about five hundred and fifty ounces) to the 
 Lord, intending that her son should make therewith a teraph, in 
 the hope that by this means site might procure to her house the 
 blessings of one who had absolutely forbidden all worship by 
 images. Her son Micah knew not of this sacred appropriation of 
 the money, and took it for the use of the house. But on learning 
 its destination, and hearing his mother lay her curse upon the 
 sacrilegious person by whom she supposed it to have been stolen, 
 he became alarmed, and restored her the silver ; and received it 
 again from her with directions to give effect to her intention. 
 This he did. He provided a teraph, and all things necessary to 
 the performance of religious services before it, including vestments 
 for a priest. He set apart one of his own sons as priest, until he 
 should be able to procure a Levite to take that character. He had 
 not long to wait. It would seem that the dues of the Levites were 
 not properly paid at this time ; for a young Levite who had lived 
 at Bethlehem felt himself obliged to leave that place and seek 
 elsewhere a subsistence. Happening to call at Micah’s house, he 
 gladly accepted that person’s offer to remain and act as priest for 
 the recompense of his victuals, and two suits of clothes (one 
 probably sacerdotal), and eleven shekels of silver. Micah was 
 delighted at this completion of his establishment, and, with most 
 marvellous infatuation, cried, ‘ Now I know Jehovah will bless 
 me, seeing I have a Levite to be my priest.’ Things went on 
 tranquilly for a time. But it happened that the tribe of Dan could 
 not get possession of more than the hilly part of its territory, as 
 the Amorites retained the plain, which was the most rich and 
 valuable part. They therefore sought elsewhere an equivalent 
 territory, which might be more easily acquired. Having ascer- 
 tained that this might be found in the remote, but wealthy and 
 peaceable town and district of Laish, near the sources of the 
 Jordan, a body of six hundred men was sent to get possession of it. 
 From the persons they had previously sent to explore the country, 
 they had heard of Micah’s establishment; and so far from mani- 
 festing any surprise or indignation, they viewed the matter much 
 in the same light as Micah did himself. They envied him his idol 
 and his priest, and resolved to deprive him of both, and take them 
 to their new settlement. They did so, notwithstanding his protest 
 and outcries ; and as for the Levite, he was easily persuaded to 
 prefer the priesthood of a clan to that of a single family. His 
 descendants continued long after to exercise the priestly office, in 
 connection with this idol, at Dan, which was the name the con- 
 querors gave to the town of Laish ; and it is lamentable to have 
 to add that there is good reason to suspect that this Levite was no 
 other than a grandson of Moses.” 
 
 The other of these anecdotes records the atrocious treatment 
 which a Levite and his wife received at Gibeah, in Benjamin. 
 The tribe of Benjamin, when required by the other tribes to give 
 up or punish the offenders, refused to do either, and took arms to 
 resist the evident intention of the others to enforce justice. A 
 most unnatural war ensued, which ended in the all but total 
 extinction of the tribe of Benjamin. That tribe was renowned 
 for its valour and its skill in arms ; and there was a body of young 
 men among them who could use both hands alike in the use of the 
 sling, wherewith they could fling stones to a hair’s breadth without 
 missing. But all their bravery, all their skill, availed them not 
 against the united host of Israel. Their stout resistance only 
 served to kindle the fierce passions of their opponents, and the end 
 of the war only left six hundred men of the tribe, who had posted 
 themselves among the rocks of Rimmon, and who were spared to 
 prevent the utter extinction of a tribe in Israel. 
 
 The Hebrew nation still continued its downward course, and 
 turned aside more and more from its mercies and privileges. 
 
 For these things the Lord withdrew his .protection from the 
 Israelites; and the Canaanites and other neighbouring nations were 
 then enabled to prevail over them, and oppressed them with great 
 severity and rigour. Thus the Book of Judges is filled with the 
 accounts of the oppressions to which they were at intervals sub- 
 jected, and of the means taken for their deliverance when their 
 repentance had found acceptance with God. 
 
 The Canaanites were not the first to discover the weakness which 
 sin had brought upon Israel. Their first subjection was to a king in 
 Mesopotamia named Chushan-rishathaim, who had extended his 
 power to the shores of the Mediterranean, and doubtless subdued 
 other nations besides the Israelites. Very grievously were they 
 for eight years oppressed by this king. Then the people, who had 
 in their prosperity forgotten God, turned to him in supplications; 
 and he heard them, and had mercy upon them, and raised them up 
 a deliverer in the pe-rson of Othniel, whose name has already 
 
 Y 2 
 
=a 1 
 
 
 525.— Bethlph^m. 
 
 526. — Daggers. 
 
 Dagerau. 
 
 527.— Egyptian Slingers. 
 Tafledyddion Aiphtaidd, 
 
 529. — Ox-goad. 
 Ych-swmbwl. 
 
 531.— Ruth and Naomi. ( Bud.)— Ruth L 
 Ruth a Naomi. 
 
 528.— Slings. 
 Taflau. 
 
 530. — Winnowing Corn in the Threshing-floor. 
 Nithio Yd yn y Llawr-dyrnu. 
 
 532.— Summer Parlour on the Nile. 
 Parlwr Haf ar y Nilus. 
 
534. — Harvest. 
 Cynhauaf. 
 
 533. — Boaz and Ruth. (Stothard.J — Ruth iii. 
 Boaz a Ruth. 
 
 535.— Binding Sheaves. 
 Rhwymo Ysgubau. 
 
 533 . 
 
 -In-door dress of a Modern Egyptian Lady. 
 Gwisgdy Boneddiges Aiphtaidd Ddiweddar. 
 
 536. — Dancing Woman of Cairo. 
 Dawns-wraig Cairo. 
 
 539.— Black Veil. 
 Cuddlen Ddu. 
 
 537. — Hood-veil of an Arab Woman. 
 Hug-orchudd Bcnyw Arabaidd. 
 
 54(1. — Woman wearing the Tob. 
 
 Cwraig yn gwisgo’r Tob. }G5 
 
166 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXI. 
 
 occurred as the nephew, on whom Caleb bestowed his daughter for 
 taking the strong town of Debir. Having succeeded in expelling 
 the Mesopotamians from the land of Israel, Othniel by this act 
 acquired such influence, that his instructions and advice con- 
 tinued afterwards to be followed ; and he thus became the first 
 of those governors called “Judges,” who exercised authority 
 more by the weight of their character and services than by 
 formal conditions, and who derived their name from the circum- 
 stance that in the East all power, when it is not purely military 
 nor purely sacerdotal, resolves itself into the administration of 
 justice. 
 
 During the administration of Othniel, which continued during forty 
 years, the nation prospered, for it remained substantially faithful 
 to its God and King, and followed his laws and ordinances. But 
 when the salutary control which this judge had exercised had 
 ceased, the people gradually relapsed into idolatry and crime, and 
 new afflictions became necessary for them. 
 
 The Moabites this time became the instruments of their punish- 
 ment. The feelings towards the Israelites which had been 
 manifested in the time of Balak still existed and had gathered 
 strength. The existing king, Eglon, formed an alliance with the 
 Ammonites, and with the old enemies of Israel the Amalekites, 
 who seem to have been never backward in taking part in any design 
 against the Hebrews. Having succeeded in reducing the tribes 
 east of the Jordan by this assistance, Eglon carried his arms west 
 of the river. He subdued the tribes in occupation of the south 
 without much difficulty, and made Jericho the seat of his govern- 
 ment on that side of the river. The Israelites had now a master 
 among themselves, whose yoke must have been far less tolerable 
 than that to which they had before been subject. To Jericho the 
 subjugated tribes were obliged to bring their “presents,” or the 
 periodical tribute which the conqueror had imposed, and which 
 seems to have been so heavy as to drain the wealth of the nation. 
 Jericho was in the tribe of Benjamin, which was, therefore, in 
 all probability more immediately distressed by the presence of 
 the Moabitish court than any of the other tribes in southern Pales- 
 tine. We are, therefore, not surprised to find that a Benjamite 
 became the next deliverer of the people, after they had for eighteen 
 years groaned beneath the yoke of Moab ; the name of this deliverer 
 was Ehud, who, having been chosen to convey the customary tribute 
 to Eglon, thought to avail himself of the opportunity of wreaking 
 vengeance upon the tyrant for all the wrongs he had done to Israel. 
 The course which he adopted was nothing short of murder, and 
 although the end was good, that does not justify the means, seeing 
 that Scripture forbids us to do evil that good may come. He con- 
 cealed a dagger beneath his garment, and having in a public 
 audience delivered his “ presents,” he requested the favour of a 
 private audience with the king, who, unsuspicious of harm, ordered 
 his attendants to withdraw. Ehud then approached him, as if to 
 deliver his secret message, saying, “ I have a message from God 
 unto thee.” On hearing this the king arose from his seat to receive 
 such a message with becoming respect ; and in the act of rising 
 received the thrust of Ehud’s dagger, and fell dead upon the 
 floor. This transaction took place in “ the summer parlour,” 
 which is always in the outer part of the house or palace ; and Ehud 
 was thus enabled to withdraw unperceived, locking the door after 
 him upon the dead body of the king. The attendants supposed 
 that Eglon had locked himself in to enjoy his siesta, and waited so 
 long before they durst procure another key to open the door, that 
 the assassin was far away, and the country roused, before’ they 
 knew what had happened. That no time might be lost in taking 
 advantage of his deed, Ehud hastily collected an army of ten thousand 
 men, and attacked the Moabites in the very height of the consterna- 
 tion into which they had been thrown by the discovery of the death 
 of their king. They were thus easily defeated, and a long 
 time elapsed before they were again in a condition to disturb the 
 Israelites. 
 
 After this, the Israelites enjoyed a long period — eighty years 
 
 of peace and safety terminating b.c. 1426, being 182 years after 
 the passage of the Jordan. It was towards the end of this period 
 that the Philistines, afterwards so conspicuous in the sacred history, 
 made their first appearance in the field as the enemies of Israel. 
 I>ut it was probably in t his instance little more than a border 
 foray ; for the party was put to the rout by a body of husbandmen 
 armed with their implements, and led by Shamgar, whose own 
 weapon was an ox-goad. 
 
 It is also in this interval that we are to place the history of Ruth 
 and Naomi, which forms so refreshing an episode in the accounts 
 ot sin, strife, and war, which form the bulk of the history of this 
 peiiod. It is a domestic history, and the only one which is given 
 
 with the same degree of detail in all the Scripture. It thus affords 
 a most interesting picture of the private life of the Hebrews of a 
 remote time, to whicii the abundant touches of natural sentiment, true 
 feeling, and unaffected piety impart that peculiar charm which is 
 felt by every reader. 
 
 It relates that during a famine in the land of Israel, a man of 
 Bethlehem, named Elimelech, went to sojourn in Moab with his 
 wife Naomi and his two sons. During their stay in that country 
 the father died, and the widow was left with her sons, whom in due 
 time she married to two damsels of Moab, cne named Orpah, and 
 the other Ruth. Ere long her sons died also, and she was left with 
 her two daughters-in-law. By this time the famine had ceased in 
 Israel, and Naomi resolved to return to her own people. Orpah 
 and Ruth proposed to go with her ; but she resisted, and urged them 
 to remain in their own country, and among their own friends. 
 Orpah yielded, and went to her friends ; but Ruth was not to be 
 moved. She said : — “ Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return 
 from following after thee ; for whither thou goest I will go ; and 
 where thou lodgest I will lodge ; thy people shall be my people, 
 and thy God my God ; where thou diest will I die, and there will 
 I be buried ; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but 
 death part thee and me.” Naomi could not resist this, and they 
 returned to Bethlehem together. 
 
 Naomi was full of painful thoughts on returning to the place as 
 a lone widow, which some years before she had quitted strong in her 
 husband and hopeful in her two sons. The memory of her good 
 name still however lingered in Bethlehem, and when she appeared 
 in its streets people asked, “ Is this Naomi ?” to which in the re- 
 awakened anguish of her soul she answered, “ Call me not Naomi 
 (pleasant), but call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty hath 
 dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full ; and the Lord 
 hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me 
 Naomi ?” 
 
 The return was in spring, about the beginning of the barley 
 harvest; and as soon as they were a little settled, Ruth went forth 
 to glean in the fields. The harvest field to which, by the kind pro- 
 vidence of God, this fair stranger was conducted, belonged to a pious, 
 kind, and wealthy land-owner called Boaz. Her story had become 
 well known in the place ; and her generous and faithful conduct had, 
 unknown to her, invested her with a kind of sacredness in the eyes 
 of the good people of Bethlehem, and won for her their respect and 
 love wherever she appeared. Hence the overseer readily gave her 
 permission to glean in the field ; and when the owner himself came, 
 and was told who the strange-looking damsel was, he spoke kindly 
 to her, and told her not to seek any other place for gleaning, but 
 to keep fast by his maidens, and partake freely of the victuals 
 which he had provided for his reapers. Astonished at this kind- 
 ness she bowed herself very low before him, and said, “ AVhy 
 have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take know- 
 ledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” He then told her the 
 good report he had heard of her conduct to Naomi, and added, 
 
 “ A full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under 
 whose wings thou art come to trust.” Overcame by finding so 
 much kindness among strangers, Ruth answered, “ Let me find 
 favour in thy sight, my lord ; for that thou hast comforted me ; 
 and for that thou hast spoken friendly to thine handmaid, though 
 I be not like one of thine handmaidens.” 
 
 Not content with this, Boaz strictly enjoined his people to treat 
 the damsel with respect, and privately told the reapers to drop some 
 of their corn purposely for her to gather up. 
 
 Thus favoured, poor Ruth throve well in her gleaning; and 
 when in the evening she beat out that which she had gleaned, it 
 made little less than a bushel of barley. This extraordinary 
 success attracted the attention and inquiries of Naomi, who, when 
 she heard the name of Boaz, recognised his nearness of kin, and 
 advised Ruth to glean only in his grounds. When the harvest 
 was over, the mother-in-law, in her care for the damsel’s welfare, 
 became aware of.the duties which she owed to the childless house 
 of her husband. By the Hebrew law it was the duty of the next 
 of kin to marry the widow of one who died childless, that the first- 
 born of the marriage might succeed to the estate, and be counted 
 as the sou of the deceased. Under this law Naomi conceived that 
 it was the duty of Boaz to make Ruth his wife, and in that case it 
 was her own duty to the deceased to claim that he should do so. 
 The threshing in the open air threshing-floor followed the reap- 
 ing, and Naomi knew that Boaz reposed at night beside the heap 
 of threshed corn in that place. Thither she advised Ruth to go, 
 and to claim “ that he should throw his skirt over her,” and by that 
 action avow his intention to take up the obligations which devolved 
 upon him. 
 
Sunday XXI.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 1G7 
 
 SUNDAY XXI.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HERE was soon another opportunity 
 for our Lord to enter a practical protest 
 against the notions concerning; the 
 Sabbath which in his time were enter- 
 tained. He was teaching in one of the 
 synagogues on the Sabbath day, when 
 he noticed the presence of a woman 
 who was doubled up by a disease under 
 which she had been suffering for eighteen 
 years. He called the afflicted creature 
 before him, and when he laid his 
 sacred hands upon her, her bent body became straight, and she 
 glorified God. The ruler of the synagogue was filled with indig- 
 nation by this act, which he regarded as a profanation of the holy 
 day ; and lie said to the people, “ There are six days on which 
 men ought to work : in them, therefore, come and be healed, 
 and not on the Sabbath day.” The severe answer of the benevo- 
 lent Saviour rebuked him for thinking it a matter of small import- 
 ance that the afflicted should be relieved one day sooner from their 
 sorrows. “ Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the 
 Sabbath day loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him 
 away to the watering; and ought not this woman, being a 
 daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo these eighteen 
 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day ?” No one 
 could answer this. 
 
 Soon after, our Lord took occasion to compare the small be- 
 ginnings and eventual extension of “ the kingdom of God,” meaning 
 the church, to a grain of mustard-seed, “ which a man took and 
 cast into his garden ; and it grew, and waxed a great tree, and the 
 fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.” He again compared 
 it to leaven, “ which a woman took and hid in three measures of 
 meal till the whole was leavened.” These familiar comparisons, 
 certain to be remembered, were prophetic in their purport, and 
 would be called to mind with much interest, when the result which 
 they indicate had been realized — when the seed became a great 
 tree, and when the morsel had leavened the whole mass. 
 
 It was probably on the next Sabbath that Christ dined in the 
 house of a Pharisee, and took notice of the manifest anxiety of 
 the guests to secure the most honourable places. This is, at the 
 present day, a matter of vast solicitude and importance among the 
 Orientals, the rank and estimation of a man being determined 
 by the place which he occupies; and that among the Jews there 
 were frequent disputes about seats at a banquet, we learn from 
 Josephus and the Rabbinical writers. Jesus, with the freedom 
 which belonged to his character and office, reprehended this prac- 
 tice, and proceeded to inculcate the superior merits of those who 
 feasted the afflicted and needy, over those who bestowed their feasts 
 only on those from whom they expected a corresponding return. 
 He does not in this prohibit the reciprocation of hospitality among 
 the rich ; but he prefers the acts of beneficence which are per- 
 formed without the hope of reward. Some one on this remarked, 
 
 “ Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God,” by 
 which he probably intended to express the blessedness of those 
 who should live in the kingdom which he believed the Messiah 
 was to establish on the earth. To this Jesus replied in the striking 
 parable of the Great Supper, the obvious intention of which is to 
 reprove the prejudices which, from notions of secular felicity and 
 grandeur, the nation in general entertained on this subject, in con- 
 sequence of which, that which they, in prospect, regarded as a 
 period so full of blessing to themselves, would, when present, be 
 exceedingly neglected and despised. The parable describes a person 
 as making a good supper to which a large number of friends were 
 invited. When all things were ready, the servants were, according 
 to custom, sent to call the persons previously invited. But they 
 all excused themselves on one ground or another. One said he had 
 bought (conditionally) a piece of ground, and must needs go and 
 see it ; and another, that he had bought five yoke of oxen, and must 
 go and prove them. These excuses allude to a custom of proving 
 articles during a treaty for their purchase. Another alleged that 
 he had “ married a wife, and therefore could not come.” These 
 excuses might be very good separately taken, and on their own 
 merits; but agreement among all the guests to excuse themselves 
 showed much disrespect for the host, and a disposition to under- 
 value him and the feast which he had provided. And thus he 
 felt it; for he was wroth, and commanded his servants to bring in 
 from the streets and highways the destitute, the afflicted, the poor, 
 
 and the miserable, that they might enjoy the feast which the invited 
 guests had refused. The application of this parable, under the 
 considerations which have been indicated, is obvious, and must have 
 been exceedingly galling to the auditors. 
 
 Not long after this, Christ, finding that he had incurred the 
 blameful sneers of the Pharisees, on account of the number of 
 “ publicans and sinners” who Hocked to hear him, explained and 
 justified his conduct in several striking parables. In the first, he 
 describes a man possessing a Hock of a hundred sheep, and when 
 one of them has gone astray, proceeds in search of it, and when it 
 was found, lays it on his shoulders (after a custom of the Jewish 
 shepherds which is still common in the East), and returns home 
 exulting more in the one sheep he had recovered than in the ninety 
 and nine which he had not lost. 
 
 The next parable has the same scope. In it a woman possessed 
 of ten pieces of silver loses one of them, and proceeds to light a 
 candle, and sweeps the Irouse, searching diligently till she has 
 found it; and when it is found, rejoicing more in that one piece 
 than in the possession of the nine which had not been lost. 
 
 The parable of the Prodigal Son, which next follows, has the 
 same general purport with the others, teaching that God would have 
 no one perish, but willingly receives those who repent of their 
 sins, and grants them his forgiveness. In this beautiful parable, 
 which lias all the air of a fact from common life, and which might 
 easily be such, our Lord represents a wealthy landholder having 
 two sons. The younger of them, full of animal spirits, and im- 
 patient of the restraints of his father’s house, obtains from him 
 his share of the patrimony,, and hastens away to a distant place, 
 where he may take his full of sensual pleasures without notice or 
 control. Soon, all his ample means were wasted in riotous living, 
 “ and he began to be in want.” At the same time a famine arose 
 in the land ; the gay companions of his pleasures departed from 
 him, and he liad no resource but to hire himself out as a swineherd 
 to “ a citizen of that country.” The famine made provisions scarce 
 and dear, and his employment kept not from him the pangs of 
 hunger, so tliat very often he would fain have appeased his appetite 
 with the coarse fruits of the carob-tree, which were given to his 
 hogs, and which none but the poorest of human beings eat. 
 
 Thus degraded, thus miserable, the youth at length “ came to 
 himself,” for he had been morally insane before: and then he 
 thought of the blessings of his father’s house, the hired servants 
 in which had bread enough and to spare, while he was perishing 
 with hunger. This brought him, to the resolution — “ I will arise 
 and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned 
 against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be 
 called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants.” 
 
 He did as he had said. When he drew nigh to his father’s 
 house, he doubtless considered much of the manner in which he 
 should make his approach : but he needed not; for his father, with 
 the true instinct of paternal love, knew the wretched prodigal “ while 
 he was yet a great way off and he was moved with compassion, and 
 ran, and fell on his neck and kissed him. The son began to confess 
 his unworthiness ; but the only answer of the father was to tell 
 his servants, — “ Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him ; 
 and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet : and bring 
 hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry : 
 for this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is 
 found.” 
 
 In the height of their rejoicing, the elder brother [representing 
 the Pharisees] came in from the fields ; and when he understood 
 the cause of this unwonted gladness, he was offended and would 
 not enter the house ; and when his father came out to him he com- 
 plained that, while his faithful services and steady conduct had 
 obtained no reward, no sooner did his wasteful brother return 
 than the fatted calf had been killed for him. The glad father 
 answered, “ Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is 
 thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; 
 for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and 
 is found.” 
 
 Jesus then addressed more particularly to his own disciples, 
 many of whom were wealthy, the parable of the Unjust Steward, 
 with the view of inculcating the true use of riches, and how they 
 might be employed so as to ensure advantage from them in a future 
 state. As, however, the parable describes a dishonest contrivance 
 of the steward to gratify his lord’s debtors at his expense, that 
 they might thereby be induced to support him when dismissed from 
 his stewardship; the moral, or application, is to be adduced, 
 not from the act itself, which was culpable, but from the anxiety 
 which the man felt to make his present means available for his future 
 good. 
 
541.— Christ eating with the Pharisee. 
 Crist yn bwyta gyiia’r Pharisead. 
 
 542.— Parable of the Supper. 
 Pammeg y Swper. 
 
 1G8 
 
 545.— Prodigal Son. (Salvator Kosa.) 
 Y Mab Afrad.on 
 
 546.— Carob-tree. 
 Y Pren Carob. 
 
 643.— Mustard. 
 
 544.— Searching for Leaven. 
 Chwilio am Surdoes. 
 
MoIilwHI. 
 
 Tthmuia 
 
 StaJia oj Shabo. 
 
 English Alile*. 
 
 Bira Nemroud 
 
 547 .— PLAN OF BABYLON, showing the 
 probable position of the walls of the city 
 according to Herodotus. 
 
 * 'N 
 
 . DARLUN O BABILON, yn dangos sefyllfa 
 5? debygoi muriau y ddinas yn ol 
 V Herodotus. ^ 
 
 Uuina / ' 
 
 549.— Babylon. — Birs Nemroud, &c. 
 
 552.— North face of the Kasr. — From Rich’s 
 Memoir on Babylon. 
 
 Gwyneb Gogleddol v Casr.— 0 Adgofion 
 Rich am Babilon. 
 
 653. — W est face of the Birs Nemroud. — From Rich’s Memoir on Babylon. 
 Gwyneb Gorllewinol Birs Nemroud.— O Adgofion Rich am Babilon. 
 
 Mb. — Plan of Babylon. — From Rich’s Memoir on Babylon. 
 Darlun o Babilon.— O Adgofion Rich am Babilon. 
 
 33 
 
 550.— Babylon.— The Inundation. 
 Babilon.— Y Gorlliflad. 
 
 551.— Babylon.— The Mujelibe, &c. 
 
 1GG 
 
170 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXII. 
 
 SUNDAY XXII —THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 Babylon. 
 
 T is remarked by Dr. Keith that “ If 
 there ever was a city that seemed to 
 bid defiance to any predictions of its 
 fall, that city was Babylon. It was for 
 a long' time the most famous city in 
 the world. Its walls, which were 
 reckoned among the wonders of the 
 world, appeared rather like the bul- 
 warks of nature than the workmanship 
 of man. The temple of Belus, half a 
 mile in circumference, and a furlong in height — the hanging gardens, 
 which, piled in successive terraces, towered as high as the walls — 
 the embankments which restrained the Euphrates — the hundred 
 brazen gates, and the adjoining artificial lake, all displayed many 
 of the mightiest works of mortals concentrated in a single spot. 
 Yet, while in the plenitude of its power, and, according to the 
 most accurate chronologers, one hundred and sixty years before 
 the foot of an enemy had entered it, the voice of prophecy pro- 
 nounced the doom of the mighty and unconquered Babylon. A 
 succession of ages brought it gradually to the dust ; and the gra- 
 dation of its fall is marked, till it sank at last into utter desolation. 
 At a time when nothing but magnificence was around Babylon 
 the great, fallen Babylon was delineated exactly as every traveller 
 now describes it in ruins.” 
 
 Among the prophecies thus referred to, those of Jeremiah are 
 remarkably pointed and significant, and the present page may be 
 profitably occupied upon them ; although, as already intimated, 
 we are by no means prepared to go the lengths of Dr. Keith, and 
 those who follow him, in upholding the literal interpretation of 
 every minute detail in what we believe to have been intended as 
 a general and suggestive picture of the city under desolation, 
 particularized and distinguished by references to the topography 
 of the great city, to the aspects which the more marked features 
 of the scene must necessarily present under the given circumstances. 
 Being such as Babylon was known to be, the circumstances intro- 
 duced to heighten the picture of its desolation are such as must 
 have accrued, if the “ golden city ” ever did become desolate. In 
 this point of view, the prophecies become the object of undiminished 
 interest and admiration ; while the danger of unduly pressing upon 
 the minute details of a poetical picture is avoided. 
 
 The prophecies of Jeremiah against Babylon occupy the fiftieth 
 and fifty-first chapters. He begins by clearly indicating the source 
 of the destruction which should come upon Babylon — from the 
 north (li. 3) ; and then by him, as well as by Isaiah, the Medes and 
 Persians are mentioned by name (li. 11). This is a very remarkable 
 circumstance — one concerning which there can be no doubt or 
 questionable interpretation, and, therefore, of much more real con- 
 sequence than the topographical intimations of uncertain appli- 
 cation, to which so much attention has of late years been directed. 
 Babylon, as the prophets had foretold, was besieged by the Medes 
 anti Persians under Cyrus the Persian, who was the son-in-law of 
 the king of the Medes. 
 
 In another place, even the time of the reduction of Babylon is 
 marked out by the prophet (xxv. 11, 12), where it is said that 
 the subject nations should serve the king of Babylon seventy years, 
 and that then the Babylonian empire should receive its punishment. 
 Accordingly there were just seventy years from the fourth year 
 of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, to the taking of Babylon by Cyrus and the restoration 
 of the Jews. 
 
 It was foretold by Isaiah that the reduction of Babylon should 
 be effected by an assemblage of various nations (Isa. xiii. 4) ; and 
 Jeremiah even names the nations composing this assemblage. He 
 had already named the Medes and Persians as the chief parties in 
 the transaction, and afterwards he adds (li. 27), “ Prepare the 
 kingdoms against her, call together against her the kingdoms of 
 Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz these names denote the Arme- 
 nians, Phrygians, and other nations: and, accordingly, the army of 
 Cyrus was composed of various nations, and among them were 
 those very people whom he had conquered before, and now obliged 
 to attend him in this expedition. 
 
 A very singular circumstance, impossible for any human fore- 
 sight to have reckoned upon, occurred during the siege of Babylon, 
 and was most pointedly mentioned by the prophets. It was, that 
 
 the river should be dried up before the city should be taken : “ A 
 drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up”(Jer. 
 1. 38) ; “ I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry ” (li. 36). 
 This, as Bishop Newton remarks, was most unlikely ever to 
 happen, the river being two furlongs broad, and deeper than two 
 men standing upon one another, so that the city was thought to 
 be better fortified by the river than by the walls. But so it was, 
 that Cyrus turned the course of the river Euphrates, which ran 
 through the midst of Babylon, and, by means of deep trenches 
 and canals, so drained the waters, that the river became easily 
 fordable for his soldiers to enter the city. It was by this means 
 that the mighty Babylon, which was deemed impregnable, and was 
 supplied with provisions for many years, was most unexpectedly 
 taken. 
 
 It is not a little singular that the capture of Babylon should be 
 described as involving the destruction of its idols. “ Babylon 
 is fallen, is fallen, and all the graven images of her gods he hath 
 broken unto the ground ” (Isa. xxi. 9). “ Bel boweth down, Nebo 
 
 stoopeth, their idols were upon their beasts, and upon their cattle,” 
 &c. (Jer. 1. 2). There are other prophecies to the same effect. 
 Now the Persians, by whom Babylon was taken and retained, 
 detested idolatry nearly as much as did the Jews themselves, and 
 destroyed the idols of the places they conquered, when not re- 
 strained by prudential considerations. What was actually done in 
 this respect, history does not state. We know that Cyrus readily 
 gave up the spoils of the temple of Jerusalem, although they had 
 been consecrated to the god Bel : and some years after Xerxes 
 plundered and destroyed the temples and idols of “ the great city.” 
 This he did from professed hostility to image worship, for which he 
 was indeed notorious ; but partly to reimburse himself for the vast 
 expenses of his wars by the precious metals of which their idols were 
 composed, or with which they were covered. It will be remem- 
 bered that the image which Nebuchadnezzar set up was of gold. 
 
 With equal minuteness and precision, by prophetic vision, it was 
 foretold that this great event, the capture of Babylon, should take 
 place during a feast (Jer. 1. 24; li. 39, 57). And this also came 
 to pass : for the city was taken in the night of a great annua. 
 festival, while the inhabitants were dancing, drinking, and revelling, 
 so that the extreme parts of this vast city were already in the 
 hands of the enemy before those who dwelt in the central parts 
 were aware of their danger. 
 
 But although taken by an enemy, the human probabilities were 
 that a town so great, so advantageously situated for the seat of a 
 great empire, would only sustain a temporary shock from such a 
 calamity ; and would then, under its new masters, recover its 
 strength and greatness. This has happened to other great cities of 
 the East and West, and why might it not happen to Babylon ? 
 How but through Divine inspiration could the prophets know that 
 Babylon should become desolate and utterly forsaken, and that 
 man and beast should remove from it? (Jer. 1. 3.) It did so happen, 
 however. The conquerors had a city of their own not very far off, 
 and much more conveniently situated, with regard to their native 
 dominions, as the seat of empire ; and although for a time they 
 made it the residence of the court during a part of every year, 
 Susa, the Shusan of Scripture, on the river Tigris, became the 
 real capital of the empire. This was a sore blow to the prosperity 
 of Babylon ; and when Alexander conquered the East, it was no 
 longer the mighty city which it had been when the prophets gave 
 forth their denunciations against it. It was still, however, great ; 
 and the Macedonian conqueror contemplated making it the central 
 seat of his vast empire. But the downward doom of Babylon was 
 sealed in the counsels of heaven, and the hero, in the midst of his 
 magnificent projects, died there, and his empire was divided. 
 
 Still, one might have supposed Babylon a very suitable metropolis 
 •for that great eastern portion of this empire which fell to the lot of 
 the Seleucidae. But they were more fond of residing in the western 
 than in the eastern part of their dominions, and Antioch was the 
 real metropolis of their empire. Babylon was not even allowed 
 the equivocal rank of their eastern metropolis. This rank was 
 given to a new city, founded on the Tigris, and called Seleucus, to 
 aggrandize which Babylon was impoverished, and to people which 
 Babylon was depopulated. The new town formed a constant drain 
 to Babylon, taking away year after year the more useful inhabitants, 
 who found themselves in a much better condition at Seleucus ; so 
 that in the course of time only the poorer sort of people were left, 
 and they too at length abandoned the place to the wandering Arabs, 
 and to the beasts of the field not more wild than they. The Arab 
 in his turn has left the blasted land, leaving the beasts of prey, and 
 birds which love the water, and they few in number, the sole pos- 
 sessors of “ the lady of kingdoms.” 
 
Sunday XXII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 171 
 
 SUNDAY XXII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 CCORDINGLY she went, wrapped up 
 in one of those ample veils which women 
 still wear in the East. Boaz hesitated 
 at a requisition made so unexpectedly, 
 and at such a time and place ; but his 
 hesitation arose from the knowledge 
 that there was a nearer kinsman on 
 whom the duty and claim in the first 
 place devolved. This he told her ; but 
 spoke kindly to her, and said that, if 
 the other person declined to perform the part of a kinsman to 
 her, he would do so, “ for (he added) all the city of my people doth 
 know that thou art a virtuous woman.” 
 
 That very day Boaz repaired to the gate, where in those days 
 most public and judicial business was transacted, on account of the 
 facilities offered by the constant passage of the inhabitants between 
 the town and the neighbouring fields. He had not waited long 
 before the nearer kinsman of whom he had spoken passed by, and he 
 called to him, and, in the presence of the elders of the city, laid the 
 matter before him as a question respecting the right of redeeming 
 a piece of land to be sold by Naomi. The kinsman was willing to 
 this extent to perform the legal duty which devolved upon him ; 
 but when it was further explained that it involved the necessity of 
 marrying Ruth, as the widow of the deceased heir, he drew back, 
 saying, “ I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inherit- 
 ance : redeem thou my right to thyself ; for I cannot redeem it.” 
 Then, to indicate the transfer of his right, he took off his sandal 
 and gave it to Boaz, which, being done in the presence of witnesses 
 specially called upon to notice the act, constituted a binding and 
 legal act of transfer. It is thought that the person who received 
 the shoe preserved it in record of the transaction ; and it is possibly 
 from this custom, or another of similar meaning, that a person who 
 has taken the place which had belonged to another is said to stand 
 in his shoes. 
 
 This mention of sandals affords us occasion to remark that the 
 word translated shoe, in our authorized version of the Scriptures, 
 must generally be understood to denote sandals. We are not, 
 however, to infer that shoes, or rather slippers and buskins, were 
 altogether unknown ; but such were more common in the times 
 of the New Testament than of the Old, and were more used by 
 foreigners than by native Jews. But in those later times, when 
 Jews from all lands repaired to Jerusalem at the different festivals, 
 it is probable that sandals, shoes, and buskins of most of the 
 ancient forms represented in the engraving were seen in the streets 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 This obstacle being happily surmounted, Ruth became the wife 
 of Boaz. The first-born son, named Obed, from whom sprang 
 Jesse, the father of David, was considered as the grandson of 
 Naomi, and her neighbours accordingly congratulated her : — 
 “ Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a 
 kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall 
 be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old 
 age ; for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who is better to 
 thee than seven sons, hath borne him.” 
 
 Towards the end of the long interval of eighty years, during 
 which these incidents occurred, the Israelites again fell into evil 
 courses, and were again brought under punishment. 
 
 Jabin, king of Hazor, in the north of Palestine, a son of that 
 Jabin against whom Joshua had fought, had been by this time 
 enabled to restore the ruined kingdom to something of its former 
 power. His dominion was paramount in the north, and he had no 
 difficulty in bringing the Israelites under his yoke, which they bore 
 without resistance during forty years. The weight of their affliction 
 at length brought them back to the God of their fathers, and they 
 cried to him for deliverance. The deliverance for which they 
 cried came from a quarter most unexpected. There was a woman 
 named Deborah, celebrated for her piety and wisdom, who had 
 probably been considerably instrumental in bringing about the 
 recent reformation, and who was so highly esteemed by the people, 
 that they brought their differences to her for decision, so that she 
 is said to have judged Israel. Her dwelling was under the palm- 
 tree between Ramah and Bethel, afterwards known as “ Deborah’s 
 palm-tree.” 
 
 To' this woman the mission of deliverance came ; and as she 
 could not herself take the field, she called Barak, of the tribe of 
 Naphtali, to take the comrpand of the troops, which he was in- 
 structed to raise, to the number of ten thousand men. Assurances 
 
 of victory were also given to him ; but when we consider the 
 well-compacted power of Jabin, and his mighty army, commanded 
 b\ 8 i sera, the most renowned general of his age, and containing 
 chariots of war, which w-ere always greatly dreaded by the Israelites, 
 it is not wonderful that Barak somewhat quailed at this undertaking, 
 and that he consented only on the condition that Deborah should 
 go with him, and support him by her presence in the attempt to 
 raise the forces required for this service. She willingly consented, 
 although not without a gentle rebuke for the deficiency of his 
 faith. JV ith great difficulty Barak succeeded in getting together 
 a small army, with which he encamped on Mount Tabor. Jabin 
 was not slow in taking notice of this transaction, and soon his fine 
 army, under the command of Sisera, poured into the plain of 
 Esdraelon, where their vast numbers and gallant array were fullv 
 displayed before the comparatively small band upon Mount Tabor. 
 Nevertheless, encouraged by the promises of Divine support, the 
 Hebrew troop, at the word from Deborah, went down from the 
 mountain into the plain to give the enemy battle. This bold 
 movement seems to have been made instrumental in putting the 
 Canaanites into a panic, and they were soon put to utter rout and 
 fled across the plain. Their course was stopped by the river 
 Kishon, which is in its season a mighty torrent, although usually 
 an inconsiderable stream. Here vast numbers of them were swept 
 away and drowned in the attempt to cross, and the ruin of Jabin’s 
 proud army was complete. 
 
 Sisera himself escaped from the field of battle in his chariot; 
 but being hard pressed by his pursuers, and being aware that their 
 attention would be directed to his chariot, he alighted from it, and 
 pursued his way on foot. In this way he at length reached the 
 tents of a nomade family, which had separated itself from the Ke- 
 nites, who occupied pasture-grounds in different parts of Palestine. 
 I his section of the tribe had for its chief Ileber, who appears to 
 have been a descendant of Jethro, who entered the land with the 
 Israelites. Sisera knew that they were not identified with the 
 Israelites, and that there was peace between his sovereign atid the 
 house of Heber. He therefore applied at the tent of the chief 
 for concealment and protection, ’lliis, according to the notions 
 of a nomade people, could not be well refused even to an enemy, 
 much less to a friend : and although the chief himself was from 
 home, his wife Jael even went out to meet Sisera, saying, “ Turn 
 in, my lord, turn in to me ; fear not.” She took him to the inner 
 part of the tent, where none might suddenly enter, and covered 
 him with a cloak, that he might sleep. He called to her, “ Give 
 me, I pray thee, a little water to drink ; for I am thirsty ;” and 
 she opened a bottle of milk (probably soured camel’s milk), and gave 
 him some of that refreshing drink, instead of w'ater. He then slept. 
 
 There seems no good reason to distrust the sincerity of Jael’s 
 hospitality thus far. But, as the general lay asleep before her, 
 many thoughts must have crossed her mind. The peace and safety 
 of a tribe, placed as hers was among settled nations, seemed to 
 depend on its standing well with the most powerful of these 
 nations ; it was at this time clear that the power of Jabin was 
 destroyed, and that it had become far more important to conciliate 
 the Israelites than to care for him. They would certainly not be 
 conciliated, but grievously offended, to the great danger of the 
 family of Ileber, if their great enemy were found comforted and 
 sheltered in the chief’s own tent. And found he would be. The 
 pursuers could not but know that hi; must have passed that way ; and 
 being aware that the camp was under the protection of Jabin, they 
 would scarcely take her word for the fact that he was not concealed 
 in the tent. No : the fate of Sisera was inevitable, and it was more 
 than probable that the house of Ileber would perish with him. 
 But then, by anticipating the stroke, it would be in her power, 
 without any real injury to Sisera, not only to avert all evil from the 
 house of Heber, but to make the now powerful Israelites its firmest 
 friends: and their disappointment at not having themselves secured 
 the prey would be more than compensated by the new dishonour 
 to their enemy, of dying by a woman’s stroke. There can be little 
 mistake in attributing to Jael the influence of such considerations, 
 when she determined that the sleeping general of Jabin’s host 
 should die by her hand. The act itself she accomplished by driving 
 into his temple, with a mallet, one of the strong nails by which the 
 tent-cords were fastened to the ground. 
 
 He was scarcely dead when the pursuers arrived, headed by Barak 
 himself— the commander in those ancient wars being usually 
 solicitous of taking or slaying the opposing general with his own 
 hand. Jael went forth to meet them, and accosted Barak with 
 “ Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest.” IIc- 
 then went with her into the tent, and beheld the redoubtable 
 enemy of Israel lying dead, with the tent-nail in his temples ; and 
 
 Z 2 
 

 554.— The Marriage. 
 Y Briodas. 
 
 555.— Lady of Modern Egypt, with the common Face- 
 Yeil, and one form of the Walking Wrapper. 
 
 Boneddiges Aiphtaidd Ddiweddar a Gwyneh-orchydd, 
 ac un ffurf o’r Amorchudd Teithio. 
 
 55G. — Walking Wrapper. 
 Amorchudd Teithio. 
 
 557.— Grecian and Roman Sandals. 
 Sandalau Groegaidd a Rhufeinaidd. 
 
 h , Persiaidd^A-mddt “hrygiaidd ; m, r, .. Daciaidd; o, P , Groegaidd. 
 
 ! d. €. f. 
 
 ]72 
 
173 
 
 S62. Market at Gato. 559.— Group of Modern Oriental Watch-towers, selected from Examples in the Towns of Lower EgM't. 
 
 Marchnacl yn Gato. _ Twr o Wyl-dyrau Dwyreiniol Diweddar, wedi eu dethol o Esiamplau yn Ninasoedd yr Aipht Isaf. 
 
174 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXII. 
 
 knew that he had died by a woman’s hand, and with a woman’s 
 weapons. 
 
 This great victory was commemorated by Deborah and Barak 
 in a triumphal ode, which forms a favourable and interesting spe- 
 cimen of the early poetry of the Hebrews. It begins with an 
 animated picture of the oppressed condition in which the Israelites 
 had lately been, marked not by descriptions of particulars, but by 
 suggestive points : — 
 
 “ The highways were unfrequented, 
 
 And in by-paths travellers travelled ; 
 
 Deserted were the villages in Israel, 
 
 Until that I, Deborah, arose, 
 
 Until I arose to be a mother in Israel.” 
 
 From another verse it appears that the Israelites seem to have 
 been deprived of their arms : 
 
 “ No shield was seen, nor spear 
 Among forty thousand in Israel.” 
 
 All Israel, high and low, are then invoked to praise the Lord 
 for the great deliverance which had been achieved. The classes 
 thus called upon are distinguished into three classes, the noble, the 
 wealthy, and the poor, by marked circumstances in their condition : 
 
 “ Ye who ride upon white asses, 
 
 Ye who recline on splendid carpets, 
 
 And ye who walk the streets, 
 
 Prepare a song.” 
 
 The first, “ those who ride on white asses,” we may take to re- 
 present the nobles, princes, and magistrates : first, because it is 
 expressly mentioned that the thirty sons of Jair, who afterwards 
 judged Israel, and the seventy sons of Abdon, who also judged 
 Israel, rode upon asses' colts (Judg. x. 4; xii. 15) — a circumstance 
 which seems to be mentioned as pertaining to their rank in life ; 
 and secondly, because it is a well-known tact that white elephants, 
 camels, asses, and mules, or rather those approaching to white, 
 have always been prized among Oriental nations, and are usually 
 the property of princes. It is also proper to remark that the ass 
 in the warm climates of Western Asia is quite a stately animal in 
 comparison with his degraded brother of the North. 
 
 The song then proceeds to praise the tribes which hastened to 
 take arms at the call of Deborah and Barak, while those who neg- 
 lected it, especially the tribes beyond the Jordan, are pointedly 
 censured : 
 
 “ Among the streams of Reuben, 
 
 Great were the resolvings of heart. 
 
 Wherefore didst thou sit still among thy folds, 
 
 And listen to the bleatings of thy herds ? 
 
 Gilead abode beyond Jordan ; 
 
 And Dan, why remained he quiet by the ships? 
 
 Asher dwelt at ease on the shore of the sea, 
 
 And abode tranquil by his havens.” 
 
 Then follows a vivid description of the battle, and of the death 
 of Sisera ; and then, by a master-stroke of poetical skill, the scene 
 changes, and the mother of this great commander is introduced as 
 awaiting with impatience for his triumphant return, of which no 
 doubt was entertained : 
 
 “ Through a window the mother of Sisera looked out, 
 And called through the lattice : 
 
 ‘Wherefore delayeth his chariot to come? 
 
 Why linger the paces of his chariots ?’ 
 
 The wise among her noble ladies answered her, 
 
 Yea, she returned answer to herself: 
 
 ‘ Lo, they have found, they divide the spoil, 
 
 A maiden, two maidens to each warrior ; 
 
 A spoil of dyed garments for Sisera.’ ” 
 
 And answered, that the victors tarry to divide the rich spoils 
 they have won. Leaving the disappointment of these high expecta- 
 tions to be inferred from what had been already stated, the ode, with 
 an apparent abruptness, which is in itself a beauty, concludes 
 with : 
 
 “ So perish all thine enemies, Jehovah ! 
 
 But they who love him are as the going forth of the sun 
 in his strength.”* 
 
 The great victory which this song commemorates secured to the 
 Israelites a repose of forty years ; towards the end of this period 
 
 * The translations here given differ from those of the Authorized Version. They 
 are taken, with little alteration, from a beautiful translation by Dr. Robinson, in 
 tire ‘ American Biblical Repository ’ for 1831. 
 
 they had again fallen into their wonted idolatries, and were 
 punished by the devastation of their country under the hands of 
 the Midianites and other Eastern tribes. This was a very terrible 
 visitation. It will be remembered that the Midianites had been all 
 but exterminated by Moses, when they, in conjunction with the 
 Moabites, had seduced the Israelites to sin in the matter of Baal-Peor. 
 From the conduct of the Midianites, now that they had the upper 
 hand, it would seem that this fatal event in their history was still, 
 after two hundred years, well remembered by them and bitterly 
 avenged. For we are told that “ because of the Midianites, the 
 children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, 
 and caves, and strongholds.” 
 
 It would seem from what follows, that their mode of proceeding 
 was precisely similar to that of the Arabs and other nomade 
 people when they make annual incursions into cultivated but 
 weakly defended districts. They did not abide constantly in the 
 land, but came up in the early summer, soon as the early produce 
 began to be collected, and remained through all the season of 
 produce until the autumn, when they withdrew into their deserts. 
 The oppression consisted therefore in seizing the produce of the 
 ground, and of spoiling the people of all their portable possessions. 
 The description given of their course of proceeding is a very 
 graphic picture of the circumstances which take place under similar 
 conditions at the present day : “ And it was so, when the Israelites 
 had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and 
 the children of the East, even they came up against them ; and 
 they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the 
 earth, till thou comest unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, 
 neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their 
 cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for mul- 
 titude ; for both they and their camels were without number; and 
 they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly 
 impoverished because of the Midianites, and Israel cried unto the 
 Lord.” 
 
 That cry was heard in heaven, and a deliverer was raised up for 
 them. The person chosen on this occasion was Gideon, the son 
 of Joash, of the family of Abiezer, who, when the messenger of the 
 Lord appeared, was threshing out corn secretly in so unusual a spot 
 as beside the wine-press, to conceal it from the Midianites. 
 Gideon first perceived the heavenly messenger, as a man sitting 
 under a neighbouring oak. The stranger accosted him with “ The 
 Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” To which 
 Gideon promptly answered, “ If the Lord be with us, why then hath 
 all this befallen us?” This misgiving answer the angel met by 
 bestowing upon him the high commission to deliver Israel : “ Go 
 in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of the 
 Midianites: have not I sent thee?” Gideon at first attempted to 
 excuse himself, on the ground that his family did not possess in 
 their tribe such a degree of influence as would justify or support so 
 hazardous an undertaking: but when further urged, he intimated 
 his willingness to encounter the toil and danger, provided that he 
 had assurance of the stranger’s own authority to bestow such a com- 
 mission upon him. Nothing further passed at the moment, and 
 Gideon hastened to prepare the refreshment which the rules of 
 hospitality required him to offer the traveller, and for which he 
 prevailed upon the latter to stay. He soon returned with a dressed 
 kid and unleavened cakes in a basket, and with broth in a pot. 
 The stranger directed him to set them down upon the rock hard by, 
 and then furnished the testimonial which the doubts of Gideon 
 required, by causing the whole to be consumed by a spontaneous 
 fire, whereby it seemed to become an offering to God. This 
 satisfied Gideon ; but created another alarm, lest the sight of a 
 supernatural being was the harbinger of death : “ Alas, O Lord 
 God !” he cried, “ for because I have seen an angel face to face :” — but 
 before he could express all his fears, the Lord said to him, “Fear 
 not: thou shalt not die.” Gideon then, in the first feeling of his 
 gratitude, raised an altar to the Lord, whom lie addressed by the 
 name of Jehovah-Shalom, “ the God of Peace;” and, without 
 more delay, he prepared himself for the high task to which he now 
 knew that he had been called. 
 
 The first achievement of Gideon was the destruction of an altar 
 to Baal, which seems to have belonged to his father’s establishment, 
 but in which the people of the place took a general interest. 
 Taking with him ten of the servants on whom he could rely, he 
 proceeded to demolish the idolatrous structure, and set up in its 
 place an altar to Jehovah, on which he offered sacrifice. In the 
 morning, when the people of Ophrah discovered what had been 
 done, they broke out into great anger, and on hearing that the 
 daring act had been performed by Gideon, they demanded that his 
 life should pay for the sacrilege. 
 
Sunday XXII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 175 
 
 SUNDAY XXII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 IIEN followed the grand and some- 
 what mysterious parable of the rich 
 man and Lazarus. It represents a 
 wealthy and luxurious personage, “ clad 
 in purple,” which, although originally 
 confined to royal and noble personages, 
 was, in the time of Christ, affected by 
 the rich and opulent ; “ and in fine 
 linen,” which, being in those days 
 used chiefly by women, was re- 
 garded as effeminate. The portal or 
 porch of a great man’s house was a usual resort of beggars ; and at 
 this rich man’s gate was daily laid a beggar named Lazarus (help- 
 less), who, as often happens with persons in his wretched condition, 
 was “ foil of sores,” the result of some cutaneous disorder brought 
 on by hard fare and dirt. He was thus brought to the rich man’s 
 gate, that he might be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table. 
 This, it seems, he obtained from the servants, but nothing from the 
 rich man himself — no kind inquiry, no notice, no attempt to 
 alleviate his condition — although he must daily have observed this 
 miserable object as he went in and out. How great that misery 
 was, which this rich man deigned not to notice, is shown by the 
 fact that the street dogs came and licked the sores of Lazarus, which 
 shows that they were open sores, and that they were not, as Isaiah 
 (i. 6) in another place expresses it, “either closed, or bound up, or 
 mollified with ointment.” 
 
 In course of time the rich man and the poor man died ; and then 
 their conditions were reversed. Lazarus — poor no more, no more 
 full of sores — “ was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom,” that 
 is, to the society of Abraham in Heaven ; while the rich man lay in 
 fiery torments afar off. In this painful condition he implored that 
 Lazarus might be sent with one drop of water to cool his parched and 
 burning tongue. Abraham replied, “ Son, remember that thou in thy 
 lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things : 
 but now he is comforted and thou art tormented.” This is expressed 
 conformably to the notions of the Hebrews, who used the phrase 
 “receiveth his world” for a course of secular felicity, and were 
 wont to say, “ He who shall pass forty days without chastisements 
 has received his world, a full abundant reward for all the good he 
 hath done here.” Abraham also pointed to the obstacle which 
 existed in the “ great chasm,” impassable to either party, which lay 
 between them. On hearing this, the wretched soul’s thoughts then 
 took another direction, and he implored Abraham to send Lazarus 
 to his five brethren, still living in his father’s house (which implies 
 that he had himself died young), to warn them, lest they also came 
 to that place of torment. Abraham said, “ They have Moses and 
 the Prophets, let them hear them.” But the other urged, “ Nay, 
 father Abraham, but if one went to them from the dead, they will 
 repent ;” a common but most erroneous belief, to which Abraham 
 cogently and truly answered, “ If they hear not Moses and the 
 Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the 
 dead.” As Doddridge remarks, “ The impenitence of many who 
 saw another Lazarus raised from the dead (John xi. 4 ), and the 
 wickedness of the soldiers who were eye-witnesses to the resurrection 
 of Christ, and yet that very day suffered themselves to be hired to 
 bear a false testimony against it (Matt, xxviii. 4, 5), are most 
 affecting and astonishing illustrations of this truth.” 
 
 After this our Lord addressed his disciples in sundry discourses, 
 in which he taught them to avoid giving cause of offence, and to be 
 forgiving and merciful to one another, even under repeated provo- 
 cation. The disciples then, having been taught so much respecting 
 charity and benevolence towards men, expressed a desire to be 
 taught also concerning faith towards God, of which he had so often 
 spoken to them, and that they might have more of that faith im- 
 parted to them, to which he had so often alleged all things to be 
 possible. To their remarkable words, “ Increase our faith,” he 
 replied by the strong hyperbole, “ If ye had faith as a grain of 
 mustard-seed, ye might say unto this sycamine (sycamore) tree, Be 
 thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it 
 should obey you.” Hyperboles like this, expressive of physical im- 
 possibilities, were common among the Hebrews, and are to be taken 
 not as literal propositions, but as assertions to which intensity is 
 given by illustrative hyperboles. 
 
 It seems that our Lord had returned from Jerusalem to Galilee, 
 where some of the above transactions occurred, for we next read 
 that he is again about to journey to Jerusalem (Luke xvii. 11), 
 probably to attend the Feast of Dedication. As his object was to 
 preach the Gospel on his journey, he sent messengers before him as 
 
 he went through Galilee and Samaria ; and we cannot question that 
 the intelligence of the coining of the prophet of Nazareth drew large 
 audiences to hear his utterances and to witness his miracles. Once 
 they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him ; 
 but, as he was on the way to one of the feasts, they refused to re- 
 ceive him. The annual festivals at Jerusalem were odious to this 
 people, who believed that they ought to be celebrated at their own 
 temple on Mount Gerizim, and the Feast of Dedication was parti- 
 cularly disliked by them, as it was of human institution, and they 
 recognised no festivals or observances but such as Moses had 
 established. This refusal awakened the indignation of the two 
 sons of Zebedee — those “ Sons of Thunder ’’—and they said, “ Wilts 
 thou that we command fire to come down out of heaven and con- 
 sume them, even as Elias did?” But he turned and rebuked them, 
 saying, “ The Son of Man is come not to destroy men’s lives, but to 
 save them.” 
 
 At another village ten men who were lepers heard with joy of 
 the approach of one by whom so many of their afflicted brotherhood 
 had been made whole. Not being allowed to enter towns, or to 
 mix with sound men, they stood afar off, outside the town, and as 
 the Saviour drew nigh they cried loudly, “ Jesus, Master, have 
 mercy on us.” A cry for mercy was never heard by him in vain. 
 Yet he did not immediately heal them, but, to try their faith, sent 
 them to show themselves for examination by the priest, intending 
 that they should be healed on the way. Believing that he could 
 heal them, even when already gone, they turned their steps with 
 glad hearts towards the holy city. It is observed that Christ told 
 them to go and show themselves to the priests ; and as there was no 
 need for one person to show himself to many priests, it is hence 
 inferred that, the matter being one of merely medical jurisdiction, 
 he sent those of the lepers who were Jews to Jerusalem, and those 
 who were Samaritans to Mount Gerizim, to be inspected by their 
 own priests. This is doubtful ; but it is certain that they were per- 
 fectly cured as they proceeded on their way. It is easy to conceive 
 with Bishop Hall, “ what an amazed joy there was among these lepers 
 when they found themselves thus suddenly cured : each tells other 
 what a change he feels in himself ; each comforts other with the 
 assurance of his outward clearness ; each congratulates other’s hap- 
 piness, and thinks, and says, ‘ How joyful this news will be to their 
 friends and families!”’ They hastened on their way to show 
 themselves to the priest and claim the certificate of recovery, which 
 would restore them to the society of men and to the pleasant inter- 
 course of life. There was among them one only whose grateful 
 emotions overcame for the moment even this natural desire to 
 realise the privileges of his new condition ; and he who returned to 
 thank his deliverer was a Samaritan. Jesus could not but remark 
 on this circumstance. He said, “Were there not ten cleansed ? 
 But where are the nine?” 
 
 Soon after this, some of the Pharisees took occasion to question 
 him when the kingdom of God would come. By this they doubt- 
 less meant the manifestation of the Messiah as a conqueror and 
 king; and from the tenor of his answers we may infer that the 
 question was asked in some derision of his own claims. lie told 
 them in reply, that the Son of Man would not come with any of 
 the external show and pomp which they expected. He then more 
 particularly addressed his own disciples, and warned them of the 
 impostors which should hereafter arise, claiming to be the Messiah, 
 and seducing many to follow them to their ruin. Then, in many 
 striking comparisons, he illustrated the suddenness and effect of his 
 coming to execute judgment upon the nation from which he was 
 about “ to suffer many things.” “ As it was in the days of Noah,” 
 he said, “ so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. They did 
 eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage* 
 till the day that Noah entered into the aik, and the flood came and 
 destroyed them all. Likewise also it was in the days of Lot ; they 
 did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they 
 builded ; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained 
 fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus 
 shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” 
 
 From this, by a natural transition, he passed to enjoin the im- 
 portance of constant prayer and implicit reliance on the divine assist- 
 ance, in the parable of the Importunate Widow, who day after 
 day urged an unjust and impious judge to do her justice upon her 
 adversary. She could not upon the merits of her case or from his 
 compassion obtain attention ; but at length he did her the justice 
 she required, for no other reason than to release himself from her 
 worrying applications. “ And,” said Jesus, “ shall not God,” the 
 just and merciful, who does not despise, but love “ his own elect,’’ 
 repel all injury from them, even though he seem for a while reg rd- 
 less of their prayers? 
 
SGI. -The Leper kneeling to Christ. 565.- Lazarus at the Gate. 
 
 V Gwahanglwyfus yn ymgrymu i Grist. Lazarus with y 1 oith. 
 
 563.— The Prodigal Son. (Spada.) 
 Y Mab Afradlon. 
 
574.— Psalm cii. 
 
 EAR my prayer, 0 Lord.— 1. 
 
 I am become like a pelican in the wilderness : and like an 
 owl that is in the nesert.— 6. 
 
 Psalm civ. 
 
 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats : and so are the 
 stony rocks fur the conies.— 18. 
 
 567. — Psalm xcv. 
 
 COME, let ns sing nnto the Lord.— 1. 
 
 Psalm xcix. 
 
 Mo.es and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such 
 as call upon his name : these called upou the Lord, and he 
 heard them.— 6. 
 
 573. - P sal m ci. 
 
 Wi. — Psalm ciii. 
 
 5^4.- Psalm ci?. 
 
 Vn nyddiau ein blvnyddoedd y mae deng mlynedd a thrigain.” 
 
 S72._P.alme. 571. -Psalm xclx. 
 
 2 A 
 
 568.— Psalm xcvi. 
 
 — Psalm icvit. 
 
 570. — Psalm xcviil. 
 
 177 
 
178 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXILL. 
 
 SUNDAY XXIII.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 Titles of the Psalms. 
 
 OMMENTATORS, for the most part, 
 regard Selah as a proper word by itself, 
 and explain it either from the Arabic 
 word Slielav, in the sense of “ section,” 
 or from a Hebrew word signifying “ to 
 rest,” in which case it would denote a 
 pause : or from another Hebrew word 
 signifying “ to raise,” whence it would 
 mean an elevation of the voice, and 
 denote a change of tact , or the repetition 
 of the melody, with an elevation of tone 
 in the pitch. This variety of interpretations will show the obscurity 
 of the subject ; but the last of them is the one which those writers 
 who have paid the most attention to it seem to prefer. But these 
 are not all ; for there are many who regard this remarkable word 
 as an abbreviation, because the form of the word is so very peculiar, 
 and because similar abbreviations are frequent in Oriental writings. 
 But the process of deciphering this abbreviation is altogether 
 conjectural and uncertain. 
 
 Siiiggaion. Psalm vii. and Habakkuk iii. (where it is plural). 
 The usual interpretation of this word is that of Elegy , which agrees 
 very well with both the places in which it occurs. 
 
 Shushan. Psalm lx., and plural Shosiianim in xlv., lxix., lxxx. 
 The word means a “ lily,” and is thought to denote some kind of 
 musical instrument, probably a cymbal, shaped like a lily. 
 
 Siiir. This word means a “ Song,” and is used in the titles of 
 some Psalms with different additions, to denote the kind of song to 
 which it is prefixed : thus — 
 
 Shir-yedidotii. Psalm xlv., where the authorized version has 
 “ a song of loves ” which, however, does not agree with the contents. 
 
 “ A song of loveliness,” that is, “ a lovely song,” would probably be 
 better. 
 
 Shir-hammaloth is the title given to the so-called “ Psalms of 
 Degrees,” being the words so translated in our version. They are 
 Psalms cxx. — cxxxiv. Great uncertainty exists respecting the 
 
 meaning. The Jews themselves allege, that these Psalms were sung 
 upon the fifteen steps which led to the court of the Israelites in the 
 temple — a fable spun out of the number of these Psalms, and the 
 common signification of the word in question, which is that of a step. 
 It is a more general opinion that these Psalms are pilgrim songs, 
 which the Jews chanted in their journey to attend the feasts at 
 Jerusalem, or on their return from the Exile. The word alah, 
 “ ascent,” or “ going up,” is well known to denote the journey to 
 Jerusalem, as well as the return from Captivity ; and the plural of 
 the word might apply to the two returns under Zerubbabel and 
 .Teshua, and under Ezra. But neither the one nor the other of 
 these definitions accords with the matter and character of these 
 Psalms. On the joyful occasion of going up to attend the feasts 
 at Jerusalem, the songs would hardly be sung of so plaintive a 
 tone as belongs to several of the “ Psalms of Degrees,” as, for 
 example, cxx., cxxiii., cxxx. ; and at the time of the going up from 
 Captivity, it would not be said, as in Psalm cxxii. 1, “ Let us go 
 up to the house of the Lord nor could Jerusalem be then cele- 
 brated for the compactness of its buildings (verse 3). Abandoning 
 these and other interpretations equally open to objection, we may 
 rest with some confidence on the explanation which makes the 
 expression to denote the gradually progressive rhythm of thought 
 peculiar to these psalms, and of which there will be another occasion 
 in this work of speaking more fully. 
 
 Shir-iianucath iiabayitii. Psalm xxx. There is no doubt that 
 this means — “ Song of the dedication of the house.” But if this 
 refers to the occasion of the Psalm, it would seem to have been 
 founded on a mistaken interpretation of verse 8 on the part of the 
 person who devised the title ; or, as others conjecture, from the 
 dance in verse 11 being supposed to refer to David’s dancing 
 before the ark. For whether we understand “ the dedication of the 
 house ” to denote the dedication of the tabernacle, or of David’s 
 residence, or the purification of the house after its desecration by 
 Absalom, there is not a single allusion to these events in the matter 
 of the Psalm. It seems better to take the words as a designation 
 of the melody. There was perhaps a song in common use at the 
 dedication of houses (Deut. xx. 5), after the melody of which we 
 may suppose this Psalm to have been sung. 
 
 Sheminith. Psalms vi. and xii. This word means simply 
 eighth, and is usually supposed to denote a musical instrument 
 either with eight chords, or harmonious to an octave, or the eighth 
 in the arrangement, which last seems to accord hest with the 
 form of the word. Some good authorities, however, regard it 
 as the designation of a key, perhaps the mode which was sung 
 by male voices in the bass. In 1 Chron. xv. 21, the same word 
 occurs, and is supposed in that place to denote the gravest of three 
 voices. 
 
 Tehillah. Psalm cxlv., denotes “ a song of praise.” This is a 
 title which might be applied to many of the Psalms, although only 
 the present one is actually thus designated. 
 
 Tephillah. Psalms xc. and cxlii. The word means prayer, and 
 in its application here denotes a poem addressed to God. Why this 
 title should be applied to these two Psalms alone, when so many 
 others are of a supplicatory character, it is impossible to guess. 
 
 Authors of the Psalms. — As the names of the supposed 
 authors of the Psalms are often given in the titles, this very 
 naturally becomes the next point to which our attention is called. 
 
 The opinion of the Talmud, and of many of the Fathers, and even 
 of some moderns, that David was the author of all the Psalms, is 
 contradicted by the very titles which give the names of several 
 other authors. The believers in the general authorship of David, 
 however, get over this difficulty, by supposing that these names 
 refer not to the authors, but to individuals whom David, in com- 
 posing the Psalms, prophetically represented ; and the Talmud, 
 in particular, alleges that David wrote these Psalms by tradition 
 from, or in the succession, or after the manner of Moses, Heman, 
 Jeduthun, Asaph, the children of Korah, and others still earlier, 
 even Adam himself. But others, such as St. Jerome and Aben 
 Ezra, regard those persons as the authors whose names are found in 
 the titles. It has, however, been doubted, whether the designation 
 rendered in our version “ of,” and sometimes “ to ” (for the particle 
 is the same in the original) David, or Asaph, &c., really does 
 denote authorship. It is safest, however, to conclude that it does so, 
 but with the qualification that when we read “ to” or “of” the 
 “ children of Korah,” &c., the title should have ascribed the Psalm 
 to one of the Korahites only ; but as the individual was unknown, 
 it mentions them all, so that the phrase should in strict propriety 
 be “a Korahite Psalm.” Sometimes, however, the prefixed particle 
 is joined to names which evidently designate not the authors, but 
 the subjects, as in Psalm Ixxii. “ for Solomon,” and Psalm xxi. “of 
 David,” where probably Solomon and David are the subjects of the 
 Psalms. In this case, we are tempted to assign to the phrase a 
 different signification ; but, under all such anomalies, it is best — as 
 no one contends for the Divine authority of the titles — to conclude 
 that some gross mistakes were committed by the authors of them. 
 The following are the names which are mentioned in the titles of 
 the Psalms : — 
 
 1. Moses, to whom the 90th Psalm is ascribed. The Talmudists 
 assign also the ten next succeeding Psalms to Moses, according to 
 their rule that the anonymous Psalms belong to the author who was 
 last mentioned. This curious rule has been followed by many 
 Christian interpreters, but is now generally deemed untenable. 
 That the 90th Psalm really belongs to Moses has been doubted by 
 many, and the question is one not easy to set at rest. 
 
 David is the most distinguished and fruitful contributor to the 
 collection of the Psalms. Seventy-four of the whole number are 
 ascribed to him by name. To these the Septuagint adds six more 
 (Psalms xxxiii., xliii., xci., xciv., xcix., civ.), to which many add 
 all or nearly all the Psalms to which no name is prefixed. But, 
 according to the judgment of the best expositors, many of the 
 Psalms which bear David’s name cannot be his, as they contain 
 allusions to the siege of Jerusalem, the Babylonish captivity, and 
 similar events belonging to a later age, besides occasional Chaldaisms. 
 To this number belong Psalms xiv., lxix., ciii., cxxii. and other 
 “ Psalms of Degrees,” with Psalm cxxxix. and others. This fact 
 is enough to shake our confidence in the correctness of even those 
 applications of David’s name where the same intrinsic objection does 
 i not exist. An argument against some of these appropriations may, 
 however, be derived from the great uniformity of subject in many of 
 the Psalms ascribed to David. As De Wette remarks, “ No poet 
 repeats himself thus ; least of all would one do so who was capable 
 of composing such an elegy as that upon Saul and Jonathan.” The 
 character attributed to David’s poetry, adds the same writer, “ by 
 almost all commentators, is that of sweetness, elegance, grace ; they 
 deny it sublimity, a judgment in which I cannot fully acquiesce. 
 Psalms like xviii., xix., lx., lxv., indisputably claim to be called 
 | sublime.” 
 
Sunday XXIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 179 
 
 SUNDAY XXIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 UT Joash, who, in his anxiety for his 
 son, forgot for the moment his own 
 interest in the forbidden worship, inter- 
 posed with an argument which seems 
 to have had at all times extraordinary 
 power over the minds of the idolatrous 
 Jews — “ If Baal be a God (he said), 
 let him plead for himself or, in other 
 words, leave him to avenge his own 
 cause, if he is able, upon the frail 
 mortal who has provoked his anger. 
 They yielded to this : and the absence of any present stroke of 
 Baal’s anger seems to liave'shaken their minds, and disposed them 
 to look upon Gideon with something of awe and confidence. It 
 was from this circumstance that the hero obtained his second name 
 of Jerub-baal (with whom Baal contends). 
 
 This seems to have been designed as a sort of preparation for the 
 great work which lay before him. A great and suspicious move- 
 ment took place in the wandering hordes, who, having collected 
 their forces, passed over into the plain of Esdraelon, and lay there 
 encamped. Upon hearing of this, Gideon felt that the time for ac- 
 tion was come ; and he summoned first his own kinsmen, the house 
 of Abiezer, to assist him in repelling the host of Midian. Their 
 prompt obedience enabled him to send with the name of authority 
 to summon the northern tribes of Manasseh, Zebulun, Asher, and 
 Naphtali to his standard. This call was obeyed, and he found 
 himself at the head of thirty-two thousand men. 
 
 But while Gideon thus encouraged others, he was not himself 
 without misgivings respecting the result of his perilous undertaking. 
 Hence he was induced to implore an unambiguous token of the 
 Divine concurrence, in the form of such a miracle as he should ask 
 to be performed. Some think that it was more to encourage his 
 followers than on his own account that he made this singular request. 
 The sign he desired was, that the dew should fall on a fleece 
 of wool, while the ground on which it lay continued dry. This 
 happened according to his wish, and he wrung from the fleece a bowl- 
 ful of water while the ground was perfectly dry. The marvel was 
 here in the copiousness of the dew ; for that some dew should be on 
 the fleece, while none could be perceived on the ground, would have 
 been in entire accordance with the laws of nature. Gideon could 
 not but know this, and therefore, to place the matter beyond all 
 doubt or cavil, he implored that the sign should be reversed, and 
 that the fleece should be dry, while the ground was moistened by 
 the deposition from the atmosphere. This also was done ; and here 
 the interposition of Heaven was most manifest, for wool having 
 a much greater attraction for moisture than common dust or clay 
 has, it was not natural that the fleece should be dry when there was 
 moisture on all the ground. 
 
 Having no longer any doubt that Jehovah was on his side, and 
 that the victory with which his arms were to be crowned was 
 to proceed from the blessing of Heaven, he readily adopted a sug- 
 gestion, communicated to him from above, for impressing upon the 
 minds of his soldiers the same salutary conviction. One would 
 think that the number of thirty-two thousand men was by no means 
 too large for the conflict with the innumerable hosts of Midian ; 
 but the object of the Divine King was to reduce this to a number 
 manifestly inefficient, that there might be no mistake as to the 
 source from whence deliverance came, and that Israel might not 
 boast that by the strength of his own arm the yoke of Midian had been 
 broken. Gideon was therefore ordered to proclaim, that all who 
 were fearful and faint-hearted might withdraw to their own homes. 
 Many, whose hearts had seemed stout while the danger was remote, 
 shrunk, now that the enemy was before them, and not fewer than 
 twenty-two thousand quitted the field. But ten thousand brave 
 men still presented a formidable band, equal in numerical strength 
 to the troops of Barak, who defeated the immense host of Sisera ; 
 and therefore, that room for boasting might be altogether excluded, 
 means were taken to reduce even this force to a mere handful of 
 men, manifestly unequal of itself, or, as an instrumental means, to 
 defeat the hordes of Midian and Amalek. Gideon took his ten 
 thousand men to the water, and those who went down upon their 
 knees to drink from the stream were set apart from those who 
 drank by raising the water to their mouths in the hollow of their 
 hands. The former were ten thousand, the latter three hundred ; 
 and the smaller number was that with which the Lord declared that 
 he would deliver Israel. In the following night Gideon, attended 
 by his servant Phurali, went down to the host of Midian, having 
 been promised encouragement from overhearing the remarks of the 
 
 Midianites upon the state of their affairs. He heard one man report 
 to another, beside whom he lay, a dream, representing a cake of 
 barley bread rolling down from the hills, and overturning the tents of 
 Midian. “ This is nothing else,” said his companion, “ save the sword 
 of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel ; for into his hand hath 
 God delivered Midian and all his host.” Gideon needed no other 
 encouragement than the knowledge that such an impression as this 
 existed among the Midianites ; and he forthwith returned to his 
 men. He perceived that his best course would be to work upon the 
 alarm which already existed among the invading host. lie there- 
 fore provided every man with a trumpet in one hand, and with a 
 lamp concealed in a pitcher in the other. He then divided his troop 
 into three companies of one hundred men each, directing them to 
 advance upon the host of Midian on different sides, and in all 
 respects to follow his example. Accordingly, when they had 
 advanced sufficiently near, they halted, withdrew the lamps from 
 the pitchers, dashed the pitchers to the ground, and then blew a 
 tremendous blast upon their trumpets, and shouted — “ The sword of 
 the Lord and of Gideon !” The sudden blaze on different sides of 
 the camp, the crash, the sound from trumpets sufficient for a 
 large host, and the ensuing shout, perfectly confounded the rude 
 Midianites thus aroused from sleep. They deemed themselves 
 surrounded by a mighty host, and rushed amazedly about, slaying each 
 other, as every one among them deemed the person he encountered 
 an enemy. The men who had been dismissed the preceding day 
 made themselves useful in pursuing the fugitives, and contributed 
 to render the rout of the enemy, and the deliverance of Israel, 
 most complete. The Ephraimites, who had not been called into 
 action, now voluntarily came forward, and rendered good service by 
 seizing the fords of the Jordan, and destroying such of the defeated 
 invaders as attempted to escape to their own country. Here two 
 of the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, fell into their hands ; and 
 they struck off their heads, and sent them to the victorious Gideon 
 on the opposite side of the Jordan. The haughty Ephraimites were, 
 however, not sparing in their rebukes of Gideon for not having 
 in the first instance called them to the field ; but with great tact he 
 averted their wrath by extolling their last exploit, and by speaking 
 lightly of his own deeds in the comparison. The hero was in hot 
 pursuit, of Zeba and Zalmunna, two of the invading enemies, who 
 had succeeded in crossing the river, and were retiring with a 
 considerable body of men to their own land. Gideon followed hard 
 after them with his chosen band, and at length came up with them. 
 Then perceiving the small number of his men, they were encou- 
 raged to stand on their defence. But the battle ended in the total 
 discomfiture of Zeba and his colleague, who fell alive into the hands 
 of the conqueror. When they were brought before him, he asked 
 them what manner of men were certain Israelites whom they had 
 surprised and slain on Mount Tabor. They answered — “ As thou 
 art, so were they ; each one resembled the children of a king.” On 
 which he exclaimed with anguish — “ They were my brethren — even 
 the sons of my mother ! As the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them 
 alive, I would not slay you.” That he had under any circumstances 
 intended to spare their lives, shows that the usages of war had already 
 become somewhat more mild than they had been, or that Gideon 
 was not disposed to enforce them rigorously. Now, however, the 
 duty of an avenger for his brothers’ blood devolved upon him ; and 
 he transferred it to his eldest son Jether, whom he desired “ to fall 
 upon them.” But the youth was awed by the majestic presence of 
 these staid warriors, and shrunk from the task. On which the 
 captive princes said to Gideon — “ Rise thou, and fall upon us: for 
 as the man is, so is his strength and on this hint he arose and 
 slew them on the spot. 
 
 Another painful matter remained : this was the punishment of 
 certain cities, Succoth and Penuel, which had refused any succour 
 to his weary troop when pursuing the retreating princes, and had 
 even added insult to wrong by the manner in which the refusal was 
 conveyed. For this he cast down the tower of Penuel, and slew the 
 chief men of the city. The punishment of Succoth is not so well 
 understood. He threatened “ to tear their flesh with the thorns of 
 the wilderness and with briers and it is added, that on his triumph- 
 ant return “ he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilder- 
 ness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.” The 
 most painful interpretation of this is the most probable ; namely, 
 that the expressions allude to an ancient and very cruel mode by 
 which persons were put to death under torture, by having thorns 
 and briers laid over their naked bodies, and then drawing over them 
 some heavy implement of husbandry — being, as supposed, the same 
 treatment to which David subjected the Ammonites (2 Sam. xii. 
 34 ; 1 Chron. xx. 3). 
 
 So great was the relief which the Israelites now experienced, and 
 
 2 A 2 
 

 T 3 
 
 ISO 
 
Golypfa ym Mynyddoedd Judea. 
 
182 
 
 BjlBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXIII. 
 
 so sensible were they of the high qualities which Gideon had evinced, 
 that they formally offered to make him king, and to entail the 
 crown upon his descendants. But Gideon, knowing that they had 
 no right to make such an offer, which was altogether adverse to the 
 spirit of the theocratical institutions, answered with great prompt- 
 ness and decision, “ I will not reign over you, neither shall my son 
 reign over you. Jehovah, he shall reign over you.” The only 
 return which he required for his great services was that they should 
 bestow upon him the collars and ear-rings which had been taken 
 from the bodies of the slaughtered Midianites. This they very 
 willingly did : and with these spoils he made an ephod, which he 
 placed in his own city of Ophrah. This is supposed to indicate that 
 he sat up a sacerdotal establishment, with priests, vestments, and 
 Urim and Thummim, at the place where he had formerly built an 
 altar and offered sacrifice to Jehovah. If so, Gideon acted doubtless 
 with the best intentions ; but the proceeding was irregular and contrary 
 to the law, which directed that there should be but one establishment 
 for sacrifice to the whole people — that one being the place of the 
 tabernacle, where the Divine Presence abode “ between the che- 
 rubim.” We are not, therefore, surprised to learn that this establish- 
 ment eventually “ became a snare to Gideon and to his house.” 
 
 The Israelites enjoyed forty years of peace under the administra- 
 tion of Gideon, who died in 1273 b.c., leaving behind him not fewer 
 than seventy sons. One of them, named Abimelech, succeeded in 
 persuading the people of Shechem, his mother’s native town, to bestow 
 upon him the crown which his father had refused : as a preliminary 
 to this step, he had massacred all his brothers except the youngest, 
 named Jotham, who succeeded in making his escape. This person 
 could not restrain himself from making his appearance at Shechem 
 to give vent to his indignation and disgust when he found that the 
 citizens had made Abimelech king. He did this in the well-known 
 and ingenious apologue of the trees making choice of a king, which 
 is without doubt the oldest composition of the kind which has reached 
 our times. After delivering it, Jotham withdrew to Beer, and 
 remained there till the death of Abimelech, who three years after 
 was killed by a piece of millstone cast by a woman’s hand over 
 the wall of a town he was besieging. 
 
 The succeeding governments of Tola and of Jair covered a period 
 of forty-four years ; and we may infer that in their time the Israel- 
 ites prospered : for the Book of Judges, which is, in fact, an account 
 of the diseases in the Hebrew commonwealth, records nothing con- 
 cerning the time in which they ruled. 
 
 After the death of Jair, the people relapsed into idolatry, and for 
 their chastisement the Ammonites were allowed to master them, and 
 to keep them under subjection for eighteen years. This calamity 
 particularly affected the tribes beyond the Jordan, who occupied a 
 country which had in part belonged of old to the Ammonites, whose 
 existing territory was still upon the border of their dominions. The 
 oppressions to which they were subjected became so grievous, that 
 they at length turned to the Lord, confessed their sins before him, 
 and implored him to pity their great affliction. Then trusting in 
 the Divine succour, they resolved to take the field against their 
 enemies. They, therefore, assembled in considerable numbers at 
 Mizpeh, while the Ammonites lay encamped in Gilead. There was 
 the impulse, the readiness to act, and men prepared for action. 
 But they were without a head. After so long a subjection, which 
 had been preceded by a still longer peace, there was not one among 
 them who seemed to have sufficient experience in war to act as their 
 leader. The only person they could think of was one Jephthah, the 
 illegitimate son of Gilead, a person of some consequence in the half 
 tribe of Manasseh beyond the Jordan. This man had been turned 
 adrift by the family on the death of the father, and withdrew into 
 the land of Tob, where he became the chief of a set of wild fellows 
 of desperate fortunes, who subsisted by predatory excursions, border 
 forays, against the enemies and oppressors of Israel. This course 
 of proceeding by no means tended to render them unpopular in 
 Israel ; and accordingly Jephthah became the person to whom all 
 eyes turned on this singular emergency. A deputation was accord- 
 ingly sent to him without delay. The hero’s experience in life had not 
 been calculated to teach him confidence in man or reliance upon po- 
 pular impulses. He therefore, after some sharp remarks upon the treat- 
 ment lie had received in Gilead, refused to accept the arduous duties 
 offered to him, unless they would undertake that he should remain 
 their head after his immediate service had been completed. This 
 stipulation for power was in a spirit different from that of Gideon, by 
 whom even regal power was refused when spontaneously offered. But 
 the circumstances were different ; and if Jephthah had not been aware 
 of peculiar facilities which his unconnected position offered to those 
 who might wish to shake him off, he would not have deemed it 
 necessary to stipulate for that which it was not usual to refuse. The 
 
 delegates, however, readily acceded to the terms which Jephthah 
 offered, and swore to observe them. 
 
 The first act of the new commander was to send an embassy to 
 the Ammonites, to demand the reason of their invasion of the terri- 
 tory of the Israelites. This was a very remarkable step, and seems 
 to show that by this time society had come to expect that there 
 should be some good reason for invasion and warfare. Accordingly 
 the Ammonites returned what they considered a good reason, alleg- 
 ing that the territory which the Hebrews possessed in that quarter 
 had formerly belonged to them, and that they had a right to recover 
 possession of it. Jephthah replied, that the Israelites had taken the 
 land not from the Ammonites, but from the Amorites by whom they 
 had long before been dispossessed ; and, moreover, that it was a land 
 which the Lord had given to them, and which, therefore, they had 
 a right to possess. The Ammonites, however, were not convinced 
 by these reasons, and the armies advanced to give each other battle. 
 
 When Jephthah left his home to lead the army of Israel to battle, 
 he uttered the rash vow, that if the Loid gave him victory over 
 his enemies, whatsoever came forth out of his house to meet him 
 on his return “shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up 
 for a burnt offering.” He was victorious. The Lord delivered 
 the Ammonites into his hands, and they were smitten from Aroer 
 unto the plain of the vineyards with a very great slaughter. He 
 returned to his house in peace : and the one whom by his vow he 
 had fore-doomed — the one who came forth from his house to meet 
 him on his return — was his own daughter, his only child — “ beside 
 her he had neither son nor daughter.” She went forth exultingly, 
 with timbrels and with dances, to greet her victorious father. But 
 he no sooner beheld her than his strong heart gave way beneath the 
 stroke, and he rent his robes, crying, “ Alas, my daughter ! thou 
 hast brought me very low ; for I have opened my mouth unto the 
 Lord, and cannot go back.” But the daughter inherited the heroic 
 qualities of her father. In the general blessing and benefit, her 
 own doom seemed a light matter to her, and she answered, “ My 
 father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me 
 according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth ; forasmuch 
 as the Lord hath taken vengeance of thee upon thine enemies.” 
 
 All she asked was a reprieve of two months, “ to bewail her 
 virginity upon the mountains ;” which must be interpreted with 
 reference to the fact of its being in Israel held the greatest possible 
 calamity for a woman not to become the mother of children. At the 
 end of two months she returned, and we are told that her afflicted 
 father “ did with her according to his vow.” The plain reading of 
 the sacred text would lead every one to conclude that he offered her 
 up for a burnt-offering. If he did so he committed a horrid crime 
 under mistaken views of religious duty ; and this has led many pious 
 commentators to endeavour to clear his memory from this stigma. 
 The ground which has been taken is, that his vow implied that he 
 would sacrifice what was fit for sacrifice ; but if that which came 
 forth to meet him were not fit for a burnt-offering, it should be the 
 Lord’s in some other way ; and it is therefore concluded that the 
 daughter was in this case consecrated in perpetual celibacy to the 
 service of Jehovah. This ground is now, however, generally aban- 
 doned by sound scholars, and few hesitate to believe that Jephthah 
 really did sacrifice his daughter. The fact is so understood by 
 Josephus, and lamented by him ; and as he could not fail to know 
 the prevailing impression among his countrymen, his corroborative 
 testimony is of much value for the interpretation of the incident as 
 a point of history. He says that Jephthah blamed his daughter for 
 being so forward in coming forth to meet him ; for that his vow 
 obliged him to offer her in sacrifice to the Lord. He adds, “ However, 
 this action was not ungrateful to her, since she was to die upon 
 occasion of her father’s victory, and the liberty of her fellow-citizens. 
 She only desired her father to give her leave for two months to 
 bewail her youth with her countrywomen, and then she consented 
 that at the end of the forementioned time he might do with her 
 agreeably to his vow. Accordingly, when the time was over, he 
 sacrificed his daughter as a burnt-offering, presenting such an 
 oblation as was neither conformable to the law' nor acceptable to 
 God ; nor weighing with himself what opinion the hearers would 
 have of such a practice.” Nothing can be plainer than this; and 
 the general opinion of both Jewish and Christian antiquity has been 
 in agreement with it ; the notion that the hero did not sacrifice his 
 daughter being of comparatively modern prevalence. The fact 
 seems to be that the Israelites, having been long plunged in idolatry 
 and infected with idolatrous iniquities, and in habits of too familiar 
 intercourse with their heathen neighbours, had imbibed their notions 
 respecting the meritoriousness of human sacrifice; and a man who 
 had led a wild life, like Jephthah, was not likely to be well-informed 
 I on points which even quiet people had neglected. 
 
Sunday XXIIL] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 183 
 
 SUNDAY XXIII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 ESUS having thus taught the import- 
 ance and use of urgent prayer, proceeded 
 to show by another parable the spirit 
 in which prayer should be offered. Two 
 men went up to the temple to pray ; 
 the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. 
 They both stood, no other posture 
 being allowed in public prayer except 
 to kings, who were not forbidden to 
 sit. But the Pharisee stood wrapt in 
 himself, and said, “ God, I thank thee 
 that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers — or 
 even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithe of all 
 that I possess.” This he said silently, or “ within himself,” since 
 the rest of the congregation, who might have supposed that he was 
 praying for the welfare of the people, would have taken umbrage 
 if they had discovered that he was only speaking evil of others. In 
 his unuttered words he claimed a righteousness beyond the law, 
 and rested with proud confidence upon it. The fasting twice in the 
 week was not required by the law, but was observed by Pharisaic 
 devotees ; the tithe of all that he possessed was not exacted by the 
 law, but was minutely and rigidly enforced by the Pharisees. In 
 this confidence of a claim on heaven, the Pharisee had planted him- 
 self in the interior part of the temple court, as near to the sanctuary 
 as the regulations of divine service would admit ; but the publican 
 humbly stood afar off in the outer borders of the temple court, “ and 
 would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his 
 breast, saying, ‘ God be merciful to me a sinner.’ ” “ I tell you 
 
 (added Jesus) that this man went down to his house justified rather 
 than the other.” 
 
 It was not on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem, as some sup- 
 pose, that Jesus was hospitably entertained in the house of Martha. 
 She lived at Bethany, quite in an opposite quarter ; which shows 
 that our Lord early visited the place after his arrival at Jerusalem ; 
 and perhaps lodged there, returning daily to the city, Bethany being 
 only just on the other side of the Mount of Olives. Martha 
 appears to have been a widow, with whom lived her sister Mary, and 
 her brother Lazarus. With this family our Lord was very intimate, 
 and Lazarus, in particular, was favoured with his friendship and 
 love. They were all rejoiced to see him again : and Martha, 
 “ on hospitable thoughts intent,” busied herself in preparing for the 
 entertainment of him and his disciples. This was her way of show- 
 ing her regard for Christ ; but her 6ister Mary chose rather to 
 remain near him, that she might not lose the opportunity of profiting 
 by his heavenly instructions, and that the gracious words which fell 
 from him might not be lost to her. 
 
 The task which Martha had imposed upon herself of providing 
 handsomely for so large a party, suddenly arrived, was heavy, and its 
 hurry and solicitude made her regard the course taken by her sister 
 as idleness, and as neglect of a matter in which Christ and the 
 friends he had brought with him were essentially concerned. Con- 
 fident that Jesus must view it in the same light, and must fully 
 appreciate her bustling care for his entertainment, she ventured to 
 complain to him, “ Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath 
 left me to serve alone ? Bid her, therefore, that she help me.” But 
 how much was she astonished to hear him answer, “ Martha, Martha, 
 thou art careful and troubled about many things ; but one thing is 
 needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be 
 taken away from her.” She could not but understand this pointed 
 contrast of the many cares of this life, with that one matter of 
 infinite concern to man — the salvation of his soul. 
 
 During the feast, Jesus held that discourse with the Jews in 
 Solomon’s Porch, wherein he alleged to them that his works alone 
 sufficiently proved him to be the Son of God, to all whose hearts 
 were not hardened, as theirs were, in unbelief (John x. 22 — 39). 
 He set this point so strongly before them, that they thought they 
 had ground on which to proceed against him, and therefore sought 
 to apprehend him ; but he escaped their hands, and departed from 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 When the feast was ended, our Lord left Jerusalem ; but, instead 
 of returning to Galilee, he went beyond the Jordan, to the place where 
 John at first baptized, and remained there for some time. lie was 
 here in a neighbourhood, the people of which had heard much 
 of the Baptist’s instructions, and had witnessed his course of pro- 
 ceeding ; and the presence of Jesus reminded them, and many others 
 who flocked to him, of the testimony which John himself, whose 
 
 memory they venerated, had here borne to Christ. They considered 
 that John had wrought no miracles, and yet many had been 
 disposed to regard him as the Messiah ; how much, then, were 
 they bound to recognise the Messiah in Jesus, who had wrought so 
 many miracles, and to whom John himself had borne his most 
 distinct testimony. The people were thus pre-disposed to believe in 
 him ; and many, moved by the testimony of John and by his own 
 discourses, did receive him as the expected Messiah. There, then, 
 in comparative quiet, among a well-disposed people, free from the 
 plots of the Sanhedrim and the malignant opposition of the Phari- 
 sees, the Saviour of men spent some portion of the last four months 
 of his life. It was one of those seasons of repose which we often 
 note to occur in the history of men, before they come to the great 
 and crowning struggle of their lives, and which even the Saviour 
 did not deem it unfit to realize before he entered upon the tremen- 
 dous scenes of that “ hour ” which he had so often said was not yet 
 come ; but which he knew to be now nigh at hand. 
 
 Jesus was still at this place, when Martha and Mary, by whom 
 he had lately been entertained at Bethany, sent to acquaint him 
 with the alarming illness of their brother Lazarus, in the words, 
 “ Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” When Jesus heard 
 this, he did not, as the sisters probably expected, hasten at once 
 to the relief of his friend ; but sent back the answer, “ This sickness 
 is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God 
 may be glorified thereby.” The evangelist adds, “ Now Jesus 
 loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus,” as if designedly to 
 point our attention to the seemingly unaccountable conduct of Jesus 
 in remaining still for two days in the place without apparent notice 
 of the tidings which had been brought to him. After that, 
 Jesus made known to the disciples his intention to return into 
 Judea. They, knowing how lately his life had been sought at 
 Jerusalem, could not conceal the astonishment they felt at this 
 intelligence. He then said, “ Our friend Lazarus sleepeth ; but I 
 go that I may awake him out of his sleep.” But perceiving that 
 they understood him to speak literally of sleep, he said more plainly, 
 “ Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sake that I was not 
 there, to the intent that you may believe : nevertheless, let us go 
 unto him.” So convinced were the disciples that, from the exaspe- 
 rated feeling of the Jews, this journey would end in the death of 
 their master, that they followed him as men prepared for that result, 
 and ready to die with him, 
 
 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had been already four 
 days in the grave; and many of the Jerusalem friends of the family 
 were present in the place, having come over (the distance being but 
 two miles) to comfort Martha and Mary. The bereaved sisters 
 were now informed of the Lord’s approach. It is curious to observe 
 the characteristic difference of procedure in the two sisters on this 
 interesting occasion. The ever-active Martha immediately arose 
 and hastened forth to meet the Saviour, while Mary remained quiet 
 in her grief. The sight of the Saviour awakened in Martha the 
 assurance of faith, which had perhaps, under the circumstances, been 
 somewhat weakened ; and she cried passionately, “ Lord, if thou 
 hadst been here, my brother had not died in which words it is even 
 possible to detect a half-formed wish to ask that he would raise him 
 from the dead. Jesus answered vaguely, as if to lay open the state 
 of her heart, “ Thy brother shall rise again and not receiving so 
 direct an answer as she perhaps expected, Martha was again 
 dejected, and answered, “ I know that he shall rise again in the resur- 
 rection at the last day which seems to imply that this was a truth 
 too general to satisfy her. Jesus answered, “ I am the resurrection 
 and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
 shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
 die.” That in thus directing her attention to the inner life, and the 
 life beyond the grave, Christ doubtless intended to rebuke gently 
 her too unsubdued grief is shown by the pointed question, “ Believest 
 thou this ?” And sorrow and shame permitted the troubled Martha, 
 in whose heart the feeling of an unconditioned and faithful sur- 
 render was re-awakened, only to answer, “ Yea, Lord ; I believe 
 thou art the Christ, the Son of God, that should come into the 
 world.” 
 
 She then went to fetch Mary, who no sooner heard that 
 Jesus desired her presence, than she arose and went with her 
 sister. The communication had been private, and her friends, who 
 saw her hastily quit the house, supposed that a sudden impulse of 
 sorrow had led her forth to weep at her brother’s grave, and they 
 followed after her. Jesus had not yet entered the town, probably to 
 avoid exciting too much attention, and perhaps also that he might 
 go from the place where he was to the grave ; the burying-grounds 
 being outside of the city or town, as is still customary among the 
 Orientals. 
 
584. — Publican and Pharisee. 
 Y Pharisead a’r Publican. 
 
 5S5. — Bethany. 
 Bethauia. 
 
 587.— Interior of a Rock Sepulchre. 
 Y Tu mewn i Graig-Feddrod. 
 
 586. — Raising of Lazarus. (Pioiubo.) 
 Adgyfodi Lazarus. 
 
 5S8.— Interior of the Tomb of the Kin*», at .'erusalem. 
 Y Tu mewn i Feddrod jr Brenhinoedd, yn Jerusalem. 
 
590 —Vision of Ezekiel. (Raffaelle.J 
 Gweledigaeth Ezeciel. 
 
THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXIV. 
 
 18 6 
 
 SUNDAY XXIV.— THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 HE third of the great pro- 
 phets was Ezekiel, the son of 
 Buzi, a descendant of Aaron, 
 of the tribe of Levi, and there- 
 fore of the sacerdotal race. He 
 is said to have been a native 
 of Sarara, and to have been 
 carried away captive at the 
 age of thirteen to Babylon with 
 Jehoiachin, king of Judah, 
 B.C. 599. He settled or was 
 placed, with many others of 
 his captive countrymen, on the 
 banks of the Chebar, a river of 
 Mesopotamia, where he was 
 favoured with the Divine re- 
 velations which are described in this book. He is supposed to have 
 prophesied during a period of twenty-one years ; beginning to deliver 
 his prophecies eight or ten years before Daniel, in the fifth year of 
 Jehoiachin’s captivity, and, as some have supposed, in the thirtieth 
 year of his age. Thus Ezekiel in Mesopotamia did, during a very 
 important period, prophesy contemporaneously with Jeremiah in 
 Judaea ; but he began his prophecies later and continued them 
 longer than Jeremiah. As the predictions of the prophets, so 
 distant from each other, referred in a very considerable degree to 
 the same events, and were mutually corroborative, it is not unlikely, 
 as Jerome conjectures, that the prophecies of Jeremiah were sent 
 to Mesopotamia, and those of Ezekiel to Judaea, to give encourage- 
 ment and confidence to the exiled Jews on the one hand, and on the 
 other to reprove and leave without excuse those who remained in 
 their own country. It deserves to be particularly remarked that 
 we are informed by Josephus that the prophecy in which Ezekiel 
 foretold that King Zedekiah should not see Babylon, though he 
 should die there (chap. xii. 13), was deemed by the monarch incon- 
 sistent with that of Jeremiah, who predicted that Zedekiah should 
 see the king of Babylon, and go to Babylon (Jer. xxxiv. 3). But 
 both were exactly fulfilled : for Zedekiah did see the king of 
 Babylon at Riblah, and there being deprived of his eyes, he was 
 carried to Babylon and died there. Ezekiel is reported by some 
 writers to have presided in the government of the tribes of Gad and 
 Dan in Assyria, and among other fabulous miracles to have 
 punished them for idolatry by a visitation of fiery serpents. In 
 addition to these popular traditions, it is reported that his country- 
 men were so incensed by his reproaches as to put him to a cruel 
 death. In the time of Epiphanius it was superstitiously believed 
 that his remains were deposited in the same sepulchre with those of 
 Shem and Arphaxad, which was supposed to be situated between 
 the river Euphrates and the C'haboras ; and which was much resorted 
 to not otdy by the Jews, but. also by the Medes and Persians, who 
 reverenced the tomb of the prophet with extravagant devotion. 
 The Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the place in a.d. 1173, 
 gives a curious account of it, and of the synagogue connected with 
 it. “This place is considered holy even to the present day, and is 
 one of those to which people resort from remote countries in order 
 to pray, particularly at the new year and the day of atonement. 
 Great rejoicings take place there about this time, which are attended 
 even by the Prince of the Captivity and the presidents of the 
 Colleges at Bagdad. The assembly is so large, that their 
 temporary abodes cover twenty-two miles of open ground, and 
 attract many Arabian merchants, who keep a market or fair. On 
 the day of the atonement the proper lesson for the day is read from 
 a very large manuscript Pentateuch of Ezekiel’s hand-writing. A 
 lamp burns day and night in the sepulchre of the prophet, and has 
 always been kept burning since the day he lighted it himself. A 
 large house belonging to the sanctuary contains a very numerous 
 collection of books, some of them as ancient as the second, some 
 even coeval with the first, temple, it being the custom that whoever 
 dies childless bequeaths his books to the sanctuary. The inhabit- 
 ants of the country lead to the sepulchre all foreign Jews who 
 come from Media and Persia, to visit it in consequence of vows which 
 they have taken. The noble Mohammedans also resort thither to 
 pray, because they hold the prophet Ezekiel, upon whom be peace ! 
 in great veneration : and they call this place Dar Malicha. The 
 sepulchre is also visited by all devout Arabs. Even in time of war 
 neither Jew nor Mohammedan ventures to spoil or profane the 
 sepulchre of Ezekiel.” 
 
 1 he tomb still subsists o:i the road from Babylon to Meshid Ali. 
 It is a large clumsy building without beauty or ornament, and is 
 still much frequented by Jewish pilgrims. 
 
 Ezekiel appears to have been mercifully raised up to animate the 
 despondency of his contemporaries in their sufferings and afflictions: 
 and to assure them that they were deceived in supposing, according 
 to the representations of false prophets, that their countrymen who 
 remained in Judea were in happier circumstances than themselves. 
 With this view he describes the melancholy scene of calamities 
 which was about to arise in Judea; and thence proceeds to predict 
 the universal apostacy of the Jews, and the total destruction of the 
 city and temple. This is the general subject of the twenty-four 
 first chapters. The eight chapters following embrace prophecies 
 against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Tyrians, 
 Sidonians, Egyptians, and Babylonians. These prophecies respecting 
 foreign nations, besides the conclusive evidence which they, by 
 their accomplishment, furnish to all ages of the Divine authority 
 by which the prophets spoke, were, by the speedy accomplishment 
 of many of them, well calculated to assure the Hebrews of the 
 certain fulfilment of those other prophecies in which they were them- 
 selves more immediately interested. From the thirty-second to the 
 fortieth chapter the prophet inveighs against the hypocrisy and mur- 
 muring spirit of his captive countrymen. Having heard in Assyria 
 of the fall of Jerusalem, he foreshows further inflictions of the Divine 
 wrath (xxx. 21 — 29), but encourages the people to resignation by 
 promises of deliverance (xxxvi. 11 ; xxxvii. 12, 14, 21), by 
 assurances that they should be corrected (as they effectually were) 
 from their propensities to idolatry, and by intimations of spiritual 
 redemption (xxxiv. 4, 23, &c. ; xxxvii. 24, &c.), and a renewal of 
 the whole nation as by a resurrection from the grave (xxxvii.). 
 In the two last chapters of this division, under the proposed victories 
 to be obtained over Gog and Magog, the prophet appears to 
 predict some fearful conflicts which are to precede the final return of 
 the Jews- from their dispersion in the latter days, with a degree of 
 obscurity, however, which can oidy be dispersed by the event. The 
 eight last chapters of the book detail the description of a very 
 remarkable vision of a new temple and city ; of a new religion 
 and polity, under the particulars of which appears to be shadowed 
 out the establishment of a future universal church. 
 
 The visions of Ezekiel, particularly those with which his book- 
 opens and closes, have always been regarded by both Jews and 
 Christians as very mysterious and of difficult interpretation, — so 
 much so indeed, that the former anciently forbade either of these 
 visions to be read by persons under thirty years of age. Ezekiel 
 himself was well aware of the mysterious character of those repre- 
 sentations which he beheld in vision, and of the necessary obscurity 
 which must attend the description of them to others, humbly 
 representing to God" that the people accused him of speaking 
 darkly “ in parables.” 
 
 Bishop Lowth, with his usual animation, thus describes the style 
 of this prophet : — “ Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in elegance ; 
 in sublimity he is not even excelled by Isaiah : but his sublimity is 
 of a totally different kind. He is deep, vehement, tragical : the 
 only sensation he affects to excite is the terrible : his sentiments 
 are elevated, fervid, full of fire ; his imagery is crowded, magnifi- 
 cent, terrific, sometimes almost to disgust ; his language is pompous, 
 solemn, austere, rough, and at times unpolished : he employs 
 
 frequent repetitions, not for the sake of grace or elegance, but from 
 the vehemence of passion and indignation. Whatever subject he 
 treats of, that he sedulously pursues, from that he rarely departs, 
 but cleaves as it were to it ; whence the connection is in general 
 evident and well preserved. In many respects he is perhaps 
 excelled by other prophets ; but in that species of composition to 
 which he seems by nature adapted, the forcible, the impetuous, the 
 great and solemn, not one of the sacred writers is superior to him. 
 His diction is sufficiently perspicuous ; all his obscurity is in the 
 nature of his subject.” This, it must be confessed, is a more 
 favourable account of this prophet’s style than some other writers 
 are willing to admit. De Wette, in particular, alleges, that “ the pro- 
 phetic style is with him sunk down to low, tedious, and dull prose,” &c. 
 Much of these fine distinctions about style are, however, only appreci- 
 able by Hebrew scholars; and it is well to end such remarks by the 
 wise caution of Archbishop Newcome — that “ the holy prophet is not 
 to be regarded merely as a poet, or as the framer of those august 
 and astonishing visions, and of those admirable and poetical repre- 
 sentations which he committed to writing, but as an instrument in 
 the hands of God, who vouchsafed to reveal himself through a long 
 succession of ages, not only in divers parts constituting a magnifi- 
 cent and uniform whole, but also in divers manners, as in a voice, 
 by dreams, by inspiration, and by plain or enigmatical vision.” 
 
I 
 
 Sunday XXIV.] BIBLE HISTORY. 187 
 
 SUNDAY XXIV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 LTIIOUGH Jephthah knew that Je- 
 hovah was the God of Israel, and that 
 he alone ou^ht to be worshipped by his 
 people ; he had but confused notions 
 even on this point, for in his message 
 to the Ammonites lie appears to re- 
 cognise Chemosh as their god in the 
 same sense in which Jehovah was the 
 God of Israel. lie seems to have 
 thought it enough to worship the 
 Lord in the same way that other 
 nations worshipped their gods, and to have supposed that what 
 they deemed invaluable could not be otherwise to Him. AVe 
 know that in after-times human sacrifice was practised in Israel 
 in the face of far greater light than existed in the generation to 
 which Jephthah belonged, and in the presence of the temple and 
 altar of Jehovah : and knowing this, it does afford just ground for 
 surprise that there should have been so much hesitation felt in 
 allowing that a rough soldier, living in an idolatrous age, and in 
 a part of Israel less than any other open to the influence of the 
 theocratical institutions, should have deemed himself bound by the 
 obligations of his vow to immolate his daughter. That the deed 
 was unlawful is very certain : but it is not the less probable on 
 that account. It is, however, a monstrous conception of the 
 painters and others that the high-priest was the sacrificer, and that 
 the sacrifice was made at the altar of the Lord. The awful deed 
 was probably perpetrated at some old altar in the country beyond 
 the Jordan, and there is much reason to apprehend that Jephthah 
 himself struck the blow which left his own heart desolate. 
 
 It is singular that the victory of Jephthah over the Ammonites 
 was followed by a misunderstanding with the powerful tribe of 
 Ephraim, similar to that which had followed the victory of Gideon 
 over the Midianites. This tribe seems never to have perceived 
 that its assistance could have been of use until the occasion for 
 taking the field had passed away and the enemy was completely 
 routed ; and then it came forward with complaints that it had not 
 obtained a share of the honour and the spoil. Gideon had pacified 
 them with one of those soft answers which turn away wrath : the 
 sterner Jephthah tried the same treatment ; but having less self- 
 control, he allowed their gross insults to rouse his anger, and he 
 took prompt and skilful measures for making them repent of their 
 offensive movements. They had crossed the Jordan in arms, and were 
 bent on mischief; and Jephthah, who had at first been disinclined 
 to come to blows, no longer hesitated to give them battle. They 
 were utterly routed, and when those who had escaped the battle- 
 field attempted to recross the river into their own country, they 
 found the fords in the hands of the men of Gilead, who hit upon an 
 ingenious contrivance for distinguishing them as Ephraimites, which 
 they could not have done by their persons or attire. It seems that 
 they were unable to pronounce the Hebrew sh, but gave it the 
 sound of s. This amounted to something like the difference in our 
 provincial dialects; but seems more remarkable in so small a 
 country as Palestine. All the men who came to the river, were 
 required to pronounce the word N/iibboleth (a stream ), and if they 
 gave it as Nibboleth, were smitten down as Ephraimites. 
 
 The victories of Gideon and of Jephthah appear to have secured 
 a long period of tranquillity to the Israelites ; for the historian 
 records little more than the names of the three following judges. 
 Jephthah died after having ruled Israel six years. After him was 
 Ibzan of Bethlehem, who was the parent of thirty' sons and as 
 many daughters. He ruled seven years ; and after him came Elon, 
 who ruled ten years ; and he was followed by Abdon, who during 
 eight years judged Israel. Abdon must have been a man of 
 wealth and di-tinction, for he had forty sons and thirty nephews 
 “ who rode upon three-score and ten ass-colts.” 
 
 It required no long course of prosperity to corrupt the Israelites, 
 and to turn them aside from that God to whom they' were indebted 
 for it. The reader of Scripture is so accustomed to this, that he 
 only wonders at the unusual duration of some of the intervals of 
 faithfulness and rectitude. They now sinned once more, and were 
 brought very' low under the yoke of the Philistines, which lay heavy 
 on them for forty years. 
 
 The deliverer whom God next raised up to redress the wrongs 
 of the chosen people, was, in many respects, the most extraordinary 
 personage who appears in the more ancient Hebrew history, and 
 whose course of proceeding it appears most difficult to reconcile with 
 our notions of a divine commission and a theocratic government. 
 This was Samson, who was born about the time this servitude 
 
 commenced ; and who about the middle of it was in a condition to 
 act upon the high commission which he so imperfectly fulfilled, 
 and to exercise the marvellous gifts which his low vices so often de- 
 prived of the effects for which alone they had been entrusted to him. 
 
 His birth was by a miracle. Ilis parents were childless ; and 
 the mother ceased not to importune God to release her from this 
 comfortless and almost infamous condition : the prayer was heard. 
 An angel announced to her that she should be the mother, not only 
 of a son, but of a deliverer to Israel ; and it was directed that he 
 should be regarded as a Nazarite from the birth, wearing his hair 
 for ever unshorn, and abstaining from wine and strong drink. The 
 father was not present at this interview. His name was Manoali, 
 an inhabitant of Zorah, a small town of the tribe of Dan, to which 
 he belonged. Manoah was astonished at the tidings which his 
 wife imparted to him, and prayed that he might also be privileged 
 to receive the assurance from the same heavenly messenger. The 
 angel accordingly re-appeared to both the destined parents, and a 
 scene took place not unlike that which had formerly attended the 
 angel-visit to Gideon. Manoah, as directed, offered a kid with a 
 meat offering upon the rock, and as the flame went up towards 
 heaven, the angel disappeared from their view in the rising flame. 
 
 The child in due time was born, the name of Samson was given 
 to him, and he was brought up as a Nazarite. He was then found 
 to be endowed with strength greatly beyond that of the sons of 
 men, and which was destined to become the instrument through 
 which he, as the champion of the Lord’s people, was to work for 
 the deliverance of Israel. He early sought for opportunities of 
 signalizing his valour and uncommon strength against the enemies 
 of his country ; and, ere long, his personal achievements appear to 
 have attached to his name such a degree of notoriety, as to render 
 him an object of dislike and terror to the inhabitants of the Philis- 
 tine border. In was, in fact, his vocation to “ find occasion ” against 
 the Philistines, which might enable him to exert his mighty powers 
 to their detriment ; by which their power might be weakened and 
 their plans confused, without exposing his own nation to respon- 
 sibility for his acts. The time for the full deliverance of Israel 
 was not then come : it was the task of Samson to “ begin ” that 
 deliverance by weakening the power and resources of the Philistines 
 by such acts as centred their attention on himself personally. To 
 fulfil this his destiny, it came to pass that he, while still a youth, 
 fell in love with a Philistine damsel of Timnath. The parents, 
 who did not know that this attachment “ was of the Lord.” objected 
 to his marriage with an idolater, when there were so many fair 
 damsels in Israel well suited to his choice. But finding his reso- 
 lution fixed, they reluctantly agreed to go with him to Timnath to 
 ask the damsel in marriage. 
 
 The necessary preliminaries being settled, the marriage was 
 solemnized with feasting, which, according to the custom of the 
 time, lasted seven days. It was usual on such occasions for the 
 bridegroom to invite a number of his relatives and friends, who 
 were to do the honours of the ceremony, and to perform other duties 
 arising from the occasion. In this case, however, thirty Philis- 
 tines were assigned to Samson as companions, either from his being 
 distant from his own home, or, more probably, for a check upon a 
 person so dangerous and formidable. It was usual in those days 
 for the guests assembled at such feasts to exercise their wit in 
 proposing and solving enigmas and riddles: and in compliance 
 with this custom, Samson put forth a riddle, and proposed thirty 
 dresses as the forfeit to be given by him if they solved it within 
 seven days, or by them if they failed to do so. The riddle was — 
 
 “ Out of the eater came forth meat, 
 
 And out of the fierce came forth sweetness.” 
 
 It was founded on an adventure which befel him in one of his 
 journeys to Timnath, when he slew a young lion, in the dry hide- 
 bound skeleton of which he afterwards found a swarm of bees and 
 a quantity of honey. The solution of this riddle was beyond the 
 skill of the Philistines ; but being unwilling to seem outwitted or to 
 incur the expensive forfeiture, they beset the bride, and by threaten 
 in ,r s induced her to solicit from him the solution, which she imparted 
 
 O 
 
 to them, and they were thus enabled on the seventh day to answer, — 
 “ What is fiercer than a lion, 
 
 And what is sweeter than honey ?” 
 
 Samson took no pains to conceal his disappointment and sus- 
 picion ; and he made it an occasion for exercising the powers with 
 which he had been gifted for the avengement, if not the deliver- 
 ance, of his people. He went down to Askelon, and slew thirty 
 Philistines, whose blood-stained raiment he brought to 'Timnath, 
 and gave to their countrymen, as the forfeit of his riddle. Then, in 
 deep disgust at the part taken by his wife, and probably suspicious 
 of her fidelity in other respects, he returned to his paternal home, 
 
 2 B 2 
 
188 
 
 
~M LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DIVERSITY GF ILLINOIS 
 
600 — Supporting Pillars of k istern Buildings. 
 Colofnau Cynhuliol mown Adeiladau Dwyreiniol. 
 
 601.— Women grinding in a Mill. 
 Gwragedd yin rnalu mewn Melin. 
 
 598.— Death of Samson. (Hoet.)— Judg. xvi. 
 Marwolaeth Samson. 
 
 602.— Gaza. 
 
 J 89 
 
190 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY 
 
 [Sunday XXIV. 
 
 leaving her with her friends. But after a while, his heart relented, 
 and he again went down to Timnath, to see his wife : and found 
 that she had during his absence been bestowed in marriage upon 
 the chief of the young men (the paranymph — “ the friend of the 
 bridegroom ”) who had been his companions at the wedding feast, 
 and who had behaved so scandalously to him. This was not only a 
 great wrong in itself, but afforded confirmation to his former 
 suspicions. Ilis wratli therefore rose very high, and he made this 
 another occasion of vengeance against the Philistines. This ven- 
 geance was exercised in a very singular manner. He caught three 
 hundred foxes (or jackals), and coupling them together, fastened 
 burning fusees between the tails of each couple, and in this manner 
 set them loose among the standing corn of the Philistines, which 
 was thus at once set on fire in many different quarters. The flames 
 at that season of the year spread so rapidly and widely among the 
 standing crops and the vineyards, as to cause a most extensive and 
 ruinous destruction. 
 
 Some exceptions have been taken to this transaction, on the score 
 of the difficulty of catching so many as three hundred foxes. But 
 jackals, not foxes, are usually denoted ; and as they are gregarious, 
 the number might, without insuperable difficulty, have been caught 
 by Samson and other persons employed by him for the occasion. 
 Jackals would also answer the purpose better than foxes, which would 
 have fled immediately to their holes, and not have wandered about 
 the fields of the Philistines. 
 
 When the author and occasion of this great calamity became 
 known to the Philistines, they resolved to remove at once the 
 cause of his anger rather than expose themselves to the re- 
 petition of such attacks ; and they therefore went to Timnath 
 and destroyed by fire the parties of whom Samson had so much 
 cause to complain. But this was not the way to pacify the Jewish 
 hero, who no sooner heard of it, than he fell upon a band of their 
 countrymen, and vanquished them with much slaughter. He then, 
 foreseeing the consequences, withdrew to the top of the almost 
 inaccessible rock Etam, in the tribe of Judah. 
 
 The Philistines do not appear to have regarded these feats of 
 Samson as acts of war or revolt on the part of the Hebrews ; their 
 attention was fixed upon the person of the hero ; and now finding, 
 by dear experience, that his enmity was as implacable as his 
 strength was great, they determined by one great stroke to put an 
 end to the vexatious warfare which he carried on upon their 
 borders. They therefore marched a body of troops into Judea 
 with the intention of seizing this eagle in the eyry to which he 
 had fled, and established a regular encampment in the neighbour- 
 hood, with the view, apparently, of starving him into a surrender. 
 The men of Judah were alarmed at these proceedings, and dreaded 
 the consequences which the hero’s acts seemed likely to bring 
 upon their own heads. They, therefore, went and remonstrated 
 with him, hinting their wish that he would allow himself to be 
 delivered up as a pledge and security of future peace. After some 
 hesitation he consented, so far as to allow them to bind him and 
 conduct him to the presence of the enemy. But no sooner did he 
 come before them, and while their triumphant shout rose high in 
 air, than the supernatural spirit was roused within him ; he burst 
 the strong cords that bound him as if they had been burnt tow, 
 and seizing the first weapon which came to hand, which was the jaw- 
 bone of an ass, he flew upon the host and slew a thousand men 
 therewith. 
 
 The hero then threw away his strange weapon, from which he 
 called the name of the place Ramath-lehi (the lifting up of the 
 jaw-bone). But he was sore athirst, and cried to God, “ Thou 
 hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant, and 
 now I shall die for thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncir- 
 cumcised.” It is added that “ God clave a hollow' {dace that was 
 in the jaw, and there came water thereout ; and when Samson had 
 drunk he revived ; wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, 
 u hieh is in Lehi unto this day.” A difficulty is here occasioned 
 by the circumstance that the word lehi denotes both a place and 
 a jaw-bone; and the question hence arises, whether the water 
 which quenched the thirst of Samson came from a hollow in the 
 jaw (lehi) itself, or from the ground in the place to \\ hich that 
 name (Lehi) had been given by the hero, and by which it was 
 known when the author of the book of Judges wrote ; the latter 
 seems the more likely conclusion, and is that which modern com- 
 mentators usually follow. 
 
 Rot long after having committed this slaughter among the 
 Philistines, Samson, with marvellous hardihood, ventured to go to 
 Gaza, one of their fortified cities, and there took tip his abode with 
 a harlot. lie was not long permitted to remain in Gaza undis- 
 turbed, for the news of his arrival soon transpired, and a strong , 
 
 watch was set at the gate to arrest him when he should attempt to 
 depart. But the hour of their triumph was not yet come ; for, 
 being made acquainted with this movement on the part of the 
 Philistines, he arose at midnight, and not content with bursting 
 open the gates, he wrenched them away, posts, bars, and all, and 
 bore them off upon his shoulders to the top of a hill about two 
 miles from Gaza on the road to Hebron. 
 
 Samson was, however, at length betrayed into the power of his 
 enemies by a woman named Delilah, for whom he entertained a 
 base affection. The lords of the Philistines no sooner heard of 
 this unhappy connection than they resolved to employ this woman 
 as the instrument of his destruction. They promised her large 
 sums of money to induce her to employ all her insinuations to find 
 out the cause of his supernatural strength, which they manifestly' 
 supposed to depend on some peculiar observance, which if he might 
 be induced to neglect, his strength would fail him, and they might 
 with impunity avenge themselves upon him. Accordingly Delilah 
 employed all her arts to gain the desired information, and after 
 many vain efforts Samson at length disclosed to her that he had 
 been constituted by the Lord a perpetual Nazarite, which condition 
 was betokened by the unshorn state of his hair ; but that if he 
 renounced the condition of a Kazarite by shaving his head, the 
 spirit of the Lord, in which lay his great strength, would depart 
 from him, and he should become as other men. In consequence 
 of this disclosure she contrived, while he was asleep, to shave off 
 his hair ; and the Philistines, who were lying in wait, seized upon 
 him, put out his eyes, and, placing him in strong fetters, carried 
 him to Gaza, where he was confined in the prison-house, and made 
 to grind at the mill like a slave. 
 
 Milton, in his ‘ Samson Agonistes,’ which, apart from its poetical 
 merits, is a beautiful and critical study of the life and character 
 of the hero, thus pictures him in this condition : — 
 
 “ O change beyond report, thought, or belief! 
 
 See how he lies at random, carelessly diffused ; 
 
 With languish’d head unpropt, 
 
 As one past hope — abandon’d, 
 
 And by himself given over ; 
 
 In slavish habit, ill-fitted weeds 
 O’er-woru and soiled : 
 
 Can this be he, 
 
 That heroic, that renowned, 
 
 Irresistible Samson ?” 
 
 Some time after this the lords of the Philistines assembled to 
 hold an annual festival in honour of their idol Dagon. Having 
 met in the house or temple of that idol, it occurred to them, to 
 enhance their gladness, and the glory of their god, by the sight of 
 their captive in his misery, and his abject condition. He was 
 accordingly sent for, and was placed in the area or enclosed court 
 of the building, the flat roof of which was crowded with the 
 Philistines, who made him the object of their mockery and sport. 
 His hair had, however, begun to grow again, and with its growth 
 he felt the consciousness of returning strength. In this conscious- 
 ness he desired the lad who led him about to let him rest against 
 the central pillars, upon which the main weight of the building 
 rested. This being granted, the blind hero breathed a prayer to 
 the Lord to strengthen him, that he might be once more avenged 
 of the Philistines ; and laying hold of the two pillars shook them 
 with such violence, that “ the house fell upon the lords and upon 
 all the people that were therein : and the dead which he slew at his 
 death were more than they which he slew in his life.” Availing 
 themselves of the consternation which this transaction occasioned in 
 the place, the friends of Samson came down, and extricating his 
 body from the ruins, bore it away, and buried it between Zorah 
 and Eshtaol, in the sepulchre of his father Manoah. 
 
 “ God of our fathers ! what is man, 
 
 That thou towards him with a baud so various, 
 
 Or might I say contrarious, 
 
 Temper’st thy providence through his short course, 
 
 Not evenly, as thou rulest 
 
 The angelic orders, and the inferior creatures mute, 
 
 Irrational and brute? 
 
 Nor do 1 name of men the common rout, 
 
 That, wandering loose about, 
 
 Grow up and perish, as the summer-fly, 
 
 Heads without name, no more remembered ; 
 
 But such as thou hast solemnly elected. 
 
 With gifts and graces eminently adorn’d, 
 
 For some great work, thy glory. 
 
 And people’s safety, which in part they effect: 
 
 Yet towards these, thus dignified, thou oft 
 
 Chaugest thy countenance, and thy hand, with no regard 
 
 Of highest favours past 
 
 From thee on them, or them to thee of service !” 
 
 Samson Agonistes. 
 
Sunday XXIV.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 191 
 
 SUNDAY XXIV.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 IIEN Mary threw herself at his feet, 
 and said, “ Lord, if thou liadst been here, 
 my brother had not died !” When 
 Jesus witnessed her tears, and the 
 grief of the friends of Lazarus, who 
 had followed her, he “ groaned in 
 his spirit and was troubled.” He 
 asked, “ Where have ye laid him ?” 
 and, on beholding the grave of one 
 to whom he was so much attached, 
 Jesus wept. This display of natural 
 emotion extorted from some of the Jews present the remark, 
 “ Behold how lie loved him !” to which others added, “ Could 
 not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused 
 that even this man should not have died ?” Heedless of these 
 remarks, Jesus commanded the stone which closed the mouth 
 of the sepulchre to be removed. The wealthy Jews had their 
 graves in sepulchres hewn out of rocks, to which there were 
 passages leading, and on each side of which niches or openings 
 were cut in which the bodies of the dead were deposited. The 
 stone at the entrance was never removed at the usual visits to the 
 sepulchre, and only on extraordinary occasions. Martha, who now 
 had lost all hope of recovering her brother, attempted to dissuade 
 him from his supposed intention of entering the tomb, by observing 
 that the corpse would by this time emit a tainted odour. Jesus 
 answered, in slight reproof, “ Said I not unto thee, that if thou 
 wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ?” The stone 
 was then removed ; and Jesus cried aloud, “ Lazarus, come forth.” 
 And the dead heard him. The grave could no longer hold him 
 whom he called from it. Lazarus came forth, still wearing the 
 bandages or grave-clothes in which the Hebrews enveloped the 
 dead. These seem to have been wrapped around the limbs separately, 
 as they did not prevent the movement which the Lord commanded. 
 
 The mixed emotions with which the re-appearance of one so many 
 days dead affected the sisters and friends of Lazarus and the 
 disciples of Jesus, we must leave to the imagination of the reader, 
 unless so far as they are demonstrated by subsequent events, for the 
 act was too stupendous not to draw general attention, and, in the 
 actual state of public feeling towards Christ, to be attended 
 with important consequences. It was also performed in the 
 immediate vicinity of the metropolis, and upon a person who 
 appears to have been well known. Most of the Jews present, 
 overcome by this exhibition of Divine power, believed in 
 Jesus as the Messiah , but there were some whose sense being 
 alienated from Divine things, would not acknowledge it, but went 
 away and gave a perverted account of the transaction to the 
 Sanhedrim. This assembly, the high spiritual council of the Jews, 
 held its meetings in the stone hall of the Temple, and, when full, 
 consisted of seventy-one members, although twenty-three sufficed 
 for the transaction of business. The council was much alarmed at 
 the report of the resurrection of Lazarus. They could not deny 
 that Jesus (“ this man,” as they contemptuously described him) 
 had actually wrought miracles ; but in their exasperation and 
 prejudice against one who taught doctrines so opposite to their own 
 practices and expectations, they allowed this circumstance to weigh 
 little with them. But this conviction obliged them to take a fresh 
 ground for their hostility against him. If his party prevail, they 
 said he will excite political commotions, which will result in 
 bringing down upon us the deprivation of the privileges which the 
 Romans have left to us. This was probably no other than an 
 ostensible pretext for the course they then began to contemplate ; 
 for the purpose of silencing the minority in the Sanhedrim which 
 thought favourably of Jesus, and which had already caused its 
 voice to be heard. It is impossible that this view could have been 
 taken in sincerity ; for Jesus never affected an earthly kingdom, 
 or inculcated any principles likely to lead to revolt or tumult : 
 whereas the Jews themselves desired nothing better than to find 
 in the Messiah one who would have led them on to shake off the 
 hateful yoke of the Romans ; and if Jesus had appeared in that 
 character, would have received him and followed him. It was 
 now. however, determined to lose no time in bringing about the 
 death of Jesus on the ground which had thus been taken ; and in 
 regarding their ensuing conduct as the effect of this design, the 
 reader will be better able to apprehend the connection of the inci- 
 dents which compose the closing scenes of the Redeemer’s life. 
 
 Jesus himself, being aware of this design, withdrew with his 
 disciples to Ephraim, a small city a few miles to the east of Jeru- 
 
 salem, in what was called the wilderness of Judea (John xi.) ; 
 « hence he is supposed, from Matt. xix. 1, to have soon returned to 
 the parts beyond the Jordan from which he had lately come. Here, 
 as usual, he was attended by large numbers of people, whom he 
 taught, and the diseased among whom he healed. lie was here 
 among a well-disposed people ; and on one occasion many mothers 
 brought their children that he might bestow his blessing on them. 
 
 Jesus had been speaking against the practice of divorce, which 
 was then very common among the Jews, and the disciples being 
 apparently anxious to put some questions to him on a subject which 
 interested them greatly, were disposed to repel the women and 
 their children in the attempt to approach him. They may also 
 have apprehended lest their master, who was engaged in so great 
 a crowd, might be too much harassed. But the benign Saviour 
 called to them, “ Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
 forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” He then 
 took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed 
 them. 
 
 Then, or soon after, our Lord illustrated the proposition, “ Many 
 that are first shall be last, and the last first,” by the striking 
 parable of the householder who early in the morning went out into 
 the market-place to hire labourers for his vineyard, and agreed 
 with them for the wages of a denarius (about seven-pence half- 
 penny) a day. At the third hour he hired others, promising tc 
 give them what was right; and so again at the sixth hour, the 
 ninth hour, and even the eleventh hour. When they came to be 
 paid, those who were hired last received a denarius, on which those 
 who had been first hired and had laboured all the day expected to 
 receive more. But the master reminded them of their contract for 
 the day’s wages, and asserted his own right to make the last comers 
 equal to them in the reward of labour. By this, Jesus appears to 
 have inculcated that God regards not how long a man works in 
 spiritual things, but how well ; and that ardour of intention and 
 singleness of motive will often make the labour of one hour as 
 valuable, in a moral calculation, as the ordinary labour of an entire 
 day. 
 
 The time of the Passover now drew nigh, and Jesus set forth for 
 Jerusalem, much to the consternation of the disciples, who expected 
 the most disastrous results from the hostility and known designs 
 of the Sanhedrim. But he told them plainly that his hour was now 
 nigh at hand : — “ Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things 
 that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall 
 be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the chief priests 
 and to the Scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall 
 deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge and to crucify 
 him : and the third day he shall rise again.” This they did not then 
 understand. They understood the facts as stated. They could 
 not misunderstand them ; but they expected that the Messianic reign 
 on earth with which their minds were filled would commence after 
 the resurrection. This is shown by the petition which two, cer- 
 tainly not the least intelligent of Christ’s apostles, namely, the 
 sons of Zebedee, set their mother upon asking of him, “ Grant that 
 my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on 
 thy left, in thy kingdom.” This amounted to a request that they 
 might enjoy the first and second places among the subjects of his 
 earthly kingdom, the degree of dignity being in Oriental courts 
 denoted by proximity to the throne. Jesus, knowing that the 
 application originated with James and John themselves, who had 
 personally made a similar request at a former time, addressed them 
 rather than their mother, saying, “ Ye know not what ye ask. 
 Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be 
 baptized with the baptism that I shall be baptized with ?” They 
 answered promptly, “ We are able.” And he told them that they 
 should indeed drink of his cup and be baptized with his baptism ; 
 but that the first and second places in his kingdom were not his to 
 give. The ten other apostles felt much anger at this application 
 by Zebedee’s sons ; but their master soothed them by pointing out 
 the qualities by which true greatness in his kingdom was to be 
 obtained. The transaction is of importance as showing the entire 
 misconception concerning the nature of our Lord’s kingdom under 
 which the apostles still laboured. Their views as to the actual 
 reign were not very different from those which others entertained ; 
 but they believed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah by whom these 
 views were to be brought out. They also had modified notions 
 as to the manner of his reign ; for there can be no doubt that 
 they applied to the conduct of his temporal kingdom, much which 
 he intended to apply, and which we now apply, to his kingdom in 
 the souls of men. It was left for a future day to correct all their 
 erroneous notions, and to make plain all that they had previously 
 misunderstood. 
 
605.— Sycamore Figs. 
 Fflgjs Sycamorwydd. 
 
 192 
 
 
 
 607. — Interior of a Tomb at Petra. 
 Y Tu mown \ Feddrod yn Petra. 
 
fil 1 ' “ They arc carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep : their soul melteth away heeau=e of the trouble.”— Psalm evii. 2(5. 
 “ Hw 7 a esgynant i’r nefoedd, disgynant i’r drfnder : tawdd eu henaid gan flinder.” 
 
 3 
 
 
 608.— Psalm cv. 
 
 GIVE thanks unto the Lord, and call upon his name.— 1. 
 Even Joseph, who was sold to be a bond servant.— 17. 
 
 2 c 
 
 610.— Psalm cvii. 
 
 GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious ; for his mercy 
 endureth for ever.— 1. 
 
 lie sent his word and healed them ; and they were saved 
 from their destruction.— 20, 
 
 193 
 
194 
 
 TIIE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXV. 
 
 SUNDAY XXV.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 SAPH is named as the author of 
 twelve of the Psalms. There seem 
 to have been several persons of this 
 name ; but the one here intended was 
 probably that distinguished Levite 
 who appears in the character of 
 David’s master of song, and as a poet, 
 with the honourable title of Seer, in 
 
 1 Chron. vi. 39; xv. 17; xvi. 5; 
 
 2 Chron. xxix. 30. With the ex- 
 ception of the 50th, and perhaps the 
 
 73rd, the Psalms ascribed to him can scarcely have been his, 
 seeing that they contain marks of a later time, and allusions 
 to later objects, events, and circumstances. Psalms lxxiv. and 
 lxxix. describe the desolation of the temple and the city ; Psalm 
 lxxx. refers itself to the captivity ; Psalm lxxvii. alludes to 
 the later national calamities of the Hebrews, and already pre- 
 supposes a division of the state. To judge from Psalms 1. and 
 lxxiii., Asaph was a master in didactic poetry, and the style and 
 sentiments are equally admirable. If it were at all necessary to 
 stand up for the claims of authorship advanced in the titles, it 
 might, in the present case, be contended that the musical choir of 
 Asaph’s family composed in later days the Psalms which he could 
 not have written, and deemed it an adequate distinction to set the 
 name of their ancestor and founder to them. It might even be 
 alleged that the allusions to later times were conceived in that 
 prophetic spirit of which Asaph and other writers of the Psalms 
 were undoubtedly possessed. If we could rely upon the titles, it 
 would be right and necessary to take this course ; but as we cannot 
 do so, it would be altogether wrong to neglect the marks of time 
 which the Psalms themselves afford. And this remark applies to 
 all the other cases of disputable authorship. 
 
 The Sons of Korah, a Levitical family of singers, have eleven of 
 the most beautiful of the Psalms ascribed to them (xlii., xliv. — xlix., 
 lxxxiv., lxxxv., lxxxvii., Ixxxviii.). These Psalms are distinguished 
 for animated feeling, rapidity of movement, and loftiness of con- 
 ception. But many have denied the claims of the Korahites to 
 these Psalms, and imagine that they were only committed to them 
 for the purpose of being set to music. Most of the Psalms belong 
 to a later period, that is, to the captivity and the time immediately 
 after the captivity, which is of course not on argument against the 
 claim of authorship advanced for the sons of Korah, as the Levitical 
 choirs established by David were preserved even to the time of the 
 second temple. 
 
 Heman, the Ezrahite, is mentioned in the title of the 88th 
 Psalm, and Ethan, the Ezrahite, in that of the 89th. They are 
 probably the same who are mentioned in 1 Chron. vi. 33, 44, as 
 Levitical singers in the time of David ; and perhaps, but more 
 uncertainly, the same who in 1 Kings iv. 31, are celebrated for 
 their wisdom. Both of these Psalms, at least the 89th, are 
 obviously later than those names would indicate, and could not 
 well have been written by contemporaries of David. 
 
 Solomon is named in the title of two of the Psalms (lxxii., 
 cxxvii.), not, however, as the author, but as the subject of 
 them. 
 
 The Septuagint names other authors besides these, as Jeremiah, 
 Ezekiel, Haggai, and Zechariah, probably from conjecture merely : 
 but it is supposed by some that these titles were not intended by 
 the Seventy to designate the authors, but refer to tlie liturgical use 
 for which these Psalms were supposed to have been selected by these 
 prophets. Modern expositors have also attempted to ascertain the 
 authors of many of the anonymous Psalms; but this is a matter at- 
 tended with the greatest uncertainty. Thus from supposed internal 
 evidence Psalm xlv. has been assigned to Mordecai, and xlvi. to 
 Hezekiah ; the first appears probable, as the contents of the ode 
 would apply much more appositely to a Persian king than to 
 Solomon, to whom it is usually supposed to refer. 
 
 We cannot better conclude these remarks on the authorship of 
 the Psalms than in the words of Bishop Gray. “ It is of less 
 consequence to determine precisely by whom the Holy Spirit 
 delivered these oracles, since we have indubitable evidence of the 
 sacred character of the whole book ; for it is collectively cited in 
 Scripture (generally under the name of David), and is prophetical 
 in almost every part; and several of the persons who are supposed 
 to have contributed to the composition of the work are expressly 
 represented as prophets in Scripture.” 
 
 Collection and Arrangement of the Psalms. 
 
 After so much consideration of the Psalms separately considered, 
 the reader will be interested in knowing by what means these 
 inimitable compositions became embodied in that collection or book 
 in which they are now presented to us. On this point, as on most 
 others connected with the Psalms, very different notions have been 
 entertained. The allegation of the Talmud, that David was the 
 collector of the Psalter, requires no refutation after the views which 
 have been already taken. The Fathers of the Church and the old 
 expositors ascribed the collection to Ezra, in conformity with the 
 tradition that the final settlement and arrangement of the Old 
 Testament canon was made by him. This opinion has been 
 adopted by many modern commentators. But some of the most 
 strenuous advocates of it have been forced to admit that, prior to 
 this last and principal collection, and so early as the time of 
 Hezekiah, a smaller collection was in existence, which comprised 
 the first seventy-two Psalms, and concluded with the formula, “ the 
 Psalms of David are ended,” which is still found at the close of 
 the 72nd Psalm. Those who doubt that the general collection 
 was formed by Ezra, also regard this formula as a proof that the 
 seventy-two first Psalms once formed a collection by themselves, as 
 it could not have proceeded from the author of the entire collection, 
 because many Psalms of David appear among those that follow. 
 It would seem that these last were not added until a late period ; 
 and the question is whether the additions were made in one, three, 
 five, or more distinct collections. Those who hold that Ezra 
 formed the general collection, and included the one previously 
 made, adopt the first of these alternatives. But those who admit 
 that there was one collection previous to that made by Ezra have 
 no ground for denying that other collections may not also have 
 existed. Some think that they can discover in the Psalms traces 
 of three collections, formed at different times, and eventually com- 
 bined into one. Others discover more; and Professor Jahn, who 
 contends that the book of Psalmsisthe aggregate of five collections, 
 advances the following very ingenious hypothesis on the subject:— 
 
 “ In the five books of the Psalms, we have before us just so many 
 distinct collections of Psalms, which were made in the same order 
 in which they follow one another. It was the intention of the first 
 collector to furnish exclusively songs of David ; the second annexed 
 his collection to that of the first, and intended to give the gleanings 
 of David’s songs, not hesitating, however, to introduce other songs 
 in addition. 'The collector of the third book no longer had the 
 songs of David particularly in view ; and as he wished to annex 
 his collection to the foregoing, he subjoined to the 72nd Psalm the 
 formula signifying that the Psalms of David were ended- The 
 fourth collector confined himself to anonymous effusions ; hence 
 he furnishes but one psalm of Moses and two of David (t. e. ac- 
 cording to the existing titles). The fifth, lastly, brought together 
 all the sacred songs which were yet to be found.” 
 
 Whether the evidence can be regarded as supporting this con- 
 clusion in its full extent will still be disputed ; but it goes far 
 enough to show that the collection of the Psalms must have been 
 gradually formed. There is a prevailing want of order in it : 
 pieces of like character are not brought together ; songs of David 
 are found scattered in all the five books ; those of Asaph are 
 separated as widely from each other as those of the Korahites, &c. 
 But, again, in the midst of this disorder we remark a certain order : 
 the majority of David’s Psalms stand together (Psalms iii. — xli.). 
 It is so likewise with the songs of the Korahites, of Asaph, and the 
 songs of Degrees ; a circumstance which seems to evince that they 
 were brought together from many separate collections. In this 
 view we may also account for the fact that one Psalm occurs twice ; 
 Psalm xiv. is the same as Psalm liii. ; but on this ground we cannot 
 equally well account for the recurrence of separate portions of 
 Psalms, of which there are several instances. 
 
 It is to be observed that this view is founded upon the admitted 
 division of the Psalms into five books or sections, each of which 
 ends witli a doxology. The Jirst ends with Psalm xli. ; the second 
 with Psalm lxxii. ; the third with Psalm lxxxix. ; the fourth with 
 Psalm cvi. ; and the last with Psalm cl. 
 
 This division is very ancient : it existed in the time of the 
 Seventy, and the Fathers of the Christian Church were acquainted 
 with it. The same reason was also anciently given for this 
 division as is done by the present Jews, — that as everything 
 is summarily repeated in the Psalms which appears in the Pen- 
 tateuch, the entire work is divided, like a second Pentateuch, 
 into the same number of books. This imagined imitation of 
 the Pentateuch is, however, a supposition altogether too arbi- 
 trary. 
 
BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 195 
 
 Sunday XXV.] 
 
 SUNDAY XXV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 LI, the high-priest, appears as the 
 person who “judged Israel ” after 
 Samson. There are many who believe 
 tii is to have been actually the case : 
 but it is now more generally under- 
 stood that the civil government of the 
 Jews was administered by Eli from 
 about the middle of the Philistine 
 servitude, and throughout all the period 
 in which Samson employed his 
 strength on the western border against 
 the oppressorsof Israel. Under this view, that which seems to be the 
 commencement of a new government alter the death of Samson, ap- 
 pears to be no other than a continuance of that which existed in his 
 lifetime. Under the operation of the constitution as established by 
 Moses, the government naturally devolved on the high-priest, in the 
 absence of any specially appointed judge; and therefore, instead 
 of being surprised that the pontiff should in this instance have 
 been also judge, we may rather wonder that this did not oftener 
 occur. 
 
 It was during this" administration of Eli, that the prophet 
 Samuel was born under circumstances which seemed to point him 
 out as one destined for great things in Israel. 1 1 is father, named 
 Elkanah, was a Levite residing at Ramathaim-zophim. '1 his person 
 had two wives, one of whom, Hannah, being childless, was subject, 
 to much insult from the other wife, who v'as more fortunate. El- 
 kanah tenderly loved Hannah, and sought to comfort her : but she 
 ceased not to regard a male child as the greatest of earthly bless- 
 ings. They used to go regularly to Shiloh, to worship at the 
 tabernacle, which was still in that place. In one year she there 
 prayed with great fervency for this blessing, and vowed that in case 
 it were granted to her, the child should be wholly given as a 
 Nazarite to the Lord. As she prayed, her agitation was so 
 manifest, that it attracted the notice of Eli, as “ he sat upon a seat 
 by one of the posts of the tabernacle:” and he hastily supposed 
 that she was under the influence of strong drink. But she replied, 
 
 “ Xo, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit : I have drunk 
 neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before 
 the Lord on which the priest said, “ Go in peace: the God of 
 Israel grant thee the petition thou hast asked of him.” 'The prayer 
 of that afflicted woman was heard : a son was given to her, and she 
 called his name Samuel. From that time Hannah went no more 
 up to Shiloh till her son had been weaned, and was old enough to 
 be taken to the tabernacle and left there. When this time came 
 they all went up together, and, after the usual offerings, the now 
 happy mother took her child and brought him before Eli. She 
 reminded him of her former prayer, and now informed him, “For 
 this child I prayed,” and that having given him to the Lord, she 
 had now come to perform her vow. She then gave utterance to 
 her feelings in an exulting song, which forms a pleasing specimen 
 of the sacred poesy of the age before David. She then departed, 
 leaving the child at the tabernacle, who, as he grew up, was em- 
 ployed in such light duties as a child could discharge, and which 
 Levitical lineage authorized him to perform. Hannah had other 
 sons as well as daughters ; but she failed not year by year to visit 
 Shiloh, to embrace the son whom “she had lent unto the Lord.” 
 Eli himself was a man of undoubted piety, and of the most 
 sincere intentions: but his sons, Ilophni and Phinehas, proved 
 worthless persons, who were guilty of the most criminal abuses of 
 their priestly office. Their conduct became at length so utterly de- 
 praved and atrocious, that the people began to shun the attendances 
 at Shiloh, which brought them in contact with persons who made 
 their sacred office a cloak for all kinds of wickedness and wrong- 
 doing. They were reproved by their father; but his reproof was 
 too gentle, and unaccompanied by the strong measures of restraint 
 which became his high and venerable office. As they continued 
 their evil courses, a prophet was sent to Eli denouncing the 
 punishments of heaven against them; predicting that Ilophni and 
 Phinehas should die “ both in one day,” and that, after Eli’s death, 
 the high priesthood should be rent from his family and bestowed 
 upon another. 
 
 Meantime the young Samuel continued under the care of Eli, 
 iu the diligent discharge of the light duties confided to him, 
 “ ministering before the Lord, girded with a linen epliod.” He 
 was chiefly employed about the person of the aged high-priest, who 
 became much attached to him. Once, when the lad was about 
 
 twelve years of age, a voice called to him in the night, as he lay 
 in a chamber near to and within call of that, of the high priest. 
 The boy supposed that Eli had called him, and hastened to receive 
 his commands. But Eli had not called, and he was sent back to 
 his couch. The voice again called, “ Samuel, Samuel ! and the 
 lad again hastened to Eli, with the same result. I his being 
 repeated a third time, the high-priest perceived that the call was 
 supernatural, and told the lad that if the voice again called to him, 
 he should answer, “ Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth. 
 The child did so : and he then received a divine communication, 
 to the same effect as that which the prophet had previously 
 declared — “ Behold,” said the voice, “ I will do a thing in Israel, 
 at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 
 
 In that day will I perform against Eli all things which I have 
 spoken concerning' his house : when I begin, I will also make an 
 end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever 
 for the iniquity which he knoweth ; because his sons made them- 
 selves vile, and he restrained them not.” Samuel lay quiet till 
 the morning; and was afraid to impart to Eli the heavy tidings 
 with which he had been charged. But on being pressed by his 
 venerable patron, who knew that something unusual had transpired, 
 he made all known to him. On hearing the awful message, the 
 aged priest bent his venerable head, and said, “ It is the Lord ; let 
 him do what seemeth him good.” 
 
 From this time forward it became known that Samuel was a 
 prophet favoured with revelations from God, which he made known 
 to the people : and as for some time there had not been in Israel 
 any person thus favoured — thus privileged with access to the 
 counsels of the Divine King, the attention of all Israel was strongly 
 drawn towards one who had, as it were, grown up under their eyes, 
 in his constant attendance at the tabernacle. 
 
 During all this period, the Israelites appear to have been still 
 under the oppression of the Philistines. In the fourth chapter of 
 the first book of Samuel, we come abruptly to an account of 
 warlike operations, without being able clearly tofiiscern the object 
 for which they were undertaken — whether from the desire of the 
 Philistines to rivet more strongly the yoke of Israel, or from some 
 attempt of the Israelites to shake it off. The first battle was fought, 
 at Aphek, and the Hebrews were routed with the loss of four thou- 
 sand men. On this the Israelites took up the notion, that if the 
 ark of God were brought into the field, they could not fail to be 
 victorious over their enemies. They therefore sent for it to Shiloh ; 
 and it was brought to the army under the care of the sons of the 
 high-priest, Ilophni and Phinehas. When the sacred symbol entered 
 the camp the whole army shouted for joy, as if already triumphant. 
 The consternation of the Philistines was proportioned to the ex- 
 ultation of the Hebrews ; and their feelings on this occasion enable 
 us to perceive the estimation in which Jehovah was held by them, 
 as the God of the Hebrews, which was the point of view in which 
 he was regarded by them. They said : “Woe unto us! for there 
 hath not been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us! who shall 
 deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods? These are the 
 Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wil- 
 derness!” Like valiant men, however, the Philistines did not 
 permit this dread to discourage them ; but. rather regarded the 
 greatness of the danger as an iiKsentive to mightier exertions: — 
 “ Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, 'that ye 
 be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Quit 
 yourselves like men, and fight!” 'The result read the Hebrews a 
 terrible lesson of misplaced confidence upon mere symbols, which 
 were as nothing apart from the living presence which the symbol 
 represented. They were beaten ; the ark of God was taken by the 
 Philistines, and Ilophni and Phinehas were killed in defending 
 their sacred charge. By this one act, which made their death 
 more worthy than their lives, they restore themselves, in some 
 degree, to our good opinion ; but it was no longer possible for any 
 thing that they did or left undone to avert the ruinous effects of their 
 former misdeeds, or to recall the doom which had gone forth from 
 Heaven against them and theirs. They died, both in one day, as 
 had been foretold : and if their friends could have had any comfort 
 left, it must have been found in the fact that no shame, but honour 
 rather, attended their last hour. 
 
 Meanwhile there were hearts at Shiloh that trembled for the fate 
 of the battle, and for the ark of God. Among them was that of 
 Eli ; who, in his anxiety, caused his seat to be set by the way side 
 that he might catch the tidings as they came, Tidings of evil are 
 seldom long delayed. A fugitive speedily came from the battle- 
 field with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head. He announced 
 that Israel had fled before the Philistines— that Ilophni and 
 Phinehas were slain — and that — the ark of God was taken. At 
 
 205 
 

 617.— Egyptian Ephod. 
 Ephod Aiphtaidd. 
 
 615.— Young Samuel. (Reynolds.) 
 Samuel leuangc. 
 
 618. Egyptian Entertainment, showing the Form of the Chairs. (From a Painting in the British Museum.) 
 Arlwyaeto Aiphta.dd, yn dangos Ffurf y Cadeiriau. (Arlun o Baeutwaith yn yr Amgueddi'a Brydeinig.) 
 
620.- Various modes of Sitting. 
 Gwahanol ddulliau o Eistedd. 
 
 621. — Indian Car drawn by Oxen. 
 
 Cerbyd Indiaidd yn cael ei dynu gan Ychain. 
 
 622. — Turkish Arabab drawn Dy Oxen. 
 Ychain yn tynu Arabah Tyrcaidd. 
 
 625.— Egyptian Mode of Anointin 
 Dull Aiphtaidd o Eneinio. 
 
 624.— A Meeting near Mount Tabor. 
 Cyfarfyddiad ger llaw Alynydd Tabor. 
 
 620.— Saul among the Prophets. (Iloet.) 
 aaul yin mysg y Prophwydi. 
 
 623.— Ethiopian Car drawn by Oxen. 
 Ychain yn tynu Cerbyd Ethiopaidd. 
 
198 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 that terrible word, the blind old man fell down heavily from his 
 seat, and his neck was broken in the fall. 
 
 The Philistines carried the ark with great triumph to Ashdod, 
 and supposing that they had overcome the God of Israel by the 
 mightier power of their own Dagon, they deposited it as a trophy of 
 victory in his temple. It was the foresight of this triumph over the 
 Lord of Hosts, which had occasioned the death of Eli, and filled Israel 
 with dread. But it proved fatal to the Philistines and to their idol ; 
 lor it then behoved the Almighty to vindicate the honour of his own 
 great name from the triumph of the heathen. Accordingly it was 
 found the next morning that the image of Dagon had fallen from 
 its place, before the ark, and was broken in pieces. 
 
 They found their idol lying on the floor, prostrate before the ark 
 of God. This might have been an accident, they thought ; and 
 therefore they again set up their monstrous idol more securely in its 
 high place. But the next morning it had not only again fallen 
 down, but was, once more, broken into pieces. 
 
 Next, the inhaoitants of Ashdod were afflicted with a grievous 
 disorder, the emerods (the piles), which was very general and 
 intensely severe; this was accompanied by a plague of mice, by 
 which the produce of their fields was consumed and spoiled. Taking 
 these visitations in connection with the former event, they failed not 
 to ascribe them to the wrath of the God of Israel, for the presence 
 of his ark among them ; and resolved to try whether he might not 
 take more pleasure in some of their other cities. They therefore 
 sent it to Gath, the inhabitants of which, being forthwith afflicted 
 in the same manner, lost no time in forwarding it to Ekron ; but 
 the truth began by this time to be suspected, and the Ekronites 
 received it with horror, and cried, “ They have brought about the 
 ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.” Nor 
 were they mistaken in their anticipations, for there was soon a 
 grievous destruction throughout the city, for “ the hand of God 
 was very heavy there.” There could be no longer any reasonable 
 doubt that the pestilence by which the Philistines were thus wasted 
 was sent among them on account of the ark, and they resolved to 
 restore it to the Israelites. Their priests recommended that an 
 oblation, or trespass-offering, should be conveyed along with it, 
 and, agreeably to the practice of those superstitious times, they 
 further suggested that the gold of which this offering was to consist 
 should be wrought up into figures having a direct reference to the 
 evils with which they had been afflicted. They made five golden 
 emerods and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords 
 of the Philistines, and deposited them in a coffer which they placed 
 beside the ark in the new car which they made for the purpose of 
 conveying the sacred chest to its own land. It was usual for the 
 heathen thus to convey their sacred arks and shrines, and they 
 adopted it on this occasion, being ignorant that the Jewish law 
 required the ark of God to be borne by the priests. To the ark 
 they yoked two milch cows, which had not been accustomed to the 
 draught, and which they left to take their own course. The cows, 
 as if directed by a divine impulse, went direct towards the border 
 village of Beth-shemesh in Judea, without once turning aside or 
 attempting to go back, although their calves had been shut up 
 at home. The villagers v ho were abroad in the fields employed 
 on the crops hailed the return of the ark with the most unbounded 
 joy ; and concluding that on so remarkable an occasion they might 
 dispense with the strict observance of the law, which forbade 
 sacrifice to be made at any other place than that at which the 
 tabernacle was fixed, they slew the two cows, and offered them 
 up as a burnt-offering to Jehovah. This breach of a very stringent 
 commandment, together with the irreverent curiosity which they 
 manifested to examine the contents of the ark, occasioned the 
 death of seventy persons ; and by this the inhabitants were so 
 terrified, that they besought the inhabitants of the neighbouring 
 city of Kirjath-jearim to relieve them from the care of so formidable 
 a deposit. The men of Kirjath-jearim complied with this request, 
 and the ark was suffered to remain twenty years in this place 
 before it was restored to the tabernacle at Shiloli. 
 
 This may perhaps be regarded as a neglect, and taken as one 
 sign of the carelessness in the worship of God, and the observances 
 of the law, which seems at this time to have been general in the 
 land. But Samuel, who had successfully commenced a public 
 reformation, proceeded from town to town throughout the whole 
 land, to call the people to repentance, and to revive true religion 
 among them ; and his success was at length so great that the 
 people, who had confusedly intermixed the worship of Jehovah 
 with that of the idols of their neighbours, “put away Baalim and 
 Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.” Having brought the 
 people to t Lis frame of mind, Samuel convened a great assembly at 
 Mizpeli, where, with suitable acts of humiliation, the)’ confessed 
 
 [Sunday XXV. 
 
 their sins, and Samuel prayed for them. It seems to have been 
 on this occasion that Samuel, who hitherto had acted on his 
 authority as a prophet, was formally recognised as chief magistrate 
 and ruler of the people, and it is from this time that he is said to 
 have “ judged Israel.” 
 
 The Hebrews were still under the yoke of the Philistines, whose 
 watchfulness was alarmed at this public convention at Mizpeli ; 
 and they soon appeared in strong force to disperse the assembly. 
 The Hebrews, who had then no war in their thoughts, were terrified 
 at this demonstration : but, being encouraged by Samilel, they stood 
 upon their defence, and in the battle which ensued were victorious 
 over the Philistines, who were compelled to give up the cities 
 they had taken from the Israelites, and to leave them their inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 This great event completely established Samuel’s influence over 
 the people ; and he took advantage of this to bring about a more 
 complete reformation by going frequently about among them, 
 attending to the affairs they brought before him, and exhorting 
 them to continue steadfast in the worship and service of the Lord. 
 
 Many years passed peaceably and prosperously under the benign 
 rule of Samuel, whose advancing years at length induced him 
 somewhat to relax his labours, by associating his sons with him 
 in the management of affairs. He then discontinued his circuits, 
 and fixed his residence at Ramah, where he superintended the 
 northern part of the land ; while his sons, who established themselves 
 at Beersheba, took charge of the southern districts. 
 
 The sons of Samuel grievously misconducted themselves in the 
 high trust confided to them. “ They walked not in his ways, but 
 turned aside from hence, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” 
 This, with the prospect of what might be likely to follow on the 
 death of Samuel, gave the Israelites occasion to desire a king “ to 
 rule them like all the nations.” 
 
 This was not the true remedy, to a nation privileged like theirs, 
 for the evils which had grown up from neglect of the established 
 principles of the theocratical constitution. They already had a 
 king in the Lord, who dwelt, as it were, among them in his 
 tabernacle, and had provided means for free access to his counsel 
 in all difficulty, and had promised his Almighty aid in the redress 
 of all their wrongs so long as they continued true in their allegiance. 
 It was their own fault, if, by neglecting these high privileges, the 
 theocratical government had seemed to become inefficient. The 
 fact was, that through their unbelief, their low material notions, 
 and their want of faith, the theocratical constitution had never 
 been fairly worked since the time of Joshua, nor its suitableness for 
 the general government of the nation had never since then, if even 
 then, been adequately developed. 
 
 Samuel felt all this ; and was well aware that they were actuated 
 by an impatient and discontented spirit, and by a fondness for the 
 imitation of the customs and institutions of the neighbouring 
 nations, to the neglect of those peculiar institutions and peculiar 
 privileges which distinguished them from all the nations of the 
 earth. They were, in fact, tired of the theocratical govern- 
 ment, under the forms in which it had been exhibited to them — 
 those insufficient forms which it had assumed only through their 
 own disloyalty to the Divine Kirg, and their neglect of the first 
 principles of the government which he had destined for them. 
 
 However, admitting the desire for the change to be wrong, the 
 manner in which they sought to bring it about must be allowed to 
 have been very regular and becoming. They did not set up a king 
 for themselves; but applied to Samuel, that he, as the existing 
 ruler, and as a prophet having access to the divine will, might 
 nominate the most suitable person, and effect the change in the 
 way that seemed best to hint. It appears that they had made up 
 their minds to have the change, but were very willing to leave the 
 manner of the change to the existing authorities. This wise and 
 virtuous procedure rendered this revolution — the greatest perhaps 
 which could happen in any state — a most laudable example, in the 
 peacefulness and legal solemnity with which it was effected. 
 
 Samuel would not venture to return a definitive answer to the de- 
 mand of the people without fir>t consulting the Lord, who was pleased 
 to command him to protest most solemnly against the proposed change, 
 and to declare in the strongest manner his reprobation of their 
 rejection of himself as their king and governor. It was not hidden 
 from them that their demand went to this extent, and involved this 
 consequence. Yet nevertheless, if after this faithful representation 
 of the case they persisted in their demand, the prophet was in- 
 structed to comply with their desires. This permission was obviously 
 intended to keep them under some control, by preventing them from 
 setting up a king of their own choice in direct opposition to a divine 
 interdiction. 
 
Sunday XXV.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 199 
 
 SUNDAY XXV.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 N arriving at Jericho, which was then 
 the second city of Judea, the people 
 gathered in crowds to see him pass. 
 Among them was the chief of the tax- 
 gatherers, named Zaccheus, who being 
 too short to see him in the crowd, in 
 the intensity of his desire to view one 
 of whom lie had heard so much, 
 mounted a sycamore-tree for the pur- 
 pose. Jesus when lie came to the 
 place looked up, and called to him 
 by name, “ Zaccheus, make haste and come down ; for to-day 
 I must abide at thy house.” Overwhelmed by an honour which 
 he probably desired, but had not dared to ask, he left the tree 
 and hastened home to receive his great guest, who alone of 
 all the holy men of his age did not despise even the publicans. 
 The mob as usual murmured at this preference ; but Zaccheus, in 
 the fulness of his heart and of his awakening convictions, stood forth 
 and declared that from that hour he would bestow half his wealth 
 to feed the poor, and would restore fourfold the wrong which any 
 man could lay to his charge. 
 
 It was on this occasion that our Lord delivered the celebrated 
 parable of the Talents. In those days, any person having claims by 
 descent or interest to the sort of rayless crown which the Romans 
 allowed some of their great vassals to wear, proceeded to Rome to 
 have it confirmed to him. This had been done by Archelaus, the 
 last native prince who had ruled in Judea. Jesus represents “ a 
 certain nobleman” as making such a journey “ to receive for him- 
 self a kingdom, and to return and before his departure, confiding 
 different sums of money to his servants, that they might employ it 
 for his advantage till his return. They who had doubled the amount 
 by trade during his absence, were rewarded with high trusts on 
 his return. But one of them, who had received one talent, and had 
 laid it up for safety, now produced it unimproved, and was met by 
 reproaches and sent away with disgrace. 
 
 On leaving the city the next morning, a blind man, who sat begging 
 by the way side, hearing the noise of the passing crowd, enquired 
 what it meant ; and being told that Jesus of Nazareth was going 
 by, began to cry out, in his loudest voice, “ Jesus, thou Son of 
 David, have mercy on me,” till the Saviour heard him and stopped. 
 When he was told of this, the blind man rose, and, in his eagerness, 
 cast off his impeding outer garment as he hastened to the place 
 where Jesus stood. On seeing him, Jesus asked, “ What wilt thou 
 that I should do unto thee ?” He answered, “ Lord, that I might 
 receive my sight.” And Jesus had compassion upon him, and said, 
 “ Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee.” Here we have 
 attain a striking instance of an acknowledgment of Christ as the 
 Messiah, in the very first cry of a blind man, in the epithet “ thou 
 son of David.” And this faith — that Christ was the Messiah, and 
 that he could restore his sight — was that to which the Lord 
 referred. 
 
 It was customary for those who lay under ceremonial defilements 
 to go up to Jerusalem earlier than others, that they might undergo 
 the legal purifications before the commencement of the Passover. 
 Those who were thus early at Jerusalem, as well as the residents, 
 met together in the fore-courts of the temple, and speculated 
 anxiously on the probabilities of our Lord’s appearance at the feast. 
 As he must have known of the resolution concerning him at which 
 the Sanhedrim had now arrived, most people concluded that he 
 would keep himself out of the way. 
 
 However, six days before the feast, Jesus arrived at Bethany, 
 where he had lately raised Lazarus from the dead. Here he 
 spent the remainder of the day, and the night. Many persons at 
 Jerusalem having heard of his arrival at Bethany, went over in the 
 hope of seeing him and the man he had raised from the dead 
 together ; and they were not disappointed, for Lazarus was among 
 those who “sat at meat” with Jesus, at the supper which was 
 that evening provided. The mention of this circumstance leads 
 the Evangelist to record that many ruling men were so hardened 
 as to meditate the death of Lazarus himself, on account of the 
 attention drawn towards Christ by the presence and existence of a 
 man he had raised from the dead. 
 
 As we might expect from our previous knowledge of the sisters 
 Martha and Mary, they took very different parts in the entertain- 
 ments of this remarkable evening. As women, they could not seat 
 themselves at the table ; but Martha, as usual, attended to the prepa- 
 rations of the supper, and busied herself in the outward service, while 
 
 Mary surrendered herself to the full feeling of affectionate devotement 
 to the Lord’s person, rendered more lively and intense, we may well 
 suppose, on account of her brother’s resuscitation. She possessed a 
 large quantity of costly ointment ; and in order to testify her love, 
 she sacrificed it all. She did what “ the woman that was a sinner” 
 had done before ; she anointed his feet with the precious “ nard,” till 
 the house was filled with the powerful fragrance. An objection to this 
 act, as a wasteful extravagance, arose this time from no other 
 personage than Judas Iscariot ; and the Evangelist John neglects 
 not the opportunity of connecting with this objection another trait 
 in his character. He had already pilfered from the common fund of 
 the disciples of Jesus, which had been confided to his charge ; and 
 hence the secret source of his discontent that Mary had not thrown 
 the proceeds of her spikenard into the common treasury, if she 
 desired to afford evidence of her love. Under on objection of 
 ostensible worth, in which some well-meaning disciples concurred, he 
 concealed his true character and disposition, which was apparent 
 only to the Saviour, who answered by a touching justification of 
 Mary’s deed as a pre-anointing for his coming burial, followed by 
 the pregnant remark — “ The poor ye have always with you ; but 
 me ye have not always.” 
 
 By the following morning it was well known in Jerusalem that 
 Jesus would be that day in the city, and the people generally 
 determined to give him a grand reception. Impure hopes may in 
 part have prompted this course, and they may have expected that if a 
 proof of attachment, of recognition, so public and so general, were 
 exhibited, Jesus might be induced to appear openly as the king 
 Messiah. A great multitude therefore went forth to meet him, 
 with such demonstrations of honour as were anciently shown to 
 Oriental kings. A great many palms grew on the way from 
 Jerusalem to Jericho ; from these they broke off blooming branches 
 and strewed them in the way : some also carried green boughs and 
 branches of blossoms in their hands, as was customary when they 
 celebrated the tabernacle and dedication feasts, while they sang songs 
 of gratulation and praise. 
 
 Accompanied by the Jews who had come over to see Lazarus, 
 the Saviour left Bethany the same morning and came to Bethphage 
 — a row of houses on either side of the public way surrounded by 
 fig-trees, whence its name “ place of figs.” The multitude had 
 probably come thus far to meet him. Seeing the favourable 
 disposition of the people towards him, Jesus concluded to avail 
 himself of it, in order to make an abiding impression upon the 
 disciples, when they should afterwards reflect upon the manner of 
 his entrance into Jerusalem. That he was really the Messiah 
 foretold by the prophets, and the true nature of the Messianic 
 character — were the facts which he desired to impress strongly upon 
 their minds. Now the prophet Zechariah had described the arrival 
 of the Messiah as that of a peaceful king who felt interested in the 
 welfare of his people, and who would enter the metropolis of his 
 kingdom riding upon an ass. The ass was an animal used for riding 
 in time of peace, while the horse was employed in times of war. 
 In order to lead his disciples to the consideration that the prophetic 
 view of Zechariah, in regard to the condition of the expected 
 deliverer, was fulfilled in him, our Lord made choice of this very 
 mode of entrance. He sent two of his disciples forward to a place 
 where he told them they would find a colt “ on which no man had 
 ever yet sat.” This specification is not without meaning, as yearlings 
 which have never borne the yoke, and never been employed for 
 common purposes, were reserved for sacred uses. This colt they 
 were to unloose and to bring to Jesus; they found the colt, and 
 were proceeding to unloose it when the owners objected ; but when 
 the disciples said, “ The Lord hath need of him,” they, sharing in 
 the general feeling, felt glad and honoured, and allowed them to 
 take not only the colt, but the dam, which from natural instinct 
 followed her young. They brought them to Jesus, and laid their 
 clothes upon them both, not knowing which of them he would 
 choose to ride. He mounted the colt, and rode onward, attended 
 by the rejoicing crowd, who spread their garments in his path, and 
 waved their branches with exulting shouts. The disciples fully 
 shared in the enthusiasm of that hour; and when the triumphal 
 multitude came near to Jerusalem at the descent of the Mount of 
 Olives, the multitude broke forth in singing the verses from the 
 118th Psalm, which were usually sung at the feasts already men- 
 tioned, and which were always considered to bear a reference to 
 Messiah. 
 
 “ Hosanna ! Blessed is the king of Israel, 
 
 That cometh in the name of the Lord ! 
 
 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, 
 
 That cometh in the name of the Lord 1 
 Hosanna in the highest !” 
 
G32. — View in the Land of Moab. 
 Golygla yn Nhir Moab. 
 
 631.— Palm-tree. 
 Palmwydden. 
 
 
 200 
 
633,-Fme Lime-grinding Mill at Cairo. 
 Melin Falu Caleb brydferth yn Cairo. 
 
 6.34.— Modem Egyptian Plasterers at Work, showing some of the Tempering Operations used. 
 Plastrwyr.Aiphtaidd Diweddar wrth eu gwaitb, vn dangos rhai o*r GweithrediadauTymheraidd addefnyddir. 
 
 
 2\JL 
 
202 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXVI. 
 
 SUNDAY XXVI.— THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 IIE prophet Ezekiel has numerous 
 allusions to ancient arts and usages, 
 some of which we purpose in this 
 page to illustrate. 
 
 In chap. iv. 15, the prophet is in- 
 structed to take a symbolical cake, and, 
 to give intensity to the signification, he 
 is ordered to bake it with dried human 
 dung. At this Ezekiel demurred, 
 saying, “ Ah, Lord God, behold my 
 soul hath not been polluted : for from 
 my youth up, even till now, have I not eaten of that which dieth 
 of itself or is torn in pieces ; neither came there abominable flesh 
 into my mouth.” On this he was allowed to substitute cow s dung, 
 with which, being a usual article of fuel, he cheerfully baked his 
 cake. This passage does not require much explanation, as the 
 cow-dung which has dried on the road is still collected by our 
 village poor and used for fuel, particularly in baking bread, for 
 which it is well suited, by reason of the length of time which it 
 retains the heat. But of the extent of its use for these purposes in 
 the East, as well as of animal dung generally, no idea can be 
 formed from these circumstances. In regions where fossil coal is 
 unknown, where wood is scarce, and where the means of carriage 
 exist only in forms which would not allow the transport of fuel 
 from a distance without raising the cost to an impracticable 
 amount, animal dung is the main dependence of the inhabitants. 
 Every particle is carefully collected by the women and children 
 during the summer, made up into large cakes, which are left to dry 
 in the sun, and stowed away for use in the winter. The processes 
 of this operation, the eager collection, the cakes laid out to dry in 
 the sun (sometimes stuck up against the walls of the cottages for the 
 purpose), and the small stacks of the collected fuel, which are often 
 set most conspicuously upon the flat tops of the same cottages, 
 obtrude themselves most unpleasantly upon the notice of travellers. 
 It may be well to observe that this use of animal dung for fuel is 
 at the present day even more common in the country where Ezekiel 
 wrote, than it was or now is in his native Palestine. 
 
 In chap. v. 1, the prophet is instructed to shave his head and his 
 beard with a barber’s razor. This was a symbolical action, and 
 does not imply that the Israelites habitually shaved their heads any 
 more than their beards, which we know they did not. In Eastern 
 countries the great heat renders it unpleasant to wear both the hair 
 and a covering upon the head. The alternatives are, to wear the 
 hair without any covering upon the head, or to shave the head and 
 constantly wear a covering. The Jews seem in general (for there 
 are exceptions) to have taken the former course, and the modern 
 Orientals have taken the latter. European residents make a com- 
 promise of usages by cropping the hair close, so as to allow them 
 to cover or remain uncovered according to circumstances. The 
 modern Greeks, following the example of their ancestors, wear 
 their hair long and thick ; but combine therewith the modern 
 Oriental usage of keeping the head constantly covered, and the 
 effect of this singular combination of opposite usages is highly 
 unpleasant and unwholesome. The Persians by the large locks 
 which hang down below their ears seem to do the same ; but they 
 do not in reality, as these locks form all the hair they possess on 
 their heads, which are regularly shaven, except as regards the 
 small tuft which all Moslems wear on the top of their heads. In 
 ancient Egypt the modern Oriental practice of shaving the head 
 existed : but when a covering was required, caps were worn, and, 
 by the upper classes, frequently wigs, — the usage being, in fact, 
 not unlike that which existed in England, and throughout Europe, 
 sixty years since. Apart from the turbans of the priests, the 
 crown of the king, and the helmet of the warrior, there is no 
 allusion in Scripture to coverings for the heads of men ; while the 
 references to hair, its length, its beauty, its thickness, and the 
 anointing of it, are of constant occurrence. The phrase “ not a 
 hair of his head shall fall to the ground ” (2 Sam. xiv. 11) could 
 only exist among a people who wore their hair. The distinction of 
 the Nazarites was not that they wore their hair, and others not, 
 but that they never cut their hair, which others did. As the Jews 
 flid not habitually shave either the head or beard, there could be 
 little use of razors among them. They had a word, however, for 
 describing a sharp knife or razor for shaving the hair ; and the 
 allusion in Isaiah (vii. 20) to “ a razor that is hired,” may suggest 
 that the suitable implements were so uncommon as to be hired from 
 
 the persons who possessed them, upon those occasions of mourning 
 when it was customary to shave the head. 
 
 In the twelfth and thirteenth chapters the prophet has some 
 remarkable allusions to building, especially of walls. In xii. 7, he 
 performs the symbolical act of “ digging through the Mall with his 
 hand.” In like manner in Job (xxiv. lb) burglars are described as 
 “ digging through walls,” which they had marked for themselves 
 in the daytime, and our Saviour tM'ice uses the same expression 
 (Matt. vi. 19, 20). These allusions imply that the walls in view were 
 built with clay or mud. In reference to the last of these texts, it 
 is remarked in the ‘ Pictorial Bible ’ — “ Probably the earliest 
 immovable habitations that men built for themselves were of mud. 
 Pliny, indeed, thinks that the Oriental took the first idea of 
 constructing a house for himself and family from the swallow ; 
 and, in imitation of his feathered instructor, made his first attempt 
 with mud. Whether so or not, it is certain that the dwellings of 
 the mass of the population — that is, of the humbler classes — 
 throughout Asia are now, and always have been, of clay or mud. 
 The dwellings which come within this class are of three principal 
 sorts: 1. A framework of hurdles or wicker, daubed thickly with 
 mud ; 2. The walls composed of successive layers of trodden mud 
 or clay, each being left to dry (which it does rapidly) before 
 another layer is spread upon it ; 3. Built with sun-dried bricks, 
 that is, with cakes of trodden clay or mud, fashioned in a mould 
 and dried in the sun. Straw is usually mixed with them in order 
 to strengthen them ; but the poor peasantry have usually no straw 
 or very little in the new-dried bricks, or more properly mud-cakes, 
 with which their humble dwellings are constructed. In ancient 
 times structures of a far higher class were built with the same 
 materials.” The same writer remarks that the act of digging 
 through walls must be understood to refer to buildings the thick 
 walls of which M'ere formed of mud ; had they been of burnt brick, 
 stone, or wood, the phrase would lose much of its fitness, and in 
 that case also digging through M ould have been the least practicable 
 of all modes of gaining access to a building, or of obtaining egress 
 from a city. Walls of the kind described under 2. are quite similar 
 to those employed in building cottages in Devonshire, and are 
 there called “ cob-walls.” 
 
 A writer in the ‘Quarterly Review’ (No. 116) argues, with 
 much ingenuity, that these cob-walls of South Britain are of 
 Phoenician origin. That the Phoenicians themselves had such 
 walls he regards as clear, among other proofs, from this passage of 
 Ezekiel : “ Of all the prophets best acquainted with the customs of 
 the Phoenicians — of which the twenty -seventh chapter is a proof : 
 when speaking of breaking through a wall, he invariably uses the 
 word ‘ dig through this would be impossible in the case of a stone or 
 brick wall, but by no means so as to one of cob.” He also shows 
 that if the Phoenicians had such walls, as was doubtless the 
 case, they might be easily supposed to have introduced them 
 into this country during their intercourse with its south-western 
 shores. 
 
 In chap. xiii. 10, the prophet describes himself, in another sym- 
 bolical action, as daubing a Mall with “ untempered mortar ;” 
 which was a peculiar condition, showing that the mortar Mas 
 usually “ tempered.” It has been disputed whether the terms 
 apply to the mortar by which the stones were cemented, or to that 
 which was used in plastering the surface. The first may have been 
 the case, but this wall could not then have been of moist cob, which 
 requires no cement, but with dry cob, or brick, or stone. There 
 is no doubt, however, that the ancient Jews did plaster the walls of 
 their buildings, and there is every reason to conclude that their 
 plasters were the same M’hich are now in use. The most common 
 sort is made of clay mixed witli chopped straw, which is employed 
 to give cohesion, as ox-hair is by our plasterers. This, to be good, 
 requires to be well tempered, which is usually effected by long- 
 continued treading or beating. This is much used to cover the 
 exterior of M’alls of humbler materials ; but it would only serve in 
 dry countries, as the rain acts upon it very much, causing it to peel 
 off; whence the prophet mentions an “ overwhelming shower ” as 
 an agent in its destruction, as well as of the mud-built Mall itself* 
 which is liable to destruction by the same agencies: “Say unto 
 them who daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall : there 
 shall be an overwhelming shoMer ; and ye, 0 great hailstones, 
 shall fall ; and a stormy wind shall rend it •” With the clay 
 lime is sometimes mixed, to produce a better kind of plaster. 
 When lime is largely used, alone or mixed in a large proportion with 
 certain earths, the tempering is usually performed by beating with 
 staves, or by the turning of a wheel or roller, Morked by an ox, 
 horse, or mule, in much t he same manner as that in which our 
 brickmakers orepare their clay. 
 
Sunday XXVI.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 203 
 
 SUNDAY XXVI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 N the noble speech in which he set 
 forth the evils of the kingly govern- 
 ment, Samuel draws a striking picture 
 of the monarchical power as it then 
 existed and was exercised : and it has 
 been observed that this representation, 
 which even in an antiquarian point of 
 view is an invaluable document, ex- 
 hibits a condition of regal power by 
 no means dissimilar to that which 
 still exists in the East. In the first 
 place he describes the compulsory impressment of all likely young 
 men, their sons, for the service of the king, in the army and the 
 court, and to be his horsemen, to run before his chariots, and to 
 work for him in trades and agricultural labour. Their daughters 
 also should be taken in the same manner for the domestic service 
 of the royal household ; and the king would not in the end fail, on 
 one ground or another, to take their heritages from them, to bestow 
 them in reward upon his courtiers and officers. It reminded them 
 also that the king would demand a tithe of their produce, as was 
 the custom of the time, to support the expenses of the state. This 
 was the strongest point to place before them : for they already 
 by the law were required to pay this tenth to Jehovah as their 
 king. This could not be relinquished ; and as the temporal 
 sovereign would still expect the regal tenth, they would in fact 
 be burdened with a charge twice as heavy as that which any other 
 nation was called to bear. The prophet concluded with — “ And 
 ye shall cry in that day because of your king which ye shall have 
 chosen, and the Lord will not hear you in that day." 
 
 The people were not, however, moved from their purpose by 
 this representation ; they answered, “ Nay, but we will have a 
 king to rule over us on which Samuel, with grief of heart, dis- 
 missed them for the present to their homes, with the understanding 
 that a king would be provided for them. 
 
 The person on whom the nomination fell was Saul, the son of 
 Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. This person, having gone far from 
 home in the vain search after some strayed asses, found himself 
 near Ramah, and concluded, by the advice of his attendant, to con- 
 sult “ the man of God ” who dwelt in that place. He accordingly 
 came before Samuel, furnished with a small present, according to 
 a custom which is still kept up in the East. He no sooner appeared, 
 than, according to a premonition from God, the prophet recognised 
 in him the destined King of Israel. He gave him a hint to this 
 effect, which Saul met by mentioning the smallness of his tribe 
 and his want of family influence. Nothing more passed just then : 
 but the prophet treated the stranger with marked distinction, 
 induced him to stay with him over night, and in the morning early 
 walked forth with him from the town. On the way, Samuel 
 stopped, poured on Saul’s head a vial of anointing oil, declaring 
 that by this act the Lord anointed him “ to be captain over his 
 inheritance.” lie then kissed him ; and to show that in this he 
 acted by divine authority, he proceeded to tell him all the incidents 
 which would occur in his journey home. Everything happened 
 accordingly. He first met two men who told him that the lost 
 asses were found, and that his father had become anxious at his 
 prolonged absence. At another place, “ in the plain of Tabor,” 
 he met three men, one carrying three kids, another bread, and a 
 third a bottle of wine. They saluted him, and offered him some 
 bread, which lie took. After this he encountered a company of 
 young men belonging to the school of the prophets, who were 
 returning from the high place, uttering sacred chants to the sound 
 of the psaltery, tabret, pipe, and harp. Here, as Samuel had 
 foretold, a fit of holy enthusiasm came upon him, and he hastened 
 to join them in their sacred exercises. It was, we are told, in this 
 circumstance that the proverb originated, “ Is Saul also anion" 1 the 
 prophets ?” lie then reached home, but kept secret, even from 
 his own relatives, the communication which Samuel had made to 
 him. 
 
 Some time after the prophet again called the people together in 
 Mizpeh, to complete the important affair which they had left in his 
 hands. He caused the tribes to cast lots, and the lot fell on Benja- 
 min ; the lot was then taken for the families of Benjamin, and fell on 
 that of Kish ; the lot was then cast for the members of that family, 
 and the name of Saul was produced. Saul had attended at Mizpeh, 
 but had withdrawn from the assembly as he saw the crisis approach- 
 ing. lie was, however, sought for, and when brought forward, the 
 
 people perceived with satisfaction that “there was none like him 
 among the people,” as he was taller by the head and shoulders than 
 any one in all that crowd. A distinction of this sort was highly 
 acceptable among ancient nations ; and when the Israelites noticed 
 it in Saul they shouted heartily, “Long live the King!” This 
 was, however, succeeded by a general feeling of disappointment 
 that their great movement should have come to the seemingly 
 inadequate result of placing the crown upon the head of an obscure 
 Benjamite, who was not only without those powerful connections 
 which might give dignity to his station, but who had not yet in any 
 way distinguished himself among men. The nation, as such, did 
 not venture formally to refuse a king appointed in the way they 
 had desired, and under the sanction of the Divine King; but they 
 took no measures to give effect to his appointment, by making his 
 reign a reality : and Saul was suffered to return to his own home 
 in Gibeah, attended only by a few who were satisfied with his 
 appointment; while the disaffected — who appear to have formed 
 the great majority — utterly neglected him, and “ brought him no 
 presents,” or those half-voluntary offerings made to kings, which 
 were essential to the support of the dignity to which he had been 
 raised. 
 
 We are told that, before the assembly dispersed, Samuel “ wrote 
 the manner of the kingdom in a book.” If that which Samuel 
 wrote in a book had been preserved, it would now be regarded as 
 one of the most interesting documents in the world : but perhaps 
 it is well that it has not been preserved, as, in the undistinguishing 
 imitation of the points of policy and law which are exhibited in the Old 
 Testament, it is more than probable that modern Christian nations 
 would have been solicitous to conform their institutions to that which 
 appears to have been of divine origin, but which, although indeed 
 of such origin, was intended only for special use under the peculiar 
 circumstances of the Hebrew people. But although we cannot 
 know what was actually written in Samuel’s book, we may judge, 
 from what subsequently transpires, that the document contained 
 stipulations defining the position of the king, and the rights and 
 duties of the people. The appearance of some such document or 
 constitution, and that the people deemed it favourable to them, is 
 implied in various passages of the history (2 Sam. v. 3 ; 2 Chron. 
 xxiii. 11). It must also have provided that the king should only 
 possess the executive power of the government, and regard himself 
 as the vicegerent of the Lord, with whom the legislative powe 1 " 
 still remained. And even as regarded the executive power, the 
 king was still, in all matters of consequence, to consult the Divine 
 King through the appointed oracles, and was bound to act according 
 to the directions thus received. As regarded the succession to the 
 crown, it appears to have been intended that it should be confined 
 to a particular family ; but every successive king was to regard 
 himself as receiving his appointment from the Lord, who re- 
 served the right of appointing to the throne any one of the family 
 more suited than the natural heir to reign, and indeed of removing 
 one dynasty and establishing another at pleasure. All these regu- 
 lations were framed with the view of keeping the crown still in 
 subservience to the theocratical principles of the constitution ; so 
 that the great objects for which the Israelites were set apart among 
 the nations might not be altogether lost, even though a human 
 king was given to them. 
 
 Shortly after these transactions, Jabesh-Gilead, a city on the 
 borders of Ammon, beyond the Jordan, was assaulted by the 
 Ammonites, and the inhabitants were reduced to such extremities 
 that they offered to capitulate, but could obtain no better terms 
 than that every one of them should have his right eye put out, to 
 disqualify him from using the bow in war. 'To these savage terms 
 the Jabesh-Gileadites agreed to submit in case nothing occurred 
 for their advantage within seven days. In this desperate extremity 
 they thought of applying to the newly-appointed king, who had 
 quietly returned to his former occupations, and was engaged in 
 following the herds when the messengers arrived. The heart of 
 Saul rose to the greatness of the occasion. 'Then and for ever he 
 laid aside the small cares of pasture and tillage, and put on the 
 warrior and the king. Fired with generous wrath at the indignity 
 thus offered to Israel, he imperatively summoned, by swift messen- 
 gers, the men of Israel skilled in arms to join their king. Three 
 hundred and thirty thousand armed men almost immediately came 
 to him in Bezek, and with this force he hastened across the river, 
 and by a forced march appeared before Jabesh-Gilead, before the 
 seven days had expired. The Ammonites were defeated with 
 great slaughter, and the beleaguered city relieved. 
 
 Saul’s conduct on this occasion, crowned as it was by such 
 eminent success, did more for him in popular opinion than his 
 prophetic nomination or even his imposing figure. The people 
 
 2 D 2 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 of m 
 
 5JIMVERS8TY OF mm 
 
o 45. — Open Temple in Phoenicia. 
 Teml agored yn Phenicia. 
 
 646.— Druidical Stone in Persia. 
 Maen Derwyddol yn Persia. 
 
 643.— Saul returning from Battle with the Spoil of the Amalekites. (Adapted from Le Brun.)— 1 Sam. xv. 
 Saul yn dychwel o’r Frwydr gyd ag Ysbail yr Amaleciaid. (Wedi ei gyfaddasu o Le Brun.) 
 
 644.— Samuel and Agag. (Ant. Coypel.) — 1 Sam. xv. 
 Samuel ac Agag. 
 
 205 
 
206 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXYI. 
 
 escorted him in triumph to Gilgal, where the victory was celebrated 
 with many sacrifices, and the new king was confirmed by acclama- 
 tion in Ids kingdom. 
 
 In this transaction Saul had, in the haste and emergency of the 
 occasion, acted entirely on his own responsibility, and had acted 
 successfully and well. On a stronger mind this might have had no 
 ill effect, but to him it was ruin. It disposed him too much to 
 take the same course — to act on his own responsibility — on other 
 occasions, for which the same excuse of imperative emergency could 
 not be produced. This is the key to the false position in which we 
 afterwards find him placed. The doctrine of the responsibility of 
 the human to the divine King was the fundamental principle of the 
 constitution. Everything hinged on that ; and, if not now, at the 
 commencement of the regal government, rigidly enforced, it was 
 certain to be ever after neglected. This explains the apparent 
 rigour with which this point was afterwards enforced upon Saul, 
 and shows the ground on which the kingly power was not continued 
 in his house. 
 
 Samuel, who was present at Gilgal, and was now obviously 
 called upon to resign his executive authority, took the opportunity 
 of addressing the people. When we consider the greatness of the 
 occasion — the last of an old order of government peaceably laying 
 down his power to the first of a new line of rulers — and when we 
 look to the vastness of the audience, composed of tiie flower of the 
 nation which it represented, we are prepared to pay much attention 
 to the speech of Samuel, as one that must be remarkable, and may 
 be important. It was both : “ Behold,” he said, “ I have 
 hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have 
 made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before 
 you ; and I am old and grey-headed : and I have walked before 
 you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am. Witness 
 against me this day before the Lord and before his anointed : 
 whose ox have I taken ? or whose ass have I taken ? or whom have 
 I defrauded ? whom have I oppressed ? or at whose hand have I 
 received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ?” Considering 
 the circumstances under which justice and government are and 
 always have been administered in the East, this is an appeal which 
 few judges or governors would venture to make. But here the 
 people answered with one voice, “ Thou hast not defrauded us nor 
 oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand.” 
 
 The prophet then proceeded to explain and vindicate the course 
 of the divine conduct towards the nation from the commencement 
 of their history till then ; and by showing the sufficiency of the 
 theocratic government, he again brought forward their criminality 
 in demanding a king, “ when the Lord their God was their king.” 
 Nevertheless, if they and the king over them continued to serve 
 the Lord, his blessing should still rest upon them, and render them 
 prosperous. The prophet then, to show that he spoke by divine 
 authority in denouncing the course they had taken, called upon the 
 Lord to send thunder and rain as a sign to them ; and accordingly 
 a thunder-storm, attended by heavy rains, came on, although the 
 time of the year, it being then the wheat harvest, was one in which 
 these phenomena are not naturally exhibited in the climate of 
 Palestine. This made a strong and salutary impression upon the 
 people, anil contributed to maintain Samuel in that degree of 
 regulating authority which was most important, if not essential, at 
 the commencement of the new order of affairs. 
 
 Under the peaceful government of Samuel the Philistines had 
 acquired so great an ascendency, that they had deprived the Israelites 
 of the last remains of their freedom, by placing garrisons in their 
 strongholds, and by completely disarming the population. They 
 carried this so far, that all the smiths had been removed lest they 
 should make swords or spears, and every man was obliged to go to 
 the Philistines to get even his agricultural implements sharpened. 
 
 Thus it happened that although Saul retained in service three 
 thousand of the men who had followed him to the war witli the 
 Ammonites, himself and his son Jonathan were the only persons 
 who possessed a sword or a spear. 
 
 Of these three thousand men Saul stationed one thousand under 
 Jonathan at Gibeah, and retained two thousand with himself at 
 Michmash. The open war with the oppressors of Israel, which 
 lasted throughout the reign of Saul, was commenced by Jonathan, 
 who with his thousand men surprised the fortress of Geba, and put 
 the garrison to the sword. Incensed at this defeat and loss, the 
 Philistines brought together a large host, containing a strong body 
 of war-chariots, to the great terror of the Israelites generally, who 
 felt themselves unequal to a contest with the valiant and well- 
 disciplined troops of the Philistines. Most of the men whom Saul 
 had hastily called together on this emergency, and even of his 
 selected band, deserted and ei t her “ hid themselves in caves, in 
 
 thickets, and in rocks,” or passed over into the country beyond the 
 Jordan. In this emergency Saul sent for Samuel, who promised to 
 be with him at the end of seven days at Gilgal, in order “ to offer 
 burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and to show him what he 
 should do.” While he waited for Samuel, whose message pre- 
 cluded him from taking any decided course, the desertion continued, 
 and at. length, as the seventh day drew to a close without any token 
 of the prophet’s approach, Saul, in his desperation, had the hardi- 
 hood himself to offer the sacrifices ; thus assuming the priestly 
 office, contrary to the sanction of the law, and perhaps in imitation 
 of those neighbouring states in which the right of exercising 
 sacerdotal functions was deemed inherent to the crown. He had 
 scarcely ended when Samuel arrived, late indeed, but within the 
 time he had appointed. The king advanced to meet him, but was 
 received with stern grief by the prophet, who saw in this act the 
 first-fruits of dispositions which would bring down ruin upon him 
 and his house. This he scrupled not to tell him plainly, and 
 departed, leaving him to his own resources. Saul then numbered 
 his men, and finding that not more than six hundred remained with 
 him, retreated to Gibeah, closely pursued by the Philistines, who 
 blockaded the place. During the siege the inhabitants were 
 greatly distressed, and affairs seemed daily to become more despe- 
 rate, when a new and favourable aspect was given to them by the 
 valour of Jonathan, who, impatient of the inactivity to which 
 circumstances had condemned him, resolved to carry an alarm into 
 the very camp of the Philistines, which was then stationed at the 
 entrance of a pass leading into the valley of Michmash. Attended 
 only by his armour-bearer, whom he encouraged by the assurance 
 “ that there was no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by 
 few,” he made his way among the rocks till he came to an outpost 
 of the invaders, where, falling upon them at unawares, he slew about 
 twenty of their number, and thereby created such a panic in the 
 main body, who imagined that the whole Hebrew host must be 
 following close upon the footsteps of the prince, that they had 
 instant recourse to a precipitate flight. The success of this daring 
 exploit was no sooner perceived by Saul from the opposite heights 
 of Gibeah, than he commenced the pursuit of the fugitives, and 
 pronounced a hasty curse upon any one who should stop before 
 nightfall to satisfy his hunger. The only transgressor of this 
 injunction was Jonathan himself, who, being quite ignorant of its 
 existence, refreshed himself with a little wild honey as he passed 
 through the woods. When this came to the knowledge of Saul, he 
 felt himself bound to put even his heroic son to death; but the 
 people interposed, and would not allow their deliverer to be sacri- 
 ficed to the obligations of a foolish oath. They said, “ Shall 
 Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel ? 
 God forbid : as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head 
 fall to the ground ; for he hath wrought with God this day.” 
 Another consequence resulted from this vow, which gives a curious 
 and unexpected illustration of the reasons which induced the 
 Hebrew lawgiver to prohibit the use of blood, and even to subject 
 to certain restrictions the slaughter of animals for domestic use. 
 Rendered ravenous with hunger by the abstinence which Saul 
 had imposed, the sun had no sooner set than the soldiers “ flew 
 upon the spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves, and slew them 
 on the ground : and the people did eat them with the blood.” 
 That is to say, that in their circumstances, they gave way to a 
 propensity which exists and is known to have existed in various 
 Asiatic, African, and even European nations, to eat flesh raw, 
 newly killed, and to luxuriate in the warm blood, — a taste which, 
 from the facts and from the prohibition, would seem to have been 
 natural to man, as to most carnivorous animals, till he has learned 
 to prefer artificial to natural warmth in his animal food, and to find 
 in dressed meat juices more savoury than blood. When the fact was 
 made known to Saul, he hurriedly interposed to arrest the crime, 
 and to provide that the animals should be so slaughtered as to drain 
 their blood. 
 
 The victory of Saul over the Philistines appears to have esta- 
 blished his reputation among the surrounding nations; and from 
 this period the most warlike of them quailed before him, and were 
 defeated in a succession of easy victories. 
 
 The accumulated offences of the Amalekites against the Hebrews, 
 from the time of the departure from Egypt until then, came to 
 mind : and Saul was specially charged by the Lord through Samuel 
 “ to execute his fierce wrath upon Ainalek,” by extirpating a people 
 whose ancient crimes were magnified by their increasing corrup- 
 tions. The Amalekites had in fact been devoted to destruction 
 by a vow of the ancient Israelites, which their successors had not 
 till now been in a condition to execute. Arms thus authorized 
 could not but be successful. 
 
Sunday XXVI.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 207 
 
 SUNDAY XXVI.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 S he came near to Jerusalem, Jesus, in 
 a solemn pause, steadfastly regarded 
 its lofty towers and bulwarks, till he 
 was moved even to tears by the clear 
 foresight of the terrible doom which 
 awaited that proud city, and which 
 was destined to fall upon it before that 
 generation passed away. lie spoke in 
 words which form both a picture and 
 a prophecy — “ The days shall come 
 upon thee that thine enemies shall 
 cast a trench about, thee, and compass thee round, and keep 
 thee on eveiy side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, 
 and thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave thee 
 one stone upon another, because thou knowest not the time 
 of thy visitation.” This clear description of a siege as con- 
 ducted by the Romans pointed out the terrible enemy which 
 Jerusalem would have to withstand, and with great and minute 
 accuracy indicates all the circumstances which actually took place 
 in the great and fatal siege which left the holy city desolate before 
 that generation had passed away. 
 
 All the city was moved by various emotions at this public entry 
 of the Redeemer. Doubtless general attention was directed to his 
 motions, and to observe the step which would next be taken by 
 him. He entered at the gate near the temple, and straightway 
 proceeded to the sacred courts. The blind and lame of the city no 
 sooner heard of his arrival than they hastened to him there, and 
 he healed them. This was no other than his usual course. It 
 was wonderful, beneficent, great ; but it was not for him extra- 
 ordinary', and the ill-founded expectations which had been raised 
 were sorely disappointed. The children in the temple still kept up I 
 the cry which had before been raised ; and the priests and scribes 
 in high displeasure called his attention to it : “ Hearest thou what 
 these say ?” To which he answered, “ Yea ; have ye never read, Out 
 of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” 
 After some further discourse, which, with the previous pro- 
 ceedings, occupied the rest of the day, Jesus left the city and 
 returned to Bethany, where he lodged. 
 
 The next morning, being Monday, Jesus and his disciples again 
 left Bethany^ to spend the day in Jerusalem. On the way Jesus 
 observed a fig-tree in full leaf, and, being hungry, went to it, 
 exppcting to find fruit thereon. As the fruit of the fig-tree is 
 perfected before the leaf, it was natural to expect fruit upon a tree 
 which made this show of leaves ; as the time of fig-gathering was 
 not yet come, it was certain that the fruit which this tree ought to 
 bear had not yet been gathered. But Jesus found the tree without 
 fruit, and said, in the hearing of his disciples, “ Let no man eat 
 fruit of thee henceforth for ever.” He then proceeded to the city, 
 on entering which, he went to the temple, and expelled from the 
 sacred court the dealers and money-changers, by whose merchandise 
 and tables it was thronged in the week before the Passover. This 
 act was similar to that with which, three years before, he had 
 commenced his ministry in Jerusalem. He then remained teaching 
 in the temple, and the attention with which the people heard him 
 prevented his enemies from venturing then to lay hands upon him. 
 In the evening our Lord again repaired to Bethany. 
 
 On returning to Jerusalem on the next, being Tuesday, 
 morning, the fig-tree on which he had the preceding day laid the 
 weight of his curse, and which was then so rich in foliage, was 
 found to be dried away even to the roots. This proceeding of our 
 Lord must probably be regarded in the light of a symbolical action, 
 teaching that his power to punish the guilty was as strong as that 
 which he had more usually exercised in conferring benefits. But 
 with the usual beneficence of his character and actions, he demon- 
 strated this truth in the way least of all others calculated to inflict 
 injury or pain. It was exercised upon a fig-tree, barren, and 
 therefore unprofitable to any one, but having the show, though 
 it lacked the reality, of useful life ; it was, moreover, a tree standing 
 by the public way, and therefore belonging to no one who could 
 complain that his property had been destroyed. 
 
 On proceeding to teach in the temple, the priests and others in 
 authority gathered around him, requiring to know by what autho- 
 rity he taught in that place ; for it was the province of the 
 Sanhedrim to grant the right of teaching in the temple, and this 
 Christ had never received. They perhaps hoped that he would 
 answer that he acted under divine authority as the Messiah, and 
 that they might thus obtain matter of accusation against him. At 
 another time he would perhaps so have answered : but now, being 
 
 aware, of the snare laid for him, he refrained from a direct answer, 
 but, as on some other occasions, solved the question by anotner- — 
 “ The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men?” This 
 they could not answer, being aware that, if they replied “of God,” 
 he would have asked why then they had not believed in him ; 
 while they dreaded to say “ of men,” lest the people, who generally 
 regarded John as a great prophet, should be offended. In the 
 course of the day our Lord delivered the well-known and striking 
 parables of the Two Sons, of the Wicked Husbandman, and of the 
 Wedding Garment. 
 
 Having failed in the former experiment, the Pharisees now tried 
 our Saviour with a far more subtle and dangerous question. This 
 was, whether it were lawful to pay tribute to Ccesar or not. If 
 he answered that it was not lawful, they had ground on which to 
 denounce him to the Romans ; whereas if he alleged that it was 
 lawful, he would not fail to incur popular odium, as it was a 
 growing and very general opinion that it was not only degrading, 
 but absolutely unlawful, for the free-born sons of Abraham to pay 
 tribute to strangers and idolaters ; and it was the subsequent 
 growth of this opinion that led to the revolt of the Jews and the 
 ruin of the nation. Conscious of the snare laid for him, Jesus 
 asked to see the tribute money, or a specimen of the coin which 
 was equal to the amount of the annual tribute or capitation tax, 
 and in which that tax was usually paid. He asked whose image 
 and inscription the coin bore, and was told “ Caesar’s on which 
 he answered, “ Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are 
 Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” This answer 
 seems to leave the question undecided, because he, who was not 
 come to be a judge or a divider, would not be forced to give an 
 answer either way to serve their purposes against himself. The 
 questioners admired an answer so skilfully framed that they could 
 not take hold of it to his disadvantage ; and perceiving that it was 
 useless to attempt “ to entangle him in his talk,” they gave over 
 the design and left the place. 
 
 The Sadducees, a sect which disbelieved in a future life, and 
 whose opinions were very prevalent among the upper classes in 
 Judea, then put a question to him, proposing the case of a woman 
 who, under the leviate law, married seven brothers in succession, 
 and asking whose wife she would be in the life to come. This 
 question Jesus answered without reserve, declaring that the relation 
 of husband and wife did not exist in heaven ; and perceiving the 
 covert blow at the notion of a future life which the question 
 involved, he added further a proof of it from that part of Scripture 
 (the Pentateuch) which alone they received as the revealed will of 
 God. This he did by reminding them that when God called to 
 Moses from the burning bush, he said, “ I am the God of 
 Abraham,” &c., which was a proof that then Abraham really 
 lived, seeing that he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 
 
 Soon after Jesus broke forth into that terrible denunciation of 
 the Pharisees and their doctrines which occupies the 23rd chapter 
 of Matthew’s Gospel; and which he concluded by declaring that 
 the existing generation should not have passed away till all the 
 blood they had shed, and all the iniquities they had committed, 
 had been terribly avenged. Then, foreseeing the miseries which 
 awaited the devoted city, he added mournfully, “ O Jerusalem, 
 Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which 
 are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children 
 together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings — 
 and ye would not ! ” 
 
 It seems to have been just after this that Jesus, who sat over 
 against the place where the chests were placed to receive the volun- 
 tary offerings of the people to the treasury of the temple, perceived 
 a poor woman drop therein “ two mites, which make a farthing.” 
 What is here called a farthing is the quadrans, worth about a farthing 
 and a half, which was the smallest offering that would be received 
 into the treasury, and the half of which was represented by a 
 separate copper coin, the smallest then in use. Large sums were at 
 the same time dropped by rich men into the sacred coffers. But 
 our Lord directed the attention of his disciples to the woman’s 
 offering, and declared that its moral value far exceeded those of the 
 wealthy offerers, for they offered the easy excess of their abundance, 
 whereas she offered all that she had, even all her living. 
 
 On leaving the temple for the day, one of the disciples called his 
 Lord’s attention to the size of the stones, and the magnificence of 
 the buildings ; to which Jesus answered, “ Seest thou these great 
 buildings ? The days will come in which there shall not be left one 
 stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” And this, 
 forty years after, was literally accomplished, the temple having been 
 destroyed, sorely against the will of the conqueror himself, and 
 the walls being eventually and designedly razed to the very grouud. 
 

 649.— Christ and the Tribute Money. 
 Crist ac Arian y Deyrnged. 
 
 Mab y Dyn yn dyfod yn y Cymmylau. 
 
 G50. — Roman As. 
 As Rhufeinig. 
 
 Weight. 
 
 Pwysau. 
 
 4000 grains. 
 4000 o ronynuu. 
 
 ! 
 
 652.— Christ and the Tribute. (Rubens.) 
 Crist a’r Deyrnged. 
 
 653.— Figs. 
 Ffigys. 
 
 208 
 
662. — Psalm cxviii. 
 
 661.— Psalm cxvii. 
 
 658.— Psalm cxiv. 
 
 663.— Psauu cxlx. Ascpu. 
 
 63^. — Psaiill cxv. 
 
 666.— Psalm cxix. Daleth. 
 
 656.— Psalm cxii. 
 
 665. — Psalm cxix. Gnucl. 
 
 209 
 
210 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXVII. 
 
 SUNDAY XXVII.— THE PSALMS 
 
 Alphabetical Psalms. 
 
 ONE of the peculiarities of the 
 Psalms can be less preserved in a 
 translation than that alphabetical 
 arrangement which we find in 
 some of them. Under this ar- 
 rangement certain Psalms are 
 divided into twenty-two lines, or 
 sets of lines, or periods, or stanzas, 
 each of which begins with a letter 
 of the Hebrew alphabet, which 
 has the same number of letters. 
 Thus the first word of the first 
 members of the poem begins with 
 N (A), the second with 3 (B), 
 and so on to J1 (T), which is the 
 last letter. There are still ex- 
 tant in the Old Testament twelve of these poems (Psalms xxv., 
 xxxiv., xxxvii., cxi., cxii., cxix., cxlv. ; Prov. xxxi. 10 — 31 ; 
 Lament, i., ii., iii., iv.). Three of these (Psalms cxi., cxii. ; Lam. 
 iii.) are perfectly alphabetical, in which every line is marked by 
 its initial letter ; the other nine are less perfectly alphabetical, in 
 which every stanza only is so distinguished. Of the three former 
 it is to be remarked, that not only is every line distinguished by its 
 initial letter, but that the whole poem is laid out into stanzas : two 
 of them (Psalms cxi. and cxii.) into ten stanzas each, and these 
 stanzas are of two lines each, except the last, which has three lines. 
 In these the sense and the construction manifestly point out the 
 division into stanzas, and mark the linfit of each stanza. The third 
 (Lam. iii.) of these perfectly alphabetical poems consists of twenty- 
 two stanzas of three lines ; but in this the initial letter of every stanza 
 is also the initial letter of every line in that stanza. In all these 
 three poems the pauses of the sentences coincide with the pauses of 
 the lines and stanzas. It may also be observed of these three 
 poems, that the lines so determined by the initial letter in the 
 same poem, are remarkably equal to one another in length, in the 
 number of words nearly, and probably in the number of syllables; 
 and that the lines of the same stanza have a remarkable congruity 
 with one another in the matter and form, as well as m the sense and 
 construction. After this it scarcely needs to be added that the 
 alphabetical poems have been of great service in determining the 
 nature of the Hebrew metre, and the division of lines and stanzas. 
 
 Of the other nine poems less perfectly alphabetical, in which the 
 stanzas only are marked with initial letters, six consist of stanzas of 
 two lines, two of stanzas of three lines, and one of stanzas of four 
 lines ; not taking irregularities into the account at present. And 
 these stanzas likewise naturally divide themselves into their distinct 
 lines, the sense and the construction plainly pointing out their 
 limits; and the lines have the same congruity one with another 
 in matter and form, as was above observed in regard to the poems 
 more perfectly alphabetical. 
 
 Another thing to be observed of the three poems perfectly alpha- 
 betical is, that in two of them the lines are shorter than those of 
 the third by about one-third part or almost half ; and of the other 
 nine poems, the stanzas only of which are alphabetical, that three 
 consist of the longer lines, and the six others of the shorter. 
 
 Bishop Lowth remarks, “ The acrostic or alphabetical poetry of 
 the Hebrews was certainly designed to assist the memory, and was 
 confined altogether to those compositions which consisted of 
 detached maxims or sentiments without any express order or con- 
 nection. The same custom is said to have been prevalent — indeed, 
 is said still to prevail in some degree— among the Syrians, the Per- 
 sians, and the Arabs.” And this is the general opinion. Michaelis 
 suggests that it was employed in the first instance in funeral dirges 
 as an aid to the mourners, and was afterwards employed on other 
 occasions. The same author affirms that none of the poetical por- 
 tions of Scripture to which this arrangement is applied, are in any 
 way remarkable, excepting the Lamentations, and Psalm xxxvii. : 
 
 “ a certain indication that, however useful this kind of discrimi- 
 nation might be in assisting the memory of children and the vulgar, 
 yet such minute arts are in general inconsistent with true genius.” 
 De Wette, in his useful though somewhat unsafe commentary on 
 the Psalms, takes the same view, or rather amplifies it. “ I con- 
 sider the alphabetical arrangement as a contrivance of the rhythmical 
 art, an offspring of the later vitiated taste. When the spirit of 
 poetry has Hed, men cling to the lifeless body, the rhythmical form, 
 and seek to supply the absence of the one by the other. Indeed, 
 
 nearly all the alphabetical compositions are remarkable for the 
 want of connection (which I regard as the consequence rather than 
 the cause of the alphabetical construction), for common thoughts, 
 coldness and languor of feeling, and a low and occasionally 
 mechanical phraseology. The thirty-seventh Psalm, which is the 
 most free in its alphabetical arrangement, is perhaps alone to be 
 excepted from this statement, and is in truth one of the best didac- 
 tic poems of the Hebrews.” He admits also the merits of the 
 Lamentations ; but thinks that they exhibit traces of an unpoetical 
 period and degenerated taste. 
 
 The pieces arranged on the alphabetical principle exhibit many 
 irregularities for which it is not easy to account. It is usual to lay 
 all such things to the door of transcribers ; but this is a matter in 
 which they would be far less than in any other liable to mistake, 
 since they would be confined by the peculiar arrangement itself. 
 
 A particular account of these irregularities would be of little 
 interest to the English reader. They consist chiefly in the omission 
 of certain letters, in the duplication of some, and the transpose ■ 
 tion of others. 
 
 In the 119th Psalm, where the alphabetical arrangement is the 
 most conspicuously displayed, many remarkable points have been 
 noted. It is more than twice the length of the longest Psalm in 
 the whole book ; and this length is divided into twenty-two parts of 
 eight verses each, called after and beginning with the successive 
 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is for this reason that the Jews 
 call this Psalm the “ great alphabet.” It is further remarkable that 
 in this long Psalm there are not more than two or three verses 
 which do not contain some word relating to the law of God. There 
 are ten words which are used for this purpose promiscuously in 
 this composition, the “ law,” the “ ways,” the “ testimonies,” the 
 “commandments,” the “precepts,” the “word,” the “judgments,” 
 the “ righteousness,” the “ statutes,” and the “ truth,” of God. 
 The Psalm contains a great many pious reflections and excellent 
 rules, tending principally to set forth the excellence of the divine 
 laws. Luther and others have endeavoured to make out that each 
 of the twenty-two sections has a ditferent leading idea or subject ; 
 but in fact it is difficult to discern the cohesion of the several 
 verses in each section, or of the sections with each other ; and not- 
 withstanding all that has been said to the contrary, we strongly 
 incline to think that it was in consequence of this want of obvious 
 connection that the alphabetical arrangement was adopted for the 
 purpose of helping tne memory of those who might learn the 
 Psalm in the original language. Any one who attempts to com- 
 mit a large number of unconnected sentences to memory, will be at 
 no loss to perceive the assistance which may be derived from a con- 
 trivance of this description. 
 
 Indeed, this use of the contrivance is so obvious, that our own 
 language is not wanting in examples of it. We have before us an 
 old book (1711), in which the entire Bible is compendiously 
 indexed on this principle. The author in his preface asks, “ Shall 
 I need to apologize either for the novelty or plainness of this 
 alphabetical method ? I think not. However, as to the former, it 
 is not so new as some may imagine, but as old as Jeremiah’s Lamen- 
 tations, yea, as David’s Psalms, whereof some are penned in the 
 order of the alphabet, and doubtless for the help of the memory in 
 learning those divine poems without book.” 
 
 The following specimen will show the nature of this curious work, 
 and will convey no bad notion of the alphabetical arrangement 
 which we have endeavoured to explain. The specimen is from the 
 commencement of the third alphabet in the Psalms, and it will be 
 observed that every line is intended as a summary of the Psalm 
 which the number indicates : — 
 
 “ Psalm 101. 
 102 . 
 
 103. 
 
 104. 
 
 A plan of household government. 
 Afflicted person’s prayer. 
 
 A song of praise for joyful days. 
 God’s providences rare. 
 
 105. Both Egypt plagu’d and Israel sav’d. 
 
 106. They murmur and complain. 
 
 107. He represents God’s providence. 
 
 108. And that man’s help is vain. 
 
 109. Cursed is Judas in a type. 
 
 110. Christ priest and king declar’d. 
 
 111. God’s works are pure, commandments sure. 
 
 112. The righteous man’s reward. 
 
 113. Due praise to God must Gentiles give. 
 
 114. The hills like lambs did play. 
 
 115. The idols weak nor see nor speak. 
 
 116. To God we vows must pay.” 
 
Sunday XXVII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 211 
 
 SUNDAY XXVII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OW the Amalekites were in- 
 vaded iu their own land, and 
 all but those who escaped the 
 hot pursuit were destroyed. 
 Saul, however, acting upon 
 the impulses of pride and 
 avarice, or moved by a sen- 
 timent of compassion which 
 his mission did not sanction, 
 spared the life of Agag, the 
 king, and allowed the troops 
 to reserve the more valuable 
 parts of the spoil. This re- 
 newed instance of disobedience 
 and presumption, in a matter 
 which had become a point of 
 blood-honour to the nation, 
 sealed the fate of Saul. Truly 
 does Solomon say that “ Pride 
 goeth before destruction, and 
 a haughty spirit before a 
 fall.” So it was with the 
 so well satisfied with himself, 
 never more exalted in spirit, than at this moment, when all 
 this glory was passing from him. In this elation of heart he set 
 up a monument of his victory in the land of Carmel (not Mount 
 Carmel), through which he passed on his way to Gilgal. 
 
 At Gilgal Samuel came to him. The king went forth to meet 
 the prophet, and informed him that he had faithfully fulfilled the 
 Divine behests. But Samuel was not deceived. The disobedience 
 of the king had already been made known to him ; already the 
 doom Saul had brought down on his own head had been imparted 
 to him; and so much was he attached to the wrong-headed prince, 
 that he much grieved at the tidings, and “ cried unto the Lord all 
 night.” When, therefore, Saul claimed the merit of high obedience 
 to himself, the prophet answered with indignation, “ What meaneth, 
 then, this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the 
 oxen which I hear?” Saul answered, that the cattle had been 
 spared for the purpose of sacrifice to the Lord. On this Samuel 
 more distinctly pointed out his disobedience ; but he still persisted 
 that he had fulfilled his commission, and made a merit of having 
 spared the cattle for sacrifice. To which Samuel replied, “ Hath 
 the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in 
 obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than 
 sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of lambs.” He added, that 
 idolatry itself was not a greater sin before God than disobedience ; 
 and concluded with the terrible words, “ Because thou hast 
 rejected the word of tht; Lord, he also has rejected thee from being 
 king.” Having fulfilled this painful duty, Samuel turned to depart, 
 but Saul laid hold of the skirt of his mantle to detain him, and it 
 was rent in his hand ; and the prophet seized this as a symbol of 
 the great fact he had already in other words declared — “ The Lord 
 hath rent the kingdom of Israel this day, and given it to a neigh- 
 bour of thine who is better than thee.” Solicitous to preserve 
 appearances before the heads of the nation, Saul still, however, 
 pressed him to remain while worship was offered to God, and 
 Samuel at length consented. Before his departure, he ordered 
 Agag, the king of the Amalekites, to be put to death ; and the 
 captive monarch, who deemed himself safe under the protection of 
 Saul, learned that there was in Israel a power above that in which 
 he trusted. 
 
 From this time Samuel withdrew himself entirely from Saul, 
 and never again visited him during his subsequent reign. 
 
 Soon after this Samuel received the divine instructions to proceed 
 to Bethlehem, and anoint as king, or rather, for the succession to 
 the crown, one of the sons of Jesse, a descendant of Boaz and Ruth, 
 inhabiting that city. Understanding that Jesse had several sons, 
 the prophet directed them to be brought before him. But the divine 
 intimation, which the prophet expected, did not point out any of 
 them ; and learning that the youngest son, David by name, was 
 out with the sheep, he directed him to be sent for. He soon 
 entered, in all the freshness of youth and beaming with intelli- 
 gence; and immediately the divine word came to the soul of the 
 prophet, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he!” He accordingly 
 arose, and poured upon his head the anointing oil ; and then 
 he returned to his own house in Ramah, and David to his sheep. 
 
 At this time the symptoms of the malady which darkened the 
 days of Saul, and which threw him by turns into fits of melancholy 
 
 madness and of frantic passion, became distinct and manifest. His 
 courtiers, perceiving that this visitation was of that kind over which 
 music had power, urged him to retain about his person a skilful 
 player on the harp, whose strains might calm his mind and disperse 
 the clouds which gathered around it. It happened that David was 
 renowned for his minstrel skill, and was named as one eminently 
 suitable for this office. The person who mentioned his name to 
 the king, described him as “a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that 
 is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of 
 war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is 
 with him.” Saul therefore sent a somewhat arbitrary message to 
 Jesse, “ Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.” He 
 accordingly came, and made himself very useful to the king, who 
 held him in high esteem. We are told that “ Whenever the evil 
 spirit was upon Saul, David took an harp and played before him, so 
 Saul’s spirit was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed 
 from him.” How long he remained at court is not very clear ; but 
 we afterwards find him again at home, and again feeding his father’s 
 sheep. 
 
 The Philistines had by this time recovered from their last defeat, 
 and now reappeared in the field with a most powerful army, which 
 they marched into the land of Israel, and encamped at Azekah, 
 whither Saul hastened to confront them. The Philistines then put 
 forward a gigantic warrior named Goliath, who in highly insulting 
 language challenged the Hebrew host to send fortli one of their 
 number to engage with him in single combat, the result of which 
 should decide the fate of the war. This huge warrior, who was 
 about ten feet high, and of proportionate bulk, was accoutred in 
 complete armour, the first we read of in Scripture; and the enu- 
 meration of the articles of which it was composed is, even in an 
 antiquarian point of view, highly interesting. “ He had an helmet 
 of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and 
 the weight of his coat was five thousand shekels (twelve hundred 
 and fifty ounces) of brass, and he had greaves of brass upon his legs, 
 and a target of brass upon his shoulders. And the staff of his 
 spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six 
 hundred shekels (three hundred ounces) of iron, and one bearing a 
 shield went before him.” This suggests a lively idea of the ancient 
 panoply of war, and in the details great similarity appears to the 
 array of the Memlook guards of Egypt of a former day. Indeed the 
 picture given by Forbin (see Fig. 669, p. 212) of one of these guards 
 and his attendant, might almost stand for a picture of Goliatli 
 and his armour-bearer, and a far more interesting one than any of 
 the numerous pictures from fancy which have ever been given. 
 The weapons are the same also, with the addition of the club and 
 battle-axe ; for the sequel shows that besides the spear mentioned 
 in the above account, the giant had a sword, which afterwards 
 became famous in the history of David. 
 
 The effect which the view and challenge of this enormous warrior 
 produced upon the Israelites was fully as great as the Philistines 
 could have expected. They were peculiarly liable to be impressed 
 by considerations of bulk and stature; and Saul himself was head 
 and shoulders taller than any of his people. The man and his 
 challenge struck the Hebrew host with dismay. The custom of 
 nations prevented them from declining this mode of settling the 
 war when proposed by the enemy, but who among them was able 
 to compete with this huge Philistine? Day after day the proud 
 unbeliever strode forth from the Philistine camp, and defied the 
 armies of Israel ; and among all the heroes of Saul, not one 
 was found to take up the awful responsibility which the combat 
 imposed. 
 
 At this juncture David arrived in the camp, sent by his father to 
 inquire after, and convey provisions to, his three elder brothers, 
 who were with the army. He heard the challenge of Goliath, 
 and seeing that it provoked no response, he was fired witli indig- 
 nation, and offered to go out himself against the haughty infidel. 
 This being reported to the king, he sent for him ; and finding him 
 a mere youth, whom he did not recognise in his present garb, he 
 feared to risk the fate of Israel upon his arm, and endeavoured to 
 dissuade him from the undertaking. But David assured the king 
 that, in his reliance upon the divine protection and succour, he felt 
 fully confident of success, and was assured that the same power 
 which had at different times strengthened him to slay a lion and a 
 bear in defence of his Hocks, would also deliver him out of the 
 hand of the Philistine. Saul then consented, and proceeded to 
 arm the youthful champion with his armour, and to gird him with 
 his own sword. But finding himself encumbered with accoutre- 
 ments to which he was unused, David again took them off, and 
 proceeded to action provided only with a sling and with five smooth 
 stones, which he selected from the brook and put into his shepherd’s 
 
 2 E 2 
 
669 — Warrior and Armour-Bearer. — Modem Egypt. 
 Rhyl'elwr a Chludydd Arfau.— Yr Aipht Ddiweddar. 
 
 212 
 
 670.— David Slaying Goliath. (M. Angelo.)— 1 Sam. xvii. 
 Dafydd yn Lladd Goliath. 
 
673. — Archer. 
 Bwawr. 
 
 
 * 
 
 675 . — Throwing a Javelin. 
 
 Bwrw Saeth. 
 
 , t . n b c Egyptian Warriors; d, e, Caps of Egyptian Soldiers; /, g, Persian Helmets; h, i, k, Syrian; 
 677. neimeus. » * ^ m> n, o, Phrygian; p , q , Dacian. 
 
 „ , „ h . phvfplwvr Ainhta dd ; rf, <?, Capanau Milwyr Aiphtaidd ; /, <7, Ilelmau Persiaidd ; h. i. k, Syriaidd ; 
 
 Helmau. a, b, c, Knjieiwyi i /, m , n, o, Phrygiaidd ; p, q, Daciaidd. 
 
 Corph 0 Fwawyr. 
 
 678.— CuirasBen. 
 
 a, Egyptian ; b, Phrygian; e, Dacian ; d, Roman, Common 8oldier; e, Ditto, Officer; /, Ditto, Imperial. 
 
 Llurigau. 
 
 o, Aiphtaidd ; b. Phrygiaidd ; c, Daciaidd ; d, Rhufeinaidd ; e, Etto, Swyddog ; /, Etto, Ymherodrol. 2 1 3 
 
214 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXYII. 
 
 bag. When the giant beheld the unarmed youth advance against 
 him, lie felt insulted by such fragile opposition, and, addressing 
 David with great disdain, 4 ‘ cursed him by his gods.” The son of 
 Jesse retorted with great animation, expressing his full confidence 
 that the God of Israel would show that he could save “ without 
 sword or spear,” by giving him the victory that day. Then, while 
 the giant came on with ponderous tread, the young hero nimbly 
 fitted a stone in his sling, and cast it with so true an aim, and with 
 an arm so powerful, that it smote Goliath in the forehead, and, 
 crushing through flesh and bone, lodged in his brain. He had 
 scarcely fallen when the victor flew upon him, and, having no 
 weapon of his own, smote off the monster’s head with his own | 
 sword. 
 
 With a shout that rent the earth as the champion fell, the 
 Hebrew host rushed forward to follow up the stroke upon the 
 Philistines, who fled in panic and confusion at a result so unex- 
 pected by them. A great slaughter was committed upon them, 
 and the pursuers returned, with many captives and much spoil. 
 Great was the joy in Israel at this deliverance. The maidens 
 came forth to meet the warriors with triumphal songs, of which 
 David was made the hero, although Saul was not forgotten. They 
 sang — 
 
 “ Saul hath slain his thousands, 
 
 And David his ten thousands.” 
 
 This preference was heard by Saul with great displeasure, and 
 was perhaps the first circumstance which awakened that jealousy 
 of David which troubled the rest of his reign. Jonathan, the son 
 of Saul, was, however, of a far different mind. His admiration of 
 the young hero was most intense, and he hastened to cultivate an 
 acquaintance with him, which ripened into that tender and most 
 faithful friendship which David has rendered immortal. 
 
 Saul, although vexed, was not yet become ungrateful, nor indeed 
 was it possible for one who had wrought so great a deed in Israel 
 as David, to be neglected without an outrage on public opinion. 
 The king, therefore, gave him an important command in the army. 
 This afforded him an opportunity of distinguishing himself ; and 
 so brilliant were his exploits, and so engaging were the qualities he 
 manifested, that his popularity daily increased, and the jealousy of 
 the king ripened in the same proportion into dislike and hatred. 
 As he thus gave way to evil passions, his dreadful disease returned 
 with redoubled force ; and once, when the son of Jesse was 
 attempting to soothe him, as of old, witli his harp, the king in his 
 madness cast at him his javelin with the intention of smiting him 
 “ even to the wall but David evaded the stroke and left the 
 royal presence. It was possibly for the purpose of removing the 
 temptation to crime from himself that the king then sent him away 
 to command the troops on the frontier ; but his popularity still 
 increasing, Saul ere long recalled him to court, and offered one of 
 his daughters in marriage. This honour was due to David, as the 
 king had held it out as an inducement to any one who should 
 combat with and overcome Goliath ; but it had hitherto been with- 
 held. Now, however, the king happened to learn that an attach- 
 ment had arisen between David and his daughter Michal, and he 
 resolved to give her to him, in the hope of the connection being 
 made the means of his ruin. With pretended liberality and 
 kindness he declared that he required no other dowry for his 
 daughter, than that he should distinguish himself against the enemies 
 of Israel, in the time which must elapse between the betrothal and 
 the actual marriage. The hope of the king was that he would be 
 destroyed in the daring acts into which he knew that he would 
 thus be led. But David performed all that was required of him, 
 and returned safe and triumphant to claim his bride, who could not 
 then be withheld from him. 
 
 This did not tend to lessen the enmity of Saul, who at length 
 went so far as to give orders to his confidential attendants, and 
 even to Jonathan, to seize any favourable opportunity that offered 
 of making away with David. Jonathan, however, pleaded so 
 earnestly for his friend, that Saul relented, “ and sware, as the Lord 
 liveth,” not to slay him. After this Saul intrusted David with the 
 command of the whole army to oppose the Philistines, who had 
 again invaded his dominions. His usual success attended him in 
 this expedition, the enemy being routed and completely subdued. 
 The increase of reputation which he thus obtained exposed him 
 anew to the wrath of the king, who on his return to court 
 attempted to assassinate him ; but not succeeding in his design, he 
 determined to have him arrested on the following day, that he 
 might have an opportunity of slaying him in confinement. Then 
 fearing that he might escape during the night, he stationed guards 
 around the house, with instructions to seize him in the morninsr. 
 
 But David was this time saved by his wife, the faithful Michal, 
 who gained intelligence of this design, and contrived the escape of 
 her husband by letting him down in a basket from one of the 
 windows. He then went for counsel and encouragement to the 
 aged Samuel at Ramah. Saul was now grown desperate ; and no 
 sooner heard of the place of his retreat than he sent a detachment 
 of soldiers to apprehend him. But they no sooner beheld the 
 venerable prophet among his pupils, “ the sons of the prophets,” 
 uttering their holy chants, than, under a divine influence, they 
 laid aside all their fierceness, and sat down utterly subdued among 
 these holy persons. Saul sent again and again, with the same 
 i result ; and at length, not to be balked of his prey, he proceeded 
 himself to Ramah ; but the same influence overshadowed him ; dis- 
 armed, subdued, he cast aside his upper garment, and lay down 
 meek and humble at the feet of the prophet. 
 
 When the king had returned home, David, supposing that some 
 salutary change might have been wrought in his mind, and that 
 it behoved him to make one more effort to maintain his position, 
 went also to Gibeah to consult with Jonathan respecting the course 
 that he should take. That faithful friend promised to take means 
 to ascertain his father’s present feeling, and meanwhile enjoined 
 him to remain concealed in the fields, without entering the town, 
 that his arrival might not be suspected. The conversation which 
 passed between these admirable friends as they walked together in 
 the fields, is reported with unusual minuteness in the sacred record, 
 and gives a vivid impression of the nobleness of Jonathan’s heart, 
 seeing that the object of his ardent and generous friendship was one 
 whom he knew to be destined to exclude himself from the succession 
 to the throne. But, in the emphatic language of Scripture, “ He 
 loved him as his own soul,” and was well content to think that 
 David should hereafter sit upon the throne of Israel, and had for 
 himself no other desire than to remain his bosom friend and 
 counsellor. 
 
 The day after this interview was the feast of the New moon, when 
 it seems to have been the custom of the king to dine with his 
 princes and great officers. The king, we are told, “ sat upon his 
 seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall;” by which 
 we learn that the seat of honour was then, as at present, in the 
 East, in the corner at the upper end of the room ; and it must, as 
 now, have been in the right hand corner, from the king being able 
 to throw his javelin. After what had passed at Ramah, the king 
 expected that David would be present at table, in his usual place. 
 He, however, took no notice the first day ; but on the second 
 inquired after him. Jonathan replied that he had given him leave 
 to absent himself. On this the evil spirit raged high in the unhappy 
 ki ng. He broke forth into the grossest vituperation of his own 
 son, whom he reproached in being a party to his own dishonour, 
 for he said with bitterness, “ as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon 
 the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom ! 
 Wherefore now, send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely 
 die.” But Jonathan began to vindicate his friend ; on which the 
 king, quite beside himself with passion, cast his javelin at him to 
 smite him. After this Jonathan knew that there was no hope for 
 David, to whose hiding-place he proceeded, to make known to him 
 this result, and to give a reluctant consent that he should seek 
 among strangers the safety which was denied him in his own 
 country. 
 
 Before quitting the land of Israel, David proceeded to Nob, a city 
 of Benjamin, where the tabernacle then stood, and requested the 
 high-priest Abimelech to provide him and his few attendants with 
 provisions for his intended journey, as well as with armour for 
 himself. Having been led to believe that he was upon public 
 business which required secresy, the high-priest was prevailed upon 
 to give him a quantity of the bread which had lately been removed 
 from the table as shew-bread, and which, in strict propriety, it was 
 lawful for the priests only to eat ; and there being no other weapon 
 at the tabernacle, he allowed him to have the sword which he had 
 himself taken from Goliath, and which had afterwards been laid up 
 in the tabernacle as a trophy of victory. 
 
 On departing from Nob, David took the somewhat strange step 
 of proceeding to Gath, one of the chief cities of the Philistines, in 
 the hope of being allowed to remain there under the protection of 
 the king Achish. The officers of the king were, however, by no 
 means inclined to overlook the victory over Goliath, and the 
 various disgraces which the Philistine arms had sustained at his 
 hands ; and they counselled the king to avail himself of the 
 opportunity of ridding himself of so redoubted an enemy. This 
 so alarmed David that he feigned madness, and mimicked the 
 actions of a lunatic so well, that he was allowed to depart un- 
 molested. 
 
Sunday XXVII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 215 
 
 SUNDAY XXVII. — LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 EAVING the city, Jesus passed over to 
 the Mount of Olives, and sat down there 
 over against the temple, when his dis- 
 ciples took the opportunity of ques- 
 tioning him on the subjects on which 
 he had lately spoken. The prediction 
 which he had just uttered, of the de. 
 struction of the temple, which they 
 thought would be conjoined with th e 
 commencement of his terrestrial reign, 
 recalled to the memory all the other 
 events which they supposed were to happen at the commencement 
 of the Messiah’s Kingdom. They therefore ask whesi the 
 destruction of the temple would take place, and what would be the 
 sign of his second coming, and end of the world which would follow 
 that event. To the first of these questions Jesus answered by 
 describing the signs which should precede the destruction of the 
 temple and city, which he depicted by vivid and poetical images. 
 But to meet their preconceived notions, he so answered the question 
 as to make it appear that the end of the world would follow at a 
 much later period. At the destruction of the Jewish state he 
 would so return to take vengeance upon the Jews, and to deliver 
 his followers from persecution, that although he himself indeed 
 would not be visible, yet he would so manifest his majesty as that 
 they might almost see him with their own eyes : and furthermore, 
 that he would so return in the end of the world, and the solemn 
 inauguration of the Messiah in his kingdom, that his glory, which 
 had been seen only by his disciples on the first occasion, would then 
 be manifest to all. 
 
 Our Lord declined to indicate, other than by the sign of pre- 
 ceding circumstances, the time in which either of these great 
 events should occur. These signs, if carefully heeded, would be 
 well understood. This he illustrated by the parable of the fig- 
 tree : — “ When the branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, 
 ye know that summer is nigh ; so, likewise ye, when ye shall see 
 all these things, know that the kingdom of God is near, even at 
 the doors.” The uncertainty of these events to the world at large, 
 their unexpectedness, he then illustrated by various comparisons, 
 such as — “ There shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken 
 and the other left ; two women shall be grinding at the mill, the 
 one shall betaken and the other left.” The reason that he assigned 
 for this reserve was, that the uncertainty might keep them in a 
 condition of continual watchfulness and preparation. The necessity 
 for this watchfulness and preparation was then illustrated by 
 various striking comparisons and parables. One of these repre- 
 sents the different characters and conditions of persons at that day, 
 by the parable of the different conduct of the Faithful and Unfaithful 
 Servants under the delayed arrival of their absent lord. Another 
 conveys the same illustration in the striking parable of the Ten 
 Virgins, “ five of whom were wise and five foolish,” who being at 
 a wedding party, and awaiting at night the coming of the bride- 
 groom to take home his bride, slumbered while he delayed his coming, 
 and awakening with a start when the cry was raised — “ Behold, the 
 bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him,” found that their 
 lamps had gone out ; while those who remained awake and watchful 
 had their lamps ready, and entered to the marriage, from which the 
 others were shut out. The whole parable is a striking picture of 
 the circumstances attending the important ceremony of fetching 
 home the bride, as it existed among the Jews, and is still preserved 
 in several countries of the East, from the Mediterranean to the 
 Yellow Sea. This important ceremonial of the marriage pro- 
 cession does not now, as it did in the time of Christ, take place by 
 night, except in tropical countries, as India, where the heat of the 
 day causes the preference of the night for such celebrations. There 
 is then a great display of flambeaux and torches among the attend- 
 ants, which gives a very lively idea of the details in this parable. 
 It is probable that among the Jews the procession took place by 
 night only during the heat of summer. 
 
 The parable of the Talents was again repeated with added 
 particulars: and Jesus then proceeded to detail some of the 
 circumstances of that solemn judgment which he will himself 
 return to hold over all men, when every one shall, according to 
 his deserts, be conveyed to the regions of bliss or woe. 
 
 We are not so minutely informed of our Lord’s proceedings on 
 the next day, being Wednesday ; but he doubtless went again to the 
 -ity, as we are informed generally for the whole period that “ In 
 the day-time he was teaching in the temple : but at night he went 
 out and abode in the Mount of Olives. And all the people came 
 
 early in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him.” The 
 only fact which transpires is, that Jesus reminded his disciples that 
 it was now two days to the Passover, when “ the Son of Man is 
 betrayed to be crucified ; ” which is the first time that he distinctly 
 and without a metaphor expressed the kind of death which he knew 
 to await him. It seems to have been on this day also that the 
 members of the Sanhedrim held a private sitting in the house of the 
 high-priest, Caiaphas, where they deliberated on the best means of 
 apprehending Jesus and effecting his death, with the least danger of 
 creating an uproar among the people. 
 
 Unhappily, they found among Christ’s immediate followers 
 one but too willing to assist their views. This was Judas Iscariot, 
 who came to them, and agreed, for thirty pieces of silver, to seek an 
 opportunity for betraying him into their hands. The motive of 
 this wretched man has been very much disputed. The more 
 simple and harsher view is that which holds that he betrayed his 
 master to death for this sum of money ; but this has been judged 
 inconsistent with the fact of his repentance so soon as he saw that 
 his Lord was actually condemned. This seems to show that he 
 expected a different result, and the paltry sum of money might 
 easily have been acquired by one who had charge of the bag, with- 
 out staining his soul with so black a crime. Upon the whole, we 
 may readily believe that Judas was a man whose character was of 
 less unmixed evil than the popular judgment deems ; although it 
 will always be difficult to determine the precise considerations by 
 which his conduct was influenced. It has been supposed by some, 
 that in the conviction that Christ could and would, as on former 
 occasions, deliver himself out of their hands, he intended merely 
 to trifle with the priests in making this offer to them. But others 
 think the whole proceeding best accounted for by supposing that 
 Judas, annoyed at the tardiness of Jesus in openly avowing himself 
 to be the Messiah, and of taking upon him the great power which 
 belonged to him in that character, was solicitous to place him in a 
 position which would compel him to declare himself, and by that 
 act commence his reign on the earth. 
 
 Thursday at length arrived, when all the inhabitants of Jeru- 
 salem prepared to celebrate the Passover. At this feast strangers 
 from all parts of the land flocked to Jerusalem, and the residents 
 felt themselves bound to set apart and make ready all the spare 
 rooms in their houses, for the use of the strangers in celebrating 
 the Passover. The ceremony itself consisted in eating a lamb 
 with particular ceremonies, in commemoration of the deliverance 
 from Egypt. As it was necessary that a lamb should be eaten 
 and that none of it should be left, parties sufficiently large for 
 the purpose were usually formed. The number who sat at the 
 table was usually from twelve to fifteen ; and as our Lord and his 
 apostles were thirteen, they were enabled to take this last and 
 solemn meal by themselves, without the presence of strangers. 
 
 The time being fully come, Jesus sent Peter and John into the 
 city, and told them that they would meet a man bearing a pitcher 
 of water whom they were to follow, and make ready the Passover 
 in the house to which he went. It so happened : and on asking 
 the master of the house to show them the chamber he had prepared 
 for strangers, they were conducted to “ a large upper chamber, 
 ready furnished and prepared ” with the requisite seats, table, and 
 utensils. Here the Passover was made ready by the disciples, and 
 in the evening Jesus came and sat down with them to eat of it. 
 
 The substantial part of the supper being ended, a dispute arose 
 among the disciples respecting their precedence, “ who should be 
 the greatest” in their Lord’s coming kingdom. This shows how 
 little they had profited by recent instructions. And Jesus, knowing 
 that they would soon understand the truth full well, did not this 
 time attempt to undeceive them ; but he neglected not to seize the 
 occasion of teaching them the lesson that humility and self- 
 denial constituted true greatness in the kingdom which he came 
 to establish in the hearts of men. lie left the table, and laid 
 aside his outer robe, and having taken a basin and towel, pro- 
 ceeded to wash his disciples’ feet, an act usually performed by the 
 humblest menials in a house. All the disciples submitted in 
 silence to this proceeding, except Peter, who, being much shocked 
 to see his Lord thus employed, protested that he should never wash 
 his feet. But when Jesus gravely answered, “ If I wash thee not, 
 thou hast no part with me,” the apostle, with the usual impulsiveness 
 of his character, cried, “ Lord, not my feet only, but also my 
 hands and my feet.” Jesus answered, that washing the feet sufficed ; 
 and when he had again taken his place at the table, he proceeded 
 to explain the instruction he intended to convey, which is shortly 
 stated in the words, “If I, your Lord and Master, have washed 
 your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. Fori have 
 given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” 
 
679. Marriage Procession of a Hindoo Bridegroom. 
 
 Gorymdaith Briodasol Priodfab Hindwaidd. 
 
 681.— Displaying of the Bride. 
 Arddangos y Briodferch. 
 
 680. — Marriage Procession of a Bride in Lebanon. 
 Gorymdaith Briodasol Priodferch yu Libanus. 
 
 
 
 Z16 
 
6S3.— Modem Egyptian Writing-Case. 
 O'vam Ysgrifenu Aiphtaidd Ddiweddar. 
 
 689 —Fragment of an Egyptian Papyrus Roll. 
 Dam o B.vg-Uyfr Papyrus Aiphtaidd. 
 
 600.— Writing Materials and Implements. (From Paintings at Herculaneum.) 
 Defnyddiau ac Offer Ysgrilenu. (0 Baentiadau yn Herculaneum.) 
 
 2 F 
 
 687.— Female reading, with a Box of Rolls. 
 Benyw yn darllen, gyda Blwch o Blyg-llyfrau. 
 
 691.— Female reading a Roll. 
 Benyw yn darllen Plyg-llyfr. 
 
218 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXVI 1L 
 
 SUNDAY XXVIII.— THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 TV kiting-Materials. 
 
 Y bringing together different passages 
 in the prophet Ezekiel, we obtain some 
 interesting facts for the illustration 
 of the writing-materials in use among 
 the ancient Israelites. 
 
 In Ezek. ii. 9, 10, the prophet 
 describes a vision which he saw of a 
 hand containing a roll, and which, 
 when spread out before him, was 
 found to be “ written within and 
 without .” 
 
 The word translated “ book ” in the authorized version, must 
 generally be understood to signify a roll, or a large surface 
 of written parchment, or other substance, rolled and unrolled 
 for use. An ancient book was therefore in all respects a 
 very different thing in appearance and use from the trim and 
 imposing rectangular shapes which stand so orderly upon our 
 shelves, and which open into many hundreds of leaves. They 
 consisted of one long sheet formed by attaching together a number 
 of small pieces, and in the more finished specimens the junction 
 was so smooth and accurate, as to be scarcely perceptible even to a 
 close inspection. Josephus, in his account of the translation of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, gives an interesting notice of this : 
 “As the old men came in with the presents which the high-priest 
 had given them to bring to the king (Ptolemy Philadelphus), and 
 with the things on which they had these laws written in letters of 
 gold, he addressed some questions to them respecting these sacred 
 books ; and when they had removed the covers in which they were 
 wrapped, they showed him the skins, and the closeness of the 
 joinings, which could not he detected, so exactly were they con- 
 nected one with another.” 
 
 The sheet thus extended was rolled upon its own substance, if 
 not large ; but if large, it was rolled round a stick in the same 
 manner that we roll maps ; or if of unusual length, it was rolled 
 round two sticks, the wrappings beginning at the two extremities, 
 and being continued till they met in the middle. In order to 
 read a portion of the book it was necessary to unroll it to that 
 particular place, from which peculiarity the word volume is 
 derived, which comes from a word having the same meaning as 
 roll. The writing was not in continuous lines throughout the 
 roll, which would have required the whole to be unrolled in 
 following a single line, but was written in columns, as is the case 
 at present in the rolls used in the Jewish Synagogues. 
 
 The rolls were commonly written on one side only, but some- 
 times on both sides, as was the case with two ancient rolls which 
 the Rev. J. Hartley saw in the monastery of Megaspelaion. “ I 
 observed two very beautiful rolls containing the Liturgy of St. 
 Chrysostom, and that attributed by the Greeks to St. James. Y'ou 
 began to read by tinfolding (Luke iv. 17), and you continue to 
 read and' unfold, till at last you arrive at the stick to which the 
 roll is fastened. Then you turn the parchment round, and continue 
 to read on the other side of the roll, folding it gradually up, till you 
 complete the Liturgy.” It was thus written within and without, 
 and will serve to convey an intelligible and correct notion of the 
 rolls described by Ezekiel and John (Rev. v. 1); the idea con- 
 veyed by this as a symbol is fulness, or rather of redundance to 
 overflowing, the writing being seldom carried over to the other 
 side but when the writer found that the inner surface did not 
 afford sufficient space for all that he wished to write. 
 
 The substance of these rolls was of linen skins, parchment, or 
 papyrus. There is no Scriptural intimation of the materials of 
 which the “ books ” it mentions were composed ; but they were 
 certainly of some one of these substances. It is well known that 
 linen was employed for writing long before the invention of 
 papyrus ; and specimens are still found in the written bandages 
 of Egyptian mummies. The use of linen was certainly known to 
 the .lews in the time of Moses, as the priestly dress was of that 
 material ; and there are some biblical scholars who think that the 
 originals of the Pentateuch and other books of the Old Testament 
 were written on rolls of linen. Our own impression is, that 
 whenever in the Old Testament a hook or roll is mentioned, it 
 was either of skin or linen ; but those of the New Testament 
 may have been either of parchment or papyrus, seeing that both 
 were then invented, and had come into use. It seems probable 
 that the epistles, &c. of that time were written on papyrus ; but 
 that the books of the law, &c., which are described as being read 
 in the Synagogues, were then, as at present, of parchment. We 
 
 find no evidence that papyrus was in actual use among the Jews 
 in the time of the Old Testament, although it may have been 
 known to Moses, and could hardly be unknown to the prophets, by 
 one of whom indeed (Isa. xix. 7) the rush from which it was made 
 is distinctly mentioned. But in the time of the New Testament 
 the use of papyrus had become more common, in consequence of 
 the preference given to parchment for the higher class of writings. 
 Parchment itself — an improved preparation of skins — was invented 
 by Eumenes, king of Pergamos, about two hundred years before 
 the Christian era, and soon superseded the flexible skins which had 
 previously been in use. The employment of such skins did not, 
 however, altogether cease, and seems to be still preserved in the 
 Synagogue rolls used by the Jews in some parts of the East. 
 
 In Ezek. ix. 2, 3, 11, the prophet describes a vision in which 
 he saw six men armed with weapons of slaughter, and “ one man 
 among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s ink-horn by 
 his side,” or rather “ upon his loins.” That this man was clad 
 with linen seems to imply that he was a priest ; and it is remarkable 
 that most men connected with religious establishments in Western 
 Asia (for there are no priests properly speaking) still wear the 
 ink-horn in their girdle as the symbol of learning, supplying the 
 dagger which all who do not profess to be men of the pen wear in 
 the same place. Judging from the way in which Scribes are 
 mentioned in the New Testament, we may suppose that the priestly 
 scribes occupied a position not unlike that of the same body of men 
 in Egypt, where they ranked among the principal persons of the 
 country. There were doubtless inferior scribes among and out of 
 the great Levitical body, answering to the same class in Egypt, and 
 the Arab katehs of the present day, or the scrivani of Italy, who 
 for a small trifle compose and pen a petition to government, settle 
 accounts, and write letters or other documents, for persons who 
 are untaught or too idle to do so for themselves. 
 
 As there is reason to conclude that the ink-horns, or rather 
 pen-cases, of the ancient Hebrews were similar to those still used in 
 the East, a short description of them may be interesting. They 
 are principally of two sorts. The one in general use on the west 
 of the Euphrates is that marked as modern Egyptian in the en- 
 graving. It is a flat case, about nine inches long by an inch and 
 a quarter broad, and half an inch thick, the hollow of which serves 
 to contain the reed-pens, penknife, and other implements. The case 
 has at one end a bulky head or projection, which is the vessel for 
 containing the ink, and which opens by a lid at the top. The 
 whole is of polished brass or silver, and as worn in the girdle has, 
 to one unacquainted with it, very much the appearance of some 
 formidable weapon. The case opens at the upper end by a lid, 
 and is found to contain, besides the reeds and penknife, a piece of 
 horn or ivory, on which the pen is laid to be nibbed. Reeds are 
 far preferable to quill-pens for the Eastern characters of writing, 
 as they are also for writing Hebrew ; and those now in use are 
 certainly such as the ancient Jews employed. Indeed, European 
 scholars prefer reeds to pens when they can obtain them, for 
 writing the Hebrew and other Oriental characters. The reeds, the 
 ink-horns, and all the arrangements and materials of writing, are 
 unsuited to inks so fluid as those which we employ ; and those 
 actually in use are very thick and gummy. 
 
 The other “ ink-horn,” used east of the Euphrates, especially in 
 Persia, is different from the former : the only part usually of metal 
 is the inkstand, which is contained, with the other apparatus, in a 
 long case open at top, which when not in use is kept in an outer 
 case, in and out of which it slips like a drawer. The case itself is 
 usually of papier mache, or light wood, highly glazed, and enriched 
 with gilding and painting. 
 
 Nothing can well be more different than the external appearance 
 of these two utensils, although the contents are nearly the same. 
 Of the two, the former is the most convenient, and best suited for 
 the girdle ; but the latter is the most light and elegant. It is, of 
 course, impossible to say which of the two bore the greatest 
 resemblance to that in use among the ancient Israelites. 
 
 These skins seem in some cases to have been dyed. That the 
 ancient Israelites were acquainted with the art of dyeing skins 
 appears from the fact that the covering of the tabernacle was partly 
 formed of dyed rams’-skins ; and that they were also in the habit of 
 writing on materials thus prepared seems to be attested, or rather 
 illustrated, by the existence of several ancient copies of the Hebrew 
 Scriptures on rolls of skin. In the library of the University of 
 Cambridge is preserved a MS. roll of the five books of Moses in He- 
 brew, written on rams’-skins dyed red. This roll is forty-eight feet in 
 length, by twenty-eight feet in breadth ; but as the book of Leviticus 
 is wholly wanting, and a considerable portion of Deuteronomy, it is 
 probable that the roll in its original state had been much longer. 
 
Sunday XXVIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 219 
 
 SUNDAY XXVIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 N returning to his own hind, David 
 found it expedient to avoid inhabited 
 places, and to seek refuge in caverns, 
 woods, and wildernesses. In the first 
 place he betook himself to the great 
 cave of Adullam, where many of his 
 relations, who had become obnoxious 
 to Saul, joined him, some to seek his 
 protection, and others to afford him 
 their assistance. Here also came to 
 him a number of men of broken fortunes and unsettled dispositions, 
 who were glad to put themselves under the command of so renowned 
 a leader, and who formed a small but valorous troop of about four 
 hundred men. It was about this time that the king of Moab, 
 being at variance with Saul, sent a messenger to David to invite 
 him to his court. He accordingly repaired thither, and after having 
 secured a quiet retreat for his aged parents, returned with his few 
 troops into the land of Judah, where his friends were most numer- 
 ous, and abode for a time in “ the forest of Hareth.” 
 
 When Saul heard of David’s return, he called his attendants and 
 courtiers around him, and threatened his utmost vengeance against 
 any of them who failed to render him every assistance in discovering 
 David, or to reveal whatever came to their knowledge of his movements 
 and designs. On this, an officer named Doeg, by birth an Edomite, 
 who had been present at Nob when the high-priest assisted David, 
 stepped forward, and reported with considerable exaggeration what 
 he had witnessed. The dark rage of Saul rose high at this inform- 
 ation ; and he immediately sent to Nob to call Ahimelech and 
 the attending priests before him. The summons was promptly 
 obeyed. When the king charged Ahimelech with conspiracy and 
 treason for the assistance rendered to the son of Jesse, the high- 
 priest firmly but respectfully vindicated himself, and declared his 
 perfect ignorance of the alleged designs or intentions of David 
 when he rendered him assistance as to the king’s son-in-law. But 
 the thirst for blood was strong upon the maddened king, and he was 
 but too happy to find any objects on which with the slightest show 
 of reason it might be gratified. Without heeding the defence, he 
 turned to his guard and ordered them to slay the priests of the 
 Lord. But they were for the moment protected by their sacred 
 character, and every one shrunk from the deed. On this the king 
 turned to the accuser Doeg, and commanded him to slay them ; 
 and from this foreign mercenary he found ready obedience. Eighty- 
 one of the priests of God fell that day under his sword ; and he 
 then, under authority from the king, proceeded to Nob, where, with 
 the assistance of others, he destroyed the families of the priests 
 resident there. The only person of the priestly family who escaped 
 was Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who fled for safety to David 
 in the forest of Hareth. He was well received, and became the 
 priest or chaplain of the band. 
 
 About this time the city of Keilah in Judah was besieged by the 
 Philistines, and David, by the Lord’s direction, hastened with his 
 small troop to the relief of the place. He succeeded in defeating 
 the enemy, and putting them to flight, and on retiring from the 
 pursuit, entered with much spoil the city he had delivered. When 
 Saul heard that he was in this place, he prepared to inarch against 
 him, intending to blockade the city, and compel the inhabitants to 
 give up David. But he made hi3 escape from the place before the 
 king arrived with his troops, and withdrew into the wilderness of 
 Ziph. The people of the town of that name, however, made the 
 place of his retreat known to the king, who immediately marched 
 in pursuit of him. Of this movement David received timely warn- 
 ing, and withdrew into the wilderness of Maon, whither he was 
 closely pursued by Saul. The royal troop had nearly surrounded 
 David and his small company, when the king received intelligence 
 that the Philistines had invaded his dominions, which compelled 
 him to abandon his present object, and march against them. 
 
 David was thus delivered from a most dangerous position. But 
 the king had no sooner repelled the Philistines than he resumed 
 with eagerness the pursuit of David, who had by this time taken 
 refuge in the rocky wilderness of Engedi. The king followed him 
 there ; and on his arrival, went into a cave unaccompanied by any 
 of his attendants. It happened that David was at that very time 
 in the farther parts of this same cave, and was urged by his men to 
 avail himself of this opportunity of ridding himself of his inveterate 
 p ieiny, who was so keenly bent on his destruction. But the son of 
 Jesse repelled with horror the suggestion to “stretch forth his hand 
 
 j against the Lord’s anointed.” He wished, however, to let Saul see 
 | how completely he had been in his power, and therefore drew near 
 to him stealthily, and cut off the skirt of his robe. When the king 
 I had quitted the cave, David went out also, and called after him, 
 i “ My lord the king ! ” and when Saul looked back, he bowed low 
 I before him, and proceeded to address him in very forcible but 
 respectful and even pathetic language. He assumed that the king 
 had been misled by ill advisers and slanderous reports, and justified 
 his own fidelity and the innocency of his intentions; in proof of 
 which he produced the skirt, which had just been severed from his 
 robe. Saul could not withstand this; he was for the moment con- 
 vinced of David’s innocence, and of his own guilt in pursuing him 
 thus inveterately. His stern nature was softened, and his diseased 
 mind Tightened by a gush of tender emotions. He said, “ Is this 
 thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ” 
 He admitted that under the same circumstances he should not have 
 acted so generously; lie avowed his knowledge that David was his 
 destined successor in the throne, and declared that his mind would 
 be satisfied if he would pledge himself by an oath not to extirpate 
 his posterity when he came to the crown. David most willingly 
 entered into the required engagement ; after which they separated, 
 Saul returning to his capital, and the son of Jesse, who had but 
 little faith in the king’s temporary convictions, withdrawing into 
 the wilderness of Paran (b.c. 1061). 
 
 About this time the prophet Samuel died, and the people, mindful 
 of his long and devoted services to the nation, and fully sensible of 
 ’ the great loss they had sustained, assembled in large numbers 
 at Ramah to assist at his funeral, and to make lamentations for 
 him. 
 
 While David was in the wilderness of Paran, into which the 
 cattle-owners of Judah were accustomed to send out their flocks 
 and herds for pasture, David, although obliged to live much 
 after the manner of the Bedouins, restrained his troop from dis- 
 turbing the abundant flocks of a wealthy sheep-master called 
 Nabal, and, on the contrary, protected them from the depredations 
 of the Arabs. Afterwards, when he returned northward, he heard 
 that Nabal was engaged in shearing his sheep ; and, as the season 
 was one of festivity, and much provision was usually laid up for the 
 occasion, David sent to beg that some victuals might be furnished 
 to his troop, in acknowledgment of the part he had acted in the 
 desert. This was refused by Nabal in highly insulting language, 
 which David resented so deeply that he immediately put his troop 
 in motion to wreak vengeance upon him and his. But on the road 
 he was met by Nabal’s wife, Abigail, who had expected some such 
 result from her husband’s churlishness, of which she no sooner heard 
 than she directed her ass to be saddled, anil, attended by two servants, 
 she set forth with a liberal present of choice provisions to meet 
 and pacify the incensed warrior. In this, by her good sense, 
 address, and comeliness, she prevailed so well, that David was 
 thankful, on second thoughts, for having been prevented in executing 
 his fell purpose ; and when he afterwards heard that Nabal was 
 dead, he sent and solicited the widow to become his wife, when she 
 was found to be nothing loath to share the destinies of the handsome 
 hero and future King of Israel. David had before this entered into 
 marriage with Ahinoam, a woman of Jezreel ; his first wife, Michal, 
 Saul’s daughter, being separated from him, and bestowed by her 
 father upon another person named Phalti. 
 
 After this, David removed from the wilderness of Paran to the 
 hill Ilachilah, in the wilderness of Ziph, and the inhabitants of the 
 town so called again sent tidings to Saul of the circumstance. All his 
 convictions and good resolutions had by this time passed away, and 
 he was prepared to pursue the son of Jesse with all his former 
 eagerness. He hastened after him at the head of three thousand 
 chosen men ; and having arrived, he rested his troops during that 
 night, resolving to attack him on the following morning. David, 
 however, succeeded during the night in secretly entering the camp 
 of Saul, attended only by his cousin Abishai, and advancing to the 
 place where the spear planted in the ground marked the station of 
 the chief, without being perceived by the guards, who soundly slept, 
 he took away the cruse of water which stood beside the king, and 
 also the spear which was planted at his bolster, and then withdrew, 
 after resisting the solicitation of Abishai for permission to destroy 
 him as he slept. David then repaired to a safe point on an eminence 
 at some distance, and in a loud voice called to Abner, the captain 
 of Saul’s host, reproving him for his negligent guard of the royal 
 person, and held up the spear and the cruse of water, to show the 
 danger to which the king had been exposed, and how completely it 
 had been in his power to destroy him if he had been so inclined. 
 Saul overheard all this, and his heart smote him. lie could not 
 but feel that, after what had passed at the former interview, David 
 
 2 F 2 
 
692. Phrygian, with Coat of Ringed Mail. 
 
 Phrygiad, gyda Llurig Fodrwyog. 
 
 
 
 
 
 iwwnfiv 
 
 694. 
 
 695. — Bows. 
 Bwau. 
 
 696. — From an Egyptian Bas-relief at Thebes. 
 O Faslun Aiphtaidd yn Thebes. 
 
 697. From a Bas-relief at Tackt-i-Bostan. 
 
 O Faslun yn Taekt-i-Bostan. 
 
 698. — From a Bas-relief at Thebes. 
 O Faslun yn Thebes. 
 
 
221 
 
 099. — Presents to a Bedouin Chief. 
 Anrliegion i Benaoth Iiedowinaidd. 
 
222 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXVIII. 
 
 had stronger reason than before to feel aggrieved and wrathful ; 
 and this act of generous forbearance struck him even more forcibly 
 than the former had done. He could not restrain his rising 
 emotions, but cried, “ Is that thy voice, my son David ?” and in 
 answer to the firm and earnest remonstrance of Jesse’s son, he 
 admitted without reserve the guilt and folly of his own conduct : — 
 
 “ I have sinned ; return, my son David, for I will no more do thee 
 harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day : behold, 
 
 I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.” It is these 
 touches of relenting nature, these gleams of light, beaming now 
 and then through the fissures of his fractured mind, which create 
 an interest in behalf of this unhappy king, and preserve him from 
 aversion or contempt. A mind thus capable of feeling and appre- 
 ciating a noble and generous action could not itself be naturally 
 ignoble or ungenerous. 
 
 David, however, had little confidence in the permanency of these 
 salutary impressions on the king’s mind, and, so far from accepting 
 his invitation to return to court, he deemed it right to leave the 
 country entirely. He therefore again repaired to Gath with his 
 followers, who had ere this increased in number to six hundred. It 
 seems a strange step again to venture where he had before been so 
 ill received ; but he was now in very different circumstances, and 
 it is not unlikely that he had received from king Achish an intima- 
 tion that he might now reckon upon his protection. To prevent 
 jealousies, the Philistine king presented him with the town of 
 Ziklag as a residence for himself and followers, and here he was 
 soon joined by a considerable number of adherents from his own 
 tribe of Judah. 
 
 Not long after they had been settled in this place, the Philistines 
 resolved to invade the land of Israel, and the king of Gath called 
 upon David to join the expedition. This was a dangerous and 
 difficult dilemma, and David felt that he could not, without great 
 danger, refuse to accompany the Philistines in their march against 
 nis countrymen. He therefore went, probably leaving his course 
 in the field to be determined by circumstances. But when the 
 Philistine forces from the different states met at Aphek, the other 
 chiefs and princes expressed surprise at the presence of David, and, 
 being very suspicious of his intentions, prevailed upon Achish to 
 send him back to Ziklag. 
 
