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ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE:

IN

THREE PARTS.

VOL, I.

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF THE

IN THREE PARTS.

I. FROM THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST.
II. FROM THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST.
III. FROM THE CUSTOMS OF ANCIENT AND MODERN NATIONS.

BY THE REV. GEORGE PAXTON,
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY UNDER THE GENERAL ASSOCIATE SYNOD, EDINBURGH.

WITH NOTES,
BY THE REV. IKA CHASE, A. M.
PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND OF THE LEARNED LANGUAGES IN THE
COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, NEAR THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.

TO THE WORK IS ADDED,
€arpenter'g 91ntrotMctton
TO THE
GEOGRAPHY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,
WITH SEVERAL MAPS.

IJV TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

PHILADELPHIA :

POBLI9HED BY JAMES E. MOORE, NO. 41, SOUTH SECOND STREET.
J. Harding, Printer.
1822.

Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit :
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-fourth day of June,
in the forty-sixth year of the independence of the United States of
America, A. D. 1822, James E. Moore, of the said district, hath de-
deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims
as proprietor, in the words following, to wit :
" Illustrations of the Holy Scriptures ; in three parts. I. From the
Geography of the East. II. From the Natural History of the
East. III. From the Customs of Ancient and Modern Nations.
By the Rev. George Paxton, Professor of Theology under the Ge
neral Associate Synod, Edinburgh. With Notes, by the Rev. Ira
Chase, A. M. Professor of Biblical Literature and of the Learned
Languages in the Columbian College, near the city of Washing
ton. To the work is added, Carpenter's Introduction to the
Geography of the New Testament, with several Maps. In two
volumes."
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, inti-
tled, " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the co
pies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such
copies during the times therein mentioned." And also to the act, enti
tled " An act supplementary to an act, entitled, " An act for the en
couragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and
books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times
therein mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of
designing, engraving, and etching historical and other Prints."
D. CALDWELL,
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

RECOMMENDATIONS.
From, the Professors in the Theological Institution of the Bafitist
General Convention.
WE hesitate not to say, that Paxton's "Illustrations of the
Holy Scriptures" is a work which in no small degree merits the
patronage of the public. It furnishes, in two octavo volumes of little
more than six hundred pages each, a lucid view of the principal facts
in the Geography, the Natural History, and the Customs of the East,
that illustrate the sacred text. The author has availed himself of the
labours of Bochart, Wells, Calmet, Harmer, — various writers on the
Antiquities of the Jews, — the most distinguished travellers, from the
-earliest who visited Palestine to Chateaubriand, and many other au
thors, judiciously selecting whatever in them is most important, and
applying it to the elucidation of particular passages in the word of
God. He has, in the main, performed his undertaking with the hand
of a master ; and the work, when enriched with a few Maps, and Car
penter's Introduction to the Geography of the New Testament, will
be far the best compendium of the kind with which we are acquainted.
To the Biblical student it will be an invaluable treasure; and, indeed,
it ought to be in the hands of every individual.
WILLIAM STAUGHTON.
IRA CHASE.
From the Rev. Dr. JVeil, Pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia, and editor of the Presbyterian Magazine.
I am pleased to find that you propose printing an edition of Pax-
ton's Illustrations. It is, in my opinion, a work of merit — a rich
and judiciously arranged collection of facts, relating to the geography,
manners and customs of the East ; and eminently calculated to eluci
date many obscure passages of sacred writ. To those who read, and
wish to understand the Bible, it cannot fail to prove a pleasant and
useful companion. I wish you success in the undertaking : and re
quest you to consider me a subscriber.
WILLIAM NEIL.

From the Rev. Dr. Banks, Professor of Theology, and Pastor of the
Associate Congregation, Philadelphia.
With great satisfaction I have lately examined Paxton's Illustra
tions of Scripture, The geography, antiquities, and natural history
of the Bible, are subjects vastly pleasing and instructive. On these
subjects the author has condensed and arranged the important infor-

VI
mation scattered over a number of volumes. With much pleasure I
recommend it to the religious public at large, and especially to stu
dents of Biblical literature. I rejoice in the prospect of its republica
tion in this country, and am happy to announce myself a subscriber
to the work.
JOHN BANKS.
Philadelphia, Feb. 2, 1822.

From the Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Wtlie, Pastor of the Reformed Pres
byterian Church, Philadelphia. Feb. 9, 1822.
Mr. Hogan,
Dear Sir — As far as opportunity would allow, I have examined
" Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture," and am pleased to hear that
you have an intention to publish it in this country. To all descriptions
of Biblical students, particularly those intended for the ministry, this
book will furnish a valuable assistant. Bochart and Gale, on those
very interesting Biblical subjects, are not now in market ; and if they
were, their valuable treasures are not so accessible as they are in the
dress in which the Rev. Mr. Paxton has presented them. I do hope
the work will go on, and that your exertions in its publication will
meet an adequate reward. — Very respectfully yours,
S. B. WYLIE.

From the Rev. Dr. Rometx of New-York.
Paxton's " Illustrations of Scripture" contains, within a short
compass, more useful matter to the Student of Scripture, on the Geo
graphy and Natural History of the East, together with the customs of
Ancient and Modern times, than any work within my knowledge. Those
who have not the means to purchase, or the time to read the works of
Harmer, Burder, Wells, Taylor the editor of Calmet, and other more
laborious and learned writers in this department of Biblical literature,
will find the most essential information, collected from the best sources,
condensed in these volumes in a manner generally judicious, perspicu
ous and satisfactory.
JOHN B. ROMEYN.

Introduction

CONTEXTS
OF VOLUME FIRST.
PART I.

SACRED GEOGRAPHY.

Page

Chap. I.
The Garden of Eden — The Land of JVod — The City of
Enoch ........ 6
Chap. II.
The Mountains of Ararat, on which the Ark of JVoah
rested  21

Chap. III.

The Land of Shinar, and the City and Tower of Babel .

30

Chap. IV.

Of the Dispersion of Mankind 

45

Chap. V.

Of the Conquests and Kingdom of Nimrod .

77

Chap. VI.

Chaldea — Ur — Haran — Canaan ....
92
Chap. VII.
The Mountains of Canaan 
117
Chap. VIII.
The Lakes and Rivers of Palesline ....
157
Chap. IX.
State of the Weather in Palesline and the East .
181
Chap. X.
The general Fertility of Palestine ....
213
VIJI CONTENTS.
PART II. Page.
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. *"*
Chap. T.
The Herbs and Shrubs of Canaan, and the surrounding
Countries ....... *•*"
Aloes— Hyssop— The Rose— The Lily— The Reed or Cane-
Spikenard— Millet— Sesamum— Darnel or Cockle— The Man
drake—The Gourd— The Juniper— The Myrtle— The Mustard
Tree. Chap. II.
The Woods and Trees of Palesline .... 246
The Oak— The ShittaTree— The Sycamore— The Mulberry—
The Palm Tree— The Pomegranate— The Fig Tree— The
Vine— The Olive Tree— The Apple Tree— The Citron— The
Almond — Balsam Trees. Chap. III.
Insects ......... 289
The Fly— The Hornet— The Ant— The Spider— The Bee—
The Moth— The Locust — The Scorpion — The Horse Leech
-The Snail. Chap. IV.
Of Serpents  327
The Viper — The Cockatrice or Basilisk— The Cex-astes or
Horned Snake — The Dragon. Chap. V.
Amphibious Animals ....... 359
Serpents — The Frog — The Behemoth — Leviathan.
Chap. VI.
Domestic Animals . . . . . . . 39j6
The Camel— The Horse-The Ass-The Mule.
Chap. VII.
Tame Animals continued ..... 440
The Ox~The Sheep-The Goat-The Dog-The Hog.
Chap. VIII.
Beasts of Prey  492
TheLion-TheLeopard-The Bear-The Wolf-The Hysena--
The Fox. Chap. IX.
Wild Inoffensive Animals ...... 555
The Wild Ass-The Hart-The Ibex or Wild Goat-The An-
telope-The Unicorn-The Coney-The Mouse-The Badger.

MWA©®,

THE present times are happily distinguished by an
uncommon attention to the Holy Scriptures. By the
unprecedented exertions of the religious public, this in
estimable gift of Heaven, which has brought life and
immortality to light, is circulated far and wide among
the nations ; and the day seems 4o be rapidly approach
ing, when every people and every tribe shall read in
their own language the wonderful works of God. The
object is worthy of even greater exertions than have yet
been made, and of a much larger expense than has yet
been incurred ; for the Scriptures are the power of God
and the wisdom of God, to the salvation of perishing
sinners. They present the mostsublime and instructive
subjects of contemplation to the human mind ; they re
strain the angry and impetuous passions which agitate
the bosom of man, and too frequently break forth in
deeds of shame ; they purify his desires and affections ;
they expand and invigorate his faculties ; they elevate
aud enlarge his views ; and wherever they come, wher
ever their voice is heard aud their authority acknow
ledged, they rescue from a state of ignorance and bar
barity, vice and profligacy ; they humanize the heart,
and adorn the life ; they form the strongest and sweet
est bond of civil society, and open the purest and most
abundant sources of individual and public happiness.
To what is to be ascribed the remarkable difference

Vi PREFACE.
between the wisest, the most learned and polished na
tions of antiquity, and the communities of modern Eu
rope among whom the Scriptures are allowed to circu
late freely ? Is it, as many contend, to the instruction
and influence of a more enlightened and eflicacious phi
losophy ; or to the unobserved, but powerful energy
of the divine word ? An impartial and intelligent ob
server will be at no loss to determine. Philosophy
herself has been indebted to Revelation for much the
greater part of her wisdom and refinement ; she has de-,
tected many of her principal errors at the light of divine
truth ; has relinquished her prejudices and follies by
its secret influence ; and has borrowed from it her
wisest lessons, her most powerful motives, and her
brightest and most elevated views. To this, and not
to any power of her own, must be referred the superior
and more salutary impressions which she produces in
modern times.
But the great and important amelioration in the sen
timents and conduct of civil society, is the least part of
the benefit which the Scriptures bestow. They disco
ver the real character of God, and of his rational crea
ture ; they describe the state of sin and misery into which
we have fallen, and the wonderful method which infinite
wisdom contrived for our deliverance — the obedience
and death of the Son of God. The change which they
produce in the unrenewed mind, is of incalculable value
and of eternal duration ; it cannot be described with
more force and propriety than in the words of inspira
tion itself: " The law of the Loed is perfect, convert
ing the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making

PREFACE. Vii
wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is
pure, enlightening the eyes." While the noblest les
sons of moral science are confined to the narrow span
of human life, the word of God draws aside the veil
which conceals a future state, and unfolds the final des
tinies of man ; it points our hopei to enjoyments be
yond the grave, commensurate with the vast desires
and capacities of the glorified spirit, aud durable as the
nature and perfections of the Eternal ; and our fears,
to sufferings equally intense and permanent.
A treasure so precious, surely possesses a strong
claim to the affectionate and solicitous attention of man
kind, and imposes a duty on all who enjoy it, to facili
tate, in their respective stations and by all the means in
their power, its acceptance, and secure to themselves
and others, the numerous and important blessings which
it contains. The call of duty has not been heard in
vain; men of great capacity and deep research, have
investigated, with complete success, the claims of the
Scriptures to a divine origin, and exhibited in the most
satisfactory manner the grounds upon which they rest;
patient and learned expositors have laboured to ascer
tain and illustrate the meaning, and acute critics to dis
sipate the obscurity which hangs over some part, of the
sacred text. But something more was required, fully
to elucidate the sense, and display the incomparable
accuracy, force, and beauty of the inspired writings ;—
an accurate knowledge of the natural phenomena and
moral condition of the east. When the time of the pro
mise drew near, that the earth should be filled with the
knowledge of the Lord, he sent forth his agents to visit

Viii PREFACE.
those remote regions where the scene of our redemption
is laid, and collect the necessary information.
Animated by the daring spirit of commercial adven
ture, or prompted by a fearless and romantic curiosity,
men of intelligence and observation made their way into
every region on which the light of Revelation had
shone, and mingled familiarly with almost every peo
ple to whom the holy Scriptures had been originally
addressed. Whether they were actuated by a princi
ple of hostility or love to the writings of the prophets
and apostles, the result of their inquiries, as might be
expected, was the same — the statements of inspiration
were illustrated and confirmed by their narratives.
But the rich and ample materials which those tra
vellers had collected in their perilous wanderings, were
scattered over a multitude of writings in different lan
guages, which the greater part of Christians could
neither procure nor understand, and intermixed with
remarks and observations on many general subjects,
which had no relation to Sacred Literature. Even few
Biblical students had leisure to travel over so wide a
field, or patience to note the facts and statements which
sewed to illustrate the sacred page. To separate those
materials, therefore, from the extraneous matter with
which they were encumbered, and to give them a con
densed and systematic form, was to render a service of
no inconsiderable importance to the interests of truth
and holiness. Urged by this consideration, various
writers, both in our own country and on the Continent,
have, at different times, directed their attention to this
department, and favoured the religious world with oc
casional remarks, or formal treatises of great value.

preface. ix
The voluminous works of the learned and indefati
gable Bochart, the Jewish Antiquities of Ikenius and
others, clearly prove how necessary and useful, in the
estimation of Foreign divines, are writings of that kind
to the Biblical student, and to every person who de
sires to obtain a full and accurate acquaintance with
the records of inspiration. The celebrity which the
Observations of Harmer, and the Oriental Customs of
Burder, have recently acquired, leave no room to
doubt, that the friends of religious truth at home enter
tain the same views.
The mind of the writer has been long impressed with
the necessity and advantage of applying the physical
and moral circumstances of the east, to the exposition
of the Scriptures. He is well aware, that this mode
of interpretation may be carried too far. A glowing
imagination may suggest a relation between some text
of Scripture and an oriental custom, where none ac
tually exists ; but neither are the other methods of ex
position exempt from danger. Critical acumen has but
too frequently given a false view of the sacred text. It
is readily granted, that an oriental phenomenon or cus
tom, ought not to invade the province of genuine criti
cism, abridge her legitimate rights, and supersede the
due exercise of her powers. It is only when she fails
to elicit the meaning of a passage by the usual methods,
or when some obscurity remains after all her exertions,
which she is unable to remove, that the Biblical student
may call for their assistance. They have a right to de
cide, only when the other is mute, and to perfect what
the other has been compelled to leave unfinished. When
oriental circumstances are kept within their proper
sphere, and applied with judgment and caution, it is

X PREFACE.
humbly conceived, they may be of great utility in ex
pounding the holy Scriptures.
In this conviction, the Author commenced a series of
Lectures on the subject, to the Theological students un
der his charge, without the most remote idea of submit
ting them to the eye of the public. The rapid increase
of the Class, together with the number and variety of
the exercises required by the General Synod from their
students every session, soon rendered it inconvenient to
continue them; and it occurred to him, that in this form,
bis prelections might still be useful to those for whom
they were originally composed, and not unacceptable,
to the friends of the Bible in general.
From the well-earned fame of his predecessors in this
department of sacred literature, particularly of Mr.
Harmer and Mr. Burder, he feels not the least incli
nation to detract ; on the contrary, he rejoices in their
success, and in the approbation which their writings
have obtained from a discerning public. Much as their
learning and industry have accomplished, he still
thought the subject was not exhausted, and that a bet
ter plan than either of them had followed, nmht be
adopted. He has freely availed himself of their la
bours ; but not, he trusts, in a slavish manner. All the
authorities quoted, as well by these writers, as by Mr.
Taylor, in his edition of Calmet, which he had ac
cess to, have been carefully examined, besides a num
ber of works which they have overlooked, or which
have been published since they wrote. Claiming the
same right to think for himself which he cordially al
lows to his neighbour, the writer has expressed his

preface. xi
opinions freely, even when they happened to differ from
their sentiments ; but he has never to his knowledge,
departed from the language of candour and respect.
The only object which the Author proposed to him
self in composing this work, was to illustrate the holy
Scriptures ; he has therefore uniformly and studiously
rejected every particular in Oriental Geography, Na
tural History, Customs, and Manners, how curious and
interesting soever, that was not subservient to his de
sign. His statements in all the three divisions, may
be deemed very defective ; and had he proposed to give
a complete view of these important subjects, they would
certainly have been so ; but they are sufficiently com
plete for his purpose. Nor did his plan admit of de
scribing every place, or plant, or custom, whose name
occurs, or to which allusion is made by the sacred
Writers; it embraced those only that are connected
with the exposition of some important passage, or that
contribute to the general elucidation of the Scriptures.
This will account for the numerous omissions, particu
larly under the heads of Geography and Natural His
tory, which the intelligent reader will observe in his
progress.

PART I.

OF THE

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST.

Vol. I.

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

SCRIPTURE,

IN THREE PARTS, &c.

INTRODUCTION.

THE physical and moral circumstances of the East
in what light soever we view them, have powerful
claims upon the attention of every liberal and inquisi
tive mind. Placed under the vertical rays of the sun —
illumined and influenced by other constellations than
those which adorn our skies — inhabited by races of
men, whose external appearance and modes of think
ing almost tempt us to consider them as belonging to a
different creation, — the oriental regions exhibit a scene
equally new and interesting. The great variety of ve
getable and animal forms which they present to our no
tice, so different from those that enrich our fields and
tenant our deserts, awaken curiosity and stimulate re
search. Even the distance to which they are removed
from us on the surface of the globe, throws over them a
sort of awful obscurity, which deepens the interest we
naturally feel in contemplating the works of almighty
power, and the productions of human skill and in
dustry. But those parts of the world are, besides, connected
with events of the most extraordinary character, and the
most comprehensive influence. The Spirit of inspira
tion directs us to seek within their limits, the native
country of the first pair, and the chosen abode of inno
cence and peace. In those fertile regions, the grand

4 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
adversary of the human race accomplished their ruin
by the introduction of sin, and endeavoured to counter
vail the loss of heaven, by establishing his throne ot
darkness bslow. It was there Divine Justice com
menced the work of judgment on earth, by condemning
the serpent to go upon his belly, and feed on dust, —
and man, who had weakly suffered himself to be se
duced frum his duty, after a few years of painful exer
tion, to return to the dust from whence he came ; while
Divine Mercy began to unfold the scheme of redemp
tion, which infinite Wisdom had contrived in the coun
sels of peace before the foundation of the world.
The orientals first displayed the powerful and vari
ous energies of the human mind ; first cultivated the
social affections, and formed themselves into civil com
munities for their mutual benefit; or listened to the so
licitations of the turbulent passions, and engaged in the
work of mutual destruction. Placed in the most fa
vourable circumstances for scientific observations, they
led the way in the acquisition of knowledge, which at
once enlightened aud corrupted the mind ; and by a
diligent and persevering application to the mechanical
and liberal arts, ameliorated the condition of our family,
by their numerous and invaluable productions. Almost .
every district exhibits the memorial of some great ex
ploit ; almost every town and village recals the remem
brance of some important or singular occurrence. These
are circumstances that can scarcely fail to direct the eye
of the man of letters the student of human nature, and
the Christian philanthropist, to the East.
But another consideration may be mentioned, which,
in point of weight and attraction, is n'»t, perhaps, in
ferior to any of these. In those distant countries, in
spired prophets committed to writing the revelations of
Heaven, for the instruction and reformation of the hu
man kind. Although supernaturally directed by the
Spirit of God, they followed in some degree the bent of
their own genius, and the influence of their own taste.
They not only wrote in the vernacular language of the
country where they lived; but also made use of the
terms and modes of speech that were familiar among the

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 5
people, and suited to persons of every station and ca
pacity, and employed those tropes and figures, which
the glowing imagination of an oriential furnishes in the
richest abundance and variety. But they borrowed
their figures from scenery of a peculiar kind ; they al
luded to phenomena in the heavens and on the earth,
of which we can form almost no conception from the
state of nature around us ; and to a variety of birds of
singular appearance and habits, that never visit our
sky ; and to many terrestrial animals, which neither
occupy our fields nor infest our rivers. They connect
the events which they record, and the predictions which
they utter, with places whose history is unknown to
the rest of the world. This.it must be admitted, throws
a shade of obscurity over the pages of inspiration,
which it is the duty, as it is the interest of the biblical
student, to remove. To understand the meaning of
many passages in the sacred records ; to discern the
force and beauty of the language in which they are
clothed, and the admirable propriety and significance
of their, allusions ; in one word, to derive all the advan
tage from the sacred volume which it is calculated and
intended to bestow, — we must render ourselves familiar
with the physical and moral condition of the countries
where it was written ; we must examine the Geogra
phical situation of Canaan and the surrounding states,
ascertain the site of their principal towns and cities,
and acquire some knowledge of their history : to this
must be added, a suitable acquaintance with the Na
tural History of the East, and with the Customs and
Manners of its Inhabitants. In prosecuting this plan,
it is only proposed to give the reader a rapid sketch of
SACRED GEOGRAPHY.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

CHAP. I.
GARDEN OF EDEN-THE LAND OF NOD-AND THE CITY OF
ENOCH.
A DESIRE to ascertain the site of the Terrestial
Paradise, is both natural and laudable. Planned by
the infinite wisdom, and furnished by the exuberant
goodness of Jehovah, it was the first proof of his kind
ness to man after his creation ; and though no longer
existing, the very name is fitted to excite a crowd of in
teresting reflections in every well-disposed mind. The
investigation is undoubtedly attended with many diffi
culties; but these, it is hoped, are not insurmountable,
and by consequence, they only stimulate the mind to
active exertion, and hold out a more ample reward.
The universal deluge, certainly made a deep im
pression on the surface of our globe ; but it could not
materially change the great features of nature. That
mighty agent might dissolve and level some hills and
mountains of softer consistency, — might swallow up the
waters of some minor streams, or give them a different
direction, — might bury some extensive tracts of country,
with all their habitations and improvements, in the bot
tom of the sea, and compensate for their destruction, by
elevating submarine districts of equal extent into dry
land; but the more solid parts of our earth must have
remained as before that awful catastrophe. It is un
reasonable to suppose, that the waters of the deluge, in
the short space of one hundred and fifty days, could
melt the stupendous range of the Armenian or Gor-
disean mountains,, or give them a different position on
the surface of the globe. When they retired, the tor
rents which, before that calamity, descended from the
sides of those mountains to swell the magnificent streams
of the Euphrates and the Tigris, must have resumed
their ancient course, and poured their tributary waters
into the same capacious channels. The language which
the sacred writer employs when he speaks of the Eu
phrates, seems to confirm this remark. In his descrip-

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. T
tion of Paradise, he observes, " The fourth river is
Euphrates;" and in the 15th chapter of the same bonk
he mentions it again, but without any notice that it was
a different stream, or that it had changed its course; on
the contrary, he now uses the definite article, which he
could not have done with propriety if it were not the
same river.. In the 18th verse he speaks of it again,
in the very manner in which we commonly mention a
thing already known ; and in every other part of his
writings where he mentions the Euphrates, he conti
nues to use the same mode of speech. But it could not
be his design to deceive the reader even in a point of
minor importance ; and if the antediluvian Euphrates
was not the same with " that great river the river Eu
phrates," which he informs us watered the rich fields
of Babylonia, he could not be ignorant of the fact. From
this statement we think it is evident, that the. surface of
our globe has suffered no change by the deluge, which
ought to discourage us from attempting to ascertain the
real situation of the terrestrial Paradise.
The sacred historian has favoured us with only a
few brief hints, in relation to the seat of primeval hap
piness. -A more particular description, after the fall of
man, had been attended with no real advantage; while
the concise view which he has given, is well calculated
to instruct mankind in the folly of seeking a place of
rest or happiness on earth, in the propriety of regarding
this world as a place of exile, and in the imperious ne
cessity of turning from the evanescent enjoyments of
time, to the pure and imperishable pleasures of the
heavenly Paradise.
The Garden of Eden was contrived by the wisdom,
and planted by the hand of God himself, for the resi
dence of the first pair ; and, as its name imports, it was
the centre of every terrestrial pleasure. The munifi
cence of the Creator stored it with every plant, and
flower, and tree, that was pleasant to the eye, grateful
to the smell, and adapted to the sustenance of sinless
man. A river went out of Eden to water it, whose
ample and refreshing streams, so necessary to the very
existence of an oriental garden, visiting every part of
the sacred enclosure, diffused a perpetual verdure, and

8 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
imparted to every plant a beauty, vigour, and fertility,
perhaps unknown in any other district of that delight
ful region.
But though no doubt can be entertained of its being
richly furnished with every pleasure suited to the in
tended abode of innocence and peace, we have no di
rect information where it was placed. The true situa
tion of Paradise continues to be involved in much ob
scurity ; and, perhaps, all we can hope to obtain from
the most careful and well-directed investigation is, an
approximation to the truth. The notices which the in
spired writer has recorded, invite, rather than discou
rage, our researches, and promise a result destitute.
neither of pleasure nor advantage.
The Garden of Eden was situate, accordingto Moses,
" eastward in Eden."* The Hebrew word Eden sig
nifies pleasure or delight ; and certainly intimates the
superior beauty of the region that was known by that
name. For the same reason it was, in succeeding ages,
imposed as a proper name on several other places re
markable for the pleasantness of their situation, and
the diversified richness of the scenery with which they
were adorned.
To one of those fertile spots which, in the progress
of time, and in allusion to the garden of God, obtained
the name of Eden, the prophet Amos directs our notice
in these words : " I will break also the bar of Damas
cus, and cut off the inhabitants from the plain of Aven,
and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of
Eden."f The place which, in the time of the prophet,
bore this name, is supposed by the learned Huet and
others, to be a deep valley situate between the moun
tains Libanus and Antilibanus, not far from Damascus,
the metropolis of Syria. In this romantic and seques
tered vale, the credulous natives believe the terrestrial
Paradise was placed ; and proud of occupying the in
teresting spot where dwelt the father of the human fa
mily before the entrance of sin, they conduct the tra
veller to the place where Adam was created, to that
where Cain murdered his brother, and to the tomb
where the bones of Abel repose.
* Gen. ii. 8. f Amos i. 5.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 9
On the banks of the river Barrady, which runs along
the bottom of the valley, between two steep rocky
mountains, the kings of Syria had a magnificent pa
lace, which they dignified with the name of Beth- Eden,
or the house of pleasure. Several tall pillars were still
standing when Mr. Maundrell visited the place ; who,
on a nearer view, found them part of the front of some
ancient and very magnificent edifice, but of what kind
he was unable to conjecture. These were probably
the remains of the once sumptuous palace of Beth- Eden,
whither the kings of Damascus often escaped from the
restraints of a court, and the cares of state, to enjoy the
pleasures of retirement and recieation. If these con
jectures be well founded, the ruin of the Syrian king
is, with great elegance and propriety, expressed by
God's cutting off him that holdeth the sceptre from
Beth-Eden. "
Several towns mentioned in Greek and Latin authors,
bore the names of Adana, or Adena, which has been
indisputably derived from the Hebrew term Eden.
The town of Adeua, in Cilicia, lias been greatly cele
brated for its charming situation, and the extraordinary
fruitfulness of the surrounding country. In Arabia, we
find a port at the entrance of the Red Sea, named Aden,
(a manifest abridgment of Adena) because it compre
hended in it all the beauties of that region. The Ara
bians boasted of another town in the middle of the coun
try, which also received the name of Aden for the same
reason ; and from these proper names, they believed
that Paradise was situate in Arabia Felix.
Beside this Eden mentioned by the prophet, ancient
geographers take notice of a village called Eden, near
Tripoli in Syria, where some have placed the terres
trial Paradise- But to none of these places, will the
marks of the garden described by Moses in the begin
ning of Genesis, apply. The inspired writer composed
his history of the creation and fall of man, either in
Egypt, or in the land of Midian ; but Syria lies not to
the east, but rather to the north of these countries ; nor
can Syria boast of a river, whose channel, in its pro
gress to the ocean, is divided into four branches. We
Vol. 1. C

40 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
must, therefore, look for the true situation of Paradise
in a different region.
The land of Eden, according to Moses, who is our
surest guide in this investigation, lay on the banks of a
large river, which, on leaving the borders of that coun
try, was divided into four streams, called Pison, Gihon,
Hiddekel. and Pefath or Euphrates. To ascertain as
nearly as possible, then, the true situation of Paradise,.
we must endeavour to find out and trace the course of
these four celebrated streams. This will be the more
easily done, as one of them still retains the name it bore
in the time of Moses, and is familiarly known to both
ancient and modern geographers. But I shall follow
the example of other writers on the subject, and take
them in the order of the sacred historian.
The first river mentioned by Moses, is the Pison,
which, he informs us, " compasseth the whole land of
Havilah." But it appears, from another passage in his
writings, that Havilah is a part of the country inhabited
by the posterity of Ishmael ; " And they dwelt from
Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt."* The in
spired writer of the first book of Samuel mentions it
again in these words : " Saul smote the Amalekites,
from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur that is before
Egypt."t But Arabia is the country allotted to Ish
mael and his descendants, where they have dwelt from
the remotest ages, in the presence of all their brethren;
and by consequence, Havilah must be situate near the
Persian gulph. For " Shur which is before Egypt,"
is the western extremity of Arabia, at the bottom of the
Red Sea; as the following passage from the book of
Exodus incontestibly proves ; " Moses brought Israel
from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilder
ness of Shur." But Shur is opposed by the inspired
writer to Havilah ; and therefore the latter must be the
eastern extremity of Arabia, or that part of the country
which borders on the Persian gulf.
Moses assures us, that Havilah which was refreshed
by the waters of the Pison, was distinguished by its
fine gold, bdellium, and onyx-stones : and the same
* Gen. xxv. 12. \ 1 Sam. xv. 7.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. H
valuable products formerly abounded in the eastern ex
tremity of Arabia. Both inspired and profane authors
commend the gold of that country. Diodorus says in
several parts of his works, that in Arabia was found
natural gold of so lively a colour, that it very much re
sembled the brightness of fire ; and so fixed, that it
wanted neither fire nor refining to purify it. To this
country Ezekiel also alludes in his address to the city
of Tyre: " The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they
were thy merchants ; they traded in thy fairs with the
chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and
gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants
of Sheba, Ashur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants,"
&c* In this passage, the prophet expressly mentions
Eden as a country abounding in gold and other precious
commodities, and its inhabitants as carrying on an ex
tensive traffic in these valuable articles, with the most
celebrated commercial city of the ancient world. But
if Havilah was not a district of the country which bore
the name of Eden, it certainly lay in its immediate
neighbourhood, and by consequence possessed the same
products, and shared in the same trade. This is con
firmed by Diodorus, who asserts that Arabia, of which
it has been proved Havilah was a part, was formerly
celebrated for its pure and native gold.
The next distinctive character of this country, is its
possessing the bdellium. The original Hebrew term
Bedolach, is variously translated by interpreters. Of
the many opinions which have divided the sentiments
of learned and inquisitive men, the most probable are,
that it is an aromatic gum, or the pearl. The last of
these opinions is entitled to the preference ; for Moses,
describing the manna, says, that it was lik>; the seed of
coriander, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdel
lium, Num. xi. 7- But we know from another passage
in his writings,f that the manna was white; which
corresponds with the colour of the pearl. But neither
the round shape of the coriander seed, which is equally
the figure of the pearl, nor the white colour of the manna,
corresponds with the aromatic gum which has received
* Ezek. xxvii. 22. t Exod> xvi- 14> 31-

12 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the name of bdellium. The Talmudists accordingly
observe on the description which Moses has given of
the manna, that it was of the colour of pearls.* But
without entering into this dispute, it is sufficient to ob
serve, that whether the Hebrew word Bedolach be taken
for pearls, or for an aromatic gum of that name, both
are to be found in the land of Havilah.f
The Persian gulf, and particularly that part of it
which washes the shores of Havilah, produces finer
pearls, and in greater abundance, than any other place
in the world. Many writers of the highest reputation
might be quoted in support of this assertion ; but the
authority ot Pliny and Arrian is sufficient. The for
mer, having commended the pearls of the Indian seas,
adds, that such as are fished towards Arabia iu the
Persian gulf, are most to be praised ; and the latter sets
a greater value on the pearls of Arabia, than upon those
of the Indies.
If by bdellium we understand an aromatic gum, pro
ducts of this kind have also been found in Arabia.
Dioscorides expressly asserts it ; and he sets a greater
value upon the bdellium of the Saracens, than upon the
bdellium of the Indies. And Galen, comparing the
bdellium of Arabia with that of the Indies, gives the
preference in several respects to the former. Pliny
prefers the bdellium of Bactriana to that of Arabia;
but he values the bdellium of Arabia above all the
rest. J So abundant were the spices and drugs of Ara
bia, that Arrian says, the natives of that country carried
on an extensive and lucrative xommerce in these pre
cious commodities, with the city of Diridotis, which is
the same with Teredon, the ruins of which are still to
be seen on the confines of Havilah. But though it
could not be shown, that these precious spices were the
native products of that part of Arabia, yet, as the cara
vans from the interior passed through it on their way
to Diridotis, in its immediate neighbourhood, to dispose
of their merchandise, the language of Moses is justified,
and the true situation of Havilah ascertained.
* Bochart, -j- Well's Historical Geography, vol. I. p. 9, 10
* WeU's Hist. Geog. vol. 1, p. 9, 10.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 13
The last distinguishing mark of Havilah mentioned
by the sacred historian, is the onyx- stone. To what
particular stone the Hebrew term Schoham refers, can
not be ascertained with any degree of certainty; but
that Arabia did abound in precious stones of different
kinds, is expressly stated by both sacred and profane
writers. The prophet Ezekiel mentions precious stones
among the articles of commerce which the inhabitants
of Sheba and Raamah, places on the eastern coast of
Arabia, not far from Havilah, brought to the markets
of Tyre. Both Strabo and Diodorous assert, that the
riches of Arabia consisted in precious stones and excel
lent perfumes : and Pliny assures us, that the most pre
cious gems came from that country. But if we confine
th« Hebrew word Schoham to denote the onyx-stone,
the distintive character is still equally applicable to
Arabia ; for Pliny says, the ancients are persuaded
that the onyx-stone was no where else to be found but
in the mountains of that country
From this statement it appears, that in the eastern
extremity of Arabia, was situated a country called Ha
vilah, abounding in fine gold, in pearls, in aromatic
gums, and in precious stones, among which the onyx
held a conspicuous place. Now this country, Moses
informs us, was encompassed by the river Pison ; and
on inspecting the maps both of ancient and modern geo
graphers, we discover a stream washing in its winding
course, one side of that celebrated region ; and also
communicating with three other rivers by one common
channel. We have thus obtained all the marks by
which the inspired historian distinguished the Pison,
and have therefore a right to conclude, that the western
channel of the Euphrates, is the Pison of the sacred
Scriptures. The name of the second river is Gihon, concerning
which Moses says, " The same is it which compasseth
the whole land of Cush." As the Gihon cannot be at
any great distance from the river Pison, a kindred
stream, we must look for the land of Cush, not on the
borders of Ethiopia and Egypt, but near the country of
Havilah. And here we do find a country, watered by

14 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the eastern branch of the Euphrates, which has borne
the name of Cush, from the remotest antiquity to the
present times. All travellers inform us, that Suziana
is now called Chuzestan ; in which it is easy to dis
cern the original term Cush, or as it is written by some,
• Chus or Chuz. Benjamin of Navarre says, that the
great province of Flam, of which Susa is the metropo
lis, and which the Tigris waters, bears this name. This
province, the same with Elymais, extends as far as the
Persian gulf, east from the mouth of the Euphrates.
This region is the Cuthah of the sacred Scripture,
from which Salmanassar transported a colony to re-
people the desolated country of the ten tribes. The co
lony long retained their ancient name, and were called
Cutheans. As the Chaldeans often change sh into t or
th, the words Cuthah and Cuth, are only the Chaldee
form of Cusha and Cush. The word Shusham, the
name which the prophet gives to the capital of Elam,
is evidently derived from the same root.* We have
thus sufficient evidence, that a province of the Babylo
nish empire, extending to the Persian gulf, east from
the mouth of the Euphrates, was formerly called Cush ;
and therefore, the river which washes it, must be the
Gihon of Moses.
The name of the third river is Hiddekel. That this
river is the same with the Tigris, is generally believed.
The Seventy Interpreters render the Hebrew word
Hiddekel, the Tigris ; which is only the original word
in a different form. For, " taking away the aspiration
of the word Hiddekel, the word Dekel remained;
which the Syrians disguised, and made Diklat out of
it : Josephus and the Chaldean paraphrasts, the Ara
bians and the Persians, turned it into Diglath; other
modern orientals into Degil and Degola ; Pliny, or
those who informed him, into Diglito ; and the Greeks,
who gave to all strange words the turn and genius of
their own tongue, instead of Tiglis ; induced probably
so to do by the information they had received of the
swiftness of this river, which was aptly denoted by the
name Tigris."f
* Dan . viii. 2. -j- Well's Geog. vol, 1. p. 17.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 15
Of this river, Moses says ; " That is it which goes
before Assyria." The term Assyria in the days of
Moses, and long after his time, was the designation,
not of the Assyrian empire which consisted of many
extensive provinces, but of that singie province of
which Nineveh was the capital. Moses, therefore,
must have used the term in this limited application ; and
in this view, the course of the Tigris exactly corres
ponds with the description which the sacred historian
gives of the Hiddekel. A traveller from Egypt or Mi-
dian, where Moses wrote, could not enter Assyria
without first crossing the Tigris, which, running before
or on that side of Assyria, separated that province from
the regions which lay next to those countries. This
view may be thought inconsistent with the description
of the inspired writer, which, in our translation is ren
dered, " That is it which goes toward the east of As
syria ;" or, as it is in the margin, eastward to Assyria.
But the original term which our translators render east
ward, comes from a root which refers equally to time
and place, signifying literally to go before ; the noun
itself signifies priority of place or situation, and there
fore, cannot with propriety be restrained to the eastern
side. It is accordingly rendered in the Septuagint, in
the Vulgate, and in the Syriac version, over against, or
along the side of Assyria ; in which they have been fol
lowed by some of the most celebrated Hebrew scholars
in modern times.
The last of the four rivers is the Euphrates. This
noble stream, rolling his majestic and ample waters
through the neighbouring countries, was familiarly
known to the nations for whom the inspired historian
wrote, without any mark of distinction. Moses calls
this river Peraih, which the Greeks, adjusting it in
their usual manner to their own language, turned into
Euphrates. The sacred text speaks of only one river which wa
tered the land of Eden; which, after leaving its boun
dary, was parted into four streams. This account per
fectly corresponds with the course of these rivers which
we have now been tracing. For the Euphrates and the

16 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Tigris unite their waters, and after flowing together in
one channel for a considerable way, separate again into
two channels, the one which we have shown to be the
Pison taking a westerly, and the other which is the Gi
hon, an easterly direction.
From this statement, it is easy to ascertain the true
situation of the land of Eden, where the garden of Pa
radise was placed. The words of Moses clearly
show, that, it lay on the single channel which was com
mon to. all the four rivers. For. says the historian,
" A river went out of Eden to water the garden ; and
from thence, it was parted and became into four heads."
Within the limits of Eden, the river flowed in only one
channel ; but from thence, or beyond Eden, it was
parted and became four heads.*
It has been contended by some writers, that the four
heads cannot with any propriety be understood of four
streams into which the river of Eden was divided, but
of the four sources from which it issued ; and, that these
four streams united their waters immediately before they
entered the country of Eden, and pursued their course
in one majestic flood to the Persian gulf: for the word
which is translated head, naturally refers to the begin
ning, not to any changes in the progress ofa river. But
admitting, that the term head properly means the source
or commencement of a river, it is not inconsistent with
the view which has been now taken. To a person as
cending the river, the point where the Euphrates and
Tigris united their streams, is in reality, the beginning
or entry of each of these rivers ; and on the contrary,
the point of separation is the head or beginning of the
Pison and the Gihon. The Seventy interpreters cer
tainly admit this solution; for they render the original
term V;to'i beginnings. But another solution still more
natural and satisfactory may be offered. The original
term often signifies chief, principal, or most excellent ;
and by consequence, the words of Moses may be ren
dered. From thence it was divided into four principal
channels, four noble rivers, excluding as unworthy of
" See Dr. Well's Hist. Geog-. in loc.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 17
particular notice, other inferior streams which might
branch off in their progress to the oceau.
These observations clearly prove, that the country of
Eden, where the terrestrial Paradise was situated, lay
on both sides of the single river formed by the united
streams of the Tigris and Euphrates. Other conside
rations in support of this fact might be added; but these
the brevity which our plan requires, forbids us to men
tion. It necessarily follows, that the garden planted
by the hand of God for the residence of our first father,
lay on the same river; for the historian expressly af
firms, that a river, or single stream, went out of Eden
and watered the garden.
It is added in the sacred text, that Paradise was si
tuated eastward in Eden. It could not be the design
of Moses, after stating so precisely, that the garden
was planted among the rivers of Babylon, to inform his
people, that it lay towards the east from Midian or the
promised land ; for of this they could not now be ig
norant. His intention certainly was, to point out that
part of Eden which had been honoured with the seat of
primeval innocence ; to intimate, that it lay in the east
erly part of that highly favoured country, and by con
sequence, since " the river which watered it ran through
that province before it entered Paradise," on one of the
great turnings of this river from west to east ; and, in
the opinion of Dr. Wells, at the easterly end of the
southerly branch of the lowest great turning, taken no
tice of in Ptolomy, and expressed in the map belong
ing to his Geography.*
The primitive idea of the terrestial Paradise was long
present to the imagination, and dear to the heart of the
oriental nations. It was the pattern of those curious
gardens, which their nobles and princes caused to be
fabricated of the most precious materials, and at a vast
expense; the costly memorials of departed innocence.
Such was that garden of pure gold, valued at five hun
dred talents, which Aristobulus king of the JeAvs pre
sented to Pompey, and which the Roman general after -
* Well's Hist Geog. vol. i. p. 24.
Vol. I. D

48 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
wards carried in triumph, and consecrated to Jupiter in
the capitol. The garden of Eden seems also to have
been the prototype of those gardens of delight, conse
crated to Adonis, which the Assyrians and other na
tions in the east planted in earthen vessels, and silver
baskets, in order to adorn their houses, and swell the
pomp and splendor of their public processions. It fur
nished the enraptured poets of Greece and Rome with
the never fading verdure, the perpetual bloom, and the
fruits of burnished gold, with which their glowing ima
ginations clothed the Fortunate Isles, or enriched the
garden of the Hesperides.
Adjoining to the land of Eden, lay the country of
Nod, the place of Cain's exile, and the scene of his
wanderings. Unable to bear the presence of his father,
whom he had so deeply injured and so grievously af
flicted ; stimulated by the accusations and forebodings
of his own guilty conscience ; and required, it is proba
ble, by an express mandate from Heaven, — he forsook
the fruitful and pleasant fields of Eden, which he had
polluted with a brother's blood, and directed his course
to the neighbouring desert. Here he endeavoured to
forget the agonies of remorse in the engagements of
active life ; and to secure himself and his family from
the dreaded resentment of his irritated brethren, he
buiU a city ; and yielding to the dictates of parental af
fection, called it after the name of his son Enoch. It is
extremely probable that the term Nod, derived from a
Hebrew verb which signifies to wander, was not the
proper name of the country, but only an appellative,
denoting a fugitive or vagabond, in allusion to the wan
dering life which Cain was doomed to lead during the
residue of his days.
The true situation of Nod is also involved in much
obscurity; and various are the opinions entertained
concerning it. The celebrated Huetius has observed,
that Ptolomy, in the description of Susiana, places
there a city called Anuchtha, and that, by cutting off
the final syllable tha, a common termination of feminine
nouns in Chaldee, it becomes Anuch, which is evidently
flie same with Enoch, the city of Cain. That this rs

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 49
the city of Enoch mentioned by Moses, he thinks is
further confirmed by the position that aucient geogra
pher has given it on the east of Eden ; correspontling
exactly with the situation which Moses assigns to the
land of Nod, where the city of Enoch was built. But
this opinion is encumbered with very serious difficulties.
It is extremely improbable that the city of Enoch
which Cain built, was able to resist the shock of the
deluge. Like the garden of Paradise, it was certainly
swept from the face of the earth, without leaving a sin
gle vestige behind to mark the spot where it once stood.
But though it were admitted that the city of Anuchtha
is the city of Enoch, it will not follow that it was the
city built by Cain ; for the inspired writer mentions an
other person of that name, the son of Jared, and father
of Methuselah, so remarkable for religion, that God, as
a signal reward to him, and an encouragement to others,
translated him to heaven, without subjecting him to the
common lot of our fallen nature. From which of these
persons the city of Anuchtha might take its name, can
not now be determined. The probability is, that it de
rived its name from neither, but was built in honour of
some person who bore the name of Enoch in ages long
posterior. Huetius observes, in support of his opinion, that the
eity of Anuchtha is placed by Ptolomy on the east of
Eden ; which agrees with the situation assigned to the
land of Nod, in the sacred Scriptures.* In answer to
this argument, it has been said, " That the word there
rendered on the east, is the very same which is also
rendered by some after the same manner in the de
scription Moses gives of the course of the Hiddekel, or
Tigris ; which interpretation, as the learned Huetius
rejects in that place relating to the river Hiddekel, so
he should likewise reject in this place relating to the
land of Nod ; because it may be fairly presumed, that
Moses used the word in the same sense in both places."!
But this reasoning is not satisfactory ; for it is by no
means uncommon for a writer to use the same term in
different senses. The original term has various mean-
* Gen. v. 16. t Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 26.,

§0 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ings. and must, on some occasions, be rendered by the
phrase, on tlie east. An instance occurs in 1 Sam. xm.
5., where it cannot, with any propriety, be rendered
before, or over against, but must be rendered on the east.
If Samuel wrote tiiis book ia Shiloh, w here he minis
tered before the Lord, then Michmash was, in relation
to him, not before or over against Bethaven, but on the
other side of that town ; for Shiloh belonged to Ephraim,
and Bethaven to Judah; while Michmash, which be
longed also to Judah, lay at a considerable distance to
the eastward. Supposing, what is more probable, that
the prophet wrote his memoirs in Ramah, the place of
his usual residence, still Michmash, in relation to him,
was not before, or over against Bethaven. Hence, in
that passage, the original term must be rendered east-
ivard ; which indicates the real situation of Michmash,
in relation to the prophet at Ramah. To say that one
place is before, or over against another, seems to ex
press nearness not less than opposition. It is for this
reasou, that the word used by Moses in his description
of the Hiddekel, is properly rendered before or over
against Assyria, because it actually washed the borders
oi" that country. It does not then follow that, because
it is rendered before in one place, it must be so render
ed in every place where it happens to occur.
The opinion of Huetius indeed seems to be ill found
ed ; but the principal argument against it, is to be found
in the character of the country to which Cain was doomed
to retire. " And now art thou cursed from the earth,
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's
blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground it
shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength ; a fu
gitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth."
These words, addressed by the Judge of all the earth
to the blood-stained criminal, certainly refer not to the
fertile regions that, except toward the west, encircled
the land of Eden, but to some barren and ungrateful
soil, from which his utmost exertions should scarcely
procure him a scanty subsistence. It was not then in
the pleasant and fruitful country of Susiana, where
Ptolomy places the city of Anuchtha, that the fratricide

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 21
was compelled to wander, but in the thirsty and sterile
deserts of Arabia Petrsea, a region admirably adapted
to the purposes of punishment or correction. This part
of Arabia extends to the western boundary of Eden,
and by consequence, in relation to the place where
Moses resided, is strictly and properly before or over
against it ; which greatly corroborates the opinion, first
suggested by Grotius, that those frightful deserts re
ceived the condemned fugitive.
These circumstances considered, it is probable, that
the land of Nod was situated some where in the eastern
extremity of Arabia Petrsea, extending its border to the
western limits of Eden. But no traces of the name are
now to be found to guide the researches, and reward
the labour of the enquirer.

CHAP. ir.

THE MOUNTAINS OF ARARAT, UPON WHICH THE ARK OF NOAH
RESTED.
IN what country these mountains are situated, and
on what part of them the ark rested, are the objects of
our present inquiry. From Bochart we learn, that the
Sibylline oracles placed the mountains of Ararat in
Phrygia, which cannot be reconciled with the statement
of the inspired writer. That learned and indefatigable
author, traces the mistake to the name ofa city in Phry
gian Apamea Cibotus. The word Cibotus is of Greek
origin, denoting in that language an ark. From this
trifling circumstance, the pretended sibyl inferred, that
the ark of Noah rested on an adjoining hill, and gave
the surname of Cibotus to Apamea. But Bochart as
signs a very different reason, that Apamea received the
surname of Cibotus, because it was enclosed in the shape
of an ark by three rivers. In like manner, he observes,
the port of Alexandria was called Cibotus, from the bay
by which it was nearly surrounded. The true situation

22 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of Ararat must, therefore, be sought for in a different
country. The common opinion is, that Ararat is only another
name for Armenia. The Vulgate, accordingly, has on
Gen. viii. 4. the mountains of Armenia, for the moun
tains of Ararat. The Greek interpreters, and after
them the Vulgate, render the Word Ararat in 2 Kings
xix. 37- in the same manner, and our translators have
followed their example : " And it came to pass as he
was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that
Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons, smote him with
the sword : aud they escaped into the land of Armenia."
But though it is the general opinion, that the ark
rested on the mountains of Armenia, some writers con
tend, that the mountains of Ararat may exteud beyond
the limits of that country. The whole of that stupen
dous range of mountains, known to the ancients by the
name of mount Taurus, which, beginning in the Lesser
Asia, stretches as far as the East Indies, might very
well be caltad by Moses the mountains of Ararat, be
cause that was the first country of the Greater Asia
through which they passed, and where they reached a
much greater elevation than they had done before. If
this view be just, the mountains of Ararat will extend
as far as to mount Caucasus, in the confines of Tartarv?
Persia, and India.*
That part of Armenia on which the ark rested, is ge
nerally supposed, by the favourers of the first opinion,
to have been the Gordiaean mountains near the sources
of the Tigris. In proof of this opinion, the ancients,
who generally embraced it, assure us, that some remains
of the ark were to be seen on those mountains so late;
as the days of Alexander the Great ; that in the neigh
bourhood, was situated a town called Cemain or The-
mana, from the Hebrew word Shemen, which signifies
eight, in allusion to the eight persons that were' saved
from the deluge ; aud that, the very place where Noah
and his family went out of the ark, was distinguished
by a name expressive of the event. The following ar
gument is quoted from a modern writer : "It is proba-
» Set Dr. Well's Hist, Geog. vol. i. p. 30.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EASt. 23
bly supposed, that Noah built the ark in the country of
Eden, and since the deluge was not only caused by
rains, but also by the overflow ing of the ocean, as the
Scripture tells us, Gen. vii. 11. that the fountains of the
great deep were broken up ; this Overflowing which
came from the Persian sea, running from the south, and
meeting the ark, of course carried it away to the north
towards the Gordia^an mountains. And the learned
and ingenious Huetius has observed, that, considering
the figure of the ark, which made it not so fit for speedy
sailing, and also its heaviness, which made it draw
much water, the space of an hundred and fifty days,
which was the time the deluge lasted, was but a pro
portionable time for the moving of the ark from the
place where it was made, to the Gordisean mountains.
So that both the situation of these mountains, in respect
to the course cf the waters of the deluge, and also its
distance from the place where Noah lived and built the
ark, do jointly conspire to render this hypothesis still
more probable."
Those, on the other hand, who extend the moun
tains of Ararat beyond the confines of Armenia, fix on
the summit of Caucasus as the place where the ark
rested after the flood. The strongest argument in fa
vour of this opinion, by the admission of some of its
defenders, is founded on these words of Moses : " As
they went from the east, they found a plain in the land
of Shinar, and they dwelt there."* If then they came
from the east, as the text plainly' says, they might come
from those parts of Asia on the south of Caucasus,
which lie east of Shinar, though inclining to the north.
But, say the defenders of this opinion, they could not
possibly come from the Gordia^an mountains in the
greater Armenia, which lie far to the north-west of
Shinar. And they endeavour to strengthen their argu
ment, by adding an old and constant tradition among
the natives of the region near Caucasus, formerly called
Margiana, that a great vineyard in this country was of
^Noah's planting, after he had descended from the ad
jacent mountain. But admitting the existence of such
* Gen. xi. 2.

24 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
a vineyard in Margiana, it cannot be proved that it was
planted by the hands of Noah ; for it is evident, that
mere tradition, however old and constant, is no suffi
cient proof. Again, if we are to understand by the ex
pression of Moses, " The fountains of the great deep
were broken up," the overflowing of the sea, which is
at least a very natural exposition, the Caspian must
also have burst over its natural limits, and inundated
the surrounding countries. But a current from that sea,
meeting another from the Persian gulf, must have car
ried the ark toward the north-west, in a line directly
opposite to the summits of Caucasus, and left it on the
very spot where the defenders of the first hypothesis
say it rested — on the mountains of Armenia. Or should
it be said, that the current from the Caspian might be
counteracted by another equally powerful from the
north east point of the Mediterranean, still it must have
retarded the approach of the ark to the top of Caucasus,
till the waters of the deluge subsiding, left it on some
intervening ridge: and none can be named with so much
probability as the Gordiaean mountains ; for it is both
agreeable to Scripture and reason to say, the ark rested
on the highest part of the mountains of Ararat ; and it
is well known, that the Gordiaean chain are the loftiest
mountains in Armenia.
But the strongest part of their argument remains,
That the family of Noah travelled from the east to the
plain of Shinar, which is directly south from the Gor-
disean mountains. Even to this a satisfactory answer
may be returned. It proceeds on the gratuitous suppo
sition, that Noah and his family^ descended from the
mountain on which the ark rested, into the plain of
Shinar. That they continued for many years to occupy
the summits of these mountains, is extremely probable.
The plains and the valleys being reduced to a mire by
the waters of the deluge, must have remained long in
commodious for the habitations of man. This must have
been the case, particularly among the rivers of Baby
lon, where the plain of Shinar is situated, and where
the progress of their settlements must have experienced
an additional obstruction, from the extensive marshes

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 25,
and stagnant lakes that were left by the deluge. Nor
were they under any necessity to descend precipitately
into the plains. The region to which the wisdom of
Providence had directed the ark, was admirably calcu
lated to be the cradle of the postdiluvian world; it is
fertile in the highest degree, adorned with the olive, the
symbol of peace and safety, and abounding with every
production necessary for the support of human life. On
the sides of the hills and mountains which intersect this
delightful country, the sons of Noah must have found
a safe reireat, and the necessaries of life for themselves
and their families in sufficient abundance; and as it was
natural for them to move towards the rising sun, they
extended their settlements, or directed their journeys^.
eastward, till they approached the confines of India.
As the marshes and the lakes disappeared, and the face
of the plains became dry and habitable, the Noachidaj
might descend from the mountains in search of pasture
for their flocks, and of more commodious habitations
for themselves, at a great distance to the eastward from
the laud of Shinar; and pitching their tents, as did the
patriarchs in after ages, and taking up their occasional
residence in spots remarkable for their beautyr, or re
commended by the accommodation they afforded, they
might at length, without any fixed purpose of settling
in Shinar, reach these luxuriant and happy plains,
where they determined to terminate their wanderings,
and establish their permanent residence.
But, admitting that Noah and his family descended
from the mountain on which the ark rested, near the
sources of the Tigris, into the plain of Shinar, still it
may be truly asserted in the words of the inspired his
torian, that they journed from the east. For it shall be
shown in the next chapter, that Shinar stretched away
to the north, along the western bank of the Tigris: aud
by consequence, Noah and bis family no sooner de
scended into the level country, than they found them
selves due east from the northern or upper parts ot that
plain. And therefore, as they journeyed along the foot
of the mountains toward the upper part of Shinar, they
literally journeyed from the east.
Vol. I. E

26 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The learned Capellus considers Kedemasthenameof
acountry, from Kedma the youngest son of Ismael ; aud
interprets the words of the sacred writer in this manner :
When the posterity of Noah had descended from the
mountains of Armenia, into the region which afterwards
received the name of Kedem, they found a plain in the
land of Shinar.
Not satisfied with this conjecture, Bochart offers au-
other. In his opinion the inspired writer adopts the
common language of the Assyrians, who denominated
all that part of their empire which was situated beyond
the Tigris, the east, and the provinces on this side the
west : the terms east and west being taken from that
river, which flowing nearly from north to south, divi
ded the Assyrian empire into almost two equal parts.
The mountains of Ararat according to this division,
may with propriety be said to belong to the east, as be
ing a part of the empire which lay beyond the Tigris.
But a more satisfactory reply may be given, by a
slight change in the translation. The original phrase
(Mikedem) evidently denotes in some parts of the Mo
saic writings, not from the east, but, on the east side ;
and is so translated in our version. When God ex
pelled our first parents from Paradise, Moses informs
us, He placed at the east of the garden of Eden, that
is, plainly on the east side, cherubims and a flaming
sword.* In a subsequent chapter it is stated, that the
patriarch Abraham removed from the plain of Moreh
unto a mountain (Mikedem) on the east.f Hence the
phrase in this passage may be translated ; As they
journeyed on the east side, they found a plain in the
land of Shinar. When the sons of Noah descended
from the mountains, they entered the level country on
the east side of the Tigris, and pursuing their journey
along the same side of the river, arrived at the plain
where they resolved to settle. Or if the words of Mo
ses be supposed to refer more properly to the land of
Shinar than to the river, it will be shown that the Ti
gris washes the eastern border of that country ; and
therefore in journeying down the Tigris, they travelled
* Gen. iii. 24. f Chap. xii. 8.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 27
on the east side of the valley. Viewing the sacred
text in this light, it may be admitted, without injury or
danger to the hypothesis which has been more generally
received, that the plain of Shinar, iu which the tower
of Babel was afterwards built, lies directly south from
the Gordisean mountains : for the words of the inspired
historian only mean, that the Noachidse travelled along
the east side of the country, till they found a plain in
its southern extremity, where they resolved to settle.
These observations render it extremely probable, that
the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, within the
limits of Armenia, and on one of the summits of the
Gordiasan range, which rising to a stupendous height
above the rest of the chain, overlook the rich and ex
tensive plains of Babylonia.a
The particular mountain of the Gordisean on which
the ark rested, is generally supposed to be the Baris.
Mr. Bryant mentions another mountain of this name,
in the range of mount Taurus, situated in Aderbijian,
in Persia : and we learn from other authorities, that the
inhabitants have an ancient tradition that the ark rested
there:* and that hard by is another village, where they
suppose the wife of Noah to have died.f The learned
analyst, however, only mentions the notion to over
throw it, by adding, that " wherever the arkite rites
were instituted, the same names were given to differ
ent places, Baris, Mene, Selene ; that the particular
name of Da Moan, the village at the foot of it, is un
derstood by the natives in the sense of the second plan
tation ; and that these circumstances only show, how
universally diffused through the ancient world was the
tradition of the Mosaic ark, and the general deluge."
Having ascertained the spot where the ark rested
after the deluge, we are prepared to form a proba-
* Herbert's Trav. f Tavernier-

a This solution is possible ; but the obvious interpretation of
Gen. xi. 2, is preferable. The respective traditions whichland the
ark in Phrygia,on the Gordiaean mountains, and on Caucasus, may
all be laid aside as balancing each other. According to the most
probable hypothesis respecting the production of the flood, the
waters were precipitated from the seas towards the east; and they
would carry the ark to mount Caucasus. '• *-"

28 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ble conjecture concerning the place where Noah lived,
anterior to that great calamity ; and where by the
command of heaven he built the ark. Though Adam
and Eve were driven out of Paradise, no hint is
given in the sacred Scriptures of their being commanded
to relinquish the country of Eden. It is therefore na
tural to suppose, that the first generations of men settled
in that region, and in the countries around. That
Noah had'' his residence in the neighbourhood of Para
dise, may be inferred from his being the lineal de
scendant of them, who, after the condemnation and ba
nishment of Cain, succeeded to all the rights and privi
leges of the first born, and by consequence to the fa
mily inheritance, on the death of Adam. From the
conduct of Abraham to the sons of Keturah, it seems
to have been the practice in the patriarchal ages as in
modern times, derived, it is probable, from the arrange
ments of Adam in his family, to send away the younger
branches with a certain allotted portion, to form settle
ments for themselves, while the inheritance was re
served for the eldest son. If this remark be just, then
Noah must have remained with Adam and Seth in the
country of Eden, and succeeded to the inheritance after
their decease. This is further confirmed by the ark
resting on the mountains of Ararat, which were at no
great distance from Babylonia ; for it is by no means
probable, that so large a vessel, of a form by no means
adapted to sailing, and so deeply loaded, could- per
form a voyage of great length. But, whatever might
be the distance it floated, its motion was towards the
north ; because the inundation by which Assyria and
the Gordisean mountains were submerged, rushed in
from the south, the Persian gulf, and the Indian ocean ;
and because their heaviest rains are wafted on the wings
of the humid south wind. This opinion is also con
firmed from the testimonies of ancient writers, who as
sert, on the authority of certain public records depo
sited in a city of VI esopotamia, that Sisuthrus, who is
no other than Noah, sailed from Assyria into Armenia.
The species of wood of which the ark was fabrica
ted, strongly corroborates the opinion that Noah lived

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 29
before the flood, in tiie country of Eden. It is called,
in Scripture, Gopher wood.* Fuller rightly conjec
tures, from the word itself, that it is the cypress. The
Greek word for cypress, is *v*o,eigsos; take away the
termination, and ""^s remains, which has all the radi
cal letters of the word Gopher, and differs but little
from it in sound. Nor is any sort of wood more dura
ble and lasting than the cypress. Thucydides informs
us, in his second book, that for this reason the Atheni
ans deposited in coffins of cypress wood, the bones of
those who had fallen in the wars of their country. And
the Scholiast observes upon the place, that these boxes,
or coffins, were made of cypress, because it was not
liable to rot.t It is extremely probable, that the ark of
Noah was built of the same durable material ; for it is
asserted, by a great number of ancient writers, that
some relics of it remained for several thousand years
after the deluge. The learned and indefatigable Bo
chart also proves, by the testimony of Plato, Plutarch,
and other writers, that the cypress wood is not only
durable, but also fit for shipping ; and that it abounds
in Babylonia, and the surrounding countries. Hence,
he informs us from Arrian, that the fleet which Alex
ander ordered to be built at Babylon, was all con
structed of cypress wood ; because the country produ
ced few other trees fit for that purpose. But it has
been already shown that the country of Eden lay on
both sides of the river, formed by the united streams of
the Euphrates and the Tigris ; and therefore, partly
within the limits of Babylonia. Noah, therefore, lived
in Eden before the flood, and there built the ark of
gopher or cypress wood, with which that country
abounds. * Gen. vi, 14. f Bochart.

30 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
CHAP. III.
THE LAND OF SHINAR, AND THE CITY AND TOWER OF UABEL.
THE land of Shinar is that beautiful valley through
which the rapid Tigris rushes from the mountains of
Armenia to the sea.
That this assertion is not lightly hazarded, will ap
pear from the testimony of ancient writers, both sacred
and profane. The prophet Isaiah mentions Shinar as
one of the countries to which his people were carried
captive ; and by connecting it with Cush and Elam,
seems to intimate that it was situated in their neighbour
hood : "The Lord shall set his hand again the second
time, to recover the remn?nt of his people — from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar."* So convinced
were the Seventy interpreters of this, that they render
the term Shinar in this, and other passages, by the
word Babylonia. In several parts of Scripture, Shinar
is expressly called Babel. " The beginning of Nim-
rod's empire was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
Calneh. in the land of Shinar."f The tower of Babel
was, according to Moses, built in the same country ;$
and it received that name, "Because the Lord did there
confound the language of the whole earth." It is a fact
which cannot be disputed, that the capital of Nebuchad
nezzar's empire was the renowned city of Babylon;
and the prophet Daniel asserts, in explicit terms, that it
was situated in the land of Shinar. "In the third year
of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, came Nebu
chadnezzar king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and be
sieged it: and the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah,
into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of
God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the
house of his god." From these quotations, it isr indis
putable, that the land of Shinar is the same country
which afterwards received the name of Babylonia. The
fact is confirmed by the testimony of uninspired au-
* Is. si- 11. +Gen. x. 10. + Ch. x 1, 2, 4, 9.

GEOGRAPHY OF1 THE EAST. |B1
thors. Abydenes, as quoted by Eusebius, observes,
That Nebuchadnezzar having finished the Syrian w ar,
magnificently adorned the temple of Belus with the
spoils of the conquered nations. The same writer has
preserved a fragment of Milesius, the ancient historian
of Phenicia, in which he asserts that Shinar belonged
to Babylonia.
The term Shinar, by changing the Hebrew letter Ain
into g, may be pronounced Shingar. Hence, many are
persuaded, that Shinar is the same country that was
known to the ancients, by the names Singara and Sin-
garena. Pliny and other writers, mention the city of
Singara in Mesopotamia, not far from the Tigris ; Sex-
tus Rufus, the region of Singarena in the same country;
and Ptolomy, the mountain Singaras.* It is therefore
extremely probable, that to the land of Shinar, belong
ed the whole country along the west bank of the Ti
gris, as far as the mountains of Armenia. In the opi
nion of some writers, the land of Shinar probably in
cluded the whole valley on both sides of the river, from
the mountains of Armenia to the Persian gulf, or at
least, to the southern division of the common channel
pf the Tigris and Euphrates.! It is however certain,
that it extended all along the western bank of that river.
Noah and his sons, probably formed their first set
tlement after the flood, near the bottom of the mountain
on which the ark rested in the uorthern part of Shinar ;
and here the venerable patriarch spent the remainder
of his days. For we have not the least evidence, that
he had any concern in the building of the city and tower
of Babel. The piety of his character must have led
him strenuously to oppose the daring attempt of his de
generate offspring ; and to remain at a distance from
the scene of their wickedness. To this proof of his
continuing in the northern parts of Shinar, may be
added, that Ptolomy mentions a city near the sources of
the Tigris, under the name of Zama, which bears so
great an affinity to Zem, or Shem, as to render it ex
ceedingly probable, that Noah and his sons formed
their first settlement near this place.
* Bochart . f Well's Geog. vol. i. p. 32, &c.

32 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
That the city of Zama derived its name from Shem,
is evident from this consideration, that in the Arabic
version, Shem is always called Sam or Zam.* Here
the venerable father of the postdiluvian world, restored
the worship of Jehovah, and for three hundred and
fifty years, swayed the patriarchal sceptre over the vir
tuous part of his descendants. The rest of his sons,
determined on the prosecution of their own presumptu
ous schemes, and unable to bear or to subdue his firm
opposition, withdrew from his presence, and proceed
ing down the river, fixed on a particular place for their
intended work, at a considerable distance from his re
sidence. So great was the impiety of these degenerate sons of
Noah, and so regardless were they of the sure and aw
ful proofs of the Divine jealousy*, that they selected a
spot within the limits of the land of Eden, and not far
from the scene of the first transgression, for the renewal
of that hostility writh heaven which had cost their fa
thers so dear. They commenced their operations in the
very place, or at least, in its immediate neighbourhood,
where rose in future ages, the imperial city of Babylou;
and by consequence, upon the original and natural
stream of the Euphrates, at some distance from its con
fluence with the Tigris.
The time when the city and tower were built, may
be inferred with such sufficient certainty from these
words of Moses ; " And unto Eber were born two sons,
the name of one was Peleg ; for in his days was the
earth divided." The meaning of the historian must be,
that the earth was divided at the time Peleg was boru;
for the name was given at his birth, in allusion to the
signal occurrence which had then recently happened.
But the inspired w riter informs us in another passage,
that Peleg was born an hundred years after the flood ;f
therefore, in the same year, the building of the lower
was interrupted, and the sons of Noah were scattered
over the face of the earth.
The dispersion, however, affected only the irreligi
ous part of JN oah's family ; for, as has been already re-
* Well's Geog. vol. I. f Gen. xi. 10—16.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 33
marked, it is not to be supposed that the patriarch him
self, or Shem and others to whom the covenant was
given, would engage in so wicked a scheme, or give it
the sanction of their approbation. b This idea receives
b However sinful the building of Babel may have been as origi
nating in improper motives, and as tending to thwart the purposes
of God with regard to the peopling of the earth, it is not certain
that it was so obviously impious that no good man could be en
gaged in the undertaking. Still, it is highly probable, that in this
work Noah and many others had no part. See pages 39th and 40th.
At the same time that some ol his descendants, leaving the neigh
bourhood of Caucasus, (where we suppose the ark to have rested,)
journeyed from the east to the plains of Shinar, others may have
journeyed to the east, and entered Hindostan and China. This
conjecture has in its favour the following considerations :
1. It is perfectly consistent with the Scriptures. Before the
sacred historian speaks a word of the dispersion at Babel, he gives
us, in the tenth chapter of Genesis, a sketch of Noah's posterity.
He says of the sons of Japhet : " By these were the isles of the
Gentiles, (avjn "n) the habitations of distant nations, divided in
their lands ; every one after, his tongue, after their families, in their
nations." Here he may be understood to speak of the nations as
distinguished by their several languages at the time of his writing.
He mentions a division of the earth in the days of Peleg, who was
born about a hundred years after the flood. If the name was given
him near the period of his birth, it seems to allude to an early divi
sion made under the direction of Noah ; for it is improbable, that
in only one hundred years after the flood, the people had become
sufficiently numerous to attempt so stupendous a work as the tower
of Babel. At the close of the tenth chapter, Moses observes :
" These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their genera
tions, in their nations; and by these were the nations divided in the
earth after the flood." He does not say after the building of Babel.
In the verse which we have just now introduced, he conducts us
back to the time when, as he states in the commencement of the
eleventh chapter, "the whole earth was of one language and of one
speech." But as the natural consequence of the division which he
mentions in that verse, many of the people would travel in different
directions. " And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east,
that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there."
He next gives a brief account of a most remarkable event which
occurred among this part of the earth's population. Instead of
spreading over the neighbouring countries, according to'the di
vine command, '¦ replenish the earth,"* they resolve to leave them
uninhabited, and begin to build for themselves and their posterity
a single city. God miraculously confounds their speech till they
are dispersed. " So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence
* Gen. ix. 1.
Vol. I. F

34 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
great confirmation from the words of Moses, in which
he characterizes the builders, "the children of men;"*
for in the sixth chapter, the sons of God are opposed
to the daughters of men, as believers in God to unbe
lievers. Moses, therefore, in using the term Adam, in
sinuates, that only the unbelieving part of Noah's fa
mily were engaged in that act of rebellion. But, if the
venerable patriarch and his religious offspring took no
part in the crime, they suffered no part of the punish
ment in which their impious relations were involved.
While the speech of the latter was confounded, the for
mer retained their native language in all its purity, and
transmitted it by Shem, Arphaxad, and Sala, to Heber
the ancestors of Abraham, the renowned founder of the
Hebrew nation. This was no other than the language
which the descendants of Heber, in the line of Abra
ham, continued to speak for many generations, and in
which the sacred books of the Old Testament were
written. * Gen. xi. 5. Q-iNn \u
upon the face of the whole country, (p«n Ss) and they left off to
build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because
the Lord did there confound the language of all the land ; and from
thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of the whole
country." For the same reasons that Moses gives no particular
account of those who journeyed to the east, he now leaves all the
families which once crowded the plains of Shinar, and hastens to
trace the line of descent from Shem to Abraham.
2. It accords with what, from the nature of the case, would be
likely to occur. Wherever the family of Noah may have found
themselves after the flood, but especially if it was on that part of
the mountains of Ararat which is denominated Caucasus, the same
motives which would lead some of them to the west, would lead
others to the east.
3. It makes the origin of the eastern nations sufficiently ancient.
1 hey have traditions respecting the flood, but none, we believe,
respecting the confusion at Babel. They claim a high antiquity •
and it is desirable to allow them one as high, at least, as that of
any nation on the globe.
But should any one hesitate to adopt the conjecture presented
in this note, he will, we hope, be disposed to send to the remote re
gions of the east, as speedily as possible, after the confusion, some
ot those branches from the families of the sons of Noah, respect
ing which very faint traces only, or none at all, can be found in any
o.ther part of the world, '¦ I G

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. <}g'
While the presumptuous builders of the city and
tower of Babel were, in the righteous displeasure of
God, scattered over the face of the earth, the patriarch
and his adherents remained undisturbed in their origi
nal settlements ; for Ur of the Chaldees, where the an
cestors of Abram resided, was not far distant from the
Gordisean mountains on which the ark rested. Ammi-
anus mentions a city of this name, situated in the east
ern parts of Mesopotamia, between the river Tigris and
the city of Nisibis, about an hundred miles from those
stupendous mountains, where, as shall afterwards be
shown, the ancestors of Abraham certainly lived. To
this may be added, the settlement of the sons of Shem,
when the earth was divided, in Armenia, Mesopotamia,
and Syria, of which the two first were the very coun
tries where the ark rested, and Noah spent the remain
der of his days. His descendants, therefore, in the line
of Shem, were not like the builders of Babel, compel
led to leave their dwellings in search of new settle
ments, but spread over the countries which they previ
ously occupied; which was not a punishment inflicted
upon them for a crime in which they had no share, but
the natural result, under the secrect direction of provi
dence, of an increasing population.
The design of the tower with which the founders of
Babylon proposed to adorn their infant city, was not,
as some writers have strangely imagined, to open a way
for themselves into the mansions of eternal felicity ;
for it can scarcely be supposed, that so extravagant an
idea could enter their minds, depraved and presumptu
ous as they were, much less that it could ripen into a
regular plan of operation. The words in which they
couched their daring resolution, " Let us build us a
city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven,"
mean no more than a tower of extraordinary height.
Such phrases may be found in every language ; and
their meaning can scarcely be misunderstood. When
the messengers whom Moses employed to examine the
land of Canaan, returned and made their report, they
described the cities they had visited, as great and wal
led up to heaven : and Moses himself in his farewell

36 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
address to the congregation, repeats it ; " Hear, O Is
rael, thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to
possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities
great and fenced up to heaven."* The meaning of
these phrases plainly is, that the walls of these cities
were uncommonly strong and lofty. That the build
ers of* Babel meant no more, is further evident from the
words of Jehovah, recorded by Moses. " Now no
thing will be restrained from them which they have
imagined to do." It is here plainly admitted, that
the design was practicable, and had been accomplished,
if God had not thought proper to interrupt their ope
rations. But to build a tower, the top of which should
actually reach unto heaven, is beyond the power of
mortals. The opinion of Josephus is not much more
reasonable; that the design of the inhabitants of Babel,
was to raise a tower higher far than the summits of the
loftiest mountains, to defend them from the waters of a
second flood, of which they were afraid. Had this
been theirdesign, they would not have commenced their
operations on the level plain, but on the top of Faris,
where the ark rested. They had the solemn promise
of Jehovah, that he would no more destroy the earth
by water; and beheld the ratification of it in the ra
diant bow of heaven, placed in the cloud to quiet the
fears of guilty mortals. If the Noachid* had distrusted
the promise and sign of heaven, they had not descended
from the mountains, where only they could hope for
safety from the strength and height of their tower, into
the plains of Babylonia, and fixed their abode between
two mighty rivers, to whose frequent inundations that
province is exposed. Nor could they be so infatuated
as to imagine, that a tower constructed of bricks, whe
ther hardened in the sun, or burnt in the fire, could re
sist the waters of a general deluge, whose impetuous
assault, as they must have well known, the strong bar
riers of nature could hardly endure. Equally inad
missible is the notion, that they constructed this tower
to defend them from the general conflagration, of w hich
they are supposed to have received some obscure and
' Deut. i,28- and ix. 1.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 37
imperfect notices ; for in the destruction of the world,
who could hope to find safety in the recesses of a tower,
or on the summit of the mountains? they would rather
seek for refuge from the devouring element, in the pro
found caverns of the earth.
But it is vain to indulge in conjectures, when the
true reason is clearly stated in the page of inspiration :
" Let us build us a city and a tower whose top may
reach unto heaven : and let us make us a name, lest we
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."*
These words ckarly show, that their object in building
the tower was, to transmit a name illustrious for sub-
blime conception and bold undertaking, to succeeding
generations. In this sense, the phrase, to make one's
self a name, is used in other parts of Scripture. Thus,
" David gat him a name when he returned from smi
ting of the Syrians in the valley of salt ;"f aud the
prophet informs us, that the God of Israel "led them
by the right hand of Moses, with his glorious arm di
viding the waters before them, to make himself an ever
lasting name."J They seem also to nave intended it
as a beacon or rallying point, to their increasing and
naturally diverging families, to prevent them from se
parating in the boundless Avilderness into independent
and hostile societies. This may be inferred from these
words, in which they further explain the motive of their
undertaking : "lest we be scattered abroad on the face
of the whole earth." They seem to have anticipated
the necessity, and dreaded the consequences of disper
sion ; and, like all who seek to avert evil by unlawful
means, they hastened, by the rash and impious mea
sure they adopted, the very mischief which they sought
to avoid. To build a city and a tower was certainly
no cri.ne ; but to do this with a view merely to transmit
an illustrious name to posterity, or to thwart the coun
sels of Heaven, was both foolish and wicked, and
justly excited the displeasure of the supreme Judge,
who requires his rational creatures to acknowledge and
to glorify him in all their undertakings. Guilty of the
same crime which procured the sudden disperson of
- Gen. xi. 4. |2 Sam. viii. 13. ; Is. lxiii. 1°

38 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the first settlers at Babel, was the restorer of that great
city, when he proudly boasted, " Is not this great Ba
bylon which I have builded for the house of the king
dom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of
my majesty :"* and he was instantly visited with a si
milar punishment, but proportioned to the greater enor
mity of his transgression ; for the place should have
reminded him of the sin and punishment of his fore
fathers, aud taught him to guard against the pride and
vanity of his heart.
Nebuchadnezzar was, for his wickedness, driven
from his throne and kingdom, to dwell with the beasts
of the field, and eat grass like oxen, " till seven times
passed over him;" till the sun had seven times passed
over his appointed circuit, and he had learned "that
the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giv
eth it to whomsoever he will." But hie irreligious an
cestors were punished with dispersion, by confounding
their language. Till this memorable event, the inspired
writer insures us, the whole earth was of one language
and one speech. When Jehovah came down to see the
tower which the Babylonians Were building, he said,
" Behold the people is oue, and they have all one lan
guage." They formed one great society, and conversed
in the tongue which they had learned from those who
lived before the flood ; and which was the only lan
guage spoken on earth from the beginning of the world :
for no hint of any confusion of language, or even mate
rial diversity of speech, before the building of Babel,
is given in the sacred volume. It is exceedingly natural
to suppose, that the devout Seth, and his religious de
scendants, would preserve with care, the family tongue
in which God conversed with their renowned father :
in which the first promise was given to sinners, and
many subsequent revelations were made. The language
of our fathers is not easily changed, if we were so dis
posed; but no man is willing to change it; and a reli
gious man will be yet more averse to relinquish a lan
guage which contains the only grounds of his hope,
and that of the whole human race. We may therefore
* Dan. iv. 30.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 39
conclude, that since this language had so many claims
on the affectionate care of Seth, he would certainly
hand it down, with the gospel it contained, to his chil
dren, that they might teach it to succeeding generations,
till it was received by his celebrated descendant Noah,
the second father of our family. For the same reasons,
which were daily receiving additional strength, Shem
would preserve with pious care, the sacred deposit, till
he delivered it into the hands of Abraham, with whom
he lived about two hundred years. The line of de
scent, by which the primitive language might he trans
mitted from Adam to Abraham, and from this patriarch
to Moses, is short and straight ; for between Adam and
Noah were only eight persons, and the father of Noah
was fifty-six years old when Adam died. The only
interruption is the confusion of tongues, which happen
ed after the flood. But though God confounded the
speech of mankind at Babel, it is not said he extin
guished the general language; nor that he confounded
the speech of any but the colony at Babel. These only
were in the transgression, and, therefore, these only
liable to the punishment. Noah, aud the rest of his
family, persevering in their dutiful obedience to God,
undoubtedly retained their language, together with their
ancient habitations.
It may be urged that, by the testimony of Moses, the
Lord confounded at Babel, "the language of all the
earth." But the plain of Shinar could, with no pro
priety, be called the whole earth ; nor could the inha
bitants of Shinar, by any figure of speech, be entitled
to that name. If mankind were in possession of a great
part of the globe when the tower was built, by what
rule of justice could they be punished for a crime in
which they had no share, and of which multitudes of
the distant settlers could not even have heard? "Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" The truth of
this history depends upon two terms, which admit of
different senses. In the first verse of the eleventh chap
ter of Genesis, the sacred historian says, The whole
earth was of language, and of one speech. The word
(Sa) col, signifies the ivhole, and also every; by (s-,N)

40 ILLUSTRATION OF SCRIPTUFE.
Arets, is often meant the earth, it also signifies a land
or province ; and occurs frequently in this latter accep
tation. In this very chapter, the region of Shinar is
called' Arets Shinar, the land or province of Shinar;
and the land of Canaan, Arets Canaan, the country of
Canaan. The psalmist uses both terms in precisely
the same sense: "Their sound is gone out into every
land," Col Arets.* The words of Moses, then, ought
to be rendered, Therefore is the name of it called
Babel ; because the Lord did there confound the lan
guage of the whole land. If this view of the text be
just, the dispersion was a partial event, and related
chiefly to the sous of Cush, whose intention was to
found a great, if not an universal empire ; but by this
judgment, their purpose was defeated. The language
of the whole country, Mr. Bryant thinks, was con
founded, by causing a labial failure, so that the people
could not articulate. It was not an aberration, in words
or language, but a failure and incapacity' iu labial ut
terance ; for God said, " Go to, let us go down and con
found, nsc', their lip, that they may not understand*one
another's speech." By this, their speech was con
founded, but not altered ; for, as soon as they separated,
they recovered the true tenor of pronunciation ; and the
language of the earth continued, for some ages, nearly
the same. This appears, from many interviews between
the Hebrews, and other nations, in which they spoke -
without an interpreter. Thus, when Abraham left his
native country to sojourn in the land of promise, he
conversed with the natives in their own language, with
out difficulty, though they were the descendants of Ca
naan, who, for his transgression at Babel, was driven,
by the Divine judgments, from the chosen residence of
his family. The Hebrew language, indeed, seems to
have been the vernacular tongue of all the nations in
those parts of the" world ; for the patriarchs, and their
descendants, so late as the days of Moses and Joshua,
conversed familiarly with the inhabitants of Midian
and Canaan, without the help of interpreters.
This argument receives an accession of strength
* Ps. xix. 4.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 41
ft-om the ideal character of the Hebrew language. It
is admitted, that all languages participate more or less
of the ideal character ; but it is one of the most re
markable circumstances by which the Hebrew is dis
tinguished. A number of its words, as in other lan
guages, are mere arbitrary signs of ideas ; but, in ge
neral, they derive their origin from a very few terms,
or roots, that are commonly expressive of some idea
borrowed from external objects ; from the human con
stitution ; from our senses or our feelings. The names
of men, and of the lower animals, aud the names of
many places, particularly in the remoter ages, allude
to some remarkable character in the creature named ;
or, in reference to place, to some uncommon circum
stance or event. Scarcely a proper name can be men
tioned, which alludes not to something of this kind.
To give a few examples : Kore, the partridge, received
its name from the verb Kara, to call, in imitation of the
note which thatbird uses in calling its young. The camel
is in Hebrew, Gamal, from a verb of the same form,
which signifies to recompense, because that creature is
remarkable for remembering and revenging an injury.
Ihe Hebrews call the scorpion Akrab, from two words
which signify to kill one's father ; now both Pliny and
Aristotle inform us, that it is the character of that crea
ture to destroy its own parents.
But these names were imposed by Adam before the
fall ; for the sacred historian explicitly states, " What
soever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof."* The verb was is not in the original
text; and, therefore, the sentence may run in the pre
sent, with equal propriety as in the past ; and, indeed,
according to the genius of the language, with more pro
priety in the present — that is the name thereof. Hence
the names by which the lower animals were known in
the days of Moses, were those which Adam gave them
in Paradise ; and as these are pure Hebrew, the legi
timate conclusion is, that Hebrew was the language
spoken by Adam before the fall.
The names which men and things received at the be-
* Gen. ii. 19.
Vol. 1. G

42 ILLUSTRATIONS of scripture.
ginning of time, are so strikingly similar to those which
they bore when Hebrew was certainly a living lan
guage, that its claim to the honour of being the primeval
speech of the human family, can scarcely be rejected.
It is ever reckoned a proof of similar origin, when many
words in any two languages have the same form, the
same sound, meaning and reason. But the names of
the first generations of men, like those of the lower ani
mals, are as pure Hebrew as the names of Peleg, Abra
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, or those of David and Solomon,
or Malarhi. They have the Hebrew form, are con
structed according to Hebrew rules, are founded on
certain reasons, like Hebrew names ; and in fine, arc
not to be distinguished in any one respect from pure
Hebrew. It deserves also to be remarked, that the reason as
signed for these names will not correspond with any
other language. The garden of Paradise was called
Eden; because among the Hebrews it signifies plea
sure or delight. The place of Caiu's exile was for this
reason called the land of Nod, from a root which sig
nifies to wander. Adam received this name, because
he was taken out of the ground ; but if the term for
ground in the first language had been terra, or >«, or
earth, there had been no propriety in the designation.
Eve Avas called by this name, because she was the
mother of all living: but it is derived from a pure Hebrew
verb which signifies to live; and to this relation the
names owes all its propriety and significance. Cain
was named from the Hebrew verb Kana, to possess,
because his mother had got him from the Lord; and in
this instance also, the name is inseparably connected
with the Hebrew root. The proper name Seth is de
rived from the Hebrew verb Shouth, to appoint ; be
cause, said our first mother, God hath appointed me
another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew.* The
same mode of reasoning might be carried through all
the names of the Adamitic age ; but these instances
are sufficient to shew the near affinity, if not the posi
tive identity of the language which Adam spoke, with
the Hebrew of the old testament.

* Gen. iv. 26-.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 43
The names ascribed by the inspired writer to the
founders of our race, are not interpretations of primi
tive terms ; for he declares they are the very names
which were given at first : and as they are derivatives
from pure Hebrew verbs, the language then spoken must
have been the same in substance and structure. Had
they been translations, we have reason to think the same
method would have been followed as in several in
stances in the New Testament, where the original term
is used, and the interpretation avowedly subjoined. -But
Moses gives not a single hint of his translating these
terms : he asserts on the contrary, that they are the
original words employed ; and the truth of his asser
tion is rendered indubitable by the reasons assigned
for their imposition, which are inseparably connected
with the Hebrew language. Nor does Moses, in the
whole course of his history, when speaking of the names
of persons and places, utter a single word from which
we can infer the existence of an earlier language.
When the minute and extensive acquaintance with
the natural character and temper of the numerous ani
mals to which our first father gave names in Paradise,
which he certainly had not time to acquire by his own
industry, and which we have no reason to believe he
owed to intuition, is considered, we must admit, that
the language in which he conversed was not his own
contrivance, but the immediate gift of Heaven. When
Jehovah breathed into Adam and Eve the breath of life,
he inspired them in the same moment with the know
ledge of the tongue in which they were to express their
thoughts. A similar favour was bestowed at the be
ginning of the New Testament dispensation, on the apos
tles and other ministers of the gospel ; who were in
spired in a moment with the perfect knowledge of
many different languages. The builders of Babel,
as might have been expected, were visited in a very
different manner. Theirs was partly an inspiration
in anger, which, instead of the common language, im
parted for a time a number of new and strange sounds,
which none but those who received them could under
stand. These new idioms or sounds, however, were
not so numerous as the people assembled at Babel : for

44 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
> human society had then been completely at an end : —
the father could not have associated with his child, nor
the husband with the wife of his bosom : every indivi
dual, compelled to separate from the rest of the species,
had taken up his solitary dwelling with the savage
beast of the desert,— and the whole race, so far at least
as it depended upon them, had speedily perished. It
is therefore extremely probable, that every separate fa
mily had a peculiar dialect, or those families that were
appointed to coalesce into one colony in their future dis-
persiou. How far the Noachidse proceeded in building the
city and tower before the confusion of tongues, cannot
be certainly known. It is extremely probable, that the
prodigious tower which stood in the middle of the tem
ple dedicated to Belus, was the very same which was
built there by Ham and his ambitious progeny. This
is the more probable, because it is attested by several
profane authors, that this tower was all constructed of
bricks and bitumen; the same materials which, accord
ing to Moses, were used iu building the tower of Babel.
This astonishing structure, was, according to Herodo
tus, a furlong on each side at the base, and a furlong in
height ;c on this another tower was built, and after this
another, to the number of eight. If these eight towers,
therefore, rose in the same proportion, the height of the
whole building was eight furlongs or one mile. We
read of no other structure ever executed by the hands
of man, that reached the fourth part of this immense al
titude. The ascent to the top, was by stairs winding
round it on the outside ; that is, says Rollin, there was
perhaps an easy sloping ascent in the side of the outer

c This statement has arisen from ' an error in the Latin version
of Herodotus. The Greek of that author, the authentic text, as
serts only that the structure was a furlong in length, and a furlong
in breadth. It says nothing of the height. " Strabo, in his descrip
tion of it, calling it a pyramid, because of its decreasing or bench
ing in at every tower, says, of the whole, that it was a furlong high,
and a furlong on every side. To reckon every tower a furlong,
and the whole a mile high, would shock any man's belief, were the
authority of both these authors for it, much more when there is
none at all." See Prideaux's Connexion of the Hist, of the Old
and New Test. P. I. B. II. t. c

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 45
wall, which, turning by very slow degrees in a spiral
line, eight times round the tower from the bottom to the
top, had the same appearance as if there had been eight
towers placed upon one another. In these different
stories were many large rooms, with arched roofs, sup
ported by pillars. Over the whole, on the top of the
tower, was an observatory, by the benefit of which the
Babylonians became more expert in astronomy than all
other nations.*
The stupendous undertaking of the Noachidse, to the
progress of which, the God of heaven put an effectual
stop by the confusion of tongues, was long remembered
in the east. The war of the giants with Olympian Jove,
so sweetly sung by the Roman poet, bears too striking
a resemblance to be mistaken. In the hands of his
muse, the sun-dried bricks of Shinar grew into solid
aud towering mountains, which men of gigantic size
and daring ambition, which more than mortal strength,
piled upon one another, in the vain and presumptuous
hope of opening to themselves a way to the throne of
the almighty Thunderer.
" Neve foret terris securior arduus aether :
Affectasse ferunt regnum cceleste Gigantas
Alta que congestos struxisse ad sidera montes.
Turn Pater omnipotens misso perfregit Oiympum
Fulmine et excussit subjecto Pelio Ossam." QvtD.

CHAP. IV.
OF THE DISPERSION OF MANKIND.
THE confusion of tongues was followed by the dis
persion of mankind over the face of all the earth. This
great and interesting work, however, was conducted by
the Sovereign Disposer of all things, in a regular and
orderly manner. Under his watchful and secret di
rection, the men of Babel, baffled in their presumptuous
* Rollin's Ancient Hist. vol. 2.

46 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
designs, and disappointed in their sanguine expecta
tions of immortal fame, together with numerous bands
from the other families of Noah, who had learned from
the lips of their common father the express command of
God, >to multiply and replenish the earth, migrated to
those quarters of the globe, and those countries which
had been allotted in the Divine counsels for their re
spective settlements. To this orderly distribution, the
inspired historian seems to allude in his concluding re
mark on the settlement of the sons of Javan : " By these
were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands ;
every one after his tongue, after their families, in their
nations.* And for the same reason, he concludes the
account he gives us of the other branches of Noah's fa
mily in similar terms. The words families and nations,
are often used promiscuously in other parts of Scrip
ture ; but here they must have a distinct signification.
The difference of construction plainly intimates, that
families are in this connection subordinate to nations, as
the parts of which nations are composed. The mean
ing of the sacred writer then, plainly is, that the sons
of Noah were ranged according to their nations, and
every nation was ranked by its families; so that every
nation dwelt by itself, and in every nation the tribes,
and in every tribe the families of which it consisted, re
ceived their separate lots and lived by themselves. f
Thus the settlement of the Noachidse after their dis
persion at Babel, seems to have been conducted on the
same principles, and in the same orderly manner, though
not perhaps with all the formality, as that of the people
of Israel long afterwards, in the land of Canaan.
The rule which the Divine Wisdom was pleased to
follow in confounding their language, gives additional
strength to this argument. The languages of the same
branches had a nearer affinity to one another, than to
those of any other branch of Noah's family. Those
who spoke the same language naturally associated to
gether; and those who received a kindred tongue, and
by consequence understood a little of the former, pre
ferred their neighbourhood to that of a people with
* Deut xxxii 8. f Well's Hist Geog. vol. 1. p. 60:

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 47
whose language they were totally unacquainted. Hence,
the first planters settled as well after their tongues, as
after their families, and after their nations. The na
tions of the dispersion, on leaving the plain of Shinar,
turned, by the immediate suggestion of Heaven, to that
quarter of the globe which had been allotted in the Di
vine purpose for their future residence ; but the affinity
of the languages, was perhaps the means which Jeho
vah employed to iudicate the regions that were to be
occupied by the subordinate branches of the general
division. The unity of speech at Babel, which bound
its inhabitants into one compact society, was extinguish
ed, or more properly, suspended for a time ; but the af
finities observable aiming the numerous dialects, which
the confusion of languages produced, still operated as
a general principle of connection, in determining the re
lative situation of the different settlements.
Dr. Wells has drawn another argument from the
wisdom of the patriarchs, who were all alive at this di
vision, and acted as kings in their generations. Con
sidering the great difference of soil and temperature iu
various regions of the earth, it was their part, he thinks,
to prevent the contention amoug their sons, which such
a difference might be naturally supposed to produce.
This could be done only by instituting an orderly di
vision ; and that either by casting lots, or choosing ac
cording to the order of their birth-right, after taking
some general survey ofa sufficient portion of the earth,
and laying down distinct portions according to the
number of the nations, then of families, &c. But it is
much to be questioned, whether the patriarchs, in such
circumstances, were able to make themselves under
stood to numerous bodies of their descendants, who no
longer spake the same language, or possessed sufficient
authority over so daring and stubborn a race, to give
effect to their decisions. The arrangement of the dif
ferent settlements is rather to be ascribed to the imme
diate interposition of Heaven, who miraculously con
founded the language of Ham and his soils, and expel
led them for their presumption from the land of Shinar,
where they had determined" to take up their final abode;

48 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
while he divided the families of Shem and Japhet into
separate communities, and conducted them by imme
diate suggestions from above, towards the countries
where he had appointed them to establish their perma
nent residence.
Of the three sons of Noah, Japhet was the first born,
though mentioned last in the sacred text. Moses says
expressly, that Noah was five hundred years old, and
begat Shem, Ham, and Japhet. And since Ham is de
clared in Scripture, to be Noah's younger son,* the
three brothers must have been at different births ; there
fore the historian must be understood to mean, that he
began, in the five hundredth year of his age, to beget
children, and in that year begat* his eldest son. But
in Gen xi. 10. it is said, that Shem was an hundred
years old, and begat Arphaxad, two years after the
flood. Now had Shem been Noah's eldest son, he
must have been an hundred and two years old at least,
the second year after the flood ; for Noah begat his
eldest son in his five hundredth year, and from thence
to the flood were an hundred years ; for according to
Moses, in the six hundredth year of Noah's life the
flood began. Therefore, if Shem was only an hundred
years old, two years after the flood, it evidently follows,
that Japhet must be the son which Noah begat in his
five hundredth year, and consequently must be elder
than Shem.-j- This argument seems completely to de
termine the controversy, which has been long main
tained among interpreters, concerning the sense of the
Hebrew text. Gen. x. 21. which considered by itself,
may signify either that Shem was the elder brother of
Japhet, or that Shem was the " brother of Japhet the
elder." The last now appears to be the true meaning,
and is therefore justly preferred by the Septuagint, and
our English translators.
The sacred historian begins his account of the de
scendants of Noah, with the sons of Japhet; but for
what reason he does so, is uncertain. It is evident he
had no regard in his statement to seniority of birth ; for
he gives us the line of Ham before that of Shem, who,
* Gen. ix. ?4 f Well's Geog-. vol. 1. p. ST.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 49
by his express declaration, was the eldest of the two
brothers. In the following sketch, I shall strictly adhere lo the
order of seniority, which requires us to begin with the
descendants of Japhet. The region in which the sons
of Japhet formed their first settlements, the sacred his
torian distinguishes by a general name : " the Isles of
the Gentiles."* By this phrase the Hebrews meant,
not only those places which are on all sides surrounded
by water, but also those countries which they could not
conveniently approach but by sea. Now, such were
in relation to them countries of Europe and the Lesser
Asia : these, therefore, they called the isles of the
Gentiles. In confirmation of this view, many passages
of Scripture might be quoted ; but I shall produce only
one from the prophecies of Isaiah, where, in reference
to the calling of the Gentiles and the restoration of the
Jews, the prophet foretels, "The Lord shall recover the
remnantof his people from Assyria, and from Egypt, and
from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from
Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the
sea."f In this remarkable prophecy, the islands of
the sea, (which are the same with the isles of the Gen
tiles,) are distinguished from the other countries from
whence the chosen people were to be recovered ; and
by consequence may be justly reckoned the countries
of Europe and the Lesser Asia. Nor is it reasonable
to suppose, that the prophet, in his enumeration of the
places where the Gentiles were to be favoured with the
glad tidings of salvation, would omit those countries
where the gospel obtained its brightest triumphs, and
which have continued through every succeeding age,
the principal seat of the Christian church.
We are therefore to look for the settlements of Ja
phet and his sons, chiefly in the countries of Europe
and the Lesser Asia. The sons of Japhet L Japhet,
mentioned by Moses, are seven, who were ^fkiSj0/.
probably the founders of as many nations.
1. The descendants of Gomer, the eldest noV,hGe°rrr'
son of the family, settled in that part of the C*o°f km
* Gen. x. 5. t Is- xil U'
Vol. I. H

50 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Lesser Asia, which, lying toward the north-east, com
prehends the countries of Phrygia, Pontus, Bithynia,
and a great part of Galatia. Josephus, the celebrated
Jewish historian, says expressly, that the Galatians
who lived in this tract, were called Gomerites. Hero
dotus mentions the Cimmerii as inhabiting the same
region; and Pliny speaks of a town in Troas, a part
of" Phrygia, called Comara or Cimmeris ; and Mela
speaks of the Comari : — names which are obviously-
derived from Gomer. In allusion to the same Hebrew
term, the learned Bochart imagines, that the G ..eks
gave the name of Phrygia to a considerable part of the
Lesser Asia. The root Gamar, he observes, signifies
to consume, aud that its derivative Gumra or Gumro
signifies a coal ; whence the Greeks coming to know
the import of these words, might thereby be indu cd to
think that the name Gomer was imposed on these parts,
as denoting a soil so black as if it had been burnt to a
coal ; and by consequence, might be induced to impose
on the same countries a name of similar import, and
call it <tevy>», Phrygia or the burnt country, from <P;»ye'»,
which in the Greek language signifies to roast. Tins
conjecture carries along with it the greatest probability,
both because there are instances of the same nature
which may be pointed out in our progress, and be
cause it is certain, that a part of this country the
Greeks distinguished by a special na,me, <??oy<,o. xi**xvpivr,f
burnt Phrygia.*
That Gomer obtained for his inheritance those parts
of Asia Minor, seems to be confirmed by the settle
ments of his three sons within the general lot assigned
AAke. to the whole nation. To Ashkenaz was al-
™z. phry- lotted the Lesser Phrygia or Troas, from
whom the river Ascanius, the province As-
cania, and the Ascanian Isles, mentioned by Pliny, cer
tainly derived their names.
The true situation of this branch of Gomer's family
may be inferred, with no small degree of certainty, from
a passage in the prophecies of Jeremiah, where, pre
dicting the fall of habylou by the arms of Cyrus^ he
* See also Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 62.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 51
issues this order from the mouth of Jehovah, " Call
together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, and Minni,
and Ashkenaz."* But Xenophon informs Us, that
Cyrus having taken Sardes, sent Hystaspes with an
army into the Phrygia that lies on the Hellespont ; and
that Hystaspes having made himself master of the coun
try, brought along with him from thence, a great body
of Phrygian horse and other soldiers, whom Cyrus
united to his army, and conducted against Babylon.
Hence, the kingdom of Ashkenaz lay in that part of
Phrygia which is washed by the waters of the Helles
pont and the Euxine sea.
Riphat, the second son of Gomer, settled b, Riphat.
eastward from hisbrother in the adjoiniug coun- papi>|aB°nia
try, which according to Josephus, was from his name
originally called Riphatea, but known to the ancients by
the name of Paphlagonia. A part of this people were
also seated in Pontus and Bithynia ; and the whole na
tion were at first called Riphathai, and afterwards, by
contraction, Riphaii.f Some traces of this name may
be found in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Ro
mans. Apollonius, in his Argonautics, mentions a river
called Rhebseus, which, rising in this tract, empties it
self in the Euxine sea. This is the river which is called
by other writers Rhebas. Stephanus mentions both
the river and a country of the same name, whose inha
bitants were called Rhebsei. This is the people whom
Pliny denominates (more agreeably to the name of their
forefather) Riphsei.
Togarmah, the third son of Gomer, occu- cTpJKSa;
pied the Greater Phrygia and a part of Gala- &c-
tia. The kingdom of Togarmah lay almost due north
from Judea, on the shores of the Euxine, touching the
east border of Riphat. This accords with the situa
tion assigned to his family, both in the sacred Scrip
tures and in profane writings. Their relative situation
to Judea is distinctly marked by the prophet in these
words : " Gomer and all his bands ; the house of Tog-
* Jer. Ii -27.
b Bochart, vol. 1. Well's Sacred Geog. vol 1. p 64. .Tohn Edward's Perfer.
tion of Scripture. ,

52 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
armah of the north quarters, and all his bands."* And
again, " They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy
fairs, with horses, and horsemen, and mules."f Tog
armah then, lay nearly due north from Judea ; which
is confirmed by every map of those regions : and we
know from the testimony of many writers, that Cappa-
docia, which embraced a considerable part of the lot of
Togarmah, was long celebrated for an excellent breed
of horses and mules, and for expert horsemen. Some
traces of the name of Togarmah may be discovered in
the names by which some of the inhabitants of this
tract were known to ancient writers. Strabo says the
Trochmi dwelt in the confines of Pontus and Cappado-
cia. Cicero calls them Trogmi ; and Stephanus, Troc-
meni.J It is evident, that all these names derive their
origin from Togarmah ; for they retain all the radical
letters of the name of their progenitor but one ; and
though the Greeks, according to their usual custom,
have transposed one of the letters, to render the sound
more pleasing to their fastidious ear, still the affinity is
obvious. Thus it is astertained, from the true situa
tion of the three great branches of Gomer's family, that
his descendants occupied those countries which extend
along the shores of the Hellespont and Black sea."e
But the sons of Gomer were not long satisfied with
their original settlements ; large bodies of them crossed
the straits in quest of new habitations, and gave their
name to the Cimmerian Bosphorus. From the strait
* Ezek. xxxviii. 6. f Chap xxvii 14
if Well's Hist Geog vol. 1 p 65. Bocharti Phaleg.
c Michaelis, in Spicileg. Gedg. Hebr. proves, that some at least
of the descendants of Togarmah occupied a part of Armenia. He
mentions a most ancient historian of the Armenians, who says it
was a tradition among them that the posterity of Thogormus dwelt
around a certain mountain of Armenia, called Harchia ; and this
historian makes Thogormus the fourth from Japheth. The Greek
scholiast on Ezek. xxvii. 14. observes, that "the house of Togar
mah" was considered by some to be the Armenians ; — according
to some, the Armenians and Iberians; but according to others, the
Cappadocians and Galatians. The Armenians are said to call them
selves frequently the stock or house of Thogormus. And accord
ing to Xenophon and Strabo, Armenia was distinguished for the
multitude and excellence of its horses. I. C.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 53
of Caffa and the borders of the Palus Mseotis, they
advanced along the banks of the Danube, till they took
possession of the, country, which from them has been
called Gomerman, or Germany. In the word Cimbri,
the name ofa German tribe, and also, in their common
name Germans, or as they call themselves Garmen,
which is but a small variation from Gemren or Gomren,
which last, is easily contracted from Gomeren, that is,
Gomerseans, — we can trace without difficulty, the pri
mitive name of Gomer.
From Germany, the decendants of Gomer by de
grees, spread into ancient Gaul, of which they were the
aboriginal inhabitants. Their posterity received from
the Greeks, the name of Galatas or Kalatse, and by
contraction Keltse, the Celt» of the Latins, and the
Celts of modern times. That the Gauls or Celtse were
Cimmerians or decendants of Gomer, is attested by
Appian in the clearest terms ; the Celtse or Gauls, says
he, were otherwise called Cimbri : and Plutarch as
serts, that the Cimbri are called Galloscythians.
From the opposite shores of ancient Gaul, the Go
merseans, or Cimbri, passed over into Britain ; for it
cannot be doubted that the British isles were peopled
from the nearest points of the neighbouring coast. To
prove beyond a doubt, that the ancient Britains were
the lineal descendants of Gomer, no other evidence need
be produced, than the very names by which the Welsh
continue to distinguish themselves from the rest of the
nation : they call themselves Kumero or Cymro, and
Kumeri ; in like manner, they call a Welsh woman
Kumerses, and their language Kumcraeg. These are
terms which exhibit an undeniable affinity to the primi
tive name of Gomer, and clearly prove their descent
from that patriarch. The inhabitants of Cumberland
also retain the name of their progenitor ; they were at
first called Cimbri or Cumbri, and afterwards Cambri ;
and Cumberland itself is the land oi the Cumbri, Cim
bri, or Gomeneans.
But the Welsh, and the inhabitants of Cumberland,
are not the only descendants of Gomer in the British
isles. It is well known that the Saxons, and espe-

54 ILLUSTRATIONS 01' SCRIPTURE.
cially the Angles, were near neighbours to the Cimbri ;
and if it be admitted that Germany was peopled by the
sons of Gomer. then the German tribes, the Saxons and
Augles, who drove back the ancient Britons into the
mountains of Wales, are branches from the same root,
etiually descended from the eldest son of'Japhet.
"As Gomer established himself in the northern re-
5 Jny»n g'011* of tlie Lesser Asia, so Javan, another
s„u'thc"-nn" g0I1 uf tiie same family, fixed his abode in the
pari oi Asia •-"" ~ . , T*l, "
Minor. southern parts of the same country. Inis
fact is ascertained from the situation of his four sous,
a Tar»huh Elisha, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. Tar-
c'.iicfa?'"" shish, the second son of Javan, settled in Ci-
licia, a country lying in the south eastern part of Asia
Minor. The whole country, says Josephus, was an
ciently called Tarsliish, from the founder of the king
dom, and its capital city Tarsus.
The city of Tartessus in Spain, and the adjoining
territory so highly celebrated by the ancients for its
riches, was a colony of T. rshish ; for the name Tar
sliish, is by an easy and frequent change, turned into
Tartish, from whence, it is easy to form Tartessus.
Besides, the learned Bochart has observed, that Poly-
bius, reciting the words of a league made between the
Romans and Carthaginians, mentions a place under the
name of Tarseium ; and Stephanus expressly says, that
Tarseium was a city near the pillars of Hercules ; a
situation which corresponds sufficiently with the site of
Tartessus. To this city, the prophet undoubtedly al
luded in his address to Tyre ; " Tarshish was thy mer
chant, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches ;
with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded inthyfair^s."*
Tartessus was long renowned for its various and abun
dant riches ; and Spain, it is well known, formerly
abounded in the metals enumerated by the prophet.e
* Ezek. xxvii. 12.
d Tarshish seems to have been the remotest western region
known to the ancients. Accordingly, when Jonah, (I. 3.) resolv
ing to flee as far as possible from Nineveh, a city of the East to
which he had been commanded to go, went to Joppa, a port on

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 55
It appears from several notices in the sacred writings,
that the descendants of Tarshish were the most expert
seamen, and consequently, the principal merchants of
those remote ages. Hence, they gave the name of their
progenitor first to the sea of Ciiicia, which washes the
shores of their original settlements, and afterwards, to
the whole expanse of the Mediterranean, which seems
to have been called for several ages, the sea of Tarshish.
The extent of their commerce, and the length of their
voyages, were sufficiently great to give a distinctive
name to ships of a certain form and burthen, though
they neither belonged to the sons of Tarshish, nor na
vigated the sea which bore their name. Vessels of a
greater burthen, and intended for longer voyages, w ere
built in imitation of theirs, and called ships of Tarshish.
This is perhaps the true reason, that Solomon's fleet
was called a navy of Tarshish ;* and the ships which
Jehoshaphat ordered to be built, ships of Tarshish. j-
The fleets of these princes, were stationed at Ezion-
gaber on the Red sea ; and by consequence, they neither
navigated the sea of Tarshish or Mediterranean, nor
traded to Tartessus or any of the settlements formed by
that people, but to some port in Africa or the East In
dies ; the only countries that produced the commodities,
ivory, apes, and peacocks, with which they returned to
Palestine, after a coasting voyage of three years.
To tne west of Tarshish, and adjoining to it, lay the
settlements of Kittim or Cittim, the descen- e. Kittin]
dants of Seth, the son of Javan. In this quar- Parn])hiia &
ter, according to Ptolomy, was the country of Pisidia-
Cetis ; and Homer mentions in the Odyssey, a people
whom he calls Cetii, who are supposed to derive their
name from the river Cetius, which flowed through their
country. In perfect agreement with Homer, the Seven
ty interpreters render Kittim by k»tmi, Ketii or Cetii;
and therefore, it is probable, that both people and river
took their name from Seth, the son of Javan.
* 1 Kings x. 22. f Ch. xxii. 48.
the western shore of Palestine, and embarked for Tarshish. And
in Ps. Ixxii. 10. Tarshish and the isles seem to be opposed to Seb$
and Sheba, countries in Arabia towards the Persian gulf. I. C.

5t> ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Colonies of the same people erodes the Hellespont
and settled in Greece. In the book of Numbers it is
predicted; "ships shall come from the coast of Chit-
tim :" by which the Greeks and Seleucidae who chas
tised the Hebrews and Assyrians, are generally under
stood. In the first book of Maccabees, the king of Ma-
cedon is called the king of Shittim. Several bodies of
this nation settled in Cilicia ; on account of which, it is
. called in Scripture the land of Chittim,* and because
from that country Alexander marched to the memorable
siege of Tyre f
The posterity of Seth, or the Kittim, seem to have
colonized the neighbouring isles of Crete and Cyprus ;
for Ptolomy mentions the city of Cyteum in the former,
and Strabo the cits- of Cittium in the latter: and Jose
phus relates that Cetios was the Greek name of Cyprus
itself ; from whence, says he, all the Greek isles were
called Chi? ?im.
It is evident from the following passage in Daniel,
that Italy was indebted for her inhabitants to the same
people; "the ships of Chittim shall come against thee."J
The Roman fleets are certainly meant in this predic
tion ; but they might sail to the attack of Antiochus
from Cilicia, in whose harbours they were commonly
stationed to command the Mediterranean. The most
probable opinion, and one that puts an end to the dis
putes of commentators and critics on that passage of
the prophet, is, that colonies of this people were settled
in both Greece and Italy ; and consequently, whether
the Roman fleet sailed from the Tiber, or some harbour
in Cilicia, it might still be truly called the ships of
Chittim.e On the western coast of Asia Minor, inclining to the
r. Eiisim. south, were the original settlements of Elisha,
Eolm- another of the sons of Javan. We can dis
cover some traces of his name in the iEloes or iEolians,
who were anciently settled in the neighbourhood, and
* Is. xxiii. 1. t John Edward's Perfection of Scripture, t Dan xi. 30.

e In Halicarnasseus there is mentioned a city k«t,w Cetia situ
ated in Latium itself. And according to Eusebius and Suidas the
Latins were anciently called Kw/ui or K*t», Cetii.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 57
who are expressly affirmed by Josephus to have been
descended from Elisha. From the opposite coast of
Asia Minor, Elisha probably in the train of his father
Javan, passed over into Greece, and finally settled in
that country. From Javan, the country of Ionia cer
tainly took its name ; and the Iones orlaones of Homer
and Strabo derived their origin. Josephus asserts, that
from Javan came Ionia, and all the Greeks : and Greece
is expressly called Javan in the prophecies of Daniel.*
The sons of Elisha seem to have occupied in their
passage from Asia to Europe, the principal isles of the
Grecian Archipelago ; for the prophet Ezekielf calls
them the isles of Elisha. That he alludes to these isles,
is evident from what he says of the blue and purple fa
brics which constituted the principal part of their trade
with Tyre ; for we know that they were long celebrated
by common authors, for the richness and brilliancy of
their blue and purple dyes.
The Greeks were reminded of their descent from
Elisha by the name Exxaj, which for many generations
belonged to all the nations of Greece. They could
trace their origin also, in the city and province of Elis
in the Peloponnesus, in the city of Eleusis in Attica,
and in the river Elissus or Ilissus in the same province;
and as many believe in the Elysian fields, that were so
long one of the favourite themes of their enraptured
bards. " On the same western coast, south of the family of
Elisha," says Dr. Wells, " may the family
of Dodanim be supposed to have first planted £0?°™"^
itself. For there we find in ancient writers, Epiru8' &<!-
a country called Doris, which may not improbably be
derived originally from Dodanim ; especially if this be
a plural, as the termination seems to import : and so the
singular was Dodan, which being softened into Doran,
the Greeks might easily frame from thence Dorus, whom
they affect to have been the father of the Dorians."
This writer thinks, that the carelessness of some tran
scriber, by changing the Daleth into Resh, than which
nothing can be more easy, converted the Hebrew word
* Dan. x. 20. and s i. 2. | Ch. xxvii. 7.
Vol. I. I

58 ILLUSTRATIONS OP SCRIPTURE.
Dodanim into Doranim, which the Greeks transformed
into Doros or Dores; and consequently the Dores
among the Greeks, mentioned by Moses under the
name Dodanim, being descended from Javan, must
have had their first settlement in Doris, a province of
the Lesser Asia.
But if the Greeks converted Dodanim into Dores, it
is natural to suppose they would never return to the
original term, nor use any word derived from it. How
then are we to account for the manifest traces of this
term in Epirus, and part of Peloponnesus ? The city
of Dodona in Epirus, where Jupiter had one of his
most celebrated oracles, and from whence he borrowed
one of his designations, Dodona^an Jove, bears in indu
bitable marks of the ancient and primitive Dodanim. It
is not improbable, that Dodanim and his sons after
leaving Babel, or the interamnian region in a part of
which it was built, remained some time in Asia Minor,
aud perhaps formed a permanent establishment in the
neighbourhood of his brother Elisha ; but they seem to
have left no certain traces behind them, till they finally
settled in Epire and the Peloponnese.
The Dorians, it is probable, were originally a Phe-
nician colony, that settled in Greece, in ages long pos
terior to the confusion of tongues. We find in that
country the maritime city Dora, or Doro, in the neigh
bourhood of Carmel, between Ptolemais and Cesarea.
Dorus appears from the books of Joshua* and Judges,f
to have been a royal city, and one of the most ancient
in Phenicia. It was so strongly fortified, that the tribe
of Manasseh to whose lot it fell, were not able to take
it, and expel the inhabitants ; though they forced them
at last to pay them a yearly tribute. The original in
habitants of this ancient and pow erful city, Pausianias
expressly calls Dorians ; and since Cadmus and other
Phenicians settled in Greece, and introduced among its
barbarous tribes, the first rudiments of learning and ci
vilization, it is extremely probable, that the Dorians of
Greece derived their origin from that renowned city.
From the nations of Gomer and Javan, by whom the
* Josh.xi.2. xvii. 11. | Judges i. 27.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 59
countries of Europe were peopled, we now proceed to
make a few remarks on the posterity of Tubal and
Meshech. ' These nations are commonly mentioned to
gether by Moses, and other inspired writers ; from
whence it may be reasonably concluded that they occu
pied adjoining territories.
The first settlements of Meshech were con- ^g
tiguous to the nation of Gomer on the east, S^dSST-
and situated in Cappadocia and Armenia, ^y. i*- 60>
These were probably the same people whom the Greeks,
denominated Moschi, from Mosoch, as the name Me
shech is read by the Seventy and other interpreters,
who were situated in these countries, and from whom
the neighbouring ridge of hills undoubtedly took the
name of Moschic mountains.
Along the northern boundary of Meshech, expended
the plantations of his brother Tubal, the fa- 4> TubaU
ther of the Albani, Chalybes, and Iberi, who, Iberia>&(!-
says the Jewish historian, were originally called Tho-
beli, from Tubal the founder of their family. In this
'country Ptolomy places the city Thabilaca, which is
evidently derived from Tubal. In the opiuion of Mede,
the Alybe mentioned by Homer in his second Iliad, lay
in this quarter, to which he traces the name of Albania,
which, in succeeding ages, distinguished a part of Tu-
bal's inheritance. Alybe he conceives to have been a
name corrupted from Abyle, and this from Tabyle, an
easy derivative from Tubal. In like manner, Bochart
supposes the Tibareni, a people mentioned by old au
thors in this tract, to have derived their name from Tu
bal, by the change of 1 into r, by a very common mu
tation in ancient times. Their settlement in this coun
try, is further confirmed by the following passage of
Ezekiel : " Tubal and Meshech, they were thy mer
chants : they traded in slaves and vessels of brass, in
thy market."* The words of the prophet entirely agree
with the accounts which ancient writers gives us of
Cappadocia, and other regions of Pontus, where tne
inhuman traffic in slaves was carried on to a great ex
tent, and the best sort of brass known in those times
* Ezek. xxvii. 13.

60 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
was produced. Bochart observes, that the Hebrew
word translated in this place brass, is sometimes ren
dered steel ; and hence he remarks, that, as a piece of
iron or brass is, in the- Arabic tongue, called Tubal,
probably from its coming out of the country of Tubal :
so it is likely that, from the excellent steel which was
made in this country, some of its inhabitants were dis
tinguished by the name of Chalybes among the Greeks ;
the word Chalybs, in the Greek language, signifying
steel. The Spanish nation claims the honour of being de
scended from Tubal ; and, if it be considered that their
country was known to the ancient Greeks by the name
of Iberia, and to distinguish it from Asiatic Iberia, by
the peculiar designation of Celtiberia; and that some
remains of this ancient name are still preserved in
Ebro, the name of a river in Spain, from lberus, the
name which it received from the Greeks and Latins, —
their claim seems to be well founded.
Some of the posterity of Meshech penetrated into the
wilds of Scythia, and peopled the dreary regions of
the farthest north. For Meshech and Tubal, in the
prophecies of Ezekiel, are sometimes expressive of that
vast country.* And, in another passage, they are
joined with Magog, whom the sacred writer styles "the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal :" or, as it is in the
margin, the prince of the chief of Meshech and Tubal.
In other translations, and particularly in the Septua
gint, it is thus rendered, " The prince of Rosh, Me
shech and Tubal ;" for the Hebrew word Rosh, may
be considered either as an apellative, or as a proper
name. The learned Bochart has observed, from the
Nubian geographer, that the river in Armenia, called
by the Greeks Araxes, is, by the Arabians, called Rosh ;
and, from this, and other instances of a similar nature,
he not only infers that the people that lived on the banks
of that river, were probably denominated Rosh, but
also proves, from Josephus Bengorion, that a people
did exist in those parts, under the name of Rossi. In
timately connected with the Rossi, was the other co-
* Ezek. xxxii. 26.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. Ot
lony of Meshech or Mosocb, called by the Greeks
Moschi, the progenitors of the modern Muscovites. As
these tribes had lived in the neighbourhood of each
other, before they left their settlements in Asia ; so,
preserving the relations of amity in their long and pe
rilous journey, they finally settled in the same region :
the Moschi, in the country which boasts of the far-
famed Moscow, the ancient capital of all the Russias;
and the Rossi, in the adjoining provinces, of the south.
These circumstances render it extremely probable, that
the Muscovites and Russians in Europe, were colonies
of Meshech, or jointly of Meshech and Tubal.
The inheritance of Magog, another branch s_ M
of the same family, is placed, by the harmo- s*>thia-
nious voice of antiquity, north of Tubal, on the east and
north-east shores of tiie Euxine. Magog is generally
reckoned the father of the Scythians that occupied those
countries ; for Pliny assures us, that Scythopolis and
Hierapolis, which those Scythians took when they con
quered Syria, were ever afterwards called Magog.
Ptolomy grants, that the proper name of Hierapolis was
Magog. This fact is confirmed by Josephus, who says,
that the Scythians were called Magog by the Greeks ;
and from that circumstance, infers their lineal descent
from Magog, the son of Japhet.
The situation of Magog, on the north east of the
Euxine, is Confirmed by the following words of Ezekiel :
" Set thy face against Gog, in, or of the land of Magog,
the prince of Rosb, Meshech and Tubal."* From
these words, no doubt can be entertained that the land
of Magog lay very near the countries of Rosh, Meshech
and Tubal, which, from the statements already made,
it could do only on the north. Mede has observed,
that the names Gog and Magog have the same signifi
cation : and he conceives, that it pleased the Spirit of
God to distinguish in this manner between the land and
the people of the land, by calling the people Gog, and
the country the land of Magog, f
The learned Bochart conjectures, that the mountains
of Caucasus derived their name from Gog, who was th»
* Ezek. xxxviii. 2. t Well's Hist, Geog. Bocharti Phalc-g.

62 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
first that settled on their stupendous range, or in the
circumjacent countries. He observes, that these words
pn-m, Gog-chasan, denote, in the neighbouring oriental
tongue, as much as Gog's fort ; and from Gog-chasan,
the Greeks framed the name K«i/»<»<n>5, Caucasus.
Strabo mentions a country in the neighbourhood of
Caucasus, under the name of Gogareue, which is a mani
fest derivationfrom Gog; but whether Georgia, the name
of a considerable kingdom on that vast ridge, can, as
Dr. Wells supposes, be traced to the same root, is too
problematical to merit further attention. It is far more
probable that the Magini, a people about the river Ta-
uais, mentioned by that geographer, was a scion from
the stock of Magog ; for the transition from Magog to
Magogini, and from th n.e, by abbreviation, to Ma-
giui, is neither long nor difficult.
e. Madai. The third son of Japhet was Madai, who
Media. is aimost universally believed to have been
the father of the Medes; for, in the prophecies of Isaiah
and other parts of Scripture, Madai is the Hebrew
word for Media. Mr. Mede, however, is of a different
opinion, because, the country of the Medes mentioned
in other places of Scripture, lay so far to the north
east of the Holy Land, and therefore of Egypt, that the
way of travelling from the one to the other, was by
land and not by sea ; aud consequently, the said Me
dia cannot be tolerably comprehended under the names
of the isles of the Gentiles, which are the countries ex
pressly said by Moses, in the place where he profes
sedly speaks of the first plantations of mankind, to be
divided or possessed by the sons of Japhet. Another
argument adduced in support of his opinion is, that by
this arrangement, the lot of Madai seems to have been
whoily separated from the lots of the rest of his breth
ren, and so, to have lain not within the general lot of
the nation of Japhet, his father, but within the general
lot of the nation of Shem.
But these arguments, though possessed of consider
able weight, ought not to determine the judgment in op
position to the authority of Moses. The rules which
an author has framed with the greatest care, may ad-

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 63
mit of exceptions, and the most plausible theory should
certainly yield to indubitable and stubborn facts. The
inspired writer places Madai in the line of Japhet, but
is totally silent about another person of that name, who,
Mr. Mede supposes, might have descended from Shem.
No writer, sacred or common, takes notice of such a
person ; his existence, therefore, is a mere gratuitous
supposition, assumed to cover the defect ofa plausible
and favourite theory. If the inspired writer has enu
merated the founders of all the other nations on the face
of the earth, why, it may be asked, has he omitted the
father of so considerable a nation, aud one destined to
act so conspicuous a part on the theatre of the world, as
the Medes ? It is probable, as Mede seems to think,
that their progenitor was some obscure individual, pos
terior to the times of Moses, and therefore, not men
tioned in his writings ? If the supposed Madai of the
house of Shem, was not in existence till after the death
of Moses, how are we to account for the total silence of
the other inspired writers, in relation to this person, who
so frequently speak of the nation and affairs of the
Medes ? The general opinion then seems to be just,
that the nation of the Medes trace their descent up to
Madai the son of Japhet. The argument that his inhe
ritance must then be separated from his brethren, and
placed within the general lot of Shem, is not conclu
sive ; for it is only an exception to the general rule :
and a similar exception occurs in the arrangement of
the twelve tribes of Israel in Canaan ; for the " inheri
tance of Simeon was within the inheritance of the chil
dren of Judah "*
Mr. Mede has justly remarked, that the country of
the Medes cannot with propriety, be comprehended un
der the name of " the isles of the Gentiles," for the way
to Media from Egypt and Palestine, is by land and not
by sea. But even this is no valid objection ; because,
the words of Moses only point out the general posses
sions of Japhet, without regard to some accidental de
viations. Nor can the settlements of Madai be justly
viewed in the light of a total departure from the general
* Josh, xix; T.

64 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
rule; for, though his posterity fixed their first and prin
cipal seats in Media, they were not long in sending out
colonies, that by the admission of Mr. Mede himself,
penetrated into Macedonia ; and this country, he consi
ders as their proper inheritance, their earliest and their
final abode. But Macedonia is fully comprehended
within the circle, allotted by the sacred writer, under
the name of the isles of the Gentiles, to the sons of
Japhet. That Macedonia was originally peopled by the sons
of Madai, has been proved from the ancient name of
the country, iEmathia or iEmadia, which is evidently
the same with Madai, the Greeks in admitting it into
their language, prefixing a diphthong to improve the
sound. The fact is confirmed by the discovery of a
people in this region, that were called Miiaot Medi, or
Ma;fio<, Mcedi. Aristotle, adds Mr. Mede, in his book
of Strange Reports, speaks of x<»s« m»/i*», the Medic
region in the borders of Paconia; and hereabout was
the Praefectura Medica of Roman story.
The Msesians in Europe, Mr. Mede supposes, were
descended from that patriarch; and Bochart thinks,
that the Samaritans were a colony of the eastern Ma
dai ; for the name of the Samaritans, he conjectures,
was origiually composed of ^d-w Sear, or Sar-Madai,
which, in the oriental languages, denotes the remnant
or posterity of the Medes.
7. Tira«. The last son of Japhet is Tiras, who is
Thrace. universally allowed to be the progenitor of
the Thracians. The Greeks adapted the original term
to their language, by changing it into Thrax, in which
the affinity may still be discerned. But the relation of
the Thracians to Tiras, is more clearly proved from se
veral names which were long retained in that country.
Several ancient writers inform us of a river, a bay, and
a harbour, which all bore the name of Athiras ; and
they mention a city in the peninsula of Thrace, named
Tyristasis, a district called Thrasus, and a people called
Trausi. The sons of Tiras, it is generally believed, not long
after their settlement in Thrace, sent a colony who took

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 65
possession of the opposite country, on the north side of
the Euxine. Both the Greek and Latin writers, men
tion a considerable river under the name of Tiras, which
entirely preserves the memory of the Thracian patriarch,
the founder of the nation. On the banks of this river,
supposed to be the Niester, formerly stood a city which
also sustained the name of Tiras. The inhabitants of
the same country, were distinguished by the name of
Tyretae or Tyragetse : the former, probably the true
descendants of Tiras ; the latter, a mixed race from the
intermarriages of the Tyretse and the Getae, a neigh
bouring- people, who were descended perhaps of Cetim
that settled in Macedonia.*
But the original settlement of Tiras, Dr. Wells places
on the shores of the Lesser Asia, opposite to Thrace,
the scene of the long and arduous struggle between the
Greeks and the Trojans, his lineal and original off
spring. He thinks it not improbable, that Tros, the
name of the first king of Troy, containing all the radical
letters of Tiras, was either Tiras himself, or one of his
early descendants.
Bordering on the nation and families of Gomer, of
the east and the south, were the first plantations of the
sons of Shem. The family of this patriarch, i; Shera
according to Moses, consisted of five sons : I!;!81""110'
Elam, and Ashur, and Arphaxad, and Lud,
and Aram.
As the youngest ybranch of this family took posses
sion of the countries adjoining to the nations which
sprung from the loins of Tiras, the last of the sons of
Japhet, whose situation we have endeavoured to ascer
tain, it may be proper to begin with an account of his
settlements. In the general division of the earth, the
countries of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Syria fell to
the share of Aram. From him, Armenia pro- , AraIn.
bably took its name. Mesopotamia, so called m^Tu-
by the Greeks from its situation between- the m,a' s>"a'
noble rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris, was known
to the Hebrews by the equally significant name of xlrani-
N^tharaim, Aram between the two rivers. The lower
* Well's Geog-. vol. 1. p. 39. Bocharti Phalejr.
Vol. I. K

86 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
parts of Mesopotamia, like Arabia Deserta to which it
extends, is a dreary and sterile waste ; but the upper
part of the country which borders on Armenia, is ex
ceedingly fruitful and pleasant. It is this rich and de
lightful region which the sacred writers distinguish by
the appropriate name of Padan- Vram, or Sedan- Aram;
words of the same import, denoting fruitful or cultivated
Aram.* The number of Aram's original settlements was four,
corresponding to ihe number of his sons, Uz, Hul, Ge-
a. Uz. ther and Mash. The eldest brother Uz, is
JavTofi-- generally regarded by the ancients as the
ria- builder of Damascus; from whence it may be
reasonably supposed, that the circumjacent country, in
cluding a considerable district in Arabia Deserta, is the
land of Uz mentioned in the Scriptures, and celebrated
for the severe and protracted sufferings of the patient
and venerable Job. The prosperity of Damascus, the
first undertaking of Aram deserving of notice, and the
capital of his kingdom, corresponded with the beauty
and fertility of the country where it is situate. It be
came the seat of a powerful government, that ruled over
the kingdom denoted in Scripture by the name of Aram-
Damasek, or Syria of Damascus ; which was long the
scourge and terror, of the surrounding nations. The
possessions of Aram comprehended ouly a part of Syria
Proper ; for Pheuicia and Palestine, both of which were
reckoned parts of Syria, belonged to the descendants of
Canaan. The family of Hul, or more agreeably to

b. Hul

Armenia the original word Chul, has been placed with
great probability in Armenia, particularly in
Armenia Major. Beside the names of many places be
ginning with the radical letters of Chul, we^ find a pro
vince in Armenia under the name of Cholobetene, which
is a manifest corruption of Cholbeth, the house or dwel
ling of Choi. This circumstance renders it extremely
probable, that Chul and his family settled in that part
of the country. * Bocharti Plialeg. Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 92,

GEOGRAPHY OFTHE EAST. 67
The inheritance of Mash lay between Hul m^*;
to the north, and Uz to the south, near the miai »""'>¦•
mountain Masius ; which probably owed its name to
this descendant of Aram. In this mountain are the
sources of the river Masca, one of the streams which
wind through the rich and beautiful country of Mesopo
tamia : and the people of the adjoining country are by
Stephanus expressly called Masieni or Masiani. All
these are sure indications that here was the original set
tlement of Mash.
Gether, the remaining son of Aram, seems d Getim.
to have chosen Albania for the place of his Alta,"a-
abode: for Ptolomy mentions an Albanian city which
formerly bore the name of Getarse, and a river of the
same country named Getras ; which bear so striking
an affinity to Gether, as to render it almost certain that
this was the first settlement he formed.
Ashur, as the name sufficiently proves, was A«yri*SIie
the founder of the Assyrian monarchy. This anc",nt^
kingdom is not the same with that vast and powerful
empire, the foundations of which were laid in Babylon,
by the genius and ambition of Nimrod. It lay ou the
east of the Tigris, in western Assyria, the capital of
which was the renowned city of Nineveh ; and was af
terwards distinguished by the name of Adiabene, from
two rapid and turbulent rivers, the Diavas and the
Adiavas, which intersected the country.
Assyria in the Chaldee, by changing the sh into t,
was formerly called Attyria ; from which it has been
erroneously considered by some writers to be a distinct
country from Abiabene, or Assyria Proper.
The true situation of Elam is easily deter- 3- E]am_
mined, both by the authority of Scripture and ISlSa'"^™-
the concurrent testimony of Heathen authors. Iy-
The sacred writers frequently speak of a people near
the Persian gulf, beyond the Tigris or Euphrates, by
the name of Elam ; and profane authors, of a country
there called Elyinais, and a city of the same name.
Like many other names, Elam is sometimes tak-'n in a
more restricted sense, in which it is distinguished from
Susiana, and the other provinces; sometimes in a larger

68 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
sense, so as to include these countries. Hence, Pliny
and Ptolomy mention the Elyrnsei, as a people near the
Persian gulf; and on the other hand, Daniel the pro
phet speaks of Shushan the capital of Susiana, as lying
in the province of Elam.*
4. Avphaxad Arphaxad inhabited the vale of Shinar, on
i?ih5le'™ieof the river Tigris, toward the southern extre-
swnar. mity of Mesopotamia, together with the coun
try of Eden, and the tract on the east side of the same
river, called Arrapachitis, a name plainly derived from
Arpachshad, the name of Arphaxad in the Hebrew
text. The truth of this assertion rests upon the follow
ing considerations : 1. After the flood, Noah probably
returned to the pleasant and fruitful vales of the rapid
Tigris, with whose richness and beauty he was Avell
acquainted : a supposition which is confirmed by the
town of Zama, built in that country, probably by one
of the sons of Shem, and named in honour of his father,
who is uniformly called Zam by the Arabians. 2. The
family of Shem took no part in the presumptuous un
dertaking at Babel, which issued in the dispersion of
the settlers ; and by consequence, being exempt from
their punishment, continued to occupy their original
habitations, and to converse in the language of their
forefathers. 3. This opinion may be confirmed from
these words of Moses: " And their dwelling was from
Mesha, as you go unto Sephar. a mount of the east.f
Mesha is probably the mountain Mash or Masius, iu
the western parts of Mesopotamia ; and Sephar, the
mountain adjoining to Siphare, a city in Aria, which
lies diectly east from Mesha. In this long tract of
country, which, though large, certainly was not more
extensive than his numerous family required, lived Ar
phaxad, with his renowned progenitors, Shem and
Noah. 4. In the province of Susiana, if any credit is
due to several ancient writers, stood the town of Sela,
probably built by Sela one of the sons of Arphaxad,
and called, at least, by his name. Now Susiana, it
has been shewn, contained a part of the country of Eden,
which either lay contiguous , to the vale of Shinar, or
* Bochart. Well's Geog. vol. 1 p. 9G. Dan. viii. 2. -j- Gen x. 30.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 69
formed a part of the extensive region which sometimes
went by that name. 5. That Arphaxad occupied the
vale of Shinar, is further confirmed by Terah and Abra
ham, his lineal descendants, emigrating from that coun
try into Syria. The words of Moses are : " A ud Terah
took Abraham his son, and went forth with them from
Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan."
Now it is, perhaps, universally admitted, that Chaldea
at least comprehended a great part of the vale of Shinar ;
and it certainly did comprehend all that part of Eden
on the west side of the channel, which receives the uni
ted-streams of the Tigris and Euphrates. And Jose
phus affirms, perhaps on the authority^ of this passage
of Scripture, that the Chaldeans were originally called
Arphaxadeans, from the father of their nation. These
considerations, taken together, render it at least extreme
ly probable, that the family of Arphaxed planted their
original settlements in the vale of Shinar, including the
land of Eden, without confining them, as some have sup
posed, to the province of Arrapachitis*. In this large
and beautiful country, the virtuous children of Shem,
one of whom had no fewer than thirteen sons, rapidly
encreased into a numerous aud respectable people ; but
they were soon subdued by the policy and arms of
Nimrod, and absorbed in the vast and powerful empire
which he founded at Babel.
Ham, the youngest son of Noah's family, un- .3Ham.
able to bear the presence of a father whom he
had so greatly offended, and from whose reluc- Arabia&.
tant lips he had drawn a curse upon himself and Aflica-
his posterity, mingled in the crowd of emigrants that
took possession of the vale of Shinar, and engaged in
their impious projects. Driven from Babel by the vi
sitation of divine justice, he directed his steps into Sy
ria, and after establishing his son Canaan in Palestine,
proceeded with Mizraim into Egypt, where he spent
the residue of his days. The journey of Ham into
Egypt, and his final settlement there, is confirmed by
the name Avhich that country more than once, receives
in the sacred Scriptures. For no other reason could it
* Bochart. Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 98.

