of the future rise of the power of Greece and of Europe,
see Dr Pusey’s _Lectures on the Prophet Daniel_, pp.
58, 59.
136 – Stanley, _S. and P._ p. 324. “It is still the favourite
tract of the Bedouin shepherds.”
137 – See p. 78.
138 – “And the eastern side of the Jordan valley up to the
lake of Chinnereth, or Gennesareth” ( Num. xxxii. 34–38),
Article _Gad_ in _Bib. Dictionary_.
139 – Article _Manasseh_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Stanley,
_S. and P._ p. 327.
140 – Milman’s _History of the Jews_, p. 211.
141 – On the expressive figure of _the Rock_, as applied to God
six times in this Song, xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37, see
Stanley, _Lectures_, 198.
142 – Stanley’s _Lectures on Jewish History_, pp. 199, 200; Comp.
also _S. and P._ p. 301.
143 – See p. 32, note.
144 – Stanley, _S. and P._ p. 307; _Lectures_, p. 235. Its
modern name is _Erîha_, or, as it is more commonly
pronounced, _Rîha_, “a degenerate shoot, both in name and
character, of the ancient Jericho.” One single solitary
palm now timidly rears its head where once stood the
renowned “City of Palm-trees,” Deut. xxxiv. 3; Judg. i. 16;
Rob. _Bib. Res._ I. 552.
145 – Stanley, _S. and P._ p. 307. Comp. 2 Kings ii. 7.
146 – See the _Calendar_, p. 155.
147 – By some the Captain of the Lord’s Host is supposed to have
been a created being, by others an uncreated Angel, the
Son of God.
148 – Never again did Jericho become a _fortified city_: as a
_town_, it was assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh.
xviii. 21), and as such was inhabited (Judg. iii. 13;
2 Sam. x. 5); but not till the time of Ahab was the attempt
made by the Bethelite Hiel (1 Kings xvi. 34), to make
it once more a fortified city. In his case the curse of
Joshua was fulfilled: his eldest son Abiram died at its
foundation, and his youngest, Segub, when the gates were
set up.
149 – Probably a stiff embroidered robe, made in the loom with
the needle and of several colours. See Layard’s _Nineveh_,
II. 319, quoted by Kitto, _Bib. Illustrations_, II. 204.
This seems to indicate the existence of a trade between
Canaan and Mesopotamia.
150 – See Keil’s _Commentary on Joshua_, p. 208. And for the
situation of Ai, Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Ai_.
151 – Stanley’s _S. and P._ p. 203.
152 – See p. 196.
153 – “Such writing was common in ancient times: I have seen
numerous specimens of it certainly _more than two thousand
years old_, and still as distinct as when they were first
inscribed on the plaster.” Thomson’s _Land and the Book_,
p. 471, Mill’s _Modern Samaritans_.
154 – The acoustic properties of this valley are interesting,
the more so that several times they are incidentally
brought to our notice in Holy Writ (comp. Josh. viii. 33;
Judg. ix. 7). It is impossible to conceive a spot more
admirably adapted for Joshua’s purpose than this one, in
the very centre of the newly acquired land, nor one which
could more exactly fulfil all the required conditions....
A single voice might be heard by many thousands, shut in
and conveyed up and down by the enclosing hills. In the
early morning we could not only see from Gerizim a man
driving his ass down a path on Mount Ebal, _but could hear
every word he uttered as he urged it on_; and in order to
test the matter more certainly, on a subsequent occasion
two of our party _stationed themselves on opposite
sides of the valley, and with perfect ease recited the
commandments antiphonally_.” Tristram’s _Land of Israel_,
pp. 149, 150.
155 – It was probably on this occasion that the Egyptian coffin
containing the embalmed body of their great ancestor
was laid by the two tribes of the house of Joseph in the
_parcel of ground_ near Shechem, _which Jacob bought of
the sons of Hamor_ (Gen. xxxiii. 19; l. 25).
156 – Or another place of the same name now called _Jilgilia_,
situated near Bethel in the direct route from Shechem to
Ai.
157 – They became “slaves of the Sanctuary,” = Deo donati. Comp.
Ezra viii. 20; 1 Chron. ix. 2; Num. viii. 16, 19. On the
subsequent breaking of this compact by Saul, see 2 Sam.
xxi. 1–5.
158 – In this same locality Judas Maccabæus won his first great
victory over the forces of Syria (1 Macc. iii. 16–24), and
later the Roman army under Cestius Gallus was totally cut
up by the insurgent Jews (Joseph. _B. J._ II. 19, 8, 9).