 On returning thither, David found that during his absence the 
 place had been attacked and fired by the Amalekites, who not only 
 carried away all the substance of David’s people, but had also taken 
 their wives and families as captives. 
 
 So great were the rage and consternation of David’s men at this 
 discovery, that he had well nigh become the victim of their blind 
 fury, for they talked of stoning him to death. “ But David en- 
 couraged himself in the Lord his God and referred the matter 
 to him through the priest Abiathar, by whom he received a favour- 
 able answer, whereby his followers were pacified. They then 
 hastened southward in pursuit. During the march they fell in 
 with an Egyptian slave, who, falling sick on the road, had been 
 abandoned by his master, one of the Amalekites who had assisted 
 at the sack of Ziklag, and who, being refreshed by David’s men, 
 offered to lead them to the camp of the Amalekites. These 
 marauders were found enjoying themselves in supposed safety, 
 eating, and drinking, and dancing, because of the great spoil they 
 had won. In this condition they were quite unprepared for the 
 vigorous assault of David’s brave followers, and only four hundred 
 of them, who fled upon swift camels, escaped the sword. 
 
 While David was engaged on this expedition, the attention of all 
 Israel was fixed upon the great and decisive action between their 
 king and the Philistines. 
 
 The armies lay encamped before each other, the Philistines at 
 Shunem and the Israelites on the mountain of Gilboa, when, the 
 night before the action, Saul, anxious and alarmed that he could 
 obtain no intimation of the Divine will through the channels which 
 were open under the theocratical institutions, left the camp at night 
 and went to consult a reputed sorceress who resided in the neigh, 
 bouring village of Endor. He went disguised ; but the woman, if 
 she had never seen him before, could not but recognise the king of 
 Israel, by the nature of his questions, and by the towering stature 
 for which he was renowned throughout the land. He required her 
 “ to bring up Samuel and accordingly the king beheld ascend- 
 ing from the earth the figure of “ an old man covered with a man- 
 
 tle but whether this was really the shade of Samuel, as the 
 king believed, or a phantom resembling him, has been much con- 
 tested. Saul, however, prostrated himself before the figure ; and 
 in answer to the question — “ Why hast thou disquieted me to bring 
 me up ?” answered — “ God is departed from me, and answereth me 
 no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams ; therefore I have 
 called upon thee, to make known unto me what I shall do.” The 
 reply, uttered in severe language, announced that the time was 
 come for the accomplishment of his doom, and indicated to him the 
 fatal scene which the next day saw accomplished on Mount Gilboa. 
 Stunned by this intelligence, and exhausted by long fasting and 
 anxiety, that unhappy king fell prostrate on the ground ; and it was 
 not without difficulty that he was so far restored as to be able to 
 take a little food before he quitted the dwelling of the necro- 
 mancer. 
 
 The next day the opposed hosts joined battle, and Saul acted like 
 one who was determined to deserve, if he could not win, the victory. 
 But the Philistines attacked his position with so much resolution, 
 that the Israelites fled before them, or were cut in pieces in the 
 attempt to escape. The sacred historian seems to state the superior 
 skill of the Philistines in the use of the bow as the proximate cause 
 of this defeat ; the weapons of the Hebrews themselves being 
 chiefly the spear > and shield. In vain did the king attempt 
 repeatedly to rally them, and lead them forward to renew the 
 action : the disorder was complete. The king, supported by a few 
 faithful friends, maintained his ground till he was mortally wounded 
 by an arrow, and his valiant sons lay dead at his feet. Escape was 
 then hopeless ; and dreading, worse than death, the ignominious 
 treatment to which he should be exposed if he fell alive into the 
 hands of the Philistines, he implored his armour-bearer to thrust 
 him through with his sword. The youth, overcome by his fears, 
 and by a very natural reluctance to shed the blood of his master, 
 the Lord’s anointed, for once refused obedience ; on which Saul, 
 seeing that no time was to be lost, fell upon his own sword and 
 expired ; and the faithful armour-bearer immediately followed 
 the example. The body of the king was found by the Philistines, 
 who took off the head, and sent it to one of their cities to be fas- 
 tened in the temple of Dagon,and his armour in that of Ashtaroth, 
 as trophies of their victory, and in honour of their idols. The 
 bodies of Saul and his sons they gibbeted on the wall of Beth- 
 shan, — and this circumstance gave occasion for an act of generous 
 valour which affords a refreshing contrast to many of the trans- 
 actions of this period. The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, on 
 the other side Jordan, no sooner heard of this ignominy, than 
 they were roused by a grateful remembrance of the deliverance 
 which Saul had wrought for them at the beginning of his reign, and 
 determined to rescue his remains from insult. Passing over the 
 river by night, they stole away the mangled remains of the king and 
 his sons from the wall, and bore them away to their own place, 
 where, after bestowing upon them the usual honours, they buried 
 the ashes under a tree, and fasted seven days. 
 
 At the news of the defeat in Gilboa, terror spread through all 
 the tribes of Israel. Even those who dwelt beyond the Jordan 
 were no sooner informed of it than they retired into their strong- 
 holds in the mountains, leaving their cities in the plain to be 
 occupied by the Philistines. 
 
 David had not long returned to Ziklag, when the tidings of the 
 events were brought to him by a young Amalekite, who brought with 
 him the diadem and regal armlets of the fallen monarch. Judging 
 that it would please David, the Amalekite embellished his account 
 by claiming the merit of having put the king to death, at his own 
 request, after he had been mortally wounded. But instead ol 
 obtaining the reward he expected, David, who had himself more 
 than once testified the highest respect for the royal person, ordered 
 him to be put to death for having presumptuously lifted his hand 
 against the Lord’s anointed. He also manifested every token of 
 sincere grief and sorrow on this occasion by rending his clothes and 
 by other marks of mourning and lamentation. Especially was 
 David grieved and distressed for his beloved friend Jonathan, and 
 the lamentation which he composed on the occasion claims our 
 admiration not less for the beauty of its composition than for the 
 tone of generous affection by which it is animated. Many versions 
 and imitations of it have been attempted, but none of them ap- 
 proach the exquisite beauty of the original. 
 
Sunday XXVIII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHEIST. 
 
 223 
 
 SUNDAY XXVIII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 T was just after this that Jesus took 
 occasion to intimate that among the 
 trusted disciples then present, there was 
 one who would betray him to his enemies. 
 This gave them great concern ; and, 
 after a pause, they began to ask him 
 severally, “ Lord, is it I At this 
 time they were seated, or rather re- 
 clining on the bench, or triclinium, 
 which enclosed the table ; and they 
 were placed in such a manner that the 
 “beloved disciple,” John, lay with his head towards his master’s 
 bosom ; and to him Peter beckoned that he should put the question 
 more distinctly. He did so, by asking, probably in a low voice, 
 “Lord, who is it?” To which Jesus answered, probably also in a 
 subdued voice, “He to whom I shall give the sop when I have 
 dipped it and immediately he dipped the sop and gave it to 
 Judas. It was usual after the second cup of wine at the Paschal 
 meal, for the father of the house, or head of the party, to take a 
 piece of unleavened bread, break it in pieces and give a bit to 
 each of those present, most commonly after having dipped it in 
 the broth. This was probably the “ sop ” in question, and we may 
 suppose that it was the turn of Judas to receive it. 
 
 On this, Judas, who, as being near enough to receive this, had 
 probably overheard John’s question, asked in a low voice, “ Lord, 
 is it I ?” And was answered in an under tone, “ It is thou,” 
 by Jesns, who then added aloud. “ What thou doest, do quickly 
 on which Judas immediately left the place. The disciples gene- 
 rally had evidently not caught this conversation, for they supposed 
 that he had gone forth on some charge connected with the distri- 
 bution of alms from the common purse with which he was 
 intrusted. But in fact he went to the priests to arrange the plan 
 of operation for betraying his Lord to them that $ery night, 
 in completion of the engagement into which he had already 
 entered. 
 
 As the Passover repast began late in the evening, and it was 
 now already more than half-completed, the night must then have 
 already set in when the traitor separated himself from this circle 
 of humility and love, and hastened through the lonesome darkness 
 to the enemies of Jesus. 
 
 When Judas had actually withdrawn, and with that the certainty 
 of his horrible deed was fully determined, the consciousness of 
 victory over sin and death rose triumphant to the mind of the 
 Divine Saviour, and absorbed for the moment all other considera- 
 tions ; and he said, “ Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is 
 glorified in him.” He then intimated to the Apostles that the time 
 was near in which he was to be taken from them, and added, “ A new 
 commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another ; as I have 
 loved you, that ye also love one another.” Although our Lord 
 had more than once expressed himself with sufficient accuracy and 
 plainness respecting his approaching death, and even the manner 
 of it, the disciples, still warped by their early notions respecting 
 the Messiah and his reign, could not understand his words in the 
 sense he intended to convey. Possibly they thought only of a 
 temporary removal of the Redeemer, through which he might escape 
 from treason and from the plots of his enemies. Therefore the 
 ardent Peter endeavoured to lead him to a more definite explana- 
 tion — “Lord, whither goest thou?” Jesus answered, “Whither 
 I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me 
 afterwards.” Gathering from this, perhaps, that some danger was 
 connected with the removal of his beloved Master, Peter rejoined, 
 “ Why cannot I follow thee now ? I will lay down my life for 
 thy sake.” But Jesus, looking through the soul, perceived that 
 this declaration arose more from a swell of generous feeling, than 
 from a firmly-grounded purpose ; and therefore warned him to look 
 well to his own heart : “ Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake ? 
 Verily, verily I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou 
 hast denied me thrice.” 
 
 The wine-cup was repeatedly handed round during the Paschal, 
 suppers, and the Jewish writers inform us that the wine was mixed 
 with water : although, indeed, this would be scarcely needed with 
 such weak wines as are used at meal-times in the East. When 
 they had come to the last of the wine-cups usually taken, our Lord 
 proceeded to institute the Sacrament of the Holy Communion, 
 in the well-known words which implied that the drinking of the 
 cup and eating of the bread was henceforth to be taken as an act 
 
 commemorative of him — ike wine of his blood shed, and the bread 
 of his body given up for the sins of the world. By this act, he in 
 fact formally established a new religion, to be ratified by his out- 
 poured blood anil wounded body, of which ratification the wine and 
 bread were to become the symbols. 
 
 After this, our Lord perceiving that the disciples were still very 
 much distressed at what he had before said, confirmed as it was 
 by the solemn intimations of the rite which had been just esta- 
 blished, proceeded to console them in the beautiful discourse which 
 occupies the fourteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, beginning 
 “ Let not your heart be troubled,” &c. In this he first conSoles 
 them by the consideration, that by going from them (that is, by 
 his death and passion), mansions on high would be prepared for 
 them ; but being interrupted by Thomas with a remark which 
 showed that he was still thinking of an earthly palace, Jesus pro- 
 ceeded to explain that he was himself the way to this high heritage, 
 and that only through faith could its enjoyment be secured. This 
 faith they were to manifest by acts of obedience to what they had 
 already heard from him, or might hereafter be taught ; and 
 especially by obedience to his new commandment of mutual love. 
 Then, to excite them to the fulfilment of his commands, he added 
 a new promise, that of a Helper. During his stay among them, 
 their weakness and faithlessness had been so great, that they had 
 never been able to dispense with him as a stay and support ; 
 and now that he was about to leave them, “ another Comforter ” 
 would come to them, from him and from the Father, “ even the 
 Spirit of Truth,” by whom they should be guided aright, and be 
 taught much which had hitherto been purposely left obscure and 
 unexplained. 
 
 Jesus then arose as if to depart, saying, “ Arise, let us go 
 hence; ’’but the importance of these last precious moments, and 
 his love to his disciples, constrained him, and he sat down again. 
 Taking occasion from this slight movement, that he abides with 
 them although he departs, then became the theme of his discourse ; 
 and he warned them that adhesion to him in faith, and to each 
 other in brotherly love, was the only way in which they could 
 prosper. That this might be the better understood, he employed 
 a similitude derived from a well-known object, namely, a vine 
 and its branches — which has suggested to some - the probability 
 that the tendrils of a vine had climbed up the wall and 
 grown in through the window of the room in which they were 
 sitting. 
 
 He then proceeded to explain that it was not for them to 
 expect prosperity and enjoyment in this life. Far otherwise: he 
 warned them that many calamities, trials, and persecutions awaited 
 them, arising from the world’s hatred of those principles which 
 it would be their privilege and duty to promulgate. Being thus 
 forewarned, they would know, when these things befel them, that 
 the high purpose of God was not frustrated by the sufferings to 
 which they were exposed, but accomplished ; and that they did 
 not come to them merely as unforeseen misfortunes and acci- 
 dents. 
 
 The Redeemer had now spoken a long time, and lie at length 
 wished for some reply, to the end that he might, as his custom was, 
 add thereupon new instructions. But perceiving the disciples 
 around him in silence, surrendering themselves up in sorrow at the 
 idea of that separation whicn he had brought so distinctly before 
 them ; he proceeded to animate and encourage them by bringing 
 before their minds once more the great consequences which would 
 follow his departure, especially as regarded the manifestation of the 
 Comforter, and the high teachings, powers, and succours which he 
 would impart. He added that although he was himself to be taken 
 from them, it was but to the end that he might soon, in a more 
 perfect and glorious manner, be restored to them. Much of what 
 he said to them on this point, they appear not then to have under- 
 stood ; and perceiving this, Christ admitted that he had often spoken 
 to them in such sayings, but the time was near at hand in which 
 all things would be made plain to them. 
 
 The hour of his passion was drawing on now with rapid pace, and 
 Jesus, having before his eyes a distinct perception of the depressing 
 influence which it would exercise upon the disciples, proceeded to 
 offer up on tiieir behalf the earnest and beautiful prayer contained 
 in the 17th chapter of St. John’s gospel. Nor was it for them only, 
 for in this most impressive and comprehensive address he con- 
 templated with satisfaction his almost finished work: — “I have 
 glorified thee on earth ; I have finished the work which thou 
 gavest me to do.” lie then prayed for the disciples, “ those whom 
 lie had chosen out of the world and for the church to be formed 
 through their teaching, and under the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
702 . — Faith, (iianaelle.) 
 
 Vfydil. 
 
 70^.— Washing Hands. 
 Golchi Dwylaw. 
 
 705.— The Last Supper. (Leonardo 
 Y Super Diweddaf. 
 
 da 
 
 Vinci.) 
 
 70J .-Modem Jewish Passover. (Picart.) 
 Pasc luddewig Diweddaf. 
 
 221 
 

 <10. — Psalm cxix. Zam. 
 
 712. — Psalm cxlx. Teth. 
 
 714.— Psalm cxix. Caph. 
 
 722. — Psalm cxix. Koph. 
 
 708.— Psalm cxix. He. 
 
 EACH me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes. — 33. 
 
 I have thought upon thy name, O Lord, in the night season, 
 and have kept thy law. — 55. 4 
 
 7o9. — Psalm cxix. Vau. 
 
 711. — Psalm cxix. Cheth. 
 
 713.— Psalm cxix. Jod. 
 
 718. — Psalm cxix. Samech. 
 
 715. — Psalm cxix. Lamed. 
 
 716. — Psalm cxix. Mem. 
 
 723. — Psalm cxix. Hfgh. 
 
 724.— Psalm cxix. beam. 
 
 2 G 
 
226 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXIX. 
 
 SUNDAY XXIX.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 HESE notices of the Psalms we should 
 be reluctant to bring to a close 
 without directing some attention to 
 those more prominent characteristics 
 of Hebrew poetry which they exem- 
 plify. This we can in this place do 
 only cursorily and briefly, more for 
 the purpose of indicating the leading 
 points of the subject than of satisfying 
 the desire for full information. 
 
 The reader who has never turned 
 his particular attention to the subject can have little notion of the 
 great and curious variety of opinions which have been entertained, 
 and advocated with great zeal, respecting the rhythmical form of 
 the Hebrew poetry in general, and of the Psalms in particular. 
 
 Many have maintained that the Hebrew poetry possesses metrical 
 feet and versification, which they have attempted to define and 
 restore. This has been done by various methods, in none of which 
 has the success been by any means signal. 
 
 Many hold to a versification in the proper sense of the word, 
 after the analogy of the Greek and Latin metres. There are 
 ancient authorities which appear at the first view to support this 
 conclusion. Philo describes the songs of praise of the ancient 
 sacred poets as trimeters, and composed of strophes, and attributes 
 to Moses a knowledge of metre. Josephus calls the versification of 
 Moses’s song of triumph at the Red Sea hexameter, and so also 
 the farewell song of the same prophet ; and he represents the 
 Psalms of David as consisting partly of hexameter and partly of 
 trimeter verse. Eusebius calls the Hebrew poems metrical, and 
 their versification partly hexameter, partly trimeter and tetrameter- 
 Jerome says the same repeatedly. It has hence been conjectured 
 that a knowledge of the Hebrew metrical system then existed, which 
 we have since lost; but we fail to discover in these writers any 
 definite account or explanation of the metres which they name, and 
 this has led to the suspicion that, in such assertions, they intended 
 no reference to metrical feet, but only to the members of the 
 verse. We cannot follow the various attempts which have been 
 made to discover the metrical system of which these allusions 
 had been supposed to denote the existence ; and this is the less 
 necessary, as it is now admitted that the best of these attempts have 
 been no other than ingenious mistakes. 
 
 Others have believed that they found rhyme, or something re- 
 sembling rhyme, in the Hebrew poetry. This supposition is less 
 absurd than might at the first view appear ; for rhyme exists in the 
 Arabic and Persian poetry, as well as in the modern Hebrew. 
 Instances of rhyme do most certainly occur in the Hebrew Scriptures, 
 but the examples are not of a kind to show that rhyme constituted 
 a law of Hebrew verse. 
 
 It has also been held that the Hebrew poetical rhythm consisted 
 in the numbering of the syllables. The members of the verse are 
 indeed, sometimes equal, but for the most part unequal, and the 
 apparent disproportion was supposed to be removed by the mode of 
 enunciation and singing. To the same class belong those who 
 denied the existence of a proper metre, but at the same time held 
 that the Hebrew poetry was adapted to certain melodies, which 
 would still imply the necessity of some kind of syllabic measure. 
 But it has justly been remarked that, although this opinion might 
 be maintained with respect to the Psalms and other lyrical pieces, 
 it could not be applied to such performances as the book of Job and 
 the Proverbs of Solomon. 
 
 In opposition to all these conclusions and conjectures, it has been 
 strenuously maintained that the Hebrew poetry was altogether 
 destitute of metre or feet ; and this is the opinion which most of the 
 learned Jews have themselves entertained. More than one writer 
 has, indeed, boasted of it as a peculiar excellence of Hebrew poetry 
 that it is not fettered and confined by a syllabic measure, and that 
 it aims not so mucli at tickling the ear, as at distinctness and force 
 of thought, which are promoted by the freedom of its movements ; 
 this is a very general opinion. 
 
 But many contend that the Hebrew poetry does possess versifica- 
 tion, but that it is lost to us and can no longer be defined. This 
 opinion has had illustrious advocates. Among them is Bishop 
 Lowth, who labours to show that the Hebrew poetry must have 
 been metrical, but that it would be vain to think of recovering the 
 metre, since the pronunciation is lost. 
 
 This conviction that the Hebrew poetry must have had a metre, 
 seems to proceed in a great degree upon the assumption that all 
 poetry must have it. It is doubtless true that the example of the 
 
 majority of ancient and modern languages decides in favour of this 
 principle. But the Hebrew language is distinguished by such 
 remarkable peculiarities, that it may well form an exception ; to 
 which we may add, that the Samaritan and Ethiopic languages have 
 actually no syllabic metre, but only a metre of lines. From the 
 theory of the poetic art, we can only derive the principle, that 
 poetry aims to give more form and harmony to language than prose ; 
 but respecting the kind of form it prescribes no law. 
 
 Sir William Jones and others allege the example of modern 
 Oriental languages, particularly the Arabic and Persian, in proof 
 of the existence of a Hebrew metre. But w ith all the etymological 
 affinity of the Syro-Arabian group of languages, there is very great 
 diversity in their pronunciation, style, &c., and the Persian language 
 is not related to the Hebrew at all ; consequently it will not answer 
 to reason from what may be true in that to what must be true in 
 this. The serious sacred poetry of the Hebrews presents a very 
 strong contrast, both in spirit and matter, when compared with the 
 modern Oriental, and it may therefore possess a different and pecu- 
 liar external form. The Arabic poetry has no parallelism of numbers, 
 like t lie Hebrew ; neither has the Hebrew rhyme, like the Arabic. 
 The antiquity of the Arabic metre is, besides, open to question. 
 
 It is, however, urged that the Hebrew poetry was often sun", 
 which could not have been the case unless it had metre. But to 
 this it is solidly answered, that metre is necessary in order that 
 poetry may be sung, only in case the melody is repeated; but if it 
 continues along, the words, even though without metre, may be 
 adapted to it at pleasure. Thus, with us, prose is often set to 
 music. Whether the Hebrews had returning melodies is a question 
 which cannot now be answered. Probably they had not. It is a 
 reasonable conjecture that the Hebrew singing consisted only of 
 cantillation, or a sort of declamation analogous to song ; but this 
 depends not at all upon the number or measure of the words. 
 
 Lowth and others, however, contend that traces of metre may 
 actually be found in the Hebrew poetry. The poets, it is alleged, 
 avail themselves of uncommon, antiquated, difficult words, forms, 
 and phrases, and allow themselves many poetical licences, which lead 
 to the conclusion that they were under a metrical restraint, without 
 which these appearances cannot be explained. But it is probable 
 that these peculiarities of the poetical language were something 
 more than the offspring of necessity. They are sometimes evidently 
 chosen for the sake of their antiquity, of their solemnity, and of 
 their elegance; sometimes they seem to have sprung forth uncon- 
 sciously in the fire of inspiration, in the bold flight of thought, and 
 in the struggle with language. The only certain indication from 
 which Lowth justly draws the conclusion that there must have been 
 something like a rhythmical division and measure of the Hebrew 
 poetry is the alphabetical arrangement found in a few of the Psalms 
 and some other poetical pieces. Here we observe a regular cadence 
 and return, somewhat resembling strophes or verses ; but whether 
 they are really strophes or verses is the question. 
 
 This view of the qualities in which the characteristics of Hebrew 
 poetry are not to be sought, may be summed up in the words of 
 Bishop Jebb, who is a great authority in this elegant branch of 
 sacred literature : — “ It is not the acrostical or regularly alpha- 
 betical commencement of lines or stanzas, for this occurs but in 
 twelve poems of the Old Testament ; it , is not the introduction of 
 foreign words, and of what the grammarians called the paragogic or 
 redundant particles, for these licences, though frequent, are by no 
 means universal in the poetical books of Scripture, and theyare 
 occasionally admitted in passages merely historical and prosaic ; it 
 is not the rhyming termination of lines, for no trace of this is dis- 
 coverable in the alphabetical poems, the lines and stanzas of which 
 are defined with infallible precision — and every attempt to force it 
 on the text has been accompanied by the most licentious mutilation 
 of Scripture ; and finally, this grand characteristic is not the adoption 
 of metre properly so called, and analogous to the metre of the 
 heathen classics, for the efforts of the learned to discover such 
 metre in any one poem of the Hebrews have universally failed ; 
 and while we are morally certain that, even though it were known 
 and employed by the Jews while their language was a living one, 
 it is quite beyond recovery in the dead and unpronounceable state 
 of that language : there are also strong reasons for believing that, 
 even in the most flourishing state of their literature, the Hebrew 
 poets never used this decoration. Again, it is most certain that the 
 proper characteristic of Hebrew poetry is not elation, grandeur, or 
 sublimity either of thought or diction : in these qualities, indeed, a 
 large portion of the poetical Scriptures is unrivalled ; but there are 
 also many compositions in the Old Testament, indisputably poetical, 
 which in thought and expression do not rise above the ordinary 
 tone of just and dear conceptions, calmly yet pointedly delivered.” 
 
Sunday XXIX.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 227 
 
 SUNDAY XXIX.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 PON the death of Saul and his sons ac- 
 cess to the throne was open to David ; 
 but the course which lay before him was 
 not without difficulties, which, however, 
 he overcame by the energy of his cha- 
 racter and the sincerity of his devotion. 
 
 There still remained one son of 
 Saul, named Ishbosheth ; and it be- 
 came the interest of those who had 
 enjoyed the favour of the father, to 
 maintain themselves in their position 
 by upholding the cause of the son. Accordingly Ishbosheth was 
 proclaimed king through the management of his uncle Abner, — a 
 brave and able man, who had been in command of the army in the 
 time of Saul, and who was regarded by himself and others as the 
 main pillar of the throne which he had set up upon the ruins of the 
 house of Saul. The seat of Ishbosheth’s kingdom was established 
 at Mahanaim, beyond the Jordan. In this transaction the claims 
 of the lineal heir, Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, were over- 
 looked, partly on account of his youth and lameness, and partly 
 because the younger son of a king was popularly considered to have 
 at least as good a claim as the son of an elder son, who himself had 
 not reigned. 
 
 David had acquired new credit in Israel by his recent victory 
 over the Amalekites — those inveterate enemies of the Hebrew 
 name ; and as his claims were now well understood, numbers of 
 influential persons joined him at Ziklag every day. David himself 
 was now thirty years of age ; handsome, mighty in arms, and 
 accomplished beyond most men in the arts which belonged to peace. 
 Adversity had given maturity to his age, and the energy of his 
 character derived added force from the sincerity of his faith. 
 Having consulted the Lord, as was his wise custom, in this critical 
 condition of affairs, he advanced, so soon as the days of public 
 mourning for Saul had expired, at the head of his brave troop, now 
 increased to a small army, towards Hebron, the principal city in 
 his own tribe of Judah. He was well received in that important 
 place; and the news of his arrival having rapidly spread, all the 
 influential men of the tribe soon gathered round him there, and 
 acknowledged him as their king, and bound themselves to him by 
 the then usual forms of allegiance. 
 
 Notwithstanding that all the other tribes had acknowledged the 
 son of Saul, Abner, who held the reins of power in the name of the 
 imbecile Ishbosheth, could not endure that there should be another 
 king in Judah, and resolved upon war. He, therefore, advanced at 
 the head of an army towards Judah, but was met at Gibeon by 
 •Toab, who was in command of the forces of David. He and his 
 brothers Abishai and the swift-footed Asahel were nephews of 
 David, being sons of his sister Zeruiah. The force under Joab 
 was less numerous than that of Abner, but was composed of tried 
 soldiers, full of ardour and of hope. A number of single combats 
 preceded and brought on the general action, as was often the case 
 in ancient time, and is still the practice among the Arabian tribes. 
 Upon the defiance of Abner, six of the most valiant men of each 
 army combated each other between the two main bodies, with such 
 equal skill and fury, that they were all left dead upon the ground. 
 The battle which followed was most bloody, but in the end Abner 
 was beaten, and those of his men who survived took to flight. 
 Abner himself was pursued by Asahel, “ who was light of foot as a 
 wild roe.” Annoyed at this inveterate pursuit, and being yet 
 unwilling to harm the youth, and thus put a blood-feud between 
 himself and Joab, Abner besought Asahel to desist; but as he still 
 followed with redoubled speed, he gave him a backward thrust with 
 the pointed heel of his spear, and left him wallowing in blood on 
 the road. 
 
 The victors still allowed no repose to the vanquished. The sun 
 had already set behind the hills, when Abner, finding Joab and the 
 elite of his army close upon his rear, turned round abruptly and 
 implored him to desist from this carnage upon his brethren. Joab 
 was struck by this remonstrance, and withdrew his men from the 
 pursuit. The result of this action did not, however, put an end to 
 the war between parties whose interests were so much opposed. It 
 was kept up during all the reign of Ishbosheth, but with results 
 generally favourable to David, who became stronger every day, 
 while the house of Saul daily became more weak. The whole 
 strength of that house lay in the prudence and valour of Abner, 
 whose influence and abilities kept the people in their alle<nan,ce. 
 
 Unfortunately for Ishbosheth, he took just offence at some part of 
 Abner’s conduct, and for once in his life ventured to remonstrate 
 with him in language becoming a man of spirit. To such language 
 the haughty Abner was altogether unaccustomed ; he answered 
 resentfully, and vowed not to forgive it, but to abandon a cause 
 in which his great services met such reward. And he kept his 
 word. From that hour he used all his influence to bring over all 
 the tribes to the interest of David ; and as soon as he had, by 
 sounding some chief persons, assured himself of the feasibility of 
 the undertaking, he visited the king at Hebron, where he was well 
 received, and his offered services frankly accepted. David even 
 hinted an intention to make him captain of the host in the united 
 kingdom, which, however politic, looks like an injustice to Joab, 
 who now held that office in the separate kingdom of Judah. But 
 David doubtless considered that the possession of this office by the 
 chief man of the house of Saul would tend much to conciliate the 
 tribes, and keep them firm in their allegiance to him. Joab was 
 absent from Hebron when this visit took place, and it is not 
 unlikely that Abner, knowing the feud between them, timed his 
 visit with reference to that circumstance. Joab, however, un- 
 happily for him, returned to Hebron when he had just taken his 
 departure, and, on learning what had occurred, he hastened to the 
 king, and reproached him for his easiness in very strong and unbe- 
 coming language, affirming that he had given Abner an advantage 
 over him, of which he would not neglect to avail himself, to the 
 detriment of his kingdom. He probably believed this ; but the 
 remembrance of his brother, and the dread of Abner as a rival in 
 interest with David, probably more actively influenced the course 
 which was taken by him. He immediately dispatched messengers 
 after Abner, to invite him back in the king’s name. On his return, 
 Joab met him at the gate, and drew him aside as if to speak with 
 him in secret, and when he had engaged his attention, lie suddenly 
 drew his dagger, and smote him under the fifth rib, and slew him 
 “ for the. blood of Asahel, his brother.” 
 
 David was greatly shocked at this transaction. He knew that it 
 might be imputed to him, especially as the power of Joab, his 
 popularity, and his influence with the troops, preserved him from 
 punishment. The measures which he took were well calculated to 
 remove, and did remove, any such impression. He publicly dis- 
 avowed the act, and fixed it upon the head of Joab ; he ordered 
 a general and public act of mourning, and a magnificent funeral 
 for the murdered prince, and himself followed the bier in person. 
 The tears which the king shed over the grave, the eloquent 
 lamentation which he poured forth, and his abstinence from food 
 all that day, satisfied the people of his sincerity. It is added that 
 they were pleased : “ as whatever the king did pleased all the 
 people.” 
 
 Ishbosheth became helpless when deprived of Abner; and there 
 was every prospect that in a short time his kingdom would have 
 fallen to pieces of its own accord. This was perceived by his own 
 courtiers, who became anxious to provide for themselves. Two of 
 them, officers of the guard, entered his chamber, while he enjoyed 
 the customary afternoon sleep, and took off his head, which they 
 placed in a bag, and hastened away to lay it at the feet of David. 
 They greatly misunderstood the character of the man. He was 
 shocked beyond measure at this horrid deed ; and, instead of 
 bestowing on the assassins the rewards and favours which they 
 expected, he said — “ As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my 
 soul out of all adversity, when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is 
 dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, 
 and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him 
 a reward for his tidings. How much more when wicked men have 
 slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed ? Shall 1 
 not, therefore, now require his blood at your hands, and take you 
 away from the earth ?” lie accordingly commanded them to be slain, 
 and, to manifest his detestation of their regicide, lie directed their 
 hands and feet to be cut off, and hanged up over the pool in 
 Hebron. The head of Ishbosheth was buried with due reverence 
 in the sepulchre of Abner. 
 
 It appears that no one thought of setting up a successor to 
 Ishbosheth, and a rival to David in the throne of Israel. On the 
 contrary, his claims, enhanced by his prosperous government of the 
 kingdom of Judah, were generally acknowledged; and his military 
 reputation was deemed, both by friends and foes, the highest in 
 Israel. The elders of the tribes, therefore, repaired to Hebron, and 
 invited him to take the government of the whole nation, assigning 
 as a reason, “ When Saul was king over us, thou wast he that 
 leddeijt out and broughtest in Israel.” David affected no reluctance 
 to accede to the proposal. “ He made a league with them in 
 Hebron before the Lord ;” by which it may appear that they 
 
 2 G 2 
 
Dafydd a’r Amaleoiad. 
 
 . — Bier. (From an Egyptian Bas-relief at Thebes.) 
 Elor. (O Saji ua Aiphtauld yo Thebes.) 
 
THE LfBBAflY 
 
 8F IH£ 
 SI!VEfi&n!; 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 My, 
 
 
 
 & m, 
 
 731.— David with the Head of Goliath. (Guido.), 
 Dafydd gyda Pheri Goliath. 
 
 734.— David dancing before the Ark. (Domcnichino.) 
 Dafydd yn dawnsio ger bron yr Arch. 
 
 220 
 
 733.— Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. 
 Jerusalem o Fynydd yr Olewvdd. 
 
230 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXIX. 
 
 mutually agreed to adhere to the schedule of reciprocal obligations 
 which appears to have been drawn up by Samuel (1 Sam. x. 25), 
 and which in our days would be called a constitution. He 
 was then anointed king over all the tribes, after a separate 
 reign over Judah of seven years and six months, in Hebron, 
 b.c. 1048. 
 
 The first exploit of David after his second coronation was 
 performed against the Jebusites, who still continued to occupy 
 Jerusalem, the fortifications of which they seem to have recently 
 improved with much care. So confident, indeed, were they, more 
 especially in the defences of Mount Zion, that, when summoned to 
 surrender, they boasted that their lame and blind were alone 
 sufficient to repel the most vigorous assault the Israelites could 
 make upon it. But the skill and resolution of David, aided by the 
 furious valour of Joab, soon convinced the Jebusites that fortifi- 
 cations had become less formidable to the Israelites than of old 
 they had been. Incensed by their taunts, the king stimulated his 
 men by example and reward, and they slackened not their exertions 
 till the fortress was reduced. Jerusalem, so venerable, under the 
 name of Salem, in its early history and associations, and which had 
 so long resisted the attempts of the Israelites to gain possession of 
 it, having thus fallen into the hands of David, he resolved to make 
 it the metropolis of the now united kingdom. He added to the 
 buildings of the citadel, which he also adorned in a style suited to 
 the purpose he contemplated ; and, having enclosed the whole 
 within walls so as to separate it from the lower town, he conferred 
 upon this quarter of his new capital the distinction of his own 
 name ; whence it is often subsequently mentioned as “ the city of 
 David,” although that term is sometimes in Scripture applied to 
 the whole metropolis. 
 
 Being now well established in his kingdom, and his reputation 
 having been much increased by the taking of Jerusalem, the 
 neighbouring princes, whose interests were not adverse to those of 
 Israel, hastened to seek his friendship. Among them was Hiram, 
 the king of Tyre, who sent an embassy to congratulate him on his 
 accession ; and this proved the foundation of an alliance of con- 
 siderable duration, and which was equally beneficial to the dominions 
 of both the monarchs ; for the Tyrians, being addicted to commerce, 
 were able to put within the reach of the Israelites a large number 
 of useful commodities, in exchange for their corn, wine, and oil, 
 which the former wanted. The Phoenicians were also skilled in 
 the arts, particularly in architecture, and David requested and 
 obtained the assistance of some of King Hiram’s architects for 
 building himself a palace upon Mount Zion. 
 
 About this time the Philistines, jealous at seeing so formidable 
 a power consolidated on their border, invaded the land of Israel 
 with a very powerful army. On this David threw himself into one 
 of his strongholds, whence he hoped to check their further advance 
 till he should have collected a sufficient force to drive them from 
 the country. But having received the Divine assurance of complete 
 success, he attacked the enemy, and succeeded in totally defeating 
 them. The Philistines were, however, in earnest, and soon 
 appeared again in the field, and renewed the war ; but the king of 
 Israel was again victorious over them, and the present defeat was 
 even more complete than the former. 
 
 On his triumphant return to his capital, after having obtained 
 two such victories over the most formidable and warlike enemies 
 of Israel, the king, full of duty and gratitude to the Lord, from 
 whom he had received such abundant blessings, resolved to bring 
 to Jerusalem the ark of God, which had so long remained in 
 obscurity at Kirjath-jearim. He assembled for the occasion thirty 
 thousand of the chief men of Israel, who, with the priests and 
 Levites, walked in procession before the ark, “ playing on all 
 manner of musical instruments.” The ark was placed on a new 
 car drawn by oxen, which was a grievous irregularity, as the law 
 required that it should be borne upon the shoulders of the Levites. 
 This mistake was the occasion of the disaster which followed. 
 The ark being much shaken in one part of the road, near the 
 threshing-floor of Nachon, Uzzah, one of the sons of Abinadab 
 (in whose custody it had been), put forth his hand to prevent it 
 from falling, but had no sooner touched it than he fell dead to the 
 ground. By this severe lesson the Israelites were taught that even 
 good intentions would not be held to excuse any irreverent or 
 unlawful act in the service of God ; for Uzzah was not a priest or 
 a Levite, who alone were privileged to tonch the sacred chest. 
 Astonished at this severe and unexpected stroke, the king feared to 
 take the ark any farther, but deposited it in the house of Obed- 
 edom, a Levite, which was near at hand, and the magnificent 
 assembly dispersed in disappointment and concern. In three 
 months, however, David having heard that signal blessings had 
 
 fallen on Obed-edom since the ark had been in his charge, was 
 encouraged to resume his design of bringing it to Jerusalem. 
 Instructed by the fate of Uzzah, and having learnt that only Levites 
 of the family of Kohatli might lawfully carry the ark, he committed 
 it to their care, and they brought it, bearing it upon their shoulders, 
 safely to Jerusalem, where it was deposited in a magnificent tent 
 which had been prepared for it in that city, for the original taber- 
 nacle was still at Gibeon. The particulars of this solemnity afford 
 an interesting example of the mode in which the ancient Hebrews 
 celebrated a religious festival. The people who marched before 
 the ark gave vent to their joy by dancing, music, and song, the 
 king himself setting the example by dancing before the ark, playing 
 upon his renowned harp. Then, when the ark had been deposited 
 in its place, followed abundant sacrifices, which afforded the means 
 of additional enjoyment to a large multitude ; for, “ as soon as 
 David had made an end of offering burnt-offerings and peace- 
 offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts. 
 And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multi- 
 tude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of 
 bread and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the 
 people departed, every one to his house.” 
 
 When David beheld the magnificence of the palace which King 
 Hiram’s builders had erected for him, a compunctious thought 
 arose within him : “ See, now,” he said to the prophet Nathan, “ I 
 dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within cur- 
 tains.” Discovering by this the current of the king’s thoughts, the 
 prophet encouraged him to do all that was “ in his heart.” In this 
 he was too hasty ; for he speedily received an intimation requiring 
 him to inform David that seeing he had been constantly engaged in 
 war and had shed much human blood, it was not the Lord’s pleasure 
 that he should build a temple to His honour; but that the work 
 and honour should be reserved for the peaceful reign of his son, 
 who, although as yet unborn, was to be his successor on the throne. 
 The design itself was, however, highly approved ; and seeing that 
 in forming it the grateful king had no other object than the Divine 
 glory, he was honoured with much commendation, and with a 
 promise of the perpetuity of his dynasty in Israel. “ I took thee 
 from the sheep-cote,” said the Divine message, “ to be ruler over 
 my people Israel : and I was with thee whithersoever thou 
 wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and 
 have made thee a great name, like the names of the great men that 
 are upon the earth. . . . And thy house and thy kingdom shall 
 be established for ever before thee : thy throne shall be established 
 for ever.” None could be more sensible than David of the hi«b 
 
 O 
 
 value of such a promise. He “ went in and sat before the Lord, ” 
 doubtless in that posture between kneeling and sitting which 
 in the East is still a posture of respect ; and thus poured out 
 the full expression of the gratitude which that promise had 
 inspired. 
 
 From that day forward David spared no cost or labour in pro- 
 viding materials for the great building, designed to be of wonderful 
 magnificence, which he was not himself allowed to erect. Even 
 the plan of the building, with the new arrangements of sacerdotal 
 ministrations, and great treasures to defray the expense, were pre- 
 pared by him ; so that to him belongs a very large measure 
 
 perhaps the largest measure — of the credit which the completed 
 work reflected upon its founder. 
 
 Soon after this David renewed the war with the Philistines, and 
 succeeded in subduing them in various engagements. He was 
 equally successful in an expedition against the Moabites, whom he 
 made tributary to his crown. Pursuing his career of success, 
 David at length pushed his frontier to the Euphrates by subduing 
 Hadadezer, king of Zobah, whose proper dominion was a terri- 
 tory to the north-east of Canaan, but who had brought under his 
 rule many small states which seem to have extended to that river, 
 and which now came under the hand of his conqueror. All the 
 cities which David took he appears to have garrisoned with his own 
 troops, and levied large contributions on the inhabitants. Some of 
 the chariots which fell into his hands, the king reserved for his own 
 use, as a piece of state : but destroyed the greater number, out of 
 deference to the law which forbade the king of Israel “ to multiply 
 horses unto himself.” 
 
 These successes were very acceptable to some princes, who had 
 been distressed by Hadadezer. One of them, Toi, king of Hamath, 
 sent his own son Joram with many valuable presents to David, to 
 congratulate him on his victories, “ and to bless him.” 
 
 The most memorable of the wars in which David engaged, and 
 the most important in its consequences, was that with the Ammon- 
 ites — which was not only the most remarkable in itself, but was 
 attended by some very important circumstances. 
 
Sunday XXIX.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 231 
 
 SUNDAY XXIX.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 OT unworthy of remark are the words 
 of Tholuek, who, in reference to this 
 striking address, states : “ Before the 
 happy Spener left the world, lie caused 
 this address to be read to him three 
 times. ‘ In which we are to suppose,’ 
 says his biographer, ‘ that he loved this 
 chapter with a peculiar affection, though 
 he was never willing to preach on it, 
 with the protestation that he did not 
 understand it, and that a correct under- 
 standinof of the same transcended the measure of faith which the Lord 
 is accustomed to communicate to his followers in their pilgrimage.’” 
 Our Lord at length went forth from the house, and proceeded across 
 the valley of the Kidron to a garden near the foot of the Mount of 
 Olives. The garden was called Gethsemane, which name it derived 
 from the oil-presses which were or had been there. Arrived in this 
 place, Jesus desired the apostles to remain, while he himself retired to 
 some distance, attended only bv his favoured disciples, Peter, James, 
 and John. Then “ he began to be sorrowful and very heavy 
 and turning to his disciples, who now witnessed the deep distress of 
 him whom they' had seen glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration, 
 he declared to them his anguish, and desired them to tarry there in 
 watchfulness and prayer, while he withdrew to a more retired part 
 of the garden, about a stone’s throw distance from them. Here he 
 underwent that terrible and mysterious agony of soul which 
 made him cry, “ O, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
 from me;” but he humbly added, “ Nevertheless, not as I will, 
 but as thou wilt.” He then rose and went over to the three 
 disciples, and found them all asleep. He chid them gently, 
 “ IVhat, could ye not watch with me one hour?” but kindly 
 admitted that in them the spirit indeed was willing, though the 
 flesh was weak. He then returned to the place he had quitted, and 
 again poured out the anguish of his soul before God: — “ O, my 
 Father, if this cup may not pass from me without my drinking it, 
 thy will be done.” Returning to his disciples, he found them 
 again asleep ; and, after rousing them, went back again to the 
 former place. This time his agony became more intense, and his 
 prayer more fervent ; so dreadful were his sufferings, that, “ as he 
 prayed, his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down 
 to the ground,” although he was then in the open air, and in the 
 cool of the night. Then, in that awful moment, there appeared an 
 angel from heaven standing near him in a visible form, strengthening 
 him by that sensible token of the Father’s favour, and suggesting 
 such holy consolations as were suitable to animate his soul in such 
 a struggle. 
 
 Rising after this dreadful mental conflict, Jesus repaired once 
 more to his disciples, and found them again “ sleeping for sorrow.” 
 Knowing that his enemies had already entered the garden, he said, 
 “ Sleep on now and take your rest ; behold, the hour is come, and 
 the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” This 
 roused them effectually : but they had scarcely risen to their feet 
 when a band of armed men appeared with lanterns and torches, 
 sent by the Sanhedrim to apprehend him. They were led on by 
 Judas, who was well acquainted with this favourite resort of his 
 master, and had given them the token that the man whom they 
 should see him kiss was the one they were to apprehend. Accord- 
 ingly the traitor went up straight to Jesus, saying, “ Hail, master!” 
 and kissed him. Jesus said, “ Judas, betray est thou the Son of 
 Man with a kiss?” and, immediately advancing to the armed men, 
 asked them, “Whom seek ye?” With that misgiving which 
 accompanies an evil conscience, associated in their case with a 
 vague impression of the dignity of the person they came to sei2e, 
 they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He answered, “I AM HE;” 
 on which the Divinity flashed through their darkened consciences, 
 which hail been already roused, and they fell to the ground. The 
 abettors, meanwhile, as is customary in such cases, seeing that those 
 to whom the affair was properly entrusted did not immediately press 
 forward, seem themselves to have laid hands upon the Redeemer. 
 Enraged at this, the ever ardent Peter drew his sword, and the 
 stroke which he gave with it cut off the right ear of one of the 
 most forward of the number, a servant of the high-priest, named 
 Malchus. On this Jesus commanded him to sheath his sword, 
 saying, “ The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not 
 drink it?” He then put forth his hand and healed the wound of 
 his bitterest assailant, thus affording a splendid example of that 
 return of good for evil which he so constantly enjoined. 
 
 When the immediate impression upon the minds of the band by 
 the Divinity in Jesus had passed away, and when they had once more 
 succeeded in silencing the voice of conscience, they seized the 
 Saviour, and led him back to the city, to the house of the high- 
 priest, in which a sufficient number of the Sanhedrim had already 
 assembled for the occasion. This was illegal, as the law then in 
 operation is known to have enjoined that all judicial proceedings 
 before that body should take place in the day-time, and in the usual 
 hall of assembly. 
 
 hen the apostles saw that their Lord was led away by his 
 enemies, they dispersed in different directions, as Christ had fore- 
 told, apprehensive of being involved in his peril. Peter and John, 
 however, followed at a distance, and, after a brief interval, the 
 latter, who was personally known at the house of the high-priest, 
 applied for admittance, and was allowed by the porteress to enter 
 Knowing that Peter was outside, John then sought admission foi 
 him, and obtained it. The woman who kept the gate, seeing him 
 with John, concluded that he also was a disciple of Christ, and 
 made a remark to that effect. She seems to have done so without 
 any particular meaning or ill intention, but Peter, being thoroughly 
 alarmed, denied the charge with some vehemence. On entering 
 the court they found themselves in front of the public-room, or hall 
 of audience, open in front, where sat the Sanhedrim, before which 
 Jesus then stood. The apostles remained in the court, and joined 
 the party of officers of the high-priest and others, who were 
 gathered round a fire which they had kindled in the open air ; for 
 although at the time of the Passover the days were warm in Judea, 
 the nights were very chill. They were thus enabled to become 
 witnesses of the transactions which then took place. 
 
 The high-priest at first attempted to draw from Christ such 
 admissions as would afford easy ground for proceedings against him. 
 But Jesus, knowing that the high-priest had predetermined to 
 condemn him, and that his answers were only sought as a ground 
 and support to that determination, appealed to his public teachings, 
 and declined to give any specific response to an examination so 
 invidious. 
 
 Failing in the design of condemning him from his own mouth, 
 false witnesses were produced against him, whose testimony was, 
 however, found to be of little importance, till two of them avowed 
 that they heard him say that he was able to overthrow the temple 
 of God, and in three days rear it up again. This was, according 
 to existing views, an accusation of blasphemy against God, con- 
 formably with which the religious tribunals of the Jews could 
 lawfully condemn him. It was, therefore, eagerly taken hold of, 
 and he was asked if he admitted this charge. He was silent. The 
 high-priest then asked him plainly whether he was actually the 
 Messiah. Christ, who knew his disposition, answered, “ If I should 
 tell you, you would not believe me.” But on being pressed for a 
 definite answer,* “Art thou then the Messiah?” he answered, 
 “ Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man in his glory at the right 
 hand of God.” They were incapable of understanding the expres- 
 sion of the Divine consciousness which was contained in this answer, 
 but they understood it as conveying the admission which they 
 sought ; and they, therefore, rent their clothes as at some horrid 
 blasphemy, and, declaring that no further evidence was required, 
 they hastened to procure his final condemnation from the Roman 
 governor, by whom alone it could be granted. 
 
 While these transactions were taking place, Peter, perceiving 
 that he began to be eyed with suspicion by the party around the 
 fire, withdrew towards the gate. Here he was again charged by 
 the porteress as being “ one of them which he again perempto- 
 rily denied, and then went back to the group around the fire. Here 
 lie was soon again accused of being one of the followers of Christ . 
 One, a relative of Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off, began to 
 recollect that he had seen him in the garden ; another alleged his 
 Galilean dialect as a proof of the fact. The fear of man prevailed. 
 Peter again most solemnly denied that lie knew “ the man of whom 
 they spoke,” and while he was confirming this protestation with 
 many oaths, the crowing of the cock rang through the court and 
 struck him dumb. At the same moment Jesus turned and looked 
 upon Peter. That sorrowful look, so full of tender reproach, smote 
 the apostle to the soul. lie went out, and wept bitterly. 
 
 After he had been condemned by the high-priest, Jesus was 
 exposed to the insults and mal-treatment of the servants and officers 
 while waiting till the morning should be far enough advanced to 
 take him before the Roman governor. He was buffeted and spit 
 upon ; and they even went so far as to blindfold him, and then to 
 smite him, asking derisively, Prophesy who is it that smote ttiee? 
 
 “ All which injuries might have been greater than his patience,” 
 remarks Jeremy Taylor, “ had his patience been less than infinite.” 
 

 
 735.— Persecution of the Disciples.— John xvi. 
 Erledigaeth y Disgyblion. 
 
 736 .— Disciples weeping.— John xvi. 
 V Disgyblion yn wylo. 
 
 
 
 
 739.— Christ rejected. 
 Crist yn cael ei wrihod. 
 
 733._poter denying Christ. (Poussin.) 
 Petr yn gwadu Crist. 
 
 2.;2 
 
 
 

 743. Sepulchral Monuments near Sidon. 741—Group of Scythian Barrows. 
 
 Cofudeilian Beddrodol yn agos i Sidon. Twr o Garneddau Yagythiaidd. 
 
234 
 
 TIIE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXX. 
 
 SUNDAY XXX.— THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 T the latter part of the thirty-second 
 chapter of Ezekiel, from the seven- 
 teenth verse to the end, we find a very 
 remarkable prophetical poem : the 
 
 general object is to denounce upon 
 “ the multitude of Egypt ” the same 
 lot that had befallen other nations 
 which came in contact with the Baby- 
 lonians. In the prophetical imagery 
 the Egyptians are described as being 
 “ brought down to the grave ” in 
 company with these other nations ; and the characters of the graves, 
 in which the dead of these different nations reposed, are there 
 indicated with specific marks of distinction, which afford a curious 
 and interesting subject of antiquarian investigation. The poem is 
 divided by the sense into several strophes, in the first of which 
 Egypt is addressed : 
 
 “ Come down from the pleasant waters [of the Nile], 
 
 And be thou laid with the uncircumcised.” 
 
 These are then described, and first 
 
 “ Assyria and all her company, 
 
 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, 
 
 And her company is round about her in the grave.” 
 
 This and other similar expressions constantly occurring in Scripture 
 suggest an idea of graves which would not occur among a people 
 who burned the dead, like the Romans formerly, or the Hindoos at 
 the present day ; nor among a people who buried in separate graves, 
 as is the custom among ourselves. The grave is described as popu- 
 lous, and the inmates lie “ in the sides of the pit,” in company 
 together. These frequently recurring images and expressions obvi- 
 ously apply to and are illustrated by the ancient sepulchral caverns, 
 “ pits,” or “ holes,” in the sides of which recesses were formed to 
 receive the bodies of the dead. This was the general mode of 
 sepulture among ancient nations ; and hence the description of the 
 Assyrian graves does not offer images unfamiliar to the reader of 
 Scripture, or, indeed, materially different from those which are in 
 the same chapter applied to some other nations. There are, how- 
 ever, shades of difference which may be detected by careful inquiry ; 
 for although many nations had this same general mode of disposing 
 of the dead, their particular practices were often distinctive and 
 important. 
 
 In regard to the Assyrian sepulchres, nothing had been produced 
 in illustration of the text till the Editor of the Pictorial Bible 
 brought the results of his actual observations to bear upon it. The 
 sepulchral sites, examined by him upon the banks of the Tigris — 
 the river of Assyria — are said to contain urns of various forms, 
 lined with bitumen, and sometimes glazed, containing bones and 
 dust. They are found in almost every situation — in mounds of 
 ruins, in the cliffs of rivers, and even in the thick walls of ancient 
 towns and fortifications. In some places where the stream has cut 
 down the bank perpendicularly, its steep face presents multitudes 
 of urns, from the summit to the water’s edge, in every variety of 
 form and size, arranged sometimes regularly, and sometimes not ; 
 connected with lines of brickwork, and suggesting that these urns 
 were arranged in the niches, or placed upon ledges in cellars formed 
 of kiln-dried brick investing an interior mass of sun-dried material; 
 but probably in caverns in the upper country, which is more stony 
 and mountainous. A striking passage from the Desatir is also 
 produced in illustration of these practices,, and of the present text : 
 “ The usage of the Fersendajians regarding the dead was this : 
 after the soul had left the body, they washed the body in pure water, 
 and dressed it in clean and perfumed vestments ; they then put it 
 in a vase of aqua-fords, and when the body was dissolved, carried 
 the liquid far from the city, and poured it out ; or el.-e they burned 
 it in the fire, after attiring it, as hath been said; or they made a 
 dome, and formed a deep pit within it, which they built and lined 
 with stone, brick, and mortar, and on its sides (or ‘ edges ’) niches 
 were constructed and platforms erected , on which the dead were 
 deposited 
 
 Then follows a similar set of expressions with reference to Elam 
 or Persia, where the custom of sepulture seems to have been the 
 same as among the Assyrians. Indeed, the above extract from the 
 Desatir is primarily applicable to them, although it has been quoted 
 in connexion with the actual sepulchres of Assyria. The Persians, 
 however, had alsc sepulchres for their mighty dead, hewn in the 
 
 living rock, like the .Tews themselves, and other natives of Western 
 Asia ; and to these, certainly, the expressions of Ezekiel may with 
 equal force and propriety be applied. Some very curious examples 
 of these ancient sepulchres still remain in Persia ; and of these the 
 most remarkable is “ the mountain of sepulchres ” at Nakshi-Rus- 
 tam, which are supposed to be of a date not long posterior to the 
 time of Ezekiel. They are supposed to be sepulchres of the kings 
 of Persia, including some of the monarchs named in Scripture; and 
 from Isa. xxii. 16, it appears that the Jews were also partial to such 
 “ sepulchres on high, graven in the rock,” as this representation 
 exhibits. Some idea of the interior arrangements of such sepulchres 
 may be obtained from the view of the interior of the sepulchres 
 represented in Figs. 587 and 588. 
 
 The next allusion is to Meshech and Tubal, supposed to be the 
 nations lying between and to the north of the Euxine and Caspian 
 seas. Here the phrases are new and distinctive : 
 
 “ There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude, 
 
 The graves are round about her : 
 
 And these lie down with the mighty, 
 
 That are fallen of old time, 
 
 That are gone down to the pit with their weapons of war, 
 
 And have laid their swords under their heads.” 
 
 Here the dead are not “ round about the sides of the pit ;” but the 
 graves themselves are dispersed round about ; and are similar to 
 those in which the mighty ones, even then ancient, were laid with 
 their weapons of war. This seems to apply with remarkable clear- 
 ness to the burial in barrows, which is well known to have in ancient 
 times prevailed throughout Europe, and which, whenever opened, 
 are found to contain bodies, together with “ the weapons of war” 
 which were buried with them. These barrows are less common in 
 Asia than in Europe ; and the present writer has always regarded 
 it as a remarkable fact that the only part of Asia in which he ever 
 saw several of them together at the same time was in the countries 
 bordering on the Caucasus, which the prophet appears to have had 
 in view. Here they are often seen in the midst of extensive plains, 
 where no natural hills exist, but for which, and for the perfect regu- 
 larity of their form, these artificial mounds might be supposed 
 natural, for they are often large and high, and have in some cases 
 become in the course of ages overgrown with wood. The engrav- 
 ing (Fig. 741) will give a correct notion of such sepulchres. 
 
 The prophet next turns to Edom ; but there is nothing very dis- 
 tinctive in the terms which are employed. The Edomites seem to 
 have had the same modes of sepulture in caverns which existed 
 among the Hebrews themselves. The innumerable tombs excavated 
 in the cliffs of the valley in which Petra, the metropolis of Edom, 
 was enclosed, may have been for the most part as old as the time of 
 Ezekiel, although the rich and curiously sculptured fa 5 ades with 
 
 Several specimens of these have been given in the course of the 
 present work, and another is now added. They differ merely in the 
 style of sculpture in the facades, from the similarly ornamented 
 tombs in Palestine, Persia, and Asia Minor. But the vast number 
 which are here crowded together, is without example in any other 
 place. They not only occupy the front of the entire mountain by 
 which the valley is encompassed, but the numerous ravines and 
 recesses which radiate in all parts from this enclosed area. They 
 exist too in great numbers in the precipitous rocks which shoot 
 out from the principal mountains into the southern, and still more 
 into the northern, part of the site, and they are seen all along the 
 approaches to the place. It is stated that were these excavations, 
 instead of following all the sinuosities of the mountain and its 
 numerous gorges, ranged in regular order, like the houses of a well- 
 built city, they would probably form a street of not less than five 
 or six miles in length. 
 
 The Sidonians, who are next mentioned by the prophet, by which 
 term the Phoenicians generally may be understood, inhabited 
 a plain, and therefore had not cliff sepulchres. They had, however, 
 subterraneous sepulchral chambers, with recesses in the sides, in 
 which the dead were deposited ; and persons of consideration appear 
 to have been laid in stone coffins, of which many specimens in fine 
 marble still exist. Sometimes, instead of niches, the sepulchral 
 chambers have benches, on which the coffins appear to have been 
 laid, 'file sites of these sepulchres are marked above ground by 
 stone chests, not unlike tombs, of the forms shown in the engraving. 
 Many of these are met with on the road between Beirout and Sidon, 
 some entire, others broken, and many with their covers thrown off 
 or turned aside, in the search for hid treasure which forms a pas- 
 sion among the Orientals. They are of an oblong form, and some 
 of the largest are two yards and a half in length. 
 
Sunday XXX ] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 235 
 
 SUNDAY XXX.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 S AHASH, the king of that country, 
 had shown friendship to David in his 
 troubles, when he died the Hebrew mo- 
 narch sent an embassy to condole with 
 the new king. Ilanuti, on the death of 
 his father, and to compliment him on 
 his own accession. But the weak young 
 man allowed himself to be persuaded 
 that the king of Israel had some sinister 
 designs in this act of apparent friend- 
 ship. He therefore treated the embassy 
 with indignity and insult. He directed the robes of the venerable and 
 distinguished persons who composed it to be cut short around them, 
 and one half of their beards to be shaven off— than which nothing 
 could be more insulting to an Oriental — and in that shameful condi- 
 tion sent them back to their own country. Hearing of their deplorable 
 state, David sent to direct them to stay at Jericho till the growth 
 of their beards enabled them to appear with decency at court. He 
 was fired at the indignity offered to himself in the person of his 
 ambassadors, and sent a considerable force into the country under the 
 command of Joab. Hanun was well aware of what he had to expect, 
 and on his part had not been idle. He formed alliances with differ- 
 ent Syrian tribes, who sent large contingents to his assistance. Joab, 
 with his usual judgment, resolved, if possible, to prevent their 
 junction ; and with this view he divided his force — himself leading 
 the main body to intercept the auxiliaries, while the remainder, 
 tinder his brother Abishai, kept the Ammonites in check. Both 
 movements were completely successful. The Syrians were driven 
 back to their own country : this defeat engaged the Syrians to 
 further action, and another powerful army was soon collected, con- 
 taining auxiliaries even from beyond the Euphrates, which, under 
 the command of Shobach, the general of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 
 advanced against the Israelites. This time David took the field in 
 person, and with his usual success. The armies met near the city 
 of Helam, beyond the Jordan, and in the action which ensued the 
 Syrians were overthrown, and forced to fly in great confusion, 
 leaving forty thousand of their men dead upon the field. This great 
 disaster cured the Syrians of all wish to assist the Ammonites, who 
 were now left to their own resources. David then committed the 
 conduct of the war to Joab, and returned to his capital. His 
 general defeated the Ammonites in different engagements, and at 
 length proceeded to invest Rabbah, their metropolis. This was an 
 uncommonly strong place, and for two years withstood the utmost 
 efforts of the Hebrew army. 
 
 It was during this period that David formed the unhappy inti- 
 macy with Bathsheba, which led him into great crimes, involved him 
 in many troubles, and has left an ineradicable blot upon his name. 
 The story is well known. The substance of it is, that having seen 
 this beautiful woman, and becoming attached to her, he sent for her 
 husband Uriah, a brave and faithful officer who was with the armv 
 before Rabbah, in the hope of making his presence instrumental in 
 concealing the consequences of the adulterous intercourse which had 
 taken place between himself and Bathsheba. Failing in this design, 
 through the austere virtue of Uriah, who refused himself the solace 
 of his own house while the army remained' in the field, David 
 knew that Bathsheba would ere long become liable to the punish- 
 ment of death as an adulteress. To avert this the king determined 
 to destroy the husband, whom he sent back with a letter to Joab 
 directing him to expose the bearer to death on the field on the first 
 occasion that offered. Joab had no principle to prevent his com- 
 pliance, and the known valour of Uriah suggested the course of 
 proceeding. This ardour led him foremost in resisting a sally of the 
 enemy, but under Joab’s order he was suddenly abandoned by his 
 comrades, and died sword in hand, together with thirty who remained 
 with him, and who may be regarded as so many victims to the 
 manoeuvre against Uriah. 
 
 After the days of mourning for her husband, Bathsheba was 
 brought to the palace and added to the number of David’s wives. 
 Now all seemed well. The crime had been secret, the legal con- 
 sequences averted, and the fruit of sin might now be enjoyed in 
 safety. So thought David — when he was aroused, as by a thunder- 
 stroke, from his ease and security by the prophet Nathan, who was 
 commissioned to reprove his offences. This he accomplished by 
 first awakening his sense of justice in the parable of the pet lamb ; 
 and when the king expressed his vehement indignation against the 
 person who spared his own flock, but took this lamb, the property 
 of his neighbour, to entertain a traveller — the prophet turned upon 
 hun with the memorable words—" Thou art the man and pro- * 
 
 ceeded in strong language to declare the enormity of his offence. 
 The conscience-stricken king attempted no palliation ; he confessed 
 in the fullest extent his crimes, which he deplored deeply, and be- 
 sought forgiveness from the abounding mercy of God. This for- 
 giveness, as before God, was not denied to the sincerity of his 
 repentance : but seeing that by this deed he had “given great 
 occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,” it was necessary 
 that the Divine government should be justified before men by his 
 punishment. Accordingly, the troubles which afterwards dis- 
 turbed his reign were predicted as consequences of this transgres- 
 sion ; and, as a more immediate mark of the Lord’s displeasure, it 
 was declared that the child to which Bathsheba had given birth 
 should not live. Accordingly, the prophet had no sooner quitted 
 the palace than the child became ill, and appeared at the point of 
 death. The king in the anguish of his spirit “ besought God for 
 the child, and fasted, and went in and lay all night upon the earth.” 
 So great was his affliction and humiliation before God, that when at 
 length the child actually departed, the “ elders of his house ” feared 
 to impart the melancholy tidings to him. But David guessed the 
 truth by their altered manner, and asked, “ Is the child dead ?” and 
 being answered “ He is dead,” he immediately arose, washed and 
 anointed himself, changed his dress, went to the tabernacle to wor- 
 ship, and on his return required refreshments to be set before him. 
 This strange alteration of manner confounded his people : but he 
 explained and justified it by the remark, “ While the child was yet 
 alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will 
 be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, 
 wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again ? — I shall go 
 to him, but he will not return to me.” 
 
 The next year another son by Bathsheba was born to him, to 
 whom the name of Solomon was given. This child became a 
 special object of the Divine favour, and the prophet Nathan was 
 commanded to confer upon him the additional name of Jedidiah, 
 or “ beloved of the Lord and it was ere long made known to 
 David that this child was his destined successor in the throne, to 
 the exclusion of the elder sons, Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah. 
 
 The punishments by which the guilt of David was to be atoned, 
 did not involve failure in his attack upon the children of Ammon. 
 The measure of their guilt was full, and they were accordingly de- 
 livered into the hand of their enraged enemy, who in person con- 
 ducted the final assault upon their fortifications. Rabbah fell, and 
 its inhabitants were subjected to an execution more severe than was 
 common even in those times of barbarous warfare. The foolish 
 king Hanun seems to have been among the slain, for his crown 
 was among the spoils brought to Jerusalem, and was adopted as the 
 state crown of the kings of Israel. It was set with precious stones, 
 and is said to have weighed, or rather to have been worth, a talent 
 of gold. 
 
 The threatenings conveyed by the prophet, when sent by the 
 Almighty to admonish David, had pointed to evils which were to 
 arise in his own house, or to sufferings which he would have to 
 undergo through the vices and ambition of his own children. The 
 evils thus predicted, and which may be said to have embittered the 
 remainder of his days, were not long delayed. 
 
 Amnon, the eldest son of the king, entertained a criminal passion 
 for his half-sister Tamar, which, under the pretence of being sick, 
 and of requiring her presence to prepare for him some of those 
 dainty cakes which she knew well how to make, he found the means 
 of gratifying. This enormity gave deep offence to the damsel’s full 
 brother Absalom, who took her under his protection, and waited 
 quietly an opportunity of exacting an ample measure of vengeance 
 for this deep wrong, which the king himself suffered to pass with a 
 slight rebuke. Two years the fire of vengeance lay smouldering 
 in the breast of Absalom, and then the devouring flame burst forth 
 with terrible effect, when least suspected and when the ground of 
 offence appeared to be forgotten. Absalom had considerable pos- 
 sessions in flocks; and the sheep-shearing being a season of much 
 rejoicing among the Orientals, he then gave a grand entertainment 
 to his friends and relatives. To colour his design, he respectfully 
 invited his father to be present. The king declined to burden him 
 with such an expense; but being thus put off his guard, he cheer- 
 fully allowed Amnon to be of the party, and he accordingly 
 repaired, with the other sons of the king, to Absalom’s country-seat 
 at Ilazor. Now, the hour of long-cherished vengeance had arrived 
 to Absalom. He had tutored his servants in his horrid purpose, 
 enjoining them, on a given signal from him, to fall upon Amnon 
 and despatch him, assuring them of indemnity for the act. Accord- 
 ingly, in the height of the feast, when the company became warm 
 with wine, the fatal signal was given, and the attendants fell sud- 
 denly upon the first-born of David, and slew him on the spot. 
 
 2 II 2 
 
747.— Domestic and Ornamental Vessels of the Egyptians, collected from various Egyptian Sculptures. 
 Llestri Teuluaidd ac Addurniadol yr Aiphtiaid, wedi eu casglu o amryw Feddrodau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 748. Arab Huts and Sheep-cotes at Bushire. 
 
 Pebyll Arabaidd a Chorlanau Defaid yn Bushire. 
 
 
 236 
 
 749.— A Musical Procession. 
 Gorymdaith Gerddorol. 
 
 750. — David blessing the People. (Adapted from Poussin.) — 1 Chron. xvi. 
 Dafydd yn bendithio’r Bobl. (Wedi ei gyfaddasu o Poussin.) 
 
■ I . ■; 
 
 '*1' Beards - Tur “‘ u,b 8beik i *- Mameluke j e, Turkub Officer anaved; d, «, Turkiah Gentlemen, 
 arfau. «. She.e Tyrca.dd; 6. Mameluc; c, Swyddog Tyrcaidd edited*; d, e, Boneddwyr Aiph.add. 
 
 -JUie-' 
 
 "jU. iiuma of Kabbau of Ammon. 
 Adfeilion Kabbah Ammon. 
 
 2.i7 
 
238 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXX. 
 
 This put the other princes into such consternation, that, expecting 
 the same fate, they hastened to quit the house, and, mounting their 
 mules, fled to Jerusalem. The news that Absalom had slain all 
 tiie king’s sons, however, reached the city before them, and their 
 safe arrival was therefore hailed as a relief by the afflicted king. 
 
 Absalom, in dread of the king’s resentment, or rather, fearing 
 that public opinion might constrain his too fond father to bring 
 him to punishment, fled the country, and took refuge with his 
 mother’s father, Talmai, king of Geshur. He remained there three 
 years in voluntary exile ; in which time David’s grief for the loss of 
 Amnon abated, and his anger against Absalom began to cool. This 
 was the handsomest and most beloved of his sons ; and the paternal 
 heart longed to recall him from his banishment. But David was 
 afraid to do this by his own spontaneous act ; and he was therefore 
 glad when Joab, penetrating his wishes, employed a clever woman 
 of Tekoah to bring a pretended case before the throne for judgment, 
 the decision on which afforded her the desired occasion of declaring 
 that in this case he had in fact decided that of his own son, and pressed 
 him to “ recall his banished.” The king failed not to detect the hand 
 of Joab in this : and he sent for him, and told him that he granted 
 the required pardon, and authorized him to bring Absalom home. 
 On his return he was not admitted to the king’s presence, but was 
 directed to retire to his own house, and not to make his appear- 
 ance at court. Joab also, being satisfied with what he had done, 
 was content to leave the rest to the king, and ceased to pay any 
 particular attention to Absalom. This restraint was by no means 
 satisfactory to the impatient and restless temper of the prince, who 
 sent repeatedly for Joab, with a design of inducing him to intercede 
 with the king for a complete reconciliation. But Joab came not : 
 on which Absalom ordered his servants to set fire to a field of barley 
 belonging to him, and then he soon made his appearance to complain 
 of the wrong done to him. The prince soon pacified him, and en- 
 gaged him to use his influence on his behalf, declaring that if he 
 were judged worthy of death for what he had done, he would 
 sooner die at once, than live any longer under such restraint. 
 
 After having so long denied himself the solace of looking upon 
 and embracing a son still so dear to his heart, the king was without 
 much difficulty persuaded to admit him to his presence. Absalom, 
 on appearing once more before his father, “ bowed himself on his 
 face towards the ground before the king but David, like the 
 father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, no longer restrained the 
 fulness of his emotions, but bestowed the kiss of peace and of 
 intense paternal affection upon his handsomest and most engaging, 
 but most profligate son. 
 
 It appears that it was by this time fully known that David con- 
 sidered the succession to his throne to lie, by a Divine appointment 
 over which he had no control, with the son, now a boy, whom 
 Bathsheba had given to him. It was this fact probably which 
 influenced Absalom to the undertaking of seizing the throne in his 
 father’s life-time. He must have considered himself, and, as the 
 result shows, must have been regarded by the nation generally, as 
 the natural heir, on whom, but for this intervention, the crown 
 would in the course of nature have devolved upon the demise of 
 David. If this had not occurred, he would probably have been 
 contented to wait till that event took place : but now, every 
 year that passed diminished the chance of his being then able 
 to oppose any successful resistance to the nominated successor, 
 who in a few years more would be brought conspicuously before 
 the notice of the people as the chosen of God, and who would in that 
 character engage all the interests of the state in support of claims 
 so highly sanctioned, and by that time so generally acknowledged. 
 
 Under these views, the first care of Absalom, after his appear- 
 ance at court had restored him to liberty of action, was to ingratiate 
 himself with the people, and to let it appear that he regarded him- 
 self as the heir apparent, and claimed to be considered as such. He 
 therefore assumed much of state, and appeared in public with little 
 less than regal attendance. He had horses and chariots, and even 
 kept in his service fifty men to run before him. Having by 
 such means prepared the people to respect his claims, by showing 
 that they were by no means abandoned by himself, he was next at 
 much pains by his affable demeanour, and by hints of what he 
 would effect for the public good, to create and foster the vague 
 .expectation of benefit, which the people generally have always been 
 disposed to connect with the idea of a new reign and a young and 
 untried sovereign. Of David they knew the best and the worst ; but 
 Absalom they looked upon as a fountain of unknown blessings, 
 the depth of which appeared the greater from not having been 
 fathomed. 
 
 One of the chief functions of royalty in the East is, and always 
 has been, the administration of justice : and it seems that the repu- 
 
 tation of David was so high for wisdom and justice, that many causes 
 came before him which ought to have gone before the inferior tri- 
 bunals, or which were brought from such tribunals by appeal to 
 him. The number of these cases was greater than David could' 
 well dispose of in the time allowed to his judicial functions ; and 
 hence many of the suitors had to complain of what, in countries of 
 prompt adjudication, would be regarded as a delay of justice. 
 Absalom failed not to take advantage of this circumstance, which 
 seemed to afford almost the only tangible grievance of which he 
 could lay hold. He would therefore make his appearance in the early 
 morning, at which time the royal court of justice and of audience 
 was open, “ in the way of the gate ” to the palace, where he would, 
 with the most condescending affability, accost the suitors, inquire 
 into their cases ; and then would give vent to such phrases as “ See, 
 thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of 
 the king to hear thee.” And then he would add — “ O that 1 were 
 made judge in the land, that every man who hath any suit or cause 
 might come unto me, and I would do him justice.” Men who 
 were thus addressed, returned to their homes, and failed not to report 
 to their friends and neighbours the graciousness of the king’s son ; 
 the interest he had manifested in their affairs, and the wonderful 
 changes for the better which might be expected if ever he should 
 come to reign. Nor did they neglect to describe the great beauty 
 of Absalom’s person, which seems to have been the admiration of all 
 the nation ; for we are told that “ in all Israel there was none to be 
 so much praised as Absalom for his beauty ; from the sole of his 
 foot, even to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him.” 
 II is magnificent head of hair was a special object of wonder. 
 
 When Absalom deemed his measures ripe for execution, he 
 requested permission of his father to proceed to Hebron for the 
 purpose of fulfilling a religious vow which he pretended to have 
 made while at Geshur, while in fact that city had been fixed upon 
 as the centre of union for all the rebels. David, only too happy 
 to discern tokens of pious feeling and gratitude in his beloved son, 
 very cheerfully consented ; and Absalom thereupon proceeded to 
 Hebron, accompanied by a great number of persons of rank in 
 Jerusalem, whom he prevailed upon to be present at the sacred feast 
 which he purposed to celebrate at Hebron. These persons were 
 thus undesignedly led to countenance his rebellion ; and by involv- 
 ing them in the suspicion of treason, he doubtless intended to retain 
 them in his interest. Among the number was Ahithophel, onee the 
 counsellor and bosom friend of David ; but who now retired from 
 court and readily joined the rebels. This secession of Ahithophel 
 was a great blow to the cause of David, and as great a triumph in 
 that of Absalom ; for the reputation of Ahithophel stood so high 
 for political sagacity and discretion, that his words were regarded 
 as oracles throughout the land, and people could not but think that 
 a cause to which he lent his countenance must be likely to succeed. 
 On Absalom’s arrival at Hebron, the standard of rebellion was at 
 once raised ; he was proclaimed King of Israel, and messengers were 
 sent through the land to proclaim his accession to the throne, in 
 the words “ Absalom doth reign !” without expressly avowing the 
 treason, or intimating that David was dead, or had admitted him 
 to a share of his authority. Thus while David's loyal subjects 
 remained in uncertainty, Absalom’s party became more formidable 
 and increased daily in numbers. 
 
 When the afflicting tidings of his son’s rebellion, and the revolt 
 of the great body of the people, reached David, he resolved to quit 
 Jerusalem with his personal friends and adherents ; as he did not 
 deem the small force on which he could rely in this trying emer- 
 gency equal to the defence of the metropolis against the powerful 
 army of Absalom. He was accompanied in his flight by all his 
 body-guards, and also by the liigh-priests Zadok and Abiathar, and 
 by the Levites bearing the ark of the Covenant. But after having 
 crossed the brook Ividron, David prevailed upon the priests and 
 Levites to return to the city, charging Zadok however to send him 
 from time to time intelligence of the proceedings of the rebels by 
 his son Ahimaaz, and by Jonathan the son of Abiathar. The feel- 
 ing of David under this trying emergency is well shown by the 
 terms which he employed in giving these directions, which enable 
 us clearly to discern that he traced this calamity to its source, in 
 the judgment which had been pronounced against him in the matter 
 of Uriah : “ Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I find 
 favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show 
 me both it and his habitation : but if he thus say, I have no delight 
 in thee ; behold here I am, let him do with me as seemeth good unto 
 him.” After this the king went up the ascent of the Mount of 
 Olives, “ and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he 
 went barefoot, and all the people with him covered every man his 
 head, and they went up, weeping as they went.” 
 
LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 239 
 
 Sunday XXX.] 
 
 SUNDAY XXX.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HEX t lie wretched and mistaken trai- 
 tor Judas, who had been anxiously 
 watching the result of these pro- 
 ceedings, saw that Je>us was con- 
 demned — that Ids acknowledgment 
 that he was the Messiah had not 
 been attended with the expected ef- 
 fects — and that Christ himself had 
 not exerted the Divine powers which 
 rested in him for the maintenance of 
 his claim — he was conscience-stricken 
 and terrified at the part lie had himself taken. He went forthwith 
 to the council, and, casting down the silver he had received, cried, 
 “ I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood.” But 
 they dismissed him with the cool assurance that this was not their 
 affair, but his; upon which the miserable man went away and hanged 
 himself. The money which he had left with them could not be put 
 into the treasury, because it was “ the price of blood and they 
 therefore bought with it a field in ihe neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 
 called the Potter’s field, and set that field apart as a burying-place 
 for strangers. 
 
 Althousrh the Jewish council had in fact condemned Jesus to 
 death as a false prophet and a blasphemer, the sentence could not 
 be carried into effect without being confirmed by the Roman pro- 
 curator, the power of life and death having already been taken 
 away from the Jewish tribunals. The procurator was always pre- 
 sent in Jerusalem with a strong force at the Passover, to repress 
 any disturbances which might arise among the vast numbers of 
 people whom this festival never failed to bring to the holy city. 
 The actual procurator was named Pontius Pilate, who had already 
 held the office for six years, during which he had made himself so 
 odious to the Jews by his venality, exactions, and severities, that he 
 began to be alarmed lest they should forward complaints of his 
 government to Rome, and thus bring him into disgrace with the 
 Emperor Tiberius, who was known to be very attentive to com- 
 plaints against the provincial governors. He was, therefore, at this 
 time in a frame of mind not further to disoblige the Jewish autho- 
 rities, but rather to take the line of conduct which he supposed 
 would give them pleasure. To this person our Lord was hurried 
 away in the early morning, that his confirmation of the judgment 
 parsed by the Sanhedrim might be obtained. The public business 
 was transacted in the Praetoriutn, which had formerly been Herod’s 
 palace, and to this place our Saviour was taken. The Jews could 
 not enter the Praetorium, lest they should contract defilement in the 
 house of a heathen; and therefore Pilate caused his seat to beset in 
 the Gabbatlia, or Pavement, in front of the porch, where on such 
 occasions he was wont to hear the matters that were brought before 
 him. 
 
 In order the rather to determine the governor to confirm their 
 sentence, the accusers sank as much as possible the religious point, 
 which was uppermost in their own minds, and strove to give pro- 
 minence and colouring to the political aspect of the accusation, 
 alleging that Christ wished to excite a tumult, and to establish an 
 earthly kingdom. Pilate had already, without doubt, heard some 
 things respecting Jesus, for he would seem from the beginning to 
 have formed a definite view with regard to him, as being a well- 
 meaning enthusiast. Entertaining this view, and being well aware 
 how prone the Jewish ecclesiastics were to act upon the impulses of 
 private hatred, he commenced the proceedings by putting questions 
 with the view of ascertaining whether these fanatical persons had 
 really just cause for condemning to death the man they had brought 
 before him. The members of the Sanhedrim, who had been accus- 
 tomed to see the governor generally give a simple assent to their 
 decisions, were obviou>ly unprepared for any such investigation ; 
 and they answered, somewhat impertinently, “ If this fellow were 
 not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.” 
 Pilate, however, obviously considering that there was nothing in the 
 case to bring it under his jurisdiction, told them to go and put in 
 force the enactments of their own law against him — implying that 
 he considered the punishment of scourging, or of expulsion from 
 the synagogue, quite sufficient for the occasion. Their quiet 
 answer, “ It is not lawful for us to put any man to death,” gave 
 him very plainly to understand that no less punishment would satisfy 
 them. Then seeing clearly that Pilate, who had so often been com- 
 pelled to listen to their religious disputes, would not take up the 
 case on such grounds, they pressed more strongly the charge of 
 treason against the Roman government, alleging that he had for- 
 bidden tribute to be paid to Caesar, saying, that he “ himself was 
 
 Christ, a king.” On hearing this, Pilate went into the porch, where 
 Jesus stood in custody of the guard, and asked, “ Art thou the king 
 of the Jews?” To this Jesus, as if to ascertain the sense in which 
 he asked the question, whether in the earthly sense which it must 
 have had among the Romans, or in the higher spiritual sense which 
 it had or should have had among the Jews, asked, “ Sayest thou this 
 of thyself, or did others tell thee of it.” Pilate answered with some 
 heat, “ Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have 
 brought thee unto me : What hast thou done ?” — which seems to 
 imply that he desired his question to be understood in the sense 
 which the term commonly bore among the Jews. Jesus then 
 readily replied, that his kingdom was not of this world ; adding, that 
 he who had permitted himself to be apprehended by his enemies, 
 and brought before his tribunal without resistance, could have no 
 political designs. Still desirous of adhering to a point which was 
 necessary for a judicial opinion, without troubling himself with 
 other matters, Pilate asked, “ But dost thou still claim to be a king ?” 
 Jesus denied not that he was a king, but he guarded the admission 
 by intimating that his kingdom was not earthly — its subjects being- 
 such as sought after and loved the truth. Pilate, with all the con- 
 tempt of a superficial man of the world towards the higher objects 
 of existence, exclaimed, “ What is truth?” and, without waiting for 
 an answer, went out to the accusers, confirmed in his first notion, 
 that Christ was merely a well-meaning enthusiast, whom, as inno- 
 cent of the designs laid to his charge, he felt some sympathy for, 
 and wished to deliver from his malignant persecutors. 
 
 He declared to the excited assembly, that he could not find any 
 crime in him. On this the accusers vehemently answered, that he 
 had set the whole country in an uproar from Judea even unto 
 Galilee. The mention of Galilee, which was not in his jurisdiction, 
 but under the notorious Herod Antipas, suggested to Pilate a means 
 of getting rid of this affair — without, on the one hand, shedding inno- 
 cent blood, or, on the other, offending the Sanhedrim — by sending the 
 prisoner to Herod, who was then in Jerusalem. The doubts which 
 Herod entertained respecting Jesus have already been indicated. 
 He was therefore glad to have him before him, in the hope of seeing 
 some miracle performed by him. But the divine Saviour was not 
 minded to use his high powers for the mere purpose of gratifying 
 an idle curiosity. Not only so, but when he saw the empty and 
 vain reasons of the worldling before whom he stood, he remained 
 silent while questioned by him. Provoked at the indignity which 
 he fancied to be thus offered to him, the Tetrarch abandoned Jesus 
 to the scornful treatment of his soldiers. Clothed in a bright- 
 coloured robe, as a mark of contempt in regard to the Messianic 
 dignity which he assumed, Herod sent Christ back again to the 
 Roman governor. The latter, finding the case thus returned upon his 
 hands, had again to contend with the embarrassment between his fear 
 of man and his dislike to abandon a person so clearly innocent to 
 his fate. One further alternative then occurred to his mind. It 
 was a custom at this feast that the governor should set free a pri- 
 soner; and there happened to be then in prison a very notorious 
 robber and murderer named Barabbas, whom he supposed the Jews 
 would not willingly liberate. lie therefore proposed to them the 
 choice between this man and “ the king of the Jews,” as he sarcas- 
 tically denominated Jesus. The members of the Sanhedrim then 
 present forthwith exerted themselves to induce the crowd to call 
 for the release of Barabbas. It was at this stage of the proceed- 
 ings that Pilate received a message from his wife, entreating him 
 to deal justly with the person now before him, on whose account she 
 had been visited with painful dreams that night. This had some 
 effect upon Pilate, but not enough to induce him to stem that 
 strong current of popular clamour which, contrary to his expecta- 
 tion, was expressed in the loud cry of “ Not this man, but Bar- 
 abbas.” 
 
 Yet the governor was willing to try one last resource. He resolved 
 to scourge Jesus, in the hope that this might suffice to appease the 
 madness of the people ; and he had the more reason to hope this, 
 as the Roman scourging was very far more severe than the flagel- 
 lation in use among the Jews themselves. It was inflicted by a 
 scourge of thongs twisted together ; and sometimes, in order to 
 increase the severity of the lash, small cubic pieces of bone were 
 woven into it. It is described, by those who witnessed its effects, as 
 lacerating the flesh, and laying bare the veins and arteries. To this 
 terrible punishment was the Saviour of men subjected ; and the 
 soldiery, not satisfied with inflicting the agonies of the scourge, but 
 taking the hint from the treatment he had already received from 
 Herod, proceeded to invest him with the mock insignia of royalty. 
 They set a diadem of sharp thorns upon his head, they placed 
 | in his hands a reed for a sceptre, and they cast over his bleeding 
 shoulders a purple robe. 
 
757.— Christ Scourged. 
 Crist yn cael ei Fflaugellu. 
 
 758.— Roman Judgment Seat. (From an unique example at Wilton House.) 
 Gorsedd Bam Rufeinaidd. (0 esiampl hynod yD Wilton House.) 
 
 2 40 
 
 761.— Women at the Crucifixion. (West.) 
 Y Gwragedd with y Groes. 
 
 760.— Via Dolorosa. — Jerusalem. 
 
 759.— Ecce Homo. (Correggio.) 
 Wele’r Dyn. 
 
778. — Psalm cxxxvi. 
 
 779.— Psalm cxxxvli. 
 
 780.— Paalm cxxxvill. 
 
242 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXXT. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXI.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 UR task is now to inquire in what 
 the distinguishing characteristic of 
 Hebrew poetry is to be found, since it 
 does not consist in any of the cir- 
 cumstances which we have already 
 considered. 
 
 The grand and indeed the sole cha- 
 racteristic appears to be in what is 
 usually called, since Bishop Lowth, 
 Parallelism, and which De Wette 
 distinguishes as “ the rhythm of 
 thought.” This consists in a certain equality, resemblance, or 
 relationship between the members of each period; so that in two 
 lines or members of the same period, things shall answer to things, 
 and words to words, as if fitted to each other by a rule or measure. 
 It is in great measure owing to this form of composition that our 
 excellent authorized version, though executed in prose, retains so 
 much of a poetical cast ; for that version being strictly word for 
 word after the original, the form and order of the original sentences 
 are preserved, which by this artificial structure, this regular alter- 
 nation and correspondence of parts, makes the ear sensible of a 
 departure from the common style and tone of prose. 
 
 The origin of this form of poetical composition among the 
 Hebrews is deduced by Lowth and others from the manner in which 
 they were accustomed to chant their sacred hymns. They were 
 accompanied by music, and were alternately sung by opposite 
 choirs ; sometimes one choir performing the hymn itself, while the 
 other sung a particular distich, which was regularly interposed at 
 stated intervals. In this manner we learn that Moses with the 
 Israelites chanted the ode at the Red Sea (Exod. xv. 20, 21) ; and 
 the same order is observable in most of the Psalms which are 
 composed in this form. On some occasions, however, the musical 
 performance was differently conducted, one of the choirs singing a 
 single verse to the other, while the other constantly added a verse 
 in some respects correspondent. Of this the following distich is an 
 example : — 
 
 “ Sing praises unto Jehovah, for he is good : 
 
 Because his mercy endureth for ever ” (Ps. cxxxvi. 1), 
 which Ezra informs us (iii. 10, 11) was sung by the priests and 
 Levites in alternate choirs “ after the ordinance of David, king of 
 Israel as may indeed be collected from the 136th Psalm itself, in 
 which the latter verse, sung by the latter choir, forms a perpetual 
 epode. Of the same nature is the song of the women concerning 
 Saul and David (1 Sam. xviii. 7) ; and in the very same manner 
 does Isaiah describe the Seraphim as chanting the praises of 
 Jehovah : — “ they cried one to another,” that is, alternately, — 
 
 “ Holy, holy, holy Jehovah, God of hosts ! 
 
 The whole earth is filled with his glory !” (Isa. vi. 3.) 
 
 There is much, doubtless, in this ; but the following circum- 
 stances probably also contributed in some measure to the formation 
 of the rhythm of thought. The Hebrew, and whoever like him 
 stood at the point of intellectual culture where the mind is in a 
 condition to seize only certain general and simple relations of things, 
 was fond of conveying his ideas and feelings in short sentences ; 
 these sentences were connected with each other in a manner which 
 possesses but little variety ; usually according to the law of resem- 
 blance and contrast, and for the most part only in couplets, because 
 I lie combination of several sentences implies the notice of a greater 
 variety of relations. A peculiar fondness is manifested, in this 
 style of speaking, for tautology and comparison. There is usually 
 a want of versatility and variety of expression, and the desire to 
 express the idea fully, and to exhibit it in different points of view, 
 whence the same thing is often repeated in synonymous expressions 
 and figures. Now if a person who speaks in this way is desirous 
 of introducing into his discourse a regular rhythm, a proportion 
 between the several proportions presents itself as a ready expedient, 
 whose original law will be that of resemblance and contrast — 
 the law by which, in other cases, one proportion is ranged with 
 another. 
 
 After these remarks nothing will appear more natural than such 
 a form of discourse as that of Job vii. 1 : — 
 
 “ Ts there not a warfare for man upon the earth, 
 
 Are not his days like the days of an hireling? 
 
 As a servant he earnestly desireth the shadow, 
 
 As a hireling he looketh for the reward 
 
 where each thought is twice repeated, and after each repetition 
 there is a pause. 
 
 But the parallelism of members is of different kinds. The two 
 principal laws of resemblance, and contrast or antithesis, produce 
 what Lowth calls the synonymous and antithetic parallelism : a 
 third is founded upon a resemblance in the form of construction 
 and progression of the thoughts, and is denominated by the same 
 authority synthetic parallelism. This classification has been varied 
 by more recent writers, but we shall adhere to this arrangement, 
 noticing the suggested variations as we proceed. 
 
 Synonymous Parallelism. According to Lowth, parallel lines 
 synonymous are those which correspond to one another, by ex- 
 pressing the same sentiment in different, but nearly equivalent terms. 
 Bishop Jebb objects to this as not sufficiently discriminative, and 
 proposes the title of Cognate Parallels ; but a writer in the 
 ‘ British Critic,’ followed by the Rev. T. II. Horne, prefers the 
 title of Parallel Lines Gradational. It appears to us that Jebb’s 
 title is the best ; for while, on the one hand, the parallels are not 
 often sufficiently similar to be called “ synonymous,” on the other 
 the “ gradational ” parallel is not always very obvious in the 
 class of instances designated by it. It is rather a species of the 
 class than the class itself. 
 
 Sometimes the examples under this head are not only synony- 
 mous, but identical, or a repetition with suspense, as in Job 
 xviii. 13: — 
 
 “ There devours the strength of his skin, 
 
 There devours his strength — the first-born of death.” 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that where the cognate parallels are 
 multiplied, a gradual rise in the sense, completed to a sort of climax 
 in the concluding member, may be traced ; and the reader who 
 peruses the poetical parts of Scripture with this idea present to Ins 
 mind, will find a new and unexpected source of enjoyment in the 
 Divine Word opened to him. This will appear more or less in the 
 examples which we subjoin : — 
 
 “ O, the blessedness of the man 
 
 Who hath not walked in the counsel of I he ungodly ; 
 
 And hath not stood in the way of sinners ; 
 
 And hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.” (Ps. i. 1.) 
 
 “ The exclamation with which the Psalm opens,” says Bishop 
 Jebb, “ belongs equally to each line of the succeeding triplet. In 
 the triplet itself each line consists of three members ; and the 
 lines gradually rise one above the other, not merely in their 
 general sense, but specially throughout their corresponding members. 
 To walk implies no more than casual intercourse ; to statid, closer 
 intimacy ; to sit, fixed and permanent connection : — the counsel, the 
 ordinary place of meeting, a public resort ; the way, the select and 
 chosen foot-path ; the seat, the habitual and final resting-place : — 
 the ungodly, negatively wicked ; sinners , positively wicked ; the 
 scornful, scoffers at the very name or notion of piety or goodness.” 
 
 “ AVho shall ascend the mountain of Jehovah ? 
 
 Who shall stand within his holy place ? 
 
 The clean of hands, and the pure in heart.” (Ps. xxiv. 3, 4.) 
 
 Here, as the same elegant writer explains, “ To ascend marks 
 progress ; to stand, stability and confirmation ; the mountain of 
 Jehovah, the site of the divine sanctuary ; the holy place, the 
 sanctuary itself: and in correspondence with the advance in the 
 two lines which form the first couplet, there is an advance in the 
 members of the third line ; the clean of hands, and the pure in 
 heart : the clean of hands shall ascend to the mountain of Jehovah, 
 the pure in heart shall stand in his holy place.” 
 
 After these explanations the reader will find no difficulty in 
 tracing the cognate parallels gradually ascending, which occur in 
 the following further examples : — 
 
 “ Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, 
 
 Thy judgments like a great deep ; 
 
 Thou preservest man and beast, O Lord. (Ps. x\x\i. t ) 
 
 “ I am weary of my life, 
 
 Therefore will I give loose to my complaints, 
 
 Will speak the sorrows of my soul.” (Job x. 1.) 
 
 “ My life is spent in grief, 
 
 And my years in sighing ; 
 
 My strength faileth by means of my punishment, 
 
 And my bones are consumed.’ (Ps. xxxi. 1 1 ) 
 
Sunday XXX L] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 213 
 
 SUNDAY XXXI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 F Aliithophel’s presence with Absa- 
 lom at Ilebron, it seems not to have 
 been until this time that David be- 
 came aware. This news gave him much 
 concern, as he manifestly apprehended 
 more danger from his tried abilities 
 than from the number or courage of 
 Absalom’s followers. He implored 
 Gotl that “ his counsel might be turned 
 into foolishness,” or that his sagacious 
 advice might be despised as folly : and 
 all those who heard the supplication could not but be much im- 
 pressed with the manner in which it was speedily answered. 
 
 In his progress over the Mount of Olives, David was met by his 
 friend Hushai, the Archite, who came to offer him his service, and 
 to accompany him in his retreat. But the king informed him that 
 lie might serve his interests far better by remaining in Jerusalem, 
 and by there bringing his character and influence to bear upon the 
 progress of events. 
 
 The arrival of Absalom at Jerusalem soon followed the retreat 
 of David ; and there, by the advice of Ahithophel, he forthwith 
 took such measures as were calculated to assure his followers that 
 in drawing the sword he had cast away the scabbard, and that they 
 were not likely to be compromised by any future reconciliation 
 between him and his father. The next piece of advice tendered by 
 Ahithophel was not so well received — was indeed turned to foolish- 
 ness, according to the prayer of David. Aware that delay in 
 striking a decisive and final stroke must ruin the cause of Absalom, 
 by enabling the fugitive king to collect his resources, Ahithophel 
 urged in council the importance of sending an adequate force 
 in pursuit of David, while he and his attendants were weary and 
 dispirited, and unprepared for an attack. Hushai, however, who 
 had succeeded in insinuating himself into the confidence and 
 councils of Absalom, opposed this advice with great plausibility 
 and address. He described in very forcible language the valour 
 and military skill of David, the courage and exasperation of his 
 followers : “ Thou knowest,” he said, “ thy father and his men, that 
 they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear 
 robbed of her whelps in the field and he suggested the probability 
 that by some stratagem of war, in which lie was so well versed, 
 he would contrive to surprise and vanquish his assailants, unless 
 their numbers were overwhelmingly great. On these grounds he 
 advised Absalom to delay his operations, until he should be able to 
 collect so vast an army, consisting of the strength of the whole 
 nation, as would render resistance hopeless, and ensure the destruc- 
 tion of David and his adherents. This counsel seemed to Absa- 
 lom and all his advisers far preferable to that previously given, and 
 it was concluded that it should be followed. On this Ahithophel, 
 regarding the cause of Absalom as lost, retired to his own home, 
 and, after settling his affairs, deliberately committed suicide by 
 hanging himself ; and thus with his own hand inflicting the well- 
 deserved punishment of his treachery against one who had leaned 
 upon him with such entire confidence as David. 
 
 The delay thus secured afforded an opportunity of sending 
 Ahimaaz and Jonathan with the intelligence to David, accompanied 
 by the advice that he should not delay to provide for his own safety. 
 The young men accomplished this task not without danger and 
 difficulty. They were careful not to be seen in the city, and there- 
 fore remained outside the town, near the well of En-Iiogel, and to 
 prevent suspicion the message they were to bear was taken to them 
 by a girl. This communication, and their hasty departure imme- 
 diately after, was, however, noticed by a lad to whom these persons 
 were known, and he mentioned the circumstance in the town, on 
 which a hot pursuit after them was commenced, and they were 
 traced to a house in Bahurim, in which they had taken refuge to 
 prevent themselves from being captured. The woman of the house 
 had, however, hidden them in a dry cistern, which was in the court 
 of the house, and covered over the mouth with boards, on which she 
 laid out some corn. Absalom’s men searched the house in vain for 
 them, and then gave over the pursuit, and returned to Jerusalem. 
 The young men then quitted the cistern and hastened to David, 
 who delayed not to place the Jordan between himself and his 
 rebellious son, by proceeding to the tribes beyond the river, who, 
 not having been so open to the personal influence of Absalom, 
 were still firm in their allegiance. On his march to the river, on 
 passing Bahurim, a city belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, Shimei, 
 
 an inhabitant of the place, and a near relative of King Saul, pursued 
 David, imprecating curses upon him, accusing him in the most 
 violent manner of the destruction of the late king and his family, 
 and exulting that the day of vengeance was at length come. 
 David’s attendants were highly enraged at this insulting treatment 
 of their revered master, and Abishai, his nephew, implored per- 
 mission to put him to instant death. But the king refused, in 
 language which showed that he received all these wrongs in a 
 chastened spirit, and in that spirit consented to endure even the 
 rabid insults and abuse of foul-mouthed and evil-minded men. 
 “ Behold,” said the humbled king, “ my son, who came forth out of 
 my bowels, seeketh my life; how much more now may this 
 Benjamite do it ? Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord 
 hath bidden him.” 
 
 Having crossed the river, David proceeded to Mahanaim, in 
 which Ishbosheth had reigned, and determined to make that stronsr 
 city his head-quarters. He was well received in the country beyond 
 Jordan. Men strong in arms gathered around him from all parts 
 of Gilead and Bashan, and persons of substance hastened with 
 loyal alacrity to bring in supplies of provisions for the king and 
 his men. They “ brought beds, and basins, and earthern vessels, 
 and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and 
 lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and 
 cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, 
 to eat: for they said, the people is hungry and weary, and thirsty 
 in the wilderness.” 
 
 Absalom, on his part, acted with as much promptitude as was 
 compatible with the plan of operations which he had adopted. He 
 soon crossed the Jordan in pursuit of his father with a powerful 
 army, which was under the command of his cousin Amasa. The 
 delay, however, was fatal to his cause, as it enabled David to collect 
 a force capable of meeting him in the open field. The king expressed 
 an intention to command in person ; but the people would not hear 
 of this, and their declaration throws some light upon the fierce 
 spirit in which this most unnatural contest was carried on, and also 
 illustrates the strong feelings of personal attachment to the person 
 of a king which are usually brought out among a large body of Ids 
 subjects when he falls into adverse circumstances: — “Thou shalt 
 not go forth : for if we flee away, they will not care for us ; neither 
 if half of us die will they care for us ; but now thou art worth ten 
 thousand of us ; therefore now it is better that thou succour us out 
 of the city.” The king did not take the command of the army 
 in person, and thus one circumstance, which might have increased 
 the revolting effect of these most unnatural transactions, was 
 spared. The army was disposed in three divisions, under the com- 
 mand of Joab the commander-in-chief, his brother Abishai, and 
 Ittai the commander of the foreign soldiers in the pay of David. 
 
 As the king beheld his gallant army march forth to war against his 
 recreant son, the king and the father strove hard within him. The 
 father prevailed, and with visible emotion lie enjoined the com- 
 manders, in the hearing of the troops, to respect the life of “ the 
 young man, even Absalom, for his sake.” 
 
 This charge was, however, disregarded. Absalom’s army being 
 defeated by the better disciplined troops of David, and the skilful 
 generalship of Joab, Absalom, mounted on a swift mule, endeavoured 
 to save himself by flight ; but as he sped through the forest, a branch 
 of an oak caught the long and beautiful hair in which he gloried, 
 and his beast hastened on, leaving him suspended there. The 
 soldiers who saw him in this condition were mindful of the king’s 
 injunction, and feared to molest him. One of the men, however, 
 informed Joab of the circumstance: “ And why,” asked that stern 
 warrior, “didst thou not smite him to the ground? and I would 
 have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle.” The man 
 pleaded the king’s injunction, and remarked, with some truth, that 
 if he had slain Absalom, Joab himself would have left the conse- 
 quences at his door. The general then provided himself with three 
 darts, and, hastening to the spot where Absalom hung, smote him 
 through the heart. The body was then taken down, and cast into 
 a great pit in the forest, and a large heap, or tumulus, of stones 
 was piled over the spot. This kind of monument — which among 
 the Hebrews implied a kind of detestation of the act in which he 
 died (compare Josh. vii» 26 ), was not of the kind which Absalom 
 designed, and had indeed erected for himself. We are told that 
 “ he had in his life-time taken and reared up for himself a monu- 
 ment, which is in the king’s dale; for he said, I have no son to 
 keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his 
 own name ; and it is called unto this day Absalom’s monument.” 
 There is at the present day a sort of monument bearing this name 
 in the valley of. Jehoshaphat, east of Jerusalem, which is usually 
 supposed to be the “king’s dale” mentioned in this passage. Most 
 
 2 I 2 
 
244 , 
 
 T85. — An Arabian Council. (From Denon.) 
 Cynghor Arab&idd. (O Denon.) 
 
M LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 BKIYERSITY OF lUim 
 
 
 
 

789.— Absalom’* Tomb. Former appearance. (From Caaaaa.) 
 Beddrod Absalom. Yr ymddangosiad gynt, (O Castas.) 
 
 78G.— Ferry-boat on the Nile. 
 Ysgraff ar y Nil us. 
 
 787.— Syrian Bear. 
 Arth Syriaid^, 
 
 790. — Absalom’s Tomb. Present appearance. 
 Beddrod Absalom. Yr ymddangosiad presennoL 
 
 788.— Race of Messengers. 
 Rhedfa Cenhadon. 
 
 
 245 
 
24G 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXI. 
 
 old writers on Biblical Antiquities have concluded that this must be 
 the very monument which Absalom erected. But with the improved 
 knowledge of ancient architecture which we now possess, a single 
 glance at the engravings will suffice to show that this tomb or 
 monument belongs to a much later age. It is close by the lower 
 bridge over the Kidron, and is a square isolated block hewn out 
 from the rocky ledge, so as to have an area or niche around it. 
 The body of the monument is about twenty-four feet square, and 
 is ornamented on each side with two columns and two half-columns 
 of the Ionic order, with pilasters at the corners. The architrave 
 exhibits triglyphs and Doric ornaments. The elevation is about 
 eighteen or twenty feet to the top of the architrave, and thus far it 
 is wholly cut out from the rock ; but the adjacent rock not being 
 here sufficiently high to complete the design, the upper part of the 
 monument is carried up with mason- work of large stones. This 
 consists, first, of two square layers, of which the upper one is smaller 
 than the lower, and then a small dome or cupola runs up into a low 
 spire, which appears to have formerly spread out at the top like an 
 opening flame. This mason-work is about twenty feet high, giving 
 to the whole monument a height of about forty feet. There is a 
 small excavated chamber in the body of the tomb, into which a 
 hole had been broken through one of the sides several centuries 
 ago. A monument of this kind could not well be earlier, if so 
 early as the time of Herod the Great ; but the foreign ecclesi- 
 astics who crowded to Jerusalem in the fourth century found it 
 there, and naturally enough strove to associate it with some Scrip- 
 tural personage or incident. At first, however, it appears to have 
 been called the tomb of Isaiah ; and the first traveller who points to 
 it as the tomb of Absalom is the Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, in the 
 eleventh century, since which time the accounts of travellers have 
 been varying and inconsistent. We have the rather entered into 
 these particulars, as this, and one or two other monuments of the 
 same kind in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, have lately been 
 upheld by high architectural authority as examples of the high 
 condition of the arts in King David’s reign. 
 
 The deatli of Absalom put an end to all further hostilities ; the 
 royal troops were recalled, and the rebels dispersed to their own 
 homes. 
 
 David sat anxiously in the gate of Mahanaim, awaiting tidings 
 from the battle, and trembling for the fate of Absalom. At length 
 a swift runner was beheld approaching rapidly with tidings, and at 
 some distance behind him another. They had both been despatched 
 by Joab to announce the victory to the king. The first was Ahi- 
 maaz, the son of Zadok the priest ; and lie joyfully announced the 
 defeat of the king’s enemies: but when the king asked him, “Is 
 the young man Absalom safe ?” he evaded the answer; but Cushi, 
 the other messenger, who had now come up, replied to the same 
 question, “ The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise 
 against thee to seek thy hurt, be as that young man is.” Imme- 
 diately all the glory of that great victory, which restored to him a 
 throne, became dim in the eyes of David. He withdrew hastily to 
 the private chamber above the gate ; and as the weary soldiers 
 returned to the town, all the joy of their triumph was chilled by the 
 bitter wail of the king : “ 0, my son Absalom, my sou, my son 
 Absalom! Would to God I had died for thee ; 0, Absalom my 
 son, my son ! ” 
 
 This sorrowing retirement of the king, at a moment so critical, 
 might have been attended with bad effects, had not the cool 
 udgment of Joab interposed. He went up to David, and, with- 
 out much heed of his feelings, plainly told him that his regal 
 duty required him to show himself with a cheerful and thankful 
 aspect before men who had hazarded their lives for his sake ; 
 and not leave them to conclude that he set no value upon their 
 great services, but “ loved his enemies and hated his friends.” 
 
 “ I perceive,” said Joab, very bluntly, “ that if Absalom had lived, 
 and all we had died this day, it had pleased thee well.” And he 
 assured him that unless he came forth, all his adherents would 
 abandon him before the next morning; “and that,” he added, 
 
 “ will be worse for thee than all the evil that befel thee from thy 
 youth until now.” 
 
 The king, yielding to this influence, mastered his strong emo- 
 tions and went forth to re-animate and encourage the men by his 
 presence. 
 
 As the tribes generally had indicated a marked preference of 
 Absalom, and had received him as king, David deemed it prudent 
 to remain at Mahanaim until he should be publicly and formally 
 invited by his subjects to resume the reins of government. By 
 hastening at once to Jerusalem, it might have seemed as if he 
 desired to reign by force of arms, against the will of his people: 
 and tJiis impression on their part could not have been favourable to 
 
 his future influence and the permanence of his dynasty. The men 
 of Israel were in general disposed to recall the king immediately 
 after the defeat of Absalom ; but a lack of unanimity prevented 
 them for some time from inviting him to return, and they also 
 appear to have been much engaged in disputes respecting the party 
 to whom the blame of the late rebellion more particularly attached, 
 as all were now anxious to excuse themselves from having taken a 
 foremost part in unsuccessful treason. 
 
 When David was informed of this condition of affairs, he ex- 
 pressed much concern that his own tribe of Judah did not manifest 
 more alacrity in his behalf: and he authorised the high-priests 
 Zadok and Abiathar to impart his sentiments in the matter to the 
 chief men of the tribe, to assure them of his abiding attachment 
 and to excite them to take an active part in effecting the kino-’s 
 return to his capital. 
 
 The policy of this separate appeal to the peculiar attachment of 
 his own tribe, on the part of one who desired to reign over all the 
 tribes as a united nation, seems more than questionable ; but at this 
 distance of time and place, we are not well competent to form a 
 judgment respecting the considerations which may have determined 
 the king to regard the danger of this course — which he could not 
 have overlooked — as less than that of his recall being any longer 
 delayed. This movement was so far successful as to induce the 
 tribe of Judah to take the lead in recalling David to his govern- 
 ment, and a deputation of the elders and principal men proceeded 
 to Mahanaim to conduct the king back to Jerusalem. 
 
 On the return “ a ferry-boat ” was employed in conveying the 
 king’s household and baggage across the river Jordan ; being the 
 first and only time that we read of a ferry-boat being employed 
 upon that river. It is now usually crossed on horseback in certain 
 places known to be fordable ; but it would seem that some kind of 
 boat or raft was employed, in part at least, before the use of horses 
 had become general among the Hebrews, which was far from being 
 the case in the time of David. It is impossible to form any notion 
 of such vessels but by reference to those which were employed 
 under similar circumstances by the ancient Orientals, by compa- 
 rison with those which now exist under similar conditions. For 
 such reference and comparison adequate materials will be found in 
 the engravings which accompany this page. 
 
 On the other side the river, the king was met by a body of elders 
 from the other tribes of Israel, who seem to have been on the way 
 to Mahanaim for the purpose of inviting his return. That David 
 had taken an ill-considered step by accepting, or rather soliciting, 
 a separate recall from his own tribe, is shown by what followed ; 
 for the elders of Israel, finding that his return had already been 
 effected by the men of Judah without consulting them, waxed warm 
 at the neglect, and at what seemed to them an underhand attempt 
 of Judah to establish a peculiar claim on the king’s favour. This 
 was probably true, as neither party had forgotten or were likely 
 to forget that David had for several years been king over Judah 
 alone. Both parties professed to be actuated by zeal for the king, 
 but were in reality influenced by the most rancorous jealousy of 
 each other. The veil was soon torn aside ; for the contest grew so 
 hot, that at length when one man, bolder than the rest, raised the 
 well known cry of revolt — “ To your tents, O Israel !” the men of 
 Israel followed him, and renounced their allegiance to David. This 
 man was Sheba the son of Birchi, who immediately departed with 
 his adherents to that part of the country in which the dislike to the 
 predominance of Judah was supposed to be the strongest. 
 
 This defection of the other tribes, or rather, of a body of active 
 malcontents among them, did but the more endear the king to the 
 men of Judah, by whom he was conducted to Jerusalem. The first 
 act of David on his return savours more of policy, than of grati- 
 tude to one who, great as were Ids former crimes, had given no 
 recent cause of offence, but had evinced the strongest fidelity and 
 had rendered the most signal services in a time of general defection 
 and treachery. Joab he removed from the command of the army, 
 and bestowed it upon Amasa, who had commanded the army of 
 Absalom. The fact was, probably, that David deemed it good 
 policy to gain over one who might be supposed to have much 
 influence with the recreant tribes, who also might be the more 
 easily brought to reason, when they saw at the head of David’s 
 army one who had lately been their own leader, and who could 
 not be suspected of any predisposition to act with undue severity 
 against them. The king was also probably not reluctant to find 
 a plausible excuse for wreaking his resentment upon Joab for 
 slaying Absalom, contrary to his express orders. He was not 
 the less likely to remember this unforgivingly from his being 
 unable publicly to resent an act which most men would be dis- 
 posed to regard as a benefit conferred upon him. 
 
Sunday XXXI.] 
 
 LIFE OF CIIRIST. 
 
 247 
 
 SUNDAY XXXI— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HEN they scornfully greeted him 
 with the salutation which was com- 
 monly bestowed upon the emperor, and 
 smote him with their rods upon the 
 head, causing the thorny diadem to 
 tear his sacred brows. At length 
 Pilate bade them give over their cruel 
 sport, and bring fortli their prisoner 
 to the people. Pilate preceded them, 
 and said to the Sanhedrim, “ I have 
 brought him forth that ye may know 
 I find no fault in him ; and pointing to the pale and bleeding 
 figure which then appeared arrayed in the robes of mockery, he 
 cried, “ Behold the man !” And were they not touched with 
 compassion now ? Was not their vengeance now satisfied ? No : 
 they no sooner saw him, than they cried with one voice, “ Crucify 
 him ! crucify him !” 
 
 Pilate seems to have been appalled at the mad fury which he 
 witnessed ; and he told them to crucify him themselves, for he 
 would himself have no hand in an act so unrighteous. This, how- 
 ever, conveyed no formal permission ; and, accordingly, the Jews 
 proceeded to urge their demand for the death of Christ as a matter 
 of right. At first they had not wished to found their accusation 
 against Jesus upon his alleged violation of their religious laws, 
 concluding that they might bring the affair more quickly to a close 
 by investing it with a political aspect. But when they saw that 
 the governor did not take it up as they had expected, they reverted 
 to their religious accusation. They cried, “ We have a law, and 
 by our law he ought to die, because he hath made himself the Son 
 of God.” When Pilate heard this, he feared still more. He 
 had already observed something extraordinary in the conduct of 
 Christ: and when to this was added the dream of his wife, a 
 sort of shuddering apprehension came upon him, that there might 
 possibly be something supernatural in this Jesus, and that he might 
 be the son of some heathen god. He therefore turned to him and 
 asked, “ Whence art thou ?” He already knew he was from Galilee, 
 and hence the question was, whether he claimed to derive his origin 
 from heaven. Knowing that a further discussion would only serve 
 to gratify the vain and idle curiosity of Pilate, Jesus was silent. 
 Thus left to his own impressions and presentiments, which had 
 become painful, the governor endeavoured to compel an answer by 
 threats. “ Speakest thou not to me? Knowestthou not that I have 
 power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee ?” Per- 
 ceiving the inward anguish which Pilate felt in his judgment 
 concerning him, Jesus strengthened this impression by awakening 
 in him the consciousness of his dependence upon a higher power ; 
 but knowing far better than his judge the awful significance 
 attached to his judgment upon the Son of God, he added that the 
 great guilt contained in it attached less to him than to the accusers. 
 The more this expression of the divine Saviour showed that he was 
 free from every feeling of personal hostility, the more heavily did 
 his case press upon the mind of Pilate, and he wished with the 
 more sincerity to be able to release him. He seems to have 
 expressed himself to this effect to the people. They were therefore 
 full of fury at the prospect that their prey might be torn from 
 them ; and delayed not to discharge the last arrow in their quiver ; 
 and it w r as effectual. They had recourse to the means which they 
 knew would work most effectually upon Pilate. “ If thou lettest 
 this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend. Whosoever maketh 
 himself a king, speaketh against Caesar.” Knowing how easy it 
 was to awaken suspicion in the mind of the Emperor Tiberius 
 against the governors of distant provinces, this expression was full 
 of terror to Pilate, who was conscious of acts in his government 
 which would not bear examination, if the Jews should be so far 
 influenced against him as to denounce him to the emperor. Regard 
 for his own personal safety prevailed over every higher consideration, 
 and he sought to suppress the loud voice of conscience within. He 
 ascended the judgment-seat, and, causing Jesus once more to be led 
 out before the palace, said sarcastically, “ Behold your king !” 
 Then arose the rabid cry of “ Crucify him ! crucify him !” But 
 Pilate asked, “ Shall I crucify your king?” To which the Jews, 
 who had in fact no desire more intense than to separate themselves 
 from the Romans, answered by hypocritically pretending the 
 utmost attachment to them : “ We have no king but Cresar.” Still 
 torn between the reproofs of his conscience and the fear of man, 
 the governor sought to allay the former by calling for water in 
 
 which he washed his hands before the multitude, intending by this 
 symbolical act to express that he wished to have no part in this 
 unrighteous condemnation : “ I am innocent,” he said, “ of the 
 blood of this righteous person : see ye to it.” With one voice 
 they answered, “His blood be on us and on our children !” — a most 
 fatal imprecation, and most dreadfully fulfilled upon them at the 
 siege and destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 The struggle was now over ; the deep malice of the many had 
 prevailed, and the judge had abandoned the Redeemer to their 
 rage, while believing him to be innocent. The place of execution 
 was near the city. In other cases it was not usual among the Jews 
 to carry into effect sentences of execution immediately after they 
 were pronounced ; but in this case the popular madness would 
 suffer no procrastination. Having been condemned by the Roman 
 tribunal, the execution itself took place after the Roman manner, 
 and by the hands of Roman soldiers. Under the Jewish law the 
 death would have been by stoning, but Jesus himself had long 
 before predicted that the lingering torture of crucifixion was the 
 death appointed for him. 
 
 Among the Romans it was common for the condemned to carry 
 their own cross to the place of execution. Jesus carried his 
 through the city itself ; but having been exhausted by his previous 
 sufferings, when he arrived at the gate the soldiers placed the cross 
 upon a certain Jew of Cyrene, named Simon, who had probably 
 manifested some sympathy for Christ, and who with his family was 
 attached to him. As the sad procession thus moved on, it was 
 followed by a large number of people, particularly women, who, in 
 the fulness of their sympathy, wept and lamented for him greatly. 
 Touched by their grief, the Saviour turned and said to them, 
 “ Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for your- 
 selves and for your children !” which he said in reference to the 
 calamities which, as he had already declared, were to befall the city 
 and nation before that generation had passed away. 
 
 On arriving at a place called Calvary, otherwise Golgotha 
 (“ skull-place ”), the cross was planted in the earth. The form of 
 the cross and the mode of execution upon it are too well, and 
 in the main correctly, known from paintings to require particular 
 description. It may suffice to mention that the cross consisted of 
 a piece of wood erected perpendicularly, and intersected by another 
 at right angles near the top, so as to resemble the letter T. There 
 is no mention in ancient writers of anything on which the feet 
 of the crucified person rested ; but near the middle of the perpen- 
 dicular beam there projected a piece of wood, on which he partly 
 sat, and which served as a support to the body, the weight of which 
 might otherwise have torn the hands from the nails driven through 
 them. The naked victim was first elevated to this small projection, 
 and the hands were then tied with a rope to the transverse beam, 
 and nailed through the palm. The feet were then nailed to the 
 perpendicular beam, not, as some allege, by one nail through both 
 feet, but by two nails or spikes being driven one through each foot. 
 
 Thus was he “ who was wounded for our transgressions and 
 bruised for our iniquities ” treated : thus did he suffer upon whom 
 was the “ chastisement of our peace.” 
 
 The Romans were in the habit of affixing to all criminals a roll 
 containing a record of the crimes for which they were punished, 
 which was by them denominated titulus (title). Pilate manifested 
 his sarcastic contempt of the Jews by causing the title upon the 
 cross of Jesus to bear the inscription of “ Jesus of Nazareth, 
 the King of the Jews,” in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Sorely 
 annoyed at this, the Jews endeavoured to get it altered to “ Jesus 
 of Nazareth, who said, I am the King of the Jews;” but the 
 governor seems to have found enjoyment in their mortification, and 
 sent them away with the answer, “ AVhat I have written I have 
 written.” 
 
 Those who were condemned to the cross were crucified naked ; 
 and their clothes always became the portion of the soldiers to whom 
 the completion of the punishment was intrusted. 
 
 It would appear that our Lord’s Crucifixion was performed by 
 four soldiers, and they divided his clothes among them ; but finding 
 the outer garment woven of one piece, and consequently without 
 seam, they cast lots for the possession of it, thus unwittingly ful- 
 filling a prophecy of David in one of the Messianic Psalms (xxii. 
 19): — “ They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture 
 they did cast lots.” 
 
 Many Jewish women, who had attached themselves to Christ as 
 his disciples, and had followed him from Galilee, were now, in 
 this hour of agony, assembled around the cross of their beloved 
 teacher. Among them were the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, 
 the sisters of Jesus’s mother, the wife of Cleopes, and Salome, the 
 mother of John the Evangelist 
 
‘ 248 ' 
 
 793.— Christ Crucified. (Guido.) 
 Crist Croeshoeliedig. 
 
 791.— Bearing the Cross. 
 Dwyn y Groes. 
 
 794. — Penitence. 
 Edifeirwch. 
 
 792.— The Crucifixion. 
 Y Croeahoeliad. 
 

 
 I 
 
 795.— Pinus Bylvestris. 
 Ffynidwydd Gwyllt. 
 
250 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXXII. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXII.— THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 Tyke. 
 
 REAT is the renown of Tyre, 
 “ whose merchants were princes, and 
 whose traffickers were among the 
 honourable of the earth.” Its 
 antiquity, manufactures, commerce, 
 colonies, and its connection with 
 remote nations unknown, or known 
 but faintly, to the ancients, are all 
 points of as high interest as any 
 which former times can offer to 
 modern investigation. The reader of the Bible has also his own 
 peculiar interest in this city, from the frequency with which it is 
 mentioned in the Sacred books, from the amicable relations which 
 subsisted between the kings of Tyre and some of the greatest of the 
 kings of Israel, from the remarkable results of these relations in the 
 time of Solomon, and, more than all, from the prophecies of the 
 overthrow of this great city, and the exact fufilment which these 
 prophecies have received. Ezekiel, in particular, devotes two 
 entire chapters (xxvi., xxvii.) to this city, which have always been 
 regarded as among the most remarkable documents which the 
 ancient world has left to us. The first describes the future history 
 of Tyre, which was afterwards accomplished to the very letter; the 
 other gives a minute and most interesting account of the commerce 
 of Tyre, and of the commodities — natural products and manufac- 
 tures — which were brought by different nations to its great markets 
 and fairs. Into the particulars contained in the first of these 
 chapters we shall not enter, as all the attention we can afford to the 
 subject will be sufficiently occupied by the latter of them. 
 
 In the celebrated 27th chapter, so valuable for the early history 
 of national intercourse, we have a geographical view of commerce, 
 so precise that one might almost fancy the prophet had a map of the 
 world before him. It relates, in a particular manner, to the land 
 trade of Tyre, at that time threatened with destruction by the military 
 expeditions of Nebuchadnezzar. This sketch affords a most inte- 
 resting picture of the international commerce of Inner Asia, which 
 enlarges our narrow ideas of ancient trade by showing that it con- 
 nected nearly all the countries of the world as then known. 
 
 The prophet, however, first disposes of the maritime commerce, 
 in a brief but graphic sketch of the Phoenician shipping, leaving the 
 employment of this shipping to be implied from its prominence in the 
 account. It is not our intention to go through the whole of the 
 details which the chapter, or which even this part of it, contains ; 
 but we may select some of the particulars as suitable subjects for 
 remark or illustration. 
 
 In verse 5 the boards of the ships are described as being made of 
 “ fir-trees of Senir.” Senir was the Phoenician name of that part 
 of Mount Lebanon which the Hebrews called Mount Ilermon. The 
 wood of fir-trees does not now appear very suitable for building 
 ships; but it might be very well suited for the ancient navigation, 
 which was less daring, and needed not vessels of such strong build 
 as those which the severer exigencies of modern navigation require. 
 It is probable, however, that the prophet means to describe the 
 decks of the Tyrian ships as being floored with fir, and in that 
 case there is no longer the shade of a difficulty, as our own vessels 
 are to this day floored with deal. As there are other Scriptural 
 uses to which the wood of fir-trees was applied, such as the making 
 of musical instruments (1 Sam. vi. 5), and, along with cedar, in the 
 building of the Temple of Jerusalem, and of the palaces of David 
 and Solomon, it is of some interest to know what species were 
 employed. To this end we should inquire what fir-trees grow in 
 Palestine and Lebanon. In Palestine itself there can be no expec- 
 tation of finding fir-trees abundant ; but in the hills of Bashan and 
 Gilead they are common, and the species is the Scotch fir ( Pint/s 
 sylvestris ) ; at least this is the only species which has been named 
 by travellers. Of the firs of Lebanon and the north of Syria we 
 have not much information. Dr. Bowring gives a curious account 
 of timber-cutting in the mountains from which the Tyrians obtained 
 their supplies. Among the timbers he mentions “ white and yellow 
 pine, of lengths from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, and 
 of dimensions, to take a square, of from twenty-four to twenty-five 
 inches.” He adds, that “ the pine is mostly knotty, but very full 
 of turpentine.” This was in a part of the mountains where the trees 
 are of large growth. In another part they are not above thirty feet 
 long by about fifteen to sixteen inches in the square. These trees, 
 so different in size, we may presume to have been of different species, 
 and it may be regretted that they were not distinguished by Dr. I 
 
 Bowring. We know, however, that, besides the Scotch fir already 
 mentioned, the Aleppo pine-tree ( Pinus Halepensis ), and the Stone 
 pine-tree (Pinus pmea), are among the firs of Syria, and are probably 
 comprehended among those mentioned in Scripture. The Aleppo 
 species is a native of Syria, and was reared in this country from seeds 
 obtained by Miller from the British consul at Aleppo. The Norway 
 fir ( Pinus abies), which Lady Callcott and others regard as the 
 “ fir ” of Scripture, docs not exist, and could not well be expected 
 to exist, in Palestine or Lebanon. 
 
 It may be right to add that many biblical scholars suppose that 
 the word translated “ fir ” really meant the cypress-tree. The Seventy 
 translators of the Old Testament into Greek were of that opinion, 
 and it would seem as if they ought to have had the means of knowing 
 what the word signified. It is also certain that the cypress was 
 employed anciently for most of the purposes which the Scripture 
 specifies. Firs are, however, much more abundant in Syria than 
 the cypress ; and the question is altogether so nicely balanced, that 
 it is difficult to say on which side the weight of evidence preponde- 
 rates. 
 
 The prophet proceeds to inform us that the masts of the Phoenician 
 vessels were of “ cedar.” After all that has been said to the contrary, 
 we have no doubt in our mind that the tree now commonly called 
 and well known in England as, the “ cedar of Lebanon,” is the 
 Pres of the Hebrew writers. Indeed, the allusion of the Psalmist 
 of spreading abroad like the ercs, is, as every one knows, singularly 
 applicable to the “ cedar of Lebanon,” which is remarkable for the 
 wide spread of its branches, rather than for its height. Had Milton 
 known this tree as we do, he would scarcely have spoken of its 
 “ Insuperable height of loftiest shade.” 
 
 But it had not in his time been introduced into this country, 
 where we have now probably more cedars than are left in Lebanon. 
 They were first raised from seed in the Botanical Garden at Chelsea, 
 1685 ; but it is not known if this was the first act of culture in 
 England, or where or by whom they were introduced. It did not 
 exist in the country in 1664, when Evelyn wrote his 1 Sylva,’ and it 
 is very possible that the warm manner in which the tree is mentioned 
 by this writer led to its introduction. lie says that he had himself 
 received cones and seeds from Lebanon, and knew not why cedars 
 should not thrive in this country, but for want of industry and 
 trial. 
 
 In Lebanon the most celebrated grove of cedars is near the village 
 of Eden ; and it is remarkable that Ezekiel, in another text (xxxi. 
 16), mentions the trees of Eden as the choicest in Lebanon. The 
 inhabitants of the mountain devoutly believe that this is the grove 
 from which Solomon drew the cedar wood for the Temple, and 
 that the few large and ancient trees which still remain were in 
 being in his time. They have also a superstitious notion that they 
 cannot be counted, as every person gives a different number who 
 sees them. This is a fact, however accounted for, as no two 
 travellers agree in the number — probably from interpreting 
 differently the term “ largest ” in counting them up. The native 
 Christians of the mountain, every year upon the anniversary of the 
 Transfiguration, perform mass upon a homely stone altar, reared 
 under the most venerable of the trees. 
 
 With respect to the employment of cedar-trees for masts, this 
 may be taken to imply the large size of the Tyrian ships ; for we 
 seldom read of their being used but in ships of unusual bulk. The 
 Romans usually employed firs ; but the enormous ship which 
 conveyed the obelisk of the Vatican from Egypt to Rome had for 
 her mast a very tall and large cedar, cut in the woods of Cyprus. 
 The ship itself was sunk in the harbour of Ostia, by order of Cali- 
 gula, to serve as a foundation for a pier and some towers. The 
 main-mast in the galley of King Demetrius was also made of a cedar 
 felled in Cyprus, one hundred and eighty feet long and eighteen in 
 diameter. 
 
 The negotiations of the King of Tyre with David and Solomon, 
 for the cutting down of the timber and the carriage of it when cut, 
 teach us that at that period cedar was used generally, in the sur- 
 rounding countries, in the construction of temples and palaces ; as 
 there is no appearance of anything out of the ordinary course of 
 business in the agreement. Nothing could be fitter for the purpose 
 required than cedar ■wood. Its size and straightness, and above all 
 its durability, were most desirable for buildings that were to 
 last. The beauty of the wood, the high polish of which it was 
 susceptible, and its fragrance, also recommended it equally for the 
 temple and the palace ; and that for centuries it continued to be 
 sought for such purposes, we find from Jeremiah’s denunciation of 
 woe to the rich, who built themselves houses with large rooms, and 
 made wide their windows, and with ceilings of cedar, and painted 
 with vermilion. 
 
Sunday XXXII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 251 
 
 SUNDAY XXXII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 N his first appointment the new 
 commander was employed against the 
 rebel Sheba. David, aware of the 
 importance of prompt and decisive 
 measures, directed him to get an ade- 
 quate force together in three days for 
 this service. Amasa exceeded the 
 time, probably from the partiality of 
 the men for their old commander, and 
 from their dislike to the leadership of 
 one against whom they had lately 
 fought. Annoyed at this delay, David directed Abishai, the brother 
 of Joab, to take the field at once with the household troops, which 
 were kept in constant service at Jerusalem. This he soon did, and 
 Joab accompanied him as a volunteer. They were, halting at 
 Gibeon when Amasa joined them with his new levies, and at once 
 assumed the command of the entire force. This was too much for 
 the very small patience of Joab ; who at once determined to rid 
 himself of the man who had thus crossed his path. He set his sword 
 loosely in its scabbard, in such a way that as he drew nigh to pay 
 his respects to Amasa, it fell out upon the ground. lie hastily took 
 up the weapon and advanced with it naked in his hand, in so easy 
 and natural a manner, that the slightest suspicion of his design 
 crossed not the general’s mind. But when Joab came up, lie took 
 hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss it — a usual mark of respect — and in 
 the same instant smote him through the body with his sword. He 
 then immediately took the command, and hastened in pursuit of 
 Sheba. lie followed him through different tribes; and was joined 
 by many of the men of Israel, who began to foresee the abortive 
 result of this rebellion. Sheba was at length shut up in the city of 
 Abel Beth-maachah ; and the operations of Joab against the place 
 soon assumed an aspect so formidable, that the inhabitants became 
 alarmed, and, by throwing Sheba’s head over the wall to Joab, put 
 an end to the war, and to their own danger. As before this the 
 rebel had been abandoned by the great body of his followers, the 
 revolt of the tribes was understood to have ended, without any for- 
 mal act of submission on their part, which it would have been im- 
 prudent to exact : and Joab returned to Jerusalem, retaining the 
 command of the army, of which David dared not to dispossess him, 
 or to call him to account for the murder of Amasa. 
 
 Towards the latter end of David’s reign, the Philistines, who had 
 frequently been vanquished, but not entirely subjugated, renewed 
 the war against Israel ; and gave David and his troops frequent 
 opportunities of signalizing their valour. Several notable and 
 chivalrous exploits are recorded. At one time the Philistines filled 
 the valley which lay between the king’s camp and Bethlehem ; when 
 a fit of longing seized the monarch for a drink of the water from 
 the well near the gate of his native town. Instantly three heroic 
 men hastened through all obstacles to gratify the wish of their 
 beloved king. They forced their way through the Philistine host, 
 and returned to lay at the feet of David their hard-earned prize. 
 When David learned at what hazard it had been procured, it 
 assumed in his eyes a character too costly and precious for common 
 use, and, notwithstanding his eager thirst, he poured it out as a liba- 
 tion before Jehovah. In one of the engagements with the enemy, 
 Abishai succeeded, at great personal hazard, in saving the king 
 from imminent danger of being slain by Ishbi-benob, a son of 
 Goliath, who, like his father, was of a most gigantic stature. So 
 strong was the impression which the danger of the king on this 
 occasion made upon “ the men of David,” that they vowed — “ Thou 
 shalt no more go out with us to battle, that thou quench not the 
 light of Israel.” 
 
 In all the battles fought during this war the Philistines were 
 defeated, until at length their strength was so utterly exhausted, 
 that they were constrained to submit to the yoke of Israel. This 
 subjugation of his old, his last, and his most, inveterate enemies was 
 not without an ill effect upon the mind of David. He became un- 
 duly elated with his successes, his power, and the extent of his 
 dominion ; and he conceived the idea of ascertaining, more accu- 
 rately than he had yet done, the resources of his kingdom, and the 
 number of the people capable of bearing arms, with an obvious view 
 to larger operations and more extended conquests ; and he gave 
 orders to Joab to see this intention executed. In this his views 
 were so obviously dictated by a miserable ambition, and were in 
 such direct contravention to the Divine will concerning the chosen 
 people, that even Joab was struck with dismay, and earnestly 
 remonstrated against this undertaking, apprehending lest the Lord 
 
 I should not fail, by some signal infliction, to manifest his high dis- 
 pleasure thereat. But the king was inflexible, and Joab proceeded 
 with great reluctance to execute the task imposed upon him, by 
 first numbering the inhabitants of the country east of the Jordan. 
 Thence they proceeded to the northern part of the land ; and pass- 
 ing through all the districts west of the Jordan, they numbered all 
 the men capable of bearing arms. They were found to amount to 
 eight hundred thousand, exclusive of the tribe of Judah, which alone 
 numbered five hundred thousand. When David received the 
 account of these numbers, his eyes were suddenly opened to tiie 
 enormity of his offence. “ His heart smote him he was sensible 
 that he had incurred the Divine displeasure, and implored most 
 earnestly to be forgiven. In that very hour he was informed by 
 the prophet Gad that the punishment which he so much dreaded 
 lay at his door, and the only grace that could be allowed to him 
 was the choice of three corrective punishments — seven years of 
 famine, three months of defeat, or three days of pestilence. He 
 chose the latter, piously observing that it was better to fall into 
 the hands of God than those of man. Accordingly the Lord 
 sent upon Israel a grievous pestilence, which destroyed not fewer 
 than seventy thousand in different parts of the land. While this 
 terrible destruction was still in progress, David, shocked beyond 
 measure and deeply moved, interceded with vehement importunity 
 for his people, and prayed that they might be spared, and the mea- 
 sure of the Divine wrath completed upon him and upon his house : 
 his intercession prevailed, and the plague was stayed from Israel. 
 
 Not long after this event, the health of David began to break 
 up, the infirmities of age grew fast upon him, and it became mani- 
 fest that his days were drawing to their close. Under these circum- 
 stances the eldest surviving son of David, named Adonijah, deemed 
 the time was come in which he might, without injury to his father, 
 assert his claim of birth to the throne. He probably considered 
 that it would be less difficult to contest the claim of Solomon now, 
 when it had not been formally recognised by any of the authorities 
 of the land, than it would be after the death of the king, and the 
 actual accession of Solomon. That this conspiracy was considered 
 not as being against the reigning king, but against the nominated 
 successor, in favour of the natural heir, appears clearly from the 
 time chosen, when the king was supposed to be on his death-bed ; 
 as well as from the fact that some of the most faithful servants and 
 life-long adherents of David, such as Joab and Abiathar the high- 
 priest, were among those who joined the party of Adonijah. 
 
 It was determined by the chief men engaged in this affair to pub- 
 lish the design at a grand entertainment which Adonijah was to give 
 near the fountain of En-Rogel outside the city. To this entertain- 
 ment all the king’s sons — with the pointed exception of Solomon — 
 were invited, as well as every person of influence who appeared 
 likely to favour the enterprise. It was purposed that after the party 
 had feasted and become warm with wine, the design should be opened, 
 and that in the excitement of the moment Adonijah should be pro- 
 claimed as king. 
 
 The plot, however, transpired in time to be frustrated. Nathan 
 the prophet had notice of it, and at once acquainted Bathsheba with 
 it, advising her to impart the intelligence to the king, and claim 
 from him the performance of his promise that her son Solomon 
 should reign. The king, feeble as he was, manifested every dispo- 
 sition to take prompt and decisive measures for giving effect to that 
 Divine intention concerning Solomon which he had made his own. 
 He resolved that he should ascend the throne at once, even in his 
 own life-time ; and in pursuance of this resolution he directed 
 Zadok the priest to anoint Solomon as king of Israel, and to conduct 
 him in procession, seated upon the king’s own mule, through the city, 
 proclaiming his accession to the throne by the special appointment 
 of his father. This proclamation was received with great joy by 
 the people, who followed in crowds, shouting “ Long live King 
 Solomon !” And “ the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with 
 great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.” 
 
 This was evil tidings for the festive party at En-Rogel. All their 
 high spirit fled in a moment, and every one thought first of his own 
 safety. Adonijah himself hastened to the refuge of the altar, from 
 which none but a murderer might be taken. When this was made 
 known to Solomon — who was by that time seated on the throne, in 
 high state, with all the court in attendance — he granted him a con- 
 ditional pardon, requiring him to repair to his own house, and 
 thenceforth lead a quiet and secluded life; but this was accompanied 
 by a caution not to compromise himself a second time, as in that 
 case his present attempt would be remembered against him. 
 Unwilling to commence his reign with blood, Solomon took no pre- 
 sent notice of the other parties implicated in this attempt. 
 
 Not long after this, David, feeling his end rapidly approaching, 
 
 2 K ? 
 
803.— Egyptian Boat. (From the SarcophaguB in British Museum.) 
 Badau Aiphtaidd. (O’r Sarcophagus yn yr Amgueddfa Frutanaidd.) 
 
 
 806. — Coracle. 
 Corwgl. 
 
 
 t 
 
 ■ 
 
 ( 
 
 
 
 ‘262 
 
 807.— Well at Cana In Galilee. (Cassas ) 
 Pydew yn Cana Galilea. 
 
 *02.— Ancient Persian Boats. (From a Bas-relief at Tackt-i-Bostan.) 
 Hen Fadau Persiaidd. (O Saflun yn Tackt-i-Bostan.) 
 
the library 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WERSITY OF ,'LUm 
 

808. — The Plague. (Poussin.) 
 Yr Haint. 
 
 811. — Mode of Salutation. 
 Dull o Gyfarch. 
 
 . . Da d appointin <f Solomon to be hia 8ticce«»or, and the People making their offering* for the Temple. (Adapted from De la Hire.) 
 > yn appwyntio Solomon i fod yn Olynwr iddo, a’r Bobl yn cyfiwyno eu hoffrymau at y Demi. (VVedi ei gyfaddaau o De la Hire.) 
 
 809.— Castle near Teheran. 
 Castell yn agos i Teheran. 
 
 812.— Bowing before the King. 
 Ymgrymu ger bron y Brenin. 
 
 
254 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXII. 
 
 and anxious to ensure the future prosperity of his people and family, 
 proceeded to deliver his last counsels to Solomon. He charged him 
 above all things to serve and obey the Lord, and to regulate his 
 conduct by the ordinances of the law, in order that he might 
 prosper in all his enterprises. He also advised him to bring to their 
 deserved punishment, which it had never been possible or prudent 
 for him to inflict, Joab, stained with the murders of men eminent 
 in Israel, and the foul-mouthed Shimei, who had treated the royal 
 person with indignities which it might not be prudent to overlook. 
 
 Soon after this David died, at the age of seventy years, of which 
 he had reigned forty, or seven years in Hebron over Judah, and 
 thirty -three in Jerusalem over all Israel. 
 
 David must be regarded as the real founder of the Hebrew mo- 
 narchy. In his conquests were accomplished the promises made to 
 Abraham, and his reign prepared the way for the splendours of 
 that of his son Solomon. 11c was among the greatest of those per- 
 sonages whom the Hebrew history celebrates, who took a lead- 
 ing part in the series of events precursory to the Gospel, and whose 
 virtues, talents, and passions had a sensible influence upon the lot 
 and destinies of the chosen people. The history of David presents 
 few difficulties, but his conduct many : and there is not one of the 
 Old Testament heroes who has found more panegyrists or more 
 accusers. The former have painted him as one who could not 
 fairly be judged by common rules of conduct, whose agitated life 
 and ardent character excuse and account for all his weaknesses ; 
 whose zeal and faith hide all his iniquities ; whose deceits are 
 covered by their good intention ; and whose adultery and murder 
 must needs be overlooked in contemplating the beauty of his 
 repentance. The others represent David as having been from the 
 first the docile instrument and creature of Samuel ; the able and 
 accomplished, but unprincipled rival of Saul ; brave, but cruel, 
 sparing his enemies only upon calculation — because the safe time 
 for destroying them was not come : perfidious ally of the confiding 
 Achish ; loose assassin of Uriah ; unrighteous judge of the surviving 
 descendants of Saul ; a merciless conqueror to the vanquished 
 nations; and, in fine, one who knew well howto make religion 
 subservient to his own interests. Thus men have disputed about 
 the reputation of David, as upon a dogma, and the exaggerations of 
 fervid advocacy have on both sides been nearly equal. Even to 
 the present day, the terrible reproach which Nathan addressed to 
 the king is in course of operation and accomplishment : — “ Thou 
 hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” 
 
 Yet the matter does not seem to be one in which the cause of 
 truth or religion is really interested. The character of David is a 
 question of history, and not of religion. The Bible recounts the 
 good and evil of its historical characters, as would any other impar- 
 tial record, without approving all that it records, without pausing 
 to express a judgment upon every incident which it relates. On 
 any other view than this, the historical books of Scripture are full 
 of difficulties, but under this view all is easy and safe. In the 
 Bible, as in the world, the history of which it contains, we find the 
 tares represented as growing with the wheat ; no human character, 
 even in the Bible, is perfect ; and we find only One who could say, 
 “ Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John viii. 46). 
 
 If we take the Scriptural accounts in all their simplicity, we 
 shall be guided to the truth, and prevented from condemning or 
 justifying without discernment. In the case of David, much of the 
 difficulty which has been supposed to stand in the way of a just 
 estimate of character has been made to spring out of the celebrated 
 text in which he is described as a man after his own heart (1 Sam. 
 xiii. 14). This was said before David had been called into public 
 life ; and it might therefore be contended, if necessary, that it 
 could apply only to, and only express approbation of, the conduct 
 and character of David as it existed when the words were spoken, 
 and before he had committed any of the offences which, under one 
 view of his character, are laid to his charge. The justice of this 
 limitation would be admitted in any other case, and why not in the 
 case of David ? But the admission is not necessary, and the terms 
 of approbation may be satisfactorily explained, even if it be allowed 
 that they had a prospective reference. In that case we should feel 
 assured that the testimonial had regard to the public capacity, 
 and not to the private life of David. A king not only lives, but 
 reigns ; is not only a man, but a sovereign ; — and these two 
 characters not only are separable, but often are separated in 
 common histories. How often do we hear of a king, that his 
 private life was bad, but that his public acts were good and 
 tended to the benefit of his people ; and how often do we hear of 
 others, that although their public measures were bad, their conduct 
 in private life was exemplary. Now, if this distinction is noted 
 under ordinary circumstances, how much more does it not require 
 
 attention in the case of a king over the chosen people ? All the 
 dispensations of which the descendants of Abraham were the object 
 had no other end than to keep alive in the world the knowledge of 
 the true God, until, in the fulness of time, a new order of things 
 should be introduced by the Messiah. This grand design was in 
 the most entire opposition to the idolatries which then overspread 
 the earth, and to which the chosen people themselves were but too 
 much addicted. Some of their best and highest characters — pontiffs, 
 judges, kings, had at some time or other, or in some one or more 
 acts of their lives, manifested idolatrous leanings. David alone, 
 among the public men of the Hebrews, is entirely pure from this 
 reproach. His acts are minutely described, but there is not one 
 deed — his words are copiously recorded, but there is not one syllable — 
 in which the slightest taint of idolatry or superstition can be traced. 
 He suffered no stain of idolatry to exist in the land he governed. 
 He even exercised the powers which rested in him for the purpose of 
 re-organizing in some respects the ecclesiastical institutions of the 
 Desert, in order to render them more suited for and acceptable to a 
 flourishing, wealthy, and civilized people ; and so admirable was the 
 order which he established, that it was adopted with little, if any, 
 change, under the second temple. In the tranquillity of Chris- 
 tianity, we find it difficult to understand the danger of idolatry 
 which existed before the Gospel. This danger was great beyond 
 calculation. But David did all that was humanly possible to dis- 
 courage and resist it : and as in this vital matter the whole will of 
 God was his rule of action, he would have been entitled to be dis- 
 tinguished as a man who, in his prime function, had acted according 
 to the Divine intentions, which seems to be all that is meant 
 when he is described as a man after (according to) God’s own heart. 
 Nor was he less worthy of this high distinction in his political 
 capacity. No king of Israel ever so well understood his true 
 position under the theocratical government. Most other kings 
 affected, at some time or other, independent sovereignty. But 
 David knew that Jehovah was the true king, and that the 
 human monarch who had been conceded to the weakness of 
 Israel, was no other than the accountable viceroy and vassal of 
 the Supreme King. This sense of dependence he always ex- 
 pressed, he always acted on it, and was always solicitous that his 
 people should understand it. Here also he acted, more than any 
 other king ever did, according to the will of God, and in this capa- 
 city also — that is, in all his public capacity — might most fitly be 
 described as a man after God’s own heart. In this public capacity, 
 surely, and in no other, is this phrase applied to him : and it may 
 be observed that the text in which it occurs, and the repetitions of 
 it, contain expressions which refer most pointedly to the regal cha- 
 racter of David, as if on purpose to define the sense in which the 
 phrase was to be understood. To make this clear we will here 
 introduce them : To Saul, after an act which was criminal chiefly 
 in his regal capacity, Samuel says, “ The Lord hath sought him 
 a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to 
 be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the 
 Lord coynmanded thee.” Again, in Psalm Ixxxix. 21, the Lord says, 
 “ I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David 
 my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him'' In this pas- 
 sage the phrase “ a man after God’s own heart” is explained b) 
 “ my servant.” In Acts xiii. 22, the point is put even more plainly : 
 “ He raised up unto them David to be their king ; to whom also he 
 gave testimony, and said, ‘ I have found David, the son of Jesse, 
 a man after my own heart, who shall fulfil all my will.' ” 
 
 In thus explaining the sense in which we believe these texts 
 ought to be understood, we shall be humbly instrumental in reliev- 
 ing many sincere minds from the doubt and hesitation with which 
 they have felt bound to speak of many acts of David’s life which it 
 is not very easy to vindicate or excuse. This, and not to investi- 
 gate David’s personal character, or to balance his particular acts, 
 has been the object of these remarks. That character and those 
 acts must be judged upon their own merits, but not without due 
 and considerate reference to the times in which he lived, and to the 
 very peculiar circumstances by which he was surrounded. Above 
 all, let us read his conduct and character by the light of the Psalms, 
 in which he opens up all his heart before God ; and no one who 
 has followed him in the struggles of the inner man, in his doubts, his 
 fears, his sorrowings, his penitence, his self-abasement, his faith, his 
 holy joys, his thanksgivings, and his triumphs — will feel disposed 
 to judge him harshly, or form an unfavourable estimate of his 
 character. He will rather experience in his own person something 
 of that strange influence by which the handsome, valiant, ac- 
 complished, engaging, devout, and affectionate hero, mastered the 
 hearts of all those among his contemporaries who were privileged 
 I to be near his person. 
 
Sunday XXXII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 255 
 
 SUNDAY XXXII.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 
 ONSIDERATION of this last circum- 
 stance, the presence of John’s own 
 mother, will give an increased interest to 
 the touching incident which followed. 
 Although suffering under the burden 
 of his own intensest anguish, and borne 
 down with the feeling of the guilt of 
 sinful humanity, the Redeemer had 
 still an affectionate remembrance of 
 those whom lie left behind. lie 
 perceived the presence of John, the 
 disciple who was honoured with his special attachment, and, re- 
 ferring to his own mother, Mary, he said to him, “ Behold thy 
 mother which was as much as to say, Be a son to her, even as to 
 thine own mother now present. John understood him, and from 
 that hour made his house the home of the bereaved Mary. From 
 the circumstance that we find John at Jerusalem a long time after 
 the Ascension, it would seem that lie had a dwelling in that city ; 
 and the fact that he alone was personally known to the people 
 connected with the high-priest, affords much corroboration to this 
 conclusion. 
 
 Christ was now upon the cross, undergoing one of the severest 
 deaths which the cruel ingenuities of men ever invented ; and surely 
 now the malice of his enemies was satiated ? Scarcely so. Even on 
 the cross he was exposed to their insults and mockeries. “ They 
 that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou 
 that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. 
 If thou be the Son of God, comedown from the cross.” The chief 
 priests, with the scribes and elders, also repeated the bitter scoff at 
 one who, after having delivered others, proved unable, as they 
 supposed, to deliver himself. “ He saved others, himself lie cannot 
 save.” To all this, and even with regard to the sufferings and death 
 to which they had brought him, Jesus only answered, “ Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 
 
 Christ suffered not alone : two robbers were crucified, one on 
 each side of him. One of these two men, in the bitterness of his 
 sufferings, railed at him, saying, “ If thou be the Son of God, 
 save thyself — and us.” But his companion rebuked him, by re- 
 minding him that they were suffering the just penalty of their 
 transgressions, whereas Jesus had been convicted of no wrong 
 doing: and this man then said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me 
 when thou comest into thy kingdom.” The sense in which the 
 man made this wish may be doubted ; but the Divine Saviour 
 was touched by it, and answered it in that sense by which the 
 suppliant might best realize the benefit lie desired: — “Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise 1” 
 We may be sure that, after that, this man’s agonies fell lightly on 
 him. What mattered the fleeting sufferings of noon, to one who, 
 before the setting sun, was to taste the joys of Paradise? 
 
 By this time it was high noon, and Nature refused any longer 
 to withhold her dread sympathies — the sympathies which man 
 denied. Darkness overspread the land from that time till three 
 o’clock, the ninth hour, when Christ, in the deepest feeling of the 
 guilt of the human family, the punishment of whose sin he had 
 taken upon himself, cried out, “ My God ! my God ! why hast 
 thou forsaken me ?” 
 
 The conflict was soon ended, and Jesus called for something to 
 revive him, in the words “ I thirst which thirst has been shown 
 to be the natural result of the manner in which this kind of capital 
 punishment acted upon the physical system of those who underwent 
 it. It was customary at the commencement of a crucifixion to offer 
 spiced wine to those who were to be executed, for the purpose of 
 stunning them, and of deadening their sensibilities. This the 
 soldiers had offered to Christ, but he refused if, as he desired to go 
 through these last sufferings with a clear and perfect consciousness. 
 The soldiers had afterwards, in contemptuous sport, offered him 
 sour wine to drink ; and now a Jew, hearing his words, raised a 
 sponge dipped in vinegar, on a hyssop stem, to his mouth. When 
 
 Jesus had received this, he said, “It is finished!” the great 
 
 work he came to do was accomplished ; the dread penalties which 
 he had incurred for the sins of men had been paid — all was finished ; 
 and “ he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.” 
 
 At that greatest event which had ever happened in the world of 
 spirits, the irrepressible sympathies of Nature were again manifested. 
 The earth trembled. And now, since the guilt of man was blotted 
 out, and salvation was no longer a thing of promise, but a 
 
 possession, the curtain of rich tapestry which in the temple separated 
 the sanctuary from the temple wall, was rent in twain, signifying 
 that now, by the death of Christ, the human race were admitted 
 to behold, without veil, the mysteries which had from the beginning 
 of the world been hid with God. 
 
 Among the Romans the bodies of the crucified commonly' hung 
 upon the cross a considerable time, although in many cases they 
 may have been given over to the friends of the deceased for (lie 
 purpose of burial. But the Jewish law prescribed tiiat criminals 
 who were hanged up should be taken down on the same day. It 
 was in particular deemed highly improper that the corpse of a 
 criminal should be exposed to the eye upon a feast-day ; and as, in 
 this case, the Sabbath would commence at sunset, it became im- 
 portant that the bodies of those who had been crucified should be 
 disposed of early. The soldiers, therefore, came to the crucified 
 men in order to despatch them, for it was not usual to find them 
 dead so soon. The two robbers were still alive, and their legs were 
 broken with heavy blows to end their lives. But when they came 
 to Jesus for the same purpose, they found that he was already dead, 
 and forbore. Thus in the true Lamb of God was accomplished a 
 fact typified in the Paschal Lamb, of which it was directed that “ a 
 bone of him should not be broken.” A soldier, however, either to 
 assure himself that lie was indeed dead, or to destroy him in case 
 there should still be life in him, thrust his spear into his side. Blood 
 and water flowed from the wound, which seems to be mentioned by 
 the Evangelist to show that he was already dead, and that if lie had 
 not been so, the wound would have sufficed to extinguish whatever 
 remained of life. 
 
 It now became an object of solicitude to the disciples of Jesus 
 that the body of their Divine Master should not be treated with 
 disrespect. Among these disciples were several persons of considera- 
 tion and influence ; one of them, called Joseph, a native of the town 
 of Arimathea (supposed to be the present Ramleh). He was one of 
 those Jews who, like old Simeon, “ waited for the kingdom of 
 God and hence had a living desire for the commencement of the 
 Messianic period, and had already enrolled himself among the dis- 
 ciples of Jesus. He was a member of the Sanhedrim, and, as we 
 may be sure, one of those who, as elsewhere mentioned, had opposed 
 the madness of that assembly. His rank among the Jews assured 
 him attention from Pilate, to whom he forthwith applied tiiat the 
 body might be given up to him. Notwithstanding the hours which 
 had passed since the commencement of the crucifixion, Pilate mani- 
 fested some surprise at hearing that Jesus was already dead, and 
 sent for the Centurion who had charge of the execution to assure 
 himself of the fact. He then freely placed the corpse at the dis- 
 posal of Joseph, without requiring the money which the greedy 
 Roman governors usually exacted for such a favour. 
 
 As the Jews were very anxious in matters of sepulture, and 
 desired beyond most things an honourable grave for those they 
 loved, this concession must have been regarded with great triumph bv 
 Joseph and the other friends of himself and of the crucified Saviour, 
 who awaited the result of his application. Among these was 
 Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrim, and the same who 
 had come to Jesus by night at the commencement of his ministry, 
 lie had provided a large quantity — not less than a hundred pounds 
 weight — of myrrh and aloes ; costly articles, in which the body might 
 be laid, and which evinces at once the wealth of Nicodemus and 
 his veneration for Christ. The body was then taken down from 
 the cross and wrapped up in linen clothes with the spices; and as 
 the time was but short, they hastened, without completing the 
 operations usually observed oh such occasions, to lay the corpse in 
 the new sepulchre, hewn in a rock, which Joseph had prepared for 
 himself in a garden belonging to him, which was hard by the place 
 of crucifixion. 
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 I ask’d the heavens — “ What foe to God hath done 
 This unexampled deed ?” — The heavens exclaim, 
 
 “ ’Twas man ; — and we in horror snatch’d the sun 
 From such a spectacle of guilt and shame.” 
 
 I ask’d the sea the sea in fury boil'd, 
 
 And answer’d with his voice of storms, — “ ’Twas man ; — 
 
 My waves in panic at his crime recoil’d, 
 
 Disclos’d the abyss, — and to the centre ran.” 
 
 I asked the earth the earth replied aghast, 
 
 “ ’Twas man and such strange pangs my bosom rent, 
 
 That still I groan and shudder at the past.” 
 
 Toman, gay, smiling, thoughtless man, I went, 
 
 And ask’d him next ; — lie turn’d a scornful eye, 
 
 Shook his proud head, and deigned me no reply. 
 
 Montgomery ; from the Italian. 
 
256 
 
811).— Psalm cxL 
 
 bJO. — Psalm cxlL 
 
 821. — Psalm cxlii. 
 
 822.— Psalm cxliii. 
 
 824.— Psalm cxlv. 
 
 818.— Psalm cxxxix. 
 
 LORD, thou hast searched me out, and known me.— 1. 
 
 Psalm cxlii. 
 
 I cried unto the Lord with my voice ; yea, even unto the 
 Lord did I make my supplication.— 1. 
 
 825.— Psalm cxlvi. 
 
 826.— Psalm cxlvii. 
 
 823.— Psalm cxliv. 
 
 LES^ED be the Lord, my strength. — 1. 
 
 'j hat our garners may be full and plenteous with all manner 
 of store : that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten. 
 thousands in our streets.— 13. 
 
 That our oxen may be strong to labour, that there be no 
 decay ; no leading into captivity, and no complaining in our 
 streets.— 14. 
 
 2 L 
 
 827.— Psalm cxlviii. 
 
 828.— Psalm cxlix. 
 
 821). — Psalm el. 
 
258 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXXIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIII.— THE PSALMS. 
 
 Hebrew Poetry. 
 
 HE subject of Cognate Parallels is one 
 of great interest, and we are reluctant 
 to quit it without pointing out a re- 
 markable form which occurs in the 
 Psalms of Degrees. It consists in this, 
 that the thought or expression of a 
 preceding verse is resumed and carried 
 forward in the next ; for example, in 
 Psalm cxxi. we read thus : — 
 
 “ 1. I lift mine eyes unto the hills, 
 
 From whence cometh my help. 
 
 2. My help cometh from Jehovah, 
 
 Who hath made heaven and earth. 
 
 3. He suffereth not my feet to be moved : 
 
 Thy keeper slumbereth not. 
 
 4. Lo, he slumbereth not , nor sleepeth, 
 
 The keeper of Israel. 
 
 5. Jehovah is thy keeper; 
 
 Jehovah the shade at thy right hand. 
 
 6. The sun shall not smite thee by day, 
 
 Nor the moon by night. 
 
 7. Jehovah preservelh thee from all evil, 
 
 Preserveth thy soul. 
 
 8. Jehovah preserveth thy going out and thy coming in, 
 
 From this time forth for evermore.” 
 
 The same arrangement may be pointed out in the song of Deborah ; 
 and in Isa. xxvi. 5, 6, we read : — ■ 
 
 “ The lofty city hath he laid low, 
 
 Hath laid it low to the ground : 
 
 The foot hath trodden it down ; 
 
 The feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.” 
 
 The Antithetic Parallels of Hebrew poetry are those which 
 next offer themselves to our notice. In this species of parallelism two 
 lines usually correspond with one another by an opposition of terms 
 and sentiment ; when the second is contrasted with the first, some- 
 times in expressions, sometimes in sense only. This is not confined 
 to any particular form. Accordingly the degrees of antithesis are 
 various ; from an exact contraposition of word to word, singulars 
 to singulars, and plurals to plurals, &c., through the whole sen- 
 tence, down to a general disparity, w'ith something of contrariety 
 in the two propositions. Thus : — 
 
 “ Faithful are the wounds of a friend ; 
 
 But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” 
 
 (Prov. xxvii. 6.) 
 
 “ A wise son rej'oiceth his father ; 
 
 But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.” 
 
 (Prov. x. 1.) 
 
 In which instance every word has its opposite; “father” and 
 “ mother,” in the last, being relatively opposite. Of the same 
 kind are the following: — 
 
 “ The lip of truth shall be established for ever ; 
 
 But a lying tongue is but for a moment.” 
 
 (Prov. xii. 19.) 
 
 “ The house of the wicked shall be overthrown ; 
 
 But the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.” 
 
 (Prov. xiv. 11.) 
 
 Here the antithesis is very beautiful and effective. The most sub- 
 stantial structure, the house of the wicked, shall be thrown down ; 
 but the frailest tenement, the tabernacle, or shed, of the righteous, 
 shall endure. 
 
 “ The memory of the j’ust is a blessing ; 
 
 But the name of the wicked shall rot.” 
 
 (Prov. x. 7.) 
 
 In this the general sense is antithetic, but there are only two pre- 
 
 cisely antithetic- terms ; for “ memory ” and “ name ” are synony- 
 mous. 
 
 The above examples are all taken from the book of Proverbs, 
 where they abound ; for this species of parallelism is admirably 
 suited to adages, aphorisms, and detached sentences. Much 
 indeed of the elegance, acuteness, and force of a great number of 
 Solomon’s wise sayings arise from this antithetic form, the opposi- 
 tion of sentiment and diction. We are not, therefore, to expect fre- 
 quent instances of it in the other poems of the Old Testament ; 
 especially those which are elevated in the style and more connected 
 in the parts. But although it is of comparatively rare occurrence, 
 it is by no means inconsistent with the superior kinds of Hebrew 
 poetry, nor are examples wanting in them. A beautiful instance 
 occurs in Hannah’s thanksgiving ode : — 
 
 “ The bow of the mighty is broken ; 
 
 And they that stumbled are girded with strength. 
 
 The full have hired themselves for bread, 
 
 And the hungry have ceased to hunger. 
 
 The barren also hath born seven ; 
 
 And she who had many children hath become fruitless.” 
 
 (1 Sam. ii. 4, 5.) 
 
 Also in some of the Psalms : — 
 
 “ These in chariots, those on horses, 
 
 But we, in the name of Jehovah — will be strong : 
 
 They are bow r ed down and fallen ; 
 
 But we are risen, and maintain ourselves firm.” 
 
 (Ps. xx. 7, 8.) 
 
 “ In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, 
 
 But he that feareth the Lord honoured : 
 
 Who swears to the wicked, and breaks not his oath.” 
 
 (Ps. xv. 4.) 
 
 “ For his anger endureth but a moment, 
 
 But his favour through life : 
 
 Weeping may endure for a night, 
 
 But joy cometh in the morning.” 
 
 (Ps. xxx. 6.) 
 
 Even Isaiah sometimes makes use of this antithetic parallelism, 
 by which, without departing from his usual dignity, he adds much 
 to the beauty of his composition : — 
 
 “ In a little anger have I forsaken thee ; 
 
 But with great mercies will I receive thee again. 
 
 In a short wrath, I hid my face for a moment from thee ; 
 
 But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee ” 
 
 (Isa. liv. 7, 8.) 
 
 “ Behold, my servants shall eat, 4 
 
 But ye shall be famished ; 
 
 Behold, my servants shall drink, 
 
 But ye shall be thirsty ; 
 
 Behold, my servants shall rejoice, 
 
 But ye shall be confounded.” 
 
 (Isa. lxv. 13.) 
 
 In this species of parallelism there are not only various degrees, 
 but several varieties of form, which it may be useful to discriminate 
 and to illustrate by examples. 
 
 1. There is sometimes a contraposition of parts in the same line, 
 besides the opposition of the two lines, forming a kind of double 
 antithesis : — 
 
 “ There is that maketh himself rich, 
 
 Yet wanteth all things; 
 
 There is that maketh himself poor, 
 
 Yet hath great riches.” 
 
 (Prov. xiii. 7.) 
 
 “ I am swarthy, but comely, 0 daughters of Jerusalem ; 
 
 As the tents of Kedar, as the pavilions of Solomon.” 
 
 (Sol. Song, i. 5 ) 
 
 The last line here is to be divided and separately applied to the 
 preceding: “ Swarthy as the tents of Kedar, comely as the pavilions 
 of Solomon.” 
 
 To this class belongs also the riddle of Samson : 
 
 “ Out of the eater came forth meat, 
 
 Out of the fierce came forth sweetness.” 
 
 (Jud. xiv. 14.) 
 
Sunday XXXIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 259 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 . i 
 
 OLOMON was a mSre youth when he 
 ascended the throne of Israel. His 
 age at that time is not well determined, 
 but it could not have been more than 
 twenty years. But he appears to have 
 been well educated under the care of 
 Nathan, and it is clear that his late 
 father had much confidence in his 
 abilities and his discretion. 
 
 The peace of Solomon’s mind was 
 first disturbed by a strange application 
 from Adonijah, who desired to obtain in marriage a young female 
 named Abishag, who had in the last years of David become his 
 wife, but only so in name. Adonijah prevailed upon the unsuspect- 
 ing good-nature of the king’s mother, to intercede in this matter for 
 him ; Bathsheba, therefore, repaired to the hall of audience, and 
 when the king beheld her, he rose respectfully from his throne and 
 seated her on his right hand. Encouraged by this, she preferred the 
 suit she had undertaken, but as soon as the king heard it his coun- 
 tenance darkened. He saw or seemed to see in this the germ of a 
 new design upon the throne, conceiving that Adonijah only desired 
 to possess Abishag in order to strengthen the claim which he 
 intended thereafter to advance. He therefore ordered him to be 
 slain, and in doing this let fall some expressions which alarmed both 
 .Toab and Abiathar for their own safety. Joab fled to the altar 
 for refuge — which was a sort of acknowledgment that he deserved, 
 or at least expected, to be put to death. The king neglected not 
 the opportunity of ridding himself of so dangerous a person which 
 this ill-considered step afforded. He sent Benaiah, the captain of 
 the guard, to slay him, who went and summoned him from the 
 altar in the king’s name. But he refused to quit his refuge, and 
 Solomon, with rare strength of mind in one so young, ordered 
 Benaiah to fall upon him and slay him even at the altar. This 
 was done, and the king, knowing the effect this death of a 
 man so eminent in Israel was calculated to produce, took care 
 to make it bear the aspect of a judicial punishment for the 
 murders of Abner and Amasa. As for Abiathar, his life was 
 spared in consideration of his sacred character ; but he was deposed 
 from the high-priesthood, which he had held jointly with Zadok, 
 and commanded to withdraw into private life. These transactions 
 reminded him of the only other person whom David had counselled 
 him to watch — this was Shimei, whom Solomon sent for to Jeru- 
 salem, in which he enjoined him to reside in future, informing him 
 that his life would be forfeited the day he went beyond its walls. 
 He observed this obligation for three years, but was then tempted 
 to quit the city in pursuit of two of his slaves, who had fled to 
 Gath ; and Solomon being informed of this, he was, on his return, 
 put to death. 
 
 These executions, decisive, striking, and severe, at least showed 
 the Israelites that the reins of power had fallen into no feeble 
 hands; and this impression, coupled with the removal of these able 
 and discontented men, doubtless tended in no small degree to give 
 security to the throne of the new king. 
 
 Solomon very soon made it appear, by an imposing public act, 
 that he intended to rule in the spirit of the Mosaical institutions, 
 and in the fear of God. He convoked the tribes, their elders, 
 chiefs, and judges, and, followed by his people, he repaired to 
 Gibeon, where the altar and the tabernacle then stood, although 
 the ark was in Jerusalem ; and there, with great solemnity, he 
 offered a thousand holocausts at one time. These first sacrifices 
 were worthy of a king who was designed by Providence to give the 
 utmost splendour of which it was capable to the ritual service 
 established by Moses. His zeal was not without its instant reward. 
 The Lord appeared to him in a dream, and required him to ask 
 whatever favour or benefit his heart desired. The trial implied in 
 this permission was most critical and awful — a youth full of the 
 ardour proper to his age, only just become a king, offered whatever 
 he desired. Solomon came gloriously through it. He asked wisdom ; 
 and that choice is the best proof that could be given of the wisdom 
 he already possessed. The words in which this choice is announced, 
 and the accompanying prayer, are most interesting, touching, and 
 noble, and, under all the circumstances, form one of the most 
 striking incidents in all ancient history. The king, in that beautiful 
 outpouring of his heart, calls to mind the benefits which his father 
 had received from the Almighty, and the continuance of the empire 
 in his family, his own youth, his inexperience, the extent of his 
 dominions, the multitude of his subjects; and he implored with 
 
 ardour, as the highest and most precious boon he could receive, the 
 wisdom necessary to enable him to govern well the chosen people 
 of God. With a choice so sincere and humble the Lord was well 
 pleased, and said, “ Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast 
 not asked for thyself long life, nor riches, nor the life of thine 
 enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judg- 
 ment, behold, I have done according to thy words ; lo, I have 
 given thee a wise and an understanding heart ; so that there was 
 none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like 
 unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not 
 asked, both riches and honour, so that there shall not be any among 
 the kings like unto thee all thy days.” The promise of long life 
 was also added, on condition that he walked according to the divine 
 statutes and ordinances. 
 
 Solomon awoke, and, fortified with these magnificent promises, 
 returned with joy to Jerusalem, where, before the ark, he gave 
 solemn thanks for the oracles received at Gibeon, and offered new 
 sacrifices, and feasted all his court. 
 
 Next the sacred historian proceeds to produce a proof, in a re- 
 markable scene of Oriental justice, of the sagacity with which 
 Solomon was now endowed, and which made that fact known to his 
 people from one end of the land to the other. In those times, as 
 at present in the East, persons of the most obscure condition came 
 to state their wrongs, to plead their causes, and maintain their 
 rights and settle their disputes at the foot of the throne ; and in 
 the matters which are thus brought before the king for judgment, 
 the humble condition of the parties is less considered than the 
 difficulty of the points under litigation. 
 
 There were two women living together who had become mothers 
 without being wives; but they loved not their children the less, 
 and were not other than proud that they had become mothers in 
 Israel. One of the children was overlaid, and died in the night ; 
 but the woman who found the child dead in her bed when she 
 awoke, alleged that not this child, but the one that lived, was hers, 
 and she charged the other woman with having transferred the dead 
 child to her bed, and taken the living one to her own. The point 
 at issue therefore was, to whom the living child belonged, for both 
 claimed it, and, from the nature of the case, the claim of neither 
 could be supported by evidence. Where there was nothing to go 
 upon but the affirmation of the one party and the denial of another, 
 the case seemed closed round with insuperable difficulties ; but it 
 occurred to the sagacious king that the natural feelings of a mother 
 afforded a sure test by which the truth might be ascertained ; he 
 therefore called for a sword, and said with apparent solemnity, that 
 as there seemed no other way of deciding between such conflicting 
 evidence, he would divide the matter in dispute — the living child — 
 and assign half of him to each. In this or any civilized country 
 no one would suppose such a proposal sincere ; it would have been 
 too absurd and too barbarous for any one to imagine that it would 
 be executed. But in the East decisions as arbitrary and eccentric 
 as this are at the present day far from uncommon, and it is manifest 
 that both the women fully believed that the king intended to give 
 instant effect to this monstrous award. The king keenly watched 
 the effect which his announcement produced. All the mother rose 
 in the heart of the woman to whom the child belonged, and she 
 cried out, “ 0, my lord the king, give her the living child, and in 
 no wise slay it !” But the other cried, “ Let it be neither mine nor 
 thine, but divide it.” Here the question was solved in a moment , 
 no one could for a moment doubt which of them was the real 
 mother, and the king said, “ Give her the living child, and in no 
 wise slay it — for she is the mother thereof!” 
 
 A proof of sagacity like this was well calculated to strike the 
 popular mind, and probably made upon the Israelites a stronger 
 impression of the king’s wisdom than did all the parables, proverbs, 
 and songs which he is said to have composed, or all the sage sayings 
 which he is said to have uttered. “ All Israel heard of the judg- 
 ment which the king had judged ; and they feared the king ; for 
 they saw that the wisdom of God was with him to do judgment.” 
 
 The prosperity promised to Solomon was not less signal than his 
 wisdom. He enjoyed during his reign profound peace, in conse- 
 quence of the numerous victories which his father had achieved and 
 the conquests which he had made, whereby his undisputed dominion 
 extended from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates. His revenues 
 from the tribute of the conquered nations alone, were therefore very- 
 great, and many nomade tribes, and nations not directly subject to 
 his sway, found it prudent to obtain the protection and favour of 
 so powerful a neighbour by paying annual tributes, which were 
 ostensibly voluntary, and took the name of “ presents,” which seem 
 to have consisted chiefly of vessels of gold and of silver, cloth, 
 arms, aromatic drugs, horses, and mules. He also clearly perceived 
 
 2 L 2 
 
830. — Crowns. (From a Persian Sculpture on the Face of the Rock at Tackt-i-Bostan.) 
 Coronau. (O Gerflun Persiaidd ar wyneb Craig yn Tackt-i-Bostan.) 
 
 834.— Mule. (T. Land&cer.) 
 Mill'. 
 
 I 
 
 833 -Procession of a Pasha of Egypt and his Great Officers of State, to illustrate the Proclamation of Solomon. (Cassas.) 
 Gorymdaith Pasha yr Aipht a phrif Swyddogion ei Lys, er egluro Cyhoeddiad Solomon. 
 
 2(50 
 
 832.— Modern Persian Crown. 
 Coron Bersiaidd Ddiweddar. 
 
THE LiBfUW 
 
 OF THE ' 
 Bf 
 
262 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXIII. 
 
 that a well-organized government could not proceed without some 
 regular sources of revenue, and he therefore appears to have 
 imposed an easy tax upon his native subjects, which does not seem 
 to have been regarded as a grievance until the latter end of his 
 reign, when the increased expenses of the government and court, 
 with the falling off of some other sources of income, constrained 
 him to increase its amount. He also encouraged commerce, and 
 made it a source of revenue ; and it has been calculated that the 
 various dues and customs paid by the merchants engaged in foreign 
 trade, including probably the produce of the royal monopolies, 
 afforded a yearly revenue of not less than five millions sterling. 
 The principal monopoly was the trade with Egypt in horses, 
 chariots, and linen yarn, which was managed by Solomon’s factors, 
 and which he was probably enabled to engross through the good 
 understanding between him and the king of Egypt, whose daughter 
 he married, and who, on account of her exalted birth, must have 
 been his queen or principal wife. To this maybe added the mari- 
 time traffic by the Red Sea, the proceeds of which were shared by 
 Solomon and the king of Tyre. Such were the principal sources 
 from which Solomon drew a magnificent revenue, which he as mag- 
 nificently expended in his most imperial establishments. He had 
 four thousand stables, in which were kept forty thousand horses, 
 with a proportionate number of various kinds of carriages. He 
 appointed twelve officers, to whom different districts were assigned, 
 and whose duty it was to provide in monthly rotatiou the provisions 
 required for the court ; and some notion of the extent of the royal 
 household may be obtained from the account wliich is given of the 
 supply required for the consumption of one day : — Thirty measures 
 of fine flour, threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, twenty 
 out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, together with harts, 
 roebucks, deer, and fatted fowl. These provisions would suffice 
 for several thousand persons, of whom we may therefore conceive 
 the royal establishment to have been composed. 
 
 The people, prospering in an equal degree from the new sources 
 of wealth opened to them, and from the exemption from war 
 which enabled them to enjoy the produce of their grounds in safety, 
 disregarded the protection of walled towns, and lived dispersed 
 upon their own lands, enjoying their abundance upon the spot 
 where it was produced. This is the prosperous condition of life 
 which the Scripture so often describes by “ every one sitting under 
 •his own vine and under his own fig-tree, and no one to make him 
 afraid.” Thus prosperous, and thus unwasted by war, the popula- 
 tion of Israel also amazingly increased during the reign of Solomon, 
 
 ; and were ‘ ‘ as many as the sand which is by the sea-shore in mul- 
 titude, eating, and drinking, and making merry.” 
 
 All this could not be effected at once, but was the growth of 
 years ; and we have somewhat anticipated the order of events for 
 the sake of a connected statement of the results of Solomon’s system 
 of government, and of the position which he was enabled to take 
 on the demise of his father David. We may now return to trace 
 the current of events. 
 
 Soon after Solomon’s accession, Hiram, king of Tyre, who had 
 been a great admirer and friend of David, sent an embassy to 
 condole with the young king on his father’s death and to congra- 
 tulate him on his peaceable succession. Solomon gladly availed 
 himself of this opening for an intercourse and connection with the 
 Tyrian king, whose assistance would, he knew, be of great advantage 
 to him in the undertakings he had then in view. He therefore 
 sent to open to him the designs he entertained, and invited him to 
 render the same sort of assistance which had been rendered to 
 David when building his “ house of cedars.” Only the great 
 forests of the Lebanon mountains could supply the timber required 
 for the undertakings of the Hebrew king ; and such of those forests 
 as lay nearest the sea were in the hands of the Phoenicians, among 
 whom timber was in such constant demand that they had acquired 
 great and acknowledged skill in the felling of trees, and in the 
 transportation of the trunks from the woods, in the heights of the 
 mountains, to the sea-shore. Hence the assistance which Solomon 
 required fi om the king of Tyre was of very great if not of essential 
 importance to him. Hiram was found to be very ready to 
 
 enter into his plans; and a treaty was soon completed, under 
 which Hiram engaged to provide timber from the forests of 
 Lebanon, for the temple and other buildings which Solomon 
 contemplated, to convey it to the coast, and to float it down 
 in the form of rafts to Joppa, the port of Jerusalem. Solomon 
 himself was to provide a portion of the labour in the moun- 
 tains ; and he engaged to pay for the services of the Tyrians by 
 a stipulated quantity of wheat and oil. By this undertaking both 
 parties had what they most wanted — Solomon timber for building, 
 which his own territory did not yield ; and Iliram provisions, 
 
 which the Phoenicians, confined to a narrow strip of land and 
 devoted to trade and manufactures, were constrained to obtain 
 from abroad, and could obtain with more convenience from the 
 fertile inlying districts of Canaan than from any other quarter. 
 Hiram’s workmen assisted in preparing and squaring stones 
 for the temple ; and so numerous were the men — subjects of the 
 two kings — employed in these preparations, that it required three 
 thousand men to superintend their labours. Solomon, who had 
 certainly a considerable leaning towards arbitrary power, being still 
 in want of labourers, ventured to raise a levy of thirty thousand 
 Israelites, whom he sent to assist the Phoenician timber-cutters in 
 Lebanon, — not all at once, but in alternate bands of ten thousand 
 each, so that each band returned home and rested two months out 
 of three. This relief, and the sacred object of the service, probably 
 prevented the opposition which the king might otherwise have 
 encountered. For the more heavy labour in the quarries, Solomon 
 called out the remnant of the Canaanites, probably with those 
 foreigners (or their sons) who had been brought into the country 
 as prisoners or slaves during the wars of David, who had, indeed, 
 left an enumeration of all the adult males among them for this very 
 purpose. Their number was one hundred and fifty-three thousand' six 
 hundred : and according to the common custom of the East in such 
 cases, these also doubtless laboured in alternate bands. Such services 
 were usually required from persons in their condition, when any 
 great public work was in progress, and was not regarded as an 
 oppression. Of these strangers seventy thousand were employed 
 as porters to the others, and to the Phoenician artisans. They 
 probably also had the heavy duty of transporting to Jerusalem the 
 large stones, which sixty thousand more of them were employed in 
 hewing and squaring in the quarries. Of these, the stones intended 
 for the foundation were in immense blocks, and, as well as the 
 others, were probably brought from no great distance, as quarries 
 of very suitable stone are abundant in the neighbouring districts. 
 These large stones were doubtless placed upon sledges and drawn 
 by strings of oxen, after the manner indicated in the sculptured 
 monuments of Egypt. 
 
 Solomon also desired that Phoenician artificers of all descriptions 
 should be sent to Jerusalem, particularly such as excelled in the 
 arts of design, and in the working of gold, silver, and other metals, 
 as well as of precious stones ; nor was he insensible of the value 
 and beauty of those scarlet, purple, and other fine dyes, in the pre- 
 paration and application of which the Tyrians excelled. Men 
 skilled in all these branches of art were largely supplied by Hiram. 
 He sent also a person of his own name, a Tyrian by birth, who 
 seems to have been a second Bezaleel, for his abilities were so great, 
 and his attainments so extensive and various, that he was skilled 
 not oidy in the working of metals, but in all kinds of work in wood 
 and stone, and even in embroidery, in tapestry, in dyes, and in the 
 fabrication of all sorts of fine cloths. This man was a treasure to 
 Solomon, who made him overseer not only of the men whom the 
 kin" of Tyre then sent, and of those whom David had formerly 
 engaged and retained in his service, but also of his own work- 
 men. 
 
 Three years were consumed in these necessary preparations for 
 building the temple, and it was not until the fourth year of Solomon’s 
 reign that all things were in sufficient forwardness to allow the founda- 
 tions to be laid ; and in about seven years after, the whole building 
 was completed. So effective and well arranged were all the prepara- 
 tions, all the stones having been properly squared before they were 
 brought to the spot, that the pile arose with little of the noise and 
 confusion usually connected with the progress of so great an under- 
 taking: we are indeed told that there was “ neither hammer nor axe 
 nor any tool of iron heard throughout the house while it was in 
 building.” 
 
 “ No workman’s steel, no ponderous axes rung ; 
 
 Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung.” 
 
 Heber. 
 
 Various accounts of the Temple of Solomon have been furnished by 
 writers of different countries and ages. The subject has been, indeed, 
 so attractive, that entire volumes have been written on it. The 
 result has however, been far from satisfactory. The accounts have 
 been framed from the description, which is itself not very easy to 
 be understood, and which supplies so few facts, that much is left to 
 be supplied by the imagination. Hence plans and descriptions have 
 been produced bearing a most suspicious likeness to modern fabrics 
 and styles of architecture, and which have manifestly been influenced 
 in no small degree by the prevailing taste in the time and country 
 to which the writer belonged. Thus, a view by a Spaniard will be 
 very Spanish, by an Italian surprisingly Italian, and by a French- 
 man wonderfully French. 
 
Sunday XXXIII.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 263 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIII. -LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HE body of the blessed Jesus being 
 thus decently and even honourably 
 deposited in the sepulchre, his ene- 
 mies, the priests and Pharisees, finding 
 that the corpse had been given up to 
 his friends, called to mind the words 
 of Christ concerning his rising from the 
 dead : and in fear of the consequences 
 which might ensue, they repaired to 
 Pilate, requesting him to set a guard 
 over the sepulchre to prevent the 
 disciples from stealing away the body, and afterwards saying that 
 their Lord had risen from the dead ; “ which last error,” they said, 
 “ wouId be worse than the first.” Pilate told them that they had a 
 military guard at their disposal, and that they might, if they pleased, 
 employ it on that service. The sepulchre being thus given up to 
 their custody, they sealed up the door, that they might know if it 
 had been opened; they then rolled a large stone to the entrance 
 to render the opening difficult ; and, to crown all, a guard of 
 soldiers was set to watch and keep the sepulchre. Thus it was 
 providentially ordered that the custody of the tomb should be in 
 the hands of the bitterest enemies of Christ, who had brought him 
 to an ignominious death, to render it impossible that they, or any 
 doubters after them, should, with any show of reason, be able to 
 allege that deception had been practised by the friends of Jesus. 
 
 The Sabbath passed with the usual observances, and then came 
 the first day of the week, when the faithful disciples of Jesus 
 could finish the decent observances towards the body of their 
 crucified Lord, which on the Friday evening they had been con- 
 strained to leave incomplete. Many disciples were waiting for the 
 morning, that they might hasten to the tomb ; but, as usual in all 
 eases where the finer feelings and inner sentiments are engaged 
 the women were foremost in their attentions and their “cores’ 
 
 “ Love ’” sa y s g° od Bisho P Hall, « is restless and fearless. In the 
 dark of night these good women go to buy their spices, and ere 
 the day break are gone from their own houses towards the tomb of 
 Christ to bestow them. This sex is commonly fearful : it was 
 much for them to walk alone in that unsafe season ; yet, as despisin'*- 
 all fears and dangers, they thus spent the night after their Sabbath. 
 Might they have been allowed to buy their perfumes on the Sab- 
 bath, or to have visited that holy tomb sooner, can we think they 
 would have stayed so long? Can we suppose that they would have 
 cared more for the Sabbath than for the ‘ Lord of the Sabbath ’ 
 who now keeps his Sabbath in the grave ? Sooner they could not 
 come, later they would not, to present their last homage to their 
 dead Saviour.” ° 
 
 On the way to the garden, they talked of the difficulty of -ettincr 
 access to the tomb, on account of the stone at its mouth, which was 
 far too great for their united strength to move. 
 
 The lively sorrow of Mary Magdalene led her, as they ap- 
 proached the sepulchre, to hurry on before the other women. She 
 saw the great stone which had been placed at the mouth of the 
 cave rolled aside, and the tomb open. Terrified at the smht she 
 hastened away to impart the tidings to the male disciples of j’esus. 
 When the other women drew nigh, they also were astonished to 
 find that the sepulchre was open. Tremblingly they ventured in 
 and saw at once that the body of their Lord had disappeared. 
 Much were they alarmed at this, and not less alarmed to perceive 
 an angelic youth, vested all in white, who was sealed on the 
 ng t side of the tomb. On seeing him, they bowed their faces 
 to the earth; and the angel said to them, “Be not affrighted: 
 for I know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. Why seek 
 ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” 
 He also reminded them how distinctly this had been f, .retold 
 y esus himself; and after showing them the place where the 
 Lord had lain, he enjoined them to go and declare these matters 
 to Peter and the other disciples. They then hastened from the 
 sepulchre trembling and amazed,” and hurried, with feet winged 
 by joy, back to the city with their glad tidings. h 
 
 And how had all these things come to pass, and what had become 
 of the guard appointed to watch the tomb? There had been at 
 the first dawn of that morning, a great earthquake, in the midst of 
 
 Tnd 11 H k r P r 6 t0mb heheld an an S eI descend from heaven 
 and roll back the stone from the door and seat himself thereon 
 
 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white al 
 
 snow; and through fear of him the keepers did shake and become 
 
 as dead men. When they had sufficiently recovered, they sped 
 away to the chief priests, and rendered an account of what they 
 had seen. I his at first confounded them; but a council having 
 been called, it was concluded to give money to the soldiers to induce 
 them to say that the disciples of Jesus had come and taken away 
 the body of their Lord while they were asleep. This was accord- 
 ingly the story which they thenceforth promulgated, and which, 
 the Evangelist states, was “commonly reported among the Jews 
 unto this day.” 
 
 ^ Meanwhile Mary Magdalene in her way to the city met with 
 Peter and John, who were proceeding to the sepulchre. She, 
 not having heard the communication of the angel to the other 
 women, or indeed having seen the angel, eagerly stated what she 
 herself inferred from the stone being rolled away, and the door 
 being open : “ They have taken away the Lord out of the 
 
 sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.” On hearing 
 this, both the disciples began to run off to the sepulchre ; and the 
 enthusiasm of the “ disciple whom Jesus loved ” urged him on, so 
 that he outran Peter and arrived first at the tomb. Stooping 
 down at the entrance, he perceived that the body of his Lord was 
 indeed absent, and that the grave-clothes in which he had been 
 wrapped were left behind ; but he went not into the tomb, being 
 perhaps overcome by a natural aversion, or being unwilling to 
 incur without reason the seven days’ uncleanness which entrance 
 into a tomb involved. By this time Peter also had come up, and 
 being desirous of more exact information, went at once into the 
 tomb, where he perceived that the napkin which had enveloped the 
 head was not lying with the other linen clothes, but lay wrapped 
 up by itself. On reporting this fact to his companion, John also 
 went in to assure himself of it. From the importance attached 
 to this circumstance, it would appear that they gathered from it 
 that the body had not been stolen away. Had this been the case, 
 the robbers would not first have carefully taken off the bandages' 
 and have placed each one in a particular place : and hence it 
 was natural for them to infer that he had risen from the dead. 
 They therefore hastened away to impart these tidings to the other 
 Apostles. 
 
 Mary Magdalene, who had turned back with them to the sepulchre, 
 remained behind after they had departed. She had not been aware 
 of this new evidence, perhaps from not having arrived at the 
 garden till Peter and John had gone away ; or being aware of it 
 she had not drawn from it the same conviction which it brought 
 to them. Full of anxious solicitude, Mary looked once more into 
 the sepulchre, and beheld two angels in white, silting the one at 
 the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. 
 They said to her, “ Woman, why weepest thou ?” In the simplicity 
 of her heart, she told them in plain words the cause of her grief, 
 wiihout immediately thinking on supernatural aid— “ They have 
 taken away my Lord,” she said, “ and I know not where they have 
 laid him.” When she had said this, a voice close behind her asked, 
 “Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekesfc thou?” Taking 
 the person who thus accosted her to be the gardener, and only half 
 turning to him, she said in her usual simple and childlike mariner, 
 without any transport of fancy-“ Sir, if thou hast borne him hence’ 
 tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” On 
 this the person to whom she had been speaking pronounced her 
 name, “ Mary !” in that dear and well remembered voice, whose 
 accents had more than once brought peace to her soul. On hearing 
 it, she responded, “ Rabboni !” and turning quickly round, fell at 
 the feet of her risen Lord. Imagining that she now beheld him in 
 his higher being, she would have rendered him such homage as he 
 had never yet received on earth ; but he prevented her by inti- 
 mating that his glorification was still future: “Touch me not for 
 I am not yet ascended to my Father.” He then sent her away to 
 impart the fact of his resurrection to the Apostles, and make known 
 to them that he intended to meet them in Galilee. This was the 
 same commission which the other women had received from the 
 angel, and they were earlier than Mary in their intelligence. The 
 disciples received their account with a kind of doubting confidence, 
 some believed less and some more ; but as a body they were left in 
 a state of mind to require further evidence of a fact so strange and 
 unexampled. 
 
 The same evening, two men who had been disciples of Jesus, and 
 whom many suppose to have been among the seventy, were returnin'*- 
 to Emmaus, where they lived, from Jerusalem, where they had 
 probably been attending the Passover. Emmaus was a small village 
 distant about eight miles north-west of Jerusalem. On the way 
 they were talking earnestly of the circumstances attending the death 
 of Christ, and of the strange report which the women who went to 
 the sepulchre had that morning brought to the disciples. 
 
839.— The Resurrection. (Rubens.) 
 Yr Adgytocliud. 
 
 841. — Holy Sepulchre. 
 Y Bedd Sanctaidd. 
 
 840.— Mary Maerdalen and the Disciples at the Sepulchre. 
 Mail- M.iguaien u'r Disgybiiun wrth y Bedd. 
 
 (Raffaelle.) 
 
 838. — Rama (Arimathea.) 
 
 842. Interior of the Holy Sepulchre. (Meyer.) 
 Y Tu mewn i’r Bedd Sauctaidd. 
 
845. Ruins on the Coast of Tyre. (Cassas.) 
 Adfeilion ar Oror Tyrus. 
 
266 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXXIV. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIV.— THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 Tyre. 
 
 HE ships of fir-trees, masted 
 with cedars, are further de- 
 scribed as being provided witli 
 oars made of the oaks of Ba- 
 shan, which seems to show 
 that the ships of Tyre were 
 no other than galleys, de- 
 signed to be propelled by 
 rowers, as was the case with 
 most of the more ancient 
 shipping, the sails being only 
 used as an assistance and 
 relief to the oars, just as sails 
 are now used in vessels main- 
 ly propelled by steam. With 
 this impression agrees what 
 follows — “ the Aslmrites have 
 made thy benches of ivory,” if these benches were those on 
 which the rowers sat, as is usually supposed. If so, the Hebrew 
 poet gives a lively idea of the magnificence of the Tyrian vessels, 
 by describing the mean use to which so costly a material was 
 applied. It is not, however, to be understood that these or any 
 other benches were made wholly of ivory, but that they were inlaid 
 and enriched with it. The ivory itself was doubtless the produce 
 of their trade with India and Ethiopia, and, as manufactured by the 
 Phoenicians into various ornaments and articles of taste, was 
 extensively in use among the Israelites, especially in the furniture 
 of royal residences (Compare 1 Kings x, 18 ; Psalms xlv. 8 ; Amos 
 vi. 4). We see from the Egyptian monuments that ivory was 
 abundant at remote times in Egypt, for in the processions of tribute- 
 bearers we see crisp-headed bearers of huge teeth from Ethiopia and 
 Central Africa, and white men similarly laden, who also bring ivory 
 and the Asiatic Elephant, and who must have come from the East. 
 
 We are next told that the sails of these ships were of fine linen 
 from Egypt; which is an interesting corroboration of our know- 
 ledge from other sources, that weaving was one of the principal 
 occupations of the ancient Egyptians, and the products of their 
 looms in great demand among the neighbouring nations. 
 
 The prophet then proceeds to enumerate the products which the 
 merchants of various countries brought to the great mart of Tyre, 
 and for which they received in exchange the merchandise and 
 manufactures of the Phoenicians. We may notice some of the 
 more interesting particulars which this list affords. The intercourse 
 of Solomon with Tyre enables us to perceive the kind of commodities 
 which the inhabitants of that state were likely to require from 
 Palestine ; and the account in Ezekiel perfectly corresponds with 
 the intimations so long before conveyed : — “ Judah and the land of 
 Israel traded with thee; corn of Minnith, honey of raisins, oil 
 and balm, gave they to thee for thy wares.” The corn of Judea 
 was in fact highly prized; it excelled even that of Egypt. It was 
 not therefore merely the proximity of the country which led the 
 Phoenicians to prefer this market. The other productions also 
 mentioned by the prophet are among those which the Holy Land 
 was famous for producing of a superior quality. The strong vine 
 which had been native in this country from time immemorial, 
 afforded them an abundance of delicious grapes. The “ oil ” of 
 Palestine even still excels that of Provence, notwithstanding the 
 depressed state of the culture under Turkish despotism. The 
 “ balm” was collected in the plain of Jericho and in the lands about 
 the Lake of Gennesareth ; and was of the same sort as that which 
 still bears a high repute under the name of the balm of Mecca. 
 The fact thus brought before us, that Palestine was the granary 
 of the Phoenicians, explains in the clearest manner the good under- 
 standing which subsisted between those two nations. It is a striking 
 feature in the Jewish history, that with the oilier nations around them 
 they lived in a state of almost continual warfare ; and that under 
 David and Solomon they became conquerors and subdued con- 
 siderable countries ; and yet with their nearest neighbours, the 
 Phoenicians, they were never engaged in hostilities. But if a sense 
 of their weakness prevented them from attacking these mighty cities, 
 the natural policy of the Phoenicians no less, on the other hand, 
 restrained them from any hostile attempts upon a country from 
 which they drew their subsistence : to which it may be added, that 
 it seems to have been a maxim among them to avoid all wars and 
 forcible extension of their dominion upon the continent of Asia. 
 
 What Palestine received f rom Tyre in exchange for its produce 
 
 is not directly stated in Scripture. Solomon obtained timber from 
 Lebanon : but after his buildings had been finished, timber could 
 not well have formed the staple of the commercial intercourse 
 between the countries. We may, however, with tolerable safety 
 conclude that in this way the Israelites obtained such of the manu- 
 factures of the Phoenicians, and such of the commodities which they 
 imported from foreign parts, as they required. We know that the 
 Phoenicians excelled in the manufacture of ornaments of dress, im- 
 plements, utensils, baubles, and gewgaws, for which they found a 
 ready sale among the less civilized of the nations with which they 
 had intercourse : and it is very likely that most of the ornaments 
 worn by the Jewish women were obtained from them. A curious 
 list of such articles appears in Isa. iii. 18 — 23. 
 
 Syria proper also supplied its various productions to the markets 
 of Tyre, according to the nature of the different parts of the country. 
 The prophet goes on to state : — “Damascus traded with thee on 
 account of thy great riches and the multitude of thy wares; and 
 brought thee wine from Helbon and wool from the wilderness” 
 (xxvii. 18). The wine of Helbon (Chalybon), probably the modern 
 Aleppo, was the best, or was at least reputed the best, that Asia 
 afforded. It was the only sort which was served at the table of the 
 Persian kings, whose custom it was only to admit to their tables 
 the greatest delicacies that each province of their empire produced. 
 An eminent German writer (Ileeren) thinks it more than probable 
 that wine in general was one of the most important commodities 
 of the Phoenician trade by sea : for this he gives two reasons, — 
 that the culture of the vine was not then naturalized either in 
 Africa or the west of Europe ; and that it could only be trans- 
 ported on land by waggons, and not on beasts of burden. We 
 assent to the conclusion ; but cannot concur in the last of these 
 reasons, having very often witnessed the carriage of wine, in strong 
 and well secured skins, upon beasts of burden. 
 
 “ The wool of the wilderness,” translated “ white wool ” in the 
 authorized version, was one of the wares supplied by the pastoral 
 tribes, who then, as now, wandered their flocks over the Syrian 
 as well as the Arabian deserts. The fleece of these sheep is the 
 finest known ; improved as it is by the heat of the climate, the 
 continual exposure to the open air, and the care that these people 
 bestow upon their flocks, which constitute almost their only business 
 — all which circumstances tend to render it more precious. 
 
 In the 13th verse, “Tubal and Meshech ” are said to have 
 brought to the markets of Tyre “ slaves and vessels of brass.” It 
 seems to be agreed that the names Tubal and Meshech apply to 
 the countries lying between the Black and Caspian Seas — the abode 
 of the Tibarenians and Mosches, and probably also the Cappa- 
 docians. This probability is strengthened by the fact that the 
 wares in question are exactly such as these regions produced. 
 Cappadocia, together with the Caucasian districts, from the very' 
 earliest times was the chief seat of the slave-trade, and always 
 continued so in the ancient world. The finest race of men has 
 always been preferred : and it is well known that at the present 
 day the harems of the princes and nobles of Turkey and Persia 
 are peopled with the most beautiful of the Georgians and Cir- 
 cassians. Regular bands of kidnappers were formerly established 
 throughout these countries, whose sole occupation was to surprise 
 and carry away boys and girls for the markets of Constantinople, 
 Cairo, and Teheran. The Russians have done all in their power 
 to suppress this traffic in those parts of this region over which their 
 power extends. But there are still Circassian dealers who trade 
 with sucli of their countrymen as bring up their own children 
 for the Egyptian and Turkish markets. This lot is not how- 
 ever regretted, but regarded as enviable by the females of those 
 countries. The drudgery in which they spend their lives in their 
 own land, makes the luxurious and easy life which their sisters 
 are reported to lead in the harems of the Moslem grandees, seem to 
 them most enviable; and cases are not unfrequent of girls who 
 of their own free-will request to be sold. With the view of 
 securing compliance on the part of their relatives, they sometimes 
 declare that they have taken an oath to fulfil this resolution, and 
 the respect due to so sacred an obligation precludes any opposition 
 from being offered to the determination of those who have volun- 
 tarily incurred it. 
 
 The speculating spirit of the Phoenicians soon found a way to 
 those countries, and knew very well how to take advantage of 
 the prevailing taste in this merchandise. Their commerce in 
 this detestable branch of traffic was very extensive. The prophet 
 bitterly reproaches them for dealing in boys and girls, even in those 
 of their neighbours the Hebrews, and for selling them to the Greeks; 
 
 | and they predict that in punishment for this offence their own 
 I children should be sold to the Sabeans. 
 
Sunday XXXIV.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 267 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OW, the current descriptions of 
 the temple have been given 
 either by Biblical scholars who 
 knew nothing of architecture, 
 or by architects who knew no- 
 thing of Biblical scholarship ; 
 and who have, therefore, not 
 been very competent to grasp 
 the whole of a subject requiring 
 a combination of attainments not 
 often found in the same person. 
 
 Aware of these difficulties, 
 the Editor of the Pictorial Bible 
 was led to apprehend that more 
 satisfactory results might be ob- 
 tained by comparing the descrip- 
 tion left to us with temples existing at this day in Egypt, and which 
 existed in or before the time of Solomon. The architecture of a 
 great civilized country like Egypt must have had considerable in- 
 fluence upon that of the small states which were in its neighbour- 
 hood ; and when we take into account the intercourse which Solo- 
 mon established with that country, one of whose princesses became 
 his wife, we may allow the greater force to this consideration, even 
 without laying much stress upon the fact that the Israelites them- 
 selves were, from their long residence in Egypt, much imbued with 
 Egyptian notions, especially in matters which lay beyond the range 
 of the habits which they took with them to that country. It is true 
 that Phoenicians are the only foreigners said to have been employed 
 by Solomon, and that the chief master of the works was of that nation. 
 It is, however, by no means certain that Egyptians were not also em- 
 ployed, although they are not directly mentioned : and, under all 
 the circumstances, it appears more likely that they were employed 
 than that they were not. Nor is the case altered much, were the 
 Phoenicians alone in this matter, as it is usually understood that the 
 higher architecture of the Phoenicians was formed on the model of 
 that of Egypt. In any case, if we heard that a great temple existed 
 in former times at a particular place, and had no other means of ob- 
 taining a general notion of it, we should naturally turn to the con- 
 temporary or earlier temples (if any existed) of the nearest country 
 or region, to suggest such ideas respecting the general plan and ar- 
 rangement as might enable us to connect the particulars of the 
 description we desire to understand ; and the propriety of doing this 
 would be much confirmed if we found a general correspondence of 
 parts, and if the existing temple enabled us to understand much of 
 the description which had previously been obscure. On these views 
 the writer above cited takes some pains to trace out this correspon- 
 dence. lie gives the ground-plan which was designed by Bernard 
 Lamy from the description of Solomon’s temple given in Scripture, 
 and compares that with the ground-plan of the temple at Edfou in 
 Egypt, showing the general correspondence of the parts, and that 
 in the more important differences the Egyptian plan affords as much 
 illustration to Scripture as that of Lamy. The elevation of this 
 temple, in the ruined condition in which it now exists, conveys a 
 good idea of the general arrangements of such buildings — the grand 
 entrance to the whole fabric, the courts which lie between it and 
 the temple itself, and the sanctuary, which usually, as in Solomon’s 
 temple, occupies but a small part of the whole area. Of this more 
 holy and eminent part, what we are disposed to regard as a very 
 striking illustration occurs in the temple in the isle of Elephantine ; 
 and the two pillars in front, supporting the entablature of the 
 pronaos, may perhaps illustrate the use of the pillars of Solomon’s 
 temple, Jachin and Boaz, which have so much perplexed com- 
 mentators, as well as of “ the two pillars on which the house 
 (temple) leaned,” which Samson overthrew. 
 
 This way of viewing the temple of Solomon by the light which 
 the monuments of Egypt offer, has enabled an architectural writer, 
 Mr. Bardwell, in his work on “ Temples,” to give an interesting 
 account of this celebrated structure : and as this is the only state- 
 ment respecting Solomon’s temple by a professional writer, we shall 
 here introduce the substance of it, avoiding, however, as we do so, 
 some trifling mistakes into which he appears to have fallen. 
 
 “ With so much information before us at the present day, it is 
 almost needless for me to assert that the Temple of Solomon was in the 
 Egyptian style of architecture ; a moment’s reflection will convince 
 every unbiassed mind that such must have been the case ; since, 
 although Greece had been colonized from Egypt nearly two hundred 
 years before this, it is not at all likely, from the slow development 
 
 of human improvement, that the style we call Greek had then 
 superseded its Egyptian parent ; and what is conclusive upon this 
 point, as we shall soon see, is, the Temple of Solomon had not, in 
 its proportions and details, anything in common with the temples 
 of Greece. That the Jews had no peculiar style of their own, 
 excepting so far as they were restricted from the use of figures of 
 animals in decorations, is also probable ; as, ever since they had 
 settled in Canaan, four hundred years previous, they had been 
 constantly engaged in the wars necessary to extend and conserve 
 their newly acquired territory, and, consequently, had no opportunity 
 of cultivating the fine arts. Besides, Solomon was in constant in- 
 tercourse with the Pharaoh of his age, and married his daughter. 
 Further, in no pa’rt of the world had temple architecture and the 
 art of cutting and polishing stones ever arrived, before or since, to 
 such perfection as in Egypt. The Tyrians, being at that time the 
 great common carriers of the world, kept up an extensive commerce 
 with Egypt. I therefore infer from this and the before-mentioned 
 reasons, that the masons were Egyptian, and the stone all prepared, 
 fitted, and finished by them before it was brought to Jerusalem; 
 since, moreover, there is nothing mentioned about the expensiveness 
 of any article but the stone, ‘ costly stones, even great stones, stones 
 of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.’ 
 
 “ The cella of the Temple of Solomon, as described in the First 
 Book of Kings, was small, as all those of the Egyptian temples were; 
 of few parts, but those noble and harmonious. It was about the 
 same length, but not so wide, as St. Paul, Covent Garden ; this 
 church is a double square inside, the temple was a treble square, 
 but one square was divided off for the oracle, and geometrical pro- 
 portions thus established. It was one hundred and sixteen feet 
 three inches long, to which must be added the pronaos, in the same 
 way as that of St. Paul, Covent Garden, nineteen feet four inches 
 and a half more ; giving a total length of one hundred and thirty- 
 five feet seven inches and a half long, by thirty-seven feet six inches 
 broad, and fifty-eight feet one inch and a half high. It was sur- 
 rounded on three sides by chambers in three stories, each story 
 wider than the one below it, as the walls were narrowed or made 
 thinner as they ascended, by sets-off of eleven inches on each side, 
 which received the flooring-joists, as no cutting was on any account 
 permitted. Access to these apartments was given from the right 
 hand side of the interior of the temple, by a winding staircase ot 
 stone, such as maybe seen in several of the ancient Nubian temples. 
 A row of loop-hole windows above the chambers gave light to the 
 cella The oracle was an exact square, of thirty-seven feet six 
 inches high, in the centre of which was a pair of folding-doors of 
 olive-wood, seven feet six inches wide, very richly carved with 
 palm-trees, and open flowers, and cherubim ; the floor of the 
 temple was boarded with fir; (he roof was flat, covered with gold, 
 upon thick planks of cedar, supported by large cedar beams. The 
 inside walls and the ceiling were lined with cedar, beautifully carved, 
 representing cherubim and palm-trees, clusters of foliage and open 
 flowers, among which the lotus was conspicuous ; and the whole 
 interior was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood nor stone was 
 seen, and nothing met the eye but pure gold, either plain, as on the 
 floor, or richly chased, and enriched with gems, upon the walls and 
 ceiling. At a little distance from ‘the most holy place,’ like the rail- 
 ing of a communion-table, were fixed five massive gold candelabra, 
 on each side the entrance, and between the candelabra were chains 
 or wreaths of flowers, wrought in pure gold, separating even the 
 entrance of the oracle from the body of the temple. Within the oracle 
 was set the ancient ‘ ark of the covenant,’ which had preceded them 
 to the Promised Land, beneath two colossal cherubim, each nineteen 
 feet four inches and a half high, with immense outspreading wings, 
 one wing of each cherubim touching the other in the middle of the 
 temple, while the other wings touched the wall on each side; before 
 them was the altar of incense, formed of cedar, and entirely overlaid 
 with refined gold ; and on the sides of the temple were arranged ten 
 golden tables, five on each side, for the exhibition of theshew-bread, 
 besides other tables of silver, for the display of above one hundred 
 gold vases of various patterns, and the censers, spoons, snuffers, &c. 
 used in the service of the temple. 
 
 “ It appears that the inside of the pronaos was also covered with 
 gold ; from it a grand pair of folding doors, nine feet four inches 
 and a half wide, opened into the temple. These doors were also 
 overlaid with gold, embossed in rich patterns of cherubim, and 
 palms, and open flowers; both pairs of doors had ornamented hinges 
 of gold, and before the doors of the oracle hung a veil embroidered 
 with cherubim, in blue, and purple, and crimson. 
 
 “ Hiram the king had sent over from Tyre his clerk of the works, 
 who superintended the building till it became necessary to set up 
 the two great columns of the pronaos ; these were to the usual pro- 
 
 2 M 2 
 
848.— Modes of bearing Burdens. 
 
 Y Dull o ridwyn Beichiau. 
 
 850.— Egyptian Door. 
 Dor Aiplitaidd. 
 
 851. — Metal Door-Pins. 
 Bachau Dor o Pettal. 
 
 COURT OP THE GENTILES. 
 
 849. —Plan of Solomon’s Temple. (After Bernard Lamy.) 
 Cynllun o Demi Solomon. (Yn ol Bernard Lamy.) 
 
 852. — Ancient Egyptian Doors. 
 
 856 — Algum Trees (pinus deodar a). 
 Coed Algum. 
 
 853.— Egyptian mode of transporting large Stones. 
 
 Y dull Aiplitaidd o drosglwyddo Meini mawrion. 
 
 'Jiprn Porch, 
 
857. — Cedars on Mount Lebanon. (From Laborde’s ‘Voyage en Orient.’) 
 Cedrwydd ar Fynydd Libanus. (O ‘ Voyage en Oriente ’ Laborde.) 
 
 861.— Supposed Form of the Brazen Sea. (After Bernard Lamy.) 
 Ffurf dybiedig y Mor Tawdd. (Yn ol Bernard Lamy.) 
 
 269 
 
270 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXIY. 
 
 portions of Egyptian columns, being five and a half diameters high, 
 and as these gave the great characteristic feature of the building, 
 Solomon sent an embassy to fetch the architect from Tyre to 
 superintend the moulding and casting of these columns, which were 
 intended to be of brass : and observe how conspicuous is the idea 
 of the vase (the ‘ bowl* of our translation) rising from a cylinder, 
 ornamented with lotus-flowers ; the bottom of the vase was partly 
 hidden by the flowers, the belly of it was overlaid with net-work orna- 
 mented by seven wreaths, and beneath the lip of the vase were two 
 rows of pomegranates, one hundred in each row : these superb pil- 
 lars were eight feet in diameter, and forty feet high. The temple 
 was surrounded on the north, south, and east by the inner or 
 priests’ court, which had a triple colonnade around it; and before 
 the western front was the great court, square and very spacious, 
 having in the midst the great brazen altar, as wide as the front of 
 the temple itself, viz. thirty-seven feet six inches square ; it con- 
 tained also the magnificent basin called the Molten Sea, besides 
 ten other lavatories, all of splendid workmanship in brass. 
 
 “ The great court had three propylea with gates of brass, and was 
 surrounded also with a triple colonnade.” 
 
 Looking forward a little to the completion of the edifice, and its 
 dedication by the king, our architect proceeds : — “ Magnificent 
 must have been the sight to behold the young king, clothed in 
 royalty, officiating before the great altar, while the thousands of 
 Levites and priests on the east side, habited in surplices, with harps, 
 cymbals, and trumpets in their hands, led the eye to the beautiful 
 pillars flanking the doors of the temple, now thrown open, and dis- 
 playing the interior brilliantly lighted up, while the burnished gold 
 of the floor, the ceiling, and the walls, with the precious gems with 
 which they were enriched, reflecting the light on all sides, would 
 completely overwhelm the imagination, were it not excited, by the 
 view of the embroidered veil, to consider the awful glories of the 
 most holy place.” 
 
 After this description from the pen of an architect, it would be 
 unfair to call the Temple of Solomon “ a poor building,” as some 
 writers have done, under the impression that it owes all its greatness 
 to the high terms which the Jewish writers employ in describing 
 the most magnificent structure with which they were acquainted. 
 The fact seems to be, that when viewed as the work of a very early 
 age, and with reference to the notions which then prevailed, Solo- 
 mon’s Temple may be considered magnificent ; although it is not to I 
 be compared with more recent specimens of architecture, as exhibited 
 in the master-pieces of Greek or Roman art, or even in the great 
 Cathedral churches of the Christian world. It is evident that the 
 Jews knew nothing of the orders of architecture ; and, although it 
 may be difficult to form a distinct idea of this their first and greatest 
 work, it is very clear that they were fond of minute details and 
 highly finished decorations, both in the engravings on stones and 
 the ornaments in wood and precious metals. If the expenditure of 
 vast sums of money be taken as a standard of comparison, the pre- 
 eminence of Solomon’s Temple is more striking, as we have no 
 knowledge of any building which has been recorded to have cost so 
 much in its erection. There is, indeed, great difficulty in forming 
 an exact estimate of this cost. Some find the amount so large as 
 would have sufficed to build the temple with solid gold : and with- 
 out going into such extravagance of estimate, but contenting our- 
 selves with the lowest ever proposed, being seven millions sterling, 
 it could not well have been otherwise than a glorious structure, 
 however little its general proportions or arrangements of parts may 
 have been in accordance with modern taste. The many thousand 
 labourers employed on it for seven years and a half, is in accord- 
 ance with the impression which we derive from the statement of the 
 expense ; and both facts together, even if nothing else were known, 
 would amply suffice to relieve the Temple of Jerusalem from the 
 slights which have of late years been cast upon it. 
 
 The fact seems to be, that our expectations have been too exclusively 
 formed upon the vast single piles, suited to contain a multitude of 
 people under cover, which have sprung up under the Christian 
 religion, as being best suited to the forms of worship which it has 
 established. Under the ancient idolatries, as well as in the Jewish 
 religion, the worship of God was by sacrifices and other rites 
 performed in the open air, within the enclosed courts in front of the 
 small temple, which was not designed for the concourse of wor- 
 shippers, but as the abode of the god, or the seat of his image. 
 Thus in all these temples the vastness which struck the eye con- 
 sisted only in their exterior buildings, their pillars, and the colon- 
 nades by which they were surrounded. The temples themselves, 
 with their interior cella, were in general very small, and unimpos- 
 ing, so that they cannot be compared to a Gothic cathedral, in I 
 which, with its forty or fifty pillars, there is room for a man to 1 
 
 lose himself. The things are so entirely different, that those whose 
 ideas have been formed from the one, are not well able to appre- 
 ciate the other. We concentrate our labours upon one imposing 
 fabric — the ancients dispersed theirs in a multitude of connected 
 parts over an extensive area. The different practices were respec- 
 tively best suited to the modes of worship with which they were 
 connected. This is clear: and it suffices at present to indicate that 
 in the Temple of Jerusalem we recognise the general features com- 
 mon to all ancient temples — a holy place, inaccessibleand inviolable, 
 covered and shut up, and placed at the extremity of one or more 
 courts, surrounded with peristyles, and with cells or apartments for 
 the lodging of the officiating priests, as well as with places of store 
 for the various property of the establishment. 
 
 The reader of the Scriptural descriptions of Solomon’s Temple 
 will be much struck by the unusual particularity with which the 
 doors and windows are described. The valves, the side-posts, the 
 “ hinges” of the doors, are all specially indicated; yet no distinct 
 impression is left upon the mind, and, to assist it, we have intro- 
 duced examples of ancient Egyptian doors (Fig. 852), which 
 will convey much instructive information on the subject. In two 
 of them (a, b) may be seen further illustrations of the mode 
 in which the two brazen pillars Jachin and Boaz might have been 
 exhibited in front of the building, while those who prefer to regard 
 them as standing apart in front of the porch may also find autho- 
 rity for their conclusion in the obelisks to which we have already 
 referred. The word “ hinges” used in our translation is apt to 
 convey an erroneous impression with respect to the manner in which 
 the valves of the temple-gates were hung. There were no hinges 
 to ancient doors. They turned on pins, which among the ancients 
 were frequently of metal (bronze), several of which have been found, 
 and are preserved in various cabinets. Those which our cut exhibits 
 (Fig. 851) are now in the British Museum; and such, without 
 question, were the golden “ hinges” to the door of Solomon’s Temple. 
 Sometimes, however, as in the specimen which we have taken from 
 the model of a small Egyptian house in the same collection (Fig. 
 850), the pin was formed out of the projecting ends of the wood 
 which formed the substance of the door, and this practice is still 
 very usual in the East. (Fig. 854.) 
 
 The temple is said to have had “ windows of narrow lights.” 
 What is really meant by the words thus translated is not very clear: 
 
 I but the specimens of Egyptian windows which we have given (Fig. 
 854), afford examples of all the alternatives which have been sug- 
 gested, as well as illustrate the different kinds of windows men- 
 tioned in the Sacred Books. 
 
 As the utensils for the sacred service were similar in design and 
 use to those employed in the tabernacle, it is not necessary here to 
 describe those which were provided by Solomon for his temple. As, 
 however, these services -were henceforth to be conducted on a 
 grander scale than under the tabernacle, the utensils were propor- 
 tionably either more large or more splendid or more numerous. 
 The most remarkable of the new utensils wars the Molten Sea, 
 which was destined to occupy the place of the brazen laver of the 
 old tabernacle. It was cast of fine brass, a hand’s breadth thick, 
 and its border was wrought “ like the brim of a cup, with lotus- 
 flowers.” It was so large as to contain about fifteen thousand gal- 
 lons of water, and was mounted upon twelve brazen oxen, which 
 must have given it a conspicuous and imposing appearance in the 
 court of the temple, in which it stood. We are not acquainted with 
 its precise form ; but we have given one of the current representa- 
 tions (Fig. 861), to which we have added a more interesting 
 illustration from the celebrated Fountain of Lions in the Moorish 
 palace, the Alhambra, in Granada. (Fig. 870.) This fountain is 
 said to have been designed in imitation of Solomon’s brazen sea; but 
 the difference of animals (lions, instead of oxen), and the absence of 
 any inscription to that effect, render this statement somewhat 
 doubtful. It is, however, the most proximate reality which can now 
 be found, and is therefore calculated to furnish interesting materials 
 for comparison. 
 
 With respect to the use of the figures of oxen, it is remarked in 
 the ‘ Pictorial Palestine,’ that “ the instance proves — as do the 
 figures of cherubim, so profusely displayed in all parts of the 
 temple, and the brazen serpent in the wilderness — that the Hebrews 
 were not forbidden to make images of living creatures, so long as 
 they were not designed for any idolatrous or superstitious object. 
 Had it been otherwise, nothing could well have been more sus- 
 picious and dangerous than the figures of oxen, considering the addic- 
 tion of the Israelites to the worship of the ox-god of Egypt, as 
 evinced by the golden figure of him which they set up in the wil- 
 derness, and by those which they in later days worshipped in Dan 
 aud Bethel.” 
 
Sunday XXXIV.] 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 271 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIV.— LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 HESE men, after the death of Christ, 
 seem no longer to have regarded him 
 as the Messiah ; nor had they any 
 faith in the relations of the women, 
 though their minds had been so far 
 struck with those relations, that they 
 were, it seems, discussing their proba- 
 bility, and hesitating to give credence 
 to them, since the disciples had not 
 themselves seen Jesus. As they were 
 thus communing together, they were 
 joined by a stranger, who entered into conversation with them. 
 This was Jesus himself. But, probably through divine influence in 
 connection with the difference in his dress and the absence of any 
 ' expectation of such a circumstance, he was not recognized by them. 
 He asked them, “ What manner of communications are these which 
 ye have one to another as ye walk, and are sad ?” In answer they 
 expressed their surprise that any one coming from Jerusalem could 
 be ignorant of things which had for some days been the common 
 talk of the holy city. Jesus still asked, “ What things?” Then 
 they briefly recited how that Jesus of Nazareth, “a prophet mighty 
 in word and deed before God and all the people, had been delivered 
 unto death by the chief priests and rulers and this put an end to 
 the hopes which they and many others had cherished, for they had, 
 they said, trusted that “ this was lie who should have delivered 
 Israel.” And besides this, some of their women had thrown them 
 into amazement by asserting what seemed incredible — that they had 
 been told by angels that Jesus was still alive. Then Christ broke 
 forth, “0 misjudging ! and slow of heart to believe all that the 
 prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these 
 things, and to enter into his glory ?” Then beginning at Moses, and 
 so down through all the prophets, he opened to them the Scriptures 
 concerning himself, showing how the ancient purposes of God had 
 been accomplished, and salvation brought to mankind by those very 
 things which appeared to them so mysterious and dark. 
 
 By the time the Lord had ended his discourse, the party had arrived 
 near Emraaus, when perceiving that the instructive companion of 
 their walk made a motion as if intending to proceed farther, they 
 urged him to accompany thorn to their home in the village, and re- 
 main with them for the night, as the day was drawing towards its 
 close. He yielded to their friendly importunities, and went. What 
 further passed until supper-time we know not; but at that meal 
 the peculiar manner in which Jesus took and blessed the bread, and 
 gave it to them — -which besides was an unusual thing for a guest 
 t0 t | 0 — revealed him to their knowledge. But before they could 
 express their delight or reverence, he disappeared from their view. 
 On this, although it was night, they girded up their loins and has- 
 tened back to Jerusalem, to make known to the Apostles that the 
 Lord had indeed risen. On the way they had new and higher 
 matter for discourse, and they said to each other, “ Did not our 
 hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and 
 opened to us the Scriptures?” On their arrival at Jerusalem, they 
 found the Apostles and chosen disciples of Christ assembled toge- 
 ther, and already well assured, from the evidence of Peter, that their 
 Lord had risen from the dead. While they were talking of these 
 matters, Jesus himself appeared unexpectedly and suddenly among 
 them, and saluted them in his usual manner — “ Peace be unto 
 you !” They were at first terrified at his appearance ; for although 
 they believed he was risen, the first appearance of one who had 
 been dead, and had lain in the grave, suggested to their imagina- 
 tion the idea of a disembodied spirit. To disabuse them of this im- 
 pression, he called their attention to the scars which the nails had 
 left upon his hands and feet ; and to feel that he still possessed a 
 material body. 
 
 The Apostle Thomas was not present at the time, and when told 
 by the others that they had seen the Lord, he immediately expressed 
 a strong doubt of the fact. They assured him that they had seen 
 the marks of his wounds; and he then declared, that he must not 
 only see, but put his finger into the prints of the nails, and his 
 hand into the wounded side, before he could believe. Eight days 
 after, Jesus again appeared to the disciples, when Thomas was 
 among them. He addressed himself directly to the incredulous 
 apostle, saying, “ Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; 
 and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not 
 faithless, but believing.” On this the rebuked apostle was seized 
 with a full and overflowing feeling of the supernatural in the fact 
 which bis cool mind had been disposed to distrust, and with intense 
 acknowledgment he exclaimed, “ My Lord, and my God !” 
 
 After this, the apostles, who were all of Galilee, returned to 
 their own province and to their friends, because Jesus had told them 
 beforehand that they might there expect to hold further intercourse 
 with him. 
 
 I he apostles had then returned to their usual occupations ; which 
 does not, however, imply that they had abandoned the expectation 
 of being employed in preaching the doctrine of Christ, since among 
 the Jews the office of a teacher seldom excluded the prosecution of 
 some trade, but, on the contrary, the two were frequently combined. 
 Seven of the disciples, all fishermen, were by the Lake of Tiberias, 
 and launched forth one evening to catch fish. They toiled all the 
 night, and caught nothing. When the morning broke, Jesus 
 stood upon the shore, but in the dusk of the morning the fishermen 
 knew not their Master. lie called to them, to ask if they had any 
 fish. They still knew him not by his voice, but probably supposed 
 him one who wished to purchase fish. They answered that they 
 had none : on which he told them to cast their nets in on the right 
 side of the ship, and they would find enough. Supposing that he 
 might from the shore have observed something which led him to 
 conclude that there were fish in that place, they followed the direc- 
 tions of the supposed stranger, and then they were unable to draw 
 the net, from the multitude of fishes which it enclosed. 
 
 This miraculous draught immediately suggested to John that the 
 stranger upon the shore was no other than the Lord, and he mentioned 
 this to Peter, who no sooner heard it, than he cast himself into the 
 sea, and swam to the land. The others came in their boat, drag- 
 ging after them the net, which contained not fewer than one 
 hundred and fifty large fishes, and, although there were so many, 
 the net was not broken. On landing, the disciples found a fire already 
 kindled, with fish broiling thereon, with bread provided for their 
 refreshment, and after some of the fish just caught had been added, 
 Jesus said to them, “ Come and dine.” 
 
 After he had assured their minds, by this act of confidential 
 intercourse, Christ addressed himself in a very pointed manner to 
 Peter, who must be supposed in a peculiar state of mind with refer- 
 ence to the recent denial of his Lord, and asked him whether he now, 
 according to his former declaration, loved him with more entire 
 devotedness than others, in the words, “ Simon, son of Jonas, lovest 
 thou me more than these?” Peter dared not again make a bold 
 promise. He mistrusted his own knowledge of himself, and 
 answered only by a touching appeal to the consciousness of Christ — 
 “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.” Then Christ called 
 upon him to prove his words by his actions, in the emphatic words, 
 “ Feed my lambs !” After a while Jesus repeated the question, 
 and having received the same answer, charged him — “ Feed my 
 sheep.” Once more he pronounced the question ; and although Peter 
 was distressed at the doubt implied in the repetition of the question, 
 the feeling of inward attachment was now so strong within him, that 
 he appealed with entire confidence to the high knowledge of the heart 
 which his Divine Master possessed : “ Lord, thou knowest all things ; 
 thou knowest that I love thee.” To this Christ repeated the same 
 significant charge; and then at once proceeded to apprise him, in 
 language not to be mistaken, of the testimony of love to Christ which 
 wotdd thereafter, in his old age, be required from him, by the violent 
 death on the cross which he would then be called upon to suffer. 
 
 John, who had always been present at confidential conversations, 
 also joined them here. Peter, actuated more by idle curiosity than 
 by real solicitude for John, was led by this to ask what was to be 
 his future lot ; but Jesus, who in his answers had always regard to 
 the moral condition of the questioner, answered evasively: “If I 
 will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee. Follow thou me.’’ 
 This doubtless refers to the time of the destruction of the Hebrew 
 polity and temple, which John survived ; but some were led to con- 
 ceive by this that the beloved disciple would never die, and the 
 curious inquirer into ecclesiastical history meets with many traces 
 of this opinion. 
 
 Forty days after the Passover carne the feast of Pentecost; and 
 some days before this the disciples returned to Jerusalem to cele- 
 brate the feast. There they were again met by Jesus, who gave 
 them his last and most important charge, enjoining them to remain 
 at Jerusalem till they were gifted with powers from on high, after 
 which they were to go abroad among the nations, “preaching the 
 Gospel to every creature.” 
 
 He then led them forth to the Mount of Olives, as far as Bethany, 
 where he lifted up his hands to bestow on them his last solemn 
 blessing; and while his hands were still outspread as in the act of 
 blessing, he arose gradually from among them, and disappeared in 
 the heavens — “ Where he sitteth on the right hand of God.” The 
 disciples then returned with joyful hearts to Jerusalem, where they 
 were constantly in the temple praising and blessing God. 
 
272 
 
 bUG. — Incredulity of Thomas. (Vanderwerff.) 
 Anvhrcdinlneth Thomas. 
 
SG7.—“ Whitlier shall I £° tben from thy spirit!— If I climb up into heaven, thou art there.” (Guido.)— Psalm cxxxix. 7, 8. 
 ” I ba le yr af oddi wrth dy ysbryd?— Os dringaf i*r nefoedd, yno yr wyt ti.” 
 
 800 - Poesy. (Iiaffaelle.) 
 Parddoniaeth. 
 
 
 ‘273 
 
274 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 [Sunday XXX Y. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXV.- THE PSALMS. 
 
 Hebrew Poetry. 
 
 ET another species of the Antithe- 
 tic Parallel requires a part of the first 
 line to be supplied in the second to 
 complete t he sentence: — 
 
 “ He who uttereth truth manifesteth 
 righteousness ; 
 
 But a false witness, deceit.” 
 
 (Prov. xii. 17.) 
 
 “ Only with pride cometh contention ; 
 
 But with the well-advised, wisdom.” (Prov. xiii. 10.) 
 
 There are instances of antithetic triplets, in which the second and 
 third lines are gradational : — 
 
 “ Behold, my servants shall sing aloud for gladness of heart; 
 
 But ye shall cry aloud for trrief of heart ; 
 
 And in the anguish of a broken spirit shall ye howl.” 
 
 (Isa. Ixv. 14.) 
 
 Here the two last lines are antithetical to the first, and while 
 the antithesis to the first line is most literal in the second line, 
 the third rises above it in intensity of signification. 
 
 There are also stanzas of four lines, in which the opposition 
 lies between the parts, the latter distich being opposed to the 
 former : — 
 
 “ Yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more ; 
 
 Thou shalt look for his place, and it shall not be found : 
 
 But the meek shall inherit the land, 
 
 And delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” (Ps. xxxvii.) 
 “ For the moth shall consume them like a garment, 
 
 And the worm shall eat them like wool ; 
 
 But my righteousness shall be eternal, 
 
 And my salvation to all generations.” (Isa. li. 8.) 
 
 This kind of antithetical stanza is in some instances extended 
 even to five lines: — 
 
 “ Verily the heavens shall vanish like smoke, 
 
 And the earth decay like a garment, 
 
 And its inhabitants in like manner shall die; 
 
 But my salvation shall endure for ever, 
 
 And my righteousness shall not decay.” (Isa. li. G.) 
 
 III. The Synthetic Parallels are those in which the parallel- 
 ism consists only in the similar form of construction. Word does not 
 answer to word, and sentence to sentence, as equivalent or opposite: 
 but there is a correspondence or equality between the several pro- 
 positions, in respect of the shape or turn of the whole sentence and 
 of the constructive parts, such as noun answering to noun, verb to 
 verb, member to member, negative to negative, interrogative to 
 interrogative. The nineteenth Psalm furnishes a beautiful example 
 of this kind of parallelism ; — 
 
 “ The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul ; 
 
 The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making vise the simple; 
 
 The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart ; 
 
 The commandment of Jehovah is clear, enlightening the eyes; 
 The fear of Jehovah is pure, enduring for ever; 
 
 The judgments of Jehovah are truth, they are righteous alto- 
 gether ; 
 
 More desirable than gold or than much fine gold, 
 
 And sweeter than honey or the dropping of honey-combs.” 
 
 (Ps. xix. 7—11.) 
 
 In Isaiah lviii. 4 — 9, each verse is a stanza of synthetic parallels, 
 and the whole passage is marked by this character. It is too long to 
 insert in this place; but the reader may refer to it with advantage. 
 
 The following short and very complete specimens may, however, 
 be added : — 
 
 “ He that putteth not out his money to usury, 
 
 And taketh not a bribe against the innocent, 
 lie that doeth these things shall never be moved.” (Ps. xv. 5 ) 
 “ Woe unto them that call evil go id, and good evil ; 
 
 Who put darkness for 1 igtit, and light for darkness ; 
 
 Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” (Isa. v. 20.) 
 This last, is an instance of the bi-membrul construction, the 
 lines consisting of double members, or two distinct, but correspond- 
 ing propositions. 
 
 IV. The only other kind of parallelism which we are required to 
 notice is that to which the name of Introverted Parallelism is 
 usually applied. In this the stanzas are so constructed, that, whatever 
 be the number of lines, the first line shall be parallel with the last, 
 the second with the penultimate, or last but one, and so on 
 throughout, in an order that looks inward, or, to borrow a military 
 phrase, from flanks to centre : 
 
 “ And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 
 Jehovah shall make a gathering of his fruit 
 From the flood of the river, 
 
 To the stream of Egypt ; 
 
 And ye shall be gleaned up, one by one, 
 
 O ye sons of Israel. 
 
 And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 
 The great trumpet shall be sounded ; 
 
 And those shall come who were perishing in the land 
 of Assyria, 
 
 And who were dispersed in the land of Egypt ; 
 
 And they shall bow themselves down before Jehovah 
 In the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” (Isa. xxvii. 12, 13.) 
 
 On this Bishop Jebb, who first discriminated this kind of 
 parallelism, remarks : — “ In these iwo stanzas of Isaiah, figuratively 
 in the first and literally in the second, is predicted the return of 
 the Jews from their several dispersions. The first line of each 
 stanza is parallel with the sixth, the second with the fifth, the third 
 with the fourth : also on comparing the stanzas with each other, 
 it is manifest that they are constructed with the utmost precision 
 of mutual correspondence, clause harmonizing with clause, and line 
 respectively with line ; the first line of the first stanza with the first 
 line of the second, and so throughout.” 
 
 The following are shorter examples, which, after the explanations 
 already given, will be easily understood and appreciated ; — 
 
 “ Though he heap up silver as the dust, 
 
 And prepare raiment as the clay ; 
 
 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, 
 
 And the innocent shall divide the silver.” (Job xxvii. 16, 17.) 
 
 “ I also will laugh at your destruction, 
 
 I will mock when your fear cometh ; 
 
 When your fear cometh as a desolation, 
 
 And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind.” (Prov. i. 26, 27.) 
 
 “ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 
 Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord ; 
 
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are 
 my ways higher than your ways, 
 
 And my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. Iv. 8, 9.) 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Boys, in his ‘ Key to the Book of Psalms,’ 
 has shown that many simple couplets may be so divided in the 
 reading as to admit of this introverted arrangement, and to receive 
 much illustration from it. Thus in Psalm xviii. 20 — 
 
 “ The Lord hath rewarded me according to my 
 righteousness ; 
 
 According to the cleanness of my hands hath he 
 recompensed me ” — 
 
 Will read thus : — 
 
 “ The Lord hath rewarded me 
 
 According to my righteousness ; 
 
 According to the cleanness of my hands 
 Hath he recompensed me.” 
 
 And so in the following : — 
 
 Have mercy upon me, O God, 
 
 According to thy loving kindness ; 
 
 According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, 
 Blot out my transgressions.” (Ps. li. 1.) 
 
 “ Because he hath set his love upon me, 
 
 Therefore will I deliver him ; 
 
 I will set him on high, 
 
 Because he hath known my name.” (Ps. xci. 14.) 
 
 The subject of Hebrew parallelism offers a wide field, which we 
 have on the present occasion skimmed but lightly. The examples 
 which have been ottered will, however, enable the reader to trace many 
 others in the books of Scripture; and the discovery of these latent 
 qualities will not only furnish a high intellectual enjoyment, 
 but will impart much spiritual instruction, through the clearer 
 development of the sense in many parts of the Divine W ord, which 
 may under this mode of study be obtained. 
 
Sunday XXXV.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 275 
 
 SUNDAY XXXV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 LL the works of the temple being finished 
 (b c. 100.3), the dedication of it was re- 
 served for the next year, which was a 
 year of Jubilee — that great periodical 
 holy year of rest and joy to the Israel- 
 ites, which few could hope to witness 
 more than once in their lives. 
 
 As the principal object to be 
 served by the temple was to afford 
 a resting-place to the ark, the dedica- 
 tion was no sooner resolved upon than 
 preparations were made for introducing it with due pomp into the 
 sanctuary. In the presence of nearly the whole nation, assembled 
 at Jerusalem, including all the courses of priests and orders of 
 Levites, the procession commenced from the city of David, where 
 the ark lay, to the portals of the splendid edifice, accompanied with 
 many instruments of music, and the cheerful sound of psalms 
 chanted by the Levitical choirs. The psalms were selected or com- 
 posed for this solemn service ; and when the sons of Levi, bearing 
 their precious burden, drew near the eastern porch, the singers 
 broke forth in the triumphal strain — 
 
 “ Lift up your heads, O ye gates, 
 
 And be ye lift, ye everlasting doors, 
 
 That the King of Glory may come in.” 
 
 At the moment when the ark of the covenant was deposited in 
 the holy of the holies, between the cherubim, the innumerable 
 Levitical choirs thundered forth their well known song — sent to the 
 heavens by their united voices, and by the harmonious concord of a 
 thousand instruments — 
 
 “ Praise ye Jehovah ! for he is good ; 
 
 For his mercy endureth for ever !” 
 
 At that moment, suddenly, as at the consecration of the tabernacle, 
 the holy building was covered with a thick cloud, which filled it 
 wholly, and which enveloped the pri&sts in such profound obscurity 
 that they were unable to continue their ministrations. This was a 
 manifest symbol that the Lord had accepted this building as his 
 house, and that his presence had descended to dwell therein. The 
 deep silence that ensued was broken by the voice of Solomon, who 
 stood upon a brazen platform in front of the altar. lie spread 
 forth his hands towards heaven, and gave utterance to the noble and 
 affecting prayer by which the house was set apart to the worship of 
 the God of Lrael, and in which the divine blessing was invoked 
 upon all who should thereafter join in the venerable rites to which 
 it was dedicated. It is observable how prominently and beautifully 
 the idea is brought forward that the temple was to be regarded as 
 a house, a palace, which the Divine King was to fill with his pre- 
 sence, and in which he was to reside among his people. This was 
 the true idea of the establishment, under the peculiar circumstances 
 of the Hebrew theocracy, and it is interesting to find that this view 
 of the subject was so distinctly present to the mind of the young 
 king. Yet the idea of any human structure, however magnificent, 
 being the abode of the Lord of heaven and earth, struck him in the 
 point of view which must be taken by any thoughtful mind. “ But 
 will God indeed dwell on the earth?” he cried : “Behold, the heaven 
 and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; — how much less 
 thi« house which I have builded ?” 
 
 This great festival was followed by an entertainment of a more 
 ordinary nature, suitable to the joyful commemoration which usually 
 marked the feast of tabernacles. On this great occasion Solomon is 
 said to have offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and 
 or.e hundred and twenty thousand sheep. In the first act of sacri- 
 fice the same mark of the divine acceptance and favour was given 
 as at the original establishment of the ritual service in the w ilder- 
 ness ; for the victims, when laid out upon the altar, were consumed 
 by fire from heaven ; and the fire thus kindled was sacredly pre- 
 served and kept up — was never lost or extinguished, till the destruc- 
 tion of the temple by the Chaldaeans. On this great occasion, the 
 festivities of the season were continued a w'eek beyond the usual 
 period ; “ and on the three-and-twentieth day of the seventh month, 
 he sent the people away unto their tents, glad and merry in heart 
 fur the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David, and to 
 Solomon, and to Israel his people.” 
 
 Having thus accomplished this great duty, the king turned his 
 attention to the construction of various sumptuous buildings and j 
 
 great public works, suited to the honour of his crown and the 
 dignity of his kingdom. In the book of Ecclesiastes, which is sup- 
 posed to have been written by him, there appears a distinct and 
 interesting allusion to these undertakings: “ I made me great works ; 
 I builded me hou-es ; I planted me vineyards ; I made me gardens 
 and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; I 
 made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth 
 forth trees. I got me servants anti maidens, and had servants born 
 in my house ; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle, 
 above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered me also 
 silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the pro- 
 vinces ; I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights 
 of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 
 So I was great, and possessed more than any who had been before 
 me in Jerusalem ; also my wisdom remained with me." Connected 
 with what precedes, there seems a very significant emphasis in this 
 last clause, which it is not our present duty to develop. 
 
 This passage is finely paraphrased, and the glories of Solomon’s 
 reign beautifully embodied, in the following extract from Ileber’* 
 ‘ Palestine — 
 
 “ Triumphant race ! and (lid your power decay ? 
 
 Fail'd the height promise of your earlier day ? 
 
 No: — by that sword, which, red with heathen gore, 
 
 A giant spoil, the siripling champion bore; 
 
 By him, the chief to farthest India known, 
 
 The mighty master of the ivory throne; 
 
 In heaven’s own strength, victorious o’er her foej, 
 
 Victorious Salem's lion banner rose: 
 
 Before her footstool prostrate nations lay, 
 
 And vassal tyrants crouch’d beneath her sway ; 
 
 And he, the kingly sage, whose restless mind, 
 
 Through natures maz.s wander’d uncontined. 
 
 W lio every bird, and lieast, and insect knew, 
 
 And spoke of every plant that quaffs the dew, 
 
 To him were known — so Hagar s offspring tell — 
 
 The powerful vigil and the siarry spell. 
 
 The midnight call, hell’s shadowy legions dread, 
 
 And sounds that buist the slumbers of the dead. 
 
 Hence all his might ; for who could these oppose! 
 
 AudTadmor thus, and Syrian Balbec rose. 
 
 “Such, the faint echo of departed days, 
 
 Still sound Arabia s legendary lays; 
 
 And thus their tabling bards delight to tell 
 How lovely were thy tents, O Israel! 
 
 “ For thee his ivory load Behemoth bore, 
 
 And far Solala teemed with golden ore; 
 
 Thine all the aris that wait on wealth's increase, 
 
 Or bask and wanton in the beam of peace. 
 
 When Tyber slept beneath the cypress gloom, 
 
 And silence held the lonely woods of Borne ; 
 
 Or ere to Greece the builder’s skill was known, 
 
 Or the light chisel brush’d the Parian stone; 
 
 Yet here lair Science nuts d her infant lire, 
 
 Fann’d by the artist aid of friendly Tyre: 
 
 Then tower’d the palace, then in awful state 
 The Temple rear’d its everlasting Gate.” 
 
 Of the royal buildings erected by Solomon, particular notice is 
 taken in Scripture of the palace which he built for himself, which the 
 Jewish writers describe in very glowing language; another palace 
 which he built for the residence of Pharaoh’s daughter; and “the 
 house of the forest of Lebanon.” Most writers take these to have 
 been distinct and separate fabrics, but to those acquainted with 
 the Eastern style of building and the arrangements of palaces, it 
 will appear very clear that the king’s own palace and that of his 
 queen were no other than diilerent quadrangles of the same great 
 pile of buildings — separate in their economical arrangements, but 
 communicating with each other. The description given by Josephus 
 confirms this impression, or at least shows that he took the same 
 view of the subject. The quadrangle into which the great gate of 
 general entrance opens, usually contains the state apartments and 
 offices, particularly the hall in which the sovereign gives audience, 
 sits in judgment, and transacts all public business. Hence the 
 royal court is very often called “ the Gate,” of which a familiar 
 example is offered in the Ottoman Porte , and of which instances 
 occur in Scripture with regard to the courts of the Hebrew, Baby- 
 lonian, and Persian kings. The account of Josephus suggests that 
 the palace, as a whole, consisted of three distinct courts, and commu- 
 nicating with their appropriate buildings and offices; of which the 
 one in the centre contained the state apartments, while that on the 
 tight hand formed the private residence of the king, and that on the 
 left the harem or palace of the Egyptian princess : and this arrange- 
 ment is so conformable to the usages which have always been 
 maintained in the East, that we are disposed to take it as an ascer- 
 
 2 N 2 
 
872. — Egyptian Temple. 
 Teml Aiphtaidd. 
 
 870.— Fountain of the Lions. 
 Ffynnon y Llewod. 
 
 875.— Sycamore Tree. 
 8ycamorwydden. 
 
 :ij^m=rin=i=n 
 
 871.— Ground-plan of Kind’s House. 
 Llawr-lun Ty y Brenin. 
 
 873. — Obelisks in front of a Temple. 
 Cerf-adail o flaen y Demi. 
 
 
 27G 
 
 874.— General View of the Great Temple at J£dfou. 
 Golygfa gyffredinol o’r Demi Fawr yn Edfou. 
 
 Wo 
 a £ 
 
 O. 07 
 
 §*g 
 
 O 5 
 
 I § 
 0-0 
 
879 — Egyptian Stringed Instruments. 
 Offer Cerdd tannau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 880.— Egyptian Thrones. 
 Gorseddfeingciau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 881.— Throne with Steps. 
 Gorseddfaingc a Grisiau iddi. 
 
 8bJ.— Solomon’s Throne. (After Villalpandus.) 
 Gorseddfaingc Solomon. 
 
 883 — King (the Sultan) on Throne. 
 Brenin (y Sultan) ar Orsedd. 
 
 Llwyau. 
 
 885. — Eunuch of the Turkish Seraglio. 
 Eunuch Brenhinllys Tyrcaidd. 
 
 886. Gate of Justice. (From Murphy’s’ Arabian Antiquities of Spain.') 
 Forth C'yttawnder. 
 
 
 277 
 
278 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXV. 
 
 taiiied fact. In tin's case ‘* the house of the forest of Lebanon ” 
 (supposed to be so called from the number of its cedar columns) 
 was probably formed by the buildings of the central quadrangle, 
 containing the hall of state. 
 
 “ It would be an endless task,” says the Jewish historian, “ to 
 give a particular survey of this mighty mass of buildings; so many 
 courts and other contrivances; such a variety of chambers and 
 offices, great and small ; long and large gaileries ; vast rooms of 
 state, and others for f asting and entertainment, set out as richly as 
 could be with costly furniture and gilding; besides that all the ser- 
 vice for the king’s table was of pure gold. In a word, the whole 
 palace was in a manner made up, from the base to the coping, of 
 white marble, cedar, gold, and silver; with precious stones here 
 and there intermingled upon the walls and ceilings.” 
 
 It is and always has been the etiquette of Eastern courts, that 
 the king, as supreme magistrate, should to a certain extent admi- 
 nister justice in person, and be accessible to the complaints of all 
 his subjects. In conformity with this usage, Solomon was wont to 
 sit in the open porch of his palace, which was therefore called “ the 
 porch of judgment ;” and this was an obvious application of the 
 very ancient and still subsisting practice of making the gate the seat 
 of justice. Solomon’s porch of judgment seems to have been a large 
 covered apartment, supported by pillars and entirely open in front. 
 Here, upon a raised platform to which there was an ascent by steps, 
 was placed the throne of Solomon, which is mentioned with such 
 marked admiration in the Scriptural accounts, and with still stronger 
 praise by Josephus. This we collect to have consisted of a magni- 
 ficent seat, placed upon a da'is or platform, to which there was tin 
 ascent of six steps, on each of which were fixed the figures of two 
 lions in gold, forming a sort of fence or balustrade to the ascent. 
 The ascent between the twelve lions of gold, with the splendid seat 
 at the top, must have formed a very magnificent throne, probably 
 not unlike those which, in the mural paintings of Egypt, are ap- 
 propriated to the gods and kings. The throne itself was of ivory, 
 studded and enriched with gold, and over it a semispherical canopy 
 appears to have been suspended. Although there was no throne 
 equal to this in any kingdom for costliness and splendour, a com- 
 parison of the description with the engravings which we are enabled 
 to offer, will show that in its general plan and character it corre- 
 sponded with the thrones of the ancient and modern East. 
 
 It is admitted by all who have carefully considered the design 
 anti spirit of the Hebrew institutions, that it was never intended that 
 the Israelites should become a commercial people, so long as those 
 institutions remained in practical operation. Traffic tends to pro- 
 mote union among nations, binding them together by the strong 
 ties of a common interest and common benefits: but it was, con- 
 trariwise, the special and peculiar object of the Mosaical polity to 
 separate the Hebrews from other nations, and to create between 
 them, for that end, interests diverse, distinctive, and segregative. 
 We can see this essential policy of the theocracy followed out in 
 their exclusion from most if not all parts of the western coast, 
 although their territory reached in most points within a few miles 
 of it. Neither does it appear that the inspired lawgiver ever had 
 it in view that the Israelites should establish any permanent settle- 
 ments on the Arabian Gulf. It is true, indeed, that he, in God's 
 name, promised that their border should reach from the Red Sea to 
 the Sea of the Philistines. But this prediction was connected with 
 another, implying the temporary ascendancy of Jacob over his 
 elder brother, and can scarcely be construed to authorize, or even 
 to indicate, the actual or abiding appropriation of the lands belonging 
 ro the Edomites. On the contrary, when the Hebrews, in their 
 march to Canaan, seemed likely to come in contact with that people, 
 the word of the Lord came to Moses, saying, “ Ye are to pass 
 through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell 
 in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you : take ye good heed unto 
 yourselves therefore, meddle not with them ; for I will not give 
 you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth ; because I 
 gave Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.” (Deut. ii. 4, 5 ) 
 
 In connection with this subject, and as a further illustration of 
 it, we may also observe that the trading people of Canaan, and 
 particularly the Sidonians, for Tyre did not then exist, are not among 
 those with whom the Israelites were commanded to wage a war of 
 extermination. Their peculiar pursuits, while they might be pro- 
 fitable to an agricultural state,, such as Israel was then destined to 
 become, wanting a market for its redundant produce, could by no ' 
 means interfere with the cultivation of land or the pasturage of | 
 herds; and hence, as there has been already occasion to remark, no I 
 attempt was ever made to disturb the Phoenicians in their posses- , 
 sions ; and whatever relations did exist between them and the I 
 Hebrews were of a friendly character. In the time of David and | 
 
 Solomon, especially, the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, though thev 
 ceased not to be idolaters, lived on terms of intimate intercourse 
 with the Israelites : and this intercourse after their time became 
 even more close and amicable, and was the source of some serious 
 evils, which there will soon be occasion to notice. 
 
 The peculiar amity and confidence between Hiram, king of Tyre, 
 and the Hebrew kings David and Solomon, has lately been noticed 
 in this work. The conquests of the former, and the great power of 
 the latter, could not have been displeasing to commercial Tyre, 
 seeing that a yoke not easy to be broken was thus laid upon the 
 necks of various small nations who were able and willing to annoy 
 the Phoenicians, and to imitate, if not rival, t he commerce by which 
 they were enriched ; and seeing that it placed power in the hands 
 of a people not by policy or habit inclined to commercial pursuits. 
 
 Solomon, however, was not slow to perceive the prosperity which 
 the Phoenicians derived from this foreign trade; and, notwithstand- 
 ing the considerations which have been stated, he had a strong desire 
 to share in these advantages. The part he had taken in the land 
 traffic has already been seen, and its profits, probably, gave strengtn 
 to his desire to obtain a share in the maritime tiade, which was then 
 almost entirely engrossed by the Phoenicians. We are unacquainted 
 with the nature of the inducements which Solomon was able to 
 ofier a people, so jealous in all matters concerning tlieir trade, to 
 prevail upon them to afford him the benefit of their experience in 
 this enterprise. It is, however, certain that they furnished the 
 king with ships, such as they employed in their distant voyages 
 westward, and which were called ships of Tarshish. They obtained 
 this name from being such as were employed in their then most 
 distant navigation, to Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain, just as we call 
 certain ships ‘‘ Indiamen ” fiom their being built for and adapted 
 to the voyage and trade to India. Such ships, manned by Phoeni- 
 cian mariners, King Hiram furnished to Solomon ; and they sailed 
 on their disiant voyage in Company with a fleet of Tyrian ships. 
 That the Ph.rnicians must have had very cogent reasons for allow- 
 ing themselves to be made instrumental in enriching the Hebrew 
 king by trade with foreign parts, no one acquainted with the his- 
 torical character of that people will in the least degree doubt. In 
 seeking the motive by which their proceedings were determined, it 
 would be important to examine the direction of the voyage. In the 
 ‘ Pictorial Bible’ strong leasons are given for the conclusion that the 
 regions visited in this navigation to Uphir embraced the southern 
 coasis of Arabia, the easiern shores of Afi ica, and possibly the 
 island of Ceylon, if not some points of the Indian peninsula. As- 
 suming this to be the case, we shall perceive that although the 
 Phoenicians had the entire command of the western traffic on the 
 Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, they could have no part in this 
 important eastern traffic, but on such teims as Solomon thought 
 proper to impose. He was in possession ot the ports of the Elanitic 
 Gulf and of the intervening country, whereby lie held the key of the 
 Red Sea, and could at his pleasure exclude them from that important, 
 and to them only available, door of access to the Indian Ocean, the 
 other aim of the Red Sea being in the possession of Egypt. The 
 more difficult access to the same regions by the Euphrates and the 
 Persian Gulf was equally in the power of the Hebrew king, by r 
 means of his military stations on the Euphrates, and of his pos- 
 session of the country west of that river, which must be traversed 
 by caravans. These coiisideiations may help to explain the relative 
 position of the parties in this great transaction. Nor, perhaps, was 
 King Solomon so entirely dependent upon the assistance of the 
 Phoenicians as might seem at the first glance; for although the 
 Israelites knew little of maritime affairs, this was by no means the' 
 case with the Edomites, who were at this time the subjects of 
 Solomon, and from whom he could doubtless have obtained all the 
 assistance lie required ; and this furnishes another reason why the 
 Tyrians may not have found it expedient to baulk the inclinations 
 of the Jewish king. The lively interest which Solomon took in 
 the matter, transpires incidentally, in the fact that he went in person 
 to Ezion-Geber, to superintend the preparations and to witness the 
 departure of the fleet. 
 
 No doubt the heart of the king bent high ns his noble fleet left 
 the port. It was such a sight as no Hebrew prince or chief had 
 ever before witnessed, and such as few afterwards were permitted 
 to behold. 
 
 Three vears he had to await its return; and then it came back 
 safe to port, laden w it h the riches and the curious products of Africa 
 and the East. The ship-masters and supercargoes knew well that 
 they could not better gratify their emplov er th in by collecting 
 and bringing to him the rarities of foreign paits. Among these 
 were various animals and birds previously unknown to the 
 Hebrews, and apes and peacocks are particularly mentioned. 
 
Sunday XXXV.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 279 
 
 ACTS OF TIIE APOSTLES. 
 
 which John occupied), where 
 
 HE Apostles had been in- 
 structed by their Lord to re- 
 main together at Jerusalem till 
 they should be endued with 
 pow« i and enlightenment from 
 on high, in preparation for the 
 great work to which they were 
 appointed. 
 
 After having witnessed the 
 ascension of their Lord into 
 the heaven of heavens, they 
 therefore returned into the city 
 and hastened to the privacy of 
 the upper chamber in some 
 private house (perhaps that 
 they might pray together and 
 
 discourse with one another without restraint. In the houses both 
 of the Greeks and Orientals there were certain upper apartments, 
 usually so constructed as to serve for tne purpose of dining-rooms, 
 parlours, apartments for taking exercise, &e. ; and from their still- 
 ness and privacy were often appropriated as oratories for the 
 purposes of united and family worship, or religious retirement and 
 prayer. In such a chamber the apostles, and those of the imme- 
 diate disciples of Christ who had witnessed the ascension, to the 
 number of one hundred and twenty, appear to have spent most of 
 their time together in this place during the few days which were 
 still to elapse before the feast of Pentecost. 
 
 On one of these intervening days Peter stood up and urged upon 
 the brethren then present the expediency of appointing some one 
 to fill up the place among the twelve apostles which had been left 
 vacant by the treason and death of Judas. It was judged important 
 that the person who might succeed to this office should be one who 
 had from the first been a witness of the life and works of Jesus: 
 and among those then present there were two who seemed so equal 
 in claims and qualifications, that it was found difficult to determine 
 which of them was the best fitted for the office. One of these was 
 Joseph, surnamed Barsabas ; and the other was called Matthias, 
 both of whom are. with good reasons, supposed to have been among 
 the number of the seventy disciples. As there was some doubt 
 in the choice between persons whose claims were so nearly 
 balanced, the apostles invoked in solemn prayer the direction of 
 God upon their choice, and then cast lots between them. The 
 lot fell upon Matthias, and he was thenceforth numbered with 
 the eleven apostles. The mode in which the lot was in this 
 instance cast cannot be determined, the ancient methods of doing 
 this being various. The most usual mode, however, was to cast 
 the names written on equal substances, into an urn, and decide 
 the question by the act of drawing them forth ; and this is gene- 
 rally supposed to have been the plan adopted in this choice of an 
 apostle. 
 
 Forty-nine days since the Passover had at length elapsed, and 
 the fiftieth day, being the Feast of Pentecost, had fully come, when 
 the one hundred and twenty disciples (or, as some suppose, the 
 apostles only) were assembled “ in one place,” which we may 
 conceive to have been the same place which has already been 
 mentioned. They are supposed by some to have assembled on this 
 occasion with seme expectation that on the very day on which the 
 memory of the promulgation of the law on Mount Sinai was cele- 
 brated, the promise of Christ respecting the Holy Spirit to be sent 
 from heaven could have its completion; and that God would, by 
 some sign striking to the senses, declare that the religion of Christ 
 was now to be more widely promulgated through them. 
 
 But although they were thus waiting apparently for the mani- 
 festation of the Spirit, they were wholly unprepared for the sudden 
 and very remarkable manner in which it came upon them. At 
 once the house was filled with the sound as of a mighty wind 
 sweeping along like a tempest, and at the same instant there appeared 
 upon the head of every one of them a lambent flame, described as 
 “ cloven tongues of fire,” from the resemblance of a pointed flame 
 to a tongue ; and this was an external sign or symbol of the mighty 
 change which at the same instant took place within them, for “ they 
 were filled with the Iloly Ghost, and began to speak with other 
 tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” From that time they 
 became as new men. All their previous misconceptions concerning 
 the nature of Christ’s kingdom parsed awav, and the whole plan 
 of the divine economy of man’s redemption was open to them. 
 
 They were thus qualified to declare to others those great mysteries 
 of God ; and seeing that they would have to declare them to many 
 nations whose languages they understood not, they were enabled 
 to speak at once in any human tongue the great message intrusted 
 to them. 
 