70 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
with propriety be called the " land of Ham," bnt be
cause he directed in person, the settlements of Mizraim.
Nor can it be reasonably doubted* that the person whom
the Greeks elevated to the rank of a god, under the name
of Jupiter Ammon, and in whose honour a splendid
temple was built in the deserts of Lybia, so celebrated
for its oracle, was the patriarch Ham.
Canaan, the youngest of his sons mentioned by Mo-
1. Canaan ses> settled in the country which for many ages
banaan. sustained his same, and which came at length,
by the decree of Heaven, into the possession of the
chosen seed, the descendants of Abraham. As a par
ticular account of this country will be given in a subse
quent part of this work, I proceed to the settlements of
2. cush. Cush. It is universally admitted, that the na
tion of Cush obtained their inheritance in Arabia,
Arabia tjje country adjoining to Canaan on the souffe,
In Scripture the word Cush is commonly rendered
Ethiopia, and the descendants of Cush Ethiopians;
but with no propriety, unless we understand by it Asi
atic Ethiopia, or Arabia ; for the Cushites did not enter
African Ethiopia, till some time after their settlement in
this country'.
That Arabia is denoted by Cush in the sacred Scrip
tures, is evident from several passages. In the book of
Numbers we read, that Miriam and Aaron spake against
Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had
married. But we know from Exod. ii. 15. that Moses'
wife was a Midianitish woman ; and it is confessed,
that Midian or Madian was a city and a country in
Arabia, on the shore of the Red Sea. The wife of
Moses was therefore an Arabian ; and by consequence,
the Hebrew term Cushite is not rightly translated Ethio
pian, unless it be understood of Ethiopia in Asia, that
is, Arabia, not of Ethiopia in Africa. Another proof
that the land of Cush was in Asia, may be drawn from
these words of the prophet : " I saw the tents of Cushan
in affliction ; the curtains of the land of Midian did
tremble."* In this passage, Cush and Midian are used
as equivalent terms, denoting the same or parts of the
* Habak. iii 7-

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 71
same country. But African Ethiopia, so far from com
prehending the land of Midian within its limits, does
not even holder upon it, but lies at a great distance in
the interior. The following passage from Ezekiel af
fords a strong additional proof: " I will make the land
of Egypt desolate, fror the tower of Syene even unto
the border of Cush."* Here the prophet evidently
means, that the tower of Syene and the border of Cush,
are the two extremities of Egypt. But Syene is situate
on the very margin of the frightful desert which sepa
rates Egypt from African Ethiopia; therefore Cush,
which is the opposite boundary, cannot be the country
in Africa commouly known by the name of Ethiopia ;
but must be understood of that part of Arabia which ex
tends to the northern boundary of Egypt, which is at
the greatest distance from Ethiopia. Again, the sacred
historian informs us, that whilst Sennacherib king of
Assyria, was besieging Libnah in the tribe of Judah,
Tirhaka king of Cush, was marching against him with
a numerous army, f In like manner, that Zera the
Cushite came with a great army against Asa king of
Judah.J But neither of these passages can refer to
African Ethiopia ; because, the monarch of that coun
try cannot march an army against the land of Canaan,
wis hout passing through the burning deserts of Senaar,
and the whole length of Egypt ; an expedition which
can be attended with nothing but ruin aud disgrace.
But to the king of the Cushite nation, it wo:dd be no
difficulty to march an army against the land of Judah,
a country which bordered on his dominions.
That some of the Cushite tribes might, in process of
time, pass over from the Arabian coast into the adjoin
ing parts of Africa, and gradually extend their settle
ments into Ethiopia Proper, will be readily admitted,
and is extremely probable ; and in this sense, Cush
may be called the father of the African Ethiopians.
But it is uncertain whether the term Cush in Scripture
ought ever to be rendered Ethiopia ; the probability is,
that iu the sacred writings it uniformily refers to the
dominions of the Cushite nation in Arabia.^ This hy-
?Ezek.xxix 10. | 2 Kings xix. 9, t2Ch.xiv. 9. $ Weil's Geog. vol. p 101.

72 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
pothers has the higher claim on our attention, that we
find all the descendants of Cush mentioned by Moses,
except Nimrod, settled in Arabia, d
Seba. The situation of Seba, the first son of
Cush mentioned by Moses, is clearly indicated
in the south-west part of Arabia, by the city of
Sahe. On the south-east side, the city of Sabana may
shcb». Ponit out tne settlement of Sheba, the grandson
of Cush by Raama. That he dwelt in the
neighborhood of his father and brother, who fixed their
abode in this part of the country, m >y be inferred as
well from the influence of natural affection, as from the
circumstance of his being always joined with them in
the statements of the sacred writers. " The merchants
of Sheba and Raama," says Ezekiel, " are thy mer
chants ; and in another passage, " Sheba and Dedan, and
the merchants of Tarshish," &c* These two fami
lies, Sheba and Seba, from the similarity of their names
were quickly confounded by the Greeks and Romans,
and called promiscuously Sabsens ; but in the sacred
writings they are accurately distinguished : " The kings
* Kzek. xxvii 22, and xxxviii. 13.
d This accords with the opinion of Bochart which he ingeniously
maintains in his Phaleg. Lib. iv. c. 2. But Michaelis in Spicileg.
P. 1. p. 143, proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the name Cush,
in the sacred Scriptures, is often used to denote each Ethiopia,
sometimes the Arabian, which was the mother, and sometimes the
African, or the Abyssinian colony. In confirmation of this, we
have the following testimony of Josephus, Antq. of the Jews, Lib.
1. c. vi. § 2. "A few names there are which have kept their de
nomination certain : for of the four sons of Ham, time .has not at all
hurtthe name of Chus ; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned."
(4y »pf« whom he commenced, of whom he was the founder) " are
at the present day, both by themselves, and by all men in Asia,
called Chusites." The Syriac translator of the New Testament
makes the Queen of the Ethiopians, (Acts vm. 27. the) the Queen
of the Cushaei, which the Arabian translator from this version, who
must have known it, if the name denoted his own countrymen,
renders the Abyssinians. In the common language of the Syrians,
therefore, Cush was Abyssinia. And Jeremiah (xiii. 23.) when he
asks, " can the Ethiopian wa (the Cushite,) change his skin, or the
Leopard his spots ?" seems to allude to a colour more strikingly
different from that of the Jews, than was found in the complexion
of the Arabians.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 73
of Sheba and Seba," said the royal Psalmist, " shall
offer gifts." *
On the same side of Arabia, the city called Rhegma
(the term by which the Septuagint translates e.Raamah.
Raamah,) on the shore of the Persian gulf, men
tioned by Ptolomy, is supposed to point out the place
of Raamah's habitation ; and a little to the eastward on
the same coast, another city called Dedan, the fDedan.
Daden of modern times, ascertains with complete
certainty, the settlement of Dedan, the son of Raamah
and the brother of Sheba. f
On the same line of coast to the northward, stood the
city of Saphtha, which so nearly resembles Sab- e.Sabtah.
tab, the name of another son of Cush, that he
may reasonably be supposed to have settled in this
district. Still farther to the north, along the river Pi
son (as we have shewn already,) lay the possessions of
his brother Havilah. The fact has been as- h.Haviiah.
certained from the names which ancient writers
give to the inhabitants of the country, — the Chautolsei,
or Chablasii, or Chaulassi ; all which are manifestly
derived from Chavilah.
The possessions of Sabteca, another son of Cush,
are omitted by the sacred writers, because these parts
of Arabia lying next to the land of Canaan, ace com
prehended in the general allotment of Cush his father,
who probably settled with him in this region.
Dr. Wells supposes, that the descendants of Sabteca
might be from him regularly enough styled at first by
the Greeks Sabtacseni ; which name might be after
wards softened into Saraceni : by which name, it is well
known, the people of this tract were formerly denomi
nated. And this, he thinks, is the more probable, be
cause Stephanus mentions a country in those parts call
ed Saruca. Bochart insists that the Saracens derive
their name from Sarak, which in Arabic signifies to
steal or rob ; and that this name was given these peo
ple as being addicted to robbery. And perhaps, adds
Dr. Wells, this might be the reason of changing the
original name Sabtaceni, into the nick-name Saraceni.
* Psal. Ixxii. 10. t Bochart. Well's Georg. vol; p. 102.
Vol. 1. L

74 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
In whatever light the reader is disposed to view the
conjectures of these learned writers, it must be admit
ted, that they perfectly correspond with the character
and practices of the Saracens from the beginning of their
history as a people.
i wm. The true situation of Mizraim, the second son
of Ham in the genealogy of Moses, is cleary
determined in the Hebrew text ; where the term Mi
zraim is generally employed to denote the land of
j. k^ue^ Egypt- His family consisted of seven sons ;
Pia,&o. ^he eldest of whom was Ludim, the lather ot
the Ethiopians in Africa. That these E;hiopians are
k.Ludim. the Ludim, and their country the Lud of the
Ethiopia, sacred writers, is evident from the character
which they give of that people : they are very " skilful
in drawing the bow* ; an art in which, according to
many writers of antiquity, the Ethiopians were eminent
ly distinguished. Again, the prophet Isaiah, in the
passage quoted in the margin, speaks of Phut and Lud
as if they were two adjoining nations. But Phut may
be considered as denoting the city and country of Phila?
not far from Syene on the borders of Ethiopia. It is.
also worthy of remark, that the prophets Jeremiah and
Ezekiel join Lud or Ludim with Cush and Phut. But
by Cush these inspired writers mean Arabia ; and by
Phut, as shall be shewn immediately, the inhabitants of
the country beyond Gyrene : therefore, by Lud, may
be meant the Ethiopians, that lie nearly between the two
former. The kingdom of Lydia, in the Lesser Asia,
as it is rendered in our version, it cannot be ; for that
country is at too great a distance from Cush aud Phut,
to admit of co-operation. f
LAnamim. The learned Bochart places the Anamim, in the
country about the temple of Jupiter Amnion ;
and in confirmation of his opinion, observes, that Hero
dotus expressly asserts the Ammonians to be descend
ants partly of the Egyptians, and partly of the Ethio
pians. From these Anamim or Ammonii, the same
writer thinks the Nazamones, with their neighbours,
the Amantes, the Garamantes, and the Hammanautes,
* Bocharti Phaleg. Well's Hist. Geog. vol. 1. p. 104. f Is. lxvi. 19. Jer. xlvi .9--

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 75
mentioned by several ancient writers, are descended.
The Lehabim, an adjoining nation, probably m.Lehabin,_
settled in the country of Libya Proper, or as L>bia-
it has been called, Cyreniaca ; and the Naphtuhim, to
wards Egypt, in the neighbouring country of Marinarcia."
The situation of the latter, is partly confirmed n Naphtuhim.
by some remainder of the name, in a place M»™"ire'«.'
called Aptuchifanum. This opinion receives some
countenance from the heathen fables, in which Aptu-
chus, or Aphtuchus, is said to be the son of Cyrene,
from whom the city and country of Cyrene took its
name. The Pathrusim, or descendants of Pathros, 0 Path,.u,i,,,
mentioned next by Moses, are the inhabitants Thebais
of Upper Egypt or Thebais, where Ptolomy places
Pathyris, an inland town, not far from Thebes. Of
this opinion were the Seventy interpreters ; for they
render the Hebrew term Pathros, by the Greek Pathyris.
The Casluhim probably settled in the coun- k. casiuiiim.
try on the other side of Egypt, named Casiotis, where
also mount Casius is placed ; both retain somewhat of
the name Casluhim. But the situation of this people,
is placed beyrond a doubt by the remark of Moses, that
from them sprang the Philistines, who, in process of
time, seized on a narrow stripe of country in Palestine,
stretching along the shores of the Mediterranean, and
made a conspicuous figure in the subsequent history of
that interesting part of the earth.
The Caphtorim were situate b near to the a. c«phtorim.
Casluhim : for they are placed next to each other in the
sacred text ; and the Philistines, who are said to be de
scended from the Casluhim, * are in another passage,
denoted by the name of Caphtorim.f Hence it may be
inferred, that these two nations were near neighbours ;
and, united in the closest bonds of peace and amity,
were at last blended into one people.
* Gen. x. 14. f Deut ii. 23. see also Jer. xlvii. 4
a Rather, according to Michaelis and Forster, in the Desert be
tween Asia and Egypt. Plutarch says, that those extremities and
the borders which are washed by the sea, are called Nephthys.
b In the opinion of Michaelis, on the Island Cyprus.

76 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The name of Caphtor, seems to be preserved in an
old city of Egypt, called Coptus. From this name, the
Christians in Egypt are still called Coalites or Copts,
and the whole country, Egyptus, for iEgopbtus, or Ihe
land of Coptus. The Greek Aia or Aea, as the learned
Mede judiciously observed, is probably derived from
the Hebrew w Ai or Ei ; and, the passage already
quoted from Jeremiah, what we render the country of
Caphtor, is in the Hebrew text Ai Captor, which are
the very two words from which Dr. Wells, who adds
this remark, supposes the Greeks have moulded the
word A'yvvlu, iEgytus. It is certain, that the word »« Ai,
translated country in our version, signifies also an isle ;
and this perfectly applies to Coptus, as it stood on a
small island. In this insulated city, therefore, and in
the circumjacent districts, we may, without hesitation,
place the first settlement of the Caphtorim.*
q.phut. ^ne inheritance of Phut, the only remaining
"ianiat™" ?on of Ham, is placed with great probability,
in the region adjoining to the western border
of Cyrene. For in Africa properly so called, below
Adrumetum, was a city named Putea, mentioned by
Pliny ; aud in Mauritania, into the western parts of
which the possessions of Phut extended to some length,
is a river mentioned by Ptolomy, called Phut. Jerome
asserts, that the river still retained the name in his time,
and extended it to the whole country round, from which
it was called the country of Phut These are the plan
tations of the sons of ]Soah ; and in this manner was the
earth divided among the renovated nations, after their
expulsion from the vale of Shinar.
* Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 108.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 77

CHAP. V.
OF THE CONQUESTS AND KINGDOM OF NIMROD.
DURING the first century after the deluge, the sons
of Noah settled where they pleased, and enjoyed in
common, the fruits of the undivided soil. This was the
golden age of the poets, when the stone was not placed
in the furrow, to mark the limits of the cultivated field.
" Non fixus et agris,
Qui regerit certis finibus arva, lapis." Tib. b. 1. El. 3.
Virgil says, it was then unlawful to appropriate the
surface of the ground.* But in the days of Phaleg, the
silver age commenced ; when the fields were divided,
and became the private property of individuals, who
began to cultivate the soil for their own benefit, and to
accumulate wealth for their owrn families.
" Turn primum subiere demos," &c.
Then the Noachidse began to construct bouses for
their private accommodation, and to build the city and
the tower of Babel, which excited the righteous anger
of Heaven, and procured their dispersion over the face
of all the earth. The iron age began with the birth of
Nimrod, one of the most remarkable characters in the
history of our species. He was the youngest son of
Cush, and the grandson of Ham ; equally distinguish
ed, according to ancient writers, by the gigantic size
and strength of his bodily frame, the vigour and extent
of his mental powers, and his daring and insatiable
ambition. In the presumptuous undertaking at Babel,
he seems to have had no participation, and the proba
bility is, that he was not come into existence, when the
foundations of that amazing structure were laid. The
manner in which the sacred historian introduces him to
the notice of his readers, seems to indicate, that, though
the youngest of the family, he was by far the most re
markable of the sons of Cush. The words of Moses
* Nee signare quidera aut partire limite campum Fas erat. Geor. I.

78 , ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
are, " and Cush begat Nimrod ;" as if he alone were de
serving of our attention ; and this conjecture is greatly
strengthened by the next clause, which presents him in,
the commencement of his career : " he was a mighty
hunter before the Lord." Cherishing, it is probable,
from his earliest years, the lust of power and the hope
of sovereignty, he advanced towards the grand object
of his ambition, with cautious and deliberate steps.*
He began the execution of his plans, by endeavouring
to ingratiate himself with his future subjects. The ter
rors of the Cushite nation had been excited, and their
safety endangered, by numerous beasts of prey from the
surrounding deserts ; his first attempt was to extirpate
or drive back into the wilderness, those savage dis
turbers of the peaceful inhabitant. This was deemed
in those times, a public benefit of the first importance.
So late as the days of Homer, to deliver the people
from the dread and ravages of wild beasts, was reckon
ed an achievement worthy of the most powerful mo
narchs, and ranked among the highest honours to which
they could aspire.
Ka^Tio-TOc /utv nrta,K.Bti >eapT/erTo($ fjUtf^ovro
0te<riv 'upicrKwoio-t *.*t 'iKtray-Xas 9etTtyia,^uy. Iliad b. 1.1. 266
To accomplish this beneficial and necessary purpose,
and to promote at the same time, his secret designs on
the liberty of his nation, he formed a band of resolute
young men, at whose head he combated the wild beasts
of the forest ; and thus, by enuring his followers to the
toils and dangers of the chase, he gradually formed tbem
to the use of arms, reduced them to a state of rude dis
cipline and imperfect submission — " that at a proper
time, after they had been accustomed to his orders, aud
seasoued in arms, he might make use of them for other
purposes more serious than hunting."
This artifice of Nimrod, Diodorus mentions, but by
a It is hardly to be supposed that Nimrod in early life, formed any
deep-laid plan of aggrandizing himself. It is much more probable
that his ambition, like that of most other conquerors, was at first,
confined within moderate bounds. At length it encreased with his
success.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 79
mistake ascribes it to iS'inus his son. "Ninus, the
most ancient of the Assyrian kings mentioned in his
tory, performed great actions. Being naturally of a
warlike disposition, and ambitious of glory that results
from valour, he armed a considerable number of young
men, that were brave aud vigorous like himself; train
ed them up a long time in laborious exercises and hard
ships, and by that means, accustomed them to bear the
fatigues of war patiently, and to face dangers with cour
age and intrepidity." By this means, Nimrod became
" a mighty hunter before the Lord ,•" renowned above all
his associates for skill, intrepidity, and success in clear
ing his native land of the beasts of prey by which it was
annoyed. Flushed with success and conscious of his own pow
er, he threw off the mask, refusing any longer to acknow
ledge the authority of his great grandfather Noah, and
with a resolute hand, seized the reins of government.
That he was guilty of rebellion on this occasion, is in
timated by his name, derived from a Hebrew verb which
signifies to rebel ; but whether it was prophetic or given
him after the event, is not known. Having reduced the
Cushite nation to his obedience, he passed the Tigris,
and compelled the inhabitants of Shinar to receive his
yoke. He consolidated and extended his power, by
entering into an alliance, if we may credit an ancient
tradition, with the king of the Arabs, with whom he
united his forces. This was probably one of his bro
thers, all of whom, Rollin supposes settled in Arabia,
and lived near enough their brother to lend him succours,
or to receive his assistance. Thus Nimrod, the rebel
lious descendant of the venerable Noah, in the language
of Moses, began to be mighty upon the earth ; thit is, he
formed settlements, subdued his neighbours, united dif
ferent nations under his authority, and erected them in
to a state of considerable extent ; which, in succeeding
ages, by new acquisitions, expanded into one of the most
extensive and powerful empires that ever existed.
Allured, it is probable, by the fruitfulness and beau
ty of the vale of Shinar, and especially by the numerous
and important advantages presented to his penetrating

80 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
and sagacious mind by the situation of Babel, which,
from the confusion of tongues, had, it is generally be
lieved, been resigned to desolation and silence, he took
possession of the deserted city, and made it the capital
of his empire. " The beginning of his kingdom," says
the sacred writer, " was Babel." He was the first that
ventured to people it after the dispersion ; the first to
fiuish the city and enclose it with walls : but daring as
he certainly was, he did not presume to expose himself,
and his new subjects, to the wrath of heaven, by order
ing the tower to be finished. The city of Babylon, the
foundations of which were laid byr the builders of the
tower, and probably consisted of a few houses for the
accommodation of the workmen, or, perhaps, by Nim
rod himself in the vicinity of Babel, was greatly beauti
fied and enlarged by Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, the
sun and successor of Nimrod- But it rose to the zenith
of its glory in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who proud
ly claimed it as his own creation : " Is not this great
Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom,
by the might of my power, and for the honour of my
majesty?"* This magnificent city, the capital or beginning of
Nimrod's kingdom, stood on a large plain, in a deep
and rich soil, of a quadrangular form, and divided al
most into two equal parts by the river Euphrates. The
walls were built of brick cemented with bitumen, with
which the soil seems to have been saturated ; their
height was fifty cubits, and the breadth so great, that
chariots, drawn by four horses, might pass one another
on the top of them without danger.a These prodigi
ous walls embraced a circuit of about forty miles ; and
are said to have been finished in one year by the hands
of two hundred thousandworkmen. They were strength-
* Dan iv. 30.
»The walls, according to Herodotus, who himself visited the
city, were 87 feet in thickness, S50 feet in height, and 60 miles in
circumference. They were, indeed, after a rebellion of the Baby
lonians against Darius Hystaspes, reduced by his orders to fifty cu-
pids in height. See Prideaux's Conn. p. Lb. 2. (Vol. 1. p. 232.
Am. ed.)

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 81
ened with two hundred and fifty towers, ten feet higher
than the walls. Twenty-five gates of solid brass on
every side of the great square, terminated an equal num
ber of streets, which ran in straight lines from one side
of the city to the other ; so that the whole number of the
streets were fifty, each fifteen miles long, of which
twenty-five went one way, and twenty-five the other,
directly crossing each other at right angles.* On each
side of the river was a key, aud a high wall built of
brick and bitumen, of the same thickness as the walls
that went round the city. In these walls, over against
every street that led to the river, were gates of brass,
and from them descents, by steps, to the river, for the
conveniency of the inhabitants who were obliged to pass
the river in boats, before the building of the bridge.
These brazen gates were always open in the day time,
and shut in the night.
A beautiful and magnificent bridge was, in process
of time, constructed across the river-, a furlong in length,
aud thirty feet iu breadth, adorned at each end with a
splendid palace. But the most wonderful effort per
haps of imperial wealth and power, was the lake which
the, monarchs of Babylon caused to be dug near Sippara,
to the west of the city, to secure it from the dreadful
effects of the periodical inundations. This immense
artificial bason was forty miles square, oue hundred and
sixty in compass, and thirty-five feet deep, according to
Herodotus, and seventy-five according to Ategasthenes.
Into this lake was the whole river turned by a canal
cut from the west side of it, till they had finished two
artificial channels at a very considerable distance above
the town, to receive the inundations of the river, occa
sioned by the periodical melting of the snow on the
mountains of Armenia, which turned the course of these
waters into the Tigris, before they reached Babylon.
On the west side of the river, within the city, near the
new palace, rose, in majestic grandeur, the celebrated
pensile gardens, terrace above terrace, sustained by vast
arches raised upon other arches, till they equalled in
height the walls of the city. These terraces were.
crowned with trees of the largest size, vigorously flour-
* Rollin, Prideaux, Bochart
Vol. I. M

82 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ishing on the deep mould with which the arches were
Covered, and beautified with every plant and flower
that was proper for a garden of pleasure.
Near the old palace, on the opposite side of the river,
stood the temple of Belus ; in the middle of which, Avas
a prodigious tower, of a quadrangular form, half a mile
in circuit, aud a furlong in height. This astonishing
structure is supposed, by many writers, to have been
the celebrated tower of Babel, the building of which
was interrupted by the confusion of tongues. The
riches of this temple, in statues, tables, censers, cups,
and other sacred vessels, all of massy gold, were im
mense. Among other images, was one of forty feet
high, which weighed a thousand Babylouish talents.
According to the calculation of Diodorus, this temple
contained six thousand three hundred and fifty Attic
talents of gold, which amounts to more than twenty-one
millions sterling.
Such was ancient Babylon, over the splendour, and
magnificence, and extent of which, the heart of Nebu
chadnezzar exulted, while he looked down upon it
from the highest terrace of his pensile gardens, and his
lips exclaimed, " Is not this great Babylon which I
have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might
of my power, and for the honour of my majesty.'"
Exactly according with the truth of ancient history,
are the accounts which the prophets of the Lord have
left us of the greatness and strength of that haughty
mistress of the nations, and oppressor of the whole
earth. Isaiah pronounces her " the glory of kingdoms ;
the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency; the golden
city ; the lady of kingdoms."* Jeremiah speaks of
her " broad walls," and her " brazen gates :" and calls
her, by a most significant figure, " the hammer of the
whole earth ;" aud a " destroying mountain which de
stroyed all the earth;" and says "she was abundant
in treasures, aud dwelling on many waters :" and in
another passage, he describes her as " Jehovah's battle-
axe and weapons of war, with which he brake in pieces
the nations, and destroyed kingdoms."!
•Is. xiv. i, and xlvii. 5, 7. t Jer. 1, 23, and li. 20.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 88
This great and powerful city was so strong, both by
nature and art, its inhabitants were so numerous and
warlike, and its resources so many and various, that it
was considered as impregnable. It seemed, says Oro-
sius, to be almost equally incredible, that it could be
built by the hands, or destroyed by the prowess of mor
tals. The Babylonians themselves, were of the same
opinion ; they boasted that Babylon should remain the
mistress of the nations till the end of all things. " Thou
saidst, I shall be a lady for ever, so that thou didst not
lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the
latter end of it. — Thou saidst in thine heart, I am, and
none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither
shall I know the loss of children."* But the event at
last, proved that the prophets had not foretold the de
struction of that splendid and powerful city in vain.
The dreadful calamities which Babylon had brought
upon so many cities and nations, to gratify her inordi
nate ambition, burst at last upon her own head, and
overwhelmed her in complete and irretrievable ruin.
The fearful threatenings of the prophet were literally
fulfilled ; " Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty
of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah : it shall never be in
habited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;
neither shall the shepherds make their fold there : but
wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ; and their
houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls shall
dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there; and the wild
beasts of the, island shall cry in their desolate houses,
and dragons in their pleasant palaces : and her time is
near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged."!
The Persians, says Strabo, destroyed a part of the city ;
time, and the carelessness of the Macedonians, destroy
ed another part ; but the principal cause of its decline
was, the building of Seleucia, about forty miles above
Babylon, by Seleucus Nicanor, who is said to have
erected this new city from dislike to the'Babylonians,
* Is. xlvii 7, 8. t'ls- xliL 19> &c-

84 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
and to have drawn five hundred thousand persons from
Babylon, for the peopling of his new city.
This rival seat of empire, by degrees robbed Babylon
of its glory and greatness, and even of its very name ;
for it is expressly called Babylon in some ancient au
thors. In the time of Curtius, it had declined a fourth
part ; it was reduced to desolation in the days of Pliny ;
and when Jerome flourished, it was turned into a park,
in which the kiii£;s of Persia were accustomed to take
the diversion of hunting.
In the middle of the sixteenth century, the ruins of
ancient Babylon were visited by Rauwolf, a German
physician, who gives the following mournful, but in
structive description of it. By a small village on the
Euphrates, called Eulego, or Felugo, is the seat of the
old Babylon, a day and a half's journey from Bagdat.
The lands about it are so dry and desolate, that one may
justly doubt the fertility of it, and the greatness of this
city, if the vast ruins still to be seen did not banish all
suspicion. There are still standing some arches of a
bridge over the river, which is here half a mile broad,
and exceeding deep : these arches are built of brick,
and wonderfully compacted. A quarter of a mile be
neath the village, in a pla'.n, are the fallen mins of a
castle, aud beyond that the ruins of the tower of Babel,
half a German mile in compass, which is now a recep
tacle of serpents and venemous creatures A little above
the fall of the Tigris into the Euphrates, is a city now
called Trax, formerly called Apamea. All that travel
over these plains, will find vast numbers of the ruins of
very ancient great and lofty buildings, arched towers,
and other similar structures of wonderful architecture.
There is only one tower, which is called Daniel's, still
entire and inhabited, from whence may be seen all the
ruins of this once vast city ; which sufficiently demon
strate the truth of what ancient writers have said of its
greatness, by the vastness of their extent.
A noble Roman, Peter Delia Valle, in the year 1616,
visited what are thought to be the ruins of ancient Ba
bylon. In the middle of a vast and level plain, about
a quarter of a league from the Euphrates, he found a

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 85
heap of ruined buildings, like a huge mountain, the ma
terials of which are so confounded together, that he
knew not what to make of it. Its situation aud form
corresponded with that pyramid which Strabo calls the
tower of Belus, and is, in all probability, the tower of
Nimrod in Babylon, or Babel, as the place is still called.
No marks of ruins appeared without that huge mass, to
convince him that so great a city as Babylon had ever
stood there ; all he could discover within fifty or sixty
yards of it, being only the remains, here and there, of
some foundations of buildings ; and the country round
so fiat and level, that it is difficult to believe it should
be chosen for the situation of so great and noble a city
as Babylon, or that it ever contained any remarkable
buildings. Delle Valle, however, was astonished to
find so many remains of that renowned city, after the
lapse of four thousand years since it was built, and that
Diodorus Siculus tells us it was reduced almost to no
thing in his time.
Tavernier, a very celebrated traveller, discovered, at
the parting of the Tigris, a little way from Bagdat, the
foundations of a city which seemed to be a large league
in compass. Some of the walls were yet standing, upon
which six coaches might go abreast; they were made
of burnt brick, ten feet square, aud three feet thick.
The chronicles of the country say, they are the remains
of ancient Babylon ; but Tavernier imagined they were
the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace, or of the tower
of Babel. He adopts the opinion of the Arabs, and
conceives them to be rather the remains of some tower
built by one of their princes for a beacon to assemble
his subjects in time of war ; and this conjecture, in all
probability, approaches nearest to the truth.
It is not one of the least remarkable circumstances
related of Babylon, that we cannot learn, either from
ancient writers, or modern travellers, where this re
nowned city stood, only in general, that it was situated
in the province of Chaldea, upon the river Euphrates,
considerably above its confluence with the Tigris.
" Travellers have guessed, from the great ruins they
have discovered in several parts of the country, that in

86 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
this or that place Babylon once stood ; but when we
come to examine nicely the places they mention, we on-
ty learn that they were certainly in the wrong, and have
mistaken the ruins of Seleucia, or some other great
town.* Mr. Hanway declares, that the ruins of Baby
lon are now so much effaced, that hardly any vestiges
of them remain to point out the situation "t
By these accounts we see, (to use the words of New
ton,) how punctually time hath fulfilled the predictions
of the prophets concerning Babylon. When it was
converted into a chase for wild beasts to feed and breed
there, then were exactly accomplished the words of the
prophets, that "the wild beasts of the desert, with the
wild beasts of the islands, should dwell there, aud cry
in their desolate houses." One part of the country was
overflowed by the river's having been turned out of its
course, and never restored again to its former channel,
and thence became boggy and marshy, so that it might
literally be said to be " a possession for the bittern, and
pools of water." Another part is described as dry aud
naked, and barren of every thing, so that thereby wTas
also fulfilled another prophecy, which seemed, in some
measure, to contradict the former. " Her cities are a
desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land where
in no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass
thereby." The place thereabout is represented as over
run with serpents, scorpions, and all sorts of venemous
and unclean creatures ; so that " their houses are full
of doleful creatures, and dragons cry in their pleasant
palaces : and Babylon is become heaps, a dwelling
place for dragons, an astonishment and an hissing,
without an inhabitant." For all these reasons, " nei
ther can the Arabian pitch his tent there, neither can
the shepherds make their folds there." And when we
find that modern travellers cannot now certainly dis
cover the spot of ground whereon that imperial city
once was situate, we may very properly sayr, How is
Babylon become a desolation among the nations? Every
purpose of the Lord hath he performed against Baby
lon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without
* Salmon's Mod. Hist. \ Hanwa/s Trav. vol. 4.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 87
an inhabitant : and the expression is no less true than
sublime, that " the Lord of hosts hath swept it with the
besom of destruction."*
The second city built by Nimrod in the land of Shinar,
was Erech, which under the name of Arecca, Ptolomy
places on the lowest bend of the common channel of the
Tigris and Euphrates. The Archevites mentioned by
Ezra, are thought to be some of its inhabitants that
were removed to Samaria.f
The true situation of Accad, the third city in the
kingdom of Nimrod, cannot now be determined with
any degree of certainty. Accad is written by the Se
venty interpreters, Archad; some faint traces of which,
are supposed to be preserved in the name of the river
Argades ; which, according to Ctesius, runs near Set-
tace, a town at some distance from the Tigris, in the
country of Sittacene, between Babylon and Susa.
The last of the cities belonging to the kingdom of
Nimrod, and lying in the land of Shinar, mentioned by
the sacred writer, is Calne. In the prophesies of Isaiah,
it is written with little variation, Calnoh ; and in Eze
kiel Channe. The prophets Isaiah and Amos, both
represent it as a place of considerable importance in
their times. It is said by the Chaldee interpreters, and
also by Eusebuis and Jerome, to be the same with
Ctesiphon, a city on the Tigris, about three miles dis
tant from Seleucia, and for some time the capital of the
Parthian dominions. This opinion seems to be fully
confirmed by the name Chalonitis, which the Greeks
gave to the surrounding country : which is evidently
formed from Chalne or Chalno, or by a mixture of both
from Chalone. And since we are expressly told by
Ammianus Marcellinus, that Pacorus, a king of the
Parthians, changed its name to Ctesiphon, we reasona
bly suppose, from the name of the adjacent country,
Chalonitis, that its ancient name was Chalne or Chalone.
These four cities, all situate in the land of Shinar,
with their respective territories, seem to have constituted
the original kingdom of Nimrod. The words of Moses
certainly countenance this idea ; " And the beginning
* Newton's Dissert, vol. 1. p. 178. f Ezra iv. 9.

88 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
Calne." Babel was the first city which he built, and
the seat of his government ; but the other three cities,
belonged not less than Babel to the beginning of his
kingdom. By the irruption of Nimrod, at the head of the Cush-
ites into the lower parts of Shinar, Ashur, one of the
descendants of Shem, who seem to have held it, if not
by the allotment of Noah their common superior, at
least by pre-occupancy, was obliged to retire, and seek
new settlements for himself and his people. He
ascended the Tigris, and took possession of the country
which was afterwards known by his name. The words
of Moses are ; " Out of this land went Ashur, and
builded Nineveh."* Bochart contends for a different
version. " I am persuaded," says that excellent wri
ter, " that the term Ashur is not in this place, the name
of a man, but of a country. — The words therefore in
the original, are to be thus interpreted, He (Nimrod,)
went out of this land into Assyria." In this opinion,
he has been followed by Dr. AVells and others, who
have been too easily prejudiced against the common
version. He endeavours to support his opinion by the
following arguments; 1. It would be improper to in
troduce the name of Ashur, the son of Shem, in the
genealogy of the sons of Ham. 2. It is contrary to
order, to state the operations of Ashur, before he men
tioned his birth. 3. It was not peculiar to Ashur, and
therefore not remarkable, that he should go out of the
land of Shinar in quest of new settlements, since the
far greatest part of mankind did the same. 4. The
words being taken in reference to Nimrod, the connec
tion between the tenth and eleventh verses is preserved.
The beginning of this kingdom was Babel, and Erech,
and Accad, and Calne, in the lantl of Shinar ; but after
wards, he extended his dominions by invading and re
ducing Assyria to his yoke, and built Nineveh and three
other cities to secure his conquests.
These objections are of little importance, and by no
means warrant the proposed alteration. It is a sufficient
answer, that, the history of Ashur is not given here,
* Gen. x. 11.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. . 89
but the history of Nimrod. He invaded the possessions
of Ashur, and forced him to relinquish his original pro
perty ; and the accounts of each are so connected, that
one must be mentioned with the other, to complete the
history. No writer, sacred or common, always follows
the precise order of events. In the same book, Moses
gives us an account of Canaan, the son of Ham, ante
cedent to the genealogy of his family, which follows in
the next chapter.* Nor was the emigration from Shi
nar com mon to all mankind; for only a small part of
mankind were concerned in the compulsory dispersion ;
besides, Bochart omits a principal and important part
of the passage. The sacred writer does not say merely,
that Ashur went forth out of the land, but that he went
forth and built cities; a circumstance by no means
common to all. These cities rose, in the progress of
time, to great renown ; it was therefore of consequence
to mention their founder, and the reason why they were
built. The connection between the tenth and eleventh
verses is equally clear by the common version : Nim
rod at the head of his army, seized on the province of
Babylonia, and erected it into a kingdom ; and Ashur
the original possessor, disdaining to wear his ignomi
nious yoke, retired into Assyria ; and to secure his re
cent acquisitions from the aggression of his ambitious
enemy, builded Nineveh and other cities mentioned in
the sacred text.
Bochart adds, that Nimrod must have been in pos
session of Assyria ; for it was called the land of Nim
rod. His argument is founded oa a passage in Micah,
which runs in these words ; " And they shall waste
the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of
Nimrod in the entrances thereof."! He supposes, that
the land of Assyria and the land of Nimrod mentioned
by the prophet, are the same region. But this is to
charge the inspired writer with a very unnecessary re
petition ; and with a redundancy not common in the sa
cred writings. By the land of Assur,is plainly meant the
region of Assyria; but by the land of Nimrod, is sig
nified the country of Babylonia, which was the true and.
* Gen. ix. x. t Mic. v. S.
Vol. I. N

90 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
only land of Nimrod. In order to understand the pur
port of the prophecy, we should consider the time when
it was uttered. Micah is foretelling the ruin of the
Assyrian empire, of which Babylonia by conquest, had
been made a part. But the Babylonians were, at this
time endeavouring to throw off the yoke of Nineveh,
and establish an independent government. As, how
ever, they made a part of the Assyrian empire, they
were to share in its calamities. To these events the
prophecy alludes ; in which two nations and two dif
ferent regions, are described. We may therefore be
assured, that the land of Assyria and the land of Nim
rod, were two distinct countries.*
Ashur, probably imitating the policy of his danger
ous competitor, built four cities for the accommodation
and defence of his descendants ; the first of which was
Nineveh, the capital of his kingdom. This powerful
city stood on the east side ot the Tigris, not far from
the river Lycus, one of its tributary streams ; but on
which side of the Lycus it lay, cannot now be discover
ed. The prediction of ISiahum, that Nineveh should
be so completely destroyed that future ages should
search in vain for the spot which it once covered, has
been fulfilled in all its extent. " With an overflowing
flood, he will make an utter end of the place thereof."!
Ancient geographers inform us of another city of this
name, which stood on the Euphrates, and Avas probably
built by Nimrod in honour of his son. But Nineveh,
so frequently mentioned in Scripture, lay near the
Tigris ; and to this last the following observations re
fer. Strabo affirms, that Nineveh was larger than
Babylon itself; an assertion confirmed by Diodorus,
who makes that city sixty miles in compass, while
Strabo makes Babylon only about forty eight. It is
therefore with justice that the inspired writer calls Ni
neveh "an exceeding great city of three days' journey."
This account some interpreters refer not to the length,
but to the compass of the city ; allowing twenty miles
for a day?s journey, which accords with the common
estimation of those times. But the phrase, "Jonas be
gan to enter into the city a day's journey," seems ra-
* Bryant's An. f Nahum i. 8.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 91
ther to intimate, that the measure of three day's journey
is to be understood of the length, not of the compass of
Nineveh.* Hence it may be easily supposed, that
agreeably to the statement of the prophet, it contained
" more than sixscore thousand persons that could not
discern between their right hand and their left hand ;*"
for, supposing this to be understood of infants under two
years old, these generally, as Bochart observes, make
at least the fifth part of a city. If this proportion be
just, the inhabitants of Nineveh would not be more
than six hundred thousand; which is not more than
Seleucia contained in the days of Pliny, and not so
many as has been numbered in the capital of the Bri
tish empire.
Nineveh was not more celebrated for her extent, and
the number of her inhabitants, than for the strength of
her fortifications. The walls were an hundred feet high,
and so broad that three carts might go abreast on the
top. They were strenthened with fifteen hundred tur
rets, each of them two hundred feet high. But though
it was deemed impregnable, the wickedness of its inha
bitants provoked the most High to deliver it into the
hands of Astyages, king of the Medes, who reduced it
to a heap of ruins.
Rehobothy the second city of Assyria mentioned by
Moses, was supposed to have been seated on the Tigris,
about the mouth of the river Lycus ; but no certain
traces of it can be.discovered.
Calah was probably the capital city of the country
Calachene, which, according to Strabo, lay somewhere
about the head of the river Lycus. Ptolomy also men
tions a country which was named Calacine, in the same
quarter. And as Pliny mentions a people called Clas-
sitae, through whose country the Lycus runs, it is pro
bable, that Classitae is a corruption for Caluchitse. This
city is in all probability the Halah mentioned in the 2d
* Jonah iv 11.

a This interpretation is quite unnecessary The literal version
from the Hebrew is : Jonah began to go in the city, the going of
day ; that is, he entered the city and traversed it for one day.

one

98 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
book of Kings, to which Salmanassar transplanted some
of the ten tribes of Israel.
' Resen, the last city mentioned by Moses, lay be
tween Nineveh and Calah, and consequently stood on
the Tigris. Geographers mention two cities in Meso
potamia: one called Rhisina, between Edessa and
mount Masius : the other Rhesena, between the rivers
Chaboras and Saocoras. But as neither of these cor
responds to the description of Resen given by Moses,
the city of Larissa mentioned by Xenophon, has been
regarded as the ancient city of Resen. It stands on the
Tigris, and was a city of great strength and extent,
eight miles in compass, and surrounded by a wall an
hundred feet high, and tweuty-five feet broad. Larissa
is a Greek name, supposed to be given by Xenophon
and his associates, instead of Laresen, that is, the city
of Resen, which that renowned captain mistook for
Larissa, the name of several Grecian cities, with wdiich
he was familiar.*

CHAP. VI.

OF CHALDEA, UR, HARAN, AND CANAAN.

THE sacred historian, having taken a rapid view of
the original settlements which the sons of Noah formed
in the countries allotted to them after the deluge, pro
ceeds to the history of a family that made a consider
able figure among the Babylonians in those remote ages.
This family, in whom, by the distinguishing favour of
God, all nations were in future times to be blessed, ori
ginally lived in Ur of the Chaldees, till near the close
of the life of Terah, the father of Abraham. To ascer
tain with greater accuracy the situation of this city,
so celebrated for being, the birth-place of Abraham, the
* Bocharti Phaleg. Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 127. "

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 93
friend of God, and the father of the chosen seed, it is
necessary to make a few remarks on the country of the
Chaldees. Chaldea, the native country of Abraham, was bound
ed by Mesopotamia on the north, Susiana on the east,
the Persian gulf on the south, and Arabia Deserts on
the west. Its capital city was Babylon ; hence, called
by Isaiah the prophet, " the glory of the Chaldees' ex
cellency." From the name of the capital, the whole
country was afterwards called Babylonia. Some wri
ters, however, contend, that Chaldea properly so called,
was only a province of babylonia ; while others make
Babylonia a province of Chaldea, namely, that part
which lay about the city of Babylon. The name Ba
bylon is unquestionably derived from the Hebrew term
Babel ; and, that the city was built near the place
where the tower of Babel was begun, seems to be equal
ly certain. The name Chaldea, is of more doubtful
origin ; but, since the Chaldeans are called in Hebrew,
Chasdim, it is commonly supposed they derived their
name from Chesed, one of the sons of Nahor, the bro
ther of Abraham ;* for, Chesed will regularly make
the plural, Chesadim, or with a small variation, Chas
dim. From this term, instead of xcWaJ.i Chasdsi, the
Greeks formed the softer word x<ucf«iti Chaldsei-! It is
therefore probable, that the Chaldees derived their name
from Chesed ; but the true reason of the derivation, is
lost in the deep obscurity of the postdiluvian age.
In the sacred books, the term Chaldea is sometimes
taken in a larger sense than in the writings of the
Greeks and Romans. It is evident from' the words of
Stephen the protomartyr, that the country of Chaldea
embraced a part of Mesopotamia ; " The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Meso
potamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto
him, get thee out of this country,  then came he out
of the land of the Chaldees and dwelt in Charran."
Hence it is evident, that the region of Mesopotamia,
where the patriarch resided before he removed to Char
ran, must be included under the name of Chaldea.
This is considered by some writers as a confirmation
* Gen. xxii. 22. t Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 128.

94 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of the opinion, that the name of Chaldea was originally
derived from Chesed the sou of Nahor, the brother of
Abraham. It is plainly intimated in the sacred text, that,
when Terah with his son Abraham, and his grandson Lot,
the son of the deceased Harail, left Ur of the Chaldees,
Nahor his other son, remained in his native country.
But Nahor was the father of Chesed, who, it is con
jectured, was eminently skilled in the science of astro
nomy, the study of which, was prosecuted in Babylonia
from the first settlement of the province, with great dili
gence and success. Under his instructions, and fired
by his example, his descendants, the Chasdim, are
supposed to have risen to great eminence among the
Babylonian philosophers. And hence, Ur, the native
town of Chesed and his family, might be called by way
of honour, Ur of the Chaldees, that is, Ur where the
Chasdim, so famous for their attainments in astrono
mical science, reside. From this circumstance, it is not
unreasonable to suppose, that a people so devoted to
science as the Babylonians were, might assume the name
of Chaldees, in honour of Chesed, their most renowned
instructor. This opinion concerning the skill of Chesed and his
descendants in astronomical science, is supposed to be
confirmed from the very name of the place where they
lived. Ur in the Hebrew tongue, denotes light; and
hence, the place where the Chasdim lived, might be
named Ur of the Chasdim, from their studying there
with extraordinary diligence and success, the motions
of the heavenly bodies.*
From this statement it appears, that Ur was situate
in the eastern part of Mesopotamia, which was some
times included under the name of Chaldea. This po
sition agrees both with the Avords of Stephen already
quoted, and the writings of Ammianus Marcellinus,
who mentions a city of this name, lying between the
Tigris and the city of Nisibis. Some writers place the
native town of Terah and Abraham, near the lake of
Babylon, where once stood the city Urchoa, supposed
by them to be the same with Ur But the lakes of Ba
bylon, and by consequence the city Urchoa, were on
* Bochart. - Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 130.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. Og
this side of the river Euphrates ; while Joshua says
expressly, that Terah, the father of Abraham, and the
father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the flood
(or Euphrates) in old time.* Again, from Ur in Me
sopotamia, near the Tigris, the way to Canaan, whi
ther Terah intended to go, was directly by Haran ; but
if he had resided by the lakes of Babylonia, his direct
way had been through Arabia Deserta ; or if to avoid
that inhospitable desert, he had chosen a more norther
ly rout, still his direct road lay considerably south
from Haram.
Haran is, in the Septuagint and in the New Testa
ment, rendered Charan,and in common authors Charrae.
This city was built by Terah, and named Haran, in
memory of his deceased son, the father of Lot. It stood
in the. west, or north-west part of Mesopotamia, on a
river known to the Greek writers by the same name,
which flows into the river Chaboras, one of the tribu
tary streams of the Euphrates. In more recent times,
it became famous among the Romans for the total defeat
of their army by the Parthians, and the death of Cras-
sus their general, who was killed in the battle.
In obedience to the command of God, who appeared
to- Abraham in Mesopotamia, Terah, with all bis fa-
milyexcept Nahor, left the land of his fathers, and pro
ceeded to Haran, on his way to Canaan, the future in
heritance of his remote descendants. In that city Terah
ended his days; and after his death, Abraham, in con
sequence of a second admonition, prosecuted his jour
ney to the land of promise.
The land of Canaan is, on many accounts, entitled
to more particular consideration ; but chiefly because it
was the residence of the chosen seed, and the theatre
of our redemption.
When the Maker of heaven and earth appointed to
the nations their inheritance, the country which is
bounded on the west by the Mediterranean, on the east
by the river Jordan, the lake Asphaltiles and the sea of
Tiberias, on the north by the mountain Antilibauus,
and on the south by Idumea, fell to the lot of Canaan,
* Josh. xxiv. 2.

96 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
one of the sons of Ham. It extends about two hundred
miles in length and eighty in breadth. From the grand
son of Noah, by whom it was peopled, it was first
called the land of Canaan. It has since been distin
guished by other names : as the land of promise ; the
Holy Land ; Judea, from the tribe of Judah, which
possessed its finest and most fertile division; and Pa
lestine, from the Philistines, by whom a great part of
it was inhabited.
The decendants of Canaan, the original possessor of
this highly interesting country, are thus enumerated by
Moses : " Canaan begat Sidon his first born, andHeth,
and the J ebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and
the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Senite, and the Arva-
dite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamante." All these
families were settled at first within the limits of Canaan;
but the increase of population, or what is more likely,
the spirit of emigration and adventure, which is strongly
felt in countries where much land remains to be occu
pied, soon carried them beyond the prescribed limits of
their paternal inheritance. The original extent of the
land of Canaan, is accurately stated by Moses in these
words : " The border of the Canaanites was from Si
don, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza ; aud as thou
goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah,' and
Zeboim, even unto Lasha."* But the sacred historian
informs us, that several Canaanitish families, in process
of time, settled in the circumjacent countries : his words
are, " And afterwards were the families of the Canaan
ites spread abroad ;" namely, beyond their original
bounds, which he then proceeds to describe.
The true situation of Sidon, the first born of Canaan,
is clearly determined by the famous city of that name.
Sidon was one of the most ancient cities in the world,
and long the wealthiest and the greatest of which Phe-
nicia could boast. It was very strong both by nature
and art. On the north side, a citadel, built on an inac
cessible rock, and environed on all sides by the sea ;
and on the south side, another fort defended the mouth
of the harbour. Secured on all sides agaiust the as-
* Gen. x. 19.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 97
saults of her enemies, and enriched by the extensive
commerce which she carried on with the surrounding
nations of Asia and Europe, her inhabitants lived in
profound security, aud indulged, without restraint, in
every voluptuous gratification. So great was their
luxury, that to live after the manner of the Sidonians,
became a sort of proverbial phrase for living quietly
and securely in ease and pleasure.* But their wealth
and luxury do not seem, at least for several ages, to
have enervated their minds, and destroyed their powers
of exertion and habits of industry ; for we know, from
the testimony of an inspired writer, that in the days of
Solomon " none were skilled to hew timber like the Zi-
donians." They are represented by writers, both sa
cred and profane, as excellent artificers in several other
professions or trades ; and in proof of this fact, many
of them were retained in the pay of Solomon, and em
ployed as his principal workmen in building the temple
of Jehovah.
Though the Tyrians were accustomed to boast of the
great antiquity of their city, it cannot be doubted that
Sidon can trace her history to a still remoter date ; for
in the same chapter where the prophet Isaiah records
the vain boast of the Tyrians, he expressly calls Tyre
the daughter of Sidon ;! by which he means, that the
Tyrians were a colony of the Sidonians. Indeed Tyre
rose, by degrees, to a height of greatness and splendour,
which her illustrious parent was never able to reach ;
yet it is evident, from ancient writers, that she was for
several ages greatly her inferior. The former was dis
tinguished by the name of the strong city so early as
the days of Joshua; but in the very same passage, the
latter receives the more significant and honourable title
of ''' the great Zidon," to intimate, that she was then the
capital of Phenicia. Nor ought it to be forgotten, that
Homer never mentions Tyre in any part of his writings,
while he often celebrates the ingenuity and industry of
the Sidonians. f Many years after Sidon was built,
says an ancient writer, the Sidonians being attacked
by the king of Ascalon, escaped in their ships, and laid
the foundations of Tyre, sometime before the destruc-
* Judfr. xviii. 7. t Is- xxiii. 7, 12. * Iliad, b. 23- 1. 743. Odyss. b. 15. 1. 114-
Vol. I. O

9S GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST.
tion of Troy.* This event happened, according to
Josephus, aboin two hundred and forty years before
the building of Solomon's temple. But after the taking
Of Sidon by the Persians, the city of Tyre rapidly in
creased in wealth and greatness, and became, in a short
time, the capital of Phenicia, and the mart of the whole
earth. At the time it was besieged by Alexander, it
was, in every respect, the greatest commercial city in
the world, 'inrluding ancient Tyre, xt was nineteen
miles in circuit : the houses were spacious, magnificent,
consisting of several stories, and higher than those of
Rome. Pre-eminent in riches and splendour, rose the
magnificent temples of Olympian Jove, Astarte, and
other deities adored by the Tyrians, constructed by Hi
ram, adorned with pillars of gold, glittering with pre
cious stones, and enriched with the splendid offerings
of many kings. The city was defended by a wall an
hundred and fifty feet in height, of huge stones cement
ed with lime. Two harbours received its innumerable
vessels, one looking towards Sidon, the other to Egypt.
Strabo places it nearly at the distance of twenty-five
miles from Sidon, its renowned parent. The inhabi
tants of Tyre, like the Sidonians from whom they de
rived their origin, were distinguished for the acuteness
and versatility of their genius. They were skilled in
arithmetic and astronomy: but in the mechanical arts
they were scarcely equalled, certainly not surpassed,
by any people. For the brilliant colour known to the
ancients by the name of the Tyrian purple, the kings
of the east were indebted to their ingenuity. The fa
brics produced in the Sidonian looms rivalled the fine
linen of Egypt ; while the productions of the artificer
in iron, in brass, and in crystal, were not less remarka
ble for the beauty of the device than for the delicacy of
the execution. It is therefore, a true account which the
inspired prophet has given of the greatness and splen
dour of Tyre. Isaiah calls her, " a mart of nations ;
the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose
traffickers are the honourable of the earth ;" and Eze
kiel, who alluding to old Tyre, places her " at the en
try of the sea;" and in another passage, to the new city,
* Trogiis,

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 99
" in the heart of the seas/' recounts the various nations
that carried on a lucrative commerce with the Tyrians.
But the pride and luxury which her unrivalled power
and riches produced among all ranks of her citizens,
and above all, the cruel and unbrotherly triumph in
which the Tyrians indulged, when the chosen people
of God yielded to the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and
were led away captive beyond the rivers of Babylon,
excited against them the displeasure of Heaven. As
a just punishment of their crimes, continental Tyre
was taken aud destroyed by the Chaldeans; and re
mained in a state of ruin and desolation seventy years,
a term of equal duration with the captivity of Judah,
whom they had so barbarously insulted in the hour of
her distress. At the end of that period, Tyre recovered
her wealth and splendour; an event Which the prophet
Zechariah describes4n these striking terms : " And Ty
rus did build herself a "strong hold, and heaped up sil
ver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets."*
But with her commerce and prosperity, her wickedness
returned ; and the judgments of God quickly followed1.
In fulfilment of ancient prophecies which sealed her
doom, and even described the manner of her future
destruction. Alexander besieged, and took, and set the
city on fire ; but so great was the forbearance of Hea
ven, so numerous and efficient were her resources, that
in the short period of nineteen years she was able to
withstand the fleets and armies of Antigonus, and to
sustain a siege of fifteen months, before she was taken.
But the time of her final desolation at length arrived ;
and nothing could divert or retard the full accomplish*
ment of the divine purpose long before expressed by an
inspired prophet : " Thus saith the Lord God, Behold,
I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many na
tions to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his
waves to come up : and they shall destroy the walls of
Tyrus, and break down her towers ; I will also scrape
her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock ;
it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst
of the sea, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God."f
T© shew the certainty of this fearful sentence, it is re-
* Zech. ix. 3. t Ezek- *xv' 5-

100 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
peated, "I will make thee like the top of a rock ; thou
shalt be a place to spread nets upon ; thou shalt be
built no more ; for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the
Lord God." And again ; " 1 will make thee a terror,
and thou shalt be no more : though thou be sought for,
yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord
God."* The exact fulfilment of this prediction in all
its parts, is attested by so many travellers of unimpeach
able veracy, who beheld and examined the ruins of
this once great, and powerful, and splendid city, that
the most stubborn unbeliever is awed into silence.
The descendants of Heth, or the Hittites, the second
family of Canaan mentioned by Moses, were planted
about Hebron, in the southern division of the country.
Moses informs us, that Sarah died at Hebron, and
" Abraham spakfc to the sons of Heth" about the pur
chase of a burying-place ; and adds in a subsequent
verse, " Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the
people of the land, even to the children of Heth ;"!
which sufficiently proves their claim to that part of the
family inheritance.! The principal settlements of the
Hittites were in the mountainous part of the country ;
for the Hittites are mentioned with the Jebusites as
dwelling in the mountains.^
The city of Hebron was originally called Kirjath
Arba, or the city of Arba, a great man among the Ana-
kims.[| It was a place of great antiquity; for, accord
ing to Moses, it was built seven years before Zoan in
Egypt, the royal city of the Pharaohs, the ancient kings
of Egypt ; and by consequence was one of the oldest
cities in that kingdom. Hebron was situate among the
mountains, on the ridge which runs southward from Je
rusalem. It became famous for the long residence of
Abraham in its neighbourhood, and for being the bury
ing-place of his family. In succeeding times it was the
chosen abode of David during the first seven years of
his reign ; and is supposed to have been the dwelling-
place of Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John
the Baptist. Hebron was also one of the cities of re
fuge, and was given to the tribe of Levi by the appoint-
* Ezek. xxiii. 3, 4, 5. + Gen. xxiii. p. 20. * Gen. xxiii. 7. §Josh. xi. 3.
I] Josh. xiv. 15.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 101
ment of Jehovah. Its name was probably derived from
Hebron, one of the sons of Kohath, and grandson of
Levi. In the immediate neighbourhood of this city, was the
plan of Mamie, called in another passage of Scripture,
the vale of Hebron. It lies on the south side of the
town, at tl'.e distance of about two miles ; and is repre
sented as remarkably fertile and pleasant; a circum
stance sufficiently attested by the protracted residence
of the venerable patriarch, who had a right to select
the richest pastures of Canaan. His tent was pitched
under the shade of a spreading oak, from whence, re
posing at his ease, he could see his flocks and his
herds feeding at large on the surrounding hills. But
what chiefly recommended Mamre and its umbrageous
oak to him, was the vision of angels with which he was
honoured, on their way to execute the vengeance of
God on the cities of the plain : a circumstance which
has rendered that fertile vale memorable to every suc
ceeding age.
Next to the Hittites, in the same tract of country,
were planted the sons of Jebus, who seem to have
been its original inhabitants. The capital city of their
possessions was called Jebus, in honour of their vene
rable founder ; a name which it afterwards exchanged
for Jerusalem, one of the most celebrated on the records
of history .b These facts are explicitly stated by the
inspired writer : " And David and all Israel went to
Jerusalem which is Jebus : where the Jebusites were
the inhabitants of the land."* This city is first men
tioned in Scripture under the name of Salem, which is
byr interpretation Peace ; capital of the kingdom over
which Melchizedek reigned. The name by which it
was afterwards known, seems to be—compounded of
both Jebus and Salem, and to have been originally
written Jebussalem, but for the sake of the sound after
wards softened into Jerusalem. In Hebrew the word
assumes the dual form, and is commonly read Jerusa
lem ; probably to denote, that the city consisted of two
parts, of which one was the old city, where Melchize-
* 1 Chron. xi. 4.
b See Josh. xv. 63. Judg. 1, 2. xix. 20. 2 Sam. v. 9. I. C.

102 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
dek and the Jebusites dwelt; and the other the new
city built by David and his successors on the throne of
Israel and Judah, which for its extent might be regard
ed as a new city, or new Jerusalem. This term, the
Greeks, adapting it to their language, according to their
usual practice, changed into Hierosolyma, which lite
rally signifies the sacred city.
The old city founded by the Jebusites before Abra
ham arrived in Canaan, is styled by some writers the
city of Melchizedek, not because he was the founder,
but because it was the seat of his government. This
ancient city was so strongly fortified both by nature
and art, that the people of Israel could not drive out
the Jebusites, its original inhabitants, but were reduced
to live with them at Jesusalem. The armies of Israel
indeed seized the city ; but the Jebusites kept posses
sion of the strong fort which defended the town, till the
reign of David, who took it by storm, and changed its
name to the city of David, to signify the importance of
the conquest, and to perpetuate the memory of the
event. Having chosen Jerusalem for the place of his
residence and the capital of his kingdom, he adorned
the fortress with a royal palace for his own accommo
dation, and a variety, of other buildings ; which, from
the continual additions made to them in succeeding
reigns, increased to the size of a considerable city, and
covered nearly the whole of mount Zion. The large
ness of the city of David may be inferred from the ex
pression of the sacred historians ; " David built round
about from Millo and inward."* This passage, and
particularly the word Millo, has greatly exercised the
genius and divided the sentiments of commentators ;
and is therefore entitled to more particular notice. That
Millo was situate in the city of David, the inspired his
torian expressly asserts :! and by consequence, it must
either have been upon mount Zion or in its immediate
vicinity. It is worthy of notice, that the inspired wri
ter of David's history could not allude to Millo itself,
which was not then in existence, but to the place where
it afierwards stood ; for Millo was not built till the
succeeding reign.! ^ seems to have been a public
* 2 Sant. v.9. t 2 Chron. xxxii. 5. tl Kings ix. 15.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 103
building, where the king and his princes met in council
about affairs of state : for in the passage already quoted
from the first book of Kings, it is connected with the
house of the Lord and the royal palace. The words
of the historian are ; " And this is the reason of the
levy (or tax) which king Solomon raised ; for to build
the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo,
and the wall of Jerusalam, and Hazor, and Megiddo,
and Gezer." But every ground of hesitation is re
moved by the sacred writer of the second book of
Kings, who calls it expressly " the house of Millo."*
That it was a public building, in one of whose apart
ments the council of state met to deliberate upon public
affairs, is rendered extremely probable by one of the
kings of Judah losing his life there by the hands of his
princes ; for we are told, that " the servants of king
Joash arose and made a conspiracy, and slew him in
the house of Millo," whether he had probably come
to consult with his princes and other principal persons
upon some affairs of state.
This interpretation is greatly strengthened by a pas
sage in the book of .1 udges, which informs us, that " all
the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the
house of Millo, and weut and made Abimelech king."
The city of Shechem then had also its house of Millo,
and a great number of persons connected with it, whom
the sacred writer distinguishes from the men of the city.
Now since both were concerned in making Abimelech
king, it is natural to conclude, that the men of the city
were the inferior inhabitants, and the house of Millo
the governors of the place : both of whom on this oc
casion met in the senate-hduse, to set the crown upon
the head of their favourite.
The house of Millo upon mount Zion, appears to
have been a place of great strength, and essentially
connected with the defence of Jerusalem; for when
Hezekiah discovered that Sennacherib meditated the
reduction of Jerusalem, " he strengthened himself, and
built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up
to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired
* 2 Kings xii. 20.

104 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields
in abundance."* From the intimate connection between
the repairing of Millo and the making of darts and
other implements of war, it has been conjectured by
some writers, that one part of that public building wag
occupied as an armoury ; in which there is nothing im
probable. It is necessary, however, before leaving this part of
the subject, to state another opinion that has been ad
vanced concerning Millo, by several men of genius and
learning. They suppose that Solomon tilled up a deep
Valley or hollow, that separated the hill of Zion and
the site of the ancient city from mount Moriah, upon
whose summit he built the temple of Jehovah, and made
a plain level road from the one to the other. The exe
cution of this stupendous work they contend, may be
inferred from the root of the word Millo. which signi
fies " to fill up ;" and from a passage in 2d Chronicles,
where it is said, the king made terraces to the house of
the Lord, and to the king's palace.! The word which
is here rendered terraces, may be translated as in the
margin, stays or supports. But neither of these senses
amounts to a sufficient proof, that the terraces were made
by filling up the hollow between mount Zion and mount
Moriah. That Solomon planned and executed a noble and
magnificent way from the royal palace on mount Zion,
to the temple on mount Moriah, which excited the ad
miration of all that saw it, is attested iu plain terms by
the sacred writer ; " And when the queen of Sheba
had seen all Solomon's yvisdom, and the house which
he had built, — and his ascent by which he went up
unto the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in
her."| This passage also proves, that although the de
clivity on each side was easy, the road was not perfect
ly level, for Solomon went up an ascent to the house of
the Lord. The same circumstance is mentioned in
another book, where the sacred writer speaks of " the
causey of the going up."§ And we read, that Joash
* 2 Chron xxxii. 5. f2 Ihron. ix, 11.
4 1 Kings x. 4, 5. § 1 Chron. xxvi. 16.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 105
was slain in the house of Millo, which goes down to
Silla. The term Silla, is thought by some learned com
mentators, to have the same meaning as Messilah, which
signifies a causey or cast up way; and consequently,
that between the two mounts Zion and Moriah, were
two declivities, one towards the temple or mount Mo
riah, the other towards the palace or mount Zion. The
last is supposed to be the descent of Silla, near which
stood the house of Millo.
From this statement it is clear, that the house of Millo
stood on the east side of mount Zion, at the upper end
of the causey which goes down to Silla, and the royal
palace on the opposite side. When, therefore, the sa
cred historian says, David built round about from Millo
and inward, or as the original word may be rendered,
" to the house," he seems to intimate, that David built
round about from the place where Millo was afterwards
erected by Solomon, or where more probably the senate-
house, or Millo of the Jebusites had stood, which was
pulled down to make room for the more sumptuous
edifice of Solomon, to his own house ; so that David
built from one part of mount Zion, quite round to the
opposite point. Hence, the residence of David, even
in the reign of that renowned monarch, began to assume
the size and splendour of a city, and to be justly entitled
to the appellation which it receives from the sacred
historian. About two furlongs from Jerusalem, according to
Josephus, lay " the valley of Shaveh, which is the
king's dale," famous for the interview between Abra
ham and the king of Sodom, and Melchizedeck the king
of Salem, who went out to meet him after his return
from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the confederate
kings. This valley is supposed to be the king's dale,
where Absalom, who had no son to transmit his memory
to succeeding ages, erected a pillar, and called it by hig
own name. Some writers make the king's dale, the
same with the valley of Jehoshaphat, lying on the east
of Jerusalem, between it and mount Olivet; others place
the king's dale, on the south-east part of the city near
the king's gardens.
Vol. I. P

106 ILLUSTRATIONS of scripture.
But it is time to return from this long prospective view
of Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jebusites, to the
remaining settlements of the sons of Canaan. We are
informed by several inspired writers, that the Amorites
also dwelt in the mountainous region of Canaan, in the
immediate neighbourhood of the Hittites and the Jebu
sites. " The Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amo
rites," said the spies in their report to Moses, " dwell
in the mountains."* The correctness of this statement
was afterwards attested by Joshua (one of these spies,)
in the history of his wars ;! and by his great predeces
sor, in his last address to the people of Israel, in which
he calls the mountainous tract lying next to Kadesh-
barnea, " the mount of the Amorites."! This nation
seems to have occupied a considerable extent of country
stretching- towards the Jordan ; for when Chedorlaomer
and the confederate kings invaded Canaan, in the days
of Abraham, they smote the Amorites, that were in
Hazezontamar, the same as Engedi,^ which we know
from other parts of sacred Scripture, was placed among.
the mountains near the river Jordan.
The principal settlements of the Amorites were about
Kadesh-barnea, near the wilderness of Paran. The
sacred writers mention another Kadesh in the wilder
ness of Zin, which lay at some distance from Kadesh-
barnea. Moses was informed by Jehovah, that the
border of their inheritance should turn from the south
to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin ; " and
the going thereof, shall be from the south to Kadesh-
barnea." This Kadesh, near the wilderness of Paran.
Where the hosts of Israel encamped a long time, was
the place whither the spies returned from searching the
land of Canaan, and where, by their unbelief they
brought upon themselves, and the whole nation who
gave credit to their report, the judgment of wandering
forty years in the deserts of Arabia. But the Israelites
came not to Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, till the
last year of that period. From these considerations it
appears, that Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, and
* Num. xiii. 29. f Joshua xi. 3.
*Deut.i.7. §2 Chron. xx. 2.

geography of the east. 107
Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, were two distinct
places, at a considerable distance from each other *
The Girgashite, is the next family mentioned by
Moses, who seem to have settled toward the sources of
the Jordan. Here, on the eastern side of the sea of Ti
berias or Galilee, stood the city of Gergesa ; a name
probably derived from the Girgashites. This was still
a town of some note in the time of our Lord ; and the
capital of a district, which the Evangelists called^ the
country of the Gergesenes, or, as it is sometimes deno
minated, the country of the Gadarenes. The town of
Gergesa and its territory, became famous in New Testa
ment times, for the miraculous cure of two exceedingly
fierce and untameable demoniacs, and the sudden de
struction of a numerous herd of swine, into which the
devils had been permitted to enter, in the waters of the
lake.! Not far from Gergesa, lay the city of Gadara,
which Josephus observes, was a very rich place ; both
these cities belonged to the district of Decapolis, and
gave their names to the surrounding country.
The Hivite was planted in the country adjoining to
Sidon, in the upper or northern parts of Canaan ; for
in the book of Judges it is stated, that the Hivites
dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon un
to the entering in of Hamath.!
These were the families that originally peopled the
land of Canaan, and their relative situations. But the
statement now made, must be understood only in refer
ence to the first settlement of the sons of Canaan ; for,
in the lapse of ages, they intermingled with one another,
or migrated to countries at some considerable distance
from their allotted inheritance. Of all these families,
the Amorite became the most numerous and powerful :
they founded kingdoms on both sides of the Jordan,
and frequently gave their name to any one or mere of
the other nations of Canaan.
The remaining families of Canaan, mentioned by
Moses in the tenth chapter of Genesis, in the opinion
of Dr. Wells, most probably seated themselves within
the true borders of Canaan ; but in process of time, be-
* Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 273. f Mat. viii. 28. * Judges iii. 3.

108 illustrations of scripture.
ing dispossed by the Philistines of at least the greater
part of their original inheritance, they were obliged to
remove their settlements nearer to one another in some
parts of the country, or to leave their native soil in quest
of other possessions. The descendants of these families,
who were thus driven from the land of Canaan, or
blended into one society by the hostile irruption of the
Philistines, receive the general name of Canaanites from
the sacred writers ; because, they could no longer distin
guish them by their peculiar names. Thus, when the
spies reported, that the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and
the Amorites dwelt in the mountains, and the Canaanites
by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan ;* the meaning
is supposed to be, the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and
the Amorites dwell in the mountains ; but the mixed de
scendants of the five other families, which can no longer
be distinguished, and are therefore designed by the
general name of Canaanites, these dwell either in what
is left them by the sea, or else, where they have since
seated themselves by the coast of Jordan.!
Where these exiled or blended families that original
ly bore the names of the Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Ze-
marite, and Hamathite, finally settled, it may be difficult
to determine. In a subject so obscure, and of an anti
quity so remote, we can only hope to approximate the
truth. In stating the scanty hints which ancient geo
graphers have left behind them, I shall follow the order
of the inspired writer.
The Arkite, who is first mentioned by Moses, is
thought to have settled about that part of mount Li-
banus, where the city of Arce is placed by Ptolomy and
other geographers.
The situation of the Sinite, is supposed to be indi
cated by a city not far from the Arkite settlement, called
Sin. The district where it stood, still retained its name
in the time of Jerome, who mentions the fact, though
the city itself had disappeared by the ravages of war,
in ages long anterior to the period when he flourished.
The memory of the Arvadite, seems to be preserved
in the little isle of Aradus, on the coast of Syria, whi-
* Numb. xiii. 29. f Dr. Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 134, &c.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 109
ther it is conjectured, the Arvadites fled for safety from
the cruelty of their invaders.
The Zemarite probably settled on the neighbouring
continent, for the geographers find a town on that part
of the coast named Simyra, not far from Orthosia : and
Eusebius expressly traces the origin of the Orthosians
to the Samareans. The Jewish historian also mentions
a city called Semaraim, in the tribe of Benjamin, proba
bly from some of the Zemarites that settled there, with
in the land of Canaan.
The only remaining family is the Hamathite, or the
inhabitants of the land of Hamath, often mentioned in
the Scriptures, and whose principal city was called
Hamath. This, some understand of Antioch, an an
cient and celebrated city of Syria, situate on both sides
of the Orontes, about twelve miles from the shores of
the Mediterranean; others of Epiphauia, or the Lesser
Hamath. But, besides the sons of Canaan and their descen
dants, who were settled wi hin the limits of the promised
land, or in its immediate vicinity, several tribes and
nations of different origin, fixed their abodes in the cir
cumjacent countries, of which it is necessary to tak»
some notice.
The sacred historian mentions a people under the
name of Avims, whose settlements extended from Haze-
rim unto Azzah.* Azzah, in the opinion of all inter
preters, is the same city that was afterwards known by
the name of Gaza ; and Hazerim is probably the same
place that Moses, in the book of Numbers, calls Haza-
roth, in whose neighbourhood the children of Israel had
one of their stations, as they travelled through the de
serts of Arabia.
These people were probably descendants of Cush ;
and in process of time were dispossessed of this tract
of country by the Philistines, descendants of Mizraim,
who seized upon the country of the Avims, and the ad
jacent parts of Canaan lying on the Mediterranean.
The possession of the Philistines were divided into five
* Deut. ii. 23.

110 ILLUSTRATIONS of scripture.
lordships, denominated from their chief towns, Gaza,
Ashdotl, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron.
Gaza lay in the southern extremity of that narrow
slip of country which submitted to the arms of the
Philistines ; and the city of Gaza, from which the lord
ship took its name, stood in the south-west angle of
the land of Canaan. This was the city whose gates
Sampson carried away to the top of the hill, and where
he was kept in prison by his cruel and ungenerous
enemies. It was famous for the temple of Dagon, which
the renowned Israelite pulled down upon himself and
his unfeeling tormentors, in revenge for the loss of his
sight and his liberty. This place was afterwards chosen
by the Persians to be the treasury where they deposited
the tribute of the western provinces of their immense
empire ; whence all riches received, at length, among
the people of those countries, the name of Gaza. It
was destroyed by Alexander the Great, as the prophet
had foretold, and consigned to perpetual desolation.
The city built by Constantine, and called by the name
of Gaza, is nearer to the sea than the ancient city, and
by consequence does not affect the truth of the predic
tion. Next to Gaza, northward, rose the city of Askelon,
styled by the Greeks and Latins Ascalon, and situate
also on the sea shore. It is said to have been famous
among the idolatrous nations of antiquity, for a temple
dedicated to Decreto, the mother of Semiramis, who
was adored here under the form of a mermaid ; and for
a temple of Apollo, in which Herod, the father of
Antipater, and grandfather of Herod the Great, offi
ciated as priest.
Above Ascalon, still farther to the north, stood the
eity of Ashdod, called by the Greeks Azotus, and men
tioned under that name in the Acts of the Apostles. It
lies near the shore, between Gaza and Joppa, and was
distinguished by the temple of Dagon. Into this tem
ple the captive ark of Jehovah was brought by the
triumphant idolators, and set by the side of their un
sightly idol. But their joy was of short duration ; the
object of their stupid veneration was laid prostrate be-

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. HI
fore the symbol of the divine presence, and broken in
pieces, and a severe, but righteous vengeance, inflicted
on themselves for their presumption. The passage is
too important to be omitted : " And when they of Ash-
dod rose early on the morrow, behold Dagon was fallen
upon his face to the earth, before the ark of the Lord :
and they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
And when they arose early on the morrow morning be
hold Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground, be
fore the ark of the Lord ; and the head of Dagon, and
both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the
threshold, only the stump of Dagon was left to him."
Nor was this all : "The hand of the Lord was heavy
also upon the men of Ashdod ; aud he destroyed and
smote them with emrods, even Ashdod and the coasts
thereof. And when the men of Asdod saw that it was
so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not
abide with us ; for his hand is sore upon us and upon
Dagon our god. They sent therefore and gathered all
the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What
shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel ? And they
answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried
about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God
of Israel thither*."
Gath, lying still farther to the north than Ashdod,
was memorable in the history of the Old Testament for
being the birth place of the giant Goliath, who defied
the armies of the living God, and suffered the punish
ment due to his impiety, from the hand of David. The
city was dismantled by this prince ; but was afterwards
rebuilt by Rehoboam his grandson ; and after being
again dismantled by Ozias king of Judah, was totally
destroyed by Hazael king of Syria. But from this
catastrophe it gradually recovered, and retained its
ancient name in the days of Eusebius and Jerome, who
place it about four miles from Eleutheropolis, towards
Diospolis or Lydda.
Gath suffered severely while the ark of the covenant
was detained within its walls : " The hand of the Lord,"
says the sacred writer, " was against the city with a
* 1 Sam. v. 2—8.

112 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
very great destruction ; and he smote the men of the
city both small and great ; and they had emrods in
their secret parts. Therefore they sent the ark of God
to Ekron* " This city was placed in the northern
extremity of the country which submitted to the yoke
of the Philistines. It was called by the Greeks Ac-
caron ; was a place of great wealth and power, and
held out a long time against the arms of Israel. Ekron
is frequently mentioned in the holy Scriptures, and par
ticularly for the idolatrous worship of Beelzebub, that
is, the Lord of flies; a name given him by the Jews,
either in contempt of his divinity and the rites of his
worship, or in allusion to the numerous swarms of flies
which attended his sacrifices. But whatever might be
the reason for distinguishing him by this name, certain
it is, that in this city was the principal seat of his wor
ship : here he was held in the highest honour, and is
therefore called in Scripture " the god of Ekron."
The inhabitants of Ekron, less hardened in crime, or
less insensible to danger than their neighbours, were
the first that advised the Philistines to restore the ark
of Jehovah the God of Israel : " The Ekronites cried
out, saying, they have brought about the ark of the God
of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. So they
sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philis
tines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel,
and let it go to its own place;" and the destructive
calamity which hung over their devoted city was
averted!. On the south of Canaan, the Horites inhabited mount
Seir, and the country as far as the wilderness of Paran.
Toward the east and south-east, dwelt a gigantic race
of men called the Emims ; and due east, another gigan
tic people under the name of Zuzims or Zamzummims.
On the north east were settled the Rephaims, a branch
of the same gigantic family. These several tribes, or
nations, inhabited the. regions adjoining to Canaan,
when Abraham arrived in the promised land, except
the country toward the north, which was possessed by
* 1 Sam. v. 9, 10. t Well's Geog. vol, 2. p. 5, 6.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. H3
some of the families of Canaan ; but their descent is no
longer to be traced in the records of time.
When the sacred writer says that Chedorlaomer king
of Elam, and his confederates, smote the Rephaims,
Zuzims, Emims, and Horites, and also the country of
the Amalekites, the last clause must be understood
proleptically, that they smote the country which was
afterwards occupied by the Amalekites : for the Ama
lekites were probably descended from Amalek, a grand
son of Esau, and by consequence no such people existed
in the days of Chedorlaomer.*
In the opinion of Dr Shaw, the land of promise was
not only to extend along the lower part of the Nile,
known to us by the name of the Pelusiac branch, but
even a great way higher up to the south-west, as far as
the parallel of the ancient Memphis and of the Red
sea ; and the reason he assigns is, that the land of
Goshen was allotted to the people of Israel; for Goshen
lay contiguous to this part of the Nile, and was water
ed by it. In proof of which, Joshua is said (ch. x. 41.)
"to smite the countries and people, from Kadesh-
barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen;"
that is, all the countries and people that lay to the
northward as far as the Great sea, and to the westward
as far as the Nile. And again (chap. xi. 16.) "So
Joshua took all that land, the hills and all the south
coast, and all the land of Goshen." The very situa
tion, therefore, and extent of the lot of the tribe of
Judah, very naturally, continues our author, points out
to us the river of Egypt, i. e. the Nile, to have been
their western boundary.
But to the singular opinion of this learned writer, the
most decisive arguments may be opposed. The nation
of Israel dwelt in Goshen when they were in the land
of Egypt, and in the house of bondage: therefore
Goshen was a part of Egypt which was not compre
hended in the promised inheritance of the chosen seed.
The sacred writers constantly speak pf their people
going up out of the land of Egypt to the land which
Jehovah had promised to the' patriarchs; but if they
* Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 142. Bocharti Phaleg.
Vol. I. Q

114 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
had obtained the grant of Goshen in Egypt, how could
it be said they went up out of Egypt to the land which
had been promised to their fathers ? They were, ac
cording to Dr Shaw's hypothesis, already in possession
of the promised laud ; and all they had to do, was to
vindicate their claim against their oppressors. In fine,
When the people of Israel were advanced a considerable
way into the wilderness, they repented of their under
taking, aud spake of appointing a captain to lead them
back into Egypt, or the land of Goshen, from whence
they had emigrated : Goshen on the Nile, therefore,
could not belong to the promised land.
Let us now attend to the proofs which that celebrated
traveller brings in support of his opinion, from the book
of Joshua. 1. It is said Joshua smote all the countries
and people from Kadesh-barnea, even unto Gaza; and
all the country of Goshen. It is readily granted, that
the country of Goshen mentioned by Joshua, must have
been in the very neighbourhood of Gaza ; but Gaza,
though a frontier city, was distant many days' journey
across the burning desert, from Goshen in Egypt. Nor
is it probable, that this country which had been com
pletely drained of its inhabitants by the departure of
Israel, and deprived of its most powerful support by
the destruction of Pharaoh and his numerous hosts in
the Red sea, was able to offer any resistance to the vic
torious arms of Joshua. To subdue the land of Goshen,
the armies of Israel must have gone back again into
Egypt ; of which expedition the Scriptures are entirely
silent : and therefore it may be concluded with perfect
certain iy, that such au event never took place.
2. From the eleventh chapter we learn, that Joshua
took all the land of the hills, aud all the south coast,
and all the land of Goshen. But this place could not
be Goshen in Egypt ; for no history sacred or profane,
mentions the supposed occupation of that country by
the people jof Israel, after their departure from it under
the conduct of Moses. In the seventeenth verse, Joshua
says, that the whole country which he conquered lay
from " mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto
Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon, under mount Her-

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 115
mon." In this tract, then, lay the Goshen that he con
quered ; and the only point to be settled is, what was
the situation of the mount Halak, which terminated the
southern boundary toward Egypt. This is rendered
easy by a short notice concerning Goshen in the teuth
chapter, which is couched in these words : "Joshua
smote them from Kadesh-barnea eveu unto Gaza ; and
all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.* Goshen
therefore extended to Gibeon ; but this was a city of
Canaan, whose inhabitants artfully prevailed on Joshua
and the elders of the congregation to enter into a treaty
of peace ; and which lay so near Gilgal, where Joshua
had pitched his camp, that the army of Israel came to
its assistance against the confederate kings, after no
more than one night's march ; which, on the hypothesis
of Dr Shaw, was quite impossible. The situation of
mount Halak affords another proof that the Goshen
subdued by Joshua is not to be sought for in the king
dom of Egypt. That mountain did not lie on the road
to Egypt, but on the road from Canaan to Seir, the
country of Esau. Now Seir lay on the south of Ca
naan, between the lake Asphaltites and the Red sea ;
while the Egyptian Goshen lay to the south-west, in
the east side of Egypt, upon the eastern channel of the
Nile, afterwards called Trajan's river. Hence it is
evident, that Joshua spake of Goshen in the land of
Canaan, in the immediate neighbourhood of Gibeon, on
the south side of the inheritance of Judah.
Goshen in the Sanscreet language, signifies a shep
herd ; and Goshana, the land of shepherds. It seems
to have had the same meaning in Egypt, and in the
Lesser Asia, and to have been given as an appropriate
name to regions distinguished by the richness and ex
tent of their pastures. We know from the sacred wri
tings, that the country of Goshen in Egypt was ad
mirably fitted for the rearing of cattle ; and on this very-
account selected for the residence of Jacob and his
family, who, following the example of their fathers, had
from their earliest days devoted themselves to the pas
toral life. For the same reason, the land of Goshen in
* Ver. 10.

116 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Canaan probably received its name ; it was a laud more
adapted than the surrounding districts, by its rich and
abundant pastures, to the trade of a shepherd.
The land of Canaan was reserved by the wisdom and
goodness of heaven, for the possession of his peculiar
people, and the display of the most stupendous wonders.
The theatre was small, but admirably situate for the
convenient obervation of the human race, — at the junc
tion of the two great continents of Asia and Africa, and
almost within sight of Europe. From this highly fa
voured spot, as from a common centre, the report of
God's wonderful works, the glad tidings of salvation
through the obedience and sufferings of his own eternal
Son, might be rapidly and easily wafted to every part
of the globe, and circulated through every nation.
When the Most High therefore fixed the boundaries of
the postdiluvian kingdoms, he reserved the inheritance
of Canaan for the future seat of his glory; and while
powerful states and extended empires rose aud flou
rished in the circumjacent regions, his secret providence
parcelled out the land of Promise among a number of
petty kings, whose individual weakness and jarring in
terests gave them an easy prey to the armies of Israel.
To this arrangement the inspired prophet certainly
refers in these words, "Remember the days" of old,
consider the years of many generations ; ask thy father
and he will shew thee, thy elders and they will tell thee.
When the Most High divided to the nations their inhe
ritance, when he separted the sons of Adam, he set the
bounds of the people, according to the number of the
children of Israel."* Canaan and his posterity were
directed to take possession of Palestine, rather than
any other branch of Noah's descendants, because he
he had already fallen under the solemn malediction of
his grandfather Noah, for his unnatural conduct ; and
they were permitted to fill up the measure of their ini
quity by a general corruption of manners, and particu
larly, by departing from the knowledge and worship of
the true God, to the service of idols ; and therefore
might be justly driven out, when the time fixed in the
* Deut. xxxii. 8.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 117
divine purpose arrived, to make room for the chosen
people of Jehovah. Their bounds, says the inspired
writer, he set according to the number of the children of
Israel ; for Canaan and his eleven sons exactly corres
pond with the twelve tribes, into which the family of
Jacob was divided.

CHAP. VII

OF THE MOUNTAINS OF CANAAN.

PALESTINE is in general, a mountainous country;
even the whole of Syria, of which the Holy Land is
reckoned a parts, is in some degree a chain of moun
tains, branching off in various directions, from one great
and leading ridge. Whether the traveller approach it
from the sea, or from the immense plains of the desert,
he beholds at a great distance, a lofty and clouded chain
running north and south as far as the eye can reach ;
and as he advances, sees the tops of the mountains
sometimes detached, and sometimes united in ridges,
uniformly terminate in one great line, towering above
them all. This line, which extends without interrup
tion from its entry by the north quite into Arabia, runs
at first close to the sea, between Alexandretta and the
Orontes ; and after opening a passage to that river,
proceeds to the southward, quitting for a short distance
the shore, and in a chain of summits stretches as far as
the sources of the Jordan; where it divides into two
branches, to enclose as it were in a capacious bason,
this river and its three lakes. During its course, a
countless number of branches separate from the main
trunk, some of which are lost in the desert, where they
form various enclosed hollows, as those of Damascus
and Haran ; while others advance towards the sea,
where they sometimes end in steep declivities as at Car*

118 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
mel, or Nekoura, or by a gentle descent sink into the
plains of Antioch and Tripoli, of Tyre and Acre.
Such is the general appearance of the country which
Moses taught his people to expect, while they traversed
the burning and dreary wilderness : " For the land
whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of
Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst
thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot as a garden of
herbs; but the land whither ye go to possess it, is a
land of hills and valleyrs, and drinketh water of the
rain of heaven."* The striking contrast, in this short
but glowing description, between the land of Egypt,
where the people of Israel had so long and cruelly suf
fered, and the inheritance promised to their fathers,
where Jehovah reserved for them and their children
every blessing that a nation can desire, must have made
a deep impression upon their minds. In Egypt, the
eye is fatigued with wandering over an immense flat
plain, intersected with stagnant canals, and studded
with mud- walled towns and cottages ; seldom refreshed
with a single shower ; exhibiting, for three months, the
singular spectacle of au extensive sheet of water, from
which the towns and villages that are built upon the
higher grounds, are seen like islands in the midst of the
ocean — marshyr and rank with vegetation for three
others — and parched and dusty the remainder of the
year. They had seen a population of naked and sun
burnt peasants, tending their buffaloes, or driving their
camels, or sheltering themselves from the overwhelming
heat beneath the shade of the thinly scattered date or
sycamore trees ; below, natural or artificial lakes, cul
tivated fields, and vacant grounds of considerable ex
tent — overhead, a burning sun, darting his oppressive
rays from an azure sky, almost invariably free from
clouds. In that " weary land," they were compelled
to water their corn fields with the foot ; a painful and
laborious employment, rendered necessary by the want
of rain. Those vegetable productions which require a
greater quantity of moisture than is furnished by the pe
riodical inundations of the Nile, they were obliged to
* Deut. xi. 11.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 119
refresh with water drawn out of the river by machinery,
and lodged afterwards in capacious cisterns. When
the melons, sugar-canes, and other vegetables that are
commonly disposed in rills, required to be refreshed,
they struck out the plugs which are fixed in the bottom
of the cisterns ; and then the water gushing out, is con
ducted from one rill to another by the husbandman, who
is always ready, as occasion requires, to stop and divert
the torrent, by turning the earth against it with his
foot, opening at the same time with his mattock a new
trench to receive it.* Such is the practice to which
Moses alludes; and it continues to be observed without
variation to this day. But from this fatiguing uniformity
of surface, and toilsome method of watering their
grounds, the people of Israel were now to be relieved ;
they were going to possess a land of hills and valleys*
clothed with woods — beautified and enriched with
fountains of water — divided by rivers, streams, and
brooks, flowing cool and pure from the summits of their
mountains — and, with little attention from the cultiva
tor, exciting the secret powers of vegetation, and scat
tering plenty wherever they came.
Sometimes the drought of summer renders frequent
waterings necessary even in Judea. On such occasions,
the water is drawn up from the wells by oxen, and car
ried by the inhabitants in earthen jars, to refrigerate
their plantations on the sides of the hills.! The neces
sity to which the Jewish husbandman is occasionally
reduced, to water his grounds in this manner, is not in
consistent with the words of Moses which distinguish
the Holy Land from Egypt, by its drinking rain from
heaven, while the latter is watered by the foot. The
inspired prophet alludes, in that passage, not to gar
dens of herbs, or other cultivated spots on the steep de
clivities of the hills and mountains, where, in so warm
a climate as that of Canaan, the deficiency of rain must
be supplied by art, but to their corn fields ; which, in
Egypt, are watered by artificial canals, in the manner
just described ; in Canaan, by the rain of heaven.
The lands of Egypt, it must be granted, are sup-
* Shaw's Trav. \ Pocoeke's Trav.

120 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
plied with water by the overflowing of the Nile, and
are so saturated with moisture, that they require no
more watering for the producing of corn, and several
other vegetables ; while the gardens require fresh sup
plies every three or four days.* But then it is remem
bered, that immense labour was requisite to conduct the
waters of the river to many of their lands ; and those
works of the ancient kings of Egypt, by which they
distributed the streams of the Nile through their whole
country, are celebrated by Maillet, as the most magni
ficent and the most admirable of all their undertakings ;
and those labours which they caused their subjects to un
dergo, doubtless were designed to prevent much hea
vier, to which they must otherwise have submitted. The
words of Moses addressed to the people of Israel, pro
bably contained a significancy and force of which we
can form but a very imperfect idea, and which has not
of late been at all understood. Maillet was assured,
that the large canal which filled the cisterns of Alexan
dria, and is at least fifteen leagues long, was entirely
paved, and its sides were lined with brick, which were
as perfect as in the days of the Romans. If bricks were
used in the construction of their more ancient canals, a
supposition extremely probable ; and if those made by
the people of Israel were designed for purposes of this
kind, — they must have heard with a peculiar satisfac
tion, that the country to which they were going, re
quired no canals to be dug, no bricks to be prepared for
paving and lining them, in order to water it ; labours
which had so greatly embittered their lives in Egypt.
This idea is favoured by the account which Moses
gives of their former servitude : hard bondage, in mor
tar and brick, is joined with other services of the field,!
among which may be numbered the digging and clean
sing of their canals ; and in this view, the mortar and
brick are very naturally joined with those laborious and
standing operations.
The surface of Canaan is as diversified as the face of
Egypt is uniform. Skirted with plains of moderate
extent, and separated by narrow vales, the mountains
* Maillet. f Exod. i. 14.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 121
continually change their forms and appearance with
their levels and situation. The forests with which
some of them are crowned ; the woods which adorn the
plains and the sides of the hills, where the fir, the larch,
and the oak, the box, the laurel, the myrtle, and the
yew, mingle their various foliage ; the streams of cool
and limpid water that precipitate themselves from the
rocks, to refresh the parched fields in their way to the
sea, — produce an air of liveliness which delights the
traveller, wearied and disgusted with the melancholy
nakedness of Egypt. On some declivities, he meets
with cottages, even in its present state of desolation,
surrounded with fig trees and vineyards; and the sight,
observes a modern writer, repays the fatigue of a road,
which, by rugged paths, conducts him from the bottom
of the valleys to the summits of the mountains. The
inferior branches which extend to the northward of
Aleppo, present, on the contrary, nothing but naked
rocks, without verdure and without soil. Southward
of Antioch, and on the sea coast, the sides of the hills
are adapted to the cultivation of the vine and the olive.
Mount Casius, however, which rises above Antioch to
an immense height, must be excepted. On the side of
the desert, the summits and declivities of this chain ex
hibit almost one series of white rocks, where the aching
eye of the wanderer can scarcely discover a single spot
of verdure, on which it may repose. Towards Le
banon, the mountains are high, but covered in many
places with as much earth as fits them for cultivation.
Among the crags of the rocks, the beautiful and far-
famed cedar waves its lofty top, and extends its power
ful arms, surrounded by the fir and the oak, the fig and
the vine. On the road to Jerusalem, the mountains are
not so lofty nor so rugged, but become fitter for tillage.
They rise again to the southeast of mount Carmel;
are covered with woods, and afford very picturesque
views: but advancing toward Judea, they lose their
verdure, — the valleys become narrow, dry, and stony,
and terminate at the Dead sea in a pile of desolate
rocks, precipices, and caverns. These vast excavations,
some of which will contain fifteen hundred men, are the
Vol. 1. R

122 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
grottoes of Engeddi, which have been a refuge to the
oppressed or the discontented in all a^es. Westward
of" Jordan and the lake Asphaltites, another chain of
rocks/still loftier aud more rugged, presents a yet more
gloomy aspect, and announces the distant entrance of
the desert, and the termination of the habitable regions.
The most remarkable mountains in Palestine, are
those of Lebanon, so frequently celebrated in the holy
Scriptures This lofty range, described by ancient
and modern historians under the names of libanus and
and Antilibanua, is the highest point of all Syria, and
serves equally as a boundary to Judea and Assyria ;
but, so frequent mention is made of them in the writings
of the prophets, that they are generally included within
the confines of the land of promise. They reach their
highest elevation to the south east of Tripoli; and
their towering summits capped with clouds, are dis
cerned1 at the distance of thirty leagues. The superior
height of Lebanon, is ascertained by the course of the
rivers. The Orontes, flowing from the mountains of
Damascus, loses itself below Antioch ; the Kasmia
which, north of Balbec, shapes its course towards
Tyre ; tne Jordan, forced by the declivities toward the
south, — prove this to be the highest point. Next to
Lebanon, the highest part of the country is mount
Akkar, which becomes visible as soon as the traveller
leaves Marra in the desert. It appears like an im
mense flattened cone, and is constantly seen for two
days' journey. The height of these mountains has not
been ascertained by the barometer ; but we may deduce
it from a circumstance mentioned by every traveller
who visits the land of promise. In winter, their tops
are entirely covered with snow, from Alexandretta to
Jerusalem, but after March, it melts, except on mount
Lebanon; where, however, according to Volney, it
does not continue the whole year, unless in the highest
cavities, and towards the north-east, where it is shel
tered from the sea breezes, and the rays of the sun. In
this situation, that traveller saw it at the very time he
complains of being nearly suffocated with heat in the
valley of Balbec. Now, since it is fully ascertained,

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 123
that snow in this latitude, requires an elevation of fif
teen or sixteen hundred fathoms, we may conclude that
to be the height of Lebanon. It is therefore much
lower than the Alps, or e\en than the Pyrenees : Mount
Blanc, the loftiest of the Alps, is estimated at two thou
sand four hundred fathoms above the level of the sea ;
and the peak of Ossian in the Pyrenees, at nineteen
hundred. Lebanon, which gives its name to the extensive
range of the Kesrauan, and the country of the Dru-
zes, presents to the traveller every where majestic
mountains. At every step, he meets with sceues in
which Nature displays beauty or grandeur, sometimes
romantic wildness, but always variety. The sublime
elevation and steep ascent of this magnificent rampart,
which seems to enclose the country ; the gigantic masses
which shoot iuto the clouds, — inspire him with asto
nishment and reverence. Should he scale those sum
mits which bounded his view, and ascend the highest
point of Lebanon distinguished by the name of the
Sannin, the immensity of space which expands around
him, becomes afresh subject of admiration. On every
side, he beholds a horizon without bounds ; whilst, in
clear weather, the sight is lost over the desert, which
extends to the Persian gulf, and over the sea, which
washes the coasts of Europe. He seems to command
the whole world ; while the wandering eye, now sur
veying the successive chains of mountains, transports
the mind in one instant, from Antioch to Jerusalem;
and now, approaching the surrounding objects, ob
serves the distant profundity of the coast, till the atten
tion at last fixed by distincter objects, more minutely
examines the rocks, the woods, the torrents, the slop
ing sides of the hills, the villages and the towns ; and
the mind secretly exults at the diminution of objects,
which formerly appeared so great. He sees the valleys
obscured by stormy clouds, with fresh delight, and
smiles at hearing the thunder, which so often burst
over his head, growling beneath his feet ; while the
threatening summits of the mountains, are diminished,
till they appear like the furrows of a ploughed field, or

124 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the steps of an amphitheatre, and he feels himself gra
tified by an elevation above so many lofty objects, on
which he now looks down with inward satisfaction.*
On visiting the interior parts of these mountains, the
roughness of the roads, the steep descents and preci
pices, strike him at first with terror ; but the sagacity
of the mule which he rides, the only beast of burden
which can traverse them with safety, soon relieves him,
and he calmly surveys those picturesque scenes that en
tertain him in quick succession. There he travels
whole days together, to reach a place which was in
sight at his departure ; he winds, descends, skirts the
hills, and climbs their precipitous sides ; and in this
perpetual change, it seems as if magic herself varied
for him at every step, the decorations of the scenery.
Sometimes he sees villages gliding from the steep de
clivities on which they are built, and so arranged, that
the terraces of one row of houses, serve as a street to
those above them. Sometimes he sees the habitation of
a recluse, standing on a solitary height; here a rock,
perforated by a torrent, and become a natural arch ;
there another rock, worn perpendicular, resembles a
high wall. On the sides of the hills, he frequently sees
beds of stones uncovered and detached by the waters,
rising up like artificial ruins. In many places, the
waters meeting with inclined beds, have excavated the
intermediate earth, and formed caverns ; in others, sub
terraneous channels are formed, though which flow ri
vulets for a part of the year. These subterraneous ri
vulets are common throughout Syria ; they are found
near Damascus, at the sources of the Orontes, and at
those of the Jordan. That of Mar-Hanna, near the
village of Shouair, opens by a gulf called El-baloisa,
or the Swallower. It is an aperture of about ten feet
wide, in the middle of a hollow ; at the depth of fifteen
feet, is a sort of first bottom, but it only hides a very
profound lateral opening. Some years before Volney
visited Lebanon, it was shut, as it had served to conceal
a murder. The winter rains coming on, the waters col
lected and formed a pretty deep lake ; but some small
* Yolney's Trav. vol. 1. p. 263.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 125
streams penetrating among the stones, they were soon
stripped of the earth which fastened them, and the pres
sure of the mass of water prevailing, the whole obsta
cle was removed with an explosion like thunder; and
the re-action of the compressed air was so violent, that
a column of water spouted up, and fell upon a house at
the distance of at least two hundred paces. The cur
rent this occasioned, formed a whirlpool, which swal
lowed up the trees and vines planted in the hollow, and
threw them out by the second aperture.
These picturesque situations often become tragical.
By thaws and earthquakes, rocks have been known to
lose their equilibrium, roll down on the neighbouring
houses, and bury the inhabitants. This happened
about twenty years before Volney's visit, when a frag
ment of the mountain, slipping from its base, over
whelmed a whole village, without leaving a single trace
where it formerly stood. Still more lately, and near
the same place, says that traveller, the entire side of a
hill covered with mulberries and vines, was detached
by a sudden thaw, and sliding down the rock, was
launched like a ship from the stocks, into the valley be
low. It might be supposed, that such accidents would
disgust the inhabitants of. those mountains; but, be
sides that they happen seldom, they are compensated
by an advantage, which makes them prefer their peril
ous habitations, to the most stable and fertile plains, —
the security they enjoy from the oppressions of the
Turks. This security is esteemed so great a blessing
by the inhabitants, that they have discovered an indus
try on these rocks, which we may elsewhere expect in
vain. By mere art and labour, they have fertilized a
rocky soil. Sometimes to gain the water, they con
duct it by a thousand windings along the declivities, or
stop it by dams in the valleys ; while in other places,
they support the ground, ready to crumble down, by
walls and terraces. Almost all these mountains culti
vated in this manner, have the appearance of a flight of
stairs, or an amphitheatre, every step of which is a row
of vines or mulberry trees. Our author computed from
an hundred to an hundred and twenty of these grada-

126 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
tions on the same declivity. In many places, their
summits are flattened and stretched into vast plains ;
which reward the toil of the cultivator with luxuriant
crops of corn and all kinds of pulse. Numerous rivu
lets of excellent water intersect these elevated regions,
and diffuse on every side the richest verdure. The soil
which covers the declivities, and the narrow valleys
which separate them, is extremely fertile, and produces
in abundance, corn, wine, and oil, which D'Arvieux
pronounces the best in Syria.
These mountains consistof a hard, calcareous, whitish
stone, sonorous like free-stone, and disposed in strata
variously inclined. This stone has nearly the same
appearance in every part of Syria: sometimes it is
quite bare and peeled ; such, for instance, is that of the
hills on the north side of the road from Antioch to
Aleppo, and that which serves as a bed to the upper
part of the rivulet, which passes by the latter city. In
travelling from Aleppo to Hama, veins of the same
rock are constantly to be met with in the plain ; while
the mountains on the right, present huge piles, which
appear like the ruins of towns and castles. The same
stone, under a more regular form, likewise composes
the greater part of Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, the moun
tains of the Druzes, Galilee, and mount Carmel, and
stretches to the south of the lake Asphaltites. The in
habitants every where build their houses, and make
lime with it. Of this beautiful stone was the temple of
Jehovah built, and the other splendid edifices with
which Solomon adorned the capital of his kingdom.
He " had threescore and ten thousand that bare bur
dens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains ;
And the king commanded, and they brought great
slones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the loun-
dations of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hi
ram's builders did hew them, and the stone-squarers."*
Volney never heard, that these stones contained any
petrified shells in the upper regions of Lebanon : but
he found between Batround and Djebail, in the Kes-
raouao, not far from the sea, a quarry of Schistus
* 1 Kings v. IS, 17, 18.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 127
stones, the flakes of which bear the impressions of
plants, fish, shells, and particularly the sea onion. The
bed of the torrent of Askalon in Palestine, is also lined
with a heavy stone, porous and salt, which contains
many small volutes and bivalves of the Mediterranean.
Pococke found a large quantity of them in the rocks
which border on the Dead sea. These are indubitable
remains of the antediluvian world, and afford an ad
ditional proof, if any were needed, of the existence and
prevalence of the deluge, over the surface of our globe.
Iron is the only mineral which abounds in these moun
tains, and is found in those of Kesraouan, and of the
Druzes in great abundance. Every summer the in
habitants work those mines, which are simply ochreous.
Report says, there was anciently a copper mine near
Aleppo, which Volney thinks must have been long
since abandoned : he was also informed by the Druzes,
that in the declivity of the hill formerly mentioned, a
mineral was discovered which produced both lead and
silver : but as such a discovery would have proved the
ruin of the whole district, by attracting the attention of
the Turks, they quickly destroyed every vestige of it.*
These statements establish the accuracy of Moses, In
the account which he gave his nation of the promised
inheritance ; " A land whose stones are iron, and out of
whose mountains thou mayrst dig brass."! A different
temperature prevails in different parts of these moun
tains ; hence, the expression of the Arabian poets, That
Lebanon bears winter on his head, spring upon his
shoulders, and autumn in his bosom, while summer lies
sleeping at his feet.
In the year 15V4, Dr. Rauwolf visited Lebanon ; he
proceeded from Tripoli with the patriarch of the Maro-
nites, and walked through plantations of olive trees,
which extend all the way to the foot of the mountain,
through pleasant vineyards, and fi 1 Is sown with barley
and millet. As they passed through the woods, they
were entertained with the songs of a variety of birds,
and saw the hart bounding among the trees. Near the
mountain were several villages, where they were re-
* Volney's Trav. vol. 1. p. 211. t Duet, viii, 9

128 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
galed with wine, the produce of the mountain ; it Was
wrhite, and our author declares, better than any be had
ever tasted. The sides of the mountain were moistened
with numerous rills ; and the heights were crowned
with trees of various kinds, among which he noticed the
vine, two species of dwarf cedar, mingled with the
styrax tree, which produces a fragrant gum, and sheds
around it a refreshing odour. They ascended the moun
tain by a winding path cut into steps. From the top
of the monastery, where the patriarch who accompanied
him resided, he saw towards the east, the snowy peak
of the Sannin towering above the cedars. Of these cele
brated trees he found only twenty four nearly in a cir
cle, and two decayed with age. They are evergreens,
have long stems, several fathoms in girt, and are, says
Rauwolf, as high as our fir trees ; they have very large
arms, which bend the trunk, and injure the beauty of
the tree; their branches shoot up straight, on which
the cones, which are large and round, are placed per
pendicularly, disposed in rows at equal distances, with
great regularity. These circumstances distinguish the
appearance of the tree from that of all other firs, else it
would very much resemble the larch, especially in the
leaf. The mountain, says Ramvolf, is very high, and
may be seen at the distance of two hundred Italian
miles. Rather more than a century afterwards, Mr Maund-
rell visited the mountains of Lebanon. Having pro
ceeded about half an hour through the olive yards of
Sidon, he and his party came to the foot of mount
Libanus. They had an easy ascent for two hours,
after which it grew more steep and difficult ; in about
an hour and a half more, they came to a fountain of
water, where they encamped for the night. Next day
after ascending for three hours, they reached the high
est ridge of the mountain, where the snow lay by the
side of the road. They began immediately to descend
on the other side, and in two hours came to a small
village, where a fine brook, gushing at once from the
side of the mountain, rushes down into the valley below,
and after flowing about two leagues, loses itself in the

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 129
river Letane. The valley is called Bocat, and seems
to be the same with the Bicath-Aven of the prophet;*
" 1 will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the
inhabitant from the plain (rather the vale) of Aven, and
him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden."
The neighbourhood of Damascus, and particularly a
place near it,' which, in the time of Maundrell, still bore
the name of Eden, render his conjecture extremely pro
bable. It might also have the name of Aven, which
signifies vanity, from the idolatrous worship of Baal
practised at Balbec or Heliopolis, which is situate in
this valley.
The beauties of Lebanon seem to have left a deeper
impression in the mind of D'Arvieux. After travelling
six hours in pleasant valleys, says that writer, and over
mountains covered with different species of trees, we
entered a small plain, on a fertile hill wholly covered
with walnut trees and olives, in the middle of which
is the village of Eden. — In spite of my weariness, I
could not but incessantly admire this beautiful coun
try. It is truly an epitome of the terrestrial paradise,
of which it bears the name. Eden is rather a hamlet
than a village. The houses are scattered, and separated
from each other by gardens, which are enclosed by
Walls made of stones piled up without mortar.
We quitted Eden about eight o'clock in the morning,
and advanced to mountains so extremely high, that we
seemed to be travelling in the middle regions of the at
mosphere. Here the sky was clear and serene above
us, while we saw below us, thick clouds dissolving in
rain and watering the plains.
After three hours of laborious travelling, we arrived
at the famous cedars about eleven o'clock. We counted
twenty-three of them. The circumference of these trees
is thirty- six feet.
The bark of the cedar resembles that of the pine.
The leaves and cone also bear considerable resemblance.
The stem is upright, the wood is hard, and has the re
putation of being incorruptible. The leaves are long,
narrow, rough, very green, ranged in tufts along the
* Amos I. 5.
Vol. I. S

130 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
branches ; they shoot in spring, and fall in the beginning
of winter. Its flowers and fruit resemble those of the
pine. From the full grown trees, a fluid trickles natural
ly, and without incision; this is clear, transparent
whitish, and after a time dries and hardens :. it is sup
posed to possess great virtues. — The place where these
great trees are stationed, is a plain of nearly a league in
circumference; on the summit of a mount which is en
vironed almost on all sides by other mounts, so high
that their summits are always covered with snow. This
plain is level, the air is pure, the heavens always serene.
On one side of this plain is a frightful precipice, from
whence flows a copious stream, which, descending in
to the valley, forms a considerable part of the Holy
river, or JVahar ICadisha. The view along this valley
is interesting ; and the crevices of the rocks are filled
with earth of so excellent a quality, that trees grows in
them ; and being continually refreshed with the vapours
rising from the streams below, attain to considerable
dimensions. Nor is the sense of smelling less gratified
than that of sight, by the fragrance diffused from the
odoriferous plants around.
He afterwards says, " the banks of the river appeared
enchanted. This stream is principally formed by the
source which issues below the cedars, but is continually
augmented by a prodigious number of rills and foun
tains, which fall from the mountain, gliding along the
clefts of the rocks, and forming many charming natural
cascades, which communicate cooling breezes, aud
banish the idea of being in a country subject to extreme
heat. If to these enjoyments we add that of the nightin
gale's song, it must be granted that these places are in
finitely agreeable."
The eedars which he visited, encircle the region of
perpetual snow. Lebanon is in this part free from rocks,
and only rises and falls with small easy unevenesses,
but is perfectly barren and desolate. The ground.
where not concealed by the snow, for several hours
riding appeared to be covered with a sort of white slates,
thin and smooth. Yet these dreary summits are not
without their use ; they serve as a conservatory for

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST-. 131
abundance of snow, which, thawing in the heat of sum
mer, furnishes ample supplies of water to the rivers and
fountains iu the valleys below. In the snow, he saw
t;he prints of the feet of several wild beasts, which are
the sole proprietors of these upper parts of the moun
tain. Maundrell found only sixteen cedars of large
growth, and a natural plantation of smaller ones, which
were very numerous. One of the largest was twelve
yards six inches in girt, and thirty- seven yards in the
spread of its boughs. At six yards from the ground, it
was divided into five limbs, each equal to a great tree.*
This statement sheds a clear aud steady light on those
passages of Scripture which refer to Lebanon; and en
ables us to reconcile with ease several apparent contra
dictions. So famous was this stupendous mountain in
the days of Moses, that to be permitted to see it, was
the object of his earnest desires and repeated prayers;
and as the strongest expression of his admiration, he
connects it in his addresses to the throne of his God,
with Zion the future seat of the divine glory. " I pray
thee, let me go over and see the good land that is be
yond Jordan ; that goodly mountain and Lebanon."
The storms and tempests which, gathering on the
highest peak of Lebanon, burst on the plains and val
leys below, are often very severe. When De la Valle
was travelling in the neighbourhood of that mountain,
in the end of April, a wind blew from its summit so ve
hement and so cold, with so great a profusion of snow,
that though he and his company were in a manner buried
in their quilted coverlets, yet it was sensibly felt, and
proved very disagreeable. It is not therefore without
reason that Lebanon, or the white mountain as the term
signifies, is the name by which that lofty chain is distin
guished ; and that the sacred writers so frequently refer
to the snow and the gelid waters of Lebanon. They
sometimes allude to it as a wild and desolate region;
and certainly no part of the earth is more dreary and
barren than the Sannin, the region of perpetual snow.
On that naked summit, the seat of storm and tempest,
where the principles of vegetation are extinguished, the
* Maundrell's Trav.

132 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
art and industry of man can make no impression ;
nothing but the creating power of God himself, can pro
duce a favourable alteration. Thu ;, predicting a won
derful change, such as results from the signal manifesta
tions of the divine favour to individuals or the church,
the prophet demands, " Is it not yet a very little while,
and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field?"*
The contrast in this promise, between the triked, snowy,
and tempestuous summits of Lebanon, and a field beau
tified and enriched with t.e fairest and most useful pro
ductions of nature, expresses with great force, the dif
ference which the smiles of Heaven produce in the most
wretched and hopeless circumstances of an individual
or a nation.
Lebanon was justly considered as a very strong bar
rier to the land of Promise ; and opposing an almost in
surmountable obstacle (o the movements of cavalry and
chariots of war. When Sennacherib, therefore, in the
arrogance of his heart, and tlie pride of his strength,
wished to express the ease with which he had subdued
the greatest difficulties, and how vain was the resistance
of Hezekiah and his people, he says, " By the multi
tude of my chariots am 1 come up to the height of the
mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and 1 will cut down
the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof;
and I will enter into the height of his border, and the
forest of his Carmel."! What others accomplish on
foot, with much labour and the greatest difficulty, by a
winding path cut into steps, which no beast of burden,
except the cautious and surefooted mule, can tread, that
haughty monarch vaunted he could perform with horses
and a multitude of chariots. Surrounded by crouching
slaves, and accustomed to see every obstacle vanish be
fore him, he vainly supposed he could gratify the most
inordinate desire ; and what the world accounted physi
cal impossibilities, must yield to his power.
The lofty summits of Lebanon were the chosen haunts
of various beasts of prey; the prints of whose feet,
Maundrell and his party observed in the snow. To
these savage tenants of the desert, the prophet Habak-
* Isa. xxix. 17. f !»»• xxxvii. 24.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 133
kuk seems to allude in that prediction : " For the vio
lence of Lebanon shall cover thee, aud the spoil
of beasts which made them afraid, because of men's
blood, and for the violence of the land."* The vio
lence of Lebanon is a beautiful and energetic expression,
denoting the ferocious animals that roam on its moun
tains, and lodge in its thickets ; and that, occasionally
descending into the plain in quest of prey, ravage the
fold or seize upon the unwary villager. To such dan
gers Solomon expressly refers, in the animated invita
tion which, in the name of the Redeemer, he addresses
to the church : " Come with me from Lebanon, my
spouse, with me from Lebanon ; look from the top of
Amana, from the top of Shenar and Hermon, from the
lion's dens, and from the mountains of the leopards."!
With these fierce aud ravenous animals, the prophet
Jeremiah joins the wolves of the evening, and sends
them to lay waste the habitations of his guilty and un-
repenting nation : " Wherefore a lion out of the forest
shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil
them; a leopard shall watch o*%er their cities, every
one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces , be
cause their transgressions are many, and their backsli
ding are increased." Near the base of the mountains,
the traveller is entertained with a more pleasing sight
than the lion slumbering in his den, or the print of his
feet in the snow ; he sees the hart or the deer shooting
from the steep, to queuch his thirst in the stream.! It
was when David wandered near the foot of Lebanon,
driven by his unnatural son Absalom from Zion, and the
fountain of Israel, the scenes of divine manifestation,
that he marked the rapid course of these animals to the
rivulets which descended from the sides of the moun
tains. He saw the hart panting for the water brooks,
and the sight reminded him of his former enjoyments,
while the circumstrnces of the creature bore a striking
analogy to his own situation and feelings at the time.
The passage, in which, prompted by the casual inci
dent, he poured out the ardent longings of his soul for
the water of life, is wonderfully beautiful and tender :
* Hab. ii, 8. f SonS iv' 8- * Maundrell's Trav.

134 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
" As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so pants
my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God,
the living God ; when shall I come and appear before
God?"*' Though the upper regions of Lebanon are unfit for
the habitation of man, they still contribute to his ad
vantage. From their accumulated snows, descend a
thousand streams of pure and wholesome water, to irri
gate the fields below, to clothe them with verdure, and
enrich them with the choicest products. The foun
tains and the streams of Lebanon, furnish accordingly,
a number of pleasing figures to the inspired writers.
The church is described in the Songs of Solomon, as a
fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams
from Lebanon.! And the prophet, in reproving the
folly and perverseness of his people, demands : " Will
a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from
the rock of the field ? or, shall the cold flowing waters
that come from another place be forsaken ?"{ No man,
in the sober exercise of reason, would leave the pure
and refreshing streams which descend from the sides of
that stupendous mountain, for the miry puddle or the
insipid waters of the cistern ; yet, with still greater ab
surdity than such conduct betrays, had the chosen
people of God forsaken the worship of his name, for
the degrading and unprofitable service of idols.
The approach to Lebanon, is adorned with olive
plantations, vineyards, and luxuriant fields ; and its
lower regions, besides the olive and the vine, are beau
tified with the myrtle, the styrax, and other odoriferous
shrubs : and the perfume which exhales from these
plants, is increased by the fragrance of the cedars,
which crown the summits, or garnish the declivities of
the mountain. The great rupture which runs a long
way up into the mountain, and is on both sides exceed
ingly steep and high, is clothed from the top to the bot
tom with fragrant evergreens, and every where refresh
ed with streams, descending from the rocks in beautiful
cascades ; the work of divine wisdom and goodness.
These cool and limpid streams uniting at the bottom,
* Psalm xiii. 1. j- Song iv. 15. * Jer. xviii. 14.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 135
form a large and rapid torrent, whose agreeable mur
mur is heard over all the place, and adds greatly to the
pleasure of that romantic scene.* The fragrant odours
wafted from the aromatic plants of this noble moun
tain, have not been overlooked by the sacred writers.
The eulogium, which Christ pronounces on the graces
of the church, contains the following direct reference:
" The smell of thy garments is like the smell of Le
banon ;" and the prophet Hosea, in his glowing de
scription of the future prosperity of Israel, converts the
assertion of Solomon into a promise ; " His branches
shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree,
and his smell as Lebanon."
The richness and flavour of the wines produced in its
vineyards, have been celebrated by travellers in all
ages. Rauwolf declares, that the wine which he drank
at Canobin, a Greek monastery on mount Libanus, far
surpassed any he had ever tasted. His testimony is-
corroborated by Le Bruin, who pronounces the wines of
Canobin, better and more delicate, than are to be found
any where else in the world.! They are red, of a beau
tiful colour, and so oily, that they adhere to the glass;
these are so excellent, that our traveller thought he
never tasted any kind of drink more delicious. The
wines produced on other parts of the mountain, although
in much greater abundance, are not nearly so good. To
the delicious wines of Canobin, the prophet Hosea cer
tainly refers in this promise ; " They that dwell under
his shadow shall return ; they shall revive as the corn,
and grow as the vine : the scent thereof shall be as the
wine of Lebanon."!
De la Roque, who also visited Canobin, e&tirely
agrees with these travellers in their account of the su
perior quality of its wines ; and expresses his full con
viction, that the reputation of the wines of Lebanon
mentioned by the prophet, was well founded. Volney
asserts indeed, that he found the wines of Lebanon of a
very inferior quality ; this may be true, and yet the
testimony of these respectable travellers perfectly cor
rect. He might not be presented with the most exqui-
* Maundrell, -j- Harmer's Observations. t Hos. xiv. 7.

136 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
site wine of Canobin, which has deservedly obtained so
high a character; or the vintage of that year might be
inferior. But whatever might be the reason, no doubt
can be entertained concerning the accuracy of other
equally credible witnesses, who, from their own expe
rience, and with one voice, attest the unrivalled excel
lence of the wine of Lebanon. These travellers admit,
that the neighbourhood of Canobin produces wine of
inferior quality ; but, when the wine of Lebanon is
mentioned by way of eminence, the best is undoubtedly
meant. In striking allusion to the scenery and productions
of that mountain, it is promised in the sixth verse :
" His branches shall spread, aud his beauty shall be as
the olive tree, and his smell (or his memorial, as the
original term signifies), as Lebanon." His branches
shall spread like the mighty arms of the cedar, every
one of which is equal in size to a tree ; his beaiityr shall
be as the olive tree, which is admitted, by all who have
seen it, to be one of the most beautiful productions of
nature ; and his smell, his very memorial, shall be as
the wine of Lebanon, which delights the taste, and the
very recollection of which excites the commendation of
those that have drunk it, long after the banquet is over.
The meaning of these glowing figures, undoubtedly is,
that the righteous man shall prosper by the distinguish
ing favour of Heaven ; shall become excellent, and use
ful, and highly respected while he lives ; and after his
death, his memory shall be blessed, and embalmed in
the affectionate recollection of the church, for the bene
fit of many who had not the opportunity of profiting by
his example.
The fragrant odour of the wines produced in the
vineyards of Lebanon, seems chiefly to have attracted
the notice of our translators. This quality is either fac-
ticious or natural. The orientals, not satisfied with the
fragrance emitted by the essential oil of the grape, fre
quently put spices into their wines to increase their fla
vour. To this practice, Solomon alludes in these words :
" 1 would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 137
juice of my pomegranate."* But Savary, in his Let
ters on Greece, affirms, that various kinds of naturally
perfumed wines are produced in Crete: and the wine of
Lebanon, to which the sacred writer alludes, was ro-
bably of the same species.
The cedar of Lebanon, has in all ages, been reckoned
an object of unrivalled grandeur and beauty in the ve
getable kingdom. It is accordingly, one of the natural
images which frequently occur in the poetical style of
the Hebrew prophets ; and is appropriated, to denote
kings, princes, and potentates of the highest rank.
Thus, the prophet Isaiah, whose writings abound with
metaphors and. allegories oT this kind, in denouncing
the judgments of God upon the proud and arrogant, de
clares, that '»" the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon
all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
and upon all the oaks of Bashan."! The king of Is
rael used the same figure, in his reply to the challenge
of the king of Judah : " The thistle that was in Le
banon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife :
and there passed by a wildbeast that was in Lebanon,
and trode down the thistle."! The spiritual prospe
rity of the righteous man, is compared by the Psalmist,
to the same noble plant: " The righteous shall flourish
as the palm tree ; he shall grow as the cedar in Le-
banon." Whatever is majestic and comely in the hu
man countenance ; whatever commands the reverence,
and excites the love of the beholder, — Lebanon and its
towering cedars are employed by the sacred writers to
express. In the commendation of the church, the coun
tenance of her Lord is as Lebanon, excellent as the
cedars : while in the eulogium which he pronounces
upon his beloved, one feature of her countenance is
compared to the highest peak of that mountain, to the
Sannin, which rises with majestic grandeur above the
tallest cedars that adorn its summits : " Thy nose is as
the tower of Lebanon, which looketh toward Damas-
cus."§ Calmet imagines with no small degree of pro
bability, that the sacred writer alludes to an elegant
tower of white marble, which in his days, crowned the
* Song viii. 2. f fc*' "¦ 13- * 2 Kings xiv. 9. § Song vii 4.
Vo£. L T

138 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
summit of a lofty precipice, at the foot of which the
river Barrady foams, about the distance of two miles
from Damascus. When Maundrell visited the place,
he found a small structure like a sheick's sepulchre^
erected on the highest point of the precipice, where it <
had probably stood. From this elevated station, which
forms a part of Lebanon, the traveller enjoyed the most
perfect view of the city. So charming was the land
scape, so rich and diversified the scenery, that he con
fessedly found it no easy matter to tear himself away
from the paradise of delights which bloomed at his feet.
To break the cedars, and shake the enormous mass
on which they grow, are figures that David selects, to
express the awful majesty and infinite power of Jeho
vah ; " The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The
voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars : yea, the Lord
breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also
to skip like a calf: Lebanon and Sirion like a young
unicorn."* This description of the divine majesty
and power, possesses a character of awful sublimity,
which is amost unequalled, even in the page of inspira
tion. Jehovah has only to speak, and the cedar which.
braves the fierce winds of heaven is broken, even the
cedar of Lebanon, every arm of which rivals the siaeof
a tree; he has only to speak, and the enormous mass
of matter on which it grows, shakes to its foundation,
till extensive, and lofty, and ponderous as it is, it leap
like the young of the herd in their joyous frolics, and
skip like the young unicorn, the swiftest of the four-
footed race.
The stupendous size, the extensive range, and great
elevation of Libanus ; its towering summits capped with
perpetual snow, or crowned with fragrant cedars ; its
olive plantations ; its vineyards producing the most de
licious vines; its clear fountains and cold-flowing
brooks : its fertile vales and odoriferous shrubberies, 
combine to form in Scripture language, l< the glory of
Lebanon." But that glory, liable to change, has, by
the unanimous consent of modern travellers, suffered a
sensible decline. The extensive forests of cedar, which
* Psal. xxix. 4.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 139
adorned and perfumed the summits and declivities of
those mountains, have almost disappeared. Only a
small number of these " trees of God, planted by his
almighty hand ;" which, according to the usual import
of the phrase, signally displayed the divine powers
wisdom, and goodness, now remain. Their countless,
number in the days of Solomon, and their prodigious
bulk, must be recollected, in order to feel the force of
that sublime declaration of the prophet : " Lebanon is
not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for
a burnt-offering."* Though the trembling sinner were
to make choice of Lebanon for the altar ; were to cut
down all its forests to form the pile ; though the frag
rance of this fuel, with all its odoriferous gums were
the incense ; the wine of Lebanon pressed from all its
vineyards, the libation ; and all its beasts, the propi
tiatory sacrifice ; all would prove insufficient to make
atonement for the sins of men ; would be regarded as
nothing in the eyes of the supreme Judge for the expia
tion of even one transgression. The just and holy law
of God requires a nobler altar, a costlier sacrifice, and a
sweeter perfume, — the obedience and death of a Divine
Person to atone for our sins, and the incense of his con
tinual intercession, to secure our acceptance with the
Father of mercies, and admission into the mansions of
eternal rest.
The conversion of the Gentile nations from the wor
ship of idols and the bondage of corruption, to the
service and enjoyment of the true God, is foretold in
these beautiful and striking terms : " The wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and
the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It
shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy
and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto
it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon : they shall
see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our
God."! In the animated description which the same
prophet gives of the prosperity to which the kingdom
of Christ was destined to rise in the New Testament
dispensation, the following allusion to the glory of
* Isa. xl. 16. f Isa. xxxv. 2.

140 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Lebanon again occurs : " And it shall come to pass in
the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall
flow unto it."* By these words the prophet meant to
inform his nation, what the event has fully verified, that
the church of the Gentiles was to be of great extent, like
the range of Lebanon, intersecting the country in va
rious directions ; was to be firmly established in the
earth, like a fortress built upon the summits of a steep
and lofty mountain ; was to overcome all opposition,
set at defiance the hostile movements of all her enemies,
and regard with indifference or contempt, the envious
exertions of every competitor ; for " she shall be ex
alted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto
her." The rapid growth of the New Testament church,
her great extent, and the countless number of her con
verts, are finely described in the figurative language of
the Psalmist :• " There shall be an handful of corn in
the earth upon the top of the mountains ; the fruit
thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city
shall flourish like grass of the earth."! The forests of
the east, always near the point of ignition, under the
intense beams of a vertical sun, from the carelessness or
malice of those who take shelter in their recesses, are
frequently set on fire ; and the devouring element some
times continues its ravages, till extensive plantations
are consumed. To such a terrible conflagration, the
prophet justly compares the destructive operations of
the Roman armies under the command of Vespasian
and Titus, against the nation of the Jews, when the
nobles and rulers were slaughtered, the city and temple
reduced to ashes, the people either put to the sword or
sold into slavery, and the whole country laid waste :
" Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour
thy cedars. Howl, fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen ; be
cause the mighty is spoiled : howl, O ye oaks of Ba-
shan ; for the forest of the vintage is come down."!
Le Bruin concludes his description of Lebanon, with
an acconnt of the cedar apples, or the fruit which these
* Isa. ii. 2. j Psal. Ixxii. 15. * Zech. xi.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 14J
celebrated trees produce. He cut one of them in two.
and found, that the smell within exactly resembled tur
pentine. They exuded a juice from small oval grains,
with which a great many small cavities are filled, which
also resembles turpentine, both in smell and in clam-
niiness. These cedar apples must be classed with the
scented fruits of the oriental regions ; and have perhaps
contributed greatly to the fragrance for which the sa
cred writers so frequently celebrate the mountains of
Lebanon. The north-east part of this mountain, adjoining to
the Holy Land, is in Scripture distinguished by the
name of Hermon ; and is by consequence, mentioned
as the northern boundary of the country beyond Jordan,
and more particularly of the kingdom of Og, or of the
half tribe of Manasseh on the east of that river.* It is
known in the sacred volume by different names ; the
Sidonians called it Sirion, and the Amorites, Shenir.
The Jewish lawgiver, in the book of Deuteronomy,
gives it the name of Sion, (as it is spelt in the Hebrew
text.) "And they possessed his land, and the land of
Og king of Bashan : — from Aroer, which is by the bank
of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is
Hermon."! This mount Sion must not be confounded
with the famous mountain of Jerusalem, which lay in a
different part of the country, and was celebrated for a
very different reason. In the book of Joshua, it is cal
led Seir, which is only another way of reading Shenir.
Halak is mentioned in the same verse, and seems to be
a contiguous mountain in the great range of Lebanon,
remarkable, as the name signifies, for its smoothness.!
Again, this mount Hermon is thought, not without pro
bability, to be the same with mount Hor, mentioned by
Moses in his description of the promised land : " And
this shall be your north border ; from the great sea,
ye shall point out for you mount Hor ; from mount Hor,
ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of
Hamath."^ But Joshua, speaking of the lands which
remained to be possessed, among other parts, mentions
" all Lebanon, toward the sun rising, from Baalgad,
•* Deut. iii. 8, 9. t Deut. iv. 47, 48. * Josh. xi. 17. § Nnm. xxxiv. 7, B,

142 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
(a valley) under mount Hermon, unto the entering into
Hamath."* By -comparing these two passages, it seems
extremely probable, that mount. Hor is the same with
mount Hermon. Both of them are placed in the same
northern angle of the promised land, and bear the same
relative situation to Hamath ; and by consequence, the
same mountain is intended under two different names.
But, besides this mount Hermon in the northern
border of the country beyond Jordan, we read of another
mountain of the same name, lying within the land of
Canaan, on the west of the river Jordan, not far from
mount Tabor. To this mountain, the holy Psalmist is
thought to refer in these words : " The north and the
south, thou hast created them : Tabor and Hermon
shall rejoice in thy name ;"! and in the following pas
sage : " As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that
descends upon the mountains of Sion."!
Maundrell, in his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem,
had a full view of Tabor and Hermon, at about six or
seven hours distance to the eastward, and learnt from
¦experience, wdiat the Psalmist means by the dew of
Hermon, the tents of the whole party being as wet with
it as if it had rained all night.
Another branch of Lebanon, which extended for a
considerable way along the eastern coast of the country
beyond Jordan, is mount Gilead, where Laban over
took Jacob in his return to his father's house; and
being warned of God in a dream, not to injure the
patriarch, made a covenant with him, and in witness of
the solemn transaction, in conjunction with his son-in-
law, made a heap of stones, and entertained their fol
lowers upon it, in token of sincere and lasting friend
ship. From this incident, the place was called Galeed,
the heap, or, as the name properly signifies, the round
heap, or circle of witness, and Mizpah, a beacon or
watch-tower ; for, said Laban to his son-in-law : " The
Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent
one from another, if thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if
thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man
* Josh. xiii. 5. t Psal. lxxxix. 12. $ Psal.xxxxiii. 3,

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 143
is with us ; see, God is witness between me and thee."*
That this was done in a mountain, we are expressly
told ; and from the name given to the heap of stones
constructed on that occasion, the whole mount, together
with the circumjacent country, received in succeeding
times, the name of Gilead. It lies on the east of the
sea of Galilee, forming part of the ridge of mountains
which runs from mount Lebanon toward the south on
the east of Canaan ; and included the mountainous
region, called in the New Testament, Trachonitis.
From the other name given to the heap of stones cast
up between Laban and Jacob, the city or town of
Mizpah, built in future times near the scene of their
confederation, probably derived its name. Hence we
find it among the cities pertaining to the half tribe of
Manasseh, which settled in that region ; and in the days
of the Judges, it was chosen by Jephtha as the place of
his residence, and the seat of his government, after the
defeat of the Ammonites.
Before the reduction of the country beyond Jordan,.
Gilead seems to have formed a part of the kingdom
over which Og swayed the sceptre. " I gave," said
Moses, <* unto the half tribe of Manasseh, all the region
of Argob, with all Bashan. — Jair the son of Manasseh
took all the country of Argob— and I gave Gilead unto
Machir."! But, besides this mount Gilead beyond Jordan, we
read of another mountain of that name on the west side
of the river, in the lot of the children of Joseph, where
Gideon assembled the forces with which he defeated
the Midianites. As that renowned captain seems to
have pitched his camp on the west side of the river
Jordan, a difficulty has been started concerning the
mountain on which he assembled his troops, which has
greatly perplexed commentators and other writers.
Gilead, according to some of these writers, must be un
derstood here as denoting the tribe of Manesseh in ge
neral, and by consequence, applicable to both the half
tribes, as well that on the west as that on the east side
of the river. In this view, mount Gilead here denotes
• Gen. xxxi. 48. t Deut. iii. 13.

144 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
no more than the mount lying in Manasseh ; and so
may be understood of Gilboa, near to which Gideon
was encamped. Dr. Wells, who quotes this opinion,
is disposed to admit a corruption in the text, from the
mistake of some transcriber, who wrote Gilead instead
of Gilboa. This mode of removing the difficulty has
the advantage of being both easy and quite in the
fashion ; but, as the necessary effect of it is to make
the sacred Scriptures speak any language, and deliver
any doctrine the critic pleases, it ought never to be
adopted, except in cases of extreme necessity. It is
certainly of considerable weight, that the present read
ing is followed by all the old versions ; and there is
nothing unreasonable in supposing, that two mountains
in different parts of the country might, for reasons that
can no longer be discovered, be distinguished by the
same name. Dr. Wells himself admits, that Brocard
the monk, in his description of the Holy Land, men
tions a mount Gilead situate towards Jezreel, and con
sequently towards the mountains of Gilboa; which is
quite consistent with the history of Gideon.
The mountains of Abarim lie beyond Jordan, in the
southern division of the country. One part of these
mountains, or hills, was distinquished by the names of
mount Nebo and Pisgah. God said unto Moses, " Get
thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo,
which is in the land of Moab, over against Jericho."*
And that this was the same as mount Pisgah, from
whose summit Moses obtained a sight of the promised
land, and where he terminated a career of greater glory
than ever fell to the lot of any mortal, may be inferred
from the following words : " And Moses went up from
the plains of Moab unto the mountains of Nebo, to the
top of Pisgah that is over against Jericho.! From this
account it seems probable, that Pisgah was the highest
pinnacle of Nebo, a mountain in the great range of
Abarim ; for the term Pisgah may be derived from a
ropt which sisnifies to elevate or raise up ; and there
fore may justly denote the top or the loftiest peak of that
mountain. But on the other hand, Eusebius. has ok
• Ceut. xxxii. 49. | Ch. xxxiv. 1 .

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 145
served, that Aquila who translated the Bible into Greek,
uniformly rendered the Hebrew word Pisgah, by a
Greek word signifying cut out; and that the Seventy
interpreters in some places render it after the same
manner. Whence some conjecture, that in one part of
mount Nebo, steps were cut out in order to facilitate the
ascent ; and that this part more properly bore the name
of Pisgah. But those who favour this opinion, have not
been able to produce any Hebrew root, which might
warrant the version of these celebrated interpreters;
and it is more natural to suppose, that this particular
summit owed its name to its great elevation, and the
extensive prospect which it commanded. The conjec
ture certainly receives some countenance, from the cir
cumstance that Moses was directed to take his station
on that part of the mountain, for the purpose of viewing
the promised land.
Eusebius and Jerome inform us, that some part of
this ridge of mountains that was seen as one went up
from Livies to Esbus, or Heshbon, retained the old
name of Abarim so late as their times ; and that the
part peculiarly called mount Nebo, was over against
Jericho, not far from Jordan, and six miles west from
Esbus.* On the south of Canaan lay mount Seir, whither
Esau retired from the presence of his brother Jacob.
This mountainous country was originally inhabited by
the Horites, or Horims, the descendants of Hor or Hori,
from whom the mountain was afterwards called mount
Hor.. It was on a mountain of this name, by the coasts
of Edom, that Aaron died. It is therefore probable,
that the whole tract was formerly called mount Hor;
since we find that the inhabitants were formerly called
Horites. " The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime ;
but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they
had destroyed them before them, and dwelt in their
stead."! Mount Hor, in the course of ages, exchanged
its primitive appellation for Seir, the name of a distin
guished Horite, probably the most powerful cheiftain
among those hardy mountaineers. This is no ideal
? Well's Geog. vol. 1. p. 235. t Deut- "• 12'
Vol. I. U

146 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
personage; for Moses expressly mentions him, and
enumerates his decendants in the close of the same
chapter, where he gives us an account of the sons of
Esau.* The land of Edom was situate between the
lake Asphaltites and the Arabian gulf. The sacred
writer affirms, that it extended as far as the Red sea :
" And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-
geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red
sea, in the land of Edom."! But, if Ezion-geber was
both on the shore of the Red sea and in the land of
Edom, the dominions of Esau must have extended to
the Arabian gulf. Tbis, in the opinion of Dr. Wells,
is the true reason that the Arabian gulf came to have
the name of the Red sea ; which means no more than
the sea of Edom, or Idumean sea. As this country was
called the land of Edom, from Esau, who for selling
his birth-right for some red pottage, was named Edom,
which in the Hebrew tongue signifies red ; so, from the
country, as is usual, the adjoining sea took the name of
the sea of Edom.! Beyond mount Seir to the west
ward, runs a ridge of mountains, which separates Canaan
from Arabia, and which seems to be denoted in Scrip
ture by the name of the mountain of the Amorites ;
some of whose branches run up northward to Hebron.
Gilboa was, according to Jerome and Eusebius, a
ridge of mountains, six miles distant from Scytho-
polis, or Bethsham ; among which stood a town of
the same name. These mountains were remarkable
for the death of Saul and Jonathan, and the total defeat
of their forces in a general battle with the Philistines ;
an event which the holy Psalmist laments in the most
tender elegaic strains : i( The beauty of Israel is slain
upon thy high places ; how are the mighty fallen ! Ye
mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let
there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings : for there
the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield
of Saul as though be had not been anointed with oil."§
The only remarkable mountain on the western border
of Canaan, is Carmel. which lies on the sea coast, at
the south end of the tribe of Asher, and is frequently
* Gen. xxxvi. 20. f * Kings ix 26. i Well's, vol. 1 p 188 § 2 Sam. i 19.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 147
mentioned in the sacred writings. On this mountain,
which is very rocky, and about two thousand feet in
height, the prophet Elijah fixed his residence ; and the
monks of the Greek church, who have a convent upon
it, shew the inquisitive stranger the grotto neatly cut
out in the solid rock, where, at a distance from the tu
mult of the world, the venerable seer reposed. At the
distance of a league are two fountains, which they pre
tend the prophet by his miraculous powers made to
spring out of the earth ; and lower down, towards the
foot of the mountain, is the cave where he instructed
the people. Tt is an excavation in the rock, cut very
smooth both above and below, of about twenty paces in
length, fifteen in breadth, and very high ; and Theve-
not, who paid a visit to the monks of mount Carmel,
pronounces it one of the finest grottoes that can be seen.
The beautiful shape and towering height of Carmel,
furnish Solomon with a striking simile expressive of the
loveliness and majesty of the church in the eyes of her
Redeemer; "Thine head upon thee is like Carmel;
and the hair of thine head like purple ; the king is held
in the galleries."* The mountain itself is, by the ac
count of Thevenot, nothing but rock. The monks,
however, have with great labour covered some parts of
it with soil, on which they cultivate flowers and fruits
of various kinds ; but the fields around have been cele
brated in all ages for the extent of their pastures, and
the richness of their verdure. So great was the fertili
ty of this region, that in the language of the sacred
writers, the name Carmel is often equivalent to a fruit
ful field. This was undoubtedly the reason that the
covetous and churlish Nabal chose it for the range of his
numerous flocks and herds.!
Carmel was one of the barriers of the promised land,
which Sennacherib boasted he would take with the mul
titude of his horses and his chariots : " I will enter in
to the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his
Carmel."! Ungrateful as the soil of this mountain is,
the wild vines and olive trees that are still found
among the brambles which encumber its declivities.,
• Song vii. 5. -J- 1 Sam. xxv. 2. t 2 Kings xix 23..