See Stanley’s _S. and P._ p. 212; Smith’s _Bib. Dict._,
Article _Beth-horon_.
159 – See Keil _on Joshua_, p. 219; and Article _Makkedah_ in
Smith’s _Bib. Dictionary_.
160 – “As the British chiefs were driven to the Land’s End
before the advance of the Saxon, so at this Land’s End of
Palestine the kings were gathered for this last struggle.”
_S. and P._ p. 391.
161 – See Keil _on Joshua_, x. 39. The etymology, however, is
not certain. It was also called Kirjath-sannah, _city of
palms_ (Josh. xv. 49). See Wilton’s _Negeb_, 212 _n._
162 – The position of _Shiloh_ is very definitely described in
Judg. xxi. 19, as _on the north side of Bethel, on the
east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to
Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah_. Exactly in the
position here indicated, Dr Robinson found a ruin called
_Seilûn_. “We were,” he says, “on the east of the great
road between Bethel and Shechem, and in passing on towards
the latter place we came, after half-an-hour, to the
village of Lebonah, now _El-Lubban_.” _Bib. Res._ II. 269.
“The selection of the site for the Tabernacle belongs to
this period, and could belong to no other. The place of
the sanctuary was naturally fixed by the place of the Ark.
This was, in the first instance, at Gilgal. But as the
conquerors advanced into the interior, a more central
situation became necessary. This was found in a spot
unmarked by any natural features of strength or beauty,
or by any ancient recollections, recommended only by its
comparative seclusion, near the central thoroughfare of
Palestine, yet not actually upon it.” Stanley, _Lectures
on Jewish History_, p. 278.
163 – Gibeon, Gibeah, Geba and Gaba, all mean _hill_; Ramah and
Ramathaim, _eminence_; Mizpah, _a watch-tower_.
164 – Article _Ephraim_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
165 – It has been compared to the plain of Stirling, situated
in like manner at the opening of the Scottish Highlands,
and in like manner the scene of almost all the decisive
battles of Scottish history. Stanley’s _S. and P._
p. 337 _n._
166 – Porter’s _Handbook of Syria and Palestine_, II. 352.
167 – By some derived from Cinnoor (κινύρα, _cithara_, a “harp”),
as if in allusion to the oval shape of the lake.
168 – Porter’s _Handbook of Syria and Palestine_, II. 363;
Pusey’s _Lectures on Daniel_, p. 294.
169 – Keil _on Josh._ xxiv. 26–28.
170 – Holy Scripture itself suggests (Heb. iv. 8) the
consideration of Joshua as a type of Christ. The following
amongst many other typical resemblances may be pointed out:
(1) the name common to both; (2) Joshua brings the people
of God into the land of Promise, and divides it among
the tribes; Jesus brings His people into the presence
of God, and assigns to them their mansions; (3) as Joshua
succeeded Moses and completed his work, so the Gospel of
Christ succeeded the Law, announced One by whom all that
believe are justified from all things from which we could
not be justified by the Law of Moses (Acts xiii. 39). See
Article _Joshua_ in Smith’s _Dictionary_; Pearson _on the
Creed_, Art. II.
171 – See p. 35.
172 – Such is the explanation of Josephus, _Ant._ V. ii. § 2,
who adds that the siege lasted some time.
173 – See the marginal date at Judges, chap. xvii. It is to be
observed that (i) Dan was not yet settled, Judg. xviii. 1;
(ii) Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, was living (Judg.
xx. 28), as also the grandson of Moses; (iii) the iniquity
of Gibeah is mentioned, Hos. x. 9, as the first open sin of
Israel in Canaan. See Angus’ _Bible Handbook_, 460 _n._
174 – Kitto’s _Bibl. Illus._ II. 447.
175 – See p. 218.
176 – Mr Thomson compares it with the soil of the lower portion
of the Mississippi; “even now the region produces large
crops of wheat, barley, maize, sesame, rice, and other
plants, with very little labour ... while horses, cattle,
and sheep fatten on the rich pastures, and large herds
of black buffaloes luxuriate in the streams and in
the deep mire of the marshes.” Thomson’s _Land and the
Book_, p. 214; Robinson, _Bib. Res._ III. 396; Blunt’s
_Coincidences_, Pt. II. 108–110.