 There were at this time in Jerusalem Jews from almost all the 
 known countries of the world — countries in which they were born, 
 and whose languages were their mother-tongues. When the news 
 of this strange event was noised abroad, many of them, with others* 
 hurried to the spot ; and great was their amazement when they 
 heard the uninstructed disciples of Christ, most of them natives of 
 Galilee, speak to them in all their different languages. Some of 
 these who were thus drawn together hesitated what judgment, to 
 form, but others hastily concluded that they were under the influ- 
 ence of wine. This dishonour to the great gift of God roused 
 Peter, who, courageously standing up with the eleven, that the 
 multitude might behold in them the chief of Christ’s followers, 
 refuted the calumny by calling attention to the early time of the 
 morning, the third hour, or nine o’clock, being the time of morning 
 prayer, before which those who had any regard for religion among 
 the Hebrews never took food or drink. Not content with this, the 
 earnest apostle proceeded to show how the ancient prophecies were 
 accomplished by this event, as well as in the death and resurrection 
 of Christ, whom he proved to be the Messiah promised to the 
 fathers. Under the Divine blessing, the effect of this calm, resolute, 
 and well-reasoned discourse — this first Christian sermon — was most 
 wonderful. A great part of the audience were smitten to the 
 heart, and three thousand of their number were that very day 
 received by baptism into the infant church. These, from that 
 hour, frequented the society of the apostles, and joined in their holy 
 feasts and devotions. Most of them were strangers in Jerusalem, 
 and, probably, on publicly professing themselves as the disciples of 
 Jesus, and remaining in the city longer than they had at first 
 intended, had become excluded from the hospitality and kindness 
 which the Jews commonly exercised. This would all the more 
 unite them to the other disciples; and now regarding themselves 
 as one family, having common wants and interests, without any 
 separate objects in life, they threw their possessions into a common 
 stock, “and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” This 
 was not compulsory upon them, — it was the spontaneous act of 
 their own minds, suited to the circumstances of these first converts 
 and to the peculiar necessities of the infant church. 
 
 Being thus disencumbered of the cares of life, “ they continued 
 daily with one accord in the temple (at the stated hours of prayer), 
 and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with 
 gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour 
 with all the people.” Had then the nuiss of the people become 
 favourable to the doctrines of the cross ? This is not implied ; but 
 it is understood that the humble, serious, and devoted lives of the 
 converts, disarmed for a time the enemies of Christ, and won for 
 them a degree of tolerance and favour which secured for the infant 
 days of the church a brief interval of repose, needful to strengthen 
 the arms which were destined to overturn the rank idolatries and 
 dark systems of the world. 
 
 It is clear that the disciples continued to resort to the temple 
 for devotion, at the customary hours of prayer. Whether they 
 joined in the sacrifices of the temple is not said, but it is by no 
 means improbable that they did ; as they did not yet clearly under- 
 stand the great truth that the wdiole system of sacrificial worship 
 was, in fact, abolished by the death of Christ, seeing that there 
 remained “ no more sacrifice lor sin ” when He, in whom all 
 the sacrificial types were accomplished, was offered up, “once for 
 all,” for the sins of the world. The temple was the place, and 
 its ritual service the manner, in which they and their fathers had 
 worshipped, and they came very slowly to the conclusion that, they 
 were to abandon this sacred place and its services, as things which 
 had become old and had passed away. 
 
 We are told in general terms, that after the outpouring of the 
 divine spirit, many signs and wonders were wrought by the apostles. 
 Of these wonders one is selected by the sacred historian as an 
 example of the others; and it is well suited to convey a distinct 
 impression of the great powers with which the apostles were now 
 vested ; and to convince us that they were adequate to the great 
 services for the glory of God and the benefit of mankind which they 
 were called to peiform. It is of much importance for the confir- 
 mation of the truth that this narrative has been given tous; and 
 the Evangelist, instead of contenting himself with the general state- 
 ment that much was done, proceeds to .-ay in one marked instance 
 uliat was done, and in relation to whom and under what circum- 
 stances a great miracle was performed. 
 
890.— St. Peter curing the Cripple. 
 St. Petr yn iachku'r Cloff. 
 
 280 
 
891. — Worship of Isis. 
 Addoliad Isis. 
 
 893. — Breastplate. 
 Dwyfroneg. 
 
 896.— Ark borne by Priests. 
 
 Arch yn cael ei dwyn gall Offeiriaid. 
 
 892.— Egyptian Priests. 
 Offeiriaid Aiphtaidd, 
 
 894.— Ephod and Girdle. 
 Enhod a Gwregys. 
 
 899.— Drawers and Girdle. 
 I.lodrau a Gwregys. 
 
 898 .— Shrine in its Sanctuary. 
 Creirfa vn ei Chvssrgr. 
 
 897.— Shrine and Ark borne by Priests. 
 
 Creirfa ac Arch yn cael ei dwyn gan Offeiriaid. 
 
 Creirfa yn cael ei chludo mewn Gorymdaith. 
 
 281 
 
282 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXXVI. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVI.- THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 N the concluding' chapters of Ezekiel 
 there is a very minute account of the 
 ceremonies of worship which should 
 be established under the restored 
 temple and theocracy. Ezekiel was 
 then a captive by the river Chebar, 
 and as the institutions described are 
 evidently Mosaical, it is usually sup- 
 posed that this description was de- 
 signed for the use of the Israelites 
 when, after their return from bondage, 
 they would have to rebuild the temple and restore the ritual 
 service. Under this view it is conceived that Ezekiel describes for 
 the most part what actually existed before the destruction of the 
 temple; and the differences observed in some of the details from 
 those described in the books of Moses, are supposed to arise from the 
 alterations of practice which had arisen in the long interval between 
 the times in which Moses and Ezekiel wrote. Phis is the view 
 we are ourselves inclined to adopt ; and it renders these chapters 
 of the prophet an interesting commentary upon the corresponding 
 portions of the Pentateuch. Another view of these chapters makes 
 them a description of the services and arrangements which are to 
 be established among the descendants of Abraham, when, at some 
 future day, they are restored to the land of their fathers ; and we 
 shall not undertake to decide that this view is wrong, although the 
 former appears to us the more reasonable. 
 
 Some of the details contained in this remarkable portion of sacred 
 writ may receive some striking and valuable illustration from 
 antiquarian research into the practices of other nations ; and with 
 this we shall occupy the present page. 
 
 In xlvi. 3, the people are represented as worshipping “at 
 the door of the gate before the Lord.” We know that this was 
 the mode of worship under the law of Moses, and we are also 
 aware that the same practice existed among other ancient nations ; 
 the building itself being merely, as we have repeatedly intimated, 
 the residence of the deity, while the area in front was the place of 
 sacrifice and worship. A pictorial representation of tins mode of 
 worship might suggest instructive information : it would afford 
 materials for comparing the resemblances and differences between 
 the practices of the heathen and those of the Israelites. Such a 
 representation happily exists in a painting found at Portici, repre- 
 senting the worship of Isis as celebrated by the Egyptians, and 
 that the scene itself is laid in Egypt appears from the palm-trees on 
 each side the temple. This affords unexceptionable evidence to 
 assist in determining the formerly much disputed question, 
 whether the ceremonial worship of the Israelites resembled to 
 a certain extent that of the Egyptians, or was altogether and 
 designedly different from them. On this point it is remarked in 
 the note upon this text, in the ‘ Pictorial Bible’ — “ That there are 
 some resemblances is certain ; and most of these applied, not only 
 to the worship of the Egyptians, but to those of other nations also. 
 And when we quietly consider the subject, while we see very clearly 
 why ceremonies liable to misconception or abuse should be altered 
 or omitted, there does not appear any reason why the forms which 
 the general consent of mankind had considered suitable to mark 
 their reverence or adoration, should be changed to something else 
 which had not previously been known. Bowing the knee was a 
 ceremony ; but the Israelites were not forbidden to bow the knee, 
 so long as they did not bow it to Baal. The resemblances which 
 we see in the present instance are : — That sacrifice and worship are 
 not performed in the sanctuary, but in the court before it, where 
 also the altar appears to occupy nearly the same position as in the 
 court before the Hebrew temple. The altar moreover is provided 
 with “ horns” or raised points at the angles, so often mentioned in 
 the accounts of the Hebrew altars. Other analogies are, that the 
 worshippers are in a standing posture, with one exception ; that 
 they are all barefooted, and that one man is blowing with a trumpet 
 precisely similar in form to that which the Levites blew at the 
 Hebrew sacrifices. 
 
 The differences are more considerable than the analogies. The 
 temple is in a grove — a thing forbidden in Scripture: every 
 individual is bareheaded, whereas the Hebrews never worshipped 
 but with covered heads: the man who blows the trumpet is sitting, 
 whereas it is a received maxim of the Jewish doctors, that no one 
 could sit in the temple courts, except only the king for the time 
 being of the house of David. The most important difference, 
 
 however, is in the presence of the congregation on each side of the 
 altar, ranged in lines between it and the sanctuary. This is 
 evidently a mixed congregation, including even women ; but among 
 the Hebrews the congregation was not at all admitted into the 
 court immediately before the sanctuary, which was appointed solely 
 to the priests and Levites ; and moreover the women did not as- 
 semble in the same outer court as the men, but had a separate one 
 of their own. So different indeed was the practice in this matter, 
 in the present example one of the three most conspicuous of the 
 officiating personages (those at the top of the steps) is a female — a 
 priestess of Isis. Among the Hebrews, moreover, the space 
 between the porch and the altar was accounted, after the sanctuary 
 itself, the most holy part of “ the mountain of the Lord’s house 
 and hence, when an act of worship commenced, all persons entitled 
 to be in this court withdrew from that part and arranged them- 
 selves below the altar. The present cut exhibits exactly the opposite 
 custom. 
 
 These observations, suggested by this engraving, will serve to 
 point out some of the more remarkable of the agreements and 
 differences found in the forms of external worship among the 
 Hebrews, as compared with those of their heathen neighbours. 
 It is more than probable that when the Jews fell into idolatry, they 
 worshipped some of their idols after the fashion shown in the 
 engraving, and particularly “ the queen of heaven,” and the idols 
 borrowed from Egypt. 
 
 The view thus taken respecting the analogies between certain 
 parts of the Hebrew ceremonial and corresponding practices in 
 Egypt, is now too well established, through the clear evidence of 
 ancient paintings and sculptures, to be any longer open to question. 
 In these we see a sacred ark, like those of the Hebrews, borne from 
 one place to another on the shoulders of the priests, and when at 
 rest deposited in the most holy place of the sanctuaries beneath 
 overshadowing wings. In the Egyptian examples, however, the 
 ark was a stand for the shrine or image of the god : but in the 
 Jewish ark this was absent, and its place supplied by the cherubims 
 and by the mysterious resplendence which betokened the divine 
 presence. Another difference is in the boat, in which the shrine 
 in most of the Egyptian examples is placed ; a distinctive peculiarity 
 which arises from the fact that the religious progresses of the 
 Egyptians mostly took place in boats upon the bosom of the Nile. 
 
 In the dress of the priests similar correspondences may be traced. 
 The material, linen, and the colour, white, alone offer most curious 
 resemblances. It is clear from many passages that the Israelitish 
 priests were clothed in white linen ; and that the Egyptian priests 
 were also thus clothed is manifest from Herodotus, who says, 
 “ But the priests alone wear linen clothing, and are not allowed to 
 put on any other.” It lias indeed been urged that such garments 
 did not belong to the Egyptian and Israelite priests alone, but 
 were diffused throughout the ancient world. But it can be shown 
 on the best authorities, that the linen vesture of the priests was 
 regarded by the ancients as a remarkable and exclusive peculiarity 
 of the Egyptians; and although the white colour was common 
 enough among the priests of other nations, the combination of the 
 white colour and linen material was so rare and peculiar, as to 
 preclude the notion of an accidental agreement between Jewish and 
 Egyptian antiquity. This is still clearer when analogies in the 
 parts of the priestly costume become equally apparent. In the 
 figures of Egyptian priests, as represented in the monuments, we 
 may recognise the mitre of the Jewish high-priest, the linen drawers, 
 the ephod or tunic, the robe of the ephod, the girdle, the breast- 
 plate, and even the Urim and Thummim, if this be, as usually 
 understood, an appendage to, or a component part of, the magnificent 
 breastplate. 
 
 Our space does not allow us to enter into the minute comparisons 
 and details by which the opinion that certain assimilations to the 
 Egyptian forms of religious service and the attire of the priests 
 might be established and verified. Those who are curious in the 
 matter may find ample materials for the investigation in the ‘ Pic- 
 torial History of Palestine ;’ and the cuts which we offer to the 
 reader’s consideration will alone go far to assist his conclusions. 
 They will enable him to discover not only resemblances, but 
 j differences ; and in inquiring the reason for such differences, lie may 
 j be led to appreciate and understand many of the minute directions 
 and exceptions in the ceremonial law, which have hitherto appeared 
 to many as trivial or obscure. Much of the minute directions 
 about dresses may, for instance, have been designed to exclude 
 matters more or less objectionable, as being idolatrously symbolical, 
 or as tending to idolatry or superstition, by describing with exact- 
 ness what was to be worn, and by prohibiting the use of all which 
 was not so described. 
 
Sunday XXXVI. 1 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 283 
 
 SUNDAY’ XXXVI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 LANTS are not named, but we 
 know that the king “ spake of 
 trees, from the cedar tree that is 
 in Lebanon, to the hyssop that 
 springeth out of the wall ; and 
 from the interest which he was 
 known to take in plants, it is 
 
 and seeds of remarkable foreign 
 plants were also brought to him ; 
 and we are inclined to refer to 
 this period the introduction into 
 Palestine of many plants of more 
 eastern and southern countries. The mercantile lading of the 
 returned fleet was found to consist of large quantities of gold and 
 silver, elephants’ teeth, and various kinds of valuable woods, and of 
 precious stones. A large portion of these commodities were, 
 doubtless, sold at a great profit ; and this fact explains that while 
 in one place the yearly weight of gold brought to the king by his 
 ships is said to have been 480 talents (1 Kings ix. 28) ; in another 
 (x. 14) the yearly weight of gold derived directly and indirectly 
 from these voyages is stated at 666 talents, which, at the lowest 
 computation, would be equal to 3,646,350/. sterling, while a higher 
 scale would make the amount very little short of 4,000,000/. 
 
 It has already been hinted that the interest of Solomon in com- 
 mercial undertakings extended to the great caravan trade, which, 
 from very remote ages, coming from the far East and the Persian 
 Gulf, proceeded to Egypt, Tyre, and other points on the Mediter- 
 ranean, by the Euphrates and the great Syrian Desert. The 
 possession of the intervening districts enabled the king to derive much 
 emolument and benefit from this trade. The particulars are not 
 well known to us ; but from comparison of circumstances we may 
 collect, that by his perfect command of the desert he was enabled to 
 afford protection to the caravans from those predatory attacks of 
 the Bedouin tribes, as have from the earliest times been a great 
 dread and loss in this line of traffic. For this protection a tax 
 or custom was probably levied upon the merchandise, and this 
 must have been productive from the encouragement which, under 
 this new order of circumstances, the trade would receive. But his 
 great measure was to establish at one of the watering-places in the 
 very heart of the desert, an emporium for this important trade. 
 At such watering-places palm-trees are always found, and the dis- 
 tant appearance of these trees gladdens the heart of the traveller by 
 the promise of water. Hence Solomon gave to his new city the 
 name of Tadmor (palm-tree), and this is the same city which after- 
 wards became historically, as well as commercially, illustrious under 
 the Greek name of Palmyra. The importance to which this city 
 rose, and the prosperity which it long maintained, afford the best 
 possible evidence of the wisdom of the great king by whom it was 
 founded. Here the caravans not only found water as before, but 
 every advantage of shelter and rest ; and here also the merchants, 
 finding persons ready to take their commodities, and to furnish 
 whatever they required in exchange, would be inclined to end their 
 journey, leaving the distribution of their goods to the nations 
 farther west, either to the factors of Solomon or to private mer- 
 chants ; for we know not to what degree the king found it advisable 
 to leave this trade free to his own subjects. That he took some 
 mercantile part in it, is probable from his course of proceeding with 
 respect to the land trade with Egypt and the maritime commerce: 
 but there were circumstances in this branch of trade which required 
 more delicate management, and which might have occasioned any 
 stringent attempt to monopolize the trade to have been fatal to the 
 objects which he contemplated. Indeed, we see that the great fault 
 of Solomon’s commercial policy, apart from its unsuitableness to 
 the Hebrew institutions, lay in the attempt of the government to 
 engross its benefits as a source of royal revenue. No traffic can 
 have healthy growth under such a system; and hence, probably, 
 more than from any other single cause, the measures of Solomon 
 had no permanent effect upon the pursuits or character of the 
 nation, which subsided into its accustomed channels so soon as 
 the immediate and urgent impulse given by the crown ceased to 
 operate 
 
 Much of the wealth acquired from the various sources which have 
 been indicated, was spent by King Solomon in building, and in the 
 general improvement of the country. Many important towns and 
 fortresses were built or rebuilt by him. Among these we find the 
 
 name of Baalath, which has usually been supposed the same with 
 Baal bee in the valley of Lebanon, the ruins of which have been 
 so much admired and so often described by travellers. No one, 
 indeed, supposes that the ruins which still exist are those of the 
 very buildings erected by Solomon. These are known to have 
 been of Roman origin ; but it is conceived that the present ruins 
 occupy the site of Solomon’s city, and that some of the foundation 
 walls, composed of enormous blocks of stone, may have belonged to 
 ancient towns founded by him. The probability seems to be, that 
 Baalbec does really occupy the site of one of the cities built by 
 Solomon ; but a writer in the ‘ Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature’ 
 (Art. Baal-Gad) has shown the probability that this city was 
 not Baalath, but Baal-Gad ; and if so, its origin must be referred 
 to times long anterior to those of Solomon, seeing that we read of 
 “ Baal-Gad in the valley of Lebanon, under Mount Hermon,” so 
 early as the days of Joshua (xi. 7 ; xii. 7 ; xiii. 5). In this case 
 Solomon must be regarded as having rebuilt a city of more ancient 
 date. 
 
 The Scripture directs our attention in a very marked manner to 
 the arrangements of Solomon’s court, not only as admirable in 
 itself, but as being, in fact, the wonder and admiration of neigh- 
 bouring, and even of remote nations. The statement to which we 
 must look for giving some insight into these arrangements, contains 
 at the first view little more than a list of names and offices; but on 
 a closer inspection, persons acquainted with the existing usages of 
 the East are able to recognise in this list much which is suggestive 
 of an orderly arrangement and a wise distribution of administrative 
 functions. It may, indeed, be noticed that most of the offices thus 
 specified have reference to the supply of the wants of the court 
 and the maintenance of the royal authority ; and it must be 
 admitted that these always have been practically the chief objects 
 of Oriental governments. The list, as given in the sacred narrative, 
 has rather a formal and official appearance. It begins, — “Solomon 
 was king over all Israel,” and then proceeds to enumerate the 
 officers of his government. 
 
 We find, first, the High-priest Azariah, the grandson of 
 Zadok ; next are the Scribes, or secretaries, who were the two 
 sons of Sheva, who had himself been sole scribe in the time of 
 David. Their function is defined by the title of their office, as is 
 that of the Recorder, whose business appears to have been to 
 resrister in the archives of the state the measures which the scribes 
 were rather employed in expediting. The office of the Captain 
 of the Host, or Commander-in-chief of the forces, there has 
 already been ample occasion to illustrate. His place at court was 
 very high, and his influence, under certain circumstances, para- 
 mount. This is seen in the cases of Joab and Abner ; but the 
 power was greater in time of war and under warlike princes, than 
 in peace and under such princes as Solomon ; and hence we hear 
 little of the captain of the host during his reign. The King’s 
 Friend seems to have been nearly such a person as we in our own 
 history call the royal favourite, as distinguished from the responsible 
 chief minister, although these functions were, and still are, often 
 united in the same person. The favourite often held no public 
 office, but more usually was found in possession of some im- 
 portant employment. The friend or favourite of David was 
 Hushai, the Archite, and he was without any public office; but 
 Solomon’s friend, Zabad, who was a son of the prophet Nathan, 
 was also “ chief officer,” which is supposed by some to denote the 
 chief minister of state in the time of Solomon. The person de- 
 scribed as being “ next (or second) to the king” is commonly supposed 
 to have been what we would call the prime minister. Solomon 
 had no officer with this title; but his “ friend,” Zabad, is supposed 
 to have occupied it under another title. The post of “ second 
 to the king” is that which Jonathan wished to occupy under 
 David (1 Sam. xxiii. 17) ; and it is one of high antiquity in 
 Eastern courts, being that Joseph occupied in Egypt, and Hainan 
 in the court of Persia. The office of Royal Counsellor seems 
 to have been distinct in itself, and not, as in England, connected 
 with a public office. In the time of David the notorious Ahithophel 
 was a royal counsellor; Ilushai, the king’s friend, another ; and 
 Jonathan, the king’s uncle, another. "We know little of their 
 functions ; but it seems to have been the general practice of the 
 kings to follow the course which was approved by the general body 
 of his council. Besides these, we find that there were managers of 
 the crown property. We do not, indeed, discover them in the list 
 of Solomon’s officers, but they were among those of David, and 
 were doubtless preserved by his son. The list then given is 
 curious and interesting, as indicating the nature of the royal 
 property apart from the revenues of state. Here we see distinct 
 persons presiding over the vineyards, and over the wine which they 
 
 2 0 2 
 
002 .— Indian Canopy and Umbrella. 
 Gortho a Gwlawlen Indiaidd. 
 
 ■Journey of an Abyssinian Queen. 
 TititU Brenhines Abyssinaidd. 
 
 907.— Egyptian on Horseback* 
 Aiphtiad ar Farch. 
 
 90S.— Great Mogul on Throne. 
 Mogul Mawr ar Orsedd. 
 
 90S.— Modern Oriental Cavalier. 
 Marchog Dwyreiniol Diweddar. 
 
 
 
 C(aalnt>1 
 
 90G. — Egyptian Palanquin. 
 Cadair Ysgwydd Aiplitaidd, 
 
 904.— Oriental State Dinner. 
 Ciniaw Brenhinol Dwyreiniol. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ • ' v-f,yb ■ ivS, tIi,! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 nil rk** iPl 
 
 
 
 \ j 
 
 
 

 
hih^ersity of nmm 
 
285 
 
286 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXVI. 
 
 produced, as well as over the olive-yards, and over the cellars 
 in which their precious oil was stored ; and the fitness which 
 was regarded in choice of persons to fill these offices is indicated 
 in the fact that a native Arab was placed in charge of the 
 flocks. 
 
 Several officers appear in the time of Solomon, of which we find 
 no previous trace in Israel ; of these were the “ Governor of the 
 Palace,” who had charge of whatever belonged to the household 
 affairs of the royal establishments ; and the twelve “ princes” who 
 were stationed in different parts of the country to collect in turn 
 from each tribe a month’s provision for the court. These have 
 been mentioned in a former page, and the extent and character of 
 the supplies which they drew from the tribes have been indicated. 
 
 The orderly manner in which such vast quantities of provisions 
 were brought together, distributed, and prepared for use, seems 
 not less to have engaged the admiring wonder of strangers, and 
 particularly of the Queen of Sheba, than the magnificent appoint- 
 ment and attendance at the king’s own table. 
 
 We must be content to note very briefly a few other circumstances 
 connected with the court of King Solomon. His chariots and horses, 
 obtained from Egypt, have been already mentioned. As we are now 
 well acquainted with the chariots of that country, there can be no 
 doubt respecting their form and furniture. With regard to the 
 horsemen our information is less distinct. There can be no doubt 
 that Solomon had a body of cavalry mounted on trained Egyptian 
 horses, and that such cavalry existed in Egypt. But it curiously 
 happens that in the whole range of Egyptian sculpture and painting 
 there is but one figure of a man on horseback (Fig. 907) : and that 
 does not much assist our ideas with respect to the cavalry of times 
 so ancient. In all likelihood the equipments of Solomon’s horsemen 
 did not much differ from that which is and has long been in use in 
 Western Asia, and which bears many marks of a remote origin. 
 This is represented in Fig. 908. 
 
 Josephus reckons the number of Solomon’s horses as twenty 
 thousand ; and he says that they were the most beautiful in their 
 appearance, and the most remarkable for their swiftness, that could 
 anywhere be seen. The riders, he says, were in their appearance 
 quite worthy of their horses. They were young men in the beauty 
 and flower of their age, and the tallest in stature that could be 
 found in the country. Their undress was of Tyrian purple, and 
 their long hair, which hung in loose tresses, glittered with the gold- 
 dust wherewith they daily sprinkled their heads. But when they 
 attended the king they were in complete armour, and had their 
 bows ready strung. Often, in the fine season, he adds, the king 
 rode down to his beautiful gardens at Etham, six miles from Jeru- 
 salem, attended by these young men. On such occasions, he rode 
 loftily in his chariot, arrayed in white robes. But we have a better 
 description of these excursions from the pen of Solomon himself. 
 This occurs in Canticles iii. 6 — 11, where he is described as 
 approaching in a splendid palanquin or litter, surrounded by three- 
 score valiant men. The chorus of virgins dwells upon the subject 
 of this litter with great admiration : — 
 
 “ King Solomon hath made for himself 
 This couch of the wood of Lebanon, 
 
 Its pillars hath he made of silver, 
 
 Its bases of gold, its cushions of purple ; 
 
 The middle of it is spread with love 
 By the daughters of Jerusalem.” 
 
 The two last lines indicate that the bottom of the litter was spread 
 with cushions, ornamented with flowers wrought in the most ele- 
 gant manner by the damsels of Jerusalem. From the mention of 
 pillars it appears to have had a covering or canopy, as is still 
 usually the case. The only litter represented in the Egyptian 
 paintings (Fig. 906) is borne by men, and has no canopy, the ' 
 shade being supplied by an umbrella borne by an attendant. This j 
 article is so very ancient, that it was probably in some form or 
 other known to the Hebrews. It is not, however, mentioned in 
 Scripture, unless something of the kind is indicated in Psalm cxxi. 
 5; Cant. ii. 4: and if in use at all, it appears to have been regarded 
 as a royal distinction, as is still the case in all parts of the East 
 except China. 
 
 From the Song of Solomon much information respecting the 
 arrangements of the royal harem may be gathered. And this is a 
 matter of some consequence, as this king multiplied wives untoliimself 
 beyond any monarch before or after him. In fact, his female estab- 
 lishment resembled those which the kings of the East have in all 
 ages desired to form : but it may be understood that the harem 
 formed, properly speaking, a branch of the royal state or equipage, 
 and was mainly designed to augment the pomp which belonged to 
 
 his character and station. There can be no doubt, however, that 
 the thing was wrong ; for not only was it contrary to the law of 
 nature that one man should keep so many women from their proper 
 place in society as wives and mothers, but it was most strictly for- 
 bidden by the Hebrew legislator (Deut. xvii. 17), who foresaw such 
 perilous consequences which, as we shall presently see, actually 
 occurred in the case of Solomon. The women in Solomon’s harem 
 were not fewer than a thousand, of whom the Scripture counts seven 
 hundred as wives, and three hundred as concubines. So large a 
 body of women must have required the guardian care of a con- 
 siderable number of eunuchs. Such persons are indeed not men- 
 tioned in the account of Solomon’s establishments, but as we meet 
 with them soon after in the harem of a comparatively unostenta- 
 tious king, Joram (2 Kings ix. 32), we can scarcely suppose 
 them wanting in that of Solomon. 
 
 In the midst of all these undertakings and operations, surrounded 
 by all this glory and magnificence, Solomon’s wisdom did not cease 
 to be a matter of admiration, not only to his own subjects, but 
 among neighbouring and even distant nations. So great was his 
 knowledge, so wonderful in its variety and extent, that “ there came 
 of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, for all kings of the 
 earth had heard of his wisdom.” Among the princes who thus 
 rendered their homage to the genius of Solomon was the Queen of 
 Sheba, w'hom some suppose to have come from Abyssinia, but who 
 is believed by others to have reigned in the southernmost parts of 
 Arabia. She came with a very great and splendid retinue ; and in 
 her train were camels laden with spices, gold, and precious stones. 
 It is stated that in her interviews with Solomon she “ tried him 
 with hard questions” — a mode of testing w'isdom which was com- 
 mon in that age, and which every one who made unusual pretensions 
 to sagacity and knowledge was understood to invite. The sage mo- 
 narch found no difficulty in solving all the enigmatical questions 
 which the royal stranger proposed : and we are told that “ when 
 the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house 
 which he had built, and the food of his table, and the station of 
 his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, w ith their apparel, 
 and his cupbearers, and his burnt-offerings, which he offered in the 
 house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her, and she said to 
 the king, True was the report which I heard in my own land of 
 thy acts and of thy wisdom. Yet that report I believed not till I 
 came, and saw with mine own eyes ; and, lo ! the half had not been 
 told me : thy wisdom and thy greatness far exceed the report that 
 I heard. Happy thy men ! happy these thy servants, who stand 
 continually before thee and hear thy wisdom ! Blessed be Jehovah 
 thy God, who was so pleased with thee as to set thee on the throne 
 of Israel !” 
 
 The great glory of Solomon’s reign was greatly dimmed towards 
 its close. Among the many wives he had taken unto himself were 
 many women of neighbouring nations, “ worshippers of strange 
 gods.” At their solicitation he was eventually led into allowing 
 them the public exercise of their idolatries, and by easy steps was 
 at length induced to take some part in them. Under what notions 
 he disguised the heinousness of this crime to himself, we are not 
 informed, and it is useless to conjecture. This grave and, under 
 all the circumstances, astonishing offence is usually referred to the 
 thirty-fourth year of Solomon’s reign, and the fiftieth of his age. 
 By this fall he forfeited the benefits and privileges which had been 
 promised as the condition of his rectitude ; and it was not long 
 before the doom which he had so weakly and wickedly incurred 
 was made known to him. This was, that his kingdom should be 
 rent from him and given to his servant ; but, tempering judgment 
 with mercy, the Lord was pleased to promise that this great evil 
 should not befal his house in his own reign, but in that of his son. 
 This was for the sake of his father David ; and for his sake also, 
 who had derived so much satisfaction from the prospect which he 
 had been allowed to indulge of the perpetuity of his race, it was 
 further promised that the ruin of his dynasty should not be abso- 
 lute, for that it should still reign over one tribe — that of Judah, 
 with which that of Benjamin had by this time coalesced. 
 
 Nevertheless the troubles which were to end in the disruption of 
 the kingdom which he had taken so much pains to organize, were 
 allowed to commence in his own reign, and greatly to trouble its 
 peace. He thus witnessed the growth of the baleful tree he had 
 planted, although he was spared from gathering all its poisonous 
 fruit. The threatened evils were made to grow out of the weak 
 parts of his own policy. The foreign sources of wealth seem in 
 the latter years of Solomon to have declined ; and then, to support 
 the disproportionate magnificence which he had established in his 
 kingdom, he was obliged to lay upon his own subjects heavier 
 burdens than they were able or willing to bear. 
 
Sunday XXXVI.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 287 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVI.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Y the Jews, and the ancients generally, 
 no provision was made in hospitals 
 for the afflicted, or in almshouses for 
 the poor. They were, therefore, de- 
 pendent upon the charitable feelings 
 of those who were in better circum- 
 stances. It thus became important 
 that they should be placed where 
 they could see many people; and 
 hence it was customary to place them 
 at the eates of rich men (see Luke xvi. 20) ; and they also sat 
 by the "side of the highway to beg where many persons would 
 pass (Mark x. 46; Luke xviii. 35; John ix. 1—8). Under 
 such circumstances the entrance to the temple became a favourite 
 station for begging, not only from the great numbers of people 
 who resorted thither, but because Jhat, going up for the purposes 
 of religion, they would be more disposed to give alms than at other 
 times : and this was particularly true of the Pharisees, who, beyond 
 all men, did their alms “ to be seen of men.” 
 
 Peter and John went up together to prayer at the temple, at the 
 hour of afternoon prayer, being the ninth hour, or three o’clock. 
 They entered by that large and splendid gate, made of Corinthian 
 brass, near Solomon’s porch, which bore the name of Beautiful. 
 Here they observed a most afflicted creature, who had been lame 
 from his birth, and who had for many years been carried daily 
 to the Beautiful Gate, to ask alms of those that entered in at 
 the temple. From this circumstance his person and condition 
 were well known to the Jews, not only of Jerusalem, but of 
 the country, who constantly attended the sacred services of the 
 temple during their periodical visits to Jerusalem. Perceiving that 
 he had attracted the notice of the apostles, the man asked alms of 
 them. Peter said to him, “ Look on us,” with the view of drawing 
 his attention to the act he was about to execute, so that the man 
 migrht know him as the doer, and know that the benefit he was 
 about to receive came from him. The beggar, expecting to receive 
 some large alms, failed not to take heed to the apostle ; but Peter, 
 looking earnestly upon him, said, “ Silver and gold have I none ; 
 but such as I have, give I thee : In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, 
 rise up and walk.” Then, to show him that he was sincere in this 
 strange command, and to induce him to make the required effort, 
 he took the poor man by the right hand and assisted him to rise. 
 Immediately his feet and ankle-bones received strength, and the 
 man, who had never stood, walked — he who had never walked, ran 
 — and not only ran, but leaped in the fulness of his joy, exulting 
 and praising God. 
 
 The amazed and thankful man followed the apostles into the 
 magnificent covered way or passage on the east side of the temple, 
 which bore the name of Solomon’s porch. Here a wondering crowd 
 soon gathered around them, the people being greatly astonished to 
 see the lame beggar whom they knew so well, and had just beheld 
 lying at the temple gate, walking with so much agility among 
 them. The abounding gratitude of the man failed not to point out 
 his benefactors; and Peter, finding that he and his companion had 
 thus become objects of marked attention, took occasion to proclaim 
 aloud, that it was not by any power or virtue in themselves, but 
 through the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had slain, but 
 whom God had raised from the dead, that this man had been 
 healed. He admitted, however, that to a certain extent they had 
 done this through ignorance, and assured them that the door of 
 repentance was still open, and exhorted them to enter therein. To 
 induce them to this, he went on to prove that this Jesus was the 
 Messiah promised to the fathers — the seed of Abraham in whom all 
 the families of men were to be blessed. 
 
 His discourse was interrupted by the chief priests, who had 
 required the assistance of the guard in the tower of Antonia in 
 dispersing the crowd. This guard was stationed there to preserve 
 order and repress disturbances ; and the priests resorted to this 
 summary mode of arresting the impressions which seemed likely to 
 be made by the discourse of Peter, taken in connection with the 
 signal miracle which had been performed. The more effectually to 
 secure their object, they seized the apostles and consigned them to 
 the custody of the guard, till the next day; for it was now evening, 
 and the council, before which the matter was to be brought, was not 
 then sitting. When the conspiracy was against the Lord himself, 
 the council could meet irregularly in the dead of the night ; but 
 this less important matter could abide the usual hours. 
 
 When Peter and John were the next day brought before the 
 council, and asked, “ By what power or in what name have ye done 
 this?” Peter, who, when his Master had lately stood on his trial 
 before this very tribunal, had shrunk with shameful timidity from 
 his duty, was now filled with the Holy Spirit, and undauntedly 
 seized the opportunity which the question offered, of declaring the 
 truth, and of stating the evidence for the doctrine of Christ. The 
 council were much struck by the boldness of the apostles, as well 
 as by the matter of their address, especially as they perceived that 
 they were uneducated and illiterate men. Certain members of the 
 council then recollected that Peter and John were among those 
 who had usually been seen in the company of Jesus, and knew that 
 what was said by them concerning their Master was matter of autho- 
 rity, and would have weight with the people. It was also per- 
 ceived that the man who had been healed was in attendance, ready 
 to attest and extol his miraculous cure. Therefore, after some con- 
 sultation, it was deemed prudent to let the matter drop, and to dismiss 
 the apostles with an injunction not in future “to speak at all, or 
 preach in the name of Jesus.” But the apostles resolutely declined 
 to give any such pledge, and were at length discharged with a warn- 
 ing as to their future course of proceedings. That they thus escaped 
 was not owing to any want of inclination in the council to inflict 
 punishment: but they knew that the popular feeling was in favour 
 of the apostles, in consequence of the great and benevolent act 
 which they had performed: “for all men glorified God for that 
 which was done.” 
 
 The liberated apostles returned to their companions, who received 
 with joy the account of what had passed, and lifted up their voices 
 in praise to God, who by the mouth of David (Psalm ii. 1) had 
 foretold the things which had now come to pass: “And now, 
 
 Lord,” they concluded, “ behold their threatenings ; and grant 
 unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 
 by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders 
 may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.” When they 
 had concluded, the place in which they sat was violently shaken, 
 and as they were all at the same time filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 they received this as a favourable answer to their prayer. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that there was a great anxiety 
 among the more wealthy of the new converts to prevent their 
 poorer brethren from feeling the pressure of want. They therefore 
 sent in plentiful contributions, and selling their possessions, gave the 
 price they brought to the apostles, who received it of them for the 
 public use, and distributed to every one as his necessities required. 
 Among these benevolent and faithful men, none distinguished him- 
 self more than one Joses, a Jew of Cyprus, of Levitical descent 
 who received from the apostles the appropriate surname of Barnabas 
 (Son of Consolation), who sold a piece of land which formed his 
 private property, and brought the full price of it to the apostles, 
 that they might dispose of it according to their discretion. This 
 man afterwards became eminent — second only to an apostle, and 
 sometimes called an apostle, in the church. His conduct in this 
 matter appears to be mentioned for the sake of painting the contrast 
 which was offered by the conduct of another disciple, whose name 
 was Ananias. This man was no doubt sincere in his convictions of 
 the truth of the Christian religion; for the condition of the early 
 church offered no inducement to a worldly man, and least of all to a 
 Jew in good circumstances, to embrace its doctrines. Having joined 
 himself to the disciples, he was not willing to appear behind the 
 foremost in liberality and zeal : and yet his heart grudged the sa- 
 crifice which he had made from regard to appearances; and there- 
 fore, instead of bringing to the apostles the whole price of the land 
 which he had sold, he kept back a considerable portion, and presented 
 the remainder as if it had been the whole. How greatly was this 
 man surprised and confounded when Peter, instead of receiving this 
 offering with the expected approbation, plainly charged him with 
 the fact, in terms of severe reprehension. The enormity of the 
 offence was indeed very great ; the meanness, the hypocrisy, the 
 worldliness of the whole affair, is almost without known parallel; 
 and had it been allowed to pass unpunished, the purily of the 
 infant church could not long have remained free from the stain of 
 worldly influences. That the act of selling the land was entirely 
 voluntary on his part, and that even when sold the whole sum 
 rested entirely at his disposal, were strongly urged upon him 
 by Peter, to point out the enormity of an offence committed 
 solely with a view to the praise of men, through an imposition upon 
 the disciples and upon God. “ Thou hast not lied,” said the indig- 
 nant apostle, “ unto men, but unto God.” This denouncement and 
 exposure were instantly fatal to one so covetous of human praise. 
 It came upon him with all the suddenness and effect of a thunder- 
 bolt, and lie fell down and gave up the ghost. 
 
913. — The Death of Ananias. 
 Marwolaeth Ananias. 
 
 916.— Conversion of St. Paul. 
 Troedigaeth St. Paul. 
 
 
Tf. '£3/' 
 
 TT 
 
 921. — Bedouin Robbers. 919. — Ueaouui Arabs. 
 
 Ysbcilwyr Bedowinaidd. Arnb : afd Bedowinaid 
 
290 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XXXVII. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 HIS is, in some respects, the 
 most singular book in the Holy 
 Scriptures, and is, perhaps, the 
 one in the Old Testament by 
 which the greatest amount of 
 speculation has been excited. It 
 is an argumentative and descrip- 
 tive poem, with a prose intro- 
 duction and conclusion, which 
 forms the plot or story of the 
 work. This story is very 
 simple. 
 
 In the land of Uz lived Job, an 
 upright and good man, who had 
 seven sons and three daughters. He was the wealthiest man in 
 the country ; and the description of his wealth shows that the 
 condition of life intended to be represented is patriarchal, similar to 
 that led by Abraham, and similar to that now led by the Arabian 
 Emirs; or rather to that intermediate condition in which the 
 patriarch has a fixed residence, and cultivates the ground, without 
 having relinquished the pastoral habits of life. Under this con- 
 dition the homestead is permanent, cultivation surrounds it, and | 
 the necessary migrations of the flocks are performed under the care 1 
 of sons and servants. This is the kind of life at one time led by I 
 Isaac (Gen. xxvi.) ; by Laban in Padan-aram, and by the churlish 
 Nabal, whose flocks were sent fortli to feed in the distant wilder- 
 ness, while he abode in Maon, and had his agricultural possessions 
 in Carmel (1 Sam. xxv.). Job had thus a mixed pastoral and 
 agricultural property, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, 
 five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a great 
 number of servants. 
 
 It was a custom of Job’s sons, who were grown up and had 
 separate establishments, to give each in his turn a feast to his 
 brothers and family, and to this feast the three sisters were always 
 invited. At the end of such feasts Job used to send for his children 
 and purify them by ablution and other observances, apprehensive 
 lest, in the gaiety of the festival, they might not have been duly 
 mindful of God and his worship. 
 
 Leaving Job in this prosperous condition, the scenery next opens 
 in an allegorical representation of the courts of heaven, where the 
 sons of God — the angels — duly present themselves before the Most 
 High. Among them appears Satan, the evil one, the accuser of the 
 just, whose unusual presence is noted, and he is asked whence he 
 came? He answers, “ From wandering over the earth and walking 
 up and down in it.” He is then asked whether in these his wan- 
 derings over the earth, he had taken notice of the upright Job, 
 wliose integrity defied the powers of evil. Satan answered, with a 
 sneer, that Job had good reasons for cultivating the service in which 
 he throve so well ; “ but only put forth thine hand and touch 
 whatever he possesseth, and to thy face will he renounce thee.” On 
 this Satan was permitted to try the virtue of Job to the extent of 
 all his substance, but was not allocved to afflict his person. 
 
 The effect of this w r as soon seen. One day, when the children of 
 Job w r ere feasting, in due course, in the house of their eldest 
 brother, a messenger came in alarm and haste to announce that the 
 Arabians had fallen upon the oxen as they were ploughing in the 
 field, and had driven them off, together with the asses, and that all 
 the servants, except himself, had been put to the sword. This man 
 had scarcely done relating the loss of Job’s agricultural cattle, when 
 another came in equal alarm to announce that his flocks, together 
 with his shepherds, had been destroyed by lightning from heaven. 
 Then another swiftly followed to relate that the Chaldseans had driven 
 off his camels, and destroyed those who had the charge of them. 
 Only one thing was then wanting to complete Job’s desolation, and 
 that came too soon : another terrified messenger arrived to tell that 
 the house in which his sons and daughters were feasting had been 
 blown down by the winds of heaven, and all had perished in that 
 overthrow. On hearing this, the desolate man arose and performed 
 the usual acts of a mourner. He rent his mantle and shaved his 
 head : but the strength of his soul was not broken ; he fell upon the 
 ground and worshipped God, saying, “ Naked came I forth from my 
 mother’s womb, and naked shall 1 return thither. Jehovah gave, 
 and Jehovah hath taken away : blessed be the name of Jehovah.” 
 
 It is then added, that “in all this,” that is, up to this time, “Job 
 sinned not, and uttered nothing rash against Jehovah.” 
 
 Again we are conducted to the gates of heaven, and behold the 
 Lord rejoicing over the uprightness of his servant, and in the utter 
 defeat of Satan’s devices against him. But Satan suggested that all 
 
 other calamities were light compared with those which took away 
 ease of body and threatened life. Job had indeed come forth from 
 the trial which made him poor and had taken the lives of others : 
 “ But,” he said, “ put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and 
 his flesh, and to thy face he will renounce thee.” But God had 
 confidence in his servant, and said, “ Behold, he is in thy hand, but 
 spare his life.” 
 
 In consequence of this, Job was speedily afflicted with a grievous 
 disease which rendered him loathsome to himself, and an object of 
 pity to others. This disease is judged to have been that species of 
 leprosy called elephantiasis, or elephant disease, so called from its 
 covering the skin with dark scales, and swelling the mouth, legs, 
 and feet to an enormous size, although the body is at the same time 
 emaciated. The pain is said not to be very great in this disease ; 
 but there is a great debility of the system, with much uneasiness and 
 grief. Being in the first stage of the disease covered with sore boils, 
 “ from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot,” the afflicted 
 man — so lately “ the greatest of all the men of the East ” — sat down 
 mournfully among the ashes, with a potsherd to scrape his sores. 
 
 In this state of affairs, Job’s wife next appears upon the scene. 
 She says to Job, “ Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Denounce 
 God and die.” This was the very object that Satan himself had in 
 view, — to induce him to renounce his confidence in God through 
 the greatness of his losses and the poignancy of his sufferings. But 
 the trust of Job was still firm, and he rebuked her in the words: 
 — “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What! 
 shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive 
 evil?” And here again, the author pointedly remarks, “In all 
 this,” that is, “ thus far,” “Job sinned not with his lips.” 
 
 The tidings of the great calamities which had befallen Job ere 
 long reached his distant friends, some of whom set out to give him 
 comfort ; Bildad the Temanite, from Teman of Edom ; Eliphaz 
 the Shuhite, from the country east of the Jordan ; and Zophar, from 
 some unknown place or city called Naamah. These three persons 
 after their journey drew near his once prosperous and pleasant home : 
 and they beheld their friend at a distance at which they could once 
 have easily recognised him. Disease had so altered his appearance 
 that at first sight they knew him not; but when they found that the 
 wretched object before them was no other than Job, “ they lifted 
 up their voice and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and 
 sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven.” This mode of 
 expressing their grief forcibly brings to mind that of Achilles when 
 informed of the death of Patroclus {Iliad, xviii. 2 27) : 
 
 “ A sudden horror shot through all the chief, 
 
 And wrapped his senses in the cloud of grief ; 
 
 Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread 
 The scorching ashes o’er his graceful head ; 
 
 His purple garments, and his golden hairs, 
 
 Those he deforms with dust, and these he tears • 
 
 On the hard soil his groaning breast he threw, 
 
 And rolled and grovelled, as to earth he grew.” Pope. 
 
 They then “ sat down with him upon the ground seven days and 
 seven nights : — and none spake a word unto him,, for they saw that 
 his grief was very great.” This conduct of theirs is so different 
 from that usually pursued under such circumstances, that we are 
 prepared by it to entertain a very favourable opinion of their dis- 
 cretion and right feeling. Seven days, it will be observed, was the 
 customary time of mourning among the Orientals : but we are not 
 to understand that they remained in the same place and posture dur- 
 ing all the seven days, but that they mourned with him during all 
 that time in the usual manner. 
 
 At the end of the seven days of mournings when no hopes of re- 
 covery from his afflicted condition Avere entertained by Job, and not 
 a word of consolation had been offered by his friends— Avho in their 
 hearts believed that he was suffering for his sins, and that the dis- 
 pleasure of God \vas manifested against him— he then unburdened his 
 heart in the language of complaint, lamentation, and despair. 
 
 The author has been mindful to secure the sympathies of the 
 reader in behalf of Job by the introductory chapter upon the cause 
 of his afflictions ; and by the declaration that he Avas an upright and 
 good man: so that in this place, and throughout the poem,°we are 
 more inclined to pity him for his afflictions than to censure him for 
 his intemperate language. We now see the reason why the author 
 had before marked that he “ sinned not with his lips,” nor uttered 
 anything rashly against Jehovah : for after the seven days, he con- 
 stantly sins with his lips, and utters rash things against Jehovah. 
 The proverbial “patience of Job” is also founded upon his conduct 
 as described in the introduction to the poem ; for after the seven 
 days, when he begins with— « Let the day perish in which I was 
 born, and the night in which it Avas said, There is a man child con- 
 ceiA ed - nothing can A>ell be more impatient than his utterances. 
 
BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 291 
 
 Sunday XXXVII.] 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HIS bred discontent among them, 
 and prepared them to lend a 
 greedy ear to any adventurer who 
 might hold fortli the hope of 
 relief or deliverance. The small 
 neighbouring nations also began 
 to recover the strength of which 
 they had been shorn in the time 
 of David ; and, as they also were 
 oppressed by increased exac- 
 tions, they began to be trouble- 
 some, and wanted but an oppor- 
 tunity of shaking off a yoke 
 which had become intolerable. 
 
 A lad named Hadad, son of the prince of Edom, whose forces 
 Joab had subdued, had been conveyed away by some faithful 
 adherents to Egypt, which seems in that and following ages to 
 have been the general refuge of distressed princes. He was there 
 brought up in the palace with the king’s sons, and eventually 
 received one of the royal princesses in marriage, and obtained an 
 establishment suited to his rank and pretensions. Here, during 
 many years, he remained watching the course of events. For a 
 long time he could discern no prospect of good for his royal house 
 or for his enslaved country : but, finding, at length, that the king 
 of Israel was by his private conduct and arbitrary government 
 rapidly losing the esteem of his own subjects, Hadad deemed that 
 the time was come for him to act, and hastened to quit the luxuries 
 and honours of Egypt in pursuit of the adventure which seemed to 
 open to him. He found the Hebrew government in Edom too firm 
 to be disturbed at this time : but he formed an alliance with a 
 freebooter named Rezon, by whose aid he ascended the throne of 
 the kingdom of Zobah, near Damascus, which he made a nucleus of 
 opposition and annoyance to the Hebrew government. The names 
 of these two adventurers, Hadad and Rezon, appear to great 
 advantage among the chiefs of Syria, who took up arms to recover 
 the territory wrested from their countrymen by the arms of David ; 
 and it seems that, although they were unable at that time to 
 deprive the Hebrew crown of its foreign dependencies, they made 
 frequent incursions into the Jewish territories, and inflicted much 
 loss and damage even in the lifetime of Solomon. The brief hints 
 which are given of their history are, indeed, suggestive of much 
 speculation on the relations of the states east and north-east of 
 Palestine in the time of Solomon : and, in the midst of this, one fact 
 shines out with remarkable distinctness, which is that Hadad 
 became in Syria the founder of a greater dynasty than that which 
 he left Egypt to re-establish. The capital of his kingdom was soon 
 exchanged for Damascus, and he was the first of those sovereigns 
 of Damascene-Syria who afterwards gave so much trouble to Israel, 
 and long waged with it an equal and often triumphant warfare. The 
 succeeding princes of this kingdom delighted to take the name of 
 Ben-hadad from their gifted and warlike founder and forefather. 
 
 In Israel itself there was a young man of Ephraim, named 
 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, whom the king — skilful to recognise 
 and prompt to reward talent — had distinguished for the great 
 abilities which he had manifested in some inferior employment, 
 and promoted to the important office of warden of the fortifications 
 which had recently been drawn around Jerusalem. This was the 
 man who was chosen by the providence of God to be ruler of the 
 ten tribes about to be severed from the house of David. When this 
 important communication was made to him by the prophet Ahijah, 
 the manner in which he received it, and in which he proceeded even 
 too hastily to act upon it, seems to show that his thoughts had already 
 taken the direction to which the charge of the prophet imparted a 
 divine sanction. He rose to the greatness of his destinies with 
 amazing facility ; the alacrity of his movements far outstripped the 
 divine intentions concerning him ; and in a premature attempt to 
 kindle the flames of civil war, he found that the attachment of the 
 Hebrew nation to the house of David was too strong to allow him 
 any present hope of success, and was himself constrained to flee to 
 Egypt, where he was protected by Shishak, the Pharaoh of that 
 age, who was well disposed to encourage such designs as might tend 
 to weaken his powerful neighbour. 
 
 Events like these could not fail to be contemplated with great 
 ■aneasiness by a monarch whose penetration into men’s motives 
 would but too clearly anticipate the issue to which they tended ; 
 impressing upon his mind the melancholy conviction that he was 
 about to leave to his son Rehoboam a tottering throne, and perhaps 
 a disputed succession. Whether these convictions had any salutary 
 
 effect upon him ; whether in his latter days he repented of the 
 error and wrong doing which had brought so many calamities upon 
 him; does not appear in the Scriptural accounts. It is to be hoped 
 that in his last days he saw' the evil of the courses he had so 
 unhappily taken, and humbled himself before God for his sins 
 against him, although he was unable, even by repentance, to avert 
 their consequences, or, in the small fragment of life which was left 
 him, to repair the errors of a long reign. After lie had occupied 
 for forty years the throne of Israel he died — before he had attained 
 old age, but not before he had survived the respect of the pious and 
 the confidence of the faithful among his subjects (u.c. 975). It 
 is remarkable that in the vision at Gibeon w r ith which his reign so 
 auspiciously commenced, wealth and power, together with wisdom, 
 were promised to him absolutely, but “length of days” only on 
 condition of faithfulness and obedience. 
 
 Profiting by the experience they had gained, the tribes resolved 
 to obtain, at the commencement of the new reign, some security 
 from the crown against the renewal of the arbitrary and exhausting 
 exactions to which they had been subjected under Solomon. To 
 give more force to their demand, they recalled Jeroboam from 
 Egypt, with the apparent view that the new king might be reminded 
 of the prudence of conciliation by the presence of one whose pre- 
 tensions were by this time well known, and were so inimical to 
 the house of David. Fortified by the presence of Jeroboam, 
 the elders of Israel repaired to Rehoboam, and demanded that 
 he should lighten the heavy yoke which his father had laid upon 
 their shoulders. This was a great crisis in the affairs of Israel, 
 and the son of Solomon was by no means equal to its exigencies. 
 A prompt and gentle answer might have gone far, in human pro- 
 babilities, to avert the calamity which impended over the house 
 of David. But he took time to consider his answer, and then — 
 by the advice of the young and untried counsellors, who had been 
 the associates of his youth, and contrary to the entreaties of the 
 sage personages who had gained experience in his father’s court 
 — he “ answered them roughly,” urging to the utmost stress his 
 royal prerogative. At the time appointed for returning an answer 
 to the demand, he told the delegates that, so far from relieving 
 them from the burdens of which they complained, he would, if 
 he liked, double them ; and that instead of chastising them, as his 
 father had done, leniently, with whips, he would chastise them 
 with torturing scorpions: — a name given to a scourge of thongs 
 set with sharp points or nails. On receiving this rash, ill-advised, 
 and most foolish answer, the tribes, as might be expected, openly 
 renounced their allegiance to the house of David, and made 
 Jeroboam king. Only Judah, the native tribe of David, adhered 
 to the infatuated king, and with it Benjamin, which was united to 
 Judah by the tie of a common interest in Jerusalem. Thus 
 came to a head the long-standing rivalry between the great tribes 
 of Judah and Ephraim. The latter, which could ill brook the 
 pre-eminence which Judah had obtained, and which exercised a 
 commanding influence among the other tribes, had now a king of 
 its own, and had become the chief member of a separate and inde- 
 pendent monarchy. 
 
 In the division which thus took place, the northern kingdom, 
 henceforth called that of Israel, took with it all the foreign posses- 
 sions which had belonged to the united monarchy lying to the 
 east and north-east of the Jordan and Dead Sea; and Judah only 
 retained Edom on the south-east, and Philistia on the west. This 
 disproportion of territory was somewhat rectified by Judah’s 
 possession of Jerusalem and the temple, together with the treasure 
 of Solomon, and great resources in the vast quantities of precious 
 metals which had been lavished on the fabric of the Temple, and on 
 the royal palaces and their armories. The importance of this pos- 
 session in equalizing the balance of power between the two king- 
 doms would have been still greater, if the Temple had continued, 
 according to its original intention, and as the first principles of 
 the theocratical establishment imperatively required, the great 
 centre of union to all the tribes, who were bound to repair thither 
 at the three yearly festivals; and who were all under the obligation 
 of contributing to the support of the ecclesiastical establishment 
 which had its seat in that city. This source of advantage was 
 however speedily taken away by Jeroboam, who apprehended that 
 his dynasty would be of very short duration if his subjects continued 
 to frequent Jerusalem, and to regard the metropolis of the house of 
 David as the prime seat of those institutions which all true Israel- 
 ites deemed their greatest glory. To prevent this, and under the 
 pretext that the journey was too distant for his people to take so 
 often, Jeroboam set up two golden calves as symbolical images of 
 Jehovah. This was an imitation of the Apis and Mnevis of the 
 Egyptians, among whom he had so long been an exile, influ- 
 
 2 P 2 
 
922.— Modern Egyptian Asses, saddled. 
 Asynod yr Aipht Ddiweddar, cyfrwyedig. 
 
 925.— The King’s Daughter 
 Merch y Brenin. 
 
 92S.— Shishak, King of Egypt.— Thebes. 
 Sisae, Brenin yr Aipht. 
 
 927.— Arabian Lion. 
 Llew Arub.iidd. 
 
 928 , Ahijah and the Wife of Jeroboam. (Angelica Kauffmann.) 
 
 Ahi'ah a Gwraig Jeroboam. 
 
 923.— Damascus. 
 
THE LIBBMT 
 
293 
 
 ib of the Kinsrs of Judah in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. (Cassas.) 
 [Id rod Brenhinoedd Judah vn Nvffrvn Ji hosnohat 
 
294 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXVII. 
 
 enced no doubt by the recollection of the tendency which the 
 Israelites had of old time, and under the very shadow of Sinai, 
 manifested of worshipping Jehovah through the symbol of the ox- 
 god of Egypt. This was a grievous error, a schism, an idolatry — 
 but it was not a turning aside after false gods, and therefore, although 
 mentioned always with severe reprehension as a departure from the 
 vital principles of the theocracy, is not condemned as an utter 
 apostacy, or censured with the same degree of horror as we find on 
 other occasions called forth by the idolatrous worship of Baal and 
 Moloch. Under the figures of the golden calves, the true God was 
 the ostensible object of worship ; but when the Israelites turned aside 
 after Baal, Ashtaroth, and the idols of their neighbours, other gods than 
 Jehovah became the ostensible objects of worship, and a different 
 and heavier measure of judgment was meted out to the worshippers. 
 
 One of the golden calves was placed in Bethel, for the southern 
 tribes, and the other in Dan for the tribes of the north. Temples 
 were built and altars erected for these idols ; priests were appointed 
 from all the tribes without distinction, no regard being had to the 
 prerogative of the Levites, who indeed refused to serve, and in 
 general abandoned such of their cities as lay in this kingdom, and 
 went to establish themselves in Judah. Indeed the king himself 
 seems to have assumed the dignity of high-priest, in imitation of 
 the Egyptian kings ; or at least claimed the right of exercising 
 priestly functions at the high festivals. These festivals were the 
 same as those the Mosaical law enjoined ; for the king dared not 
 interfere with institutions which had become so much identified 
 with the habits of the people ; but he placed them a month later than 
 the times fixed by the law, in order to establish a distinction between 
 them and the same festivals as celebrated in the rival kingdom. 
 
 The policy on which these alterations were founded seemed so 
 essential to the prevention of the reunion of the severed tribes, and 
 the alterations themselves became in the course of a few generations 
 so thoroughly interwoven with the constitution, and with the habits 
 of the people, that even the more pious of Jeroboam’s successors did 
 not venture, if they wished, to abolish them, and to restore in their 
 original form and vigour the theocratical institutions. 
 
 Jeroboam was not allowed to proceed in the course he had taken 
 without warning or reproof. At one of the periodical festivals (that 
 of Tabernacles), while Jeroboam was in the act of performing the 
 priestly function of offering incense before the golden calf in Bethel, 
 a prophet of God from Judah made his appearance, and denounced 
 the unholy service, and the altar at which it was performed, declar- 
 ing that the altar should, as in the distant future, be polluted and 
 cast down by a king of Judah — Josiah by name. And in proof of 
 the authority by which he spake, the altar, at his word, was rent 
 and its ashes strewed around. The king was moved only to rage 
 at a message so full of mysterious and significant import, and he 
 stretched forth his hand to seize the messenger of evil. But the 
 arm was smitten with sudden paralysis, and lost its strength and 
 motion, until the prophet interceded for him. 
 
 Unhappily, the conduct of the prophet himself threw some dis- 
 credit on his mission, and probably intercepted in some minds the 
 convictions which it was calculated to produce. He had been en- 
 joined to return into Judah immediately after discharging his mes- 
 sage; and, on pain of death, to abstain from taking food in the 
 polluted land. He accordingly left Bethel without delay. But when 
 the news of the transactions had been communicated to an old seer, 
 of corrupt principles, who seems to have had some interest in the 
 new arrangements, he feared that much injury might accrue to them 
 unless he could in some way contrive to shake the credit of the 
 messenger. He, therefore, caused his ass to be saddled and rode 
 after him. He found him resting under the shade of an oak, and 
 urged him to return and accept the hospitalities of his house ; and 
 when the prophet stated the divine command under which he acted, 
 the other declared that he also was a prophet of Jehovah, and had 
 been specially charged to entertain him. On this the prophet 
 consented to return, and he remained with the old Bethelite until 
 the next morning. He then departed, but had not gone far from 
 Bethel when he paid the forfeit of his disobedience. He was met 
 and slain by a lion ; and, as if to evince the special judgment of his 
 punishment, the lion continued to stand by without attempting to 
 mutilate the body, or to injure the ass on which the unhappy man 
 had been riding. When this was told to the false seer in Bethel, 
 he went and fetched the body to give it honourable burial, and 
 commanded his sons that when he died his corpse should be laid in 
 the same place. He foresaw that the doom denounced by the slain 
 prophet should come to pass ; and he probably desired that his 
 bones, by being commingled with those of Jehovah’s prophet, might 
 be spared the dishonour which the distant king was to inflict upon 
 the remains of the priests and seers of this abomination. 
 
 But Jeroboam had another warning through an agent who was 
 entitled to his highest respect. His eldest son, Abijah, a young 
 prince of high promise, being taken with an alarming sickness, the 
 anxious father prevailed upon the queen to disguise herself in the 
 attire of a private person, and repair to Shiloh, where the prophet 
 Ahijah, who had announced to him his appointment to the kingdom, 
 had then his abode, to inquire of him concerning the fate of their 
 child. As the eyes of the old prophet were dim through age, she 
 might the more readily hope to escape detection ; but the whole 
 matter was on the instant made known to Ahijah, who, when she 
 appeared at the door, accosted her with the ominous words, “ Come 
 in, thou wife of Jeroboam, for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.’' 
 Heavy indeed were they, amounting to nothing less than the utter 
 extirpation of the race of Jeroboam, doomed to untimely deaths in 
 the city and in the field ; and the speedy extinction and disgrace of 
 the dynasty which he had taken so much politic care and incurred 
 so much guilt to establish on firm foundations. “ Arise thou, 
 therefore,” concluded the prophet, “get thee to thine own house, 
 and when thy feet enter the city the child shall die. And all 
 Israel shall mourn for him and bury him ; for he only of Jeroboam 
 shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good 
 thing towards the Lord God of Israel.” 
 
 Everything happened as he had said ; but the warning was lost 
 upon Jeroboam, who, perhaps, felt that he had gone too far to 
 recede in the line of policy which he had taken. 
 
 It is now time to return to Rehoboam, who could not without 
 great concern see his kingdom torn from him, and so large a pro- 
 portion of his subjects place themselves under the sceptre of one of 
 his father’s servants. His first measure was to assume that the 
 tribes were still under his sway, and sent to collect the usual 
 “ tributes,” or taxes ; but the people rose upon the chief collector, 
 and stoned him to death. Rehoboam then thought only of war, 
 and finding that the nobles of Judah were disposed to second his 
 views, he speedily raised an army of 180,000 men to reduce the 
 ten tribes to their allegiance. But when he was ready to take the 
 field, the prophet Sliemaiah was moved by the Divine Spirit to forbid 
 the prosecution of the design, seeing that the matter was from the 
 Lord. Rehoboam obeyed, and disbanded his arn»y, which was cer- 
 tainly a very signal act of obedience. He then turned his attention 
 to putting his own kingdom in a condition of defence. He fortified 
 his towns, repaired his strongholds, and provided in abundance all 
 the munitions of war in every point which seemed open to attack. 
 The migration into his territory of the Levites, as well as of a large 
 number of families which were discontented with the new order of 
 things established by Jeroboam, soon put his kingdom nearly on a 
 level with the other in population, inferior as it was in territory. 
 And this, with the possession of the capital and its treasures by Judah, 
 soon put the kingdoms on a more equal footing than the difference 
 in the number of tribes and in extent of dominion would suggest. 
 
 Jeroboam was, however, too much occupied witli the affairs we 
 have described to care to molest Rehoboam ; but it is not unlikely 
 that it was partly at his instance that his friend Shishak was induced 
 to invade Judah with an immense army. The preparations of 
 Rehoboam to meet this formidable attack were vigorous and well 
 considered ; but, unhappily for his kingdom, he had by this time 
 rendered himself obnoxious to the divine displeasure by imitating 
 the idolatrous usages of the heathen. He was, therefore, deprived 
 of the divine assistance, on which he might otherwise have securely 
 calculated, and no resource was left to him but the submission 
 which the prophet Shemaiah recommended, as to a punishment 
 inflicted by heaven for his offence. The plunder of the treasures 
 of Solomon seems to have been the main object of this expedition. 
 The Egyptian king entered the sacred capital of Judah and stripped 
 the palace of its most splendid furniture, and the temple of the vast 
 treasures which had been there accumulated by David and Solomon. 
 He also took away the golden shields which the latter of these 
 monarchs had fabricated for his guards ; in place of which Reho- 
 boam was obliged to be contented with substituting others of brass. 
 
 The marked emphasis with which this circumstance is mentioned 
 by the sacred historian brings to mind the equal emphasis with 
 which this part of Solomon’s magnificence had previously been 
 described. There were two hundred large shields of beaten gold, 
 each weighing six hundred shekels, and three hundred smaller 
 shields of the same costly material, and of half the weight. Their 
 forms we can only guess from comparison with the shields of other 
 ancient nations ; but there is every reason to conclude that the 
 workmanship was worthy of the materials, and that the shields of 
 Solomon might vie, if not with the shield of Achilles, at least with 
 some of the most magnificent of those which ancient poets and 
 i historians have described to us. 
 
Sunday XXXYII.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE AFOSTLES. 
 
 295 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVII.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 APFHIRA, the wife of Ananias, 
 entered the place about three hours 
 afterwards, before the meeting had 
 separated. She was ignorant of what 
 had happened, but appears to have 
 taken an active part, if her suggestions 
 did not originate the infamous trans- 
 action. Of her, Peter, with marked 
 emphasis, asked whether the land had 
 been sold for the sum which Ananias 
 had named : she readily and unhesitat- 
 ingly answered in the affirmative, on which Peter, with the sternness 
 of a judge, said : — “ How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt 
 the Spirit of the Lord ? Behold, the feet of them who have buried 
 thy husband are at the door — and shall carry thee out.” On hearing 
 these terrible words, she also fell to the ground and died ; on which 
 the young men who had just returned from burying her husband, 
 carried her also away. The manner of the death of Sapphira was 
 even more striking than that of Ananias. Peter had not distinctly 
 doomed him to death ; and he might be supposed to have died 
 from the stroke of an over-burdened conscience ; but in the other 
 case the direct judgment of God is brought out more distinctly. 
 Sapphira dies at the word of Peter, and falls down death-struck at 
 his command. 
 
 This signal judgment made a profound impression upon the 
 church. It tended to purge away all low and selfish motives ; to 
 urge great singleness of purpose, and to induce that respect for the 
 power and authority of the apostles which was essential to their 
 influence. It seems however to have tended for a time to prevent 
 other men of substance from joining the apostles : but, it is added 
 with strong emphasis — “but the people magnified them.” Many 
 miracles were also wrought by them ; and their reputation became 
 so high “ that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid 
 them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter pass- 
 ing by might overshadow some of them.” "Whether they were by this 
 means healed is not stated, and is left for us to conjecture. The 
 news of this even spread to the neighbouring towns, whence the 
 diseased were brought in great numbers to Jerusalem to be cured 
 by the apostles. The sensation which was thus excited attracted 
 the attention of the high-priest and others, and by their orders the 
 apostles were apprehended and cast into the common prison. But 
 the night following they were delivered by an angel of God, who 
 opened the prison-doors and brought them forth, with a charge 
 to proceed in their high course, speaking boldly to the people in 
 the very temple the words of eternal life. Next morning the 
 Sanhedrim assembled to examine the prisoners, and officers were 
 sent to bring them forth. But they soon returned, stating that the 
 prisoners had disappeared, although the prison-doors were still 
 closed, and the keepers carefully upon guard. While they were 
 confounded at this, a messenger arrived with the intelligence that 
 the men whom they had cast into prison were then actually in the 
 temple exhorting the people. The officers then went and brought 
 them thence before the council ; but they did this without disrespect 
 or violence, as they feared to excite a tumult among the people, who 
 were, as we have seen, favourable to the apostles, and had probably 
 just heard from them how marvellously they had been delivered. 
 
 On their appearance before the council, the high-priest taxed 
 them with disobedience to the positive order they had received no 
 more to preach in the name of Jesus : “ But, behold,” said the 
 pontiff, “ ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to 
 bring this man’s blood upon us.” To this Peter, in the name of 
 all the apostles, quietly answered, “ We ought to obey God rather 
 than men and forthwith, in a few cogent words, stated without 
 reserve or qualification the great doctrine which they, as chosen 
 witnesses, felt bound to testify. They were then taken outside for a 
 time, while the council deliberated on the matter. Some of the more 
 violent were for putting them to death ; but there was among them 
 a renowned teacher and expounder of the law, named Gamaliel, who 
 urged more prudent counsels. He sagaciously observed, that if this 
 doctrine were of God they could not and ought not to interfere to 
 suppress it, and if it were not of God it would certainly without 
 their interference come to nothing. He therefore counselled the 
 great “ let alone ” policy ; and his high reputation and influence 
 gained so much attention for it, that, after they had scourged the 
 apostles, they allowed them to depart with an injunction that they 
 should not again speak in the name of Jesus. But the apostles, 
 rejoicing that they were deemed worthy to suffer shame for the 
 name of Jesus, ceased not to preach Christ crucified in the temple 
 
 and in every house they entered. And their labours were blessed 
 of God : for the number of the disciples daily increased, and the 
 funds which their liberality and confidence placed in the hands of 
 the apostles were so large, that the distribution became a matter of 
 great anxiety and labour to them, and there was danger that this 
 business would so take up their time as to prevent the due discharge 
 of more important duties. A dispute which arose between the 
 Hellenistic and Hebrew converts, the former alleging that their 
 widows were comparatively neglected in the daily ministrations, 
 coin inced the apostles that it was time for them to seek relief from 
 such comparatively secular charges. “ It is not meet,” said they, 
 “that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.” They 
 therefore recommended the brethren to look out seven men in 
 whom they could confide pious and prudent men — who might have 
 the management of this department. Seven such persons were 
 accordingly nominated by the disciples, and were instituted by 
 the apostles in this important office by prayer and the imposition of 
 hands. These were the first deacons. One of them, named Stephen, 
 was so active and so devoted, so powerful in speech, and so mighty 
 in deeds, that he speedily attracted the attention of the Hellenistic 
 and African Jews in Jerusalem : and in their frequent disputations 
 he so foiled them in argument, that they became exasperated, and 
 determined to get rid of him. Despairing to do this in the ordinary 
 course of affairs, as then conducted under the cognizance of the 
 Romans, they suborned false witnesses to testify that they had 
 heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against 
 God. On this allegation they excited the people against him, and 
 then the chief men ventured to seize him and to bring him before 
 the council. The charge was there more formally urged; and 
 when the council turned their attention to the man against whom 
 such heinous things were urged, they beheld a man whose coun- 
 tenance was radiant with holiness and peace— “ as it had been the 
 face of an angel.” 
 
 To the question of the high-priest, “Are these things so?” 
 Stephen answered by taking a rapid view of the dispensations of 
 God s providence towards his people, with an apparent view to 
 the development of the Messianic character of Christ as foreshown 
 in these dispensations. We say apparent, for, as his address was 
 interrupted by the excited passions of the audience, its entire scope 
 is not clearly manifested. He had reached so far in his illustrative 
 exposition as to the building of the temple by Solomon, when he was 
 much interrupted by the angry clamour of the audience, and was 
 provoked to exclaim : — “ Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart 
 and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; as your fathers did, 
 so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? 
 And they have slain those who showed before the coming of the 
 Just One, of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers. 
 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have 
 not kept it.” 
 
 When the audience had heard thus far their rage and indignation 
 passed all bounds, and they even gnashed on him with their teeth. 
 Then, foreseeing his danger, and feeling that there was no safety 
 even in the great council of the nation, nor any prospect of justice 
 at its hands, the holy man cast his eyes towards heaven, and there 
 beheld “the glory of God.” This phrase usually denotes the 
 visible symbols of the Divine Presence in some magnificent repre- 
 sentation, or some resplendence — sucli as that which in the old 
 temple abode between the cherubim. In Stephen’s case there is 
 every indication of a vision representing what was most likely to 
 encourage him in that perilous moment, “the heavens opened, and 
 the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” He declared 
 what he beheld ; and on hearing this, the auditors cried out with one 
 voice, and stopped their ears as against the pollution of some horrid 
 blasphemy, and ran upon him with one accord. He was hurried 
 outside the city, and there in the madness of that hour stoned to 
 death as a blasphemer. He died calling upon God, and saying 
 “ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and praying that this act might 
 not be laid to the charge of his murderers. Thus worthily died 
 the first of the noble army of martyrs, who have sealed with their 
 blood the testimony of Jesus. 
 
 The council had no power to inflict death, as we have already 
 seen : and although this proceeding could not have been displeasing 
 to them, it had not their formal sanction ; but was entirely the 
 ebullition of popular feeling, which would not and could not abide 
 the result of judicial movements. In this case the witnesses, as 
 was usual, took the first and most active part in the execution ; and 
 casting off their outer robes for vigorous exertion, they placed them 
 in charge of a young man named Saul, who had manifested much 
 zeal against the new doctrines, and on the present occasion against 
 Stephen. 
 
296 
 
943.— Double Flutes : Roman. 
 Chwibanoglau Dyblyg : Rhufcinaidd. 
 
 944.— Modern Egyptian Flute. (Nay.) 
 Chwibanogl Aiphtaidd Ddiweddar. 
 
 297 
 
298 
 
 THE PROPHETS. 
 
 [Sunday XXXVIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVIII.— THE PROPHET DANIEL. 
 
 HIS prophet was of the tribe of Judah 
 and of the race of David. He, with 
 other young nobles, was transported 
 at an early age to Babylon, by order 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, as an hostage for 
 the good conduct of Jehoiakim, who 
 rvas then on the throne of Judah ; or 
 rather, perhaps, under that policy which 
 sought to aggrandize the imperial court 
 by the presence and services of the 
 noblest and most handsome youths of 
 subject states. 
 
 At Babylon, Daniel received the Chaldean name of Belteshazzar, 
 and Mas placed with other young captives whom Nebuchadnezzar 
 willed to be instructed in the science of the Babylonians. Already 
 well instructed in the taest of sciences — that of his holy religion — 
 Daniel resolved to deny himself the use of viands forbidden by 
 the law and prepared by the hands of idolaters. The three com- 
 panions with whom lie was more intimately associated followed his 
 example. And God rewarded their faith ; for, notwithstanding the 
 fears of Meltzar, the eunuch to whose charge they had been 
 intrusted, it was found, when they Mere produced for examination, 
 that not only had they not suffered in appearance by their simple 
 fare, but were more hale and ruddy than the youths who had 
 feasted on the meats and M'ines of Babylon. 
 
 The education of these youths in the sciences of the East lasted 
 three years, at the end of which it Mas found that Daniel and his 
 three companions surpassed in science and wisdom all the magi of 
 Babylon ; and they forthwith commenced their services under a 
 king, who, from all that appears, well knew how to discover and 
 reward merit. 
 
 An occasion soon offered for Daniel to distinguish himself, and 
 consequently to attain a high place in the royal service. Having 
 been included in the general proscription of the magi, who were 
 unable to discover and interpret a dream which the king himself 
 had forgotten, but which filled his mind wtih concern, Daniel 
 obtained from the captain of the guard the suspension of the 
 execution of the sentence M’hile he interceded with the king, and 
 from the king himself he obtained further time on engaging to 
 solve the mystery. 
 
 Daniel then applied himself to fervent prayer with his com- 
 panions, and the God whom he so faithfully served heard him in the 
 highest heavens, and imparted to him in a vision the secret on 
 which so many lives depended. 
 
 As soon as he had made known his power to afford Nebuchad- 
 nezzar the information he desired, he was immediately conducted 
 before the monarch, and proceeded to remind him that he had seen 
 a compound image, and to explain to him how this image repre- 
 sented “ the things that should come to pass hereafter.” This 
 image had a head of pure gold, which the prophet explained to 
 denote Nebuchadnezzar himself, and his successors in the dynasty 
 which he had aggrandized ; the breast and arms of silver denoted 
 the second and inferior empire of the Medes and Persians ; the 
 belly and thighs of brass, the next succeeding empire of the Mace- 
 donian Greeks ; the legs of iron, the empire of the Romans ; and 
 the toes, partly iron and part clay, the various states and kingdoms 
 into which that empire should be divided. Lastly, the king had 
 seen a stone udiich smote the image, and became a great mountain 
 that filled the whole earth, which was so interpreted by the prophet 
 as to show to us that it was intended to apply to the kingdom of the 
 Messiah, which was to be established upon the ruins of these various 
 imperial kingdoms and empires, and to continue for ever. The 
 prophet said to the king in the first place, “ Thou art this head of j 
 gold but, with the necessary reserve of prophecy, he did not 
 indicate the names of the other empires as we have set them down, 
 although they are pointed out by signs not to be mistaken. 
 
 The vastness of the view thus presented before the mind of the 
 king, and the deep and magnificent import of his dream, over- 
 whelmed him not less than the mysterious power which had enabled 
 the young prophet to discover and unravel that which had baffled 
 die boasted skill of the Chaldean soothsayers. In the height of his 
 astonishment and admiration the king cast himself at the feet of 
 his captive, and would have uorshipped him as more than human, 
 commanding an oblation and su'eet odours to be offered to him. 
 But Daniel respectfully directed his attention to the Great God in 
 heaven whom lie served, and who had revealed the secret to him ; 
 
 on which the king declared with all sincerity of conviction, “ Of a 
 truth your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings.” 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar was not slow in rewarding one so highly gifted, 
 and so greatly favoured of Heaven. He made him governor over 
 the whole province of Babylon, and besfinved on him the distin- 
 guished office of Rab-Mag, or chief of the Magians. The former 
 appears to have been the highest civil employment in the state, as 
 I the latter u r as certainly the highest among the learned offices of 
 the kingdom. At the request of Daniel, the king also promoted 
 his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to important 
 trusts in the province of Babylon under him. 
 
 The king soon after caused to be set up in the plain of Dura, 
 near Babylon, a colossal image of gold, and set forth a decree, that 
 whenever harmonious sounds were heard from “the cornet, flute, 
 harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer (bagpipe ? ), or any kind of music,” 
 every one should, on pain of death, fall dou'n and worship it. 
 Taking all the circumstances into consideration, it u'ould seem as 
 if the king had become discontented with the particular import of 
 the vision, the vastness of udiich had at the first so filled his mind ; 
 and that it was in order to counteract or defy its application to 
 himself that he now acted. In the visionary image his kingdom 
 was but the head of gold, destined to be superseded and overthrown ; 
 but he now sets up an image udiolly of gold, as if to express under 
 the same symbol the unity and continuance of his kingdom. It 
 would even seem as if he repented of his acknowledgment of the 
 supremacy of Daniel’s God, the God by whom the vision had been 
 sent, seeing that his present orders were so adverse to that admission. 
 The decree as set forth v r as one with which no pious Jew could 
 comply, and it was soon made known to the king that the three 
 friends of Daniel paid no regard to his command. Daniel himself 
 they were probably afraid to accuse, on account of his high place 
 and his presumed favour at court. The king, in great wrath, sum- 
 moned the accused to Ids presence, and deliberately recited to them 
 the terms of his decree and the penalties of disobedience, adding, 
 “ Who is that God that should deliver you out of my hands ? ” 
 They unflinchingly answered that their God u r as able to do so ; 
 and resolutely declared that they would not serve his gods, nor 
 worship the image he had set up. This filled the king with fury, 
 and he commanded that they should be cast into the “ burning fiery 
 furnace,” heated seven times more than it w'as wont to be heated. 
 But these holy men remembered Him who had said, “ Though 
 thou walkest through the fire, I will be with thee ;” and they 
 M'alked about in the furnace untouched by the devouring flames, 
 and singing the praises of Jehovah. This marvellous sight brought 
 the king to his senses : he called them forth ; he acknowledged the 
 exceeding greatness of the God whom they served and by whom 
 they had been preserved ; and in the warm enthusiasm of the 
 moment he made a decree that whosoever spoke a word against this 
 Mighty God henceforth, should be cut in pieces, and his house 
 made a dunghill, “ because there is no other God that can deliver 
 after this sort.” As for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they 
 were not only restored to favour, but promoted to higher offices in 
 the metropolitan province of Babylon. 
 
 Some time after these transactions Nebuchadnezzar was warned 
 of the consequences of that excessive pride which formed the chief 
 defect in a character by no means destitute of great and generous 
 qualities. He was “ at rest in his house, and flourishing in his 
 palace,” when he saw a dream which made him afraid. He beheld 
 a tree which grew till it overspread the earth, and all the fowls of 
 heaven roosted in its branches, and all the beasts of the field 
 reposed beneath its shade. But suddenly “ a holy one ” came down 
 from heaven and commanded the tree to be hewn down, leaving 
 only the stump in the earth : and by one of those transitions usual 
 in dreams, the language of “ the holy one ” passed from the condition 
 of the tree to that of the human being it represented Let his 
 portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth : let his heart 
 be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given to him, and 
 let seven times pass over him.” 
 
 This dream no one could interpret but Daniel. When the king 
 recited it to him, and the perception of its strange and afflicting 
 import came upon him, concern and astonishment held him mute ; 
 but when he recovered himself, he proceeded to open its meaning 
 to the king. The tree represented himself and the greatness of the 
 kingdom which God had given to him ; and the words of “ the holy 
 one ” were explained to mean — “ That they shall drive thee from 
 men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and 
 they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall M et thee 
 with the deM r of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till 
 thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
 giveth it to u’homsoever he will.” 
 
Sunday XXXVIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 299 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVII I.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 IIIS circumstance tended in 
 a orreat decree to humble Re- 
 hoboam, and to make him sen- 
 sible of his guilt, so as to 
 acknowledge the justice of 
 God in his punishment; but, 
 nevertheless, he again “ did 
 evil, because he prepared not 
 his heart to seek the Lord.” 
 lie indeed effected many ex- 
 ternal reformations, and main- 
 tained the temple worship 
 during the remainder of his 
 reign ; but his heart was not 
 engaged in the service of God, 
 neither was his religion the 
 expression of love to God, but a mere reluctant formal service, 
 extorted and regulated by the influence of fear. When he had some- 
 what recovered the effects of Shishak’s invasion, he made frequent 
 incursions into the land of Israel, and several engagements took place 
 between his troops and tiiose of Jeroboam. In this manner the two 
 rival kings continued to molest and weaken each other all their days. 
 In b.c. 958, Rehoboam died in Jerusalem, after having reigned seven- 
 teen years, and was succeeded by his son Abijah. The Scripture 
 emphatically notes that the mother of Rehoboam was Naamah, an 
 Ammonitess ; and this is probably done for the sake of intimating 
 that the errors of his reign should be attributed to the influence 
 exercised upon the formation of his character by a woman of this 
 corrupt and idolatrous nation. 
 
 Jeroboam, in Israel, was disposed to take advantage of the weak- 
 ness usual at the commencement of a new reign, by renewing the 
 hostilities against Judah. Abijah was, however, fully equal to 
 the occasion, and took the field to oppose the Israelites, with an 
 army of four hundred thousand men. When he arrived over 
 against Jeroboam’s encampment, and was prepared to attack his 
 opponents, he advanced, and having posted himself so as to be 
 heard by his rival and part of his army, he delivered a very ani- 
 mated address, with the view of bringing the contest to an amicable 
 adjustment, or at least to rouse the energies of his own soldiers and 
 to depress those of his adversary. He accordingly reproached them 
 not only as the authors of the revolt, but as guilty of idolatry and 
 impiety, in setting up two golden calves ; and he continued — “ But 
 as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. 
 And behold God himself is with us for our captain ; therefore, O 
 ye house of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord, the God of your 
 fathers, for ye shall not prosper.” Although the view which Abijah 
 took of the relative position of the two parties was rather one- 
 sided, and such as a king of Judah was likely to take, his 
 pious confidence in God was justified by the result: for, notwith- 
 standing the far superior force of Israel, which doubled his own, 
 and notwithstanding the military skill and experience of Jeroboam, 
 who had placed an ambush behind Judah, so that “ When Judah 
 looked back, behold the battle was before and behind ; yet when 
 they cried unto the Lord, it came to pass that God smote Jeroboam, 
 and all Israel, before Abijah and Judah. And there fell of 
 Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. Thus the children of 
 Judah prevailed, because they relied on the God of their fathers.” 
 
 This great victory does not appear to have been followed up by 
 Abijah with any view to the reduction of the Israelites to their 
 abandoned allegiance to the house of David. Some towns were 
 indeed subdued by him, and among the rest Bethel. Yet we do not 
 find that the golden calf in that place was removed ; and probably 
 the city was soon again given up to Jeroboam. The latter, how- 
 ever, never recovered his defeat, nor did Abijah long enjoy the 
 fruits of his victory ; he died shortly after (b.c. 955), and his 
 death was soon followed (b.c. 954) by that of the king of Israel. 
 Jeroboam was succeeded by his son Nadab, and Abijah by his son 
 Asa. 
 
 Asa began his reign by abolishing those idolatries which had 
 been connived at during the preceding reigns, and by using his 
 authority to 'retain the people in the worship of Jehovah at the 
 temple, and to enforce obedience to his commandments. In con- 
 sequence of this piety and zeal, Asa was favoured with a state of 
 profound peace and prosperity, and was enabled to employ the 
 greater part of his reign in improving and strengthening his 
 dominions. But at a subsequent period they were invaded by I 
 Zerah the Ethiopian, with an immense army, which threatened the ■ 
 
 utter ruin of his kingdom. But his reliance on God did not for- 
 sake him ; and, strong in faith, he marched with a very inferior 
 army to oppose the farther advance of the Ethiopians. When he 
 stood prepared for the assault, he offered up a prayer, which breathes 
 the true spirit required from a Hebrew king who knew his real 
 position as a vassal of Jehovah. “Lord, it is nothing to thee to 
 help, whether witli many, or with them that have no power. Help 
 us, 0 Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go 
 against the multitude. O Lord, thou art our God ; let not man 
 prevail against thee!” The event answered to his faith. The 
 Ethiopians were entirely overthrown and dispersed; and Judah 
 was considerably enriched by the vast spoil taken from the enemy. 
 
 On his return to his capital Asa was exhorted by the prophet 
 Azariah to testify his gratitude by completing the reformation 
 which he had commenced at the beginning of his reign, and he was at 
 the same time assured of the divine assistance and favour. Thus 
 encouraged, the king immediately resumed, with ardour, the work 
 of purging the land of the idolatries and superstitions by which it 
 was still invested. To this end he made a progress through his 
 dominions, and discovered a great many idols and idolatrous sym- 
 bols in different parts of the land. Not only were these removed ; 
 but, having thus been made aware of the corrupt tendencies of his 
 people, the good king deemed it his duty to engage them anew to 
 observe the covenant of their fathers. To this end a grand assem- 
 bly of the people was convened at Jerusalem, probably at one 
 of the great festivals, and they then and there entered into a solemn 
 engagement to worship and “ seek the Lord God of their fathers^ 
 with all their heart and with all their soul ;” and they also engaged 
 to enforce the observance of the Divine Law, and to denounce 
 all transgressors and idolaters without respect of persons. This 
 covenant was ratified by every one present witli a solemn oath ; 
 and, as it was very rigidly observed, idolatry was for the time wholly 
 suppressed, and the worship of God generally re-established. 
 
 In the kingdom of Israel, Nadab, the son and successor of Jero- 
 boam, was treacherously slain in the second year of his reign (b.c. 
 953) by Baasha, who held an important command in the army, if 
 he was not its chief commander, and who usurped the goverimieut, 
 and accomplished to the uttermost the doom which had been pro- 
 nounced upon the house of Jeroboam. lie did not, however, avoid 
 the impieties which had brought this doom upon that unhappy 
 house; and for this reason the prophet Jehu was sent to predict the 
 ruin of Baasha’s family, and that his posterity should share the 
 fate of Jeroboam’s descendants. 
 
 Baasha during his reign made frequent incursions into the land 
 of Judah ; and obtained possession of a few frontier towns, one of 
 which, Ramah, he rebuilt and fortified, with the view of command- 
 ing and checking the intercourse between the two kingdoms, which 
 he seems to have feared would end in the defection of the ten tribes 
 to the house of David. This measure gave great umbrage to Asa, 
 and must indeed have occasioned much annoyance and embarrass- 
 ment to him and his subjects. But in tins difficulty he unhappily 
 neglected the proper means of defence ; and resorted to the most 
 ill-advised and dangerous measure of hiring the king of Syria to 
 make a diversion in his favour by invading the dominions of Israel. 
 Baasha being then obliged to withdraw his forces northward to 
 oppose this new enemy, Asa was relieved from his present trouble, 
 and enabled to recover Ramah ; and he availed himself of the ma- 
 terials which Baasha had brought together to fortify that place, to 
 strengthen Geba and Mizpeh. The advantage thus gained was con- 
 firmed by the death of Baasha in the ensuing year ; but all such 
 advantage was dearly purchased by the treasure of the temple and 
 palace, which he was obliged to squander in order to obtain it ; and 
 still more by the displeasure of God, who by his prophet Hanani 
 denounced the proceeding as not only wrong in itself, but as indi- 
 cating a deplorable lack of confidence in that divine aid through 
 which he had in a former year been enabled to overthrow “ the 
 huge host ” of the Ethiopians. This message, however, now only 
 exasperated the king, who cast the prophet into prison. Indeed, 
 his temper seems to have become highly irritable, if not sanguinary, 
 in his latter years, which were disfigured by many acts of severity 
 and injustice. A painful disease in the feet, perhaps gout, may in 
 some degree account for this ; but here again he incurs the reproach 
 of the sacred historians for his resort to “ the physicians, instead of 
 relying upon God ;” the cause of which remarkable censure is pro- 
 bably to be found in the fact that these physicians were not Israel- 
 ites, acting under the blessing of Jehovah, but foreigners and 
 idolaters, who trusted more to idolatrous rites and incantations than 
 to the simple remedies which nature offered. With all the defects 
 of his latter years, for which much allowance may be made, Asa 
 bears a good character iu the Scriptural narrative on account of 
 
 2 Q 2 
 
946 — Shield of Achilles. (From a design by M. Quatremere de Quincy.) 
 Tarian Achel. (0 ddychymmyg gan M. Quatremere de Quincy.) 
 
 300 
 
 947. Prom a Sculpture at Thebes : contrasting the common Shield of the Egyptians with the round Shields of their Advcrsarie 
 
 O Gerf-lun vn Thebes : yn cyferbynu Tarian gyffredin yr Aiphtiaid a Tharianau eu Gwrthwynebwyr. 
 

 THE LIBRARY 
 8F THE 
 
 mvERsiTY' -of mm 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
953.— Head and Foot of Raven. 
 Pen a Throed Cigfran. 
 
 954.— The River Jordan. (Forbin.) 
 Afun yr Iorddonen. 
 
 955.— Melkart, or the Tyrian Hercules, 
 (the Phoenician Baal.) 
 
 Uelkart, neu’r Ercwlff Tyriaidd. 
 (y Baal Phenicaidd.) 
 
 957.— Astarte in a Car, as represented at Sidon. 958 . — Astarte : one of her forms at Tyre. 
 
 Astarte mewu Cerbyd, fel y’i darlunid yn Sidon. Astarte : un o’i ffurfiau yn Tyrus. 
 
 959.— Head of Astarte. 
 Pen Astarte. 
 
 952. — Santon under a Tree. 
 Santon dan Goeden. 
 
302 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XXXYIII. 
 
 the general rectitude of his conduct and his zealous services in up- 
 holding the great principles of the theocracy. He died in 929 b. c. 
 after a long and, upon the whole, prosperous reign of forty-one 
 years. lie was sincerely and deeply lamented by all his subjects, 
 who evinced their approbation of his reign by honouring his 
 remains with a magnificent funeral in the sepulchre which he had 
 prepared for himself upon Mount Zion. 
 
 Baasha, king of Israel, who, after a reign of twenty-four years, 
 died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa (930 b.c.), was succeeded by 
 his son Elah, who was slain, in the second year of his reign, by 
 Zimri, one of the generals of his army, who then usurped the go- 
 vernment of Israel. Immediately on his accession to the throne, 
 the dictates of that barbarous policy which has generally prevailed 
 in the East, led him to become the instrument of the divine wrath, 
 which, through the prophet Jehu, had been denounced upon the 
 house of Baasha. He slew all the descendants of that prince, and- 
 left their bodies unburied, and ignominiously exposed to the dogs 
 and to birds of prey. 
 
 The army was in the field acting against the Philistines when 
 these events took place at Tirzah, which was then the capital of the 
 kingdom ; and the news no sooner arrived, than the troops declared 
 in favour of their own commander Omri, and proclaimed him king. 
 The new monarch had the advantage of promoting his own interest 
 by appearing as the avenger of the murdered sovereign. He im- 
 mediately marched against Zimri in his capital, and shut him up in 
 it. But the miserable usurper made no struggle to maintain him- 
 self in the position he had assumed. He fled to his harem, which 
 he set on fire, and perished in the flames. The field was, however, 
 not yet clear for Omri ; for while the army had elected him to the 
 throne, a strong party, equally disgusted at the deed of Zimri, had 
 at the same time offered the throne to Tibni, who was not disposed 
 to abandon his at least equal claims in favour of the nominee of 
 the military. There was a civil war of six years between them ; 
 but eventually Omri prevailed, and Tibni was put to death. Omri, 
 being thus left undisputed master of the kingdom, built Samaria, 
 which from that time became the capital of the kingdom, and gave 
 its name not only to the surrounding country, but eventually to the 
 whole kingdom of the ten tribes. After a reign of eleven years, 
 five of which were after the death of Tibni, Omri died, in 918 b.c. 
 and was succeeded by his son Aliab. This prince, whose reign oc- 
 cupies so large a space in the Hebrew annals, began to reign in the 
 thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah. Throughout his reign 
 of twenty-one years, Aliab was entirely under the influence of his 
 idolatrous and unprincipled wife Jezebel, a daughter of Eth-baal, 
 king of Tyre. Hitherto the irregularities connected with the worship 
 of the golden calves, as improper symbols of Jehovah, had formed 
 the chief offence of Israel. But Aliab and Jezebel united their 
 authority to introduce the gods of other nations. The king built a 
 temple in Samaria, set up an image, and consecrated a grove to 
 Baal, the god of the Sidonians ; and Jezebel, earnest in promoting 
 the honour and worship of her native god, maintained a multitude 
 of priests and prophets of Baal. Thus in a few years the grossest 
 forms of idolatry became predominant throughout the land, and 
 Jehovah, and the golden calves as symbols of him, were viewed with 
 no more reverence, if with so much, as Baal and his image. 
 
 It now seemed as if the knowledge of the true God would be for 
 ever lost among the Israelites. But suddenly the prophet Elijah 
 boldly stood up among them, to stem the overwhelming tide of cor- 
 ruption, and succeeded in preserving many of his countrymen in the 
 worship of Jehovah. The record of the reign of Aliab is chiefly 
 occupied with an account of the struggle which this great prophet 
 waged against principalities and powers, against spiritual wicked- 
 ness in high places, in honour of Jehovah. 
 
 He is introduced with considerable abruptness, by the name of 
 Elijah the Tishbite — from the name of a town beyond the Jordan 
 to which he belonged — as announcing punishment in the shape 
 of a long-continued drought, and consequently famine, which 
 should be removed only at his own intercession. This great cala- 
 mity commenced about the sixth year of Aliab’s reign ; and it then 
 became needful that the prophet should withdraw from the presence 
 and solicitations of the king. Accordingly he concealed himself in 
 a cave near the brook Cherith— one of the streams which fall into 
 the Jordan — where the kind providence of God put it into the 
 hearts of some Arabs who were encamped in the neighbourhood, to 
 send him bread and meat every morning and evening. The word 
 which means “Arabs f: denotes also “ ravens,” whence in the English 
 version, and in some others, the prophet is represented as being fed 
 by ravens. There is no question that the Almighty could have 
 caused even ravens to feed his servant, morning and evening, with 
 bread and flesh ; but it is better to take the explanation which 
 
 offers the fewest difficulties, and which is most in agreement with 
 probabilities and circumstances. 
 
 When the brook Cherith was dried up, the prophet was instructed 
 to cross the country into the dominion of Jezebel’s father. He 
 accordingly w r ent to Sarepta, near Sidon, and, as he came near that 
 place, met a poor woman who had come out to seek a few sticks for 
 fuel ; the prophet asked her for a little water : and notwithstanding 
 the distress and the scarcity of water which prevailed, she readily 
 complied with the request of the travel-worn stranger. But when he 
 also begged of her some bread, she declared to him that she had 
 nothing left in the world but a handful of meal and a little oil, 
 with which she was then about to prepare her last meal ; and when 
 that was done, nothing remained for her and her young son but to 
 die. Elijah, however, encouraged her not to fear, but to prepare 
 him some food, promising in that Great Name which even foreigners 
 had learned to dread, that her scanty supply should not fail until 
 the bountiful heavens once more gave forth relief. Her faith was 
 such as enabled her to comply with this request ; and the conse- 
 quence was, that for above two years she, and her son, and the prophet, 
 were supplied miraculously with sufficient food ; for “ the barrel of 
 meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, until the day that 
 the Lord sent rain upon the earth.” 
 
 The implicit faith of this poor widow in the power and mercy of 
 the God of her foreign guest, was strengthened, and at the same 
 time rewarded, by a more signal miracle which Elijah effected 
 during his abode with her. Her son, who had died of some grievous 
 disorder, was restored to life by the intercession and prayers of the 
 prophet, and she now confessed her full conviction that Elijah, was “a 
 man of God, and that the word of the Lord in his mouth was truth.” 
 
 In the third year of his absence, Elijah received the divine com- 
 mand to go and present himself before Ahab. At this time the 
 famine was so severe, that the king in person had gone through one 
 part of his dominions in search of provisions, while he sent Obadiah, 
 his principal steward, into another part for a similar purpose. 
 Obadiah was a good man ; he had used his high influence in pro- 
 tecting the persecuted servants of Jehovah. Elijah met this person, 
 and prevailed upon him to conduct him to the king. Ahab had 
 long been seeking him in vain, with the view of punishing him as 
 the author of the calamities which Israel suffered, or of extorting 
 from him the intercession through which they were destined to cease ; 
 and he no sooner saw him, than he broke forth into reproaches 
 against him as the troubler of Israel. But the prophet boldly 
 retorted the charge, and affirmed that all the complicated miseries 
 under which the nation suffered had befallen it on account of his 
 rejection of the God of Israel, and of the idolatries with which he 
 and his queen had polluted the land. 
 
 Then, in order to satisfy Ahab and the whole nation of the 
 vanity and impoteney of the god to whom they had turned, and of 
 the priests and prophets by whom these gods were served, he offered 
 singly to confront the whole of them in the sight of Jehovah, that 
 it might be seen by manifest signs who was the true God and 
 worthy of worship. Awed by the rebuke and the decisive manner of 
 the prophet, and perhaps apprehensive of some further judgment if 
 he refused, the king ordered the attendance of all the priests of 
 Baal, in number about eight hundred, near Mount Carmel, the 
 spot chosen by Elijah, to bring the matter at issue to a final and fair 
 decision. The people assembled in great numbers to witness this 
 momentous contest, in which they were so deeply interested. The 
 prophet then proposed that two bullocks should be prepared for 
 sacrifice, the one by the priests of Baal, which they should cut in 
 pieces and lay upon the wood, but put no fire underneath ; and the 
 other by himself, in precisely the same manner. And then con- 
 tinued Elijah, “ Call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call 
 on the name of Jehovah ; and the God that answereth by fire, let 
 him be God.” Nothing could be more fair and open than this ; 
 but it is very awful to think that the supremacy of Jehovah should 
 ever have become a question — for it was the question — among so 
 large a proportion of the chosen nation which he had redeemed 
 from the house of bondage, and made his own by a special 
 covenant. 
 
 When every preparation had been completed according to the 
 directions of Elijah, the priests of Baal called upon their idol to 
 hear them, and to attest his power by consuming with fire from 
 heaven the victim laid upon the altar. But Baal heard them not : 
 “ there was no voice nor any that answered.” In vain were all their 
 efforts, although they continued to call upon their god until the time 
 of offering the evening sacrifice. No answering fire appeared ; and 
 as the day advanced, the priests, in the frenzy of a losing cause, 
 “ cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner, with knives 
 and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” 
 
Sunday XXXVIII.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 303 
 
 SUNDAY XXXVIII.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 S Saul was a native of Tarsus, in Asia 
 Minor, where many Jews were settled, 
 lie enjoyed, by his birth there, of free 
 parents, the privileges of a Roman 
 citizen. Ilis education in his native 
 citv was necessarily less exclusive — 
 more Greek— than that which prevailed 
 among the Jews in Palestine. But 
 as the exclusive Jewish learning, in the 
 law, was supposed to be best taught in 
 Jerusalem, it was usual to send young 
 Jews, born in foreign lands, thither, to complete their education. 
 Saul was accordingly sent to the holy city, where he studied the law 
 with great diligence and much distinction under its most eminent 
 living teacher, Gamaliel. This fiery youth threw all the ardour 
 of his soul into the movement against the innovating disciples of 
 Jesus, which was commenced by the death of Stephen ; for the 
 popular rage was too thoroughly excited to be satiated with the 
 blood of that holy man, but sought new objects for its fury. A great 
 part of the converts fled before the storm into other parts of the 
 country, and many returned to their houses in Asia Minor, Cyprus, 
 and other places, where they made known the Gospel they had 
 received. 
 
 Philip, one of the seven deacons, left Jerusalem about this time 
 to preach the Gospel in Samaria. He was heard with great 
 attention ; and the miracles of benevolence which he performed, in 
 casting forth evil spirits and in healing the diseased, were witnessed 
 with joy and conviction by the right-minded. Among those who 
 were converted and baptized was a man named Simon, who had 
 acquired much influence over the people by his skill in the magic 
 arts, and by impressing upon them that he was in truth some great 
 and mysterious personage. This man, when Peter and John had 
 been brought down to Samaria by the tidings of Philip’s success, 
 saw the new converts receive the miraculous gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost at the prayer of the apostles and the imposition of their 
 hands. Still really unconverted, and perhaps regarding the holy 
 apostles as only greater masters of the art in which he was an adept, 
 Simon had the temerity to offer them money if they would impart 
 to him the power which they possessed of conferring the gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost by the imposition of their hands. This brought 
 down upon him a severe rebuke from Peter, who plainly told him 
 that “ his heart was not right with God.” 
 
 After the apostles had by their labours confirmed and extended 
 the work of God in Samaria, they returned to Jerusalem ; but 
 Philip was directed by a divine impulse to proceed southward 
 into the country lying towards Gaza on the road to Jerusalem. 
 In this quarter, which was the usual route from Jerusalem to 
 Egypt, Philip encountered a great man of Ethiopia, who was 
 returning home in his chariot from Jerusalem, where he had been 
 to attend the Passover. Whether this personage was a Hebrew, 
 who had been raised to high office in Ethiopia — like Joseph in 
 Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, and Mordecai in Persia ; or that he 
 was a native of Ethiopia, in which country it has been alleged 
 that Judaism had made considerable progress — cannot with any 
 certainty be determined. He was however treasurer to Candace, 
 queen of the Ethiopians ; and Philip perceived that, as he rode, he 
 was reading in a book ; and as the Orientals always read aloud, 
 he found that his attention was engaged by the fifty-third chapter of 
 Isaiah. Philip then saw the purpose for which he had been sent into 
 this remote quarter, and he accosted the reader with “ Understandest 
 thou what thou readest ?” The eunuch candidly replied, “IIow 
 can I, except some man should guide me ?” And then he desired 
 
 implied that lie could give the instruction desired. What per- 
 plexed the eunuch was to know whether the very striking words of 
 the passage of Scripture which engaged his attention (Isa. liii. 7, j 
 8) applied to the prophet himself or to some other person. It was 
 easy for Philip to show that they applied to Jesus, the mysteries of 
 whose Gospel he fully opened to the astonished Ethiopian, who 
 received them with the most sincere conviction. Being thus 
 instructed, he asked, on coming to some water, “ What doth Under 
 me to be baptized?” Philip answered, “ If thou believest with all 
 thine heart, thou mayest;” and on his replying “ I believe that 
 Jesus is the Son of God,” he consented to baptize him. The 
 chariot was then stopped, and they went down together into the 
 water, where the Ethiopian was baptized in the name of Christ. 1 
 
 Philip then left him, and the eunuch “ went on his way rejoicing,’* 
 even as one who had found a pearl of great price. 
 
 Meanwhile the zeal of Saul against the followers of Jesus had 
 not escaped the notice and approval of the Sanhedrim, from which 
 he was intrusted with a commission to proceed to Damascus, where 
 the Jews were settled in great numbers, and, with the co-operation 
 of the synagogues in that place, to apprehend and bring to Jeru- 
 salem those who had become followers of Christ. He proceeded 
 on his way with a suitable escort, full of the conviction that he 
 was doing God service, and his heart overflowing with bitterness 
 and wrath against, the believers in a crucified Messiah. lie had 
 already nearly reached Damascus, when he was suddenly blinded 
 and struck to the ground by the excess of light which fell upon 
 him, while a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “ Saul, Saul, 
 why persecutest thou me?” He then naturally asked, “ Who art 
 thou, Lord?” and was answered, “I am Jesus whom thou per- 
 secutest.” On hearing this, all the proud confidence of this man 
 broke suddenly from him ; his fierceness passed away, and he 
 became gentle and submissive. Trembling and astonished, his only 
 question was, “ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?” and he was 
 told to proceed to Damascus, and wait further directions in that 
 city. 
 
 The attendants had seen the light, and had heard the sound of a 
 voice without distinguishing the words. Saul had not only seen 
 that light, but had seen in it the glory of Jesus, who had been the 
 object of his contempt and hate. He had instinctively closed his 
 eyes when that effulgence beamed upon him. Now he opened 
 them, but saw not : he was blind ; and his attendants had to lead 
 him by the hand to Damascus. There he remained three days 
 without sight, and during those days he partook not of meat or 
 drink — his absorbing thoughts and new convictions being food 
 enough for him. 
 
 At the end of that time, a disciple of Damascus, named Ananias, 
 was instructed in a vision to go to him. Having heard of his 
 character and his mission to Damascus, Ananias was astonished at 
 this charge : but the Lord said unto him, “ Go thy way, for he is 
 a chosen vessel unto me, to bear thy name before the gentiles, and 
 kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how 
 great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Thus encouraged, 
 Ananias went to the house where Saul lodged, and putting his 
 hands upon him, he said, in terms which recognized him as a 
 fellow Christian, “ Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that 
 appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that 
 thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” 
 On this his sight was on the instant restored to him, and immediately 
 after he joined himself by baptism to the Church of Christ. 
 
 Thus marvellously was the most determined enemy of the truth 
 in Jesus struck down “ in his pride of place,” and humbled to the 
 very feet of Him whose servants he had so relentlessly pursued : 
 and thus were all his high talents and the indomitable energies 
 of his character, forcibly and against all probable circumstances, 
 enlisted into the service of that great cause which he had so 
 zealously laboured to destroy. 
 
 After having continued for some time in daily intercourse with 
 the disciples at Damascus, Saul began to declare in the synagogues 
 that Jesus was the Son of God. This excited a profound sensation 
 among the Jews of that city, who were well acquainted with the 
 nature of the business which he came to transact with those very 
 synagogues in which he now preached the name of Jesus. But 
 he daily wielded with increasing power the weapons which 
 God had placed in his hands, proving by irrefragable arguments 
 that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah promised to the 
 fathers. 
 
 After this Saul withdrew for a time into Arabia, we know not 
 for what purpose, and then returned to Damascus, where he for a 
 long while pursued his evangelical labours with success, till the 
 Jews became so highly exasperated against him that they watched 
 the gates of the city day and night to slay him in his going forth. 
 Being apprised of this, the disciples let him down in a basket over 
 the wall, and he proceeded to Jerusalem, which he entered a very 
 different man from the Saul who had set forth, three years before, 
 on his persecuting mission to Damascus. 
 
 The disciples at Jerusalem, better informed of his original cha- 
 racter than of his conversion and subsequent proceedings, were 
 at first afraid to admit him into their societies. But Barnabas, 
 who had probably been intimate with him in former times, was 
 convinced of his sincerity, and introduced him to the apostles, 
 describing to them the remarkable circumstances of his conversion, 
 and how boldly he had preached Jesus in the synagogues of 
 Damascus. 
 
961.— Peter visiting Dorcas. 
 
 Petr yn ymweled a Dorcas. 
 
 960.— Descent of tne Holy Ghost. 
 Disgyniad yr Ysbryd Gian. 
 
 ' 962.— Roman Consul. 
 Consul Rhufeinig. 
 
 304 
 
 965.— Roman Eagle. 
 
 Yr Eryr Rhufeinig. 
 
 
968.— T reasure- finding. 
 Canfod Trysor. 
 
 967. — Job and his Friends. 
 Job a’i Gyfeiilion. 
 
 970. -Dying Lion. 
 Llew yn Marw. 
 
 2 a 
 
 969.— Arabs sitting amidst the Ruins of Palmyra. 
 Arabiaid yn eiatedd yng ngnanol Adfeiiion Palmyra. 
 
 971.— Lioness and Whelps. 
 Lie we* a’i Ckenawoo. 
 
306 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XXXIX. 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIX. — JOB. 
 
 N proceeding cursorily through the 
 book of Job, it will be our object to 
 trace the lines of argument and dispu- 
 tation taken by Job and his friends, 
 and to point out some of the illustra- 
 tions of ancient maimers and usages, 
 especially as illustrated by modern 
 Oriental customs, which -are contained 
 in their different utterances. 
 
 Job’s commencing speech (chap, iii.) 
 seems at the first view little more than 
 a mass of incoherent though eloquent complaints, and this is in a 
 great degree the fact, and is conformable to the position in which 
 he appears. But examined more closely, it will be seen that his 
 complaints proceed on the notion that he had not been dealt with 
 justly, and that God acts arbitrarily and even harshly in inflicting 
 calamities on meil. 
 
 Much of the chapter is taken up with allusions to the peace 
 and immunity from pain, of which he should then have been in the 
 enjoyment, had he died in early life, before these troubles came 
 upon him : — 
 
 “ Then should I be at rest 
 With kings and counsellors of the earth, 
 
 Who built up for themselves — ruins.” 
 
 This is beautifully expressed. It seems as if he had meant to say, 
 “ who built up magnificent palaces and monuments,” but that the 
 idea was arrested or turned in his mind by the sudden recollection 
 that many of these fabrics, destined for immortality, had already 
 become desolate and ruined. If this was the case in the early times 
 to which Job belonged, how much more now, that the ages have 
 grown old, and when a thousand monuments of human greatness — 
 cities, palaces, and temples, have crumbled to ruins, or have utterly 
 perished, leaving no track behind. 
 
 In another place Job classes himself with those — 
 
 “ Who long for death and it cometh not, 
 
 And dig for it more than for hid treasures ; 
 
 Who rejoice exceedingly, 
 
 Who exult, when they can find the grave.” 
 
 This allusion to the digging for hid treasure is very interesting, 
 considering the early date usually assigned to the book of Job. It 
 shows that the same causes produced in remotest times the same 
 effects which are at this day constantly witnessed in the East. The 
 insecurity of life and property, wars, revolutions, sudden journeys, 
 and the want of safe places of deposit, have in the course of ages 
 caused vast amounts of property to be buried underground, to be 
 built up in walls, and otherwise secured. The people know this, 
 and their minds are occupied with the idea that some fortunate chance, 
 some slight indication, may one day render them the possessors of some 
 of these hoards. Every man is constantly on the watch for any little 
 circumstance which may indicate to him one of these hiding-places. 
 European travellers are seldom supposed to have any other object 
 than to discover such treasures ; and as they are believed to 
 possess superior means of detecting the secret hoards, all their 
 motions are eagerly watched, from their supposed reference to that 
 object. Treasure-seeking is the lottery of the East; and the extent 
 to which it fills the Eastern mind may partly be estimated from the 
 prominence which the finding of hid treasure occupies in a large 
 proportion of the Eastern tales. We have among ourselves a few 
 current stories bearing on the subject, which used formerly to be 
 related to young people with earnestness, as matters of great interest, 
 but which have passed out of use since the security of property, the 
 cessation of civil wars, the discontinuance of lotteries, and the 
 increased sources of employment, have diverted attention from the 
 barren contingencies of gain from the possible accidents of life. 
 To the illustrations of this curious subject, which we have before 
 had occasion to introduce, we may here add the remark of Mr. 
 Roberts, in his hook of ‘ Oriental Illustrations:’ — “We are con- 
 stantly hearing of treasures which have been or aro about to be 
 discovered. Sometimes you may see a large spa^e of ground which 
 has been completely turned up, or an old foundation or ruin 
 entirely demolished in hopes of finding the hidden gold. A man 
 has found a small coin, or heard a tradition, or has had a dream, 
 and off he goes to his toil. Perhaps he has been seen on the spot, 
 or he has consulted a soothsayer ; the report gets out, and then 
 
 come the needy, the old, and the young, a motley group, all full of 
 anxiety to join in the spoil. Some have iron instruments, others 
 have sticks, and some their fingers to scratch up the ground. At 
 last some of them begin to look at each other with considerable 
 suspicion, as if all were not right, and each seems to wish that he 
 had not come on so foolish an errand, and then to steal off as quietly 
 as they can.” 
 
 Before leaving Job’s complaint, we desire to direct attention to 
 a very beautiful image in iii. 9. In cursing the day of his birth, 
 he says : — 
 
 “ Let it long for light and have none ; 
 
 Neither let it see the eyelashes of the morning .” 
 
 This is the literal translation of the words somewhat frigidly ren- 
 dered “ dawning of the day ” in the authorized version. So in 
 Milton’s ‘ Lycidas :’ — 
 
 “ Ere the high lawns appeared 
 Under the opening eyelids of the morn, 
 
 We drove afield.” 
 
 All this is founded on the image which, among the poets, makes 
 the sun “ the eye of day whence his earliest beams, before he has 
 risen, are the eyelids or eyelashes of the morning. 
 
 The intemperate language of Job rouses his friends, and con- 
 strains one of them, Eliphaz, to give vent to the suspicions of his 
 rectitude, which they had hitherto concealed. After reproving 
 Job for his impatience, and exhorting him to put in practice those 
 lessons which he had so often recommended to others, Eliphaz 
 proceeds to advance the general doctrine advocated by all the 
 three friends throughout the poem — that misery implies guilt ; and 
 he insinuates that the wickedness of Job must be the cause of his 
 present afflictions. He cites a vision with which he had been 
 favoured, which he regards as confirmatory of the view he has 
 taken ; and then he urges the sufferer to humble himself before 
 God, acknowledging his afflictions to be the merited punishment of 
 his transgressions, as the most likely means of regaining the pros- 
 perity he had lost. 
 
 This argument of Eliphaz occupies the fourth and fifth chapters 
 of the book. 
 
 Eliphaz seems to speak first, as the oldest of the three friends, 
 and he is the most sedate and moderate of the three. There is an 
 air of dignity and self-restraint which distinguishes this speaker 
 from those who come after him ; but in his references to Job’s 
 loss of his substance, and the melancholy death of his children, 
 there are severities approaching to the unfeeling, the force and 
 injustice of which the patriarch felt very deeply, and complains of 
 them in his reply. It may also be noticed that whenever Eliphaz 
 speaks, he loses, as he proceeds with his orations, much of the mode- 
 ration which marks his commencements. 
 
 The following points may be selected from the first oration of 
 Eliphaz : — 
 
 He is strong in his references to lions, and by the comparisons in 
 the following passage he means to intimate that the violent and 
 unjust, represented by ferocious beasts of prey, reap their own in 
 kind, and are destroyed in the very act and prospect of the enjoy- 
 ment they had prepared to themselves: — 
 
 “ The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce 
 lion (are silenced), 
 
 And the teeth of the young lions are broken out. 
 
 The fierce lion perisheth for lack of prey, 
 
 And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.” 
 
 The form of the first verse of the fifth chapter, “ Call now, if He 
 will answer thee,” gives a recent American translator of the book, 
 Mr. Noyes, occasion to remark upon the frequency with which the 
 name of the Most High is omitted in the book of Job, and the 
 pronoun substituted. “ This,” he remarks, “ corresponds to a 
 custom in Scotland, where they say ‘ His will be done,’ without an 
 antecedent to the pronoun.” So in Scott’s ‘Black Dwarf,’ near 
 the end of chapter seven : — 
 
 “ ‘ O my child, before you run in danger, let me hear you say 
 “ His will be done 1 ” ’ 
 
 “ ‘Urge me not, mother, not now.’ He was rushing out, when 
 looking back, he observed his grandmother make a mute attitude of 
 affliction : he returned hastily, threw himself into her arms, and 
 said, ‘ Yes, mother, I can say “ His will be done,” since it will 
 comfort you.’ 
 
 “ ‘ May He go forth— may lie go forth with you, my dear bairn ; 
 and O, may He give you cause to say on your return, “His uame 
 be praised ! ” ’ ” 
 
Sunday XXXIX.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 307 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIX. — BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OW long halt ye between two opinions? 
 If Jehovah be the God, follow him ; 
 but if Baal, then follow him — were 
 the words in which Elijah had already 
 proposed to the assembled multitude 
 the great matter which was at issue. 
 And now, when the priests of Baal 
 had been suffered to consume most 
 of the day in their useless invocations, 
 he advanced to prepare the altar for his 
 offering. He reared it with twelve 
 stones, according to the number of the tribes ; and having laid on the 
 wood and the victim, caused the whole to be inundated with water from 
 the river. He then advanced, and called upon the Lord to interpose 
 on this great occasion, that all Israel might know that he was the true 
 God, the God of their fathers and of their nations ; and that their 
 hearts might be turned back from vain idols to himself. Accordingly, 
 at that word, the fire of heaven came down, and in one instant con- 
 sumed the victim, and dried up, by its intense heat, all the water 
 which had been poured out around. When the people beheld that 
 sight, contrasted as it was with the abortive efforts of Baal’s priests, 
 they yielded to the mighty impulse of the conviction which oppressed 
 them, and fell upon their faces, exclaiming, “ Jehovah, he is the 
 God ! Jehovah, he is the God.” 
 
 The prophet availed himself of the disposition thus created in the 
 people, by commanding the priests of Baal to be slain ; and his 
 order was immediately carried into effect. The idolatry of Israel 
 having thus received a considerable check, and its chief abettors 
 having been brought to condign punishment, the prophet intimated 
 to Ahab the approach of relief from the awful calamity under which 
 the land had groaned so long, and directed him to return to his 
 home in that confidence. The prophet himself then proceeded to 
 the top of Mount Carmel, and prayed fervently for rain seven times ; 
 the promise of which, speedily followed by fulfilment, soon appeared 
 in the shape of “a little cloud like a man’s hand ” rising out of the 
 Mediterranean — a phenomenon which in warm climates is not an 
 unusual harbinger of rain. The prophet then “ girded up his loins,” 
 for speed, and ran till he overtook the chariot of the king, and ran 
 before it to the gate of Jezreel; for meanwhile “the heavens 
 had grown black with clouds and wind, and there was a great 
 rain.” 
 
 These stupendous incidents had probably produced some salutary 
 impressions upon the feeble mind of Ahab ; but they soon disap- 
 peared before the higher energies of his wife’s character, and her 
 commanding influence upon him. Jezebel was enraged to the 
 uttermost by the destruction of her priests, and vowed to be revenged 
 upon the authoi of the massacre. Elijah heard of this, and giving 
 her full credit for the will and power to execute her threat, he 
 deemed it right to withdraw himself for the present beyond her 
 reach. He therefore resolved to retire for a while into the wilder- 
 ness, where Israel had first received from God the law which he had 
 laboured to uphold. When he had travelled about one hundred 
 miles south of Jezreel, the travel-worn prophet, exhausted with 
 thirst and hunger, found the strength of mind and body which had 
 hitherto upheld him give way. He cast himself under the shade of 
 a juniper-tree, and prayed for death to end his troubles. “ It is 
 enough,” he cried ; “ Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am 
 not better than my fathers.” But God had not forgotten his 
 servant. An angel was sent to comfort and sustain him, and by 
 encouraging promises urged him to pursue his journey to Horeb, 
 “ the Mount of God.” With renewed confidence and strength he 
 travelled on through the valleys and among the mountains so re- 
 nowned in the early history of Israel, till he reached the solitudes 
 of the uppermost Sinai, where, as is usually supposed, he sta- 
 tioned himself in the cave w'here Moses was when he beheld 
 the glory of Jehovah from “ the cleft of the rock.” In this 
 spot the Lord appeared to him, preceded by a strong wind, an 
 earthquake, and a fire, and speaking to him in a still small voice, 
 commanded him to repair to Damascus, and anoint Hazael to be 
 king over Syria, after which he should anoint Jehu to be King over 
 Israel, and appoint Elisha to be his own successor. The prophet 
 then delayed not to return, but of his commissions the last was the 
 only one which he deemed it necessary to execute in person. Elisha, 
 the son of Shaphat, of Manasseh beyond Jordan, he found plough- 
 ing with twelve yoke of oxen, and cast his prophet’s mantle (pro- 
 bably of hair) over him as he passed. Elisha understood the sign, 
 
 and after he had bidden farewell to his parents, followed the pro- 
 phet, to whom he thenceforth remained constantly attached. 
 
 About this period Benhadad, the king of Damascene Syria, invaded 
 the land of Israel with a very powerful army ; and meeting with 
 little resistance, quickly advanced against Samaria, and closely 
 blockaded the city. The return of seasonable rains could not at 
 once restore plenty to the land, or restore the population, which the 
 famine had decimated. Hence the enfeebled Israelites were so much 
 dismayed by the advance of the Syrians, that, instead of attempting 
 resistance, those who abode not in fortified towns Hed for refuge to 
 the caverns and fortresses of the wilderness. This state of affairs 
 raised the boldness of the invaders to insolence, and very insulting 
 was the language in which Benhadad challenged Ahab to surrender 
 his capital. Aware of his defenceless condition, Ahab felt obliged 
 to curb his indignation, and consented to become tributary to the 
 Syrian king. This readiness of submission induced Benhadad to 
 rise in his demands, and by a second message he required the im- 
 mediate and unconditional surrender of all that belonged to him 
 and to his subjects. The spiritless Ahab was disposed to purchase 
 peace, even on terms so ignominious, but here the elders of Israel 
 interposed, and would not allow him to consent. On this, a third 
 message from the Syrian monarch threatened the immediate destruc- 
 tion of Samaria and the massacre of all its inhabitants. At this 
 point, the Lord, whose protection he had forfeited, and, indeed, 
 wilfully abandoned, interposed to show to the king and to the house 
 of Israel that he was able to deliver those who found no help from 
 the idols they had served and worshipped. By the command of a 
 prophet, and under the assurance of victory which that prophet 
 conveyed, the king ventured to make a sally against the vast host 
 of the Syrians, at the head of a small band composed of the servants 
 and retainers of the nobles then in Damascus. Benhadad, disturbed 
 at his wine by the intelligence, commanded that the poor wretches 
 should be taken alive ; and they were thus allowed to advance to 
 the very precincts of the camp. They there opposed and slew all 
 those who advanced to seize them, and their determined aspect so 
 dismayed the Syrians, through the secret operation of God upon 
 their minds, that they were seized with a panic, and fled in all direc- 
 tions. This they did so precipitately, that the king himself had 
 scarcely time to save himself by flight. 
 
 It does not appear that Ahab made any suitable return for this 
 deliverance, or was induced by it to turn from his evil courses and 
 obstinate unbelief. He seems also too hastily to have concluded his 
 victory final, and, therefore, neglected a prophetic intimation that 
 the Syrians would next year resume the warfare with recruited 
 strength. Return, however, they did, with a more powerful force, 
 and encamped near Aphek. Here Ahab, at the head of a very 
 unequal force, marched against them, having been encouraged by a 
 prophet to believe that the Lord had devoted Benhadad to destruc- 
 tion, and would not fail to deliver him into his hands, that he might 
 execute judgment upon him. Accordingly the Syrians were again 
 overthrown, and those who escaped the sword of Israel were crushed 
 by the falling of the wall of AphekJ under which the battle took 
 place. Benhadad, with a few attendants, escaped the general 
 slaughter, and succeeded in gaining entrance into a house in 
 Aphek, where they concealed themselves, though closely pursued 
 by some of Ahab’s followers. The arrogant Syrian now saw that 
 he had no resource but in submission to the man he had so griev- 
 ously insulted. Some of his attendants were accordingly sent 
 clothed in sackcloth, and with ropes around their necks — to implore 
 quarter from the king of Israel. This submission and humiliation 
 to him so flattered the vanity of Ahab, that, unmindful of his own 
 safety and the interests of his kingdom, he granted unconditionally 
 all that was asked. He sent for Benhadad, and not only treated 
 him with marked respect, but contracted a very disadvantageous 
 peace with him, and then allowed him to depart. In consequence 
 of this violation of the command by which Benhadad had been 
 devoted to destruction, a prophet, wounded, and disguised in sack- 
 cloth and ashes, placed himself in the way of Ahab, and passed upon 
 him the sentence of God, warning him that his life should be lost in 
 fighting against the man he had delivered, and that his subjects 
 should become the victims of his sword. On hearing this, the king 
 of Israel went to his house “ heavy and displeased.” 
 
 Not long after this the king was disposed to enlarge his garden in 
 Jezreel, by taking into it the patrimonial vineyard of a person 
 named Naboth. The owner, however, declined to part with it ; on 
 which the king, in a very childish spirit, took to his bed, refused his 
 food, and lay with his face to the wall. On learning this, his wife 
 Jezebel came to him, and hearing his complaint, was delighted at 
 the opportunity it offered of confirming him in his disposition to rely 
 on herself. She urged him to rise and enjoy himself without further 
 
 2 Ii 2 
 

 
 308 
 
977.— Knives and Lancet* of Egypt. (Collected from various Sculptures.) 
 Cyllyll ac Ellynod jt Aipht. (Wedi eu casglu o amryw Gerf-luniau.) 
 
 S78. — Juniper Tree, 
 llerywen. 
 
 979.— Ropes on Neck. 
 Rliaffau am Wddf. 
 
 Lwynau Gwregysedig. 
 
 309 
 
 
310 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [ Sunday XXXIX. 
 
 care; for that she would obtain for liim the vineyard of Naboth. 
 And she did so. On the authority of letters sealed by her with the 
 king’s signet, the unhappy Jezreelite was accused of blasphemy at 
 a public feast, for which he was stoned to death, and his possessions 
 confiscated to the crown. Jezebel then gleefully apprised the king 
 that the coveted vineyard was his, and doubtless informed him in 
 which way it had been acquired. Ahab then hastened to inspect 
 his new possession, but he hail scarcely entered the place when the 
 most unexpected and unwelcome sight of the prophet Elijah met 
 Ids view. His conscience made known to him the errand of his 
 stern monitor, and, “ Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” burst 
 from his lips. Elijah answered, <£ I have found thee, because thou 
 hast sold thyself to work evil in the eyes of Jehovah.” He then 
 proceeded, in that great name, and in words every one of which 
 bore a terrible emphasis, to denounce the doom of utter extermi- 
 nation upon himself and his house, for the iniquities with which he 
 had polluted the land ; and then, with a pointed reference to the 
 last most iniquitous deed, he said, “ Hast thou slain and also taken 
 possession ? In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, 
 shall dogs lick thy blood — even thine.” And as for Jezebel, he 
 foretold a coming time in which dogs should devour her by the 
 wall of Jezreel. 
 
 Ahab was greatly terrified at this message, and for once “ he 
 humbled himself before the Lord.” His humiliation, indeed, was 
 merely formal and superficial ; yet, as he allowed the justice of 
 God and acknowledged his sin, the Lord had pity upon him, and 
 was pleased to grant a respite of judgment, so far as regarded his 
 family, and he was spared the anguish of witnessing the ruin of his 
 house. 
 
 While the land of Israel was thus, during the reign of Ahab, 
 frequently distracted by intestine calamities and foreign wars, the 
 kingdom of Judah enjoyed profound tranquillity and increasing 
 prosperity under the mild and pious government of Jehoshaphat, 
 the son and successor of Asa. This excellent prince began to reign 
 929 n.c., being the third year of Ahab in Israel. He commenced 
 his reign by reforming the religious abuses which had crept in 
 during the later years of his father’s life, or which he had not in his 
 best years ventured to remove. Thus he not only destroyed the idols, 
 and every vestige of idolatry throughout his dominions, but even 
 demolished “ the high places,” which were not directly idolatrous, 
 but at which an irregular worship, often merging into idolatry, w r as 
 carried on. He indeed went deeper than any other king in his 
 salutary reformations. He knew that all these corruptions were 
 but the outward signs, the visible excrescences, of the disease of 
 ignorance, and that every remedy must be insufficient which left 
 untouched the inner and exciting cause. He therefore took mea- 
 sures to provide for the people sound instruction in the law of 
 God at their own homes — in their several towns and villages ; and 
 so much interest did he manifest in this matter, that he made a tour 
 through the country to see that his beneficent intentions were 
 carried into effect. A thorough reformation was by such means 
 wrought in the land of Judah ; and the king’s devotedness to God 
 and his paternal government were rewarded by the attachment of 
 his subjects, and by a degree of temporal prosperity such as had not 
 been enjoyed by any king since Solomon. 
 
 Ahab was at no time in a condition to seek or gain any advan- 
 tage over so prosperous a neighbour ; and by this time the kings 
 of Judah had come to consider the existence of the separate kino-, 
 dom as an accomplished fact, in which they could not but acquiesce. 
 On this basis a sort of friendship, or rather absence of hostility, 
 grew up between them, of which we observe the first manifest sio-ns 
 in the time of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. This might seem in itself a 
 good, but, considering the unequal condition of the two kingdoms, 
 was more likely to be detrimental to Judah than beneficial to 
 Israel. And this proved to be the case. Jehoshaphat could not 
 Tie insensible to the vile character of Ahab and his queen; and it 
 is not likely that he was the first to seek the alliance. But 
 a certain degree of softness which we may trace in his character 
 and which, however amiable in private life, misbecame him as a 
 king, seems to have rendered him incapable of resisting the flattering- 
 advances of Ahab ; and from one step to another the intimacy 
 at length became so close, that Jehoshaphat consented to the 
 marriage of his heir with Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and 
 Jezebel. The alliance being thus strengthened, we cease to be 1 
 surprised to find the king of Judah present at the court of 1 
 Israel. This was after the events which have already been re- 1 
 corded ; and when Ahab was preparing for a campaign against the 1 
 Syrians, who, having recovered strength, had invaded the territories 1 
 of Israel east of the Jordan, and made themselves masters of the 1 
 important fortified town of Ramoth-Gilead, lie invited Jehoshaphat £ 
 
 i. to join in this expedition, and the latter, as usual, too easily consented, 
 e He was not, however, accustomed to embark in any important 
 t undertaking without consulting the Lord through a prophet or the 
 s high-priest ; and he therefore intimated a wish that this should be 
 $ done on the present occasion. Ahab had no lack of pretended 
 l prophets, and they with one accord promised a signal victory over 
 t the Syrians. Jehoshaphat, however, was not satisfied, and asked 
 3 if there was no other prophet of Jehovah whom they might consult, 
 t Ahab admitted that there was another, named Micaiah, but declared 
 s that he hated him, because he never prophesied good of him, but 
 t evil. He was, nevertheless, sent for ; and with great dignity and 
 i force of language he declared that the expedition would be fatal to 
 i the king himself, but not disastrous to his army. On this Ahab, 
 
 i in a high rage, commanded him to be kept in prison on mouldy 
 
 - bread and unwholesome water till his return in peace. The pre- 
 ; diction of Micaiah, however, sunk into his mind, and to avoid his 
 
 > doom, he proposed, under pretence of honouring Jehoshaphat with the 
 
 i chief command, that he should wear his royal robes in the action, 
 , while himself would go disguised as one of his officers. This 
 
 ; expedient had nearly cost Jehoshaphat his life, as the Syrian 
 
 ; soldiers, according to their instructions, made it their object to kill 
 
 the king or take him prisoner ; but when they perceived their error, 
 
 > they desisted. Yet Ahab escaped not. An arrow “ shot at a 
 
 ; venture” penetrated the joints of his harness, and inflicted a mortal 
 
 r wound. He then withdrew from the field to have his wound 
 
 | dressed, but, being anxious not to discourage his troops, he hastened 
 ; back to the battle, and towards evening died in his chariot. As 
 i soon as his death was known, hostilities ceased on both sides, and 
 
 the Israelites dispersed quietly to their own homes without defeat 
 or loss. Thus was the prediction of Micaiah to the very letter 
 
 i fulfilled. The body of Ahab was carried to Samaria, and buried 
 
 there. The chariot, soaked with his blood, was washed in the pool 
 of Jezreel, and there, according to the prediction of Elijah, did the 
 town dogs lick up his blood, as they had before licked that of 
 Naboth. Ahab was succeeded by his son Ahaziah, b.c. 909. 
 
 Jehoshaphat, on his return to Jerusalem, was reproved by the 
 prophet Jehu for this disastrous alliance. He was sensible of his 
 error, and endeavoured to atone for it by renewed exertions in 
 promoting the observance of the divine law in his own kingdom ; 
 and in the course of these operations, finding that many abuses and 
 irregularities had grown up in the administration of justice among 
 his people, he applied himself with his wonted zeal and judgment 
 to the correction of this abuse. He established judges and courts 
 of justice in every town of note throughout his dominions,- with a 
 right of appeal to the superior courts at Jerusalem. The new 
 magistrates were solemnly charged by the king to execute the 
 duties of their office in the constant fear of God, without being 
 swayed by partialities or corrupt interest; and having completed 
 this his second great reform, he returned to Jerusalem. 
 
 Ahaziah, the son and successor of Ahab, maintained, under the 
 influence of his mother Jezebel, the corruption which had disgraced 
 his father’s reign. The alliance between the courts of Israel and 
 Judah was, however, renewed, and resulted in the joint undertaking 
 of the two kings to re-establish the trade by the Dead Sea, which 
 had proved so profitable in the time of Solomon. The undertaking, 
 however, proved abortive, chiefly through the ignorance of the 
 mariners, who could not steer their ships through the straits of 
 Ezion-Geber, which are to this day encumbered with a dangerous 
 ridge of rocks. Being warned that this disaster was a punishment 
 for allowing an impious prince to take part in the enterprise, 
 Jehoshaphat declined to permit Ahaziah to have any in the next 
 fleet, which he fitted out from the port of Elath. This voyage 
 was successful ; but the particulars are not related, and the troubles of 
 the next reign, involving the loss of the ports on the Dead Sea by the 
 revolt of Edom, prevented this lucrative trade from being prosecuted. 
 
 Ahaziah did not long survive the failure of his attempt to obtain 
 gold from Ophir. He sustained severe injuries, which at length 
 brought him to the grave, by a fall through a lattice. In his illness 
 he sent messengers to consult the oracle of Baalzebub (god of flies), 
 at Ekron, respecting his recovery. The messengers were met by 
 Elijah, who ordered them to return, and inform their master that he 
 “ would not come down from the bed on which he had gone up, 
 but should surely die.” On hearing this, Ahaziah sent an officer 
 and men to apprehend the prophet ; but at the word of that awful 
 personage they were destroyed by fire from heaven. But, having 
 thus asserted the extraordinary authority with which he was invested, 
 he was encouraged by an angel to go before the king; and to him 
 he repeated with terrible reprehension the sentence of death which 
 had gone forth from heaven against him, and which, accordingly, soon 
 after took effect. Ahaziah was succeeded by his brother Jehoram. 
 
Sunday XXXIX.] 
 
 ACTS OF TIIE APOSTLES. 
 
 311 
 
 SUNDAY XXXIX.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 HE doctrine of Christ was daily advo- 
 cated by Paul in public, during his stay 
 in Jerusalem, especially among those 
 ioreign Jews, speaking the Greek lan- 
 guage, who had come to the holy city. 
 These became at last so exasperated 
 against one who had lately been so dis- 
 tinguished a member of their own body, 
 that they formed a plan for causing him 
 to be put to death as an apostate. On the 
 other hand, the prospect opened to him 
 of a wider sphere of action among heathen nations. As he 
 was one day in the temple, and by prayer lifting up his soul to 
 the Lord, he was borne aloft from earthly things. In a vision 
 he received an assurance from the Lord, that although he would 
 be able to effect nothing in Jerusalem, through the animosity of the 
 Jews, he was destined to carry the doctrine of salvation to other 
 nations and to remote regions. Accordingly, after a stay of only 
 a fortnight at Jerusalem, he was obliged to leave it through 
 the machinations of the Jews. He now returned to Tarsus, his 
 native place, where he spent several years, certainly not inactively, 
 for by his labours the Gospel was spread both among Jews and 
 Gentiles in Tarsus and throughout Cilicia ; and there is good 
 reason for believing that to him the Gentile churches, which in a 
 short time we find in Cilicia, owed their origin. 
 
 During this interval the turn of public affairs in Judea became, 
 upon the accession of the Emperor Caligula, so critical and exciting 
 to the Jews, that it engaged all their interest and attention. Under 
 this influence the persecution of the followers of Jesus abated, and 
 the churches thus obtained an interval of rest, by which they were 
 strengthened for new conflicts. Peter availed himself of this to 
 make a tour through the country, to visit and strengthen the com- 
 munities of believers. In the course of this journey he came to Lydda, 
 a tovrn six miles inland from Joppa, on the road from Jerusalem. 
 
 Here his attention was directed to a man named Eneas, who, from 
 his Greek name, was probably a Hellenist Jew, and had been for 
 eight years kept to his bed with the palsy. Him Peter cured ; 
 commanding him to arise from the bed on which he had lain so 
 long, in words carefully framed to refer all the power and glory 
 of the act to Jesus. He said, “ Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee 
 whole; arise and make thy bed.” This signal miracle made a 
 strong and convincing impression upon the minds of many persons in 
 that neighbourhood, who thereupon “turned to the Lord.” 
 
 At Joppa there was among the believers an excellent woman 
 named Tabitha (in Greek, Dorcas), who “ was full of good works 
 and almsdeeds which she did.” This woman was taken ill and 
 died, and the body was prepared in the usual manner for interment, 
 and laid out in an upper chamber. As Lydda, where Peter was 
 known then to be, was not far from Joppa, the disciples sent to 
 him tidings of this heavy loss to the church, and desired his 
 presence, to sustain and comfort them in their affliction. The 
 apostle immediately obeyed the call, and went over to Joppa. He 
 was, by his own desire, conducted to the chamber where the corpse 
 lay, and was much moved when he witnessed the lamentations of 
 the poor widow women who had been supported by her beneficence, 
 and who recounted to one another the charitable deeds of their 
 benefactress. Peter desired to be left alone with the body ; and 
 then he kneeled down and prayed, probably with more agonizing 
 fervour than he desired that they should witness. His faith being thus 
 strengthened, he turndd to the body, and cried, “ Tabitha, arise.” 
 She then opened her eyes, as one awakening from sleep, and when she 
 saw Peter, she sat up. He then presented her his hand, and she 
 arose, and was presented alive to those who had so lately bewailed 
 her dead. This was the first miracle of the kind which was per- 
 formed by the apostles, and it produced an impression fully 
 corresponding to its importance. 
 
 After this, Peter remained some time at Joppa, dwelling with one 
 Simon, a tanner, whose house was by the sea-shore. 
 
 Joppa was but a few miles south from Caesarea, which was 
 the seat of the Roman governor, and the political metropolis of 
 Judea. In the Roman cohort which formed the garrison of that 
 place was a Centurion named Cornelius, a Gentile, who, dissatisfied 
 with the old popular religion, and seeking after one which would 
 tranquillize his mind, had been led to Judaism, and had become a 
 proselyte of the gate. Having with his whole family professed the 
 worship of Jehovah, he testified by his benefactions the sympathy 
 
 which he felt with his fellow-worshippers of the Jewish nation, and 
 observed the hour of prayer customary among the Jews. It was 
 customary with the Jews, and became so with the early Christians, 
 to devote themselves to fasting and prayer when, in any emergency 
 from inward or outward distress, they sought relief and illumination 
 from God. In some such emergency Cornelius had for some days 
 fasted and prayed before God. What was it that troubled him ? 
 It may be supposed that he was disturbed by the various opinions 
 which he heard respecting the doctrine of Christ, and his only 
 object and interest being to find in the truth rest to his soul, he 
 sought in earnest prayer, accompanied by fasting, guidance in the 
 right way. While he was thus engaged, he beheld an angel, who 
 was sent to apprise him that his abundant alms were accepted as 
 an evidence of piety towards God, and he was enjoined to send to 
 Joppa for Peter, who was able to instruct him in all truth. No 
 sooner had Cornelius received this gladdening intimation, than he 
 sent two slaves, and a soldier who waited on him, to solicit the 
 presence of the long wished for teacher and guide. 
 
 But it was necessary that Peter himself should be prepared for 
 a call so unexpected, and so adverse to the notions which still filled 
 his mind, that the blessings aud promises of the Gospel were limited 
 to the seed of Abraham. 
 
 It was about noon the next day when Peter withdrew to the flat 
 roof of the house in which he lodged, in order to offer up his mid- 
 day devotions. He then beheld, as in a vision, a multitude of 
 various beasts collected together, and a voice was heard, “ Arise, 
 Peter ; slay and eat.” At this, although hungry, he demurred, 
 seeing that most of the beasts were such as the Jewish law declared 
 unfit for food. He said, therefore, “ Not so, Lord ; for I have 
 never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” The voice 
 answered, “ What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” 
 While Peter mused as to the purport of this vision, the messengers 
 from Cornelius came inquiring for him, and the mystery on which 
 he pondered was unravelled when the voice enjoined him to go 
 with them “ nothing doubting.” He accordingly departed on the 
 following day, accompanied by six other disciples, to whom he 
 had imparted the matter, and who awaited the result with eager 
 expectation. As the distance was too great for one day’s journey, 
 they made two of it, and it was not until the fourth day from the 
 departure of the messengers that they arrived at Caesarea. When 
 at length the Centurion saw the holy man cross his threshold, he 
 fell down at the feet of one whom, after what had passed, he was 
 disposed to regard as a super-earthly being. Peter, however, raised 
 him with the words, “ Stand up, I myself also am a man.” Cor- 
 nelius, in expectation of the arrival of the divinely appointed teacher, 
 had assembled his household and friends to meet him, forming, with 
 those who accompanied Peter, a considerable audience, to which he 
 proceeded to explain how he had been taught to disregard the 
 common scruples of the Jews respecting intercourse with heathens, 
 which would have precluded him from attending to the call, or 
 from coming under that roof. Cornelius in like manner explained 
 how he had been induced to send for Peter, and concluded with 
 expressing an anxious desire to hear the things which God had 
 commissioned him to speak. Peter was affected and astonished ; his 
 perceptions were enlarged in witnessing this anxiety for divine 
 truth in one who had been born and brought up in the midst of 
 heathen abominations; and he expressed his conviction in the 
 remarkable words, “ Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter 
 of persons.” He proceeded to preach to them the doctrine of 
 Christ. Ilis words fell like dew from heaven upon their thirsty 
 souls, and as he proceeded they were impelled to express their 
 feelings in inspired praises to God, who had in so wonderful a 
 manner led them to salvation. This clear act of God upon their 
 minds, taken in connection with the other circumstances, prevented 
 any of the Jewish Christians present from urging objections when 
 Peter proposed that these Gentiles should be baptized into the 
 church of Christ ; and the same facts furnished Peter with unan- 
 swerable grounds of justification, when his conduct, in thus unclosing 
 the gates of hope to the Gentiles, was shortly afterwards called in 
 question. 
 
 Peter, on his return to Jerusalem, found that his having ad- 
 mitted Gentiles to the privileges of the Gospel was little relished 
 by the Jewish converts, who had hitherto not apprehended that such 
 privileges were other than the peculiar heritage of the seed of 
 Abraham. They were not, however, selfishly desirous of engrossing 
 these privileges; for when they understood, from the plain account 
 of the matter which the apostle gave them, that such was the 
 will of God, “ They held their peace, and glorified God, saying, 
 Then hath also God granted to the Gentiles repentance unto 
 life.” 
 

 
 982.— Peter and Paul. (Guido Reni.) 
 Petr a Paul. 
 
 988 — Deliverance of St. Peter. 
 Gwaredigaetli St. Peir. 
 
 
 
 
 986.— Ruins of Caesarea, in Palestine. 
 Adfeilion Cesarea, yu I’alestina. 
 
 312 
 
9S9. — Audience with an Eastern Monarch. 
 Gwrandawiad gan Benadur Dwyreiniol. 
 
 987. Eastern King and Chief of the Eunuchs. 
 Brenin Dwyreiniol a rhrif Eunuch. 
 
 9'JU.— l)an : el Interpreting the Writing on the Wall. 
 Daniel yn deongii yr Ysgrifen ar y Fared. 
 
 988— Presentation to an Eastern King. 
 Cyflwyniad i Frenin Dwyreiniol. 
 
 2 Eastern Magician. 
 Gwr doeth Dwyreiniol. 
 
314 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [Sunday XL. 
 
 SUNDAY XL.— DANIEL. 
 
 OT content with thus faithfully 
 interpreting the dream, Daniel in 
 the depth of his concern ven- 
 tured to let fall a word of coun- 
 sel. “ Wherefore, O king,” he 
 said, “let my counsel be ac- 
 ceptable to thee, and break off 
 thy sins by righteousness, and 
 thine iniquities by showing kind- 
 ness to the poor ; perhaps it may 
 be a lengthening of thy tran- 
 quillity.” 
 
 This doubtless made some tem- 
 porary impression upon the king: 
 but such impressions have seldom 
 great effect in changing a pervading bent of mind. At the end of 
 about twelve months, as Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof 
 of his palace, with all the glories of Babylon, which he had made 
 the greatest city in the world, spread out before him, he was lost 
 in the contemplation of his own greatness and the magnificence 
 with which he was surrounded. “ Is not this,” he cried, “ great 
 Babylon, which I have built for a royal habitation by the might of 
 my power and for the honour of my majesty ?” The words had 
 scarcely passed his lips, when he heard a voice from heaven saying, 
 “ O king Nebuchadnezzar, thy kingdom is departed from thee !” 
 And in that same hour his reason departed from him — he was 
 smitten with a singular disease of mind, which unfitted him not 
 only for the rule of kingdoms, but for the society of men. lie was 
 then suffered to follow the bent of his diseased impulse, under 
 which he appears to have supposed himself transformed into a beast ; 
 and he went forth into the parks and meadows, where he abode 
 among the cattle, and lived on vegetables. In this mad and savage 
 state he remained, his body being nightly wetted by the dews of 
 heaven, till his hair grew out like the plumage of eagles, and Lis 
 nails like the claws of birds. 
 
 The account of these transactions is given in a proclamation 
 which Nebuchadnezzar issued after his recovery. He there states, 
 that after continuing in this state for seven years, “ Mine under- 
 standing returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I 
 praised and glorified him that liveth for ever and ever, whose 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from gene- 
 ration to generation.” This was the result which had been sought 
 by this awful visitation : and no sooner had he realized the convic- 
 tion that “ the Most High doeth according to his will in the armies of 
 heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay 
 his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” — than his king- 
 dom and his glory were restored to him. Ilis nobles and courtiers 
 repaired to him, as soon as the change was known ; he was once 
 more invested with the imperial purple, and re-conducted reverently 
 to his throne. “Now,” the proclamation concluded, “I, Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, praise, and extol, and glorify the King of heaven, all 
 whose works are truth, and his ways judgment ; and those that walk 
 in pride he is able to abase.” 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar did not long survive his restoration ; and the 
 reign of his son and successor Evil-merodach was of short duration 
 ■ — as he was in 561 B.c. slain in a battle with the Medes and Per- 
 sians. He was succeeded by his son Belshazzar. The end only of 
 this monarch’s reign is noticed in the narrative of Daniel ; but from 
 other sources we obtain information respecting acts in the early 
 part of his reign, of which only a barbarous and jealous tyrant could 
 have been capable. Ilis last and most heinous offence was the pro- 
 fanation of the sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, which had 
 been respected by his illustrious grandfather, and even by his inca- 
 pable father. He made a great feast “ to a thousand of his lords,” 
 and ordered the sacred vessels to be brought, that he and wassailers 
 might drink wine from them. That there was in this a studied 
 insult to the Most High God, whom Nebuchadnezzar had been 
 taught by many severe lessons to hold in reverence, is plain from 
 the words in which the account is given : — “He praised the gods 
 of gold, silver, brass, iron, and stone ; but tiie God in whose hand 
 was his breath, and whose were all his ways, he glorified not.” In 
 the midst of this profane revelry, a hand suddenly appeared writing 
 words of mysterious import upon the wall, over against the king. 
 I he monarch was sobered in an instant. The writing was unintel- 
 ligible to him, for, although the words were, as appears from the 
 sequel, written in the vernacular Chaldean language, the characters 
 
 were the old Hebrew, with which he was unacquainted. The 
 attendance of the magi and astrologers was then commanded : but 
 they were quite unable to read the words, much less to give an 
 explanation of them. This increased the alarm of the impious king; 
 and when the terror was at its height, the queen-mother (or rather, 
 perhaps, grandmother) made her appearance, and reminded him of 
 Daniel, whom she mentioned as one “ in whom is the spirit of the 
 Holy God, and in the days of thy grandfather, light and under- 
 standing, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in 
 him.” That Belshazzar needed to be thus reminded of the charac- 
 ter and services of Daniel, seems to imply that he no longer retained 
 his high offices at court, but had withdrawn into private life. It 
 was the custom in most Oriental courts for the archimagus, or the 
 officer whose station corresponded the nearest to that which Daniel 
 occupied, to lose his office on the death of the king to w hose court 
 he was attached; and this was probably the case in Babylon. It 
 is, however, supposed by some that Daniel, in prospect of events 
 then rapidly approaching, had voluntarily withdrawn from court, 
 to avoid an official connection with the fortunes, and thereby 
 involve himself in the ruin, of a falling house. But those who offer 
 this conjecture forget, or do not know that the acceptance or aban- 
 donment of court employments is not, and never was optional in 
 any Eastern kingdom. 
 
 Daniel was sent for ; and the king repeated what he had heard 
 of him, and explained the circumstance which required his pre- 
 sence. The monarch promised that if he could but explain the 
 mysterious words, his rewards should be the highest in his power to 
 bestow — he should be clothed in scarlet, be privileged to wear a 
 chain of gold, and should rank as the third person in the kingdom. 
 But such honours were valueless in the sight of the venerable pro- 
 phet, who had already filled the highest stations at court, and to 
 whom the future was open as a book. “ Thy gifts be to thyself, 
 and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless, I will read the 
 writing to the king.” And he did so. It was not enough to read 
 off the mere words as they stood. It is probable that any educated 
 Jew among the captives in Babylon could have done that ; but it 
 was necessary that the true import should be affixed to words which 
 were in themselves merely indicative of the great prophetic truths 
 hidden in them. This required a prophet instructed from on high, 
 and was such a task as no man then in Babylon, save Daniel, could 
 accomplish. Before proceeding to explain these great words the 
 prophet undauntedly reminded the king of the experiences and 
 resulting convictions of his renowned grandfather, adding — “ And 
 thou, his grandson, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, 
 though thou knewest all this.” He then proceeded to read the 
 inscription — 
 
 Mene {number), Mene {mimber), Tekel {weight), Peres 
 {division), Ufharsin {and divisio?is) ; and explained the words 
 thus : — 
 
 Mene, God hath numbered thy reign. 
 
 [Mene], and finished it (the repetition of the word giving inten- 
 sity and completeness to the signification) 
 
 Tekel, thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting. 
 
 Peres, thy kingdom is divided. 
 
 Upiiarsin, and given to the Mede and the Persian [Darius 
 and Cyrus]. 
 
 The king understood this well. His mind took in all the fearful 
 significance of these oracular sentences. But he royally restrained 
 his emotions, and dismissed the prophet, with orders that the pro- 
 mised rewards should be bestowed upon him. The sacred historian 
 adds — “ That same night was Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, 
 slain.” How he came by his death we are not told ; but we may 
 collect from Xenophon that he perished through a conspiracy 
 against his life by two nobles upon whom he had inflicted the highest 
 indignities which men could receive. He was succeeded by his son 
 Laborosoarchod, a boy, who died in less than a year, in conse- 
 quence of which the Scriptural account relates, as immediately fol- 
 lowing the death of Belshazzar, that “ Darius the Mede took the 
 kingdom.” The family of Nebuchadnezzar was in fact extinct, 
 and the Median king Darius (the Cyaxares of secular history), the 
 brother of the queen-mother, took the kingdom, as next of kin, 
 through her, to the Chaldean crown. The claim of Darius may 
 not have been very strong ; but it was as strong as any which could 
 be opposed to it, and was backed by a power which had risen 
 very high under the generalship of his nephew Cyrus, and which no 
 power in those parts was in a condition to oppose. 
 
 The express indication of his succession which Daniel had given in 
 his interpretation of the mysterious writing, was also calculated to 
 overawe competition by giving the authority of a supernatural sanc- 
 tion to his succession. 
 
Sunday XL.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 315 
 
 SUNDAY XL.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE prophet Elijah, having previ- 
 ously received the divine intimation 
 that the Lord was about to distinguish 
 him from the rest of mankind by trans- 
 lating him into heaven without under- 
 going death, and now knowing that 
 the day was at hand, visited the sons 
 or pupils of the prophets at Bethel and 
 Jericho, and took leave of them with 
 such solemnity, that they were im- 
 pressed with the conviction that they 
 should see him no more. This conviction was shared by the 
 prophet’s destined successor, Elisha, who therefore resolved not to 
 leave his side till he saw the result. They came to the Jordan, 
 where the prophet took off his mantle, and smote therewith the 
 waters, which divided to give him a passage over. When they had 
 reached the eastern bank, the great prophet told Elisha that the 
 time was come for him to prefer his last request. The other, with 
 a strong feeling of the importance of the duties which -were about 
 to devolve upon him, answered, “ Let a double portion of thy spirit 
 rest upon me.” Elijah told him that he had asked “ a hard thing 
 but, he added, “ nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from 
 thee, it shall be so unto thee.” As they went on, engaged in 
 earnest conversation, suddenly “ there appeared a chariot of fire 
 and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went 
 up in a whirlwind into heaven.” 
 
 The falling mantle was, according to the still existing customs 
 of the East, an emblem of his bequeathing to Elisha the office 
 which he had himself filled ; and on his return to Jericho the latter 
 tested the virtue of the bequest by smiting the waters of the Jordan 
 as his master had done, asking, “ Where is the Lord God of Elijah ?” 
 The call was answered ; the waters were sundered before him ; and 
 the young prophets of Jericho, who stood watching in the distance, 
 knew by this sign their future master. 
 
 The other miracles performed by Elisha are related with con- 
 siderable-detail in the Scripture, and were so signal and important, as 
 soon evinced to the court and people of Israel that in him God had 
 raised up another witness for the truth in the midst of a corrupt 
 generation. 
 
 Two of the earliest of these followed almost immediately the 
 above transactions, and were well calculated to authenticate his 
 mission in the sight of the people. The town of Jericho was 
 favourably situated, but the water of the principal spring was 
 unwholesome, probably saline, and useless for drink or irrio-ation. 
 When this was represented to Elisha, he took a new vessel full of 
 salt, and repairing to the spring head, cast in the salt, and from 
 that moment the waters were sweetened, “ and there was no more 
 death or barren land.” 
 
 The next was an act of judgment : he was going up from 
 Jericho to Bethel, the seat of one of the golden calves, when some 
 of the youths of that polluted city insulted him as he passed, and 
 followed him with shouts of “ Go up, thou bald head ! go up, thou 
 bald head !” thereby deriding the recent translation of Elijah into 
 heaven, and mockingly urging the prophet to go up after his 
 master. Feeling that God was himself mocked in this derision of 
 an event so signal and so glorious, and knowing that he was wont 
 to vindicate the honour of his great deeds, Elisha “ turned back 
 and cursed them in the name of the Lord.” These blasphemous 
 young men saw their homes no more ; for, ere they could re- 
 turn, two she bears came forth upon them out of the wood and 
 destroyed them ; and many houses in the sinful city were filled with 
 wailing that day. 
 
 Jehoram, the new king of Israel, was of a somewhat better 
 disposition than his father and brother. He discountenanced the 
 worship of Baal, but made no attempt to break down the cor- 
 ruptions and evils which Jeroboam had introduced, and which in 
 the course of time, had more and more become a habit with the 
 people. 
 
 The first public measure of Jehoram was to reduce the Moabites 
 who, in consequence of the heavy tribute in cattle which had been 
 imposed upon them by Ahab, had revolted after he had been slain 
 by the Syrians. Jehoshaphat was prevailed upon to join him with his 
 forces in this expedition, probably from the fear that the revolt if 
 successful, might encourage his own tributary, the king of Edom 
 to follow the example. The army of Israel, to avoid crossing the 
 Jordan, marched southward through the land of Judah, with the 
 
 view of invading the land of Moab, by going round by the southern 
 extremity of the Dead Sea, and in its march was joined by the 
 forces of Judah and Edom. This circuitous route occupied seven 
 days, towards the end of which the army and horses were greatly 
 distressed from thirst, probably occasioned by the failure of the 
 wells and brooks, from which a sufficient supply had been expected. 
 Already much loss and discouragement had been sustained, and the 
 army now lay on the border of Moab, and in the face of the enemy, 
 who had assembled in force to repel the invasion. In this extremity 
 the good Jehoshaphat, as usual, thought of seeking counsel of God 
 through one of his prophets; and on inquiring for one, it was found 
 that Elisha, “ who had poured water on the hands of Elijah,” was 
 present in the camp. To him the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom 
 at once repaired. Ilis greeting, addressed to Jehoram, was not 
 very encouraging: “ What have I to do with thee? Get thee to the 
 prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother !” and 
 he added, that were it not from respect to Jehoshaphat, he would 
 not have admitted them to his presence. But now he called for a 
 minstrel, and as the minstrel played upon his harp, “ the hand of the 
 Lord came upon him,” and he promised that ere the morning 
 dawn water should be abundant ; and also that victory should 
 crown their arms. And so it came pass. Before the morning 
 the dried-up beds of the torrents and rivulets were filled to over- 
 flowing ; and in the action which followed, the Moabites were utterly 
 defeated, and the victors in their pursuit of the army desolated the 
 country with fire and sword, till they arrived before Kir-haraseth, a 
 strong city, into which the king of Moab had thrown himself. Here 
 he was soon reduced to such extremities that he made a desperate 
 sally at the head of seven hundred valiant swordsmen, in the hope 
 of forcing his way through the lines of the besiegers. Being foiled 
 in this, he resorted to the horrid expedient of endeavouring to 
 render his cruel gods propitious by offering up to them in sacrifice 
 his only son— the heir of his throne. He did this publicly, upon 
 the very walls, in the face of the besiegers, who were so horror- 
 struck at the sight, that they immediately raised the siege and 
 departed to their own homes. This movement, however natural, 
 probably had the lamentable effect of encouraging the king of 
 Moab to believe that his dreadful act had been effectual in bringing 
 down from his gods the desired relief. 
 
 The Moabites seem to have been highly exasperated at the part 
 taken by Jehoshaphat in this expedition : for not long after we 
 find them united with kindred and neighbouring nations in a most 
 formidable invasion of his territories. They formed their camp 
 near Engedi, and their force seemed so overwhelming, that Jeho- 
 shaphat felt at once that lie was utterly unable to meet them in 
 the field, and that he had no resource but in God, whom he might 
 infer to have been offended at his alliance with the unclean court 
 of Israel. He therefore, and the people with him, betook himself 
 to prayer and supplication, and was answered by the assurance that 
 the invaders should fall without one stroke from his sword. He 
 then marched out against them ; but when he came “ to the watch- 
 tower in the wilderness,” and there obtained the first view of the 
 enemy’s camp, “ behold, they were all dead bodies fallen to the 
 earth !” They had, it seems, quarrelled among themselves, pro- 
 bably about the division of the spoil, and had fought together with 
 such desperate animosity that none escaped. The Hebrews wero 
 occupied for three days in gathering the abundant spoil, which was 
 of immense value. They then returned laden with wealth to 
 Jerusalem, which they entered to the sound of psalteries and harps, 
 rejbicing in the favour of God, who had blessed them with success 
 so signal and so unexpected. 
 
 This event instilled into the minds of the neighbouring nations 
 a salutary dread of the good king, and the remainder of his reign 
 was spent in profound peace. He died in n.c. 904, after he had 
 lived sixty years and reigned twenty-five. 
 
 He was succeeded on the throne by his son Jehoram, who had 
 wedded Athalia, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel ; and whose 
 conduct soon evinced the malignant and fatal influence of this con- 
 nection. When we consider the subsequent conduct of his wife, 
 there is little room to question that thc^measures of Jehoram were 
 stimulated by the counsels of the daughter of Jezebel. 
 
 Immediately upon his accession, Jehoram concentrated the claims 
 of the royal line in his own person by destroying all his brethren. 
 He then proceeded to subvert the worship of Jehovah, and intro- 
 duced the Phoenician idolatries, which had caused so much calamity 
 in the neighbouring kingdom, and which had hitherto been unex- 
 ampled in Judah. In Jerusalem the mass of the people wero 
 induced by the influence and example of the court, and in other 
 parts of the country by persecutors, to give in to these new abomi- 
 nations. For this the prophet of Israel, Elisha, was commissioned 
 to denounce the divine vengeance against Jehoram and his family. 
 
 2 S 2 
 
997.— Petra. Mount Seir. (From Laborde.) 
 Petra. Mynydd Seir. (O Laborde.) 
 
 r jfl 
 
 
 
 
 999.— Plain of Jericho. 
 Gwastadedd Jericho. 
 

 IBE LiSEMY 
 
 of m 
 
 -watm bf iwm 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SJIQT(? COMEATST 
 
317 
 
318 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XL. 
 
 The prophet discharged this awful duty by letter ; and the doom 
 which he predicted was not long delayed. First, Edom, which had 
 since David been subject to Judah, revolted, and succeeded in 
 casting off the yoke it had so impatiently borne. This sign of 
 weakness encouraged other neighbouring nations to invade the land, 
 which they plundered and laid waste. Even Jerusalem was entered ; 
 the treasures of the palace and the temple were plundered, and so 
 great was the helplessness of the king and so utter his degradation, 
 that even the sanctity of the royal harem was invaded, and all its 
 fair inhabitants were carried off, save only Athaliah, the queen, who 
 remained to be the source of future misery and punishment to 
 Judah. All the royal princes were also slain except Ahaziah, 
 otherwise called Jehoahaz, the youngest of them all. To com- 
 plete these miseries, the miserable king was himself smitten with 
 an incurable disease in the bowels, under which he languished for 
 two years in horrible torments, and then died. The voice of the 
 people denied to his remains the honours of a royal funeral and 
 of a place in the sepulchres of the kings. 885 b. c. 
 
 Ahaziah, the only surviving son of Jehoram and Athaliah, then 
 ascended the throne of Judah. Unhappily for him, “ he walked in 
 the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counsellor 
 to do wickedness.” His near relationship to that house, the reign- 
 iiicr kin'’- beimr his mother’s brother, drew still closer the bands of 
 intimacy between the two courts, and, in the event, involved him 
 in that utter ruin of Ahab’s house which had been denounced by 
 Elijah. 
 
 In Israel, the “ schools of the prophets ” had come under the 
 supervision of the prophet Elisha ; and the next of his recorded 
 acts was a miracle of benevolence in behalf of the widow of one 
 of the “ sons of the prophets.” Having died without satisfying a 
 debt he had incurred, the creditor purposed to indemnify himself 
 by making bondsmen of the two sons. This Elisha prevented by 
 so multiplying a small quantity of oil which the woman possessed, 
 that the price for which it was sold enabled her to discharge the 
 claim of the harsh creditor. 
 
 Another of his acts arose from the desire to make some suitable 
 acknowledgment for the kindness of a benevolent pair, who ob- 
 serving how often the prophet passed on the way to Shunem, pre- 
 pared for his separate use “ a chamber upon the wall,” furnishing 
 it with a bed, a table, a seat, and a lamp, which at their solicita- 
 tion he occupied whenever he came to Shunem. The hospitable 
 couple were childless, and being informed by his servant Gehazi of 
 their distress on that account, he foretold that in due time a child 
 should be given to them in recompense for their kindness. A son 
 was accordingly born, and lived, and grew up ; but one day as lie 
 went forth to his father in the harvest-field, he was smitten, appa- 
 rently by a sun-stroke, and complaining of his head, was taken back 
 to the house, where he died upon his mother’s lap. Elisha was then 
 absent, having gone to Mount Carmel. The mother went and laid 
 the child upon the prophet’s bed, and causing an ass to be saddled, 
 hurried away in search of him, Elisha recognised her at a dis- 
 tance, and sent his servant to meet her with inquiries after the 
 welfare of her house. In answer to the question, “ Is the child 
 well ?” she answered with touching significance, “ He is well ;” 
 and without disclosing her errand, pressed forward to the prophet. 
 She threw herself at his feet, and more by her tears than words 
 made known her grief. The prophet was much moved, and deliver- 
 ing his staff to Gehazi, directed him to hasten on and lay it on the 
 face of the child. The mother seems to have had small faith in 
 this, and remained with the prophet, who at length concluded to 
 return with her. They were met as they went, by Gehazi, who 
 reported that he had followed his instructions, but that “ the child 
 was not awakened.” On reaching the house, the prophet shut him- 
 self up with the child ; and ere long lie called for the mother, and 
 presented to her the living boy. 
 
 Another time, when there was a scarcity in the land, Elisha was 
 at the school of the prophets in Gilgal ; and one day when their 
 frugal meal of pottage had been prepared, it was found that a poi- 
 sonous gourd had been shred into the pot by mistake. The young 
 prophets cried out in much alarm, “ O man of God, there is death 
 in the pot !” and thereupon the prophet cast therein a handful of 
 meal, when every noxious quality passed away. 
 
 The next event in the history of Elisha is the transaction between 
 him and the Syrian general Naaman, the date of which is not easily 
 fixed with exactness, and which may therefore be noticed in the 
 place which it occupies in the sacred narrative. 
 
 Naaman was an able and successful commander, who stood very 
 high in the favour of his master Ben-hadad : but he was afflicted 
 with leprosy, which, from the narrative, would appear not to have 
 disqualified from public service in the same degree as it would have 
 
 done in Israel. Among the slaves of Naaman’s wife was a little 
 Hebrew girl, who had been among the prisoners taken in some one 
 of the many incursions of the Syrians into the land of Israel. This 
 girl, pitying the condition of her master, one day said to her 
 mistress, “ Would to God my lord were with the prophet who 
 is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy.” These 
 words excited attention and inquiry, but were not very clearly 
 understood ; and when the king became acquainted with the matter, 
 he said that Naaman should go with a letter from him to the king 
 of Israel to be cured of his leprosy. The great man accordingly 
 set forth with a noble retinue, and with camels laden with valuables 
 intended for presents. When he came to Samaria he caused his 
 letter to be delivered in all due form to the king, to whose presence 
 as a leper he could not be admitted. The letter was to the effect 
 that the king of Syria had sent his servant Naaman that the king 
 of Israel might lay his hand upon him and cure him of his leprosy. 
 On reading this, king Jehoram felt it as a mockery and insult. 
 He rent his clothes and cried, “ Am I a God, to kill and to make 
 alive, that this man doth send unto me to cure a man of his leprosy ?” 
 and he could find no other motive for so unaccountable an appli- 
 cation than in a desire to pick a quarrel with him. The news of 
 this strange affair soon spread through the place, and reached the 
 ears of Elisha, who forthwith sent to desire that the Syrian noble 
 should be sent to him. Naaman, who by this time must have dis- 
 trusted the success of his mission, gladly repaired to the abode of 
 the prophet, and halted in his chariot, and with his grand retinue, 
 before his door. As a leper he could not go into the house ; and 
 he expected that the prophet would come out and place his hands 
 upon him, and that he should then recover. Instead of this, Elisha 
 sent his servant to tell him to go and dip seven times in the river 
 Jordan, and that he should then be clean. The pride of Naaman 
 was offended at this message, and he cried “ Are not Abana and 
 Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters in Israel ? 
 May I not wash in them and be clean ?” So he turned and went 
 away in a rage. His attendants, more calm, judged better of the 
 order which he had received ; and the chief of them, in the name of 
 the rest, drew near respectfully, and said to him, “ My father, if 
 the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have 
 done it? How much rather, then, when he saith unto thee, Wash, 
 and be clean?” This reflection, so simple and so natural, struck 
 Naaman, and he consented to obey. Seven times he plunged into 
 the stream, and at the seventh time he rose purged of all malady 
 and stain. His skin, before so much disfigured and broken by his 
 frightful disease, became pure and soft as that of a new-born child. 
 Then, full of joy and with gratitude proportioned to his previous 
 disgust, he returned forthwith to Elisha. He now entered the 
 house, and stood before the venerable man to tender his acknow- 
 ledgments. His first word was admirable, it was a profession of 
 faith. “ Behold, now I know,” he said, “ that there is no God in 
 all the earth but in Israel.” His second was an expression of 
 gratitude to the prophet, upon whom he pressed the rich presents 
 he had brought. This the holy man refused, that the whole honour 
 of this great act might be referred to its divine author. Naaman 
 then, with sincere intentions, but not with very clear notions of the 
 subject, begged that he might take home a mule’s load of the 
 soil that he might therewith make an altar in Damascus for his 
 own devotions to the God of Israel, whom alone he was determined 
 to adore. Yet it belonged to his rank to accompany his king to the 
 great temple of Rimmon in Damascus, and for this he hoped pardon 
 and allowance from God. With a full and happy heart the stran- 
 ger then took leave of the prophet and departed towards his own 
 home. 
 
 Elisha’s servant Gehazi felt much annoyed that his master had 
 let slip so rare an opportunity of enriching himself, and his cupidity 
 was so strongly excited that he hastened after the retiring chariots 
 to see what he could get in his master’s name. He was no sooner 
 observed, than the grateful Syrian stopped his chariots, and alighted 
 to meet even the servant of the man to whom he owed so great a 
 blessing. Gehazi stated that a sudden emergency had arisen to 
 render desirable to his master a portion of what he had at first 
 declined. Naaman made him take double what he asked : and 
 when he had deposited his precious spoil — silver and dresses — in a 
 place of safety, he repaired to his master. Elisha plainly taxed 
 him with his offence, which he described as graphically as if the 
 scene had passed before his eyes. “ Went not my heart with thee,” 
 he said, “ when the man turned again from his chariot to meet 
 thee V” and after pointing out the enormity of his sin, he pronounced 
 the awful punishment, that the leprosy of which Naaman had been 
 cured should adhere to him and his for ever. And he went forth 
 from his presence a leper as white as snow. 
 
Sunday XL.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 319 
 
 SUNDAY XL.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 N their convictions on this subject they 
 were confirmed by hearing that some 
 of the disciples who had dispersed 
 during t lie persecution, Lad ventured 
 to preach the Lord Jesus to Gentiles 
 as well as Jews at Antioch, and that 
 their labours had been attended with 
 the most signal success. V hether or 
 not the disciples at Antioch had been 
 encouraged to this step by having heard 
 of the proceedings of Peter cannot be 
 known ; but the manifest blessing from heaven upon it, abundantly 
 justified the disciples in the eyes of the church at Jerusalem, which 
 forthwith despatched Barnabas to carry on the work which had 
 been thus auspiciously commenced. That good man, on his arrival, 
 was gladdened to witness the progress which the Gospel had made 
 in the metropolis of the East, and employed his most ardent exer- 
 tions to advance the work. The extensive prospect of efficient 
 labour in the cause of Christ which was here opened, led him to 
 invite Saul, who had been active amoug the Gentiles in Cilicia, to 
 
 become his fellow-labourer. From this point in the history, the 
 Hebrew name of Saul is exchanged for the corresponding one of 
 Paul, a common Homan name, by which he had been known among 
 his Gentile neighbours. 
 
 An evidence of the power with which the doctrine of Christ 
 spread itself in an independent manner among the Gentiles, was 
 the new name of Christians, which was at Antioch first given to 
 believers ; among themselves they were called the Disciples of the 
 Lord, the Brethren, the Believers. By the Jews names were 
 imposed upon them which implied undervaluation or contempt, 
 such as the Galileans, the Nazarenes, the Paupers, &c. ; and they of 
 course would not give them a name literally meaning the Adherents 
 of the Messiah. The Gentiles had hitherto, on account of their 
 observance of the ceremonial law, been unable to distinguish them 
 from Jews. But now, when Christianity was spread among the 
 Gentiles unconnected with the observance of the law, its pro- 
 fessors appeared as an entirely new religious sect ; and as the 
 term “ Christ ” was held to be a proper name, the adherents of the 
 new religion were distinguished by a word formed from it, as the 
 adherents of any school of philosophy were wont to be named after 
 its founder. 
 
 From that time forth Antioch occupied a most important place 
 in the propagation of Christianity, for which there were now two 
 central points ; what Jerusalem had hitherto been for this purpose 
 among the Jews, that Antioch now became among the Gentiles. 
 As there grew up considerable intercourse between the two churches 
 of Jerusalem and Antioch, Christian teachers frequently came 
 from the former to the latter. Among these was a prophet named 
 Agabus, who prophesied an approaching famine, which would be 
 felt severely by a great number of the poor Christians in Jeru- 
 salem, and he called upon the believers at Antioch to assist their 
 poorer brethren. This famine actually occurred in the year 
 44 A.D. 
 
 The church at Antioch cheerfully responded to this call, and 
 sent their contributions, before the beginning of the famine, to 
 Jerusalem by the hands of Paul and Barnabas. 
 
 The church at Jerusalem had enjoyed eight years of repose since 
 the persecution which commenced with the martyrdom of Stephen, 
 but was now assailed by a violent, though transitory tempest. King 
 Herod Agrippa — a grandson of Herod the Great, who had been 
 brought up at Rome — to whom the Emperor Claudius, in whose 
 favour he stood high, had granted the government of Judea, deemed 
 it prudent to affect great zeal for the strict observance of the 
 ancient ritual, in order to ingratiate himself with his subjects. He 
 therefore manifested great animosity against the teachers of the 
 new doctrine, concerning whom, indeed, none but unfavourable 
 reports had gained access to him. He caused James, the son of 
 Zebedee, and brother to John, who probably by some act or dis- 
 course had excited the anger of the Jewish zealots, to be put to the 
 sword : and finding that this act was highly pleasing to the Jews, 
 he, during the passover of the year 44, cast Peter into prison, 
 intending that after the feast he also should suffer death. Shut up 
 in prison, in charge of four quaternions (or sixteen) soldiers, to 
 two of whom he was fastened by chains, one on each side, and 
 subject to the fell purposes of an unscrupulous tyrant — there seemed 
 no human hope of escape for the apostle. But the church, which 
 
 knew that all things were possible with God', despaired not, but 
 offered up most fervent prayers on his behalf. And God, who had 
 yet great services for this his servant to accomplish, heard their 
 prayer. It was the night immediately preceding the day on which 
 Herod intended to bring forth the apostle to his death, and Peter 
 lay fast asleep between the two soldiers to whom he was chained, 
 when he was smitten on the side, and a voice urged him to rise up 
 quickly and go forth. As he arose, the chains fell from his hands; 
 and hastily casting his garments about him, he followed the angel 
 by whom he had been roused, and passing safely between the first 
 and second guards, who were fixed in preternatural sleep, he reached 
 the iron gate leading to the city. This opened of its own accord 
 before the angel, who conducted him beyond the reach of imme- 
 diate pursuit, and then departed from him. 
 
 Overcome by amazement, the apostle deemed all that passed a 
 vision, and in the suddenness and rapidity with which it was done, 
 he had no time for cool reflection. But when the angel had left 
 him, he became alive to his real position, and hastened to the house 
 of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. Many 
 of the disciples, knowing the danger that awaited him on the 
 morrow, were at that moment, and in that house, engaged in prayer 
 on his behalf. Having with some difficulty obtained admittance 
 to them, he briefly reported to them all that had passed between 
 him and the angel, and taking leave of them, withdrew to a place of 
 greater safety. 
 
 The next morning there was no small stir in the palace of Herod 
 and in the common prison ; for the prisoner, so securely guarded, 
 was nowhere to be fou-nd. Vexed and disappointed, the tyrant 
 ordered the keepers to be slain, and then departed to Caesarea : 
 where, in the excess of his pride, he, on some public occasion, not 
 only did not repel, but received with complacency the divine 
 honours which were tendered to him. For this he was smitten of 
 God with one of the most loathsome and terrible diseases with which 
 the pride of man was ever humbled : “ He was eaten of worms, and 
 gave up the ghost.” 
 
 It seems to have been in the midst of the trouble occasioned by 
 the measures of Herod Agrippa, that Paul and Barnabas arrived 
 at Jerusalem with the benefactions of the church at Antioch. It 
 is probably for this reason that their stay was short, and that 
 nothing of importance connected with their visit is recorded ; 
 although in the epistle to the Galatians (ch. ii.), Paul himself 
 relates that he was well received by James, Peter, and John, who 
 recognised him as an apostle specially appointed to preach the 
 Gospel to the Gentiles, as they were, they believed, “ to the cir- 
 cumcision,” or to the seed of Abraham. Paul himself knew that he 
 was not inferior in authority and power “ to the very chiefest of 
 the apostles :” and this claim was now recognised by those who 
 seemed to be regarded at Jerusalem as “ the pillars of the church.” 
 
 ■ On their departure, Paul and Barnabas took with them the above- 
 named John, surnamed Mark, who was the nephew of Barnabas, and 
 who is usually supposed to be the same with the Evangelist Mark, 
 but this is not certain. 
 
 They first proceeded to Antioch, and were there soon joined 
 by Peter, who appears to have proceeded thither after his de- 
 liverance (Gal. ii. 11). Peter at first freely associated himself, 
 even in the eating of food, with the Gentile converts ; but when 
 some came from Jerusalem who alleged that James had expressed 
 an opinion unfavourable to this course, he ceased to do so. Many 
 other Jewish Christians, and even Barnabas, were carried away by 
 this example ; and a marked line would thus have been drawn 
 between the Jewish aud Gentile converts, had not Paul interposed 
 and publicly rebuked Peter, in the presence of the congregation, 
 for the painful inconsistency and discouraging effect of his pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 They first repaired to Cyprus, to which Barnabas belonged, and 
 traversed the island from east to west, from Salamis to Paphos. 
 In the latter place they found the proconsul, Sergius Paulus — a 
 man dissatisfied with all that the popular religion and all that 
 philosophy could offer for his religious wants, and anxious to avail 
 himself of anything that might offer in the shape of a communication 
 from heaven. In this frame of mind he had given ear to a Jewish 
 impostor, Bar-Jesus, but better known by his foreign title of 
 Elt/mas, which means the same as Magian, or “ wise man.” Feeling 
 that his influence and personal interests were in danger, this man 
 vehemently opposed Paul and Barnabas in the presence of the 
 proconsul. But Paul, being filled with holy indignation, declared 
 that the Lord would punish him with the loss of his eyesight. 
 The sentence was immediately fulfilled, the darkness of night 
 came upon him, and he went about seeking some one to lead him 
 by the hand. 
 
1006.— Elymae struck with Blindness. 
 Taro Elymas a Dallineb. 
 
 320 
 
 1007. — The Sacrifice at Lystra. 
 Yr Aberth yn Lybtra. 
 
lOOS. — Caravan. 
 Taitli-tintai. 
 
 1010.— Torrent. 
 Llifeiriant. 
 
 1012.— Modern Oriental Weaving. 
 Gwehyddiaeth Ddwyreiniol Diweddar. 
 
 32 ] 
 
322 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XLI. 
 
 SUNDAY XLI.— JOB. 
 
 UCH was Job hurt at the harsh censures 
 and insinuations of Eliphaz, to which 
 he replied, justifying the boldness of 
 his complaints by urging the greatness 
 of the afflictions which extorted them 
 from him. He complained feelingly 
 of the unkindness of his friends in 
 regarding him as guilty because he 
 was miserable, and in coming to him 
 witli reproaches instead of sympathies 
 and consolations. He implored them 
 to treat him with fairness ; to examine his case, and not to con- 
 demn him on account of his miserable condition. He then pro- 
 ceeded to expatiate on the miseries and shortness of human life, 
 from which he returned to his own melancholy state, and ventured 
 once more to expostulate with God upon the greatness of his 
 afflictions and their long continuance. 
 
 This reply occupies the sixth and seventh chapters, from which 
 a few points may be selected for particular remark. 
 
 One of the most striking passages in the whole book is that in 
 which Job describes the delusive expectation of water created in 
 caravans by the appearance of a river-bed, which proves, when 
 they come near it, to be dry : — 
 
 “ But my brethern were faithless like a brook ; 
 
 They pass away like streams of the valley, 
 
 Which are turbid by reason of the melted ice, 
 
 And the snow which hides itself in them. 
 
 After a time they become narrow, they vanish, 
 
 And when the heat cometh they are dried up from 
 their place. 
 
 The caravans turn aside to them in their way ; 
 
 They go up into the desert and perish. 
 
 The caravans of Tema look for them ; 
 
 The companies of Sheba expect to see them : 
 
 They are ashamed that they have relied upon them ; 
 They come to their place, and are confounded.” 
 
 (Job vi. 15 — 20.) 
 
 The idea conveyed in the first line is a strict Orientalism : “ My 
 brethren have acted (or played) the flood witli me ” is as common 
 a proverb now among the Arabians as it could be when the poem 
 was composed. Dr. Good cites the scholiast on the Monllakat, to 
 this effect : — “ A pool or flood was called gadyr, because travellers 
 when they pass by it find it full of water ; but on their return find 
 nothing at all there, and regard it as having acted treacherously 
 towards them.” 
 
 There are few perennial streams in Western Asia, and perhaps 
 none in Arabia: most of those streams which figure in the 
 maps are merely the beds of winter-torrents. These temporary 
 streams are first formed by the autumnal rains ; they are kept up 
 by the occasional rains of winter, and in spring are increased by the 
 rains of that season and by the melting of the snows in the moun- 
 tains. They rush down the valleys in a large body of turbid water, 
 and assume the appearance of deep rivers. Their increase, and 
 still more their decrease, is often sudden and rapid, beyond any 
 thin"- of which we can in this country form a conception ; and in 
 summer they become perfectly dry. It will from this be seen that 
 the description is not only exceedingly beautiful, but is a description 
 of a scene of nature in the country where the residence of Job is 
 placed. But its principal beauty lies in the exact correspondence 
 of all its parts to the thing it is intended to represent. The fulness, 
 strength, and noise of these temporary streams in early spring, 
 answer to the large professions made to Job in his prosperity by 
 his friends. The drying up of the waters at the approach of 
 summer, resembles the failure of their friendship in his affliction ; 
 and the confusion of the thirsty caravans in finding the streams 
 vanished, strongly illustrates his feelings, disappointed as he was 
 of the relief he expected in these men’s friendly counsel. 
 
 In Mr. Hope’s ‘ Anastasius,’ a severe disappointment is illus- 
 trated by a very similar comparison : — “ Once in my homeward 
 journey from the eternal desert — oppressed with heat, and in vain 
 soliciting my cruse for a drop of water to wet my parched lips, — 
 I had, when at the point of fainting from exhaustion, beheld in a 
 valley before me the semblance of a limpid lake, ready to slake 
 my raging thirst, and to lave my wearied limbs — had collected my 
 last strength to reacli its winding banks, and when near the delusive 
 
 spot had found the vision a mere mockery, and nothing real around 
 me save sands more dry and burning than those I had left behind. 
 But what was this disappointment to my sense, even with life at 
 stake, compared with that which struck my mind at this most 
 dreadful moment.” 
 
 In the passage in which Job describes his miserable condition, 
 he 6ays — 
 
 “ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dirt ; 
 
 My skin heals and breaks out anew (vii. 5.) 
 
 which confirms the impression already exhibited, that his disease 
 was a species of leprosy. Maundrell, in describing the lepers he 
 saw in Nablous, the ancient Shechem, draws a picture in entire con- 
 formity with Job’s description : — 
 
 “ The distemper, as I saw it, was very different from what I have 
 seen it in England, for it not only defiles the whole outer surface of 
 the body with a foul scurf, but also deforms the joints of the body, 
 particularly those of the wrists and ancles, making them swell with 
 a gouty scrofulous substance, very loathsome to look upon. I 
 thought their legs resembled those of old battered horses, such as 
 are often seen in drays in England.” 
 
 In the immediately following verse Job describes by a striking 
 comparison the fragility of human life : — 
 
 “ My days are slighter than the weaver’s yarn ; 
 
 They are finished like the breaking of a thread.” 
 
 The first line is usually translated with reference to the swiftness 
 of a weaver’s shuttle, but the one now given is perhaps more correct, 
 and the swiftness of the weaver’s shuttle perhaps conveys a less 
 pertinent idea than the slightness, or tenuity, and consequent 
 brittleness of the yarn with which it is armed. In this view there 
 is the same image in the eloquent complaint of Hezekiah : — 
 
 “ My life is cut off as by the weaver, 
 
 He will sever me from the loom ; 
 
 Within a day and a night thou wilt finish my web.” 
 
 (Isa. xxxviii. 12.) 
 
 Most commentators suppose that the fine allegory of the thread 
 of life being previously woven by the Fates, and tissued for every indi- 
 vidual, was coeval witli the author of the present poem, and is alluded 
 to in the present passage. That allegory has all the marks of an 
 Oriental origin ; and similes of the kind are still frequent among the 
 Oriental poets and historians. Thus in the opening of the history 
 of Timour, “ Praise be to God ! who hath woven the web of human 
 affairs in the web of his will and of his wisdom, and hath made the 
 waves of times and of seasons flow from the fountain of his provi- 
 dence into the ocean of his power.” The present text will remind 
 many readers of the fine passage in ‘ Lycidas :’ — 
 
 “ Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise 
 (That last infirmity of noble minds) 
 
 To scorn delights and live laborious days : 
 
 But the fair guerdon, when we hope to find, 
 
 And think to burst forth into sudden blaze, 
 
 Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears, 
 
 And slits the thin-spun life." 
 
 It will not escape notice that Job, in describing the thread of his 
 life as being spun out with great rapidity and tenuity, and about 
 to be cut off, affords an interesting, although incidental, illustration 
 of early weaving. Many persons have doubted whether the shuttle 
 was of so early a date as the era of Job ; and this may be another 
 reason for the translation we have preferred. The Egyptians do 
 not appear to have had a shuttle, but to have put in the thread by 
 means of a rod with a hook at either end. If the shuttle was not 
 in use among a people so advanced in the manufacture of cloth as 
 the Egyptians, it seems but little likely that it should be known to 
 the people among whom Job lived, or to the author of the book 
 which bears his name. It may be added, that in the state of society 
 which the book appears to describe, all clothes for ordinary use are 
 spun and woven at home, which renders every one familiar with the 
 process. This is distinctly intimated by Job himself: — 
 
 “ If I have seen any wretched one without clothing, 
 
 Or any poor man without covering ; 
 
 If his loins have not blessed me, 
 
 And he have not been warmed with the fleece of my 
 flock. 
 
 Then,” &c. (xxxi. 19, 20.) 
 
 And so in the vivid description of a good housewife which occu- 
 pies the last chapter of the book of Proverbs : — 
 
 “ She layeth her hands to the spindle. 
 
 And her hands hold the distaff.” (Prov. xxxi. 19.) 
 
Sunday XLI.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 323 
 
 SUNDAY XLI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE kingdoms of Israel and Syria were 
 soon again at war with each other. In the 
 first campaign the Syrians were unsuc- 
 cessful, as all their plans and operations 
 were known to the prophet, and were 
 communicated by him to the king of 
 Israel. Benhadad suspected there was 
 a traitor in his camp ; but his officers 
 assured him that it was the doing of 
 Elisha, who, said they, “ telleth the 
 king of Israel the words thou speakest 
 in thy bed-chamber.” On this the Syrian prince resolved to put 
 him to death ; and with this view he sent by night a body of his best 
 troops to invest Dothan, the place where the prophet then dwelt, 
 in such a manner that he could not possibly escape. Indeed the 
 servant of Elisha himself deemed all lost when, at the break of day, he 
 beheld the surrounding country covered with Syrian horsemen and 
 chariots. “ Fear not,” said the prophet, “ for there be more with 
 us than with them ;” and he opened his eyes to behold the air more 
 abundantly filled with angelic hosts, assembled in defence of Jehovah’s 
 servant, than was the land with the invading Syrians. Then, at the 
 prayer of the prophet, God smote the Syrians with blindness; and in 
 that state he conducted them to the gates of Samaria, where he gave 
 them leave to depart, after warning them that they were entirely at 
 his mercy. 
 
 But this lenity made no impression upon the heart of Benhadad, 
 who resolved to prosecute the war w'ith the utmost vigour. He 
 laid siege to the capital, which was soon reduced to the utmost 
 distress, so that the inhabitants were obliged to have recourse to 
 the most unwholesome and unnatural food. So dreadful were the 
 extremities of famine, that several women, deaf to all cries of 
 natural affection, and even to the common feelings of humanity, 
 fed upon the flesh of their own children. When the king heard 
 this in public, he rent his royal robes, and the people saw that 
 under his magnificence he wore the sackcloth of a mourner upon 
 his skin. Rendered frantic by the miseries that saluted his eye and 
 ear on every side, he gave orders to lay hands upon Elisha, whom 
 he now accused as the author of all the miseries which the nation 
 endured. He commanded an officer to go to his house and take 
 off his head, while he himself followed, apparently to ensure the 
 execution, or to enjoy the sight of a punishment which he deemed 
 so well deserved. Some, however, suppose that he had changed his 
 mind, and followed to recall the orders he had given. But ere the 
 messenger of death appeared, Elisha, who was sitting among his 
 disciples, said to them, “ See how this son of a murderer hath sent 
 to take away mine head ! Look ; and when the messenger cometh, 
 shut the door, and hold him fast at the door ; is not the sound of his 
 master’s feet behind him ?” 
 
 This was done ; and when the king himself arrived, he did not 
 enforce his order, but forbore not to give vent to the doubt and 
 unbelief which distracted his heart : — “ Why should I wait for 
 Jehovah any longer?” implying that the Lord was unwilling or 
 unable to deliver him from this great distress. At that moment the 
 prophet announced to him, in the name of God, that before twenty- 
 four hours had passed, food, which was at that moment unattainable 
 at any price, should be sold for next to nothing in the gate of 
 Samaria. A lord on whose arm the king leaned, said, unbelievingly, 
 
 “ Even if the Lord should open windows in heaven, can this thing 
 be?” Elisha sternly answered, “ Behold, thou shalt see it with thine 
 eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.” 
 
 Next morning the prediction was fulfilled ; for during the night 
 the Syrians had been struck with a supernatural panic, deserted 
 their camp, and fled in the utmost confusion, leaving behind them 
 an immense quantity of provisions. Strange sounds in the air 
 seemed to indicate the approach of a mighty army, consisting of 
 cavalry and charioteers ; and concluding that the Egyptians or 
 some of the bordering nations had been induced to undertake the 
 relief of Samaria, they gave way to the most fearful apprehensions, 
 and before the dawn of day could undeceive them, were far on 
 their way home, leaving the road strewed with their spoils. 
 
 Jehoram, suspecting that the retreat was a mere stratagem meant 
 to draw the Israelites beyond the walls, hesitated to commence the 
 pursuit. A small body of horsemen was in the first instance 
 dispatched to ascertain that no ambush had been formed in the 
 distance by the Syrians. But instead of enemies lying in wait, the 
 scouts found the ground covered with weapons and stores which the 
 
 fugitives had cast from them in the hurry of their flight, besides other 
 tokens of the consternation with which all ranks among them had 
 been seized. No sooner was this intelligence made known in the 
 city, than the eager and famishing multitude rushed forth to pil- 
 lage the camp of the Syrians, where victuals were found in such 
 abundance, that a market was established at the gate of Samaria, 
 where, as the prophet had on the previous day predicted, a sack of 
 fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two sacks of barley for the 
 same. The lord who had refused to believe the prophecy of Elisha, 
 was stationed to preserve order at the gate: but so great was the 
 press of the multitude to obtain corn, that he was thrown down and 
 trodden to death. 
 
 The spoiled camp of the Syrians furnished not only an abundance 
 of corn, but a large quantity of silver and gold, with all kinds of 
 cattle. Plenty then succeeded in Samaria to want, and joy took the 
 place of fear and sorrow ; and as the people, triumphing in their easy 
 victory, arrayed themselves in the spoils of the Syrians, they re- 
 ceived and for a time cherished the conviction that their own 
 Jehovah was mightier than the gods of their enemies. The Syrian 
 king himself seems to have arrived at a similar conviction — that it 
 was a divine power, and not man, who had occasioned his overthrow ; 
 and Josephus considers that it was this conviction — the idea that he 
 was an object of displeasure and vengeance to a God so mighty — 
 that preyed upon his spirits, and cast him into a profound melan- 
 choly, and at length upon a sick bed. In this frame of mind and 
 body he heard that Elisha, the celebrated prophet of Israel, had 
 come to Damascus ; whereupon he gave orders to his most trusted 
 servant Hazael, that he should wait upon him, with all due reverence 
 and suitable presents, to inquire the issue of this distemper. Ilazael 
 caused forty camels to be laden with the choice things of Damascus, 
 and went to the man of God, to whom he said, “ Thy son Benhadad, 
 king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying, ‘ Shall I recover of this 
 disease ?’ ” The reply of Elisha was very enigmatical : “ Go, say unto 
 him, ‘ Thou mayest certainly recover !’ ” “ Ilowbeit,” he added, “ the 
 Lord hath shown me that he shall surely die.” This had reference 
 to the designs which he knew that the man before him entertained 
 against the life of his master, in case he should learn that the 
 disease itself was not likely to be mortal. The prophet, as he 
 said this, looked stedfastly in the Syrian’s face, as one who 
 would read his heart, or rather to whom its darkest recesses 
 were open. Then, anticipating the evils which his own country 
 would in future time suffer from this unprincipled usurper, the 
 holy man burst into tears. Relieved by this from the confusion 
 which the prophet’s steady gaze had occasioned, Hazael ventured to 
 ask the cause of his emotion. “Because I know,” replied the 
 prophet, “ the evil thou shalt do unto the children of Israel and 
 he proceeded to draw a vivid picture of ferocious cruelty and wanton 
 devastation, the mere imagination of which shook even the firm 
 nerves of Hazael. “ Is thy servant a dog, that he should do such 
 things?” he indignantly exclaimed to the prophet, who had thought 
 proper to lift up a corner of that thick veil which hid the future 
 from his sight. “The Lord hath shown me that thou shalt be king 
 over Syria,” was the quiet answer of the prophet : and it left 
 nothing unexplained. 
 
 In due time all that the man of God had foretold came to pass. 
 Hazael returned to the palace, and delivered to Benhadad the 
 favourable opinion of his case which the prophet had expressed : 
 but, “ behold, on the morrow he took a thick cloth, and dipped it 
 in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died.” This seems 
 to mean that he murdered him in such a manner as to give to his 
 demise the appearance of a natural death from disease. The mur- 
 derer, well and favourably known to the Syrians for his great talents 
 and eminent services, then ascended without opposition the throne 
 he had rendered vacant. 
 
 The character and abilities of the new king were not understood 
 by the king of Israel ; and he was hence led to suppose the oppor- 
 tunity favourable for making another attempt to recover Ramoth- 
 Gilead from the hands of the Syrians. A battle ensued, in which 
 King Jehoram was wounded, and was obliged to retire to .Jezreel 
 to be healed of his wounds, leaving the army under the command 
 of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who had long before been named to 
 the prophet Elijah as the instrument of the divine vengeance upon 
 the house of Ahab. Ramoth had already fallen to the Israelites, 
 
 I and their army seems to have been in possession of its fortresses, 
 when one of the “ sons of the prophets,” commissioned by Elisha, 
 made his appearance among the officers, and asked an interview 
 with their leader. “ I have an errand unto thee, O captain,” he 
 said. “To which of us?” asked Jehu. “Even to thee,” was the 
 answer : and he arose and went forth with the stranger. On his 
 return, his altered manner attracted the notice of the generals, and 
 
 2 T 2 
 
1013.— Elisha. (Phil, de Champagne.) 
 Eliseus. 
 
 1016. Chamber on the Wall, near Alexandria. 
 Ystafell ar y Mur, yn agos i Alexandria. 
 
 1018. — Sepulchre of the King. 
 Bcdd y Brenhinoedd. 
 
 1014.— Application to a Santon. 
 Appeliad at Santon 
 
 1015. — Oriental Ewer and Basin. 
 Dwfr-lestr a Chawg Dwyreiniol. 
 
 1017.— Syrian Bear (Ursus Syriacus.) 
 Arth Syriaidd. 
 
 1019.— Mount Carmel. 
 Mynydd Carmel. 
 
 
 324 
 

 jilf 
 
 1 ; P| fm 
 
 J0E2£'t\ 
 
 
 Ba»t™ 
 
 mm 
 
 WBm, I i 
 
 1 - K {SpSj^W 
 
 
 
 ft i / 
 
 W) jpj </j 
 
 
 Mf \jgW* 
 
 
 
 H w~jJ 
 
 
 1 li^ 
 
 2 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 jHlmill »/ 
 
 
 
 KiTTK 
 
 
 
 
 ilfi 
 
 T.i'’ | / 
 
 
 325 
 
 .023.— Peath of Jehoram (Adapted from Toussin ) lim. 
 
 Marwolaeth Jehoram. ( Wedi el gvmhw; so o Poussin.) 
 
326 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XLI. 
 
 they asked him what had happened : he replied, that the stranger, 
 known by his garb to be a prophet, had anointed him king over 
 Israel in the name of Jehovah. The soldiers, discontented and ripe 
 for revolt, and attached to their valiant leader, hailed the tidings 
 with shouts of joy ; and hastened to acknowledge the new sovereign. 
 Piling their garments in a heap, agreeably to the practice of Eastern 
 nations, as a throne for him to sit on, the officers ordered the trum- 
 pets to sound, and proclaimed Jehu king. 
 
 At the desire of Jehu, measures were taken to prevent the news 
 of this revolution from being carried across the Jordan for the 
 present ; in consequence of which, King Jehoram remained in 
 perfect repose at Jezreel, unsuspicious of what had happened, and 
 enjoying the society of Ahaziah, king of Judah, who had come to 
 Jezreel to visit his wounded relative. But one day the watchman 
 upon his tower over the palace gate announced that a party of 
 armed horsemen were approaching at a rapid pace. The king gave 
 orders to ascertain the cause of this unexpected movement : but one 
 messenger after another, instead of returning with an explanation, 
 joined the advancing horsemen, till, at length, they came so near 
 that the watcher could distinguish that the furiously driving cha- 
 rioteer at the head of the advancing party was no other than Jehu 
 the son of Nimshi. On hearing this, the king, impatient to ascer- 
 tain the cause which brought the commander of his forces in such 
 haste to Jezreel, mounted his chariot, and drove forth to meet him, 
 accompanied by Ahaziah in another chariot. They met : and the 
 eyes of the devoted king were too soon opened, for in answer to 
 the inquiry, ‘‘Is there peace?” Jehu proceeded in a high voice to 
 charge him with the crimes of his father’s house, and with the 
 atrocities of which his mother had been guilty. On hearing this, 
 the unhappy king exclaimed to his companion, “ There is treachery, 
 O Ahaziah ! ” and turned his chariot, with the apparent intention 
 of escaping to Jezreel, and shutting his gates against the usurper. 
 But Jehu discharged after him an arrow, which smote him to the 
 heart. “ Let his body,” said Jehu to Bidkar, his captain, “ be cast 
 into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite : for remember how that 
 when thou and I rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid 
 this burden upon him.” 
 
 The other king was wounded mortally in an attempt to escape “ by 
 way of the garden house.” He, however, made his way to Megiddo, 
 where he died of his wounds, and his body was taken by his servants 
 to Jerusalem, B.c. 884. 
 
 Jehu then proceeded to the city, where no one remained to oppose 
 his entrance ; and in his way under the palace walls, or through its 
 courts, an opportunity occurred for his ridding himself of Jezebel, 
 t he mother of the late king, whose bold and ruthless character, inde- 
 pendent of the influence which she possessed at the court of Jeru- 
 salem, might have tended to render the new government insecure. 
 She had heard of the bloody tragedy which had just been perpetrated 
 outside the town ; and in haste she coloured her eyelids (an essential 
 part of Eastern female toilet), and arrayed in vestures suited to her 
 station her aged but not venerable head. Thus prepared for making 
 an impression, she appeared at the window as Jehu passed, and 
 called out, “Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?” — which 
 question, by conveying a very appropriate allusion to a similar 
 event of former years, reproached him for the murder of his sove- 
 reign, and warned him of a day of retribution. But Jehu was not 
 a man to be shaken in this manner. He knew, or guessed, which 
 she did not, that the disaffection, which had its first outbreak at 
 Ramoth-Gilead, existed also in the palaces of Jezreel. Jehu only 
 answered this woman’s taunt by calling out — “ AVlio is on my side 
 — who?” when two eunuchs of the harem appeared at the window. 
 
 “ Throw her down,” cried Jehu, in the voice of a master ; and he 
 was instantly obeyed. She was stunned or killed by the fall ; and 
 as she lay motionless, she was trampled under foot by the horses, 
 and crushed beneath the chariot-wheels. 
 
 Jehu then entered the palace, and sat down to refresh himself 
 after his bloody work. As he was at meat he called to mind that 
 Jezebel was a king’s daughter, and therefore directed that her 
 remains should be buried without disrespect. But those who went 
 forth to discharge this duty found that of the proud queen of Israel 
 nothing but the skull, the palms of the hands, and the soles of the 
 feet remained, the dogs having devoured all the other parts of the 
 body. When this was told to Jehu, he recognised in it the fulfil- 
 ment of Elijah’s prophecy, that dogs should eat Jezebel beneath the 
 wall of Jezreel. That the dogs refused the skull, hands, and feet, 
 has seemed to many a strange circumstance. In Europe we have 
 happily no means of verifying such facts from our own experience ; 
 but several anecdotes which have of late years reached us from the 
 East, show that this is an occasional, if not general, practice among 
 the street-dogs of the East. 
 
 Jehu was one of those selfish and pitiless men of blood whom 
 God sometimes deems fit to use as his instruments for the correction 
 and punishment of a guilty nation. Let not the fact that Jehu was 
 intrusted with a commission against the house of Ahab, hide from 
 us the truly odious and bloodthirsty character of this man. It was 
 not with concern or sorrow of heart that he smote down those, so 
 lately his princes and lords, whom he was commissioned to destroy ; 
 but with fiendish delight, with a selfish satisfaction that his own in- 
 terests were promoted by these executions, and with that rabid thirst 
 for blood, which grows by what it feeds on, and forms one of those 
 dark mysteries of the human spirit which has had other examples, 
 and from the investigation of which the pure mind shrinks with awe 
 and dread. Jehu executed righteous judgment in an unrighteous 
 manner, using the holy name of God to cover his own base 
 ends and his bloodthirstiness, with the pretext of a religious 
 motive. 
 
 His fearful work was not yet completed ; it had only just begun. 
 He was resolved to exterminate the whole house of Ahab, from the 
 root to the uttermost branches ; for the descendants of that house 
 were numerous, and might prove troublesome to him. He therefore 
 wrote to the elders of Samaria, under whose protection the princes 
 of that house remained, to select the one who was the fittest for 
 government, and place him on his father’s throne, and prepare 
 themselves to defend his rights. Although this letter was studiously 
 ambiguous, it could not fail to be understood by those who were 
 acquainted with the character of the man ; and although Samaria 
 was well fortified and supplied witli provisions, the elders trembled, 
 and resolved to give up their trust, and submit themselves to the 
 will of the conqueror. On receiving an answer to this effect, Jehu 
 required as a test of their sincerity, that they should appear before 
 him the following day with the heads of all the princes — seventy in 
 number — of the house of Ahab. The bloody order was punctually 
 obeyed. The princes were at once decapitated, and their heads 
 sent over in baskets to Jezreel ; and when the exterminator left the 
 palace the next morning, he beheld them piled up in two heaps at 
 the gate. Jehu perceived that the grim satisfaction with which he 
 contemplated this horrid spectacle was not shared by the people ; 
 and he addressed them in a few emphatic but ambiguous words, in 
 which he seems to have intended to shift the responsibility of this 
 massacre from his own shoulders, while, at the same time, he 
 indirectly justified the deed by referring it to the inscrutable 
 designs of Providence, whose denunciations against sin failed 
 not of their accomplishment in due season, however long de- 
 layed. 
 
 He then proceeded, on the fresh impulse thus received from 
 Samaria, to renew the havoc in Jezreel, where there were still 
 many adherents of the fallen house, connected with it by blood or 
 by high employments. These were hunted out and slain witiiout 
 mercy. Having finished his work of blood in Jezreel, Jehu 
 proceeded to the capital, and on the way met a large body of 
 noble travellers, forty-two in number, who had heard nothing of 
 the revolution in Israel. They belonged to the royal family of 
 Judah, and, after the example of their king, were going down to 
 visit the princes of Israel. Jehu directed his officers to take them 
 alive, and slay them at the shearing-pit by the way side ; — and this 
 was done. Not one escaped. After this horrid massacre, which 
 more than anything else evinces the disposition of Jehu to make his 
 commission an excuse and cover for the promptings of his own san- 
 guinary spirit, he pursued his journey to Samaria. On his way he 
 met with Jonadab the son of Rechab, the founder or reformer of a 
 sect answering in some respects to the Wahabees of modern times, 
 and celebrated for their abstinence from wine. This man, like all 
 persons in the East who have succeeded in establishing a claim for 
 superior holiness, was regarded with great respect by the people ; 
 and Jehu, alive to this consideration, and aware of the authority 
 which his acts would derive from such a sanction, invited the 
 Bedouin chief to accompany him, and witness his “ zeal for 
 Jehovah.” Jonadab accordingly ascended Jehu’s chariot, and 
 sanctioned by his presence the further and more extensive massacre 
 which the king had in view — of all the more zealous worshippers 
 of Baal. He laid a trap for them, which no circumstances can 
 excuse. He pretended to be a convert to their worship. “ Ahab 
 served Baal a little,” he said, “but Jehu shall serve him much:” 
 and he accordingly proclaimed a solemn festival, to which he in- 
 vited all the priests and worshippers of the Sidonian idol, and indeed 
 urged their attendance under heavy penalties. Proud of their 
 illustrious convert, the priests and prophets of Baal thronged from 
 all parts of the land to Samaria, till they completely filled the large 
 and magnificent temple which had, in the time of Ahab, been 
 erected in Samaria to their idol. 
 
Sunday XLI.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 327 
 
 SUNDAY XLI.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 AUL and his companions, on 
 quitting Cyprus, passed over to 
 Pamphylia in Asia Minor, and 
 proceeding along the borders of 
 Phrygia, Isauria, and Pisidia, 
 made some stay at the consider- 
 able city of Antioch, distin- 
 guished as Antioch in Pisidia. 
 On the first Sabbath-day after 
 their arrival in this place they 
 repaired to the synagogue, and 
 after the reading of the law, 
 they were asked by the rulers 
 of the synagogue if they would 
 address the people. Paul gladly 
 accepted the call, and his address, which is given in Acts xiii. 16 — 
 42, is an admirable specimen of the wonderful power which this 
 extraordinary man possessed of adapting his discourse to the audience 
 he addressed, as well as of his peculiar antithetical mode of develop- 
 ing Christian truth. Uttered as it was with all the impressiveness 
 of firm conviction, and yet evincing great tenderness towards the 
 .lews, it made at first a favourable impression upon the audience ; 
 and he was requested to expound the same doctrine more fully 
 on the next Sabbath. 
 
 This was the general feeling ; but there were among them some, 
 especially those who had been converted from Paganism to the 
 Jewish religion, who were more deeply affected than the rest by the 
 power of truth. These could not wait till the next Sabbath, but 
 hastened after Paul, who had left the synagogue with Barnabas, 
 and besought more ample instruction. Paul and Barnabas gladly 
 availed themselves of this opening, and employed themselves during 
 the week in explaining the doctrine of Christ in private houses, and 
 likewise in making it known to the Gentiles. Hence, by the next 
 Sabbath, the new doctrine had acquired notoriety throughout the 
 city, and a great number of Gentiles flocked to the synagogue along 
 with the Jews to hear Paul’s discourse. But the temper of the 
 Jewish audience had changed. Their spiritual pride was shocked 
 to perceive that the redemption which Paul preached was not to be 
 regarded as the peculiar property of the seed of Abraham, but 
 was freely offered, “ without money and without price,” to the Gen- 
 tiles also. He was therefore interrupted by violent contradictions 
 and reproaches ; on which he at length plainly told them that he had 
 discharged the - obligation he was under of declaring to them the 
 mercy of God in Christ, and that, since they rejected it, to their 
 own condemnation, he would now turn to the Gentiles, who were 
 more disposed to receive it, and were equally with them entitled to 
 its benefits. Paul and Barnabas then left the synagogue, followed 
 by the Gentile believers ; and a suitable chamber in the house of 
 one of them was probably the first place of assembly for the congre- 
 gation which was now formed. Christianity then spread with great 
 rapidity through the city and the surrounding district. But the 
 Jews were meanwhile not idle ; they contrived, by means of the 
 female proselytes to Judaism, belonging to the most respectable 
 families of the city, and through their influence on their husbands, 
 to raise so strong a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, that 
 they were obliged to leave the place. 
 
 They repaired to a city about ten miles to the east, in Lyca- 
 onia, called Iconium (now Konieh), where they had access to 
 both Jews and Gentiles. The former, however, here proved 
 quite as hostile as at Antioch, so that they were soon driven 
 from this city also. They then repaired to other cities in the same 
 province, and first tarried in the neighbouring town of Lystra. 
 Here there were few Jews and no synagogue ; so that Paul and 
 Barnabas could make known the Gospel only by entering into con- 
 versation, in places of public resort, and thus leading persons to 
 listen to their discourse on religious subjects : gradually small groups 
 were formed, which were increased by many persons, who were 
 attracted by curiosity to enter into the subject of conversation. 
 One day, while Paul was thus occupied, he noticed a poor cripple, 
 who had never walked, looking steadfastly on him, and drinking in 
 with eager attention the precious words which fell from his inspired 
 lips. The apostle called to him with a loud voice, “ Stand upright 
 on thy feet and he stood up and walked. This miracle, parallel 
 co that which Peter and John had performed at the beautiful gate 
 of the temple in Jerusalem, attracted here at least equal attention 
 with that which the earlier had done in the holy city. The sight 
 
 drew together a vast crowd, and the credulous multitude took up the 
 notion that the Gods had come down to them in the likeness of 
 men. Now in this city, Zeus, or Jupiter, w r as worshipped as the 
 tutelary god, and a temple dedicated to him stood near the gate. 
 Accordingly the people supposed that their own tutelary god 
 Jupiter had come down to them, and they identified him with 
 Barnabas, probably from his grave manner and noble presence, 
 while the eloquent and active Paul they took to be Hermes, or 
 Mercury. The news of the appearance of these supposed divinities 
 soon reached the temple, and the priests hastened with oxen and 
 with garlands to adorn them, and purposed to offer sacrifice to the 
 descended gods for the welfare of the city. Paul and Barnabas 
 were filled with consternation as soon as they discovered this 
 design. They rent their clothes, and rushed among the crowd 
 exclaiming, “ Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of 
 like passions with you, and preach unto you, that ye should turn 
 from these vanities to the living God.” Even by this assurance 
 they scarcely prevailed upon them to desist from their purpose. 
 Yet the impression which had been made, strong as it was, had no 
 duration, being made rather upon the senses than the heart ; and 
 when, soon after, some Jews came to Lystra from Iconium, they 
 found little difficulty in instigating a large body of the people 
 against Paul, whom they had lately been ready to worship. He was 
 stoned in a popular tumult, and dragged out of the city for dead. 
 But it seems that he had only been rendered insensible by one or 
 more of the blows he had received ; and while the believers stood 
 around him, he arose strengthened by the power of God, and 
 returned with them to the city. He remained only for the rest of 
 that day, and departed the next morning to the neighbouring city 
 of Derbe, with Barnabas. When they had for a time laboured in 
 that city, they had the Christian courage to return to the towns 
 from which they had been driven by stonings and persecutions ; 
 the welfare of the infant churches being of far more consequence 
 to them than their own safety. After this they returned by their 
 former route to Antioch in Syria. 
 
 They remained “ a long time” at Antioch. In fact there is a 
 period, variously computed from five to eight years, during which 
 no account of their movements is given by the sacred historian, and 
 which would at first view seem to measure the period of their stay 
 at Antioch. It is certain, however, that Paul made several jour- 
 neys, of which we have no particular account in the New Testament, 
 and it is possible that some of these journeys occurred during this 
 interval. Thus he preached the Gospel as far as Illyricum (Rom. 
 xv. 19) ; and in 2 Cor. xi. 22 — 27, there is an account of trials and 
 persecutions, of many of which we have no distinct record, and 
 which might have occurred during this period. 
 
 While in this manner Christianity spread itself from Antioch, 
 the parent church of the Gentile world, a schism gradually arose 
 between it and the other parent church at Jerusalem, by which the 
 cause of the Gospel seemed at first to be placed in great peril. 
 
 There came to Antioch many strictly pharisaical-minded con- 
 verts from Jerusalem, who took upon them to assure the Gentile 
 converts that without circumcision they could obtain no part in the 
 kingdom of God. These persons reproved Paul and Barnabas for 
 their lax and unauthorised proceedings, in dispensing with the 
 observances of the old covenant, and they raised so much dissension 
 and controversy, that it was at length determined that Paul and 
 Barnabas, accompanied by certain leading men in the church at 
 Antioch, should proceed to Jerusalem, and confer with the other 
 apostle in this great matter. The proposal of such a deputation 
 probably originated with Paul himself ; for he informs us, in the 
 Epistle to the Galatians, that he knew, from divine revelation, 
 that an explanation on the subject had become essential to the well- 
 being of the church. He took with him a converted youth of Gen- 
 tile descent, named Titus, who afterwards became his chief associate 
 in preaching, in order to exhibit in his person a living example of 
 the power of the Gospel among the heathen. 
 
 Before a public consultation was held at Jerusalem, there were 
 many private conferences among the apostles. The most important 
 result was, that after Paul had given a full account to the apostles 
 James, Peter, and John, of his course in publishing the Gospel 
 among the heathen, and of the fruit of his labours among them, 
 they acknowledged fully and unreservedly the divine origin of his 
 apostleship, instead of presuming to dictate to him as superiors. 
 They agreed that he should continue to labour independently among 
 the Gentiles, making only one stipulation, that the Gentile 
 churches should continue to relieve out of their abundance the tem- 
 poral wants of the poor brethren at Jerusalem. “ The same which 
 I also was forward to do,” says Paul, in giving his account of these 
 transactions (Gal. ii. 10). 
 
1026.— Famagusta, in Cyprus. 
 Ffamagusta, yn Cyprus. 
 
 102S.— Prpspnt appearance of Famagusta. 
 Ymddangoaiad presennol Ffamagusta. 
 
 1025.— Mercury. 
 Merchur. 
 
 1029. Group of Altars. — a, n, Babylonian ; b, Egyptian ; c, c , Persian ; d, d, Grecian ; «, e , Roman. 
 
 Cydgasgliad o Allorau.— a, a, Babilonaidd ; b, b, Aipbtaldd ; c, c, Persiaidd ; d, d, Groegaidd ; e, e, Rhufeinaidd. 
 

 1030 — Ancient Egyptian s< ' a ' e? - 
 Hen Giorian Aiphtaidd. 
 
 Hen Giorian Aiphtaidd. 
 
 103J. — Gem, from the Ruins of Babylon. 
 Gem, a ga/wyd yn Adfeilion Babilon. 
 
 1037.— Head of Alexander. 
 
 Pen Alexander. 
 
 329 
 
 1036.— Statue of a Lion standing over a Man, found at Babylon. 
 Cerflun o Lew yn aefyll ar Ddyn, a gafwyd yn Babilon. 
 
 1034.— From a Block of Marble found near the Tomb of Daniel at Susa. 
 Oddi ar Ddarn e Farmor a gafwyd yn agos i Fedd Daniel yn 9uso. 
 
330 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [Sunday XLIL 
 
 SUNDAY XLir.— DANIEL. 
 
 OWEVER, the favour which Daniel 
 received at the hands of the new kino- 
 
 O 
 
 was highly displeasing to the native 
 princes and governors, and they re- 
 solved to compass his ruin. They knew 
 too well the purity of his public adminis- 
 tration to indulge any hope of substan- 
 tiating any charge against him in that 
 respect ; but they also knew his uncom- 
 promising adherence to the obligations 
 of Ids peculiar religion, and were not 
 without hope of thereby effecting his downfall. The fear of arousing 
 the suspicion of Darius to their design, obliged them to cast their net 
 very widely. They proposed to the king that he should issue a 
 decree that whoever should petition to any god — but himself — for 
 the space of a month, should be cast into the den of lions. In this 
 assumption of divine honours by kings there was nothing unparal- 
 leled ; and the easy and somewhat vain king, taking it as a mark of 
 affection and loyalty to him on his accession, too readily consented ; 
 and gave to it all the solemnity of one of those decrees which, when 
 once issued, could not be recalled. 
 
 Daidel could not but know that this measure was really levelled 
 at himself; yet he in nowise altered his customary services to the 
 God of Israel. He did not even stoop to make his devotions secret; 
 but thrice a day, as he had always been wont to do, he offered up 
 his orisons with his windows open towards Jerusalem. Due note of 
 this was taken by the enemies of Daniel, who hastened to the king, 
 and accusing him of contempt and of rebellion against the royal de- 
 cree, demanded the instant execution of its dreadful penalties against 
 him. The unhappy king at once saw the snare which had been 
 laid for the prophet and himself ; but he saw also that he was under 
 the most binding of known obligations to enforce the decree he had 
 issued. His grief, his remorse, his rage, were alike impotent ; and 
 nothing was left him but to turn to the vague hope that the God 
 whom Daniel so faithfully served, and by whom he had been so 
 signally favoured, would interfere for his deliverance. Comforting 
 himself with this assurance, which he imparted to the prophet, the 
 king abandoned him to the punishment which the decree had 
 awarded. Daniel was cast into the den of lions, the mouth of which 
 was immediately closed with a large stone, which was sealed up with 
 the king’s own signet. 
 
 Darius, the king of the Medes and Persians, passed that night in 
 sleepless sorrow ; lie refused to take his usual food, and forbade the 
 instruments of music to be played before him. Very early in the 
 morning, he left his bed, and hastened to the den of lions, still 
 cherishing the faint hope that Daniel might be yet alive. When 
 lie drew near, he called out, “ O Daniel, servant of the living God, 
 is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee 
 from the lions ?” A voice answered from the cavern, “ O king, 
 live for ever ! My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ 
 mouths; inasmuch as before him innocency was found in me, and also 
 against thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” Overjoyed to find that 
 the man whom lie so highly esteemed had been thus miraculously 
 preserved, Darius ordered that he should be immediately released 
 from the dungeon ; and directed that his accusers should be cast into 
 the lions. The mighty power which had restrained the ravenous 
 beasts from harm was then withdrawn, and the wretched plotters 
 became in an instant the victims of their rage and hunger. 
 
 Several figures of lions have been found among the ruins of 
 Babylon ; some coins represent a lion’s den under the walls of a 
 fortress; and an intaglio found in the same quarter represents a 
 man between two lions. It would perhaps be too much to say that 
 any of this had special reference to the incident we have recorded ; 
 but they afford interesting corroboration to the Scriptural account by 
 showing that lions were well known at Babylon, and that there were 
 one or more dens of these animals in that great city. In the ful- 
 ness of his satisfaction and astonishment, the king issued a decree 
 to all the nations of his vast empire, commanding “ that in every 
 dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of 
 Daniel, for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever,” &c. 
 
 Nothing more is recorded of the personal history of Daniel, save 
 that he lived through the reign of Darius the Mede, and into that 
 of Cyrus ; indeed, one of his visions is dated in the third year of 
 Cyrus, when he must have reached the ninetieth year of his age. 
 
 I here is no reason to doubt that Daniel retained his authority and 
 influence under the latter monarch, and there is much reason to 
 conclude that he brought that great prince acquainted with those 
 
 prophecies which had a long time before predicted not only the 
 restoration of the Jews to their own land, but that this restoration 
 was to be effected under a king named Cyrus. But although he 
 had thus probably an important part in bringing about this result, 
 there is no evidence that he availed himself of the privilege con- 
 ceded to his countrymen. Some have asserted that he returned 
 from captivity with Ezra, and took upon him the government of 
 Syria ; but it is more likely that he was too old to take part in so 
 great a charge, and that, according to the usually received opinion, 
 he died in Persia. Epiphanius and others affirm that he died at 
 Babylon ; and they say that his sepulchre was to be seen there, 
 many ages after, in the royal cave. But it seems more probable 
 that, according to the common tradition, he was buried at Susa or 
 Shusan, where lie sometimes resided, probably in his official capa- 
 city, and where he was favoured with some of his last visions. (Dan. 
 viii. 2, 8.) Josephus says that there was at Susa a magnificent 
 edifice in the form of a tower, which was said to have been built by 
 Daniel, and which served as a sepulchre for the Persian and Par- 
 thian kings. This in the time of the historian retained its perfect 
 beauty, and presented a fine specimen of the prophet’s skill in archi- 
 tecture. That this tower was built by Daniel there is little ground 
 to believe; but that a monument of the kind would be ascribed to 
 him by the numerous Jews resident in those parts in and before the 
 time of Josephus is highly probable. Benjamin of Tudela mentions 
 that he was shown the reputed tomb of Daniel at Susa on the 
 Tigris ; and at the present day, a tomb bearing his name is the only 
 standing building among the ruins of Shus, the ancient Susa. The 
 city itself is now a gloomy wilderness, inhabited by lions, hyasnas, 
 and other beasts of prey ; and the tomb stands at the foot of the 
 most elevated of the heaps of ruin, which time, by covering with 
 mould and drift, has converted into mounds or hillocks. The 
 structure is modern, and of the usual form of the tombs of holy 
 men throughout that country ; but nothing could have led to its 
 being built there but the belief, attested by some previous monu- 
 ment, that it was the real site of the prophet’s sepulchre. The 
 tomb is a small building, but affords shelter to a few derveishes, 
 who are supported by the alms of the pilgrims who visit the sepul- 
 chre. These derveishes are now the only inhabitants of Susa, and 
 various species of wild and ravenous beasts roam at large over that 
 spot on which some of the proudest palaces ever raised by human 
 art, once stood. , 
 
 The last six chapters of Daniel’s book are occupied by the pro- 
 phecies, in the form of visions, which were delivered at different 
 times, but which are all in some degree connected as parts of one 
 grand scheme, in which the interests of the Hebrew and Christian 
 churches are concerned. They extend through many ages ; and ex- 
 hibit, under the most striking representations, the rise and fall of 
 successive kingdoms : they characterise, in terms highly descriptive, 
 the four great monarchies of the world, to be succeeded by that 
 kingdom which is an everlasting dominion, and which shall not be 
 destroyed. They even point out intermediate subdivisions of em- 
 pires, particularly that of the four kingdoms into which the empire 
 of Alexander should be broken. 
 
 Daniel not only predicted the events of the coming time with sin- 
 gular precision, but likewise accurately defined the time in which they 
 were to be fulfilled. This was remarkably fulfilled in that illustrious 
 prophecy of the “ seventy weeks” (weeks of years, 7 x 70=490 years), 
 to the bringing in of everlasting righteousness by the Messiah. 
 In this and in the historical prophecies the predictions of Daniel 
 were so exactly fulfilled, that those persons who would otherwise 
 have been unable to resist the evidence in support of our religion 
 which they disclosed, have not scrupled to affirm that they were 
 written subsequently to the occurrences which they so faithfully 
 describe. But it is contrary to all historical testimony, and contrary 
 to all probability, that the Jews should have admitted into the canon 
 of their sacred writ a book which contained pretended prophecies of 
 what had already happened. A remarkable portion of these prophe- 
 cies also refer to Antiochus Epiphanes ; and so far from being written 
 after his time, there is good reason to conclude that these prophecies 
 existed in the Greek translation, at least a hundred years before that 
 monarch lived ; and this translation was in the possession of the Egyp- 
 tians, who entertained no kindness for the Jews or their religion. 
 
 In the time of Josephus, Daniel was esteemed as one of the 
 greatest of the prophets ; but afterwards the stress which the Chris- 
 tians began to lay upon bis prophecies to show that the Messiah had 
 already come, turned their minds against him : and although they 
 durst not dispute his authority as an inspired writer, they placed his 
 book among those which are not considered prophetical, and there, 
 in their Bibles, it still remains. 
 
Sunday XLII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 331 
 
 SUNDAY XLII. — BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 UT no sooner were they attired 
 in their distinguishing vestments, 
 and engaged in preparation for 
 their burnt offerings, their in- 
 cense and their sweet music, than 
 a band of armed guards was 
 sent i.i among them, with orders 
 to put every one to the sword. 
 Xot one of that vast congregation 
 escaped ; anil when the massacre 
 was over, the idol was over- 
 thrown and broken in pieces, 
 the temple itself was cast down 
 and made a common jakes ; and the miserable idolatry to which 
 it was devoted never again became formidable in Israel. 
 
 But although Jehu thus bloodily punished others for deviating 
 from the law of Moses, there was a point at which, like all the 
 kings of Israel, he paused in his own observance of its injunctions. 
 The deep-rooted schism which Jeroboam had with so much of 
 worldly policy established, and which was concentrated around the 
 worship of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel, was maintained 
 by him in its full vigour. This halting obedience did not satisfy 
 God ; and on account of it — on account of his sparing the root, 
 uhile he lopped off the branches of idolatry in Israel — prosperity 
 in war was denied him ; and the Syrians, under Ilazael, in his days 
 “ cut Israel short,” by seizing the territories beyond the Jordan. 
 
 AA'e may now turn to notice what happened at Jerusalem when 
 the dead body of King Ahaziah had been brought thither from 
 Megiddo. During his reign his mother Athaliah had enjoyed the 
 pleasures of power ; and when he was cut off, she resolved that it 
 should not pass from her hands. This, from the position of affairs, 
 she could only effect by directly grasping the crown, and boldly 
 seizing all the powers which the state vested in its head. She did 
 this ; and, to secure the power she had usurped, she directed all the 
 seed royal to be put, to death. One of her grandchildren alone 
 escaped, the infant Joash, who was still at the bosom of his nurse, 
 and who was secretly conveyed away by his aunt (the sister of the 
 late king) Jehosheba, the wife of the high-priest Jehoiada, into the 
 temple, where he was brought up with great care, until it should be 
 deemed proper to introduce him to the people as their rightful 
 sovereign. Athaliah meanwhile ruled with absolute sway. She 
 revived the worship of Baal in the great house which she had built 
 in honour of that idol ; and used every means in her power to 
 discountenance and depress the interests of the true religion as 
 administered by the servants of Jehovah. 
 
 In the sixth year of her reign, 878 B.C., when Joash had entered 
 upon the seventh year of his age, Jehoiada resolved to place him 
 upon the throne of his fathers; and, in concert with the priests 
 and Levites, who readily acceded to the measure, a day was fixed 
 for the execution of the design. Accordingly, on the day appointed, 
 the avenues and gates of the temple being strictly guarded by the 
 Levites to prevent surprise from the party of Athaliah, the young 
 prince was conveyed, under a strong escort of priests, to the inner 
 court of the temple, and was there anointed and proclaimed king 
 of Judah. The loud and unwonted acclamations in the temple- 
 courts attracted the attention of Athaliah in her palace, and she 
 hastened to the sanctuary to learn the cause. She there beheld the 
 young Joash standing by the pillar which was the usual station of 
 the kings, with the crown royal on his head ; which, with the 
 hearty shouts of the people, “ Long live the king!” made known 
 to her the event. Her rage on making this discovery was without 
 bounds ; and she called upon the people to avenge the treason and 
 redress her wrongs. But not a hand was raised or a weapon 
 moved in her behalf ; and at a ..od from the high-priest, she was 
 taken forth from the temple and put to death. The idolatrous 
 worship which she had upheld was at the same time put down, the 
 temple of Baal was demolished, and his priest Mattan was slain 
 before the unholy altar. 
 
 Jehoiada, who was a man of etpial sagacity and devotion, availed 
 himself of the favourable disposition of the people to engage them 
 to renew the ancient covenant with Jehovah — to serve him only, 
 and to regard themselves as his peculiar people — and, at the same 
 time, to expound the constitutional relations between the king and 
 his subjects as settled at the foundation of the monarchy, but which 
 had been forgotten or neglected during the violent usurpation and 
 arbitrary government of Athaliah. The obligations resulting from 
 these relations, the king on the one part, and the people on the other, 
 pledged themselves to observe. Thus the accession of Joash was 
 
 j in many respects a revival of the theocratical and civil principles 
 I upon which the government had been established. 
 
 I During the minority of the king, the atiiiirs of the government 
 were conducted by r the venerable Jehoiada ; but no sooner did Joash 
 reach an age which qualified him to discharge the duties of his 
 high station, than he was invested with full powers, and the high- 
 priest was content to tender his advice and offer his suggestions. 
 
 One of the first objects to which the attention of tiie young king 
 was directed, was the dilapidated condition of the temple. During 
 the late reigns, in which the influence of Ahab’s house had been 
 felt in Judah, the sacred fabric had been much neglected, and the 
 funds which should have been devoted to its maintenance had been 
 unclaimed or devoted to other uses. The high-priest at first 
 recommended the renewal of the tax which had been imposed by 
 Moses to defray the expenses connected with sacred things : but as 
 it was found that the people did not cheerfully submit to a payment 
 to which they were unaccustomed, it was very judiciously turned 
 into a voluntary contribution, and then more than sufficient was 
 speedily raised to restore the sacred building to something like its 
 original magnificence. 
 
 Jehoiada lived to the advanced age of one hundred and thirty years, 
 and at his death, in 850 B.C., the general sense of his great public ser- 
 vices was evinced by the unexampled honours rendered to his remains, 
 which were allowed a place in the sepulchre of the kings. Judah 
 had much cause to mourn his loss ; for, when he was removed, the 
 king began to listen to less experienced and less wise advisers. 
 Under this new influence the covenant into which he had entered 
 at his accession became a light thing in his eyes: he first neglected 
 the service of Jehovah, and thence, by imperceptible degrees, was 
 led by his unprincipled advisers into the open sanction of and 
 participation in idolatrous acts. lie had been too well brought up 
 to do these things with an untroubled conscience ; and thence the 
 remonstrances of the priests and prophets at length stung him so 
 deeply that he refused to hear them any more. The importunate 
 remonstrances of the high-priest Zecharias, the son of his benefactor 
 Jehoiada, and the companion of his youth, in particular annoyed 
 him so greatly that he gave his consent that he should be murdered. 
 This horrid deed, alone sufficient to stamp any reign with disgrace 
 and horror, was perpetrated in the very temple ; and the last words 
 of the slaughtered priest were — “The Lord look upon it, and 
 requite it.” 
 
 The last words of the martyred priest fell not to the ground. 
 The ambitious, able, and warlike Ilazael was still upon the throne 
 of Syria, and was then in possession of the rich territories beyond 
 the Jordan, which formed the heritage of Reuben, Gad, and Ma- 
 nasseh, of which he had made himself master, after gaining several 
 battles over the forces of Jehu and his son. He turned his armies 
 against Judah, and advanced against Jerusalem. Joash was in no 
 condition to oppose this formidable invasion, and resolved to pur- 
 chase the retreat of an army which he durst not face in the field. 
 He accordingly stripped the temple of its rich vessels of silver and 
 gold, and adding them to all the treasure he could command, sent 
 the gift to Ilazael, and implored him to retire from the country. 
 The Syrian did so: but such a recourse was not calculated to 
 purchase a long truce, and the very next year the hosts of Syria 
 again appeared under the walls of Jerusalem. Joash had no treasure 
 left with which to repeat the experiment of the preceding year, and 
 therefore hazarded a battle. He was defeated, and the Syrians 
 entered the gates, and put the city to military execution. The 
 chiefs who had seduced the youth of Joash to evil were slain in the 
 battle, and he was himself grievously wounded ; and after the 
 Syrians had retired to their own country, laden with the plunder of 
 Jerusalem, he was slain in his bed by two of his officers, under a 
 conspiracy which these disasters had excited. This was in 810 b.c., 
 after he had reigned forty years. Joash was succeeded by his son 
 Amaziah. 
 
 In Isiael,to which we now return, Jehu, after having seen his 
 dominion shorn by the Syrians, died in 850 b.c., having reigned 
 twenty-eight years, lie was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, whose 
 reign of seventeen years is distinguished by few events but such as 
 were connected with the war with the Syrians, in which the latter, 
 under Ilazael, were so generally successful, that by the end of this 
 reign not only had the crown of Israel lost its fair possessions 
 beyond the Jordan, but the magnificent army had been reduced 
 to fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot: “for the 
 king of Syria had destroyed them, and made them like the dust by 
 thrashing.” 
 
 Jehoahaz was succeeded in the throne of Israel by his son Joash. 
 who began to reign in the thirty-seventh year of his namesake, 
 Joash king of Judah, b.c. 841. Instructed by the damnifies of 
 his predecessors, the young king manifested some disposition to 
 
 2 U 2 ■ 
 

 
 Ty Gardd. 
 
 1M1.— Part ot the Head-tire. 
 Khan o Benwisg. 
 
 1040.— Head-tire. 
 Penwisg. 
 
 1039. —Cavalcade. 
 Marchogion. 
 
 1043. — Ancient Egyptian Painted Eye, with the 
 Colour-pot and Pencil. 
 
 Llygaid Coluredig yr Hen Aipht, gyd a’r 
 Cawg coluro a Phwyntel. 
 
 
 1046. — Female Head-tire. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 1046.— Street Dogs of Syria. 
 Cwn Heolydd Syria. 
 
 Penwisg Benyw 
 
 332 
 

 333 
 
 1050. — Mount Tabor. 
 Mynydd Tabor 
 
334 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XLII. 
 
 cleave to Jehovah and to guide himself by the counsels of Elisha. 
 He was, however, soon deprived of the latter ; for the prophet be- 
 came sick unto death, and in his last hours was visited by his 
 sovereign. The prophet desired him to take bow and arrows, and 
 shoot with them througli the open window eastward ; he did so— 
 and was told that he should smite the Syrians in Aphek. He was 
 then directed to smite with the arrows upon the ground. He smote 
 thrice and stayed : and the prophet was distressed that he had not 
 more frequently repeated the symbolical strokes, since he could 
 now only foretell that lie should prevail three times against the 
 Syrians. The death of Ilazael, whose name had for so many years 
 been a terror throughout Israel, enabled Joash to realise the pre- 
 diction of the prophet. Benhadad, who then ascended the throne 
 of Syria, was not less hostile to the Israelites than his father, but 
 was far inferior to him in military talents, and soon had the morti- 
 fication of seeing most of his conquests torn from him. This re- 
 covery of the possessions which his father had lost formed the 
 principal feature of Joash’s reign of seventeen years. He died in 
 b.c. 825, and was succeeded by his son Jeroboam II. This prince 
 prosecuted with success the war with the Syrians, and, not content 
 with extending to the utmost limits the territory of Israel, he 
 carried his arms into the Syrian dominions ; and even the capital, 
 Damascus, surrendered to his forces. These conquests were the im- 
 mediate results of a great victory over Benhadad which had been 
 foretold by Jonah the prophet. 
 
 But the inward prosperity of the kingdom of Jeroboam was not 
 in proportion to this show of outward splendour. The king did 
 not discourage by example or decree the adorations, or even the 
 foreign superstitions, to which the Israelites had manifested a strong 
 tendency ever since the reign of Ahab. Hence the latter years of 
 this, upon the whole, prosperous reign were troubled, and it was 
 succeeded by a wild anarchy, the immediate cause and duration of 
 which have not been ascertained ; but it was not until eleven years 
 after his death that his son Zechariah obtained possession of the 
 sceptre, b.c. 784. 
 
 In the kingdom of Judah the unhappy Joash was succeeded by 
 his son Amaziah, who is said to have “done right in the sight of 
 the Lord,” but, it is added, “ not with a perfect heart.” He began 
 his reign by putting the murderers of his father to an ignominious 
 death, but forbore, according to the injunctions of the law, and con- 
 trary to the usual practice of the East, to involve the children in 
 the fate of their parents. Feeling strong in his kingdom, Amaziah 
 made an attempt to recover the revolted kingdom of the Edomites. 
 He was enabled to raise an army of three hundred thousand men 
 in his own dominions, and added to these one hundred thousand men, 
 — veterans trained in the Syrian wars, — whom he hired from his 
 neighbour the king of Israel. This alliance with a people tainted 
 with idolatry was, however, offensive to God, and he was assured by 
 a prophet that, if he took these seemingly valuable auxiliaries into 
 the field, his arms could not prosper. “ But,” said the king, “ what 
 shall we do for the hundred talents of silver which I have given to 
 the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is 
 able to give thee much more than this.” On this the king sepa- 
 rated the auxiliaries from his own army, and desired them to return 
 to their homes. This was a great act of faith on the part of 
 Amaziah, not only as respected his future operations, but because 
 he must have felt that the troops of Israel were likely to be exaspe- 
 rated and their king offended at their dismissal. In fact the aux- 
 iliary legions felt their being sent back as an insult ; and, being 
 disappointed of the prospect of spoil in Edom, plundered several 
 of the cities of Judah in their way home, and slew many of their 
 inhabitants. Amaziah was, however, victorious over the Edomites 
 in a great battle fought in the Valley of Salt: ten thousand of 
 them were slain before him, and ten thousand, who had been taken 
 captives, he cruelly destroyed by casting them down from the high 
 cliffs of their native mountains. The nation was not, however, per- 
 manently brought under the yoke of Judah, 
 
 Among the spoils which Amaziah brought home from Edom 
 were some idolatrous images, which, on some account or other, so 
 much engaged his attention that he set them up as objects of wor- 
 ship, and the service of Jehovah was once more neglected in Judah. 
 The enormity of this offence, and the gross infatuation of a worship 
 rendered to the idols of a people he had overcome, was severely 
 reproved by a prophet. But the. king, who had become mightily 
 exalted in his own esteem, resented the faithful admonition. “Art 
 thou made of the king’s council ? ” he exclaimed. “ Forbear ; why 
 shouldst thou be smitten ? ” The prophet accordingly forbore ; and 
 only added the words of deep meaning — “I know that God hath 
 determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast 
 not hearkened to my counsel.” 
 
 From that time the tide of prosperity turned against Amaziah. 
 It seems that he had on his return from the campaign against 
 the Edomites expressed some resentment at the conduct of the 
 auxiliaries of Israel on their return through the land of Judah ; 
 and failing to obtain satisfaction from king Joash, challenged him 
 to decide the matter in the field ; and it seems very likely, from the 
 reply of the latter, that, as Josephus supposes, he advanced the now 
 obsolete pretensions of the house of David to the allegiance of all 
 the tribes. The reply of Joash advised him not to be carried away 
 by his victory over the Edomites, but to rest content with what 
 he had gained, and not tempt his own ruin. Exasperated at the 
 sarcastic terms in which this answ'er was conveyed, Amaziah 
 became the more eager for this expedition, “ which,” says Josephus, 
 “ I suppose was by the impulse of God, that he might be punished 
 for his offence against him.” He inarched forthwith to meet the 
 king of Israel, and in the battle fought at Beth-siiemesh was 
 utterly defeated and taken prisoner. The conqueror marched on 
 to Jerusalem, and the painful spectacle was then exhibited of a 
 king of Judah entering his own metropolis as a captive in the train 
 of a king of Israel. This was followed by the still more distressing 
 circumstance of a king of Israel making spoil of the precious things 
 in the house of God — with which, and the treasures of the royal 
 palace, he departed, leaving Amaziah at liberty; but not until he 
 had cast down a large portion of the city wall as a monument of his 
 triumph. 
 
 This event seems to have crippled Amaziah, and kept him quiet 
 during the remainder of his reign, though he outlived his conqueror 
 fifteen years. He at length perished through a conspiracy among 
 his own servants. Being made aware of his danger in Jerusalem, 
 he fled to Lachish, but was pursued and put to death, leaving the 
 crown to his son Azariah, a youth sixteen years old, better known 
 in sacred history by the name of Uzziah, 810 b.c. 
 
 The government and character of this young prince were entirely 
 free from the crimes and errors which disgraced his father’s reign. 
 His eminent piety gave new lustre to the throne on which he sat, 
 and gave strength and glory to his dominion. He recovered Elath 
 in the Red Sea ; the Philistines and the tribes of the desert felt the 
 power of his arms, and the Ammonites were constrained to pay him 
 tribute. His enlarged resources he employed in strengthening his 
 kingdom, and in bringing to perfection various useful inventions, or 
 introducing them from foreign parts. He repaired and strengthened 
 the walls of Jerusalem, and planted upon the towers and bulwarks 
 “engines invented by cunning men, to shoot arrows and great 
 stones withal.” He also organised the army, and could bring into 
 the field more than 300,000 well-armed men, for whom lie provided 
 a vast store of the weapons and armour in use among the Israelites, 
 consisting of shields and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and 
 bows and slings to cast stones. But while he thus stood prepared 
 for war, he cultivated beyond most kings the arts of peace ; for we 
 are told that “also he built towers in the desert, and digged many 
 wells, for he had much cattle both in the low countries and in the 
 plains : husbandmen also and vine-dressers in the mountains and in 
 Carmel, for he loved husbandry.” Thus “ he was marvellously 
 helped till he was strong.” But, alas for human strength ! for it is 
 immediately added — “ But when he was strong, his heart was lifted 
 up to his destruction.” This self-exaltation was manifested in a 
 shape unusual in Judah — not in any departure from God, but in an 
 attempt to take the part of a priest in the service's of religion. In 
 many nations, as Uzziah knew, the priestly and regal functions were 
 united ; and he had but a dim perception of the peculiar principles 
 of the Hebrew theocracy which excluded him from this privilege. 
 In a rash hour he took a censer, and went into the holy place which 
 none but the priest might enter, and attempted to offer incense, 
 which was the peculiar function of the priesthood. This the 
 priests resisted : but the king was disposed to stand upon his sup- 
 posed right ; and a most unseemly fray was likely to have arisen 
 in the sanctuary, when the king was suddenly smitten with leprosy. 
 He was then hurried forth by the priests as an unclean person — 
 nay, he hastened away himself to hide his confusion and his shame. 
 He lived apart as a leper during the remainder of his life, and his 
 son Jotham administered the government in his name. Uzziah died 
 in 758 b.c., when Jotham exchanged his regency for the sovereignty 
 of Judah. 
 
 The reign of Jotham was unmarked by great virtues or great 
 crimes. But it was, in its sort, a merit in those days for a king to 
 rule without offence; and Jotham’s reign was by no means unpros- 
 perous. He maintained or recovered the ascendancy over the neigh- 
 bouring nations which his father had acquired ; and he repaired the 
 temple, and built several cities in different parts of his dominions 
 At his death, in 772 b.c., Jotham was succeeded by his son Ahaz 
 
Sunday XLII.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 335 
 
 SUNDAY XLII.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 N the private circles in which Paul 
 and Barnabas recounted what the Lord 
 ' had effected through their preaching 
 among the Gentiles, their accounts 
 were received with much interest and 
 satisfaction. But at length some con- 
 verts, who had passed over from the 
 school of the Pharisees, began to de- 
 mur at the exemption of the Gentiles 
 from circumcision, and hinted at the 
 necessity of subjecting Titus to that 
 rite. But Paul strenuously asserted the equal privileges of the 
 Gentiles in the kingdom of God, and affirmed that theii faith 
 placed them in the same position towards God as believing Jens. 
 Tins controversy gave rise to so much vehement discussion, that 
 it was thought necessary that the subject should be considered and 
 settled in a convention of the whole church ; but this was afterwards 
 changed into a meeting of chosen delegates. 
 
 In this first Council of the Christian church, held in 52 a.d., 
 Peter stood up and appealed to the testimony of his own expe- 
 rience in the matter of Cornelius, in favour of the view which Paul 
 had taken. The weighty words in which he urged the conclusions 
 derivable from this experience were heard with profound attention ; 
 and, as no one undertook to answer them, Paul, and after him Bar- 
 nabas, rose to state the results of their own experience to the same 
 effect, and appealed with great force to the miracles by which God 
 had been pleased to aid and sanction their labours. "W hen the 
 minds of the assembly had been thus prepared, James came forward 
 with a proposal suited to his own peculiar moderation, and well 
 suited to compose the existing differences. James was held in great 
 respect by the Jews, from his strictness in observing the law, and 
 therefore his words had the greater weight with the converts of the 
 Jewish pale. Referring to the preceding statements, he skilfully 
 demonstrated that in this admission of the Gentiles into the blessings 
 of the Messiah’s kingdom, the eternal purposes of God, as announced 
 in old time by the prophets, had been fulfilled ; and it behoved 
 them to be careful not to obstruct or retard so great a work. He 
 therefore proposed that they should enjoin nothing further upon the 
 converted Gentiles than abstinence from meat offered to idols, or of 
 animals strangled, from blood, and from unchastity. Most of these 
 things belong to the precepts to which men were trained before the 
 giving of the law (Gen. ix. 1 — 7) ; and, therefore, although included 
 in the law of Moses, were not peculiar to it. The observance of 
 these offered a sort of common ground, in which the Jewish and 
 Gentile converts could meet ; and the suggestions of James approved 
 itself to the good sense of the meeting, and, under the influence 
 of that higher spirit by which their councils were animated, 
 were immediately adopted, and were forthwith carried into effect by 
 being formally communicated to the Gentile churches in Syria and 
 Asia Minor, in an epistle drawn up in the name of the assembly. 
 Two persons of high repute in the church, Joses, surnamed Bar- 
 rabas, and Silas, were chosen to be the bearers of this important 
 missive, and to accompany Paul and Barnabas, whose authority 
 would be much supported by the presence and aid of persons known 
 to be delegates from the church at Jerusalem. A copy of the 
 letter, the earliest public document of the Christian church, is given 
 in Acts xvi. 23 — 29. They were also accompanied by the nephew 
 of Barnaba«, John surnamed Mark, who had been the companion of 
 the first journey of Paul and Barnabas into Asia, but who had left 
 them when they entered Pamphylia, and returned to Jerusalem. 
 Here Barnabas met him again, and, having brought him to a sense 
 of his former misconduct, induced him to become once more their 
 companion. 
 
 After Paul and Barnabas had spent some time with the church 
 at Antioch, they resolved to revisit the churches which they had in 
 their former journey into Asia Minor established, and to extend 
 their operations still further in the same direction. Barnabas 
 wished to take his nephew, Mark, again with them as a companion : 
 but Paul thought that his unfitness for this vocation was evinced by 
 the lightness with which he had formerly cast off its obligations, 
 and he refused his assent to the proposal. Barnabas took this so ill, 
 that he parted company from one with whom he had hitherto so 
 diligently and affectionately laboured. He struck out another 
 sphere of action for himself; and, taking Mark with him, departed 
 for Cyprus, his native country'. Paul then, on his part, adopted 
 Silas for a companion, and proceeded to work out the original plan 
 of the journey. Good came out of this seeming evil; for the 
 sphere of labour was enlarged by this separation ; and Mark him- 
 
 self seems to have profited by this severity of Paul towards him, 
 for he afterwards continued faithful in his vocation. 
 
 On leaving Antioch, Paul travelled through the neighbouring 
 parts of Syria, to Cilicia, Pisidia, and the towns in which he had 
 laboured in his first journey. At Lystra — the town where he had 
 been first worshipped and then stoned — he found a young man 
 named Timothy, who, by the instructions of his mother — a pious 
 Jewess, but married to a heathen — had received religious impres- 
 sions which had an abiding effect. His mother was converted 
 when the apostle first visited the town, and young Timothy also 
 became a zealous confessor of the Gospel. Even at leonium Paul 
 heard of his Christian zeal ; and the church to which he belonged 
 entertained the belief that he was destined for great things in the 
 Church of Christ. Paul heard this of his young convert with great 
 joyg and gladly permitted him to accompany him in his travels, to 
 render him the services which in those days disciples rendered to 
 their teachers, and to witness and to take part in his labours and 
 sufferings. 
 
 After Paul had visited the churches already founded in those 
 districts, he proceeded to Phrygia. It was scarcely possible that 
 he should visit all the large towns of this large and populous 
 province; and he therefore seems to have left much to be accom- 
 plished by his pupils, such, for instance, as by Epaphras at Colosse, 
 who afterwards founded a church there, and in the towns of 
 Hierapolis and Laodicea. It is evident that Paul took much in- 
 terest in these churches, to the first of which he wrote an invaluable 
 epistle, in which the others are mentioned (Col. iv. 13, 15, 16), 
 and in which the name of Epaphras repeatedly occurs (i. 7 ; iv. 
 12, 13); and it seems most probable that the relation which he 
 formed with them, and which led them to regard him as their 
 spiritual father, took place during this journey in the way which 
 has been indicated. 
 
 From Phrygia Paul proceeded northward to Galatia, where his 
 divine message appears to have been well received. Some interesting 
 particulars concerning this visit are preserved in the Epistle to the 
 Galatians, which the Acts of the Apostles do not record. Paul often 
 speaks of unusual affliction, which he calls “a thorn in his flesh 
 — the messenger of Satan to buffet him” (2 Cor. xii. 7), by which 
 he was often humbled and brought low. What this was cannot be 
 known. Some think it was a diminutive stature ; others, diseased 
 eyes ; others, an imperfect utterance ; others, more probably, that it 
 was some acute bodily pain, which gave to his person a wasted and 
 wan, if not a distorted appearance. He was under the strong in- 
 fluence of this infirmity when he visited Galatia ; but the divine 
 power of his word and his works contrasted so strikingly with the 
 feebleness of the material organ, that the stronger impression was 
 therefore made upon the susceptible Galatians. He mentions this 
 very gratefully in his epistle to them : “ My temptation which was 
 in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected ; but received me as an 
 angel of God, even as Jesus Christ.” lie adds afterwards, “ I bear 
 you witness that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked your 
 own two eyes and have given them to me ;” and this is the passage 
 which has chiefly led some to suppose that the “ infirmity ” of Paul 
 lay in his eye-sight. 
 
 On leaving Galatia, Paul was at first uncertain in what direction 
 to turn, since new fields of labour opened to him on different sides. 
 At one time he contemplated going in a south-westerly direction, to 
 Proconsular Asia, and afterwards of passing in a northerly direction 
 into Mysia and Bithynia; but either by an inward voice or a vision 
 he received a monition from the Divine Spirit which caused him to 
 abandon both these plans. He then formed an intention of passing 
 into Europe; but waiting to see whether he should be encouraged 
 or withheld by a higher guidance, he betook himself to Troas; and 
 a nocturnal vision, in which lie beheld a man in the garb of a 
 Macedonian calling to him for aid, confirmed his resolution to visit 
 Macedonia. At Troas he met with Luke the physician, perhaps 
 one of the proselytes who had been converted by him at Antioch, 
 and who now joined the party of Paul, and remained attached to it 
 in labour and travel till the inspired record terminates. That record, 
 as contained in the Acts of the Apostles, is usually held to have 
 been written by Luke; and it would appear that he wrote it at 
 Home during St. Paul’s first imprisonment, and while his cause, 
 which he had referred to the imperial tribunal, was still undecided. 
 At least the narrative is, as we shall find, brought down to that 
 point, and there stops with some abruptness — which is strongly in 
 favour of this condition. Henceforth Luke ; s to be regarded as 
 a companion of St. Paul, except during a short interval, although 
 he scarcely allows his own presence to be indicated in his narra- 
 tive, otherwise than by the occasional use of the pronoun we, in 
 recording the proceedings of the apostolical mission. 
 
1054.— Colossae : present state. 
 Colossa : sefyllfa bresennol. 
 
 1056.— Laodicea. 
 
 1052.— Antioch. (Cassas.) 
 Antiochia. 
 
 jQj ;3 Paul Preaching to the Galatians. 
 
 Paul yn Pregethu i'r Galatiaid. 
 
 1055.— Ruins. 
 Adfeilion. 
 
 1057.— Ruined Temple. 
 Tend Adfeiliedig. 
 
 336 
 

 1058. — Tatar, or Turkish Courier. 
 Rhedegwr Tataraidd, neu Dyrcaidd. 
 
 1059.— Mandarin with Emperor’s Letter. 
 Mandarin yn cludo Llythyr Ymherawdwr. 
 
 10G0.— Eagle hastening to his Prey. 
 Eryr vn prysuro at ei Y6glyfaeth. 
 
 1062.— Indian Stocks. 
 Cyfflon Indiaidd. 
 
 1063.— Wooden Collar. 
 
 Colar Goed. 
 
 2 X 337 
 
338 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XLIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XLIII. -JOB. 
 
 HE vindication of Job was interrupted 
 by Bildad the Shuhite, who attacked 
 the sufferer with more keenness than 
 Eliphaz, but with less bitterness than 
 Zophar, the next assailant. He re- 
 newed the charge which Eliphaz had 
 advanced, but with less eloquence and 
 less delicacy. His first address is short, 
 and occupies only the eighth chapter. 
 
 Job was not slow to answer this fresh 
 attack with becoming spirit. He again 
 defended himself most strenuously 
 against the argument that, since God 
 had afflicted him so grievously, he 
 must needs have been a most wicked 
 man : but at the same time he ad- 
 mitted that he could not claim to be entirely sinless. He confesses 
 before God his imperfections — appealing to the Divine compassion ; 
 and, failing to divine the cause of his misfortunes, he looks to the land 
 of shadows for relief. This reply fills the ninth and tenth chapters. 
 
 Zophar the Naamathite then came forward, with a reply to this 
 vindication. He exceeds the other two in the severity of his 
 censure ; and although he does little more than repeat and exag- 
 gerate the arguments which Bildad had previously employed, he is 
 by far the most inveterate of Job’s accusing friends, and speaks 
 without tenderness or pity. This speecli occupies the eleventh 
 chapter. Job’s answer, which occupies the three following chapters, 
 commences with a severe sarcasm upon the airs of superiority which 
 Zophar and his other friends assumed. Pie re-asserts his own 
 opinion on the matter in dispute, and accuses his friends of employ- 
 ing improper and weak arguments in defending the justice of God. 
 He then expresses a fervent wish that God himself would examine 
 his case with that compassion for his weakness which man denied. 
 Pie next launches forth into a vivid description of the miseries of 
 man's life, and implores for a temporary refuge in the grave till the 
 days of trouble are overpast. This latter part of his reply contains 
 some of the finest passages in the book. 
 
 It begins thus : — 
 
 “ Man that is born of woman 
 Is of few days, and full of trouble : 
 
 He groweth up like a flower — and is cut down ; 
 
 He fleeth also like a shadow, and stayeth not.” 
 
 And as we proceed, we come to a passage which, more than any ! 
 other, has led to the opinion that Job had no expectation of a 
 resurrection from the dead, nor perhaps of any life beyond the 
 grave : 
 
 “ There is hope for a tree 
 If it be cut down that it shall sprout again, 
 
 And that its tender branches will not fail. 
 
 Though its roots may have grown old in the earth, 
 
 And though its trunk be dead upon the ground, 
 
 At the scent of water it shall bud, 
 
 And put forth boughs like a young plant. 
 