148 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
prove that the hand of industry has not laboured among
the rocks of Carmel in vain. So well adapted were
the sides of this mountain to the cultivation of the vine,
that the kings of Judah covered every improveable spot
with vineyards and plantations of otives. Its deep
and entangled forests, its savage rocks and lofty
summit, have been in all ages the favourite retreat of
the guilty or the oppressed. The fastnesses of this rugged
mountain are so difficult of access, that the prophet Amos
classes them with the deeps of hell, the height of heaven
and the bottom of the sea: " Though they dig into hell
(or the dark and silent chambers of the grave,) thence
shall mine hand take them ; though they climb up to
heaven, thence will I bring them down; and though
they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, 1 will search
and take them o^it thence ; and though they be hid from
my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I com
mand the serpent, and he shall bite them."* The
church, in her most afflicted state, is compared to a fu
gitive lurking in the deep recesses of this mountain :
" Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heri
tage which dwell solitarily in the wood in the midst of
Carmel."! Lebanon raises to heaven a summit of naked
and barren rocks, covered for the greater part of the
year with snow; but the top of Carmel, bow naked and
sterile soever its present condition, seems to have been
clothed with verdure in the days of Amos, which seldom
was known to fade : " And he said, the Lord will roar
from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the
habitation of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of
Carmel shall wither."! These are the excellencies
answering to the " glory of Lebanon," for which this
mountain was so greatly renowned. Even the lofty
genius of Isaiah, stimulated and guided by the Spirit
of inspiration, could not find a more appropriate figure
to express the flourishing state of the Redeemer's king
dom, than " the excellency of Carmel and Sharon."
Tabor is a lofty mountain of a conical form, which
rises in the plain of Esdraelon, at two hours distance
eastward from Nazareth. After a very laborious ascent
* Am. ix. 2, 3. f Mic. vii. 14. * Am. i. 2.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. I49
of near an hour, Maundrell reached the highest part of
the Mountain ; which has a plain area at the top, fertile
and pleasant, of an oval figure, extended about one fur
long in breadth, and two in length. This area is en
closed with trees on all sides, except towards the south.
It was anciently surrounded with walls, and trenches,
and other fortifications, many remains of which are still
to be seen. From the top of Tabor, the traveller en
joys an extensive and beautiful prospect, that fully com
pensates him for the labour of climbing the steep ascent.
In Maundrell's opiuiou, " it is impossible for the eyes
of man to behold an higher gratification of this nature."
To the south, he discovered a series of valleys and
mountains which extends as far as Jerusalem ; while tq
the east, the valley of Jordan and the lake of Tiberias,
appeared to expand under his feet ; beyond this, the eye
loses itself towards the plains of the Hauran, and then
turning to the north by the mountains of Hasbeya, re
poses on the fertile plains of Galilee, without being able
to reach the sea.* On the lofty summit of this beauti
ful mountain, by the constant and universal suffrage of
antiquity, our Saviour was transfigured before his dis
ciples : when the fashion of his countenance was altered,
his face shone like the sun, and his raiment became
white and glistering-!
Among the pastoral districts of Canaan, the kingdom
of Bashan holds a distinguished place ; it is a rough
mountainous tract, lying between the hills of Gilead and
the river Jordan. On account of the rugged nature of
the surface, it was called by the Greeks, Trachonitis,
or the rough mountainous country. It furnishes the
sacred writers with many beautiful allusions and apt
illustrations. The holy Psalmist celebrates in the songs
of Zion, with his inimitable energy, the elevation of its
hills and mountains, and the strength and beauty of its
oaks : " The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan, an
high hill as the hill of Bashan."! Thus, the inspired
bard reckoned it the highest praise he could give to the
mount, where he spread the tabernacle for the ark of
Jehovah, that it resembled the hills of that country. In
* Maundrell and Volney's Trav. f Luke ix. 29. t Psal. lxviii. IS.

150 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
one particular, the hill of Zion far excelled them,
clothed as they were with verdant pastures, and covered
with flocks and herds ; it was the hill of God, of which
he had said, " this is my rest, here I will dwell, for I
have desired it." So beautiful and stately were the
oaks of Bashan, that the prophet Isaiah classes them
with the cedars of Lebanon, to express by a striking
metaphor, the great, the mighty, and the noble, who,
by their pride and arrogance, had incurred the righteous
displeasure of the Most High. To form a just idea of
the force and delicacy of the picture, it is necessary to
quote the passage : " Enter into the rock, and hide thee
in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his
majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and
the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down ; and the
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day
of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is
proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up,
and he shall be brought low ; and upon all the cedars
of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the
oaks of Bashan."* These verses, as Dr. Louth justly
observes, afford us a striking example of that peculiar
way of writing, which makes a principal characteristic
of the parabolical or poetical style of the Hebrews, and
in which their prophets deal so largely ; namely, their
manner of exhibiting things divine, spiritual, moral,
and political, by a set of images taken from things na
tural, artificial, religious, historical, in the way of meta
phor or allegory. Of these, nature furnishes much the
largest and the most pleasant share ; and all poetry has
chiefly recourse to natural images, as the richest and
most powerful source of illustration. But it may be ob
served of the Hebrew poetry in particular, that in the
use of such images, and in the application of them in
the way of illustration and ornament, it is more regular
and constant, than any other poetry whatever ; that it
has for the most part, a set appropriated in a manner to
the explication of certain subjects. Thus, you will find
in many other places besides this before us, that the ce
dars of Lebanon, and the oaks of Bashan, are used in
* Isa. vi, 6.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. J5£
the way of metaphor and allegory, for kings, princes,
potentates of the highest rank ; high mountains and lofty
hills for kingdoms, republics, states, cities ; towers and
fortresses for defenders and protectors, whether by
counsel or by strength, in peace or war ; ships of Tar-
sish, and works of art, and inventions employed in
adorning them, for merchants, men enriched by com
merce, and abounding in all the luxuries and elegancies
of life.
This rule, which the inspired writers universally fol
low in the use of their metaphors, accounts for the ani
mated address of the prophet : "Howl, fir tree, for the
cedar is fallen, because the mighty are spoiled. Howl,
O ye oaks of Bashan, for the forest of the vintage is
come down."* The power of the nations whom
Jehovah dispossessed, to plant his chosen people in
their stead, is most beautifully illustrated by the same
figures; "Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he
was strong as the oaks ; yet I destroyed his fruit from
above, and his roots from beneath."! We may judge
of the high estimation, in which the oaks of these
mountains were held, from a clause in the prophecies
of Ezekiel, where, in describing the power and wealth
of ancient Tyre, he says ; " Of the oaks of Bashan
have they made thine oars."!
Bashan, for the extent and luxuriance of its pastures,
and for the superior breed of its flocks and herds, was
the boasts of shepherds and the pride of Jordan : there
fore, continues the prophet, " A voice of the howling of
the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled ; a voice of the
roaring of young lions, for the pride of Jordan is
spoiled." So renowned were the pastures of this coun
try, that, when the prophet Micah foretels the restora
tion of his people, and their rapid prosperity under the
fostering care of Jehovah, he cries out, " Let them feed
in Bashan and in Gilead, as in days of old."§, The
prophet Jeremiah, in his description of the same scene,
adopts the figure of Micah, with little variation; a
strong additional proof of the great estimation in which
* Zech. xi. 2. f Am. ii. 9. * Ezek, xxvii. 6. § Mic. vii. 14.

152 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the pastures of this country were held among the ancient
Jews : " And I will bring Israel again to his habita
tion, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashau, and his
soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gi
lead."* The cattle that grazed on these verdant
mountains, were remarkable for their size, their
strength, and fatness. Moses, in his dying song,
makes "butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of
lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats with
the fat of kidneys of wheat," a distinguished part of
that portion which God bestowed on his peculiar peo
ple. The oppressions of Israel, are frequently com
pared to the strong and fierce cattle reared in the same
region : " Strong bulls of Bashan," cried the Psalmist,
in the name of the Saviour, " have beset me round."!
When God announced his fearful judgements by the
mouth of Ezekiel, an invitation is addressed to the fowls
of heaven, and the beasts of the field ; " Gather your
selves together on every side to my sacrifice, that I do
sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of
Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall
eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the
princes of the earth, of lambs, of rams, and of goats, of
bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan."! Amos uses
the same figure in reproving Israel for oppression ;
" Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan that are in the
mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which
crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring and
let us drink."§
Salmon is a mountain which stood in the neighbour
hood of Shechem, whose declivities were clothed with
lofty woods, and its summits capped with snow. The
two first circumstances are verified by a passage in the
book of Judges, which is couched in these terms : "And
it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of
Shechem were gathered together. And Abimelech gat
him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that
were with him ; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand,
and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and
laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people that were
* Jer. 1. 19. f Psal- **"• 12- * Ezek- sxxix. 18. § Am. iv. 1.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 153
with him, what ye have seen me do, make haste, and do
as I have done. And all the people likewise cut down
every man his bough."* The last circumstance is
mentioned by David, in a passage which has not been
generally well understood : " When the Almighty scat
tered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon."!
The venerable Henry, in his excellent Commentary,
thinks, the royal bard refers to the church ; and renders
the words, " When the Almighty scattered kings in
her, she was white or purified, as snow in Salmon."
But the common translation is perfectly correct ; and
the inspired writer seems to refer not to the church, but
to the means which God employed in defeating her
enemies. The scene to which the Psalmist alludes, is
the discomfiture of the Amorite, by a miraculous storm
of hail, which Joshua thus describes : " And the Lord
discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a
great slaughter in Gibeon, and chased them along the
way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to
Azekah, and to Makedah. And it came to pass as
they fled before Israel, and were in the going down to
Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from
heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died : they
were more who died with hailstones, than they whom
the children of Israel slew with the sword."! These
great and most destructive hailstones, appear to have
covered all the ground from Beth-horon, a town which
lay in the south border of the tribe of Ephraim, unto
Azekah, which is mentioned in the book of Joshua,
among the cities of the tribe of Judah, " and made it as
white as the top of Salmon."
It only remains now, to take notice of the mountains
or hills, in or near Jerusalem, which occur in the sacred
history of the Old Testament. The celebrated mountain
of Zion, on whose summit stood the city of David, aud
where the ark of the covenant rested under the tent
which that pious monarch had pitched for it, has the
first claim on our attention. From the presence of the
ark, it is frequently styled in the book of Psalms, the
holy hill. It is sometimes used in Scripture, to denote
* Jud. ix. 47, 48. f Psal. lxviii. 14. t Josh. x. 10.
Vol. 1. X

154 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the whole city of Jerusalem ; and by consequence, the
mount Moriah, on which, in times of very remote anti
quity, Abraham offered up his son ; and in an age long
posterior, the temple of Jehovah was built to be the
centre of his worship and the place of his rest. The
holy hill of Zion stood, according to some writers, in
the north part of Jerusalem ; but the more probable and
general opinion is, that it is the same bill which is taken
for Zion in modern times, situate on the south of the
present city, for the most part without the walls. But
when Jerusalem was in the height of her power and
splendour, in the reigns of Solomon and David, mount
Zion was enclosed within the walls, and formed the
southern district of that celebrated metropolis. Before
it was taken by David from the Jebusites, as has been
formerly observed, it seems to have been a kind of
citadel ; for it is expressly called the fort or the strong
hold of Zion. It was higher than the hill on which
old Jerusalem was built ; for this appears to be the hill
which Josephus distinguishes by the name of Acra ;
and he says expressly, that the hill on which the upper
city stood was higher. But the upper city is allowed
by all to be the same with -the city of David ; and the
Scripture asserts the city of David to be the same with
the strong hold of Zion.
The only other eminence deserving of notice, is the
mount of Olives ; a name certainly derived from the
number of olive trees with which it was covered. It
lay on the east side of Jerusalem, a little out of the city,
commanding a full view of that metropolis, from which
it was separated by the brook Kidron, and the valley
of Jehoshaphat. It is a part of a long ridge of hills
extending from north to south, with three summits.
Josephus reckons its distance from the city to be about
five furlongs ; which is most probably to be understood
of the nearest part, or bottom of the mountain iu that
direction. The statement of the historian is therefore
quite reconcileable with the narrative of the inspired
writer, who makes it a sabbath day's journey distant
from Jerusalem, or eight furlongs ; for the evangelist in
all probability, refers to that part of the mountain from

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 155
whence our Lord ascended into heaven, which is sup
posed to be the central elevation.
In Maundrell's account of his visit to this mountain,
we are informed, that going out of Jerusalem at St
Stephen's gate, and crossing the valley of Jehoshaphat,
he and his party began immediately to ascend. About
two-thirds of the way up, they came to certain grottoes
cut with intricate windings, and caverns underground;
these are called the sepulchres of the prophets. A little
higher, are twelve arched vaults under ground, standing
side by side ; these were built in memory of the twelve
apostles, and where tradition says, they compiled their
creed. But leaving the uncertain talcs of tradition, as
unworthy of further notice, it may be observed, on the
most unexceptionable authority, that the mount of Olives
became famous in the history of the Saviour. To this
mountain, it was his custom to retire in the evening,
after he had spent a laborious day in teaching the mul
titudes that attended his ministry in Jerusalem ; it was
from one of its summits that he beheld the city, and
wept over it, and predicted its final destruction ; in the
garden which lay at the bottom, he commenced the
scene of his last sufferings for the sins of his people ;
and from the highest peak, as is generally supposed,
after he had finished the work of our redemption on
earth, he ascended into his Father's presence with un
speakable joy and glory.
To the hill of Zion, and the other mountains around,
the sacred writers frequently and triumphantly allude.
The references are so numerous, that only one or two
can be quoted ; and so easy, as to occasion no difficulty.
The first is a beautiful allusion to the situation of Jeru
salem, environed with mountains and rocks, which op
pose a powerful barrier to the incursions of an enemyr ;
" They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever ; as the
mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is
round about his people, from henceforth even for ever."*
The description which Volney gives of his approach to
Jerusalem, furnishes no contemptible illustration of
* Psal. cxxv. 2.

156 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
these verses ; and as it is pleasant to compel an avowed
infidel to illustrate and confirm the religion of Christ,
which he detests, I shall subjoin his account. " Two
days' journey south of Nablous, following the direction
of the mountains, which gradually become more rocky
and barren, we arrive at a town, which like many others
already mentioned, presents a striking example of the
vicissitude of human affairs : when we behold its walls
levelled, its ditches filled up, and all its buildings em
barrassed with ruins, we scarcely can believe we view
that celebrated metropolis, which formerly baffled the
efforts of ihe most powerful empires, and for a time re
sisted the efforts of Rome herself; though by a whim
sical change of fortune, its ruins now receive her ho
mage and reverence : in a word, we with difficulty re
cognise Jerulalem. Nor is our astonishment less, to
think of its ancient greatness, Avhen we consider its si
tuation amidst a rugged soil, destitute of water, and sur
rounded by dry channels of torrents and steep heights,
Distant from every great road, it seems neither to have
been calculated for a considerable mart of commerce,
nor the centre of a great consumption. It however
overcame every obstacle, and may be adduced as a
proof of what popular opinion may effect, in the hands
of an able legislature, or when favoured by happy cir
cumstances." The proud unbeliever had found a shorter
and easier road to his conclusion, in the volume of in
spiration; and particularly in the passages quoted
above, from the Psalms of David, who refers the sin
gular prosperity of Jerusalem to the peculiar favour of
Heaven. This was the real source of her greatness,
and it was this alone, and not the natural strength of
her situation, nor the skill and valour of her defenders,
which enabled her so long to baffle the designs of her
enemies. This important and instructive truth the
royal Psalmist acknowledges in the other passage to
which I alluded, in the liveliest strains of devout gra
titude: "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole
earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north the city
of the great king. For lo, the kings were assembled,
they passed by together, they saw it, so they marvelled :

GEOpRAPHY OF THE EAST. 157
they were troubled; they hasted away. Fear took
hold upon them there, and pain as of a woman in
travail."* Behind the walls and bulwarks of salva
tion, contrived by the wisdom, and appointed by the
distinguishing love of Jehovah, that highly favoured
people, so long as they remained faithful to the cove
nant of their God, reposed in safety, and laughed at the
shaking of the hostile spear : but when they forsook
the service of Jehovah, for the worship of dumb idols,
the impenetrable shield of divine favour and protection
was withdrawn, and they became an easy prey to the
invader; or, if, listening only to their own furious
passions and infatuated counsels, they resisted his efforts
for a time, it was only to aggravate their sufferings, and
render their destruction more certain and complete.

CHAP. VIII.

THE LAKES AND RIVERS OF PALESTINE.
THE only considerable lakes in the land of Promise,
are those of Tiberias, and the Salt sea*. The lake of
Tiberias was also known to the sacred writers, by the
name of the sea of Galilee, and the lake of Gennesareth.
It was called the sea of Tiberias, from a town of that
name on its western border; the sea of Galilee, from
the province of Galilee in general ; and the lake of
Gennesareth, from that particular tract of Galilee which
skirted its western shore. The breadth of this lake or
sea is forty, and the length an hundred furlongs.! Hs
water is limpid, sweet aud wholesome : and lying upon
gravel, is softer than the water either of a river or foun
tain ; and at the same time so cold, that, says the Jewish
historian, it cannot be warmed by exposure to the sun,
in the hottest season of the year. It abounds in a great
* Psal. xlviii. 2, 3. f Josephus.

158 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
variety of fish, which for taste and shape, are peculiar
to itself. The lake of Tiberias is properly a dilatation
of the river Jordan ; which through the middle of it
pursues his course to the Dead sea. The country on
both sides, is uncommonly fruitful and pleasant. So
fertile is the soil, that every plant thrives in it ; and so
great is the felicity of the climate, that nuts, palms, figs,
and olive trees, flourish here in great profusion, although
they naturally require a quite different temperature;
which, observes the historian, looks as if Providence
took delight in this place, to reconcile Contradictions ;
and as if the very seasons themselves were in a com
petition, which should be most obliging. The durable
character of the fruits produced in this delightful region,
is not less remarkable than their great variety and ex
cellence. Figs and grapes continue in season there ten
months in the year; and other fruits the whole year
round. Gennesareth is not more celebrated for its de
licious air and temperature, than for a spring of living
waters, clear as crystal, to which the natives give the
name of Capernaum ; which some have considered as
'a little gut of the Nile, because it contains a species of
fish no where else to be found, but in the neighbourhood
of Alexandria. The length of the country along the
lake is about four miles, and the breadth four miles and
a half. This district was, in the time of Josephus, in
habited by a skilful and industrious people, who, wisely
availing themselves of the singular advantages which
the soil and climate of their highly favoured country
afforded them, carried the improvement of their lands
to the highest degree of perfection. From the extra
ordinary fruitfulness of this tract, some conjecture, that
the word Gennesareth is compounded of two words,
Gan and Sar ; of which the first denotes in Hebrew a
garden, the last a prince; and consequently the com
pound, the garden of a prince, or a princely garden.
But, although the name in this view sufficiently cor
responds with the nature of the country, it is more pro
bable that the word Gennesareth, in the New Testa
ment, owes its existence to the term Chinnereth or
Cinnereth in the Old; for, in the days of Joshua,

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 159
Cinnereth was a fortified city in the tribe of Naphtali;*
and it is evident from a passage in the 1st book of
Kings, that it gave its name to the surrounding coun
try.! The Jewish legislator in several parts of his
writings, and Joshua in the history of his proceedings,
place the city of Chinnereth on the shore of the lake
Tiberias, calling it by the same name, the sea of Chin
nereth.! Hence it is more than probable, that Genne
sareth in the New Testament, is only a corruption of
Chinnereth, the name by which the city and the lake
on which it stood, were known to the ancient Israelites.
The city had indeed perished in the wars between the
kings of Syria and Israel, long before the coming of
Christ, which is the true reason that no mention is
made of it in the New Testament, while the district
where it stood, retained its name for many ages after
its fall. The date of its destruction may, with great
probability, be fixed in the reign of Baasha king of
Israel, about nine hundred and fifty-eight years before
Christ, when Benhadad king of Syria invaded his
dominions, and " smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-
maachah, and all Cinnereth, with all the land of
Naphtali."^ Upon the ruins of ancient Cinnereth,
afterwards arose the city of Capernaum, deriving its
name from the excellent fountain already mentioned,
near which it was built; but the lake and the adjacent
lands were permitted to retain their ancient name, till
in the lapse of ages, or by a change of dialect, it was
moulded into Gennesareth. It was a common saying
among the Jews, in reference to the lake of Genne
sareth, that God loved that sea more than all the other
seas. And, in one sense, the observation is quite cor
rect; for it was honoured above all others, with the
presence of our blessed Lord and Saviour, both before
and after his resurrection. He made choice of Caper
naum, which stood upon the margin of the lake, as his
ordinary place of residence ; on account of which it is
called his oion city.\\ On its shores, he found several
* Josh. xix. 35. f 1 Kings xv. 29.
} Num. xxxiv. 11. Deut. iii. 17. Josh. xii. 3.
<j 1 Kings xv. 20. I Mat, i*. 1.

160 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of his apostles pursuing the humble employment of
fishermen, and called them to be the witnesses of his
mighty works, and the heralds of his kingdom. It was
on this sea he came to them walking upon the water ;
where he rebuked the winds and the waves, and the
furious storm was in a moment changed into a profound
calm ; and where he filled their nets with a miraculous
draught of fishes. On the shore of this lake, he ap
peared to his disciples after his resurrection ; aud,
after rebuking Peter for his unfaithfulness, and exact
ing a threefold confession, corresponding to his three
fold denial, restored him to his office as an apostle, and
to his station as a pillar in the church.
The only other lake connected with the illustration of
Scripture, is the Salt sea, or Asphaltites. This re
markable expanse of water, covers the fruitful vale
where once flourished the cities of Sodom and Go
morrah, with the other cities of the plain ; a vale so
rich aud beautiful, that the sacred historian compares it
to the garden of paradise.* The original name of this
delicious region was Siddim: "All these were joined
together in the vale of Siddim, which is the Salt sea."!
Hence it may be inferred with absolute certainty, that
when the cities were destroyed, the very ground where
they stood, which had been polluted by the enormous
wickedness of the inhabitants, suffered a complete and
permanent change. This is confirmed by the sacred
historian in the following terms : " Then the Lord
rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and
fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew
those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of
the cities, and that which grew upon the ground."! Not
satisfied with overthrowing the cities and destroying
their inhabitants, the righteous Judge also overthrew
all the plain, that is, he consumed its productions, he
destroyed its beauty, he extinguished the very princi
ples of its fertility, and submerged the ground itself
under the waters of the Jordan, that the foot of man
might never tread it more. The destruction was com
plete and irreparable ; the country was in a manner ex-
* Gen. xiii. 10. j- Gen. xiv. 3. $ Gen. xix. 24, 25.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 161
tinguished, by converting it into a deep lake : so fierce
was the indignation, so terrible the overthrow. Thus
were the cities of the plain, and the ground on which
they stood, set forth for an example to every succeeding
age ; and to that awful catastrophe the sacred writers
often allude, in their denunciations of the divine judg
ments against apostate Israel : " When the generations
to come shall see that the whole land thereof is brim
stone, and salt, and burning ; that it is not sown, nor
beareth, nor any grass groweth thereon, (like the over
throw of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim,
which the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his
wrath) ; even all nations shall say, wherefore has the
Lord done this unto this land ?"* The prophet Hosea,
pathetically describing the great mercy of God toward
the people of Israel, and his unwillingness to punish
them, notwithstanding their signal ingratitude, breaks
out into the following animated address, in the name of
the Lord : " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ; how
shall I deliver thee Israel ? How shall I make thee as
Admah, how shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is
turned within me, and my repentings are kindled to
gether."! The learned Michaelis ascribes the destruction of
those cities to the agency of natural causes. It may be
admitted, without offence to religion, that the sovereign
Ruler of the universe put in operation such causes on
that memorable occasion. Sodom was built upon a
mine of bitumen, as we know from the testimony of
Moses and Josephus, who speak of wells abounding
with bitumen in the valley of Siddim. Lightning point
ed by the hand of Omnipotence kindled the combustible
mass, and the cities sunk in the subterraneous confla
gration. Nor is the ingenious suggestion of M. Malte
Brun to be omitted, that Sodom and Gomorrah them
selves might have been built of bituminous stones, and
then set in flames by the fire of heaven.
The particular situation of these five cities cannot
now be discovered ; but it is certain they all lay within
the vale of Siddim. Of these, four were overwhelmed
* Deut. xxiii. 23. t Hos- »'• 8l
Vol. L Y

162 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
with a storm of fire and brimstone from heaven, on ac
count of their hideous crimes: the fifth was spared at
the earnest supplication of Lot, who chose it as the
place of his retreat. The original name of this place
was Bela ; but from the argument urged by Lot for its
preservation, " Is it not a little one ;*' it received the
name of Zoar, or the little city, by which it was ever
afterwards distinguished. As Zoar seemed to have
been the least of the five cities in the vale of Siddim, so
Sodom seems to have been the most considerable, and
Gomorrah next to it in wealth and greatness. This
may be inferred from the destruction of the five cities
being frequently denoted in Scripture, by the overthow
of Sodom alone : and from the arrangement of the sa
cred writers, who uniformly place Sodom at the head
of the list, and next to it the city of Gomorrah.
The great importance of an abundant supply of wra-
ter in those parts of the world, drew from the sacred
historian the remark : " Now the plain of Jordan was
well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah, (even like the garden of the
Lord, like the land of Egypt), as thou comest unto
Zoar."* This clause as thou comest unto Zoar, has
much perplexed commentators, while they refer it to the
land of Egypt, in the clause immediate preceding ; but
if what is said by way of comparison, even like the gar
den of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, be inclosed in
a parenthesis, the difficulty is removed, and the im
port of the last clause becomes plain and easy ; "Be
fore the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the
plain of Jordan was well watered every where, as thou
comest unto Zoar," the city in the vale of Siddim, to
which Lot, at his earnest and repeated entreaty, was
permitted to flee.
Dr. Wells, from whose geography the solution now
proposed is abridged, suggests another way of remov
ing the difficulty, by supposing Zoar to be a false read
ing for Zoan. Such a supposition he thinks the more
allowable, " not only because the difference lies in the
change but of one letter, but also, because it appears
* Gen, xiii, 10.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 163
that the Syriac translator actually read it so. If then,
the original reading was Zoan, the last clause may be
excellently well connected to the land of Egypt, in the
clause immediately foregoing. For Zoan was a fa
mous, and as is likely, in those days the capital city of
Egypt, lying near or on the Nile; and on the lower
part thereof, or not far from the sea coasts, where the
said river is divided into several branches, and so the
country more watered thereabout than in other parts.
In short, it is thought to be, and is rendered by the Se
venty interpreters, Tanis ; from which one of the
mouths of the Nile was denominated Ostium Tanaiti-
cuin, the Tanaitic mouth." According to this reading,
the import of the verse will be this : The plain of Jor
dan was well watered every where ; before the Lord
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, as the garden of
Eden, which was moistened by the united streams of
the Tigris and Euphrates, or as the land of Egypt,
particularly in the parts about Zoan, where the Nile,
divided into several branches, irrigates the fields.
The lake Asphaltites is enclosed on the east and
west with exceeding high mountains ; on the north it is
bounded with the plain of Jericho, on which side it re
ceives the waters of the Jordan; on the south it is open,
aud extends beyond the reach of the eye. It is said to
be twenty-four leagues long, and six or seven broad ;
and is fringed with a kind of coppice of bushes and
reeds. In the midst of this border, not a furlong from
the sea, rises a fountain of brackish water, which was
pointed out to Maundrell by his Arab conductor ; a
sure proof that the soil is not equally impregnated with
saline particles. The ground to the distance of half
an hour from the sea, is uneven, and broken into hil
locks, which Mr. Maundrell compares to ruinous lime
kilns ; but whether these might be the pits at which the
kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown by the
four kings who invaded their country, he could not de
termine. The water of the lake is intensely salt, extremely
bitter and nauseous, and so heavy, that the most impe
tuous winds can scarcely ruffle its surface. It is called

164 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
by common writers the Dead sea, because it nourishes
neither animal nor vegetable life. No verdure is to be
seen on its banks, nor fish to be found within its waters ;
but it is not true that its exhalations are so pestiferous
as to kill birds that attempt to fly over it. Mr. Maun
drell saw several birds flying about, and skimming the-
surface of its waters, without any visible harm. The
same fact is attested by Volney, who states it as no un
common thing to see swallows dipping for the water ne
cessary to build their nests. The true cause that de
prives it of vegetables and animals, is the extreme
saltness of the water, which is vastly stronger than
that of the sea. The soil around it, impregnated also
with salt, produces no plants; and the air itself, which
becomes loaded with saline particles from evaporation,
and which receives also the sulphureous and bituminous
vapours, cannot be favourable to vegetation : hence the
deadly aspect which reigns around this lake. The
ground about it, however, is not marshy, and its waters
are limpid and incorruptible, as must be the case
with a dissolution of salt.* Mr. Maundrell ques
tions the truth of the common tradition, which is ad
mitted by Volney in all its extent, that the waters
of the Dead sea are destructive to animal existence,
having observed among the pebbles on the shore two
or three shells offish, resembling oyster-shells. That
respectable traveller willing to make an experiment of
its strength, went into it, and found it bore up his body
in swimming, with an uncommon force ; but the relation
of some authors, that men wading into it a buoyed up to
the top as soon as the water reaches to the middle, he
found upon experiment untrue.
A recent traveller on visiting the lake, found a, crust
of salt covering the surface of the ground, and resem
bling a snowy plain, from which a few stunted shrubs
reared their heads. No murmur, no cooling breeze an
nounced the approach to its margin. The strand be
strewed with stones was hot, the waters of the lake were
motionless, and absolutely dead along the shore : he
found it impossible to keep the water in his mouth ; it
* Volhey's Trav. vol. 1.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 165
far exceeded that of the sea in saltness, and produced
upon the lips the effect of a strong solution of alum.
Before his boots were completely dry, they were covered
with salt ; his clothes, his hat, his hands, in less than
three hours, were impregnated with this mineral. About
midnight he heard a noise upon the lake, and was in
formed by the Arabs, that it proceeded from legions of
small fish, which come and leap about on the shore.
Lavoisier analized its water, and found that 100 lbs.
contain 45 lbs 6 oz. of salt. The water is perfectly
transparent, and so heavy, that persons who never
learned to swim will float on its surface. It is now
known, that bodies sink or float upon it, according to
the proportion of their gravity to the gravity of its wa
ter. A strong breeze, without cooling the air, produced
only a slight undulation on the bosom of the lake ; the
waves charged with salt soon subsided by their own
weight, and scarcely broke against the shore.*
Desirous to see the remains, if any existed, of those
cities anciently situate in this place, and made so dread
ful an example of divine vengeance, Maundrell dili
gently surveyed the waters as far as his eye could
reach ; but he could neither discern any heaps of ruin,
nor any smoke ascending above the surface of the wa
ters, as is usually described in the writings and maps of
geographers. But he states, what was confidently at
tested to him by the father guardian, and procurator of
Jerusalem, both men in years, and seemingly not desti
tute either of sense or probity, that they had once actual
ly seen one of these ruins ; that it was so near the shore,
and the water so shallow at that time, that they, to
gether with some Frenchmen went into it, and found
there several pillars, and other fragments of buildings.
The cause of his being deprived of this sight was, he
supposes, the height of the water.
On the shore he found a black sort of pebble, which,
being held in the flame of a candle, soon burns, and
yields a smoke of an intolerable stench. It has the
property of losing only a part of its weight, but not of
its bulk, in burning. The hills bordering upon the lake
* Chateaubriand's Travels.

166 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
are said to abound with this kind of sulphureous stones.
Maundrell saw pieces of it at the convent of St. John,
in the wilderness, two feet square. They were carved
in bass-relief, and polished to as great a lustre as black
marble is capable of, and were designed for the orna
ment of the new church at the convent. He found none
of the bitumen for which this lake has been so famous,
at the place which he visited; but was informed, that
it was gathered near the mountains, on both sides, in
great plenty. Several lumps of it were brought to him
at Jerusalem ; it exactly resembles pitch, and cannot
readily be distinguished from it, but by the sulphureous-
ness of its smell and taste. On the west side of the sea
is a small promontory, near which his guide told him
stood the monument of Lot's metamorphosed wife; part
of which, if they may be credited, is visible at this day.
Mr. Maundrell neither saw nor heard of the apples of
Sodom, so frequently mentioned by the ancients ; nor
did he discover any tree near the lake, from which a
fruit of that kind might be expected. It is a production
which exists only in the imagination and song of the
poet ; and has perhaps been kept up so long, because it
furnished him with a good allusion, or helped him to a
beautiful simile.*
Several travellers, however, claim the honour of
having discovered that far-famed apple. Hasselquist
says, the apple of Sodom is not the fruit either of a tree
or of a shrub, but the production of the Solanum melon-
gena of Linnaeus. It is found in great abundance round
Jericho, in the vales near the Jordan, and in the neigh
bourhood of the Dead sea. Its apples are sometimes
full of dust ; but this appears only when the fruit is at
tacked by an insect, which converts the whole of the
inside into dust, leaving nothing but the rhind entire,
without causing it to lose any of its colour.
M. Seetzen supposes it is the fruit of a tree which
grows on the plain of El Gor, near the southern ex
tremity of the Dead sea. The tree resembles a fig tree,
and the fruit is like the pomegranate : it struck him, that
this fruit which has no pulp or flesh in the inside, but
* Maundrell's Trav.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 167
only a species of cotton resembling silk, and is unknown
in the rest of Palestine, might be the celebrated apple
of Sodom.
Chateaubriand imagines that he has made the in
teresting discovery. The shrub which bears the true
apple of Sodom, grows two or three leagues from the
mouth of the Jordan ; it is thorny, and has small taper
leaves ; its fruit is exactly like the little Egyptian lemon,
both in size and colour : before it is ripe, it is filled with
a corrosive and saline juice ; when dried, it yields a
blackish seed, which may be compared to ashes, and
which resembles bitter pepper in taste.
The extreme saltness of this lake, has been ascribed
by Volney7 to mines of fossile salt in the side of the
mountains, which extend along the western shore, and
from time immemorial have supplied the Arabs in the
neighbourhood, and even the city of Jerusalem. He
does not attempt to invalidate the credit of the Mosaic
narrative ; but only insinuates, that these saline deposi
tions were either coeval with the mountains in which
they are found, or entered into their original conforma
tion. The extraordinary fruitfulness of the vale of
Siddim, before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
is asserted by Moses in terms so clear aud precise, that
the veracity of the sacred writer must be overthrown,
before a reasonable doubt can be entertained of the fact.
No disproportionate quantity of saline matter, could
then have been present either in the soil or in the sur
rounding mountains. That it abounded with bitumen,
some have inferred from the assertion of Moses, that the
vale of Siddim was full of slime pits : where the He
brew word chemar, which we render slime, others, aud
particularly the Seventy interpreters, render bitumen.
But gophrith, and not chemar, is the word that Moses.
employs to denote brimstone, in his account of the judg
ment which overwhelmed the cities of the plain ; and
by consequence, brimstone is not meant, when chemar
is used, but bitumen, a very different substance. Hence
the brimstone which now impregnates the soil of the
Salt sea, and banishes almost every kind of vegetation
from its shores, must be regarded; not as an original,

168 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
but an accidental ingredient, remaining from the destruc
tion of the vale by fire and brimstone from heaven. The
same remark applies to the mines of fossile salt, on the
surrounding mountains ; the saline matter was deposited
in the cavities which it now occupies at the same time,
else the vale of Siddim, instead of verdant pastures, and
abundant harvests, had exhibited the same frightful
sterility from the beginning, for which it is so remark
able in modern times. Bitumen, if the Hebrew word
chemar denotes that substance, abounds in the richest
soils ; for in the vale of Shinar, the soil of which, by the
agreement of all writers, is fertile in the highest degree,
the builders of the tower of Babel used it for mortar.
The ark of bulrushes in which Moses was embarked
on the Nile, was in like manner daubed with bitumen
(chemar,) and pitch ; but the mother of Moses, consi
dering the poverty of her house, cannot be supposed to
have procured it from a distance, nor at any great ex
pense : she must therefore have found it in the soil of
Egypt, near the Nile, on whose borders she lived. It
is therefore reasonable to suppose, that bitumen abound
ed in Goshen, a region famed for the richness of its pas
tures. Hence it may be fairly concluded, that the vale
of Siddim before its destruction, in respect of natural
fertility, resembled the plain of Shinar and the land of
Egypt along the Nile. But it is well known, that
wherever brimstone and saline matter abound, there
sterility and desolation reign. Is it not then reasonable
to infer, that the sulphureous and saline matters, dis
covered in the waters and on the shores of the Asphal
tites, are the relics of the divine vengeance executed on
the cities of the plain, and not original ingredients in the
soil? If we listen to the testimony of the sacred writers,
what was reasonable hypothesis rises into absolute cer
tainty. Moses expressly ascribes the brimstone, the
salt, and the burning, in the overthrow of Sodom, to the
immediate vengeance of heaven ; " When they see the
plagues of that land, — that the whole laud is brimstone,
and salt, and burning ; that it is not sown, nor beareth,
nor any grass groweth thereon, (like the overthrow of

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. ±QQ
Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the
Lord overthrew in his anger, aud in his wrath) ; even
all nations shall say, Wherefore has the Lord done thus
unto this land ? What meaneth the heat of this great
auger."* In this passage, the brimstone, salt, aud
burning, are mentioned as true and proper effects of the
divine wrath ; and since this fearful destruction is com
pared to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, the
brimstone and salt into which the vale of Siddim was
was turned, must also be the true and proper effects of
divine anger. This indeed, Moses asserts iu the plain
est terms : " Then the Lord rained upon Sodom, and
upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out
of heaven ; and he overthrew those cities, and all the
plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that
which grew upon the ground."! But since the brim
stone and the fire were rained from heaven, so must the
salt, with which they are connected in the former quota
tion : and this is the opinion received by the Jewish
doctors.0 The frightful sterility which followed the
brimstone, salt and burning, in the first quotation, is in
the same manner represented as an effect of the divine
judgment upon the vale of Siddim; "it is not sown,
nor beareth, nor any grass groweth thereon."
The barrenness and desolation that result from the
action of brimstone and salt, are introduced by the pro
phet in these words : " Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm,
and whose heart departeth from th'e Lord. For he
shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see
when good cotneth, but shall inhabit the parched places
in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited."!
In this passage, the salt is assigned as the cause that
the parched places in the wilderness remain in a state
of perpetual sterility. In the judgments which the pro
* Deut. xxix. 22. f Gen- xix- 24- * ler. Xvii. 5, 6.
c It seems much more probable, however, that beds of salt, co
eval with the mountains, were uncovered and made to affect the sur
rounding country, by the burning away of vast quantities of bitu
men when the wrath of God, poured from heaven in a storm qf
Jightning, consumed the cities and the plains. I. C
Vol. I. Z

170 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
phet Zephaniah was directed to prgdict against the
kingdom of Moab, he alludes expressly4he punishment
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and intimates, that one part
of that punishment consisted in the vale being turned
into salt ; " As I live, saith the Lord, — Surely Moab
shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Go
morrah, even the breeding of nettles and salt pits, and a
perpetual desolation."* The qualities of the lake
which now covers the once fertile and delightful vale of
Siddim, and the desolate appearance of the surround
ing country, as has been already shewn, perfectly cor
respond with the words of the inspired writers, and the
conclusions of reason.
Some writers suppose the Dead sea to be the crater
of a volcano. But this opinion is entirely without
foundation ; for all extinguished volcanoes exhibit the
same characters, that is to say, mountains excavated in
in the form of a tunnel, lava and ashes, which exhibit
incontestible proofs of the agency of fire. The Dead
sea, on the contrary, is a lake of great length, curved
like a bow, placed between two ranges of mountains,
which have no natural coherence in form, no homoge-
neousness of soil. They do not meet at the two extre
mities of the lake ; but continue, the one to bound the
valley of Jordan, and to run northward as far as the
lake of Tiberias ; the other to stretch away to the south,
till they are lost in the sands of Yemen. Bitumen,
warm springs, aud phosphoric stones are found, it is
true, in the mountains of Arabia: but Chateaubriand
met with none of these in the opposite chain. But then
the presence of hot springs, sulphur, and asphaltos, is
not sufficient to attest the anterior existence ofa volcano.
The rugged mountains and spacious caverns on the
south-west shore of the lake Asphaltites, the chosen re
fuge of the oppressed in every age, acquired additional
celebrity from the secure retreat which they afforded to
David and his men from the lawless violence of Saul.
To this dreary scene, the inspired historian alludes in
his memoir of the wanderings and perils of that illus
trious exile : " It was told Saul, saying, behold, David
* Zeph. ii. 9.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. l^l
is in the wilderness of Engeddi. Then Saul took three
thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men upon the mountains of the wild
goats."* In one of the capacious excavations, for
which that pile of desolate rocks and precipices is dis
tinguished, David had an opportunity, when Saul went
in to cover his feet, by cutting off the skirt of his robe,
of proving, at once, the purity of his intensions, and the
magnanimity of his heart. Such an act of genuine he
roism, ought to have extinguished for ever the ground
less resentment and cruel jealousy of his prince ; but
Saul was the slave of ambition, and therefore dead to
every sentiment of justice and humanity.
The rivers that water the land of Promise, are not so
remarkable as the mountains and the lakes which di
versify its surface. The greater part of them, as the
Kidron, the Jabbok, and the Arnon, are only brooks
or mountain torrents, some of which are dry for the
greater part of the year, or ouly run with a flowing
stream during the melting of the snows on the peaks of
Lebanon, or the fall of the former and the latter rain.
The Kishon, whose furious current swept away the
routed legions of Sisera, though mentioned in Scrip
ture as a river, is only a small stream, except when
swelled by the rain or melting snow. " That ancient
river" pursues his course down the middle of the plain
of Esdraelon, and then passing close by the side of
mount Carmel, falls into the sea at a place named Cay-
pha. When Maundrell crossed this stream, on his
way to Jerusalem, its waters were low and inconsi
derable ; but in passing along the side of the plain, he
observed the tracts of many tributary rivulets falling
down into it from the mountains, by which it must be
greatly swelled in the rainy reason. It was undoubt
edly at the season when the Kishon, replenished by the
streams of Lebanon, becomes a deep and impetuous
torrent, that the bands of Sisera perished in its waters.
The Kishon, like several other streams in Palestine,
does not run with a full current into the sea, except in
the time of the rains, but percolates through the sands
which interpose between it and the Mediterranean-!
* 1 Sam. xxiv. 1,2. t Maundrell.

172 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
It has been immortalized in the song of Deborah and
Barak : " The kings came and fought ; then fought the
kings of Canaan in Tanach by the waters of Megiddo j
they took no gain of money. They fought from heaven;
the stars in their courses fought againe* Sisera."* The
confederate kings took no gain for money ; they were
volunteers in the war, stimulated only by hatred and
revenge. But they strove in vain ; the hosts of heaven
fought for Israel ; the stars in their courses, against the
powerful bands of Jabin. By the malignant influences
of the heavenly bodies, by the storms of hail, thunder,
and rain, produced, it is probable, by the power, and
directed by the sagacity of holy angels, the confident
hopes of Sisera were blasted, and a mark of eternal in
famy stamped upon his name. From heaven, says the
Chaldee Paraphrast, from heaven, the place where the
stars go forth, war was commenced against Sisera; the
God of heaven shot forth his arrows, and discomfited
the hostile armies ; and the river of Kishon swelled
over all its banks by the furious tempests, engaged also
in the warfare, by the command of its sovereign Lord,
and swept the fugitives away. For this stroke of ven
geance, the Kishon, was ordained of old : and this is
the reason the inspired bard applies to it the distin
guishing epithet in the text : " The river of Kishon
swept them away ; that ancient river, the river Kishon."
0 my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
But the largest and most celebrated stream in Pales
tine, is the Jordan. This river has been commonly said
to issue from two fountains, or to be formed by the junc
tion of two rivulets, the Jor and the Dan ; but the as
sertion seems to be totally destitute of any solid founda
tion. The Jewish historian, Josephus, on the contrary,
places its source at Phiala, a fountain which rises about
fifteen miles from Cesaria Philippi, a little on the right
band, and not much out of the way tp Trachonitis. It
is called Phiala, or the Vial, from its round figure ; its
water is always of the same depth, the bason being
brimful, without either shrinking or overflowing. From
Fhiala to Panion, which was long considered as the
* Judges v. 19, 20.

e«0tmApny of the east. 173
real souree of Jordan, the river flows under ground.
The secret of its subterraneous course was first dis
covered by Philip, the tetrarch of Trachonitis, who cast
straws into the fountain of Phiala, which came out again
at Panion. Leaving the cave of Panion, it crosses the
bogs and fens of the lake Semichonitis ; and after a
course of fifteen miles, passes under the city of Julias,
the ancient Bethsaida : then expands into a beautiful
sheet of water, named the lake of Gennesareth ; and
after flowing a long way through the desert, empties
itself into the lake Asphaltites, or Dead sea. As the
cave Panion lies at the foot of mount Lebanon, in the
northern extremity of Canaan, and the lake Asphaltites
extends to the southern extremity, the river Jordan pur
sues its eonrse through the whole extent of the country
from north to south. It is evident, also, from the his
tory of Josephus, that a wilderness or desert of con
siderable extent, stretched along the river Jordan in the
times of the New Testament; which was undoubtedly
the wilderness mentioned by the evangelists, where
John the Baptist came preaching and baptizing.
The Jordan has a considerable depth of water.
Chateaubriand makes it six or seven feet deep close at
the shore, and about fifty paces in breadth a considera
ble distance from its entrance into the Dead sea. Ac
cording to the computation of Volney, it is hardly sixty
paces wide at the mouth. It may be said to have two
banks, of which the inner marks the ordinary height
of the stream ; and the outer, its ancient elevation du
ring the rainy season, or the melting of the snows on
the summits of Lebanon. In the days of Joshua, and,
it is probable, for many ages after his time, the harvest
was one of the seasons when the Jordan overflowed his
banks. This fact is distinctly recorded by the sacred
historian : "And as they that bare the ark were come
unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the
ark were dipped in the brim of the water (for Jordan
overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest)."*
This happens in the first month of the Jewish year,
which corresponds with March,! But in modern times
* Joshua iii. 15, f 1 Chron. sii. 15.

174 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
(whether the rapidity of the current has worn the chan
nel deeper than formerly, or whether its waters have
taken some other direction,) the river seems to have
forgotten his ancient greatness. When Maundrell visit
ed Jordan on the thirtieth of March, the proper time
for these inundations, he could discern no sign or pro
bability of such overflowing ;* nay, so far was it from
overflowing, that it ran, says our author, at least two
yards below the brink of its channel. After having
descended the outer bank, he went about a furlong
upon the level strand, before he came to the immediate
bank of the river. This inner bank was so thickly
covered with bushes and trees, among which he ob
served the tamarisk, the willow, and the oleander, that
he could see no water till he had made his way through
them. In this entangled thicket, so conveniently planted
near the cooling stream, and remote from the habita
tions of men, several kinds of wild beasts were accus
tomed to repose till the swelling of the river drove them
from their retreats. This circumstance gave occasion
to that beautiful allusion of the prophet : " He shall
come up like a lion, from the swelling of Jordan, against
the habitation of the strong."! The figure is highly
poetical and striking. It is not easy to present a more
terrible image to the mind, than a lion roused from his
den by the roar of the swelling river, and chaffed and
irritated by its rapid and successive encroachments on
his chosen haunts, till forced to quit his last retreat, he
ascends to the higher grounds and the open country,
and turns the fierceness of his rage against the helpless
sheep cots, or the unsuspecting villages. A destroyer
equally fierce, and cruel, and irresistible, the devoted
Edomites were to find in Nebuchadnezzar and his
armies. The water of the river, at the time of Mr. Maund-
rell's visit, was very turbid, and too rapid to allow a
swimmer to stem its course. Its breadth might be about
twenty yards ; and in depth, it far exceeded his height.
The rapidity and depth of the river, which are admitted
by every traveller, although the volume of water seem*
* Maundrell's Trav. f Jer. xlix. 19.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 175
now to be much diminished, illustrate those parts of
Scripture, which mention the fords and passages of
Jordan. Although it no longer rolls down into the
Salt sea) so majestic a stream as in the days of Joshua,
its ordinary depth is still about ten or twelve feet, so
that it cannot even yet be passed but at certain places.
Of this well-known circumstance, the men of Gilead
took advantage in the civil war, which they were com
pelled to wage with their brethren : " The Gileadites
took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites :
— then they took him, and slew him at the passages of
Jordan.* The people of Israel, under the command of
Ehud, availed themselves of the same advantage in the
war with Moab : " And they went down after him, and
took the fords of Jordan towards Moab, and suffered
not a man to pass over."!
But although the state of this river in modern times,
completely justifies the incidental remarks of the sacred
writers, it is evident, that Maundrell was disconcerted
by the shallowness of the stream, at the time of the year
when he expected to see it overflowing all its banks ;
and his embarrassment seems to have increased, when
he contemplated the double margin within which it
flowed. This difficulty, which has perhaps occurred
to some others, may be explained by a remark which
Dr Pococke has made upon the river Euphrates.
" The bed of the Euphrates," says that writer, "was
measured by some English gentlemen at Beer, and
found to be six hundred and thirty yards broad ; but
the river, only two hundred and fourteen yards over;
that they thought it to be nine or ten feet deep in the
middle ; and were informed, that it sometimes rises
twelve feet perpendicularly. He observed, that it had
an inner and outer bank ; but says, it rarely overflows
the inner bank : that when it does, they sow water
melons and other fruits of that kind, as soon as the
water retires, and have a great produce." From this
passage, Mr. Harmer argues ; " Might not the over
flowings of the Jordan be like those of the Euphrates,
not annual, but much more rare?" The difficulty,
* Jud. xii. 6. tJu<i'iu-28-

176 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
therefore, will be completely removed, by supposing,
that it does not, like the Nile, overflow every year, as
some authors by mistake had supposed, but like the
Euphrates, only in some particular years; but when
it does, it is in the time of harvest. If it did not in
ancient times annually overflow its banks, the majesty
of God in dividing its waters, to make way for Joshua
and the armies of Israel, was certainly the more strik
ing to the Canaanites ; who, when they looked upon
themselves as defended in an extraordinary manner by
the casual swelling of the river, its breadth and rapidity
being both so extremely increased, yet, found it in these
circumstances part asunder, and leave a way on dry
lahd for the people of Jehovah.
The casual overflowing of the river, in Mr. Har-
mer's opinion, seems to receive some confirmation from
a passage in Josephus, where that writer informs his
readers, that the Jordan was sometimes swelled in the
spring, so as to be impassable in places where people
were wont to go over in his time: for, speaking of a
transaction on the fourth of the month Dystrus, which
answers to our March, or, as others reckon, to Februa
ry, he gives an account of great numbers of people who
perished in this river, into which they were driven by
their enemies ; which, by the circumstances, appears to
have happened in a few days after what was done on
the fourth of Dystrus.*
But the solution offered by this respectable author is
rather strained and unsatisfactory. The inspired wri
ter of the book of Joshua uses language on that sub
ject, which naturally suggests the idea of periodical
inundations : " Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the
time of harvest." The present time certainly indicates
the general habit of the subject to which it refers, and
in this case, what commonly happens to the river. It
may be swelled in the spring; occasionally; but it is
not easy to discover a reason for the general remark of
the sacred writer, if the inundations in the time of har
vest were not annual. The causes of these inundations,
the melting of the snows on the top of Lebanon, and
• Harmer vol. 3. p. 388.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. iff
the former and latter rain, uniformly take place at their
appointed seasons ; but a steady periodical cause will
certainly produce a corresponding effect. But if this
reasoning be just, why did not Maundrell see the effect
when he visited the river at the appointed time? This
question may be answered by another, Why do the in
undations even of the Nile sometimes fail? The reason
is obvious ; the rains in Abyssinia are not every season
equally copious. In the same manner, if the snows on
Lebanon, and the periodical rains, are less abundant
in some seasons, it will easily account for the state of
the river when it was visited by Maundrell. Admitting
the fact, that the volume of water in the Jordan is di
minished, and that he never overflows his banks as in
ancient times, that intelligent traveller himself has suf
ficiently accounted for the circumstance : some of the
waters maybe drained off by secret channels, which is
not uncommon in those parts of the world ; and if the
rapidity of the current be so great that he could not
swim against it, the depth of the channel must be great-'*
ly increased since the days of Joshua and the Judges^'
To these, some other causes of considerable power may1
be added ; the present state of Lebanon, now for a
long time deprived of its immense forests of cedar,
which formerly exerted a powerful attraction on the hu
midity of the atmosphere, and served to accumulate the
snows on the Sannin, while they screened from the
burning rays of the sun, the fountains and rills that fed
. the Jordan and his tributary streams ; and the great ex
tent to which the declivities of that noble mountain have
been subjected to the arts of cultivation, by the Maro-
nites, and other nations, who have taken refuge in its
sequestered retreats from the intolerable oppression of
the Turks, by which its numerous streams have been
still further diminished, — must, it is imagined, produce
a very sensible difference in the volume of water which
that river, once so celebrated for its full and majestic
tide, now pours into the Salt sea.
But although these causes must have produced a con- .
siderable diminution in the swellings of Jordan, we
have the authority of a recent traveller for asserting;
Vol. I. A a

178 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
that they still take place at the appointed season, and,
exhibit a scene of no inconsiderable grandeur. In win
ter, the river overflows its narrow channel, which be
tween the two principal lakes is not more than sixty or
eighty feet broad, and swelled by the rains, forms a
sheet of water sometimes a quarter of a league in breadth.
The time of its overflowing is generally in March, when
the snows melt on the mountain of the Shaik ; at which
time;, more than any other, its waters are troubled and
©fa yellow hue, and its course impetuous.*
Thecommou receptacle into which the Jordan emp
ties his waters, is the lake Asphaltites, from whence
they are continually drained off by evaporation. Some
writers, unable to find a discharge for the large body of
water which is continually rushing into the lake, have
been inclined to suspect, it had some communication
with the Mediterranean ; but, besides that we know of
no such gulf, it has been demonstrated by accurate cal
culations, that the evaporation is more than sufficient to
carry off the waters of the river. It is in fact very con
siderable, and frequently becomes sensible to the eye,
by the fogs with which the lake is covered at the rising
of the sua, and which are afterwards dispersed by the
heat.! How large the common receptacle of the Jordan was,
before destruction of Sodom, cannot now be determined
with certainty ; but it was much smaller than at pre
sent : the whole vale of Siddim, which, before that
awful catastrophe, was crowed with cities, or covered
with rich and extensive pastures, and fields of corn, be
ing now buried in the waters of the lake. The course
of the stream, which is to the southward, seems clearly
to indicate, that the original basin was in the southern
part of the present sea. But, although the waters of
the river at first presented a much less extended surface
to the action of the sun and the atmosphere, still a secret
communication between the lake and the Mediterranean,
is not perhaps necessary to account for their discharge.
By the admission of Volney, evaporation is more than
sufficient to carry them off at present ; and if to this be
* Volney's Trav. f ibid.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 17-9
added, the great quantity of water consumed in the
cities, and required by the cultivator, to refresh his
plantations and corn fields, under the burning rays of an
oriental sun, it is presumed, a cause equal to the effect
is provided. This is not a mere conjecture, unsup
ported by historical facts ; for only a very small por
tion of the Barrady, the principal river of Damascus,
escapes from the gardens that environ the city, through
which, it is conducted in a thousand clear and wind
ing streams, to maintain their freshness and verdure.*
Intimately connected in sacred story with the Jordan,
are Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus. The
only river, which in modern times, waters that ancient
capital of Syria, is called the Barrady. It is not
twenty yards over ; but rushes down from the moun
tains with great rapidity, and with so large a body of
water, that it abundantly supplies the thirsty fields and
•gardens around, aud the innumerable baths and foun
tains within the city.
The city itself, is of a long straight figure, extending
about two miles, and lying nearly in the direction of
north-east and south-west. It is surrounded with gar
dens, stretching no less, according to common estima
tion, than thirty miles around ; which gives it the ap
pearance of a city in the midst of a vast wood. The
gardens are thickly planted with fruit trees of all kinds,
that are kept fresh and verdant by the waters of the
Barrady. Numerous turrets and gilded steeples, glit
tering in the blazing sun-beam among the greenboughs,
diversify and heighten the beauty of the prospect. On
the north side of this vast wood, is a place called Sol-
kas, crowded with the most beautiful summer-houses
and gardens. This delightful scene, and even the city
itself, may be considered as the creation of the Barrady,
which supplies both the gardens and the city, diffusing
beauty and fertility wherever it flows.
The river, as soon as it issues from the disparted
mountain into the plain, is divided into three streams,
of which the one in the middle, which is the largest of
the three, runs directly to Damascus through a large
* Maundrell's Trav.

18(5 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Open field, called the Ager Damascenus, and is distri
buted to all the cisterns and fountains in the city. The
other two, which Maundrell takes to be the work of
art, are draw?i round ; one to the right hand, and the
other to the left, on tne borders of the gardens, into
which they are introduced by little currents, and con
ducted to every part of the wood. The distribution is
so complete, that not a garden but has a fine quick
stream running through it, which both waters the thirs
ty soil, and supplies a number of artificial fountains aud
other water works, adding greatly to the beauty and
convenience of the retreat. But the consequence of the
distribution is fatal to the river, which is almost wholly
drunk up by the city and gardens. The small part of
it which escapes, is united again into one channel on
the south-east side of the city ; and after a course of
about three or four hours, finally loses itself in a morass,
without reaching the sea.
The Greeks, and from them the Romans, give to
this river the name of Chrysorrhoas : but as for Abana
and Pharpar of Damascus, mentioned by the sacred
writer, not evrn the names are preserved. They must
therefore have been only two branches of the Barrady ;
and one of them was probably the same stream that
runs through the Ager Damascenus directly to the city,
which seems by its serpentine course, to be a natural
channel. The other, it is now difficult to find ; but this
will be no matter of surprise, when it is considered how
often the Damascenes have altered the course of this
river, to suit their own convenience and pleasure.
The numerous and important advantages, which the
winding streams of the Barrady confer on the city of
Damascus and its adjacent fields, sufficiently account
for the indignant reply of Naaman the Syrian, to the
prophet ; " Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Da
mascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May 1 not
wash in them and be clean ? So he turned, and went
away in a rage." The haughty Syrian, piqued that
the prophet treated him with so little ceremony, consi
dered the command to go and wash in Jordan seven
times, as a species of insult offered to his native land ;

UEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 181
he did not know, or would not consider, that the word
of Jehovah imparts efficacy to the most unpromising
means.

CHAP. IX.

OF THE STATE OF THE WEATHER IN PALESTINE AND THE
E\ST.
THE land of Canaan, from the mountainous nature
of the country, and its diversified exposure, seems to
experience a great variety of temperature. From Tri
poli to Sidon, the country is much colder than the rest
of the coast farther to the north aud to the south, and has
a less regular change of seasons. The same remark
applies to the mountainous parts of Judea, where the
vegetable productions are much later than on the sea
coast, or in the neighbourhood of Gaza. The air of
Saphet, in Galilee, is, from its elevated situation, so
fresh and cool, that the heats which, during the sum
mer, are very great in the adjacent country, are hardly
felt.* Josephus takes notice of the same differences of
climate in his time ; stating, that it was warm near
Jericho, while it snowed in other parts of Judea. Eg-
mont and Hayman found the heat in the plain of Jeri
cho extremely troublesome, and for some hours in the
day quite insupportable. So early as the month of
March, the heat actually proved fatal to several per
sons in the plain of Jericho, the year before these tra
vellers arrived. In the great battle which Baldwin
IV. king of Jerusalem, fought with the Saracens, not
far from Tiberias in Galilee, a situation considerably
more to the north than Jericho, many of his troops died
by the heat. The archbishop of Tyre, who writes the
narrative, asserts, that the heat at that time, which ap
pears to have been the middle of summer, was so great,
* Shaw's Travels.

183 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
that as many died by the heat in both armies as by the
sword. After the battle, in their return to their former
encampment, an ecclesiastic of some distinction in
Baldwin's army, unable to bear the vehement beams of
the sun, was carried in a litter, yet he expired under
mount Tabor, near the river Kishon. K eland, in his
Palestina, shews that Shunem was in the vicinity of
Tabor ; and at Shunem, as we learn from the sacred
historian, the heat proved fatal to a child in the days of
prophet Elisha, in the time of harvest.* How desira
ble then, how necessaryr to the comfort, and even to the
very existence of life in those scorched regions, must be
•" a covert from the heat, or the shadow of the great
rock ?"! It is not without a strict regard to natural phe
nomena, that the spirit of inspiration directs the spouse
to exclaim, " 1 sat down under his shadow with great
delight."! Beautiful and striking as these figures are,
they give us but a faint idea of that protection and com
fort which the true believer derives from the favour of
his Redeemer. When the storms of life beat keen and
heavy upon his head ; when the fires of persecution
kindle and blaze around him ; when Satan desires to
have him, that he may sift him as wheat, and an accu
sing conscience fills his bosom with dismay, — he seeks
and finds repose in the atoning blood of his Saviour,
in the efficacy of his intercession, and in the power of
his omnipotent arm. The spreading tree may wither,
and the stupendous rock may be tumbled from its base,
and the weary traveller may find shelter under them no
more ; but the mercy of the Lord endures for ever, and
he is in every age, and in every place, a present help in
the time of trouble.
The fields of Canaan are refreshed with frequent and
copious rains, while some of the neighbouring countries
are scarcely ever moistened with a shower. In the win
ter months, the rain falls indiscriminately, but seldom
in the summer. Soon after the heats commence, the
grass withers, the flower fades, every green thing is
dried up by the roots, and the fields, so lately clothed
* Harmer's Observations, Dr. Clarke's edition.
-flsaia. xxxii. 2. *Songii. 3.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 18S
with the richest verdure, and adorned with the loveliest
flowers, are converted into a brown and arid wilderness.
To the uniform withered appearance of the fields dur
ing the reign of an eastern summer, and not to any par
ticular year of drought, the psalmist refers in these
plaintive terms : " My moisture is turned into the
drought of summer."* When conviction slept, and
conscience was silent, the soul of David resembled a
field refreshed by the genial showers of heaven ; but the
moment God in anger entered into judgment with him,
and set his sins in order before his face, his courage
failed, his beauty was turned into corruption, and his
strength into weakness; " the commandment came, siu
revived, and he died."
Though the summer in Syria is commonly dry, the
heavens are sometimes overcast, and a smart thunder
shower suddenly rushes down to refresh the parched
soil-! One of these fell at Aleppo in the night between
the first and second of July, 1743 ; but it was regarded
as a very uncommon occurrence at that season. Tt is
probably still more extraordinary at Jerusalem ; for Je
rome, who lived long in Palestine, denies, in his com
mentary on Amos, that he had ever seen rain in those
provinces, and especially in Judea, in the end of June,
or in the month of July. It may, however, occasionally
fall, though Jerome had never seen it, as it did at Alep
po, while Dr. Russel resided in that city. But such an
occurrence, by no means invalidates the proof which the
prophet Samuel gave of his divine mission, when he
called for thunder and rain from heaven in the time of
wheat harvest ;f since a very rare and unusual event
immediately happening without any preceding' appear
ance of it, upon the prediction of a person professing
himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving it as an
attestation of his sustaining that character, is a sufficient
proof that his affirmation is true, although a similar
event has sometimes happened without any such de
clared interposition of God, and therefore universally
understood to be casual and without design. N or should
it be forgotten, that this thunder storm in the book of
* Psal. xxxii. 4. f Eussel's Hist, of Akppo. * 1 Sam. xii. 16.

184 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Samuel, seems.to have happened in the day time, while
the people of Israel were celebrating the accession of
Saul to the throne ; a circumstance which, from its sin
gularity, added considerable energy to this event, and,
perhaps, was to them a sufficient proof of the miracu
lous interference of Jehovah. Dr. Russel informs us,
that the rains in those countries usually fall in the night,
as did those extraordinary thunder storms already men
tioned, which happened in the month of July.
The rainy season is limited to the autumnal and winter
months ; for although some showers occasionally fall in
the time of harvest, it is reckoned a very uncommon oc
currence. In this light Harmer thinks it was viewed by
Solomon : " As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,
so honour is not seemly for a fool."* But the wise man
_ seems rather to have had his eye on the injurious effects
of rain in that season of the year. As rain in harvest
interrupts the labours of the reaper, and injures the
fruits of the earth, so vicious and unprincipled men,
when they happen to be crowned with honour, and ele
vated to places of power and trust, uniformly prove a
nuisance to society ; instead of being a " terror to evil
doers, and a praise to them that do well," they en
courage the wicked, and depress the good and the vir
tuous. Nor does that affecting historical incident, recorded
in the second book of Samuel, refer to the ordinary state
of the weather in the time of harvest, but to an unusual
drought and scarcity, that God, in his just displeasure,
sent upon the land of Israel, on account of Saul and his
bloody house ; which were not removed till seven of his
90ns were hanged up by the Gibeonites before the Lord :
" then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth,
and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning
of harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven,
".ad suffered neither the birds of the air to rest upon them
by day, nor the beasts of the field by night."!
But although these texts, when viewed in their con
nection, do not seem to contain any allusion to the ge
neral character of the harvest months, no doubt ought
* Prcv. xxvi. 1. J 2 Sam. xxi. 10.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 185
to be entertained of the fact stated in the beginning of
the section. The time of harvest was generally dry, a
circumstance favourable to the labours of the husband
man, on whose success depended the subsistence of the
poor and the needy. But the winter months were often
extremely cold aud rainy ; thus Ezra describes the ninth
month, which answers to our January, " as a time of
much rain," so heavy and incessant, that the people
could not stand without to hear the law read, and to rec
tify the disorders that had crept into the congregation.*
When Dr. Shaw was at Tozer, in December 1727,
they had a small drizzling shower, which continued two
hours ; and so little precaution was taken against acci
dents of this kind, that several of the houses, which, as
usual in that country, are built only with palm branches,
mud and tiles baked in the sun* corresponding perhaps
to the untempered mortar of Ezekiel,! and explanato
ry of its nature, fell down by imbibing the moisture of
the shower. Nay, the Doctor firmly believed, if the
drops had been either larger, or the shower of a longer
continuance, or in the language of the prophet, " over
flowing," the whole city would have dissolved and dropt
to pieces.
The time of the first rains is differently stated by
modern travellers. According to Dr Shaw, the first
autumnal rains usually fall about the eleventh of No
vember : from a manuscript journal of travels in those
countries, Mr Harmer found that the rain fell in the
Holy land, on the second of November ; and he was
assured by the historian of the revolt of Ali Bey, who
lived some years in Palestine, that the rains begin to fall
there about the eighteenth day of September; at first
they descend in slight showers, but as the season ad
vances, they become very copious and heavy, though
never continual.!
Dr Shaw seems to suppose, that the Arabs of Bar-
bary do not begin to break up their grounds, till the
first rains of autumn fall ; while the author of the his
tory of Ali Bey's revolt, supposes that they sometimes
plow their land before the descent of the rain, because
* Ezra. x. 9, 13. f Ezek xiii ll- * Harmer, vol. 1:
Vol. I. Bb

186 ILLUSTRATIONS of SCRIPTURE.
the soil is then light, and easily worked. This state*
ment contains- nothing incredible; grain will remain.
long in the earth unhurt, and vegetate as soon as the
descending, showers communicate sufficient moisture.
The oriental husbandman may cultivate his field, as is
often; done in other countries-, in expectation of rain ; a
circumstance to which Solomon seems to refer : "He
that observeth the wind shall not sow, and' he that re-
gardeth the clouds shall not reap."* If they never
sowed in the east but when the soil was moistened with
rain, they couldhave no reason to observe, whether the
wind threatened rain or promised fair weather ; but if
the seed was cast into the ground previous to the des
cent of the rain, they might naturally enough be induced
to wait till they observed the signs of its approach.
The rainy season in the beginning of winter, by the
concurring testimony of travellers, is commonly intro
duced by a gale of wind i from the north-east. In Syria,.
the winds are variable in November, and the two suc
ceeding months ; seldom strong, but more inclined to
the north and east, than any of the other quarters.
They continue to blow nearly in the same direction,
till about the end of February, when they begin to blow
hard westerly. The weather in April is in general fair
and clear ; seldom dark or cloudy, except when it rains,
which it does in hard thunder showers, as in the last
month, but not so often. When light northerly or
easterly breezes happen to blow, they have commonly
a few close hazy days ; but the westerly winds are
generally fresh.
In the rainy season, the wind alters and begins to
blow from the west in February, and continues in the
same point till May ; after which, seldom any more
rain falls im Syria, till autumn, when the wind blows
commonly from the north-east.! These remarks will
throw light on that part of our Lord's address to the
Jews, in which he adverts to the state of the weather :
"When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straight
way ye say, there cometh a shower, and so. it is."!
This declaration our Lord seems to have made to the
•¦ Eccl. xi. 4. f Russel's Hist„of Aleppo. f Luke xii. 54.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 187
'people in spring; for his words entirely correspond
with the state of the weather in that season ; but not in
the close of autumn, and the beginning of winter. The
lilies then, which are mentioned in the same chapter,
might be growing at that very time, .before the eyes of
his auditors.: u Consider the lilies how they grow, they
toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day
in the field, .and to-morrow is cast into the oven,; bow
.much more will he clothe you, 0 ye of little faith."*
A very small cloud is often the forerunner. of a vio
lent storm or hurricane. The cloud like a man's hand,
which the servant of Elijah saw rising over the sea, is,
for want. of due observation, commonly regarded as an
unmeaning circumstance in the prophetic history. In
telligent travellers know that it is a prognostic of rain.
The first indication of the tornado or the hurricane, is
vl dark spot on the edge of the horizon. This gradually
increases, till the whole heavens are robed in black,
and a most tremendous uproar. of the, elements ensues.
When its fury is spent, and all is comparatively clear,
the reappearance of the little cloud, is the undoubted
•evidence, as it is the forerunner of another tempest.
The winter in Canaan is extremely wet and cold. In
the time of the, crusades, many of the troops perished
through want of provisions, intenseness of the cold, and
the heaviness of the winter trains. Fulcherius, who
was in the retinue of the prince of Antioch, in his jour
ney to Jerusalem, and saw many of both sexes die,
besides numbers of their cattle, says, they were kept
wet for four or five days together, by the continual
rains. So great is the quantity of rain which. occa
sionally falls, and so intense the cold, that the elements
seem to conspire the ruin of every living creature that
is exposed to their fury. It is agreed by all those who
have written on the subject, that all the winter months
in Palestine are rainy ; and by consequence, that Judea
is not one of those regions where it only rains at the
.equinoxes. * Luke xii. 27.

188 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The Hebrew word Horeph, accordingly, which we
translate winter, in Mr. Harmer's opinion, seems rather
to mean precisely the wet season. " 0 that I were as
in months past," says Job, " as in the days when God
preserved me, as I was in the days of my winter !" In
the days of his moist time, when, as he expresses it,
"my root was spread out by the waters, and the dew
lay all night upon my branch : my glory was fresh in
me."* Not in the days of his disgrace then, the days
in which he was stript of his ornaments, as an herb of
its leaves and flowers in the winter ; but like a plant, in
the latter part of the rainy season, before the violent
heats come on, which scorch and burn up every green
thing-! But the term Horeph, from the verb haraph, to strip,
literally means the stripping season ; and signifies that
part of the year which strips vegetables of their flowers,
fruit, and leaves, and consequently, the earth of its
beauty. It is opposed to Kaitz, from koutz, to awake
or quicken, the quickening or awakening season, and
includes both autumn and winter. Is it probable, that
the cold and rainy season of winter, would be an object
of desire to Job, when "the heavens are filled with
clouds, when the earth swims in rain, and all nature
wears a lowering countenance ?" It is more natural to
render the phrase, in the days of his autumn, which in
those climates is a delightful season ; for then the heats
are abated, the earth is moistened with dew, or refresh
ed with the first showers of the latter rain, and the
various fruits of the earth, to use the beautiful language
of inspiration, are ready to drop into the mouth of the
eater ; or, the trees and fields being stripped of their
produce, are heaped upon his board. The afflicted
patriarch certainly referred to the end of harvest, in
allusion to which he might say, with strict propriety,
" my root was spread out by the waters, and the dew-
lay all night/ upon my branches; my glory was fresh

in me."

The frost is sometimes so very severe about Jerusa
lem, and even in some of the lower parts of Judea, that
* Job xxix. 2—19. 20. f Harm. vol. 1. p. 38.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 189
the ground in winter is covered with snow, which ocr
casionally falls in very great quantities, and is attended
with a most piercing cold. The hapless traveller is
then reduced to very great distress. The ground is
alternately deluged with rain, or encrusted with ice, or
loaded with snow ; his beasts of burden are swept away
by the sudden torrents which descend from the moun
tains, or swallowed up in the treacherous morass.
Storms of hail beat around him with incredible vio
lence, and the winds blow with so much vehemence,
that the stakes of his tent are torn up and carried to a
distance ; his cattle which escape the quagmire, often
die through fatigue, cold, and wet; his provisions are
spoiled, his arms are covered with rust, his clothes
are damaged, and his life exposed to the most imminent
hazard.* Such extreme colds, however, are not experienced
unless particular winds prevail ; even at Christmas
when the air is calm, travelleis inform us, it is pleasant
to sit with open windows. But when the sky is agita
ted by those tempestuous winds, known to sailors by
the name of Levanters, the cold is so piercing, the con
flict of hail, of ice, of snow, and of rain is so terrible,
that many of the poor people and their cattle perish.
We are apt to wonder that an eastern writer, in a hymn
composed for the use of ancient Israel, should celebrate
the praise of Jehovah in these terms : " He giveth his
snow like wool, he scatters the hoar frost like ashes, he
casteth forth his ice like morsels : who can stand before
his cold ?"! But the preceding statements will prove,
that the royal Psalmist did not mean to describe the
rigours of a northern, but an oriental winter, and that
he copied accurately from nature.
If the snows which fall in Judea, resemble those
which travellers have seen in other parts of the east, the
sacred writer displays in that noble poem, an energy
and correctness of which we are not commonly aware.
We learn from Chardin, in a manuscript note on this
passage of the Psalmist, that towards the Black sea in
Iberia and Armenia, and therefore he imagines in other
* Harm. vol. 1. p. 40, &c. -f Psal. cxlvii. 16, 17.

1 90 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
countries also, " the snow falls in flakes as big as wal
nuts; but not being either hard or very compact, it does
no other harm than presently to cover and overwhelm
the traveller." The sacred writer had probably seen
Hakes of equal size on the mountains of Judea ; but
whether he had or net, that Divine Spirit, under whose
unerring influence he wrote, who lays up the snow in
his treasures, knew that they existed, and marked the
spot where they fell. He apprised bis servant of the
fact, and suggested the beautiful and strikingly correct
figure to his mind, " He giveth his snow like wool."
The description that Jerome gives of the Holy land,
in his letter to Marcella, may seem hardly consistent
with the picture which the Psalmist draws of a Syrian
winter : "If it is summer, the shade of the trees will
afford a place of retirement ; if autumn, the leaves un
der the trees, united with the temperature of the air, will
•point to a place where you may enjoy yourself in quiet.
In the spring the ground is painted with flowers ; and
the singing of psalms will be more sweet when joined
with the music of birds. If it be the time of wintry
cold and snow, 1 will buy no wood, and yet be warmer
than you are at Rome, whether sleeping or awake ; at
least, I am sure I shall guard myself from cold with
less fueL
This Christian father lived long in Palestine, and
therefore seems every way entitled to credit. But a very
little attention will convince the candid inquirer, that
the difference between the Psalmist and Jerome is only
apparent ; for in this very passage the latter admits, that
in winter the weather is cold, and the ground is covered
with snow ; he only asserts, that in general the winter
is milder in Palestine than at Rome. Nor ought it to
be forgotten, that his letter was written for a special
purpose— to prevail upon his friend to leave Rome and
settle at Jerusalem. But it is well known how difficult
it is in such circumstances, to prevent imagination from
touching the picture with her vivid pencil, and impart
ing a richness of colouring which sober judgment will
scarcely approve. That Jerome did not sufficiently
guard against her magic power on this occasion, we

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 19'2
have reason to suspect, from a passage in his commen
tary on the charge of our Lord to his disciples, " Pray
ye "that your flight be not in the winter;" where he
distinctly admits, thai the cold in Palestine is frequent
ly too severe to be suffered by those who fled before
their enemies, and might be glad to conceal themselves-
in the deserts, which the extreme severity of the cold
would not allow.
But admitting that the glowing description of Jerome
is actually copied from nature, still no real difference
between him and the inspired writer exists ; for we learn
from other sources- of information, that in the depth of
winter it is frequently warm, nay, almost hot in the
open air ; and. by cousequence, from the fall of the leaf
in November.,, aud the coming on of the winter storms
about the twelfth of December,, a recluse may enjoy
himself veuy comfortably in hi* meditations abroad. It
is evidently to tliis- part of the season that Jerome re
fers. But on the other hand, it is often piercingly coldr
even to those that are lately come from aceld climate.*
In those frequent intervals of returning warmth^
which relieve the severity of an oriental writer, the
people of the east enjoy the conversation of their friends;.
the poorer class in the open air sauntering about, and*
sitting under the walls of their houses ; people of rank
and fashion in the porches or gateways, where thfr
master of a family receives visits, and transacts busi*
ness, few persons, not even the nearest relations, being
admitted into, their apartments except upon extraordina
ry occasions-!
To these circumstances the prophet Ezekiel seems to
refer in the following passage :. " Also thou son of man,.
the children of thy people are still talking against (or
rather concerning) thee by the walls, and in the doors
of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to
his brother,, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what
is the word that cOmeth forth from the Lord."! Our
translators render the original words Beha, against thee;
the Septuagint, *"?<¦ «¦«) of or concerning thee- This is
the more singular, as the same particle is rendered ins
* Bussel's Hist. f Shaw's Trav. * Ezek. xxxiii, 30.

192 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
other parts of Scripture, Of or concerning : thus, in the
eighty-seventh Psalm, " Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of the Lord " The following words in-
contestibly prove they were not speaking against Eze
kiel, but in his favour : " And they come unto thee as
the people cometh : and they sit before thee as my peo
ple ; and they hear thy words, but they will not do them ;
for with their mouth they shew much love., but their
heart goeth after their covetousness." But if their
mouth shewed much love, they did not speak against the
prophet, but in his commendation. These conversa
tions respecting the prophet were held in winter ; for it
was the tenth month, answering to the latter end of De
cember, or beginning of January, when the orientals sit
under the walls for the benefit of the sun, or in the
porches or gateways of their houses.*
As the Copts in Egypt commonly spend their holy days
in conversation under the walls of their habitation, so Mr.
Harmer is of opinion, that these words of Ezekiel may
refer to such times. And if so, he asks, will they not
shew that the Israelites observed their sabbaths in the
captivity ? And that so early as the time of the first
destruction of Jerusalem, they used to assemble on those
days, to hear if the prophets had received any messa
ges from the Lord in that week, and to receive those ad
vices which their calamitous circumstances made pecu
liarly seasonable ? It is very probable that the Jews in
those early times assembled to hear the instructions of
the prophets, and for the public worship of their God,
so far as their painful circumstances might permit ; but
the words of Ezekiel under consideration, appear to be
of a more general character, referring as well to the
public meetings of the synagogue, as to the private par
ties and conversations of the people.
The orientals distinguish their winter into two parts,
or rather the depth of winter from the commencement
and termination of the season, by the severity of the
cold. This which lasts about forty days, they call
Murbania. To this rigorous part of the season, the
wise man seems to refer in that beautiful passage of the
• Pococte's Trav.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 1Q3
Song: " Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone ^
the flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the singing of
birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our
land."* If we explain this text by the natural pheno
mena, these words, " the rain is over and gone," can
not be considered as an exposition of the preceding
clause, " for, lo, the winter is past ;" and as denoting,
that the moist part of the year was entirely gone, along
with which, Dr. Russel assures us, all rural delights
abandon the plains of Syria : but the meaning is, that
the Murbania, the depth of winter, is past and over,
and the weather become agreeably warm; the rain has
just ceased, and consequently, has left the sure and
agreeable prospect of undisturbed and pleasant sereni
ty for several days. It had been no inducement to the
spouse, to quit her apartments with the view of enjoying
the pleasures of the country, to be told, that the rainy
season had completely terminated, and the intense heats
of summer, under which, almost every plant and flow
er sickens and fades away, had commenced. This
view of the text corresponds with the state of matters
in the religious world, and with the experience of every
Christian. The storms of life do not always blow with
equal violence : the privations and the sorrows of the
believer, are not equally numerous and severe at all
times ; often the storm at the command of his heavenly
Father, is changed into a calm ; but the season of tran
quillity is commonly of short duration, and is but com
paratively bright and serene.
The inhabitants of the great towns of Syria, during
the pleasant weather in winter, frequently leave their
homes, and give entertainments to their friends under
tents, pitched in the country for that purpose. In April,
and part of May, they retire to the gardens ; and in the
heat of summer, receive their guests in the summer-
houses, or under the shade of the trees.! The same
custom seems, from the invitation of the Bridegroom,
to have prevailed in the land of Canaan in the time of
Solomon. The inhabitants of Aleppo, make their ex-
* Song ii. 10. t Kissel's Hist.
Vol. I. C c

494 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE,
cursions very early in the season ; and the cold weather
is not supposed by Solomon to have ceased long before,
since it is distinctly mentioned. In Syria, the narcissus
flowers during the whole of the Murbania; hyacinths
and violets, at latest, before it is quite over. There
fore, when Solomon says, the flowers appear on the
earth, he does not mean the time when the earliest flow
ers disclose their bloom, but when the verdant turf is
thickly studded with all the rich, the gay, and the di
versified profusion of an oriental spring. This delight
ful season is ushered in at Aleppo, about the middle of
February, by the appearance of a small cranes bill on
the bank of the river, which meanders through its ex
tensive gardens ; and a few days after, so rapid is the
progress of vegetation, all the beauty of spring is dis
played : about the same time, the birds renew their
songs. When Thevenot visited Jordan on the six
teenth of April, he found the little woods on the mar
gin of the river, filled with nightingales in full chorus.
This is rather earlier than at Aleppo, where they do
not appear till nearly the end of the month. These
facts illustrate the strict propriety of Solomon's de
scription, every circumstance of which is acccutely co
pied from nature.
In Palestine, and the surrounding regions, the cold
ness of the night in all the seasons of the year, is often
very inconvenient. The king of Judah is described by
the prophet, as sitting in his winter- house in the ninth
month, corresponding to the latter end ef November
and part of December, with a fire burning on the hearth
before him.* This answers to the state of the weather
at Aleppo, where, as Russel informs us, the most deli
cate people make no fires till the end of November.
The Europeans, resident in Syria, he observes in a
note, continue them till March ; the people of the coun
try, seldom longer than February ; but fires are occa
sionally made in the wet seasons, not only in March,
but in April also, and would be acceptable at the gar
dens, sometimes even in May. Dr. Pococke, in his
journey to Jerusalem, being conducted by an Arab to
* Jer. xxxv-i, 22.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 195
fiis tent, found his wife and family warming themselves
by the fire on the seventeenth of March ; and on the
eighth of May, he was treated with a fire to warm him,
by the governor of Galilee. The nights in that season
are often very cold ; and of this, the inhabitants are
rendered more sensible by the heats of the day. In
May and June, and even in July, travellers very often
put on fires in the evening.* This statement clearly
discovers the reason, that the people who went to Geth-
semane to apprehend our Lord, kindled a fire of coals,
to warm themselves at the time of the passover, which
happened in the spring.
But it is not only in elevated situations, as that on
which the city of Jerusalem stands, that the cold of the
night is so piercing ; the traveller has to encounter its
severity on the low-lying plains, by the sea side, and
in the sandy deserts, where, during the day beneath the
scorching sun-beam, he could scarcely breath. The
severe cold of the morning, compelled Mr. Doubdan to
remain some hours at Joppa, in a poor Greek hovel, be
fore he could set out for Rama. At ancient Tyre, his
condition was still more distressing. On the sixteenth
of May, he found the heat near that once renowned
mart of nations so great, that though he and his party
took their repast on the grass, under a large tree, by
the side of a small river, yet he complains, " they were
burnt up alive." After attempting in vain to prosecute
their voyage, night overtook them at the ruins of Tyre.
Near those ruins, they were obliged to pass a consider
able part of the night, not without suffering greatly from
the cold, which was as violent and sharp, as the heat
of the day had been intense. Our traveller acknow
ledges, that he shook, as in the depth of winter, mom
than two or three full hours.
In the midst of the burning deserts, where the heat
is increased tenfold by the sandy surface on which it
beats, the traveller encounters much inconvenience, and
even distress from the chilling cold of the night. Mr.
Bruce, the justly celebrated Abyssinian traveller, lost
all his camels in one night by the cold, in the deserts of
* Russet's His.

196 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Senaar. In the year 1779, the Bedouin Arabs plun
dered an English caravan in the desert, between Suez
and Cairo. Seven of the Europeans, stripped entirely
naked by their inhuman spoilers, in the hope of reach
ing Cairo, pushed forward into the desert. Fatigue,
thirst, hunger, and the heat of the sun, destroyed one
after another: one alone, survived all these horrors.
During three days and two nights, he wandered in this
parched and sandy desert, frozen at night by the north
wind, (it being in the month of January), and burnt by
the sun during the day, without any other shade but a
single bush, into which he thrust his head among the
thorns, or any drink but, his own urine. At length, on
the third day, he was descried by an Arab, who con
ducted him to his tent, and took care of him for three
days, with the utmost humanity. At the expiration of
that time, the merchants of Cairo, apprized of his situa
tion, procured him a conveyance to that city, where he
arrived in the, most deplorable condition,* From these
important facts we may conclude, that even in those
parched countries, a fire in the night, in the middle of
May, might be very requisite, and highly acceptable.
The hapless wanderer, whose affectiug story Volney
records, was frozen at night by the north wind, and
burnt by the dreadful heat of the sun during the day;
and the patriarch Jacob complains, that he was for
many years exposed to similar hardships in the plains
of Mesopotamia ; " In the day, the drought consumed
me, and the frost by night."! Nothing assuredly was
remoter from the design of Volney, a proud and inso
lent enemy of revelation, than to confirm the truth of
Scripture history ; his statement clearly proves, that
Jacob's complaint was not hastily made, but strictly
agreeable to truth.
In the rainy season, the clouds pour down their trea
sures at certain intervals with great violence, for three
or four days together. Such abundant and violent rains,
in a mountainous country like Judea, by washing away
the soil, must often be attended with very serious con
sequences to the dwellings the inhabitants, which hap-
* Volnev's Trav. -j- Gen. xxxi. 40,

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 197
pen to be placed within the reach of the rapid inunda
tions. At Aleppo, the violent rains often wash down
stone walls ; and Dr. Russel mentions a remarkable
instance of a hamlet with a fig garden, in the Castravan
mountains, being suddenly removed by the swelling
waters, to a great distance. It was to an event of this
kind, which is by no means uncommon in those regions,
that our Lord refers: " Whosover cometh to me, and
heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you
to whom he is like : he is like a man which built an
house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a
rock ; and when the flood arose, the stream beat violent
ly upon that house, and could not shake it ; for it was
founded upon a rock. But he that heareth and doeth
not, is like a man that without a foundation built an
house upon the earth, against which the stream beat
vehemently, and immediately it fell ; and the ruin of
that house was great."*
The former and the latter rains, is a phrase quite
familiar to every reader of the Scriptures. The dis
tinction which it announces is founded in nature, and is
of great importance in those parts of the world. At
Aleppo, the drought of summer commonly terminates
in September, by some heavy showers, which occa
sionally continue some days ; after which, there is an
interval of fine weather, of between twenty and thirty
days, when the showers return, which are called the
second rains. The first rains fall between the twenty-
sixth of September, and the sixth of October :! but it is
later in Judea ; the former rain, according to Dr. Shaw,
descending in Palestine about the beginning of Novem
ber. The seasons in the east are exceedingly regular,
yet it is not to be supposed, that they admit of no varia
tion; the descent of the first and second rain occa
sionally varies a whole month. But the first and second
rains of Syria, mentioned by Russel, do not seem to
correspond with the former and latter rains of the Holy
Scriptures, This is the opinion of Jerome, who lived
long in Palestine : nor do the natural historians of those
countries take any notice of the first and second rains
* Luke vi. 48. t Bussel's Hist.

198 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
in autumn ; but uniformly speak of the former and lat
ter rains. It is therefore of some importance to inquire,
what are the times of the year when these rains des
cend. Here it may be proper to observe, that rain in
the vernal season, is represented by oriental writers as
of great advantage. The more wet the spring, the later
the harvest, and the more plentiful the crop* In Bar*
bary, the vernal rains are indispensably requisite to
secure the hopes of the husbandman. If the latter rains
fall as usual in the middle of April, he reckons his crop
secure ; but extremely doubtful if they happen to fail.!
This accounts well for the great value which Solomon
sets upon them : " In the light of the king's counten
ance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter
rain."! To this may be added, that the words trans
lated the former and latter rains, are not expressive of
first and second ; and by consequence, do not refer to
the rains mentioned by Russel, but mark a distinction
of much greater importance. They must therefore be
the same as the vernal rains, which are universally
allowed to be of the utmost consequence in those re
gions. An argument, however, which is commonly adduced
in proof, that the latter rain means the showers that fall
in the spring, is in reality of no force ; it is founded in
these words of the prophet Joel : " He will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former rain and the
latter rain, in the first month."§ The word month is
not in the original ; which ruins the argument. The
Septuagint accordingly render the words, "he will
rain upon you the former and the latter rain, as afore
time." Jerome understands the passage in the same
sense ; though he believed the latter rains were those of
the spring. ||
The following passage in the prophecies of Amos,
has been erroneously referred by some commentators,
to the vernal or latter rains : " Also I have withholden
the rain from you, when there were yet three months to
the harvest ; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and
* Rossel's Hist. f Shaw. $ Pro v. xvi. 15. §Joelii.28,
|| Harm. vol. 1. p. 76.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. igg
caused it not to rain upon another city ; one piece was
rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not,
withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one
city to drink water, but they were not satisfied, &c."*
The latter rain falls in the middle or towards the end
of April, from which, if there be three months to the
harvest, as the prophet asserts, it must fall in the mid
dle or towards the end of July. But at present in
Syria, barley harvest commences about the beginning
of May, and that, as well as the wheat harvest, is
finished by the twentieth of the same month. In Judea
the harvest is still more early.! The rain, therefore,
which God threatens to withhold from his people, must
have commonly fallen in the first part of February.
That a quantity of snow descends at Jerusalem at this
time, which is of great importance to the succeeding
harvest, is confirmed by the authority of Dr. Shaw. It
is no real objection to this view, that the prophet
threatens to withhold the rain ; for the great difference
of temperature in Palestine, may be the cause that it
snows in the mountainous districts, while it rains in
other parts of the same country. By the moderate
quantity of rain or snow which falls in the month of
February, the reservoirs of water on which the cities of
Palestine chiefly depend, are filled, and the prospect of
a fruitful and plentiful year is opened. Of so great
importance to the subsistence and comfort of that people
are these rains, that upon their descent, they make
similar rejoicings with the Egyptians upon the cutting
of the Nile. The prophet evidently refers to both
these circumstances, to the succeeding harvest, in these
words : " the piece or field upon which it rained not,
Avithered ;" to the state of the cisterns in these : " so
two or three cities wandered into one city to drink
water, but tbey were not satisfied." Hence, Mr. Har
mer, who treats Jerome on this occasion with undue
severity, is wrong in supposing, that the inspired writer
refers to the single circumstance of filling" their cisterns
with water. He refers to both, and this Jerome dis
tinctly notices ; " God suspended the rain," says that
* Amos iv. 7/8. t Russel, vol. 1. p. 74.

200 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
father " not only to punish them with want of bread,
but also with thirst ; for in those countries in which he
then resided, excepting a few fountains, they had only
cistern water ; so that if the divine anger suspended the
rains, there was more danger of perishing by thirst than
by famine." Jerome certainly committed a mistake,
when he referred the words of Amos to the latter rain ;
but he understood as certainly the true extent of the
threatening. The former and the latter rains were in the days of
Elijah, suspended for three years and six months."1 But
when the prophet said to Ahab, " As the Lord God of
Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be
dew nor rain these years, but according to my word ;"*
he could not mean, there shall be no rain at all for three
years ; for long before their termination, the whole po
pulation of Israel must have miserably perished It is
not uncommon among the orientals, to express a great
deficiency by an absolute negative. Thus Philo affirms,
that in Egypt they have no winter ; by which, accord
ing to his own explanation, he meant no hail, no thun
der, no violent storms of wind, which constitute an
eastern winter. Pliny in like manner affirms, there are
no rains, no thunders, no earthquakes in that country ;
while Maillet who quotes him, asserts that he had seen
it rain there several times, and that there were two
earthquakes in Egypt during his residence. His idea,
* 1 Kings xvii. 1.
dSee Luke iv. 25. and James v. 17. But in 1 Kings xviii. 1, it
is said : " The word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year,
saying, go, shew thyself unto Ahab ; and I will send rain upon the
earth"— And it is probable from the account which followes in that
chapter, that rain was sent in a very short time afterwards. If,
however, we recollect what our author has observed, that in Judea
the principal rains commonly fall only twice a year, the former
towards the end of October, and the latter about the middle of
April — there being an interval of six months from April to Oc
tober, the difficulty will vanish by supposing that God began to
withhold the rain at the season when it was expected, and continued
to withhold it three years from that time. The end of the third
year would in reallity be three years and six months from the
period of the last rain. I. C.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 20l
therefore, is very plausible, that Pliny meant only to
state the rare occurrence of these phenomeua ; that it
seldom feels the power of the earthquake, and when it
does, suffers but little damage ; that it very seldom rains
or thunders, although on the sea coast the rains and
thunders are often very violent ; but it does not rain
there as in other parts of the world. This account of
the rain of Egypt, is confirmed by the testimony of two
English travellers. When Pitts was at Cairo, the rain
descended in torrents, and the streets having no ken
nels to carry off the water, it reached above the ancles,
and in some places much higher. In Upper Egypt it
rained and hailed almost a whole morning, when Dr.
Pococke was there in the month of February ; and the
following night it also rained very hard. These authen
tic statements unfold the true meaning of the prophet's
assertion, " that Egypt has no rain ;"* he must be un
derstood in the same qualified sense as Pliny and other
writers. In the same manner, the words of Elijah to
Ahab must be interpreted ; they only mean, that the
dew and the rain should not fall in the usual and ne
cessary quantities. Such a suspension of rain and dew
was sufficient to answer the corrective purposes of God,
whilst an absolute drought of three years' continuance,
must have converted the whole country into an unin
habitable waste. But such a destruction is not inti
mated in the Scriptures ; and we may conclude, from
the inspired narrative, did not take place. That guilty
people were certainly reduced in the righteous judg
ments of God to great straits : but still they were able
to subsist until his fierce anger passed away, and mercy
returned to bless their afflicted habitations.
A shower of rain in the east, is often preceded by a
whirlwind, which darkens the sky with immense clouds
of sand from the loose surface of the desert. To this
common phenomenon, the prophet alludes, in his direc
tion to the king of Israel, who was marching with his
army against Moab, and was ready to perish in the
wilderness for want of water : " Thus saith the Lord,
make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the
* Zech xiv. 18.
Vol. I. D d

202 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain ;
yet that valley shall be filled with water that ye may
drink, both ye and your cattle and your beasts."* If a
squall had not commonly preceded rain, the prophet
would not have said, ye shall not see wind. The inti
mate relation between a gale of wind and a shower of
rain, in the oriental regions, is confirmed by the follow
ing proverb : " Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift
(or pretends he will bestinv a valuable gift, and disap
points the expectation of bis neighbour,) is like clouds
and winds without rain."!
The sacred historian, in one passage, speaks of the
heavens being darkened with wind ;! but as this can
be produced only two ways, either by collecting the
clouds, or by raising immense quantities of sand into
the higher regions of the air, and as the clouds men
tioned in the same clause, he must, it is presumed, al
lude to the latter phenomenon. The rising of a whirl
wind before a shower, and the elevation of the sand,
are not confined to the desert, they are common occur
rences in the inhabited regions of Syria.
The whirlwind, it appears from the sacred writings,
comes from different points of the compass. The pro
phet Ezekiel speaks of one that came from the north ;
and although it appeared to him in vision, it was accor
ding to the course of nature ; for we learn, from other
sources of information, that it sometimes arises in that
quarter. William of Tyre records an instance of a vio
lent whirlwind from the north, in the time of the cru
sades, which enveloped two hostile armies in an im
mense cloud of dust, and compelled them for a while to
suspend the work of destruction. When that enterpri
sing traveller, Mr. Parke, was traversing the Sahara,
or great desert, in his way to the Niger, destitute of pro
visions and water, Tiis throat pained with thirst, and his
strength nearly exhausted, he heard a wind sounding
from the, east, and instinctively opened his parched
mouth to receive the precious drops of rain which he
confideutly expected; but it was instantly filled with
sand drifted from the desert. So immense was the
* 2 Kings iii. 16, 17. f Prov xxv. 14. * 1 Kings i. 8. 45.

geography of the east. 203
quantity raised into the air, and wrafted upon the wings
of the wind, and so great the velocity with which it flew,
that he was compelled to turn his face to the west to
prevent suffocation, and continue motionless till it pass
ed. Sometimes it comes from no particular point, but
moves about in every direction. Mr. Bruce, in his
journey through the desert of Seuaar, had the singular
felicity to contemplate this wonderful phenomenon in
all its terrific majesty, without injury, although with
considerable danger and alarm. In that vast expanse
of desert, from west and to north-west of him, he saw
a number of prodigious pillars of sand at different dis
tances, moving at times with great celerity, at others
stalking on with majestic slowness ; at intervals he
thought they were coming in a very few minutes to
overwhelm him and his companions. Again they would
retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reach
ing to the very clouds. There the tops often separted
from the bodies ; and these, once disjointed, dispersed
in the air, and appeared no more. Sometimes they
were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large
cannon shot. About noon they began to advance with
considerable swiftness upon them, the wind being very
strong at north. Eleven of these awful visitors ranged
along side of them about the distance of three miles.
The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to him
at that distance, as if it would measure ten feet. They
retired from them with a wind at south-east, leaving
an impression upon the mind of our intrepid traveller
to which he could give no name, though he candidly
admits that one ingredient in it was fear, with a consi
derable deal of wonder and astonishment. He de
clares it was in vain to think of flying, the swiftest
horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry
them out of this danger ; and the full persuasion of this
rivetted him to the spot where he stood. Next day they
were gratified with a similar display of moving pillars,
in form and disposition like those already described,
only they seemed to be more in number and less in
size. They came several times in a direction close
upon them ; that is, according to Mr. Bruce's compu-

204 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
tation, within less than two miles. They became, im
mediately after sun rise, like a thick wood, and almost
darkened the sun ; his rays shining through them for
near an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of
fire. At another time they were terrified by an army
(as it seemed) of these sand pillars, whose march was
constantly south ; a number of which seemed once to
be coming directly upon them ; and though they were
little nearer than two miles, a considerable quantity of
sand fell around them. On the twenty-first of Novem
ber, about eight in the morning, he had a view of the
desert to the westward as before, and saw the sands had
already begun to rise in immense twisted pillars, which
darkened the heavens, and moved over the desert with
more magnificence than ever. The sun shining through
the pillars, w hich were thicker, and contained more
sand apparently than any of the preceding days, seem
ed to give those nearest them an appearance as if
spotted with stars of gold. A little before twelve, the
wind at north ceased, and a considerable quantity of
fine sand rained upon them for an hour afterwards.
But this fatal wind more frequently comes from the
south, and is then attended with infinitely greater dan
ger to the hapless traveller, whom it overtakes in the
Nubian wilds.* It is therefore with strict propriety,
that the sacred writers distinguish from all others the
whirlwinds of the south, and with peculiar force and
beauty, compare the sudden approach of calamity, to
their impetuous and destructive career. " 1 also will
laugh at your calamities ; I will mock when your fear
cometh : when your fear cometh as desolation, and
your destruction cometh as a whirlwind : when distress
and anguish cometh upon you."! Whole caravans
have been overwhelmed in a moment, by the immense
quantity of sand which it puts in motion. The Arab
who conducted Mr. Bruce through the frightful deserts
of Senaar, pointed out to him a spot among some sandy
hillocks, where the ground seemed to be more elevated
than the rest, where one of the largest caravans which
ever came out of Egypt, was covered with sand, to the
* Maillet. -(¦ prov. i 26, 27.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 205
number of several thousand camels. This awful phe
nomenon, Addison has well described in the following
lines, which he puts into the mouth of Syphax, a Numi-
dian prince. " So where our wide Numidian states extend,
Sudden the impetuous hurricanes descend,
Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play,
Tear up the sands, and sweep whole plains away.
The helpless traveller, with wild surprise,
Sees the dry desert all around him rise,
And, smothered in the dusty whirlwind, dies."
The south wind in those arid regions, blowing over
an immense surface of burning sand, becomes so
charged with electrical matter, as to occasion the great
est danger, and often instant death, to the unwary tra
veller. A Turk who had twice performed the pil
grimage to Mecca, told Dr. Clarke that he had witnes
sed more than once the direful effects of this hot pesti
lential wind in the desert. He has known all the water
, dried out of their skin bottles in an instant, by its influ
ence. The camels alone gave notice of its approach,
by making a noise, and burying their mouths and nos
trils in the sand. This was considered as an infallible
token that the desolation was at hand ; and those who
imitated the camels, escaped suffocation.
Mr. Jackson, in his Journey over land from India,
had an opportunity of observing on the river Tigris, the
progress of the hot winds called by the native Samiel,
which sometimes prove very destructive, particularly
between twelve and three o'clock, when the atmos
phere is at its greatest degree of heat. Their force, in
his opinion, entirely depends on the surface over which
they pass. If their career is over a desert where no ve
getation rises to retard it, they extend their dimensions
with amazing velocity ; and then their direction is oc
casionally to windward. When their flight is over
grass, or any other vegetation, they soon diminish and
lose much of their force ; when it is over a watery sur
face, they lose all their electrical force, and ascend ; yet
he sometimes felt their effects across the river where it

206 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
is at least a mile broad. He mentions the following
circumstance in proof of his assertion : Mr. Stephens,
a fellow traveller, was bathing in the Tigris, having on
a pair of Turkish drawers. On his return from the
water, a hot wind came across the river, which made
his drawers and himself dry in an instant. Mr. Jack
son declares he was present, and felt the force of the
wind, and saw the effect, else he could not have be
lieved it, though the circumstance had been related to
him by another person.*
The account which Mr. Bruce gives in his Travels,
of this wind, and of its effects, are too remarkable to
be omitted. On the sixteenth of November, at eleven
o'clock before noon, Idris the native guide cried out
with a loud voice, Fall on your faces, for here is the
Simoom ! Our celebrated traveller upon this turned
round, and saw from the south-east, a haze come in co
lour like the purple part of the rainbow, but not so
compressed. It did not occupy twenty yards in breadth,
and was about twelve feet high from the ground. It
was a kind of blush upon the air, and moved with great
rapidity ; for he scarcely could turn to fall upon the
ground with his head to the northward, when he felt
the heat of its current plainly upon his face. The light
air which blew for some time after the meteor or pur
ple had passed, was of a heat to threaten suffocation.
On the twentieth of the same month, they had ano
ther visit from this terrible adversary. The coloured
haze on this occasion seemed to be rather less compres
sed, and to have with it a shade of blue. The edges
of it were not defined as those of the former, but like a
very thin smoke, with about a yard in the middle
tinged with those colours. They all fell upon their
faces, and the Simoom passed with a gentle ruf
fling wind. It continued to blow in this manner till
near three o'clock ; so they were all taken ill that
night, and hardly strength was left them to load the ca
mels and arrange the baggage.
The effects of a third visit were still more injurious :
it produced a desperate kind of indifference about life ;
* Jackson's Journey, &c. See also Harmer, vol. 1. p. 94, &c.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 207
it brought upon him a degree of cowardice and langour,
with which he struggled in vain ; and it completely ex
hausted his strength.
Campbell, in his Travels, most significantly calls it
a horrid wind, whose consuming blasts extend their
ravages all the way from the extreme end of the gulf of
Cambaya up to Mosul. It carries along with it fleaks
of fire, like threads of silk ; instantly strikes dead those
that breathe it, and consumes them inwardly to ashes ;
the flesh soon becoming black as a coal, and dropping
off the bones. The numbers that perish by its fatal in
fluence, are sometimes very great. Thevenot states,
that in the year 1665, in the month of July, four
thousand people died at Bassora by that wind, in three
weeks time.
By this powerful and terrific agent, invigorated by
the arm, and guided by the finger of Jehovah, was the
numerous army of the proud and blaspheming Senna
cherib destroyed under the walls of Libnah. In the
brief statement of Isaiah it is said, " Then the angel
(or, as it may be rendered, the messenger) of the Lord,
went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, a
hundred and fourscore and five thousand men."* Now
this angel of Jehovah is expressly called in verse 7th
of the same chapter, Ruach, a blast or wind ; which
can hardly leave a doubt of the manner in which this
passage is to be understood-!
The suffocating heats wafted on the wings of the
south wind from the glowing sands of the desert, are
felt more or less in all the oriental regions ; and even
in Italy itself, although far distant from the terrible
wastes of the neighbouring continents, where they pro
duce a general languor, and difficulty of respiration.
To this pestilential wind our Lord evidently refers in
these words : " When ye see the south wind blow, ye
say there will be heat ; and it cometh to pass."!
The south wind, so fatal or injurious to the people of
the east, must be to them an object of alarm or dismay.
Yet, in the Song of Solomon, its pestilential blast is in-
* Isai. xxxvii. 36. f °r- Clarke, Note, p. 96, vol. 1. of his edition of Harmer.
* Luke xii, 5$.

208 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
vited by the spouse to come and blow upon ber garden,
and waft its fragrance to her beloved.* If the south
winds in Judea are as oppressive as they are in Bar-
bary and Egypt, and as the winds from the desert are
at Aleppo, (which, according to Russel, are of the same
nature as the south winds in Canaan) ; or if they are
only very hot, as Le Bruin certainly found them in Oc
tober, would the spouse have desired the north wind to
depart, as Bochart renders it, and the south wind to
blow? The supposition is too absurd to be admitted.
An inspired writer never departs from the strictest truth
and propriety in the use of figures according to the rules
of oriental composition ; and therefore a meaning di
rectly opposite must be the true one, to correspond with
the physical character of that wind. The nature of
the prayer also requires a different version ; for is it to
be supposed that the spouse, in the same breadth would
desire two directly opposite winds to blow upon her
garden ? It now remains to inquire, if the original text
will admit of another version ; and it must be evident,
that the only difficulty lies in the term which we render
Come thou. Now the verb Bo, signifies both to come
and to depart ; literally, to remove from one place to
another. In this sense of going or departing, it is used
in the prophecies of Jonah twice in one verse : " He
found a ship (Baa) going to Tarshish ; so he paid the
fare thereof, and went down into it (Labo) to go with
them."! It occurs again in this sense in the book of
Ruth, and is so rendered in our translation : "He went
(Vayabo) to lie down at the end of the heap of corn."
The going down or departure of the sun, is expressed
by a derivative of the same verb in the book of Deute
ronomy : " Are they not on the other side Jordan, by
the way where the sun goeth down ?"\ Joshua uses it
in the same sense : " Unto the great sea, (Mebo) toward
the going down of the sun, shall be your coast."^ The
passage then, under consideration, may be rendered in
this manner, putting the address to <the south wind in
a parenthesis : Arise, O north wind, (retire thou south,)
blow upon my garden, let the spices thereof flow forth,
* Song iv. 16. -j- Jonah i 3. * Deut, xi. 30. §Josli. i. 4.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 209
that my beloved may come into his garden, and eat his
pleasant fruits. "
Those critics who favour the common interpretation
contend, that the south wind is warm and humid, and
by its gentle heat, clothes the face of nature with all
its diversified beauties. This is, in particular, the
opinion of Sanctius ; but, recollecting that Virgil speaks
of the south wind as destructive to flowers, he anti
cipates the objection by gravely asserting, that the south
wind mayr be destructive in Italy, and stormy in Africa,
yet placid and salubrious in Palestine, because it blows
from the sea, from which it acquires a humid warmth
and softness. Winds blowing from the same points in
different countries, may perhaps assume different cha
racters, and produce different and even contrary effects ;
but the opinion of Sanctius is entirely groundless. The
south wind in Palestine can scarcely be said to blow
from the sea; it only crosses the Red sea in its way
from the vast deserts of Africa ; after which it traverses
the burning sands of Arabia before it reaches the land
of Canaan ; and consequently it comes on that country
strongly charged with electrical matter, and glowing
like the heat of a large oven, the effects of which are so
violent, that the inhabitants find it necessary to shut
fast the doors and windows of their apartments. Such
an incommoding or injurious wind is surely not a natu
ral object of desire. Even in Italy, where it blows
directly across the Mediterranean, it is deleterious, as
we know from the authentic testimony of Virgil :
"  namque urget ab alto
Arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister." Geor. b. I. I. 44.
But if it be so hurtful to vegetable and animal exis
tence in the distant fields of Italy, it must be greatly
more injurious in Palestine, which borders on the de
serts, the native land of the purple haze. This con
clusion, were any confirmation necessary to establish so
plain a truth, is verified by the testimony of Le Bruin,
who, in the course of his travels in Palestine, found
from experience, that it produced an oppressive heat,
Vol. I. E e

210 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
not the gentle and inviting warmth which Sanctius sup
posed. No traveller, so far as the writer has been able
to discover, gives a favourable account of the south
wind ; consequently, it cannot be an object of desire ;
the view therefore which Harmer first gave of this text,
is in every respect entitled to the preference : " Awake,
O north wind, (depart thou south,) blow upon my gar
den, that the spices thereof may flow out."
In Syria, lightnings are frequent in the autumnal
months. Seldom a night passes without a great deal
of lightning in the north-west, but without thunder;
but, when it appears in the west or south-west points,
it is a sure sign of approaching rain, and is often at
tended with thunder.* It has been observed already,
that a squall of wind and clouds of dust, are the usual
forerunners of the first rains. To these natural pheno
mena, the sacred writers frequently allude ; and in the
precise order, which has beea marked in the preceding
observations. The royal Ps. Imist, in a very beautiful
strain, ascribes them to the immediate agency of heaven :
" He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the
earth ; he maketh lightnings for the rain ; he bringeth
the wind out of his treasures."! The cisterns of the
clouds are replenished by exhalations from every part
of the globe ; and, when they are ready to open and
pour out their refreshing showers on the parched
ground, the glad tidings are announced by the rapid
lightning, and the precious treasure is scattered over
the field by the attendant winds ; aud, that the sweet
singer of Israel looked through nature with an accurate
discriminating eye, is confirmed by the concurring tes
timony of all ages. In the following passage, the pro
phet Jeremiah seems to have borrowed the very words
of the Psalmist : " When he uttereth his voice, there is
a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth
the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he
maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth tbe
wind out of his treasures."! Here, by a sublime me
taphor, is thunder denominated the voice of God, and
the harbinger of the rain ; and the pious seer, recog-
• * Russel's Hist. -j- Psal. cxxxv. 7. % Jer. x. 13.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 211
nizes in the rolling of the thunder, and the effusion of
the showers of heaven by which they are followed, the
immediate agency of him who made the earth by his
power, who has established the world by his wisdom,
and has stretehed out the heavens by his discretion.
These lightnings, thunders, and rains, he justly calls
the treasures of Jehovah ; things precious and rare in
those parts of the earth, which the beneficent Creator
has laid up under his own management, for the preser
vation and comfort of man and beast So deeply did
the prophets feel the value of the autumnal rains, which
the God whom they served, shed upon the dry and
thirsty ground after the drought of summer ; with so
much beauty and correctness did they describe the
various phenomena of the revolving seasons ; and how
much greater energy appears in their descriptions, after
we have gained an acquaintance with the state of the
weather in that part of the world ! The most energe
tic, the most just and beaptifu.1 descriptions of unin
spired bards, make but a distant approach to the sub
lime dictates of inspiration. With the passages quoted
from the Psalmist and the Prophet, let the following
lines of Virgil, the prince of Roman poets, be compared^
and the difference will immediately appear.
<l Atque haec ut certis possimus discere signis,
Aestusque, pluviasque et agentes frigora ventos,
Ipse Pater statuit quid menstrua luna moneret ;
Quo signo caderent Austri, quid ssepe videntes
Agricolae, propius stabulis armenta tenerent."
Geor. b. 1. /. 351. Ifc.
" And that we may learn these things by certain signs,
both heats and rains, and cold bringing winds, Father
Jove himself, has appointed what the monthly moon
should betoken ; with what signs the south winds should
fall ; from what common observations the husbandman
should learn to keep his herds nearer their stalls."*
Before taking leave of this subject, it may not be im
proper to remark, the wisdom and goodness of God dis
played in the temperature of an oriental sky. The
* Davidson.

212 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
excessive heats of the day, which are sometimes incom
modious even in the depth of winter, are compensated
and rendered consistent with animal and vegetable life,
by a corresponding degree of coolness in the night. The
patriarch Jacob, takes notice of this fact in his expostu
lation with Laban : " By day the heat consumed me,
and the frost by night." Mr. Bruce, in like manner,
frequently remarks in his journey through the deserts of
Senaar, where the heat of the day was almost insup
portable, that the coldness of the night was very great.
When Kauwolf travelled on the Euphrates, he was
wont to wrap himself up in a frize coat in the night time,
to defend himself from the frost and dew, which, he ob
serves, are very frequent and violent there. Thevenot
traversed the very fields where Jacob tended the flocks
of Laban ; and he found the heats of the day so intense,
that although he wore upon his head a large black hand
kerchief, after the manner of the orientals when they
travel, yet, his forehead was frequently so scorched, as
to swell exceedingly, and actually to suffer excoriation;
his hands being more exposed to the burning sun, were
continually parched ; and he learned from experience, to
sympathize with the toilworn shepherd of the east. In
Europe, the days and uights resemble each other, with
respect to the qualities of heat and cold ; but if credit
be due to the representations of Chardin, it is quite
otherwise in oriental climates. In the Lower Asia,
particularly, the day is always hot, and as soon as the
sun is fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt
in the depth of winter itself: on the contrary, the nights
are as cold as at Paris in the month of March. It is
for this reason, that in Turkey and Persia, they always
used furred habits in the country, such only being suffi
cient to resist the cold of the. night, Chardin travelled
both in Arabia and in Mesopotamia, the scene of Jacob's
adventures, both in winter and in summer, and attested
on his return, the truth of what the patriarch asserted,
that he was scorched with heat in the day, and stiffened
with cold in the night. This difference in the state of
the air in twenty-four hours, is in some places extremely
great, and according to that respectable traveller, not

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 213
conceivable by those who have not seen it ; one would
imagine, they had passed in a moment from the violent
heats of summer to the depth of winter. Thus it has
pleased a beneficent deity, to temper the heat of the day
by the. coolness of the night, without which, the greatest
part of the east would be a parched and sterile desert,
equally destitute of vegetable and animal life. This
account is confirmed by a modern traveller. When
Campbell was passing through Mesopotamia, he some
times lay at night out in the open air, rather than enter
a town ; on which occasions, he says, " I found the
weather as piercing cold, as it was distressfully hot in
the day time." The same difference between the days
and nights, has been observed on the Syrian bank of the
Euphrates; the mornings are cold, and the days in
tensely hot.* This difference is distinctly marked in
these words of the prophet : " Therefore, thus saith
the Lord, of Jehoiakim king of Judah ; he shall have
none to sit upon the throne of David ; and his dead body
shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night
to the frost."! So just and accurate are the numerous
allusions of Scripture to the natural state of the oriental
regions ; and so necessary it is to study with care, the
natural history of those celebrated and interesting coun
tries, to enable us to ascertain with clearness and pre
cision, the meaning, or to discern the beauty and force
of numerous passages of the sacred volume.

CHAP. X.

OF THE GENERAL FERTILITY OF PALESTINE-
THE soil, both of the maritime and inland parts of
Syria and Phenicia, is of a light loamy nature, and
easily cultivated. Syria may be considered as a country
consisting of three long strips of land, exhibiting dif-
* Harm. vol. 1. p. 114. t J«- xxxvi. 30.

814 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ferent qualities : one extending along the Mediterranean,
forming a warm humid valley, the salubrity of which
is doubtful, but which is extremely fertile; the other,
which forms its frontier, is a hilly rugged soil, but more
salubrious: the third, lying beyond the eastern hills,
combines the drought of the latter with the heat of the
former. We have seen by what a happy combination
of climate and soil this province unites in a small com
pass the advantages and productions of different zones,
insomuch, that the God of nature seems to have designed
it for one of the most agreeable habitations of this con-
tineut. The soil is a fine mould, without stones, and
almost without even the smallest pebble. Volney him
self, who furnishes the particulars of this statement, is
compelled to admit, that what is said of its actual fer
tility, exactly corresponds with the idea given of it in
the Hebrew scriptures. Wherever wheat is sown, if
the rains do not fail, it repayrs the cultivator with pro
fusion, and grows to the height of a man. The mount
of Olives near Jerusalem, and several other' districts in
Judea and Galilee, are covered with olive plantations,
whose fruit is equal to any produced in the Levant.
The fig trees in the neighbourhood of Joppa, are equal
ly beautiful and productive as the olive.* Were the
Holy land as well inhabited and cultivated as formerly.
Dr. Shaw declares, it would still be more fruitful than
the very best part of Syria or Phenicia ; for the soil it
self is generally much richer, and all things considered,
yields a preferable crop. Thus, the cotton which is
gathered in the plains of Rama, Esdraelon, and Za-
bulon, is in greater esteem, according to that excellent
writer, than what is cultivated near Sidon and Tripoli;
neither is it possible, for pulse, wheat, or grain of anyr
kind, to be richer or better tasted, than what is com
monly sold at Jerusalem. The barrenness, or scarcity
rather, of which some authors may either ignorantly or
maliciously complain, does not proceed, in the opinion
of Dr. Shaw, from the incapacity or natural unfruitful-
ness of the country, but from the want of inhabitants,
and from the great aversion to labour and industry in
* Hasselquist.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 215
those few by whom it is possessed. The perpetual dis
cords and depredations among the petty princes who
share this fine country, greatly obstruct the operations
of the husbandman, who must have small encourage
ment to sow, when it is quite uncertain who shall gather
in the harvest. It is in other respects a fertile country,
and still capable of affording to its neighbours, the like
ample supplies of corn and oil, which it is known to
have done in the time of Solomon, who gave yearly to
Hiram, twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to
his household, and twenty measures of pure oil.
The parts about Jerusalem particularly, being rocky
and mountainous, have been therefore supposed to be
barren and unfruitful : yet, granting this conclusion,
which is however far fiom being just, a country is not
to be characterized from one single district of it, but
from the whole. And besides, the blessing which was
given to Judah, was not of the same kiud with the bles
sing of Asher or of Issachar, that " his bread should
be fat or his land pleasant," but that " his eyes should
be red with wine, and his teeth should be white with
milk."* In the estimation of the Jewish lawgiver,
milk and honey, (the chief dainties and subsistence of
the earlier ages, as theyr still continue to be of the Be
douin Arabs), are the glory of all lands ; these pro
ductions are either actually enjoyed in the lot of Ju
dah, or at least, might be obtained by proper care and
application. The abundance of wine alone, is wanting
at present; yet, the acknowledged goodness of that lit
tle, which is still made at Jerusalem and Hebron,
clearly proves, that these barren rocks as they are cal
led, would yield a much greater quantity, if the abste
mious Turk and Arab would permit the vine to be fur
ther propagated and improved.
Wild honey, which formed a part of the food of John
the Baptist in the wilderness, may indicate to us the
great plenty of it in those deserts ; and, that consequent
ly taking the hint from nature, and enticing the bees
into hives and larger colonies, it might be produced in
much greater quantity. Josephus, accordingly calls
Gen. xlix. 12.

316 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Jericho f*«x'* t«tj«4>« x«?ov, the honey-bearing country.
The great abundance of wild honey is often mentioued
in Scripture ; a memorable instance of which, occurs in
the first book of Samuel : " And all they of the land
came to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground;
and when the people were come to the wood, behold
the honey dropped."* This circumstance perfectly
accords with the view which Moses gave of the pro
mised land, in the song with which he closed his long
and eventful career : " He made him to suck honey out
of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock."! That
good land preserved its character in the time of David,
who thus celebrates the distinguishing bounty of God
to his chosen people : " He would have fed them also
with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the
rock would I have satisfied thee."! 1Q these holy
strains, the sacred poet availed himself \)f the most va
luable products of Canaan, to lead the faith and hope
of his nation to bounties of a higher order, of greater
price, and more urgent necessity, than any which the
soil even of that favoured region, stimulated and sus
tained as it certainly was by the special blessing of
heaven, produced, — the bounties of sovereign and re
deeming mercy, purchased with the blood, and impart
ed by the spirit of the Son of God.
As the mountains of Palestine abound in some places
with thyme, rosemary, sage, and other aromatic plants,
in which the bee chiefly delights ; so, in other places,
they are covered with shrubs and delicate short grass,
which is more grateful to the cattle, than that which the
fallow-grounds or the meadows produce. The grazin
and feeding of cattle is not peculiar to Judea, it is still
practised all over mount Libanus, the Castravan moun
tains, and Barbary, Avhere the higher grounds are ap
propriated to this purpose, while the plains and valleys
are reserved for tillage
But even laying aside the profits which might arise
from grazing, by the sale of butter, milk, wool, and
the great number of cattle which were to be daily dis
posed of, particularly at Jerusalem, for common food
« 1 Sam. xiv. 25. f Deut. xxxii 14. t Peal, lxxxi. 16.

a

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 217
and for the service of the temple ; these mountainous
tracts would be highly valuable on another account,
especially if they were planted with olive trees, one
acre of which is of more value, than twice the extent of
arable ground. It may be presumed in like manner,
that the vine was not neglected in a soil and exposure
so well adapted to its cultivation.

• Juvat Ismara Baccho

Conserere atque olea magnum vestire Taburnum." Geor. b. 2,
" It is worth while to plant (even) Ismarus with vines, and clothe
vast Taburnus with olives."
Few traces are now to be found, except at Jerusalem
and Hebron, of those extensive vineyards, which in
better times adorned the hills of Canaan, and so amply
rewarded the labours of the cultivator ; but this is ow
ing not to the ungratefulness of the soil, but to the sloth
and bigotry of its present possessors. The vine is not
of so durable a nature as the olive, and requires, be
sides, an unceasing culture and attention ; while the
superstitious Turk scruples to encourage the propaga
tion of a plant, whose fruit may be applied to uses for
bidden by the rules of his religion. But the general
benefit arising from the olive tree, and its longevity and
hardiness, have been the means of continuing down to
the present times, clumps of several thousands, to mark
out to us the posibility, as they are undoubtedly the re
mains, of more extensive plantations. Now, if to these
productions be joined, several plots of arable ground,
which lie scattered all over the valleys' and windings
of the mountains in the lot of Judah and Benjamin, we
shall find, that the inheritance even of these tribes which
are supposed to have had the most barren part of the
country, fell to them in pleasant places, and that theirs
was a goodly heritage.
Besides the great quantity of grapes and raisins, says
Dr. Shaw in a note, which are brought daily to the
markets of Jerusalem and the neighbouring villages,
Hebron alone, sends every year to Egypt, three hun
dred camel loads of the robb which they call dabash?
Vol. I. F f

218 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the same word which is simply rendered honey in the
sacred volume ; as in the command of the patriarch Ja
cob to his sons : "Carry down the man a present of the
best things of the land, a little balm, and a little honey :"
For honey, properly so called, could not be a rarity
there, so great as dabash must be, from the want of vine
yards in E*gypt. Several different substances appear to
have obtained the name of honey among the ancient
Israelites ; which may be inferred from this precept ;
" Ye shall burn no leaven, nor any kind of honey in
any offering."* Besides the honey of grapes, of bees,
and of the palm, the honey of the reed, or sugar, might
be of great antiquity. Thus, the term yaar, which our
translators render the honey-comb,! is by some inter
preters, taken for a reed, or the mel arundinis of the
Latins, and the /*>*• ****,«""" of the Greeks. Strabo men
tions sugar as a succedaneum for the honey of bees ;
(tgqxi St ui ?r«£i tm\ct[iav» ort ji.bji /ii\t /xihtcrauiv fc% scav. And
Lucan, " Quique bibunt tenera dulc.es ab arundine succos."
They drink sweet juices from the tender reed.
The mountainous parts of the Holy land are so far
from being inhospitable, unfruitful, or the refuse of the
land of Canaan, that in the division of this country, the
mountain of Hebron was granted to Caleb as a particu
lar favour ; " Now therefore, give me this mountain, of
which the Lord spake in that day."! In the time of
Asa, the " hill country of Judah" mustered five hun
dred and eighty thousand men of valour ;§ an argument
beyond dispute, that the land was able to maintain
them. Even ip the present times, though cultivation
and improvement are exceedingly neglected, while the
plains and valleys, although fruitful as ever, lie almost
entirely desolate, every little hill is crowded with in
habitants. If this part of the Holy land was compos
ed, as some object, only of naked rocks and precipices,
why is it better peopled than the plains of Esdraelon,
Rama, Acre, or Zabulon, which are all of them ex
tremely fertile and delightful? It cannot be urged
that the inhabitants live with more safety on the hills
* Lev. ii, 11. f Song v. 1. ± Josh. xiv. 13. § 2 Chron xiv. 8.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 219
and mountains, than on the plains, as there are neither
walls nor fortifications to secure their villages and en
campments ; and except in the range of Lebanon, and
some other mountains, few or no places of difficult ac
cess ; so that both of them are equally exposed to the
insults of an enemy. But the reason is obvious ; they
find among these mountainous rocks and precipices,
sufficient conveniences for themselves, and much greater
for their cattle. Here they have bread to the full, while
their flocks and their herds browse upon richer herbage,
and both man and beast quench their thirst from springs
of excellent water, which is but too much wanted, es
pecially in the summer season, through all the plains
of Syria. This fertility of Canaan is fully confirmed
by writers of great reputation, whose impartiality can
not be justly suspected. Tacitus calls it a fruitful soil,
uber solum;* and Justin affirms, that in this country
the purity of the air, and the fertility of the soil are
equally admirable ; Sed nori minor loci ejus apricitatis
rjuam ubertatis admiratio est.!
The justice of these brief accounts, Dr Shaw, and
almost every modern traveller, fully verifies. When
he travelled in Syria and Phenicia, in December and
January, the whole country, he remarks, looked verdant
and cheerful : and the woods particularly, which are
chiefly planted with the gall-bearing oak, were every
where bestrewed with a variety of anemonies, ranun-
culusses, colchicas, and mandrakes. Several pieces of
ground near Tripoli were full of liquorice , and at the
mouth of a famous grotto he saw an elegant species of
the blue lily, the same with Morison's lilium Persicum
florens. In the beginning of March, the plains, parti
cularly between Jaffa and Rama, were every where
planted with a beautiful variety of fritiliaries, tulips of
innumerable hues, and a profusion of the rarest and
most beautiful flowers ; while the hills and the moun
tains were covered with yellow poll iu in, and some
varieties of thyme, sage, and rosemary!
The account which has been now given of the soil
aud productions of Canaan, will enable the reader to
* B. 5. ch 6. J Hist. B 36. ch. 3, * Shaw's Trav.

220 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
perceive with greater clearness, the force and justice of
the promise made by Moses to his nation, a little before
he died : " The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good
land; a land of brooks of water, of fountains and
depths, that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of
wheat and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pome
granates., a land of oil olive and honey.*
If to the natural fertility of this highly favoured;
country be added, the manner in which it was divided
among the tribes of Israel, it will furnish an easy and
satisfactory answer to the question which the infidel has
often put : " tiow could so small a country as Canaan
maintain so immense a population, as we find in the
writings of the Old Testament?" That rich and fertile
region was divided into small inheritances, on winch
the respective proprietors lived and reared their fami
lies. Necessity, not less than a spirit of industry, re
quired that no part of the surface capable of cultivation
should be suffered to lie waste. The husbandman car
ried his improvements up the sides of the steepest and
most rugged mountains, to the very top ; he converted
every patch of earth into a vineyard, or olive planta
tion; he covered the bare rocks with soil, and thus
turned them into fruitful fields ; where the steep was
too great to admit of an inclined plane, he cut away the
face of the precipice, and built walls around the moun
tain to support the earth, and planted his terraces with
the vine and the olive. These circles of excellent soil
were seen rising gradually from the bottom to the top
of the mountains, where the vine and the olive, shading
the intermediate rocks with the liveliest verdure, and
bending under the load of their valuable produce, amply
rewarded the toils of the cultivator. The remains of
those hanging gardens, those terrace plantations, after
the lapse of so many centuries, the revolutions of em
pire, and the long decline of industry among the mise
rable slaves that now occupy that once highly favoured
land, may still be distinctly traced on the hills and
mountains of Judea. Every spot of ground was in this
manner brought into a state of cultivation ; every par-
• Deut. viii. 7.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 221
tide of soil was rendered productive ; and by turning
a stream of water into every field where it was prac
ticable, and leading the little rills into which they divid
ed it, to every plantation, every tree, and every plant,
they secured for the most part, a constant succession of
props. Such was the management which Virgil recom
mended to the cultivators of Italy,
" Deinde satisfluvium inducit, rivosque sequentes.
Et cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat'herbis,
Ecce, supercilio clivosi tramitis undam
Elicit: ilia cadens raucum per levia murmur
Saxa ciet scatebrisque arentia temperat arva."Geor. b. 1, I. 110.
''Then on the springing corn drives the stream, and
ductile rills. And when the field is scorched with rag
ing heat, the herbs all dying, lo, from the brow of a
hilly tract he decoys the torrent, which falling down
the smooth-worn rocks, awakes the hoarse murmur,
and with gurgling streams allays the thirsty lands."*
" Thus much is certain," says Volney, " and it is
the advantage of hot over cold countries, that in the
former, wherever there is water, vegetation may be per
petually maintained, and made to produce an uninter
rupted succession of fruits to flowers, and flowers to
fruits. In cold, nay even in temperate climates, on the
contrary, nature benumbed for several months, loses in
a sterile slumber the third part, or even half the year.
The soil which has produced grain, has not time before
the decline of summer heat to mature vegetables : a
second crop is not to be expected ; and the husband
man sees himself condemned to a long and fatal repose.
Syria is exempt from these inconveniences ; if there
fore, it so happens, that its productions are not such as
its natural advantages would lead us to expect, it is less
owing to its physical than to its political state.'9
On this question, we have to add the temperament of
the people to the physical powers of the country. The
Israelite lived upon his own farm, in all the simplicity
of rural life ; was content with the produce of his own
* Davidson.

223 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
fields ; a little wheat in the ear, or in meal, a few
grapes and olives, dates or almonds, generally consti
tuted his repast: and the great heat of the climate im
periously required him to lead a frugal and abstemious
life. It is well known, that the inhabitants of warm
countries subsist on much less and much lighter food,
than the people of colder latitudes, and by consequence,
are capable of living in more crowded habitations. If
all these circumstances are duly considered, the count
less numbers of people, which according to the Old
Testament writers, once inhabited the land of promise,
will neither appear incredible, nor exaggerated.*
The extraordinary fruitfulness of Canaan, and the
number of its inhabitants during the prosperous limes
of the Jewish commonwealth, may be traced to another,
and still more powerful cause than any that has been
mentioned, — the special blessing of Heaven, which that
favoured people for many ages exclusively enjotyed.
We know from the testimony of Moses, that the tribes
of Israel reposed under the immediate care of Jehovah,
their covenanted God and King, enjoyed his peculiar
favour, and were multiplied and sustained by a special
compact, in which the rest of the nations had no share :
" The Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the
fruit of thy bodyr, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in
the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers to give it"! But the blessing
of Jehovah converts the desert into a fruitful field : for
thus it is promised, (and what God promises he is able
also to perform) : " The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall re
joice and blossom as the rose ; it shall blossom abun
dantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the
glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency
©f Carmel and Sharon ; they shall see the glory of the
Lord, and the excellency of our God ; for in the wilder
ness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert,
and the parched land shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water: in the habitations of
* See this statement confirmed by Maundrel, Travels p. 100.
t Deut. xxviii. 1—12.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST. 22B
dragons, where each lay, shall be grass, with reeds and
rushes."* In this passage, the blessings of salvation
as exhibited in the present dispensation of grace, are
certainly intended ; but the. use of these figures would
be quite improper, if the special favour of God could
produce no such important changes on the face of
nature. Indeed, the divine blessing has not bestowed the same
degree of fruitfulness on every part of Canaan. This fer
tile country is surrounded by deserts of immense extent,
exhibiting a dreary waste of loose and barren sand, on
which the skill and industry of man are able to make
no impression. The only vegetable productions which
occasionally meet the eye of the traveller in these fright
ful solitudes, are a coarse sickly grass, thinly sprinkled
on the sand ; a plot of senna, or other saline or bitter
herb, or an acacia bush ; even these but rarely present
themselves to his notice, and afford him little satisfac
tion when they do, because they warn him that he is
yet far distant from a place of abundance and repose.
Moses, who knew these deserts well, calls them " great
and terrible," " a desert land," " the waste howling
wilderness." But the completest picture of the sandy
desert is drawn by the pencil of Jeremiah, in which,
with surprising force and brevity he has exhibited every
circumstance of terror, which the modern traveller de
tails with so much pathos and minuteness ; " Neither
say they where is the Lord that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of. pits, through a land
of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land
which no man passed through, and where no man
dwelt.! Beside these inhospitable deserts which environ the
land of promise, the inspired writers mention several
wildernesses within its proper limits. In sacred lan
guage, a mountainous, or less fruitful tract, where the
towns and villages are thinly scattered, and single habi
tations few and far between, is distinguished by the
name of the wilderness. The forerunner of our Lord
* isa. xxxv. 7. t Jer- "¦ 6-

224 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
resided in the wilderness of Judah till he commenced
his public ministry. We are informed, in the book of
Genesis, that Ishmael settled in the wilderness of Pa
ran ; and in the first book of Samuel, that David took
refuge from the persecution of Saul in the same desert,
where it appears the numerous flocks of Nabal the Car
melite were pastured. Such places, therefore, were not
absolute deserts, but thinly peopled, or less fertile
districts. But this remark will scarcely apply to the
wilderness where our Lord was tempted of the devil.
It is a most miserable, dry and barren solitude, " con
sisting of high rocky mountains, so torn and disordered,
as if the earth had here suffered some great convulsion,
in which its very bowels had been turned outward."*
A more dismal and solitary place can scarcely be found
in the whole earth. About one hour's journey from the
foot of the mountains which environ this wilderness,
rises the lofty Quarantania, which Maundrell was told
is the mountain into which the devil carried our blessed
Saviour, that he might shew him all the kingdoms and
glory of the world. It is, as the evangelist styles it,
" an exceeding high mountain," and in its ascent both
difficult and dangerous. It has a small chapel at the
top, and another about half way up, founded on a
prominent part of the rock. Near the latter are several
caves and holes in the sides of the mountain, occupied
formerly by hermits, and even in present times the re
sort of religious devotees, who repair to these lonely
cells to keep their lent, in imitation of our Lord's fast
ing in the wilderness forty days.
• Maundrell's Travels.