177 – In the English version the reading is _the son of
Manasseh_ (Judg. xviii. 30), a name probably substituted
out of respect for the great Lawgiver, whose name is
preserved in several Hebrew MSS. and the Vulgate. See
Articles _Micah_, _Jonathan_, _Manasseh_, and _Laish_ in
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
178 – Comp. Livy, XXX. 7; XXVIII. 37; in XXXIII. 46, XXXIV. 61
they are called _judices_. Stanley’s _Lectures_, p. 292.
179 – See p. 216.
180 – See Blunt’s _Coincidences_, Pt. II. v. 114–117.
181 – Stanley’s _Lectures on Jewish History_, p. 317.
182 – “The ploughman still carries his goad――a weapon apparently
more fitted for the hand of the soldier than the peaceful
husbandman. The one I saw was of the ‘oak of Bashan,’ and
measured upwards of 10 feet in length. At one end was an
iron spear, and at the other a piece of the same metal
flattened. One can well understand how a warrior might use
such a weapon with effect in the battle-field.” Porter’s
_Syria and Damascus_, II. 35. Comp. Homer, _Il._ VI. 135.
183 – Identified by Thomson with _Harothieh_, the Arabic form
of the Hebrew Harosheth, an enormous double mound about
8 miles from Megiddo, exactly in the line of the retreat
of the Canaanites, at the entrance of the pass to Esdraelon
from the plain of Acre. “It was,” he writes, “probably
called Harosheth _of the Gentiles_, or _nations_, because
it belonged to those Gentiles of Acre and the neighbouring
plains whom we know from Judg. i. 31 the Hebrews could not
subdue.” _The Land and the Book_, p. 437.
184 – Compare the family name of Hannibal, Barca = fulmen belli.
See _Barak_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Joseph. _Ant._ V. 5,
§ 2.
185 – Probably = _height_, “rising abruptly to a height of
about 1000 ft. from the north-eastern arm of the plain
of Esdraelon, and standing entirely insulated, except on
the W., where a narrow ridge connects it with the hills of
Nazareth.” See Robinson, _Bib. Res._ II. 352.
186 – See pp. 78, 194.
187 – See note 109.
188 – Or the “Oak of the Unloading of Tents,” Stanley’s
_Lectures_, p. 326. “The black tents of the Turkman and
Kurds, strangers like the Kenites, may still be seen
pitched among the oaks and terebinths that encompass the
little plain of Kedesh; proving that after the lapse of
more than 3000 years the state of society in the country
is but little changed.” Porter’s _Handbook of Syria and
Palestine_, II. 444. For the forests of Naphtali, see
p. 219.
189 – See p. 226.
190 – Thomson, _Land and the Book_, p. 435.
191 – Josephus, _Ant._ V. 5, § 4. See Thomson, p. 436.
192 – “As in like case in the battle of Cressy.” Stanley’s
_Lectures_, p. 324.
193 – “I have seen this stream swollen and rapid, after heavy
rains, when the winter torrents of Galilee and Carmel flow
into it; then it is a river ‘with waters to swim in, a
river that cannot be passed over;’ and I can well imagine
the hosts of Sisera, his chariots and horses, struggling
there.” _Domestic Life in Palestine_, pp. 111, 112. “When
largely swollen during the great rains of winter it is
_spongy_ enough――much easier to find than to get over――I
once crossed through the lower part of Esdraelon ...
and had no little trouble with its _bottomless mire_
and _tangled grass_.” Thomson, _L. and B._, p. 435; and
compare Van de Velde, I. p. 289. Some of the results of
this battle were nearly reproduced in the battle of Mount
Tabor, April 16, 1799, when many of the fugitive Turks were
drowned in the Kishon. See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article
_Kishon_.
194 – See Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 441.
195 – See p. 194.
196 – “In precisely the same manner do the Bedawîn Arabs, these
modern Midianites, come up the Wady of Jezreel and Wady
Sherrar, _after the people have sown_, and destroy the
increase of the earth; and not only destroy the increase
of the field, but commit wholesale murder, as these
did upon the brethren of Gideon at Tabor.... Both these
valleys are now swarming with these _children of the East_,
come over Jordan to consume the land.” Thomson, _The Land
and the Book_, p. 448; _Domestic Life in Palestine_, pp.
178, 179. “This is one of the chief causes of the present
poverty of the country.”
197 – Stanley, _S. and P._ p. 151; Smith’s _Dict._, Article
_Caves_.