 But man dieth — and he is gone for ever ! 
 
 Man expireth — and where is he?” 
 
 Job xiv. 7-10. Noyes’ translation. 
 Here, and in the sequel, Job seems clearly enough to intimate that 
 the hope of another life would be a sufficient comfort under the 
 miseries of this : and the absence of any such expectation accounts 
 for the feeling which he constantly expresses of the severity of 
 God’s dealings with man, and of those complaints of his condition 
 which to us, who possess this hope and consolation, appear unrea- 
 sonable, and not seldom irreverent. This perhaps is the key to 
 the position of Job in the great argument which he wages with his 
 friends. 
 
 From the chapters the argument of which has thus been stated, 
 a few points may be selected for particular notice. 
 
 In Job’s reply to Bildad, he illustrates the swiftness with which i 
 man’s days speed away, by some striking and rather unexpected 
 comparisons. lie says that they are “ swifter than a post,” or 
 “ courier which implies the existence of an accommodation which 
 we should scarcely have expected at so early a period ; and of 
 which there is indeed no trace in the history of the Jews; perhaps 
 because the narrow limits of their territory, and the absence of 
 intercourse with foreign parts, rendered any other than occasional 
 messengers unnecessary. When, however, the Hebrew history 
 brings us into large empires, we find a regularly organised system 
 
 ! of communication by couriers. This is implied in the way in which 
 the Book of Esther describes the royal decrees concerning the Jews 
 as being forwarded to all the provinces of the vast Persian empire 
 “by the posts tliat rode upon mules and camels.” In China the 
 employment of couriers appears to have been of equally ancient 
 origin, as would appear by some curious notices on the subject 
 collected by the Jesuit missionaries from old Chinese books, and 
 published in their ‘ Memoires sur les Chinois.’ 
 
 In the very next verse he says of man’s days: — 
 
 “ They are gone by like the swift ships, 
 
 Like the eagle darting upon his prey 
 in which there seems to us a connection of ideas which appears to 
 have escaped the notice of the commentators — the analogy of the 
 motion in a ship sailing upon the waters, and of an eagle sailing 
 through the air. It is a kind of connection of images which would 
 occur to persons who have been in the habit of witnessing both 
 kinds of motion, but not to others. 
 
 In Zophar’s address (chap. xi. 12) there is a remarkable allusion 
 to the washing of hands, which, although incidentally introduced as 
 a symbol of inward purity, affords us an opportunity of explaining 
 that it is now, and was among the nations whose usages are 
 described in Scripture, usual in washing the hands for water to be 
 poured from an ewer upon the hands, which were held over a basin 
 which receives the waste water. This cannot be conveniently done 
 without assistance ; and hence Elisha, as the immediate follower and 
 attendant of Elijah, is described as one who had poured water upon 
 his hands. 
 
 The expression of Zophar : 
 
 “For vain man would be wise, 
 
 Though man be born a wild-ass colt,” (xi. 12) 
 has engaged considerable attention from the boldness and effect 
 of the figure. We make the ass an emblem of stupidity, for 
 which no good reasons have ever been alleged. The Hebrews made 
 the ass, that is the tame ass, a symbol of contented and patient 
 labour (Gen. xlix. 14, 15) ; but the wild ass of the desert, which is 
 here intended, was with them a symbol of extreme contumacy and 
 ferocity. “ A wild-ass colt,” “ a wild-ass man,” were proverbial 
 expressions to this effect. It is thus applied to Ishmael, and with 
 remarkable appropriateness, if understood to apply to him as a 
 progenitor of the Arabian tribes (Gen. xvi. 12). The proverb still 
 exists among the Arabians, to describe an obstinate, indocile, and 
 contumacious person. 
 
 In chap. xiii. 27, Job says of God : — 
 
 “ Yea, thou puttest my feet in the stocks ; 
 
 Thou watchest all my paths ; 
 
 Thou settest a print on the heels of my feet.” 
 
 Most readers are surprised to find such venerable antiquity claimed 
 for this once familiar implement for the punishment of wrong-doers 
 — which still lingers in some of our villages. It is not, however, 
 likely that the “stocks” mentioned by Job were the same as those 
 known to ourselves ; but the passage proves the antiquity of the 
 practice of clogging or confining the feet by way of punishment. 
 The only other mention of this punishment in Scripture is in the 
 case of Jeremiah, whose feet were put into the stocks (Jer. xx. 
 
 2 ; xxix. 26), and in Prov. vii. 22. The particular form of this 
 machine among the Jews cannot now be ascertained — whether 
 they were encumbering clogs, or fetters, that did not absolutely 
 prevent or only embarrassed motion, or were fixed, that kept 
 the prisoners stationary. Both kinds are known to have been 
 anciently in use. The fixed kinds, properly called stocks, were 
 of different sorts, being frames of wood either for the feet 
 only, or for the feet, the hands, and the neck at once. The 
 last was very painful, and is mentioned in the accounts of the 
 sufferings to which the early martyrs were subjected by their 
 heathen persecutors. A sort of stocks is used now in India for 
 confining both the hands and the feet, while the patient lies at full 
 stretch upon his back. This position must be highly painful, 
 notwithstanding the degree of freedom which the head enjoys. Of 
 confinement for the head, such as our pillory or the Chinese collar, 
 we do not read in Scripture ; but it is not improbable that the phrase 
 “ thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet” may be illustrated 
 from the practice of the Chinese of putting a seal over the part where 
 the boards joined, so that it coidd not be opened without detection 
 during the period in which it is appointed to be worn. Some 
 interpret the passage less literally, and suppose that, it is a metaphor 
 derived from the mode of treating the wild ass, an animal so 
 difficult to tame that it was necessary to clog its feet, in order to 
 bring it under subjection; and in that case the “ print ” upon the 
 heels of the feet may have reterred to a brand upon the hoof as a 
 mark of ownership. 
 
Sunday XLIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 339 
 
 SUNDAY XLIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 HE disturbances which for some 
 years kept back Zechariah from 
 the throne of his father, Jero- 
 boam, have already been noticed. 
 Even by bis accession in 773 b.c. 
 the perturbations of this unhappy 
 state were scarcely abated. His 
 administration was limited to the 
 short period of six months, when 
 he was put to death by Shallum, 
 who usurped the government. 
 With the death of Zechariah 
 ended the dynasty of Jehu, which 
 was of longer duration than any 
 other which had reigned in Israel. 
 Shallum was not long suffered to 
 enjoy the authority he had usurped ; for in one short month after 
 he was in his turn slain by Menahem, the general of the army, 
 who mounted the throne in his stead. This act was not universally 
 acceptable ; and the country became the scene of intestine com- 
 motions, which Menahem at length subdued by his power with 
 the army, but with a degree of barbarity which would have 
 disgraced a foreign conqueror. It was in this reign that the 
 Assyrians under Pul made their first appearance upon the borders 
 of Israel. Menahem was in no condition to oppose the conquerors 
 of the East ; and he deemed it wiser to tender a timely submission, 
 and to purchase peace at the price of a thousand talents of silver. 
 In this distracted kingdom there were no accumulations of royal 
 treasure, no rich temple like that of Jerusalem, to yield up gold 
 and silver on such occasion. Menahem had therefore no other 
 means of raising the sum he had agreed to pay the Assyrians than 
 bv a poll-tax of fifty shekels (about six pounds five shillings) each 
 upon 60,000 of his wealthiest subjects. This is the first instance in 
 either of the Hebrew kingdoms of money raised by taxation for a 
 public object. » 
 
 After a reign of ten years Menahem died in 763 b.c., and was 
 succeeded in a government which had now become wholly military, 
 by his son Pekahiah, who, after a short and distinguished reign of 
 two years, was slain by Pekah, the commander of the forces, who 
 placed himself upon the throne. Very soon after his accession this 
 king entered into an alliance with Rezin, king of Syria, against 
 Judah, which induced Ahaz, the king of the latter country, to seek 
 the protection of the Assyrians. By a large and numerous sub- 
 sidy he induced the king Tiglath-pileser to make a diversion in his 
 favour, by invading and crippling Israel. The great conqueror 
 did not feel bound to limit his operations according to the exigencies 
 of the small sovereign who sought his aid ; and he probably exceeded 
 the intentions, and even wishes, of Ahaz in the hard measure which 
 he dealt out to the neighbouring kingdom. The Assyrians reduced 
 all the northern parts of Israel, took possession of several principal 
 cities, and carried away captive a considerable number of the 
 inhabitants of those districts, as well as of the districts east of the 
 Jordan. This dismemberment of the kingdom, which reduced the 
 dominions of Pekah to Samaria and the lands of Ephraim, and 
 half Manasseh, excited great disaffection among his subjects, who 
 knew that the invasion had been brought upon the land through 
 his designs against Judah. A conspiracy was therefore formed 
 against him, in which, after a reign of two years, he was slain, and 
 Iloshea, who had headed the conspiracy, succeeded him in the 
 government, 739 b.c. 
 
 Hoshea must have had some talent, and great things must have 
 been expected from one who had been the organ of the popular 
 discontent against Pekah. But he was unable to stem the tide of 
 events, or to avert the doom from Heaven which had so long 
 impended over this unhappy kingdom. Indeed the immediate events 
 were, as appeared, to be hastened by the very measures which he 
 took to preserve his country. The only power in those parts 
 which was at all a match for the Assyrians was Egypt ; and in pro- 
 portion as their respective conquests brought their frontiers closer 
 to each other, the highest jealousy existed between them respecting 
 the fate and connections of the narrow dominions by which they 
 were alone separated. Hoshea at first succumbed to the Assyrian 
 power, by which he was pressed on the north and east, and agreed 
 to pay tribute to Shalmaneser, the then king of Assyria: but, 
 finding the yoke too heavy to be borne, he looked to Egypt for 
 relief; and entered into an alliance with “So,” or Sahaco, the 
 king of Egypt. Upon the confidence which this league inspired, 
 
 Hoshea ventured to seize and imprison the Assyrian officer, who 
 seems to have been placed at his court in a capacity similar to that 
 of our own political “ residents” in the native courts of India. This 
 brought down upon him the arms of the Assyrians, under Shal- 
 maneser. This Hoshea must have expected : but he also expected 
 help from Egypt, which came not. In the hope of relief from that 
 quarter he valiantly maintained his ground for three years in his 
 metropolis of Samaria against the Assyrian host : but during all 
 that time the Egyptians made no movement in his behalf; and at 
 length the besiegers obtained possession of the city, and destroyed 
 it. The king was made prisoner, and sent in chains to Nineveh, 
 where he appears to have lingered out the remnant of his days, as 
 no further mention of him occurs in Scripture. According to the 
 policy which prevailed in those times, and of which frequent 
 examples have since occurred in the East, the flower of the inhabit- 
 ants were transported to the Median provinces of the Empire, 
 721 b.c. 
 
 About forty years after this the then reigning King of Assyria, 
 called in Scripture Esarhaddon, caused a census to be taken of the 
 conquered kingdom, in order that the families which had escaped 
 the first captivity might be sent away to the same distant lands to 
 which their brethren had been transported. New colonies were 
 brought from the East to supply the place of the expatriated tribes, 
 by which means the name of Israel was soon extinguished in the 
 land which God had given for an inheritance to the seed of Jacob. 
 The new comers gradually combined with the dregs of the Israelites 
 who remained in the country, and the population thus formed, being 
 unable to claim the name of Israelites, took that of Samaritans, 
 from the city of Samaria. The strangers were all idolaters ; but 
 according to the notions of local and national deities which then 
 prevailed, they held themselves bound to know something of “ the 
 God of the country ” in which they had settled. They w r ere the 
 more persuaded of this from the ravages of the wild beasts, particu- 
 larly lions, which had increased marvellously with the decrease of the 
 human population ; and which they attributed to the wrath of “ the 
 God of the land ” at the neglect with which he had been treated. 
 A priest was therefore found to teach them how to worship aright 
 the God of the country. He fixed his residence at Bethel ; and the 
 superficial and merely external character of his instructions may be 
 estimated from the fact that, although the people feared the Lord, 
 they served also their own gods. Gradually, however, their system 
 became purified from this gross incongruity ; and their worship and 
 belief, although less regular in some of its observances, became 
 as correct and as free from idolatrous taint as that of the Jews 
 themselves. In later times, indeed, their system of belief may have 
 been the purer of the two, seeing that it was based entirely upon 
 the books of Moses, whereas that of the Jews became encumbered 
 with an enormous mass of oral traditions. 
 
 The desolation of the kingdom of the ten tribes took place, 
 according to Josephus (dating to the taking of Samaria), nine hun- 
 dred and forty-seven years after the deliverance from Egypt, eight 
 hundred years from the time of Joshua, and two hundred and forty 
 years, seven months, and seven days, after they had revolted from 
 Rehoboam, the grandson of David, and given the kingdom to his 
 rival. Such a conclusion, the historian adds, overtook the Israelites 
 when they transgressed the laws of God, and would not hearken to 
 the prophets who foretold that this calamity w'ould come upon them 
 if they departed not from their evil ways. 
 
 As for the tribes which were sent away beyond the Tigris in 
 Assyria and Media, history loses sight of them altogether ; and 
 nothing of their state or final destiny is known. Conjecture has 
 endeavoured to supply this neglect of history ; but not with any 
 signal success ; under the impression that the ten tribes must 
 needs be destined to obtain a part in those purposes of Divine 
 mercy, obscurely indicated in the prophecies, for which the remnant 
 of Judah has for so many ages been kept separate among the nations 
 unto this day. In this belief the world has been ransacked through 
 its whole extent for traces of them : and they have been supposed 
 to be found in so many different nations, and among so many different 
 disguises, that doubt is thrown upon all such researches by the want 
 of harmony and concurrence in the identification. The probability 
 is that not a few of them returned to Palestine under the decree of 
 Cyrus, which was not necessarily, or even in terms, limited to the 
 people of the kingdom of Judah, and that a still greater number 
 returned from time to time, when they heard of the prosperity 
 of their brethren in Palestine. But it is likely that the greater 
 number were soon merged in the nations among whom their abode 
 had been fixed ; and in this there would be the less difficulty, as so 
 many corrupt notions had been introduced among the ten tribes, and 
 the law of Moses had been so little heeded before the captivity, that 
 
 2X2* 
 
1064.— Catapulta prepared for the discharge of an Arrow. 
 . From Montfaucon. 
 
 Tafl-beiriant i ergydio Saeth. O Montfaucon. 
 
 1065 — Head of the Catapulta, showing the rope, levers, and 1067. — Balista prepared for the discharge of a Stone, 
 
 springs of twisted rope, by which the discharge was effected. Llech-beiriant wedi cael ei barotdi i daflu Maen. 
 
 Pen Tafl-beiriant, yn dangos y rhaff, trosolion, trwythyrau, a 
 rhaff gyfrodedd, gan y rhai yr achosid yr ergydion. 
 
 1008. — Fortress. 
 Amddiffynfa. 
 
 1070.— Fortress attacked : Testudo, &c. 
 
 Amddiffynfa &g iddi wrthglawdd a Mur Dvblyg. 
 
 1077. — Walls and Towers. — From Babylonian Coins. 
 Muriau a Thyrau. — O Fathodau Babilonaidd. 
 
 Amddiffynfa &g iddi Wrthglawdd Dyblyg. 
 
 1076. — Fortress. Babylon. 
 Amddiffynfa. Babilon. 
 
1080.— Nineveh. 
 Ninefeh. 
 
 1079.— Ascalon. 
 
 1C62. — Distant view of Lebanon. 
 Golygfa bellenig o Libanua. 
 
 341 
 
342 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XLIII. 
 
 there could scarcely be any barrier in the mind of the exiles to the 
 most intimate amalgamation with the heathen nations. 
 
 We may now return to the kingdom of Judah, which was per- 
 mitted to outlive, and might have profited by the downfal of, the 
 sister kingdom. 
 
 Ahaz, the son of Jotham, was twenty years old when he ascended 
 the throne. His government proved weak, and his character 
 unsteady. He early manifested a degree of unmeasured predilection 
 for idolatry, which had not before been witnessed in this kingdom. 
 He apostatized not only to the idolatries of the neighbouring nations, 
 but gave a share of his attention to the golden calves. Altars and 
 images to various idols were set up in different parts of Jerusalem, 
 and he adopted all the horrid rites with which their worship was 
 celebrated. The Syrian idolatry seems to have been that which 
 most engaged his admiration ; for he introduced the idols and altars 
 of that country, and altered the temple and its services after the 
 model of those of Damascus. At length the sacred building was 
 shut up altogether ; and the profane king abandoned himself to his 
 abominations without the restraint of the admonitions which the 
 service of Jehovah imposed. 
 
 Pekah, who then reigned in Israel, perceived, and determined to 
 take advantage of, the weakness which this course of conduct had 
 brought upon the house of David. As already intimated, he invited 
 Rezin, king of Syria, to join him in this enterprise ; and as Judah was 
 unprepared for a sudden attack, the confederates made an easy prey of 
 the open towns towards the frontier, and returned laden with spoil to 
 their own country. Exasperated at this unprovoked invasion, Ahaz 
 got together all the forces lie could command, and as soon as the 
 combined armies had separated, marched against the Israelites, and, 
 in the battle which ensued, met with a most complete and ruinous 
 discomfiture — one hundred and twenty thousand of his bravest men 
 were cut in pieces, two hundred thousand individuals, of both sexes 
 ami of every age, were taken prisoners, and were driven, together 
 with a large quantity of plunder, by the conquerors to Samaria. 
 On that day, so fatal to Judah, and, in the end, to Israel, Ahaz lost 
 his eldest son, the heir of his throne ; several of the most distin- 
 guished persons in the kingdom were also slain, and among them 
 Azrikam, who was “ next to the king.” In the midst of these 
 horrid scenes of unnatural warfare, one circumstance beams suddenly 
 out in high relief, like a rainbow of peace in the troubled sky. 
 When the captives of Judah arrived at Samaria, God moved the 
 prophet Oded to intercede for them, and to protest against their 
 being detained in bondage, or treated other than as brethren. So 
 powerful was his pleading, that some of the chief men in the tribes 
 stood forward and vowed that the prisoners should not enter the 
 city as- captives. They declared, truly, that more than sufficient 
 wrong between brethren had already been committed — enough to 
 draw down upon them the wrath of heaven — and that it behoved 
 them to avoid adding so great a weight to the sum of their wrong- 
 doing. The armed men, the triumphant warriors exulting in their 
 spoil, were smitten to the soul by such words, and every man gave 
 up cheerfully and willingly the captives he had taken, and the spoil 
 belonging to them which he had won. Then the men who had 
 bestirred themselves in this matter “ rose up, and took the captives, 
 and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and 
 arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and drink, and 
 anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and 
 brought them to Jericho, the city of palm-trees, to their brethren ; 
 then they returned to Samaria.” 
 
 But the pride of Ahaz had been too deeply humbled, and his fears* 
 too sensibly awakened, for this lenity to move him from the desperate 
 course on which he had resolved. This, as we have already intimated, 
 consisted in procuring the aid of the Assyrians, at the expense of a 
 costly subsidy and a voluntary vassalage. This assistance was readily 
 granted ; and the result, as it regards the kingdom of Israel, has 
 already been related. 
 
 After having seen the humiliation of the kingdoms of Syria and 
 of Israel — and in obtaining this result he had drained his own 
 kingdom of its wealth, and reduced it to a state of dependence upon 
 Assyria — Ahaz repaired to Damascus to pay his homage to the 
 conqueror. Ahaz had now fallen into distress, and distress usually 
 had worked well upon the kings of Judah, by weaning them from 
 the evils by which their calamities were produced. But it was not 
 so with Ahaz. II is calamities only led him deeper into sin. At 
 Damascus lie beheld an altar which pleased his fancy ; and concluding, 
 probably, in the deptli of his degradation, that the gods of the north 
 were more favourable to their votaries than Jehovah had become to 
 his people, he dared on his return to set up an altar after the same 
 model at Jerusalem, and rendered worship thereat. In fact, the 
 unhappy king may be regarded as having from this time entirely 
 
 abandoned the national faith and devoted himself to the idols of 
 Syria. No superstition was, indeed, too cruel for him. He offered 
 incense in the valley of Ilinnom, and made his own children pass 
 through the fire to Moloch. Had he not been removed by death, 
 there is every human probability that the temple of Jerusalem would 
 have been desecrated and abandoned, a heathenish worship substi- 
 tuted for the rites of the Mosaical law, and the kingdom of Judah 
 would have plunged into all the iniquities of Jeroboam and Ahab in 
 the kingdom of Israel. 
 
 But the death of Ahaz, in 718 b.c., offered Judah a respite from 
 the utter ruin which his downward course would have involved, and 
 his excellent son Ilezekiah soon held out the prospect of better and 
 more peaceful days to the distracted kingdom. Ilezekiah was 
 twenty-five years old when he began to reign. It was soon seen 
 that he was, like his pious ancestor King David, devotedly attached 
 to the service of God, and well grounded in those principles of the 
 theocratical institutions which had of late years been so much 
 neglected or lost sight of even in Judah. He commenced the work 
 of reformation as soon as he was advanced to the throne; and he not 
 only removed all traces and monuments of idolatry throughout his 
 dominions, but he suppressed the idolatrous worship upon hi"h 
 places, which had subsisted for many ages. One of his acts evinces 
 a largeness of view and freedom from superstition which gives more 
 insight into his character than almost anything which is recorded of 
 him. The brazen serpent which Moses had made in the wilderness 
 had always been preserved in the tabernacle and temple as an 
 interesting relic, and a monument of God’s ancient mercies towards 
 the Hebrew people. But now, in these days of strong idolatrous 
 tendency, the people began to look upon it with unseemly reverence, 
 to which perhaps they were the more induced, by the practice of 
 serpent-worship in the neighbouring countries. They were in great 
 danger of turning it into a secondary idol ; when the king, perceiving 
 this inclination, decided, with great moral courage and just discri- 
 mination, to destroy this ancient memorial, rather than that it should 
 be made an instrument of idolatry. One of the first acts of Hezekiah 
 was to re-open the temple of the Lord, which his father had impiously 
 shut up, and to restore the sacred services in all their ancient splen- 
 dour as in the time of David. The priests and Levites, who had 
 delayed assembling at Jerusalem to resume their duties, were affec- 
 tionately invited by the good king to return to their respective 
 offices, and were assured by him of his wish and intention to protect 
 and support them. When a sufficient number of them had thus been 
 brought to Jerusalem, they proceeded to purge the sanctuary of all 
 the abominations by which during the preceding reign it had been 
 polluted. When all things were ready, the king opened the solemn 
 worship of God by offering innumerable sacrifices upon the too Ion" 
 neglected altar of Jehovah. However, as the death of Ahaz had 
 taken place at the close of the year, and as, in consequence of 
 the delay of the priests and Levites in assembling to resume their 
 duties, the temple could not be properly prepared and sanctified in 
 time to celebrate the Passover in the first month of the year ensuin", 
 the king, upon consulting with the priests and elders, concluded that 
 he should be justified in postponing this great celebration to the 
 fourteenth day of the second month. Accordingly, messengers were 
 sent to all parts of the kingdom to give notice of the arrangement, 
 and to invite the people to take part in this almost forgotten festival. 
 Similar notices and invitations were even sent into the land of Israel ; 
 and it speaks well for the character of Hoshea, who then reigned in 
 Israel, that, if he did not promote the measure, he took no means to 
 prevent his subjects from joining their brethren of Judah in this 
 great solemnity. Thus, at the appointed time, Jerusalem was filled 
 with a vast concourse of the subjects of both kingdoms, who, for 
 the first time since the days of Solomon, united in one act of worship 
 at the temple of the Lord, from which the ten tribes had so Ion" 
 been alienated. The people, as if to make amends for their past 
 neglect of this interesting solemnity, doubled the usual time of its 
 observance ; it was thus kept up for fourteen days, during which a 
 prodigious number of sacrifices were offered, attended with great 
 festivity and rejoicing. 
 
 This grand commencement indicated very clearly the course 
 which the new monarch intended to pursue ; and it is highly to his 
 honour, that throughout his long reign he swerved not to the right 
 hand or to the left from the path of fidelity and righteousness which 
 he thus early and publicly marked out for himself. 
 
 Such a man as Hezekiah must have contemplated with deep 
 interest the events which soon after passed before his eyes in the 
 neighbouring kingdom; and from the awful lesson which the 
 righteous but terrible doom of that kingdom afforded, he would 
 not fail to draw fresh motives for perseverance in the ways of 
 righteousness. 
 
Sunday XLIII.] 
 
 ACTS OF TIIE APOSTLES. 
 
 343 
 
 SUNDAY XLIII.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 HE first Macedonian city at which 
 Paul stayed was Philippi, an important 
 place which derived its name from its 
 founder, Philip, the father of Alex- 
 ander the Great, and which acquired 
 celebrity from several battles being 
 fouffht there during the civil wars of 
 t he Romans, particularly the great 
 battle between Brutus and Antony, 
 which decided the fate of the Roman 
 empire. It was here that Brutus 
 killed himself; and this is the Philippi to which Paul eventually 
 wrote the epistle which bears its name. 
 
 The number of Jews at this place was not sufficient to enable 
 them to establish a synagogue. Probably they were only proselytes 
 from heathenism ; and they had outside of the town, among the trees 
 on the banks of the Strymon, a small place for prayer ( proseucha ), 
 such as were used in the absence of a synagogue, and which appear 
 to have had much resemblance to the analogous prayer-places of the 
 Moslems. Paul repaired to this place the first Sabbath after his 
 arrival, and addressed the women whom he found assembled there, 
 with his usual impressiveness, respecting the things of Christ. His 
 words strongly affected the heart of Lydia, a dealer in purple from 
 the town of Thyatira, in Lydia ; and at the conclusion of the day’s 
 service, she and her whole family were baptised by him ; and he 
 and his companions were constrained by her hospitable importunities 
 to take up their abode in her house. 
 
 There was in Philippi a female slave, who, in a state resembling 
 the phenomena of somnambulism, was accustomed to answer, uncon- 
 sciously, questions proposed to her, and was regarded as possessed 
 by the Pythian Apollo, or as a prophetess inspired by him when the 
 afflatus came upon her. She had then, and afterwards, frequent 
 opportunities of hearing Paul, and his words made an impression 
 upon her mind. In her convulsive fits these impressions were 
 revived, and, mingling what she had heard from Paul with her own 
 heathenish notions, she frequently followed him and his companions 
 Avhen on their way to the place of prayer, crying out, “ These men 
 are the servants of the Most High God, who show unto us the way 
 of salvation !” This testimony from a woman supposed to be 
 inspired was calculated to draw the attention of the people to the 
 new doctrine. But it was far from the temper of Paul to avail 
 himself, or even to endure, a testimony which, although true, was 
 rendered impure by the medium through which it passed. At first 
 he took no notice of her : but at length he turned to her, and in the 
 name of Jesus commanded the spirit which held her powers in 
 bondage to depart from her. The masters of the woman had driven 
 a thriving trade by the largesses which they received from those 
 w-ho desired to obtain the benefit of her oracular responses; and 
 seeing all their gains cut off by her cure, their rage against the 
 strangers became boundless, and they seized upon Paul and Silas, 
 and haled them before the magistrates of the place. Before this 
 tribunal they accused them, not immediately of their own grievance, 
 which w'ould have rendered their animus too transparent, but as 
 turbulent Jews, who were attempting to introduce into the place 
 religious practices contrary to the Roman laws. This charge roused 
 the multitude against these holy men ; and the magistrates, without 
 hearing the matter further at present, directed them to be publicly 
 scourged, and then sent them to the town prison, probably with the 
 view of punishing them on a future day according to the forms of 
 law. The smart of the lash, the gloom of the prison, the painful 
 confinement of the stocks in which their feet were fastened, and the 
 expectation of suffering and wrong which lay before them, could not 
 depress their souls — nay, rather their hearts exulted in the con- 
 sciousness that they suffered in the cause of Christ — and even at 
 midnight they gave vent to their feelings in singing the praises of 
 God. 
 
 As they were thus employed, the place was shaken by an earth- 
 quake to its very foundation, so that every door was burst open, 
 and the bonds of every one fell from him. The governor of the 
 prison being thus awakened suddenly from his sleep, and finding all 
 the prison doors wide open, concluded that the prisoners, for whose 
 safe keeping lie v-as responsible, had made their escape ; and, in his 
 agitation and alarm, drew his sword with intent to destroy himself 
 therewith. This resource to a man from dangers which he could 
 not escape was approved by the philosophy of the time, and was 
 recommended to the heathen by many eminent examples : but, 
 happily, the jailer of Philippi was spared from it ; a3 Paul and 
 
 i Silas calmed his fears, by calling out, “ Do thyself no harm, for we 
 ! are all here ! ” The earthquake, which gave them the opportunity 
 ; to escape, their neglect to avail themselves of the opportunity — 
 ; made them appear as something more than men to the relieved 
 ! jailer. “ He called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, 
 ! and fell down before Paul and Silas : and besought them and said, 
 i 1 Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? ’ ” That momentous question 
 was answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou slialt 
 be saved, and thy house.” Gladly did the apostles avail themselves 
 of this opening to declare the great message with which they were 
 charged, — and to bring light and gladness to their prison walls. 
 The jailer and his household received that light into their souls, 
 and were gladdened by it. They w r ere baptised without delay ; and 
 the jailer brought them to his private residence, bathed their stiffen- 
 ing stripes, and caused food to be placed before them. 
 
 The next morning early the magistrates sent the lictors to the 
 jailer, enjoining him to let his prisoners depart. But having been 
 ignominiously whipped the preceding day, Paul thought that it 
 became him to assert the civil privileges which belonged to him as 
 a citizen of Rome ; and he and Silas (who must also have been in 
 possession of the Roman citizenship) refused to leave the prison 
 unless the magistrates came in person to release them, in attestation 
 of their innocence. So alarmed were the Duumvirs at having 
 committed the high crime of subjecting Roman citizens to the 
 scourge, that they came and conducted them out of the prison. 
 They had intimated a wish that Paul and Silas should leave the 
 city : with which they thought proper to comply, after they had 
 visited the house of Lydia, and imparted some final comfort and 
 encouragement to their friends. Luke and Timothy, who had not 
 been involved in the recent tumult, remained behind, but after- 
 wards rejoined their party — Timothy at Thessalonica, or Beraea, 
 and Luke at a later period. The Church which was thus formed 
 at Philippi continued to entertain the most affectionate attachment 
 to Paul, which they evinced by sending contributions for his main- 
 tenance, although he was by no means prone to seek such gifts from 
 his converts, but often chose rather to labour with his hands for a 
 subsistence than be suspected of interested motives. 
 
 From Philippi Paul and Silas proceeded to Thessalonica, about 
 twenty miles distant, the largest city in Macedonia, and a place of 
 considerable traffic, where many Jews resided. Here they found a 
 synagogue, which for three weeks Paul visited on the Sabbath days. 
 The Jews were obstinate ; but many of the “ devout Greeks” — who 
 in dissatisfaction with their native idolatries had become proselytes to 
 the Jewish religion — rejoiced in the glad tidings which he brought, 
 and found in the doctrine of Christ a firmer and happier resting- 
 point for their troubled minds than Judaism offered. “ Chief 
 women, not a few ” — that, is, women connected with families of 
 rank and influence in the place — are specially mentioned among 
 those who were favourably affected by the preaching of the apostle. 
 The same had happened on other occasions, as at Antioch in 
 Pisidia (Acts xiii. 50), and, more recently, at Philippi : and 
 
 perhaps we may conclude from such instances, which are probably 
 but examples of many other cases not specified, that women of 
 this class and character bore a more important part, and exer- 
 cised a more important influence in the early propagation of the 
 Gospel, than they have had credit for. At a subsequent period 
 Paul wrote two epistles to the church which he founded in Thes- 
 salonica ; and from that we learn that he was not long content with 
 addressing the proselytes only once a week at the meetings of the 
 synagogue, where his preaching would have been confined to the 
 small number of the Gentiles who had joined the Jews in their 
 worship, and where also he was obliged to adopt such a method and 
 form of address as was suited to the peculiar condition of the Jews. 
 He availed himself of all openings and opportunities for making the 
 Gospel known in the city ; and ere long those Gentiles whose 
 attention had been awakened by the proselytes assembled in various 
 places to hear the apostle, and from them chiefly was formed that 
 body of Christians which, as Paul himself testifies, became 
 “ ensamples to ail them that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.” 
 From the epistles another interesting point transpires. It was a 
 custom among the Jews that all their sons should learn a manual 
 craft of some kind or other. Even those whose circumstances 
 suggested no probability that their sons would ever need this pro- 
 vision against the changes of life, deemed it criminal to neglect this 
 mode of securing to them a means of support. Under this view 
 Paul had been taught the trade of a tent-maker ; and he now- 
 found good use of the attainment. Being now cut off from the 
 resources which his birth and connexions opened to him, he had but 
 two alternatives — either to subsist on the bounty of the converts, or 
 to work for his maintenance. 
 
1086.— View of Athens. 1087.— Thyatira. 
 
 Golygfa ar Athen. 
 
 344 
 

 
 1083.— Instruction. (Jouvenet.) 
 Ilyfforddiad. 
 
 1089. — Justice. (Reynolds.) 
 Cyfiawnder. 
 
346 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 [Sunday XLIV. 
 
 SUNDAY XLIV.— PROVERBS. 
 
 HE Proverbs, as we are informed at 
 the beginning and in other parts of the 
 book, were written by Solomon, king 
 of Israel ; and that he was the author 
 of by far the greater portion of the 
 proverbs which the book contains, is 
 admitted even by those who allege that 
 the final chapters contain a supple- 
 ment, the authorship of which must 
 be ascribed to other writers. We are 
 informed in Scripture that this wisest 
 of kings, being desirous of employing, for the benefit of mankind, 
 the wisdom which it had pleased God to bestow upon him, com- 
 posed various works for their instruction ; and these works doubtless 
 did much in their day to form and advance the Hebrew mind in the 
 various branches of knowledge to which they belonged. They had 
 thus an important use, and served the purpose to which they were 
 directed ; and although it would be curious and interesting to 
 possess all the works of this ancient sage, we have the less reason to 
 regret that the present book, and, as most think, the Canticles and 
 the Book of Ecclesiastes, are all that remain of the various works of 
 him who is related to have spoken “ three thousand proverbs ;” 
 whose “ songs were a thousand and five and who “ spake of trees, 
 from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out 
 of the wall and who “ spake also of beasts, and of fowls, and of 
 creeping things, and of fishes” (1 Kings iv. 32). The greater 
 portion of these works was probably not admitted into the sacred 
 canon on account of their not being designed for religious instruction, 
 or not being regarded as emanations of those higher inspirations 
 which the books accounted sacred embody. In the possession of 
 Solomon’s doctrinal and moral works, we may be consoled for the 
 loss of his physical and philosophical productions ; and enough 
 happily remains to bear evidence of the exalted wisdom which the 
 Scripture ascribes to their author. 
 
 This book of Proverbs, then, contains the maxims of long expe- 
 rience, framed by one who was well qualified, by his rare gifts and 
 talents, to draw just lessons from a comprehensive survey of human 
 life. “His proverbs,” says Bishop Gray, “are justly founded on 
 principles of human nature, and so adapted to the permanent interests 
 of men that they agree with the manners of every age, and may be 
 assumed as rules for the direction of our conduct in every condition 
 and rank of life, however varied in its complexion or diversified by 
 circumstances : they embrace not only the concerns of private 
 morality, but the great objects of political importance. Subsequent 
 moralists have, in their discourses on oecumenical prudence, done 
 little more than dilate on the precepts and comment on the wisdom 
 of Solomon. Grotius, extensive as were his own powers, was unable 
 to conceive that the book of Proverbs could be the work of one 
 man, and supposes it to have been a collection of the finest proverbs 
 of the age (much in the same manner as those published by some of 
 the emperors of Constantinople in subsequent times), and perfected 
 from various collections by Ilezekiah ; but this opinion, founded in 
 part on some Rabbinical accounts, cannot be allowed to invalidate 
 the exclusive claim of Solomon to what is usually ascribed to him. 
 The work might perhaps comprise part of the three thousand 
 proverbs which Solomon is described to have uttered, being 
 probably digested as far as the twenty-fifth chapter by that 
 monarch himself, and afterwards received into the canon with 
 some additions.” 
 
 The proverbs which are included between the twenty-fifth and 
 thirtieth chapters are supposed to have been selected from a much 
 greater number by “ the men of Ilezekiah.” These proverbs, 
 indeed, bear internal evidence of being selected by some collectors 
 after the time of Solomon, as they repeat some which had already 
 been introduced in the former part of the book. The thirtieth 
 chapter is occupied by the prudent admonitions which Agur, the 
 son of Jakeh, delivered to his pupils, Ithiel and Ucal ; and this is 
 followed, in the thirty-first chapter, by the precepts which the 
 mother of Lemuel delivered to her son. With respect to these 
 personages different opinions are entertained. The old commen- 
 tators usually supposed that Solomon himself is described under 
 the name of Agur : but no satisfactory reason can be assigned for 
 his assuming the name; and it is now more generally believed that 
 Agur was an inspired writer whose moral and proverbial sentences 
 were by “ the men of Ilezekiah” added to those of the Wise Man on 
 account of the conformity of their matter. It is perhaps meant 
 
 that by Lemuel we should understand Solomon : but if we 
 find difficulties in this conclusion, the dignity of the book is not 
 affected if we suppose the last chapter to have been written 
 by a different hand, and admit the mother of Lemuel to have 
 been a Jewish woman married to some neighbouring prince, or 
 Ahiah, the daughter of the high-priest Zechariah, and mother of 
 King Hezekiah. 
 
 Bishop Louth describes well the condition of intellectual culture 
 under which proverbs become the most acceptable and suitable 
 medium for the inculcating of morality and the teachings of wis- 
 dom : — “ In those periods of remote antiquity, which may with 
 propriety be called the infancy of societies and nations, the usual, 
 if not the only, mode of instruction was by proverbs. Human 
 wisdom was then indeed in a rude and unfinished state : it 
 was not digested, methodized, or reduced to order and connexion. 
 Those who by genius and reflection, exercised in the school of 
 experience, had acquired a stock of knowledge, were desirous of 
 reducing it into the most compendious form, and comprised in a 
 few maxims those observations which they apprehended most 
 essential to human happiness. This mode of instruction was in 
 truth more likely than any other to prove efficacious with men 
 in a rude state of society ; for it professed not to dispute, but to 
 command — not to persuade, but to compel ; it conducted them not 
 by a circuit of argument, but led immediately to the approbation 
 and practice of integrity and virtue. That it might not, however, 
 be altogether destitute of allurement, and lest it should disgust by 
 an appearance of roughness and severity, some degree of amusement 
 became necessary ; and the instructors of mankind added to their 
 compositions the graces of harmony, and illustrated them by 
 metaphors, comparisons, allusions, and other embellishments of 
 style. This manner, which with other nations prevailed only during 
 the first period of civilization, with the Hebrews continued to be a 
 favourite style to the latest ages of their literature.” 
 
 This indeed is true of other Oriental nations, who have retained 
 an attachment to this mode of instruction, long after they have 
 come to the point of arranging their knowledge into digested 
 systems. The Chinese, for instance, and the Persians, retain their 
 partiality for proverbs, although they are not wanting in works in 
 which “ wisdom is digested, methodized, and reduced to order and 
 connexion.” In the ‘ Memoires sur les Chinois’ there is a large 
 collection of proverbs, which are in general character very similar 
 to the Proverbs of Solomon — although, of course, deficient in that 
 higher wisdom by which the latter are informed. Burckhardt has 
 also given us a collection of Arabic proverbs, with a commentary, 
 many of which convey the same illustrations of the usages of the 
 people which we find in the sacred book of Proverbs. In fact, it is 
 necessary, to be thoroughly acquainted with the physical and intel- 
 lectual condition of a people, to understand their proverbs well ; 
 and he who has acquired this by diligent study, will best understand 
 and most entirely enjoy the Proverbs of Solomon. As Burckhardt’s 
 book is not common, the reader will not be displeased to see a few 
 specimens of the proverbs which it contains ; — 
 
 “ Rather be sacrificed with an axe than require favours from 
 others. 
 
 Work (were it only) for a single grain, and reckon up the profits 
 of him who does nothing. 
 
 Follow the owl : she will lead thee to a ruined place. 
 
 The corn passes from hand to hand, but comes at last to the mill. 
 
 A well from which thou drinkest, throw not a stone into it. 
 
 The value of every man consists in what he does well. 
 
 Advice given in the midst of a crowd is loathsome. 
 
 A day that is not thine own, do not reckon it as of thy life. 
 
 On the day of victory no fatigue is felt. 
 
 Be diligent, and God will send profit. 
 
 How many are the roads that lead not to the heart ! 
 
 Him whom goodness cannot mend, evil will not mend. 
 
 The soil of labour rather than the saffron of indolence. 
 
 Those are the best riches which are spent in the proper place. 
 
 God bless him who pays visits, and short visits ! 
 
 A tree that affords thee shade, do not order it to be cut down. 
 
 In every head is some wisdom.” 
 
 It will be seen that in these proverbs the chief formal difference 
 between them and those of Solomon lies in the absence of that 
 bi-membral antithesis which has already (pp. 2o8, 274) been indicated 
 as a characteristic of the latter. The former, for the most part, 
 consists of two sentences joined in a kind of antithesis — the second 
 being sometimes a reduplication, sometimes an explanation, and 
 sometimes an opposition in the sense to the first. 
 
Sunday XT AY.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 •347 
 
 SUNDAY XLIV. -BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 N these paths of righteousness Ile- 
 zekiah found prosperity and peace, 
 during and after the very time which 
 brought ruin upon the sister kingdom. 
 He more than repaired the losses of 
 power and dominion which the king- 
 dom had sustained in the lifetime of 
 his hither. The Philistines were not 
 constrained to relinquish the positions 
 which they had taken from Aliaz, but 
 were dispossessed of all their own ter- 
 ritories, except those of Gaza and Gath. Thus was Hezekiah 
 “ magnified in the sight of all nations, and many brought gifts unto 
 the Lord in Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah, king of Judah.” 
 The king of Judah was at length encouraged by this prosperity 
 to withhold the heavy tribute which his father had agreed to pay 
 to the Assyrians. As he took this bold step, when the Assyrians 
 were too much engaged elsewhere to attend to him, he did not 
 immediately experience its full consequences. At length, however, 
 Shalmaneser died, and was succeeded by his son Sennacherib, who 
 very soon invaded the kingdom with a great army, with the full 
 intention of reducing Judah to the same condition to which the 
 laud of Israel had been reduced by his father. He subdued the 
 whole country with little difficulty, as Hezekiah deemed himself 
 unable to meet him in the field ; and Jerusalem itself being threat- 
 ened with a siege, the king of Judah at length sent to Sennacherib, 
 who was then besieging Lachish, humbly acknowledging his offence, 
 and offering to submit to the conditions which the Assyrians might 
 think proper to impose. The desire of Sennacherib to proceed 
 against Egypt, which formed his ulterior object, made him willing 
 to listen to this application ; and he demanded three hundred talents 
 of silver and thirty talents of gold ; and this was paid by Hezekiah, 
 although to raise it he was constrained to exhaust the royal and 
 the sacred treasures, and even to strip off the gold with which the 
 doors and pillars of the temple were overlaid. 
 
 It is difficult to appreciate the motives of Hezekiah in with- 
 holding his tribute to the Assyrians, by which all this had been 
 brought about. He could scarcely have expected to maintain his 
 independence unassisted against all the might of the Assyrian em- 
 pire, although his success in his operations against the neighbour- 
 ing nations may have had some influence upon his determination. 
 If the only assistance he expected was from the God he served, he 
 ought, under the old principles of the theocracy, to have taken the 
 field without regard to numbers, trusting to the Divine King for 
 victory ; but his course of proceeding justifies us in supposing, as 
 the Assyrians themselves believed, that he calculated on support 
 from Egypt. He had perhaps been promised this support ; but the 
 change of policy consequent upon the death of So and the accession 
 of Sethos, rendered the Egyptians unable, even if willing, to march 
 to his relief, and left him no alternative but submission to Senna- 
 cherib, which he reluctantly tendered. 
 
 Sennacherib received the treasure of Hezekiah ; but after he had 
 taken Ashdod, one of the keys of Egypt, he began to think that it 
 would be imprudent to have the power of Judah essentially 
 unbroken in the rear. He therefore determined to complete the 
 subjugation of Judah in the first place — and his recent observations, 
 with the humble submission of Hezekiah, could not lead him to 
 expect much delay or difficulty in the enterprise. He soon reduced 
 all the places before which he appeared, except Libnah and Lachish, 
 and except Jerusalem, to which he sent his general Rabshakeh, 
 with a very haughty summons to surrender. Considering the power 
 of the god of a nation as represented by that of the nation which 
 worshipped him, many most disparaging and painful expressions 
 were applied by this heathen general to Jehovah, comparing him 
 with the idols worshipped by the numerous nations which the 
 Assyrians had subdued. Tins engaged the honour of God in his 
 defence of Hezekiah, and he was encouraged to expect a very 
 speedy and surprising deliverance. Isaiah the prophet was sent to 
 him with the assurance— “ Lo, I will send a blast upon him, and 
 he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land, and I 
 will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” The rumour 
 by which Sennacherib was alarmed and interrupted, was no other 
 than the report which was spread abroad that Tirhakah, the 
 Ethiopian king of Upper Egypt, was marching with an immense 
 army to cut off his retreat. He then determined to withdraw ; but 
 he first sent a boastful and insulting letter to Hezekiah, defying the 
 
 God of Israel, and threatening what destruction he would execuet 
 upon the nation when he returned. But that very night, an immense 
 proportion of the Assyrian host, even one hundred and eighty thou- 
 sand men, were smitten by the blast which the prophet had foretold, 
 and which has with great probability been ascribed to the agency of 
 the Simoom, a hot pestilential south-wind, which has been noticed in 
 another part of this work (p. 468). Sennacherib, being unable to 
 meet Tirhakah with the shattered remains of his army, returned to 
 Nineveh, where in the exasperation of his overthrow and loss he 
 behaved with great severity to the captive Israelites. But his 
 career was soon closed ; for fifty-two days after his return he was 
 slain, while worshipping in the house of the god Nisroch, by his two 
 eldest sons. Thus was the prophecy of Isaiah in every point 
 accomplished. The parricides fled into Armenia, leaving the 
 throne open to their younger brother, whose name was Esarhaddon. 
 These blows so weakened the Assyrian monarchy, as not only to 
 relieve Hezekiah from his apprehensions, but enabled the Babylo- 
 nians and the Medes to assert their independence. 
 
 Shortly after the deliverance which has been related, Hezekiah 
 fell sick, and was warned by the prophet Isaiah : — “ Set thy house 
 in order ; for thou shalt die and not live.” This was heavy tidings 
 for the king, not only from the horror of immature death which all 
 Israelites entertained, but also because he had no son to succeed him 
 on the throne. Therefore, as he lay on his bed, he turned his face to 
 the wall, and prayed earnestly that this doom might pass from him. 
 And his prayer was heard ; for the prophet had scarcely reached 
 the outer court, when he was sent back to announce that in answer 
 to it fifteen years should be added to his life and reign, and that on 
 the third day he should resume his usual attendance at the temple. 
 This seemed so strange and prodigious a thing to the king, that he 
 required some assurance on which his mind might rest. The 
 prophet proposed a test which Hezekiah himself would not have 
 dared to ask. It was offered to his option whether the shadow 
 should go backward ten degrees, or forward ten degrees, on “ the 
 dial of Aliaz.” He chose the former ; and accordingly the prophet 
 “ cried unto the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees back- 
 ward by which it had gone down on the dial of Aliaz.” 
 
 There has been no small amount of discussion regarding this 
 transaction, partly with reference to the dial, and partly to the 
 miracle itself. It is the most ancient mention of a dial on record, 
 and every kind of ancient dial has been produced in illustration. 
 These are various, as may be perceived by the engravings, which 
 throw much light upon the nature of ancient dials, but not much 
 upon the particular subject before us. The word translated 
 “ degrees ” means literally “ steps,” whence some have thought 
 that it was some tall pile, like the Observatory at Delhi, with an 
 ascent of steps, and forming the gnomon, which threw its shadows 
 upon the area, or upon walls properly marked out for the purpose. 
 This is in fact the use of the structure at Delhi, an interesting 
 account of which is given in the ‘ Penny Magazine,’ No. 525. 
 This is, however, a matter which seems not likely to be ever settled 
 beyond controversy. For the rest, it is asked, how was the 
 retraction of the shadow upon the dial of Ahaz produced ? There 
 was doubtless a miracle, seeing that the choice of evidence was 
 given to Hezekiah ; but the question is, in what manner — through 
 what agency — this miracle was performed. We observe throughout 
 the Bible that God does very great miracles only for very great 
 ends, or when there is only one mode of realizing the result to be 
 produced. If it had pleased Him, the course of the great globe 
 might have been reversed to satisfy the king of Judah ; but as there 
 are less stupendous manifestations of Divine power — manifestations 
 more commensurate with the designed effect, and causing less 
 derangement to the course of nature — we are almost bound to 
 conclude that they were resorted to on this occasion. 
 
 This circumstance, with the miraculous overthrow of the 
 Assyrians, made a strong impression on the people, and probably 
 went far in curing the idolatrous predilections which had been 
 fostered during the reign of Alidz. To this we may also in pari 
 attribute the embassy which Hezekiah received from Merodach 
 Baladan, the king of Babylon, although this may be primarily 
 ascribed to the desire of this monarch, who had thrown off the yoke 
 of Assyria, to establish a good understanding with a monarch whose 
 position, with regard to that empire, resembled his own. Since 
 the time of Solomon, no embassy from so distant a region had been 
 seen in Jerusalem ; and Hezekiah felt much flattered by the respect 
 and honour which it implied. lie took great pains to magnify his 
 importance, and to let the strangers see that he was really entitled 
 to all the attention he had received from their master. He 
 displayed to them his treasures, his rarities, his arsenals, his esta- 
 blishments — he was at the very summit of self-exaltation when 
 
 2 Y2 
 

 1093.— Sculpture of the Captivity in Persia, from Sir K. K. Porter. 
 Cerfiad o’r Caethion yn Persia, o Syr R. K. Porter. 
 
 348 
 
 1100.— Observatory at Delhi. 
 Tr Arsyllfa yn Delhi. 
 
 1101 .-Serpent- worship, 
 Sarph-addoliad. 
 
1102.— King in Bed. 
 Brenin uiewn Gwely. 
 
 1103. King Reposing. 
 Brenin yn Gorphwy&o. 
 
 1104.— Bed-chamber of King. 
 Yatafell-wely Brenin. 
 
 1105.— King on his Couch. 
 Brenin ar ei Lwih. 
 
 1106.— Oriental Palace. 
 Palaa Dwyreiniol. 
 
 349 
 
350 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY, 
 
 [Sunday XLIY. 
 
 he was suddenly cast down by the appearance of the prophet Isaiah, 
 who asked him what he had shown to the strangers. The king 
 ingenuously acknowledged that there was nothing in his palace or 
 among his treasures that he had not displayed before them ; on which 
 the prophet uttered the chilling oracle, “ Behold the days come that 
 all that is in thine house, and all that thy fathers have laid up in 
 store unto this day, shall be carried unto Babylon ; nothing shall be 
 left, saith the Lord.” This must have damped his exalted spirits 
 much ; but as he understood that these evils were not to come to 
 pass in his own days, he abstained from giving way to his grief. 
 
 Hezekiah enjoyed prosperity and peace during the fifteen years 
 which were added to his life, the best proof of which is found in 
 the fact that the historian has no further events during this period 
 to record. It is indeed intimated that the reign of Hezekiah was 
 not undistinguished by public works of importance to his kingdom, 
 and more especially important to Jerusalem. At the time when 
 the discontinuance of his tribute to the Assyrians led him to expect 
 that their armies would be one day turned against him, he not only 
 strengthened the fortifications, but was induced to turn, by sub- 
 terranean -channels, into the town the waters which had previously 
 been open outside its walls. For this he had two objects — that a 
 besieging enemy might be distressed for want of water, and that 
 the inhabitants of the town might at the same time be more 
 abundantly supplied. This policy seems to have been successful ; 
 for we never, in the subsequent history of the holy city, read of 
 1 he inhabitants suffering from thirst during a siege, although often 
 famishing with hunger ; while, on the other hand, the besiegers 
 have often been reduced to the most dire extremities for want of 
 water. 
 
 When the fifteen years had expired, Hezekiah was “gathered to 
 his fathers” (b.c. 689), after having reigned twenty-nine years 
 and lived fifty-four. If this king had died fifteen years before, he 
 would have left no son, for his son Manasseh was only twelve years 
 old when his father died ; and it would have been better for Judah 
 that he should have died childless than to leave a son who took 
 delight in undoing all the good of his father’s reign — and such was 
 Manasseh. 
 
 This prince was on his accession unfortunately soon surrounded 
 by princes and courtiers friendly to idolatry, and opposed to the 
 reformations which the late king had taken so much pains to 
 accomplish. They were not slow to perceive that their return to 
 power depended upon the degree of influence which they might be 
 enabled to establish over the mind of the young king ; while the 
 friends of-' the established institutions felt perhaps too secure in 
 their position to hold a proper guard against the machinations of 
 their invidious opponents. The latter, by flattering and humouring 
 Manasseh, succeeded in training him to rely upon them, and to 
 concur irt their wishes. In the end, he probably went further than 
 his leaders intended ; for he proved the most impious and wicked 
 king that had ever reigned either in Jerusalem or Samaria. He 
 not only restored the idolatries of his grandfather Ahaz, but he 
 totally suppressed the worship of Jehovah, converting the temple 
 into a house of Baal, by placing altars dedicated to that idol in its 
 courts, and setting up his image in the very sanctuary of God. He 
 filled his dominions with high places, groves, and altars consecrated 
 to the service of Baalim, and caused his children to pass through 
 the fire to Moloch. The nation, too, readily falling in with the 
 king’s designs and wishes, both to obtain his favour and to gratify 
 their own corrupt inclinations, hastened to introduce every kind of 
 idolatry practised by the surrounding nations ; and proceeded to 
 such excess of wickedness, that they became more corrupt and 
 abandoned than the ancient Canaanites, who had been driven from 
 the land to make room for their fathers. Prophets were in mercy 
 sent to reprove the infatuated king, and call him to repentance ; but 
 their rebukes and opposition only roused his anger, and he caused 
 several of them to be put to death. The venerable Isaiah, who had 
 prophesied in Judah ever since the year that king Uzziah died, is 
 generally believed by the Jews to have been among the victims of 
 his wrath. God at length made known, by one of the prophets, the 
 full extent of his anger against this guilty king and apostate genera- 
 tion, and declared that he would “bring such evil upon Jerusalem 
 and Judah, that whosoever heareth it both his ears shall tingle, 
 because they had done that which was evil in his sight to provoke 
 him to anger.” 
 
 While these things took place in Judah, Esarhaddon, king of 
 Assyria, was making great efforts to reunite the broken fragments 
 of his father’s empire. It gave him much trouble to reduce the 
 revolted province of Babylon to its former subjection ; but having 
 at length succeeded in his object, he turned his attention westward, 
 and determined to restore his authority in that quarter, and avenge 
 
 the defeat and loss which the Assyrians had formerly sustained in 
 Palestine. This intention made him the unwitting executioner of 
 the Divine wrath which had gone forth against Manasseh and his 
 kingdom. He entered Judah in great force, defeated Manasseh in 
 battle, took him alive, and sent him away in chains to Babylon, 
 together with many of the nobles and of the people. They were 
 sent thither probably because Esarhaddon, to prevent another 
 defection, had resolved to make that city his royal residence. It 
 was probably on this occasion that he removed the principal of the 
 remaining inhabitants of Israel, as already mentioned, and replaced 
 them by more colonies from the East. 
 
 The King of Judah, thus deprived of his power and even his 
 liberty, in chains and in a prison, with no other prospect than that 
 of thus miserably ending his days, had ample leisure to review his 
 past life, and discover the error of his ways. lie called to mind the 
 piety of his father, and the prosperity and success by which it had 
 been attended ; and when he contrasted this with the misery which 
 flowed from his own misconduct, he was filled with remorse, and 
 in the most heartfelt repentance “ he besought the Lord his God” 
 for mercy and deliverance, and “ humbled himself greatly before 
 the God of his fathers.” And God had mercy upon him, and 
 inclined the heart of Esarhaddon to restore him to his liberty and 
 his kingdom. The impression made upon Manasseh by these events 
 was deep and abiding. On his return to Jerusalem, he immediately 
 proceeded to suppress all the idolatries which he had formerly been 
 at so much pains to establish. He revived the worship of the Lord 
 in its ancient dignity ; and by the influence of his authority and 
 example, the nation became once more reformed, and obedient to 
 the law of God. This people were always prone to follow the 
 example of their princes, and the nation was therefore greatly 
 advantaged by the excellent example which Manasseh continued to 
 set before them to the end of his days. He died B.c. 631, after a 
 long reign of fifty-five years ; and, notwithstanding the merits of his 
 latter days, the general estimate of his reign was marked by his 
 being refused a place in the sepulchre of the kings ; so that he was 
 buried in the garden of his own house. 
 
 Araon had been born and brought up during the latter portion 
 of his father’s reign, yet the first ways of Manasseh, and not the 
 last, were those which he chose to follow. lie hastened to revive 
 the idolatries which had been suppressed, and to encourage all the 
 abomination of heathenism. But his career was cut short by a 
 conspiracy, after a reign of only two years ; and he left the throne 
 to his son Josiah, then a boy of only eight years old. 
 
 This young prince was fortunately intrusted, during his minority, 
 to the care of persons who were averse to idolatry, and favourably 
 disposed to the worship of Jehovah anil the observance of the 
 law. He profited well from the instructions of such teachers, and 
 proved a truly excellent and pious prince, disposed to square his 
 public conduct by the example of the faith and zeal of his ancestor 
 David. After a minority of eight years, during which the govern- 
 ment seems to have been administered by a guardian or regent, the 
 king assumed the responsible duties of government. 
 
 In the same year the young king gave manifest tokens of the 
 policy and faith by which he intended to govern his course, by 
 commencing the reform of the idolatries which had again become 
 conspicuous in Judah; and in the twelfth year of his reign, when 
 he was twenty years old, and more fully acquainted with the duties 
 of his high place, he resumed his great work with firm and steady 
 purpose, and proceeded to uproot even those monuments and instru- 
 ments of evil which no other king had spared. With zeal so ardent, 
 and a hand so unsparing, exercised during the course of a long 
 reign, it can only be ascribed to the utter degeneracy of the people 
 that his measures had not that permanent eflfeet which they were 
 designed to accomplish and which might yet have averted from 
 Judah the doom of her sister Israel. 
 
 In the course of six years the king made considerable progress in 
 destroying the idols and fragments of idolatry with which the land of 
 Judah, and Jerusalem in particular, had become filled to an incon- 
 ceivable degree. While the priests and Levites were occupied in 
 cleansing and purifying the house of God from the pollutions of the 
 preceding reigns, Hilkiah, the high-priest, discovered in an obscure 
 part of the temple the sacred volume of the law. This appears to 
 have been the original book of the law, which was deposited by 
 Moses in the side of the ark, and which in those distracted times 
 had either been removeci by the pious for concealment, that it 
 might not be destroyed by the idolaters, or had been cast out by 
 those by whom everything sacred had been profaned. Hilkiah 
 sending this book to Josiah, by Shaphan, the scribe, the king, 
 who seems to have been ignorant of its existence, directed him to 
 read it. 
 
Sunday XLIV.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 351 
 
 SUNDAY XLIV.— ACTS OF TIIE APOSTLES. 
 
 UR Apostle acted in this matter ac- 
 cording to the circumstances. He 
 accepted freely what was freely offered ; 
 or if on any occasion he suspected 
 t hat his motives might be miscon- 
 strued, lie chose rather to work night 
 and day, to provide not only for his 
 own wants, but for those of his com- 
 panions — availing himself of sucli op- 
 portunities of declaring the Gospel as 
 the incidents and intervals of labour 
 offered. This he did at Thessalonica. “ Ye remember, breth- 
 ren,” lie says, “ our labour and travail ; for, labouring night 
 and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of you, 
 we preached unto you the gospel of Christ” (1 Thess. ii. 9). 
 The speedy and cordial reception which the Gospel met with among 
 the Gentiles of this place soon roused the indignation and anger of 
 the Jew’s. They had themselves little power in a heathen city : 
 but by their misrepresentations of the character and objects of the 
 apostolical party, they stirred up some of the common people, who 
 forced their way into the house of Jason, a Christian, with whom 
 Paul was staying. Not finding the Apostle, they dragged Jason 
 himself and those who were w ith him before the judgment-seat. 
 
 The accusation here rendered was different from the usual one, 
 but was well calculated to gain the attention of the magistrates, 
 and was chosen for that reason. Paul had spoken much of the 
 future kingdom of Christ, and the accusers took hold of this to lay 
 a charge of political delinquency against him. The terms of the 
 accusation, indeed, convey a remarkable intimation of the extent to 
 which Christianity had already become a matter of wide report 
 among the nations, as well as of the vague notions which were 
 entertained of it. “ These that have turned the w’orld upside 
 down,” cried the mob, “are come hither also; whom Jason has 
 received : and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying 
 there is another king, one Jesus.” But the authorities would not 
 credit or entertain so vague a charge against the respectable and 
 well-know r n citizens who w r ere brought before them as being 
 implicated in it ; and after they had taken security from Jason that 
 there should be no violation of the public peace, and that the 
 parties whose proceedings were questioned should soon leave the 
 city, the complaint was dismissed. 
 
 The same evening Paul and Silas departed from the city — much 
 sooner than they wished, or than they thought good for the church 
 they had been enabled to establish. Paul, however, formed the 
 intention of returning as soon as the excitement against him should 
 have subsided (1 Thess. ii. 18). 
 
 Paul and Silas proceeded to Beraea, a town about ten miles 
 distant; and here they had the same pleasure of finding Jews open 
 to conviction, and disposed to examine by the Scriptural tests to 
 which they referred the doctrines which they advanced. Some 
 impression was also made upon the Gentiles in this place: but the 
 stay of Paul and Silas was but short, as some Jews from Thessalonica 
 soon arrived at Beraea, and raised such a tumult against them that 
 Paul was constrained to quit the place, accompanied by some of 
 the believers, leaving Silas and Timothy behind him. 
 
 From Beraea, which was near the sea, Paul proceeded to Athens 
 — a new and memorable scene for the labours of our great Apostle. 
 Hannah More, who in her very eloquent ‘ Essay on the Character 
 of St. Paul ’ has put forth all her strength in describing his 
 proceedings at Athens, here remarks: — “Though the political and 
 military splendour of Athens had declined, and the seat of govern- 
 ment, after the conquest of Greece by the Romans, had been 
 transferred to Corinth, yet the sun of her glory was not set. 
 Philosophy and the liberal arts were still carefully cultivated ; 
 students in every department, and from every quarter, resorted 
 thither for improvement ; and her streets were crowded by senators 
 and rhetoricians, philosophers and statesmen. As Paul visited 
 Athens with views which had instigated no preceding, and would 
 probably be entertained by no succeeding traveller, so his attention 
 in that most interesting city was attracted by objects far different 
 from theirs. He was in all probability qualified to range with a 
 learned eye over the exquisite pieces of art, and to consult and 
 enjoy the curious remains of literature — theatres and temples, and 
 schools of philosophy, sepulchres and cenotaphs, statues of patriots 
 and portraits of heroes — monuments by which the artist insured to 
 himself the immortality he was conferring. Yet one edifice alone 
 arrested the Apostle’s notice— an altar of the idolatrous worshippers. 
 
 One record of antiquity alone invited his critical acumen — the 
 inscription ‘To the Unknown God.’” 
 
 While Paul waited at Athens the arrival of his companions, “ his 
 spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city wholly given to 
 idolatry or rather, “ filled with temples, altars, and idols.” He 
 could not withhold his testimony to the truth of God against these 
 lying abominations. In the synagogues he debated with the Jews 
 and proselytes, and in the market-places with the people who there 
 congregated. A stranger with a new doctrine soon attracted the 
 attention of the most idle, curious, and critical population in the 
 world ; for as the Sacred writer, with characteristic accuracy, 
 remarks, “ All the Athenians and strangers which were there spent 
 their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new 
 thing.” Among the rest the Apostle encountered some Epicurean 
 and Stoic philosophers ; and when they heard him speak of Jesus 
 and the Resurrection , some said “ What meaneth this babbler to 
 say?” Others, “He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange 
 demons.” The former were probably Epicureans, who denied the 
 possibility of a future life, while they stigmatised the doctrine of 
 the resurrection “ the hope of worms;” and the latter Stoics, who 
 regarded Jesus as some new demon or hero whom Paul recom- 
 mended to their notice. 
 
 By them the Apostle was conducted to the Areopagus, or Mars’ 
 Hill, which was the place where the Areopagites, the celebrated 
 supreme judges of Athens, were wont to assemble. It was a hill 
 almost in the middle of the city ; but nothing now remains from 
 which we can determine the form or construction of the tribunal : 
 the hill is almost entirely a mass of stone, and is not easily acces- 
 sible, its sides being abrupt and steep. On many accounts this 
 was the most celebrated tribunal in the ancient world. Its decrees 
 were distinguished for justice and correctness; nor was there any 
 court in Greece in which so much confidence was placed. It 
 had cognizance of all kinds of offences against the public weal, 
 and was particularly attentive to blasphemies against the gods, and 
 to the due performance of the sacred mysteries of religion. It 
 does not appear, however, that this tribunal, which usually met 
 by night, was at this time sitting, or that Paul was in any way 
 brought to trial : there were no accusations, no witnesses, none of 
 the forms of judgment. They seem to have resorted thither merely 
 because it was the place where subjects of religion were usually 
 discussed ; and because it was a place of concourse for the judges, 
 philosophers, and citizens of Athens. A trial might, however, have 
 been the ultimate result ; and this contingency, together with the 
 conflicting opinions and high education of the audience, made the 
 occasion sufficiently solemn and trying, and called for all the fine 
 tact and ability with which the Apostle was so eminently gifted. 
 Nor did they fail him in this great emergency : the consummate 
 address with which Paul acquitted himself on this new and difficult 
 occasion, and the readiness with which his opulent mind found 
 resources equal to the demands upon him, have won the admiration 
 and respect of all ages. 
 
 The writer of the ‘ Essay on the Character of St. Paul ’ has 
 furnished an eloquent and discriminating account of this discourse, 
 with some portions of which we may indulge the reader: — 
 
 “ The disposition of this people, their passion for disputation, 
 their characteristic and proverbial love of novelty, had drawn 
 together a vast assembly. Many of the philosophical sects eagerly 
 joined the audience. Curiosity is called by an ancient writer the 
 wantonness of knowledge. These critics came, it is likely, not as 
 inquirers, but as spies. The grave Stoics probably expected to 
 hear some new unbroached doctrine which they might overthrow bv 
 argument ; the lively Epicureans, some fresh absurdity which would 
 afford a new field for diversion ; the citizens, perhaps, crowding ami 
 listening, from the mere motive that they might afterwards have to 
 tell the new thing they should hear. Paul took advantage of their 
 curiosity. As he habitually opened his discourse with great 
 moderation, we are the less surprised at the measured censure, or 
 rather, the implied civility of his introduction. The ambiguous 
 term (translated) ‘superstitious,’ which he employed, might be 
 either construed into respect for their spirit of religious inquiry, or 
 into disapprobation of its unreasonable excess ; at least he intimated 
 that they were so far from not reverencing the acknowledged gods, 
 that they worshipped one that was unknown. 
 
 “ With his usual discriminating mind, he did not reason witli 
 these eloquent and learned polytheists ‘out of the Scriptures,’ of 
 which they were totally ignorant, as he had done at Antioch and 
 Caesarea before judges who were trained in the knowledge of them ; 
 he addressed his present auditors with an eloquent exposition of 
 natural religion, and of the providential government of God, 
 politely illustrating his observations by citing passages from one of 
 their own authors.” 
 
1110. — Western Side of the Acropolis. 
 Ochr Orllewinol Acropolis. 
 
1114.— Viper (El Ettahj.-Job xx. 
 Gwiber. 
 
 1111.— Use of the “ Iron Pen,” or Stylus. 
 Defnyddiad y “ Pin Haiarn,” neu’r Cerfiadur. 
 
 
 11 12. — The Inscribed Rocks of Wady Mokatteb. 
 
354 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XLY. 
 
 SUNDAY XLY.— JOB. 
 
 HE reply of Job brought up 
 Elipliaz, who, with many bitter 
 sarcasms and rebukes, proceeded 
 to expose what he considered 
 the inconclusiveness of the suf- 
 ferer’s reasonings. Job’s posi- 
 tion, that the happiness or 
 misery of man has no respect 
 to his conduct in life, he cen- 
 sures as subversive of the senti- 
 ment of dependence upon God. 
 lie then rebukes him, with some 
 hauteur, for pretending to 
 understand the ways of God 
 better than his elders ; and 
 concludes with a highly wrought 
 description of the miseries which beset unrighteous men. This 
 speech, which occupies the fifteenth chapter, is well calculated to 
 carry on the design of the poem, by raising the passions of Job, 
 and thus provoking him to proceed to greater lengths in asserting 
 the position he had assumed, as well as to retort the personal aggra- 
 vations of his friends. He begins 
 
 “ I have heard many such things : 
 
 Miserable comforters are ye all. 
 
 I also could speak as ye do : 
 
 If your soul were in my soul’s stead, 
 
 I might string together words against you, 
 
 And shake mine head at you.” 
 
 But he adds with returning tenderness — 
 
 “ But I would strengthen you with my mouth, 
 
 And the consolation of my lips should sustain you.” 
 
 He proceeds with a pathetic description of his misery, and thence 
 argues the inhumanity of his friends in pressing so hardly upon 
 him. Then, alter solemnly protesting his innocence, and craving 
 that it may be vindicated before he goes the way whence he shall 
 not return, he concludes with the strongest expressions of grief 
 and utter despair. This occupies the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 chapters. 
 
 Then Bildad again takes up the argument, and expresses much 
 resentment for the low estimate which Job had expressed of 
 his friends’ eloquent discourses. He reproves him for giving way 
 to despair ; but at the same time tells him not to expect that God 
 would in his favour change the laws which regulated the universe. 
 He then describes the miseries which God reserves for the impious, 
 with many touches which show that he intended it to apply to Job, 
 whose sufferings he regards as the measure of his crimes, and of the 
 divine anger. This speech occupies the eighteenth chapter, and 
 Job’s reply to this harsh and passionate invective follows in the 
 nineteenth. He again complains of the unkindness of his friends 
 in regarding his sufferings as evidence of his guilt. Once more he 
 implores their compassion for a man afflicted by God without 
 cause. But perceiving that his passionate appeals had no effect, he 
 suddenly turns from them, and expresses an ardent desire that all 
 which he had said in his own defence might be recorded on some 
 lasting monument : — 
 
 “ 0 that my words were now written ! 
 
 O that they were inscribed in a register ! 
 
 That with an iron pen, and with lead, 
 
 They were engraven upon the rock for ever ! ” 
 
 Let it be observed, that the loss of character involved in the 
 imputations which his friends shower upon him, affects him far 
 more strongly than even his losses and sufferings; and the vin- 
 dication of his innocence, far more than his restoration to health 
 and prosperity, is what he desires. So now, not satisfied with the 
 tardy vindication involved m his last wish, he, in an outburst of 
 triumphant faith, expresses a conviction that, low and miserable as 
 lie now is, he shall yet live to see God appear to vindicate him 
 from their aspersions. He also warns his friends that a time will 
 come when they will be put to shame for their behaviour towards 
 him. Know ye that judgment cometh?” This circumstance is 
 introduced with great judgment and effect, to give a cause for, and 
 to create some expectation in the mind of the reader of, the mag- 
 nificent development which eventually took place, to wind up and 
 silence the controversy. 
 
 Far from being mollified by the appeals of Job, or convinced by 
 his protestations of innocence, but rather provoked by his per- 
 tinacity, and by the warning with which he concluded, Zophar 
 proceeds to pour forth new examples of the calamities which have 
 been, in all ages, the lot of the wicked, and infers that Job 
 resembled in character those who were like him in condition, 
 (chap, xx.) 
 
 Job’s desire that his words might be graven on the rock, with 
 an “iron pen,” or stylus, suggests some curious matter of inquiry, 
 especially when we become aware of the prevalence of rocks so 
 engraven in the very region which is supposed to have been the 
 scene of the poem. It is not necessary to argue that these in- 
 scriptions were so old as the time of Job : but the text shows that 
 the custom which these rocks evince existed in his time. These 
 sculptured rocks are found on the routes which lead from Egypt to 
 the Sinai mountains, although the greatest number of them occur 
 together in the Wady Mokatteb. This is a valley, about seven 
 miles long, stretching out from the Wady Sheikh to the Sinai 
 mountains, the sides o*f which present for the most part abrupt 
 cliffs twenty or thirty feet high. These cliffs are thickly covered 
 with the inscriptions, which are continued at intervals for the 
 distance of at least five miles. Many attempts have been made to 
 decipher these inscriptions, which are in an alphabetic character not, 
 otherwise than from them, known to palaeographists. They were 
 first mentioned by the traveller Cosmas in a.d. 535, and the cha- 
 racter was even then unknown. He supposed them the work of the 
 ancient Hebrews ; and says that certain Jews who had read them, 
 explained them to him as noting “ the journey of such a one, out 
 of such a tribe, in such a year and month much in the manner 
 of modern travellers. Further than this the most recent decipherer 
 has yet hardly advanced. When the attention of European scholars 
 was again turned to these inscriptions, almost a century since, by 
 Bishop Clayton, they were still supposed by him and others to 
 have been the work of the Hebrews on their journey to Sinai. 
 More recently they have been regarded as the work of Christian 
 pilgrims on their way from Egypt to Sinai during the fourth 
 century ; but the contents of them were unknown in the time of 
 Cosmas, and no tradition seems to have then existed respecting 
 their origin. As to the character itself, Gesenius thought that they 
 belonged to that species of the Phoenician, or rather Syrian, which 
 in the first centuries of the Christian era was extensively employed 
 throughout Syria, and partially in Egypt ; having most affinity 
 with the Palmyrene inscriptions. But Professor Beer of Leipzig, 
 who has quite recently deciphered these inscriptions for the first 
 time, regards them as exhibiting the only remains of the language 
 and character once peculiar to the Nabathaeans of Arabia Petraea ; 
 and supposes that if at any future time stones with the writing of 
 the country should be found among the ruins of Petra, the charac- 
 ter would prove to be the same with that of the inscriptions of Sinai. 
 And this had already proved to have been the fact, although he 
 knew it not ; for in the then unpublished travels of Irby and 
 Mangles, mention is made of a tomb at Petra with an oblong tablet 
 containing an inscription “ in five long lines, and immediately 
 underneath a single figure” on a large scale, probably the date. 
 “ The characters were such as none of the party had seen before, 
 excepting Mr. Bankes, who, on comparing them, stated them to be 
 precisely similar to those which he had seen scratched on the rocks 
 in the Wady Mokatteb, and about the foot of Mount Sinai.” Ac- 
 cording to this view, the inscription may not improbably turn out 
 to have been made by the native inhabitants of the mountains. 
 “ Still,” says Professor Robinson, “ it cannot but be regarded as a 
 most singular fact that here, in these lone mountains, an alphabet 
 should be found on the rocks, which is shown by the thousands 
 of inscriptions, to have been once a very current one, but of which 
 perhaps elsewhere not a trace remains.” 
 
 The contents of the inscriptions, so far as Professor Beer has 
 proceeded, consist only of proper names, preceded sometimes by a 
 word signifying “peace,” but sometimes “ memoriatus sit,” and a 
 few times “ blessed.” Before the names the word bar or ben, “ son,” 
 sometimes occurs ; and they are sometimes followed by one or two 
 words at the end ; thus the word “ priest” occurs twice as a title. 
 In one or two instances the name is followed by a phrase or sen- 
 tence which has not yet been deciphered. Among the names, none 
 Jewish or Christian have been found, and the words which are not 
 proper names seem to belong to an Aramean dialect. A language 
 of this kind Professor Beer supposes to have been spoken by the 
 inhabitants of Arabia Petraea, in other words, by the Nabathaeans, 
 before the present Arabic language spread itself over those parts ; 
 and of that language and writing he regards these as the only 
 monuments now known to exist. 
 
Sunday XLV.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 355 
 
 SUNDAY XLV.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 IIIS quotation enabled him, without 
 having recourse to Scripture, to con- 
 trovert the Epicurean doctrine, that 
 the Deity had no interference with 
 human concerns ; showing them, on 
 their own principles, that ‘ we are the 
 offspring of God,’ and that ‘ in him we 
 live, and move, and have our being 
 and it is worth observing that he could 
 select from a poet sentiments which 
 come nearer to the truth than any from 
 
 a philosopher. 
 
 “ The orator, rising with his subject, after briefly touching on 
 the long-suffering of God, awfully announced that ignorance would 
 be no longer any plea for idolatry ; that if the Divine forbearance 
 had permitted it so long, it was in order to make the wisest not 
 only see but feel the insufficiency of their own wisdom in what 
 related to the great concerns of religion ; but He now ‘ recom- 
 mended all men, everywhere, to repent.’ He concludes by 
 announcing the solemnities of Christ’s future judgment and the 
 resurrection from the dead. 
 
 “ In considering Saint Paul’s manner of unfolding to these wits 
 and sages the power and goodness of that Supreme Intelligence 
 who (as the Unknown God) was the object of their ‘ ignorant 
 worship,’ we are at once astonished at his intrepidity and his 
 management ; intrepidity, in preferring this bold charge against an 
 audience of the most accomplished scholars in the world — in 
 charging ignorance upon Athens ! blindness on ‘ the eye of Greece !’ 
 — and management, in so judiciously conducting his oration, that 
 the audience expressed neither impatience nor displeasure till he 
 began to unfold the most obnoxious and unpopular of all doctrines 
 — Jesus raised from the dead.” 
 
 The great command of language, argument, and temper which 
 Saint Paul manifested, will be better understood, if we consider how 
 utterly repugnant to all his ideas and feelings were the various objects 
 which met his view from the high place in which he stood. Inspired 
 by feelings that were implanted from his youth into the mind of 
 a pious Jew, and glowing with zeal for the honour of God, the apostle 
 must have been really horror-struck at the spectacle of idolatry which 
 met him wherever he turned his eyes. A graphic writer in Mr. 
 Kitto’s ‘ Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature’ (art. “ Areopagus ”) thus 
 describes the objects which met the view of the Apostle : — “ Having 
 come up from the level parts of the city where the markets (there 
 were two, the old and the new) were, he would probably stand with 
 his face towards the north, and would then have immediately be- 
 hind him the long walls which ran down to the sea, affording pro- 
 tection against a foreign enemy. Near the sea, on one side, was 
 the harbour of Peirseus, on the other that designated Phalerum, with 
 their crowded arsenals, their busy workmen, and their gallant ships. 
 Not far off, on the ocean, lay the island of Salamis, ennobled for 
 ever in history as the spot near which Athenian valour chastised 
 Asiatic pride, and achieved the liberty of Greece. The apostle 
 had only to turn towards his right hand to catch a view of a small 
 but celebrated hill rising within the city, near that on which he 
 stood,. called Pnyx, where, standing on a block of bare stone, De- 
 mosthenes and other distinguished orators had addressed the assem- 
 bled people of Athens, swaying that arrogant and fickle democracy, 
 and thereby making Philip of Macedon tremble, or working good or 
 ill for the entire civilized world. On the left, somewhat beyond 
 the walls, was beheld the Academy, with its groves of plane and 
 olive trees, its retired walks and cooling fountains, its altars to the 
 Muses, its statues of the Graces, its temple of Minerva, and its 
 altars to Prometheus, to Love, and to Hercules, near which Plato 
 had his country-seat, and in the midst of which he had taught, as 
 well as his followers after him. But the most impressive spectacle 
 lay on his right hand, for there, on the small and precipitous hill 
 named the Acropolis, were clustered together monuments of the 
 highest art, and memorials of the national religion, such as no other 
 equal spot of ground has ever borne. The apostle’s eye, in turning 
 to the right, would fall on the north-west view of the eminence, 
 which was here (and all around) covered and protected by a wall, 
 parts of which were so ancient as to be of Cyclopean origin. The 
 western side, which alone gave access to what, from its original 
 destination, may be termed the fort, was, during the administration 
 of Pericles, adorned with a splendid flight of steps, and the 
 beautiful Propylaea, with its five entrances and two flanking 
 temples, constructed by Mnesicles, of Pentelican marble, at a cost of 
 
 two thousand and twelve talents. In the times of the. Roman em- 
 perors there stood before the Propylaea equestrian statues of Augus- 
 tus and Agrippa. On the southern wing of the Propylaea was a 
 temple of the Wingless Victory ; on the northern, a Pinacotheca, or 
 picture gallery. On the highest part of the platform of the Acro- 
 | polis, not more than three hundred feet from the entrance buildings 
 first described, stood (and yet stands, though shattered and muti- 
 lated) the Parthenon, justly celebrated throughout the world, erected 
 of white Pentelican marble, under the direction of Callicrates, 
 Ictinus, and Carpion, and adorned with the finest sculptures from 
 the hand of Phidias. Northward from the Parthenon was the 
 Erechtheum, a compound building, which contained the temple of 
 Minerva Polias, the proper Erechtheum (called also the Cecropium), 
 and the Pandroseum. This sanctuary contained the holy olive- 
 tree sacred to Minerva, the holy salt-spring, the ancient wooden 
 image of Pallas, &c., and was the scene of the oldest and most 
 venerated ceremonies and recollections of the Athenians. Between 
 the Propylaea and the Erechtheum was placed the colossal bronze 
 statue of Pallas Promachos, the work of Phidias, which towered so 
 high above the other buildings that the plume of her helmet and the 
 point of her spear were visible on the sea between Sunium and 
 Athens. Moreover, the Acropolis itself was occupied by so great a 
 crowd of statues and monuments, that the account, as found in Pau- 
 sanias, excites the reader’s wonder, and makes it difficult to understand 
 how so much could be crowded into a space which extended, from 
 the south-east corner to the south-west, only eleven hundred and fifty 
 feet, while its greatest breadth did not exceed five hundred feet. 
 On the hill where Paul had his station, was, at the eastern end, the 
 temple of the Furies, and other national and commemorative edifices. 
 The court-house of the council, which was also here, was, accord- 
 ing to the simplicity of ancient customs, built of clay. There was 
 an altar consecrated by Orestes to Athene Areia. In the same 
 place were seen two silver blocks, on one of which stood the accuser 
 and on the other the accused. Near them stood two altars, erected 
 by Epimenides, one to Insult and the other to Shamelessness.” 
 
 This description will furnish the reader with a distinct impression 
 of the innumerable symbols and monuments of idolatry which met 
 the apostle’s view, and will suggest the grounds on which, even 
 before he stood on Mars’ Hill, “ his spirit was stirred within him 
 when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry .” 
 
 The very skilful use to which, in his discourse, Paul applied the 
 inscription on the altar may claim a few words of further notice. 
 
 H Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too su- 
 perstitious. For as I passed by,” he said, “ and beheld your devo- 
 tions, I saw an altar with this inscription, To tiieUnknown God ; 
 whom, therefore, ye ignorantly (i. e. without knowing) worship, de- 
 clare I unto you. God that made the world,” &c. If the word 
 translated “ superstitious,” was employed in its good sense, as is 
 now generally believed, we perceive that the apostle, after applaud- 
 ing the strength of the sentiment of religious dependence among the 
 Athenians, cites as an instance of it this altar and its inscription to 
 the unknown God. This inscription certainly, as understood by 
 those who framed it, by no means proved that they had attained to 
 the conception of an unknown god exalted above all other gods ; 
 but only that, according to their belief, they had received good or 
 evil from some unknown god. But Paul cites this inscription in 
 order to attach a deeper meaning to it. “ I announce to you Him,” 
 he said, “ whom, without knowing him, ye worship and proceeded 
 to impress the idea of one God, whose offspring, by one act of crea- 
 tion, all mankind equally were ; and after ably tracing the latent 
 consciousness of this great fact evinced by their own acts, and even 
 by the words of their poets, he came to speak of Jesus and the re- 
 surrection. So long as Paul confined himself to the development 
 of the unity of the Theistic conceptions, in contrast with the multi- 
 plicity arising from their notions in the deification of the powers of 
 nature, the apostle was heard with attention. It seemed to them as 
 a matter of curious philosophical investigation, proposed by one 
 whom they by this time felt to be no common teacher. But so soon 
 as he began to touch upon the doctrine of the Gospel — calling his 
 proud audience to repentance through Jesus Christ, and declaring 
 his resurrection from the dead as the confirmation and seal of this 
 great mission upon earth, and as a testimonial of a general resur- 
 rection to take place hereafter — he was interrupted with ridi- 
 cule on the part of some of his hearers. Others said, that they 
 would hear him speak of the matter another time — thus courteously 
 intimating to the apostle that they wished him to close his address, 
 or else really intending to hear him again. There were only a few 
 individuals in the assembly who joined themselves to the apostle, 
 listening to his further instructions, and became believers. Among 
 them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagite council, and “ a 
 
 2 z2 
 
11 16.- St. Paul. 
 
 1117. — Mars’ Hill. The Areopagus, Athens. 
 Bryn Mars. 
 
 
 
 1119. — The Muses. 
 Yr Awenesau. 
 
 1120.— The Muses. 
 Yr Awenesau. 
 
 1121.— Hercules. 
 Ercwlff. 
 
 1122.— Love. 
 Cariad. 
 
 Ercwlff. 
 
 
1127. — Sculptures from the Parthenon. 
 Cerfiadau o’r Parthenon. 
 
 1128. — Sculptures from the Parthenon. 
 Gweddillion o’r Parthenon. 
 
 1151. — View of Corinth. 
 Golygfa ar Corinth. 
 
 1130.— Greek worshipping with the Head uncovered.— 1 Cor. li. 5. 
 Groegiad yn addoli heb beth am ei Een. 
 
 1132. — Temple of Minerva at Corinth. 
 Teml Minerfah yn Corinth. 
 
 357 
 
358 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 [Sunday XLY. 
 
 woman named Daman's.” Of Dionysius nothing more is certainly 
 known than is here stated, although he became the subject of many 
 legends. The only authentic tradition concerning him seems to be, 
 that he was the principal instrument of forming a church at Athens, 
 and became its overseer. 
 
 While Paul was at Athens, Timothy returned from Macedonia, 
 and the anxiety of Paul for the new church at Thessalonica induced 
 him to send his young fellow-labourer thither, that he might con- 
 tribute to the establishment of their faith, and to their consolation 
 under the sufferings to which they were exposed ; for Timothy had 
 communicated to him many distressing accounts of the persecutions 
 which had befallen this church. 
 
 Paul then quitted Athens himself, travelling alone. He pro- 
 ceeded to the city of Corinth, the metropolis of the province of 
 Achaia, and the seat of the Roman governor. This city, within a 
 century and a half after its destruction by Julius Caesar, once more 
 became the centre of intercourse and traffic to the eastern and 
 western parts of the Roman empire, for which it was eminently 
 fitted by its natural advantages, namely, by its situation on the 
 isthmus connecting the Peloponnesus with the main land of Greece ; 
 and by the possession of two ports, on the opposite sides of the 
 isthmus, one facing towards the Lesser Asia and the East, and the 
 other towards Italy and the West. Being thus situated, Corinth 
 became an important position for spreading the Gospel through a 
 great part of the Roman empire ; and hence Paul chose the city, as 
 he had chosen others similarly situated, to be the place where he 
 made a long sojourn. 
 
 At Corinth St. Paul found two opposite mental tendencies 
 strongly opposed to the reception of the doctrine he came to pro- 
 mulgate. The first of these was an inordinate devotedness to specu- 
 lative inquiries, to the neglect of all matters of practical impor- 
 tance ; and the other, the disposition to mingle the sensuous tendency 
 with the religious sentiment. Hence the large measure of attention 
 which the apostle devoted to these matters in the admirable epistles 
 which at a subsequent period he addressed to the Corinthian church. 
 The first he designates by the phrase “ seeking after wisdom,” and 
 the other by “seeking after a sign.” The first of these tendencies 
 was chiefly manifested among the large number of persons in Corinth 
 who made pretensions to mental cultivation. And these were not 
 few ; for the new Corinth was distinguished from the more ancient 
 city chiefly by becoming, in addition to its commercial celebrity, a 
 seat of philosophy and literature, so that a tincture of high mental 
 cultivation pervaded the place. The second was more apparent among 
 the numerous Jews who had settled themselves in that great com- 
 mercial emporium, and who entertained the common material con- 
 ceptions respecting the Messiah and his kingdom. And, besides, a 
 great obstacle to the doctrine of the Cross was found in the gross 
 corruption of morals which at this period pervaded all the great 
 cities of the Roman empire, and which at Corinth was especially 
 promoted by the worship of Venus Aphrodite, to which a celebrated 
 temple was here erected, and which in some degree consecrated that 
 sensual indulgence, to which the usual incitements of a place of 
 great wealth and traffic were already too numerous. 
 
 The efficiency of Paul’s ministrations in this important but very 
 difficult station appears to have been much promoted by his meeting 
 there a friend and zealous advocate of the Gospel in the person of 
 Aquila, a Jew of Pontus, at whose house lie lodged, and with whom 
 he obtained employment at tent-making for his livelihood. Tent- 
 making was in those times and climates a profitable business, and it 
 seems to have been conducted on a large scale by Aquila. He was 
 lately from Rome, which does not, however, appear to have been 
 his fixed residence ; for he is supposed to have taken up his 
 abode at different times, as his business might require, in various 
 large cities, the seats of commerce and luxury, where he found 
 himself equally at home. This is a mode of conducting cer- 
 tain kinds of business still common in the East ; and the present is not 
 the only trace of it which we find in the Scriptures. He had, how- 
 ever, been constrained to leave Rome under a decree of the Emperor 
 Claudius, who found in the turbulent disposition of the Jewish resi- 
 dents at Rome, who were mostly freed-men, a reason or a pretence 
 for banishing them from the imperial city. 
 
 It is not clear whether Aquila was already a Christian when 
 Paul met with him at Corinth. The circumstance that Paul 
 needed employment in his trade will sufficiently account for their 
 coming together, without this supposition ; and there is something 
 pleasing to the mind in contemplating the holy apostle as, during or 
 in the intervals of his honest labour, discoursing to his friendly 
 employer of the great facts and doctrines which filled his soul, and 
 which he was always ready and anxious, “ in season and out of 
 season,” to impart to others ; till at length he was enabled to add 
 
 Aquila and his excellent wife Priscilla also to the number of those 
 who looked to him as their spiritual father. But whether first 
 converted to Christianity or not through the instrumentality of the 
 apostle, his intercourse with them had doubtless great influence in 
 the formation of their views of Christian truth ; and from this time 
 we find Aquila a zealous preacher of the Gospel, in which his 
 frequent journeys and changes of residence gave him no ordinary 
 advantages ; and in all his labours he was worthily seconded by his 
 wife Priscilla, so that Paul emphatically designates both of them 
 as his “ helpers in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. xvi. 3.) 
 
 Paul, as usual, commenced his public services at Corinth by 
 preaching on the Sabbath-days in the synagogues : but lie was soon 
 driven, by the hostile disposition which the Jews manifested, to 
 direct his labours to the Gentiles, through the medium of the 
 proselytes, to whom a small number of Jews joined themselves. 
 The great cause to which the apostle was devoted soon made such 
 progress at Corinth as must have consoled the apostle greatly for 
 his small success at Athens ; and the fact of the contrast thus formed 
 in his mind serves to illustrate many allusions in his Corinthian 
 epistles. From this source we learn that he came to Corinth with 
 a very depressing conviction of the insufficiency of human means — 
 of address, of learning, of eloquence — in procuring acceptance for 
 the Divine word ; and that therefore he had determined at Corinth 
 to address himself at once and directly to the main point — salvation 
 through Jesus Christ. The success which attended this course of pro- 
 ceeding very soon excited the ill-will of the Jews, who availed them- 
 selves of the arrival of a new proconsul, Annaeus Gallio, a brother of 
 Seneca the philosopher, to arraign Paul before his tribunal. The 
 ground of accusation in this case was that divisions among them 
 were promoted by Paul, which they alleged to be contrary to the 
 law, under which they were allowed the free and unmolested enjoy- 
 ment of their religious privileges. But the mild Gallio was by no 
 means inclined to involve himself in what must have appeared to him 
 the idle internal disputes of the Jews ; and instead of listening to 
 them, he caused them to be driven from his tribunal. “ If it were 
 a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews,” he remarked, 
 “ reason would that I should hear you ; but if it be a question of 
 words and names, and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no 
 judge of such matters.” On this declaration from the judgment-seat, 
 the heathen auditors, always glad to be let loose upon the Jews, took 
 Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him severely 
 as he was leaving the tribunal. He had probably headed the 
 Jewish party on this occasion ; but there is reason to hope that he 
 afterwards became a convert, like Paul himself, to the faith he had 
 once persecuted, and that he eventually joined the apostle in his 
 labours, for his first epistle to this very church begins — “Paul . . . 
 and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at 
 Corinth.” 
 
 The frustration of this attempt against the apostle enabled him 
 to pursue his labours for a good while without further molestation 
 in this quarter ; so that their influence at length became apparent 
 throughout the whole region of Achaia (1 Thess. i. 8 ; 2 Cor. i. 1) ; 
 but it is not certain whether in these more discursive labours he 
 used the instrumentality of his disciples, or occasionally suspended 
 his residence at Corinth by a journey intoother parts of the pro- 
 vince, and then again returned to the principal scene of his 
 ministry. 
 
 At length, after having been joined by Timothy from Thessalonica, 
 Paul resolved, before entering upon new operations, to re-visit his 
 former fields of labour, and also proceed to Jerusalem. His soul 
 was grieved at the differences which appeared to be again arising 
 between the Gentile and Jewish converts, and he hoped to be able 
 to mollify them by his personal influence in the Asiatic churches, 
 as well as by taking measures to remove the only plausible ground 
 of accusation which the Jews and Jewish Christians urged against 
 him, namely, that he was an enemy of their nation and of the religion 
 of their fathers. There was at this time a custom among the Jews, 
 arising apparently out of Nazariteship, under which a person visited 
 with sickness, or subject to any other calamity, vowed, if he were 
 restored, to bring a thank-offering to Jehovah in the temple, to 
 abstain from wine for thirty days, and to shave the head. Paul, on 
 his deliverance from some danger during his residence in or journey 
 from Corinth, resolved publicly to express his grateful acknowledg- 
 ments in the temple at Jerusalem. The form of his doing this was 
 in itself a matter of indifference, and in the spirit of that Christian 
 wisdom with which he was so eminently endowed, he felt no scruple 
 to become, in respect to form, to the Jews a Jew, as to the Gentiles 
 a Gentile. When he was on the point of sailing with Aquila to 
 Lesser Asia, from Cenchrea, he began the fulfilment of his vow by 
 shaving his head. 
 
Sunday XLV.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 359 
 
 SUNDAY XLV.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 O when the king heard these great 
 and terrible words from the book of 
 the law, he rent his clothes, and 
 evinced great consternation and fear. 
 From this it is generally supposed 
 that the portion which was first read 
 to Josiah was the twenty-eighth and 
 twenty-ninth chapters of Deuteronomy; 
 and these were doubtless well calculated 
 to convince him that the guilt and dan- 
 ger of his people were much greater than he had apprehended, and to 
 draw forth the signs of sorrow and humiliation which he manifested. 
 Being thus led to fear that the sentence of wrath had already gone 
 forth, on account of the notorious disobedience of his predecessors, 
 and the crimes of his own generation, Josiah sent to Huldah, 
 the prophetess, to inquire of the Lord for himself, and for the 
 people, concerning the words of the book that was found. The 
 answer was, that the kingdom and the city were indeed doomed to 
 ruin, but seeing that he had himself manifested sincere dispositions 
 towards God, he should have his reward in being gathered to his 
 fathers before the evil days came. But although the strict terms of 
 this response left Josiah to conclude that the day of mercy for 
 Judah had gone by, he not the less endeavoured to recall the people 
 to a sense of their enormous guilt and wickedness, and to make 
 them engage with piety and sincerity in the worship of God. 
 Accordingly, having assembled the people in the spacious courts of 
 the temple, he caused the law to be there read to them, after which 
 he on his part, and they on theirs, bound themselves in the most 
 solemn manner to serve the Lord only, and to observe the com- 
 mandments of the book which had been read. 
 
 After this the king made another progress through his kingdom, 
 thoroughly to root out every fragment of the accursed thing which 
 had brought so much evil upon the land. The zealous l ing even 
 extended his pious labours into the land of Israel, at least so far as 
 Bethel, which had been the chief seat of the golden calf idolatry 
 under the kings of Israel. He destroyed the altar and high place 
 of Jeroboam, after first polluting them by burning upon them the 
 bones of men taken out of the adjoining sepulchres. In the course 
 of this proceeding the king observed that one of the sepulchres was 
 distinguished by an inscription, and when informed that it was the 
 tomb of the man of God who had, ages before, foretold the very 
 deed in which he was then engaged, he forbore to disturb the dust 
 which it enclosed. 
 
 After this J osiah returned to J erusalem and prepared to celebrate 
 the Passover, which had again been neglected, but which was on this 
 occasion observed with a degree of solemnity and magnificence 
 even exceeding that exhibited in the celebrated passover of 
 Hezekiah. In describing that Passover, the historian affirms that 
 there had been none like it since the time of Solomon; but in 
 describing Josiah ’s Passover, he goes much further, and affirms 
 that there had been none like it since the time of Samuel the 
 prophet. 
 
 Josiah continued to reign thirteen years after this remarkable 
 solemnity ; and during these years he walked steadily in the ways 
 of righteousness and truth. But as for the people, although they 
 were restrained from open idolatry, it appears that, to a large 
 extent, they relapsed secretly to their old abominations, and under 
 a fair outside were ripening inwardly for the dire judgment which 
 hung over their heads. 
 
 Meanwhile the Assyrian power was getting weak in the East, 
 and was beginning to give way to the encroachments of the Medes 
 and Chaldeans, by which it was ere long overthrown. The enter- 
 prising monarch of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho, desiring to avail himself 
 of this disadvantageous position of his old enemies, assembled a 
 large army, and commenced his march along the coast of Palestine, 
 with the view of securing Carchemish and other strong posts on 
 the Euphrates. The error of preceding kings of Judah had been to 
 rely too much on Egypt, and, in confidence of its support — a con- 
 fidence scarcely ever justified by the result— to forego all their other 
 obligations. Aware of this error, as well as mindful of his relation 
 to Assyria, and of his obligation to defend the frontier against 
 Egypt, Josiah resolved to oppose the march of Necho through his 
 territories. This zeal in the discharge of what he believed to be 
 his duty to that power of which he was a vassal, cost him his life. 
 The king of Egypt was very reluctant to employ his arms against 
 
 the king of Judah, but finding that Josiah was resolved to oppose 
 his passage, he gave him battle. The vast host of Egypt, under one 
 of the ablest commanders of the age, soon broke down and dispersed 
 the thin ranks of Judah. Josiah himself fought in disguise, but a 
 commissioned arrow found him out, and inflicted a mortal wound in 
 his neck. His attendants hastened to remove him from the field, 
 and, placing him in another chariot, conveyed him to Jerusalem, 
 where he died. This death, in the heroic and undaunted discharge 
 of what he felt to be his duty, was not unworthy the excellent life 
 which was thus prematurely brought to a close at the early age of 
 thirty-nine years. The prophet Jeremiah, who foresaw but too 
 clearly the evils of the coming time, lamented the death of the last 
 good king in a mournful ode, which has not been preserved. “ The 
 singing men and singing women,” adds the historian, “ speak of 
 Josiah in their lamentations unto this day which clearly evinces 
 how long and how tenderly the memory of this excellent king was 
 cherished among the people. 
 
 The king of Egypt, intent upon his original design, tarried not 
 to take advantage of the victory he had gained, which amounted to 
 nothing less than the conquest of the kingdom. The people iu 
 these difficult circumstances took the very unwise course of raising 
 Jehoahaz, the second son of Josiah, to the throne, passing by the 
 natural heir ; and, aware of the respect with which the ceremony 
 of anointing w'as regarded by the Egyptians, they took the unusual 
 course of anointing him king, with the apparent view of making it 
 more difficult for Necho to annul their proceedings. When, how- 
 ever, the Egyptian king returned, about three months after, victo- 
 rious over the Assyrians, and understood what had taken place, he 
 was highly displeased. The new king was summoned to meet his 
 now sovereign master at Riblah in Syria, where lie was deprived of 
 the crown he had too hastily assumed, and the land was condemned 
 to pay in tribute a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 
 When Necho proceeded homeward, Jehoahaz followed in his train 
 to Jerusalem, and the city of David once more saw its own king 
 enter its walls a captive. On his arrival, Necho bestowed the crown 
 on Eliakim, the eldest son of Josiah, whose name he changed to 
 Jehoiakim, according to a custom frequently observed by lords 
 paramount towards subject princes and slaves. This was a mark of 
 subjection, but does not appear to have been much felt as such by 
 those on whom it was imposed. Then, bearing off the silver and 
 gold which had been levied upon the people, Necho returned to 
 Egypt, taking with him the captive Jehoahaz, who there terminated 
 his short and inglorious career, according to the prophecies of 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 Jehoiakim, the vassal of Egypt, was twenty-five years old when 
 he began to reign, and he sat eleven years upon the throne of 
 Judah. He was little disposed to carry out the designs of his 
 excellent father ; but suffered all the goodly order which he had 
 established to be broken up, and neglected to enforce and exemplify 
 the principles by which his conduct had been guided. The people, 
 who had never cordially entered into the late king’s reformations, 
 now gladly availed themselves of the licence which the example of 
 the court afforded, and hastened to plunge with new zest into their 
 old abominations. On this the prophet Jeremiah, being divinely 
 commissioned, proceeded to the palace, and in the presence of the 
 king denounced the judgments of God upon him and his, urdess by 
 timely repentance he turned the divine wrath aside. From the palace 
 the prophet proceeded to the temple, and called the people to repent- 
 ance, intimating that their incensed God might yet be pacified if 
 they would but turn from their evil way ; and forewarning them 
 that their impenitence would ere long be punished by the overthrow 
 of their great city, and the destruction of their holy place : the 
 priests then present were angered by this last intimation, and they 
 laid their hands upon the prophet and took him before the royal 
 council. But in that council Jeremiah had a warm friend in 
 Ahikam, who pleaded for and even justified him with so much 
 earnestness, that he was dismissed without damage. 
 
 Meanwhile the aspect of affairs began to change in the East. 
 The Medes and Babylonians had gained the upper hand of the 
 Assyrians ; and the latter, which took the western division of the 
 empire, had leisure to look beyond the narrow field of their pre- 
 vious operations. The fair portion of that empire west of the 
 Euphrates had either assumed independence or had succumbed to 
 the Egyptians, and this the new power had no inclination to 
 relinquish, and was determined to recover. Accordingly Nabo- 
 polassar, the monarch of Babylon, availed himself of the earliest 
 leisure to send his son Nebuchadnezzar to the west of “ the great 
 river.” This was at the commencement of the fourth year of 
 Jehoiakim. The Chaldean army, under its valiant and able leader, 
 bore all before it. 
 
Caethion Iuddewig tybiedig Pharaoh-Necho. 
 
 1137.— Singing Men. Modem Syrian. 
 Cerddorion Syriaidd Diweddar. 
 
 
X 
 
 1138. — Fountain. 
 Ffynnon. 
 
 1139.— Caravan at Water. 
 Taith-fintai wrth Ddwfr. 
 
 1142. — Modern Shadoofs. 
 Siadwtfau Divveddar. 
 
 1143. — Chinese Shadoof, See. 
 SiadwfF Chineaidd. 
 
 1144. — Giving Drink, 
 lthoddi Diod. 
 
 361 
 
362 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 [Sunday XLVI. 
 
 SUNDAY XLVI— PROVERBS. 
 
 HE Proverbs of Solomon, and 
 the other works ascribed to him, 
 contain not a few of those 
 allusions to water which we ex- 
 pect to find in an Oriental book. 
 Such references in fact per- 
 vade the Bible from 1 he be- 
 ginning to the ending ; and 
 livers of water, wells, and gush- 
 ing springs supply to the sacred 
 poets and prophets some of their 
 most vivid and happy images. In 
 Proverbs alone we find such 
 as the following : — 
 
 “ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, 
 
 Anil running waters out of thine own well.” 
 
 (Prov. v. 15.) 
 
 Which is very much elucidated by the fact that even at the present 
 day every respectable house in Jerusalem has a reservoir or cistern 
 sunk in the court-yard, which during the later spring rains is filled 
 up with water, which serves over the long and dry summer, and is 
 then again filled by the early rains of autumn. This is in fact the 
 main dependence of the inhabitants of a region where springs of 
 water are few, and where nearly all the rivers dry up very early in 
 the summer. Therefore a man who has not his own cistern, must 
 depend upon the cisterns of others, and must be constantly asking what 
 is really a great favour from them, and an inconvenience to them ; 
 while the supply from this source is in danger of being cut off as soon 
 as the owners of the cistern suspect that their supply is likely to 
 run short, or that the season of drought threatens to be of long 
 duration. 
 
 In the next verse we read : — 
 
 “ Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, 
 
 And rivers of water in the streets.” 
 
 This is to an Oriental an image of the highest degree of abundance 
 and blessedness. It is however founded on facts. It could indeed 
 not often occur in Palestine that the waste water of a fountain 
 should run in streams through different streets ; but it does occur 
 in some places where water is unusually abundant, as in Damascus : 
 and to those who have been inured to the heat, the thirst, and the 
 scarcity of water in Eastern climates, this running of the pre- 
 cious fluid to waste gives an idea of redundant plenty, of luxurious 
 extravagance, and even of sinful waste, which the inhabitants of 
 well-watered regions cannot easily apprehend. 
 
 The Proverb — “ Stolen waters are sweet ” (Prov. ix. 17), although 
 it has passed from the Bible into common use among ourselves, is 
 with us comparatively unmeaning. No one steals water here. 
 The proverb is only felt in its due force in such climates as those 
 in which it originated ; where water is often scarce, and, therefore, 
 so valuable as to be an object of care and solicitude to the owners ; 
 is often bought at a price we should consider exorbitant ; and often 
 stolen by those who will not or cannot buy. Many illustrative 
 passages will occur to those familiar witli Scripture. The strifes 
 about wells of water and the watering of flocks (Gen. xxvi. 18 — 22 ; 
 Exod. ii. 16 — 19) ; the offer of the Israelites to buy («. e. not steal) 
 the water they required in passing through Edom (Num. xx. 19) ; 
 the doleful complaint of the prophet, “ We have drunken our water 
 for money” (Lam. v. 4), and other like passages may be instanced. 
 
 “ The liberal soul shall be made fat ; 
 
 And lie that watereth others shall be watered.” 
 
 (Prov. xi. 25.) 
 
 The sentiment indicated by this figure is obvious: but the fact on 
 which it is founded cannot be apprehended or felt strongly in a 
 moist climate like ours, where real thirst for water is scarcely 
 known. But it follows that where water is scarce and precious, 
 and where also the heat of the climate makes every one need a 
 large quantity of water daily, the liberality of “ watering others,” 
 that is, of giving water freely to the thirsty, is most strongly felt and 
 gratefully acknowledged. In fact, in the Scriptures, liberality is 
 as frequently instanced by giving water to the thirsty as by giving 
 bread to the hungry. In another place (Prov. xxv. 21), the idea 
 involved in the present verse is dwelt upon very strongly: — “If 
 thine enemy thirst, give him drink ; ’’and in the New Testament, 
 the Divine king in the grand parable of the final judgment, men- 
 
 tions, to the commendation of the righteous — “ I was thirsty and ye 
 gave me drink and the denial of drink to his thirst is no- 
 ticed in the condemnation of the wicked (Matt. xxv. 35, 42). In 
 another case our Saviour uttered the memorable words : “ Whoso- 
 ever shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye belong to 
 Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Mark 
 ix. 41.) 
 
 “ The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water ” (Prov. 
 xvii. 14). That is, that although the breach may seem at first un- 
 important, it is widened by the action of the water, which at length 
 bursts forth in a mighty stream which can be checked no longer, 
 and not only exhausts and wastes the fertilizing waters of kindness 
 and love, but spreads damage and ruin all around. 
 
 “The law of the wise is a fountain of life” (Prov. xiii. 14), 
 which is repeated as “the fear of the Lord” in xiv. 27. A fountain 
 of life is a living fountain, that is, a perennial spring, or a spring 
 which sends forth a running stream. In this sense it is contrasted, 
 with an emphasis of praise, to dead or stagnant water, such as that 
 of reservoirs, lakes, ponds, &c. 
 
 “ Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water ; 
 
 But a man of understanding will draw it out.” 
 
 (Prov. xx. 5.) 
 
 This very fine proverb refers to the depth of wells before the 
 water is reached. In Palestine this is often very great. The cele- 
 brated well of Jacob, near Shechem, is stated by travellers to be one 
 hundred and five feet deep, with only five feet of water in it — now, at 
 least. It is not improbable that Solomon had this very well in 
 view. The labour of drawing from such a well may possibly have 
 contributed to the first unwillingness of the woman of Samaria to 
 give drink therefrom to the thirsting Saviour — “ Sir, thou hast 
 nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.” From such wells water 
 is often drawn by hand in a not too heavy leathern bucket, some- 
 times by a windlass, but oftener by means of the shadoof, which is 
 the most common and simple of all the machines used in the East 
 for raising water, whether from rivers or from wells. To use the 
 accurate description of Mr. Lane, in his ‘ Modern Egyptians,’ ii. 
 24, “ It consists of two posts or pillars of wood, or of mud and 
 canes or rushes, about five feet in height, and less than three feet 
 apart, with a horizontal piece of wood extending from top to top, 
 to which is suspended a slender lever, formed of a branch of a tree, 
 having at one end a weight, chiefly composed of mud, and at the 
 other, suspended from two long palm-sticks, a vessel in the form of 
 a bowl, made of basket-work, or of a hoop and a piece of woollen 
 stuff or leather ; with this vessel the water is thrown up to the 
 height of about eight feet into a trough hollowed out for its 
 reception.” That this mode of raising water is very ancient 
 is shown by an example which is represented in the mural paintings 
 of the Egyptians (Fig. 1141). The difference between this and that 
 of which we have quoted the description is, chiefly, that the lever is 
 not suspended from , but balanced upon the cross-beam. And this more 
 ancient mode is preserved in Syria, and indeed in most other countries 
 where the principle of the balance and lever is applied to the 
 raising of water. This principle is extensively applied to that 
 purpose throughout Asia, was formerly well known in England, 
 and is in use from one end of Russia to the other, where the 
 numerous levers “ kicking the beam,” and therefore rising high in 
 the air, is a striking characteristic of the villages. In this case, as 
 in China (Fig 1143), the lever is usually balanced upon a stout 
 pole, forked at the upper end ; and it of course follows that the 
 stock is higher, and the lever and rope longer in proportion to the 
 depth of the well or stream from which the water is to be taken, or 
 to the height to which it is to be raised. In Syria, where the walls 
 are deep, the stock is high, and the rope long: but in that country 
 (including Palestine) the shadoof is less common than in other 
 parts of Asia ; but where it is found, as in the neighbourhood of 
 Jaffa, &c., the lever is balanced, and not suspended. With this 
 simple machine, the chief labour is not to raise the bucket when 
 full, but to overcome the resistance of the lever’s loaded end in 
 lowering the bucket when empty. We have ourselves often raised 
 water from Eastern wells by the shadoof, and always found that it 
 required considerable exertion to lower the empty bucket down to 
 the water ; but that, when full, the chief care required was to regulate 
 its ascent, so as to prevent it from rising too high and with too much 
 force. When the river is too low or the banks too high for shadoofs on 
 the same level to bring water to the surface of the soil, a series of four 
 or five shadoofs, or sets of shadoofs, is rendered necessary (Fig. 
 1142). The water is then raised from the river by one set, and 
 discharged into a trench, from which it is taken by another set, and 
 raised to a higher trench, and so on to the top. 
 
Sunday XLVI.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 363 
 
 SUNDAY XLVI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 N the defeat of Pharaoh Necho at the 
 Euphrates, the Chaldeans became pos- 
 sessed of the strongholds of that river, 
 and were left without any equal oppo- 
 nent in Syria. After this, while the army 
 was slowly advancing to the south-west, 
 Jeremiah was once more charged to de- 
 clare the doom which impended over the 
 nation, the desolation of the land, the 
 exile of its people, and the captivity 
 of seventy years. But as all this had no effect upon their 
 obdurated minds, the prophet was directed to take a roll, and 
 write thereon all the prophecies which he had at different times 
 uttered against the city and people. This he did by the hand of 
 one of his disciples, named Baruch, a ready scribe, who wrote them 
 down from his lips. When the roll was finished, the prophet, who 
 was then in prison on account of his former predictions, sent Baruch 
 to read it in the temple, to the people then assembled at the great 
 feast of Expiation ; which he was suffered to do without molestation. 
 Soon after this, the Chaldeans appeared before Jerusalem, which 
 held out against them for five weeks, when the holy city was taken, 
 and the king was put in chains to be carried to Babylon. But 
 having humbled himself before the conqueror, who was still de- 
 sirous to maintain a barrier on the side of Egypt, he was restored 
 to his kingdom, as a tributary prince, and Nebuchadnezzar was 
 content to withdraw with the vessels and other golden spoils of 
 the temple, with which he sent away to Babylon several members 
 of the royal family, and sons of the principal nobles, to aggrandise 
 his triumph, and to serve as hostages for the fidelity of their king. 
 Among these captives were Daniel and his three friends. 
 
 Jehoiakim was not at all amended by this calamity and degra- 
 dation : for his was one of the minds which suffering hardens and not 
 reforms. His obvious policy was to adhere to the solemn vows of 
 allegiance which he had taken to the Chaldeans ; and this was the 
 policy which the prophet Jeremiah urged upon him with the utmost 
 earnestness. But the Egyptian party was strong at court, and, 
 yielding to their views, and to the flattering prospect which they 
 drew, the unhappy king had the temerity to renounce his fealty 
 to the king of Babylon, to whose clemency he owed his life and 
 his throne, before the echo of his vows had well passed away. 
 The consciousness of the dangerous position in which he was placed 
 by this act, did not tend to soften his character ; his conduct be- 
 came even more harsh, tyrannical, and oppressive ; and the streets 
 of Jerusalem were frequently sprinkled with the blood of innocent 
 and upright men. Among these was the prophet Urijah, whom 
 the king slew with the sword for his declarations of coming evil 
 and punishment. As these things, amid general threatenings of 
 calamity, had no effect upon the king’s obdurate spirit, his own 
 personal doom was no longer hidden from him. Jeremiah foretold 
 that his death should be such that none should lament, as for other 
 kings, saying— 
 
 “ Ah, my brother ! nor \_for the queen], Ah, sister ! 
 
 They shall not lament for him, saying, 
 
 Ah, Lord ! nor [ for her], Ah, her glory ! 
 
 With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, 
 
 Drawn forth and cast beyond the walls of Jerusalem.” 
 
 The same year, at the fast which had been established on 
 account of the taking of Jerusalem, Jeremiah again sent Baruch 
 with the roll of his prophecies in the temple, where he read them 
 aloud, from the chamber of Gemariah the scribe, to the people 
 assembled in the court below. Being now undistracted by dan- 
 ger at their doors, this reading obtained more attention than the 
 former. Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, who was present, hurried 
 to the palace, and apprised the royal council of the fearful things 
 which Baruch had uttered. On this they sent for him, and caused 
 him to sit down and read the roll at once to them. The contents 
 filled them with alarm, and having been assured by Baruch that he 
 had written it entirely from the dictation of the prophet, they 
 directed him to leave the roll with them, and advised that he 
 and Jeremiah, who had since been released from prison, should 
 for the present keep themselves in concealment — a humane 
 precaution, dictated probably by the recent fate of the prophet 
 Urijah. They then took the roll, and produced it before the king, 
 who was then sitting in his winter chamber, with a brazier of 
 charcoal burning before him. With his permission, the roll was 
 read to him and the assembled nobles of Judah; but no sooner ^ 
 
 had the king heard a small portion of its contents, than he took it 
 from the hands of the reader, and deliberately cutting it in pieces 
 with his pen-knife, cast it into the fire, where it was consumed, 
 although some of the lords then present implored him to desist from 
 his intention. The exasperated king, whose character is well 
 illustrated by this transaction, then issued orders for the apprehen- 
 sion of Jeremiah and Baruch; but they had taken advantage of 
 the hint given to them, and were nowhere to be found. For this 
 act of their infatuated king, the Jews have even to the present day 
 observed a yearly fast. 
 
 When the undaunted prophet understood what had been done, he 
 caused Baruch to write out the same prophecies anew, to which 
 were now added many other words of terrible meaning against the 
 kingdom and its king ; while to Jehoiakim himself was addressed 
 the terrible message — 
 
 “ Thus saith Jehovah : 
 
 Concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, — ■ 
 
 He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David ; 
 
 And his body shall be cast out, 
 
 In the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.” 
 
 The deprivation of sepulchral rights, and of the customary wailings, 
 implied in this and the previous denunciation, involved the highest 
 amount of ignominy and dishonour which the mind of an Oriental 
 could then, or can now, conceive. 
 
 Meanwhile Nebuchadnezzar had been interrupted in his opera- 
 tions for the subjugation of Egypt and Western Asia, by the news 
 of his father’s death, on which he crossed the desert with a few 
 attendants and took possession of the throne. When the news of 
 Jehoiakim’s revolt reached him, he was still at Babylon ; but having 
 no present leisure to chastise him in person, lie was content to send 
 orders to his lieutenants, in command west of the Euphrates, to act 
 against him. This brought upon Judah a constant succession of 
 harassing invasions from the neighbouring nations subject to 
 Babylon, in which the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites in 
 particular manifested the most malignant activity, while the Syrians 
 and Arabs were not behindhand in cruelty and violence. At 
 length the person of Jehoiakim was secured, and he was sent off 
 to Nebuchadnezzar, who had by that time returned to Syria, and 
 was then at Riblah. The monarch at first put him in chains to 
 send him to Babylon ; but he altered his mind, and took him back in 
 his train to Jerusalem. There, a degraded captive in the royal city 
 of his fathers, the miserable king died, his end being probably 
 hastened by mortification and grief ; and we are bound to conclude 
 that his corpse was refused a place in the sepulchre of the kings, 
 and was treated with all the ignominy which Jeremiah had fore- 
 told. (b.c. 599.) 
 
 When Nebuchadnezzar thus arrived in person at Jerusalem, lie 
 found that the people had already raised Jehoiachin (called also 
 Jeconiah and Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim, to the throne. But 
 this appointment, made without his concurrence, he refused to sanc- 
 tion. Still, however, desirous to keep up the monarchy under its 
 native princes, he bestowed the throne on Mattaniah, a younger 
 son of Josiah, and uncle of Jehoiachin. He changed his name 
 to Zedekiah, and bound him to loyalty by solemn oaths and cove- 
 nants. The conqueror then departed, having first sent away to 
 Babylon the king Jehoiachin, together with his mother, his wives, 
 his officers, and his nobles, and all “ the mighty men of valour,” to 
 the number of ten thousand out of Jerusalem only, besides the 
 smiths, the carpenters, and other artificers. These, added to a 
 similar deportation of warriors and artificers which had previously 
 taken place, denuded the country of the flower of its population, 
 and left little more than the crude mass of the people subject to 
 the powerless sceptre of Zedekiah. Among the captives sent to 
 Babylon on this occasion seems to have been Ezekiel, who in his 
 captivity was called to be a prophet, and for many years exercised 
 his ministry by the river Chebar in Babylonia, at the same time 
 that Daniel enjoyed his honours in the imperial court. The Chal- 
 deans also seized the remaining treasures of the palace and the 
 temple, and all the sacred vessels of gold were sent off’ to grace the 
 idol temple of Babylon. 
 
 This severe punishment of the guilty kingdom was calculated to 
 have been a salutary warning to the new king, who besides owed to 
 the conqueror a crown which he would never have possessed in the 
 ordinary course of events. But with amazing infatuation, he soon 
 began to attend to the supporters of the Egyptian policy, who still 
 held their ground as a party in the land ; and in proportion as he 
 manifested inclinations towards an Egyptian alliance, which had 
 never produced any good for Israel, he necessarily neglected the 
 obligations under which he had been placed to a power against 
 
 3 A 2 
 
1H7.— Oriental Funeral and Burial-Ground. 
 CladdedigaetU a Chladdfa Ddwyreiniol. 
 
 
 364 
 
1148. — War in the Streets. 
 Khyfel yn yr Ileolydd. 
 
 1149. — Reading before a King. 
 Darllen ger bron Brenin. 
 
 W p 
 
 o 5 
 
 
 365 
 
 1155.— Conducted to the Presence. 1152.— Council. 
 
 Cyflwyno i Bresennoldeb. Cyngbor. 
 
366 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XLYI. 
 
 which he was helpless, and independence of which could at the best 
 be only obtained at the expense of dependence upon Egypt. Jere- 
 miah vehemently protested against the errors of this policy, and 
 distinctly foretold the evils which would flow from it : and Ezekiel 
 in his exile poured forth prophecies to the same effect ; for it seems 
 that the exiled Hebrews were as sanguine of being restored to liberty 
 as those in Palestine were of recovering their independence. 
 
 At length having concluded his alliance with Pharaoh Hophra 
 of Egypt, Zedekiah, in the eighth year of his reign, ventured to cast 
 off his allegiance to the Chaldeans, and by this act drew upon him- 
 self that war which ended, as the prophets had foreshown, in the 
 utter ruin of his kingdom. It was not, however, until the next 
 year that Nebuchadnezzar, having assembled a most powerful army, 
 marched against the land of Judah : on his way through Syria he 
 received intelligence that the Ammonites had also revolted, and he 
 then hesitated which country first to invade. Therefore at “ the 
 parting of the way,” or at the point where the roads divided, a lot 
 was cast with the arrows of divination, by which it was decided that 
 Judah should be first attacked. On, therefore, the Chaldeans 
 marched, clearing the country before them with fire and sword ; and 
 at length appeared before the walls of Jerusalem, which they immedi- 
 ately invested. The king, expecting no mercy, and being confident of 
 relief from Egypt, determined to defend the place to the last extremity. 
 The city was very strong, and well supplied with water, so that it 
 might hold out till the defenders were weakened by starvation ; 
 knowing this, the siege seems to have been turned by the besiegers in- 
 to a close blockade, which in the course of time reduced the people 
 to the extremities of famine. In all this time the prophets urged 
 submission, and foretold the consequences of continued obstinacy. 
 Annoyed at the continual remonstrances of Jeremiah, and fearful of 
 their effect upon the people, the king again sent him to prison. Soon 
 after this, the hopes of the besieged were raised to the highest pitch by 
 the actual advance of the Egyptians to their relief; when the Chal- 
 deans deemed it prudent to raise the siege and meet their new enemies 
 half-way. The excitement of that interval may be easily conceived. 
 Hour by hour they watched for the signal fires upon the hills, and 
 for the swift messengers which should announce the advance of the 
 Egyptians over the slaughtered hosts of the common enemy. The 
 banners of the Chaldeans were ere long visible over the tops of the 
 hills, and the mountains round about Jerusalem were covered and 
 the valleys filled with the returning hosts, at whose approach and 
 formidable appearance the Egyptians had retired in alarm to their 
 own country, without striking a single blow for their miserable ally 
 of Judah. Jeremiah, who had been removed to an easier confine- 
 ment in the court of the prison, again renewed his exhortations to 
 surrender the city to the Chaldeans ; but there were not wanting 
 false prophets, who buoyed up the hopes of Zedekiah with assurances 
 that the city would not be taken. So the king still held out, till the 
 miseries of the people became so great that women, naturally tender 
 and pitiful, devoured their own children for food. This could not 
 last : and at length Zedekiah, perceiving that all hope of saving the 
 city was vain, endeavoured with his few remaining troops to escape 
 from the place by a private postern, which the enemy had not 
 secured. But the fugitives were pursued and overtaken in the 
 plains of Jericho, where the royal guards were soon dispersed, and 
 the king and all his children were taken prisoners. The wretched 
 king, together with his family and nobles, were then sent off to 
 lliblah in Syria, where Nebuchadnezzar at that time held his court. 
 Here he was regarded and dealt with as a traitor. His children 
 were slain before his eyes, and it was with ingenious cruelty ordered 
 that this should be his last sight, the horrid image of which should 
 haunt all his remaining days, for immediately after his eyes were 
 put out, and he was sent away in chains to Babylon, where he ended 
 his days in prison. 
 
 In the following month Nebuzar-adan, the Chaldean commander 
 in charge of the siege of Jerusalem, took possession of the city, and 
 committed the most dreadful carnage among those who had survived 
 the calamities of the siege. Nebuchadnezzar, enraged at the long 
 and obstinate defence of the place, resolved that it should give no 
 more trouble to himself or his successors. He commanded 
 Ncbuzar-adan to raze the city to the ground, without even sparing 
 the temple. Accordingly the general began his operations two days 
 after he had taken possession of the city. After the temple had 
 been stripped of all its treasures and valuables, and after the city 
 had for two days been abandoned to pillage, both the temple and 
 the city were set on fire, and were thus consumed and desolated. 
 The black masses of wall, fortress, and tower, that the fire left 
 standing, were demolished and razed to the very ground, so that of 
 the city of David and the temple of Solomon nothing but a heap of 
 ruins remained, (n.c. 5S8.) 
 
 In memory of this great national calamity two fasts were insti- 
 tuted, which are kept up even to this day : the first, on the seven- 
 teenth of the fourth month (answering to our June); and the 
 second, on the ninth of the fifth month (corresponding to July) ; 
 the first, for the taking of the city ; and the other, for the destruc- 
 tion of the temple. That holy fabric was destroyed four hundred 
 and twenty-four years after its foundation by Solomon, and nine 
 hundred and three years from the departure of the Israelites from 
 Egypt. 
 
 This miserable end of a city endowed with such eminent privileges 
 as had belonged to Jerusalem, and the ensuing sending into exile 
 of all the people, save only the poor of the land, who were left to 
 till the ground, was lamented in doleful strains by the prophet 
 Jeremiah : — 
 
 “ How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people ! 
 
 How is she become a widow, that was great among the 
 nations ! 
 
 The princess among the provinces — how is she become 
 tributary.” 
 
 This beautiful personification of the city as a woman sitting in 
 desolate widowhood, is repeated elsewhere in the graphic line, — 
 
 “ She, being desolate, sitteth on the ground ;” 
 
 and it might almost seem to have been present to the minds of the 
 Romans, when, in the medals representing the second destruction of 
 the same city, they represented “the Daughter of Zion ” as sitting 
 desolate under a solitary palm-tree. 
 
 The prophet proceeds : — 
 
 “ She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her 
 cheeks : 
 
 Among all her lovers, she hath found none to comfort her ; 
 
 All her friends have dealt treacherously, and have become 
 her enemies. 
 
 Judah is gone into captivity 
 
 She dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: 
 
 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the 
 solemn feasts : 
 
 All her gates are desolate : her priests sigh ; 
 
 Her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.” 
 
 (Lament, i. 2 — 4.) 
 
 And then the bitterness of these evils was enhanced by the re- 
 membrance of past blessings : — 
 
 “ Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of 
 her miseries 
 
 All the pleasant things that she had in the days of old.” 
 
 Jeremiah himself was released from prison when the city was 
 taken by Nebuzar-adan, who was made acquainted with the earnest- 
 ness with which the prophet had counselled timely submission to 
 the Chaldeans. He offered, in the name of his master, to take 
 him to Babylon and provide for him there ; but the prophet chose 
 rather to remain in the land, to which he was the rather induced 
 by his friend Gedaliah being appointed governor of the country 
 and of the miserable remnant left in it. Gedaliah was a good man, 
 of easy temper and unsuspicious character, and not perhaps the 
 better fitted by these qualities for the difficult place he was appointed 
 to fill. He fixed his residence at Mizpeh, and, if left to himself, 
 might perhaps have succeeded in establishing something like order 
 and quiet among the fragments of a nation which had been left in 
 his charge. But, as soon as it became known that the Chaldean 
 forces were withdrawn, many turbulent men who had fled into the 
 neighbouring countries began to return, and they were not well 
 affected towards the government of Gedaliah ; some because they 
 deemed his claims inferior to those of others, and some because 
 they hated to see a Jew in the position of a Babylonian governor. 
 Among these returned fugitives was Ishmael, a member of the royal 
 family, who little brooked that even the shadow of a sceptre should 
 be wielded in Judah by one who belonged not to his illustrious 
 house. He organised a conspiracy to take away the governor’s 
 life. Gedaliah had a friendly warning of this, but the good man 
 refused to give it any credit ; and this generous confidence was 
 rewarded by his being shortly after murdered, with all his attend- 
 ants and partisans, at Mizpeh, by Ishmael and his associates. They 
 knew very well that the Chaldeans would not fail to avenge this 
 act, and therefore hastened to escape to the land of the Ammonites. 
 In doing this they attempted to carry off with them several of the 
 few remaining persons of consequence, including one of the daugh- 
 ters of the blinded King Zedekiah. 
 
Sunday XL VI.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 367 
 
 SUNDAY XLVI.— ACTS OF THE AFOSTLES. 
 
 AUL left Aquila and Priscilla at 
 Ephesus, and hastened to Jerusalem, 
 where he visited the church and 
 presented his offering in the temple. 
 He then travelled to Antioch, where 
 lie made a considerable stay, and 
 met with Barnabas and other old 
 friends and former associates in the 
 labours and hopes of the Gospel. 
 On quitting Antioch lie passed 
 through Phrygia and Galatia, 
 strengthening the churches in those 
 parts in his way to Ephesus, which 
 he had chosen as his next scene 
 of labour, and where he had in- 
 deed promised to rejoin Aquila and Priscilla. 
 
 The ancient writers, in speaking of Ephesus, were prodigal of 
 epithets describing its glory and excellence. It is mentioned by 
 Strabo as one of the best and most glorious of cities, the great 
 emporium of Asia Minor : while others distinguish it as one of the 
 “ eyes” of Asia — Smyrna being the other. But all this glory has 
 long since departed, and long has this great city been venerable 
 only for its ruins. “ A few unintelligible heaps of stones,” says 
 Arundell, “ with some mud cottages untenanted, are all that remain 
 
 of the great city of the Ephesians Even the sea has retired 
 
 from the scene of desolation, and a pestilential morass, covered 
 with mud and rushes, has succeeded to the waters which brought 
 up the ships laden with merchandise from every country.” The 
 most interesting ancient ruin is that of the amphitheatre — the very 
 same, no doubt, which is mentioned in the apostolical record, and 
 which is deemed to have been capable of containing thirty thousand 
 spectators. 
 
 Ephesus owed much of its distinction to the famous temple of 
 Artemis (Diana), which was accounted one of the seven wonders 
 of the world, and which drew devotees and pilgrims from all 
 parts to worship at the shrine of the goddess, whom we are not 
 to picture as 
 
 “ The huntress chaste and fair,” 
 
 of classic sculpture and poesy, but, as represented at Ephesus, 
 under the more homely, but certainly not less significant symbol of 
 a woman covered with breasts — an apt emblem of prolific and 
 abundant nature. Ephesus was also eminent as a seat of heathen 
 occult arts, which originally proceeded from the mythic worship 
 of Artemis ; and here also the Jewish magic, connecting itself with 
 the heathen, became very prevalent, for the Jews, as Josephus 
 informs us, were very numerous in Ephesus, and enjoyed there the 
 highest class of municipal privileges. 
 
 After for three months declaring the Gospel in the synagogues, the 
 apostle was, as usual, constrained by the opposition and deep malig- 
 nity of the Jews to turn his attention to the Gentiles, by whom 
 his message was more willingly received. He met his hearers daily 
 in a school belonging to one of their number, a rhetorician named 
 Tyrannus. It was perhaps important in a place like Ephesus 
 that the divine authority under which the new doctrine was 
 offered to the people, should be manifested by some striking 
 miracles and “signs.” And these were not refused: “God 
 wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul, so that from his 
 body some brought unto the sick handkerchiefs and aprons, and 
 the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirit went out of 
 them.” One remarkable occurrence is forcibly related, as it pro- 
 bably tended more than any other single circumstance to evince 
 the opposition of the Gospel to those juggling arts which held the 
 people in mental bondage. There were at Ephesus a number of 
 Jews who went about pretending that they could expel evil spirits 
 from possessed persons by means of incantations, fumigations, the 
 use of certain herbs, and other arts which they had derived from 
 Solomon ; and these people could at times, whether by great 
 dexterity in deceiving the senses, or by availing themselves of 
 certain powers of nature unknown to others, or by the influence of 
 an excited imagination, produce apparently great effects, although 
 none which really promoted the welfare of mankind. When these 
 persons observed the marvellous effects which were produced by 
 Paul in the name of Jesus, they also resolved to use it as a charm 
 for the exorcism of evil spirits. On hearing the words “We adjure 
 thee in the name of JESUS whom Paul preacheth,” the demon 
 
 answered, “ Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” 
 On which the demoniac, worked into ungovernable rage, flew at 
 them, and with the strong arm of madness “drove them from the house 
 naked and wounded.” This circumstance, by showing the real 
 difference between the miracles wrought by the apostle and those 
 to which these Jewish impostors pretended, brought great honour 
 upon the name of Jesus ; and many who had before regarded Paul 
 merely as a more skilful magician than themselves, and the name 
 of Jesus as a name which might be employed in their magical arts, 
 could they but use it rightly, were now not only convinced, but 
 alarmed. They repaired to Paul and confessed their former prac- 
 tices, and many of them who had professed “ curious arts” brought 
 their magical books — the books explaining and teaching their art, 
 and committed them to the flames. This was no small sacrifice at 
 a time when all books, and especially books of this sort, were so 
 rare and costly; and in this case it is therefore remarked, with 
 peculiar commendation, that the books were worth, or would have 
 sold for, “ fifty thousand pieces of silver.” 
 
 The temple which existed at the time of Paul’s visit was the 
 second, the first having been destroyed by fire, kindled by Eros- 
 tratus to immortalize his name, on the night that Alexander the 
 Great was born. The voluntary offerings of the citizens, and the 
 liberal contributions sent in from all parts, soon supplied the means 
 for its restoration to more than its ancient magnificence. The 
 building was four hundred and twenty-five feet in length, and 
 two hundred and twenty in breadth, supported by one hundred and 
 twenty-seven marble columns sixty feet high, of which thirty-six 
 were curiously sculptured, and the rest polished. These pillars are 
 said to have been the gifts of as many kings! and the bas-reliefs of 
 one of them were wrought by Scopas, one of the most famous of 
 ancient sculptors, and the altar was almost entirely the work of 
 Praxiteles. The first architect, and lie who seems to have planned 
 the whole work, was Dinocrates — the same who built Alexandria, 
 and who offered to carve Mount Athos into a statue of Alexander 
 the Great. 
 
 Not long after this a violent popular tumult was raised in 
 the city against the apostle, which indirectly furnishes striking 
 evidence of the signal success which attended his labours in this 
 quarter. The devotees who flocked to the temple of Diana were 
 wont to take home with them as relics small models in gold and 
 silver of that far-famed shrine. This branch of manufacture con- 
 tributed much to the wealth of the city, and formed a most lucra- 
 tive business to the Ephesian silversmiths. A man named Demetrius, 
 who had a large manufactory of such models, and a great number 
 of workmen, felt that the sale of his wares had been considerably 
 affected by the success of the Gospel, and apprehended that if 
 means were not taken to arrest its progress, the gains of his trade 
 would soon be lost. He assembled his numerous workmen, and 
 easily inflamed their anger against the enemies of their gods, who 
 threatened to deprive Artemis of her honour, and them of their gainful 
 craft. A great tumult was thus easily kindled, and all hastened 
 to the theatre, where they usually assembled, some crying one thing, 
 and some another, without any clear notion why they were thus 
 congregated. The Jews, living precariously in the midst of a heathen 
 population, began to fear that they should be regarded as the authors 
 of this tumult, as the heathen did not distinguish very accurately 
 between Jews and Christians. They, therefore, put forward ono 
 Alexander to speak on their behalf; but no sooner did the mob 
 perceive that he was a Jew, than they broke fortli into a mighty 
 shout of “ Great is Diana of the Ephesians,” which they kept up at 
 intervals for the space of two hours. These feelings were, how- 
 ever, confined to the populace; for when Paul himself attempted 
 to enter the place to address the excited crowd, some of the high 
 magistrates who were that year at the head of the religious cere- 
 monies of Lesser Asia, sent to request him not to expose himself 
 to so great a danger. At length the chamberlain of the city 
 succeeded in gaining a hearing, and managed to calm the minds 
 of the people by his representations, and by requiring from them 
 the reason of their assembling, of which most of them were totally 
 ignorant. 
 
 As this transaction took place in the amphitheatre, it might 
 naturally suggest to the apostle images derived from the enforced 
 combats of men with beasts, and with one another, which often 
 there took place. It is thus that we may interpret the allusion 
 which the apostle makes in the Epistle to the Corinthians, which 
 seems to have been written from this place : — “ If, after the manner 
 of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it 
 me” (1 Cor. xv. 32). Some, however, hold the expression more 
 literally, and believe that the apostle did actually on this or some 
 other occasion combat with wild beasts in the theatre of Ephesus. 
 

 p§£ 
 
 ''4wiiK 
 
 m 
 
 
 868 
 

 1 i63. — Mausoleum. 
 Beddadail, 
 
 1164. — hubbeh, or Tomb. 
 Cubbeh, neu FeddrocL 
 
 1165.— Mourner at Tomb. 
 Gularydd mewn Beddrod. 
 
 1 166.— Tomb. 
 Beddrod. 
 
 1167.— Funeral. 
 
 Claddedigaeth. 
 
 369 
 
370 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XLY1T. 
 
 SUNDAY XLVIL— JOB. 
 
 N answer to Zophar, Job endeavours 
 to subvert the position taken by him 
 and the other friends, by adducing 
 instances of impious men who pass 
 their lives in ease and prosperity, en- 
 joy a comfortable old age, and descend 
 with honour to the grave. lie antici- 
 pates and removes the objections which 
 might be made to this assertion ; and 
 then, perceiving by their looks that his 
 friends were not satisfied with his argu- 
 ment, lie produces the testimony of travellers, who mention instances 
 of great oppressors who had even escaped in times of general ruin, 
 and had eventually died a peaceful death, had been buried with great 
 pomp, and had been honoured with sucli splendid monuments that 
 they almost seemed to live and flourish again in their very tombs : — 
 
 “ Even this man is borne with honour to his grave, 
 
 Yea, he still survives upon the tomb. 
 
 Sweet to him are the clods of the valley, 
 
 And he draweth all men after him, 
 
 And multitudes without number have gone before him.” 
 
 (Job xxi. 32, 33.) 
 
 The two last lines are supposed to refer to a funeral procession, the 
 number of persons attending which is, in the East, usually in pro- 
 portion to the honour in which the deceased has been held. Many 
 illustrations of the sentiment involved in this passage might be ad- 
 duced. Dr. Good produces the following from the second of the 
 Golden Poems of the Moallakat : — 
 
 “ I see no difference between the tomb of the anxious miser grasping 
 over his hoard, and the tomb of the libertine lost in voluptuous- 
 ness. 
 
 Behold, the tombs of both of them are raised on equal heaps of earth ! 
 over which are erected two massy columns of solid marble among 
 the thickening sepulchres.” 
 
 In reference to the whole passage, this writer remarks that it is 
 “ exquisitely beautiful, and may challenge the finest outline of a 
 magnificent sepulchre in Greek or Roman poetry.” 
 
 The phrase “ the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him” 
 involves a touching allusion to a feeling that the person who is 
 buried may in some degree partake of the prosperous condition of 
 the tomb which contains him. This idea has its foundation in the 
 root-springs of our nature ; for who among ourselves is there who, 
 when standing amidst the fresh, green, and sunny, though somewhat 
 shaded, solitude of an old village churchyard, where all voices save 
 those of the rooks are distant, and those not too near — but has asso- 
 ciated the idea of perfect peace, of pleasant rest after life’s turmoils, 
 with the refuge of such a grave ? The craving, however philosophy 
 or even religion may strive to repress it, for a grave like this, for 
 ourselves or for those who are dear to us, involves the feeling of 
 consciousness in the dead, of which the Hebrew poet here makes so 
 happy a use. The same idea seems to have been indulged by the Sultan 
 Amurath the Great, who died in 1450. “ Presently upon his death,” 
 
 says Knolles, in his ‘History of the Turks,’ “Mahomet his sonne, 
 for feare of some innovation to be made at home, raised the siege and 
 returned to Hadrianople : and afterwards with great solemnitie 
 buried his dead body on the west side of the city of Prusa, in the 
 suburbs of the city, where he now lieth, in a chapell without any 
 roof, the grave nothing differing from the manner of the common 
 Turks ; which, they say, he commanded to be done in his last will, 
 that the mercie and blessing of God (as he termed it) might come 
 unto him by the shining of the sunne and moone, and by the falling 
 of the raine and the dew of heaven upon his grave.” 
 
 With the twenty-second chapter begins what is considered a third 
 series of the controversy between Job and his friends. 
 
 Eliphaz, unable to refute the last reasonings of Job, founded as 
 they were on undeniable facts, and yet unwilling to abandon his 
 point, proceeds to misrepresent, or at least to give a false colour to 
 his sentiments; which enables him to reiterate the old argument, 
 that Job’s wickedness was the cause of his sufferings, and as an en- 
 couragement to repentance draws a lively picture of the happiness 
 which might then be in store for him. He says : — 
 
 “ Cast to the dust thy gold, 
 
 And the gold of Ophir to the stones of the brook ; 
 
 Then shall the Almighty be thy gold, 
 
 Yea, treasures of silver unto thee.” (xxii. 24, 25.) 
 
 The reply of Job, in the twenty-third chapter, is the effusion of a 
 mind agitated by various and strong emotions, by deep grief, by an 
 earnest desire to justify himself before God, since man would not 
 
 heed him ; by distress at the impotency of this desire ; by consola- 
 tion in the testimony of his own conscience ; and by consternation 
 and despair at the thought of the greatness of that power which 
 seemed to be arrayed against him. Having in some degree relieved 
 his mind by this passionate outburst, the afflicted patriarch proceeds 
 in the twenty-fourth chapter to deny the constancy or even frequency 
 of God’s judgments upon wicked men, and instances a number of 
 enormous crimes which the Governor of the world had left un- 
 punished, and of which indeed he seemed to take no cognizance, seeing 
 that the criminals continued to flourish in life, and to be fortunate 
 and happy in the time and circumstances of their death. In allud- 
 ing to the oppressors of the poor and afflicted, the following power- 
 ful picture of the miseries of the latter occurs : — 
 
 “ Behold, like the wild asses of the desert, they go forth 
 to their work ; 
 
 In the morning they go in quest of prey, 
 
 The wilderness supplieth them with food for their 
 children. 
 
 In the fields they reap the harvest 
 And gather the vintage of the oppressor ; 
 
 They lodge naked, without clothing, 
 
 And without covering from the cold ; 
 
 They are drenched with the mountain showers, 
 
 And embrace the rock for want of shelter. 
 
 The fatherless are torn from the breast, 
 
 And the garment of the needy taken for a pledge. 
 
 They carry the sheaf hungry. 
 
 They make oil within their walls, 
 
 And tread the winefat, yet suffer thirst. 
 
 From the city the dying groan, 
 
 And the wounded cry aloud ; 
 
 But God regardeth not their prayer.” (xxiv. 5 — 12.) 
 
 This picture needs no explanation or amplification ; but the general 
 sentiment, and in particular the two lines printed in Italics, will re- 
 mind the reader of a passage in Addison’s Letter from Italy : — 
 
 “ The poor inhabitant beholds in vain 
 The reddening orange and the swelling grain ; 
 
 Joyless to see the growing oils and wines, 
 
 And in the myrtle’s fragrant shade repines ; 
 
 Starves, in the midst of Nature’s beauty curst, 
 
 And in the loaded vineyard dies for thirst.” 
 
 Bildad, in the twenty-fifth chapter, does not attempt to gainsay 
 the facts produced by his afflicted friend ; but he asserts in a very 
 lofty strain the greatness and supreme perfection of God, and hence 
 infers the irreverence if not impiety of Job in attempting to justify 
 himself. This was very good in itself, but not much to the pur- 
 pose, as Job sarcastically remarks in commencing his reply, which 
 occupies the six following chapters. He affirms that if the great- 
 ness and absolute perfections of the Almighty were in question, he 
 could speak as highly of them as Bildad himself ; but he denies that 
 his vindication of his own innocence is incompatible with the most 
 exalted impressions of the Divine wisdom and power. — Chap, xxvi. 
 Job seems to have expected some reply to this; but perceiving 
 that his friends had given over the contest, not from conviction, but 
 from despair of convincing him of what they believed to be his error, 
 he proceeded with a general reply to all they had advanced, especi- 
 ally to the allegations against himself, and to their erroneous deduc- 
 tions from his complaints and arguments. He alleges that he was 
 far from envying that prosperous condition which he had affirmed to 
 be the general lot of the wicked. He had been goaded into too 
 broad assertions of views of the Divine government opposite to 
 those which his friends advocated ; but now he frankly admits that 
 there are occasional examples of Divine vengeance against the wicked, 
 enough to deter from crime, but not enough, as they alleged, to prove 
 that misery was a sign of guilt. After thus qualifying some of the 
 expressions which had fallen from him in the heat of controversy, 
 Job proceeds in the twenty-eighth chapter to deplore that man, with 
 all his power and knowledge, has but little of that true wisdom 
 which might enable him to understand the whole plan of the Divine 
 government, so as to be able to account for its dispensations. 
 
 In the three follo'wing chapters (xxix., xxx., xxxi.) Job returns 
 to his own case, as a striking illustration of the mysterious ways of 
 Providence, of which he had spoken in the preceding chapter. He 
 draws a truly graphic picture of his former prosperity, and of the 
 respect and honour in which he was held (xxix.), and contrasts it 
 with his present misery and debasement ; and lastly, in answer to 
 the insinuations and false charges of his friends, he declares what 
 his conduct really had been in the various relations of life, and 
 once more appeals to the omniscience and justice of God in attes- 
 tation of his sincerity (xxxi.). 
 
Sunday XLVII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY, 
 
 371 
 
 SUNDAY XLVII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OW, however, the friend who had 
 warned Gedaliah of Ishmael’s de- 
 signs, got together a number of 
 resolute men and pursued after 
 them ; and not only recovered the 
 persons who had been taken 
 away, but dispersed or slew his 
 followers, so that he escaped with 
 only eight men to the Ammo- 
 nites. Johanan himself, and 
 those who were of sufficient note 
 in the land to be objects of at- 
 tention to the Chaldeans, then 
 became apprehensive that they 
 should become the victims of the 
 undistinguishing vengeance of the conquerors, and resolved to 
 withdraw into Egypt. This intention was vehemently opposed by 
 Jeremiah, but so far from heeding his remonstrances, they con- 
 strained him to go with them. 
 
 They had not long taken their departure before Nebuzar-adan 
 arrived in the country with the view of avenging the murder of 
 Gedaliah, and the slaughter of the Chaldean guard which had been 
 left with him. But there were none left to punish, save by sending 
 another party of the inhabitants into captivity beyond the Euphrates ; 
 and the country had now become so thin of people, that the Baby- 
 lonian general found not more than seven hundred and fifty persons 
 whom he deemed it worth his while to ‘send away. Thus signally 
 was the long-foretold depopulation of the land completed ; and 
 although nomadic tribes wandered through the country, and the 
 Edomites settled in some of its southern parts, yet the land re- 
 mained on the whole comparatively uninhabited, and ready for 
 the return of the Hebrews, whose ultimate and not very distant 
 restoration had been as much the subject of prophecy as had been 
 their exile and overthrow. 
 
 "We have now to follow the captives into their exile beyond “ the 
 great river.” 
 
 The later exiles found themselves not altogether strangers at 
 Babylon, or in the other places to which they were transplanted. 
 Their countrymen of the earlier captivities were settled in various 
 stations and employments, and some of them held posts of trust 
 under the government. By that government they were regarded 
 not as prisoners, but as useful emigrants; and, after a while, they 
 appear to have experienced no other inconveniences than those 
 which naturally flowed from their regrets after their own beautiful 
 land ; from their position as strangers in a strange country ; from 
 the derision of the natives at the peculiarities of their religion ; 
 and, very probably, from a distinctive poll-tax, from which the 
 natives were exempt. This much may be gathered from dis- 
 persed intimations : but the principal known facts of the Captivity 
 are connected with the history of Daniel, which has already been 
 given separately in this work. A few other facts, which are not 
 there inserted, may here be introduced. 
 
 When Nebuchadnezzar died, he was succeeded by his son Evil- 
 merodach ; who immediately released King Jehoiachin, who had 
 grown old in prison, and gave him the highest place among the 
 discrowned kings who figured in his court and took their meat at 
 his table. But he, who had been thirty-seven years in his prison, 
 survived not long his release, for the text implies that he died 
 before his benefactor, who himself reigned but three years. 
 
 It may be well to bear in mind that at the time of the accession 
 of Cyrus, who issued the decree for the restoration of the Jews 
 to their own land, all but a few very old people had been born in 
 the country of their exile, and had grown up, and formed con- 
 nections, and found sources of profitable employment in it. This 
 being considered, we have the more reason to admire the strength of 
 that religious zeal, and that attachment to the land of their 
 fathers, which led them to brave the horrors of the desert, and 
 the discomforts of a desolated country, rather than to feel surprise 
 that a large proportion deemed it better to remain in the land of 
 their exile. 
 
 It had long before the event been announced by the prophets 
 that the period of the exile was to be seventy years, counting from 
 the first captivity under Jehoiachin. When those seventy years had 
 expired, Cyrus the Persian had just succeeded to the throne of the 
 East, on the death of his uncle Darius, as already noticed in the 
 account we have given of Daniel. This monarch was the restorer 
 of Israel, to which work he had been appointed by name many 
 
 years before he was born. (Isa. xliv. 28 ; xlv. 1.) At his accession 
 to power in Babylon, Daniel the prophet was still alive, and there 
 is every reason to conclude that this venerable personage was high 
 in the esteem of that illustrious conqueror. The prophet knew 
 well that the time was come for the restoration of the captives to 
 the land of their fathers, and there is every probability that it was 
 through his influence that the decree in favour of the Jews was 
 issued. It is highly probable that those important prophecies 
 which refer to Cyrus were shown to him and explained to him 
 by the prophet. If not, this must have been done by some other 
 Jew ; for the decree itself indicates his acquaintance with these 
 prophecies, stating what he could only have known through them. 
 It begins — “Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: Jehovah, the 
 God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and 
 he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in 
 Judah.” This as plainly as possible states that he had acted under 
 the injunctions of Jehovah, whom lie recognises as “ the King of 
 Heaven,” and by implication the King of Earth, seeing that lie had 
 “ given him ” all the kingdoms of the earth. We scarcely need 
 remind the reader that Jehovah was peculiarly the Hebrew name 
 of the Most High, and that Cyrus here employs it seems to place 
 beyond dispute the explanation now given. 
 
 It must be confessed that the importance of this decree lias been 
 somewhat exaggerated. It by no means involved the political 
 emancipation of the Hebrews, or conferred upon them any new or 
 distinguishing privileges. The yoke of civil bondage was still left 
 upon their necks, they were still subjects — not merely tributaries, 
 but subjects — of the Persian empire, and their fair country was 
 but a province of it, to be ruled by Persian governors. They were 
 simply permitted to remove from one part of the empire to another, 
 from the plains to which their conquerors had removed them, to the 
 ancient hills in which their fathers dwelt, with encouragement to 
 re-establish themselves there in the full enjoyment of the worship 
 to which they were known to be strongly attached. In these facts 
 we have another explanation of the circumstance that there were 
 very many Israelites — a great majority — who found in the famous 
 decree no sufficient inducement to abandon the possessions they had 
 acquired in the land of their exile ; and it has always been the 
 impression of the Jews themselves that the flower of their nation 
 declined to avail themselves of the benefit extended to them, but 
 chose rather to remain amidst the comforts and ease of Babylon. 
 The noole, the high-descended, the wealthy, are called “ the flower” 
 of any nation ; and these were the classes who chose to remain in the 
 East : but we cannot well refuse to regard as the real flower of the 
 Hebrew nation the zealous and devoted minority, who sighed for 
 the land of their fathers, and who, in the face of danger and priva- 
 tion, resolved to return to it. Those who were thus disposed were 
 awakened by the decree as by the sound of a trumpet, and hastened 
 from all parts to Babylon, the place of rendezvous. 
 
 This first caravan of returning exiles was organized and directed 
 by Zerubbabel, the grandson of King Jehoiachin, and by Jeshua 
 the high-priest. The number of persons which composed it was 
 fifty thousand, including about seven thousand male and female 
 slaves. Before their departure Cyrus restored to them the more 
 valuable of the sacred vessels of gold and silver which had 
 been taken from the temple of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar arid 
 preserved by his successors, and which were now destined to be 
 again employed in the service of the sanctuary. Zerubbabel was 
 also intrusted with large contributions towards the expenses 
 of the projected temple by those Jews who thought proper tQ 
 remain in the land of their exile, and who probably hoped in this 
 way to compensate for the deficiency of their personal service in 
 the sacred cause. The beasts of burden in this caravan exceeded 
 eight thousand, and in the book of Ezra the names of those families 
 which returned then, and in the subsequent migration, are very 
 carefully set down, as if to do them honour. 
 
 The incidents of the journey are not related. Upon reaching 
 Palestine, the caravan repaired at once to Jerusalem, which they 
 found utterly ruined and desolate. Before separating to seek 
 habitations for themselves, a large sum was raised, by voluntary 
 contributions, for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. The 
 people then employed themselves in securing dwellings and neces- 
 saries for their families, which occupied them till the ensuing 
 feast of tabernacles, when they again assembled at Jerusalem, and 
 the customary sacrifices were offered upon an altar set up on the 
 ruins of the temple. After this the people applied themselves with 
 great zeal to the preparations for restoring the sacred edifice. In 
 about a year after the departure from Babylon, the preparations 
 were sufficiently advanced to allow the commencement of the work ; 
 and accordingly the foundations of the second temple were laid, with 
 
 3 B 2 
 
1169.— Release of Prisoner. 
 Rhyddliad Carcharor. 
 
 1171 .— Slaughter of Fugitives. 
 Lladdfa Ffoaduriaid. 
 
 372 
 
 1173.— The Decree. 
 
 Y Ddeddfwriaeth. 
 
 1170. — Persian King and Great Officers. 
 Brenin Persiaidd a’i Uchel Swyddogion. 
 
 1172. — Desolation. 
 Tristwch. 
 
 1174.— Desolation. 
 Tribtwch. 
 
 
 
1178.— Persian Soldiers. 1176. — Book of the Law : Priest and Governor. 
 
 -Milwyr Persiaidd. Llyfr y Gyfraith : Offeiriad a Lly wodraethwr. 
 
374 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XLYII, 
 
 great rejoicings and songs of thanksgiving, 535 b.c. These pro- 
 ceedings attracted the attention of the neighbouring people, some 
 of whom had by this time intruded themselves within the former 
 limits of Judea, and who from various influences were disposed to 
 regard the return of the exiles, and their endeavours to restore the 
 ancient things, with great disfavour. The Samaritans, settled in 
 the former kingdom of Israel, were also troublesome. They 
 had by this time so far adopted the Jewish religion and abandoned 
 their idols, that they became anxious to be regarded as natural 
 heirs of the Mosaical covenant, resting probably on their mixed de- 
 scent from the Israelites with whom their fathers had intermarried. 
 They were most anxious to have their equal claim recognized by the 
 restored Jews, and to that end offered their services, and indeed 
 claimed a right to assist in rebuilding the temple. But their 
 advances were repelled with all the pride of a superior race by the 
 descendants of Abraham ; and so resolutely did they oppose 
 themselves to any concession on this point, that the Samaritans at 
 length became highly exasperated, and did their utmost to hinder 
 and obstruct the work they had at first desired to promote. In this 
 respect they were by no means powerless, for their origin appears 
 to have given them considerable influence at the Persian court ; 
 and although they could not act openly against the plain decree of 
 Cyrus, an unscrupulous use of their money and influence among 
 the officers of the government enabled them to raise such obstruc- 
 tions that the people were much discouraged, and the work pro- 
 ceeded but languidly, and was at length suspended altogether. 
 This was one great cause of the enmity which ever after subsisted 
 between the Jews and the Samaritans. The suspension of the work 
 commenced in the time of Cyrus, and was continued through the 
 reigns of Cambyses and Smerdis, to the second year of Darius 
 Hystaspis. In this long period the people at length lost all heart 
 for the work, and were disposed to conclude that the set time for 
 it had not yet arrived. They were, however, roused from this 
 lethargy by the exhortations of the prophets Ilaggai and Zechariah, 
 and the work was recommenced with fresh zeal. This recovered 
 activity roused anew the opposition of the Samaritans, whose 
 representations induced Tatnai, the Persian governor of Syria, to 
 write home for instructions, stating that the Jews alleged the 
 authority of a decree of Cyrus for their proceedings ; and had 
 informed him — “ We are the servants of the God of heaven and 
 earth, and build the house that was builded there many years ago, 
 which a great king 'of Israel builded and set up.” It is touching 
 to hear these poor people speaking in these general terms to a 
 foreigner of the glory of Solomon. 
 
 On receiving the despatch of Tatnai, the Persian government 
 caused a search to be made in the record chambers ; and in that at 
 Achmetha, or Ecbatana, was found the decree of Cyrus, which 
 contained not only permission to build the temple, but also stated 
 that the expenses were to be defrayed out of the royal treasures. 
 This decree was accordingly enforced, and Tatnai was enjoined not 
 only to afford the work all possible encouragement, but was ordered 
 to inflict condign punishment upon any one who ventured to offer 
 any obstructions : “ Let timber be pulled down from his house, and 
 being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made 
 a dunghill for this.” The temple advanced rapidly to completion 
 under this decree of Darius, and in the twentieth year of the return 
 from captivity it was finished (b.c. 516). In the month Adar of 
 that year the sacred edifice was dedicated to God with great 
 solemnity and magnificence ; and in the following month the Pass- 
 over was celebrated in a regular and solemn manner, for the first 
 time since the restoration of the people to their own land. The 
 ritual service of the temple was then also resumed, and daily 
 celebrated in the same manner as before the captivity ; and Jeshua 
 the high-priest encouraged the priests and Levites by his example 
 to attend to the duties of their respective offices. 
 
 The position which the restored Jews occupied with reference to 
 the Persian government has already been indicated. Like all the 
 neighbouring nations, they were under tribute to the Persian crown, 
 and subject to its general policy ; but they had the free enjoyment 
 of their laws and religion, and the internal government was 
 administered by a governor of their own nation, or by the high- 
 priest when there was no other governor. Judea thus formed a 
 distinct commonwealth with its own peculiar institutions ; and, 
 although subject to the Persian king, and responsible in all large 
 matters to him, or to his deputy the governor of Syria, it seems to 
 have enjoyed more security under the Persian monarchy, and a 
 larger measure of practical independence, than so feeble a state 
 could easily have obtained under any other arrangement which the 
 political circumstances of the time allowed. 
 
 A.fter the death of Darius Hystaspis, who had reigned thirty-six 
 
 years ove* the Persian empire, his son Xerxes succeeded him. 
 This prince was favourably disposed towards the Jews, notwith- 
 standing the attempts made by the Samaritans to prejudice his mind 
 against them. In the third year of this reign the high-priest 
 Jeshua died ; and it is supposed that the prince-governor Zerub- 
 babel, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, also quitted the 
 world about the same period. Under the discontinuance of the 
 salutary influence which these good men had exercised, the state of 
 affairs among the Jews soon fell into great disorder. 
 
 Xerxes was succeeded, in b.c. 464, by his son Artaxerxes Lonsri- 
 manus, whose long reign embraces several circumstances of great 
 interest to the Jewish people. It is true that some writers have 
 chosen to consider that these events belong more properly to the 
 reign of Xerxes himself ; but as it would not be in this place 
 suitable to argue the question, we adhere to the interpretation which 
 has always seemed to us the most probable. 
 
 Early in this reign the Jews proceeded to rebuild the city on a 
 regular plan, and to surround it with a wall. This last procedure 
 excited the utmost opposition of the Samaritans and other enemies 
 of Israel ; who by their representations succeeded in alarming the 
 Persian government lest its dominion in those parts should be 
 endangered by the fortification of a city so strong by nature and so 
 turbulent of old. Hence an order was obtained to prevent the 
 works from proceeding. But ere long the king became better 
 acquainted with the actual position and character of the Hebrew 
 people, as well as with the favourable sentiments of Cyrus and 
 Darius towards them, as manifested in the edicts which those princes 
 had issued in their favour, by which he was also taught to respect 
 the God of the Hebrews, whom his great predecessors had regarded 
 with veneration. All this he manifested in the terms of the 
 commission granted to Ezra, who was authorized, twenty-five years 
 after the death of Jeshua, to proceed to Jerusalem to set in order 
 whatever belonged to the service and worship of Jehovah. This com- 
 mission decreed that all persons employed about the worship of God 
 should be exempt from paying any of the taxes to the government : 
 and it authorized Ezra, as governor of the Jews west of the Euphrates, 
 to constitute magistrates under him as he might find it necessary, and 
 empowered him to punish offenders according to their crimes. Such 
 of the Jews as thought proper to do so, were invited to return to 
 the land of their fathers with Ezra, and from those who chose to 
 remain behind he was authorised to collect contributions for the 
 service of the temple. To this fund the king himself and his 
 council gave handsome contributions ; and the collectors of the 
 royal revenue west of the Euphrates were enjoined to furnish Ezra 
 with whatever he might require, within certain limits, of silver, 
 wheat, wine, oil, and salt, in order that the sacrifices and offerings 
 of the temple should be constantly maintained. 
 
 The persons who prepared to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem ren- 
 dezvoused on the banks of the river Ahava, and their body was found 
 to contain one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four adult males. 
 This number, with the usual proportion of females and children, 
 would give about six thousand souls for the entire party ; but it is 
 likely that the women and children were not in the usual proportions 
 of settled and domestic life; but that the opportunity was embraced 
 chiefly by young men unburdened with families. This idea is con- 
 firmed by the too great readiness which we find among the returned 
 Hebrews to contract marriages with the daughters of their heathen 
 neighbours in Palestine. A party so large, and yet so weak, and 
 known to be in possession of much treasure, would then, and would 
 at this day, be exposed to great danger from the predatory Arab 
 tribes, which, from the date of the earliest historical records to the 
 present day, have infested the desert country between Palestine and 
 Babylonia. Ezra knew this well, and knew that he could easily 
 obtain from the king a sufficient military escort across the desert. 
 But this, for the honour of God, the pious priest was unwilling to 
 do. He had largely explained to the monarch the greatness of the 
 God he served, as well as his power and readiness to preserve all his 
 worshippers from harm ; and after this he felt that it behoved him 
 to evince his own confidence in that protection which he had 
 declared to be all-sufficient. Therefore a day was solemnly set 
 apart for fasting and prayer, upon the banks of the Ahava, by 
 which, before they commenced their march, they cast themselves 
 without reserve upon the mercy and care of God during the perilous 
 journey they were about to commence. This confidence in the 
 Divine protection was well rewarded, for after a long journey of four 
 months — which implies long halts upon the way — the new settlers 
 arrived safely at Jerusalem. 
 
 Ezra without delay opened his commission to the royal officers 
 in that quarter, and then applied himself with much zeal to the 
 arduous task which had devolved upon him. 
 
Sunday XLVIL] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 375 
 
 SUNDAY XLVII.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 E know that it was certainly often the 
 case in later times, in the persecutions 
 of the early Christians, that the raging 
 multitude called for the enemies of the 
 gods to be cast “ to the lions” or “ to the 
 beasts.” The crowd raised by Deme- 
 trius might certainly have uttered such 
 cries, but there is no sign that it re- 
 ceived any attention from the autho- 
 rities. It would, however, be hazardous 
 to affirm that Paul did not literally 
 “ fight with beasts at Ephesus,” as it appears from the apostle’s own 
 writings that in the course of his labours he was exposed to many 
 dangers which are not recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 The probability that this is merely an allusion to the combats of 
 the amphitheatre is, however, much strengthened by the fact that 
 not only are there many such allusions in the epistles of this apostle, 
 but some are found in the very epistle in which this occurs. Thus 
 in 1 Cor. ix. 24 — 27, there are strong images taken from the games 
 of manly contest — the racing, boxing, and wrestling — for which 
 Corinth itself was famous; as well as allusions to the training which 
 the intended competitors in those games were obliged to undergo, 
 and to the “ corruptible crowns” which became the reward of 
 their triumph. 
 
 Paul had some time since planned a journey into Greece, for the 
 purpose, among others, of rectifying the irregularities which had 
 grown up in the Corinthian Church, and to re-establish his apos- 
 tolical authority, which the Judaizing converts had been disposed to 
 impugn. Ample information concerning the points which required 
 his attention is given in his two epistles to the Corinthians, both of 
 which appear to have been written from Ephesus. Finding it 
 needful to delay this journey, the apostle, some time after the first of 
 these epistles had been despatched, sent Timothy to forward the 
 collection which he was making for the church in Jerusalem, and 
 to observe and report on its effect ; and after the return of Timothy, 
 the apostle sent another epistle by Titus. It is uncertain whether or 
 not the tumult at Ephesus induced the apostle to set forth upon this 
 journey sooner than he had intended, but it is certain that lie departed 
 shortly after on his second journey into Greece. Arriving at 
 Troas, he remained some time there before he embarked, in the 
 hope that Titus would there return to him with, an account of 
 affairs at Corinth, and of the effect which his second epistle had 
 produced. But as Titus came not, he departed, with feelings some- 
 what troubled, to meet him in Macedonia. In the churches which 
 he had formerly established in this region he met with gratifying 
 evidences of their advance in the Christian life and doctrine, which 
 their conflict with the world had only tended to promote. The 
 converts in those parts had suffered much ; not, indeed, that any 
 persecution against Christianity had been commenced by the 
 authorities of the state, but because that by withdrawing from 
 the national religion they had excited the enmity of the people 
 among whom they lived, and had besides to contend with the bitter 
 and untiring enmity of the Jews. The extent, and in the same degree 
 the manner, in which the great and influential majority might in such 
 cases oppress and injure, at least in their worldly prospects, those 
 who had turned aside from the common course, may, as Neander 
 remarks, be seen in what the converts in India have had (o endure 
 from their heathen relatives and connections, although under a 
 Christian government. But the Macedonian Christians cheerfully 
 endured all things for the cause of the Gospel ; and, however much 
 their means of subsistence had been injured, they were ready, even 
 beyond their power, to take an active part in the collection which 
 Paul was then making for the church in Jerusalem, which it was 
 his intention to visit. 
 
 In Macedonia Paul met with Titus, and received from him very 
 encouraging accounts of the effects which his last epistle had pro- 
 duced among the Corinthian converts. He spent the rest of the 
 summer and autumn in Macedonia, probably extending his labours 
 into the neighbouring country of Illyria, after which he removed 
 into Achaia, where he spent the winter. 
 
 It was the intention of Paul that, after visiting Jerusalem in the 
 ensuing spring, he would change the scene of his labours in the 
 West, and visit for the first time the Roman metropolis. It must 
 therefore have been gratifying to him that during his stay in 
 A.chaia he was enabled to form a sort of anticipatory acquaint- 
 
 ance with the church in that city. The journey of Phoebe, a 
 deaconess of the church at Cenchrea, to the great city, gave him 
 a suitable opportunity, while at the same time he recommended 
 her to the care and kind offices of the church in Rome. To this 
 we ow r e the epistle to the Romans. 
 
 The number of persons at Rome, manifestly of Gentile origin, 
 who were known to Paul, and to whom he sends his salutations 
 at the end of this epistle, enables us to see that he had in fact 
 a stronger existing connexion with the Christian church at Rome 
 than might at first sight appear. As he could only have known these 
 persons in the places where he had previously laboured, it would 
 appear that many persons resident at Rome, or who had occasion 
 to repair to that great centre of many nations, had been converted by 
 him or his followers, and that they at Rome became the founders 
 and leading men of the church in that city, — formed at first, 
 doubtless, by the reunion in one body of men who had abroad, 
 in different parts, been brought to the knowledge of the Gospel, 
 principally through Paul and his followers, who regarded it as 
 their vocation to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. 
 
 After Paul had spent about three months in Achaia, he pur- 
 posed to close his mission to the East by proceeding to Jerusalem 
 with the collection which had during the past year been making 
 under his direction in Lesser Asia and in Greece. That the sum 
 thus obtained was equal to his expectations appears from the inti- 
 mation made some time before in the epistle to the Corinthians 
 (1 Cor. xvi. 4), that if the amount were such as he wished, he 
 should himself convey it to Jerusalem. It would be taking too 
 narrow a view of a matter which engaged much of his solicitude, 
 if we limit his intention merely to the relief of the temporal 
 necessities of the church in Jerusalem. His great object and 
 desire was to heal the differences which had unhappily grown up 
 between the Jewish and Gentile Christians ; and he justly con- 
 sidered that this magnificent act of liberality on the part of the 
 Gentile churches towards the parent church at Jerusalem, which 
 was entirely composed of converted Jews, would go far to produce 
 a better state of feeling, not only from the act itself, but as a 
 recognition of their unity in Christ, and as a tribute of that love 
 which should exist between all those who are one in Him. 
 
 Paul departed from Corinth in the spring of the year, a.d. 58 
 or 59, about the time of the Jewish Passover, with the intention 
 of being in Jerusalem at the Pentecost. His six companions 
 (Sopater, Aristarchus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus) 
 went before him to Troas, and there waited for him. He first 
 himself visited Philippi, where be joined Luke, whom he had left 
 there some time before, and whom he now took with him. 
 After five days’ voyage the apostle landed at Troas, and remained 
 there seven days. The day before his departure was “ the first day 
 of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread ;” 
 and, being to quit them on the morrow, perhaps for ever, the earnest 
 apostle was induced to prolong his discourse far into the night. 
 The meeting was held in a large upper chamber, the window of 
 which was open to admit the air; in this window sat a young man 
 named Eutychus, who, being overpowered with sleep, lost his ba- 
 lance and fell backward into the court, below, and lay there for 
 dead. Paul immediately hastened down, and cast himself upon the 
 seemingly lifeless body, which he embraced in tenderness and com- 
 passion. Whether he had been only stunned by the fall, and the 
 apostle then discovered the signs of life, or that lie had been 
 killed outright, and was restored to life under the strong action of 
 the apostle’s faith, is a point much doubted, and has never been satis- 
 factorily determined. It is certain, however, that Paul in raising 
 himself from the body said to the alarmed and afflicted congrega- 
 tion, “ Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him.” He was then 
 committed to the care of his friends ; and the apostle returned to 
 finish his discourse. By the time he had concluded and taken some 
 refreshment before his departure, the morning broke ; and Eutychus 
 was then introduced alive and well, to the great comfort of the as- 
 sembly. Having left Troas with his companions, Paul, pressed 
 for time, did not venture to go to Ephesus, but when at 
 Miletus sent for the elders of the Ephesian church to meet him 
 there. 
 
 Paul was by no means ignorant of the great dangers which 
 awaited him at Jerusalem, and he longed to avail himself of this 
 opportunity of pouring out the feelings of his full heart to those 
 who had engaged so large a portion of his solicitude, and of be- 
 stowing upon them what might prove his last counsels and his 
 fatherly benedictions. “ Behold,” he said to them, “ J go bound 
 in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will befal 
 me there ; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying 
 that bonds and afflictions abide me.” 
 
37P 
 
 1183.— Forum at Rome. 
 Dadleufa yn 1th u fain. 
 
1186. — The Mirage. 
 
 Y Twy 11-cld wfr. 
 
 1185. — liaising Water by the Feet. 
 Cyfodi Dwlr a’r Trued. 
 
 1187.— Persian Wheel. 
 Olwyn Bersiaidd. 
 
 1184.— Terrace Cultivation. 
 Amaethiad Uchrodfaol. 
 
 1188.— The Taboot. 
 
 Y Tabwt. 
 
 377 
 
378 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 [Sunday XLVIII. 
 
 SUNDAY XLVIII.— PROVERBS. 
 
 HERE is every reason to think that 
 the contrivances for irrigation now 
 used in Western Asia are as old as 
 the art of husbandry itself in the same 
 region, and we are led to suppose that 
 similar contrivances existed among the 
 ancient Hebrews. Under this view 
 the subject assumes a degree of Biblical 
 interest, from the frequent allusions in 
 Scripture to “ watered gardens,” and 
 to the general importance of irrigation. 
 We have already described the shadoof, which is so much used 
 for raising water. Another machine much employed for the same 
 purpose is the Sackiyeh,or Persian wheel, represented in big. 1187. 
 The name seems to indicate the country of its origin, but it is now 
 largely employed on the banks of all the principal rivers of Western 
 Asia for the purpose of raising v'ater for the irrigation of fields and 
 gardens. It is thus described by Mr. Lane in his ‘ Modern Egyptians 
 
 “ The sackiyeh mainly consists of a vertical wheel, which raises the 
 
 water in earthen pots attached to cords, and forms a continuous 
 series ; a second vertical wheel, fixed to the same axis, with cogs, 
 and a large horizontal cogged wheel, which, being turned by a pair 
 of cows or bulls, or by a single beast, puts in motion the former 
 wheels and pots. The construction of this machine is of a very 
 rude kind, and its motion produces a disagreeable creaking noise.” 
 The example exhibited in our engraving is one of the most perfect 
 of the kind, being that used for the irrigation of the gardens of one 
 of the old Beys on the banks of the canal by which Cairo is traversed. 
 It will be perceived that the revolution of the wheels takes down 
 the string of buckets empty on one side, and brings them up full 
 on the other. It is thus, by the wheel and string of buckets, that 
 water is usually raised from wells in Palestine and Syria, although the 
 shadoof is sometimes employed. The Scottish Missionary Deputation 
 observed at the public well outside the village of Khanounes near 
 Gaza, what they call a Persian wheel, at work : it was turned by a 
 camel, and poured a copious supply of water into a trough. What 
 these pious and intelligent travellers say of this well applies to all 
 other public Eastern wells, and illustrates the usages which the 
 Scriptures indicate. “ The well is evidently the rendezvous for 
 idlers, gazers, and talkers, and as much a place of public resort as 
 the market. Old and young, cattle and camels were crowded 
 together. The coolness of the spot and the prospect of meeting 
 others no doubt induce many to take their seat by the well-side.” 
 This brings to mind the adventures of Eleazer and Jacob at the 
 well of Haran (Gen. xxiv. 11 — 29 ; xxix. 2 — 13), of Moses at the 
 well of Midian (Exod. ii. 15 — 20), and even in some degree of that 
 which befel our Lord at Jacob’s well (John iv.). 
 
 Another mode of drawing water is by the Taboot, which re- 
 sembles the Persian wheel in some respects, the chief difference 
 being that the pots are not used, but the water is raised up in a 
 large wheel with hollow joints or fellies. This is of course only 
 used where the water has to be raised but a few feet. (Fig. 1188.) 
 
 Another and more simple mode of raising water, which the 
 travellers just cited observed in Palestine, gave them much amuse- 
 ment, but which is very familiar to persons of wider travel in the 
 East. At Doulis in Philistia, “ while the servants were pitching 
 the tent we wandered through the place, and sitting down by the 
 well observed the women come to draw water. The well is very 
 deep, and the mode of drawing up the water curious. A rope is 
 attached by one end to a large bucket made of skin, and let down 
 over a pulley, while the other end is attached to a bullock, which 
 is driven up and down the slope of the hill ; the skin of water is 
 thus hauled up to the top, where a man stands ready to empty it 
 into the trough, from which women receive the water into earthen- 
 ware jugs. To us this was a novel and amusing sight.” 
 
 Another very simple mode for the purpose of raising water 
 from rivers, canals, and reservoirs, to irrigate fields and gardens, 
 is that represented in Figs. 1 140. 1 143, and is in use throughout 
 Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Yellow Sea. The comparison 
 of the two figures, one showing the practice of Syria and Egypt 
 (Fig. 1140), and the other that of China (Fig. 1143), will show 
 the precise identity of the practice, and is one of many instances — 
 of far more than is usually conceived — in which the usages of China 
 coincide with those of Western Asia, and equally illustrate the 
 usages of Scripture. Indeed we have an impression that many 
 Biblical usages which have become extinct in Western Asia, may 
 still be found in China, and might serve to elucidate many passages 
 of Scripture, which for want of a clear apprehension of usages 
 
 similar to those which they describe, or to which they refer, are to 
 us obscure and difficult. The Jesuits in China seem to have had a 
 perception of this, for in one of their voluminous publications 
 respecting that country there is a curious memoir, giving a mass of 
 most curious and interesting illustrations of the book of Esther from 
 the analogous usages of ancient and modern China. 
 
 The mode of irrigation to which we now refer is thus described 
 by Mr. Davis in his excellent book on the Chinese : — “ Where the 
 elevation of the bank over which water is to be lifted is trifline', 
 they sometimes adopt the following simple method : — A light 
 water-tight bucket is held suspended on ropes between two men, 
 who by alternately relaxing and tightening the ropes by which they 
 hold it between them, give a certain swinging motion to the bucket, 
 which first fills it with water, and then empties it with a jerk upon 
 the higher level, the elastic spring which is in the bend of the ropes 
 serving to diminish the labour.” Grounds intended to be artificially 
 irrigated are usually divided into squares by ridges of earth or 
 furrows, as shown in Fig. 64. The water is conducted from 
 the machine, or from the trough or cistern which is connected 
 therewith, by a narrow gutter, and is admitted into one square after 
 another by the gardener, who is always ready, as occasion requires, 
 to stop or divert the torrent, by turning the earth against it with 
 his foot, and opening at the same time with his mattock a new 
 trench to receive it. This mode of distributing water over land 
 rarely refreshed by rain, is more than once alluded to in the 
 Scriptures ; and, indeed, a distinction is founded upon it between 
 Egypt and the land of Canaan : — “ The land whither thou goest to 
 possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, 
 where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot as a 
 garden of herbs ; but the land whither ye go to possess is a land of 
 hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven.” 
 Deut. xi. 10, 11. This evidently expresses that the land of Canaan 
 was naturally so much better watered by rain than the land of 
 Egypt, that this mode of artificial irrigation would not there, as in 
 Egypt, be required for arable lands, but only for gardens ; and 
 this distinction exists at the present day. In Palestine artificial 
 irrigation is only used for gardens ; for the irrigation of the arable 
 lands the inhabitants trust to the rains of heaven, the moisture 
 afforded by which is sedulously economised and preserved as long 
 as possible in the soil, by the cultivation of the hills in successive 
 terraces, which is the usual mode of culture among the hills of 
 Palestine and Lebanon, for those objects of culture which do not 
 afford their produce till late in the season. Corn does not need 
 this care, as it is harvested before the summer heats have absorbed 
 the moisture of the plains. The above explanation of “watering 
 by the foot ” is the only one which can be deduced from any 
 present practice in Egypt. If any other be required, it may be 
 that water was formerly raised by the action of the feet, under some 
 such process as that represented in Fig. 1 1 85. 
 
 Having thus been led to give attention to the subject of water, 
 we may add a few words respecting the mirage, or the illusive 
 appearance of water, often witnessed in the dry plains of Egypt and 
 Syria. This phenomenon having been already described in the present 
 work (pp, 468 and 470), we shall only avail ourselves of this oppor- 
 tunity of adding one or two illustrative details. The cut in the 
 preceding page gives a tolerable idea of this appearance as exhibited 
 in the steppes of South America, where it is as often witnessed as 
 in Africa and the East. It is however impossible for such repre- 
 sentations to define the limit between the real and the illusive; and 
 a large deficiency is left to be supplied by the imagination. The 
 Scottish Missionary Deputation, when in Egypt, noticed this 
 illusion : “ In the distance we observed the well-known phenome- 
 non of the mirage, to which the prophet Isaiah is supposed to allude ; 
 ‘The parched ground shall become (really) a pool.’ Isa. xxxiv. 11. 
 At one time we saw what appeared to be a calm flowing water, 
 reflecting from its unruffled surface the trees growing on its banks, 
 while some object in the background assumed the appearance of a 
 splendid residence amidst a grove of trees. At another time there 
 appeared castles embosomed in a forest of palms, with a lake of 
 clear water stretched between us and them. Generally the mirage 
 may be well known by its continually shifting the view, and by the 
 hazy movement of the atmosphere over the apparent waters.” 
 
 Another traveller (Lieut. Wellstead) describes the same phe- 
 nomenon as seen by him in the lowlands of Sinai : — “ During the 
 early part of the day we several times beheld the phenomenon of 
 the mirage, , or false water of the desert. Its resemblance to a 
 diminutive lake was certainly very striking, since it not only 
 reflected the bushes on its margin, but had something of the ripple 
 of water, and was streaked by those narrow shining particles of 
 light observable on the surface of lakes when viewed from a distance.” 
 
Sunday XLVIII.] 
 
 ACTS OF TEE APOSTLES. 
 
 379 
 
 SUNDAY XLVIII.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ESUS, and all the blessedness stored 
 with him, then rose to the mind of the 
 apostle, and he added : “ But none of these 
 things move me, neither count I my life 
 dear unto myself, so that I might finish 
 my course with joy. . . And now, behold, 
 I know that ye all among whom I have 
 gone preaching the kingdom of God, 
 shall see my face no more.” He then, 
 in that strong conviction, called them 
 solemnly to witness that he was “ pure 
 from the blood of all men,” inasmuch as he had “ not shunned to de- 
 clare unto them the whole counsel of God. He warned them of the 
 dangers arising from false teachers coming among them : “ I know 
 
 this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, 
 not sparing the Hock while even among themselves perverse men 
 would arise, striving to alienate them from the simplicity of the great 
 truths which he had taught. He closed his address by a becom- 
 ing reference to the example which he had set during his long resi- 
 dence among them : — Remember that by the space of three years I 
 
 ceased not to warn every one, night and day, with tears I have 
 
 coveted no man’s silver or gold, or apparel. Yea, you yourselves 
 know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to 
 them that were with me.” Finally, “ When he had thus spoken he 
 kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, 
 and fell upon Paul’s neck and kissed him ; sorrowing most of all 
 for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no 
 more.” No words can heighten the simple pathos of this scene. 
 Accompanied by these attached friends the apostle forthwith pro- 
 ceeded to the ship, and, bidding them finally farewell, continued his 
 voyage. The ship took a straight course to Coos, a small island of 
 the Greek Archipelago, a short distance from the south-western 
 point of Asia Minor, celebrated for its wine and silk; and the day 
 following arrived at the island of Rhodes, so called from its abundant 
 roses. The principal town, also called Rhodes, was chiefly noted for 
 the brazen colossus which had formerly stood across the mouth of 
 the harbour, and which strode so high that vessels could pass 
 between its legs. This useless thing was one of the seven useless 
 thino-s called “ the wonders of the world but it had been thrown 
 
 O 
 
 down by an earthquake long before this time. 
 
 From Rhodes the ship proceeded to Batara, which was a maritime 
 city of Lycia in Asia Minor, over against Rhodes. This was the 
 port to which the ship was bound ; and here, therefore, the apostle 
 and his party embarked in another ship bound for Phoenicia. 
 They passed Cyprus with its coast on their left hand, and soon 
 arriving in Syria, landed at Tyre, at which still great emporium 
 the ship was to discharge her cargo. We have not before read that 
 the Gospel had been introduced into Tyre ; but Paul found there 
 Christian brethren among whom he remained seven days ; they were 
 so strongly impressed with the perils which awaited the apostle at Je- 
 rusalem, that they urged him to abandon his intention of proceeding 
 thither ; but, earnest in the course which his duty seemed to enjoin, 
 the apostle could not be moved from his purpose. Then, says the 
 narrator, who was himself one of the party, “ We departed and 
 went away ; and they all brought us on our way with wives and 
 children till we w r ere out of the city ; and we kneeled down on 
 the shore and prayed.” After having taken leave of them the 
 apostle entered another ship, bound for Caesarea. In those days 
 ships coasted along, and put in at every port ; and so Paul’s ship 
 put in at Ptolemais or Acre, a place which, although of very 
 ancient date, is but little mentioned in Scripture. It became of 
 great importance after the close of the Old Testament canon, and 
 is often mentioned in the books of the Maccabees and in the pages 
 of Josephus ; and there is no city which has figured more in the 
 modern and even very recent history of Palestine. Here also 
 Christian brethren were found, with whom Paul enjoyed one day’s 
 happy intercourse, and then proceeded to Cmsarea, a city which 
 had been built by Herod the Great, who by means of a mole had 
 formed there a safe and commodious harbour, which made it a seat 
 of maritime traffic, and the usual point of embarkation and debark- 
 ation from and to Palestine. Here also was the seat of the Roman 
 government, and the chief station of the cohorts which held the 
 country in military occupation. Of this most flourishing and cele- 
 brated city, built with a magnificence unexampled in Palestine, 
 scarcely a trace now remains, and even the site is forsaken by man, 
 and abandoned to the jackals and other beasts of prey. 
 
 At Caesarea the apostle was entertained at the house of Philip, 
 
 one of the seven deacons, where he remained “ many days.’* 
 During his stay, a believer named Agabus — the same who had 
 foretold the dearth which came to pass in the days of Claudius 
 Cassar — arrived at Caesarea, and by a significant action premonished 
 Paul of the treatment in store for him at Jerusalem. He loosened 
 Paul’s girdle, and bound therewith his own hands and feet, saying 
 “ So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this 
 girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. On 
 this Paul’s own companions, and all the friends at Caesarea who 
 heard the prophet’s words, implored the apostle to desist from his 
 intention. He was much moved by their earnestness, but made 
 answer, — “ What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? I am 
 ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name 
 of the Lord Jesus.” When the friends found that he could not be 
 prevailed upon by the prospect of personal danger to change his well- 
 considered purpose, they ceased to importune him, saying, “ The 
 will of the Lord be done.” 
 
 Soon after Paul proceeded to Jerusalem, which was distant but 
 two days’ journey from Caesarea. The day after his arrival lie called 
 on James, sometimes called “ the Lord’s brother,” which may, 
 perhaps, mean no more than that he was a cousin or other near 
 relative of Jesus. At the house of Janies he met the presbyters of 
 the church at Jerusalem, who listened with much interest to the 
 account which he gave of his proceedings and success among the 
 Gentiles. But James called his attention to the fact that a great 
 number of Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah, but who 
 were yet zealous and strict observers of the Mosaical law, were pre- 
 judiced against him ; for those Judaizers, who had every where sought 
 to obstruct the ministry of Paul, had, it seems, circulated the 
 report that , not content with insisting on the freedom of the Gentiles 
 from the observance of the Mosaical law, he had required the Jews 
 who lived among them not to observe the law, and not to circumcise 
 their children. As this charge was not true, and as it was important 
 to remove the impression which it had created, Paul readily con 
 sented, at the suggestion of James, to give a practical refutation of 
 the charge openly, by taking part in the Jewish worship, in a mode 
 which was highly esteemed among pious Jews. He joined himself 
 to four members of the church who had taken a Nazarite’s vow for 
 seven days: he submitted to the restraint which this vow imposed, 
 and intimated to the priests that he would be answerable for the 
 expense of the offerings, which were to be presented on the accom- 
 plishment of the purification. But although this measure may have 
 satisfied the minds of all the well-disposed Jewish Christians, the 
 inveterate zealots among the Jews were not thus to be conciliated. 
 On the contrary, they were only the more incensed that the man 
 who, as they said, had everywhere taught the people of God to 
 blaspheme the law and the temple, had ventured to take a part in 
 the Jewish worship. They had seen one of the Gentile Christians, 
 Trophimus, in company with him, and hence the fanatics concluded 
 that he had taken a Gentile with him into the holy place and defiled 
 it. A violent tumult hence arose in the temple ; and Paul was only 
 rescued from being torn in pieces by the enraged multitude through 
 the interference of the Roman tribune, who hastened to the spot 
 from the tower or citadel of Antonia, which was close to the temple, 
 and in which the Roman garrison was stationed. But to let the 
 multitude see that there was no intention to rescue a criminal from 
 justice, but only to keep the peace, the apostle was bound with 
 two chains, and led off as a prisoner to the castle. Arriving there, 
 he requested and obtained permission from the tribune to address 
 the excited mob, and therefore, mounting the stairs, he turned round 
 and beckoned with his hand for silence, which, in the curiosity of 
 some and anxiety of others to hear what he would say, was easily 
 secured. He began to speak to them irnthe mongrel Hebrew, which 
 had at that time become the vernacular language of Palestine, not 
 only because it would be understood by a larger number than the 
 Greek, but because it would in some degree conciliate the people 
 to be addressed in their own language. lie had not in this 
 miscalculated, for, “ when they heard him speak in the Hebrew 
 tongue, they kept the more silence.” 
 
 The charge against Paul was that he had everywhere endea- 
 voured to prejudice the minds of men against the Jews, their law 
 and their temple. To meet this charge, he showed that he had been 
 born a Jew, and had enjoyed the advantages of a first-rate Jewish 
 education under Gamaliel, the most eminent of their doctors. He 
 then recounted the circumstances of his conversion, with the 
 reasons which led him to believe that he was called to preach the 
 Gospel. He proceeded to state the reasons why he went among the 
 Gentiles, and evidently designed to vindicate his conduct there: but 
 he was not allowed to finish his address; for no sooner did he begin 
 to open the subject of his mission to the Gentiles, than the mob, 
 
 3 C 2 
 
— vc 
 
 V- *U* N. " 
 
 1100.— Debarkation. 
 
 Dadlwythiad Llong. 
 
 1189.— Fall from Upper Chamber. 
 Cwympo oOruwch Ystafell. 
 
 1 11)1. — Kneeling on the Shore. 
 Penlinio ar y Traeth. 
 
 1192.— Eastern House. 
 
 Ty Dwyreiniol. 
 
 1194 . 
 
 -Mount Zion. 
 Mynydd S.on. 
 
 3 HO 
 
 1193.— Conducted along the SI 
 Arwain ar hyd Gian y I 
 
1195.— Eastern Ships in Port. 
 Llongau Dwyreiniol mewn Porthladd. 
 
 1197.— Rhodes. 1198.— Tyre. 
 
 Tyros. 
 
 U39.— View of Cerini, Cyprns. 
 Golygfa ar Cerini, Cyproa, 
 
 1200.— Ptolemaia. 
 
 381 
 
 
3S2 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 [Sunday XLYIII, 
 
 “ which had given him audience to that word,” broke forth into a 
 storm of human fury, crying at the top of their voices — “ Away 
 with sucli a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should 
 live !” and in the madness of their rage they cast off their outer 
 garments, as intending to stone him, and tossed about their arms, 
 throwing dust into the air. From that frightful scene the tribune 
 withdrew the apostle into the castle ; and all that had passed being 
 unintelligible to him, he was proceeding, according to the custom 
 of the Romans, to extort from him a confession as to the cause of 
 all this tumult by scourging, when Paul saved himself from this 
 ignominy by declaring himself a Roman citizen. It was however 
 still necessary to the tribune, in the discharge of his public duty, to 
 ascertain the real nature of the demonstration raised against the 
 apostle ; and he therefore on the next day summoned a meeting of 
 the Sanhedrim, or great judicial council of the nation, before which 
 he produced his prisoner. 
 
 After a brief but earnest survey of the body before which he 
 stood, Paul began his address, “ Men and brethren, I have lived in 
 all good conscience before God unto this day.” Offended at this bold 
 declaration, Ananias, who had been formerly high-priest, and who, 
 during the vacancy which at present existed, discharged the func- 
 tions of that high office, commanded the men that stood near the 
 prisoner to smite him on the mouth. Warmed by this indignity, 
 the apostle cried out, “ God shall smite thee, thou whited wall ! 
 for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to 
 be smitten contrary to the law!” Those who stood by reproved 
 him for speaking so disrespectfully to “ God’s high-priest on 
 which Paul, who knew that the office was really vacant, declared 
 he knew not that Ananias was the high-priest, and had not accosted 
 him in that capacity. The survey which Paul had made of the 
 assembly assured him that it was composed partly of Sadducees and 
 partly of Pharisees, the latter greatly preponderating. Then in 
 order to secure the voice of the majority of the judges to his side, 
 he availed himself of that means for the victory of truth, which has 
 often been used against it — the divide ct impera in a good sense. 
 He enlisted to his side the bias to that truth by the acknowledg- 
 ment of which the majority of the council really approached nearer 
 to him than the few who denied it, in order to produce a division in 
 the assembly. “ Men and brethren,” lie said, “ I am a Pharisee, the 
 son of a Pharisee : of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am 
 called in question.” This bore on the great point of controversy 
 between the Pharisees and Sadducees : and these words at once had 
 the effect of uniting the former in favour of the prisoner, and of 
 involving them in a hot debate with the Sadducees, to whom the 
 officiating high-priest himself belonged. The Pharisees became at 
 once unable to find any fault in him. If he had said that the spirit 
 of a deceased person or that an angel had appeared to him (alluding 
 to what he had said concerning the appearance of the risen Jesus), 
 whatever he might mean by that, or whatever he averred, whether 
 true or not, they did not pretend to determine, nor trouble them- 
 selves about it ; still the tiling was possible, and afforded no ground 
 on which to criminate him. In the confusion that arose, the 
 Roman tribune, who must have been much struck and not much 
 edified by the scene, took upon him to withdraw the prisoner, for 
 whose safety among the eager disputants he began to entertain 
 apprehensions. 
 
 In the following night, the apostle was cheered by a vision which 
 assured him that he was in the path of duty, and that all these 
 confusions were but accomplishing the purposes of the Divine 
 will : “ Be of good cheer, Paul,” were the words of encouragement 
 which he heard ; “ for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so 
 must thou do also at Rome.” We have now to see how this was 
 brought about. 
 
 The enemies of Paul now despaired of accomplishing his de- 
 struction through the ordinary forms of judicature ; and some of the 
 more desperate of them resolved to remove him by a more summary 
 and certain process. Not less than forty of them bound themselves 
 by a vow not to eat or drink till they had destroyed him. They 
 made this known to some members of the Sanhedrim, and prevailed 
 upon them to require the tribune again to produce him before the 
 council, intending to fall upon him and murder him on the way. 
 This plot however became known to Paul’s nephew, and was by 
 him imparted to the tribune, who forthwith resolved to clear his 
 hands of the business by sending the prisoner off under a guard to 
 Caesarea, that the whole matter might be examined by the pro- 
 curator Felix. Knowing the desperate character of the men who 
 were leagued against Paul, the escort was made very strong, 
 consisting of nearly five hundred men, and departing with the 
 prisoner at nightfall, they by a quick march had reached Anti- 
 patris, which was thirty-five miles from Jerusalem, by the morning. 
 
 Immediate danger being here past, the soldiers and spearmen 
 returned, leaving the horsemen to escort the apostle the remaining 
 twenty-five miles to Caesarea. 
 
 Felix, the Roman procurator, before whom Paul was brought on 
 his arrival at Caesarea, was originally a slave, as was also his brother 
 Pallas, of the emperor Claudius, and received their freedom from 
 him. This weak emperor was in fact governed by his freedmen, 
 of whom Pallas held the highest place in his favour, and Felix 
 himself was very dear to him. This personal favour of the emperor, 
 coupled with the influence of Pallas, procured him high and profit- 
 able employment. He first received promotion in the army ; and 
 while serving in Syria, he rendered himself so acceptable lo the 
 Jews, that on the recall of Cumanus they solicited and obtained the 
 appointment of Felix to the vacant government. They soon had reason 
 to repent their choice. It is a saying in the East, that no man is so 
 hard a master as he who lias been once a slave ; and this proved 
 true in the case of Felix. As governor, he displayed a very dif- 
 ferent character from that in which he had first appeared ; and the 
 Jews soon had cause to groan under his cruelty, injustice, and 
 avarice. This man’s wife, Drusilla, was a daughter of Herod 
 Agrippa, and sister of the “ King Agrippa ” mentioned below. 
 She had left her husband Azizus, King of Emesa, who had sub- 
 mitted to the initiatory rite of Judaism to obtain her, and joined 
 herself to the Roman governor, and for his sake renounced Judaism, 
 even as her former husband had renounced paganism for hers. This 
 absolute want of principle in high quarters strikingly illustrates the 
 corruption of manners which had at this time overspread the land. 
 
 On the arrival of Paul at Caesarea, the escort surrendered him to 
 the governor, who declined to adjudicate upon the case till his 
 accusers should arrive from Jerusalem. In five days they arrived 
 in great force, with Ananias at their head, and accompanied by one 
 Tertullus, a Roman advocate, whom, being themselves but im- 
 perfectly acquainted with the Roman law, they had engaged to 
 state their case. The accusation which the Sanhedrim, by their 
 counsel, brought against Paul, was the only one which they could 
 with any show of reason have made — namely, that he everywhere 
 disturbed the Jews in the enjoyment of the privileges secured to 
 them by the Roman law, the peaceful exercise of their religious 
 worship ; that he excited disturbances and divisions among them, 
 and that he had at length even desecrated the temple. The tribune 
 at Jerusalem was also accused of having unduly interfered to pre- 
 vent them from exercising judgment upon him according to the 
 privileges secured to them by law. This was the amount of the 
 charge which the orator urged against the apostle. Paul answered 
 it in a very solid manner ; and Felix, who was by no means disposed 
 to meddle in the internal disputes of the Jews, and perceiving that 
 no offence tangible to the Roman law could be brought against the 
 accused, broke up the court without announcing any decision. He 
 would in fact have dismissed the prisoner, if he had not hoped, as 
 was his practice, to make justice venal, by obtaining money from 
 him or his friends. He therefore detained him in the easy custody 
 of a centurion, with the privilege of free intercourse with his 
 friends. He afterwards saw him several times, once with his 
 notorious mate Drusilla, who seems to have had a wish to hear 
 something of the new sect from one of its leading men. The 
 undaunted apostle availed himself of this hearing to discourse before 
 the unprincipled but powerful Felix, and the equally unprincipled 
 but very beautiful Drusilla, of such unpalatable subjects as “ right- 
 eousness, temperance, and judgment to come and this he did 
 with such force and eloquence that the hard conscience of the 
 governor was touched, he trembled in his high place, and abruptly 
 closed the audience by saying that he would hear the rest — “ at a 
 more convenient season.” 
 
 Paul remained in custody, as he was not willing to purchase his 
 freedom and thereby bring suspicion upon himself and the holy 
 cause to which his life was devoted. Therefore Felix, who was at 
 that time unwilling to disoblige the Jews without a strong pecuniary 
 inducement, left him still in custody when he was recalled to Rome. 
 
 Paul had been in custody two years when Porcius Festus, the 
 new procurator, arrived in Palestine, and proceeded to Jerusalem. 
 While in that city the high-priest and other leading men among 
 the Jews brought the case of Paul under his notice, and desired 
 that he might be brought back to Jerusalem to be tried there. 
 Their intention was, it appears, to employ a set of murderous 
 ruffians, who might at that time be had in any number for money, 
 to waylay and destroy him. Festus probably got intelligence of 
 this design, and, feeling it his duty to protect a Roman citizen, 
 answered that he was himself about to proceed to Caesarea, and that 
 they could then go also and appear against the prisoner before his 
 tribunal. With this they were obliged to be content. 
 
Sunday XLVIII.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 383 
 
 SUNDAY XLYIII.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 N the book which bears his name Ezra 
 does not himself particularly record any 
 of his acts, excepting the measures 
 which he took to ensure the removal 
 of the foreign and idolatrous women, 
 whom many of the people, and even of 
 the priests and Levites, had married ; 
 and by such marriages had been insen- 
 sibly led into much sin against God, 
 and against the first principles of the 
 Mosaical institutions. When Ezra was 
 first informed of this, the horror which he manifested was well 
 calculated to impress the people with the enormity of their offence. 
 He says : — “ When I heard this thing I rent my garment and my 
 mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and 
 sat down astonied.” At the evening sacrifice he arose from his 
 stupor, and having again rent his robes he fell upon his knees and 
 spread out his hands before God, confessing the iniquity of his 
 people, and imploring forgiveness for them. The whole congre- 
 gation was deeply affected, even to tears ; and tho leading men 
 expressed their readiness to concur in any measures he might deem 
 suited to meet this great evil. On this a proclamation was issued 
 for all Jews who had married foreign women to appear in three days 
 at Jerusalem, under pain of forfeiture of their goods. The large 
 assembly which responded to the call evinced the extent of the evil. 
 Ezra addressed them earnestly, and convinced them of their wrong- 
 doing ; but as the autumnal rains were set in, and flooded every 
 open place in Jerusalem, he was content to take their solemn 
 promise to put away their strange wives, as well as their children 
 by them, allowing them time for giving effect to their engagement. 
 Ezra and others formed a court at Jerusalem ; and at appointed 
 times the inhabitants of the several cities who were implicated in 
 this matter, repaired thither accompanied by the elders and magis- 
 trates of their several towns, and submitted their cases separately to 
 the judgment of the court. After sitting nearly three months the 
 court completed its labours, and the chosen people were then deemed 
 to be purged from this stain. 
 
 While Ezra was thus labouring among his brethren in Jerusalem, 
 a danger came from a quarter quite unexpected, which threatened 
 to involve the whole nation in utter ruin. This event is minutely 
 recorded in the book of Esther, which will require us to look 
 backward a few years, that the circumstances may be clearly 
 understood. 
 
 In the third year of his reign the king made a great feast, or 
 rather a succession of feasts, to all the great lords and princes of 
 his empire. The whole was finished by a separate feast held in the 
 court or garden of the palace, to all the nobles, councillors, and 
 great officers in immediate employment at the court. The descrip- 
 tion of this establishment is very interesting to the student of 
 ancient customs ; and the more closely they are in this instance 
 examined, the more they are found to resemble those which the 
 same country still exhibits, — affording a remarkable example cf 
 the permanent character of Oriental ideas and usages. The mag- 
 nificence of this entertainment seems to have greatly exceeded all 
 that went before. The tessellated pavement of the court was of red, 
 blue, black, and white marble; and the splendid curtains and 
 coverings of white, green, and blue, by which the court was for the 
 occasion turned into a pavilion, were fastened to pillars of marble 
 by rings of silver, and by cords of purple and fine linen ; and the 
 couches on which the guests reclined were framed in silver and 
 gold. 
 
 The guests drank “royal wine,” which was the wine of Ilelbon 
 (now Aleppo), from vessels of gold, of elaborate workmanship ; 
 and we are informed that they drank their wine “ according to the 
 law,” which was, it seems, an excellent rule laid down at the first, 
 that none should be forced to drink more than he liked. It does 
 not seem that they much needed compulsion in this matter, for it is 
 manifest that the monarch and his guests had all drunk quite 
 enough when the circumstance occurred to which these preliminaries 
 lead. There is no doubt about this, for it is expressly said that 
 “ the king’s heart was merry with wine.” It seems that in their 
 cups these great personages began to talk about the beauty of their 
 women. The king vaunted of the supreme loveliness of his queen, 
 Vashti, and at length, to prove his assertions, resolved to produce 
 her unveiled before them. This gross breach of all Oriental pro- 
 prieties, which preclude a woman from showing her face to strangers, 
 
 could not have occurred to any one in his proper senses, and is 
 a clear sign to mark how far the great Ahasuerus was gone in 
 drink. 
 
 The queen Vashti was at this time giving a grand entertainment 
 to the women of the harem ; and when the eunuchs unwelcomely 
 appeared with the strange and unexpected summons to the presence 
 of the king and his courtiers, her womanly modesty and dignity was 
 shocked, and she very properly refused to go. This gave the affair 
 quite a new aspect. The man whose slightest expression of will 
 was a law in that vast empire, had been publicly disobeyed by a 
 woman. An earthquake could not have created a stronger sensation 
 in the palaces of Shusan ; and all the grandees partook of the royal 
 indignation and alarm. The fact could not but be bruited abroad, 
 and how, hereafter, could any man expect to be obeyed in his own 
 house, after it became known that the king himself had been dis- 
 obeyed ? The matter was too grave to be settled in a summary 
 manner, and the king thought proper to seek the advice of his 
 state council. Memucan, one of the council, very clearly expressed 
 the feeling we have described— the alarm at the ill effect of the 
 queen’s example upon “ the ladies of Media and Persia,” if the 
 crime were suffered to go unpunished ; and he proposed that Vashti 
 should no more come into the king’s presence, and that her royal 
 state should be given “ to another that is better than she.” This 
 was agreed to, as was also the further and very sage proposal of 
 this, same great councillor, that the king should put forth a decree 
 in all the languages of his great empire, enacting that “every 
 man should bear rule in his own house,” and that “all the 
 wives should give to their husbands honour, both to great and 
 small.” 
 
 History has not recorded the effect of this decree upon “ tho 
 ladies of Media and Persia.” Vashti, was, however, deposed from 
 her high place, and all the provinces of the empire were ransacked 
 for a suitable successor. The fairest damsels of the empire were, 
 on a hint from the court, taken and sent to the harem by the pro- 
 vincial and other governors ; and from the number thus collected, 
 after they had become the inmates of the royal harem, the selection 
 was to be made. Time was consumed in this ; but at length it 
 proved that of all the damsels thus brought together, none was so 
 agreeable to the king as a young Jewess named Iladessah or Esther, 
 who was accordingly advanced to the high but precarious honour 
 of “ queen,” or rather, of chief lady of the royal harem. 
 
 Esther was an orphan, who had been brought up by her uncle 
 Mordecai, who, when her father and mother were dead, “ took her 
 for his own daughter.” Mordecai was of the tribe of Benjamin, 
 descended from a man who had been exiled with King Jehoiachin. 
 He seems to have been one of the officers about the royal court, as 
 his duty kept him in attendance at the gate of the royal palace. 
 In this capacity he became privy to a plot between two of the 
 chamberlains to assassinate the king ; but he contrived to make it 
 known to Esther, and through her to the king, whereby the design 
 was frustrated, and the traitors brought to punishment. 
 
 The person who became highest in favour at court was an 
 Amalekite named Hainan. Mindful of the old enmity between 
 the races of Israel and Amalek, and of the ancient wrongs which 
 Israel had sworn never to pardon or forget, — Mordecai remained 
 erect among the crowd of nobles, courtiers, and officers who waited 
 in the palace courts, and who rendered their bending homage to the 
 great man as he passed. This occurred so often, that the eye of 
 Haman at length marked the person of this unyielding Jew, and 
 none but those who are aware of the importance which the Orientals 
 still at this day attach to external marks of respect, can apprehend 
 that dire wrath which filled his mind at this studied disrespect 
 When he learned that Mordecai was a Hebrew, he could not but 
 be aware of the class of feelings by which he was actuated ; and if 
 an Israelite had cause to hate an Amalekite, had not an Amalekite 
 as good cause to hate a Jew? Had not the Hebrews sworn to 
 exterminate the Amalekites ; and to the extent of their power had 
 not they done so? Had not that power which was once so great, 
 that “ higher than Agag ” had become a proverbial description of 
 the highest human greatness — had it not been broken and reduced 
 to nought by the conquering sword of Hebrew kings? And their 
 hate was not yet appeased ; for this one Jew could be but regarded 
 as the exponent of the feeling which burned in every Hebrew 
 bosom against the line of Amalek. 
 
 Thoughts like these must have dwelt upon the mind of Haman, 
 for they enable us to discover, which we cannot do under any other 
 explanation, a train of ideas and feelings which might in an ill- 
 regulated mind lead to the resolution which Haman formed, to 
 use the vast power which the confidence of the king left in his 
 hands for the destruction of the whole Hebrew race. 
 
1203.— Arab Tents. 
 Pebyll Arabaidd. 
 
 381 
 
 1204. — Arab Robbers. (From Laborde.) 
 Ysbeilwyr Arabaidd. (O Laborde.) 
 
 1205. — Arab of Edom. 
 Arabiad o Edom* 
 
1206. — Wild Asses. 
 Asyuod Gwylltion. 
 
 385 
 
386 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday XLIX. 
 
 SUNDAY XLIX.— JOB. 
 
 IIEN Job had concluded his final 
 argument, and no answer was given 
 by bis friends, the debate would seem 
 to have come to a natural, but not 
 very satisfactory close. But the scene, 
 when thus about to close, is, with great 
 skill in the poet, re-opened by a stran- 
 ger, or at least by one of whose pre- 
 sence we were not previously apprised, 
 who steps forward as a sort of arbiter 
 or mediator in the controversy. This 
 is Elihu, whose reasons for not interfering before, and for then 
 coming forward, are well declared by himself: — 
 
 “ I am young, and ye are old ; 
 
 Therefore I was afraid, 
 
 And durst not make known to you. 
 
 I said, ‘ Days should speak my opinion, 
 
 And multitudes of years should teach wisdom. 
 
 But it is the divine spirit in man, 
 
 Even the inspiration of the Almighty, that giveth him under- 
 standing. 
 
 Great men are not always wise, 
 
 Nor do the aged always understand what is right. 
 
 Therefore I pray you listen to me ; 
 
 I also will declare my opinion.” 
 
 After this he proceeds to express his dissatisfaction with botli 
 parties; with Job “ because he had pronounced himself righteous 
 rather than God,” that is, because he had so vehemently defended 
 his own cause as to seem in some measure to arraign the justice of 
 God ; and with the three friends “ because they had not found an 
 answer, and yet had condemned Job,” that is, they had settled it 
 in their own minds that Job was impious and wicked, although 
 they had nothing specific to object against his assertions of his own 
 innocence, or upon which they might safely ground their accusa- 
 tion. This is the gist of the somewhat diffuse and not very coherent 
 argument which occupies six chapters (xxxii. — xxxvii.). 
 
 His eagerness to express his views of the debate, after listening 
 so long to arguments which he considered unsatisfactory, is very 
 ingenuously acknowledged, and aptly characterized by himself : — 
 
 “ I am full of matter ; 
 
 The spirit within constrained: me. 
 
 Behold my bosom is as wine that hath no vent ; 
 
 Like bottles of new wine, it is bursting. 
 
 I will speak that I may be relieved.” 
 
 This is one of the many allusions which the Scriptures contain 
 to the leathern vessels, which were used not only for conveying 
 water, but for holding wine. The use of such vessels, formed of 
 the hides of oxen, goats, or kids, is dictated by the warmth of 
 Eastern climates, and by the absence of wheel-carriage. Casks of 
 wood are unsuited for holding liquids in warm climates, and neither 
 such nor earthen jars (which are sometimes used for storing wine) 
 would be convenient for carriage on the backs of mules and camels. 
 Hence skins continue to be the most appropriate and most fitting, 
 as they are the most ancient vessels for this purpose. Some of the 
 considerations which dictated their use were not alone applicable to 
 warm climates ; for the use of leathern bottles for wine was by no 
 means unknown to the Romans, and even existed at a later period 
 in the regions of northern Europe. There are traces of this use 
 even in our own country. In this case the portability of the skins 
 must have been the main recommendation. In the use of leathern 
 bottles for wine it behoved the parties to be careful that the bottles 
 into which new wine was poured were not old and worn, as the 
 fermentation would be very apt to burst the bottles. It is to this 
 fact that Elihu alludes, and it more than once supplies a striking 
 image to our Saviour (Matt. ix. 17). 
 
 Among the figures which Elihu crowds into his discourse, the 
 description of a rising storm, with which he concludes — and 
 which he produces to illustrate the power of the Almighty — 
 is the most sublime. This vivid picture is not only admirable in 
 itself, but is introduced most appropriately to harbinger the presence 
 of the Deity himself, whose voice, while Elihu is yet speaking, is 
 heard from amid the tempest. 
 
 The necessity for this interference arose from the partial and 
 
 imperfect views which all the speakers had taken, and from which 
 Elihu himself, with all his vaunted discretion, was not exempt. 
 
 In the Divine address, which occupies the remainder of the book, 
 the Almighty is represented as stooping from his high and holy 
 place to pass a final judgment on this great controversy. Job 
 himself had earnestly desired this result, without expecting it ; and 
 now it was come; now the just and wise Judge, with whom he had 
 lodged his appeal, appeared to decide between him and his oppo- 
 nents. The patriarch was not, however, at first addressed in that 
 language of encouragement and approbation which his consciousness 
 of integrity led him to anticipate. He had defended a good cause 
 in an improper manner; he had “darkened counsel by words with- 
 out knowledge and therefore it was first needful to bring him 
 into a proper state of mind by reproving his complaints respecting, 
 the ways of Providence. This reproof is conveyed not by an 
 explanation or vindication of the ways of God’s providence, but by 
 convincing Job of his inability to judge of them. He who had 
 spoken so rashly of the Divine counsels is called upon to give an 
 explanation of some of the works of nature which were constantly 
 presented to his view ; of the nature and structure of the earth, the 
 sea, the light, and the animal kingdom. If he were unable to 
 explain any one of the most common phenomena of nature, it 
 | followed that he was guilty of great presumption in tasking the 
 | secret counsels and moral government of God. This occupies the 
 ' thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters. The description of the 
 wild-ass, which occurs at the beginning of the thirty-ninth chapter 
 (5 — 8), is especially worthy of note: — 
 
 “ Who hath sent forth the wild-ass free ? 
 
 Or hath loosed the bands of the wild-ass ? 
 
 To whom I have given the wilderness for his house, 
 
 And the barren land for his dwelling. 
 
 He scorneth the tumult of the city, 
 
 And heedeth not the clamour of the driver ; 
 
 The range of the mountain is his pasture ; 
 lie seeketh after every green thing.” 
 
 Much effect is here produced by the incidental contrast between 
 the condition of the wild and the tame ass. The latter is the 
 familiar beast of burden amidst the tumult of cities, and therefore 
 it is said of the wild ass that he “ scorneth the tumult of the city 
 the tame ass also is not in Eastern cities led, but is urged or im- 
 pelled from behind by the staff and voice of the driver ; whence it is 
 said of the wild ass that/ie “ heedeth not the clamour of the driver.” 
 
 Some points may for a few moments arrest our attention before 
 we proceed to the others. 
 
 The wild variety of the ass, supposed to be denoted here and 
 elsewhere in Scripture by the name Para, is very distinct from the 
 common ass, although with sufficient general resemblance to suggest 
 the contrast in their condition which our quotation involves. This 
 wild species stands much higher in the limbs than the common ass ; 
 its legs are longer and more slender, and it is altogether a more 
 graceful and symmetrical animal, with a greater predominance of 
 equinine form and qualities than the domestic ass exhibits, and 
 having upon the whole less resemblance to it than to a very fine 
 mule. It is of a silvery grey colour with a broad coffee-coloured 
 stripe extending from the mane to the tail, and crossed at the 
 shoulder by the same transverse bar which the domestic variety 
 exhibits. The head of those found west of the Euphrates is said 
 to be much finer than that of the wild ass (Goorkhud) in Persia 
 and in more eastern regions, and that the animal generally improves 
 west of the Euphrates, being perhaps in its most perfect condition 
 in the Bakr-el-Abaid in Africa. There is no ground for the 
 statement that the wild ass does not exist west of the Euphrates. 
 Many travellers prior to the last century noticed its presence in 
 Palestine; and, according to Burckhardt, it is still seen in Arabia 
 Petraea — the very country in which the scene of the book of Job 
 appears to be laid. He states the Arabs hunt them and eat their 
 flesh, but not before strangers. “ They sell their skins and hoofs 
 to the pedlars of Damascus and the people of the Hauran. The 
 hoofs furnish materials for rings, which are worn by the peasants 
 on their thumbs or under their arm-pits, as a remedy against 
 rheumatism.” In Persia the wild ass is a favourite object ofchace, 
 and its flesh is esteemed as venison, and is served up on high 
 occasions at royal tables; few Europeans can, however, bring them- 
 selves to like it. 
 
 There are several allusions in Scripture to the wildness of this 
 animal, so that its name came to be proverbially applied to charac- 
 terise men of perverse and incorrigible character. So in this same 
 book we find, “ Man would be wise, though he be born a wild-ass 
 colt.” In like manner the Arabs still describe an indocile and con- 
 tumacious person as an “ ass of the desert.” 
 
Sunday XLIX.] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 3S7 
 
 SUNDAY XLIX.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 OT a little remarkable is the 
 mode in which Haman proceeded 
 to realize his object. lie took 
 an occasion of mentioning to the 
 king that there was dispersed 
 through his empire a people (not 
 naming them) “ whose laws are 
 diverse from all people, neither 
 keep they the king’s laws;” he 
 hence argued that it was detri- 
 mental to the interests of the 
 crown that such a people should 
 be suffered to exist ; and lie, there- 
 fore, recommended that they 
 should be destroyed. The only 
 reasonable objection which could be urged would be the loss to the 
 revenue of the capitation tax which these people paid : and, to obviate 
 this, Haman offered to deposit in the royal treasury not less than ten 
 thousand talents of silver. The offer of this immense sum, which, 
 computed by the Babylonian talent, is equal to two millions sterling 
 — and that for the mere purpose of gratifying a bloody whim — 
 evinces the vast wealtli which such favourites of the crown under 
 the ancient monarchies were able to accumulate ; and this is the 
 more remarkable when we consider that this high post was, as in 
 this case, often occupied by foreigners and slaves, or by the descendants 
 of such. The king declined this offer, but consented to what he 
 ought to have declined. With culpable, but truly Oriental, indif- 
 ference in a matter which concerned the lives of so many 
 thousands of people, he took the signet ring from his finger and 
 consigned it to Haman, by which act he authorized him to issue in 
 the king’s name whatever orders in this matter he might think proper. 
 
 Thus empowered, Haman hurried the royal scribes in preparing 
 copies, in different languages, of a decree which he drew up to 
 accomplish his fell intentions, and which were despatched by swift 
 couriers to all the provinces of that mighty empire, which extended 
 “ from India to Ethiopia.” This decree directed that all the Jews, 
 wherever found, were to be slain in one day, “ both young and 
 old, little children and women.” The one day appointed for this 
 horrid massacre was the thirteenth of the month Adar, and the 
 people were incited to become the willing agents of the slaughter 
 by the slayer being authorized to take to himself the spoil of the 
 slain. 
 
 It will be seen that the desire of Haman to make the destined 
 stroke complete, instant, and effectual, induced him to take measures 
 which required time to bring into action ; and during that time, in 
 the wise providence of God, circumstances occurred which Haman 
 could not have foreseen, and which brought his deep-laid scheme to 
 nothing. 
 
 When the decree was first put forth in the metropolis, “ the city 
 Shushan was perplexed — but “ the king and Haman sat down to 
 drink.” 
 
 Xo sooner did Mordecai become acquainted with the decree than 
 he “ rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out 
 into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry.” 
 This appears to have been not only the expression of his conster- 
 nation in the usual way, but to have been designed to draw the 
 attention of the Jews to the extent of their danger, and to rouse 
 them to pray to God for deliverance from the frightful doom 
 which hung over the chosen race. 
 
 Esther within the harem was as one dead to all that hap- 
 pened beyond its walls. She knew nothing of the evil that 
 threatened her people, and Mordecai could have no direct access to 
 her or communication with her. Her slaves and eunuchs, however, 
 knew of her relationship to Mordecai ; and his conduct was duly 
 reported to her by them. This was doubtless partly his object in 
 giving vent to such public demonstrations of his grief. For Esther 
 no sooner heard of the sorrow her beloved uncle manifested, than 
 she sent Hatach, one of the royal eunuchs, to inquire the cause of 
 his grief. This gave Mordecai the desired opportunity of apprising 
 the queen of these transactions, and of urging her, by every consi- 
 deration dear to a Hebrew heart, to exert her influence with the 
 king in subverting the plot of the bloodthirsty favourite. Esther 
 was greatly shocked ; but surrounded by the iron barriers of etiquette, 
 which in the Persian court were “ strong as death and cruel as 
 the grave,” she demurred as to the practicability of her interference. 
 No one, not even the queen, could venture, without danger of death, 
 to appear uncalled in that j ortion of the royal palace which the 
 
 king occupied ; and for her to quit her harem and enter the 
 forbidden precincts would peril her life, unless the capricious king 
 might chance, in a fit of good humour, to extend to her the golden 
 sceptre of his mercy. "When this difficulty was made known to 
 Mordecai, his answer called her to the high resolves which became 
 a daughter of Israel, and he plainly intimated that it was her duty 
 to risk her life for the deliverance of her people. He with some 
 sternness warned her that if she declined this high vocation, God 
 would certainly raise up help to his people in some other quarter, 
 
 ■ while she and her father’s house would perish: “ And who knoweth,” 
 he added, “whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a 
 ' time as this?” On receiving this answer through Hatach, Esther 
 1 hesitated no longer ; she rose to what she believed to be her destiny, 
 and showed herself equal to the great task which had devolved upon 
 her. She sent one message more to her uncle, desiring him to call 
 upon the Jews in Shushan (Susa) to devote themselves to fasting 
 and prayer to God for his blessing upon her terrible emprise: “ I 
 also and my maidens,” she said, “ will fast likewise: and then will 
 I go into the king, which is not according to the law ; — and if I 
 perish, I perish.” 
 
 On the third day from this Esther put on her royal apparel, and 
 passing from the harem, presented herself in the court of the king’s 
 own house, in front of the open hall or divan where the monarch was 
 seated upon his throne. When the king beheld her alone in all her 
 imperial beauty — for she had come unattended, that her maidens might 
 not share her danger — he was moved by the danger she had incurred 
 to gain access to his presence, and, extending the golden sceptre 
 towards her, said, “ What wilt thou, queen Esther, and what is thy 
 request?” What a trying moment was that! what a relief in his 
 gracious act and words to the full heart of one not by nature or 
 education suited to daring acts, but who hail wrought up her 
 woman’s heart to the mighty task which had fallen upon her ! She 
 knew that she was safe, that all danger to herself was passed, and 
 that through her her people might yet be delivered. She advanced 
 and touched the golden sceptre ; but ventured no other request than 
 that the king and Haman would that day come to a banquet which 
 she had prepared. 
 
 The king knew that this banquet was but preliminary to some 
 request that Esther had to prefer : and accordingly, when he 
 honoured it with his presence, he asked her, “ What wilt thou, queen 
 Esther, and what is thy request ? Even to the half of my kingdom 
 it shall be performed.” She answered by inviting him and Haman 
 to another feast the ensuing day, with an intimation that she would 
 then make known the favour she had to ask. 
 
 Haman departed that evening, elated that he was thus a second 
 time invited to accompany the king to Esther’s banquet. It filled 
 the cup of his honours ; but in that cup there was still one bitter 
 drop — the disrespect of Mordecai ; for as he passed out of the palace 
 in this happy mood, his eye fell upon the form of that unbending 
 Jew, who seemed posted there to rebuke his spirit, and whose eye 
 probably glared upon him that day (knowing he had been with 
 Esther) with some peculiar meaning, prophetic of his doom. This 
 made him uneasy, and turned his joy to bitterness. AVhen he reached 
 home he reported to his wife the favours which were showered upon 
 him ; adding, as to crown all, “ Yea, Esther the queen did let no 
 man come into the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and 
 to-morrow am I invited unto her also with the king:” but he con- 
 tinued with bitterness, “ Yet all this availeth me nothin" so lomr 
 as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” On which 
 his wife and friends advised him to prepare a gallows fifty cubits 
 high, “ and to-morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may 
 be hanged thereon — then go thou merrily unto the banquet.” Ila- 
 man determined to take this advice; and in the morning early, he 
 was, as his duty required, at the palace, to receive the king’s com- 
 mands for the day — with an intention of also making his small 
 request in the matter of Mordecai. 
 
 In the wise providence of God it was ordered that in this night 
 the king had been unable to sleep ; and he ordered, therefore, that the 
 chronicles of his kingdom should be brought and read before him. 
 The hand of the reader was guided by an unseen power to that part 
 of the volume in which the plot against the king’s life by two of his 
 chamberlains was recorded, as well as its disclosure by Mordecai. 
 Then, said the king, “ What honour and dignity hath been done to 
 Mordecai for this?” to which an officer in attendance replied. 
 “ There hafh nothing been done for him.” Struck with this neglect 
 of so great a service, the monarch determined to repair the wrong 
 forthwith. He directed that any minister in attendance in the ante- 
 chamber might be called. This was Haman, come to ask the king 
 to hang this very Mordecai. 
 
 The king asked, What shall be done to the man whom the king 
 
 3D2 
 
Brenin yn capl ei gynna' 
 
 1217.— Mordecai and Esther. 
 Mordecai ac Esther. 
 
 1215.— Egyptian Seal-rings. 
 Sel-fodrwyau Aiphtaidd. 
 
 1216. — Royal Palace at Ispahan. 
 Palas Brenhinol yn Ispahan. 
 
 1214.— Persian King walking. (From Ker Porter’s Travels.) 
 Brenin Persiaidd yn rhodio. (0 Ker Porter’s Travels.) 
 
389 
 
390 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday XLIX. 
 
 delighteth to honour?” Now Hainan had not the slightest suspi- 
 cion that the king could delight to honour any one but himself, 
 and his answer under this impression betrays the inordinate pride 
 and vanity of his heart. He advised that this favoured man should 
 be arrayed in the most illustrious dress of honour — raiment that the 
 king himself had worn — by the hands of the king’s most noble 
 princes — and that thus arrayed he should be by them conducted on 
 horseback through the city, while the heralds proclaimed before 
 him — “ Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth 
 to honour.” Was ever man cast down from the pinnacle of his 
 pride into the lowest deeps of mortification so abruptly as Haman, 
 when the king told him, as one of “ the king’s most noble princes ” 
 to whom he himself had assigned this task, to “go and do as thou 
 hast said to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth in the king’s gate !” — to 
 Mordecai, the man in all the world whom lie most hated, and whom 
 he had that very morning intended to get hanged ! But he had only 
 to obey. With trembling hands he invested with imperial robes the 
 man he would much sooner have torn in pieces ; and conducted him 
 through the city with all the state and ceremony which he had 
 intended for himself. 
 
 These events, strange as they appear to us, are eminently charac- 
 teristic of Persia ; and so enduring are the essential features of 
 Oriental character and usages, that there is scarcely a single cir- 
 cumstance which might not in the same country have occurred 
 at the present day without any marked contrariety to existing man- 
 ners. The dress of honour, and, above all, one that the king has 
 worn, is still the highest personal distinction which a Persian cour- 
 tier desires. 
 
 Haman was no sooner relieved from the terrible restraint imposed 
 upon him, than he hastened to his home “ mourning and having his 
 head covered.” When he made known to his wife and friends the 
 cause of his grief, he found but little consolation from them. From 
 the sudden and extraordinary elevation of one whom Haman had 
 destined for the gallows — they seem to have argued the special in- 
 terposition of a higher power in his behalf, and to have inferred 
 that the star of Haman was destined to grow pale before that of 
 Mordecai. “ If,” said they, “ Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, 
 before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail 
 against him, but shalt certainly fall before him.” They were 
 still speaking when the royal chamberlains arrived to hurry Haman 
 off to queen Esther’s banquet. 
 
 The king and his favourite proceeded together to the banquet — 
 the former doubtless curious to know what the important matter it 
 might be for which Esther had in the first instance perilled her life, 
 and which she deemed it needful to introduce with so much care- 
 ful preparation. Accordingly, at this banquet he asked again, 
 “ What is thy petition, queen Esther ? and it shall be granted thee: 
 and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even unto the 
 half of my kingdom.” Esther saw that the trying moment was 
 come, to be then taken or to be for ever lost. It was not lost. 
 She at once poured forth the great burden of her soul in earnest 
 supplication : — “ If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and 
 if it please the king, let my life be granted to my petition, and my 
 people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be 
 destroyed, and to be slain, and to perish. If we had been sold for 
 bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the 
 enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.” The king was 
 thunderstruck at the charge involved in this passionate address, of a 
 conspiracy in some quarter against the life of the queen and her 
 people ; and he exclaimed with energy — “ Who is he, and where is he, 
 that durst presume in his heart to do so?” The queen answered—” The 
 adversary and enemy is — this wicked Haman !” At that word the 
 king rose from his seat, and walked forth into the garden. Haman 
 saw' from his manner and the kindling of his eye that all was lost 
 unless lie could turn that precious moment to account in softening 
 the indignation of Esther. He rose from his place and drew near to 
 her, and in earnest entreaty sought to disperse the dark wrath which 
 he saw gathering around him. But she gave no sign of peace ; and in 
 his agony he fell, in a state of only half consciousness, upon the low 
 divan whereon the queen reclined. At that moment the king- 
 entered, and in the blindness of his passion drew the worst inferences, 
 from the position in which he was found, as to his intention in ap- 
 proaching the queen. The exclamation which rose to his lips, 
 announced to the ever ready eunuchs that the doom of Haman was 
 sealed ; and they approached him and covered his face — for it was 
 the etiquette in Persia that no criminal might look upon the king. 
 Every miserable eunuch now felt free to hasten the descent of the 
 falling favourite ; and one of them at that moment mentioned — 
 “ Behold also the gallows fifty cubits high, which Hainan hath made 
 for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standing in the 
 
 house of Hainan.” The sense of poetical justice supplied the king 
 with a prompt decision ; and the sentence “Hang him thereon!” 
 went forth from his lips. So they hanged Haman on the gallows 
 which he had prepared for Mordecai. We are satisfied with this; 
 but are not altogether satisfied that the king, who had, by his cul- 
 pable neglect of his duties and his indifference to human life, made 
 himself a party in the crimes of Haman, should be the person to pro- 
 nounce his doom. But the secret consciousness of the kino- that he 
 
 o 
 
 had himself been in the wrong, only made him the more wroth 
 against the man who had brought this unpleasant consciousness upon 
 him by abusing his confidence. 
 
 Mordecai was now introduced to the presence of the king, whom 
 Esther had made acquainted with their relationship ; and the com- 
 bination of circumstances in his favour induced the king to confide 
 to him the signet ring (or as we should say, “ the seals of office”) 
 which had been given to Haman. 
 
 The great work of delivering the Hebrew people from their doom 
 was, however, not yet accomplished. Haman was dead, but the decree 
 of the king lived. Therefore, Esther besought him, even with tears, 
 to complete his work by delivering her people from their still im- 
 pending doom : — “ For how,” said she, “ can I bear to see the evil 
 that will come upon my people ? or how can I endure to see the 
 destruction of my kindred ?” The king evinced every willingness to 
 rectify the error into which Haman had led him ; but he shrunk from 
 the open acknowledgment of error which a directly counter decree 
 would have involved. The words of the Persian kings were laws, 
 and respect for them as such could only be maintained by their being 
 made inviolable. Hence the usage which had confided this power 
 to the king, is said to have constrained him to caution by precluding 
 him from retracting a decree which had once been issued. All he 
 could therefore now do, was, to authorize the Jews to stand upon 
 their defence against those who attempted to execute the first edict. 
 This might seem no great privilege ; but in fact it served to apprise 
 the authorities of the altered mind of the king, and intimated to 
 them that they would win more favour by neglecting than by 
 enforcing the first decree. 
 
 The execution of this measure was intrusted to Mordecai ; and 
 he did not deem it of small importance. Copies of the order, sealed 
 with the king’s signet, v'ere prepared with all possible dispatch, and 
 forwarded to all parts of the empire by couriers, who were severally 
 mounted on the kind of animal best suited to the journey they had 
 to perform. Those who had an ordinary journey went on horse- 
 back ; those who had to traverse mountains rode on mules ; and those 
 who had to speed across wide plains and arid deserts were mounted 
 on young camels and swift dromedaries. They were commanded to 
 travel w ith the utmost speed, to anticipate the day appointed for the 
 massacre ; for in the w-ise providence of God, the very delay which 
 had been afforded by the desire of Haman to make his stroke effec- 
 tual, left just the time required for turning its edge aside. Haman, 
 under a superstition about lucky and unlucky days, still common in 
 the same country, sought a propitious day for the execution of the 
 grand design which has rendered his memory infamous. The four- 
 teenth day of the month Adar had been chosen by lot, and who 
 shall say that the lot had not been determined to this day by that 
 Divine Providence which shines throughout the book of Esther, 
 although the name of God does not once appear in it ! 
 
 The new decree saved the Jews from destruction, but did not 
 prevent a horrid massacre of them and by them. There were many 
 who hated the Jews, and there w'ere others who coveted their pos- 
 sessions, which had been secured to those who should slay them : so 
 that in many places the Jews had a hard fight for their lives on the 
 fourteenth of the month Adar. On that day they very wisely as- 
 sembled in bodies in the places where they resided, ready to defend 
 themselves ; and in some places they appear to have gone beyond 
 the strict limits of self-defence ; but nowhere did they touch the spoils 
 of those who fell before them. One would think that in Slnishan, 
 in the presence of the court, no attempt to enforce the edict would 
 be made. But it would seem that the ten sons of Haman, and 
 others adverse to the altered state of affairs, organized an attempt 
 to carry it into effect. The Jews, however, had the advantage, for, 
 while it is not recorded that many of them were slain, not fewer 
 than eight hundred of their assailants fell before them. Throughout 
 the empire the slaughter made by the Jews amounted to not less 
 than seventy-five thousand men. The ancient Jewish w'riters be- 
 lieve that these were chiefly Amalekites, and there can be no doubt 
 such of this nation as were dispersed through the Persian empire 
 would evince peculiar animosity against the Hebrew' race. At all 
 events, one fact shines out very clear, which is, that seventy-five 
 thousand human beings perished because the king had been careless 
 and unguarded over his wine. 
 
Sunday XLIX.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 SOI 
 
 SUNDAY XLIX.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 AUL was accordingly brought before 
 the judgment-seat of Festus, as soon as 
 the latter arrived at Caesarea. lie was 
 very willing to please the Jews, so that 
 he could do so without any palpable or 
 gross injustice against one who was 
 protected by the rights of Roman citi- 
 zenship. When therefore he perceived 
 that he could make nothing of the 
 case as against the prisoner, he asked 
 him whether he would go to Jerusalem and have the matter tried 
 there. Perceiving from this that the governor was disposed to 
 sacrifice him to his enemies, the apostle at once took his stand upon 
 his right as a Roman citizen ; and said — “ I stand at Caesar’s judg- 
 ment-seat, where I ought to be judged : I appeal unto Ccesar ! ” 
 This settled the question ; for whenever a citizen had once appealed 
 to the imperial tribunal, all other processes were superseded, and 
 nothing remained but to send him with all care and expedition to 
 Rome. Paul knew this : and his determination to make this 
 appeal was probably infiuenced by his previous wish and intention 
 to preach the Gospel of Christ in the imperial city. 
 
 A short time after this, King Agrippa, the son of Herod Agrippa 
 and grandson of Herod the Great, arrived at Ceesarea with his 
 sister Berenice, to compliment the procurator on his arrival in his 
 government. Agrippa had been brought up at Rome, and was much 
 attached to the Roman people ; and as he was also well instructed 
 in the Jewish religion, Festus had the advantage of obtaining the 
 judgment of a qualified person on the case of Paul, which was to 
 himself unintelligible. lie could not now judge him, seeing that 
 he had appealed to Rome ; but he wanted materials on which to 
 found the report which it was necessary he should send with the 
 appellant. It was therefore arranged that a hearing should be 
 given to Paul before Festus, Agrippa, and Berenice. 
 
 When Agrippa intimated to Paul that he was at liberty to speak 
 for himself, the apostle stretched forth his hand, and commenced 
 an eloquent address by declaring the satisfaction which he felt in 
 having his case brought before one so competent to apprehend its 
 merits. His defence on former occasions had been before Roman 
 magistrates, who had but little acquaintance with Jewish customs 
 and opinions, and who listened with impatience to the discussion of 
 subjects which they were utterly unable to understand. Thus, in 
 order to gain a hearing, the accusers had to lay their charge and 
 the accused his defence upon points not involving the real merits of 
 the case, but such as were supposed to be within the grasp of the 
 Roman judge. Paul therefore sincerely rejoiced that his case was now 
 before one who was on the one hand well acquainted with the 
 Jewish religion, and on the other, from having been brought up 
 among Gentiles, was not disposed to be so much shocked as the great 
 body of the Jews at the doctrine of Paul — that the Gentiles were not 
 shut out from the mercies of God, and that they also had part in 
 the Redeemer’s kingdom. 
 
 The apostle knew that he was not now upon his trial, but that 
 the impression made upon Agrippa would, through Festus, deter- 
 mine the tone of the report to be sent with him to Rome. lie 
 therefore gave a plain but impressive account of his education and 
 conversion, and of his call to preach the Gospel of Christ to the 
 Gentiles. Whenever he arrived at this point in his narrative 
 in the presence of Jews, he had almost invariably been tumul- 
 tuously interrupted ; but Agrippa manifested no impatience or 
 offence, and the apostle then proceeded — “ Having therefore 
 obtained help of God, I continue unto this day witnessing both 
 to great and small, saying none other things than those which the 
 prophets and Moses did say should come : — that Christ should 
 suffer, that he should be the first that should rise from the dear), 
 and that he should show light unto his people and to the Gentiles.” 
 Here, however, he had come upon a matter — the resurrection from 
 the dead — which was nearly as much a stumbling-block to the 
 Gentiles as the preaching of the Gospel beyond the Hebrew pale 
 was to the Jews — and Festus, unwilling to seem altogether passive 
 in the matter, and having found something which he fancied he 
 could grasp, cried out, “ Paul, thou art beside thyself ; much learn- 
 ing hath made thee mad.” But with calm confidence the apostle 
 answered, “ I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of 
 truth and soberness !” and, turning to Agrippa, he called upon him 
 as a witness, since he knew well that these things had not been done 
 secretly in a corner, but publicly in Jerusalem; and in the firm 
 conviction that in all of which he had testified the promises of the 
 
 prophets were fulfilled, he said to him : — " King Agrippa, believest 
 thou the prophets? — I know that thou believest.” Under a sudden 
 but, unhappily, also transient impulse of conviction, Agrippa said — 
 “ Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian !” To which the 
 apostle, who with the manacles on his arms, knew that he possessed 
 that which was worth much more than all the glory of the world, 
 answered in the noble words : “ I would to God that not only thou, 
 but also all who hear me this day, w6re not only almost, but alto- 
 gether, such as I am — except these bonds.” 
 
 After this the court broke up; and Festus and Agrippa, on 
 conferring together on the subject, agreed that Paul had done 
 nothing worthy of death or of bonds, and that he might have been 
 I set at liberty if he had not appealed to the emperor, which ren- 
 dered it obligatory that he should be sent to Rome. 
 
 It was by no means unusual to send from Judea to Rome persons 
 who, under the right of Roman citizenship, had appealed to the 
 imperial tribunal ; and there seems to have been a considerable 
 number embarked at the same time with the apostle in a ship 
 belonging to Adramyttium. They were placed under the charge of 
 an officer named Julius, who was centurion in “ Augustus’s band ” 
 or cohort. Two of Paul’s friends and followers, Luke and Aris- 
 tarchus, took their passage in the same ship, to share his dangers, to 
 comfort him by their presence, and to enjoy the benefit of his society 
 and friendship. The presence of Luke is only indicated by the use 
 of the pronoun “ we ” in the description of the voyage ; and in 
 the phrase, “ Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being 
 with us.” 
 
 The ship in which the prisoners were embarked, voyaged along 
 the coast ; as was usual in these times, touching at different ports 
 on its way. A day after the departure from Caesarea the ship 
 reached Sidon, where the centurion, who must have been apprised 
 of the favourable opinion which was entertained by Festus of the 
 apostle’s case, courteously allowed him to land that he might “ go 
 unto his friends to refresh himself.” He had often travelled this 
 way in going to and from Jerusalem, and probably had friends in 
 all the principal towns ; and doubtless the friends at Sidon availed 
 themselves of the opportunity of providing such supplies as might 
 make more comfortable the voyage which lay before him, which 
 voyage was in those days long and perilous. The original plan of the 
 voyage, which was to go along by the coast of Asia Minor, would 
 have taken the ship between the north of Cyprus and the southern 
 coast of the peninsula ; but contrary winds obliged them to leave 
 the coast, and take a direct course from Sidon to the coast of Lycia, 
 thereby passing Cyprus on the south. Having then crossed what 
 is in our text called “ the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia,” they at 
 length entered the port of Myra, which was at that time the me- 
 tropolis of Lycia. To this place the ship, in which the voyage had 
 been thus far performed, was bound ; but a ship of Alexandria 
 bound for Italy was found in the harbour, and to this the centurion 
 removed the prisoners. From the sequel this appears to have been 
 one of the numerous vessels employed in conveying corn from 
 Alexandria to Italy, and which usually crossed over to Myra, and 
 there took in supplies for the remainder and more perilous part of 
 the voyage. Having sailed slowly for several days, they passed the 
 gulf of Caria, and had arrived “over against the promontory of 
 Cnidus,” intending to pass to the north of Crete, when they were 
 again driven out of their course by adverse winds, and were con- 
 strained to round the Salmone promontory, and pass to the south 
 of the island, when they found refuge from the adverse weather in 
 the Fair Havens near the town of Lasea. Much time having been 
 consumed through contrary winds, the season had become far 
 advanced ; and they had still to perform a part of the voyage, which 
 they expected to have by this time completed. This navigation 
 was at this time of the year considered highly dangerous from 
 tempestuous winds, and was seldom attempted by the mariners of 
 ancient days. The danger was real, through the imperfect build of 
 the ships, the unskilfulness of the sailors, and, above all, from the 
 want of the compass. All parties were sensible of this, and it was 
 agreed to winter in Crete: but although Paul, who had established 
 his claim to respect on board the ship, advised that the vessel 
 should remain in the Fair Havens to avoid the calamities which 
 he foresaw, Julius deemed it most prudent to rely upon the 
 experience of the captain and supercargo of the vessel, who urged 
 the propriety of endeavouring to gain the safer harbour of Phenice 
 at the western extremity of the island. In this attempt the vessel 
 was encountered by a fierce wind which blows at this season, called 
 Euroclydon. It blows from all points between N.E. and S.E., 
 frequently shifting within this range, and is called by our mariners 
 a Levanter, and by the Italians Tuffone — from the ancient name, 
 Typhon. 
 
1226.— Roman Soldiers. 
 Milwyr Rhufeinig. 
 
 1227.— Roman Soldiers. 
 Milwyr Rhufeinig. 
 
 1229. — Embarkation. 
 Mynediad i Long. 
 
 1230. — Ship, from a Painting at Pompeii. 
 Llong, o Baentwaith yn Pompeii. 
 
 392 
 
 1231. — From a Bas-rblief on a Tomb at Pompeii. 
 0 Saflun ar Feddrod yn Pompeii. 
 
 
123C. — Indian Serpent-charmers. 
 Sarph-swynwyr Indiaidd. 
 
PROVERBS. 
 
 [Sunday L. 
 
 HOi 
 
 SUNDAY L.— PROVERBS. 
 
 O acute an observer, and one so inter- 
 ested in the study of natural history, as 
 Solomon, was likely to have his atten- 
 tion attracted by the power to which, 
 in the East, some persons have in all 
 ages pretended, of being able to exer- 
 cise a strange power over the venomous 
 serpents, and to handle them freely 
 without harm. We accordingly find 
 an allusion to this remarkable fact in 
 his writings : “ Surely the serpent will 
 bite without enchantment, and a bab- 
 bler is no better” (Eccles. x. 11). 
 David also has a similar and even more 
 distinct allusion to the same fact : — 
 
 “ Their poison is like the poison of serpents ; 
 
 They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, 
 
 Which will not hearken to the voice of the charmer, 
 Charming never so wisely.” (Ps. lviii. 4, 5.) 
 
 Jeremiah also (viii. 17): — 
 
 “ Behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, 
 
 Which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith 
 the Lord.” 
 
 These passages refer to a practice so opposed to all our notions and 
 knowledge, as to give some interest to the explanation to which they 
 point, and which is perhaps only needed because of our own immu- 
 nity from the evils which the presence of poisonous serpents creates. 
 They afford in fact the earliest existing references to the practice 
 of serpent-charming. Our other ancient information is founded 
 on the practices of the Psylli, a people of Cyrenaica, who were 
 the most celebrated serpent-charmers of antiquity, and who 
 are frequently mentioned by the classical writers. Their gift 
 was supposed to be a natural power inherent to the race — a kind 
 of gypsies apparently — to which they belonged, and not enjoyed 
 even among them by any who were of illegitimate birth ; and 
 Pliny alleges that they in fact tested the legitimacy of their new- 
 born children by exposing them to the most venomous serpents, 
 which durst not molest them if they were true-born. Lucan makes 
 the same statement, and affords many additional particulars. A 
 body of these Psylli undertook to protect the Roman camp in 
 Africa from serpents, by which the region was much infested. 
 They kept marching around it chanting their “mystic songs;” 
 but also employed the natural and probably more effective expedient 
 of surrounding the camp by a line of fires, made of different kinds 
 of wood, the smell of which was to keep the serpents from approach- 
 ing. When any soldier abroad in the daytime happened to be 
 bitten, the Pyslli undertook to cure him. First, to prevent, as they 
 said, the poison from spreading while they used their arts in charm- 
 ing it forth, they rubbed the wounded part with saliva: — 
 
 “Then sudden he begins the mystic song, 
 
 And rolls the numbers hasty o’er his tongue; 
 
 Swift lie runs on, nor pauses once for breath, 
 
 To stop the progress of approaching death : 
 
 He fears the cure might sutler by delay, 
 
 And life be lost but for a moment's stay. 
 
 Thus oft, though deep within the veins it lies, 
 
 By magic numbers chased, the mischief flies. 
 
 But if to hear too slow — if still it stay, 
 
 And scorn the potent charmer to obey, 
 
 With forceful lips he fastens on the wound. 
 
 Draws out and spits the venom to the ground.” 
 
 Pharsalia, ix. Rowe’s transl. 
 
 In this account the voice is repeatedly mentioned as the instrument 
 by which the charmers worked ; and it is to “ the voice of the 
 charmer ” that the Psalmist refers in the text we have cited. The 
 charmers doubtless, as in the case mentioned by Lucan, used a form 
 of words as a charm, or chanted a song in some peculiar measure ; 
 and to the words of the song or the charm were attributed the 
 effects really assignable to the human voice. 
 
 Egypt and Northern Africa in the West, and India in the East, 
 are the countries where serpent-charming in all its forms is now 
 most generally practised. AElian, speaking of the power possessed 
 by the Egyptians over snakes and birds, says, “ They are said to be 
 enabled by a certain magical art to bring down birds from heaven, 
 
 and to charm serpents, so as to make them come forth from their 
 lurking-places at their command.” Sir J. G. Wilkinson remarks 
 with reference to the practice of the modern Psylli — “ The Egyp- 
 tian asp is a species of the cobra de capello, and is still very common 
 in Egypt, where it is called Nashir, a word signifying ‘spreading,’ 
 from its dilating its breast when angry. It is the same which the 
 Hawee , or snake- players, the Psylli of modern days, use in their 
 juggling tricks ; having previously taken care to extract its fangs, 
 or, which is a still better precaution, to burn out the poison-bag 
 with a hot iron. They are generally about three or four feet long, 
 but some are considerably larger, one in my possession measuring 
 exactly six feet in length. They are easily tamed. Their food is 
 mice, frogs, and various reptiles, and they mostly live in gardens 
 during the warm weather, where they are of great use — the reason 
 probably of their being chosen in ancient times as a protecting 
 emblem. In the winter they retire to their holes, and remain in a 
 torpid state, being incapable of bearing cold, as I had reason to 
 observe with two I kept in the house at Cairo, which died in one 
 night, though wrapped up in a skin and protected from the air.” 
 
 The facts of serpent-charming seem to be these : — That certain 
 species of serpents really are subject to influence from music or the 
 sound of the human voice, while others are exempt from it, and 
 cannot be subjected by the charmer, “ charm he never so wisely.” 
 It is to these doubtless that the Psalmist and Jeremiah allude. It 
 also appears that naturally poisonous serpents, having their poison- 
 fangs extracted or the poison-bag destroyed, and being then tamed, 
 are played with by the charmer, and even suffered to bite him. 
 The process of destroying the poison-fangs is obviously alluded to 
 by the Psalmist, where, in the verse immediately following that which 
 we have cited, he says — “ Break their teeth, O God, in their 
 mouth.” In our inquiries into this subject we have met with no 
 instance of the wound of a really poisonous serpent being cured by 
 serpent-charmers. In the case recorded by Lucan, it may be clearly 
 perceived that the serpent-bites which the Psylli pretended to cure 
 by charms, songs, and saliva, were the bites of serpents not poi- 
 sonous ; but when the symptoms evinced that the wound was from a 
 poisonous serpent, they resorted to the very natural and by no means 
 occult expedient of sucking the wound to extract the poison. 
 
 Mr. Roberts, in his Oriental Illustrations, speaking of the prac- 
 tice in India, which our cuts principally illustrate, says, “ The 
 kuravan, or serpent-charmer, may be found in every village, and 
 some who have gained great fame actually live by the art. Occa- 
 sionally they travel about the district to exhibit their skill. In a 
 basket they have several serpents, which they place on the ground. 
 The kuravan then commences playing on his instrument, and to 
 talk to the reptiles, at which they creep out, and begin to mantle 
 about with their heads erect and their hoods distended. After this 
 he puts his arm to them, which they affect to bite, and sometimes 
 leave the marks of their teeth.” This writer expresses, “ from close 
 observation,” the same conviction with respect to the fangs having 
 been extracted, which Sir J. G. Wilkinson declares with respect to 
 those used by the serpent-charmers of Egypt. He adds, “ Living 
 animals have been repeatedly offered to the man for his serpents to 
 bite ; but he would not allow it, because he knew that no harm 
 would ensue. It is, however, granted that some of these men believe 
 in the power of their charms, and there can be no doubt that the 
 serpents even in their wild state are affected by the influence of 
 music. One of these men once went to a friend of mine with his 
 serpents and charmed them before him. After some time the gen- 
 tleman said, ‘ I have a cobra de capello in a cage ; can you charm 
 him ?’ ‘ Oh ! yes,’ said the charmer. The serpent was let out 
 
 of the cage, and the man began his incantations and charms: the 
 reptile fastened upon his arm, and he was dead before the night.” 
 
 In an interesting account of Egyptian serpent-charming, given 
 by Mr. Lane in his Modern Egyptians, the writer states that the 
 men for the most part profess to detect the presence of serpents in 
 houses, and to draw them forth from their retreats. He says that 
 the serpent-charmer assumes an air of mystery, strikes the walls with 
 a short palm-stick, whistles, makes a clucking noise with bis tongue, 
 and spits upon the ground, and generally says: — “I adjure you by 
 God, if ye be above, or if ye be below, that ye come forth : I 
 adjure you by the most great name, if ye be obedient, come forth, 
 and if ye be disobedient, die ! die ! die !” The serpent is generally 
 dislodged by his stick from a fissure of the wall, or drops from the 
 ceiling of the room. Mr. Lane adds, that he has known this to be 
 effected under circumstances in which deception could hardly take 
 place, and is inclined to think that the persons are acquainted with 
 some real physical means of discovering the presence of serpents 
 without seeing them, and of attracting them from their lurking- 
 places. 
 
Sunday L ] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 395 
 
 SUNDAY L.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 I1IS result of a danger which 
 had seemed to threaten the ex- 
 istence of the nation, filled the 
 Jews with a degree of joy com- 
 mensurate to its importance ; 
 and it was resolved to transmit 
 the memory of it to future gene- 
 rations by observing the day of 
 deliverance as a yearly fes- 
 tival. Mordecai confirmed this 
 design by sending letters to all 
 the provinces, enjoining the 
 future observance of the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, 
 as “ the days in which the Jews had obtained rest from their 
 enemies, and the month in which their sorrow had been turned 
 into joy : that they should make them days of feasting and re- 
 joicing, and of sending presents one to another, and gifts to the 
 poor.” This festival, which is observed among the Jews to the 
 present day, obtained the name of Purim, from the Persian word 
 Pur or “ lot,” on account of the lot which Hainan had cast to 
 obtain a good day for the execution of his purpose. It is difficult 
 to see by what authority Mordecai could appoint this festival. 
 But he had become the foremost man of the nation, and his 
 enactment was too much in accordance with the popular senti- 
 ment to be rejected. If, however, we may believe the Jewish 
 writers, it did meet with some opposition from eighty-five elders, 
 who resisted it as an innovation not sanctioned by the law. During 
 this festival the whole book of Esther is twice read in the synagogue, 
 once in the morning when the feast begins, and again the next 
 morning; and whenever the name of Hainan is mentioned, the very 
 children are taught to beat on the benches and to stamp for joy. 
 After the second reading of the law is finished, the remainder of 
 the day is spent in sports, with music and dancing, until the time 
 for feasting arrives, when usage sanctions, or even demands, a 
 degree of indulgence by no means usual among this temperate people. 
 
 It is now time to return to Judea, where Ezra still remained 
 much occupied, probably in that revision and arrangement of the 
 Scriptures of the Old Testament which is usually ascribed to him. 
 Little progress, however, appears to have been made with the 
 public works calculated to give strength and dignity to Jerusalem. 
 This is accounted for by the fact that permission to surround the 
 town by a wall had not yet been obtained, and in those days men 
 liked not to erect buildings of cost in places unprotected by a wall. 
 It was not until the twentieth year of Ahasuerus that permission to 
 fortify the town was obtained, and this was then brought about in 
 the following manner, which, however we approve the result, shows 
 that in the court of Persia in that age, as in the present, questions 
 affecting the public interest were determined not on their intrinsic 
 merits, but through the personal influence of favourite servants and 
 ministers. 
 
 We have already seen in the case of Haman and Mordecai that a 
 foreign extraction was no bar to advancement in the court of the 
 Persian kings : accordingly we are not surprised to find that the 
 high post of cup-bearer to the king was held by a Jew called 
 Nehemiah. This office was one of great importance, not only in 
 real dignity, but because it gave access to the king in his less 
 formal hours, and afforded him opportunities of establishing a 
 feeling of personal kindness towards himself on the part of the 
 sovereign. 
 
 This Nehemiah, who was a very pious and zealous Jew, had 
 received from a person named Ilanani, who had lately arrived from 
 Judea, such a description of the condition of the holy city as 
 afflicted him greatly. The signs of mourning and the traces of 
 grief were forbidden things in the Persian court, where the sun- 
 shine of the king’s presence was supposed to spread happiness 
 around ; and where every countenance was expected to be radiant with 
 cheerfulness, however the heart might be dried up by fierce passions 
 or rent by anguish. Nehemiah, however, could not altogether 
 obliterate from his countenance all trace of grief: the keen eye of 
 the monarch noted this, and he was asked the cause of his sadness. 
 At this question Nehemiah was, with reason, “greatly afraid.” 
 But he was incapable of evasion, and, thinking it best to speak out, 
 he said, — “ Let the king live for ever ; why should not mv coun- 
 tenance be sad when the city — the place of my fathers’ sepulchres 
 — lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire ?” The 
 king then said, “ For what dost thou make request?” Nehemiah 
 felt the impoitance of this moment, and after a silent aspiration to 
 
 I “ the God of the heavens,” he was encouraged to say, “ If it please 
 j the king, and if 1 have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest 
 send me to Judea, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may 
 rebuild it.” The word rendered to “ build ” means also to fortify ; 
 and what follows shows that the real point of his request, and that 
 which gave it the chief importance, lay in his request for permission 
 to do that which had hitherto been always hindered or not allowed. 
 But, in fact, the main difficulty in the king’s mind lay in parting 
 for the time required with a favourite servant, to whose presence 
 he had been accustomed. Ilis first question therefore was, “How 
 long will thy journey be ? and when wilt thou return ? ” and on 
 receiving a satisfactory answer, the king sent him to Judea as 
 governor of the Jews, and furnished him with letters to the Persian 
 governors in those parts, requiring them to support his authority, 
 and to supply whatever materials he required for all the works he 
 was authorized to undertake — the building of the walls being 
 specially included. This was a great event for the Jews, and gave 
 them dignify in the eyes of the Persians, who were sensible of Nehe- 
 miah’s personal favour at court, which indeed was evinced by the 
 escort of cavalry which was given him for the journey to Jerusalem. 
 The real Persians were therefore disposed to promote the views of 
 the new governor to the extent of their power ; but the old enemies 
 of Israel, the Samaritans and Ammonites and Moabites, were 
 “ exceedingly vexed ” when they heard that “ a man had come to 
 seek the welfare of the Israelites.” Sanballat the Samaritan, and 
 Tobiah the Ammonite, are particularly mentioned as the most 
 active enemies of the Jews. The latter had been a slave, but was 
 raised to the government of some one of the provinces into which 
 Syria was divided, under the general governor. 
 