PART II.
OF THE
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
PART II.

CHAP I.

THE HERBS AND SHRUBS OF CANAAN AND THE SURROUNDING
COUNTRIES.

W\jW><W«.VW

Moes.

THIS is a sort of tree, which in some parts of India
rises to the height of eight or ten feet. It is crowned
with a large bunch of leaves about four feet in length,
and adorned with double blossoms of a red colour in
termixed with yellow. The fruit is round like a large
pea, white and red ; the juice of these leaves is drawn
by cutting them with a knife, and is afterwards receiv
ed in bottles.
The eastern geographers inform us, that the wood of
aloes, the smell of which is exquisite, is found only in
those provinces of India which are comprehended in
the first climate ; but in what region it arrives at the
highest degree of excellence, they have not been able
to determine.
The Hebrew ahr», ahalim, in Mr. Taylor's opinion,
probably signifies aloe-trees. The Vulgate reads, ut
tabernacula quae fixit Dominus, " as tents which the
Lord hath spread ;" but the Hebrew may be translated
thus, As the ahalim which the Lord hath planted. Our
translators render it, lign-aloes : the Septuagint and
Jerome sometimes translate ahalim, stacte, or aloe ; but,
as the aloes-tree is not common in Arabia or the neigh
bouring countries, the Rabbins translate ahalim, santaL

228 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The aloes of Syria, Rhodes, and Candia, called Es-
palathus, is a thorny shrub ; the wood is used by per
fumers, after they have taken off the bark, to give con
sistency to their perfumes.
But the true aloes is a plant or herb : the leaves are
about two inches thick, prickly and chamfered ; in the
middle, rises a stem, in which is a white kernel, ex
tremely light and almost round. From this plant is
extracted the drug named aloes, which is a liquor ex
tremely bitter, used in embalming to prevent the putre
faction of the dead body. Nicodemus bought about a
hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, to embalm the
body of his Redeemer * It was employed with myrrh
and cinnamon, to perfume the bed of the lewd women;!
and in the Song, the spouse says, that myrrh, aloes,
and all manner of perfumes, are to be found in the gar
den of her beloved-! Hyssop.
Hyssop is mentioned as one of the smallest of herbs.^
It has a bitter taste, and grows on the mountains near
Jerusalem. A handful of this herb, gathered, it is
probable, on Calvary, near the cross, was imbued with
vinegar, and applied to the parched lips of the dying
. Saviour. Or the hyssop of John might be what is
called a reed or cane by the evangelists Mark and
Matthew||. Under the law, it was commonly used in purifica
tions as a sprinkler. When the people of Israel came
out of Egypt, they were commanded to take a bunch
of hyssop, to dip it in the blood of the paschal lamb,
and sprinkle with it the lintel and the two side posts
of the door. Sometimes they added a little scarlet
wool. It was also used in sprinkling the leper. The
hyssop is extremely well adapted to such purposes. It
literally grows in bunches, putting out abundance of
suckers from a single root. It grows about a foot and
a half high ; and at distances on both sides of its stock,
it pushes out longish leaves, and carries a blossom on
? John xix. 39. f Prov vii- 1'r. * Ch. iv 14. Taylor's edition of Calmet,
v. 1. § 1 Kings iv. 33. || Matth. xxvii. 48. Mark xv. 36.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 220
the top of the stem, of an azure colour and like an ear
of corn.
The Rose.
Considerable diversity of sentiment prevails among
the learned, in relation to the true meaning of the ori
ginal term rtan, habetzeleth, in our version translated
rose. The Seventy and Jerome render it " the flower
of the fields ;" the Chaldee translates it rose, in which
it is followed by the greater part of western interpre
ters. From its intimate connection with the lily of the
valleys, indisputably an uncultivated flower, it is na
tural to conclude, that the inspired writer alluded to
the wild rose. In the opinion of other natural histori
ans, the habetzeleth is a bulbous-rooted plant ; because
the name may be derived from Babab he loved, and
Batzel a bulb or onion ; and they suppose with great
probability, that toe sacred writers mean the asphodel,
whose flowers resemble those of the lily. It is a very
beautiful and odoriferous flower ; and highly praised
by two of the greatest masters of Grecian song. He^
siod says it grows commonly in the woods; and Ho
mer calls the Elysian fields, " meads filled with aspho
del :" words which agree with the sentiment of the
Hebrew here, if we take Sharon (as seems perfectly
proper) for the common field. " I am the asphodel of
the meads or woods, the lily of the valleys, or the un
cultivated fields."
The rose in the east is celebrated for the richness of
its fragrance and the beauty of its flowers ; it is even
regarded as the sovereign of the garden. Hafez the
Persian poet says, " When the rose comes into the
garden, the violet prostrates itself before it with its face
to the ground." The odes of Anacreon sufficiently
prove how greatly the rose was esteemed among the
ancient Greeks. Horace praises it with almost equal
ardour. It occupied a conspicuous place in every chap-
let ; it was a principal ornament in every festive meet
ing, and at every solemn sacrifice.
" Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
Perfusus liquidis urguet odoribus." B. 1. Car. v*

230 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
And again,
"Hue vina et unguenta, et nimium breves
Flores amaense ferre jube rosae " B. 2. Car. iii.
" Hither order your slaves to bring the wine, and the perfumes,
and the grateful flowers of the too transitory rose."
It was right to consecrate a plant so lovely to the
service of religion. Solomon has accordingly chosen
it to represent the matchless excellencies of his divine
Redeemer : "I am the rose of Sharon ;"* and the
prophet Isaiah, to give us some faint conception of the
wonderful change which the gospel produced in the
state of the world after the ascension of Christ, " the
desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
The Lily.
This flowers seems, from several allusions in the
Scriptures, to have been greatly valued among the Jews.
The snowy whiteness of its petals, the delicacy of its
form, and the uncommon elegance of all its parts, can
not but strike with admiration every attentive observer.
The lily of the field sometimes appears with unrivall
ed magnificence. The remark is justified by the follow
ing statement of Mr. Salt : " At a few miles from
Adowa, we discovered a new and beautiful species of
Amaryllis, which bore from ten to twelve spikes of
bloom on each stem, as large as those of the ' Bella
donna,' springing from one common receptacle. The
general colour of the corolla was white, aud every
petal was marked with a single stroke of bright pur
ple down the middle. The flower was sweej scented,
and its smell, though much more powerful, resembled
that of the lily of the valley. This superb plant ex
cited the admiration of the whole party ; and it brought
immediately to my recollection, the beautiful compari
son used on a particular occasion, by our Saviour :
" yet, 1 say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory,
was not arrayed like one of these."!
The lily occupied a conspicuous place among the
ornaments of the temple and its furniture. The brim
* Song ii. 1, f Voyage to Abyssinnia, p. 419

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 281
of the molten sea, was wrought with flowers of lilies ;
the chapiters that were upon the tops of the pillars,
were of lily work, and the top of the pillars was orna
mented in the same manner. The Saviour is repre
sented in the Song, as feeding among the lilies : and
the graces of the church are like a heap of wheat set
about with lilies.*
This plant is the. te>w, Shushan of the Hebrews, from
the term »», Schesch, which signifies six, because it has
that number of leaves. Souciet however affirms, that
the lily mentioned in the Scripture by the name Shusan,
is the crown imperial; this is the Persian lily, the
tusai of the Persians^ the royal lily or lilium basileium
of the Greeks. In reality, it appears from the Canti
cles, that the lily spoken of by Solomon, was red, and
distilled a certain liquor, Cant. v. 13. There are crown
imperials with yellow flowers, but those with red are
the most common ; they are always bent downwards,
and disposed in the manner of a crown at the extremity
of the stem, which has a tuft of leaves at the top. At
the bottom of each leaf of this flower, is a certain watery
humour, forming, as it were, a very white pearl, which
gradually distils very clear and pure drops of water.
This water is probably what the spouse in the Song
calls myrrh: " His lips like lilies dropping sweet smell
ing myrrh."!
The Reed or Cane.
The reed grows in immense numbers on the banks
and in the streams of the Nile. Extensive woods of
the canes Phragmit and Calama magrostes, which rise
to the height of twelve yards, cover tue marshes in the
neighbourhood of Suez. The stems are conveyed all
over Egypt and Arabia, and are employed by the
orientals' in constructing the flat terraces of their habita
tions. Calmet thinks it probable, that this extensive
region of canes gave name to the Red sea, which in
those times entirely inundated the marshes on its bor
ders. Jam Suph is0a sea that produces canes ; and as
* Sang ii. 16 and vii. 2. + Taylor's Calmet, vol! 2.

232 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the Arabs denote two sorts of canes by the general name
hu%, the surname being added afterwards, Moses, the
sacred historian, following the same ancient denomina
tions, did not attend to the specifical niceties of botano-
logy. This same leader of the people, underwent the
first dangers of his life in a cradle made of the reeds,
don ax or hagni.
This information induced Calmet to conclude, that
in these reeds which covered the banks of the Nile, we
have what our translation renders the flags (suph,) in
which Moses was concealed in his trunk, or ark of bul
rushes, goma. The remarkable height to which they
grow, and their vast abundance, lead to the persuasion,
that in some thick tuft of them, the future prophet of
Israel was concealed. It appears also, from the inter
rogation of Job, that the goma cannot reach its full
stature without an abundant supply of water : " Can
the rush — goma, rather the tall strong cane or reed,
grow up without water?" This plant, therefore, being
a tall reed, is, with great propriety, associated with the
kanah, or cane : u In the habitation of dragons, where
each lay, shall be grass, with canes and reeds."*
The sweet smelling reed is common in the deserts of
Arabia. It is gathered near Jambo, a port town of
Arabia Petrea, from whence it is brought into Egypt.
This plant was probably among the number of those
which the queen of Sheba presented to Solomon ; and
what seems to confirm the opinion is, that it is still
very much esteemed by the Arabs on account of its
fragrance. This, in all probability, is the sweet cane of Jeremiah,
who calls it prime, or excellent, and associates it with
incense from Sheba. " To what purpose cometh there
to me incense, from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a
far country ?"j And, in allusion to the same plant,
Isaiah complains, in the name of Jehovah, " Thou hast
bought me no sweet cane with money."! 1° the book
of Exodus, it is called " sweet calamus," and is said
to come "from a far country;" which agrees with the
• l»ai. xxxv 7. f J«- vi. 20. i Isai. xliii. 24.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 238
declaratioh of ancient, writers^ that the best is brought
from India.* Spikenard.
Spikenard belongs to the order of gramina, and is of
different species. In some parts of India, it covers the
surface of the ground like common grass, growing in
large tufts, close to each other, very rank, and in general
from three to four feet in length. Planted in gardens,
it shoots up spikes about six feet in height. Its aroma
is so rich and abundant, that when it is trodden by the
foot, the air is perfumed all around with its fragrance.
All the species of spikenard are hot and drying. The
Indian nard, which is the most precious, is of a yel
lowish colour, inclining to purple, with long spikes,
covered with long odoriferous bristles. The taste is
somewhat sharp and bitter, and dry upon the tongue ;
and afterwards leaves the mouth full of a very agreeable
savour. The whole plant has a strong aromatic odour ;
but both the smell and the medical virtues, which, in
cases of fever, are said to be very powerful, reside prin
cipally in the husky roots, which in chewing, says Dr.
Blane, have a bitter, warm, pungent taste, accompanied
with some degree of that kiud of glow in the mouth
which cardomums occasion.
An inferior species of nard is to be found in Syria
and Asia Minor : it is probable, indeed, from the great
demand for the unguent manufactured in these countries,
that any grateful aromatic, resembling spikenard, was
allowed to pass for that valuable plant. Horace men
tions the Nardus Assyria ; a proof that a plant of that
name grew on the banks of the Euphrates.

¦ et rosa

Canos adorati capillos,
Dum licet, Assyriaque nardo." Hor. b. 2, odo xi.
Dioscorides also mentions the Nardus Syriaca as a
species different from the Indica, which certainly wad
brought from some of the remote parts of India.
This plant was highly valued among the ancients,
• Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4.
Vol. I. H h

234 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
both as an article of luxury and medicine. " The tin-
guentum nardinum seems, from the numerous allusions
to it in the odes of Horace, to have been the favourite
perfume which was used at the ancient baths and feasts;
and that voluptuous Roman reckoned it so valuable,
that as much of it as could be contained in a small box
of precious stone, he considered as a sort of equivalent
for a large vessel of wine, and a handsome quota for a
guest to contribute at an entertainment, according to the
custom of antiquity."

"  Nardo vinum merebere
Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum."*
In these lines, the poet refers not to the plant itself,
but to the ointment manufactured from it, which bore its
name. From these statements it is evident, that Arabia
and Syria produced a fragrant grass, known to the an
cients by the name of spikenard, but of a different
species from Indian nard ; and that the unguent also
bears the name of spikenard, and probably was known
from the earliest times under that appellation.
Calmet imagines, with great probability, that Solo
mon alludes to the two different species of nard in that
passage of the Song : " Camphire with spikenard, spike
nard with saffron." Why should this plant be twice
named ? No satisfactory reason, it must be admitted,
can be assigned but one, that by the first nard the royal
preacher meant the Syrian plant, with which he must
have been well acquainted ; and by the. second, the
Indian nard, or true spikenard. If this be admitted,
the passage becomes clear and easy. Besides, the two
words are differently pointed in the printed copies ; and
it deserves to be remarked, that the first term is in the
plural, nardim, while the second term seems to be put
absolutely, nard, or the nard, (in the singular number)
with the crocus. These circumstances greatly strengthen
the conjecture, that different plants are intended in this
passage, the false and the true spikenard.
The evangelist Mark, mentions the ointment under
the name of spikenard, in the clearest manner: "There
* Calmet, vol. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 235
came a woman, having an alabaster box of ointment of
spikenard, very precious ; and she brake the box and pour
ed it on his head." This box was valued at more than
three hundred pence (denarii ;*) and John mentions a
pound of ointment of spikenard very costly; — the house
was filled with the odour of the ointment ; — it was worth
three hundred pence (denarii.!) Here the precise quan
tity used on that occasion is determined — a pound ; and
the lowest value stated, which was eight pounds fifteen
shillings, for Mark says it was worth more. From these
circumstances, Calmet infers, "that this was not a Syrian
production, or an ointment made from any fragrant grass
growing in the neighbouring districts, but was a true atar
of Indian spikenard, an unguent containing the very es
sence of the plant, and brought at a great expense from
a remote country."
TJiey made a perfume of high estimation with the
¦blade, or spike of the nard, to which the words of the
spouse seem to refer : " While the king sitteth at his
table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof."!
From the term nard here being in the singular number,
Calmet suggests the idea, that this spikenard was in the
form of an essence in a small bag, or a number of sprigs
of the fragrant grass, worn like a nosegay in the bosom.
" It is certain," says he, " that the savour of her good
ointments is mentioned, verse 3., as highly attractive ;
and that an atar of spikenard, used for perfume, might
be intended, needs no proof ; but if so, then we have
this perfume in its artificial state alluded to, both in the
Old and the New Testaments ; and the passages which
mention it, mutually illustrate each other."
Millet.
This word occurs more than once in the sacred
volume : Ezekiel calls it duchan or dochan; and the
learned editor of Calmet thinks it is probably the hoi-
cus durra, which forms a principal food among the
orientals. Its Latin name, millet, is supposed to de
rive from mille, that is, a thousand grains, in allusion to
its extraordinary fruitfulness. It is made into bread,
with camel's milk, oil, butter, and other unctuous sub-
* Mark xiv. 3, 5. f John xii s- + Song '" 12,

286 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
stances, and is almost the only food eaten by the com
mon people of Arabia Felix. Niebuhr found it so dis
agreeable, that he would willingly have preferred plain
barley bread. This is certainly the reason that it was
appointed to the prophet Ezekiel, as a part of his hard
fare.*
Sesamum
Is cultivated every where in Arabia : it is called by the
Egyptians semsem. Calmet imagines the prophet Isaiah
refers to this grain in the phrase, " the appointed bar
ley," which has so greatly perplexed interpreters. The
original word is nisman (ira» ) which Harmer would
transform into dochan, which signifies millet. But un
willing to deviate so far from the text, Calmet is rather
inclined to read sesamun, which varies in one letter
only. The passage then would read-*-" he casts abroad
the wheat, barley, and sesamum, in their places." It
is more probable the. term nisman is the real Niphal of
saman, the same with the Hebrew verb shaman, to be
fat or rich, and refers merely to the superior quality of
the grain. This requires no change in the original text,
which is always to be avoided as much as possible ; it
has also the advantage of being simple and easy, and of
giving a sense equally natural and important.
Darnel, or Cockle,
Grows among corn, and is well known to the people of
Aleppo. The seeds possess an intoxicating quality,
and are therefore separated after threshing, by means of
a van or sieve. In some parts of Syria, the plant is
drawn up by the hand in the time of harvest, along
with the wheat, and is then gathered out and bound up
in separate bundles.
Iu the parable of the tares, our Lord states the very
same circumstances. They grew among corn ; they
were not separated by the reapers, but suffered to grow
Up together till harvest ; they were then gathered from
among the wheat with the hand, and bound up in bun
dles. It is therefore more than probable, that Darnel
i$ the plant to which he alluded.
* Calmet, vol. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 237
The Mandrake.
This plant is a species of melon, of which there are
two sorts, the male and the female. The female man
drake is black, and puts out leaves resembling lettuce,
though smaller and narrower, which spread on the
ground, and have a disagreeable scent. It bears berries
something like services, pale and of a strong smell,
having kernels within like those of pears. It has two
or three very large roots, twisted together, white with
in, black without, and covered with a thick rind.
The male mandrake is called Morion, or folly, because
it suspends the senses. It produces berries twice as
large as those of the female, of a good scent, and of a
colour approaching towards saffron. Its leaves are
large, white, broad, and smooth, like the leaves of the
beech-tree. The root resembles that of the female, but
is thicker and bigger. Both the smell and the taste are
pleasant ; but it stupifies those that use it, and often
produces phrenzy, vertigo, and lethargy, which, if time
ly assistance is not given, terminate in convulsions and
death. • It is said to be a provocative, and is used in the
east as philters. The orientals cultivate this plant in
their gardens, for the sake of its smell ; but those which
Reuben found, were in the field, in some small copse of
wood perhaps, or shade, where they had come to maturi
ty before they were found. If they resemble those of
Persia rather than those of Egypt, which are of a very
inferior quality, then we see their value, their superiori
ty, and perhaps their rarity, which induced Rachel to
purchase them from the son of Leah.*
The Gourd
Produces leaves and branches resembling those of the
garden cucumber. Its fruit is shaped like an orange, of
a light white substance when the rind is taken off, and
so bitter, that it has been called ihe gall of the earthy
It is not eatable ; but is a very fit vessel for flagons, be
ing light, capacious, and smooth,, frequently a foot and
a half in diameter.
* Taylor's edition of Calmet, vol. 2 and 4. t 2 Kings iv. 39.

238 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The gourd of Jonah is generally allowed to be the
el-keroa or riciuus, a plant well known in the east ; " it
grows very high, and projects many branches aud large
leaves. In a short time it reaches a considerable height :
its stem is thick, channelled, distinguished by many
knots, hollow within) branchy at top, of a sea green
colour : its leaves are large, cut into seven or more di
visions, pointed and edged, of a bright, blackish, shining
green. Those nearest the top are the largest ; its flow
ers are ranged on their stem like a thyrsus : they are of
a deep red, and stand three together."
" With this description agrees the account in the pro
phet, of its rising over his head to shelter it ; for this
plant rises eight or nine feet, and is remarkably rapid
in withering, when decayed or gathered."*
The gourd which defended the prophet, is said to
have been prepared by the Lord. We have no reason
to conclude from this expression, that the Almighty
created it for the special purpose ; he only appointed,
and promoted its growth in that particular spot, raising
its stem and expanding its branches and leaves accord
ing to the ordinary laws of nature, till it formed a most
refreshing shade over the place where the angry seer
waited the fulfilment of his prediction. " We may con
ceive of it," says Calmet, " as an extraordinary one of
its kind, remarkably rapid in growth, remarkably hard
in its stem, remarkably^ vigorous in its branches, and re
markable for the extensive spread of its leaves, and the
deep gloom of their shadow ; and after a certain dura
tion, remarkable for a sudden withering and uselessness
to the impatient prophet."
The worm which struck the gourd, has been consi
dered rather as a maggot than a worm. It was, no
doubt, of the species appropriate to the plant ; but of
what particular species, is uncertain. Like the gourtU
it was also prepared by Jehovah, to indicate its extra
ordinary size and vigour ; that it acted by his com
mission ; and that the effect of its operations was so
rapid and decisive, as clearly to discover the presence
of the divine energy. * Calmet, vol. 4. Exp. Ind.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 289
The Juuiper.
The juniper is mentioned more than once in our
translation of the Scripture ; but the opinions of learned
men are much divided, concerning the Shrub or tree to
which the inspired writers allude. The gadha or gad-
hat, a species of tree very like the tamarisk, which
grows in the sandy deserts, resembles in more than one
instance, the juniper in our translation. It flourishes
in the burning wild ; its wood is extremely proper to
burn into charcoal, which has the property of long re
taining fire ; on which account, it is carried into the
cities and sold for fuel. The camel is very fond of its-
leaves, although they frequently affect him with pains
in his bowels ; and under its shade, the wolf so com
monly lurks, that it has become a proverb among the
Arabs, " The wolf is near the gadha."* But from
these circumstances it cannot be determined with cer
tainty, whether the gadha of the roving Arab be the
same with the juniper.
The Hebrew word for the plant to which we give the
name of juniper, is rothem, from the verb ratham, to
bind or tie, on account of the toughness or tenacity of its
twigs. In Parkhurst, it is the genista or Spanish broom,
which eminently possesses the character of tenacity.
Pliny remarks, that the twigs of the genista are so
tough, that the ancient Romans used them for withs to
bind their cattle.
" Genista quoque vineuli usum praestat."
The statement of the natural historian is confirmed
by the poet of Italy:
" Molle siler, lentaeque genistse." Geor. 2. /. 12.
So great is their flexibility that the Italians still weave
them into baskets. The genista, it must be granted,
affords but a poor shelter to the weary traveller from
the intense heat of an oriental sky; while the prophet
Elijah, exhausted with a long and precipitate flight,
found a refreshing shade under the spreading branches
of the rothem.! But the remark applies with equal,
* De Herbelot. Bib. Orien. f 1 Kings xix. 4.

£40 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
if not greater force to the juniper, which in this country
never rises above the stature of an humble shrub. The
words of the inspired writer are by no means inconsist
ent with this circumstance : " But Elijah went a day's
journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down
under a juniper tree. — And as he lay and slept under
the juniper tree, behold then an angel touched him and
said unto him, arise and eat." The passage seems to
import, that the prophet, unable to proceed, embraced
the shelter of a genista, which, according to Bellonius,
grows in the desert, for want of a better ; as the prophet
Jonah was glad to screen himself from the oppressive
heat of the sun under the frail covert of a gourd. But
in reality, the genista in the oriental regions, interposed
with considerable effect between the parched wanderer
and the scorching heat of the sun. The shepherds of
Italy often reclined under the shade of its branches.

• Salices humilesque Genista:

Aut illse pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbras
Sufficiunt." Geor. b. 2. /. 434.
But in the warm regions of Asia, the humilis genista,
the lowly shrub of Virgil, probably grows much larger
and higher than even in the genial soil and climate of
Italy. The roots of the rothem, or juniper as we translate
the term, were used in the days of Job for food, by the
poorest of the people : " For want and famine they
were solitary : fleeing into the wilderness, in former
time desolate and waste. Who cut up mallows by the
bushes, and juniper roots, (ve shoresh rethamim,) for
their meat." But this circumstance determines no
thing; for neither the roots of juniper, nor of genista,
nor of any other tree in those deserts, can afford a salu
tary nourishment to the human body : nor can any mo
dern instance be found, of the roots of juniper or genista
being eaten for food. Job only says it was done in
times of extreme want, when the famished poor are fre
quently compelled to prolong their miserable existence
by the use of the most improper substances. It is cer
tain that the shoots, the leaves, the bark, and the roots
of other shrubs and trees, have been eaten among many

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 241
nations, in times of scarcity and famine. Thus for in
stance, Herodotus informs us, that when the routed
army of Xerxes was fleeing from Greece, such of them
as could not meet with better provision, were compelled
by hunger to eat the bark and leaves, which they strip
ped off all kinds of trees. The hungry Laplander de
vours the tops and bark of the pine ; and even in Swe
den, the poor in may places are obliged to grind the
bark of birch trees to mix with their corn, to make bread
in unfavourable seasons.*
The royal Psalmist mentious the coals of the retha-
min as affording the fiercest fire of any combustible
matter that he found in the desert, and therefore the
fittest punishment for a deceitful tongue ; " What shall
be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou
false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of
juniper :" The wrath of God, like a keen and barbed
arrow from the bow of the mighty, shall pierce the
strongest armour, and strike deep into the hardest heart,
and like the fierce and protracted flame of the juniper,
shall torment the liar with unutterable anguish.
Now, if it be the property of juniper long to retain
the fire, or to emit a vehement flame, it is not less the
characteristic of genista : for according to Geierus, as
quoted by Parkhurst, the Spanish genista, or rethama
lignis aliis vehementius scintillet, ardent, ac strideat,
sparkles, burns, and crackles more vehemently than
any other wood. The people of Israel in their jour
neys through the wilderness, came to a place called
Rithma, probably from the great quantity of rethamim
growing there. In traversing the same unhospitable
wilds, Thevenot and his fellow travellers were com
pelled to gather broom for warming themselves, and
boiling their coffee. This greatly corroborates the opi
nion of Parkhurst, that the rothem of the Old Testa
ment is not properly the juniper, but Spanish broom ;
but although his opinion is extremely probable, our im
perfect acquaintance with the natural history of those
remote countries, renders it impossible to reach a satis
factory conclusion. * Harmer, Parkhurst.
Vol. I. I i

242 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The shade of the rothem, (whether it be translated
the juniper, or the genista,) is supposed by some writers
pf great eminence to be noxious. This circumstance is
mentioned only for the purpose of vindicating the pro
phet Elijah, from the imputation of wishing to put an
end to his existence, when he fled for his life into the
wilderness. He went on that occasion, a day's journey
into the wilderness of Beersheba ; and sitting down
under a juniper tree, fatigued with his journey, and op
pressed with grief, he fell asleep, after having requested
God that he might die.
Grotius imagines, that the prophet rested under the
shade of the juniper, because, lie was now become care
less of his health ; and he cites a passage from Virgil,
as a proof that the shadow of this tree is noxious.
" Solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra :
Juniperi gravis umbra; nocent et frugibus umbras." Eel. 10. /. 7$.
But his conclusion will not follow ; because Virgil evi
dently means, that the shades of evening are hurtful;
not the shade of the juniper, except by night, when the
shade of every tree is thought by natural historians to
be injurious to health, If the shade of the juniper were
noxious, it would be noxious to every one, and not
merely to singers. And how could it be hurtful to the
fruits ? They do not grow under it, and are therefore
not exposed to its deleterious influence. It is easy to
see how the shades of evening are hurtful to the fruits ;
but how the shade of the juniper should be noxious to
them, is quite inconceivable, The poet indeed, ex
pressly mentions the danger of reposing under the shade
of that tree ; but the true reason seems to be this : the ju
niper being an ever-green, and its leaves growing very
close, it extends in the evening a more damp and chilly
shade, than perhaps any other tree in that part of Italy.
So little afraid were the orientals of its noxious quali
ties, that some pf their most magnificent cities were em
bosomed in a grove of juniper trees.* This is an in-
contestible prppf that they did not find their effluvia
deadly, nor even injurious to health,
* Shaws's Trav.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 243
Another commentator of considerable celebrity, sup
poses, on the contrary, that Elijah reposed himself
under the juniper tree, for the more effectual preserva
tion of his health ; the shade of it being, according to
him, a protection from serpents ; and alleges, that it was
the custom of the people in that part of the world, to
guard themselves by such precautions against the bite
of these venemous reptiles. But this opinion seems to
be no less visionary than the allegation of Grotius.
Travellers often recline beneath the shade of a spread
ing tree ; but in all their narratives, the reason assigned
by Peter Martyr is never once mentioned. According
to Dioscorides, the glowing embers of juniper wood,
not the shade of the living tree, possessed the power of
driving away those unwelcome visitants.
The most obvious reason is in this, as in most in
stances, the best ; Elijah flying into the wilderness from
the rage of Jezebel, became oppressed with the burning
heat of the day, and the length of the road, and cast
himself down under the shade of the first shrub that he
found. Or if it was in his power to make a choice, he
preferred the juniper for the thickness of its covert,
without any apprehension of its possessing either a de
leterious quality, or the power of defending him from
the bite of the serpent : he chose it merely for its shade,
where, under the watchful and efficacious protection of
Jehovah, his own God, and the God of his people, he
sunk into quiet repose. To suppose that he repaired
to the shade of the juniper with the view of ruining his
health, and shortening his days, is quite inconsistent
with every trait in the character, and every action in
the life of that holy man. So far from harbouring the
horrible idea of suicide, although certainly tired of life,
he prayed to his God to remove him from the disgust
ing scene of idolatry and oppression, into his immediate
presence ; a sure proof be neither expected nor desired
that favour from the noxious exhalations of the juniper.
To this may be added, that the question is not yet de
cided, whether it was a juniper, or what particular
species of tree it really was, under the friendly covert
of which, the weary and afflicted prophet sought repose.

244 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE'.
The Myrtle.
With the cedar and the shitta tree, the myrtle is con
joined in several parts of Scripture: "I will plant in
the wilderness, the cedar and the shitta tree, and the
myrtle and the oil tree."* In our ungenial climates,
the myrtle is a lowly shrub, and in appearance, un
equally classed with the cedar and the olive. But the
seeming impropriety vanishes when it is considered,
that the prophet intends to describe a scene of varied
excellence and beauty : " 1 will adorn the dreary and
barren wilderness with trees famed for their stature,
and the grandeur of their appearance, the beauty of
their form, and the fragrance of their odour." Again ;
" instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and
instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree ; and
it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting
sign, that shall not be cut off."! These quotations
both refer to the effect of the gospel, or the reign of
Christ on the state of the world and the dispositions of
mankind. They foretel the production of a moral
paradise by the creative power of Jehovah, where noth
ing but sin and misery reigned before. The prophet
Zechariah chooses the myrtle to express the beauty, the
utility, and the low condition of the church ; " a man
seated on a red horse, was seen among the myrtle trees
which were in the bottom of some valley."! This
visionary scene, while it presents a just idea of the
loWly and depressed state of the church, and suggests
many pleasing reflections concerning her preservation
and security under the protection of her Saviour, agrees
with the aspect of nature in the east, where the groves
of myrtle are frequently to be seen rising to a considera
ble height, although not so high as to conceal a man on
horseback, especially from one advantageously placed
on a rising ground, as the prophet in vision seems to
have been.
The aspect of nature to which these Scriptures refer,
is beautifully displayed by the glowing,pencil of Sa-
vary, in his letters on Greece. Describing a scene at
• Isa. xii. 19. -j- Cb. Iv, 13. * Zech. i. IS.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 245
the end of the forest of Platanea, he says ; " Myrtles
intermixed with laurel roses grow in the valleys to the
height of ten feet. Their snow white flowers, bordered
within with a purple edging, appear to peculiar ad
vantage under the verdant foliage. Each myrtle is-
loaded with them, and they emit perfumes more exqui
site than those of the rose itself: they enchant every
one, and the soul is filled with the softest sensations."
The pine, the fir, and the box, contribute also to the
beauty and richness of oriental scenery ; and are some
times referred to by the sacred writers : but the allu
sions are few and unimportant.
The Mustard Tree.
The account which our Lord gave of the mustard
tree, recorded in the gospel of Matthew, has often ex
cited the ridicule of unbelievers, or incurred their point
ed condemnation : " The kingdom of heaven is like to
a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed
in his field ; which is indeed the least of all seeds,
but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs,
and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come
aud lodge in the branches of it."* We behold no such
mustard trees in this country, say the enemies of reve
lation, therefore the description of Christ must be
erroneous. But the consequence will not follow, till it
is proved that no such trees exist in any part of the
world. This parable of the mustard tree was deli
vered in a public assembly, every individual of which
was well acquainted with it ; many of them were the
avowed enemies of our Lord, and would have gladly
seized the opportunity of exposing him to the scorn of
the multitude, if he had committed any mistake. The
silent acquiescence of the scribes and Pharisees affords
an irrefragable proof that his description is perfectly
correct. They knew that the same account of that
plant more than once occurs in the writings of their
fathers. In the Babylonish Talmud, a Jewish Rabbi writes,
that a certain man of Sichem had bequeathed him by
•Matt. xiii. 31, 30,

246 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
his father three boughs of mustard ; one of which broken
off from the rest yielded nine kabs of seed, and the
wood of it was sufficient to cover the potter's house.
Another Rabbi, in the Jerusalem Talmud says, he had
a stem of mustard in his garden, into which he could
climb as into a fig tree. After making every reasonable
allowance for the hyperbolical terms in which these
Talmudical writers indulged, they certainly referred to
real appearances in nature ; and no man will pretend
that it was any part of their design to justify the
Saviour's description. But, the birds of the air might
certainly lodge with ease among the branches of a tree
that was sufficiently strong to sustain the weight of a
man. The fact asserted by our Lord is stated in the
clearest terms by a Spanish historian, who says, that
in the province of Chili, in South America, the mus
tard grows to the size of a tree, and the birds lodge
under its shade, and build their nests in its branches.

CHAP. II.

THE WOODS AND TREES OF PALESTINE.
THE land of promise cannot boast, like many other
countries, of extensive woods ; but considerable thickets
of trees and of reeds sometimes arise to diversify and
adorn the scene. Between the lake Samochonites and
the sea of Tiberias, the river Jordan is almost concealed
by shady trees from the view of the traveller. When
the waters of the Jordan are low, the lake Samochonites
is only a marsh, for the most part dry and overgrown
with shrubs and reeds. The lake of Tiberias is bor
dered with reeds ; while the banks of the river on both
sides, are shaded with planes, alders, poplars, tama
risks, and reeds of different kinds. In these thickets,
among other ferocious animals, the wild boar seeks a
covert from the burning rays of the sun. Large herds

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 247
of them are sometimes to be seen on the banks of the
river, near the sea of Tiberias, lying among the reeds,
or feeding under the trees.* Such moist and shady
places are in all countries the favourite haunts of these
fierce and dangerous animals. Those marshy coverts
are styled woods in the sacred Scriptures ; for the wild
boar of the wood is the name which that creature re
ceives from the royal Psalmist : " The boar out of the
wood doth waste it ; and the wild beast of the field doth
devour it."! The wood of Ephraim, where the battle
was fought between the forces of Absalom and the ser
vants of David, was probably a place of the same kind ;
for the sacred historian observes, that the wood devoured
more people that day, than the sword devoured-! Some
have supposed the meaning of this passage to be, that
the soldiers of Absalom were destroyed by the wild
beasts of the wood ; but it can scarcely be supposed,
that in the reign of David, when the land of promise
was crowded with inhabitants, the wild beasts could be
so numerous in one of the woods as to occasion such a
destruction. But if their numbers had been so great, we
know that, unless they had been detained contrary to
their natural dispositions by the miraculous interposition
of Heaven, for the purpose of executing his righteous
vengeance on the followers of Absalom, intimidated by
the approach of two hostile armies, and still more by the
tumult of the battle, they must have sought their safety
in flight, rather than have staid to devour the discom
fited party. Besides, we do not hear that one of Da
vid's men perished by the wood : were they miraculous
ly preserved ; or, were the wild beasts able to distin
guish between the routed army and the victors, and poli
tic enough to side with the strongest ? We are not with
out an express revelation, or at least without necessity,
to suppose "a miraculous interposition. The scene of the
expeditions which the Turks undertook against Faccar-.
dine, the famous emir, in the fifteenth century, was
chiefly in the woods of mount Lebanon, which all tra
vellers agree furnish a retreat to numerous wild beasts,
yet the historian says not one word of either Turk or
» Pococks and Sandy's Trav, -j- Psalm lxxx. 13. $ 2 Sam. xviii 8

248 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Maronite being injured by them, in his whole narrative.
Absalom himself was the only person who properly
perished by the wood ; being caught by his head, in the
branches of a large oak, where Joab found him aud
thrust him through with a dart. But, supposing the
wood of Ephraim to have been a morass covered with
trees and bushes, like the haunts of the wild boar near
the banks of Jordan, the difficulty is easily removed.
It is certain that such a place has more than once proved
fatal to contending armies, partly by suffocating those
who in the hurry of flight inadvertently venture over
places incapable of supporting them, and partly by re
tarding them till their pursuers come up and cut them
to pieces. In this manner, a greater number of men than
fell in the heat of battle, may be destroyed. The arch
bishop of Tyre informs us, that one of the Christian
kings of Jerusalem lost some of his troops in a marshy
vale of this country, from their ignorance of the paths
which lead through it, although he had no enemy to
molest his march. The number of those who died was
small ; but in what numbers would they have perished,
may we suppose, had they been forced to flee, like the
men of Absalom, before a victorious and exasperated
enemy ? Lewis 11. king of Hungary, lost his life in a
bog in his own kingdom, in the sixteenth century : and
according to Zozimus, Decius the Roman emperor pe
rished in a fen, with his whole army. It may therefore,
be justly concluded, that Absalom's army perished
neither by the trees of the wood, like their guilty leader,
nor by the wild beasts which occupied its recesses ; but
by the deceitful quagmires with which it abounded.*
After the woods of Palestine, the trees mentioned in
Scripture, of which they were composed, are entitled
to our attention. Enough has already been said of the
cedar, in illustrating the passages of Scripture which
allude to the mountains of Lebanon. Next in order, as
equal in strength and majesty, is
The Oak,
The general character of which, is sufficiently familiar.
* Harmer's Obser.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 249
In the oriental regions, this stately and umbrageous tree
seems to reach a height, equal, if not superior to that
which it commonly attains in these parts of the world,
and to extend a deep and refreshing shade, to screen
the fainting inhabitant of those regions from the scorch
ing rays of the sun. The orientals loved to recline un
der the protecting shade of the oak, as the ancient
Roman under the covert of the spreading beech. The
patriarch Abraham spread his tent under the oak of
Mamre, and planted a grove of this tree for the acooni-
modation of his numerous household. Beneath the wide
extended arms of the oak, Joshua set up the tabernacle
of the Lord, that the congregation might with comfort
perform the public services of religion.* Under an oak,
Jacob hid the idolatrous images found in his family.
The Jews and other nations frequently buried their dead
under the oak, that the mourner might be screened from
the fierce heat, when he came according to their custom,
to weep at the grave. For a similar reason the idolater
set up his idol under its shade, that he might indulge
his mistaken raptures as long as he chose, without in
convenience. The worship of the Druids wherever in
troduced, was conducted under the shade of the thickest
oaks ; and in Greece, the dubious oracles of Jupiter
were uttered from the centre of the dark and solemn
grove. The prevalence of a similar practice in Syria,
Ave learn from the prophecies of Ezekiel : " Then shall
ye know7 that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall
he among their idols, round about their altars, upon
every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and
under every green tree, and under every thick oak :
the place Avhere they did offer sweet savour to all their
idols."! The durable wood of this tree, was chosen by the in
fatuated idolater, for the substance of his god : <' He
taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens
for himself, among the trees of the forest :"! hence it
appears, that this majestic tree was held sacred, and
even honoured with the highest religious veneration, in
times of very remote antiquity. The Druids held nothing
* Josh. xxiv. 26. fEzek. vi, 13. $ Isa. xliv. 14.
Vol, 1. K k

250 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
more sacred, than the oak, and the misletoe which grows
upon its arms. They chose groves of oak on their own
account, and never performed any of their sacred rites,
without the leaves of those trees. They regarded the
misletoe, which grew on their favourite tree, as sent from
heaven, and as a sign, that God himself had chosen it
for the scene of his worship. The misletoe is indeed a
very extraordinary plant, not to be cultivated in the
earth, but always srowing upon some tree. It seems to
prefer the branches of the oak or the apple. This plant,
however, was very seldom found ; but w hen found, was
ever treated by the Druids and their disciples, with great
ceremony. They distinguished it by a name, which in
their language signifies, " The curer of all evil ;" and
having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices under
the tree, they bring two Avhite bulls, whose horns are
then for the first time tied. The priest dressed in a
white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden
pruning hook, cuts off the misletoe, which is received
in a white sheet. Then they sacrifice, the victims, pray
ing that God would bless his own gift to those on Avhom
he has bestowed it.* Is it possible, says Mr. Park-
burst, for a Christian to read this account, without
thinking of him who was the desire of all nations; of the
man whose name is the Branch ; who had indeed no
father on earth, but came down from heaven ; was given
to heal all our ills ; and, after being cut off by the divine
counsel, was wrapped in fine linen, and laid in the se
pulchre for our sakes.e The misletoe was a sacred em-
* Pliny's Nat. Hist
e We have reason to be grateful that our confidence in the Mes
siah needs not this fanciful representation for its support. We see
no advantage gained by mingling Druidical superstitions with the
divinely established ceremonies and inspired predictions which
pointed to the Saviour. That indiscreet zeal, or rather that wretch
ed mode of interpretation which tellsmen to behold Christ predicted
in every thing, is eminently adapted to make them believe he is pre
dicted in nothing. We are far from denying that there have been
found in heathen nations remnants of what was originally instituted
to prefigure the great Messiah. But they have been obscured by
corruptions and a thousand additions. Now what we object to, is
the seizing of some circumstance in these additions that may be fan-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 251,
blem to other nations, especially to the ancient inha
bitants of Italy. The golden branch of "Virgil, with
out which, no one can return from the infernal regions,
seems in allusion to the same plant.

Latet arbore opaca

Aureus et foliis et lento vimine ramus,
Junoni infernae dictus sacer ¦
Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire,
•Auricomos quam quis decerpserit arbore foetus."
The Shitta Tree.
Concerning the shitta tree, mentioned by the prophet
Isaiah with the cedar and the myrtle, different opinions
are entertained by commentators. The name is derive^
from the Hebrew verb shata, to decline or turn tp and
fro, having for the plural, shittim. It is remarkable
for being the wrood of which the sacred vessels of the
tabernacle were made. The Seventy interpreters gen
erally render it by the term o.ar,xia, incorruptible. Theo-
dotion, and after him the Vulgate, translate it by Spi
na, a thorn. The shittim wood, says Jerome, resem
bles the white thorn in its colour and leaves, but not in
its size ; for the tree is so large, that it affords very
long planks. The wood is hard, tough, smooth with
out knots, and extremely beautiful. This kind of wood
grows only in the deserts of Arabia ; but in no other
part of the Roman empire. In another place he re
marks, it is of an admirable beauty, solidity, strength,
and smoothness. It is thought he means the black
acacia, the only tree found in the deserts of Arabia. It
is so hard and solid, as to become almost incorruptible.
Its wood has the colour of the Lotos tree; and so large,
that it furnishes planks twelve cubits long. This tree
is very thorny, and even its bark is covered with very
sharp thorns ; and hence it perhaps had the Hebrew
name shata, from making animals decline or turn aside
cied to have some resemblance to something which relates to our
Lord, and the giving pf it the importance of a sacred prophetical
type, or even the allowing of it to appear in the company of types
and prophecies. I. C.

252 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
by the sharpness of its spines. The interpretation
now given, seems to be confirmed by the following re
mark of Dr. Shaw : " The acacia being by much the
largest and the most common tree of these deserts, we
have some reason to conjecture, that the shittim wood, of
which the several utensils of the tabernable were made,
was the wood of the acacia. This tree abounds with
flowers of a globular figure, and of an excellent smell ;
which is another proof of its being the shitta tree of the
Scriptures, which, in the prophecies of Isaiah, is joined
with the myrtle and other sweet-smelling plants." Be
sides, we have no reason to conclude, that the people
of Israel possessed any species of wood for making the
utensils of the tabernacle, but what they could procure
in the desert ; but the desert produces none in the quan
tity required, except the acacia. In one place they
found seventy-two palm trees : but the sacred writer
distinguishes them by their vulgar name ; therefore
they could not be the same tree ; nor is the palm, which
is a soft spungy wood, at all fit for the purpose, — for
the nature of the utensils, as the ark of the testimony
and the mercy seat, required wood of a fibre the hard
est, the most beautiful and durable which could be
found, had it been in their power to make a choice ;
and these are the very characters of the acacia. To
these important qualities may be added, the fragrant
odour emitted by this wood, which to orientals who de
light in rich perfumes, must have been a powerful re
commendation. But if the acacia was perfectly suited
to the purpose of Moses, and if the desert produces no
other, as Dr. Shaw declares, the shittim wood men
tioned in the Scriptures must be the acacia of the na
tural historian. The Sycamore.
The sycamore is a large and spreading tree, and one
of the most common in Egypt and Palestine. Its grain
and texture are very coarse and spongy ; which is the
reason that the people of Israel, yielding to the sugges
tions of pride and vanity, proposed to substitute in their
place the finest trees : " The sycamores are cut down,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 253
but we will change them into cedars."* The syca
more buds late in the spring, about the latter end of
March, and is therefore called by the anqients, arborum
sapientissima, because it thus avoids the nipping frosts
to which many other trees are exposed-! It strikes its
large diverging roots deep into the soil ; and on this
account, our Lord alludes to it as the most difficult to
be rooted up and transferred to another situation : " If
ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say
unto this sycamore tree, be thou plucked up by the
root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey
you."! The extreme difficulty with which this tree is
transferred from its native spot to another situation,
gives to the words of our Lord a peculiar force and
beauty. The stronger and more diverging the root of
a tree, the more difficult it must be to pluck it up, and
insert it again so as to make it strike root and grow ;
but far more difficult still to plant it in the sea, where
the soil is so far below the surface, and where the rest
less billows are continually tossing it from one side to
another ; yet, says our Lord, a task no less difficult
than this to be accomplished, can the man of genuine
faith perform with a word ; for with God nothing is im
possible, nothing difficult or laborious.
The sycamore forms the middle link in the vegetable
kingdom, between the fig and the mulberry ; aud par
takes, according to some natural historians, of the na
ture of both. This is the reason the Greeks call it
nsafAtees — a name compounded of <f*«s a fig tree, and
/">?«s a mulberry. It resembles the fig tree in the shape
and size of its fruit ; which grows neither in clusters,
nor at the end of the branches, but by a very singular
law, sticking to the trunk of the tree. Its taste is much
like that of the wild fig.
It may seem strange that so inferior a tree as the sy
camore, should be classed by the Psalmist with the
choicest vines, in his ode on the plagues of Egypt :
" He destroyed their vines with hail, and their syca
more trees with frost."§ Many other trees, it may be
supposed, might be of much greater consequence to
•Isa. ix.10. fHasselquist. * Luke xvii. 6. § Psalm lxxviii, 47,

254 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE,
them ; and in particular, the date, which, on account of
its fruit, the modern Egyptians hold in the highest esti
mation.* But it ought to be remembered, that several
trees which are now found in Egypt, and highly valued,
might not then be introduced. Very few trees at pre
sent in Egypt, are supposed to be natives of the country.
If this idea be just, the sycamore and the Arine, might
at that early period be in reality the most valuable
trees in that kingdom. But, admitting that the syca
more was in respect of intrinsic properties or general
utility, much inferior to some other trees which they
possessed, accidental circumstances might give it an im
portance to which it had originally no claim. The
shade of this umbrageous tree is so grateful to the in
habitants of those warm latitudes, that they plant it
along the side of the ways near their villages ; and as
r& full grown sycamore branches out to so great a dis
tance that it forms a canopy for a circle of forty paces
in diameter, a single row of trees on one side of the
way is sufficient. It is often seen stretching its arms
over the. houses, to screen the fainting inhabitant from
the glowing heats of the summer. This Avas a benefit
so important to them, that it obtained a place in the
divine promise : " They shall sit every man under his
vine and under his fig tree ;"! and to shew at once the
-certainty of the promise, and the value of the favour, it
is repeated by another inspired prophet : " Ye shall
call every mau his neighbour under his vine and under
his fig tree."! Now, it appears from the most authen
tic records, that the ancient Egyptian coffins, intended
to preserve to many generations the bodies of departed
relatives ; the little square boxes which were placed
at the feet of the mummies, enclosing the instruments
and utensils in miniature Avhich belonged to the trade
and occupation of the deceased ; the figures and instru
ments of wood found in the catacombs, — are all made
of sycamore wood, which, though spongy and porous
to appearance, has continued entire and uncorrupted
for at least three thousand years. The innumerable
barks which ply on the river and over all the vale, in
* Maillet -f Mic. iv.4. * Zech. iii. 10.

NPTURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 255
the time of the inundation, are also fabricated of syca
more wood. But besides the various important uses to
Avhich the wood was applied, the sycamore produces a
species of fig upon which the people almost entirely
subsist, thinking themselves well regaled, when they
have a piece of bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a
pitcher.filled with water from the Nile.*
The Egyptians are not the only people to Avhose
palate the fruit of the sycamore is agreeable ; Hassel-
quist, the Swedish traveller, found it very grateful to
the taste ; he describes it as soft, watery, and sweetish,
Avith something of an aromatic flavour-! The fruit of
this tree comes to maturity seA'eral times in a season,
according to some writers not fewer than seven times ;
although prolific figs, or such as are perfectly formed,
ripen only once. Thus, the sycamore produces a fresh
crop of agreeable, and not unwholesome fruit, seven
times a year, for the use of those that dwell under its
shadow ; a boon which perhaps no other tree in the
garden of Nature bestows on man. Nor is it a danger
ous or a laborious task to gather the figs ; they seem to
have so little hold of the parent tree, that " if they be
shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the
eater."! The disposition of the fig tree to part with
her untimely or precious figs, is noticed by John in
the book of Revelation : " And the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely
figs Avhen she is shaken of a mighty wind."§ This
accounts for the appointment of a particular officer in
the reign of David, whose sole duty it was to Avatch
over the plantations of sycamore and olive trees: "And
OArer the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were
in the low plains, was Baalhanan the Gederite."|| So
valuable was the sycamore in the land of Canaan, dur
ing the reign of David, (from which undoubtedly may
be inferred the high estimation in which it was held in
every age>) that, in the commission of Baalhanan, the
officer charged with its protection, it is joined with the
olive, one of the most precious gifts which the God of
* Norden's Trav, tHan"er. * Nab- iii. 12. § Ch. vi. 13.
|| 1 Chron, xxvii. 28.

256 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
nature has bestowed on the oriental nations. Hassel-
quist found the sycamore growing in great numbers in
the plains and fields of Lower Egypt, which verifies
the accuracy of the inspired AtTiter; and it appears
from the same traveller, that the olive delights in simil
ar situations; for, in his journey from Jaffa to Rama,
he passed through fine vales abounding with olive trees.
The sycamore buds in the latter end of March, and
the prolific fruit ripens in the beginingof June. Pliny
and other natural historiaus allege, that it continues
immature till it is rubbed with iron combs, after which
it ripens in four days. Is it not an operation of this
kind to which the prophet Amos refers in the text
Avhich we translate, " 1 was a gatherer of sycamore
fruit?"* The Septuagint seems to refer it to some
thing done to the fruit to hasten its maturity ; probably
to the. action of the iron comb, Avithout the application of
which, the figs cannot be eaten because of their intole
rable bitterness. Parkhurst renders the phrase, a
scraper of sycamore fruit ; which he contends, from the
united testimony of natural historians, is the true mean
ing of the original term. The business of Amos then,
before his appointment to the prophetical office, Avas to
scrape or wound the fruit of the sycamore tree, to has
ten its maturity and prepare it for use. Simon renders
it a cultivator of sycamore fruit, which is perhaps the
preferable meaning ; for it appears that the cultivation
of this fig required a A'ariety of operations, all of which,
it is reasonable to suppose, were performed by the same
persons. To render the tree fruitful, they scarified the
bark, through Avhich a kind of milky liquor continually
distilled. This, it is said, causes a little bough to be
formed Avithout leaves, having upon it sometimes six or
seven figs. They are holloAv, without grains, and con
tain a little yellow matter, which is generally a nest of
grubs. At their extremity, a sort of Avater collects,
which, as it prevents them from ripening, must be let
out. Amos, it is probable, was employed in these va
rious operations ; which has induced Simon and others
to render the words, not a gatherer of sycamore fruit,
* Amos vii, 14.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 257
but a dresser of the sycamore tree ; which includes ali
the culture and attendance it requires.
The sycamore is a large spreading tree, sometimes
shooting up to a considerable height, and so thick, that
three men can hardly grasp the trunk. This unfolds
the reason why Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore
tree, to get a sight of his Redeemer. The incident also
furnishes a proof that the sycamore was still common in
Palestine ; for this tree stood to protect the traveller by
the side of the highway. The Mulberry.
It is doubtful whether the mulberry tree is once men
tioned in the Scriptures. If Hasselquist may be cre
dited, it scarcely ever grows in Judea, very little in
Galilee, but abounds in Syria and mount Lebanon.
Our translators have rendered the original term Baca,
by mulberry, in two different passages : " And when
David inquired of the Lord, he said, thou shalt not go
np, but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon
them over against the mulberry trees (Becaim;) and
let it be when thou hearest the sound of a going in the
tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir
thyself."* And the words, Who passing through the
valley of Baca, make it a pool : the rain also filleth the
pools, — 'are in the margin, Who passing through the
valley of mulberry trees.! The Seventy, in Chroni
cles, render it pear trees : in which they are followed
by Aquila and the Vulgate. Some think Baca, in the
eighty-fourth Psalm, is the name of a rivulet, which
burst out of the earth, at the foot of a mountain, with a
plaintive murmur, from Avhich it derived its name. But
it is more probable, that Baca is the name of some
shrub or tree. Those who translate it the mulberry
tree, to illustrate the passage in the Psalm pretend it
grows best in the dry ground ; but this seems to be un
founded. Marinus imagines, that Baca signifies the
mulberry tree, because the fruit of the. mulberry exudes
a juice resembling tears. Pnrkhurst rather thinks that
Baca means a kind of large shrub, ivhch the Arabs
* 2 Sam. v. 23, 24. See also 1 Chi on. xiv. 14. | P»»'m Ixxxiv. 6.
Vol. I. L 1

^58 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
likewise call Baca, and which probably was so' named!
from its distilling an odoriferous gum. For Baca with
an aleph, seems to be related to Bacah with a hay, which
signifies to ooze, to distill in small quantities, to weep
or shed tears. This idea perfectly corresponds with
the description which Celsius has given of this valley.
It is not, according to him, a place abounding with
fountains and pools of water, but rugged and embarras
sed with bushes and stones,, which could not be passed
through without labour and suffering ; a striking em
blem of that vale of thorns and tears, through which all
believers must pass to the heavenly Jerusalem.
The great uncertainty among interpreters concerning
the real meaning of the term Becaim, has induced Mr.
Harmer to hazard a conjecture, that the tree meant in
this passage is the weeping willow. But this plant is
not found in a dry sandy vale, where the thirsty travel
ler is compelled to dig for Avater, and to form cisterns
in the earth, to receive the rain of heaven. In such a
situation, we expect to find the pungent aromatic shrub
distilling its fragrant gum ; not the weeping willow,
the favourite situation of which is the watery plain, or
the margin of the brook.
The Palm Tree.
The palm tree is very common in Judea, and in the
surrounding regions. The Hebrews call it Tamar ion,
and the Greeks ?»<»<?, Phoenix. The finest palm trees
grow about Jericho and Engeddi ; they also flourish in
great numbers along the banks of Jordan, and towards
Scythopolis. Jericho is by way of distinction, called
"the city of palm trees."* It seems indeed, to have
been recognized as the common symbol of the Holy
land ; for Judea is represented on several coins of Ves
pasian, by a disconsolate woman sitting under a palm
tree ; and iri like manner, upon the Greek coin of his
son Titus, struck on a similar occasion, we see a shield
suspended on a palm tree, with a victory writing; upon
it. The same tree is delineated upon a medal of IJomi-
tian, as an emblem of Neapolis or Naplosa, the ancient
* Deut xxxiv. 3.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 259
Sichem ; and upon a medal of Trajan, it is the symbol
of Sepphoris, the metropolis of Galilee. From these
facts it may be presumed, that the palm tree was for
merly much cultivated in Palestine. Several of them
still grow in the neighbourhood of Jericho, which
abounds with water, where the climate is warm, and
the soil sandy ; a situation in which they delight, and
where they rise to full maturity. But at Jerusalem,
Sichem, and other places to the northward, two or three
of them are rarely seen together ; and even these, as
their fruit seldom or never comes to maturity, are of no
further service than, like the palm tree of Deborah, to
shade the dwellings of the parched inhabitants, or to
supply them with branches at the solemn festival. The
present condition and quality of palm trees in Canaan,
lead us to conclude, that they never at any time were
either very numerous or fruitful in that country. The
opinion that Phenice is the same with a country of date
trees, does not appear probable ; for if such a valuable
plant had ever been cultivated in Palestine with suc
cess, it would have been cultivated down to the present
times, as in Egypt and in Barbary. In these countries
the traveller meets with large plantations of palm trees
on the sea coast, as well as in the interior; although
those only which grow in the sandy deserts of Sahara,
and the regions of Getulia, and the Jereeda, bring their
fruit to perfection. They are propagated chiefly from
young shoots taken from the roots of full grown trees ;
which, if well transplanted and taken care of, will yield
their fruit in the sixth or seventh year; while those
which are raised immediately from the kernel, will not
bear till about their sixteenth year. This method of
of raising the <*>•'"? or palm, and particularly the cir
cumstance, that when the old trunk dies, young shoots
are never wanting to succeed it, may have given occa
sion to the well known fable of the Phoenix, which
perishes in a flame of her own kindling ; while a young
one springs from her ashes to continue the race. _
The palm tree arrives at its greatest vigour about
thirty years after being transplanted, and continues in
full strength and beauty for seventy years longer, pro-

260 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ducing yearly fifteen or twenty clusters of dates, each
of them weighing fifteen or twenty pounds. After this
period it begins, gradually to decline, and usually fails
about the latter end of its second century. " Cui placet
curas agere seculorum," says Palladius, " de palinis
cogitet conserendis."
It requires no other culture and attendance, than to
be well Ava'.ered once in four or five days, and to have a
few of the lower boughs lopped off Avhen they begin to
droop or w ither. These, whose stumps or pollices, in
being thus gradually left upon the trunk, serve, like so
many rounds of a ladder, to climb up the tree, either to
fecundate, or to lop it, or to gather the fruit, are quickly
supplied with others, which gradually hang down from
the crown or top, contributing both to the regular and
uniform growth of this tall, knotless, and beautiful tree,
and to its perpetual and delightful verdure.
It is usual Avith persons of better station, to entertain
their guests on days of joyous festivity with the honey
of the palm tree. This they procure by cutting off the
head or crown of one of the more vigorous plants, and
scooping the top of the trunk into the shape of a bason,
where the sap in ascending lodges itself, at the rate of
three or four quarts a day, during the first week or fort
night.; after which the quantity daily diminishes, and
at the end of six weeks or tAvo months, the juices are
entirely consumed, the tree becomes dry, and serves
only for timber or firewood. This liquor which has a
more luscious sAveetoess than honey, is of the consis
tence of a thin syrup, but quickly grows tart and ropyr,
acquiring an intoxicating quality, and giving by distilla
tion an. agreeable spirit, — the Araky of the natives, and
the palm wine of the natural historian.*
The palm is one of the most beautiful trees in the
vegetable kingdom; it is upright, lofty, verdant, and
embowering. It grows by the brook or well of living
water; and resisting every attempt to press or bend it
downwards, shoots directly toward heaven. The
chosen symbol of constancy, fruitfulness, patience, and
victory ; the more it is oppressed, the more it flourishes,
* Shaw's Trav. vol, 1.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. g6t
the higher it grows, and the stronger and broader the
top expands. To this majestic and useful tree, the
child of God is compared in the holy Scriptures, with
singular elegance and propriety. Adorned with the
beauties of holiness, aud rich in the mercies of the
covenant, fruitful in good works and reposing all his
thoughts in heaven, precious in the sight of God, and
lovely in the view of every rational being capable of
forming a just estimate of his character, he may w- 11 be
said to flourish like the palm tree, and to grow like a
cedar in Lebanon. " Planted in the house of the Lord,
he shall flourish in the courts of our God. He shall
still bring forth fruit in old age: be shall be fat and
flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright; that he
is his rock; and there is no unrighteousness in him."*
When the Saviour describes the comeliness and majesty
of his church, he compares her by a very noble figure,
to the lofty and tapering palm : " How fair and how
pleasant art thou, O love, for delights ; this thy stature
is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
grapes." Upon this, to denote his ardent desire of
communion with his people, he compares himself to one
who climbs the palm, to lodge among the branches, in
hale their fragrance, and gather their fruit: "I said, I
will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the
boughs thereof ; now also, thy breasts shall be as clus
ters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples."!
The indignant prophet, when he ridiculed the dumb
idols of the Gentile world, could not find a more ap
propriate simile, than the rigid upright groAvth of the
palm, to express their un pliant and motionless frame,
so unlike the agility of a man, much more the powerful
activity of him who rides upon the cherub, and walks
upon the wings of the wind : " They are upright as
the palm tree, but speak not; they must needs be borne,
because they cannot go."! From the first clause it is
evident, that he alluded also to the shape of their gods.
Before the art of carving was carried to perfection, the
ancients made their images all of a thickness, straight,
having their hands hanging down and close to their
* Psalm xcii. 12. f Song vii. 6, 7, 8. * Jer. x. 5.

262 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
sides, the legs joined together, the eyes shut with a very
perpendicular attitude, and not unlike to the body ofa
palm tree ; such are the figures of those antique Egyp
tian statues that still remain. The famous Greek
architect and sculptor Daedalus, set their legs at liberty,
opened their eyes, and gave them a freer and easier at
titude.* But according to some interpreters, and particularly
Mr. Parkhurst, the inspired writer sometimes gives it
a more honourable application ; selecting it to be the
symbol of our blessed Redeemer, who himself bore our
sins in his oAvn body on the tree. The voice of anti
quity ascribes to the palm, the singular quality of re
sisting a very great weight hung upon it, and of even
bending in the contrary direction, to counterbalance
the pressure. Of this circumstance, Xenophon takes
notice in his Cyropedia ; *<« fo vn^ftnt, u q>omx.i; Cn& fia^
maxventiiTaii and indeed, palm trees when loaded tvith
any weight, rise upwards, and bend the contrary way.
The same observation was made by Plutarch. It lias
been already observed, that the Hebrew name of the
palm tree is Thamar ; and in the Old Testament, we
meet with a place in Canaan called Baalthamar, in
honour, it is probable, of Baal or the sun, for many
ages the object of universal veneration amoug the orien
tals ; and who had been Avorshipped there, by the
Canaanites under this attribute, as supporting the im
mense pressure of the celestial fluid on all sides, and
sustaining the various parts and operations of universal
nature in their respective situations and courses. The
symbol of this support, stolen and perverted as usual
from the sacred ritual, appears to have been a palm
tree, which was also the symbol of support among the
Greeks and Egyptians. With how much greater pro
priety is it, the appointed symbol of him who sustained
the inconceivable pressure of divine wrath for his peo
ple, and Avas so far from beiug utterly depressed under
such a load of sin and punishment, that he successfully
endured all that the law and justice of his Father de
manded, rose victorious over death and the grave; and
* Diodor. Seoul as quoted by Calmet, vol. 2.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 268
shall for ever, as these interpreters suppose, " flourish
like the palm tree, and grow or spread abroad like the
cedar in Lebanon." Hence, in the outer temple, (the
symbol of Jehovah incarnate,) palm trees were engrav
ed on the walls and doors between the coupled cherubs.
And for this reason, the prophetess Deborah is suppos
ed to have fixed her dwelling under a palm tree, em
blematically to express her trust, not in the idolatrous
Asheroth or Bk-ssers, at that time the abomination of
Israel, but in the promised Messiah, who was to be
made perfect through sufferings. At the feast of taber
nacles, the people of Israel were to take branches of
palm trees ; at once to typify Jehovah's dwelling in
our nature, and the spiritual support, Avhich by this
means, all true believers derive from him ; and also, to
ascribe to him as the Creator and Preserver of all things,
in opposition to Baal or the sun, the honour of sustain
ing the operations of nature in producing and ripening
the fruits of the earth. The feast of tabernacles was
also the feast of ingathering; and every person in the
least acquainted with the customs of oriental nations
knows, that the palm tvas among idolaters, the chosen
symbol of the sun, and consecrated to that luminary ;
and, that the temples erected to his honour through all
the regions of the east, Avere surrounded with groves of
palm trees, whose leaf, resembling in shape the solar
beam, and maintaining a perpetual verdure, might con
tinually remind the adoring suppliants, of the quicken
ing influence and sustaining energy of their favourite
deity. The branches of this tree were also carried in the
hands of conquering armies, and before the triumphal
car of their commander, as emblems of victory. The
reason assigned for the prevalence of this custom among
the nations of antiquity, by Plutarch and Aulus Gellius,
is the nature of the tree by which it so remarkably re
sists incumbent pressure. And it is probable, they
carried palms in their bands on the celebration of vic
tory, not without respect to Apollo or the sun, to Avhom
they were consecrated. But the worshippers of the true
God, in bearing palm branches after a victory, or in

264 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
their solemn festivals, meant to acknowledge the divine
Author of success and prosperity, and to carry forward
their thoughts to the great conqueror of sin and death.
These seem-to have been the sentiments, which actuated
the multitudes that accompanied the Saviour when he
made his tr umphant entrance into Jerusalem, before
his death ; they took branches of palm trees and went
forth to meet him ; expressing, by these significant em
blems, what they immediately began to utter in joyful
acclamations: "Hosannah; blessed is the king of
Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord ;"* that is,
save us, blessed is the Messiah that cometh in the name
of the Father who sent him, and Avhose work he came
to accomplish. In the same manner, the saints are re
presented in the book of Revelation, with palms in their
hands ; while they proclaim the meaning of the symbol
in loud ascriptions of " Salvation to their God Avho sat
on the throne, and unto the Lamb."!
The Pomegranate.
The pomegranate, the Malus punica of the Romans,
the go« or ?»«» of the Greeks, and the Himon of the He
brews, is a kind of apple tree, whose fruit is covered
without, with a rind of a redish colour, and Avhich,
opening lengthwise, shews red grains full of juice re
sembling wine, Avith little kernels. The Hebrew term
Rimon, which expresses both the tree and the fruit,
from Rama to project, seems to have its name from the
strong projection or reflet tion of light, either from the
fruit or from the starlike flower with six leaves, or rays
at the top of the apple. The Greek name j««, Avhich
denotes the tree, and {«'»*«, the fruit, by which the
Seventy render the word Rimon, aim, perhaps at the
same thing, being derived from <•», to flow. We learn
from Dr. Shaw, that August produces the first ripe
pomegranates, some of which, are three or four inches
in diameter, and of a pound weight. The pomegra
nate, or malum Punicum, as originally brought from
Phenicia, was formerly numbered among the most de
licious fruits which the earth produces.! The high
» John xii. 13, 14. f Rev- ?«¦ 9- * Shaw's Trav.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 265
estimation in which it was held by the people of Israel,
may be inferred from its being one of the three kinds
of fruit brought by the spies from Eshcol, to Moses and
the congregation in the. wilderness ;* and from its being
specified by that rebellious people as one of the greatest
luxuries they enjoyed in Egypt, the Avant of which
they felt so severely in the sandy desert. The pome
granate, classed by Moses with Avheat and barley, vines
and. figs, oil olive and honey, Avas, in his account, one
principal recommendation of the promised land.! But
no circumstance more clearly proves the value which
the orientals put upon this fruit, than the choice which
Solomon makes of it to represent certain graces of the
church : " Thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate
Avithin thy locks;"! and in the thirteenth verse, the
children of God are compared to au orchard of pome
granates with pleasant fruits.
Three sorts of pomegranates are used in Syria, the
sour, the sweet, and another of an intermediate taste,
for the purpose of giving a grateful acidity to their
sauces or liquids. A very refreshing draught, such as
the Syrians use in hot weather, composed of* wine mix
ed with the juice of the pomegranate, it would seem,
the spouse proposed to make for her beloved : " I would
cause thee to drink of spiced Avine of the juice of my
pomegranate ;" a delicious and cooling beverage to the
parched inhabitant of the equatorial regions ; or per.
haps she means a species of wine made of pomegranate
juice, which we learu from Chardin, is drunk in con
siderable quantities in the east, and particularly in
Persia. Which of these is really intended, it is not
easy to determine. Liquors of this kind are still very
common in the east. Sherbet, which is a syrup, chiefly
that of lemons mixed with water, is used by persons of
all ranks.§
" I think," says Mr. Harmer in a note, " it is highly
probable, that in the time of remote antiquity, pome
granate juice was used in those countries where lemon
juice is now used, with their meat, and in their drinks ;
* Num. xiii. 23. and chap. xx. 5. f Deut. viii. 8. *Songiv,3.
§ Dr. Russel's Hist, of Aleppo.
' Vol. I. Mm

266 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
and, that it was not till afterwards that lemons came
among them. I know not how else to account for the
mention of pomegranates, in describing the fruitfulness
of the Holy land : they would not now, I think, occur
in such descriptions ; the juice of lemons and oranges
have at present almost superseded the use of that of
pomegranates." But the opinion of this respectable
writer, is opposed by no less an authority than Dr.
Russel, who spent many years in Syria, and wrote the
natural history of that country. According to that able
historian, lemons have by no means superseded the
pomegranate ; the latter is more easily preserved through
the winter, and is often in cookery preferred to the
lemon. In describing the fruitfulness of a country, the
pomegranate would be mentioned ; and it is diligently
cultivated even where lemons are plenty. What
Chardin calls Roubnar, he would not understand to
be wine ; Rab-al-nar is the inspissated juice of the
pomegranate, or the juice of grapes preserved with
sugar. The brazen pomegranates which Solomon placed in
the net wdrk, over the crowns which were on the top of
the two brazen pillars, appear to Parkhurstf plainly to
represent the fixed stars, strongly reflecting light on the
earth and planets. And the artificial pomegranates
which were ordered to be fixed on the skirt of Aaron's
robe, were meant to represent those spiritual stars, even
the children of God, who, by a light derived from the
Sun of Righteousness, shine as lights in the world ; and
who, like the bells which accompanied the pomegra
nates, are continually to proclaim the perfections of
him who called them out of darkness, into his marvel
lous light.
The Fig Tree.
The fig tree is very common in Palestine and the east.
The ancient Hebrews gave it the name of Thaena,
which signifies the tree of grief; because the upper side
of the leaf is rough and prickly, fretting the parts of the
f It is to be regretted that so learned a man as Mr. Parkhurst
was bewildered by the Hutchinsonian philosophy. , I. C.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 26*1
human body to which it is applied, and causing pain.
It was accordingly, say the Jews, with the leaves and
pliant branches of this tree, that our first parents after
the fall, twisted for themselves girdles or aprons, in to
ken both of their shame and their desert. The wise
economy of the great Creator, is admirably displayed
in the natural character of this tree ; it flourishes with
the greatest luxuriance in those stony and barren situa
tions where almost nothing else will grow. This is con
firmed by an observation of Columella : " Ficum frigo-
ribus ne serito, loca aprica, calculosa, glaceosa interdum
et saxosa amat."
Although the fig tree delights in a rocky and parched
soil, it contains a milky, or fat oily liquor ; it is very
fruitful ; and, in the islands of the Archipelago, a sin
gle tree generally produces two hundred and eighty
pounds of figs.* It ought not therefore to appear sur
prising, that the inspired writers bestow so many com
mendations on this valuable plant ; and compare those
nations and individuals that enjoy the highest degree of
prosperity known in this world, to the man who reclines
at his ease " under his vine and his fig tree:"! while they
represent the failure and destruction of the fig tree, as
one of the greatest public or private calamities : " Al
though the fig tree shall not blossom, — yet 1 will rejoice
in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."!
Figs are of two kinds, the boccore and the kermouse.
The black and white boccore, or early fig, is produced
in June ; but the kermouse, the fig properly so called,
which is preserved and made up into cakes, is rarely
ripe before August. Shaw mentions a long dark colour
ed kermouse, which sometimes hangs upon the trees all
the winter. For the kermouse in general continue a
long time upon the tree before they fall off ; while the
boccores drop as soon as they are ripe, and, according
to the beautiful allusion of the prophet Nahum, fall in
to the mouth of the eater the moment they are shaken.
The prophecy in which the allusion occurs, is directed
against Nineveh, at that time the mistress of the whole
earth ; a city strongly fortified and full of people. That
* Tournefort Trav. f Mic. iv. 4, * Hab. iii. 18.

268 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
proud metropolis promised, like Babykn, to sit a queen,
and see no sorrow ; to resign her greatness, her splen
dour, and her dominion, only Avhen time shall cease to
run. But, says the inspired prophet, all thy strong
holds, Avithout exception, shall be equally Aveak and
untenable before the Avrath of Heaven ; ready to fall,
like the first ripe figs, Avhich drop into the mouth of the
eater Avhen the tree is shaken Avith the gentlest hand,
they shall yield to the first assault. Soon mature and
soon destroyed, Nineveh shall be as completely swept
from the face of the earth, as the first ripe fig is con
sumed by the deA'ouring mouth of appetite or famine.
Dr. Shaw remarks, that the fig tree does not properly
blossom, or send out flowers, as we render the HebreAV
verb Thiphrah.* It may rather be said to shoot out its
fruit, which it does like so many Iii tie buttons withiheir
flowers, small and imperfect as they are inclosed with
in them.
When our learned traveller visited Palestine, he
found the boccore or early fig far from a state of matu
rity in the latter end of March ; for, in the language of
the evangelist, " the time of figs was not yet," or not
till the middle or latter end of June. " The time" men
tioned by the inspired writer, is supposed by some au
thors, to be the third year, in Avhich the fruit of a par
ticular kind of tree comes to perfection. But, if this
species exist at all, it requires to be better known and
more fully described, before it can be admitted to the
honour of illustrating a text of Scripture. The remark
of Dionysius Syrus, as translated by Dr. Loftus, is more
to the purpose : " It was not the time of figs," because,
says he, it was the month Nisan, Avhen trees yield
blossoms, and not fruit. It frequently falls out in Bar-
bary, however, and we need not doubt of the same thing
taking place in the hotter climate of Palestine, that, ac
cording to the quality of the preceding season, some of
the more forward and vigorous trees will occasionally
yield a few ripe figs, six weeks or more before the full
season. The fig trees in Canaan did certainly produce
these early figs ; for the prophet compares the beauty of
* Hab. iii. 17.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 269
Samaria to them; and* to shew how premature and
evanescent was the prosperity of that rich and power
ful metropolis, he observes, that the people gathered
these figs, and eat them up as soon as they found them :
" As the hasty fruit before the summer, which, when he
that looketh upon it, seeth it, while it is yet in his hand,
he eateth it up."* To point out the rapid increase of
ancient Israel, and Iioav much the Lord delighted in
them, the prophet Hosea remarks, that He found Israel
in the wilderness, as the first ripe in the fig tree at her
first time ;! and Jeremiah describes the genuine wor
shippers of Jehovah, under the figure of a basket which
"had very good figs, even like the figs which are first
ripe.! Pliny mentions a species of this tree, which is
always green, and always bearing fruit ; some ripe, or
very far advanced, according to the season, some in the
bud or in the blossom. §.
When the boccore draws nearer to perfection, then
the summer fig, or kermouse (the same that are pre
served,) begin to be formed ; they seldom ripen before
August ; at which time a third crop, or, as it may be
called, the winter fig, appears. This is usually of a
much longer shape, and darker complexion than the
kermouse, hanging and ripening upon the tree, even af
ter the leaves are fallen ; and if the winter prove mild
and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the
spring. We learn from Pliny, that the fig tree was bi-
fera, or bare tAvo crops of figs, the boccore perhaps,
and the kermouse ; though what he relates afterwards
would insinuate, that there was also a winter crop.
" Seri fructus per hiemem in abore manent et restate in
ter novas frondes et folici maturescunt." " Ficus al-
ferum edit fructum," says Columella, " et in hiemem
seram differet maturitatem." It is well known, that the
fruit of these prolific trees always precedes the leaves ;
and consequently, when our SaA'iour saw one of them
in full leaf, he might, according to the common course
of nature, Aery justly look for fruit, and haply find some
boccores, if not some winter figs still adhering to the
* Isa. xxviii 4. f Hos- i%- 10- * Jer- xxiv' 2l
§ Pliny b. 13. c, 8. and b. 15. ch. 18.

370 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
branches.* But the difficulty admits of another solution*
which some may perhaps reckon more satisfactory. It
has already been stated on the authority of Pliny, that
one species of fig tree is always green, and always bear
ing fruit, some ripe or very far advanced, according to
the season, some in the bud or in the blossom. The
statement of this renowned ancient, is confirmed in
general by Norden, who gives the same account of the
sycamore. This tree, he informs us, rises to " the height
of a beech, and bears its fruit in a manner quite different
from other trees. Tt has them on the trunk itself, Avhich
shoots out little sprigs, in form of a grape stalk, at the
end of which grows the fruit, close to one another, most
like branches of grapes. The tree is always green,
and "bears fruit several times in the year, without
observing any certain seasons ; for I have seen some
sycamores that have fruit two months after others."
Such, it is reasonable to suppose, was the fig tree Avhich
incurred the malediction of our Lord. — It stood by the
side of the public road, leading from Bethany to Jeru
salem ; it was therefore a wild fig or sycamore, for this
was the only species which they planted in such situa
tions. It is always green, (with leaves unquestionably ;)
but he might discern the leaves of the tree, and its ge
neral verdure, long before it was clear to observation,
whether any figs adhered to the trunk or not. It bears
fruit several times in the year, without observing any
certain seasons ; our Lord then did not expect this tree
to bear its fruit out of the proper season ; for he knew it
disregarded the usual time of figs, and produced at any
season of the year. And if he blasted this tree on ac
count of its barrenness, it was no man's private proper
ty, for it grew by the way side ; but if it had belonged
to some person, it was still the property of the Saviour;
for " all things were made by him, and for him, and by
him all things consist ;" and may not the Lord of all
dispose of his own as he pleases ?• Should any be dis
posed to inquire, Did not our Lord, who is the Omnis
cient, distinctly know the real state of that particular
fig tree ? It may be replied, as God he certainly did ;
* Shaws's Trav.

natural history of the east. 27J
but as man he might not : for in this last character he
did not know all things. He who did not as man knoAv
the day of judgment, might not know that the fig tree
which he saw at a distance, was covered only Avith
leaves. Nor is it certain, that as man he Avas ignorant
of the real state of that tree; he does not say, that he
expected to find figs upon it, but the eA'angelist, Avho
says, " Seeing a fig tree afar off, having leaves, he came
if haply he might fitid any thing thereon." This might
Avell be the language of his conduct, the natural infer
ence which a spectator would draw from his confessing
that he was hungry, and going up to the fig tree ; as on
the road to Emmaus, after his resurrection, he made as
if he Avould have gone further, though he really intend
ed, as the event proved, to turn in Avith the two disci
ples, and make himself known to them in the breaking
of bread. Besides, our Lord had a more important ob
ject in view, than to satisfy the cravings of hunger; he
meant to shew his disciples, by a lively emblem, what
God had a right to demand from the Jewish people, the
fruits of righteousness, according to the privileges they
had for many ages enjoyed ; what they had become —
barren and cumberers of the ground; and what they
might assuredly look for — the curse of Heaven, which
should dry up the sources of their prosperity, and pre
pare, them as fuel for the devouring flame.
So valuable is the fig tree in the land of Canaan, and
so high is the estimation in which it is held, that to bark
and kill it, is reckoned among the severest judgments
which God inflicted upon his offending people : ". For
a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without
number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has
the cheek teeth of a great lion : he has laid my vine
waste, and barked my fig tree ; he has made it clean
bare, and cast it away ; the branches thereof are made
white.' * The prophet alludes in these words, to the
destructive progress of the locust, which, with insatiable
greediness, devours the leaves and bark of every tree
on which it lights, till not the smallest portion of rind
is left, even on the slenderest twig, to convey the sap
* Joel i. 6, 7.

272 illustrations of scripture.
from the root, and leaAes it white and withering in the
sun, for ever incapable of answering the hopes of the
husbandman. Such were the people of Israel, de
livered by Jehovah, for their numerous and inveterate
transgressions, into the hands of their cruel and im
placable enemies.
The Vine.
The vine is a tree familiarly knoAvn even in these
northern and ungenial climes. Of this valuable plant,
the species are numerous, and strongly marked.
In the vales near Jordan, in the neighbourhood of
Jericho, not far from the Dead sea, is found, growing
in great abundance, the vine of Sodom, a plant, from
the fields around that devoted city, Avhich produces
grapes as bitter as gall, and wine as deadly as the
poison of a serpent. This deleterious fruit is mentioned
by Moses in terms which fully justify the assertion :
" For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the
fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall,
their clusters are bitter ; their wine is the poison of
dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." It is probable
the wild vine, a species of gourd, which produces the
coloquintida, a fruit so excessively bitter that it cannot
be eaten ; and when given in medicine, proAes a pur
gative so poAverful, as to be frequently followed by
excoriation of the vessels and hemorrhage. It seems
therefore to have been early, and not without reason,
considered as poisonous. It was of this wild vine the
sons#of the prophets ate; and its instantaneous effect,
together with their knowledge of its violent action,
easily accounts for their alarm : " And it came to pass
as they were eating (of the pottage which had been
mixed with the gourd,) that they cried out, and said,
O thou man of God, there is death in the pot, and they
could not eat."* Another species of wild vine, but of
a milder character, which grows in Palestine, near the
high ways and hedges, is the Labrusca. Its fruit is a
very small grape, which becomes black when ripe ; but
often it does not ripen at all. These are the wild
* 2 Kings iv. 39.

natural history of the east. 273
grapes to which the prophet compares the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and men of Judah : " And he looked that
it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild
grapes."* They are also the sour grapes to which
another inspired prophet alludes, when he predicts the
destroying judgments that were coming upon his rebel
lious people : " In those days they shall say no more,
The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's
teeth are set on edge — Every man that eateth the sour
grape, his teeth shall be set on edge"!
One species of vine is not less distinguished by the
luxuriance of its growth, than by the richness and de
licacy of its fruit. This is the Sorek of the Hebrews,
which the prophet Isaiah has chosen to represent the
founders of his nation — men renowned for almost every
virtue which can adorn the human character: "My
well beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, and
he planted it with Sorek, or the choicest vine."! It is
to this valuable species that Moses refers, in his pro
phetic benediction addressed to Judah ; and the man
ner in which he speaks of it is remarkable : " Binding
his foal unto the vine, and his asses' colt unto the choice
vine." In some parts of Persia, it was formerly the
custom to turn their cattle into the vineyards after the
vintage, to browse on the vines, some of which are so
large, that a man can hardly compass their trunks in
his arms.$ These facts clearly shew, that agreeably
to the prediction of Moses, the ass might be securely
bound to the vine, and without damaging the tree by
browsing on its leaves and branches. The same cus
tom appears, from the narratives of several travellers,
to have generally prevailed in the Lesser Asia. Chand
ler observed, that in the vineyards around Smyrna, the
leaves of the vines were decayed or stripped by the
camels, or herds of goats, which are permitted to broAvse
upon them after the vintage. When he left Smyrna on
the thirtieth of September, the vineyards were already
bare ; but when he arrived at Phygela, on the fifth or
sixth of October, he found its territory still green with
vines ; which is a proof, that the vineyards at Smyrna
* Isa.v. 2. + Jer. xxxi. 29, 30. * Isa. v. 2. § Chardin,
Vol. I. N n

274; illustrations of scripture.
must have been stripped by the cattle, which delight to
feed upon the foliage.
This custom furnishes a satisfactory reason for a
regulation in the laws of Moses, the meaning of which
has been very imperfectly understood, which prohibits
a man from introducing his beast into the vineyard of
his neighbour. It was destructive to the vineyard be
fore the fruit was gathered ; and after the vintage, it
Avas still a serious injury, because it deprived the owner
of the fodder, Avhich was most grateful to his flocks and
herds, and perhaps absolutely requisite for their sub
sistence during the winter. These things considered,
we discern in this enactment, the justice, wisdom, and
kindness of the great Legislator : aud the same traits of
excellence might no doubt be discovered in the most
obscure and minute regulation, could we detect the rea
son on which it is founded.
But, if the vine leaves were generally eaten by cat
tle alter the vintage was over, how, says Mr. Harmer,
"could the prophet, Isa xxxiv. 4., represent the drop
ping of the stars from heaven, in a general wreck of
nature, by the falling of the leaf from the vine? If they
were devoured by the cattle, they could not fall." The
answer is easy": the prophet refers to the characterof
the vine leaf, not to any local custom ; nor is it reason
able to suppose, that the leaves of every vineyard were
so regularly and completely consumed, that the people
had never seen them shoAvering from the branches by
the force pf the wind, or the nipping colds in the close
of the year. The beauty and fertility of the Sorek, or
choice vine, add great force and elegance to the com
parison in the gospel of John: "lam the true vine,
and my Father is the husbandman :" 1 am the root,
fountain, and head of influence, whence my people and
members derive life, grace, and every spiritual blessing;
and my Father orders all things concerning those who
believe in me, by uniting them to me as branches are
engrafted into the Aine ; by visiting and defending, sup
porting and purifying them continually, to make them
fruitful in every good work to do his will.
The land of Egypt never produced a sufficient quam

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. &75
tity of wine to supply the wants of its inhabitants : but
still it contained many vines, although it could not boast
of extensive and loaden vineyards. The vines of Egypt
are conjoined by the Psalmist, with the sycamores, in
his triumphal song on the plagues which desolated that
country, and procured the liberation of his ancestors :
" He destroyed their vines with hail, and their syca
more trees with frost."* This was to the people of
Egypt a very serious loss ; for the grape has been in all
ages a principal part of the viands, with which they
treated their friends. Norden was entertained with
coffee aud grapes by the aga of Essauen ; and when
Maillet resided in that country, the natives used the
young leaves of their vines even more than the fruit.
A principal article of their diet consists in minced meat,
which they wrap up in small parcels in vine leaves, and
laying thus one leaf upon another, they season it ac
cording to the custom of their country, and make of it
one of the most delicate dishes presented on their tables.
The remainder of the vintage they convert into wine, of
so delicious a taste and flavour, that it was carried to
Rome in the days of her pride and luxury, and esteem
ed by epicures the third in the number of their most
esteemed wines. The use of wine, being prohibited by
the Mohammedan law, very little is manufactured at
present ; but it seems, in ancient times, to have been
produced in much greater abundance. In the reign of
the Pharoahs, it was certainly made in considerable
quantities for the use of the court, who probably could
procure no such wine from other countries, nor were
they acquainted with such liquors as the great now
drink in Egypt; and consequently the loss of their
vines, as the sacred writer insinuates, must have been
considerable-! The grapes of Egypt are said to be much smaller
than those which grow in the land of Canaan. Dan-
darini, though an Italian, seems to have been surprised
at. the extraordinary size of the grapes produced in the
vineyards of Lebanon. They are as large as prunes,
and, as may be inferred from the richness and flavour
* Ps. lxxviii. 47. t Harmer, vol. 4. p. 6.

376 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of the wines for which the mountains of Lebanon have
been renowned from time immemorial, of the most de
licious taste. To the size and flavour of these grapes,
brought by the spies to the camp in the wilderness, the
Italian traveller, little versed, it should seem, in the
history of the Old Testament, imputes the ardour with
which- the people of Israel prosecuted the conquest of
Palestine. The magnificent cluster which the spies
brought from Eshcol, was certainly fitted, in no com
mon degree, to stimulate the parched armies of Israel
to deeds of heroic valour ; but their kindling spirit was
effectually damped by the report of the .spies, who were
intimidated by the robust and martial appearance of the
Canaanites, the strength of their cities, and the gigantic
stature of the sons of Anak.
The grapes produced in the land of Egypt, although
very delicious, are extremely small ;* but those which
grow in the vineyards of Coelo Syria and Palestine,
swell to a surprising bigness. The famous bunch of
Eschcol required the strength of two men to bear it.
This difference sufficiently accounts for the surprise
and pleasure which the people of Israel manifested,
when they first beheld, in the barren and sandy desert,
the fruits which grew in their future inheritance. The
extraordinary7 size of the grapes of Canaan, is confirmed
by the authority of a modern traveller. In traversing
the country about Bethlehem, Doubdan found a most
delightful valley full of aromatic herbs and rose bushes,
and planted with vines, which he supposed were of the
choicest kind : it was actually the valley of Eshcol,
from whence the spies carried that prodigious bunch of
grapes to Moses, of which we read in the book of
Numbers. That writer, it is true, saw no such cluster,
for he did not visit that fruitful spot in the time of the
vintage ; but the monks assured him, they still found
some, even in the present neglected state of the coun
try, which Aveighed ten or twelve pounds.
The vineyards of Canaan produce grapes of different
kinds ; some of them are red, and some Avhite, but the
greater part are black. To the juice of the red grape
* Norden,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 277
the sacred writers make frequent allusions : " Where
fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like
him that treadeth in the Avine fat?"* — " In that day,
sing ye unto her a vineyard of red wine : I the Lord
do keep it."! It is, therefore, with strict propriety, the
inspired writer calls it " the blood of the grape," a
phrase which seems intended to indicate the colour of
the juice, or the wine produced from it : " Thou didst
drink the pure blood of the grape."! The allusions in
Scripture to the method of making wine, and the various
utensils used in the process, belong to another part of
this work. Tie Olive Tree.
The olive tree is very common in Judea ; and like
the vine, it is of two kinds, the wild and the cultivated.
The latter is of a moderate height ; its trunk is knotty,
its bark smooth, and of an ash colour ; its wood is com
pact and yellowish ; the leaves are oblong, and bear a
striking resemblance to those of the willow, of a darkish
green on the upper, and white on the under side. Dr.
Chandler found the olive in full bloom on the sixth of
May, only one day's journey from Marathon in Greece.
There he and his party dined under an olive tree, laden
with pale yellow flowers ; but in another part of the
country, pn the Saronic gulf, he found the olive in full
blossom so late as the end of June. The flowers grow
in bunches, each flower being of one piece, widening
upwards, and dividing into four parts. The fruit is
also oblong and plump ; it is first green, then pale, and
then black when it is fully ripe. The flesh of the fruit
encloses a hard stone, full of an oblong seed. The wild
olive differs from this, in being smaller in all its parts.
It is famed particularly for its oil, which it produces in
great abundance.
To this valuable tree, the sacred Scriptures abound
in references ; and these, it is remarkable, have given
considerable pain to an ingenious traveller, because the
verdure of the olive did not equal his expectations.
"The fields," observes Mr. Sharpe, "and indeed the
* Isa.lxiii. 2. f Ch. xxvii 2. * Deut. xxxii 14.

2T8 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
whole of Tuscany, are in a manner covered with olive
trees ; but the olive tree does not answer the character
I had conceived of it : the royal Psalmist and some of
the sacred Avriters, speak with rapture of the green olive
tree, so that I expected a beautiful green ; and I con
fess to you I was wretchedly disappointed to find its
hue resembling that of our hedges when they are cover
ed with dust. The olive tree may possibly delight in
the barren district of Judea, but undoubtedly will dis
gust a man accustomed to English verdure."
This objection sheAvs the necessity of attending to
minute, and even seemingly trifling circumstances men
tioned in the holy Scriptures. The solution which Mr.
Sharpe proposes, cannot be admitted. Judea is not,
even in its present uncultivated state, so destitute of
verdure, as to make a tree, which looks as if it Avere
covered over with dust, an object capable of charming/
by the vivid colour of its leaves, the eyes of the be
holder. The supposition is still less admissible, when
the reference in the sacred text, is to times *when every
spot was diligently cultivated by a skilful and indus
trious race of husbandmen. The true solution of the
difficulty is to consider the Avord translated green, not
as descriptive of colour, but of vigour, freshness, or
some other property. In the prophecies of Daniel, our
translators render the Avord flourishing ; for no man
can imagine, that wdien Nebuchadnezzar said, "I was
at rest in my house, and green in my palace," (as it is
in the Hebrew) he referred to colour. The proper
meaning of the term, indeed, is vigorous and flourishing
as a tree, without respect to colour. In this sense it is
obviously used by Moses : " Ye shall utterly destroy'
all the places wherein the nations which ye shall
possess, served their gods, upon the high mountains,
and upon the hills, and under every green, or fresh and
spreading tree."* The psalmist uses it in the same
sense : " I have seen the wicked in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed
away, and lo, he was not : yea I sought bim, but he
rould not be found."! When the Psalmist observes,
* Deut. xii 2. \ Ps. xxxvii. 35.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST, 279
"T shall be anointed with green oil," (where the origi
nal word, is the same,) we are not to suppose he means
oil of a green colour, for what advantage could he de
rive from that circumstance? Nor can it be shewn that
oil of a green colour, was ever an object of special de
sire to the people of the east. Our translators, there
fore, properly render the phrase, " I shall be anointed
with fresh oil." Or perhaps the holy Psalmist may
allude to that precious fragrant oil, with which it w as
the custom to anoint kings and princes on the day of
their accession to the throne. Mr. Harmer thinks it
refers to medicated oil, to which a fragrant odour is im
parted by the infusion of aromatic herbs. In his opinion,
which is by no means improbable, the greater part of
the oil which the orientals used in anointing their bodies,
was rendered more or less fragrant, else it would hardly
have answered the purpose, which was to correct the
unpleasant effluvia which the heat of the climate often
excited. On this account, it became extremely necessary
to the enjoyment of life ; which is the reason that the
prophet threatened his offended people in these terms :
"Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt
tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil ;
and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine."* In these
passages, the epithet plainly refers to freshness and
vigour; and in the same manner, it must be understood
in the text to which Mr. Sharpe alludes : "I am like
a green olive tree in the house of God." This interpre
tation is supported by the version of the Seventy, where
it is rendered *aT»*sgiro{ ; and the Arulgate, in which it is
translated fructifera, fruitful. If we therefore render
the passage according to the proper meaning of the
term, " I am like a fruitful or vigorous olive tree in the
house of God," the difficulty vanishes ; the inspired
text contains nothing inconsistent with the natural his
tory of that valuable plant-! The beauty of the olive
tree, mentioned in other parts of Scripture, consists not
in the colour of its leaves, but in the spread of its
branches. This remark is justified by these words of
the prophet: "His branches shall spread, ...ud his
* Mic. vi 15. •]- Harmer, vol. 3. p. 257.

280 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
beauty shall be as the oliA'e tree, and his smell as Leba
non."* Thus the disappointment of Mr. Sharpe, of
which he so feelingly complains, arose, not from the
misrepresentations, or overcharged colouring, of the
sacred waiters, but merely from his not understanding
the sense of their language.
The olive, according to Maillet, groAvs with remarka
ble luxuriance in Egypt ; while Pococke affirms, that
the region about Arsinoe, is the only part of that coun
try Avhich naturally produces it, and that it Avas cul
tivated by art in the gardens of Alexandria. The pro
duce of a feAv olive trees, the greater part of which
were the reward of painful industry, must have furnish
ed but a scanty supply of oil to a people that reckoned
it among the greatest comforts of life ; that used it in
great quantities in their cookery ; for their lamps, which
must have been very numerous in those ages, when the
vale of Egypt, through all its extent, swarmed with in
habitants ; and for their illuminations, which are still
frequent and splendid, especially when the Nile begins
to overflow his banks, and inundate their fields. To
these modes of consumption, must be added the custom
Avhich universally prevails in this country, of keeping
lamps burning the whole night in all the apartments
which they occupy. If these things are duly consider
ed, the opinion of Maillet, Avho resided many years in
Egypt, Avill appear extremely probable, that more oil
Avas consumed in this country than in any other on the
face of the globe.
Syria, on the contrary, is a land in which olives
abound, and particularly that part of it which the peo
ple of Israel inhabited. This explains the reason why
the Jews, Avhen they wished to court the favour of their
neighbours, the Egyptians, sent them a present of oil.
The prophet thus upbraids his degenerate nation for
the servility and folly of their conduct : " Ephraim
feedeth on Avind, and followeth after the east wind ; he
daily increaseth lies and desolation : and they do make
a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into
Egypt"! The Israelites, in the decline of their na-
* Hos. xiv. 6. f Hos. xii. 1.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 281
tionai glory, carried the produce of their olive planta
tions into Egypt, as a tribute to their ancient oppres
sors, or as a present to conciliate their favour, and
obtain their assistance, in the sanguinaiy wars which
they were often compelled to wage with the neighbour
ing states.
The olive may be justly considered as one of the
most valuable gifts which the beneficent Creator has
bestowed on the human family. The oil which it yields,
forms an important article of food ; it imparts a greater
degree of pliancy to the limbs, and agility to the Avhole
body ; it assuages the agonizing pain, and promotes,
by its sanative influence, the cure of a wound ; it alle-
Ariates the internal sufferings produced by disease ; it
illumines, at once, the cottage and the palace ; it cheers,
by the splendour of its combustion, the festive meeting;
it senses to expel the deadly poison of venomous rep
tiles ; and it mingled, perhaps, from the first of time,
by the command of heaven, with many of the bloodless
oblations Which the people of God present id at his altar.
In these various and important uses, we may, perhaps,
discover the true reason that the dove of Noah Avas
directed, by God himself, to select the olive leaf from
the countless variety which floated on the subsiding
Avaters of the deluge, or bestrewed the slimy tops and
declivities of Ararat, as the chosen symbol of returning
peace and faA-our. From the creation of the world, the
fatness of this tree signally displayed the diA'ine good
ness and benignity ; and since the fall of man, it sym
bolizes the grace and kindness of our heavenly Father,
and the precious influences of the Holy Ghost, in heal
ing the spiritual diseases of our degenerate race, and in
counteracting the deadly poison of moral corruption.
Hence, the people of Israel were commanded to con
struct their booths at the feast of tabernacles, "partly
with branches of olive ; and all the nations of the
civilized world were secretly directed, by the over
ruling providence of heaven, to bear them in their
hands as emblems of peace and amity. The olive is
mentioned as the sign of peace, by both Livy and Vir-
Vol. I. -, O o

282 illustrations of scripture.
gil, in several parts of their works, but one instance from
the latter shall suffice.
" Turn pater jEneas puppi sic fatur ab alta
Pacifersque manu ramum pretendit olivas." JEn. b. 8. /. 116.
The celebrated navigator, Captain Cook, found that
green branches, carried in the hands, or stuck in the
ground, Avere the emblems of peace, universally em
ployed and understood by the numerous and untutored
inhabitants of the South Sea islands. The origin of a
custom, thus received and religiously observed, by na
tions dwelling on opposite sides of the globe, who never
had the smallest intercourse with one another, must be
sought for near the beginning of time, when the inha
bitants of our earth, forming but one family, lived un
der the gentle sway of their common parent.
Dr. Chandler, indeed, is of opinion, that the idea of
reconciliation and peace was not associated with the
olive branch till ages long posterior to the deluge. The
olive groves, he argues, are the usual resort of doves,.
and other birds, that repair to them for food ; and thus
endeavours to find a natural connection between the dove
of Noah and the olive leaf. The olive might, he thinks,
be the only tree which had raised its head above the
subsiding waters, near the place where the ark was
floating, although it is only of a middling height ; but if
the dove saw a great number of other trees above the
water, the habits of the bird naturally led it to the olive
plantation for shelter and food, in preference to all others.
But the greater part of this reasoning avowedly rests
upon mere assumption ; and although the olive grove
may be the favourite retreat of the dove, how are. we to
account for the olive branch being chosen by almost eve
ry nation, from the remotest times, for the symbol of re
conciliation and peace ? It is far more probable, that the
dove was directed by the finger of God, to prefer the
oJiA'e leaf, or a sprig of olive leaves, as being the sym
bol of peace with which ISoah was already acquainted,
or that it might, in future, be the token of reconciliation
between God and his offending creatures, and between
one nation and another.

natural history of the east. 283
The Apple Tree.
In Canaan, and the circumjacent regions, the apple
tree is of no value ; and, therefore, seems by no means
entitled to the praise with which it is honoured by the
spirit of inspiration. The inhabitants of Palestine and
Egypt import their apples from Damascus, the produce
of their own orchards being almost unfit for use. The
tree then, to which the spouse compares her Lord in the
Song of Solomon, whose shade was so refreshing, and
whose fruit was so delicious, so comforting, so restora
tive, could not be the apple tree, whose fruit can hardly
be eaten : nor could the apple tree, which the prophet
mentions with the vine, the fig, the palm, and the pome
granate, which furnished the hungry with a grateful re
past, the failure of which was considered as a public
calamity, be really of that species : " The vine is dried
up, the fig tree languisheth, the pomegranate tree, the
palm tree, also the apple tree, even all the trees of the
field are withered ; because joy is withered away from
the sons of men."* M. Forskall says, the apple tree
is extremely rare, and is named tyffah by the inhabitants
of Palestine. In deference to his authority, the learned
editor of Calmet, with every disposition to render the
original term by the citron, is inclined to revert again to
the apple. But if, as Forskall admits, the apple tree is
extremely rare, it cannot, with propriety, be classed
with the vine, and other fruit-bearing trees, that are
extremely common in Palestine and Syria. And if it
grow " with difficulty in hot countries," and requires
even the " assiduous attention" of such a monarch as
Solomon, before it could be raised and propagated, an
inspired writer certainly could not number it among the
" trees of the field," which, as the phrase clearly im
plies, can live and thrive without the fostering care of
man. Bishop Patrick, in his commentary on the Song, sup
poses that the word Thephucheem, translated apples,
denotes any kind of fruit which emits a fragrant odour,
as the apple, the orange, the citron, the peach ; but the
• Joel i. 12.

1284 illustrations of scripture.
justness of this remark may be questioned. To these,
and other fruits, it is true, the Romans gave the com
mon name of apples, only adding an appropriate epithet,
to distinguish them from one another ; but the Hebrew
writers do not seem to have followed this rule. The
pomegranate certainly was its peculiar name; and the
spouse, in the passage under consideration, evidently
means a particular species of trees by this term, since
she prefers them to all the trees of the Avood.
It now remains to inquire Avhat particular species of
trees is denoted by the term Tbephucheem. It occurs
in six different passages of Scripture ; and in them all,
save one, is plainly given as the appropriate name to one
of the noblest trees in the garden of nature : " As the
apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons ; I sat down under his shadow Avith
great delight, and his fruit Avas stveet to my taste."*
The fruit of this tree is represented in another part of
the same book, as emitting a delightful fragrance : rt I
said 1 will go up to the palm tree, 1 will take hold of
the boughs thereof; now also thy breasts shall be as
clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like ap
ples."! So delicious and powerful is their odour, that
it revives the fainting spirits, and invigorates the lan
guid frame : " Stay me with flaggons, comfort me with
apples, for 1 am sick of love."! The colour of this
valuable fruit resembles burnished gold : " A word fit
ly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."^
These circumstances all correspond with the account
which various Avriters have given of the citron. It must
be admitted that they are equally applicable to the
orange and the lemon tree ; but it is to be remembered,
that the most eminent natural historians doubt much
whether these last were known to the ancients ; while
it is universally admitted, that with the first, they were
familiarly acquainted. We learn, from Josephus, that
-the Jews, at the feast of tabernacles, pelted Alexander
Jannseus with the citrons which they carried in their
hands, according to the laws. This anecdote clearly
proves that the citron flourished in the orchards of Judea,
* Song ii. 3. t SonS v"- * Ch . v. § Prov. xxv. 1 1.

natural history of the east. 285
several generations before the birth of our Lord ; and it
is, with much probability, supposed to have been well
known in that country long before.
The Citron.
The citron is a large and beautiful tree, always green*
perfuming the air with its exquisite odour* and extend
ing a deep and refreshing shade over the panting inha
bitant of the torrid regions. Well then might the spouse
exclaim : " As the citron tree among the trees of the
wood ; so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down
under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was
sweet to my taste." A more beautiful object can hard
ly be conceived, than a large and spreading citron?
loaded with gold-coloured apples, aud clothed with
leaves of the richest green. Maundrell preferred the
orange garden, or citron grove at Beroot, the palace of
the emir Faccardine, on the coast of Syria, to every
thing 'else he met with there, al though it was only a large
quadrangular plot of ground, divided into sixteen small
er squares : but the walks were so shaded with orange
trees, of a large spreading size, and so richly adorned
with fruit, that he thought nothing could be more per
fect in its kind, or, had it been duly cultivated, could
have been more delightful. When it is recollected that
the difference between citron and orange trees, is not
very discernible, excepting by the fruit, both of which,
however, have the same golden colour, this passage of
Maundrell's may serve as a comment on the words of
Solomon, quoted in the beginning of the section.
The Almond.
The almond tree, so frequently mentioned in the
sacred writings, was called by the Hebrews shakad,
from a verb which signifies to awake, or watch ; be
cause His the first tree which feels the genial influences
of the sun, afther the withering rigours of winter. It
flowers in the month of January, and in the warm
southern latitudes, brings its fruit to maturity in March.
To the forwardness of the almond, the Lord seems to
refer in the vision with which he favoured his servant

286 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Jeremiah : " The word of the Lord came unto me, say
ing, Jeremiah, what seest thou ? And I said, 1 see a
rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me,
Thou hast Avell seen : for I will hasten my word to
perform it;" or rather, " I am hastening, or watching
over my word to fulfil it."* In this manner, it is ren
dered by the Seventy, eye.ny<>g* «>*> «*•' : and by the Vul
gate, Vigilabo ego super verbum meum. This is the
first vision with which the prophet was honoured ; and
his attention is roused by a very significant emblem of
that severe correction wjth Avhich the Most High Avas
hastening to visit his people for their iniquity ; and from
the species of tree to Avhich the rod belonged, he is
warned of its near approach. The idea which the ap
pearance of the almond rod suggested to his mind, is
confirmed by the exposition of God himself : "Iam
watching over, or on account of my word to fulfil it ;"
and this double mode of instruction, first by emblem,
and then by exposition, was certainly intended to make
a deeper impression on the mind, both of Jeremiah and
the people to whom he Avas sent.
It is probable, that the rods which the princes of Is
rael bore, were scions of the almond tree, at once the en
sign of their office, and the emblem of their A'igilance.
Such, we know from the testimony of Scripture, was
tbe rod of Aaron ; which renders it exceedingly probable,
that the rods of the other chiefs were from the same
tree: " And Moses spake unto the children of Israel,
and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece,
for each prince, according to their fathers' houses,
twelve rods ; and the rod of Aaron was among their
rods — and behold the rod of Aaron, for the house of
Levi, was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloom
ed blossoms, and yielded almonds."!
The almond rod of Aaron, in the opinion of Park
hurst, which was withered and dead, aud by the mira*
culous power of God, made to bud, and blossom, and
bring forth almonds, was a very proper emblem of him
who first arose from the grave ; and as the light and
warmth of the vernal sun seems first to affect the same
* Jer. i 11, 12. t Nua». xvii- 6_8'

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 287
symbolical tree*, it was with great propriety, that the
bowls of the golden candlestick were were shaped like
almonds. The hoary head is beautifully compared by
Solomon to the almond tree, covered in the earliest
days of spring with its snoAv white flowers, before a sin
gle leaf has budded : " The almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall
fail."* Man has existed in this world but a few days,
when old age begins to appear ; sheds its snows upon
his head ; prematurely nips his hopes, darkens his
prospects, and hurries him into the grave.
Balsam Trees,
Jimyris, Opobalsamum, called by the Arabians, Jlba
scham, literally, the father of smell, or very sweet
scented. M. Forskall describes it as a middle sized
tree, the branches widely spreading.
" Jimyris, Kafal. This plant yields a most fragrant
smell ; and the pulp of the green berry, on being
wounded, distils a white balm.
" The wood kafal constitutes a great part of com
merce ; and is brought to Egypt, where earthern ves
sels for carrying water are impregnated with the smoke
of it, in order to contract a flavour of Ayhich this nation
is very fond. The gum of this tree is a purging medi
cine. " There are tAvo other trees only known to me by
name, as the Schadjeret el muir, that is, tree of myrrh ;
the other, Chadasch : which resemble those already
described, if we may rely on my informers.
"Jimyris, Kataf, which closely resembles the kafal,
is said by the Arabs in the rainy month, (called Charif,)
to swell, and at a proper time, to shed a red sAveet smel
ling powder, which the women of the country (Abu
Arisch,) Avhere it is found in great plenty, sprinkle on
their heads, or which they use to wash themselves
with. " The fruit of the el-caja, which grows in the moun
tains of Yemen, whose flowers resemble those of the
* Ecch xii 5!

288 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
citron, is mixed Avith those fragrant essences with which
the Arabian Avomen Avash their heads."
These interesting facts may throAV some light on a
text which is involved in much obscurity, and Avhich in
terpreters have found it very difficult to explain. When
the spouse rose from her bed to open to her beloved, her
hands dropped myrrh (balsam,) and her fingers sweet-
smelling myrrh on the handles of the lock.* In this
remark, she seems to allude rather to a liquid than a
powder ; for the word rendered dropped, signifies to dis
til as the heavens or the clouds do rain, or as the moun
tains are said to distil neAV Avine from the vines planted
there, or as the inverted cups of lilies shed their roscid
or honey drops. The same term is figuratively applied
to words or discourse, which are said to distil as the
dew, and drop as the rain ;! but still the allusion is, to
some liquid. As a noun, it is the name of Stacte or
myrrh, distilling from the tree of its own accord Avithout
incision. Again, the word rendered sweet-smelling, signifies
passing off, distilling or trickling down ; and therefore,
in its present connection, more naturally refers to a
fluid, than to a dry powder. If these observations be
just, it will not be difficult to ascertain the real sense of
the passage.
When the spouse rose from her bed, to open the door
of her apartment, she hastily prepared to receive her
beloved, by washing herself with myrrh and water ; or
according to an established custom in the East, by
anointing her head with liquid essence of balsam : a
part of which, in either case, might remain on her hands
and fingers, and from them trickle down on the handles
of the lock.!
* Song- v. 5. f Deut: xxxii. 2. t Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4. Natural His.

-NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 289

CHAP. III.

INSECTS.
THE allusions of Scripture to the animated parts of
nature, are numerous and important. The insect tribes,
the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the
fishes of the sea, all are made to contribute their share
in illustrating or adorning the page of inspiration. We
shall begin with those creatures which occupy the low
est place in the scale of living existence.
In Scripture, the term reptile is often used to denote
every animal which cannot be classed among fishes,
birds, or larger quadrupeds. Thus, among the rep
tiles, Moses in the law, classes the mole, and other ani
mals of the smallest size, whether they creep upon their
belly like worms, or have four feet as the locust, or are
multipeds as the scolopendra. To these he adds the
Avinged insect, the bee, the fly, and others of the same
order. Hence, thai renowned lawgiA'er, divided all
reptiles into two classes ; those that haAre blood, and
those that have no blood, but only a humour analogous
to it.
Three terms are employed in his writings to express
the reptile, »ni. Remes, *"i<"> Sheretz, and 'ww. Zahal.
The first signifies any creature that moves without rising
from the ground ; that creeps or crawls upon the land,
or swims in the water : it designates every animal capa
ble of motion, which either has no feet, or those so
short, that it rather creeps than walks. The second
term alludes in a particular manner, to the extraordi
nary fecundity of the reptile tribes, from a root which
signifies to produce abundantly. The last is a name
which both land and water reptiles bear, from the slow
ness of their motion. But in these illustrations, it is
proposed to follow the usual division into insects and
reptiles, and of course, to begin with the former.
Vol. I. P p

290 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE,
The Fly.
This minute insect, which the Greeks call Oestrum,
and the Latins, Asilus, sparkles like fire when it is on
the wing, and is equally formidable by the severity of
its sting, and the intolerable pain with which its bite is
attended. So great was the terror Avhich it inspired,
that the heathen nations had particular gods, whose
province it was to defend them from its attacks. This
was the proper charge of Baalzehub, the lord of the
fly, as the name denotes, who was adored at Ekron in
the land of the Philistines. Those patriotic men, who
had found means to deliver their native city from this
terrible scourge, were elevated by their too grateful
townsmen to the rank of deities, and worshipped in
temples erected to their honour. These formidable
insects themselves, incredible as it may appear, were
actually worshipped in many places, either to mitigate
their rage, or because they were supposed to be sacred
to the deity. At Actium, Avhere stood the temple of
Apollo, an ox was sacrificed to the Oestrum ; and if
iElian be worthy of credit, they worshipped a deity
called Deus Musca, under the characteristic symbol of
a fly. But as this curious subject more properly be
longs to another branch of the discussion, and will
again occur, it would be improper to enlarge upon it
here. All the writers of antiquity agree in their descrip
tions of this terrible insect. The puncture made by
its proboscis, which the skin of no animal is able to
resist, is attended Avith the most exquisite pain. Struck
by the Oestrum, the bull forsakes the meadow, regard
less of the herd and the exertions of his keepers to
restrain his flight, aud runs in furious distraction over
the fields, till exhausted with suffering, fatigue, and
hunger, he sinks to the ground and expires. The
whole herd, alarmed by its distant hum, has been
known to abandon their pastures, and seek their safety
in precipitate flight. In Cyrene and Egypt, it never
passes the line which separates the cultivated part of
the country from the desert ; and generally confines its

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. S91
ravages to certain districts. Acquainted with these cir
cumstances, the shepherds on its first approach, remove
their flocks and herds into the neighbouring deserts,
where it is never known to come, till the season of its
devastation is over, when they return in peace and
safety to their former pastures.* A similar account is
given by the prince of Latin poets, in the third book of
his Georgics. " About the groves of Silarus and Al-
burnus, verdant with ever-green oaks, abounds a flying
insect which the Romans name Asylus, and the Greeks
in their language, have rendered Oestron, armed with
a sharp sting, humming harsh ; with w hich whole herds '
affrighted, fly different ways through the woods : The
sky is furiously shook with bellowings, and the woods
and banks of dry Tanagrus." And he concludes his
description of the implacable rage with which it perse
cutes the herd, with these Avell known lines :
" Hoc quondam monstro horribiles exercuit iras
Inachiae Juno pestem meditata juvencae." /. 146.
And byr Homer, who represents the suitors of Penelope
as flying through the hall like oxen persecuted by the
oestrum. ot ft dpaCoiro Kara fLtyagcH, /3o<; o>; M-ytXa'ai
rac/UEi t' aioxoc »'tg»c ip«gfe»di<c nfWijiw. Odyss. -j^l. 299.
But its attacks are not confined to the herd ; it assails
the weary pilgrim with equal fury, piercing with great
pain every part of his body which remains uncovered.
A most violent burning tumor follows the punctures
which it makes in the skin ; and the distressed wan
derer appears as if infected with leprosy. Nor is it
almost possible for him to guard against the bite of this
itioublesbme creature, by covering his head and neck
with a veiL! This statement accounts for the strong
propensity in the degenerate Israelites, and the ancient
inhabitants of Canaan, to worship Baal or Belzebub,
the lord of the fly. The oestrum was in their estima
tion, as it appears to have been in the opinion of the
Romans, an instrument of vengeance in the hand of
* Brucs's Trav. f Vinasauf.

292 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
God. It was, in the fable, commissioned to punish lo,
and compel her to wander as a fugitive over the face of
all the earth. When Bellerophon rashly mounted the
winged horse, and tried to ascend into heaven, an
oestrum was commanded to strike his horse, and render
him unmanageable. A similar calamity happened to
Ampelus, the favourite of Bacchus, who was by the
same minute, but powerful agent, thrown to the ground
from a sacred bull, and killed through the jealousy of
Selene. As it was supposed to make its attacks by the
command of heaven, any divine or extraordinary im
pulse, was called among the ancients an oestrum.
Hence, Orpheus having been forced to wander a long
time in exile, says, that he Avas delivered at last from
that madness, by his mother, Calliope.
ftHTitp H/junga. — - —
Nor Avas the idea, so commonly entertained, that the
oestrum came to execute the vengeance of heaven, with
out foundation. The plague of flies by which Jehovah
laid waste the land of Egypt, and humbled the proud
spirit of Pharaoh, is well known to every reader of the
Scriptures ; and from the rapid sketch which has now
been given of the character and habits of this minute,
but terrible adA^ersary, a correct judgment may be form
ed of the wide devastation and extreme suffering which
that visitation produced. Bochart contends, that it was
not the oestrum, but the dog-fly, which Jehovah em
ployed in this plague, and advances several reasons for
his opinion ; but they are not quite satisfactory. The
question is very difficult, and the solution of little im
portance to the object of this work. The description
also communicates a dignity and force to certain threat-
enings of the prophet, which to a superficial inquirer,
mayr perhaps wear an air of meanness. It was no trifling
judgment Avith which Isaiah threatened his refractory
people : " And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost
parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in
the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 293
rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes
of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes."*
If the prediction be understood in the literal sense, it
represents the oestra or cincinellse, as the armies of
Jehovah, summoned by him to battle against his offend
ing people ; or, if it be taken metaphorically, which is
perhaps the proper way of expounding it, the prophet
compares the numerous and destructive armies of Baby
lon, to the countless swarms of the oestra, whose distant
hum is said to strike the quadruped with consternation,
and whose bite inflicts on man and beast, a torment
almost insupportable.
We are deeply indebted to Mr. Bruce, who has
enabled us to identify the Ethiopian fly, mentioned by
the prophet.
" This insect is called Zimb ; it has not been des
cribed by any naturalist. It is in size very little larger
than a bfee, of a thicker proportion, and his wings,
which are broader than those of a bee, placed separate
like those of a fly ; they are of pure gauze, without
colour or spot upon them ; the head is large, the upper
jaAv or lip is sharp, and has at the end of it, a strong
pointed hair, of about a quarter of an inch long ; the
lower jaw has two of these pointed hairs ; and this
pencil of hairs, when joined together, makes a resis
tance to the finger, nearly equal to that of a strong hogs
bristle. Its legs are serrated in the inside, aud the
whole covered with brown hair or down. As soon as
this plague appears, and their buzzing is heard, all the
cattle forsake their food, and run wildly aboutthe plain,
till they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger.
No remedy remains, but to leave the black earth, and
hasten down to the sands of Atbara ; and there they re
main, while the rains last, this cruel enemy never dar
ing to pursue them farther.
" Though his size be immense, as is his strength, and
his body covered with a thick skin, defended with strong
hair; yet, even the camel is not capable to sustain the
violent punctures the fly makes with his pointed probos
cis. He must lose no time in removing to the sands of
* Isa. vii. 18.

294 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Atbara ; for when attacked by this fly, his body, head,
and legs, break out into large bosses, which swell,
break, and putrify, to the certain destruction of the
creature. " Even the elephant and rhinoceros, who, by reason
of their enormous bulk, and the vast quantity of food
and water they daily need, cannot shift to desert and
dry places, as the season may require, are obliged to
roll themselves in mud and mire ; which, when dry,
coats them over like armour, and enables them to stand
their ground against this winged assassin ; yet, I have
found some of these tubercles upon almost every ele
phant and rhinoceros that I baA'e seen, and attribute
them to this cause.
" All the inhabitants of the sea-coast of Melinda,
doAvn to cape Gardefan, to Saba, and the south coast
of the Red sea, are obliged to put themselves in motion,
and remove to the next sand, in the beginning of the
rainy season, to prevent all their stock of cattle from be
ing destroyed. This is not a partial emigration ; the
inhabitants of all the countries, from the mountains of
Abyssinia northward, to the confluence of the Nile, and
Astaboras, are once a year, obliged to change their
abode, and seek protection on the sands of Beja ; nor
is there any alternative, or means of avoiding this,
though a hostile band was in their way, capable of
spoiling them of half their substance ; and this is now
actually the case, as we shall see when we come to
speak of Senaar.
" Of all those that baA'e Avritten upon these countries,
the prophet Isaiah alone has given an account of this
animal, and the manner of its operation, Is. vii. 18, 19.
" And it shall come to pass in that day," &c. — That is,
they shall cut oil* from the cattle their usual retreat to
the desert, by taking possession of those places, and
meeting them there, Avhere ordinarily they never come,
and which therefore, were the refuge of the cattle.
" We cannot read the history of the plagues which
God brought upon Pharaoh, by the hands of Moses,
without stopping a moment to consider a singularity, a
very principal one, which attended this plague of the

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 295
fly, (Exod. viii. 20, &c.) It was not till this time, and by
means of this insect, that God said he would separate
his people from the Egyptians ; and it would seem, that
then a law was given to them, that fixed the limits of
their habitation. It is well known, as I have repeated
ly said, that the land of Goshen or Geshen, the posses
sion of the Israelites, was a land of pasture, which was
not tilled or sown, because it was not overfloAved by the
Nile. But the land overfloAved by the Nile, was the
black earth of the valley of Egypt, and it was here that
God confined the flies ; for, he says, it shall be a sign
of this separation of the people, which he had then
made, that not one fly should be seen in the sand, or
pasture ground, the land of Goshen ; and this kind of
soil, has ever since been the refuge of all cattle, emigra
ting from the black earth, to the lowest parts of Atbara.
Isaiah indeed says, that the fly shall be in all the de
sert places, and consequently, the sands ; yet, this was
a particular dispensation of Providence, to answer a
special end, the desolation of Egypt, and was not a re
peal of the general law, but a confirmation of it ; it was
an exception for a particular purpose, and for a limited
time. " I have already said so much on this subject, that it
would be tiring my reader's patience to repeat any thing
concerning him. — He has no sting, though he seems4»
me to be rather of the bee kind ; but his motion is mors
sudden and rapid than that of the bee, and resembles
that of the gad fly in England. There is something
particular in the sound or buzzing of this insect : it is a
jarring noise, together with a humming ; which induces
me to believe it proceeds, at least in part, from a vibra
tion made with the three hairs at his snout.
" The Chaldee version is content with calling the ani
mal simply Zebub, which signifies the fly in general, as-
we express it in English. The Arabs call it Zimb in
their translation, which has the same general significa
tion. The Ethiopic "translation calls it Tsaltsalya,
which is the true name of this particular fly in Geez,
and was the name in Hebrew."*
* Bruce's Travels, vol. 1. p. 5. vol. 5. p. 191,

296 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
This interesting account has been verified by a late
traveller, who received a similar description of the fly,
and its terrible ravages in Egypt and Abyssinia, from
an intelligent natiAe of the latter country.
The Hornet.
Another insect Avhich Heaven has sometimes em
ployed to avenge the quarrel of his covenant, is the hor
net ; Avhich is a larger species of wasp. The irascible
temper and poisonous sting of the wasp, are too well
known to require description; they have been mentioned
by the natural historians, and celebrated by the poets of
every age and country. Thus Ovid de Sileno,
" Millia crabronum coeunt et vertice nudo
Spiculo defigunt oraque prima notant."
And Aristophanes, 3Hf fjtrj Tig rlvirtg a^^ita fi>,tr}n /utt %a(pt<rei^rt.
In three parallel places of Scripture, the sacred writer
mentions the hornet which Jehovah sent before his peo
ple, to expel the Canaanites from their habitations:
" And I will send hornets. before thee, which shall drive
out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from be
fore thee."* This promise Avas afterwards reneAved a
short time before that people passed the Jordan :
" Moreover, the Lord thy God Avill send the hornet
among them, till they that are left, and hide themselves
from thee, be destroyed."! Both these promises, we
learn from Joshua, were punctually fulfilled : " And
I sent the hornet before you, Avhich drove them out from
before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, but not
with thy sword, nor Avith thy bow."!
At what particular time during the wars of Joshua,
the Lord, in fulfilment of his promise, sent the hornet
against the inhabitants of Canaan, and what impression
its attack made upon the enemies of Israel, we are no
where informed in Scripture. On this account, several
writers of great eminence consider the words of Moses
as a metaphor, denoting the terror of the Lord, or some
remarkable disease Avhich he commissioned to lay waste
•Exod. xsir.28. t Deut. vii. 2d. * Josh. xxiv. 12.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 297
the country before the armies of Israel. But neither the
words of Moses nor Joshua betray the smallest indica
tion of metaphor ; and iu a plain narration, Ave are
never, without the most obvious necessity, to depart
from the literal sense. The inspired historian could
not mean tlfe terror of the Lord, as Augustine is inclined
to suppose ; for he had mentioned this in the verse im
mediately preceding : " I will send my fear before thee,
and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come,
and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs un
to thee." Upon which it is added, " And 1 will send
hornets before thee."* Nor could any particular dis
ease be intended ; for no disease tvas eArer called by this
name. Junius gives a different version : I will send
before thee fear or disease as a hornet ; but the compa
rative particle as, is not in the text, and must not be
supplied by the caprice of translators. The words of
Joshua are express, without either metaphor or compa
rison : " I have sent the hornet before you." It is no
valid objection to the literal sense, that the circumstan
ces of time and place are not mentioned by the sacred
writer ; for this is by no means an unusual omission in
the rapid narrative of an inspired historian. To men
tion but one example : The patriarch Jacob gave to his
son Joseph a portion of land, which he took from the
Amorite by force of arms ;t but Avhen or in Avhat place
this battle was fought, we are not informed. The hor
net, it is probable, marched before the armies of Israel,
till the five nations, that had been doomed for their nu
merous and long continued crimes to destruction, were
subdued ; which rendered such a circumstantial detail
unnecessary and improper.
But who can believe, say they, that the hornets of
Canaan were so vexatious to the inhabitants, that they
were forced to abandon their dwellings, and seek for other
habitations ? The testimony of an inspired writer ought
to silence all such objections ; but, in reality, the same
thing has not unfrequently happened in the history of
the world. Both Athenseus and Eustatheus inform
us, that the people about Pffionia aud Dardania were
• Exod. xxiii. 27, 28, t Gen- xlviii- S2'
Vol. I. Qq

298 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
compelled by frogs to forsake their native country, and
fix their abode in a distant region. If Pliny may be cre
dited, the ancient city of Troy Avas forced to open her
gates, after a war of ten years, not so much by the vic
torious arms of the Greeks, as by au innumerable host
of mice, which compelled the Trojans to desert their
houses, and retire to the neighbouring mountains ; and
in Italy, whole nations were driven from their posses
sions by the same destructiAre creature, which in im
mense numbers overran their fields, devoured every
green thing, and, grubbing up the roots, converted some
of the fairest regions of that country into an inhospita
ble waste. The Myusians, according to Pausanias,
were forced, by swarms of gnats, to desert their city ;
and the Scythians beyond the Ister, are recorded to
have been expelled from their country by countless
myriads of bees. But, since the Avasp is more vexa
tious than the bee, its sting more severe, and its hostil
ity more virulent — it is by no means incredible, that
many of the Canaanites were forced, by so formidable
an enemy, to remove beyond the reach of their attack.
The Ant.
The name of this minute insect in Hebrew is ^°=. Ne-
mala, from a root which signifies to cut down ; perhaps,
because the God of Nature has taught it to divide or
cut off the top of the grain, which it lays up in its sub
terraneous cells for the winter, to prevent their germi
nation. This operation is attested by numerous an
cient writers ; among whom, Ave observe the celebrated
names of Pliny and Plutarch. It is at least certain,
that the ant cuts off the tops of growing corn that it may
seize upon the grain ; which may perhaps be the true
reason of its Hebrew name.
The allusions to this little animal in the sacred wri
tings, although not numerous, are by no means unim
portant. The Avisest of men refers us to the bright ex
ample of its foresight and activity : " Go to the ant
thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise : which
having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 299
in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."*
Their uniform care and promptitude in improving every
moment as it passes ; the admirable order in which
they proceed to the scene of action ; the perfect harmo
ny which reigns in their bands ; the eagerness which
they discover in running to the assistance of the weak
or the fatigued ; the readiness with which those that
have no burden yield the way to their fellows that bend
under their loads, or when the grain happens to be too
heavy, cut it in two, and take the half upon their own
shoulders ; furnish a striking example of industry, be
nevolence, and concord, to the human family. Nor
should the skill and vigour Avhich they display in dig
ging under ground, in building their houses, and in con
structing their cells, in filling their granaries with corn
for the winter, in forming channels for carrying off the
rain ; in bringing forth their hidden stores which are in
danger of spoiling by the moisture, and exposing them
to the sun and air, be passed over in silence. These,
and many other operations clearly shew how instruc
tive a teacher is the ant, even to men of understanding ;
and how much reason Solomon had to hold up its shi
ning example to their imitation. " Go to the ant, thou
sluggard, consider her ways," not that thou mayest be
come learned, but wise ; and especially wise in working
out thy salvation, laying up durable riches while the
season of mercy continues ; providing for that state of
never-ending duration, when, as the Saviour himself at
tests, no man can work.
" Parvula nam exemplo est magni formica laboris.
Ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo.
Quem struit, haud ignara ac non incauta futuri." Hor.
We find another allusion to the ant near the close of
the same book : " The ants are a people not strong,
yet they prepare their meat in the summer! It is, ac
cording to the royal preacher, one of those things which
are little upon the earth, but exceeding Avise. The su
perior wisdom of the ant has been recognized by many
writers. Horace in the passage from which the preced
ing quotation is taken, praises its sagacity : Virgil ce-
* Prov, vi, 6. f Prov. xxx. 25.

300 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
lebrates its foresight, in providing for the Avants and in
firmities of old age, while it is young and vigorous :
 " atque inopi metuens formica senectse."*
And Ave learn from Hesiod, that among the earliest
Greeks it Avas called Idris ; that is, Avise, because it
foresaw the coming storm, and the inauspicious day.
Aristotle observes, that some of those animals which have
no blood, possess moreintelligence and sagacity than some
that have blood ; among A\iiich,are the bees and the ants.
Cicero believed that the ant is not only furnished with
senses, but also with mind, reason and memory : " In
formica non modo sensus sed etiam mens, ratio, memo
riae." Some authors go so far as to prefer the ant to
man himself, on account of the vigorous intelligence
and sagacity which they display in all their operations.
Although this opinion is justly chargeable with extra-
Aragance, yet it must be admitted, that the union of so
many noble qualities in so small a corpuscle, is one of
the most remarkable phenomena in the Avoiks of nature.
This is admitted by Solomon himself; "The ants are
a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the
summer." He calls them a people, because they are
gregarious ; living in a state of society, though Avithout
anykingorleadertomaintainorder and superintend their
affairs. The term people is frequently applied to them
by ancient writers. iElian says, that the ants which
ascend the stalks of growing corn, throw down the
spikes which they have bit off, ?•« tnnu, ra »«t«, to the
people, that is, the ants below. Apuleius, describing
the manner in which the ants convoke an assembly of
the nation, says, that when the signal is given, Ruunt
alhe superque alise sepedum populorum undse. The
wise man adds, they are not strong ; that is, they are
feeble insects ; nor is it possible, that great strength can
reside in so minute a creature. Hence the Arabians
say contemptuously of a man that has become weak and
infirm, " he is feebler than the ant."!
The Spider.
The spider is a venemous insect, whose form is not
less forbidding, than its dispositions are cruel, and its
* Geor. b. 1. 1. 186. f Bochart.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 301
habits disgusting. It is only tAvice mentioned in the
sacred Avritings ; and in both instances, the inspired
writers allude to the conduct and lot of wicked men.
The first passage in Avhich it occurs, is in the book of
Job, where Bildad displays the justice of God in the
punishment of the hypocrite, " Whose, hope shall be
cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's Aveb. He
shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand ; he
shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure."* The house
of the spider is her Aveb, Avhich she spreads to catch the
heedless fly, Avhere she lives, and rears her young. The
other passage is in the prophecies of Isaiah, Avhere, de
scribing the conduct of his degenerate nation, he says :
" They hatch cockatrice eggs, aud Aveave the spider's
Aveb — their webs shall not become garments, neither
shall they cover themselves Avith their Avorks : their
works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is
in their hands."! Weak and unstable as the spider's
web, are all the professions and works of the hypocrite.
The filaments which compose the flimsy texture in
which she dwells, are finely spun, and curiously woven;
but a single touch dissolves the fabric : equally frail and
evanescent are his wisest and most elaborate contri
vances. All the materials of which her house is con
structed, are derived from her own boAvels : and all his
hopes are founded in the goodness of his heart, and the
excellence of his conduct. She, fabricates her web to
be at once a covering to herself, and a snare to her
neighbour : and for the same odious purposes he as
sumes the garb of religion. But the deceitful veil which
he throws over the deformity of his character, can re
main only for a short time ; like the spider's web, it
shall soon be swept away, and his loathsome form ex
posed to every eye. Like her, he shall perish in the
ruins of that habitation which he constructed with so
much care, and where he reposed in fatal security.
The greater part of modern interpreters, among whom
are to be numbered our own translators, imagine that
the spider is intended by Solomon in these words.
" The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in
* Job viii. 14. t Isa. Hx. 5.

302 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
king's palaces.* But the wise man uses a different
word from the common Hebrew name of that insect,
and subjoins a description, which in one particular is
by no means applicable to it; for, although several
ancient writers have given fingers to the spider, not one
has honoured her with hands. An ancient poet has ac
cordingly taught her to say,
" Nulla milii manus est, pedibus tamen omnia fiunt."
Had Solomon intended to describe the spider, he would
not have merely said, she taketh hold Avith her hands,
but she spins her thread and weaves her toils, circum
stances assuredly much more worthy of notice ; nor
would he have said, that she takes up her abode in
king's palaces, Avhen she more frequently constructs her
house in the cabins of the poor, tvhere she dwells in
greater security and freedom. The opinion of the
celebrated Bochart, our principal guide in sacred
zoology, that the newt, a species of small lizard, is
meant, seems, in every respect, entitled to the pre
ference. This venemous reptile answers to the descrip
tion which the royal preacher gives of her form and
habits : nature has furnished" her with hands, and
taught her to aspire to the superior accommodations
Avhich the palace of an eastern monarch affords.!
The Bee.
The bee is a gregarious insect, living in a state of
society, and subject to a regular government. From
this last circumstance, its Hebrew name f™"" from a root
Avhich signifies to speak, to rule, to lead, is derived. It
is an opinion commonly received among the ancients,
that bees were propagated in two ways, either by those
of their oAvn species, or in the cavities of a dead car
case. Their opinion is beautifully stated by Virgil in
these lines :
" Hie vero subitum ac dictu mirabile monstrum
Aspiciunt, liquefecta bourn per viscera toto
Stridere apes utero et ruptis effervere costis,
Immensas que trahi nubes jamque arbore summa
Confluere, et lentis uvam demittere ramis."
* Prov. xxx. 28. j Bochart. Hieroz.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 303
" But here they behold a sudden prodigy, and won-
derous to relate, bees through all the belly, hum amidst
the putrid bowels of the cattle, pour forth with the fer
menting juices from the burst sides, and in immense
clouds roll along, then swarm together on the top of a
tree, and hang down in a cluster from the bending
boughs." This opinion, however, is directly contradicted by
another, which was held by some writers of the greatest
reputation in ancient times. Aristotle taught, that the
bee Avill not light upon a dead carcase, nor taste the
flesh. Varro asserts, that she never sits down in an
unclean place, or upon any thing which emits an un
pleasant smell. They are never seen, like flies, feed
ing on blood or flesh ; while wasps and hornets all
delight in such food, the bee never touches a dead body.
So much they dislike an impure smell, that when one
of them dies, the survivors immediately carry out the
carcase from the hive, that they may not be annoyed
by the effluvia. This fact is admitted by Virgil him
self: " Turn corpora luce carentum
Exportant tectis, et tristia funera ducunt." Geor. b. 4. /. 255.
The discovery which Samson made, Avhen he went
down to Timnath, may seem to contradict the latter,
and confirm the former opinion : " And after a time, he
returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the
carcase of the lion : and behold there was a SAvarm of
bees, and honey in the carcase of the lion."* But it
is not said the swarm Avas generated there, but only
that Samson found them in the carcase ; nor is it said,
that the lion had been recently killed, and that the car
case was in a state of putrefaction : the contrary seems
to be intimated by the phrase after a time, literally,
after days, one of the most commou expressions in
Scripture for a year. Hence the lion was killed a
whole year before this visit to Timnath, when he dis
covered the swarm in the carcase. But the flesh of the
carcase, which Samson left in the open field a whole
* Jud. xiv. 8.