198 – “The summer threshing-floors are in the open country, and
on an elevated position, to catch the wind when winnowing
the grain, and of course they would be altogether unsafe
at such a time, while the vineyards are hid away in the
wadies and out on the wooded hills, and thus adapted
for concealment. Indeed, I myself have seen grain thus
concealed in this same country, during the lawless days
of civil war.” Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 448.
199 – “It is worthy of remark that the men of Issachar are not
mentioned, and we can from this point readily imagine
the reason. The people of Issachar lived here on this
great plain (Esdraelon), and were, of course, altogether
surrounded by and at the mercy of the Midianites, as these
villages of Sulan, Shŭtta, Zer’in, &c., now are in the
power of these Bedawîn. They therefore _could not_ join
the army of Gideon.” Thomson, _The Land and the Book_,
p. 449; Stanley’s _Lectures_, p. 344.
200 – Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 449.
201 – The _Zabit_ or _Agha_ of the police at Cairo carries with
him at night “a torch which burns soon after it is lighted,
without a flame, excepting when it is waved through the
air, when it suddenly blazes forth: it therefore answers
the same purpose as our dark lantern. _The burning end_ is
sometimes concealed in a small pot or jar, or covered with
something else, where not required to give light.” Lane’s
_Modern Egyptians_, I. ch. iv.; Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
202 – For similar stratagems, see Liv. xxii. 16; Sall. _de Bell.
Jug._ ch. 99.
203 – See p. 55.
204 – See Article _Zebah_, in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Josephus,
_Ant._ V. 6, § 5.
205 – Rendered in Isai. xvii. 13 a “_rolling_ thing.” Probably
the allusion is to the wild artichoke which “in growing
throws out numerous branches of equal size and length in
all directions, forming a sort of sphere or globe, a foot
or more in diameter. When ripe and dry in autumn, these
branches become light and dry as a feather, the parent
stem breaks off at the ground, and the wind carries these
vegetable globes whithersoever it pleaseth.... The Arabs
derive one of their many forms of cursing from this plant;
‘May you be whirled like the ’akkûb (wild artichoke),
before the wind, until you are caught in the thorns, or
plunged into the sea.’” Thomson, _Land and the Book_,
p. 564.
206 – For subsequent mention of this deliverance, see 1 Sam.
xii. 11; Ps. lxxxiii. 11; Isai. ix. 4, x. 26; Heb. xi. 32.
207 – See pp. 31, 55.
208 – See p. 209.
209 – “Several lofty precipices of Gerizim literally overhang
the city, any one of which would answer Jotham’s purpose.
Nor would it be difficult to be heard, as everybody knows
who has listened to the _public crier_ of villages on
Lebanon. In the stillness of the evening, after the people
have returned home from their distant fields, he ascends
the mountain-side above the place, or to the roof of some
prominent house, and then _lifts up his voice and cries_
as Jotham did. Indeed, the people in these mountainous
countries are able, from long practice, so to pitch their
voices as to be heard distinctly at distances almost
incredible. They talk with persons across enormous wadies,
and give the most minute directions, which are perfectly
understood; and in doing this they seem to speak very
little louder than their usual tone of conversation.
Jotham, therefore, might easily be heard by the greater
part of the inhabitants of Shechem.... The very trees
which most abound at Nablous (Shechem) are the olive, the
fig, the vine, and the bramble.” Thomson, _The Land and
the Book_, p. 474; Stanley’s _Lectures_, p. 350; Tristram,
p. 150.
210 – See Calendar, p. 155.
211 – “Situated 13 Roman miles from Shechem, on the road to
Scythopolis. There it still is; its name――_Tubâs_――hardly
changed; the village on a rising ground to the left of
the road, a thriving, compact, and strong-looking place,
surrounded by immense woods of olives.” See Robinson, _Bib.
Res._ III. p. 305; Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Thebez_.
212 – See 2 Sam. xi. 21.
213 – Lev. xviii. 21; Deut. xii. 31.
214 – Signifying 1st _an ear of corn_, and 2ndly _a stream or
flood_.
215 – The PHILISTINES, a race of “strangers,” appear to have
made three immigrations into the fertile south-western
Lowland of Palestine, just as there were different
immigrations of Saxons and Danes into England. (i) The
_first_ came from the _Casluhim_ (Gen. x. 14); (ii) the
_second_ and chief from the _Caphtorim_ (Deut. ii. 23;
Jer. xlvii. 4; Am. ix. 7), either from some part of Egypt,
or of Asia Minor and its adjacent islands, probably Crete;
(iii) the _third_ from the _Cherethim_ (1 Sam. xxx. 14).