 Nehemiah did not immediately on his arrival disclose the full 
 extent of the powers with which he was intrusted, as regarded the 
 fortification of the city; and he seems to have desired to keep them 
 secret till he should be in a condition to commence operations. 
 After he had been there three days, and had recovered from the 
 toil of travel, the governor rode around the city by night to obtain 
 a clear notion of the labour he had undertaken. The next day he 
 convened the priests and leading men, and said to them, “ Y r e 
 see the distress that we are in, how that Jerusalem lieth waste, and 
 the gates thereof are consumed with fire ; come and let us build up 
 the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.” He adds, 
 
 “ Then I told them of the kind hand of my God towards me, as 
 also the words the king had spoken to me.” The evils to which 
 they had been daily accustomed, struck them less forcibly than they 
 did the newly arrived governor ; nevertheless they were perfectly 
 sensible of the importance of the privilege now obtained, and 
 expressed their eagerness to commence the work. 
 
 As soon as such a commencement was made as evinced the design 
 to rebuild the walls, the attempt was treated with derision and 
 insult by adverse parties already named. But the work proceeded 
 with great steadiness and rapidity, every available hand being called 
 to the service. They worked in bands under their several chiefs, 
 each band knowing its allotted task. Work was found for every 
 willing hand, and even goldsmiths, apothecaries, and shopkeepers 
 (“ merchants ”) are named among those who wrought. The 
 gates were restored, and made strong with bolts and bars, and the 
 wall arose with wonderful expedition from the ground. The 
 rapidity of the work indeed was such as to suggest to the enemies 
 of Israel an unfounded impression of its slightness, and many 
 excellent Oriental jokes were passed by them on the subject : — 
 “ Were a jackal to go up against the stone walls they are building, 
 he would break them down,” was the remark with which Tobiah 
 made Sanballat and his people merry. 
 
 Nehemiah felt these taunts very strongly, as evincing how his 
 people were despised ; but, nevertheless, the labour proceeded 
 briskly, “ for the heart of the people was engaged in the work.” 
 
 Finding this to be the case, and seeing the walls rising, the 
 enemies of Israel became seriously alarmed, and plotted to put an 
 end to these operations by force of arms. Information of this 
 design transpired, and was brought to Neheiniah by Jews resi- 
 dent on the borders. On hearing this, the governor established a 
 constant watch over the work, by night and day, and stationed at 
 proper points men well armed with swords, spears, and bows; 
 whom he encouraged, in case of being attacked, to “ Remember 
 Jehovah, and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, 
 your wives and your homes.” By these careful preparations the 
 enemy became aware that their plot was known ; and as this, even 
 in their view, rendered doubtful the success of what they had 
 intended as a sudden surprise, they reluctantly abandoned their 
 design. Nehemiah did not, however, deem it prudent to abate the 
 vigilance which he had established. The hands which had thus 
 
 3 E 2 
 

 1240.— Palace Gate. 
 Forth Palag 
 
 1241. — Governor on Journey. 
 Llywoilraetbwr ur Duith. 
 
 1242.— Arrival of Governor. 
 Dyfodiad Llywodraethwr. 
 
 396 
 

398 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday L. 
 
 been taken from the work were indeed restored to it ; but every 
 inan who wrought on the wall, and who carried burdens, laboured 
 with one hand, while with the other he held his weapons of war. 
 This state of things is not unusual in the East, where men may 
 often be seen well armed while labouring in the fields. Nehemiah 
 did not spare Ids own servants, for half of them laboured in the 
 work while the other half stood at arms. Nehemiah himself, in 
 his anxiety to expedite the work, was constantly present, with a 
 trumpeter to give signals in case of danger. Thus they wrought 
 and watched “ from the rising of the morning till the stars 
 appeared and Nehemiah declares that during an entire month 
 neither himself nor any of the peopie once put off their clothes. 
 
 After this an internal disorder, fully as grievous as the outward | 
 danger by which they had been threatened, engaged the attention 
 of the governor. The last season had been comparatively unpro- 
 ductive, so that the less wealthy of the people had been obliged to 
 mortgage their lands, houses, and vineyards, to obtain corn or to 
 pay the Persian tribute. The extent to which the wealthier Jew's 
 had availed themselves of the necessities of their brethren to enrich 
 themselves, will appear from the fact that several of the people com- 
 plained that some of their children had already been brought into 
 bond-service ; “ nor is it in our power to redeem them,” said they, 
 
 “ for other men have our lands and vineyards.” 
 
 When all these things were reported to Nehemiah, he became 
 very angry, and convened a public assembly, in which he exposed 
 and denounced the evil of this proceeding, and drew from the 
 parties a solemn promise to restore all that they had in this way 
 obtained. Then, says Nehemiah, “ I shook my lap and said, So 
 may God shake out every man from his house and from his labour, 
 that performeth not this promise : even thus may he be shaken out 
 and emptied.” It is gratifying to learn that the promise thus obtained 
 was kept very strictly. 
 
 Nehemiah was enabled to act with the more confidence in this 
 matter, as, although he was entitled to a large allowance for the 
 expenses of his large establishment as governor, he forbore to 
 require anything from the people, and, with unexampled liberality, 
 not only gave his care and solicitude without pay or reward, but 
 bore all the charges of his expensive office entirely out of his 
 private fortune. Nor did this consideration make him sparing in 
 his expenditure, for his hospitable and generous temper carried him 
 far beyond the obligations of his office. Above one hundred and 
 fifty Jews, not belonging to his establishment, were entertained at 
 his table, the daily supply of which required one ox and six sheep, 
 besides fowl, and once every ten days a large supply of wine. As 
 the Orientals are but sparing consumers of animal food, this 
 consumption implies a larger expenditure on other commodities 
 than would be understood in northern climates. Those who are 
 acquainted with the exactions and oppressions exercised by the officers 
 and attendants of Persian governors even at the present day, will 
 best understand the intimation given by Nehemiah, who, speaking 
 of former governors, says, “ Even their servants bare rule over the 
 people; but I did not thus, because I feared God in my heart.” 
 
 The enemies of Israel — Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the 
 Arabian — seeing that the wall was now finished, and all strong and 
 complete, save only the gates, saw that the time for any acts of 
 direct violence had passed. They therefore sought to ensnare the 
 governor, to whose influence and energy they justly attributed the 
 prosperous aspect which the affairs of the Jewish people were 
 beginning to assume. Being themselves invested with petty 
 
 governments under the Persians, they invited Nehemiah to a 
 conference, as if on matters of common interest, at Chepirim, in 
 the plain of Ono. Suspicious of their intentions, he returned the 
 discreet answer, “ I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come 
 down ; why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down 
 to you?” They, however, repeated the invitation not less than four 
 times, and, always receiving the same answer, Sanballat at length 
 sent a servant to him bearing an open letter in his hand. In this 
 letter it was stated to be commonly reported that it was his intention 
 to revolt against the Persians, whose interests they were bound to 
 watch. Nehemiah contented himself with a strong denial of so 
 improbable a charge, and hastened the completion of the gates, 
 knowing that his best security, under God, from all these machi- 
 nations, lay in securing the defences of the city. The accusers had, 
 however, some influential partisans even in the town, who believed, 
 or afflicted to believe, that the strength of the fortifications might 
 give the Persians reason to credit the accusation ; and who supposed 
 that the fact of the probable grounds for such a suspicion would 
 justify the adversaries to the Persian government, under the cover 
 of over-zeal for the Persian interests, in any acts of violence to 
 which they might resort. These urged Nehemiah to shut himself in 
 
 the temple — on the ground that an assault, which they alleged to be 
 in contemplation, was directed entirely against his own person ; but 
 he knew that this act of shutting himself up in what was then in fact 
 the citadel of Jerusalem, would give colour to the worst devices ot 
 the enemy ; and with becoming spirit he answered, “ Should such 
 a man as I flee? And who like me would go into the temple to 
 save his life? I will not go in.” 
 
 Beset by spies, who carried his words to his enemies, and annoyed 
 by offensive letters which were repeatedly sent to him, Nehemiah 
 yet persevered steadily in his great task, and at length, on the twenty- 
 fifth day of the month Elul, only fifty-two days from the commence- 
 ment — so earnestly had the work been carried on — he had the 
 satisfaction of seeing it completed, b.c. 445. 
 
 The walls being thus finished, and the gates complete, Nehemiah 
 was enabled to establish greater order in the city than had before 
 been possible : keepers were stationed at every one of the gates, 
 and over the whole was Hananiah, “ a faithful man, who feared God 
 above many,” who had it in charge to see the gates closed in the 
 evening, and properly secured with bolts and bars, and also not 
 to open them in the morning until “ the sun was hot.” Such 
 regulations are still usual in the walled towns of the East, and in 
 this case were peculiarly necessary, as the town, although large, was 
 but thinly peopled, the houses which it contained being still very 
 few, while the apprehension of danger from the enemies of Israel 
 hail not yet passed away. 
 
 After the term of his civil commission had ceased, it appears 
 that Ezra remained at Jerusalem, and is supposed, as already inti- 
 mated, to have devoted much of his time in collecting and arranging 
 the Sacred Books which now form the canon of the Old Testament. 
 He was now called forward to read to the people the law of Moses, 
 of which it seems to have been known that he had now provided a 
 perfect copy. It seems also to have been the season in which it. 
 was directed that the law should be publicly read to the people, 
 being every seventh year at the feast of tabernacles. This regu- 
 lation had been much neglected, but now the people present at 
 Jerusalem for the feast “ assembled as one man in the street before 
 the water-gate,” anil required Ezra to bring forth and read the 
 book of the law. The worthy man gladly responded to this call, 
 and he read the law in the street to all “who could hear with 
 understanding, from morning till night.” He stood upon a pulpit 
 or platform of wood, which had been made for the purpose, so that 
 the people might both see and hear him. The brief notices of this 
 great solemnity are suggestive and interesting : — Ezra opened the 
 book in the sight of all the people, and when he opened it all the 
 people stood up, and Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And 
 all the people with uplifted hands answered Amen, Amen ; and 
 they bowed their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to 
 the ground.” There was one serious difficulty, which had, perhaps, 
 hitherto prevented, since the return from exile, the law from being 
 thus publicly read. The mass of the people, born in a foreign 
 country, or the children of parents to whom the language of that 
 country had become a mother-tongue, no longer understood the 
 language in which the Sacred Books were written. The Chaldee 
 was indeed but another dialect than Hebrew of the same great 
 Aramaean branch of languages ; but the difference was sufficient to 
 prevent the one from being generally intelligible to those who were 
 only acquainted with the other. To meet this difficulty several 
 priests and Levites were conveniently stationed to repeat to the 
 people in the Chaldee language that which Ezra read to them in the 
 Hebrew. The people, few of whom had been previously acquainted 
 with more than the traditions of the law, were deeply concerned 
 at much which they now heard, and wept and mourned greatly. 
 But they were reminded that the day was a festival — a day of joy, 
 and not of grief, and Nehemiah dismissed them for the day with 
 the words : “ Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and 
 send portions unto them for whom nothing is provided ; for this 
 day is holy to our Lord.” The people followed this counsel, and 
 “rejoiced exceedingly — because they understood the things that 
 were declared to them.” 
 
 The readings of the law, after the same manner, w ere continued 
 throughout the week. The extent of the ignorance of their own 
 institutions into which the people had fallen, is shown by the fact 
 that they knew not until the second day, when Ezra arrived at that 
 portion of the law which enjoins the observance, that they were to 
 abide in huts or booths of green boughs during the very feast which 
 they were then celebrating. On hearing this, they applied them- 
 selves with great alacrity to remedy the oversight. They set forth 
 to gather olive branches, pine branches, palm branches, myrtle 
 branches, and branches of all thick trees, to make such verdant 
 booths as the law required. 
 
Sunday L.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 399 
 
 SUNDAY L.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 01 NG from the Fair Havens, 
 the ship was caught by this 
 wind and driven “under” far 
 south of the small island of 
 Clauda (now Gaudos), which 
 is twenty-five miles south of the 
 port of Phenice, which they had 
 hoped to reach. 
 
 At this point they had much 
 difficulty in securing the boat 
 attached to the vessel from be- 
 ing dashed to pieces. Every 
 ship had a boat, but in those 
 times it was not taken up and 
 secured on deck, as with us, but was towed at the stern of the vessel. 
 The reason for this difference is clear. Our mariners on leaving port 
 bid adieu to the land ; whereas the ancient mariners in creeping along 
 the coast maintained much intercourse with the shore, for which the 
 boat was always kept ready. When, however, a storm arose, the boat 
 was secured by being drawn up close under the stern, which doubt- 
 less was the mode in which the boat was in the present case secured. 
 
 Having taken this precaution, the voyagers became apprehensive 
 lest the ship should be driven upon the dreaded quicksands of the 
 African coast, and there go to pieces : and they therefore “ used 
 helps, undergirding the ship,” which seems to mean that they drew 
 strong cables around the hull to keep its timbers together or break 
 the shock of a concussion. Instances of such a practice occur 
 even in modern voyages ; and that it was resorted to anciently ap- 
 pears from the following lines of Horace : — 
 
 *• The wounded mast 
 
 And sail-yards groan beneath the southern blast; 
 
 Nor without ropes the keel can longer brave 
 
 The rushing fury of th’ imperious wave.” — Carm i. 14. 
 
 Further to avoid the danger of being driven on the dreaded quick- 
 sands, they struck sail, and, as our sailors would say, “ scudded 
 under bare poles.” This striking of the sail was in ancient ships 
 effected not by reefing the sails to the yards, but by lowering both 
 the yards and sails together to the deck. This is shown by Fig. 
 1273; and might be illustrated by extracts from ancient writers. 
 This explanation relieves some of the obscurity which involves the 
 nautical details of this portion of our history. On the third day 
 from the commencement of the storm, it was found necessary to 
 lighten the ship by throwing overboard all the tackling which was 
 not indispensable to its preservation. After this the mariners 
 entirely lost their reckoning, and knew not whither they were 
 going; for, in the absence of a compass, the ancient seamen, when 
 out of sight of land, relied upon the sun by day and the stars by 
 night ; but now neither the sun nor stars had been visible for many 
 days. Under these discouragements the spirits of both the crew 
 and passengers gave way, and all hope that they should be saved 
 was abandoned. At this juncture Paul stood forth, and after 
 reminding them that this danger would not have been incurred had 
 his advice been taken, he exhorted them to be of good cheer, for 
 that, although the ship itself must be lost, all their lives would be 
 saved. As his authority for this, he alleged that in the night he 
 had been visited by an angel “ of the God whose I am and whom 
 I serve ;” who said to him, “ Fear not, Paul : thou must be brought 
 before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with 
 thee.” The apostle added, “ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer ; 
 for I believe God, that it shall be even as he hath told me. IIow- 
 beit we must be cast upon a certain island.” As men in desperate 
 circumstances readily grasp even the shadow of a hope, there is no 
 doubt that Paul’s intimation was received with more gladness and 
 confidence than any intimation from him might in more prosperous 
 days have commanded. 
 
 On the fourteenth night from the commencement of the storm 
 the mariners deemed by the soundings that they were approaching 
 the land, and fearing to be dashed to pieces on the rocks, they stayed 
 the ship by casting four anchors out at the Stern, and remained 
 longing for daylight to disclose the position in which they lay. 
 The seamen having let down the boat under colour of getting the 
 anchors out at the foreship also, manifested an intention to escape 
 in it from the ship : but Paul declared to the centurion and the 
 soldiers, “ Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved ;” on 
 which such was the influence he had acquired, they cut the rope and 
 let the boat go adrift. 
 
 While they remained waiting for the day, the apostle repeated 
 
 his assurance that not a hair of any one of their heads should fall 
 j t0 the ground, and in that assurance lie urged them to take some 
 j refreshment after the long abstinence which their distress had 
 occasioned, and he cheerily set them the example by eating some bread 
 in their presence. On this, “ they were all of good cheer, and 
 also took some meat.” Being thus strengthened, they applied 
 themselves to the task of still further lightening the ship, by throw- 
 ing overboard the corn with which it was laden. 
 
 At length the wished-for dawn appeared ; they found themselves 
 near a shore which none of them could recognise. Opposite them 
 was a creek which seemed to offer a practicable harbour and safe 
 anchorage, and into this they concluded to carry the ship. They 
 therefore again took up their anchors and hoisted their sails. But 
 falling into a place “ where two seas met” at the entrance of the 
 creek, the ship went aground, so that the fore part stuck fast amon li- 
 the rocks, while the hinder part was broken by the violence of the 
 waves. The soldiers who had charge of the prisoners on board 
 then proposed that they should all be killed, lest they should swim 
 ashore and escape. This shocking proposal was, however, overruled 
 by the centurion, chiefly, as it appears, out of regard for Paul, 
 who would have been involved in the massacre ; and a general 
 order was given that all who could swim should cast themselves 
 into the sea and endeavour to reach the land. This they did; and 
 then those who could not swim managed to reach the shore by the 
 help of boards and broken pieces of the wreck, so that every soul 
 on board, to the number of two hundred and seventy-six, reached 
 the shore in safety, without the loss of a single life, or any serious 
 injury sustained. 
 
 Having reached the shore, it was soon ascertained that they 
 were upon an island called Melita, which is generally supposed to 
 have been the present Malta. Here “ the barbarous people,” says 
 the historian, “ showed us no little kindness : for they kindled a 
 fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and 
 because of the cold.” 
 
 The apostle, with his usual cheerful alacrity in every useful 
 labour, employed himself in collecting sticks for this fire. Con- 
 cealed in the bundle which he collected was a poisonous serpent, 
 in a torpid state. But when the wood was cast upon the fire, the 
 viper became warmed by the heat, and darted forth, and fastened 
 upon Paul’s hand. When the natives of the island beheld this, 
 and concluded that he must needs die, they said among themselves, 
 “ No doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he hath escaped 
 the vengeance of the sea, yet vengeance {Dike, or justice) suffereth 
 not to live.” 
 
 In reaching this conclusion the people reasoned in strict accord- 
 ance with the prevalent notions of the age, which indeed are not 
 yet wholly extinct. It was believed that great criminals were 
 often preserved by divine justice from one kind of death to perish 
 by another more painful and horrible. It was also a general im- 
 pression that the offending member in most cases received the 
 punishment : and the people of the island doubtless felt that in the 
 case before their eyes, the viper had fastened upon the very hand 
 which had taken the life of a fellow-being. It was also generally 
 believed, by both heathen and Jews, that no murderer, however 
 he might evade human justice, ever finally escaped the righteous 
 judgments of heaven. Serpents were to a certain extent regarded 
 as the appropriate instrument of such punishments. The Jewish 
 writers themselves give the story of a man who slew his friend, 
 but was immediately after bitten by a serpent and died. They 
 also allege that when the power of inflicting death was taken from 
 the nation by the Romans, all the guilty did not escape : if a mat. 
 deserved to be burnt, he fell into the fire, or a serpent bit him ; or 
 if he deserved to be strangled, he fell into a river, or was taken off 
 by the quinsey. These remarks will go to illustrate the class of 
 impressions under which the kind people of Melita conceived that 
 the hand on which the viper fastened was stained with blood. 
 
 But the apostle quietly cast off into the fire the snake which they 
 knew to be venomous ; and they stood watching the effects of the 
 poison which they believed to have entered his frame. But he 
 remained cheerful and unharmed : and then the people changed 
 their minds, and believed that he whom they had just regarded as 
 a murderer could not be less than a god. 
 
 The shipwrecked men received a most kind and courteous enter- 
 tainment from Publius, the Roman governor of the island, who, 
 numerous as they were, provided them with lodging and provisions 
 during their stay. The report of the centurion concerning Paul, 
 and the wonder so lately wrought as regarded the serpent, intro- 
 I duced the apostolical party to the especial and favourable notice of 
 ; this personage. This was amply repaid by Paul through the powers 
 more precious than wealth which were vested in him. 
 
1250. — Galley. (From Pompeii.) 
 Rhwyf-long. (0 Pompeii.) 
 
 1251. — Ship in a Storm. 
 Llong mewn Tymmcsti. 
 
 1249.— From a Painting on the Walls of Pompeii. 
 O Baentwaith ar Furiau Pompeii. 
 
 Gweddilliou Ffamagusta, Cyprus 
 
 1254.— Storm at Sea. 
 Xymme8tl ar y Mor. 
 
 1255.— Paul shaking the Viper from his Hand. (B. West ) 
 Paul yn ysgwyd y Wiber oudi wrth ei La*. 
 
 400 
 
12.58.— Hippopotamus. 
 
 Afonfarch. 
 
 12 >9. Horse’s Head. (From the Elgin Marbles 
 March. (Oddi ar Feini Mynor Elgin. 
 
 ) 
 
 •) 
 
 1260 Eastern War-Horse 
 March Khyfel D W y reillioL 
 
 1261.— Eastern War-Horse. 
 
 3 F MarCh Khyfel Hwyreiniol. 
 
402 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday LI. 
 
 SUNDAY LI. — JOB. 
 
 ICTURESQUE and very forcible 
 descriptions of the Reem (translated 
 “Unicorn”), of the ostrich (accom- 
 panied by an allusion to the stork), 
 of the horse, and of the eagle, oc- 
 cupy the remainder of this most 
 striking chapter (the thirty-ninth). 
 Of these magnificent pictures — for 
 such they are — that of the horse 
 has been particularly admired. We 
 give it to the reader in Noyes’s 
 excellent translation : — 
 
 “ Hast thou given the horse strength ? 
 
 Hast thou clothed his neck with his quivering mane ? 
 
 Mast thou taught him to bound like the locust? 
 llow majestic his snorting! how terrible ! 
 
 He paweth in the valley, he exulteth in his strength, 
 
 And rusheth into the midst of arms. 
 
 He laugheth at fear; he trembleth not, 
 
 And turneth not back from the sword. 
 
 Against him rattleth the quiver, 
 
 The flaming spear and the lance. 
 
 With rage and fury he devoureth the ground ; 
 
 He standeth not still when the trumpet soundeth. 
 
 He saith among the trumpets Aha ! Aha ! 
 
 And snuffeth the battle afar off, 
 
 The thunder of the captains, and the war-shout.” 
 
 This is agreed on all hands to be the finest description of the war- 
 horse on record. The nearest to it is that of Virgil, which is much 
 admired by classical scholars. We may here cite this description 
 in Sotheby’s translation. It indeed loses much of its force in trans- 
 lation, but that of Job loses still more by the same process: — 
 
 “ But at the clash of arms, his ear afar 
 Drinks the deep sound and vibrates to the war; 
 flames from each nostril roll in gathered stream ; 
 
 His quivering limbs with restless motion gleam ; 
 
 O’er his right shoulder, flowing full and fair, 
 
 Sweeps his thick mane and spreads his pomp of hair ; 
 
 Swift works his double spine, and earth around 
 Kings to the solid hoof that wears the ground.” 
 
 At the end of the thirty-ninth chapter the Almighty is represented 
 as pausing, and demanding of Job an answer to his questions, and 
 inviting him to defend his cause. But the past admonitions had 
 produced their due effect upon the mind of the patriarch. He 
 became duly impressed with the utmost reverence for the greatness 
 and majesty of God ; and lost the boldness and presumption with 
 which he once challenged the Almighty to a controversy. He 
 humbly answers : — 
 
 “ Behold, I am vile ! what can I answer thee? 
 
 I will lay my hand upon my mouth. 
 
 Once have I spoken, but I will not speak again ; 
 
 Yea, twice, but I will say no more.” 
 
 But to make his submission more complete and impressive, the 
 Almighty is represented as addressing him in a still severer tone of 
 reprehension ; and, in reference to his desire of entering into a con- 
 troversy with the Divine Being, he is challenged to emulate a 
 single exertion of the Divine power. He adds descriptions of the 
 Behemoth and Leviathan, by w hich his power is strikingly exhibited. 
 The following is the description of the former: — 
 
 “ Behold the Behemoth, which I have made as well as 
 thyself ; 
 
 He feedeth on grass like the ox. 
 
 Behold what strength is in his loins ! 
 
 And what vigour in the muscles of his belly ! 
 
 He bendeth his tail like the cedar, 
 
 And the sinews of his thighs are twisted togeiher. 
 
 His bones are pipes of brass, 
 
 And his limbs are bars of iron. 
 
 He is chief among the works of God ; 
 lie that made him gave him his sword. 
 
 For the mountains supply him with food, 
 
 Where all the beasts of the field play. 
 
 He reposeth under the lote-trees, 
 
 In the coverts of the reeds and in the fens. 
 
 The lote-trees cover him with their shadow, 
 
 And the willows of the brook compass him about. 
 
 The stream overfloweth him, but he fleeth not ; 
 
 He is unmoved though a Jordan rush forth even to his 
 mouth. 
 
 Can one take him before his eyes, 
 
 Or pierce his nose with a ring?” (xxxix. 14—24.) 
 
 The reader is doubtless aware that it has been much questioned 
 what animal is intended by this description. The point of the 
 discussion has chiefly turned upon the respective claims of the 
 elephant and the hippopotamus or river-horse; but the balance 
 of opinion seems to be in favour of the latter. This view is 
 enforced and largely illustrated in the ‘ Pictorial Bible,’ and 
 may here be stated in the words of Herder, in his ‘ Spirit of 
 Hebrew Poetry:’ — “ In general the description is undoubtedly that 
 of an animal whose usual resort is the river, since it is introduced 
 as something singular that he eateth grass like an ox, that the 
 mountains bring him forth food, and the beasts of the field play 
 around him. He sleeps among the reeds, and lies concealed among 
 the marshes on the shores of the river, which clearly does not suit 
 the description of the elephant (with which the Behemoth has been 
 sometimes identified). He goes against the stream, as if he would 
 drink up the river with his enormous mouth — a character not well 
 fitting a land animal. Ilis strength is in his loins, and his force is 
 in the navel of his belly, where, on the contrary, the elephant is 
 weakest. He that made him furnished him with a sword : for the 
 sharp-pointed and projecting tusks of the hippopotamus may be con- 
 sidered his weapons ; and the language applies better to these than to 
 the weapons of the elephant. Since moreover the name Behemoth 
 itself is probably the Egyptian name of this animal, p-e/te-moulh 
 (river ox), here modified, as all other words were, by the Hebrews 
 and Greeks, to suit their own forms, and since, in company with 
 the crocodile, it is placed apart from the land animals, which also are 
 arranged in a separate discourse by themselves, and represented, as 
 all creatures of the watery realm are by the Orientals, as something 
 foreign and monstrous, it seems that this opinion has at least the 
 balance of probabilities in its favour, and will soon become the pre- 
 vailing one.” 
 
 Although this description has upon the whole more points which 
 can be recognised in the rhinoceros than in the elephant, it must be 
 admitted that there are a few traits which would agree more with the 
 elephant than with the hippopotamus, and others which would agree 
 equally with both. And under this view of the case, a distinguished 
 naturalist (Colonel C. Hamilton Smith), writing in Mr. lvitto’s 
 ‘ Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature ’ (art. Behemoth), prefers 
 to understand that the word, instead of being restricted to the hip- 
 popotamus, is to be regarded as a poetical personification of the 
 great Pachydermata, or even Ilerbivora, wherein the idea of hip- 
 popotamus is predominant. “This view,” he says, “accounts 
 for the ascription to it of characters not truly applicable to 
 one species. The tail is likened to a cedar, which is one admissible 
 only in the case of the elephant: again, ‘the mountains bring him 
 forth food;’ ‘lie trusteth that he can draw up Jordan,’ a river 
 which elephants alone could reach [but this has been differently 
 explained above] ; ‘ his nose pierceth through snares ;’ certainly 
 more indicative of that animal’s proboscis, with its extraordinary 
 delicacy of scent and touch, ever cautiously applied, than the obtuse 
 perceptions of the river-horse. Finally, the elephant is more dan- 
 gerous as an enemy than the hippopotamus, which numerous pic- 
 torial sculptures on the monuments of Egypt represent as fearlessly 
 speared by a single hunter standing upon his float of log and reeds. 
 Yet, although the elephant is scarcely less fond of water, the descrip- 
 tion referring to manners, such as lying under the shade of willows, 
 among reeds, in fens, &c., is more directly characteristic of the 
 hippopotamus.” We entirely subscribe to the further remark of 
 this writer; — “The book of Job is full of knowledge, although 
 that knowledge is not expressed according to the precise techni- 
 calities of modern science ; it offers pictures in magnificent outline, 
 without condescending to minute and laboured details. Considered 
 in this light, the expression of Psalm 1. 10, — ‘ For every beast of the 
 forest is mine, and the cattle [Behemoth] upon a thousand hills,’ 
 acquires a grandeur and force far surpassing the mere idea of cattle 
 of various kinds.” 
 
BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 403 
 
 Sunday LI.] 
 
 SUNDAY LI.— BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 IIESE booths were made by 
 the residents upon the roofs 
 and in the courts of t heir 
 houses, while the non-residents 
 made theirs in the streets 
 and open places, and even in 
 the courts of the temple. 
 The historian assures us that 
 the feast had not been thus 
 kept since the days of Joshua : 
 but since then, even to the 
 present day, the festival has 
 been carefully observed by all 
 the Jewish people. The salu- 
 tary effect produced by the read- 
 ing of the law on this occasion 
 induced the leading men to take care that henceforth they should con- 
 stantly enjoy this advantage. It was ordered that suitable places of 
 assembly should be built in every town, where the people might meet 
 on the Sabbath days to offer up their prayers, and hear certain portions 
 of the Sacred Book read and explained to them. This was the origin 
 of synagogues, and, indirectly, of Christian assemblies for prayer 
 and teaching on the Lord’s day. The salutary effect of this mea- 
 sure is seen in the fact that the Israelites, as a people, remained ever 
 after untainted by the idolatrous tendencies into which they had in 
 former times been so easily seduced. 
 
 After the festive week was ended, the people were at liberty to 
 express by fasting and other acts of mourning the humiliation which 
 had previously been repressed. They appeared in sackcloth, wdth 
 earth upon their heads, and stood and confessed their own sins and 
 the iniquities of their fathers. While the people thus stood humbly 
 before God, certain Levites, standing upon the platform, gave a 
 voice to the general feeling in the eloquent prayer which is con- 
 tained in the ninth chapter of Nehemiah. It contains a recapitula- 
 tion of the ancient mercies of God tow-ards his chosen people, of 
 their obduracy and repeated rebellions against him, and of the 
 miseries which had in consequence been inflicted upon them : and 
 it concludes with a touching allusion to their own subject condition 
 in the very land which their fathers had once possessed in glory and 
 independence. “ Behold, we are servants this day ; and for the land 
 which thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof, and the 
 good thereof, behold we are servants in it: and it yieldeth much 
 increase to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our 
 sins : also they have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle, 
 and we are in great distress.” 
 
 Under the influence of these feelings and convictions, the people 
 then present solemnly renewed their ancient national covenant with 
 God. This covenant appears to have been written down, and the 
 nobles, priests, Levites, ami “ the chief of the people” set their seals 
 to it. The names of those who affixed their seals to the covenant 
 are given in Neh. x. ; that of Nehemiah himself is at the head, but 
 that of Ezra does not appear among them, for which it is difficult to 
 account, considering the prominent part which he had taken in the 
 transactions which led to this result. Indeed there is no further 
 mention of him in the history. Josephus says that he died and was 
 buried at Jerusalem ; but this is contrary to the general opinion 
 of the Jews, whose writers allege that he died at Zamzuma, a town 
 on the Tigris, on his way from Jerusalem to Susa to seek an inter- 
 view with the king concerning the affairs of the Jews. In accord- 
 ance with this tradition is the fact that a tomb — fully believed 
 by the Jews, Christians, and Moslems of the country to be that of 
 Ezra — exists, and is maintained as a place of pilgrimage upon the 
 west branch of the Tigris, about twenty miles above the junction of 
 that river with the Euphrates. Of this structure a figure is given 
 in Fig, 1262. A very particular account of it is furnished by the 
 editor of the Pictorial Bible (Note on Ezra x.), who visited the spot 
 in 1832. From this we collect that the alleged tomb of Ezra 
 (locally Ozair) is the most important structure (ruins excepted) 
 in the whole distance down the river from Bagdad to the Euphrates. 
 It is a mosque-like building, enclosed within a high wall, and stand- 
 ing so close to the river that the wall almost juts into the stream. 
 The elegant and highly enriched dome, rising high from the cen- 
 tre of the enclosure, with the palm-tree in the court, gives to the 
 whole a very striking and picturesque appearance in the flat and 
 now desolate region in which it is situated. The exterior wall is 
 on the inside surrounded by ranges of arched apartments, like those 
 of the caravanserai, and the mausoleum, which rises in the centre of 
 the court, indicates, by the castellated walls and the shape of the 
 
 cupola, the modern Saracenic order of architecture. In fact, an 
 inscription over the entrance shows that it was rebuilt in its present 
 state in a.d. 1737, by Ahmed, pasha of Bagdad. There are traces 
 of ancient foundations which seem to show that the previous struc- 
 ture was more extensive than the present. The interior consists of 
 two arched apartments, the innermost of which contains the tomb, 
 directly under the centre of the dome. This is covered by a kind 
 ol ark of dark wood, with a slanting roof-like cover, with Urge 
 cones at the apex and corners of the roof. The whole is about 
 six feet high, by eight long and four broad, and is hung by a faded 
 pall of green velvet fringed with gold. This pall is much worn by 
 the kisses of the pilgrims, and its fringe reduced by the threads 
 being' pilfered to preserve as relics. Around the upper rim of the 
 sarcophagus, below the cover or roof, was a Hebrew inscription in 
 wooden letters, fastened on with brass nails, giving the genealogy 
 of Ezra. At one end of the inner cell, which contains the tomb, is 
 a niche, in which a lamp is kept constantly burning, and two 
 candles are also lit when any pilgrims arrive, although the light of 
 day is admitted into the place through elliptical openings at the 
 base of the cupola. The writer whom we have followed adds : — 
 “ Several Jews, Mohammedans, and native Christians were present 
 at our visit, which gave us an opportunity of observing their pro- 
 ceedings at the tomb. They walked slowly and solemnly around 
 the sarcophagus barefoot, pausing at intervals to pray and kiss the 
 pall. The Jews were provided with manuscript books in Hebrew, 
 from which they read their prayers or psalms with great fervour. 
 Some women of the party were distinguished by their zeal ; they 
 kissed the venerated tomb more abundantly and earnestly than the 
 men ; and, not content with this, dipped their fingers into the lamp 
 to anoint themselves with the oil. The veneration of the Jews for 
 this spot, which is now far distant from any town, in a region that 
 once teemed with a settled population, leads them to incur great 
 danger and hardship to visit it. This is one of the many instances 
 in which the Jews continue to manifest that strong veneration for 
 the real or supposed tombs of their prophets, to which there are 
 some allusions in the New Testament.” 
 
 We have already had occasion to intimate that Ezra is generally 
 believed to have rendered to the church the important and heaven- 
 directed service of collecting, arranging, and revising the books 
 which now compose the Old Testament Scriptures. So important 
 do the Jews hold his labours in this great task, that for this, in 
 connection with his other labours, they regard him as almost a 
 second Moses ; for, say they, “ As the law was given by Moses, so it 
 was revived by him, or under his superintendence, after it had beei. 
 in a manner extinguished and lost during the captivity.” Dean 
 Prideaux and other writers have largely explained the labours 
 which had probably become necessary, and which Ezra is supposed 
 to have performed. According to this account we are to understand 
 that he corrected all the errors which had crept into previous copies 
 through the negligence or mistakes of transcribers ; that he collected 
 together all the books of which the Holy Scriptures consisted, and 
 disposed them in proper order, settling the canon of Scripture for 
 his time ; that he added in several places, what, under Divine 
 direction, lie considered necessary for the illustrating, correcting, 
 and completing them ; that he changed the old names of several 
 places which had become obsolete, for those by which they were 
 known in his time ; that he wrote the whole out in the Chaldean 
 character, which had come into exclusive use during the captivity 
 The old Hebrew character was however retained by the Samaritans 
 in their copies of the law, and through them has been preserved to 
 the present day. That Ezra also added the vowel points to the words 
 of the sacred text, was at one time an opinion very generally enter- 
 tained, but is one which has now few advocates; these appendages, 
 by which the sense of every word is indicated, and its pronunciation 
 defined, being usually ascribed to a much later period. 
 
 In calling Ezra a second Moses, the Jews do not exaggerate his 
 position, or rate too highly the importance of the duties which he 
 undertook or which devolved upon him. This may be even said 
 apart from his alleged labours on the canon of Scripture. Ilis 
 public mission was no less than to replace the Jews in their social 
 and ecclesiastical position, under the laws of Moses and the insti- 
 tutions of David. That he performed this task well there is no 
 reason to question, although the record of his proceedings scarcely 
 does more than report his measures for separating the chosen people 
 from the illegal alliances which they had contracted with strangers. 
 In active services we find him less conspicuous than his successor 
 Nehemiah ; but we may very safely regard him as the legist of the 
 restoration. All that pertained to the order of worship, the rites 
 and festivals, the classification of families, the levy of imposts, the 
 franchises of the tribe of Levi, and the administration of justice — ■ 
 
 3 F 2 
 
1265. Male, Female, and Young of Wild Goat of Syria. 
 Gwryw, Beny w, a Mvn Gafr Wyllt Syria. 
 
 12Gf. View on the Euphrates. 
 Golygfa ar yr Euphrates. 
 
 
 
 •104 
 
 1268. — View on the Euphrates. 
 Golygfa ar yr Euphrates. 
 
1270.- Carrying Grapes to Wine-press. 
 Cludo’r Grawn i’r Gwin-wryf. 
 
406 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 [Sunday LI, 
 
 all the numerous and complicated details necessary to complete the 
 re-establishment, which had before his time been left imperfect — 
 may be considered as his work. 
 
 We may form some idea of the irregularities to which the 
 Israelites had become prone, by the points on which the record 
 dwells as those in which they had of late much offended, and 
 which they conceived themselves specially bound to observe by 
 the terms of the covenant into which they had entered. These 
 were, that they would not intermarry with the people of the land; 
 that they would keep holy the Sabbath-day, not buying or selling 
 thereon ; and that they would in future observe the Sabbatical year. 
 
 The next matter to which Nehemiah turned his cares was to 
 fill with a suitable population the city which was still so thinly 
 peopled. The causes which had kept it from being properly 
 occupied no longer existed, seeing that the city was now secured 
 by gates and walls ; but the people were not ready to abandon at 
 once the homesteads which they had established in other places. 
 The town would indeed gradually have acquired an adequate popu- 
 lation ; but this process was slow, and it was important that Jeru- 
 salem should at once enjoy a suitable population. The governor 
 therefore prevailed upon the leading men of the nation to remove 
 thither ; others willingly followed, and every tenth man was chosen 
 by lot to become an inhabitant of the holy city. 
 
 After this the sacred record gives an interesting account of the 
 dedication of the newly-built walls. The ceremony was not only 
 solemn and imposing in itself, but seems to have been used by the 
 governor as a means of bringing the Levites and others together, 
 that, they might henceforth devote themselves to their proper duties. 
 We are told that “ they sought and brought the Levites from all 
 their places to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, 
 with thanksgivings and songs, accompanied by cymbals, psalteries, 
 and harps.” Those who were skilled in sacred music were also 
 assembled from all parts of the country, and, to prevent their 
 dispersion, were placed in temporary villages (probably of booths) 
 around Jerusalem. 
 
 On the great day of dedication the chief men of Judah and of 
 the priests appeared upon the wall ; and the musicians, divided 
 into two bands, marched round the limits, while the singers, under 
 their chief Jezrahiah, lifted their voices high in praise to God ; 
 the voices even of women and children mingled with the rejoicing 
 songs and acclamations which that day caused “ the joy of Jerusalem 
 to be heard afar off.” Sacrifices were abundantly offered, and 
 supplied ample materials for the feast which closed one of the 
 happiest days that Israel had seen. 
 
 It is commonly considered that after this the term of Nehemiah’s 
 commission expired, and he then repaired to Susa, and resumed his 
 duties at court. But after some years (probably ten), having 
 understood that the disorders which he had endeavoured to correct 
 had again revived at Jerusalem, he obtained a renewal of his 
 commission, and returned to the land of his fathers. This account 
 is in itself highly probable, and is not only compatible with the 
 facts which are known, but helps to remove some difficulties which 
 without it are not easily solved. It is also certain, by his own 
 account, that he was for a time away from Jerusalem (Nell. xiii. 6) ; 
 and as circumstances seem to have been considerably altered on his 
 return, his absence would appear to have been of some duration, 
 agreeing with the explanation which has been given, which again 
 receives further confirmation from the fact that the first com- 
 mission was limited to twelve years. 
 
 Nehemiah found that in his absence the enemies and false 
 friends of Israel had acquired great influence at Jerusalem, and 
 had formed intimate connections of friendship or alliance with 
 many Jews of rank and influence. Even Tobiah, the Ammonite, 
 had established such relations, that his friend Eliashib, the high- 
 priest, was able, without any outrage upon existing public feeling, 
 to set apart one of the great store-chambers within the temple 
 court, for his reception on his visits to Jerusalem. When Nehemiah 
 heard of this, his indignation rose very high, not only because 
 of the known character of Tobiah, but because it was in fact a 
 profanation of the temple, seeing that the Ammonites were by the 
 law excluded from the congregation of the Lord. All the moveables 
 belonging to this person Nehemiah commanded to be cast forth, 
 and the sacred stores to be replaced in the chamber. 
 
 The governor had soon occasion to perceive that the sacred 
 services had become much neglected, through the inability of the 
 Levites to obtain from the people their customary dues, whence 
 they had been obliged to abandon their proper duties in search of 
 the means of subsistence. This evil he also remedied, and the 
 sacred stores were soon filled with corn, oil, and wine ; and the 
 magnificent ritual was once more restored to its former splendour. 
 
 The engagement which the people had formerly entered into 
 
 against buying and selling on the Sabbath-day had also been very 
 seriously infringed. “ In those days,” says the governor, “ I saw 
 some treading wine-presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves 
 and lading asses ; and also that on the Sabbath they brought into 
 Jerusalem wine, grapes, and figs, and burdens of every kind.” It 
 also appears that the Phoenicians were in the habit of bringing fish 
 for sale to Jerusalem — which is in itself an interesting fact — and 
 that they did this without making any distinction between the 
 Sabbath and other days, but brought their fish and sold it publicly 
 on the holy day. The exemption for the sale of certain kinds of 
 fish on the sacred day, which is conceded even in our northern 
 latitudes, might seem to be more necessary in a warm climate, where 
 fish can for only a short time be preserved. But the law of the 
 Jewish Sabbath was very strict, and has ever been strictly inter- 
 preted ; and Nehemiah, after remonstrating in very forcible 
 language with the nobles of the land in this matter, adopted the 
 very strong measure of directing the city gates to be kept shut 
 from the beginning to the end of the Sabbath, and, to ensure rigid 
 obedience to his orders, he committed the gates on these holy days 
 to the charge of his own servants. On the few first Sabbaths in 
 which the rules were enforced, the fish-sellers, and other persons 
 bringing goods for sale to Jerusalem, remained all day under the 
 walls of the town. But this gave offence to Nehemiah, who 
 threatened, if this were done again, to resort to violent means of 
 prevention. By this means he at length succeeded in doing away 
 with all appearance of traffic, labour, and travel on the day which 
 the Lord had commanded to be kept holy. 
 
 It was also discovered by Nehemiah that many persons, even anions 
 the Levites, had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab; which 
 was in the highest degree contrary to the design of the Lord in setting 
 apart the Israelites as a peculiar people among the nations, and had 
 been proved by old experience to be subversive of the best interests 
 of religion. One curious effect of these mixed marriages is par- 
 ticularly noticed, which is, that the children were unable to speak 
 the language of the Jews, but expressed themselves in a mongrel 
 dialect made up of the language of their fathers and their mothers. 
 This evil was far more difficult to remedy than any of the former: 
 but nothing could damp tire zeal of Nehemiah in doing whatever he 
 felt or knew to be right. He not only constrained those who had 
 taken heathen wives to put them away, but when the character and 
 position of the party laid him under peculiar obligations of sanctity, 
 he displaced him from his office. Thus the grandson of the high- 
 priest had married a daughter of Sanballat — the Samaritan governor 
 whose proceedings had formerly been so offensive to Nehemiah and 
 the Jews. This person he expelled altogether. Josephus informs us 
 that this man’s name was Manasseh ; and that Sanballat, his 
 father-in-law, by his influence at the Persian court, obtained per- 
 mission to build a temple upon Mount Gerizim, like that at 
 Jerusalem, and in which Jehovah was to be worshipped with similar 
 services. Of this establishment he made his son-in-law high-priest. 
 This arrangement attracted into Samaria many Jews who had 
 married foreign w'ives, from whom they could not bring themselves 
 to part, as w’ell as many who had rendered themselves liable to 
 punishment by other transgressions of the law. This tended consi- 
 derably to aggravate the bitter enmity between the two nations ; 
 but it eventually served to correct the remaining idolatrous practices 
 and tendencies of the Samaritans. Receiving the accounts of these 
 matters through Josephus and other prejudiced writers, it behoves 
 us to be cautious of receiving all the impressions they design to 
 convey. The temple upon Mount Gerizim was undoubtedly a 
 schismatical establishment. But seeing that, on the one hand, the 
 Samaritans were anxious to worship Jehovah according to the 
 regulations of Moses, while, on the other, the Jews, whether right 
 or wrong, pertinaciously refused to receive their adhesion to the 
 temple at Jerusalem, it is difficult to see what other choice they 
 had than to build another temple for themselves. Besides, the 
 obligation of adherence to one temple was imposed only upon the 
 descendants of Abraham, and the Law made no provision for the 
 case of a people desirous of worshipping Jehovah, but repelled 
 from his altar by the Hebrews. And this may suggest that the 
 original repulsion was in itself illegal, whatever good effects may 
 in the end have resulted from it. 
 
 With this event the Canonical history of the Old Testament 
 concludes. It may be collected, however, that the second rule of 
 Nehemiah lasted at least ten years, or till towards the close of the 
 reign of Darius Nothus, who is mentioned in Nell. xii. 22. At 
 that time he must have been between sixty and seventy years of 
 age, if, as is usually supposed, he was only between twenty and 
 thirty when he first went to Jerusalem. That he lived to be an 
 old man is thus rendered quite probable from the sacred history, 
 and is expressly affirmed by Josephus. 
 
Sunday LI.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 407 
 
 SUNDAY LI.— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 IIE father of Publius lay ill of the 
 dysentery, by which he had been 
 brought to the brink of the grave ; 
 and the apostle no sooner heard this 
 than he entered the chamber in which 
 the afflicted man lay, and, after having 
 prayed, laid his hands upon him and 
 restored him to health. When this 
 was noised abroad, the people of the 
 island hastened to bring their sick 
 friends to obtain the like benefit, and 
 they all received health and cure from the hands of the apostle. 
 The good people of the island did all in their power to express 
 their sense of favours so important. “ They honoured us with 
 many honours,” says the narrator, “ and when we departed they 
 loaded us with such things as were necessary.” 
 
 The departure did not take place till three months after the 
 shipwreck ; for not till then, when the winter had passed, was 
 any vessel willing to leave for Italy. Then they embarked in 
 another ship of Alexandria, doubtless a corn-ship, which had 
 wintered at the island, and which “ bore the sign of Castor and 
 Pollux.” the Dioscuri, whose special province it was, in the classical 
 mythology, to succour persons in danger of shipwreck. 
 
 The ship put in at the port of Syracuse, on the eastern coast of 
 Sicily, and then the capital of that island. Syracuse was founded by 
 the Corinthians about seven hundred years before Christ; and the 
 enterpri>ing colonists, being greatly enriched by commerce, soon 
 raised this, their principal seat, to great importance and magni- 
 ficence. In its best state it was accounted the largest and richest 
 city belonging to the Greeks. It was twenty-two miles in circuit, 
 and was considered to rival Carthage in wealth. It was often 
 styled Qnadriplex, being divided into four parts, each of which 
 was equal to a large city. The ancient writers are untired of 
 expatiating on the fine prospects of Syracuse — its port, banked up 
 with marble, and surrounded with elegant buildings — its magnificent 
 public statues and monuments — and its splendid and commodious 
 residences. 
 
 Syracuse long maintained its power as an independent state ; 
 and the Carthaginians and Athenians assaulted it in vain. But 
 about two hundred years before Christ, it was taken by the 
 Homans, although not until the siege had been protracted for three 
 years by the mechanical contrivances of Archimedes. Syracuse 
 remained a flourishing commercial town under the Romans ; and 
 although now no longer the chief city of the island, it still survives 
 as a considerable town, belonging, with the rest of the island, to 
 the kingdom of Naples. As there has always been much intercourse 
 between Malta and Sicily, the ship had probably taken in some lading 
 or passengers to discharge at Syracuse. Although Syracuse had even 
 then declined from its ancient importance, it still exhibited the 
 magnificence for which it had been renowned ; and although this 
 has now disappeared, it is still a place of some importance, having 
 a population of eighteen thousand persons. Here the passengers 
 landed, and remained three days, the ship having probably to 
 discharge a portion of her cargo at this port. 
 
 Again departing, the vessel coasted along the eastern side of 
 Sicily, and arrived in due course at Iihegium, nearly opposite Mes- 
 sina, and on the Italian side of the strait which separates Sicily from 
 the peninsula. At this place, which still subsists under the name of 
 Reggio, the ship tarried one day, when the wind, blowing from the 
 south, became favourable to their passage through the strait, and 
 brought them on the next day to Puteoli, on the north side of the 
 Gulf of Cumae, now called the Bay of Naples, and about eight miles 
 north-west from the city of that name. This was the end of the 
 voyage, as ships from Alexandria and the East usually put in and 
 landed their cargoes and passengers, partly to avoid doubling the 
 dreaded Promontory of Circeium, and partly because there was no 
 commodious harbour nearer to Rome. Puteoli was thus well known 
 to travelled Jews, who landed and embarked here in their journeys 
 to and from Rome. This place was celebrated for its numerous 
 hot springs, reputed to cure various diseases. Within its limits 
 were thirty-five natural baths of different sorts of tepid water ; 
 and from these baths or pits of water, called in latin putei, the 
 place is said to have derived its name of Puteoli. Baiae, on the 
 other side of the creek of Puteoli, and similarly noted for its warm 
 sDrings, is frequently noticed by the Latin writers as a favourite 
 resort of the emperors for relaxation or health, being in fact the 
 
 Bath of Italy ; and Puteoli partook of its distinction and prosperity, 
 being connected with it by a line of villas. Puteoli is now called 
 Pazzuoli, and has about ten thousand inhabitants. 
 
 At Puteoli Paul found Christian brethren, with whom he tarried 
 for a week, and was then conducted towards Rome. At Appii 
 Forum, a town upon the celebrated Appian Road from Rome to 
 Capua, and about midway between Puteoli and Rome, from which it 
 was distant fifty-one miles, Paul and his party seem to have taken rest, 
 the probability of which circumstance had drawn several Christian 
 brethren all the way from Rome to meet them. About half-way 
 between this place and Rome there was another resting-place, 
 called Tres Tabernae (translated “ three taverns”). This name has 
 suggested to most commentators the probability that there were 
 here three hostelries, or places for the entertainment of the nume- 
 rous travellers upon this road. This may have been the origin of 
 the name, but the place appears to have become a town, which in 
 the time of Constantine was of sufficient consequence to be the seat 
 of a bishopric. At Tres Tabernaa other brethren from Rome met 
 the apostolical party, including probably many persons who had 
 become personally acquainted with Paul in Greece and Asia 
 Minor : and when he saw so many, who by coming so far to 
 meet him evinced the interest they took in his labours and welfare, 
 “ he thanked God and took courage.” lie had long desired to see 
 the Christians at Rome, and he was now grateful to God that 
 he was permitted to do so, although in bonds. 
 
 At length they arrived at Rome — the imperial city — then the 
 mistress of the world, and at the height of its external greatness 
 and magnificence; — that marvellous city, whose dominion, which 
 has passed away ; whose religions, which have changed ; and 
 whose arts, laws, literature, and history, which are imperishable, have 
 in all ages, even to this day, by their direct or indirect influences, 
 held captive the minds of men, and ruled them as with a rod of iron. 
 
 At Rome the kind centurion, who had so much befriended the 
 apostle, resigned his charge of the prisoners into the hands of the 
 commander of the Praetorian cohort, called in the Authorized 
 Version “ the captain of the guard,” to whose custody prisoners 
 arriving from the provinces were usually consigned. We learn 
 from Tacitus that the person who held this high command at the 
 time to which our history belongs was Burrhus Afranius. 
 
 After a time the frivolous and malignant nature of the charges 
 against Paul being known through the rescript of the governor 
 Festus, and through the representations of the centurion, the apostle 
 was allowed to remain in what was considered the easiest confine- 
 ment consistent with his safe custody. lie was permitted to live 
 in a house which he hired for himself, in the charge of a soldier, 
 to whose arm his own arm was chained, and who in consequence 
 was always with him. This kind of custody was less averse to 
 ancient Roman or Eastern habits than to ours ; and Paul probably 
 regarded it as little more than a petty annoyance, seeing that it 
 interfered less than any other kind of custody with his great 
 vocation of declaring the Gospel of Christ, which he freely preached 
 to all who came to him. 
 
 One of the first steps taken by the apostle after his arrival was 
 to call the chief of the Jews in Rome together. He had probably 
 two objects in view in this : one, to vindicate himself from the 
 suspicion of crime, or to convince them that the charges alleged 
 against him were false ; and the other, to explain to them the 
 Gospel of Christ. lie thus, in accordance with his general custom, 
 seized the earliest opportunity of making known to his own 
 countrymen the divine message which was committed to him ; 
 and he naturally supposed that charges highly unfavourable to 
 his character had been sent forward against him to the Jews in 
 Rome by those of Judea. They assured him that this was not 
 the case, as no letters or messengers had arrived to create an 
 impression to his disadvantage ; and for the rest they said, “ \V r e 
 desire to hear of thee what thou thickest ; for as concerning this 
 sect, we know that it is everywhere spoken against.” 
 
 They accordingly came again on an appointed day to his lodging, 
 when, from morning till night, he explained to them the doctrine 
 of Christ, meeting their objections, answering their questions, and 
 “ persuading them concerning Jesus out of the law and out of the 
 prophets.” 
 
 Some of the auditors were awakened to further inquiry, but the 
 general result was as usual discouraging, and the apostle plainly 
 told them— “Be it known, therefore, unto you, that the salvation 
 of God is sent unto the Gentiles — and they will hear it.” 
 
 After this Paul remained “ two whole years in his own hired 
 house, and received all that came in unto him ; preaching the 
 kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern 
 the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” 
 
409 
 
410 
 
 JOB. 
 
 [Sunday LIT. 
 
 SUNDAY LI I.— JOB. 
 
 HE last of the magnificent 
 pictures which the Almighty 
 is represented as offering to 
 the contemplation of Job, is 
 that of the Leviathan. 
 
 The Leviathan is often 
 mentioned in the Scriptures : 
 but there has been much di- 
 versity of opinion respecting 
 the animal denoted by it- 
 The crocodile, the whale, or 
 some great serpent, has in 
 turn been identified as the 
 Leviathan of the Bible. The 
 mass of opinion has been in 
 favour of the crocodile, be- 
 cause the description in Job 
 x. 2, cannot with propriety be applied to any other animal ; but 
 those who have reached this conclusion have been embarrassed by 
 other texts which by no means agree with it. 
 
 We now begin to see our way through these difficulties, and to 
 find that these different opinions may have been all right, and 
 that we have been needlessly troubling ourselves through the un- 
 founded notion that only one explanation could be right, and that 
 all others must be wrong. A very eminent Hebrew scholar, 
 Gesenius, whose works are replete with profound and various 
 knowledge, has done much to give currency to a more satisfactory 
 explanation. 
 
 The word Leviathan, traced to its etymological signification, 
 denotes an animal wreathed , or gathering itself up in folds. This 
 general term is applied to various animals — perhaps like our word 
 ‘Monster’ — except that the word Leviathan is restricted by the 
 idea of twisting or wreathing. 
 
 In Job iii. 8, and in Isa. xxvii. 1, it denotes some great and mon- 
 strous serpent. Indeed in the latter text it is twice expressly called 
 such : — 
 
 “ Leviathan, the fleet serpent ; 
 
 Leviathan, the coiling serpent.” 
 
 And as in this text the phrase appears to be applied symbolically to 
 a country (Babylon) far to the east of the writer, it is far from 
 unlikely that it may have been founded on some obscure accounts 
 which had reached the West respecting the boa-constrictor of the 
 regions still farther east ; for Babylon being the most eastern 
 country of which the Palestine Jews had any distinct knowledge, 
 they would naturally refer to it, in loose symbolical usage, any 
 information which reached them concerning the monsters of the far 
 East. There is no necessity, indeed, for this reference ; but it arises 
 out of the consideration that the word Leviathan is habitually applied 
 to monstrous foreign animals. 
 
 In all other passages, it denotes a great sea-monster, particularly 
 perhaps the whale, but not excluding any other monstrous and im- 
 perfectly known forms inhabiting the great deep. There can be 
 little doubt that this is the meaning of the word in, for instance, 
 Ps. civ. : — 
 
 “ The earth is full of thy riches, 
 
 So is this great and wide sea, 
 
 Wherein are things creeping innumerable, 
 
 Both small and great beasts. 
 
 There go the ships ; 
 
 There is that Leviathan, whom thou hast made to sport 
 therein, 
 
 These all wait upon thee,” &c. (verses £5— 27.) 
 
 The word probably means a whale or other large fish in the other 
 passages in which it occurs, although, as it is in most of these used 
 as figuratively for a cruel enemy, the particular application may be 
 somewhat uncertain. It is worthy of remark that the Jews them- 
 selves make the Leviathan a great fish ; and as everything great 
 became very great indeed when viewed through Rabbinical eyes, we 
 are not surprised to find it in their accounts so great that one day 
 
 it swallowed another fish which was nearly a thousand miles long. 
 There were two, say they, of these Leviathans at first, male and 
 female ; but as, if they had both lived and propagated, the world 
 would have been destroyed, the female was killed and laid up in salt 
 for the great feast of the Messiah in the latter days. 
 
 It is now all but universally agreed, as already intimated, that 
 the Leviathan of Job xl. is the Egyptian crocodile. This is so 
 obvious, that no one could ever have attempted to make anything 
 else of it, but from the necessity under which he might erroneously 
 conceive himself to be of making all the Scriptural allusions to the 
 Leviathan to centre in one and the same animal. In this case it 
 might be and has been contended, that, although the present pas- 
 sage might agree best with the crocodile, yet the balance of all the 
 passages was in favour of the whale ; and that if any one passage 
 more clearly indicated a whale than Job xl. indicated a crocodile, 
 then it was necessary that we should find the whale in the latter also. 
 But when freed from the embarrassment produced by such consider- 
 ations, the reader will clearly recognise the crocodile in the passage 
 now before us. Two points — the strong armour of the animal 
 described, and his formidable rows of teeth — are almost peculiar to 
 the crocodile among water animals, and are wholly inapplicable to 
 the whale, which has neither scales nor teeth, and which is in fact 
 ordinarily taken with “ fish-spears,” the very mode against whicli 
 the Leviathan is here said to be invulnerable : — 
 
 “ Do men in company lay snares for him ? 
 
 Do they divide him among the merchants? 
 
 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? 
 
 Or his head with fish-spears?” (verses 6, 7.) 
 
 Again : — 
 
 “ I will not be silent concerning his limbs, 
 
 And his strength, and the beauty of his armour. 
 
 Who can uncover the surface of his garment ? 
 
 Who will approach his jaws ? 
 
 Who will open the doors of his face ? 
 
 The rows of his teeth, how terrible ! 
 
 His glory is in his strong shields, 
 
 United witli each other as with a close seal.” 
 
 (verses 12-14.) 
 
 As we write these lines an anecdote in the paper of the day meets 
 our view, which strikingly illustrates the power of the crocodile’s 
 jaws and teeth, to which such pointed allusion is here made. It 
 describes a party of naval officers as being assailed by an alligator 
 while elephant-hunting in Ceylon. One of the party in self-defence 
 thrust his gun into the open mouth of the assailant, and it was 
 afterwards found that the barrel was completely bitten in two in 
 one place, and deeply indented by the teeth of the animal in the 
 other. 
 
 By the time that the sublime address, to parts of which we have 
 thus adverted, was closed, Job had become impressed with an 
 overwhelming sense of the presumption arid irreverence of his 
 former discourses, and expressed his penitence in the strongest 
 terms of self-condemnation, concluding with : — 
 
 “ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, 
 
 But now mine eye hath seen thee : 
 
 Wherefore I abhor myself; 
 
 And repent in dust and ashes.” 
 
 By this acknowledgment the way is prepared for the vindication 
 of the piety and integrityof Job by the Almighty, and consequently 
 for the decision of the great question which had been the subject of 
 controversy. He according decides that the friends of Job had 
 “not spoken that which was right” in contending that the misery 
 of Job was inflicted by God in punishment for his sins ; and, that 
 Job had spoken truth in maintaining that no man’s character could 
 be ascertained by his outward condition. To confirm this decision 
 the Lord “ blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.” 
 His possessions were doubled, he had fourteen thousand sheep, 
 six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand 
 she-asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters — and in all 
 the land no damsels were found so fair as the daughters of Job. 
 After all his troubles the patriarch lived one hundred and forty 
 years, and having seen the fourth generation of his descendants, 
 died, “being old and satisfied with days.” 
 
 END OF JOB. 
 
Sunday LI I.] 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 411 
 
 SUNDAY LIL— ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ITH these words the apostolical 
 record concludes. Why Lqke closed 
 his history at this point is unknown* 
 It may be that he was not after- 
 wards the companion of Paul ; or 
 that he may have been himself re- 
 moved by death. It is agreed on 
 all hands that he did not attend the 
 apostle in his subsequent travels ; 
 and we should infer from the con- 
 clusion of the book, that he did 
 not survive the apostle, as it is 
 Rlmost incredible that, in case he did, he should not have men- 
 tioned his release and death. It is the uniform account of antiquity 
 that Luke, after the transactions with which the Acts of the Apostles 
 closes, passed over into Achaia, where he lived a year or two, and 
 then died at the age of eighty-four years. 
 
 The reader is naturally anxious to know something further of 
 the life and labours of that great apostle whose course he has 
 followed with so much of interest and instruction. The materials 
 for this purpose are but scanty, and not altogether satisfactory ; 
 but they have been collected and arranged with great care by 
 Cave. Lardner, Neander, and others ; and we cannot better occupy 
 the small space left to us than in stating the result of such 
 researches. 
 
 Paul’s imprisonment, so far from reducing him to an inactive 
 condition, opened to his eager mind new and extensive means of use- 
 fulness. During his confinement, anxiety for the extension of the 
 kingdom of God, and for the prosperity of the churches which he 
 had founded, occupied him far more than his personal concerns. 
 As all persons had free access to him, his opportunities of preach- 
 ing the Gospel were not few. Through the soldiers who relieved 
 one another in standing guard over him, it became known among 
 their comrades of the praetorian cohort, and hence to a wider 
 extent in the city, that this remarkable prisoner was in con- 
 finement not for any civil offence, but for his zeal in behalf of the 
 new religion ; and this tended to promote it, since a cause for 
 which its foremost advocate had suffered the loss of all things 
 was sure of attracting attention. By his example the Roman 
 Christians were also roused to publish the truth with zeal and 
 boldness. 
 
 The concerns of the churches in Asia Minor also engaged the 
 apostle’s solicitude, and to this we owe several of those invaluable 
 Scriptures, known as the Epistles of Paul, which have become the 
 heritage of ages, and which alone would be rich and ample fruits of 
 his imprisonment. The investigations concerning the dates and 
 circumstances of these epistles do not belong to this place, although 
 the intimations which they contain afford the landmarks which 
 direct our course. 
 
 Up to a certain point we can form a tolerably clear notion of 
 the apostle’s condition and course of proceeding at Rome : but 
 beyond that point all is uncertain and obscure. The first question 
 which arises is, whether he ended this confinement with martyrdom, 
 or whether he was released from it, and entered afresh upon his 
 apostolical labours? The decision of this question depends partly 
 upon the depositions of historical witnesses, and partly on the 
 result of an examination of Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy. The 
 question is, whether this epistle, which was evidently written during 
 a confinement at Rome, must be classed among those which were 
 written during his first imprisonment, or whether we may assume 
 the existence of a second ? The narratives of the fourth century, 
 which allege that he was set at liberty and published the Gospel in 
 Spain, cannot be taken into account, for they may all have been 
 founded upon what he says in his Epistle to the Romans of his 
 intentions of visiting Spain. More attention is due to the testimony 
 of a man who was in part a contemporary and probably a disciple 
 of the apostle. Clement of Rome says expressly, in his Second 
 Epistle to the Corinthians, that Paul suffered martyrdom after he 
 had travelled to the boundaries of the West. By this expression 
 we naturally understand Spain ; and although Clement might have 
 had in view some other place or country, and perhaps even 
 Britain, as some allege, yet we cannot in any case suppose that a 
 person writing, as Clement did, at Rome, could intend by “ the 
 farthest limits of the West” that very city. From this account of 
 Clement’s, if we must infer that Paul carried into effect his inten- 
 tion of travelling into Spain, or that at least he went beyond Italy, 
 we shall also be obliged to admit that he was released from his 
 
 confinenrent at Rome. A close examination of the Second Epistle 
 to Timothy indicates a very dissimilar set of circumstances from 
 those which attended the apostle’s first imprisonment, and show's feel- 
 ings and expectations entirely different from those which are known 
 from internal evidence to have been written during the first confine- 
 ment. It is in fact a solemn farew ell to his beloved adherent, in the 
 knowledge that his end was approaching : — “ I am now ready to 
 be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have 
 fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
 which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.” 
 All comparison of circumstances tends to show that these impressions 
 were not applicable to the first confinement, from which he con- 
 fidently expected to be released ; and therefore the conclusion is 
 inevitable, and in accordance with the intimation of Clement, that 
 he was released, and that the Second Epistle to Timothy was written 
 during a subsequent and final imprisonment. 
 
 Now if Paul was released from his first imprisonment, it must 
 have been before the persecution against the Christians, raised by 
 the conflagration of Rome in the year 64 ; for had he been at 
 that time a prisoner, he would most assuredly not have been 
 spared ; and it agrees with other chronological data, that after 
 more than two years’ imprisonment, he regained his freedom in the 
 latter end of 62 or the beginning of 63 — a result of the proceedings 
 which, in the circumstances described in these pages, is by no means 
 improbable, but such as the reader is naturally led to expect. The 
 accusation of raising a tumult at Jerusalem was proved to be 
 unfounded ; and the inherent antagonism of Christianity to the 
 religion of the Roman state had not then been so understood as to 
 attract public attention. It could not altogether have escaped 
 notice; but no definite law existed on the subject, and under Nero, 
 who derided the established religion and gave himself little concern 
 about the ancient Roman enactments, such a point might the more 
 easily be waived. The friends whom Paul had gained by his 
 behaviour during his confinement would probably exert their 
 influence in his favour. Thus he might and probably did regain 
 his freedom ; and, as Neander justly observes, “ the ancient tradition 
 that he was beheaded, and not crucified like Peter, if true, favours 
 his not having suffered death in the persecution of 64 ; for had 
 he been put to death in that persecution, so much regard would 
 not have been paid to his Roman citizenship as to spare the hated 
 leader of a detested sect from the more painful and ignominious 
 mode of execution. 
 
 We have therefore to assume that Paul was released from his 
 first confinement, and did not perish in the persecution of the 
 year 64. 
 
 We know from the epistles written during his first confinement 
 what Paul intended to do in case he obtained his liberty ; and by 
 comparing these intentions with the fact recorded by Clement, some 
 notion of his subsequent proceedings may be obtained. 
 
 Before his confinement, Paul had formed the intention of visit- 
 ing Spain ; and the testimony of Clement leads to the belief that 
 he eventually fulfilled that intention. But during his imprison- 
 ment it appears that he altered his views, and concluded to visit 
 once more the field of his early labours in Lesser Asia, and a 
 question arises as to which of these intentions he first executed 
 after his release ? It would be possible that after his release he 
 travelled first into Spain ; that he there exerted himself in the 
 establishment of Christian churches, and then revisited the former 
 sphere of his ministry; and that he was on his return to the West, 
 in order to close there his apostolical commission, but, before he 
 could reach his destination, was detained and put to death at Rome. 
 But the want of any memorial of Paul’s labours in Spain does not 
 favour the supposition that he spent any length of time in that 
 country ; and hence the other explanation, that he first renewed 
 his labours in the East, and then proceeded to Spain where he 
 was soon seized and sent a prisoner to Rome, and there beheaded, 
 seems to have the best claim upon our confidence. 
 
 Under this explanation, it may not be altogether impracticable 
 to trace the course of the apostle’s journeys. It seems, then, that 
 he in the first place executed his iniention of revisiting the 
 churches in Asia Minor, and found them fallen into disorder, which 
 he laboured hard to rectify. After spending some time in those 
 parts, he left Ephesus to visit the churches in Macedonia. On 
 his way thither he appears to have revisited the island of Crete. 
 The circumstances of his former visit to that island during the 
 stormy voyage which ended in the wreck at Malta, have been 
 already noticed. It does not appear that there were then any 
 Christians in the island, as Luke does not there, as usual with him, 
 record the kind attentions of Christian brethren ; and it is there- 
 
 3 G 2 
 
1286.— The Mamertine Prison. 
 
 (The subterranean cell in which Paul ana Peter were confined.) 
 Y Carchar Mamertinaidd. 
 
 (Y carchar tanddaeaiol lie y carcharwyd Paul a Petr.) 
 
 1288.— Messina. 
 
 1290.— Room in Roman House. 
 Ystafell mewn Ty lihufeinig. 
 
 1287.— Naples from the Sea. 
 Naples o’r Mur. 
 
414 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 [Sunday LIT. 
 
 fore probable Paul even then formed the intention of planting 
 the Gospel of Christ upon its shores. After having accomplished 
 this intention, he left Titus to complete the work he had com- 
 menced, and proceeded to Macedonia, whence he wrote the Epistle 
 to Titus, which exists in the Christian Scriptures. The apostle 
 had then the prospect of spending the winter at Nicopolis, and 
 wished Titus to join him there. There were many places of this 
 name ; but it is supposed that the present was the one in Epirus, 
 which was built by Augustus to commemorate his great victory at 
 Actium. 
 
 It would seem, however, that circumstances induced the apostle 
 to go back to Ephesus, where he left Timothy, and once more pro- 
 ceeded westward. It was now probably that lie executed his long- 
 cherished intention of visiting Spain, as already intimated, and 
 was from thence sent as a prisoner to Rome. The Second Epistle 
 to Timothy, which affords an important clue to these movements, 
 shows that the situation of Paul in the imperial city was by 
 no means what it had been during his previous imprisonment. 
 It was then universally allowed that he was in custody for no 
 usual or political offence, but only for preaching the Gospel, 
 and many were encouraged by his example boldly to confess their 
 faith; whereas now he was in fetters as an “evil doer” (2 Tim. 
 ii. 9) ; for all Christians were then regarded at Rome as criminals, 
 and only a few had courage openly to avow themselves as his 
 friends and companions in the faith of Jesus. Now, he considered 
 his martyrdom far more probable than his release ; whereas before, 
 his deliverance had seemed by far the more probable event. His 
 feelings in the prospect of that event are inimitably expressed : 
 this, his last epistle — his elevated composure, his self-forgetfulness, 
 his tender fatherly care for his disciple Timothy, his concern for 
 the cause of the Gospel, which he was about to leave exposed to so 
 many attempts to adulterate it ; yet his confidence in the divinity 
 of that cause, and of its certain triumph over every obstacle, rose 
 high above every doubt or fear, being based upon the almighti- 
 ness of Him who watched its progress and conducted all its 
 developments. 
 
 With the particulars of the last scene of all in the life of this 
 great benefactor to mankind we are unacquainted, and are not 
 even certain of the year in which he received the crown which the 
 Righteous Judge had laid up for him. It was doubtless in one 
 of the last years of Nero’s reign, and probably in or about the year 
 67 a.d. The general account, which rests on no certain authority, 
 and which has been shown to be scarcely compatible with the facts 
 of the case, alleges that Paul and Peter were at Rome in a.d. 64; 
 and that they both perished in the furious and bloody persecution 
 which was in that year excited against the Christians in conse- 
 quence of the dreadful fire which raged for a whole week in the 
 imperial city, and of which they were most falsely said to have 
 been the authors. At this time it is alleged that Peter was cru- 
 cified, while Paul was, as a Roman citizen, beheaded. That he was 
 put to death at Rome, and that by being beheaded, is highly 
 probable, although botii the time and the occasion appear to be in 
 this tradition erroneously stated. The prison in which Paul and 
 Peter are supposed to have been confined is still shown at Rome ; 
 and it is alleged that Paul was beheaded at a place called the 
 Salvian Waters, about three miles from Rome, and that he was 
 buried in the Ostian Way, where a magnificent church was after- 
 wards erected over his supposed sepulchre. But the name of Paul 
 needeth not such memorials. His record is on high ; and his 
 memory is embalmed, beyond the wreck of worlds, in the thousands 
 of immortal souls, who, through his living ministrations and his 
 imperishable words, have been brought to Jesus, and who now 
 beai their triumphal palms in that innumerable host of “ all 
 nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, who have come 
 out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 
 
 We are unwilling to quit the great apostle whose labours we 
 have endeavoured to trace, without recalling the attention of the 
 reader to the leading points of a character of inferior interest to 
 none which the Scriptures offer, and perhaps as difficult to under- 
 stand distinctly and truly to appreciate as are those of Moses and 
 David. The contradictions which go to make up human cha- 
 racter, usually consist of qualities and defects warring against each 
 other, and of virtues and vices which might seem to exclude each 
 other. But in the character of Paul, the antagonism seems to be 
 that not of virtues and contrary vices, but of opposing virtues. 
 Under this point of view, Paul almost stands alone. Never was man 
 more equal, or more various. He was humble, yet never himself 
 cast down ; he was most gentle, yet terrible to those who had by 
 their bad faith compromised the great cause to which all his 
 energies were devoted. He was wise and prudent, yet possessed 
 of an ardour which irresistibly carried him onward to the accom- 
 plishment of his designs, and was endowed with a frankness which 
 no fears could check or deference arrest. Firm in danger, and 
 unshaken in affliction, he was yet careful of his safety, and never 
 exposed his life or person to needless risk. Of indefatigable activity, 
 a severe taskmaster upon himself, and indifferent to his lot, so that 
 the great objects which he had set before him were advanced, no 
 man ever possessed a heart more tender, or a soul more open to the 
 peaceful emotions of friendship and joy. His will had all the 
 tenacity and his conduct all the perseverance essential to the accom- 
 plishment of great enterprises : whatever he willed, he willed with 
 his whole heart ; half-measures and partial successes were both 
 unpleasant to him ; he threw himself wholly into every undertaking 
 which his judgment approved, or to which his duty called him, 
 and he deemed nothing accomplished while anything remained to 
 be done. 
 
 The example of Paul shows very clearly that the points which 
 constitute a man’s character and give him his individuality among 
 men, remain unchanged under circumstances which entirely alter 
 his sentiments and condition. In this respect we see that Paul was 
 the same under the Gospel as under the Law. He had the same 
 ardour, the same force of will, the same moral courage in coming 
 forward to take great responsibilities upon him. He has changed 
 his weapons, and his course is different, but we recognise the same 
 champion whose ragings under Judaism have become heroisms 
 under Christ. Before his conversion Paul had already become a 
 man of note among the Jews ; and it may be safely said that in any 
 age, in any country, in any moral or social condition of a people — 
 a man of his character and genius would, according to all ordinary 
 probabilities, have become great among his fellows — must have taken 
 a chief part in whatever religious, political, or moral movement the 
 circumstances of the age might originate. The ordinary circum- 
 stances of life would have been insufficient to exercise and regulate 
 the mighty energies which were bound up in him ; and when it 
 pleased the Almighty to press them into the service of the Gospel, 
 not only was one who would have probably become the most bitter 
 enemy of the cause turned into its friend, but Paul himself received 
 a task sufficient to occupy even to the uttermost all the peculiar 
 talents and powers which had been given to him. This task was 
 the greatest that man could receive. Under God Moses formed a 
 people for his service ; and under Him Paul became the chief 
 instrument of throwing open the doors of the New Covenant to a 
 far more numerous and a mightier host, and of extending to the 
 whole race of Adam higher privileges than those which had till 
 then been specially reserved for Abraham’s children. 
 
 The dignity of his appointment to his great mission was com- 
 mensurate to the greatness of the occasion ; and with what sublimity 
 of genius, of eloquence, of devotedness, and of virtue did lie not 
 embrace and accomplish his grand vocation ! And all that he did 
 was done, and all lie suffered was suffered, without any taint of that 
 sin by which angels fell. 
 
 END OF ACTS OF THE ATOSTLES. 
 
Sunday LIL] 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
 415 
 
 SUNDAY LII.— BIBLE HISTORY'. 
 
 ROM the account which has 
 been given it will be seen 
 that Nehemiah Mas the prin- 
 cipal and most active agent 
 in the re-establishment of the 
 Jewish nation. Zerubbabel 
 appears to have done little 
 more than give the cause of 
 the restoration the sanction 
 of his high rank and his name, 
 while Ezra seems to have 
 much confined his attention 
 to ecclesiastical affairs ; but 
 in Nehemiah we see the ever 
 active and zealous ruler, to 
 whom nothing that concerned 
 the welfare of his people was too little or too great. Jerusalem 
 awaited him, as it were, in order to arise from its ruins ; and there is 
 perhaps more resemblance between him and Moses than at the first 
 sight appears. But the age of the Old Testament miracles had passed, 
 and the history of Nehemiah offers none of those splendid events which 
 shine forth in that of Moses. It offers few astonishing facts, and few 
 very great difficulties ; and hence perhaps Nehemiah has not received 
 all that justice and admiration which his noble character and great 
 administrative talents demand. The credit which he enjoyed at the 
 Persian court does indeed explain his enterprise, and accounts for the 
 
 power which enabled him to surmount the impediments by which the 
 I course of former governors had been stayed. But to undertake 
 this great design he needed much more than the favour of a kins— 
 
 bo'thfS T h t Virt u e A nd mUCh faith ’ and a measure of 
 
 faith and virtue had been given to him. His free choice to 
 
 abandon the ease and luxury of the Persian court, as Moses did that 
 
 in a ’ ! n „° n er t0 passills best J' ears in an impoverished country 
 a city still in ruins, and among a discouraged people, evinces no 
 common force of character and nobleness of spirit. His remark- 
 able disinterestedness, and his perseverance in carrying out 3er 
 all discouragements whatever he undertook, are qualities rarely 
 witnessed m an Eastern governor, and perhaps never in the same 
 d gree manifested even in the West. Prudent and circumspect in 
 
 before 1 l S-<:ar f U time to inforni ^self thoroughly 
 
 before he began to act; but then resolute in executing his pfans 
 
 and in going to the very root of the evils he desired to remedy- 
 
 Nehemiah was the very man at that time needed by the Jewish 
 
 people, and whom therefore God in hie great mercy bestowed 
 
 iem. He detected and confounded the miserable plots of his 
 
 enemies, or despised and braved them ; and with calm and deliberate 
 
 courage awaited the dangers from which he was urged to flee. If the 
 
 g ory of re-establishing is second only to that of founding a nation 
 
 it is no profanation of the memory of Moses to utter the name of 
 
 Nehemiah— his ardent and yet humble imitator-in the same 
 
 reatli with his ; and whatever relative rank may be assigned to 
 
 him among the many great men whom Israel produced, none will 
 
 country ^ ° ^ PkCe am ° nS the benefUct »rs of his 
 
 END OF BIBLE HISTORY. 
 
1301 . — Fisherman. 
 
 1302.— Bearers of Burdens. Pysgodwr. 
 
 Cludwyr Beichiau. 
 
 416 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER I.— MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Palestine is a small territory on the western borders of Asia, 
 routing the Mediterranean, being the south-western portion of Syria 
 On the north this territory is bounded by the Lebanon mountains ; 
 but its southern border is lost in the open desert which separates 
 1 alestine from Egypt, and which formed a kind of neutral ground 
 between the two countries. As, however, it is necessary to take some 
 line of boundary here, in order that the length of the country from 
 north to south may be stated, it cannot be far wrong to draw it from 
 the stream of El Arisli (supposed to be the Scriptural “ River of 
 Egyp 1 ), eastward to a point about twenty-five geographical miles 
 south of the Dead Sea, on the borders of that valley which extends 
 between that Sea and the Gulf of Akabah. Assuming this southern 
 boundary, and fixing the northern one at the parallel of the stream 
 which flows from Lebanon into the sea about five miles to the north 
 ot bidon, I alestine will appear to be comprehended between 30° 40' 
 and 33° 36' of northern latitude j and the length of a line drawn from 
 the northern line to the southern, through the centre of the country 
 will not be less than one hundred and eighty miles. 
 
 The eastern border of Palestine is°well defined, in nearly a 
 straight line, by the river Jordan and its lakes; but the opposite 
 border, that of the sea-coast, spreads out to the south-south-west 
 whereby the width of this strip of country gradually increases south- 
 ward so that, on arriving near the southern border, the breadth of 
 the land is found to be about thrice as great as in the uttermost 
 north '_ The line of extreme breadth is embraced between 33° 45' 
 and 3o° 30' of eastern longitude, being, in that latitude, ninety-two 
 geographical miles ; but the least breadth of this territory in the 
 north does not exceed twenty miles, and the average breadth cannot 
 be overstated at about fifty miles. 
 
 This is the proper Palestine, the land of Canaan, the Holy Land 
 the land of Promise. But, for historical purposes, it is quite necessary 
 that the first of these names should be understood to include the 
 domains beyond the Jordan, which were as much in the occupation 
 of the Hebrew people, and belong as much to their history, as the 
 territory west of that river. This inclusion will give to Palestine 
 the districts of Argob and of Bashan, of Gilead, and the country 
 southward to the river Arnon, which divided the Hebrew territory 
 from that of Moab. With this enlargement, the length of the country 
 regarded as a whole, is not increased ; and the line of extreme breadth 
 may still be sought in the south. A view of the map, however, shows 
 that the average breadth now bears a much higher proportion than 
 in the separate measurement of the western country. There the 
 extreme breadth is little more than an accident of the southern 
 boundary line; and the average breadth bears no proportion to if 
 but now, ,n viewing the whole together, giving the country an 
 addition of breadth in its narrowest part, and none in its widest 
 the previous disproportion between the extreme and the avera-e 
 measurements becomes greatly reduced ; and this result is obtained 
 by the increase in the latter, while the former remains the same 
 Taking this larger view of the country, the resulting effect will 
 be that its length remains at one hundred and eighty miles, but its 
 average breadth is increased to about sixty-five miles. We have 
 also endeavoured to form some estimate of the superficial extent of the 
 whole country, and find room to calculate it at about eleven thousand 
 geographical square miles. This does not give a superficial extent 
 equa! to one-fourth of England (with Wales), or more than two- 
 fifths of Scotland, Ireland, or Portugal. Bavaria and Sardinia offer 
 an area about twice as large ; that of Denmark is about one-third 
 larger : but, according to the estimate we have made, the area of 
 I alestine is nearly double that of Wales, Wirtemberg, or Tuscany 
 I bus, as to mere extent, the country can only be compared to some 
 of the smaller European states, of which Hanover, Belgium, Swit- 
 zerland, the Papal States, and the island of Sicily appear to offer 
 
 the nearest approximation. But the real surface is much greater 
 than this estimate and these comparisons would imply : for Palestine 
 being essentially a hilly country, the sides of the mountains and 
 slopes of the hills enlarge the actual surface to an extent which does 
 not admit of calculation. 
 
 But, with all allowances, Palestine remains so small a country, 
 that undue importance might seem to be given to it by the extent 
 to which its history is carried, did we not bear in mind that a 
 country only gives a name to the history of the men by whom it 
 has been occupied— that it is a history of human conduct and 
 passion, of human hearts and minds, the operations of which may 
 be as impressively and importantly developed, and generally are 
 more so, on a small arena as on one that is large. It is this which 
 in ancient and modern times, has given importance to the histories 
 of spots as small as, or even smaller than, Palestine. It is, perhaps, 
 because the springs of human action in such cases are more clearly 
 displayed, and that all the moving personages of one time are seen 
 in circumstances of real collision or comparison, acting with or 
 acting upon each other— that he who takes up history as a part of the 
 study of man, seldom thinks of seeking instruction but where the 
 principles of human action are exhibited with concentrated effect, 
 either through the physical necessities of a confined territory, or by 
 the moral action of a representative government. All history, ancient 
 or modern, conveys true instruction or not, or is really interesting 
 or not, in proportion as, from the one or the other of these causes, 
 the spirit and policy of the people of which it treats are concenlra- 
 tivehj displayed. This is not a hypothesis, but a fact, which any 
 one has the power to verify, by observing that the history of no 
 country is deemed of much interest, or is by any means an object 
 of popular study, to which this rule does not apply ; and that the 
 real interest we take in the history of a country begins or ceases 
 with the production or discontinuance of this concentrative effect. 
 Without this, history is but a continued tale of wrong and outrage ;' 
 or but a succession of biographies of “ great ” men, which offer 
 individual, not national, portraits; and although these may be 
 interesting as individual portraitures, they do really, by occupying 
 the field of view, exclude from notice those national developments 
 
 wHi 
 
 3 H 
 
 ich are the verities of history, and which give to the history of a 
 nation all those characteristic distinctions by which its real interest 
 is constituted. 
 
 Seeing, then, that the importance and interest of a history is not tc 
 be estimated by the physical extent of the country, or by the numbers 
 of the people to which it refers, it seems to us that nothing can be 
 more unphilosophical than the cavils of those so-called “philosophers” 
 who have been wont to sneer at the importance which has been 
 assigned to so narrow a territory as Palestine, and to so small a 
 people as the Hebrew nation. And equally have those been mis- 
 taken, who have sought to meet these objections by magnifying 
 the extent of the Hebrew dominion, and the numbers of the Hebrew 
 people. 
 
 These observations concede the supposition that the accounts of 
 Palestine must be estimated by the same rules as other histories but 
 this is not the fact. In so far as it includes the history of the Hebrew 
 people, it is the most peculiar of histories ; — it is a history of the inter- 
 course between heaven and earth during a long series of ages ; it is 
 
 the history of that religion which was the destined precursor of the 
 Christian system ; — it is the history of one great act through the suc- 
 cessive stages of its progressand development, —God himself beingthe 
 Author of that act, the Jews the agents of its operation, and Palestine 
 the country selected for its exhibition. Besides, this history has 
 what no other history ever could possess,— a visible design and 
 object from beginning to end. One marked portion of this design 
 has been accomplished, and with its accomplishment the House of 
 
418 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 Israel ceased to be a nation ; the other portion is now fulfilling, and 
 the great result, now shadowed forth in dark prophecies, remains a 
 subject for future histories. 
 
 Thus, in every way, the history of Palestine, in all that it com- 
 prehends, is really the most generally important while it is the most 
 peculiar of histories. And if it had been possible that the circum- 
 stances which it embraces should have taken place in some small 
 valley among the mountains, never inhabited by more than a hundred 
 people, the history of that valley and that people would be the 
 most important that was ever written. 
 
 Palestine itself necessarily thus becomes of great interest, from 
 its connection with these circumstances, from the associations which 
 result from this connection, and from the various lore which has 
 been brought to bear on all its characteristics. The country which 
 God specially set apart for his great designs, and which, in con- 
 sequence, contains no spot of ground on which some commissioned 
 angel has not trod, or which does not suggest some incident in the 
 histories of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, priests, and kings, whose 
 names supply the familiar links by which our minds measure old 
 times ; this country must needs exeite a peculiar interest in us, 
 scarcely inferior to that with which our own native land is regarded. 
 
 But even considered in itself, Palestine is a country, small 
 though it be, well worthy of attention, and in some respects as 
 peculiar as the people whose history is inseparably connected with 
 it. It does not, like most other small countries, constantly remind 
 you that it is naturally but part of a larger country, from which it 
 is only conventionally separated ; but it is a complete country — a 
 compact, distinct, and well-proportioned territory. It offers, as it 
 were, an epitome of all the physical features by which different 
 countries are distinguished, and which very few possess in com- 
 bination. It has its lofty mountains, its stern rocky wildernesses, 
 and its smiling hills ; it has its pleasant valleys, its wide plains, and 
 elevated plateaus ; and while on the one hand it presents an extended 
 sea-coast, with its harbours, beaches, cliffs, and promontories, on 
 the other the solitary deserts extend their inhospitable wastes of 
 sand. The principal river of this country, and the smaller 
 streams, the large inland lakes — one of them so remarkable in its 
 characteristics, — the hot springs, and the various volcanic indications, 
 complete the singularly varied natural attributes of this “ glory of 
 all lands.” 
 
 While these remarks are applicable to our general subject, they 
 may not unsuitably introduce that division of it to which they are 
 prefixed — the Geography of Palestine. 
 
 To form a clear idea of the geographical plan of Palestine we 
 must extend our view considerably beyond and around it. North- 
 ward, that view must take in Ccele-Syriaand the region of Lebanon ; 
 eastward, it must embrace the plains and mountains of the Haouran, 
 and the lands of Moab and Ammon ; and southward, it must 
 overlook the inheritance of Edom and the wilderness of Paran, and 
 must penetrate even into the peninsula of Sinai. And this 
 extension of the survey, while it is geographically necessary, is 
 also historically convenient ; for the regions thus indicated have 
 not only a kind of secondary importance throughout the history, 
 but were all, for a season, subject to the Hebrew sceptre. 
 
 Thus, while there are many questions even in this Geographical 
 survey which would require us to confine our view to the narrow 
 bounds of Palestine, there are others which will allow us to 
 commence our survey where — 
 
 “ Hoar Lebanon, majestic to the winds, 
 
 Chief of a hundred hills, his summit rears, 
 
 Unshrouded — ” 
 
 aud permit it to include, as we continue our progress,— 
 
 “ By Jordan south, 
 
 Whate’er the desert’s yellow arms embrace; 
 
 Rich Gilead, Idumea’s palmy plain, 
 
 And Judah's olive hills; thence onward those 
 Cliff-guarded eyries, desert bound, whose height 
 Mock’d the proud eagles of rapacious Rome, 
 
 The fam’d Petraean citadels ; till last 
 
 Rise the lone peaks, by Heav’n’s own glory crown’d, 
 
 Sinai on Horeb piled.”* 
 
 Palestine is so involved among the southward continuations of 
 Lebanon, as to take the character of a mountainous country, 
 affording, however, some considerable plains, and numerous valleys, 
 the principal of which will hereafter demand our separate attention. 
 This fact brings us at once to the application of the considerations 
 which we have just stated, and compels us to follow the track of 
 survey which has been indicated : for any one who glances at the 
 
 * ‘ Lebanon.’ A Poem. 
 
 map will at once see that the mountains of Palestine form but a 
 section of a great system of mountains, which commences on the 
 north long before we reach the Promised Land, and which is 
 prolonged to the south long after we have left it. And if, in 
 scientific strictness, this enlarged view were not necessary to a 
 geographical notice of Palestine, yet the renown of the mountains 
 of Horeb, Seir, and Lebanon, and the interest connected with 
 them in every history of the Jewish people, would still render most 
 desirable their inclusion in this part of our work. 
 
 That the mountain framework of Syria is such as to authorise 
 the view we have taken is shown by Volney, in a passage which 
 will very suitably introduce the description we are to furnish ; — 
 
 “ If we examine a map of Syria, we may observe that this 
 country is in some measure only a chain of mountains, which 
 distribute themselves in various directions from one leading branch ; 
 and such in fact is the appearance it presents, whether we approach 
 it from the side of the sea, or by the immense plains of the desert. 
 We first discover, at a great distance, a clouded ridge which runs 
 north and soutli as far as the sight extends ; and, as we advance, 
 distinguish the summits of mountains, which, sometimes detached 
 and sometimes united in chains, uniformly terminate in one 
 principal line which overtops them all : we may follow this line 
 without interruption from its entry by the north quite into Arabia. 
 It first runs close to the sea, between Alexandretta and the Orontes, 
 and, after opening a passage to that river, continues its course to 
 the southward, quitting for a short distance the shore, and in a 
 chain of continued summits stretches as far as the sources of the 
 Jordan, where it separates into two branches, to enclose as it were 
 in a basin this river and its three lakes. In its course it detaches 
 from this line, as from a main trunk, an infinity of ramifications, 
 some of which lose themselves in the desert, where they form 
 various enclosed hollows, such as those of Damascus, and Haouran, 
 while others advance towards the sea, where they frequently end in 
 steep declivities, such as Carmel, Nakoura, Cape Blanco, and in 
 almost the whole country between Beirout and Tripoli of Syria ; 
 but in general they gently terminate in plains, such as those of 
 Antioch, Tripoli, Tyre, and Acre.” 
 
 It appears to us that Volney considers this principal Syrian 
 chain, which he so correctly describes, as a branch from the great 
 chain of Taurus, which we have ourselves been accustomed to 
 regard as the root of all the mountains which fill the south west of 
 Asia. Malte Brun, however, is of a different opinion ; and as we 
 do not like to disagree with him without absolute necessity, and as, 
 moreover, we are bent on avoiding questions of merely theoretical 
 geography, we shall be content to repeat his statement, only 
 observing that we see no reason why a break, made by even the 
 wide valley of a river, should necessarily be considered to destroy 
 all connection between the opposite mountains. Malte Brun’s obser- 
 vation is, — “The mountains are not at all ramifications of Mount 
 Taurus. Mount Bossus, a prolongation of Amanus, terminates at 
 the valley of the Orontes. But the proper Syrian chain begins on 
 the south of Antioch, by the huge peak of Mount Cassius, which 
 shoots up to the heavens its needle-like point, encircled with 
 forests.” 
 
 The continuation of these mountains southward gives occasion to 
 remark, that, as Volney states, the main chain separates near the 
 sources of the Jordan into two branches, to enclose, as in a basin, 
 that river and its lakes. These two brandies, with their numerous 
 ramifications, constitute the mountains of Palestine on both sides of 
 the Jordan. The country to the south of the Dead Sea was too 
 little known in the time of Volney to enable him to trace the 
 continuation and termination of these two ranges beyond the 
 southern extremity of the Dead Sea. His map makes the western 
 range approach nearer to the eastern at this point ; and it then 
 continues to proceed in this closer proximity, parallel with it, 
 southward, for about forty miles, when it suddenly strikes westward, 
 joining the eastern range, and shutting up, as in a cul de sac, the 
 valley which they had hitherto enclosed between them. But, in 
 reality, the valley remains open, and the two ranges continue to 
 run parallel to each other unto the Gulf of Akabah, where they 
 separate, the one taking the eastern coast of that gulf, and opposing 
 its terminating promontories to the Red Sea at the point where that 
 gulf opens. The other takes the western side of the same gulf, 
 entering the peninsula of Sinai, which divides this gulf from that of 
 Suez. Here it may be considered to terminate, most grandly, near 
 the point of the peninsula, in those renowned mountains at whose 
 toot the shepherd Moses was feeding his flock when the Most High 
 called him to lead forth the Hebrew nation from their bondage in 
 Egypt; aud from whose highest top He afterwards made known his 
 law to the same people. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 419 
 
 Thus, in an enlarged point of view, the mountains of Anti- 
 Lebanon, dividing in the north of Palestine, send fortli two south- 
 ward branches, which between them enclose not only the basin of 
 the Jordan and Dead Sea, but that of the broad valley which 
 extends from that sea to the AElanitic Gulf, and of the gulf itself, — 
 the whole extent being not less than 340 geographical miles. 
 
 This view, in its natural connections, of the mountain system of 
 Palestine, from its root in Lebanon to its termination at the opening 
 of the Gulf of Akabah, will tend much to simplify our further task 
 by supplying a combination for those conspicuous parts which must 
 now, severally, engage our attention, that we may observe more 
 closely the natural character of those mountains, the forms they 
 bear, and the ornament with which they are invested. 
 
 The mountains of Syria, as they vary' their levels and situations, 
 are also greatly changed in their form and appearance. In the 
 northern portion, between Scanderoon and the valley of the Orontes, 
 the firs, larches, oaks, box-trees, laurels, yews, and myrtles with 
 which they abound, give them an air of liveliness with which the 
 traveller is delighted. On some declivities he even meets with 
 cottages environed with fig-trees and vineyards, and the sight of 
 these repays the fatigues he has endured on a road which, by 
 rugged paths, leads him from the bottoms of valleys to the tops of 
 hills, and from the tops of hills to the bottoms of valleys. The 
 inferior branches which extend to the northward of Aleppo, on the 
 contrary, present nothing but bare rocks, without earth or verdure. 
 
 That part of the range of mountains which extends through two 
 degrees of latitude, from Mount Cassius southward to Lebanon, 
 offers, on its seaward slopes, a soil and situation suitable for the 
 growth of vines, olives, and tobacco; but on the eastern side— 
 that of the desert — the summits and declivities of this chain present 
 the aspect of almost one continued series of white and barren rocks. 
 
 About the parallel of Tripoli (lat. 34° 28' N.) we come to the 
 commencement of two parallel ranges, which extend through about 
 one degree of latitude. They form at their termination the natural 
 frontier of Palestine, and enclose between them a fertile valley, 
 which has the average breadth of fifteen miles. These are the 
 mountains of Lebanon ; and the valley which lies between them is 
 the Hollow Syria (Coele-Syria) of the ancients ; but by the pre- 
 sent inhabitants is called, pre-eminently, El Bekka, or the valley. 
 The westernmost of these ranges gradually inclines towards the sea 
 and terminates at the mouth of the Leontes, near the renowned city 
 of Tyre ; while the more inland range is that which, as already 
 described, divides near the sources of the Jordan, to enclose on the 
 west and east the prolonged basin which contains the Jordan and its 
 lakes, and the valley and gulf of Akabah. The denomination of 
 “ Lebanon ” is applied in Scripture, and by the ancient Orientals, to 
 both, or indifferently to either, of the parallel ranges which enclose 
 the long valley of Ccele-Syria ; but the Syrian Greeks gave the 
 name of Anti-Libanus to the easternmost range, which overlooks the 
 plains of Damascus. This name, although affording a distinction 
 which is useful in precise description, has been so arbitrarily employed 
 by some of the old historians as to occasion some confusion, the 
 rectification of which has involved much unprofitable discussion, 
 into which we need not enter. 
 
 The present natives of the country have found the convenience 
 of distinguishing the two ranges by different names ; Anti-Libanus 
 they call the eastern mountain (Jebel es-Sharki), in opposition to 
 Libanus, which they call the western (Jebel el Gharbi), but to 
 which they also assign the ancient name in the form of Jebel 
 Libnan. 
 
 The mountains of Lebanon are by far the highest of the whole 
 range. The highest ridge of the western Lebanon is marked on 
 both sides by a line, drawn at the distance of two hours’ journey 
 from the summit, above which all is barren ; but the slopes and 
 valleys below this mark afford pasturage and are capable of cultiva- 
 tion, by virtue of the numerous springs which are met with in all di- 
 rections. Cultivation is, however, chiefly found on the seaward slopes, 
 where numerous villages flourish, and where every inch of ground 
 is turned to account by the industrious natives, who, in the absence 
 of natural levels, build terraces to level the ground, and to prevent 
 the earth from being swept down by the winter rains, and at the 
 same time to retain the water requisite for the irrigation of their 
 crops. Here, amid the crags of the rocks, are also to be seen the 
 supposed remains of the renowned cedars, but a much greater num- 
 ber of firs, oaks, brambles, mulberry-trees, figs, and vines. 
 
 The general elevation of Anti-Libanus is inferior to that of the 
 western range ; but about its southward termination, where it 
 divides to send its branches east and west of the Jordan, the ridge 
 rises loftily and overtops all the other summits of Lebanon. This 
 
 highest mountain of the region bears the distinct name of Jebel 
 es-Sheikh, and is, unquestionably, the Mount Ilermon, the perpetual 
 snow of whose far-seen summit is more than once alluded to by the 
 sacred writers. ( l ) Our information concerning Anti-Libanus 
 generally is less complete than that which we possess respecting the 
 parallel range. We know, however, that it has fewer inhabitants, 
 and is scarcely anywhere cultivated. Indeed, it is not equally 
 cultivable ; for it would appear, from a comparison of the dispersed 
 notices in Burckhardt, that its western declivities towards the great 
 valley of Baalbec (Cccle-Syria) are completely barren, without 
 trees or pasture ; but on the summits and on the eastern side, 
 facing the plains of Damascus, there appear at least to be parts 
 affording good pasturage, and abounding also in stunted oak-trees, 
 of which few are higher than from twelve to fifteen feet. The 
 common route across these mountains, from Baalbec to Damascus, 
 at one time ascends into the region of snow (in March) ; at another, 
 follows the direction of the mountain torrents, between parallel 
 lines of hills, by the side of aspens, of oaks, and of numerous wil- 
 lows by the water-courses. 
 
 Leaving now the mountains of Lebanon, and following the branch 
 which passes into Palestine, we observe that the mountains become 
 less high and rugged, and more fit for tillage. They rise again to 
 the south-east of Mount Carmel, are covered with woods, and afford 
 most pleasant prospects ; but as we advance towards Judea, they lose 
 their verdure, the valleys grow narrower, they become dry and 
 stony, and form at the Dead Sea a pile of desolate rocks, full of 
 caverns and precipices. 
 
 There appears to be considerable general resemblance in the 
 progressive characteristics of the mountain chains of both the east 
 and west, as far as the southern extremity of the Asphaltic Lake, if 
 not farther. But as we shall, in another part of this chapter, 
 consider, somewhat at large, the mountains of the eastern country, 
 we will not dwell on this matter at present. 
 
 The preceding view has been too rapid to include those descrip- 
 tive details which are of the most interest to the general reader, or 
 to notice those particular eminences which claim consideration, 
 either from their prominent importance among the physical charac- 
 teristics of the country, or from their connection with some of the 
 events which the history of Palestine records. Commencing, 
 therefore, again with Lebanon, we shall proceed from thence south- 
 ward, noticing the principal mountains wliich occur, first on the 
 west, and then on the east of the Jordan. 
 
 We are glad that this arrangement enables us to introduce 
 Volney’s correct and animated description of Lebanon, which we 
 now give in his own words : — 
 
 “ Lebanon, Avhich gives its name to the whole extensive chain of 
 the Kesraoun and the country of the Druses, presents us every- 
 where with majestic mountains. At every step we meet with 
 scenes in which nature displays either beauty or grandeur. When 
 we land on the coast, the loftiness and steep ascent of this moun- 
 tainous ridge, which seems to enclose the country, those gigantic 
 masses which shoot into the clouds, inspire astonishment and awe. 
 Should the anxious traveller then climb those summits which 
 bounded his view, the wide-extended space which he discovers 
 becomes a fresh subject of admiration. But completely to enjoy 
 this majestic scene, he must ascend to the very point of Lebanon, 
 or the Santiin. There, on every side, he will view an horizon 
 without bounds ; while in clear weather the sight is lost over the 
 desert which extends to the Persian Gulf, and over the sea w hich 
 bathes the coasts of Europe. He seems to command the whole 
 world, while the wandering eye, now surveying the successive chains 
 of mountains, transports the imagination in an instant from Antioch 
 to Jerusalem; and now approaching the surrounding objects, 
 observes the distant profundity of the coast, till the attention, at 
 length fixed by distincter objects, more minutely examines the 
 rocks, wmods, torrents, hill-sides, villages and towns; and the mind 
 secretly exults at the diminution of things which formerly appeared 
 so great. He contemplates the valley, obscured by stormy clouds, 
 with a novel delight, and smiles at hearing the thunder, which had 
 so often burst over his head, growling beneath his feet ; while the 
 threatening summits of the mountain are diminished till they appear 
 like the furrows of a ploughed field or the s f epsof an amphitheatre: 
 and he feels himself flattered by an elevation above so many great 
 objects, on which pride makes him look down with a secret satis- 
 faction. 
 
 “ When the traveller visits the interior parts of these mountains, 
 the ruggedness of the roads, the steepness of the descents, the height 
 of the precipices, strike him at first with terror ; but the sagacity 
 of his mule soon relieves him, and he examines at leisure those 
 
420 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 picturesque scenes which succeed each other to entertain him. 
 There, as in the Alps, he travels whole days to such a place that 
 was in sight at his departure: he winds, he descends, he skirts the 
 hills, he climbs ; and in this perpetual change of position it seems 
 as if some magic power varied for him at every step the decorations 
 of the scenery. Sometimes he sees villages as if ready to glide 
 from the steep declivities on which they are built, and so disposed, 
 that the terraced roofs of one row of houses serve as a street to the 
 row above them. Sometimes he sees a convent standing on a 
 solitary eminence, like Mar Shaya, in the valley of the Tigris. 
 Here is a rock perforated by a torrent, and becoming a natural 
 arch, like that of Nalir el Leben.* There another rock, worn 
 perpendicular, resembles a lofty wall. Frequently on the sides of 
 hills he sees beds of stones stripped and detached by the waters, 
 rising up like artificial ruins. In many places, the waters, meeting 
 with inclined beds, have undermined the intermediate earth, and 
 formed caverns, as at Nahr el Ivelb, near Antoura : in others are 
 formed subterraneous channels, through which flow rivulets for a 
 part of the year, as at Mar Elias el Roum and Mar Hanna; j but 
 these picturesque situations sometimes become tragical. From 
 thaws and earthquakes, rocks have been known to lose their equili- 
 brium, roll down upon the adjacent houses, and bury the inhabitants : 
 such an accident happened about twenty years ago, J it overwhelmed 
 a whole village near Mar-Djordjos, without leaving a single trace 
 to discover where it formerly stood. Still more lately, and near 
 the same spot, a whole hill-side, covered with mulberry-trees and 
 vines, was detached by a sudden thaw, and sliding down the 
 declivity of the rock, was launched altogether, like a ship from the 
 stocks, into the valley. Hence arose a whimsical but reasonable 
 litigation, between the proprietor of the original ground and the 
 owner of the emigrated land ; the cause was brought before the 
 emir Yousef, who indemnified both parties for their mutual losses. 
 It might be expected that such accidents would disgust the inha- 
 bitants of those mountains ; but besides that they are rare, they 
 are compensated by an advantage which makes them prefer their 
 habitations to the most fertile plains: I mean, the security they 
 enjoy from the oppressions of the Turks. This security is esteemed 
 so valuable a blessing by the inhabitants, that they have displayed 
 an industry on those rocks which we may elsewhere look for in vain. 
 By dint of art and labour they have compelled a rocky soil to 
 become fertile. Sometimes, to profit by the water, they conduct it 
 by a thousand windings along the declivities, or stop it by forming 
 dams in the valleys; while in other places they prop up ground, 
 ready to crumble away, by walls and terraces. Almost all these 
 mountains, thus laboured, present the appearance of a flight of 
 stairs, each step of which is a row of vines or mulberry-trees. I 
 have reckoned from one hundred to one hundred and twenty of 
 these gradations in the same declivity, from the bottom of the 
 valley to the top of the eminence.” 
 
 In Yolney’s time, if the traveller, progressing southward, sought 
 on the northern shores of the Lake of Gennesareth for the ruins of 
 Capernaum, that city “once exalted unto heaven,” but now utterly 
 “cast down,” and paused in his search to survey the mountains by 
 which the lake was enclosed, he observed, to the north of him, hill 
 rising above hill in beauteous succession, the loftiest visible emi- 
 nence being crowned by a castellated city, whose commanding 
 situation was, perhaps, unrivalled in the world. If this strange 
 prospect tempted his feet to the ascent, he was surprised to find the 
 task less arduous than he had anticipated. Gradually one moun- 
 tain after another was left below ; at last he arrived at a pyramidal 
 hill which overtopped them all, and on the extreme summit of which 
 the city stood. This city bore the name of Safed, and was thought 
 to represent the Bethuiia of which so much mention is made in the 
 Book of Judith ; and it was also supposed to be that city to which 
 Jesus Christ, when preaching in this neighbourhood his famous 
 Sermon on the Mount, directed attention, by observing, that “ a city 
 set on a hill cannot be hid.” ( 2 ) Of this city, only ruins now remain ; 
 it was destroyed by an earthquake on the 1st of Jan., 1S37. 
 
 Mount Tabor is the highest mountain in Lower Galilee, and 
 one of the most striking in the Holy Land. It stands at the north- 
 east of the great plain of Esdraelon ; and although surrounded by 
 chains of mountains on nearly all sides, it is the only one that stands 
 entirely aloof from its neighbours, although it appears to us 
 questionable whether it may not itself be regarded as the bold 
 
 * Or “River of Milk.” It falls into the Nalir el Salib, called also the River of 
 Beirout ; this arch is upwards of one hundred and sixty feet long, eighty-five wide, 
 and near two hundred high above the torrent. 
 
 f “These subterraneous rivulets are common throughout Syria. There are 
 some at Damascus, at the sources of the Orontes, and at those of the Jordan.” 
 
 J Volney published his Travels in 1787. 
 
 termination of a branch thrown out by the chain which encloses 
 on the west the Lake of Tiberias. There is such a branch, and the 
 connection between it and this mountain appears to be very close. 
 
 The figure of Mount Tabor as seen from the south-west approaches 
 that of a semisphere, and offers a very regular appearance ; but as 
 viewed from the west-north-west, its form inclines more to that of 
 a truncated cone. Its ground figure is usually described as round, 
 and, indeed, seems to be perfectly so to those coming from the 
 midst of the great plain or from the Sea of Galilee ; but it is really 
 somewhat more long (from east to west) than broad, so that its true 
 figure inclines to oval. This is most clearly seen when the moun- 
 tain is viewed from the hills of Nazareth. Mr. Elliot and Dr. 
 Robinson estimate the height of Tabor at 1000 feet; but the baro- 
 metrical measurements of Shubert give for the elevation above the 
 sea 1748 Paris feet ; elevation of the plain at the base 438 feet ; leav- 
 ing 1310 Paris feet for the height above the plain. It takes three 
 hours to travel round the base of the mountain ; an hour is 
 generally required to reach the summit by a circuitous path, but 
 the ascent may be accomplished in three-quarters of an hour, or even 
 half an hour by a forced exertion ; and the plain upon the top of the 
 mountain is almost half an hour in circuit. 
 
 The mountain is inaccessible except on the north, where the 
 ascent offers so little difficulty that there are few parts which 
 suggest to the traveller the prudence or necessity of dismounting 
 from his horse. This remarkable mountain offers so rare a com- 
 bination of the bold and beautiful, that pilgrims of all ages have 
 expatiated upon its glories with untiring wonder and delight. The 
 trees of various species,* and the bushes always green, with which 
 it is invested, and the small groves with which it is crowned, 
 contribute no less than its figure to its perfect beauty. Leopards, 
 wild boars, gazelles, and hares, are among the animals which find 
 shelter in its more wooded parts : while the trees are tenanted 
 by “ birds of every wing,” whose warblings and motions beguile 
 the fatigue of the ascent. “ The path,” says a late traveller, 
 “ wound around the mountain, and gave us a view from all its 
 different sides, every step presenting something new, and more and 
 more beautiful, until all was completely forgotten and lost in the 
 exceeding loveliness of the view from the summit. Stripped of 
 every association, and considered merely as an elevation commanding 
 a view of unknown valleys and mountains, I never saw a mountain 
 which, for beauty of scene, better repaid the toil of ascending it.” 
 
 The objects which are embraced by “ the view from the top,” 
 thus admiringly alluded to by Mr. Stephens, have been carefully 
 enumerated by the Rev. C. B. Elliot in a passage which we here 
 introduce, as calculated to give a very useful idea of the relative 
 bearing of different mountains seen from this great central point. 
 “ The view it commands,” he says, “ is magnificent. To the north, 
 in successive ranges, are the mountains of Galilee, backed by the 
 mighty Lebanon ; and Safet, as always, stands out in prominent 
 relief. To the north-east is the Mount of Beatitudes, with its 
 peculiar outline and interesting associations ; behind which rise 
 Great Hermon and the whole chain of Anti-Lebanon. To the 
 east are the hills of the Haouran, and the country of the Gadarenes, 
 below which the eye catches a glimpse of the Lake of Tiberias, 
 while to the south-east it crosses the valley of the Jordan, and rests 
 on the high land of Baslian. Due south rise the mountains of 
 Gilboa, and behind them those of Samaria, stretching far to the 
 west. On the south-south-west the villages of Endor and Nain are 
 seen on the Little Hermon. Mount Carmel and the Bay of Acre 
 appear on the north-west [west by north ?] ; and towards them 
 flows, through the fertile plains of Esdraelon, ‘ that great river, the 
 river Kishon,’ now dwindled into a little stream. Each feature in 
 this prospect is beautiful: the eye and mind are delighted; and, 
 by a combination of objects and associations unusual to fallen man, 
 eartldy scenes, which more than satisfy the external sense, elevate 
 the soul to heavenly contemplations.” 
 
 The beautiful upper plain is enclosed by a wall — probably the 
 same which was built by Josephus when governor of Galilee, — and 
 contains some ruins, supposed to be those of the two monasteries 
 which, according to William of Tyre, were built here by Godfrey 
 of Bouillon, in the place of others of earlier date which the Mos- 
 lems had destroyed. The plain has at different times been under 
 cultivation; but when, from oppression or fear, abandoned by the 
 cultivator, it becomes a table of rich grass and wild flowers, which 
 send forth a most refreshing and luxurious odour. In summer the 
 dews fall copiously on Tabor, and a strong wind blows over it all 
 day. Thick clouds rest upon its head every morning, and do not 
 disappear till noon. 
 
 The mountain is the scene of some historical circumstances, which 
 * Burckhardt says chiefly cak and wild pistachios. ‘Syria,' p. 331. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 421 
 
 are recorded in other portions of this work ; but its chief interest to 
 the Christian pilgrim arises from the very old tradition which points it 
 out as the place where Christ appeared in glory with Moses and Elias. 
 
 Beyond Mount Tabor, five miles to the south-south-west, a range 
 of hills extends for several miles from east to west. This range is 
 of no considerable elevation, and is fertile and proper for pasturage. 
 At its foot there are some natural caves, formerly used for sepulchres, 
 but in which the Arabs now stable their horses. The range claims 
 to be noticed, as it is commonly regarded as the “ Mount Hermon ” 
 which the Psalmist celebrates for its pastures and abundant dews. 
 It is therefore called the Little Hermon, to distinguish it from that 
 snow-capped range of Anti-Lebanon, to which also the name of 
 Hermon has been applied. 
 
 In the same quarter, to the south and south-east of Tabor, another 
 ranee of hills, separated in one part from the Little Hermon by a 
 valley six miles broad, advances to the borders of the Jordan near 
 Bysan, the ancient Bethshan or Scythopolis ; and for some miles 
 northward from thence, continues to bound on the west the valley 
 of the river. This group of hills rises to the height of 800 feet 
 above the level of the road, and is, perhaps, 1000 feet above the level 
 of the Jordan. This lengthened ridge rises up in peaks, and bears 
 a little withered grass and a few scanty shrubs scattered about in 
 different places. In this sterile and arid character these hills are 
 remarkably distinguished from those of the lesser Hermon, and in- 
 deed from all other mountains in this neighbourhood, which are in 
 most parts covered with trees and copses, herbs, flowers, and grass. 
 This range is the Mount Gilboa of Scripture, and here a village bear- 
 ing the name of Jelbon was pointed out to Dr. Robinson, and its 
 peculiarly desolate character was ascribed by most of the old travellers 
 to the poetical imprecation of David upon the mountains where “ the 
 shield of the mighty was vilely cast away,” in the words “Ye 
 mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain 
 upon you, nor fields of offerings.” (2 Sam. i. 21.) But this is, 
 perhaps, assigning too literal a sense to the denunciations of ''fhe 
 royal poet, since it is admitted that ample dews and heavy rains have 
 been experienced by travellers upon these very mountains. * 
 
 On the maritime shore, nearly west of Tabor, occurs the only 
 very prominent headland which the general low and even coast of 
 Palestine offers. This headland forms the seaward termination of 
 a mountain range to which, and more particularly to the promontory 
 itself, belongs the name of Carmel — so renowned in the Hebrew 
 annals, and in the history of the Crusades. This promontory en- 
 closes on the south the bay of Acre ; and its ridge then retires from 
 the coast, south-eastward, to join the central chain, which we have 
 described as prolonged from Lebanon. Regarded in the reverse 
 direction, it is a branch of this chain, the promontory being then 
 its termination. This connection may very clearly be traced ; but 
 attention being restricted to the part more immediately connected 
 with the promontory, and partaking in its sensible characteristics, 
 it extends about seven leagues. Its elevation, even in the highest 
 part, where it fronts the sea, is comparatively moderate;* but it 
 commands very extensive views, and its general beauty has been 
 mentioned with intense admiration from the time of Solomon (Cant, 
 vii. 5) till now. In front the view extends to the distant horizon, 
 over the dark-blue waters of the Mediterranean; behind stretches 
 the great plain of Esdraelon, and the mountains of the Jordan and 
 Judea ; below, on the right hand, lies the city of Acre, diminished 
 to a mere speck ; while, in the far distance beyond, the eye rests on 
 the summits of Lebanon ; and, turning to track the coast on the 
 left hand, takes in the ruins of Caesarea — the city of Herod and the 
 Roman governors of Palestine. 
 
 The interior of Galilee and Samaria is often obscured by fogs ; 
 but the heights of Carmel enjoy a pure and enlivening atmosphere, 
 calculated to render mere existence a delight. The continual 
 verdure which covers the mountain scarcely allows the whiteness of 
 its calcareous rocks to appear. The pine, oak, olive, laurel, and 
 many other trees grow (but not to any considerable size) above a 
 beautiful carpet of grass and wild flowers ; and this rich covering of 
 grass and flowers extends to the fine prairies around, by virtue of 
 the numerous streams which come to them from the mountain. 
 The forests and woods of Carmel offer a verdure which passes not 
 away at any season ; from the number of the shrubs and plants 
 which in their turns succeed each other. To these woods numerous 
 wild animals resort; and birds, still more numerous, attracted by 
 the abundance of suitable food, and by the streams which wind 
 through the valleys of Carmel, enliven, by the harmony of their 
 varied songs, one of the most beautiful spots which this very 
 beautiful world affords. 
 
 * The only estimate which we have seen makes it 1500 feet, which, from a 
 comparison of circumstances, seems a considerable exaggeration. 
 
 3 i 
 
 At that time, when those mountains of the Holy Land, with 
 which any Scriptural incidents could be connected, were crowded 
 with persons who deemed it meritorious to withdraw from the 
 turmoil of the world, the caves of this mountain were occupied by 
 thousands of such persons, and its sides were covered with the 
 chapels in which they worshipped, and the gardens which they 
 cultivated. The grottos still exist ; many ruins of the ecclesiastical 
 erections of this time are dispersed upon the mountain ; and some 
 of its products seem to offer evidence of the cultivation to which it 
 was then subject ; but now, after many ages, it may be supposed 
 to have reverted to somewhat of that more natural condition in 
 which it probably appeared when the Hebrew poets and prophets 
 celebrated the “ excellency of Carmel.” 
 
 Crossing the plain of Esdraelon, we leave Galilee, and arrive 
 among the beautifully-wooded hills of Samaria, which exhibit 
 scenery very different from that of the mountains of Galilee. 
 Among numerous venerable olive woods, towns and villages are 
 scattered in every direction, and some of the views rival those ol 
 Switzerland. 
 
 The singularity and historical importance of the twin mountains 
 of Ebal and Gerizim, in Samaria, entitle them to notice. Schubert’s 
 barometrical observations make the summit of Gerizim 2500 Paris 
 feet above the sea: but the valley below is 1751 Paris feet above 
 the sea level; and this leaves 750 feet for the height of the moun- 
 tain above the valley. The two mountains are separated only 
 by a narrow valley, and they exhibit a remarkable analogy of 
 size, figure, and height. It was perhaps from tins reason, as well 
 as from their convenient proximity, with a valley intervening, that, 
 on taking possession of tiie Promised Land, it was ordered that 
 assembled Israel should hear and respond to the curses of the 
 law, declared from Mount Ebal, and to its blessings from Mount 
 Gerizim. The blessings and the curses may 6eem to have re- 
 mained upon these mountains ; for, while Gerizim is fertile and 
 of pleasant aspect, Ebal is utterly barren. This superiority of 
 Gerizim may be owing, not oidy to its having a northern aspect 
 on the side towards the valley, so that it is less than Ebal 
 scorched by the hot suns of summer, but to its slope of ascent 
 being less abrupt, so that the soil is more liable to accumulate on 
 its surface, and less subject to be washed down by the autumnal 
 rains. Gerizim was deemed by the Samaritans the holiest of 
 mountains; and upon it they had their temple, in which,, rather 
 than in that of Jerusalem, they held that men ought to worship. 
 The temple exists no longer ; but a remnant of the people and of 
 their worship still lingers in the valley below, where is still the 
 city called Shechem in the Old Testament, and Sychar in the New, 
 and whose classical name of Neapolis is now exhibited in the 
 modern one of Nablous. 
 
 The valley which divides the mountains, and in which the 
 thousands of Israel were congregated, is more than a league in 
 length, but only from 200 to 300 paces broad. This valley, shaded 
 with groves of figs, olives, almonds, and apricots, bounded by high 
 mountains, and with a clear and beautiful stream winding and 
 murmuring through its centre, is one of the most beautiful in 
 Palestine.* 
 
 Judea, the southern part of Palestine, is a country full of hills 
 and valleys, conformably to the Scriptural intimations. The hills 
 are generally separated from one another by valleys and torrents, 
 and are for the most part of moderate height, uneven, and seldom 
 of any regular figure. The rock of which they are composed 
 is easily converted into soil, which being arrested by terraces, 
 when washed down by the rains, renders the hills cultivable in a 
 series of long, narrow gardens, formed by these terraces, from the 
 base upwards. Thus the hills were cultivated in former times 
 most abundantly, and were enriched and beautified with the olive, 
 the fig-tree, and the vine; and thus the limited cultivation which 
 now subsists is still carried on. But when the inhabitants were 
 rooted out, and cultivation abandoned, the terraces fell to decay, 
 and the soil which had collected on them was washed down into the 
 valleys, leaving only the arid rock, naked and desolate. This is 
 the general character; but in some parts the hills are beautifully 
 wooded, and in others the application of the ancient mode of 
 cultivation — under which the valleys are covered with corn, whi' 
 the terraced hills are clothed with fig-trees, olive-trees, or vines — 
 suggests to the traveller how rich this country once was, and still 
 might be, and how beautiful was the aspect which it offered. 
 
 All these characteristics of desolation apply with peculiar force 
 
 * Stephens (an American traveller) says, that, till he came here from the south, 
 he had thought that he would not give the estate of a wealthy gentleman in Genessee 
 for the whole kingdom of David. 
 
422 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 to that portion of Judea* which formed the inheritance of Benjamin. 
 Its most favourably-situated mountains are wholly uncultivated ; 
 and, perhaps, in no other country is such a mass of rock exhibited 
 without an atom of soil. In the eastward, towards the termination 
 of the Jordan and the head of the Dead Sea, this district takes a 
 naturally stern and grand character, such as no other part of 
 Palestine offers ; and higher mountains occur than in any other 
 part of the southern country. 
 
 Here the road from Jerusalem to the plain of Jericho, after a 
 few miles, leads to and traverses the sternest and most desolate 
 mountain wilderness in all Palestine. The ridge of mountains in 
 this singular district which immediately faces the plain, forming 
 part of the mountains which enclose the valley of the Jordan, is the 
 highest in Judea. They bear the name of Quarantania, from an 
 ancient opinion that the wilderness which they form was that in 
 winch Christ remained for forty days fasting, after he had been 
 baptized in the river Jordan; and that the highest summit of the 
 ridge is that “exceeding high mountain” from which the devil 
 showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” 
 (Matt. iv. 8.) Speaking of this wild region, Morison says, “I am 
 persuaded that there are very few deserts in the world so frightful 
 as this ; and I am compelled to acknowledge that, melancholy as 
 are the vast solitudes of Arabia Petraea, which I traversed in my 
 journey from Egypt to Sinai, they are altogether pleasant in 
 comparison to this.” Maundrell bears similar testimony, calling it 
 “ A most miserable, dry, and barren place, consisting of high 
 rocky mountains, so torn and disordered, as if the earth had suffered 
 some great convulsion, in which its very bowels had been turned 
 outward.” 
 
 Of the Mountain of Temptationy the ascent is so difficult and 
 perilous, that many travellers of no ordinary enterprise have 
 desisted from the attempt to reach its summit. Of this number 
 was Ilasselquist, who describes the mountain as “ high and pointed ; 
 and on our left as we ascended, towards which the rock was 
 perpendicularly steep, it consists of a loose, white limestone, 
 mixed with another that is greyish and harder. The way up to 
 its highest point is dangerous beyond imagination. It is narrow, 
 steep, full of rocks and stones, which obliged us frequently to creep 
 over them before we could accomplish our design. The difficulty 
 is increased by the valley on one side; which, besides its terrible 
 aspect, is most dangerous, as, in case any one should slip, his 
 death would be certain. I went as far upon this terrible mountain as 
 prudence would permit, but ventured not to proceed to the summit.” 
 We suppose he went up two-thirds of the mountain, the ascent of 
 which is attended with more fatigue than danger; but the remaining 
 third is so formidable, that few even of the old pilgrims, though 
 actuated by the fervour of religious zeal, ventured to the summit ; 
 and those who did, described it as the most perilous undertaking of 
 their lives. The view from the top, however, well repays the 
 fatigue and danger of the enterprise : it embraces the whole extent 
 of the Dead Sea, and beyond it the plains of Moab, and Mount 
 Pisgah, w hence Moses viewed the Promised Land ; tvhile just under 
 the eye are the plains of Jericho and the river Jordan. This 
 mountain, like the others of the same ridge, is full of caves, of 
 various form and size, which have alternately offered secure retreats 
 to fugitives, recluses, and robbers. Such caves are, indeed, most 
 numerous among the steep and rugged mountains at the northern 
 extremity of the Dead Sea on this side the Jordan; which, except 
 in being of much less elevation, offer the same essential charac- 
 teristics as the mountains of Quarantania. 
 
 Of Judea Proper, the most mountainous part is the country 
 around Jerusalem, and between it and the head of the Asphaltic 
 Lake. More to the south, the breadth of the country is less 
 occupied by mountains, which are confined chiefly to the central 
 ridge : its dependent hills and its disparted branches, which are 
 sent forth to divide and diversify the plains, — which extend, on the 
 one hand, to the shores of the Mediterranean, and, on the other, to 
 the barren and high rocks which thickly set the western shore of 
 the Dead Sea, — are of such essentia] form and character as we have 
 already described. The naked lulls prevail most in the north and 
 south of Judea, and occur frequently in other parts. Cultivation 
 on the hills is most common for about half the distance from 
 Jerusalem to Ilebron, southward; and, in the other half, the 
 uncultivated hills are more or less wooded. The only mountain in 
 this region which is seen from far, and seems to require particular 
 
 * By Judea we are to be understood as meaning, not merely the territory of 
 the single tribe of Judah, but the kingdom of Judea as distinguished from that 
 of Israel. 
 
 t Such is the name usually given it: but the old french travellers often also 
 cull it Munt du Viable. 
 
 notice, is that one, nearly detached, which rises about five miles to 
 the south-east of Bethlehem. It is called the “ Franks’ Mount,” 
 from its having been fortified and held by the Christians many 
 years against the Moslems during the Crusades. The summit still 
 exhibits some ruins of the strong castles which they built there. 
 The situation would seem almost impregnable, for the mountain is 
 very high and rugged, and so steep that Nau, the only traveller by 
 whom we can find it to have been ascended, was obliged to dismount 
 at its base, and climb on foot to the top. 
 
 None of the other mountains of Palestine Proper are, separately, 
 of such physical or historical importance as to require notice in 
 this part of the present work. But its historical portion will be 
 found to characterize, as occasion requires, most of the hills and 
 hilly districts of the country. 
 
 We must now proceed to view the more remarkable mountains 
 in the country beyond the Jordan. For this our materials are 
 still very inadequate. But this will be the less sensibly felt, as few 
 of the mountains of this part of the country are of such Scriptural 
 or historical renown as to create the consciousness of need for that 
 information which, if felt to be wanted, could not be very perfectly 
 supplied. 
 
 Jebel es-Sheikh, which forms the natural northern frontier of 
 Palestine beyond Jordan, has already been noticed. This mount 
 sends a branch or continuation southward, which, under the name 
 of Jebel Heish, extends about twenty-five miles, terminating in the 
 Tel Faras, at a distance of about ten miles eastward from a point 
 somewhat below the head of the Lake of Gennesareth. The ground 
 traversed by this chain is much elevated above the eastward plains 
 of Damascus and Djolan ; so that, seen from thence, it appears to 
 be composed of considerable mountains ; but when the traveller, 
 having gradually ascended from the plains, comes near to them, 
 they appear to be of very moderate elevation. 
 
 For twenty-two miles (eight hours), to the south of the termi- 
 nation of the Jebel Heish, is an open country, equally divided by 
 the river Jarmouk. This open country contains the famous pas- 
 ture lands of Argob and part of Bashan. Eastward, this land slopes 
 to the plains of the Haouran, and westward it is interrupted by the 
 steep descents to the Lake of Gennesareth and the valley of the 
 Jordan. And here it may be proper to observe, that the general 
 level of the plain country beyond the Jordan is high above the 
 valley of that river, which offers one of the lowest levels in all 
 Syria( 4 ). This large space of open country may be called flat in 
 comparison with the hilly region to the south; and viewed from a 
 distance, appears more flat than it really is; for, besides that the 
 ground has a gradual descent towards the eastern plains, it is 
 intersected by numerous deep valleys, rich in pastures. 
 
 Beyond this district the mountains rise again, and increase in 
 altitude and breadth as they traverse, or rather fill, the country of 
 Gilead to and beyond the river Jabbok. In this part the moun- 
 tains are in higher and broader masses than anywhere else on this 
 side the Jordan ; and here, as we have hitherto done, we shall 
 notice the more prominent points, without attempting to discrimi- 
 nate the various ridges and branches which it offers. 
 
 The part of Gilead, north of the Jabbok, is comprehended in the 
 modern districts of Belad Beni Obeid, Adjeloun and Moerad. All 
 these are mountainous districts throughout, and are more or less 
 wooded, particularly with the oak and wild pistachio. The wood 
 is most abundant in Adjeloun. The mountains of Moerad are the 
 highest and most dense. The principal points in these districts are 
 the mountain of Kafkafa, a long and broad mountain facing the 
 eastern plains. On the lower slopes of this calcareous mountain, 
 wild pistachio trees abound ; higher up oaks become more frequent 
 and the forest thickens ; near the top are some remains of the foun- 
 dations of ancient buildings, and the summit commands an extensive 
 and beautiful view over the neighbouring mountains and plains. The 
 mountain of Oeraboun, which marks the limits between the districts 
 of Adjeloun and Moerad, is chiefly remarkable for the thickest forest 
 of oak-trees which Burckhardt had seen in Syria. The mountains 
 of Moerad contain no points which have attracted particular atten- 
 tion ; but it is observed that their higher summits seem to be con- 
 siderably more elevated than those of the mountains of the southern 
 side of the Jabbok (now Zerka). 
 
 To the south of this river the districts are less subdivided ; for 
 the denomination of the Belka seems, from Burckhardt’s use of it, 
 to embrace the whole tract of country between that river and the 
 head of the Dead Sea. It appears that a portion of this country, 
 immediately to the south of Zerka, must be understood as included 
 in the Scriptural name of Gilead. For this very name, in the modi- 
 fied form of Jelaad, is still given to a mountain six miles to the 
 south of that river. This mountain runs, from east to west, about 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF TnE HOLY LAND. 
 
 423 
 
 seven miles in length ; and upon it are the ruins of two towns, 
 which also bear the names of Jelaad and Jelaoud. Closely adjoin- 
 ing this mountain rises that of Jebel Osha, which far overtops all 
 the other mountains of the Belka. It is a fine mountain, well 
 wooded, and its summit gives a very striking view over the valley 
 of the Jordan, while Jericho is visible at a great distance to the 
 south. The mountain takes its name from a tomb which is sup- 
 posed to be that of the prophet Hosea. 
 
 Soutli of the Zerka the chain of mountains increases its breadth. 
 And in this inheritance of Gad and (partly of) Reuben, which the 
 Belka forms, the traveller, from the sultry plains of the Jordan, is 
 refreshed by the cool winds which blow over this high region : 
 everywhere he finds the grateful shade of the oak and wild pista- 
 chio, and looks around upon a scenery more resembling tiiat of 
 Europe than he is likely to find in all Syria. 
 
 Before arriving at the parallel of the Dead Sea the mountainous 
 country contracts its breadth ; and about the head of the sea is re- 
 duced to the single principal chain, which afterwards enlarges to 
 form the mountains of Seir. This chain, commencing nearly 
 opposite the northern extremity of the Asphaltic Lake, and at its 
 other extremity joining Mount Seir, appears to form the mountains 
 which in Scripture bear the name of Abarim. There it is recorded 
 that from Mount Nebo, one of the highest summits of this range, 
 and which, from the context, must have been in its northern part, 
 Moses was permitted to view the Promised Land ; and that there 
 he died. Writers disagree as to the situation of this mountain. 
 Nau refers to a mountain near Szalt, evidently meaning Mount 
 Osha, mentioned above; and we should be inclined to agree with 
 him, if it did not seem that this mountain is more to the north than 
 the history will allow. Six miles westward from Heshbon is the 
 situation assigned to Mount Nebo by Eusebius, who is followed by 
 most later writers. It is an excellent position for the history ; but 
 being unable to learn that the situation is occupied by any eminent 
 mountain, we may, perhaps, with the few travellers who have visited 
 this part of the country, look for it in Mount Attarous, which rises 
 about eight miles to the north of the river Modjeb (the ancient 
 Arnon). This mountain offers the highest summit of the neigh- 
 bourhood. No traveller seems to have ascended it ; and it is only 
 slightly mentioned, in passing, as a tall and barren mountain, on 
 whose summit might be perceived a heap of stones overshadowed 
 by a wild pistachio-tree. 
 
 We have no information of any noted mountain in the country 
 south of the Arnon. Beyond that river lie wide plains covered 
 with absinthium and other plants and shrubs. But, on approaching 
 Kerek,* the country becomes more mountainous ; and at this point 
 beyond the plains of Moab, where the mountains rise again, we 
 should be inclined to fix the commencement of Mount Seir, the 
 southward continuation of which we have already indicated. This 
 forms here, at its commencement, a very mountainous country be- 
 tween Kerek and the end of the Dead Sea ; nor is the breadth of 
 mountain country thus indicated much diminished in the southward 
 progress of the chain. 
 
 Our attention must next be directed to the mountains which now 
 line, on the east and on the west, the broad valley of Arabah, which 
 extends from the Asphaltic Lake to the Red Sea. The prolonga- 
 tions of Lebanon exhibit a very different character on the oppo- 
 site sides of this valley. No traveller has so clearly indicated this 
 difference as Dr. Robinson. Speaking first of the eastern range, 
 which forms the proper mountains of Seir, or of Edom, he says : — 
 “ The structure of the chain is, at the base, lew hills of limestone, 
 or argillaceous rock ; then the lofty masses of porphyry constitut- 
 ing the body of the mountain ; above these, sandstone broken up 
 into irregular ridges and grotesque groups of cliffs; and again, 
 farther back and higher than all, long elevated ridges of limestone 
 without precipices. East of all these, stretches off indefinitely the 
 high plateau of the great eastern desert. We estimated the height 
 of the porphyry cliffs at about 2000 feet above the Arabah ; the ele- 
 vation of Wady Musa above the same is perhaps 2000 or 2200 feet ; 
 while the limestone ridges farther back probably do not fall short 
 of 3000 feet. The whole breadth of the mountainous tract be- 
 tween the Arabah and the eastern desert beyond does not exceed 
 fifteen or twenty geographical miles. 
 
 “ The character of these mountains is quite different from those on 
 the west of the Arabah. The latter, which seemed to be not more 
 than two-thirds as high, are wholly desert and sterile, while these 
 on the east appear to enjoy a sufficiency of rain, and are covered 
 with tufts of herbs and occasional trees The Wadys too are full of 
 trees and shrubs and flowers, while the eastern and higher parts are 
 
 * About twenty-five miles east from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. 
 
 extensively cultivated, and yield good crops. The general appear- 
 ance of the soil is not unlike that around Ilebron ; though the face 
 of the country is very different. It is, indeed, the region of which 
 Isaac said to his son Esau, ‘ Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fat- 
 ness of the earth, and of heaven from above.’ ” 
 
 We learn from other sources that these mountains not only rise 
 very high above the valley, but, as viewed from thence, increase in 
 elevation in their progress to the south. But this increase is only 
 apparent, and owing to the southward slope of the valley, as evinced 
 by the equal level of the eastern plain beyond the mountains. As 
 viewed from that plain, the mountains have no sensible increase of 
 altitude southward ; and from thence, indeed, they only exhibit the 
 appearance of low hills. This is owing to the elevation of the 
 eastern plain far above the level of the valley. This circumstance 
 is observed, indeed, throughout the country from the Lake of Tibe- 
 rias southward. From the borders of that lake, or of the Jordan, 
 or of the Dead Sea, the traveller has to make steep anil difficult 
 ascents up a succession of tall cliffs and high mountains, on sur- 
 mounting the highest of which he finds that he has to make but a 
 comparatively slight descent into the eastern plains. 
 
 From this it will be seen that the mountains of Seir must not be 
 regarded as a single range of hills ; but as an extensive mountain- 
 ous region, from ten to twelve leagues in width, forming a rocky 
 belt, separating the stony Arabia from the eastern deserts of sand. 
 On first viewing these mountains from the southern part of the 
 valley of Arabah, high rocks of granite appear as if fractured into a 
 thousand different forms. These rocks of granite formation * ex- 
 tend almost as far northward as the Wady Ghurundel,j" which is 
 almost half way between the Gulf of Akabah and Petra; they then 
 begin to be covered with chalk and limestone, which extend five 
 leagues to the north and north-east, and then disappear amidst 
 rocks of sandstone veined with oxide of iron, and presenting more 
 fantastic shapes than any other parts of the mountain. IIow far 
 to the north of Petra these last characteristics extend, we find no 
 authority that states; but we learn from Burckhardt that sandstone 
 continues to be very common as far to the north as the Wady e! 
 Ahsa (near the southern extremity of the Dead Sea), after which it 
 occurs but rarely. 
 
 The tallest summit among the mountains of Seir is Mount Dor, 
 on which Aaron died, and whose towering bulk is a land-mark to 
 the wanderer afar off in the surrounding deserts. It offers a com- 
 manding view over the plains and mountains below. “ If I had 
 never stood on the top of Mount Sinai,” says Mr. Stephens, “ I 
 should say that nothing could exceed the desolation of the view 
 from the summit of Mount Dor ; its most striking objects being 
 the dreary and rugged mountains of Seir, bare and naked of trees 
 and verdure, and heaving their lofty summits to the skies, as if in 
 vain and fruitless effort to excel the mighty pile on the top of 
 which the high-priest of Israel was buried.” 
 
 Yet even here all is not barren. The interior of these desolate 
 mountains — their valleys and their hollows — present many a scene 
 of verdure and beauty. While the same writer, in summing up his 
 impressions, remembers that the mountains were barren, solitary, 
 and desolate, and that the higher he ascended their aspect became 
 more wild and rugged, and rose to sublimity and grandeur — he 
 does not forget that., among these arid wastes of crumbling rock, 
 there were beautiful streams gushing forth from the sides of the 
 mountains ; and sometimes small valleys, where the green grass 
 and shrubs and bushes were putting forth in early spring; and that 
 he saw among the stony mountains of Arabia Petraea more verdure 
 than he had observed since he left the banks of the Nile. 
 
 The spot which has just been referred to, as that by which 
 travellers are now attracted to the mountains of Seir, is the deep 
 hollow in their bosom, whose tall cliffs offer those wonderful sculp- 
 tures and excavations of temples, habitations, and tombs, which 
 compose the ancient metropolis of Edom, now but lately revealed, 
 in the freshness of its beauty, to the admiration of nations which 
 have sprung into existence since it became a desolation. This, and 
 other hollows and valleys of these mountains, exhibit some very 
 striking geological characteristics, which, were they properly dis- 
 criminated, might throw much light on their physical construction. 
 All travellers mention, with wonder and admiration, the beautiful 
 and varied appearance of the rock composing the cliffs which enclose 
 the valley of Petra. “ The whole stony rampart that encircled the 
 city,” says Mr. Stephens, “ was of a peculiarity and beauty which 
 I never saw elsewhere, being a dark ground with veins of white, 
 
 * Laborde, whose authority wo are following just here, appears to includo 
 porphyry with granite in this denomination. 
 
 f The reader must be mindful to distinguish this Wady Ghurundel from an- 
 other of the same name (about midway between Suez and Mount Sinai), men. 
 tioned in the Bible History. 
 
424' 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 blue, red, purple, and sometimes scarlet and light orange, running 
 through it in rainbow streaks ; and within the chambers, where 
 there had been no exposure to the action of the elements, the fresh- 
 ness and beauty of the colours, in which these waving lines were 
 drawn, gave an effect hardly inferior to that of the paintings in the 
 tombs of the kings at Thebes.” Other travellers speak to the same 
 effect ; and Lord Lindsay adds that some of the oldest excavations 
 are almost filled with earth, decomposed from the fragments that 
 are constantly flaking off from the roof. “ I was surprised,” he says, 
 “ to find the stone so crumbling : it must have been as easy to cut 
 as chalk : I could break it easily with my fingers.” Stephens was 
 informed by the Arabs that no stone veined like the rocks at Petra 
 was to be found elsewhere: which at least shows that they knew of 
 none like it. 
 
 A few miles to the north of this place is another valley, or rather 
 defile, called Wady Sig. It has only been described by Lord Lind- 
 say, whose description we quote for the sake of the impression of 
 relief which it gives to the general picture, and of the vegetable 
 products which it specifies : — “ It is one of the most romantic defiles 
 I ever saw : lofty crags, almost perpendicular, tower on each side, 
 deep fissures yawning in their breasts, tufted with evergreens, and 
 single isolated rocks guarding the pass like sentinels : the road winds 
 through a thick wood of sedder, arrah, oleander, and acacia trees, — 
 every shade of green.” 
 
 Still more to the north occurs the broadest valley in the whole 
 chain of mountains. It is that of El Ghoeyr, which, being the only 
 one that offers a passage practicable to any large body of people, is, 
 with good reason, conceived by Colonel Leake to be the “ highway ” 
 through which the host of Israel vainly sought the permission of 
 the Edomites to pass from the western desert into the eastern plains. 
 It is described by Burckhardt as a large, rocky, and uneven basin, 
 considerably lower than the eastern plain, upwards of twelve miles 
 across at its eastern extremity, but narrowing towards the west. It 
 is intersected by numerous wadys* of winter torrents, and by three 
 or four valleys watered by rivulets, which unite below and flow into 
 the great western valley. The Ghoeyr is famous for the excellent 
 pasturage produced by its numerous springs ; and it has, in con- 
 sequence, become a favourite place of encampment for all the Be- 
 douins of these mountains. The borders of the rivulets are over- 
 grown with deflef and the shrub rethem.f The rock is principally 
 calcareous; and there are detached pieces of basalt, and large tracts 
 of breccia, formed of sand, flint, and pieces of calcareous stone. 
 ‘’Calcareous with basalt” is the character which Burckhardt con- 
 tinues to assign to the still more northern part of these mountains. 
 By this he probably means, as he explains near this, that the body 
 of the mountain is calcareous, with its superficies covered with large 
 basaltic blocks. 
 
 The chain of hills is of much less apparent height northward, 
 approaching the Dead Sea, then southward, approaching the Gulf 
 of Akabah ; and among the circumstances which in this part render 
 their aspect less stem and desolate, may be mentioned that the 
 mountains are in parts overgrown with short balout-trees. 
 
 We have now, in the last place, to extend our attention south- 
 ward to the desert region in which the host of Israel wandered 
 many years, and to the mountains venerable beyond all others for 
 the associations which the most ancient history in the world connects 
 witli them. In the conformities which may still be traced in this 
 wild region, with the indications which that history offers, there is 
 much to engage our attention, even were we to neglect the sacred 
 character of the transactions from which those indications arise. 
 But besides this, the region of Sinai is in itself, apart from the sacred 
 interest connected with its deserts and its mountains, so striking 
 and peculiar, as to deserve far more attention than we shall be able 
 to allow it, although we are not without fear that some of our 
 readers, less impressed than ourselves with a sense of the historical 
 and physical interest of this region, may deem that here, and in 
 some future pages, we afford it an undue share of our consideration. 
 
 The basin of the Arabian Gulf, which in its direction presents 
 some analogy with the bed of the Nile, is, like it, divided into two 
 arms at its northern extremity. The triangular space comprehended 
 between these two arms is known under the name of the peninsula 
 of Sinai, and must be regarded as pertaining to Arabia Petrsea. The 
 westernmost of the arms of the Red Sea, which enclose this triangle 
 between them, is called the Gulf of Suez, from the town of that 
 name, situated near its termination ; and the easternmost arm bears 
 
 * The word wady, spelt by the French travellers ouadi, denotes the channel 
 of a stream or river, or any valley or ravine through which a stream flows, 
 whether constantly or only in the winter season. 
 
 f Solanum furisoum. + Genista Roetam, Forsk. 
 
 the name of the Gulf of Akabah, from the fortress which stands near 
 its head. The route of the Israelites, when they proceeded to the 
 mountains of Sinai from Egypt, lay along the borders of the former 
 gulf ; and this is the route which travellers now take. In proceed- 
 ing southward from Suez, they have, for the most part, a range of 
 hills of small importance on their left hand : and these are nearest 
 the road in the north, and gradually recede from it in the progress 
 southward, and ultimately strike oft’ across the peninsula, dividing 
 it. as it were, into two parts. These intersecting hills bear the name 
 of El Tyh, or of the Wandering , which name also belongs to the 
 northern half of the peninsula beyond them ; and are so called by 
 the Arabs in memory of the wanderings of the Israelites. All these 
 hills are of secondary formation, and are markedly disconnected, not 
 only by this formation, but by broad valleys, from the mountains of 
 the south. The intersecting El Tyh hills, which may be regarded 
 as forming the northern boundary of the Sinai mountains, are the 
 most regular ranges in the peninsula, being almost throughout oi 
 equal height, without any prominent peaks, and extending in an 
 uninterrupted line eastward. The opposite coast of this peninsula, 
 on the Gulf of Akabah, consists of a series of bays separated by pro- 
 jecting headlands, and exhibits, in its tall cliffs and capes, traces of 
 primitive formations, which connect it physically with the southern 
 mountains : and we have lately noticed, on the authority of Laborde, 
 that these formations extend into the mountains of Seir as far as the 
 Wady Ghurundel. 
 
 The proper mountains of Sinai, so renowned in Biblical history, 
 are all in the southern part of the peninsula, or that part which is 
 cut off by the El Tyh hills. This southern part, in the midst of 
 which arise the mountains of Horeb and Sinai, presents a space of 
 nearly 1200 square leagues, covered with primitive mountains, prin- 
 cipally porphyritic. All the species of rock which appertain to this 
 formation are here exhibited in an abundance and with a diversity 
 which it would be very difficult to find elsewhere. The French 
 scientific commissioners MM. Roziere and Coutelle, who made a 
 long sojourn in the peninsula and explored much of this southern 
 region, could think of no mountains which appeared to offer so many 
 analogies as those of the Vosges. The nature of the rocks, their 
 dispositions, accidents, passages, transitions, and the forms and ele- 
 vations of the mountains, all suggested very striking resemblances. 
 
 The summits of Mounts Sinai, Horeb, Serbal, and Om Shomar, 
 which are the most remarkable, rise to the height of about 8000 
 feet above the level of the neighbouring valleys, which are them- 
 selves elevated from 500 to 600 feet above the level of the sur- 
 rounding sea. This region is separated from the foot of the 
 secondary chain of El Tyh by a broad sandy plain, which affords 
 good pasturage in spring, but, being destitute of water, is not 
 much frequented even by Bedouins. This plain, on the land side, 
 seems to correspond to others along the sea border, on botli 
 sides, after passing which the ascent begins, through various gently- 
 sloping valleys, to the high central region of Sinai. We can- 
 not clearly make out what extent Burckhardt gives to an obser- 
 vation which he makes soon after the ascent, by the usual road, 
 
 b e <rjns: “The ranges of mountains in this country differ in their 
 
 formation from all the other Arabian chains which I have seen, the 
 valleys reaching to the very summits, where they form a plain, and 
 thence descend to the other side.” We suppose this applies not to 
 the valleys in the high central region itself, but to those in the 
 ascent to it. The traveller lias the lofty central summils in view 
 several days before lie comes to them ; and when he reaches their 
 borders, he finds that abrupt cliffs of granite, from 500 to 600 feet 
 in height, their surface blackened by the sun, surround the avenues 
 leadin'" to the elevated platform to which the name of Sinai is more 
 especially applied. Such cliff’s enclose the holy mountains on three 
 sides, leaving only the east and north-east sides, towards the Gulf 
 of Akabah, more open to the view. It takes about four hours and a 
 half after reaching these cliffs, to arrive at the foot of Mount Sinai, 
 through the defile which is followed by those travellers who take the 
 nearest route from Suez. Arriving here, the traveller finds an ex- 
 tensive Greek convent, like a fortress, situated in so narrow a valley 
 that while one part of the building stands upon the lower slope of 
 Mount Horeb, a space of twenty paces only is left between its walls 
 and the eastern mountains. 
 
 The names of Mounts Horeb, Sinai, Moses, St. Catherine, are 
 applied by travellers in such sort, that the reader is often at a loss 
 to distinguish their application ; and it is only by a careful com- 
 parison of their accounts that he learns that the name of Horeb is 
 now applied to the mountain at whose base the convent stands, and 
 which forms a sort of breast from or upon which rise the twin sum- 
 mits of Mounts St. Catherine and Sinai, which last also bears the 
 name of Moses (Jebel Mousa) : or, in other words, that Mount 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE nOLY LAND. 
 
 425 
 
 Horeb is the base, and Mounts Sinai and St. Catherine the tallest 
 summits, of the same mountain. We are now describing things as 
 they exist, distinguishing them by the names which they currently 
 bear, without pausing to inquire how properly those names have been 
 applied. The name of Sinai, the restricted use of which is thus 
 stated, is, however, applied in a general way, as we have seen, to all 
 these mountains, and, indeed, to the whole of the peninsula. 
 
 The summits of Mounts Sinai and St. Catherine are not visible 
 from the valley in which the convent stands ; and, unless previously 
 prepared, the traveller is astonished, on arriving at the plain at the 
 top of Horeb, to see the formidable ascents which rise before him. 
 A steep ascent up Mount Horeb commences immediately behind the 
 walls of the convent, to facilitate which, steps (said to be 14,000 in 
 number) were anciently cut, even to the summit ; but these are now 
 either destroyed or so much damaged by the winter torrents, as to 
 be of very little use. The ascent takes three-quarters of an hour, 
 exclusively of the opportunity which the traveller may have taken, 
 after twenty-five minutes’ ascent, of breathing a short time under a 
 large impending rock, hard by which is a well of water, cold as ice. 
 At the top of this ascent is a large open space, or small plain, sur- 
 rounded on all sides bj' mountains ; high above all of which rises 
 the lofty summit of Sinai, by which, from this place, the still loftier 
 summit of St Catherine is concealed, as both summits had been con- 
 cealed by Horeb from the valley below. To this part of the moun- 
 tain t he venerable Scriptural name of Horeb is now more especially 
 given ; and here pilgrims generally pause before they assay the diffi- 
 cult enterprise before them. In the centre of the plain stands, 
 enclosed by a stone fence, the only tree in the mountain — a cypress, 
 planted by the monks upwards of one hundred years since ; and near 
 this is a tank which receives the winter-rains, and which is alleged to 
 have been dug by the prophet Elias during his sojourn in the mountain. 
 This name is also borne by an old convent, now deserted, contain- 
 ing a grotto which is said to have been his residence. 
 
 From this plain, a still steeper ascent of half an hour, the steps 
 of which are also in ruins, leads to the summit of Mount Sinai. 
 The plain at the top of the mountain does not exceed sixty paces in 
 circumference, and on this the ruins of an ancient church are still 
 to be seen, and near this, on a somewhat lower point, is a mosque, 
 also in ruins, offering, together, rather a striking testimony of the 
 concurrent respect with which both Christians and Moslems regard 
 the holy mountain. The Jews make no pilgrimages here, nor do 
 any memorials made with hands attest their interest in these moun- 
 tains. And they need none: the rocks themselves, and the wil- 
 dernesses, the valleys, the palm-trees, the bitter waters, and the 
 bounding gulf — all bear witness, lasting as the world, of the close 
 and marvellous connection of their history with the scenes which 
 this wild region offers. 
 
 Some recent travellers have gratified us with an account of what 
 they saw from the summit of this mountain, a view which Burckhardt 
 was prevented by thick fog from enjoying. If he had not left us a 
 full and clear account of what he afterwards perceived from the 
 adjoining and high summit of St. Catherine, this might be much 
 regretted, as few travellers equal him in the avoidance of vague 
 general expressions in description, and in the precision and fulness 
 of his information. In the present instance, Sir Frederick Henniker 
 tells us that if he had to represent, the end of the world, he would 
 model it from Mount Sinai : and afterwards he calls it “ a sea of 
 desolation adding, “ It would seem as if Arabia Petraea had once 
 been an ocean of lava, and that while its waves were literally run- 
 ning mountains high, it was commanded suddenly to stand still.” 
 Laborde, on arriving at the summit, was surprised at the briskness 
 of the air The eye sought in vain, he says, to catch some promi- 
 nent object among the chaos of rocks which were tumbled around 
 the base, and vanished in the distance in the form of raging waves. 
 Nevertheless, he distinguished the Red Sea, the mountains of Africa, 
 and some summits of mountains which were easily recognisable by 
 their shapes ; as Om Shomar, by its rounded masses, Serbal, by its 
 shooting points, and El Tyh, by its immense prolongation. Mr. 
 Stephens also gives an animated glance at the “bleak solitudes and 
 terrible majesty of Sinai,” and is particularly impressed by the sacred 
 associations of “the holy mountain.” That this was really “the 
 holy mountain,” admits of a question : but whatever truth or beauty 
 exists in the feelings which are excited in this or other travellers by 
 sacred associations, are, here at least, scarcely affected by questions 
 respecting the identity of particular mountains ; for while these do 
 not considerably differ in altitude or formation, and it is rather by 
 the whole scene than by the particular mountain that these feelings 
 are excited, there is no question that this region is the scene of the 
 wondrous transactions recorded in the Sacred Books ; — that these are 
 the mountains which quaked when the Lord came down in fire 
 
 3 K 
 
 upon them ; and that these are the valleys which then heard his 
 voice. 
 
 None of those travellers whom we have cited thought it worth 
 their while to ascend to the neighbouring and somewhat taller sum- 
 mit of St. Catherine — an inappropriate name, which it takes from a 
 stupid legend about a female “ saint ” so called. The ascent is con- 
 siderably more difficult than that of Mount Sinai: and those who 
 contemplate the ascent usually go down to the valley which sepa- 
 rates them, and remain till the next morning in the small convent 
 of El Erbayn, or the Forty [Martyrs]. Some, however, return to 
 the great convent at the foot of Mount Horeb, making separate 
 expeditions of the two ascents. Of this number was the candid old 
 traveller Morison, who, with others, tells us that this mountain is 
 not only higher than its neighbour, but is listinguished from it by 
 having no ascending pathway, or any trace of the course by which 
 it is usually mounted ; so that, without such experience as the 
 guiding monks possess, the pilgrim might stray a hundred times 
 from the right track. One of his party lost heart at a tlurd of the 
 ascent, and returned to the convent ; and Morison ingenuously con- 
 fesses that, as he proceeded, he weighed three or four times in his 
 mind the propriety of following tins example, rather than of per- 
 sisting in an undertaking of apparently so much peril and difficulty. 
 “ We found, in fact,” he says, “ certain points which it seemed 
 little easier to surmount than to scale the skies; nevertheless, 
 animated in the end by the example of our Greek monks, who 
 scrambled up like cats, and finding here a small hollow in which I 
 could rest the point of my foot, and there a ledge which I could 
 grasp with my hand, I at last reached the summit.” From the 
 more explicit information of Burckhardt it appears that the worst 
 part is on approaching the highest part of the mountain, which con- 
 sists of a single immense block of granite, the surface of which is 
 so smooth as to render the ascent very difficult. This mountain, at 
 least, is not sterile. The ascent takes two hours. The side of this 
 mountain is noted for its excellent pasturage; herbs sproyt up 
 everywhere between the rocks, and, as many of them are odorife- 
 rous, the scent, early in the morning, when the dew falls, is deli- 
 cious. This luxuriant vegetation reaches up to the granite block 
 which caps the mountain ; which thus, upon the whole, presents a 
 verdure which, had it been turf, instead of shrubs and herbs, would 
 have completed the resemblance which it bears to some of tne 
 Alpine summits. The summit of this mountain, like that of Mount 
 Mousa, terminates sharply, and upon it there is nothing remarkable 
 save a small ancient oratory, built of loose uncemented stones, and 
 hardly high enough within to allow a person to stand upright. 
 
 The summit of Mount St. Catherine commands a most extensive 
 view of the whole region in which it stands. The details compre- 
 hended in this magnificent view have been laid down by Burckhardt 
 with admirable precision ; and the substance of his statement, with 
 contributions from other sources, is necessary to complete the pic- 
 ture of this most interesting region, with which we are endeavouring 
 to furnish our readers. 
 
 From this elevated peak the directions of the different surrounding 
 chains of mountains, and of the valleys which divide and intersect 
 them, can be distinctly traced. It is from hence seen that the upper 
 nucleus of the Sinai, which is composed almost entirely of granite 
 and porphyry, forms a rocky wilderness of an irregular circular 
 shape, intersected by many narrow valleys, and from thirty to forty 
 miles in diameter. It contains the highest mountains of the penin- 
 sula ; and their shaggy and pointed peaks, and steep and shattered 
 sides, render it clearly distinguishable from all the rest of the country 
 in view. It is upon this highest region of the peninsula that the fer- 
 tile valleys which produce fruit-trees are found ; and these are princi- 
 pally at the distance of three or lour hours’ journey from the con- 
 vent, to the west and south-west. Water, from the numerous 
 mountain-springs, abounds in all this region ; and hence the compa- 
 rative fertility of the valleys : for vegetable mould either does not 
 exist or is so scanty, that the gardens of the convent are supplied 
 with earth brought all the way from Egypt on the backs of camels : 
 but in this climate, wherever water is abundant, the very rocks will 
 produce vegetation. It is hence the refuge of all the Bedouins of 
 the peninsula (about 4000 in number) when the low country is 
 parched with consuming droughts ; and hence this region contrasts 
 advantageously with the northern part of the peninsula, which is an 
 absolute desert ; and the inhabitants of the central and southern 
 parts, from the comparisons they are thus led to make, regard their 
 country as the happiest under heaven. The air also is here delight- 
 fully pure and cool. The fell simoom never reaches to this high 
 region ; and at the convent, at the foot of Horeb, the thermometer 
 may be 75°, while in the low country, and particularly near the 
 sea-shore, it will be at from 102° to 10b°, or c\cn 110°. In winter 
 
426 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 the whole of the upper Sinai is deeply covered with snow, which 
 chokes up many of the passes, and often renders the mountains of 
 Moses and St. Catherine inaccessible. Upon the whole, the climate 
 is so different from that of Kgypt, that fruits are nearly two months 
 later in ripening there than at Cairo. 
 
 After this general statement with respect to this upper region, 
 we can the better attend to the particulars of the view which engages 
 our attention from the summit of Mount St. Catherine, which stands 
 nearly in the centre of it. The characteristics to the north of this 
 central region have already been sufficiently indicated for our 
 present purposes. We therefore turn at once to the east, and ob- 
 serve that the slope of the upper mountains is much less abrupt on 
 this than on the opposite side. The mountains in this direction 
 beyond the high district of Sinai, run in a lower range towards one 
 of the principal cross valleys, called Wady Sahl, beyond which, to 
 the east and north-east, the chains intersect each other in many infe- 
 rior masses of irregular height, till they reach the Gulf of Akabah, 
 which was clearly discernible to Burckhardt from mount St. Cathe- 
 rine, when the sun was just rising over the mountains of the Arabian 
 side of the gulf. All the mountains bordering on the gulf are of 
 secondary height, except in the short extent (in about the centre of 
 the line) between Nosveyba and Dahab, where they rise to consi- 
 derable elevation. The country to the south-east, down nearly to 
 the terminating headland of the peninsula, is also occupied by 
 mountains of minor size, and the valleys are so narrow that few of 
 them can be distinguished from our point of view ; and the whole 
 country in that direction appears an uninterrupted wilderness of 
 barren mountains. 
 
 Southward, the view is bounded by the high mountain of Om 
 Shomar, which forms a nucleus of itself, apparently unconnected 
 with the upper Sinai, though bordering close upon it. To the right 
 of this mountain the sea may be distinguished, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Tor, near which begins a chain of low calcareous mountains, 
 called Jebel Hemam [or death], which is separated from the upper 
 Sinai by a broad gravelly plain, called El Kaa, across which the 
 road from Tor to Suez passes. This plain terminates to the W.N. W. 
 of Mount St. Catherine, and nearly in the direction of Mount Serbal. 
 Toward this plain of El Kaa, the central Sinai mountains are very 
 abrupt, and have no secondary intermediate chain between them and 
 the plain at their feet. The mountain of Serbal is separated from 
 the upper plain by some valleys, especially Wady Hebran, and it 
 forms with several neighbouring mountains a separate cluster, ter- 
 minating in peaks, the highest of which appears to be as high as 
 Mount St. Catherine. It borders on the valley of Feiran [Faran, 
 Paran], and being situated to the north-west of the great central 
 cluster of mountains, it is necessarily the first high mountain at 
 which travellers coining direct from the head of the gulf arrive. 
 
 This survey indicates a few objects which we must examine a 
 little more particularly. 
 
 First, there is the southern mountain of Om Shomar, which we 
 do not know that any traveller but Burckhardt has hitherto visited ; 
 and he did not mount the highest summit, which seemed to him im- 
 possible to reach, the sides being almost perpendicular, and the rock 
 so smooth as to afford no hold for the feet. He halted two hundred feet 
 below the top, and there a beautiful view opened upon the Gulf 
 of Suez, and the neighbourhood of Tor, which place was distinctly 
 visible, while the wide plain of El Kaa lay extended at his feet. 
 This mountain consists of granite, the lower part of which is red, 
 while the top is almost white, so as to appear from a distance like 
 chalk ; this arises from the large proportion of white feldspath in 
 it, and the smallness of the particles of hornblende and mica. In 
 the middle of the mountain, between the granite rocks, are broad 
 strata of brittle black slate, mixed with layers of quartz and feld- 
 spath, and with micaceous schistus. The quartz includes thin strata 
 of mica, of the most brilliant white colour, which is quite dazzling 
 in the sun, and forms a striking contrast with the blackened surface 
 
 the white and red granite. 
 
 The mountain of Serbal derives a peculiar interest from the con- 
 sideration which led the Editor of the ‘ Pictorial Bible’ (note on 
 Exod. xix. 2) to conclude that this, and not the so-called Jebel Mousa, 
 is the mount on which the law was delivered to Moses. The present 
 merely descriptive account does not require us to copy the argu- 
 ments on which this conclusion was founded, or to add those further 
 considerations which might be adduced in its support. It is suffi- 
 cient now to remind or apprise the reader that this view has been 
 taken, and to express our conviction that it has not been disturbed 
 by any explorations of the Sinai region which have since been made. 
 
 The French commissioners seem to be the only persons who men- 
 tion this mountain by name, prior to Burckhardt, and he and Kiippel 
 are the only travellers by whom it has been ascended. Dr. Robin- 
 son did not even visit it. It illustrates the singleness of object of 
 
 the old pilgrim travellers, that although they could not but see this 
 remarkable mountain, none of them condescend to notice it in their 
 books, as it was not pointed out to them as connected with any of the 
 circumstances which made this region venerable in their eyes. The 
 only notice of it we have been able to find is in Morison, who men- 
 tions it as “ une haute montagne,” without naming it or giving any 
 description. It has been treated with rather more respect since 
 Burckhardt directed attention to it ; but it is generally despatched 
 in a few lines, in which its general aspect is stated, travellers who 
 come landwise from Suez being careful to reserve their descriptive 
 resources for Mounts St. Catherine and Mousa ; and those who, 
 having come by water to Tor and returning by land, have already 
 been at those mountains, find, by the time they get to Mount Ser- 
 bal, that their resources of this kind are exhausted. 
 
 The mountain has in all five peaks, and Burckhardt says that the 
 two highest of them are those to the east, one of which he ascended. 
 These rise like cones, and are distinguishable from a great distance, 
 particularly on the road from Suez. The ascent is very difficult ; 
 and Burckhardt was completely exhausted by the time he reached 
 the lower summit, to climb to which took him not less than four 
 hours. Here there is a small plain with some trees, and the ruins 
 of a small reservoir for water. After reposing here for awhile, 
 our traveller ascended the eastern peak, and reached its top in three- 
 quarters of an hour, after great exertion ; for the rock is so smooth 
 and slippery, as well as steep, that, although barefooted, he was 
 obliged frequently to crawl upon his belly to avoid being precipi- 
 tated below ; and had he not casually met with a few shrubs to 
 grasp, he would probably have been obliged to abandon the attempt, 
 or have rolled down the cliff. The summit of this eastern peak 
 consists of one enormous mass of granite, the smoothness of which 
 is broken by only a few partial fissures, presenting an appearance 
 not unlike the ice-covered tops of the Alps. The sides of thispeak^ 
 at a few paces below its top, are formed of large insulated blocks, 
 thirty or forty feet long, which appear as if just suspended in the 
 act of rushing down the steep. Near the top there are steps regu- 
 larly formed with large loose stones, which must have been brought 
 from below, and so judiciously are they arranged, that they have 
 resisted the devastations of time, and may still be used for the 
 ascent. Burckhardt was afterwards informed that these steps are 
 the continuation of a regular patli from the bottom of the moun- 
 tain, which is in several parts cut through the rock with great 
 labour. The eastern peak, which from below looks as sharp as a 
 needle, has a platform on its summit, of about fifty paces in circum- 
 ference. On this is a heap of small loose stones about two feet 
 high, forming a circle about twelve feet in diameter. Just below 
 the top, every granite block that presents a smooth surface offers 
 inscriptions, the greater part of which are illegible. Similar in- 
 scriptions are found on the sides of the small caverns, large enough 
 to hold a few persons, which exist between the masses of stone. 
 
 As the eye is very apt to be deceived in estimating the relative 
 height of mountains, Burckhardt hesitates to give any positive 
 opinion as to that of Mount Serbal ; but it seemed to him to be 
 higher than all the peaks, including Jebel Mousa, and very little 
 lower than Mount St. Catherine. 
 
 Riippel ascended the western peak, which he regarded as the 
 highest. He found its height above the sea to be 6342 Paris feet, 
 so that, instead of being higher, it turns out to be 1700 feet lower 
 than the summit of St. Catherine. Its apparently equal or even 
 greater elevation proceeds from its rising magnificently from the 
 midst of far inferior ridges. 
 
 So much has been said of the inscriptions found on the rocks and 
 cliffs of Sinai, that we also may be expected to say something about 
 them. It is remarkable that those near the summit of Mount Ser- 
 bal are alone those which are found on the higher mountains, or 
 which are engraved on granite, if we except such as are found in 
 the valley at the foot of Mount St. Catherine, and which appear to 
 have been the work of pilgrims visiting the rock in that place which 
 is absurdly alleged to be that which was stricken by Moses. With 
 these exceptions, the inscriptions are, in general, little more than 
 scratches on the smooth cliffs, of sandstone and other comparatively 
 soft rocks, of the hills and sides of the valleys in the lower region 
 of Sinai. They consist of writing in characters which no one has 
 been able to decipher, and of rude figures of animals. When the 
 existence of such inscriptions was first made known to the Euro- 
 pean public, some sensation was excited by the notion that they 
 were the work of the Israelites during their sojourn in this region. 
 This notion has long been relinquished ; and although no certainty 
 has been attained, yet, as these inscriptions occur exclusively on the 
 road to Mount Serbal, and from thence to the alleged stone which 
 Moses struck in Rephidim, and from other considerations which we 
 need not now state, it would seem that they were the work of pil- 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 427 
 
 grims — probably in and prior to the sixth century — at a time when 
 Mount Serbal was regarded as the true Sinai of the sacred writings. 
 The animal figures, interspersed or detached, we are disposed to re- 
 gard, with Burckhardt, as not traceable to the same source, but as 
 being the work of the Bedouin shepherds of the peninsula : for 
 while these figures are executed in a ruder manner and with a less 
 steady hand than the inscriptions, they exclusively represent such 
 animals as are natives of the peninsula — as camels, mountain and 
 other goats, and gazelles, but principally the two first ; and it is an 
 ascertained fact, that the present Bedouins of the peninsula are in 
 the habit of carving the figures of goats, at least, upon the rocks 
 and in grottoes. Speaking of the inscriptions which appear on the 
 rocks lying near what always appears to have been a resting-place 
 for pilgrims and travellers, Burckhardt observes, “ they have evi- 
 dently been done in great haste and very rudely, sometimes with 
 large letters and sometimes with small, and seldom in straight lines. 
 The characters appear to be written from right to left, and although 
 mere scratches, an instrument of metal must have been employed, 
 for the rock, although of sandstone, is of considerable hardness. 
 Some of the letters are not larger than half an inch ; but they are 
 generally about fifteen lines in height and four lines in breadth. 
 The same character is seen at the beginning of almost every line, 
 whence it appears that none of the inscriptions are of any length, 
 but that they consist merely of short phrases, all similar to each 
 other, in the beginning at least. They are, perhaps, prayers, or 
 the names of pilgrims, on their way to Mount Sinai, who had rested 
 under this rock.” 
 
 But the principal display of such inscriptions is found in the 
 Wady Mokatteb, or the Written Valley, which lies on the most 
 frequented road to Serbal and Sinai, and where the cliffs are so 
 situated as to afford a fine shelter to travellers during the mid-day 
 hours, to which circumstances may, doubtless, be attributed the 
 numerous inscriptions found in the valley. This valley extends i'or 
 about three hours’ march in the direction N.W. ; in the upper part 
 it is three miles across, having to the left (comi ngfrorn Sinai) high 
 mountains ; and to the right, a chain of lower sandstone hills. 
 Half way down it becomes narrower, and then takes the name of 
 Seyh Szeder. In most places the sandstone rocks present abrupt 
 cliffs, twenty or thirty feet high. Large masses have separated 
 themselves from these cliffs, and lie at their feet in the valley. The 
 
 cliffs and rocks are thickly covered with inscriptions, which are 
 continued, with intervals of a few hundred paces only, for at least 
 six miles ; and similar inscriptions are found, in the lower part of 
 the valley, where it narrows, upon the sandstone rocks of the opposite 
 or north eastern side of the valley. They are exactly of the same 
 kind as those which have already been mentioned. Some of them 
 are cut at the height of twelve or fifteen feet, which must have re- 
 quired a ladder to ascend to them. They are in general cut deepei 
 than those in the granite of the upper country, but in the same 
 careless style. Among these many are evidently Greek, contain- 
 ing, probably, like the others, the names of those who passed here 
 in their pilgrimage to the holy mountain. Some of the latter con- 
 tain Jewish names in Greek characters. There is a vast number 
 of drawings of mountain goats and camels, the latter being some- 
 times represented as laden and with riders on their backs. Crosses 
 are also seen, indicating that the inscribers were Christians. 
 
 We have seen that Burckhardt calls the stone of Wady Mokat- 
 teb, sandstone. Laborde describes it as a crumbly freestone ; and 
 M. de Roziere, viewing and figuring it as a mineralogist, more 
 precisely indicates it as psammite — “the psammite of Mokatteb,’’ 
 and describes it as composed of small quartzose grains, rather un- 
 equal, feebly aggregated, and strewn with micaceous spangles. 
 With this correction as to the nature of the stone, Laborde’s account 
 of the manner in which nature appears to have prepared these vast 
 tablets to receive the writings which they bear, deserves attention. 
 The effect of running waters, as well as of the humidity of the 
 atmosphere, is to undermine the base of the crumbly rocks in which 
 the bed of this valley is hollowed out. Having then no support, 
 they fall away, leaving behind them a smooth and uniform surface. 
 The rocks may be supposed to have been thus undermined at the 
 base when one of those earthquakes, of which evident traces re- 
 main, disturbed them with sufficient violence to cause the whole of 
 the covering so unsupported to fall to pieces. The walls of the 
 valley then appeared such as they are at the present day,— uniform 
 throughout their whole extent, and defended at bottom by the 
 masses which had been detached from them. The pilgrims who 
 passed found these immense tablets too inviting not to multiply 
 upon them their names, their wishes, and the usual exclamations of 
 travellers ; and the rocks, not having then been hardened by the 
 air, easily received the short inscriptions they wished them to bear. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES: 
 
 (') Height of Lebanon, p. 419. — The mountains of Lebanon being 
 the highest in the whole chain of the Syrian mountains, and Jebel Es- 
 sheikh being the highest in Lebanon, it follows that it is also the 
 highest of the entire range. 
 
 That Lebanon is the highest part of all Syria is proved by the course 
 of its two principal rivers, the Orontes and the Jordan, which arising 
 at the opposite extremities of the range, are compelled, by the declivi. 
 ties, to shape their courses, the one to the extreme north, and the other 
 to the extreme south, of Syria. The port of Larneca, in Cyprus, is dis- 
 tant thirty leagues ; but the traveller scarcely leaves it before he dis- 
 covers the higher summits of Lebanon capped with clouds. The height 
 of the summits of the mountains of Libanus or Anti-Libanus has not 
 been measured ; but an approximating estimate may be formed from 
 a comparison of facts furnished by Volney, Burckhardt, Clarke, and 
 others. During winter, the mountains throughout the whole extent from 
 Scanderoon to northern Palestine, are covered with snow; and its dis- 
 appearance or continuance on the advance of summer of course affords 
 a test of comparative elevation with reference to the point of perpetual 
 congelation, which, in this latitude, may be taken at 11,000 feet. Now, 
 in and after the month of March all this snow dissolves, except in the 
 higher regions of Lebanon. The range of Anti-Libanus generally must 
 not be included in this exception : for when Burckhardt reached the 
 summit, so early as March 22, he observes that not only had the heavy 
 rains, usual at the season, dissolved the greater part of the snow, but 
 that he found there some stunted oaks ; circumstances which evidently 
 demonstrate that this must be considerably below the point of per- 
 petual snow; and probably the estimate of 9000 feet, which we have 
 seen, may be correct. Even on the higher summits of the Western 
 Lebanon, where the snow continues later, it disappears as the season 
 advances, unless in the highest cavities, and towards the north-east, 
 where it is sheltered from the sea-winds and the rays of the sun. “ In 
 such a situation,” says Volney, “I saw it still remaining in 1784, at the 
 very time that I was almost suffocated with heat in the valley of Baal- 
 
 | bee.” As, therefore, it is only under a combination of favourable acci- 
 dents that snow remains all the year on the very highest points of 
 Western Lebanon, it is not to be supposed that their elevation exceeds , 
 even if it barely reaches, the limit of 11,000 feet. The southern part 
 of Anti-Libanus, which bears the distinct name of Jebel Es-sheikh 
 (Mount Hermon), is the only portion of the whole that appears to be 
 unquestionably above that limit ; but how much above it our informa- 
 tion does not enable us to state. In one of the best maps of the Holy 
 Land (Palmer’s), the height is given as “ 12,000 or 15,000 feet.” This 
 loose way of stating heights will not do ; but it results, apparently, 
 from the above considerations, that the height of Jebel Es-sheikh 
 cannot well be less than 11,000 feet. Elliot says of this mountain 
 that it is “considered the most elevated peak of Syria, and thought 
 to rival Mount Blanc, though the high land on which it stands detracts 
 considerably from its apparent altitude, and makes it a less impos- 
 ing object than the king of European mountains, as seen from the 
 Italian valley of Aosta.” Dr. Clarke, observing this mountain in July 
 from the plain of Esdraelon, says, “ This summit was so lofty that the 
 snow entirely covered the upper part of it, not lying in patches as, 
 during summer, upon the tops of some very elevated mountains, but 
 investing all the higher part with that perfect white and smooth 
 velvet-like appearance which snow only exhibits when it is very 
 deep.” Elliot, tells us that the mount takes its name of Jebel Es- 
 sheikh, or Old Man’s Mountain, from the resemblance which the viva- 
 cious fancy of the Orientals has traced in the summit of the moun- 
 tain topped with snow, which sometimes lies in lengthened streaks 
 upon its sloping ridges, to the hoary head and beard of a venerable 
 Sheikh. 
 
 ( 2 ) The Mount of Beatitudes, p. 420. — The hill which bears this 
 name is of too little geographical consequence to claim a place where 
 the principal mountains alone are professed to be noticed. But its 
 celebrity as the hill on which the Sermon on the Mount is supposed 
 
428 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 to have been delivered, will not permit us to pass it altogether unob- 
 served. It is about thirteen miles to the south of Safed, the road from 
 which descends for two hours, and then crosses several of the other 
 mountains of Upper Galilee before it arrives at the foot of this mountain. 
 The Mount of Beatitudes, with two projecting summits on one of its 
 extremities, bears some resemblance to the back of a camel, and is 
 itself low, although the plain on which it stands is of considerable 
 elevation, and commands a beautiful prospect. “ In front,” says Mr. 
 Elliot, “there are several ranges of hills rising one above another; the 
 mountains of Upper and Lower Galilee, and the city of Safed, elevated 
 aoove all, like a sentinel on a post of observation : on the left is 
 Tabor ; on the north-west is the long, high range of Lebanon ; and on 
 the right the sea of Tiberias, with the hills of Ituraea and Gauloni- 
 tis.” And with reference to Safed, as the city to which Christ is sup- 
 posed to have directed attention from the Mount of Beatitudes, the same 
 traveller observes, “ Such is the height of Safed, that from every point 
 where it is seen it cannot fail to form the most remarkable feature in 
 the landscape ; and if the position assigned to our Lord, when de- 
 livering his unparalleled discourse, be correct, Bethulia, the ancient 
 Safed, rose in unrivalled majesty immediately before him. ’ — 1 here is no 
 real foundation for the opinion so generally expressed, that Safed was 
 the ancient Bethulia. It is now believed to have been of modern 
 origin; and its castle was, most probably, erected by the crusaders. It 
 was besieged by Saladin, and surrendered to that celebrated Saracen ; and 
 though it again came into the hands of the Christians, it was ultimately 
 taken by the Turks, who made the castle one of their strongholds. 
 A number of Jews resided there ; and the names of some of the most 
 eminent rabbis are connected with the “ schools of Safed.” Of the 
 castle only a shattered fragment of one of the towers now remains ; and 
 though there are still some inhabitants in the ruins, they are in the most 
 wretched state of poverty. — An account of the earthquake which destroyed 
 this city will be fouud at pages 444, 445. 
 
 ( 3 ) Carmel, p. 421. — “ Padre Camillo (one of the monks of the con- 
 vent on Mount Carmel) was unwilling to leave his cave, and as the 
 rain bad again commenced, we remained there for an hour or two 
 longer. ‘What a place for uninterrupted contemplation !’ cried he. 
 
 ‘ Here, indeed,’ spouting out a passage from his favourite historian, he 
 continued, ‘ the plants, the rugged rocks, the moaning of the wind, the 
 prospect of the ocean, the murmuring of streams, the lowing of the 
 herds, the frisking of the flocks, the shady valley, the singing of the 
 birds, the delightful clime, the variety of flowers, the odour of the 
 aromatic herbs, how they refresh the soul !’ This sounded very sweetly 
 in Italian ; and as he delivered it with all his heart, standing in the 
 mouth of the cave as if he had been before an altar, from the very 
 spot where so much was in reality assembled, too, it came with great 
 force, for the catalogue is not overcharged.” — Skinner, i. 103. 
 
 ( 4 ) Levels in Sinai and Palestine, p. 422. — In No. 600 of the 
 ‘ Athenaeum’ there is a report of the proceedings at a meeting of the 
 Geographical Society, when an abstract was read of Mr. Bussegger’s 
 journey from Sinai to Hebron and Jerusalem. • The notice, though short, 
 is exceedingly valuable, from the information which it gives on a 
 subject which has been entirely overlooked by the mass of travellers. 
 We therefore transcribe nearly the whole of it : — 
 
 “ On his return from Egypt at the close of 1838, Mr. Russegger went 
 to Suez, and from that point set out, in a south-east direction, to ascend 
 Mount Sinai ; and he gives a series of barometrical levels, from the 
 shores of the Red Sea, to the summit of Mount St. Catherine, which bv 
 his measurement rises 8168 French feet above the sea. From Mount 
 Sinai he crossed the desert of El Tyh, in a direct north line to Hebron, 
 and obtained twenty-two levels on this route also; from Hebron he 
 went to Bethlehem, and found its elevation to be 2528 feet; and 
 thence to Jerusalem, which he states at 2479 French, or 2640 English 
 feet. 
 
 “ Mr. Russegger devoted much attention to the barometric measure- 
 ments of the level of the Dead Sea; and after other observations, on 
 hanging up his barometer on the shores of that sea, he could no longer 
 continue his observations, for the quicksilver rose to the top of the tube. 
 He then calculates the following depressions : — village Rihhah (sup- 
 posed Jericho), in the valley of the Jordan, 774 feet ; bathing-place of 
 the pilgrims in the Jordan, 1269 feet; and the Dead Sea at its north- 
 ern end, 1319 French feet, or nearly 1400 English feet below the 
 level of the Mediterranean !” 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 429 
 
 CHAPTER II.— GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 
 
 e 
 
 Our information concerning the geology and mineralogy of Pales- 
 tine is remarkably imperfect and indistinct ; for these were matters 
 which the older travellers entirely overlooked ; and the dispersed 
 and incidental notices with which we have more lately been sup- 
 plied are found to be very defective, when an attempt is made to 
 combine their facts in one connected statement. Hasselquist, Shaw, 
 Volney, De Roziere, Seetzen, Clarke, Burckhardt, Irby and Man- 
 gles, Buckingham, Schubert, Dr. Robinson, and Dr. Olin, furnish 
 nearly all the information which can be obtained ; and that is only 
 such as will supply materials for the statement which we have now to 
 offer. That it is a very imperfect one we know ; but are persuaded 
 that it comprises the substance of all existing information, and 
 that nothing of any consequence has escaped our researches. 
 
 Some geological information has been given in the preceding 
 chapter, particularly as regards the mountains of Seir and Sinai ; 
 and indeed all the information which we are now about to supply 
 might have been incorporated with that chapter, had it not seemed 
 more desirable to separate, when it could conveniently be ma- 
 naged, the descriptive from the scientific details. This chapter, 
 therefore, must necessarily assume the form of a scientific appen- 
 dix or sequel to the preceding ; while we shall endeavour, as far 
 as possible, to divest the statements we have to offer of that techni- 
 cal character which might perhaps exclude them from the attention 
 of the general reader. 
 
 Limestone is the prevailing constituent of the mountains of all 
 Syria,* as well as of Asia Minor and Greece. The general cha- 
 racter of the stone of the mountains which^ compose the great cen- 
 tral ridges of Syria, or which ramify from them, is that of a hard 
 calcareous rock, sonorous when struck, and of a whitish or pale 
 yellow colour. It is, in short, a very hard kind of limestone, dis- 
 posed in strata variously inclined, and, like all limestone strata, 
 affording a great number of caverns, to which frequent allusion is 
 made in the Scriptures. Some of them are capable of containing 
 1500 men, and there is one near Damascus which will even afford 
 shelter to 4000. In mountains of this construction it is not un- 
 usual for huge masses of rock to take the shape of ruins of towns 
 and castles. This is remarkably observed in the road from Aleppo 
 to Hamah, but scarcely in any part of Palestine. 
 
 The prevailing character of the constituent rock undergoes, of 
 course, various modifications of texture, colour, form, and intermix- 
 ture, in different parts of the country ; and, commencing at the 
 north, it may be useful to specify some of the appearances which, 
 in different localities, it exhibits, and some of the more remark- 
 able changes which it sustains. But it is to be regretted that the 
 travellers who notice such particulars seldom mention the extent to 
 which their statement is to be understood ; so that it is seldom pos- 
 sible to distinguish whether the recorded appearance is strictly local 
 or of extensive range. 
 
 In the far north — that is, in the hills which bound on the north 
 the plain in which stood the ancient Hamath — the calcareous rock is 
 noticed by Burckhardt as being “ of considerable hardness, and of 
 a reddish yellow colour.” 
 
 That the name “ Lebanon ” is formed from a word signifying 
 whiteness is, we imagine, not because of the snow which, during part 
 of the year, covers the summit, but on account of that whitish 
 colour which has been described as one of the general character- 
 istics of these mountains. This may be exemplified by the observa- 
 tion of Buckingham, who, in his ascent from the sea-shore (at 
 Tripoli) to the cedars, rested on Jebel Ainneto, and there noted that 
 the mountain on which he stood was wholly composed of white 
 limestone of different qualities; and that the lower mountains over 
 
 * As some writers distinguish Palestine and Phoenicia from Syria, we take 
 this opportunity of stating that, wherever we use the name “Syria,” without 
 clearly expressing or implying such a distinction, we use it as a proper and con- 
 venient general name for all that region extending from Asia Minor to the borders 
 ot Arabia and Egypt, of which Palestine and Phoenicia are but parts. 
 
 3 L 
 
 which he had passed, and which now lay under his view, seemed 
 very much to resemble the white hills on the banks of the Jordan, 
 as seen from the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem. This compa- 
 rison is valuable. At a point more elevated in the same quarter, 
 but some miles more to the south, at the point where the name of 
 Jebel Libnan now terminates, Burckhardt observes that the rocks 
 are all in perfectly horizontal layers, some of which are thirty or 
 forty yards, while others are only a few yards, in thickness. 
 
 From carefully comparing the different authorities on the subject, 
 it appears to us that the texture of the rock which lines the valley 
 of the Jordan and its lakes is much less dense than that of Lebanon, 
 or even of that in the central parts of Palestine. It appears also 
 that, along this valley, the density of the rock diminishes as we pro- 
 ceed southward, at least as far as the Dead Sea. We know cer- 
 tainly that the texture of the rock is more loose and light along the 
 valley of the Jordan than it is in Lebanon or in the heart of Pales- 
 tine ; we know also that the stone which lines the basin of the Dead 
 Sea is of still less density than this ; and, although we know not 
 exactly whether the stone of Mount Seir, still more to the south, is 
 more or less dense than that of the Dead Sea, we do know that it is 
 a stone easily wrought, and that its texture is very loose. 
 
 Buckingham speaks of the rock at the ruins near Om Keis as of 
 “ coarse grey limestone,” and it probably extends throughout this 
 district, as Burckhardt speaks of the uniform appearance of the cal- 
 careous stone in all the country between the rivers Mandhour and 
 Zerka. In this neighbourhood — that is, off the south-east of the 
 Lake of Gennesareth — there is a considerable display of that black 
 basaltic rock which we shall hereafter have much occasion to notice. 
 The river Mandhour, which passes to the north of the high plain of 
 Om Keis, towards the Jordan, flows through a deep bed of it ; the 
 western declivities of the same plain are also basaltic ; and eastward, 
 in the way from Hebras to Om Keis, Burckhardt saw alternate layers 
 of calcareous and basaltic rock, with thin layers of flint. None of 
 this appears in the higher mountains southward to the Zerka, which 
 are entirely calcareous ; but the mountain immediately to the south 
 of that river exhibits the calcareous stone with layers of various 
 coloured sandstone, and large blocks of the black basaltic stone of 
 the Haouran. Mr. Buckingham, who crossed the mountains of 
 Gilead a few miles to the south of the same river, notes that the 
 first range of hills, from the Jordan, was generally of white lime- 
 stone, but the second had a mixture of various kinds of rocks, — 
 showing that the diversified appearance which is observed near the 
 bank of the Zerka is prolonged to some distance southward. 
 
 On the west, approaching the Dead Sea from Jerusalem, the hard 
 light-coloured limestone of the hills near that city is exchanged for 
 a limestone of looser texture, sometimes white and sometimes grey- 
 ish, between which are layers of a reddish micaceous stone, or saxum 
 purum micaceum ; the shore of the lake exhibits, in several places, 
 perpendicular strata, formed of reddish brittle earth, which would 
 doubtless in time become slate enclosed in limestone. 
 
 Returning to the east, and ascending southward from the bed of 
 the river Arnon,* we find, in the upper part of the calcareous 
 mountains, the ground covered with large blocks of the black 
 Haouran stone. Lower down, small pieces of mica and petrified 
 shells are also found. Still more to the south, the mountains are all 
 calcareous with flint, and abound in petrified shells. Here also are 
 met with fine specimens of calcareous spath, which the Arabs honour 
 with the name of liadjar ain el sherns, the Sun’s eye. 
 
 The mountains of Seir, or those which extend southward between 
 the Dead Sea and the iElanitic Gulf, need not engage our attention 
 further in this place, as the separate notice which we have given to 
 them embodies all the mineralogical information we have been able 
 to obtain. 
 
 But the Sinai mountains must again engage our attention ; aud 
 • Now Wady Alodjeb. 
 
430 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 in turning to them we may again remind the reader that, while the 
 inclusion of this Arabian region in our account, and the space we 
 are allowing to it, is amply justified by the superior interest in 
 Hebrew history, and the unquestionably superior geological interest 
 of this region to any which the proper limits of Palestine include, 
 our information concerning it is far more ample and precise than 
 we possess concerning any other region of south-western Asia. If, 
 therefore, the confessedly disproportionate attention we afford to it 
 gives occasion for question or remark, it may be sufficient to answer, 
 that the disproportion arises less from any redundance in the account 
 of this region, than from the aspect of meagre brevity which the 
 want of adequate materials obliges us to give to the account of dis- 
 tricts which would in themselves be entitled to an equal measure of 
 notice. 
 
 Before proceeding to furnish the additional information contained 
 in this chapter concerning the geological characteristics of Sinai, it 
 gives us great pleasure to introduce some reflections of M. de 
 Roziere, which he makes in the course of his observations on the 
 engraved representations of mineralogical specimens which are 
 given in the ‘ Description de l’Egypte,’ and which offer very many 
 examples of the Sinai rocks. “ The rocks of Arabia, those of 
 Horeb and Sinai, excite another sort of curiosity — a curiosity not 
 arising from their employment in the arts, but from their association 
 with the famous deeds of the sacred history and the sojourn of the 
 Israelites. The Greek monks, who since the first ages of Chris- 
 tianity have constantly dwelt in this region, profess to have pre- 
 served the traditional knowledge of all the places and of every point 
 which is mentioned in the history of the Jewish people ; and it is 
 this [alleged] power of identification which has excited towards this 
 country the veneration of the Oriental Christians and the fervour 
 of pilgrimages. The traveller of every sect, of every communion, 
 visits, even to this day, with a respectful admiration, the spots in 
 which the might of God was once manifested by so many miracles. 
 These monuments are doubtless viewed under differing impressions, 
 by reason of the diversities of religious opinion ; but they inspire in 
 all men a certain interest, which makes them desire to possess or to 
 retain a clear idea not only of their forms, but of their nature.” On 
 such grounds he explains and vindicates the very particular atten- 
 tion he gives to this region, when his proper subject was Egypt ; 
 and on similar grounds, and with greater propriety, we, whose proper 
 subject is Palestine, explain and justify the attention which we also 
 give to the Sinai mountains. 
 
 Having viewed the mountains of the extensive region which our 
 inquiries embrace, in what may be called the historical direction, 
 from north to south, it may be well to reverse this order for awhile ; 
 and this chiefly for the sake of the Sinai mountains, that we may 
 see clearly, as at both ends, the connections of the general system 
 in which Palestine is involved. 
 
 The mechanical connection of the Sinai mountains, as the culmi- 
 nating mass of the great Lebanon chain, is manifest ; but, although 
 the mechanical connection of these mountains with those of Egypt, 
 on the opposite side of the gulf, is broken by the bed of the Red 
 Sea, the physical connection — the connection of homogeneity — still 
 remains most evident, and requires to be noticed here, though not 
 to be prominently adduced. 
 
 It is, then, observed that all the mountains of the principal chain, 
 from the south-west of the cataracts of the Nile to the north-east 
 of the deserts of Sinai, are primitive. In the southernmost part 
 they belong principally, to the granitic formation, in the middle 
 part to the schistose, and in the northern to the porphyritic. Be- 
 tween the two last we find numerous rocks pertaining to this very 
 interesting formation, composed essentially of feldspath, in confused 
 laminae, and of a large quantity of amphibole (or hornblende), with- 
 out quartz or mica. This is very improperly called syenite by 
 the German geologists ; for it is absolutely foreign to the moun- 
 tains of Syene and the neighbourhood (which certainly belong to 
 the granite formation), although it constitutes the principal moun- 
 tains of Arabia Petraea, and particularly of Mount Sinai, and all 
 the neighbouring summits. For this reason the French scientific 
 commissioners thought it unadvisable to continue to apply to the 
 stone of these mountains the name ( syenite ) which should properly 
 belong to the granite of Syene, but chose rather to modify the name 
 slightly, to bring it into conformity with that of its proper country, 
 calling it Sinaite, and which is in all cases to be understood as the 
 specific name of the principal constituent of the mountains, which 
 travellers unacquainted with terms of more precise distinction de- 
 scribe under the general name of granite. 
 
 M. de Roziere draws a line which divides the primitive from 
 the secondary formation. It commences in the mountains to the 
 west of Elephantine, and is afterwards found, more to the north, on 1 
 
 the other side of the Nile, increasing its distance from that river as 
 it proceeds northward. It traverses, in a very oblique direction, 
 the Troglodytic deserts, and is subsequently met with following the 
 same course in Arabia Petraea. It cuts the axis of the Sinai penin- 
 sula at about three short days’ journey to the north of Mount 
 Sinai, beyond the valley of Feiran ; and appears to be prolonged, 
 in the same direction, to join the mountains of Syria. On this last 
 point M. de Roziere was doubtful ; but his conjectural statement 
 has since been confirmed by the actual observations of Laborde, 
 which demonstrate — as shown in the account which we gave in the 
 preceding chapter — that the primitive formation extends into the 
 mountains of Seir. 
 
 All the mountains to the south of this line are of primitive forma- 
 tion ; while all to the north of it, to the Mediterranean, are of 
 secondary formation, and principally calcareous, with the exception 
 of a band, of varying breadth, composed of mountains of sandstone 
 and pudding-stone, which are almost always found interposed be- 
 tween the primitive and secondary formations. There are, indeed, 
 long ridges of quartzose pudding-stone in the midst of the calca- 
 reous region,* and calcareous mountains are found upon the borders 
 of the Red Sea, in the southernmost of the divisions to which this 
 statement applies ; but these and other exceptions do not interfere 
 with the accuracy of the general definition. 
 
 We have been accustomed to conclude, on the authority of Irby 
 and Mangles, that the first traces, however faint, of ignigenous 
 rocks were to be met with on the southern borders of the Dead Sea, 
 although they are not found elsewhere till we approach the Gulf of 
 Akabah. From the statements of these indefatigable enquirers, we 
 learn that towards the southern extremity of the lake, the low plain 
 between its edge and the foot of the eastern mountains presents 
 innumerable fragments of red and grey granite ; grey, red, and 
 black porphyry ; serpentine, a beautiful black basalt, breccia, and 
 other kinds of stone from the neighbouring mountains. On the 
 other hand, M. Russegger, in his communication to the Geographi- 
 cal Society, expressly declares that he sought in vain, around the 
 basin of the Dead Sea, for any trace of volcanic or Plutonic rocks, 
 porphyry, granite, trachyte, &c., or, indeed, any rock at all resem- 
 bling them. But, as it does not appear that he visited the southern 
 extremity of the lake, to which alone the statement of Irby and 
 Mangles refers, we consider that it leaves their testimony unim- 
 peached, while it serves to show that the appearances which they 
 noticed do not extend to the northern borders of the lake. 
 
 We have already seen that the higher or central region of Sinai 
 is entirely composed of ignigenous or Plutonic rock, granite, or, 
 more precisely, sinaite, forming the principal constituent of the 
 higher mountains. 
 
 The prevailing characteristic of this rock has already been ex- 
 plained to consist in its being almost entirely composed of amphibole 
 and feldspath ; and the object of the present chapter does not require 
 us to enter into the detail of minute variations. Those who seek 
 such information as we withhold, may find it abundantly in the let- 
 ter-press explanations of the mineralogical plates (xi. to xv.) of the 
 4 Description de l’Egypte.’ It may, however, be proper to intro- 
 duce a few particulars, which seem to us the most remarkable or 
 important. 
 
 In one of the mountains which enclose a small oasis in the interior 
 of the Sinai peninsula, between the valley of Feiran and the desert 
 of Nasb, the sinaite is superposed on beds of melaphyre.f Of this 
 last-named species of primitive rock there are extensive banks at 
 about three hours’ march to the north of Mount Sinai. 
 
 In another part of the mountains about this desert (which seems 
 the seat of many noticeable details) the banks of porphyry and 
 sinaite are surmounted by beds of ancient transition limestone. 
 The most remarkable of these is of a fine lilac colour, very com- 
 pact, of great hardness, and a crystalline texture. It contains 
 cavities, generally round or elliptical, holding a white powder, 
 which appears to proceed from the decomposition of small shells, 
 
 * Speaking of this phenomenon in another place, M. de Roziere remarks that it 
 is difficult to render a reason for the existence of mountains of pudding-stone in 
 the midst of a region entirely calcareous. The causes which have produced these 
 masses of siliceous matter are, doubtless, the results of those grand and later cata- 
 strophes which have left multiplied traces over all the globe, and the existence of 
 which is recognised at every step by those naturalists who have explored localities 
 of this geological character. As to the causes, the manner in which they operated, 
 and the means by which these incongruous masses were brought to the situations 
 in which they are found, we have little but a large number of doubtful conjectures. 
 We know only that these rocks are posterior to those by which they are surrounded, 
 and that calcareous beds, now destroyed, have furnished, at least, a part of the 
 silex of which they are composed. 
 
 + This is a black small-grained diabase, much charged with amphibole. It 
 is strewn with crystals of grey feldspath of different sizes, and containing small 
 1 irregular masses of pyrites. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 431 
 
 though on this point our author does not feel assured. Among the 
 primitive mountains which border on this same desert of Nasb, we 
 also sometimes observe thick and perfectly horizontal beds of a 
 beautiful violet sinaite, found reposing on banks of porphyry. We 
 have already, in the preceding chapter, mentioned the immense 
 block which forms the summit of Mount St. Catherine. It is com- 
 posed of one of the varieties of sinaite, and is distinguished by clear 
 colour and neat crystallization from the porphyritic and sinaitic 
 rocks which compose the principal mass. The monks who dwell 
 at the foot of the mountain are thoroughly persuaded that the tables 
 of the law which God delivered to Moses were composed of this 
 rock. In the sinaite of the neighbouring summit — that of Mount 
 Sinai — the crystallization of the feldspath is more confused, the 
 crystals of amphibole are smaller, and those of quartz are more 
 numerous, but also smaller than in the other : mica, of which there 
 are some traces in most of the varieties, is wanting in both of these. 
 
 Burckhardt informs us (though without strict correctness in the 
 comparison) that the granite of this peninsula presents the same 
 numberless varieties as that above the cataract of the Nile and near 
 Essouan ; and tlie same beautiful specimens of red, rose-coloured, 
 and almost purple may be collected here as in that part of Egypt. 
 The transition from primitive to secondary rocks, partaking of the 
 nature of what he calls griinstein or grauwacke, or hornstein and 
 trap, presents also an endless variety in every part of the peninsula. 
 Masses of black trap, much resembling basalt, compose several in- 
 sulated peaks and rocks. On the shore, the granite sand, carried 
 down from the higher mountains, has been formed into cement by 
 the action of the water, and, mixed with fragments of the other 
 rocks, already mentioned, has become a very beautiful breccia. 
 
 The remarkably polished surface which the sinaite in this penin- 
 sula frequently offers has been attributed to the action of minute 
 particles of quartz, and moved over it by the winds during a long 
 succession of ages. The alleged cause is certainly in operation, and 
 is known to be adequate to produce the observed effect. 
 
 It is remarkable that the enormous granitic masses which stand 
 isolated in the valleys of the upper Sinai have been observed to be 
 not of the same kind with any of the beds in the neighbouring moun- 
 tains, from which they might be supposed to have been detached. 
 They are composed almost entirely of feldspath in very distinct red 
 crystals, intermixed with large crystals of quartz, with the slightest 
 possible indications of micaceous laminae. One of the most remark- 
 able of these detached masses is the rock said to have been that struck 
 by Moses in Rephidhn. The mica, joined, in a small quantity, to 
 feldspath and to quartz, gives to this rock a place among the true 
 granites. Its very abundant feldspath is of a pale red colour. 
 Other particulars respecting the rock itself are reserved for another 
 page. 
 
 In the region of Sinai, the granite appears with its customary 
 companions, under various circumstances of association. Greenstone 
 is frequent. The traveller from the mountain of Moses to the Gulf 
 of Akabah, advances to its shore through a valley hemmed in by a 
 chain of high and perpendicular greenstone rocks, and finds that this 
 stone and the granite reach all the way down to the sandy beach. 
 Towards the opposite extremities of the AElanitic Gulf, and, in both 
 instances, at nearly the same height above the sea-level, the green- 
 stone is found with red porphyry and granite. Porphyry is conspi- 
 cuous in other parts of this interesting region. At Tabakat very 
 beautiful porphyry is seen with large slabs of feldspath, traversed 
 by layers of white and rose-coloured quartz. Mountains entirely 
 composed of porphyritic diabase are met with about a day’s journey 
 to the north of Mount Sinai. The crystals of feldspath, which 
 appear so prominent in the prevailing porphyry, are very rare or 
 altogether wanting in this. The prevailing colour of this mass is a 
 greyish green, which sometimes passes into a dark green. Pyrites 
 are disseminated in it, sometimes in considerable masses. 
 
 Epidote forms part of many of the rocks of Arabia Petraea, and 
 is sometimes united with a feldspath white with slight streaks of 
 red. These two substances are frequently associated in the country 
 to the south of Mount Sinai, and principally in the environs of Ras 
 Mohammed, which forms the point of the peninsula. 
 
 The remarks of Burckhardt upon the construction and succession 
 of the lower ranges of primitive mountains form a very instructive 
 sequel to the preceding statement. His observations refer, first, to 
 the mountains which encloses Wady Sal, but admit of a more ex- 
 tended application. “ On the top I found the rock to be granite ; 
 somewhat lower down, greenstone and porphyry began to appear ; 
 further on, granite and porphyry cease entirely ; and the rock con- 
 sists solely of greenstone, which, in many places, takes the nature 
 of slate. Some of the layers of porphyry are very striking. They 
 run perpendicularly from the very summit of the mountain to the 
 
 base, in a band of about twelve feet in w idth, and projecting some- 
 what from the other rocks on the mountain’s side. I had observed 
 similar strata in Wady Genne, but running horizontally along the 
 whole chain of mountains, and dividing it, as it were, into two equal 
 parts. The porphyry I have met w ith in Sinai is usually a red 
 indurated argillaceous substance : in some specimens it had the 
 appearance of red feldspath. In the argill are imbedded small 
 crystals of hornblende or of mica, and thin pieces of quartz at most 
 two lines square. I never saw any large fragments of quartz in it. 
 Its universal colour is red. The lower mountains of Sinai are 
 much more regular shaped than the upper ones : they are less 
 rugged, and have no insulated peaks, and their summits fall off' in 
 smooth curves.” 
 
 One of the specimens of rock from Sinai, which make the most 
 beautiful appearance in the plates of the ‘ Description de l’Egypte,’ 
 is named, by M. de Roziere, talcose quartz ; and we are told that it 
 forms very extensive beds towards the middle of the route which 
 leads from Mount Sinai to the extremity of the peninsula. This 
 quartz offers some slight lamellar appearances, and there are several 
 varieties of it. Sometimes feldspath is associated with the quartz. 
 The rocks in which the quartz most predominates divide themselves 
 into cuneiform fragments, the greenish surfaces of which, clouded 
 with red and yellow, are ornamented with beautiful, dark, and 
 thickly-tufted dentrites. We do not know that we have met with 
 any notice of simple quartz, as comprehended within the range 
 which our inquiry embraces, except in Hasselquist, who tells us that 
 all the stones on the shore, at the north-western extremity of the 
 Dead Sea, were quartz of different colours and sizes, of which those 
 pieces nearest the water’s edge were incrusted with an impure salt. 
 
 The presence or absence of mica has frequently been mentioned 
 in describing the composition of the granites of Sinai ; but, except- 
 ing the thin strata of brilliantly white mica which occurs in the 
 quartz layers of Om Shoinar, as mentioned in the account of that 
 mountain which is given in the preceding chapter, we find no notice 
 of it, otherwise than in such composition, within the whole range 
 of our inquiry, saving that Burckhardt found small pieces of it at 
 the foot of the calcareous mountains on the south of the river Arnon. 
 
 Gneiss is found abundantly in every part of the Sinai peninsula ; 
 but we do not find its presence indicated by travellers in any other 
 part of the region over which our inquiry extends. 
 
 Sandstone, which sometimes occurs with the common calcareous 
 stone, which is the more general constituent of the mountains, as 
 well as with the black stone of the Haouran, is very frequently met 
 with, particularly in the eastern country, and more especially in the 
 south. Burckhardt observes that the whole coast of Syria, from 
 Tripoli to Beirout, appears to be formed of sand, accumulated by 
 the prevailing westerly winds and hardened into rocks. If it were 
 not indispensable to adhere to ascertained facts, it might be pre- 
 sumed that the same cause produced the same effect in, at least, 
 some portions of the coast to the south of Tripoli. Sandstone also 
 abounds on the shores and among the lower mountains of the Sinai 
 peninsula. To the north-east of the higher mountains the cal- 
 careous and sand rocks succeed simultaneously to granite of the 
 grey, small-grained species, in a valley, the bottom of which is 
 covered with deep sand. Farther on (E.N.E.), travellers pursue 
 their way between sandstone rocks, which present their smooth, 
 perpendicular sides to the road. Some of them are red, others of a 
 white colour ; the ground being still deeply covered with sand. In 
 these rocks, the traces of torrents are observable as high as three or 
 four feet about the present level of the plain. In a barren valley, 
 more eastward, sandstone is seen again to alternate with granite ; 
 and another valley (Wady Boszeyra), farther on, is wholly inclosed 
 by grey granitic rocks, which the Arabs hew for mill-stones. Sand- 
 stone, red and white, forms some of the cliffs on the Sinai shore of 
 the Gulf of Akabah. In like manner, sandstone succeeds to granite 
 on the road leading from the upper mountains of Sinai to the Gulf 
 of Suez, on the way to the town of that name. At the place where 
 the granite finishes and the sandstone begins, rock salt is found 
 among the latter. Speaking generally, we may say that a sand- 
 stone region succeeds to the primitive region of the Sinai peninsula, 
 and separates it from the calcareous region of the north and north- 
 east. Its ridges are of no great elevation ; and where it lines the 
 great valley (of Mokatteb), on the road to Egypt, and other trans- 
 versal valleys of the peninsula, it presents long escarpments, covered 
 with a prodigious number of those inscriptions, in different languages 
 and characters, which engaged our attention at the end of the pre- 
 ceding chapter. Sandstone continues to be very common north- 
 ward from Sinai, till we reach the Wady el Ahsa, near the southern 
 extremity of the Dead Sea. The rock of that valley is chiefly com- 
 posed of this stone ; but to the north of that point it is met with 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 432 
 
 very rarely. One of those rare instances of its occurrence in the 
 mountains south of the Zerka, in connection with calcareous rock 
 and the black basaltic stone of the Haouran, has already been noticed ; 
 and in connection with the latter it is also found so far north as 
 Jebel Heish, to the east of the lake Huleh. 
 
 In the present chapter we have, in general, enumerated the sub- 
 jects which have engaged our notice in that order which the natural 
 conditions and associations of the region examined seemed to render 
 most expedient, without paying minute regard to, or even altogether 
 overlooking, the principles of a scientific arrangement. Thus we 
 first noticed limestone, as the principal characteristic of Syria, 
 and then proceeded to the primitive or igneous rocks of Sinai, these 
 being the two principal subjects of attention ; and we have just 
 noticed the sandstone, because it is in the third degree important, 
 as supplying the connecting link between the limestone of Syria 
 and the granites of Sinai. In a stricter arrangement, the black and 
 apparently igneous rock, which figures more or less conspicuously 
 along the whole eastern margin of the region passing under our 
 review, should have engaged our earlier notice ; but, being so 
 irregularly connected with the local system, it seemed better to 
 reserve it for this place, at the head, as it were, of the somewhat 
 miscellaneous notices which will occupy the remainder of this chapter. 
 This stone occurs so far north as El Bara, forty miles south by west 
 from Aleppo, and extends, as we have seen, to the peninsula of 
 Sinai. It is the principal constituent of the hilly and rocky districts 
 eastward in the Haouran ; and, in the country nearer the Jordan, 
 through the defined extent, it oecurs in masses, generally detached. 
 Burckhardt calls this stone by various names, as tufwacke, basalt, 
 black trap, and black stone of the Haouran. Seetzen uniformly 
 calls it “ basalt ” — on which Burckhardt observes, that he rather 
 conceives this black and heavy stone to belong to the species called 
 tufwacke by the Germans. He adds that this stone gave occasion 
 to the ancient opinion that there were mountains of iron on the east 
 side of the Jordan ; and even now the Arabs believe that these 
 stones consist chiefly of iron ; and travellers are often asked if they 
 know any process by which it may be extracted. It is to be re- 
 gretted that in his various geological notices he does not adhere to 
 one denomination for this stone ; so that it is not always easy to 
 distinguish his intimations. On the upper part of the calcareous 
 mountains which border the river Modjeb (Arnon) on the south, 
 large blocks of it are found, of a more porous texture than in most 
 other places. The mountain which borders, on the south, the river 
 Zerka (Jabbok), is composed of calcareous stone, with layers of 
 various-coloured sandstone and large blocks of this same black stone. 
 The more northern river of Mandhour is described as flowing through 
 a bed of tufwacke ; but whether the black Haouran stone is here 
 intended, we are unable to distinguish. This stone is sometimes 
 exhibited in alternate layers with other strata. Thus at Szalkhat, 
 in the Haouran, Burckhardt notes, “ the hill upon which the castle 
 stands consists of alternate layers of the common black tufwacke of 
 the country, and of a very porous, deep red, and often rose-coloured 
 pumice-stone. In some caverns formed of the latter, saltpetre 
 collects in great quantities.” 
 
 In the district west of the lake of Gennesareth — or on the route 
 from Nazareth to Tooran, and, more particularly, between Cana 
 and the latter place — “basaltic phenomena” were noticed by Dr. 
 Clarke. The extremities of columns, prismatically formed, pene- 
 trate the surface of the soil, and render the journey rough and 
 unpleasant. The learned traveller adds, “ These marks of regular 
 or of irregular crystallization generally denote the vicinity of a bed 
 of water lying beneath their level .... Nothing is more frequent in 
 the vicinity of very ancient lakes, in the bed of considerable rivers, 
 or by the borders of the ocean. Such an appearance, therefore, in 
 the approach to the Lake of Tiberias, is only a parallel to similar 
 phenomena exhibited by rocks near the Lakes of Locarno andBolsenna 
 in Italy; by those of the Wenner lake in Sweden; by the bed of 
 the Rhine, near Cologne, in Germany ; by the valley of Ronca, in 
 the territory of Verona ; by the Giant’s Causeway of the Pont du 
 Brindon in Venice; and by numerous other examples in the same 
 country ; not to enumerate instances which occur over all the 
 islands between the north coast of Ireland and Iceland, as well as in 
 Spain, Portugal, Arabia, and India.” 
 
 On the other side of the river, at a point to the south-east of the 
 lake, where the high eastern plain terminates at the valley of the 
 Jordan, the cliffs are entirely basaltic. Ranges of black basaltic 
 cliffs appear also on the western coast of the iElanitic Gulf, in some 
 of which the sea has worked creeks appearing like so many little 
 lakes, with very narrow openings towards the sea, and full of fish 
 and shells. 
 
 We have scarcely found any notices of the presence of slate, ex- 
 
 cepting about the Dead Sea. Hasselquist mentions that slate is seen 
 in the bordering mountains, and declares it to be asphalte changed 
 into slate ; by which description we suppose it is to be regarded as 
 bituminous shale. He also notes that there are perpendicular layers 
 of a lamellated brown clay in the common clay of the banks, and 
 asks, “Is this imperfect slate?” If so, as seems likely enough, 
 there are two formations of slate going on in this neighbourhood — 
 one from asphalte and the other from clay. The same traveller 
 also observes that he saw “ schistus, — slate resembling flint, scat- 
 tered here and there on the banks.” Some slight appearances 
 of mica slate, in the primitive region of Sinai, have already been 
 indicated. 
 
 In many places along the coast of Syria, including Palestine, the 
 hard calcareous stone is surmounted by rocks of a soft, chalky sub- 
 stance, which includes a great variety of corals, shells, and other 
 marine exuviae. Upon the Kesrouan mountains, above Beirout, 
 there is another curious bed, likewise of whitish stone, but of the 
 slate kind, every flake of which enfolds a great number and variety 
 of fishes. These, for the most part, lie exceedingly flat and com- 
 pressed, like the fossil fern-plants; yet, at the same time, they are 
 so well preserved, that the smallest fibres and lineaments of their 
 fins, scales, and other specific distinctions, are easily distinguished. 
 Among these are specimens of the squilla , which, although one of 
 the tenderest of the crustaceous family, has not sustained the least 
 injury from pressure or friction. Dr. Shaw, to whom we owe this 
 information, adds, that the greater part of the mountains of Carmel, 
 and those in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, offer 
 the like chalky strata. In the chalky beds which surround, in some 
 parts, the summit of Carmel, are found a great many hollow stones, 
 lined in the inside with a variety of sparry matter, which, from 
 some distant resemblance, are supposed by the natives to be petrified 
 olives, melons, peaches, and other fruit. These are commonly 
 bestowed upon pilgrims, not only as curiosities, but as antidotes 
 against several distempers. Those which bear some likeness to the 
 olive have been honoured with the title of lapides judaici, and are 
 superstitiously regarded as a sovereign remedy against the stone 
 and gravel, when dissolved in the juice of lemons. These supposed 
 petrified fruits are, however, as the Doctor states, only so many 
 different sizes of round, hollow, flint-stones, beautified within by a 
 variety of sparry and stalagmitical knobs, which are made to pass 
 for as many seeds and kernels. 
 
 That very marked and conspicuous feature of the coast, the White 
 Cape,* below Tyre, derives its name from the whiteness which it 
 owes to the chalky character we have described. Flints are, as 
 usual, found embedded in the chalk. 
 
 Inland, there are manifestations of chalk as far north as the 
 sources of the Jordan. Thus the mountain of Bostra is of chalk, 
 over the surface of which pieces of feldspath of various colours are 
 strewed. But, southward from this, we find little more of it till we 
 come to about the parallel of the northern extremity of the Dead 
 Sea, almost twenty miles from which, eastward, large indications of 
 chalky strata appear. It there forms the soil of the plain, and 
 proceeding southward, the soil is alternately chalky and flinty. In 
 much of the early part of its course the river Arnon has worn its 
 bed through the chalky rock. Beyond this the mountain over which 
 the traveller from the north must pass before he reaches Kerek, is 
 entirely composed of chalk and flint. These cretaceous indications 
 occur occasionally in the further progress southward, and abound 
 in, and on the approach to, the peninsula of Sinai. In one place 
 Burckhardt speaks of the “ lower chalk mountains all around the 
 peninsula,” as distinguished from the high primitive mountains of 
 the interior, in such a manner as to intimate their frequency in the 
 lower country and on the borders of the coast. The eastern coast 
 of that peninsula, on the Gulf of Akabah, consists of a succession of 
 bays, separated from one another by projecting headlands or pro- 
 montories. Some of these headlands are of chalk. Burckhardt 
 mentions one (Abou Burko) which he was an hour in doubling, as 
 he travelled along the beach, and which was entirely a chalky rock 
 whose base was washed by the sea. This traveller first arrived at 
 the sea-side, about eighteen miles to the south of this point, and there 
 he observes that the grunstein and granite rocks reach all the way 
 down to the sandy beach ; but, at the very foot of the mountain, a 
 thin layer of chalk appears just above the ground. On approaching 
 this part of the coast from the interior, he had to pass through a 
 valley of deep sand covered with blocks of chalk rock. Similar in- 
 dications are afforded on the opposite side of this peninsula, towards 
 the Gulf of Suez, as well as in the level soil of the desert which 
 occupies its northern part. Thus the hills which enclose the barren 
 
 * The Album Promontorium of the ancients, now called Ras el Abaid ; both 
 names having the same signification. 
 
GEOGIUFIIY OF TTIE nOLY LAND. 
 
 433 
 
 valley of Wadv Autara,* consist of clialk anil silex in irregular 
 strata — the silex sometimes quite black, at oilier times taking a 
 lustre and transparency much resembling agate. In the northward 
 desert, the present name of which (klTvh) commemorates t lie 
 « wanderings” of the children of Israel therein, low hills of chalk 
 occur, as well as frequent tracts of chalky soil, for the most part 
 overspiead with Hints. 
 
 Indeed, Hints abound in nearly all the plains and valleys through 
 which the Hebrew host marched during the forty years which 
 passed away, from the time that they departed from the land of 
 F.Ltypt until they encamped in the plains of Moab, before crossing 
 the river Jordan. The preceding notice of the chalky districts 
 also serves to indicate the localities of flint ; for here, of course, as 
 elsewhere, chalk and flint occur in constant connection. Theflinty 
 nodules are, however, not confined to the chalky tracts, but appear 
 also in sandy plains and valleys. The presence of siliceous strata 
 i:i the chalk hills of Sinai has just been noticed. 
 
 We have, on. more than one occasion, mentioned the chains of 
 hills which bound, on the east and west, the great valley that ex- 
 tends from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah. The western 
 hills were cros-ed by llurckhardt at a point about thirty-five miles 
 from the head of the gulf, where he observes, — the chain “is inter- 
 sect d bv numerous broad wadys, in which the talk-tree grows: the 
 rock is entirely siliceous, of the same species as that of the desert 
 which extends from lienee to Suez. I saw some large pieces of 
 flint perfectly oval, three to four feet in length, and about a foot 
 and a half in breadth.” Passing these hills, the western desert 
 presents to the traveller’s view its immense expanse of dreary 
 country, covered with black flints, with here and there some hilly 
 chains rising from the plain. It is a remarkable circumstance that 
 the presence of loose flints in this very desert is noticed, inci- 
 dentally, in the Scriptural account of the journey of Moses from the 
 land of Midian to Egypt. 
 
 “ Coal” is a word which sometimes occurs in our translation of 
 
 the Bible; but it must always be understood to denote charcoal, as 
 
 distinguished from raw wood for fuel. The ancients, including the 
 © 
 
 Hebrews, if they knew the combustible properties of mineral coal, 
 never appear to have thought of using it for fuel; nor do the 
 Orientals use it to this day. Indications of coal are exhibited in 
 various parts of the Lebanon mountains. Here and there a narrow 
 seam of this mineral protrudes through the superincumbent strata 
 to the surface; and we learr. from Mr. Elliot that the enterprise 
 of Mohammed Ali did not suffer even this source of natural 
 wealth to escape his notice. At Cornale, eight hours east from 
 Beirout, and two thousand five hundred feet above the level of the 
 6ea, where the coal-seams are three feet in thickness, Mr. Brettel, 
 an English engineer, was employed, under his orders, in excavating 
 the coal, which proved to be of a good quality, and mixed with iron 
 pyrites iu large quantities. It was now transported to the sea-coast 
 on mules; but to obviate the expenses of this mode of carriage it 
 was said to be in contemplation to make a railroad to convey it to 
 Beirout, and there to establish a depot. What has become of these 
 operations since Mohammed Ali lost possession of Syria does not 
 appear. 
 
 The lately preceding notice of the cretaceous formations of this 
 country have given occasion for the mention of various petrifac- 
 tions which they contained. We now proceed to register such 
 facts, relating to petrifactions, as have not thus been anticipated. 
 The whole subject has been much neglected by travellers, or at- 
 tended to so slightly, that even those who do make some reference 
 to it, rarely state to what species the organized remains belong. 
 We have little to add respecting the petrified matters found on the 
 Mediterranean coast. Volney, indeed, mentions a quarry of schis- 
 teous stone in the Kesraoun, at a little distance from the sea. be- 
 tween Batronn and Jebail — the flakes of which bear the impression 
 of plants, fishes, shells, and especially the sea-onion. They seem, 
 as we have already intimated, to be most abundant about the sea- 
 ward bases of the Kesraoun and Lebanon mountains, and particu- 
 larly in places to the north of Beirout. At the base of that range 
 of Lebanon mountains to the north-east of Tripoli, which bears the 
 name of Jebel Turbul, and near the fountain of Bedoowee, are 
 found numerous stones, white and soft, but compact and moderately 
 heavy; and when these are opened they exhibit the impressions, 
 and even the skeletons, of different sorts of fi.-hes. D’Arvieux 
 opened several pieces, and in some he found most perfect and 
 delicate skeletons of fi.-hes, exhibiting the head, the body, the tail, 
 the fins, entire in the finest parts; and the whole easily separable 
 from the substance in which they were entombed ; while the rest, 
 
 * Probably the Mnrah of the Hebrew pilgrimage. 
 
 3 M 
 
 without the least trace of the bones, offered impressions of the same 
 parts as clear and perfect as if graven wiih the burin. Mr. Elliot, 
 also, procured from the village of Hakil, four miles to the north- 
 east. of Jebaile, and from Boobda two hours south-east of Beirout, 
 some beautiful spars and fossil shell-fish, with a box full of fish 
 embedded in lime, like those found at Lyme Regis, on the coast, of 
 Dorsetshire. Volney says that he never saw, or heard it said, that 
 there were petrified shells in the higher regions of Lebanon : nor 
 do we find any notice of such ; unless it be that Burckhardt, in 
 ascending to the higher summits, found a small petrified shell, and 
 discovered a similar petrifaction on breaking a stone, which he 
 picked up on the very summit, before descending to the cedars. 
 
 W e are also informed by Volney that the bed of the torrent at 
 Ascalon is lined with a heavy stone, porous and salt, which con- 
 tains a meat number of small volutes and bivalves of the Mediter- 
 © 
 
 tanean. l’oeocke found a large quantity of them in the rocks which 
 border on the Dead Sea. The quantity of shells in various states 
 around this lake, but not near its waters, seems indeed to be very 
 remarkable. Not to mention the myriads of small iinpettified shells 
 which are strewn over the plain at its northern extremity, it may 
 be observed that t lie calcareous mountains w hich are near Iverek, 
 to the east from the southern extremity of the Asphaltic lake, 
 abound in petrified shells ; and some of the rocks consist entiiely of 
 small shells. Such shells are also found in great numbers iu the 
 ascent, southward, from the deep valley of the river Anton (now 
 Modjeb) to the high plains. 
 
 In the far southward prolongation of the same line, that is, on 
 the Sinai shore of the iElanitic Gulf, shells are found in precisely 
 similar combinations. The largest plain on this coast is that be- 
 tween Slierm and Nakb, towaids the extremity of the peninsula. 
 The whole of this plain appears to be alluvial ; and many petrified 
 shells are found embedded in the chalky and calcareous soil. Al- 
 luvial deposits, in a state more fresh and recent, are found in an 
 opposite quarter of the peninsula, that is, in the de.-ert somewhat 
 to the north by east of the present head of the Gulf of Suez. Here 
 Burckhardt notes, “ The plain was covered with a saline crust, and 
 we crossed a tract of ground about five minutes in breadth, covered 
 with such a quantity of small white shells that it appeared at a 
 distance like a strip of salt. Shells of the same species are found 
 on the shores of the lake of Tiberias. Once, probably, the sea 
 covered the whole of this ground.” We notice this here, as every 
 «eolo<rical or other indication of alteration at the head of the Gu.. 
 
 © O 
 
 of Suez is of high importance in regard to the passage of the 
 Hebrew host, through its waters. 
 
 There are many traces of fossil shells on the eastern borders of 
 the Red Sea; and they are nearly all such as still exist in the sea 
 itself. Several hours’ journey to the south of Suez, there are 
 extensive beds composed principally of the large shell, known to 
 naturalists by the name of camu cigas. The beds in which it is 
 four.d are elevated several feet above the edge of the sea, embedded 
 in a fine calcareous gravel, the particles of which had acquired a 
 certain degree of adhesion. On the same coast, in the route from 
 the bay of Ghuriindel to the thermal fountains of Earoun, and at 
 the height of one hundred and fifty feet above the water-mark, 
 quantities of two species of echinite are found reposing on a bed of 
 compact limestone, with which, however, they are not in adhesion. 
 It would seem that they were formerly retained iu some ftiable bed 
 which has been destroyed, — the usual cause of the isolation of 
 echimtes. 
 
 The promontory which detaches itself from the point of the 
 peninsula to form the port of Ras Mohammed, where sometimes the 
 vessels anchor which come from Mocha and Yemen, is a rock 
 formed of petrified madrepores; some parts of which have, how- 
 ever, still preserved their natural state. Even in the parts which 
 are completely petrified, it is often easy to distinguish the tissue of 
 the madrepores of which they are formed, although their cells are 
 filled with calcareous infiltrations. 
 
 In the deserts bordering on the Isthmus of Suez, and particularly 
 in those paits where the lulls are of friable stiala. the soil is prin- 
 cipally of a quartzose gravel, produced by their detrition. In this 
 gravelly soi', which envelopes the foot of the mountain, are found 
 many fragments, and even entire trunks, of petrified trees, of ttp- 
 waids of ten or twelve feet in length. It is readily perceived that 
 these trees belong to different species; but the palm-tree and the 
 seual, or desert acacia, alone can be identified ; all the others offering, 
 iu their petrified state, characteristics too equivocal to allow their 
 species to be determined. The perfect preservation and the size 
 of the petrified trunks, thus found enveloped in the sands, not 
 embedded in or forming part of any rocks, as well as various other 
 circumstances enumerated by M. de Iioziere, appear very clearlv 1 
 
43t 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 to intimate that they were not brought from any distance, but that 
 they pre-existed, and were entire on the arrival of the petrifying 
 influence in the place where they grew. That these trees were 
 produced in the desert posterior to the formation of mountains of 
 pudding-stone, is not in itself very likely ; lor in these countries, 
 where vegetation is so rare, it is only in deep valleys, or in places 
 which are rendered, by the disposition of the surrounding soil, the 
 receptacles of water, that we now find any living trees ; and no 
 doubt it has been the same in all ages. With respect to the acacia, 
 it should be observed that it still grows in the deserts adjoining 
 and forming the Isthmus of Suez, where petrified specimens of 
 wood very frequently occur. Among the other petrified specimens, 
 some appear to be those of the aloe and sycamore ; but on this 
 point, and from the causes we have stated, no certainty is realised. 
 
 Palestine is abundantly supplied with salt from the shores of the 
 Dead Sea and of the Mediterranean. Remembering that Moses 
 describes the borders of the Dead Sea as a land of “ salt and 
 burning,” attention is naturally turned to that quarter in the first 
 instance. The intense saltness of the water of that lake has been 
 supposed to proceed from strata or masses of rock-salt within its 
 basin. This conjecture, as far as regards the bottom of the lake, 
 cannot of course be verified. But there are indications on the 
 shore by which it is favoured. Captains Irby and Mangles found 
 several large fragments of rock-salt on the plain southward of the 
 lake ; and being led by this to examine the hill to the right of the 
 ravine by which they had descended to the shore, they found it to 
 be composed partly of salt, and partly of hardened sand. The salt 
 was seen in many places to be hanging from the cliffs in clear 
 perpendicular points, resembling icicles. Strata of salt of con- 
 siderable thickness were observed, mixed with very little sand, and 
 generally in perpendicular lines. There were also appearances 
 which seemed to indicate that, during the rainy season, the torrents 
 bring down immense masses of the mineral. Altogether, that 
 which the travellers here witnessed seemed, to their minds, to 
 divest of improbability the account of Strabo, who states that, to 
 the south of the Dead Sea, there were towns and villages built 
 entirely of salt. 
 
 Strata of rock-salt are also found southward, in the desert of El 
 Tyh, and, still more to the south, even in the valleys of Sinai. In 
 several parts of the road through the former the traveller observes 
 holes out of which rock-salt lias been dug ; and in the cliffs which 
 bound some of the latter, rock-salt is seen among the sandstone. 
 In this last neighbourhood it is also obtained by excavation. It is 
 white, and perfectly clean : “ They showed us some.” says Lord 
 Lindsay, “ fit for the table of an emperor.” 
 
 Salt is abundantly deposited by the waters of the Dead Sea. 
 The water encroaches more or less upon the shore according to the 
 season, and dries off into small shallows and small pools, which in 
 the end deposit a salt as fine and as well bleached as that of regular 
 salt-pans. A solid saline surface, sometimes several inches thick, 
 is often thus formed. So much of this salt as the market requires 
 is collected and taken away on the backs of asses. Irby and 
 Mangles saw several persons thus employed. The briny waters of 
 this lake leave a saline crust on whatever they receive or cover ; 
 the drift wood is so impregnated with salt that it cannot be made to 
 burn ; the loose stones on the shore become covered, as in the salt- 
 pans, with a calcareous and gypseous incrustation ; and the crumbly 
 clay of the shore is also deeply impregnated with salt. 
 
 Sea-salt may of course be obtained by the proper measures, on 
 the Mediterranean coast; and it appears that this source of supply 
 was not in ancient times neglected. The rocks, in several places 
 along the shore, were hollowed into a great number of troughs, 
 two or three yards long, and of a proportionate breadth ; intended 
 originally for as many salt-pans, where by continually throwing in 
 the sea-water to evaporate, a large quantity of salt would be 
 gradually concreted. In most cases now, however, the rocks 
 notwithstanding their hardness, have in the course of ages been so 
 worn down by the waves, that the bottoms of the pits are scarcely 
 below the general level. Salt is also spontaneously deposited in 
 proper situations. Some of the people with Rauwolff collected 
 near Zib (Achzib) as much as filled a large sack, while others were 
 employed in catching fish and seeking oysters. As the salt-pans 
 mentioned were exclusively found on the coast of Phoenicia and 
 Syria, and not on those of the proper Jewish territory, we may 
 perhaps collect that the Hebrews were sufficiently supplied with 
 salt from the Dead Sea. (') 
 
 Saltpetre is produced abundantly in the eastern country of the 
 Haouran, particularly in and about the Ledja. It is found in the 
 caverns of those rocks of “ black tufwacke ” which have been so 
 often mentioned in the notices of this part of the country. All the 
 
 houses of the Haouran — the greater part of which are of ancient 
 date — are built with this stone ; and in the earth dug up among 
 their ruins saltpetre is abundantly found. The saline earth from 
 which it is extracted is also found in the open plains, to the productive 
 spots in which the people are guided by the appearance of the 
 ground in the morning before sunrise. Wherever the surface then 
 appears the most wet with dew, the soil is found to be impregnated 
 with the salt. It will be recollected that Captains Irby and 
 Mangles also found lumps of nitre on the south-east shore of the 
 Dead Sea. 
 
 The existence of natron, or carbonate of soda, is not confined to 
 the deserts on the west of Egypt. On the eastern border of the 
 Red Sea some traces of it may be found in the tepid waters of the 
 Fountains of Moses, and in the hot waters of Hammam Faroun, 
 and some efflorescences of natron may be found at Tor, and in the 
 vicinity of Sherm : but we do not find it accumulated in any con- 
 siderable quantities ; but only such traces of it as these, in places 
 where the calcareous soil has been impregnated with marine salt. 
 The interior of the deserts, in the northern part of Sinai, towards 
 Egypt on the one hand, and towards Palestine on the other, offers 
 here and there, after rains, slight efflorescences of natron inter- 
 mixed with marine salt. 
 
 In declaring to the Israelites the benefits and rich endowments 
 of that Promised Land of which they were about to take posses- 
 sion, their great leader informed them that it was “ a land whose 
 stones were iron, and out of whose hills they might dig copper.”* 
 And that such proved to be the case may be inferred from the fre- 
 quent mention of these metals in the history of the Jews, and the 
 abundance in which they appear to have been possessed. But in 
 the later condition of the country, in which, for ages, the treasures 
 hid in the earth have not been sought after, but little information 
 concerning its metals can be expected. 
 
 Volnev assumed the existence of iron in Judea, and knew that it 
 abounded in Lebanon. It is indeed, he says, the only metal which 
 is found abundantly in those mountains. The mountains ofKes- 
 rouan and of the Druses are full of it; and, every summer, some 
 mines, which were simply ochreous, continued, in his time, to be 
 worked by the inhabitants. Burckhardt also mentions the iron of 
 Shoitair in the Kesrouan, and adds the curious fact that, as the 
 place of the mines affords no fuel, the iron ore is carried, on the 
 backs of mules and asses, one day’s journey and a half to the smelt- 
 ing furnaces at Nabae el Mouradj, where the mountains abound in 
 oak. There is no doubt that iron works were anciently carried on 
 in this quarter very much in the same fashion, as large quantities 
 of scoria are occasionally discovered at a distance from the mines, 
 and generally near forests of evergreen oak, the wood of which was 
 probably used for smelting. This is, probably, more from ignorance 
 of the presence or use of coal, than from any preference of wood ; 
 but it is now well known that the ore prepared with wood is supe- 
 rior to that subjected to coal fires, because the metal becomes par- 
 tially carbonated, and is therefore with less difficulty converted into 
 steel, a purer carbonate of iron ; and that it is this use of wood 
 rather than coal which renders the Swedish iron so much more 
 valuable than any other. It appears that the discovery of coal in 
 Lebanon was expected to operate importantly on the production of 
 iron in the mountain, as the government contemplated turning the 
 discovery to account by the erection of a furnace for smelting the 
 ore. 
 
 Mr. Buckingham, crossing Lebanon from Tripoli to Baalbec, 
 went over a mountain called Jebel Ainneto, which is composed of 
 white limestone of different qualities, and exhibits, in parts, streaks 
 or layers of red, as if coloured by the oxide of iron, or some other 
 metal. In the valley below this mountain he observed several 
 masses of a deep brown purplish rock, and was informed that this 
 was the stone from which iron was procured, and that there was a 
 mine still worked a few hours’ journey to the south. 
 
 We do not know that any travellers have noticed the presence of 
 iron in Palestine west of th« Jordan ; but so few travellers have 
 been in the habit of attending to such matters, that their silence 
 concerning this or any other mineralogical product, scarcely supplies 
 even a negative argument against its existence. Josephus mentions 
 a mountain called the Iron Mountain, on the other side Jordan ; 
 and, from his indication of the locality, it appears to have been one 
 of those which bound the valley of the Jordan on that side, some- 
 where not greatly to the north of the Dead Sea. In a correspond- 
 ing situation INI r. Buckingham appears to have found this mountain, 
 and to have ascertained the cause of the name it bore. Crossing 
 the Jordan about nine miles above the Dead Sea, and then journey- 
 * Deut. viii. 9. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 435 
 
 lr.gin a north-east direction, the first range of hills was found to be 
 generally of white limestone; but the second had a mixture of 
 many other kinds of rock ; among these was a dark red stone, 
 which broke easily, and had shining metallic particles in it, like 
 those of iron ore. 
 
 Iron is catalogued among the metals wrought, long before the 
 Deluge, by Tubal-Cain ; and this just suffices to show that it was 
 known very early. But in practical use, copper is known to have 
 been employed much earlier, and long to have been in more general 
 use, even for purposes (sucli as arms, tools, and instruments) to 
 which no one thinks of applying that metal now. a lie priority of 
 use is claimed also by gold and silver, — metals which, with copper, 
 are, as Robertson observes, “ found in their perfect state in the 
 clefts of rocks, in the sides of mountains, or the channels of rivers. 
 They were accordingly first known, and first applied to use. But 
 iron, the most serviceable of all, and to which man is most indebted, 
 is never discovered in its perfect form ; its gross and stubborn ore 
 must feel twice the force of fire, and go through two laborious pro- 
 cesses, before it becomes fit for use. Man was long acquainted with 
 the other metals before he acquired the art of fabricating iron, or 
 attained such ingenuity as to perfect an invention to which he is 
 indebted for those instruments wherewith he subdues the earth and 
 commands its inhabitants.” 
 
 An inquiry into the state of the metallurgic arts among the He- 
 brews does not belong to this place. It may suffice here to observe 
 that besides the slight intimation respecting Tubal-Cain, which we 
 'nave already mentioned, there is no mention of iron in the Penta- 
 teuch until after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. But 
 Job, whose history evidently belongs to patriarchal times, speaks of 
 iron on more than one occasion, alluding to it as “ dug out of the 
 earth,” and as proverbial for its strength. The Egyptians were 
 celebrated for their skill in extracting various metallic ores from 
 the mines between the Nile and the Red Sea, and for the fabrication 
 of metals : and there is evidence that the Hebrews picked up a fair 
 degree of knowledge of the latter branch of the art, while among 
 that people ; but it appears to us that it was long after they became 
 a nation before they sought for metals in their own soil or were 
 able to extract them when found. They seem long to have obtained 
 from Egypt, on the one hand, or from Phoenicia on the other, such 
 articles of metal as they required ready made, or the metal for 
 making them in a state fit for use. It is remarkable that iron is 
 not once mentioned among the materials employed in the construc- 
 tion of the tabernacle, or of the many utensils belonging to it for 
 which that metal may seem to have been very suitable. And al- 
 though David laid up “ iron in abundance” for the service of the 
 temple to be built by his son, the account of the actual construciion 
 does not inform us how the metal was employed. When the Israel- 
 ites defeated the Midianites, iron occurs among the spoil obtained 
 by the conquerors, and is, with the more precious metals, directed 
 to be purified (from its ceremonial uncleanness) by being passed 
 through t lie fire. Upon the whole, it seems doubtful that the He- 
 brews ever worked the mines of their own country to any important 
 extent, if at all ; and although iron may, in latter times, have been 
 plentifully in use among them as compared with other metals, such 
 plenty would be scarcity, and is so even now in Western Asia, com- 
 pared with the abundance in which this metal is possessed by our- 
 selves. 
 
 Of copper we can find no information. Yolney, indeed, heard a 
 vague report that there was anciently a copper-mine near Aleppo, 
 but which must long since have been abandoned. This, besides, 
 was far beyond the limits of Palestine. The ancient application of 
 this metal to all purposes for which iron is now employed has been 
 noticed in the preceding paragraphs ; and this went so far, that even 
 tools for cutting stone were made with this metal hardened by an 
 alloy of tin. But the ancient uses of copper is an antiquarian and 
 not a geographical subject ; and we shall therefore only remark, 
 that although Moses expressly tells of the existence of copper (not 
 “ brass,” which is a factitious metal) in the Holy Land, the metal 
 appears to have been principally obtained from the Egyptians and 
 Phoenicians, both of whom had it abundantly — the former from 
 mines and the latter by traffic. The Jews were certainly not a 
 people to take the trouble of seeking in the bowds of the earth for 
 that which they could obtain, easily and cheaply, in exchange for 
 the protluce of their fields and flocks. The Phoenicians were par- 
 ticularly noted for their manufactures in this metal, as appears even 
 from the Bible ; and Ezekiel intimates that, at least, a portion of 
 their supply w as brought from the neighbourhood of the Black Sea. 
 
 As we have mentioned the use of tin in alloying copper, we may 
 properly add that although tin is not found in the Holy Land, the 
 use of it was known to the Hebrews very early ; for we find it 
 
 mentioned among the spoils which they won from the Midianites 
 before they entered the Land of Promise. From what source it 
 came at this early date, unless from India, it is not easy to dis- 
 cover; but ultimately our own islands furnished the chief supply to 
 the Phoenicians. The prophets more than once allude to its use in 
 alloying more precious metals. 
 
 Lead is also mentioned on the occasion to which we have just 
 adverted ; but it had previously been mentioned by the patriarch 
 Job as a substance on which writings were graven. And if he 
 lived in the land of Edom, lie was not very far from one of the 
 sources trom which this metal might be supplied ; for lead is said to 
 exist at a place called Sheff, near Mount Sinai. Another source of 
 supply is indicated in the recent discovery, by Mr. Burton, of 
 ancient lead-mines, in some of which the ore has been exhausted by 
 working, in the mouutains between the Red Sea and the Nile. 
 We have not found any notice of this metal within the proper 
 limits of Palestine. 
 
 No traveller in Palestine makes any mention of gold, except Dr. 
 Clarke. At the lake of Tiberias he takes occasion to observe, — 
 “ Native gold was found here formerly. We noticed an appear- 
 ance of the kind, but, on account of its trivial nature, neglected to 
 pay proper attention to it, notwithstanding the hints given by more 
 than one writer upon the subject.” We believe, however, that, for 
 every practical purpose, it may be said that Palestine has no gold. 
 It is always spoken of by the Jewish writers as a foreign product. 
 As gold was very common, relatively, in Egypt, where extensive 
 mines of it were worked at a very early date, much of that in the 
 hands of the Hebrews was probably obtained from thence. In fact, 
 the first gold of which we read, historically, was obtained from the 
 Egyptians. But the supplies obtainable from this source became 
 ultimately inadequate to the demand ; and Solomon and some of 
 his successors obtained larger quantities from southernmost Arabia, 
 the east of Africa, and the coasts of other countries bordering the 
 Indian Ocean and Red Sea. 
 
 The Scriptures do not mention that Palestine afforded any silver; 
 yet some traces of that metal appear to have been found. When 
 Yolney was among the Druses, it was mentioned to him that an 
 ore affording silver and lead had been discovered on the declivity of 
 a hill in Lebanon ; but, as such a discovery would have ruined the 
 whole district by attracting the attention of the Turks, much haste 
 was made to destroy all appearance of its existence. It is observ- 
 able that of the four principal metals — gold, silver, iron and cop- 
 per — silver is by much the latest which is mentioned. It is not 
 noticed in Genesis during the period before the Deluge ; and 
 after that event, it does not occur in the account of Abraham’s 
 visit to Egypt, nor until the same patriarch’s purchase of a burial 
 ground for his family, for which he paid in silver. Thus, although 
 so comparatively late to be noticed, it must then long have been 
 known and in use, it having already become a medium of exchange 
 and a standard by which value was estimated. W hence the Jew* 
 got their principal supplies of silver is not very clear, uuless uoin 
 the Phoenicians. This metal might be obtained in some quantities, 
 one would think, from the lead-mines of Egypt, if there were no 
 proper mines of silver; and the Hebrews appear to have been in 
 possession of a great deal of it when they were in the desert after 
 leaving their country. Yet it is thought that silver was scarce in 
 that country — Belzoni says, scarcer than gold — and the rarity of 
 the colour of silver in the paintings of utensils and ornaments, and 
 | of the actual metal in the numerous articles which have been found, 
 
 I affords much sanction to this conclusion. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Ilasbeya, near the sources of the Jordan, 
 is noted for its mines of asphaltum. Burckhardt was told by a 
 priest that in this same neighbourhood a metal w as found, of which 
 no one knew the name or made any use. Accordingly, on digging 
 about, the traveller found several small pieces of a metallic sub- 
 stance, which he took to be a native amalgam of mercury. Accord- 
 ing to the description given him, cinnabar is also found there: but, 
 after digging for an hour, no specimens of it were found. 
 
 It is not in the nature of things that we should have any infor- 
 mation concerning precious stones found in Palestine. The trea- 
 sures of the earth are not now in that unhappy country sought 
 after by any ; so much otherwise, indeed, that any trace of their 
 existence, incidentally brought to the notice of the inhabit- 
 ants, is studiously obliterated or concealed. If any of the more 
 precious stones are found, it must often happen that they are not 
 heeded, or their value recognised, in the natural state, by the finder. 
 And, from their general proceeding in such matters, we know that 
 any one who might find a precious jewel, the value of which he 
 knew, would be most careful to conceal the fortune which had 
 befallen him, lest its disclosure should bring utter ruin upon him- 
 
436 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF TnE HOLY LAND. 
 
 self and liis liouse. Almost every kind of precious stone is men- 
 tioned in tiie Scriptures, although there is no passage which inti- 
 mates that they were of native produce. But from the mineralo- 
 gical character of the country, it would not be unreasonable to 
 
 expect that it should afford such stones as the topaz, t lie emerald, 
 the chrjsoberyl, rock crystals, and some of the finer jaspers. Pliny 
 mentions a species of amethyst which was found southward in Pa r an. 
 whence it took the name of Paranites. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. 
 
 (') Saj.tpetrk in oi.d Houses, p. 434. — In one of the notes of the 
 •Pictorial E.ble ’ (Lev. xiv. tS-t), it has been supposed that the “ house- 
 leprosy,” concerning which various minute regulations were made by 
 Moses, consisted in a deposit of saltpetre upon the walls. It may, per- 
 haps, be taken as an interesting corroboration of this view, that the 
 houses beyond Jordan, where the law on this subject was delivered, 
 were, from the character of the soil on which they stood, or from the 
 nature of the stone with which they were built, particularly liable to 
 this visitation. Assuming the explanation in the ‘ Pictorial Bible’ to 
 De correct, it seems most interesting, at this distance of time, to find in 
 the actual state of the habitations of this region, a satisfactory and un- 
 expected reason for so peculiar a set ol minute regulations. 
 
 Saltpetre for use is collected as well from the old houses as from the 
 other sources indicated in the text. Burckhardt's account is this: — 
 '• The earth in which the saltpetre is found is collected in great quan- 
 
 tities in the ruined houses, and thrown into largo wooden vessels per- 
 forated with small holes on one side near the bottom. Water is then 
 poured in, which drains through the holes into a lower vessel, from 
 whence it is taken and poured into large copper kettles: after boiling 
 in these for twenty-four hours it is left in the open air, when the sides 
 of the vessels become covered with crystals, which are afterwards washed 
 to free them from all impurities.” It appears that, by this process, 100 
 pounds of the saline earth yield one and a half of saltpetre. The pro- 
 duction is so abundant, that one person engaged in the manufacture, 
 informed Burckhardt that he alone, on his own account, sent 100 
 cwt. of saltpetre to Damascus every year. From this and the other 
 sources of supply in the same districts, all Syria is furnished with the 
 article. At no greater distance than the lake of Tiberias, our traveller 
 saw it sold at double the price for which it might be obtained on the 
 spot. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE nOLY LAND. 
 
 437 
 
 CHAPTER IIP— VOLCANIC INDICATIONS AND EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 In the country which we are now describing, the traces of vol- 
 canic action are abundant ; but are nearly confined to the basin 
 and inclosing hills of the Jordan and its lakes. “ The bituminous 
 and sulphureous sources of the Lake Asphaltitis,” says Volney, 
 “ the lava, the pumice-stones thrown upon its banks, and the hot- 
 baths of Tiberias, demonstrate that the valley has been subject to 
 volcanic eruptions, and the seat of a subterraneous fire which is not 
 yet extinguished. Clouds of smoke are often observed to issue 
 from the lake, and new crevices to be formed upon its shore.” The 
 same writer elsewhere says that the lake of Tiberias, as viewed 
 from Mount Tabor, looks as if enclosed in the crater of a volcano, 
 and other travellers allow' the fitness of this comparison. 1 
 
 The hot-springs thus alluded to, as affording evidence of still 
 existing means which it pleased God in former times to employ in 
 producing effects w'hich are still very apparent, are found on the 
 western shore of the lake of Tiberias, to the north and south of the 
 town which bears the same name. The most important of them 
 rises at the base of a mountain about half a mile south of the town, 
 and a pistol-shot distant from the margin of the lake. Hasselquist 
 describes the stream as equal in diameter to a man’s arm, where it 
 issues from the mountain. “ The w'ater is so hot,” he continues, 
 “ that the hand may be put into it without scalding, but it cannot 
 be kept there long ; consequently it is not boiling hot, but the next 
 degree to it. It has a strong sulphureous smell. It tastes bitter, 
 and somewhat like common salt. The sediment deposited by the 
 water is black, as thick as paste, smells strong as sulphur, and is 
 covered wfith two skins or cuticles, of which that beneath is of a fine 
 dark -green colour, and the uppermost of a light rusty colour ; at 
 the mouth, where the water formed little cascades over the stones, 
 the first-mentioned cuticle alone was found, and so much resembled 
 a conferva, that one might easily have taken this, which really 
 belongs to the mineral kingdom, for a vegetable production ; but 
 nearer the river, where the water stood still, one might see both 
 skins, the yellow uppermost, and under it the green.” According 
 to Robinson, the water runs from the bath in a strong sulphureous 
 stream into the lake, leaving a yellow incrustation upon the stones 
 over which it passes. The temperature of the water has been 
 ascertained to be 144° Fahrenheit. There is here an old bathing- 
 house now in ruins, though baths for the common people are still 
 kept up in it. A new building was erected a few rods to the north, 
 by Ibrahim Pasha ; it was commenced in 1838, and is regarded in 
 the country as a splendid edifice. 
 
 The spring which we have described is not the only one of the 
 kind in this neighbourhood. There are several others, all rising 
 near to the edge of the lake, and all equally hot, finely transparent, 
 and slightly sulphureous, resembling extremely the spring already 
 described. All these are in the same neighbourhood, which from 
 them takes the name of El Hamam, the generic name for baths, 
 corresponding, in sound and signification, to that of Einmaus, which 
 it anciently bore. 
 
 About two miles and a half to the north of Tiberias are the ruins 
 of what Irby and Mangles call “ six Roman baths ” of mineral 
 water, but only of a lukewarm temperature (80° Fahrenheit). The 
 baths are circular (from 15 to 20 feet in diameter), enclosed with 
 a wall about 12 feet high within, and six without; and having at 
 present no apparent means of ingress or egress. The spot where 
 they now are is very picturesque, being close to the lake and over- 
 grown with shrubs, weeds, and wild flowers. The water is very 
 clear, about six or seven feet deep, with pebbles at the bottom, and 
 fish sporting about. The spring discharges itself into the lake 
 subterraneously through the wall. The obvious purpose of the 
 constructions around these fountains was to raise and retain the 
 water at a considerable height above the fountain, but whether it 
 was thus raised for bathing or for other uses, Dr. Robinson thinks 
 it difficult to decide. 
 
 Still continuing our journey northward, we come, at about seven 
 miles from Tiberias, to a small village called Ain et Tabighah, 
 
 3 N 
 
 wdiere there is a very copious stream bursting forth from immense 
 fountains, slightly warm, but so brackish as not to be drinkable. The 
 stream drives one or two mills, and double the same quantity of water 
 runs to waste. 
 
 The hot-springs at Om Keis, to which comparative allusions have 
 here been made, belong also to the basin of the Lake of Tiberias, in 
 an opposite quarter to those already described, being about three 
 miles east by south from its southern extremity, and on the northern 
 bank of the river Jarmouk,* Om Keis being opposite to it, to the 
 south of the same river. The springs at this spot, and the other 
 indications which it offers, may be considered as completing a chain 
 of volcanic exhibitions around the lake of Tiberias. Crossing the 
 river at this place, Mr. Buckingham found a black soil with some 
 little cultivation ; and a few yards up from the stream, on the north- 
 western side, came to the ruins of a Roman building enveloped in 
 the steam of the springs on which it stood. On approaching nearer, 
 this edifice was found to be an extensive and complete ancient bath 
 in tolerable preservation. He proceeds: — “The springs which 
 rose here presented to us a deep and capacious basin of beautifully 
 transparent water, of the colour of those precious stones called aqua- 
 marines, and more purely crystal-like than any fountain I had ever 
 beheld. It rose in bubbles from the bottom ; but though deeper 
 than the height of a man, a pin might have been distinguished at 
 the bottom, or the inscription of a medal read, so unusually clear 
 was the whole mass. The odour emitted in its steam was highly 
 sulphurous, but its taste was considerably less so. Its heat at the 
 fountain-head was such as to render it painful to the hand, if im- 
 mersed beyond a few seconds ; but a fact, for which we could not 
 account, was, that at a few yards distant from its source it was 
 sensibly hotter. From the fine transparent green of its central and 
 deepest parts, the shade grew lighter as it approached the edges ; 
 and around the immediate rim of its natural basin, as well as on a 
 little cataract formed by fallen masses of the ruined bath, the water 
 had deposited a coating of the purest white, which gave an additional 
 beauty to the appearance of the whole. The quantity of the water 
 and the force of its stream were sufficient to turn the largest mill : 
 and it made a sensible addition to the waters of the Hieromax, where 
 it joined that river only a few yards below.” 
 
 It appears from this traveller’s further account, that by gradual 
 immersion the heat of the water can be borne. Though the Roman 
 edifice is a ruin, and no modern convenience supplies its place, the 
 healing virtues of the spring are held in high reputation among the 
 Arabs ; and those who have sought benefit from its waters rarely 
 depart without leaving in front of the southern wall some humble 
 votive offering in the shape of hair, nails, teeth, and old rags of 
 every kind and colour. The day following, the same traveller 
 crossed the river at a lower point, and observed here that the dark 
 masses of rock, over which it wound its course, resembled a stream 
 of cooled lava, when contrasted with the lighter soil by which it 
 was edged on both sides. The stones of its bed here were equally 
 porous with those seen above ; the ground also showed patches of 
 sulphur in many places, and “ we were of opinion,” continues Mr. 
 Buckingham, “ that the hot springs we had visited yesterday, the 
 lakes of Caesarea and Tiberias, the stone already described, the 
 sulphureous and infertile nature of the plain of Jericho in many 
 parts, and the whole phenomena observed of the Dead Sea, were 
 sufficient indications of a volcanic effect, perhaps on the whole 
 range of the long valley, from near the sources of the Jordan tc 
 beyond the point of its issue in the great asphaltic lake.” 
 
 In a district, the volcanic character of which is indicated by such 
 hot-springs as those which we have described, we may expect 
 similar manifestations in the mountains among or near which they 
 occur. Such are accordingly afforded. Speaking of the mountain 
 at whose base the only hot spring which he knew — that nearest to 
 Tiberias — rises, Hasselquist says, that it consists of “ a black and 
 
 * Jarmouk, Hieromax, and Sheiraf el Mandhour, are the Jewish, classical, and 
 modern names of the same river. 
 