304 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
year, the prey of Avild beasts and ravenous birds, must
have been entirely consumed long before his return, or
so completely dried by the violent heat of the sun, that
nothing but the skeleton, or exsiccated frame remained.
Within the bare, or withered enclosure of the bones,
Avhich had exhaled their last putrid effluvia, the swarm,
in perfect consistency tvith their usual delicacy, might
construct their cells and deposit their honey. This
conjecture is coufirmed by the testimony of Herodotus,
who declares that bees have swarmed in dry bones.
Some writers have contended that bees are destitute
of the sense of hearing ; but their opinion is entirely
without foundation. This will appear, if any proof
Avere necessary, from the following prediction : " And
it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall
hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers
of Egypt ; and for the bee that is in the land of As
syria."* The allusion which this text involves, is the
practice of calling out the bees from their hives, by a
hissing, or Avhistling sound, to their labour in the fields,
and summoning them again to return, when the heavens
begin to lower, or the shadows of evening to fall. In
this manner, Jehovah threatens to rouse the enemies of
Judah, and lead them to the prey. However widely
scattered, or far remote from the scene of action, they
should hear his voice, and with as much promptitude
as the bee, that has been taught to recognize the signal
of its owner, and obey his call, they should assemble
their forces ; and although weak and insignificant as a
swarm of bees in the estimation of a proud and in
fatuated people, they should come, with irresistible
might, and take possession of the rich and beautiful
region Avhich had been abandoned by its terrified in
habitants. The bee is represented by the ancients, as a vexa
tious, and even a formidable adversary ; and the ex
perience of every person Avho turns his attention to the
temper and habits of that valuable insect, attests the
truth of their assertion. They were so troublesome in
some districts of Crete, that, if we may believe Pliny,
* Isa. vii. 18.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 305
i he inhabitants were actually compelled to forsake their
habitations. And, according to Julian, some places in
Scythia, beyond the Ister, were formerly inaccessible,
on account of the numerous sv\arais of bees by Avhich
they Avere infested. The statements of these ancient
writers is confirmed by Mr. Park, in the second volume
of his Travels : Some of his associates imprudently at
tempted to rob a numerous hive, which they found in
their way. The exasperated little animals rushed out
to defend their property, and attacked them with so
much fury, that they quickly compelled the whole com
pany, men, horses, aud asses, to scamper oil' in all
directions. The horses were never recovered, and a
number of the asses were so severely stung that they
died next day : and so great was the loss our intrepid
traveller sustained in the engagement, that he des-
pondingly concluded his journey was at an end. The
allusion of Moses, therefore, to their fierce hostility,
in the beginning of his last words to Israel, is both
just and beautiful : " And the Amorites Avhich dwelt in
that mountain came out against you, and chased you as
bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hor-
mah."* The Amorites, it appears, were the most bit
ter adversaries to Israel, of all the nations of Canaan :
like bees that are easily irritated, that attack with great
fury, and increasing numbers, the person that dares to
molest their hive> and persecute him in his flight, to a
considerable distance — the incensed Amorites had col
lected their hostile bands, and chased, with considera
ble slaughter, the chosen tribes from their territory.
The Psalmist also complains, that his enemies com
passed him about like bees ; fiercely attacking him on
every side. The bee, when called to defend her hive,
assails with fearless intrepidity the largest and the most
ferocious animal; and the Psalmist found from ex
perience, that neither the purity of his character, the
splendour of his rank, nor the greatness of his power,
were sufficient to shield him from the covered machina
tions, or open assaults of his cruel and numerous
enemies. * Dent. i. 44.
Vol. I. R r

306 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
But the bee has been renowned from time immemorial,
not so much for its martial prowess, as for singular in
dustry, strict discipline, and valuable products. These
have excited the admiration of every age, and every
people ; and sometimes procured it the honour of lend
ing its name to females, of various ranks in society.
Deborah, the Hebrew name of the bee, was the name of
Rebecca's nurse ; and of a prophetess, who, in the time
of the Judges, ruled the tribes of Israel. In ancient
Greece, Melissa was the name given to the nurse of
Jupiter, the wife of Periander, king of Corinth, and to
many other illustrious females. On the delicious stores
of the hive, they set the highest value. The patriarch
Jacob commanded his sons to carry down into Egypt,
among other precious articles, a little honey, as a pre
sent to Pharaoh. When DaA'id visited Mahauaim, the
Avealthy inhabitants entertained him Avith honey and
butter ; and honey appears to have been reckoned
among the greatest delicacies at the sumptuous table of
Solomon ; for in the Song, he joins it with myrrh and
spice, Avine and milk, with Avhich the Lord of the church
is entertained in his garden.* The holy Psalmist, gui
ded by the Spirit of inspiration, and elevated almost
beyond the lot of mortality, with the liveliest sense of
the Divine favour, could pronounce no higher eulogium
on the revealed will of his God, than this : " Hoav
stveet are thy Avords to my taste, yea, sweeter than ho
ney to my mouth ; SAveeter also than honey and the ho
neycomb !" "What is sweeter than honey," demand
ed the companions of Samson : and what is more valu
able in itself, than the word of God ; and Avhat more
grateful to the reneAved soul, than the exceeding great
and precious promises of the gospel, and the pure and
sanctifying injunctions of the law, Avhich regulate all
his steps, supply all his wants, and lead him up to spi
ritual perfection, and the full enjoyment of his Father
in heaven ? No sweets of nature, no composition of art,
can fully express the value that he sets upon the bless
ings of salvation, nor the holy delight, which, in the
possession of them, diffuses itself over all his bosom.!
•Song. v. 1. fBochart.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 307
The Moth.
The allusions to this insect in the sacred Avritings,
although few in number, are of considerable impor
tance. The first instance occurs in the reproof which
Eliphaz addresses to Job, and expresses in a very
striking manner, the extreme frailty of sinful man, and
the shortness and uncertainty of human life : " Behold,
he putteth no trust in his servants ; and his angels he
chargeth with folly : How much less in them that
dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust,
which are crushed before the moth?"* Frail man is
crushed as with a moth ; in secrecy and silence he
sinksinto the grave. The same idea seems to be convey
ed under this allusion, in several other texts of Scrip
ture : " Lo, they shall wax old as doth a garment ; the
moth shall consume them."! " Fear ye not the re
proach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the
worm shall eat them like wool. They shall perish
with as little noise, as a garment under the tooth of a
moth."! In the prophecies of Hosea, God himself
says : " I will be as a moth unto Ephraim, and as a
lion;" that is, I will send silent and secret judgments
upon him, which shall imperceptibly waste his beauty,
corrode his power, and diminish his strength, and will
finish his destruction with open and irresistible ca
lamities. Or the meaning may be, As the moth crumbles into
dust under the slightest pressure, or the gentlest touch ;
so man dissolves with equal easp, and vanishes into
darkness, under the finger of the Almighty. Deeply
sensible of this affecting truth, the royal Psalmist, ear
nestly deprecates the judgments of God, humbly con
fessing his own, and the inability of every man, to en
dure his frown : rt Remove thy stroke away from me :
I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. When thou
with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest
his beauty to consume away like a moth : surely every
man is vanity, Selah."§ No created strength can sup-
"Jobiv- 19. t15*-1^ i Ch. Ii. 6, 7. § Psalm xxxix. 10, 11

308 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
port him ; no precautions of wisdom and foresight de
fend, no station exempt him ; the frown of his Maker,
like that destructive animalcule, gradually changes his
countenance, and at last consigns him to the grave.
The moth forms ber cell in the Avoollen garment ; a
frail structure, which is soon destroyed by the devour
ing energy of the builder. Day after day she consumes
the stuff in which her dwelling is placed, till both are
involved in one common ruin, and reduced to nothing.
" Cui stragula vestis

Blattarum ac tinearum epulse, putrescat in area " Hor.
Such, in the estimation of Job, is the prosperity of a
wicked man : " He buildeth his house as a moth, and
as a booth that the keeper maketh."* » The term which
that afflicted patriarch uses in this passage, signifies a
moth, and also the constellation Arcturus. Some in
terpreters accordingly render the words : " the wicked
man shall build his house like Arcturus ; shall raise,
for his accommodation and pleasure, a splendid and
magnificent abode, bright as the stars of Arcturus in
the shining vault of heaven ; but it shall speedily rush
into ruin, like a temporary booth, where the keeper of
a vineyard Avatcbes his property for a little while till
the vintage is gathered." But this interpretation by no
means accords Avith the design of the speaker ; for it
introduces an antithesis into the text, instead of the con
junction, which Job evidently meant, and separates the
two comparisons of the same thing, as if they referred
to different objects. Hence the common version, which
unquestionably expresses the true sense of the clause,
is entitled to the preference. " The wicked man, like
the moth, builds his house at the expense of another.
He expels his neighbours from their possessions, that
he may join house to house, and lay field to field, till
there be no place for others to inhabit, except as de
pendants on his forbearance or bounty, that he may
dwell alone, as the sole proprietor, in the midst of the
earth."! The idea of Job is thus expressed by another
prophet: " They covet fields, aud take them by vio-
* Job xxvii. 18 -j- Isai v 8:

NATURAL HISTORY OF THR KAST. 309
Hence ;. and houses, and take them aAvay ; so they op
press a man and his house, even a man and his heri
tage."* But his unrighteous acquisitions shall be of
short continuance ; they shall moulder insensibly aAvay,
returning to the lawful owner, or passing into the pos
session of others. The same allusion is involved in the
direction of our Lord to his disciples : " Lay not up
for yourselves treasure upon the earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and Avhere
thieves do not break through nor steal."! The word
treasure commonly suggests to our minds the idea of
some durable substance, as precious stones, gold and
silver, upon which the persevering industry of a moth
can make no impression ; but, in the language of inspi
ration, it denotes every thing collected together, Avhich
men reckon valuable. The Jews had treasures of corn,
of wine, of oil, of honey ;± treasures of gold, silver,
and brass.§> The robes of princes were also a part of
their treasure, upon which they often set a particular
value. Rich A-estmeuts made a conspicuous figure in
the treasury of Ulysses :
iii w\t** yjgyrt? xai £*x*«s fittiro
EV8ds tiv ;£ijXo«s7T, «\is t* «<»!;<% fXaw. Odyss. b. 2. /. 336.
These were, from their nature, exposed to the depreda
tions of the moth; fabricated of perishing materials,
they were liable to be. prematurely consumed, or taken
away by fraud or violence ; but the favour of God, ajid
the graces of his Spirit, and the enjoyment of eternal
happiness, are neither liable to internal decay nor ex
ternal violence, and, by consequence, are the proper ob
jects of our highest regard, chief solicitude, and con
stant pursuit. The Locust.
The locust is one of the most terrible scourges with
which the incensed majesty of heaven chastises a guilty
* Mic. ii. 2. f Mat- **• 19» 20- * Jer- xli 8"
§ Ezek. xxxiii. 4» Dan. xi. 43.

310 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
world. Not fewer than ten different names are given
to this creature in the sacred volume, every one of
which, after the manner of Hebrew nouns, marks some
distinctive character or peculiar effect. It is ™~®> arbe,
from its extraordinary fecundity, in which it is surpas
sed by no creature. The sacred writers, in speaking of
their numbers, use the most general terms which lan
guish can furnish : " For they came up with their cattle
and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers (or lo
custs) for multitude ; for both they and their camels
were without number."* " And the Midianites, and
the Amalekites, and all the children of the east, lay
along in the valljy like grasshoppers (or locusts) for
multitude."! The Psalmist mentions their immense
numbers in the same terms : " He spake, and the locusts
came, and caterpillars, and that without number."! In
the prophecies of Jeremiah, the enemies of Egypt are
thus described : " They shall cut down her forest, saith
the Lord, though it cannot be seached, because they are
more than the grasshoppers (locusts,) and are innume-
rable."§ il Make thyself many as the cankerworm,"
said the prophet Nahpm to the people of Nineveh,
" make thyself many as the locusts." || The accuracy
of these statements is attested by numerous and unex
ceptionable witnesses. In some regions of the east, the
whole earth is at times covered with locusts for the
space of several leagues, often to the depth of four
inches. The noise they make in browsing on the trees
and herbage, may be heard at a great distance, and re
sembles that of an army foraging in secret. The inha
bitants of Syria have observed that locusts are always
bred by too mild winters, and that they constantly come
from the deserts of Arabia. When they breed, which
is in the month of October, they make a hole in the
ground with their tails, and having laid three hundred
eggs in it, and covered them with their feet, expire ;
for they never live above six months and a half. Nei
ther rains nor frost, however long and severe, can de-
story their eggs : they continue till spring, and, hatched
* Jud vi 5. \ Ch. vii. 12. * Ps. cv 34. $ Jer. xlvi. 23.
II Nah. iii. 15:

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 311
by the heat of the sun, the young locusts issue from the
earth about the middle of April.*
From the circumstance of their young ones issuing
from the ground, they are called ™> Gob or Gobai, from
an Arabic verb, which signifies to rise out of the earth.
The third name is du Gazem, from the root gazaz,
to cut off, or to spoil : and more destructive and insatia
ble spoilers were never let loose to desolate the earth.
Wherever their innumerable bands direct their march,
the verdure of the country, though it resembled before
the paradise of God, almost instantaneously disappears.
The trees and plants, stripped of their leaves, and re
duced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary
image of winter to succeed in an instant, to the rich
scenery of spring. In a few hours they eat up every green
thing, and consign the miserable inhabitants of the deso
lated regions to inevitable famine. Many years are not
sufficient to repair the desolation which these destructive
insects produce. When they first appear on the fron
tiers of the cultivated lands, the inhabitants strive to re
pulse them by raising large clouds of smoke, but fre
quently their herbs and Avet straw fail them ; they then
dig trenches, where innumerable multitudes of these
vermin are buried. But the two most powerful destroy
ers of these insects, is the south, or south-easterly
winds, and the bird called the samarmar. These birds,
which greatly resemble the woodpecker, follow them in
large flocks, greedily devour them, and besides, kill as
many as they can ; they are, therefore, much' respected
by the peasants, and no person is ever allowed to destroy
them. The southerly winds waft them over the Medi
terranean, where they perish in so great quantities, that
when their carcases are cast on the shore, they infect
the air for several days to a considerablellistance. In
a state of putrefaction, the stench emitted from their
bodies is scarcely to be endured ; the traveller, who
crushes them below the wheels of his waggon, or the
feet of his horses, is reduced to the necessity of wash
ing his nose with vinegar, and holding his handkerchief,
dipped in it, continually to his nostrils.!
* Volney'a Trav. t Volney'* Trav.

312 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
One of the most grievous calamities ever inflicted by
the locust, happened to the regions of Africa in the time
of the Romans, and fell Avith peculiar weight on those
parts which were subject to their empire. Scarcely re
covered from the miseries of the last Punic war, Africa
Avas doomed to suffer, about one hundred and twenty-
three years before the birth of Christ, another desola
tion, as terrible as it was unprecedented. An immense
number of locusts covered the whole country, consumed
every plant aud every blade of grass in the field, Avith
out sparjng the roots, and the leaves of the trees, with
the tendrils upon Avhich they grew. These being ex
hausted, they penetrated with their teeth the bark,
lio we ver bitter, and even corroded the dry and solid
timber. After they had accomplished this terrible de
struction, a sudden blast of wind dispersed them into
different portions, and after tossing them aAvhile in the
air, plunged their innumerable hosts into the sea. But
the deadly scourge was not then at an end, the raging
billows threw up enormous heaps of their dead and cor
rupted bodies, upon that long extended coast, aa hich
produced a most insupportable and poisonous stench.
This soon brought on a pestilence, which affected every
species of animals ; so that birds, and sheep, and cat
tle, and even the wild beasts of the field, perished in
great numbers ; and their carcasses, being soon ren
dered putrid by the foulness of the air, added greatly
to the general corruption. The destruction of the hu
man species was horrible ; in Numidia, where at that
time Micipsa was king, eighty thousand persons died ;
and in that part of the sea coast which bordered upon
the region of Carthage and Utica, two hundred thou
sand are said to have been carried off by this pesti
lence.* This statement will shew, that the locust is one of
the most terrible instruments in the hand of incensed
Heaven ; it will discover the reason that the inspired
writers, in denouncing his judgments, so frequently al
lude to this insect, and threaten the sinner with with its
vengeance ; it accounts, in the most satisfactory manner,
* Orosius, as quoted by Harmer.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 313
for the figures which the prophets borrow, Avhen they
describe the march of cruel and destructive armies, from
the character and habits of this creature. The narra
tives of Volney, Thevenot, and other travellers, tvho
have seen and described the innumerable swarms of the
locusts, and their wasteful ravages, fully confirm the
gloAving description of Joel and other inspired prophets,
quoted in the beginning of this article. " A nation,"
says Joel, " has come up upon my land, strong and
without number. — He has laid my vine waste, and
barked my fig tree ; he has made it clean bare, and cast
it away, the branches thereof are made white — the vine
is dried up, and the fig tree languishes, the pomegranate
tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all
the trees of the field are withered ; because joy is
withered aAvay from the sons of men." " A day of
darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness. A fire devoureth before them, and behind
them a flame burneth. They march every one in his
ways ; they do not break their ranks, neither does one
thrust another. The land is as the garden of Eden be
fore them, and behind them a desolate wilderness."
" They shall run upon the wall ; they shall climb up
upon the houses ; they shall enter into the windows like
a thief. The earth shall quake before them ; the heaAens
shall tremble, the sun and the moon shall be darkened,
and the stars shall withdraw their shining."* The
same, allusion is involved in these words of Nahum,
concerning the fall of the Assyrian empire : " Thy
crowned are as the locusts ; and thy captains as the
great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the
cold day, but when the sun ariseth, they flee aAvay,
and their place is not known."! Bochart and other
writers, who are best acquainted with the eastern coun
tries, mention a great variety of locusts, which vindi
cates the language of the prophet : " Thy captains are
as the great grasshoppers." The next clause is attended
with some difficulty .B Mr. Lowth, in his comment, sup-
* Joel i. 6, 7, 10, 11, 12. ch. ii. 2, 3, 9, 10. f Nahum iii. 17.
g The difficulty which the author feels, and which he labours to
remove, arises from overlooking the object of the sacred writer .-
Vol. 1. S s

814 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
poses that these insects flee away, to avoid the heat of
the sun ; and it has been queried, whether the phrase
cold day does not mean the night. But it is well known,
that the heat of the sun, instead of compelling the lo
custs to retire, quickens them into life and activity; and
the words cold day, are never used in Scripture, nor by
any writer of value, to signify the night. The prophet
evidently refers, not to their flight during the heat of the
day, but to the time of their total departure ; for he does
not speak of their moving from one field to another, but
of their leaving the country which they have invaded,
so completely, that the place of their retreat is not
known. The day of cold cannot mean the depth of winter, for
they do not make their appearance in Palestine at that
season : and although in Arabia, from av hence Fulche-
rius supposes they come, thickets are found in some
places, and it has been imagined that the locusts lie con
cealed in them during the winter, which may be thought
to be their camping in the lodges in the cold day; yet
it is to be observed, that the word translated hedges,
properly signifies, not living fences, but stone walls,* aud
therefore cannot with propriety be applied to thickets.
But if the locust appears in the months of April and
May, the phrase " cold day" may seem to be impro
perly chosen. This difficulty, which may be thought
a considerable one, arises entirely from our translation.
The original term "T. Karah, denotes both cold and
cooling ; and the difficulty vanishes, when the latter is
introduced, and the words are translated, the day pf
cooling, or the time when the orientals open their win
dows Avith the view of refrigerating their houses, or re-
* See Num. xxii 24, 25. Eccl. x 8. Is. Iviii. 12, &c.

" The merchants, and captains, and princes of Nineveh, numer
ous as swarms of locusts in the hedges when it is cold, shall soon
be gone, as the locusts when the sun awakens them into activity !
Their overwhelming numbers and their soon passing away were
the ideas which the prophet had in view. He was not, in this
verse, speaking of locusts as attacking a country, and expelled, but
of locusts as soon disappearing from a place where once they were
numerous. I. C.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 215
treat from the oppressive heats which commence in the
months of April and May, to the cooling shades of their
gardens. A derivative of this term is employed by the
sacred historian, to denote the refrigeratory or summer
parlour, Avhich Eglon the king of Moab occupied, when
Ehud presented the tribute of his nation.*
Another term used by the sacred writers to signify
the locust, is ^n> Hagab; which our translators render
sometimes locust and sometimes grasshoper. They trans
late it locust in the following passage : " If I shut up
heaven that there be no more rain, or if I command the
locusts (Hagab) to devour the bind, or if 1 send a pes
tilence among my people : if my people shall humble
themselves and pray unto me, and seek my face, then
will 1 hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and
heal their land."! We cannot reasonably doubt, that
the word, in this place, denotes the locust, for this de
claration was made in answer to Solomon's prayer at
the dedication of the temple, that if the heaven should
be shut up, and there should be no rain ; or if there
should be famine, pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust,
or catterpillar, — then God would hear them when they
spread forth their hands towards that holy place. It
must also be remembered, that the grasshopper is an in
offensive anihial, or noxious in a very slight degree, and,
therefore, by no means a proper subject for deprecation
in the temple.
This circumstance also sheAvs, that the Hebrew tenr
here does not mean the cicada, as some writers have
supposed ; for, though the noise which they c.ake is
extremely disagreeable and disturbing, as Chandler
complains, it is not an insect so distressing to the ori
entals, as to admit the idea that it tvas a sul ject of so
lemn prayer at the dedication. To dist' rb the slum
bers of the weary traveller, or the toil-wor;i peasant, and
to devour the fruits of the earth, and pi inge the inha
bitants of a country into all the horrors ofa famine, are
evils of a Aery different magnitude.
Hagab is rendered grasshopper in the twelfth chapter
of Ecclesiastes ; and the circumstances, it must be con-
Mud, iii. 20. +2 Chron. vii. 13.

316 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
fessed, harmonize with the character of those creatures
for it will be readily admitted that their chirping must
be disagreeable to the. aged and infirm, that naturally
love quiet, and are commonly unable to bear much
noise. But it is more probable that hagab denotes the
locust, which is proverbially loquacious. They make
a very loud, screaking, and disagreeable noise with
their wings ; if one begin, others join, and the hateful
concert becomes universal ; a pause then ensues, and,
as it were, on a signal given, it again commences ; and
in this manner, they continue squalling for two or three
hours Avithout intermission. Mr. Harmer is of opinion,
that hagab ought to be rendered locust in this passage
too, because it becomes a burden by its depredations,
and desire fails : that is, every green thing disappears,
and nature puts on the semblance of universal deadness:
and such is the affecting appearance of the human body
in extreme old age ; it resembles a tree which the locust
has stripped of its leaves, has deprived of its bark, and
left naked and bare, to Avither in the blast, and moul
der, by degrees, into the dust from whence it rose.
The interpretation is ingenious ; but the common
meaning seems to be still more expressive, and is cer
tainly more affecting. Some kinds of the locust are
very small and light. Were the cicada not to be classed
among the locust tribes, still the figure remains in all its
force and beauty. The minutest of those small insects
becomes a burden to extreme old age, weighed down
with a load of years, and worn with toils and cares, to
the verge of existence. The powers and faculties of
body and miud are equally debilitated, and the relish
for the enjoyments of sense, which he once felt so keen
ly, is extinguished for ever.
Some inst ts live under a regular government, and,
like the bee, s ibmit to the authority of a chief; but the
wise man observes, " The locusts have no king, yet
they go forth by bands."* How just is this remark !
The head of the column, when the army is not tossed
and scattered by the winds, which often happens, is
directed by their voracious desire of food ; and the rest
* l-rov. xxx 27.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 317
follow in long succession, under the influence of the
same instinct ; but the devastations they commit, are as
methodical and complete, as if they acted under the
strictest discipline.
In Barbary and Palestine, the locusts appear about
the latter end of March. By the middle of April their
numbers are so increased, that in the heat of the day
they form themselves into large and numerous swarms,
fly in the air like a succession of clouds ; and, as the
prophet Joel expresses it, " darken the sun." When a
brisk gale happens to blow, so that these SAvarms are
crowded by others, or thrown one upon another, the
musing and intelligent travellers obtains a lively idea
of the Psalmist's comparison : " I am tossed up and
down like the locusts."* In the month of May, when
the ovaries of those insects are ripe and turgid, each of
these swarms begins gradually to disappear, and retire
into the plains, Avhere they deposit their eggs. These
are no sooner hatched in June, than each of the broods
collect themselves into a compact body, sometimes ex
tended more than a furlong on every side ; and then
marching directly toAvards the sea, they suffer nothing
tp escape them, eating up every thing that is green and
juicy, from the tender and lowly vegetable, to the coarse
leaf and bark of the vine and the pomegranate. In
prosecuting their Avork of destruction, they keep their
ranks like soldiers in order of battle, climbing as they
advance, over r very tree or wall that stands in their
way ; they enter into the very houses and bed cham
bers, like so many thieves. The inhabitants to stop
their motions, dig a variety of pits and trenches all over
their fields and gardens, which they fill with water, or
with heath, stubble, and other combustible matter,
which are set on the fire upon the approach of the lo
cust. But these contrivances are all to no purpose, for
the trenches are quickly filled up, and the fires extin
guished, by infinite swarms succeeding one another ;
while the front is regardless of danger, and the rear
presses on so close, that a retreat is altogether impossi-.
ble. A day or two after one of these broods is in mo-
* Ps. cix 23.

318 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
tion, others are already hatched to march and glean
after them, gnawing off the very bark, and the young
branches of such trees as had before escaped Avith the
loss only of their fruit and foliage ; so justly have they
been compared by the prophet to a great army.
The locust, it is supposed by an eminent traveller,
who has been my guide in the preceding description,
was the noisome beast, or the pernicious destructive ani
mal, as the original words may be interrupted, wbich,
with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, made
the four sore judgments, with which the prophet Eze
kiel threatened Jerusalem. The Jews were allowed
to eat them ; and when sprinkled with salt, and fried,
they are not unlike our fresh water cray fish. The
Acridophagi must have preferred them to almost every
other species of food, since they derived their name
from their eating locusts. We learn from the valuable
Avork of Dr. Russell, that the Arabs salt and eat them
as a delicacy. Locusts, were accordingly the common
food of John, the precursor of Christ, while he remain
ed in the wilderness. In feeding on that insect, the
Baptist submitted to no uncommon privation, and prac
tised no savage rigour, like many of the hermits who in
habited the deserts ; but merely followed the abste
mious mode of living, to which the people were accus
tomed, in the less frequented parts of the country.
Much unnecessary pains have been taken by some
squeamish writers, to prove that the locusts which John
used for food, were the fruit of a certain tree, and not
the carcase of the insects distinguished by that name ;
but a little inquiry will fully clear up this matter, and
shew, that however disgusting the idea of that kind of
meat may appear to us, the orientals entertain a very
different opinion. Many nations in the east, as the In
dians of the Bashee islands, the Tonquinese, and the
inhabitants of Madagascar, make no scruple to eat
these insects, of which they have innumerable swarms,
and prefer them to the finest fish.* The ancients af
firm, that in Africa, Syria, Persia, and almost through
out Asia, the people commonly eat these creatures.
* Dr. Shaw's Trav.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 319
Clenard, in a letter from Fez, in 1541, assures us, that
he saw waggon loads of locusts brought into that city
for food. Kirstenius, in his notes on MattheAv, says,
he was informed by his Arabic master, that he had of
ten seen them on the river Jordan; that they were of
the same form with ours, but larger ; that the inhabi
tants pluck off their wings and feet, and hang the rest
at their necks till they grow warm, and ferment ; and
then they eat them, and think them very good food. A
monk, who had travelled into Egypt, asserts, that he
had eaten of these locusts, and, that in the country they
subsisted on them four months in the year.
The locust is employed in the book of Revelation, to
symbolize the countless and savage hordes that fought
under the banners of the Saracen princes : " And there
came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto
them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth
have power, — and their torment was as the torment of
a scorpion, Avhen he striketh a man, — and the shapes
of the locusts were, like unto horses prepared unto bat
tle ; and on their heads were, as it were crowns of gold,
and their faces were as the faces of men. And they
had hair as the hair of women ; and their teeth Avere as
the teeth of lions. And they had breast- plates as it
were breast-plates of iron, and the sound of their wings
was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to
battle. And they had tails like scorpions, and there
were stings in their tails, — and they had a king over
them."* This remarkable comparison is almost in
every particular quite familiar to the Arabs. Niebuhr,
in his description of Arabia, informs us, that an Arab
of the desert near Bassorah, mentioned to him a singu
lar comparison of the locust with other animals. He
regarded it as a jest of the Bedouin, and paid no at
tention to it, till it Avas repeated by another from Bag
dad. He compared the head of the locust to that of
the horse ; its breast to that of the lion ; its feet to those
of the camel ; its body to that of the serpent ; its tail to
that of the scorpion ; its horns to the locks of hair of a
virgin : and so of other parts. It has been remarked
•Rev.ix. 1—12.

320 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
by almost every one Avho has paid attention to this
branch of natural history, that the head of a locust
bears a striking resemblance to that of a horse. The
Greeks called it the horse of the earth. Accoutred for
war, and mounted by a stern and bearded warrior, the
Arabian charger has a majestic and terrible appear
ance ; not less dreadful to the inhabitant of the east is
the locust, in all the vigour of youth, ready to com
mence his destructive march. The Saracen furnished
his horse Avith a silver bridle, and gilt trappings, and
covered his neck and breast with pla'es of iron ; it is
therefore, uot improbable, that he adorned his head
Avith some ornament resembling a crown, to which the
horns or antennae of the locust may not improperly be
Compared. The neck of this formidableinsect is also
defended by a hard scalyr substance, in the same man
ner as the neck of the Arabian Avar horse was defended
by plates of iron. The Arabian horse is carefully
taught to recognize his enemy in the field of battle,
Avhich he uo sooner does, than he rushes upon him with
the utmost violence, and attempts to tear him in pieces
Avith his teeth. The teeth of the locust are very sharp
and strong. With Avhat astonishing rapidity this insect
devours every green thing, and scatters desolation over
the fairest regions of the earth, has already been des
cribed ; from whence it appears, that the comparison of
the Saracen horse to the locust, is by no means inappli
cable. Nor is the sound of their Avings less remarka
ble ; the inspired writer says, " the sound of their wings
was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to
battle ;" and travellers haA'e stated, that " the passage
of the locusts over their heads was like the noise of a
great cataract." Tlie Scorpion.
The scorpion is one of the most loathsome objects in
nature. It resembles a small lobster ; its head appears
to be joined and continued to the breast ; it has two eyes
in the middle of its head, and tAvo towards the extremi
ty, between which, come as it were, two arms, which
are divided into two parts, like the claws of a lobster.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 321
It has eight legs proceeding from its breast, every one
of which is divided into six parts, covered with hair,
and armed with talons or claws. The belly is divided
into seven rings, from the last of which the tail pro
ceeds, which is divided into seven little heads, of which
the last is furnished with a sting. I n some are observed
six eyes, and in others eight may be perceived. The
tail is long, and formed after the manner of a string of
beads, tied end to end, one to another ; the last bigger
than the others, and somewhat longer ; to the end of
which, are sometimes two stings, which are hollow,
and filled with a cold poison, Avhich it injects into the
wound it inflicts. It is of a blackish colour, and moves
sidewise like a crab. It fixes violently with its snout,
and by its feet, on the persons Avhich it seizes, and can
not be disengaged without difficulty.*
To the northward of mount Atlas, the scorpion is not
very hurtful, for the sting being only attended with a
slight fever, the application of a little Venice treacle
quickly assuages the pain. But the scorpion of Getulia,
and most other parts of the Sahara, as it is larger, and
of a darker complexion, so its Arenom is proportionably
malignant, and frequently attended with death. In
Syria it does not seem to be deadly, but occasions much
inconvenience and suffering to the inhabitants. Whole
companies are suddenly affected with vomitings, tvhich
is supposed to be produced by the poisonous matter
which exudes from the skin of the scorpion, as it crawls
over their kitchen utensils or provisions. Nor is it
possible almost to avoid the danger ; it is never at rest
during the summer months, and so malicious is its dis
position, that it may be seen continually flourishing its
tail in which the sting is lodged, and striking at every
object Avithin its reach. So mischievous and hateful is
this creature, that the sacred writers use it in a figura*
tive sense for wicked, malicious, and crafty men. Such
was the house of Israel to the prophet Ezekiel : " Thou
dwellest," said JehoA'ah to his servant, " among scor
pions." " No animal in the creation seems endued with
a nature so irrascible. When taken, they exert their
* Buffon.
Vol. I. T t

322 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
utmost rage against the glass which contains them; will
attempt to sting a stick, when put near them ; will sting
animals confined with them, without provocation ; are
the cruelest enemies to each other. Maupertuis put a
hundred together in the same glass ; instantly they
vented their rage in mutual destruction, universal car
nage ! in a few days only fourteen remained, which had
kifled and deA'oured all the others. It is even asserted,
that Avhen in extremity or despair, the scorpion will
destroy itself; he stings himself on the back of the head,
and instantly expires. Surely Moses with great pro
priety, mentions scorpions among the dangers of the
wilderness ; and no situation can be conceived more
hazardous than that of Ezekiel, who is said to dwell
among scorpions ; nor could a fitter contrast be selected
by our Lord : " Will a father give a scorpion to his child
instead of an egg?"* Our SaA'iour invested his disci
ples with poAver to tread on serpents and scorpions ;! by
which may be denoted, poAver and authority to counter
act and baffle every kind of agent, which the devil em
ploys to vex and injure the church. The disciples of
Antichrist, who, by their poisonous doctrines, injure or
destroy the souls of men, are likewise compared to these
dangerous animals : " And there came out of the smoke
locusts upon the earth : and unto them aa as given pow
er, as the scorpions of the earth have power."! It is not
the.efore easy to know which to admire most, the folly
or the tyranny of Rehoboam, Avho, in the very com
mencement of his reign, threatened to lay aside the
whips with which his father had chastised the people of
Israel, and rule them with scorpions ; it Avas adding in
sult to cruelty. Nor is the injurious treatment much
alleviated, although the idea of some interpreters were
admitted, that the scorpion Avas the name of a kind of
whip in use among the Jews, armed with points like the
tail of that animal. The sting of the scorpion occasioned
an excruciating pain, although death did not ensue.
This is attested by John in the book of Bevelation :
"And to them it Avas given that they should not kill
them, but that they should be tormented five months;
* Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4.— The Scorpion, f Luke x. 19. * Rev. ix. 3,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 323
and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when
he striketh a man."* And so intolerable is the agony,
that it is added, " In those days shall men seek death
and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death
shall flee from them." If the Jews used a whip which
they called a scorpion, it must have been because it oc
casioned a similar torment. If these things are proper
ly considered, we shall cease to wonder at the instanta
neous revolt of the, ten tribes : for, it is not easy to con
ceive an address more calculated to rouse and exasperate
the hitter passions of a high spirited people, than the
puerile and wicked speech of Rehoboam.
Some writers consider the scorpion as a species of
serpent, because the poison of it is equally powerful ;
bence the sacred writers commonly join the scorpion and
the serpent together in their descriptions. Thus Moses,
in his farewell address to Israel, reminds them that God
" led them through that great and terrible wilderness,
wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions."! We find
them again united in our Lord's commission to his dis
ciples : " I give you power to tread upon serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy ;" and,
in his directions concerning the duty of prayer : " If a
son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will
he give him a stone ? Or if he ask a fish, will he, for a
fish, give him a serpent ? or if he shall ask an egg, will
he offer him a scorpion ?"! In these words, a fish is
compared with a serpent, and an egg Avith a scorpion,
on account of their similarity. For to say nothing of
the eel, which very much resembles the serpent, every
fish moves in the water somewhat after the manner of a
serpent upon the surface of the ground ; hence the He
brews giA'e them both the common name of reptile.
The scorpion is compared with an egg, because it re
sembles an egg in shape; and one species, according to
some natural historians, in colour, while all the different
species resemble it in size. The desert between Judea
and Egypt is exceedingly infested with serpents and
scorpions, as the words of Moses to his people clearly
prove: but in the southern regions of Judea, not far
* Rev. ix. 5, 6. tDeut. viii. 15. * Luke x 9. and xi. 11, 12

324 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTUKE.
from the extremity of the lake Asphaltites, rises a moun
tain which derived its name from the numbers of scor
pions Avhich crawled around its feet, or lodged in its de
clivities: "Your border," said Moses to his people,
" shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim ;"
that is, the ascent of scorpions, from Avhich mountain
the region contiguous to Idumea seems to have been lat
terly called Acrabateue. The Jewish historian, in the
secoud book of his Avars of the Jews, mentions another
Acrabateue, lying in a very different part of the country
beyond Samaria ; and in Ptolemy, we find a city of
Mesopotamia called Akraba, not far from Charran, and
a region on the Tigris, named Acabene, for which the
celebrated Bochart proposes to read Acrabene ; all of
them alluding to the number of scorpions with which
they Avere infested. The Horse-leech.
This creature is only once mentioned in the holy
Scriptures It was known to the ancient Hebrews, un
der the name CnpiSp. Aluka, from the verb Alak, which
in Arabic, signifies to adhere, stick close, or hang fast.
The reason of the Hebrew name is evident ; the leech
sticks fast to the skin : and in several languages, its
pertinaceous adhesion is become proverbial. Horace
celebrates it in this line. — "Nonmissura cutem, nisi
plena cruoris hirudo." An ancient author calls it the
black reptile of the marsh ; because, it is commonly
found in marshy places. Its cruelty and thirst of blood,
are noted by many writers, and indeed, are too promi
nent qualities in this creature to be overlooked.

¦ jam ego me vertam in hirudinem

Atque eorum exsugebo sanguinem." Plant.
Long before the time of that ancient Roman, the royal
Preacher introduced it in one of his Proverbs, to illus
trate the cruel and insatiable cupidity of worldly men :
" The horse-leech hath two daughters, crying, give,
give."* Several questions have been proposed in re
lation to this text ; whether, for example, it is to be lite-
* Prov. xxx. 16.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 325
rally understood ; and what the royal Preacher means
by its two daughters. The renowned Bochart con
tends, that it cannot be literally understood, first, be
cause its introduction into that proverb would be quite
improper ; second, because the horse leech has no
daughters, being generated of putrid matter in the bot
tom of the marsh. In answer to these reasons, it may
be observed, that if it be connected with the preceding
verse, the introduction is quite proper, and highly em-
phatical ; indeed, Ave can scarcely conceiA'e any thing
more forcible and beautiful than the comparison. To
the second objection, it is sufficient to reply, that Bo
chart has merely asserted the formation of the horse
leech from putrid mire ; but the absurdity of equivocal
generation, has already been cousidered. Mercer sup
poses, that the two daughters of the horse-leech are the
forks of her tongue, by which she inflicts the wound ; but
this expositionis inadmissible, because she is destitute of
that member, and acts merely by suction. Bochart,
supposing that the clause where it is introduced, cannot
with propriety be connected with any part of the con
text, considers it of course, as independent ; and admit
ting the derivation of Aluka from Alak, to hang or be
appended, interprets the term as denoting the termina
tion of human life, appended as it were to the purpose
of God, limiting the term of our mortal existence ; and
by consequence, that her two daughters are death and
the grave, or, should these be thought nearly synoni-
m jus, the grave, where the body returns to the dust,
and the world of spirits, where the soul takes up its
abode. Bat with all deference to such high authority,
this interpretation appears very forced and unnatural.
The con non interpretation seems in every respect, en
titled to the preference. Solomon, having in the pre
ceding verses, mentioned those that devoured the pro
perty of the poor, as the worst of all the generations he
had specified, proceeds in the fifteenth verse, to state
and illustrate the insatiable cupidity with which they
prosecuted their schemes of rapine and plunder. As
the horse-leech hath two daughters, cruelty and thirst
qf blood, which cannot be satisfied ; so? the oppressor

326 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of the poor has two dispositions, cruelty and avarice,
which never say they have enough, but continually de
mand additional gratifications.
The Snail.
The snail is in the Hebrew Scriptures, called ¦»''»
Sabbelul, which the learned Bochart derives from *w>
a path, because the snail marks out his path with his
slime, and so is called Ww. the path maker; or, from 3!!">to
lodge, ^ in, and ^ a winding shell, cochlea, the well
known habitation which this animal carries about with
him. Parkhurst is of opinion, that a better account of
the name may be deduced from the peculiar manner in
which snails thrust themselves forward in moving, and
from the force which they adhere to any substance on
which they light. The wise Author of nature, having
refused them feet and claws to creep and climb, has
compensated them in a way more commodious for their
state of life, by the broad skin along each side of the
belly, and the undulating motion obserATable there. By
the latter, they creep ; by the former, assisted by the
glutinous slime emitted from their body, they adhere
firmly and securely to all kinds of superficies, partly by
the tenacity of their slime, and partly by the pressure of
the atmosphere.* Thus, the snail wastes herself by
her own motion, every undulation leaving some of her
moisture behind ; and in the same manner, the actions
of wicked men prove their destruction. They may,
like the snail, carry their defence along with them,
and retire into it on every appearance of danger ; they
may confidently trust in their own resources, and banish
far away the fear of evil : but the principles of ruin
are at work within them, and although the progress
may be slow, the result is certain. The holy Psal
mist, guided by the Spirit of inspiration, prayed : " As
a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass
away ;"! and Jehovah answered, " The wicked shall
be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
» Derham's Phys. Theol. f Ps. Iviii. 8.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 327
CHAP. IV
OF SERPENTS.
The Viper.
AMONG the reptiles mentioned in the sacred Avri-
tings, the viper first claims our attention. This species
of serpent is named nJ>B(< Aephse, in the books of the Old
Testament, from a root which signifies to swell with
blowing or puffing. It is one of the deadliest among
the serpent tribes, as appears from the allusion of Zo-
phar: "The viper's tongue shall slay the wicked;"
that is, he shall as certainly die as if a viper had bitten
him. Every touch of the viper's tongue is instant
death ; for when the barbarians in Malta saAV the ve
nomous reptile leap from the fire, and fasten upon the
hand of Paul, ",they looked when he should have
swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly."* We learn
from Ovid, that the strongest animals are unable to resist
the fatal energy of its poison :
" Parva necat morsu spatiosum vipera taurum."
The prophet Isaiah mentions it among the venomous
reptiles, which, in extraordinary numbers, infest the
land of Egypt : " From Avhence come the young and
old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent."! In il
lustrating the mischievous character of wicked men, and
the ruinous nature of sin, he thus alludes to that dan
gerous creature again : " They hatch cockatrice eggs,
and Aveave the spider's web : he. that eateth of their
eggs dieth ; and that which is crushed breaketh out
into a viper." The cockatrice here undoubtedly means
the viper; for the egg of one creature never produces,
by any*management, one ofa different species. When
the egg is crushed, the young viper is disengaged, and
leaps out, prepared for mischief. It may be objected,
* Acts xxviii. 6. t Isa, xxx. 6,

328 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
^hat the viper is not an oviparous but a viviparous ani
mal ; and consequently, the prophet m ist refer to some
other creature. But it is to be remembered, that al
though the viper brings forth its young alive, they are
hatched from eggs perfectly formed in the belly of the
mother. Hence Pliny says of it, Terrestrium eadem
sola intra se parit ova unius coloris et molle ut piscium.
The viper alone of all terrestrial animals, produces
within itself an egg of an uniform colour, and soft like
the eggs or roe of fishes. This curious natural fact, re
conciles the statement of the sacred writer, with the
truth of natural history. If by any means the egg of
the viper be separated from the body, the phenomenon
Avhich the prophet mentions, may certainly take place.
The certain and speedy destruction which follows
the bite of this creature, clearly proves the seasonable
interposition of Almighty power for the preservation
of the apostle Paul. Exasperated by the heat of the
fire, the deadly reptile, leaping from the brush wood
where it had concealed itself, fixed the canine teeth,
which convey the poison into the wound which they
had made, in his hand. Death must have been the
consequence, bad not the poAver of his God, which
long before shut the lions' mouths, that they might not
hurt the prophet, neutralised the viper's deadly poison,
and miraculously preserved the valuable life of his ser
vant. The supernatural agency of God is clearly taught
in these words of the historian : " He shook off the
beast into the fire, and felt no harm ;" for he who had
been wounded by a viper, could not be said to have
been exempt from all harm. The disposition of the
enraged reptile to take its full revenge, is intimated by
the word *«e<rr™v, to fasten and twine itself about the
hand of Paul. Some interpreters render the term to
seize upon, others to hang from the hand, and others
to bite ; but according to Bochart, it properly signi
fies to bind or entwine, a sense which seems entitled
to the preference ; for, w hen a serpent fastens on its
prey, it endeavours uniformly to strangle the victim by
Avinding round its body. The viper on this memorable
occasion, exhibited every symptom of rage, and put

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 329
forth all its powers ; the deliverance of Paul, therefore,
was not accidental, nor the effect of his own exertion,
but of the mighty power of that Master whom he
served, whose voice even the deadly viper is compelled
to_ obey. This conclusion Avas in effect drawn by the
barbarians themselves ; for when " they had looked a
great Avhile, and saw no harm come to him, they changed
their minds and said, thathewas a god:" they did nothe-
sitate to attribute his preservation to divine power; they
only mistook his real character, not the true nature of
that agency which was able to render the bite of the
A'iper harmless.
This was to them a singular and most unexpected
occurrence, for they looked when he should have swol
len and fallen down dead suddenly. We are informed,
by natural historians, that under the action of this
dreadful poison, the whole body swells to an extraor
dinary size, and in about seven hours, death relieves
the hopeless and agonized sufferer from his torments.
These barbarians, it would seem, had been taught by
their OAvn experience, or the testimony of others, that
the poision of the viper proves fatal in a much shorter
time, for they waited some time in the confident expec
tation of seeing Paul suddenly expire. They knew,
perhaps, what has been fully ascertained, that the bite
of this animal is more pernicious, according to the place
of its abode, the aliment on which it feeds, its age, the
heat of. the season when the wound is inflicted, and the
degree of provocation it has received. On this occa
sion, it must have been exceedingly proA'oked ; and the
high state of excitement in which the Melitese saw it
fastened upon the hand of the stranger, was, perhaps,
the true and the only reason which induced them to
believe the poison Avould produce a sudden effect.
To the deadly malice with which the scribes and
Pharisees persecuted the blessed Redeemer, while he
dwelt with men on earth, and his genuine followers
after his ascension into heaven, John the Baptist point
edly alludes in these words : " O generation of vipers,
who hath warned you from the wrath to come!"*
* M:,t iii. 7-
Vol. I. U u

330 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
And our Lord himself addresses them in the same
terms : " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, hoAV can
ye escape the damnation of hell?"* The people of Is
rael had been from the remotest times, a stiff-uecked and
rebellious race, whose heart Avas not right v. ith God ;
and the scribes and Pharisees proved themselves the
genuine brood of their wicked ancestors, enemies of
God, and adversaries to all his genuine worshippers.
The. Adder.
The adder was known to the ancient Hebrews under
various names. — It is the opinion of some interpreters,
that the word 'i™ Sachal, which in some parts of Scrip
ture denotes a lion, in others means an adder, or
some other kind ot serpent. Thus, in the ninety-iust
Psalm, they render it the basilisk, u Thou shalt tread
upon the adder and the basilisk, the young lion and
the dragon thou shalt trample underfoot"! Indeed,
all the ancient expositors agree, that some species of
serpent is meant, although they cannot determine what
particular serpent the sacred .writer had in his eye. The
learned Bochart thinks it extremely probable, that the
holy Psalmist in this verse, treats of serpents only ; and
by consequence, that both the terms C*1^ Sachal and
(Tea) Chephir, mean some kind of snakes, as well as 0n°)
Phethan and U'^ Thanin ; because the coherence of
the verse is by this view better preserved, than by
mingling lions and serpents together, as our translators
aud other interpreters have commonly done. The union
of lions, adders, and dragons, is not natural ; nor is it
easy to imagine w hat can be meant by treading upon
the lion, and trampling the young lion under foot; for
it is not possible in walking to tread upon the lion, as
upon the adder, the basilisk, and other serpents.
As the term C>™0 Sachal, when applied to wild beasts,
denotes a black lion ; so in the present application, it
means the black adder. The existence of this species,
is thus attested by Virgil :
" Et tophus scaber et nigris excesa chelydris
Creta" 
*Ch. xxiii. 33. tPsa-xci. 13.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 331
Many serpents are of a black colour, but some of them
are much blacker than others. The Sachal, therefore,
denotes the black snake, the colour of wuich is intense
ly deep.
Another name which theNadder bears in Scripture is
(awoy) Achsub. It occurs in the following description
of the wicked : " They have sharpened their tongues
like a serpent : adders' poison is under their lips."*
The Chaldee renders it the poison of a spider ; but
the most common interpretation, is that which our
translators have adopted. Some, however, contend,
that the asp is intended ; and in support of their opi
nion, quote the authority of many Greek and Latin in
terpreters, and what must be decisive with every Chris
tian, the suffrage of an inspired apostle, who gives this
version of the Hebrew text : " The poison of asps is
under their lips."! The name in Hebrew, is derived
from an Arabic verb Avhich signifies to coil up ; which
perfectly corresponds with the nature of this animal,
for, in preparing to strike, it contracts itself into a spiral
form? and raises its horrid head from the middle of the
orb. It assumes the same form when It goes to sleep,
coiling its body into a number of circles, with its head
in the centre.
This is the reason that in Greek, *'*'* denotes a
shield, as well as a serpent. Now, the Grecian shields
were circular, as we learn from VTrgil, who thus de
scribes the orbicular eye of the shepherd Polyphemus:
" Argolici clypei aut Phoeb«e lampadis instar." Mn. b. 3. /. 63r.
But whether the name at the shield (A<r«5) was derived
from the serpent, or the name of the. serpent from the
form of the shield? it is of no consequence to determine,
nor does it properly belong to this discussion.
Pethen (t^1 is variously translated in our version ;
but interpreters generally consider it as referring to the
asp.. Zophar alludes to it more than once in his descrip
tion of a wicked man : " Yet his meat in his bowels is
turned, it is the gall of asps within him. — He shall suck
* Psa cxl. 4. f Rom. iii. 13.

332 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the poison of asps : the vipers' tongue shall slay him."*
The venom of asps is the most subtile of all ; it is in
curable, and if the wounded part is not instantly ampu
tated, speedily terminates the existence of the sufferer.
To these circumstances, Moses evidently alludes in his
character of the heathen : " Their wine is the poison
of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps."! To tread
upon the asp is attended with extreme danger ; there
fore, to express in the strongest manner the safety which
the godly man enjoys under the protection of his hea
venly Father, it is promised, that he shall tread Avith
impunity upon the adder and the dragon-! No person
of his own accord approaches the hole of these deadly'
reptiles, for he who gives them the smallest distur
bance, is in extreme danger of paying the forfeit of bis
rashness with his life. Hence, the prophet Isaiah, pre
dicting the conversion of the Geniiles to the faith of
Christ, and the glorious reign of peace and truth in
those regions, which, jrior to that period, were full of
horrid cruelty, declares, "The sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put
his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain ; for the earth
shall be ful\ of the kuowledge of the Lord, as the waters
coA'er the sea."$. In the glowing descriptions of the
Golden Age, with Avhich the oriental writers, and the
rapturous bards of Qreece and Rome, entertained their
contemporaries, the viUl beasts grow tame, serpents
resign their poison, and noxious herbs their deleterious
qualities : all is peace and harmony, plenty and hap
piness. " Nee magnos metuent armenu. leones.
Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba ven&ni
Occidet." Fir. £c/. tv. I. 22, 24, 25.
" Nor shall the herd dread huge overgrown lioi«.  The serpent
shall die, and the poisonous fallacious plant shall die."
" Nee vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile,
Nee intumescit ulta viperis humus." Hor. Ep. b. 5, Car. 16. I. 51.
«' Nor does the evening bear growl about the sheepfold, nor does
the rising ground swell with vipers."
* Job xx. 14. f Deut- xxxii' 35- * Psa- *ci. 13. § Isa. xi 6—9.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 333
The soaring genius of these elegant AA'riters, could
reach no higher than a negative felicity : but the inspired
bard, far surpassing them in the beauty and elegance,
and in the variety of imagery, Avith which he clothes
the very same ideas, exhibits a glowing picture of
positive and lasting happiness : " The wolf and the leo
pard not only forbear to destroy the lamb and the kid,
but eA'en take their abode with them, and lie down to
gether. The calf, and the yottna lion, and the fatling,
not only come together, but also repose under the same
covert, and are led quietly in the same band, and that
by a little child. The cow and the she-bear, not only
feed together, but even lodge their young ones, for whom
they used to be most jealously fearful, in the same place.
All the serpent kind is so perfectly harmless, that the
sucking infant, and the newly weaned child, puts his
hand on the basilisk's den, and plays upon the hole of
the aspic. The lion, not only abstains from preying on
the weaker animals, but also becomes tame and domes
tic, and feeds on straAV, like the ox. These are all beau-
tifnl circumstances, not one of which has been touched
by the ancient poets."*
That which the prophet foretold should happen in the
latter days, we are informed by several respectable wri
ters, is literally realized among the Psylli ; a people
that inhabit a district in the land of Egypt. They haA'e
discovered a method of taming the aspic, which lives
familiarly with their children, without doing them any
harm. This remarkable fact is thus attested by Lucan :
pignora gentis

Psyllus habet, si quis tactos non horruit angues,
Si quis donatis lusit serpentibus infans."
And iElian says in his history, that the same people
will throw their own children into a tub, or other large
vessel full of asps, and that so far from hurting them,
these terrible creatures sicken at their touch, and pine
away.! When the celebrated Mr. Bruce was in Egypt,
he saw one of these people handle an aspic in the most
familiar way ; he saw him permit the creature to bite
his hand till the blood run down, without any danger-
* Lowth on Isa. vol. 2. p. 114. t JEliani Hist. lib. 1. cap. 57.

334 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ous effect, or his betraying the smallest alarm : and to
shew him that the snake was not disabled, nor disin
clined to exert its native energy upon a proper object, he
caused it bite a chicken, which died almost immediately.
The incantation of serpents is one of the most curious
and interesting facts in natural history. This wonder
ful art, Avhich soothes the wrath, and disarms the fury
of the deadliest snake, aud renders it obedient to the
charmer's voice, is not an invention of modern times ;
for we discover manifest traces of it in the remotest an
tiquity. It is asserted, that Orpheus, who probably
flourished soon after letters were introduced into Greece,
knew how to still the hissing of the approaching snake,
and to extinguish the poison of the creeping serpent.
The Argonauts are said to have subdued by the power
of song, the terrible dragon that guarded the golden
fleece : hjiw ivtvn 6sx£ai Tfg«y.* Ovid ascribes the same
effect to the suporific influence of certain herbs, and
magic sentences :
" Hunc postquam sparsit Lethxi gramine succi,
Verbaque ter dixit placidos facientia somnos."
It was the custom of others to fascinate the serpent, by
touching it with the hand. Of this method, Virgil takes
notice in the seventh book of the iEneid :
" Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat."
Silius Italicus, is still more express in his first book :
" Nee non serpentes diro exarmare veneno
Doctus Atyr, tactu que graves sopire chelydros."
But it seems to have been the general persuasion of the
ancients, that the principal power of the charmer lay in
the sweetness of his music. Pliny says accordingly,
that serpents were drawn from their lurking places by
the poAver of music. Seneca held the same opinion :
"  tracta Magicis cantibus
Squamea latebris turba desertis adest."
Serpents, says Augustine, are supposed to hear and un
derstand the words of the Marsi: so that, by their in
cantations, these reptiles, for the most part, sally forth
from their holes. Apolonii Argon. lib. i. v. 147..

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 335
The power of music was believed to expel the ser
pent's poison, and render its bite harmless :
" Vipereo generi et graviter spiraiuibus hydris,
Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat,
Mulcebat que iras et morsus arte levabat." JEn. b. 7. I. 753.
" Who, by enchantment and magical operation, was
wont to sprinkle the dews of sleep on the viper's race,
and the noxious breathing hydra's."
lsodorus entertained the same opinion, which he thus
expresses :
" Marsos illesos esse carminum maleficiis."
By the same means, or by the touch, it was believed,
that the sufferings of those who had been bit, might be
alleviated, and a complete cure accomplished. The
sentiments of Virgil on this particular have been already
stated. To his authority these pointed lines of Lucan
may be added : " pestis nigris inserta medullis
Excantata perit."
The Avonderful effect which music produces on the
serpent tribes, is confirmed by the testimony of several
respectable moderns. Adders swell at the sound of a
flute, raising themselves up on the one half of their bo
dy, turning themselves round, beatiug proper time, and
following the instrument. Their head, naturally round
and long like an eel, becomes broad and flat like a fan.*
The tame serpents, many of which, the orientals keep
in their houses, are known to leave their holes in hot
Weather, at the sound of a musical instrument, and run
upon the performer.! Br. Shaw had an opportunity of
seeing a number of serpents keep exact time with the
Dervishes in their circulatory dances, runniug over their
heads and arms, turning when they turned, and stopping
when they stopped-! The rattle snake acknowledges
the power of music as much as any ot" his family ; of
which the lollowing instance is a decisive pr of: When
Chateaubriand A\as in Canada, a snake of that species
en ered their encampment ; a young Canadi.>u, one of
the party, who could play on the flute, to di\ert his as-
* Ch»rdin. \ Greave's Trav. * Shaw's Trav.

380 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
60ciates, advanced against the serpent with his new spe
cies of weapon. " On the approach of his enemy, the
haughty reptile curled himself into a spiral line, flattened
his head, inflated his cheeks, contracted his lips, dis
played his envenomed fangs, and his bloody throat; his
double tongue glowed like two flames of fire ; his eyes
were burning coals ; his body, swoln with rage, rose and
fell like the belloAvs of a forge; his dilated skin assumed
a dull and scaly appearance; and his tail, which sounded
the denunciation of death, vibrated with so great rapidi
ty, as to resemble a light vapour. The Canadian now
began to play upon his flute, the serpent started with
surprise, and dreAv back his head. In proportion as he
was struck with the magic effect, his eyes lost their
fierceness, the oscillations of his tail became slower,
and the sound which it emitted became weaker, and
gradually died away. Less perpendicular upon their
spiral line, the rings of the fascinated serpent were by
degrees expanded, and sunk one after another upon the
ground, in concentric circles. The shades of azure,
green, white, and gold, recovered their brilliancy on his
quivering skin, and slightly turning his head, he re
mained motionless, in the attitude of attention and plea
sure. At this moment, the Canadian advanced a few
steps, producing Avith his flute sweet and simple notes.
The reptile, inclining his variegated neck, opened a
passage with his head through the high grass, and be
gan to creep after the musician, stopping when he stop
ped, and beginning to follow him again, as soon as he
moved forward." In this manner he was led out of tiieir
camp, attended by a great number of spectators, both
savages and Europeans, who could scarcely believe
their eyes, when they beheld this wonderful effect of
harmony. The assembly unanimously decreed, that
the serpent which had so highly entertained them, should
be permitted to escape.*
The serpent most common at Cairo, belongs to the
A'iper class, and is undoubtedly poisonous. If one of
them enter a house, the charmer is sent for, who uses a
* Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity See also a long and interesting
account of the art the of charming serpents in Mr.Rruce's Travels.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 337
certain form of words. By this means, Mr. Brown
saw three serpents enticed out of the cabin of a ship,
lying near the shore. The operator handled them, and
put them into a bag. At other times, he saw the fasci
nated reptiles twist round the bodies of these charmers
in all directions, without having had their fangs ex
tracted, or broken, and Avithout doing them any harm.*
Adders and serpents will twist themselves round the
neck and naked bodies of young, children belonging to
the charmers, and suffer them to escape unhurt. But,
if any person Avho is ignorant of the art happens to ap
proach them, their destructive powers immediately re
vive. At Surat, an Armenian seeing one of these
charmers make an adder bite him, without receiving
any other injury than the mere incision, boasted he
could do the same; and causing himself to be wound
ed in the hand, died in less than ttvo hours.
While the creature is under the influence of the
charm, they sometimes break out the tooth which con
veys the poison, and render it quite harmless : for the
poison is contained in a bag, at the bottom of the fangs
Avhich lie flat in the mouth, and are erected only when
the serpent intends to bite. The bag upon being press
ed, discharges the poison through a hole or groove in
the. fang, formed to receive it, into the wound, Avhich is
at the same instant inflicted by the tooth. That all the
teeth are not venemous, is evident from this circum
stance, that the charmers will cause their serpents to
bite them, till they draw blood, and yet the hand will
not swell.
But on some serpents, these charms seem to have no
power; and it appears from Scripture, that the adder
sometimes takes precautions to prevent the fascination
which he sees preparing for him ; for the deaf adder
shutteth her ear, and will not hear the voice of the most
skilful charmer.! The method is said to be this ; the
reptile lays one ear close to the ground, and with his
tail, covers the other, that he cannot hear the se nut of
the music; or he repels the incantation by hissin..- vio
lently. The same allusion is involved in the words of
* Brown's Trav. in Africa. \ Vs. Iviii. 5, 6.
Vol. 1, X x

338 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Solomon : " Surely the serpent will bite without en
chantment, and a babbler is no better."* The threat
ening of the prophet Jeremiah, proceeds upon the same
fact : " I will send serpents (cockatrices) among you,
which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you."!
In all these quotations, the sacred writers, while they
take it for granted that many serpents are disarmed by
charming, plainly admit, that the pow ers of the charm
er are in vain exerted upon others. To account for
this exception, it has been alleged, that in some ser
pents the seuse of hearing is very imperfect, while the
power of A'ision is exceedingly acute ; but the most in
telligent natural historians maintain, that the very re
verse is true. In the serpent tribes, the sense of hear
ing is much more acute than the sense of vision. Pliny
observes, that the serpent is much more frequently
roused by the ear than by sight : " Jam primum he-
betes oculos huic malo dedit, eosque non in fronte ex
adverso cernere sed in temporibus : itaque excitatur,
sed sa?pius anditu quam visu." In tnis part of his
work, the ancient Naturalist discourses not concerning
any particular species, but the wi ole class of serpents,
asserting of them all, that Nature has compensated the
dulness of their sight, by the acuteness of their hearing.
Unable to resist the force of truth, others maintain, that
the adder is deaf not by nature, but by design ; for the
Psalmist says, she shutteth her ear, and will not hear
the voice of the charmer. But the phrase perhaps
means no more than this, that some adders are of a tem
per so stubborn, that the A'arious arts of the charmer
make no impression; they are like creatures destitute
of hearing, or whose ears are so completely obstructed,
that no sounds can tnter. The same phrase is used in
other parts of Scripture, to signify a hard and obdurate
heart : " Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the
poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be
heard."! It is used in the same sense by the prophet :
" That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and
shutteth his eyes from seeing evil."§ The righteous
man remains as unmoved by the cruel and sanguinary
* Eccl. x. 11. f Jer.viii. 17. * Prov. xxi. 13. § Is. xxxiii 15.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 339
counsels of the wicked, as if he had stopped his ears :
and Virgil uses the same phrase, to express the deter
mined insensibility of iEneas, to the urgent entreaties
of Dido and her sister.

sed nullis ille movetur

Fletibus aut voces ullas tractabilis audit.
Fata obstunt, placidasque viri Deus obstruit aures."
In the same manner, the stubborn or infuriated aspic,
as little regards the power of song, as if her sense of
hearing were obstructed or destroyed.
If the serpent repel the charm, or is deaf to the song,
the charmer, it is believed, exposes himself to great
danger, the whole force of the incantation falling upon
the head of its author, against whom the exasperated
animal directs its deadliest rage.
" Interdum perit incantans si callida surdus
Adjuratoris content psit murmura serpens." Alcimus.
But which of he serpent tribes baA'e the power to repel
the incantations of the charmer, or inject a poison which
his art is unable to counteract, no ancient Greek writer
has been able to discover, or has thought proper to
mention. iElian states, indeed, that the bite of an as
pic admits of no remedy, the poAvers of medicine, and
the arts of the charmer, being equally unavailing. But
their omission has been amply supplied by the Arabian
philosophers quoted by Bochart, our principal guide in
this part of the work. These clear and accurate wri
ters divide serpents into three classes. In the first, the
force of the poison is so intense, that the sufferer does
not survive their attack longer than three hours, nor
does the wound admit of any cure, for they belong to
the class of deaf or stridulous serpents, which are either
not affected by music and other charms, or which, by
their loud and furious hissing, defeat the purpose of the
charmer. The only remedy in this case, is instanta
neous amputation, or searing the wound with a hot iron,
which extinguishes the virus, or prevents it from reach
ing the sanguiferous system. In this class they place
the regulus, the basilisk, and the various kinds of asps,
with all those, the poison of which is in the highest de-

3^0 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCKIPTURE.
gree of intensity. This doctrine seems to correspond
wit'i the view Avhich the psalmist and the prophet giA'e
us in the passages already quoted, of the adder aid
cockatrice, or basilisk. It is certain, however, from
the authentic statements of different travellers, that
sonie of those serpents, as the aspic and the basilisk,
which the Arabians place on the list of deaf and un-
ta ueable snakes, Avhose bite admits of no remedy, have
been frequently subjected to the poAver of the charmer ;
nor is it necessary to refer the Avords of the inspired
waiters to this subject, for they no where recoguize the
classification adopted by the Arabian philosophers.
The only legitimate conclusion to be dra\A n from their
Avords, is, that the power of the charmer often fails,
whether he try to fascinate the aspic, basilisk, or any
other kind of serpent. In order to vindicate the sacred
writers, it is not necessary to suppose, with the Ara
bians, that some species of serpeuts exist, Av'iich the
charmer endeavours in vain to fascinate ; for in opera
ting upon the same species, the success of his incanta
tions may be various.*
The Cockatrice, or Basilisk.
The basilisk was known to the ancient Hebrews un
der the names (re*) Tsipha, or (<}>«*) Tsiphoni. Our
translators, unable, perhaps, to ascertain the precise
meaning of these terms, at one time render them the
adder, at another the cockatrice. "At the last, it bi-
teth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."]; "The
sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice
den."! " Out of the serpents' root shall come forth a
cockatrice."^ " They hatch cockatrice eggs, and Aveave
the spider's web : he that eateth of their eggs dies ; and
that which is crushed, breaketh out into a viper."||
" For behold 1 will send serpents (cockatrices) among
you, which will not be charmed."** In all these passa
ges, the adder, or the cockatrice, is the translation of
the same original term. The basilisk is about three
" Bocharl's Sac. Zool p 394. f Prov xxiii S2. £ Isa. xi. 8.
$ Isa. xiv. 29. (| Ch. lix. 5 '* Jcr. viii. 17.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 311
palms in length, its wound is incurable, and its powers
of devastation so great, that the Chaldeans gave it the
name of hurmau, or the destroyer. At the sound of its
voice, it is pretended all other serpents, struck with ter
ror, instantly hide themselves in their dens, or under
the sand. " Sibilaque effundensomnes terrentia pestes." Lucan.
The sober statements of the natural historian attest the
same fact, that by its hissing, the basilisk puts all the
other serpents to flight. Sibilo omnes fugat serpentes,
is the aA'erment of Pliny ; and many writers assert, that
the breath of this terrible creature is fatal to those ani
mals that inhale it, so that the basilisk kills before it
bite. The caustic power of its breath, which, accord
ing to Solinus, extinguishes the plants, blasts the trees,
and corrupts the air, has procured it the name of tse-
pha, from the Arabic verb tsapha, to scorch or burn.
This dreadful snake is not a native of Canaan ; but
as it abounds in the miry fields of Egypt, its existence
and character must have been well known to the Jews,
whose forefathers resided so long in that country, and
Avho had frequent intercourse with the Egyptians from
the time of their settlement in Canaan.
Like every other species of serpent, the basilisk is
oviparous ; and it appears, from the words of the pro
phet, that its eggs may be mistaken for those of birds,
and unwarily used as wholesome food. Such, the pro
phet observes, Avould prove fatal, while those which are
crushed would produce a ser.pent. This entirely ac
cords with the nature of this reptile. Labat says, he
crushed some of the eggs of a large female serpent, and
found several young in each egg, which Avere no sooner
freed from the shell, than they coiled themselves into
attitudes of attack, and tvere ready to spring on Avhat-
ever came in their way. Bartholin dissected serpent's
eggs, which, he says, are only hatched in the open air,
and fail in a place too close or too hot. If the eggs of
serpents are broken, the little serpent is found rolled up
in a spiral form. It appears motionless during some
time ; but if the term of its exclusion be near, it opens
its jatvs, inhales, at several respirations, the air of the

342 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
atmosphere, its lungs fill, it stretches itself, and, moved
by this impetus, it begins to crawl.*
One of the most forcible arguments against inebriety,
Avhich can be preseuted to the consideration of an ori
ental, is to inform him that it is a vice destructive as the
poisonous breath, or deadly fang, of the basilisk. It
is stated Avith great force and beauty by Solomon in
these words: " Look not thou upon the wine when it
giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself
aright. At the 1 ist, it biteth like a serpent, and sting
eth like an adder " The juice of the grape is justly
numbered among the most A'aluable blessings which
the God of nature has bestowed upon the children
of men, and Avhen used in moderation, invigorates
the body, exhilerates the spirits, relieves in sickness,
and cheers in prosperity ; but, like every blessing
on earth, it may be abused to the gratification of vi
cious propensities, and then the poisou, even of the
basilisk, is not more destructive to man. Its ruinous
effects cannot be better expressed than in the words of
Solomon himself: " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is
raging ; and whoso is deceived thereby is not wise."!
" Who hath Avoe ? who hath sorrow ? who hath con
tentions? who hath babblings? who hath wounds with
out cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry
long at the wine : they that go to seek mixed wine"!
In a subsequent verse, he represents this vice as the
sure precursor of the grossest crimes ; and bow truly,
the history of all nations and ages can attest: "Thine
eyes shall behold strange women ; and thine heart
utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as one that
Heth down in the midst of the sea, or he that lieth
upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me,
shalt thou say, and I was not sick ; they have beaten
me, and I felt it not : when shall I awake ? I will seek
it yet again. "^ Excess never fails to inflame and pol
lute, to besot and stupify the mind. It renders its mi
serable victim unruly, and incoherent in his conversa
tion; rash and heedless in his actions; it enervates
* Tavlor's Calmet, vol. 4. \ Prov. xx. 1. t Ch xxiii. 29, 30.
% Ch. xxiii. 33,34,35.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 343
every power and faculty, and, at last extinguishes all
sense of virtue and honour and decency.
The faith and patience of God's people in the days
of Isaiah, were sustained with a promise which has al
ready been explained, that the weaned child should
" put his hand on the cockatrice den," and experience
no harm. It is only necessary to add, that the word
(miKD.) occurs in this sense no where else iu the sacred
writings. This has produced a great diversity of senti
ment among interpreters; Jerome, and many others
after him, render it cavern ; the Greeks, a bed ; but the
Chaldee Paraphrast, deriving it from (™0 Or, to shine,
to be clear or lucid, translate it the. pupil of the eye;
paraphrasing the words of the prophet: " the weaned
child shall put his hand on the sight of the basilisk, on
the pupil of his eye, Avithout harm or danger."
In Kgypt, and other oriental countries, a serpent was
the common symbol of a powerful monarch ; it was
embroidered on their robes, and blazoned on their dia
dem, to signify their absolute power and invincible
might, and that, as the wound inflicted by the basilisk
is incurable, so, the fatal effects of their displeasure
were neither to be avoided nor endured. These are
the allusions involved in the address of the prophet, to
the irreconcileable enemies of his nation : " Rejoice not
thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote
thee is broken ; for out of the serpents' roots shall come
forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying
serpent."* Uzziah, the king of Judah, had subdued
the Philistines; but, taking advantage of the weak reign
of Ahaz, they again invaded the kingdom of Judea,
and reduced some cities in the southern part of the
country under their dominion. On the death of Ahaz,
Isaiah delivers this prophecy, threatening them Avith a
more seA'ere chastisement from the hand of Hezekiah,
the grandson of I V.ziah, by whose victorious arms they
had been reduced to sue for ptuce, whi h he accom
plished, when " he smote the Philistines, even unto
Gaza, and the borders tlnreof."! Uzziah, therefore,
must be meant by the rod that smote the*!, and by the
* Isa. xiv. 29. -f 2 Kings, xviii. 8.

341 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
serpent from Avhom should spring the fiery flying ser
pent, that is : ezeiriah, a much more terrible enemy
than even Uzziah had been. But the symbol of regal
potver which the oriental kings preferred to all others,
Avas the basilisk. This fact is attested by its \rabian
name Melee ha, from the Hebrew verb Malach, to
reign : from its Greek name /3a<nx»»*i>y, and its Latin name
Begulus : all of w hich, it is asserted, referred to the
conspicuous place it occupied among the regal ornaments
of the east. The basilisk is of a reddish colour, and
its head is decorated with a crest in the form of a croAvn ;
it is not entirely prostrate, like other serpents, but
moAes along with its head and half the body erect; the
other parts sweep the ground behind, " and wind its
spacious back in rolling spires." Such were the ser
pents, that, from Tenedos, stretched along the smooth
surface of the sea, and shot forward to the Trojan
shore. " Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrectx, jubasque
Sanguineae exsuperantundus ; pars cetera pontum
Pone legit, sinuatque immensa volumine terga." Virg. b. 2. /. 206.
All the other species of serpents are said to acknoAV-
ledge the superiority of the basilisk, by flying from its
presence, and hiding themselves in tne dust. It is also
supposed to live longer than any other serpent ; the an
cient heathens therefore pronounced it immortal, and
placed it in the number of their deities ; and because it
had the dangerous poAver, in general belief, of killing
with its pestiferous breath the strongest animals, it
seemed to them invested Avith the power of life and
death. It became, therefore, the favourite symbol of
kings; and Avas employed by the prophet, lo symbo
lize the great and good Hezekiah, with strict pro
priety. The prophet, however, sometimes uses it in a bad
sense, as the symbol of Avicked and ungodly men:
•; They hatch the eggs of the basilisk, and weave the
spider's web ; he that eateth of their eggs, dietii; aud
that which is <«\tshed, breaketh out into a viper."* By
* Isa. lix. 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 345
the cockatrice eggs, the prophet means atrocious crimes,
Avhich are conceived in the mind, and rise into maturity
in the life and conduct. In this verse, the same actions
are compared to the eggs of the basilisk and the viper ;
but it Avill not therefore follow, that these are only
names of the same creature. The prophet's design ma
nifestly is, to represent the same wicked actions by. va
rious kinds of serpents, the more deeply to impress the
mind Avith the turpitude of their nature, and the bitter
ness of their consequences. Many instances of this
manner of writing, occur in the sacred A'olume. Thus,
in relation to the heathen, Moses observes, "' Their
tvine is the. poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of
asps."* And Zophar asserts of a Avicked man, "lie
shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall
slay him."!
The only other allusion to the basilisk, occurs in the
prophecies of Jeremiah, and is couched in these terms :
"For behold, I will send serpents (cockatrices) among
you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite
you, saith the Lord."! These terrible creatures, in
this passage, symbolize the Assyrian armies under the
command of Nebuchadnezzar, — armies so inured to
blood, and so intent on spoil, that neither tears nor
prayers availed to soften their iron hearts, and bind
their rapacious hands. The people of I-rael had, by
their iniquities, made God their enemy, and therefore
had no mercy to expect from the ministers of his ven-
geance. The Cerastes, or Horned Snake.
The only allusion to this species of serpent in the
sacred Aoltime, occurs in the Aalcdictory predictions of
Jacob, where he describes the character and actions of
Dan and his posterity : " Dan shall be a serpent by the
way, an adder (pew) in the path, that biteth the horse
heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."^ It is
indisputably clear, that the patriarch intended some
kind of serpent ; for the circumstances will not apply
to a freebooter watching for his prey. It only remains
to investigate the species to which it belongs. The
* Deut. xxxii. 33. t Job xx. 16. * Jer. viii. 17. § Gen- xlix. 17
Vol. 1. Y y

316 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
principal care of the Jewish writers, is to assertain the
etymology of the name, about which their sentiments
are much divided. The Arabian writers quoted by
Bochart inform us, that the Sephiphon is a most perni
cious reptile, and very dangerous to man. It is of a
sandy colour, variegated with black and white spots.
The particulars in the character of Dan, hoAvever, agree
better with the Cerastes, or horned snake, than with any
other species of serpent. It lies in wait for passengers
in the sand, or in the rut of the Avheels on the highway-
From its lurking place, it treacherously bites the horse
heels, so that the rider falls backward, in consequence
of the animal's hinder legs becoming almost immediately
torpid by the dreadful activity of the poison. The
Cerastes is equally formidable to man and the loAver
animals; and the more dangerous, because it is not
easy to distinguish him from the sand in which he lies ;
and he never spares the helpless traveller who un
warily comes within his reach.
" He moves," says Mr: Bruce, " with great rapidity,
and in all directions, forward, backward, and sideways.
When he inclines to surprise any one who is too far
from him, he creeps with his side towards the person,
and his head averted, till, judging his distance, he
turns round, springs upon him, and fastens upon the
part next to him ; for it is not true what is said, that
the Cerastes does not leap or spring. 1 saAv one of
them at Cairo, crawl up the side of a box, in Avhich
there were many, and there lie still as if biding him
self, till one of the people who brought them to us,
came near him, and though in a very disadvantageous
posture, sticking, as it were, perpendicular to the side
of the box, he leaped near the distance of three feet, and
fastened between the man's fore-finger and thumb, so
as to bring the blood. The felloAV shetved no signs of
either pain or fear : and Ave kept him with us full four
hours, without applying any sort of remedy, or his
seeming inclined to do so.
"To make myself assured that the animal was in its
perfect state, I made the man hold him by the neck, so
as to force him to open his mouth, and lacerate the

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 347
thigh of a pelican, a bird I had tamed, as big as a
swan. The bird died in about thirteen minutes, though
it was apparently affected in fifty seconds ; and we
cannot think it was a fair trial, because a very few
minutes before, it had bit, and so discharged a part of
its virus, and it was made to scratch the pelican by
force, without any irritation or action of its own."
These serpents have always been considered as ex
tremely cunning, both in escaping their enemies and
seizing their prey : they have even been called in
sidious ; a character, which, from the preceding state
ment, they seem to deserve. The orientals call him
the Her in ambush ; for, in this manner, both the Se
venty and Samaritan render the text in Genesis ; and
this appellation well agrees with his habits. Pliny
says, that the Cerastes hides its whole body in the
sand, leaving only its horns exposed, which attract
birds, who suppose them to be grains of barley, till
they are undeceived, too late, by the darting of the
serpent upon them. Ephraim, the Syrian, also men
tions a kind of serpents whose heads only are seen
above the ground.*
Like the Cerastes, Dan was to excel in cunning and
artifice, to prevail against his enemies, rather by his
policy in the cabinet than by his valour in the field.
But all the Jewish expositors refer the words of Jacob
to Samson, who belonged to that tribe, and was un
doubtedly the most illustrious personage of whom they
could boast. This remarkable man, Jehovah raised
up to deliver his chosen people, not so much by his
valour, although his actions clearly shewed, that he
was by no means deficient in personal courage, as by
his artful and unexpected stratagems. This interpre
tation has been adopted by several Christian expositors ;
while it has been opposed by others as a needless refine
ment. It is unnecessary, and perhaps improper, to
restrict the prediction to Samson, when it can with equal
propriety be applied to the whole tribe. Whether the
words of Jacob, in this instance, were meant to express
praise or blame, it may be difficult to determine ; but,
* Taylor's Calmet, vol.4.

348 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
if the deceitful and dangerous character of the Cerastes,
to which Dan is compared, be duly considered, the
latter is more probable.
The Seraph, or Fiery Flying Serpent.
The seraph, to a biblical student, is one of the most
interesting creatures that has yet fallen under our
notice. It bears the name of an order among the hosts
of heaven, whom Isaiah beheld in vision, placed above
the throne of Jehovah in the temple ; the brazen figure
of this serpent, is supposed to be a type of our blessed
Redeemer, who was for our salvation lifted up upon the
cross, as the serpent was elevated in the camp of Israel,
for the preservation of that people It is the only spe
cies of serpent which the Almighty Creator has provid
ed with wings, by means of which, instead of creeping
or leaping, it rises from the ground, and, leaning upon
the extremity of its tail, moves w ith great velocity. It
js a native of Egypt, and the deserts of Arabia ; and
receives its name from the Hebrew A'erb saraph, which
signifies to burn, in allusion to the violent inflammation
which its poison produces, or rather its fiery colour,
Which the brazen serpent was intended to represent.
Bochart is of opinion, that the seraph is the same as
the hydros, or, as Cicero calls it, the serpent of the
waters. For, in the book of Isaiah, the land of Egypt
is called the region from whence come the A'iper and
flying seraph, or burning serpent. jElian says, they
come from the deserts of Libya and Arabia, to inhabit
the streams of the Nile ; and that they have the form of
the hydrus.
The existence of winged serpents is attested by many
writers of modern times. A kind of snakes were dis
covered among the Pyrenees, from Avhose sides pro
ceeded cartilages in the form of wings ; and Scaliger
mentions a peasant who killed a serpent of the same
species which attacked him, and presented it to the
king of France. Le Blanc, as quoted by Bochart, says,
at the head of the lake Chiamay, are extensive woods
and vast marshes, which it is very dangerous to ap
proach, because they are infested by very large ser-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 349
pents, which, raised from the ground on tvings resem
bling those of bats, and leaning on the extremity of
their tails, move with great rapidity. They exist, it is
reported, about these places in so great numbers, that
they have almost laid tvaste the neighbouring province.
And, in the same work, Le Blanc affirms, that he had
seen some of them of immense size, which, when
hungry, rushed impetuously on sheep and other tame
animals. But the original term i01?0 Meopheph, does not always
signify flying with Avings: it ofteu expresses vibration,
sAvinging backwards and forwards, a tremulous motion,
a fluttering ; and this is precisely the motion of a ser
pent, when he springs from one tree to another. Niebuhr
mentions a sort of serpents at Bassorah, Avhich they
call Heie thiare. " They commonly keep upon the
date trees ; and as it Avould be laborious for them to
come down from a very high tree, in order to ascend
another, they twist themseh'es by the tail to a branch
of the former, Avhich making a spring by the motion
they give it, throAvs them to the branches of the second.
Hence it is, that the modern Arabs call them flying
serpents, Heie thiare. Admiral Anson also speaks of
the flying serpents, that he met with at the island of
Quibo ; but, which were without wings." From this
account it may be inferred, that the flying serpent men
tioned in the prophet, Avas of that species of serpents
which, from their swift darting motion, the Greeks call
Acontias, and the Romans, Jaculus.
The original phrase will bear another interpretation,
Avhich, perhaps, approaches still nearer the truth. The
verb bv ouph, sometimes means to sparkle, to emit corus
cations of light. In this sense, the noun nojm theepha,
frequently occurs in the sacred volume ; thus Zophar
says ; " The coruscation (nam) shall be as the morn
ing."* The word in the verse under consideration,
may therefore refer to the ruddy colour of that serpent,
and express the sparkling of the blazing sun-beam upon
its scales, which are extremely brilliant.
* Job. xi. 17. See also Isa. Iviii. 8. Amos iv. 13, &c.

350 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The seraph is classed by the Hebrews, among those
animals which emit an offensive odour ; which cor
responds with the character given of the hydros by the
poet: "graviter spirantibus hydris." This circum
stance is confirmed by iElian, who states, that in Cor-
cyra, the hydrse turn upon their pursuers, and exhale
from their lungs an air so noisome, that they are com
pelled to desist from the attack.
It is an obvious objection to these arguments, that the
hydri are produced, and reared in marshy places ; not
in burning and thirsty deserts, Avhere the people of Is
rael murmured because they could find no water. But,
although that people might find no Avater to drink, it will
not follow, that the desert contained no marshy place,
or muddy pool, where the hydri might lurk. Besides,
it is well knoAvn, that when water fails, these serpents
do not perish, but become chersydri, that is seraphim,
or burners. These chersydri, it is extremely probable,
were the serpents which bit the rebellious Israelites :
and in this state they were more terrible instruments of
divine vengeance ; for, exasperated by the want of wa
ter, and the intense heat of the season, they injected a
deadlier poison, and occasioned to the miserable sufferer
more agonizing torments. The time of the year when
Jehovah sent these serpents among his people, proA'es
that this is no vain conjecture. According to Nicander,
the hydri become chersydri, and beset the path of the
traveller, about the dog days. Noaa', Aaron died on the
first day of the fifth month, that is, the month Abib,
which corresponds with the, nineteenth day of July.
The Israelites mourned for him tlrirty days : immediate
ly after Avhich, they fought a battle with Arad, the Ca-
naanite, and destroyed his country: then recommencing
their journey, they murmured for vcant of water, and
the serpents Avere sent. This, then, must have happened
about the end of August ; the season when the hydri
become seraphim, and inflict the most cruel wounds.
Nor is it a fact, that the frightful solitudes which Israel
traversed, were totally destitute of water ; for, in their
fourth journey they came to the river Arnon ; in the fifth,
io Beer, a well greatly celebrated in Scripture; and soon

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 351
after the death of Aaron, they arrived at a region Ava-
tered by numerous streams.* In these irrignous places,
which were at no great distance from the camp of Israel,
the hydri might be produced, and sent to chastise the
rebellious tribes. The words of Moses also seem to
countenance the idea, that the hydri employed on this
occasion, Avere not generated on the spot, but sent from
a distance : " And the Lord sent fiery serpents, or se
raphim, among the people."! From these words it is
natural to conclude, that they came from that " land of
rivers," through which the congregation had lately
passed. Nor will this be reckoned too long a journey,
when it is recollected, that they travel from both the
Libyan and Arabian deserts, to the streams of the Nile.
They inflicted on this memorable occasion, an appro
priate chastisement on the perverse tribes. That re
bellious people had opened their mouth against the
heavens ; they had sharpened their tongues like ser
pents; and the poison of asps was under their lips :
therefore, they were made to suffer, by the burning
poison of a creature which they so nearly resembled.
Tiie Dragon.
In HebreAV, the word Q,J") Thannin signifies, either
a dragon or a whale. As the name of a serpent, it fre
quently denotes one of any species ; as when the rod of
Moses is said to have been turned (t1**) into a serpent.
But, in its more strict and appropriate application, it is
the proper name of the dragon ; which differs from the
serpent chiefly in its size. " Three kinds of dragons
were formerly distinguished in India. 1. Those of the
hills and mountains. 2. Those of the valleys and caves.
3. Those of the fens and marshes. The first is the
largest,and covered with scales resplendent as burnished
gold. They have a kind of beard hanging from their
lower jaw, their aspect is frightful, their cry loud and
shrill, their crest bright yellow, and they have a protu
berance on their heads, as the colour of a burning coal:
Those of the flat country, are of a silver colour, and fre
quent rivers, to which the former never come. Those
* Numb. xxi. 10, 17, 18. Deut. x. 7. f Numb. xxi. 6.

352 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of the marshes are black, sIoav, and have no crest.
Their bite is not venomous, though the creatures be
dreadful." This description agrees iu every particular
with the boa, whieh Taylor justly considers as the pro
per dragon.*
" The boa," says De la Cepede, " is among serpents,
what the lion or the elephant is among quadrupeds ; he
commonly reaches twenty feet in length : and to this
species we must refer those described by travellers, as
lengthened to forty or fifty feet. Kircher mentions a ser
pent-forty palms in length ; and such a serpent is re
ferred to, by Job Ludolph, as existing in Ethiopia. Je
rome, in his life of Hilariou, denominates such a serpent
draco, a dragon ; saying, they were called Boas, be
cause they could SAvallotv (boves) beeves, and AVaste
whole provinces." The enormous bulk of this formida
ble animal, as described by the ancients, indeed exceeds
all belief. The dragon, Avhich in Roman history, op
posed the march of Regulus, near Attica, Avas an hun
dred and twenty feet in length : its scales were so strong
and compact, that the whole army attacked it with their
darts and jaA'elins in vain, and were at last reduced to
advance against the monster, with th'sir balistse, and
other engines of war, as if they were storming a forti
fied city. It appears, however, to be certain, from the
various accounts of it, by the most respectable writers,
that it far surpasses all other serpents in size. " At
Batavia, Avas taken a serpent, which had sAvallowed
an entire stag, of a large size : one taken at Banda, had
in the same manner swallowed a negro Avoman." Bal-
deus in Churchhill, vol. 3. p. 732. " Leguat, in his
Travels, says, there are serpents fifty feet long, in the
island of Java. At Batavia, they still keep the skin of
one, which, though but twenty feet in length, is said to
have SAvallowed a young maid whole." Barbot, in
Churchhill, vol. 5. p. 560.
" The serpent, guaku or liboya (boa,) is unquestion
ably the biggest of all serpents ; some being eighteen,
twenty-four, nay thirty feet long, and of the thickness of
a man in the middle. The Portuguese call it Kobxe de
* Taylor's Calmet, vol. 3. Hund. 4 and 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 353
hado, or the roe-buck serpent ; because it will swallow
a whole roe-buck, or other deer ; and this is performed
by sucking it through the throat, which is pretty narrow,
but the belly vastly big. Such an one, I saw near Pa-
rabai, which was thirty feet long, and as big as a bar
rel. Some negroes accidentally saw it swallow a roe
buck, whereupon thirteen musqueteers were sent out,
who shot it, and cut the roe-buck out of its belly — It is
not venomous — This serpent being a very devouring
creature, greedy of prey, leaps from among the hedges
and woods, and standing upright on its tail, wrestles
both with men and wild beasts : sometimes it leaps from
the trees upon the traveller, whom it fastens on, and
beats the breath out of his body with its tail." Nieu-
hoff, in Churchhill, vol. 2. p. 13.*
From this account of the boa, Taylor thinks it ex
tremely probable, that the apostle John had it in his
eye, when he described the apocalyptic dragon. The
boa or dragon of antiquity, was a serpent of prodigious
size ; the prevailing colour in the boa is red ; which
was also the colour most conspicuous in the dragon of
antiquity. " Serpilis aurato nitidi fulgore dracones." Lucan.
The portentous dragon in the second book of the Iliad?
has the same hue ; and what is remarkable, it is de
scribed nearly in the words which the Holy Spirit dic
tated, long after the days of Homer, to his servant in
Patraos. Evi Kpat-Q fttyu, cigjua <Pf a*<a» cm tara Sapmtg
S|KE£ AbXioj to> g «i/T»c Oi.uftviog im (ftavft. II. b. 2. /. 308.
ic And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and
behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." The seven
heads are certainly allegorical ; but even this part of
the representation is founded at least in natural appear
ances ; for it is well known, that there is a species of-.,
snake, called amphisbense or double headed, although
* Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4-.
Vol. I. Z z

351 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
one of them is at the tail of the animal, and is only ap
parent. A kind of serpent indeed, is so often found
with two heads growing from one neck, that some have
fancied it might form a species ; but we have as yet, no
sufficient evidence to warrant such a conclusion. Ad
mitting, however, that a serpent with two heads is an
unnatural production, for this very reason it might be
chosen by the Spirit of God, to be a kind of prototype
of the apocalyptic monster. The apocalyptic dragon
had ten horns ; a circumstance which seems to refer to
the horned serpent, the boa, or proper dragon, having
no horn. The apocalyptic dragon had on every head
a crown ; the boa has a crest of bright yellow, and a
protuberance on bis head, in colour like a burning coal,
which naturally enough suggest the idea of a croAvn.
In all these instances, it is presumed, the inspired Avri-
ter alludes either to historical facts, or natural appear
ances. The remaining particulars refer to facts in the
history of the boa or other serpents. In the book of
Revelation, the great red dragon stood before the avo-
man, ready to swalloAV her child : when the boa meet*
his adversary, he stands upright on his tail, and attacks
with dreadful rage, both man and beast. The tail of
the great red dragon " drew the third part of the stars
of heaven, and did cast them to the earth :" the boa
frequently kills his victim with a stroke of his tail.
Stedman mentions an adventure in his Expedition to
Surinam, which furnishes a very clear and striking il
lustration of this part of our subject. It relates to one
of these large serpents, which, though it certainly dif
fers from the red dragon of Asia and Africa, combines
several particulars connected with our purpose. He
had not gone from his boat above twenty yards through
mud and water, when he discovered a snake rolled up
under the fallen leaves and rubbish of the trees ; and so
well covered, that it was some time before he distinctly
perceived the head of the monster, distant from him not
above sixteen feet, moving its forked tongue, while its
eyes, from their uncommon brightness, appeared to emit
sparks of fire. He now fired ; but missing the head,
the ball went through his body, when the animal struck

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 355
round, and with such astonishing force, as to cut away
all the underwood around him with the facility of a
scythe mowing grass, and by flouncing his tail, caused
the mud and dirt to fly over his head to a considerable
distance. He returned in a short time to the attack, and
found the snake a little removed from his former sta
tion, but very quiet, with his head as before, lying out
among the. fallen leaA'es, rotten bark, and old moss. He
fired at him immediately ; and now, being but slightly
wounded, he sent up such a cloud of dust and dirt, as
our author declares, he never saw but in a whirlwind.
At the third fire, the snake was shot through the head ;
all the negroes present, declared it to be but a young
one, about half grown, although on measuring, he found
it twenty-two feet and some inches, and its thickness,
about that of his black boy, who might then be about
twelve years old.
These circumstances account for the sweeping de
struction which the tail of the apocalyptic dragon effect
ed among the stars of heaven. The allegorical inci
dent, has its foundation in the nature and structure of
the literal dragon.
The only other circumstance which requires explana
tion, is the flood of water ejected by the dragon, after
he had failed in accomplishing the destruction of the
Avoman and her seed. The venom of poisonous ser
pents, is commonly ejected by a perforation in the fangs,
or cheek teeth, in the act of biting. We learn, howev
er, from several facts mentioned by Calmet, that "' ser
pents have a power of throwing out from their mouth,
a quantity of fluid of an injurious nature." The quan
tity cast out by the great red dragon, is in proportion to
his immense size, and is called a flood or stream, which
the earth, helping the woman, opened her mouth to re
ceive. " Gregory, the friend of Ludolph, says in his
history of Ethiopia, e We have in our province, a sort
of serpent as long as the arm. He is of a glowing red
colour, but somewhat brownish. — This animal has an
offensive breath, and ejects a poison so venomous and
stinking, that a man or beast within reach of it, is sure

356 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
to perish quickly by it, unless immediate assistance be

given."

" At Mouree, a great snake, being half under a heap
of stones and half out, a man cut it in two, at the part
which was out from among the stones ; and as soon as
the heap was removed, the reptile turning, made up to
the man, and spit such venom into his face, as quite
blinded him, and so he continued some days, but at last
recovered his sight." Barbot, in Churchhill, vol. 5. p.
213, quoted by Calmet, vol. 4.
The prophet Jeremiah alludes also to the hideous vo
racity of the boa, where he predicts the destruction of
Babylon, the cruel oppressor of his people : " Nebu
chadnezzar the king of Babylon, hath swallowed me
up ; he has filled his belly with my delicacies."* The
same writer, in his description of a severe famine, re
presents the wild ass upon the summit of a rock, " snuf
fing up the wind like dragons."! Nor do these terri
ble reptiles content themselves Avith catching the passing
breeze ; they are said to suck from the air, the birds
that fly above them, by the strength of their breathing.
When the ancient Hebrews observed the dragons erect,
and with expanded jaws fetching a deep inspiration,
they interpreted the circumstance as if with their eyes
lifted up to heaven, they complained to their Maker of
their miserable condition, that hated by all creatures,
and confined to the burning aud sterile deserts, they
dragged out a tedious and miserable existence. It was
perhaps to some idea of this kind that Job referred,
when, bemoaning the hardness of his lot, he complain
ed : "lama brother to dragons, and a companion of
owls."! He was unable to associate with mankind ;
cut off from the comforts of life, and doomed to wear
out the rest of his days in poverty and wretchedness.
The prophet Micah has the same allusion in the day
of his adversity, to the habits of that reptile : " I will
make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the
owls." || He may refer also to its hissing, which iElian
says is so loud, that it alarms and terrifies every crea
ture within hearing.
*Jer.li. 34. fCh. xiv 6. tJobxxx.29. § Ch. i. 8.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 357
Pliny, and many other writers affirm, that the dra
gon has no poison ; but Homer seems to have entertain
ed the opinion, that he became envenomed by the nox
ious herbs which he devoured.
Julian says in his history, that when the dragon medi
tates an attack on man, or one of the lower animals, he
feeds on deleterious roots. Other ancient writers affirm,
that the poison of the dragon is natural to him, and de
pends upon no adventitious circumstances, and that it
is extremely active. Its envenomed tooth is thus cele
brated by Lucan,
" Vos quoque qui cunctis innoxia numina terris,
Serpitis aurato nitidi fulgore dracones,
Pestiferos ardens facit Africa."
So deadly is the poison of the serpent which they
called the dragon, that the barbarous warriors of anti
quity, to secure the destruction of their enemies in bat
tle, dipped in it the points of their arrows.
" Aurea tela quibus, de sanguine tincta draconis,
Mortifero splendore micant." Prudentius.
As the boa is well known to have no poison, these an
cient writers must have referred to some other huge and
destructive animal, to which they gave the name of the
dragon. These testimonies vindicate the correctness of Moses,
who mentions in his dying song, " the poison of dra
gons, and the cruel venom of asps ;" or the venerable
lawgiver more probably meant, the poison of any large
serpent, which the comprehensive sense of the original
term sufficiently warrants.
The silent and barren wilderness is the chosen haunt
of the dragon. It is on this account, the prophets of
Jehovah, in predicting the fall of populous cities, so fre
quently declare, " they shall become the habitation of
dragons ;" by Avhich they mean to threaten them with
complete and perpetual desolation. The same allusion
is involved in the complaint of the Psalmist : " Thou
hast broken us in the place of dragons ;" or, as Aquila

358 . ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
not improperly renders it, in the place which cannot be
inhabited. But although the dragon often inhabits the dry and
barren Avaste, yet, when at liberty to choose, he more
willingly fixes his residence in the irriguous valley.
What the prophet therefore asserts concerning the mys
tical, is equally true Avhen applied to the real dragon :
" The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons
and the owls ; because I give waters in the Avilderness,
and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people,
my chosen."* The dragon well at Jerusalem, men
tioned by Nehemiah, seems to have taken its name
from one of these snakes having fixed his residence
there, during the long desolation of that city.
In the book of Revelation, the devil is called the
il Old Serpent," probably in allusion to the long Course
cf years through which it is believed that serpents in
general, and particularly the dragon, protract their ex
istence. Nor is the dragon a name given to eA'ery
wicked spirit, but seems to be appropriated to Satan,
that arch fiend who beguiled our first mother; and de
signed to intimate, that he holds the same rank among
apostate spirits, as the dragon among prostrate ser
pents : that he is a most subtile and cruel tempter, and
that none whom he has marked for his prey, can escape
by his own wisdom and power. Entering into the body
of a serpent, most probably the great red dragon or
boa, he seduced the first pair from their allegiance, in
volving them and all their posterity in sin and misery;
and like the adder in the path, or the dragon by the
well, lying in Avait for the unwary passenger, he still
watches Avith unceasing vigilance and activity, to plunge
us deeper in guilt and wretchedness. To this cause,
perhaps, may be traced the hatred which animates every
human bosom against the whole brood of the serpent;
than Avhich nothing is more odious, nothing more care
fully shunned. " Nempe ruri est uxor tua, quam dudum dixeras
Te odisse aeque atque angues." Plant.
•Is. xliii.30.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 359
CHAP. V.
AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.
wwwvwvw
Serpents.
THE greater part of serpents are amphibious, and
take to the water readily. Among these may be classed
the boa, or proper dragon, who swims Avithout fear the
broad and rapid stream, and rides upon the swelliug
Avaves. One kind of large serpent, at least, certainly
does exist, which has been met with at a considerable
distance from land; this appears to be one which can
live equally in both elements. With this species, the
ancients Avere not unacquainted. Virgil thus describes
the progress of two amphibious serpents from Tenedos
to the Trojan shore : With immense orbs they stretched
their lengths along the smooth surface of the sea, and
with equal motion shot forward to the beach. Their
breasts, erect, amidst the waters, and their chests be-
dropped with blood, tower above the deep ; their other
parts sAveep the sea behind, and Avind their spacious
backs in rolling spires. Lashed by their strokes, the
floods resound, the briny ocean foams ; and now they
are got to land, and darting fire from their glaring eyes
suffused with blood, withforky tongues licked their his
sing mouths.
" Fit sonitus, spumante salo : jamque arva tenebant,
Ardentesque oculos suffecti sanguine, et igni,
Sibila lambebant Unguis vibrantibus ora." JEn.
The existence of such serpents, is attested by modern
writers in the clearest terms. Baldeus informs us,
that " serpents are very common all over the isle of
Ceylon ; the Sea Serpents are sometimes eight, nine,
or ten yards long."
" Peter van Coerden, admiral of the Dutch fleet in
the East Indies, says, that while he was at anchor ou
the coast of Mozambic, a boy that was washing himself

3fi0 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
by the ship's side, was seized by the middle by a ser
pent of enormous size, that dragged him under tvater at
once, in the sight of the whole fleet." — And " P. van
den Broek, that at Golconda, there are serpents of pro
digious size, the bite of which is instantly mortal ; and
observes further, that whenever these creatures are seen
at sea, it is a certain sign of their being near the Indian
coast."* Taylor, however, justly remarks, that serpents have
been seen too far out at sea, to be supposed natives of
the land ; these are true hydras : but their varieties,
colours, manners, and other particularities, are not well
understood. " We cannot doubt the existence of sea serpents, at
least equal in dimensions with land serpents;. (see Li
terary Panorama, vol. 5. p. 749, for one fifty-five feet
long,) but do these possess venom? HoweAerthat may
be, the histories quoted may justify the sacred Avriters
in speaking of sea serpents, which they call nahash ;
as Amos ix. 3. i Though they hide in the bottom of the
sea, thence will I command the serpent, — nahash, and
he shall bite them."
The question whether the sea serpents possess ve
nom, has been laid to rest by recent intelligence from
India. In the year 1807, a stout youug man, a fisher
man in the vicinity of Calicut, was bit on the point of
the middle finger of the right hand, by a sea snake
Avhich had been entangled in his net. Conceiving the
snake to be perfectly harmless, he threw it into the sea,
and thought nothing of the bite. In less than an hour
afterwards, he complained ofa slight pain in the affect
ed finger, which extended along the inside of the right
arm. The paiu increased continually ; he was affected
with giddiness and weakness in his loins and lower
extremities, which was followed by violent spasms,
and he died in convulsions early in the morning after
he had been bitten.
Just as the medical man who gave this statement had
finished his account, another case of the same kind
occurred. The man had been similarly employed, and
* Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 361
was bitten on the back of the fore-finger of the right
hand, about one hour before he was brought to the sur
geon's house. The wound Avas very distinct, but at
tended with little pain. He placed a tight ligature
upon the arm, scarified freely the wounded part, ap
plying other remedies, as well external as internal.
The patient suffered very severe pain in the affected
hand, from two o'clock till about six, but was next
morning quite well, though weak. The snake was
described to be of the same kind with the former, but
much smaller.
The Frog.
The aquatic frog was one of the plagues with which
Jehovah smote the land of Egypt, because they re
fused to let his people go. For the name (n<jmi«) Tsep-
hardim, signifies animals which live in marshes or in
stagnant Avaters. The sacred historian also says, they
were generated in the rivers and lakes of Egypt : " And
the Lord spake unto Moses ; say unto Aaron, stretch
forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over
the rivers, and over the ponds (or lakes,) and cause
frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt : and Aaron
stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt ; and
the frogs came up and covered the, land of Egypt."
After the plague ceased, we are told the frogs remained
in the river only. These quotations clearly prove, that
only aquatic frogs were commissioned to act against the
Egyptians on that occasion.
As the frog Avas, in Egypt, an emblem of Osiris, or
the sun, the first object of idolatrous worship to the
nations of the east, it is probable the Egyptians regard
ed it with superstitious veneration. If this conjecture
is well founded, it brings into view the secret reason of
the second plague; for it is perfectly consistent with
the divine wisdom, to punish a nation by means of that
Avhich they foolishly revere.
These vengeful reptiles were produced in the streams
of the Nile, and in the lakes which were supplied from
his waters, because the river was supposed, by that de
luded people, to possess an uncommon degree of sane*
Vol. 1. A a 2

362 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
tity, and to deserve their religious veneration ; it Avas
the object of their confidence, it was accounted the
grand source of their enjoyments, and was the constant
theme of their praise ; it was, therefore, just to pollute
those waters with an innumerable multitude of impure
animals, to which the respect and confidence which
were due only to the true God, the father of the rain,
had been impiously transferred. Turned at first into
blood, as a just punishment of their unfeeling barbarity
towards the male children of Israel, they Avere now " a
second time polluted and disgraced, to the utter con
fusion both of their gods and priests." The celebrated
Bochart, embracing the absurd doctrine of equivocal
generation, contends, that the frogs Avere generated of
the muddy Avaters in the riA'er and stagnant pools ; and
quotes iElian in support of his persuasion, who de
clares, that he had seen frogs AA'ith their head and fore
parts completely formed, and in motion, while the other
parts seemed to be only passing from slimy mud into
the state of animal existence. But the words of iElian
do not warrant the conclusion Avhich Bochart draws
from them ; for that ancient historian only says, the
frogs appeared to him in the state of transformation ;
but the argument from appearance to reality, is .quite
inconclusive. In the beginning of time, the Almighty
Creator commanded the Avaters to produce, without
seminal principles, reptiles of every kind, among AA'hich
the Jewish writers place the frog : but it is clear, from
the words of Moses, that in succeeding ages, every
creature was ordained to propagate its own species by
generation : for, observes the historian, " God blessed
them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
waters in the seas."* These Avords are inconsistent
with the doctrine of equivocal generation. It is also a
mere gratuitous supposition, unauthenticated by the tes
timony of credible witnesses, aud, therefore, entitled to
no credit. Nor is it hazardous to the received doctrine,
that every creature", since the first formation, propagates
its own kind, to admit, that the powers of ordinary
generation are insufficient to account for the prodigious
• Gen. i. 22.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 363
numbers of frogs which issued from the rivers and ponds
of Egypt, to chastise that stubborn people ; for the Al
mighty may, when he pleases, resume his creating
power, but, from a miraculous or extraordinary occur
rence, the ordinary laws of nature cannot justly be in
ferred. This loathsome plague extended to every place, and
to every class of men. The frogs came up and covered
the land of Egypt ; they entered into their houses, and
into their bedchambers ; they crawled upon their per
sons, upon their beds, and into their kitchen utensils.
The whole country, their palaces, their temples, their
persons — all Avas polluted and hateful. Nor was it in
their power to wash away tTie nauseous filth with which
they were tainted, for every stream and every lake was
full of pollution. To a people Avho affected the most
scrupulous purity in their persons, their habitations,
and manner of living, nothing almost can be conceived
more insufferable than this plague. The frog is, com
pared with many other reptiles, a harmless animal ; it
neither injures by its bite nor by its poison : but it must
have excited on that occasion, a disgust which rendered
life an insupportable burden. The, eye was tormented
with beholding the march of their impure legions, and
the, ear with hearing the harsh tones of their voices : the
Egyptians could recline upon no bed where they were
not compelled to admit their cold and filthy embrace ;
they tasted no food which was not infected by their
touch ; and they smelled no perfume, but the foetid
stench of their slime, or the putrid exhalations emitted
from their dead carcases.
How much the Egyptians endured from this visita
tion, is evident from the haste with which Pharoah sent
for Moses and Aaron, and begged the assistance of their
prayers : " Entreat the Lord that he may take away
the frogs from me and from my people ; and I will let
the people go that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord."
Reduced to great extremity, and receiving no deliver
ance from the pretended miracles of his magicians, he
had recourse to that God, concerning whom he had so
proudly demanded, " Who is Jehovah, that I should

364 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
obey his voice to let Israel go?" Subdued, and in
structed by adversity, he implores his compassion, and
acknowledges the glory of his name ; but, as the event
proved, not with a sincere heart : " Then said Moses,
Glory over me ;" an obscure phrase, which is explained
by the next clause, " Avhen shall I entreat for thee ?"
that is, according to some writers, although it belongs
not to thee, Pharaoh, to prescribe to me the time of thy
deliverance, which entirely depends on the will and
pleasure of God alone ; yet I, who am a prophet, and
the interpreter of his will, grant thee, in his name, the
choosing of the time when this plague shall be removed.
But this interpretation is more ingenious than solid.
Moses intends rather to suggest an antithesis between
the perverse boasting of the haughty monarch, and the
pious gloriation of the humbled penitent, who was uoav
reduced to cry for mercy. Thus far, said Moses, thou
hast trusted in thine OAvn power ; then fascinated with
the deceitful miracle of the magicians, thou hast per
versely exalted thyself against the God of heaven; noAv
rather glory that thou hast in me an intercessor with
God, whose prayers for thy deliverance he will not re
fuse, to hear : and in proof that he is the only true God,
and that I bear his commission, fix thou the time of de
liverance. " And he said, to-morrow. Aud he said, be it ac
cording to thy word : that thou mayst know, that there
is none like unto the Lord our God." To-morrow,
said Pharaoh : but why not to-day ? It Avas to be ex
pected, that the vexed and humbled monarch would
ask for instant relief. It is probable, the king had
called Moses and Aaron in the evening, and that he
durst not ask the promised deliverance on the same day,
because he thought it was not to be obtained without
many prayers. Whatever might be the true reason of
Pharaoh's procrastination, the renowned Calvin seems
to have no ground for his opinion, that his only reason
was, after obtaining his desire, to depart as formerly
from his engagement to let the people go ; and, that
Moses content with his promise, retired to intercede
•with Jehovah in his favour. That great man was per-

NATURAL HISTORY QF THE EAST. 365
suaded, that the plague was immediately removed, not
suffered to continue till next dfy. It "s better, however,
to abide by the obvious meaning of the clear and precise
terms used on that occasion, Loth by the king and the
prophet: "aud he said, To-morrow. And he said,
Be it according to thy word." Moses and Aaron, it is
true, " went out from Pharaoh, and immediately cried
unto the Lord, because of the frogs which he had
brought against Pharaoh." But, it is not said, the Lord
immediately removed the plague ; but only, that he
" did according to the Avord of Moses." Noav, Moses
had promised relief next day, in the clearest terms, and
we have every reason to suppose, that his intercession
proceeded upon his promise ; therefore, when the Lord
did according to the word of Moses, he removed the
frogs on the next day.
They were not, however, swept RAvay, like the lo
custs which succeeded them, lut destroyed, and left on
the face of the ground. They were not annihilated, nor
resolved into mud, nor marched back into the river from
whence they had come ; but left dead upon the ground,
to prove the truth of the miiacle, — that they had not
died by the hands of men, but by the power of God ;
that the great deliverance was not like the works of the
magicians, a lying wonder, but a real interposition of
almighty power, and an effect of divine goodness. The
Egyptians were, therefore, reduced to the necessity of
collecting them into heaps, which had the effect of more
rapidly disengaging the putrid effluvia, and thus for a
time, increasing the Avretchedhess of the country. Their
destruction Avas probably followed by a pestilence, which
cut off many of the people, in addition to those that
died in consequence of the grievous vexations they en
dured from their loathsome adversaries ; for, in one of
the songs of Zion, it is said, « He sent frogs, which de
stroyed them ;"* laid waste their lands, and infected
themselves with pestilent disorders.
In another Psalm, the sAveet singer of Israel brings
the frogs which destroyed the Egyptians, from the land ;
whereas, Moses avers, they were produced by the ri-
* Ps. lxxviii. 45.

366 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ver : " Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in
the chambers of their kings ;" but the difference is only
apparent, and may be easily reconciled ; for the Psalm
ist may be understood as referring, not to any kind of
land, but to the miry soil on the banks, or the mud in
the bottom of the river. But the truth is, he uses a
term, which signifies a region or country, comprehend
ing both land and water. His true meaning then is,
Their land or country, of which the Nile is a part,
brought forth frogs : for the land of Egypt certainly
produces whatever the Kile contains. Were it neces
sary to prove so clear a position, the words of Moses
might be quoted, in which he reminds the people of Is
rael, that they came in :he course of their journeyings
to Jotbath, a land of rivers ;* and the sublime ascrip
tion of Uabakkuk : " Tiou didst cleave the earth with
rivers."f The sea itself, belongs as it Avere to the
neighbouring countries ; for it is said, that Solomon
constructed a fleet " in Ihe land of Edom '"% that is,
in the sea which washed the shores of Edom.
It has been inquired, vhy David in the same passage
says, the frogs penetrated into the chambers of their
kings. The answer is tasy ; the plural is often used
for the singular in Hebrew : thus the Psalmist himself:
41 We Avill go into his tabernacles ;"§ although there
was but one tabernacle vhere the people of Israel as
sembled for religious woiship. The servants of Nebu
chadnezzar accused the three children in these terms :
"they do not worship thy gods," meaning only the
golden image, which the king had set up in the plain
of Dura. The language of David, therefore, in the text
nnder consideration, meant no more than the king's pa
lace. Some interpreters propose another solution : That
the kingdom of Egypt was at that time divided into a
number of small independent states, governed each by
its own prince, and that all of them were equally sub
jected to the plague ; but although it must be granted
that this country was in succeeding ages, divided into a
number of small principalities, no evidence has been
adduced in support of such a state of things in the time
* Deut. x. 7. f Hab. iii. 9. * 1 Kings ix. 26. § Ps. cxxxii. 7,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 367
of Moses ; on the contrary, the whole tenor of his nar
rative leads to the opposite conclusion. Nor is it un
reasonable to suppose, that the principal grandees of
Egypt, many of whom were persons of great power and
influence in the state, received from the royal Psalmist
the title of kings : it is certainly not more incongruous,
than to give the title of princes to the merchants of
Tyre ;* or the title of kings to the princes of Assyria. f
The meaning of the passage then, is briefly this ; the
potent monarch of Egypt, in the midst of his vassal
princes, in the innermost recesses of his palace, could
find no means of defence against the ceaseless intrusion
of the impure vermin which covered the face of his
dominions, and equally infested the palaces of the rich,
and the cottages of the poor ; the awful abode of the
king, and the clay-built hovel of the mendicant.
The frog was chosen by the Spirit of inspiration to
represent in vision, the false teaclers, and other agents
of Autichrist ; " I satv,'^ said John, " three unclean
spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon,
and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth
of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils,
Avorking miracles."f These impure and mischievous
emissaries are generated, and reared in the puddle of
moral depravity ; like the frog, they disturb the peace,
and impair the happiness of all around them.

¦ mali culices, ranseque palustres

Avertunt somnos." Hor.
Their unceasing loquacity is not less annoying than the
perpetual croaking of the impure animal to which they
are compared. Their complaints and reproaches ; their
accusations and curses ; their pride and vanity ; and
their constant and eager exertions to stir up the sub
jects, kings, and princes of the earth, to mutual slaugh
ter, under the pretence of maintaining the cause of
religion, — are still more painful and mischievous, than
the obstreperous clamours, the mournful complaints and
mutual reproaches, the shameless impudence and the
• Is. xxiii. 8. f Ch. x. 8. * Rev. xvi. 13, 14.

36& ILLUSTRAf IONS OF SCRIPTURE.
vain-gl0rious inflations, which the frogs are accused of
indulging in their native marshes.

"  — nunc quoque turpes
Litibus exerCent linguas, pulso que pudore,
Quamvis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere tentant.
Vox quoque jam rauca est, inflata que colla tumescunt,
Ipsa que dilatant patulos convitia rictus." Ovid.
The Behemoth.
Behemoth is an amphibious animal, Avhose real
character is involved in much obscurity. The greater
part of modern writers have thought that behemoth is
the elephant, and leviathan the whale ; this indisputa
bly the largest of the aquatic, and that the largest of
terrestrial animals. But their sentiments are liable to
objections so numerous and weighty, that we are com
pelled, after the most careful investigation, to refer these
names to very differelt animals. Bochart is of opinion,
that the sacred writers refer, under these terms, to the
crocodile and the lrppopotamos ; and he is probably
correct. He follow^ Beza and Diodati in supposing
the leviathan to be tie crocodile of the Nile ; and from
this he infers, that the behemoth is the hippopotamos,
an inhabitant of the same river. In the book of Job,
the Almighty, after describing a number of terrestrial
animals in a continued series, commences a neAV des
cription in the fortieth chapter, in Avhich we And levia
than, which is allowed by all to be an aquatic animal,
joined Avith behemoth ; therefore, to preserve the ap
pointed order undisturbed, the latter must also be an
aquatic animal. They are, besides, A'ery similar in
several respects : both are quadrupeds of enormous
size — fierce in their' dispositions — amphibious in their
nature — both of them, inhabitants of the Nile. Nor
does the name behemoth ill agree with the hippopo
tamos ; for the Hebrew term behema, may denote any
beast, especially if it be of a superior size, as the hip
popotamos is acknowledged to be. Aristotle gives him
the size of an ass ; Herodotus affirms that in stature he
is equal to the largest ox ; Diodorus makes his height
not less than five cubits, or above seven feet and a half;

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 369
Tatius calls him, on account of his prodigious strength*
the Egyptian elephant. The Arabian authors quoted
by Bochart, say, that the bahema, the same as the
behemoth, is a four-footed animal, although he lives in
the water. But tvere it admitted that behema by itself,
is always applied to land animals ; yet, behemoth may
signify the hippopotamos with sufficient propriety, be
cause that animal yields to very few in bulk and
stature ; it is amphibious, and resembles, in many par
ticulars, terrestrial animals. No aquatic animal, indeed,
so much resembles the beasts of the field; hence the
hippopotamos alone of all aquatic animals, is called by
way of excellence, behema, or, in the Egyptian dialect,
behemoth ; for behemoth is not a plural, but a singular
noun, with an Egyptian termination, like Thoth, Paoth,
Phamenoth, the names of Egyptian months, which are
all in the singular number.
The description of behemoth is introduced with these
words : " Behold now behemoth which I made with
thee, he eateth grass as an ox."* The Almighty did
not need to fetch the arguments of his mighty power
from a distance ; the Nile, which rolled its ample wa
ters through regions bordering on Arabia, the native
country of Job, contained the hippopotamos, one of the
most surprising effects of creating power and goodness.
Such seems to be the meaning of the command, " Be
hold now behemoth which I have made with thee," or
in thy neighbourhood. The particle im often signifies,
near or hard by : thus, in the book of Joshua, the city
of Ai is said to beim Bethaven, near Bethaven ;f and,
in the book of Judges, the Danites Avere, im beth Micah,
near the house of Micah. But, as the propriety of the
translation cannot be disputed, it is needless to multi
ply examples. The Almighty proceeds : " he eateth
grass like an ox." The ox and the elephant are equal
ly beasts of burden ; it is therefore by no means Avon-
derful that they live on the same kind of food ; — but that
the hippopotamos, an aquatic animal, which lives for
the most part in the bottom of the Nile, should eat grass
like an ox, is a singular phenomenon, well entitled to
*Jobxl.l5. + Josb. vii. 2.
Vol. I, B b 2

370 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
our consideration. Nor is it without design he is com
pared to the ox ; for, he not only associates with him
in the same pastures, but also bears a considerable re
semblance to him in the size and stature, of his body,
and in the form of his head and feet. " Lo, boav," says
Jehovah, " his strength is in his loins, and his force in
the navel of his belly." The loins are the seat of
strength in eA'ery animal; hence, in the language of
Scripture, to strengthen the loins denotes an augmenta
tion of power. A very decisive instance occurs in the
second chapter of Nahum : " Make thy loins strong ;"
fortify thy power mightily. The same idea is involved
in the prayer of the Psalmist, that the poAver which the
wicked had so greatly abused, might be diminished till
it became consistent tvith the peace and safety of others,
or entirely taken away : " Make their loins continually
to shake."* The last clause, " His force is in the navel of his
belly," cannot well be reconciled with the statements of
ancient writers, that the belly of the elephant is the most
tender and vulnerable part of his body. This is a fact
so generally known, so fully authenticated, that in war
the hostile spear is usually directed to the naval of that
formidable animal, where the most deadly wound may
be inflicted. We learn from Pliny, that when the rhi
noceros attacks the elephant, he likewise aims his fu
rious thrust at the same part of the body. The same
powerful instinct which directs the horn of the rhinoce
ros, leads the gnat, if the Talmudical writers may be
credited, to the navel ofcthe elephant, Avhich it enters,
and torments him with excruciating pains. But it is not
to be supposed, that the inspired writer would place the
strength of that animal in the. softest and most defence
less part of his frame, because it is not consistent with
the truth of natural history. But the navel and belly of
the hippopotamos are like the rest of his body, protected
by an impenetrable skin of so great solidity and thick
ness, that it is said to be formed into spears, and other
missile Aveapons. Diodorus asserts, that the hippopo
tamos has a skin nearly the strongest of all animals,
* Psalm lxix. 23.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 371
Ararat ™» 0q(i«i> r^tin ji^ujoTaTw ; and Ptolomy says hyper-
bolically, that the robbers in India have a skin like the
hippopotamos, which no arrow can pierce. Zeringhi
declares, that a musket ball can make no impression on
the dried skin of that animal, nor can any weapon
pierce it, till it has been loug steeped in water.
Behemoth " moveth his tail like a cedar " Many
writers, among whom are Caryl and Schultens, in or
der to support their hypothesis that behemoth is the ele
phant, venture to contradict the uniform sense of the
term zanab, which in our translation is properly ren
dered the tail, and make it signify the proboscis or trunk
of that animal. Zanab, in Parkhurst, signifies the ex
tremity or hindmost part of a thing, as the tail of an
animal,* or the end of a fire-brand almost extinguish
ed ;t and hence, as a verb in a primitive sense, to cut
off the extremity or hindmost part. Yet in opposition
to the constant meaning of this word in Scripture, these
Avriters turn it into the snout or trunk of the elephant,
to make it agree with their favourite hypothesis. But
if zanab be suffered to retain its usual meaning, it fur
nishes a strong presumption, that the hippopotamos is
intended in the text under consideration, and not the
elephant, whose tail, like that of the hog, is small, weak,
and inconsiderable. It is, according to Buffon, but two
feet and a half or three feet long, and pretty slender ;
but the tail of the hippopotamos, he observes from Ze-
renghi, does not resemble that of a hog, but rather that
of a tortoise, only that it is incomparably thicker. The
tail of the hippopotamos, Sheuchzer obserA'es, although
short, is thick, and may be compared to the cedar for
its tapering, conical shape, its smoothness, thickness,
and strength. But although it is thick, short, and ve
ry firm, yet he moves and twists it at pleasure ; which,
in the sacred text, is considered as a proof of his pro
digious strength.
" The sinews of his stones," continues the sacred
writer, " are wrapped together." Bochart renders the
words, the sinews of his thighs are interwoven or twist
ed together. From this short, but emphatical clause,
* See Exod. iv. 4. and Jud. sv 4. + Isa. vii. 4.

378 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURt.
we may certainly infer, that behemoth is one of the
most powerful animals on the face of our globe. Such
undoubtedly is the hippopotamos, if we may credit the
accounts of Dampier, who declares he has known him
set one tooth in the gunnel of a boat, and another at the
distance of more than four feet, and there bite a hole
through the plank, and sink the boat ; and Avhen he
had done, he went away shaking his ears. On ano
ther occasion, he saw him in the wash of the shore,
when the sea tossed in a boat Avith fourteen hogsheads
of water in her, and left it dry upon his back ; and an
other surge came and fetched the boat off, without the
beast receiA'ing any perceptible injury. Dampier and
his crew made several shots at him, but to no purpose,
for the bullets glanced from his sides as from a wall of
adamant. The idea of his prodigious strength is increased by
the account given of his bones, which are compared to
strong pieces of brass, and bars of iron.* Such figures
are commonly employed by the sacred writers, to ex-
press*great hardness and strength, of which a striking
example occurs in the prophecies of Micah : " Arise
and thresh, O daughter of Zion ; for 1 will make thy
horn iron, aud I will make thy hoofs brass : aud thou
shalt beat in pieces many people."f So hard and
strong are the bones of the hippopotamos. The cutting,
and particularly the canine teeth of the lower jaw, says
Buffon, are very long, and so hard and strong, that they
strike fire with steel ; a circumstance which probably
gave rise to the fable of the ancients, that the hippopo
tamos vomited fire. The substance of the canine teeth
is so white, so fine, and so hard, that it is preferable to
ivory for making artificial teeth. " His bones are like
bars of iron ;" and such, in the description of Buffon,
are the bones of this animal. The cutting teeth, says
that celebrated naturalist, especially those of the under
jaw, are very long, cylindrical, and chamfered. The
canine teeth are also long, crooked, prismatic, and
sharp like the tusks of the wild boar. The largest of
the cutting and canine teeth, are twelve, and sometimes
*Jobxl.l8. f Micah. iv. 13.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 378
sixteen inches long, and each of them weighs from
tAvelve to thirteen pounds.
It is added, " he is the chief of the ways of God : he
that made him, can make his sword to approach unto
him "* The phrase in the first clause, is evidently hy
perbolical, and signifies merely, that he is one of the
noblest animals, which the almighty Creator produced.
In size, the hippopotamos is inferior only to the ele
phant. The male, which Zeringhi brought from the
Nile to Italy, was sixteen feet nine inches long, from
the extremity of the muzzle to the origin of the tail ;
fifteen feet in circumference, and six feet and a half
high ; and the legs Avere about two feet ten inches long.
The head Avas three feet and a half in length, and eight
feet and a half in circumference. The opening of the
mouth was two feet four inches, and the largest teeth
were more than a foot long. Thus, his prodigious
strength, his impenetrable skin ; the vast opening of his
mouth, and his portentous voracity ; the whiteness and
hardness of his teeth ; his manner of life, spent with
equal ease in the sea, on the land, or at the bottom of
the Nile, — equally claim our admiration, aud entitle him
to be considered as the chief of the ways of God. Nor
is he less remarkable for his sagacity ; of which, two
instances are recorded by Pliny and Solinus. After he
has gorged himself Avith corn, and begins to return with
a distended belly to the deep, with averted steps he
traces a great many paths, lest his pursuers following
the lines of one plain tract, should overtake and destroy
him while he is unable to resist. The second instance is
not less remarkable : When he has become fat with too
much indulgence, he reduces his obesity by copious
bleedings. For this purpose, he searches for newly
cut reeds, or sharp pointed rocks, and rubs himself
against them, till he make a sufficient aperture for the
blood to flow. To promote the discharge, it is said, he
agitates his body ; and when he thinks he has lost a
sufficient quantity, he closes the wound by rolling him
self in the mud. Hence, Pliny calls him the discoverer
* Job si. 19.

374 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of the art of blood letting ; and the master of the heal
ing art.
" He that made him, can make his sword approach
unto him ;" or, as the words may be rendered, He who
made him, has applied to him his sharp crooked sword ;
of which the meaning seems to be, He has furnished
his mouth with long teeth, somewhat bent, sharp and
protruded, with which, as with a crooked sword or
sickle, he reaps and masticates the grass and corn on
Avhich he feeds. But if behemoth be understood of the
elephant, how can it be said with any correctness, that
he is provided Avith a crooked sword for reaping his
food. The shortness of his neck prevents him from
reaching the ground with his mouth, and using his teeth
for collecting food. This operation is performed by
his trunk, which receives the food, and conveys it
into his mouth. His teeth are perfectly inefficient, ex
cept for mastication ; and as for his trunk, it has no re
semblance to any sharp instrument ; on this account, the
ancients never gave it the name of a sword or sickle,
but called it a hand ; a name which it may receive with
great propriety.
A very learned interpreter, perceiving the inconve
nience of this exposition, if behemoth mean the ele
phant, prefers our translation : " He that made him,
can make his Sword approach unto him ;" that is, He
alone that made him, can take away his life. But
whether we apply the words to the elephant, or the
hippopotamos, the sense is equally inadmissible, for
both these animals are frequently destroyed without
the immediate interference, of God. Besides, to apply
the sword to any one, and to take away his life with
it, are not exactly the same ; nor does this view agree
with the whole series of the context, while the inter
pretation given by Bochart perfectly accords with it>
and connects the verse with the subsequent part of the
narrative: He who made him, has furnished him with
a sickle or crooked sword, to reap and collect his food.
The reason of his being provided with such an in
strument, is assigned in the next verse: " Surely the

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 375
mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts
of the field play." This is considered as a very strong
argument in favour of the elephant, an animal which,
it is. well known, browses upon the mountains ; while,
fully assured of his mild and forbearing temper, all the
beasts of the field sport around him in peace and se
curity. But the text applies with equal, and even with
more propriety to the hippopotamos ; for it seems to
indicate somethiug remarkable in the circumstance, that
such an animal should seek his food in peace, on the
hills and mountains which skirt his habitation. But
surely it is not strange, that the elephant, a creature
which always liA'es on the land, and whose disposition
leads him to eat grass like an ox, should be found on
such a pasture. The hippopotamos, on the contrary,
lives for the most part in the water, and walks on the
bottom as in the open air ; yet, he seeks his food more
frequently on the land, where he devours sugar canes,
rushes, millet, rice, roots, and vegetables of every kind,
in immense quantities, and ravages, far and wide, the
cultivated fields. Not content with laying waste the
plains, he proceeds in the night to the hills and moun
tains, and renews his depredations.* Natural histo
rians give the same account of the morse, an animal,
which in many respects, resembles the hippopotamos,
and inhabits the large rivers of Russia, which roll their
waters into the frozen ocean. He is about the size of an
ox, with very short legs ; his breast is higher and broader
than the other parts of the body ; he has two large and
long tusks, resembling ivory in Avhiteness, and of equal
value. When he is inclined to sleep, he forsakes the
ocean, and, in companies, retires to the mountains.
Around the hippopotamos, the beasts of the field may
sport in safety ; for, although he feeds on fishes, croco
diles, and even cadaverous flesh, he is not known to
prey on other animals. It is not even difficult to drive
him away from the cultivated fields, for he is more
timid on land than in the water. His only resource
in danger, is to plunge into the deep, and travel under
it a great way, before he ventures again to appear. The
* Diodor. Sic,

376 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Indians, according to Dampier, are accustomed to throAV
him a part of their fish when he comes near their
canoes, and then he passes on without doing them any
harm. The same voyager relates an anecdote, which
remarkably displays the mildness of his disposition ; as,
their boat lay near the shore, he went under her, and
with his back, lifted her out of the water, and overset
her with six men on board, but did them no personal
injury. These facts prove, at once, his incredible
strength and his habitual gentleness.
When sated Avith food, he reposes " under the shady
trees in the covert of the reed and fens." The elephant,
it is admitted, delights in the shade, but very seldom
lies down to sleep, as the sacred writer asserts of behe
moth ; nor is he kuown to frequent the reeds which
cover the marsh, and skirt the border of the lake. But
the reeds are the chosen haunt of the hippopotamos ;
they supply him with a grateful food, and screen him
during his repose from the burning heat of the sun. In
this part of his history, ancient and modern authors har
moniously accord. Marcellinus observes, that he re
poses among the tall reeds, where they grow thickest
in the mire. They are bis covert, his food, and his
medicine. Hence the prayer of David, Rebuke the
company of the spearmen, or, as it may be translated,
the wild beast of the reed, has been supposed to refer
to the hippopotamos, as the symbol of the Egyptian
people and government; which is the more probable,
as he mentions the bulls and the calves, which that de
generate race honoured with idolatrous reverence. The
circumstance of his making his bed among the thick
reeds of the marsh, naturally suggests his relation to
the Nile, Avhose banks are richly clothed with that
plant ; and this is confirmed by many Egyptian repre
sentations, in which he is joined Avith the crocodile.
Kimchi, and other writers Avho contend that the ele
phant is meant in this description, unable-to reconcile
the clause under consideration to their theory, are com
pelled to throw it into the form of an interrogation :
Does he lie under the shady trees in the covert of the
reeds and fens ? that is, he by no means lies in such

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 377
places. But they did not perceive, that this solution of
the difficulty is destructive to their own theory ; for the
elephant does lie under the shady trees, but takes his re
pose standing under their covert. Besides, to throw
the clause into the form of an interrogation, is to break
the texture of the description, and to mar its beauty;
and, if such liberties with the sacred text Avere admitted,
nothing is so plain or express in the Avord of God, which
may not be eluded.
The only other remark necessary to be made, is,
that the words of the sacred writer are confirmed by the
testimony of Kurfon, who says, the hippopotamos, be
sides his usual cry, which has a great resemblance to
that of the elephant, or to the stammering and indistinct
sounds uttered by deaf persons when asleep, makes a
kiud of snorting noise, Avhich betrays him at a distance.
To prevent the danger arising from this circumstance,
he generally ties among the reeds that grow upon
marshy grounds, and Avhich it is difficult to approach :
there " the shady trees cover him Avith their shadow ;
the willoAvs of the brook compass him about." The
learned Bochart translates the Hebrew word Nahal,
the Nile, because its ancient pronunciation is Neel,
which, by a very small variation, is changed into the
modern name of that far-famed river. He therefore
renders the text, The willows of the Nile compass him
about. That the word Nahal has this signification, he
endeavours to prove from many passages of Scripture,
where we find the phrase, the river of Egypt. Thus,
in describing the bounds of Canaan, Moses says,
"¦ The border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto
the river of Egypt."* He appeals also in support of
his opinion, to several ancient Latin poets, who give the
Nile the name of a torrent. Thus, Lucan, b. 9. —
"Atque alii reges Nilo torrente nutabunt." And Va
lerius — " Contra Nilus et toto gurgite torrens."
These writers call it a torrent, because it is liable to
periodical inundations, or to rise and fall like the
streams which are formed by summer showers. For
this reason, Strabo conjectures the Nile was said to
* Num. xxxiv. 5.
Vol. I. C c2

378 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
come down from Jove. But although the reasoning
and authorities of our learned author are entitled to
great respect, his argument on this point is exposed to
several objections of considerable weight. In the first
place, the river of Egypt cannot mean the Nile ; for
Ave know that the people of Israel never occupied the
countries that border on that river, after they went up
from the land of Egypt ; while we learn from the same
infallible authority, that they gradually subdued the
nations whose lands they bad received as their inheri
tance, till they had obtained the quiet possession of the
whole country. The river of Egypt, therefore, Avas not
the Nile, but a stream which flowed not far from Gaza,
and marked the southern boundary of Canaan.
In the second place, admitting that the word Nile is
derived from Nahal, yet in not one of the Scriptures
quoted by our learned author, is the latter term used
alone, as in the instance before us ; the wcrd Egypt is
added in them all : therefore, although it tvere proved
that the river of Egypt is the Nile, it would not prove
that the single Avord Nahal denotes that river. In this
construction, N ahal signifies any torrent in any part of
the Avorld.
In the third place, in one passage of Scripture where
the phrase, the willows of the brook, is found, the Nile
cannot be intended, but some other torrent. The chil
dren of Israel, at the celebration of the feast of taber
nacles, Avere commanded to cut down the boughs of
thick trees, and the willows of the brook.* These
could not be the willows that grew on the banks of the
Nile ; for, when this command was given, they had left
Egypt never to return : it was besides, a law which they
were to observe in the land of Canaan. A similar
phrase, with a slight inversion, occurs in the prophecies
of Isaiah : " Therefore the abundance they have got
ten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry
away to the brook of the willows."f Here the phrase
must relate, not to the Nile, but to the Euphrates ; and
in this sense it has been taken by perhaps every in
terpreter of the Holy Scriptures. Hence, the reason-
* Lev. xxiii. 40. f Isa. xv. 7.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 379
ing of Bochart in this instance is inconclusive ; while
his interpretation of behemoth is unquestionably cor
rect. Behemoth, which before was feeding upon the moun
tains, or sleeping under the shade of the reeds and the
willows, is in the next verse introduced quenching his
thirst at the river : " Behold, he drinketh up a riyer,
and hasteth not ; he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan
into his mouth." Bochart gives a different transla
tion. " Behold, let a river come upon him,, he will not
fear ; he is safe though Jordan break forth upon his
mouth." This version, it must be allowed, agrees per
fectly tvith what natural historians say of the hippo
potamos, that he walks deliberately into the deepest
floods, and pursues his journey with the same fearless
composure as in the open air, along the bottom of the
torrent, or the channel of the sea. He remains a long
time under water. Dampier has seen him descend to
the bottom of three fathoms water, and remain there
more than half an hour, before he returned to the
surface. The inspired Avriter thus concludes his description :
"he taketh it with his eyes ; his nose pierceth through
snares." Bochart renders the words, Who shall take
him in his sight, and perforate his nose with hooks ?
that is, Who shall come before him, and attack him
with open violence ? It is found extremely difficult to
subdue him in fair combat ; and therefore the Egyp
tians have recourse to stratagem. They watch near
the banks of the, Nile, till he leave the river to feed in
the adjacent fields : they then make a large ditch in
the way by which he passed, and cover it with thin
planks, earth, and herbage. Passing without suspicion
on his return to the flood, over the deceitful covering,
he falls into the ditch, and is immediately dispatched
by the hunters, who rush from their ambush, and pour
their shot into his head. From this review, the fair
and necessary conclusion seems to be, that behemoth is
not the elephant, but the hippopotamos of the Nile.