The earliest immigrants having expelled the _Avim_ (Deut.
ii. 23) had in the time of Abraham and Isaac established a
kingdom, the capital of which was at Gerar, and possessed
a standing army (Gen. xxi. 22; xxvi. 26). After the Exodus,
Gerar disappears from history, and the power of Philistia
is concentrated in five new towns, _Gaza_, _Ashdod_,
_Ashkelon_, _Gath_, _Ekron_, each raised on its slight
eminence above the maritime plain, each possessing its
dependent or “daughter towns” and villages (Josh. xv.
45–47; 1 Ch. xviii. 1), and each having its own king or
prince, who all consulted and acted as one. “The third
immigration of the _Cherethim_ would account for the
sudden increase of the strength of the Philistines at this
period.” See Pusey, _Comment. on Amos_ ix. 7.
216 – See pp. 158, 159.
217 – See p. 229.
218 – Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 566.
219 – Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 552. “So great is the
dread of fire in harvest-time, that the Arabs punish with
death any one who sets fire to a wheat-field, even though
done by accident.” _Ibid._ p. 553.
220 – “The five cities of the Philistines divided, as it were,
their idolatry between them; Ashdod being the chief seat
of the worship of _Dagon_; Ashkelon of _Derceto_; Ekron of
_Baal-zebub_; Gaza of the god _Marna_ (‘nature’).” Pusey,
_Comment. on Amos_ i. 8.
221 – Kurtz’s _Sacred History_, p. 171.
222 – Some think during the judgeship of Ehud, others during
that of Gideon. Kurtz, p. 164.
223 – See Calendar, p. 155.
224 – For David’s subsequent connection with Moab, see p. 303.
225 – The situation of Ramathaim = _double eminence_, is
uncertain. “But the place long pointed out as Samuel’s
tomb, and therefore the site of his birth, 1 Sam.
xxv. 1, is the height, most conspicuous of all in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem, immediately above the town
of Gibeon, known to the Crusaders as ‘Montjoye,’ being
the spot from whence they first saw Jerusalem, now
called _Neby Samwil_, ‘the Prophet Samuel.’” Smith’s
_Bib. Dict._, Article _Ramah_, No. 2.
226 – See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Mantle_.
227 – According to some, it was now that Shiloh was destroyed.
See Ps. lxxviii. 60 sq., and Jer. vii. 12.
228 – “Ashdod, as well as Ekron, have their name from their
strength; Ashdod = _the mighty_, like Valentia; Ekron =
_the firm-rooted_.” Pusey, _Comment. on Amos_ i. 8.
229 – A name which suggests an early worship of the Sun there.
In Josh. xix. 41, it is called _Ir-shemesh_. It is now
called _’Ain es-Shems_, about 2 miles from the great
Philistine plain, and 7 from Ekron. Thomson, _Land and
Book_, p. 535.
230 – For subsequent notices of such schools at Bethel and
Jericho see 2 Kings ii. 3, 5; at Gilgal, iv. 38; vi. 1; on
Mount Carmel, 1 Kings xviii. 30–42; 2 Kings ii. 25; iv. 25.
231 – See also Judg. vi. 8; 1 Sam. ii. 27.
232 – See Kurtz’s _Sacred History_, p. 176.
233 – It is to be remembered that God had promised to Abraham
that _kings_ should come from him (Gen. xvii. 6); Jacob
had prophesied that the _Sceptre_ should not depart from
Judah till Shiloh came (Gen. xlix. 10); and Moses had
distinctly anticipated, nay, provided for the election of
a king by laying down specific directions concerning the
kingdom (Deut. xvii. 14–20). The elders, therefore, of
Israel might well have inferred that it was the Divine
intention ultimately to give the nation a monarchical
constitution, and consequently that it was their duty
patiently to await the development of the Divine counsels.
See Kurtz’s _Sacred History_, p. 177.
234 – According to the law as laid down in the above quotation
from Deuteronomy, (i) The nomination of any Israelite
king rested with Jehovah, whose Will would be made known
through the High-priest, or the voice of a Prophet, or
the sacred lot, a provision which could not fail to remind
him that he was not an irresponsible autocrat, but the
representative and viceroy of Jehovah: (ii) The monarch
must be a native Israelite, not a foreigner, or even
a proselyte: (iii) On his accession he must transcribe
a copy of the Law, that he might know it and keep its
Statutes: (iv) He was forbidden to maintain any large body
of cavalry with a view to aggressive warfare: (v) He was
to eschew the usual accompaniment of Oriental despotism,
a numerous _Harem_, and the excessive accumulation of gold
and silver, which could only be acquired by oppressive
exactions from his subjects. Jahn’s _Heb. Comm._ 64, 65.