438 
 
 GEOGRAPIIY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 brittle sulphureous stone, which is only to be found in large masses 
 in the neighbourhood of Tiberias ; but occurs in loose stones also on 
 the coasts of the Dead Sea, as well as here at the Lake Gennesa- 
 reth.” Elsewhere, he says that the same stone of which the Tibe- 
 rian mountains consist begins in the plain of Esdraelon. This stone 
 is doubtless the same which Buckingham mentions in describing the 
 hot springs near Om Iveis, and that in such a manner as, in con- 
 nection with Burckhardt’s intimations, abundantly proves that it 
 exists around the lake, and in the eastern country, far more ex- 
 tensively than Hasselquist could know. After mentioning the 
 ruins of the Roman bath at the Hieromax, Mr. Buckingham notices 
 that “ the whole of the edifice was constructed of the black stone 
 of which ive had lately seen so much , and which appeared to us to 
 be volcanic; and we could now perceive that the cliffs above, 
 through which the Ilieromax makes it way, as well as on the 
 upper part of the opposite hills, tins stone formed a deep layer on a 
 basis of white stone, almost like chalk. The whole bed of the 
 river was one singular mixture of these black rocks, worn smooth 
 and round by the passage of the water, but still as porous as pumice- 
 stone, and equal masses of the white stone, which was nearly as 
 hard, but of smoother surface.” He subsequently tells us that he 
 met with the same “black porous stone” in the plain approaching 
 Tiberias from Nazareth, thus unintentionally enabling us to identify 
 it with that which is the subject of Hasselquist’s observation. 
 
 The porous stone so much mentioned in the preceding state- 
 ment is distinctly called lava by Maddox, as it is also by Mr. 
 Caiman, in his account of the earthquake of 1837 ; and the testi- 
 mony of the latter, w hile it is entitled to particular respect, as that 
 of an eminently pious man and a missionary, evinces more clearly 
 than any other single statement, the volcanic character of this 
 region. It was here that the earthquake just mentioned exhibited 
 its utmost violence ; and Mr. Caiman, in his account of that awTul 
 visitation, is led thus to describe the natural characteristics which 
 the country previously exhibited : — 
 
 “ It may not be uninteresting to give some description of the 
 appearance of the country which has suffered most, namely, about 
 Gish, Safed, Tabereah, and Lubiah. All these neighbourhoods 
 abound with lava. With the exception of Safed, the buildings in 
 all are composed of that material. Two places bear every mark of 
 extinguished volcanoes. One is situated in the elevated plain half- 
 way between Gish and Safed. At this season of the year its appear- 
 ance is that of a small lake, being about a mile in diameter, perfectly 
 circular, and filled with water, having round its edges an accumula- 
 tion of lava to the height of many feet. The plain is covered with 
 the same stone; they gradually diminish as one approaches Safed, 
 and are no longer seen from that neighbourhood till near the lake of 
 Tiberias, two hours to the south of the former place. Here again 
 the mountains, which evidently once formed the boundary of the 
 lake, are covered with lava, or rather in some cases composed of it. 
 There is indeed a fertile plain, from one to two hours in width 
 intervening between these mountains and the lake ; but this is 
 evidently alluvial, and the lava accordingly makes its appearance in 
 the bed of the lake itself.” 
 
 Pursuing our way southward, along the course of the Jordan, we 
 Jo not meet with any marked volcanic indications till we arrive in 
 the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. The eastern border of that 
 lake, towards its northern extremity, offers the only other hot- 
 springs which we shall be required to notice. We are quite sen- 
 sible that we should have no right to regard hot springs in themselves 
 as volcanic indications. But their character as such is indisputable 
 when they exist in close association with other and less disputable 
 volcanic exhibitions. Such exhibitions may be found, in the country 
 under our view, without the presence of hot-springs ; but the springs 
 are nowhere to be found apart from such other indications. We 
 have therefore given to them their proper place. 
 
 The springs to which we have just alluded occur in the ravine 
 through which flows the rivulet of Zerka Mayn. Their direct 
 distance east from the Dead Sea may be about three miles; but by 
 the course of the ravine at least a mile more. We are indebted 
 for the first modern account of these springs to the interesting 
 * Travels’ of Captains Irby and Mangles, who hearing of them on 
 their journey from Kerek to Szalt, made an excursion to view 
 them. On looking down the valley into which these springs flow, 
 it was found to present some grand and romantic features. The 
 rocks vary between red, grey, and Hack, and have a bold and 
 imposing appearance. The whole bottom is filled, and, in a 
 manner, choked with a crowded thicket of canes and aspines of 
 different species, intermixed with the palm, which is also seen 
 rising in tufts in the recesses of the mountain sides, and in every 
 place whence the springs issue. In one place a considerable stream I 
 
 of hot water is seen precipitating itself from a high and perpendi- 
 cular shelf of rock, which is strongly tinted with the brilliant 
 yellow of sulphur deposited upon it. On reaching the bottom of 
 the valley, the travellers found themselves in what might be termed 
 the bed of a hot river, so copious and rapid was it, and its heat so 
 little abated. This heat of the stream continues as it passes down- 
 ward, from its receiving constant supplies of water of the same 
 elevated temperature. In order to visit these sources in succession, 
 they passed over to the right (northern) bank, and, ascending the 
 mountain side, passed four abundant sources, all within the distance 
 of half a mile, and discharging themselves into the stream at right 
 angles with its course. The travellers had no thermometer, but 
 the degree of heat in the water seemed very great ; near the source 
 it scalds the hand, which cannot be kept in it for the space of half 
 a minute. The deposit of sulphur is very great ; but the water is 
 tasteless to the palate. 
 
 There are tw o places of hot springs on the eastern side of the 
 Dead Sea. Thus in the valley of Beni-Hammad (which Burck- 
 hardt conjectures to be “the valley of Zared” of Num. xxi. 12) such 
 wells are found, with some ruined buildings near them. And, 
 still more to the south, the valley of the stream El Ahsa, which 
 enters, from the south-east, the southern back-water of the Dead 
 Sea, not only offers masses of volcanic rock, but the water of the 
 rivulet is tepid, caused by a hot spring which empties itself into the 
 Ahsa from a side valley, higher up than where Burckhardt crossed 
 the Wady El Ahsa. 
 
 In concluding this notice of the thermal springs of the country, 
 we shall only recall attention to the fact that they are all found 
 near the valley of the Jordan and its lakes. 
 
 Of the lake commonly called the Dead Sea, near which the 
 springs last described are found, we shall soon have occasion to 
 speak more fully, and shall now only notice some of those volcanic 
 indications which it so abundantly offers. Mr. Russegger observes 
 that the mountains between Jerusalem and Jordan, in the valley of 
 the Jordan itself, and those around the basin of the Dead Sea, 
 bear unequivocal evidence of volcanic agency ; such as disruptions, 
 upheavings, faults, &c. ; proofs of which agency are still notorious 
 in the continual earthquakes, hot springs, and formations of asphalt. 
 
 As in the case of the lake of Tiberias, some travellers have 
 thought that the bed of the Dead Sea exhibited the appearance of 
 the crater of a volcano. This Chateaubriand denies. He says, — 
 “ I cannot concur in the opinion of those who suppose that the 
 Dead Sea is no other than the crater of a volcano. I have seen 
 Vesuvius, Solfutara, Monte Nuovo in the lake of Fusino, the Peak 
 of the Azores, the Mameliff opposite Carthage, and the unextin- 
 guished volcanoes of Auvergne ; and I have remarked in all of 
 them the same characteristics,— that is to say, mountains excavated 
 in the form of a tunnel, lava, and ashes, which exhibited incontest- 
 able proofs of the agency of fire. But the Dead Sea, on the con- 
 trary, is a long lake, curved like a bow, enclosed between two 
 chains of mountains, which exhibit no coherence of form or homo- 
 geneity of structure. These chains do not unite at the two extre- 
 mities of the lake : they continue, in one direction, to border the 
 valley of the Jordan, and, in the north, expand to enclose the 
 lake of Tiberias ; while, on the other, they are seen to separate, 
 and lose themselves in the sands of Yemen. * It is true that 
 
 bitumen, hot springs, and phosphoric stones, are found in the 
 eastern mountains, but there are none in the mountains opposite ; 
 nor does the presence of thermal waters, sulphur, and asphaltum, 
 alone suffice to attest the anterior existence of a volcano.” 
 
 We have quoted this, because it has been reproduced by later 
 travellers, and may hence chance to stand for more than it is worth. 
 We have also thought the whole subject, as connected with an event 
 which, in the other division of this work, has passed historically 
 under our notice, claimed the somewhat extended attention which 
 we have given to it in a note at the end of this chapter, to which 
 we now refer. In this place we shall now continue our own course. 
 
 In the region to which our attention is now directed — that of the 
 Dead Sea — it is interesting to note how exactly present appear- 
 ances coincide with the intimations which the Scriptures offer. 
 The mines and sources of asphaltum, the “ slime-pits,” which, 
 according to the Bible, existed there before the Vale of Siddimwas 
 desolated, are still there, and have given to the lake one of the 
 most common of its names. There also we find the traces of that 
 terrible convulsion by which Sodom and Gomorrah were over- 
 thrown, in the same “brimstone, and salt, and burning, ”fthe same 
 “ salt-pits, and perpetual desolation,” to which the sacred writers 
 allude. 
 
 * This is not correct : but the reader is aware that the southern mountains 
 were unknown when Chateaubriand wrote. + Deut. xxix. 23 ; Zeph. ii. it. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 439 
 
 One instance of the occurrence of sulphur, which is so con- 
 spicuously mentioned in the Scriptural accounts, has just been 
 noticed in Captain Mangles’s account of the hot-springs of the river 
 Arnon. Not only the borders of the lake, but in different parts, 
 the plains and valleys to the cast of it, exhibit remarkable sul- 
 phureous appearances. At a place about twenty-five miles east- 
 ward from the head of the lake, Buckingham remarked that the 
 surface of the soil was “ covered with patches of a yellowish white 
 substance like powder of brimstone or sulphur, a fact remarked also 
 in the valley of the Jordan, near the head of the Dead Sea, and 
 almost in a line with this to the westward, at the distance of about 
 thirty miles. The taste and smell of this powder were highly sul- 
 phureous ; and my guide observed that the same substance was 
 found in abundance all around the shores of the Dead Sea It is 
 beyond a doubt that these regions, from the Lake of Tiberias, 
 southward, to the termination of the Lake of Asphaltes, have, at 
 some very remote period, been subject to volcanic convulsions ; and 
 it is probable that the hot-springs of Tiberias, the bitumen of the 
 Sea of Lot, and the sulphuric powder of the plains near it, all owe 
 their existence to one common origin.” In continuation, he thinks 
 that the swallowing up of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah may, 
 even from the local appearances, well be concluded a historical 
 fact, and accomplished probably by means of some great “ volcanic 
 operation,” of which the Lake of Tiberias, the river Jordan, and 
 the Dead Sea, bear so many indications. ( ! ) 
 
 To the various notices of the presence of sulphur which we have 
 adduced in the preceding paragraphs, we shall only add the inform- 
 ation of Burckhardt, that on the shore of the Dead Sea, towards 
 the north, pieces of native sulphur are found at a small depth 
 beneath the surface, and are used by the Arabs to cure diseases in 
 their camels. This, however, is not by any means confined to the 
 north. At the opposite, or southern extremity of the lake, lumps 
 of nitre and fine sulphur, from the size of a nutmeg up to that of a 
 small hen’s egg, were found by Captains Irby and Mangles, in 
 such a situation as rendered it clear to them that they had been 
 brought down by the rain, and that their deposits must be sought 
 in the cliffs. Dr. Shaw, observing that sulphur is found promis- 
 cuously with bitumen upon the shore, thought it possible that they 
 had come up together from the bottom. But it now appears that if 
 this be at all correct, it can only be so with reference to a portion of 
 the sulphur which is found. 
 
 The bitumen of this part cannot be more fitly noticed than in 
 this place. The interest attached to it, from its being mentioned 
 in the most ancient book in the world, in alluding to the state of 
 the country, before the overthrow of Sodom was attended with the 
 effects which we now notice, has on more than one occasion been 
 indicated. 
 
 As this substance is found in lumps upon the surface and western 
 shore of the lake, it has been thought that it rose in a fluid state 
 from sources at the bottom, and became hard by exposure to the 
 air on the surface. “ I was informed ,” says Shaw “ that the 
 bitumen for which this lake has been always remarkable is mixed, 
 at certain times, from the bottom of the lake in large hemispheres, 
 which, as soon as they touch the surface, and are thereby acted 
 upon by the external air, burst at once with great smoke and noise, 
 like the pulvis fulminans of the chemists, and disperse themselves 
 into a thousand pieces. But this only happens near the shore: for 
 in greater depths, the eruptions are supposed to discover themselves 
 in such columns of smoke as are now and then observed to arise from 
 the lake. And, perhaps, to such eruptions as these we may attri- 
 bute that variety of pits and hollows, not unlike the traces of many 
 of our ancient lime-kilns, which are found in the neighbourhood of 
 this lake.” Remembering the bitumen-pits mentioned in the Bible 
 this last circumstance is very observable. Pococke thinks it pro- 
 bable that there are subterraneous fires which throw up the bitumen 
 at the bottom of the sea, where it may form itself into a mass, 
 which may be broken by the motion of the water occasioned by high 
 winds. All that is stated by both these authorities is very possible, 
 excepting the last circumstance, for the lake is little visited by high 
 winds, and the water is too dense and the basin too deep to allow 
 any superficial agitation to exert any appreciable influence at the 
 bottom. Other causes may, however, operate in detaching from the 
 bottom any masses of bitumen which may have been there deposited 
 from subaqueous sources. 
 
 But the information obtained bySeetzen and Burckhardt ascribes 
 a different origin to the asphaltum of the Dead Sea. They were 
 both informed by the natives of Kerek that the substance originates 
 in the rocks on the eastern side of the lake. The latter traveller 
 was informed that it came from the mountain which blocked up the 
 passage along the eastern border of the lake, at a distance of about 
 
 six miles south of the Arnon. The Arabs pretend that it oozes 
 from the fissures of the cliff of this mountain, and collects in large 
 pieces in the rocks below, where it gradually increases, and hardens, 
 until it is rent asunder by the heat of the sun, with a loud explosion, 
 and, falling into the water, is carried by the waves, in considerable 
 quantities, to the opposite shores. The information which Seetzen 
 obtained, some years before, at Kerek, does not differ from this in 
 any important point. He learned that the bitumen oozed from 
 certain rocks on the eastern shore, forming gradually a thick crust, 
 which, being detached by the wind, is carried along the surface of 
 the water, to the western shore, where it is gathered by the Arabs, 
 and conveyed in large lumps to Jerusalem. These lumps are so 
 large, as to furnish a load to several camels. But Seetzen under- 
 stood that the production in this way is slow, and that it is only after 
 an interval of some years, that any considerable quantity of asphaltum 
 can be procured from the shores of the Dead Sea. 
 
 Dr. Robinson, who heard the same account, was further informed 
 that the bitumen appears only after earthquakes. It was said that 
 after the earthquake of 1834 a large quantity was cast upon the 
 shore. After the earthquake of Jan. 1, 1837, a large mass of 
 bitumen, wdiich one compared to an island, and another to a house, 
 was driven aground on the west side, when the Arabs and neigh- 
 bouring inhabitants swam off to it, and cut it up with axes, so as to 
 bring it ashore. No distinct information could be obtained of the 
 appearance of bitumen on the lake except in these two years. This 
 information may serve to illustrate the account of Josephus, who 
 says that the sea in many places sends up black masses of asphaltum, 
 which float on the surface, having the form and size of headless 
 oxen. 
 
 The specimens thus collected differ from those obtained from the 
 mines of Hasbeya, in the north, in being considerably more porous, 
 and as having been apparently in a fluid state. In the state in 
 which the asphaltum is usually found, it feels cold, like stone, but 
 is as black as jet, and of exactly the same shining appearance. It 
 is used as pitch, and also occupies a conspicuous place in the phar- 
 macy of the country. The appearances which mummies offer con- 
 firm the testimonies of Pliny and other ancient writers, that the 
 asphaltum of the Dead Sea was much used in the embalming of 
 bodies in Egypt. 
 
 A. s to the local origin of this substance, it will be noticed that 
 the accounts which have been given are either conjectural, or from 
 the information of the natives. It appears to us that these accounts 
 are not incompatible, and that all of them may be true. But if 
 one account were to be preferred to the exclusion of the others, we 
 should be inclined to rely most upon the information which such 
 men as Seetzen and Burckhardt obtained at such a place as Kerek. 
 
 As here, near the Dead Sea, we are anxious to notice not only 
 traces of volcanic action, but also of the combustible materials 
 which Scripture itself teaches us to look for in this neighbour- 
 hood, — this seems as proper a place as any for the mention of the 
 igneous stones which are found on the shores of the lake. These 
 are mentioned in such different terms by different travellers, that 
 one is not always sure that they are speaking of the same substance. 
 Van Egmont and Heymann, who travelled together, alone dis- 
 tinguish two sorts of combustible stone ; for which reason we must 
 give their account first. Along the northern shores of the Dead 
 Sea, they picked up “ several pieces of a kind of black flint, which 
 burned in the fire without any diminution in their size, though they 
 lost considerably in weight; and, in burning, emitted a consider- 
 able stench. They are used in the country for fumigation against 
 the plague.” Other travellers either do not notice this stone, or 
 confound it with that which Van Egmont and Ileymann proceed to 
 notice, as follows: — “Among the mountains, near this sea, is also 
 found a blackish stone, very much resembling the touchstone, and 
 nearly of the same qualities. This is also inflammable, and as 
 nauseous as that met with on the shore. The church of the holy 
 sepulchre is paved with it.” It is a pity that the descriptions, in 
 both instances, are not more clear. As one of these stones is found 
 upon the beach, and the other upon the mountains, it might be 
 presumed that both were really the same stone in different situa- 
 tions, — first, in its natural state on the mountains, and, next, as 
 washed down to the beach by rains, and there rounded by the 
 action of the waves, and superficially modified by the deposits of 
 the lake, were it not that the stone first noticed is compared to 
 flint, and the other to touchstone. As, however, it is difficult to 
 collect a satisfactory distinction from mere differences of situation— 
 between the shore and the mountain — in which stones are found, 
 the stone which Ilasselquist found on the shore may be identified 
 with that which Van Egmont obtained in the mountains, if a better 
 agreement is found between them and those which both travellers 
 
440 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 found on the beach. Hasselquist says that the stones along the 
 north-western shore are all of quartz, of different sizes and colours. 
 “ Here,” he continues, “ I found quartz stones in the form of a 
 slate, which is one of the rarest natural curiosities which I got in 
 my travels. If it was burned it smelt like bitumen ; which proves 
 that it had its origin from it, like all the slate of this country.” 
 
 Without being well able to account for the confusion of names 
 applied to this remarkable product, we must at present suppose that 
 the stone mentioned by Hasselquist, and at least one of the two 
 mentioned by Van Egmont and Heymann, are the same which 
 other writers notice under a singular variety of names, — such as 
 the Stone of Moses (the native name), fetid limestone, stinkstone, 
 swinestone, and other equally agreeable appellations. 
 
 Pococke, describing it as “ the Stone of Moses,” observes that it 
 burns like a coal, and turns only to a white stone — not to ashes ; 
 and the fact that it smells, in burning, like the asphaltum, does not 
 lead him to conclude, with Hasselquist, that it originated from that 
 substance, but that the bitumen proceeded from it. He ingeniously 
 supposes that a stratum of this stone under the Dead Sea is one 
 part of the matter that feeds the subterraneous fires, and that the 
 bitumen boils up out of it. Perhaps this matter might be set at 
 rest if some traveller would take the trouble to ascertain the cha- 
 racter of the rock, from which the asphaltum is alleged to ooze, on 
 the eastern shore of the lake. 
 
 Dr. Clarke had an opportunity of examining pieces of this stone 
 which were brought to Jerusalem to be employed in the manufac- 
 ture of rosaries and amulets, to which purposes it is largely applied. 
 In this form it is worn as a charm against the plague ; and the 
 Doctor considers that a similar superstition prevailed in very early 
 ages, from the fact of his having found amulets of the same sub- 
 stance in the subterranean chambers below the pyramids of Sakkara 
 in Upper Egypt. He describes it as “ black fetid limestone.” 
 From his account it appears that the fetid effluvia are excited not 
 only by burning, but, when partially decomposed, by friction, 
 which is now known to be owing to the presence of sulphuretted 
 hydrogen. All bituminous limestone has not this property ; but 
 that of the Dead Sea possesses it in a remarkable degree. 
 
 The asphaltic mines of Hasbeya, to which allusion has lately 
 been made, adjoin the remoter source of the Jordan, and therefore 
 may be regarded in connection with the phenomena which the 
 valley of that river and its borders and extremities exhibit. In the 
 neighbourhood in question, the mountains are, for the most part, 
 calcareous, and at the bottom of the hills are seen strata of trap. 
 The mine of asphaltum is at the distance of a league W.S.W. from 
 Hasbeya. It is situated on the declivity of a chalky hill, and the 
 bitumen is found in large veins at about twenty feet below the 
 surface. The pits are from six to twelve feet in diameter. The 
 workmen descend by means of a rope and wheel ; and in hewing 
 out the bitumen leave columns of that substance at different in- 
 tervals, to support the earth above. Pieces of several rotolas* in 
 weight each are brought up. There are upwards of twenty-five of 
 these pits, but the greater part of them are abandoned, and over- 
 grown with shrubs. The workmen are oidy employed during the 
 months of summer, and Burckhardt noticed only one pit that ap- 
 peared to have been recently worked. The people of the neigh- 
 bourhood employ the bitumen to secure their vines from insects ; 
 but the greater part of the produce is sold to the merchants of 
 Damascus, Beirout, and Aleppo. The bitumen is called Hommar,f 
 and the pits or wells Biar el Hommar. 
 
 Returning to the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, we may 
 observe that the most southward volcanic indications which that 
 neighbourhood offers, are those which occur in the Wady El Alisa, 
 and which, on account of the hot-springs there, have been noticed 
 in a preceding page. 
 
 The region of the great valley which extends from the Dead 
 Sea to the Gulf of Akabali has been too partially explored to enable 
 us to speak positively as to the presence or absence of volcanic 
 indications. We know not that any have been noticed by tra- 
 vellers, nor, from what has been noticed, are we led to expect that 
 any will be found. 
 
 Proceeding farther to the south, — into the peninsula of Sinai, — 
 however, volcanic indications are again discovered. No dependence 
 can be placed upon such expressions occurring in travellers as 
 
 * The rotola is about five pounds. 
 
 t This is just the word by which bitumen is designated in the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures ; and the original of the “ slime pits ” in the Vale of Siddim is “port 
 beeroth cbamar y — the apparent difference is merely a difference in pronouncing 
 the same words. The samo things are thus called by the same names now as 
 they were four thousand years ago. The same name, Ilommar, is also borne 
 by the asphaltic cliffs east of the Head Sea. 
 
 “ black volcanic-looking mountains,” and so forth,— for mountains 
 which are not volcanic may look black, and may even seem to 
 exhibit the action of fire. We have seen such misleading expres- 
 sions applied to mountains which we know, from other sources, to 
 have nothing volcanic in their nature, however black may be their 
 looks. Burckhardt, who is still, and is likely long to remain, the first 
 and most trustworthy authority in all that relates to the peninsula 
 of Sinai, observes that there are no traces of volcanic action in its 
 more elevated regions ; but his attention was attracted to some 
 striking appearances in the lower region, on the eastern shore 
 towards the point, or southern extremity of the peninsula. Sherm 
 is about nine miles to the north of the terminating point, Ras Mo- 
 hammed ; and here the traveller states, — “ From Sherm we rode 
 an hour and a quarter among low hills near the shore. Here I 
 saw, for the first and only time in this peninsula, volcanic rocks. 
 For a distance of about two miles the hills presented perpendicular 
 cliffs, formed in half circles, none of them being more than sixty to 
 eighty feet in height ; in other places there was an appearance of 
 volcanic craters. The rock is black, with sometimes a slight red 
 appearance, full of cavities, and of a rough surface ; on the road 
 lay a few stones, which had separated themselves from above. The 
 cliffs were covered by deep layers of sand, and the valleys at their 
 feet were also overspread with it. It is possible that other rocks 
 of the same kind may be found towards Ras Abou Mohammed, 
 and hence may have arisen the term of black (/ixgXava opvj), applied 
 to these mountains by the Greeks. It should be observed, how- 
 ever, that low sand-hills intervene between the volcanic rocks and 
 the sea, and that above them, towards the higher mountains, no 
 traces of lava are found, which seems to show that volcanic matter 
 is confined to this spot.” 
 
 That this spot exhibits the only traces of volcanic action in the 
 lower region of the peninsula cannot yet perhaps be affirmed. But 
 we are not aware that any other indications have been found ; for 
 although, with reference to Wady Bodera — another and distant 
 point on the opposite side of the peninsula, — Lord Lindsay says 
 that “ all its mountains are more or less volcanic-looking, some of 
 them resembling the heaps of cinders thrown out from an iron 
 foundry,” — Burckhardt himself is more to be trusted, in virtue of 
 the more precise language in which he describes the very same 
 valley as consisting of sand-rocks, and its ground deeply covered 
 with sand. 
 
 When Burckhardt says that the Lower Sinai alone exhibits 
 traces of volcanic action, he must of course be understood to speak, 
 in the popular sense, of the more easily recognisable and (if we are 
 right in so using the word) secondary volcanic action. But it ap- 
 pears more clearly from his own descriptions than could otherwise 
 be the case, that the peninsula in general, and the Upper Sinai in 
 particular, exhibit more marked traces of primary volcanic com- 
 motion than can be found in any part of the extensive tract which we 
 have passed under review. The superposition of unstratified 
 crystalline rocks in the Upper Sinai, and the abundant manifestation 
 of various trap-rocks along the eastern shore, equally suggest to 
 the geologist the action of internal heat in ages very remote. The 
 very prominent appearance in this peninsula of rocks usually con- 
 sidered igneous, will have struck the reader in the geological 
 statement which the preceding chapter contains. 
 
 We have now surveyed, with a view to the volcanic indications 
 it might offer, the whole long line of country, extending from the 
 mountains of Lebanon to the uttermost cape of the Sinai peninsula. 
 Desiring to keep as nearly as possible to the immediate borders of 
 the prolonged basins formed by the valley of the Jordan and the 
 Gulf of Akabah, we refused to turn aside to collect the volcanic 
 indications which are offered by the country to the south of Damas- 
 cus, and to the east of the lands occupied by the tribes beyond 
 Jordan: but we must now direct our attention to them. 
 
 To the east of the regions of Bashan and of Gilead extends a 
 broad and very even plain, which, although below the level of the 
 high plains nearer to the Jordan, is much above the level of the 
 valley through which that river flows, and of the lakes which 
 belong to it. This plain, which has from twenty-five to thirty 
 miles of average breadth, and about fifty of extreme length, appears 
 to be the district to which the name of Haouran properly belongs,* 
 although that name appears to be also used more comprehensively, 
 so as to embrace the districts more eastward which have also separ- 
 ate names. The northern portion of this plain is bounded on the 
 east by a remarkable rocky district, called Ledja, about twenty-five 
 miles broad in the widest (or southern) part, and, perhaps, thirty 
 
 * It is mentioned once by this name in the Old Testament, Ezek. xlvii. 16 ; and 
 appears to have comprehended the Auranitis and the greater part of the Iturea, 
 which the New Testament specifies. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 441 
 
 miles iu length from north to south. Beyond this district south- 
 ward, and bordering on the east the southern part of the plain of 
 Haouran, is a mountainous district which bears the same name 
 (Jebel Haouran) as that plain. Beyond these mountains eastward 
 is the unexplored region called Szaffa, which we only know from 
 the reports collected by Burckhardt, as resembling the Ledja in its 
 characteristics, and being three days’ journey in circuit. ( 3 ) 
 
 The extensive tract of country comprehending these several 
 districts, still more even than that which lies nearer the Jordan, 
 was utterly unknown till the present century. Seetzen was the 
 first to explore it in some parts, and he furnished to the European 
 public the first notions of its physical as well as moral condition. 
 It was afterwards more extensively traversed and more minutely 
 described by Burckhardt ; and although later travellers have, since 
 the change of government, ranged the country with a degree of | 
 facility and safety unknown in his time, none of them have added 
 any information of importance to that which he supplied. 
 
 The immense plain of the Haouran is sometimes perfectly level 
 for miles together, sometimes it is slightly undulating, and here 
 and there are seen low round hills, on the declivities or at the foot 
 of which most of the villages of the country are situated. The 
 soil is naturally rich, and needs but the application of water to 
 render it abundantly fertile : hence for some time after the season 
 of rain, and wherever moisture is present, the plain is covered with 
 the most luxuriant wild herbage. Artificial meadows can hardly 
 be finer than these desert fields ; and it is this which renders the 
 Haouran a favourite resort of the Bedouins. This it may be im- 
 portant to note historically, concerning a country so close on the 
 Hebrew border. The district is, however, bare of trees, which is 
 true of the whole country, except among the Haouran mountains, 
 where groves of oak and other trees are found. 
 
 The mountains comprehended under the name of Jebel Haouran 
 have been less adequately explored and described than the plain. 
 Viewed from the distance westward, they exhibit a broken outline, 
 and are not of very considerable elevation from the plain ; but 
 their summits have been seen covered with snow in the middle of 
 March. The highest mountain is the Kelb, or Kelab Haouran, 
 which is a cone arising from the lower ridge of the mountains. 
 This is barren on the south and east sides, but fertile on the north 
 and west. Its base is surrounded by a forest, and Burckhardt was 
 told that the ascent from that forest to the summit would occupy 
 an hour ; and that from thence a prospect of “ the sea ” [qy. the 
 Dead Sea ?] might be obtained in clear weather. This traveller 
 states the characteristics of several of the inferior mountains of this 
 region ; but, unfortunately, he neglects to notice the geological 
 construction, except in one instance, when his attention being par- 
 ticularly engaged by the old castle of Szalkhat, which stands upon 
 one of the exterior hills of this group, towards the south, he observes 
 that the hill itself “ consists of alternate layers of the common black 
 tufwacke of the country, and of a very porous, deep red, and often 
 rose-coloured pumice-stone.” As he elsewhere observes that this 
 same black stone is found all over the country, and is the only species 
 which it offers, we may presume that it is also the principal consti- 
 tuent of the other mountains. 
 
 The aspect of the rocky district of Ledja is singular, and far from 
 pleasing. It presents a level tract, covered with heaps of black 
 stones, and small irregular-shaped rocks, without a single agreeable 
 object for the eye to repose on, except in the patches of meadow 
 which are sparingly interspersed among the stones. In the central 
 part of this district, called by Burckhardt the Inner Ledja, the 
 ground is more uneven, the rocks higher, and the roads more 
 difficult. 
 
 It should be observed, that this same black stone is also found all 
 over the Haouran, in a more dispersed form : that masses of it are 
 also found beyond this plain, even to the borders of the Jordan and 
 the Dead Sea. Its presence at various points on the eastern side of 
 the Jordan’s valley, has indeed been noticed already by us, and its 
 character described : for this is doubtless that black stone which has 
 been so often mentioned, and which, under the various names of 
 black basalt, black porous tufa, black tufwacke, black stone (or 
 
 tufwacke) of the Haouran, or of the Ledja, various travellers 
 
 Seetzen, Burckhardt, Buckingham, and others — have concurred in 
 referring to a volcanic origin. It is for this reason that we have 
 taken occasion to describe the whole district in this place and under 
 the present head. 
 
 From a comparison of all the various notices of this black stone, 
 we collect that the masses in and about the Ledja are larger, more 
 dense, and more thickly set than elsewhere ; and that progressively, 
 as we remove from the Ledja, the masses become smaller, more dis- 
 persed, and of more porous texture. If, therefore, these stones be 
 
 the result of volcanic action, we are entitled to consider that the 
 Ledja was the centre of that action, from which the black stone 
 was dispersed widely over the neighbouring region. That the 
 masses of this stone which are found near the valley ef the Jordan 
 and its lakes might proceed from volcanic explosion in the Ledja, 
 is physically quite possible; but, all things considered, and parti- 
 cularly as it seems that the black stone along the Jordan is some- 
 what less dense than that of the Haouran, as well as from the ap- 
 pearance of the mountains at whose base the hot-springs of Tiberias 
 rise, we incline to connect the black stone of the country of the 
 Jordan with the other volcanic phenomena which that region ex- 
 hibits. 
 
 The evidence of volcanic action in the Ledja does not rest 
 merely upon the general appearance of that district or of its stone. 
 
 On the southern border of this district, towards the Haouran 
 mountains, is a town or village named Nedjeroun. This town is 
 surrounded by a perfect labyrinth of rocks — broad sheets and rugged 
 masses ; which, says Lord Lindsay, offers an appearance more like 
 that of the bottom of the crater of Vesuvius, as he saw it in 1830, 
 than anything else to which he could compare it. Buckingham 
 still more distinctly describes the entrance into Nedjeroun as bein'* 
 over beds of rock of a singular kind, having the appearance of 
 volcanic lava suddenly cooled while in the act of boiling in a liquid 
 heat ; there being globular masses in some parts, like the bubbles 
 on boiling pitch, and in others a kind of spiral furrows, like the im- 
 pressions often seen in a semi-liquid when put into violent motion ; 
 and on striking it with any hard substance it gave forth a ringing 
 sound, like metal. Several tanks or reservoirs have, however, been 
 excavated in this hard material, in which the rain-water continues 
 to be preserved. 
 
 This spot, it will be observed, is about the middle of the southern 
 border-line of this district. More to the east, that is, in the south- 
 eastern angle of the Ledja, several Tels, or detached hills, are found 
 near one another, among or near the low exterior ridges of the Jebel 
 Haouran in that direction. Passing between some of them, 
 Burckhardt observed the ground to be covered with pieces of 
 porous tufa and pumice-stone ; and he adds, that the western side 
 of one of these hills (the Tel Shoba) appears to have been the 
 crater of a volcano, as well from the character of the minerals 
 which lie assembled on that side of the hill, as from the form of the 
 hill itself, which resembles that of a crater, while the neighbouring 
 hills have rounded tops, without any sharp angles. 
 
 In concluding this rapid survey of the various volcanic indica- 
 tions which the country offers, it may be proper to recapitulate the 
 resulting information. 
 
 It appears, then, that the great valley of the Jordan, from near 
 its commencement to beyond the asphaltic lake, exhibits numerous 
 traces of the presence of combustible materials and principles, with 
 the results of actual combustion in some former time or times ; 
 that indications of this sort are most abundant near the Lake of 
 Gennesareth and the Dead Sea ; that the basin of the former was 
 probably, and of the latter certainly, formed by the operation of 
 such combustion ; and that, in the progress considerably to the 
 south of this latter lake, no similar indications of secondary volcanic 
 action have been found till we reach the furthermost shores of the 
 Sinai peninsula. That, throughout this line, the indications are 
 more abundant on the eastern than on the western side of the 
 valley of the Jordan, even independently of the separate volcanic 
 manifestations which have been discovered in the Ledja, and the 
 effects of which have been scattered widely over the surrounding 
 districts ; and that, finally, such indications as may be found on the 
 opposite, or western, side of the Jordan’s valley, are confined to the 
 vicinity of the Lake of Tiberias. 
 
 Further, it appears that indications of what we may call primary 
 volcanic action, by the presence and superposition of ignigenous 
 rocks, are most strikingly and conspicuously manifested in the upper 
 mountains of the Sinai peninsula, though not entirely confined to it, 
 as something of the sort may be seen to the west of the Lake of 
 Tiberias. The mountainous region in which the peninsula of Sinai 
 terminates is, indeed, so marked and distinct, and so abruptly cut 
 off, by the intersecting El Tyh hills, from the northward desert of 
 alternating gravel, sand, and chalk, as might suggest to one, look- 
 ing deep and far around him from the loftier summits of these 
 renowned mountains, that the now separating El Tyh hills did, in 
 some far remote age, form the seaward frontier of this region, and 
 that the mountains which rise beyond, and now terminate the 
 peninsula, were elevated by subaqueous volcanic agencies, which 
 alone can adequately account for the phenomena which they ex- 
 hibit, and to which such phenomena are usually referred. 
 
 As there is understood to be an intimate physical connection 
 
442 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 between volcanic indications and the agencies by which earthquakes 
 are produced, such observations as the latter phenomena require 
 may very suitably be introduced in this place. 
 
 In the first place, it is obvious to remark on the striking illustra- 
 tion of historical over even physical evidence, which is afforded by 
 the fact, that, while many stoutly disbelieve the evidence offered 
 by such plain and palpable volcanic indications as those which we 
 have adduced, no one ever questions that Palestine is very liable to 
 be visited by earthquakes, although there is no physical evidence 
 for this fact, or only such as arises from the connection between 
 them and volcanic manifestations. There is no question about 
 earthquakes. The Scriptures abound in allusions to them, and in 
 figures drawn from them ; and history, from very ancient times 
 down to our own day, bears repeated testimony to the devastation 
 they have occasioned. There are, however, only two earthquakes 
 expressly named in Scripture. The first was of such serious im- 
 portance, as to suggest a sort of date for circumstances as having 
 occurred so long before or after the earthquake. Thus Amos (i. 1 ) 
 dates his vision “ two years before the earthquake and, with 
 reference to the same earthquake, another prophet reminds the 
 people how they “ fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, 
 king of Judah.”* Chronological comparisons would fix this earth- 
 quake to near the end of this king’s reign, although Josephus con- 
 nects it with his sacrilegious attempt to minister in the Temple, 
 and informs us that, on this occasion, the Temple was rent, and 
 that the shock was attended by a sort of hill-slip, whereby the half 
 of a mountain near Jerusalem was broken off, and propelled forward 
 half-a-mile, and, where it stopped, blocked up the road and the 
 royal gardens. It seems, indeed, that such slips of the land do not 
 unusually attend earthquake shocks in this region. An instance 
 lias been mentioned already (p. vi.) ; and that such incidents were 
 things of a familiar knowledge to the Jewish people, appears from 
 the allusions of the Psalmist, when he speaks of the “ mountains 
 being carried into the midst of the sea ;”f of their “ skipping like 
 rams, and the little hills like lambs ;”J and also of the Prophet, 
 when he declares that “ the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, 
 and be removed like a cottage .Ӥ Hence also the same resort, in 
 the sublime imagery of the sacred prophets and poets, to figures 
 recognizable by the people to whom they spoke, leads them to describe 
 the earth as shaken by the Lord in his anger, as terrified by his 
 indignation, and as trembling at his presence. || The other instance 
 mentioned in the Scriptures, is that of the extraordinary quaking of 
 the earth and rending of the rocks which attended the crucifixion of 
 our Lord.*jT 
 
 Our information concerning the earthquakes which have been 
 experienced in Palestine is considerably defective. But how 
 unusually frequent and destructive they have been in Syria gene- 
 rally, as well as in Asia Minor, the reader of history needs not be 
 told ; and although we may suspect that Palestine, in particular, 
 could not be insensible to those great and terrible earthquakes 
 which have so repeatedly overthrown Antioch and the other cities 
 of Syria, we dare not, in the absence of the positive information 
 which there is no means of obtaining, insist upon this ; but give 
 our chief attention to those cases by which the Holy Land is known 
 to have been more or less affected. 
 
 But it may be well to jiremise two or three physical facts which 
 we have met with ; and although some of them apply to Syria 
 generally, there is no doubt that they equally apply to Palestine in 
 particular. The coast is more subject to earthquakes than any 
 part of the country : the more elevated parts being comparatively 
 exempt from their visitation ; and from this, perhaps, proceeds the 
 comparative exemption of Jerusalem — the situation of which is very 
 elevated — from this calamity. The Psalmist is supposed to refer 
 to this in Ps. xlvi. 2 — 5. Dr. Shaw observed in Barbary that 
 
 earthquakes occurred generally at the end of summer or autumn, a 
 day or two after great rains. “ The cause,” he says, “ may perhaps 
 arise from the extraordinary constipation, or closeness of the earth’s 
 surface at such times, whereby the subterraneous streams (?) will 
 be either sent back or confined; whereas in summer, the whole 
 country being full of deep chinks, or chasms, the inflammable 
 particles have an easier escape.” As the true theory of earthquakes 
 appears not yet to have been distinguished, we shall say nothing of 
 this one, but proceed to state that Volney cites Shaw’s account of 
 the time and circumstances of earthquakes in Barbary, as entirely 
 applicable to Syria also. What Dr. Russell says on the subject of 
 earthquakes, applies in particular to Aleppo ; yet, from several 
 slight intimations in histories and travels, we imagine it may also 
 
 * Zech. xiv. 5. f Ps. xlvi. 2. $ Ps. cxiv. 4, G. § Isa. xxiv. 20. 
 
 || As in Ps. civ. 32, xcvii. 4 ; 1 Chron. xvi. 30; Jer. x. 12, li. 15; kc. 
 
 If Matt, xxvii. 51. 
 
 be applicable to those parts of Palestine which are most subject to 
 earthquakes. He says : — “ There are few years that earthquakes 
 are not felt at Aleppo ; but being in general slight, and so long a 
 time having elapsed since the city has suffered much from them,* 
 the dread they occasion is only momentary, unless the public happen 
 to be alarmed by exaggerated accounts of what may, at the same 
 time, have befallen other towns of Syria ; and then, indeed, the 
 return of such slight shocks, as would otherwise have passed unre- 
 garded, spreads universal terror. When the shocks happen in the 
 daytime, they often are not felt by persons walking in the streets, 
 or in the crowded bazaars ; but in the silence of the night, they are 
 often dreadful, and make an awful impression on persons roused 
 from sleep.” 
 
 As earthquakes are events , we are somewhat doubtful whether 
 they more properly belong to this, or to the other division of our 
 subject. But, upon the whole, it has seemed best to bring together 
 in this place some particulars concerning the more remarkable 
 earthquakes which have occurred in Palestine : as the reader will 
 thus be the better enabled, than by accounts dispersed through the 
 historical portion of the work, to estimate the character of such 
 calamities, as exhibited in that country. 
 
 We shall now specify the principal earthquakes which history 
 records to have visited the Holy Land, dwelling particularly on 
 those of 1202 and 1837, seeing that our information concerning them 
 throws more light upon the character of these visitations than any 
 i other accounts supply. 
 
 In the thirty-first year before Christ, and in the seventh year of 
 the reign of Herod the Great, the whole land of Judea was shaken 
 by such an earthquake as had never before been experienced. 
 Many thousand people j" were buried under the ruins of their houses, 
 and the cattle were destroyed in vast numbers. 
 
 How far Palestine w'as affected by the dreadful earthquakes 
 which visited most of the provinces of the Eastern empire in the 
 years 365, 394, and 396, we are not informed very precisely : we 
 know, however, that the shock of the former, on the morning of 
 the twenty-first day of July, overthrew several cities in Palestine, 
 although its effects were the most ruinous in the island of Crete, 
 where the shock was the most violent. It appears also, incidentally, 
 in the accounts which are left, that many cities of Palestine had been 
 subverted by preceding earthquakes, of which no historical notices 
 remain. From comparing the notices which we have collected, we 
 find data for concluding that Palestine is never free from the effects 
 of earthquakes which are at the same time felt in the north of 
 ! Syria and in Egypt. We have, therefore, no doubt that the country 
 suffered from the violent earthquakes which, in 447, overturned 
 many towers and stately buildings in Constantinople, Antioch, and 
 Alexandria ; and which in different parts of the Eastern empire laid 
 many cities in the dust. 
 
 We may well conclude that Palestine shared in the calamities 
 which were caused, in the East, by some of the numerous earth- 
 quakes which distinguished the reign of Justinian. As, however, 
 we have no positive information to adduce, we shall only note the 
 probability, suggested by ascertained facts, that this country felt at 
 least the remoter vibrations of the earthquakes which ruined 
 Antioch, which tore a mountain from Libanus, and cast it into the 
 sea, and by which the coast of Phoenicia was ravaged and Beirout 
 (Berytus) destroyed. 
 
 In the year 748, the Emperor Constantine Copronymus was 
 warring with the Saracens in Syria and Palestine, when he was 
 diverted from following up some advantages he had gained by the 
 frequent earthquakes which occurred in those provinces at that 
 time, and by which many cities in them were swallowed up, and 
 others ruined ; while some, if Nicephorus may be credited, were 
 removed, without any considerable damage, six miles and upwards 
 from their former sites. These earthquakes are said — as is often 
 said of recent earthquakes — to have been by far the most destructive 
 tiiat had been known in any age. 
 
 The Armenian historian, Abulfaragi, records several earth- 
 quakes by which Syria was visited in those ages. That country 
 suffered largely from the earthquake which convulsed the south- 
 west of Asia in the month Shaaban (December), a.h. 242 (a.d. 
 866). Very terrible earthquakes were felt in Syria in the month 
 Rajam (August), a.h. 552 (a.d. 1174), by which large numbers of 
 people were destroyed, and many towns and districts devastated, 
 particularly those of Emesa, Hamah, Shizur, Ca-phar, Tab 
 
 * Few of our readers can be unaware how dreadfully Aleppo has suffered from 
 repeated earthquakes since the time of Dr. Russell. 
 
 f The Jewish historian gives the number of slainas 10,000 in one place (Ant. 
 
 1. xvi. c. 7), and as 30,000 in another (DeBell. Jud.l.i. c. 14) ; which latter num- 
 ber seems to agree best with the large terms which he employs in the description. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 443 
 
 (Tabariah i), Moarrah, Apamea, Homs, Arka, Ladikiah, Tripoli, 
 and Antioch. During another earthquake, in a.d. 1034, the earth 
 opened in many parts of Syria, and many people were swallowed up. 
 On this occasion even Jerusalem suffered, for parts of the walls 
 were thrown down. Half of Ptolemais, the lighthouse at Ascalon, 
 and the higher parts of Gaza, were overthrown. The sea retreated 
 three parasangs, and many people who were employed in collecting 
 the fish left upon the strand were swallowed up by the sudden re- 
 turn of the waters. 
 
 "We hear of no more earthquakes until the times of the Crusaders. 
 William of Tyre gives a very lively account of the terrible earth- 
 quake which ravaged Syria and the East in the year 1170. He 
 says this earthquake was felt to the ends of the earth, by which we 
 may understand that it was more than usually extensive in its effects. 
 Indeed, he says that the shocks were so violent that nothing like 
 this convulsion had ever been read of in ancient histories or was 
 within the experience of any living man. The strongest and most 
 ancient cities were overthrown to their foundations, and the in- 
 habitants buried in their ruins. Nothing was anywhere heard but 
 lamentable cries, nothing seen but funereal sights and tears. Among 
 the cities overthrown were some of the largest and noblest of Syria 
 and Phoenicia. On the coast, the cities of Jebail, Ladikiah, and 
 Tripoli, were destroyed, and the strong and lofty towers of Tyre 
 were cast down ; and inland the cities of Aleppo, Caesarea, Hamah, 
 Emesa, and others of less note, with a vast number of castles and 
 fortresses, were overthrown. This indicates a course often taken 
 by the earthquakes which visit this region. Palestine, in the more 
 limited sense, appears to have suffered but little ; and the arch- 
 bishop makes the important observation which we have already 
 adduced, that the more elevated parts of Palestine were exempted 
 from the evils which this earthquake caused. 
 
 The first good and clear account of an earthquake in this region, 
 is that which the Arabian historian, Abdallatiff, gives of the very 
 terrible one which ravaged Syria and Egypt on the morning of 
 Monday, the 20th of May, 1202. The historian, who was himself 
 in Egypt (Alexandria), says that the first shock was so violent, that 
 every one sprung from his bed and poured forth cries to Almighty 
 God. The earthquake lasted a long time, and its shocks were 
 compared to the motion given to a sieve, or to that of a bird as it 
 alternately rises and drops its wing in flight. There were in all 
 three very violent shocks, which shook the buildings, broke the 
 roofs and rafters, and threatened with ruin the houses which were in 
 bad condition, and those which were built high, or which stood on 
 elevated situations. There were some fresh shocks towards the 
 middle of the same day, but they were so slight and of such 
 momentary duration, that they were not generally noticed. The 
 night had been so extremely cold, that people had been obliged to 
 cover themselves with more clothes than was usual at that time of 
 the year ; but the ensuing day was as remarkable for its extreme 
 heat, attended by a most suffocating and pestilential wind (the 
 simoom). Egypt had rarely experienced such an earthquake as 
 this. 
 
 From intelligence which afterwards arrived, it appeared that tins 
 earthquake had ravaged the whole length and breadth of Syria, 
 ■where its effects had been far more disastrous than in Egypt. 
 Many places disappeared entirely, without leaving any trace of 
 their existence, and multitudes of men perished. But the historian 
 knew not that any city in all Syria had suffered less than Jerusalem , 
 by which only some very slight damages had been sustained. The 
 Moslem annalist fails not, also, to note that the ravages of the 
 earthquake had been much more extensive and fatal in the districts 
 occupied by the Franks (Crusaders) in Syria, than in those pos- 
 sessed by the Mohammedans. On the coasts, the sea rose in an 
 unusual manner, producing much destruction and alarm ; and when 
 the waves retired, a great number of vessels and fishes were found 
 high upon the shore. In different places the waters seemed to open, 
 and to gather themselves into great masses, like mountains, with 
 deep valleys between. 
 
 In concluding his account of this awful visitation, Abdallatiff 
 gives copies of two letters which he received from Hamah and 
 Damascus, affording some interesting details of the manner in which 
 Syria had been affected by it. The Hamah correspondent states 
 that the earthquake had been felt twice on the Monday ; the first 
 time it lasted about an hour, but the second was not quite so 
 long, though much stronger. And on the Tuesday two more shocks 
 were felt ; the first about noon, and the other about three hours 
 after. As usual in such cases, everybody supposed that the earth- 
 quake was the precursor of the last day. The letter is rather 
 meagre of facts: but it states that the fortresses at Hamah and 
 Baalbec had been much damaged ; and that several public and 
 
 private buildings had fallen down in Damascus, burying many people 
 in their ruins. 
 
 This last intelligence is confirmed by the Damascus correspondent, 
 who specifies the buildings which had been overthrown ; and then 
 proceeds to state the news which had been received at Damascus 
 from other places, particularly from Palestine. Banias and Safed 
 had been in part overthrown. Bysan ( Bethshan ) was entirely 
 destroyed ; as were also Arka * and Safitha.f At Naplouse not a 
 wall was left standing, save in the street occupied by the Samaritans ; 
 “ but it is said that Jerusalem has, thank God, suffered nothing." 
 A third part of the city of Tyre had been overthrown, as well as 
 the greater part of Acre. Most of the towns in the Haouran had 
 been swallowed up, and it was not yet known that any had been 
 spared. In Lebanon there was a defile between two mountains : 
 there the mountains had met and shut in for ever the persons, 
 about 200 in number, who were then in the valley. The writer of 
 this letter adds that shocks of the earthquake continued to be felt for 
 four days, by day and by night ; and concludes with recommending 
 himself to the care of God’s good providence. 
 
 The great earthquake of 1759 is thus noticed by Yolney : “In 
 our time (in 1759) there happened one which caused the greatest 
 ravages. It is said to have destroyed, in the valley of Baalbec 
 alone, upwards of 20,000 persons, a loss which has never been re- 
 paired. For three months the shocks of it terrified the inhabitants 
 so much as to make them abandon their houses, and dwell under 
 tents.” 
 
 A very full account of this earthquake was furnished by Dr. 
 Patrick Russell, the physician to the British factory at Aleppo, in 
 a letter to his brother, Dr. Alexander Russell, by whom it was 
 communicated to the Royal Society, in whose ‘ Transactions * it 
 appears. As a paper on tins subject from a man of science is of 
 more than ordinary value, we shall here state the particulars which 
 seem of the most importance. 
 
 The spring of the year was unusually dry, the summer temperate, 
 and the autumn, although the rains came on in September, might 
 be esteemed much drier than in ordinary years. On the morning 
 of the 10th of June, a slight shock of an earthquake was felt at 
 Aleppo, and was, as usual, soon forgot ; and it was not ascertained 
 that this shock had been attended with severe effects in any other 
 place. On the 30th of October, about four in the morning, a 
 pretty severe shock occurred, which lasted rather more than a 
 minute, but did no damage at Aleppo : and about ten minutes after, 
 there was another shock, but the tremulous motion was less violent 
 and did not continue above fifteen seconds. It had rained a little 
 the preceding evening; and when the earthquake happened, the 
 west wind blew fresh, the sky was cloudy, and it lightened. This 
 earthquake occasioned little sensation at Aleppo, and that little had 
 subsided, when attention was recalled to it by the arrival of intelli- 
 gence from Damascus that the same shock which had been experienced 
 at Aleppo had been felt there, followed by several others, and that 
 considerable damage had been done. From that time continual 
 accounts arrived from Tripoli, Sidon, Acre, and the whole coast of 
 Syria, describing the damages which this earthquake had occasioned. 
 These reports excited great alarm among the people, and it soon 
 appeared that the worst of their apprehensions were to be realised. 
 
 The morning of the 25th November had been very serene ; some 
 clouds arose in the afternoon, and the evening was remarkably 
 hazy, with little or no wind, when, about half an hour after seven, 
 the earthquake came on. The motion was at first gently tremulous, 
 increasing by degrees till the vibrations became more distinct, and, 
 at the same time, so strong as to shake the walls of the houses with 
 considerable violence; they then became more gentle, and then 
 again more violent, and thus changed alternately several times 
 during the shock, which lasted altogether about two minutes. In 
 about eight minutes after this was over, a slight shock of a few 
 seconds’ duration succeeded. The thermometer was at 50°, and the 
 barometer was at 28’9, the mercury undergoing no alteration. 
 There was little or no wind during the night, and the sky was clear, 
 excepting some clouds which hung about the moon. At a quarter 
 past four the next morning, there was another siiock, which lasted 
 somewhat less than a minute, and was hardly so strong as that of the 
 preceding night. 
 
 The night of the 26th was rainy and cloudy, and at nine o’clock 
 there was a slight sl ock of a few seconds ; the motion this time 
 appeared to be very deep, and was rather undulating than tremulous. 
 The weather on the 27th was cloudy and rainy. From the mid- 
 
 * De Sacy is doubtless correct in concluding this to be the Arka of Phoenicia. 
 
 ■f From the indications of I)e Sacy, this may seem to have been in or on the 
 western border of the desolate region of SzafTa, concerning which there is a note at 
 the end of this chapter. 
 
444 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 nisrht of the 25th, besides the shocks which have been mentioned, 
 four or five slight shocks were felt ; but Dr. Russell himself was 
 not sensible of any till the morning of the 28th, when a short 
 pulsatory shock was experienced. The same day at two o’clock 
 there was a rather smart shock, lasting about forty seconds. From 
 this time the Doctor was not sensible of any further shocks, though 
 there were those who felt or imagined several slight vibrations 
 every day. 
 
 It appears that the people of Aleppo were more frightened than 
 hurt by these earthquakes. The buildings sustained little damage 
 and no one was killed. Other places suffered more severely. 
 Antioch had many of its buildings overthrown, and some of its 
 people killed. And from advices afterwards received, it appeared 
 that the earthquake of the 25th had been particularly ruinous. 
 One-third of Damascus was overthrown ; and of the people unknown 
 thousands perished in the ruins. The greater part of the survivors 
 fled to the fields, where they remained, alarmed by the slightest 
 shocks, and deterred by them from re-entering the city to attempt 
 the relief of such persons as might yet be saved by clearing away 
 the rubbish. 
 
 Tripoli suffered more than Aleppo. Three minars and many 
 houses were thrown down, while the walls of many more were rent. 
 The resident Franks and many of the natives took refuge in the 
 open fields. At Sidon, great part of the Franks’ khan was over- 
 thrown, and some of the Europeans narrowly escaped with their 
 lives. Acre and Ladikiah suffered little besides rents in some of 
 the walls. This terrible visitation of Providence extended over 
 10,000 square miles. 
 
 There were several slight shocks in December and even in 
 January, but none requiring particular notice. In one of his com- 
 munications, dated the 7th December, Dr. Russell observes that the 
 weather had for ten days been gloomy and rainy ; a change which 
 the people were willing to regard as favourable. At that time it 
 often lightened at night, and thunder was heard in the distance.* 
 
 Syria was visited by a most terrible earthquake in the year 1822. 
 On the 13th of August, about nine o’clock in the evening, Aleppo, 
 the third city of the Ottoman empire, and one of the most beauti- 
 ful, whose buildings were entirely of stone, and some of which 
 deserved the name of palaces, was, in one instant, overthrown to its 
 foundations, and thousands of its inhabitants buried in the ruins. f 
 Antioch, Latakia, and many other towns and villages in the pashalic 
 of Aleppo, were also destroyed. Very affecting accounts of this 
 calamity were given at the time by Mr. John Barker, the British 
 consul in Syria, and by his brother Mr. Benjamin Barker, the 
 agent of the Bible Society, — the former writing from the ruins of 
 Antioch, and the latter from those of Aleppo. But as their ac- 
 counts furnish little of such information as we seek, and as the 
 effects of this convulsion appear to have been scarcely felt in Pales- 
 tine, we shall pass on to the recent and very terrible visitation which 
 brought in the new year of 1837. 
 
 Accounts of this earthquake have been furnished by Mr. Moore, 
 the consul-general at Beirout ; by the Rev. Mr. Thompson, an 
 American missionary ; and by Mr. Caiman, a Jew converted to 
 Christianity and employed on a mission to the Jews in Palestine. 
 These two gentlemen being then in Beirout, immediately entered 
 the Holy Land with the British agent at Sidon, and visited the 
 neighbourhood of the Lake of Tiberias, where the devastation had 
 been greatest, with the view of offering all the assistance in their 
 power to the sufferers. They, therefore, had advantages in giving 
 an account of an earthquake in Palestine not possessed by any one 
 (except William of Tyre) who has given particulars of other 
 earthquakes in that country. The following paragraphs are, there- 
 fore, drawn chiefly from the account furnished by Mr. Caiman, 
 with the addition of a few particulars from the narratives of Mr. 
 Moore and Mr. Thompson. 
 
 Palestine, and in particular the neighbourhood of the Lake of 
 Tiberias, appears to have been the very centre of this mighty con- 
 cussion, which was felt even to the mountains of Sinai. Indeed, 
 Mr. Moore states that it had been ascertained that the earthquake 
 was felt in a line of five hundred miles in length by ninety in 
 breadth. The violence of the shock, however, spent itself about 
 half-way between Beirout and Jerusalem ; or, in other words, the 
 marks of davastation increased as the traveller approached the dis- 
 
 * We have recorded these meteorological intimations, as some may he dis- 
 posed to lay stress upon them ; but that the state of the atmosphere can have 
 anything to do with earthquakes or volcanoes appears very doubtful. 
 
 f Accounts, as usual, vary ; the most common one states that upwards of two- 
 thirds of the city were entirely destroyed, and that from 25,000 to 30,000 was 
 the number of those who perished. 
 
 tricts of Safed and Tiberias, and decreased in receding from them 
 — Upper Galilee being the principal scene of ruin. 
 
 The travellers, who proceeded to visit the scene of desolation 
 from Beirout, found that the farther they advanced to the S. E., to 
 a certain point, the more violent the shock had been, and the more 
 terrible its effects. In nearly all the places which they passed, 
 where the earthquake was felt, nothing had been left behind but 
 destruction, desolation, and human suffering. They omit details till 
 they come to Gish, a once well-built village, situated upon a high 
 mountain, two hours to the N.W. of Safed which was found to be 
 so thoroughly destroyed and overthrown, that not a house — not even 
 a single stone — had been permitted to keep its place. Of two hun- 
 dred and fifty inhabitants, all save fifteen had perished. 
 
 The substantial information which Mr. Caiman gives concerning 
 this earthquake is comprised within a few pages at the latter end 
 of his publication, and which we cannot do better than transcribe 
 almost entire. 
 
 “ Safed, as I have above described, stood on the steep declivity of 
 a mountain; and though the houses were two stories high, the 
 roofs of the lower streets formed part of the roadway for the inha- 
 bitants of the upper. There were no fewer than twenty such streets, 
 and when the earthquake brought down the buildings, the lower 
 streets received, of course, the rubbish of those above ; and the 
 lower the streets were, the greater the quantity of rubbish they re- 
 ceived. There were, therefore, some streets and houses where the 
 accumulation of rubbish was enormous, and the depth from the 
 lower apartments to the top of the ruins quite incredible, so that 
 no voice could have penetrated half its thickness. These circum- 
 stances are necessary to render intelligible the narrative to which I 
 have referred 
 
 “ The recurrence of the earthquake, which has been a daily visi- 
 tor since the first shock, and sometimes very violent, is a great ad- 
 dition to the misery of the people. One of the shocks, on Wednes- 
 day afternoon, the 18th, was so violent at Safed, that many parts of 
 the ruins which had stood were shaken down. The rattling noise 
 of the stones, and the cries of those who were digging in search of 
 their friends, brought renewed consternation to every heart ; and 
 the dust raised by the new overthrow, led those who were higher 
 up to believe that smoke was issuing from the ground, and that fire 
 would finally follow, and consume them and their tents. A similar 
 shock had taken place on the previous Monday evening. These 
 frightful visitations are not confined to the two cities above spoken 
 of. Throughout the adjacent country as far as Sidon, the inhabit- 
 ants are in such apprehension of danger fiom the same source, that 
 nearly all have abandoned their shattered houses, and fled for their 
 lives into caves and holes of the rocks, or, if they can afford it, 
 have erected booths. There was scarcely a cave on our way from 
 Safed to Tabereah (Tibereas) in which there were not people ; 
 which reminded me of Lot, on his flight from Sodom, choosing a 
 cave for his abode (Gen. xix. 30). To the same cause, of frequent 
 earthquakes destroying the cities and houses, may, perhaps, be as- 
 cribed the habits from which the Ilorites, or dwellers in caverns in 
 Mount Seir, derived their name (Gen. xiv. 6). A great part of 
 the city of Tyre having been entirely destroyed, and the remaining 
 houses so injured as to be unsafe, its inhabitants, without exception, 
 have withdrawn from their houses, and now live on the beach, some 
 in tents and some in their large boats, which they have drawn on 
 shore, and covered with canvas, where they now possess something 
 like tranquillity of mind. The inmates of the latter seem rather 
 as if in expectation of another flood, than of another earthquake. 
 
 “ The neighbourhood of Gish, Safed, and Tabereah, bears other 
 marks of the violence of the shock, besides the complete overthrow 
 of those places, in the rents, of various dimensions, traversing the 
 rocks. Not five minutes N.E. of Gish, on the same declivity, there 
 is a rent in the solid rock upwards of sixty feet in length, from a 
 foot to a foot and a half in breadth, and whose depth has not been 
 sounded. Close to the latter two places, fissures in the rocks, in 
 winding directions, stretching as far as the eye could reach, but not 
 so wide as the one just mentioned, every now and then surprised us 
 .on our journey. In some places even isolated rocks were rent. 
 The people of Safed and Tabereah told us, that the motion of the 
 earthquake there was felt to be perpendicular, not horizontal ; so 
 that it shook every stone from the foundation out of its place. They 
 say the shock was attended with great noise. 
 
 “ On the north side of Tabereah, numberless hot-springs burst 
 out during the earthquake, and continued for a short time discharg- 
 ing torrents of hot mineral water, which made the lake swell to a 
 most unusual height. Beyond Jordan, in the district of Bashan, 
 volleys of fire were shot out of the ground to such an height, that 
 those who saw it in its descent were led to believe that it came down 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 445 
 
 from heaven. Mr. , at Jerusalem, who had a very narrow 
 
 escape from the tumbling stones of the walls of his apartment, im- 
 mediately on making his escape saw something like a long, bril- 
 liant star running from N. to S., probably the same volcanic fire 
 
 seen by the people beyond Jordan 
 
 “ There is something not a little surprising in the irregular 
 course pursued by the earthquake. Of villages and buildings 
 within gunshot of each other, one has been destroyed from the 
 foundations, and at the other it has been scarcely felt, and no injury 
 sustained. Gish was completely destroyed ; while a village close 
 to it was not at all injured, nor did its inhabitants feel the shock. 
 While the city walls and towers of Tabereah could not withstand it, 
 the mineral baths, about one mile to the south, and which, especially 
 the new one, are comparatively slight buildings, suffered no injury. 
 Lubia, Sedtsherah, and Ramma, villages situated near each other, 
 about two hours N.W. of Tabereah, were all completely over- 
 thrown ; while at Cana of Galilee, only half an hour distant from 
 some of these, the motion was not felt. Again, another village 
 called Renna, about half-way between Cana and Nazareth, being 
 within half an hour of either place, was utterly destroyed ; while 
 Nazareth itself suffered comparatively little. 
 
 “ It has been sought to explain the phenomenon by the suppo- 
 sition, that the places not affected by the shock stand upon strata 
 already detached, by some former convulsion, from the main strata ; 
 and that the places situated on the latter have given way to the 
 impetuosity of the shock.” 
 
 It appears that the Lake of Tiberias experienced a violent con- 
 cussion during the whole time the earthquake lasted; and that its 
 waters rose, and swept away many of the inhabitants of Tabereah. 
 On this, as on other occasions, Jerusalem escaped with comparative 
 impunity, and was but slightly affected ; but Mr. Caiman mentions 
 that the minars on the Mount of Olives were shaken down by the 
 earthquake. 
 
 Authentic accounts of all the places in Palestine destroyed or 
 injured by the earthquake of 1837 would be of much value for 
 topographical purposes. We have three lists before us ; those of 
 Mr. Moore, Mr. Caiman, and Mr. Waghorn. The two first do not 
 differ materially ; and as that of the British agent is more extensive 
 and more official, we shall give it the preference, but shall con- 
 sider it right to draw a few obvious corrections, and to fill a few 
 blanks from the list of Mr. Caiman. It is proper, however, to 
 introduce the list, thus formed, by the remark of this gentleman’s 
 editor, which is applicable to all statistical documents of similar 
 origin : — “ The enumeration of killed and wounded is given faith- 
 fullv by Mr. Caiman, beyond doubt ; and he would weigh the 
 testimony offered to him. Still, it is the testimony of Orientals, 
 accustomed to reckon laxly and in round numbers ; and must be 
 considered as, at best, an approximation.” 
 
 The following villages, also in the district of Shara, were entirely 
 destroyed, but the number of the inhabitants who perished is un- 
 known : — Asban, Asbaga, El Atrech, El Shaley ; and the follow- 
 ing in the district of Mevigaoun — Topte, El Maga, Giatoun, Darel 
 Hata, El Suma, Sulti, Nadris, Usable, Alme Decta, Mogar, Akin, 
 Atbar, Mahrun, Bira, Darel Wafa, El Maydel. Some of the 
 names in this list appear to be misspelled ; and we have been able 
 to find the means of correcting only a few of them to our own 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Considering by how many such convulsions as these this land 
 has been desolated, causing the utter extinction of numerous towns 
 and villages, no one can wonder at the difficulty which is felt in 
 ascertaining the old sites mentioned in the Scriptures ; but surprise 
 may rather be experienced at the very considerable number which 
 have been identified. 
 
 It is not strictly within our object to dwell upon the human 
 suffering which this calamity produced, and which such visitations 
 have, doubtless, in all ages, occasioned in the same country, other- 
 wise we could occupy many pages with accounts of the few sur- 
 vivors of this dreadful overthrow, appearing like men whom con- 
 sternation had divested of sound reason, brooding over the ruins of 
 their habitations, and bemoaning the relatives who still lay buried 
 
 A List of Towns, &c., Destroyed or Injured in Syria by the Earthquake 
 
 on the 1st of January, 1837. 
 
 
 Districts. 
 
 Names of Villages. 
 
 Number of Houses 
 
 Number of Persons 
 
 
 destroyed. 
 
 killed. 
 
 
 f El Gazi . 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 
 El Tara . 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 Castle of Bilad 
 
 
 
 600 head of goats 
 
 
 Skiff. 
 
 
 killed. 
 
 
 Kutus 
 
 The whole village 
 
 53 
 
 
 Atnan 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 33 
 
 Aklin el Tiffa < 
 
 El Salha . 
 Benthel Gebln-1 . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 
 Miss .... 
 
 A part . 
 
 3 
 
 
 El Miliah 
 Maroon . 
 
 The whole village 
 Do. . 
 
 Unknown. 
 
 17 
 
 
 Hass cun . 
 
 Three-fourths 
 
 13 
 
 
 Ain Nebli . . 
 
 The whole village 
 
 12 
 
 
 Zigish 
 
 One-third . 
 
 8 
 
 
 Ambaa . 
 
 Do. . 
 
 3 
 
 
 Eble Sakah . 
 
 The whole village 
 
 100 
 
 
 El Matel . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 78 
 
 
 Albo .... 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 2. r 
 
 Shara . . 
 
 Mimis 
 El Heam . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 5 
 
 150 
 
 
 Caffar 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 72 
 
 
 El Hurba 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 Debin 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 All the inhabitants. 
 
 
 Sayora 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 50 
 
 
 Gish .... 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 235 
 
 
 El Raschamar 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 40 
 
 Mevigaoun 
 
 Lubia. 
 Rami . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 143 
 
 180 
 
 
 Renna 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 300 
 
 
 Ramash . 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 30 
 
 
 Town 9. 
 
 
 
 
 Damascus . . 
 
 4 minarets and 
 
 7 or 8 killed 
 
 
 
 some houses. 
 
 and wounded. 
 
 
 Acre .... 
 
 Fortifications 
 
 I)o. 
 
 
 Sidon .... 
 
 Houses greatly in- 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 jured. 
 
 
 
 Safed .... 
 
 Destroyed . 
 
 5025 killed.* 405 
 
 
 
 
 wounded. 
 
 
 Tyre .... 
 
 Slightly injured . 
 
 12 
 
 
 Nazareth. 
 
 Do. . . . 
 
 7 
 
 
 Tiberias . 
 
 Entirely destroyed 
 
 776 killed,f 05 
 
 
 
 
 ■wounded. 
 
 beneath the ruins : — of those at Safed, with ghastly countenances 
 and tattered clothes, scattered over the four sides of their mountain, 
 destitute of raiment and shelter to screen them from the keen mid- 
 winter air of the mountains, and seeming as if they only survived 
 to pine away more slowly and sufferingly than those whom the 
 earthquake had overwhelmed ; — of faithful dogs trying, with inde- 
 fatigable perseverance, to remove the heaps of stones which hid 
 their owners from their sight, and breaking forth, every now and 
 then, into the most mournful bowlings, when they found that the 
 efforts of their weak paws were spent in vain ; — of the dreadful 
 state of many who were wounded, their poor bodies crushed, 
 broken, torn, in every possible way, beyond all hope of cure ; and 
 of the numbers who, in this state, lay upon or about the ruins, with 
 none to care for them or to provide them help or shelter; — of those 
 who, for the first three or four days, continued alive under the 
 ruins, sending forth bitter cries and lamentations, and vain entreaties 
 for help, the attempts to give which, in many cases, crushing them 
 to death by the displacement of the stones and beams which had 
 given them protection ; — of those who, after many days, were 
 brought forth barely alive, and who opened their eyes once more 
 upon the light of day, and by that light viewing their few surviving 
 friends and their ruined cities, closed them again for ever ; — of the 
 bodies of the slain drawn out and dragged about the fields by greedy 
 dogs, which, emboldened by their horrid fare, became at last dan- 
 gerous to the living ; — or, finally, of the wild inhabitants of the 
 desert hastening gleefully — like vultures to the scent of blood — to 
 reap the harvests for which they did not labour, and to gather the 
 treasures which they never deposited, digging among the ruins, and 
 bearing joyously to their tents and caverns the wealth of the living 
 and the dead. 
 
 * 4000 Jews, 25 Christians, 1000 Mohammedans. — Caiman 
 
 t 500 Jews, 26 Christians, 250 Mohammedans. — Caiman. 
 
44 G 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 
 
 (') Hot Baths of Tiberias, p. 437. — This, from Hasselquist, is a 
 moderate estimate of the heat, as compared with that which the old 
 travellers give. Morison, for instance, says, with some simplicity, — 
 “ La source .... est si boiiillante, qu’il ne me fut pas possible d’en 
 souffrir pendant quelques momens l'incroiable chaleur. J’essaiai plu- 
 sieurs fois d'y tenir le bout du doigt pendant le terns necessaire pour 
 prononcer fort vite ce peu de paroles Gloria Patri et Filio, mais je ne 
 pu pas y reiissir ; et je crois qu’une eau qui auroit boiiilli sur un grand 
 leu pendant une heure entiere, n’auroit rien de plus insuportable.” 
 (Voyage, p. 205.) He was evidently not aware that water gains no in- 
 crease of heat by prolonged boiling. Dr. Richardson, having no ther- 
 mometer, could not ascertain the temperature of the spring ; but it was 
 so hot that the hand could not endure it. The water must remain many 
 hours in the cistern of the bath (as Morison says was the case in his 
 time) before it can be used, and even after this the Doctor thinks its 
 temperature not below 100°. Buckingham did apply a thermometer to 
 the water at its issue, when the mercury rose instantly to 130°, which 
 was its utmost limit ; but the heat of the water was certainly greater. 
 The statement in the text, making the heat 144°, is from Schubert. 
 Morison says that, on bathing in the lake, he found its water (which 
 is naturally very cold) quite warm, at the distance of twelve paces 
 from the water’s edge, and twenty-five or thirty from the source, by 
 reason of the water allowed to escape from the hot-spring. He agrees 
 with later travellers in describing the taste as a mixed one of salt, sul- 
 phur, bitumen, and iron. Pococke bottled some of the water, and 
 brought it home, when it was found to hold in solution a considerable 
 quantity of “ gross fixed vitriol, some alum, and a mineral salt.” The 
 extreme saltness of the water communicates a brackish taste to that of 
 the lake near it. 
 
 This spring has been, from ancient times, celebrated for the medici- 
 nal properties of its waters; whence it has been a place of much 
 resort, from all parts of Syria, in rheumatic complaints and cases of 
 early debility. For the accommodation of the visitors, suitable baths 
 appear to have been erected, which are at present supplied by a small 
 and mean building, with a low dome. The interior is divided into two 
 apartments, the innermost of which, being the bathing-room, has a 
 cistern eight or nine feet square, sunk below the pavement, for con- 
 taining the hot water. The spring rises, to supply the cistern, through 
 a small head of some animal. The waters are also taken internally, 
 but not without much precaution, or until due care has been taken to 
 render it drinkable by dilution ; for, in its natural state, it is not only 
 extremely hot, but has a stronger mineral flavour than the stomach can 
 endure. Volney informs us that the deposition of the spring is also used 
 medicinally. He says — “ for want of clearing, it is filled with a black 
 mud, which is a genuine JEthiops Martial. Persons attacked by rheu- 
 matic complaints find great relief, and are frequently cured by baths 
 of this mud.” 
 
 ( 2 ) “ Ox tiie Destruction of the Vale of Siddim,” p. 439. — As 
 ice do not contend that the Dead Sea is the crater of a volcano, we have 
 no particular object in showing that Chateaubriand’s arguments prove 
 nothing in this matter. But although it be true that the greater num- 
 ber of known volcanoes take the form which he describes, it remains to 
 be proved that such a form is essential to them. We know of no facts 
 or arguments to show that a volcano may not exist in a hollow among 
 mountains, and we know that such may exist as a chasm in a plain.* 
 The formation of a mountain crater is a work of time. — the result of a 
 continued propulsion of matter through the same vent, whereby, in 
 process of time, such conical masses are formed as the eloquent French- 
 man describes. What he says is, therefore, no more than that the 
 effects which he witnessed at the Dead Sea are not such as result from 
 the continued operation of volcanic agencies. And in this we quite 
 agree with him. There is much in Scripture, and much in the present 
 state of the tract of country which we are describing, to render it mani- 
 fest that it has in different parts, and probably at different times, been 
 subject to volcanic disturbances ; but that any of them, however 
 violent, were of long continuance, the Scripture precludes us from sup- 
 posing. 
 
 Much of the misunderstanding in this matter results from the assumed 
 necessity (evidently present to the mind of Chateaubriand) of finding 
 a volcano before volcanic manifestations shall be recognised. This is 
 a radical error. In pursuing the inquiry which the present chapter 
 embraces, W'e have described ourselves as collecting volcanic indica- 
 tions. , not as looking for the site of a volcano. A district, in which no 
 traces of a crater can be found, may exhibit, manifestations of volcanic 
 action ; such action having been probably sudden, brief, dispersed, and 
 intermittent. To decide concerning these, by a reference to the ap- 
 pearances produced by the long continuance of volcanic action in the 
 same place, can scarcely be considered correct. 
 
 * As in that of Kiraunea, in the Sandwich Islands, described in the inter- 
 esting book of the Rev. W. Ellis. 
 
 Again, writers, like Chateaubriand in the present instance, speak of 
 volcanoes, and so forth, with reference to some theoretical notions on 
 the subject. Suspecting that the true theory of volcanoes has not yet 
 been established, w'e have abstained from any such reference ; and in 
 noticing volcanic indications have intended no more than indications 
 of the action of fire. We take this to be the simple meaning of the 
 word “ volcanic,” apart from all theory ; and, as the matter involves 
 some points of delicacy in such a work as the present, we beg that 
 the acceptation in which we employ the term may be distinctly under- 
 stood. 
 
 The action of fire implies the presence of combustible materials pre- 
 viously to that action ; but how these materials ignite, how combustion 
 is produced, is a question which still remains to be decided; for although, 
 probably, the true explanation has been suggested, the evidence, 
 which may in the end establish it above all other hypotheses, has not 
 yet been produced. We see nothing to disprove that the ignition 
 may, under differing circumstances, be differently produced ; and the 
 variety of theories on the subject, all having some very good reasons in 
 their favour, may tend to sanction this conclusion. 
 
 Now, in the case of the Dead Sea, we know, from the best possible 
 authority, that the site it occupies was once a fertile and populous 
 plain. It was in those days that “ Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all 
 the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the 
 Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, 
 like the land of Egypt.” (Gen. xiii. 10.) We learn immediately after 
 (xiv. 3, 10) that this site was called the “Vale of Siddim,” and that it 
 was replete with combustible materials, which were partly exposed in 
 the form of “slime-pits,” — that is of such sources of bitumen as still are 
 found on the eastern borders of the lake, and as, from the products 
 which rise to the surface, appear still to exist below the waters. The 
 sacred history having thus apprised us of the presence of combustible 
 materials, soon after acquaints us with the occasion of their ignition. 
 Provoked by the iniquities of the people who inhabited the plain, 
 “The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire* 
 from the Lord out of heaven ; and he overthrew those cities and all the 
 plain, and that which grew upon the ground. ”f Abraham, who wit- 
 nessed this manifestation of the Divine judgment, which he had vainly 
 endeavoured to avert, “ looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and to- 
 ward all the land of the plain, and behold, and lo, the smoke of the 
 country ivent up as the smoke of a furnace. , '% 
 
 The object of the sacred account is to inform us that the Lord did, 
 by his special judgment, overthrow the sinful cities of the plain, and 
 not to explain how that overthrow was effected. We are told, however, 
 that “ the Lord rained burning brimstone out of heaven.” Some think 
 that this was an ejection upon the plain of burning matter from a vol- 
 canic eruption in the neighbourhood ; others, that lightning was the 
 agent employed in the ignition of the combustible materials which the 
 plain afforded ; while many take the expression to denote the literal 
 projection of fiery matters from the sky upon the plain. We shall not 
 examine these alternatives. The special interposition of Divine pro- 
 vidence in bringing down this judgment at the appointed instant, when 
 the iniquities of the inhabitants had ripened them for destruction, would 
 be equally apparent under all. But we submit that, with our previous 
 knowledge of the combustible character ofthe district, all the intimations 
 which the sacred text affords, are indicative of volcanic action pro- 
 duced by the fiery agency which the Lord in his chosen time supplied. 
 And it may be well to remind the reader that this appearance of falling 
 fire which occasions so much doubtful explanation and comment, is not 
 singular or unexampled ; for it has been seen in Mr. Caiman’s account, 
 that a similar appearance attended that combination of volcanic and 
 earth-shaking agencies which produced the terrible result of 1837. 
 
 To those who do not balance and compare dispersed texts with suf- 
 ficient attention, it might seem, at the first glance, that the destruction 
 of “ all the plain ” was the consequence of its inundation by the “burn- 
 ing brimstone ” which the Lord rained out of heaven. But we must 
 recollect that it was not a submersion by a “ fiery deluge,” but an 
 “ overthrow and remembering the “ slime-pits” which were exposed 
 in the plain, we can see that a combustion must have ensued, which ) 
 by its action on subterraneous gases, would explode the whole plain, 
 casting its contents far and wide, and ultimately causing a great de- 
 pression of its surface. The Scriptural intimations, and all existing ap- 
 pearances, are in favour of this view. 
 
 The plain of Siddim is described, in one. of the texts we have cited, 
 as part of the plain of the Jordan, that is, that the river flowed through 
 it. It therefore follows that the plain had about the same level (gra- 
 dually sloping southward) as the general plain of the Jordan, of which it 
 was part. But now its bottom is very far below that level ; and this 
 must have been the result of a convulsion and submersion of its former 
 surface. Whereas, the ultimate effect of asingle deluge of fiery matter 
 would have been to raise the surface of the plain. 
 
 * i. e. burning brimstone. j Gen. xix. 24, 25. } Gen. xix. 28. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 447 
 
 Moreover, the sacred narrative, closely examined, indicates a sud- 
 denness of effect — an explosion from sudden ignition— rather than 
 mere submersion by the continuous down-flow of burning matter. It 
 was “ early in the morning” when the angels hastened Lot to go forth 
 that he might escape the impending destruction ; and it was still “ early 
 in the morning ” when Abraham looked towards the plain, and saw its 
 smoke ascending like the smoke of a furnace. This intimates that the 
 catastrophe was then over. Had he seen the descending fire, that 
 would not have taken his attention. But the fire had fallen — the con- 
 vulsion had taken place ; and the details of the terrible result were hid 
 from his view by the dense smoke which rose from the whole country 
 of the plain as from a furnace. Such a convulsion must have been 
 attended with a fearful noise ; and it does not seem unlikely that this 
 noise, together with the shaking of the earth, announced to Abraham 
 that the Lord's purpose was accomplished, and led him to hasten so 
 early in the morning to the place from which a view of the plain might 
 be commanded. We do not see how the nature of this awful event 
 could more clearly be defined than by the collection and comparison 
 of these dispersed intimations. 
 
 The explanation which we have suggested is not different, though 
 perhaps more comprehensive than that which Chateaubriand himself is 
 inclined to embrace as “ one which allows the inclusion of physical 
 circumstances without injury to religion.” This is the notion of 
 Michaelis and Busching, who hold that Sodom and Gomorrah were built 
 upon a mine of bitumen, and that the combustible matters having been 
 enkindled by lightning, the cities sank down in the subterraneous con- 
 flagration. We, of course, do not object to this explanation, which is 
 substantially the same which we have given ; but we do wonder that, 
 admitting so much of “ la physique" into the consideration, he should 
 have thought it worth his while to contend against volcanic combus- 
 tion and volcanic appearances ; for, as we have used and understand 
 the word, the convulsion, in the form he allows it to have taken place, 
 would have been volcanic, and the resulting appearances, which we 
 might at this day expect to find in the neighbourhood, would be such 
 as amply to justify, if not to require, its being described as a volcanic 
 region.* 
 
 * Indeed the Neptunians would hold the event to have been volcanic in the 
 
 These observations are of course equally applicable whatever was the 
 ancient extent of the plain in which Sodom stood, — whether it occupied 
 the site of the whole present lake, or only of the bay or “ back-water” 
 which forms the southernmost extremity of the same. 
 
 The other volcanic appearances about the Lake of Tiberias and in the 
 Eastern country are not accounted for or noticed in the sacred books. 
 It is very possible that the combustion which turned the fertile plain of 
 Siddim into an asphaltic lake was subterraneously propagated, and 
 burst forth in other and distant places; and that they were all thus 
 connected with the same great event which the sacred history records. 
 But they may have been produced, independently, at an earlier or later 
 date ; and, if so, we should not expect them to be noticed in Scripture 
 unless they were connected with some extraordinary exhibition of 
 Divine power, and intended for the punishment of a guilty people. Its 
 silence would imply that they were not. It is, however, possible that 
 such events may be alluded to by the prophets ; although, from the 
 want of historical information on the subject, we may be unable to fix 
 this precise meaning to the texts in which such allusions occur. 
 
 ( 3 ) Szaffa, p. 441. — It may be well to introduce here (from Burck- 
 hardt) the whole of the information which we at present possess concern- 
 ing this district. — “ The Szaffa is a stony district, much resembling the 
 Ledja, with this difference, that the rocks with which it is covered are 
 considerably larger, although the whole may be said to be even ground. 
 It is two or three days in circumference, and is the place of refuge of 
 the Arabs who fly from the pasha’s troops or from the enemies in the 
 desert. The Szaffa has no springs : the rain water is collected in 
 cisterns. The only entrance is through a narrow pass, called Bab el 
 Szaffa, a cleft between high perpendicular rocks, which none ever 
 dared to enter as an enemy. On its western side this district is El 
 Ilarra, a term applied by the Arabs to all tracts which are covered 
 with small stones ; being derived from Harr, i. e. heat (reflected from 
 the ground).” 
 
 strictest scientific sense of the word ; for they hold that volcanoes are owing to 
 the inflammation of beds of coal or other combustible matter, and regard them 
 as local or of very limited range. We point out the conformity, without wishing 
 to declare our adherence to the Neptunian or any other geological theory. Our 
 present inquiry does not need any theoretical elucidation. 
 
448 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 CHAPTER IY.— VALLEYS, PLAINS, AND DESERTS. 
 
 It has already been shown that the general direction of the great 
 mountain-chains of Syria is from north to south, that being the 
 direction in which the country is most extended. It therefore fol- 
 lows that the great principal valleys, or basins, which separate or 
 run parallel to those mountains, take the same direction. The 
 lateral valleys, which separate the arms or branches of the moun- 
 tain-chams, and through which their waters pass into the parallel 
 basins, for the most part make a great angle, generally a right 
 angle, with them, and, consequently, have a general direction from 
 east to west, or from west to east. 
 
 We have written of the great mountain-chain of Lebanon, and 
 have described its southward prolongation as extending through and 
 dividing the length of Palestine, the backbone of which, so to speak, 
 it forms. Now, the parallel valley or basin of this great central 
 chain, on the west, to which all the lateral valleys and all the streams 
 of its western slope tend, is formed by the low lands on the coast 
 facing the Mediterranean. But the great parallel valley on the 
 east is formed, first, by the Bekka, or valley between Lebanon and 
 Anti-Lebanon ; then by the bed of the river Jordan and its lakes ; 
 and, lastly, by the great valley of Arabah, which extends from the 
 Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf. In this great and extensive basin 
 all the valleys which separate the eastern branches of the great cen- 
 tral chain terminate, and through them it receives all the waters 
 which fall from its eastern slopes. This valley is the eastern frontier 
 of Palestine Proper : but taking into account the country beyond 
 it eastward, which we include in our survey, it becomes a central 
 basin, towards which are directed, westward, the valleys and streams 
 of the eastern mountains and high plains. This is, therefore, of 
 more importance, geographically, than even the other principal 
 valley — if it be right to call it a valley — which stretches along 
 the coast ; seeing that the lateral valleys of the two principal chains 
 are directed towards it, whereas the valleys and streams of only one 
 slope tend towards the coast. 
 
 This being the system of the valleys of Palestine, the obvious 
 course before us is, first, to trace the characteristics of the coast 
 from the north to the south, and then those of the great central val- 
 ley ; after which we shall be in a condition to attend to such of the 
 lateral or subsidiary valleys as require especial notice ; and may 
 then conclude with a notice of the plains and deserts of the east and 
 south. 
 
 The extent of the line of coast which we shall now follow is 
 from Antaradus ( Tar terns) to the southernmost border of Pales- 
 tine ; reaching, therefore, through about four degrees of latitude 
 (31° to 35°). 
 
 Viewed generally, the tract of country through this extent varies 
 considerably in its breadth between the margin of the sea and the 
 lower undulations of the central mountains. In some parts it ex- 
 pands into wide plains, in others it is contracted into narrow valleys, 
 and there are places where the mountain-branches sent forth west- 
 ward break the continuity of the plain, and stretch forth even into 
 the sea, forming the promontories along the coast. On the other 
 hand, the plain is in some parts indented by bays, which are, how- 
 ever, broad rather than deep, and which nowhere occur to the south 
 of the promontory of Carmel. Most of the smaller indentations of 
 the coast appear to have been worn by the action of the streams 
 where they discharge themselves into the sea. 
 
 Throughout this extent the soil, with the exception of some sandy 
 tracts, is surpassingly productive. It is, for the most part, as in 
 most of the fertile parts of Syria, composed of a rich brown garden- 
 mould ; although in its northern part there are indications of that 
 red soil which prevails in the extreme north and north-eastern 
 parts of Syria. The climate all along the coast is very warm, and 
 rather insalubrious as compared with the more elevated parts of the 
 country. 
 
 After this general statement we may take our journey along the 
 coast, noting such particulars as seem to deserve attention. Our 
 first stage shall be fromTartous toTriooli, thirty-five miles, through 
 
 the country of the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Arkites ; and 
 Maundrell, Shaw, and Burckhardt must be our guides. 
 
 On the land-side, a spacious and pleasant plain extends around 
 Tartous. Travelling from thence, we soon cross the river Mara- 
 thus, and without stopping to examine the curious antiquities near 
 the Serpent’s Fountain, proceed five miles farther, where our atten- 
 tion is arrested by some very ancient and very remarkable sepulchral 
 constructions, in the shape of conical pillars, which might bring to 
 mind “ the pillar of Rachel’s grave” more markedly than the domed 
 structure which now forms her monument. Shaw says, “ The situa- 
 tion of the country round about them has something in it so 
 extravagant and so peculiar to itself, that it can never fail to con- 
 tribute an agreeable mixture of melancholy and delight to all who 
 pass through it. The uncommon contrast and disposition of woods 
 and sepulchres, rocks, and grottoes : the medley of sounds and echoes 
 from birds and beasts, cascades and waterfalls ; the distant roaring 
 of the sea, and the composed solemnity of the whole place, very 
 naturally remind us of those beautiful descriptions which the an- 
 cient poets have left us of the groves and retreats of their rural 
 deities.” 
 
 A little to the south of this spot commences a great plain, to 
 which the people of the country give the name of Jeune, or the 
 Plain, by way of eminency, on account of its great extent. Its 
 length almost reaches to the Cold River ( Nahar el Bered), while 
 its breadth between the sea and the mountains varies from five to 
 seven leagues. All over this plain are dispersed a great number of 
 castles and watch-towers, erected perhaps as well for the safety and 
 security of those who cultivated it, as to observe the motions of 
 whatever enemy should at any time pitch on it for a seat of action. 
 Such towers are of frequent occurrence in other parts of Syria, and 
 may be the same with “ the watch-towers,” in contradistinction to the 
 “ fenced cities,” as they are mentioned in the Scriptures. A re- 
 presentation of one of them has already been given in this work 
 (p. 21). Besides these towers, the Jeune offers several large hillocks 
 of the same figure, and probably raised upon the same occasion with 
 those eminences which we call barrows in England. Such monu- 
 ments occur most frequently on battle-fields; and, certainly, no 
 place can be better supplied with water and herbage and, conse- 
 quently, more proper either for a field of battle or where an army 
 could be more conveniently encamped. Three rivers* pass through 
 this plain, crossed by bridges of stone. 
 
 The Nahar el Bered may be taken as the boundary of this plain 
 southward. Here the eastern mountains, which have been gradually 
 approaching the shore, begin to run parallel to it, at the average 
 distance of a mile ; but sometimes stretching out into the sea in 
 small promontories. This is the first near approach of the Lebanon 
 mountains to the shore, by which a remarkable alteration is made 
 in the aspect and disposition of the whole country. The town 
 of Tripoli, | situated upon the declivity of a hill, facing the sea, lies 
 about six miles to the south of this river ; and thus our first stage 
 is completed. 
 
 Our next shall be from Tripoli to Beirout, fifty-eight miles.J 
 Through all this extent, the coast appears to be formed of sand, 
 accumulated by the prevailing westerly winds and hardened into 
 rocks. The valley between the mountains and the sea is, in all this 
 distance, very narrow. The average breadth may be one mile ; in 
 very few places does it exceed two miles ; and in some parts the 
 mountains run close along the shore, so as to leave only a road be- 
 tween them and the sea. Of the mountain-ridges which throw 
 their extremities towards the sea, the first which conspicuously 
 
 * Maundrell makes them four ; but he extends the plain nearly to Tripoli. 
 The three are, the A'ahar el Kebir, or the Great River ; JSahar Abrosh, or the 
 Leper’s River ; and Naliar Akhar : the fourth, which Maundrell includes among 
 the rivers of the plain, and Shaw does not, is the A altar el Bered, or the Cold 
 River. 
 
 f Called Tarabolos by the natives. 
 
 j Direct distances are always given ; and English statute miles are to be 
 understood, unless geographical miles are specified. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE IIOLY LAND. 
 
 449 
 
 breaks the continuity of the vale, and forms a marked promontory,* 
 is that which terminates in the lias el Shakkah, which stretches 
 into the sea more than two miles beyond the general line of the 
 coast, and the ascent over which, through a deep and rugged pass, 
 is a work of time and difficulty. In the angle of the coast beyond 
 this is the small town of Batroun (the ancient Uostrys), at the foot 
 of the hills, which for some miles farther slope quite down to the 
 shore. On crossing the bridge over the winter-torrent of Medfoun, 
 by which we leave the Batroun district, the valley opens a little, 
 and gradually widens as we approach the walled town of Jebail.f 
 Leaving this, the plain, though still narrow, continues to widen 
 slightly. In one place a pleasant grove of oaks skirts the road ; 
 and in another we cross a natural bridge, worn by the waters over 
 the bed of a winter-torrent. The river Adonis, so famed in classic 
 fable, also occurs, under the name of Nahar Ibrahim, before we 
 arrive at the northern promontory of the bay of Kesraoun, which 
 again narrows and obstructs the vale. When this promontory has 
 been passed, and we stand on the borders of the bay, the country 
 offers a most interesting aspect. On the one hand are steep and 
 lofty mountains, full of villages and convents built on their rocky 
 sides ; and, on the other, the fine bay, with a plain of about a mile 
 in breadth between it and the mountains. This plain is of a sandy 
 soil, but is sown with wheat and barley, and irrigated by water 
 drawn from wells by means of wheels. On approaching the south- 
 ern promontory of this extensive bay, the country rises and continues 
 hilly with slight interruption for some five miles, in the course of 
 which we pass the Nahar el Kelb J by a stone bridge, about ten 
 minutes’ walk above its junction with the sea. From the bridge the 
 road continues along the foot of the steep rocks, except where they 
 overhang the sea, and there it has been cut through the rock by 
 the Romans for about a mile. On clearing this pass we reach a 
 smooth sandy shore, which soon conducts us to the triangular point 
 of land, towards the western extremity of which the town of Bei- 
 rout § stands. This point projects into the sea about four miles 
 beyond the line of coast, and there is about the same distance in 
 following that line across the base of the triangle. || 
 
 Our next stage shall be one of forty-six miles, from Beirout to 
 Tyre. 
 
 Leaving the thriving and important town of Beirout, we cross 
 the root of the tongue of land on which it stands, through cool and 
 pleasant lanes, hedged on both sides with sloping walls of earth 
 crowned with the prickly pear. It takes nearly an hour to clear 
 these, and then we enter upon a sandy tract, occupying the south- 
 western side and angle of this tongue of land, and where the sand 
 has been blown up into low hills, between the road and the shore, 
 by the prevailing westerly winds. The lower hills of Lebanon, on 
 the east, here present a bold and interesting appearance, with a 
 number of villages and detached buildings, and every sign of in- 
 dustrious cultivation. The plain below them is full of olive-trees 
 and lighter verdure ; and here a fine grove of pines, planted by the 
 famous Emir Feknr-ed-Deen, still subsists. The sandy plain is 
 continued for several miles in a gradual descent to the beach ; and 
 on leaving it we enter upon a fine plain, about six miles long by four 
 in breadth, which is or was richly set with gardens and orchards 
 even to the base of the eastern hills. 
 
 This plain terminates at the river Damoor, the ancient Tamyras. 
 On the other side of that river the eastern mountains approach 
 nearer to the shore, leaving only a narrow rocky way between ; 
 and so, for the most part, it continues to the town of Seide (the 
 ancient Sidon), the road now lying along the sandy beach of the 
 sea-shore, and then over rocky paths at a little distance from it. 
 The Nahar el Aoula, which supplies Seide with water, is crossed 
 within a league of that town, on approaching which the valley 
 widens and improves, so that the plain immediately behind it is 
 about two miles wide, and is entirely laid out in extensive and shady 
 groves and gardens with narrow lanes between them. The hills 
 which bound the plain on the east are also fruitful and picturesque ; 
 and, upon the whole, this is a very pleasing portion of the line under 
 our survey. 
 
 Continuing our journey from Sidon to Tyre, If we find the plain 
 gradually narrows. The scenery for most of the way is remarkably 
 simple. On the right hand is the sea ; on the left a line of low 
 
 * The Theo Prosopon Promontorium of the ancients. 
 
 t The ancient Byblus. Originally this appears to have been the scat of the 
 Giblites mentioned in Josh. xiii. 5; Ezek. xxvii. 9. 
 
 X Dog River, the ancient Lycus. 
 
 § The ancient Berytus. We shall have future occasions of noticing this and 
 most of the other towns we have named. 
 
 || The above account of the coast between Tripoli and Beirout is collected 
 from D’Arvieux, Maundrell, Pococke, Burckhardt, and Irby and Mangles. 
 
 Now Soor, which is just the same as the ancient Hebrew name of Tyre. 
 
 3 Q 
 
 mountains, the flat intervening plain varying in breadth from ICO 
 to 300 yards. This thinly-peopled and nearly barren tract of 
 country offers little to excite interest, save the ruins — now mere 
 heaps of rubbish — of several large towns, which bring to mind how 
 populous and rich this part of the Phoenician territory once was. 
 
 After passing the picturesque Kasmia, the plain becomes more 
 wide ; and when we arrive at 'lyre, which is not more than a league 
 beyond, it has become between four and five miles wide, backed by 
 hills much higher than those which bound the plain of Sidon. The 
 country has, however, here an air of wildness and desolation; the 
 soil, though not naturally bad, is much injured by negligent tillage, 
 and the total absence of pasture and woodland leaves the surface 
 bare and uninteresting.* 
 
 Our next stage along the coast shall be a short one of thirty-six 
 miles, f from Tyre to Mount Carmel. 
 
 From the base of the isthmus of Tyre, the southward road 
 traverses part of a fertile plain of considerable extent, and in three- 
 quarters of an hour brings us to the beautiful stream and meadows 
 of Ras el Ain, at which spot most travellers pause to examine the 
 cisterns, which the natives, without the least probability, attribute 
 to Solomon, as they do every remarkable work of which they know 
 not the origin. The best descriptions of them are those supplied by 
 Morison, Nau, and Maundrell. From this place the pure waters 
 were conducted to Tyre by a noble aqueduct, which still exists as a 
 venerable ruin. The eastern mountains are here about a league 
 distant from the shore. This plain continues somewhat narrowing 
 its breadth as we approach the White Cape, { a sublime and pic- 
 turesque mountain, composed of a calcareous stone as white as chalk. 
 The road over it is occasionally cut through the rock along its side, 
 and is about two yards broad. On the right of this road the rock 
 is covered with bushes, while the left offers a perpendicular precipice 
 to the sea, the scene from which, when the sea rages, is tremendous. 
 This pass is about a mile and a half in length, and has been com- 
 pared to some of the roads in North Wales. It is perfectly safe, 
 being walled in where necessary. The traditions of the country 
 ascribe this road to Alexander the Great. Having crossed this pro- 
 montory, we pass for about two hours over a rocky district, and 
 then arrive at the steep and rugged promontory which forms the 
 Cape of Nakhoora, over which the road passes. The ascent of this 
 road, winding over the rugged front of this promontory, reminded 
 Mr. Buckingham very forcibly of similar scenes in Spanish moun- 
 tains, as well as on the western shores of Portugal : and, here and 
 there, striking resemblances were found to the rocky and sea-beaten 
 shores of Cornwall and Devonshire. On reaching the summit of 
 this promontory, an extensive and beautiful view across the whole 
 plain of Acre opens on us. The elegant and lofty minaret of the 
 city appears at the distance of seven or eight miles directly before 
 us ; in the background, far off, twice as distant as the city, is a 
 noble scene ; — Mount Carmel dipping its feet in the Western Sea, 
 and, to the east, running considerably inland, entirely locking up 
 from our view the plain of Sharon, which, we know, lies beyond it 
 on the south. In the horizon on the left, the eye rests on the 
 milder mountain scenery which lies on the road to Nazareth. This 
 plain, from the boundaries thus given, is about fifteen miles in 
 length from north to south, and about five in general breadth from 
 the sea-shore to the hills which border it on the east. The soil of 
 this plain resembles the dark loam of Egypt. It is naturally rich, 
 and, in the season, offers a most exuberant natural cultivation, but 
 it is now almost entirely uncultivated. Over an extent of several 
 miles we may perhaps see a solitary Arab turning up what, on the 
 great plain, appeared to be only a few yards of ground. This is 
 natural, for since, from the extortions of the government, the cultiva- 
 tor cannot enjoy the fruits of his o w n labour, hundreds choose rather 
 to drag out a half-starved existence within the walls of Acre, than to 
 cultivate the rich plain which lies open to any one who might 
 desire to till it. We stop not at the towns of Zib § or Acre, which 
 are situated close to the shore, nor do we pause to drink from the 
 “Fountain of the Blessed Virgin,” but, crossing the rivers Belus || 
 and Kishon, arrive at the termination of the plain under Carmel. 
 
 * The authorities for the above account of the coast from Beirout to Tyro are 
 —D’Arvieux, ii. c. 22 ; Maundrell, 43-48; Pococke, part i. c. 20; Buckingham, 
 ‘Arab Tribes,’ c. 21 ; Irby and Mangles, 194—202; Joliffe, ‘ Letters from Pales- 
 tine,’ 5 — 15; Jowett, ‘Syria and the Holy Land,’ 124 — 131. 
 f The road distance is, however, much greater in this instance. 
 
 X Called Ras el Ahaid by the natives, classically Album Promontorium , and 
 by Europeans Capo Blanco. 
 
 § Achzib of the Bible; classically Ecdippa. 
 
 || Now Kardanah. 
 
 H The authorities consulted for this account of the country between Tyre and 
 Mount Carmel are— Morison, liv. ii. c. 35; Nau, liv. iii. c. 23; Maundrell, 50 
 — 54; Brown, 370,371 ; Buckingham, ‘ Palestine,’ c. iii.; Irby and Mangles, 
 194 — 198 ; Jowett, ‘ Syria and the Holy Land,’ 142—114; Stephens, ii. 342, 353. 
 
450 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 Our fifth stage shall reach from Mount Carmel to Joppa, fifty-six 
 miles. 
 
 It will be remembered that the Mount Carmel is formed by a 
 range of hills coming from the plain of Esdraelon, and ending in 
 the promontory or cape which forms the Bay of Acre. The road, 
 at least that usually taken, winds round the foot of this promontory, 
 and, after having turned its point, we continue our way southward 
 along the sea-coast. The plain here, between the foot of Carmel 
 and the sea, is covered with brushwood, much frequented by various 
 wild animals, particularly boars. In less than a league we reach 
 a cultivated plain, and, after crossing that, pass behind a long range 
 of low sandhills, which show rocky fragments in several parts. These 
 shut out the view of the sea from the road ; but it is practicable to 
 travel on the other side of them along the shore. But, if we 
 journey behind them, we ultimately turn out to the shore through a 
 pass cut in these hills through the bed of rock. This pass is called 
 Waad-el-Ajal, the Vale of Death.* It is short, and appears to have 
 been once closed by a gate. It is just broad enough for the passage 
 of a wheeled carriage or a laden camel, with causeways on each 
 side, hewn down on the rock, for foot-passengers. The length of 
 this pass may be about a hundred yards. Beyond it a narrow, sandy 
 flat extends to the sea. Now, turning southward again, along the 
 western side of the bed of rock, through which this pass has been 
 cut, numerous square chambers are seen hewn in the stone. These 
 chambers are small and low, with benches of stone and sometimes 
 concave recesses inside, and cisterns of water near. In particular 
 parts, little flights of steps are provided, leading from one of these 
 caverns to another. These were doubtless intended for habitations ; 
 and, as they bear marks of high antiquity, it is not impossible that, 
 as Mr. Buckingham conjectures, they may be counted among those 
 “strongholds near the sea” from which the Hebrews were unable 
 to dislodge the Canaanites. 
 
 We travel for two hours along these hills, and then leave them 
 through a wide pass, and enter on a wide plain, which we traverse, 
 passing by the small village of Tortura,j until we reach the ruins 
 of Caesarea, the Roman capital of Palestine, so often mentioned in 
 the history of the New Testament. The whole plain is, in this 
 part, a sandy desert now ; and no human being lives within many miles 
 of the once rich and busy city. Leaving this spot for the present, we 
 continue our way along the shore, chiefly on a sandy beach, with 
 here and there beds of rock towards the sea. Mr. Monro travelled 
 along .this beach for two hours, and then, turning up into the plain, 
 found that he had entered the celebrated plain which he describes 
 as “ the rich pasture-land of the Valley of Sharon, clothed with 
 fresh verdure as far as the eye can reach. The white clover 
 springs spontaneously, and among a variety of shrubs and flowers 
 were a few dwarf tulips. I observed nothing bearing the appearance 
 of what we call a rose, and unless ‘the rose of Sharon’ is the Cistus 
 roseus of Linnaeus, which grows abundantly, I know not what it may 
 be. This tract of land, glorious as it is to the eye, is yet deficient 
 of water in its central part, and for this reason appears not to be 
 frequented even by the Arabs : I traversed it for hours without 
 noticing a single tent.J The grass and the flowers spring to waste 
 their sweetness and to fall unseen ; and the storks, striding to and 
 fro, are the only animals by which they are visited. The soil is 
 light and the surface elastic ; and the uneven foreground swells into 
 hills to the east, which are backed by the mountains of Samaria 
 beyond.” This was in spring. To Buckingham, who passed this 
 tract in the depth of winter, it appeared a desert. 
 
 In proceeding southward over the plains, which formed, with 
 this, the land of Sharon, various interesting changes are exhibited 
 to our view. As we advance, the pasture-land becomes bordered 
 by a sandy tract, which extends a considerable distance into the 
 grass-land, above which it is elevated about thirteen feet in some 
 places. It has the appearance of an almost perpendicular embank- 
 ment, to the very foot of which the grass grows luxuriantly. A 
 considerable number of low shrubs grow upon the sand. To this 
 succeeds a cultivated plain, passing from which, by crossing a valley 
 which runs eastward, we reach another more extensive and beauti- 
 ful plain, covered with trees, and with a carpet of richer verdure 
 than is often seen in Palestine. In this wooded country was situated 
 the town of Sharon, which appears to have given its name to the 
 fine plains which we are describing, and which extend from 
 Caesarea to Joppa, and from the shore to the hills of Samaria. 
 Prom this central place, far around, the plains are more extensive, 
 
 • This may bring to mind the “valley of the shadow of death” of David. 
 Such names are not uncommonly given to gloomy or dangerous vales. 
 
 t Probably the Scriptural Dor, the Dora of Josephus. 
 
 | A mere accident ; the tract is frequented by bedouins, though none hap- 
 pened to bo there at the time. 
 
 more beautiful, and, to all appearance, more fertile than those of 
 Acre, of Zebulon, and of Carmel. But it should be noted that, as 
 for some time after leaving Cassarea, so for some time before ap- 
 proaching Jaffa,* the plains are more bare and desert than in the 
 intervening districts. The wooded country which we have men- 
 tioned is succeeded by pasture-grounds, such as have been already 
 noticed : but about eleven miles before we reach Jaffa the hills 
 stretcli out towards the coast ; and a narrow pass through them con- 
 ducts to an elevated plain, a considerable part of which is under 
 cultivation. From this the road descends to the beach, and proceeds 
 under brown cliffs and hills till, finally, we pass over a desert soil 
 to reach the gates of Jaffa, f 
 
 The whole distance between Jaffa and El Arish, on “ the river 
 of Egypt,” may be despatched in one long stage, of nearly a 
 hundred miles, through the land of the Philistines. In the part which 
 lies between Jaffa and Gaza, the eastern hills approach nearer than 
 in the plains of Sharon. But these hills, although connected by 
 ramifications with the central mountains, have wide plains and 
 valleys behind them and “ the hill country of Judea.” 
 
 It may also be observed that throughout and beyond this extent, 
 though not all the way to El Arish, the plains between the moun- 
 tains and the sea are less level than they have been, the surface 
 being, for the most part, composed of low undulating hills. 
 
 Thus, after we passed through the fine gardens of Jaffa, which 
 extend for a considerable distance in the direction of our road, and 
 which are fenced with hedges of the prickly pear, and abundantly 
 furnished with pomegranate, orange, fig-trees, and water-melons, we 
 find the surface of the ground beautifully undulating. The hills 
 are rather high and partially cultivated ; but, upon the whole, the 
 plantations of thistles, which abound throughout this country, are 
 quite as numerous as the fields of grain. About Ashdod, eighteen 
 miles from Joppa, the still undulating ground is covered with rich 
 pastures. The description given by Sandys, which is still appli- 
 cable, applies to the tract between Ashdod and Gaza : — “ The 
 champion betweene about twenty miles, full of flowerie hills ascend- 
 ing leasurely, and not much surmounting their rancker vallies, with 
 groves of olives and other fruites dispersedly adorned. Yet is this 
 wealthy bottom (as are all the rest), for the most part, uninhabited, 
 but onely for a few small and contemptible villages, possessed by 
 barbarous Moores (Arabs), who till no more than will serve to 
 feed them; the grass waist high, unmowed, uneaten, and uselessly 
 withering.” As he observes, the country is bare of trees; but when 
 the growth of spring comes, the undulating hills, everything looks 
 fresh and beautiful. “ It is not,” says Richardson, “ like the land 
 of Egypt, but a thousand times more interesting.” Askelon is nearly 
 midway in our route between these two places, and the vale in 
 which it lies is peculiarly rich and beautiful. In the spring it is 
 enamelled with flowers, among which our garden-pink assumes the 
 place of daisies. On approaching Gaza, the eye, which has not 
 lately seen much of trees, is charmed by the abundant sycamores 
 and the plantation of old and large olive-trees which surround that 
 interesting spot. 
 
 Beyond Gaza the mountains are far inland, though visible in the 
 distance ; but the undulation of the ground over which we pass 
 continues. The country as far as Khan Younes, or even Rafah,J 
 continues to present the same kind of rural scenery as before, — 
 beautiful undulating fields covered with flocks and herds, and crops 
 of wheat, barley, lentils, and tobacco. Speaking generally of the 
 country which we have thus far traversed, Ali Bey says, “ All the 
 country of Palestine § which I saw' from Khan Younes to Jaffa is 
 beautiful. It is composed of undulating hills of a rich soil, similar 
 to that of the Nile, and is covered with the richest and finest 
 vegetation. But there is not a single river in all the district ; 
 there is not even a spring. All the torrents I crossed were dry, |] 
 and the inhabitants have no other water to drink than that which 
 they collect in the rainy seasons, nor any other means of irrigation 
 than rain-water and that of the wells, which indeed is very good.” 
 
 At some distance beyond Rafah the crops get thin and poor» 
 although the general aspect of the country remains the same. 
 
 * Or, more properly, Yaffa ; which is just the old Hebrew name. This is 
 the Joppa of the New Testament 
 
 f The particulars embodied in this account of the coast from Carmel to Jaffa 
 are derived from Buckingham, c. vi. ; Monro, i. 60 — 91 ; Pococke, i. 15 ; Nau, 
 liv. i. c. 5 ; Morison, 544 ; but chiefly from the two first. Few travellers have 
 tracked the whole way from Carmel to Jaffa; but many have crossed and de- 
 scribed the plain of Sharon. 
 
 J Classically Raphia. 
 
 § Tho reader scarcely need be reminded that the district we are now travel- 
 ling, from Jaffa, is the original Palestine, the land of the Philistines, which gave 
 its name to the whole country. 
 
 (1 This was about the middle of July. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF TnE HOLY LAND. 
 
 451 
 
 But after we have passed the village of Sheikh Juide, three hours 
 beyond Rafah, a perceptible struggle commences between the sand 
 and the grass, or sand and cultivation. The sand gradually gains 
 the superiority during the twenty or twenty -one miles we have still 
 to pass before we reach El Arish, which is seated upon a hill in the 
 midst of drifting sands ; and although cultivation struggles to that 
 point, it is discontinued beyond it, and from thence to the borders 
 of the Nile we have only the naked desert of shifting sand, which 
 forms a marked barrier in this direction between Palestine and 
 Egypt. Here, therefore, we shall stop.* 
 
 Thus by taking up one set of travellers where another failed, we 
 have been enabled to give such an account of the whole seaward 
 plain as will suffice for the purposes of this work. In now pro- 
 ceeding to the great interior valley, we shall not be able to realize 
 tiie same advantage. It has been crossed by different travellers in 
 various parts, and portions of its length have been traversed, but a 
 very considerable part of its whole extent remains unexplored ; it 
 may, nevertheless, be possible, by comparing and combining the 
 observations made at different points, to obtain some tolerably clear 
 notions of the whole. 
 
 Our first attention is, of course, required by the great valley or 
 enclosed plain which separates the parallel ranges of Libanus and 
 Anti-Libanus. The vale extends above ninety miles in length, 
 from north to south, and may average about eleven miles in breadth. 
 Its breadth is unusually equal. The widest part is towards the 
 northern extremity, and the narrowest towards the southern. This 
 was the Ccele-Syria, or Hollow Syria, of the ancients, and now bears 
 the name of El Bekaah, | or “ the valley,” by way of eminence. 
 This valley, by collecting the waters from the mountains on either 
 hand, is abundantly watered by rivulets; almost every village has its 
 spring, all of which descend into the valley, and either lose them- 
 selves or join the Liettani (the ancient Leontes), the source of 
 which is between the towns of Zalde and Baalbec, about two hours 
 from the latter place, near a hill called Tel Hushben. The soil is 
 very fertile ; and as the mountains concentrate the rays of the sun, 
 a heat in summer is produced scarcely inferior to that of Egypt. 
 Such a combination of water, warmth, and a good soil, produces 
 exuberant fertility everywhere in the East. It does so in the 
 Bekaah, which is hence naturally, perhaps, the most rich and beau- 
 tiful part of Syria. In La Roque’s time the natural beauty and 
 agreeableness of this vale, together with the extensive cultivation 
 and the numerous villages and plantations, rendered it fully com- 
 parable to the far-renowned plain of Damascus. But the terrible 
 earthquake of 1759, joined to the subsequent wars with the Turks, 
 brought almost everything to ruin and neglect. But still, even so 
 late as the beginning of the present century, the plain and a part of 
 the mountain, to the distance of a league and a half around the town 
 of Baalbec, were covered with grape plantations : but the oppres- 
 sions of the governors and their satellites have now entirely de- 
 stroyed them ; and the inhabitants of that place, instead of eating 
 their own grapes, which were renowned for their superior flavour, 
 are obliged to import such as they need from the mountains. The 
 southern part of the vale is now better cultivated than the northern ; 
 but even there five-sixths of the soil are left in pasture to the Arabs. 
 The usual produce of the harvest in the vale is tenfold ; but in 
 very good years it is often twentyfold. Walnut-trees abound, 
 particularly in the more northerly part of the vale, as do also 
 mulberry-trees. The climate is particularly suited for vines ; and 
 the vale formerly and does still to some extent produce those fine 
 and very superior raisins which were exported in all directions under 
 the name of “ raisins of Damascus.” 
 
 Volney says that, notwithstanding the heat of this valley, its air 
 is not at all unhealthy, giving as a proof that the inhabitants sleep 
 
 * Our guide* through the land of the Philistine* tiave been — Richardson, Mangles 
 r these alone traversed its whole extent], Sandy s, and AliBey : Zuallart, D'Arvieux, 
 a.id Roger [whose account has been occupied by Surius], have also been consulted ; 
 but the route along the coast from Jaffa, southward, was not much frequented by 
 the older travellers. Dap|>er, in his “ Syrie en Palestyn,” has a very full account 
 of the land of the Philistines (pp. 21 1 — 229), historical and geographical, com- 
 prising, perhaps, all the information which existed prior to the eighteenth century. 
 
 f The word means a valley or low plain in Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, and is 
 expressly applied in the Scriptures to this very valley. See Josh. xi. 17; xii. 7 ; 
 and Ezek. xxxvii. 1, 2, where the words rendered, very properly, “the valley of 
 Lebanon,” are literally “ the Bekaah of Lebanon.” The northern part, in which 
 Baalbec is situated, is called, distinctively, Belad (district, province) Baalbec ; 
 hut El Bekaah applies to the whole valley, although it is more frequently heard 
 with reference to the southern half, which has no distinctive name. This led Burck- 
 uardt into what we conceive to be the error of supposing the name El Bekaah was 
 confined to that portion, and to divide it into two parts, El Bekaah and Belad 
 Baalbec. La Roque and Volney, who both resided long in Lebanon, consider the 
 first of these names to comprehend the whole extent of the valley. 
 
 without injury upon their house-tops. This salubrity he attributes 
 to the fact that the waters never stagnate, and that the air is per- 
 petually renewed by the north wind. But Burckhardt says, on the 
 contrary, that the air of the valley is far from being healthy. “ The 
 chain of Libanus interrupts the course of the westerly winds, which 
 are regular in Syria during the summer months ; and the want of 
 these winds renders the climate extremely hot and oppressive.” 
 Considering the reputation of the valley, we incline to think that 
 Volney is most probably in the right. Burckhardt was a moun- 
 taineer a Swiss, and men are apt to judge from their own com- 
 parative impressions without reference to positive facts. A climate 
 may be oppressively hot, and yet not unwholesome to the natives. 
 The plain of Irak Arabi is far warmer than any part of Syria, and 
 yet a healthier country would be very difficult to find.* 
 
 The valley of the Jordan is, of course, the space between the 
 hills on each side of the river and its lakes, without regard to the 
 immediate bed of these waters, which will more properly be noticed 
 in the chapter on Lakes and Rivers. Viewing this from above the 
 sources of the Jordan to the end of the Dead Sea, the extent is not 
 
 very inconsiderable, and in others widens into extensive plains. 
 “ This valley, through its whole course, is bounded by a chair of 
 mountains on each side. On the east they rise almost precipitously 
 from the bed of the river ; but on the west there is a fine fertile 
 vale, averaging about half or three-quarters of a mile broad, between 
 the river and the mountain. This does not apply to the Lake of 
 Gennesareth ; for there the mountains are close to the lake on each 
 side, with here and there a small beautiful vale opening on the 
 west. The mountains on the east are bolder, and continue with 
 little interruption all the way. On the west side the interruptions 
 are frequent, and charming defiles, irrigated by small streams of 
 water, pass off.” This statement is from Dr. Richardson, who 
 tracked more of the course of this valley than any other single 
 traveller ; and, in explanation of one point, it is only necessary to 
 remind the reader of our previous statement, that the bolder emi- 
 nences on the eastern side of the valley are, to a great extent, cliffs, 
 behind which there are not proportional descents, but higher levels 
 than those which the western side of the valley offers. We have 
 also had occasion to state that the valley itself offers the lowest level 
 in all Syria, that level being the lowest of all in the southern parts. 
 Some idea of this most extraordinary depression of the valley may be 
 formed from the facts that while Jerusalem, on the western mountains, 
 is 2600 feet, and Jerash, on the eastern plain, is 2000 feet above the 
 level of the Mediterranean, the plain of Jericho, at Rihhah, is 700 
 feet, and the Jordan itself, before it reaches the Dead Sea, is 1269 
 feet below the same level. The consequence of this is a degree of heat 
 in the valley comparable to that of the valley of the Nile; which, 
 with the presence of water, exhibits the usual effect in the most ex- 
 uberant fertility, under proper treatment, with a profuse manifestation 
 of vegetable products which, out of the valley, can only be found in 
 a more southern latitude. Here, also, the seasons are more advanced 
 than in the more elevated tracts of country on either hand ; so that, 
 upon the whole, the vale of the Jordan may be regarded as a zone 
 of almost tropical country extending through what may be called a 
 temperate clime. 
 
 As we consider that the valley of the Jordan may take its com- 
 mencement from the angle formed by the divergence of Jebel es- 
 Sheikh from the main chain of Anti-Libanus, we shall there com- 
 mence the rapid survey of it we now purpose to take. 
 
 The commencing valley thus formed seems to be called Wady 
 Ityne, though it also bears the name of its principal town, Has- 
 beya. This vale lias a general direction N.N.E. and S.S.W., and 
 varies in breadth from two to tliree miles. Its level is often in- 
 terrupted by small hillocks, but it is well cultivated throughout 
 with corn, vines, and olives, and is full of villages, peopled wholly 
 by Druses and Christians in nearly equal numbers. They rear silk- 
 worms on a very extensive scale, and for their sake the mulberry- 
 tree is largely cultivated. 
 
 At the end of this valley the mountains approach each other, 
 having only a narrow passage for the stream from Ilasbeya. They 
 then diverge again, and stretch wide apart, to form what is usually 
 considered the commencement of the Jordan valley ; but which, 
 geographically, had better be regarded as the basin and plain of 
 the lake Huleh. The plain, without the lake of that name, is from 
 nine to twelve miles in breadth, by about twenty in length. This 
 beautiful plain, enclosed by high mountains, and backed in one 
 
 * This account of the great valley of Lebanon ha* been drawn up chiefly from 
 the brief particular* afforded by La Roque, Volney, Burckhardt, and Elliot. Dai>- 
 dini ha* nothing of any value ou the subject. 
 
452 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 direction by the snowy heights of Hermon (Jebel cs-Sheikh), is 
 watered by the river of Hasbeya and the Jordan, as also by several 
 rivulets which descend from the mountains. The soil is most fertile. 
 It is covered everywhere with the richest pastures, to which some 
 Arab tribes and the Toorkmans bring their cattle. Only a very 
 small part is under cultivation ; and the crops of wheat and barley 
 here, as in other parts of the Jordan valley, are the finest which 
 can anywhere be seen. Thistles abound here, as on the coast ; 
 and so tall and gigantic are they as to annoy those who ride through 
 the plain, as they reach to the saddles of the horses. The hills around 
 are to a very considerable extent covered with oaks. 
 
 Beyond this plain, southward, the hills approach, or rather the 
 western hills incline towards, the eastern cliffs, having a compara- 
 tively narrow valley or plain to connect the basin of Lake Huleli with 
 that of the Lake of Gennesareth. This is a fine undulating plain, 
 amply covered with weeds and thistles; but with a soil capable of 
 any species of cultivation. 
 
 The mountains open again as we draw near the great Lake of 
 Gennesareth ; but the basin thus formed is little more than suf- 
 ficient for its waters, so that a narrow vale between their brink and 
 the foot of the enclosing mountains is all the space afforded. The 
 eastern side had never been, till of late years, visited by travellers ; 
 and we were told that the vale only existed on the western side, and 
 that the feet of the eastern mountains were bathed by the waters. 
 But this is now known not to be the fact. 
 
 The north-western as well as the southern shore of the lake is 
 generally sandy ; but, passing down on the western side, we soon 
 come to the plain, which reaches to the town of Tiberias, and 
 which may average nearly a mile in breadth. The streams which 
 come down from the mountains, and cross this plain to enter the 
 lake, occasion a luxuriant herbage along its borders. The pastures 
 of the sloping meadows which form this plain are proverbial for 
 their richness among the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts. 
 It is, indeed, exceedingly fertile, but for the most part uncul- 
 tivated. The waste parts are covered with the rankest vegetation, 
 — reeds, nebbek-trees, oleanders, honeysuckles, wild-flowers, and 
 splendid thistles in immense crops. There are fig-trees, and a few 
 palm-trees occur here and there. Approaching Tiberias,* we pass 
 the warm mineral springs, which have already been noticed in this 
 work ; and, in the vicinity of the town, we find the plain and the 
 lower slopes of the hills under cultivation. The heat of the climate 
 would allow the inhabitants to grow almost any tropical plant ; but 
 the only products of their fields are wheat, barley, dhourra, tobacco, 
 melons, grapes, and a few vegetables. The melons are of the finest 
 quality, and are in great demand at Acre and Damascus, where the 
 fruit is nearly a month later in ripening. The climate here, and 
 generally on the borders of the lake, is extremely hot, and is 
 alleged by Burckhardt to be unhealthy, as the mountains impede 
 the free course of the westerly winds, which prevail throughout 
 Syria in the summer. Hence intermittent fevers, especially those 
 of the quartan form, are very common at that season. Little rain 
 falls in winter ; snow is almost unknown on the borders of the 
 lake, and the temperature appears to be nearly the same as that of 
 the Dead Sea. 
 
 Under the altered circumstances of Syria, Lord Lindsay was 
 enabled to accomplish that examination of the eastern margin of the 
 lake which Seetzen attempted in vain.f And as the result of his 
 survey, he tells us that, “ So far from finding the road rugged or 
 difficult, it was far easier than on the western bank ; in fact, by far 
 the best we have ever travelled in Syria — lying entirely through 
 meadows, covered with corn, that descended to the water’s edge ; — 
 and this description applies to the whole eastern side of the lake; 
 the western is much more rugged and precipitous. Nothing can 
 exceed the beauty of the lake and opposite mountains, at sunset; 
 the view from Tiberias is quite tame in comparison.” 
 
 What is most usually called the Ghor, or Valley, of the Jordan, 
 is that part which lies between the two lakes of Gennesareth and 
 Asphaltites, the direct distance between which is about sixty-five 
 miles. This beautiful plain is five or six miles across in the 
 northern half, but widens greatly in its progress to the Dead Sea. 
 It occurred to Seetzen that this plain of El Ghor greatly resembled 
 that of El Bekaah (already described), save that the mountains 
 which enclose the Bekaah are far more grand than those which bound 
 the Jordan valley. The great number of rivulets which descend 
 from the mountains on both sides of the Ghor, and form numerous 
 
 * Now pronounced Tabaria, or Tahareah. 
 
 t Seel zen seems to say he had succeeded. He certainly didwsr’t the eastern shore, 
 but did not traverse its extent. From the north he went a little way down the 
 eastern side to an Arab camp, but was obliged to return ; and from the south he 
 went up the eastern shore as far as Feik. Imt the extensive tract between these two 
 points 1 ip ilid not see. 
 
 | pools of stagnant water, produce in many places a pleasing verdure 
 and a luxuriant growth of wild herbage and grass; but the greater 
 part of the ground is a parched desert, of which a few spots only 
 are cultivated by the Bedouins. In the neighbourhood of Bysan 
 (Bethshan) the soil is entirely of marl ; there are very few trees, 
 but wherever there is water high reeds are found. The river itself 
 flows in a valley about three-quarters of a mile in breadth, which 
 is considerably lower than the rest of the plain of the Ghor ; and 
 this lower valley is covered with high trees and a luxuriant verdure, 
 which afford a striking contra&t with the sandy slopes which border 
 it on both sides. Except for the town of Bysan, and the village of 
 Rihhah (Jericho?), the plain is wholly unoccupied, unless by the 
 Bedouins. 
 
 On approaching the Asphaltic Lake, the distance between the 
 opposite mountains, as already intimated, is greatly increased — 
 leaving between them and the river, on the east the plains of Moab, 
 and on the west the large plain of Jericho. As almost all the 
 pilgrims and travellers in the Holy Land have made it a point to 
 visit the Jordan, — to reach which, from Jerusalem, they must cross 
 this plain, — there are few parts of Palestine which have been more 
 frequently described. This plain is very extensive, probably eigh- 
 teen miles in extreme length, by a breadth of seven or eight miles. 
 It is bounded, internally, by tall mountains, which form a kind of 
 bow by bending westward in their course from north to south. Of 
 this bow the Jordan is as the chord. Beyond the river, eastward, are 
 other mountains, as high or higher than these, and still more distant 
 from the river; the whole making the plain appear as the arena of 
 an amphitheatre. The eircle of enclosing mountains causes an ex- 
 traordinary degree of heat in the plain, by the concentration and 
 reflection of the sun’s rays. The almost tropical warmth of this 
 plain may also be partly ascribed to the sandy nature of its soil, the 
 great depression of its surface, the obstruction which the enclosing 
 mountains offer to the passage of the external breezes, and in some 
 degree to the aridity of the sides and summits of these mountains ; for, 
 as well observed by Mariti, heat is reflected with much greater 
 force from such than from fertile or cultivated hills. The heat 
 is so very strong, that so early as the latter end of April it deprived 
 Morison of his appetite and sleep ; and Nau, so late as October, 
 found even the nights oppressively warm. 
 
 The soil of the plain is almost entirely composed of sand ; but 
 beyond Rihhah, to the north and to the east, it seems to be better, 
 and not unfertile. But the soil of the whole plain, the fertility of 
 which has been so much extolled by various Latin writers, is not 
 naturally fertile. All the richness it ever had, or yet, in some 
 quarters, retains, has been owing to the spring of Elisha, which, in 
 such a climate, rendered even this poor soil most productive wher- 
 ever its waters came ; and certainly the appearance which it 
 formerly offered, when these waters were dispersed far around in 
 numerous irrigating rills, must have been very different from that 
 which it exhibits now, when, with the exception of some fruitful 
 spots, the whole presents an arid and desolate appearance, and only 
 one poor stunted palm-tree can be found within view of the ancient 
 “ city of palms.” 
 
 Going down towards the head of the Dead Sea, the soil is still 
 barren, but ceases to be sandy, having a surface of dark-coloured 
 earth, which might be taken for alluvium, but that it produces 
 nothing but a few solitary desert plants, and seems as if included 
 in the curse which overthrew the cities of the plain. It is much 
 intersected by deep torrents, and crusted at the top, as if flooded 
 occasionally by the swellings of the Jordan or washed by copious 
 rains. 
 
 The Dead Sea is hemmed in on the west by the mountains of 
 Judea, and on the east by those of Moab. Of these mountains, 
 and of the mineral products of this region, we have already written ; 
 and our attention must now be confined to the vale which is left, 
 on the east and on the west, between the margin of the lake and the 
 feet of the mountains. The plain on the east side, which continues 
 to bear the name of El Ghor, varies in breadth from one to four 
 miles. It is not so entirely a desolation as the common descriptions 
 of the lake would lead us to suppose. It has many fertile spots, 
 particularly towards the south, and is to a great extent covered with 
 forests, in the midst of which the miserable peasants who inhabit 
 there build their huts of rushes, and cultivate their fields of dhourra 
 and tobacco. The spots not cultivated are, for the most part, sandy; 
 so that there is but little pasturage, and the camels feed principally 
 upon the leaves of trees. The resident peasants may amount to 
 about three hundred families. They live very poorly, owing to 
 the continual exactions of the neighbouring Bedouins, who descend 
 in winter from the mountains of Belka and Kerek, and pasture their 
 cattle amidst their fields. The heat of the climate in this low 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 453 
 
 valley, during the summer, renders it almost uninhabitable. The 
 people then go nearly naked ; but their low huts rather increase the 
 mid-day heat than afford shelter from it. 
 
 The character of the plain on the western border of the lake was 
 perfectly unknown until lately visited by Professor Robinson and 
 the Rev. Eli Smith. All that former travellers could state 
 amounted to some general impression formed from the partial and 
 obscure view taken from the head of the lake. The American 
 travellers advanced from the west to a point near the southern ex- 
 tremity of the lake, where the name of Ain Jiddy points out to us 
 the Engeddi of the Bible. The first obtained a view of the lake from 
 the summit of a precipitous cliff, overhanging Engeddi and the lake 
 at the height of at least 1500 feet. From this point we will copy 
 their statement, with the omission of some parts which we shall 
 require for another purpose : — 
 
 “ The Dead Sea lay before us in its vast deep chasm, shut in on 
 both sides by precipitous mountains, and, with its low projecting 
 points and flat border towards the south, resembling much a long 
 winding bay, or the estuary of a large river when the tide is out 
 and the shoals left dry. We descended to the shore by a pass more 
 steep, rugged, and difficult than is to be found among the Alps, 
 and pitched our tent near a fine large fountain which bursts out 
 upon a narrow terrace still four hundred feet above the sea. The 
 water of the fountain is beautifully transparent, but its temperature 
 is 81° of Fahrenheit. 
 
 “ The whole descent below the fountain was apparently once 
 terraced for gardens ; and the ruins of a town are to be seen on the 
 right. The whole slope is still covered with shrubs and trees of a 
 more southern clime. Nothing is needed but tillage to render this 
 a most prolific spot. The soil is rich, the heat great, and water 
 abundant. The approach to the sea is here over a bank of pebbles, 
 several feet higher than the level of the water as we saw it. The 
 phenomena around the sea are such as might be expected from the 
 nature of its waters and the character of the region round about, — 
 for the most part a naked dreary waste. 
 
 “ Next morning we were compelled to re-ascend the pass in order 
 to proceed northward along the shelving table-land above ; the pro- 
 jecting cliffs cutting off all passage below along the water. At 
 night we encamped again on a cliff one thousand feet above the 
 sea, overhanging the fountain Turabeh, which is below on the 
 shore. 
 
 “ We continued our course next day, descending again by a diffi- 
 cult pass ; and after travelling several hours along the shore and 
 over the plain, the soil of which is here in many parts like ashes, 
 we arrived at the lower fords of the Jordan.” 
 
 We have now to examine the great valley of Arabah, which ex- 
 tends between the Asphaltic Lake and the Red Sea. The account 
 which we have already given (p. 423 ) of the mountains which en- 
 close this valley, was intentionally made to include such information 
 as we possessed concerning the valley itself, that it might not be 
 necessary again to return to it. But since then the Count de Ber- 
 tou has communicated to the public a very interesting account of a 
 journey made by him, in April, 1838, throughout the whole extent 
 of the valley from north to south. As he is the only European who 
 has seen the whole of this important valley, and as his conclusions 
 are adverse to those of the travellers who, from Burckhardt down- 
 ward, have only seen it in parts, it is desirable that we should report 
 the more important of his observations.* 
 
 It is only necessary to premise that, as we have more than on 
 one occasion stated, Burckhardt saw good reason to conclude that 
 the Jordan once flowed through this valley to the Red Sea, and 
 that all subsequent travellers, till M. de Bertou, have acquiesced in 
 this conclusion. 
 
 The name El Ghor for a time is continued to the plain or valley 
 south of the Dead Sea. M. de Bertou, on reaching the southern 
 end of that lake, found the Ghor to be from two to three miles wide, 
 and travelled over a plain covered with salt at the foot of salt-hills. f 
 These hills diminish in height to the southward, and form the fore- 
 ground to higher ranges behind them ; they are in every part fur- 
 rowed by salt-torrents, which flow in winter and inundate the plain. 
 Seven miles{ from the end of the Dead Sea the Count reached the 
 chain of low hills, which since the morning had appeared to him the 
 
 * The account of this journey which we employ is that given in vol. ix. pp. 277 
 
 2S8, of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1 The article is entitled, 
 
 * Notes of a Journey from Jerusalem to Hehron, the Dead Sea, El Ghor, and Wadi- 
 Arabah to Akabah, and back by Petra, in April, 1838. By the Count de Bertou.’ 
 
 f We may here mention that the saline plain around the southern extremity of 
 the Deail Sea appears to be the scriptural “ Valley of Salt,’’ 2 Kings xiv. 7. 
 
 I So the account which we cite ; but the map in the same Number of the ‘ Geo- 
 graphical Journal ’ make3 the distance not less than twelve miles. 
 
 3 K 
 
 limit of El Glior, and to close it up, by uniting the mountains oj 
 salt to those of Arabia. These hills are from sixty to seventy feet 
 in height, and composed of a whitish and very friable sandstone : they 
 form the buttresses or outworks ( contreforts ) of the desert, which 
 stretches to the south, and is known by the name of Wady Arabah: 
 they are channelled by numerous small streams, which fall into El 
 Ghor and eventually into the Dead Sea. Just before reaching these 
 hills the guides turned suddenly to the right, and cried out, “ Wady 
 Arabah, Wady Arabah!” and then the party entered this celebrated 
 valley. M. de Bertou confesses that this valley had at first the ap- 
 pearance ot the bed of a great river ; and if its slope were not visible 
 towards the Dead Sea, one would exclaim on seeing it, “ This is 
 really the bed of the Jordan :” it is, however, he tells us, the bed 
 of a torrent which flows in an opposite direction, namely, from south 
 to north, and falls into El Ghor, There was no water in it. Its 
 breadth, which is from two hundred and fifty to three hundred 
 yards, is filled with tamarisks : it extends in a S.W.S. direction, 
 and is bounded by almost vertical banks of grey freestone about 
 one hundred and fifty feet in height. In the continuation of this 
 valley the hills on the right appear to be more furrowed than those 
 on the left. This, however, which Bertou incorrectly describes as 
 the Wady Arabah, is the Wady el-Jeib of Dr. Robinson, and is 
 described by him as “ a wady within a wady.” It is in fact the great 
 gully or channel which the waters have worn in their descent from the 
 higher elevation of the Wady Arabah, south, to the lower level of the 
 Ghor, or bed of the Dead Sea, north, through the cliffs which bound 
 that basin on the south. Consequently the Wady Arabah is not 
 entered till we have passed through this Wady el-Jeib from the 
 lower to the higher level. 
 
 After proceeding eleven miles, the travellers came in sight of 
 Mount Hor in the distance. Still advancing, the Wady became 
 broader, and assumed the aspect of a desert ; the hills on each side 
 decreased in height, and the plain seemed to ascend. At twelve 
 miles the banks of the valley to the left disappeared, and on the 
 right distant mountains were perceived to the S.W. At eighteen 
 miles a pause was made at a spring of tolerable water for the Desert, 
 at the point where the valley is crossed by the road from Petra to 
 Hebron. As the Count did not diverge to Petra, but continued 
 straight on towards Akabah, his route even from this point con- 
 tinued to be one not in modern times trodden by Europeans. 
 
 After travelling some miles from the well, the valley becomes 
 about 1500 yards wide; and at ten miles from that well, another 
 was reached of the temperature of 59° Fahrenheit, the water being 
 detestable both in taste and smell. Near this spring is a rock of 
 soft reddish freestone, 70 feet high, covered with the names, or 
 rather marks, of the Arabs who pass by this road. Beyond this the 
 ground is covered with flint pebbles ; all vegetation has disappeared ; 
 and the Wady is gradually lost in the slightly undulating plain 
 which extends towards the mountains in the east. And here, to 
 prevent confusion, it may be proper to apprise the reader that our 
 previous statements embraced the whole breadth of plain to the 
 eastern hills of Seir ; whereas the Count, to this point, limits his 
 statement to the comparatively narrow valley of the torrent on its 
 western border. 
 
 The next morning the travellers passed on the right the Wady 
 Talh (Acacia Yale), which extends to the westward, and which the 
 Arab guides pointed out as the road to Egypt, being in fact the 
 route which Burckhardt followed in 1812, when he went from Wady 
 Mousa to Cairo. “ From the junction of the Wady Talh,” says 
 M. de Bertou, “ the Arabs give the name of Akabah (the Ascent) 
 to the southern prolongation of the Wady Arabah, so that this 
 spot woidd seem to be the line which separates the waters flowing to 
 the Dead Sea from those discharged into the lied Sea. Indeed it 
 is impossible to mistake the two slopes, one to the north and the other 
 to the south.” Dr. Robinson denies this change of name, and inclines 
 to place the watershed a few miles more to the south ; but the fact 
 of the existence of this watershed is equally affirmed by both, and 
 is a strong point against the notion that the Jordan could ever have 
 flowed to the Elanitic Gulf. 
 
 From this point the road continued to be covered with small 
 black flints, and with large but withered roses of Jericho. After 
 having passed the Wady Ghurundel, the travellers continued their 
 journey against the simoom wind, which brought with it a quantity 
 of fine sand, with which the plain is covered.’ The day following 
 brought them to the spring of Ghadiyan, which is strongly impreg- 
 nated witli sulphur. 
 
 To this point, it will be observed, the route of Count de Bertou 
 has been over ground untrodden by any modern European, except 
 where Burckhardt crossed it in his way from Petra to Egypt, and 
 where Stephens and Lord Lindsay crossed it in their way from 
 
454 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 Petra to Hebron. For ihe motive which has led travellers to enter 
 tiie Wady Arabah has been the visit to Petra, which visit has 
 always been made from Akabah. And the road from Akabah to 
 Petra lies along the western side of the great valley only as far as 
 this spring ; then it inclines over to the eastern hills to reach Wady 
 Mousa, in which Petra lies. Returning thence, the route again 
 inclines over to the western hills, to reach the roads to Cairo, Gaza, 
 or Hebron, — that is, merely to get out of t'he valley westward, not 
 to travel along its western border. Hence the peculiar claim of 
 M. de Bertou is, that he has traversed the western edge of the 
 valley through its whole extent. 
 
 Below the spring of Ghadiyan, the valley is spread out into a 
 great plain, covered with small gravel of porphyry and granite ; 
 twenty-four miles through which brings the traveller to Akabah. 
 As this great valley was traversed by the Hebrews in their pilgrim- 
 age, it is interesting to read the first feeling of the traveller who 
 arrives at Akabah after having passed through it : — “ The luxury 
 of having fresh water in abundance, after having been obliged for 
 eight days to drink water impregnated with brimstone, and exhaling 
 an odour of rotten eggs, and for the last two days even to have 
 occasionally wanted that, is not easily imagined by those who have 
 not experienced it ; and when we saw the sakka (water-carrier) 
 come to water the ground both within and without our tents, we 
 could not help exclaiming against the apparent waste of so precious 
 a fluid.*’ 
 
 The return route of M. de Bertou by Petra, to Hebron, is the 
 same which other travellers have taken, and does not here require 
 to be noticed. It offers no new facts — nor, perhaps, were any 
 thought needful — in support of his grand conclusion, afterwards 
 confirmed by Dr. Robinson, that, “ in the present state of things, 
 the Jordan never could have flowed into the Elanitic Gulf.” 
 
 We must honestly confess that we have received this announce- 
 ment with more pain and reluctance than we ever thought that a 
 mere geographical fact could possibly occasion. In the next chapter 
 we shall have a more suitable occasion than now offers of subjecting 
 it to the examination which it requires, and to receive it without 
 murmuring, if we find that it must be received ; even though, in 
 its obvious consequences, it overturns a most satisfactory and beau- 
 tiful explanation, on which the mind could repose, of very serious 
 difficulties, and revives them into greater force than they even for- 
 merly possessed. 
 
 We shall now proceed to notice the valleys and plains of Pales- 
 tine, which extend laterally between the two great longitudinal 
 lines which we have now traced. In executing this part of our 
 work, we purpose to include in our survey all the plains and 
 valleys which are of Scriptural or historical consequence, even 
 though they may be of small geographical importance. We shall, 
 as before, proceed from north to south. 
 
 Of the plains and valleys in the northern part of Palestine — that 
 is, in Galilee, besides those which have already been noticed in our 
 survey of the two principal lines — our information is very scanty. 
 In this, as in other cases, our information decreases with our dis- 
 tance from Jerusalem — that great centre of all interest and in- 
 quiry connected with the Holy Land. 
 
 Many of the valleys of Galilee are small, but beautifully wooded, 
 and the villagers who occupy them seem to be among the most 
 happily situated of the inhabitants of Palestine. 
 
 Speaking generally of this part of Galilee, which belonged to 
 the tribe of Zebulon, Clarke says, “ The scenery is to the full as 
 delightful as in the rich vales upon the south of the Crimea ; it 
 reminded us of the finest parts of Kent and Surrey. The soil, 
 although stony, is exceedingly rich, but it is now entirely neglected.” 
 
 The Valley of Abief.ne is the first of the vales which lie 
 beyond the hills which skirt the coast between Cape Nakhoora and 
 Acre. It is long and narrow, and bounded by low hills covered 
 chiefly with oak. 
 
 The vale which is particularly distinguished as the Valley of 
 Zebui.on, lies to the south-east of this, and is the first vale imme- 
 diately from the plain of Acre. It is of somewhat an oval figure, 
 and between three and four miles in length by one in breadth. 
 This valley must have been a treasure to the tribe of Zebulon, to 
 which it belonged, and by which it was doubtless well cidtivated. 
 Although now under very partial cultivation, the natural fertility 
 of the soil may be easily estimated by the dense abundance of the 
 plants, field-flowers, and herbs which it spontaneously produces. 
 The enclosing hills aie beautifully wooded, chiefly with the Carob- 
 tree and a sort of oak with whitish leaves. The pasturage of the 
 vale is accounted among the finest in the Holy Land. 
 
 Ihe Vale of Sepphoris takes its name from the cityofSep- 
 phoris, also called Dio Caesarea, which Josephus describes as the 
 
 chief city of Galilee. It still survives as a village, and continues 
 to bear its old name in the slightly different form of Sephoury. 
 This vale is separated by hills from that of Zebulon, which is to the 
 west of it ; and it is on these hills that the town of Sephoury stands. 
 This valley is about the same length as that of Zebulon, and forms 
 a very fine plain, the verdure of which in the spring is most strik- 
 ing, abundantly enamelled with an endless variety of flowers, 
 among which tulips of every colour are most conspicuous. The 
 town and valley are celebrated for several circumstances in the later 
 history of the Jews, and in the wars between the Moslems and the 
 Christian kings of Jerusalem. 
 
 The small Vale of Nazareth, in which Jesus Christ was born 
 and passed his early years, claims to be noticed on that account. 
 It is a kind of hollow or basin, formed by enclosing mountains of 
 no great height. “ It seems,” says Dr. Richardson, “ as if fifteen 
 mountains met to form one enclosure for this delightful spot; they 
 rise around it like the edge of a shell to guard it from intrusion. 
 It is a rich and beautiful field in the midst of barren mountains. 
 It abounds in fig-trees, small gardens, and hedges of the prickly 
 pear, and the dense grass affords an abundant pasture. The village 
 stands on an elevated situation on the western side of the valley, 
 and contains between six hundred and seven hundred inhabitants.” 
 This picture is in agreement with that which other travellers have 
 drawn. Lord Lindsay thinks them all too highly coloured. 
 
 The declivity from the central hills of Galilee towards the great 
 valley of the Jordan is formed by a succession of narrow plains 
 rising one above another from the valley of that river. Here the 
 soil is everywhere a fine black mould, deep, and perfectly free from 
 stones, and appearing in such a climate capable of almost any pro- 
 duction, were but the hand of man applied to it. 
 
 Behind the hills which bound the Lake of Gennesareth on the 
 west there are some valleys which tradition indicates as the scenes 
 of some of the transactions in the history of Jesus Christ, which 
 certainly must have occurred somewhere in the neighbourhood. 
 One of these is that in which Christ is supposed to have multiplied 
 the seven loaves and fishes. (Matt. xv. 32.) This valley is long 
 and of moderate width. The extremity, which advances towards 
 the Lake of Gennesareth, is between Tiberias and Bethsaida. It is 
 a fine valley, with green and abundant grass, and well capable of 
 containing, seated thereon, a great number of people. The hill on 
 which our Lord is alleged to have stood when he blessed the loaves 
 and fishes, is of less height than some of those on the opposite 
 side of the valley. It bears the somewhat odd name of “ La Table 
 de la Multiplication,” according to Nau, who with his party sat 
 down and ate a commemorate morsel of bread on the spot.* 
 
 From the top of this hill is visible the alleged Mount of Beati- 
 tudes, of which we have already spoken, and which it is only 
 necessary to mention further for the sake of stating that it 
 stands detached in the midst of an extensive plain, greatly elevated 
 above the level of the Jordan, from which cause even the low 
 summits found here command extensive prospects in different direc- 
 tions. 
 
 From hence the road westward to Cana lies over a succession of 
 broad valleys for nearly three hours. In one of these, about two 
 miles from Cana, an old terebinth-tree is pointed out as marking 
 the field in which the disciples of Christ occasioned a dispute with 
 the Pharisees by plucking ears of corn on the sabbath-day. (Luke 
 vi.) This is a fertile champaign, and is, or was, under partial 
 cultivatio.. 
 
 Before leaving this part of the country, it may be well to notice 
 the extensive valley or plain which lies behind the hills which bound 
 
 * The accounts of some of our own travellers difl'er from this and from one another 
 about the alleged scene of this miracle. The old Catholic travellers, especially 
 when priests or monks, were certain that they were at the spots which their tradi- 
 tions (whether right or wrong) indicated, and could not be deceived. But our 
 own Protestant or sceptical travellers — and, as such, indifferent or doubtful — might, 
 at the convenience of their guides, have almost any sight or object pointed out to 
 them as that for which they inquired. So between wrong indications on the one 
 hand, and from misunderstanding the tradition when the right indication has been 
 given, on the other, they often manage to arrive at a very strong conclusion con- 
 cerning the doltish knavery of those who settled the sites of such transactions. 
 Now, men are seldom such dolts as travellers think them. In the present case a 
 wrong site seems to have been shown to some, while others have understood that it 
 was exhibited as the scene of the multiplication of the Jive loaves and the fishes, 
 which they triumphantly tell us must have taken place on the opposite or eastern 
 side of the lake. But all the old Catholic travellers say that it was the miracle of 
 the seven loaves, not of file Jive loaves, which took place here. Most of them were 
 quite aware of (he difference between the sites of the two miracles, and Father Nau 
 has as clear and able an explanation on the subject as can possibly be given. We 
 are far from undertaking to say that this was really the site of the miracle in ques- 
 tion. That is a matter with which we have nothing to do in the present work ; but 
 it appears to us as probable a site as could possibly be indicated in the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 435 
 
 the northern extremity of the Lake of Germesareth, on the western 
 side. Richardson, the only traveller who lias passed this plain since 
 Pococke, describes it as “ an extensive open field, which bore an 
 abundant crop of thistles, and in which herds of black cattle were 
 feeding.” This is in conformity with the accounts of the old 
 travellers. It is, in fact, an extensive plain, forming a rich pasture- 
 ground, on which account it seems, in all times, to be much 
 frequented by the Bedouins with their Hocks. It bears the name of 
 Dothan, from a village so called, and is regarded by the inhabitants 
 of Palestine, as well as by the Jews, as the ground on which the 
 sons of Jacob were pasturing their Hocks when they sold Joseph to 
 the Ishmaelites. We are told, in the sacred narrative, that Joseph 
 had expected to find them near Shechem, but, on arriving there, 
 heard that they had removed their Hocks to Dothan, and went there 
 to seek them. That this plain is the Dothan in question has been 
 disputed, on the ground of the'distance from Ilebron and from 
 Shechem. The town of Shechem is two days and a half, or three 
 days’ journey from Ilebron, and this present plain is about an equal 
 distance from Shechem. To counterbalance this, there are the 
 facts — that this plain is a famous pasture-ground, and that it lies on 
 the road to a well-known place of passage over the Jordan (where 
 there is now a bridge, called Jacob’s Bridge) ; so that it is a very 
 likely r place for the Ishmaelite traders to have passed in their way 
 to Egypt. Whatever be the probabilities of the question, the 
 objections, founded solely on the distances stated, do not deserve 
 attention, when the habits of the migratory shepherds are taken into 
 account. Such writers, therefore, as Nau and Morison, long resident 
 in the country, and well acquainted with Bedouin habits, are more 
 in the right, when they refer to such habits as explaining the 
 distance, than Richardson, \\ ho, with a palpable reference to the 
 habits of another condition of life, remarks: — “ This is a long way 
 from Hebron for the sons of Jacob to go to feed their herds, and a 
 still further way for a solitary' youth like Joseph to be sent by his 
 father in quest of them.” But Joseph was not sent by' his father to 
 Dothan, but only to Shechem, and Joseph, of his own accord, went 
 to Dothan when he could not find them there. — But we will not be 
 tempted into these questions; and we beg it to be understood that, 
 in mentioning a particular spot as the alleged scene of this or that 
 transaction, we feel it no part of our present duty to examine the 
 truth or probability of the allegation, unless when some point of 
 public history' is involved, of sufficient importance to render such an 
 examination expedient. But we may say, generally', that in all such 
 cases we should, in the first instance, be dr-posed to consider the 
 current determinations of sites to be right, unless we could find 
 some good reasons to conclude them wrong — rather than, with some 
 travellers and writers, deem them all, in the first instance, to be 
 w rong, until we find good reasons for believing them correct. 
 
 We shall now leave this northern division of Palestine, and 
 proceed to the great central plain which divides Galilee and 
 Samaria. 
 
 The Plain of Esdraelon, known in Scripture as the “ Plain 
 of Megiddo,” measures about thirty miles in length, from east to 
 west, and eighteen in breadth, from north to south. On the north 
 it is bounded by the mountains of Galilee, and on the south by 
 those of Samaria ; on the eastern part, by Mount. Tabor, the Little 
 Hermon, and Gilboa; and on the west by Carmel, between which 
 range and the mountains of Galilee is an outlet, whereby the river 
 Kishon winds its way to the bay of Acre. Professor Robinson, in 
 his ‘ Biblical Researches in Palestine,’ informs us that the eastern 
 part of the plain has never yet been correctly laid down in the 
 maps. “ Two mountain-ridges run out into it from the east, 
 commencing near the brow of the Jordan valley, and extending 
 westward to near the middle of the plain. The southern ridge is 
 Gilboa, and the north is the Little Ilermon of Jerome. They 
 divide the eastern half of the plain into three parts ; of which the 
 northern and southern decline towards the west, and their waters 
 flow otf to the Kishon, while the middle portion, between Gilboa 
 and Hermon, slopes to the east, and its waters descend to the Jordan 
 through a broad valley, or plain, at Bysan, the ancient Bethshan.” 
 This central valley', or plain, may, we suppose, be the Valley of 
 Jezreel, so often mentioned in Scripture, although that name 
 appears to have been sometimes applied in a large sense to the 
 whole plain of Esdraelon. 
 
 This great plain possesses the elements of great fertility, having 
 a rich alluvial soil, about three feet deep, resting on a substratum 
 of gravel and whitish limestone. As seen from above, it is not a 
 perfect level, but a tract of gentle undulations, in the midst of the 
 hills which enclose it on every side. It is destitute of trees ; but 
 so rich and spontaneously fertile is the soil, that Morison thinks 
 
 that, if it were cultivated as it ought to be, it would alone si. Hire 
 to supply the whole of Galilee with corn, even were that province 
 as populous now as it was in ancient times. But, he says, it was in 
 his time almost entirely uncultivated, although so covered with 
 green herbage as to evince what Nature could do if seconded by- 
 man. It is difficult to account lor this last intimation, as other 
 writers, before and after Morison, describe the plain as being to a 
 considerable extent under cultivation. Zuallart implies that much 
 was cultivated, and the remainder left to pasturage ; for lie describes 
 it as affording abundance of corn, wine, oil, herbage, and all things 
 necessary to the life of man or beast. D’Arvieux, who was there 
 in May', when the corn had nearly reached maturity, say s that when 
 one looks over the plain from an eminence, and sees the immense 
 surface of corn in motion from the breeze, a lively image of the 
 agitations of the sea is presented to him. It is still probably culti- 
 vated to the same extent. In early spring, Major Skinner saw the 
 plains green in all directions with the rising grain. Another recent 
 traveller, whose name we forget, describes much of it, particularly 
 in the eastern part, as furrowed by the plough. Yet Clarke speaks 
 of it as “ one vast meadow, covered with the richest pastures.” 
 From all this we collect that there is much pasture-ground, and 
 much cultivation in the plain : and those who describe it as uncul- 
 tivated, but rich in natural herbage, passed through those parts 
 only which were in this state, and inferred all the rest to be like it, 
 as they could not well, in the wide general survey from an eminence, 
 distinguish, in so fertile a plain, the cultivated from the unculti- 
 vated parts, especially after the crops have been gathered in. 
 
 In the distribution of Canaan to the people of Israel, by Joshua, 
 this celebrated portion fell to the lot of Issaehar, who in its fertile 
 and well-watered soil had abundant cause to “ rejoice in their 
 tents” (Deut. xxxiii. 18). And at this day some of the more 
 peaceably inclined Bedouin tribes are seen living under tents, 
 surrounded by their Hocks, for the sake of the rich pastures it 
 affords. Thus the latter end of the country is like its beginning. 
 Then the old patriarchs wandered with their Hocks among the 
 towns and villages of Canaan, and fed them, even in the peopled 
 districts, without molestation. This was before the country had 
 become populous ; and now the same thing is witnessed w lieu, 
 after having been most populous, it has again become thinly- 
 peopled. 
 
 The historical celebrity of this plain is very great. It is that 
 “ mighty plain ” — /uya netiiov as it is called by many ancient 
 writers — which has in all ages been the famous battle-ground of 
 nations. In the first ages of the Jewish history, as well as during 
 the Roman empire, the Crusades, and even in later times, it has 
 been the scene of many a memorable contest. In this great plain, 
 Barak, descending with ten thousand men from Mount labor, 
 fought with the kings of Canaan, \“ by the waters of Megiddo.” 
 Here king Josiah was slain in battle with the Egyptians. And 
 “ it has been the chosen place for encampment in every contest 
 carried on in this country,” to use the words of Dr. Clarke, “ from 
 the days of Nebuchodonosar, king of the Assyrians, until the 
 disastrous march of Napoleon Buonaparte from Egypt into Syria. 
 Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Crusaders, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, 
 Turks, Arabs, and French, warriors out of every nation which is 
 under heaven, have pitched their tents upon the plain of Esdraelon, 
 and have beheld their banners wet with the dews of Tabor and of 
 Hermon.” 
 
 The country of Samaria, situated between Galilee and Judea, 
 has been much less explored than either. Pilgrims and travellers 
 have crossed and re-crossed Judea and Galilee in every direction, 
 in order to visit the different spots of sacred or historical interest 
 which are dispersed in them. But the only points in Samaria 
 which the sacred history has made memorable are about Shechem 
 and Samaria, which are not more than four miles from each other 
 and as no other part of the country has been thought worthy of 
 attention, no route but that which includes these two places has 
 been followed. Content to look at Shechem and Samaria in their 
 way, pilgrims and travellers have regarded this really interesting 
 and important part of Palestine merely as a road from Galilee to 
 Judea, or from Judea to Galilee, in which the same well-trodden 
 path has almost invariably been followed. Samaria being thus very 
 imperfectly known, the notice we have to take of its valleys will be 
 found greatly disproportionate to the relative extent of its figure in 
 the maps of Palestine. 
 
 Samaria seems, upon the whole, a much more open and less 
 mountainous country than either Galilee or Judea. It has moun- 
 tains indeed, but they are in general less high and abrupt, and of 
 more rounded forms, than those of the north or south. There is 
 
456 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 little of stern or sterile aspect in Samaria. The sides of the shapely 
 hills are for the most part beautifully wooded, while the valleys 
 commonly open out into fertile plains or basins, surrounded by 
 hills. These plains and valleys are watered by numerous streams, 
 which contribute greatly to their fertility. Of the trees with which 
 this fine province is stocked, the olive-trees greatly exceed all others 
 in number. Wild animals * and feathered game (especially the red 
 partridge) are more abundant than in Judea, or even in Galilee. 
 But with all these advantages, towns and villages occur less fre- 
 quently than in the other two provinces, nor are the inhabitants 
 near as numerous. It being a more open country, and therefore 
 more exposed to injuries and oppression, may possibly account for 
 this. 
 
 The valley of Jennin — one of the numerous vales which lead out 
 of the plain of Esdraelon — is that through which the usual route 
 from Galilee to the city of Samaria lies. This valley is about 
 thirteen miles long, and its width is about two miles in the northern 
 part, — that is, as far as the interruption offered about midway by 
 the hill on which stands the ruined castle of Sanhoor, after which 
 it becomes more narrow. This valley, which some take to be the 
 Scriptural valley of Jezreel, is watered by a brook, and is very 
 fertile, well planted with olive-trees, considerably cultivated, and 
 offering green pasture in those parts to which cultivation does not 
 extend. This valley was doubtless in former times, as now, the 
 high road by which the inhabitants of Galilee, who “ must needs go 
 through Samaria,” journeyed when they went to celebrate the 
 periodical festivals at Jerusalem. 
 
 The city of Samaria t stood but a few miles from the termination 
 of this valley. It offers a curious and imposing appearance, stand- 
 ing, as it does, in terraces upon a high semispherical mount, 
 standing alone in the midst of one of those enclosed basins or hollows 
 for which Samaria is particularly noted. The enclosed valley which 
 surrounds the central hill is very beautiful, watered by running 
 streams, and covered by a rich carpet of grass, sprinkled with wild 
 flowers of every hue ; while beyond, stretched like an open book 
 before one who stands upon the hill, lies the boundary of pleasant 
 mountains, on which the olive and the vine are seen rising in terraces 
 to the very summits. 
 
 From this place Lord Lindsay took a route across the country to 
 Carmel, f which enabled him to see a portion of Samaria not often 
 visited by travellers. lie describes the country as full of villages, 
 well cultivated, and quite beautiful. After clearing the hills he 
 proceeded along a beautiful and very extensive plain — a prolongation, 
 doubtless, of the vale of Sharon — where the scenery suggested a 
 comparison with Kent. “ Nothing could exceed the richness of 
 the soil or the beauty of its produce, even of the thistles, with 
 which every fallow and uncultivated field was overgrown, and which 
 were of the deepest hue and most luxuriant growth. Presently, 
 leaving the plain, we rode for two hours through a range of sloping 
 hills covered with beautiful valonidis, or evergreen oaks, — regular 
 English park scenery ; then the trees ceasing, through a continued 
 expanse of sloping downs, till we reached the southern prolongation 
 of Carmel.” 
 
 Sandys, in travelling by land from Ramla to Acre (a rare jour- 
 ney), passed through the districts thus described ; but the first part 
 of his journey lay through the western part of a more southern 
 portion of Samaria than Lord Lindsay saw. He speaks mostly of 
 woods. He passed behind, inland, that wood of Sharon, the outer 
 part of which, facing the coast, we have already noticed. Of this 
 he says, — “ After a while we entered a goodly forrest full of tall 
 and delightfull trees, intermixed with fruitful! and fhnvry lawnes. 
 Perhaps the earth affbrdeth not the like, it cannot a more pleasant.” 
 
 The town of Nabulus— the Shecbem of the Old Testament and 
 the Sychar of the New Testament — is about four miles § south 
 from the ruined city of Samaria. The long narrow valley in which 
 it stands has already been described as extending its length from 
 east to west between the mountains of blessing and cursing — the 
 fertile Gerizim and the barren Ebal. So abundantly is this valley 
 watered, that popularly it is said to be enriched by 365 springs. 
 “ There is nothing in the Holy Land,” says Dr. Clarke, “ finer 
 than the view of Nabulus from the heights around it. As the 
 traveller descends towards it from the hills, it appears luxuriantly 
 embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers, half con- 
 
 * Perhaps it was so anciently also. See 2 Kings xvii. 25, 2(5. 
 
 t The ruined site now bears the name of Subusta, a modification of Sebaste [the 
 Greek for Augustus], the name imposed on the city by Herod, after it had been 
 greatly improved by him. 
 
 I 1 he route is the same as that ot Shaw, of which T.ord Lindsay does not seem 
 to have been aware. 
 
 $ “ An hour ind x half.” — Klliot. 
 
 cealed by rich gardens and by stately trees collected into groves all 
 around the bold and beautiful valley in which it stands.” 
 
 This valley leads into a fine plain, waving with corn in the time 
 of summer, and which is concluded to have formed or to have 
 contained “ the parcel of ground which Jacob gave to his son 
 Joseph,” being the same which he purchased from the Shechemites.* 
 The road southward towards Jerusalem lies across this plain, from 
 which we pass into the beautiful valley of Leban,j which, although 
 narrow, is not under eight miles in length. On crossing a brook, 
 and ascending the hills at the end of this valley, we leave Samaria 
 and enter the kingdom of Judea. 
 
 Travellers are apt to form the notion that a part of Palestine so 
 supremely honoured as Judea was, must needs surpass in fertility 
 and beauty; and that the ancient descriptions of the glory and 
 richness of the country at large must apply with concentrated effect 
 to Judea in particular. This arises from an association of ideas 
 which there is nothing in Scripture to call for or to warrant. We 
 are aware of no passage in which Judea is so described even by 
 implication. Cultivation — such cultivation as Judea anciently 
 
 received, when the terraced sides of its hills were clad with olives 
 and with vines, and when its valleys were waving with corn — 
 might, and did, make it not inferior to any other part of the coun- 
 try, and perhaps superior in variety of produce ; but in a state of 
 nature — into which state it has nearly fallen back — it is, for the 
 most part, the least pleasant and fertile part of Palestine, with the 
 exception of some peculiarly favoured districts. All travellers 
 confess this, some of them reluctantly and with heavy hearts. 
 We have already intimated something of this in our accounts of 
 the mountains of Palestine ; but as we intend to let these chapters 
 stand for a description of the country, there is no more suitable 
 place than the present for enlarging somewhat further on this 
 difference. 
 
 Of the three elements of fertility in this climate, water, warmth, 
 and soil, Judea can only be said to have warmth. The climate is 
 warmer than that of Samaria or Galilee, while the surface offers 
 but little vegetable mould, and water is scarce ; and hence, except 
 for a short time after the latter rains, the land presents an aspect of 
 drought and desolation, singularly at variance with the accounts 
 which several ancient writers give of its former fertility and 
 pleasantness, and most disappointing to those whose expectations 
 have been based on those accounts, —forgetting that the country now 
 wants that teeming population to which its ancient richness was 
 ow ing — that it is now still in enjoyment of its long sabbath, and is 
 waiting the dawning of another day to resume the robes of glory 
 and beauty it once wore. 
 
 In such a matter as this, the direct testimony of believing tra- 
 vellers is of much importance ; and we therefore introduce the 
 testimonies which follow. Maundrell, journeying to Jerusalem, 
 after having left Samaria, by the route we have indicated, observes ; 
 
 “ All along this day’s travel, from Kane [Khan] Leban to Beer, 
 
 and also as far as we could see around, the country discovered 
 a quite different face from what it had before— presenting nothing 
 to the view, in most places, but naked rocks, mountains, and 
 precipices.” 
 
 Dr. Richardson advanced to Jerusalem by a very common 
 route, from the N.W., by Jaffa and Ramla. The last-named 
 town is on the inner border of the plain of Sharon. The hill 
 country of Judea is distant two hours and a half from Ramla; 
 but the characteristic desolation of Judea begins to be exhibited 
 lon°- before reaching these hills — that is, as soon as an ascent has 
 been made from the frontier plain to another more elevated. “ The 
 aspect of the country,” says the Doctor, “ was now become bleak, 
 the trees both few and small, the grass withered, from the little 
 depth of soil, hard, and of bad quality. For some time before we 
 reached the mountains, we kept looking up at their dusky sides, as 
 they rose, in towering grandeur, to the height of 1000 or 1500 feet 
 above our heads, covered with sunburnt grass ; j; here and there 
 disclosing strips of the bare horizontal rocks, and diversified with a 
 few bushy trees, that stood at very unfriendly and forlorn distances 
 from each other.” Again: — “The hills, from the commencement 
 of the mountain scenery [in this quarter], are all of a round, hand- 
 some shape, meeting in the base and separated at the tops, not in 
 peaks, or pointed acuminations, but like the gradual retiring of 
 two round balls placed in juxtaposition. Their sides are partially 
 covered with earth, which nourishes a feeble sprinkling of withered 
 o-rass, with here and there a dwarf shrub or solitary tree. They 
 are not susceptible of cultivation, except on the very summit, 
 where we saw the plough going in several places. They might be 
 
 * John iv. 5 ; Gen. xxxiii. 19. t “ Labonah,” Judges xxi. 19. 
 
 t These observations were made in the middle of April. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 457 
 
 terraced ; but there are no traces of their ever having been so. The 
 rock crops out in many places, but never in precipitous cliffs ; the 
 strata in many places have exactly the appearance of stone courses 
 in a building.” 
 
 The view over the north-eastern part of Judea, as commanded 
 from the high ridge on which stands Anathoth (now Anata), the 
 birthplace of Jeremiah, is thus described by Professor Robinson : 
 
 “ From this point there is a view over the whole eastern slope of the 
 mountainous region, including also the valley of the Jordan, and 
 the northern part of the Dead Sea. The whole tract is made up 
 of deep rugged valleys, running eastward, with broad ridges of 
 uneven table-land between, often rising in high points. The sides 
 of the valleys are so steep, that in descending into them we were 
 often obliged to dismount from our horses. The whole district is 
 a mass of limestone rock, which everywhere juts out above the 
 surface, and imparts to the whole land only' the aspect of sterility 
 and desolation. Yet, wherever soil is found among the rocks, it is 
 strong and fertile ; fields of grain appeared occasionally : and fig- 
 trees and olive-trees were scattered everywhere among the hills. 
 Lower down the slope, towards the Jordan valley, all is desert.” 
 
 Lord Lindsay, who traversed the whole extent of Judea from 
 south to north, makes the important general remark— “ All Judea, 
 except the hills of Hebron and the vales immediately about Jeru- 
 salem, is desolate and barren ; but the prospect brightens as soon as 
 you quit it, and Samaria and Galilee still smile like the Land of 
 Promise.” Mr. Stephens, who travelled the same route, says, in 
 effect, nearly the same thing. 
 
 But there is a season — after the spring rains and before the hot 
 sun has absorbed all the moisture left by them — when even the 
 desert is clothed with verdure ; and at that season even the valleys 
 of Judea present a refreshingly green appearance. But this happy 
 season is not naturally of long continuance, and the skilful or 
 laborious hand of man is not now present to perpetuate the blessed- 
 ness which that season brings. 
 
 After this general notice, we will now proceed to enumerate 
 such of the particular valleys or plains as seem most to demand our 
 attention. 
 
 The most northerly spot we shall notice is Ainbroot, which some 
 suppose to be the Scriptural Bethoron. This spot shines like a gem 
 amid the desolation of Judea. All travellers mention it with 
 admiration. The village is prettily situated upon an eminence, 
 and commands on all sides a view of fertile and well-cultivated 
 valleys. Lord Lindsay declares that this spot exhibited some of 
 the loveliest scenery he had ever beheld — “ Olive and fig gardens, 
 vineyards and corn-fields, overspreading the valleys, and terraced on 
 the hills, alternating with waste ground overgrown with the beau- 
 tiful prickly oak and lovely wild flowers.” 
 
 The Valley of Bethel, although stony, as of old, and sur- 
 rounded by stony mountains, is pleasantly situated about eight 
 miles to the north of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Gibeon * of the Scriptures is situated upon a sharp rocky 
 ridge, rising in the midst of broad valleys or plains, which form an 
 extensive basin, full of corn-fields, vineyards, and orchards of olive 
 and fig-trees. The situation of this valley seems to correspond to 
 that which some of the old travellers point out as the valley of 
 Ajalon, over which Joshua commanded the moon to rest. But this 
 valley has been indicated in so many and distant places, that it is 
 difficult to receive this identification, especially if Jib be identified 
 with Gibeon. Morison says of this valley that it was the broadest 
 of all he had seen in Judea, where, in general, the valleys are 
 narrow and pressed close by their enclosing mountains. 
 
 The Valley of Elah, also called the Terebinth Vale, is the 
 alleged scene of David’s victory over Goliath, and where they still 
 show the brook from which the youthful champion picked the 
 “smooth stones” with which he smote the Philistine. The whole, 
 however — the vale with the enclosing hills — bears the name of the 
 Wilderness of St. John [the Baptist], from its being supposed — we 
 should think erroneously — to have been the scene of the birth and 
 early history of the Great Forerunner. Notwithstanding the for- 
 midable name of “desert” or “ wilderness,” this is altogether one 
 of the pleasantest places in Judea. It is an agreeable solitude, 
 enjoying a pure air and productive soil ; and where, although the 
 people are few, there is much cultivation, from which excellent 
 corn and exquisite wine are obtained. 
 
 The valley of Elah is now called Wady es-Sumt (Sunt), from 
 the acacias which are scattered over it, and which have superseded 
 the ancient terebinths. Of the latter, however, one old specimen, 
 the largest perhaps in Palestine, still remains, as if to prove the 
 * Gabao of Josephus, now Jib. 
 
 3 s 
 
 accuracy of the ancient denomination. The famous brook is dry 
 in summer ; but in the season of rain it becomes a mighty torrent 
 which inundates the vale. 
 
 The valleys which surround the height on which Jerusalem 
 stands claim our especial notice on account of the historical and 
 sacred interest connected with them, rather than from their geo- 
 graphical importance in a general survey of the valleys of the 
 land. 
 
 The renowned city is very singularly situated. Samaria offers 
 some similarity of situation ; and tins similarity probably suggested 
 the establishment there of that city, which was at one time the 
 rival metropolis of the land. Samaria, as we have seen, stood on 
 an eminence in the midst of a hollow enclosed by hills, and is 
 therefore surrounded by the valleys which intervene between the 
 bases of the enclosed and enclosing hills. Jerusalem, in like 
 manner, is seated upon an eminence, or rather a. collection of 
 eminences, within a basin of enclosing hills and valleys. But this 
 enclosure is only on three sides ; for on the north the site opens to 
 the high plains. Comparison between the sites of Jerusalem and 
 Samaria ends with this principle, for there is no other resemblance. 
 The shape and extent of the enclosed basin are different altogether. 
 At Samaria the surrounding valleys are far more broad and 
 cheerful, and the enclosing hills are more regular and beautiful 
 than those at Jerusalem. 
 
 The figure of the site of Jerusalem being irregularly oblong, 
 the valleys on the east and west — and especially the former — are 
 much longer than the one on the south. To these valleys our 
 present attention will be confined. 
 
 The most extensive and important of these valleys is that which 
 lies east of the city — between it and the mount of Olives. This is 
 the Valley of Jehoshafiiat. It is rather more than a mile in 
 length, but narrow, as there are few places in which its breadth 
 exceeds two hundred yards. This is that memorable valley so often 
 mentioned under different names (’) by the sacred historians and 
 prophets ; and which is sanctified in the memories of men afar off 
 by the knowledge that its soil is replete with the dust of thousands 
 of holy and venerable personages : and has been moistened by the 
 tears of the prophets and the blood of the saints. Who knows not, 
 also, that this valley was often traversed by David, or by “ the Son 
 of Man,” whenever the record of their griefs bears witness that they 
 crossed the brook of Kedron, or ascended Mount Olivet ; or that it 
 is the peculiar and awful distinction of this valley, that Jews, 
 Mohammedans, and the mass of Christians, live and die in the 
 persuasion that this is “The Valley of Decision,” — the valley to 
 which all the nations shall be gathered in the great and terrible 
 day of final judgment. 
 
 Properly speaking, this hollow is rather a ravine than a valley — 
 “ a deep and rugged ravine,” — as it is called by Lamartine, whose 
 highly-wrought and figurative language is here applied witli so 
 much more than the usual appropriateness as to warrant the use 
 of his description. “ It was a deep and narrow valley, enclosed on 
 the north by dark and barren heights which contained the sepulchres 
 of kings, shaded on the west by the heavy and gigantic walls of a 
 city of iniquities ; covered at the east by the summit of the Mount 
 of Olives, and crossed by a torrent, which rolled its bitter and 
 yellow waters over the broken rocks of the valley of Jehoshaphat. 
 At some paces distant* a black and bare rock detaches itself like a 
 promontory from the base of the mountain, and, suspended over 
 Kedron and the valley, bears several old tombs of kings and 
 patriarchs, formed in gigantic and singular architecture, and strides, 
 like the bridge of death, over the Valley of Lamentations. At that 
 period [the time of Christ’s ‘agony’], no doubt, the sloping sides 
 of Mount Olivet, now nearly bare, were watered by brooks from 
 the pools, and by the still running stream of Kedron. Gardens of 
 pomegranate, orange, and olive trees, covered with a thicker shade 
 the narrow valley of Gethsemane, which delves like a sanctuary of 
 grief into the darkest depths of the valley of Jehoshaphat.” 
 
 The olive-plantations and vineyards are thin and few, and con- 
 fined mostly to the northern part, upon and under the Mount of 
 Olives. The valley deepens and widens in its progress southward 
 — save that it somewhat narrows at about the middle part, where 
 occur those old sepulchral monuments of which Lamartine speaks. 
 Nor are these the sole memorials of the dead. The sides of the 
 valley, particularly towards this middle portion, are almost paved 
 with black and white sepulchral stones — thousands and tens of 
 thousands, — for this is the place where, three thousand years ago, 
 the Jew buried his dead under the shadow of his Temple ; and ever 
 since — because this is holy ground, and because it is held that men 
 
 * He is describing from the site of the Garden of Gethsemane, near the north end 
 of the valley, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. 
 
458 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 shall, ia this vale, rise at the last day to honour or shame — the 
 Jew journeys in his old age from the uttermost parts of the earth, 
 that when he dies his bones may be laid in this valley of his fathers’ 
 sepulchres. 
 
 The famous brook Kedron, which traverses the length of this 
 valley, is a mere winter torrent, quite dry for the greater part of 
 the year. 
 
 The valley to the south, under Mount Zion, and between it and 
 the so-called Hill of Evil Counsel,* is most probably that to which 
 the Scripture gives the name of Ben-Hinnom, or, in the Greek, 
 Ge-Hennom — “ The valley of the son of Hinnom.” Who this I 
 Hinnom was is not known. This valley is rather more than half 
 a mile long. “ Its breadth is about fifty yards, and its depth | 
 perhaps twenty, measuring from the bottom to the highest part of 
 Mount Zion.”] It is traversed by the channel of a winter torrent, 
 which begins in the western valley and ends in the bed of the 
 Kedron. The valley is wider at the eastern end, which joins the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat, than at the western, which joins the valley 
 of Gihon. This ravine formed part of the boundary between the 
 tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Both its sides are cut down per- 
 pendicularly, as if it had served for a quarry to the ancient city, — 
 and this circumstance increases its resemblance to a trench or ditch ; 
 and practically it did serve as a fosse on that side to “ the city of 
 David ” on Mount Zion. The bottom is rock, covered with a thin 
 sprinkling of earth washed down from the higher ground. Being 
 comparatively well watered, it was anciently rich in gardens and 
 groves, amid which the apostate Israelites, in the days of the 
 monarchy, celebrated the horrid rites of Moloch, not unfrequently 
 attended with the offering of human victims in sacrifice to his grim 
 idol. Hence its frequent mention by the prophets in their denun- 
 ciations of the “dark idolatries of alienated Judah;” and in thes 
 it sometimes bears the name of Tophet, from the tabrets (called in 
 Hebrew top/i) with which the cries of the victims were drowned. 
 After the Captivity had extinguished the propensity of the Jews to 
 idolatry, the memories connected with this spot caused it to be 
 regarded with abhorrence ; and, following the example of king 
 Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 10), it was appropriated to the vilest uses. 
 Every kind of filth was thrown into it, as well as the carcasses of 
 animals and the dead bodies of malefactors. But, to obviate the 
 evil consequences which might be expected to ensue if such a mass 
 of corruptible matter were left to putrefy, fires were constantly 
 kept up in the valley to reduce the whole to ashes. Hence the 
 metaphor which, in the New Testament and in the Jewish writings, 
 transfers the name of Gehenna to that other place “ where the 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” On the farther side 
 of this valley, towards the south-east, is the spot supposed, with 
 very good reason, to be “ Aceldama,” the field of blood, which was 
 bought with the price of the treason of Judas for “a field to bury 
 strangers in” (Matt, xxvii. 3 — 8). The rocky and precipitous 
 hill-side is here and elsewhere pierced with tombs of various forms 
 and dimensions. The soil of Aceldama has had the reputation of 
 reducing to dust within twenty-four hours the bodies deposited in 
 it ; and it was, if it be not still, believed, that it did not lose its 
 decomposing properties even when carried to a distance.! 
 
 These deep valleys on the east and south must always have 
 restricted the extent of Jerusalem, in those quarters, within its 
 present limits. But this is not the case on the west ; for the 
 western valley, which is called the valley of Gihon, is so shallow, 
 that, according to Mr. Elliot, there is no palpable absurdity in 
 supposing that it may have been included, with a portion of the 
 opposite hill, in the ancient Jerusalem. On arriving on the verge 
 of this valley, opposite Jerusalem, Lamartine says, “A vacant 
 space of some hundred paces alone lay between us and the gate of 
 Bethlehem. This area, barren, sloping, and waste, resembling the 
 glacis which at a certain distance surrounds the fortified towns of 
 Europe, opened to the right, and descended with a gentle declivity 
 into a narrow valley.” The valley is, however, considerably wider 
 in its southern part than at this place. 
 
 * Because the house of Caiaphas, where the chief priests and the scribes took 
 counsel against Christ, is supposed to have stood upon the top of the hill. Yerv 
 unlikely. 
 
 t Robinson, who is probably right, although his estimate of the breadth is much 
 ■under that of Eugene Roger, who says,— “ Laquelle peut avoir mil cinq cents pas 
 de longueur d’orient 1 l’occident, et trois a quatre cents de largeur.” 
 
 ♦ “ By ortler of the Empress Helena, 270 ship-loads of this soil were transported 
 to Rome, and deposited in the Campo Santo near the Vatican, where it was wont 
 to reject the bodies of the Romans, and only consume those of strangers ! The 
 interior of the Campo Santo at Pisa is also filled with this soil, where l° 8 aw it two 
 years ago, producing a rank crop of alopecurus and other grasses Mcnro. ii. 204. 
 
 Having completed this brief survey of the valleys which surround 
 the humbled “ city of the Great King,” we may now proceed to 
 explore the other valleys and the plains of Judea. 
 
 The road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem lies through a continued 
 valley upwards of six miles in length, and of very considerable 
 breadth.* The entrance to it is south-west of Jerusalem from the 
 valley of Gihon. All the old travellers identify it with the 
 Valley of Rephaim, so often mentioned in the Scriptures, and 
 which is there celebrated for its fertility and for the victory of 
 David over the Philistines.t We have no doubt this identification 
 is correct, seeing that the Philistines then held possession of Beth- 
 lehem. Hence we are surprised to see that recent travellers 
 suppose the Valley of Rephaim to be the same as that of Gihon on 
 the west of Jerusalem. This mistake may have originated from 
 some travellers misunderstanding the indications given to them ; 
 supposing, probably, that their guides indicated that as the Valley 
 of Rephaim, when they really intended to point out the commence- 
 ment of that valley which now engages our attention. 
 
 This valley is not deep. It might perhaps be more distinctive 
 to describe it as a depressed plain, bounded on either hand by low 
 hills. Its present appearance of fertility supports its ancient fame ; 
 and in it are corn-fields, vineyards, olive-grounds, and orchards of 
 various kinds of fruits. The interest of this valley arises from the 
 certainty that it was often traversed and its natural features noted 
 by some of the most venerable personages of the sacred history in 
 their journeys from Jerusalem to Bethlehem or to Hebron. The 
 road is replete with pilgrim curiosities of the usual description, in 
 few of which the instructed mind will be much interested. First, 
 about two miles from Jerusalem is observed, to the right, a small 
 eminence on which are the ruins of some large building, which we 
 are told was the house of the aged Simeon, who, in the Temple, 
 took the infant Jesus in his arms. About midway between Jeru- 
 salem and Bethlehem was the largest and most lofty terebinth-tree 
 which Rauwolff had ever seen. It was too conspicuous and noble 
 an object not to be sanctified by some tradition ; and, accordingly, 
 we are told that beneath the shade which this tree offered, the 
 Virgin Mary was wont to rest on her journeys between Bethlehem 
 and Jerusalem ; and some marvellous instances are given of the 
 respect and attention which the docile tree evinced. It was burnt 
 down by the Arabs a few years after Rauwolff saw it, and an 
 olive-tree afterwards supplied its place.! Six or seven hundred 
 paces from this is a fine cistern, made apparently for watering the 
 flocks pastured in the neighbouring campaigns. It is called the 
 Cistern of the Kings, because, as the story runs, the Magi, while 
 watering their camels here, saw anew the star which guided them 
 to the obscure birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem. Near this is 
 the monastery of St. Elias, where there is a rock on which we are 
 told the prophet lay down to sleep when he fled from Jezebel, and 
 on which he left the impress of his figure ! Another building in 
 ruins, about 500 paces beyond, is announced as the house of the 
 prophet Habakkuk, or more likely, as Morison suggests, of a church 
 built upon its alleged site. Not far from this is a cultivable 
 ground, commonly called the Pea-field : it was formerly usual to 
 find there a quantity of small rounded stones, in the form of chick- 
 peas, concerning which we are told by a tradition, which Morison 
 allows we are at liberty to admit or to reject, that a whole crop of 
 this legume was turned to stone, because the churlish proprietor 
 refused a handful to the Virgin Mary, and jeeringly told her they 
 were not peas, but stones.( 2 ) In the same neighbourhood, a ruined 
 tower, with some other buildings, upon a height, is pointed out as 
 the tower of Edar or of Jacob ; and here also occurs Rachel’s 
 Sepulchre, which has been noticed in the historical portion of this 
 work (p. 27). About 1200 paces from this is seen on the right hand 
 a large and deep fosse of a round shape, which, as traditions 
 tell, was dug to receive the bodies of Sennacherib’s host, which 
 was encamped in this valley when slain — all in one night — by the 
 angel of the Lord. Rauwolff mentions another ditch, higher up 
 the valley, employed for the same purpose, but the situation of 
 which he does not clearly indicate. That great pits were dug on 
 
 * The only estimate of its breadth we have met with is that of Morison, who 
 calls it a league wide. But we see cause to think this much too high an estimate. 
 Accuracy of measurements is not among the many great merits of Morison as a 
 traveller. 
 
 f 2 Sam. xxiii. 13; l Chron. xi. 15; xiv. 8-17; Isa. xvii. 5. Joseph. 
 
 ‘ Antiq.’ vii. 4. 
 
 I Morison says that, when the old terebinth-tree was destroyed, many attempts 
 were made to plant another of the same species, but without success, as none of the 
 young terebinths could, with any care, be made to take root. But the olive-tree 
 grew spontaneously on (lie spot. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 459 
 
 the occasion indicated is more than likely ; but they were dug to 
 be tilled again, and would not now be recognizable as ditches. 
 Even sensible travellers have forgotten this.* 
 
 "We have enumerated the objects in the short route of two hours 
 from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, partly that the reader may have 
 before him some specimens of the ample fare which was provided 
 for the curiosity and enthusiasm of pilgrims to the Holy Land. 
 
 At a short distance to the south of Bethlehem is a fine and 
 rather extensive plain covered with rich pasture, where David, no 
 doubt, often fed the flocks of his father. One part of this plain, 
 enclosed by low hills planted with olive-trees and partly cultivated, 
 is called the Shepherds’ Field, from a tradition that it was in this 
 place the shepherds of Bethlehem were watching their flocks by 
 night, when the angel proclaimed to them the “ glad tidings ” that 
 in “the city of David” “a Saviour” had then been born; and 
 where a multitude of “ the heavenly host ” exulted in the manifest- 
 ation of glory to God, peace to the earth, and good-ivill to man. 
 
 About one hour’s journey to the south of Bethlehem is a small 
 valley which offers the traditional and very probable site of one of 
 Solomon’s pleasure-grounds, where he made him “ gardens, and 
 orchards, and pools of water.” The reservoirs at the south end of 
 this valley, called the Pools of Solomon, still engage the attention 
 of travellers, and will be duly noticed in a more suitable place. 
 Below these runs another valley, narrow and rocky, about two 
 miles in length, terminating in a close ravine. The mountains 
 which enclose it are high, and run straight as palisades. The 
 cultivable soil in the bottom of the valley varies in width, but 
 rarely exceeds a hundred yards, and the rocks rise abruptly on 
 either side. At something more than a quarter of a mile occurs 
 the lower portion of a quadrangular building of coarse stone-work, 
 thirty feet by twenty-one, the walls of which are six feet thick, 
 and a small pipe, three inches in diameter, passes out on the side 
 next the pools ; but no other passage out can be discovered. A short 
 distance beyond it the valley is set with fig-trees, vines, and olives, 
 the proprietors of which inhabit a few huts on the left, where are 
 also some ruined arches of stone. From the foot of the rock 
 beneath these ruins issues a transparent spring, which, passing 
 onward in a copious stream, winds through the valley, irrigating 
 and fertilizing in its course, while the rock over its source is cut 
 into various forms. 
 
 This valley is supposed to have been the site of the gardens, and 
 the enclosed fountain and spring to be those alluded to by Solomon 
 in the text, “ A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse : a spring 
 shut up, a fountain sealed” (Solomon’s Song, iv. 12). Hence the 
 valley bears the name of Hortus Conclusus. Maundrell thinks the 
 pools before referred to were very likely made by Solomon ; “ but 
 for the gardens,” he says, “ one may safely affirm that, if Solomon 
 made them in the rocky ground which is now assigned for them, 
 he demonstrated greater power and wealth in finishing his design 
 than he did wisdom in choosing the place for it.” But Hasselquist, 
 a better judge, says, “ The place will well admit that Solomon 
 might have formed a garden here, though it is not by nature an 
 agreeable situation, being in a bottom ; but perhaps this great 
 prince might choose to improve nature by art, as many other 
 potentates have done.” The fact is, that a valley kept always 
 verdant by the singular abundance of water, afforded peculiar 
 advantages in this country for a pleasure-ground. Mariti says, 
 “Nature has still preserved its original fertility to the valley of 
 Hortus Conclusus. Although but little cultivated, the soil still 
 produces a tolerable quantity of cotton and various kinds of 
 grain. There are also seen fine plantations of fruit-trees, affording 
 the most juicy fruits of the country. Various flowers and many 
 fragrant plants grow there naturally at all seasons — among which 
 are thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, absinthium, persil, rue, 
 ranunculuses, and anemones.” De Breves, long before, bore 
 similar testimony, though he was there in the very unfavourable 
 month of July: he describes the valley as “ always green:” and, 
 besides the plants just named, cultivated by Nature’s now kindly 
 hand, he adds oranges, citrons, and pomegranates to the fruits 
 which grow there. Zuallart says that several species of rare plants 
 were found in the valley, and seems to insinuate the probability 
 that they had been propagated from exotic plants which Solomon 
 introduced into his gardens. - ! - 
 
 Having come so far in this line of road, we will follow it so far as 
 Hebron, in order to reach the Valley of Mamre, near that town. 
 
 * Quaresm. F.lucid. T. S. ii. 5'9-614; RauwolfT, 373; Finer, 64; De Breves 
 170; Zuallart, iii. 15; Cotovic, cap. 10; Nau, iv. 10; Morison, ii. 26 ; Maun- 
 drell, 86. 
 
 t Monro, ii. 256; De Breves, 180; Zuallart, iv. 3; Nau, 414 ; Maundrell, 89 i 
 Mariti, ii. 388 ; Hasselquist, 145, 
 
 From the Pools of Solomon to Hebron, the road lies over a succes- 
 sion of barren hills, between which we do not find any noticeable 
 valleys. The vicinity of Hebron renders the identification of the 
 Vale of Mamre unquestionable. It has been slightly noticed in 
 the Bible History (p. 14), to whom it formed a favourite place 
 of encampment, and which contained the sepulchre in which their 
 bones lay. This broad and winding valley extends for some miles, 
 and is bounded on all sides, and apparently shut in by stony moun- 
 tains. The soil is good ; and offers much cultivation of the olive 
 and the vine, while the uncultivated parts exhibit ricli pastures. 
 It contains a terebinth-tree, which is held in high honour by all 
 the inhabitants of Hebron, especially by the Jews, in the belief that 
 the tent of Abraham was shaded by its boughs.* 
 
 The notice which has been taken of the valleys on the line 
 of road between Jerusalem and Hebron will incidentally have the 
 use of supplying points which will serve to indicate the bearings of 
 such other valleys, to the east or west of this line, as may now 
 require our attention. 
 
 We may now return to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and 
 again walk southward from thence to explore the valleys which lie 
 to the east or west of the central line to Hebron, which has now 
 been described. The very important portion of Judah which lies 
 between this central line and the coast has been very partially 
 explored hitherto. Some travellers of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries did indeed traverse it by tracks which have not been fol- 
 lowed by later travellers, except in the instance of Professor Robin- 
 son and the Rev. Eli Smith, the results of whose researches have 
 only as yet been communicated to the public in a very slight sketch. 
 
 The only valley in this quarter to which the older travellers call 
 attention, happens also to be the only one of which the Scripture 
 takes notice. This is the Vale of Sorek, so celebrated for its 
 large clusters of fine grapes, and for excellent wine which those 
 grapes afforded. It is the channel of a winter torrent, which com- 
 mences behind the southern hills of that Wilderness of St. John 
 which we lately noticed. From this, which is about five miles 
 south West of Jerusalem, the valley stretches about four miles in 
 a direction south by west, after which it extends away westward to 
 the coast, before reaching which it turns sharply to the N.W.N., 
 and opens to the sea about midway between Joppa and Ashdod. 
 The whole of this course is nearly forty miles. This may explain 
 the discrepancy between different travellers : for while some apply 
 the name of the Vale of Sorek to this whole extent, others 
 confine it to the shorter commencing portion, before the westward 
 turn is taken. It is only of this part that we have any satisfactory 
 description. 
 
 One principal reason of the interest which the old travellers took 
 in this valley was from the belief that it was not only the valley of 
 Sorek, so celebrated for its wine-grapes, but also that of Eshcol, 
 from which the spies took the enormous vine-cluster which they 
 bore to Moses (Num. xiii. 23, 24). Or rather, they think the 
 valley was named Sorek, and the brook which flowed through 
 it Eshcol. As the valley from which the spies took the cluster of 
 grapes derived its name from that circumstance, it might certainly 
 have two names — its old one, and that which it thus acquired. 
 Others have rather chosen to find the valley of Eshcol in that which 
 contains the spring called the Fountain of St. Philip — at which the 
 deacon of that name is supposed, but we imagine very erroneously, 
 to have baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. This valley opens into 
 that of Sorek just at the point where the latter begins to bend 
 decidedly westward. We have ourselves no very clear opinion 
 about the situation of the Scriptural brook of Eshcol. Since one 
 of Abraham's Amoritish friends, dwelling in the vale of Mamre 
 near Hebron, bore this name of Eshcol, it has generally of late 
 years been concluded that the valley so called took its name from 
 him, and is in fact only another name for the valley of Mamre. The 
 testimony of Jerome, which is of great weight in such a question, 
 is favourable to this opinion, as is also the southward situation of 
 that valley. | But, on the other hand, the sacred text expressly 
 says, not that the brook Eshcol was so called from any connection 
 with the Amoritish chief, but that “the place was called the brook 
 Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel 
 cut down from thence.” But we may leave this question, and 
 return to the valley of Sorek , \ which might certainly claim to be 
 
 * Elliot, ii. 499; Stephens, ii. 140; Lindsay, ii. 50. About the terebinth-free 
 of Mamre, see p. 14. 
 
 t Epitaph. Paulae, fol. 59, G. H. 
 
 J All the Scriptural encomiums on the vine and the wine of Sorek are lost to 
 the English reader, through our translators having understood the word as an 
 appellative rather than a proper name, and accordingly translated “ choice vine ” 
 “ noble vine,” as in Gen. xlix. 11 ; Isa. v. 2 ; Jer. ii. 21, &c. 
 
460 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 regarded as that through which the brook of Eshcol flowed, if 
 the great superiority of its wines might be taken as evidence in its 
 favour. 
 
 Understood in the more limited sense which we have defined, the 
 valley of Sorek is rather deep and moderately broad. The moun- 
 tains which enclose it on the west, present only the appearance of 
 scarped rocks. Those on the opposite side are lower, but covered 
 with verdure. The valley is, or was down to recent times, cul- 
 tivated unusually well— partly as arable land, and partly in vine- 
 yards, besides plantations of the fig-tree and the olive. The vines 
 of this valley are still the finest, and the wine made from them the 
 best in the Holy Land. The supposition that this was the vale in 
 which the spies “ cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, and 
 bare it between them upon a staff,” gives interest to the statement 
 of Eugene Roger, that in the year 1633 he found here a cluster of 
 white grapes, weighing twenty-four French pounds ;* and he adds 
 that it was quite ordinary to find them from six or eight to ten or 
 twelve (French pounds) weight. The wine made from these grapes 
 was that which was supplied to visitors at the convent of St. John, 
 and is declared by Morison and others to be one of the best in the 
 Holy Land. It is a white wine ; and, says the traveller just 
 named, “ it was so delicate and so delicious, that, in tasting it, my 
 conscience secretly reproached me for so badly imitating the great 
 Baptist, who in this very place [the wilderness of St. John] 
 abstained from all wine and strong drink.”t This valley is now 
 called Wady es -Surar, which has sufficient resemblance to Sorek to 
 support the alleged identity ; and at one place, upon the hills which 
 it intersects, is a place called Surak, which Dr. Robinson iden- 
 tified with Zorah, but which we feel more disposed to find the 
 ancient Sorek. 
 
 We shall now look to the valleys which lie between the Dead Sea 
 and the centre of J udea. 
 
 The Desert of St. Saba might be mentioned either among moun- 
 tains or valleys. We place it here, among the latter, because the 
 mountains which give it character form the sides of the valley or 
 ravine at the bottom of which the torrent of Kedron makes its way 
 towards the Dead Sea. As Dr. Pococke’s account of it involves an 
 account of the valley of Kedron from Jerusalem to this place, we 
 give it the preference. The older and later travellers usually visit 
 it from Bethlehem. The route by the valley of Kedron offers, as 
 might be expected, a more direct route to the Dead Sea than that 
 by the plain of Jericho. 
 
 “ We went to the south-east, along the deep and narrow valley 
 in which the brook Kedron runs: it has high rocky hills on each 
 side, which are shaped into terraces, and doubtless produced 
 formerly both corn and wine : some of them are cultivated even at 
 this time. ... About six miles from Jerusalem we ascended a hill 
 to the south, from which we had a prospect of Zion, the Mount of 
 Olives, and Bethlehem. We then went about an hour on the lulls, 
 and descending a little to the south, came to a lower ground, where 
 we had the first view of St. Saba. Then turning east, in less than a 
 mile we arrived at the convent, which is situated, in a very extra- 
 ordinary manner, on the high rocks over the brook Kedron. There 
 was a great number of grottoes about it, supposed to have been the 
 retreats of hermits. The monastic and hermit’s life was instituted 
 here in the fourth century by St. Saba. They say that there have 
 been 10,000 recluses here at one time, and some writers affirm that, 
 in St. Saba’s time, there were 14,000. The monks of the convent 
 never eat flesh ; and they have such privileges that no Mohammedan 
 can enter the convent, under penalty of paying 500 dollars to the 
 mosque of the Temple of Solomon. St. John Damascenus, 
 Euphemius, and the monk Cyril of Jerusalem lived in this retire- 
 ment, which is computed to be equally distant from Jerusalem, 
 Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea ; that is, about three hours from each 
 of them.” 
 
 This learned traveller seems not to have been at the bottom of 
 the valley, and consequently was not aware of the large and deep 
 cavern at the foot of the mountain, in which rises a spring of water, 
 said to have been miraculously produced by St. Saba for the 
 benefit of the monastery which he founded. This place has not 
 been much visited by the old Catholic pilgrims, because the 
 monastery is in the hands of the Greek “schismatics;” nor by 
 those of the recent date, because it does not lie on any of the more 
 frequented roads. 
 
 The old travellers who visited St. Saba generally included what 
 they called the Desert of Engeddi in their route. In an inquiry 
 after Engeddi, the editor of the 1 Pictorial Bible’ (1 Sam. xxiv. 1) 
 satisfies himself by reasoning that it must have lain more towards 
 the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and Professor Robinson 
 * Twenty-six lbs. 7 oz. avoirdupois. t Luke i. 15. 
 
 has since discovered the very name of Ain Jiddi as nearly as may 
 be in the situation thus conjecturally assigned. But although, 
 travellers are thus shown to be wrong in the appropriation of the 
 name of Engeddi to the locality which they describe, the place itself 
 is a reality which requires our notice. 
 
 Several of the travellers of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
 turies have very satisfactory accounts of this place ; but that which 
 Mr. Monro has given is better than any of them, and will be more 
 acceptable to the reader : — 
 
 “ At one hour (east from Bethlehem) we reached the foot of the 
 mountain, upon the eastern side of which the ‘ Cave of Engeddi’ 
 is situated. The ascent is not difficult, although marked by no 
 paths ; and the mountains are of the loftiest in the neighbourhood, 
 presenting a strong and well-chosen ‘ hold.’ Upon the summit 
 are the foundations of a thick wall composed of large stones, 
 enclosing a quadrangular space in which is a reservoir for water, 
 and on the western side of it the ground is raised in a semicircular 
 form. A cistern, no doubt, has existed here from the earliest times, 
 at which the flocks were wont to be watered, and which gave the 
 name to the place, since Engeddi in Hebrew signifies the kid's 
 fountain. The cave a little below its summit had its entrance, four 
 and a half feet high, and somewhat wider, carefully closed witli 
 stones by the Arabs previous to their retiring to the desert. 
 
 “ Having pulled down the wall, I found the length of the interior 
 to be about sixty feet, and the guide said that its depth was nearly 
 the same ; but the back part was so entirely filled up with chaff, 
 that not more than twenty-five feet were left vacant. In the 
 highest part it was eight feet, but in most places less than five. 
 Although a natural cavern, it seems to have had its surface 
 smoothed by cutting. This mountain stands upon the border of the 
 desert, commanding a view of the Dead Sea to the south-east. 
 
 “ That the spot is entitled to the name it bears appears probable 
 from the coincidence of its physical circumstances with the Scrip- 
 tural narration of the transaction with which it is connected. 
 (1 Sam. xxiv.) 1 Saul came to the sheep-cotes by the way, where 
 was a cave.’ This could not have been actually in the wilderness, 
 where is no vegetation.* Besides which, he was on the way 
 thither ; he had not yet reached it. It is remarkable that the nature 
 of the ground is precisely the same at the present day. While the 
 neighbouring district on three sides is arable, this mountain, 
 situated within a mile of the wilderness, is covered with grass ; and 
 near the top of it are caves with small stone enclosures in front, 
 serving as pens or £ sheep-cotes ’ for the flocks. Near the cave itself 
 a flock of sheep and goats were feeding.” 
 
 Separately from any question about Engeddi, this is one interest- 
 ing specimen of the numerous grottoes in Palestine. That which 
 has been described is not the only one in the neighbourhood. It is 
 the principal of them ; but there are many others which, like this, 
 serve as retreats to the Arabs and to the flocks which they feed. 
 
 It is almost a matter of regret that a scene so much in unison 
 with the Scriptural intimations should now appear to be not the 
 place to which these intimations refer. As Mr. Monro’s account 
 is rather limited, it is proper to observe that what the old travellers 
 understood as the desert of Engeddi is a district of some extent, 
 rendered agreeable by the diversified aspect of its mountains and 
 by the richness of its well-watered valleys. The Scriptural 
 Engeddi was celebrated for its vineyards. (Sol. Song, i. 14.) 
 The place now described has no such celebrity. The hills and 
 valleys are entirely uncultivated ; and only some wild olives and 
 other trees are now seen. 
 
 In taking a view of the country to the south of Hebron down to 
 the borders of the desert, we must avail ourselves exclusively of the 
 most recent authorities. The information we have lately acquired 
 concerning this very interesting portion of Palestine is one of the 
 benefits which we have incidentally derived from the discovery of 
 Petra by Burckhardt. Before that time, those travellers whose 
 views embraced Egypt and Sinai as well as Palestine proceeded 
 first to Cairo, then went to Sinai, and returned to Cairo, after 
 which they either took the caravan route from Cairo to Gaza 
 or else proceeded to the coast and embarked for Jaffa. But 
 when Petra had attracted attention, and travellers in visiting that 
 place from Akaba were already more than half way to Palestine, 
 it began to be felt absurd to return to Egypt in order to proceed 
 from thence to the Holy Land. Mr. Stephens, followed by Lord 
 Lindsay, struck boldly across from Petra, through the desert and 
 the south of Judea to Hebron ; and the practicability of the route 
 being thus established, travellers already in Palestine have not 
 hesitated to proceed from Hebron to Petra. This has been done 
 
 * This is not true, whether taken as a general, or, with reference to the present 
 case, a particular observation. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 461 
 
 bv de Bertou, Professor Robinson, and others. The latter gen- 
 tleman, with his companion Mr. Smith, also explored another tract 
 of this interesting district in travelling straight from Akabah to 
 Hebron, across the desert which intervenes between Sinai and 
 Palestine, and through the southernmost portion of the latter 
 country. He was not, however, as he supposes, the first modern 
 traveller to cross this desert. Mr. Arundale had some years before 
 (in 1833) crossed its entire length in the journey which he made 
 direct from Sinai to Gaza, without turning aside to Akabah on the 
 one hand or to Suez on the other. But, unhappily, this gentleman 
 does not appear from his book to have been aware that lie was 
 pursuing a route which is not known to have been for ages travelled 
 by European feet ; and hence, his particular attention not being 
 excited, his information conveys little instruction to us. 
 
 It may be useful to state the routes or parts of routes which are 
 peculiar or common to the several travellers we have named, as 
 enabling the reader to enter the better into those passages in which 
 their authority is adduced. 
 
 The route of Mr. Stephens and of Lord Lindsay was the same all 
 the way from Sinai to Hebron. The return journey of Count de 
 Bertou from Akabah to Hebron by Petra, was also the same as 
 theirs between the same points. 
 
 The route of Count de Bertou from Hebron to Akabah is two- 
 thirds of it new. Its commencing portion, from Hebron to the end 
 of the Dead Sea, coincides partly with the preceding route, and 
 wholly with that of Irby and Mangles, and Dr. Robinson, who, in his 
 first publication, regretted that M. de Bertou had anticipated him, 
 by three or four weeks, on this route, not knowing that both were 
 anticipated 20 years ago by Irby and Mangles, and before them by 
 Seetzen ; while its terminating portion, on the approach to Akabah, 
 is 25 miles, included in the usual route from Akabah to Petra. 
 
 Although Dr. Robinson was not the first to cross the desert of El 
 
 O 
 
 Tyb, his route across it from Akabah to Hebron was new, with 
 the exception of about 18 miles between the points where Mr. 
 Arundale’3 route from Sinai joined his, and afterwards left it to 
 proceed to Gaza. 
 
 All Mr. Arundale’s route from Sinai to Gaza was new, with the 
 same exception which has just been stated, and in which his route 
 coincided with that of Dr. Robinson. 
 
 Departing from Hebron, we will trace such particulars, on these 
 several lines of route, as come within the scope of our present 
 chapter. We shall, however, stop when we reach the skirts of the 
 desert ; which, as it happens, coincides, as nearly as possible, with 
 the line which we gave to the southern border of Palestine. The 
 desert beyond we reserve for the general notice with which this 
 chapter will terminate. 
 
 Our first route traverses the heart of the southward country, from 
 Hebron to Wady Ruheibeh, through which we take Professor 
 Robinson for our guide. But, for the sake of uniformity, we reverse 
 the direction which he took, which was to Hebron, not from it. 
 
 The valley of Mamre has already been noticed, as well as the 
 claim which it offers to be regarded as the Scriptural Eshcol. This 
 claim is supported by the generally fertile character of the district 
 about and immediately to the south of Hebron. “ We could not 
 but notice,” says our guide, “ the fertility of the surrounding valleys, 
 full of fields of grain, and of vineyards, yielding the finest and 
 largest clusters of all Palestine. Yet, to a careless observer, the 
 country in general can only appear sterile; for the limestone rocks 
 everywhere come out upon the surface, and are strewn over it 
 in large masses, to such a degree that a more stony or rocky region 
 is rarely to be seen.” 
 
 This sort of country, but with diminishing cultivation, continues 
 about twenty miles, when the hill-country of Judea terminates, and 
 we have before us a wide open plain, covered with grass, and where 
 fields of wheat and barley are seen all around. It was probably for 
 the sake of the pastures by this and other plains and valleys in this 
 quarter, that so much preference was given to it by the Hebrew 
 patriarchs. Indeed, this present plain extends southward to the 
 borders of the Wady-es-Seba, on which, at the point where the road 
 crosses, Dr. Robinson had the happiness to discover the site of the 
 patriarchal Beersheba, as mentioned in a preceding page. Beyond 
 this, the hills are higher than travellers coming from the south have 
 seen since leaving the Sinai peninsula. Beyond these higher hills 
 extends for many miles an “ open rolling country :” all around are 
 swelling hills, covered, in ordinary seasons, with grass and rich pas- 
 turage. After this, the character of the country becomes changed 
 to that of an elevated plateau ; and beyond it another plateau [of 
 lower level, we presume] extends all the way to our limit, Wadv 
 Ruheibeh. This is called, by Professor Robinson, “a fine plain, 
 covered with grass, and herbs, and bushes ; in crossing which oui 
 
 3 T 
 
 ears were regaled with the carols of the lark and the song of the 
 nightingale, all indicating our approach [coming from the south] 
 to a more fertile region.” The learned traveller also remarks, that 
 the Arabic name Ruheibeh may suggest the Rehoboth of Scripture 
 — the name of one of Isaac’s wells ; but, as he also observes, other 
 circumstances do not correspond. 
 
 These facts are important and interesting, as showing the ex- 
 istence of a large tract of naturally fine country, partly cultivable, 
 and everywhere abounding in rich pastures. This must have been 
 a valuable part of the Hebrew territory ; but the greater part of it 
 was either not assigned to the Hebrews at all, or set down only 
 as so much unprofitable desert, until the Editor of the Pictorial 
 Bible was enabled by analogy to estimate its true value, and to 
 assign to it a character similar to that which actual observation has 
 since shown it to bear. 
 
 Now, returning to Hebron, we will travel from thence, south by 
 east, to the borders of Wady Arabah. Count de Bertou must be 
 our chief guide ; for, although Mr. Stephens and Lord Lindsay 
 have some important observations, there is, as usual, a want of that 
 precision which gives value to the remarks of a man of science, and 
 in the absence of which it is often difficult to allocate observations 
 entitled, in themselves, to much consideration. 
 
 As the travellers whom we have named, all advanced towards 
 Hebron northward from Wady Arabah, it may be well to give the 
 same direction to the statement collected from their observations. 
 
 As the point at which they left the Wady Arabah is too far 
 southward, we will take a point on this route nearly on the same 
 line with the Wady Ruheibeh of the more western route, and dis- 
 tant forty-four miles therefrom. Let this be Wady el-Kofeikifeh, 
 which is about eighteen miles from the point at which we leave the 
 Wady Arabah. 
 
 Eor some miles above and below this point, a range of low hills, 
 bearing the same name, intervene between Wady Arabah and the 
 road which we traverse. 
 
 Before reaching the point where the roads to Hebron and Gaza 
 diverge, we pass, about three miles to the left, an isolated small 
 hill, named by the guides Kadeseh, or El Madaruh, a remarkable 
 name, which suggests to Count de Bertou whether it may not be the 
 Kadesh of the Scriptures. This must be the same site which Lord 
 Lindsay writes so differently as Hussaya Ulmedurra, and calls it 
 a chalk hill ; reporting also the Bedouin tradition, that under it 
 God crushed a guilty village. A little way beyond this brings us to 
 the foot of Jebel Yamen (Right Hand Mountain), a range of hills 
 which forms the termination (or, in our direction, the beginning) 
 of the mountains of Judea in this quarter. These we enter by a 
 deep defile called Wady Fukreh, # the mural hills on either side rising 
 from 150 to 200 feet. On reaching the end of this valley or gorge, 
 a steep ascent is commenced, up mountains about 1,000 feet high, 
 winding by a very rough track through a wild and rocky defile. On 
 reaching the summit a slight descent brings us upon an elevated 
 plain, called Atreibi,t the surface of which is composed of heavy 
 sand, with the usual plants of the desert, — “ but still,” says Lord 
 Lindsay, “a garden compared with the waste we had recently 
 traversed.” In fact, traces of something more than desert vegeta- 
 tion begin to appear as we advance into the plain ; and beyond 
 Wady Kurnib J the country assumes the appearanco of a down 
 rather than a desert, being thickly covered with grass and shrubs. 
 
 Travellers march on for six hours from Wady Kurnib without 
 finding much to engage their attention. Then they reach a place 
 called El Melek,§ which is described as being situated in a very 
 extensive plain, called El Foura. Here Lord Lindsay’s party “ were 
 surprised at finding two large and deep wells, beautifully built of 
 hewn stone: the uppermost course, and about a dozen troughs for 
 watering cattle disposed round them, of a coarse white marble : they 
 were evidently coeval with the Romans. Quite a patriarchal scene 
 presented itself as we drew near to the wells. The Bedouins were 
 watering their flocks, — two men at each well letting down the skins, 
 and pulling them up again with almost ferocious haste, and with quick, 
 savage shouts, and then emptying them into the troughs : the shep- 
 herdesses stood aloof, and veiled their faces, seeing the strange 
 
 * Lord Lindsay must have misunderstood his guides. lie supposed they were 
 telling him the name of the mountains, when they actually told him the valley ; 
 for this word is doubtless that which he represents by Jebel Asufar. These and 
 other differences of orthography which we have occasionally to notice — and which 
 are sometimes very amusing — may serve to indicate to the reader a circumstance 
 by which geographical inquiry and comparison are often grievously perplexed. 
 
 f By Lord Lindsay. M. de Bertou, whose names arc rather more trustworthy, 
 gives it differently. 
 
 X Lord Lindsay has it Koumou. 
 
 § So Lord Lindsay. The place El Milh, incidentally named by M. de Bertou, 
 is, doubtless, the same. 
 
462 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 howagis. The several flocks, coming up and retiring in the exactest 
 order, were a beautiful sight.” 
 
 The same neighbourhood gives M. de Bertou occasion to remark — 
 “ In summer each camp seeks out fresh pasturage for its flocks and 
 herds, which forcibly recalled to my mind that Esau and Jacob 
 separated from each other for the same purpose. At every step in 
 this countrv one finds a striking resemblance between the account 
 given in the Bible of the patriarchs of old and the manners and 
 customs of its present inhabitants — nothing nAS changed.” 
 
 A range of stony hills, called Jebel el Gheretain,* * * § bound the 
 plain of El Foura on the north ; and, these being passed, numerous 
 ruined garden walls and terraces warn us of our entry among the 
 ancient cultivation of Judea. As we proceed we observe occasional 
 patches of ground reclaimed from the desert, and under actual 
 cultivation ; and, ere long, the whole valley below us becomes 
 green with corn, field descending below field, divided by regular 
 terraces. This cultivation belongs to the village of Semuah. + 
 This is but ten miles from Hebron ; and all the way we ride through 
 fields of corn, between rounded hills, which are covered to their very 
 tops with bushes of the prickly oak. 
 
 One general observation results from the brief survey of the two 
 last routes, which is, that cultivation and pasturage cease the soonest 
 on the south-eastern route, being that to the extremity of the Dead 
 Sea and to the Wady Arabah.J 
 
 In stating the observations made by M. de Bertou in his south- 
 ward route from Hebron to Akabah, we took up that route as it 
 entered the Ghor at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, 
 omitting the details which he gives of his route from Hebron to 
 that point. Part of that route coincides with that which has just 
 engaged our attention. But, coming from Hebron, the route in 
 question leaves this at about El Melek, and strikes off east-south-east 
 to the end of the Dead Sea. The distance does not exceed twenty 
 miles ; but the country passed over is of very striking interest. 
 
 The journey lies, at first, over an undulating plain, with the 
 grass dried up (in April) for want of water. Proceeding, a glimpse 
 of the Dead Sea is first obtained at the outlet of a deep valley on 
 the left. The ground soon begins to descend rapidly, and is covered 
 with salt, and occasionally flints, presenting an aspect of the most 
 complete desolation. When we have made half our way, the road 
 takes a more easterly direction, following the dry bed of a torrent, 
 which in winter discharges its stream into the back-water of the 
 lake near its extremity. This torrent bed is called AYady Zoarah. 
 As we advance in this valley, tamarisks and acacias become 
 abundant, and a fine view of the Arabian mountains opens in the 
 distance ; and, ultimately at the foot of the descent, the waters of 
 the Wady Zoarah spread out ever a plain, which is called by the 
 Arabs El Nafileh,§ from the quantity of shrubs of that name with 
 which it is covered. In this plain the route continues for a short 
 distance parallel to the lake, and within 500 yards of its shore, till 
 we reach the Ghor, or plain to the south of the Dead Sea, at which 
 point we took up the route on a former occasion, and therefore 
 leave it now. 
 
 Seeing that we were disposed to look for the cave of Engeddi in 
 this quarter, it is interesting to find here quite as remarkable a cave 
 as that towards the other extremity of the lake, to which the name 
 has long been assigned. M. de Bertou, passing along the plain, 
 with the Dead Sea on his left, and the hills from which he had 
 descended on his right, says, — “ In the limestone hills on our right 
 is a grotto named Magharat Esdiim (Sadum), whence gushes a 
 salt stream. The Arabs say that the cave may be followed for 
 some miles.” 
 
 The tract which has thus briefly been characterised, together 
 with the salt plain south of the Asphaltic Lake, forms the scene of 
 which M. de Bertou speaks in these memorable words, which we 
 can neither omit nor abridge : — 
 
 “ In attempting to describe the scenes which we had yesterday 
 beheld, I feel the utter inadequacy of words to express my feelings. 
 
 I had wandered through the Alps, the Pyrenees, and many other 
 mountains, — I had seen countries blasted by the curse of the 
 Almighty, the plains of Moab, and the land of Ammon, — but had 
 seen nothing to compare with the mountains of Zoarah and Esdum. 
 
 * Lindsay. Not named by De Bertou. 
 
 t De Bertou. Lord Lindsay says “ Simoa or Simoo and thinks it may be 
 Shema, enumerated among the towns in Judea in Josh. xv. 2G. 
 
 + The above particulars are mostly drawn from M. de Bertou’s paper in vol. ix. 
 pt. ii. of the ‘ Geo. Journal,’ and from Lord Lindsay’s ‘ Letters.’ It has been 
 found impossible to make any use of Mr. Stephens’s facts, on account of the 
 entire want of names, and his neglect of stating time and distance. 
 
 § This seems to be cither Mcdicayo intertexla or Medicago Arabica ; we arc 
 not sure which. 
 
 Here is desolation on the grandest scale, and beyond what the 
 imagination of man could conceive; it must be seen — to describe 
 it is impossible. In this striking and solemn waste, where Nature 
 is alike destitute of vegetation and of inhabitants, man appears but 
 an atom ; — all around is enveloped in the silence of death, — not a 
 bird, not even an insect is seen ! The regular step of our camels 
 returned a dull sound, as if the earth were hollowed beneath our 
 feet: the monotonous chant of the camel-driver accompanied at 
 times the step of this inhabitant of the desert, but was suddenly 
 stopped, as if he feared to awaken Nature. The sun concealed itself 
 by thick clouds, and seemed unwilling to shine upon the land 
 cursed by the Almighty. AYe saw the traces of several wolves. 
 Everything seemed to combine to make the landscape awfully 
 sublime.” 
 
 AVe now proceed to notice such characteristics of the country 
 east of the river Jordan, and its lakes, as the object of this chapter 
 will allow it to embrace. But, seeing that particular spots in this 
 important part of the country are less aggrandized by historical or 
 sacred associations than those on the western side of the river, a 
 much less detailed survey may be sufficient: and, perhaps, the view 
 which we can afford to take may be best exhibited in the form of a 
 statement of the prominent characteristics of the several districts of 
 which this region is composed. 
 
 These are the districts of Argob and Bashan, of Gilead, of the 
 land of Moab, of the land of the Ammonites, and of the Haouran. 
 
 Ahgob and Bashan are allied districts, which may be placed 
 together, as they usually are in Scripture, in which they are cele- 
 brated for their oaks and their cattle. The “ bulls of Bashan” 
 was indeed a proverbial expression for cattle in their best and 
 proudest condition. This, of course, implies the excellence of its 
 pastures. 
 
 AYe shall understand that Argob and Bashan embraced the 
 northernmost portion of the trans- Jordanic country, from the spurs 
 of Mount Hermon to the river Jarmouk, a few miles south of the 
 Lake of Gennesareth. It is, indeed, possible that the district may 
 have extended somewhat to the south of this border ; but, as the 
 precise limits of this and the other provinces are uncertain, it seems 
 best to assume the most marked geographical boundary which can 
 be found at some point which cannot be far from the truth. 
 
 By Argob, as distinct from Bashan, though it was probably only 
 a district of Bashan, we shall understand the strip of country which 
 extends along the eastern border of the Lake of Gennesareth, and 
 perhaps beyond it northward. 
 
 This country has been explored by Burckhardt, Major Skinner, 
 Elliot, Baron Taylor, and others. Burckhardt traversed both the 
 northern and southern route through this countrv, on the roads to 
 Damascus. The first of these routes crosses the Jordan at Jacob’s 
 Bridge, and proceeds, by way of Kanneytra and Sasa, to the plain 
 of Damascus. Major Skinner and Baron Taylor went from the 
 Jordon to Damascus, and Burckhardt and Elliot from Damascus 
 to the Jordan by this route. The other route leads from Feik, a 
 town near the south-eastern extremity of the Lake of Gennesareth, 
 and proceeds to the plain of Damascus by way of Nowa and Tel 
 Shakab. 
 
 AYe have already found more than one occasion to intimate, that 
 the whole country east of the Jordan is elevated far above the level 
 of that river, insomuch that the high mountains which rise before 
 one who approaches from the west, offer but slight descents into 
 the eastern plains when their summits are reached. 
 
 The chain of Jebel Heisli* comes down from the Great Hermon, 
 through about twenty-five miles of the tract which is now under 
 our notice. The higher road passes over this chain, near the 
 middle part ; while the lower road passes about seven miles south 
 from its terminating eminence of Tel Faras. 
 
 These hills are of very moderate elevation when we draw near 
 them, although their positive height above the valley of the Jordan 
 on the one hand, and above the plains of Jolan and Damascus on the 
 other, makes them most conspicuous in the distance. The road has 
 a gradual ascent to them in both directions. These hills are 
 bordered by a stony district, which is about three miles broad, and 
 in some directions more. The oaks, for which the country was 
 so highly celebrated, make their appearance a few miles after we 
 leave the valley of the Jordan.f They are of the dwarf kind, and 
 in this quarter their branches have, to a very great extent, been 
 lopped off, and carried away for fuel. After passing the hills, the 
 country becomes flatter and more plentifully wooded. The soil is 
 
 * See before, p. 422. 
 
 t By which we mean, as always when speaking largely, the general channel of 
 the Jordan and its lakes. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 463 
 
 richer, cultivable, and to a considerable extent, cultivated. As we 
 advance to the river Meghannye the trees increase, and the country 
 becomes a forest ; but beyond that river, we soon enter a stony plain, 
 which continues to the fertile plain of Damascus. The river, or 
 the border of this stony desert, probably formed the northern limit 
 of Bashan, and, consequently, of the territory of Manasseh beyond 
 Jordan. 
 
 The general pasturage of this tract is very good, and wherever 
 there are streams the soil is covered with the most luxuriant herbage 
 and grass of the brightest green. The sites of the villages are 
 marked by clumps of poplars and olive-trees. But in this region 
 villages are few and far between ; and, says Major Skinner, “ it is 
 desolate to pass over so rich a country for many hours without 
 seeing a habitation.” 
 
 In the southern part of the country, which the mountains of 
 Heish do not intersect, the plain is more even and open. It also 
 appears to be less wooded — at least the presence of wood is less 
 noticed, until near the southernmost borders of the river Jarmouk. 
 For eighteen or twenty miles east of the hills which bound the Lake 
 of Gennesareth, the plain is wholly uncultivated, but is overgrown 
 with a wild herb called Ichob, on which camels and oxen feed with 
 pleasure — even in this circumstance agreeing with the ancient 
 character of the country. The tract thus characterised must have 
 included Argob. The soil is black or grey; but, at the distance 
 eastward which we have indicated, the soil changes to the red colour 
 of the earth of the Haouran plains ; and, as if this soil were more 
 cultivable, as it probably is, cultivation commences with this 
 change. The neighbourhood of Tzeil, where, on the route, this 
 change first appears, offers also the first traces of cultivation. 
 Beyond this, the greater part of the plain is, in the season, covered 
 with fine crops of wheat and barley ; but in about fifteen miles more 
 the plain becomes badly cultivated, and, finally, we enter upon the 
 first stony, and then rocky district, which bounds this district upon 
 the north and east.* 
 
 Gilead. — The precise limits of the land of Gilead cannot be 
 clearly defined On any data which the Scriptures offer. We know 
 that it lay south of Bashan, and north of Moab ; but, although from 
 this we know well enough, in a general way, the situation of the 
 district, we are not thereby assisted to the knowledge of its precise 
 limits, as the boundaries of Bashan and of Moab are as uncertain 
 as those of Gilead. The best course, therefore, seems to be, as 
 before, to assume marked geographical limits, which shall certainly 
 include the whole or greater part of the country, without undertaking 
 to say that the true limits may not have extended beyond, or fallen 
 within those which we adopt. In the present instance, this is the 
 more obvious course, as the name Gilead seems to have been always 
 rather loosely applied, and never described as a political division 
 of the country. We shall, for these reasons, consider the name 
 of Gilead as applicable to the fine hilly country embraced between 
 the river Jarmouk on the north, and the river Jabbok on the south. 
 We are quite aware that the current authorities — Adrichomius, 
 Quaresmius, Calmet, and Wells — affirm that Bashan extended, 
 southward, to the river Jabbok. There is no authority in Scripture 
 for this assertion; but it so happens that this statement would have * 
 been nearly true if the Jabbok had really been placed as they lay it 
 down: for, without confounding the Jabbok with the Jarmouk, but 
 by misplacing both, they make the Jabbok either flow into the Lake 
 of Gennesareth, or into the Jordan, a few miles below its southern 
 extremity — in fact, nearly where the Jarmouk ought to have been 
 placed. Consequently, their southern frontier of Bashan, and 
 northern of Gilead, coincides in fact, — though in terms far from 
 doing so, — with that which we have chosen. As the old writers 
 knew absolutely nothing of the country beyond Jordan, their 
 mistakes are excusable, and we should not have deemed it worth 
 while to notice the matter, were it not that some, and those 
 not the least intelligent, recent travellers,! adopt the modern 
 conclusion that the Jabbok (being the Zerka) is forty or fifty miles 
 south of the position formerly assigned it, and yet retain the old 
 
 * The above account of Argob and Bashan offers a digested comparison of 
 
 the numerous particular observations in Burckhardt, Skinner, and Elliot. 
 
 Burckbardt, 281-284 ; 312-315 ; Skinner, i. 301-319 ; Elliot, ii. 317-327. 
 
 ! Lord Lindsay, for instance. Of the writers on Biblical geography, the acute 
 and judicious Reland is the only one who acted well in this matter. Distrusting 
 the northerly position previously 'given to the river Jabbok, and yet knowing 
 nothing clearly about it, he omits it in all his maps, while the principal rivers, which 
 he does insert, the Jarmouk (Hieromax) and Araon, are first placed by him cor- 
 rectly — indeed with wonderful correctness, considering the imperfection of his 
 data. See particularly his map, ‘ Facies Palsestinae,' and his short chapter (xliv. of 
 lib. i.) ‘ De Fluminibus Terra Transjordanieae,’ in his admirable work, ‘ Paljestinse 
 cx Monumentis Veteribus Illustrata.’ — Traj. Bat. 1714. 
 
 conclusion that Basban extended to the Jabbok, whereby they make 
 that district disproportionately large, at the expense of leaving no 
 suitable room for Gilead, and, in fact, include under the name of 
 Bashan the district to which the name of Gilead properly belongs. 
 
 I he land of Gilead is more mountainous, and more diversified bv 
 hill and dale, than Bashan to the north, or than the land of Moab 
 to the south, lu the more southern part the mounts are of con- 
 siderable height. In the northern part this district is the least in- 
 teresting ; in the central and eastern parts it is the most picturesque: 
 and the southern the most grand. But, although the northern part 
 is a dull, uninteresting country, with little wood and less beauty, 
 the soil is very rich, and amply repays the labour of the husbaud- 
 man. On the southern border there is nearly an equal want of 
 wood, and the soil seems less productive ; but a compensation is 
 offered to the traveller in the striking character of the sceuery which 
 the mountains offer. 
 
 Advancing from the north, or north-west, to the south, or to the 
 east, trees begin to appear, and soon thicken into clumps, and 
 woods, and forests. The roads are beautiful, finding over hills 
 and through vales, or narrow rocky ravines, overhung with valonidi 
 oak, which is the characteristic tree of this region, and which is the 
 last to disappear in the least wooded parts. But there are many 
 other fine trees, the names of which travellers do not specify. The 
 beds of the streams and winter-torrents are everywhere full of the 
 most superb oleanders. 
 
 The grandest part of the country is the most mountainous — about 
 Jebel Adjeloun. Corn-fields appear in favourable situations. The 
 valonidi, the prickly- oak, and the olive-tree invest the lower sum- 
 mits, or appear tufted among the crags. After a long ascent these 
 disappear, except the prickly-oak ; but the arbutus, the fir, and the 
 ash succeed them ; and a larger leafed species of valonidi supplies 
 the place of that which we have lost. Even the noble crags which 
 form the summits of these mountains are almost hidden among beau- 
 tiful trees. The fir-trees of the utmost heights are very noble. 
 
 One of the finest and broadest valleys of Gilead is that near El 
 Hosn, which Lord Lindsay thus describes : — 
 
 “ A beautiful narrow glen ushered us into a broad valley, richly 
 wooded to the summits of the hills with noble prickly-oaks, a few 
 pine-trees towering over them. I never should have thought that 
 the shrubs which I had seen covering the hills at Hebron could have 
 attained such size and beauty : yet the leaf of the largest tree is not 
 larger than the shrubs. I saw an occasional degub tree, or arbutus, 
 but the prevailing trees were oaks, prickly and broad-leafed: it 
 was forest scenery of the noblest character — next to that of Old 
 England, with which none I ever saw can stand comparison.”* 
 
 The Land of Moab. — In fixing the northern border of this 
 land at the river Jabbok, we are influenced chiefly by the desire to 
 avoid minute subdivisions in a cursory survey like that on which 
 we are now engaged. In this we imitate the Scripture, which, 
 when it speaks largely and generally, appears to give the same 
 extent to the land of Moab. The fact is, that all this territory was 
 once occupied by the Moabites ; but the northern part — nearest the 
 Jabbok — was taken from them by the Amorites, and erected into 
 an independent kingdom. In the possession of this people the 
 Israelites found it when they marched from the desert towards the 
 Jordan; and when it fell to them, by their victory over Sihon the 
 Amoritish king, they bestowed it upon the tribes of Reuben and 
 Gad. But the children of Lot always remembered that this land 
 had been originally theirs ; and in the time of Jephthah made a 
 formal demand for its restitution, and a battle was the consequence 
 of a refusal It is, therefore, admissible to call the whole of the 
 country, from the Jabbok southward to the borders of Edom, the 
 land of Moab, when we require a larger and more comprehensive 
 name than the minute subdivisions of political geography will, in 
 this quarter, supply. 
 
 Notwithstanding that we have fixed the northern limit of Moab 
 at the Jabbok, we have already taken occasion! to express our 
 willingness to include in the borders of Gilead the mountains 
 which lie immediately to the south of that river. We have no 
 difficulty in this ; for, regarding Gilead as a loose general name for 
 the more hilly part of the country beyond Jordan, and, as such, 
 unrestricted by political divisions, there is no reason why the 
 denomination should not be extended into the land of Moab. 
 
 The mountains south of the Jabbok have been already noticed in 
 
 * The above general account of Gilead has been drawn up from the various par- 
 ticulars dispersed in Lord Lindsay’s large account (ii. 99, 101, 109, 120, 121, 126, 
 142), with the help of ideas previously derived from Burckhardt, Buckingham, and 
 Irby and Mangles, 
 f At p. 422. of this work. 
 
464 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 this work (p/423.) ; and in fact, the account there given of the 
 country is a summary of all the information we possess, and we 
 shall be able to add but little to it in this place. 
 
 The views among the mountains on the south of the Zerka are, 
 perhaps, less magnificent, but to the full as beautiful as in those to 
 the north of that river. Lord Lindsay thinks he could distinguish 
 three stages in these mountains, — the upper, chiefly productive of 
 the prickly-oak and arbutus, — the central, of prickly-oak, arbutus, 
 and fir, — while the lower slopes, particularly to the northward, are 
 invested with the prickly-oak and the valonidis. This traveller 
 draws a glowing picture of the beauty of the northward slopes. 
 The descending paths wind through thickets of the most luxurious 
 growth, and of every shade of verdure, frequently overshadowing 
 the road and diffusing a delicious coolness ; though a delightful 
 breeze, blowing freshly over the slopes, so allays the heat that it is 
 never oppressive. In this most pleasant region the ear is also 
 regaled with notes of happiness from the tenants of the thickets 
 and the woods — “ the cooing of the wood-pigeons, the calling of 
 partridges — magni#tent birds as large as pheasants, — the incessant 
 hum of insects, and hiss of grasshoppers, singing in the trees as 
 happy as kings.” 
 
 We will not allow ourselves to speak further of the mountains 
 of this country ; but of the plains and valleys, generally, it may 
 be observed that the soil is exuberantly fertile, and, in the small 
 portions which are cultivated, affords rich returns to the cultivator. 
 It seems, in fact, that the wheat grown in this region, the size of 
 the grains, and the number of grains in the ear, far exceed what is 
 common. The country also abounds in rich pastures ; which is true, 
 indeed, of almost all the country east of the Jordan, whence it is 
 now, in its desolate condition, much resorted to by the Bedouins 
 with their flocks. And in the time of Moses it was so eminently “ a 
 land for cattle,” that the tribes of Reuben and Gad, who “ had much 
 cattle,” sought and obtained (with the addition of the half-tribe of 
 Manasseh) to have it assigned to them expressly on that account.* 
 
 The population of the land of Moab, in particular, was fully 
 equal to its fertility, as is evinced by the numerous sites of ancient 
 towns which occur on every eminence or spot convenient for their 
 construction. The valleys through which streams flow at any time 
 of the year are generally beautifully wooded. We have no room 
 to describe particular valleys or plains. A few of the more elevated 
 plains are very stony, many are covered with a fine grassy turf, 
 and some are so thickly wooded as to take the character of forests. 
 The appearances of spontaneous fertility considerably decline as we 
 advance southward, and the scenery takes a less pleasing aspect. 
 We pass tracts of chalky soil covered with flints. On the south- 
 east the prolific mould gives place to a sort of clayey and stony 
 soil : while the desert sands encroach on the south ; and on the 
 south-west the salt of Sodom intrudes, and covers the neighbour- 
 ing tracts with unmitigated desolation. f 
 
 We have now to turn our attention to the Haouran. The 
 boundaries and mineralogical character of this district have been 
 indicated in a preceding page (441.). This extensive plain has 
 the countries of Bashan and Gilead on the west, and on the east the 
 mountains and rocky tracts which form the boundary of the Great 
 Syrian Desert. The northern part of it was probably included 
 under the denomination of Bashan ; and the whole may be concluded 
 to have been at one time in the occupation of the tribe of Manas- 
 seh, if Gad had not also a share of it. 
 
 In its general character, the plain of Haouran resembles that of 
 the Belka in the land of Moab, and of Esdraelon in Galilee, in 
 having gentle undulations, the same level being nowhere of long 
 continuation, although still not so much above or below each other 
 as to destroy its general character, as an irregular undulating plain, 
 the whole surface of which offers nothing that deserves to be called 
 a hill. J The eminences that here and there break its continuity 
 are mostly small veins of rock projecting above the surface, and 
 these appear to have been in all cases selected for the sites of towns, 
 for the sake of securing a commanding position, a freer air, a drier 
 soil, and convenient access to the materials of building, which are 
 indeed thus close at hand. 
 
 The soil is excellent for corn, whence the plain seems to have 
 been in all ages regarded as the granary of Syria. It still supports 
 
 * Num. xxxii. 
 
 t More particular information concerning this country than we are able to give 
 may be found in Burckhardt, Seetzen, Irby and Mangles, Buckingham (‘ Arab 
 Tribes’), Lord Lindsay, the Rev. A. Stanley, and M. de Saulcey. 
 
 t “The Ilaouran is an immense plain, very rich and fertile, sometimes slightly 
 undulating, sometimes flat as a pancake, — with here and there low rounded hills, 
 like dumplings, conspicuous from a great distance, and excellent landmarks.” — 
 Lord Lindsay, ii. 129. 
 
 that character ; although now great part of it lies fallow for want 
 of the cultivating hand, and teems only with wild flowers. “ It 
 must have been,” as Robinson observes, “an agreeable and im- 
 posing prospect, indeed, to those who looked down upon its rich 
 productions, at the time when the whole was brought under culture 
 by the numerous and industrious Roman colonies that once in- 
 habited these territories — its golden crops bending submissively 
 under the breezes that crossed its surface, like the smooth undula- 
 tions of the wide ocean, and, like it, having no other boundary than 
 the horizon itself.” 
 
 There are few springs in this district : but water is here in- 
 dispensable to cultivation with the best possible soil ; and hence 
 the population of the Haouran owes its means of existence and the 
 success of its agriculture, to the numerous winter-torrents descend- 
 ing from the eastern mountains of Jebel Haouran, which traverse 
 the plain. Few of these inundate the land; but the inhabitants 
 make the best use of the water to irrigate the fields after the great 
 rains have ceased. It is from these wadys that the numerous 
 reservoirs are filled, which supply both men and cattle with water 
 till the return of the rainy season. In all this plain, as in every 
 other district, on both sides of the Jordan, where there are no 
 springs, the cultivation follows the course of these winter-torrents, 
 as in Egypt it follows the course of the Nile. The only, or by far 
 the chief, evil to which the cultivator is here exposed, is a season 
 of deficient rain ; and, under severe drought, not only the harvests, 
 but the rich pastures of the uncultivated parts, utterly dry up and 
 wither. The whole of this country seems a desert in the maps ; 
 but it is, in fact, full of villages — more villages than there are 
 people to occupy. These are ancient villages, apparently built 
 when the country was rich and populous under the Romans, — not 
 in ruins, but in a perfectly habitable condition, and to some extent 
 inhabited. This is owing to the extraordinary durability of the 
 buildings, which are entirely of stone — even to the doors* and 
 door-posts, without the least portion of wood or other perishable 
 material. This mode of construction, while it arose, in the first 
 instance, from the waut of wood — as there are no timber-trees, or 
 hardly any trees in all the plain— has ensured, in a remarkable 
 degree, the preservation of the houses in a condition of extra- 
 ordinary freshness. The houses in these villages are free property 
 to the inhabitants of the Haouran, who live in them rent-free, and 
 when they are tired of one village remove to another as seems 
 convenient to them. Those who first arrive appropriate the best 
 houses, but they have no right in them, nor desire to have any, 
 longer than they continue to occupy them. There being more 
 houses and villages than can be occupied, while no ties of property 
 exist, removals are frequent, and scarcely a man can be found who 
 is a native of the place in which he lives. Hence, also, some tra- 
 vellers find villages to be void of inhabitants which others had found 
 to be inhabited, and the reverse. 
 
 The public buildings in the towns have suffered more, as might 
 be expected, and are, for the most part, in fact, in ruins. They 
 are all Roman ; and, with the villages, satisfactorily evince how 
 prosperous and populous this countryf was under their rule: 
 while the vast labour and expense which were bestowed by them 
 on public walks, destined to promote the comfort, and even the 
 luxury of the inhabitants of the towns in their distant colonies, is 
 evinced by the numerous remains of amphitheatres, paved roads, 
 aqueducts, and reservoirs, which are still of vast service to the 
 inhabitants. Works of this sort are, indeed, so numerous and 
 important, in this and other districts east of the Jordan, that Mr. 
 Buckingham could say, that “ neither in the East nor West Indies, 
 at the Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, nor any other of 
 the many colonial possessions of Great Britain, are there any works, 
 even at their respective capitals (fortresses alone excepted), which 
 can be compared for magnificence or utility with the enormous 
 public works scattered over the region of Decapolis, and attached 
 to the colonial towns of the Romans, of so little importance, even in 
 their estimation, that not even their names have descended to us in 
 the annals of their empire.” 
 
 This same traveller was struck by the height of the stone door- 
 ways, about seven feet, while in Palestine and other parts of Syria 
 they are rather below than above the human stature, so that in 
 most cases the passenger is obliged to stoop as he enters. But a 
 good house includes a large room or stable for cattle ; and it seems 
 
 * Few of the stone doors remain in use ; but those which are still found entire, 
 with the fragments of others, w'ith the indications about the door-posts, render it 
 manifest that most of the doors were anciently of stone. 
 
 f Called by them Auranitis ; but, in the extent now viewed, the present 
 Haouran seems also to have included at least a considerable part of Itursea. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 465 
 
 the doors are made so high to admit camels under shelter at 
 night, and thus secure them from the incursions of the Bedouins. 
 This flat country must always have been, as it is now, a camel 
 country, and, from the indestructible nature of their materials, 
 the rooms for their reception may have been of the highest an- 
 tiquity. 
 
 “ During our journey though the [western] hills,” says Mr. 
 Buckingham, “ we had seen only horses, mules, and asses, used as 
 beasts of burden ; but since we have entered the plain of Haouran, 
 we have met only camels, and these to the number of several 
 hundreds in the course of one day. If this were really the land of 
 Hz,* and the town (Gherbee) in which we now halted the place 
 of Job’s residence, as tradition maintains, there would be no por- 
 tion of all Syria or Palestine that I have yet seen more suited to 
 the production and maintenance of the 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 
 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses, which are enumerated as forming 
 the substance of ‘the greatest of all the men of the East’ (Job. i. 
 3). At the present day there is no man, probably, with such herds 
 and flocks for his portion ; but these are still, as they were in the 
 earliest times, the great wealth of the men of substance in the 
 country: and it is as common now as it appears to have been when 
 the history of Job was written, to describe a man of consideration 
 in these plains by the number of his flocks and herds, rather than 
 by any other less tangible indication of wealth.”f 
 
 It is difficult to say what were the limits of the Lanq of tub 
 Ammonites. Indeed it is not easy to find room, adequate to their 
 relative importance, for the several tribes or nations which the 
 Scriptures place in the country east of the Jordan. There are, 
 however, large tracts of country, south of the Haouran and east of 
 Moab, which remain to be explored ; and although travellers have 
 heard that all this country is desert, we should not be surprised if 
 it proves that those districts form as fine a country as the Haouran 
 or the plains of Moab, with, perhaps, as ample indications of a 
 formerly dense and active population. The term “desert” is 
 very loosely applied ; and travellers are too apt to conclude that 
 all which they do not see is not worth seeing. Within our own 
 times, much of the country which we have now been describing 
 was regarded as much a desert as that unexplored region which is 
 now indicated as bearing that character. There was plenty of 
 room for the Ammonites to spread in this direction, to the extent of 
 that idea which the Scriptural accounts seem to give of the relative 
 importance of this branch of the family of Lot. Their territories 
 may also well have reached beyond the Zerka into the southern 
 parts of the Haouran — a name which described the country with- 
 out any reference to its occupiers. There is a chain of hills 
 commencing near the Zerka, at about the distance of forty miles 
 east of the Jordan, by the name of Jebel el Zoble, and which is 
 continued southward under different names, and at a diminishing 
 distance from the Dead Sea. Extensive plains lie letween these 
 hills and the hill country of Moab ; and beyond them, eastward, 
 all is said to be desert. Now as it happens that the remains of a site 
 which still bears the name of Amman , and which was doubtless ori- 
 ginally that of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites, have been found 
 upon the hills at the north-western border of this plain, it might be 
 safe to give them as much of this plain itself as might not interfere 
 with the claims of their brethren the Moabites, besides the very 
 possible extension into the southern parts of the Haouran and into 
 the “desert” beyond the eastern hills. Confining our attention 
 to the known part which we have not yet described — which is tho 
 eastern and northern part of these enclosed plains — we may observe 
 that even this has been little explored by travellers. Seetzen, 
 Burckhardt, and Irby and Mangles, only traversed the south- 
 western portion, belonging, as we suppose, to Moab ; and the 
 more easterly route of Buckingham, from Amman to Om el Russas, 
 ran about twelve miles from the eastern hills ; and he, therefore, 
 with Mr. G. Robinson, who saw something also of this part, are the 
 only travellers who supply any available information. 
 
 Proceeding from Amman southward, through the plain, we find 
 everywhere a fertile soil capable of the highest cultivation, but 
 entirely uncultivated. A broad Roman road extends completely 
 through it, and far beyond it. The plain seems to have a slight 
 ascent for sixteen miles, where the highest point is reached in an 
 elevation which commands a view over a still more extensive plain 
 than that which has been passed, lying on a somewhat lower level. 
 “Throughout its whole extent were seen ruined towns in every 
 
 * At Gherbee, near the western borders of the plain towards Bashan, the tradition 
 is, that Job was bom and lived there, or in that quarter, and that there is the scene 
 of his history as detailed in the sacred volume. 
 
 f Burckhardt, 51-121, 211-250 ; Buckingham, 167, 171, ISO, 251 , &c. ; Robin- 
 son, ii. 137, 161, 16S ; Lindsay, ii. 129, 130. 
 
 direction, both before, behind, and on each side of us ; generally 
 seated on small eminences, all at a short distance from each other; 
 and all, as far as we had yet seen, bearing evident marks of 
 former opulence and consideration. There was not a tree in sight 
 as far as the eye could reach ; but my guide, who had been over 
 every part of it, assured me that the whole plain was covered with 
 the finest soil, and capable of being the most productive corn land 
 in the world. It is true that for a space of thirty miles there did 
 not appear to me a single interruption of hill, rock, or wood, to 
 impede immediate tillage ; and it is certain that the great plain of 
 Esdraelon, so justly celebrated for its extent and fertility, is inferior 
 in both to this plain. Like Esdraelon, it appears also to have been 
 once the seat of an active and numerous population ; but on tho 
 former the monuments of the dead only remain, while here the 
 habitations of the living are equally mingled with the tombs of the 
 departed, both thickly strewn over every part of tho soil from 
 which they drew their sustenance.” 
 
 Om el Russas, the most southern point which has been reached 
 in this direction, is about forty-two miles S.S.E. from Amman. 
 After the first eighteen or twenty miles, the quality of the soil differs, 
 from having a larger proportion of clay, but it still continues 
 fertile and highly cultivable. But after leaving a place called 
 Om el Keseer, which is twenty-five miles from Amman, it appears 
 to grow progressively inferior, though for the most part still 
 capable of cultivation. The face of the country also becomes more 
 unequal, and the level descends ; and before we reach our limit the 
 ground becomes stony, -chalky, and barren. The unexplored countrv 
 southward is no doubt desert. 
 
 In short, this country, or series of plains, has a rich soil, but is 
 without trees or shrubs. The ground is highly cultivable, but 
 exhibits not the least trace of actual cultivation ; and while nume- 
 rous ruins indicate how rich and populous the country once was, it 
 is now, more than even the Haouran, wdthout fixed inhabitants. 
 The wandering tribes resort to it in the summer months, for the 
 sake of the pasturage which it offers ; but when they have left, the 
 ashes and dung of their encampments are the only signs of human 
 occupation which the country affords. “ It is now one vast desert, 
 which has long ceased to be occupied by man in a civilised state.”* 
 Thus truly has Ammon become “ a desolation,” as the prophets 
 foretold.f 
 
 Although there are not, properly speaking, any deserts in 
 Palestine itself, the deserts by which it is bounded on the east, 
 and on the south, figure so largely in the history of the country, 
 and exercised so manifest an influence on the condition and 
 relations of its inhabitants, as well as on their ideas and sentiments, 
 that it is quite necessary to bestow upon them a concluding portion 
 of our attention. 
 
 The best and most satisfactory general description of theso 
 deserts is that which has been supplied by Volney and having 
 tested this account by some information in our own possession, 
 and by the statements of various travellers who have crossed the 
 desert he describes, we have judged it best to adopt it as the basis 
 of the following account. 
 
 To form an idea of these deserts, the reader must imagine a 
 glowing and unclouded sky, over plains so vast that the view is 
 lost in them ; and entirely destitute of buildings, trees, rivulets, or 
 hills. Often in these plains the eye meets nothing but an extensive 
 and uniform horizon like the sea ; while a few isolated palm-trees, 
 here and there, complete the illusion by appearing in the distance 
 like the masts of ships. In other parts the undulated surface 
 suggests the idea of a stormy sea,§ while in others it is roughened 
 
 * Buckingham’s ‘Arab Tribes,’ 82-99; Robinson, ii. 171, 180. 
 
 f Dr. Keith, in his popular work on 1 Evidence from Prophecy,’ describes the 
 Haouran as the land of the Ammonites. But it is not likely that they ever had 
 more than perhaps a portion of the south of that vast plain. The district which 
 we have now described would have answered his laudable purpose as well or better, 
 and it may with far greater probability than the Haouran be assigned to the Am- 
 monites. In Dr. Keith’s remarkable book, the parts which refer to towns are by 
 much the most valuable. When there is a determined site, such facts and obser- 
 vations as those which this author has collected apply with great force and effect : 
 but in those portions which refer to the state of the “ Lands” of certain ancient 
 nations, there is, perhaps necessarily, much vague and uncertain matter, and the 
 result is comparatively ineffective to the instructed reader. 
 
 X Baron Taylor bears witness to its value by copying it entire, with some slight 
 alterations and additions, into his publication ‘ La Syrie’. 
 
 § The comparisons, here employed, of the desert to the sea in various conditions, 
 are so common that they have become trite. Yet, we can answer for it, they are 
 ever the first and last impressions which strike a traveller, and are, therefore, natural 
 and proper. The reader who would like to trace the varying characteristics of 
 the desert between Syria and the Euphrates cannot do better than consult tbe daily 
 entries in Colonel Capper’s ‘ Observations on the Passage to India, through Egypt 
 and across the Great Desert’ (1783). 
 
466 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 by rocks and stones. Almost always arid, the land offers only 
 some wild plants, thinly scattered, and thickets, whose solitude is 
 rarely disturbed but by gazelles, hyaenas, hares, jerboas, and 
 locusts. Such is the character of nearly the whole country, which 
 extends 600 leagues in length and 300 in breadth, stretching 
 from Aleppo to the Arabian Sea, and from Egypt to the Persian 
 Gulf. 
 
 In such an extent of country there is, however, considerable 
 variation of soil. Upon the frontiers of Syria, for example, which 
 is that portion of this immense desert with which we have most 
 concern, the soil is in general rich, cultivable, and fertile. It is 
 of the same character on the banks of the Euphrates. But in the 
 internal parts of the country, and towards the south, it becomes 
 white and chalky, as in the parallel of Damascus, then stony as we 
 advance into the deserts of El Tyh and of the Hedjaz, and 
 ultimately pure sand, as to the east of Yemen. These variations 
 produce corresponding differences in the condition of the inhabiting 
 tribes. In the districts where the herbage is scarce or meagre, as 
 in the Nedjed and in the interior of the great desert, the tribes are 
 feeble and very distant. They become less rare and nearer to one 
 another in those parts where the soil is less bare and the oases more 
 frequent, as between Damascus and the Euphrates, and in the 
 cultivable cantons of the Aleppo pashalic, in the Haouran ; and in 
 the country of Gaza the Arab camps are numerous and contiguous. 
 In the first case, the Bedouins are a purely pastoral people, living 
 on the produce of their flocks and on a few dates ; in the second, 
 they are demi-cultivators, and sow 7 some land, which enables them 
 to add to their fare a little rice and barley. 
 
 This invincible sterility of the desert, even where the soil is 
 naturally fertile, or where not absolutely sandy, is entirely owing 
 to the absence of water ; and this want of water is occasioned by 
 the nature of the country, which being flat and destitute of moun- 
 tains which might arrest the clouds, they glide over its heated 
 surface during nine months of the twelve without affording a single 
 drop of rain. Thus, during the day, the sky sparkles in brilliance, 
 and is of the finest azure during the night. In winter only, w T hen 
 the cold of the atmosphere condenses the clouds, they soon resolve 
 themselves in showers ; but in the interior of the desert the water 
 thus supplied is very quickly absorbed by the arid sands. Upon 
 the borders only it affords an irrigation by which the natural 
 fecundity of the soil is awakened. The summer comes ; and all 
 this water disappears without any durable result in springs or 
 perennial brooks. Hence, to avoid the inconvenience of wanting 
 water the whole summer, it has been necessary to form, by manual 
 labour, wells, cisterns, and reservoirs, in which to preserve a supply 
 of rain-water for the year. Such works, though rude and inade- 
 quate, are expensive and laborious, and are therefore of rare 
 occurrence, except in the more settled districts. Besides, war may 
 destroy in one day the labour of many months and the resources of 
 the year. A drought, which is but too common, may cause the 
 failure of a crop, and reduce the inhabitants to a total want of 
 water. It is true that, by digging, water may almost everywhere 
 be found at from six to twenty feet deep, but this is generally 
 brackish, and the supply is soon exhausted. Then thirst and 
 famine supervene ; and unless the government interferes, the 
 villages are deserted. From this it results that the condition of 
 agriculture is, in such border districts, most precarious,* and the 
 establishments are constantly menaced with ruin ; and when to this 
 operation of natural causes is added the weight with which the 
 exactions of the government press upon the cultivator, it must 
 often seem the better choice to lead a wandering life than to reside 
 in a fixed habitation and rely on agriculture for subsistence. 
 
 In those districts where the soil is stony and sandy, as in the 
 deserts between Palestine and Sinai, in which the hosts of Israel 
 spent forty years, and in those of the Hedjaz and the Nedjed, 
 these winter rains make the seeds of the wild plants shoot, and 
 revive the thickets, the ranunculuses, the wormwood, the kali, 
 and the numerous other plants and herbs with which the desert 
 then abounds. They render the lower grounds marshy, which 
 then produce reeds and grass, and the plain assumes a tolerable 
 degree of verdure. 
 
 Major Skinner, who crossed at this season the desert between 
 Damascus and Babylonia, describes it as having then nothing ap- 
 palling but the name — as being, in fact, a perfect garden, in which 
 it is easy for the traveller to mark his progress by the plants he 
 meets, as every day exhibits the predominance of some new race. 
 
 But all this glory of the desert, which supplies so many meta- 
 
 * Even the Haouran comes within this description. There are times when all 
 the hopes of the year are destroyed by the failure or inadequacy of the winter 
 rains. Such was the case at the time of Mr. Buckingham’s visit to that quarter. 
 
 phors to the prophetic writers, is most transitory. On the return 
 of the heats, everything is parched up, and the earth, converted 
 into a gray and fine dust, presents nothing but dry stems, as hard 
 as wood, on which no animals can feed. 
 