380 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Leviathan.
The term leviathan is properly the same as thannin,
which in our Scriptures is translated dragon. The
royal Psalmist uses them as convertible terms, in the
seventy-fourth Psalm, where he celebrates the mighty
power of God in these lofty strains : " Thou brakest
the heads of the dragons (thannin) in the waters ; thou
brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest
him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilder
ness."* He has been follotved by the prophet in a
passage where he foretels the deliverance of the church,
from her cruel and implacable enemies : " In that day,
the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword,
shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even
leviathan, that crooked serpent ; and he shall slay the
dragon that is in the sea."f Kiinchi distinguishes
leviathan and thannin by their magnitude alone : Le
viathan, says he, is that enormous serpent or dragon.
Hence, leA'iathan is a sinuous animal, which coils itself
up like a dragon; and is described by the prophet, as
the oblique, tortuous, or crooked serpent. But, as the
word thannin is often used to denote the Avhale, and
other marine animals ; so, the term leviathan is in
Scripture sometimes employed to denote the same crea
tures. An example of this use of the term occurs in
David's description of the sea : " There go the ships,
there is that leviathan whom thou hast made to play
therein " It is not hoAvever certain, that the term is
ever used in this general sense : for it will be sheAvn,
that the creature to which it properly belongs, often
infests the sea near the mouth of the great rivers of
Africa and the east. Every part of the sublime des
cription, which Jehovah -has given of leviathan in the
book of Job, exactly corresponds with the natural his
tory of the crocodile, which lives equally in the sea and
in the river. That terrible animal bears a striking re
semblance to the dragon or serpent. He has the shape
of our asp ; and his feet are so short, that, like the
serpent, he seems to go upon his belly. Let us now
* Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14. J isa. xxvii. 1.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 381
hear Jehovah himself describe the leviathan, and Ave
shall find that it exactly corresponds with the character
and habits of the crocodile : " Canst thou draw out
leviathan with an hook; or his tongue with a cord
which thou lettest down ?" He is of too great magni
tude to be dratvn out of the water like a fish. The
second clause manifestly refers to the impossibility of
drawing out his tongue, on account of its adhering
throughout to his under jaw. It is besides short, thin,
and broad, and by consequence, cannot be drawn out
to his lips, like the tongue of any other animal.
" Canst thou put a hook into bis nose ? or bore his
jaw through Avith a thorn ? or Avilt thou put a head stall
of bulrushes upon his head, and pierce his jaw Avith a
hook ?" He is too powerful and fierce to be treated
like a small fish : the elephant may submit to such in
dignities, but the crocodile scorns the dominion of man.
" Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will
he speak soft words unto thee ?" An elegant proso-
popa?ja, which expresses, with great force and beauty,
the difficulty with which he is overcome.
" Will he make a covenant with thee ? Wilt thou
take him for a servant for ever ?" as the vanquished are
wont to redeem their life with the loss of their liberty.
This question seems to intimate, that attempts have
been made to tame the crocodile, but they have uni
formly proved abortive. If this allusion is inA'olved in
the words, it is a certain proof that the whale is not
intended ; for, while attempts have actually been made
to tame the crocodile, none have ever been made to
domesticate the whale.
" Wilt thou play Avith him as with a bird? or wilt
thou bind him for thy maidens?" It cannot be: he is
a truculent animal, and particularly hostile to children
of both sexes ; that, by approaching the banks of the
Nile without sufficient circumspection, fall a prey to
this vigilant devourer. He will even rush upon a full
grown person, and drag him in a moment to the bottom
of the stream. Maximus Tyrius mentions an Egyp
tian woman, who brought up a young crocodile of the
same age with her son, and permitted them to live

382 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
together in the most familiar manner. The crocodile
was gentle and harmless during his early youth, but
his natural disposition gradually unfolded as he ad
vanced to maturity, till at last he seized upon his un
suspecting associate, and devoured him. Ancient authors
record many instances of crocodiles entering the houses
of the inhabitants near the Nile, and destroying their
children. These are sufficient to justify the interroga
tion of the Almighty, and to shew, that the terrible
animal in question never can be completely tamed, nor
safely trusted.
"Shall thy companions make a banquet of him?
Shall they part him among the merchauts r" If levia
than be. the whale, both the one and the other are done
every year : in some parts of the Avorld, every day.
The inhabitants of some regions, feast upon the blubber
of the Avhale, and lay up the remainder for winter
provisions. Cetaceous fishes, are sought by " the
merchants" at great expeuce, and constitute no incon
siderable portion of their wealth. But the fishermen
neither rejoice Avhen the crocodile is taken, except for
the death of a devouring monster, nor feast upon his
flesh ; they do not cut up his carcase, nor expose him
to sale, with the view of increasing their riches.
" Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, or his
head Avith fish spears?" If leviathan, in this sublime
expostulation, signified the whale, the answer might
be given in the affirmative ; for that prodigious crea
ture has been often compelled to yield to the harpoon ;
his skin has been filled Avith barbed irons, and his head
Avith fish spears : nor is the capture of the whale at
tended Avith much difficulty. But the crocodile is said
to defy the arm of the harpooner, and the point of his
spear; and in attacking him, the assailant has to en
counter both difficulty and danger.
" Lay thy hand upon him, remember the battle, do
no more." So great a horror shall seize thee, that thou
shalt think rather of flight than combat, and the very
touch of his skin shall conA'ince thee, that it will not
yield to thy stroke.
" Behold, the hope of him is in vain ; shall not one

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 3S3
be cast down, even at the sight of him?" If leviathan
cannot be taken by these means, the hope of subduing
him is utterly A'ain ; none may expect to prevail against
him ; his very presence fills the stoutest heart with
terror. It cannot however be denied, that the crocodile
is often taken and destroyed ; but the remark equally
applies to the whale; and consequently, if the words
of Jehovah describe a creature which is too powerful
and too fierce to be vanquished, neither the one nor
the other can be understood. But it tvere absurd to
suppose, that any creature on the earth, or in the sea,
is either invulnerable or unconquerable. The sacred
writer says expressly, that every creature may be
tamed by the industry of man. The language of Jeho
vah, therefore, only means, that the man who attacks
the leviathan, must not hope for an easy conquest ; and
the experience of all ages, attests the truth of the asser
tion. In size, he is very inferior to the whale ; yet, he
sometimes extends to the length of thirty feet ; and if
some ancient writers of considerable name, are to be be
lieved, to forty or fifty. His strength is so great, that
with one stroke of his tail, he is said to cast the strong
est animals to the ground ; so that, to hunt the croco
dile, has always been rekoned one of the boldest and
most perilous undertakings. In the time of Diodorus,
the Nile and his adjacent lakes, swarmed with croco
diles : yet, very few were taken, and those not with
hooks, but with iron nets. How difficult an undertak
ing this was, may be inferred from the coin which Au
gustus, the Roman emperor, caused to be struck, when
he had completed the reduction of Egypt, on which,
was exhibited the figure of a crocodile, bound with a
chain to a palm-tree, with this remarkable inscription,
JYemo antea relegavit. These words certainly insinu
ate, that in the experience of the ancients, to chain the
crocodile, was an achievement of the utmost difficulty.
If the crocodiles which inhabit the Nile, are not, as
some modern travellers maintain, so fierce and dange
rous as the ancients represent them, it must be owing
to a number of adventitious circumstances ; for in other
parts of the world, they are as ferocious as ever. It

381 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ought to be remembered, that Jehovah describes the
general character of the species, which are admitted by
Avriters of undoubted credit, to be the most fierce and sa
vage of all animals. Plutarch asserts in express terms,
that no creature is so ferocious ; and in another part of
his works, that it is an animal extremely aA'erse to so
ciety, and the most atrocious of all the monsters which
the rivers, the lake, or the seas produce.
But the identity of leviathan and the crocodile, will
appear still more clearly from a review of the subse
quent verses, in Avhich Jehovah enters into a more par
ticular specification. " None is so fierce that dare stir
him up; who then is able to stand before me?" When
the crocodile is satiated Avith prey, he leaves the deeps
to repose on the banks of the river, or on the shore of
the sea. At such a time, none are so bold as to dis
turb his slumbers, or provoke his vengeance; or, if
any one, disregarding the dictates of prudence, or ea
ger to display his intrepidity, A'entures in such circum
stances to attack him, it is at the imminent hazard of
his life, and is for the most part attended with fatal
consequences. " Who then," saith Jehovah, " is able
to stand before me ? Who hath prevented me, that
I shall repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole.
heaven is mine?" These clauses, although teeming with
important instruction, and considering the authority
with which they are clothed, entitled to deep attention,
contribute nothing to the object of this review; Ave
therefore proceed to the twelfth A'erse. " I will not con
ceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely propor
tion." These are admirably displayed in the follow
ing particulars : Who can discover the face of his gar
ment, or come to him with a double bridle? The croco
dile neA'er casts his skin, like the greater part of ser
pents, which he so nearly resembles, but retains it to the
end of his life. The horse is a most powerful and spi
rited animal, yet, he suffers a bit to be put into his
mouth, and submits to the control of man ; but the cro
codile spurns his dominion, and parts Avith his freedom
only with his life. Some interpreters propose a dif
ferent version, which is equally characteristic of the

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 385
crocodile : Who shall venture within the reach of his
jaws, which, when extended, have the appearance of a
double bridle?
" Who can open the doors of his face ? his teeth are
terrible round about." The doors of his face are his
immense jaws, which he opens with a great and horri
ble hiatus. This feature of the crocodile has been men
tioned by all naturalists. Peter Martyr saw one, whose
mouth was seven feet in width. Tatius asserts, that in
seizing the prey, he becomes all mouth : and Albert,
that the opening of his mouth extends as far back as
his ears. Leo Africanus and Scaliger affirm, that he
can receive within his mouth, a young heifer. The
vast capacity of his jaws, is attested also by Martial
in the following lines :
" Cum comparata rictibus tuis ora
Nileacus habeas crocodilus angusta."
i( His teeth are terrible round about :" or, in every re
spect, calculated to inspire the beholder with terror.
They are sixty in number, and larger than the propor
tion of his body seems to require. Some of them pro
ject from his mouth like the tusks ofa boar; others are
serrated and connected like the teeth of a comb ; hence,
the bite is very retentive, and not less difficult to cure
than the wound inflicted by the teeth of a mad dog.
All the ancients agree, that his bite is most tenaci
ous and horrible.
" His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a
close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can
come between them ; they are joined one to another ;
they stick together that they cannot be sundered." In
these remarkable words, is described the closeness of
his scales, which, cohering to one another like the
plates of a shield, cover his whole back. Those wri
ters who make leviathan signify the whale, find them
selves involved by this part of the description in an in
extricable difficulty, for the whale has not a scale upon
its body. This single circumstance indeed, ought to de
termine the question : the whale it cannot be, for that
immense animal has a smooth skin ; and the history of
Nature furnishes no other to whiGh the description of
Vol. L D d 2

386 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Jehovah will apply, but the crocodile. One writer en
deavours to get quit of the difficulty, by supposing that
the text includes a comparison, and paraphrases it in
this manner : leviathan is as safe from the assault of
men, as if his body were defended with the strongest
and broadest scales. But this mode of interpretation
cannot be too severely reprobated ; because, it makes
the sacred text say any thing which may suit the taste
or the purpose of a writer. The words of Jehovah are
express ; the back of leviathan is covered with nume
rous, strong, and closely connected scales, under the
protection of Avhich, he fears no assailant, he shrinks
from no danger. Nor is it consistent with truth, that a
whale Avhich has no scales, is as strongly defended
against the point of a spear, as if he were covered with
this natural shield ; for if his prodigious frame Avere
defended by the broadest, the strongest, and the closest
scales, the capture, if at all practicable, Avould be as ar
duous and difficult, as it is now easy. Abandoning
this feeble and inadmissible argument, Caryl and
others contend, that some cetaceous fishes are covered
with scales, quoting in support of their assertion, a pas
sage from Arrian, that he had heard Nearchus say,
that the latter had heard certain mariners say, that
they had seen cast up upon the sea shore, a monstrous
fish of fifty cubits long, which had scales all over, of a
cubit thick. On this ridiculous story, it is needless to
make any remark ; to state is to refute : or, if refuta
tion be deemed necessary, it is sufficient to say, that al
though hundreds of cetaceous fishes are caught every
year, both in the north and in the south sea, not so
much as one has been found sheathed in scales, since
the days of Nearchus.
" By his neezings a light doth shine ; and his eyes
are like the eyelids of the morning." It seems to be
generally admitted, that the crocodile turns his face to
the sun when he goes to sleep on the banks of the river ;
and in this position becomes so heated, that the breath,
driven forcibly through his nostrils, issues with so much
impetuosity, that it resembles a stream of light. A
similar expression is used concerning the Avar horse,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 387
in the thirty-ninth chapter, which may give us a clearer
idea of the brightness which issues from the nostrils of
this animal : " The glory of his nostrils is terrible."
Provoked by the sound of the trumpet, and the sight of
armed men, a white fume streams from his expanded
nostrils ; which the Spirit of inspiration calls his glory,
and common authors compare to fire. Thus, Silius
Italicus, Frenoque teneri impatiens crebras expirat
naribus ignes ; and Claudian, Ignescunt patulae nares.
In the same manner are we to understand the words of
Jehovah concerning the crocodile. The heat of that
scaly monster, basking in the scorching beams of a
vertical sun, together with the force with which the
breath is emitted from the nostrils, produces the same
luminous appearance round his nose, as plays round
that of the high mettled charger on the day of battle.
The next clause possesses very great poetical beauty :
" His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning :" like
the1 brightening dawn of day. The learned Bochart,
mentions a curious coincidence between this striking
figure, and the sentiments of the Egyptians. Among
that people, the eyes of the crocodile is the hieroglyphic
for the dawn ; because they first arrest the attention, as
the terrible animal approaches the surface of the deep ;
or, because they are dim, and command a very limited
field of vision under the water, but recover their bril
liancy and acuteness as soon as he returns to the open
air. Such is the appearance of the solar orb at his
rising ; he seems to emerge from the waves of the sea
with a dim and faded lustre, but which increases every
moment as he advances towards the meridian. But
how it can be asserted of the whale, that his eyes are
like the eyelids of the morning, it is not easy to con
jecture. His eyes, which are not much larger than
those of an ox, are buried beneath a ponderous eyelid,
and imbedded in fat. Hence, blinder than a mole, he
wanders almost at random in the mighty waters, equally
unable to avoid being left by the retreating surge upon
the strand, or dashed upon the pointed rocks.
" Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of
fire leap out : out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of

388 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
a seething pot or cauldron. His breath kindleth coals,
and a flame goeth out of his mouth." Tatius gives a
similar account of the hippopotamos : His nostrils are
very broad, and emit an ignited smoke as from a furnace
of fire. The very same remark is made by Eustathius :
He has a broad nose, expiring an ignited smoke as out
of a furnace. These two animals live in the same
element, and have the same mode of respiration. The
longer they continue under water without breathing,
they respire the more quickly when they begin to
emerge. As the torrent rushes along with greater im
petuosity, when the obstacle which opposed its pro
gress is removed ; so their breath long repressed,
effervesces and breaks out with so much violence, that
they seem to vomit flame from their mouth and nostrils.
The whale, it must be admitted, being of much larger
size than the crocodile, breathes with a proportionate
vehemence ; it does not, however, vomit fire, but spouts
water to an immense height in the air. The language
of the inspired writer is highly figurative and hyper
bolical, painting in the most vivid colours, the heat and
force with which the breath of the crocodile rushes from
his expanded nostrils.
" In bis neck remains strength, and sorrow is turned
into joy before him." The whale has no neck, and by
consequence, cannot be the leviathan : like other fishes
his head is joined to his shoulders ; while the crocodile
is formed like a serpent, with a neck and shoulders,
which enables him to move, to raise, or turn back his
head when he seizes his prey. " Sorrow is turned into
joy before him;" what afflicts, alarms, or depresses
other animals, animates his courage and activity. Or
the words may be rendered, Sorrow dances before
him ; which may denote, that he spreads terror and
destruction wherever be comes ; for he immediately
rushes upon those that happen to meet his eye, and
although they may be so fortunate as to escape, still
they reckon it an ill omen to have fallen in the way of
that fierce and savage destroyer. Thus terror marches
before him, as a herald before his sovereign, to proclaim
his approach, and prepare his way.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 389
"The flakes of his flesh are joined together; they
are firm in themselves, they cannot be moved." As
the scales of leviathan present a coat of mail nearly im
penetrable to the attacks of his enemies ; so, his flesh,
or as it is rendered by some, the prominent parts of his
body, are like molten brass, the particles of which ad
here so closely, that they cannot be separated. The
very reverse of what Job affirmed of himself, may be
asserted of the crocodile ; his strength is the strength of
stones, and his flesh is formed of brass ; the very re
fuse, the vilest parts of his flesh (for so the word
signifies,)* are firm, and strong, and joined ; or as the
Septuagint translates it, glued together, that they can
not be moved. But if the refuse of his flesh be so firm
and hard, how great must be the strength which be
longs to the nobler parts of his frame ? This question is
answered in the next verse : " His heart is as firm as a
stone ; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether milstone."
In all creatures, the heart is extremely firm and com
pact ; in the leviathan it is firm as a stone ; and to give
us the highest idea of its hardness, Jehovah compares
it to the nether milstone, which, having the principal
part of the work to perform, is required to be peculiarly
hard and solid. Some writers imagine, that the Al
mighty refers not so much to the natural hardness of the
heart, as to the cruel temper of the animal, or to his
fearless intrepidity ; he feels no pity, he fears no danger,
he is insensible to external impressions as the hardest
stone. " When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid;
by reason of breakings they purify themselves." They
feel a secret horror shoot through the whole soul ; they
become as it were incapable of reflection, and know not
whither to turn, when they see the monster emerging
from the deep, thirsting for blood, and displaying the
terrors of his expanding jaws. The stoutest heart is
humbled, and, like the mariners in the ship with Jonah,
when they despaired of life, they cry every one to his
God, and promise to break off their sins by righter
ousness. * Amos viii. 8.

390 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
"The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold ;
the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. He esteemeth
iron as straw, and brass as rotten Avood. The arrow
cannot make him flee : sling stones are turned with him
into stubble. Darts are counted as stubble; helaugheth
at the shaking of a spear." In this glowing descrip
tion, it is plainly the design of the Almigh-iy to shew,
that the skin of the crocodile is impenetrable to these
offensive weapons ; or else, that regardless of danger,
he scorns the wounds they inflict, and Avith fearless im
petuosity seizes on his prey. This entirely accords
with the accounts which natural historians give of that
animal. Peter Martyr asserts, that his skin is so hard,
it cannot be pierced Avith arrows ; and according to
other Avriters, he can be wounded only in the belly.
But it is well known, that the whale is vulnerable in
every part, and is commonly struck Avith the harpoon
on the back, Avhere the crocodile is defended by an im
penetrable buckler of large, extremely hard, and closely
compacted scales. On this armour of proof, the edge
of the sword is blunted, and its point is broken ; the
spear falls harmless to the ground, and the dart re
bounds from his impenetrable covering. But the haber
geon, the coat of mail Avhich the combatant puts on for
his own defence, shall not save him from the devour
ing jaAvs of the monster ; for he esteemeth iron as straw,
and brass as rotten wood, which yield to the slightest
touch, and crumble into dust before the smallest force.
A shoAver of arrows makes no impression upon him ;
and the Woav of a stone, slung by the most powerful
hand, is no more to him than the stroke of a feather, or
bit of stubble. Nor do the more dangerous weapons
which the Avarrior hurls from his military engines, de
press his courage, or interrupt his assault; for he laughs
at the shaking of a spear, he regards it not, when in
token of defiance, it is brandished before him.
What is extremely incommodious, or even painful to
other creatures, occasions no uneasiness to him. Crimi
nals were punished among the ancients, by being com
pelled to lie on sharp stones ; but so insensible is he to
pain, that he can stretch his enormous bulk upon them

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 391
without inconAenience : " Sharp stones are under him ;
he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire." Such
a place of repose is his choice, not his punishment. Or
the words may refer to the scales of leviathan, which
are hard and sharp as a potsherd ; and to his skin,
Avhich resembles a board set with sharp stones, or iron
spikes. So rough is the skin of the crocodile, so hard
are, his scales, and so high and pointed the protuberan
ces Avhich rise on his back, that a more apt similitude
could not be chosen than the tribula, or sharp threshing
instrument Avith iron teeth, to represent, in the liveliest
manner, the appearance of this terrible animal, as he
lies reposing in the mud of the Nile.
Having described his general appearance, in which
Ave have discovered almost every circumstance fitted to
strike the mind with terror, and the impression which
his emerging from the deep, and approaching the land,
produce in the mind of a beholder, the inspired writer
goes on to state the astonishing effects of his return to
the Avater : " He makes the deep to boil like a, pot; he
makes the sea like a pot of ointment." The first clause
exhibits the natural effect of a large body plunging sud
denly into deep water ; the second brings into A"iew ano
ther circumstance, Avhich beautifully expresses the A'io-
lent agitation of the gulf into Avhich the leviathan pre
cipitates himself; " He maketh the sea boil like a pot
of ointment." The sudden and violent displacing of the
Avaters, makes the sea resemble a large cauldron furious
ly boiliug over a strong fire; or the ascending Avater,
being mixed with sand and mud from the bottom, exci
ted by the violent agitation, resembles in colour, and in
the smoothness of its swell, a pot of ointment ; than
Avhich, more striking figures can scarcely be presented
to the mind. It is the opinion of many of the ancients,
that the crocodile exhales from his body an odour like
musk, with which he perfumes the pool Avhere he gam
bols ; and they assign this as the reason that the turbu
lence of the gulf which receives him, is compared to
the boiling of a pot of ointment. But admitting what
so many Avriters have asserted, that the crocodile dif
fuses a fragrant odour around him resembling musk, it

398 Illustrations of scripture.
can hardly be supposed, that the quantity exhaled, can
be so great as to warrant such a comparison. The in
spired writer seems to allude, not to the ointment or its
fragrance, but to the boiling of the pot in which the spi
ces are decocting, an operation which probably required
a very brisk ebullition.
Those who maintain that leviathan is the whale, de
mand how the crocodile, Avhich inhabits the river, can
make the sea boil ? But the answer is easy ; the word
sea, both in Hebrew and English, is often used in a re
stricted sense, for any large expanse of water. The
Jewish and Arabian writers, agreeably to this sense, fre
quently speak of the Nile, and its adjacent lakes, as a
sea, and Avith great propriety, for the river itself is broad
and deep, and at a certain season of the year, it over
flows its banks, and covers the whole surface of lower
Egypt. The lakes which have been formed by the in
undations, are of considerable depth and extent, and
swarm with crocodiles ; these may be called seas with
as much propriety as the sacred writers of the New
Testament call the lake of Sodom the Salt sea, and the
lake of Tiberias the sea of Galilee. The royal Psalmist,
it must be admitted, mentions the sea, in the proper sense
of the term, as the haunt of leviathan : " So is this
great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innu
merable ; both small and great beasts. There go the
ships : there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to
play therein."* But as the. sea is in that passage op
posed to the earth, it may comprehend the whole body
of waters which surround and intersect the dry land,
and by consequence, the proper habitation of the croco
dile. This solution, however, is by no means necessa
ry to establish the claims of this animal to the Scripture
title of leviathan, for it has been fully ascertained, by
modern travellers, that he actually frequents the sea,
although he generally prefers those rivers which are
subject to annual inundations. Crocodiles, or alligators,
are very common on the coast and in the deep rivers of
Jamaica, though they prefer the banks of such rivers
as, in consequence of frequent or periodical overflow-
* Ps. civ, 24, 25,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 393
ing, are covered with mud, in which they find abun
dance of testaceous fish, worms, and frogs, for food.*
In South America, they chiefly frequent marshy lakes,
and drowned savannahs ;f but in North America, they
infest both the salt parts of the rivers near the sea, the
fresh currents above the reach of the tide, and the lakes
both of salt and fresh water.J The slimy banks of
these rivers within the range of the tide, are covered by
thick forests of the mangrove tree, in the intangled
thickets of which, the crocodiles conceal themselves
and lie in wait for their prey. According to Pinto, they
abound on the coast of New Guinea; and Dampier
found several on the shores of Timor, an island in the
South Sea. The hippopotamos is a powerful adversary
to the crocodile, and so much the more dangerous,
that it is able to pursue him to the very bottom of the
sea. They are so numerous in the bay of Vincent Pin-
con, and the lakes which communicate Avith it, as to ob
struct, by their numbers, the piraguas and canoes which
navigate those waters*^ When De la Borde was sail
ing along the eastern shore of South America in a ca
noe, and wishing to enter a small river, he found its
mouth occupied by about a dozen large crocodiles.
These testimonies prove, beyond a doubt, that the cro
codile frequents the mouths of rivers and the bays of the
sea, as well as the fresh water stream and lake ; and
by consequence, the Psalmist might, in perfect agree
ment with the habits of that animal, represent him as
playing in the great and wide sea, while the ships pur
sue their way to the desired haven.
" He makes a path to shine after him, one would
think the deep to be hoary." He swims with so much
force and violence near the surface of the Avater, that
his path may be easily traced by the deep furrow which
he leaves behind him, and the whitening foam he ex
cites. The same appearances attend the motion of the
dolphin :

¦ " qua cana parumper

Spumant signafugae et liquidos perit orbita ponto." Statins.
But the long withdrawing furrow, and the hoary
* Buffon. Nat, Hist. \ De la Borde + Catesby. § Buffon.
Vol. I. E e 2

394 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
foam, are not confined to the sea ; they are likeAvise to
be seen in the river and in the lake; and by conse
quence, may characterize, Avith sufficient propriety, the
motion of the crocodile in the Nile and its adjacent lakes.
" Upon earth, there is not his like ; he is made with
out fear." This clause Bochart renders, There is not
his like upon the dust (which is certainly the true mean
ing of the phrase, Alaphar;) because the crocodile
is rather to be classed among reptiles than quadrupeds.
His feet are so short, that he rather seems to creep
than walk, so that he may, tvith great propriety, be
reckoned among " the creeping things of the earth."
But he differs from reptiles in this, that while they are
in danger of being trampled upon, and bruised by the
foot of the passenger, he is liable to no such accident.
It cannot be said, in strictness of speech, that he is
made without fear, for he is known to fly from the bold
and resolute attack of an enemy ; but the expression
may be understood hyperbolically, as denoting a very
high degree of intrepidity. The words of the inspired
writer, however, are cjpable of another version, which
at once removes the difficulty, and corresponds with the
real character of the animal: He is so made, that he
cannot be bruised ; he cannot be crushed like a ser
pent, or trampled under the feet of his pursuer.
" He beholds all high things ;" or, as it may be
translated, he despiseth all that is high; " he is a king
over all the children of pride." No creature is so
large, so strong, so courageous, if we can believe the
oriental writers, but he regards it with indifference or
contempt. Men, women, and particularly children,
who incautiously approach his haunts, become a prey
to his devouring maAV. The camel, the horse, the ox,
and other portly quadrupeds which fall in bis way, he
fiercely attacks, and forthwith devours. He, will even
venture to attack, and not always Avithout success, the
elephant and the tiger, when they come to drink in the
stream. His first attempt is to strike them down to the
ground, or break their legs with bis tail, in Avhich he ge
nerally succeeds : he then drags them to the bottom of
the river ; or if they are animals of a moderate size, he

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 395
swalloAvs them up entire, without taking the trouble of
putting them to death.* From this description it ap
pears, that no animal is more terrible than the croco
dile ; no creature in form, in temper, in strength, and
in habits, so nearly resembles leviathan, as described
by Jehovah himself, in the book of Job, and conse
quently none has equally powerful claims to the name.
This conclusion is greatly strengthened by several al
lusions to the leviathan in other parts of Scripture. In
the prophecies of Isaiah, he is called " the piercing
serpent" or dragon ;f and that the prophet under that
symbol refers to the king of Egypt, appears from these
words : " And it shall come to pass on that day,
that the Lord shall beat oif from the channel of
the river into the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be ga
thered one by one." The prophet Ezekiel gives to
Pharaoh, the name of the great dragon, or leviathan :
" Speak and say, thus saith the Lord God : Behold I
am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dra
gon that lieth in the midst of his rivers : Avhich has
said, my river is mine own, and I have made it for my
self.":]: But it Avould certainly be very preposterous to
give the name of the elephant to the king of Egypt,
which is neither a native of that country, nor ever
knoAvn to visit the banks of the Nile. In allusion to
the destruction of Pharaoh, and his army in the Red
sea, thePsalmist sings : " Thou didst divide the sea by
thy strength ; thou brakest the heads of the dragons in
the water ; thou breakest the heads of leviathan in
pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inha
biting the wilderness."^ But why should Pharaoh and
his people be compared so frequently, and with so
much emphasis, to the great dragon or leviathan, but
because some remarkable, some terrible creature infests
their valley, to which that name properly applies ? But
no formidable beast of prey, except the crocodile, dis
tinguishes Egypt from the surrounding regions ; and
since this creature is universally allowed to be extreme
ly strong, cruel, and destructive, Ave must conclude it is
no other than the leviathan of the inspired writers.
* Bochart. f Is, xxvii, I. ± Ezek. xxix. 3, % Ps. Ixxiv, 13, 14.

396 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
CHAP. V.
DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
VWVWVWVW
The Camel.
THE name by which this interesting animal has
been distinguished among the oriental nations, is de
rived from the HebreAV verb C">j) gamal, to recompense,.
because there is none that remembers an injury longer,
nor seizes with greater keenness the proper opportunity
of revenge. " A camel's anger" is, among the Ara
bians, a proverb for an irreconcileable enmity. This
disposition is the more remarkable, that, unless when
provoked by harsh treatment, it is eminently gentle and
docile. It is indeed one of the most valuable blessings
which the bountiful Creator has bestowed on the ori
ental nations. * It constituted, as we learn from the
Scriptures, an important branch of patriarchal wealth.
Camels Avere in ancient times, very numerous in Judea,
and over all the east. The Patriarch Job had at first
three thousand, aud after the days of his adversity had
passed away, six thousand camels. The Arabians es
timated their riches and possessions by the number of
their camels : and speaking of the wealth and splendor
of a noble or prince, they observed, he had so many
pieces of gold. The Midianites and the Amalekites
had camels without number, as the sand upon the sea
shore ; many of Avhich were adorned with chains of
gold, and other rich and splendid ornaments.* So
great was the importance attached to the propagation
and management of camels, that a particular officer was
appointed in the reign of David, to superintend their
keepers. Nor is it without a special design, that the
inspired writer mentions the descent of the person ap
pointed; he was an lshmaelite, and therefore supposed
* Jud. vii. 18.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 397
to be thoroughly skilled in the treatment of that useful
quadruped. Nor was the care bestowed on the rear
ing of camels, either misplaced or extravagant; no beast
of burden is equal to that animal in size, in strength,
in agility ; and in docility, patience, and temperance,
he is surpassed by none. Like the ass, he is pleased
Avith the coarsest food, and a very little even of that sa
tisfies his moderate appetite. The labour and fatigue
which he is capable of enduring on the poorest and
scantiest means of subsistence, almost exceeds belief.
He Avill travel four or five days without Avater; Avhilst
half a gallou of beans and barley, or else a few balls
made of the flour, will sustain him for a Avhole day.
Before drinking, he disturbs the Avater Avith his feet ;
first of all he thrusts his head a great Avay above his
nostrils into the water, and then, after the manner of
pigeons, makes several successive draughts. f
" Nature has furnished the camel with parts and qua
lities adapted to the office he is employed to discharge.
The driest thistle and the barest thorn, is all the food
this useful quadruded requires ; and even these, to save
time, he eats Avhile advancing on his journey, without
stopping, or occasioning a moment of delay. As it is
his lot to cross immense deserts, where no water is
found, and countries not even moistened with the deAv
of heaven, he is endued with the poAver, at one Avater-
ing place, to lay in a store, Avith which he supplies
himself for thirty days to come. To contaiu this enor
mous quantity of fluid, Nature has formed large cisterns
Avithin him, from which, once filled, he draws at plea
sure the quantity he wants, and pours it into his sto
mach with the same effect as if he then drew it from a
spring; and with this he travels patiently and vigo
rously, all day long ; carrying a prodigious load upon
him, through countries infected with poisonous winds,
and glowing Avith parching and never- cooling sands."f
In travelling over the deserts of Arabia' the camel
will carry a burden of at least seven quintals, or five
hundred pound weight ; and will journey with this load,
sometimes ten, sometimes fifteen hours, at the rate of
• Dr. Shaw's Trav. \ Bruce, vol. 4, p. 596.

398 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
two miles and a half an hour. These extraordinary
qualities have procured for him, the significant charac
ter of the ship of the desert ; and they furnish sufficient
encouragement to the Arabs of all countries, which are
not rocky or mountainous, to keep up and multiply tne
breed. It is sometimes yoked to the chariot, and forced to
contend in the race. The emperor Nero sent to the
Circensian games, chariots drawn by four camels ; and
Heliogabalus is reported to have amused himself in his
private circus, with chariots drawn by the same number.
To this custom, the prophet alludes in his prediction of
the fall of Babylon : " He saAV a chariot of asses, and
a chariot of camels."*
But they were not always compelled to submit their
necks to the yoke, for the mere amusement of their
lordly proprietors ; in time of Avar, they groaned under
the cumbrous baggage of an oriental army, or mingled
in the tumult of battle. Many of the Amalekite war
riors, who burnt Ziklag in the time of David, were
mounted in this manner ; for the sacred historian ob
serves, that of the whole army, not a man escaped the
furious onset of that heroic and exasperated leader,
"save four hundred young men, Avhich rode upon
camels, and fled."j- It appears from Diodorus, that the
Arabians universally employed them in Avar, setting
tAvo warriors upon each, back to back, of whom one
opposed the advancing enemy, the other repelled the
charge of the pursuer. All the Arabians in the army of
Xerxes, were mounted on camels that equalled in speed
the swiftest horses.J The Bactrians also fought on
camels ; and the Parthians, in their Avars with the
Romans, annoyed with unceasing showers of arroAvs,
from their horses and camels, the legions of their rest
less and terrible foe.
Mounted on this mild and persevering animal, the
traveller pursues his journey over the sandy deserts of
the east, with speed and safety. For his convenience,
a sort of round basket is slung on each side with a
cover, which holds all his necessaries, between which,
* l9a. xxi. 7. f 1 Sam. xxx. 17. % Herod. b.7.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 399
he is seated on the back of the animal. Sometimes two
long chairs, like cradles, are hung on each side Avith a
covering, in which he sits, or, stretched at his ease,
resigns himself to sleep, without interrupting his jour
ney. These covered baskets, or chairs, are the camel's
furniture, where Rachel put the images Avhich she stole
from her father.*
That species of camel called the dromedary, is
chiefly remarkable for its prodigious swiftness ; the
Arabs affirming, that it Avill run over as much ground
in one day, as one of their best horses Avill perform in
eight or ten. If this be true, the prophet had reason to
call it the " swift dromedary ;"t and the messengers of
Esther acted wisely, in choosing this animal to carry
their important dispatches to the distant provinces of
that immense empire.^ Dr. Shaw had frequent oppor
tunities, in his travels, of verifying the wonderful ac
counts of the Arabs in relation to the swiftness of this
creature. The sheik who conducted the party to mount
Sinai, rode upon a camel of this kind, and would fre
quently divert them Avith a display of its abilities ; he
Avould depart from their caravan, reconnoitre another
just in view, and return to them again in less than a
quarter of an hour.
The dromedary differs from the common camel, in
being of a finer and rounder shape, and in having upon
its back a smaller protuberance. This species, (for the
former seldom deviating from the beaten road, travels
Avith its head at liberty) is governed by a bridle, which
being usually fastened to a ring fixed in its nostrils, may
very well illustrate the expression which the sacred
writer uses concerning Sennacherib : " I will put my
hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will
turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest.''^
These words refer at once to the absolute control of
heaven, under Avhich he acted, and the swiftness of his
retreat. The camel is not only of great importance in the east,
as a beast of burden, but also as a means of subsistence
* Gen. xxxi. 34. -j- Jer. ii. 23. i Esther viii. 10.
§ 2 Kings xix. 28,

400 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
in the inhospitable desert; their flesh and their milk
supply the traveller with food, and their hair is woven
into stuffs for his clothing. This hair is not shorn from
the camel, like avoo! from sheep, but plucked off about
the time it is naturally shed by the animal. The der-
vises, an austere religious order among the Turks, Avear
garments made of camels' hair, Avhich they tuck up
Avith great leathern girdles, and sometimes feed on lo
custs. We are indebted to Chardin for these interest
ing facts, which correspond entirely with the dress and
food of John the Baptist, as described by the evange
list. It is necessary, however, to remark, that his
raiment was not fabricated of the fine hair of that
animal, which iElian says may be compared to wool for
softness ; but of the long and shaggy hair which, in the
east, is manufactured into a coarse stuff anciently worn
by monks and anchorites.
In that sublime prediction, Avhere the prophet foretels
the great increase and flourishing state of Messiah's
kingdom, by the conversion and accession of the Gentile
nations, he compares the happy aud glorious concourse
to a vast assemblage of camels : " The multitude of
camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and
Ephah :" and that people, and not irrational animals
are intended, is evident from these Avoids :h " All they
h This may be considered as one among the few instances in
which our author has mistaken the meaning of a passage. The
prophet was predicting a great influx of people and of wealth. Why
should he not mention the beasts on which they rode and carried
their most precious articles ? The ships of Tarshish ares pokenof in
the same connexion ; and we may as well convert them into people
as the camels and dromedaries. The interpretation which refers the
prophecy to the Magi, would find, perhaps, a better refutation in a
sober view of the scope of the passage than in the objection which
the author presents Arabia, and especially Arabia Felix, and
consequently many of the countries mentioned by Isaiah lay easterly
from Judea. The Hebrews denominated all the people who inha
bited between Egypt and the Euphrates, orientals, and their coun
try the east. See Gen. xxv. 6. 18. Job 1. 3. Jer. xlix. 28. And
what renders it highly probable that the Magi came not from Per
sia, is, that a writer who lived in Palestine, Justin Martyr (in his
dialogue, with Trypho the Jew,) in giving the history of our Sa
viour's early life, says : 1> nti Ap«&«5 funyn ii%vi avrti, the magi.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 401
from Sheba shall come ; they shall bring gold and in
cense ; and they shall shew forth the praises of the
Lord."* In adopting this figure, the prophet might per
haps have his eye on the hieroglyphical writings of the
Egyptians, in which the figure of a camel represented
a man ; and if so, besides its strict conformity to the
genius of Hebrew poetry, we can discern a propriety
in its introduction into this illustrious prediction. Some
interpreters piously refer the prophecy. to Christ him
self; and imagine it began to receive its accomplish
ment Avhen the Magi, proceeding from the very places
mentioned by the prophet, worshipped the new-born
Saviour, " and presented unto him gifts ; gold, and
frankincense, and myrrh." But Midian and the other
places mentioned by the prophet, lay to the south of
Judea ; while the evangelist expressly says, the Magi
came from the east : this, together with their name,
Magi, or wise men, clearly proves that Persia was their
native country, and the place of their abode.
The ungovernable inclination of God's ancient peo
ple, to imitate the idolatrous practices of surrounding
nations, is, with admirable propriety, compared to the
furious desire of the dromedary, when hurried away by
the impetuous call of nature : " How canst thou say, I
am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? See thy
way in the valley, knotv Avhat thou hast done : Thou
art a swift dromedary traversing her Avays."
To this fleet animal, the prophet Isaiah undoubtedly
refers in the close of his prophecy, where he cheers his
people with the prospect of their future restoration,
when the Gentiles shall be converted, and all Israel
shall be saved : " They shall bring all your brethren
for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon
horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules,
and swift beasts^ to my holy mountain." The term
m-u-o Circaroth is very ambiguous, and of uncertain sig-
* Is. Ix. 6

or wise men, from Arabia found him, &c. And he uses a similar
phraseology four or five times in the account which he proceeds to
give. I. C.
Vol. I. F f 2

402 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
nification; our translators have accordingly declined
giving it any definite meaning, rendering it " swift
beasts." Various and contradictory are the interpreta
tions which expositors, both ancient and modern, have
proposed ; but the tenor of the prophet's discourse un
doubtedly indicates the camel or dromedary ; for, Avhen
he says, they shall bring your brethren upon horses,
and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, it re
mains to be added, and upon camels or dromedaries. It
is by no means probable, that in such an enumeration,
the prophet would pass over so useful and so common
an animal. The origin of the word is very obscure ;
Kimchi derives it from (¦""«) Carcar, which signifies to
leap or bound, which is the proper motion of the dro
medary. Other derivations are suggested by different
writers ; but none of these are entitled to any considera
tion. To pass a camel through the eye of a needle, was a
proverbial expression among the nations of high anti
quity, denoting a difficulty which neither the art nor the
power of man can surmount. Our Lord condescends to
employ it in his discourse to the disciples, to shew how
extremely difficult it is for a rich man to forsake all for
the cause of God and truth, and obtain the blessings of
salvation : " I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God."* Many expositors,
however, are of opinion, that the allusion is not to the
animal of that name, but to the cable by which an an
chor is made fast to the ship ; and for camel, they read
camil, from which our word cable is supposed to be de
scended. It is not perhaps easy to determine, which of
these ought to be preferred ; and some interpreters of
considerable note, have accordingly adopted both views.
The more common signification of the term, however,
seems rather to countenance the first view. The Tal-
mudical writers had a similar proverb concerning him
who proposed to accomplish an impossibility, which
they couched in the following terms.: " Thou art per
chance from the city of Pomboditha, Avhere they send
* Mat. xix, 24,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 403
an elephant through the eye of a needle." Another
Hebrew adage, mentioned by the learned Buxtorf, bears
a striking resemblance to this : They neither shew one
a golden palm, nor an elephant which enters through
the eye of a needle. Both these proverbial expressions,
were intended to express either a thing extremely diffi
cult, or altogether impracticable to human power ; but
our Lord, instead of the elephant, took the camel, as
being an animal better known to the Jews.
The striking analogy, however, between a cable, and
a thread which is wont to be passed through the eye of
a needle, Avould incline us to embrace the second view.
By the Hebrew term e»w) gamel, and the Greek word
(¦cajuiixoj) kamelos, the Syrians, the Helenistic Jews, and
the Arabians, all understood a ship's cable : and hence,
the Assyrians and the Arabians contended that the word
must be so interpreted, in the proverb under considera
tion. The Talmudical writers also, have a similar
adage, which is quoted by the learned Buxtorf: The
departure of the soul from the body is difficult, as the
passing of a cable through a small aperture.
The only other allusion to the camel worthy of notice,
occurs in our Lord's cutting reproof to the scribes and
Pharisees : " Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat,
and swallow a camel."* In these words, he charges
them with being extremely scrupulous about very small
matters, while they betrayed a glaring and criminal ne
gligence about things of great importance. But as the
Pharisees could not literally swallow down a camel,
Cajetan supposes a corruption in the text ; and main
tains, that our Lord did not mention a camel, but a lar
ger species of fly, which might actually be swallowed
in drinking. Without admitting this, he contends the
words contain no proper antithesis. But as all the an
cient versions of this text harmonize with the Greek, a
corruption cannot be admitted. Nor is the objection of
any importance ; for, does not our Lord say, " Why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ?" Is
it usual then for a beam to be in the eye ? Our Lord who
* Mat. xxiii. 24.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
/s all things, knew that a camel cannot be swal-
ed ; but on this very account the proverb was pro-
x ; because, while the Pharisees were extremely pre
cise in little things, they readily perpetrated crimes,
which, like the camel, were of enormous magnitude.
The design of our Lord was, not to teach that a camel
could be swalloAved, but that the minutia? of the lave in
which they displayed such scrupulous accuracy, as the
tithing of mint, anise, and cummin, were as much in
ferior to the weightier matters of the law, as a gnat is
inferior to a camel. Similar to this form of speech i*
another, to which a reference has already been made :
" Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own
eye."* The Divine teacher does not mean that a beam
can lie concealed in the eye. ; his design was, to shew
that the Aices which those hypocrites censured in others,
Avith so much severity, were, although very reprehensi
ble, as inferior to- the crimes in Avhich they securely in
dulged, as a small particle of dust is inferior to a beam.
These proverbial expressions were the more apposite,
and the reproof they contained the more galling, that
they are both taken from the sayings of Jewish Rabbis.
In reference to the first, several parallel expressions have
already been quoted : and from Seidelius' collection of
Hebrew sentences, the following parallel to the second,
is quoted by Bochart : " How sayest thou : Cast the
fragment of a mote out of thine eye, while a beam of
wood is in thy own ?" Another Talmudical author pro
fesses his wonder, that any one should suffer himself to
be rebuked, when, if any should say, Cast out the mote
out of thine eyes, it might be retorted, Pluck thou the
beam out of thine own eyes. Such proverbial expressions
were not uncommon among the wiser heathens, of which
that adage of Horace, so near a-kin to the one under
consideration, is an example :
" Qui, ne tuberibus propriis offendat amicum.
Postulat, ignqscat, verrucis illius : sequum est
Peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus." B. 1. Sat. 3. /. 73, fcr>
* Matth. vii. 3.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 405
" He who requires that his friend should not take of
fence at his own great protuberances, should, excuse his
friend's little warts. It is but fair that he Avho entreats
a pardon for his faults, should be ready to grant one in
his turn." Smart.
The Horse.
The horse is an illustrious instance of creating pow
er and goodness. His beautiful shape, his great mus
cular strength, bis high spirit, his remarkable agility,
his extraordinary speed, and above all, his wonderful
docility, Avhich fits him for services equally various and
important, have been the subject of admiration and
praise to the intelligent observers of nature, in every
age. To subdue the native wildness of this noble ani
mal, and render him subservient to the purpose of man
kind, appears to have been one of their earliest cares ;
the success of which, they reckoned, in times of re
mote antiquity, their highest honour. To have tamed
the horse, was the boast of sceptred princes ; and the
highest eulogy which the rapturous bard could bestow
upon his heroes.
EStfug, 'Argjoj vii /Janp^ovoj frvtia/ioHi. Horn. b. 2. I. 11.
The title which Homer in this line bestows on Aga
memnon, the commander in chief of the Grecian armies
before Troy, he ascribes in another passage to Pelops,
another prince of high distinction, calling him the tamer
of horses. Eg/ueia; eP« «vaf Sukii Ui>.o7ri •tty.ifeiiritm. I. 104'.
But He, who gave to Homer all his genius, condescends
to celebrate the extraordinary qualities with which he
has distinguished this animal.
"Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou
clothed his neck with thunder ? Canst thou make him
afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is
terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his
strength : he goeth on to meet the armed men. He
mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted : neither turneth
he back from the sword. The quiver rattieth against
him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swallow-

406 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
eth the ground with fierceness and rage f neither be-
lieveth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith
among the trumpets, Ha, ha ; and he smelleth the battle
afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting."*
With this inimitable picture, let any reader of taste
compare the description which the prince of Latin
poets has given of the same quadruped, and the great
inferiority will instantly appear.
" The colt of generous breed, from the very first,
walks stately in the field, and nimbly moves his pliant
legs : he is the first that dares to lead the way, and
tempt the threatening floods, and trust himself to an
unknown bridge : nor starts affrighted at vain alarms :
lofty is his neck ; his head little and slender, his belly
short, his back plump ; and his proud chest swells lux
uriant with bratvny muscles. — Then, if he hears the
distant sound of arms, he knows not how to stand his
ground, he pricks up his ears, trembles in every joint,
and snorting, rolls the collected fire under his nostrils.
Thick is his mane; and waving rests on his right
shoulder. A double spinal bong runs down between
his loins ; his hoof scoops up the ground, and deep re
sounds with its solid horn. "I
The people of Israel were, by their law, forbidden
to multiply horses ; for which several reasons may be
assigned. The land of Canaan, intersected in almost
every direction by hills aud mountains, was less adapt
ed to the rearing of horses than other parts of Syria;
but the principal reason might be to discourage the art
of war, to which, mankind in all ages have shewn so
strong a propensity, which is so hostile to the interests
of true religion, of which they were the chosen depo
sitaries, and prevent them from relying for the defence
of their country, rather on the strength of their armies,
which in the east chiefly consisted of cavalry, than in
the promised aid of Jehovah. This wise and salutary
command, however, was often disregarded, even by the
more pious kings of David's line, who imitated the
* lob xxxix. 19.
•J- Virgil, 3 Geor 1. 75, &c. The learned reader may see another descrip
tion in Homer, b. 15, 1. 263.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 407
princes around them in the number and excellence of
their horses. Solomon set the first example of trans
gressing that precept, and of departing from the sim
plicity of his fathers : " For Solomon gathered together
chariots and horsemen ; and he had a thousand and
four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen,
whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with
the king at Jerusalem."* Josephus informs us, he
had twenty thousand horses, which surpassed all others
in beauty and swiftness. These were mounted by
young men in the bloom of youth, excelling all their
countrymen in stature and comeliness, with long flow
ing hair, habited in rich dresses of Tyrian purple, their
hair powdered with gold dust, which, by reflecting the
beams of the sun, shed a dazzling splendour around
their heads. It Avas the practice of those in the highest
rank of society, in the time of Josephus, to adorn their
persons in the gorgeous manner he describes ; and the
strong partiality which the historian cherished for his
country, it is eA'ident, induced him to transfer the extra
vagance of his own age, to the time of Solomon. The
same overweening desire to exalt the power, the riches,
and the splendor of his nation, in the most brilliant
epoch of her history, has prevailed upon him to contra
dict the page of inspiration itself, which expressly limits
the number of Solomon's horses to twelve thousand.
The sacred historian informs us, that these horses
were purchased in Egypt, and in all the surrounding
countries,! by the Jewish merchants, where the fame of
so great a king procured them easy access, and liberal
encouragement. It is extremely probable, that Solo
mon's stud was replenished from regions lying at a
very great distance from Jerusalem ; but the sacred
writers particularly celebrate the breeds of Assyria,
Togarmah, and Egypt. The horses of Togarmah were
brought to the fairs of Tyre, and were sufficiently nu
merous and valuable to attract the notice of Ezekiel,
who thus addresses the merchant city : " They of the
house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs, with horses,
and horsemen, and mules." J These, in the opinion of
* 1 Kings x 26, \2 Chron. ix. 28. * Ezek xxvii. 14.

408 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Bochart aud other geographers, were the Cappadociaus,
Avhose country has been from time immemorial, cele
brated for its superior breed of horses. The prophets
of Jehovah frequently advert to the admirable qualities
of the Assyrian charger. The prophet Isaiah, describ
ing the terrible devastation Avhich the land of Judea was
doomed to suffer by the Assyrian armies, Avarns his
people that their horses' hoofs shall be counted like
flint — compact and durable as the flinty rock ; qualities
which, in times when the shoeing of horses was un
known, must have been of very great importance. The
value of a solid hoof, has not escaped the notice of Ho
mer's muse, who celebrates, in many passages of his
immortal poems, the brazen footed horses.
\)% o^to-^/ T/Tuo-xeTO ^atXKOTro^ ' mira. Iliad.
In the admirable instructions which Virgil communi
cates to the Italian husbandmen, a solid hoof is men
tioned as indispensably requisite in a good breed of
horses :
— -" etsolido gravites sonat ungulacornu." 3 Geor. I. 88.
The amazing rapidity of their movements, is expressed
with much beauty and force in the next clause : " Their
wheels shall be like a whirlwind;"* and, with equal
felicity, in these words of Jeremiah : " Behold, he shall
come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirl -
Avind ; his horses are swifter than eagles."t The pro
phet Habakkuk, in describing the same quality, uses a
different figure, but one equally striking : " Their
horses also are sAvifter than the leopards, and are more
fierce than the evening wolves ; and their horsemen
shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come
from far ; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to
eat."J In the sublime language of the prophets, the Assy
rian horses are sAvift as the whirlwind ; a most ex
pressive and beautiful figure, Avith Avhich the loftiest
bards of Greece and Rome have adorned their strains.
Thus Homer sings,
Trjbotruttg fi iviroim enhXoirnfoieiv o^titt. Hymn, in Ven,
• Isa. v. 28. t Jer- »T- a3. i Hab. i. 8.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 409
And Sophocles, in his OEdipus Tyrannus,

'ilea. »u» xtwurtfm ' iirrrar
2 yiv«ja)T(f.« qtiya irofi lUftSf.

" Now is the time in flight to move the foot swifter than
horses who are huried along like a whirlwind."
Virgil has more than once imitated, in the adoption
of this figure, the Greek poets.

" Turn cursibus auras

Provocet : ac per aperta volans ceu liber habenis
-Equora, vix summa vestigia ponat arena "
" Then let him dare the winds in swiftness, and through
the open plains flying, as loosened from the reins,
scarce print his steps on the surface of the sand." Nor
is Habakkuk content with saying they shall fly ; he
adds an important circumstance, which greatly increases
the energy of the figure : " The Assyrian shall fly as
the eagle that hasteth to eat." The eagle, it is univer
sally allowed, soars to a sublimer height, and stretches
a more daring and rapid wing through the voids of
heaven, especially when impelled by hunger, than any
other bird. Homer applies the same figure to Achilles,
his favourite hero, who was swift as the black eagle
hasting to eat.
They are swifter, says the prophet, than the leopards :
and Lucan compares the furious onset of a warrior, to
the rapid spring of the panther.

-" non segnior extulit ilium

Saltus, et in mediis jecit super arma catervas
Quam per summa rapit celerem venabula pardum."
The Assyrian horse was fiercer than the evening wolves ;
more sharp sighted, according to some : rather more
keen and irritable than these ravenous beasts, when,
impelled equally by the voice of instinct and the calls
of hunger, they rush from their dens in the evening to
seek the prey. These horses, however, which the pro
phet so loudly celebrates with the view of exhibiting in
Vol. I. Gg2

410 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
a stronger light the terrors of Jehovah, were not pro
duced in Assyria itself, but in the neighbouring king
doms of Armenia, Media, and Persia, which, being
long subject to the monarchs of Babylon, were com
pelled to recruit bis armies with the choicest of their
youth, and the finest of their horses.
They were conducted to foreign markets in strings ;
a circumstance " favourable to those interpreters, who
would refer the whole passage, 1 Kings x. 28. and 2.
Chron. i. 16 , to horses instead of linen yarn, which
seems rather to break the connection of the verses.
Some are therefore inclined to read ; And Solomon had
horses brought out of Egypt, even strings of horses,
(literally, drawings out, — prolongations:) the king's
merchants received the strings, i. e. of horses, in com
mutation, exchange or barter. And a chariot, or set of
chariot horses, (i. e, four,) came up from Egypt for six
hundred shekels of silver, and a single horse for one
hundred and fifty." — And these he sold again, at a
great profit to the neighbouring kings. As the whole
context seems rather applicable to horses than to linen
yarn ; so, this idea, while it strictly maintains the im
port of the words, preserves the unity oi the passage.*
The Egyptian horses were held in great estimation
in Syria and the neighbouring countries. The breed
seems to have been introduced into Egypt, at a very
remote period ; for, the cavalry of Pharaoh was numer
ous and completely trained to war, when the people of
Israel were delivered from his yoke : " But the Egyp
tians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and over
took them encamping by the sea."f The dreadful
overthrow which Pharaoh received at the Red sea, did
not prevent his successors from again directing their
attention to the rearing of horses for the purposes of
war : for the numerous and splendid studs of Solomon,
were chiefly formed of Egyptian horses ; and in the
fifth year of his son Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt,
invaded Canaan " with twelve hundred chariots, and
threescore thousand horsemen." In times long pos-
* Taylor's Calmet, vol. 3. » Exod. xiv. ?.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 411
terior, the prophet Jeremiah addressed the forces of
Pharaoh Necho, which the king of Babylon routed near
the Euphrates, in these words : Harness the horses ;
and get up. ye horsemen, and stand forth with your
helmets. — Gome up ye horses : and rage ye chariots ;
and let the mighty men come forth." From these
passages, it may be certainly inferred, that the strength
of the Egyptian armies chiefly consisted in cavalry and
chariots of war.
The Egyptian horses appear to have been much
stronger than the Syrian breed, and by consequence,
much more useful in the field. On this account, the
prophet Isaiah tells the people of Israel, that "the
Egyptians were men, and not God, and their horses
were flesh, and uot spirit." The high estimation in
which the Egyptian horses were held, and the eager
ness Avith which the surrounding nations purchased
them at exorbitant prices, might be one reason for
enacting the law, which forbade the chosen people to
multiply horses, that they might not idly waste their
substance, and especially, that they might not return
again into Egypt, the scene of their grievous oppression,
eA'en for the purposes of commerce.
The prophet Isaiah makes an allusion to the horse,
which is apt, from the difference of our manners and
feelings, to leave an unfavourable impression upon
the mind ; it occurs in the sixty-third chapter, and
runs in these terms : " That led them through the
deep, as an horse in the Avilderness, that they should
not stumble. As a beast goeth down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest : so didst thou
lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name."*
If these words be understood, as merely referring to the
unobstructed course of a single horse in the plain, and
the descent of a beast into the valley to repose, — the
allusion, more especially considering the general beauty
and sublimity which characterize <the style of Isaiah,
seems rather flat and mean ; and this is the more sur
prising, when it is considered, that the prophet is here
describing a scene by which the Lord acquired to him*
* Isa. lxiii. 13, 14<

412 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
self a glorious name, and which, by consequence, de
manded no common strength or magnificence of thought.
Nor does it appear for what reason, in order to rest, an
herd should descend into a valley ; for the hills must
be equally pleasing and comfortable places of repose,
as the vales, We shall find it in the manners of the
Arabian, to which the simile refers ; and a very little
attention is necessary to convince a dispassionate in
quirer, that the image is both lively and magnificent.
The original Hebrew term ("«) Sous, in the singular
number, denotes both a single horse, and a body of
cavalry. In the same manner we use the word horse,
to express a single animal of that species, and at other
times, the horsemen of an army. In the book of Exodus,
Sous denotes the horsemen of Pharaoh's army, who
pursued after the tribes of Israel. But if it denote the
horse of an Egyptian army, it may, with equal pro
priety, denote the horse or cavalry of an Arabian tribe.
Now, Arabian horses are remarkable for the surprising
swiftness with which they escape the hottest pursuit of
their enemies. In two hours after an alarm is given,
they strike their tents, and tvith their families, and their
whole property, they plunge into the deepest recesses
of their sandy deserts, which the boldest and most ex
asperated enemy dares not invade. In the time of De
la Roque, the great emir of mount Carmel, had a mare
which he valued at more than five thousand croAvns.
The Arabians, it seems, prefer the female to the male,
because it is more gentle, silent, and able to endure
fatigue, hunger, and thirst ; qualities in which, they
haA'e found from experience, the former excels the latter.
The mare which the emir or prince of Carmel rode,
had carried him three days and three nights together,
without eating or drinking, and by this means effec
tually saved him from the pursuit of his euemies.*
This account entirely removes the apparent mean
ness of the prophetic representation, and imparts a live
liness and dignity to the description. At the moment
when Pharaoh and his army thought the people of
Israel was completely in their power, shut in by the sea
* Harmer's Obs

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 413
and the mountains, that they could not escape, — like
the Arab horsemen, they decamped, and through the
sea marched into the desert, Avhither their enemies were
unable to follow.
If the Arabian horses are not so sure footed as the
mule, Avhith Dr. Shaw affirms, it will account for the
next clause in the same Aerse : " As an horse in the
wilderness, they should not stumble." The departure
of Israel from the land of Egypt was sudden, and their
movements Avere rapid, like those of an Arab, whom
his enemy has surprised in his camp ; yet no misfor
tune bcfel them in their retreat, as at times overtakes
the sAvifest and surest footed horses.
The next verse may be explained by the same cus
tom : " As a beast or herd goeth down into the valley,
so the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest." The
Arab, decamping at the first alarm, marches off with
his flocks and his herds, his wife and children, into
the burning deserts. This he does not from choice,
but for safety ; and by consequence, Iioav proper and
agreeable so ever the hills may be for pasturage, in
times of alarm or danger, the deep sequestered A'alley
must be far more desirable. The custom of the Arabs
in Barbary, stated by Dr. Shaw, finely illustrates this
figure. About the middle of the afternoon, his party
began to look out for the encampment of some Arabian
horde, who, to prevent such numerous parties as his
from living at free charges upon them, take care to pitch
in woods, valleys, or places the least conspicuous. And
he confesses, that if they had not discovered their flocks,
the smoke of their tents, or heard the barking of their
dogs, they l|ad either not found the encampment at all,
or Avith extreme difficulty.
In the same manner, after the people of Israel had
escaped from the hosts of Egypt, they pitched their
tents in the wilderness, undisturbed by their former op
pressors ; or, save once or ttvice, by the roving inhabi
tants of these frightful solitudes.
The Arab who traverses the desert, from the perpet
ual state, of warfare in which he lives, and the rapid
movements he is accordingly compelled to make, i*

414 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
chiefly concerned about the sAviftuess of his horse ; but
the Egyptian, occupying a fixed and quiet habitation,
enervated by luxury, and fond of splendid shows and
processions, adorns his courser Avith magnificent trap
pings, and teaches him to moA'e with a slow and pom
pous step. The horses of Egypt have long been cele
brated for their height, their plumpness, and the state-
liness of their pace. Corpulency is regarded as a lead
ing character of beauty in several regions of Africa, and
perhaps in other eastern countries ; and eA'en a lady to
be counted beautiful, must be fat.* Upon this princi
ple is founded the compliment of Solomon, which may
seem rather coarse to a mere English reader : " 1 have
compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in
Pharaoh's chariots.''^ It is remarkable, that the ele
gant Theocritus in his epithalamium, celebrates the
portly size, and plumpness of Helen, the most celebra
ted beauty of ancient times, and uses exactly the same
image as Solomon, comparing her to the horse in the
chariots of Thessaly.
Many heathen nations consecrated horses to the sun;
because he was imagined to be carried round the hea
vens in a chariot. The idolatrous kings of Judah, im
bued with the same superstition, dedicated the best of
their stud to that luminary ; and in contempt of the true
God, placed them at the principal gate of his temple.
This impious and absurd practice, the great and good
Josiah, abolished, Avhen he reformed the numerous abu
ses which his predecessors had introduced or tolerated
in the religious worship of that fickle and perverse na
tion : " And he took aAvay the horses that the kings of
Judah had given to the sun, at the entering of the house
of the Lor;',, by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the
chamberlain, which Avas in the suburbs, aud burned the
chariots of the sun with fire."f
By those horses cannot well be understood, as the
greater part of modern interpreters maintain, a number
of sculptured figures of gold, silver, or brass, which had
been presented as votive offerings to the heathen deity.
The words of the sacred historian certainly refer to liv-
* Niebulu-'= Trav. f Song i. 9. * 2 Kings xxiii. II.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 415
ing horses ; for he simply states, that Josiah " took
away the horses that the kings of Judah had given, or
dedicated to the sun :" but had the figures of horses
been intended, the clause, to correspond with the com
mon manner of the sacred writers, must have run in
these terms, He took away the horses of gold, of silver,
or of brass ; for in this way, the molten calf of Aaron,
the serpent of Moses, and the lions and oxen of Solo
mon, are distinguished in Scripture from the real ani
mals. Nor had he distinguished in one statue the hor
ses from the chariot ; nor assigned to them a particular
station, between the temple and the house of Nathan-
melech ; because they were parts and appendices of the
same general figure. Besides, the destruction of the
horses was effected by one operation, and the chariots
by another : which shows that they were not metallic
figures : Josiah took away, or (as the verb is rendered
in other parts,) destroyed the horses, but he burned the
chariots in the fire.
These horses Avere given or dedicated to the sun, to be
wffered in sacrifice to that luminary, according to some
writers ; or kept in honour of Baal, or Apollo, as others
imagine. The JeAvish writers allege, that the priests,
of the sun led them forth at the dawn, with great pomp,
into a large area, between the temple and the house of
Nathan-melech, to salute their god, as soon as he ap
peared above the horizon.
The Ass.
Natural historians mention two varieties of this
animal, the domestic and the wild ass ; but it is to the
former our attention at present is to be directed. His
colour is generally a reddish brown ; a circumstance to
which he owes his name in the Hebrew text ; for (iwi)
hamor is derived from a verb which signifies to be red
or dun. This appears to have been the predominating
colour in the oriental regions ; but we learn from the
song of Deborah, that some asses were white ; and on
this account, reserved for persons of high rank in the
state. The term U^O athon is another name for that
creature, from a root which signifies to be firm or strong ;

416 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
because he is equal to a greater load than any animal
of the same size. To this quality Jacob alluded in his
last bendiction : " lssachar is a strong ass, couching
down between two burdens."* Or, it may refer to the
stubborn temper for which he is remarkable, and the
stupid insensibility Avhich enables him to disregard the
severest castigation, till he has accomplished his pur
pose. These qualities are beautifully described by
Homer, in the 11th book of the Iliad ; but the passage
is too long to be quoted.
In* the patriarchal ages, the breed of this animal,
which we regard with so much unmerited contempt,
was greatly encouraged, and constituted no inconsidera
ble portion of wealth among oriental shepherds. It is
on this account the number of asses in the herds of
Abram, and other patriarchs, are so frequently stated
by Moses, in the book of Genesis. So highly were
they valued in those times of primitive simplicity, that
they were formed into separate droves, and committed
to the management of princes, and other persons of dis
tinction. The sacred historian informs us, that Anah,
a Horite prince, did not think it unbecoming his dignity
to feed the asses of Zibeon his father :f and that the
sons of Jacob seized the asses of Shechem and his peo
ple, and drove them away, with the sheep and the
oxen. | During the seven years of famine that wasted
the land of Egypt, and reduced the people to the
greatest distress, Joseph purchased their asses, and
gave them corn to preserve them alive § When the
people of Israel subdued the Midianites, they carried
away "threescore and one thousand asses." In times
long posterior, Saul the son of Kish, was sent in quest
of his father's asses, which had strayed from their
pasture ; and he was engaged in this service, when the
prophet Samuel received a command to anoint him king
over Israel. After DaA'id's accession to the throne, and
the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies, he
appointed Jehdeiah the Meronothite, a prince in Israel,
to superintend this part of his property.
• Gen. xlix. 14. t Gen. xxxvi. 24. ' * Ch. xxxiv. 28.
'jCh.xlvii.17'.

"NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 417
Nor was this animal unworthy of such attention and
care. His humility, patience, and temperance, qualities
in Avhich he greatly excels, eminently fitted him for the
service of man. His great value was soon discovered,
and he was preferred even to the horse, for many do
mestic purposes. The sons of Jacob employed him to
carry burdens of every kind ; and he seems to have
been the only quadruped they took Avith them in their
repeated journies into Egypt, to purchase corn for their
households; and their descendants continued for many
ages to employ him in the same manner. The fruits of
the field, the produce of the vineyard, provisions, and
merchandise of all kinds, were carried on the backs of
asses. He was long used for the saddle in the oriental
regions ; and persons of high rank appeared in public,
mounted on this animal. Those Avhich the great and
wealthy selected for their use, were larger and more
elegant animals than the mean and unshapely creature
with which we are acquainted. Dr. Russel, in his his
tory of Aleppo, mentions a variety of the ass in Syria,
much larger than the common breed ; and other tra
vellers say, that some of them in Persia are kept like
horses for the saddle, which have smooth hair, carry
their heads Avell, and are quicker in their motions than
the ordinary kind, which are dressed like horses, and
taught to amble like them.*
We learn from Niebuhr, that in Egypt the asses are
very handsome, and are used for riding by the greater
part of the Mahometans, and by the most distinguished
women of that country. The same variety serves for
the saddle in Persia and Arabia ; and must therefore
have been common in Palestine, They are descended
from tamed onagers, which are taken young, and sold
for a high price to the nobles of Persia, and the adja
cent countries, for their studs. They cost seventy-five
ducats; and Ta vernier says, that fine ones are sold in
Persia dearer than horses, even to an hundred crowns
each. He distinguishes them properly from the baseif
race of ordinary asses, which are employed in carry-
* Essays on Sacred Zoology, Christ, Mag. vol. 6. Ass.
Vol. 1. H h 2

418 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ing loads. These saddle asses, the issue of onagers,
are highly commended by all travellers into the Levant.
Like the wild onager, they are extremely swift and ra
pid in their course ; of a slender form, and animated
gait. They have vigorous faculties, and can discern
obstacles readily ; at the sight of danger they emit a
kind of cry ; they are obstinate to excess, Avhen beaten
behind, or when they are put out of their way, or Avhen
attempts are made to control them against their will :
they are also familiar and attached to their master.
These particulars exactly correspond with several inci
dents in the history of Balaam's ass ; from whence it
may be inferred, that he rode one of the superior breed,
and by consequence, was a person of considerable Avealth
and eminence in his own country. The high value
which people of rank and fashion in the east set upon
that noble race of asses, excludes them from the pur
chase of the commonalty, and restricts the possession
of them to the great, or the affluent.* This fact is con
firmed by the manner in which the sacred writers ex
press themselves on this subject.
To ride upon an ass was, in the days of the Judges,
a mark of distinction, to whic h it is probable, the vul
gar might not presume to aspire. This is evident from
the brief notices which the inspired historian gives of the
greatness and riches of Jair, the Gileadite, one of these
judges : " he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts;
and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth jair
unto this day."f Abdon the Pirathonite, another of
these judges, " had forty sons and thirty nephews, that
rode on threescore and ten ass colts."± It is reasonable
to suppose, that the manners and customs of the chosen
tribes underwent a change when the government became
monarchical, and the fascinating pleasures of a court
began to exert their usual influence ; still, hoAvever, the
ass kept his place in the service of the great. Mephi-
bosheth, the grandson of Saul, rode on an ass ; as did
Ahitophel, the prime minister of David, and the greatest
statesman of that age. Even so late as the reign of Je-
* Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4. AVild ass, and other asses of the East.
t Jud. x. 3, 4. * Jud. xiv. 13, 14.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 419
horam, the son of Ahab, the services of tlris animal
were required by the wealthy Israelite : the Sbunamite,
a person of high rank, saddled her ass, and rode to
Carmel, the residence of Elisha, to announce the death
of her son to the prophet, and to solicit his assistance.*
But as the number of horses increased in Judea, and
people of rank and fashion became fonder of pomp and
show, the movements of the nobler and statelier animal
were preferred to the rapid, but less dignified, motions
of the ass. This change, it is reasonable to suppose,
began to take place from the accession of Solomon to
the throne of Israel ; for that rich and splendid prince,
collected a very numerous stud of the finest horses that
Egypt and Arabia could furnish. One thing is certain,
that after the Jews returned from their long captivity in
Babylon, the great and fashionable, for the most part,
rode the horse or the mule. The- ass was resigned to
the use of the lower orders ; and it quickly became a
mark of poverty and meanness to appear in public on
that animal. This important change in the sentiments
and customs of the Jews, enables us to understand how
the public entry of our Lord into Jerusalem, riding on
a young ass, could have been foretold by the prophet
Zechariah, as an instance of his meekness and humili
ty : " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy king cometh unto
thee : he is just, and having salvation, lowly, and ri
ding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."t
On that memorable occasion, by returning to the primi
tive simplicity which marked the conduct of their
fathers, he poured contempt on the pride of human glo
ry; he put honour upon the law, which prohibited the
chosen people to multiply horses, lest they should im
bibe the spirit, and engage, in the ruinous enterprises of
warlike nations ; and he displayed at once, the mildness
of his administration, and the unaffected meekness and
lowliness of his character.
The saddle ass, retaining the characteristic perverse-
ness of his kind, is apt to become restive under his ri
der, which, in cases that require haste, renders it ne.-
* 2 Kings iv. 8, 24, t zech> "• 9-

426 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ctessary to accelerate his speed by means of the goad.
This, according to Pococke, is commonly done for per
sons of rank by a servant on foot. This method of
travelling seems to have been quite common in Pales
tine ; for the Shunamite's husband expressed neither
surprise nor hesitation, when she asked " one of the
young men, and one of the asses, that she might run to
the man of God." The acknowledged inability of the
ass to carry both the servant and his mistress, the cus
tom of having an attendant, w hose business it Avas to
drive the animal forward, and the eager impatience of
the bereaA'ed mother, which required the utmost speed,
sufficiently prove that she rode the ass herself, Avbile the
servant attended her on foot, or mounted perhaps ou a
camel, which persons in his condition often used on a
journey. " And she said to her servant, DriAe (or lead,)
and go foi-Avard ; slack not riding for me, except I bid
thee." Put him to his utmost speed, Avithout regarding
the inconveniences I may suffer. The pronouu thy, it
has been thought, is very improperly supplied in our
translation, as it leads one to suppose, that the servant
himself was the rider. But although no mention is made
of the circumstance, it is not perfectly clear that the
servant Avas not mounted on this occasion. The phrase,
cease not to ride, (^S) or cease not riding, naturally
suggests that he was mounted. The ass which the Shu-
namite saddled, Avas a strong animal, as the name given
him by the inspired Avriter imports ; and if we may be
lieve Maillet, the asses in Egypt and Syria have nothing
of that indolence and heaviness Avhich are natural to
ours; therefore, if the servant Avas not furnished with
a camel, or was not a running footman by profession, of
which we haye no proof, the ass must have soon left him
far behind, and rendered his services of no use.
When the inspired writer says the Shunamite saddled
her ass, he uses a phrase which often occurs in the sa
cred writings, and seems to comprehend every requisite
for the convenience of the rider and the proper manage
ment of the animal. Solomon, in one of his proverbs,
mentions <* a bridle for the ass," which might be used
both for ornament and use. It was necessary to subdue

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 421
the stubborn and froward temper of the animal, Avhich
Avonld not otherwise submit to the direction of his rider.
Furnished by nature with a hard and dry skin, he feels
the severest application of a whip so little, that he bears
it with indifference. His neck, as stiff as his disposition
is intractable, yields with difficulty to the bridle ; almost
every thing else he disregards. The bridle, therefore,
is as necessary to tame the perverse temper, and guide
the reluctant step of the ass, as is the whip to subdue
the fiery or impatient spirit of the Arabian or Egyptian
horse, Avhich cannot be rode with safety till they haA'e
learned to respect its discipline. These facts entirely
remove the difficulty that encumbers the proverb : " A
whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for
the fool's back." In the east, the horse Avas taught onr
ly tAvo motions, to tvalk in state, or to push forward in
full career ; a bridle Avas therefore unnecessary, and seir
dom used, except for mere ornament ; the voice, or the
hand of his master, Avas sufficient to direct his way or
to stop his course. While the ass reluctantly submits
to the control of the bridle, he presents his back with
stupid insensibility to the rod. This instrument of cor^
rection is, therefore, reserved for the fool, and is neces
sary to subdue the vicious propensities of his heart, and
turn him from the error of his way.
The ancient Israelites preferred the young ass for
the saddle. It is on this account, the sacred writers so
frequently mention riding on young asses and on ass
colts. They must have found them from experience,
like the young of all animals, more tractable, lively,
and active than their parents, and by consequence, bet
ter adapted to this employment. Buffon remarked
particularly of the young ass, that it is a gay, nimble, and
gentle aninial, " and therefore, to be preferred for riding
to the same animal, when become lazy and stubborn
through age." "Indeed, the Hebrew name of the
young ass, tp " from a root which signifies to rouse or
excite, « is expressive of its character for sprightliness
and activity."*
On public and solemn occasions, they adorned the
• Sacred ZooL Christ. Mag. vol. 6.

422 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
asses which they rode, with rich and splendid trap
pings. " In this manner," says an excellent writer of
Essays on sacred Zoology, " the magistrates in the time
of the Judges, appear to have rode in state. They pro
ceeded to the gate of their city, where they sat to hear
causes, in sIoav procession, mounted on asses superbly
caparisoned with white cloth, which covered the greater
part of the animal's body. It is thus that we must in
terpret the words of Deborah : ' Speak, ye that ride on
white asses,' on asses caparisoned with coverings made
of Avhite woollen cloth, ' ye that sit in judgment, and
Avalk,' or march in state < by the way. The < olour is
not that of the animal, but of bis hiran or covering, for
the ass is commonly dun, and not white."
No doubt can be entertained in relation to the exis
tence of the custom alluded to in this quotation. It
prevails among the Arabs to the present day ; but it
appears rather unnatural, to ascribe the colour of a
covering to the creature that wears it. We do not call
a man white or black, because he happens to be dressed
in vestments of white or black cloth ; neither did the
Hebrews. The expression naturally suggests the colour
of the animal itself, not of its trappings ; and the only
point to be ascertained, is, whether the ass is found of
a white colour. Buflbn informs us, that the colour of
the ass is not dun but flaxen, and the belly of a silvery
white. In many instances, the silvery white predo
minates ; for Cartwright, who travelled into the east,
affirms, that be beheld on the banks of the Euphrates,
great droA'es of wild beasts, among Avhich, were many
wild asses all white. Oppian describes the wild ass,
as having a coat of silvery white ; and the one which
professor Gmelin brought from Tartary, was of the
same colour. Even among the degenerate breed of our
own country, some very beautiful white asses are some
times to be found. As the Hebrews always appeared
in white garments at their public festivals and on days
of rejoicing, or Avhen the courts of justice were held ;
so, they naturally preferred white asses, because the
-colour suited the occasion, and because asses of this

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 423
colour being more rare and costly, were more coveted
by the great and the wealthy.
The female ass was more highly valued among the
orientals, than the male. Indeed, a considerable por
tion of their wealth sometimes consisted of female asses.
These, it appears from several passages of Scripture,
were preferred for the saddle. The ass which Balaam
rode, is distinguished by the sacred historian as a
female. It was convenience probably, which led them
to this choice ; for no other animal, it is said, can sub
sist so easily in a barren and uncultivated country.
The female is recommended by another advantage,
Avhich is of very great value in those torrid climates ;
if she can only find a few leaves, some coarse grass, and
a little water, she nourishes with her milk, the weary
or exhausted traveller. These facts afford an easy
austver to the question, Why, in the, book of Job, the
sacred writer in the statement of his vast riches, men
tions only the female asses ? " His substance also, was
seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and
five hundred yoke of oxen, and fiAre hundred she
asses."* The female ass was more easily managed,
more hardy and durable, and rewarded the trifling care
of her rider with a pleasant and nutritious beverage.
In some countries, this animal is employed in war.
Strabo relates, that some of the Scythian hordes ap
peared in the field of battle, mounted on asses, and
offered an ass in sacrifice to the god of war ; and Dr.
Brown states in his Travels, that the troops of a small
principality lying to the west of Egypt, resolving to
interrupt his progress, or to plunder his baggage, mount
ed their asses and commenced a hot pursuit. The ass
appears to have been occasionally yoked to the chariot ;
for the prophet Isaiah, predicting the fall of Babylon
by the Medes and Persians, describes the watchman as
seeing " a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot
of asses, and a chariot of camels."t Herodotus ex
pressly says, the Indians had chariots of war drawn by
wild asses. This part of the vision, it must be admitted,
is involved in some obscurity from the ambiguity of the
* Job i. 3. -j- Isa. xxi. 7.

424 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
term <m"0 Recheb, which is used three times, and sig
nifies a chariot or vehicle of any kind, the rider in it,
or even a rider on horseback, or a company of chariots
or riders. We learn from the faithful page of history,
that Cyrus in his engagement with Craesus, mounted
part of his cavalry on camels, and that the mule is
sometimes yoked to the chariot in Persia ; but it is by
no means improbable, that some troops-in the army of
Cyrus, might, according to the custom of remote anti
quity, be mounted on asses, which ancient Avriters aver,
are invincible in battle, aud never known to flee before
an enemy. Interpreters, hoAvever, rather suppose, but
without sufficient reason, that "the vision represents
the combined army of the Medes and Persians in full
march to the siege of Babylon, with an immense train
of folloAvers, after the manner of the east, conveying
their baggage and stores ; the cavalry of both nations
mounted, some on chariots, and others on horseback ;
Avhile the Avarlike apparatus and proA'isions of the Per
sians, according to the custom of their country, were
carried on asses, and those of the Medes, according to
their custom, on camels." The whole description refers
more naturally to the cavalry and chariots of war, of
which some were drawn by asses.
As a beast of burden, the ass is of considerable value,
particularly in the oriental regions. Of all animals,
Buffon observes, the ass is perhaps the one, which, in
proportion to its size, can carry the greatest weight.
To this important circumstance, one of its names in
Hebrew, as has been already remarked, is universally
admitted to refer. The great muscular strength of this
animal, was strikingly displayed in the reign of David,
on a A'ery memorable occasion. When that renoAvned
monarch was driAen from his capital by the rebellion of
an unnatural son, Ziba, the treacherous servant of
Mephibosheth, sent him " a couple of asses saddled,
and upon them, tAvo hundred loaves of bread, and an
hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer
fruits, and a bottle of Avine :"* and yet, this load so
disproportionate to then size, did not seem to have
* 2 Sam. xvi. 1.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 425
fatigued them greatly, for immediately on their arrival,
they were employed to carry the king's household.
The ancient Israelites, and other eastern nations,
very often availed themselves of the services of this
athletic and submissive animal, in the carriage of goods.
When the sons of Jacob went down into Egypt, to
purchase corn for the use of their families, they took
with them no other beast of burden, although their
father was the proprietor of many camels. That coun
try was already in possession of an excellent breed of
horses ; yet when Joseph sent a present of its " good
things" to his venerable parent, he made choice of the
ass to carry them. In the course of ages, when affairs
of state, or mercantile transactions, required greater dis
patch, and more attention to economy, the prodigious
strength of the camel gradually superseded the inferior
power and patient industry of the ass ; yet, in the da.vs
of Isaiah, we find him still keeping his place among
beasts of burden, and even joined with the camel in
carrying to Egypt, the costly presents with which the
king of Judah endeavoured to conciliate the mind of
Pharaoh, and procure his powerful aid against the
hostile armies of Assyria. " They will carry their
riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their
treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that
shall not profit them ;"* that shall not be able to pre
vent the ravaging of their country, the capture of their
fortified places, and the siege of their capital.
The ass is not more remarkable for his power to
sustain, than for his patience and tranquillity when op
pressed by an unequal load. Like the camel, he quietly
submits to the heaviest burden ; he bears it peaceably,
till he can proceed no further ; and when his strength
fails him, instead of resisting or endeavouring to throw
off the oppressive weight, he contentedly lies down,
and rests himself under it, recruits his vigour with the
provender that may be offered him, and then, at the
call of his master, proceeds on his journey. To this
trait in the character of that useful animal, the dying
patriarch evidently refers, when, under the afflatus of
* Isa xxx. 6.
Vol. I. I i 2

42& ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
inspiration, he predicts the future lot aud conduct of
Issachar and his descendants. " Issachar is a strong
ass, couching down between tAvo burdens. And he saAv
that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant,
and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant
unto tribute."* This tribe, naturally dull and stupid,
should, like the creature by which they were charac
terized, readily submit to the vilest master and the
meanest service. Although, like the ass, possessed of
ability, if properly exerted and rightly directed, to
shake off the inglorious yoke of servitude, they tvould
basely submit to the insults of the Phenicians on the
one hand, and the Samaritans on the other. Issachar
was a strong ass, " able," says a sprightly writer, " to
refuse a load, as well as to bear it ; but, like the passive
drudge which symbolized him, he preferred inglorious
ease to the resolute vindication of his liberty ; a burden
of tribute, to the gains of a just and well regulated free
dom ; and a yoke of bondage, to the doubtful issues of
Avar." The oriental husbandman was not less indebted to
this creature for his services, than the statesman and the
merchant. The ox and the ass laboured together in
the cultivation of the same field, and submitted their
necks to the same yoke. To these facts, the prophet
Isaiah evidently refers, in the following prediction :
"The oxen liketvise, and the young asses, that ear (or
till) the ground, shall eat clean provender, which hath
been Avinnowed with the shovel and with the fan."f In
these Avords, he foretels a season of great plenty, Avhen
the cattle shall be fed with corn better in quality,
separated from the chaff, and (as the term rendered
"clean in our version, properly signifies) acidulated, in
order to render it more grateful to their taste. The
evangelist clearly refers to the practice, which was com
mon in every part of Syria, of ploughing with the ass,
when he calls him, wo^yjov, a creature subject to the
yoke.J In rice grounds, which require to be flooded,
the ass was employed to prepare them for the seed, by
treading them with his feet. It is to this method of
* Gen. xlix. 14. f Isa. xxx. 24, $ Mat. xxi. 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 4217
preparing the ground, that Chardin supposes the pro
phet to allude when he says, "Blessed are ye that sow
beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the
ox and the ass."* They shall be blessed under the
future reign of the promised Messiah. In times anterior
to his appearing, their country was to be made a deso
lation ; briers and thorns were to encumber their fields ;
their sumptuous dwellings were to be cast down ; their
cities and strongholds were to be levelled Avith the dust.
But Avhen Messiah commences his reign, times of un
equalled prosperity shall begin their career. The good
ness of Jehovah shall descend in fertilizing showers, to
irrigate their fields, and to swell the streams which the
skill and industry of the husbandman conducts among
his plantations, or with which he covers his rice grounds.
Secure from the ruinous incursions of aliens, and in the
sure hope of an abundant harA'est, he shall scatter his
rice on the face of the superincumbent water, and tread
it into the miry soil with " the feet of the ox and the
ass." Prosperous and happy himself, he will consider
it his duty, and feel it his delight, " to do good and to
communicate,"— to succour the widow and the father
less, to open his doors to the stranger, to diffuse around
him the light of truth, and to swell, by the diligent and
prudent use of all the means that Providence has brought
within his reach, the sum of human enjoyment.
In the sandy fields of Syria and Egypt, where deep
ploughing, by draining off the moisture necessary to
vegetation, would be hurtful, a single ass is occasionally
seen drawing the plough. The implement employed,
is made to correspond with the strength of the animal ;
it is so light, " that a man of moderate strength," says
Dr. Russel, " may easily carry it Avith one hand ; a little
cow, or at most two, and sometimes only an ass, is suffi
cient to draw it."f But this is done only in very light
soils ; where the ground is stiffer, and a deeper furrow
required, two beasts are yoked together in one plough.
In Syria, where the distinction between clean and un
clean beasts did not exist, and where unnatural associa
tions were disregarded, they very often joined an ox
* Isa xxxii 20. f Russel's Hist of Aleppo.

428 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
and an ass in the same yoke. But the law of Moses
prohibited, by an express statute, such incongruous
mixtures : "Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an
ass together." The chosen people might employ them
both in tilling their ground ; but, in every instance, they
were to be joined only with those of their otvn species.
This precept embraced at once, the benefit of the tribes,
and the comfort of their cattle. The benevolent legis
lator would not have animals of unequal strength, and
of discordant habits and dispositions, forced into a
union to Avhich they are naturally averse, and Avhere
the labour could not be equally divided. But Jehovah,
whose care extends to the happiness even of an ox or
an ass, had certainly a higher object in view. He
meant, by this prohibition, to instruct his people to pre
serve, with solicitude, the unaffected simplicity of the
patriarchal ages, in their manner of living ; to aA'oid
unnatural associations among themselves, and undue
familiarity with the idolatrous nations around them, by
contracting marriages with them, entering into alliances,
or engaging in extensive mercantile transactions, still
more, by joining in the impure rites of their worship.
To this moral aspect of the latv. the great apostle of the
Gentiles eA'idently refers in his charge to the Corin
thians : " Be ye not unequally yoked together with un
believers ; for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with
darkness ?"*
Some faint traces of this law, Avhich recommends
itself to every humane and well regulated mind, may be
found in the Avritings of ancient heathens. Plautus, in
one of his plays, condemns the practice of yoking
together the ox and the ass, because their strength is so
different ; and for the same reason, Ulysses was reck
oned insane, because he joined a horse and an ass to
his plough. Homer, in his Odyssey, advises to couple
beasts that can bear an equal weight; and Ovid remon
strates against the practice of bringing to the plough
bullocks of unequal strength.
" Quam male inequales veniunt ad aratra juvenci ?"
* 2 Cor. vi. 14.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 429
They could discern the inhumanity of the custom, but
of its relation to moral impurity they had no concep
tion. After the ass had assisted in gathering the crop into
the garner, he was often sent, in primitive times, to
drive the milstone, Avhich was to convert it into meal.
To this kind of labour, the Lord Jesus undoubtedly
alludes, in his declaration to the disciples : " It is im
possible but that offences will come : but Avoe unto him
through whom they come ! It Avere better for him that a
milstone Avere hanged about his neck, and he cast into
the sea, than that he should offend one of these little
ones."* The original phrase p^og ouxo;, signifies a mil
stone, so large, that it cannot be turned about by the
hand, according to the more common Avay of grinding
corn in the east, but must be driven by an ass. How
various and important are the services which this hum
ble creature renders to his master ! He serves him for
riding, for bearing his burdens, drawing the plough,
treading in the grain into the flooded soil, turning the
milstone ; and to all these services, the female adds the
nutritious beverage of her milk. To the poor man,
therefore, a single ass might prove an invaluable trea
sure. In many cases, it was the principal means of
support to himself and his family; a circumstance
which accounts for the energetic language respecting
this animal, in some passages of Scripture. To " drive
aAvay the ass of the fatherless," Job denounces as a
deed of atrocity, Avhich none but a proud and unfeeling
oppressor could be guilty of perpetrating, f
The services of this useful animal were not sufficient,
even in times of primitive simplicity, to save him from
every kind of abuse. At one time he suffers from
neglect ; at another from oppressive labour ; and seldom
experiences, from ungrateful man, the kindness and in
dulgence to which he is fairly entitled. From the
watchful care of his creator, however, he has not been
excluded : even to his subsistence, comfort, and ease,
the gracious attention of heaven has been directed.
And while he admits that he made him for the benefit
* Luke xvii. 12. f Job xxiv. 3.

430 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of man, and protects his OAvner in the quiet possession
of him, as a valuable part of his property ; by the awful
sanctions of the moral laAv, he makes it an imperative
duty to treat him as a sentient being, capable of suffer
ing, and of enjoyment. It is accordingly assigned as
one reason for the strict observance of the sabbath,
" That thine ox and thine ass may rest."* But it is
not sufficient to suspend his usual toil during that holy
day ; he must neither be resigned to want, nor exposed
to harsh or inhuman treatment : the compassion of God
requires " to loose him from the stall, and lead him
away to Avatering ;"f and should he fall into a pit,
straightway to pull him out.f Nor must the fault of
the master be visited upon his unoffending servant ;
the Israelite was commanded, under pain of divine
anger, to bring back the ass of his greatest enemy,
Avhich he found going astray, and to assist in raising
him up when fallen under his load. In these admira
ble precepts, the God of mercy regards the ox and the
ass Avith equal indulgence ; and, as the latter Avas more
exposed to injurious treatment, he condescends to secure
his safety and comfort by additional and particular
enactments ; exhibiting an example of tender concern
for the happiness of the meanest of his creatures, which
can hardly be too frequently contemplated, and cer
tainly never too closely imitated.
The man of benevolence, who treats even his ass with
kindness, shall not lose, his reward. Besides the ap
probation of God and his own conscience, he shall be
attended Avith the affectionate attachment of the animal
himself. Dull and stupid as he is, the ass, according
to Buffon, smells his master at a distance, searches the
places and roads which he used to frequent, and easily
distinguishes him from the rest of mankind. An equal
degree of gratitude is not always to be found among
rational beings, towards their greatest and best bene
factor. The ass, although destitute of reason, and even
duller than many other animals, although commonly
hard Avrought, and unkindly treated, discovers an at
tachment to his master, which the people of Israel did
* Exod. xxiii 12. f Lu^e Xl". 5- * Ch. xiv 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 43t
not feel for the living God, Avho daily loaded them Avith
his benefits. This trait in his character, gives uncom
mon poignancy to the prophet's reproof: "The ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib ;"
they are not insensible to the kindness of their bene
factors : " but Israel doth not know" the God of his
salvation, " my people doth not consider" from Avhose
hand they receive all their blessings, nor tvhat return
they owe to him for his unmerited kindness.*
Among the Jews, the ass Avas considered as an un
clean animal, because it neither divides the hoof nor
chews the cud. It could neither be used as food, nor
offered in sacrifice. The firstling of an ass, like those
of camels, horses, and other unclean animals, was to be
redeemed with the sacrifice of a lamb, or deprived of
life. In cases of extreme Avaut, hoAvever, this laAV was
disregarded ; for Avhen the Syrian armies besieged
Samaria, the inhabitants Avere so reduced, that " an
ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver."f
Some writers, however, contend, that the term ^^hamor
does not signify an ass, in this passage, but is the same
as "win, homer, a certain measure of grain. But this view
of the passage cannot be admitted. We know Avhat is
meant by the head of an ass ; but the head of a homer,
or measure of wheat or barley, is quite unintelligible.
Nor could the sacred writer say with propriety, that the
city was suffering by a " great famine," while a homer
of grain was sold for eighty pieces of silver ; for in the
next chapter he informs us, that, after the flight of the
Syrians, and provisions of every kind, by the sudden
return of plenty, were reduced to the lowest price, " a
measure of fine flour (which is the thirtieth part of a
homer,) was sold for a shekel, and two measures of
barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria." Besides,
had the historian intended a measure of corn, he would
not have said indefinitely, a homer was sold for eighty
pieces of silver ; but a homer of wheat, or of barley, or
of oats, which are not of the same value. The prophet
accordingly says, in the beginning of the next chapter,
" a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and
* Is- i. 3. f 2 Kings vi. 25.

432 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
two measures of barley, for a shekel :" And John, in
the book of Revelation; "a measure of wheat for a
penny, and three measures of barley for a penny."
Our translators, therefore, have taken a just view of this
text, and given a correct version.
It is reasonable to suppose, that the ass was not the
last to suffer in the siege of Samaria. Hardly treated
in times of peace and abundance, he must have been
left to shift for himself in such circumstances, in a place
where the hunger of the inhabitants compelled them to
devour every green thing ; and have rapidly sunk into
a poor and Avretched condition, How great must that
famine haA*e been, and hotv dreadful the distress to
Avhich the people were reduced, when they gave three
times the price of the live animal, for that part of him,
which could yield them at any time, only a few pounds
of dry and unpalatable food, but Avhen emaciated by
famine, only a few morsels of carrion. Extreme must
baA'e been the sufferings which extinguished the power
ful influence of religious principle, and natural aversion
to a species of food so disagreeable and pernicious ; and
not only prevailed upon them to use it, but eA'en to de
vour it Avith greediness.
The neglect and contempt Avhich follow this animal
through life, do not forsake him even in death. His
carcase, furnishing no desirable repast to people of any
condition, is ignominiously cast out into the open field,
to feed the wild beasts and the raAenous birds ; or tum
bled into the nearest ditch, where it is left to moulder
into dust. "The burial of an ass," was accordingly
reckoned, in Old Testament ages, the last disgrace to
Avhich the body of a criminal or an unfortunate could be
doomed. To this most dishonourable end, the prophet
Jeremiah, by the command of heaven, condemned
Jehoiakim the king of Judah. The sentence, than
which Ave can scarcely conceive one more galling to an
oriental ear, is couched in these terms : " His dead
body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the
night to the frost."* " They shall not lament for him,
saying, Ah, my brother, or Ah my sister ! They shall
* Jer. xxxvi. 30.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 433
not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord ! or Ah, his glory!
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and
cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."* " Not
that Jehoiakim should have so disgraceful an end in
the vicinity of Jerusalem, as is commonly supposed, for
he was carried to Babylon, and in all probability died
there ; but that, in the land of his captivity, he should
die contemned and neglected by the Babylonians, and
unregretted eveu by his captive countrymen; and, that
his carcase should be treated Avith all the neglect with
which the inhabitants of Jerusalem were accustomed to
treat their dead asses, which they dragged out of the
eity, and cast forth to corrupt or be devoured."t
The Mule.
The Hebrews ascribe the im'ention of mules to Anah,
the son of Zibeon, whose daughter, Aholibamah, was
given in marriage to Esau.J "This was that Anah,
that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the
asses of Zibeon his father." In this text, Moses
evidently censures the misguided and preposterous in
dustry of Anah, who, not satisfied with the numerous
flocks and herds which the bounty of Providence had
bestowed on his family, or, perhaps actuated by impure
and licentious motives, contriAed a new and spurious
breed of animals unknown to nature, and contrary to
the laws which regulate her operations. Whatever
might be the motive, the conduct of this Horite prince,
was certainly criminal. We cannot, on any other sup
position, account for the peculiar and emphatical phrase
which Moses employs: "This was that Anah, that
found the mules in the wilderness." In opposition to
this idea, Bochart contends, that if Anah had found out
the method of procreating mules, the sacred historian
would not have said he found them ; because the verb
(kp°) matsa, among the Hebrews, does not signify to in
vent, but to find something already in existenoe. Nor
to strengthen this conjecture, is it sufficient, that Anah
is said at the time to have tended the asses of Zibeon
* Ch. xxii. 18. -j- Essays on Sac. Zool Christ. Mag. vol. 6.
1= Gen. xxxvi. 24.
Vol. I. K k 2

434 " ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
his father ; for mules are not procreated of asses only*
but of an ass and a mare, or of a horse and a female
ass. But of horses or wild asses, by whose union with
the domestic ass a mule is generated, no mention is
made in this passage. In addition to these arguments,
our author insists on the improbability, that the method
of generating mules Avas discovered in Idumaea at that
early period ; because, the use of these animals does
not seem to have became common in Judea, till the
reign of David, about five hundred years after the death
of Anah. No mention is made of mules in the flocks
and herds of Abraham, of Isaac, of Job, and other shep
herd princes of the east. In the various enumerations,
horses, camels, asses, oxen, sheep, and goats, are ex
pressly mentioned, but in relation to mules, the pro-
fouudest silence is uniformly observed ; hence, Bochart
argues, that the origin of mules is involved in great un
certainty. But the assertion of that celebrated writer, that the
Hebrew verb («jq; matsa, signifies only to find, not to
invent, is incorrect. In Leigh's Critica Sacra, it signi
fies also to procure for himself by labour and industry ;
and in Parkhurst, the seventh sense is, to obtain, to
procure. According to these respectable authors, the
text may be rendered, This was that Anah, Avho, by
labour and industry, procured for himself mules in the
wilderness, which is quite consistent with the common
exposition. If Anah did not invent the method of pro
creating mules, but only found them already existing,
what can the sacred Avriter mean by the emphatical
phrase, He, Anah ; or, as in our version, This was that
j\nah ? What was so remarkable or important in a per
son merely finding a knot of mules in the wilderness,
that Moses should reckon it necessary to use such em
phatical terms? And tvhat reason can be given, that he
takes not the smallest notice of those who found horses,
or camels, or asses in the Avilderness, although some
individual must have found and reduced them to a state
of servitude ? Something unusual and peculiar, is cer
tainly intended in the phrase. Avhich Moses employs ;
and what can that be, but the invention of a new breed

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 435
of animals. The want of mules in the numerous herds
of the patriarchs, and the late period at which they
came into general use among the Jews, will not prove
that Anah was not the inventor of that spurious breed,
but only, that it Avas not in much request till the reign
of David. That the procreation of mules Avas actually
discouraged among the holy people, we have the highest
authority for asserting. The God of Israel, who is a
God of order aud not of confusion, enacted a law,
which he' introduces with more than usual solemnity,
not indeed to prohibit the use of mules when pro
created, but to rear them : " Ye shall keep my statutes.
Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse
kind."* The mules which David and the nobles of
his kingdom rode, were therefore, in all probability,
imported from other countries where they abounded,
long before the time of that illustrious monarch. In
Cappadocia, in Greece, and the adjacent regions, the
use of mules was much more ancient than among the
Jews ; for that animal is frequently and familiarly men
tioned in the most ancient Grecian fables. In Homer
too, the pestilence sent by Apollo, seized first on the
mules and the dogs belonging to the Grecian camp.
Oi/f»<c{ fta irgurti nrffljjiTc xai xvmg *ey*t. Iliad.
The chariot of Priam was drawn by mules ; and mules
conveyed to the Grecian camp, the materials for the
funeral pile of Patroclus ; Avhich, in the opinion of
Bochart, happened long before the times in which
David flourished, when the sacred writers began to
mark the services of that animal. It is extremely pro
bable, that the mule obtained admission into the Holy
land, some considerable time before the reign of David ;
for in one of his Psalms, he classes it with the horse,
and speaks of it in a manner which shews, that the
temper and habits of the animal were quite familiar to
the people of Israel : " Be ye not as the horse or as the
mule, which have no understanding ; whose mouth must
be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto
thee."f * Lev. xix 19. f Psalm xxxii. 9.

4)3& ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Bochart offers another interpretation, which he thinks
in every respect entitled to the preference; that the
original term which our translators render mules, is in
reality the name of a people, probably the same as the
gigantic Emim, mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of
Genesis. The Samaritan Pentateuch, accordingly reads
here, (ewnn) the Emim ; and the Targum in Genesis,
renders the term by («,-im) giants ; and Aquila and Sym-
machus retain the Hebrew name, Emim ; so, that the
passage should be rendered : This is that Anah who
found, or lighted upon, the Emim in the desert. The
verb t*«w matsa, when spoken of enemies, is used for
lighting upon them, or even attacking them suddenly;
several examples of which, are quoted by Parkhurst.
Thus, Anah is said to have found the Emim, or to have
fallen upon them, or attacked them suddenly. By this
daring exploit, which was greatly celebrated at the time
it happened, whether he discomfited these gigantic
enemies by his valour, or eluded the snare they had
prepared for him by his address, he transmitted his
fame to succeeding generations ; and by this criterion,
the historian distinguishes him from others of the same
name. But this interpretation is liable to several ob
jections of considerable weight. In the first place, if
such an event as Bochart supposes, ever happened, it
had evidently sunk into oblivion or insignificance, long
before the time of Moses : and therefore, the obscure
hint in the text, could scarcely serve the purpose of
distinguishing him from another. Or, if this chieftain
of mount Hor, had rendered his name illustrious by de
feating the Emims, Avhy does Moses adAert to it in such
obscure terms ; while in the same chapter, in speaking
of a military achievement, he uses the following clear
and precise Avords : " And Husham died, and Hadad,
the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of
Moab, reigned in his stead " No good reason can be
given for such a difference of language, if similar events
are intended. In the second place, it was no remarka
ble thing that a duke of the Horites, in tending his
herds, should, in those licentious times, fall upon a
hostile band of freebooters, and put them to the rout;

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 437
yet, Moses speaks of it as a most singular occurrence,
using a mo^t emphatical form of speech, ("v ™ He,
Anah. The same phraseology occurs in two other
passages of Scripture, iti both of which our attention is
drawn to two persons of no common rank and character.
The first of these is Ahaz, of whom the inspired writer
emphatically says, This is that king Ahaz ; or more
literally, "He, king Ahaz, who made Judah naked,
and transgressed sore against the Lord."* The second
is Pharaoh king of Egypt, whose destruction the pro
phet describes in the same emphatical manner : " He,
Pharaoh, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God." t
But can any good reason be given, why the inspired
writer speaks of an obscure duke of the Horites, who
kept his father's asses, and of an action so enveloped
in darkness, that it is impossible to ascertain its real
character in the same energetic terms, as of the flagrant
wickedness of Ahaz, the king of Judah, and the fall of
Pharaoh, the most powerful monarch of his time. Ad
mitting the interpretation of Bochart, the Jewish legis
lator can scarcely be vindicated in the use of such a
phrase ; but if Anah, contrary to the Avill of his Creator,
clearly inscribed on his works, contrived a method of
producing a new aud spurious breed of animals, the
Spirit of inspiration had the same reasou to fix a mark
of infamy on his name, as long afterwards on that of
Ahaz, the profligate ruler of his chosen people.'
* 2 Chron xxviii. 19,22. -j- Ezek. xxxi. 18.
i The opinion of our author respecting the passage in question,
is liable to several objections. The word a& rendered mules in
Gen. xxxvi. 24. we believe occurs no where else in that sense.
The proper Hebrew term for mule is i^o. And Michaelis in his
work on the Mosaic Law, proves that in those regions where Anah
lived, there were, at that time, no horses. As to the interpretation
given by Bochart, it must be acknowledged that it seems not a
little forced. There is another exposition that appears far pre
ferable to either of those which have been mentioned. It is that
which explains ar>> as meaning not mules nor giants, but waters,
springs, and probably,, warm medicinal sfirings. This the original
word, (whether we view it as directly denoting a quantity of water,
or as derived from rro< to be hot, to boil,) may easily signify. This
is the sense which the Vulgate gives, and this Hieronym says is

438 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
The mule was employed by the ancients in many
servile offices. Remarkably sure footed, patient, aud
steady, he had the honour of being received at an early
period into the service of kings and princes, and selected
to carry them when they appeared on the most impor
tant occasions. David, the greatest monarch of his
age, rode a mule, which was kept for his own use, and
which Solomon mounted by his order, when he went
doAvn to Gihon to be invested with the royal dignity.*
The rest of his sons rode the same animal ;f and Ab
salom sat on a mule, when, in the wood df Ephraim,
he went under the boughs of a great oak, and was
caught by his head among the branches. Mules
were reckoned a present not unworthy of the greatest
monarchs ; horses and mules were among the gifts
which Solomon received from those who came to hear
his wisdom. J Mules were employed by the people of
Israel, in carrying provisions to David and his fol-
loAvers ; they bore the warrior to the fleld, or drew the
chariot from which he fought. The costly presents with
which Priam redeemed the body of his beloved Hector,
were carried in a chariot drawn by mules ; " a splendid
present which the Mysians had formerly presented to
the aged monarch. "$ Mules were also yoked in the
plough in the time of Homer.

it yetp Tf /3oav irpbtytpigtpeLi ttaiv

EXxt/UEVsCf n.o.i jiahtirig vrjxTM dsfOTgov. II. b. 10. /. 352,
With the patience and perseverance of the ass, the mule
inherits the swiftness of the horse ; and in Greece he
Avas often permitted, as Ave learn from Pindar, to con
tend for the prize hi the chariot race.

Av« V

qfjtiavoig,

Ee?S t' airrpa, o-gOTf o^-aoav IltXiag
\X*T6 ffirtuocov. 
* 1 Kings i 33 -f 2 Sam. xiii. 29 * 1 Kings x 25.
$ Iliad b. 24. 1 277.
the manner in which some in his day understood the passage. The
discovery of such springs would be a memorable occurrence; and
it was likely to be made by Anah "in the wilderness, as he fed the
asses of Zibeon his father;" for it is ascertained that there are in
that very region, Medicinal fountains. See Michaelis in Spicileg.
Geog. Heb. P. ii. p. 63. I. C.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 439
" Pelias came briskly, pressing forward in a chariot
drawn by mules."
Pollux confirms the testimony of the bard, that mules
were formerly yoked in the chariot, and contended in
the race at the Olympic games; and Pausanias men
tions the names of many candidates avIio gaineil the
prize in the {wf*-> or) chariot drawn by mules. The
same animals were used in the chariot race by the
Romans, and were much esteemed for their agility and
swiftness. Pliny asserts, that a mule generated be
tween a horse and female ass, is unconquerably stub
born and slow ; but a mule from an ass and a mare,
pbssesses the characteristic swiftness of his mother ;
and iElian affirms, that the latter excels in speed, and
is admirably fitted for the course. These unexcep
tionable testimonies, unfold the true reason that Mor-
decai and Esther sent their dispatches, which required
the utmost haste, through all the provinces of the
Persian empire, " by posts on horseback, and riders on
mules, camels, and young dromedaries."* Hence it
appears, that one species of mules in the oriental regions,
does not yield to the swiftest animals which man has
been able to reduce under his dominion. The numerous
useful qualities of the mule, haA'e in some measure
atoned for the baseness of his origin, and the irregu
larity which he has introduced among the lower ani
mals ; and have recommended him in every age, to the
care and attention of his master. In the long and
severe drought with which it pleased Jehovah, at the
prayer of Elisha, to punish Ahab the king of Israel,
and his idolatrous people, it was the first concern of
that wicked monarch, to "save the horses and mules
alive ;" and so deep was the interest he took in their
preservation, that he divided the country between him
self and Obadiah, "to pass through it: Ahab went one
way by himself, and Obadiah another way by him
self,"! m quest of water and pasture, in the faint hope
of saving these valuable animals from the impending
destruction. * Esth. viii. 10. f 1 Kings xviii. 5, 6.

440 Illustrations of scripture,
CHAP. VII.
TAME ANIMALS CONTINUED.
VWVAI^A'XVVi
The Ox.
THE ox, by which the natural historian means black
cattle in general, without regard to sex, is one of the
most precious and useful to man, among the herbiA'erous
animals. Easily tamed, and of a gentle and placid
temper, he is maintained at small expense ; and while
he consumes but little, he enriches and improves the
ground from which he draws his subsistence. He
patiently lends his neck to the yoke, and exerts his
great muscular strength in bearing our burdens, in pre
paring our fields for the seed, and, to this day in eastern
regions, in separating the chaff from the grain, after he
has assisted in gathering in the harvest. The milk of
the herd supplies us Avith a rich and pleasant beve
rage ; the flesh with a nutritious food ; the skin forms
a part of our covering, and in many parts of the world,
still contributes to the defence of warriors in the day of
battle. Scarcely a part of this animal indeed can be
named, Avhich is not daily rendered subservient to the
purposes of utility or elegance. In the patriarchal
ages, the ox constituted no inconsiderable portion of
their wealth ; and he is still the basis of the riches of
nations, which in general flourish only in proportion to
the cultivation of their territories, and the number of
their cattle. In these, all real wealth consists ; for
silver and gold are only representations of riches, pos
sessing in themseh'es little intrinsic value. These re
marks are verified, by the notice Avhich the sacred
writers take of the ox, when they describe the wealth
of primordial generations : " Abraham," say they,
" was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold." " The
Lord has blessed my master greatly," said the steward
of Abraham's house, " and he is become great ; and he

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 441
has given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold,
and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels, aud
asses."* Similar language is used in relation to the
riches of Jacob : " The man increased exceedingly,
and had much cattle, and maid-servants, and men-
servants, and camels, and asses."f Another instance
only shall be given from the book of Job : " His sub
stance also was seven thousand sheep, and three
thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and
five hundred she-asses, and a very great household ; so
that the man was the greatest of all the men in the
east. "J So highly valued was this animal, that it was
not thought too mean a present for a king to make in
ancient times to his ally ; for Moses informs us, that
" Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and men-servants,
and women-servants, and gave them to Abraham.''^
Soon after, these eminent personages entered into a
treaty with each other, and, on that occasion, Abraham
" took sheep, and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech."
The ox, especially when fattened, is of a rounder
form than any other domestic animal ; a circumstance
which has given him a name in the Hebrew text. The
beauty of his shape has been celebrated in the lines of
heathen poets, and acknoAvledged in the dictates of in
spiration. In the prophecies of Jeremiah, the kingdom
of Egypt is compared to " a very fair heifer ;"|| and the
same allusion is involved in these Avords of Hosea :
" And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth
to tread out the corn ; but I passed over upon her fair
neck."TJ The beauty of the heifer has been sung by the
prince of Italian poets :
" Pascitur in. magnis sylvis formosa juvenca." 3 Geor. I. 219.
And by Ovid,
" Victima labe carens et praestantissima forma." Met. b. 1 5.
An air of grandeur and majesty has been remarked in
the motions and attitudes of the bull, and a certain
* Gen. xxiv. 35. f Ch xxx 43. * Job. i.3.
§ Gen. xx. 14. || Jer. xlvi. 20. 1 Hos. x. 11.
Vol. I. LI 2

442 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
generosity in his aspect', Avhich the Latin bard cele
brates in these terms :
-" torvaeque decorus

Frontis honos
Homer had long before sung the praise of bovine ex
cellence :
Hi.rt fixg aytkrjlpi ftsy «£ o^o; htXsto irearm
T&vgos: o yap n fibitrei fjttTa7r^t7Tti aygofjwqrt. 2 It. I. 480.
These high authorities justify the figure which Moses
employs, in the blessing Avhich he pronounces on the
tribe of Joseph : " His glory is like the firstling of his
bullock ;" the generosity of his heart, and the majesty
of his presence, were conspicuous in the amiable and
dignified father of that tribe, the preserver of his family,
and an eminent type of our gracious Redeemer.
The playful disposition of a young ox, the son of the
herd, as the Hebrews beautifully call him, has been
remarked by writers of every age.

— — — — frriiv "aoTavyg xagttrMTtti
Xlua-ai afxtt px-aigae-ii ttaiTiui. Odyss.
Their Avanton gambols on the soft grass, is thus des
cribed by Theocritus :
QpX*wt ev /s.aXttnci rati irtelug uif]iK.et notee.
It is therefore with strict propriety, the Hebrew bard
compares the shaking of the earth, and the reeling of
the mountains Avith all their forests, when Jehovah
descended in terrible majesty, to deliver the law from
the top of Sinai, to the friskings of a young calf : " He
maketh them also to skip like a calf : Lebanon and
Sirion like a young unicorn."* The prophet Jeremiah
is supposed, by ancient iuterpreters, to refer to the same
circumstance, where he foretels the ruin of Babylon :
"Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye
destroyers of mine heritage ; because ye are grown fat,"
or sport, " as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls."
A similar allusion is made by Malachi, when he de-
cribes the glorious appearance of the promised Messiah,
* Psalm xxix. 6.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 443
and the joy of his people : " But unto you that fear
my name, shall the sun of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings ; and ye shall go forth and grow
up, or gambol, as calves of the stall."*
The strength of the bull is too remarkable to require
description ; and his courage and fierceness are so great,
that he ventures at times to combat the lion himself.
Nor is he more celebrated for these qualities, than for
his disposition to unite with those of his own kind
against their common enemy. For these reasons, he
has been chosen by the Spirit of inspiration, to sym
bolize the powerful, fierce, and implacable enemies of
our blessed Redeemer ; who, forgetting their personal
animosities, combined against his precious life, and suc
ceeded in procuring his crucifixion : " Many bulls have
compassed me : strong bulls of Bashan have beset me
around."! ^or can we conceive a more striking and
appropriate symbol of a fierce and ruthless warrior ; an
instance of which occurs in that supplication of David :
" Rebuke the company of the spearmen, the multitude
of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every
one submit himself with pieces of silver.''^ In the sub
lime description of Isaiah, which seems to refer to some
great revolutions, which are to be effected in times long
posterior to the age in Avhich he flourished ; probably
in these last days; antecedent to the millennial state of
the church ; the complete destruction of her strong and
cruel enemies is thus foretold : " And the unicorns shall
come doAvn with them, aud the bullocks with the bulls,
and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their
dust made fat with fatness." §.
The ox is a heavy and sluggish animal, blunt in his
feelings, and almost destitute of sagacity ; yet he may
be subdued to the yoke, taught to recognize his master,
and to persevere with patient industry in his service.
It is therefore, Avith peculiar force and beauty, the pro
phet contrasts his character and actions, with the dis
positions and behaviour of Israel ; who, although taught
by God more than the beasts of the field, had, by yield
ing to their vicious propensities, become more brutish
* Mai. iv. 2. t psa. xxii. 12. * Psa lxviii. 31. § Isa. xxxiv. 7.

444 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
than the dullest and most stupid of the lower animals :
" The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people do not con
sider."* In the rutting season, the bull, naturally bold and
untractable, becomes quite ungovernable, aud often
furious, especially when it is attempted to subject him
to restraint. It is, therefore, Avith peculiar energy, that
the prophet represents the sons of Zion in the days of
their calamity, as lying at the head of all the streets,
like a wild bull in a net : raging and struggling to break
their toils, but entangling themselves sti 1 the more, and
rendering their condition worse, by their own violent
passions, and useless exertions.
The -ox, like all the lower animals, is neither tor
mented by reflecting on the past, nor guessing at the
future ; he grazes without fear or doubt, amidst the
green pastures, and fattens for the knife, unconscious
of the doom that aAvaits him : and when his owner
comes and leads him away to the slaughter, his brute
imagination only figures a richer meadow, or a more
agreeable companion. Equally unconscious and cheer
ful is the miserable youth, whom an abandoned woman
has entangled in her toils, and leads away to forbidden
pleasures. He is not aware of his danger, and his
misery : he goes with blind infatuation, and pitiable
mirth to his destruction : " He goeth after her straight
way, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the
correction of the stocks."f
The prevailing colour among the herds in the east is
red. This fact i? attested by Pindar in these lines :
M^A« rtyctg roi tya
KkiBoot favdaj «>iA«s xQitfti. Pyth. 4.
il I leave thee, flocks and red herds of oxen." And
when he offered a hecatomb to Neptune, a red herd of
Thracian bulls was the present :
Qtmtrra Si Qphixwi ayiYct rctupav
•tirap^v. * Isa. i.3. f Pov.vii.22.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 445
Under the law, Jehovah commanded a red heifer to be
offered as a kind of sin offering, to purify from certaiu
legal defilements. The animal was killed, and then
burnt Avithout the camp, (as the sin offering was upon
the great day of atonement,) and the blood sprinkled
seven times directly before the tabernacle, although it
was not shed at the altar. The law of Moses only
required, that the heifer should be red, and young,
without spot and blemish ; and Avhich had never been
subjected to the yoke. To these plain instructions, the
Jews added an iufinitc number of niceties and excep
tions, in choosing a heifer, for this offering. If she Avas
not perfectly red, without the mixture of any other
colour ; if she had but two hairs black or white, — she
was reckoned unfit for the purpose.
Why the laAv demands a young cow rather than a
bullock, (which Avas commonly preferred by the divine
legislator,) and why one perfectly red, it is not easy to
determine. k It is the opinion of some learned men,
that this precept was given to preserve the people of
Israel from the religion of the Egyptians, who honoured
the cow as an animal sacred to lsis ; and by conse
quence, abhorred the thought of presenting her at the
altar, For this reason, it is supposed, Jehovah com
manded a cow to be burnt, rather than a bullock; and
one perfectly red, because that colour was held in great
abhorrence by the Egyptians, who fancied thatTyphon,
in their superstition the source of all evil, was of this
colour, and therefore they offered him red oxen in
sacrifice. But it is doubtful, whether those supersti
tions, recorded by Plutarch and Herodotus, existed in
the days of Moses ; and still more, that the diA'ine laAV-
giver, if he had any respect to the Egyptian rites, would

k In positive institutions of reli ion it is enough for us that God
has given the command. It is often idle to inquire why he has
enjoined this or that particular thing. He may have intended the
injunction, in a great measure as a test of obedience. The whim
sical exposition that the red colotir of the heifer indicated the rela
tion of Christ to the human family as descended from Adam who
was made of red earth, needs no refutation; and therefore, it had
been superfluous for the author to give one. I. C.

446 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
have appointed so great a number of sacrifices, without
any regard to colour, and mentioned it only in this in
stance, which Avas not a proper sacrifice. LeAvis, aud
other writers imagine, that the difficulty of finding a red
cow, Avithout the least intermixture of any other hair,
was the reason of the appointment. But it is not easy
to conceive, why God, in this instance, had respect
chiefly to the great difficulty of procuring a heifer of the
required colour. In all his other appointments, the
gracious lawgiver seems to have consulted the ease and
convenience of his people, by requiring them to offer in
his service what Avas at hand, and what they could
easily afford. The difficulty of finding a heifer per
fectly red, cannot then be admitted as the true reason of
that appointment : nor has any satisfactory account been
given, Avhy the heifer was preferred on this occasion to
the bullock. Some pious expositors consider the heifer
as a type of our blessed Redeemer : its unblemished
perfection, represented his immaculate purity, and sin
less excellence ; its red colour, indicated the relation of
Christ to our family, descended from Adam, that is, a
man formed of red earth ; the shedding of his otvn blood
for the sins of his people, and the complete victory
which he has gained over all their enemies, whose blood
he has sprinkled upon his vesture ; its freedom from
the yoke, his voluntary, his unrestrained devoting of
himself to the Avork of redemption. No doubt can be
reasonably entertained, that the burning of the red
heifer did prefigure the sufferings and death of Christ;
and the purifying efficacy of her collected ashes, mixed
in water, the cleansing energy of bis blood ; for it is the
blood of Christ alone that cleanseth from all sin.
The grass of the field, and the young shoots and
leaves of the forest, supply the ox with food, Avhich he
collects by a peculiar action of his tongue, and devours
in large quantities, with great rapidity. The first cir
cumstance is mentioned by the Psalmist as an additional
aggravation in the groAelling idolatry of Israel : " They
changed their glory unto the similitude of an ox, that
eateth grass."* Disregarding the dictates of reason,
* Ps. cvi. 20,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 447
Avhich had been planted in their bosoms by the inspira
tion of God, they exchanged the glorious manifestations
or symbols of the divine presence, with which they were
still favoured, into the form of an ox, which their
Egyptian oppressors had exalted to the rank of a god,
and absurdly worshipped ; a stupid and irrational ani
mal, doomed by his Maker to fix his brute countenance
on the ground, to which both his soul and body return,
aud to subsist on the coarsest fare.
" To eat grass like an ox,"* was a part of that
signal punishment which the most High inflicted upon
the proud and tyrannical king of Babylon. Deprived
of reason, which he had so greatly abused, and resigned
to the full influence of bestial appetites, he was hurled
from his throne and dignity, and expelled from the
society of mankind, to roam naked in the open fields,
exposed, like the herd with Avhich he associated, to all
the inclemencies of the heavens, and forced like them
to feed on grass ; a dreadful lesson to the oppressors of
every succeeding age. To the second circumstance, or
the manner in which the ox collects his food, the quan
tity which he devours, and the rapidity with which he
eats doAvn the pasture, the king of Moab alludes in his
address to the elders of Midian, on the dangers to Avhich
their country was exposed from the dreaded invasion of
the Israelitish armies : " And Moab said unto the
elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all
that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of
thefield."f Under the special care of oriental husbandmen, the
ox, in seasons of plenty, was regaled with a mixture of
chaff, chopped straw, and various kinds of grain, care
fully Avinnowed and moistened Avith subacid water.
Such is the meaning of that prediction : " The oxen
likewise and the young asses, that ear the ground, shall
eat clean (or subacid) provender, which hath been Avin
nowed with the shovel and Avith the fan."J When the
Lord returns to bless his repenting people, so rich and
abundant shall be the produce of their fields, that the
lower animals which toil in the service of man, and
* Dan. iv. 29- f Num. xxii, 4. # Isa. xxx. 24.

418 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
have assigned for their subsistence the very refuse of
the harvest, shall share in the general plenty, and feed
on provender, carefully separated from all offensive
matters, aud adapted to their taste. But, among the
Jews, this animal fed most luxuriously when employed
in treading out the corn ; for the divine law, in many
of whose precepts the benevolence of Deity conspicu
ously shines, forbade to muzzle him, and by conse
quence, to preA'eut him from eating even to satiety of the
grain which he was employed to separate from the
husk. This allusion is involved in the prophet's ad
dress to the ten tribes, in which he a\ arns them, that
the abundance and tranquillity Avhich they had so long
enjoyed, should not exempt them from the punishments
due to their multiplied crimes. Despising the frugal
and laborious life of their ancestors, they had become
slothful aud voluptuous, like an ox that declines to bend
his neck any longer to the yoke, and loves the easier
employment of treading out the corn, where he riots
without restraint iu the accumulated bounties of HeaA'en :
" Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, (or has become
nice aud delicate,) and loveth to tread out the corn ; but
I passed over upon her fair neck."*
Men of every age and country, have been much in
debted to the labours of this animal ; he Avas the first
that resigued his neck to the plough, that extended the
prospects, and multiplied or enlarged the comforts of
the rising nations. So early as the days of Job, who
Avas probably the contemporary of Isaac, " the oxen
were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,"
when the Sabeans fell upon them and took them away.f
In times long posterior, Avhen Elijah was commissioned
to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, prophet in his
stead, he found him ploughing with twelve yoke of
oxen. J For many ages, the hopes of oriental husband
men depended entirely on their labours ; this was so
much the case in the time of Solomon, that he observes
in one of his proverbs, " Where no oxen are, the crib
is clean, or rather empty ; but much increase is by the
* Hos. x. 11. | Job. i 14. $ 1 Kings xix. 19.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 449
strength of the ox."* The ass, in the course of ages,
was compelled to bend his stubborn neck to the yoke,
aud share in his labours ; but still, the preparation of
the ground in the time of spring, chiefly depended on
the more powerful exertions of the latter. This may
be fairly inferred from the text, in which a preference,
as might be expected, is given to the ox : " The oxen
likeAvise and the young asses, that ear (or till) the
ground, shall eat clean provender." The same in
ference may be drawn from the proverb of Solomon
already quoted, in which he takes no notice of the ass,
although it is more than probable, he had been yoked
in the plough long before his reign. The superior im
portance of the ox, even in the light and sandy fields
of Syria, is clearly signified in these words of Amos :
" Shall horses run upon the rock ; will one plough there
with oxen."f
In ancient Greece, the ox was engaged in the same
labours, for Homer compares the two sons of Ajax to
two black oxen, that with equal spirit, drag the com
pact plough in the fallow, while a profuse sweat issues
from the bottom of their horns.
AXA ug e» vs/iu /3ot tivovi fl-jjxlon «f «tjc»
Ie-ov Svfjtov £^ovt£ ritaiwrM. II. b. 13. /. 703.
The Greek writers are eager to secure the honour of
taming the ox, and yoking him in the plough, to their
own nation ; but they ascribe the work to so many
gods and goddesses, heroes and great men, that it is
evident, the benefactor must be sought for among a dif
ferent people, and in a remoter age. The laws of
Moses, which prohibited his people to join in the same
yoke the ox and the ass, and the notice Avhich the
afflicted patriarch Job, who flourished long before his
time, gives us of the "oxen ploughing," clearly prove,
that the person who invented the plough and instructed
the ox, existed long before the founders of the Grecian
states. We may, Avith the page of inspiration for our
guide, trace the invention to the first descendants of
our common father, one of whom was a shepherd, and,
* Prov. xiv. 4s t Amos. vi. 12.
Vol. I. M m 2

450 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the other a cultivator of the soil. Nor is the believer
in Revelation permitted to assign the honour chiefly to
them ; he is directed to ascribe it to the Spirit of the
only wise God; "Give ye ear and hear my voice;
hearken and hear my speech. Doth the ploughman
plough all day to sow ? doth he open and break the
clods of his ground ? When he hath made plain the
face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches and
scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat,
and the appointed barley, and the rye in their place?
For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth
teach him."* By direct revelation from Heaven, or the
secret suggestion of his Spirit to the mind of Adam, or
his son Cain, they were taught to construct the plough,
and bend the pliant neck of the ox to the yoke.1 The
importance of the lesson, confirmed by their own daily
experience, they failed not to impress upon the minds of
their offspring ; and thus, one generation transmitted to
another, the valuable favour.
The ox was also compelled to submit, when the seed
time was over, to the more severe labour of dragging
the cart or the waggon. In the book of Numbers, the
princes of Israel brought their offering before the Lord,
six covered waggons and twelve oxen ; that is, six w ag-
gons each drawn by two oxen ; and in the same chapter,
Moses "gaA'e two waggons and four oxen unto the sons
of Gershon, according to their service; and four Avag-
gons and eight oxen unto the sons of Merari, according
to their service ;" that is, every waggon drawn by two
oxen.f The number of oxen commonly yoked in one
cart, seems to have been two ; for the priests and
diviners, aa horn the lords of the Philistines consulted
about the captive ark of Jehovah, advised them to make
a new cart, and yoke in it two milch kine, for the pur
pose of carrying back the dread symbol of divine
* Is xxviii, 23, 24, 25. f Numb. vii. 3, 7, 8.
1 Certainly the husbandman and all others owe all their skill to
the kindness of God. But to suppose a special revelation or sug
gestion to the mind of Adam, or of his son Cain, seems unneces
sary.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 451
majesty to the place appointed for its reception.* The
new cart, in which the king of Israel and his people
broiight it up from the house of Abinadab, seems also
to have been drawn by two oxen, although the number
is not so clearly stated, f
It appears from Homer, that oxen and mules were
the most common draught cattle in ancient Greece and
the Lesser Asia ; for the wood which formed the funeral
pile of Hector, was conveyed in waggons drawn by
oxen and mules :

oi Sutt a/Aa^rjirii B'"( Xftiaovt re

2 tvyvv/rm. II. b. 24. I. 782.
The Roman poets speak of the practice in a manner
which shews that it was common over all Italy. Thus
Ovid: " Ipsa sedens plaustro porta est invecta Capena
Sparguntur juncta flore recente boves." B. 4. Fast. v. 343.
According to Tibullus, those that first yoked the ox in
the draught, were Bacchus and Ceres :
" Illi etiam tauros primi docuisse feruntur
Servitium et plaustro supposuisse rotam." B. 2. Eleg. 1.
From the oriental regions, the custom quickly found its
way into the remotest countries of the north. The
Scythians, from time immemorial, have wandered over
their unmeasured steppes in waggons drawn by oxen,
and the ancient Sarmatians imitated their example :
" Ducunt Sarmatici barbara plaustra boves. Ovid" Trist.
This strong and docile animal, was also taught to sub
mit his shoulder to the heavy burden ; for, at the ac
cession of David to the throne of Israel, the people
brought " bread on asses and on camels, and on mules
and on oxen."J He is less fitted, indeed, by the rotun
dity of his form, for this species of labour, than for those
just mentioned, a circumstance stated by Cicero with
his usual felicity : Quid de bobus loquar, quorum ipsa
* 1 Sam. vi. 7. f 2 Sam. vi. 3, 6. +1 Chron. xii, 40.

452 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
terga declarant non esse se ad onus accipiendum figu-
rata. But although the very back of the ox, accoruing
to this elegant writer, declares that it has not been form
ed to receive a load, yet the concurring testimony of
past as;es, assures us that it is not altogether unfit tor
that purpose. iElian. in the seventh book of his his
tory, observes, that the bull submits to the bier, and
carries a boy or a girl on his neck, and a Avoman on his
bark. The Roman authors mounted Bacchus on a bull,
and made Europa travel in the same manner :
« Vexerat Europen fraterna per equora taurus :
At nunc Aleidem taurus in astra tulit "
These quotations prove, that it was by no means un
common to use the ox for burdens of every kind, and
even for the saddle ; a custom which Mr Bruce avers,
is still practised among some African tribes.
The flesh of the herd was not only used by the chosen
people, but also reckoned, when young, one of their
greatest delicacies. The patriarch Abraham accord
ingly, with ardent hospitality, entertained the angels
under the oak at Mamre with "a calf, tender and
good ;"* and the pythoness, at Endor, could think of
nothing so delicious and acceptable to set before Saul,
as a calf fattened in treading out the corn.f Nor had
the father, in the parable, a greater delicacy to set upon
the festive board, when he received his returning pro
digal, than the fatted calf.t The young of the herd,
were numbered among the blessings which Jehovah
promised to bestow upon his ransomed people, and
classed with the choicest viands: "Therefore, they
shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall
flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat
and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock
and of the herd ; and their soul shall be as a Avatered
garden ; and they shall not sorrow any more at all."$
The voluptuous nobles of Israel, in the days of Amos,
lay upon beds of ivory, and stretched themselves upon
their couches, and ate the lambs out of the flock, " aud
the calves out of the midst of the stall." || It is ob,-
* Gen. xviii. 7- t 1 Sam- xxviii. 24. * Luke. xv. 23.
$ Jer. xxxi. 12. 5 Am. vi. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 453
viously the design of the indignant prophet to inform
us, that the nobles and princes of his degenerate coun
try, indulged, without restraint, in every sensual grati
fication which luxury could suggest, and riches procure.
In times of primeval simplicity, Avhen mankind, in
general, almost constantly engaged in hazardous pur
suits, or toilsome occupations, required for their susten
ance a very large quantity of solid and nutritious food,
the full groAvn ox himself Avas forced to contribute a
principal part of every public entertainmeut. When
Adonijah seized the sceptre of Israel, he " sletv sheep
and oxen and fat cattle ; and called all his brethren, the
king's sous, and all the men of Israel, the king's ser-
A'ants :"* the son of Shaphat made a feast equally sub
stantial, when he Avas invested with the prophetic
office ;f abundance of " oxen and sheep" were provided
for the great and splendid entertainment at the corona
tion of David ; J and Avhen Jehoshaphat the king of
Judah Avent doAvn to Aisit Ahab the king of Israel at
Samaria, the latter killed sheep and oxen for him in
abundance, and for the people that Avere with him."§
This was the kind of feast in which they chiefly de
lighted ; from which they could be deterred neither by
the denunciations of divine judgement, nor the terrors of
immediate invasion : "And in that day did the Lord
God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to
baldness, and to girding Avith sackcloth ; and behold,
joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eat
ing flesh, and drinking wine."|| The same custom
seems to have, continued to the very close of their na
tional state ; for, in the parable of the marriage-feast,
the invitation runs : " Behold, I have prepared my
dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all
things are ready ; come unto the marriage."Tf In the
feasts of Homer, we discover the same substantial pre
parations ; in every entertainment, the fatted ox is the
principal article, and not unfrequently, the sole dish at
table. This remarkable coincidence in the customs of
* 1 Kings, i. 9. f Chap xix. 21. * 1 Chron. xii. 40.
§ 2 Chron. xviii. 2. || Isa- xxii. 13. 1 Matth. xxii. 4.

454 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
two nations so distant from each other, proves its gene*
ral prevalence among the people of the east.
Many of them, however, like the modern Hindoos,
abstained entirely from the use of flesh. The Egyp
tians and Phenicians, we are assured by Porphyry,
would rather have deA'oured a human victim, than
tasted the flesh of an ox. The Cyrenian and African
shepherds, if the testimony of Herodotus is entitled to
credit, refused to shed the blood of an ox, or to eat his
flesh ; and, according to iElian, if a Phrygian killed an
ox which had been yoked in the plough, he was punish
ed Avith death. The same law formerly existed in
Greece. The ox, says Varro, is the companion of men
in the labours of the field, and the minister of Ceres ;
the ancients, therefore, felt so great an interest in his
preservation, that they inflicted capital punishment on
his destroyer. The poets of Greece and Rome con
tend, that in the golden and silver ages, when mankind
lived agreeably to nature, in simplicity and innocence,
they refused to stain their hands with a bullock's blood ;
and that this nefarious practice entered Avith the brazen,
or, according to some, with the iron age, when de
generate man, become cruel and voracious, gave way to
every vicious propensity.
" Ante etiam sceptrum Dictsei regis et ante
Impia quam csesis gens est epulata juvencis." 2 Geor. I. 536.
But so inconsistent are the conduct and sentiments of
these renowned heathens, that Avhile, like the Hindoos
of modern times, they shuddered at the thought of spil
ling the blood or tasting the flesh of a bullock, like
them too, they reckoned it no crime in most cases, to
shed the blood of a fellow creature ; they felt no reluc
tance to sacrifice the life, of a neighbour in private
revenge, or in public sacrifice, nor to light up the flames
of Avar, and riot in the carnage of battle. But to these
mawkish refinements of heathen sages and poets, we
have to oppose the example of Abraham, Elisha,
Josiah, and a multitude of others^ equally venerable for
their wisdom and their holiness. But what is infinitely

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 455
more, we have to oppose the express grant of Jehovah
himself, who made, and who graciously takes care of
oxen : " Every moving thing," said he to Noah, " shall
be meat for you ; even as the green herb, have I given
you all things."* This grant was long afterwards con
firmed to Israel in the wilderness in these terms :
" These are the beasts which ye shall eat ; the ox, the
sheep, and the goat."f The. products of the diary are
scarcely less valuable ; but these are so well known,
and the texts of Scripture which allude to them so
perspicuous, as to render any remarks upon them un
necessary.
The Sheep.
The Syrian sheep are of ttvo kinds ; the Bedouin,
which differ in no respect from the larger kind of sheep
in Britain, except that their tails are somewhat longer
and thicker ; the other is a kind often mentioned by
travellers, on account of their extraordinary tails, which
are very broad and large, terminating in a small ap
pendix, which turns back upon them. These tails are
of a substance betAveen fat and marrow, and are not
eaten separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many
of the Syrian dishes ; they are also frequently used in
stead of butter. A common sheep of this kind (with
out the head, feet, skin, and entrails,) weighs sixty or
seventy English pounds, of which the tail usually
weighs fifteen pounds and upwards. J This species is
far the most numerous, both in Syria and in Palestine,
and was probably the kind which bled on the Jewish
altars. The extraordinary size and deliciousness of
their tails give additional importance to the law in
which Moses commands, that when a sacrifice of peace
offerings should be made by fire unto the Lord, the fat
Avhich was reserved as sacred to God, and particularly
the whole rump or tail taken off hard by the back bone,
should be burnt upon the altar.§ To command, by an
express law, the tail of a British sheep to be offered in
sacrifice to God, might well surprise us ; but the Avonder
* Gen ix. 3. f Deut. xiv. 4.
* Russel's Hiat. of Aleppo. §. Lev. iii. 9.

456 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ceases Avhen we are told of those broad tailed eastern
sheep, and the extreme delicacy of that part which was
so particularly specified in the statute.*
In a wild state, or when suffered to rove undisturbed
in extensive pastures, the sheep is a robust and active
animal, and capable of enduring, without injury, great
fatigue. His talents, it must be admitted, are not so
brilliant as those of some other quadrupeds ; but he
does not appear to be that stupid, defenceless, timid
creature, which Buffon represents him in his elaborate
pages. It has been justly observed, that all tame ani
mals lose a portion of that sagacity, dexterity, and
courage, Avhich they are obliged to exert against their
enemies in a wild state, because they have long been
accustomed to rely upon the, protection of man. Sheep,
Avhen enslaved by men, tremble at the A'oice of the
shepherd or his dog. But on those extensive moun
tains, where they are allowed to range almost Avithout
control, and where they seldom depend on the shep
herd's aid, they display a A'ery different character :
animated by a spirit of liberty and independence, a
ram, or a wedder, in this situation, boldly attacks a
single dog, and often comes off A'ictorious. But when
the danger is more alarming, like a Avarlike animal of
a higher order, they trust not to the prowess of indi
viduals, but have recourse to the collected strength and
energy of the Avhole flock. On such occasions, they
draAv up into one compact body ; they place the young
and the females in the centre ; and the strongest males
take the foremost ranks, keeping close by the side of
one another. Thus an armed front is presented on all
quarters, and in this manner they wait with firmness
and intrepidity the approach of the foe. Nor does their
courage fail them in the moment of attack ; for if the
aggressor advance Avithin a feAv yards of the line, the
rams dart upon him with irresistible impetuosity, and
either lay him dead at their feet, or put him to instant
flight. Against the attacks of single dogs or foxes, they
are, in this situation, perfectly secure. A ram, regard
less of danger, often engages a bull, and seldom fails
* Harm. vol. iii. 329.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 457
to conquer him ; for the bull, by loAvering his head,
Avithout being sensible of his defenceless condition,
receives between his horns the stroke of his adversary,
Avhich commonly brings him to the ground. The ram,
therefore, is not so contemptible an enemy as inaccurate
observers are apt to suppose. The account of his sa
gacity, firmness, and courage in the hour of danger,
which has been now given, entirely justifies the inspired
writers in comparing the rich and the powerful to the
rams of the flock. When the prophet Ezekiel says in
the name of the Lord : " Behold, I judge between cat
tle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats," he
intimates that the great men, by extortion and oppres
sion, impoverished their neighbours, left them almost
Avithout subsistence, and were so vexatious to them,
that they could not enjoy, Avith satisfaction, the little
they were suffered to retain. Their oppressors were
strong, and courageous, and impetuous, as the rams
before the flock in the hour of danger ; but it was not
for the defence of the weak and helpless, but for their
own aggrandizement, and the gratification of their own
Ioav and vicious propensities. The prophet alludes to
the flock, in his figurative description of the vengeance
which Jehovah threatened to execute on the enemies of
his church : " The sword of the Lord is filled with
blood ; it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood
of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams ;
for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great
slaughter in the land of Idumea."* The lambs and
the goats, or the great body of the people, and the rams,
by which the prophet means their princes and rulers,
shall fall in the day of the Lord's anger, by one indis
criminate slaughter. " The great men and the mighty
men, and the chief captains," shall become as easy a
prey as the weakest and the most helpless of the com
munity ; " for who may abide the day of his coming ;
and who shall stand when he doth this ?"
This animal, although generally simple and harm
less, becomes, in a rich pasture, so petulant, as to oc
casion considerable inconvenience, and even danger, to
* Isa. xxxiv, 6.
Vol. I. Nn2

458 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
man and some other creatures. The ram, in particular,
loves to strike with his horn ; and many are the Avarn-
ings in the strains of Grecian and Roman poets to be
ware of his attack. The vision of the ram, therefore,
in the book of Daniel, perfectly accords Avith the cha
racter of that animal, which is no mean emblem of a
warlike state. The prophet begins with a description
of his form and position : " Then I lifted up mine eyes
and saAv, and behold there stood before the river a ram
which had two horns, and the two horns were high ; but
one was higher than the other, and the higher came up
last." The strength, activity, and courage of the ram
are then brought within our vieAV : " I saw the ram
pushing westward, and northward, and southward?
so that no beasts might stand before him : neither was
there any that could deliver out of his hand ; but he
did according to his will and became great."* The
two horns were the kingdoms of Media and Persia ; of
which the latter, although of more recent date, Avas by
far the most poAverful and celebrated. The symbolical
ram was seen pushing westward, in the direction of
Babylon, Syria, and Greece ; northward, in the direc
tion of the Lydians, Armenians, and Scythians ; and
southwards, in the direction of Arabia, Ethiopia, and
Egypt. On all these natious did the Persian empire
at one time or other direct the force of her arms ; and
at last she became so great and powerful, that no nation
Avas able to resist he? numerous aud well appointed
armies. Her victorious banners floated on the banks of
the Indus and the Nile, and more than once carried de
solation and dismay into the heart of Greece itself.
The kings of Persia "did according to their will:"
they prospered in all their undertakings, and abroad
and at home governed their prostrate subjects Avith ab
solute authority. None could escape the grasp of their
poAver ; none could save from destruction the victim of
their displeasure. The extent of their dominions, the
number of their subjects, the riches of their treasury,
and the splendour of their court, had seldom been?
equalled ; certainly never surpassed.
* Dan. viii. 3, 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 459
But, like every thing human, this mighty empire
completed the term of its duration, and passed away.
Bending under its own weight, and enervated by luxury,
it fell an easy prey to the king of Macedon, who is re
presented in the next verse by the he-goat, than which
a more appropriate emblem is not to be found in the
kingdom of nature. " The goat is superior to the sheep
both in sentiment and dexterity ; he is stronger, lighter,
and more agile than the ram ; he is sprightly, caprici
ous, and given to wander ; and it is with difficulty he
can be confined to a flock. He loves to retire into soli
tude, to climb steep aud rugged places, to stand, even
to sleep, on the points of rocks, and the edges of the
most frightful precipices. He is robust, and easily
nourished ; for he eats almost every herb, and is in
jured by a very inconsiderable number. Though he
seems to feel the effects of severe cold, he is not afraid
of rain, or storms, or too great a degree of heat; he
cheerfully exposes himself to the sun, and without in
convenience sleeps under its most ardent rays. But he
is inconstant in his passions, and irregular in his ac
tions. He walks, stops short, runs, leaps, approaches,
retires, shews and conceals himself, or flies off as if he
were actuated by mere caprice, and without any other
cause than what arises from an eccentric vivacity of
temper. The suppleness of his organs, and the strength
and nervousness of his frame, are hardly sufficient to
support the petulance and rapidity of his natural move
ments." Such is the character of the he- goat, as de
lineated by the masterly hand of Buffon ; and every
one that recollects the history of the Macedonian hero,
will at once see that it applies to his character and ac
tions with admirable precision. It indicates with great
justness the ardour, the activity, the patience, the for
titude, and the daring intrepidity of Alexander ; the
wild eccentricity of his temper, his delight in hazardous
enterprize, and the amazing rapidity of his movements.
The prophet goes on : " And as I was considering the
character and actions of the ram, behold, an he-goat
came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and
touched not the ground ; and the goat had a notable

460 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
horn between his eyes, and I saw him come close unto
the ram ; and he was moved with choler against him,
and smote the ram, and brake his two horns, and there
was no pow er in the ram to stand before him ; but he
cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him,
and there was none that could deliver the ram out of
his hand."
The surprising fecundity of the sheep has been cele
brated by Avriters of every class. It has not escaped
the notice of the royal Psalmist, who in a beautiful as
cription of praise, to the living and the true God, en
treats, that the sheep of his chosen people might " bring
forth thousands and ten thousands in their streets."*
In another song of Zion, he represents, by a very elegant
metaphor, the numerous flocks, covering like a garment
the face of the field : " The pastures are clothed with
flocks ; the valleys also are covered over Avith corn ;
they shout for joy, they also sing."f The bold figure
is fully warranted by the prodigious numbers of sheep
which whitened the extensive pastures of Syria and
Canaan. In that part of Arabia Ayhich borders on
Judea, the patriarch Job possessed at first seA'en thou
sand, and after the return of his prosperity, fourteen
thousand sheep ; and Mesha, the king of Moab, paid
the king of Israel " a yearly tribute of an hundred
thousand lambs, and an equal number of rams Avith the
wool." J In the war which the. tribe of Reuben waged
with the Hagarites, the former drove away " two hun
dred and fifty thousand sheep."§ At the dedication of
the temple, Solomon offered in sacrifice, "an hundred
and twenty thousand sheep." At the feast of the pass-
over, Josiah the king of Judah, "gave to the people, of
the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings,
for all that were present, to the number of thirty thou
sand, and three thousand bullocks ; these were of the
king's substance. "|| The ewe brings forth her young
commonly once a year, and in more ungenial climes,
seldom more than one lamb at a time. But in the
oriental regions, twin lambs are as frequent as they are
* Ps. cxliv 13. t Ps- lxv- 13- * 2 Kings, iii. 4.
§ 1 Chron. v. 21. |) 2 Chron. xxxv. 7.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 461
rare in other places ; which accounts in a satisfactory
manner, for the prodigious numbers Avhich the Syrian
shepherd led to the mountains.
" Quam dives-pecoris nevei, quam lactis abundans." Fir. Eel. 2. /. 21.
" Hoav rich in suoavv flocks, how abounding in milk."
This uncommon fruitfulness, seems to be intimated by
Solomon in his address to the spouse : " Thy teith are
like a flock of sheep that are even shorn,' which come
up from the Avashing ; Avhereof every one bear twins,
and none is barren among them."*
It ought not to be omitted, that the eAve has been
knoAvn to bring forth twice in the year; and Homer
affirms, that in Lybia she produces three times a year.
«¦£<{ yttg vix.-rti ftijAa TfAesipsgoj tig evitvrw. Odys. b. 4.
But since the time of her gestation is five months, the
assertion of that immortal bard cannot be true. Twin
lambs appear to have been quite common in Italy, if
credit may be given to Virgil.
" Bis gravidas pecudes, bis pomis utilis arbos." 2 Gear. I. ISO.
The flocks which ranged the fertile pastures of Meso
potamia, seem also to have generally produced twins
every year. Laban who lived in that country, is said
to have changed the wages of Jacob ten times in the
space of six years ; but since the wages of Jacob con
sisted of the lambs and the kids, they could not have
been changed more than six times in six years, if his
flock had brought forth only once a year. Should it be
thought that, according to this rule, the wages of Jacob
must have been changed tAveh'e times, let it be remem
bered, that the flocks of Laban had brought forth their
first lambs before the bargain was concluded betAveen
him and Jacob, and by consequence, the latter had only
the lambs of one yeaning that year; and again, the
flocks had yeaned only once in the last year of his
abode with Laban, because he was compelled to leave
the service of his envious relative, before the close of
* Song. iv. 2.

462 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the season, and consequently, before the second yean
ing. Thus the flocks yeaned only ten times from the
date of their agreement, till the departure of Jacob to
his own country. Or, we may consider the phrase " ten
times," as a definite for an indefinite number ; in which
sense it is often used by the sacred writers. Thus,
Jehovah complains of his ancient people whom he had
brought out of Egypt, that they had tempted him " now
these ten times," that is, many times, " and had not
hearkened to his voice."* Job uses it in the same
sense : " These ten times have ye reproached me,"
that is, ye haA'e often reproached me.f In the same
manner, when Jacob complained that Laban had chang
ed his wages ten times, be might only mean that he had
done so frequently. Had we therefore no stronger
proof, that the sheep of Laban yeaned tAvice in the year,
the fact might seem to rest merely on the state of the
flocks in the adjacent regions, which it cannot be doubt
ed, generally yeaned twins, and for the most part twice
iii the year. A stronger proof, therefore, may be drawn
from these words : " And it came to pass, whensoever
the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the
rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that
they might conceiAe among the rods. But when the
cattle were feeble, he put them not in ; so the feebler
were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's." J Tavo yean-
ings are supposed to be suggested in this passage, by
the terms stronger and feebler ; the lambs of the first
were always stronger than those of the second ; and
consequently, they fell to Jacob by the special bounty
of Heaven, causing the cattle, not by any law of nature,
but by an act of Almighty power, to conceive among the
rods, the use of which Avas merely the test of Jacob's
faith in the divine promise. This is eA'ident, by the
sense in which the Syriac interpreter, and the Chaldee
Paraphrast understood the text ; for, instead of the term
" feebler," they use the word " later," rendering the
clause, so the later Avere Laban's. Jerome, Aquila,
^and other expositors, interpret the clause in the same
manner. Kimchi, and other Jewish Avriters, often
* Numb, xiv. 22. t J°b. six. 3. $ Gen.xxx. 41, 4-2.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 463
speak of the first and second yeanings ; referring the
former to the month Nisan, which corresponds to our
March ; and the latter to the month Tisri, which nearly
corresponds to September; and they assert, that the
lambs of the first yeaning are called b,*i1i keshorim, or
bound, because, they had a more compact body ; and
those of the second, q,b»», Aetophim, or deficient, be
cause they tvere feebler. The autumnal lambs, how
ever, were preferred by many to the vernal, and the
winter to the summer limbs,* as being more vigorous
and healthy. But it must be confessed, that no certain
trace of two yeanings in the year can be discovered in
the sacred volume. The fact is attested by many com
mon authors, and seems necessary to account for the
rapid increase of oriental stock, and the prodigious
numbers of which the Syrian flocks consisted. The
words of Moses may refer, aj least with equal proba
bility, to the vigorous and healthy constitution of the
ewes which Jacob selected for his purpose ; and signify,
that robust mothers produced robust lambs, and feeble
mothers a weak and spiritless offspring. Aware of the
advantages of a vigorous and healthy stock, especially
with a long and perilous journey before him, " Jacob
laid the rods before the eyes of the stronger ewes in the
gutters, that they might conceive among the rods ; but
Avhen the cattle Avere feeble, he put them not in ; so the
feebler Avere Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's."
No animal is more gay and playful than the lamb.
In a few days after its birth, which are spent in repose,
it begins to discover the sportiveness of its disposition,
in a variety of harmless and cheerful gambols. These
baA'e not escaped the notice even of inspired writers,
but have furnished them with many beautiful and strik
ing allusions. The trembling of the earth, and the,
reeling of the mountains, at the presence of Jehovah
their creator, have been compared to the frisking of a
lamb, in that sublime ode in which the royal Psalmist
describes the ntajesty of God, and the corresponding
fear of his people : " What ailed you, ye mountains,
that ye skipped like rams ; and ye little hills like
* Pliny b. 8. eb. 47.

161 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
lambs ?" The holy Psalmist expressed in the presence
of all Israel, the joy and exultation of his heart, when
he brought home the ark, dancing before the Lord with
all his might ; or as the words may be rendered, leaping
as a lamb.
The sheep naturally delights in a mountainous coun
try. Theocritus observes, the sheep feed ou the moun
tains :

And in Virgil, the shepherd sings :
" Mille meae Siculis errant in montibus agnae." Ec. 2. /. 21.
" A thousand ewes of mine wander on the Sicilian
mountains." To this characteristic inclination of the flock, the
sacred writers have more than once alluded. Thus,
when Moses tended the iocks of Jethro, bis father-in-
laAV, the priest of Midian, he "led them to the back
side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God,
even to Horeb."* The prophet, in a later age, com
pares the return of Israel from the land of their capti-
A'ity, under the mighty protection of Jehovah, to the
return of a flock, after long absence, to their native
mountains : "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, in
the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered ;
so Avill I seek out my sheep, aud will deliver them out
of all places Avhere they have been scattered, in the
cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from
the people, and gather them from the countries, and
will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon
the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the in
habited places of the country "f
On any alarm, they forsake their pastures, and run
together into one close compacted group :
'A* /ui? t aj.^'"'"' l7T a^AjjAjjo-i xs^MTai. Iliad b. 5. /. 141.
To this circumstance, the prophet undoubtedly refers,
when in the name of Jehovah, he warned his people of
the time, Avhen, terrified by the invasion of hostile
* Exod. iii. 1. f Ezek. xxxiv. 12.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 465
armies, and the cruel devastation of their country, they
should seek for safety in their cities, as the flocks of
Bozrah in their fold, from the attack of the wolf or the
lion ; " I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee ; I
will surely gather the remnant of Israel : I will put
them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in
the midst of their fold : they shall make great noise, be
cause of the multitude of men."*
This useful and harmless animal is neither distin
guished for its sagacity, its strength, nor its swiftness;
it is, therefore, exposed to the attacks of many enemies ;
and when deserted by the keeper, no domestic animal
is more helpless and wretched. To the misery of this
destitute condition, the sacred Avriters frequently allude ;
and among the HebreAvs, it seems to have become a
proverb. The passages in which the allusion occurs,
are too numerous to be quoted ; the following instances
may suffice : " And he said, I saAV all Israel scattered
upon the hills as sheep that have not a shepherd."!
" Therefore, they went their way as a flock : they were
troubled because there was no shepherd." J " Smite
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered."^
" But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were
scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. "||
The sheep is a creature prone to wander from its ac
customed pastures ; to separate itself, although a gre
garious animal, from the flock, and ramble into distant
and dangerous solitudes. The perils to Avhich this
erratic disposition exposes it, are greatly increased by
the Avant of inclination or skill to return. To these de
fects, the Psalmist pointedly refers, in that well known
confession : " I have gone astray like a lost sheep ;
seek thy servant."Tf The prophet extends it to all
mankind : " All we like sheep have gone astray : we
have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."** This is con
firmed by the apostle : " For ye were as sheep going
• Mic. ii. 12. f 1 KinSs xxii- W* X Zech- x- 2-
$ Zech. xiii. 7. J Mat. ix. 36. U Ps. exix. 17fc
** Is.liii. 6.
Vol. I. O o 2

466 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
astray : but are hoav returned unto the shepherd and
bishop of your souls."* Such is the true character of
all mankind ; prone to wander from God, their only
proper rest, disinclined to return, without knowledge to
discern, or wisdom to secure the true interests of their
immortal souls, till in the day of power the mind is
illumined from above.
The Goat.
Two kinds of goats wander in the pastures of Syria
and Canaan ; one that differs little from the common
sort in Britain ; the other remarkable for the largeness
of its ears. The size of this variety is somewhat larger
than ours ; but their ears are often a foot long, and
broad in proportion. The Syrians keep them chiefly
for their milk, of which they yield a considerable quan
tity.! The present race of goats in the vicinity of
Jerusalem, are of this broad eared species. To this
kind of goat, so different from the common breed, it is
probable the prophet refers : " As the shepherd taketh
out of the mouth of the lion, two legs or a piece of an
ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out, that
dwell in Samaria and in Damascus.":): It is indeed the
intention of the prophet, to express how few of his peo
ple escaped from the overthrow of their country, and
were settled in foreign parts ; but it would have been
hardly natural to suppose, that a shepherd would exert
himself to make a lion quit a piece of an ear, only of a
common goat; it must therefore be supposed to refer to
the long eared kind. Rauwolff observed goats on the
mountains around Jerusalem, with pendant ears, almost
two feet long.
Goats are chiefly kept in the east for their milk, of
which they yield a considerable quantity. When they
are suffered to rove at large, and to browse on the herbs
and leaves which are agreeable to their taste, their
milk is sweet and well tasted ; while the milk of cows,,
from their being fed with the refuse of the gardens, is
at Aleppo and other great cities, very unpalatable.
This circumstance discoAers a force and beauty in the-
* 1 Pet ii. 22. f Russel's Hist, of Aleppo. t Amos. iii. 12.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 467
promise of Solomon, to the diligent husbandman, which
has been generally overlooked : f( Be thou diligent to
know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds,
aud thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food,
for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance
ef thy maidens."*
" The high hills," said David, " are a refuge for the
wild goats-"-)- The disposition of this fearless and
sure-footed creature, to scale the steepest cliffs, to
traverse the shelvings of the most frightful precipices,
which the foot of man or other animal has never trod
den, to occupy the loftiest and most inaccessible crags,
to dance on their smallest projections, where it has
scarcely room to set down its foot, is well known to
every observer of Nature, and furnishes the inspired
writer with that beautiful allusion : '< Then Saul Avent
to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wj!4
goats."J No toils, no perils could restrain the pursuit
of that jealous and cruel monarch ; or shake his reso
lution to shed the blood of bis unoffending relation.
Sheep and goats frequently mingle in the same pas
tures ; and on these occasions, the he-goats always take
the lead. To this habit, the prophet alludes in his
exhortation to Israel : " Remove out of the midst of
Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans,
and be as the he-goats before the flocks."^
The hair of the goat is manufactured into stuffs of
different kinds in the oriental regions. The tabernacle
of Moses was covered with curtains of goats' hair, spun
by the women of Israel in the wilderness.|| In the
Song of Solomon, the hair of the spouse is compared
to a flock of goats from mount Gilead ;1f that is, the
hair of a flock of goats, which, in some species, grows
very long, and is shorn like the wool of sheep :
" Nee minus interia barbas, incanaque mentjr
Cinyphji tondent hirci, setasque coma.ntes,
XJsum in castrorum et miseris velamiae nautjs."
Geor.b. 3,1. 311.
The celebrated author of Theran and Aspasio, gives
* Prov. xxvii. 23, 27. f Psa. civ. 18. % 1 Sam. xxiv. 2. § Jer. 1. ,8.
(J Exod. xxvi. 7. and xxxv. 2$. !([ Song iy. L

468 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the allusion a different turn. The amiablcness of the
church in the exemplary conversation of true believers,
' is displayed by a copious growth of bair, which flows
down from the parted forelock in decent curls. Thy
hair is as a flock of goats, that are seen afar off, and
appear in a pendant attitude, from the summit of mount
Gilead ; most agreeably adorning the place, and detain
ing the spectator's eye. This exposition takes in a cir
cumstance which corresponds Atith the pensile position
of the hair ; renders the comparison more full and exact ;
and is, according to the observation ofa most accurate
judge, one of the chief remarkables in such a prospect :
" Non ego vos posthac, viride projectus in antro,
Dumosa pendere procul de rupe videbo." Vir.
Goats' hair is of two kinds ; the one long and coarse, is
used in the manufacture of tent curtains, sails, and other
fabrics of the same kind ; the other is much finer ;
it grows under the coarse hair, and has received the dis
tinguishing name of goats' wool.
" Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina." Hor.
It is fabricated into stuffs, which, according to the
ancients, almost equal silk in fineness. Hence, it is
easy to perceive the reason that Michal, the daughter
of Saul, placed a pillow of goats' hair for a bolster to
the image in the bed of David, that it might in some
degree represent his hair; for it has been asserted, that
human hair in the regions of the east, very much re
sembles the hair of goats : hence, those who were bald,
sometimes endeavoured to conceal the defect, by cover
ing their heads with the skin of a kid. In this man
ner, Rebekah disguised the neck and hands of Jacob,
that his father might take him for Esau, who was by the
testimony of the inspired writer, "a hairy man."
Goats' milk has been long in use for medicinal pur
poses among almost every nation, and in many places it
is the common food of the inhabitants. This may be
inferred from these words of Solomon : " And thou
shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food
of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 469
maidens."* The ox, says Jerome, was made for
ploughing, the horse for riding, the dog for Avatching,
the she-goat for milk, and the sheep for wool. Galen
mentions the milk of that animal as the common food of
the peasant; and Varro makes the same remark.
The sacred writers frequently allude to the kid ; and
the term which they employ uniformly signifies a young
goat. Some writers contend that ,-lJ denotes also a
lamb ; but no instance of this meaning occurs in the
Scriptures, nor in any Syrian or Arabian author ; the
opinion of Kiinchi, and other Rabbiunical writers, there
fore, is unsupported by any proof, and consequently is
entitled to no regard.
In the Holy Scriptures, the term OiJ) Gedi is very
often connected with (cr-iyn,) Haizim ; and the phrase is
rendered, in our translation, kid of the goats. Thus
Rebekah commanded her son Jacob, " Go now to the
flock, and fetch me from thence two kids of the. goats ;f
and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such
as he loveth." This phrase is not used Avith the view
of distinguishing a young goat from a lamb ; for it has
been just observed, that the original term is never em
ployed to denote a lamb, but to signify a very young
kid that still requires the dug and the watchful care of
its mother. The celebrated Bochart is not entirely
satisfied with this reason, because, in several parts of
Scripture, he found the phrases ==,'y ^w. Sheir Izim, and
emy -vim, Tsephir Izim, a male of the goats, which cannot
be understood of a kid, because, in Daniel, it is describ
ed as full grown, armed with horns, engaging in com
bat with the ram, casting him down to the ground, and
stamping upon him Avith his feet; which by no means
agrees with the tender age of a kid. But the original
phrases are not the same ; the term which, in the book
of Daniel, is rendered he-goat, signifies, in general, a
rough shaggy animal, and is, therefore, placed in that
construction, to determine what particular creature is
intended. By a kid of the goats, then, is meant one of
a tender age, or that is still suckled by the dam.
The village of Engedi, situate in the neighbourhood
* Prov. xxvii. 27. f Gen. xxvii. 9.

470 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of Jericho, deriA'es its name from the Hebrew word (vt-)
Ain, a fountain, and (,-" a kid. It is suggested by the
situation among lofty rocks, which, overhanging the
valleys, seem to threaten the traveller with immediate
destruction. A fountain of pure water rises near the
summit, Avhich the inhabitants call Engedi, the fountain
of the goat, because it is hardly accessible to any other
creature. Among the Hebrews, the kid Avas reckoned a great
delicacy. Hence, when Isaac sent his son Esau to pro-
cure him savoury meat, such as he loved, Rebekah pre
pared for him two kids of the goats, dressed, no doubt,
in various Avays, and with different sauces, that the aged
patriarch might choose what was most agreeable to his
taste. In the same manner, Gideon, the chief magis
trate of Israel, and Manoah, the father of Samson, en
tertained the angel of the Lord, Avho appeared to them
in human form, and Avas regarded by them as a person
of their own order. The patriarch Judah sent a kid to
Thamar, his daughter-in-latv ; and Jesse, the father of
David, reckoned it a present not unAAorthy of a king;
for he ''took an ass laden Avith bread, and a bottle of
wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto
Saul."* These instances sheAvin what light Ave are to
consider the complaint made by the elder brother of the
prodigal son in the parable, that his father had never
given him a kid to entertain his friends ; although he
had not suffered him to want the usual comforts of life,
he had never enabled him to treat them Avith so great a
delicacy. The Jewish legislator three times forbids his people
to " seethe a kid in his mother's milk." The meaning
of this law has been greatly disputed, although the terms
in which it is couched, are sufficiently clear and precise.
It is the opinion of some writers, that the prohibition
refers to a kid in the womb of its mother, which in that
state is nourished only Avith milk ; but the opinion of
Clemens, that the people of Israel had been in the prac
tice of eating the foetus of a goat, which this precept
was intended to prohibit, is supported by no proof.
• 1 Sam. xvi. 20.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 471
The disgusting custom of eating the foetus of a soav, is
indeed mentioned by Plutarch ; but we haA'e no proof
that it was known to epicures in the times of Moses.
Other expositors imagine, that the Jews were by this
precept forbidden to take away the life of a kid, before
it was eight days old, when, according to them, it may
subsist without the aid of its mother's milk. This ex
position is supposed to be confirmed by another precept :
" When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat is brought
forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam ; and
from the eighth day, and thenceforth, it shall be ac
cepted for an offering made by fire uuto the Lord."*
But since the law, which prohibited the people of Israel
to offer in sacrifice "the young of the herd, or of the
flock," before the eighth day, is immediately subjoined
to the precept concerning the oblation of the first ripe
fruits, and the first born, in the twenty-second chapter
of Exodus ; so, in the twenty-third and thirty-fourth
chapters, the law which forbids to seethe a kid in his
mother's milk, follows the same precept ; and by con
sequence, not only the sacred, but also the common use
of the kid, is prohibited before the eighth day. Such
is the opinion, and the reasoning by which it is sup
ported ; but it must be evident to eA'ery reader, that a
kid is as much in his mother's milk all the time he is
suckled, as during the first eight days ; nor can any
reason be imagined, why he may not be said to be in
his mother's milk on the seventh day from his birth,
rather than on the eighth or the ninth.
Others are of opinion, that, according to this precept,
a sucking kid was at no time to be slain, either for
sacred or common use. The she-goat suckles her young
about three months ; and till this period, it was not to
be subjected to the sacrificing knife. But it is very im
probable, that the Jews Avere forbidden the use of a kid
for so long a time ; for that Avhich the law permits to
be offered in sacrifice to God, may surely be eaten by
his people. Nor was any species of food prohibited
by the law, but for ceremonial impurity. But that can-
hot be reckoned legally unclean, which the law per-
* Lev. xxii. 27.

472 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
mits to be offered in sacrifice at the altar. He permit
ted a sucking kid or lamb, to be offered on the eighth
day; a sure proof they were not reckoned unclean,
while they remained under the dam. The prophet
Samuel offered a sucking lamb as a burnt-offering to
the Lord, on a day of public humiliation ; and God
condescended to give them a strong proof of his ac
ceptance, in utterly discomfiting their enemies, by a
furious tempest of thunder and lightning.* If, there
fore, a sucking kid might be offered in sacrifice to God,
it might surely be eaten by his people.
Nor is their opinion more tenable, who say, that by
this law the dam and her suckling were not to be slain
at the same time. To cherish kind and humane feel
ings amoug the chosen seed, Jehovah forbid them to
kill a cow, a sheep, or a goat, on the same day aa ith
their young ; but the precept under consideration can
not naturally bear such a meaning. Had this been the
design of Moses, why did he not say in plain terms,
Thou shalt not seethe a kid and his mother at the same
time ? He must, therefore, have meant what the words
naturally suggest, that a kid is not to be seethed in the
milk of his mother. The barbarous custom to Avhich
the lawgiver alludes, probably existed in some neigh
bouring countries, and particularly in Egypt, from
whose iron yoke they had just been delivered ; either
because the flesh dressed in this manner was more ten
der and juicy, than Avhen roasted with fire, or boiled in
water ; or, Avhich is more probable, Avhile at the feast of
ingathering,, they gave thanks to God for the mercies
they had received, and expressed their dependance upon
him for future blessings, they were not to expect his
favour by imtating the superstitious rites of the heathens,
among whom they had lived so long, Avho at the end of
their harvest seethed a kid in his mother's milk, and
sprinkled the broth in a magical way upon their gardens
and fields, to render them more fruitful next season.
The goat was one of these clean beasts, which, under
the law, prefigured the Saviour of sinners. The Pas
chal lamb was a type of Christ dying for the sins of his
* 1 Sam. 7. 9.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 473
people; but the goat had the honour of prefiguring
both his death and resurrection. On the day of expia
tion, the high priest received from the congregation two
he-goats, and presented them before the Lord, at the
door of the tabernacle. He then cast lots upon the two
goats: " one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the
scape-goat;" or, to determine Avhich of them should be
offered in sacrifice, and which conducted into the Avil-
derness. The Greek interpreters call the scape-goat a
defender from evils, the name which the heathens gave
to their tutelar gods; because he bore away into the
desert the sins of the congregation, which in solemn
confession had been laid upon him, and all the evils
tvhich folloAved in their train. As the same animal
could not prefigure both the death and resurrectiou of
the Redeemer, two were selected on this occasion; of
which the one Avas by lot offered in sacrifice, as a type
of the death of Christ, while the other was preserved
alive, and let loose in the Avilderness, to denote his fu
ture resurrection.
The Dog.
The watchful guardian of the flock, is next entitled
to our consideration. Independent of his beautiful
figure, his strength, his vivacity, his agility, he pos
sesses every internal excellence, which in a lower ani
mal can attract the favourable regard of man. A
passionate, and even a ferocious and sanguinary temper,
renders the wild dog formidable to all animals; but in
the domestic state, it gradually disappears, and is suc
ceeded by the amiable sentiments of attachment, and
the desire of pleasing. So tractable is his disposition,
and so diversified his talents, that the art of training
the dog seems to have been among the first invented by
man ; and, says Buffon, the result of this art was the
conquest and peaceable possession of the earth. With
out his assistance, how could man have conquered,
tamed and reduced the other animals into bondage?
How could he still discover, hunt down, and destroy
noxious and saA'age beasts ? The dog, therefore, is ne
cessary to the safety of man, and to his dominion over
Vol. I. P p 2

474 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the lower animals. So convinced were the first gene
rations of men of the necessity and importance of his
services, that they sometimes gave his name to their
Children. Among the Arabians, a man is occasionally
called Celb, and a woman Celba; both of which are de
rived from the Hebrew root (aSa) Celeb, a dog. A
prince of Judah bore the name of Caleb, or the dog ;
and from the same root, the royal Psalmist gave one of
his sons the name of Cileab. These are incontestible
proofs, how greatly the dog Avas valued among the
shepherd kings anil people of the east. The patriarch
Job refers so familiarly to the dogs of his flock, that we
must conclude that animal had been long in the service
of the shepherd, before the times in which he flourished.
Faithful and affectionate, he watches over the property
of his master ; and his voice is better heard, and more
regarded in the flock, than that of his owner. The
flocks and herds committed to his care, he conducts aud
protects with singular attention and prudence, and sel
dom employs force against them, but for the preservation
of peace and good order. But this character belongs to
him only hi a domestic state, and under strict and proper
discipline; for in a wild state, and in desert or depopu
lated countries, he differs not in his manners from the
wolf, excepting by the facility with which he may be
tamed. No animal is more susceptible of impressions, more
easily modified by moral causes, and more subject to
alterations occasioned by physical influence. In very
warm climates, he is liable to degenerate; in a few years
he loses his voice, barks no more, but makes a dismal
kind of howling noise, and in some countries, becomes
perfectly mute; he loses also the elegance of his form,
and sinks into an ugly animal Avith a sharp muzzle, long
erect ears, and a long pointed tail. This deformed and
mute creature, is of no use to man: destitute of voice, of
instinct, and activity, he is no longer qualified to take
charge of his flocks, to guard his dwelliug, or aid him
in the destruction of noxious animals. To these import
ant facts, the prophet Isaiah alludes in terms which can
not be mistaken: " His watchmen are bind; they are all

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 475
ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark;
sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are
greedy dogs, which can never have enough."* The
prophets and the priests of Israel had become so dege
nerate, that they could no longer discharge their duty ;
they were not merely unwilling, they were become inca
pable of acting a part becoming their station. The inca
pacity of a degenerate dog is physical; theirs was moral,
but in consequence of preA'ailing corruption, not less in
curable than the other. At once slothful and rapacious,
servile and overbearing, they provoked the wrath of Je
hovah, and excited the scorn or detestation of his people.
In a Avild state, dogs unite in troops to hunt the prey,
and often direct their combined attack against the
fiercest and most powerful beasts of the forest. Their
passions, even after they have submitted to the domi
nion of man, are easily inflamed ; and Avhen one opens,
the whole pack instantly join the cry, and begin the
pursuit. In this manner acted the Jews, who combined
against the life of their Saviour. The fickle and san
guinary multitude that shouted a few days before,
" Hosannah to the Son of God," joined with equal
promptitude and eagerness in the cry of their leaders,
before the tribunal of Pilate, " Crucify, him, crucify
him." To this circumstance, DaA'id in spirit, alludes
in the twenty-second psalm, where he describes the
sufferings of his Son and Lord : " Dogs have compass
ed me, the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me ;
they pierced my hands and my feet."f
The dog is naturally a beast of prey, and the food
which he prefers, is the flesh of animals. Hence, the
law of Moses commanded : " Neither shall ye eat any
flesh that is torn of beasts; ye shall cast it to the dogs."{
The sanguinary temper of this animal, is established
by many incontrovertible proofs; he licks the blood and
devours the carcasses of the slain. The dogs licked
the innocent blood of Naboth; and still following their
natural instincts, according to the prediction of Elijah,
they licked the blood of a royal murderer, and eat the
flesh of his partner in guilt.§ So fierce is their nature,
* Isa. lvi. 10. t P*a. xxii. 16. ± Exod. xxii. 31. § 1 Kings xxii. 19.

476 ILLUSTRATIONS OP SCRIPTURE.
so cruel their devastation, that in the wrath of Heaven,
they are joined with the sAvord, the ravenous bird, and
the savage beast, in executing the sentence of Divine
justice upon guilty and unrepenting nations : " and I
will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord ; the
sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of
the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and
destroy."* The complete deliverance of God's ancient
people from the power of their enemies, was in ancient
prophecy marked by the same phenomenon : " The
Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring
my people again from the depths of the sea : that thy
foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and
the tongue of thy dogs in the same."f
But this voracious animal easily accommodates him
self to other kinds of food ; the sacred Avriter accord
ingly observes, that " the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their master's table." J In a simple and un
refined state of society, they are not excluded from the
apartment and the table of their master, but share in his
comforts, as in his toils and privations. In the days of
Homer, persons in the highest ranks of society, allowed
their faithful dogs to wait around their festive boards,
and gather up the fragments of their meals. Not fewer
than nine of these animals attended at the table of
Patroclus. EviifK t£ yi atauli i-gag-f^i; xvik qrat. II. b. 23. I. 173.
In the seventeenth book of the Odyssey, he celebrates
the attention of Ulysses to his dog Argus, and puts the
following words into the mouth of his hero, when, on
his return to Ithaca, he found him lying neglected be
fore the doors of his palace :
¦ «I0* Tf TPSfffF^lf kwk aide a>v

Tiyietr, ayXair)t »• «vix« xo/*t807? nun;. Odyss. b. 17. I. 308.
Such are the dogs which are fed at the table of heroes,
which kings rear for their own pleasure. The princes
of those days, were not ashamed to carry home to their
dogs, the crumbs which fell from the table of their en-
• Jer. xv. 3. f Psa. lxviii. 22, 23. * Mat. xv. 27.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 477
tertainer, or the fragments Avhich remained after the
feast. This ancient custom, so contrary to all our ideas
of propriety, is mentioned by Homer in these lines :
'Qg 2i ot«» apQi ttixx-ra xwcg S*/t^9(V lovra
'Zaiicur' am yag rt tyt^i futihi yficcix dvfiis. C'Jyss. b. 10. /. 216.
The dogs Avatched their master Avhen he returned from
a feast, and faAvned around him ; for he always brought
them some fragments grateful to their taste. So poor
and miserable Avas the afflicted Lazarus at the rich
man's gate, that, like the dogs which came and licked
his sores, as they waited the return of their master from
the feast, he desired to eat of the crumbs which had
been reserved for them, and to receive his share with
them at the gate, from the hand of their OAvner, as he
passed into his house.
The ancients, like some modern nations, unacquainted
with the useful contrivances of these times, conveyed
their food into the mouth with their hands ; and when
they had finished their meal, cleansed their fingers with
the soft and fine, part of the bread, Avhich they called
avsna.yto.ua, ¦, this they afterwards threw to the dogs.
To these, the woman of Canaan probably refers : " The
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's
table."* 1'heir voracious appetite reconciles them to the most
impure species of food ; in allusion to which, the wise
man observes, " As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool
returns to his folly."f Even the matter of a running
sore, is not disagreeable to their taste ; for in the para
ble, the dogs came of their own accord, and licked the
sores of the poor beggar. When Avounded, their own
tongue is their physician, Avith which licking their sore,
they are restored to health.
TfffldspTit Si i%niri <rqv jxkt™ ip«fju«K0». JElian.
He has, observes an ancient writer, the native aid of a
powerful saliva.
" Ipse habet auxilium validae natale salivae." Gratius.
When he drinks, he does not take in the water with
* Mat. xv. 27. | proVi xxv;, n_

478 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
a full draught, after the manner of some other animals,
but by lapping, which the Arabians call drinking with
the tongue. The orientals often imitated the dog in his
manner of drinking ; and among the ancient people of
God, the practice seems to have been very common. By
this custom, Jehovah, tried the forces of Gideon : " And
the Lord said unto Gideon, EAery one that lappeth of
the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt
thou set by himself; likewise every one that bovreth
doAvn upon his knees to drink."* The people Avho
lapped as a dog, standing on their feet, and taking up
the water from the river with their hand, evinced an
alacrity and fortitude, Avhich eminently fitted them for
the approaching contest ; while those Avho bowed down
upon their kness, and inclined their whole body to drink,
betrayed a lazy and slothful disposition, unbecoming
the character ofa warrior, and ill adapted to the nature
of the service for which they were levied.
Many cities in Syria, and other parts of the east, are
crowded with dogs, which belong to no particular per
son, and by consequence, have none to feed them, but
get their food in the streets, and about the markets. f
These allusions are clearly involved in the prayer of
the royal Psalmist for deliAerance from his enemies :
" And at evening let them return ; and let them make
a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let
them wander up and doAvn for meat, and grudge if they
be not satisfied.''^
The vicious dispositions and habits of this animal,
are not less numerous and important, than the valuable
qualities for which he has been so greatly celebrated.
His insatiable voracity has been proverbial in all ages ;
so gross are his inclinations, that they will not bear to
be described, but we may form some idea of them from
his greedily devouring his oAvn vomit. So wrathful,
and even truculent, is his disposition, that he often
seizes upon a stranger Avithout any provocation ; so
frequent and dangerous are his attacks, that the traveller
is reduced to the necessity of arming himself with a
staff in defence of his person. To this well knoAvn cir-
* Judges vii. 5. t Kissel's Hist. * Psa. lix. 14, 15.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 479
xumstance, Goliah indignantly refers in his invective to
David : " Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with
staA'es?" But if the dog is prompted by an irresistible
propensity to attack the passing stranger, his for
bearance toward the many thousands of Israel, when
they took their departure from the land of Egypt, must
be ascribed to the miraculous interposition of Divine
providence, for on that memorable occasion, not a dog
moved his tongue against any of that people.
His irritable disposition is the foundation of that
beautiful proverb : " He that passeth by and meddleth
with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh
a dog by the ears."* He Avantonly exposes himself to
immediate danger, which he can neither resist nor avoid.
No animal, says the celebrated Scaliger, is more un
civil than the dog ; for in the largest buildings, tAvo of
them can scarcely live peaceably together. Envious
and inhospitable, he refuses to associate with those of
his own species, or joins himself only to a few chosen
companions. So great is his selfishness, that he de
sires to possess every thing himself, and never submits
to share his booty with others but by force.
The shameless impudence of the dog in season, and
when pinched with hunger, has been observed in eA'ery
age, and among every people. A dog, and a person of
unblushing impudence, were among the Greeks con
vertible terms. In support of this assertion, many proofs
might be produced from their best writers ; but the fol
lowing passage from Homer, in which Achilles charges
Agamemnon with haA'ingthe impudence ofa dog, joined
to the timidity of a deer, must suffice.
OiieQa'tg, xvvos iftftar ££», x«;-3ii]f r' ihaQoio. //. b. 1 . I. 225.
These, it is probable, are the traits in the character
of the dog, which, added to his faAvning servility, have
from time immemorial, drawn down upon him the un
qualified contempt of mankind. The patriarch Job,
clearly intimates the state of public feeling, in reference
to this valuable animal, when he indignantly tells his
persecutors : "But now they that are younger than I,
* Prov. xxvi. \7.

480 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
have me in derision, Avhose fathers I Avould baA'e dis
dained to have set Avith the dogs of my flock."* The
contempt in which the dog was held in the times of
David, is strongly expressed by Abner, in his reply to
Ishbosheth : " Am I a dog's head," or as it is render
ed in the Syriac, the head of the dogs, — "that thou
chargest me to-day tvith a fault concerning this avo-
man ?" Although I am commander in chief of the
armies of Israel, yet hast thou despised me as if I Avere
only the conductor of dogs. Had not the dog been
reckoned a very vile and contemptible animal, Abn r
could not have expressed himself in such terms. So
vile in Solomon's estimation was a living dog, that he
places him in opposition to a dead lion.f The son of
Jesse, to express the Ioav opinion he had of himself,
and by consequence, the unreasonableness of his sove
reign's conduct, addresses him in these words : " After
whom is the king of Israel come out ? after Avhom dost
thou pursue ? after a dead dog, after a flea."J Mephi-
bosheth, as a proof of his deep humility, thus addresses
David : " What is thy servant, that thou shouldst look
upon such a dead dog as 1 am?§ When the propliet
predicted to Hazael, the future king of Syria, the hor
rid cruelties which the peopl/ of Israel tvere to suffer
from his hand, the astonished Syrian exclaimed : " iJut,
Avhat is thy servant a dog (the vilest of all animals,)
that he should do this great thing?" We know from
the words which Homer puts into the mouth of Helen,
that the same figure was common among the early
Greeks :
Aaeg* tTaa-s /xaltsa yrovtig (ppivas ap.ty&&r(*.vi
Emx' tfAtm x,M6g. — //. b. 6. /. 356.
"O my brother, since extreme distress has iiiA'aded thy
bosom on my account, Avho am but a dog."
The application of this term to Shimei, Avas the
strongest mark of contempt which Abishai could ima
gine : " Why should this dead dog curse my lord the
king ?"H The father of Grecian poetry, puts it fre-
* Job. xxx. 1. j- Eccl. ix. 4. t 1 Sam. xxiv. 14.
<s 2 Sam. ii. 8. «[ 2 Sam. xvi. 9.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 481
quently in the mouth of his heroes, when with bitter
iiiA'ectives they provoked their enemies to battle, or
triumphed over the fallen antagonist : Pisander calls
the Trojans faithless truce breakers, and worthless dogs.
'Hi ifci Woijo-ayDi, xanai xvvts. II. b. 13. /. 623.
And Diomed addresses the illustrious Hector in these
contemptuous terms : Dog that thou art, once more hast
thou escaped destruction.
Ef au mv ttpvyn 5-a»«To», xvm. II. b. 22.
The sacred writer applies the reproachful epithet, 1.
To the heathen who were aliens to the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise :
" It is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs "* 2. To the profane despisers of the divine
word, who cruelly persecute the ministers of religion :
" Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither
cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them
under their feet, and turn again and rend you."f 3. To
the enemies of religion in general ; thus the Saviour
complains : "Dogs have compassed me; the assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me — Deliver my soul from
the sword : my darling from the potver of the dog."J
4. To the impure, that are polluted with various crimes :
"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whore
mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie."§ 5. To those who, from
Avorldly motives, entered into the Christian ministry,
concerning whom the apostle warns the church at
Philippi : " BeAvare of dogs, beware of evil Avorkers ;''||
and whose character the prophet Isaiah has drawn in
such vivid colours. If
The laAV of Moses placed the dog in the class of
unclean animals, and stamped upon him a peculiar mark
of infamy, prohibiting an Israelite to bring the price of
a dog, either in money or in goods, as an oblation to
the Lord, and connecting it with the wages of prostitu
tion : " Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or
* Mat. xiv. 26. \ Ch. vii. 6. * Psal. xxii. 16, 20.
§ Rev. xxii. 15, i Phil. iii. 2. fl Ch. lvi. 10, 11.
Vol, I. Q4, q 2

482 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God
for any vow ; for even both these are an abomination
unto the Lord thy God." This special prohibition was
evidently pointed against the idolatrous worship which
the superstitious inhabitants of Egypt, from Avhence the
chosen people had lately escaped, addressed to that
animal. We learn this fact from Juvenal, who com
plains in his fifteenth satire :
" Oppida tola canem venerantur, nemo Dianam."
The testimony of the Latin poet is confirmed by
Diodorus, who, in bis first book, assures us, that the
Egyptians highly venerate some animals both during
their life and after their death ; aud expressly men
tions the dog as one object of this absurd adoration. To
these unexceptionable witnesses may be added Hero
dotus, who says when a dog expires, all the members
of the family to which he belonged, worship the car
case ; and that in every part of the kingdom, the car
cases of their dogs are embalmed, and deposited iii
consecrated ground. Anubis, who held a principal
rank among the deities of Egypt, had the head of a
dog, and for this reason sustained, in the writings of
Roman poets, the title of Anubis the barker.
" Omnigenumque Deum monstra et latrator Anubis." Fir. JEn. 8.
In other countries, the dog is not worshipped, but
offered in sacrifice to their false gods. The Carians
immolated a dog to Mars ; and the Lacedemonians fol
lowed their example. The Boeotians ratified their
covenants by cutting a dog in two, and passing between
the pieces ; the Macedonians, as we learn from the
authentic page of Livy, observed the same custom ; and
the Samothracians, in a deep cavern, sacrificed dogs
in honour of Hecate. To preserve the holy people from
these abominations, to which, from the native darkness
of the human mind, and their long residence in Egypt,
they were unhappily prone, the divine lawgiA'er ex
pressly forbid them to bring the price of a dog, which,
in his eyes, was equally hateful as the hire of a whore,
into the house of the Lord.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 488
The Hog.
The sacred writers very seldom allude to this ani
mal ; because it was in all probability excluded from
the land of Promise, during the whole time of the
tbeocratical government. It seems indeed, on account
of its gross habits, to have been held in great abhor
rence by the patriarchs themselves, long before the
ceremonial code pronounced it unclean ; for we cannot
discover, that it constituted any part of their wealth.
The sons of Abraham by Keturah, appear to have re
garded it with equal aversion as the descendants of
Isaac ; for we do not read, that Job, who was most
probably one of their posterity, possessed so much as
one of these animals. The inspired writer of 1st
Chronicles, mentions the names of several officers,
Y^hom David appointed to superintend the herds, the
camels, the asses, and the flocks ; but mentions no per
son to superintend the swine. In the wars which the
people of Israel Avere compelled to Avage with the
neighbouring states, they frequently obtained an im
mense booty in flocks and herds, in camels and asses ;
but we cannot find that they met with one sow in their
numerous expeditions. Porphyry, in his Book De Ab-
stinentia, expressly denies that any swine were reared
in Judea. This fact seems to be confirmed by a clause
in the parable of the prodigal son, which informs us,
that he went into a far country to feed swine, which
would not have been necessary, had these animals been
propagated in his own land. It is not inconsistent with
this supposition, that in the time of our Lord, the Ga
darenes possessed a herd of two thousand swine ; for
they were a Greek colony ;* or rather, the remains of
the Girgashites, the aboriginal inhabitants of that region,
as the name Gergesenes, given them by the evangelist
Matthew, clearly indicates. Some writers maintain,
that Gedaraand Gergasa were different cities, inhabited
by two distinct races of people ; but whatever hypo
thesis be preferred, it is quite evideut, they were not
Jewish, but Grecian or Syrian cities, governed by their
* Joseph, Antiq. b. J7. ch, 13.

484 Illustrations of scripture.
own laAVs and customs. Hence, it is by no means
wonderful, that they encouraged the breed of an animal
to which they felt no particular aversion, although the
custom was contrary to the laws and usages of a peo
ple, whom, like the rest of the world, they probably
despised. Nor was it altogether inconsistent with the
design of our Lord's ministry, to pass on certain occa
sions, the limits of Judea, and visit the dwellings of
aliens ; for the sacred writer informs us, that he de
parted on a time into the coasts of Tyre aud Sidon,
where he had mercy on a woman of Canaan, Avho came
out of the same coasts, and cured her daughter. He
might therefore, with equal reason, favour the Gada
renes with his presence, and give them an illustrious
proof of his omnipotent power. Nor is it inconsistent
with this conduct, that, according to his otvn declara
tion to the disciples, he was not sent, but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel ; for the event proved, that
he spake only of the general and immediate object of
his mission.
Many reasons have been assigned by ancient and
modern writers, for the strong antipathy of the Jewish
people to this animal; but these it were useless to
enumerate, as the ceremonial precept is clear and pre
cise : " And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and
be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud ; he is
unclean unto you ;"* and the transgression of this pre
cept was even followed by the most pointed reproofs,
and the severest threatenings. The prophet Isaiah
charges his degenerate people with eating swings flesh,
and having the broth of abominable things in their ves
sels.! They had not yet neglected to bring their
sacriflces to the altar of Jehovah ; but they no longer
served their God in sincerity and truth : " He that
killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth
a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck ; he that offereth
an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood ; he that
burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they
have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth
in their abominations.''^ Conduct so contrary to their
* Lev. xi. 7. t Is*' lxv- 4- * Ch. lxvi. 3.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 185
solemn engagements, so hateful in the sight of the holy
One, though long endured, was not ahvays to pass with
impunity : " They that sanctify themselves, and purify
themselves in the gardens, behind one tree in the midst,
eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the
mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord."*
Such a sacrifice Avas an abomination to the Lord, both
because the eating of blood was prohibited, and because
the sacrifice consisted of swine's flesh ; and to aggra
vate the sin of the transgressor, such a sacrifice is com
pared to the killing of a human victim, or the immola
tion of a dog ; both of which Jehovah regarded Avith
abhorrence. To these precepts and threatenings, which
were often supported by severe judgements, may be
traced the habitual and unconquerable aversion of that
people to the use of swine's flesh ; an aversion which
the most alluring promises, and the most cruel suffer
ings, have been found alike insufficient to subdue.
Happy for them had they been equally attentive to the
Aveightier matters of their laAV ; happier still, had they
understood the true nature and desisrn of these institu-
tions, and acquiesced in their abolition, and the intro
duction of a better dispensation of mercy, at the coming
of the promised Messiah.
He has long since appeared in our nature, and has
broken down the venerable barriers which separated
the chosen people from the Gentile nations, and blessed
his church with greater light and freedom. Those pre
cepts which he issued in the wilderness, concerning
clean and unclean beasts, are now abrogated ; for it is
written : " Not that which goeth into the mouth de
fileth a man ; but that which cometh but of the mouth,
this defileth a mau."t " What God hath cleansed, that
call not thou common. "J The words of Paul are not
less clear and precise than those of his Lord : " I knoAV,
and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is
nothing unclean of itself, — for the kingdom of God is
not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost."^ To the Corinthians he writes,
" Meat commendeth us not to God : for neither if we
* Isa. lxvi. 17. f Mat. xv. 11. i Acts. x. 15. § Rom. xiv. 14-

486 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
eat, are we the better ; neither if we eat not, are Ave the
worse."* " WhatsoeA'er is sold in the shambles, that
eat, asking no questions for conscience' sake : For the
earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. "f He
teaches the same doctrine in his epistle to the Colos-
sians : "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the neAv moon,
or of the sabbath-days : which are a shadoAV of good
things to come ; but the body is of Christ. — Where
fore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of
the world, why, as though living in the Avorld, are ye
subject to ordinances, (touch not, taste not, handle not ;
Avhich all are to perish in the using,) after the com
mandments and doctrines of men?"| " Every creature
of God is good," says the same apostle to Timothy,
" and nothing is to be refused, if it be received with
thanksgiving ;"§ and to Titus, " To the pure, all things
are pure."|| From these passages, it must be evident to
eA'ery reflecting and unprejudiced mind, that the apos
tolic prohibition concerning things strangled, and blood,
must have been intended to continue only in force for a
time, in condescension to the conscientious scruples of
the Jewish converts, who Avere, at the time that decree
was made, all zealous of the law. For if nothing is to
be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving ; if Ave
may eat whatever is exposed for sale ; if meat neither
makes a Christian better nor worse, — then things
strangled and blood, may also be used, if some special
reason do not render it necessary or expedient to re
frain. The sacred writers borrow some of their parables
from this animal ; thus, in the book of Proverbs the
wise man says, " As a jeAvel of gold in a sAvine's snout,
so is a fair woman Avhich is without discretion." The
original term denotes the ring, which, in the east, is by
way of ornament appended to the nose ; and which in
some other parts of Scripture, is translated a nose jewel.
The meaning of the proverb is, that a beautiful form
and a perverse mind, are as incongruous, as a ring of
* 1 Cor. viii. 8. tchx-25- * Col. ii, 16, 20.
ilTim. iv. 4. ||Tit. i. 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 487
gold iu the snout of that impure animal. The allusion
is to an adulterous woman, who transfers her affections
from her husband to another, and, like the soav that
walloAvs in the inire, indulges without restraint in the
pollutions of illicit love.
An allusion of a different kind, is involved in the
direction of our Lord to the multitudes in his sermon on
the mount: "Give not that which is holy unto the
dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they
trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend
you."* The pearls mentioned in this passage, denote,
according to some writers, the mysteries of the gospel;
and the dogs and SAvine, wicked and profane men, who
regard them with contempt, and persecute those who
receive them and submit to their influence. But in this
part of his discourse, our Lord is warning his hearers
not to be unmerciful and severe in censuring others, in
marking and aggravating their faults, nor to correct
their vices or mistakes, while they are chargeable
themselves with much more heinous crimes. They
were not to suffer sin in their brother, but were bound
to reprove his faults, and endeavour his reformation ;
their counsels and reproofs, however, were to be ma
naged with AA'isdom and prudence, and were not to be
unseasonably lavished on hardened and profligate sin
ners, who, instead of receiving them in a becoming man
ner, would be. exasperated by them, and turn with
fury upon their indiscreet advisers. " Give not wisdom,"
says the Hebrew adage, " to him Avho knows not its
value, for it is more precious than pearls, and he who
seeks it not, is worse than a swine that defiles and rolls
himself in the mud ; so he who knows not the value of
wisdom, profanes its glory."
The fierce and truculent disposition ascribed to the
hog, in this proverbial saying of Jesus, perfectly cor
responds Avith the natural history of that animal. He
is obstinate and untractable; and of all quadrupeds,
the most rude and brutal. All his habits are gross ;
all his appetites are impure ; all his sensations are con
fined to a furious lust, a brutal gluttony, and a savage
* Matt. vii. 6,

488 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
cruelty. He devours indiscriminately every thing that
conies in his Avay; even his own offspring, immediately
after their birth. His powers of annoyance and des
truction are of no ordinary kind. He groAvs, in a wild
state, to a very large size ; his tusks are from nine to
ten inches long ; they are flat, sharp, and bend in a
circular form. lu the rutting season, he is more fero
cious than ever ; and when another male appears, he
becomes perfectly furious. He prepares for the combat
by turning his side directly to his antagonist, and low
ering his head ; aud in this attitude, he waits the attack.
with fearless intrepidity. The usual residence of the
wild boar, which differs not in disposition and habits
from the domestic, is in the thickest recesses of the
forest, or in the reedy marsh ; but when roused by
hunger, he leaves his natiA'e retreats, makes an inroad
into the cultivated parts of the country, and, with un-
distinguishing rage, spreads destruction Avherever he
comes. From this brief statement it will appear, that
the character given to that animal in the passage under
consideration, is perfectly correct. It may be thought
to refer more properly to the Avild boar, than to the do
mestic hog ; but their dispositions are nearly the same,
as Avell as the danger to be apprehended from their
ferocity. The hog delights more in the foetid mire, than in the
clear and running stream. The mud is the chosen
place of his repose ; and to AvalloAV in it, seems to con
stitute one of his greatest pleasures. To AA'ash him is
vain ; for he is no sooner at liberty, than he hastens to
the puddle, and besmears himself anew. Such is the
temper and conduct of corrupt and Avicked men, Avho
had escaped the pollutions of the world, through the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but
are again entangled, and OA'ercome : the latter end is
Avorse with them than the beginning. — It is happened
unto them according to the true proverb : " The dog is
turned to his vomit again ; and the sow that was wash
ed, to her Avallowing in the mire."* Allured by the
promises of the gospel, or alarmed by the terrors of the
* 2 Pet. ii. 22.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 489
law, they abandoned some of their evil courses, and
performed many laudable actions ; but, their nature and
inclinations remaining unrenewed by divine grace,
they quickly shook off' the feeble restraints of external
reformation, and returned Avith greater eagerness than
ever to their former courses.
The hog was justly classed by the JeAvs among the
vilest animals in the scale of animated nature ; and it
cannot be doubted, that his keeper generally snared in
the contempt and abhorrence which he had excited.
The prodigal son in the parable, had spent his all in
riotous living, and Avas ready to perish through Avant,
before he submitted to the humiliating employment of
feeding swine. In Egypt, if we may believe Herodotus,
the swine-herd was numbered with the profane, and
forbidden to enter the temples of their gods ; and even
the lowest dregs of the people refused to bestow their
daughters upon him in marriage. Homer, it must be
admitted, honours, with many commendations, Kumseus,
the swine-herd of Ulysses ; but it maybe inferred, from
the total silence of all other ancient poets, that the
station of a swine-herd was extremely contemptible in
Greece and the surrounding countries. The pastoral
bards, in their Bucolics, divided the keepers of cattle
into three classes ; the neat-herds, the shepherds, and
the goat-herds. Theocritus never once introduces the
swine-herd among those who tended the flocks and
herds, in his Idylls ; and Virgil observes the same
guarded silence, in his Eclogues ; a sure proof that
public opinion had placed the keeper of swine among
the very refuse of society. These remarks illustrate
the miserable condition of the prodigal son, who, by
his own mismanagement, fell from a state of affluence
and honour, into the deepest indigence and contempt.
In Avant of the necessaries of life, and neglected or
despised by every human being, he was fain to accept
of the vilest situation on earth, and to allay the agoniz
ing demands of hunger, by feeding among the swine.
But this glowing picture of human wretchedness be
comes more interesting, when we recollect, that it is in
tended to display the extreme and diversified wretched-
Vol. 1. Rr2

490 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ness of the Gentile nations, before the coming of Christ,
and the triumphs of his gospel.
Under the beautiful allegory of a vine, the royal
Psalmist describes the rise and fall of the Jewish com-
monAvealth, in this address to Jehovah : " Thou hast
brought a A'ine out of Egypt, thou hast cast out the
heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst a room be
fore it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled
the land. The hills Avere covered with the shadow of
it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches
unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her
hedges, so that all they that pass by the way, do pluck
her ? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the
Avild beast of the field doth devour it."* The poAvers
that subverted the Jewish nation, are compared to the
wild boar, and the wild beast of the field, by which
the vine is wasted and devoured ; and no figure could
be more happily chosen. That ferocious and destruc
tive animal, not satisfied with devouring the fruit, lace
rates and breaks with his sharp and powerful tusks, the
branches of the vine, or with his snout digs it up by the
roots, pollutes it with his touch, or tramples it under his
feet. In Egypt, according to Plutarch, the labours of
this ferocious animal are rendered useful to man.
When the Nile has retired within his proper channel,
the husbandman scatters his grain upon the irrigated
soil, and sends out a number of swine that partly by
treading it with their feet, partly by digging it with their
snout, immediately turn it up, and by this means cover
the seed. But in every other part of the world, the
hog is odious to the husbandman :
prima putatur

Hostia sus meruisse mori quia semena pando
Eruerit rostro, spem que interceperit anni." Ovid. Met.
It was an established custom among the Greeks and
Romans, to offer a hog in sacrifice to Ceres, at the be
ginning of harvest, and another to Bacchus, before they
began to gather the vintage; because that animal is
* Psa. lxxx. 8-13.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 491
equally hostile to the growing corn, and the loaded
vineyard. From these examples, it is quite evident
that the prophet meant to describe, under the figure of
a wild boar, the cruel and implacable enemies of the
church. And it is extremely probable, that he alluded
to some more remarkable adversary, as Sennacherib,
the king of Assyria, or Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon ; both of whom, were not less ferocious and
destructive, than the savage by which they were sym
bolized. The enemies of the church are intended in another
periphrasis, by the same writer : " Rebuke the com
pany of the spearmen, (or more literally, the wild beast
of the reed,) the multitude of the bulls, with the calves
of the people."* The wild beast of the reed probably
means the boar out of the forest, that fixes his usual
residence among the reeds of the marsh, from whence
he issues to devastate the neighbouring fields and vine
yards.

" tenet ima lacunse

Lenta salix. ulvseque, leves, junci que palustres,
Viminaque, et longa parva sub arundini cann^ ;
Hinc aper excitus, medios violentus in hostes
Fertur, ut excussis elisus nubibus ignis." Ovid. Met.
Some writers, however, understand it of the hippo
potamos, that, like the boar, loves to repose " under the
shady trees, in the covert of the reeds aud fens." It is
not easy to determine to which of these stupendous
tenants of the marsh, the sacred writer alludes : nor is
the question of much importance ; for the meaning is
the same, and the figure equally beautiful and striking.
* Ps. 1-xxviii. 30.

492 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
CHAP. VIII.

BEASTS OF PREY.

WVVWVV\VV«I

The Lion.

AMONG the beasts of prey to Avhich the Scriptures
allude, the first place is due to the lion. That noble
animal is strongly made, and of an elegant and majestic
form. A stranger to fear, and conscious as it were of
his pre-eminent strength, he looks around him with an
air of superiority ; and Avhen he Avalks, it is with pe
culiar gracefulness and ease. The companions of Sam
son admitted his strength to be equal, at least, to that
of the most powerful animal that ranges the forest :
"What," said they, "is stronger than a lion?"* Solo
mon, directed by the Spirit of inspiration, proceeds a
step farther, and pronounces him the strongest among
beasts. f These statements are confirmed by the testi
mony of many common writers of undoubted veracity.
Homer declares, that with one shake he breaks the
neck of an ox :
"Xrfi Vt% avx™ ,a?') *aC»i» *al(f tia-ii oSso-;. //. b. 11. I. 175.
And in another book, he assures us, that he sometimes
carries off the largest and fattest ox in the herd, and
breaks his neck, haA'ing first seized him with his strong
teeth.

«A*/ fl-S7T0*9G>C

Borxofttvijc aytkqg fituv &?jratm, rjri> apivrrj.
Mr. Forbes had the singular felicity, Avhen in the
East Indies, to see the lion rush furiously on a goat
which had been tied to a tree by way of lure, and seiz
ing it by the neck, with one shake break the bone, and
instantly deprive the animal of life.| According to some
' J.udges xiv. 18. f Prov. xxx. 30. % Oriental Memoirs,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 493
natural historians, the strength of the lion is so pro
digious, that a single stroke of his paAV is sufficient to
break the back of a horse, and one sweep with his tail
will throw a strong man to the ground. It is, therefore,
with great force and propriety the royal Psalmist, in
his pathetic lamentation for Saul and Jonathan, says,
"They were swifter than eagles, they Avere stronger than
lions."* The courage of the lion is equal to his prodigious
strength. Conscious that no beast of the forest dares to
disturb his repose, he sleeps in the open air. Accord
ing to Homer, a lion reared in the mountains, that has
been long without food, is impelled by his fearless in
trepidity, to attack the crowded fold ; and although he
find it guarded by dogs and armed men, he does not
abandon his enterprise, but boldly leaps into the midst
of the flock and seizes his prey, or is himself Avounded
by a dart thrown from a skilful bandf . In another pas
sage, Menelaus yields to Hector, like a full grown lion,
which dogs and men have driven aa ith spears and much
clamour from the sheep cote ; his resolute heart is deep
ly affected with grief, and he reluctantly leaves the fold.
This beautiful and striking figure, Virgil has imitated
in these Avords :

" ceu s^utn turba leonem

Cum telis premit infensis, at territus ille,
Asper, acerba tuens, retro redit. Et neque terga
Ira dare aut virtus patitur, nee tendere contra
Ille, quidem hoc cupiens, potis est per tela virosque.''
Mil. b. 9. /. 791.
" As with annoying darts, a troop of hunters perse
cute a fierce lion ; while, the appalled savage, surly,
louring stern, flinches back, nor rage, nor courage, suf
fer him to fly; nor can he, for darts and men (though
fain indeed he would,) make head against them."!
Still more sublime and beautiful are the figures of the
sacred writers ; while their striking similarity proves
that they drew them from the same source, they copied
from the same works : "For thus hath the Lord spoken
unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on
* 2 Sam. i. 23. t Iliadi b. 12. 1. 299. ± Davidson.

491 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth
against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor
abase himself for the noise of them : so shall the Lord
of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the
hill thereof."* The fearless courage of this destroyer
Avas never described with greater energy and elegance,
than by the prophet Nahum : " Where is the dAvelling
of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions,
Avhere the lion, even the old lion walked, and the lions'
whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion did tear
in pieces enough for his Avhelps, and strangled for his
lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens
with ravin."f
This noble animal has been considered as the most
perfect model of boldness and courage in every age, and
among every people acquainted with his history ; and
to say that a man is bold as a lion, is to reward his in
trepidity with the highest degree of praise : " He that
is valiant," said Hushai to Absalom, "whose heart is
as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt."f Such is the
fearless intrepidity which the unequivocal tokens of di
vine favour, and the approbation of a good conscience,
impart to the mind ofa righteous person : " The wicked
flee Avhen no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold
as aliou."§ The Greek and Roman authors abound in
the same figures ; Homer says that Hercules had the
heart ofa lion, (a^oAeMT*,) and he distinguishes Achilles
by the same epithet.
The courage of the lion prompts him to go in quest
of his prey, and to meet it in the open field ; he has
been known to attack a tvliole caravan, and Avhen ob
liged to retire, he always retires fighting, and Avith his
face to his enemy."|| To this in his character, Job
seems to allude in his complaint to God: "Thou huntest
me as a fierce lion." There are times, however, when
he does not disdain to lie in wait for his prey, and spring
suddenly upon it from his lurking place. To this less
honourable habit, the Psalmist alludes in his descrip-
* Isa. xxxi 4. -j-Nah. ii. 11, 12. %2 Sam xvii. 10.
§ Prov. xxviii. 1, || iElian, b. 4 ch. 34.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 493
tion of a Avicked man : "He lieth in Avait secretly as a
lion in his den ; he lieth in Avait to catch the poor."*
When stung with hunger, his fierceness and rage are
terrible ; at such a time, no precaution which the tra
veller or the shepherd can use, and no exertion Avhich
either the one. or the other can make, are sufficient to
divert or repel bis attack. For Avant of other food, this
devourer, as he is emphatically called in Scripture, will
often tear to pieces the hapless passenger, or the tenant
of the unguarded hamlet. Fire is what he is most afraid
of; yet notAvithstanding the frequent fires with Avhich
the Arabian shepherds encircle their flocks : notwith
standing the barking of their dogs, and their oAvn re
peated cries and exclamations during the Avhole night,
when he is suspected to be upon the prey, — it frequent
ly happens that the ravenous animal, outbraving all
these terrors, will leap into the midst of the fold where
the cattle are enclosed, and drag from thence a sheep or
a goat. He commonly deprives the victim of life by a
stroke of his patv, accompanying the fatal blow with a
tremendous roar ; he then tears it in pieces, breaks all
its bones, and devours it with the utmost greediness.
To these circumstances, the sacred writers frequently
allude. In the blessing of God, we find Moses expres
sing himself thus : " He dwelleth as a lion, and teareth
the arm with the croAvn of the head ;" and the royal
Psalmist, in still more striking terms : " Save me from
all them that persecute me, and deliver me ; lest he
tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces when there
is none to deliver."! Hezekiah, in his sickness, com
plained, " I reckoned till morning that as a lion, so will
-vdie break all my bones ;"J and said the prophet in the
name of the Lord, " I will be unto Ephraim as a lion,
and as a young lion to the house of Judah ; I, even 1,
will tear and go away, I will take away, and none shall
rescue him."§
The voracious greediness of this terrible animal, is
remarked by every natural historian ; and it has not
been overlooked by the sacred writers. The Psalmist
compares the wicked " to a lion that is greedy of his
*Ps. x. 9. f Ps. vii. 2. t Isa. xxxviii. 4, § Hos v. 14,

496 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
prey, and to a young lion that lurketh in secret places ;"
the murderous enemies of our redeemer "gaped upon
him Avith their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring
lion." Samson characterizes the lion in his riddle, " the
eater," or, as it may be rendered, the devourer ; and
the prophet Jeremiah employs a term of similar im
port : " Your own sword hath devoured your prophets
like a destroying lion.*" In one of the most awful
threatening* eA'er uttered by Jehovah, Ave find the fol
lowing allusion ; " There will I devour them like a
lion ; the wild beast shall tear them."!
No creature, when provoked, is so tremendously fu
rious as the lion. He beats his sides and the ground
Avith his tail, agitates his shaggy mane moves the skin
of his face, and knits his large eye-brows ; shews his
dreadful tusks, and thrusts out his tongue, which is
armel with prickles, so hard, that it alone is sufficient
to tear the skin and the flesh, without the assistance of
either teeth or claws. This description will enable the
reader to form an adequate idea of the warlike appear
ance of ceritan Gadites, in the train of David, " tvhose
faces," says the inspired writer, " were like the faces
of lions."!
The movements ofa lion, except when he rushes on
the prey, are slow, firm and majestic. Among the Ara
bian writers, the man who moves with a proud and so
lemn step is said to walk as a lion. The wise man,
who was deeply skilled in natural history, makes an
observation of the same kiud : "" There be three things
Avhich go Avell, yea, four are comely in going. A lion,
Avhich is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away
from any : a grey-hound ; an he-goat also ; and a king,
against whom there is no rising up.§"
The roaring of a lion in quest of his prey, resembles
the sound of distant thunder ; and being re-echoed by
the rocks and mountains, appals the Avhole race of ani
mals, and puts them instantly to flight : but he fre
quently varies his voice into a hideous scream or yell.
•' When the lion roars," says Sparman, " the beasts of
• Jer. ii. 30. f Hos. xiii 8. $ 1 Chron. xii. 8,
«P:-ov. xxx. 29, 30.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 497
the forest can do nothing but quake ; they are afraid to
lie still in their dens, lest he spring upon them : and
equally afraid to run, lest, in attempting to escape, they
should take the direction in which he is prowling, and
throw themselves into the jaws of their adversary."
No. book is more accurate than the Scriptures, even on
subjects of natural history, so far as their sublime de
sign admits. The universal terror which the roaring
of a lion produces, is noticed by the prophet Amos :
" The lion has roared, Avho will not fear ? the Lord
God hath spoken, Avho will not prophecy?" Hence the
terror Avhich the thunder of his voice inspires, is not
confined to a few of the weaker animals : the fellest
savage that ranges the forest, according to the prophet,
is unable to resist its influence, as the seer is the voice
of Jehovah. Even the variation of his appalling voice
into the hideous scream or yell, is recorded by Jeremiah :
" The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and
they made his land waste."*
The lion, it is said, never roars but when he is in
sight of his prey, or in the act of striking it doAvn Avith
his pawt His voice is, therefore, the signal of attack^
and commonly of inevitable destruction ; a circumstance
which- must greatly increase the general terror and dis
may. " Will a liou roar in the forest," said Amos,
" when he hath no prey ? Will a young lion cry out of
his den if he have taken nothing ?"! The invariable
connection between the roaring of the lion and the
seizing of his prey, is also referred to by the holy Psalm
ist : " The young lions roar after their pi'ey, and seek
their meat from God ;" J and by the prophet, " For thus
hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion, and
the young lion roaring on his prey — so shall the Lord
of hosts come doAvn to fight for mount Zion, and for
the hill thereof."^ " The young lions roared upon him,
and yelled, and they made his land waste." || " There
is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof,
like a roaring lion ravening the prey : they have de
voured souls."T[ The same allusion occurs in Ezekiel's
$ Psa. civ. 21.
If Ezek, xxii, 25.

* Jer.ii.15.

t Am. iii. 4.

§ Isa. xxxi. 4s

|| Jer. ii. 15.

Vol. I.-

S S 2

498 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
parable of the lion's whelps : " He became a young
lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
And he knew their desolate palaces, and laid waste
their cities ; and the land was desolate, and the fulness
thereof, by the noise of his roaring."* In this passage
the antecedent is put for the consequent ; for, the lion,
strictly speaking, does not waste a country by his roar
ing, but by what invariably follows, the miserable des
truction of men, flocks, and herds.
The deep and terrific intonations of the lion's voice,
furnish the sacred writers with many beautiful and
striking figures, with which they have adorned their
magnificent descriptions. So great are the terror and
dismay which his roaring produces, that many animals,
which by their swiftness might escape from his fury,
astonished and petrified by the sound of his voice, are
rendered incapable of exertion. This allusion is in
volved in these words of Elihu to Job : " After it a
voice roareth : he thundefeth with the voice of his exj
cellency ; and he will not stay thenf when his A'oice is
heard."! A very fearful denunciation of divine wrath,
is ushered in by the prophet in these words : " The
Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from
his holy habitation ; he shall mightily roar upon bis
habitation ; he shall give a shout as they that tread the
grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth."! The
prophet Joel uses the same figure, with a slight varia
tion : " The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter
his voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the
earth shall shake."§ The tumultuous noise of con
flicting warriors, is, with great beauty and effect, com
pared by the Psalmist to the roaring of a lion ; " Thine
enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations, they
set up their ensigns for signs." || The strong cries of
the Saviour, in the hour of his most poignant sufferings
for the sins of his people, are represented under the
same figure : " Why art thou so far from the words of
my roaring?" And the sorrows of David himself:
" When 1 kept silence, my bones waxed old, through
* Ch. xix. 6, 7. ! Job. xxxvii. 4. * Jer. xxv. SO.
§. Joel. iii. 16. || Psa, lxxiv. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 499
«ay roaring all the day long."* In the same manner,
the term is used by the Greeks to signify the voice of
lamentation : " The man who drinks poison," says an
ancient Greek writer, " roars, that is, laments Avith a
loud voice."
The prophet Jeremiah, by a catachresis rather un
usual, makes the young lion bray like an ass. They
shall roar together as lions ; they shall yell, or as the
•word properly signifies, bray as lions' whelps. But
the bold figure uf the prophet, is vindicated by the
prince of Latin poets.

-" irseque leonum

Vincula recusantum et sera sub nocte rudentujn.*5 Mn. b. 7. 1. 16.
x< The rage of lions reluctant to the chains, and bray
ing at the late midnight hour."
When the lion has seized his prey, he calls his
whelps to the feast, by uttering a sound which resem
bles the bellowing of a calf. The assertion of Plutarch
is verified in the lines of Theocritus, where he compares
the lamentations of Agave, the mother of Pentheus.
over her dead son, to the bellowing of a lioness.
'Oftrn Trtf rnxaiet *t\tdii fivxr)/*a Mantle.
In the book of Revelation, the apostle John uses the
same figure : " And the angel cried with a loud voice,
as when a lion belloweth (for so the original term
signifies,) and when he had cried, seven thunders utter
ed their voices."!
The tremendous roar which the lion utters in the act
of seizing his prey, softens, the moment he has killed
it, into a deep and hollow murmur. Thus, when Hip-
pomene and Malanta were metamorphosed into lions,
instead of words they uttered a low murmuring sound.
" Iram vultus habet, pro verbis murmura reddunt.v Ovid.
Equally minute and exact as the poetical fabulist, is
the prophet of Jehovah: "For thus hath the Lord
spoken unto me, like as the lion, and the young lion
roaring, or (as the word signifies) murmuring on his
* Psa. xxii. 2. and xsxii. 3. t Kev- *¦ &

'500 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
prey," when he is tearing it to pieces, and drinking its
blood. It is the same word which the Spirit of God
employs to express the muttering sounds emitted by the
wizards of ancient times, of which the following ex
ample is quoted from the prophecies of Isaiah : " And
Avhen they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have
familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that
mutter."* The manner in which the inspired writers speak of
the lion's mouth, would naturally lead to the conclu
sion, that it is formed to strike a beholder with terror.
" Deliver me from the mouth of the lion,"! Avas the
earnest prayer of DaA'id's Son and Lord, in the day of
his calamity. The prophet Daniel replied Avith peculiar
emphasis, to the mournful inquiries of Darius : " My
God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions'
mouths that they have not hurt me."! The pointed
allusion of Paul is not less remarkable : " 1 Avas de
livered out of the mouth of the lion ;"§> aud in the esti
mation of the same writer, to stop "the mouths of
ljons," was one of the noblest achievements of ancient
martyrs. f| Nor is it an accidental circumstance in the
description of the beast, which John beheld in vision
rise up out of the sea, that he had a " mouth as the
mouth of a lion."T[ These hints entirely correspond
with the natural history of that animal. His mouth is
very large; his jaws are exceeding strong, and armed
with a row of long and massy teeth. When he ranges
the forest in search of his prey, the moment ¦ he spies
the victim, he yawns hideously, rears his hair on end,
and with a horrid yell seizes it, and bathes in blood his
ravenous jaAvs.
" Gaudet hians immane, comasque arrexit, et haeret
Visceribus super incumbens : lavit imbroba tetei-
Ora cruor." Vir. b. 10. /."726.
In any animal, the teeth, and especially the grinders,
excel all the other bones in hardness and solidity ; but
the teeth of the lion are so extremely hard, that they
* Isa. viii. 19. t Psa. xxii, 21. *Dan.vi. 22.
§ 2 Tim. iv. 1". H Heb. xi. 33. *\ Rey. xiii. 2.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 501
are selected by the inspired writers to represent the
most destructive agents of nature or art. Thus, the
prophet Joel summoned his countrymen to weeping and
lamentation, and assigned this reason : " For a nation
is come up upon my land, strong, and Avithout number,
Avhose teeth arc the teeth of a lion, and he hath the
cheek teeth of a great lion,"* — strong, Avell-propor-
tioned, and deeply grooved. In the book of Revela
tion, the mystical locusts bad " teeth as the teeth of
lions."! When the oppressor is depriA'ed of his power,
the teeth of the lion, in the figurative language of Scrip
ture, are said to be broken : " By the blast of God they
perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they con
sumed. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the
fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are
broken."! This figure the royal Psalmist has adopted
in his prayer against the Avicked : "Break their teeth,
O God, in their mouth ; break out the teeth of the young
lions, 0 Lord."§. The strict propriety of the figure, is
attested by the lines of a Grecian bard : Nature has
given horus to the bulls, hoofs to the horses, sAvift-
ness to the hares, a huge mouth armed with teeth to the
lions. Aanri x<wrf? oiSovtct. Anac. Ode. 2.
The lion's paw is in Scripture called his hand, and
represented as not less formidable than his teeth.
"David said moreover, the Lord that delivered me out
of the paAV (or hand) of the lion, and out of the paAv
(or hand) of the bear, he will deliver me out of the
hand of this Philistine." || The king of Persia made a
decree, commanding his subjects tp fear the living God,
" who hath delivered Daniel from the power (or hand)
of the lions."Tf Bochart contends, that there is no
catachresis in this mode of speaking, as learned men
generally suppose ; for the forefeet of the lion, which
he chiefly uses in tearing his prey, while he rests upon
his hindfeet, may truly and properly be called his
hands. The Greek writers familiarly speak of the
* Joel i. 6. -J- Rev. ix. 8. t Job iv. 9, 10.
§ Psa. Iviii. 6. 1 1 Sam. xvii. 37. f Ban. vl. 27.

502 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
lion's hand, by which they mean his forefoot. Oppian
says, the lion carries a torpedo under his right hand
(a«{it«j»» I/**. x"cO alluding probably to the overwhelming
terror which seizes the victim, when it sees him pre
paring to give it the fatal blow. The lion's paw is
armed with very long and sharp claws, which render
it still more formidable ; and as if he knew how much
he surpassed the other animals in this respect, it has
been remarked, that he guards them with the greatest
care. It is therefore with strict propriety, that David
so particularly mentions the kindness of God, in saAing
him from the paw of that terrible destroyer, and calls
it a hand, (in Avhich he has been followed by the classi
cal writers of antiquity,) because it is the instrument
with which the savage beast knocks down and tears his
prey. ...
He is a solitary animal, and fixes his abode in the
woods and mountains, far removed from the dwellings
of men. This unsocial and gloomy disposition, is fre
quently marked in the sacred A'olume. Thus Jeremiah
threatens the degenerate nobles of Judah : " Where
fore a lion out of the forest shall slay them."* In the
twelfth chapter, we find the same allusion: "Mine
heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest : it crieth out
against me, therefore have I hated it," That the depth
of the forest is his chosen haunt, and not the place of
his accidental residence, is still more evident from the
interrogation of Amos. " Will a lion roar in the forest
when he hath no prey?"! Theocritus, in his first
Idyll, adverts to this habit : " Even the lion nut of the
wood lamented him wh,en dying."
Turn x <" «* opyp.*!* >my a;i»xau« 9-amira.
But his favourite retreats are on the declivities of woody
mountains, whither he retires from the plains, after be
ing satiated with prey. This fact is recognized in the
blessiug which Moses pronounced on Dan before he
died : " Dan is a lion's whelp : he shall leap from
Bashan."! The inferior summits of Lebanon swarm
with lions and other beasts of prey, which has given
• Jer. v. 5. t Amos »'• 4. t Deut. xxviii. 22.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 508
occasion to that animated address by the Saviour to his
church : " Come Avith me from Lebanon, my spouse,,
with me from Lebanon : look from the top of Amana,
from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lion's
den, from the mountains of the leopards."* The cir
cumstance has not escaped the notice of uninspired
bards ; from one of whom we give the following quo
tation :
" Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere montc leoncm."
He wishes that a boar or a tatvny lion Avould descend
from the mountain ; and, in a former quotation, Homer
insinuates, that the strongest aud fiercest lions were
(ofi»iTgo(po») mountain-reared. But when stung with
hunger, they descend from their elevated retreats into
the. plain and cultivated parts of the country, to prowl.
about the sheep-cotes or the villages, and often commit
dreadful ravages on the defenceless inhabitants. The
Cuthites, whom the king of Assyria brought from Baby
lon, and placed in the cities of Samaria, suffered ex
ceedingly from the depredations of these ruthless de
stroyers at the beginning of their settlement.! It is no
uncommon thing, as appears from the language of the
sluggard, to find these dangerous animals ranging the
streets of their unwalled towns and villages : " The
slothful man saith there is a lion without : I shall be
slain in the streets ;" and in another proverb, " There
is a lion in the way ; a lion is in the streets."! Buffon,
following Pliny, Eustathius, and other ancient natural
ists, informs us, that while young and nimble, the lion
subsists by hunting, and seldom quits the deserts or the
forests, where he finds plenty of Avild animals ; but
when he grows old, heavy, and less fit for the exercise
of hunting, he approaches frequented places, and be
comes more dangerous to man and the domestic animals.
It has, indeed, been remarked, that when be sees men
and animals together, he attacks the latter, and' never
the former, unless any man strike him ; for in this case
he is wonderfully alert in distinguishing the person
who hurts him, and he instantly quits his prey to take
* Song iii. 8. f 2 Kings xvii, 24. * Prov. xxii. 13. and xxvi. 13.

501 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
Aengeance oh the offender. These traits in his character?
explain the reason that God so often threatens to be as
a lion to his ancient people. He discerns at once Avho
it is that trausgresses his law, and is prompt in taking
vengeance on the sinner. They also throw light on a
passage hi the prophecies of Hosea. " For 1 will be
unto Ephraim as a great lion," that leaA'es the forest
and approaches the habitations of men, and is there
fore more to be dreaded ; " and to the house of Judah
as a young lion," that bunts his prey in the desert or
the forest, and is therefore less to be feared.* Hoav
exactly this corresponds with historical fact, is well
known to every careful reader of the Scriptures ; for
Ephraim, or the ten tribes, were driven aAvay from their
own land into a distant region, where they were doom
ed to suffer a very protracted exile ; while Judah con
tinued to hold his possessions an hundred and thirty-
three years longer, and when carried into captivity at
the end of that period by the king of Babylon, it Avas
only for the short term of seventy years, till the land
had enjoyed her sabbaths.
The lion has his den in a cave or thorny brake^ or
among the thick trees, Avhere he sometimes lies in wait
for his prey. Thither he carries the spoils of the
chace, with which he feeds his Avhelps, or satisfies the
demands of his own ravenous maAV. Nahum alludes
to this invariable practice in these words : " He filled
his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin." And
said Jehovah to the sorrowful and humbled Job, " Wilt
thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of
the young lions, when they couch in their dens, and
abide in the covert to lie in wait?"!
Like other Avild beasts, he slumbers in his covert
during the day, that he may return at night to the chace
with renoAated vigour: "Thou make«t darkness, aud
it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep
forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek
their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather
themselves together, and lay them doAvn in their
dens."! * Hos. v, 14. f Job xxxviii 39. i Psa. civ, 20.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 505
Although the lion fearlessly meets his antagonist in
the open field, in this respect differing from leopards
and some other beasts of prey, that never openly attack
the fated victim, yet this bold and noble animal occa
sionally descends to stratagem and ambuscade : " He
couches in his den, and abides in the covert to lie in
wait." He Avatches the approach of his victim with
cautious attention, carefully avoiding the least noise,
lest he should give warning of his presence and de
signs. Such has the gloAving pencil of David painted
the insidious conduct of the murderer : " He lieth ih
Avait 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."* " Like
as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a
young lion lurking in secret places."! Statius thus
describes the lion watching in his den.
-i— ;  '' saevo speculantur ab antro
Aut cervum aut nondum, bellantum fronte juvencum."
From his lurking place, he commonly leaps upon the
victim at one spring. So, in the farewell prediction of
Moses, it is foretold, " Dan is a lion*s whelp, he shall
leap from Bashan." This fact is attested by all the
ancient historians : Aristotle asserts, that when the lion
judges himself within reach, he throws himself upon
his prey ; Pliny says, he leaps with a boUhd ; and
Solinus, when he is in full pursuit, he springs forward
upon the game. In the same manner acted Dan ; pro
ceeding, as it were, by a single bound, from one ex
tremity of Canaan to the other, he invaded the city of
Laish, which, after its reduction, he called by his own
name. The incursions of that powerful and merciless des
troyer, into the inhabited country, are commonly at
tended with horrible devastation. Every intelligent
reader of the Scriptures will discover many proofs of
this assertion, of Which only one or two can be quoted.
The first is from the prophecies of Balaam concerning
the future prosperity of Israel : " Behold the people
* Psa. x. 10. t PM.xvii.12.
Vol. I. Tt2

506 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a
young lion ; he shall not lie down until he eat of the
prey, and drink the blood of the slain."* The second
is quoted from the song of Hezekiah, after he was re
covered from his sickness : " 1 reckoned till morning,
that as a lion, so will he break all my bones."! When
the accusers of Daniel were cast into the lions' den, the
prophet informs us, " The lions had the mastery of
them, and brake all their bones in pieces, or ever they
came at the bottom of the den."! Jn Homer, the son
of Atreus in battle resembles a lion that singles out for
inevitable destruction, an ox, the best of the herd;
having put the rest to flight, he breaks his neck, having
first seized him with his strong tusks. ^ And Horace
addresses Chloe in the twenty-third ode of the second
book, " Atquinon ego te, tigris ut asp era
Getulus ve leo, frangere persequor."
The full import of the verb to break, in these quota'
tions, may be learned from a passage in the prophecies
of Hosea, where Jehovah threatens the ten tribes for
their apostacy : " Therefore, I will be unto them as a
lion ; as a leopard by the way will I observe them ; I
will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps, and
will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I de
vour them like a lion ; the wild beast shall tear them."||
According to the prophets-, entire regions are some
times depopulated by his fury : " The young lions
roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his laud
waste."T[ His devastations are depicted in still more
vivid colours in a subsequent chapter : " The lion is
come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gen
tiles is on his way ; he is gone forth from his place to
make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid
waste without an inhabitant."** These, it must be ad
mitted, are mystical lions, the Caesars and Alexanders,
whom incensed Heaven raises up to punish the nations
for their iniquity ; but the name of lions is assigned to1
* Num. xxiii 24. \ Isa. xxxviii. 13. t Dan. vi. 24.
§ Iliad b 11. L 175. | Hos. xiii. 8. 1 Jer. ii. 15.
** Ch. iv. 7.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 507
them, because the valour of a conqueror and the rage of
a lion, produce the same deplorable effects. Jehovah
accordingly threatens to send wild beasts among his
ancient people, which should rob them of their children,
and destroy their cattle, and make them few in number,
and their highways should be desolate.*
Nature, it is pretended by some writers, has provided
for the safety of mankind, by appointing that the lioness
shall bring forth but once in her life, and only one cub.
Such is the opinion of Herodotus, and many other
ancients ; but it is contradicted by Homer, who asserts
more than once, that the lion rears a number of whelps ;
and by a much higher authority, the Spirit of inspira
tion. The prophet Ezekiel, in his parable of the lions'
whelps, puts this question: "What is thy mother?
A lioness : she lay down among lions, she nourished
her whelps among young lions. And she brought up
one of her whelps ; it became a young lion, and it learn
ed to catch the prey; it devoured men."! Nahum
bears his testimony to the same fact : " The lion did
tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for
his lionesses."! Ancient writers are much divided in
relation to the number of whelps the lioness brings
forth at a birth, and the number of times she goes with
young. Eustathius inclines to the opinion advanced
by some, that she brings forth two cubs, because she
has two teats. Philostratus writes, that she has whelps
three times ; the first time she produces three, the second
time two, and the last time one, surpassing all the
others in beauty of form and ferocity of disposition.
But, as the determination of this point involves the
illustration of no text of Scripture, it falls not within
the object of this work.; it is sufficient to observe, that
the united and harmonious testimony of these ancient
writers, Mly vindicates the language used by the sacred
writers on this head.
The lion was of old among the agents which the
Judge of all the earth employed to execute his ven
geance upon corrupt and impenitent nations. He de
livered the remnant of Moab that escaped from the
* Lev. xxvi. 22. f Ezek. xix. 2- % Nah. ii. 12,

508 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
sword, to the devouring jaws of that destroyer ; and in
the same manner he punished the Cuthites, that Shal-
maneser, king of Assyria, sent from Babylon to occupy
the pities of Samaria, for their idolatries. In the
punishment of more private offenders, we find him often
engaged ; he killed the prophet Avho disobeyed the ex
press command of God, not to eat bread nor drink wa
ter in Bethel, nor to return by the same road ; and the
man who refused to smite the prophet, Avho required
him to do so in the name of the Lord.*
Although the lion is the terror of the forest, and has
been known to scatter destruction over the fairest re
gions of the east; yet he is often compelled to yield to
the superior prowess or address of man. When Sam-?
son, the champion of Israel, Avent down to Timnath, a
city belonging to the tribe of Dan, situate in the valley
of Sorek, so renoAvned for the excellence of its vines, a
young lion roared against him ; " and the spirit of the
Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he
would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his
hand."! In this instance, the lion Avas only giving the
usual signal for the attack which he meditated, and con
sequently his kindling passions had not reached their
highest excitement ; but it appears from the authentic
page of history, that the prey is sometimes rescued from
his devouring jaws, when his fury is excited to the
highest degree of intensity. To this circumstance, the
prophet Amos refers, in that part of his prophecy where
he describes the extreme difficulty with Avhich a few of
the meaner and poorer inhabitants of Samaria, should
escape from the power of their enemies : " Thus saith
the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of
the lion, two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the chil
dren of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria."
The daring intrepidity, the admirable presence of
mind, and great strength of David, when he tended his
father's flocks in the wilderness, were subjected to a
severe trial, by the attack of a lion, which he thus re
lates to Saul : " Thy servant kept his father's sheep ;
and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out
* 1 Kings xiii. 24. and xx. 35, 36. t lud. xiv. 15.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 509
of the flock ; and I went out after him, and smote him,
and delivered it out of his mouth ; and when. It' rose
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote hi n,
and slew him : thy servant slew both the lion and the
bear."* In these words, the youthful shepherd indis
putably details the particulars of two exploits perform
ed on different occasions ; for the lion and the bear
never hunt in company. Like the greater part of other
wild beasts, they prowl alone, rejecting the society of
even one of their oavii species. " It is not therefore to
be supposed, they will associate on such occasions with
other animals. A careless reader might imagine that
David encountered them both at the same time, and
Castalio has been so inconsiderate as to make the text
speak this language; for he translates it, There came
a lion, una cum, together or in company with a bear.
But are we to suppose, that these two animals, con
trary to their nature, entered into partnership on this
occasion, and that to seize upon one poor lamb, and
divide it betAveen them ? " Or if no miracle Avas Avrought
in the case, but die victory tvas achieved by the natural
strength and resolution of DaA'id, aided by the good
Jirovidence of God, how many hands must we suppose
um to have had, in order at once to seize two such
animals, to smite them both, and to rescue the lamb"
from their jaws? Hoav was it possible for a single
youth, for at that time he was not more than twenty
years of age, to encounter with success tAvo of the
strongest and fiercest beasts that range the forest ? Or
if David vanquished these terrible depredators, not by
his own courage and address, but by the miraculous
assistance of Heaven, still the difficulty is not removed ;
for he could have no warrant from such a victory to
encounter Goliah. It became him to enter the lists
with the giant, depending upon the ordinary assistance
of God, and the usual vigour of his own arm, not upon
a miracle, which God had not promised. To avoid
these inconveniences, it is necessary to admit, that
David mentions two different rencounters, one with a
Jion, and another with a bear; in both Avhich he suc-
• 1 Sam. xvii. 34. Sacred Zoology, Christ- Mag. vol. 6. Bear.

510 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
ceeded in rescuing the prey from the devourer. This
hypothesis has the advantage of being perfectly con
sistent with the text ; for the particle rendered and, is
often disjunctive, and ought to be translated or. Thus,
in the law of the passover, it is commanded, " Ye shall
take it out from the sheep or from the goats ;"* and in
the precept for securing reverence to parents, " He that
smiteth his father or his mother, shall be surely put to
death ;" " and he that curseth his father or his mother,
shall surely be put to death ;"! in all which, the con
necting particle is the same. But by the law of Moses,
only one lamb, or one kid, Avas to be taken for each
household, not two ; and if a person smote, or cursed
one of his parents, he was guilty of death ; in these
cases, therefore, the particle is properly rendered or ;
and by consequence, may be so rendered in the text
under consideration. The Avords of David Avould then
run thus : There came a lien or a bear,™ and took a
lamb out of the flock. This version is also required by
£he verb, which, instead of being in the plural, as the
conjunctive particle demands, is in the singular num
ber, which clearly indicates a disjanctiAe sense. This
is confirmed by the next verse, in which David speaks
of them in the singular number : " And I went out after
him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth ;
and when he rose against me, I caught him by his
beard, and smote him, and sleAv him." If these two
animals had been in company, he could with no pro
priety haA-e spoken of them in this manner. The mean
ing therefore is, there came a lion on one occasion, and
on another, a bear, and took each a lamb out of tire
flock; and he went out against each of them, and res
cued the lamb from his mouth. Thus, by the favour
of providence, did the future shepherd of Israel, on tAvo
* Exod. xii. 5. -j- Ch, xxi. 15, 17.

m Indeed, our common version, without any amendment, reads
very well, and is capable of the interpretation for which the author
contends. The Septuagint is still more plain : ««< 'Slay »?x,TB '•
As«y, *ai i ag xtg, and when the lion came, and the bear, j. e. when
the lion came, and when the bear came, &c. I. C.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 511
different occasions, slay both the lion and the bear.
Nor ought this to be reckoned an achievement beyond
the power of a single combatant ; for an ancient poet
only admits it to be extremely dangerous, and almost
beyond the powers of man, to deliver the prey from the
mouth of a hungry lion, but does not venture to pro
nounce it impracticable :
" Esurienti leoni ex ore exsculpere praedam."
Nor is any mistake imputable to David, when he
speaks of seizing a bear by the beard ; for the original
term sometimes denotes the chin ; as in this precept of
the ceremonial law : " If a man or woman have a plague
upon the head or the beard ; then the priest shall see
the plague."* He, therefore, seized the lion by his
beard, and the bear, that was not favoured with this
ornament, by the chin ; which entirely removes the dif
ficulty. The sacred writer has recorded another instance in
Beniah, the son of Jehoiada, who " went down and
slew a lion in the midst of a pit, in time of snoAV."!
Whether Beniah, listening only to the suggestions of
undaunted courage, or because he could not otherwise
reach the shaggy destroyer, went doAvn of his own
accord into the pit ; or whether, as Bochart contends,
he was driven by a storm of snow to take shelter, by
accident, in the same pit where the lion had taken
refuge just before, from the seA'erity of the weather, — -
is of little importance ; the fact of his encountering a
lion, in these unfavourable circumstances, and killing
him, is certain. Nor are such instances wanting in the
common page of history. Curtius relates in the be
ginning of his eighth book, that Alexander the Great
singly encountered a lion of unusual magnitude, which
rushed out upon him, and by one bloAV laid him dead
at his feet : he tells a similar story of Lysimacbus,
when he was hunting in Syria. But this method of
destroying the lion is attended with great danger, and
sometimes proves fatal to the assailant; and, there
fore, stratagem is commonly preferred to force. He is
* Lev. xiii. 29. t 2 Sam. xxiii. 20.

512 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
hunted with large dogs, supported by men on horse-'
back, who dislodge, and force him to retire. Buty
among the Arabians, the common method is to dig a pit
in the spot which he is observed to haunt, which they
cover slightly Avith reeds or small branches of trees, and
fixing a live animal upon it, they frequently decoy and
catch him. Pliny has mentioned the same practice, to
which the prophet Ezekiel alludes : "Then the nations
set against him on every side, from the proA'inces, and
spread their net over him ; he was taken in their pit."*
The manner in Avhichthis is done, Xenophon describes
at considerable length : They dig a large circular pit,
and at night introduce into it a goat, which they bind
to a stake or pillar of earth at the bottom, and then in
close the pit Avith a hedge of branches, that it cannot be
seen, leaving no entrance. The savage beast hearing in
the night the voice of the goat, proAvls around the hedge,
and findiug no opening, leaps over, and is taken. When
the hunter proposes to catch him in the toils, he stretches
a series of nets in a semicircular form, by means of
long poles fixed in the ground ; three men are placed
in ambush, among the nets ; one in the middle, and one
at each extremity. The toils being disposed in this
manner, some wave flaming torches ; others make a
noise by beating their shields, knoAving that lions are
not less terrified by loud sounds than by fire. The
men on foot and horseback, skilfully combining their
movements, and raising a mighty bustle and clamour,
rush in upon them, and impel them towards the nets,
till, intimidated by the shouts of the hunters, and the
glare of the torches, they approach the snares of their
own accord, and are entangled in the folds.
To destroy the lion, and other beasts of prey, Avas
anciently thought no small part of a warrior's glory.
The faithful page of sacred history informs us, that the
first oppressors of their fellow-men, endeavoured to
conciliate the favourable opinion of the public, by dis
tinguishing themselves in the chace. So late as the
time of the crusades, the destruction of a lion was reck
oned, by the kings and princes avIio engaged in those
• Ezek. xix. 8.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 513
insane enterprises, an exploit worthy of being engraved
on their seals, and celebrated in the songs of their
bards. The simple memorials in the Old Testament,
of the courage and address displayed by various in
dividuals, in single combat with the lion, prove more
forcibly, than long and laboured details, the terrible
character of that animal, and the severe calamities
Avhich the inhabitants of those countries occasionally
suffer from his assaults. We discover many qualities
in him, which command our admiration and praise ;
but we also detect many which excite detestation and
horror. In the sacred volume, the lion accordingly is
at one time the subject of praise, and at another, the
object of pointed condemnation. Nothing in heaven
or on earth is so sacred and excellent ; nothing, on the
other hand, so destructive and terrible in earth or hell,
which the lion is not in some part of Scripture employ
ed to symbolize. When, for example, the Most High,
provoked by the Avickedness of individuals or nations,
visits their crimes with suitable punishments, he is
compared to a lion, who, leaving his den, tears in
pieces the miserable victim with irresistible fury : " For
I will be as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young lion
to the house of Judah : I, eA'en 1, will tear and go
away ; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.-"*
By such figures, the Spirit of inspiration intends to
show how tremendous are the judgments of God, and
Iioav fearful a thing it is to encounter his penal ire. We
must not however imagine, that the rage and fury of
that savage destroyer agitate the heart, or influence the
proceedings of Deity on any occasion ; infirmity and
vice are equally removed from his nature and actings.
He is gracious as just, merciful as righteous; nay he
delights in mercy; but judgment is to him a strange
work, in which, abstractly considered, he has no plea
sure. As the living God, in the character of a judge, is
compared to a lion ; so, the denunciations of his anger
in the sacred writings, are symbolized by the roaring
of that terrific animal. "Will a lion," said Amos,
* Hos. v. 14.
Vol. I. TJ u 2

514 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
" roar in the forest when he hath no prey ? will a
young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken noth
ing ?" It has been already observed, that the lion
roars only when he comes in sight of his prey ; so the
Judge of all gives notice to the guilty of his approach
to punish them for their iniquities, by the threatenings
and terror of his law. These are not like the burst of
distant thunder, Avhich startles the hearer for a moment,
but does him no harm ; they are a flaming bolt from the
superincumbent cloud, which is equally terrible in its
explosion, and fatal in its consequences. When the
Avicked persevere in their evil courses, the Judge of all
the earth will not be wanting to the truth of his threat
enings, but will certainly render to every one of them
at last according to their Avorks. And because the JeAvs
accused their prophets of delighting in the denuncia
tion of punishments, the prophet shows, that the Spirit
ef God, by his afflatus, constrained him to declare the
fearful consequences of their sins. " The lion hath
roared, who will not fear ? The Lord God hath spoken,
who can but prophecy ?" If all are struck with fear
when the lion roars, how much more ought they to be
moved by the command of God, Avhom he hath appoint
ed ministers of his word? When the prophet Jeremiah
had formed the resolution no longer to speak in the
name of the Lord, he felt himself constrained, by an
irresistible impulse, to the faithful discharge of his
duty : " Then I said, 1 will not make mention of him,
nor speak any more in his name : but his Avord was
in mine heart, as a burning Are shut up in my bones,
and 1 was Aveary with forbearing, and I could not
stay."* The lion is also the symbol of our exalted Redeemer.
He was a lamb in his sufferings and death, but he be
came " the lion of the tribe of Judah," when he burst
asunder the bands of death, forced open the grave's
deA'ouring mouth, and returned to his Father a triumph
ant conqueror oA'er all the powers of darkness. He
is clothed with glorious majesty, and girt about with
invincible might. No enemy can disturb the tranquil-
* Jer. xx 9.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 515
lity of his fearless heart, nor interrupt the progress of
his operations ; no movement of ProA'idence, but he is
qualified to guide; no work of judgment or mercy, but
he is able to perform. " He speaks, and it is done ;
he commands, and it stands fast — none can stay his
hand, or say unto him, what dost thou ?" In the rapid
diffusion of the gospel, and the conversion of many
nations to the Christian faith, which commenced in a
few days after his ascension, were fulfilled the Avords
of Joel : " The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and
utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and
the earth shall shake, and the Lord will be the hope of
his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."*
Nor is the preaching of the gospel improperly compar
ed to the roaring of a lion, for it has been heard in every
part of the world, and has not only struck the ear, but
by its energy has opened a way for itself into the heart,
and produced a concern about salvation, which neither
length of time, nor change of circumstances could
subdue. It symbolizes also the strength, the generosity, and
the terrible presence of an angel ; for, in the prophecies
of Ezekiel, the living creatures or cherubim, the min
isters of Divine Providence, had each of them four
faces ; the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the
right side ; and the face of an ox, and the face of an
eagle, on the left side.! The apostle John was favour
ed with a vision of the same kind in Patmos : " In the
midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were
four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.
And the first living creature was like a lion, and the
second like a calf, and the third had a face as a man,
and the fourth Avas like a flying eagle." In both visions,
the terrible majesty of God in the ministration of angels
toward the enemies of his glory, is symbolized by the
lion ; their constancy, patience, firmness, and assiduity
in performing the commands of their Maker, by the
ox ; their humanity, gentleness, and philanthropy, by
the face of a man ; and by the face of an eagle, the
vigour, the agility, and the sublime tendencies of their
* Joel iii. 16. t Ezek- »• 10-

516 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
celestial nature. Every one of them exhibits a high
degree of excellence : the lion holds the first place
among Avild beasts, the eagle among the birds, an ox
among the cattle, and all submit to the supreme
authority of man. Of these, observes Bochart, two are
wild, the lion and the eagle ; two are tame, man and the
ox :. those to strike terror into rebels ; these to impart
consolation to the pious. The lion pursues his prey
upon the earth, the eagle, among the clouds of heaven ;
to show that these angelic ministers of Providence,
equally control the proceedings of men that crawl upon
the ground, and the more poAverful and rapid move
ments of apostate spirits in the regions of the air.
It has formerly been observed that a righteous man,
relying upon the favour of his God, and animated by
the testimony of a good conscience, is, in the language
of Solomon, bold as a lion ; and to have the heart of a
lion, Avas, in the estimation of Hushai, the friend of
DaA'id, the noblest eulogy Avhich could be pronouuced
on the brave. The same figures are often applied to
the kings and princes of this world, to indicate, the
power with Avhich they are inA'ested, and the danger to
be incurred in provoking their displeasure. " The
wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion ;" and in a
subsequent chapter, " the fear of a king is as the roar
ing of a lion ; whose provoketh him to anger, sinneth
against his own soul ;" that is, exposes his life to de
struction : " for the wrath of a king is as messengers of
death."* The strength and power of the JeAvish nation is often
described in the sacred volume by the same symbol.
"Behold," cried Balaam, when from the top of Pisgah
he looked down on the innumerable tents of Israel,
"the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up
himself as a young lion ; he shall not lie down uutil he
eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain." This
prediction received its accomplishment in the signal
victories which the armies of Israel, under the conduct
of Joshua, obtained over the five nations of Canaan.
They did not rest, till, completely victorious, they had
* Prov. xix. 12. and xx. 2. and xvi. 14.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 517
reduced the whole country to their obedience. The
forces of Joshua did not, like some uncivilized hordes
in modern times, literally "eat of the prey and drink
the blood of the slain," for such inhuman conduct was
equally opposed to the character of their God, and the
tvliole tenor of their law. The clause is merely a con
tinuation of the metaphor, and a hyperbolical descrip
tion of the complete conquest which, by the favour of
God, awaited their arms. Such hyperbolical expres
sions are frequent in the sacred volume ; and Avhen
a iewed in the light of other Scriptures, admit of a sense
equally consistent and profitable. Thus, in the reproof
which the Psalmist addresses to wicked judges, he de
clares, " the righteous shall wash his feet in the blood
of the wicked ;"* and in his prayer at the remoA'ing of
the ark : " The Lord said, I will bring again from
Bashan, 1 vvi 11 bring my people again from the depths
of the, sea : that thy foot may be dipped in the blood
of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the
same."! These phrases only denote that the victory
Avhich was to crown their exertions, should be com
pletely decisive.
Balaam adds, in the same prophecy, " He couched,
he lay doAvn as a lion, and as a great lion, who shall
stir him up ?" He Avas, in future times, to subdue the
land of Canaan so completely, that no enemy should
presume to disturb his repose ; Avhich Avas accomplish
ed in the reign of David and of Solomon his son, when,
by the heroic A'alour of the former, and the unparalleled
Avisdom of the latter, the whole east was awed and
charmed into peace and amity.
The symbols that represented the Jewish people,
, Avere often applied to particular tribes, of Avhich a strik
ing instance occurs in the farewell benediction of Jacob :
" Judah is a lion's whelp : from the prey, my son, thou
art gone up ; he stooped down, he couched as a lion,
and as an old lion ; who shall rouse him up ?"! And
of Gad, Moses said, " Blessed be he that enlargeth
Gad : he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with
the crown of the bead."§
* Ps. Iviii. 11. | Psa. lxviii. 4. $ Gen. xlix. 9.
§ Deut. xxxiii. 20, 22.

518 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
But the sacred Avriters often allude to the savage dis
position of the lion ; and in all these instances the name
is used in a bad sense. Thus, the great adversary of
mankind is compared to a roaring lion that walketh
about seeking whom he may devour.* Furious and
cruel as the lion when within a single leap of his prey,
he thirsts for the destruction of poor mortals, as in
tensely as that famished destroyer for the blood of the
slain, and exerts still greater and more unwearied ac
tivity to accomplish his purpose. The name which is
imposed upon the arch fiend, is, with much propriety,
assigned to the wicked, the victims and instruments of
his cruelty and injustice. "The roaring of the lion,
and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the
young lions are broken." That the wicked are intend
ed in this passage, is evident from the context : " Even
as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow wick
edness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish,
and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed."!
It is used in the same sense by the prophet, where he
describes the flourishing state of Christ's kingdom :
" No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall
go up thereon, it shall not be found there ; but the
redeemed shall walk there."! These are only a few
of the numerous instances in which the sacred writers
use the name to express the temper and conduct of
wicked men. Not only the vicious and profane, the
cruel and the unjust in the private walks of life, but
also the sceptered oppressor, the blood stained con
queror, the warlike nation, are stigmatized in the holy
Scriptures, and held up to the execration of all man
kind, under this odious name. " Their roaring shall
be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions : yea,
they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and shall
carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it."§ But
the name is not confined to the human character, it is
extended also to every thing hurtful or destructive to
mankind. The sword, for example, is by the prophet
compared to the lion, on account of the desolations
which it is the means of accomplishing : " Your own
* 1 Pet. v. 8. f -><* iv- 8« 9» 10- * Isa- xxv 9- $ fe*- v- 29-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 519
SAVord hath devoured your prophets like a destroying
lion."* If these statements have not removed any of
the, difficulties which the biblical student meets Avith in
his progress, they prove beyond a doubt the closeness
and accuracy Avith which the sacred writers copy na
ture, and the admirable fitness and propriety of their
allusions ; and this is no insignificant service to the in
terests of religion.
The Leopard.
This powerful and ferocious animal is entitled to the
second place among the beasts of prey. In the sacred
volume, the lion and the leopard are frequently united
as if they were homogeneous animals. Thus in the
Song, the spouse is invited to " look from the top of
Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the
lions dens, from the mountains of the leopards." The
prophet Jeremiah directs the combined force of the lion,
the wolf, and the leopard, against the cities of his cor
rupt and impenitent countrymen.! A- similar denuncia
tion is pronounced by Hosea against the ten tribes :
" Therefore I will be unto them as a lion ; as a leopard
by the way will 1 observe them." They are associated
in the same manner in the lines of Homer :
Out 8V tradable! tortm fttitf, *rt MOT05. II, b. 17. /. 20.
" Neither the leopard nor the lion possesses so great
strength." The leopard, says the natural historian, is rather less
than a mastiff dog, which, in form, he greatly resem
bles ; he has a ferocious air, a restless eye, a cruel
aspect ; he is very nimble in his movements, and has a
cry similar to that of an enraged dog, but stronger and
more hoarse ; he has a tongue equally rough as the
lion's ; strong and pointed teeth, hard sharp claws, a
beautiful skin of a more or less deep colour, variegated
with black circular spots, but subject to greater variety
than the panther. To this last feature, the prophet
Jeremiah beautifully alludes, in stating the invincible
power which a vicious habit acquires over the human
* Jer. ii. 30. t Jer- v- 6-

520 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
mind : " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good that are
accustomed to do evil."*
This terrible animal delights in the thick and gloomy
forest, and chooses his abode in its deepest recesses ;
but he often frequents the banks of rivers, and the en
virons of sequestered habitations, where, he endeavours
to surprise domestic animals, and the Avild beasts which
come to the river in quest of water. He seldom attacks
men, even when provoked : he climbs trees with great
facility in pursuit of his prey, which seldom escapes
him. He is exceedingly sAvift and subtile, rapacious
and gluttonous ; and his fiery restless eyes are con
tinually rolling in search of blood. The prophet Ha-
bakkuk, describing the march of the Chaldees against
Jerusalem, alludes to the extraordinary swiftness of
this animal in these words : " Their horses also are
sAvifter than leopards." This agrees exactly Avith the
character given him by Homer, («¦»? 3ux/« « s-««<,) « the
SAvift leopards;" and >vith the testimony of iElian,
that the leopard pursues the other animals with great
swiftuess. Eustathius asserts, that he excels all other
animals in swiftness, and as it were, flies before the
eyes of the hunters.
But he does not trust for success to his swiftness
alone ; Pliny remarks, that he often conceals himself
among the thick branches of a tree, and from thence
darts down upon the passing victim. This allusion is
involved in the threatening : " As a leopard by the Avay
will 1 observe them."! So wakeful are the eyes of
Jehovah, so keen is his inspection, and equally sudden
and irresistible as the downward spring of the watch
ful leopard, is the vengeance Avhich he inflicts upon his
enemies. The allusion to the insidious habit and fero
cious character of this creature, is still more striking in
the denunciation of Jeremiah : " A leopard shall watch
over their cities : every one that goeth out thence shall
be torn in pieces." For what purpose Jehovah threat
ened to watch over their cities, is explained in the next
clause, and is admirably illustrated in another passage
* Jer. xiii. 23. t H°s- x"i- "¦

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 521
of his book : " I have watched over them to pluck up?
and to break down, and to throw down, and to de
stroy, and to afflict."* A similar expression occurs in
the prophecies of Daniel : " Therefore, hath the Lord
watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us."!
Homer says, that the leopard never can be satiated
with prey; and many unexceptionable Avitnesses declare,
that the ferocity of his disposition cannot, by the most
assiduous and artful management, be wholly subdued.
How great then must be the change produced in his
truculent heart, a\ hen, according to ancient prophecy,
he " shall lie down witii the kid ;" but still more
singular is the alteration which the gospel of peace,
under the salutary influence of the divine Spirit, effects
in the moral and religious feelings of mankind. This
great and desirable event, Avhicii has been partly realiz
ed already, but is yet in a great degree matter of hope,
is represented by the prophet Isaiah, with his usual
felicity of expression, under the striking figure of a
general and cordial pacification among all the beasts of
the field. " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the
calf, and the young lion, and the fatting together ; and
a little child shall lead them."
The Grecian monarchy, under Alexander of Macedon
and his successors, the rise and fall of which, Daniel
beheld in vision, was represented by a leopard ; and
surely, a more appropriate symbol to indicate the in
satiable ambition of Alexander, the vigour of his coun
sels, the rapidity of his movements, the impetuosity of
his onset, and the number and variety of the nations
that fought under his banner, — numerous and diversi
fied as the spots on the skin of that animal, — can scarcely
be devised.
The leopard is of a nature so fierce and untractable,
that man may be said rather to subdue, than to tame
him; he never loses entirely his ferocious disposition.
To train him for the chase, which has been frequency
done in the east, great attention is necessary, and still
greater caution in conducting and exercising him. He
* Jer. v. 6, and xxxi. 28. + Dan. ix. 14.
Vol. 1. Xx2

522 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
is carried to the field in a cart, shut up in a cage, the
door of which is opened when game appears. Start
ing from his den, he springs toward the animal, and
generally at three or four bounds seizes and strangles
it. But if he miss his aim, he becomes furious, and
sometimes attacks his master, who commonly preAents
this hazard by carrying along with him pieces of flesh
or live animals, as lambs or kids, one of which he
throws to him to pacify his rage. Demarchais asserts,
that the Guinea leopard is incapable of being tamed ;
but a higher authority says, that every kind of animal
may be tamed, and has been tamed by man ; and,
therefore, the leopard of Guinea might be subdued, if
sufficient time and pains were bestowed in the training.
How admirable then is the power of the gospel, which
subdues, tames, and humanizes the heart of a wicked
man, who is equally stubborn, cruel, and untractable as
the leopard ; which eradicates the very principles of
deceit and violence ; chains the furious passions, and
purifies the unholy affections and grovelling appetites,
and renders him gentle, moderate, humble, and inoffen
sive. Such are the happy effects, Avhich ancient pro
phets and holy apostles ascribe to the influence of re
ligion upon the human heart.
This formidable animal loves to roam on the sum
mits of lofty mountains, where he remains in gloomy
solitude, till hunger compel him to leave his retreat,
and descend into the plain. Solomon alludes to this
habit in the Song, where, under the significant emblem
of lions and leopards, he describes the men of this
world, who, for the degraded state of their nature; for
their devouring and insatiable desires, which, like the
voracious appetites of the leopard, are neAer satisfied ;
and for their malicious dispositions, which stimulate
them to plot against the peace and safety of righteous
and holy men, — are with great propriety represented
by these beasts of prey. Environed by the men of this
world, the church of Christ is in no less danger than a
solitary inhabitant of the wood, or the mountain, where
the lion and the leopard range in quest of their prey.
She is, therefore, invited to leave such dangerous soli-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 523
tudes, and take up her residence upon mount Zion,
which no ravenous beastr was allowed to approach, and
to place her happiness in the presence and fellowship
of her God : " Come with me from Lebanon, my
spouse, with me from Lebanon ; look from the top of
Aniana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the
lions' dens, from the mountains of leopards."
The Bear.
The bear is occasionally found in company with the
lion in the Avritings of the Old Testament ; and if the
savage ferocity of his disposition be duly considered,
certainly forms a proper associate for that destroyer.
" There came a lion and bear," said the son of Jesse,
" and took a lamb out of the flock ;" and Solomon unites
them, to constitute the symbol of a wicked magistrate :
" As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear, so is a wicked
ruler over the poor people."* The savage, which in
these texts is associated with the lion, is the brown or
red bear. Natural historians mention two other species,
the white and black, the dispositions and habits of
which are entirely different. The white bear differs in
shape from the others, is an inhabitant of the polar
regions, and feeds " on the bodies of seals, whales, and
other monsters of the deep." It is properly a sea bear,
and must haA'e been totally unknown to the inspired
Avriters, who lived so far remote from those dreary and
desolate shores which it frequents. The black and the
brown bears are considered by many as only varieties
of the same species ; but their temper and manners are
so different, that Buffon, and other respectable writers,
contend, that they ought to be regarded as specifically
different. The brown or red bear is both a larger ani
mal than the black, and a beast of prey that in strength
and ferocity scarcely yields to the lion himself; while
the black bear chiefly subsists on root3, fruits, and vege
tables, and is never known to prey upon other animals.
This species uniformly flies from the presence of men,
and never attacks them but in self-defence ; but the red
bear is a bold and extremely mischievous animal, which
* Prov. xxviii. 15.

521 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
will attack a man with equal indifference as a lamb or
a fau u. The black bear also confines himself to the
more temperate northern latitudes, never ascending to
the arctic circle, nor descending lower than the Alps,
where it is sometimes found ; but the brown bear ac
commodates himself to every clime, and is to be found
in every desert or uncultivated country on the face of
our globe. He ranges the Scythian wilds as far as the
shores of the frozen ocean ; he infests the boundless
forests of America; he traverses the burning wastes of
Lybia and Numidia, countries of Africa which supplied
the ancient Romans with bears to be exhibited at their
public spectacles : he prowls on the glowing sands of
Arabia ; he lounges on the banks of the Nile,* and on
the shores of the Red sea ; he inhabits the wilderness
adjoining to the Holy land-! Hence, the black bear
must have been unknown to the inhabitants of Canaan ;
while the red bear infested their country, prowled
around their flocks, and watched near their dAvellings,
affording; them but too many opportunities of studying
his character, and too much reason to remember his
manners. A particular description of this animal is to be found
in every work on natural history ; our concern is only
with those, traits in his character, which serve to illus
trate the sacred Avritings. His external appearance is
unusually rugged and savage: his limbs are strong and
thick ; his forefeet somewhat resemble the human hand ;
his hair is shaggy and coarse, and his whole aspect dull
and heavy. His motions are as awkward as his shape
is clumsy ; but under this forbidding exterior, he con
ceals a considerable degree of alertness aud cunning.
If hunger compel him to attack a man, or one of the
larger animals, he watches the moment Avhen his ad-
A'ersary is off his guard. In pursuit of his prey, he
swims with ease the broad and rapid stream, and
climbs the highest tree in the forest. Mauy beasts of
prey surpass him in running; yet his speed is so great,
that a man on foot can seldom escape. Hence, the
danger to which a person is exposed from his pursuit,
* Buffon. + Thevenot.

NATURAL HISTORY OF, THE EAST. 525
is extreme ; he can scarcely hope to save himself by
flight ; the interposing river can give him no security ;
and the loftiest tree in the forest is commonly the
chosen dAvelling of his pursuer, which, so far from
affording him a safe retreat, only insures his destruc
tion. The danger of the victim, Avhich the bear has
marked for destruction, is increased by his natural
sagacity, the keenness of his eye, and the excellency of
his other senses, particularly his sense of smelling,
which Buffon conjectures, from the peculiar structure
of the organ, to be perhaps more exquisite than that of
any other animal. Nor can any hope be rationally
entertained from the forbearance or generosity of his
temper; to these, or any other amiable quality, his
rugged and savage heart is an entire stranger. His
anger, which is easily excited, is at once capricious and
intense. A dark and sullen scowl, which, on his for
bidding countenance never relaxes into a look of satis
faction, indicates the settled moroseness of his disposi
tion ; aud his voice, which is a deep murmur, or rather
growl, often accompanied with a grinding of the teeth,
betrays the discontent which reigns within. It is there
fore with justice, that the inspired writers uniformly
number him among the most ferocious and dangerous
tenants of the forest, and associate his name and man
ners, with the sorest judgments which afflict maukind.
The peculiar form of his anterior feet, Avas remarked
by DaA'id in his address to Saul : " The Lord that de
livered me out of the paw of the lion, aud out of the
paw, or hand, of the bear, he will deliver me out of
the hand of this Philistine." The original term, it
must be admitted, is of very general import ; but in its
application to the bear, ought to be literally interpreted,
because the forefoot of the bear somewhat resembles
the human hand, and is often used as a hand by that
animal. When he finds fruit Avhich he relishes, he
climbs the tree, sits astride on a branch, with one band
keeps himself firm, and Avith the other collects the fruit.*
The paw of the bear, is distinguished by terms which
have the same meaning, in the most celebrated writings
* Buffon,

526 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
of Greece and Rome ; Aristotle says, the feet of a bear
resemble hands ; and Oppian, the hands of a bear re
semble the hands of a man, and his feet the feet of a
man; X«f «s %'%*' /3f «T«» ,m\ai, iroSi; tjae iroonrri.
iElian observes, that he remains Avithout meat or
drink forty days, and it suffices him in the mean time
(¦nj» «t)T^ h%,m ¦7Ti£ixi%{ia.t6at) to lick his right hand. Ovid,
in bis Metamorphoses, and Pliny in his Natural His
tory, style it Manus, a hand. Thus, to the strength
and ferocity of the lion and the leopard, he adds the
important faculty of seizing the. prey with his hand,
and rendering escape more difficult.
The sacred Avriter also alludes to the grumbling
mournful sound of his voice, when he introduces the
ancient church as dissatisfied with herself for her wick
edness, and deploring the wretched state to which it
had reduced her : " We roar," or rather as Lowth
translates it, we groan, all " like bears, and mourn sore
like doves ; we look for judgment, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.''* In ages long
posterior, Horace celebrates in these lines the mournful
tones of the be'ar :
" Nee vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile." Epod. 16.
The fretful and discontented temper of the bear, when
roused by hunger, or irritated by danger, often breaks
out into the most violent rage, under the impulse of
which he makes terrible havoc among the flocks and
herds, and resolutely attacks the keepers themselves.
At such a time to encounter his fury, is almost to rush
upon certain destruction. ¦" rabido nee perditus ore

Fumantem nasum vivi tentaveris ursi." Martial.
Naturally intrepid, or at least indifferent to danger,
he is then extremely formidable. To flee from a
ravenous lion, therefore, and meet a ranging bear, is to
escape from one danger, only to encounter anothe
* Isa. lix. 11.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 527
equally great. " Hence, the prophet Amos, Avho was
bred a herdsman, and must have been well acquainted
with the dangers to be apprehended from this strong
and furious animal, uses this as a proverbial expression,
not only of the succession of calamities Avith which the
ungodly Israelites were to be afflicted, but also to inti
mate, that the removal of one evil, instead of bettering
their circumstances, would only be making tvay for the
approach of another as bad : ' Wo unto you that desire,
the day of the Lord ;' that you may know the Avorst
you have to suffer, or as if the threatened evil will never
be inflicted ; ' to what end is it for you ? The day of
the Lord is darkness, and not light.' The calamity
will neither be so slight, nor so transient, as ye pre
sumptuously imagiue, but a succession of calamities, all
of them grievous, and of which you will be unable to
discover any termination : Your case will be, as if a
man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him."*
The manner in which the bear combats his enemy, is
peculiar to himself. While the lion springs upon the
victim with a tremendous roar, strikes him down with
his paw, and tears him in pieces with his claws and
teeth ; the bear steals upon his prey in silence, and
having reached him, rises upon his hind legs, opens his
thick and shaggy arms, and crushes him to death in his
horrid embrace. How few have the presence of mind
to resist, or the strength to extricate themselves from so
great a danger ! The name of only one heroic youth is
recorded in Scripture, who, by the faA'our of Jehovah,
vanquished in such close combat that powerful and
ruthless enemy. When David kept his father's sheep,,
there came a bear and took a lamb out of the flock ; and
he went out after him and smote him, and delivered it
out of his mouth. And when, according to his custom^
the enraged savage raised himself against him to give
him the fatal embrace, the dauntless stripling, relying
on the protection of his God, and exerting his own un
common strength, caught him by the chin, " and smote
him, and slew him." In this incident, we discover no
trace of miraculous power ; but the manner in which
* Sac. Zool, Christ. Mag. vol. 6. p. 573.

528 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
David afterward spoke of it, clearly shows, that such
escapes were very rare, and at no time to be expected
but from the Divine interposition. "The Lord de
livered me out of the paAV of the lion, and out of the paw
of the bear."
The bear is not more ferocious than cunning and de
ceitful. He lies in ambush under the thicket, or in the
skirts of the forest, to seize the unwary passenger ; he
watches the favourable moment of attack, Avhen the in
tended Aictim is off his guard ; and steals in silence
upon him. If his approach is discovered, and a stout
resistance threatened, he retires to his covert, frequently
looking back, as if expecting to be pursued.* To this
artful management, the prophet evidently refers, in his
complaint of the suddenness and severity of diA'ine judg
ments : " He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and
as a lion in secret places."! 1'ne Avrath of Jehovah
came suddenly and unexpectedly on his country and
himself, and Avith great rapidity and A'iolence, like a
bear, that rushing, from the forest, in a moment sur
prises and overpowers the unsuspecting prey.
But he acts this wary part only at certain seasons of
the year, Avheu he is permitted to range at large, or in
those places where game is pleuty. When he first goes
abroad, after the dreadful rigours of a polar winter,
during which he has been compelled to subsist, as
Buffon admits, by sucking his paws, or where the de
serts afford him but a scanty supply of food, he attacks
his prey Avith open violence, and terrible rage. Fierce
and savage, iu proportion to the craving of his voracious
appetite, he forsakes his usual haunts, and pursuing
the natiA'es by their scent, frequently comes upon them
unawares, and sacrifices them to his fierceness and
hunger-! Equally dangerous is the cruel oppressor to
those that are exposed to his depredations : " As a
roaring lion and a tanging bear, so is a wicked ruler
over the poor people. "§> A more formidable enemy
never disturbs their habitations ; no sentiment of pity
and compassion softens his bosom ; no principle of
* Lewis and Clarke's Trav. -J- Lam. iii. 10. } Clook's Voy.
§ Prov. xxviii. 15,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 529
justice and equity regulates or influences his conduct;
complaint only provokes him to further exactions ; re
sistance kindles his fierce and unfeeling heart into
savage fury, Avhich no supplications can mitigate, no
submissions appease. Poor and miserable indeed are
the people whom the anger of heaven has placed nuder
his government, rather subjected to his misrule, and
bent under his unsupportable oppressions ! If the
vigour of their own arm, supported by the justice of
their cause, is insufficient to procure them relief and
safety, they have no resource but in the special favour
of heaven, no refuge but in the darkness and silence of
the grave.
Still more fierce and terrible than the male, is the
female bear, after she has brought forth her young.
Animated by the tenderest attachment to her cubs, and
extremely jealous for their safety, she suffers neither
man nor beast to disturb their repose. This important
circumstance, the prophet Isaiah has introduced, with
admirable skill and propriety, into the. striking picture
he has given of the change produced in the most savage
and ungovernable hearts by the gospel, and of the peace
and concord which shall prevail over all the world
under the reign of Messiah. " The cow and the bear
shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together."
The most ferocious animals, laying aside their native
fierceness and cruelty, shall associate in peace Avith
those gentle defenceless creatures on which they Avere
accustomed to prey. The bear shall offer no violence,
meditate no mischief, to the cow ; and the cow shall
entertain no suspicion of the temper or designs of the
bear. Even maternal fear and jealousy shall cease to
alarm or enrage ; the cow shall see, without concern,
her young one reposing tvith the cubs of the bear ; and
this outrageous animal, softened into forbearance and
kindness, permitting the calf in peace and safety, to
gambol around her thicket, or lie down with her cubs.
Such is the wonderful change which holy prophets and
apostles have promised in the name of the Lord, to the
church and the world, when his gospel shall be preach
ed to all nations, and his Spirit shall be poured upon
Vol. I. Y y 2

530 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
all flesh. The blissful event approaches rapidly, and
shall ere long fully reward " the faith and patience of
the saints."
But the furious passions of the female bear never
mount so high, nor burn so fiercely, as when she hap
pens to be deprived of her young. When she returns
to her den, and misses the objects of her love and care,
she becomes almost frantic Avith rage. Disregarding
every consideration of danger to herself, she attacks,
with intense ferocity, eA'ery animal that comes in her
Avay, "and in the bitterness of her heart, will dare to
attack even a band of armed men." The Russians of
Kamtchatka never venture to fire on a young bear when
the mother is near ; for, if the cub drop, she becomes
enraged to a degree little short of madness ; and if she
get sight of the enemy, will only quit her revenge with
her life."* " A more desperate attempt, therefore, caii
scarcely be performed, than to carry off her young in"
her absence. The moment she returns, and misses
them, her passions are inflamed ; her scent enables her
to track the plunderer; and unless he has reached some
place of safety before the infuriated animal oAertake
him, his only safety is in dropping one of the cubs, and
continuing to flee ; for the mother, attentive to its safety,
carries it home to her den, before she renews the pur
suit."! These statements furnish an admirable illustration of
a passage iu the counsel of Hushai to Absalom, in which
he represents the danger of attacking David and his
followers with so small a force as twelve thousand
chosen men, when their tried courage Avas inflamed,
aud their spirits were imbittered by the variety and
severity of their sufferings, and when their caution,
matured by long and extensive experience in the art of
war, and sharpened by the novelty and peril of their
circumstances, would certainly lead them to anticipate,
and take measures to defeat the attempt. " Hushai
said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahitophel hath
given, is not good at this time ; for (sa'id Hushai) thou
knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty
* Cook's Voyages. f Sac Zool.Ch. Mag. vol. 6. p. 379.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 581
men, and they be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed
of her whelps in the field."* The frantic rage of the
female bear, when she has lost her young, gives wonder
ful energy to the proverb of Solomon : " Let a bear
robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in
his folly."! Dreadful as it is to meet a bear in such
circumstances, it is yet more dangerous to meet " a
fool in his folly," a furious and revengeful man, under
the influence of his impetuous passions, and his heart
determined on their immediate gratification. Naturally
stubborn and cruel as the bear, and equally devoted to
his lusts as she is to her young, he pursues them with
equal fury and eagerness. It is passible to escape the
vengeance of a bereaved bear, by surrendering part of
the litter, and diverting her pursuit; but no considera
tion of interest or duty, no partial gratifications, can ar
rest his furious career or divert his intention. Reason,
degraded and enslaved, lends all her remaining wisdom
and energy to passion, and renders the fool more cruel
and mischievous than the bear, in proportion as he is
superior to instinct. When the prophet Hosea fore
told the dreadful calamities that were coming upon the
ten tribes for their inveterate and diversified wickedness,
he alludes to the same facts : " I will meet them as a
bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rent the
caul of their hearts."! Provoked by their numer
ous and aggraA'ated iniquities, I will pour out upon them
the fierceness of my wrath, till as a nation they are ut
terly destroyed. And none of his words are suffered
to fall to the ground : Not long after, the armies of As
syria invaded the country, and carried the miserable in
habitants that remained from the sword, into a long and
painful captivity.
Some writers contend, that the allusion in these texts,
is not to the female bear, but to the male : because the
Avords, of her whelps, are a supplement ; and conse
quently a literal translation would run, I will meet them
as a bear bereaved ; and because both the noun and its
adjective are in the masculine form, and as the male
bear is not knoAvn to have any remarkable attachment
* 2 Sam. xvii 7, 8. \ Prov. xvii. 12. * Hos. xiii. 8.