 Yet even the desert is not without such immunities and congenial 
 charms as endear it to its wild inhabitants as much as the most 
 fertile and pleasant country can be endeared to a civilised people. 
 Its clime is more fixed and salubrious than that of the countries 
 by which it is bordered. The plague is scarcely known ; ophthal- 
 mia is very rare ; and the small-pox may be described as the only 
 endemic malady. The Arab tribes have, from remote times, divided 
 these wide and arid sands among themselves. These territorial 
 divisions are necessarily of very great extent, as it often happens 
 that the desert in an extent of thirty miles offers only a few roods 
 of land where the flocks can find even a dry and scanty herbage. 
 Thus, in order to obtain nourishment for a few cattle, the Arabs 
 are obliged to overrun vast tracts, and this has engaged them to 
 the nomade life. But besides this physical reason, which explains 
 and justifies the Bedouin condition of existence, there are others 
 of a political sort which are not less operative. For if, in fact, 
 their migratory habits only proceeded from the nakedness of their 
 country, they could advance into the fertile districts along their 
 frontiers, and form there nearly permanent encampments, as the 
 Hebrew patriarchs did in Palestine, — ending by founding villages, 
 like the Turkomans and Koords. But they do not do this. They 
 choose rather to dwell in plains the most naked, in steppes the 
 most inaccessible. And why ? It is because that which the Arab 
 values before all other things is his independence, his complete 
 isolation from every form of superiority or patronage, whether 
 mild or onerous, cruel or clement. That which the Bedouins 
 most seek is to keep themselves from the position which might 
 lead them or compel them to bear arms for the pashas, and thus 
 to be at liberty to pursue what they consider their proper trade ot 
 rapine and theft. This is the great motive to them for preserving 
 a mode of life which renders such continual and fatiguing removals 
 necessary. But if they chance to light upon a place where they 
 think they can enjoy security and freedom, joined to adequate 
 resources, they remain there, and insensibly pass into the condition 
 of settled cultivators. But if it happens, on the contrary, that the 
 vexatious tyranny of a governor puts an end to the patience of an 
 established village, it is no unusual thing for the inhabitants to flee 
 in a body to the mountains, or into the plains, often changing their 
 stations that they may not be surprised. Sometimes it happens that 
 such people, after having become robbers from the necessities of 
 their position, form new hordes and ultimately class themselves into 
 tribes. But these new people, born in a cultivable country, almost 
 never quit the frontiers, and never without great difficulty arrive 
 at the determination to throw themselves into the heart of the 
 desert. The desert is the exclusive domain of the Arab, who is 
 born in it. 
 
 We have not been able to withhold these facts, as they appear 
 to us to contribute much illustration to many circumstances which 
 the sacred history records, and to the conditions and mutations of 
 life which it exhibits. We thus see by what process the migratory 
 inhabitants of the desert become, like the Hebrews, a settled agri- 
 cultural people ; and again, how the people settled on the borders 
 may melt away into the great Bedouin mass. The tendency of 
 such people to remain as near as possible to their original seats 
 would be a most interesting circumstance, if it should authorise us 
 to conclude, or even to conjecture, that the descendants of Lot 
 and Esau may still be found among the Bedouins, who are now 
 almost the sole inhabitants of the lands of Moab, Ammon, and 
 Edom. 
 
 It may seem proper to follow this general statement, by a some- 
 what more particular notice of the country betwmen Palestine and 
 Egypt, and between Palestine and Sinai which forms the desert — 
 or rather portion of the desert — best known to the Hebrews at all 
 times, and unquestionably that in which their forty years of wander- 
 ing were passed. Indeed, in memory of this, the whole still bears 
 the name of El Tyh — the Wandering — which is also borne by the 
 ridge of mountains that separates it on the south from the Upper 
 Sinai: in Scripture different parts of it seem to be called by differ- 
 ent names; but that which seems capable of the largest application 
 to the whole is “ the wilderness, or desert, of Paran.” 
 
 “ The space comprised between the Delta, the extremity of the 
 Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, contains in the north-west some 
 cultivated lands, watered by the derivations of the Nile. The rest, 
 absolutely arid, forms what are called the deserts of the isthmus 
 of Suez ; towards the south-east vast sandy plains extend along 
 the Mediterranean to Syria, and connect themselves with those 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 4G7 
 
 which adjoin the Dead Sea and Palestine.”* Such is the informa- 
 tion, good as far as it goes, which at the end of the last century was 
 obtained by the French savans. Since then more detailed informa- 
 tion has been supplied from various sources. 
 
 The reader is very apt to imagine that the whole is a dead and 
 arid level. But this is by no meaus the case, the irregularity of the 
 surface and diversity of appearance being considerable. 
 
 Only the maritime borders, on either hand, of that part of the 
 peninsula of Sinai which lies north of the Tyh mountains have been 
 described. For Mr. Aruudale, who did traverse the interior, gives 
 only a few slight hints, which just enabled us to conclude that, as the 
 connection might suggest, one general character belongs to all the 
 desert which extends, from south to north, about 100 miles, from 
 the ridge of El Tyh to the tract of high and barren mountains 
 which occur about 75 miles to the south of Hebron ; and from east 
 to west, about 210 miles, being from the vicinity of Cairo to the 
 Valley of Arabah. This great tract of country, or rather that 
 principal portion of it which lies to the east of the isthmus of Suez, 
 is the proper El Tyh desert. 
 
 This then may be described, after the information of Professor 
 Robinson, as a vast unbounded plain, its surface not sandy, but, for 
 the most part, of a hard gravel, often strewed with pebbles. Nume- 
 rous wadys, or watercourses, intersect it ; and in most of these are 
 to be found some scattered tufts of herbs or shrubs, on which the 
 camels browse as they pass along, and which serve also as their pas- 
 turage when turned loose at night. Irregular ridges of limestone 
 hills are seen in various directions. The mirage frequently occurs. 
 Wells are found at considerable distances, and the water is in all of 
 them drinkable, though none seem to be exempt from that mineral 
 [sometimes sulphureous] taste so commonly found in the wells of 
 the desert. This desert is, in fact, an elevated plateau, much above 
 the level of the Red Sea, and as high or higher than the tops of the 
 mountains by which we ascend to it, whether from the southern 
 valleys of Sinai, or from its eastern or western shore, or from behind 
 Akabah, or from the Wady el Arabah. f 
 
 Advancing upon this plain from the south or the south-east, 
 we have before us, as a land-mark, a high conical mountain. It is 
 in view at least three days before we come to it, and in the distance 
 appears isolated. It bears the name of Jebel Araif-en-Nakah, and 
 a lower ridge extends from it eastward. As we approach it, the 
 country becomes undulating and uneven, and the hills more fre- 
 quent. The mountain itself forms the south-eastern corner or 
 bulwark of a mountainous region which extends hence to the 
 northward, and from it a ridge stretches east terminating in a bluff 
 called Makrah, near the Arabah and opposite Mount Ilor. After 
 passing this mountain the character of the desert is changed. On 
 our right is now a mountainous district composed of irregular lime- 
 stone ridges, running in various directions, and filling the whole 
 country eastward quite to Wady Arabah. The road passes along 
 the western side of this mountainous district, crossing many broad 
 wadys, which flow down from it westward, with elevated ridges of 
 table-land between them. Beyond the district thus described, the 
 country opens into wide sandy plains, in which Dr. Robinson [who 
 had already been in Egypt and Sinai] had his first experience of the 
 simoom. This character of the desert is preserved till we reach 
 Wady Ruheibah, which, being thus on the borders of the sandy 
 desert, we have before agreed to consider as the southern frontier of 
 Palestine. 
 
 Of the extraordinary visitations to which the deserts are subject, 
 the hot wind, called by the Arabs the simoom, and by the Turks 
 samiel, both of which words mean the poison-wind, seems the most 
 remarkable and injurious. The accounts which are given by dif- 
 ferent persons vary so greatly, that it is difficult to deduce from 
 them a connected statement of facts ; and some writers have gone 
 so far as to discredit the stronger effects which have been ascribed 
 to this phenomenon. The fact seems to us to be, that, in this, as 
 in a thousand other matters, people infer analogies between what 
 they do see and what they do not see ; and in this they may be, and 
 often are, wrong, from not knowing, or not taking into account, the 
 circumstances by which differences and modifications may be and are 
 produced. Travellers, whose routes almost always lie along the 
 borders of the great desert, and who never visit those vast interior 
 solitudes of sand which only the natives dare to traverse, witness 
 only these phenomena in the most mild and mitigated forms, and 
 thoughtlessly infer that they must be equally mild in the very heart 
 of the desert, although they know that the causes which produce 
 
 * Rozierc, ‘ De la Constitution Physique de l’Egypte,’ 301, 302. 
 t This appears from comparing the estimations of Burckhardt, Laborde, Robin- 
 sou and Amndale, 
 
 them must there be operating with more intense effect. What we 
 ourselves deduce from the balance of testimonies is, that these phe- 
 nomena are exhibited with diminished force the greater our distance 
 from the heart of the desert is increased ; and that the travellers 
 who describe those mitigated phenomena which alone they noticed 
 in their border routes, have no right to deny the concurrent 
 testimony of history and of the natives, which ascribes to them 
 stronger developments and more ruinous effects in the interior of 
 the desert. 
 
 The simoom blows generally from the direction of the nearest 
 sandy deserts ; in Syria from those of Arabia, and in Egypt from 
 those of Africa. Dr. Russell informs us that “ the true simoom” 
 (by which expression he seems to have felt the necessity for such 
 a distinction as we have now made) never reaches so far north 
 as Aleppo, nor is common in the desert between that city and 
 Busrah. He was, however, careful to collect the reports of the 
 Arabs, which he thus states: — “They assert that its progression 
 is in separate or distinct currents, so that the caravan, which in its 
 march in the desert sometimes spreads to a great breadth, suffers 
 only partially in certain places of the line, while the intermediate 
 parts remain untouched. That sometimes those only who happen to 
 be mounted on camels are affected, though more commonly such as 
 are on foot ; but that both never suffer alike. That lying flat on 
 the ground till the blast passes over is the best method of avoiding 
 the danger, but that the attack is sometimes so sudden as to leave 
 no time for precaution. Its effects sometimes prove instantly fatal, 
 the corpse being livid, or black, like that of a person blasted by 
 lightning ; at other times it produces putrid fevers, which prove 
 mortal in a few hours ; and that very few of those who have been 
 struck recover.” This is not all they tell. The attention of 
 Thevenot was strongly drawn to the subject, and he made particular 
 inquiries concerning it, at the towns on the borders of the desert, 
 of different persons in different places. He says, that they all 
 agreed in their testimony, which is the same in substance as that 
 which has just been adduced, with the additions, — which, we know, 
 form part of the current account among the natives, — “No sooner 
 does a man die by this wind than he becomes black as a coal, and if 
 one take him by the leg, arm, or any other place, his flesh comes off 
 from the bone, and is plucked oft' by the hand that would lift him 
 up. They say that in this wind there are streaks of fire as small as 
 a hair, which have been seen by some, and that those who breathe 
 in those rays of fire die of them, the rest receiving no damage.” 
 We willingly confess that there are some points in these statements 
 which savour of exaggeration ; but we consider that, taking the 
 whole of these reports at their lowest value, they evince at least 
 that the simoom is sometimes productive of immediately fatal effects 
 in the interior of the deserts. Most of the described phenomena 
 suggest a highly electrical state of the atmosphere, and the symp- 
 toms of immediate putrefaction are such as occur in cases of death 
 by lightning. 
 
 The mitigated effects of this wind, as experienced and reported 
 by European travellers, may thus be described. 
 
 The Arabs, and others accustomed to the deserts, are aware of 
 the signs which portend a coming simoom, and if they make the 
 discovery before a day’s journey is commenced, cannot be induced 
 to depart from their station until it has overpast. Even the cattle 
 are aware of the approaching evil, and manifest their uneasiness 
 by plaintive cries and other tokens of distress. All animated 
 nature seems to take alarm, and to throw itself upon the defensive. 
 The horizon gradually assumes a dull purplish or violet hue, while 
 the sun becomes shorn of its beams, and looks red and heavy, 
 as through a London fog. Then comes on the hot wind, laden 
 with a subtile and burning dust, or rather fine sand, which pene- 
 trates to all things ; the atmosphere becomes exceedingly hot, and 
 the air, less even from its heat* than from its noxious qualities, 
 and the particles with which it is laden, is breathed with diflicultv; 
 and even under the shelter of a tent, and with every possible pre- 
 caution and safeguard, the effect is most distressing. It fires, burns, 
 dries up the lungs, the mouth is parched, the skin dry, and a feeling 
 of universal debility prevails, while the pulse rises as in fever. 
 Life seems attacked in its most delicate organs ; and there is much 
 reason to think that any prolonged subjection to even this greatlv 
 mitigated form of the evil would be attended with serious con- 
 sequences ; and still more if no measures of protection against 
 it were sought. Mr. Madden, who was exposed to a somewhat 
 slight simoom in the desert of Suez, and remained in his tent while 
 it lasted (above seven hours), describes the sensation as inexpressibly 
 
 * Fynes Moryson (not the Morison we have so often cited) compares the inspiring 
 of this air to the hasty swallowing of too hot broth ! — a homely but expressive 
 comparison. 
 
468 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 distressing ; but he does not think it was the degree of heat that 
 occasioned it, for in Upper Egypt he had suffered an equally high 
 temperature* without any such prostration of strength and spirits. 
 But he believes the hot wind of the desert to be connected with 
 an electrical state of the atmosphere, which has a depressing in- 
 fluence on the nervous system. And this, it will be remembered, 
 is the opinion of a medical man. ( 3 ) 
 
 In Egypt, where, as in Palestine, this wind is much less alarm- 
 ing than even in the border deserts, it exchanges its name of simoom 
 for that of kamseen (fifty), because it is felt the most frequently 
 during fifty days about the vernal equinox. 
 
 It is not so much alleged, generally, that the naked operation 
 of the simoom is so destructive, even in the interior of the great 
 deserts, as the immense drifts and whirlwinds of sand which it 
 raises. We have seen that there are some indications of this, — 
 that it fills the air with fine sand, even in the border deserts ; and 
 how much more, then, in those vast interior expanses, where, even 
 in a state of rest, the immense hillsf of sand thrown up by the 
 winds, and left to be swept away and removed by some future 
 storms, bear evidence to the operations of the wind upon these 
 sandy surfaces. Immense clouds of sand are, under the operation 
 of the wind, raised high in air, and in their ultimate fall overwhelm 
 whatever lies below. Often the whirling eddies of the wind 
 condense the drifting sands into more compact masses, causing 
 them to spindle up into tall and rounded columns, which, still 
 acted upon by the power which reared and sustains them, keep 
 moving over the plain till they fall in a hill or wide-spread sheet 
 of sand. Thus the surface of the desert is, to a considerable depth, 
 in frequent motion ; and thus, we are told, caravans and entire 
 armies have been slain and buried by the concurrent effects of the 
 hot wind, and of the immense masses of sand which it drifts so 
 furiously along. To such a cause history attributes the loss of 
 the army which the mad Persian conqueror, Cambyses, sent across 
 the desert against the inhabitants of the oasis of Ammon. Happily 
 these sand-storms, in their more terrible forms, are far from com- 
 mon ; else no one could adventure to pass the desert. They are 
 also less frequent and less formidable in the deserts of south- 
 western Asia than in those of Africa, westward from Egypt, where 
 the tracts of sand are more extensive, and seem to be more easily 
 set in motion. 
 
 As the simoom usually moves at a certain height in the atmosphere, 
 the common resource against its effects is, as already intimated, to 
 lie flat on the ground till it passes over. Man was probably taught 
 this resource by observing that, at such times, camels and other 
 animals bend their heads to the ground and bury their nostrils in the 
 sand. Shelter from the sand-storm is sought in nearly the same 
 manner. The traveller generally lies down on the lee side of his 
 camel ; but, as the sands are soon drifted around him to the level 
 of his body, both the beast and its owuer are obliged frequently to 
 rise and change their position, to avoid being entirely covered. If 
 the storm is of long duration, as it often is, this constant exertion, 
 with the effects of the hot wind, and the dread and danger of the 
 sandy inundation, produces such weariness, sleepiness, or despair, 
 that both men and animals remain on the ground, and a very short 
 time suffices to bury them under the sands. It is thus chiefly that ' 
 the simoom becomes extremely destructive to the life of man and 
 beasts. It is easy, in our own cool and quiet country, to sit down 
 and doubt about these things ; but the whitened bones which strew 
 the desert bear witness to their truth. And any one who, at even 
 a safe season of the year, has passed over such wastes, and during 
 the halt of his caravan has lain down for rest upon the sand, 
 wrapped up in his cloak, must, like the writer of this, have felt a 
 very serious conviction of the probability of such events. The only 
 marked objects in the sandy desolation are the huge hillocks of 
 drifted sand ; and he knows that such winds as formed them will 
 disperse them all abroad over the face of the land ; and he knows not 
 but that, after the next storm, a mound of sand may cover the 
 place whereon he lies. 
 
 These showers and whirlwinds of sand, or of sand and dust, or 
 of dust only, according to the nature of the country, were certainly 
 known to the Hebrews. Their then recent experience in the desert 
 taught them to know the full intensity of those visitations with 
 which Moses denounced that God would scourge their disobedience: 
 
 “Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass ; and the earth 
 that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the 
 
 * “The thermometer at two o’clock rose to 110° in the shade ; and on putting 
 the bulb in the sand, outside the tent, in a few minutes the mercury was at 130 V 
 
 f In the Caspian Steppes (of pure sand) we have seen such hills at least thirty 
 feet high, by about the same diameter. 
 
 rain of thy land powder and dust ; from heaven shall it come down 
 upon thee until thou he destroyed." (Deut. xxviii. 23, 21.) 
 
 The threat of dust to the land instead of rain brings to mind the 
 tendency of the drifted sands to encroach upon the cultivable lands 
 of the borders. The tendency of actual cultivation is to repel such 
 encroachments ; but, where cultivation is discontinued, a verv 
 serious loss of cultivable soil is in the course of time incurred. 
 Ample proof of this may be seen on the south and the south-east 
 borders of the Holy Land, showing the actual fulfilment of the 
 denunciation we have adduced. Here again the desert is com- 
 parable to the sea; for, as the sea encroaches on the land, so do the 
 sands encroach upon the cultivable soil. (Deut. xxxii. 10.*) 
 
 This text might also be adduced in support of the statement 
 that ascribes largely-destructive powers to these visitations. They 
 have not been unknown even in the northernmost parts of Syria. 
 Witness AYilliam of Tyre’s account of the whirlwind of sand to 
 which he ascribes the victory of the Moslems over the prince of 
 Antioch, in the territory of that name.f And we might, there- 
 fore, expect them to be still more common in Palestine, as 
 they are in Egypt and in other countries bordering cn extensive 
 plains. Moses describes the desert in which the Israelites wandered 
 for forty years as “ a desert land in the waste howling wilderness” 
 (Deut. xxxii. 10) ; and as “ that great and terrible wilderness, 
 wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where 
 there was no water” (Deut. viii. 15), and of which Jeremiah 
 (Jer. ii. 6) more amply speaks as of “a land of deserts and of 
 pits, a land of drought and of the shadow of death, a land that 
 no man passed through, and where no man dwelt.” And that 
 among the characteristics indicated in these terms those which 
 we have described may, to some extent, be comprehended, is shown 
 by the account which William of Tyre gives of the march of 
 Syracon, general of the army of Noureddin, Emir of Damascus, 
 and unele of the famous Saladin, into this very desert, between 
 Syria and Egypt, in which the Israelites wandered so long. During 
 the march the troops were encountered by a whirlwind of such 
 force, that it raised into the air vast clouds of sand, which obscured 
 the sun and occasioned a thick darkness. So densely filled was the 
 air by the sandy particles, that no one dared to open his mouth or 
 eyes, to speak to another or to look around him. The horsemen 
 deemed it prudent to dismount ; and many prostrated themselves 
 and dived their hands deep into the sand, to obtain such fast hold as 
 might prevent the wind from whirling them up, and breaking their 
 necks or legs in casting them again to the ground. Some of the men 
 did lose their lives ; many camels also were lost, and most of the 
 provisions ; and the army was, for the time, quite dispersed by the 
 storm. “For in this desert,” says the historian, using the standard 
 comparison, “ waves of sand are raised and tossed about like the 
 waves of the sea when troubled by tempestuous winds ; so that to 
 navigate a stormy sea is, at times, not more dangerous than to pass 
 such deserts. ”J 
 
 Another phenomenon of the desert is the mirage. This is an 
 illusion, producing the most cruel disappointment to those who 
 traverse the dry and sandy plains, as it assumes precisely the ap- 
 pearances most calculated to delight the traveller and to seduce him 
 from his way. Sometimes he sees before him a fine lake ; but if, 
 in the eagerness of thirst and heat, he hastens towards it, the 
 margin seems to retire, so that the surface of water as he advances 
 becomes narrower, and at last disappears altogether ; but the whole 
 appearance may be again exhibited before him at the same distance 
 as that at which it was first observed. All this time the impatient 
 traveller will seem, to those who have remained behind, to have 
 reached the margin, to have entered the lake, and to have forded 
 it to the other side. Or again, there may seem to be the fair 
 similitude of a green oasis, with its tufted palms, traversed by a 
 broad river. In such cases the illusion of water is complete: for 
 not only are the bushes or other objects which may be on the 
 margin reflected in it, but it has something like the ripple of 
 water ; and in such instances as the first is streaked by those nu- 
 merous shining patches observable on the surface of lakes when 
 viewed from a distance. The best prepared travellers are unable 
 to resist the force of this illusion, or to believe that which they see 
 
 * This is, perhaps, more strongly manifested in Egypt. Denon says, — “ When 
 this destructive scourge sets in from the desert, the inundation of sand often over- 
 whelms the country, changes its fertility to birrtnness, drives the labourer from 
 his house, whose walls it covers up, and leaves no other mark of vegetable life than 
 the tops of a few palm-trees, which add still more to the dreary aspect of desola- 
 tion. Thus the desert is continually encroaching on the fertile land ; and, were 
 the waters of the Nile to discontinue their inundations, the whole vale of Egypt 
 would eventually become a desert, or a vale of sand.” 
 f ‘ Hist. Belli Sacri,’ xii. + lb. xix. 15. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 469 
 
 to be unreal. The cruel mockery of such an appearance, in the 
 midst of these arid steppes, may in some degree he conceived, 
 but not properly appreciated without actual experience. ( 4 ) 
 
 This phenomenon is very common even on the skirts of the 
 desert, and must have been tolerably well known to the Hebrews. 
 They called it by the name serab (the desert water),* which 
 it still bears among the Arabs, who, as well as the Persians, often 
 use it, by a fine metaphor, to express disappointed hope. To this 
 one prophet seems to allude when he asks, “ Wilt thou be alto- 
 gether unto me as waters that fail ? ” (Jer. xv. IS.) And there is 
 every reason to conclude that Isaiah draws his beautiful metaphors 
 from the apparent effects thus exhibited in the desert, when lie 
 foretels the glories of the Messiah’s reign in glowing language 
 which a poet of our own has not unworthily imitated : — 
 
 * Isa. xxxv. In verse 7, the word rendered “parched ground’’ in our public 
 version, is actually this word, serab, by which the Arabs describe the mirage. 
 
 i “ The swain, in barren deserts, with surprise 
 
 Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise; 
 
 And starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear 
 New falls of water murmuring in his ear. 
 
 On rifted rocks, the dragons' late abodes, 
 
 The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods; 
 
 Wide sandy valleys, late perplex’d with thorn, 
 
 The spiry fir, and shapely box, adorn ; 
 
 To leafless shrubs the flowery palms succeed, 
 
 And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed.” * 
 
 * Besides the authorities cited in the course of the preceding account of deserts 
 and their phenomena, being William of Tyre, Volney, Taylor, Thevenot, Bussell, 
 Capper, Roziere, Denon, Skinner, Mr. Robinson, Madden, Dr. Robinson, Arundale, 
 &c., the following have been consulted : — Pietro della Valle, ‘ Viaggi in Turchia, 
 &c., 1. xix. ; Rauwolfl', ii. 5; Du Bois-Ayme, ‘ Memoire sur les Tribes Ara'nes ;’ 
 Burckhardt, ‘ Syria ’ and ‘ Notes on the Bedouins ; ’ Belzoni. ‘ Narrative of Ope- 
 rations,’ 341-343; Wellsted, ‘Travels in Arabia,’ ii. 31; Stephens, i. 23G-23S; 
 Coutelle, ‘Observations sur la Topographie de la Presqu’ile de Sinai.’ 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 
 
 (*) Valley of Jehoshaphat, p. 457. — When different names are 
 applied to the different parts of this valley it is usually thus : — The 
 valley is divided into three parts, of which the northern is called the 
 Valley of Kedron ; the middle, the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and 
 the southern, the Valley of Siloam— from the fountain of that name 
 on the one side, and the village on the other. These three names 
 are also applied, respectively, to the whole extent of the valley ; but 
 that of the valley of Siloam less frequently than the other two, — 
 being only, that we recollect, so applied by Josephus. But it is more 
 common to distinguish the Valley of Siloam, and apply one of the 
 other denominations to all the rest. The other Scriptural names 
 which have been generally thought to apply to this valley are the 
 following : — 
 
 The Valley of Shaveh, where Melchisedeck met Abraham when 
 he returned from the slaughter of the kings. Gen. xiv. 17. This 
 seems a very uncertain conclusion. 
 
 The King’s Dale, which, from the text just cited, was doubtless 
 the same as the Valley of Shaveh, whether the same as the Valley 
 of Jehoshaphat or not. In this King’s Dale Absalom erected his monu- 
 mental pillar. 2 Sam. xviii. 18. This name is equivalent to that of 
 the Royal Valley, which it is supposed to have taken from the gardens 
 and pleasure-houses which the kings reigning in Jerusalem had there. 
 
 The Valley of Vision is the name figuratively given to it by the 
 prophet Isaiah (xxii. 1). But in the figurative allusions to this valley, 
 Jerusalem itself is often intended. 
 
 The name Jehoshaphat means the Judgment of Jehovah. Joel is 
 the only prophet who uses the name Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there 
 is an evident play upon the name and its meaning in what he further 
 says, thus, — “ Come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat [t. e. of God’s 
 Judgment ], for there will I judge all the heathen round about .... 
 Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Judgment." (Joel iii. 12, 14.) 
 This last name is rendered Valley of Decision in our public version ; 
 and this is the passage on which is founded not only the current name 
 which the valley bears, but the popular notion as to its being the scene 
 of the final judgment. If these names — even that of Jehoshaphat — 
 apply to any natural valley, it is by no means clear that they apply 
 to the valley to which this note relates. We have, therefore, called 
 it. the Valley of Jehoshaphat, merely because it is the name by which, 
 during a long series of ages, it has the most generally been described. 
 
 These are not the only names which have been given to the valley, 
 but all which have been given on such authority as requires our notice. 
 
 ( i ) The Cicer-Field, p. 458. — It seems that this legend is told 
 with considerable variations. One account, nearly as prevalent as 
 the other, relates the story of Christ himself, and is thus reported by 
 RauwolfF : — 
 
 “Before you is a large valley, which, although it be rocky, yet is 
 fruitful both of corn and wine. In it, towards the right hand, near 
 the road, is an acre called the Cicer-Field, which had its name, as I 
 was informed, from the following transaction. It is said that when 
 Christ went by at a certain time, and saw a man that was sowing cicers, 
 he did speak to him kindly, and asked him what he was a sowing 
 there? The man answered scornfully, and said, ‘He sowed small 
 stones.’ ‘Then let it be,’ said our Lord, ‘that thou reap the same 1 
 seed thou sowest.’ So they say that at harvest he found, instead of 
 the cicer-peas, nothing but small pebbles, in shape and colour and 
 bigness like unto them exactly. Now, whether there be anything of 
 truth in it or no I cannot affirm ; but this I must say, that there are 
 to this day such stones found in this field. For as we went by some 
 of us went into it, and did gather a great many of them that were in 
 bigness, shape, and colour so like unto these cicers (by the Arabians 
 called ommos, and in Latin cicer arietinvm ) that we could hardly 
 distinguish them from natural ones.” 
 
 The stock of these pebbles seems to be exhausted ; and with them 
 
 3 x 
 
 the legend appears to have fallen into disuse, as the attention of tra- 
 vellers is not now directed by their guides to this spot. 
 
 (s) The Simoom, p. 46S. — Lucan had most correct information. 
 His account of the deserts of Libya, and of the sand-storm which the 
 Roman soldiers, led by Cato, encountered in their march through them, 
 remarkably agrees with, and illustrates, the particulars we have stated. 
 We cannot refrain from adducing a few passages : — 
 
 “No leafy shades the naked deserts know, 
 
 No silver streams through flowery meadows flow ; 
 
 But horrors there and various deaths abound, 
 
 And serpents guard th’ inhospitable ground. 
 
 No harvest there the scatter'd grain repays, 
 
 But withering dies, and, ere it shoots, decays ; 
 
 There never loves to spring the mantling vine, 
 
 Nor wanton ringlets round her elm to twine. 
 
 The thirsty dust prevents the swelling fruit, 
 
 Drinks up the generous juice, and kills the root ; 
 
 Through secret veins no tempering moistures pass, 
 
 To bind with viscous force the mouldering mass; 
 
 But genial Jove, averse, disdains to smile, 
 
 Forgets and curses the neglected soil. 
 
 Thence lazy Nature droops her idle head, 
 
 As every vegetable sense were dead; 
 
 Thence the wide, dreary plains one visage wear, 
 
 Alike in summer, winter, spring appear, 
 
 Nor feel the terms of the revolving year. 
 
 Their herbage here (for some ev’n here is found) 
 
 The Nasamonian hinds collect around. 
 
 Here all at large, where nought restrains his force, 
 Impetuous Auster* runs his rapid course; 
 
 Nor mountains here, nor stedlast rocks resist, 
 
 But free he sweeps along the spacious list. 
 
 No stable groves of ancient oaks arise. 
 
 To tire his rage, and catch him as he Hies ; 
 
 But wide around the naked plains appear, 
 
 Here fierce lie drives, unbounded, through the air, 
 Roars, and exerts his dreadful empire here. 
 
 The whirling dust, like waves in eddies wrought, 
 Rising aloft, to the mid heaven is caught ; 
 
 There hangs, a sullen cloud, nor falls again, 
 
 Nor breaks, like gentle vapours, into rain. 
 
 Thus wide o’er Libya raged the stormy south, 
 
 Thus every way assail’d the Latian youth. 
 
 Each several method for defence they try, 
 
 Now wrap their garments tight, now close they lie • 
 Now sinking to the earth with weight they press. 
 
 Now clasp it to them with a strong embrace; 
 
 Scarce in that posture safe, the driving blast 
 Bears hard, and almost drives them off at last. 
 Meantime a sandy flood comes rolling on, 
 
 And swelling heaps the prostrate legions drown. 
 
 New to the sudden danger, and dismay'd, 
 
 The frighted soldier hasty calls for aid, 
 
 Heaves at the hill, and struggling rears his head. 
 
 Soon shoots the glowing pile, and, rear’d on high, 
 
 Lifts up its lofty summit to the sky : 
 
 High sandy walls, like forts, their passage stay, 
 
 And rising mountains intercept their way : 
 
 The certain bounds which should their journey guide-. 
 The moving earth and dusty deluge hide : 
 
 So landmarks sink beneath the flowing tide, 
 
 As through mid seas, uncertainly t Ley move, 
 
 Led only by Jove’s sacred lights above.” Rowe. 
 
 * The south wind. 
 
470 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 Denon writes muchf about the simoom; and from him we. are 
 tempted to cite the following passage, relating to the march of a party 
 of Egyptian Mamelukes, who took the pass from the Kittah by the way 
 of Redisi : — 
 
 “ This pass is never frequented by the merchants, and was fatal to 
 the Mamelukes, who, by taking this road, lost their horses, together 
 with a part of their camels, a considerable number of their attendants, 
 and twenty-six women out of twenty-eight. Their march was traced 
 by their disasters, and by what thfy left behind them, — tents, arms, 
 clothing, the carcases of horses starved to death, camels which were 
 no longer able to support their burdens, attendants, and their women, 
 whom they abandoned to their fate. I figured to myself the sufferings 
 of a poor wretch, panting with fatigue, and expiring with thirst, his 
 tongue parched, and breathing with difficulty the hot air by which he 
 is cansumed. He hopes that a few minutes’ repose will enable him to 
 recover his strength : he stops, and sees his companions pass by, calling 
 on them in vain for help. The misery to which each one is a prey has 
 banished every compassionate feeling :• they proceed on their way 
 without casting a look on him, and follow in silence the footsteps of 
 those who precede them. They are no longer in his view, — they are 
 fled — and his benumbed limbs, already overpowered by their painful 
 existence, refuse their office, and cannot be stimulated to action either 
 by danger or by terror. The caravan has passed : it appears to him 
 like an undulating line in the wide expanse, and, becoming at length 
 a mere point, disappears altogether, like the last glimmer of an expir- 
 ing taper. He casts around him his wild and frantic looks, but can see 
 nothing: he turns them towards himself, then closes his eyes to shun 
 the aspect of the terrible vacuity by which he is surrounded. He hears 
 nothing but his own sighs, and fate hovers over him to cut the thread 
 of his existence. Alone, and without a companion to do him the last 
 offices, he is about to expire without one single ray of hope to admi- 
 nister comfort to his departing soul, — and his corpse, consumed by the | 
 parched and burning soil, soon becomes a bleached skeleton, which will 1 
 serve as a guide to the uncertain steps of the traveller who shall dare 
 to brave the fate that has befallen him.” 
 
 (<) The Mieage, p. 469.— All the phenomena of the mirage, which 
 are in considerable variety, are usually regarded as examples of un- 
 usual refraction. “As a general definition, we may say the mirage is 
 an optical illusion, caused by the refraction of light through contiguous 
 masses of air of different density, such refraction not unfrequently 
 producing the same effect as direct reflection.”* This difference ol 
 density may be caused either by moisture or by heat. Among moun- 
 tains and near bodies of actual water it is often seen, and is then caused 
 by moisture ; and in the dry sandy deserts by heat. In the former 
 case it is most usually seen by night or in the morning, and in the 
 latter during the heat of the day. As the desert mirage is that which 
 engages our attention, we may observe, with- more particular reference 
 to it, that the case is there one of diminished density in the lower 
 stratum of the atmosphere, caused by the increase of heat, communi- 
 cated by the rays of the sun to the sand, with which this stratum is in 
 immediate contact. 
 
 The following passage, for which we are indebted to the ‘ Penny 
 Cyclopaedia,’ shows the application to most of the phenomena of the 
 mirage : — 
 
 “ All these phenomena, and their various modifications, depend on 
 the different density of the lower strata of the air, and as this difference 
 of density may be occasioned both by heat and moisture, and as heat 
 may be reverberated from the mountain’s side, as well as from the 
 horizontal surface of the plains, from the sea as from the land ; and 
 further, as contiguous columns of air, as well as horizontal strata, may 
 be of different densities, it is easy to conceive why the mirage may be 
 seen in very different situations, as also why it presents such varied 
 appearances. It will also be evident that any cause which re-establishes 
 the equilibrium of density in the different portions of the air must 
 cause the illusions of the mirage to vanish. 
 
 “ Supposing the nature of refraction to be understood, the explanation 
 of the way in which difference of density in different strata of the air 
 occasions the mirage becomes very simple. 
 
 * ‘Penny Cyclopaedia,’ art. ‘ Mirage.’ 
 
 “ Let A represent an object on a hill ; abed a stratum of air heated 
 by the reverberation from the soil beneath, so as to have a less density 
 than that of the air above. Now, if an observer's eye be at E, he will 
 see the object by direct vision in its proper place, and also a reversed 
 image of the same just below it at B, because the rays coming from 
 it obliquely towards the ground are refracted from their direct course 
 on entering the less dense inferior stratum of air, and, taking at first a 
 direction inclining to the horizontal, are afterwards bent up so as to 
 meet the eye of the observer at E, who thus sees the indirect image 
 in the direction B, or exactly as it would appear if reflected ; and more- 
 over, as the rays from that part of the heavens which form the back- 
 ground to the object are refracted in the same manner, the sky is 
 reversed as well as the object, and presents the appearance of a sheet 
 of water. 
 
 “ If the lower stratum of air be denser than the strata above, and the 
 object be seen by direct vision through the denser stratum, then the 
 curve or trajectory, instead of being convex towards the earth, will be 
 concave, and the reversed image will be seen as if suspended in the air 
 above.” ' 
 
 How the appearance of water may be produced ; how actual objects 
 may exhibit a reversed image in this apparent water ; and how distant 
 objects may be elevated and brought near by such refraction, is thus 
 capable of most satisfactory explanation. But there still appear to be 
 some points which, in all the accounts we have ever met with, we have 
 never found explained to our full satisfaction. For example, an ap- 
 parent lake, surrounded by all the objects which a lake in such a climate 
 might be expected to exhibit, may be seen in situations known to be 
 at least 200 miles distant from any place where a real lake can be 
 found.* Is this the image of a real lake, brought near by refraction ? 
 Or is it purely an optical fantasy, produced in the manner which has 
 been described ? Considering that the point of view is low, and that 
 the lake, if it exists, must be positively and comparatively lower, and 
 taking into account the curvature of the earth in a distance of 200 
 miles, the first supposition gives a refractive power to the atmosphere 
 infinitely greater than any accredited examples of apparent approxima- 
 tion, by even “unusual refraction,” would require us to believe. The 
 extent of the required power may be estimated by the fact that the 
 curvature of the earth would alone exclude from view, at the distance 
 of 200 miles, a mountain more than 20,000 feet high. Then as to the 
 other alternative, although the appearance of water may be produced 
 by optical illusion, whence come the trees and verdure by which the 
 lake often seems to be surrounded in deserts absolutely destitute of all 
 vegetation ? The appearance of a body of water, and of water only, 
 being produced in the manner described, — is it not possible that, in a 
 region where water is always known to give birth to vegetation, the 
 imagination supplies in these cases the customary association ? Or,’ in 
 other words, that the appearance of water is a physical, and^that «f 
 trees and verdure a mental illusion. That all the members of a k caravan 
 see it does not render this unlikely ; — they all see the physical Elusion 
 of water, but we have no evidence that they all think they see surround- 
 ing trees and other objects, and still less that they see the same objects 
 in the same spots with their companions. But great similarity of ex- 
 citement among many men would be not only accountable but natural ; 
 for a greater marvel than the mirage itself is offered in the psychologi- 
 cal phenomenon of the similar influence upon many minds of a con- 
 tinued subjection to the same atmospherical modifications, the same 
 scenery, the same diet and manner of life, and, above all, the same 
 privations and desires. 
 
 We are content to state this as an alternative to those whom the 
 other explanations leave unsatisfied. The corroboratory considerations, 
 for which we cannot afford room, will probably occur to the minds of 
 most of our readers. 
 
 * Wellsted’s ‘Travels in Arabia,’ ii. 31. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 471 
 
 CHAPTER V— LAKES AND RIVERS. 
 
 If we sail along the coast of Syria and Palestine, we cannot fail 
 to notice the mountain ranges which extend through the entire 
 length of the land. We shall observe that they run parallel to the 
 shore at various distances, but nowhere at any considerable dis- 
 tance from it. We shall then consider, that the streams which 
 water the country before us arise from springs in those mountains ; 
 and, seeing that the course that they have to run must needs be 
 short, and consequently that no time is afforded them to collect 
 such tribute in their way as might give them importance, we shall 
 infer that no stream deserving to be called a river can reach the 
 sea. And when we further take into account the warmth of the 
 low-lying country, and the want of rains in summer, we shall con- 
 sider it very likely that there are few if any streams which continue 
 to flow all the year, or which, in fact, are other than winter tor- 
 rents. As the other, or inland, side of the water-shed which these 
 mountains form is unknown to us, and as it is reasonable to suppose 
 that all its waters are thrown in an opposite direction — that is inland, 
 or eastward — we shall not calculate on any accidents which may 
 bring round to the western coast, through openings in the moun- 
 tains, any of the perhaps more considerable streams which have 
 their rise in the farther side of the water-shed. All these conclu- 
 sions from the natural organization of the country, as viewed from 
 the coast, would prove to be correct. Nearly all the streams which 
 flow from the western water-slope are mere torrents, rendered im- 
 portant during winter and spring by the rains and melted snows, 
 but the course of which can only be discovered during the remainder 
 of the year by the rounded stones and fragments of rock with which 
 their beds are filled. 
 
 In all Palestine Proper not a single stream from a perennial 
 source reaches the coast. It is only in the plains under the Lebanon 
 mountains that such streams occur ; and even there, such as main- 
 tain their existence throughout the year shrink to mere brooks 
 during summer. Two of the only three streams in Syria that can 
 strictly claim the name of rivers find their way to the western shore, 
 although they rise on the eastern slopes : the third — the one that 
 does not do this — is the Jordan. 
 
 The particular information, as to the geographical construction 
 of the country', which we have already given, in the chapter on 
 mountains, will enable the reader to understand that, when the 
 summit is attained of the frontier range of which we have been 
 speaking, it is found that the waters of the eastern slope have a 
 still shorter run than those of the western. Instead of stretchin" 
 
 O 
 
 off afar into the eastern plains, the waters of this slope fall short 
 into hollow basins — plains or valleys — which slope northward and 
 southward, and collect and carry off the streams in channels running 
 parallel to the mountains, in the form of the three most consider- 
 able rivers which the country offers. The channels of these three 
 rivers traverse the entire length of Syria. The course of two of 
 them — the Leontes and the Jordan — is to the south, and that of 
 the Orontes is to the north. The opposite courses of the Orontes 
 and Leontes demonstrate that the highest level in all Syria is at 
 that part of the Lebanon chain which to this day bears the distinc- 
 tive name of Jebel Libnan : for in the valley of Baalbec, or on the 
 lower slopes of these mountains, are the springs in which those 
 rivers rise ;* and although the sources are not ten miles apart, they 
 lake opposite courses — the one to the north and the other to the south. 
 The Orontes, impelled northward by the slope of the land in that 
 direction, proceeds through the plains and valleys which are over- 
 looked by the eastern slopes of the northern mountains, and owes 
 all its relative importance to the fact that it has to traverse 150 
 
 • It is true that both river* originate in springs which rise both from Lebanon 
 and Anti-Lebanon, and which unite in the plain. Any of the*e may be consi- 
 dered the source ; and, in fact the spring which is considered the source of the 
 Orontes is on the Lebanon side, and that which is regarded as the source of the 
 Leontes is on the Anti-Lebanon side near Baalbec. But the question of the highest 
 water-level is not affected by the determination as to the particular springs which 
 are to be regarded as the sources of these rivers. 
 
 miles before it can find an outlet to the Mediterranean. At last the 
 chain of mountains terminates in Mount Casius, and then the river 
 turns and hastens to the Mediterranean through the plain of Antioch. 
 On the other hand, the Leontes, rising in the neighbourhood of 
 Baalbec, hastens southward, and finds a much speedier access to the 
 sea. It follows the course of the great Lebanon valley, keeping 
 nearly in its centre, and passes through its opening termination 
 towards the sea, which it reaches in the neighbourhood of Tyre, 
 eighty-five miles from its source. 
 
 The river Jordan rises nearly in the latitude in which the Leontes 
 terminates. But this river never reaches any maritime shore ; — 
 after ^traversing two lakes, its course is cut short, and its waters lost 
 in a third — the Dead Sea. Its basin drains the eastern water-slopes 
 of Palestine Proper ; but it drains them only of winter torrents, for 
 all the country does not contribute one perennial stream to the 
 Jordan. But it receives also the waters from the high eastern 
 plains, and among these are the Jarmuch, the Jabbok, and the 
 Arnon, — all of which, though their waters get very low, and 
 almost extinct, towards the end of summer, are perennial streams. 
 
 Of these three rivers the Leontes is the least important ; and 
 although in length of course the Orontes much exceeds the Jordan, 
 its volume of water is so inconsiderable, that were it not impeded 
 by successive obstructions, it would be quite dry during the sum- 
 mer.* The Jordan is, therefore, entitled to take its place as the 
 chief of Syrian rivers ; and perhaps this is distinction enough for 
 it : but besides this, it may be said that for a line of nearly 3000 
 miles along the coast of Africa and of Syria, no one stream, except 
 the Nile, contributes as large a volume of water to the Mediter- 
 ranean as the Jordan contributes to the Dead Sea, and that all 
 Arabia has not one river comparable to it. Such comparisons as 
 this, among similar things, are more just to the Jordan than those 
 which it was some years ago fashionable to make, to its disparage- 
 ment, as compared with the great rivers of Europe. Yet there are 
 many small rivers of Europe which, aggrandized by the Atlantic 
 tides, appear of much importance, although, intrinsically, of little 
 more consequence than the Jordan. But the dignity of the Jordan 
 arises from other circumstances than the volume of its waters or the 
 extent of its course. 
 
 Seeing that the lakes of Palestine are intimately connected with 
 the Jordan, their waters being, in fact, contained in enlarged hol- 
 lows of its basin, it seems best not, for the mere sake of classifica- 
 tion, to separate them from this natural connection, but to trace the 
 river from its source to its termination, describing the lakes we have 
 to pass in our way. 
 
 When several springs contribute their waters to form a river, it 
 is often not easy to say which of them is to be regarded as its 
 source ; and perhaps the usual practice of selecting some one of 
 them to be regarded as the source of the river in preference to the 
 others, is nothing more than a convenient inaccuracy. It would 
 seem that the spring which is most remote, and whose stream 
 receives and is aggrandized into a river by the others which rise 
 below it, has the best claim to be regarded as the source. But this 
 is seldom the case ; various accidental circumstances having, in most 
 instances, operated to give the distinction to some one of the less 
 remote springs. So, with respect to the Jordan, the stream which 
 issues from the cave at Panias has been usually considered the 
 source of that river : but its claim to this distinction may well be 
 disputed ; for, although very copious, it is by no means the most 
 distant of the fountains of the Jordan. This opinion is by no means 
 recent. Josephus mentions it as having been currently regarded as 
 the fountain of the Jordan ; but that the stream which proceeds 
 from the cave originated in it, began to be questioned in his time. 
 It was held that, in reality, the stream which came from the cave 
 was carried thither after some secret manner [subterraneously ?] 
 from the lake of Phiala, which lake, as he states, lay about fifteen 
 
 * So Volncy, i. 287, note. 
 
47.2 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 miles from Caesarea Philippi,* not far on the right hand of the road 
 *5 one journeys to Trachonitis. This lake had its name, Phiala, 
 l_vial or bowl], by a very appropriate allusion to its cup-like ap- 
 pearance, its circumference being as round as a wheel. The water 
 of this lake continued always up to the edges without sinking or 
 running over. That it supplied the stream which issued from the 
 cave at Panias was discovered in the time of Philip the tetrarch, 
 when some clialf which had been cast into the lake was brought by 
 the stream out of the cave. 
 
 Little reliance can be placed on such an experiment as this ; 
 and the conclusion deduced from it has not been supported by later 
 observations. Indeed, in the first place, there seems to have been 
 some difficulty in finding the lake of which the historian speaks. 
 Seetzen, Burckhardt, and Irby and Mangles differ on this question. 
 The lake which the latter found on their route by a new track, 
 from Damascus to Panias, is the most important in itself, and 
 agrees best in its situation and character with the intimations which 
 Josephus offers. They describe it as a very picturesque lake, ap- 
 parently perfectly circular, of little more than a mile in circumfer- 
 ence, surrounded on all sides by sloping hills, richly wooded. The 
 singularity of this lake is, that it has no apparent supply or dis- 
 charge, and its waters appeared perfectly still, though clear and 
 limpid. A great many wild-fowl were swimming in it. Captain 
 Mangles thinks, we doubt not justly, that this is the lake of Phiala: 
 but observes, that the alleged communication with the stream of 
 Panias is impossible, as in that case the discharge must pass under 
 a rivulet which some regard as the true source of the Jordan. We 
 readily give up the alleged communication ; but we do not know 
 that it is rendered impossible by the circumstance stated. As the 
 object of the chapter is to describe the various bodies of water in 
 Palestine, it may be well to mention those which Seetzen and 
 Burckhardt have mistaken for the lake Phiala. The former places 
 it two leagues to the east of Panias, and says that it now passes by 
 the name of Birket el Ram. It is difficult to make anything of this : 
 for while, on the one hand, the distance is too small for the lake of 
 Irby and Mangles, f on the other, the lake which Burckhardt de- 
 scribes under the name of Birket el Ram is not east of Panias, nor 
 two leagues from it, but upwards of twenty miles to the south-east, 
 on the road to Jacob’s Bridge. 
 
 Burckhardt informs us that what the Bedouins call the Birket 
 el Ram, and the peasants Birket Abou Ermeil, is a reservoir of 
 water, a few hundred paces to the south of the road, at the foot 
 of Tel Abou Nedy, and is supplied by two springs which are never 
 dry. One of these is in the bottom of a deep well in the midst 
 of the Birket. Just by this reservoir are the ruins of an ancient 
 town, about a quarter of an hour in circuit, of which nothing 
 remains but large heaps of stones. Five minutes farther is another 
 Birket, which is filled by rain-water only. The neighbourhood 
 of these reservoirs is covered by a forest of short oak-trees. The 
 rock of the mountain consists of sandstone and the basalt of the 
 Haouran. Beyond these Birkets the road (towards Jacob’s Bridge) 
 begins to descend gently; and at a distance of about four miles 
 from them, just by the road, on the left, is a large pond, called 
 Birket Nefah or Tefah, about 200 paces in circumference. Some 
 of Burckhardt’s companions asserted that the pond contained a 
 spring, but some denied it ; and from this he inferred that the 
 water never dries up completely. “ I take this,” he adds, “ to be 
 the lake Phiala, laid down in the maps of Syria, as there is no 
 other lake or pond in the neighbourhood.” He was evidently not 
 aware of the lake which Mangles describes, or he would, doubt- 
 less, have admitted its superior claims to that which he indicates. 
 Indeed, none of these Birkets are at all in the situation indicated 
 by Josephus, being about twenty miles to the S.E. and S.S.E. of 
 the cave at Panias. 
 
 To that cave we now return. It is on the north-east side of the 
 village of Panias. Over the source is a perpendicular rock, in 
 
 * In its origin this town was probably the Laisli, or Leshem, which the Danites 
 took from the Canaanites anil called Dan. Heathen writers called it Panias. 
 Philip, the youngest son of Herod the Great, having enlarged and improved it, and 
 made it the capital of his tetrarchy, gave it the name of Caesarea, to which his own 
 name was added, to distinguish it from the more important city of the same name 
 on the coast. The name of Panias is that which is still preserved in the form of 
 Banias. The visit of Jesus Christ to this place is recorded in Mark viii. 
 
 t By a singular oversight, Irby and Mangles fancy that their lake is that described 
 by Seetzen and Burckhardt under the name of Birket el Ram, observing, — “ It ap- 
 pears that this lake has only been remarked by Burckhardt and Seetzen ; those who 
 have gone from Damascus to Panias having taken the route by Rachia and Has. 
 beya.” But this was the route of Seetzen ; and Burckhardt notices the Birket el 
 Ram while travelling the loiver route from Damascus to Jacob’s Bridge. His 
 Birket is full fifteen miles to the south of their lake ; and he takes no notice of any 
 lake or Birket when travelling, on another occasion, on a route party parallel to 
 theirs. 
 
 which several niches have been cut to receive statues. The 
 largest of these niches is above a spacious cavern, and is six 
 feet broad and as much in depth, with a smaller niche at the 
 bottom of it. Immediately above it, on the perpendicular face of 
 the rock, is another niche, adorned with pilasters, supporting a shell 
 ornament. Here are two other niches, near these, and twenty paces 
 farther two more, nearly buried in the ground, at the foot of the 
 rock. In the middle niche of the three represented in the engrav- 
 ing, the base of the statue which it once contained is still visible. 
 Each of these niches has an inscription annexed to it ; but Burck- 
 hardt could only decipher part of one of them. The niche in the 
 cavern probably contained a statue of Pan, from whose worship 
 the place acquired the name of Panias, and the whole mountain 
 that of Panium ; and in the other niches were probably other 
 statues with suitable dedicatory inscriptions. There are a number 
 of hewn stones about the source of the copious stream which here 
 rises, and which may, perhaps, as Colonel Leake conjectures, have 
 belonged to the temple of Augustus built here by Herod. The 
 stream flows on the north of the village of Panias, where there is 
 a well-built bridge and some remains of the ancient town. This 
 stream is called by Burckhardt “ the river of Panias,” as he doubted 
 its claim to be considered the source of the Jordan. 
 
 I his traveller and some others would rather refer the source of 
 this celebrated river to the spring which rises between three and 
 four miles to the north-east of Panias. It is in the plain near a 
 hill called Tel-el-Kadi. Here there are two springs near each 
 other, one smaller than the other, whose waters unite immediately 
 below. Both sources are on a level ground, among rocks of 
 tufwacke. The larger source immediately forms a river twelve 
 or fourteen yards across, which rushes rapidly over a stony bed 
 into a lower plain. There are no ruins of any kind near the 
 springs; but the hill over them seems to have been built upon, 
 though nothing now is visible. 
 
 There is another stream, only noticed by Irby and Mangles, 
 which, as being more remote, has a better claim, geographically, 
 than either of the above, to be regarded as the source of the Jordan. 
 It appears to rise from the southern slopes of Mount Hermon, at 
 the distance of about twelve miles due east of the source at Panias. 
 It was first noticed by Irby and Mangles, when they descended 
 into a little plain, at the immediate foot of that mountain (Jebel-es- 
 Sheikh, or Mount Hermon), not long before they came to the lake 
 Phiala. The stream “ runs along the western side of the- plain 
 in a southerly direction, when its course turns more to the west- 
 ward, and rushing in a very picturesque manner through a deep 
 chasm, covered by shrubs of various descriptions, it joins the 
 Jordan at Panias.” That it does unite with the other two streams 
 to form the Jordan is unquestionable, from the direction of its 
 course ; but that the union takes place at Panias seems very doubt- 
 ful : at all events, it were to be wished that this assertion had been 
 made by the travellers when they were themselves at Panias, rather 
 than here, where it looks much like a conjecture. 
 
 The fourth stream which requires to be noticed is that which 
 rises at Ilasbeya, and which has been slightly noticed in a preceding 
 page (451). On geographical principles its claim to that dis- 
 tinction would not be disputed, as it is the most remote and con- 
 siderable of the streams which form the river. It is twelve miles 
 of direct distance to the north-east of the source of the Panias 
 river; and the road to Panias from that quarter lies through the 
 valley of this stream. Its source is a large spring that wells out 
 from the west side of Jebel-es-Sheikh, near the village of Hasbeya, 
 from which it takes the nameofMoiet Hasbeya, or river of Hasbeya. 
 There is a bridge over it at the village, and its banks are covered 
 with numerous plantations of the mulberry-tree. Its ultimate 
 course has not been well traced. Buckingham, who kept it in 
 view almost from its source to a point about three miles ruest of 
 Panias, says that it is there as broad, as deep, and as rapid as the 
 Jordan near Jericho. It is said to take its further course to the 
 lake Huleh without joining any of the streams which have been 
 described, or the single stream formed by their junction. This, if 
 true, would explain how it happens that this stream was not re- 
 garded as the source of the Jordan. But even in case it does 
 independently pursue its course to the lake, it might still be re- 
 garded as the source, if the name of Jordan be confined to the 
 single stream which issues from the lake, leaving to those which 
 enter it their separate denominations. 
 
 Seetzen, who was not acquainted with the stream described by 
 Irby and Mangles, thus states the relative claims of the other 
 three : — “ The ancients give the name of the source of the Jordan 
 to the spring from which the Panias rises, and its beauty might 
 entitle it to that name. But in fact it appears that the preference 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 473 
 
 is due to the spring of the river Hasberia (so he calls it), which 
 rises half a league to the west of Hasbeya, and which forms the 
 longest branch of the Jordan. The spring of Tel-el-Ivadi, which 
 the natives take for the source of the Jordan , is that which least 
 merits the name.” 
 
 After this statement, and before proceeding to what may be 
 called the history of the question, it is well to see the connection 
 of these three streams as far as it has been ascertained. Mr. 
 Buckingham’s route from Panias was favourable to comparative 
 observation, as it enabled him to take them all in succession, on 
 nearly the same parallel, from east to west. His information is 
 thus conveyed : — 
 
 “ We quitted Panias, and, going west for a little more than a 
 mile, came to a small elevation in the plain, with a flat space on 
 the top, like an artificial mound. It is called Tel-el-Kadi. Here 
 the springs of the Jordan (?) rise, rushing out of five or six places, 
 rendered difficult of access by rushes, trees, &c. These springs 
 are called by the Arabs Nubb-el-Etheari. They form, even here, 
 a pretty large basin, and go, in a single stream, to the southward, 
 passing by a place where there is a white tomb called Seedy Yooda 
 Ibn Yacoob, and keeping near the foot of the eastern range of hills. 
 This tomb is, perhaps, a mile to the south of the springs here 
 described ; and two miles to the southward of that, the water of 
 Panias, which keeps always east of the Jordan [the stream from 
 Tel-el-Kadi] thus far, here joins it, and they go together into the 
 Bahr-el-Huleh, which is said to be six hours, though it looks not 
 more than ten miles from hence. 
 
 “ We went up in a north-west direction from hence, and in an 
 hour crossed the river Hheuzbhdni* over a bridge of three arches, 
 the stream being here both wide and deep, with steep rocky banks 
 on each side. The river goes from hence southerly into a small 
 lake called Birket Jehouly, about five miles to the south of this ; 
 and from thence it continues to the Bahr el Houley, — a much 
 larger lake, — not mixing its waters with those of the Jordan till 
 then.” 
 
 This passage is conclusive for the fact, that the Hasbeya river 
 is a large and important stream at a point between three and four 
 miles to the north-west of Banias, and between two and three from 
 Tel-el-Kadi. The concluding passage, which we have marked by 
 italics, is, in terms, no less conclusive for the point that this stream 
 does not join, or rather, does not receive, the others till it reaches 
 the lake Houle. It is on this authority that the course of the 
 Hasbeya has been represented in our own and some other maps of 
 recent date ; but rather because it is the only positive information 
 which has been offered on the subject than that it is entitled to 
 implicit reliance. It is to be regretted that the traveller does not 
 state more distinctly the source of his information. He did not 
 himself journey to the south of the bridge ; and he does not say 
 distinctly that his statement is founded on a survey from a com- 
 manding position. Such a survey over all the country to the lake 
 Huleh may, from more than one point, be obtained ; and when he 
 acquaints us that the lake looked not more than ten miles distant 
 from Tel-el-Kadi, we are left to infer that his information con- 
 cerning the course of the Hasbeya was so obtained. As it is, we 
 consider this question remains to be settled positively. 
 
 In favour of the conclusion that this river does reach the lake 
 Huleh alone, is the fact, that some of the old Biblical geographers 
 do make a tolerably broad river enter the lake Huleh to the west 
 of the Jordan ; but, then, their doing so is founded on what Reland 
 seems to prove an erroneous interpretation of Josephus, and ac- 
 cordingly, he rejects this stream from his map. D’Anville, how- 
 ever, restored it, and carried its source far off to the hills in the 
 north -west ; and in this shape it has been preserved, even to our 
 own time. Unless we suppose that this was founded on some in- 
 formation that a river actually did enter the Huleh at this point, 
 not much of confirmation for the independence of the Hasbeya is 
 obtainable from this circumstance. 
 
 Against it is the fact, that no travellers who have been at the 
 head of the lake Huleh speak of any considerable stream, but the 
 single one of the Jordan, as entering there. Pococke, Richardson, 
 and Irby and Mangles, say not a word of any such stream. The 
 information which the latter offer is most to the purpose, although 
 somewhat negative. Departing from Panias, and “ having been 
 directed to follow the course of the Jordan, we endeavoured to 
 perform that route. The beautiful wooded country does not con- 
 tinue more than two miles from Panias, when we entered into open, 
 but rich plains. We found the ground very marshy; and, after 
 winding about to find fords among the innumerable streams that 
 water the plains, we crossed the Jordan itself. But the country 
 * This is certainly the same that Seetzen calls Hasberia, anti Burckhardt Hasbeya. 
 
 3 Y 
 
 on the other side was as full of marshes and ravines as that we had 
 left, and in several places we nearly lost our horses. At length 
 we succeeded in finding the road that leads to Safed, which runs at 
 the foot of the hills on the other side of the plain.” 
 
 They travelled in early spring — the watery season ; and this 
 
 extract will serve to remind the reader of the description of this 
 
 plain which we gave in the preceding chapter. They crossed the 
 Jordan between two and three miles above the lake ; and, after 
 that, they make no mention of crossing any other river, although, 
 unless the Hasbeya had previously joined the Jordan, its stream 
 must have been crossed by them after they had passed that river ; 
 and the passage, in the season of overflow, of a river which, ten 
 miles above the lake, appears as considerable as the Jordan near 
 Jericho, could hardly fail to have been noticed. Yet the only 
 
 answer to this which occurs to us is, that, at a time of the year 
 
 when so many powerful torrents, which they found difficult to ford, 
 rushed towards the lake, the river might have been passed without 
 being distinguished from them ; and this is rendered the more 
 possible by their not expecting to find such a river, as they appear 
 to have entertained the opinion that the Hasbeya was one of the 
 streams that joined the Jordan before entering the lake Huleh. 
 
 On the other hand, Buckingham’s visit was at a more advanced 
 season of the year, when the marshiness of the country and the 
 strength of the winter torrents must have subsided, and many ot 
 the latter had dried up ; and when, therefore, it was more easy 
 to distinguish the course of such a river. So, upon the whole, 
 there seems a doubt in the matter which it must be left for future 
 observations to solve. 
 
 After this statement as to the physical state of the question, the 
 reader will be the better able to apprehend the questions connected 
 with this matter which have been elaborately discussed by the 
 various writers on Biblical geography. 
 
 Although Josephus speaks of the stream from Panias as the 
 visible source of the Jordan, he yet mentions a Little Jordan and 
 a Great Jordan. In one place he tells us that the marshes of the 
 lake Samochonitis (Huleh) extend as far as the place Daphne, 
 which in other respects is a delicious place, and has fountains, 
 which supply water to what is called Little Jordan, under the 
 temple of the golden calf, whence it is sent into the Greater Jordan. 
 The meaning of this was considered to be helped out by the 
 statement of Jerome, who says that the Jordan has its roots in 
 Lebanon, and springs from two fountains, the one called Jor and 
 the other Dan, and that the names join in the confluent stream. (*) 
 
 This statement has been repeated by various ancient and modern 
 writers. Some of them were actual travellers ; but whether they 
 speak after Jerome, or on their own information, it is not possible 
 to find. The only one who professes to acquaint us with the dis- 
 tance of the two fountains is Philostorgius, a writer of the fifth 
 century, who makes it 160 stades, a distance much greater even 
 than that between Panias and the sources of the Hasbeya, but 
 agreeing, even by remote approximation, only with these two, and 
 showing that the distance was, at any rate, deemed to be greater 
 than the mile which separates the sources of the streams of Panias 
 and Tel-el-Kadi. 
 
 On this information (excepting that as to distance) the old maps 
 of Ziegler, Solinus, Adrichomius, Quaresmius, Fuller, and others, 
 deduced one stream from some arbitrary point, and called it Jor, 
 and another from the source at Panias, to which they gave the 
 name of Dan. They made the distances, generally, too small for 
 that between the sources of Panias and Hasbeya, and too great for 
 that between Panias and Tel-el-Kadi.* When these streams are 
 made to unite, the name Jordan is given to the enlarged river 
 formed by their confluence. In all cases they consider that the 
 “ Little Jordan ” was that not coming from Panias. 
 
 Lightfoot objected to this state of the question, with which he 
 does not, however, indicate much acquaintance ; as he assumes 
 that the theory of two originating streams arose from Josephus’s 
 mention of a great Jordan and a little Jordan, and are intended to 
 represent them. He proves, at large, that both Josephus and the 
 Talmudists place the spring of the Jordan at Panias, and name no 
 other; and that this Panias was at the springs of the “Lesser 
 Jordan or, in other words, that, while Josephus distinctly traces 
 the Jordan to the source at Panias, he as distinctly assigns that, 
 and no other, as the source of the “ Lesser Jordan,” without giving 
 to the Great Jordan any separate source. Thus, he alleges there is 
 no authority in Josephus for two distinct sources of the Jordan, 
 
 * Fuller is an exception. lie makes the distance just enough for that between the 
 sources of Panias and Hasbeya; and instead of calling the lirst Han and the other 
 Jor, as usual, reverses this order. In all the maps the second source is made to be 
 east of that at Panias. 
 
474 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 and seems unacquainted with the authority on which they were 
 exhibited. He might well, therefore, express his amazement that 
 the fountain of the Lesser Jordan should be known, and that of the 
 supposed Greater unknown. He, therefore, concludes, — “ We think, 
 therefore, that Jordan is called the Greater and the Less, not upon 
 account of two fountains, different and distinct from one another, 
 but upon account of the distinct greatness of the same river. 
 Jordan, rising out of Panias, was called Little until it flowed into 
 the lake Samochonitis ; but afterwards coming out of that lake, 
 when it had obtained a great increase from that lake, it was thence- 
 forth called Jordan the Greater. Samochonitis received Little 
 Jordan and sent forth the Great. For since both that lake and the 
 country adjacent was very fenny, the lake was not so much increased 
 by Jordan flowing into it, as it increased Jordan flowing out of it.” 
 Therefore he represents the Jordan as a single stream, issuing from 
 Panias, and called the Little Jordan from its source to the lake, and 
 not till it leaves the lake acquiring the name of the Great Jordan. 
 This view of the question received more authority and importance 
 from its subsequent adoption by Reland. 
 
 The greatly enlarged information which we now possess enables 
 us to see a little more clearly into the matter than these old 
 theoretical geographers. 
 
 It seems to be proved that Josephus means the river of Panias 
 by the Little Jordan, and that he describes it as running into 
 another river called the Great Jordan, not as forming the Great 
 Jordan by its junction with another river ; and, if the Great 
 Jordan were not formed till the river leaves the lake, he would 
 surely have described the Little Jonlan as running into the lake, 
 rather than as flowing into the Great Jordan.* His account, 
 therefore, may be taken to concur in assigning two distinct sources 
 to the Jordan ; and seeing that one of these sources is that which 
 issues from the cave at Panias, the other only remains to be sought. 
 
 If the river of Hasbeya does not pursue its course alone to the 
 lake, but receives the stream of Panias in its way, the fact could 
 not be unknown to Josephus, and we might deem this to be the 
 G reat Jordan into which the lesser runs. But if the claim of this 
 river be regarded as doubtful, for the reasons which we have stated, 
 then the river noticed by Irby and Mangles would seem to take the 
 next place ; and the distance given by Philostorgius would appear 
 to point to one of these rather than to any nearer source ; and his 
 statement seems the more entitled to attention, as he was nearer in 
 lime to Jerome than any other writer who mentions the subject. 
 We have, however, satisfied ourselves that later travellers, com- 
 mencing two or three centuries after Philostorgius, considered the 
 Jor and Dan as represented by the proximate streams of Panias 
 and Tel-el-Kadi. It is true they do not name the latter, or state 
 the exact distance ; but their indications of proximity are too 
 distinct to be mistaken. f It might be well, however, to recollect 
 that the Holy Land had, in the interval, fallen into the hands of 
 the Arabians, in consequence of which the actual knowledge of the 
 country had declined among European Christians, pilgrimages 
 having become more rare, and travelling difficult and dangerous. 
 It is easy, therefore, to conceive that the few who penetrated so far 
 as Panias easily satisfied themselves that the two proximate streams 
 were the two sources of the Jordan, the Jor and the Dan, of which 
 they had read. It was so natural for them to conclude so, that it 
 is likely they did it ; and, therefore, their conclusions are no 
 evidence of more ancient opinions on the subject. 
 
 Burckhardt informs us that the stream from Tel-el-Kadi still bears 
 the name of Dan, or (as he spells it) Dlian ; and a little further on 
 he adds, “ I was told that the ancient name of the river of Banias 
 was Jor (Djour), which added to the name of Dlian made Jourdan ; 
 the more correct etymology is probably Or Dan. Lower down, 
 between the Huleh and the lake of Tabaria, it is called Ordan by 
 the inhabitants : to the southward of the lake of Tabaria it bears 
 the name of Slierya, till it falls into the Dead Sea.” 
 
 The question to which we have given this rather large portion 
 of our attention is not of much geographical importance : but its 
 critical and historical interest is considerable ; and the reader is so 
 liable to be perplexed by the remarkable differences which maps and 
 books exhibit, that this attempt to elucidate the whole question will, 
 perhaps, be regarded as a useful service. It has also been our 
 desire to make travellers acquainted with the points on which infor- 
 mation is still wanted. 
 
 * The following are the passages of Josephus which bear more or less on the 
 question : — 1 Antiq.,’ lib. v. cap. 2 ; viii. 8 ; xv. 13 ; xviii. 3 ; 1 De Bello,’ lib- 
 
 i. cap. 16 ; iii. 15 and 35 ; iv 1. 
 
 f Compare Willibald (a.d. 765), ‘ Ilodoeporicon, et Vita,’ in Canasius, tom. 
 
 ii. Ill, 119; Arculpbus in Adamn. Scotus, ‘ de Locis Sancta,’ 1. ii. c. 16; 
 Brocard (a.d. 1230) in Cunasius, iv. 13; Baldensel (a.d. 1336) in idem, 352. 
 Willibald, the earliest oftln.se, is very clear on ibis point. 
 
 The description given in the last chapter, and the incidental 
 notices in the preceding paragraphs, will give some notion of the 
 enclosed land— the head of the Jordan valley — which is so abun- 
 dantly watered by the perennial streams which we have described 
 and by the innumerable torrents which rush down in every direc- 
 tion from the surrounding hills from the middle of autumn to the 
 end of spring. From these accounts we may understand the 
 glowing terms in which it was described by the Danites from 
 the thirsty south : — “ We have seen the land, and behold it is 
 very good — a large land— a place where there is no want of any- 
 thing that is in the earth.”* 
 
 Before quitting it entirely, it may be well to state the leading 
 geographical incidents of the northern portion of the valley which 
 encloses the upper portion of the Jordan and two of its lakes. 
 
 This valley, commencing at the roots of Anti-Libanus— or rather 
 of that portion of it which bears the name of Jebel-es-Sheikh 
 — Takes the name of Wady Sezeban, or Stezeban, and Buckingham 
 says that it continues all the way to be so called, t even to the Dead 
 Sea, although the part south of the lake of Tiberias is more fre- 
 quently called El Ghor. He further states, — “ The name of Jebel 
 el-Wast, which is applied to the Anti-Libanus of the ancients, 
 extends even to the southward of the Jebel-es-Sheikh as far as 
 Panias. From thence, southerly, to the eastern shore of the lake 
 of Tiberias is an even range of hills, called Jebel Jowalan, which, 
 with the portion of Jebel-el-Wast from Hibl thus far, forms the 
 eastern boundary of Wady Stezeban. The western boundary, which, 
 is also a range of hills of no considerable height or marked form, 
 is called Jebel Jowaleen. The valley itself extends, perhaps, thirty 
 miles from its commencement at Hibl to its interruption at the north 
 end of the lake of Tiberias, where the water occupies all the 
 breadth of the plain. To the northward of the Bahr-el-Huleh it 
 varies in breadth from five to ten miles, and to the southward of 
 Panias it seems well cultivated throughout.’’^ 
 
 It should be observed, that the distance from the head of the 
 valley to the head of the lake Huleh varies considerably with the 
 Lime of the year, as the dimensions of the lake are greatly con- 
 tracted during summer. And although the spring of Panias rises 
 from among the mountains which form the head of the valley, it 
 is not at the head of the valley from which Buckingham computes. 
 The proper head of the valley is about five miles to the north of 
 Panias. The distance from the head of the valley to the lake is 
 about fifteen miles ; but only ten from Panias. 
 
 The Bahr-el-Huleh is called, in the Old Testament, “ the 
 waters of Merom,Ӥ and is celebrated chiefly from the defeat 
 of the confederate kings of Canaan by Joshua on its borders. It 
 is not mentioned in the New Testament. Josephus calls it the 
 Lake Samochonitis, which appears to be a Greek rendering of 
 the native name Samaco, which it bears in the Jerusalem Talmud. 
 But in the same Talmud it is sometimes called “ the Sea of Cobebo,” 
 while the Babylonian Talmud names it “ the Sibbechean Sea.” 
 
 The dimensions of this lake are variously stated, probably in 
 consequence of its different appearance at different times of the 
 year. In the season of flood it seems almost to rival the lake of 
 Tiberias in extent; while, by the latter end of summer, it has 
 shrunk to about half its former dimensions. Josephus seems to 
 make it seven miles long by half that breadth : (*) Pococke seems 
 to allow this length, but says it cannot be more than two miles 
 broad, except at the northern extremity : Mariti makes it six 
 (Italian ?) miles long by four broad : Roger reduces it to one 
 league long by a less breadth ; while the latest observer, Dr. 
 Robinson, describes it as eight or ten miles long by four or five 
 miles broad, but adds, that the northern half is a mere marsh 
 covered with tall reeds or flags. This observation was, it appears, 
 made in June. At a more advanced season of the year, this mere 
 marsh, to which the northern part of the lake is reduced in June, 
 becomes quite dry, bringing down the dimensions to about the 
 lowest estimate. On the other hand, the lake is not at the highest 
 in June, but is then on the decline. Earlier in the year, the 
 marshy northern portion is deep water, and of greater extent. But 
 by the time the northern half is dried up, the southern portion 
 itself becomes little more than a marsh. The contraction is more 
 in length than in breadth ; and by casting up the above estimates, 
 it will appear that Josephus gave nearly the average dimensions. 
 
 The lake does not occupy the centre of the valley. It is much 
 nearer to the eastern than to the western side. There is a space 
 * Judges xviii. 9, 10. 
 
 f This is not at variance with the statement already cited from Burckhardt; for 
 what he gives are the names of the subdivisions of the river ,* whereas this applies 
 to the valley through which the river flows. 
 
 + Not “ throughout,” but to a very considerable extent. 
 
 § Joshua xi. 5. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 475 
 
 of about five miles between its border and the western hills ; but 
 the distance from its opposite border to the eastern hills is much 
 less considerable. 
 
 In the marshes which surround this lake, or rather in the 
 marshy parts of the lake, the reeds with which the Orientals write 
 grow atmndantly, as well as other reeds with which arrows and 
 lances are made. The outer border is surrounded by shrubs and 
 trees — many of them fruit-trees — which in the distance present the 
 aspect of a forest. This is a resort of various wild animals when 
 driven from the mountains by the snows of winter, or from the 
 plains by the heat and drought of summer ; but few of them make 
 it their constant abode. Water-fowl are also most abundant about 
 the lake, particularly on the marshes to the north. 
 
 The banks of the lake are very low ; but the lake itself is on a 
 considerably higher level than the Lake of Tiberias. It is in- 
 habited only on the eastern borders; and even there, if we rightly 
 understand Burekhardt, there are only two villages, called Es- 
 Seira and El-Deir. The south-west shore bears the name of 
 Melaba, from the ground being covered with a saline crust. The 
 lake abounds in fish, and its fisheries were, in the time of the last- 
 named traveller, rented of the Mutsellim of Szaffud by some fisher- 
 men of that town. 
 
 Pococke informs us, that “ the waters are muddy, and esteemed 
 unwholesome, having something of the nature of the water of a 
 morass. This is partly caused by their stopping the brooks on the 
 west side, in order to water the country, so that the water passes 
 through the earth into this lake : it is also, in some measure, 
 owing to the muddiness of its bed. After the snows are melted 
 and the water fallen, it is only a marsh, through which the river 
 Jordan runs. The waters, by passing the rocky bed towards the Sea 
 of Tiberias, settle, purify, and become fit for use.” 
 
 The distance between the lakes Huleh and Tabaria is estimated 
 by Pococke at ten miles, which agrees nearly enough with most 
 other statements. In consequence of the higher level of the lake 
 Huleh, and the narrow and rocky character of its channel, the 
 Jordan flows down to the Lake of Tabaria with considerable 
 rapidity and noise ; but in the two first and two last miles its 
 course is more quiet than in the intermediate distance. In this 
 part of its course the stream is almost hid by the shady trees which 
 grow on each side and make the prospect most delightful. The 
 trees are chiefly of the plane family. 
 
 Pococke travelled along the western border of the river and the 
 lakes, from the town of Tabaria to the head of the Lake Huleh. 
 Dr. Richardson followed part of the same track, but turned off to 
 the N.NAV. before he reached the southern extremity of that lake. 
 The following, therefore, applies to most of that part of the river 
 which lies between the two lakes. “ The river is bounded by a 
 chain of mountains [hills] on each side. On the east they rise up 
 almost precipitously from the bed of the river. On the west there 
 is a fine fertile vale, averaging about half or three quarters of a 
 mile broad, between the river and the mountain. The mountains 
 on the east are bolder, and continue with little interruption all the 
 way. On the west side, along which we travelled, the interruptions 
 are frequent, and charming defiles, irrigated by small streams of 
 water, pass off.” After some time they came to a point where 
 “ the river passed through a small lake, which at first sight ap- 
 peared to us to be a continuation of the Lake Gennesareth ; but 
 when we obtained a view of it from higher ground, we were 
 satisfied that it was not.” From the description, this lake seems 
 to have been about midway between Jacob’s Bridge and the Bahr- 
 el-IIuleh. We have felt much difficulty about this lake. There 
 can be no doubt that Dr. Richardson saw it: but it is not 
 mentioned by any other travellers, not even by those who have 
 been in situations to overlook the whole course of the river between 
 the lakes of Huleh and Tabaria ; and Dr. Robinson, who in his 
 journey particularly watched the statements of Richardson, dis- 
 tinctly affirms that between the two lakes “ the Jordan flows in a 
 narrow valley, and forms no intervening lake This, we doubt not, 
 is intentionally levelled at Dr. Richardson’s statement. The only 
 explanation which can remove this difficulty is to suppose, that the 
 expanse of water which this traveller tells us he saw was merely 
 a temporary exhibition in the season of overflow, at which time 
 his visit took place, and which disappears when the waters fall ; 
 but in the present state of the question, it seems better to wait for 
 further information than to form any decided opinion. 
 
 Leaving this question, it only remains to state, that the Jordan 
 ultimately advances to the Lake of Gennesareth in a widened but 
 still rapid stream among the nebbek-trees and thick groves of 
 Oleanders to which it gives life. 
 
 The Lake of Tiberias is, from its associations the most in- 
 
 teresting body of water in the Holy Land — far more so than the 
 Dead Sea, although the latter is considerably larger, and is, physi- 
 cally, much more remarkable. Neither of these lakes is mentioned 
 or alluded to in the Old Testament as often as might be expected. 
 In the New Testament the Dead Sea is not once mentioned; but 
 the name of the Lake of Tiberias very often occurs, as the town of 
 Capernaum, on its border, was the usual residence of Christ, and 
 the lake, or its shores, the scene of some of the most remarkable 
 transactions of his life. 
 
 It was usual for the Jews to call every natural expanse of water 
 a sea, which name was even applied, partly by metaphor, douotless, 
 to the brazen reservoir — “the brazen sea ” — which stood in the 
 court of the Temple. Accordingly, the evangelists Matthew, 
 Mark, and John, being native Jews, invariably call the Lake of 
 Tiberias a “ sea ;” but Luke, who was a native of Asia Minor, 
 and whose geographical terms are always more distinctive, calls it 
 generally a “ lake.” The present inhabitants, like those of ancient 
 times, still call their water a sea, and reckon it and the Dead Sea 
 to the south of them to be the two largest known, except the great 
 ocean. 
 
 It is mentioned by many names. The most ancient seems to 
 have been that of “ Sea of Chinnereth” (Num. xxxiv. 11; Josh, 
 xiii. 27), or, in the plural form, Chinneroth (Josh. xi. 2 ; xii. 3). 
 The Targumists, who sometimes accommodated the old names to 
 those which existed in their time, use “ the Sea of Genesar some- 
 times “ of Genosor,” or “ of Ginosar.” Josephus uses “ Gennesar.” 
 The Talmudists employ the same names, but more usually call it 
 “ the Sea of Tabaria,” which is exactly the name it now bears, 
 being the Oriental form of Tiberias. The evangelists employ both 
 the principal names, “the Lake of Gennesaret,”* “the Sea of 
 Tiberias” (John xxi. 1), and, sometimes, “the Sea of Galilee” 
 (John vi. 1), from the bordering province, on the west, to which 
 the lake was considered to belong. 
 
 There was a city and district of the name of Chinnereth (Josh, 
 xix. 35) on the borders of the lake from which it appears to have 
 derived its name.f The name Chinnereth might easily pass into 
 Gennesareth, which name, as applied to the lake, is expressly de- 
 clared by Josephus to have been derived from an adjacent district, 
 which district appears to have bordered on, if it did not include 
 Tiberias. The Jewish writers tell us, that the district itself took 
 this name from the delightful gardens and paradises which were 
 there. Some make them royal gardens, deducing the name from 
 □HD ’II geni sarim : “so that,” says Lightfoot, “ by the Jews’ ety- 
 mology, the name was taken from some royal gardens that lay upon 
 it ; which may very well be, since Herod’s palace was at Tiberias, 
 and as from the royalty of that city the sea was called ‘ the Sea of 
 Tiberias;’ so, possibly, from the orchards and gardens upon it, it 
 might be called ‘ Genesar,’ or the place of princely gardens.” 
 
 The dimensions of this lake have been differently stated by dif- 
 ferent authorities and this is much more remarkable in the present 
 case than in that of the lake Huleh, as the Lake of Tiberias has 
 its boundaries very distinctly marked by the mountains by which 
 it is enclosed. These differences doubtless proceed from the dif- 
 ferent experience of travellers in measuring distances by the eye 
 As experienced mariners can make the best estimates by the eye 
 of distances over water, Mr. Buckingham seems the traveller on 
 whose opinion we should be most disposed to rely ; and he says, 
 “ Its greatest length runs nearly north and south from twelve to 
 fifteen miles, and its breadth seems to be in general from six to nine 
 miles.” Dr. Clarke’s naval friends also computed the breadth, 
 from Tabaria to the opposite shore, at six miles ; of the length they 
 made no estimate, as the whole extent of the lake is not visible 
 from that place. The length given by Buckingham, and the breadtli 
 by Clarke, seem to afford the correct result, as Dr. Robinson 
 estimates the length at eleven or twelve miles, by six broad in the 
 widest part. 
 
 Viewing the whole extent of the lake from its southern extremity, 
 Mr. Hardy compares its figure to that of a boy’s kite, or of a bird 
 fiying. which last seems the better comparison of the two. 
 
 T he Jewish writers enlarge in the most glowing terms on the 
 excellences of this lake ; and, considering their limited materials for 
 
 * Luke v. 1. Tho et or elk, if not borrowed from the old name, may be 
 regarded as a Greek tei initiation for euphony. So in Nazar eth, of which the 
 proper Hebrew name is Nazar. 
 
 t “Others conceive that it is so named from Kinnor, aliarp in Hebrew, which 
 it is said in shape to resemble ; sure the high winds sometimes muko but bad 
 musick (to the ears of mariners) when playing thereupon.” — P uller. 
 
 + Josephus, 140 (some copies have 100) stades by 40; Pliny, 1C (Roman) 
 miles by 0 ; Munster, 80 11. miles in compass ; Hunting, 12 miles by more than 
 4; Roger, G leagues by from 2 to 3 ; Biddulph, 24 miles by 15; Sandys, 12 
 i miles by G; Hayes, 10 or 12 miles by 4; Mariti, 18 miles by G; Clarke, G 
 miles broad ; Jowett, 20 miles by 12. 
 
476 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 comparison, they had reason to do so. “ Seven seas,” says the 
 Talmud, “ have I created, saith God, and of them all have I chosen 
 none but the Sea of Gennesareth.”* Josephus dwells on the sweet- 
 ness and softness of its water, of its pebbly bottom, and, above all, 
 of the salubrity of the surrounding atmosphere. He affirms that 
 the water was so cold in its nature, that its temperature was not 
 affected by being exposed to the sun during the hottest season of 
 the year. He also expatiates largely on the extraordinary fertility 
 and valuable products of the land of Gennesareth, by which he 
 evidently means the tract on the eastern borders of the lake.f 
 All this praise of the water and so forth is allowed by modern 
 travellers ; and what is said of the peculiar fertility of its borders 
 is true to an extent which a more fitting place will require us to 
 notice. 
 
 Of all modern descriptions, perhaps that of Dr. Clarke is the best 
 in conveying a general impression of the scene which is offered 
 from the summit and descent of the western mountains. It is true 
 that, like many other of this ardent traveller’s pictures, it is highly 
 coloured, and the shades skilfully softened ; but what he omits is 
 easily supplied from other sources. His point of view was very 
 favourable and we observe that those who, like him, describe it as 
 viewed from the hills, use much warmer language than those 
 who picture it from the shore. 
 
 “ A view was presented, which, for its grandeur, independently 
 of the interest excited by the different objects contained in it, has 
 nothing equal to it in the Holy Land. 
 
 “ From this situation we perceived that the plain over which we 
 had been so long riding [from the west] was itself very elevated. 
 Far beneath appeared other plains, one lower than the other, in a 
 regular gradation, reaching eastward, as far as the surface of the 
 Sea of Tiberias. This immense lake, almost equal, in the grandeur 
 of its appearance, to that of Geneva, spreads its waters o\er all the 
 lower territory. Its eastern shores exhibit a sublime scene of moun- 
 tains towards the north and south, and they seem, to close in at 
 either extremity ; both towards Chorazin, where the Jordan enters ; 
 and the Aalon, or Campus Magnus , through which this river flows 
 to the Dead Sea. The cultivated plains, reaching to its borders, 
 which we beheld at an amazing depth below our view, resembled, 
 by the different hues their various produce presented, the motley 
 pattern of a vast carpet. To the north appeared many snowy 
 summits towering beyond a series of intervening mountains. We 
 considered them as the summits of Libanus ; but the Arabs belong- 
 ing to our caravan called the principal eminence Jebel-el-Sieh.§ 
 The summit was so lofty that the snow entirely covered the upper 
 part of it, investing all the higher part with that perfect white and 
 smooth velvet-like appearance, which snow only exhibits when it 
 is very deep. ” 
 
 Continuing his way over the plain, before reaching the edge of 
 the steep declivity which conducts down to the shore, the same 
 traveller writes : — “ The lake continued in view to our left. The 
 wind rendered its surface rough, and called to mind the situation 
 of our Saviour’s disciples, when, in one of the small vessels which 
 traversed these waters, they were tossed in a storm, and saw Jesus, 
 in the fourth watch of the night, walking to them upon the waves. 
 Often as the subject has been painted, which combines a number 
 of circumstances favourable to a sublime representation, no artist 
 has been aware of the uncommon grandeur of the scenery memorable 
 for the transaction. The Lake of Gennesareth is surrounded by 
 objects well calculated to heighten the solemn impression made by 
 such a picture ; and, independently of the local feelings likely to 
 be excited in its contemplation, it affords one of the most striking 
 prospects in the Holy Land. It is by comparison alone that any 
 due conception of its appearance can be communicated to the minds 
 of those who have not seen it. Speaking of it comparatively, it 
 may be described as longer and finer than any of our Cumberland 
 and Westmoreland lakes, although it be, perhaps, inferior to Loch 
 Lomond in Scotland. It does not possess the vastness of the Lake 
 of Geneva, although it much resembles it in certain points of view. 
 
 * But it is possible that, as Lightfoot conjectures, this was invented for tire 
 praise of the famous Jewish college at the town of Tiberias, contiguous to the lake. 
 
 f Joseph, de Bell. lib. iii. c. 10. 
 
 t In fact, no < ne has described tho lake from the same point of view, which 
 was the top of the (so-called) Mount of Beatitudes. 
 
 § Jebel-es-Sheikh, or Hermon, concerning which seep. 422. The lower points 
 of viow, from which most travellers describe the lake, do not take in this mag- 
 nificent background ; hence, perhaps, the comparative tameness of their descrip- 
 tions. Stephens rathersneers at the comparison to the Lake of Geneva, particu- 
 larly on the score of the absence of a Mont Blanc; whereas, in fact, the very 
 presence of Mount Hermon, capped with snow, in tho distance, probably first 
 suggested the comparison to Dr. Clarke. Clarko and Stephens described im- 
 pressions from what they saw: tho former did see the snowy Hermon; but the 
 latter could not see tho splendid background which that mountain forms. 
 
 I In picturesque beauty it perhaps comes nearest to the Lake of 
 I Locarno in Italy, although it be destitute of anything similar to 
 the islands by which that majestic piece of water is adorned. It 
 is inferior in magnitude, and, perhaps, in the height of the neigh- 
 bouring mountains, to the Lake Asphaltitis ; but its broad and 
 extended surface, covering the bottom of a profound valley, sur- 
 rounded by lofty and precipitous eminences, when added to the 
 impression under which every Christian pilgrim approaches it, 
 gives it a character of unparalleled dignity.” 
 
 From lower points of view, on the descent to the lake, and from 
 the plain by which the lake is bordered, much of all this grandeur 
 is lost ; and much that looks beautiful in the distance becomes 
 bald and barren in the nearer view. That nearer view is still grand, 
 especially from the plain at the northern extremity of the lake. 
 On the east rise the mountains, not precipitously, but rolling back 
 from the shore, green and verdant after rain, but destitute of trees. 
 On the west, hill rises above hill in beautiful succession, and the 
 loftiest visible summit was crowned with a city (Safed) whose com- 
 manding position was probably unequalled in the world.* In two 
 places the mountains here come down to the lake ; the rest is a beau- 
 tiful and uncultivated plain — that rich and fertile “land of Gennesa- 
 reth,” which, for its combination of natural advantages — soil, scenery, 
 climate, temperature — is, perhaps, exceeded by no other spot on 
 earth. In winter and spring this plain is traversed by numerous 
 torrents, some of which are so large and rapid as not to be passed 
 without difficulty. “ Nothing can surpass the beauty and grandeur 
 of the surrounding scenery,” says Elliot ; and he had travelled widely. 
 
 The feathered tribes seem to make the lake a favourite resort. 
 Multitudes of song-birds harbour in the northernmost groves, and 
 their innumerable happy voices mingle with the rush of waters, 
 where the river hastens to the lake. The margin and surface of 
 the lake itself presents large flocks of storks, wild-ducks, and diving 
 birds ; pelicans are not wanting ; while here and there vultures are 
 assiduously engaged with their carrion prey ; or eagles, heavily 
 flapping their broad wings, rise to their aeries in the mountains. 
 But when the heat of the summer sun — intensely concentrated on the 
 borders of this deep basin — has absorbed all the moisture which the 
 earth contained, and utterly dried up the green herbage which 
 gave a cheerful aspect to the scene, the effect of the whole, in the 
 entire absence of trees, is very different, — more dull, heavy, sad, 
 but not less, perhaps, in unison with the general tone of feeling with 
 which the Christian pilgrim is prepared to regard this memorable 
 lake. Its surface is usually in a state of dead calm ; and, in the 
 universal stillness, the gentle plash of its water upon the pebbles of 
 the shore is distinctly heard, and is, indeed, almost the only sound 
 that strikes the ear. Not a single boat of any kind is seen upon 
 the lake ; and, now that the Arab has removed his tents to the 
 higher country, the eye may wander around its borders in vain, 
 seeking for any other signs of habitation than the mean town of 
 Tabaria, and one or two miserable villages. The saddened traveller 
 may gaze for hours over the scene without observing a single human 
 being, or, indeed, any living creature, save the large water-fowl, 
 whose sole presence tends rather to increase, than to diminish, the 
 desolation of the view. 
 
 How different this view from that which was presented to the eye 
 about the time of Christ ! Then the borders of the lake were 
 thickly populated, and the eye rested in turn upon fortresses and 
 cities, towns and villages. There was not only the royal city of 
 Tiberias, but the woe-doomed cities of Chorazin and Capernaum, 
 both the frequent witnesses of His “ mighty works,” — the latter his 
 most usual place of residence, — “ exalted unto heaven” once, but 
 now so utterly “ cast down ” that men know not where it stood. 
 There also was Bethsaida, — “ the city of Andrew and Peter,” — 
 Hippos and Gamala,t Tarichea and Beth-Meon, Emmaus and the 
 strong Magdala ; doubtless with many other places of less note, the 
 names of which history has found no occasion to preserve. Then, 
 also, the surface of the lake was enlivened with the numerous boats 
 passing constantly across, and from town to town, with passengers 
 and goods, while the fishers launched forth to cast their nets in the 
 deep waters. Then the shores were everywhere richly planted 
 and cultivated, and offered numerous delightful gardens and para- 
 dises, while numerous people, busy or unoccupied, were seen passing 
 to and fro : and then, instead of this silence, were heard the voices 
 of men calling to each other, the joyous shouts of happy children, 
 the sound of the song and harp, the noise of the millstones, and the 
 lowing of the herds upon the sides of the hills. Amidst the present 
 
 * This city was destroyed by an earthquake, in 1837 ; see p. 444. 
 
 •f- A few of these names are collected from the Rabbins. We do not know that 
 Gamala was visible; but the mountain, from the shape of which it took its name 
 (which means Camel), and on which it stood, is one of those which bound the lake. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 477 
 
 vacancy and silence, the mind can better fill out the details of such 
 a picture, than were the scene actually occupied with other and 
 different objects than those which the imagination wishes to supply. 
 
 As the waters of the lake lie in a deep basin, surrounded on all 
 sides by lofty hills, except at the outlet and entrance of the Jordan, 
 long-continued tempests from any quarter are unknown. This is 
 also true, and for the same reasons, of the Dead Sea. But these 
 same local features, which preclude any long agitation of its surface, 
 render it liable to whirlwinds, squalls, and sudden gusts. But these, 
 as in every similar basin, are of short duration, and the most furious 
 squall is speedily followed by a calm. Winds from the south-east 
 are those by which a boisterous sea is most usually raised in this 
 lake. 
 
 It has been affirmed of this — as of other lakes which receive and 
 discharge a river— that the Jordan makes its passage through it 
 without mingling its waters.* We only know that its course 
 through the middle of the lake is distinctly marked. There is a 
 current throughout the breadth of the lake, even to the shore; and 
 the passage of the Jordan through it is observable by the smooth 
 state of the water’s surface in that part. 
 
 It is, probably, on account of this current that the old Jewish 
 doctors decided that ,£ the sea of Tabaria is like the gliding waters.” 
 It was once a mighty question whether those waters were fit for use 
 in which unclean fish swam about witli the clean ; and the conclusion 
 was, — “ Flowing and gliding waters are fit, those that do not glide 
 are not fit; and the lake of Gennesareth is to be numbered with 
 gliding waters.” After the praise of its water, which has, in a 
 former page, been adduced from Josephus, it may be well to add 
 that it is perfectly clear and sweet, although it receives several hot 
 saline springs, so impregnated with gases that they change the 
 colour of the stones over which they pass. Dr. Clarke describes it 
 as being clear as the purest crystal, sweet, cool,-} and most refresh- 
 ing to the taste. He swam to a considerable distance from the 
 shore, and found it so limpid that he could discern the bottom 
 covered with shining pebbles. Among these stones was a beautiful 
 but diminutive kind of shell, being a nondescript species of Buc- 
 r.inum , to which he gave the name of Buccinum Galilceum. lie 
 and his friends amused themselves with diving for specimens ; and 
 the very circumstance of their being able to discover such small 
 objects beneath the surface may prove the high transparency of the 
 water. The lake generally presents a dark appearance, on account 
 of the high mountains by which it is enclosed. 
 
 The fishing operations upon this lake, which were anciently of so 
 much importance, and connected with which so many interesting 
 circumstances are recorded in the New Testament, have altogether 
 ceased. There is not, or was not very lately, a single boat upon 
 the lake. There were none even in the time of D’Arvieux (1660). 
 Hence the country derives no advantage from the immense quantity 
 of very excellent fish which now, as formerly, the lake contains. A 
 «tnall supply is obtained by nets cast from the beach ; but this 
 process is necessarily so unproductive, that, even at Tiberias, fish 
 bears the same price per pound as meat. Most travellers have, 
 naturally, desired to eat fish at this place, but have not always 
 succeeded. Hayes was prevented by the Lenten prejudices of his 
 Greek host;} Irby and Mangles almost lived on fish, and praised 
 it highly. According to them, there are excellent fish, but the 
 variety is small. Stephens, in his journey along the shore, observes, 
 
 “ I thought to enhance the interest of this day’s journey by making 
 my noon-day meal from the fish of the Lake of Gennesareth ; and 
 having on my way up seen a net drying on the shore, I aroused the 
 sleeping Arabs, and they had promised to throw it in for me; but 
 when I returned I found that, like Simon Peter and the sons of 
 Zebedee, ‘ they had toiled all the day, and caught nothing.’ ” Elliot 
 and his friend were more fortunate. They halted at the same place 
 (near the presumed site of Bethsaida), and requested a man to throw 
 his line and let them taste the produce of the lake. In a few 
 minutes each of them was presented with a fish broiled on a plate 
 of iron, according to the custom of the country, § and wrapped in 
 a large wafer-like cake, a foot in diameter, of which one was spread 
 as a table-cloth and two others served for napkins. “ Thus,” 
 observes the traveller, “ we made a repast, on the banks of the Sea 
 
 * “ The river of Jordan runneth through the midst of this sea, and minglcth 
 not therewith, but preserveth his own stream entire: which some impute to the 
 swiftness, yea, rapidness, of his course, not at leisure to take notice of (much 
 less to unite with) any water he meets in his way, before he comes to his journey *s 
 end at the Dead Sea.” — Fueler. 
 
 t “ In the water of the lake my thermometer stood at 70" 1 , in the sun at 90\” 
 — Fisk. This was in November. 
 
 * The Greeks do not, like the Roman Catholics, indulge themselves with fish 
 during their fast-days. 
 
 § Luke xxiv. 42. i 
 
 3 z 
 
 of Tiberias, of what was almost literally ‘ five loaves and two 
 small fishes.’ ” 
 
 The Great Jordan, to which all general statements refer, may be 
 said to be formed as soon as the river leaves the lake of Gennesareth. 
 The valley through which it passes to the Dead Sea has already 
 been fully described ; and it has been stated that the proper bed is 
 a lower valley, about three-quarters of a mile in breadth, covered 
 with high trees and the most luxuriant herbage. In the winter 
 the swollen river inundates the plain in the bottom of this lower 
 valley, but never rises to the level of the upper plain of the Ghor, 
 which is at least forty feet above the level of the river. The 
 wild animals which harbour during summer amid the shade and 
 freshness of the lower valley are then obliged to ascend to the upper 
 plain, and seek some other refuge for the winter. This swelling 
 of the river, and the retreat of the wild animals before it, are more 
 than once alluded to by Jeremiah.* 
 
 The Jordan, even in this part of its course, is fordable in many 
 places during summer; but the few spots in which it may be 
 crossed during the rainy season are known only to the Arabs. On 
 leaving the Lake of Tiberias it flows for about three hours near the 
 western hills, and then turns towards the eastern, on which side it 
 continues its course for several hours. 
 
 Dr. Richardson states that three streams issue from the lake, 
 which soon unite to re-form the Jordan. This was in May ; and 
 the circumstance is not noticed by other travellers, who describe 
 the issuing river as a single stream. The Jordan rushes from the 
 lake with considerable force in a stream which is about lourteen 
 yards across at the end of April. There are some remains of a 
 bridge, a little below, but the stream is now crossed at this point 
 in a crazy ferry-boat. It will be recollected that there were ferry- 
 boats on the river in the reign of David.} We find no notice of 
 its being in use later than April : so it seems probable that the 
 river cannot here be forded in winter and early spring, when, of 
 course, the river must even there have its volume of water greatly 
 increased by the rise of the waters in the lake. 
 
 In May (15th) we find it said that at this place the stream 
 “ is now forded by the Arabs, who swim their animals across.”} The 
 Rev. P. Fisk, who was here in November (11th), and rode a little 
 way down the bank, says, — “ The river bends often, and varies 
 much in width, perhaps from 30 to 100 yards. It is so shallow, 
 that cattle and asses were fording it without difficulty.” Mr. 
 Buckingham states the stream to have been “ barelv fordable” at 
 two or three miles below the lake, in the beginning of February, 
 and that it had then and there a current of about two knots an hour. 
 
 The river appears to diminish its speed as it proceeds. One of 
 the fords, practicable even in February, occurs about four miles 
 below the lake. There, however, the water is so deep near the 
 banks as to throw the horses off their legs and oblige them to swim ; 
 but they regain their footing as they approach the middle of the 
 stream ; and in the very centre it is found to be quite shallow. 
 
 About ten miles below the lake, there is a large stone bridge of 
 one large and two small arches. The river has' here a considerable 
 depth of water, and is about forty feet wide. The water is of a 
 white sulphureous colour, but without any unpleasant smell or 
 taste, and it rolls over a very stony bed. A little above the bridge 
 the stream is smoother and the bottom more practicable than in its 
 immediate neighbourhood. 
 
 About ten miles below this bridge, and twenty below the lake, 
 we come opposite the town of Bysan,§ which stands about two 
 miles from the river to the west. In this neighbourhood there are 
 two or three fords over the Jordan. Indeed the river is here so 
 generally fordable, that, in ancient times, as now, it was much crossed 
 in this direction. It is, however, not usually forded opposite the 
 town, but about three miles lower down. Here it was crossed by 
 Captain Mangles, who observes (March 12) that the stream is much 
 more swift here than it is nearer to the lake of Tiberias. The depth 
 at the ford reached above the bellies of the horses; and the measured 
 breadth was found to be 145 feet. Burckhardt, who crossed above 
 two miles lower down in the midst of summer, found the river 
 eighty paces broad and about three feet deep. * 
 
 We proceed southward from this point for as much as twenty- 
 seven miles (direct distance), without finding any point where the 
 
 • “Thou land of peace, thou mayest have confidence; yet how wilt thou do in 
 the swelling of Jordan?” xii. 5. “ Behold as a lion cometh up, a. strong one from 
 
 the swelling of Jordan,” xlix. 19; repeated in chap. 1. 44.— Blayney’s Translation. 
 
 t “ There went over a ferry-boat to carry over the king’s household, und to 
 do what he thought good.” 2 Sam. xix. 18. 
 
 t Maddox, ii. 251. 
 
 § The Scriptural ‘ Bethshan,’ and the classical 4 Scythopolis.’ To the walls 
 of this town the Philistines fastened the body of Saul. 1 Sarn. xxxi. 10. 
 
478 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 river has been visited or crossed by any modern travellers ; and this 
 important central tract, with the country on either hand, may be 
 pointed out to future travellers as a part of Palestine absolutely 
 unvisited, and therefore undescribed, although it is a portion of the 
 country in which some valuable discoveries relating to ancient sites 
 might very probably be made. 
 
 We become acquainted witli the Jordan again at a point about 
 twenty miles to the north of the Dead Sea. It was here crossed 
 by Captains Irby and Mangles at the latter end of March. Ap- 
 proaching the river from the east, they observe, “ The plain, from 
 the foot of the mountains, is about half way pretry level, but 
 barren ; thence it becomes rugged, consisting of a quantity of hills, 
 vales and deep chasms, in a dry soil of very white appearance, 
 and of a saltish nature: this continues to within a quarter of a 
 mile of the river’s bank ; whence the rest is a rich flat plain to the 
 margin of the river, which is in the bottom of a deep ravine, beauti- 
 fully wooded, and so overgrown, that the stream is not seen till 
 you are close to it.” They found the river quite swollen, and it 
 was not without much delay and difficulty, and- some danger, that 
 they were able to cross, and then only by swimming their horses. 
 
 Another place of passage, about four miles below this, has been 
 fully described by Mr. Buckingham. The great vale of Jordan is 
 here about ten milgs across, from the eastern to the western moun- 
 tains, while the lower valley in which the Jordan runs is, as far 
 as observed from this point, about a mile wide in its widest parts 
 and a furlong in the narrowest. Descending into this, the white 
 chalky cliffs on either side appear to be about 200 feet high. The 
 river flows through the midst of the lower vale, between banks 
 which are fourteen or fifteen feet high ; but this is when the stream 
 (January) was at its lowest ebb ; for there are indications that 
 when swollen by rains it may overflow its banks sufficiently to 
 inundate the lower plain, though it could never reach the upper 
 one. The stream appeared, at this place and at this season, to be 
 little more than twenty-five yards in breadth, and so shallow as to 
 be easily forded by horses. The banks are thickly lined with tall 
 rushes, oleanders, and a few willows. The stream is extremely 
 rapid ; the water tolerably clear, from its flowing over a bed of 
 pebbles, and is pure and sweet to the taste. Mr. Buckingham 
 inquires whether the Israelites did not cross the river at this point, 
 but we think it must have been lower down, 
 
 The place where Christ received baptism from the hands of John 
 the Baptist is that which has for ages- engaged the interest of the 
 Catholic and Oriental Christians ; and which has been far more 
 frequented than any other part of the river. Indeed the spot has 
 from the most remote times until now, been a place of annual 
 pilgrimage, at Easter, to thousands of Christians from all parts of 
 the world. The true site of this interesting event is, however, 
 probably not known. The Catholics disagree with the Greek and 
 Oriental Christians on this point. The latter place the site three 
 or four miles further towards the Dead Sea than the former ; and 
 this is so far happy, as it prevents interference in their pilgrimages 
 to and their ablutions in the sacred stream. The Catholics place 
 the site about seven miles from the Dead Sea, the Greeks not more 
 than four. Some confusion arises from the indistinct manner in which 
 travellers speak of the place of pilgrimage, without stating which 
 of the two places they mean. But this may be sometimes collected 
 from circumstances. The old travellers invariably speak of the 
 place which the Catholics have chosen ; while those of more recent 
 date more commonly have in view the point, lower down, which 
 the Orientals prefer to consider as “the place where John was 
 baptizing.” To botli parties, the places to which they respectively 
 repair is of additional interest to them, from the belief that the 
 place where Christ was baptized was that also where the Israelites 
 crossed the river. And this is not unlikely; for John is said to 
 have been baptizing at “ Beth-abara beyond Jordan,” and Belh- 
 abara means “ the house of passage,” with a very possible reference 
 to the passage of the Israelites at that place. 
 
 Both points are two of the most beautiful places on the river ; 
 and as there seems little difference in the appearance of the stream 
 or its banks, we shall be content to notice that which is nearest the 
 Asphaltic Lake, and which has been the most frequently visited and 
 described. But it may enliven these details if we join the annual 
 pilgrimage in its visit to this spot, taking that of 1837, which has 
 been so well described by the Rev. C. B. Elliot. 
 
 The cavalcade consisted of about 3000 Greek and Oriental 
 pilgrims from every part of the world where the eastern churches 
 have members, together with muleteers, camel-drivers, Turkish 
 and Arab soldiers, and half-a-dozen Frank travellers, who swelled 
 the amount to 5000. 
 
 u On these occasions every beast in Judea is put in requisition ; 
 
 and horses, donkeys, mules, ponies, and camels, flocking from all 
 quarters, throng Jerusalem for several days previous. The young 
 and the aged are placed in panniers on either side of a camel : 
 women who never before mounted a horse now cross • themselves 
 in an orthodox manner (for their safety depends on the exact mode 
 of forming the cross !), and stride manfully the saddle : boys and 
 girls are seen siding two and two, beguiling the length of the journey 
 with an occasional dispute as to which shall sit on the pad, and 
 which on the less comfortable back-bone of the beast, sharpened 
 by a perpetual fast. Hundreds who cannot afford to ride, having 
 already bestowed on the priests the earnings of many years, trudge 
 on foot ; at first briskly leading the way, then merged in the 
 equestrian cavalcade, till at length they are worn out with fatigue, 
 and their pilgrim staves bring up the rear. A singular variety of 
 costume characterises the barbarous Russian, the sportive Athenian, 
 the patriotic islander, the Greek priest, the austere Armenian, the 
 poor Copt, and the dark-skinned Syrian; while all these blend 
 picturesquely with the uniform of the Turkish and Arab cavalry, 
 who gallop their well-trained horses up and down among the motley 
 crowd, now urging them to full speed, and now suddenly curbing 
 them with rapidity that excites as much alarm as admiration.” 
 
 We cannot afford to follow Mr. Elliot through all the details of 
 the journey ; although they are well worth perusal, as forming, 
 altogether, the best description we possess of this pilgrimage. The 
 caravan usually arrives towards evening in the neighbourhood of 
 Rihha, (the supposed) Jericho, and encamps near the stream which 
 flows by, issuing from a spring, supposed to be the same which the 
 prophet Elisha healed : — 
 
 “ A little after midnight the pilgrims put themselves in motion, 
 in order to reach by sunrise the banks of the sacred river ; but it 
 is no easy matter to start a caravan of 5000 persons, and it was 
 three o’clock a.m. before the cavalcade was in progress. A 
 number of torch-bearers preceded, carrying flambeaux, which threw 
 a wild blaze of light over the plain and the moving host. The 
 Arab cavalry marched next, their spirited horses curveting, while 
 they plunged into the high grass and jungle, to drive out any 
 lurking Bedouins ; the governor, with the Greek archbishop, 
 followed ; and lastly the whole host of pilgrims, hurrying along 
 with anxious expectation to wash in a stream which they vainly 
 suppose to be endowed with a cleansing moral efficacy. In such 
 a multitude, moving without order, subject to no discipline, and 
 wrought up to an unnatural pitch of excitement by superstitious 
 zeal, it is not surprising that many accidents occur. Some of the 
 party are generally left dead, many are wounded, and all are kept 
 in a state of feverish alarm for their personal safety. One thing 
 struck us forcibly, — the entire absence of sympathy among these 
 professors of piety. If an aged man, a feeble woman, or helpless 
 child fell from his seat, no friendly hand was stretched out to aid, 
 and no fellow-pilgrim halted to ascertain the extent of injury 
 received. The groans and cries of the sufferer were responded to by 
 a laugh, and the cavalcade moved on regardless of their brother, 
 who, if he met with sympathy and aid, found it at the hand of 
 some ‘ good Samaritan,’ united to him by no ties of country or of faith. 
 
 “ The sun arose above the mountains of Moab just as we reached 
 the Jordan, after, a ride of more than two hours over a tract utterly 
 sterile, deserted even by the samphire and low shrubs which appear 
 on other parts of the plain. Instantly a rush was made, and the 
 pilgrims, young and eld, rich and poor, sick and sound, men, women 
 and children, plunged into the stream. Some of the females and 
 children, however, evinced a degree of nervousness, and here 
 and there the father of a family might be seen gently chiding his 
 spouse, or more roughly handling his young ones ; now religiously 
 forcing the head of a little girl under the water, and now struggling 
 with a well-grown urchin, whose fears had got the better of his 
 love of pilgrimage. Of the men, some jumped boldly in, com- 
 municating a rotatory motion to the body as it passed through the 
 air ; a few considerately occupied themselves in aiding the weaker 
 sex, rendering to a tottering mother or timid sister the support of 
 filial or fraternal strength ; others resigned themselves composedly 
 to the priests, who, standing like the Baptist in the river, poured 
 the sacred water three times on the head of the devotee. All were 
 clad in their winding-sheets, or, to speak more correctly, all carried 
 with them, either attached in some way to the body, or held loosely 
 in the hand, the piece of cloth with which they wished to be en- 
 veloped after death, for to make certainty more sure, the hajee , 
 who has preserved the taper once touched by the holy fire,* secures 
 
 * This alludes to the shocking imposition practised by the priests upon the 
 people on Easter-day, in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, whereby they are made 
 to believe that a light, kindled by some artificial means within the Sepulchre, and 
 produced to their admiration and reverence, has been the result of a miracle. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 479 
 
 likewise a winding-sheet (.lipped in Jordan, which possesses an 
 equal charm, and is supposed to protect from the power of the 
 devil both the corpse so shrouded and the spirit that shall reanimate 
 it. Some of these promiscuous bathings are occasions of great 
 indecorum, but, in the present instance, we saw no more than the 
 yhdt of every populous town on the Ganges exhibits daily. When, 
 however, the scene is contemplated as a religious ceremony, and 
 when the Turkish governor is observed, with his Moslem satellites, 
 ridiculing with proud disdain these vain ablutions, and this violation 
 of female modesty, the Protestant cannot but lament the errors 
 of those who, like himself, profess the faith of Christ, and the 
 consequent degradation of that sacred name in the eyes of in- 
 fidels.” 
 
 The bed or valley of the river, as distinguished from the plain, 
 exhibits in this quarter a series of terraced depressions from the 
 plains of Jericho to the stream. The first occurs about a mile 
 and a half from the Jordan, where a descent of about eight feet 
 is made. This descent is rather irregular, the edges of the strata 
 much washed, and there are many irregular masses of earth along 
 the edge, that have resisted the wastings which removed the strata 
 to this extent. The whole surface of this part of the plain is very 
 destitute of vegetation. At the distance of about three quarters of 
 a mile there is another depression, nearly as considerable as the 
 former, the edge of which has much the same washed and irregular 
 appearance. The land, or vale, which is now entered, has many 
 of those irregular mounds of earth which have been mentioned as 
 lying along the water’s edge of the former descent. The Rev. J. 
 D. Paxton, who has given the best, or, indeed, the only description 
 of these appearances, says : — “ It looked as if the whole plain had 
 once been on a level with the part above the first descent, and that 
 a sweeping torrent, extending out to where the first bank is, had 
 passed over it, and swept away about ten feet of earth, except a 
 few hard spots near the edge ; then, that another torrent had come 
 down, reaching out only to the place where the second bank is, 
 and within its range had carried off' ten or twelve feet of earth, 
 leaving a large number of spots that resisted its force; for the 
 mounds between the first and second banks nearly agreed in height 
 with the plain above that bank, while those below the second bank 
 agreed in height with the land between the first and second banks.” 
 From this traveller’s further account it appears, that in the space 
 between the second and third banks, much of the ground looked as 
 if it was often covered with water, like the dried mud on which 
 water has long lain, thus evincing that the Jordan sometimes over- 
 flows its proper channel to this extent. This is not the general 
 character of the district. There are in many places small bushes, 
 and in some parts a considerable crop of weeds. There is a third 
 descent, to what may be considered the immediate bank of the 
 stream in its ordinary channel. It is about the same depth as the 
 former; and on and near this last bank, down to the water’s edge, 
 there are numerous bushes and small trees of the kinds already 
 noticed. 
 
 The terraced appearances here described are very common where 
 rivers, subject to periodical overflows, traverse a plain, the soil of 
 which may be easily disintegrated or undermined by the action 
 of water. It certainly seems to us to prove that the Jordan, in its 
 annual overflows, once reached to the upper water-mark. That 
 it does not do so at this time may be owing to the stream (which 
 is here very rapid) having worn itself a deeper channel than of old. 
 These different banks, so distinctly marked, are probably of old 
 origin, and if they existed when the Israelites crossed the river, 
 we obtain a clearer and more intense meaning from the explanation 
 that “ the Jordan overfloweth all its banks at the time of harvest.” 
 (Josh. iii. 15.) 
 
 It is singular that no travellers have visited the river at the time 
 when they might fairly expect to see it in its most enlarged con- 
 dition. This is owing to their visits having been generally paid 
 in company with the pilgrim caravan, for the sake of the protection 
 thus obtained. Maundrell, and others after him, are wrong in 
 expecting that if the river were at all much enlarged in our day, 
 that would be the time of the year to find it overflown. In the 
 cases of rivers, the overflow of which is caused by the melting of the 
 snows in or near which they have their source, we have always 
 found the season more advanced before this effect takes place, as 
 is indeed obvious from the increased warmth which is required to 
 dissolve tne immense quantities of snow which have been deposited 
 upon the mountains. We should expect, therefore, to find the 
 river-flood rather in May than in March or the early part of April. 
 This is the case with the Euphrates, Tigris, and other rivers liable 
 to increase from the same cause ; and this, by-the-bye, incidentally 
 corroborates the statement in a preceding page, that April, rather 
 
 than March, was anciently the initial month of the Hebrew year, 
 for, according to that, the “ tenth day of the first month ” (or say, 
 of the first moon after the vernal equinox) brings the time of over- 
 flow forward, in accordance with the statement we have just made ; 
 and in reference to this statement we have the satisfaction to find 
 Lord Lindsay say, that in June “ the- upper bed of the river was 
 still moist from the floods.” By the “ upper bed ” we presume he 
 intends to indicate that which Paxton describes as being covered 
 with alluvial sediment. Now that travellers are bei>innin<r to visit 
 the river at different times of the year, we may soon hope for more 
 positive information on the subject. 
 
 Several streams in Palestine, which are absolutely dry in summer, 
 become large and powerful streams in the season of flood, and there 
 is not the least reason to question that there is still — since the 
 physical causes still endure — a corresponding increase in the stream 
 of the Jordan during the same season. The difference in the ap- 
 pearance of rivers liable to this periodical increase when overflown, 
 and when in their ordinary state, cannot perhaps be better illustrated 
 than by reference to the vast difference in the appearance of many 
 of our own rivers, near their estuaries, when the tide is at ebb and 
 when at flow. 
 
 The breadth and depth of the Jordan, in its ordinary condition, 
 at the place where we have so long detained the reader, are not 
 very considerable. But both the breadth and depth of this river 
 vary so greatly in different parts of its course, that no general 
 inference is to be deduced from that circumstance. Indeed, this 
 spot is, probably speaking, one of the fords of the river, and there- 
 fore more practicable, both as to the breadth and depth, than other 
 points above and below. As to the breadth here, accounts vary 
 between twenty and thirty yards, and an average may therefore 
 be struck at twenty-five. The depth is not so well ascertained. 
 Shaw says, three yards at the brink ; but it does not appear at what 
 point he made this observation. Maundrell, who certainly was at 
 the Catholic place of ablution, says that its depth was there greater 
 than his height. Mr. Paxton, who was at the lower point in the 
 month of October, thought it might then have been forded but for 
 the rapidity of the current; and Mr. Arundale, who was there in 
 the same month, actually represents it as being forded, in a 
 drawing made by him. Mr. Paxton, notwithstanding the strong 
 current, swam across the river and back again in safety ; and 
 in this same month of October the Marquis of Waterford per 
 formed the same feat “without difficulty.” We suspect, howeve*, 
 that this could not be done at the time of pilgrimage in early 
 spring, when the stream appears to be fuller and the current 
 stronger than in the fall of the year. At all events, the current 
 is then so strong, that, according to all accounts, many of the 
 pilgrims are swept away by it ; and although most of them save 
 themselves by getting hold of the willows or bushes that over- 
 hang the stream, a year seldom passes in which some of them are 
 not drowned.* 
 
 The water has here, and for the remainder of its course, a muddy, 
 or, as some describe it, a sulphurous white appearance, derived, it 
 would seem, from its having passed through beds of sandy clay. It 
 
 is, however, very wholesome, always cool, and nearly tasteless. 
 Although passing through some saline tracts, it does not contain 
 more than one three-hundredth of its weight of salts ; but these are 
 of the same kinds which are found more abundantly in the waters 
 of the Dead Sea. 
 
 Such travellers as have proceeded from this point to the head of 
 the Dead Sea have generally journeyed at some distance west from 
 the river. Mr. Stephens, however, tracked it down to the lake, 
 following all its flexures. lie states that, below the place of 
 pilgrimage, there is no point on the river that offers any natural 
 attractions to the traveller. The stream contracts to about thirty 
 paces wide a little below the place of bathing, but again widens as it 
 approaches its termination. Speaking generally of this portion of 
 the river, Mr. Stephens says, “ It is a small, broken, and muddy 
 stream, running between banks of barren sand, without beauty 
 or verdure; and if it were not for the associations connected with 
 
 it, a man would turn from it as the most uninteresting of rivers.” 
 This, it will be remarked, is the observation of an American, ac- 
 
 * “ While F was looking on, two men, a Russian and a Greek, were overpowered 
 by the torrent, and as neither of them could swim, they clung to each other, and 
 were soon under water. The Itussian was entangled among the roots of trees, anil 
 rose to the surface ; but though he seized some overhanging branches, with the grasji 
 of a perishing man, the current was too strong, and he was again carried away by 
 the stream. lie was, however, saved at some distance lower down, but the Greek 
 was never seen after he first sank. 1 was told that a Turk was also drowned at the 
 same place, but 1 did not witness the circumstance. It excited little attention 
 among the people, anil they continued to enter the water with the same fearlessness 
 as before.” — Hardy's ‘Notices of the Holy Land.’ 
 
480 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 customer! to magnificent rivers : — but we will not repeat what has 
 been said on this point in a preceding page. This traveller in one 
 place saw some Arabs wading across ; and yet the river, as far as 
 he could judge, had not fallen more than two feet. “ For the last 
 two or three miles it runs between perpendicular banks of sand, 
 from five to ten feet high, and its pure waters are already contami- 
 nated by the pestiferous influence of the bituminous lake. On the 
 left it stops even with the shore ; but on the >'ight the bank runs 
 out to a low sandy point, round which a quantity of drift-wood 
 is collected ; and here, with a gentle ripple of its waters, the Jordan 
 enters the Dead Sea.” If this account is different from others, it 
 is doubtless because of the difference, at different times of the year, 
 to which we have already adverted. Thus Mr. Jolliffe describes 
 the stream as being, at its embouchure, deep and rapid, rolling a 
 considerable volume of waters into the Dead Sea. Its width ap- 
 peared to him to be from 200 to 300 feet.* The current was so 
 violent, that a Greek servant who attempted to cross it, though 
 strong, active, and an expert swimmer, found it impracticable. This 
 was the more to be regretted as he was to have taken across one 
 end of a measuring line, whereby the actual breadth might have 
 been ascertained. It appears that the river does not extend its 
 current into the Dead Sea, as some of the older writers allege ; but 
 is stopped at once by the denser waters of the lake. 
 
 Having examined the river Jordan thus in detail, there is little 
 need of other collective observations than the above account has 
 comprehended. It may be well, however, that the reader should 
 remember that the described points are for the most part fords, 
 and where, therefore, from the very nature of the distinction, the 
 river is more shallow than in other places. Several attempts have 
 been made to estimate the average breadth and depth of the Jordan 
 netween the two lakes. Dr. Shaw took its average breadth at 
 thirty yards, and its depth at nine feet, and assumed its speed to be 
 two miles an hour ; on which data he calculated that the river dis- 
 charged into the Dead Sea daily 6,090,000 tuns of water. Volney 
 makes the breadtli from sixty to eighty feet, and the depth ten or 
 twelve feet. Mariti reckons the average breadth, at ordinary 
 times, as sixty feet, and the depth from seven to nine feet; and 
 he affirms that at the seasons of its overflow the inundation extends 
 for four miles, and that sometimes the inequality of the soil then 
 parts it into two different beds. Legh compares the river to 
 the Thames below Oxford, but describes it as more rapid. Elliot 
 reckons that between the two lakes the breadth of the stream varies 
 from thirty to sixty yards, and its depth from six to sixteen feet. If 
 we collate these statements with the observations (already re- 
 corded) of other travellers made at various points, we shall see 
 reason to conclude that the true average breadth may be about 
 thirty yards, and the depth eight or nine feet. 
 
 We have already had occasion to remark how singularly low the 
 valley through which this river flows lies, as compared with the 
 central part of Canaan, and with the country beyond Jordan. Some 
 notion of this may be formed from the fact that, according to Mr. 
 Russegger, the bathing-place of the pilgrims is not less than 1269 
 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, while at the head of the 
 Dead Sea the depression reaches to 1319 French feet, or nearly 
 1400 English feet, below the same level. This depression occasions, 
 along the borders of the river, a marked distinction of climate, 
 which we shall find another occasion to describe. 
 
 Although the water is always turbid in the latter part of the 
 river’s course, it is said that when taken from the stream and left 
 in a vessel, it soon clears itself, and deposits a black sediment 
 containing bituminous particles. Nevertheless it is soft, incor- 
 ruptible, and abounds in fish. In all times pilgrims have been 
 accustomed to take home with them, not only willow-staves cut 
 from the banks of the Jordan, and pebbles from its bed, but also 
 bottles of the water, to which, by reason of its alleged sanctity, 
 peculiar virtues of healing to the body and the soul were ascribed. 
 Vases of Jordan water were received as valuable presents by the 
 princes of Christendom, who made use of it in the baptism of their 
 children, it being deemed far more efficacious than any other water 
 in cleansing from the taint of original sin.f 
 
 Having now attended the Jordan to the Dead Sea, that singular 
 body of water next requires our attention. 
 
 The awful catastrophe whereby the fruitful plain of Siddim 
 underwent that change by which this lake is usually supposed to 
 have been formed, has already been noticed in the historical portion 
 of tins work, and need not detain us in this place. 
 
 * Mr. Robinson says, about fifty yards. 
 
 f Lindsay, ii. 65 ; Paxton, 15S ; Arundale, SO ; Stephens, ii. 361 — 363 ; Jolliffe, 
 115 ; Robinson, 70; Elliot, ii. 477 ; Shaw, ii. 156 ; Mariti, ii. 326, 327 ; Nau, 272. 
 
 This lake is known by various names in the Scriptures, — as the 
 Sea of the Plain,* from its situation in the great hollow or plain 
 of the Jordan, or, perhaps, from its covering the ancient and 
 beautiful plain of Siddim ; the Salt Seaf from the extreme sal tness 
 of its waters ; and the East iSWz.J from its situation with respect 
 to the east of Judea, and in contradistinction to the West Sea, or 
 the Mediterranean. By Josephus, and the classical writers in 
 genera], it is also called Lacus Asplialtites, from the quantities of 
 asphaltum which are found in it and on its borders. Mare Mortuum , 
 or the Dead Sea , was another of its names, and that by which it 
 is now generally known in Europe. But the natives now call it 
 Bahr Lout , the Sea of Lot, or Bahr Mutneh, the Stinking Sea. 
 
 This very remarkable body of water was as much an object of 
 curiosity and wonder in ancient as it has been in modern times. 
 But the ancient genius being essentially exaggerative, it became 
 invested witli many circumstances of horror and wonder, which do 
 not properly belong to it, and from which it has hardly been yet 
 cleared. 
 
 As the lake has not yet been fully explored and surveyed, as 
 there is much reason to hope it will soon be, it may be still said 
 that there is no authority for the description of it equal to that 
 of Josephus, whose account necessarily embodies the information 
 possessed by those who had for ages been inhabitants of the country, 
 and by whom it must have been intimately known in every part. 
 We shall, therefore, as the most eligible course, give his account, 
 and then offer our observations in the same order in which his 
 details are given, to illustrate or explain the several particulars. 
 
 The length of the lake he states as 580 stades, and its breadth 
 150. This is rendered by his translators and interpreters into 72 
 miles long by 18 broad, it being very convenient to consider the 
 stade as equivalent to the furlong, of which eight make one mile. 
 In fact, the word stade is usually rendered by furlong in most old 
 translations and descriptions from ancient sources. But it is for- 
 gotten that while of the Roman stades there were indeed 600 to 
 the decree, there was the older and shorter Greek stade of 700 to 
 the degree, that is, of about ten to the mile. Now we have satisfied 
 ourselves, by comparing the measurements of Josephus between 
 known points, that he employs this shorter measure; and that, 
 therefore, lie intends to describe the Asphaltic Lake as not more 
 than 56 miles long by 15 broad. 
 
 The shores he describes as unfruitful ; the waters were very 
 bitter, and so dense of body, that they bore up the heaviest things 
 that were thrown into it; nor would it be easy for any one to 
 sink therein, even if he wished. Accordingly, when Vespasian 
 visited the lake, he made experiment of this, by causing some 
 men who could not swim to have their hands tied behind them 
 and to be cast into the lake, when it was seen that they were 
 buoyed up by the water, even as light bodies are impelled upward 
 by the wind. 
 
 The colour of the water was observed to change in a very re- 
 markable manner. It altered its appearance regularly three times 
 every day, according to the difference in the direction in which the 
 rays of the sun shone upon and were reflected from it. But this, 
 we may observe, is very natural, and occurs more or less in every 
 lake hemmed in by high mountains. 
 
 It appears that then, as now, masses of black bitumen, of which we 
 have spoken in another place (p. xxv.), were thrown up to the surface. 
 Josephus compares these masses, quaintly enough, to headless bulls, 
 both in shape and size ; adding, that men went out in boats to col- 
 lect it, which was a work of some labour, from the tenacity of the 
 mass, which rendered it difficult to proportion the quantity taken 
 on board to the burden of the vessel. It was used for caulking 
 ships, and in embalmments, as well as for various medicinal purposes. 
 
 Josephus speaks of the land of Sodom, the desolation of which 
 has been recorded elsewhere, not as the land now covered by the 
 lake, but as the land which still bordered on this lake. This, he 
 says, was once a happy and blessed country ; but, for the iniquities 
 of its people, was burnt up and consumed by the fires of heaven. 
 Of this Divine judgment the land still offered abundant traces. Even 
 some remains of the ruined cities might still be perceived. The 
 fruits which grew there were also appropriate monuments of its 
 condition ; for while to the eye they seemed pleasant and good for 
 food, they were crushed in the hand that plucked them, and offered 
 nothing but dust and ashes. 
 
 From other Jewish sources we get little further information. 
 We only learn that its bitumen was one of the ingredients in the 
 holy incense, perhaps to render it inflammable ; and that it was 
 usual among the later Jews to devote to “ the Salt Sea ” anything 
 
 * Deut. iii. 17 ; iv. 19. f Deut. iii. 17 ; Josh. xv. 5. 
 
 X Ezek. xlvii. IS; Joel ii. 20. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 481 
 
 destined to rejection and cursing, and that might by no means be 
 used. 
 
 It is surprising how little has been added, until very recently, 
 to the account which Josephus gives. The older travellers seldom 
 saw anything but what they went purposely to see, or did anything 
 but what they had purposed to do. The journey to that quarter 
 has always, from the time of Christ till now, been dangerous from 
 being infested by robbers and Bedouins. And it was so great a 
 thing to visit the Jordan, and in its stream to leave the taint of 
 original sin, and to secure the soul and body from the power of 
 hell, that few of the pilgrims concerned themselves about so com- 
 paratively trifling and foreign a matter as a visit to the Dead Sea. 
 The best information is that supplied by the monks and missionaries, 
 whose long residence in the country afforded them many oppor- 
 tunities of obtaining information which could not be equally open 
 to the pilgrim or passing traveller. And, upon the whole, as far 
 as substantial facts are concerned, it is probable that very nearly 
 as much information concerning this sea existed in books a hundred 
 and sixty years ago as at the present time, notwithstanding the 
 seeming discoveries which have been made in that quarter within 
 the last thirty years. The accounts of the old travellers do not 
 differ from one another more than those of the modern ; and the 
 differences in both cases may be referred to the same causes — the 
 different times of the year in which the visits were made, and the 
 difference of temperament in the visitors, and the greater or less 
 manifestation in them of those imaginative faculties which give 
 their own hue to the objects they regard. 
 
 With respect to the dimensions of the lake, the old travellers 
 differ less among themselves perhaps than those of later date. The 
 average of their accounts would make it about, forty-five miles in 
 length by ten in breadth, which differs little from the measurement 
 we have interpreted Josephus to give, and agrees as nearly as may 
 be with the dimensions given to it in the map published by Dr. 
 Robinson. 
 
 Antoninus Martyr merely speaks of the bitumen and sulphur of 
 the lake, and the absence of any living thing on its waters, or of 
 trees or verdure on its shores. But he adds that in July and August 
 it was usual in his time for lepers to resort to the lake, and, bathing 
 in its waters, it sometimes pleased God that they were healed. 
 
 Brocard confirms the account of its sterile shores. A hideous 
 vapour, he says, rises from the lake, so that the smoke and darkness 
 by which it was invested made it no inapt type of hell. This vapour 
 is so deleterious, that the barbarians inhabiting the neighbourhood 
 took care to fix themselves beyond the point to which it continues 
 to be injurious when driven before the wind. 
 
 Other old writers describe the wafer as an abominable infusion 
 of nitre and sulphur, so offensive and nauseous to the smell and 
 taste, that the salt of the lake was never applied to any use. 
 Arculfus notices the saline deposit on the borders of the lake, 
 caused by the absorption, by heat, of the water thrown high up the 
 shore by tempests, or that is left when the lake has sunk to its 
 usual level after the periodical overflow. 
 
 Anselm contradicts much that previous writers had stated. He 
 had bathed his feet in the lake, and had seen naked Arabs and 
 Greeks bathing their whole persons, without being at all annoyed 
 by the fetor or the pestilential vapours of which so much had been 
 said. And as to the sterility of the borders, he declares there was 
 no part of the Holy Land in which he saw better pasturage ; the 
 absence of trees he seems to allow by his silence. 
 
 Some of the middle age writers attribute the absence of boats 
 upon the lake to the injurious effects of the vapour, so that men 
 could not endure it, and that it is therefore, in effect, not navi- 
 gable. But this is contradicted by the account already copied from 
 Josephus ; and Scheriff ibn Idris bears witness that there were 
 some few vessels on the lake in his time. A more recent contradic- 
 tion will presently be adduced. 
 
 We know no early writer who pretends, as often stated in later 
 times, that the vapours of this lake are so fatal to birds that they 
 cannot pass over it or remain on its borders. Eugene Roger, 
 who saw that the vapour, of which so much had been said, \kas not 
 a spontaneous exhalation from the lake, but was an absorption of 
 moisture from the lake by the heat of the procumbent air, alleges 
 that it was so sulphurous that insects could not endure it. And this 
 may be true while the process of absorption is going on with great 
 activity ; for we have evidence that great numbers of locusts have 
 been seen lying dead on the borders of the lake. 
 
 The same writer affirms that the salt of the Dead Sea was in use 
 for culinary purposes in Jerusalem : and this is confirmed by Irby 
 and Mangles, who saw people collecting the salt towards the southern 
 extremity of the lake ; and by Madden, who met people who were 
 
 4 A 
 
 bound from Jerusalem to tne western border of the lake, to collect 
 salt there. 
 
 That no fish will live in the lake, and that, although fish abound 
 in the lake of Gennesareth and the river Jordan, those that make 
 their way to the Asphaltic Lake soon die, is confirmed by Jerome, 
 many years of whose valuable life were spent in the neighbourhood. 
 He makes this remark in a note on Ezek. xlvii. 9, 10. Indeed, 
 that chapter of the prophet, by describing what the lake should 
 offer when its waters became wholesome, clearly intimates what it 
 had not in its present unwholesome state. In this obvious view, 
 the passage is so interesting that we transcribe it below.* That 
 fish coming from the wholesome waters of the lake of Tiberias and 
 the Jordan should perish in the briny and bitter waters of the Dead 
 Sea is natural. That the lake should have no fish of its own is 
 not of itself so evident, but is so probable, and supported by such 
 a concurrent weight of testimony, that we have no doubt on the 
 subject. That shells have been found on the shore proves nothing as 
 to shell-fish. They or their shells might be brought down by the 
 river and deposited on the shore ; besides, that shells of some kind 
 or other are foqnd in almost all parts of the land. 
 
 It is not difficult to account for the assertion of Josephus that 
 traces of the guilty cities of the plain might still be perceived. It 
 is clear that the Jewish historian did not consider that the cities 
 were submerged in the lake, but lay upon its borders. There is 
 nothing in his more formal account of the lake, or in his historical 
 notice of the destruction of Sodom, to suggest that he supposed 
 the lake was at that time first formed. He rather states that it 
 previously existed, but that its nature, and that of its shores, was 
 so changed as to be no longer beautiful and rich, as of old. In short, 
 he manifestly conceives that Sodom and the other cities stood upon 
 the borders of the lake, in like manner as Tiberias, Capernaum, 
 Charazin, Bethsaida, and other towns, stood upon the lake of 
 Gennesareth ; and, were this the case, it is certainly not impossible 
 that in such a climate, and in a quarter so unfrequented, some 
 traces of the doomed cities might be preserved, especially as tin 
 saline incrustations of the lake might tend to their preservation. 
 But it is more likely that the ruins of towns of far later origin might 
 be taken for those of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. It is 
 precisely in this sense that Varthemat understood Josephus, and 
 declares himself to have seen the same ruins : — “ We came to the 
 playne or valley of Sodoma and Gomorrha, where we found it to 
 be true that is written in Holy Scripture ; for there yet remayne 
 the ruynes of the destroyed citie as witnesse of God’s wrath. We 
 may affyrme that there are three cities, and eche of them scituate 
 on the declyning of three hylles : and the ruyns do appeare about 
 the heyglit of three or foure cubites. There is yet seen neare. I 
 wotte, what is lyke blood, or lyke redde waxe myxt with earth.” 
 Although this writer is not the most credible of travellers, it is 
 very likely he saw such ruins as he mentions, but that they were 
 the ruins of “the cities of the plain ” is quite another question. 
 Since then, however, travellers, misunderstanding the position taken 
 by Josephus, have been seeking the ruins under the water ; and, as 
 the water is very clear, while the bottom doubtless contains rocks, 
 stones, and other protuberant masses, it would be strange if, with 
 tolerably active imaginations, they had not found what they sought. 
 Indeed they have thrown new light on the architecture of the 
 patriarchal ages, as they have not only seen masses of stone build- 
 ings, but rows of columns “ with goodly chapiters adorned.” Others 
 
 * “ Theee waters issue out towards the east country, and go down into the desert, 
 and go into the sea ; which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be 
 healed. And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which moveth, 
 whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live ; and there shall be a very great mul- 
 titude of fish , because these waters shall come thither ; for they shall be healed ; and 
 everything shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass that the 
 fishers shall stand upon it from Enyedi even unto En-eglaim they shall be a place 
 to spread forth nets, their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the 
 great sea [Mediterranean], exceeding many. But the miry places thereof, and the 
 marishes thereof, shall not be healed, they shall be given to salt. And by the river 
 upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, 
 whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed.” — Ezek. 
 xlvii. 8-12. In this very interesting passage we see it clearly intimated that no fish 
 could live in the lake ; that no useful trees grew on its banks ; and from the context 
 it may not be difficult to collect that there were such unprofitable fruits as the 
 famous" applesof Sodom,” which will be noticed in another place. We also ob- 
 serve, that the natural salt-pans to the S.E. of the lake were so useful, from the salt 
 which they afforded the inhabitants of the country, that they were on that account 
 exempted from the curative processes metaphorically applied to the lake itself. 
 
 f "The Navigations and Voyages of Lewes Vertomanus [Varthema, sometimes 
 Barthema], gentelman of the citie of Home, to the regions of Arabia, Kgypte, Persia, 
 Syria, Ethiopia, and East India, both within and without the ryuer of Ganges, in- 
 in the yeere of our Lorde 1503. Conteyning many notable and giraunge things, 
 both hystoricall and naturall. Translated out of Latin into Englyshe. by Kichard 
 Eden, in the yeere of our Lorde 1576.” 
 
482 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 have only heard from their native guides that, when the lake is 
 very low, ruins of towns are seen at the bottom. It is possible 
 that some travellers have stated, as the result of their own observa- 
 tion, what they thus heard from their guides. Mr. Elliot, on receiv- 
 ing this information from his guide, the sheikh of Bethlehem, 
 observes — “ While holding our opinion in abeyance on this point, we 
 must remember we have no parallel instance from which to deduce 
 a positive conclusion that, under water so impregnated, masonry 
 could not endure for four thousand years.” Yes, “masonry 
 but a moment’s thought will suggest a doubt whether the buildings 
 of the patriarchal age in Syria were anything more than dried mud 
 and timber. At the present day the inhabitants of Syria build with 
 such materials : for although quarries are at their doors, the expense 
 of working them, and the want of means of conveying stone even 
 to a short distance, prevent the general use of stone for building. 
 It does not seem at all likely that the people of the country were in 
 the patriarchal age in a better condition in this respect than the 
 present inhabitants. Besides, Job, who lived in that age, and on 
 the borders of the same country, describes men as then building 
 “ houses of clay,” not of stone ; and if the houses of the very 
 ancient inhabitants were of clay, and such as the present inhabitants 
 build (and they were not likely to have been better), we know that 
 moisture is that which they are least able to stand, and that an 
 unusually wet season does immense damage to them, and ruins many 
 of them ; and that it would be impossible for any mass of build-, 
 ing to remain three days in water without falling to pieces, and 
 being resolved into a muddy sediment. Indeed the liability of such 
 houses as existed in his time of being swept away and destroyed by 
 water is plainly intimated by Job. (Job iv. 19, xxii. 16.) But 
 Josephus was not guilty of the absurdity of supposing that the 
 ruins of Sodom might still be found under the water. 
 
 All the old travellers were uncommonly perplexed to account for 
 the fact that, although the Dead Sea was constantly receiving large 
 supplies of water from the Jordan and other rivers, and had no 
 visible outlet by which they might be again discharged, its waters 
 were generally at the same level. At last it was concluded that 
 the redundant waters passed off' to the Mediterranean or the Gulf of 
 Akabah by some subterraneous communication. As the Mediter- 
 ranean was nearest, the communication was most generally supposed 
 to be with that sea, especially after a story gained currency, that a 
 wooden bowl, which a pilgrim had let fall into the Asphaltic Lake, 
 had been picked up on the shores of Sicily. Others, justly question- 
 ing this ground, were driven to the alternative of supposing that 
 a quantity of water equal to that which the lake received was 
 absorbed by the burning sands on its borders. But this question has 
 now long been set at rest. It is known that, in the case of this and 
 many other inland lakes which have no visible outlet, the air im- 
 bibes from the surface as much water as the rivers give to it, thus 
 keeping it at the same level, except at the season when the rivers, 
 from rains and melted snows, pour in more than the usual supply, 
 for then the lake rises above its usual mark. We know not that it 
 has been seen in this state, but the fact is demonstrated by the drift- 
 wood and other matters which lie at what may be called the high- 
 water mark, which mark is in some places more than a mile from 
 the ordinary edge of the water. Dr. Halley showed that the absorp- 
 tion of water from the surface of the Mediterranean was equal to 
 6904 tons daily for every square mile. Now the absorption is the 
 most active where the heat of the air is most intense ; and as there 
 is, perhaps, hardly any place without the tropics where the heat 
 is greater than in the basin of the Dead Sea and the valley of the 
 Jordan, a still more active evaporation than this must be allowed, 
 and will be found fully adequate to consume all the water which 
 the lake receives, even if as much as Dr. Shaw has calculated. In 
 a basin so confined, and in which the air becomes so intensely heated, 
 and where, moreover, the water is of such peculiar qualities, the 
 process of evaporation, or the incumbent vapour, may be expected 
 to be oftener visible than under other circumstances. Hence the 
 accounts of the mists, the vapours, the smoke, the darkness cover- 
 ing the lake, and which the older travellers supposed to be sponta- 
 neous emissions from it, and which, we believe, Morison was the 
 first to perceive to be no other than the vapour drawn up, as from 
 other waters, by the heat of the sun. But although he thus explains 
 the accounts of other travellers, he acknowledges that in his repeated 
 visits to the northern borders of the lake these appearances were 
 never visible to him, but, on the contrary, the air seemed at all 
 times as serene and pure as in the plain ol Jericho. More recent 
 travellers have confirmed this as the general appearance of the lake. 
 But that there were occasional appearances which, observed in that 
 place, and ill understood, offered a foundation for the old accounts, 
 may be collected from Irby and Mangles, who stated that on their 
 
 journey from Kerek to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea 
 they came to a pass which commanded an extensive prospect over 
 the lake, when they could observe the effect of the evaporation 
 arising from it in broad transparent columns of vapour, not unlike 
 waterspouts in appearance, but very much larger. 
 
 Having dwelt on these various particulars, which enter into a 
 description of the Asphaltic Lake, we now beg to introduce our 
 readers to Nau, the Jesuit, whose book we have had frequent 
 occasions to quote and to mention with high praise. Looking at his 
 account of the Dead Sea, we have no hesitation to declare that it 
 is the best and most satisfactory single account that any traveller 
 has, even to this day, furnished, although it be true that there are 
 particular points which may have been better described by other 
 travellers. Even the leading facts, concerning the southern termi- 
 nation of the lake, which, 150 years after, Captains Irby and Mangles 
 might fairly claim to have re-discovered, were known to this intel- 
 ligent traveller, and are duly registered in his book. We shall, 
 therefore, conclude this survey of the information given by the old 
 travellers with the substance of his description, after which we shall 
 sum up such really additional information as more recent authorities 
 have furnished. 
 
 The water is beautifully clear and transparent, though of most 
 abominable taste. Only violent winds blowing from particular 
 quarters are able to ruffle the surface of the lake, which is in general 
 perfectly smooth and still, partly from its confined situation, and 
 partly, perhaps, from the density of the water. Our author thinks 
 that it is to this general stillness, rather than to the absence of fish 
 [which he admits], or to its deleterious exhalations [which he does 
 not admit], that the lake owes the name of the Dead Sea. 
 
 Of the dense a. .2 horrible vapours covering the lake, as described 
 by most previous writers, he could see nothing in any of his journeys ; 
 but, on the contrary, the surface always appeared to be as fair and 
 as clear from vapours as any other water. The difference in the 
 accounts of former travellers as to the appearance of the borders, he 
 reconciles by observing that, in general, the shores of the lake have 
 a burnt and cindery appearance. Nevertheless, where this burnt 
 land has been refreshed by the rains of winter and of spring, a 
 rather profuse herbage appears, including an unusual proportion of 
 thorny plants and hurtful herbs. 
 
 Many other particulars we omit, to avoid repeating what has 
 been already stated, and proceed to his peculiar and interesting 
 information respecting the southern portion of the lake. 
 
 Nau had the good fortune, when on a journey to Damascus, to 
 form the acquaintance of Daniel, the abbot (as he called him) of 
 the Greek monastery of Santa Saba, which is situated about mid- 
 way between Bethlehem and the northern extremity of the lake. 
 It soon transpired that this person had several times made the com- 
 plete tour of the lake, under the protection of an Arab escort. Nau, 
 eager to avail himself of this opportunity of collecting information, 
 showed the monk a map in which the Dead Sea was represented 
 in the usual manner ; on which Daniel informed him that the 
 representation of the southern extremity of the lake w r as entirely 
 wrong. That, in fact, a second lake was there formed, of a round 
 figure, approaching to an oval, and connected with the principal 
 lake by a narrowed channel. That at this point the bottom of the 
 lake was raised in such a manner as to render the water shallow and 
 easily fordable to the other side— not indeed being higher than the 
 middle of one’s leg. This smaller and terminating lake was sur- 
 rounded by plains bounded by mountains of salt. A considerable 
 stream * nearly from the south-east, entered this smaller and termi- 
 nating lake. Nau further collected that the plains beyond were 
 occupied by numerous Arabs of different tribes, and that in the 
 country east of the Dead Sea there were fine and fertile plains, in 
 which were villages, in some of which might be found churches, 
 and a population in a considerable proportion Christian. But the 
 churches had no priests, and the people, wanting instruction, 
 scarcely retained any form of Christianity. Many of them were 
 unbaptized ; and such of them as from time to time desired that rite 
 came all the way to the monastery of Santa Saba to receive it. It 
 seems to have been with the view of ministering in some degree to 
 the wants of those destitute churches, that the good priest undertook 
 the frequent journeys which furnished him witli this information. 
 
 These facts have received, within the present century, ample 
 confirmation from the accounts of Seetzen, Burckhardt, Irby and 
 Mangles, and Dr. Robinson. Indeed the exact agreement of this 
 statement respecting the southern termination of the lake, with that 
 which the last-named travellers have given, is very remarkable. It 
 does, indeed, strikingly illustrate the difference in the intellectual 
 
 * Evidently the river El Alisa, probably the Scriptural Zared. 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 483 
 
 condition of the two periods, that the information communicated 
 by the travellers we have just named seemed all new to the public, 
 and not only attracted immediate attention, so as to produce the 
 corresponding modifications in all the descriptions of the Dead Sea, 
 and in all the maps of it subsequently put forth,* but stimulated 
 other travellers to journey in the same direction ; whereas the 
 information put forth by Nau, although on a subject in which 
 considerable interest was felt, was perfectly abortive. It cannot be 
 traced in any subsequent description or map ; nor does any later 
 traveller allude in any way to this statement, and far less was any 
 one induced thereby to travel in the direction indicated. The 
 reason is clear. Now every new fact is conveyed to the public 
 by a multitude of different channels, till it becomes familiar by 
 repetition ; whereas, in former times, such a fact might lie hid for 
 years or for ages in the unread work by which it was first produced. 
 
 Such is the account of the Dead Sea which we collect from old 
 and neglected sources, with the exception of a few elucidatory points 
 from more recent authorities. It will be found to contain nearly 
 all that is yet known of the lake. This will appear from the notice 
 we proceed to take of the additional information which may be 
 collected from later travellers. This would be more evident il we 
 confined ourselves strictly to that which is new ; but we judge it 
 advisable to introduce statements which, although not properly new, 
 involve views or circumstances which confirm or elucidate the facts 
 previously known. 
 
 The nature of the water of the lake has been distinctly ascertained 
 by modern research. It is far more saline than the waters of 
 the ocean ; and, although so limpid, its specific gravity is 1 *2110. 
 A quantity of it brought to this country was subjected to chemical 
 analysis by Dr. Marcet, and was found to contain one-fourth of its 
 weight of salts. A slightly different result was lately obtained by 
 Dr. W. Gregory from a quantity of the water brought home by Mr. 
 Madden. We give both statements; and the difference between 
 them may be accounted for by an actual difference in the qualities 
 of the water when the lake is low and when high, from large 
 additions of fresh water poured in by the rivers. A hundred parts 
 of water afforded, — 
 
 Gregory. 
 
 Chloride of soda, with a 
 trace of bromine . . 9 ‘58 
 Chloride of magnesium . 5 • 28 
 Chloride of calcium . . 3 '05 
 Sulphate of lime . . . 1-34 
 
 19*25 
 
 Marcet. 
 Muriate of lime . . 
 Muriate of magnesia 
 Muriate of soda . . 
 Sulphate of lime . 
 
 3-920 
 
 10*246 
 
 10-360 
 
 0-054 
 
 24-580 
 
 Those, as already noticed, are the same salts which, in an incom- 
 parably smaller quantity, are held in solution in the waters of the 
 Jordan also. 
 
 The extraordinary saltness of this lake is obviously owing to the 
 quantities of sali.ie matter brought in by the rivers from the saline 
 tracts over which they pass, and more particularly by the winter 
 torrents which receive and convey into the lake the rains which 
 have washed over the salt-hills at the south-eastern extremity of 
 the lake. It is easy to imagine how this constant supply of saline 
 matter to a lake of narrow dimensions, without any visible outlet, 
 must produce an accumulation of salt which cannot pass off by 
 evaporation. 
 
 When taken up in a glass the water appears perfectly clear ; 
 but when viewed en masse under a cloudless sky, though in some 
 parts it reflects imperfectly the azure hue, yet in others it is quite 
 brown, owing probably to variations in its depth. The taste is 
 described by Mr. Elliot as indescribably nauseous, salter than the 
 ocean, and singularly bitter, like sea-water mixed with Epsom salts 
 and quinine, or, as Madden describes, like a solution of nitre mixed 
 with an infusion of quassia. It acts on the eyes as pungently as 
 smoke, and produces on the skin a sensation resembling that of 
 “ prickly heat,” leaving behind a white saline deposit. 
 
 The quantity of salts which this water holds in solution accounts 
 for its remarkable specific gravity, which every writer, from Josephus 
 downward, has noticed. This has been found, by experiment, to 
 exceed that of rain-water by more than sixteen per cent. “ We 
 found it practically,” says Mr. Elliot, “ for our whole party, con- 
 sisting of five persons, plunged in and remained some time in the 
 water. Although the assertion be not true that a flat dense mass 
 of iron will be sustained on the surface, yet a man who cannot float 
 
 * When it is recollected that the work of Captains Irby and Mangles remained 
 unpublished, and consequently difficult to procure, for several years, the manner 
 in which their information became common property to the public the more 
 strikingly illustrates the difference to which these observations are directed. 
 
 elsewhere finds no difficulty here. Having proceeded some way 
 into the lake till his shoulders are nearly immersed, his feet are 
 actually borne off the ground, and he walks, as it were, on water; 
 or else his legs are forcibly raised, and he is compelled either to 
 float or swim. To sink or dive would require some effort.” The 
 specific gravity of the water accounts also for its reputed immobility ; 
 it is less easily excited than any other known lake, and sooner 
 resumes its wonted stillness.( 8 ) 
 
 No modern traveller has seen smoke issuing from the lake ; but 
 at certain times of the year the surface is covered with a thick mist. 
 In summer the sun has such power that this dense mass of vapours 
 is dispersed soon after its rising. The assertion of Volney, to which 
 we have, perhaps, given too much weight in a preceding page, that 
 smoke is often observed to issue from the lake, probably rests upon 
 information derived from the Arabs, upon which no one acquainted 
 with that people would place much dependence. That vapours exhale 
 from the lake, which, although differing perhaps in substance, 
 resemble in appearance those of all other lakes, is quite true ; and 
 that Arabs inhabiting a desert, the atmosphere of which is of the 
 purest description, should call an aqueous vapour smoke, is not 
 strange. 
 
 The old story, that no birds were found upon the shores of the 
 lake, and that none could rest upon or pass over its surface without 
 paying the penalty of death, is not ajjirtned by any of those old 
 travellers whose statements in other matters we have been accustomed 
 to treat with respect, but it has only been completely gainsaid and 
 disproved by travellers of recent date. Mariti saw a great number 
 of birds of different kinds, particularly nightingales, along the shore. 
 Fisk, and, in a later year, Hardy, saw many birds flying about the 
 lake, and even observed some skimming the water with as much 
 apparent ease as in any other place. Stephens beheld a flock of 
 gulls floating quietly on the water, and, when disturbed by him, 
 they flew down the lake, skimming its surface, till they had carried 
 themselves out of sight. Elliot saw more wild ducks cross the sea 
 from Moab to the hills of Judah. Professor Robinson observes, — 
 “ Of birds we saw many. Indeed, at the early dawn the trees and 
 rocks and air were full of the carols of the lark, the cheerful whistle 
 of the quail, the call of the partridge, and the warbling of innume- 
 rable songsters, while birds of prey were screaming and soaring in 
 front of the cliffs above.” Pigeons also were observed shooting 
 across the surface, and frogs were heard croaking merrily from the 
 neighbourhood of a brackish fountain under the cliffs of the western 
 shore. These last observations seem to have been made chiefly with 
 reference to about the middle part of the western border of the lake, 
 where vegetation, even in the form of trees, is by no means wanting. 
 Dead locusts were found by Irby and Mangles on the south-eastern 
 borders of the lake. The sight of such a multitude of carcases of 
 creatures that might have perished in passing over these waters 
 might seem to confirm the old popular notion, but the travellers 
 recollected that such a spectacle was sufficiently common upon other 
 shores, as Sicily and above El Arish. This, however, proves 
 nothing against Roger’s assertion that locusts could not cross the 
 lake. For those which were seen on the shores of Sicily and above 
 El Arish had obviously fallen into the water from fatigue in 
 attempting to cross the Mediterranean — a very different undertaking 
 from that of crossing the Dead Sea. We feel sure that locusts 
 would not be fatigued to cross that lake, and that the presence ot 
 their carcases in large numbers on the shore must be ascribed to 
 some other cause than that which produces a similar appearance on 
 the shores of the Mediterranean. This point is, therefore, still in 
 doubt. The same travellers saw a pair of Egyptian ducks, and 
 afterwards a flight of pigeons, pass over the lake. 
 
 It is, however, true that several travellers, of as great credit as 
 those from whom we have taken the preceding statements, declare 
 that they saw no birds near the lake. In fact this, like the question 
 of vegetation, seems to be one of seasons. The want offish in the 
 lake would satisfactorily account for the absence of the aquatic 
 species at any time ; and the land-birds we should hardly expect to 
 find there, save when the vegetative powers which remain in the 
 stricken soil have been called forth by the periodical rains ; and, in 
 fact, those travellers who have not observed birds, visited the lake 
 at the season when the temporary vegetation has disappeared before 
 the intense and concentrated heat of the advancing season. The birds 
 seem to disappear with it. Indeed it is not unlikely that the borders 
 of this warm basin are the retreat during the colder part of the year 
 of numerous birds, which in summer are found in other and cooler, 
 as well as then more productive and pleasant, parts of the land. 
 
 The differences in the accounts of travellers, as to the general aspect 
 of the lake, can, we think, be explained without much difficulty. 
 Setting aside the influence of a prepared imagination, it may be 
 
484 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 observed that there are actual differences at the same place at dif- 
 ferent seasons of the year, and that there are actual differences at 
 different parts of the lake. The first point has been lately explained, 
 and need not be dwelt on here ; and, with respect to the latter, we 
 need only add to what has been said in the preceding chapter, that 
 the borders seem to increase in fertility on both sides the further 
 we advance to the south, except at the very extremity of the lake 
 southward, which seems even more desolate than the northern 
 extremity. In short, there seems a certain limit beyond the water’s 
 edge, within which nothing but such few plants as love a saline soil 
 can be found ; but beyond this limit an increasing vegetation ap- 
 pears, where ordinary circumstances are favourable. So when the 
 breadth between the water’s edge and the enclosing hills does not 
 overpass this limit, all appears barren, except when the rigid and 
 austere soil is mollified and excited by abundant rains ; but where 
 the intervening plain is broad, so as to afford a space beyond this 
 limit, the soil becomes more or less cultivable, and, as we advance 
 towards the roots of the mountains, becomes spontaneously pro- 
 ductive of various plants, shrubs, and trees. So likewise, when the 
 feet of the mountains are within the sterile boundary, no vegetation 
 appears upon them, until their ascents have sloped back beyond 
 this sterile limit. The general borders of the lake are so much within 
 this limit, that the average aspect is more desolate than is usually 
 seen on the borders of lakes. It is quite clear that the evaporations 
 from the lake are charged with saline principles unfriendly to 
 general vegetation. Hence vegetation is not encouraged by the 
 moisture thus exhaled, and which might otherwise compensate for 
 the extreme drought of its borders. Indeed, from the wholesome 
 moisture supplied by evaporation, the borders of lakes, even in 
 places where rain only periodically falls, are so generally clothed 
 with trees and verdure, that water and vegetation become associated 
 in the mind, so that the disappointment and surprise give an 
 exaggerated effect to the impressions which the comparative sterility 
 of this remarkable lake produces on the spectator. 
 
 This theory — if an explanation derived from the careful com- 
 parison of a large collection of facts can be called a theory — appears 
 to us to explain many difficulties and apparent contradictions; and 
 we are well assured that its correctness will abide the test of any 
 observations which future travellers may make. 
 
 Subject to this and preceding explanations, we will trust our 
 readers with two differently coloured descriptions of the lake, as 
 viewed from the northern extremity. Both, while they give 11s 
 general impressions, are clear and sensible, and offer some further 
 facts necessary to complete an account which we have been anxious 
 to render as full and satisfactory as existing materials allow. The 
 first is that of the Rev. C. B. Elliot, whose visit was at the usual 
 season of the pilgrimage, at Easter. 
 
 “ During a ride of two hours along, or at some little distance 
 from, the banks of Jordan, we saw not a single man or animal, 
 and reached in safety its embouchure, where it discharges its muddy 
 waters with considerable force into the Sea of Sodom. The soil 
 appeared to be a mixture of sand and clay, the former being super- 
 ficial, and apparently a deposition from the water during its annual 
 overflowings. Very minute shells lie scattered in myriads over the 
 plain ; but in the immediate vicinity of the lake of death even 
 these symptoms of a by-gone life are no longer visible ; their place is 
 occupied by little masses of a white frothy substance exuding from 
 the earth, resembling in shape and size the turbinated cones thrown 
 up by worms. When taken in the hand, these almost melted, 
 leaving a smell of brimstone; they looked like a sulphurous efflo- 
 rescence in combination with salt ; but the taste indicated the 
 presence of something more than these ingredients. No signs of 
 vegetation are to be seen except sea-weed and another marine 
 production. 
 
 “ The air, even at seven o’clock in the morning, was heavy and 
 oppressive, though the sky was cloudless and the heat not unpleasant. 
 We saw no symptoms of the smoke said to be the effect of bitumi- 
 nous explosions underneath the lake and to arise constantly from its 
 surface, but a mist covered it, which might have been nothing 
 more than the ordinary effect produced by the morning sun. 
 Hemmed in as the water is by mountains absolutely barren, them- 
 selves of a gloomy hue, the sand and clay below reflecting no 
 brighter rays, it is not surprising that every object should wear a 
 dreary aspect, and the very eye be deceived into a belief — if decep- 
 tion it be — that the only colour it discerns partakes of a sombre 
 livid tint. The air is regarded as pestilential ; no human dwellings 
 are to be seen ; and probably no spot in the world is so calculated 
 as this to convey the idea of an entrance into the kingdom of death. 
 Here death wields a leaden sceptre. The eye perceives only 
 the absence of life. The ear is cheered by no sound, — even the 
 
 waveless sea sleeps in mysterious silence. The taste anu smell 
 detect only that mineral which is too intimately associated in the 
 mind with unquenchable fire and eternal death ; and the sense ol 
 feeling becomes more sympathetically affected, as though every 
 nerve were on the verge of dissolution. In this region of death 
 the living exception is ready to exclaim, ‘ How dreadful is this 
 place !’ ” 
 
 The other description is from the work of an American traveller, 
 the Rev. J. D. Paxton. 
 
 “ In going from the Jordan to the Dead Sea, for a considerable 
 space not a blade of grass or vegetation was to be seen. It was so 
 soft and dusty, that the horses sank to their fetlocks ; and in some 
 places it was rendered uneven by the irregular mounds, many of 
 which did not seem to know what vegetation is. Whether this 
 peculiar barrenness was owing to the unfavourable nature of the 
 soil I know not ; possibly this may be the case. I did not see any 
 other indication of salt, which has been reported as found on the 
 surface of the ground, until very near the sea. Between this barren 
 district and the Dead Sea there was an evident change in the 
 aspect of the ground — we found some dry grass and small bushes ; 
 and as we came nearer the shore the bushes increased in size 
 and number, and some spots might be called thickets. We saw 
 also a cane-brake and a variety of other growth. To my agreeable 
 surprise, I found the shore fine, smooth, gravelly, and deepening 
 very slowly, so that a person might wade in for some distance. There 
 was along the shore drift-wood, most of it small, but still larger 
 than I had seen on the Jordan. This would seem to indicate that 
 somewhere on its shores there is more timber than we found in the 
 spot we visited. The water was not only very salt, but exceedingly 
 bitter, as much so as most travellers have stated. The great densiiy 
 of the water was amply proved by its power to bear up the body. 
 There is some truth in the saying that it requires an effort to keep 
 the feet and legs under, so as to use them to advantage in swimming. 
 Some writers have, however, stated the matter in rather too strong 
 terms. 
 
 “ I could lie on my back in the water, with my head, hands, 
 and feet all out at the same time, and remain thus as long as I 
 pleased without making any motion whatever ; this 1 could not do 
 in any other water that I have been in. Still it is carrying the 
 matter too far, and beyond the truth, when it is said to be so heavy, 
 or so dead, that it never rises in waves, but always lies smooth and 
 unruffled, let the wind blow as it will. The drift-wood thrown out 
 is evidence to the contrary. The shore exhibited proof that but 
 a day or two before the waves had run high ; but the best proof of 
 all was the ocular and sensible one, that they were then chasing 
 each other out on the shore, as they do in all other seas ; true, they 
 did not run high, but then there was not much wind to make them. 
 The water was so clear that the bottom could be seen with great 
 distinctness. In wading in, there was at some places more softness 
 at the bottom than I was led to expect from the firm character of 
 the shore. There were, however, some spots on the shore where the 
 soil gave way under our feet, and exhibited a kind of quicksand, as 
 I demonstrated by getting into one of them over my shoes. Still 
 the bank, the water, and the bottom, so far as I saw and tried it, 
 had much less of the terrible, fearful, and unnatural, than I had 
 expected. Instead of that dark, gloomy, and turbid spread of water, 
 that from my childhood I had imagined, it struck me as a very 
 pleasant lake. It reminded me of the beautiful lake of Nice. As 
 to the deep and fearful gloom which many writers describe as 
 hanging over it, I must think that it is mainly found in their 
 imaginations. It is not wonderful that a place which, for its great 
 wickedness, was doomed to such a fearful catastrophe as were the 
 cities which stood on this plain, should be looked upon with fear and 
 horror. It is a wise provision of our nature that it should be so. It 
 operates, and no doubt it is designed to do so, as a check to that fear- 
 ful wickedness that calls down such a doom. It is notan uncommon 
 thing for people to think that there is something fearful and gloomy 
 in places where they know awful crimes have been perpetrated ; and 
 on this principle, perhaps, we may account for the fact that so 
 many travellers have dwelt on the deep gloom which hung over the 
 water, and the fearful desolation that reigned over the whole region. 
 Now to me it did not appear thus: the shores, the waters, and the 
 lake, had a natural and even a pleasing appearance, the more so as, 
 from my old habits of thinking, I expected something of the fearful, 
 if not terrible. The district was, it is true, rather destitute of 
 trees and vegetation, but not more so than many districts that I 
 have seen ; not more so than the district from Mount Olivet to the 
 plain of Jordan, and a very large district near Damascus, which I 
 noticed in a former journey. There are more small trees, bushes, 
 canes, and other vegetable growth, for a quarter of a mile along 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 485 
 
 the shore, than there are on some districts north-west of Damascus, 
 perhaps ten miles square, leaving out the narrow slips of land 
 irrigated by the water of the Bareda. There is quite a cluster of 
 small trees or shrubs, at a point on the edge of the water, where it 
 is soft and swampy. The question whether there are any living 
 things in these waters is one that I am not able to decide from my 
 own observation. I saw none. 
 
 “ There is a small island fifty or a hundred yards from the shore, 
 rising six or eight feet above the level of the water, and appears to 
 have some stones at the upper part of it. We thought we could 
 see most distinctly another island far to the south.* As similar 
 statements have often been made, and again contradicted, we looked 
 at it the more carefully ; and our conclusion was, notwithstanding 
 all the declarations to the contrary, it must be an island, and one 
 of considerable size, unless connected with the other shore by a very 
 low neck of land which the great distance prevented our seeing; 
 this time will show. It is a singular fact that a piece of water, 
 which for ages has excited more intense interest than any other in 
 the world, should yet be so little known, and so few should have 
 been found who have made a serious attempt to explore it. There 
 has not, as far as I know, been one boat on the waters of the Dead 
 Sea for ages, if from the days of Abraham ; there may have been 
 in the days of the Jewish nation, but I have not seen it confirmed 
 by any writer. Last year an intelligent Irishman took a boat 
 across from Acre to the lake of Tiberias, and after amusing himself 
 with it on that lake, he passed down the Jordan to the Dead Sea, 
 and spent some days in exploring it. How far he went to the 
 south, and what discoveries he made, is not known. lie had the 
 misfortune to be taken sick, owing in part, it was supposed, to his 
 imprudence and useless exposure. With much difficulty he got 
 back to Jericho, and was then carried to Jerusalem, where he 
 died. He had taken but few notes, which were unintelligible to all 
 but himself, f When inquired of concerning his expedition on the 
 Dead Sea, he declined answering until he should recover, when he 
 would tell them all about it. But death closed up the communi- 
 cation for ever. The boat was taken out and carried to Jericho, as 
 I have since learned. Were some one, acquainted with navigating 
 a small vessel, and capable of taking soundings and making a 
 proper survey of the lake, to spend a month or two in doing it, and 
 to publish a full account, with a correct map of the sea and the 
 coast, he would confer a very great favour on the Christian world. 
 It would be so easy of execution, and of so universal interest when 
 done, that I wonder that none of those men who long for public 
 fame have not before now thought of it.” 
 
 We sincerely join in the regret that the public have been so 
 unhappily excluded from reaping the benefit of the observations 
 made by Mr. Costigan (for that was the name of “ the intelligent 
 Irishman ” of whom Paxton speaks) during his romantic expedition. 
 The further information collected by Mr. Stephens is, for the pre- 
 sent at least, of too much interest and value to be omitted. 
 
 This gentleman reports that he took some pains to trace out the 
 man who had attended Costigan during this voyage, and had the 
 good fortune to find him at Beirout. “ He was a little, dried-up 
 Maltese sailor ; had rowed round the lake without knowing why, 
 except that he was paid for it ; and what he told bore the stamp of 
 truth, for he did not seem to think that he had done anything ex- 
 traordinary. He knew as little about it as any man could know 
 who had been over the same water; and yet, after all, perhaps he 
 knew as much as any one else could learn. He seems, however, to 
 have observed the coast and the soundings with the eye of a sailor, 
 and I got him to make me a map,| on which I marked down the 
 particulars I received from his lips, and by which it appears that 
 they had completed the whole tour of the lake.” The following is 
 the substance of the observations thus obtained : — 
 
 The tour of the lake took eight days, the voyagers sleeping on 
 shore every night, except once, when, afraid of some suspicious- 
 looking Arabs whom they saw upon the mountains, they slept on 
 board, beyond the reach of gun-shot from the land. All this time 
 was not, however, occupied in making the direct tour of the lake ; 
 for during their course they crossed and recrossed it several times. 
 They sounded every day, frequently with a line of 175 brachia 
 (about six feet each), and found the bottom rocky, and of very 
 unequal depth, sometimes ranging thirty, forty, eighty, twenty 
 
 * The first is a real island ; the other must have been an illusion, 
 f “ Unfortunately for the interests of science, he had always been in the habit 
 of trusting greatly to his memory ; and, after his death, the missionaries in Je- 
 rusalem found no regular diary or journal, but merely brief notes written on 
 the margins of books, so irregular and confused, that they could make nothing 
 of them." — Stephens. 
 
 X Copied in the original American edition, but injudiciously omitted in tho 
 English reprint, to wltich only we have access. 
 
 4 B 
 
 brachia, all within a boat’s length (!). Sometimes the lead brought 
 up sand, like that of the mountains on each side. They failed in 
 finding the bottom but once, and in that place there were large 
 bubbles all around for thirty paces, rising probably from a spring. In 
 one place they found on the bank a hot sulphur-spring. In three 
 different places they found ruins, and could clearly distinguish large 
 hewn stones, which seemed to have been used for buildings. That 
 which in the distance has appeared to many travellers as an island, 
 tow'ards the southern extremity of the lake, was found to be a 
 tongue of land, as had long before been shown by Captain Mangles. 
 This incidental corroboration of the old man’s statement, from a 
 source which he could not know, and with w hich Stephens himself 
 was unacquainted, may lead us to regard his statement as in general 
 trustworthy. 
 
 This man also reported that the boat, when empty, Hoated a palm 
 higher in the water than when in the Mediterranean. It was then 
 the month of July, and the weather from nine to five was dreadfully 
 hot. Every night the north wind blew, and the waves were worse 
 than in the Gulf of Lyons. “ In reference to their peculiar ex- 
 posures, and the circumstances which hurried poor Costigan to his 
 unhappy fate, he said that they had suffered exceedingly from the 
 heat. The first five days Costigan took his turn at the oars ; but 
 on the sixth day their water was exhausted, and Costigan gave 
 out. The seventh day they were obliged to drink the water of the 
 sea, and on the eighth day they were near the head of the lake, and 
 he himself (the Maltese) exhausted, and unable any longer to pull 
 an oar. There he made coffee from the water of the sea, and a 
 favourable breeze springing up, for the first time they hoisted their 
 sail, and in a few hours reached the head of the lake.” The rest 
 has been told above by Paxton. 
 
 A very similar attempt to this has more recently been made by 
 two scientific gentlemen, Mr. G. Moore and Mr. W. G. Beek. 
 Their intention was to make a trigonometrical survey of the Dead 
 Sea, to ascertain its depth, and to procure collections of all that 
 could be of use to science. From Jaffa they conveyed a boat, with 
 stores, &c., to the lake, passing through Jerusalem and descending on 
 Jericho — a work of great labour, considering that they had no assist- 
 ance from the authorities, but rather the contrary. After surveying 
 a good portion of the shores, these gentlemen were obliged to 
 abandon their work, the guards and guides declaring they would 
 not proceed. The width of the sea has been established beyond a 
 doubt ; soundings also have been taken, showing great depth. The 
 length of the sea was found to be much less than has generally 
 been supposed. These are all the facts, or rather intimations, 
 which these gentlemen have as yet thought proper to lay before the 
 public ;* but Mr. Moore has, we believe, since completed the 
 unfinished undertaking, under the operation of a firman from the 
 Pasha of Egypt ; and we may hope to be eventually made acquainted 
 with the full results of this very spirited enterprise. It thus 
 appears that what Mr. Paxton so anxiously wished to be done, has 
 actually been effected, although the public has not yet been informed 
 of the result. 
 
 We have so often alluded to the discoveries of Captains Irby and 
 Mangles about the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, that it seems 
 undesirable to conclude this notice without stating such of the 
 leading facts as have not already been anticipated. 
 
 Their first journey in this quarter was from Hebron round the 
 southern extremity of the lake to Kerek. When, on this journey, 
 they first obtained a view of the southern termination of the lake, 
 with the back-water, or smaller lake, and plain at the end of it, it 
 appeared evident to them that the sea must be of much less length 
 than ancient authors had reported. But we may observe that from 
 their account it is far more than likely that this plain at the end 
 formed an integral part of the lake, in which case its dimensions 
 would correspond very closely with those deduced in a preceding page 
 from the account of Josephus. And the conclusion that this plain 
 was formerly covered with the waters of the lake, even to the foot 
 of the hills, southward, which separate it from the Wady Arabah, 
 seems to us probable for another reason. For if the plain were 
 then passable, it seems difficult to make out why the Israelites, when 
 wishing to pass into the country east of the lake, did not go that 
 way, which would have been the nearest and the most open the) 
 could take ; but, instead of that, they sought permission to pass 
 through the valleys of Mount Seir, and when that was refused them, 
 had no alternative but to take a long and difficult circuit, to get 
 into the eastern country by rounding the southern extremity of the 
 Seir mountains, near the head of the eastern arm of the Bed Sea — a 
 most unaccountable journey if there had then been that access to the 
 eastern country at the extremity of the Dead Sea which is now open. 
 
 * In tho ‘ Geographical Journal,’ vol. vii. pt. 2, 1837. 
 
486 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 But to return to our travellers. They spent the night near the 
 hills skirting this plain, and, finding plenty of drift-wood at “ high- 
 water mark,” they attempted to kindle a fire to bake bread, but 
 were unable to do so in consequence of the salt with which the 
 wood was impregnated. The abundant manifestations of salt which 
 they found in crossing the plain have already been noticed in this 
 work: for this reason we limit the present notice to their other 
 observations. It appears from their statement that when the sandy 
 flats around the southern bay, or smaller lake (which they call 
 “ the back-water”), are left dry by the effects of evaporation, water 
 is still left in various hollows, or depressions of the surface, from 
 which it gradually disappears, partly by evaporation and partly 
 by draining, leaving a thick residuum of salt. Those that still 
 retained water, or were still wet, had a strong marshy smell, similar 
 to that which is perceivable on most of the muddy flats in salt-water 
 harbours. This it is, they imagine, which gave rise to the unfa- 
 vourable reports of the ancients, of the disagreeable smell of the 
 waters of the Dead Sea ; for they affirm that the water of the main 
 body of the lake is perfectly free from any smell whatever. 
 
 On their return from their expedition from Kerek to Wady 
 Mousa, the same travellers made a special excursion for the purpose 
 of exploring the southern termination of the lake. 
 
 In this journey they observed a rather profuse vegetation, so 
 comparatively near to the beach as might, without explanation, 
 seem to militate against the observations we lately made. But it is 
 to be borne in mind, that the bed being here very shallow, although 
 the vegetation approximates to the high-water mark, the waters 
 fall farther back in this quarter, after the season of flood, than in 
 any other part of the lake, removing, to that extent, the water from 
 which the influences unfavourable to vegetation arise. Thus, 
 during its absence, the trees and shrubs, assisted by the fresh water 
 winch the rivers bring down,* are able to gather strength to with- 
 stand the deleterious influences to which they are, during a portion 
 of the year, exposed. But although the waters had fallen very 
 much below the mark of high water at the time of our travellers' 
 visit, they describe the foliage as having a salt dew hanging upon 
 it, which gave to the hand the same greasy sensation and appearance 
 which it acquires when dipped in the sea itself. 
 
 The appearance which the lake assumes at its southern termi- 
 nation will be much better understood by the annexed plan than by 
 a written description. From this it will be seen that a large pro- 
 montory projects from the eastern shore, and turns northward, so 
 as to enclose between itself and the eastern coast a bay about four 
 miles long, by two broad, while between it and the western shore 
 lies a gradually narrowing strait, which conducts into the oval basin, 
 about five miles long by above 
 three in width, in which the Dead 
 Sea terminates. A small opposing 
 promontory from the western 
 shore narrows the strait in one 
 place to about a mile of width ; 
 and at this point is the ford which, 
 with the other general features of 
 the spot, was so long ago indi- 
 cated by Father Daniel. It 
 appears that the ford is marked 
 by stakes, and Captain Mangles 
 party was informed that it was 
 fordable at all times of the year. 
 
 Indeed its depth could be but in- 
 considerable at the time they were 
 there, as there were asses in a 
 small native caravan by which it 
 had just been forded. 
 
 The promontory from the 
 eastern shore has a steep white 
 ridge, running like a spine down 
 the centre. This ridge presents 
 steep sloping sides, seamed and 
 furrowed into deep hollows by 
 
 the rains, and terminating at the summit in sharp triangular points, 
 standing up like rows of tents, ranged one above another. The 
 whole is of a substance apparently partaking of the mixture of soft 
 and broken chalk and slate, and is wholly unproductive of vege- 
 tation. The height of the eminence varies from ten to thirty feet, 
 becoming gradually lower towards its northern extremity. At its 
 
 * To a similar cause — the dilution of the waters of the lake, at the northern 
 extremity, by the constant supply of fresh water from the Jordan— may be 
 ascribed the vegetation which Paxton saw near the water’s edge, not far from 
 whore that river enters the lake. 
 
 [Southern termination of the Dead Sea.] 
 
 foot, all round, is a considerable margin of sand, which varies in 
 length and breadth according to the season, being much narrower 
 in the dry season than in the times of flood, when we have reason to 
 suppose that, in rough weather at least, the waves almost wash the 
 base of the cliff. 
 
 At the base of the peninsula, not far from the bottom of the 
 bay formed by its horn, and near a river (called Dara) which falls 
 into that bay, the traces of an ancient site very plainly appear. 
 Stones that have been used in building, though for the most part, 
 unhewn, are strewed over a great surface of uneven ground, and 
 mixed both with broken bricks and pottery. This appearance 
 continues, without interruption, quite down from the slope of 
 the peninsula to the plain below, so that it would seem to have been 
 a place of considerable extent. One column was noticed, and a 
 pretty specimen of antique variegated glass was found. This our 
 travellers think may have been the site of the ancient Zoar, in 
 which Lot found refuge when the cities of the plain were destroyed, 
 and on examining the matter for ourselves, we find much reason 
 for subscribing to this opinion. Close by these is now a hut- 
 built village, occupied by Arabs. From the heat of the climate 
 the people go half naked in summer, and the children entirely so ; 
 and, altogether, their abode has more the appearance of a village in 
 India or the South Seas than any that our nautical travellers had 
 seen in the East. 
 
 Although there seems great probability, as we have already 
 intimated, that this peninsula has, in the distant view, been some- 
 times taken for an island, it seems that other apparent masses, 
 noticed in other parts, and confidently affirmed by travellers to be 
 islands, must be attributed to an illusion ; for our travellers state 
 — “ This evening, about sunset, we were deceived by a dark shade 
 on the sea, which assumed so exactly the appearance of an island 
 that we did not doubt of it, even after looking through a telescope. 
 It is not the only time that such a phenomenon has presented itself 
 to us. In two instances looking up the sea from its southern 
 extremity, we saw it apparently closed by a low dark line, like a 
 line of sand, to the northward ; and, on another occasion, two small 
 islands appeared to present themselves between a long sharp 
 promontory and the western shore. We were unable to account for 
 these appearances, but felt little doubt that they were those that 
 deceived M. Seetzen into the supposition that he had discovered 
 an island of some extent, which we have had an opportunity of 
 ascertaining, beyond all doubt, does not exist. ” 
 
 We have, on more than one occasion, stated as a fact to which 
 we attached much importance, that the great valley winch extends 
 between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of A kabah was probably a con- 
 tinuation of the ancient valley of the Jordan, by which the river 
 made its way to the Red Sea before its waters were arrested in the 
 Asphaltic Lake. This opinion was first started by Burckhardt, and 
 was adopted by others who afterwards visited the valley. Burck- 
 hardt, however, did not see how this valley connected itself with 
 the Dead Sea. Irby and Mangles, who did so, observe that the 
 plain at the end of it “ opens considerably to the south, and is 
 bounded at the distance of about eight miles by a sandy cliff, from 
 sixty to eighty feet in height, and which runs directly across, and 
 closes the valley of El Ghor, thus forming a margin for the uttermost 
 limits of the Dead Sea to the southward, when its waters are at their 
 greatest height.* lYe were told that the plain at the top of this 
 range of cliffs continues all the way to Mecca without any inter- 
 ruption of mountains.” This fact, confirmed and followed up, is 
 no other than that on which the former conclusion has been lately 
 questioned, and, we are almost sorry to admit, overturned. How 
 it happened that the statement of Mangles was not considered to 
 oppose an obstacle to this conclusion, we do not know, unless, as in 
 our own case, from an unwillingness to dwell upon this single 
 incident as irreconcileable with an opinion which such a traveller 
 as Burckhardt thought he had good reasons to form; and also 
 perhaps from some vague notion that these cliffs might prove to be 
 mere sand-banks, thrown up, in the course of ages, at high-water 
 mark. 
 
 Count du Bertou examined this matter more closely. As all the 
 passages which bear on the question have been produced in the 
 preceding chapter, we shall not here repeat them. .These, it will 
 be recollected, show that the confining southern hills are of sand- 
 stone ; that there is indeed the broad valley of a river or torrent 
 passing through or at the end of this chain of hills, but this slopes 
 
 * Is it not probable that Josephus and other old writers measured the Dead 
 Sea as extending to these cliffs, as it seems actually to do at high water; and 
 that hence arises the greater length which they give to it? 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 487 
 
 sensibly towards the Dead Sea, and could never, therefore, have 
 been the bed of a river flowing in the opposite direction ; that all 
 the torrents and streams far to the south of this tend towards the 
 basin of the Dead Sea ; and that the point where the waters sepa- 
 rate occurs below Wady Mousa, or rather at A\ ady Talh, about 
 midway between the hills which border on the basin of the Dead 
 Sea and the head of the Elanitic Gulf ; all the waters north of this 
 limit tend to the former basin, and all south of the same limit to the 
 latter. 
 
 Professor Robinson confirms this statement in all essential points. 
 The following passage deserves attention, as explaining what is 
 rather obscure in the notices of the Count: — “Before us, as we 
 advanced southward, appeared a line of cliffs, fifty to one hundred 
 and fifty feet in height [“ fifty or sixty,” Count 77.,] stretching 
 across the whole broad valley, and apparently barring all further 
 progress. They proved to be of marl [“ friable sandstone,” Count 
 7?.] ; and run off from this point [the western end] S.S.E. across 
 the valley. All along their base are fountains of brackish water, 
 oozing out and forming a tract of marshy land towards the north. 
 Our route now lay along the base of these cliffs, and we came in 
 two hours to the mouth of Wady Jib [the same which Count de 
 B. calls Wady Araba, but which is here distinguished as a Wady 
 in Wady Araba], a deep valley coming down from the south through 
 the cliffs ; and showing the latter to be only an offset between the 
 lower plain which we had just crossed, and the higher level of the 
 same great valley farther south. The name El Ghor is applied to 
 the valley between the Dead Sea and this offset : farther south the 
 whole of the broad valley takes the name of El Araba, quite to 
 Akabah. These apparent cliffs I take to be the Akrabbim of 
 Scripture. The Wady Jib begins far to the south of Mount Hor, 
 beyond Wady Gharandel, and flows down in a winding course 
 through the midst of El Araba , draining off all its waters north- 
 ward to the Dead Sea. Where we entered Wady Jib, at its 
 northern end it is half a mile broad, with precipitous banks of 
 chalky earth or marl, 100 to 150 feet high, and exhibiting traces 
 of an immense volume of water flowing northward. It may be 
 recollected that the waters of Wady Jarafeh in the western desert, 
 which drains the south-east part of that desert, far to the southward 
 of Akabah, also flow northward into El Araba, and so, of course, 
 through Wady Jib. Hence, instead of the Jordan flowing south- 
 ward to the Gulf of Akabah, we find the waters of the desert farther 
 south than Akabah flowing northward into the Dead Sea. The 
 very nature of the country shows, without measurement, that the 
 surface of the Dead Sea must be lower than that of the Red Sea or 
 the Mediterranean.” 
 
 This is, it will be perceived, still stronger than the statement of 
 Count de Bertou ; for while he divides the waters which flow into 
 the Araba between the Dead Sea and the Elanitic Gulf, Dr. 
 Robinson gives them all to the Dead Sea. 
 
 After this the serious and difficult question recurs, which was 
 obviated by the explanation by which the waters of the Jordan 
 w ere carried to the Red Sea — namely, What became of the Jordan, 
 when, as is generally supposed, it merely passed through and watered 
 the plain which the Dead Sea now covers? — 1. Were its waters 
 consumed, like those of the Barrady at Damascus, in irrigating 
 the fields and gardens, and in supplying water to the towns of the 
 plain ? 2. May there not have been a lake in this basin, in former 
 
 times, to receive the Jordan ; and then may not the “ plain ” or 
 “ vale” in question mean merely the borders of that lake ; according 
 to what appears to be the meaning of Josephus, who seems to 
 speak of the land of Sodom as still existing as land, though in a 
 condition sadly altered from its former state? It would not be 
 necessary to suppose that the lake then encroached beyond the 
 channel and ford which we have already described, and where there 
 are appearances which may be construed to intimate to the 
 geographer that there M r as an ancient breach of the waters at this 
 point, whereby the whole country southward, down to the hills, 
 was inundated, as it still seems to be during the season of flood, 
 although the Mater beyond the ford only remains permanently in 
 the southern lake or back-water. This would give a tract above 
 twenty miles long by ten or twelve broad, beside the borders of the 
 lake, as the land which Mas ruined at the overthrow of Sodom, and 
 in which the “ cities of the plain ” Mere situated. In confirmation 
 of this we might point to Gen. x. 19, in which the five cities, by 
 being opposed to Gaza, seemed to be brought together near the 
 present southern extremity of the lake. To this may also be added 
 that Sodom, at least, could not well have been to the north of the 
 channel formed by the tongue of land ; for the short time which 
 was taken by the family of Lot in escaping to Zoar shows it could 
 not have been far from that city, which unquestionably Mas on the 
 
 borders of the present southern extremity of the Asphaltic Lake. 
 When viewed apart from our preconceptions on the subject, there 
 Mill be found no passage of Scripture which distinctly intimates 
 that “ the plain of Siddim ” M'as submerged. It is described as 
 having become a region of salt and burning, and bitterness, and 
 desolation — but not of ivatcr. 3. If neither of the above hypotheses 
 be considered tenable, there seems no alternative but to consider 
 that the overthrow of Sodom Mas attended by a far greater and 
 more extensive derangement of the earth’s surface — by the depression 
 of high levels and the elevation of low ones through large tracts of 
 country, than has hitherto been imagined, or than the Scripture 
 Mould lead us to, expect. We refrain at present from attempting 
 to make up our minds to any of these alternatives, expecting that 
 some further and clearer light may speedily be obtained from the 
 researches which are now in progress, or which we may hope soon 
 to be undertaken. 
 
 We will now proceed to notice the streams which fall into the 
 Mediterranean. As they have all been named, and some of them 
 slightly noticed in the survey of the coast given in the last Chapter, 
 we shall now confine our attention to those which cross “ the plain 
 of the sea ” southward from Sidon ; and among these we shall 
 neglect the small brooks and torrents, and limit our attention to 
 those which are of some relative importance, or with which any 
 circumstance of interest is connected. 
 
 The river Kasmia, which is now generally supposed to be the 
 same as the ancient Leontes, is the first, which, within this limit, 
 requires notice, and is also by far the most important, after the 
 Oro.ntes, of all the Syrian rivers which advance to “ the great sea.” 
 It has already been noticed in a general way (471). This river 
 is formed by the junction of several streams, all of which rise in the 
 neighbourhood of Baalbec. After this junction it retains for more 
 than half of its course the name of the stream which contributes tie 
 most largely to its formation, the Nahr Liettani, after which it 
 takes that of Nahr Kasmia, the origin of which Sir W. Drummond 
 would refer to the verb kasam, which signifies to divide, as in fact 
 the territory of the Tyrians was separated by this river from that 
 of their Sidonian neighbours on the north. Pursuing its M’ay south- 
 ward between the two Lebanons, it receives the Maters which fall 
 from both ; and, after a course of above eighty miles, enters the sea 
 about four miles to the north of Tyre. About the middle of its 
 course this river was crossed by Maundrell on a stone bridge of 
 five arches. He calls it here “a large river” (in April). The 
 bridge was some years since repaired, and a khan for the accommo- 
 dation of travellers built near it by the Emir Beshir. Some thirteen 
 miles lower down, the river was crossed by Buckingham on his 
 journey from Damascus to Sidon (also in April), by a bridge of two 
 arches. The stream was here about 100 feet wide, and the water 
 deep and rapid in its course. On its approach to the sea, the banks 
 of this river are very picturesque. It comes out into the plain 
 from an extensive valley among the mountains, as a large and deep 
 river, and continues its course to the sea in various windings and 
 meanders. On the usual road between Sidon and Tyre there was 
 formerly a stone bridge of four arches over the stream. This Mas 
 in ruins at the time of Maundrell ; and its place is now supplied by 
 a bridge of one arch, below which the stream encloses a small island. 
 
 Some of the older writers very erroneously identify this river 
 with the ancient Elcutherus, an error which we believe Maundrell 
 M r as the first to point out. It does not appear that this river is on 
 any occasion mentioned in Scripture. It was on the shore betu’een 
 the mouth of this river and Tyre that the Phoenicians Mere accus- 
 tomed to collect the shell fish called the murex, from which they 
 obtained the dye so famous under the name of the Tyrian purple. 
 
 The Nahr Kardanus is unquestionably the river Dclus of the 
 ancients, from which it would appear that it was consecrated to 
 Baal by the ancient Phoenicians. It is not mentioned in Scripture, 
 but is noticed by Josephus under the name of Beleus. It is a slender 
 stream, the source of which does not appear to be known, although 
 it. cannot be very distant. Quite near its mouth this river is shallow 
 enough in summer to be forded on horseback. Its sands have a 
 fine appearance, and are famous in ancient history and fable, M'hich 
 attributes the first discovery of glass to the effects produced by a 
 culinary fire kindled upon them. Although it was ultimately found 
 that other sands possessed the same property, yet it appeared that 
 the sand of this river might be vitrified with more ease, and that 
 the glass was of finer quality than any other. The Phoenicians 
 took advantage of this discovery, and the Sidonian glass was in 
 ancient times very famous. Vessels visiting this coast used to take 
 this sand as ballast. Down to a comparatively recent date, vessels 
 from Italy continued to remove it for the glass-houses of Italy and 
 Genoa ; and Mariti affirms that the magnificent glasses, for the 
 
488 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 manufacture of which that people were so long celebrated, were 
 made from the sands of this river. It seems, however, that the 
 same or nearly the same qualities were possessed by the sands of 
 all the rivers of this coast, from Tyre to Joppa. 
 
 “ That ancient river, the river Kishon,” occurs farther to the 
 south, traversing the same plain, and flowing into the south-eastern 
 corner of the same bay of Acre. It is a much more considerable 
 stream than the Belus, and is historically celebrated in Scripture 
 for the overthrow of Sisera’s host by its overflowing stream. It is 
 usual to trace the source of this river to Mount Tabor, but Dr. 
 Shaw affirms that, in travelling on the south-eastern brow of Mount 
 Carmel, he had an opportunity of seeing the sources of the river 
 Kishon, three or four of which lie within less than a furlong of 
 each other, and are called Has el Kishon , or the head of the Kishon. 
 These alone, without the lesser contributions nearer the sea, dis- 
 charge water enough to form a river half as large as the Isis. 
 During the rainy season all the water which falls on the eastern 
 side of Mount Carmel, or upon the rising grounds to the southward, 
 empties itself into it in a number of torrents, at which times it 
 overflows its banks, acquires a wonderful rapidity, and carries all 
 before it. It was, doubtless, at such a season that the host of 
 Sisera was swept away in attempting to ford it. But such inunda- 
 tions are extemporaneous only, without any duration ;* for the 
 course of the Kishon, which according to this account, is only about 
 seven miles in length, runs very briskly, until within half a league 
 of the sea. But when not augmented by rains, it never falls into 
 the sea in a full stream, but insensibly percolates through a bank 
 of sand, which the north winds have thrown up at its mouth. In 
 this state Shaw himself found it in the month of April, 1722, when 
 he passed it 
 
 Notwithstanding Shaw’s contradiction, the statement that the 
 Kishon rises in Mount Tabor has been repeated by later writers 
 as confidently as ever. Buckingham’s statement, being made with 
 reference to the view from Mount Tabor itself, deserves some 
 attention. He says that near the foot of the mountain, on the 
 south-west, are “ the springs of Ain el Sherrah, which send a 
 perceptible stream through the centre of the plain of Esdraelon, 
 and form the brook Kishon of antiquity.” Farther on, on reaching 
 the hills which divide the plain of Esdraelon from that of Acre, 
 the same traveller saw the pass through which the stream makes 
 its way from the one plain to the other. From the attention we 
 have had occasion to pay to similar rivers, it does not seem to us 
 difficult to reconcile these seemingly adverse statements. It will 
 very probably be found, on further inquiry, that the remoter sources 
 of the river are really in Mount Tabor; but that the supplies derived 
 from this source dry up in summer when not augmented by rains or 
 contributary torrents ; whereas the copious supply from the nearer 
 springs at Ras el Kishon, with other springs lower down, keep it 
 up from that point as a perennial stream, even during the drought 
 of summer. Thus, during one part of the year, the source of the 
 full river will appear to be in Mount Tabor, while, during another 
 part, the Ras el Kishon will be the source of the diminished stream. 
 
 The route across the plain has been little travelled in the seasons 
 of rain ; but evidence nevertheless exists of the presence of the 
 stream from Tabor in that time of the year. Maieti mentions that 
 an English dragoman and his horse were drowned in the attempt 
 to cross such a stream in 1761. During the battle of Mount 
 Tabor, between the French and Arabs (April 16, 1799), many of 
 the latter were drowned in the attempt to cross a stream coming 
 from the neighbourhood of Tabor, which then inundated the plain. 
 In the same season of a later year, Monro found a stream 30 yards 
 wide, and crossed it in a boat ; Dr. Robinson, whose impression coin- 
 cides with that which has been taken from these facts, even thinks 
 that tiie stream from Tabor was formerly perennial, when the country 
 was better wooded than at present. 
 
 Of the brooks which flow from the hills of Samaria, and pass to the 
 sea across the plains which lie between Carmel and Joppa, the two 
 named Zerka and Kanah are those only that require particular notice. 
 
 The Zerka, which must not be confounded with a far more 
 important river of the same name beyond Jordan, seems to take 
 its name from a village so called upon its banks : it falls into the 
 sea about three miles north of the ruins of Caesarea It is of course 
 an inconsiderable brook, save in winter ; and is chiefly remarkable 
 for its supposed identity with the Crocodile River of Pliny. From 
 its proximity to Caesarea, there is good reason to conclude that i 
 this is the river that he intended to denote by the name. The 
 Arabs in the neighbourhood positively affirm to travellers that 
 crocodiles exist in this stream, but admit that they are of small 
 
 * We have ourselves observed of such rivers in different countries, that the dura- 
 tion of the inundation is proportioned to the length of their course. 
 
 size. As they do not appear to be found in any other river of 
 Palestine, those travellers who have been induced by the corres- 
 pondence between Pliny and the modern inhabitants to pay some 
 attention to the subject, have been led to conclude that some large 
 species of lizards have been taken tor small crocodiles ; while others, 
 going further in their belief, think that there are real crocodiles, 
 of degenerated growth, descended either from such as an Egyptian 
 colony in this neighbourhood imported as sacred animals, or from 
 such as might have been brought here, as to Rome, to be used in 
 the zoological combats which were celebrated at Caesarea in the 
 time of the Ilerods and of the Roman procurators. But the proper 
 seat of these crocodiles, according to most accounts, was a lake, 
 with which this river communicated, and to which the Arabs gave 
 the name of Moiet-el-Temsah, or the crocodile lake, which is 
 exactly the name ( Crocodilorum Lacus ) given to it by the ancients. 
 Buckingham and others remark, that they could not find this lake 
 in the site assigned to it by D’Anville ; but this does not prove that 
 it does not (or at least did not) exist in a situation somewhat dif- 
 ferent from that which he assigns to it ; for its name has descended 
 to us from ancient times, and there are not wanting travellers who 
 affirm that they have seen it. And in such cases, the affirmation 
 of those who tell us that they have seen, is of more weight than 
 the negation of those who tell us that they have not seen. Among 
 those who describe the lake as having seen it, are Brocard, Brei- 
 danbach, Roger, and Surius, who were all something more than 
 mere passing travellers. Roger describes it as a lake of soft water, 
 about a league in circuit, deep, and abounding in fish ; and as 
 being formed by springs rising within itself. Both he and Surius 
 relate an anecdote which seems to have made much noise in their 
 time — that in the year 1628, a crocodile issued from among the reeds 
 of the lake, of such size and strength that it was able to seize and 
 carry off in its jaws an ass, dragging also a large stone to which the 
 animal had been tied by the peasant to whom it belonged. Nau 
 also affirms that calves have sometimes been carried off by the 
 crocodiles of the river. One may suspect that the sins of other 
 creatures have in these cases been imputed to the crocodiles ; but 
 with respect to the lake itself, the verity of the old geographers 
 and travellers has been confirmed by the Rev. V. Monro, who 
 observed it, and describes it as the Crocodile Lake of D’Anville, 
 and the Moiet-el-Temsah of the Arabs. It is a small low-lyin^ 
 lake, overgrown with reeds, and abounding in fish. It is supplied 
 by a stream running from the east. The latter was crossed by the 
 traveller, half a mile beyond, near to where it issued from a small 
 mere, by an artificial passage through a ridge of rock that still bears 
 traces of a bridge or arch which once spanned the channel. 
 
 About twelve miles to the soutli of Caesarea is the Nahr-el-Kasab 
 a brook of which we find nothing memorable save the probability of 
 its being the “ river Kanah ” of Josh. xvi. 8, and xvii. 9. 
 
 About ten miles to the south of this, and nearly the same distance 
 to the north of Joppa, is another small river, shallow, and easily 
 forded, near its mouth, even in January. It is called Nahr-el- 
 Arsouf, and is chiefly noted for a celebrated castle of the same 
 name which stood near its mouth in the time of the Crusades. 
 
 A little before we reach Joppa, we cross the Nahr-Abi-Petros, 
 over which there is a bridge, and on whose border the ancient city 
 Lod, otherwise called Lydda and Diospolis, stood. 
 
 About twelve miles to the south of Joppa, the traveller reaches 
 the Nahr-el-Rubiti, which he usually crosses close to the remains 
 of a Roman bridge, one great arch of which and part of another 
 still remain, overgrown with bushes and weeds. The river above 
 the bridge was nearly dry when crossed by Irby and Mangles in 
 October, and filled with wild flowers and rushes. Below it these 
 travellers noticed a handsome winding sheet of water, the banks of 
 which were likewise covered with various water-flowers, and many 
 black water-fowl were swimming on its surface. The water is bad, 
 but not salt. It takes its present name from that of a celebrated 
 sheik whose tomb stands on its northern bank. 
 
 Ten miles to the south of this, and about a mile and a half south 
 of Ashdod, we cross a rivulet which appears to be the Scriptural 
 brook Sorek. This identification results from the considerations 
 and bearings which enable us to determine witli tolerable accuracy 
 the situation of Eleutheropolis, which Eusebius tells us was on the 
 river Sorek : and the present rivulet is the only one that corresponds 
 with these indications. The stream was crossed by Dr. Richardson 
 i (in April) on a broad stone bridge, and it then offered the appear- 
 ance of the bed of a river with stagnant water in several places. 
 
 Between Askelon and Gaza are two small streams, concerning 
 the history or names of which we have no information. 
 
 Between two and three miles to the south of Gaza is a rivulet 
 called Wady Gaza, which seems to answer better than any other 
 
489 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 to the brook Bezor of Scripture. This can scarcely be called a 
 stream, being little more than the dry bed of a winter-torrent bear- 
 ing marks of being occasionally swept over by a large volume of 
 water. Early in April, Dr. Richardson found it a dry bed, about 
 thirty yards wide. Below where he crossed there was stagnant 
 water in several places ; and the route lay through a fine alluvial 
 plain, which, when there was water, seemed to be surrounded by 
 the river. 
 
 Now, pursuant to the plan we proposed to ourselves, we proceed 
 to notice the streams which tend towards the great valley of the 
 Jordan, beginning with those which How down the western slopes 
 — that is, from the proper Land of Canaan. These are few, and 
 of small note — the rather that the streams which contribute to the 
 original formation of the Jordan, north of the Lake Huleh, have 
 already been noticed. In fact, although between that lake and the 
 end of the Dead Sea there are numerous brooks, each with its own 
 name, there is hardly one among them of even sufficient Scriptural 
 or historical interest to claim the notice to which it would not, 
 from its physical importance, be entitled. The brook Kedron may 
 be an exception ; and to that our attention must be confined. 
 
 It derives its sole importance from the frequent allusions to it 
 in the Sacred History, which necessarily resulted from its flowing 
 through the deepest and most extensive of the natural valleys by 
 which Jerusalem is confined. The ravine in which this stream is 
 collected takes its origin above a mile to the north-east of the city. 
 This ravine deepens as it proceeds, and forms an angle opposite 
 the temple. It then takes a south-east direction, and, passing 
 between the village of Siloam and the city, runs off in the direction 
 of the Dead Sea. It is, as we have said, dry in summer, but even then 
 its wide and stony bed bears witness that in winter, after heavy 
 rains, it becomes a large and powerful torrent. The Kedron con- 
 tinues its way to the Asphaltic Lake through a singularly wild 
 ravine, the course of which few travellers have traced. Of these 
 are Madden and Stephens, who both passed through it, the one in 
 going to and the other in coming from the Dead Sea. It is in this 
 ravine that the celebrated monastery of Santa Saba is situated, of 
 which we have already taken notice. Speaking of his approach 
 to this monastery through this ravine, Mr. Madden says, “ After 
 traversing for the last hour a wild ravine formed by two rugged 
 perpendicular mountains, the sides of which contained innumerable 
 caverns, which once formed a sort of troglodyte city in which the 
 early Christians resided, the tradition of this convent is, that 80,000 
 of them were massacred in this valley by the Saracens. The sight 
 of the convent in this desolate place was like a glimpse of paradise.” 
 Leaving it next day, he gives no informing particulars of his farther 
 route, save that he “ marched through the bed of the Kedron, along 
 the horrible ravine which he entered the day before.” At length, 
 he says, he got into the plain, his course over which led him to the 
 top of the cliffs which bound the lake on the north-west. But he 
 takes no further notice of the bed of the Kedron, which, it appears, 
 approaches the lake in that quarter, where the mountains are very 
 high and precipitous. 
 
 We will not quit the brook Kedron without some notice of the 
 other waters of Jerusalem which its bed receives. And first of the 
 “ Fountain ” and the “ Pool of Siloam,” whose surplus waters flow 
 in a petty streamlet to that bed. Concerning these there has been 
 some confusion through the indiscriminate application of names by 
 different travellers, and the most lucid account we have met with 
 is that with which the public has been furnished by Dr. Wilde,* 
 of Dublin. 
 
 “ The Fountain of Siloam, sometimes called the Upper Pool of 
 Siloam, is situated in an indentation formed in the side of the hill, 
 beneath the south-eastern angle of the city wall, and nearly opposite 
 the place where the Tyropcean Valley separates the eastern sides of 
 Mounts Zion and Moriah. It is entered by an arched vault, by 
 which a flight of steps leads down to a low-vaulted passage cut in 
 the solid rock, and which leads in a north-west direction beneath 
 the site of the ancient temple. The often repeated, and, I might 
 say the hackneyed quotation, — 
 
 ‘ Siloa ’3 brook that flow’d 
 Fast by the Oracle of God, 
 
 has never, I think, been properly understood, because both this 
 fountain and that called the pool of the same name are placed at a 
 distance from the site of the temple. The following fact may 
 illustrate and explain this quotation : — 
 
 * ‘ Narrative of a Voyage to Madeira, Teneriffe, and along the shores of thr 
 Mediterranean,’ &c. By \V. R. Wilde, M.R.I.A. Dublin, 1840. 
 
 4 C 
 
 “ During the rebellion that I have already alluded to,* the Arabs 
 of the opposite village (Siloam) gained access to the city by means 
 of the conduit of this pool, which again rises to the surface within 
 the mosque of Omar. Dr. Richardson conjectured that this sub- 
 terraneous passage proceeded under the mountain, but heretofore no 
 proof could be given of its doing so, nor was it known to travellers! 
 that it communicated with the interior of the city. The passage is 
 evidently the work of art. The water in it is generally about two 
 feet deep, and a man may go through it in a stooping position.” 
 Dr. Wilde further supposes that this may have been used by the 
 ancient inhabitants as a sallyport, or secret outlet from the temple; 
 for he states, that it cannot have been made to conduct the water 
 from the fountain into the city, inasmuch as it is lower than that 
 point, and the stream flows down from it. If this be the case, it 
 seems to us infinitely more hkely that it was originally designed to 
 carry off the surplus water which was brought from the fountain of 
 Etham into the temple. Those who wish to pursue the inquiry 
 will find much to confirm this conjecture. Dr. Wilde informs m, 
 that the fountain of Siloam is “ a mineral spring, of a brackish 
 taste, and somewhat of the smell of Harrogate water, but in a 
 very slight degree. if It is said to possess considerable medicinal 
 properties, and is much frequented by pilgrims. The remains of a 
 church surround the vault at the top, and by the Latin fathers 
 (and all Roman Catholic travellers) it is called the Fountain of the 
 Blessed Virgin, from the supposition that she washed the linen of 
 our Lord § in its sacred waters. 
 
 “ Continuing our course around the probable line of the ancient 
 walls, along the gentle slope of Zion, we pass by the king’s gardens, 
 and arrive at the lower pool of Siloam placed in another indentation 
 of the wall, at the southern extremity of Zion. It is a deep square 
 cistern, lined with masonry, adorned with columns at the sides, and 
 having a flight of steps leading to the bottom, in which there were 
 about two feet of water. It communicates by a subterraneous 
 passage with the fountain just described, from which it is distant 
 about six hundred yards. The water enters the pool by a low- 
 arched passage, into which the pilgrims, numbers of whom are 
 generally to be found around it, put their heads as part of the 
 ceremony, and wash their clothes in the purifying stream that 
 issues from it. 
 
 “ A very remarkable circumstance is related of this pool and 
 fountain : — It is reported, that the water in them is subject to a 
 daily tide ; and by some writers it is stated to ebb and flow under 
 lunar influence. I must confess that in my first visits to the place, 
 
 I was much astonished, for not only did I see the mark to which 
 the recently-fallen water had risen, but I also perceived that its 
 height was greater at different times of the same day. Many inge- 
 nious hypotheses, and many learned arguments have been adduced 
 to account for this extraordinary phenomenon — the wonder and 
 admiration of the pilgrim and traveller. 1 think, however, that it 
 may thus be accounted for. The stream or outlet from the lowet 
 pool is conducted by artificial channels through the gardens and 
 parterres that lie immediately beneath it in the valley ; and it is 
 the chief source of their fertility; for as they are mostly formed of 
 earth which has been carried from other places, they possess no 
 original or natural soil capable of supporting vegetation. Now, 
 immediately on the water-course leaving the pool, it is divided into 
 numbers of little aqueducts for the purpose of irrigating these 
 different plots: but as there is but little water in the pool during 
 the dry season, the Arabs dam up the several streams, in order to 
 collect a sufficient quantity in small ponds adjoining each garden ; 
 and this they must all do at the same time, or there would be an 
 unfair division of the fertilising fluid. These dams are generally 
 made in the evening, and the water is drawn off in the morning, nr 
 sometimes two or three times a day ; and thus the reflux of the 
 water that they hold gives'the appearance of an ebb and flow. 
 
 * This was an outbreak in Jerusalem, in which the Arabs inhabiting the village 
 of Siloam were the ringleaders. 
 
 f Perhaps not to modern travellers ; but Dr. W. might read Qnaresmius, lib. iv. 
 pereg. vii. cap. 28 (‘ Uefonte H. Maria Virginia ’). In the two preceding chapters, 
 respecting the lower pool ( IJe Origins et Terminations Fontis Silo's), some valuable 
 matter, new because old , might also be found. 
 
 J “ I brought home ajar of this water, and am informed by Professor Kane, who 
 has analysed it, that it is a strongly saline and sulphureous spring, whose specific 
 gravity is 1003' 5 ; that it contains much common salt, some carbonate and sulphate 
 of lime, a trace of muriate of magnesia, together with a quantity of sulphuretted 
 hydrogen gas.” This seems rather a loose way of stating the results of an analysis. 
 
 § “ And her own,” Nau reports, but with his usual good sense adds to his report 
 of the tradition, “ C’est ce qu’on en dit, mais je ne sijay pas d’oii on Fa appris.” 
 In his time the fountain was highly reverenced (as it still is) by the Moslems, and 
 Christians were obliged to pay for permission to descend, and Jews were altogether 
 eicl tided. 
 
490 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 “ The surplus water is finally collected into a small stream that 
 joins the brook Gihon, near its junction with the Kedron, but both 
 these latter streams were dry during our visit.” 
 
 This lower pool of Siloam has been generally regarded as that in 
 which, by our Saviour’s direction, the man born blind went and 
 washed, and returned with the blessing of sight. (John ix. 7.) It 
 has also been identified with the En-rogel, or Fuller’s Fountain 
 (literally Foot Fountain), mentioned in Josh. xv. 7, xviii. 16, and 
 2 Sam. xvii. 17 ; and this with more likelihood than the reference 
 which some others make to the upper fountain. But the point is 
 uncertain, and not of much importance. Nau points to a fountain 
 below the village of Siloain, on the other side of the valley, which 
 he thinks agrees more than either of them with the Scriptural in- 
 timations which refer to En-rogel. It was from the fountain as 
 distinguished from the pool of Siloam* * * § that the Jews were wont to 
 draw water in a golden vessel, at the feast of tabernacles, and bear 
 it with great ceremony to the temple, where it was poured out as a 
 libation at the altar. t 
 
 The stream of Gihon, mentioned as falling into the Ivedron at 
 the angle where the eastern and southern valleys meet, is connected 
 with one, or rather two, of the numerous reservoirs prepared by the 
 early sovereigns of Judah for supplying Jerusalem with water. 
 The reservoirs now in question are in the western valley, called the 
 Valley of Gihon, whence they are named the Upper and Lower 
 Pools of Gihon. The “ Upper,” being the noi thernmost, is nearly 
 apposite the gate of Bethlehem, and the road to Jaffa passes close 
 by it. It is a large basin, not, as Pococke describes, “cut down 
 about ten feet into the rock,” but by running a strong wall across 
 the ravine, walling the sides and covering them with a water-proof 
 cement. As travellers note that it is always dry or almost dry 
 except in or after the season of rain, it seems designed to receive 
 the waters which come down from the neighbouring hills. From 
 this pool to the city there is a canal, which is uncovered part of the 
 way, and which is said to go to the pool which is inside the Beth- 
 lehem gate, in the street near the Holy Sepulchre. This canal was 
 obviously intended to conduct a portion of the surplus waters from 
 the outer pool to that within the city ; for the design of all the 
 pools appears to have been to collect the rain-water for the common 
 uses of the city, and even for drink in case of need. 
 
 About a milej below this, in the valley, below Mount Zion, is 
 another much larger reservoir, designed apparently not only to 
 collect the intermediate waters of the valley, but to share the surplus 
 water of the upper pool. It is made like the other by building a 
 wall across the valley. The basin is about 250 paces long by 100 
 broad ; and the bottom is very narrow, as the sides shelve downward 
 like steps. The basin is supplied by no natural springs, and is now 
 dry except after rains. The surplus water from this pool, as well 
 as that collected below it, passes off by the southern valley and falls 
 into the Kedron. Tradition ascribes the credit of these pools to 
 Solomon, as it does all similar works in the land. But it seems 
 better to regard this lower pool at least as the work of Hezekiah, 
 who is said to have “ stopped the upper water-course of Gihon, and 
 brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David 
 which seems correctly to describe the situation of the lower pool, 
 and the mode of its formation. The upper pool, and the commu- 
 nication between it and the city, may have previously existed; and 
 it appears to have been in or near the spot that Solomon was 
 anointed king by order of his father, while Adonijah was holding 
 his royal feast at En-rogel, in the opposite valley.§ The pool is 
 not named, and indeed perhaps did not then exist. And the name 
 Gihon, which alone is given, may have denoted a natural spring or 
 a well, for that it was a tvater, seems to be shown by the fact 
 of the intended opposition to Adonijah, who was at the well of 
 Rogel. 
 
 1 here are few towns, and scarcely any metropolitan town, in 
 which the natural supply of water is so inadequate as in Jerusalem ; 
 hence the elaborate contrivances to collect and preserve the precious 
 tlnid, or to bring it to the town. And as we shall find no more 
 suitable place than the present, we here take such notice of the 
 works undertaken with this view, as its historical importance seems 
 to require. 
 
 * Tliis is shown by Lightfoot from the Jewish writers. See Chorog. Cent, 
 chap. xxv. 
 
 f The Jewish writers suppose the passage, “ With joy shall ye draw water 
 out of the wells of salvation” (Isa. xii. 3), to refer to this custom. And with 
 moro likelihood, seeing the time is distinctly indicated, it is supposed that 
 Christ was actually witnessing this ceremony, when '* On the last day, that great 
 day of the feast [of tabernacles], Jesus stood and cried, 6aying, ‘If any man 
 thirst, lot him come to me and drink,’ ’’ &c. 
 
 + Course distanco ; the direct distance is little moro than half this. 
 
 § 1 Kings i. 33. 
 
 Of the reservoirs within the town, the only one which need 
 engage our attention is that which is identified as the Scriptural 
 pool of Bethesda, as a description of which we cannot do better 
 than transcribe the account given by Dr. "Wilde: — 
 
 “ The place called Bethesda is an immense deep oblong excavation 
 or cistern, somewhat similar to the pools of Solomon near Beth- 
 lehem. It is situated to the south of St. Stephen’s, or the sheep- 
 gate, immediately beneath the wall of Omar’s mosque, and beside 
 the antique cyclopean masonry that I noticed before in this locality. 
 It is about two hundred and fifty feet long and thirty feet deep : 
 but now dry, and partly filled with dirt, rubbish, and brambles. 
 The walls that form its sides are so curiously constructed that they 
 demand attention. They are of immense thickness, and formed 
 of several upright layers of masonry. The first, or that most 
 distant from the inner side of the pool, is formed of large and 
 perfectly square masses of stone laid in courses, but separated from 
 each other by a band of intervening smaller stones in the shape of 
 long bricks, placed with their ends out, and projecting from six to 
 eight inches beyond the plane of the larger ones ; so that they thus 
 formed a kind of reticulated work. The square space left in the 
 centre of each band of projecting stones is again filled up by others 
 still smaller ; and the central stone of this part is fitted into a square 
 groove or notch cut about three or four inches deep in the original 
 large blocks with the greatest nicety, and the whole joined together 
 by strong cement. Over this is placed a firm coating of morta; , 
 a couple of inches thick, and studded on its surface with small flat 
 flints, and bits of marble ; and, last of all, it was completely covered 
 with a layer of strong cement of a whitish colour. The walls have 
 been much dilapidated in several places, and I had an opportunity 
 of examining them carefully. This work is best seen on the southern 
 side of the excavation, where it lies beneath some ruined houses. 
 In the western end the remains of three arches are still in existence ; 
 but the third is at present nearly choked up with the debris of old 
 and ruined houses. These arches appear to have been formed as 
 an entrance for the water, which was probably conveyed to them 
 from the Bethlehem aqueduct.” Strong grounds have since been 
 produced by Dr. Robinson, for the suspicion, that this alleged pool 
 of Bethesda was in fact part of the deep fosse on that side of the 
 temple; but it will doubtless long continue to retain the name it 
 now bears. 
 
 The site of the famous “ Pools of Solomon,” on the road to 
 Bethlehem, has been noticed in p. 459, and on account of their 
 connection by aqueducts with Jerusalem, the pools themselves cannot 
 be more suitably noticed than in this place. 
 
 It will be remembered that the narrow and fertile valley in which 
 they are found is supposed to be the site of one of the undertakings 
 of Solomon, of which he speaks in Eccles. ii. 5, 6,* and to be 
 that, in particular, to which there are allusions in the Canticles. It 
 is also, with reason, conceived to be the place noticed by Josephus, 
 who, when writing of Solomon, states There was, about fifty 
 furlongs distant from Jerusalem, a certain place called Etliam, very 
 pleasant in fine gardens, and abounding in rivulets of water; thither 
 he was wont to go forth in the morning, sitting on high in his 
 chariot.” (Antiq. viii. 7.) 
 
 The description of these pools which Dr. "Wilde has furnished is 
 so distinct and fresh, that we shall here introduce it : — 
 
 “ At the extremity of the valley, we arrived at the three enormous 
 tanks, sunk in the side of a sloping ground, and which, from time im- 
 memorial, have been considered to be the workmanship of Solomon ; 
 and certainly they are well worthy the man to whom tradition has 
 assigned their construction. These reservoirs are each upon a 
 distinct level, one above the other, and are capable of holding an 
 immense body of water. They are so constructed, both by conduits 
 leading directly from one to another, and by what may be termed 
 anastomosing branches, that when the water in the upper one has 
 reached to a certain height, the surplus flows off into the one below 
 it, and so on into the third. These passages were obstructed, and the 
 whole of the cisterns were out of repair, when we visited them, *0 
 that there was hardly any water in the lowest, while the upper one 
 was nearly full of good pure water. Small aqueducts lead from 
 each of these cisterns to a main one that conducts the water to 
 Jerusalem. They are all lined with a thick layer of hard whitish 
 cement, and a flight of steps leads to the bottom of each, similar to 
 some of those in the holy city. Where the lowest cistern joins the 
 valley of Etliam, it is formed by an embankment of earth, and has 
 a sluice to draw oft’ the water occasionally. A short distance from 
 
 * “ I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind 
 of fruits; I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth 
 forth trees.” 
 
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 491 
 
 the upper pool, I descended into a narrow stone chamber, through 
 which the water passes from the neighbouring spring on its course 
 to the cisterns. This likewise has a traditionary tale to tell. It 
 is said to be the sealed fountain to which allusion is made in the 
 fourth and fifth chapter of the Canticles. From an examination of 
 this place, it appeared to me that several springs empty themselves 
 into these reservoirs, which are partly cut out of the solid rock, 
 and partly built with masonry. 
 
 “ Nigh to the upper pool there is a large square castle, ap- 
 parently of an order of architecture belonging to the Christian era ; 
 and, in all probability, so placed to guard these water-works during 
 the period of the Holy War, for we know to what extremities some 
 of the early Crusaders were reduced from the different wells being 
 poisoned by the enemy upon their approach to Jerusalem. 
 
 “ These fountains having been already described by Maundrell, 
 Pococke, and others, I shall not dwell longer upon them, except to 
 mention two circumstances, that it appears extraordinary have not 
 been adverted to by former travellers ; the first is, their great 
 similarity to the fountains assigned to Solomon at Ras-el-Ain, near 
 Tyre ;* and the fact of both being natural springs, that were pent 
 up so as to raise the water they contained to the level of its final 
 destination. The second is, that these springs were originally col- 
 lected into one stream, which must then have formed a considerable 
 rivulet, and, running through this valley, finally discharged its 
 waters into the Asphaltine Lake. 
 
 “ It was beside these water-works that Ibrahim Pasha suffered a 
 defeat by the Arabs some years ago, when he made a sudden sortie 
 from Jerusalem and attacked the rebels there, but their numbers 
 more than doubled his. A garrison of five cavalry soldiers was 
 stationed in the old castle. 
 
 “ On our return to the city, we followed the track of the aqueduct 
 as far as Bethlehem, and afterwards crossed it in several places on 
 the road. It is very small, but the water runs in it with con- 
 siderable rapidity, as we could perceive by the open places left in 
 
 * “ We visited the cisterns of Solomon, at Ras-el-Ain, which, tradition says, 
 lie erected in return for the assistance afforded by King Hiram in building the 
 temple. There are two sets of these cisterns; the first we came to were small, and 
 in ruins, and one evidently of a later date than the second. Their decayed state 
 allowed us to examine the mode in which they were constructed, in order to raise 
 the body of water to the required level. This water now finds it3 way direct to the 
 sea, turning a mill in its course. No doubt can exist, I think, but that both these 
 and the larger ones are natural springs, which, by being enclosed in those water- 
 proof walls, raised the water to the height necessary for conducting it to the city. 
 To suppose them, as has been asserted, supplied by a river having a higher source 
 in the adjacent mountains, is unreasonable ; for, had such been the case, why not 
 conduct it from the highest point at once, instead of bringing it into a valley, in 
 which both of these cisterns are situated ? The larger cisterns are about half a 
 mile farther on to the south ; the ground which intervenes between them and the 
 lesser ones is highly fertile, and was covered with green coin and large groves of 
 mulberry-trees — si k still forming a considerable article of commerce here. These 
 fountains are three in number, and one about thirty feet high ; they are situated 
 in a small valley, about a quarter of a mile from the sea ; and though they are 
 much broken and neglected, yet they retain sufficient magnificence to attest their 
 antiquity ami former beauty. The largest is an octagon, and is about a hundred 
 yards nearer to the sea than the others, to which it is joined by some very beautiful 
 urche3. A row of steps leads to the top, which is surrounded by a walk eight feet 
 broad. Either it was originally arched over, or the lining is much worn awav, as 
 the rop projects like a cornice. The aperture is twenty-two yards across, and on 
 fathoming it I found the depth not more than eleven yards in the centre, and about 
 two at the edges ; but its depth has probably been diminished by rubbish, &c., which 
 from time to time it must have received. Indeed, one only wonders how these 
 cisterns have at all stood amidst the many desolations that have visited this unhappy 
 country. They are always full, and an immense body of water flows from them, 
 which also turns several mills in its course. 
 
 “ I measured the thickness of the wall of the smallest fountain, and found it to 
 be twenty-three feet. It was formed in this way — two walls of hewn stones, each 
 from five to six feet long, enclosed a space which was filled up with a cement, 
 consisting of lime, broken stones, and gravel. On the inner wall was a lining of 
 mortar studded with small stones, similar to that on the fountains of Solomon, 
 near Bethlehem, and to that on the pool of Bethesda, at Jerusalem. 
 
 * The water has been drawn from the aqueduct to supply the mills, and Ibrahim 
 Basha was then erecting a Tabonch manufactory nigh to the cisterns. Besides the 
 large quantity of water constantly passing off' in the regular stream, it flows over 
 the side of the cistern in one place, and forms a handsome cascade. Stalactites 
 like those on the arches in the plain, are seen here in immense masses, and some 
 Doric capitals have been lately dug up at this place; and an aqueduct runs from 
 it in a southward direction, which was used probably for the purposes of irrigation. 
 The main aqueduct is continued northward to the rock, or citadel, and is supported 
 by arches at one place only. On the morning of our visit, some Arab women were 
 baking their bread, made by pouring batter upon the healed pan, a practice much 
 referred to in the Book of Samuel. The existence of these fountains prior to the 
 time of Alexander has been called in question by a learned writer ; but no stronger 
 proof is ueeded of their having been < onsti ucted previous to the building of Insular 
 Tyre than that which is furnished by the aqueduct running direct to the rock, and 
 afterwards turning backwards to the island, to which it could have been brought in 
 half the distance and with much less obstruction, from the irregularities of the 
 ground. Beyond these fountains is an extensive piain, bounded by the lowar 
 range of Lebanon.” 
 
 it here and there. From the very tortuous course that this conduit 
 takes in following the different sinuosities of the ground, being 
 sometimes above and sometimes beneath the surface, it is difficult 
 to persuade one’s self that it does not run up hill, as many have 
 supposed. Finally, it crosses over the valley of Rephaim, on a 
 series of arches to the north of the lower pool of Gilion, and wind- 
 ing round the southern horn of Zion, is lost to view in the ruins 
 of the city. It very probably supplied the pool of Bethesda, after 
 having traversed a course of certainly not less than from thirteen 
 to fifteen miles.” 
 
 We now turn our attention to the rivers which fall into the basin 
 of the Jordan from the country east of that river, beginning in the 
 north. 
 
 The first of these in the river Jarmouk, a name which t he Greeks 
 softened into Hieromax, and which is now called by the Arabs 
 Sheirat-el-Mandhour, from a celebrated chief named Mandhour, 
 who is said once to have governed the whole of the tract of country 
 through which the stream runs, from its source at Mezareib to its 
 outlet into the Jordan, near the southern extremity of the lake of 
 Tiberias. At the place — the supposed site of Ashtaroth Carnaim 
 — to which the source of the river is thus ascribed, the stream issues 
 from a lake about a mile in circumference. This lake has a small 
 grass-covered islet in the. centre, and an abundance of fish in its 
 waters, equal in size and not inferior in beauty to the gold and silver 
 fishes which we keep in glass globes. The water is sweet and 
 transparent, and the lake never dries. The stream which issues 
 from lienee flows in a westerly direction, witli few windings, till it 
 empties itself, at the point already indicated, into the Jordan, which 
 is considered to be fifteen hours distant from the lake in a W.S.W. 
 direction. On another occasion, Mr. Buckingham, to whom we 
 owe our information, heard the source of the river described as 
 being three days’ journey from its mouth, in the direction of Bozra 
 at a place called Shellal ; but whether implying thereby a cataract 
 or rapids, as that word does on the Nile, he could not clearly 
 understand. The fact is, that the various streams which contribute 
 to form the river Jarmouk sweep a wide tract of country to the 
 east and north-east of its estuary ; and as many of these have a fiir 
 more remote source than that which comes from the lake at Meza- 
 reib, it is difficult to understand why this should preferably be 
 considered the source of the river, unless that it is the most remark- 
 able and the best known. It is likely, however, although we have 
 no assurance of it,' that these remoter streams are dry in the summer, 
 and that the only perennial stream is that which issues from the lake, 
 in which case its claim to be regarded as the source of the river muy 
 be admitted. But nothing is in general more difficult than to 
 assign their true sources to rivers obscurely known ; and as it is 
 a matter of little interest, except to scientific inquirers, it is only 
 under peculiar circumstances that we have allowed it to engage our 
 attention. 
 
 The body of water which the river Jarmouk contributes to the 
 Jordan is very considerable. Indeed, at the point (a little above 
 the estuary) where it was crossed by Mr. Buckingham, early in 
 February, he found it not fordable without difficulty, as the stream 
 was there broader, deeper, and more rapid, than the Jordan at the 
 time (a fortnight before) and place of his crossing that river, above 
 Jericho.* 
 
 The river Jabbok now bears the name of Zerka. Its waters first 
 collect in the south of Jebel Haouran. In crossing westward, 
 across the dry plain, to enter the Belka, it more than once takes 
 its course under ground, and is quite dry in the summer ; but after 
 it has passed the plain, the contributions it receives make it a 
 perennial stream, although in summer much attenuated. At. the 
 point where it enters the hilly region is the Kalaut-ez- Zerka, or 
 castle of Zerka, which is one of the stations of the Syrian pilgrims’ 
 caravan. At this place “ it is but a sorry rivulet embedded among 
 reeds, but its waters are clear and well tasted. ”t At a point about 
 midway between this place and the mouth of the river, where it 
 was crossed by Buckingham, its course lies between tall and abrupt 
 cliffs, about 500 feet high, which look as if separated by some con- 
 vulsion of nature to give it passage. It is in fact a deep ravine in 
 a plain, the dark sides of which are in general destitute of verdure, 
 while the plain at the top, on both sides, is covered with a light red 
 soil, and bears marks of high fertility. At the bottom of the ravine 
 we find a small river flowing from the eastward, and which appears 
 here to have just made a sharp bend from the northward, and from 
 this point to go nearly west to discharge itself into the Jordan. 
 “ The banks of the stream were so thickly wooded with oleander 
 
 I * Buckingham ’8 ‘Arab Tribes,’ 16.'?; ‘ Palestine,’ ii. 297, 306. 
 
 , f Hobinson, ii. 171. This was in November. 
 
492 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 and plane-trees, wild olives, and wild-almonds in blossom, pink and 
 white sickleyman-flowers, and others, the names of which were 
 unknown to us, with tall and waving reeds, at least fifteen feet in 
 height, that we could not perceive the waters through them from 
 above, though the presence of these luxuriant borders marked the 
 windings of its course, and the murmur of its flow was echoed 
 through its long deep channel, so as to be heard distinctly from 
 afar. On this [the northern] side of the stream, at the spot where 
 we forded it, is a piece of wall, solidly built upon the inclined 
 slope, constructed in an uniform manner, though of small stones, 
 and apparently finished at the end which was toward the river, so 
 (hat it never could have been carried across, as we at first supposed, 
 either for a bridge or to close the pass. This was called by the 
 Arabs, Shughl beni-Israel, or the Work of the Sons of Israel ; but 
 they knew of no other traditions regarding it. The river where 
 we crossed it, at this point, was not more than ten yards wide, but 
 it was deeper than the Jordan and nearly as rapid, so that we had 
 some difficulty in fording it. As it ran in a rocky bed, its waters 
 were clear, and we found their taste agreeable.”* 
 
 We know not that the river has been crossed lower down than 
 this by any traveller besides Burckhardt, from whose brief indi- 
 cation it appears still to flow in a deep valley, through banks 
 overgrown with the solarium furiosum. As might be expected in 
 the beginning of July, he found it “a small river;” but must, even 
 on his own showing, be under some mistake in saying that it 
 “ empties itself into the Jordan about an hour and a half from the 
 spot where it issues from the mountain.”]- 
 
 The Arnon, which, after the Jordan, is more frequently than 
 any other river of the land named in the historical and prophetical 
 Scriptures, now bears the name of Wady Modjeb , and was pre- 
 eminently the river of Moab, on which Aroer, one of the principal 
 cities of that nation, was situated. It enters the Dead Sea, and is 
 principally formed by the confluence of three streams (Wady Wale, 
 Bahr Ledjoum, and Seyle Sayde), all of which have their origin in 
 the remoter hills beyond that lake, which overlook the eastern 
 wilderness. Burckhardt crossed it in July, about twenty miles from 
 its mouth. It has been more rarely visited than the other streams ; 
 and the account rendered by Burckhardt is still the only good one 
 we possess. It seems to exhibit many of the same characteristics as 
 the Jabbok. 
 
 “ The view which the Modjeb presents is very striking. From 
 the bottom, where the river runs through a narrow strip of verdant 
 
 * Buckingham’s ‘Palestine,’ ii. 109; see also Lindsay, ii. 123. 
 
 f Burckhardt, 317. 
 
 level, about forty yards across, the steep and barren banks rise to a 
 great height, covered with immense blocks of stone which have 
 rolled down from the upper strata, so that, when viewed from above, 
 the valley looks like a deep chasm, formed by some tremendous 
 convulsion of the earth, into which there seems no possibility of 
 descending to the bottom. The distance from the edge of one 
 precipice to that of the opposite one is about two miles in a straight 
 line. We descended the northern bank of the Wady by a footpatn 
 which winds among the broken masses of rock, dismounting on 
 
 account of the steepness of the road There are three foros 
 
 across the Modjeb, of which we took that the most frequented. I 
 had never felt such suffocating heat as I experienced in this valley, 
 from the concentrated rays of the sun and their reflection from the 
 rocks. We were thirty-five minutes in reaching the bottom. The 
 river, which flows in a rocky bed, was almost dried up (in July) ; 
 but its bed bears evident marks of its impetuosity during the rainy 
 season ; the shattered fragments of large pieces of rock which had 
 been broken from the banks nearest the river, and carried along by 
 the torrent, being deposited at a considerable height above the pre- 
 sent channel of the stream. A few defle and willow trees grow on 
 its banks.”* 
 
 Of the smaller lakes, or rather pools, to be found in the country, 
 some have been incidentally noticed, and the rest are of too little 
 consequence to require notice in this work. Mr. Monro indeed 
 mentions, that on approaching the plain of Esdraelon, near the hill 
 on which stands the castle of Sanhoor,] be saw “a lake about six 
 miles long by three in width, which had been formed within a short 
 time, from some unknown cause. The tract of land over which it 
 had spread was arable, and in many places the tops of the corn 
 were visible above the water. The muleteers, though in the habit 
 of travelling upon that route, had never seen it before, and one of 
 them could not be persuaded that it was water, until he had ap- 
 proached close to the brink, but believed it to be the illusion of 
 the mirage, which having seen in the desert, he supposed might 
 exist there also.” Lest the lake thus described should find a place 
 in maps, we may mention that it has been noticed by no subsequent 
 traveller who has pursued the same route ; and that the appearance 
 witnessed was probably no other than a temporary inundation, 
 caused by recent heavy rains, which the heat of the ensuing summer 
 soon evaporated. Large tracts in and bordering on the plain of 
 Esdraelon, as well as on the plain of the coast, are thus laid under 
 water in the wet season. 
 
 * Burckhardt, 372-3. + See before, p. 456. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 
 
 (>) The Name of the Jordan, p. 473 — Various have been the 
 etymologies assigned to the name of this river. It happened that a 
 party of the tribe of Dan established themselves near one of the 
 apparent sources of the Jordan, and gave the name of Dan to the 
 conquered town of Laish. Hence the etymologists have rarely been 
 able to get rid of the notion that the last member of the name 
 Jor dan must be in some way referred to the tribe of Dan. The 
 explanation which ascribes the name to the union of two streams, 
 respectively called Jor and Dan, to form the river and the name of 
 Jordan , is so pretty that it deserves to be correct. This explanation, 
 as applied, assumes that of these two streams the Dan was that which 
 arose near the city of that name ; but the only fact bearing on this 
 point which we have been able to find (adduced in the text) would 
 rather ascribe the name of Jor to this stream, and of Dan to the other. 
 But as the tribe of Dan certainly occupied the territory in which both 
 streams rise, this fact would not disprove the etymology, as the name 
 might be derived from the tribe if not from the town. Besides, the 
 two sources thus denominated are so near each other, as to make the 
 distinction of little importance, since both must have been near the 
 city of Dan. 
 
 Another etymology, however, derives the name from the words “)N', 
 jor, and H- dan, that is the river Dan, the former being an Egyptian 
 word adopted by the Hebrews to denote a river or brook, and especially 
 the Nile and its branches. Of those who adopt this interpretation, some 
 have the n as a proper name, supposing it derived from the tribe 
 of Dan ; while others regard it as an appellative, and finding that 
 Dan may mean pleasure , translate the name, River of pleasure. But 
 the word may also mean deep, profound; and hence others will have 
 the name to signify the deep river, a distinction sufficiently applicable 
 to it, by a comparative reference to the other rivers of the country. 
 
 But another class of interpreters, observing that the river is called 
 Jordan long before the tribe of Dan, or even the founder of that tribe, 
 existed, and feeling an objection to the supposition that in the Book of 
 
 Genesis this name is proleptically assigned to the river, think it the 
 better course to derive the name from the word “TT, jarad, “to flow 
 down,” that is, “swiftly,” and suppose the river to have been thus 
 named with reference to the rapidity of its course. 
 
 Our own opinion is, that the second member of the name, dan, does not 
 at all refer to the tribe of that name ; for, of all things, rivers most usually 
 retain the names they originally received, and it was not likely that the 
 Hebrews, so late as the time of the judges, gave a new name to a 
 principal river which must have had a well-known and recognized 
 name for ages. We therefore believe that Jordan was its actual name 
 in the time of Abraham. But although inclining to the interpretation 
 which derives the name from the verb “J"y, we do not feel quite decided 
 against those other interpretations which equally exclude the reference 
 to the word dan as a proper name. Indeed it might be strongly argued 
 in favour of the Jor being understood in the sense of river, that the 
 phrase “ the river Jordan ” never occurs in the Bible — it is always “the 
 Jordan.” But it may be added that the corresponding word J> 
 occurs in Syriac in the sense of a sea, a water. Thus in excluding all 
 reference to the tribe of Dan, we are far from being at any Joss for an 
 etymology of the word Jor dan. 
 
 ( 2 ) The Stade, p.475. — We shall be unable in this place to develop 
 our views on this subject to the extent we once intended. The remarks 
 we may offer may be well introduced by the following, from the 
 Introduction to Major Rennell's * Comparative Geography of Western 
 Asia.’ 
 
 “ Of these (stades) there were both Greek and Roman. It was 
 originally a Grecian measure ; but afterwards applied by the Romans 
 to the subdivision of their mile, which consisted of eight stades. Hence 
 a degree consisted of GOO Roman stades only ; although Strabo, fol- 
 lowing the Greeks, reckoned 700, and the mean of the different 
 authorities among the Greeks7l8 ; in the Euxine, taken around its whole 
 circuit, about 70S. These are the Grecian itinerary stades, and had 
 
NOTES TO GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 no reference to the Olympic, which never appears to have been used 
 for itinerary purposes. 
 
 “ When Polybius, Strabo, or Pliny are speaking after the Greeks, 
 or treating of Grecian matters, antecedent to their times, they always 
 used the Grecian itinerary stade; but in what concerns Roman matters 
 alone, the Roman stade. Strabo, when following the route of Alexander, 
 gives of course the identical number of stade3, as well as the quality, 
 which he found in the annals of the times ; and, moreover, gives the 
 distance according to the number of stades actually marched over ; so 
 that, aftgr all, it was necessary, in order to obtain the direct distance, 
 to deduct the proportion of winding of the road. 
 
 “ Pliny gives those distances almost universally in Roman miles, in 
 order, it may be supposed, to render the account more intelligible to 
 his countrymen. It will be found that he turned the sums of Grecian 
 stades into M P. by dividing by eight, which has the pffect of increasing 
 the distance, since it required nine and a half Grecian stades to make 
 a Roman mile. However, this will be found to be true, by those who 
 compare the distances in M P. in Pliny, with the stades in Strabo.” 
 
 Now this process is, we believe, that which has been applied with 
 exaggerated effect to the measurements of Josephus; so that his 
 dimensions and distances, as reported to the English reader, are much 
 larger than he intended them to be. Such mere Roman writers as 
 Pliny found it convenient to consider the Grecian stade equivalent to 
 the eighth part of their mile, or their furlong, although nine and a half 
 stades would be strictly required for that mile ; and our own writers, 
 imitating in this the Romans, have translated the stade into furlong 
 with still worse effect, seeing that our mile is so much longer than the 
 Roman (which had seventy-five miles to the degree, whereas ours has 
 ?ixty-nine and a half), that about ten and a quarter stades would be 
 required to fill it out. The disproportion between the stade and the 
 English “ furlong,” into which it is so usually rendered, will appear 
 still greater when it is reflected that distances were usually stated by 
 the ancients according to the road, although an English reader is apt 
 to think of direct distances. The difference thus resulting is such, that 
 it is considered the Roman mile of seventy-five to a degree becomes 
 eighty-four to the degree, when allowance is made for the windings 
 of the roads, to use the measurement in geographical construction. 
 
 Now we consider, that when all these circumstances are taken into 
 account, and applied to interpret the measures of Josephus, it will be 
 found in most instances remarkably accurate, instead of being too large, 
 us is usually considered. We have no doubt that, writing in Greek, 
 and of affairs in which the Romans were only ultimately and partially 
 concerned, his stade was the same as that of the Greek writers, and, as 
 above, of Polybius, Strabo, and Pliny, when speaking after the Greeks 
 or of Grecian affairs, and that, consequently, instead of rendering his 
 stade into furlong, of which we have eight to our mile, we should 
 consider that there were at least ten of his stades to our mile. The 
 propriety of thus reducing his measurements into British miles is shown 
 by the frequently very exact correspondence between them, as thus 
 understood, and those which some modern travellers have furnished. 
 We are content to have pointed out a subject of inquiry which to some 
 of our readers may be interesting. 
 
 In the ninth volume of the ‘ Geographical Journal,’ there is a paper 
 ‘ On the Stade, as a Linear Measure,’ by Colonel Leake. It contains a 
 large mass of valuable information on the subject; but we have not our- 
 selves resorted to it, as the conclusion of Major Rennel and other great 
 geographers is more satisfactory to us than that which would bring the 
 stade to a uniform standard. 
 
 ( 3 ) Water of tiif. Dead Sea, p. 483.— We cannot forbear sub- 
 joining in a note the lively account which Mr. Stephens gives of his 
 experience on this point : — 
 
 “ From my own experience I can almost corroborate the most 
 extravagant accounts of the ancients. I know, in reference to my own 
 specific gravity, that in the Atlantic and Mediterranean I cannot float 
 without some little movement of the hands, and even then my body is 
 almost totally submerged; but here, when I threw myself upon my 
 back, my body was half out of the water. It was an exertion even for 
 my lank Arabs to keep themselves under. When I struck out in swim- 
 ming it was extremely awkward, for my legs were continually rising to 
 the surface, and even above the water. I could have lain and read 
 there with perfect ease. In fact, I could have slept; and it would have 
 been a much easier bed than the bushes at Jericho. It was ludicrous 
 to see one of the horses ; as soon as his body touched the water, he was 
 afloat, and turned over on his side: he struggled with all his force to 
 preserve his equilibrium; but the moment he ceased moving, he turned 
 over on his side again, and almost on his back, kicking his feet out of 
 water and snorting with terror. The worst of my bath was, after it was 
 over, my skin was covered with a thick glutinous substance, which it 
 required another ablution to get rid of; and after I had wiped myself 
 dry, my body burnt and smarted as if it had been turned round before 
 a roasting fire. My face and ears were encrusted with salt; my hairs 
 stood out, ‘each particular hair on end,’ and my eyes were irritated 
 and inflamed, so that I felt the effects of it for several days. In spite 
 of all this, however, revived and refreshed by my bath, I mounted my 
 horse a new man. 
 
 (*) The Dead Sea. p. 486. — Two travellers — one an American, Lieut. 
 Lynch, who visited Palestine in 1848-9; the other M. de Saulcy, a French- 
 
 4 n 
 
 41)3 
 
 man, whowas there in 1850-’l — have addedmuch toourprevious knowledge 
 of the locality of the Dead Sea. The Lieutenant commanded an expedi- 
 tion sent out by the government of the United States, for the special purpose 
 of navigating that sea ; for which purpose two metallic boats were con- 
 structed, one of copper, the other of galvanized iron, which could be taken 
 to pieces, and conveyed, any distance, overland ; and could be impelled 
 either by oar or sail. The American party was accompanied to the sea 
 by two Arab chiefs, and ten Arabs well armed. The boats were launched 
 on the Sea of Galilee, and they descended the Jordan to the Dead Sen. 
 The navigation of the river was found to be interrupted by rapids, and 
 the course to be so tortuous, that it ran at least two hundred miles, 
 though the distance, measured in a straight line, is not more than sixty. 
 The boats entered the Dead Sea on the 18th of April, and encountered a 
 storm, which Lieutenant Lynch thus describes : — “ A fresh north-west 
 wind was blowing as we rounded the point. We endeavoured to steer a 
 little to the north of west to make a true west course, and threw the 
 patent log overboard, to measure the distance; but the wind rose so 
 rapidly, that the boats could not keep head to wind, and we were obliged 
 to haul the log in. The sea continued to rise with the increasing wind, 
 which gradually freshened to a gale, and presented an agitated surface of 
 foaming brine ; the spray, evaporating as it fell, left incrustations of salt 
 upon our clothes, our hands, and our faces ; and while it conveyed a 
 prickly sensation wherever it touched the skin, was, above all, extremely 
 painful to the eyes. The boats, heavily laden, struggled sluggishly at 
 first; but when the wind freshened in its fierceness, from the density of 
 the water, it seemed as if their bows were encountering the sledge- 
 hammers of the Titans, instead of the opposing waves of an angry sea.” 
 The gale increased, and, writes the Lieutenant, “ I began to fear both 
 boats would founder. But, although the sea had assumed a threatening 
 aspect, and the fretted mountains, sharp and incinerated, looked terrific 
 on either side, and salt and ashes mingled with its sands, and foetid 
 sulphurous springs trickled down its ravines, we did not despair : awe- 
 struck, but not terrified, — fearing the worst, yet hoping for the best, — we 
 prepared to spend a dreary night, upon the dreariest waste we had ever 
 seen. At 5.58 the wind instantaneously abated, and, with it, the sea as 
 rapidly fell ; the water, from its ponderous quality, settling as soon as the 
 agitating cause had ceased to act. Within twenty minutes from the time 
 we bore away from a sea which threatened to enguiph us, we were pulling 
 away, at a rapid rate, over a placid sheet of water, that scarcely rippled 
 beneath us.” — Lieutenant Lynch thus describes the scene which the 
 lake and its shores presented : — “ The northern shore is an extensive 
 mud-flat, with a sandy plain beyond, and is the very type of desolation ; 
 branches and trunks of trees lay scattered in every direction ; some 
 charred and blackened as by fire ; others white, with an incrustation 
 of salt. These were collected at high-water-mark, designating the line 
 which the water had reached prior to our arrival. The north-western 
 shore is an unmixed bed of gravel, coming in a gradual slope 
 from the mountain to the sea. The eastern coast is a rugged line of 
 mountains, bare of all vegetation — a continuation of the Ilaouran range, 
 coming from the north, and extending south beyond the scope of vision, 
 throwing out three marked and seemingly equi-distant promontories, from 
 its south-eastern extremity.” — From the observations of this party, the 
 dimensions of the lake appeared to be about forty geographical miles in 
 length, from north to south, with an average width of nine or ten ; and 
 it was ascertained that the bottom consists of two distinct plains, one, 
 north of the promontory, averaging one thousand three hundred feet 
 from the surface; the other, to the south, not more than thirteen. The 
 bed appeared to be, for the most part, of blue mud, mixed with 
 rectangular crystals of salt. No traces of organic life — not the slightest 
 — could be found in the water. — A party travelled along the west shore 
 of the lake, starting from the Jordan, at the north. After leaving the 
 green banks of that river, “they passed over a sandy tract of damp 
 ravines, where it was difficult for the camels to march without slipping. 
 Ascending a slight elevation, they traversed a plain encrusted with salt, 
 and sparsely covered with sour and saline bushes, some dead and 
 withered, and snapping at the slightest touch given them in passing. 
 They noticed many cavernous excavations in the hill-side — the dwelling 
 places of the Israelites, of the early Christians, and of hermits, during the 
 Crusades.” • • • “ The scene was one of unmixed desolation. The 
 
 air, tainted with the sulphuretted hydrogen of the stream, gave a tawny 
 hue even to the foliage of the cane, which is elsewhere of so light a 
 green. Except the cane-bushes clustering along the marshy stream, which 
 disfigured, while it sustained them, there was no vegetation whatever; 
 barren mountains, fragments of rocks, blackened by sulphurous deposit, 
 and an unnatural sea, with low, dead trees upon its margin, all within 
 the scope of vision, bore a sad and sombre aspect. We had never 
 before beheld such desolate hills.” Near where the brook Kedron 
 discharges itself into the sea, “the mountain-sides and summits, and the 
 shores of the sea,” we are told, “ were almost entirely devoid of vegeta- 
 tion.” One solitary tree “alone refreshed the eye; while all else, within 
 the scope of vision, was dreary and utter desolation. The curse of God 
 is surely upon this unhallowed sea.” 
 
 M. de Saulcy did not embark upon the Dead Sea; but he very nearly 
 completed the circuit of it. He does not describe the aspect of the 
 scenery so utterly desolate as it is represented by Lieutenant Lynch. 
 When he and his companions first saw it, it was from the summit of a 
 mountain On the western coast. From that elevation, he says, “ this 
 strange sea, which all writers describe as presenting a most dismal 
 aspect, appeared to u> like a splendid lake, glittering in the sunshine. 
 
494 
 
 NOTES TO GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 with its blue waves gently breaking on the sands of the softest beach. 
 Through the transparent water appeared a white tint, which enlivened 
 the shore. We guessed at once, that this appearance was owing to the 
 salt crystallized under the water ; and, when near, we find that our con- 
 jecture is right. Are we now to be convinced, that no living thing can 
 live on the shores of the Dead Sea, as has been so oft repeated? We 
 ascertain the contrary fact, at the very moment when we touch the 
 shore. A flock of wild ducks rises before us, and settles on the water 
 out of gun-shot, where they begin sporting and diving with perfect 
 unconcern. As we advance, beautiful insects show themselves on the 
 gravelly beach ; rooks are flying and screaming among the rent cliffs of 
 the steep hills which border the lake.” — The French traveller noticed the 
 branches of trees, “half buried in the sand,” looking as if “they had 
 been burnt, for the wood is quite black as if taken from a fire. Carried 
 away by the mountain torrents, which empty themselves into the Dead 
 Sea, they have been deposited on the shore by the waters.” The absence 
 of life in the waters themselves is confirmed by M. de Saulcy ; who also 
 mentions the sulphurous smell they emit. But this smell was not 
 perceived at first. When the traveller and his companions reached the 
 spot which is identified with the En-gedi of the Scripture, “ for the 
 first time they found the air strongly tainted with sulphur, exactly like 
 the smell of the Barajes water : ” a smell “ which every one knows is not 
 unwholesome,' and only slightly disagreeable.” In taste, M. de Saulcy 
 believes that the world does not produce “ water more abominably 
 offensive, although clear and limpid in appearance. At first it seems to 
 have the taste of ordinary salt water ; but in less than a second, it acts 
 with such nauseous effect upon the lips, the tongue, and the palate, that 
 the stomach instantly rejects it with insufferable disgust.” — The most 
 important result of M. de Saulcy’s tour round the coast of the Dead Sea, 
 is the discovery of ruins, which the traveller believes to be the relics of 
 the five cities of the plain, four of which were so miraculously destroyed 
 
 on account of the wickedness of their inhabitants. The remains of 
 Sodom and Zoar are on the east of the lake, to the south ; and so near 
 each other, that Lot and his daughters could easily have reached Zoar in 
 the time mentioned in the Bible, viz., from the first break of day, “ when the 
 morning arose,” to the full rising of the sun upon the earth.* — The site 
 of the ancient Gomorrah, is supposed to be on the extreme northern shore 
 of the lake, where there are ruins — called Ouad Goumran, — “ unquestion- 
 ably the skeleton of a large city.” — Zeboim M. de Saulcy fixes on the 
 eastern shore of the Sea, opposite the promontory shown at page 486 ; 
 which the Arabs call El Lisan, or the Tongue : this is the site usually 
 appropriated to Zoar. The site of Admah, M. de Saulcy thinks he 
 discovered on the same side of the Sea, further to the north. Similarity 
 of name, — the traditions of the Arabs, — the fact that, with the exception 
 of En-gedi, Masada, and Thamar, the sites of which are identified, — 
 no other cities are mentioned, either by sacred or profane historians, as 
 existing at any time on the shores of the Sea, than the five “ cities of the 
 plain,” — are the reasons adduced by M. de Saulcy for believing, that 
 he has discovered the remains of those doomed places. — We think there 
 is very great probability, if not absolute certainty, in his theory ; which 
 excited considerable attention at the time it was first given to the world. 
 Whether he is right or not, all who have investigated the subject 
 appear now to have come to one conclusion ; — that the comparatively 
 modern notion that the Dead Sea was formed when Sodom and 
 Gomorrah and the other cities were destroyed, — the w’aters rising over 
 their ruins, — is now abandoned. It is believed, that the lake always 
 existed to receive the waters of the Jordan; but that the southern part, 
 beyond the promontory, was “ the Vale of Siddim,” which the sacred 
 historian describes as being “full of slime-pits,” | where the kings 
 of the cities of the plain, were defeated by Chederlaomer and his allies. 
 
 * See Gen. xix. 15, 23. f Gen. xiv. 10. 
 
 END OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Of the numerous branches of inquiry into which the study of the 
 science of Geography is divided, that which traces its relation 
 to History — although, perhaps, at once the most instructive and 
 the most interesting — has received the least share of general 
 attention. Y r et the alliance between these subjects is so intimate, 
 that the study of Geography becomes important chiefly from its 
 connexion with the circumstances which it is the province of history 
 to record. Not only does the narrative of past events require in 
 ;he student a knowledge of the localities which have been the 
 scenes of their occurrence, but the influence which physical charac- 
 teristics have exercised over the formation of the national character 
 — the modes of thought and feeling — the customary associations — 
 the manners and institutions — of the inhabitants of a country, form 
 elements in its condition which must be understood and appreciated 
 before its political and religious history can be read with advantage. 
 The different circumstances under which an inland or a maritime 
 country is placed, and the various influences of the lofty chain of 
 mountains or the wide-spread plain — the parched and arid desert or the 
 fertile valley — the navigable river or the rapid mountain torrent — 
 have exercised a large share in directing the progress of civilization. 
 
 While the consideration of these circumstances in reference to 
 any particular country becomes important in proportion to the part 
 which its inhabitants have taken in the transactions of past ages, 
 and to the position which it occupies among modern nations, it 
 acquires additional interest when pursued in connexion with its 
 political division at particular periods. The interest which the 
 student feels in tracing the former condition of a country which 
 has been the scene of memorable events is similar to the ardour 
 with which the traveller pursues the course of a mighty river from 
 its outlet to its source. As the latter strives to trace the stream 
 through all its windings to its remote origin in the recesses of some 
 mountain-district, noting as he advances the successive acquisitions 
 which it receives in order that he may place them in the record of 
 observed facts, so does the former desire to become acquainted with 
 the aspect which has at different times been presented by the country 
 which is the object of his attention ; to realise its appearance when 
 it contained few towns or settled abodes of man, and pastoral tribes 
 wandered over the face of the land ; to note its political changes, 
 from its petty kingdoms, which consisted of little more than the 
 district surrounding a single town, to its division into states or pro- 
 vinces, until it perhaps becomes at length the dependency of some 
 more powerful empire ; and to observe how in progress of time 
 every harbour on its coast is made the seat of commercial enterprise, 
 how regular lines of communication are established from place to 
 place, and how its surface is everywhere covered with the works of 
 civilized and social man. 
 
 It will be readily acknowledged that there is no country in regard 
 to which these considerations possess a deeper interest than Pales- 
 tine — the Land of Promise of the Jew — the Holy Land of the 
 Christian, — pre-eminently the country which commands more and 
 more of the attention of mankind in proportion to the increasing 
 diffusion of religion and mental cultivation. But even placing out 
 of view the obvious and necessary connexion between the geogra- 
 phical features of Palestine and the manners of its inhabitants, and 
 regarding them merely as accessory to the topographical illustration 
 of the Scriptures, the Bible is manifestly a work which requires the 
 reader to bear constantly in his mind the nature and situation of 
 those places which were the scenes of the incidents recorded in its 
 pages, to enable him to understand fully their character and purport. 
 The importance which thus belongs to Scriptural Geography has 
 by no means been lost sight of; the talents of the most learned critics 
 and the ablest commentators in various countries have from time to 
 
 time been exercised in collecting such notices of the places men- 
 tioned in the Bible as were to be found either in the narratives of 
 the historian or the traveller, in selecting from these and other 
 sources all that was known respecting them, and in offering the 
 most plausible conjectures when certainty was not to be attained. 
 It may at first sight appear that the geography of the Scriptures 
 has been so fully illustrated in this way as to leave little room for 
 any attempt at originality. Since the commencement of the present 
 century, however, and even within the last few years, the researches 
 of numerous accomplished travellers have added considerably to 
 our knowledge of Palestine and the surrounding regions. Undei 
 the greater facilities which the late government of Syria offered for 
 the passage of Europeans through the country, observations formerly 
 
 made have been verified, or, where erroneous, corrected, new 
 
 routes have been laid open, — remains which had escaped the notice 
 of previous travellers have been discovered, — and many points 
 which hitherto remained doubtful have been satisfactorily settled. 
 A vast amount of information has thus been acquired which has 
 not yet been made available for the illustration of Biblical Geo- 
 graphy, and even that which has been so applied has been frequently 
 confounded with previous opinions and conjectures, so that the 
 result has often tended rather to confuse than to elucidate. In 
 many cases the hypotheses which were framed in the absence of 
 precise information in reference to the geography of Palestine, 
 although disproved by the knowledge since acquired, have con- 
 tinued to be the basis on which has been founded the elucidation of 
 those points of Scriptural Geography which must always remain in 
 some measuie doubtful, and the errors which necessarily occurred 
 in the old Scriptural maps have thus been perpetuated from one to 
 another. As therefore materials for forming a correct system 
 of Biblical Geography are constantly accumulating, the task of 
 collecting and analysing them is one which frequently requires to 
 be undertaken anew. 
 