532 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
to his young, they explain it of the he-bear when be
reaved of the female. It must be admitted, that the
bear, like many other animals, is more fierce and dan:
gerous in the rutting season than at other times ; but
this is not a sufficient reason to deviate from the com
mon interpretation, which is by far the most emphatical
and significant. In that season, the bear is not more
dangerous than the lion or the tiger ; why then is he
selected, for that the inspired writer alludes to him de
signedly and emphatically, cannot be doubted ? But, if
the Spirit of God allude to the female bear, the reason
of the preference is obvious ; her fierceness and rage,
when deprived of her cubs, scarcely admit of compa
rison with the passions of the lioness, or any other beast
of prey.
The argument draAvn from the form of the noun, is of
no force, for the original term, although in the masculine
form, is of the common gender. It is accordingly con
nected at one time Avith the masculine, and at another
with the feminine form of the verb. An instance of its
connection with the feminine form, aud by consequence,
of its reference to the female bear, occurs in the passage
of Scripture which mentions the destruction of the chil
dren of Bethel by tAvo she-bears.* It may perhaps be
replied, that the masculine form of the adjective deter
mines the gender and meaning of the substantive ; but
this is not always the casein Hebrew. It has been
justly observed, that the adjective " bereaved may be
expressed in the masculine form, in conformity to the
termination of the noun with which it is connected,
rather than to indicate the sex of the animal." But a
more satisfactory reason may perhaps be assigned :
The Hebrews often connect a masculine verb or adjec
tive with a feminine noun, Avhen they mean to indicate
something peculiarly excellent, or to increase the force
and significancy of the clause, and the reverse ; the ad
jective here may therefore be put in the masculine form,
to signify the total loss which the bear had suffered, and
by consequence, that she was wrought up to the highest
paroxysm of rage and madness. In the same manner
* 2 Kings ii. 23,24.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 533
Avould Jehovah, provoked in the highest degree by the
total apostacy of the ten tribes to the service of dumb
idols, meet them in the severest calamities which his
righteous indignation inflicts upon a guilty and impeni
tent people.
We have not perhaps in the records of history, a more
terrible illustration of the dreadful ferocity Avhich marks
the character of the she-bear, than av;is exhibited in the
neighborhood of Bethel. The prophet Elisha, we are
told, after the. ascension of his master into heaven, and
having received a double, portion of his spirit, was re
turning from Jericho to that place. " Aud as he Avas go
ing up by the way, there came forth little children out
of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him. Go up,
thou bald head, go up, thou bald head. And he turn
ed back, and cursed them in the name of the Lord ;
and there came forth two she-bears out of the wood,
aud tare forty and tAvo children of them."
These furious animals were she-bears, which, it is
probable, had been just deprived of their young, and
now following the impulse of their outraged feelings,
they rushed from the wood to revenge the loss. But
it is evident their native ferocity was overruled and di
rected by divine providence, to execute the dreadful
sentence pronounced by the prophet in his name. They
must, therefore, be considered as the ministers of God,
the Judge of all the earth, commissioned to punish the
idolatrous inhabitants of Bethel and their profligate
offspring, Avho probably acted on this occasion with
their concurrence, if not by their commaud. He pun
ished in a similar way the Heathen colonies planted by
the king of Assyria in the cities of Samaria, after the
expulsion of the ten tribes : " They feared not the
Lord ; therefore the Lord sent lions among them
Avhich sleAV some of them."* When he punished the
youths of Bethel (for so the phrase little children signi
fies in Hebrew,) by directing against them the rage of
the she-bears, he only did what Moses had long before
predicted, and left on record for their warning : " And
if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto
* 2 Kings xvii. 25.

531 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you ac
cording to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among
you, which shall rob you of your children."* Bethel had
been long a principal seat of idolatry, and its attendant
vices; and to all their aggravated crimes, its inhabitants
now added rude and impious mockery of a person
whom they kneAV to be a prophet of the Lord, reviling,
Avith blasphemous tongues, the Lord God of Elijah,
and his now glorified servant. Their crime, therefore,
justly merited the seA'erest punishment.!
The only other passage of Scripture which takes
notice of the bear, occurs in the book of Daniel : "And
behold, another beast, a second like to a bear, and it
raised up itself on one side, and had three ribs in the
mouth of it, between the teeth of it; and they said thus
unto it, Arise, devour much flesh."! Jt has beeu sa
tisfactorily proved by the best writers on the subject,
that the vision refers to the four great monarchies, the
Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian or
Grecian, and the Roman ; aud that the second beast,
which Avas like to a bear, symbolizes the empire of the
Medes and Persians. All the four monarchies are re
presented by the beasts of prey, to intimate their agree
ment in the general character of fierceness and rapacity ;
and by beasts of different species, to intimate the exist
ence of important differences in their character and mode
of operation. The Babylonish empire is symbolized
by a lion with eagle's wings, because it was the first
and noblest kingdom upon earth ; it Avas strong and
fierce as a lion ; it was.sAvift and rapid in its move
ments, as a lion with eagle's wings ; rising in a few
years under the conduct of Nebuchadnezzar, to the
highest pinnacle ef power and greatness. The third
kingdom is represented by another beast, " like a leo
pard which had upon the back of it four wings of a
foAA'l; the beast had also four heads ; and dominion Avas
given unto it." This is the Grecian monarchy ; the
* Lev. xxvi. 21, 22.
! See an excellent reply to the cavils of unbelievers against the prophet
and his God, in the Christ. Mag. Sac Zool. vol. 6. p. 415.
$ Dan. vii. 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 535
distinguishing characters of which, are great variety of
disposition and manners, undaunted boldness, and rapi
dity of conquest, never before or since exemplified in
the history of nations. The fourth beast was so great
and horrible, that no adequate name could be found for
it ; this non-descript was the symbol of the Roman em
pire, Avhich differed from all others in the form of its
government, in strength, in power, in greatness, in
length of duration, and in extent of dominion. The
Persian monarchy, symbolized by the bear, has also
certain specific differences, which are to be learned from
the natural history of that animal. Cruel and rapacious
as the others, the bear is inferior in strength and cou
rage to the lion, and although sloAver in its motions,
more uniform in its appearance, and steady in its pur
pose than the leopard. Such was the empire of the
Medes and the Persians : weaker and less warlike
than the Babylonian, Avhose symbol is the lion ; but
less various in its principles of gOAernment, in the forms
which it assumed, in the customs and manners of the
nations which composed it, and less rapid in its con
quests, than the Macedonian, symbolized by the spot
ted leopard, one of the most rapid and impetuous ani
mals that traverse the desert.
But if the bear is inferior to the liou and the leopard,
in strength, in courage, and in SAviftness, it surpasses
them in ferocious cruelty and insatiable voracity ; it
thirsts for blood and riots in carnage ; and such was the
empire of the Medes and Persians. They are stigma
tized by ancient historians, as the greatest robbers and
spoilers, that ever oppressed the nations. The symbol
of this all devouring people, is accordingly represented
as having " three ribs in the mouth of it, between the
teeth of it," in the very act of devouring three weaker
animals which it had seized, that is, of oppressing the
kingdoms of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which it
conquered. And besides, to denote its rapaciousness
and cruelty, it is added in the vision, that " they said
thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh."
The fourth empire is symbolized by " a dreadful and
terrible beast," for which, the prophet found no name

536 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
in the kingdom of nature. It resembled the fabulous
monsters, Avhich poetic imagination sometimes delights
to pourtray ; for, in the book of Revelation, John de
scribes it as compounded of the three w hich preceded
it : " The beast which I saAV Avas like unto a leopard,
and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth
as the mouth ofa linn."* It possessed all the qualities
which render bcaets of prey a terror to man and other
animals ; the swiftness and cunning of the leopard, the
ferocity of the bear, and the boldness and strength of
the lion. The Roman empire which it symbolized, re
sembled no state of society knoAvn among men ; it dis
played, in its character and proceedings, the vigour
and courage of the Babylonians, the A'arious policy and
alacrity of the Greeks, and the unchanging firmness of
the Medes and Persians ; qualities Avhich have been
equally conspicuous in the Papal state of that empire.
The Wolf.
This animal is not often alluded to by the sacred
writers ; but in the few references which occur, his
character is strongly and justly drawn. Nature has
furnished him with cunning, strength, and agility, to
discover, to seize, and to devour his prey. Though
naturally clownish and dastardly, want makes him in
genious, and necessity gives him courage. When press
ed with famine, he braves danger ; he attacks those
animals which are under the protection of man, espe
cially those Avhich he can transport with ease, as lambs,
small dogs, and kids ; and when successful in his
bloody expeditions, he returns often to the charge, till
the vigorous opposition of men and dogs force him to
his den.-f- The dying patriarch, Jacob, ascribed to his
youngest son, the rapacity of this animal ; " Benjamin
shall ravin as a wolf : in the morning he shall devour
the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil."! The
Avolf is weaker than the lion or the bear, and less cou
rageous than the leopard ; but he scarcely yields to
them in cruelty and rapaciousness. So Benjamin, al
though not destitute of courage and address, nor disin-
* Rev. xiii. 2. t Buffon. * Gen xlix. 27.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 537
clined to war, possessed neither the strength, nor the
manly spirit of Judah, whose symbol was the lion's
whelp ; but yet he was greedy of blood, he delighted
in rapine, and in the early periods of Jewish history,
he distinguished himself by an active and restless spirit,
which commonly, like the Avolf among lambs and kids,
spent itself in petty or inglorious Avarfare, although it
sometimes blazed forth in deeds of heroic valour, and
general utility. He had the honour of giA'ing the second
judge to the nation of Israel, Avho delivered them from
the oppressive yoke of Moab ; and the first king that
sat on the throne of that chosen people, whose valour
saved them from the iron sceptre of Ammon, and more
than once revenged the barbarities of the uncircumcised
Philistines upon their discomfited hosts. In the de
cline of the Jewish commouwealth, Esther and Mor-
decai, Avho were both of this tribe, successfully inter
posed with the king of Persia, for the deliA'erance of
their brethren, and took their station in the first rank of
public benefactors. But the tribe of Benjamin ravened
like wolves, when they desperately espoused the cause
of Gibeah, and in the dishonourable and bloody feud,
reduced their OAvn tribe to the very brink of ruin, and
inflicted a deep wound on the other members of the
state. The rapacious character of the wolf was familiarly
known to the ancients, for both the Greek and Latin
poets frequently mention it. In the first book of the
Georgics, Virgil says, this office Avas given to the wolf
by Jupiter, to hunt the prey.
" Prsedari que lupos jussit."
The rapacious wolf, is a phrase which often occurs in
the odes of Horace :
" Cervi luporum prasdarapacium."
And Ovid, in one of his Elegies, sings, how the wolf,
rapacious and greedy of blood, when pressed by famine,
plunders the unguarded fold.
" Utque rapax, stimulante fame cupidusque cruoris
Incustoditum captat ovile lupus." 5 El. b. 1.
Vol. 1. Z z 2

538 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
His ravenous temper prompts him to destructive and
sanguinary depredations. He issues forth in the night,
traverses the country, roams about the cottages, kills
all the animals which have been left without, digs the
earth under the doors, enters with a dreadful ferocity,
and puts every living creature to death, before he
chooses to depart, and carry off his prey. When these
inroads happen to be fruitless, be returns to the woods,
searches about with avidity, follows the tract of wild
beasts, and pursues them in the hope that they may be
stopped and seized by some other wolf, and that he may
be a partaker of the spoil. When his hunger is ex
treme, he loses the idea of fear ; he attacks women and
children, and even sometimes darts upon men ; till,
becoming perfectly furious by excessive exertions, he
generally falls a sacrifice to pure rage and distraction.
He has been accordingly joined Avith the lion in execut
ing punishment upon wicked men ; and it is evident
from his character and habits, that he is well adapted
to the work of judgment: "The great men," said
Jeremiah, " haA'e altogether broken the yoke, and burst
the bonds ; wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay
them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them."*
The rapacious and cruel conduct of the princes of Israel,
is compared by Ezekiel to the mischievous inroads of
the same animal : " Her princes in the midst thereof,
are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to
destroy souls, to get dishonest gain."! The disposi
tions of the Avolf to attack the weaker animals, espe
cially those Avhich are under the protection of man, is
alluded to by our Lord in the parable of the hireling
shepherd : " The wolf catches them and scatters the
flock ;"! and the apostle Paul, in bis address to the
elders of Ephesus, gives the name of this insidious and
cruel animal, to the false teachers who disturbed the
peace, and perverted the faith of their people: "I
know this, that after my departing, shall grievous
wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock."§,
The Jewish rulers, in the time of the prophet Ze-
phaniah, manifested the same disposition, aud were
* Jer. v. 6. f Ezek- xxii. 27. * Mat. vii. 15. §Actsxx.29.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 539
branded with the same stigma : " Her princes within
her are roaring lions, her judges are evening wolves ;
they gnaw not the bones till the morrow."* Instead
of protecting the innocent, and restraining the evil doer,
or punishing him according to the demerit of his crimes,
they delight in violence and oppression, in blood and
rapine, and so insatiable is their cupidity, that, like the
eA'ening Avolf, they destroy more than they are able to
possess : " they gnaw not the. bones till the morroAV ;"
or, so much do they delight in carnage, that they reserve
the bones till next day for a sweet repast. The in
satiable cupidity of this animal, has not escaped the
observation of classic authors. Ovid sings, in the
second book of his Fausti, " Sspe avidum fugiens
restitet agna lupum." And to compare an insatiable
oppressor to the Avolf, was not uncommon among the
ancients ; thus, Mithridates says of the Romans, that
they had the disposition of Avolves : " lnexplebiles
sanguinis atque imperii divitiarum que avidos ac je-
junos." The Avolf is an enemy to all society, and keeps no
company even with those of his own species. It was
the opinion of some ancient writers, however, that he
sometimes admits a single associate in his predatory
excursions ; only one proof shall be quoted from
Statius, who says they go forth in pairs.
-" procedunt gemini, ceu foedere juncto

Hyberna sub nocte lupi.'
But Avhen a large animal, a stag, au ox, or a formida
ble mastiff, is to be attacked, or when some danger is
to be feared, they form a league, according to the poet,
and issue forth in bands to seek the prey : and on these
occasions, if Xenophon is worthy of credit, some keep
off the shepherds, and some carry away the booty.
The myrmidons in Homer, resembled a band of carni
vorous wolves, whose hearts were inflamed by invinci
ble courage, that tear in pieces, and devour a large
* Zeph. iii. 3.

540 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
horned stag, which they had killed in the mountains ;
and their jatvs are dyed in blood ; then they go off in a
body to drink at the dark fountain, with their slender
tongues, belching forth the swallowed gore."
Kai r' 'ayt>.tib»i ia<rn,a*t xei\\%g i*%"hmv£e',v II. b. 16. /. 156, iSfc.
This predatory expedition is no sooner finished, than
they separate, and each returns in silence to his den.
To the occasional combination of these animals; the
inspired writer probably alludes in a passage already
quoted: "her judges are evening wolves;" selfish and
solitary in their natural dispositions, but associated for
a time, that they may prosecute with more success their
schemes of rapine and extortion.
Weaker than many other beasts of prey, and pro-
portionably timid, the Avolf generally chooses to con
ceal his movements under the veil of night ; this is in
deed common to all the beasts of prey, but is more pro
per to him than to the lion, the bear, or the leopard. It
is for this reason, the sacred Avriters emphatically call
bim the " Avolf of the evening ;" and Virgil sings how
he lies in ambush for a full cote of sheep, growling at
the folds, enduring winds and rains at the hours of
midnight.  " pleno lupus insidiatus ovili," Ecc. JEn. b.9. I. 60.
In the prophecies of Habakkuk, the Assyrian " horses
are fiercer than the evening wolves." This expression
some refer to their speed, others to the acuteness of
their sight ; the celebrated Bochart supposes, that since
the wolf is very swift, and sharp sighted also, the pro
phet might have respect to both. But he rather inclines
to the common opinion, that the inspired writer alludes
to the keenness of his temper, which is expressed in
our translation Avith sufficient propriety. The Assyrian
horses were fiercer, keener, or more high spirited, than
wolves that come abroad in the evening, pinched Avith
hunger, and eager for the chase. The prophet, by
using the comparative degree, admits, that both the horse
and the wolf are keen or fierce ; and in the same man
ner Virgil applies the term to both.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 511
• " et genus acre luporum." Gear. b. 3.

And in the iEnead :
 " A'canius mediis in vallibus acri
Gaudet equo."
In the sacred Avritings, the Avolf is every where oppo
sed to sheep aud goats, as if his cruelty and rage were
reserved especially for these creatures. Thus, our Lord
informs his disciples : " Behold, I send you forth as
sheep in the midst of Avolves;" and in one of his dis
courses to the Pharisees, " But he that is an hireling —
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and
fleeth ; and the Avolf catcheth them, and scattereth the
sheep." The prophet Isaiah seems to lead our atten
tion to the same circumstance, when he describes the
wonderful change Avhich is to take place in the world,
under the benign influence of the gospel : " The wolf
also shall dwell Avith the lamb," and near the close of
his prophecy : " the Avolf and the lamb shall feed to
gether."* The son of Sirach takes up the same idea,
and inquires, What communion can be between a Avolf
and a lamb ? In Homer, the wolves are described as
rushing with impetuous violence upon the lambs or the
kids, making great havoc, carrying away from the
flocks, those which have been dispersed in the moun
tains by the folly of the shepherd.
'Og ft Xi/xo; agitTtrii vrrtx^aoi tj tPKftirt. II. b. 16. I. 352. &C.
And Virgil says, the wolf is fatal to the flocks, as
showers of rain to ripened corn, and shaking winds to
trees. " Triste lupus stabulis." 3 Eel. I. 80.
But, it is probable, that the hostility of the wolf to the
flock or the herd, arises from no particular hatred which
he bears to them, but because he finds them an easier
prey than the greater part of other animals.
His strength is so great that he carries a sheep in his
mouth, and at the same time outruns the shepherds.
His bite is cruel, and always more obstinate in-propor-
tion to the smallness of the resistance ; for when an
animal can defend himself, he is cautious aud circum-
* Isa. lxv. 25.

512 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
spect. Although timid, he is ferocious ; and so hardy
and robust, that he runs and roams about Avhole days
and nights in quest of his prey. He prefers living to
dead animals ; but when he can find nothing better, he
deA'ours the most putrid carcases. Human flesh is
grateful to his taste, and if stronger, he would perhaps
eat no other. Wolves have been knoAvn to folloAV ar
mies, to come in troops to the field of battle, Avhere bo
dies are carelessly interred, to tear them up, and to de
vour them with an insatiable avidity ; and when once
accustomed to human flesh, these Avolves ever after at
tack men ; prefer the shepherd to the flock ; devour
Avomen, and carry off children. So mischievous, so
dangerous are these creatures, that Avhole countries are
sometimes obliged to arm for their destruction. These
facts illustrate the force and beauty of a passage in the
prophecies of Isaiah, to Avhich reference has more than
once been made, Avhere he describes the tranquil and
prosperous state of the Avorld and the church, under
the reign of Messiah : " The Avolf also shall dwell Avith
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie doAvn Avith the kid."
That insidious creature shall be divested of its native
cunning, fierceness, and cruelty, Avliich render it an ob
ject of terror aud disgnst, even to the human kind, aud
shall associate in peace with the lamb, upon which it
Avas accustomed to prey, as harmless, and as little to
be feared, as that inoffensive creature. Or to drop the
metaphor, men of fierce, cruel, and rapacious disposi
tions, shall, by the preaching of the gospel, and the
poAver of divine grace, be transformed into humble,
gentle, and peaceful disciples of Jesus ; and shall no
more vex and harass one another, or injure the church
of Christ, but quietly live together in the same religious
society, united in the strictest bonds of peace and friend
ship. The false teacher is often compared to the wolf, in ,
the holy Scriptures; and, Avithout straining the meta
phor, several points of resemblance may be perceived.
(< Beware," said our Lord to the multitudes, " beAvare
of false prophets, Avhich come to you in sheep's cloth
ing y' gentle, unassuming, and harmless in their de-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 313
meanour and professions, as that inoffensive animal, in
whose fleece they are clothed, " but inAvardly, are ra
vening Avolves ;"* in their temper and secret purposes,
deceitful, cruel, and rapacious; and in their conduct,
under the covert of candour, moderation, and piety, ly
ing in wait to beguile the unwary soul. Such were the
men, concerning whom the apostle tvarned the elders of
the church at Ephesus: "For 1 know this, that after
my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among
you, not sparing the flock."|- CoA'etous and ungodly
men, under the character of public teachers, were al
ready watching near the fold, in expectation of his de
parture, tvhose vigilance and authority had prevented
the accomplishment of their designs, ready to seize the
first instance of negligence on the part of the subordi
nate shepherds, to secure their prey.
That cruel and rapacious animal, is often selected as
the appropriate symbol of tyrannical rulers, and bloody
persecutors of the good and the worthy. The princes
of Jerusalem, in the time of Ezekiel, are compared to
" wolves ravening the prey," to shed blood, to destroy
souls, to get' dishonest gain. A similar complaint was
made by another prophet, long before : " Her princes
within her are roaring lions," fierce and ravenous, prey
ing upon all around them, feared and hated by the
Avhole community ; " her judges," whose office it is to
distribute justice with an impartial hand, to protect the
weak, and to vindicate the, injured, are like " e\rening
wolves," greedy, rapacious, and insatiable; they judge
for reAvard ; they grievously oppress the poor and the
needy ; they intimidate the good, and encourage the
wicked, till the bonds of society are at last dissolved,
and every place to which their influence reaches, is filled
with violence. This miserable state of things the people
of Israel more than once experienced, as we knoAV from
the testimony of their own prophets, in the decline of
their government ; and the apostles and other ministers
of religion under the present dispensation, have often
had tp drink of the same cup. These also were sent
forth " as sheep in the midst of wolves," and suffered
*Mat. vii. 15. | Acts xx. 29.

514 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
all the injustice and cruelty which the comparison in
volves. Happy Avorld ! when in every land on which
the sun shines, the prince shall be a terror to evil doers,
and a praise to them that do well ; and when the minis
ters of religion shall be indeed the servants of Christ,
spending their days and exhausting their strength, in
turning sinners from the error of their way.
The Hyaena.
Modern interpreters have not found this savage beast
in the sacred volume. But the celebrated Bochart. has
undeniably proved, that the term (»«*) tseboa is some
times employed by the sacred writers to denote the
hyaena. The passage in first Samuel, rendered in our
version " the valley of Zeboim," ancient expositors
translate, " the A'alley of Hyaenas :" although the Chal-
dee has " the valley of vipers or basilisks." But our
author contends, that in this text it ought to be render
ed hyaena ; because this name occurs iu the Syriac ver
sion, and because the Arabians call the hyaena, dsabu-
on, which is clearly derived from tseboa, and has been
gradually changed into dubbah, the name by which,
according to Dr. ShaAV, the hyaena is still known in
Barbary. The Hebrews call him tseboa, from the
dark stripes or streaks with which his colour is variega
ted. In the same manner, the Greek interpreters, and
after them Bochart, render that passage in the prophet,
in our version, " Mine heritage is unto me as a
speckled bird," (?«*»'?".) < Mine heritage is unto me as
a hyaena or striped Avild beast. Is there a wild beast
all around upon her.' In the chapter from which the
quotation is taken, Jehovah sharply expostulates Avith
his people, because they had forgotten the favours they
had so often received from him, and manifested towards
him those fierce and untractable dispositions, which we
justly execrate in beasts of prey. This interpretation
is also supposed to be more agreeable to the context.
In the preceding verse, the prophet complains in the
name of the Lord: "Mine heritage is unto me as a
lion in the forest, it crieth out against me, therefore
have 1 hated it ;,? and in the close of the ninth verse,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 515
we have this invitation : "Come ye, assemble all ye
beasts of the field, come to de^ our."* But, contends
Bochart, it would certainly be very incongruous to
mention a speckled bird among beasts of prey.
This reasoning, howeAei, is unsatisfactory; for by
the authority of Bochart himself, a species of serpents
is designed by the same name, and that both these ani
mals are so called from the various colours with which
their bodies are marked. The use of the name tseboa,
therefore, which signifies merely spotted or streaked,
determines nothing; it equally applies to beasts, ser
pents, and birds. To make good his opinion, he is ob
liged to render &v eet a beast, instead of a bird of prey.
And why not, says he, since the verb (ov»i-o^) ou{ or
eet, belongs not to birds only, but to any animal that
rushes on its prey? But. if so, then by his own admis
sion, it may be interpreted as in our version, a speckled
bird, or bird of prey ; and by consequence, neither does
the use of this term determine, the question. But it re
mains to be proved, that the words in the Hebrew text
belong to any animal that rushes on its prey. This is
so far from being the. case, that common use, the su
preme arbiter in language, has restricted it to birds
only ; for,, it is presumed, no instance can be produced
in which the word is used for a beast of prey. " But
to show," continues Bochart, " that the name eet (b,p)
belongs not to birds only, moo tsippor a bird, is some
times added to it diacritically, as in this threatening:
"I Avill give thee unto the ravenaus birds:"! (i10* ^VO
every (o'y) eet not being a bird, but beasts of the rave
nous and carnivorous kind, being included in that name.
It has been already shown, that the Hebrew term Op)
eet, never signifies a beast of prey ; and Bochart has
produced no proof that the word <¦¦""*) tsippor is used by
the prophet to determine the sense. Nor could he use
it in this manner, if it is never applied to beasts ; he
must therefore use it merely in the way of illustration.
The only ambiguous term here, is 0"») tsebouah, striped
or speckled, which may denote a bird adorned with va
riegated plumes^ perhaps of the eagle or falcon kind,
* Jer xii. 8, 9, f Ezek. xxxix. 4.
Vol. I. A a 3

546 illustrations of scripture.
some of which are beautifully speckled ; as it is " at
tributed to a species of serpent, as well as to the hyavna,
for a similar reason ;" and accordingly, the generic
name &V" the bird of prey, seems to be added to it for
the sake of discrimination. If these remarks be just,
the argument derived by our learned author from the
incongruity of mentioning a bird of prey among the
beasts of the field, must fall to the ground : we must
take the Scriptures as they are, without attempting to
bend them to our vieAvs of propriety. It is not uncom
mon with the sacred writers to place the ravenous fowls
of heaven and the beasts of the field in the same sen
tence. Thus the prophet Ezekiel threatens Gog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal : " I w ill give thee
unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts
of the field to be devoured :"* and the arraugements of
Providence correspond with the words of the prophet ;
for both the birds and the beasts of prey are jointly
commissioned by Heaven to execute his vengeance on
his guilty creatures. But, what is not a little remark
able, the very arrangement which our author blames,
and from which he endeaA'ours to extract an argument
in support of his opinion, is adopted by another pro
phet in a passage which he has overlooked : " They
shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains,
and to the beasts of the earth ; aud the fowls shall sum
mer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall
winter upon them."! In the verse under consideration,
the Avord ^yn in the second clause, must be admitted to
signify birds of prey ; and this furnishes a strong pre
sumption, that in the first clause it bears the same sense.
This presumption is considerably strengthened by the
context. In the preceding verse, Jehovah had com
plained that his people had acted towards him " as a
lion," a particular species of wild beast; in this he is
supposed to compare their behaviour to that ofa bird of
prey, equally fierce and rapacious : hence, he calls in
return upon other ravenous creatures, birds as well as
beasts, to come forward and avenge his cause : " Come,
* Ezek. xxxix. 4. -j- Isa. xviii. 6.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 547
ye birds of prey that are round about her, assemble all
ye beasts of the field, come to devour."
The Fox.
The fox is not a vagabond like the wolf, and other
beasts of prey, wandering in the desert without any cer
tain place of rest; he lives in a settled domestic state,
and knows Avell where to choose the situation of his
dwelling, and how to make it safe and commodious.
He digs his abode at the entrance of a wood, and if
possible, within hearing of the hamlet, where the game
is plenty ; and at the bottom of a rock, or among the
roots of trees, where he cannot be uncovered. But he
does not aUvays submit to the labour of digging his own
habitation ; when he lights upon the hole of a badger,
in a proper situation, he places himself at the entrance,
and keeps out the rightful OAvner ; or if the badger be
within, and cannot be dislodged by force, he compels
him to retire by the offensive smell of his ordure, with
which, in this case, he takes care to pollute the mouth
of the den. When the badger is expelled, he takes
possession, and fits it up for his own accommodation.
Here he is more comfortably lodged than was the
Saviour of sinners, when he dwelt with men: "The
foxes," said the Man of sorrows, "the foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son
of man hath not where to lay his head."* To save
his people from their sins, he was not content with sub
mitting to be despised and rejected of men, to make
himself of no reputation, and move in the humblest walk
of life ; so great was his love and condescension, that
he denied himself many comforts, which, as the creator
and preserver of all things, he bestows on the beasts of
the field and the fowls of heaven.
The fox knows how to suit himself to circumstances;
when he has no habitation underground, or cannot find
one to his liking, a ruined tower or a deserted house, at
a convenient distance from the inhabited country, affords
him a shelter. This circumstance is beautifully re
marked in the Lamentations of Jeremiah : "For this
* Mat. viii. 20.

548 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
our heart is faint ; for these things our eyes are dim,
because of the mountain of Zion which is desolate, the
foxes Avalk upon it." That sacred mountain, where
the temple stood, whither the tribes of Israel went up
at the solemn festivals, Avhere the voice of unnumbered
worshippers was daily heard, is now left without a
tenant or single A'isiter, saA'e the solitary fox, which
has chosen his retreat in the silent courts, and, undis
turbed by the foot of man, walks at his ease in the holy
cloisters. Like other beasts of prey, he is exceedingly vora
cious ; flesh of all kinds is agreeable to his taste ; and,
like the wolf, he visits the field of battle, to prey upon
the dying and the dead. This trait in his character has
not escaped the observation of DaA'id ; for, in the sixty-
third psalm, he foretels the destruction of his enemies
in these terms : " Those that seek my soul to destroy
it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They
shall fall by the sword ; they shall be a portion for
foxes." When game fails him, or when the sword has
ceased to supply his wants, he devours with equal
greediness, honey, fruits, and particularly grapes. In
allusion to his eager desire to the fruit of the vine, it is
said in the Song of Solomon, "Take us the foxes, the
little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender
grapes." In Scripture, the church is often compared
to a vineyard ; her members to the vines with which
it is stored ? and by consequence, the grapes may signify
all the fruits of righteousness, which those mystical
vines produce. The foxes that spoil these vines, must
therefore mean false teachers, who corrupt the purity of
doctrine, obscure the simplicity of worship, overturn
the beauty of appointed order, break the unity of be
lievers, and extinguish the life and vigour of Christian
practice. These Avords of Ezekiel may be understood
in the same sense: "O Jerusalem! thy prophets, (or
as the context clearly proves) thy flattering teachers,
are as foxes in the deserts :"* and this name they
receive, because, with vulpine subtilty, they speak lies
in hypocrisy. Such teachers, the apOstle calls " wolves
* Ezek. xiii, 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 519
in sheep's clothing;" deceitful workers, avIio, by their
cunning, subvert whole houses ; and whose word, like
the tooth of a fox upon the vine, eats as a canker.
The book of Judges contains a singular anecdote, of
the mischief which Samson did by means of this animal
to the'property of his enemies. He " went and caught
three hundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned
tail to tail, and put a fire-braud in the midst, between
two tails ; and Avhen he had set the brands on fire, he
let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines,
and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing
corn, with the vineyards and olives."* On reading
this curious statement, the infidel asks Avi.h an air of
triumph, How could Samson procure so many foxes in
so short a time ? To this question it may be auswered,
that the concurring testimony of travellers, clearly
proves, that the land of Promise abounded with foxes.
The same fact is suggested by the prediction of David,
that his enemies should become the prey of foxes ; and
by the invitation of Solomon already quoted from the
Song.! Some districts and cities in that country, take
their name from the fox ; a sure proof of their numbers
in those parts : Thus, the land of Shual, mentioned in
the first book of Samuel, signifies the land of the fox;"!
and Hazar-shual, the name of a city, belonging to the
tribe of Judah, or Simeon, means the fox's habitation. §
Besides, the term foxes, in the opiuion of Bochart, em
braces the thoes, a species of Avolf, which very much
resemble the fox, and are extremely numerous in Judea,
particularly about Caesarea. Bellonius asserts, that
they may be seen in troops of two or three hundred,.
prowling about in quest of their prey : and Morizon,
who travelled in Palestine, says, that foxes swarm in
that country, and that very great numbers of them lurk
in hedges and in ruinous buildings. To find so many
of these animals, therefore, could be no great difficulty
to a person accustomed to the chase, as this renowned
Israelite may be reasonably supposed to have been.
Nor is it said, that Samsom caught all these foxes in
* Jud. xv. 4. •)- Song ii. 15. $ 1 Sam. xiii. 17.
§ Josh. xv. 28, and xix. 3.

550 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
one, or even in two days ; a whole week, or eA'en a
month might be spent in the, capture, for any thing that
appears to the contrary. Add to this, that, although
Samson himself might be a most expert hunter, we
have no reason to think he caught all these animals
alone. So eminent a personage as the chief magistrate
of Israel, might employ as many people as he pleased,
in accomplishing bis purpose. When, for example, it
is said, that Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem, no
man supposes, that he executed the work with his own
hands ; he only cau-ed the Avork to be done : and, in
the same manner, Samson may be said to do what he
only commanded to be done, or assisted in doing. Nor
can it be reasonably denied, that the God who made
the Avorld. and by his special proA'idence, watched over
the prosperity of his ancient people, and intended at
this time, to deliver them from their enemies, could
easily dispose matters, so as to facilitate or secure the
capture of as many foxes, as the design of Samson re
quired. In this singular stratagem, he is thought by some
writers, to haA*e had tAvo things in vietv ; at once, to
deliver his country from those noxious animals, and to
do the greatest possible mischief to his enemies. No
kind of animals could be more suited to his purpose,
especially Avhen coupled together in this manner; for
they run long and sAviftly, not in a direct line, but with
many windings, so that, Avhile they dragged in opposite
directions, they spread the fire over all the fields of the
Philistines Avith the greater rapidity and success, and
were at the same time presented from getting into the
Avoods, or holes in the rocks, Avhere the fire-brands
had been extinguished, and the stratagem rendered
ineffectual. Mr. Burder, on this incident, observes, There is
reason to think, that there was nothing new or uncom
mon in this operation, as it was most obvious for the
end proposed, that the wit of man could devise. We
accordingly find, says he, that Ovid alludes to the
practice, and mentious, that foxes and fire-brands Avere
every year exhibited at Rome, and killed in the circus.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 551
For it was the custom in many places, to sacrifice by
way of retaliation, every animal which did particular
injury to the fruits of the earth. In consequence of this,
they introduced these foxes, which had been employed
for that purpose, with fire-brands.
" Cur igitur missoe vinctis ardentia tsedis
Terga ferunt vulpes causa tlocenda milii."
He then mentions an instance of much injury done by
a fox so accoutred by fire :
" Qua fugit incendit vestitos messibus agros
Damnosis vires ignibus aura dabat."
On this account, the whole race, according to the poet,
were condemned at the festival, called Cerealea, to be
in their turns set on fire.
" Utque luat poenas gens hsec Cerealibus ardet,
Quoque modo segetes perdidit ipsa perit."
The same custom is alluded to, proverbially, more than
once, by Lycophron, and' seems to have been well
known in Greece. He makes Cassandra represent
Ulysses as a man, both of cunning and mischief, and
styles him very properly, ^ap^^g, a fox with a fire-brand
at his tail ; for, wherever he went, mischief followed.
Suidas also takes notice of this custom, Avhen he speaks
of a kind of beetle, which the Boeotians named tipha.
They imagined, that, if to this they were to fasten some
inflammable matter, it would be easy to set any thing
on fire. He adds, that this wa6 sometimes practised
with foxes.*
The coincidence between the practice of Samson and
the custom of the Greeks and Romans, is undoubtedly
curious and interesting ; but it will not prove, as this
respectable writer imagines, that the custom was general
in the east. In the two first lines quoted from Ovid,
the poet says, that when he went from Rome to Peligni,
he passed through the town of Carseoli, and there he
learned from his host, an old mau, that the custom of
binding a fire-brand to the tail of a fox, was done in
memory of an animal of this species at Carseoli, Avhich
* Burder's Oriental Customs, in loc.

552 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
a peasant, when he had catched it, wrapped in straw,
which he set on fire. The fox fled in the utmost terror ;
and, wherever he came, burnt down the fields of corn.
Now, it cannot be admitted, that so solemn a rite deriv
ed its origin from such an obscure beginning. Is it to
be supposed, that because a single fox, tvrapped in
straw at Carseoli, set on fire a few spots of standing
corn in his flight, eAery year, at Home, on a certain day,
a number of foxes were let loose with fire-brands on
their tails ? The truth seems to be, that the festive cus
tom iu Greece and Italy, Avas borrowed from the Pbeni-
cians, the lineal descendants of the Philistines. It is
Avell known to every classical scholar, that many pe
culiar customs of these two celebrated nations, were
imported from Phenicia, Avhere the inhabitants had
some reason to commemorate the mischief Avhich Sam
son's foxes had done to the property of their ancestors.
The circumstances of the custom perfectly agree with
the device of Samson, but seem to baA'e very littleTela-
tion to the incident at Carseoli ; for the foxes exhibited
at Rome Avere not wrapped in straw, as the fox at
Carseoli was, but had the firebrand bound to their tails,
as in the story of Samson ; for Ovid sings :
 "junctis ardentia taedis
Terga ferant vulpes. 
And it is a most remarkable circumstance, that the foxes
Avere let loose at Rome, not at the time of Avheat har
vest in Italy, but in Palestine, which falls about the
middle of April. Let us hear Ovid himself :
" Sed jam preteritas ubi quartus Lucifer idus " &c.
The meaning of the passage is, the Hyades fall on the
fourth day of the ides of April, that is, on the seven
teenth day of that month, or, which is the same thing,
on the fifteenth of the kalends of May ; and on the
third day after, that is, on the twentieth of April, the
Curul games are celebrated in the circus, and the foxes
are let loose. But this is the time of sowing at Rome,
not the time of harvest ; for Virgil says,
" Ante tibi Eoac Atlantides abscondantur
Debita quam sulcis committas semina."

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 553
But, in Egypt and Palestine, it is quite different ; for,
in those countries, the harvest begins in the month
Abib, which anstvers to our March ; and by conse
quence, on the day after the passoA'er, that is, in the
middle of the month Abib or March, the sheaf of the
first fruits was according to the law of Moses offered
to God. But at the feast of pentecost, fifty days after,
the harvest was nearly finished ; and for this reason it
is called, in the twenty-third chapter of Exodus, the
feast of harvest, not of harvest begun, but completed.
These two feasts, therefore, the passover and pentecost,
included the time of harvest, which began Avith the first,
and ended w ith the last. The barley harvest came on
immediately after the passover ; and the wheat harvest
succeeded in the middle of April. This then, Avas the
season of the year Avhen Samson, provoked by the
conduct of his father-in-law, turned loose the foxes
among the standing corn of the Philistines. In this
statement, we discover the reason that the sacred his
torian thus begins his narrative : " And it came to pass
within a whole year after, in the time of wheat harvest,
that Samson visited his wife with a kid." Part of the
crop was then standing, and part was in the shock. It
is therefore extremely probable, that the conflagration
happened on the very day Avhen the foxes were let loose
into the circus, in commemoration of that burning which
was first practised among the Phenicians, and after
wards borrowed from them by the Romans.
The fox is celebrated by every natural historian for
his address and cunning. What other beasts of prey
accomplish by force, he performs by craft, and often
with more success. Acute and circumspect, ingenious
and prudent, he suits his conduct and operations to
existing circumstances, and always reserves some art
for unforeseen accidents. In securing his own safety,
he is extremely vigilant. Although he possesses more
agility and perseverance than the wolf, yet he trusts not
entirely to the swiftness of his course, but endeavours
to provide for himself an asylum, whither he retires
from pressing dangers, where he dwells and brings up
his young. On the border of some wood, in the neigh-
Vol. 1. B b 3

554 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
bourhood of a cottage, Avhere he commonly fixes his
abode, he listens to the shrill voice of the cock, and the
crying of the poultry ; he scents them at a distance ; he
chooses his time with judgment; he conceals his road,
as well as his design; he steals forward with caution,
sometimes even trailing his body, and seldom fails to
accomplish his purpose. If he can leap the wall, or
get in underneath, he ravages the court-yard, puts all
to death, and then retires softly Avith his prey, which
he either hides under the herbage, or carries off to his
kennel ; he returns in a few minutes for another, which
he carries off', or conceals in the same manner, but in
a different place. In this way he proceeds till the pro
gress of the sun, or some movements perceived in the
house, advertise him, that it is time to suspend his
operations, and to retire to his den.* These facts illus
trate the propriety of our Lord's reply to those who
advised him to flee from the machinations of Herod :
" And he said unto them, Go ye and "tell that fox,
behold I cast out de\'ils, and I do cures to-day, and to
morrow, and the third day 1 shall be perfected."!
Herod was an insidious, crafty, and refined politician,
and a cruel unfeeling prince. He recommended him
self with great art to the Jews, by pretending a love for
their religion ; Avhilst, intent on his own private in
terests, he servilely flattered the Roman emperor. It
is known to all who are A'ersant in the history of those
times, by Avhat arts he seduced the wife of his brother,
and with what cruelty and injustice he treated John
the Baptist, Avho reproved him for his incestuous con
nection. The Herodians, it has been said, were his
creatures and spies, who spread themselves over the
country, to hear the conversation of the people con
cerning their master ; and Avere secretly sent to watch
the discourses and proceedings of the SaA'iour. The
title of fox, therefore, could not be applied with more
propriety to any human character. But although He
rod was confessedly artful and cruel as the fox, some
have doubted if it was lawful for his subjects, of whom
our Lord was one, to reproach him. But since the
* Buffon. f Luke xiii. 32.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 555
Saviour did reproach him, it was lawful ; for he did
always the things which pleased his heavenly Father :
and the Spirit of inspiration attests him as the " holy
One and the just." To this conclusive reply, may be
added, that the objection is founded on the divine right
of kings ; a doctrine which cannot be sufficiently de
tested, and Avhich has long been exploded by the most
enlightened writers on jurisprudence.

CHAP. IX.

WILD INOFFENSIVE ANIMALS.

w^v^a-v-ww^

The Wild Ass.

THIS animal was called «»•« «y«<»« among the Greeks,
and onager by the Romans. Some natural historians
consider it as a different species from the tame and do
mestic ass ; but others, among whom is the celebrated
Buffon, affirm, that it differs from its unhappy relation,
only in those particulars which are proper effects of in
dependence and liberty. Although more elegantly
shaped, the general form of its body is the same ; but
in temper and manners it is extremely dissimilar. In
tended to fill a higher place in the kingdom of nature,
than its abject and enslaved brother, it exhibits endow
ments, which in all ages have commanded the admira
tion of every obserA'er. Animated by an unconquera
ble love of liberty, this high spirited animal submits his
neck with great reluctance to the yoke of man ; ex
tremely jealous of the least restraint, he shuns the in
habited country, and steadily rejects all the delicacies
it has to offer. His chosen haunt is the solitary and in
hospitable desert, where he roves at his ease, exulting

556 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
in the possession of unrestrained freedom. These are
not accidental nor acquired traits in his character ; but
instincts, implanted by the hand of his Maker, that are
neither to be extinguished nor modified by length of
time, nor change of circumstances. To this wild and
untameable temper, Jehovah himself condescends to di
rect the attention of Job, Avhen he answered him out of
the whirlwind, and said: "Who hath sent out the
wild ass free ? or Avho hath loosed the bands of the
wild ass ? whose house I have made the Avilderness,
and the barren land his dAvellings. He scorneth the
multitude of the city ; neither regardeth he the crying
of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pas
ture, and he searcheth after every green thing."*
The proper name of this animal in the Hebrew lan
guage, is N_lfl> Phaerae, a term which, according to some
Avriters, is expressive of its extreme suspicion. It is
employed by Moses, to denote the wild and untractable
disposition of Ishmael, and bis descendants ; and by
Zophar, to characterise a vain, self-righteous, and ob
stinate person. In accordance with this idea, the noun
furnishes a verb in the Hiphil form, which signifies to
act as wildly as the onager.
Others derive the noun from a Chaldee verb, which
signifies to run with great swiftness ; and every Avriter,
ancient and modern, who has treated of this animal,
has attested the wonderful celerity with which it flies
over the desert. According to Leo Africanus, the wild
ass yields only to the horses of Barbary ; and Xeno
phon avers in his Anabasis, that it outruns the fleetest
horses. It has feet like the whirhvind, says Oppian :
iElian asserts, that it seems as if it were carried for
ward by wings like a bird ; and Harmer observes, that
it is still supposed by the orientals to surpass all other
animals in swiftness.! These testimonies are con
firmed by Professor Gmelin, who saw numerous troops
of them in the deserts of Great Tartary, and says,
The onagers are animals adapted to running, and of
such swiftness, that the best horses cannot equal them.
Relying on its extraordinary powers, it frequently
* Job xxxix. 5. t Vol- 2. p. 185.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 557
mocks the pursuit of the hunter ; and in the striking
description of its Creator, " Scorneth the multitude of
the city," that invade its retreats, aud seek its destruc
tion. It laughs (as the original term properly siguifies)
at their numbers and their speed, and seems to take a
malicious pleasure in disappointing their hopes. Xe
nophon states, that the onagers in Mesopotamia, " when
pursued on horseback, will stop suddenly in the midst
of their career, till the hunters approach, and then dart
away with surprising velocity : and again stop, as if
inviting them to make another effort to overtake them,
but immediately dart away again like an arrow shot
from a bow: indeed, it would be impossible for men
to take them, without the assistance of art. The hun
ters, however, often lie in wait for them at the ponds
of brackish Avater, to Avhich they resort to drink ; or
take them alive by means of concealed pits, half filled
with plants and branches of trees, to lessen the crea
ture's fall. At other times the chase is continued by
relays of fresh horses, which the hunters mount as the
others are exhausted, till the strength of the animal is
so completely worn out, that it can be easily overtaken."
The wild ass, unsocial in his temper, and impatient
of restraint, frequents the solitary Avilderness, aud the
vast inhospitable desert, the salt marsh, and the moun
tain range. This is the scene adapted to his nature
and instincts, and the proper domain allotted to him by
the. author of his being. This fact we are not left to
infer from the manners and habits of the animal ; Je
hovah himself has attested it in these terms : " Whose
house 1 have made the wilderness, and the barren
lands his dwellings." He who made the wild ass free,
and loosed his bands, provides a habitation for him in
the desert, where the voice of man is not heard, nor a
human dwelling meets his eye. But every desert is not
equally to his liking ; it is the barren or salt land in
which he delights. So grateful is salt to his taste, that
he uniformly prefers brackish water to fresh, and se
lects for his food those plants that are impregnated with
saline particles, or that have bitter juices. He, there
fore, retires from the cultivated or fertile regions, not

558 illustrations of scripture.
merely to be free from the domination of man, but to
enjoy the pasture which is agreeable to his instincts.
" The multitude,?' or the abundance of the city, " he
despises for the salt or bitter leaf on the sandy waste."
Into such a state of desolation aud sterility was the
inheritance of God's ancient people reduced, by the
arms of Nebuchadnezzar : " Upon the land of my peo
ple shall come up thorns and briars, yea, upon all the
houses of joy in the joyous city : because the palaces
shall be forsaken, the multitude of the city shall be left,
the forts and towers shall be dens for ever, a joy of wild
asses, a pasture of flocks."* A more affecting picture
can scarcely be conceived ; the depopulated fields, and
ruined cities, of a country once flowing Avith milk and
honey, were to become the favourite haunts of those
shy creatures " for ever," or during the long period of
seventy years. " Until the Spirit" should be poured
upon them from on high, from the beginning to the end
of the captivity, a tedious and irksome period to the un
happy captives, were the wild asses to stray through
their barren fields, and repose in their deserted houses,
Undisturbed by the presence of man. But the pride and
barbarity of their oppressor, were soon visited with a
corresponding punishment. He was deprived of rea
son, which he had so greatly abused, and by the vio
lence of his disorder, " driven from the sons of men,
and his heart was made like the beasts ; and his dwel
ling Avas with the wild asses," in the salt land, and
frightful desert. He seems to have been divested of
every thing human but the form ; irrational and sensual,
he Avas guided solely by his animal propensities. Nor
was he longer able to distinguish what was becoming
or agreeable, even to the animal nature of man ; eA'ery
desire and appetite Avas become so brutish, that he felt
no Avish to associate with beings of his own kind, but
lived with the beasts, and fed in their pastures.!
Some respectable writers have considered the onager
as a solitary creature, refusing to associate even with
those of his OAvn species, because he shuns the presence
of man, and frequents the most frightful solitudes. But
* Isa. xxxii. 13, 14. t Dan- v- 21.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 559
this hasty opinion is completely refuted by the testimo
ny of modern travellers, the nomadic hordes of Tar-
tary, and the trading companies of Bukharia. From
their accounts Ave learn, that the wild asses are still
very numerous in the deserts of Great Tartary, and
come annually in great herds, which spread themselves
in the mountainous deserts to the north and east of lake
Aral. Here, they pass the summer, and assemble in
the autumn by hundreds, and even by thousands, in
order to return in company to their former retreats in
the mountains of northern Asia. The gregarious cha
racter of the wild ass is not in reality contradicted by
the prophet in these words : " For they are gone up to
Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself : Ephraim hath
hired lovers."* In this passage he describes the per
verse and untractable dispositions of Ephraim, and the
certain destruction to which their obstinacy exposed
them. A wild ass alone, they Avere by their foolish
conduct ready to become a prey to the destroyer. But
it is rather the king of Assyria, than the ten tribes,
whom he compares to that animal. Instead of trusting
in the Lord their God, they courted the favour, and so
licited the protection of that ambitious and artful mo
narch, who, like " a Avild ass alone," consulted only
his own selfish inclinations, and aimed at his own ag
grandisement. This ill advised measure, from which
they promised themselves so much advantage, he de
clares, would certainly hasten the catastrophe Avhich
they sought to aA'oid. They should find when too late,
that they had been the dupes of his deceitful policy,
and the victims of his unprincipled ambition.
The wild ass, like almost every creature that inhabits
the barren wilderness, is reduced to subsist on coarse
and scanty fare. The sweets of unbounded liberty are
counterbalanced by the unremitting labour which is ne
cessary to procure him a precarious subsistence. In
those salt and dreary wastes, which providence has al
lotted for his residence, very few plants are to be found,
and those, from the heat of the climate, and the nature
of the soil, are stinted in their growth, aud bitter to the
• Hos. viii. 9.

560 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
taste : " They see not when good cometh ;" for they
groAV in the parched places in the Avilderness, << in a
salt land, and not inhabited."* In such inhospitable
regions, the wild ass is compelled to traverse a great
extent of country, to scour the plains, and range over
the mountains, in order to find here and there a feAV
blades of coarse, withered grass, and broAvse the tops
of the few stunted shrubs which languish in those san
dy wilds. Such are the allusions involved in these
words : " The range of the mountains in his pasture,
and he searcheth after every green thing."
It must not be supposed that a condition, apparently
so hard, involves this animal in greater difficulties than
many other wild beasts experience. The Creator has,
with admirable Avisdom and goodness, adapted his con
stitution and instincts to his situation and manner of
life. His temperance corresponds with the barrenness
of the soil, and his taste with the peculiar qualities of
the plants which it produces. In consequence of this
wise and gracious arrangement, a tuft of sickly grass,
and a little brackish water, satisfy his moderate de
mands ; and of these, we know from the testimony of
Job, he commonly finds enough, eA'en in the parched
and sterile deserts of Arabia ; " The Avilderness yield-
eth food for them, and for their children." But, when
these fail on the plains, he retires to the mountains,
where, under a more temperate sky, the herb still flou
rishes, and the water streams. This apparently tri
fling circumstance, the Psalmist deemed not unAvorthy
of his notice nor of being celebrated in the songs of
Zion : " He sendeth the springs into the valleys which
run among the hills : They giA'e drink to every beast of
the field," the wild asses quench their thirst."! But,
even these resources occasionally fail ; the mountain
herb is burnt up, and the springs are exhausted ; then,
in spite of his habitual temperance, he is reduced in
common with other animals, to a state of severe suffer
ing. At such times he takes his station on the top of a
rock, to cool in the passing breeze, the fever Avhich
rages in his veins, and sucks iu the air for Avant of Ava-
* Jer. xvii 6. j Ps. civ. 10, 11.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 561
ter. To such a state of wretchedness was he reduced
by the dearth which Jeremiah so feelingly describes :
" The wild asses did stand in the high places ; they
snuffed up the wind like dragons ; their eyes did fail
because there was no grass."* They seek relief on
the summits of the highest mountains from the over
whelming heat : they snuff up the Avind like dragons,
which stand daily for some hours with the head erect,
and the mouth wide open towards the sky, sucking in
the air; their eyes, which are extremely fine and sharp
sighted, for want of nourishment, lose their brilliancy
and power of vision. Such painful sufferings, we learn
from . Virgil, are sometimes experienced in the more
temperate climate of Italy :

" Aut bucula caelum

Suspiciens, patulis captavit naribus auras." 1 Geor. /. 375.
. Under the pressure of extreme want, like man and
other animals, the wild ass becomes faint, his eyes fail,
and he pines in silent despair; but in less trying cir
cumstances, he expresses his uneasy feelings by fre
quently braying. From this harsh disagreeable sound,
peculiar to the ass, he has obtained from his Maker, in
a passage of Scripture already quoted, the appropriate
name of the brayer : " Who hath sent out the wild ass
free ? or, who hath loosed the bands of the brayer"
(my.) The same instinct which excites the onager to
complain in a low grumbling noise Avhen he meets with
any molestation, and in louder tones when hungry, and
in want of pasture, caused the afflicted patriarch to
mourn in the days of his adversity, and complain under
his agonizing sufferings and cruel bereavements. His
miserable comforters reproached him with indulging in
loud and frequent complaints ; and in reply, the pa
tient sufferer puts the significant question : "Doth the
wild ass bray when he hath grass ? Or loweth the ox
over his fodder ?" No : they are then contented and
silent ; and so was he in a state of prosperity. Then
his tongue uttered no complaint ; he was a stranger to
a fretful and unquiet spirit. But, now that he was deT
* Jer. xiv 6.
Vol. 1. C c 3

562 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
prived of all his earthly comforts, agonized Avitb pain,
and oppressed with grief, it Avas as natural for him to
complain as for the wild ass to bray, and the ox to low,
when they can find no grass to allay the craA'ings of
hunger. To live with the wild ass in the desert, and to en
counter the various hardships inseparable from his con
dition, has been justly reckoned by the orientals the
lowest degree of wretchedness to which the poor and
needy can be reduced ; and to be insulted by such
mean and contemptible persons, the last disgrace Avhich
fallen greatness is doomed to suffer. It atcordingly
added much to the poiguancy of Job's afflictions, that
he had become the derision of these dregs of society,
whose fathers he would have disdained to set with the
dogs of his flock ; whose families Avere unfit for any
useful purpose, and had been from one generation to
another a public nuisance. His description of their
hereditary indigence and wretchedness, is extremely
animated and striking. It is thus translated by Dr.
Peddie, in his excellent essay on this article : " In
want and severe hunger, they gnawed the desert; a
place forsaken, desolate, and waste. They cropped
the tops of the salt tasted herb upon the bush ; and the
root of the genista was their meat. From the society
of men they were expelled, who chased them Avith
shouting as they do a thief, to dAvell in the precipices
of the torrents, holes of the earth, and caverns of the
rocks. Among the bushes they brayed ; under the
briars they were gathered together."*
Every natural historian has recorded the extreme
wildness of this animal. He is so jealous of his liberty,
that on the slightest alarm, or the first appearance of
danger, he flies with amazing swiftness into the desert.
His senses are so acute, that it is impossible to ap
proach him in the open country. But, in spite of all
his vigilance, the hunter often encloses him in his toils,
and leads him away into captivity. Even in this un
happy state, he neA'er submits his neck to the yoke of
man without a determined resistance. " Sent out free"
* Job xxx. 3— 7.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 563
by him that made him, he is tenacious of his indepen
dence, and opposes, to the extraordinary methods which
his captors are forced to employ, the most savage ob
stinacy ; and for the most part, he baffles all their en
deavours to tame him ; still he " scorneth the multi
tude of the city, neither regards he the cryiug of the
driver." On the authority of this text, Chrysostom
says, "this animal is strong and untameable ; man can
never subdue him, Avhatever efforts he may make for
that purpose." But Varro affirms, on the contrary,
that " the wild ass is fit for labour ; that he is easily
tamed ; and that when he is once tamed, he never re
sumes his original wildness." The Avords of Jehovah
certainly give no countenance to the opinion of the
Greek father ; they only intimate, that it is extremely
difficult to subdue the high spirit, and stubborn temper
of this animal ; for the apostle James declares, that
"every kind of beast is tamed, and hath been tamed
of mankind ;"* and great numbers of them are actually
broken to the yoke in Persia, and some other countries.
But, it appears from the statement of Professor Gmelin,
that the Persians tame the young Onagers; and the
reason probably is, that they seldom or never succeed
in rendering a full groAvn onager serviceable to man.
Not more untameable and indocile is the wild ass,
in the mind of Zophar, than the human kind in their
present degenerate state : " Vain man would be wise,
though man be born like a wild ass's colt."! Empty,
self-conceited man, still aspires to equal God in wisdom
and knowledge ; still fondly supposes himself qualified
to sit in judgment on the divine proceedings, and to
take the exclusive management of his own affairs, al
though the wild ass's colt is not more rude, indocile,
and untractable. Nor is this an acquired habit : he is
born as a wild ass's colt, and therefore by nature equal
ly impatient of salutary restraint, equally wilful in con
sulting his own inclinations. And this defect in his
character, no created arm is able to subdue ; it yields?
only to the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit,,
* James iii. 7. t Jo,J *•• *2-

564 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
who makes him willing in the day of effectual calling,
by a display of almighty power.
This mortifying comparison of Zophar, is, in another
part of the sacred A'olume, applied by the angel of the
Lord to Ishmael and his posterity. "And he will be
a wild man ; his hand will be against every man, and
every man's hand against him ; and he shall dwell iu
the presence of all his brethren."* The phrase, " a
wild man," it is Avell knoAvn, is in the original text, "a
wild ass man," that is, a man like a wild ass iu temper
and manners. The comparison seems to refer, first to
Ishmael himself, and to intimate certain leading traits
in his character ; and then to his offspring in every suc
ceeding age. The troops of onagers, are conducted by
a leading stallion,! that prefers the most arid deserts
of the mountains, keeps watch Avhile his companions
repose, and gives the signal at the appearance of an
enemy. The Nomades of Asia report of these animals,
that the first of a troop which sees a serpent or a beast
of prey, makes a certain cry, which brings iu a moment,
the whole herd around him, when each of them strives
to destroy it instantly. Such were the character and
manners of Ishmael. He Avas the first prince of his
family, the founder of a powerful nation, of a rough,
wild, and untractable disposition. Nor was this all ;
ambitious of supreme authority, he loved to place him
self at the head of his rising community, to regulate its
affairs, and direct its operations; and, like the high
spirited leader of the onagers, he could brook no rival.
lie discovered bis ruling passion, when he was but a
stripling in the house of his father. Determined to
maintain his prerogatives as the elder son, and provok
ed to see a younger, and a child of a different mother,
preferred before him, he gave vent to his indignation,
by deriding his brother, and the feast which was made
on his account. Expelled for his imprudence from his
father's house, he made choice of the sandy desert for
bis permanent residence, and required the heads of all
the families around him, either to acknowledge his
supremacy, and treat him with the highest respect, or
• Gen. xvi. 12. f Taylor's Calmet, vol. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 565
be driven from his station and neighbourhood. Wherev
er he pitched his tent, he expected, according to a
custom of great antiquity, all tents to be turned with
their faces towards it, in token of submission ; that the
band might haA'e their eye ahvays upon their master's
lodging, and be in readiness to assist him if he were
attacked. In this manner did Ishmael dwell " in the
presence," — " before," 0>yj or, " over against the faces
of all his brethren."
But the prediction embraced also the character and
circumstances of his descendants. The manners and
customs of the Arabians, except in the article of re
ligion, have suffered almost no alteration, during the
long period of three thousand years. They haA*e. oc
cupied the same country, and followed the same mode
of life, from the days of their great ancestor, . down to
the present times, and range the wide extent of burn
ing sands which separate them from all the surround
ing nations, as rude, and savage, and untractable as the
wild ass himself. Claiming the barren plains of Ara
bia, as the patrimonial domain assigned by God to the
founder of their nation, they consider themselves enti
tled to seize, and appropriate to their own use, what
ever they can find there. Impatient of restraint, and
jealous of their liberty, they form no connexion with
the neighbouring states; they admit of little or no
friendly intercourse, but live in a state of continual hos
tility with the rest of the world. The tent is their
dwelling, and the circular camp their city ; the spon
taneous produce of the soil, to which they sometimes
add a little patch of corn, furnishes them with means
of subsistence, amply sufficient for their moderate de
sires ; and the liberty of ranging at pleasure their in
terminable wilds, fully compensates in their opinion
for the want of all other accommodations. Mounted
on their favourite horses, they scour the waste in search
of plunder, with a velocity surpassed only by the wild
ass. They levy contributions on every person that
happens to fall in their way ; and frequently rob their
own countrymen, with as little ceremony as they do a
stranger or an enemy : their hand is still against every

566 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
man, and every man's hand against them. But they
do not always confine their predatory excursions to the
desert. When booty is scarce at home, they make in
cursions into the territories of their neighbours, and
having robbed the solitary traA'eller, or plundered the
caravau, immediately retire into the deserts far beyond
the reach of their pursuers. Their character, drawn
by the pen of inspiration, exactly corresponds with this
view of their dispositions and conduct: " Behold, as
wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work,
rising betimes for a prey : the Avilderness yieldeth food
for them and for their children."* Savage and stub
born as the wild ass which inhabits the same wilder
ness, they go forth on the horse or the dromedary with
inconceivable swiftness, in quest of their prey. Ini
tiated in the trade of a robber from their earliest years,
they know no other employment ; they choose it as the
business of their life, and prosecute it with umvearied
activity. They start before the dawn, to invade the
village or the caravan ; make their attack with despe
rate courage, aud surprising rapidity ; and, plunging
instantly into the desert, escape from the vengeance of
their euemies. Provoked by their continual insults,
the nations of ancient and modern times, have often in
vaded their country with poAverful armies, determined
to extirpate, or at least to subdue them to their yoke ;
but they always returned baffled and disappointed.
The savage freebooters, disdaining every idea of sub
mission, with invincible patience and resolution, main
tained their independence unimpaired to the present
times. In spite, of all their enemies can do to restrain
them, they continue to dwell in the presence of all their
brethren, and to assert their right to insult and plunder
every one they meet with on the borders, or within the
limits of their domains.
The last distinctive character of this animal, Ayhich
the illustration of Scripture requires to be noted, is the
violence of its lust, and the eagerness of the female to
obey the impetuous call of nature. To restrain her is
then impossible ; but when her season is over, she re-
* Job xxiv. 5.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 567
turns of her own accord. Equally ungovernable was
the propensity of God's ancient people, iu the days of
Jeremiah, to join with the heathen around them, in the
grossest acts of idolatrous worship. Promises and
threatenings, mercies and judgments, were alike un
availing ; they burst through every restraint, and when
God sent his servants to seek and bring them back,
they refused to return. More furious and unreasonable
than the wild ass, which returns when her season is
OA'er to her former haunts, they felt no abatement of
their madness, no inclination to relinquish the worship
of idols, which could profit them nothing, for the ser
vice of the true God. " How canst thou say, I am not
polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? See thy way
in the valley, know Avhat thou hast done. — Thou art a
Avild ass used to the Avilderness, that snuffeth up the
wind at her pleasure ; in her occasion, who can turn
her away ? All they that seek her will not weary them
selves ; in her month," rather when her season is over,
" they will find her."*
The Hart.
The allusions lo this animal in the sacred volume,
though not numerous, are of considerable importance.
Its name in Hebrew C"") Ail, is considered by Dr.
Shaw as a generic Avord, including all the species of
the deer kind : whether they are distinguished by round
horns, as a stag ; or by flat ones, as the fallow-deer ;
or by the smallness of the branches, as the roc. The
term originally signified, aid or assistance ; and, in the
progress of language, by a natural and easy transition,
came to denote an animal furnished Avith the means of
defence, but limited to horned animals, particularly the
stag and the hind. This creature seems to resemble
the goat, in being remarkably sure footed, aud delight
ing in elevated situations.
The royal Psalmist alludes to both circumstances in
one of his triumphant odes : " He maketh my feet like
hind's feet, and setteth me upon my high places."! He
might also refer, in the first clause, to the uncommon
•Jer. ii. 24. t Psa. xviii. 33.

568 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
solidity and hardness of its hoof, which Virgil com
pares to brass, which enables it to tread, with ease,
the pointed rocks. It may seem, from the words of
David, that the female possesses a surer foot and a
harder hoof than the male, for he ascribes to himself
the feet of the hind ; but since natural historians have
riot remarked any difference between them, it is proba
ble he was led to the choice from some other cause,
which it may not be easy to discover. The prophet
Habbakuk, in the close of his prayer, has the same al
lusion, and nearly in the same words : " He will make
my feet like hind's feet, and he will make me to walk
upon mine high places."* While the Psalmist con
tents himself with referring merely to the firmness and
security of his position, " he setteth me upon my high
places," the prophet encpu rages himself with the per
suasion, that his God Avould conduct him through every
danger, with the same ease and safety as the hind
Avalks among the cliffs of the rock.
To sureness of foot, the hind adds extraordinary
swiftness. It bounds', with surprising agility, more
than fifty feet ; it is therefore with admirable propriety
and force, the spouse compares the sudden manifesta
tions of her Saviour's love and power, to the bounding
of the hart on the summits of the mountains : " The
voice of my beloved ! behold he cometh leaping upon
the mountains, skipping upon the hills."! To give
us some idea of the joy and triumph which his appear
ance in human nature, his resurrection from the dead,
and the establishment of his kingdom in all its glory,
should produce in the hearts of perishing sinners, the
prophet Isaiah borrows the same figure : " Then shall
the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the
dumb sing."!
The swiftness of this animal in running, is not less
remarkable. Xenophon says, that the celerity of the
young hart, Avhen it is alarmed by the absence of its
mother, is incomparable :
* Hab. iii. J.9. \ Song ii. 8. % Isa. xxxv. 6.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 569
The rapidity with which the stag flies before the hun
ter, furnishes Virgil with this figure :

¦ " alia de parte patentes

i ransmittunt cursu campos atque agminacervi
Pulverulentafuga glomerant, montesque relinquunt." Mn. b. 4. I. 153.
" On thf other side, the stags scour along the open plains, and fly
ing, thicken their mingled troops involved in clouds of dust, and
forsake the mountains."
This circumstance has not escaped the notice of the
spouse, who addresses our Lord in these terms : " Make
haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or a ^ouug
hart, upon the mountains of spices."*
The hart, naturally of a hot and arid constitution,
suffers much from thirst in the orieutal regions. He
therefore seeks the fountain or the stream with intense
desire, particularly when his natural thirst has been
aggravated by the pursuit of the hunter. Panting and
braying, with eagerness he precipitates himself into the
river, that he may quench at once the burning fever
which consumes his A'itals, in its cooling waters. No
circumstance can display more forcibly the ardent
breathings of divine love in the soul of a true believer ;
and the holy Psalmist has availed himself of it Avith
admirable propriety and effect, in the description of his
religious feelings, Avhen exiled from the house of God,
and a dejected wanderer near the sources of the Jor
dan : " As the hart panteth after the Avater brooks, so
panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God : when shall I come and ap
pear before God?" Thus importunate are the desires
of the genuine saint, thus earnestly he longs after com
munion with his' God ; he feels impatient at a distance
from the sanctuary, and finds it impossible to be satis
fied with any enjoyment beneath the, sensible manifes
tations of his Hedeemer's favour.
The name of the female is inscribed in the title of
the twenty-second Psalm : " To the chief musician
upon Aijeleth Hhahar, or the hind of the morning."
These words have greatly divided the sentiments of
* Son^ viii 14.
Vol. I. D d 3

570 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
commentators ; and will probably continue to do so,
till we obtain a deeper insight into the mysteries of the
revelation, than is intended for the present state of our
being. The JeAvish writers, who have been followed
by many of the Greek fathers, consider them as a me
taphor intended to express the early assistance which
the circumstances of our Saviour required : and render
them, " For obtaining speedy assistance." But, in the
sacred Scriptures, the original term Aijeleth and its plu
ral, is so uniformly employed to denote the hind or fe
male deer, that the literal meaning of the phrase ought
undoubtedly to be preferred. Bochart, interpreting the
words literally, seems inclined to the opinion, that this
psalm is entitled, The hind of the morning; because it
is composed in the measure of a sacred ode, then well
knotvn among the Jews, Avhich began with these words,
aud w as meant to be sung to the same tune. Besides,
the character in the text is properly given to the hind,
because she starts with the dawn, suckles her young,
and prepares their place aa here they are to rest through
the day, after Avhich, she takes her station at a little dis
tance, and watches OA'er their slumbers. Others, with
more probability, think the royal Psalmist refers to his
Son and Lord, whose sufferings he describes ; tvho, in
the eighth chapter of the Song, is compared to the swift
hind upon the mountains of spices, as Naphtali had
been long before, to a hind let loose. Like the hind of
the morning, that shakes off her slumbers Avith the ear
liest dawn, to suckle and guard her young one at the
risk of her life, — the Saviour appointed from eternity
the deliverer of his people, came forth immediately after
the fall, to commence the work of our salvation ; and
when the fulness of time was come, appeared to finish
it in his sufferings and death : " Then the dogs com
passed him, the assembly of the wicked inclosed him ;
they pierced his hands and his feet."
It is well known that the hind goes with young eight
months, and brings forth her fawn in the beginning of
autumn. Why then does Jehovah address these in
terrogations to Job : " Knowest thou the time when the
Avild goats of the rock bring forth ? Or canst thou mark

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 571
when the hinds do calve? Canst thou number the
months that they fulfil ? Or knowest thou the time when
they bring forth."* Could Job be ignorant of circum
stances which were obvious to all the shepherds in the
east, who had numerous opportunities of observing the
habits and manners of these creatures ? It is obvious,
that Jehovah could not refer to the mere speculative
knowledge of these facts, but to that which is proper
to himself, by which he not only knows, but also
directs and governs all things. This is confirmed by
the use of the verb (to*) shamar, which signifies to ob
serve, to keep, or to guard : Knowest thou the time
when the wild goats bring forth, the parturition of the
hinds dost thou guard ? Without the protecting care of
God, who upholds all his works by the word of his
power, the whole race of these timid creatures would
soon be destroyed by the violence of wild beasts, or the
arts of the hunter. It is Avith great propriety, says one
of the ancients, that Jehovah demands, " The birth of
the hinds dost thou guard?" for, since this animal is
always in flight, and with fear and terror always leap
ing and skipping about, she could never bring her
young to maturity without such a special protection.
The providence of God, therefore, is equally conspi
cuous in the preservation of the mother and the fawn ;
both are the objects of his compassion and tender care ;
and consequently, that afflicted man had no reason to
charge bis Maker with unkindness, who condescends
to Avatch OAer the goats and the hinds.
It seems to be generally admitted, that the hind
brings forth her young with great difficulty ; and, so
much appears to be suggested in the third A'erse of the
same chapter : " They bow themselves, they bring forth
their young ones, they cast out their sorrows." But if
Pliny, and other natural historians, are worthy of
credit, divine providence has been graciously pleased
to provide certain herbs, Avhich greatly facilitate the
birth ; and by an unerring instinct, he directs the hind
to feed upon them, when the time of gestation draws
towards a close. Whatever be in this assertion, we
* Jobxxxix. 1.

572 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
know from higher authority, that providence does pro
mote the parturition of the hind, by awakening her
fears, and agitating her frame by the rolling thunder:
"The voice of Jehovah, (a common Hebrew phrase,
denoting thunder,) maketh the hinds to calve."* Nor
ought we to Avonder, that so timorous a creature as the
hind, should be so much affected by that awfully im
posing sound, when some of the proudest men that ever
existed, have been made to tremble. Augustus the
Roman emperor, according to Suetonius, was so terri
fied when it thundered, that he Avrapped a seal skin
round his body, with the view of defending it from the
lightning, and concealed himself in some secret corner
till the tempest ceased. The tyrant Caligula, who,
sometimes affected to threaten Jupiter himself, covered
his head, or hid himself under a bed ; and Horace con
fesses, he was reclaimed from atheism by the terror of
thunder and lightning, the effects of which he describes
with his usual felicity :
" Quo brula tellus, et vaga flumina
Quo Styx et invisi horr.da Taenari
Sedes, Atlanteus que finis
Concutitur."  B. 1. Ode 34.
But the hind has no sooner brought forth her fawn,
than the pain she suffered is forgotten : " They bow
themselves" to bring forth their young ones, " they cast
out their sorroAvs." These words must forcibly remind
the reader of the maternal pains and joys of a higher
order of beings : " A woman when she is in travail hath
soitoav, because her hour is come : but as soon as she
is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the
anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. "!
It is added, " Their young ones are in good liking,
they grotv up Avith corn ; they go forth, and return not
unto them."! Though they are brought forth in sorrow,
and have no human owner to provide for their wants,
and to guard them from danger, yet, after being suckled
a while, they become vigorous and active, and shift for
themselves in the opeu fields. They grow up with
? Psa. xxix. 9. | John xvi. 21. + Job xxxix. 4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 573
corn, says our translation ; but the fawn is not com
monly fed in the corn field, because it lives in the de
serts, and frequents those places which are far remote
from the cultivated field. Besides, in Arabia, where
Job flourished, the harvest is reaped in the. months of
March and April, long before the hinds bring forth
their young. The fawn, therefore, does not thrive with
corn, but with the few shrubs and hardy plants which
grow in the wilderness or open country. But the in
spired Avriter has committed no mistake ; the original
phrase is capable of another translation, which per
fectly corresponds with the condition of that animal in
those parts of the world. In Chaldee, the. Avord ("«a)
babar, or f^3) babara> is evidently the same as. the,
Hebrew (v™. bahouts. Thus in Laban's address to
Jacob, when he arrived in Padan-aram, "Why stand-
est thou without," the Hebrew tvord is (rna) bahouts ;
and in Jonathan and Onkelos it is (««"»m) babara. The
same remark applies to a text in the book of Exodus :
"If he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff;"
in Hebrew (r™) bahouts ; in Chaldee, («tm) babara.*
Hence, the phrase may be translated, They groAV up
without, or in the open field. Many other instances
might be specified, but these are sufficient to establish
the justice of the remark. Even the HebreAV phrase
itself, is translated by Schultens, " in the open field,"
which is indisputably the sense of the passage under
consideration. Thus, when the faAvn is calved, it groAvs
up in the desert, under the watchful providence of God ;
it soon forsakes the spot where it was brought forth.
and suckled by the dam, and returns no more.
Some ancient writers allege, that the hind bestoAvs
much pains in rearing and instructing her young. She
carefully hides her fawn in the thicket, or among the
long grass, and corrects it with her foot, when it dis
covers an inclination prematurely to leave its covert.
When it has acquired sufficient strength, she. teaches it
to run, and to bound from one rock to another ; till,
conscious of its ability to provide for itself, it bends its
rapid course into the boundless waste, and from that
* Gen. xxiv. 31. Exod. xxi. 19.

571 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
moment, loses the recollection of its parept and her
tender care.
But affectionate as is the hind to her young one, and
attentive to its safety and instruction, circumstances oc
cur at times, which diminish, which even extinguish
the benignity of her nature, and render her insensible
to the sufferings of her own offspring. The slightness
of her connexion Avith guilty man, and her distance
from his dwelling, do not prevent her from sharing in
the calamities to which all sublunary natures are sub
jected on account of his sin. The grievous famine
which dims the fine eye of the wild ass, and compels
her to take refuge on the summits of the mountains,
where, sucking in the cooling breeze instead of water,
which is no longer to be found, she lingers out a few
miserable, days, hardens the gentle and affectionate
heart of the hind, that she forsakes her fawn in the
open fleld, because there is no grass, without making a
single effort to preserve its existence :¦* She forsakes it
when it is newly calved, when her natural affection is
commonly strongest, and when it needs most her fos
tering care ; she forsakes it in the desert, where it must
soon perish of hunger; deaf to its cries, and indifferent
to its sufferings, she leaves it in search of somewhat to
prolong her own wretched existence. At such a failure
of the kindest affections in the heart of a loving hind,
we shall not be surprised, when the dreadful effects of
seA'ere famine, on the human mind are considered. The
prediction of Moses was completely fulfilled : " Thou
shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy
sons, and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God
hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness,
Avherewith thine enemies shall distress thee."-^" The
tender and delicate woman among you, which would
not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the
ground, for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall
be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward
her son, and toward her daughter, and toward the
young one that cometh out from between her feet, and
toward her children which she shall bear ; for she shall
* Jer. xiv. 5.-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 575
eat them for want of all things, secretly, in the siege
and straitness."*
The hart being a ruminating animal, and one that
divides the hoof, was classed by the law of Moses
among the clean beasts, and the use of its flesh, recom
mended to the chosen people: " Even as the roe- buck
and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them : the un
clean and the clean, shall eat of them alike."! Li a
succeeding chapter, it is expressly mentioned as one of
the clean animals, the flesh of which, the people of Is
rael were permitted to use : " These are the beasts that
ye shall eat — the hart, and the roe-buck, and the fal
low-deer."! This permission was a great advantage
to the Israelites ; for the lofty mountains of Syria,
Amana, Lebanon, and Carmel, swarmed Avith these ani
mals, which, descending into the plains to graze in the
cultivated fields, invited them to the healthful exercise
of the chase, and supplied their tables with a species
of food, equally abundant and agreeable.
The dying patriarch in his farewell benediction,
compares his son Naphtalito "a hind let loose ;"§ the
sense of which is difficult and obscure. The most pro
bable opinion is the one which has been generally re
ceived ; that this tribe, like their immediate founder,
were to be more distinguished by the gentleness of their
manners, their love of peace, and their eloquence, than
by their skill in arms. Bochart, in attempting to ex
plain this passage, proposes to reject the points, to place
the Hebrew term fa1?™) ayala in the state of regimine, by
changing the hay into thau, to change the participle into
a substantive noun, by inserting a vau, and alter the
character of (,"|D!<) imre, by inserting a yod between the
mem and the resh. By these changes in the text, our
learned author elicits a very different sense : Naph-
tali is a spreading tree which sendeth forth beautiful
branches. But if such a mode of criticism were admit
ted, the sacred Scriptures might be made to speak any
thing an interpreter chose ; and by consequence, they
would be rendered entirely useless as a rule of faith and
practice. No book whatever, ancient or modern, could
?Deut. xxviii. 53. tch-xii-15- *Ch.xiv.4. § Gen. xlix. 21.

576 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
preserve the meaning of the author, and maintain its
character, under such unwarrantable treatment. Add
to this, that a comparison of the same kind, and almost
in the. same words as Bochart proposes, immediately
folloAvs, Avhich but ill accords with the beautiful variety
for which the other parts of the address are so remark
able. Such a tame and meagre repetition, it is pre
sumed, is no Avhere else to be found in the sacred vo
lume, and ought not to be admitted in this passage,
Avithout the most cogent proof of its being the dictate of
inspiration. But if the benediction of Jacob is difficult and ob
scure, the meaning of Solomon's recommendation is
clear and precise : " Rejoice with the Avife of thy youth.
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe :"* the
hind of loves, and the roe of grace, in the language of
ancient Hebrews mean, the amiable hind and the lovely
roe. These creatures, it is generally admitted, in the
whole form of t.-.eir bodies, and in all their dispositions
and manners, are Avohderfully pleasing. The ancients
Avere particularly delighted Avith them; they kept them
in their houses ; they fed them at their tables Avith the
greatest care; they washed, and combed, and adorned
them with garlands of flowers, and chains of gold or
silver. This custom seems to have been very general
in the east : for in Virgil, Sylvia performed all these
kind offices to her faA ourite stag :
" Cer.vus erat forma praestanti et cornibus ingens
Assuetum imperils soror omni Sylvia cura
Mollibus intexens ornabat cornua sertis.
Pectebat que ferum, puroque in fonte lavabat." JEn. b. vii. /. 483.
The lamb and the kid were treated with still greater
familiarity, as we learn from the parable of Nathan,
which, by the command of Jehovah, he uttered in the
presence of David : " But the poor man had nothing,
saA'e one little eAve lamb, which he had bought and
nourished up ; and it grew up together with him, and
with his children ; it did eat of his own meat, and drink
of his own cup, and lay in his own bosom, and was
unto him as a daughter."! The hind seems to baA'e
* Prov. v. 18, 19. |2 Sam. xii. 3.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 577
been admitted to all those privileges, except that of re
posing with her master on the same couch, which must
haA'e been rendered incouvenient by the largeness of
her size. If these things are duly considered, the charge
of the wise man will not appear so singular ; to the ear
of an oriental it was quite intelligible, and perfectly
proper. Let a man tenderly love his spouse ; relax' in
her company from the severer duties of life ; take plea
sure in her innocent and amiable conversation ; and in
fine, treat her Avith all the kindness, and admit her to
all the familiarity, which the beauty of her form, the
excellence of her dispositions, and the nearness of her
relation, entitle her to expect.
It has been the custom in all ages, to entreat or ad
jure by those things which are knoAvn to be peculiarly
dear to the person addressed. Thus, unhappy Dido
besought jEneas to remain,
 " per ego has lacryinas dextramque tuamte,
(Quando aliud mihi jam miserae nihil ipsa reliqui)
Per connubia nostra, per inceptos hymenseos ;
Si bene quid de te merui, fuitaut tibi quidquam
Dulce nieum miserere domus labentes. JEn. b. 4. /. 314.
In the same manner, the spouse avails herself of the
great delight which the daughters of Israel were known
to take in the roes and the hinds, in her charge not to
disturb the repose of her beloved : " I charge you, O
ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the
hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my
love till he please."* She repeats her charge in the
next chapter, in precisely the same terms : for those
that experience the sweetness of communion with Christ,
and the sensible manifestations of his love, cannot but
earnestly desire the continuance of such inestimable fa
vours, and be solicitous that nothing be done either by
themselves or others, to grieve his holy Spirit, and to
-provoke him to Avithdraw.
The Ibex, or Wild Goat.
This animal belongs to the same species with the
domestic goat, and exhibits nearly the same character
• Song ii. 7.
Vol. I. E e 3

578 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
and dispositions. His Hebrew name, Yaala, from a
verb which signifies to ascend, indicates one of the
strongest habits implanted in his nature, to scale the
loftiest pinnacle of the rock, and the highest ridge of
the mountains. He takes his station on the edge of the
steep, and seems to delight in gazing on the gulf below,
or surAeying the immense void before him. Those
frightful precipices which are inaccessible to man, and
other animals, where the most adventurous hunter dares
not follow him, are his favourite haunts. He sleeps on
their brow ; he sports on their smallest projections,
secure from the attack of his enemies. These facts
were observed by the shepherds of the east, recorded
by the pen of inspiration, and celebrated in the songs
of Zion : "The high hills are a refuge for the wild
goats." In the expostulation which Jehovah addressed
to Job, they are called " the Avild goats of the rock ;"
because it is the place which the Creator has appointed
for their proper abode, and to which he has adapted all
their dispositions and habits. The dreary and frightful
precipices, which frown over the Dead sea, toward the
wilderness of Engedi, the inspired historian of David's
life, calls emphatically "the rocks of the wild goats,"
as if accessible only to those animals.
The ibex is distinguished by the size of his horns.
No creature, says Gesner, has horns so large as those
of the mountain goat, for they reach from his head as
far as his buttocks. Long before his time, Pliny re
marked, that the ibex is a creature of wonderful swift
ness, although its head is loaded with vast horns. Ac
cording to -Scaliger, the horns of an elderly goat are
sometimes eighteen pounds weight, and marked by
twenty-four circular prominences, the indications of as
many years.
The horns of the ibex, according to the Chaldee in
terpreter, are mentioned by the prophet among the
valuable commodities which enriched the merchants of
Tyre, in the days of her prosperity : " The men of
Dedan were thy merchants ; many isles were the mer
chandise of thine hand ; they brought thee for a pre-

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 579
sent, horns of iAory and ebony."* It is certain, that
the horns of this animal were greatly esteemed among
the ancients, on account of the various useful purposes
to which they were converted. The Cretan archers
had them manufactured into bows ; and the votaries of
Bacchus, into large cups, one of which, says iElian,
could easily hold three measures. The conjecture of
Bochart is therefore extremely probable, that the '/?«*•«
of Homer, is the ibex of the Latins ; for he calls it a
wild goat, says that it was taken among the rocks, and
had horns of sixteen palms, of which the bow of
Pandarus Avas fabricated.
Autix' tovXa. toJou n\ta, i£«Aot> aiytg
Ay*,*  II. b. 4. /. 105.
We may conclude from the wisdom and goodness of
God, Avhich shine conspicuously in all his works, that
the enormous iiorns of the ibex, are not a useless in
cumbrance, but, in some respects, necessary to its safety
and comfort. The Arabian writers aver, that when it
sees the hunter approach the top of the rock, where it
happens to have taken its station, and has no other way
of escape, turning on its back, it throws itself down the
precipice, at once defended by its long bending horns
from the projections of the rock, and saved from being
dashed in pieces, or even hurt by the fall. The opinion
of Pliny is more worthy of credit, that the horns of the
ibex serve as a poise to its body in its perilous excur
sions among the precipitous rocks, or when it attempts
to leap from one crag to another. The feats which it
is said to perform among the Alpine summits, are almost
incredible ; one fact, hoAveA'er, seems to be certain, that
in bounding from one height to another, it far surpasses
all the other varieties of the species. To hunt the ibex,
has been justly reckoned a most perilous enterprise,
which frequently terminates in the hunter's destruction.
These facts place in a very strong light, the extreme
dangers which at one time compelled DaA'id to seek a
refuge from the pursuit of his infatuated father-in-law,
among the rocks of the wild goats ; and, at the same
* Ezek. xxvii. 15.

580 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
time, the bitter and implacable spirit Avhich prompted
Saul to follow him into places so full of peril.
The wild goat seems to have been generally reckon
ed a beautiful creature by the ancient Israelites and
other eastern nations ; for the wise man in one of his
Proverbs, mentions it with the hind, as an object of
esteem and attachment : " Let her be as the loving hind
and pleasant roe."* The original term, in the close of
the quotation, is the same which in other places is
rendered the ibex, or wild goat, which it properly
signifies. The ibex is finely shaped, graceful in its
motions, and amiable in its manners. The female is
particularly celebrated by some natural historians, for
tender affection to her young, and the incessant vigilance
with which she watches over their safety. To these
circumstances the wise man doubtless referred ; and
they sufficiently account tor the regard which the an
cients had for this animal, and the notice with which it
is honoured by the royal teacher.
The Antelope.
The name of the antelope in the Hebrew Scripture,
is (,3X) Tsebi ; and in the version of the Seventy (Ao$*as)
Dorcas. In our version, the original term is translated
roe and roebuck ; but Dr. Shaw, and others, have
proved by several conclusive arguments, that it is not
the roe, but the antelope, which the sacred writers in
tend. The former is extremely rare in the oriental
regions, while the latter is common in every part of the
Levant. But is it to be supposed, that the sacred
writers Avould borrow their figures from creatures which
are either not known at all in Palestine and the sur
rounding countries, or but rarely seen ; while they had
not even a name for an animal, which, in large herds
of several thousands, fed in their fields, and around
their dwellings? Such a supposition Avould contradict
some of the strongest laws which regulate the opera
tions of the human miud, and is therefore quite inad
missible. It is equally absurd to suppose, that the
Jewish legislator, when he regulated by fixed laws the
Prov. v. 19.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 581
food of his people, would mention a creature which
they probably had never seen, of which perhaps they
had not even heard, which was not to be found in the
deserts over which they had to travel, nor in the country
they were to possess ; while he omitted one of daily
occurrence, Avhich Avas found every where, in the wil
derness and in the cultivated field, on the mountains
and in the, plains ; Avhose flesh was greatly esteemed,
and, by consequence, could not fail to become an im
portant article of subsistence. These considerations
are of themselves sufficient to establish the superior
claims of the antelope to a place in the sacred volume.
The arguments which have been drawn from the
etymological meaning of the Hebrew terms N3X- and ^i,
and the authority of the Septuagint, although of inferior
importance, are not destitute of weight. The first of
these names suggests the idea of a very gregarious
animal ; but this is not the character of the roes, for,
instead of associating in herds, they live in separate
families ; while the antelopes are commonly found in
very large herds, sometimes to the number of tAvo or
three thousand together.* The second term ,;». prima
rily signifies beauty; and when put for the concrete, as
in this instance, by a Aery common figure of speech in
Hebrew, has the force of a superlative, and signifies a
thing or animal of uncommon beauty. Thus the land
of Canaan is, in the prophet, styled 'Mnv-w, the land of
beauty ; or, as it is rendered by our translators, the
glory of ali lands.! The tsebi, therefore, is an animal
that excels in beauty ; which exactly corresponds with
all the accounts that natural historians have given us of
the antelope. Both the roe and the antelope, it must be
admitted, are, in the general opinion of mankind, very
beautiful animals; but the preference is commonly given
to the latter.
The Septuagint uniformly translate the terms ^ and
•a*, by 3of*«s; and the correctness of their translation is
attested by Luke, for he mentions " a certain disciple"
who resided " at Joppa, named Tabitha, which, by in
terpretation, is called Dorcas." The name Tabitha is
* Russel's Aleppo, vol. 2 p. 153. f Ezek. xx. 6, 15.

582 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
formed by a slight alteration from the Chaldee noun
(«'3B) Tabia, and this from the Hebrew term 0*0 tsebi.
The Hebrew term signifies, as has been already ob
served, a creature of surpassing beauty ; Dorcas, its di
vinely attested equivalent, limiting somewhat the gene
ral signification, denotes a creature remarkable for the
fineness of its eyes ; and from this last circumstance, it
is conjectured that Tabitha received her name. But
while the eyes of the roe have attracted no particular
attention, so far as the writer has observed, the ante
lope has been celebrated for the fineness of its eyes in
all the countries of the east. Their beauty, according
to Shaw, is proverbial there to this day ; and it is still
the greatest compliment which, in these countries, can
be paid to a fine woman, to say, " You have the eyes
of an antelope."* From Bochart, and other authors,
Ave learn that it Avas equally celebrated by the ancients
for the acuteness of its vision ; its eyes, they pretend,
never become bleared ; it sees in the dark ; it sleeps
with both eyes open, or, as others will baA'e it, with
one eye open and another shut. These circumstances
appear to be much more applicable to the antelope,
which is a quadruped well known, than to the roe,
which is either not known at all, or else very rare, in
these countries.
The natives of Syria, make a distinction between the
antelopes of the mountain, and those of the plain. Dr.
llussel, avIio gives us this information, says, " the for
mer is the most beautifully formed, its back and sides
are of a dark brown colour, and it bounds with surpri
sing agility ; the latter is of a much lighter colour, its
limbs are not so cleanly turned, and it is neither so
strong, nor so active ; both, however, are so fleet, that
the grey-bounds, though reckoned excellent, cannot,
Avithout the aid of the falcon, come up with them, ex
cept in soft deep ground."! This is probably the rea
son, that the sacred writers frequently mention the
" antelope upon the mountains," and not simply the
antelope, when they allude to surpassing beauty of
form, or amazing rapidity of motion.
* Encyc. Britan. f H'st of Aleppo, vol.2, p. 150,

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 583
The swiftness of this beautiful creature, has been
celebrated by writers of every age, in terms of high ad
miration. Its exquisite symmetry, its active form, and
the delicate turn of its limbs, clearly show, that it is
intended by its Maker, to hold a distinguished place
among the fleetest animals that scour the desert. It
seems rather to vanish, than to run from the pursuer,
and when closely pressed, bounds Avith so great agility,
that it hardly seems to touch the ground in its career.
Oppian calls it the swiftest species of goat ; and iElian
says, it equals the Avhirlwind in speed. He outruns
the antelope, said the Arabians, when they wished to
pay the highest compliment to the youthful warrior.
To this trait in its character, the sacred writers often
allude. The surprising agility which Asahel, the bro
ther of Joab, displayed in his pursuit of Abner, dreAV
this eulogium from the sacred historian : " And Asahel
was light of foot, as one of the antelopes that are in the
field."* Another allusion to the amazing speed of that
animal, occurs in the description of the warlike quali
fications, Avhich distinguished a troop of Gadites in the
service of David : " They were men of might, men of
war, fit for the battle, that could handle shield and
buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and
were as swift as the roes (the antelopes) upon the
mountains."! In the Song of Solomon, the spouse more than once,
compares her beloved to the antelope, particularly al
luding to the wonderful elasticity of its limbs, and the
velocity with which, by a feAV leaps, it scales the loftiest
precipice, or bounds from one cliff to another. Waiting
with eager expectation his promised coming, she hears
him at last speaking peace and comfort to her soul ;
and instantly describes him as hastening in the ardour
of his love to her relief, and surmounting with ease,
every obstruction in his way : " The voice of my be
loved ! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains,
skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe, (an
antelope) or a young hart,"! hasting with inconceivable
activity and sAviftness to my relief. In allusion to the
* 2 Sam ii. 18. 1 1 Chron. xii. 8. * Song ii. 8, 9.

584

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

same property, she entreats him speedily to return, and
revive her drooping soul with the gracious intimations
of his love: "TurU, my beloved, and be thou like (an
antelope,) or a young hart upon the mountains of Be-
ther."* Leave me solitary and mournful no longer ;
haste with the alacrity and speed of an antelope ; lightly
bound over those mountains, which separate us far from
each other, and prevent our intercourse. The mutual
endearments of Christ and his church, in that inspired
Song, are closed with a similar invitation : " Make
haste, my beloved, and be thou tike to (an antelope,)
or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices,"! —
that bounds among the mountains, where it feeds on the
fragrant herbs which adorn and enrich their declivities,
and is excited to greater activity by their pungent
odours. Haste from the ineffable delights "of the
everlasting mountains, and perpetual hills" of heaven,
to the inferior, but exhilarating pleasures of grace and
mercy below.
The antelope, like the hind, with Avhich it is so fre
quently associated in Scripture, is a timid creature, ex
tremely jealous and watchful, sleeps little, is easily
disturbed, takes alarm on the slightest occasion ; ami
the moment its fears are awakened, it flies, or seems
rather to disappear fro. a the sight of the intruder. Soft
and cautious is the step which interrupts not the light
slumbers of this gentle and suspicious creature. It is
probable from some hints in the sacred volume, that
the shepherd in the eastern desert, sometimes wished
to beguile the tedious moments, by contemplating the
beautiful form of the sleeping antelope. But this was
a gratification he could not hope to enjoy, unless he ap
proached it with the utmost care, and maintained a pro
found silence. When, therefore, an oriental charged
his companion by the antelope, not to disturb the repose
of another, he intimated, by a most expressive and
beautiful allusion, the necessity of using the greatest
circumspection. This statement imparts a great degree
of clearness and energy, to the solemn adjuration,
Avhich the spouse twice addresses to the daughters of
?Verse 17. fCh.viii. t4.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 585
Jerusalem, when she charged them not to disturb the
repose of her beloved : " I charge you,0 ye daughters
of Jerusalem, by the roes (the antelopes) and the hinds
of the field, that ye stir not up, nor atvake my love till
he please."* Iq this language, which is pastoral, and
equally beautiful and significant, the spouse delicately
intimates her anxiety to detain her Lord, that she may
enjoy the happiness of contemplating his glory; her
deep sense of the evil nature and bitter consequences of
sin ; her apprehension, lest her companions, the mem
bers of her family, should by some rash and unholy
deed, provoke him to depart ; and how reasonable it
was, that they Avho coveted the society of that beauti
ful creature, aud were accustomed to watch over its
slumbers in guarded silence, should be equally cau
tious, not to disturb the communion which she then en
joyed Avith her Saviour.
To hunt the antelope, is a favourite amusement in the
east; but which, from its extraordinary sAviftness,is at
tended with great difficulty. On the first alarm, it flies
like an arrow from the boAv, and leaves the best mounted
hunter, and the fleetest dog, far behind. " The grey
hound," say the compilers of the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica, " the fleetest of dogs, is unequal in the course ;
and the sportsman is obliged to call in the aid of the
falcon, trained to the Avork, to seize on the animal, and
impede its motions, to giA'e the dogs time to overtake
it." Dr. Russel, in his history of Aleppo, thus de
scribes the chace of the antelope : " They permit horse
men, without dogs, if they advance gently, to approach
near, and do not seem much to regard a caravan that
passes within a little distance : but the moment they
take the alarm, they bound aAvay, casting from time to
time, a look behind ; and if they find themselves pur
sued, they lay their horns backAvard, almost close on
the shoulders, and flee with incredible sAviftness. When
dogs appear, they instantly take alarm ; for Avhich rea
son, the sportsmen endeavour to steal upon the ante
lope unawares, to get as near as possible before slip
ping the dogs, and then pushing on full speed, they
* Song ii. 7. and iii. 5.
Vol. I. F f 3

58(5 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
throw off the falcon, which, being taught to strike or
fix upon the cheek of the game, retards its course by
repeated attack's, till the grey-hounds have time to get
up. The diversion is noble, but the sportsman must
ride hard, who expects to be in at the death."*
This statement furnishes a beautiful illustration of
that prophecy, in which Isaiah describes the terror that
overAvhelmed the. inhabitants of Babylon, and the rapi
dity of their flight, Avhen the Medes and Persians
forced their way into the city. " It shall be like a
chased (antelope,) and as a sheep that no man taketh
up ; they shall every man turn to his own people, and
flee every one into his own land."!
Before dogs Avere so generally employed, the hunters
were obliged to make use of nets and snares, to entan
gle the game. When the antelope finds itself enclosed
in the toils, terror lends it additional strength and acti
vity ; it strains eA'ery nerve, with vigorous and inces
sant exertion to break the snare, and escape before the
pursuer arrives. And such is the conduct Avhich the
wise man recommends to the man who has lashly en
gaged to be surety for his neighbour : " Deliver thyself
as (an antelope) from the hand of the hunter, and as a
bird from the hand of the fowler."! r^ne snare is
spread, the adversary is at hand, instantly exert all thy
powers to obtain a discharge of the obligation ; a mo
ment's hesitation may involve thee and thy family in
irretrievable ruin.
The only other allusion to the antelope, deserving of
notice, occurs in the Song, which is so Avell illustrated
by Dr. Peddie in his papers on Sacred Zoology, that I
cannot do better than transcribe bis Avords : " They
often produce tAvins ; and the beautiful appearauce of a
pair of twin gazels, or young antelopes, whose horns
are not yet grown, and who feed together in a rich pas
ture, where the little creatures are almost overtopped
by the lilies, and other wild flowers, which enamel the
field, their dark brown shoulders only being visible,
seeius to have occasioned the similitude in tAvo places
of the Song of Solomon, Avhere the spouse's beauty is
' Hist, of Aleppo, vol- 2. p. 153. f Isa. xiii. 14. * Prov vi, 5.

• NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 587
described as conformed to the image of Christ, and
adorned with the graces of his Spirit: < Thy two breasts
are like two young (antelopes) that are twins, which
feed among the lilies."*
The flesh of this animal is very grateful to the taste
of an oriental. It is, in the estimation of Arabian wri
ters, the most delicious and wholesome of all venison.
They pronounce its juices better than those of any other
wild animal, and more adapted to the human constitu
tion. The sentiments of these venerable ancients, are
confirmed by the testimony of several intelligent modern
authors. Dr. Shaw says, "it is in great esteem in the
east for food, having a sweet musky taste, which is
highly agreeable to their palates ;" and according to
Dr. Russel, " the antelope venison, during the Avinter,
or sporting season, is well flavoured, but very lean, and
in the spring is fat, and of a flavour which might vie
with English venison." These statements account for
its being daily served up on the sumptuous table of So
lomon and other eastern princes."!
Besides, the antelope has all the marks which dis
tinguished clean animals under the law ; it both divides
the hoof and chews the cud. An Israelite, therefore,
might laAvfully eat of its flesh, although he was not
permitted to offer it in sacrifice. This creature belong
ed to the class of clean beasts, which the people of Is
rael, as well during their wanderings in the desert, as
after their settlement in the land of promise, were per
mitted to kill wherever they could find them, and use
for the subsistence of their families, although, at the
time, they might be ceremonially unclean. But the ox,
the sheep, and the goat, which some writers distinguish
by the name of clean cattle, might both be lawfully
eaten and offered in sacrifice ; yet while the chosen
people sojourned in the wilderness, they were forbidden
to kill any of these animals, although intended merely
for private use, except at the door of the tabernacle ;
and if ceremonially unclean, even to eat of their flesh.
This regulation occasioned little inconvenience to the
tribes in the desert, where they lived in one vast en-
* Song iv. 5. and vii. 3. Christ. Mag. vol. 6. Antelope, f J Kin£s iv< 23''

588 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
campment, in the midst of which the sacred tent Avas
pitched : but after their settlement in Canaan, their cir
cumstances required either an alteration in the laAv, or
that the greater part of the nation should abstain alto
gether from the use of-flesb. The permission was ac
cordingly enlarged ; while, they .were still restricted to
shed the blood of the cattle intended for sacrifice, only
before the national altar, they were permitted, when too
far from the tabernacle, to kill those Avhich they de
signed merely for common food, in any of their cities,
or in their own houses ; even the ceremonial regulation
was abolished, and in private clean and unclean fared
alike. This permission, Avhich is couched in very ex
press terms, is repeated in the course of a feAV verses,
lest the suspicious mind of an Israelite might suppose
that Jehovah envied his people the enjoyment of Avhat
he had given them ; and " in both instances it is illus
trated by an example which must, from the use of it,
have been familiar to the Israelites :" " The unclean
and the clean may eat thereof, as of the (antelope,) and
as of the hart."* The Unicorn.
The name of this animal in the Hebrew text is (°")
rim, or (DN1) reem ; and is derived from a verb, Avhich
signifies to be exalted or lifted up. This term, which in
Hebrew signifies only height, is rendered by the Greek
interpreters f*»»«*'e««) and by the Latins unicornis; both
which answer to our English word unicorn. Je
rome and others, doubtful to what animal it belongs,
render it sometimes rhinoceros, and sometimes unicorn.
It is evident from the sacred Scriptures, that the reem
is an animal of considerable height, and of great
strength. Thus Balaam reluctantly declared concern
ing Israel : " God brought them out of Egypt ; he hath
as it were the strength of (a reem) an unicorn."! So
great in the estimation of that reluctant seer, was the
strength of the reem, that he repeats the eulogium in
the very same words iu the next chapter.! From the
grateful ascriptions of David, we learn that it is a horn-
J Deut. xii. 13— 16 and 20— 23. f Num. xxiii. 22. * Verse 8.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 589
ed animal : " But my horn shalt thou e-;alt like the
horn of an unicorn."* And Moses, in his benediction
of Joseph, states a most important fact, that it h;ts two
horns ; the words are : His horns are like the horns of*
(dni a reem, in the singular number,) an unicorn. Some
interpreters, determined to support the claims of the
unicorn to the honour ofa place in the sacred volume,
contend, that in this instance, the singular, by an enal-
lage or change of number, is put for the plural. But
this is a gratuitous assertion ; aud besides, if admitted,
Avould greatly diminish the force and propriety of the
comparison. The tAvo sons of Joseph, Ephraim and
Manasseh, had been adopted into the family of Jacob,
and appointed the founders of ttAO distinct tribes, whose
descendants in the times of Moses were become nume
rous and respectable in the congregation. These were
the two horns with which Joseph Avas to attack and
subdue his enemies ; and by consequence, propriety
required an allusion to a creature, not with one, but
with two horns.
In the book of Job, the reem is represented as a very
fierce and intractable animal, Avhich, although possess
ed of sufficient strength to labour, sternly and pertina
ciously refused to bend his neck to the yoke : " Will
the unicorn (in HebreAV the reem,) be willing to serve
thee, or abide by thy crib ? Canst thou bind the reem
with his band in the furrow, or will he harrow the val
leys after thee? Wilt thou trust him because his
strength is great? Or wilt thou leave thy labour to
him? Wilt thou believe him that he will bring home
thy seed, and gather it into thy barn ?" So far from
being disposed to submit to the dominion of man, he is
extremely hostile and dangerous. Little inferior to the
lion himself in strength and fury, he is sometimes asso
ciated in Scripture with that destroyer : " Save me,"
cried our Lord to his Father, "save me from the lion's
mouth : for thou hast heard me from the horns of (owO
the unicorns."! In the prophecies of Isaiab, it is united
with other powerful animals, to symbolize the great
leaders aud princes of the hostile nations, that laid
•Ps.xcii. 10. tPsa-xxii-21<

590 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
waste his native land : " And the unicorns shall come
down with them, and the bullocks Avith the bulls : and
their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust
made fat with fatness."* Such are the general charac
ters of the reem, as delineated in the sacred volume:
but besides these, several hints are given, which seem
to point out, Avith no little certainty, the genus under
which the reem ought to be classed. In that sublime
composition, where the psalmist assigns the reasons
why God is to be honoured, he joins the calf with the
young reem, and ascribes to them the same kind of
movement : " He maketh them also to skip like a calf ;
Lebanon and Sirionlike a young (reem, or) unicorn."!
The prophet Isaiah, in a passage already quoted,
classes him with the bullocks and the bulls ; and Mo
ses assigns him the same station, furnishes him with
horns, and makes him push like a bullock.! If these
circumstances are duly considered, no doubt AA'ill re
main that he is nearly allied to the creatures with which
he is associated.
These observations will enable us to examine Avith
more success, the various interpretations of the original
name, proposed by different expositors. Our trans
lators, folloAving the Greek fathers, consider the reem
as a creature with one horn ; and, agreeably to this
idea, render it unicorn. But, this interpretation is
encumbered with insuperable difficulties. The unicorn
is a creature totally unknoAvn in those countries where
the Scriptures were written, and the patriarchs sojourn
ed. But, is it probable, that God himself, in his ex
postulation with Job, would take an illustration of
considerable length, from a creature with which the
afflicted man was altogether unacquainted ; and men
tion this unknown animal in the midst of those with
which he was quite familiar ? Nor is it to be supposed,
that Moses, David, and the prophets, would so fre
quently speak of an animal unknown in Egypt and
Palestine, and the surrounding countries ; least of all,
that they would borrow their comparisons from it,
familiarly mention its great strength, and describe its
* Isa. xxxiv. 7. f Psa. xxxix. 6. $ Deut. xxxiii. 17.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 591
habits and dispositions. Aware of this objection, and
at a loss bow to elude its force, some writers remove
the native land of the unicorn to India. But this will
be found of no advantage to their cause ; for still the
objection returns with nearly undiminished force ; how
could the sacred Avriters borrow their illustrations from
. a creature with Avhich, even on this supposition, they
were so little acquainted ? They make no mention of
the elephant, a creature not less powerful and fierce than
the unicorn, renoAvned for its docility, and the various
important services which it renders to man ; and nume
rous in Africa, and many countries of Asia. Of this
noble animal, the people of Israel seemed to have no
knowledge at all, except what they derived from the
trade in ivory, which they carried on during the reign
of Solomon to some extent. But, if the elephant, which
abounded in countries much nearer the Holy land than
India, Avhose teeth formed an article of commerce among
the ancient Israelites, Avas so little known to them ; it
cannot be supposed that they had any knowledge of an
animal which was proper to India.
But, Ave have in reality no proof that such an animal
ever existed in any part of the world. It must be ad
mitted, that both Pliny aud iElian have described the
unicorn in their writings ; but these eminent authors
borrowed their statements from Ctesias, a writer of little
respectability. Had the unicorn existed in any part of
the east, it must have been discoAered and brought to
Rome, by those who were employed by the Romans to
explore the remotest countries, Avith the express view
of collecting the rarest animals they contained, in order
to be exhibited at the public shows. The tiger, the
rhinoceros, and other animals, natives of regions which
the Roman eagles never visited, Avere often exhibited
in the amphitheatre, before the proud oppressors of the
world. So numerous and diversified were the animals
produced on the arena at their public entertainments,
that Aristides, in his encomium of Rome, declared,
" All things meet here, whatsoever is bred or made ;
and Avhatsoever is not seen here, is to be reckoned
among those things which are not, nor ever were."

592 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
But, although these sIioavs continued for many ages,
not a single unicorn Avas ever exhibited at Rome ; a
strong proof that no such animal ever existed. In
modern times, the remotest countries in Asia have been
traversed, in almost every direction, by intelligent and
inquisitive travellers ; but no animal of this kind has
been discovered ; nor has the least information been •
obtained concerning the unicorn, among the natives.
From these facts it may be safely concluded, that the
unicorn exists only in the imagination of vain and
credulous writers, and by consequence, cannot be the
reem of the sacred Scriptures.
The rhinoceros, on the contrary, was often exhibited
in the amphitheatre at Rome ; and has been frequently
seen by modern travellers. No doubt, therefore, cau
be entertained concerning the reality of its existence :
but the character of the reem, given in the Scriptures,
will not apply to this animal. The reem, it is evident,
was equally well known to Moses and the prophets,
and the people whom they addressed, as the bullocks
and the bulls Avith Avhich they are mentioned. But the
rhinoceros inhabits the southern parts of Africa, and
the remotest parts of the east, beyond the Ganges ; and
by consequence, could be still less knoAvn to the people
of Israel than the elephant, which is not once mention
ed in the sacred volume.
Besides, the reem has large horns ; for, says the
Psalmist, " My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of
an unicorn ;" but the rhinoceros has seldom more than
one, and that of a small size, not exalted like the horn
of a reem, but turned back towards the forehead. Nor
will the use to which the reem applies his horns, cor
respond with the manners of the rhinoceros : the former
pushes with his horns, which must therefore be placed
on his forehead ; but the horn of the latter, which is
placed on his nose, and bent backwards, is not formed
for pushingj but for ripping up the trunks or bodies of
the more soft and succulent trees, and reducing them
into a kind of laths, which constitute a part of the
animal's food.* * Brace's Trav. vol. 4. p. 91.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 593
It is the opinion of others, that the reem is a species
of wild bull; which they have endeavoured to establish
by several plausible arguments. In many places of
Scripture, say they, the ox and the reem are joined
together, as animals of the same family ; in others, the
latter is represented as a strong and fierce animal, with
large and very strong horns, greatly addicted to push,
and by consequence, an enemy much to be dreaded.
The reem, therefore, cannot be the buffalo, because his
horns being turned inward are unfit for the combat;
but either the bison, or the urus. It is rather supposed,
however, that the urus is the reem of the Hebrews,
because the bison, though a very fierce and obstinate
animal, may be subdued by the art of man, and at
length entirely domesticated. But as to the urus, Caesar
says expressly, that they cannot be tamed and rendered
useful to mankind, hot even their young ones excepted ;
they are therefore taken in pits and destroyed. Pliny
thus describes the urus : He is of a size little inferior
to the elephant ; in appearance, colour, and figure, he
resembles the bull ; his strength and velocity are great;
and he neither spares man nor beast that comes in his
way. These arguments have considerable weight ; but they
are liable to the. same objections which these very
writers have urged with so much force against the
claims of the unicorn and the rhinoceros. It is by no
means probable, that the sacred writers would make
so many allusions to animals, with which the people
whom they addressed were utterly unacquainted; would
speak so familiarly about them ; would borrow their
figures and illustrations from their form, dispositions,
and manners ; or, that Jehovah himself Avould converse
with Job so long about a creature, which was unknown
to the people of those countries. The urus sculked
from the remotest times, in the deep recesses of the
Hircanian forest ; and was quite unknown to the Ro
mans before the time of Caesar. Neither the urus nor
the bison, according to Pliny, were to be found in
Greece ; and the former has been considered by some
authors, as a native of Germany. It is even admitted
Vol. I. G g 3

591 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
by Boetius, who strenuously maintains the claims of
the urus, that he can find no writer who says, that these
wild oxen are produced in Syria and Palestine. Aben
Ezra, on the contrary, asserts in his commentary on
the prophecies of Hosea, that no wild bull is to be
found in Judea, and the surrounding countries. It is
not sufficient to say, that these varieties of the bovine
family, may have existed there in the times of Moses
and the prophets, for a mere conjecture proves nothing.
If they existed once, why do they not exist now, as
well as the wild goat, the hart, and the antelope ? Why
is not a single trace of them to be found in the warmer
climates of Greece and Asia? Pliny indeed states, that
the Indian forests abounded with wild oxen ; but it
will not follow, that the urus was known to the Jews,
because it was discoA'ered in the forests of India, the
regions of Scythia, or the remote wilds of Africa. But
the truth is, we have no proof that he meant to speak
of the. urus or the bison ; he only mentions wild oxen
in general ; from which no certain argument can be
drawn in support of the opinion which Boetius and
others maintain.
It now remains to be shown, that the reem of the Old
Testament Scriptures is not a variety of the wild ox,
but must be classed among the goats. This point the
learned Bochart has decided, by numerous quotations
from the Arabian, and other eastern writers, in which
the original word reem is applied to a species of Avild
goat, which inhabits the deserts of Palestine, and the
neighbouring regions. The statements of the Arabian
writers, as quoted by him, are clear and precise ; "The
reem," says one, " is a goat of a snow white colour;"
another, " The reem, the plural of which is aram, de
notes a goat of a pure white colour, like those which
inhabit the sandy deserts." Goats, says Damir, are of
different colours ; they are of three distinct species, of
which the first are called aram, the singular of which
is reem. Their colour is a pure white ; they inhabit
the desert, and become very fat. From these testi
monies it is evident, that the word reem among the
Arabians, denoted the noblest species of Avild goat>

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 595
equally remarkable for its obesity, and the snowy
whiteness of its colour. This species are also dis
tinguished by carrying their heads very high, and
pricking their ears ; from whence it is apprehended,
they derive their name. In this application of the
original term, the Syriac version, the Chaldee para-
phrasts, and the Talmudical writers, all agree with the
Arabian historians.*
To invalidate the force of these arguments, it has
been urged, that the reem is connected in the sacred
writings Avith bullocks and bulls, and must therefore be
some kindred animal. He stands high on his limbs,
and has a large and portly frame ; while, the goat is the
smallest of the horned tribes. The former is repre
sented in the book of Job, as very strong, and a fit
companion for the ox in the labours of the field ; and
prevented from taking part in tilling the ground, bring
ing home the seed, and gathering it into the barn, only
by his fierce and intractable disposition. But a goat is
not possessed of great strength, although sufficiently
vigorous and active for the sphere in which it is in
tended to move ; it is too weak to draw in the same
yoke with the ox, or to take any part in the toils of the
husbandman. Hence, in all ages, and among every
people, the wild, equally as the domestic goat, has been
exempted from the yoke ; and their immunity confirmed
by the ancient adage, ex<-u0«j*< »tyit a^tr^ut, goats are ex
empted from the plough. We learn from the prayer
of David, already quoted, that the horns of the reem
are high ; but those of the goat, although somewhat
elongated, are not to be compared with the antlers of
the stag. It deserves also to be particularly remarked,
that the reem is a fierce and dangerous animal ; while
it is universally acknowledged that the goat is a timid
and harmless creature.
From this comparison it has been inferred, that the
reem, and the wild goat of the desert, must be two dif
ferent animals. But if these plausible objections are
carefully examined, they will be found insufficient to
support the conclusion, for the sake of which they are
* See Bocharti Hieroz. b. 3.

596 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
brought forward. If the reem is a kindred animal to
bullocks and bulls, because it is mentioned in the same
verse, then goats and rams must be animals of the same
species, for they are as nearly connected in the pre
ceding verse;* and for the same reason, rams, and
goats, and bullocks, " all of them fatlings of Bashan,"
must be numbered among the beeves, for the prophet
mentions them in the same passage.! When the sacred
writer speaks of the height and superior strength of that
particular species of goat, he does not mean to compare
him with the elephant or the bull, but only with those
of his own species ; he intends merely to assert that
the reem, or white goat of the desert, is a much higher
and stronger animal thau any other of the same species.
To this may be referred the words of Balaam concern
ing Israel: "He hath as it were, the heights of an
unicorn :" that is, his stature resembles that of a reem.
The meaning of the prediction seems to be, that Israel
should be as eminent among the nations, as the reem
among the goats ; or the prophet refers, perhaps, to the
erect attitude for Avhich the white goat of the desert is
so remarkable, in order to illustrate the rising spirit
and improving condition of Israel, since their emancipa
tion from Egyptian bondage ; and the high degree of
prosperity and glory which they were destined to attain.
The strength and vigour of the white goat, although
not to be compared with the prodigious power of some
animals, is by no means inconsiderable ; and nothing
prevents him, and others of the same species, from
being yoked in the plough, which in those countries is
so light that a man may easily carry it in his hand,
and performing his part in the labours of the field, but
his intractable temper. The Arabian historians repre
sent his horns as very formidable weapons. The doe,
says Gesner, resembles the goat in size, figure, and
hair : he has horns like a stag, but smooth, long and
sharp: he is, however, SAvift of foot, jealous of his
safety, and given to push with his horns. Now if the
doe, of which the white goat is a variety, has long sharp
horns, with which he is apt to strike his adversaries,
* Isa. xxxiv. 6, 7, | Ezek. xxxix. 18.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 597
the objection relating to the horns of the reem, will be
easily removed : if they are long, David might justly
say in prayer, " Thou shalt exalt my horn like the horn
of the reem ;" if they are sharp and ready to be em
ployed against an opponent, Moses might justly say in
relation to Joseph, " His horns are the horns of the
reem ; with them he shall push the people together to
the ends of the earth." The goat is, in general, a
timid and harmless animal ; but this is not the case in
every instance, for in some places he displays great
energy and resolution, and if Oppian may be credited,
often attacks the wild boar, and obtains the victory.
The doe has been known to engage in desperate com
bat, and to yield the victory only with his life.* But
the reem, or white goat, is a much fiercer animal, which,
in the amphitheatre at Rome, where he Avas often ex
hibited for the amusement of the people, spread de
struction among the dogs by which he was opposed.!
There is, says Oppian, a certain tenant of the forest, a
beast with a sharp horn, the savage oryx, extremely
formidable to the wild beasts. In another passage, he
describes him as naturally au intrepid and warlike
animal, that neither fears the fury of a dog, nor the rage
of a wild boar ; that shrinks not from the threatening
Voice of a bull, from the terrific yell of a leopard, nor
the inflamed wrath of a lion. So great is his boldness,
that he regards not the attack of man : often, too, the
robust hunter, who ventures to encounter him, pushed
from the rock by the fury of his onset, pays the forfeit
of his rashness with his life. When he sees a wild
boar, or a lion, preparing to attack him, he immediately
lowers his head, inclining it a little to one side, and
watching his opportunity, rushes upon his adversary,
and with the points of his long sharp horns, pierces his
breast. Whether the oryx be precisely the same animal
as the white goat of the desert, may be doubted ; but
it is clearly admitted by Pliny, and other early writers,
that the oryx is a species of goat, of a pure white colour,
his double spine loaded with fat, with long sharp horns
rising from his forehead, black and hard as flint or iron.
» Martialis Epigram, b. 5. t B- W- Epigram. 95.

598 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
He, therefore, bears a striking resemblance to the white
goat of the desert, if he is not the very same creature ;
and by consequence might belong to that class of ani
mals which the Hebrews distinguished by the name
reem, and the Chaldee paraphrasts by rima and re-
mainin. The size of the oryx also seems to correspond with
the brief notices which the inspired writers have given
us of the reem. He stands for the most part higher on
his limbs than the ox,* and is not much inferior in size
to the rhinoceros.! Thus his character agrees in every
particular with the description of the reem in the holy
Scriptures. The oryx inhabits the solitudes of Africa, on the
confines of Egypt ; from whence he might easily make
excursions into the deserts which border on the land of
Canaan. He seems indeed to have been properly an
Egyptian animal, and familiarly known to the inhabi
tants of that country.! His character and habits must
have been well known to the people of Israel, that so
journed for several centuries in Egypt, and spent their
time chiefly in tending their flocks and herds in the pas
tures of Goshen, where they probably had many op
portunities of meeting him, and many reasons, perhaps,
to remember his strength and intrepidity. After their
deliverance from the Egyptian yoke, they settled in a
neighbouring country, and had occasional intercourse
with Egypt. These facts account for the frequent
mention of the oryx under the name of the reem, in the
sacred volume ; and the interesting allusions to its dis
positions and manners.
In the opinion of ancient writers, the oryx is distin
guished by another name in the sacred volume. The
Hebrew term 0*n) theo, in Deuteronomy,^ which out-
translators render wild ox, Jerome translates oryx ;
and Aquila uses the same term in translating a passage
in Isaiah, as an equivalent for (*™) tho, in our version a
wild bull. || Many interpreters, beside the English
translators, are disposed to consider these Hebrew terms
* Herod. t°PPian' * Bochart, b. 3. p 971. % Deut. xiv. S.
II Isa. Ii. 20.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 599
as the proper name of the buffalo, or some species of
wild ox. But it has been already shown, that Judea
and the surrounding countries possessed no wild oxen
of any kind ; and that three varieties of that animal are
the natives of a cold climate. The buffalo, it is admit
ted, is bred in southern latitudes ; but in ancient times,
he seems to have been confined to the remotest parts of
the east. No mention is made of him, at least, by any
writer before the Christian era ; for the P&axtg or j8*Saxis
of the ancient Greeks, Avas the name of a wild goat.*
Besides, the wild bull was not taken in a net ; but, ac
cording to the ancients, in a deep pit, for he is too pow
erful and furious an animal to be detained by a snare
of that kind ; but every variety of the deer, and conse
quently the oryx, it was the custom to hunt with nets
and dogs. This statement renders it extremely proba
ble that the Hebrew word tho or theo, was a name given
to the oryx, the white goat of the desert.
The Coney.
The Hebrew name of this animal, is derived from a
verb which signifies to hide, and seems to indicate a
creature of a timid and harmless disposition. Unable
to aA'oid or encounter the various dangers to which it
would be exposed in the plain, it seeks a shelter among
the rocks, in the fissures of which it hides itself from
the pursuit of its enemies. This circumstance is attest
ed by the sacred writer in one of the songs of Zion :
" The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and
the rocks for the (nysw) shaphans."! The choice which
the shaphan makes of the rock for the place of its abode,
is mentioned by Solomon as a proof of sagacity : " The
shaphans are but a feeble folk, yet make they their
houses in the rocks."! It is evident from these words
also, that the shaphan is a gregarious animal, although
they afford us no hint from which the numbers which
constitute their little communities may be inferred.
To what particular animal the name shaphan really
belongs, has been much disputed among the learned.
In our version, it is rendered by the word coney or rab-
* Boch. Hieroz. f Pga- civ. 18. * Prov. xxx. 26.

600 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
bit ; in which our translators have followed the greater
part of modern interpreters. Several circumstances
seem to favour this interpretation ; it is twice connected
in the law of Moses with the hare, as if it Avere a kin
dred animal ; the noun in the plural, is rendered hares
by the Seventy, in Avhich they have been followed by
many ancient interpreters of great name : the meaning
of shaphan, seems to correspond with the timidity of
the rabbit ; and it is certain, that the Rabbinnical wri
ters formerly interpreted the original word in this man
ner. Besides, the rabbit is a gregarious animal, of a
diminutiA'e size, and found in great numbers in the plain
of Jericho.* But these facts are not sufficient to estab
lish the point for which they are brought forward ; for,
instead of seeking a habitation in the fissures of the
rocks, the rabbit delights to burrow in the sandy downs.
Sometimes indeed, he digs a receptacle for himself in
rocky eminences, where the openings are filled with
earth, but he generally prefers a dwelling in the sand,
a situation for which he is evidently formed by Nature.
The words of David clearly show, that the instincts
and habits of the shaphan, as naturally and constantly
lead him to the rocks for shelter, as those of his asso
ciate impel him to rove among the mountains. He does
not allude to an occasional residence, but to a fixed and
permanent abode; to the wanderings of a few, but to
the habitual choice of a whole species. But the rabbit
as uniformly seeks the sandy plain, as the wild goat
the summit of the mountain. The shaphan, according
to Solomon, discovers great wisdom and sagacity in re
tiring from the plain country, to the natural fastness
which the Almighty Creator has provided for its recep
tion ; but it is no mark of wisdom in the rabbit, that he
forsakes occasionally the sandy plain, which he is na
turally formed to occupy, and retires to the rocks which
are so little suited to his habits and manners. This is
an act of rashness or folly, not of wisdom. The wise
man is also noting the sagacity of a whole species, not
of a rambling individual ; but the species is to be found
on the plain, not among the rocks. Nor is the rabbit a
* Doubdan.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST* 601
feeble creature ; he runs with considerable swiftness ;
and he is provided with the means of digging his bur-
roAv, Avhich he employs with so great energy, particu
larly when alarmed by the approach of danger, that
he buries himself in the sand with surprising rapidity.
To exert his strength, according to existing circum
stances, is all the sagacity which he discovers ; and
this it must be admitted, is not peculiar to him, but
common to the hare, the hedge-hog, and many other
animals. He betrays no foresight, except in preparing
his dwelling, and he is never known to supply the
Avant of strength by any contrivance. The shaphan, as
described both by David and Solomon, exhibits a very
different character, and therefore, cannot be the same
animal. But if we apply these characters to the daman
Israel, or as Mr. Bruce calls it the ashkoko, the iden
tity of this animal with the shaphan of the Scriptures,
will instantly appear : " The daman is a harmless
creature, of the same size and quality with the rab
bit, and with the like incurvating posture and dis
position of the foreteeth. But it is of a browner co
lour, Avith smaller eyes, and a head more pointed, like
the marmots ; the fore feet likewise are short, and the
hinder are nearly as long in proportion as those of the
jerboa. Though this animal is knoAvn sometimes to
burrow in the ground, yet he is so much attached to
the rock, that he is seldom or never seen on the ground,
or from among large stones in the mouth of caves,
where he fixes his constant residence. He is grega
rious, as the wise man intimates, and lives in fami
lies ; he is a native of Judea, Palestine, and Arabia,
and consequently, must have been familiar to Solomon,
and other inspired writers. The royal Psalmist, in a
passage already quoted, describes him with great pro
priety, and joins him with other animals Avhich were
perfectly known in that country. Solomon favours us
with a more detailed account of his character : " There
be four things which are little upon the earth, but they
are exceeding wise ; the sephanim are a feebie folk, yet
make they their houses in the rocks." This exactly
Vol. L H h 3

602

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

corresponds with the character which natural historians
give us of the daman Israel, which they represent as
equally feeble in body and temper. The toes of his
fore feet very much resemble the fingers of the human
hand ; his feet are perfectly round, very pulpy or fleshy,
liable to be excoriated or hurt, and of a soft fleshy sub
stance. They are quite inadequate to dig holes in the
ground, much more to force their way into the hard
rock. Unable or afraid to stand upright on his feet,
he steals along, every moment as it were apprehensive
of danger, his belly almost close to the ground, advan
cing a few steps at a time, and then pausing, as if afraid
or uncertain whether he should proceed. His whole
appearance and behaviour indicate a mild, feeble, and
timid disposition ; which is confirmed by the ease with
which he is tamed. Conscious as it were of his total
inability to dig in the ground, or to mingle with the
sterner beasts of the field, he builds his house on rocks,
more inaccessible than those to which the coney retires,
and in which he resides in greater safety, not by ex
ertions of strength, for he has it not, but by his own
sagacity and judgment. Solomon has therefore justly
characterized him " a feeble animal, but exceeding
Avise." The Arabian writers confound the daman Israel,
with the jerboa, which seems to be a species of rat. It
ruminates, builds its house on the rocks, or digs its
abode on the ground, but always in some high and
rocky place, where it may be safe from the influx of
waters, and the foot of the Avild beast. If we may be
lieve the Arabic writer quoted by Bochart, these dimi
nutive animals discover no little sagacity in the conduct
of public affairs, particularly in appointing a leader,
whose business it is to give them notice on the approach
of danger, and who in case of neglect is punished with
death, and succeeded by another more attentive to their
safety. Mr. Bruce, on the contrary, contends with great
earnestness, that the habits of the jerboa are quite dif
ferent from those which Solomon ascribes to the sha
phan ; he asserts, that the jerboa always digs his ha
bitation in the smoother places of the desert, especially

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 603
where the soil is fixed gravel ; for in that chiefly he
burrows, dividing his hole below into many mansions.
He is not gregarious like the shaphan, nor is he dis
tinguished for his feebleness, which he supplies by his
wisdom. Although, therefore, he ruminates in common
with some other animals, and abounds in Judea, he
cannot be the shaphan of the Scripture. Hence, it is
probable, that the Arabian writers improperly con
founded the daman Israel, or shaphan, and the jerboa ;
and it may.be considered as nearly certain, that the
shaphan of Solomon is not the rabbit, but the daman
Israel, which, though bearing some resemblance to it,
is an animal of a different species.*
The Mouse.
This animal is so very diminutive, that the Jewish
naturalist places it among the reptiles, refusing it the
honour of appearing among the quadrupeds. But,
small and apparently insignificant as it is, in the orien
tal regions it often produces greater calamities than are
experienced from all the beasts of prey with which
they are infested. Formidable by its activity, its ATora-
ciousness, and its countless numbers, it lays waste the
fields of Palestine and Syria, devours their harvests,
and spreads famine and wretchedness among the help
less inhabitants. The extent and severity of the dis
tress in which its ravages frequently involve the people
of those countries, are sufficiently attested by the offer
ing of five golden mice, from the lords of the Philis
tines, to appease the Avrath of God, and avert the plague
under Avhich they had so greatly suffered. The ac
count of this transaction is recorded in the first book of
Samuel, and runs in these terms : " Then said they,
what shall be the trespass offering Avhich we shall re
turn to him ? They answered, five golden emerods, and
five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of
the Philistines : for one plague was on you all, and on
your lords. Wherefore ye shall make images of your
emerods, and images of your mice, which mar the land ;
and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel : perad-
* See Zoolog. Essays, Chris. Mag. vol. 6.

604 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
venture he will lighten his hand from off you, and from
off your gods, and from off your lands."* These words
undoubtedly intimate, that Palestine was very often
visited by this scourge, and that the sufferings of its inr
habitants were very severe. The devastations of this
little destructive creature were so frequent, so exten
sive, and followed by such dreadful consequences, that
even the unenlightened Philistines considered them as
an immediate judgment from God himself. In mo
dern times, instances of the same calamity are not
wanting. About the beginning of the tAvelfth century,
innumerable swarms of locusts and mice, during four
successive years, so completely ravaged that country,
as to produce almost a total failure of the necessaries of
life. So great and general was the distress of the peo
ple, that a kind of penitential council was held at Na-
plouse, in the year 1120, for the reformation of man
ners, and to invoke the mercy of the Almighty, who
had been provoked by their sins to inflict upon them
such terrible judgments.!
The Badger.
To enter into the history of this animal is unneces
sary, as it is mentioned in Scripture only on acco'unt of
its skin. This part of the animal seems to have been
in great request among the people of Israel, for it is
mentioned among the valuable articles which they were
permitted to offer for the tabernacle : " Rams' skins
dyed red, and badgers' skins."! These last formed
the exterior covering of that splendid structure, and of
all the sacred utensils, which the Levites were com
manded to spread over them during their march. Of
these also the shoes of the mystical bride were formed,
when, according to the representation of the prophet,
she was richly adorned for the marriage. Jehovah had
chosen Israel to be his peculiar people, and had be
stowed upon them innumerable favours, but they had
become ungrateful and perfidious, like a woman who
* 1 Sam. vi. 4, 5. f Banner's Obser. vol, 3. p. 395.
t Exod xxv. 5, and xxxv. 23.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 605
proves inconstant and unfaithful to her husband, who
had raised her from the meanest condition, to the great
est affluence and splendor : " Thou becamest mine.
Then I washed thee Avith water ; yea, 1 thoroughly
washed away thy blood from thee, and 1 anointed
thee Avith oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work>
and shod thee Avith badgers' skin; and I girded thee
about with fine linen, and 1 covered thee with silk."*
In this passage, badgers' skin is mentioned as a very
precious and splendid substance, such as might be
made into shoes for ladies of the highest rank, and
worn on their marriage day ; while, in the book of Ex
odus, they are represented as very coarse and homely,
fit only to be made a covering for the tabernacle, and
its furniture, during the journies of the tribes. These
very different representations cannot easily be recon
ciled, and inA'olve the subject in doubt and uncertainty.
And indeed the original word C""1") thahash, which our
translators render badgers' skins, is of very uncertain
meaning. It is evident from Scripture, that it was a
kind of skin Avhich, being capable of resisting rain,
was manufactured by the people of Israel into cover
ings for the tabernacle and its furniture, and into shoes
for persons of the highest rank in the state. But the
inspired writers furnish no details from which it can be
inferred, to what animal it originally belonged ; it is
even extremely doubtful, whether the word rendered
badger, denotes an animal at all. The Seventy inter
preters considered it merely as the name of a colour,
and uniformly translate it hyacinth, or hyacinthine. In
this opinion, they were followed by all the ancient
translators of the Scriptures, without one exception;
and the same idea has been adopted by the learned Bo
chart, and other eminent moderns. The reasons on
which their interpretation is founded, seem to be quite
conclusive. In the first place, no evidence can be found that the
badger ever existed in Palestine, Arabia, or Egypt.
Dr. Shaw made particular inquiry, but could hear of no
*Ezek. xvL 8— 14.

606 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
such animal in Barbary.* Harmer Avas unable to dis
cover in modern travels, the smallest traces of the bad
ger in Egypt, or in any of the adjacent countries ; Buf
fon represents it as unknown in that part of Asia. So
little was the badger known to the ancients, that the
Greeks had not a Avord in their language by which to
express it; and the Latin term which is supposed to
denote this animal, is extremely doubtful.! But if the
badger is not a native of the east, if it is not to be found
in those countries, from whence could the people of
Israel in the wilderness, procure its skin to cover the
tabernacle? It is an animal of small size, and is no
where found in great numbers ; and, by consequence,
its skin could not in remote times, more than at present,
constitute an article of commerce in the ports of Egypt,
and come at last into the possession of that people.
The exterior covering of the tabernacle, and its bulky
utensils, must have required a greater number of skins,
than could be procured even in the native country of
the badger ; and, therefore, it must have been formed
of leather, fabricated from the skin of some other ani
mal, which not only existed, but also abounded in
Egypt, and the adjacent countries.
The coarseness of the leather, fabricated of badgers'
skin, which, in the east, is reluctantly employed for the
meanest purposes of life, forbids us to consider it as the
material of which the elegant shoes of an oriental lady
are formed. When the prophet says in the name of the
Lord, " I clothed thee also with broidered work, and
shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about
with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk," he cer
tainly meant, that the shoes, corresponding to the other
parts of the dress, were formed of costly materials.
The Targum accordingly translates the passage, " I
put precious shoes upon thy feet ;" but this could be
said with no propriety of shoes made of badgers' skins.
Nor can it be supposed, that the skin of an animal,
which the law of Moses pronounces unclean, strictly
enjoins the people of Israel not to touch, or if they did
* Shaw's Trav. t Boch. Hieroz.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EAST. 607
happen to touch it, not to worship at the tabernacle, till
the ceremonial pollution which they had accidentally
contracted was removed according to the precept, —
would be employed to cover that sacred structure, and
its consecrated utensils, and that the Levites should be
obliged often to handle it in performing the duties of
their office. The sacred implements of Jewish Avorship,
certainly were defended from the injuries of the weather,
by the skins of clean beasts, which Avere easily pro
cured, and that in sufficient numbers, even in the Avil
derness. This idea, so conformable to the spotless
purity required in the ceremonial law, has been adopted
aud maintained by all the earlier J eAvish Avriters, Avhose
authority in matters of this kind is entitled to great
respect. Many disputes indeed have been agitated
among them, in relation to the particular animal em
ployed ; but none of them before the time of Jarchi, who
flourished about the middle of the eleA'enth century,
supposed that it was the skin of the badger.
These considerations leave no room for doubt in the
mind of the writer, that the original term denotes neither
the badger, nor any other animal, but merely a colour.
What particular colour is meant, it may not be easy to
ascertain; but when it is considered, that people of rank
and fashion in the east, Avere accustomed to appear in
purple shoes, it is extremely probable, that purple was
the colour intended by the sacred writer.
" Virginibus Tyriis mos est gestare pharetram
Purpureoque alte cruras vincire cothurno." Fir.
The Chaldee paraphrast accordingly, expounds the
words of the Song, " How beautiful are thy feet with
shoes," hotv beautiful are the feet of Israel, when they
go up to appear three times before the Lord in purple
sandals ! The Roman emperors, and the kings of
Persia, reserved by a formal edict, shoes of a purple
colour for their own use ; and it is said, red shoes were
among the insignia of the ancient kingdom of Bulgaria.
Hence, Isaac Comneuus, the Roman emperor, deprived

608 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.
the patriarch of Constantinople of his dignity, because
he presumed to put on shoes of a crimson colour,
although these were formerly worn at Rome by per
sons of the senatorial order.*
* See Essays on Sacred Zoology, Christ. Mag. vol. 6.

END OF VOLUME I.

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