 It is the object of the present memoir to illustrate, historically as 
 well as physically, the Geography of Palestine, by representing 
 that country in the different aspects which it has presented at 
 successive periods, from the patriarchal ages to the present day ; 
 and by maps of such of the countries surrounding it as become of 
 Scriptural interest from the intimate connexion between them and 
 the Hebrew nation, and the frequent mention of them in their 
 records. To each map is given a brief notice, pointing out its 
 pai ticular purport, and supplying such information in reference to 
 it as may serve to render it more intelligible and useful. 
 
 1 he absence of a strictly chronological arrangement in the 
 delineation of boundaries and localities has been felt as an im- 
 portant defect in the maps generally prepared for the illustration of 
 ancient geography: ancient and modern, classical and Scriptural 
 appellations have been mixed together, without regard to the period 
 of history to which they relate, in such a manner as to leave on the 
 mind of the student no distinct impression of the actual condition 
 of a country at any one period. Yet this synchronism of geography, 
 as it has been termed by an able critic,* constitutes, when presented 
 to view, the most important guide in tracing the progress of a 
 nation’s civilization, since without it we are unable to form an 
 estimate of its condition either internally or with reference to other 
 countries. It is a particular object of the Maps connected with this 
 work to preserve this, by successively delineating the Holy Land 
 during its period of independence, and its subjection to the dominion 
 of the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greek princes of Syria, the 
 Romans, and, in modern times, to the Mohammedan power. 
 
 In proceeding to notice briefly the authorities on which this part 
 of our work has been ba«ed, we may observe that the Maps embody 
 the latest and most authentic topographical information. On those 
 * ‘ Quart. Journal of Education,' vol. iii. 45 p. 
 
496 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 questions of Scriptural Geography which have given rise to varying 
 hypotheses, — such as the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, — 
 and in the position of disputed sites of places, they are constructed 
 in accordance with the views taken in the notes to the ‘ Pictorial 
 Bible,’ in which work are detailed the arguments which have led to 
 the conclusions which they exhibit. In determining the position 
 of the numerous towns mentioned in the sacred narrative, we are in 
 many cases enabled to avail ourselves of the discovery of ruined 
 sites which have been found in conjunction with such circumstances 
 as leave no doubt with regard to the places which they represent. 
 The situation of many others may be at least approximately ascer- 
 tained by means of the distances between them and well-known 
 places which are preserved in the writings of Josephus, and also of 
 Eusebius and Jerome, who lived at a time when the remains of 
 many places in Palestine which have since perished were still in 
 existence. For a similar reason the works of some of the earlier 
 travellers possess considerable topographical value, as their authors 
 saw and indicated the situation of many towns and villages which 
 have since disappeared. These materials have been fully analysed 
 by Bochart, Calmet, Le Clerc, Michaelis, and other eminent Bib- 
 lical critics, and their conclusions, when not superseded by later 
 information, are in general adopted. Frequently, however, we 
 have nothing more than the internal evidence of the Bible to guide 
 us in the determination of particular localities. A novel feature in 
 ' this Atlas is the use of distinct signs to denote the position of towns 
 coming under either of these classes ; thus placing at once before 
 the eye of the student an indication of the degree of authenticity 
 which may be attached to each, and, by enabling him to discrimi- 
 nate between the known and the conjectural , obviating the evils 
 which have hitherto been attendant on the use of maps in the study 
 of ancient geography. In carrying this into effect three kinds of 
 marks are adopted throughout the series, which may be thus ex- 
 plained. In indicating the position of a town which still exists, 
 either entire or in ruins, a circular mark, thus Q, is adopted ; where 
 there are remains in regard to which it is doubtful of what place 
 they mark the site, or where a careful application of the measure- 
 ments recorded in ancient authors may be looked upon as producing 
 a considerable approach towards accuracy, a square, thus □ , is 
 used; and a triangle, thus a, is inserted in those cases which are 
 most doubtful, and in which the neighbourhood, rather than the 
 actual situation, of the place may be considered as pointed out. A 
 mark of interrogation is placed after the names of rivers, tracts of 
 country, &c., which have given rise to doubt as to their identification 
 with similar localities in modern geography. Where it had been 
 thought desirable to append to the ancient the modern name of a 
 place, as their comparison may sometimes enable the student to 
 trace the former in the present orthography, the opposite character 
 of the two is so distinctly intimated as to prevent the result of any 
 confusion from it. It is hoped that by thus presenting an analysis 
 of the construction of each Map, clear ideas will be conveyed of the 
 difficulties in which some parts of the subject of Biblical Geography 
 are involved, and of the means employed for their elucidation. 
 
 But maps alone, however carefully they may be constructed, are 
 not sufficient to teach geography, although indispensable assistants 
 in the prosecution of its study. The following -papers explanatory 
 of the Maps will therefore provide the means of furnishing such 
 information in reference to the physical construction of the country 
 as cannot be conveyed in a map, — such as the elevation or depression 
 of different districts, the height of mountains, the fertility of par- 
 ticular spots, &c. They also enable us to point out, in the most 
 appropriate place, the latest sources to which we are indebted for 
 information ; and this is rendered the more important by the cir- 
 cumstance that some valuable contributions to the geography of 
 Palestine and the adjacent regions have appeared since the publi- 
 cation of these Maps commenced. 
 
 An Index of the names of places mentioned in the Old and New 
 Testaments, with the modern names by which those of them yet in 
 existence are distinguished, and a reference to the Map in which 
 they may be found, completes the Atlas ; so that while, as a work 
 on the general Geography of Palestine, it forms a valuable and 
 indeed almost indispensable companion to the ‘ Family Bible,’ 
 the ‘ Pictorial History of Palestine,’ and the ‘ Sunday Book,’ it may 
 be regarded as constituting in itself a complete Compendium of 
 Scripture Geography. 
 
 Lastly, we have to explain in a few words the peculiarities which 
 distinguish the appearance of these Maps from any which have 
 hitherto been published. These are, — 1st, That, by a novel method 
 of printing, the various divisions of the countries are covered with 
 distinct colours , so that the boundaries are clearly perceived at the 
 first view ; and, 2nd, That the mountains, instead of being, as in 
 
 maps engraved in the usual manner, indicated by black lines, are in 
 white, distinctly and prominently relieved by the coloured ground. 
 In the best engraved maps a serious imperfection has always been 
 felt to result from the names and the hills being alike printed in 
 black, in consequence of which either the names are obscured by 
 the hills, or the hills must be omitted in order to allow of the 
 names being read. This renders them exceedingly difficult of 
 reference ; and it may be generally remarked of engraved maps, 
 that, in proportion as the physical features of a country are fully 
 and correctly delineated, so do the names and boundaries become 
 obscure and unintelligible. In the ordinary process of map-engraving 
 the evil complained of appears unavoidable ; but this is no longer 
 the case when a different medium is used for conveying each part of 
 the requisite information. By the method adopted in this series of 
 Maps, the physical features of the countries — their hills and valleys 
 — their lakes and streams — are clearly delineated, without in the 
 least interfering with the exhibition of names and places ; while 
 their various divisions, distinguished by colours, are presented atonce 
 and distinctly to the eye of the student. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Armenia, Mesopotamia, &c., in the time of Abraham. 
 
 The countries which are exhibited in this Map have in all ages 
 attracted a large share of the attention of mankind. Constituting 
 the most important portion of the great Empires which have 
 successively held the sovereignty of Western Asia, and, from their 
 intermediate position between the three divisions of the Old World, 
 being made the high road by which the productions of one region 
 have been conveyed to another, and the social condition of each 
 been thereby advanced, they possess an interest which is not con- 
 fined to any one period, but extends over the whole range of history. 
 Their chief attraction, however, to the student of Scripture, at the 
 period which our Map is intended to illustrate, arises from the fact 
 of their containing Mount Ararat, on which the Ark rested after the 
 Deluge, — the land of Shinar, the seat of the earliest of recorded 
 kingdoms, — and Ur of the Chaldees, from which the patriarch 
 Abraham was called to fulfil the mission with which he was 
 intrusted. 
 
 The extensive highland of Armenia, which may be regarded as 
 an offset on the north-west from the great table-land of Western 
 Asia, consists of numerous chains of lofty mountains, rising from a 
 plateau elevated from 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea. In the 
 elevated valleys between them are the sources of rivers which run 
 in different directions towards all points of the compass. Connected 
 with it on the north by ranges of lower elevation, which contain 
 between them the valleys of the river Kur and its branches, is the 
 chain of Mount Caucasus, the natural barrier between Europe and 
 Asia, the highest summit of which reaches an elevation of 16,500 
 feet.* On the west, Armenia is connected by Mount Taurus, and 
 other parallel chains, with the elevated country of Asia Minor ; 
 and on the south, by mountainous districts of less elevation, with 
 the great plain of Mesopotamia, the descent to which from the 
 mountain region is in some places almost abrupt. The character 
 of this plain varies considerably in different parts ; in the northern 
 and central portions, which correspond to the modern Al-jezirah, it 
 is generally bare and unproductive, scantily covered with coarse 
 grass and thorny shrubs, and containing extensive tracts of soil 
 impregnated with saline matter, although even here the hilly district 
 of Sinjar and the country extending thence to Mardin and Koch- 
 hisar are described as containing tracts which equal in fertility the 
 riciiest soils in the world. j" The southern part of the plain, the 
 modern Irak-Arabi, from about the thirty-fourth parallel of latitude 
 southward, presents an entirely level surface, in many parts scarcely 
 elevated above the rivers by which it is watered ; a circumstance 
 to which, as it. afforded the means of extensive irrigation, its ancient 
 fertility was chiefly owing. It is bounded on the east by the 
 mountains which rise, in successive ranges, to the table-land of 
 Persia, and on the west by the great desert of Syria, which leaves 
 only a narrow strip of cultivable land between itself and the 
 Euphrates. 
 
 The mountain which is generally identified with the Ararat of 
 the Bible, and is called by the modern name of Agri-dagh, appears 
 to be the loftiest in Armenia. It consists of two peaks, divided by 
 a wide chasm, which are distinguished as the Great and Little 
 
 * Murray’s 1 Encyclop. of Geography,’ p. 1066. 
 
 f Visit to the Sinjar Hills, with some Account of the Sect of Yezidfs, and of 
 various Places in the Mesopotamian Desert, by F. Forbes, Esq., in ‘Jour, of 
 Itojal Geog. Soc.,’ vol ix. p. 400. 
 

 
 
 
 
 patent IllutninaUU fftapa. 
 
 1-L'ttINO 
 
 From ail Original Drawing by W. Huoum. 
 
 Dothan ^ 
 Gib Yousitiuff c 
 
 Ml TaboT 
 
 SiCH EM, or Vale of Moreh. 
 “Stl ECHEM. 
 
 Timi iath. 
 
 Thres'if 
 
 USIT 
 
 ) Oh MURlAj 
 
 iliaveb. 
 
 acheC \ l'<nnh i 
 
 Ephrath, or 
 Heth tehem 
 
 Adu lam 
 
 ° Field of Mackpelah 
 
 £ \ ^ o Beer-iheU 
 
 \pBRARk^_ 
 
 fW I L DB RN E , 
 
 Huzezoutamur 
 
 long: i ill mujv * oa^mwicH. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 497 
 
 Ararat, the former of which rises to the height of 17,260 feet;* ** 
 both summits are covered with perpetual snow. Of the brandies 
 into which Taurus divides after crossing (from the west) the 
 Euphrates, that to the north, called Asi Kur (the Mount Niphates 
 of antiquity), is the highest, its summits rising above the line of 
 congelation, which in this latitude is probably not much below 
 10,000 feet. I 
 
 Within some portion of the countries above enumerated, it is 
 generally admitted that the site of Eden, if to be identified at all, is 
 to be found. Of the many conjectures on this subject the two 
 which appear to have the greatest probability are those which place 
 it either in Armenia, between the sources of the rivers Phasis, 
 Araxes, Tigris, and Euphrates, — or in Irak-Arabi, near the mouths 
 of the two latter streams. This question is discussed in the Notes 
 to the ‘Pictorial Bible’ (Gen. ii. 8), the editor of which has ex- 
 pressed his decided preference of the latter alternative. 
 
 It would be foreign to our purpose to enter here into any dis- 
 cussion as to the situation of the cities founded by Nimrod and 
 Asshur in the land of Shinar and Assyria. The positions exhibited 
 in the Map are, with the exception of Erech, those which have 
 received the sanction of most Biblical critics, and a future map will 
 offer an opportunity for a few remarks upon some of their exist- 
 ing monuments. Erech is placed on the site of a mound called by 
 the Arabs Irak, Irkah, or Senkerah, passed by the ‘Euphrates 
 Expedition ’ on the west, and described as towering in superior 
 magnitude above those which surround it. A remark of Mr. 
 Ainsworth’s upon this and similar remains in the same region may 
 be quoted for the sake of the striking picture which it presents of 
 the present appearance of that country. He observes that — “ no 
 monuments in Babylonia and Chaldaea appear to be more valid re- 
 garding the antiquity and Assyrian origin of sites than the lofty 
 artificial mounds, of which the present degenerate hordes of the tent 
 and the spear narrate so many fabulous tales, but which almost 
 everywhere present themselves, when there are also other strong 
 grounds of presumption of an Assyrian or Chaldseo-Babylonian 
 origin. These colossal piles are found domineering over the dreary 
 waste, to the uniformity of which they offer a striking contrast ; being 
 visible at great distances, and, although thrown by the shrab or mi- 
 rage into strange and contorted shapes, yet they always appear, when 
 seen upon the verge of the horizon, as if possessing colossal dimen- 
 sions, and produce an effect, in point of grandeur and magnificence, 
 which cannot be imagined in any other situation.”! 
 
 Ur of the Chaldees is generally identified with the town now 
 called ’Urfah, or Orfah, although it appears doubtful whether the 
 name is not intended to designate a district rather than a town. If 
 so, there can be little doubt of its being that in which ’Urfah is 
 situated. This city, under the name of Edessa, was for some cen- 
 turies the capital of the kingdom of Osroene, which was conquered 
 by the Romans and annexed to their empire a.d. 216, § and is now 
 a flourishing and well-built town, the capital of a small pachalik of 
 the same name, enjoying considerable trade, with a population 
 estimated at 20,000.|| It is universally regarded by the inhabitants 
 of the country as the birth-place of Abraham. Although the 
 proximity of the modern village of Harran to this place renders its 
 correspondence with the Haran of Abraham’s history doubtful, yet 
 the other alternatives which have been proposed appear to possess 
 greater difficulties.^ Harran, which has long since fallen to decay, is 
 now only inhabited by a few Arabs, by whom the rich and fertile plain 
 in which it is situated is so inadequately populated that the same 
 piece of ground is often only cultivated once in three years. * * 
 Whatever opinion may be entertained with reference to these places, 
 there is no reasonable ground for doubting that the country in which 
 they are situated was that from which Abraham “went forth to go 
 into the land of Canaan.” 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Canaan during the dives of the Patriarchs. 
 
 It is the object of this Map to illustrate the history of the patri- 
 arclis, by exhibiting the Land of Promise during the time when 
 “ the Canaanite was then in the land.” It therefore embraces a 
 period of history from the call of Abraham (b.c. 1921), to the per- 
 manent departure of Jacob and his family for Egypt (b.c. 1706). 
 Although the sacred history acquaints us with some changes in the 
 
 * ‘ Pen. Cyclop.,’ art. ‘Asia.’ f Ainsworth’s ‘ Researches in Assyria,’ p. 21. 
 
 % ‘ Researches in Assyria,’ pp. 125, 126. 
 
 § 1 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,’ c. viii. 
 
 || Murray’s * Encyclop. of GeogT.,’ p. 913. 
 
 ‘ Piet. Hist, of Palestine,’ vol. i. p. 47. 
 
 ** 1 Researches in Assyria,’ p. 263. 
 
 4 E 
 
 occupation of portions of the land which occurred during this 
 interval, they were not of such a nature as to alter materially the 
 characteristics which it presented at the time of Abraham’s first 
 arrival. The Canaanites appear to have then constituted a number 
 of small and settled communities, every town, with the adjacent 
 district, being under the government of its own chief, and not being 
 necessarily connected with, or subject to, any other power. That 
 they were far from numerous may be concluded from the fact that, 
 as Dr. Hales remarks (New Anal, of Chron., vol. i. p. 352), “ there 
 were considerable tracts of land unappropriated, on which Abraham 
 and his nephew Lot freely pastured their cattle without hindrance 
 or molestation.” 
 
 The territories occupied by the tribes mentioned in the promise 
 to Abraham (Gen. xv. 19) are indicated with as much precision as 
 the scattered notices of them contained in the Bible will admit of, 
 excepting those of the Kennizites, Kadmonites, and Girgashites, of 
 which nothing can be determined. The latter have (on, however, 
 insufficient grounds)* been identified by some with the Gergesenes 
 of the New Testament (Matt. viii. 28). The conclusion that the 
 Salem of Abraham’s history, the residence of Melchizedek (Gen. 
 xiv. 18), was the original of the city of Jerusalem is dissented from 
 by some writers, on the authority of Jerome, by whom it is placed 
 more to the north, near the ford over the Jordan at Bisan. The 
 site of Dothan is marked in two places ; the more northerly is that 
 which tradition represents as the scene of the transaction which 
 deprived Joseph of his liberty ; the other is placed, on the authority 
 of Eusebius, at the distance of twelve miles north-east from Samaria. 
 (See Map of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel.) 
 
 Although at this early period we meet with the names of but few 
 towns, probably many others were already in existence, of which no 
 mention is made until a later time. As from this circumstance the 
 student is enabled to perceive without difficulty those places to which 
 early Scriptural associations are attached, and these require but little 
 explanation, the space here allotted may be usefully employed in 
 directing attention to the prominent characteristic features of the 
 country, and more especially to those which the Map itself does not 
 render evident. It is at once observed that all the mountains which 
 traverse the country on both sides of the Jordan are branches from 
 the parallel chains which appear in the northern part of the Map 
 under the name of Lebanon. The westernmost of these ranees, 
 which, at a distance from the coast diminishing from about 25 
 miles in the north to half that extent more to the south, traverses a 
 great part of the length of Syria, is an offset from the great range 
 of Taurus, in Asia Minor, from which it is only partially divided 
 by the opening which occurs at the mouth of the river Orontes. 
 The eastern range, although its more distinct origin as a separate 
 chain occurs about the parallel of 34’ 15', may be regarded as be- 
 longing to the same mountain system. None of the other moun- 
 tains in Palestine rise to a height at all comparable to that which is 
 attained by some parts of these ranges. The general elevation of 
 the western chain (to which was afterwards applied the distinctive 
 name of Libanus), which about the latitude of 34° appears to attain 
 a height little less than 11,900 feet, considerably exceeds that of the 
 eastern range (or Anti-Libanus), which may be estimated at about 
 9000 feet, although the latter contains the highest summit in the 
 whole system, and indeed in all Syria. From the considerations 
 stated in the Chapter on Mountains (p. 427.), it appears to 
 result that the elevation of that portion of the chain to which the 
 Scriptural name of Mount Ilermon is applied and which is known 
 by the modern title of Jebel Es-sheikh, cannot be less than 12,000 
 feet. These mountains, after passing in diversified forms through 
 the country, are continued to the south in the mountains of Seir. 
 
 Of the numerous streams of which the courses are marked on the 
 Map, it should be observed that, in addition to the Jordan, only 
 five, viz. — the Nahr Liettani (the Leontes of antiquity), flowing 
 between the parallel ranges of Lebanon, — the Nahr Barrada, rising 
 in Anti-Libanus and flowing in several channels through Damascus, 
 — the river Mandur (the ancient Ilieromax), falling into the Jordan 
 a few miles south of the Sea of Chinnereth, — the Jabbok,— and, more 
 to the south, the Arnon, continue to flow during the whole of the 
 year. The rest, explained in the Chapter on Rivers (p.471.), are 
 really mere winter torrents, whose beds are for the most part dry 
 during the summer; and those which preserve during that season a 
 narrow stream of water present an appearance which strikingly con- 
 trasts with that which they bear when swollen by long rains or the 
 melting of the winter snows. 
 
 The Map differs from those of the same country at subsequent 
 periods in the absence of the Dead Sea, the place of which was, in 
 
 * ‘Piet. Bible,’ Deut. vii. 1, Note. 
 
498 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the time of Abraham, occupied by the fertile valley of Siddim, 
 forming part of the Valley of the Jordan.* This river, formed of 
 several small streams which rise to the north of Dan or Laish (the 
 modern Banias ), and unite in the “ Waters of Merom” (Bahr el 
 Hule), flows southward through the Sea of Chinnereth, and is at 
 present terminated by the Dead Sea, into which it falls. Until very 
 recently it had been generally conjectured that this river, previous 
 to the catastrophe by which the cities of the plain were destroyed 
 and the district in which they stood converted into the bed of a 
 lake, continued its southward course to the eastern arm of the Red 
 Sea, through the valley of El ’Arabah. This hypothetical course 
 is indicated by a dotted line. Since the first publication of the 
 present Map, the conclusion thus adopted has been shown to be 
 erroneous by the observations of the Count de Bertou, in a ‘ Journey 
 from Jerusalem, by the Dead Sea, to ’Akabah and back by Petra, ’f 
 in 1838; and likewise by Dr. Robinson and the Rev. E. Smith in 
 a journey, during the same year, undertaken for the illustration of 
 Biblical Geography. A subsequent Map will offer a more suitable 
 opportunity for a few explanatory remarks on this subject, and it is 
 only needful here to state the main conclusion at which these gentle- 
 men have arrived, which is, that “in the present state of things the 
 Jordan never could have flowed into the vElanitic Gulf ” (the Gulf 
 of ’Akabah, or eastern arm of the Red Sea). I As it is not the 
 purpose of these papers to enter into hypothetical questions, but 
 merely to supply facts, this is not the place to enter into any attempt 
 at a solution of the difficulties which may be felt to be revived by 
 the overthrow of what had certainly appeared to be a satisfactory 
 explanation. 
 
 The remaining Maps of Canaan furnish an opportunity of pointing 
 out such other important features in the physical geography of the 
 country as seem to require explanation, and the present brief notice 
 may therefore be concluded by directing attention to the nature of 
 the country by which it is bounded on the east and the south. 
 These deserts, which on the one hand extend to the Euphrates, 
 and on the other to the peninsula of Mount Sinai, are by no means 
 so desolate or appalling as many are from the name led to imagine. 
 In many places, and especially on the frontiers, the soil is naturally 
 fertile, and even rich, and its sterility is owing entirely to the want 
 of water. In the Chapter on Valleys, Plains, and Deserts, the general 
 character of these extensive wastes has already been described. 
 
 Bounded thus on two sides by the desert, on the north by moun- 
 tains, on the west by the sea, Canaan was a land well adapted to 
 become the abode of that people whom “ the Lord had chosen to be 
 a special people unto himself.” Abundantly productive of all the 
 necessaries, and many of the luxuries, of life — a land of corn, of 
 wine and oil — its inhabitants could have little temptation to inter- 
 course with surrounding nations ; and their geographical position 
 was thus calculated to afford the most important aid to their institu- 
 tions in the preservation of that unity which so strongly characterized 
 the Hebrew nation. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Countries traversed by the Israelites in their progress 
 from Egypt to Canaan. 
 
 This Map, in addition to the countries which were the scene of the 
 lengthened wanderings of the Hebrews prior to their entering on the 
 inheritance of the Promised Land, embraces also that portion of Egypt 
 with which alone they can be supposed, at the early period to which 
 it refers, to have had any connection. As the direction of the route 
 which they pursued through the wilderness, and the stations which 
 they occupied, involve some theoretical questions, upon all of which 
 the views adopted in the notes to the ‘Pictorial Bible’ have 
 been strictly followed, it is needless here to do more than briefly 
 notice the most important of its peculiarities, referring to that work 
 those who may be desirous of entering into a detailed consideration 
 of them. These are: — first, that Mount Sinai is identified with the 
 mountain which now r bears the name of Jebel (Mount) Serial, 
 instead of with that called Jebel Mousa (Mount Moses), its repre- 
 sentative in the present traditions of the country ;§ secondly, that 
 as a consequence of the preceding conclusion, Repbidim is placed 
 on the north side of the Wadi (Valley) Feiran, instead of in the 
 valley between the peaks of Mounts Moses and St. Catherine, in 
 the highest region of the Sinai mountains, where the rock from 
 which the miraculous supply of water is pretended to have gushed 
 is shown by the monks of the Sinai convent and the neighbouring 
 Arabs :|| and, thirdly, that the Kadesh or Kadesh-barnea of Num. 
 xiii. 26, and Deut. i. 19, is considered the same as the Kadesh of 
 
 * The received opinion now is, that a lake always existed there ; see Note, p. 404. 
 •j- * Journ. of Royal Geogr. Soc.,’ vol. ix. p. 277. 
 
 { ‘Biblical Researches in Palestine,’ 1841. 
 
 § ‘Piet. Bible,’ Exod. xix. 2. || Ibid., Exod. xvii. 1. 
 
 Num. xx. 1, and a position assigned to it considerably to the south 
 of that which it usually occupies in Scriptural maps.* 
 
 A brief explanation of the course which the Israelites are sup- 
 posed to have taken will be of service in rendering the Map more 
 easily intelligible. The portion of the route from its commence- 
 ment to Etham is one upon which considerable difficulty has been 
 felt, from the absence of any existing indications w hich can be re- 
 garded as affording satisfactory evidence on the subject. It is uni- 
 versally admitted that the tract of country bordering on the Pelusiac 
 branch of the Nile was that “land of Goshen ” which was the 
 scene alike of the prosperity and sufferings of the Israelites ; and 
 Rameses, the point from which they started, is placed by the con- 
 curring testimony of many writers, including Josephus ( Antiq . b. 
 ii. c. 15), not far from the place where the Nile divided into several 
 branches. Succoth, to which the first day’s journey brought them, 
 is, in accordance with the work already referred to,t placed near 
 Birket-el-Hadj (Pilgrims’ pool), where the great pilgrim caravan 
 to Mecca annually makes its final arrangements previous to its de- 
 parture. In a subsequent work, however, the same author expresses 
 his abandonment of this opinion, and “ thinks it, upon the whole, 
 more likely that the point from which the Hebrews departed in the 
 first instance may have been in that neighbourhood. Succoth, 
 therefore, must be sought somewhere about a day’s journey in the 
 direction of Suez. The name denotes tents or booths, and it is use- 
 less to seek its site, as the name appears only to denote a place 
 where caravans passing that way usually encamped. The route 
 thence to Etham is supposed to correspond with that of the great 
 caravan, of which the modern castle of Ajeroud is one of the stations. 
 The alternatives of the passage of the Red Sea either opposite to 
 the Ain Mousa (Fountain of Moses), or at the opening of the val- 
 ley of Badea, are indicated, leaving it to the student to prefer that 
 which he may deem most in accordance with the Scriptural narra- 
 tive. Of Migdol and Baalzephon no trace remains. From the 
 opposite shore of the gulf the route indicated is that usually taken 
 by travellers from Suez to Sinai. The well of bitter waters at 
 Howara, and the springs and palm-trees of Wadi Ghurundel, evince 
 their correspondence with Marah and Elirri. Dophkah and Alush 
 may perhaps be found in Wadi Naszeb and Wadi Boodra, both of 
 which contain springs of good water, § which does not again occur 
 before reaching Wadi Feiran, one of the finest and best-watered val- 
 leys in the whole peninsula. || 
 
 After leaving Sinai, the Israelites are supposed to have proceeded 
 in the direction indicated through Wadi Safran, the only opening 
 in the chain of mountains, called El-Tyh, which bounds the penin- 
 sula of Sinai on the north, If until they arrived at Kadesh-barnea 
 (Num. xiii. 26 ; Deut. i. 2, 19). This was the point from which 
 they dispatched the spies to examine the land of Canaan, and here 
 their thirty-eight years’ wandering commenced. It is not until long 
 afterwards that any traces are to be found of the direction which 
 they pursued. It appears probable “ that they wandered to and fro 
 through all the region of El-Tyh (of the wandering), frequently, 
 perhaps, in the course of the thirty-eight years, returning to the 
 same stations where they knew from experience that pasture might 
 be found for the flocks.”** 
 
 They are again found, however, at Ezion-gaber (Num. xxxiii. 
 35), whence their route is supposed to have been northward, up 
 the valley called Wadi ’Akabah, the southward prolongation of 
 Wadi ’Arabah, identified with the wilderness of Zin, until they 
 again reached Kadesh (Num. xx. 1). While here, the request was 
 made to the King of Edom to allow of their passing through his 
 dominions (Num. xx. 17); and it is conjectured by Colonel 
 Leakeff that the valley of Ghoeyr, which crosses the mountains of 
 Seir in lat. 34° 34', and is the only opening which could be easily 
 traversed by so numerous a force, was the road through which they 
 desired to pass. On the refusal of this request, they were under 
 the necessity of turning southward down the wilderness of Zin, 
 passing Mount Hor, “ by the way of the Red Sea,” and rounding 
 the southern extremity of the Mountains of Seir, before they could 
 turn to the north to compass the land of Edom (Num. xxi. 4; 
 Deut. ii. 3). Embosomed in a valley in these mountains, and almost 
 surrounded by lofty cliffs, are the remains of the city of Petra, the 
 capital of the Nabathaean Arabs of classical history, and interesting 
 to the Scriptural student from the probabilily of its being the Selah 
 or Joktheel of 2 Kings xiv. 7. It appears to have been the ruetro- 
 
 * ‘ Piet. Bible,’ Num. xx. 1, and xxxiii. 36. f Ibid., Exod. xii. 37, Note. 
 
 £ ‘ Piet. Hist, of Palestine,’ vol. ii. p. 176. § Ibid., p. 195. 
 
 || Burckhardt, ‘ Travels in Syria,’ pp. 598, 602. 
 
 Laborde, ‘Journey through Arabia Petrsea, &c ,’ p. 216. 
 
 ** ‘ Piet. Bible,’ Num. xxxiii. 1, Note. 
 
 ft Burckhardt, ‘ Syria,’ p. 15, Preface. 
 

 ; ■■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 

 the imm 
 
 . > - OF THE 
 
 DIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 "1 
 
qw* 
 
 patent EllununateU fRaps. 
 
 AS DIVIDED BY JOSHUA 
 
 AMONG 
 
 From an Original Drawing by W. IIughks. 
 
 Rehob, or 
 
 ° I.eshom 
 LnUhA 
 _ or f)v*f 
 
 Geshur. 
 
 Uminni 
 
 3 Kenath-no 
 
 /»/ W a l 
 of Merom, 
 
 Hosah. 
 
 Kart an. 01 
 K \rjathni, 
 
 Huhhok. 
 
 Achshapt 
 
 o*Admb D llelkath. 
 
 A echo. 
 
 { siimWKSr 
 
 Slmnruti Tiu-roTO, 
 
 Mount Carmel. 
 
 Sal clip if* 
 
 * Nahallcl. 
 
 tabor □ 
 
 Megidow^n 
 
 Taanaeh 
 
 Aplie£* r e 
 Jezreel 0 . 
 
 Jabesh-gileao 
 
 Shuuefl^, 
 
 Dothan D ' 
 
 Dcbir^or 
 
 j,odei>cfa 
 
 Atroth shnp/n 
 or Zavhon. 
 
 Gatb- 
 
 rimmon. 
 
 A MahaVlajm. 
 
 Tirzjvh 
 
 RA MOTH GIL 
 ojr Ramath-niSp 
 
 Bezek 
 
 Mich meth ah M L E boLv 
 
 Riv. Jabbok, 
 
 Succoth. 
 
 Tn[inath-ih\loh. %fi^— ' 
 "fi (irriijjxx/ 
 
 ^ Seirath ^ 
 
 Zarthan, 
 or Zeredi 
 
 Ramoth-gilead ? 
 Jazer, or 
 
 Tiiunath-^. 
 
 terah. 
 
 Nimrah , or BcNi^n/t irah. 
 
 Last uron, 
 or SI iaron. 
 
 •? roer i r- 
 
 : A iTH AM, or 
 
 ' * RABBATH AMMON 
 
 Rock 
 
 Rimmon 
 
 tiethaven. 
 
 Thimnntbnh, 
 
 Abel ° thifHm. 
 lietlijiaran. 
 
 -norm. Helh . el 
 
 o Michwash. Jericlirff 
 lebao q Gibeon. 
 
 ' N D^n>/Af / 
 
 0ibea/ ‘ °0 Aatho th. ; 1 jr| 
 . L JernsilWlrt 
 
 »’ 
 
 hrkahor ApUifi. f 
 
 or T,imnath 0 /Itfiroth-addttr ^ n '' 
 
 il^.,;C/y>urah ° 
 
 U ° IS l 3 , 
 
 ul.Kl. 
 
 swUim. Echtlo i 6 
 /iKo r e kl 1A ptfi shemesh. 
 
 ^ V "' w ~Xph 
 
 a Azeknh. 
 Makkc*dah. 
 
 t> a 
 
 Jarmutfe 
 
 1 A dull ;in^, 
 Keilah. *‘ ,hz 
 * E^lon. 
 AM- ^ 
 tappun 
 
 0 lleshVm. 
 
 Shebam 0 o Rein, < 
 Kirjalhaim. 9 t M 
 
 J.shimou, 
 
 'ip c 
 Beth- 'p 
 
 A a rabaJuY % \ 
 
 lethyeor 
 
 ; A HE/ ER 
 ^ K edemntU 
 
 Bet’/Jehem, < 
 ar Ephia^i* 
 
 oTekoah 
 
 Ashke) 
 
 Li bnah, 
 a 
 
 Lad ish. 
 
 Zikla^A. 
 
 a ; 
 
 Ain. ftp 
 A shah. 
 
 Ether, or Etdm. 
 
 HERRON, or 
 Kirjath-arba. N 
 
 Beer-shel ; 
 or Sheba. 
 
 Gerar. 
 
 Eihfemnrt 
 
 z AR, OR 
 RjAHHATH MOAFV 
 
 Telaxm, u 
 or Telev 
 
 Hazor a 
 
 Moladah. 
 
 Ilamath of Hit South 
 
 ! /.epha'.b, 
 or llorinah. 
 
 Uazar tuid/ir, 
 or Adar. 
 
 _LOMO»TUPl t A IT 
 
 3 o 
 
 non on* r ow ic.n. 
 
 36 
 
COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 499 
 
 polis of the Edomites at the period to which the Map relates (Jose- 
 phus, Ant. b. iv. c. 4). The remaining- portion of the journey, 
 across the brooks Zered and Arnon to the plains of Moab, does not 
 require any particular notice. It may, in conclusion, be observed 
 of all that part of the route which the Map attempts to delineate, 
 that it is such as a people circumstanced as the Israelites were would 
 have been most likely to pursue. The country through which they 
 had to pass does not, indeed, offer much choice in this respect. The 
 roads across the deserts, being necessarily marked out by the facili- 
 ties for obtaining a supply of water, are in most cases the same in 
 modern times that they were anciently, and in all Oriental countries 
 the springs and wells offer stronger evidence of such correspondence 
 than a casual inquirer might at first be induced to imagine. The 
 difference between the hypotheses which have been offered on the 
 subject has arisen chiefly from the want which, until very recently, 
 was strongly felt, of correct information as to the nature and aspect 
 of the country. This being now supplied, much of the doubt, at 
 least in reference to those parts of the journey which had a strictly 
 definite object, is cleared up ; and it is only those parts that the 
 author has attempted to indicate. 
 
 No. IY. 
 
 Canaan as divided among the tribes of Israel. 
 
 After passing the river Jordan (b.c. 1451) and occupying the 
 next six years in the reduction of the numerous independent king- 
 doms into which Canaan was then divided, Joshua proceeded to 
 allot to the tribes of the Israelites their respective shares of the 
 land (Joshua xiv.). The general boundaries of the country had 
 been already determined by Moses (Numb, xxxiv.), who had 
 granted to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manas- 
 seh, the countries of Bashan and Gilead on the east of the Jordan, 
 which river constituted the proper boundary of the Promised Land. 
 Considerable difference of opinion has prevailed, in reference to the 
 northern boundary, as to whether any part of the territory of the 
 Phoenicians or Sidonians was included in the allotment of the tribe 
 of Asher. From a careful consideration of this question it appears 
 to result, as exhibited in the Map, that “ Sidon and its ancient and 
 proper territory were not so included, but that Tyre was.”* * * § The 
 southern border drawn from Kadesh-barnea to the River of Egypt 
 (identified by some geographers with the eastern branch of the Nile, 
 but more probably represented by the stream which flows near El 
 Arish),f includes a large tract of country, which, although called 
 desert, the investigations of recent travellers have shown to be not 
 devoid of such qualities as might render it useful as a pasturing- 
 place for the southern tribes. J The disproportion which appears 
 between the relative extent of the territories allotted to the tribes 
 ceases to excite surprise when the remark of Josephus is considered, 
 that “such is the nature of the land of Canaan, that one may see 
 large plains, and such as are exceeding fit to produce fruit, which if 
 they were compared with other parts of the country might be 
 reckoned exceeding fruitful ; yet in comparison with the fields about 
 Jericho, and those that belong to Jerusalem, they will appear to be 
 of no account at all. * * For which reason Joshua thought the 
 
 land should be divided by estimation of its goodness rather than its 
 extent : it often happening that one acre of some sort of land was 
 equivalent to a thousand other acres.Ӥ The division thus esta- 
 blished continued to be the only one known to the Israelites for a 
 period of upwards of five hundred years, until after the death of 
 Saul. It must not, however, be imagined that they entered at once 
 upon the entire possession of the whole of the land ; on the con- 
 trary, the wars in which they were engaged with the previous inha- 
 bitants, and their efforts to expel them, form the subject of a large 
 portion of the history of this period. The Philistines, in particular, 
 remained in possession of their five lordships. 
 
 From the explanation which has been already given of the signs 
 used, it will be seen that the positions of but few of the places indi- 
 cated in the Map can be regarded as ascertained. At the period to 
 which it relates, Jerusalem appears to have been of little import- 
 ance compared with the eminence which it afterwards attained. Of 
 the other towns within the Hebrew territory which were then in 
 existence, Accho, now Acre, or Akka, which in 1820 contained a 
 population of about 10,000, — Shechem (now Nablous), with the 
 same number of inhabitants, Japho or Joppa ( Jafi'a ), inhabited by 
 from 4000 to 5000 people, — Hebron, now a populous village, — and 
 Gaza, with between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants, — are now the most 
 
 * ‘ Piet. Bible,’ Josb. xix. 29 ; Jud. i. 31, Notes, 
 
 f Ibid., Nam, xxxiv. 5, Note. 
 
 * Robinson’s ‘ Biblical Researches in Palestine,’ i. sect. 5. 
 
 § ‘ Antiquities of the Jews,’ book v. c. 1. 
 
 considerable. Ashdod is reduced to an inconsiderable town, — 
 Bethlehem, a village with only 300 inhabitants ; and the sites of 
 Ascalon, Beth-shan, Jericho, Beth-el, and Heshbon, are only indi- 
 cated by the mouldering remains of buildings. Of the two sites to 
 which the name of Ramoth-gilead has been assigned, that to the 
 north of the river Jabbok, where there are the remains of a castel- 
 lated stone enclosure called Ratnja, appears entitled to prefer- 
 ence.* 
 
 When the changes to which Palestine has for so many ages been 
 subject, both from the operation of physical causes and political 
 events, are duly considered, surprise will rather be felt that so many 
 traces of the names mentioned in the Scriptures should still be found, 
 than that so great a number have perished. The preservation of 
 many of these names is in a great measure due to the Arabs, whose 
 habitual tenacity in this respect is well known ; and the probability 
 that a further acquaintance with the topography of the country 
 would bring to our knowledge the existence of many remains which 
 have hitherto been undiscovered is strengthened by the fact, that the 
 latest travellers in Palestine have, in this respect, made some most 
 important contributions to its geography. After the map was en- 
 graved, Dr. Robinson published the account of his journey, in which 
 he discovered the site of the patriarchal Beer-Sheba, in a valley now 
 called Wadi-es-Sebd, containing “ruins extending over a space 
 half a mile long by a quarter of a mile broad. ”j- (See the Map 
 of Modern Palestine.) This gentleman also visited the sites of 
 Bethel (now Beit-in), Eglon (still called ’Ajlan), Beth-Tappuah 
 (Taffuh), Juttah (Yutta), Ekron (now a large village called 
 ’Akir, where “nothing of antiquity remains”), Gibeon (Jib), Ana- 
 thoth (Anatah), Gibeali (Jeba’), Micmash (Mukhinas), and Shiloh 
 (Seilun). From a village where they lodged, the sheikh also 
 pointed out to them places which bear, in Arabic, names correspond- 
 ing to Zorah, Timnath, Sochoh, and others. J These contributions 
 to Scriptural geography have been made available as much as was 
 possible in the Map of Modern Palestine. 
 
 No. Y. 
 
 Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and Simeon, &c. 
 
 The portion of the Holy Land which is contained in this Map, the 
 greater part of which was afterwards comprised in the Kingdom of 
 Judah, while to the student of the Old Testament it possesses deep 
 interest from having been the scene of so many of the transactions 
 recorded in the earlier portions of Scriptural history, is also, from 
 its containing Jerusalem, which has for ages concentrated the inter- 
 est of Christians in all parts of the civilized world, and Bethlehem 
 although “little among the thousands of Judah,” associated with 
 all the sufferings and triumphs of the Gospel. We have, therefore, 
 thought it desirable to delineate this part of the country upon a 
 larger scale, and in greater detail, than a general Map of Palestine 
 enabled us to do. It embraces the region in which the early life of 
 David was passed, in the performance of the simple duties of a 
 shepherd-boy, and in which he was afterwards hunted “ like a hart 
 upon the mountains,” and indebted to the diversified nature of its 
 surface for preservation from the fury of his pursuer. Within it 
 are also contained the valley of Sorek, celebrated for the produce 
 of its vineyards, and the brook of Eshcol, from which the spies sent 
 by Moses to examine the land brought back the cluster of grapes 
 which so strikingly evinced its fertility (Numb. xiii. 23, 24). Seeing 
 then, that many of the associations connected with it relate to its 
 external aspect, and to the influence of its natural features upon the 
 character and pursuits of those by whom it was inhabited, a few 
 further remarks upon its physical conformation and appearance may 
 be appropriately introduced here. Neither the mountains of the 
 central ehain, nor the hills which, diverging from it and divided by 
 numerous valleys, fill the greater part of the country eastward to the 
 Dead Sea, and westward nearly to the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 rise to any considerable height. This general appearance is de- 
 scribed by travellers as being barren and desolate ; the valleys are 
 mostly narrow, with steep sides, and almost destitute of soil. The 
 present appearance of Judea thus offers a striking contrast to the 
 notions which are generally entertained of its former fertility. Yet 
 the occasional exceptions to this sterile appearance, which are met 
 with wherever the industry of man has been exercised in preserving 
 and irrigating the scanty soil, justify the remark which has been 
 already made (p. 456), that " such cultivation as Judea anciently re- 
 ceived, when the terraced sides of its hills were clad with olives and 
 
 * ‘ Piet. Bible,’ 2 Kings ix. 1, Note, 
 f 1 Journ. of Royal Geog. Soc.,’ vol. ix. p. 297. 
 
 + Ibid., vol. ix. pp. 302 — 8. 
 
500 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 with vines, and when its hills were waving with corn, might, and 
 did, make it not inferior to any other part of the country, and per- 
 haps superior in variety of produce.” From about twenty miles 
 south of Hebron, where the mountains terminate, a more open 
 country, covered with grass and diversified by fields of wheat and 
 barley, extends to Beer-sheba, and beyond that place, after passing 
 some hills, it is described as “ open and undulating, with swelling 
 hills, covered in ordinary seasons with grass and rich pasturage.”* 
 The country thence continues fertile as far as the limits of Pales- 
 tine. Such is the nature of that part of the country which was the 
 favourite pasturing place of the Hebrew patriarchs, and which con- 
 stituted a part of the wilderness of Paran, the abode of David 
 when the transaction occurred which is narrated in the First Book 
 of Samuel. (Chap, xxv.) 
 
 Partly in the inheritance of Benjamin, and bounding on the west 
 the valley of Jericho, is a mountainous tract which is described as 
 more stern and wild than any other part of the country, and as 
 being rugged, desolate, and frightful in the extreme. The moun- 
 tains, which rise to a greater height than any others in Judea, bear 
 the name of Quaratitania, from a tradition that they were the wil- 
 derness in which Christ fasted for forty days ; and the highest sum- 
 mit, which bears the name of the Mountain of Temptation, and the 
 ascent of which is exceedingly steep and difficult, is pointed out as 
 that from which the tempter “ showed him all the kingdoms of the 
 world and the glory of them.” (Matt. iv. 8.) 
 
 A remarkable characteristic of this part of the country is the 
 great difference of level between its various parts. From the 
 shores of the Mediterranean the country gradually rises towards the 
 central range, the ground on which Jerusalem stands being ele- 
 vated 2640, and Bethlehem 2528, feet above the level of that sea ; 
 and the rapidity of the descent thence towards the east may be ap- 
 preciated from the fact that the north end of the Dead Sea is nearly 
 1400 feet below the same level, leaving the astonishing difference 
 of upwards of 4000 feet between the respective elevation of these 
 points.! Mr. Russegger (by whom these observations were made) 
 also informs us that the village of Riehah, in the valley of Jericho, 
 which corresponds in situation with the Gilgal of our Map, is 774 
 feet, and the bathing-place of the pilgrims in the Jordan, a few 
 miles to the south-east of the same point, 1269 feet below the 
 level of the Mediterranean. A few remarks upon this valley, which 
 forms a part of the great valley in which the Jordan flows, may be 
 appropriately deferred until the consideration of one of the succeed- 
 ing general maps of the country. 
 
 It is satisfactory to find that the position assigned, on argumen- 
 tative grounds alone, to Engedi, has been confirmed by the discovery, 
 nearly in the same place, of its representative in the name of Ain 
 Jiddi. Dr. Robinson, advancing from the west, obtained a view of 
 the Southern part of the Dead Sea, “ from the summit of a precipi- 
 tous cliff, overhanging Engedi and the lake, at the height of at 
 least 1500 feet.” The remains of Ziph, Carmel, and Maon, like- 
 wise conspicuous in the history of David, appear still to exist, the 
 first two bearing the names of Dhahrat el Zif, and Karmel.J 
 
 No. YI. 
 
 Territories of the Hebrews during the reigns 
 of David and Solomon. 
 
 In the dominions of David and Solomon we behold the fulfilment 
 of the promise originally made to Abraham that his posterity should 
 possess the land “ from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the 
 river Euphrates.” (Gen. xv. 18.) The period of time from the 
 recognition of David as King over all Israel (b.c. 1055) to the death 
 of Solomon (b.c. 975) may be regarded as constituting, so far aa 
 political power is concerned, a distinct portion of the history of the 
 Jews. From their permanent settlement in Canaan to the present 
 
 * 4 Journ. of Royal Geogr. Soc.,’ p. 297. 
 
 t See before, p. 428, and 4 Journal of Royal Geogr. Soc.,’ vol. vii.p. 456. Pro- 
 fessor Berghaus, in a letter to the Secretary, in the ninth volume of the same 
 Journal, states that by the application of numerous bearings to a base line which 
 Professor Robinson measured on the Mount of Olives (which overlooks Jerusalem 
 on the east), he found, that the distance between the mountain and the north-west 
 corner of the Dead Sea does not exceed sixteen and a half English miles. Thecliffs 
 by which that sea is bordered on the north-west do not probably exceed one thou- 
 sand fivo hundred feet in height (‘ H ist. of Palest.,’ v. i. p. cx.), so that if the distance 
 above stated be correct, the descent of the country between Jerusalem and the 
 Dead Sea is not less than from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty 
 feet per mile. We are aware that in our Map, which was designed before Dr. 
 Robinson’s observations wore communicated to the public, the distance between 
 these points is much greater than that given above. 
 
 J Robinson’s ‘ Researches,’ ii. 191 — 195; iii. 196 — 201. 
 
 time, the student of Scripture has read of them chiefly in connection 
 either with those who were left of the original inhabitants of the 
 land or with the nations immediately bordering on their territories ; 
 but we henceforth find them engaged in various relations, military 
 or commercial, with the people of more distant countries, and the 
 object of the curiosity and attention of the princes of other regions. 
 A few explanatory remarks on some of these, which have not yet 
 been noticed, will form a useful accompaniment to the present Map. 
 It is not easy to decide upon the relative situation and extent of 
 the various states into which Syria was at this time divided. Many 
 of those on the north-eastern frontiers of Canaan, mentioned under 
 the names of the Syrians of Damascus, Beth-reehob, Maachah, and 
 Ish-tob, were probably tributary to Zobah, which appears to have 
 been the most powerful of the Syrian kingdoms in the time of 
 David. It is conjectured by the editor of the Pictorial Bible* that 
 its capital may have been the same city as Hobah, mentioned in the 
 history of Abraham as being on the left-hand (north) of Damascus 
 (Gen. xiv. 15). Adjoining it on the north-west was the kingdom of 
 Hamath, which, from the expression “ the entering of Hamath ” 
 being used to denote the extreme northern frontier of the Hebrew 
 territory, appears also to have extended at some periods to the 
 borders of Canaan. The city of Hamath, its capital, situated on 
 the river Orontes, still preserves the name of Hamah, and is one 
 of the largest towns in Syria, containing a population of 30,000 in- 
 habitants.f As the names of these two states are afterwards com- 
 bined (2 Chron. viii. 3) into Hamath-zobah, it may be conjectured 
 that they subsequently became united under the same authority. 
 Betah and Berothai, cities belonging to the king of Zobah, which 
 in 1 Chron. xviii. 8 are called Tibhath and Chun, are identified by 
 the Arabic version of the Bible with Emesa and Baalbec. The 
 former of these under the modern name of Homs, is now a well- 
 built town, containing about 10,000 inhabitants, on the great line 
 of route from Aleppo to Damascus; the latter, which is conjectured 
 to be the same as the Baalath of 1 Kings ix. 18, and as such was 
 built by Solomon, has long been celebrated for the beautiful re- 
 mains of its Temple of the Sun and other buildings. J If, however, 
 it was one of the cities of Iladarezer in the time of David, the term 
 ‘built’ must only be understood in the sense of ‘ rebuilt,’ or ‘ ex- 
 tended.’ South of Zobah were the territories of the Ammonites and 
 Moabites. The capital of the former, which subsequently received 
 the name of Philadelphia, is to be traced in the extensive remains, 
 chiefly of Roman architecture, which occupy a narrow valley, and 
 are still known by the name of Amman.§ Ar, the chief city of 
 Moab, called Areopolis by the Greeks, now consists of ruins of 
 about a mile in circuit, which are situated upon a low hill command- 
 ing the plain in which it stands. || 
 
 But the most important accession which the Hebrew territory 
 received during this period, and one which must have exercised con- 
 siderable influence on the social condition of the nation, was the 
 rocky domain of the Edomites, since it gave them the command 
 of one of the arms of the Red Sea, and of the port of Eziongeber 
 at its extremity. From this port were made, in conjunction with 
 the Phoenicians, those expeditions to Ophir and Tarshish which im- 
 ported into Judea the productions of distant climates — “ gold and 
 silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks, algum (pine) trees and precious 
 stones” (1 Kings x. 11, 22), and which contributed to make silver 
 “ nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.” 
 
 The long disputed question as to the places to which the names 
 of Ophir and Tarsliish are intended to apply is ably and elaborately 
 discussed in the Notes to the Pictorial Bible, If and it will be suffi- 
 cient for our purpose to state the conclusion at which the writer 
 arrives. Adopting the explanation of Gesenius, that the term 
 “ships of Tarsliish” denoted vessels originally so called from their 
 being like those in which the Phoenicians traded to Tartessus on 
 the shores of the Atlantic, especially adapted to distant voyages, 
 and that the name “ became in process of time so transferred as to 
 denote any distant country to which such ships went,” he proceeds 
 to express his acquiescence in the opinion of Professor Heeren, that 
 the term Ophir, “ like those cf Thule and others, did not designate 
 any fixed place, but simply a certain region of the world, like the 
 names East or West Indies in modern geography. Thus Ophir 
 may be understood as a general name for the rich south country, 
 including the shores of Arabia, Africa, and India.” 
 
 We cannot conclude the present notice without directing atten- 
 
 * Note on 1 Chron. xviii. 3. f Burckhardt, 4 Travels in Syria,’ p. 146. 
 
 J Maundrel, Irby and Mangles, Wood, Burckhardt, Volney, &c., in ‘ Modern 
 Traveller.’ — Syria. § Burckhardt, 4 Syria,’ p. 357. 
 
 11 Ibid., p. 377. H 2 Chron. is. 10; xx. 36. 
 
* 
 
 
 : W. LIBRARY 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 .v 
 
Tneria. 
 
 Hermext. 
 
 Theu-jito&o] 
 
 patent Ellununatcti fflaps. 
 
 TXt Ceda • 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF 
 
 v\o> ,, ‘ e 
 
 t \ ' o AlnneteJ. 
 
 ft Ink. ^ 
 j Lwmun ^ _ 
 
 Ar^Has, 
 
 JUDAH AND ISRAEL 
 
 Geb&l, or Bybll 
 
 Ixibweh 
 
 Jubeil. 
 
 S o> topkag i 
 
 R. Admits.. 
 
 Nahr Ibrahij 
 
 From an Original Drawing by W. Hlqhks. 
 
 Nahr el Kel^r- 
 
 Scale of English Miles 
 
 R < is el B^ruf. 
 
 iftarhanna. ✓ 
 
 Ancient Names are inserted in Roman Letters. 
 
 Setdehnaja. 
 
 Zbbdent 
 
 AdAriei 
 
 iTu-V* 
 
 el Kammar 
 
 n Is used lo lotiicAi^ a Town the 
 
 Ras Nebbtoney. 
 
 Zobah 
 
 Hobah? 
 
 situation of which Is ascertained. 
 
 A dm e-den n 
 Adra. 
 
 , is Considered a* only probable. 
 
 MOUNT HER! ION, 
 
 ’ssheikh, 
 
 Bahre • U-FQ. 
 
 Zaiephath, or Sarepl 
 
 Sarfand. 
 
 l H^r Dnn-j.i.tn, 
 
 t Csesarea-philip 
 
 Bantus. 
 
 A ’a/ir Seyb« ran y—K- AUt..? 
 
 H am nfoVlbm^T^ 
 or lfanintbt4 v 
 Harosbctlii J) 
 
 fe.tesh, 
 
 ir Cude^?H 
 
 Pruraontoriinh Alburn-^' 
 
 ;uatb-trobah. 
 f < anneytra 
 
 ITiaiua. 
 
 Ajinetna 
 
 LAND 
 
 Ladder of the Tyrinnj 
 
 Nrtti/torai 
 
 Adi/.tb, 
 
 Chorazi 
 
 Edrei . — fl Draa. 
 
 Rimnn 
 
 Asbtaroth, or5.-apiiou. 
 s C EhMtmtib ^ 
 
 ' CJaraala. 
 
 iitttda 
 
 
 lisloth-tali 
 
 MetrQ. 
 
 Aney d 
 
 Tvrlural 
 
 Erbdd. 
 
 <**•<> o* Ch *rith! 
 
 1 . 
 
 Bosor, or Hozrab, 
 (of Edom.) 
 Rostra , or hotzra 
 
 El flostn. 
 
 StraiQ* a io wei 
 
 ,dtnet1i, tjj* 
 
 1 Jar ninth. 
 
 Kdixar\a [ 
 
 1^nh> g 
 
 iii’holuh. f 
 
 Gath run mot 
 
 v J Aroth shopVu 
 
 SA$t\A 
 
 m 
 
 hebejp. Ab'xiiuJrnJJn. 
 
 Isa. — Djeraish. 
 
 Ichmefliah 
 
 Nobah. 
 
 Uda el Nuby 
 
 Tappuah, 
 Znrthnn er 
 Zeredalliuh. 
 
 K ibzuim, 
 
 (kir^oa. 
 
 (IX An viih>y 
 
 Karkor t 
 
 Phnsselus Wavers 
 
 Nimrah.or Nil 
 
 0 Nymran 
 
 — k^sAbel-feliittim, 
 
 44Yibbali , or Rahlmth Minmoii 
 a/lerteardt Philadelphia . — Jmm an 
 
 Beih-teshirnolh. r! 
 
 Sibmali, o .Sr 
 
 <»ib»*on. / 
 
 r; ib.-ajK° Eph ’^S 
 
 Anatbvth^' 
 
 Giftlxnlion. 
 
 ° -iCptek. x 
 
 Herodiura 
 
 Makkedah. 
 
 I r-ghemrsh 
 
 Hethlehe^ >5 
 
 Mareslu 
 
 Beth-haccerem. 
 
 Mount - m of the yrt 
 
 Bezel*, 
 
 R cth tapp»i;^i 
 
 o Hebron. 
 
 HoIod 
 
 — v 
 
 lunqitud* has r raoM okerm-vich. 
 
 fieth-li&ran. O *1" 0,.-ilerHj kST 
 
 Elea I eh , — El j 
 
 Tu- 
 
 f- Aranyr 
 
 eon, or Baal menu. — Myun 
 ledeba. — Made bn. 
 
 Peter in the WHderum 
 Bo/.rah (of Moab)? 
 
 demoth NOTE. 
 
 The Moshltes and Ammonites occupied a considerable 
 extent of territory eastward, the limits of which cannot 
 be determined. The captivity of the Hebrew tribes he 
 yond Jordan enabled these nations, In part, to resume 
 the occupation of th-ir ancient possessions nearer tha 
 \ J° r «*n ; and the Kdonmies seem then to ha*t ad' iM^I 
 • tr,> ™ the south Into the districts which the Moab.i#* 
 
 C Ammonites had, wholly or in part, forsaken fur the 
 
 i lands of Reuben and Oad 
 
A sea lot 
 
 Bucuiic, or Ph: I 
 
 Uiilic 
 
 itinmn Snbeniiitic 
 
 Mouth. 
 
 Mo u ill. 
 
 MoallL 
 
 Cauop^ 
 
 MHU.irSl.lU Mouth. 
 
 Areopolis 
 
 Jeoysua 
 
 ALRXANDRi 
 
 Ml Casiun, 
 
 AuthyUa.\ N; 
 
 \a 
 
 Her&0|»ulls 1^\ 
 Parva. ; ' 
 
 tl*rcoU#J 
 
 hay of Pliothioe, 
 
 [area. 
 
 L. Serbonis. 
 
 ‘elusiuin. 
 
 6iu. 
 
 Rivey'of KgvpL 
 L uarfttl " Siliof 4 ' 
 
 Tnhpanhea, Migdot. 
 
 Daphne. 
 
 jf The canal commenced bv N echos, the Pbaraob-necbo of Scripture, 
 ' left the Nil* a lull* above Bubaslis, and terminated in the Ked Sea, 
 near Patuiuoa, an Arabian town. — Herod, ii. 158. It waa afterwards 
 finished by Ptolemy PbiLodelpbus. 
 
 The sites of the Lakes now called Hhrlot and Memaleb, teem 
 anciently to bave been occupied by Marshes, through which the Nile 
 flowed. It was probably among these ibat Psammittcbus, the father 
 -Herodotus, ii. 152. 
 
 and l .a keg 
 
 at N« troD 
 
 Heroo polls. 
 
 , L ejKUopofu, or Onion 
 ^UiUbvOniA*, li.C 1 4 
 o Ou?or Bethshen 
 Heliopolis. 
 labylon. bulk during t 
 
 Petra. 
 
 Helaii or Ju4thc«l } 
 
 2 Kings, liv. 7 ■ 
 
 of N echos, 
 
 ■ inrakiiiB o r cwuibyss. • 
 
 The 
 
 Pyramids 
 
 OH MEM PH 
 
 Klaih, or &laua. 
 Eziou-geber. 
 
 . IE MtKKlS 
 
 ) Aphroilitopolia. 
 '•o'o 
 
 H eracleopolis Magnq 
 
 According to Herodotus and Dio- 
 dorus the Lake Mmriswas anciently 
 »f much greater extent than at pte 
 sent.— Herod.. Ii. I «9. 
 
 I N If A B 1 
 
 [ 
 
 \°Anttnoe, built by the Emperor Adrian. 
 
 Hermopolis M, 
 
 itseopolis. 
 
 iis. or F.tuojiolitf. 
 
 PIliUnera,. & 
 
 Stimuli, or 
 
 out Kmayr. 
 
 eapolig. 
 
 CALL 0 BY THE CREEK 
 
 r-polis Magna! 
 IO-AMMON t 
 
 Ftirtus 
 
 phrodilojiolis ° 11 
 Lttlo|«jhs 
 Pyramid 
 H ieracuapolia 
 Apollioopoli! 
 Magna. 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 Ellumtnatefc fEapa. 
 
 patent 
 
 Hydrcnm J/mit, 
 or liydreuma. 
 
 Thrums 
 
 Silsilie 
 
 From an Original Drawing by \V. Hughes. 
 
 iragdus Moot \, 
 
 MouoV of Emeralds. 
 
 4 0600 i\ high. 
 Cabalsit \ 
 
 1. of Klphantina 
 
 The Cataract $ 
 
 SCALES. 
 Olympic Stadia 
 
 100 200 800 400 500 600 
 
 Paierobole cl 
 
 Tzuizjls a’ 
 
 On the coaat to the North of Berenice were many 
 Lead and Sulphur Mines, and (Quarries, worked by 
 U>e ancient Egyptians. 
 
 Arist telnn Stadi 
 
 Coder the Ptolemies Berenice became the principal emporium of 
 Eastern produce, which was coneeyed across the desert to Coptos, and 
 thence down the Nile. The journey from Coptoe to Berenice, a distance 
 of *56 miles, occupied twelve days.— Plin.. Nat. His. , n w On the route 
 were the following halting places Phmniron. Dideme. Apbroditum, 
 Compos is, Hrdreum Jot is, Aristonia, Phalaeruin, Hydreuin Apollints, 
 Cabals* and C'booq liydreuma. 
 
 Explanation of j 
 Is used to indicate a Tot 
 site of which 
 •••••••is considered as c 
 
 LONOITUDE r. as; 
 
 
COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 501 
 
 tion to Palmyra, universally admitted to be the “ Tadmor in the 
 wilderness” founded by Solomon (1 Kings ix. 18) and known by 
 that name alone to the Arabs of the present day. Its situation in 
 a small oasis of the desert, abundantly supplied with springs of 
 wholesome water, probably rendered it from the earliest times a 
 place of resort to those caravans which conveyed the produce of the 
 East to Phosnicia, and Asia Minor. Its position on the great line 
 of route from Babylon westward to Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon, 
 which in such a country is of necessity determined by the existence 
 of springs from which a supply of water may be obtained, was cal- 
 culated to render it a commercial station of the first importance, 
 and was not likely to escape the notice of the enterprising monarch 
 of the Jews, under whom it became, and long continued, the empo- 
 rium of the land-trade between Eastern and Western Asia. The 
 usual approach to its remains is from the west, through a valley 
 about two miles long, which contains the sepulchres of the ancient 
 inhabitants, and at the termination of which thousands of Corin- 
 thian pillars of white marble burst upon the sight, standing isolated 
 in the vast and level desert which extends thence to the Euphrates. 
 The principal remains are those of a Temple of the Sun, the square 
 court enclosing which measures six hundred and seventy-nine feet 
 each way, and part of which is now occupied by a small village 
 inhabited by a few Arabs. 
 
 Although the existing ruins of Palmyra and Baalbec belong un- 
 doubtedly to a much later time than that of Solomon, yet the fact 
 of their foundation by him, together with the foreign trade which 
 he carried on by sea, lead us to form a high idea of the talent and 
 enterprise of the monarch under whom “ Judah and Israel were 
 many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drink- 
 ing and making merry.” (1 Kings iv. 20.) 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 Kingdoms of Jcdah and Israel, with part of Phcenicia. 
 
 The division of the Promised Land into the two independent king- 
 doms of Judah and Israel, by the alienation of the ten tribes from 
 the house of David (b.c. 975), the latter of which was terminated by 
 Shalmaneser (b.c. 721), and the former finally destroyed by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar (b.c. 588), was the commencement of another era in 
 the civil and ecclesiastical history of the Jews which thenceforward 
 is carried on in two distinct and parallel courses, and no longer 
 possesses the singleness of interest by which it has hitherto been 
 generally characterised. Some difficulty has been felt in drawing 
 the boundary line between the two nations, arising from the fact 
 that while in all cases ten tribes are said to have been separated from 
 the house of David, and one only to have been left to the son of 
 Solomon (1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 35, 36; 2 Kings xvii. 18), several 
 of the cities which were in the inheritance of Benjamin appear from 
 the succeeding history to have been included in the kingdom of 
 Judah, and these two tribes are frequently mentioned together in 
 such a manner as to show their alliance (1 Kings xii. 21, 23 ; 2 
 Chron. xi. 1, 12). We find also (2 Kings xxiii. 8) the expression, 
 “ from Geba to Beersheba,” which distinctly indicates the extent of 
 the kingdom of Judah, in the same manner as “from Dan to Beer- 
 sheba ” does that of the whole country. Probably, however, the 
 tribes of Benjamin were divided in their interest, some of them ad- 
 hering to the house of Israel and some to that of Judah, which is 
 rendered the more likely from the circumstance that some of their 
 cities seem sometimes to have been in the possession of one and 
 sometimes the other of these kingdoms (1 Kings xvi. 34 ; 2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 15) ; and others are mentioned in such a manner as to imply 
 that they were on the frontiers of each (1 Kings xv. 17, 22). The 
 tribe of Simeon, which was originally within the inheritance of 
 Judah, was probably of too little importance to be mentioned in 
 connexion with that powerful and favoured house. Among the con- 
 sequences attendant on the establishment of another kingdom was 
 the choice of a capital. Tirzah appears to have served for this pur- 
 pose until the reign of Omri, who laid the foundation of Samaria 
 (1 Kings xvi. 24). The latter city, which, as the capital of Israel, 
 is afterwards brought conspicuously under our notice, was destroyed 
 by Shalmaneser, but seems to have been soon afterwards rebuilt : 
 it was taken by Alexander the Great, and endured various fluctua- 
 tions of fortune, until entirely destroyed by John Ilyrcanus (b.c. 
 110) ; being again rebuilt under the Romans, it remained of little 
 importance until Herod the Great (b.c. 21) gave it the name of 
 Sebaste, and adorned it with many splendid erections.* Passing 
 afterwards in succession into the hands of the various possessors of 
 the country, it is now represented by a poor village containing about 
 
 * Jos. Antiq. b. xv. c. 8. 
 
 4 V 
 
 thirty dwellings, many of which are built of the fragments of former 
 edifices, which are plentifully scattered about. 
 
 This Map is intentionally made to include the greater part of the 
 country occupied by the ancient Phoenicians, whose intimate con- 
 nexion with the Jew's gives to them considerable Scriptural interest. 
 Their territory, which at the period of their greatest importance did 
 not exceed from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy 
 miles in length, with an average breadth of about twenty miles, 
 was confined between the sea and Mount Lebanon, the branches of 
 which, advancing to the shore, leave a plain of varying width, some- 
 times not exceeding a mile, between themselves and the coast, 
 reaching it in some places, and terminating in bold and rocky pro- 
 montories. Of the numerous important towns contained in this strip 
 of land, Tyre was that which attained the greatest celebrity. It is 
 important for the student to bear in mind that old Tyre, the city of 
 which Hiram was king, the greatness of wdiich forms so frequent a 
 theme of the prophets, and which was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 was situated on the continent, while the Tyre, which afterwards 
 withstood for eight months the arms of Alexander, was originally 
 built on an island, which he joined by a mole or causeway to the 
 mainland. As any attempt to trace its condition through its 
 varying fortunes would far exceed our limits here, we shall only 
 observe that, after being successively in the hands of the Babylo- 
 nians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracens, the 
 Crusaders, and the Turks, it is now, under the name of Sur, a 
 wretched fishing-town, which in 1817 contained about five thou- 
 sand inhabitants.* To the testimonies of the accordance of its pre- 
 sent condition with that predicted by the prophetic writers which 
 have been collected in the Pictorial Bible, I may be added the more 
 recent one of the Count de Bertou, who observes that “ the best 
 description of its actual state is that given by the prophets them- 
 selves.”J Sidon, which existed long previous to Tyre, and was al- 
 ready designated by the term “ great ” when the Israelites entered 
 the Promised Land (Josh. xix. 28), passed through similar changes 
 of fortune to that town, w'ith which its history is closely connected. 
 It is now, under the name of Saide, a respectable town for the 
 country, carrying on some trade with the neighbouring coast, with 
 about fifteen thousand inhabitants^ Berytus, once celebrated for 
 its institutions for the study of civil law, is now called Beirut, and 
 has a population of about ten thousand. Byblus, the Gebal of 
 Scripture, the seat of the Giblites (Jos. xiii. 5 ; Ezek. xxvii. 9), 
 bearing the modern name of Jebail, is a small town, around which 
 are many traces of ancient buildings. 
 
 During the period to which this Map relates, Damascus appears 
 to have grown into greater importance than it had hitherto attained, 
 and to have become the capital of that “ kingdom of Syria ” with 
 which the Jews were so often engaged in warfare. This city, 
 which was founded before the time of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 15), has 
 preserved a considerable share of importance through all the 
 changes to which, with the other towns of Syria, it has been 
 subject. It is now one of the largest towns in Syria, and, sur- 
 rounded for a distance of several miles by well-watered gardens and 
 fruitful orchards, is regarded as a terrestrial paradise by the 
 neighbouring Arabs, by whom it is called El-Sham, and who 
 expatiate with delight on the beauties of the district in which it is 
 situated. Its population is usually estimated at about 150,000.! 
 It is the annual rendezvous of the great Syrian pilgrim-caravan, 
 which proceeds thence to Mecca, a circumstance which greatly 
 contributes to its prosperity. The river Barrada, to the waters of 
 which the fertility of its gardens is owing, was doubtless one of 
 those streams which Naaman thought “ better than all the waters 
 of Israel ” (2 Kings v. 12), and one of its tributary branches was 
 probably the other ; but it is now impossible to determine to which 
 the names of either Abana or Pharpar apply. The name of the 
 Nahr Seybarany, which joins the Barrada after it had passed 
 through Damascus, appears to bear some similarity to that of 
 Abana, a circumstance which may perhaps sanction a conjecture as 
 to their correspondence. 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 Ancient Egypt. 
 
 The frequent mention of Egypt in the Scriptures, and the con- 
 tinual connexion preserved with its inhabitants by the Hebrew 
 
 • Jolliffo, ‘ Letters from Palestine,’ vol. i. p. 16. + Note on Ezek. xxvi. 6. 
 
 X ‘ Journ. of Royal Geogr. Soc.,’ vol. ix. p. 290. 
 
 § ‘ Modem Traveller— Syria,’ vol. i. p. 57. 
 
 || Ibid., vol. ii. p. 42. Burckhardt, however, in 1814, estimated it at 
 250,000. ‘ Travels in Arabia,’ vol. i. p. 241. 
 
502 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 people, from the time of their forefather Abraham to their dis- 
 persion by the Romans, appear to render a Map exhibiting the 
 ancient condition of that country a necessary appendage to a 
 Scriptural Atlas. As, however, the interest which it thus derives 
 is only incidental to the main purpose of this work, it is merely 
 intended in the present notice to offer a few such remarks as may 
 assist in conveying a clear idea of the nature of the country, leaving 
 it to the Map to show the generally received identifications of 
 Scriptural with classical localities, and referring for a description of 
 their remains to the numerous and easily accessible accounts of 
 modern Egypt. 
 
 The prominent feature of Egypt is the river Nile, which, flowing 
 through the country from south to north, anciently reached the 
 Mediterranean by seven mouths, of which two (the Bolbitinian and 
 Bucolic) were artificial, the others natural (Herod, ii. 17). Of 
 these arms of the river only two remain in the present day, although 
 the former course of the others can to a great extent be still traced. 
 The valley in which the Nile flows, and the tract over which its 
 branches extend in the lower part of its course, are all that really 
 constitute Egypt, although under that appellation are usually 
 included the deserts which stretch thence eastward to the Red Sea, 
 and westward towards the great desert of Libya. Recent investi- 
 gations have shown these deserts to differ in many respects from 
 the notions previously entertained of them ; the leading character- 
 istic of that to the right of the Nile is its gradual ascent eastward 
 from the rocks which bound the valley of the river to an elevated 
 plain of considerable breadth, from which it again slopes down 
 towards the Red Sea. It is traversed in a direction from north to 
 south by ranges of limestone and granitic mountains, the latter of 
 which, commencing in lat. 28° 26', and attaining in one place 
 (lat. 28° 10', about 32° 50' long.) an elevation of 6000 feet, con- 
 tinue in a southerly direction until they cross the Nile at Syene 
 (Assuan), forming what are called the cataracts, but which are 
 really only a succession of rapids, of which no single fall is more 
 than four or five feet. The desert to the west consists of an elevated 
 plain, for the most part level, but supporting in some places lime- 
 stone mountains, which forms a part of the great table-land of 
 North-eastern Africa, and in which the province of Faioum (con- 
 taining the lake Mceris), and the Oases, are depressions. The 
 province of Faioum is distinguished by a greater depression than 
 tiie Oases, the lake Mceris being about 100 or 120 feet below the 
 level of the banks of the Nile at Benisuef (lat. 29° 10').* 
 
 The well-known fertility of Egypt, which caused it to be 
 anciently regarded as the granary of the surrounding countries, is 
 entirely due to the periodical rising of the Nile, which inundates 
 the land on either side of it. The river, swelled by the annual 
 rains of the Abyssinian mountains, which contain its source, begins 
 to rise about the middle of June, and attains its greatest height at 
 the end of September ; it remains in this state until the middle of 
 October, when it begins gradually to subside. As the extent of 
 land which can be cultivated is entirely dependent upon the alluvial 
 soil deposited by the river in its annual inundations, it is gratifying 
 to find that Sir J. Wilkinson, in the paper already referred to, has 
 satisfactorily proved that this, far from diminishing, is, on the 
 contrary, constantly increasing, and that the fears which have 
 been entertained lest the progressive elevation of the country to 
 the east and west of the river should ultimately prevent it from 
 being covered by the water, and thus consign it to sterility, are 
 totally groundless, since the bed of the river always rising in pro- 
 portion to the elevation of the adjacent soil, and the edge of 
 the desert, consisting of clay and stony ground, sloping gradually 
 from the mountains on either hand towards the river, the waters 
 of each successive inundation are, in fact, enabled to reach over 
 a greater extent than were those of the preceding. The encroach- 
 ments of the sand on the valley of the river are also shown to 
 be only partial, occurring merely at a few openings in the bor- 
 dering chains of mountains, so that “ taking into consideration 
 the relative advance of the sand and of the alluvial deposit, the 
 balance is greatly in favour of the k„~er, and the result is, that, 
 whatever partial injury the sand may have it in its power to 
 inflict upon certain spots, the extent of the land is constantly 
 increasing, and the number of square miles of arable soil is much 
 greater now than at any previous period. "+ The physical con- 
 formation of Egypt does not therefore offer any obstacles to its 
 attaining in modern times a position which, if it will not rival, will 
 at least not disgrace the celebrity of its antiquity. 
 
 The separation of the country into Upper and Lower Egypt 
 
 * ‘ On the Nile, and the Present and Former Levels of Egypt.’ By Sir J. 
 Gardner Wilkinson. ‘ Journ. of Royal Geogr. Soc.,’ vol. ix. p. 431. 
 
 f Ibid., p. 430. 
 
 which our Map exhibits, as it is the most obvious, was probably 
 the earliest of its divisions ; although it was afterwards separated 
 into three provinces, consisting of Lower Egypt, from the sea to 
 the head of the Delta, and including the city of Heliopolis within 
 its limits ; — Heptanomis or Middle Egypt, the capital of which was 
 Memphis, extending thence to the Thebaica Phylace (lat. 27° 35') ; — 
 and the Thebaid or Upper Egypt, which, comprehending the city 
 of Thebes, occupied the remainder of the country. These provinces 
 were subdivided into notnes, which took their names from the chief 
 city they contained, and the number of which is variously stated by 
 ancient writers. Memphis, sometimes mentioned under the name 
 of Noph (Jer. ii. 16; xlvi. 19), which during the residence of the 
 Israelites in Egypt was probably the capital of that part of the 
 country with which they were most closely connected, was the 
 metropolis of the land during the remaining period over which the 
 Old Testament history extends, although its rank in this respect 
 was posterior to that of Thebes, the more ancient and celebrated 
 capital. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 Assyria, Chaldea, and Media, &c., during the Assyrian 
 and Babylonian Empires. 
 
 The chief interest which these countries possess at this period for 
 the student of the Bible arises from their being those to which the 
 inhabitants of Israel and Judah were carried into captivity by the 
 monarchs of Assyria and Babylon (2 Kings xv. 29 ; xvii. 6 ; xxiv. 
 14, 15). 
 
 From the manner in which the names of Assyria, Chaldsea, and 
 Babylonia are used by ancient authors, sacred as well as profane, 
 it is evident that these terms are intended to designate in some 
 places different tracts of country from those to which at other times 
 they are applied, being used as the occasion required in an extended 
 or a more limited sense. It is necessary to bear this in mind in order 
 to understand the narratives in which they occur. The name 
 Assyria appears originally to have designated only a small tract of 
 country, which has been conjectured to correspond with the Aturia 
 of Strabo and Dio Cassius. At a later period, with the extension 
 of the Assyrian power, the name was applied to a larger extent of 
 territory on the east of the Tigris; this, as Major Rennell remarks, 
 “ the country beyond the Tigris and south of Taurus, and of which 
 Nineveh was the capital, is that designated in the Scriptures by the 
 name of Kir (2 Kings xvi. 9).” * Subsequently, however, the 
 Assyria of Herodotus (b. i. 106, 178; iii. 92) and Strabo (b. xvi.) 
 must be regarded as comprehending not only Assyria Proper but 
 also Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and sometimes even Syria (Herod, 
 vii. 63.). The dominions of the king of Assyria, as understood in 
 the Second Book of Kings (xvii. 6, &c.), and in Josephus (Antiq. 
 book ix. c. 2.), in addition to Assyria, in the sense last explained, 
 included also Media.! In a similar manner the Chaldsea or land of 
 the Chaldaeans of Scripture (Isa. xxiii. 13; Jer. xxiv. 5, &c.), 
 appears to have anciently extended much farther to the north than 
 the Chaldaea Proper of later geography, even if it did not include 
 that “Ur of the Chaldees,” to which the name was, without doubt, 
 first applied. | The Chaldaea of Ptolemy and Strabo was that part 
 of Babylonia which bordered on the Persian Gulf and the Arabian 
 desert, and which included the city of Ur or Urchoe, perhaps so 
 named in memory of the original settlements of the Chaldseans. 
 Babylonia, again, is sometimes used synonymously with Chaldaea, 
 in the extended sense (Herod, iii. 92), and at others applied tc 
 the district in which Babylon was situated (Dan. iii. 1). 
 
 The subject of the settlement of the Jewish tribes, when carried 
 into captivity into Media, has been fully considered by Major 
 Rennell, § and the conclusions at which he has arrived are those 
 exhibited in the present Map. Of the places mentioned (2 Kings 
 xvii. 24) as those from which the king of Assyria removed the 
 inhabitants to the cities of Samaria, Hamath has by some been 
 identified with the Syrian kingdom of that name, which has already 
 passed under our notice: but, as Josephus states (Ant. ix. 14) 
 that the foreigners removed were five tribes of Cuthites, it seems 
 more probable that it denotes some place in Assyria or Khuzistan.|| 
 
 An exceedingly valuable contribution to the geography (both 
 ancient and modern) of Elymais and Susiana, the modern Luristan 
 and Khuzistan, has been recently given to the public by Major 
 Rawlinson, in a paper entitled ‘ Notes on a march from Zohab, at 
 the foot of Zagros, along the mountains to Khuzist&n, and from 
 
 * ‘Geography of Herodotus,’ vol. i. p. 515. f Ibid., vol. i p. 518. 
 
 X Josephus, Antiq., book i. c. 7. § ‘ Geography ot Herodotus,' c. xv. 
 
 || Note on 2 Kings xvii. 24. * Piet. Bible.’ 
 
tiOtryy 
 
 Ay>tm ’»i. 
 
 Patent EUuminatefc jalaps, 
 
 ft Chalcis. 
 
 From an Orijrinal Drawing by W. HuoMifl. 
 
 Abila. 
 
 81 DUN 
 
 .reu 
 
 PnlfT-tf/i 
 
 b ;; . C>" V' 
 
 Cuiifsh. 
 
 ihk GENTILES, 
 
 ^ IlelhuluL ( 
 
 lieiliiiU'lu, or Julius 
 
 
 B A\T A N K A. 
 
 I J c Adara 
 
 ”4 
 
 I iberias o 4 
 Emma us 0 
 
 GALILEE. 
 
 ° Ifuzureth 
 
 Gadara 
 
 ^ Ml. 'labor. , ' 
 
 1 L». K K 
 
 Amn. 
 
 Plaiu of Ksdr.-elon. 
 
 Scy ihopol^ 
 ^ Esdr colon. — r ^‘ 
 
 CjESAKEA 
 
 m:bastm 
 
 or Samariu 
 
 Lie rasa 
 
 llcxandriutn* 
 
 Ramitth. 
 
 Wt tit led* r o i 
 
 *«> Jacob* s Well. 
 
 Apollonius 
 
 AYchelait. ft 
 
 nlipuins 
 
 
 JOppU/ 
 
 i’hiludelph] 
 
 Gazara. ° Beth hot on. Jericho 0 
 
 ^ r 
 
 a GaCu,:-,^ 
 F limniau^ ^ /a Ephrtttin. 
 B.lhph'igc/ 
 
 jLltl'SACli.M SellutiHpr . * 
 
 Her odium's. 
 
 Liviua. 
 
 Heshbon. 
 
 Mac/uorvs. 
 
 Azotlin. 
 
 Masada 
 
 Cede on 
 
 ^4Wlhle hem. 
 
 Tetoao 
 
 bians*a.( 
 
 AduLlam. 
 
 ° Gaza. 
 
 Ilebuiu 
 
 c Hersabe- 
 
 The 10 Cities of DECAPOLI8 were, 
 according to Ptolemy : 
 
 Scythopolis. Philadelphia. 
 
 Hippos. Gerara. 
 
 Gadara. Canatha. 
 
 Dion, or Dios. Capitolia. 
 
 Aie«i|»oiJ». 
 
 Alulat/m & S 
 
 Cbarnx, or 
 Cbarag-inoba. 
 
 Scale of English Miles. 
 
 Roman Stadia. 
 200 
 
 LONOfTODK KA8T FTt^'M OKRKNWICH, 
 

 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 503 
 
 thence through the province of Luristdn to Kirmanshih, in the year 
 1836.”* In this memoir Major Rawlinson has examined every 
 point of interest connected with the historical geography of these 
 regions, and has for the first time enabled us to delineate correctly 
 the courses of the rivers Kerah, Karun, Dizfiil, and their numerous 
 tributary streams. Such of his conclusions as seemed applicable to 
 our purpose have been adopted in the present Map, and, as most of 
 the questions investigated relate to a period subsequent to that with I 
 which we are now engaged, it is needless to enter into any further 
 explanation of them than is afforded by it. 
 
 But few traces now remain of the numerous flourishing cities 
 which Assyria and Chaldaea once contained, and even the situations 
 of the chief of them have afforded matter for dispute. Nineveh, 
 which, according to ancient writers, once measured 480 stadia, or 
 upwards of 50 English miles, in circuit, whose walls, fortified by 
 1500 towers, w r ere wide enough to admit of three chariots being 
 driven upon them abreast, — is now traced with difficulty in the 
 extensive mounds of earth and heaps of rubbish which line the 
 eastern bank of the Tigris, opposite the modern town of M6sul. On 
 one of the central mounds is a Mohammedan village, around a tomb 
 which is alleged to be that of the prophet Jonah. These remains have 
 been fully described by Sir John Kinneir, Mr. Buckingham, Mr. 
 Rich, and, more recently, by Mr. Layard. The latter gentleman, in 
 connection with M. Botta, and by himself, has explored several of 
 the mounds, which are of enormous extent ; and has discovered in 
 them the remains of magnificent temples and palaces, adorned with 
 bas-reliefs and sculptures, many specimens of which have been 
 brought to this country, and are now to be seen at the British 
 Museum ; they afford proofs of the high state of the arts in Nineveh, 
 and of the wealth and civilization of the people. 
 
 A variety of evidence concurs in fixing the site of Babylon 
 at some of the ruins which are found on both sides of the Euphrates 
 in the neighbourhood of the modern town of Hillah ; but the po- 
 sition which it occupied among them, and the portion which it 
 included, have been much-disputed questions. We have adopted 
 the view taken in the Pictorial Bible | and the Penny Cyclop£edia,+ 
 to which w r e may refer for a fuller account of the former condition 
 of this city, and of its present remains, than our limits enable us to 
 give. Its circuit, according to Herodotus (b. i. c. 178), was the 
 same as that of Nineveh, from which, however, it differed in being 
 exactly square, each side measuring 120 stadia. Besides a deep 
 ditch, lined with brickwork, it was encompassed with a wall of 200 
 cubits (300 feet) in height, each side of which contained 25 gates 
 made of solid brass. The river ran through the city, and its sides 
 were likewise lined with walls, from which smaller gates of brass 
 opened a descent to the water. These two parts of the city were 
 united by a bridge; in one stood the royal palace, and in the other 
 the temple of Jupiter Belus. The city was divided into squares 
 by streets which ran in straight lines from one side to the other, 
 intersecting each other at right angles. The Temple of Belus, 
 which was 500 feet in height, on a base of the same length and 
 breadth, is generally supposed to have been erected on the site of 
 the earlier Tower of Babel, and is thought to be now represented by 
 the colossal ruin called the Birs Nimrud. This pile, which is about 
 six miles south-west of Hillah, is described by Mr. Rich as a mound 
 of an oblong form, the circumference of which is 762 yards. “ At 
 the eastern side it is cloven by a deep furrow, and is not more than 
 fifty or sixty feet high ; but at the western end it rises in a conical 
 figure to the elevation of 198 feet, anil on its summit is a solid pile 
 
 of brick, thirty-seven feet high by twenty-eight in breadth 
 
 The other parts of the summits of this hill are occupied by immense 
 fragments of brick-work of no determinate figure, tumbled together 
 and converted into solid vitrified masses, the layers of the bricks 
 being perfectly discernible. Ӥ The whole of the mound on which 
 these ruins stand is itself a ruin, strewed with fragments of stone. 
 In its eastern parts, layers of sun-dried bricks are to be seen. Five 
 miles to the north of Hillah, and 950 yards from the river, is the 
 mound called the Mujelibeh (overturned), considered by some 
 writers to represent the tower of Babel. Its four sides, which face 
 the cardinal points, are respectively 219, 200, 186, and 182 yards 
 in length, and its south-east angle is 141 feet in height. Its sides 
 are worn into furrows by the weather. “ The summit is covered 
 with heaps of rubbish, in digging into some of which layers of broken 
 burnt brick, cemented with mortar, were discovered, and whole 
 
 * * Journ. of Royal Geogr. Soc.,’ vol. ix. p. 2G. 
 f Notes on Gen. xi. 4; Dan. iv. 30. $ Art. ‘Babylon.’ 
 
 § Rich's ‘ Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon,’ p. 30. 
 
 bricks with inscriptions on them are here and there found. The 
 whole is covered with innumerable fragments of pottery, brick, 
 bitumen, pebbles, scoriae, and even shells, bits of glass, and motlier- 
 of pearl.”* The principal other ruins are an irregular mass, mea- 
 suring 1100 yards in length by 800 in breadth, known by the name 
 of the Amran, from a building so called on its summit ; and, to the 
 north of this, another heap called the Kasr (palace), which measures 
 700 yards in length and breadth, and is connected with the Amran 
 by a ridge of considerable height. The two latter mounds extend 
 along the east bank of the river between the town of Hillah and the 
 Mujelibeh. Such are the principal remains of “ Great Babylon.” 
 That there is not more remaining of the superstructure of its walls 
 and other erections is partly to be attributed to the custom of em- 
 ploying all the available materials which are found in the ruins of 
 one city in the erection of others, a plan which has doubtless been 
 pursued by the inhabitants of the country in building those which 
 have succeeded one another as the seats of sovereign power in these 
 regions. There are many other mounds, similar in general appear- 
 ance to those above described, in various parts of the plain of 
 Chaldaea. One of the principal of these, the Tel Nimrud (the sup- 
 posed Accad of Nimrod’s kingdom), near the Tigris, attains a height 
 of 130 feet: and another, the Mugeiyer, south of the Euphrates, 
 rises upwards of 200 feet the general features of all are the same 
 — huge and desolate masses of ruin, consisting of sun-burnt brick 
 and rubbish of various kinds — the enduring monuments of fallen 
 greatness. Thus completely have the prophetic denunciations 
 against Babylon been fulfilled, and “ her cities are a desolation, a 
 dry land, and a wilderness !” (Jer. li. 43.) 
 
 No. X. 
 
 Palestine in the Time of Jesus Chrisi. 
 
 The extensive kingdom of Herod the Great, which embraced, in 
 addition to the whole of Palestine, portions of Syria or Arabia, was 
 divided at his death, with the approbation of the Roman emperor, 
 into three parts; the kingdom of Judea, including Samaria and 
 Idumea, being given to Archelaus, with the title of Ethnarch ; 
 Galilee and Pera being subjected to Herod Antipas, with the title 
 of Tetrarch ; and Gaulonitis, Batanea, Paneas Auranitis, and 
 Trachonitis being given to Philip, with the same denomination 
 (Luke iii. 1; Jos. Antiq. xvii. 11). This distribution continued 
 until (a.d. 12) Archelaus was deposed by the Emperor Augustus, 
 and his dominions united the province of Syria, while Judea itself 
 was placed under the authority of a procurator. It remained undei 
 this form of government until (a.d. 43) the whole of Herod’s domi- 
 nions were again united under the authority of his grandson, Herod 
 Agrippa, the “ Herod the King” of Acts xii. 1, subject of course to 
 the control of the general governor of the province of Syria (Jos. 
 Ant. xix. 5). Of the divisions enumerated, the best description 
 which we possess is that given by the historian Josephus (Wars, iii. 
 3), who describes the extent and magnitude of each province. In 
 the application of his description to the construction of a map, con- 
 siderable difficulty is however felt from our inability to fix the posi- 
 tion of some of the places which he mentions as indications of the 
 extreme length or breadth of these divisions, a purpose which in his 
 day they no doubt fully answered. This is more particularly felt 
 with reference to the southern boundary of Judea which separated 
 it from Idumea; we have therefore preferred leaving this unrepre- 
 sented in the map, supplying in its place the explanation that the 
 Edomites had, during the captivity of the Jews and their weakened 
 condition after their return, extended their dominion over the whole 
 of the country, from the mountains of Seir to the Mediterranean, 
 making Hebron the capital of this part of their territories, the 
 Idumea of the classical authors. Jerusalem was thus, as Josephus 
 remarks, “ situated in the very middle of Judea.” This province was 
 likewise subdivided into eleven toparchies (or, according to Pliny, 
 Hist. Nat. v. 15, ten), which, judging from the proximity of the 
 cities presiding over them, were of small extent (Jos. ibid. ; 1 Mac. 
 xi. 34). 
 
 It would far exceed our limits to attempt to give any description, 
 however brief, of the many places which are interesting from their 
 being associated with events in the life of the founder of Christianity. 
 We may refer for this to the Notes to the Pictorial Bible, the editoi 
 of which has carefully collected the most important circumstances 
 i relating to the past and present condition of such places, and, leaving 
 
 * Rich’s ‘ Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon,’ p. 20. 
 f ‘ Researches in Assyria,’ p. 127. 
 
504 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 it to the Map to show their localities, as far as they can be ascer- 
 tained, confine ourselves to a few remarks on those points on which 
 some explanation seems requisite. 
 
 It has been generally supposed that Bethsaida of Galilee (John 
 xii. 21) was the city of that name which was situated on the Lake 
 of Tiberias, near the spot where it receives the Jordan, and to 
 which Philip the tetrarch gave the name of Julius, after advancing 
 it from a village to the dignity of a city;* but, as it has been 
 urged that this city was not in Galilee, but on the opposite side of 
 the Jordan, in Gaulonitis, some writers have thought that the ruins 
 of a large village called Beit-sida, seen by Pococke on the west of 
 the lake, represent the Bethsaida of the Gospel. The site of each 
 is therefore indicated in our Map. 
 
 There are now few traces to be found of the many towns and 
 villages which, in the time of Christ, surrounded the Lake of Tibe- 
 rias. Extensive ruins near its north-western extremity, bearing the 
 name of Tel-hewm, have been supposed by some travellers to mark 
 the site of Capernaum but as they appear to have belonged to a 
 place of greater size and importance than there is reason to suppose 
 Capernaum to have been, we have preferred placing it near a fine 
 spring called by Burckhardt Aien el Tin, which appears to corre- 
 spond with the description given by Josephus of the “ fountain of 
 Capharnaum.”| A recent traveller § informs us that no trace of 
 the names of this place or Chorazin now remains among the Arab 
 population ; a remark which equally applies, we believe, to Magdala 
 and Dalmanutha (Mat. xv. 39 ; Mark viii. 10), unless the former 
 be found in the ruins of an old tower and some other buildings of 
 rude construction called El Mejdel,|| near the centre of the western 
 shore of the lake. 
 
 The site of Bethabara (John i. 28), which in the time of Jerome 
 continued to be pointed out on the banks of the Jordan, is not now 
 known. It is supposed to have been a few miles above the spot 
 where that river falls into the Dead Sea. 
 
 The political metropolis of Palestine in the time of Christ was 
 Caesarea, the city in which the Apostle Paul pleaded before Festus 
 and Agrippa. From an obscure fortress called Strato’s Tower, this 
 place was in the short space of ten years raised to the utmost magni- 
 ficence and splendour by Herod, who made it his residence, adorning 
 it with temples and palaces, a theatre, an amphitheatre, and other 
 buildings of the most gorgeous description, and by the construction 
 of an immense mole which ran out into the sea, rendering it the best 
 harbour on the coast. It was still a place of importance in the 
 time of the Crusaders ; but declined rapidly after their expulsion, 
 and has long since been a mass of ruins, no human being residing 
 within many miles of its desolate site.** The city of the same name 
 in the north of Palestine, to which was added the distinctive epithet 
 of Philippi, is supposed to have been the Dan or Laish of the Old 
 Testament (Jud. xviii. 7). It was greatly enlarged and embellished 
 by Herod the Tetrarch, who changed its name from Paneas to Csesa- 
 rea-Philippi in honour of the Emperor Tiberius : its modern repre- 
 sentative, Banias, is a small village, which, according to Burckhardt, 
 does not contain more than 150 houses. 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 Ancient Jerusalem and the surrounding District. 
 
 The best and indeed the only authentic description of Ancient 
 Jerusalem which we possess is that given by Josephus, in his history 
 of the war which terminated in its destruction (Wars, b. v. c. iv.). 
 We have, accordingly, with the assistance of the most accurate 
 representations of the modern city, made his description the basis of 
 the present Plan, adopting the extent of thirty-three furlongs, which 
 he assigns to its circuit, in preference to the statements of other 
 writers who variously estimate it at from twenty-seven to fifty fur- 
 longs, j^ Of the internal distribution of the city into streets, &c., we 
 know absolutely nothing but what is to be collected from a few 
 scattered statements in the writings of the same historian, and in the 
 Bible ; and those few are, we believe, embodied in the Plan and the 
 Note by which it is accompanied. It has therefore appeared de- 
 sirable to omit entirely the merely conjectural details which appear 
 in the Plans of Jerusalem given in most Scripture Atlases, con- 
 fining it strictly to that for which we have the authority of history ; 
 
 * Jos. 1 Antiq.,’ b. xviii. c. 2. + Burckhardt, ‘Syria,’ 319. 
 
 I Wars, b. iii. c. viii. § 10. § Dr. Robinson. 
 
 || Burckhardt, ‘ Syria,’ p. 320. If Jos. ‘Antiq.,’ b. xv. c. 9. 
 
 ** Buckingham, Clarke, Pococke, and others. 
 
 ■ft D’Anville — ‘Dissertation sur l’Etendue de l’Ancienne Jerusalem, &c. 
 Paris, 1747.’ 
 
 — the meagreness of the representation thus afforded being itself the 
 most striking evidence of the changes which this city has undergone 
 since the time when Mount Zion was “ the joy of the whole earth ” 
 (Psalm xlviii. 2). 
 
 The varying fortunes to which Jerusalem has been subject from 
 the period of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar to the time of 
 Christ, and again from its demolition by the Romans to the present 
 day, are subjects which belong to history, and do not require to be 
 considered here : we shall, probably, render greater service to the 
 Scriptural reader by a few such remarks upon the topography of its 
 neighbourhood as may assist the Plan in conveying to his mind an 
 idea of what it once was. Previous to the inclusion of Bezetha, 
 Jerusalem stood upon three hills, or, more properly, three portions 
 of a mass of hill which constitute the southward termination of a 
 rocky plain extending to the north. The part called Bezetha, 
 although gradually built upon as the city grew more populous and 
 extended beyond its old limits, was not enclosed with a wall until 
 after the time of Christ (a.d. 42). Of the hills by which the city 
 is on three sides surrounded, that on the west is but little elevated 
 above the city itself ; while, on the south, what is now called the 
 Hill of Evil Counsel (from the improbable supposition that the 
 house of Caiaphas, where the chief priests and scribes took counsel 
 against Christ, stood on the top of it) is really a rocky flat, forming 
 the termination of the high ground to the south of Jerusalem, and 
 is lower than Mount Zion. On the East, the Mount of Olives rises 
 higher than any of the ground about Jerusalem, and completely 
 overlooks the city ; from its summit the extensive prospect to the 
 east embraces the valley of Jericho, the lower part of the river 
 Jordan, and the Dead Sea, with its enclosing mountains. 
 
 The valley of Jehoshaphat, which rarely exceeds 200 yards in 
 width, is described as “rather a ravine than a valley:” the brook 
 Kedron, which flows through it in a narrow and deep bed, crossed 
 by a bridge of a single arch, is a mere winter-torrent, is little more 
 than a yard in breadth, and dry during the greater part of the year. 
 The sides of this valley are covered with the sepulchral stones of the 
 Jews, by whom, both in ancient and modern times, it has been used 
 as a place of interment. The valley of Hinnom, on the south, is 
 about fifty yards broad and twenty in depth, “ measuring from the 
 bottom to the highest part of Mount Zion * its sides are rocky and 
 precipitous, and that to the south contains numerous sepulchral exca- 
 vations. On the farther side of this valley, towards the south-east, 
 is the spot supposed to be Aceldama, or “the field of blood” 
 (Matt, xxvii. 8), bought with the thirty pieces of silver, which were 
 the price of Judas’s treason, for a “ field to bury strangers in.” The 
 Valley of Gihon, by some also considered as the Valley of Rephaim, 
 on the west of the city, is shallow, and in its southern part broad, 
 decreasing both in width and depth as it advances northward ; it also 
 contains on its western side some sepulchral excavations. 
 
 Of modern Jerusalem, which has been so repeatedly described by 
 travellers, it is not our purpose here to speak. It will be seen from 
 the Plan that we agree with those f who reject the long-received 
 opinion that the present church of the Holy Sepulchre covers the 
 spot upon which Christ was crucified, and the tomb in which his 
 body was laid; we therefore attach no Scriptural interest to the 
 many places within the city which are pointed out to the pilgrim as 
 the representatives of the sacred spots. The garden of Gethsemane 
 appears to indicate correctly the place which was the accustomed 
 resort of Christ and his disciples, and in which he was betrayed 
 (John xviii. 1). It is now an even plot of ground, enclosed with a 
 stone fence, and containing a few olive-trees. Bethany is now a 
 poor village, inhabited by a few Arabs : it is pleasantly and roman- 
 tically situated, sheltered by the Mount of Olives, and abounding 
 in trees and long grass. 
 
 In concluding this attempt to convey to the mind of the reader 
 some idea of the situation of this celebrated city, to the remark of 
 Mr. Jolliffe,J that the stranger now sees from the neighbouring ele- 
 vations “ a wild, rugged, mountainous desert, no herds depasturing 
 on the summit, no water flowing through the valleys, but one rude 
 scene of savage melancholy waste, in the midst of which the ancient 
 glory of Judea bows her head in widowed desolation,” we may add 
 the observation of Mr. Carne,§ that the very situation of the town 
 “ on the brink of rugged hills encircled by deep and wide valleys, 
 bounded by eminences whose sides were covered with groves and 
 gardens, added to its numerous towers and Temple, must have given 
 it a singular and gloomy magnificence, scarcely possessed by any 
 other city in the world.” 
 
 * Robinson, ‘ Travels in Palestine and Syria,’ vol. i. p. 105. 
 f ‘Piet. Bible,’ Heb. xiii. 12, Note. J ‘ Letters from Palestine,’ vol. i. p. 105 
 § ‘ Letters from the East,’ p. 289. 
 
ELEVATED ROCKY 
 
 PLAIN, 
 
 
 \v 
 
 Camn o r the Assyrians, 
 
 .!<»*. IFart h v, c 7. 
 
 Women’* 
 
 Town. 
 
 CCENOPOLIS, OR Tfl R NEW CITY. 
 
 Gate of Ephraim- 
 
 ^ SWn or 
 
 Corner G "f Benjamin^ 
 Tower of Antonia. 
 
 MOUNi 
 
 MORI AM, 
 the Site ol 
 THE \ 
 
 temple.) 
 
 Tower of tlit 
 Furnaces. I 
 
 V.ll.y 4 
 
 Gate.. 
 
 C 1< roV> of 
 Sepulchre 
 
 Ophlas, 
 
 M'wiimt 
 of John. 
 
 tfiphkad 
 
 , Gate. 
 
 CALLED 
 
 The space between Scopus and the City, previously occupied by 
 gardens and groves of trees, was levelled, by the command of Titus, 
 at the commencement of the siege, by filling up the hollows, and 
 destroying the precipices.— Josephus, Wars, b. v. c. 2. 
 
 Wall built by Awin«. 
 
 Garden and Village of 
 GETHSEMANK. 
 
 Sepulchres of the Kings 
 Herod’s Mon 
 
 Water-course 
 
 Horse G 
 
 Pool 
 
 of Siloam, 
 
 Prison G 
 
 Pool of Gihon, 2 Kgs. xx. 20, 
 
 which an Aqupdi'-t eonveved 
 Water to the City, and emptied it- 
 6t .,f into the Pool of S.L- >m, whence 
 it vs as sometimes called hy the same 
 name.— Neh. iii. IS, &c. 
 
 HILL 
 
 OF 
 
 EVIL COUNCIL. 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 Patent Ellununateti fflaps. 
 
 ANCIENT 
 
 JERUSALEM, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 SURROUNDING DISTRICT. 
 
 OLIVET, 
 
 O OR THE 
 
 MOUNT OF OLIVES, 
 
 Of the New Testament. 
 
 Tl 
 
 MOUNT OF CORRUPTION 
 
 2 Kings, xjdii. 13. 
 
 V 
 
 G> 
 
 V 
 
 ‘tj 
 
 Y* 
 
 HILL OF OFFENCE, 
 
 A 
 
 on which the high places of idolatrous worship 
 were erected by Solomon, 1 Kgs. xi. 7, 2 Kgs. xxiv. 18. 
 
 From an Original Drawing by W. Hughes. 
 
 
 Scale of Jowirh Furlongs. 
 
 The -walls of JERUSALEM, as rebuilt by Nehcmiah, included only the hills of Zion, 
 Acra, and Meriah ; the City gradually became extended by the addition of Be/etha, 
 the wall round which was built by Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, 
 A.D. 42. In the wall round Zion there were 60 towers, amongst which were those 
 of llippicus, Phasselus, and Mariamne, erected by Herod— that which inclosed Acra 
 had 40 — and that round Bezetha, 00. — Josephus, Hats, hook v. chap. 4. The 
 upper city seems to have contained most of the public buildings, as the Armoury 
 and Prison (Neh. iii. 19, 25), Herod’s Palace (Jos. b. i. c. 22), and the Royal 
 
 and Pontifical residences in general (ibid., b. ii. c. 17). The markets for Timber, 
 "Wool, Cloth, &c., were in the lower city (ibid., b. ii. c. 19, and b. v. c. 8). The 
 surrounding country was, in the time of Cnrist, cultivated and laid out in gardens 
 and groves of fig, olive, and palm trees. These were all cut down by the Romans 
 in the progress ol the siege, and the city taken and totally demolished, a.d. 70. 
 
 
 0 1 2 3 4 5 
 
 1 1 1 i I I 
 
 English Feet. 
 
 0 500 1000 2000 3000 
 
 Luj u i i i i i 
 
 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, within modern Jeru- 
 Salem, has. for more than fifteen .centuries, been considered 
 r to comprehend within its walls the site of Calvary, and the 
 
 sepulchre in which the body of Christ was laid. As, how- 
 H ever, the Gom el nat rat ive implies that these places were 
 
 without the City, which is expressly stated in lieb. xiii. 12, 
 • it seems probable that the knowledge of their true position 
 
 has been lost, bee, on this subject, Pictorial Bible, lleb. xni. 
 — Hole. 
 
35 
 
 *‘*Vur»«. o 
 
 i.u/ #» Jtdid < S) 
 
 Oy \ir«opA(igiM. 
 
 tbae *1 Maurajy 
 
 from a 
 
 Nahr el Keto. 
 Has el Bet r 0 1 . £j 
 BelrtU, or Be] 
 
 H.tnnn Shlhur _ 
 
 Chan 
 
 S Qt &Je<Hd(R) 
 
 V # 
 
 Kao, «/• . 
 
 ^'-4 *» 
 
 Nebk, or Nefte. 
 
 El 
 
 o JCa tin*. \> 
 
 'Surgnwiih, or 
 , Zurgeia. 
 
 
 Aintl Hour. Mar Serkie. 
 
 Source of Barrada. oMalidta. 
 
 Nebbii 
 
 / 
 
 kkarein. Tehl. 
 
 Zeb&a^l. 'i ^ 
 
 Jehel ^ 
 
 A n tar. 
 
 Ayta. Kefr-^i-Kuk 
 
 94 - ^^r Dtma,r h^- 
 
 K ana by. 0 _ Baht* Berae. 
 
 N Hasbey». Ra S ^ -p /., U. Mm»r/‘ Safthiy eh. C T^uraa^ 
 
 , \ \ / 
 
 ' r " ^ kj^-Dcrir el mJi 
 
 *■ v. 7 , / 
 
 o ¥ aV 
 c Jebel Vt„ 
 
 ibeya 
 
 _ Sz label "* ’V 
 
 Ls-sheikh* Kail 
 
 ♦ £, 
 
 jtcyfe. 
 
 
 33 
 
 g 3 | 
 
 _ n li r e 1 Mark 
 {Lake of the Meadow .) 
 
 °*“ D,!rtra 
 
 Drf- el-’ Aha. <r- 
 
 ^Jedye. 
 
 jtliby. 
 
 >1 
 rn™ 
 
 N s * , 
 
 ^Kana.-Cdna. 
 
 ; **■* C£ ,„ , 
 Naznrelh. 0^1 «I %helS^ K 
 - „ mu* D 
 
 Samorah. 
 
 ejrin. 
 
 NaArta. ^ 
 
 SuicarroiA. 
 
 Bukhara. £)aara. _ Kun(iiUC vft 
 
 adl Sdeida. 
 
 'TtRilda. 
 
 w 
 
 r Dai 
 
 f j Hyi fcA.mer.o 
 
 •... .ftvjQr- 
 
 ~ iL* 
 
 ■, | ElBurfo l" ? 
 
 Hoioara . 
 
 Fgnduk \ 
 
 heban. 
 
 ->_ tfV 0 
 
 Dtraa. Neit Erim'imr^ <^wn»K ^ 
 
 \ ® Bethany. ' 
 
 ® /-•*'> O / Jerdiifilem, or El ^Cod». 
 
 r^kiUpSc ^ 
 
 Kachcl** tomb. Benafbtde. 
 
 t Sla. Sab<T o 
 
 Sifie 
 
 l^Khrlkhe.e. 
 
 I Laheaa 
 Oin Ezzfitda. 
 
 Tel \ 
 §hibain> 
 
 Ohuttum . ^ 
 
 * - / 
 
 Z SiaUal 
 
 Bom * T"- — UM , 
 
 " yibiahelda. 
 fteobty cll. jao *n. Meyeera 
 
 . Ain Jebritd. — »' '- 
 
 Samuele. 
 
 ielka. 
 
 J / El Kfaa'II, ° \ 
 
 or H*bioa c ^ 
 
 i/ ^/— B Do. 
 
 I o «»rvaui«. 
 
 Khurcili) 
 
 (well) 
 
 Marlt-e. 
 
 Sedid 
 
 Magkarat A Aural. 0 
 
 Mnanrat e* 
 DaMerak. 
 
 '6 
 
 ert ex tending southward to toe Peninsula of Sinai and westward to Effypt. Q Q> 
 a KtuHAeeH 
 
 ,J "- “ «dl a\ 
 Kad\.$th, oe El Madarah. 
 
 33 
 
 "^TaKoi. ^^'0° 
 
 Explanation of Arabia Terme 
 
 (The letter < to be pronounce! 
 long, like ee, and ti like ou.) 
 
 Abfl Father. 
 
 Ain Spring, source. 
 
 Ard Land. 
 
 Bahr Sea, lake. 
 
 Beit House, habitation. 
 
 Belad District. 
 
 Bent Sons. 
 
 Bfr Well. 
 
 Birket Lake, pool. 
 
 Deir Monastery. 
 
 Jpbel Mountain. 
 
 Jisr Bridge. 
 
 Kal'at Fort, castle. 
 
 Kefr Village, hamlet. 
 
 Khan Caravanserai. 
 
 Mar Lord. 
 
 Marj Pasture-ground. 
 
 Min Port, harbour. 
 
 Nahr River. 
 
 Om Mother. 
 
 Ras Head, caps. 
 
 fiheriat Watering-place, river. 
 
 8ouk Market (periodical). 
 
 Tel Hill, mound. 
 
 Wadi Valley. 
 
 
 ‘Cliff. 
 
 if 
 
 •r 
 
 35 
 
 LONOITUDE EAST FROM 0REENW1CH. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 505 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 The Countries between Jerusalem and Rome in the Time 
 of the Apostles, Illustrative of the Travels of St. 
 Paul. 
 
 The numerous important places which are embraced within the 
 present Map, and even such of them as are mentioned in the New 
 Testament, will be best explained by the map itself, which furnishes 
 such information as we are possessed of in reference to the localities 
 of the places named in connexion with the labours of the Apostles, 
 and we shall therefore here confine ourselves to a few explanatory 
 remarks of a general nature, concluding with a brief notice of the 
 cities which are interesting to the Scriptural student as the Seven 
 Churches of Asia. 
 
 It is probably known to most of our readers that it has been a 
 much-disputed question whether the island on which St. Paul and 
 his companions were shipwrecked was that known in modern geo- 
 graphy by the name of Malta, or an island in the Adriatic Sea now 
 called Meleda : both of these islands have anciently borne the 
 name of Melita. The principal arguments in favour of each of 
 these hypotheses are stated by the editor of the Pictorial Bible, who 
 concludes that “ the weight of evidence of all kinds preponderates 
 greatly in favour of Malta.” * This conclusion is therefore adopted 
 in our Map, the addition to which of an enlarged plan of that island 
 enables us to direct attention to the inlet now called the Port of St. 
 Paul, which the inhabitants have from time immemorial regarded as 
 the “ certain creek with a shore” which was discerned by the Apos- 
 tle’s companions at the dawn of day (Acts xxvii. 39). Among 
 numerous alleged memorials of St. Paul’s visit to the island which 
 are pointed out by the inhabitants, they believe the cathedral church, 
 whicli bears his name, and is seated on the top of the hill on which 
 Citta Vecchia, the ancient capital, is built, to occupy the spot on 
 which the residence of Publius, the governor, anciently stood. j 
 “ The quicksands,” which were an object of terror to the sailors, are 
 supposed to have been the broad shallow gulf, which the ancients 
 called Syrtis Major ; and which, from the shifting nature of the 
 sands on its shores, and the general uncertainty of its bottom, was 
 always a subject of terror to ancient navigators. 
 
 It is necessary to discriminate between the different senses in 
 which the term “ Asia ” is used by the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment : in Acts vi. 9, xix. 26, and other places, it appears to indicate 
 the whole of the peninsula which is known as Asia Minor, or the 
 countries between the Black and Mediterranean Seas. A portion 
 of this, including Phrygia, Bithynia, Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Lycia, 
 Pisidia, and Pamphylia, and corresponding apparently with the 
 Lower Asia of Herodotus, i. 177, was also distinctively called Asia. 
 The Asia of Acts xvi. 6, and Rev. i. 11, comprehended, however, 
 only Lydia and those parts of Mysia and Caria which were included 
 in ASolia and Ionia ; this contained the “ seven churches ” addressed 
 by St. John. Few require to be told of the splendour to which the 
 first of these, Ephesus, once attained, of its temple of Diana, 
 accounted one of the wonders of the world, of its gorgeous palaces, 
 its theatre and other erections, which made it one of the ornaments 
 of Asia. A few ruined walls and fragments of broken columns, 
 with some extensive subterranean vaults which demonstrate the 
 solidity of its foundations, are all that now remains of its once 
 celebrated temple. Among the relics of the city are the theatre, 
 the scene of the tumult recorded in Acts xix. 29, which occupied ihe 
 side of a mountain, Ihe seats rising one above another, and the whole 
 being open to the sky, the stadium, the gymnasium, the fragment of 
 a Corinthian temple, and numerous other public buildings : its 
 modern representative is a poor village called Aia-soluk, which 
 contains only a few cottages. Smyrna, which from very ancient 
 times was a city of importance, is the only city in this region which 
 can be regarded as in any way retaining its former prosperity : it 
 is now one of the most important commercial cities of the Turkish 
 Empire, containing a population which is estimated at about 120,000. 
 
 Its interior presents the usual characteristics of Turkish cities, 
 narrow and ill-paved streets, and gloomy walls, which disappoint 
 the expectations raised by a distant view : lately, however, its 
 buildings have been much improved in this respect, the houses of 
 painted wood being supplanted by erections of stone. Pergamos, 
 which once contained a library consisting of 200,000 volumes, is 
 still, under the name of Bergamo, a flourishing town, with about 
 14,000 inhabitants. Thyatira, although inhabited, is now a poor 
 town, with scarcely any remains of its ancient importance. Many 
 of its houses are built of mud ; its streets are narrow and dirty, and 
 
 its whole appearance indicates poverty and degradation ; it bears the 
 modern name of Ak-hissar. The miserable village of Sart preserves 
 the name of Sardis, once the capital of the Lydian empire, and one 
 of the most splendid and opulent cities of the east. Its ruins, 
 which are scattered over a verdant plain, are described as greatly 
 gone to decay, and as filling the mind of the beholder with a sensa- 
 tion of extreme desolation. Philadelphia, which exists as a town 
 under the name of Allah-shehr (the city of God), contains few 
 remains of antiquity, a circumstance partly attributable to the 
 numerous earthquakes to which the region in which it is situated is 
 liable. It contained in 1820 five churches, besides twenty others 
 which were not then in use : the number of houses was estimated at 
 3000, of which 258 were Greek, the rest Turkish. None of the 
 seven churches have sustained so complete an overthrow, or present 
 now so entire a desolation, as Laodicea, which from an inconsiderable 
 place rose about the Christian era to the rank of one of the largest 
 towns in Phrygia. It has repeatedly suffered from earthquakes. 
 Among its ruins, which are entirely without inhabitants, are the 
 usual public buildings of ancient cities, and the whole surface within 
 the line of the city wall is strewed with pedestals and fragments : 
 its site is now called Eski-hissar. For a more complete account 
 of these cities we may refer to the notes to the Pictorial Bible as 
 well as to the works of Pococke, Chandler, Fisk, Arundell, and other 
 travellers. 
 
 No. XIII. 
 
 Modern Palestine. 
 
 Syria remained a province of the eastern portion of the Roman 
 Empire until its conquest between the years 633 and 638, a.d., by 
 the followers of Mohammed, Jerusalem being delivered up to the 
 second of his suscessors, the Khalif Omar, in person, in 637, and 
 Aleppo being taken the following year. From this period Pales- 
 tine was subject to the Saracens until the establishment by the 
 Crusaders of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, of which city they 
 became the masters in 1099; this kingdom was destroyed by Saladin 
 (1187), and the Crusaders finally expelled in 1291, from which 
 time Syria continued subject to the sovereigns of Egypt until the 
 conquest of both countries by Selim I., in 1517, when they were 
 absorbed into the Turkish empire. Although frequently possessed 
 by the rebellious subjects of the Porte, Syria has ever since remained 
 in nominal subjection to the Turkish authority, except during the 
 few years in which it was held by Mohammed Ali, the Pasha of 
 Egypt, who was, in 1841, constrained, through European inter- 
 ference, to restore it to the Porte. 
 
 It may be interesting to quote, from an Arabian historian of the 
 fifteenth century, an account of one of the divisions of Syria known 
 to the Moslems, as it appears to present some accordance both with 
 the ancient and the more modern divisions of that country. “ The 
 first town in Syria is Bayas (the ancient Bala), and the last Al- 
 Arish. Syria is divided into five provinces or sections : — First, 
 
 Palestine; its first frontier town on the Egyptian road is 
 
 Rafah, or Al-Arish, next to this Gaza, then Ramula, or Ramlat 
 Phalistin (Rama). Of great cities in Palestine are Elia ( Jerusa- 
 lem ), Ascalon, the city of Abraham (Hebron), and Sebaste, and 
 Neapolis (Shechem). — Secondly, Huran, whose remarkable places 
 are the great Tiberias and its lakes. — Thirdly, Al-Ghut (the irri- 
 gated land), wherein are traces of many sacred events. Its chief 
 city is Damascus. — Fourthly, Emesa ; one of its chief dependencies 
 is the city of Salamit (Salamiah ?). — Fifth, Kinnarin (from Ki- 
 nesrin, or old Aleppo?) whose chief city is Aleppo: its depen- 
 dencies are Samwil and Antioch. Each of these provinces is again 
 divided and subdivided into five prefectures and sub-prefectures.” * 
 More recently Syria has been politically divided into Pashaliks, the 
 greater part of Palestine being comprehended within the Pashalik 
 of Damascus, as exhibited in the present Map : the country extend- 
 ing from Gaza to Jaffa sometimes constituted a separate division, 
 under the name of the Pashalik of Gaza. 
 
 We avail ourselves of this opportunity to add a few observations 
 upon the Valley of the Jordan and its lakes to the brief notices of 
 the physical geography of the country which have already been 
 supplied, confining ourselves to those circumstances which apply 
 equally to its ancient and present condition. The commencing por 
 tion of this valley is narrow, but widens as it approaches the Bahr 
 el Hule into a fertile plain; the dimensions of this lake vary con- 
 siderably with the season of the year, thejiorthern part of it being 
 dried up in summer, and the rest becoming a mere marsh, — its 
 waters are muddy and unwholesome ; the dimensions assigned to 
 
 * Act* xxxvii. 27. Note. 
 
 t Ibid, xxxviii. 1 Note. 
 
 4 C 
 
 * ‘ History of the Temple of Jerusalem.’ Translated from the Arabic of Jalal- 
 addin Al-Siuti, by the Rev. J. Reynolds, London, 183G, p. 394. 
 
506 
 
 COMPENDIUM OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 it in the Map are an average deduction from the many statements on 
 this subject. From thence to the Lake of Tiberias the river flows 
 in a narrow valley, which is continued round each side of that lake. 
 A late traveller denies the existence of a small lake which is 
 placed, on the authority of Dr. Richardson, between the Bahr el 
 Hule and the Lake of Tiberias. The last-mentioned lake, variously 
 called in the New Testament “the Lake of Gennesaret” (Luke 
 v. 1), “the Sea of Tiberias” (John xxi. I), and “the Sea of Ga- 
 lilee” (John vi. 1), has long been remarkable for the sweetness and 
 softness of its water,* which is described by modem travellers as 
 being as clear as crystal, and sweet, cool, and refreshing to the taste. 
 Like all bodies of water surrounded by mountains, this lake is liable 
 to whirlwinds, squalls, and sudden gusts, which are, however, of 
 short duration ; there is a current through its breadth, even to the 
 shore, and the Jordan is distinguishable in its passage through it 
 by the smoothness of the water in that part. That portion of the 
 valley of the Jordan which extends from the Lake of Tiberias to 
 the Dead Sea, is about five miles broad in its northern part, but 
 widens as it advances southward, forming, on the west, the valley 
 of Jericho. The great depression of this portion of it below the 
 level of the country, to the westward, has already been noticed (p. 
 50C), and that it is similarly circumstanced with reference to that 
 on the east, is evident from the fact, that Jeraish, which is not more 
 than thirty miles from the Jordan, is 2000 feet above the level of 
 the Mediterranean^ The ascent of the elevations which bound the 
 valley is therefore much steeper than the descent on the opposite 
 side, so that they are rather cliffs than mountains ; and from this 
 great depression results the extreme heat by which it is charac- 
 terised. The river itself flows in a lower valley, about three-quar- 
 ters of a mile broad, which is about forty feet below the general 
 level of the plain, to which its appearance presents a striking con- 
 trast ; this lower part being covered with trees and luxuriant herb- 
 
 * Josephus, 1 Wars,’ b. iii. c. 10. 
 f 1 Journal of Royal Geog. Soc,’ vol. vii. p. 456. 
 
 age, while the plain above it is in general a parched desert. The 
 soil of the whole plain is sandy, and is not naturally fertile. The 
 banks of the river are fourteen or fifteen feet high when at its lowest 
 ebb : its width varies considerably with the season of the year, 
 from thirty to one hundred yards ; when swollen by the winter rains 
 it is a deep and rapid stream. The term “Dead Sea,” given to the 
 lake into which the Jordan flows, is peculiarly applicable to it, from 
 the extreme appearance of desolation presented by the country 
 around, and the general absence of animal and vegetable life. Its 
 waters are intensely salt, containing, according to the analysis made 
 by Dr. Marcet, nearly one-fourth of their weight in salts ; as they 
 are much heavier than sea- water, they possess also greater buoyancy. 
 Most of the exaggerated statements about this lake, such as the 
 “apples of Sodom,” beautiful to the sight, but containing only 
 dust and ashes, — the doleful sounds and sufl’ocating vapours issuing 
 from it, — the sometimes visible remains of the cities submerged in 
 it, — are now disproved ; and although we have no evidence that 
 its waters contain any living creatures, yet birds have frequently 
 been seen to fly across them and skim their surface without sus- 
 taining any harm. Soundings which have lately been taken show 
 the Dead Sea to have, in some places, a depth of more than 300 
 fathoms.* The water is perfectly clear and transparent, while that 
 of the Jordan, which is nearly fresh, is muddy, and discolours the 
 lake with its yellow current. It is not ascertained whether the 
 asphaltum or bitumen which is found floating on the lake, as well 
 as on its western shore, rises from the bottom of its bed, or origi- 
 nates in the rocks on its eastern border. The plain which extends 
 to the south of the Dead Sea possesses a saline and sandy surface, 
 and is terminated by a chain of cliffs of sandstone from sixty to 
 seventy feet high : there is reason to believe it was formerly covered 
 by the waters of the lake. It is not necessary to describe more 
 minutely the characteristics of this remarkable basin, as a full 
 account of it has been given in pp. 480 — 486 of this work. 
 
 * ‘Journal of Royal Geog. Soc.,’ vol. vii. p. 456. 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 507 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 The following Index comprises the names of all those places men- 
 tioned in the Bible of which the positions can be determined with 
 sufficient accuracy to warrant their delineation upon a Map ; those 
 names, therefore, which it does not contain are to be understood as 
 intentionally omitted, from the impossibility, in the present state of 
 our knowledge, of ascertaining the situation of the localities to 
 which they were applied. As it has appeared desirable, in such a 
 work as the present, to place before the eye of the student the evi- 
 dence which geography affords of the connexion of one period of 
 history with that by which it was preceded, the Classical and the 
 Modern are added to the Scriptural names in those cases in which 
 the narratives of historians or travellers render it practicable to do 
 so. To preserve a distinction between these denominations, the 
 classical names are enclosed within a parenthesis, thus (Heliopolis), 
 and the modern are in italic characters, thus, Ba'lbeh. 
 
 In cases where the names of districts or extensive tracts of coun- 
 try occur, the Latitude and Longitude given is that of the principal 
 town which they contained; in the names of tribes, and a few 
 others which do not possess a distinguishing feature of this kind, 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 
 o f 
 
 ° / 
 
 
 Abaca, River 
 
 (33.36 
 
 (33.26 
 
 35.59) 
 
 35.57) 
 
 II. 
 
 Abarim, Mountains of. .... . 
 
 31.52 
 
 35.55 
 
 V. 
 
 Abdon, or Hebron 
 
 33.18 
 
 35.26 
 
 IV. 
 
 Abel, Abel-beth-maachab, or Abel-maim 
 
 33.26 
 
 35.39 
 
 VII. 
 
 Abel-meholah 
 
 32.25 
 
 35.33 
 
 VII. 
 
 Abel-mizraim 
 
 31.53 
 
 35.40 
 
 II. 
 
 Abel-shittim, or Shittim 
 
 32. 0 
 
 35.47 
 
 II. 
 
 Abila, or Abel 
 
 33.38 
 
 36.12 
 
 X. 
 
 Abilene 
 
 33.38 
 
 36.12 
 
 X. 
 
 Accad (Sittace), Tel Nimrud . . 
 
 33.28 
 
 44.12 
 
 I. 
 
 Accho, or Ptolemais, Akka .... 
 
 32.56 
 
 35. 4 
 
 IV. 
 
 Achaia 
 
 37.58 
 
 23.43 
 
 XII. 
 
 Achmetha (Ecbatana), Hamadan 
 
 34.46 
 
 48.33 
 
 IX. 
 
 Acbshaph, or Achzib, Zib .... 
 
 33. 2 
 
 35. 6 
 
 IV. 
 
 Adadah 
 
 31.14 
 
 35.14 
 
 V. 
 
 Adar, or Hazar-addar 
 
 Adramyttium, Adramyti 
 
 30.45 
 
 34.54 
 
 IV. 
 
 39.34 
 
 26-58 
 
 XII. 
 
 Adria, Sea of 
 
 36. 0 
 
 18. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 Adullam 
 
 31.38 
 
 34. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 Adummira . 
 
 31 .47 
 
 35.29 
 
 V. 
 
 TEnon 
 
 32.29 
 
 35.43 
 
 X. 
 
 Ahlab 
 
 33.21 
 
 35.17 
 
 II. 
 
 Ai, Aiath, or Hai 
 
 32. 0 
 
 35.24 
 
 VII. 
 
 Aijalon, or Ajalon, Ydlon .... 
 
 31.54 
 
 35. 1 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ain, or Asban 
 
 Akrabbim, Ascent of, or Maaleh-acrab- 
 
 31.34 
 
 34.51 
 
 IV. 
 
 bim 
 
 31. 5 
 
 35.28 
 
 V. 
 
 Alemeth, or Almon 
 
 31.51 
 
 35.29 
 
 V. 
 
 Alexandria 
 
 31.12 
 
 29.55 
 
 XII. 
 
 Almon, or Alemeth 
 
 Almon-diblathaim, Beth-diblathaim, or 
 
 31.51 
 
 35.29 
 
 V. 
 
 Diblath 
 
 31.41 
 
 36. 4 
 
 VII. 
 
 Aloth, Aieleh . • 
 
 33.12 
 
 35.20 
 
 VII. 
 
 Alush 
 
 29. 3 
 
 33.23 
 
 III. 
 
 Amalekites 
 
 (28.50 
 
 (30.50 
 
 33.40) 
 
 34.50/ 
 
 III. 
 
 Ammonites. . . 
 
 32. 3 
 
 36.10 
 
 IV. 
 
 Amorites 
 
 (31.30 
 
 (32.53 
 
 35.251 
 36. 7/ 
 
 II. III. 
 
 Amphipolis, Emboli 
 
 40.52 
 
 23.52 
 
 XII. 
 
 Anathoth 
 
 31.48 
 
 35.19 
 
 V. 
 
 Anem, or En-ganmin 
 
 32.31 
 
 35.25 
 
 VII. 
 
 Aner .......... 
 
 32.31 
 
 35. 5 
 
 VII. 
 
 Anim . . 
 
 31.21 
 
 35.13 
 
 V. 
 
 Antioch (in Pisidia), Yalobdch . . . 
 
 38.18 
 
 31.22 
 
 XII. 
 
 Antipatris 
 
 32.12 
 
 34.58 
 
 X. 
 
 Antonia, Castle of 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Aphek, or Apbik ....... 
 
 33.28 
 
 35 35 
 
 IV. 
 
 Aphek, or Aphekah 
 
 31.44 
 
 35. 9 
 
 V. 
 
 Aphek 
 
 32.37 
 
 35.23 
 
 IV. 
 
 Aphrah 
 
 31.58 
 
 35.28 
 
 VII. 
 
 Apollonias, Arsuf 
 
 32.17 
 
 34.50 
 
 X. 
 
 Appii Furum 
 
 41.29 
 
 13. 2 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ar, Rabbath-moab, or Kirhareseth, Rabba 
 
 31.23 
 
 35.57 
 
 IV. 
 
 Arabah, or Beth-araba. 
 
 31.50 
 
 35 35 
 
 V. 
 
 Arad, or Bered 
 
 Aram-nabaraim, or Padanaram (Mesopo- 
 
 31. 8 
 
 35.11 
 
 IV. 
 
 tamia) 
 
 37. 5 
 
 38.55 
 
 I. 
 
 Aram (Syria) 
 
 33.27 
 
 36.25 
 
 I. 
 
 Ararat, or Armenia 
 
 39.20 
 
 45.20 
 
 I. 
 
 Ararat, Mountains of, Agridagh . . . 
 
 39.42 
 
 44.18 
 
 I. IX. 
 
 Argob 
 
 33. 8 
 
 36. 0 
 
 IV. 
 
 the centre of the territory to which the name is supposed to have 
 been applied has been adopted as the point most convenient for 
 reference. 
 
 The extent of Seas, Lakes, and ranges of Mountains, is shown by 
 the insertion of the Latitude and Longitude of their extreme north 
 and south, and east and west points ; in the names of Rivers, the 
 Latitude and Longitude of their sources is in all cases given. 
 Where different positions have been assigned to a place by various 
 Biblical critics, the situation of each of the spots thus distinguished 
 is in most cases pointed out by the Index. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe that the Latitude is in every 
 case north of the equator : the Longitude, which is calculated from 
 the meridian of Greenwich, is east, with one or two exceptions, 
 which are noticed as they occur. 
 
 It may be remarked, in conclusion, that the figures of reference 
 in the last column relate to the Explanatory Notice appended to 
 each Map, as well as to the Map itself, and to these explanations 
 the student is referred for such information as the Maps are not 
 calculated to convey. 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 Arimathsea, or Ramah, Ramleh . 
 
 o / 
 
 31.59 
 
 o * 
 
 34.54 
 
 X. 
 
 Arnon, R., Wadi Modjeb. .... 
 
 31.12 
 
 36.23 
 
 III. 
 
 Aroer, Agra 
 
 32. 4 
 
 36. 0 
 
 VII. 
 
 Aroer, or Ara’ yr 
 
 31.32 
 
 36. 5 
 
 VII. 
 
 Aroer, or Arouel 
 
 31.11 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 Arumah 
 
 32.12 
 
 36.21 
 
 VII. 
 
 Arkites 
 
 34.36 
 
 35.58 
 
 I. 
 
 Askalon, Ashkelon, or Askelon, Ascal’an 
 
 31.41 
 
 34.33 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ashan 
 
 31.40 
 
 35. 3 
 
 V. 
 
 Asban, or Ain 
 
 31.34 
 
 34.51 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ashdod (Azotus), Esdud 
 
 31.47 
 
 34.42 
 
 V. 
 
 Ashdoth-pisgah 
 
 Astiteroth-karnaim, Ashteroth, or Beesh- 
 
 31.51 
 
 35.54 
 
 V. 
 
 terah, Mezareib 
 
 Asia (proper) 
 
 32.52 
 
 36.18 
 
 II. 
 
 38.30 
 
 27.57 
 
 XII. 
 
 Asshur, or Assyria . ...... 
 
 36.23 
 
 43. 0 
 
 I. 
 
 Assos, Beriam 
 
 39.30 
 
 26.18 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ataroth-addar, or Ataroth .... 
 
 31.56 
 
 35. 9 
 
 IV. 
 
 Athens 
 
 37.58 
 
 23.43 
 
 XII. 
 
 Atroth-shophan, or Zapbon .... 
 
 32.26 
 
 35.46 
 
 IV. 
 
 Attalia 
 
 
 30.45 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ava, or Ivah, Hawaz 
 
 31 .20 
 
 48.52 
 
 IX. 
 
 Aven, On, or Beth-shemesh .... 
 
 30.10 
 
 31.23 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Aven, Plain of 
 
 34. 6 
 
 36.10 
 
 VII. 
 
 Avims, Avites, or Hivites ..... 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. 
 
 Azekah 
 
 31.43 
 
 35. 5 
 
 V. 
 
 Azem 
 
 31.47 
 
 34.31 
 
 IV. 
 
 Azmaveth, or Beth-azmaveth .... 
 
 31.47 
 
 35.13 
 
 VII. 
 
 Azmon 
 
 31.47 
 
 34.31 
 
 IV. 
 
 Azzah, or Gaza 
 
 31.27 
 
 34.27 
 
 II. 
 
 Baalath (Heliopolis), Ba’lbek . . . 
 
 34. 1 
 
 36.11 
 
 VII. 
 
 Baal-hermon, Mount Hermon, or Senir . 
 
 33.32 
 
 35.58 
 
 VII. 
 
 Baalah, or Kirjath-jearim .... 
 
 31.49 
 
 35. 8 
 
 IV. 
 
 Baal-meon, or Beth-meon 
 
 31.52 
 
 36. 9 
 
 IV 
 
 Baal-perizim 
 
 31.45 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Baal-slialisha 
 
 32.13 
 
 35. 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 Babel, or Babylon, Birs-Nimrud . 
 Babylon, — Birs - Nimrud, Mujelibeh, 
 
 32.22 
 
 44.26 
 
 I. IX. 
 
 Amran, Kasr, Sfc 
 
 32.27 
 
 44.29 
 
 IX. 
 
 Babylonia 
 
 32.27 
 
 44.29 
 
 IX. 
 
 Bahurim 
 
 31.47 
 
 35.21 
 
 V. 
 
 Bashan 
 
 32.57 
 
 36. 7 
 
 IV. 
 
 Beer, or Beeroth, Bir 
 
 31.54 
 
 35.19 
 
 V. 
 
 Beer-sheba, or Sheba, Bires-seba . 
 
 31.13 
 
 34.53 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Beesiiterah, or Ashtaroth 
 
 32.52 
 
 36.18 
 
 IV. 
 
 Bela, or Zoar 
 
 31.11 
 
 35.36 
 
 II. 
 
 Bene-barak 
 
 Beon, Baal-meon, or Beth-baal-meon, 
 
 31.57 
 
 34.46 
 
 V. 
 
 Mydn . 
 
 31.52 
 
 36. 9 
 
 IV. 
 
 Berachab, Valley of 
 
 31 .34 
 
 35.30 
 
 V. 
 
 Berea 
 
 40.35 
 
 22.16 
 
 XII. 
 
 Bered, or Arad 
 
 31. 8 
 
 35.11 
 
 It. 
 
 Berothai, or Chun 
 
 34. 1 
 
 36.11 
 
 VI. 
 
 Besor, Brook, Wadi Gaza .... 
 
 31.32 
 
 34 . 56 
 
 V. 
 
 Betah, or Tibhatb 
 
 34.37 
 
 37. 8 
 
 VI. 
 
 Bethany 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.19 
 
 XI. 
 
 Bethar 
 
 32.22 
 
 34.55 
 
 VII. 
 
 Beth-arabah, or Arabah 
 
 31.50 
 
 35.35 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-aven 
 
 31.59 
 
 35.22 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-barah 
 
 32. 2 
 
 35.38 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-car 
 
 31.47 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-diblathaim 
 
 31.41 
 
 36. 4 
 
 11 . 
 
 Beth-el or Luz, Beit-in . . . . . 
 
 31.58 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. VII. 
 
508 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 Bethesda, Pool of 
 
 o / 
 
 31.46 
 
 o / 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Elatli, or Eloth (TElana), ’Akabah . . 
 
 0 / 
 29.30 
 
 0 f 
 
 35. 7 
 
 III. VI. 
 
 
 31.58 
 
 35.20 
 
 V. 
 
 El-Bethel, or Bethel 
 
 31.59 
 
 35.21 
 
 II. 
 
 Beth-haran (Livias) 
 
 31.57 
 
 35.48 
 
 IV. 
 
 Elealeh, El A’al 
 
 31.55 
 
 36. 8 
 
 IV. 
 
 Beth-hoglah ........ 
 
 31.49 
 
 35.39 
 
 V. 
 
 Elim, Wadi Gharendel 
 
 29.28 
 
 33. 8 
 
 III. 
 
 Betli-haccerem, Mountain of the Franks 
 
 31.38 
 
 35.20 
 
 V. 
 
 Elkosh 
 
 33. 4 
 
 35.12 
 
 vn. 
 
 Beth-1, oron, Upper. . . . ) „ _ . 
 
 Beth-horon, Nether . . . j UT 
 
 31.56 
 
 35.10 
 
 V. 
 
 Elon, or Elon-beth-hanan 
 
 El-paran 
 
 31.56 
 
 30.20 
 
 35. 0 
 34-30 
 
 V. 
 
 11 . 
 
 Beth-jesimoth, or Jeshimon .... 
 
 31.54 
 
 35.44 
 
 III. 
 
 Eltekeh, Tuhrair 
 
 31.46 
 
 34.39 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-lehem, Beth-lehem-Ephratah, or 
 
 
 
 
 Emims 
 
 31.51 
 
 36- 2 
 
 II. 
 
 Ephrath, Beit-el-lahm 
 
 31.41 
 
 35.17 
 
 V. 
 
 Emmaus, Gebeby ....... 
 
 31.51 
 
 35-12 
 
 X. 
 
 Beth-lehem 
 
 32.56 
 
 35.24 
 
 IV. 
 
 Endor, near Danuny 
 
 32.42 
 
 35.31 
 
 VII. 
 
 Beth-maachah 
 
 33.26 
 
 35.56 
 
 VII. 
 
 Engannim, Jenin 
 
 32.31 
 
 35.25 
 
 VII. 
 
 Beth-meon, Myiln 
 
 31.52 
 
 36. 9 
 
 IV. 
 
 Engedi, ur Hazezon-tamar, ’Ain Jiddi . 
 En-mishpat, or Kadesh 
 
 31.18 
 
 35.25 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-nimrah, or Nimrah, Nymrein . 
 
 32. 6 
 
 35.44 
 
 IV. 
 
 30.41 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. 
 
 Beth-peor 
 
 31.48 
 
 35.59 
 
 V. 
 
 En rogel, or Pool of Siloam .... 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 Beth-phage 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.19 
 
 XI. 
 
 En-shemesh, Waters of 
 
 31.47 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 Beth-rehob, or Rehob, Hereibe . . 
 
 33.28 
 
 35.48 
 
 VII. 
 
 En-tappuah, or Tappuah 
 
 32.19 
 
 35.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 Beth-saida, Be'it-sida 
 
 32.55 
 
 35.41 
 
 X. 
 
 Ephes-dammim, or Pas-dammim . . 
 
 31.43 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 Beth-saida (Julias) ...... 
 
 33. 4 
 
 35.49 
 
 X. 
 
 Ephesus, Aia-soluk 
 
 37.55 
 
 27.20 
 
 XII. 
 
 Beth-shan, or Beth-shean (Scythopolis), 
 
 
 
 
 Ephraim 
 
 32. 1 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Bisun 
 
 32.37 
 
 35.30 
 
 VII. 
 
 Ephraim, or Ephrain 
 
 31.50 
 
 35.24 
 
 X. 
 
 Beth-shemesh 
 
 31.46 
 
 35. 2 
 
 V. 
 
 Ephraim, Mount 
 
 32.15 
 
 35.15 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ileth-sheinesh, On, or Aven (Heliopolis), 
 
 
 
 
 Ephraim, Wood of ..... . 
 
 32.28 
 
 35.58 
 
 VII. 
 
 Matarieh 
 
 30.10 
 
 31.23 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Ephrath, or Beth-lehem ..... 
 
 31.41 
 
 35.17 
 
 It. 
 
 Beth-tappuah . 
 
 31.34 
 
 35. 7 
 
 V. 
 
 Erech, Irak or Irka 
 
 31.22 
 
 45.50 
 
 I. 
 
 Beth-zur 
 
 31 .36 
 
 35.15 
 
 V. 
 
 Eshcol, Brook or V T alley of ... 
 
 31.41 
 
 35.14 
 
 V. 
 
 Bezek 
 
 32.21 
 
 35.28 
 
 IV. 
 
 Eshtaol 
 
 31.48 
 
 35. 1 
 
 IV. 
 
 Bezek 
 
 31.37 
 
 35.12 
 
 V. 
 
 Eshtemoa, Eshtemoah, or Eshtemoh . 
 
 31.22 
 
 35.10 
 
 V. 
 
 Bezer in the Wilderness 
 
 31.39 
 
 36.17 
 
 IV. 
 
 Etam, or Ether 
 
 31.27 
 
 34.46 
 
 IV. 
 
 Bileam, or Ibleam 
 
 32.35 
 
 35.18 
 
 VII. 
 
 Etham, Ajeroud 
 
 30. 6 
 
 32.33 
 
 in. 
 
 Bithron. ......... 
 
 32.34 
 
 35.54 
 
 VII. 
 
 Etham, or Shur, Wilderness of, El Atha 
 
 29.45 
 
 32.50 
 
 in. 
 
 Bithynia 
 
 40.48 
 
 29.54 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ether, or Etam ....... 
 
 31.27 
 
 34.46 
 
 IV. 
 
 
 32. 9 
 
 35.22 
 
 V. 
 
 Ethiopia, or Cush (Gen. ii. 13) . . , 
 
 31. 0 
 
 47. 0 
 
 X. 
 
 Boscath, or Bozcath 
 
 Bozrah (of Edom), Boszra .... 
 
 31.35 
 
 32.34 
 
 35. 2 
 36.40 
 
 V. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Euphrates, River, Frat 
 
 (40. 7 
 (39.10 
 
 41.22) 
 
 43.58/ 
 
 I. 
 
 Bozrah (of Moab) 
 
 31.39 
 
 36.17 
 
 VII. 
 
 Ezion-gaber, or Ezion-geber .... 
 
 29.28 
 
 35. 7 
 
 III. VI. 
 
 Cabul 
 
 33. 8 
 
 35.23 
 
 IV. 
 
 Fair Havens (Kalos-Limenas) 
 
 34.57 
 
 24.50 
 
 xn. 
 
 Cabul, Land of 
 
 33.10 
 
 35.16 
 
 VII. 
 
 Gaasb, Brooks of 
 
 32. 4 
 
 35.11 
 
 VII. 
 
 Caesarea, Kaisariyeh 
 
 32.30 
 
 34.52 
 
 X. 
 
 Gaash, Hill of 
 
 32. 6 
 
 35. 8 
 
 V. 
 
 Caesarea Philippi, Baneas .... 
 
 33.22 
 
 35.42 
 
 X. 
 
 Gaba, or Geba 
 
 31.53 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Calah . 
 
 (36. 0 
 
 39. 0) 
 
 I. 
 
 Gadarenes (Gadara), Omkeis . . . 
 
 32.45 
 
 35.59 
 
 X. 
 
 (36. 2 
 
 43.30/ 
 
 Galatia 
 
 39.56 
 
 32.50 
 
 XII. 
 
 Calneh, or Canneh (Ctesiphou), Tauk-i- 
 
 
 
 
 Galeed, Jegar-sahadutha, or Mizpah . 
 
 32.36 
 
 36.16 
 
 II. 
 
 kesrah 
 
 33. 7 
 
 44.35 
 
 I. IX. 
 
 Galilee 
 
 32.52 
 
 35.21 
 
 X. 
 
 Calno 
 
 33. 7 
 
 44.35 
 
 IX. 
 
 Galilee of the Gentiles, or Upper Galilee 
 
 33.14 
 
 35.31 
 
 X. 
 
 Camon 
 
 Cana, Kana 
 
 32.53 
 
 32.52 
 
 36. 5 
 35.29 
 
 VII. 
 
 X. 
 
 Galilee, Sea of, &c 
 
 (32.49 
 (33. 3 
 
 35.42) 
 
 35.53/ 
 
 X. 
 
 Canaan ites 
 
 32.45 
 
 35.20 
 
 II- 
 
 Gareb, Hill 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Canneh, or Calneh (Ctesiphon) . . . 
 
 33. 7 
 
 44.35 
 
 IX. 
 
 Gath 
 
 31.45 
 
 34.53 
 
 V. 
 
 Capernaum, near ’ Ain- el-tin .... 
 
 33. 0 
 
 35.44 
 
 X. 
 
 Gath-hepher, or Gittah-hepher . 
 
 32.51 
 
 35.24 
 
 VII. 
 
 Caphtor 
 
 30.57 
 
 30.52 
 
 III. 
 
 Gath-rimmon . 
 
 32.28 
 
 35. 6 
 
 IV. 
 
 Cappadocia . 
 
 38.42 
 
 35.20 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gath-rimmon 
 
 31.52 
 
 34.50 
 
 V. 
 
 Carchemish (Circesium), Kerkisiyah 
 
 35.15 
 
 40.16 
 
 VI. 
 
 Gaza 
 
 31.27 
 
 34.27 
 
 II. 
 
 Carmel, Karmel 
 
 31.25 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Geba, or Gaba 
 
 Gel.al (Byblus), Jebail 
 
 31.53 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Carmel, Mount 
 
 32.53 
 
 34.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 34. 7 
 
 35.42 
 
 VII. 
 
 Cedron, or Kidron, Brook 
 
 31.47 
 
 35.18 
 
 V. XI. 
 
 Gederoth, or Gederothaim .... 
 
 31.45 
 
 35. 1 
 
 V. 
 
 Cenchrea, Kenkries 
 
 37.54 
 
 23. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gederoth, or Gedor 
 
 31.25 
 
 34.52 
 
 V. 
 
 Chaldea, or Chaldaea (proper) 
 
 30.51 
 
 46. 5 
 
 IX. 
 
 Geliloth 
 
 31.49 
 
 35.32 
 
 V. 
 
 Charran, or Haran, Harran .... 
 
 36.46 
 
 39.10 
 
 I. 
 
 Gennesaret, or Gennesareth, Lake of,( 
 
 (32.49 
 
 35.42) 
 
 X. 
 
 Chebar, River, Khabur 
 
 37.18 
 
 39.26 
 
 IX. 
 
 &c / 
 
 (33. 3 
 
 35.53/ 
 
 Chephirah 
 
 31.53 
 
 35.12 
 
 IV. 
 
 Gerar 
 
 31.20 
 
 34.41 
 
 II. 
 
 Cherith, Brook 
 
 32.35 
 
 35.52 
 
 VII. 
 
 Gergesenes (Gergesa) 
 
 32.48 
 
 35.53 
 
 X. 
 
 Chinnerith 
 
 32.59 
 
 35.43 
 
 IV. 
 
 Gerizim, Mount 
 
 Gesliur 
 
 32.15 
 
 35.20 
 
 IV. 
 
 Chinnereth, Sea of. — Sea of Galilee, Lake 
 
 (32.49 
 
 35.42) 
 
 
 33.15 
 
 35.55 
 
 IV. 
 
 of Gennesareth, or Sea of Tiberias, 
 
 < to 
 
 to > 
 
 IV. 
 
 Geshurites 
 
 33.15 
 
 35.55 
 
 rv. 
 
 Bahr el Tabarieh 
 
 (33. 3 
 
 35.53J 
 
 
 Gethsemane 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 Chios, Khio 
 
 38.20 
 
 26. 9 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gezer . 
 
 31.58 
 
 35. 8 
 
 V. 
 
 Chisloth-tabor, Eksal 
 
 32.45 
 
 35.28 
 
 IV. 
 
 Gibbethon 
 
 31.50 
 
 34.52 
 
 V. 
 
 Chor-ashan, or Ashan 
 
 (31.34 
 (31 .40 
 
 34.51) 
 35. 3 / 
 
 V. 
 
 Gibeah, or Gibeath 
 
 Gibeon, Jib 
 
 31.49 
 
 31.53 
 
 35.18 
 
 35.18 
 
 V. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Chorazin 
 
 33. 1 
 
 35.44 
 
 X. 
 
 Giblites 
 
 34. 7 
 
 35.42 
 
 IV. 
 
 Chun, or Berothai 
 
 34. 1 
 
 36.11 
 
 VI. 
 
 Gihon, Riv 
 
 39.47 
 
 41.20 
 
 I. 
 
 Cilicia 
 
 37. 0 
 
 34.53 
 
 xn. 
 
 Gihqn, Pool of 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Clauda, Isle of 
 
 34.50 
 
 24. 3 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gilboa, Mount, Jebel Jilbo .... 
 
 32.38 
 
 35.38 
 
 rv. 
 
 Cnidus 
 
 36.40 
 
 27.20 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gilead, Mount 
 
 32.30 
 
 36.18 
 
 II. 
 
 Colosse (Colossae), near Khonds . 
 
 37.51 
 
 29.33 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gilead, or Mizpeh, Land of ... 
 
 32.20 
 
 36. 3 
 
 IV. 
 
 Coos, or Cos, Isle of, Kos 
 
 36.52 
 
 27.15 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gilgal, near Riehah 
 
 31.56 
 
 35.35 
 
 v. 
 
 Corinth 
 
 37.56 
 
 22.52 
 
 XII. 
 
 Giloh 
 
 31.24 
 
 35.12 
 
 V. 
 
 Crete, Isle of, Candia 
 
 35 . 29 
 
 23.53 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gittah-hepher, or Gath-hepher . 
 
 32.51 
 
 35.24 
 
 VII. 
 
 Cush, or Cutha (Susiana), Khusistan . 
 
 31. 0 
 
 49. 0 
 
 IX. 
 
 Goath 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Cyprus 
 
 35.11 
 
 34. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 Gob 
 
 31.58 
 
 35. 8 
 
 V. 
 
 Cyrene, Grennah 
 
 32.50 
 
 21.49 
 
 XII. 
 
 Golan 
 
 33. 6 
 
 35.55 
 
 IV. 
 
 Damascus, El-Sham 
 
 33.27 
 
 36.25 
 
 II. 
 
 Goshen 
 
 31.20 
 
 35.11 
 
 V. 
 
 Dan, Dan-jaan, Laish, or Leshem, (Cse- 
 
 
 
 
 Goshen, or Rameses, Land of. . . . 
 
 30.30 
 
 32. 0 
 
 in. 
 
 sarea Philippi) 
 
 33.22 
 
 35.42 
 
 II. X. 
 
 Gozan, River, Kizil ’ Ozan .... 
 
 35.31 
 
 47.36 
 
 IX. 
 
 Debir, or Lo-debir 
 
 32.27 
 
 36.10 
 
 IV. 
 
 Greece 
 
 37.58 
 
 23.43 
 
 X1L 
 
 Debir, Kirjath-sanneh, or Kirjath-sepher. 
 
 31.26 
 
 35. 8 
 
 IV. 
 
 Habor, Abhar 
 
 36.22 
 
 49. 2 
 
 IX. 
 
 Decapolis (see Note on Map) .... 
 
 , . 
 
 
 X. 
 
 Hachilah. Hill of 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.36 
 
 V. 
 
 Derbe, Devli 
 
 37.18 
 
 33.51 
 
 XII. 
 
 Hadad-rimmon (Maximianopolis) . . 
 
 32.33 
 
 35.17 
 
 VII. 
 
 Diblath, or Almon-diblathaim 
 
 31.41 
 
 36. 4 
 
 VII. 
 
 Hadid (Adidah) 
 
 31.58 
 
 34.59 
 
 VII. 
 
 Dibon, Diban 
 
 31.36 
 
 36. 6 
 
 III. 
 
 Hai, Ai, or Aiath 
 
 32. 0 
 
 35.24 
 
 VII. 
 
 Dimnah 
 
 32.51 
 
 35.39 
 
 IV. 
 
 Halah, Holwan 
 
 34.31 
 
 46. 6 
 
 IX. 
 
 Dimon, or Dibon 
 
 31.36 
 
 36. 6 
 
 IV. 
 
 Halab, Chalcal 
 
 37.36 
 
 48.10 
 
 IX. 
 
 Dophkah 
 
 29. 8 
 
 33.17 
 
 III. 
 
 Halak, Mount 
 
 31. 6 
 
 35.13 
 
 IV. 
 
 Dor, Tortura ....... 
 
 32.38 
 
 34.54 
 
 IV. 
 
 Hamath (Epiphania), Hamah 
 
 35. 2 
 
 36.54 
 
 VI. 
 
 Dothan. 
 
 (33. 4 
 
 35.44) 
 
 II. 
 
 Hamathites 
 
 35. 2 
 
 36.54 
 
 I. 
 
 (32.29 
 
 35.27/ 
 
 Hamath-zobah 
 
 35. 2 
 
 36.54 
 
 VI. 
 
 East Sea, Salt Sea, or Sea of the Plain, 
 (Lacus Asphaltites), Bahr Lut 
 
 3) .10 
 
 { t0 
 (31.48 
 
 35.291 
 to > 
 35.50J 
 
 IV. 
 
 Hammath, Hammon, or Hammoth-dor . 
 Hanes, Tahapanes, Tahpanhes, or Teh- 
 aphnehes (Daphnae Pelusise), Safnas . 
 
 32.14 
 
 30.52 
 
 35.40 
 
 32.12 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Ebal, Mount ....... 
 
 32.18 
 
 35.21 
 
 IV. 
 
 Hara, Derrarn 
 
 37. 0 
 
 48.45 
 
 IX. 
 
 Ebenezer 
 
 31.47 
 
 35. 6 
 
 V. 
 
 Haran, or Charran ( Harran) .... 
 
 36.46 
 
 39.10 
 
 I. 
 
 Edar, Tower of 
 
 31.36 
 
 35.16 
 
 II. 
 
 Harosheth 
 
 33.11 
 
 35.42 
 
 IV. 
 
 Edom, Land of 
 
 30.20 
 
 35.37 
 
 III. 
 
 Hauran (Auranitis), Hauran .... 
 
 33. 2 
 
 36.34 
 
 vn. 
 
 Kdrei, El Draa 
 
 32.55 
 
 36.20 
 
 IV. 
 
 Havilah (of Gen. x. 7), according to Cal- 
 
 
 
 
 Bglon 
 
 31.36 
 
 35. 4 
 
 IV. 
 
 met and others 
 
 36.10 
 
 42.30 
 
 1 . 
 
 Egypt, River of, or Sihor, Wadi Arish . 
 
 30.38 
 
 34.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ditto, according to Huet and others . 
 
 29.40 
 
 46.30 
 
 X. 
 
 Rkron, ’ Ahir . 
 
 31.51 
 
 34.46 
 
 V. 
 
 Havilah (of 1 Sam. xv. 7) .... 
 
 31. 0 
 
 34.25 
 
 V. 
 
 Klah, Valley of ...... 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.11 
 
 V. 
 
 Havolh-jair ........ 
 
 32.55 
 
 36. 4 
 
 VII. 
 
 Elam (Elymais) ....... 
 
 31.56 
 
 48.26 
 
 I. 
 
 Hazar-addar, or Adar ...... 
 
 30.45 
 
 34.54 
 
 IV. 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 509 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Hazar-sbual *..•••• 
 
 Hazezon-tamar, or Engedi, Ain Jiddi . 
 
 Hazor, Azur 
 
 Hebron, Kirjath-arba, or Mamre, El 
 
 Khalil 
 
 Hebron, or Abdon 
 
 Helbon (Chalybou or Beroea), Aleppo or 
 
 Haleb 
 
 Helkath 
 
 Hepher 
 
 Hermon, Mount ....... 
 
 Hennon. Mount - , Jebel Es-sheihh • . • 
 
 Heshbon, Heshban 
 
 Hiddekel, R., Tigris 
 
 Hierapolis 
 
 Hilen, or Holon . 
 
 Hintiom, valley of 
 
 Hittites 
 
 Hivites, or Avims 
 
 Hobah, or Zobab 
 
 Holon. or Hilen 
 
 Hor, Mount 
 
 Horeb 
 
 Horites 
 
 Hormah, or Zephath 
 
 Hosah . 
 
 Hukkok 
 
 Ibleam, or Bileam 
 
 Iconium, Koniyeli • ...... 
 
 Idumea 
 
 Ijon 
 
 India 
 
 Ir-sbemesh 
 
 Ishmaelites 
 
 Ish-tob 
 
 Ituraea 
 
 Iva, or Ava (Aginis), Hawdz. . 
 
 Jaazer, or Jazer, Ain Hazier 
 
 Jabbok, R., Wadi Zerha 
 
 Jabesh-gilead 
 
 Jabueh, or Jamnia, Yebna .... 
 
 Jagur 
 
 Jahaz, Jahaza, or Jabzah 
 
 Jamnia, or Jabueh 
 
 Janoah, or Janohah 
 
 Japhia (Japlia), Jaffa 
 
 Japlio, or Joppa, Jaffa 
 
 Jarmuth 
 
 Jarmuth, Ramoth, or Remeth 
 
 Jattir 
 
 Jazer, or Jaazer 
 
 Jazer, Land of 
 
 Jebusi, or Jerusalem 
 
 Jebusites 
 
 Jegar sahadutha 
 
 Jebosbaphat, Valley of 
 
 Jerahmeelites 
 
 Jericho 
 
 Jeruel, Wilderness of 
 
 Jerusalem (Hierosolyma, Cadytis), El 
 
 Kods 
 
 Jeshanah 
 
 Jeshimon, or Beth-jesimoth .... 
 
 Jezreel (Esdraelon) 
 
 Jezreel, Valley of (Plain of Esdraelon), 
 
 Marj Ibn ’ Amer 
 
 Jogbehah . 
 
 Jokmeam, or Kihzaim 
 
 Jokneam of Carmel 
 
 Joktheel, or Selah (Petra), Wadi Movsa 
 
 Joppa, nr Japlio 
 
 Jordan, Riv., Sheriat-el-Kebir, SfC. . 
 Jotbatiiah ......... 
 
 Judaea 
 
 Judah, Mountains of 
 
 Judea, Wilderness of 
 
 Juttah, Yuttah 
 
 Kabzeel 
 
 Kadesh-bamea, Kadesh or Rithmah, Ain 
 
 el Hafireh 
 
 Kanah, Riv., Nahr-el-Kasab 
 
 Karkor (Coraca 1) 
 
 Kartan, or Kirjathaim 
 
 Kedar 
 
 Kedernoth 
 
 Kedesh, or Kedesh-Naphtali .... 
 
 Keilah 
 
 Kenatb, or Nobah (Canneytra), Kanatha 
 
 Kenites 
 
 Kibzaim 
 
 Kidron, or Cedron, Brook 
 
 Kir (Assyria proper) ...... 
 
 Kir-haresh, Kir-bare3eth, or Rabbath-moab 
 Kiriathaim, or Kiijathaim .... 
 
 Kirja'baim, or Kartan 
 
 Kirjath-arba, or Hebron 
 
 Kirjath-baal, Kirjath-jearim, or Baalah . 
 Kirjath-sanneh, Kirjatb-sepliir, or Debir . 
 Kiskon, Brook ........ 
 
 Kitron .......... 
 
 Lachish ......... 
 
 Laish, Dan, &c 
 
 Laodicea, Ethi-hisdr 
 
 Lasea .......... 
 
 Lasha . 
 
 Lasharon or Sharon ...... 
 
 Lebanon, Valley of, El Behaa . . . 
 
 Lebanon, Mountains of, Jebel Libnan, See. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 o t 
 
 o / 
 
 
 31.13 
 
 34.35 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.18 
 
 35.25 
 
 V. 
 
 33.19 
 
 35.36 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.32 
 
 35.12 
 
 II. 
 
 33.18 
 
 35.26 
 
 IV. 
 
 36.12 
 
 37.12 
 
 VI. 
 
 33. 4 
 
 35.12 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.29 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 t 32.40 
 
 35.32 
 
 VII. 
 
 33 . 32 
 
 35.58 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.53 
 
 36. 7 
 
 III. 
 
 38.28 
 
 39.50 
 
 I. IX. 
 
 38. 0 
 
 29. 8 
 
 XII. 
 
 31.26 
 
 35.13 
 
 V. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 31.32 
 
 35.12 
 
 II. 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. 
 
 33.38 
 
 36.24 
 
 III. 
 
 31.26 
 
 35.13 
 
 V. 
 
 30.18 
 
 35.33 
 
 III. 
 
 28.38 
 
 33.40 
 
 III. 
 
 30.35 
 
 35.30 
 
 II. 
 
 31. 3 
 
 34.48 
 
 III. 
 
 33. 8 
 
 35.11 
 
 IV. 
 
 33. 3 
 
 35.28 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.35 
 
 35.18 
 
 VII. 
 
 37.51 
 
 32.40 
 
 XII. 
 
 31.15 
 
 35. 0 
 
 X. 
 
 32.56 
 
 35.41 
 
 VII. 
 
 30. 0 
 
 70. 0 
 
 X. 
 
 31.40 
 
 34.43 
 
 IV. 
 
 30.55 
 
 36.20 
 
 II. 
 
 33.10 
 
 36.10 
 
 VI. 
 
 33.15 
 
 36.10 
 
 X. 
 
 31.20 
 
 48.52 
 
 IX. 
 
 32. 9 
 
 35.57 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.15 
 
 36.37 
 
 II. 
 
 32.33 
 
 35.47 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.54 
 
 34.43 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.11 
 
 35.19 
 
 V. 
 
 31.40 
 
 36.12 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.54 
 
 34.43 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.12 
 
 35.30 
 
 VII. 
 
 32.47 
 
 35.23 
 
 VII. 
 
 32. 4 
 
 34.46 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.41 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 32.31 
 
 35.18 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.26 
 
 35. 2 
 
 V. 
 
 32. 9 
 
 35.57 
 
 IV. 
 
 32. 9 
 
 35.57 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 II. 
 
 32.36 
 
 36.16 
 
 II. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 3). 7 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 31.57 
 
 35.33 
 
 III. 
 
 31.36 
 
 35.32 
 
 V. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 V. XI. 
 
 32. 1 
 
 35.27 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.54 
 
 35.44 
 
 V. 
 
 32.35 * 
 
 35.27 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.40 
 
 35.20 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.16 
 
 36. 8 
 
 IV. 
 
 32. 9 
 
 35.17 
 
 VII. 
 
 32.44 
 
 35. 9 
 
 IV. 
 
 30.20 
 
 35.37 
 
 VIII. 
 
 32. 4 
 
 34.46 
 
 IV. 
 
 33.24 
 
 35.42 
 
 II. 
 
 29.30 
 
 35. 7 
 
 III. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 X. 
 
 31.25 
 
 35.10 
 
 V. 
 
 31.30 
 
 35.20 
 
 X. 
 
 31.26 
 
 35.15 
 
 V. 
 
 31.10 
 
 35.25 
 
 V. 
 
 30.41 
 
 35.20 
 
 III. 
 
 32.21 
 
 35.13 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.10 
 
 36.46 
 
 VII. 
 
 33. 4 
 
 35.40 
 
 IV. 
 
 31. 0 
 
 37. 0 
 
 VI. 
 
 31.37 
 
 36.14 
 
 IV. 
 
 33.14 
 
 35.31 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.36 
 
 34.59 
 
 V. 
 
 33.12 
 
 35.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 30.43 
 
 34.20 
 
 II. 
 
 32. 9 
 
 35.17 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.47 
 
 35.18' 
 
 V. XI. 
 
 36.23 
 
 43. 0 
 
 IX. 
 
 31.23 
 
 35.57 
 
 V. 
 
 31.51 
 
 36. 2 
 
 IV. 
 
 33. 4 
 
 35.40 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.32 
 
 35.12 
 
 II. 
 
 31.49 
 
 35. 8 
 
 V. 
 
 31.26 
 
 35. 8 
 
 V. 
 
 32.46 
 
 35.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.52 
 
 35.21 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.38 
 
 35. 1 
 
 V. 
 
 33.22 
 
 35.42 
 
 IV. 
 
 37.55 
 
 29.10 
 
 XII. 
 
 34.59 
 
 £4.49 
 
 XII. 
 
 33.22 
 
 35.42 
 
 II. 
 
 32. 8 
 
 34.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 33.47 
 
 35.56 
 
 VII. 
 
 (33.12 
 
 35. 41 
 
 
 1 t0 
 
 to > 
 
 VI. 
 
 (34.40 
 
 36.40] 
 
 
 n 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Lebonah, Leban . 
 
 Leshem, &c 
 
 Libnah 
 
 Lod . 
 
 Lo-debar, or Debir 
 
 Lud (Lydia) 
 
 Luz, or Bethel ........ 
 
 Lycaonia ......... 
 
 Lycia 
 
 Lydda (Diospolis), Lud 
 
 Lydia 
 
 Lystra. Bin-bir-kilisa 
 
 Maachathites 
 
 Maaleh-acrabbim 
 
 Macedonia. ........ 
 
 Mahanaim 
 
 Makaz 
 
 Makkedah 
 
 Mamre, or Hebron 
 
 Maon 
 
 Maon, Wilderness of 
 
 Marah, Bir Howara 
 
 Mareshah 
 
 Maroth 
 
 Mashal, or Misheal 
 
 Medeba, Madeba 
 
 Media 
 
 Megiddo 
 
 Megiddo, or Jezreel, Valley of . 
 
 Me-jarkon 
 
 Melita, Island of, Malta 
 
 Memphis, or Noph, Metrahenny . 
 Mephaath 
 
 Merom, Waters of, Bahr-el-Hule . 
 
 Meroz, Mezra 
 
 Mesopotamia, Al-jezirdh ..... 
 
 Michmash, Mukhinas 
 
 Michmethah 
 
 Middin 
 
 Midianites (by Dead Sea) .... 
 
 Midianites (by Red Sea) 
 
 Migdol, Jeremiah xliv. 1. (Magdolus) . 
 
 Miletus 
 
 Minni 
 
 Minnith 
 
 Mishal, or Misheal 
 
 Mitylene 
 
 Mizpeh 
 
 Mizpeh of Gilead 
 
 Mizpeh, or Gilead, Laud of ... 
 
 Moab 
 
 Moab, Plains of . 
 
 Moladah 
 
 Moreh, Vale of ....... 
 
 Moriah, Land of 
 
 Moriah, Mount 
 
 Moresheth-gath 
 
 Myra 
 
 Mvsia 
 
 Naaran, or Naarath ...... 
 
 Nahalal, Nahallal, or Nahalol . . 
 
 Nain 
 
 Nazareth, Naszera 
 
 Neapolis ......... 
 
 Nebo, Mount, Jebel Attariis .... 
 
 Netophah 
 
 Nicopolis 
 
 Nimrah, or Beth-nimrah 
 
 Nineveh, Nunia 
 
 No, or No-Ammon (Thebes), Karnak, 
 
 Luxor, Sfc 
 
 Nob 
 
 Nobah 
 
 Noph, or Memphis 
 
 Olives, Mount of, or Olivet .... 
 On, Aven, &c.. ....... 
 
 Ono 
 
 Ophir (see expl. notice) 
 
 Oplirah 
 
 Ophrah 
 
 Padan-aram 
 
 Pamphylia 
 
 Paphos, Baffo 
 
 Paran, or Sinai, Mount ..... 
 
 Paran, Wilderness of, El Tyh . . 
 
 Pas-dammim, or Ephes-dammim . . 
 
 Passengers, Valley of the 
 
 Patara 
 
 Patliros (Thebais) 
 
 Patmos, Isle of, Patino . . . 
 
 Peniel, or Penuel 
 
 Peor, Mount ........ 
 
 Perga 
 
 Pergamos, Bergamo 
 
 I Perizzites ......... 
 
 I Pharpar, Riv 
 
 Phenice, Sphakia 
 
 Philadelphia, Allah-shehr . . . . 
 
 Philippi 
 
 Philistines 
 
 Phrygia 
 
 Pi-beseth (Bubastis) 
 
 ! Pi-hahiroth 
 
 Pisgah, Mount 
 
 | Pisidia. ... 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Lougitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 O f 
 
 o f 
 
 
 32. 6 
 
 35.21 
 
 IV. 
 
 33.22 
 
 35.42 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.41 
 
 35. 1 
 
 V. 
 
 32. 1 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 32.27 
 
 36.10 
 
 VII. 
 
 38.30 
 
 27 57 
 
 I. XIL 
 
 31.58 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. VII. 
 
 37.51 
 
 32.40 
 
 XII. 
 
 36.18 
 
 30. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 32. 1 
 
 34.57 
 
 X. 
 
 38.30 
 
 27.57 
 
 XII. 
 
 37.24 
 
 33.20 
 
 XII. 
 
 33.25 
 
 36. 5 
 
 IV. VI. 
 
 31. 5 
 
 35.28 
 
 V 
 
 40.40 
 
 22.56 
 
 XII. 
 
 32.27 
 
 36. 4 
 
 II. 
 
 31.52 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 31.42 
 
 35. 2 
 
 V. 
 
 31.32 
 
 35.12 
 
 11 . 
 
 31.25 
 
 35.23 
 
 V. 
 
 31.23 
 
 35.23 
 
 V. 
 
 29.28 
 
 32.54 
 
 III. 
 
 31.40 
 
 34.53 
 
 V. 
 
 31.52 
 
 35.16 
 
 VII. 
 
 32.50 
 
 35. 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.50 
 
 36.12 
 
 IV. 
 
 34.46 
 
 48.33 
 
 IX. 
 
 32.34 
 
 35.20 
 
 VII. 
 
 32.40 
 
 35.20 
 
 VII. 
 
 31.54 
 
 34.48 
 
 V. 
 
 35.53 
 
 14.25 
 
 XII. 
 
 29.52 
 
 31.19 
 
 VIII. 
 
 31.45 
 
 36. 9 
 
 VII. 
 
 
 33. 9 
 
 35.44) 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 to > 
 
 IV. 
 
 
 33.16 
 
 35.49) 
 
 
 32.42 
 
 35.27 
 
 VII. 
 
 37. 5 
 
 38.55 
 
 I. 
 
 31.54 
 
 35.17 
 
 V. 
 
 32.20 
 
 35 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.40 
 
 35.36 
 
 V. 
 
 31. 5 
 
 36.10 
 
 III. 
 
 28.30 
 
 34.56 
 
 III. 
 
 30.51 
 
 32.26 
 
 VIII. 
 
 37.30 
 
 27.18 
 
 XII. 
 
 38.30 
 
 37. 0 
 
 IX. 
 
 31.57 
 
 36. 8 
 
 VII. 
 
 32.50 
 
 35. 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 39. 6 
 
 26.30 
 
 XII. 
 
 31.48 
 
 35. 8 
 
 V. 
 
 32.36 
 
 36.16 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.20 
 
 36. 3 
 
 IV 
 
 31.23 
 
 35.57 
 
 in. 
 
 31.56 
 
 35.45 
 
 V. 
 
 31. 8 
 
 34.33 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 II. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 31.45 
 
 34.53 
 
 VII. 
 
 36.18 
 
 30. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 39. 4 
 
 27.12 
 
 XII. 
 
 32. 1 
 
 35.30 
 
 VII. 
 
 32.49 
 
 35.18 
 
 IV. 
 
 32.41 
 
 35.31 
 
 X. 
 
 32.48 
 
 35.25 . 
 
 X. 
 
 40.58 
 
 21.26 
 
 XII. 
 
 31.43 
 
 35.58 
 
 V. 
 
 31 .44 
 
 35.21 
 
 V. 
 
 39. 2 
 
 20.45 
 
 XII. 
 
 32. 6 
 
 35.44 
 
 IV. 
 
 36.23 
 
 43. 0 
 
 I. IX. 
 
 25.42 
 
 32.40 
 
 VIII. 
 
 31.48 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 32.20 
 
 36.17 
 
 VII. 
 
 29.52 
 
 31.19 
 
 VIII. 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 30.10 
 
 31.23 
 
 III. 
 
 32. 0 
 
 35. 2 
 
 V. 
 
 , . 
 
 • . 
 
 VI. 
 
 32.29 
 
 35.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 31.58 
 
 35.28 
 
 V. 
 
 37. 5 
 
 38.55 
 
 I. 
 
 36.55 
 
 31. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 34.46 
 
 32.25 
 
 XII. 
 
 28.38 
 
 33.40 
 
 III. 
 
 
 (29.20) 
 
 
 
 
 t° | 
 
 34. 0 
 
 III. 
 
 
 31. 0 
 
 
 
 31.43 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 32.48 
 
 35.55 
 
 VII. 
 
 36.16 
 
 29.21 
 
 XII. 
 
 25.42 
 
 32.40 
 
 VIII. 
 
 37 .20 
 
 26.33 
 
 XII. 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.55 
 
 11 . 
 
 31.52 
 
 35.56 
 
 V. 
 
 36.55 
 
 31. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 
 27.12 
 
 XII. 
 
 32.10 
 
 35.15 
 
 11 . 
 
 33.49 
 
 36.13 
 
 VII, 
 
 35.14 
 
 24.13 
 
 XII. 
 
 38.22 
 
 28.30 
 
 XII. 
 
 41. 2 
 
 £1.20 
 
 XII. 
 
 31.41 
 
 34.33 
 
 V. 
 
 38. 2 
 
 30.22 
 
 XII. 
 
 30.34 
 
 31 .33 
 
 VIII. 
 
 
 (29.57 
 
 32.34( 
 
 III. 
 
 
 129.47 
 
 33.33) 
 
 
 31.43 
 
 35.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 38.18 
 
 31.22 
 
 XIL 
 
 4 
 
510 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 Latitude* 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 No. of Map. 
 
 
 o / 
 
 (42.25 
 
 o / 
 
 43.32) 
 
 
 Sihor, or River of Egypt, Wadi An'sh . 
 
 0 r 
 30.38 
 
 0 f 
 34.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 Pison, River 
 
 140.22 
 
 41. 0) 
 
 I. 
 
 Silior (of Isa. xxiii. 3, and Jer. ii. 18), 
 
 
 
 
 
 30.26 
 
 32.30 
 
 III. 
 
 Riv. Nile 
 
 10.59 
 
 36.55 
 
 vin. 
 
 
 (31.10 
 
 35.29] 
 
 
 Siloah, Shiloah, or Siloam, Pool or YVa- 
 
 
 
 
 Plain, Sea of the, & c 
 
 < to 
 
 to > 
 
 V. 
 
 ters of, Fountain of the Virgin, or 
 
 
 
 
 
 [31.48 
 
 35.50J 
 
 
 Upper Pool of Siloam 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 
 40.35 
 
 36. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 
 (30.58 
 
 32.34) 
 
 
 
 32.56 
 
 35. 4 
 
 X. 
 
 
 (30.57 
 
 30.52) 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Puteoli, Puzzuoli 
 
 40.50 
 
 14. 8 
 
 XII. 
 
 Sin, Wilderness of 
 
 29.10 
 
 33.20 
 
 III. 
 
 Kaamses, or Raineses 
 
 30. 6 
 
 31.20 
 
 III. 
 
 Sinai, or Paran, Mount, Jebel Serbal 
 
 28.38 
 
 33.40 
 
 Illi 
 
 Rabbah, or Rabbath-Ammon (Philadel- 
 
 
 
 
 Sinai, Desert of 
 
 28.45 
 
 33.45 
 
 III. 
 
 phia), Amman 
 
 32. 3 
 
 36.10 
 
 IV. 
 
 Siphmoth 
 
 31.16 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 Rabbath-moab, Ar, &c 
 
 31.23 
 
 35.57 
 
 V. 
 
 Sirion, or Hermon, Mount .... 
 
 33.32 
 
 35.58 
 
 VII. 
 
 Rabat) (The Delta) 
 
 30.34 
 
 31.33 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Smyrna ......... 
 
 38.26 
 
 27. 7 
 
 XII. 
 
 Rama, or Arimathsea 
 
 31.59 
 
 34.54 
 
 X. 
 
 Sophir 
 
 31.28 
 
 34.58 
 
 V. 
 
 Ramah, or Ramatbaim-Z opium, Rama, 
 
 
 
 
 Sorek, River or Valiev of 
 
 31.48 
 
 35.14 
 
 V. 
 
 or Samuele . . 
 
 31.52 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Stream ofthe Brooks, Wadi Beni Hammad 
 
 31.20 
 
 36. 0 
 
 III. 
 
 Ramat h-mizpeh, or Ramoth-gilead . 
 
 32.20 
 
 36. 3 
 
 VII. 
 
 Succoth 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.43 
 
 II. 
 
 Ramath of the South 
 
 31. 3 
 
 34.18 
 
 IV. 
 
 Succoth, Birhet-el- Hadj 
 
 30.10 
 
 31.33 
 
 III. 
 
 Raineses, or Raamses 
 
 
 31.20 
 
 III. 
 
 Sukkiims (Troglodyte) 
 
 24.50 
 
 34.50 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Rameses, or Goshen, Land of • • • 
 
 30.30 
 
 32. 0 
 
 III. 
 
 Sychar, Sychem, or Shechem . . 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.20 
 
 X. 
 
 Ramoth, or Jarmuth 
 
 32.31 
 
 35.18 
 
 VII. 
 
 Syene, Assuan 
 
 24. 6 
 
 32.55 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Ramoth-gilead, or Itamath-mizpeh, Ramja 
 
 32.20 
 
 36. 3 
 
 VII. 
 
 Syracuse 
 
 37. 5 
 
 15.17 
 
 XII. 
 
 Rehob, or Beth-rehob 
 
 33.28 
 
 35.48 
 
 IV. 
 
 Syria-damascus 
 
 33.27 
 
 36.25 
 
 VI. 
 
 Rehoboth 
 
 34.40 
 
 40.25 
 
 I. 
 
 Taanach ... 
 
 32.39 
 
 35.14 
 
 VII. 
 
 Remeth, or Jarmuth 
 
 32.31 
 
 35.18 
 
 VII. 
 
 Taanath-shiloh 
 
 32.14 
 
 35. 8 
 
 IV. 
 
 Remmon-methoar, or Rimmon . 
 
 32.55 
 
 35.25 
 
 VII. 
 
 Tabbath . 
 
 32.21 
 
 35.37 
 
 VII. 
 
 Rephaims 
 
 32.52 
 
 36.18 
 
 II. 
 
 Tabor 
 
 32.43 
 
 35.31 
 
 VII. 
 
 Rephaim, Valley of ... . 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Tabor, Mount, Jebel Tut 
 
 32.44 
 
 35.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 Rephidim 
 
 28.56 
 
 33.30 
 
 III. 
 
 Tadmor in the Wilderness (Palmyra), 
 
 
 
 
 
 (36.11 
 
 43.151 
 
 
 Tudmor 
 
 34.24 
 
 38.20 
 
 vr. 
 
 
 136.34 
 
 40.10) 
 
 
 Tahapanes, Tahpanes, or Hanes . 
 
 30.52 
 
 32.12 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Reseph, Resepha 
 
 35.34 
 
 39. 0 
 
 VI. 
 
 Tappuah 
 
 32.19 
 
 35.34 
 
 IV. 
 
 Rhegium, Reggio 
 
 38. 6 
 
 15.40 
 
 XII. 
 
 Tarshish (see expl. notice) .... 
 
 
 . . 
 
 VI. 
 
 Rhodes 
 
 36.24 
 
 28.12 
 
 XII. 
 
 Tarsus, Tarsus 
 
 37. 0 
 
 34.53 
 
 XII. 
 
 Riblah (Daphnse?), Belt al Moie . 
 
 36.10 
 
 36. 5 
 
 VI. 
 
 Tekoa, or Tekoah, Tehoa 
 
 31.37 
 
 35.22 
 
 V. 
 
 Rimmon, or Remmoumethoar 
 
 32.55 
 
 35.25 
 
 VII. 
 
 Telaim, or Telem 
 
 31.16 
 
 34.59 
 
 V. 
 
 Rimmon, Rock 
 
 31.58 
 
 35.28 
 
 V. 
 
 Teman 
 
 30.15 
 
 35.42 
 
 VI. 
 
 Rithmah, or Kadesh-barnea .... 
 
 30.41 
 
 35.20 
 
 III. 
 
 Thebez 
 
 32.23 
 
 35.30 
 
 IV. 
 
 Rogelim 
 
 32. 8 
 
 36. 2 
 
 VII. 
 
 Thessalonica, Saloniki 
 
 40.40 
 
 22.56 
 
 XII. 
 
 Salamis, Costanza 
 
 35.11 
 
 34. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 Thiatyra, Ak-hisdr 
 
 38.54 
 
 27.55 
 
 XII. 
 
 Salcah, or Salchah 
 
 32.53 
 
 36.25 
 
 IV. 
 
 Thimnathah, or Timnath 
 
 31.57 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 Salem 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 II. 
 
 Three Taverns (Ties Tabernse) . 
 
 41.39 
 
 12.49 
 
 XII. 
 
 Salim 
 
 32.28 
 
 35.40 
 
 X. 
 
 Tiberias, Tabarieh 
 
 32.53 
 
 35.44 
 
 X. 
 
 Salmone, Cape . 
 
 35. 9 
 
 26.20 
 
 XII. 
 
 
 (32.49 
 
 35.42) 
 
 
 
 (31.10 
 
 35.29] 
 
 
 Tiberias, Sea of, Lake of Gennesareth, &c. 
 
 1 t0 
 
 to > 
 
 X. 
 
 Salt Sea, &c 
 
 < to 
 
 to 1 
 
 IV. 
 
 
 (33. 3 
 
 35.53J 
 
 
 
 | 31.48 
 
 35 . 50 j 
 
 
 Tibhath, or Betah 
 
 34.37 
 
 37. 8 
 
 VI. 
 
 Salt, Valley of 
 
 31. 5 
 
 35.34 
 
 V. 
 
 Timnath, or Thimnathah 
 
 31.57 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 Samaria (Sebaste), Sebaste .... 
 
 32.24 
 
 35.17 
 
 VII. 
 
 Timnath-serah, or Uzzen-sherah . 
 
 32. 8 
 
 35. 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 Samos, Samo 
 
 37.45 
 
 26.45 
 
 XII. 
 
 Tiphsah 
 
 32.22 
 
 35.21 
 
 II. 
 
 Samothracia, Samothraki 
 
 40.30 
 
 25.35 
 
 XII. 
 
 Tiphsah (Thapsacus) 
 
 35.17 
 
 39.54 
 
 VI. 
 
 Saphir 
 
 31.28 
 
 34.58 
 
 V. 
 
 Tirzah • • • 
 
 32.24 
 
 35.26 
 
 VII 
 
 Sardis, Sart 
 
 38.30 
 
 27.57 
 
 XII. 
 
 Trachonitis, El Ledja ..... 
 
 33. 0 
 
 36.50 
 
 X. 
 
 Sarepta or Zarephath, Satfand . 
 
 33.28 
 
 35.16 
 
 X. 
 
 Troas 
 
 39.45 
 
 26.11 
 
 XII. 
 
 Solid 
 
 32.48 
 
 35.11 
 
 IV. 
 
 Trogy Ilium, Promontory of, C. St. Mary 
 
 37.40 
 
 27. 0 
 
 XII. 
 
 Saron, or Sharon 
 
 32. 8 
 
 34.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 Tyre (Tyrus), Sur 
 
 33.18 
 
 35.10 
 
 VII. 
 
 Scythian 
 
 , # 
 
 
 X. 
 
 Ulai, Riv. of (EuIjeus), Kerali . 
 
 34.40 
 
 48.40 
 
 IX. 
 
 Seir, Land of 
 
 31. 5 
 
 35.40 
 
 II. 
 
 Ummali 
 
 33.14 
 
 35.20 
 
 IV. 
 
 
 (29.32 
 
 35. C] 
 
 
 Ur ofthe Chaldees (Edessa, or Callirhoe), 
 
 
 
 
 Seir, Mount . 
 
 1 t0 
 
 to > 
 
 III. 
 
 ’ Urfuh 
 
 37. 5 
 
 38.55 
 
 I. IX. 
 
 
 (31.10 
 
 35.55J 
 
 
 Uz, Land of 
 
 30.20 
 
 35.30 
 
 II. 
 
 Seirath 
 
 32.11 
 
 35.23 
 
 IV. 
 
 Uzzen-sherah, or Timnath-serah . 
 
 32. 8 
 
 35. 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 Sela (of Moab, Isa. xvi. 1), Kerek . 
 
 31.16 
 
 35.58 
 
 V. 
 
 Zaanaim, or Zaanannim 
 
 33.17 
 
 35.32 
 
 IV. 
 
 Selah, or Joktheel (Petra) .... 
 
 30.20 
 
 35.37 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Zaanau, or Zenan 
 
 31.39 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 Seleucia, near Suadeiah ..... 
 
 36. 7 
 
 35.50 
 
 XII. 
 
 Zair 
 
 31. 0 
 
 35.38 
 
 V. 
 
 Senir, Shenir, or Hermon 
 
 33.32 
 
 35.58 
 
 VI. 
 
 Zalmon, Mount 
 
 32.18 
 
 33.15 
 
 VII. 
 
 Sepharvaim 
 
 33. 4 
 
 44.12 
 
 IX. 
 
 Zamzummims, or Zuzims .... 
 
 32.10 
 
 36. 0 
 
 II. 
 
 Shaalabbin, Shaalbim, or Shalim 
 
 31.45 
 
 34.48 
 
 V. 
 
 Zaphon, or Atroth-shophan .... 
 
 32.26 
 
 35.46 
 
 IV. 
 
 Shaaraim 
 
 31.46 
 
 34.58 
 
 V. 
 
 Zared, or Zered, Brook or Valley of, 
 
 
 
 
 Shalim, or Shaalabbin 
 
 31.45 
 
 34.48 
 
 V. 
 
 Nahr-el-Hussan 
 
 30.43 
 
 36. 4 
 
 III. 
 
 Shalim, Land of 
 
 31.45 
 
 34.48 
 
 V. 
 
 Zarephath, or Sarepta. ..... 
 
 33.28 
 
 35.16 
 
 VII. 
 
 Shamir, or Sophir 
 
 31.28 
 
 34.58 
 
 V. 
 
 Zartanah 
 
 32.32 
 
 35.34 
 
 VII. 
 
 Sharon, or Lasbaron 
 
 32. 8 
 
 34.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 Zarthan, Zereda, or Zeredathah . 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.37 
 
 VII. 
 
 Sharon, Vale of 
 
 32. 8 
 
 34.58 
 
 IV. 
 
 Zelah, or Zelzali 
 
 31.49 
 
 35.15 
 
 V. 
 
 Shaveh Kiriathaim 
 
 31.51 
 
 30.12 
 
 II. 
 
 Zemarites 
 
 34.50 
 
 35.56 
 
 I. 
 
 Shaveh, Valley of 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 II. 
 
 Zenan, or Zaanan 
 
 31.39 
 
 34.57 
 
 V. 
 
 Sheba, or Beer-sheba 
 
 31.13 
 
 34.53 
 
 XIII. 
 
 
 31. 3 
 
 34.48 
 
 V. 
 
 Shebam, Shibmah, or Sibmah 
 
 31.52 
 
 36. 7 
 
 IV. 
 
 Zephathah, Valley of 
 
 31.40 
 
 34.54 
 
 V. 
 
 Shechem, or Sychar (Neapolis), Nablous 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.20 
 
 II. 
 
 Zered, or Zared, Brook ..... 
 
 30.43 
 
 36. 4 
 
 III. 
 
 Shen 
 
 31.47 
 
 35. 5 
 
 V. 
 
 Zereda, Zeredathah, or Zarthan . 
 
 32.17 
 
 35.37 
 
 VII. 
 
 Shenir, Hermon, &c., Mt 
 
 33.32 
 
 35.58 
 
 VII. 
 
 Zererath 
 
 32.32 
 
 35.34 
 
 VII. 
 
 Shiloah, or Siloam, Pool of ... 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.18 
 
 XI. 
 
 Ziklag 
 
 31.37 
 
 34.44 
 
 V. 
 
 Shiloh, Seilum. ....... 
 
 32. 7 
 
 35.24 
 
 IV. 
 
 
 (29.31 
 
 35. 5) 
 
 
 Sbimron, or Shimronmerom .... 
 
 32.52 
 
 35.35 
 
 IV. 
 
 Zin, Wilderness of, Wadi Arabah . 
 
 < to 
 
 to > 
 
 III. 
 
 Shinar, Land of 
 
 32.22 
 
 44.26 
 
 I. 
 
 
 [ 31 . 0 
 
 35.30J 
 
 
 Shittim, or Abel-shittim 
 
 32. 0 
 
 35.47 
 
 III. 
 
 Zion, Mount 
 
 31.46 
 
 35.17 
 
 XI. 
 
 Shochuh, or Socoli 
 
 31.43 
 
 35. 3 
 
 V. 
 
 Ziph, Zif 
 
 31.27 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Shual, Land of 
 
 32. 3 
 
 35.30 
 
 VII. 
 
 Zipli 
 
 31.16 
 
 35. 4 
 
 V. 
 
 Shunem 
 
 32.32 
 
 35.21 
 
 VII. 
 
 Ziph, Wilderness of 
 
 31.37 
 
 35.26 
 
 V. 
 
 Shur, or Etham, Wilderness of . 
 
 29.45 
 
 32.50 
 
 III. 
 
 Zoau (Tanis), San 
 
 30.59 
 
 31.54 
 
 III. VIII. 
 
 Shur, Wilderness of 
 
 30.45 
 
 38.30 
 
 III. 
 
 Zoar, or Bela 
 
 31.11 
 
 35.36 
 
 II 
 
 Shushan (Susa), Sus .... 
 
 31.56 
 
 48.26 
 
 IX. 
 
 Zobali, or Hobah ? 
 
 33.38 
 
 36.24 
 
 VI. 
 
 Sibmah, Shibmah, &c. .... 
 
 31.52 
 
 36. 7 
 
 IV. 
 
 Zorah, or Zoreah 
 
 31.50 
 
 35. 0 
 
 V. 
 
 Siddim, Valley of. . . . 
 
 31.30 
 
 35.40 
 
 II. 
 
 Zuph, Land of 
 
 31.52 
 
 35.16 
 
 V. 
 
 Sidon, or Zidon, Saide 
 
 33.34 
 
 35.19 
 
 II. VII. 
 
 Zuzims, or Zamzummims 
 
 32.10 
 
 36. 0 
 
 II. 
 
 END OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY 
 
INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Aaron entering the Holy Place on the Day 
 of Atonement, with the relative Situations 
 
 of the Candlestick, Altar of Incense, and 
 Table of Shewbread. Lev. xxiii. . . . 344 
 
 Aaron staying the Plague. Num. xvi. . 420 
 
 Abigail 700 
 
 Abraham and the Three Angels. Gen. xviii. 47 
 
 Abraham offering Isaac. Gen. xxii. ... 50 
 
 Absalom’s Tomb. Former appearance . 789 
 
 Absalom’s Tomb. Present appearance . 790 
 
 Achan, Conviction of. Josh, vii 483 
 
 Achilles, Shield of 946 
 
 Acropolis, Western side of the 1110 
 
 Adam discovering the Dead Body of Abel. 
 
 Gen. iv 4 
 
 Adjeroud 215 
 
 Ahijah and the Wife of Jeroboam .... 928 
 
 Ain Mousa 245 
 
 Alexander, head of 1037 
 
 Alexandria 457 
 
 Alexandria 1228 
 
 Algum Trees (Pinus deodara) 856 
 
 Alhambra, Hall of Abencerrages in the. 
 
 Solomon’s Song, ii 321 
 
 Almond Tree. Gen.xliii.il 114 
 
 Altar, Syrian 178 
 
 Altar of Burnt-Offering. Exod. xxvii. . 324 
 
 Altar of Incense, probable form of the. 
 
 Exod. xxx 284 
 
 Altars, Group of 1029 
 
 Amulets, Egyptian. Gen. xxxi. 19. . . . 78 
 
 Ananias, Death of 913 
 
 Andrew and Simon Peter, calling of . . . 181 
 
 Angel, Ministering. By L. Signorelli, 
 from the Chapel in the Duomo, at 
 
 Orvieto 117 
 
 Angels from the Gates of San Giovanni . 118 
 
 Animals, from Egyptian Sculptures . . . 166 
 
 Annunciation, the 20 
 
 Anointing, Egyptian Mode of 625 
 
 Antioch 939 
 
 Antioch 1052 
 
 Apis, the Golden Calf 274 
 
 Apollo Belvidere 1083 
 
 Arab of Edom.' 1 205 
 
 Arabah, Turkish, drawn by Oxen .... 622 
 
 Aradus. Gen. x J4 
 
 Aradus, Silver Coin of 996 
 
 Ararat, Mount. Gen. viii 7 
 
 Archer 673 
 
 Archers, body of 674 
 
 Ark borne by Priests 896 
 
 Ark of the Covenant, probable form of the. 
 
 Exod. xxv 281 
 
 Armlets, Ancient Egyptian 995 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Armour, Scale. Mounted Dacian . . . 693 
 
 As, Roman 650 
 
 A seal on 1079 
 
 Ascension, the 887 
 
 Asp. (Vipere Ilaje.) Job. xx 1115 
 
 Ass, Wild 1061 
 
 Asses, Egyptian, Saddled 459 
 
 Asses, Modern Egyptian, Saddled .... 922 
 
 Asses, White. Judges v 560 
 
 Asses, Wild 1206 
 
 Astarte, head of 959 
 
 Astarte, in a car, as represented at Sidon . 957 
 
 Astarte, one of her forms at Tyre .... 958 
 
 Astrologer, Eastern 991 
 
 Athens, view of 1086 
 
 Audience with an Eastern Monarch . . . 989 
 
 Augustus .. 18 
 
 Augustus, Medal of 19 
 
 Baalbec 924 
 
 Baalbee, Temple at 912 
 
 Babylon, Plan of 547 
 
 Babylon, Plan of 548 
 
 Babylon. Birs Nemroud, &c 549 
 
 Babylon. The Inundation 550 
 
 Babylon. The Mujelibe, &c 551 
 
 Babylon. North face of the Kasa . . . 552 
 
 Babylon. West face of the Birs Nemroud 553 
 Babylon, Gem from the Ruins of ... . 1035 
 
 Babylon, Statue of a Lion standing over a 
 
 Man, found at 1036 
 
 Babylon, desolation of. Isa. xiii 186 
 
 Bagdad, view of 1263 
 
 Bagpipe 945 
 
 Baking . . 252 
 
 Balaam. Num. xxi 458 
 
 Balista, prepared for the discharge of aStone 1067 
 
 Balm of Gilead. Gen. xxxvii 102 
 
 Barrow’s, group of Scythian 741 
 
 Bas-relief at Thebes, Egyptian 696 
 
 Bas-relief at Thebes 698 
 
 Bas-relief at Tackt-i-Bostan 697 
 
 Basket, Oriental 450 
 
 Bastinado, Egyptian 178 
 
 Bat, the Horseshoe 411 
 
 Bear, Syrian 787 
 
 Bear, Syrian 1017 
 
 Beard-case 752 
 
 Beards . . . .’ 753 
 
 Beards 754 
 
 Bedouin Arabs 619 
 
 Bedouin Encampment. Gen. iv 5 
 
 Bedouin Robbers - . 921 
 
 Bedouins and Travellers bargaining for a 
 
 Slave 135 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Bedouins collecting Fruits in Palestine ". . 416 
 
 Berket el Iiadj, or Pilgrim’s Pool, 
 
 (Succoth) 201 
 
 Besiegers approaching Jerusalem .... 1136 
 
 Bethany ■. . 585 
 
 Bethesda, Pool of 279 
 
 Bethlehem 53 
 
 Bethlehem 525 
 
 Bier 727 
 
 Birs Nemroud (Babel). Gen. xi 15 
 
 Bittern. Isa. xv 187 
 
 Blatta iEgyptiaca. A Colossal Beetle . . 199 
 
 Boa Constrictor 1284 
 
 Boa, Emperor 1285 
 
 Boat, Egyptian 803 
 
 Boat, Egyptian Swamp 805 
 
 Boat on a Tomb at Pompeii 254 
 
 Boats, Ancient Persian 802 
 
 Boaz and Ruth. Ruth iii 533 
 
 Book of the Law. Priest and Governor . 1176 
 
 Booths, Dwelling in 1245 
 
 Booths or Sheds. Gen. xxxiii, 17. ... 81 
 
 Bottles, Leathern, Girl pouring Wine from 1207 
 
 Bowing before the King 812 
 
 Bowdng before a Public Officer. Gen. 
 
 xliii. 26 11C 
 
 Bows 695 
 
 Boxes, Alabaster. Roman Accrrse. Matt. 
 
 xxvi 351 
 
 Brazen Sea, supposed form of the .... 861 
 
 Brazier 1150 
 
 Breastplate 893 
 
 Brick-making, Egyptian 1274 
 
 Brick-making, Egyptian 1275 
 
 Brick-making, Egyptian 1267 
 
 Bridal Procession. Modern Egypt . . . 682 
 
 Bridal Procession. Modern Egypt . . . 683 
 
 Bride, displaying of the 681 
 
 Burdens, Bearers of 1302 
 
 Burdens, modes of bearing 848 
 
 Burning Bush, Chapel of the 172 
 
 Caesarea, Ruins of, in Palestine 986 
 
 Cairo, Open Court of House at 278 
 
 Caleb’s Daughter at the Springs. Josh. xv. 500 
 
 Caligula 1>84 
 
 Camels 1021 
 
 Camels, loaded 1020 
 
 Candlestick, Golden, probable form of the. 
 
 Exod. xxv 282 
 
 Canopy and Umbrella, Indian 902 
 
 Captives bound 506 
 
 Captives of Pharaoh-Nccho, supposed 
 
 Jewish 1135 
 
 Captivity in Persia. Sculpture of the . . 1093 
 
512 
 
 INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Car, Ethiopian, drawn by Oxen .... 623 
 
 Car, Indian, drawn by Oxen 621 
 
 Caravan 1008 
 
 Caravan at Water 1139 
 
 Caravanserai. Luke ii 613 
 
 Carmel, Mount 1019 
 
 Carob-tree 646 
 
 Carpenter with Saw, Egyptian. Isa. x. . 128 
 
 Carpenters with Axe or Adze, Egyptian. 
 
 Isa. 127 
 
 Carts, Modern Syrian ; of ancient form. 
 
 Gen. xlv. 19 140 
 
 Carts, from Egyptian Sculptures. Gen. xlv. 19. 139 
 
 Catapulta, head of the 1065 
 
 Catapulta prepared for the discharge of an 
 
 Arrow 1064 
 
 Cavalcade 1039 
 
 Cavalier, Modern Oriental 908 
 
 Cedar 800 
 
 Cedars of Lebanon 60 
 
 Cedars on Mount Lebanon 857 
 
 Cemetery at Cairo 1168 
 
 Censers 860 
 
 Centurion, Roman. Matt, viii 337 
 
 Cerini, in Cyprus 1027 
 
 Cerini, Cyprus ; View of 1199 
 
 Chair, Egyptian 619 
 
 Chamber on the Wall, near Alexandria . 1016 
 
 Chariot, Ancient Egyptian 993 
 
 Chariot, Ancient Persian 994 
 
 Chariot, Egyptian. Exod. xiv 211 
 
 Charioteer, Roman 1047 
 
 Cherith, Brook, scene on the supposed . . 973 
 
 Cherubim and Seraphim 88 
 
 Chief, Ancient Syrian, addressing the 
 
 People 505 
 
 Christ with the Doctors in the Temple . . 179 
 
 Christ purifying the Temple 206 
 
 Christ and Nicodemus 207 
 
 Christ and the Nobleman of Capernaum . 236 
 
 Christ and the Woman of Samaria . . . 238 
 
 Christ cureth the Leper 258 
 
 Christ cureth the Sick of the Palsy . . . 259 
 
 Christ healing the Sick 314 
 
 Christ exhorting his Disciples 332 
 
 Christ’s Sermon on the Mount 333 
 
 Christ in the Storm 355 
 
 Christ in the Storm. Matt, viii 356 
 
 Christ, Anointing the feet of. John xii. . 347 
 
 Christ healing the Widow’s Son .... 348 
 
 Christ restoring the Blind to sight . . . 424 
 
 Christ curing the Blind 425 
 
 Christ raising the Daughter of Jairus . . . 429 
 
 Christ, the Jews casting stones at. John 
 
 viii. 46 511 
 
 Christ eating with the Pharisee 541 
 
 Christ walking on the Sea 448 
 
 Christ, the Leper kneeling to 564 
 
 Christ delivering the Keys to St. Peter . 469 
 
 Christ answering the Pharisees concerning 
 
 Divorcement 589 
 
 Christ and Little Children 606 
 
 Christ’s entry into Jerusalem 628 
 
 Christ and the Tribute Money 649 
 
 Christ and the Tribute 652 
 
 Christ in the Garden 737 
 
 Christ Rejected 739 
 
 Christ crowned with Thorns 740 
 
 Christ Scourged 757 
 
 Christ bearing the Cross 791 
 
 Christ Crucified 793 
 
 Christ, Entombment of 816 
 
 Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen . . . 862 
 
 Christ appearing to his Disciples .... 863 
 
 Christ at Emmaus 864 
 
 Cinnamon. Exod. xxx 330 
 
 Ckumarah, the 175 
 
 Ckutweh, Irrigation by the 1140 
 
 Collar, wooden 1063 
 
 Coliseum, exterior of 1295 
 
 Coliseum, interior of 1296 
 
 Colossa:, present state of 1054 
 
 Combat of Romans and Sarmatians . . . 1179 
 
 Concert, Egyptian 297 
 
 Conducted along the Shore 1193 
 
 Conducted to the Presence . . . . . . . 1155 
 
 Consecration of a Levite. Num. viii. . . 365 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Consul, Roman 962 
 
 Coracle 806 
 
 Coriander. Exod. xvi 250 
 
 Corinth, View of 1131 
 
 Corinth, Temple of Minerva at 1132 
 
 Cormorant. Lev. xi 405 
 
 Corn, Carrying. Gen. viii. 22 12 
 
 Corn, storing. Gen. xli. 35 110 
 
 Cornets, Ancient 368 
 
 Costume of an Aaronite or Priest. Exod. 
 
 xxviii 326 
 
 Costume of the High Priest, Exod. xxviii. 325 
 
 Couches, Egyptian 198 
 
 Council 1152 
 
 Council, an Arabian 785 
 
 Crane. Jer. viii 400 
 
 Crocodile 1281 
 
 Crocodile, Common 1280 
 
 Cross, Descent from the 815 
 
 Crown, Modern Persian 832 
 
 Crowns 830 
 
 Crowns 831 
 
 Crowns of Victors in the Greek Games . 1180 
 
 Crucifixion, the 792 
 
 Crucifixion, Women at the 761 
 
 Cuirasses G78 
 
 Culinary Vessels, Egyptian 635 
 
 Cup-bearers, Persian 1237 
 
 Cymbals, Ancient. Psa. ci 441 
 
 Cypress 798 
 
 Daggers 526 
 
 Damascus 917 
 
 Damascus 923 
 
 Damascus 93] 
 
 Damascus 934 
 
 Damascus, a Reciter in 935 
 
 Damascus, Baker’s Shop in 936 
 
 Damascus, Bazaar in 937 
 
 Damascus, Bazaar in 938 
 
 Dance of Females with Timbrels .... 244 
 
 Dancing Figures, with Castagnets. Psa. cl. 443 
 
 Dancing Girl 452 
 
 Dancing Women of Cairo 536 
 
 Dancing Women 451 
 
 Daniel 940 
 
 Daniel Interpreting the Writing on the Wall 990 
 
 Daniel in the Lions' Den 1033 
 
 Daniel, Block of Marble found near the 
 
 Tomb of, at Susa 1034 
 
 Date Palm 630 
 
 Date Palm, Wild, found in the Sinai 
 Mountains. Exod. xvi. ....... 246 
 
 David, Figure supposed to represent ... 98 
 
 David slaying Goliath. 1 Sam. xvii. . . 670 
 
 David with the Head of Goliath .... 731 
 
 David, Triumph of 437 
 
 David and the Amalekite. 1 Sam. i. . . 726 
 
 David, the Elders of Israel offering the 
 
 Kingdom to 732 
 
 David Dancing before the Ark 734 
 
 David Blessing the People. 1 Chron. xvi. 750 
 
 David and Nathan. 2 Sam. xii 751 
 
 David appointing Solomon to be his Suc- 
 cessor, and the People making their 
 
 Offerings for the Temple 814 
 
 Dead Sea, the. Gen. xix. 25 48 
 
 Death Judgment, Ancient Egyptian . . . 1032 
 
 Debarkation 1190 
 
 Decree, the 1173 
 
 Delhi, Observatory at 1100 
 
 Demosthenes 1125 
 
 Denderah, Interior of the Portico of the 
 
 Great Temple of 593 
 
 Desert 847 
 
 Desolation 1172 
 
 Desolation 1174 
 
 Diana of Ephesus 1157 
 
 Diana of Ephesus, Second Temple of . . 1158 
 
 Didrachma, Grecian, conjectured to be one 
 
 of Nervas 493 
 
 Dinner, Oriental State 904 
 
 Disciples Weeping. John xvi 736 
 
 Disciples at Emmaus 865 
 
 Disciples, Persecution of the. John xvi. . 735 
 
 Dogs, Street, of Syria 1046 
 
 Door and Window, Lattice 1003 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving 
 
 Door, Egyptian 850 
 
 Door-Pins, Metal 851 
 
 Doors, Ancient Egyptian 852 
 
 Dove, Syrian. Gen. viii 8 
 
 Drawers and Girdle . • 899 
 
 Dress of a Modern Egyptian Lady, indoor 538 
 
 Dress of Honour 1223 
 
 Dress of Honour, Ceremony of investing a 
 
 Persian with 1224 
 
 Drink, giving 1144 
 
 Druidical Stone in Persia 646 
 
 Dung, collecting of 638 
 
 Eagle and Nest 462 
 
 Eagle hastening to his prey 1060 
 
 Ear-rings of Men 464 
 
 Ecce Homo 759 
 
 Edfou, General View of the Great Temple at 874 
 
 Edfou, Ground-plan of the Temple of . . 876 
 
 Edom, Land of, Mount Seir in the distance. 
 
 Gen. xiv 45 
 
 Education 1090 
 
 Eelauts in Persia 205 
 
 Egyptian on Horseback 907 
 
 Egyptian with a Tray of Meats on his head. 
 
 Gen. xl. 16 105 
 
 Egyptians at meat. Gen. xliii. 31 ... 138 
 
 El Tyh, Mountains of, with the Rock of 
 
 the Pilgrims 972 
 
 Elath — Akaba 1000 
 
 Elephant, Asiatic 1257 
 
 Elephant, Indian 1256 
 
 Elophanta, Cave of 453 
 
 Elijah and Elisha 981 
 
 Elijah in the Desert 951 
 
 Elisha 1013 
 
 Elkanah and Hannah before Eli. 1 Sam. i. 614 
 
 Elymas struck with Blindness 1006 
 
 Embarkation 1229 
 
 Encampment, Bedouin, in the valley of Sinai 272 
 Entertainment, Egyptian ; showing the 
 
 Form of the Chairs 618 
 
 Ephesus H56 
 
 Ephesus, Amphitheatre at 1159 
 
 Ephesus, Gymnasium at 1160 
 
 Ephod, Egyptian 617 
 
 Ephod and Censer 895 
 
 Ephod and Girdle 89* 
 
 Escape from a Window 671 
 
 Esther before King Ahasuerus 1218 
 
 Eunuch of the Turkish Seraglio .... 885 
 
 Euphrates, view on the 1267 
 
 Euphrates, view on the 1268 
 
 Evangelists, the Four 208 
 
 Ewer and Basin 703 
 
 Ewer and Basin, Oriental 1015 
 
 Eye, painted 1042 
 
 Eye, painted, Ancient Egyptian, with the 
 
 Colour-pot and Pencil 1042 
 
 Eyes, painted 1044 
 
 Ezekiel 592 
 
 Ezekiel, Vision of 590 
 
 Faioum, Brick Pyramid of. Exod. i. . . 168 
 
 Faith 210 
 
 Faith 702 
 
 Fall from Upper Chamber 1189 
 
 Famagusta in Cyprus 1026 
 
 Famagusta, Cyprus, general view of . . . 1196 
 
 Famagusta, Cyprus, remains of 1253 
 
 Famagusta, present appearance of ... . 1028 
 
 Fauteuils, Egyptian 877 
 
 Female reading a Roll 691 
 
 Female reading, with a Box of Rolls . . 687 
 
 Females of Priestly Families. Official 
 
 Dresses. Gen. xli. 45 112 
 
 Ferry-boat on the Nile 786 
 
 Fig-leaves. Gen. iii 1 
 
 Fig-tree 426 
 
 Fig-tree, black 427 
 
 Fig-tree, Sycamore 629 
 
 Figs 653 
 
 Figs, Sycamore 605 
 
 First-Fruits, bringing to Jerusalem . . . 345 
 
 Fish, selling . 1299 
 
 Fisherman 1301 
 
 Fisherman and Net 129* 
 
INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS 
 
 513 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Fisherman and Fish 1300 
 
 Fishes, Miraculous draught of 255 
 
 Fishes, Miraculous draught of 256 
 
 Fitches. Isa. xxviii 189 
 
 Flight, discovery of 1151 
 
 Flight into Egypt 57 
 
 Flight on Mules 784 
 
 Flutes, Ancient Egyptian 941 
 
 Flutes, Double ; Greek 942 
 
 Flutes, Double; Roman 943 
 
 Flute, Modern Egyptian 944 
 
 Foot-race, Olympic 1181 
 
 Fort, storming a 1072 
 
 Fortitude 209 
 
 Fortress 1068 
 
 Fortress attacked : Testudo, &c 1070 
 
 Fortress. Babylon 1076 
 
 Fortress. Memphis 1073 
 
 Fortress with Double Fosse 1075 
 
 Fortress with Fosse and Double Wall . . 1074 
 
 Fountain 1138 
 
 Fountain of the Lions 870 
 
 Frankincense 329 
 
 Frogs. Egyptian. Exod. viii 195 
 
 Fugitive brought back bound 1153 
 
 Fugitives, slaughter of 1171 
 
 Funeral 1167 
 
 Funeral and Burial Ground, Oriental . . 1147 
 
 Funeral Procession, part of an Egyptian, 
 with Acts of Mourning. Gen. i. 26 . . 146 
 
 Futteh Ali Shah, late King of Persia, 
 sitting on heels 755 
 
 Galleys, from Pompeii 1250 
 
 Garden, a watered 64 
 
 Garden-IIouse 1037 
 
 Garden-House 1038 
 
 Gate of Justice 886 
 
 Gaza 602 
 
 Gazelle, Arabian 393 
 
 Gazelle, Dorcas 394 
 
 Gennesaret, Lake of ; with the Town of 
 
 Tiberias 260 
 
 Gibeonite, Craft of the. Josh. ix. ... 484 
 
 Gideon selecting his Men. Judges vii. . 577 
 
 Gifts, bringing 1278 
 
 Gilead, scene in Mountains of, Ruins of 
 
 Gerash 1048 
 
 Girl giving drink to a thirsty traveller. 
 
 Gen. xxiv. 18 69 
 
 Gladiatorial Combat 1161 
 
 Goat, Rock. Isa. xxxiv 191 
 
 Goat, Wild (Ibex). Deut. xiv 367 
 
 Goats of Syria and Egypt, Wild .... 1265 
 
 “ Gods of Wood.” Idols of Painted Syca- 
 more. Deut. iv 275 
 
 Golden Calf, Votaries dancing round the. 
 
 Exod. xxxii 273 
 
 Gopher Wood. Gen. vi 6 
 
 Governor on Journey 1241 
 
 Governor, Arrival of 1242 
 
 Granary, Egyptian. Gen. xli. 35 ... . 109 
 
 Grapes, Palestine 423 
 
 Graven Images of Babylon. Isa. xliv. . . 266 
 
 Great Mogul on Throne 903 
 
 Grindstone 647 
 
 Guitar, Modern Arabian 306 
 
 Hagar and Ishmael sent away. Gen. xxi. 49 
 
 Halt on a Journey 142 
 
 Halt on a Journey 1009 
 
 Hare. Lev. xi 392 
 
 Harem 1225 
 
 Harp, Egyptian 285 
 
 Harp, Egyptian 286 
 
 Harp, Egyptian 287 
 
 Harp, Egyptian 288 
 
 Harp, Egyptian 304 
 
 Harps, early forms of Egyptian 305 
 
 Harp, playing on the, before a King . . . 668 
 
 Harvest 534 
 
 Harvest in Palestine 309 
 
 Hawk. Lev. xi 407 
 
 Head-tire 1040 
 
 Head-tire, female 1045 
 
 Head-tire, part of the 1041 
 
 Hebron 729 
 
 4 I 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Helmets 677 
 
 Hercules 1123 
 
 Hercules 1121 
 
 Heron 409 
 
 Hewers of W ood 389 
 
 Hippopotamus 1258 
 
 Holy Family, the 85 
 
 Holy Ghost, Descent of the 888 
 
 Holy Ghost, Descent of the • 960 
 
 Honour, Corner Seat of 730 
 
 Hood- Veil of an Arab Female 537 
 
 Hoopoe. Lev. xi 404 
 
 Ilor, Mount 446 
 
 Horde, Arab, coming to a Halt 1175 
 
 Horn Blower, Ox’s. Josh, vi 372 
 
 Horn Blower, Rani's. Josh, vi 373 
 
 Hornet. Josh, xxiv 509 
 
 Horse, Persian 1238 
 
 Horse’s Head, from Elgin Marbles . . . 1259 
 
 House, Eastern 1192 
 
 House, Atrium of Roman 1291 
 
 House, Room in Roman 1290 
 
 House, Room in Roman 1295 
 
 Housetops, Eastern 489 
 
 Housetops, Eastern 490 
 
 Ilowdah of an Indian Prince 905 
 
 Huts and Sheep-cotes, Arab, at Bushier . 748 
 
 Ilyrax Syriacus, Coney. Proverbs xxx. . 391 
 
 Hyssop. Exod. xii 197 
 
 Ibis. Lev. xi 406 
 
 Idol, painting an. Isa. xliv 265 
 
 Idumea, a dry valley in 920 
 
 Idumea, defile in ; in the road from Pales- 
 tine to Egypt. Num. xx. . • . . . 444 
 
 Idumea, desolation of. Isa. xxxiii. . . . 193 
 
 Instruction 1088 
 
 Instrument, Egyptian 220 
 
 Instrument, Egyptian 221 
 
 Instrument and Plectrum 228 
 
 Instrument, stringed, from Herculaneum . 218 
 
 Instrument, stringed, from Herculaneum . 219 
 
 Instruments, stringed, Egyptian .... 879 
 
 Ipsambul, Rock-cut Temple of 454 
 
 Isaiah 59 
 
 Isaiah xliv 264 
 
 Isis, worship of 891 
 
 Ispahan, Royal Palace at 1216 
 
 Israel, Repentance of. Judges x. ... 582 
 
 Israel, Tabernacle and Encampment in the 
 
 Wilderness of. Exod. xxvii 327 
 
 Jabbok, River ; Zerka. Gen. xxxii. . . 80 
 
 Jackals (Foxes). Judges xv 596 
 
 Jacob blessing the Sons of Joseph . . . . 167 
 
 Jacob’s Bridge in the Damascus Road . . 933 
 
 James, St., Martyrdom of 985 
 
 Javelin, throwing a 675 
 
 Jehoram, death of 1023 
 
 Jephthah and his Daughter, meeting of. 
 
 Judges xi 583 
 
 Jerboa, “ Mouse.” Lev. xi 390 
 
 Jeremiah. Jer. i 357 
 
 Jeremiah among the Ruins of Jerusalem. 
 
 Lam. ii 358 
 
 Jericho 460 
 
 Jericho, Plain of 999 
 
 Jerusalem 627 
 
 Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives . . . 733 
 
 Jerusalem with the Mount of Olives . . . 280 
 
 Jewels of Gold and Jewels of Silver. 
 
 Exod. iv 463 
 
 Jewish Synagogue, Reading the Law in a 237 
 
 Job and his Friends 967 
 
 Job, Desolation of 918 
 
 John, St., the Infant 58 
 
 John, St., in the Wilderness 122 
 
 John the Baptist 148 
 
 John Baptizing Christ 153 
 
 John Preaching 152 
 
 John Preaching in the Wilderness 149 
 
 Joktheel. A View of Petra, in Wady 
 
 Mousa 1081 
 
 Jonah, the Sign of. Luke xi 354 
 
 Jonathan and his Armour-bearer. 1 Sam. 
 
 xiv 641 
 
 Joppa 966 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving, 
 
 Jordan, the River 151 
 
 Jordan, the River 954 
 
 Jordan, Plain of the. Gen. xiii 44 
 
 Jordan, supposed source of the 998 
 
 Jordan, the, leaving the Lake of Tiberias . 150 
 
 Joseph, the Angel appearing to 21 
 
 Joseph relating his Dream to his Brethren. 
 
 Gen. xxxvii 101 
 
 Joseph interpreting the Dreams of the 
 
 Butler and Baker. Gen. xl 106 
 
 Joseph and Jacob, meeting of. Gen. xlvi. 141 
 
 Joshua and the Angel. Josh, v 482 
 
 Joshua and Eleazar dividing the Land by 
 
 lot. Josh, xviii 507 
 
 Joshua, charge of. Josh, xxii 508 
 
 Josiah and the Ambassadors • 1134 
 
 Jubilee, proclamation of the. Lev. xxv. . 362 
 
 Judtea Capta 66 
 
 Judaea Devicta 65 
 
 Judea, View in the Mountains of .... 581 
 
 Judgment-scat, Roman 758 
 
 Julius Caesar 16 
 
 Juniper, the Phoenician 61 
 
 Juniper-tree 978 
 
 Jupiter Olympus 1024 
 
 Justice 1089 
 
 Kedron, Brook, Valley of Jehoshaphat, 
 showing the summit of Absalom’s Tomb 781 
 
 King, Eastern, and Chief of the Eunuchs 987 
 
 King, Persian, and Great Officers .... 1170 
 
 King, Bed-chamber of a 1104 
 
 King, Persian, enthroned 1213 
 
 King in Bed 1 102 
 
 King on his Couch 1106 
 
 King (the Sultan) on Throne 883 
 
 King on his Throne, Egyptian. Gen. 
 
 xli. 14 108 
 
 King reposing 1103 
 
 King supported 1212 
 
 King, Persian, walking 1214 
 
 King’s Daughter 925 
 
 King’s Horse, the 1219 
 
 King’s House, Ground Plan of 871 
 
 Kneading 253 
 
 Kneeling on the Shore 119) 
 
 Knives and Lancets of Egypt 977 
 
 Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Death of. 
 
 Num. xvi 419 
 
 Kubbeh, or Tomb , 1164 
 
 Laban searching for his Idols. Gen. xxxi. 
 
 Lacerta Gecko. Lev. xi 
 
 Lacerta Stellio. Lev. xi 
 
 Laccrta Scincus. Lev. xi 
 
 Lady, Egyptian. Gen. xxxix 
 
 Lady of Modern Egypt, with the common 
 Face Veil, and one form of the Walking 
 
 W rapper 
 
 Lamps, Egyptian 
 
 Laodicca 
 
 Lattice-work, specimen of 
 
 Laver, supposed form of the. Exod. xxx. 
 
 Lazarus at the Gate 
 
 Lazarus, Raising of 
 
 Leaven, Searching for the 
 
 Lebanon, distant View of 
 
 Lentiles. Gen. xxv. 30 
 
 Leopard, Syrian. Isa. xiii 
 
 Lictor, Roman 
 
 Lily. Matt, vi 
 
 Lion, Arabian 
 
 Lion, Couching. Gen. xlix. 9 
 
 Lion, Chase of the 
 
 Lion, Dying 
 
 Lioness and Whelps 
 
 Locusts. Exod. 
 
 Loins, Girded 
 
 Love 
 
 Luke, St 
 
 Luke xi 
 
 Lyre, tuning the 
 
 Lyre, striking the • . . • 
 
 Lyres, Ancient Tortoise 
 
 Lyres, Egyptian 
 
 Lyres, Square 
 
 75 
 
 395 
 
 396 
 
 397 
 104 
 
 555 
 
 581 
 
 1056 
 
 1005 
 
 328 
 
 565 
 
 586 
 
 544 
 
 1082 
 
 72 
 
 130 
 
 1084 
 
 336 
 
 927 
 
 144 
 
 950 
 
 970 
 
 971 
 196 
 980 
 
 1122 
 
 184 
 
 349 
 
 99 
 
 100 
 
 217 
 
 229 
 
 222 
 
514: 
 
 INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Lyres, various . . . . 226 
 
 Lystra the Sacrifice of 1007 
 
 Magician, Eastern 992 
 
 Maid-Servants, Egyptian 137 
 
 Malta 1252 
 
 Malta (from Forbin) 1276 
 
 Man-Servant, Egyptian 136 
 
 Mandarin with Emperor's Letter .... 1059 
 
 Manna, gathering the. Exod. xvi. . . . 248 
 
 Manoah and the Angel. Judges xiii. . . 594 
 
 Mark, St 183 
 
 Mark Antony 17 
 
 Market at Gate 562 
 
 Marriage, the 554 
 
 Marriage at Cana 185 
 
 Marriage Procession of a Hindoo Bride- 
 groom 679 
 
 Marriage Procession of a Bride in Lebanon 680 
 Mars’ Hill. The Areopagus, Athens . . 1117 
 
 Matthew, St 182 
 
 Matthew v. 24 334 
 
 Matthew vii. 19 335 
 
 Matthias, St., Admission of 889 
 
 Mausoleum 1163 
 
 Meat, modes of lying at. John xiv. . . . 350 
 
 Melkart, or the Tyrian Hercules .... 955 
 
 Melkart, head of 956 
 
 Mercury 1025 
 
 Messengers, race of 788 
 
 Messina 1288 
 
 Messina, Street in 1289 
 
 Midianites, destruction of the, by Gideon’s 
 
 three Companies. Judges vii 578 
 
 Migration, an Oriental 200 
 
 Mill at Cairo, fine Lime-grinding .... 633 
 
 Mill, Women grinding in a 601 
 
 Minerva 1118 
 
 Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes .... 449 
 
 Miracle of curing the Deaf, Mark vii. . . 466 
 
 Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, Mark vi. 467 
 
 Mirage, the 1186 
 
 Miriam celebrating the Deliverance of 
 
 Israel. Exod. xv 243 
 
 Mirrors, Ancient Metal. Job xxxvii. 18. 1209 
 
 Moab.viewin the Land of 632 
 
 Monumental Pillars 503 
 
 Monuments, Egyptian, resembling Modern 
 
 Tombstones, in the Sinai Regions . . . 1133 
 
 Mordecai and Esther 1217 
 
 Mordecai and Esther, Tomb of 1201 
 
 Mosaic, Pattern of Egyptian. Isa. liv. . 315 
 
 Mosaic, Pattern of Egyptian. Isa. liv. . 316 
 
 Mosaic, Pattern of Egyptian. Isa. liv. . 317 
 
 Mosaic, Pattern of Egyptian. Isa. liv. . 318 
 
 Mosaic, Pattern of Egyptian. Isa. liv. . 319 
 
 Mosaic, Pattern of Egyptian. Isa. liv. . 320 
 
 Moses, Exod. v 193 
 
 Moses, Finding of. Exod. ii 170 
 
 Moses and the Egyptian 171 
 
 Mosesand Aaron before Pharaoh. Exod. vii. 194 
 Moses at the Passage of the Red Sea. Exod. 
 
 xiv 212 
 
 Moses with the Tables of the Law, Deut. v. 277 
 Moses consecrating Aaron. Lev. viii. . . 360 
 
 Moses striking the Rock. Num xx. . . 445 
 
 Moses beholding the Promised Land . . . 465 
 
 Moses, Rock of. Exod. xvii 247 
 
 Moses, Summit of Mount. Exod. xx. . . 270 
 
 Mosque on the Tigris 1264 
 
 Mourner at Tomb 1165 
 
 Mourning Women 603 
 
 Mourning Women 1145 
 
 Mourning over a Corpse 1146 
 
 Mule 834 
 
 Mummy Cases and Marble Sarcophagi. 
 
 Gen. i. 26 147 
 
 Mummy lying in its Case. Gen. i. 26 . . 145 
 
 Muses, the 1119 
 
 Muses, the 1120 
 
 Mustard 428 
 
 Mustard 543 
 
 “ My children are desolate ” 359 
 
 Naples, from the Sea 1287 
 
 Nativity, the 23 
 
 N itivity, the 64 
 
 No. of 
 
 Nazareth 52 
 
 Nazareth, Mount of Precipitation, near . 241 
 
 Nazarite, a 637 
 
 Necklace, Egyptian 176 
 
 Nero, Coin of 1297 
 
 Nero, Ruins of the Palace of 1294 
 
 Nile, Summer Parlour on the 532 
 
 Nile, View of the River 169 
 
 Nineveh 1080 
 
 No : Thebes. Jer. xlvi 456 
 
 Noah offering sacrifices. Gen. viii. ... 13 
 
 Noph : Metrahenny. Jer. ii 455 
 
 Nuts. Gen. xliii. 11 113 
 
 Oak, the Valonidi 62 
 
 Obeisance, Eastern forms of 813 
 
 Obelisks in front of a Temple 873 
 
 Offering, Burnt, of the Herd. Lev. i. . . 338 
 
 Offering, Meat. Lev. ii 339 
 
 Offering, Peace. Lev. iii 340 
 
 Offering, Sin, of the Congregation. Lev. iv. 341 
 
 Offering, Trespass, of the Poor. Lev. v. . 342 
 
 Offering, the Princes’. Num. vii. . . . 364 
 
 Offering at the Feast of Trumpets, First 
 
 Days. Num. xxix 366 
 
 Olive Branch with Fruit. Gen. viii. ... 9 
 
 Olive Tree. Gen. viii 10 
 
 On, or Heliopolis 133 
 
 Ornaments of Egyptian Females .... 177 
 
 Oryx leucoryx 165 
 
 Osprey. Lev. xi 403 
 
 Ostrich. Lev. xi 410 
 
 Overseer of Cattle. Gen. xlvii. 3 . . . . 143 
 
 Owl, Screech. Isa. xxxiv 192 
 
 Ox, Camel, and Ass, Syrian. Gen. xii. . 41 
 
 Ox-goad 529 
 
 Painting found in a Tomb at Thebes . . . 295 
 
 Palace Gate 1239 
 
 Palace Gate 1240 
 
 Palace, Oriental 1106 
 
 Palanquin, Egyptian 906 
 
 Palermo 1278 
 
 Palm-tree 631 
 
 Palm-tree 1246 
 
 Palm-trees 1266 
 
 Palmyra, near view of a Portion of the 
 
 Ruins 909 
 
 Palmyra, general view of the Principal 
 
 Ruins 910 
 
 Palmyra, Arab sitting amidst the Ruins of 969 
 
 Pandean Pipes 296 
 
 Papyrus Roll, Fragment of an Egyptian . 688 
 
 Parable of the Blind leading the Blind. 
 
 Matt, xv 468 
 
 Parable of Labourers in the Vineyard . . 604 
 
 Parable of the King and the Debtor . . . 494 
 
 Parable of the Sower. Luke viii 352 
 
 Parable of the Tares. Matt, xiii 353 
 
 Parable of the Supper 542 
 
 Parting of the Wav 1154 
 
 Partridges, Oriental. Jer. xvii 401 
 
 Parthenon, Remains of the 1109 
 
 Passover, Modern Jewish 707 
 
 Paul, St 1116 
 
 Paul Preaching to the Galatians 1053 
 
 Paul Preaching at Athens 1108 
 
 Paul shaking a Viper from his hand . . . 1255 
 
 Penitence 794 
 
 Peter curing the Cripple 890 
 
 Peter denying Christ 738 
 
 Peter, James, and John 257 
 
 Peter, St., and St. Paul 982 
 
 Peter St., deliverance of 983 
 
 Peter visiting Dorcas 961 
 
 Petra, interior of a Tomb at ... ... 607 
 
 Petra, Mount Seir 997 
 
 Petra, Rock Valley in the vicinity of. 
 
 Jer. xlix 498 
 
 Petra, Ruins of a Temple built in the 
 
 “ Clefts of the Bock.” Jer. xlix. 16 . 497 
 
 Petra, Temple at. Jer. xlix 499 
 
 Pharaoh and his Dost, destruction of . . . 204 
 
 Pharaoh’s Daughter 855 
 
 Pharaoh’s Palace Gen. xli 107 
 
 Phoenicia, Open Temple in 645 
 
 Phrygian, with coat of Ringed Mail . . . 692 
 
 No. of 
 Engranng 
 
 Pilgrims, Christian 1113 
 
 Pillars of Eastern Buildings, supporting . 600 
 
 Pillows of Stoneand Wood. Gen.xxviii.il 73 
 
 Pincers 859 
 
 Pinus Ilalepensis (Aleppo Fir) .... 799 
 
 Pinus pinea (Stone Pine) 796 
 
 Pinus pinea (Stone Pine) 797 
 
 Pinus Sylvestris 795 
 
 Pitchers, Egyptian 579 
 
 Plague, the 803 
 
 Plague of Thunder and Rain. 1 Sam. xii. 640 
 
 Plasterers at Work, Modern Egyptian, 
 showing some of the tempering opera- 
 tions used 634 
 
 Plough, Ring-handle, and Sowing. Gen. 
 
 viii 11 
 
 Poesy 869 
 
 Pomegranate 422 
 
 Pompeii, from a Painting on the 'Walls of 1249 
 
 Pounding in a Mortar 251 
 
 Prayer Hut 1085 
 
 Presentation to an Eastern King .... 998 
 
 Presentation in the Temple 55 
 
 Presents to a Bedouin Chief 699 
 
 Priests, Egyptian 892 
 
 Princes of Pharaoh 131 
 
 Princes of Pharaoh 132 
 
 Prison, the Mamertine 1286 
 
 Prisoner, Eastern 495 
 
 Prisoner, Release of 1169 
 
 Procession of Honour, Start 1220 
 
 Procession of Honour, Progress 1221 
 
 Procession of Honour, Return 1222 
 
 Procession, a Musical 749 
 
 Procession of a Pasha of Egypt and of his 
 Great Officers of State (to illustrate the 
 
 Proclamation of Solomon) 833 
 
 Prodigal Son 545 
 
 Prodigal Son 563 
 
 Prudence 1092 
 
 Psalm i 26 
 
 Psalm ii 27 
 
 Psalm iii 28 
 
 Psalm iv 29 
 
 Psalm v 30 
 
 Psalm vi 31 
 
 Psalm vii 32 
 
 Psalm viii 33 
 
 Psalm ix 34 
 
 Psalm x 35 
 
 Psalm xi 36 
 
 Psalm xii 37 
 
 Psalm xiii 38 
 
 Psalm xiv 39 
 
 Psalm xr 89 
 
 Psalm xvi 90 
 
 Psalm xvii 91 
 
 Psalm xviii 92 
 
 Psalm xix 93 
 
 Psalm xx 94 
 
 Psalm xxi 95 
 
 Psalm xxii n . . . . 96 
 
 Psalm xxiii 97 
 
 Psalm xxv 154 
 
 Psalm xx vi 155 
 
 Psalm xxvii 156 
 
 Psalm xxviii 157 
 
 Psalm xxix 158 
 
 Psalm xxix 159 
 
 Psalm xxx 160 
 
 Psalm xxxi 161 
 
 Psalm xxxii 162 
 
 Psalm xxxiii 163 
 
 Psalm xxxiv 164 
 
 Psalm xxxv 223 
 
 Psalm xxxvi 224 
 
 Psalm xxxvii 225 
 
 Psalm xxxviii 230 
 
 Psalm xxxix 231 
 
 Psalm xxxix 232 
 
 Psalm xli 233 
 
 Psalm xiii 234 
 
 Psalm xliii 235 
 
 Psalm xliv 289 
 
 Psalm xiv 290 
 
 Psalm xlvi 291 
 
 Psalm xlvii 292 
 
INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 515 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Psalm slviii 293 
 
 Psalin xlix 294 
 
 Psalm 1. . 298 
 
 Psalm li 299 
 
 Psalm lii 300 
 
 Psalm iiii 301 
 
 Psalm ii v 302 
 
 Psalm lv 303 
 
 Psalm lvi 374 
 
 Psalm lvii 375 
 
 Psalm lviii 376 
 
 Psalm lix 377 
 
 Psalm lx 378 
 
 Psalm lxi 379 
 
 Psalm lxii 380 
 
 Psalm lxiii 381 
 
 Psalm lxiv 382 
 
 Psalm Ixv 383 
 
 Psalm lxvi 384 
 
 Psalm lxvii 385 
 
 Psalm Ixviii . 430 
 
 Psalm lxix 431 
 
 Psalm lxx 432 
 
 Psalm lxxi 433 
 
 Psalm lxxii 434 
 
 Psalm lxxiii 435 
 
 Psalm lxxiv 436 
 
 Psalm lxxv 470 
 
 Psalm lxxvi 471 
 
 Psalm lxxvii 472 
 
 Psalm lxxviii 473 
 
 Psalm lxxix 474 
 
 Psalm lxxx 475 
 
 Psalm lxxxi 476 
 
 Psalm lxxxii 477 
 
 Psalm lxxxiii 478 
 
 Psalm Ixxxiv 479 
 
 Psalm lxxxv . . 480 
 
 Psalm lxxxvi 515 
 
 Psalm lxxxvii . . 516 
 
 Psalm lxxxviii 517 
 
 Psalm lxxxviii. “ Mine eye mourneth by 
 
 reason of affliction ” 518 
 
 Psalm Ixxxix. 519 
 
 Psalm 520 
 
 Psalm xci 521 
 
 Psalm xcii 522 
 
 Psalm xciii 523 
 
 Psalm xcv 524 
 
 Psalm xc. 10. “ The days of our years are 
 
 threescore years and ten ” 566 
 
 Psalm xcv 567 
 
 Psalm xcvi 568 
 
 Psalm xcvii 569 
 
 Psalm xcviii 570 
 
 Psalm xcix 571 
 
 Psalm c 572 
 
 Psalm ci 573 
 
 Psalin cii 574 
 
 Psalm ciii 575 
 
 Psalm civ 576 
 
 Psalm cv 608 
 
 Psalm cvi 609 
 
 Psalm cvii 610 
 
 Psalin cvii. 26. “ They are carried up to 
 
 the heaven, and down again to the deep ; 
 their soul mclteth away because of the 
 
 trouble” 611 
 
 Psalm cviii 612 
 
 Psalm cix 613 
 
 Psalm cx 654 
 
 Psalm cxi 655 
 
 Psalm cxii 656 
 
 Psalm cxiii 657 
 
 Psalm cxiv 658 
 
 Psalin cxv 659 
 
 Psalm cxvi 660 
 
 Psalm cxvii 661 
 
 Psalm cxviii 662 
 
 Psalm cxix. Aleph 663 
 
 Psalm cxix Beth 664 
 
 Psalm cxix. Gimel 665 
 
 Psalm cxix. Daleth 666 
 
 Psalm cxix. He 708 
 
 Psalm cxix. Vau 709 
 
 Psalm cxix. Zain 710 
 
 Psalm cxix. Cheth .......... 711 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Psalm cxix. Teth 712 
 
 Psalm cxix. Jod 713 
 
 Psalm cxix. Caph 714 
 
 Psalm cxix. Lamed “15 
 
 Psalm cxix. Mem 716 
 
 Psalm cxix. Nun 717 
 
 Psalm cxix. Samech 718 
 
 Psalm cxix. Ain . 719 
 
 Psalm cxix. Pe . . . 720 
 
 Psalm cxix. Tzaddi 721 
 
 Psalm cxix. Koph 722 
 
 Psalm cxix. Resh 723 
 
 Psalm cxix. Schin 724 
 
 Psalm cxix. Tau 725 
 
 Psalm exx 762 
 
 Psalm exxi 763 
 
 Psalm cxxii 764 
 
 Psalm cxxiii. 765 
 
 Psalm cxxiv 766 
 
 Psalm exxv 767 
 
 Psalm cxxvi 768 
 
 Psalm cxxvii 769 
 
 Psalm cxxviiii 770 
 
 Psalm cxxix 771 
 
 Psalm exxx 772 
 
 Psalm cxxxi 773 
 
 Psalm cxxxii 774 
 
 Psalm cxxxiii 775 
 
 Psalm cxxxiv 776 
 
 Psalm cxxxv. . 777 
 
 Psalm cxxxvi 778 
 
 Psalm cxxxvii 779 
 
 Psalm cxxxviii 780 
 
 Psalm cxxxix. 6, 7. “ Whither shall I go 
 
 then from thy Spirit? If I climb up 
 
 into heaven, thou art there 1” 867 
 
 Psalm cxxxix 818 
 
 Psalm cxl 819 
 
 Psalm cxli 820 
 
 Psalm cxiii 821 
 
 Psalm cxliii-. 822 
 
 Psalm exliv 828 
 
 Psalm exlv 824 
 
 Psalm cxlvi. 825 
 
 Psalm cxlvii 826 
 
 Psalm cxlviii 827 
 
 Psalm cxlix . . 828 
 
 Psalm cl . . . . 829 
 
 Ptolemais 1200 
 
 Publican and Pharisee . 584 
 
 Pulpit, Modern Oriental 1248 
 
 Purification of the Soldier and his Spoil. 
 
 Num. xxxi 461 
 
 Quadrans, Roman 651 
 
 Quail. Num. xi 413 
 
 Queen, Journey of an Abyssinian .... 901 
 
 Rabbah of Ammon, Ruins of 756 
 
 Rachel’s Sepulchre 83 
 
 Rahab and the Spies, Bath of. Josh. ii. . 481 
 
 Rain, the 1202 
 
 Raising Water by the Feet 1185 
 
 Ram, Four-horned. Gen. xxii 51 
 
 Rama (Arimathea) • . 838 
 
 Raven, Head and Foot of 953 
 
 Reading before a King ........ 1149 
 
 Reading the Law 1244 
 
 Record Chamber 1177 
 
 Red Sea, viewed from Ras Mohammed. 
 
 Exod. xiv 213 
 
 Reeds. Isa. xix 188 
 
 Refuge in Caverns 672 
 
 Repentance 346 
 
 Resurrection, the 817 
 
 Resurrection, the 839 
 
 Rhodes 1197 
 
 Ring, Signet 976 
 
 Rings, Seal, Egyptian 1215 
 
 Rings, Signet, of Ancient Egypt. Gen. 
 
 xli. 42 Ill 
 
 Robbers, Arab 1204 
 
 Roman Eagle 965 
 
 Rome, Forum at 1183 
 
 Rome, Ruins of the Forum of 1293 
 
 Ropes on Necks 979 
 
 Ruins 1055 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Ruins 846 
 
 Runners attending a chariot ...... 642 
 
 Ruth and Naomi. Ruth i 531 
 
 Sackcloth 
 
 Saddles, Egyptian, Judges xix 
 
 Salutation, Mode of 
 
 Salutation, Modes of 
 
 Samaria, Sebaste 
 
 Samaritan, the Good. Luke x 
 
 Samson giving the Honey to his Father. 
 
 Judges xiv 
 
 Samson and Delilah. Judges xvi 
 
 Samson, death of. Judges xvi 
 
 Samuel, the Young 
 
 Samuel and Agag. 1 Sam. xv 
 
 Samuel anointing David. 1 Sam. xvi. . . 
 
 Samuel and Eli. 1. Sam. ii 
 
 Sanballat and Tobiah 
 
 Sand-Storm 
 
 Sandals, Grecian and Roman 
 
 Sandals and Shoes, Ancient 
 
 Sanctification, or setting apart of the Sons of 
 Aaron to the Priestly Office. Exod. xl. 
 Santon, application to a ........ 
 
 Santon under a Tree 
 
 Saul among the Prophets 
 
 Saul and the Ammonites. 1 Sam. xi. . . 
 Saul returning from Battle with the Spoil 
 
 of the Amalekites. 1 Sam. xv 
 
 Saul and the Witch of Endor, 1 Sam. xxix. 
 
 Saul, Conversion of 
 
 Sawyers 
 
 Scales, Ancient Egyptian 
 
 Scales, Ancient Egyptian 
 
 Scape-Goat, and Young Bullock, Goat, and 
 Kid of Goats, for Sin Offering. Lev. xvi. 
 Scarabaei, Egyptian, engraved under-sur- 
 faces of. Gen. xix. ...... ... 
 
 Scarabaei, Egyptian, back and side views. 
 
 Gen. xxxi. 19 
 
 Scorpion 
 
 Scribe, Egyptian 
 
 Sculptors blocking out Stone for the form- 
 ation of an Idol, Ancient Egyptian. 
 
 Isa. xliv 
 
 Sculptures at Persepolis, “ Thou hast given 
 me the necks of mine enemies.” 2 Sam. 
 
 xxii. 41 * • 
 
 Sculptures from the Parthenon 
 
 Sculptures from the Parthenon 
 
 Sculptures from the Parthenon 
 
 Sculptures from the Parthenon 
 
 Seals 
 
 Seir, Mountains of.. Gen. xiv 
 
 Sentence of Judgment 
 
 Sepulchral Monuments near Sidon .... 
 
 Sepulchre, interior of a Rock 
 
 Sepulchre, Holy 
 
 Sepulchre, Holy, interior of the 
 
 Sepulchre, Mary Magdalen and the Dis- 
 ciples at the 
 
 Sepulchre of the Kings 
 
 Sepulchres, Mountain of, at Nakshi Rustam 
 
 Seraph, a * • 
 
 Seraphim. A supposed analogous figure 
 from a Persian Sculpture at Mourg Aub. 
 
 Isa. vi 
 
 Serbal, Mount, Sinai 
 
 Serpent, the Brazen. Num. xxi .... 
 
 Serpent-charmers, Indian ....... 
 
 Serpent-charmers, Indian ....... 
 
 Serpent-charming 
 
 Serpent-taming 
 
 Serpents 
 
 Service of the Gershonitcs. Num. iii. . . 
 Servioe of the Koathites. Num. iii. . . . 
 Service of the Mararites. Num. iii. . . . 
 
 Shadoof, &c., Chinese 
 
 Shadoof, Ancient 
 
 Shadoofs, Modem 
 
 Shaving the Head 
 
 Sheaves, Binding 
 
 Shechem, Valley of, with Mounts Ebal 
 
 and Gerizim 
 
 Sheep, Fat-tailed. Gen. iii 
 
 Shepherd, the Good 
 
 728 
 
 561 
 
 811 
 
 819 
 
 93C 
 
 514 
 
 595 
 
 597 
 
 598 
 615 
 644 
 657 
 610 
 
 1247 
 
 1107 
 
 557 
 
 558 
 
 331 
 
 1014 
 
 952 
 
 626 
 
 639 
 
 643 
 
 1049 
 
 916 
 
 783 
 
 1030 
 
 1031 
 
 343 
 
 76 
 
 77 
 1066 
 
 686 
 
 263 
 
 801 
 
 1126 
 
 1127 
 
 1128 
 1124 
 
 977 
 
 46 
 
 836 
 
 743 
 
 587 
 
 841 
 
 842 
 
 840 
 
 1018 
 
 742 
 
 591 
 
 124 
 
 976 
 
 447 
 
 1235 
 
 1236 
 
 1233 
 
 1234 
 1232 
 
 388 
 
 387 
 
 386 
 
 1143 
 
 1141 
 
 1142 
 1162 
 
 535 
 
 242 
 
 5 
 
 121 
 
516 
 
 INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 No. of 
 
 Engraving. 
 
 Shepherd, the Good. John x 512 
 
 Shepherds, Oriental. Gen. xxix. 3 . . . 74 
 
 Shewbread, probable form of the Table of. 
 
 Exod. 283 
 
 Shields, from a Sculpture at Thebes . . . 947 
 
 Shields and Spears, Ancient Persian . . . 948 
 Shields and Spears, Modern Oriental . . 929 
 
 Shields, form and manner of using the 
 
 Roman 949 
 
 Ship, Egyptian 804 
 
 Ship in a Storm 1251 
 
 Ship, from a Painting at Pompeii .... 1230 
 Ship, from a Bas-relief on a Tomb at 
 
 Pompeii 1231 
 
 Ships of the Nile 1273 
 
 Ships in Port, Eastern 1195 
 
 Shishak, King of Egypt, Thebes .... 926 
 
 Shrine and Ark borne by Priests 897 
 
 Shrine carried in Procession ...... 900 
 
 Shrine in its Sanctuary 898 
 
 Shunamitish Woman pleading for her Lands 1022 
 
 Siege, an Egyptian 487 
 
 Siloah, Village of. Isa. viii 125 
 
 Siloam, Pool of. Isa. viii 126 
 
 Siloam, Well of 363 
 
 Sin, Wilderness of. Exod. xvi 249 
 
 Sinai, Valley and Convent of. Exod. xix. 269 
 
 Sinai, general view of 414 
 
 Sinai, a Valley in 267 
 
 Sinai, Summit of Mount 415 
 
 Sinai, Ascent to Mount 174 
 
 Sinai and Iloreb, Mounts, with the Convent 
 
 of St. Catherine. Exod. iii 173 
 
 Sinai, present Inhabitants of ...... 418 
 
 Singing Men, Modern Syrian 1137 
 
 Sisera, death of. Judges iv 701 
 
 Sistrums, Ancient. Psa. ci 440 
 
 Sistrums. Psa. cl 442 
 
 Sitting, various modes of 620 
 
 Slingers, Egyptian 527 
 
 Slings 528 
 
 Snuffers 858 
 
 Soldiers 694 
 
 Soldiers, Egyptian. Exod. xv 214 
 
 Soldiers, Roman 963 
 
 Soldiers, Roman 964 
 
 Soldiers, Roman 1226 
 
 Soldiers, Roman 1227 
 
 Soldiers, Persian 1178 
 
 Soldiers of Different Corps, Egyptian . . 203 
 
 Solomon and Bathsheba 835 
 
 Solomon, Judgment of 837 
 
 Solomon’s Porch 914 
 
 Solomon’s Temple, plan of 849 
 
 Son of Man coming in the Clouds. Matt. 
 
 xxiv 648 
 
 Spears, Egyptians manufacturing. Isa. xliv. 262 
 Spies with the Grapes and Pomegranates. 
 
 Deut. i. 25 421 
 
 Spoons 884 
 
 Standards, Roman 1182 
 
 Stephen, St., Martyrdom of 915 
 
 Stewards, Egyptian. Gen. xxxix. 4. . . 103 
 
 Stocks, Indian 1062 
 
 Stones of Memorial 504 
 
 Stork. Jer. viii 399 
 
 Storm at Sea • 1210 
 
 Storm at Sea 1211 
 
 Storm at Sea 1254 
 
 Strainer and Ladle for Wine. Jer. xxxv. 496 
 
 Stylus, or Iron Pen, use of the 1111 
 
 Suez, from the North-east 216 
 
 Summer-house, Lattice 1004 
 
 Sun-dial, Ancient 1094 
 
 Sun-dial, Ancient 1095 
 
 Sun-dial, Ancient 1096 
 
 Sun-dial, Ancient 1097 
 
 Sun-dial, Ancient portable 1098 
 
 Supper, the Last 705 
 
 Supper, the Last 706 
 
 Swallow, Sea Lev. xi. . . 408 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving. 
 
 Swallow of Palestine. Jer. viii 398 
 
 Sycamore Tree 875 
 
 Symbols, Sacred. Deut. iv 276 
 
 Syracuse 1277 
 
 Tabernacle, setting up of the. Exod. xxvi. 323 
 Tabernacles, Feast of. Lev. xxiii. . . . 361 
 
 Taboot, the 1188 
 
 Tabor, Mount 492 
 
 Tabor, Mount 1050 
 
 Tabor, Mount, a meeting near 624 
 
 Tadmor. Palmyra 911 
 
 Tambourine-players, Egyptian. Psa. cxlix. 439 
 Tambourines, Classical, of Eastern Origin. 
 
 Psa. cxlix • 438 
 
 Tatar, or Turkish Courier 1058 
 
 Teheran, Castle near 809 
 
 Teheran, Palace of the British Envoy at . 599 
 
 Temperance 1091 
 
 Temple, Egyptian 872 
 
 Temple, Ruined 1057 
 
 Tents, Arab 1203 
 
 Tents. Arab Encampment in the Wilder- 
 ness 417 
 
 Teraphim. Gen. xxxi. 19 79 
 
 Terebinth Tree. Gen. xii 42 
 
 Terebinth Tree. Gen. xii 43 
 
 Terrace Cultivation 1184 
 
 Theologia 868 
 
 Thomas, Incredulity of 866 
 
 Thorn. Gen. iii 2 
 
 Threshing by Animals 312 
 
 Threshing by the Drag 310 
 
 Threshing by the Sledge 313 
 
 Threshing Drag of Syria and Asia Minor . 311 
 
 Throne, Solomon’s 882 
 
 Throne with Steps - 881 
 
 Thrones, Egyptian 880 
 
 Thyatira 1087 
 
 Tiberias, Lake and Town of 180 
 
 Tirhakah 1099 
 
 Titus, Bas-relief from the Arch of. Exod. 
 
 xxv 322 
 
 Tob, Woman bearing the 540 
 
 Tomb 1166 
 
 Tomb at Petra 744 
 
 Tomb of Ezra 1262 
 
 Tomb of the Kings of Judah in the Valley 
 
 of Jehoshaphat 932 
 
 Tomb of the Kings at Jerusalem, interior 
 
 of the 588 
 
 Torrent .... * 1010 
 
 Torrent, Winter 1011 
 
 Tower in the Desert. Gen. xxxv 82 
 
 Tower, or Fort, detached 1069 
 
 Town Gate 1243 
 
 Transfiguration, the 491 
 
 Transporting large Stones, Egyptian mode 
 
 of 853 
 
 Treading the conquered under feet . . . 488 
 
 Treasure Finding 968 
 
 Trees, Felling, in Lebanon 261 
 
 Trigonum, Grecian 227 
 
 Triticum Sativum and IIolcus Sorghum. 
 
 Gen. xii. 5 107 
 
 Trophy, Military 745 
 
 Trumpet, Ancient. Psa. xcviii 370 
 
 Trumpet or Funeral Pipe 369 
 
 Trumpets sounding an Alarm. Num. x. . 371 
 
 Tumbler, Egyptian 1282 
 
 Turtle, Collared 402 
 
 Tyre .... 1198 
 
 Tyre 843 
 
 Tyre, Ruins of 844 
 
 Tyre, Ruins on the Coast of 845 
 
 Tyre and Zidon, view on the sea-coast 
 between. Josh, xix 501 
 
 Umbrella 
 
 Urfah, supposed “Ur of the Chaldees.” 
 Gen. 
 
 Veil, Black 
 
 No. of 
 Engraving . 
 
 . 539 
 
 Vessels, Domestic and Ornamental, of the 
 
 Egyptians 747 
 
 Vessels, Egyptian 746 
 
 Vessels, Skin 1208 
 
 Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem 760 
 
 Vineyard 63 
 
 Vintage, Egyptian 1269 
 
 Virgin and Child 84 
 
 Virgin and Child 119 
 
 Virgin and Child, from South Porch at 
 
 Amiens 24 
 
 Virgin, Child, and St. John 120 
 
 Virgin, Child, and St. John 86 
 
 Virgin, Child, and St. John 87 
 
 Virgin and Infant Christ 25 
 
 Virgin, Salutation of the 22 
 
 Viper (El Effah). Job xx 1114 
 
 Vulture, Aquiline 412 
 
 Wady Feiran 271 
 
 Wady Ghurundel 268 
 
 Wady Mokatteb, in the Lower Sinai . . . 974 
 
 Wady Mokatteb, the Inscribed Rocks of . 1112 
 Wady Mousa (in Mount Seir), Sepulchral 
 Caves in the Clifts of. Gen. xxiii. . . 67 
 
 Walking Wrapper 556 
 
 Walls and Towers, manned 1071 
 
 Walls and Towers. From Babylonian 
 
 Coins 1077 
 
 War in the Streets 1148 
 
 War-enariots, Egyptian 202 
 
 War-horse, Eastern 1260 
 
 War-horse, Eastern 1261 
 
 Warrior and Armour-bearer. Modern 
 
 Egypt 669 
 
 Warrior in Armour, Grecian 676 
 
 Washing Hands 704 
 
 Water-bearers, Egyptian 239 
 
 Water-carrier 485 
 
 Water-carriers 486 
 
 Watch Towers, Group of Modern Oriental ; 
 selected from examples in the Towns of 
 
 Lower Egypt 559 
 
 Weaving, Modern Oriental 1012 
 
 Well at Cana in Galilee 807 
 
 Well with Camels. Gen. xxiv 68 
 
 Whale 1283 
 
 Wheat, Ears of 307 
 
 Wheat, Ears of 308 
 
 Wheat, Persian 1187 
 
 Window, exterior of Lattice 1001 
 
 Window', Lattice 1002 
 
 Windows, Egyptian 854 
 
 Wine-cups, Egyptian. Gen xliv. 2 . . . 116 
 
 Wine-press, Egyptian 1271 
 
 Wine-press, Egyptian 1272 
 
 Wine-press, carrying Grapes to 1270 
 
 Winnowing Corn in the Threshing-floor . 530 
 
 Wise Men’s Offering, the 56 
 
 Wolf, Syrian. Isa. xiii 129 
 
 Woman of Tekoah. 2 Sam. xiv 782 
 
 Woman taken in Adultery, the. John viii. 510 
 
 Woman, Veiled. Gen. xxiv. 65 ... . 71 
 
 Women on Camels. Gen. xxiv. 61 . . . 70 
 
 Worship, Egyptian 134 
 
 Worship of the Serpent 1101 
 
 Worshipping with the Head Covered : a 
 
 Jew. 1 Cor. xi. 5 1129 
 
 Worshipping with the Head Uncovered: 
 
 a Greek. 1 Cor. xi. 5 1130 
 
 Writing Case, Modern Egyptian .... 685 
 
 Writing Instruments, Persian 689 
 
 Writing Instruments, Modern Egyptian . 684 
 
 Writing Materials and Implements . . . 690 
 
 Yoke and Strap, Egyptian 240 
 
 Zidon. Josh, xix 502 
 
 Zion, Mount 1194 
 

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