235 – See p. 232.
236 – See Calendar, p. 155.
237 – Now Jeb’a, see 1 Sam. xiii. 16 (_margin_); Robinson, _Bib.
Res._ I. 441, _n._; Porter’s _Handbook_, p. 214.
238 – “East, and west, and north, through the three valleys
which radiate from the uplands of Michmash――to Ophrah on
the north, through the pass of Beth-horon on the west,
and down the ravine of the hyenas, ‘toward the wilderness
of the Jordan on the East.’” Stanley’s _S. and P._ 204;
Robinson, _Bib. Res._ I. 441.
239 – The deep gorge of the Wâdy-Suweinît, or Harith.
“Immediately on leaving Jeb’a we descend by a rugged,
zigzag track, apparently intended only for goats, into
Wâdy-es-Suweinît, here tolerably wide, though deep and
rocky. A few hundred yards to the right it contracts to
a narrow ravine, shut in by high, almost perpendicular
cliffs, above which on each side the ground is tolerably
level. This is doubtless the scene of Jonathan’s adventure.”
Porter’s _Handbook_, I. 215; Robinson, I. 440, 441.
240 – Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Jonathan_; Stanley’s
_S. and P._ p. 205.
241 – See p. 156.
242 – See p. 132.
243 – Comp. (i.) Num. xiv. 45; (ii.) Judg. iii. 13; (iii.) Judg.
vi. 3.
244 – The family belonged to the greatest house in Judah, the
descent being as follows: _Judah_, _Pharez_, _Hezron_,
_Ram_, _Amminadab_, _Nahshon_ (Num. i. 7), _Salmon_, who
married Rahab the Canaanite, _Boaz_, _Obed_, _Jesse_.
(Ruth iv. 18–22; 1 Chr. ii. 5–12.)
JESSE.
┌─────────┴─────────┐
_Eliab._ ┌ ABISHAI.
_Abinadab._ _Zeruiah._ ┤ JOAB.
_Shammah._ └ ASAHEL.
_Nethaneel._
_Raddai._ _Abigail._ ─ AMASA.
_Ozem._
[_One not given._ 1 Chr. ii. 15.]
DAVID.
[Comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 7–10 with 1 Chr. ii. 13–17.]
245 – Article _David_ in Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._
246 – Identified by Robinson with the _Wady es-Sŭmt_. “It took
its name Elah of old from the terebinth, of which the
largest specimen we saw in Palestine still stands in the
vicinity; just as now it takes its name _es-Sumt_ from the
acacias which are scattered in it.”――_Bibl. Dict._ II. 21.
247 – In all ages the favourite weapon of the shepherds of Syria.
See Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 572.
248 – “We do not know how long a period intervened between the
return of David to his father’s house and his appearance
before the king on the morning of the _duel_ with Goliath.
If it were two or three years, it is possible that David
had, in the meanwhile, suddenly shot up from boyhood to
youth, tall and robust, and his personal appearance might
have so changed as to bear little resemblance to the ruddy
lad who played skilfully on the harp. It is a fact that
lads of this country, particularly of the higher classes,
are often very fair, fullfaced, and handsome, until about
fourteen years of age, but during the next two or three
years a surprising change takes place. They not only
spring into fullgrown manhood as if by magic, but all
their former beauty disappears; their complexion becomes
dark, their features harsh and angular, and the whole
expression of countenance stern, and even disagreeable.
I have often been accosted by such persons, formerly
intimate acquaintances, but who had suddenly grown
entirely out of my knowledge, nor could I, without
difficulty, recognize them.” Thomson’s _Land and the Book_,
p. 569.
249 – Used as a protection from gnats.
250 – See _Naioth_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._ It was now, probably,
that he became acquainted with the prophets _Nathan_ and
_Gad_.
251 – See Matt. xii. 3; Mark ii. 23; Luke vi. 3, 4.
252 – Compare the histories of Coriolanus and Themistocles.
253 – See titles of Psalms xxxiv. and lvi.
254 – Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 148.
255 – See Robinson, I. 481, 2; Van de Velde, II. 156.
256 – Comp. the story of Alexander in the Desert of Gedrosia.
257 – Compare Psalms cxl., cxlii.
258 – Robinson, _Bib. Res._ I. 492.
259 – See Psalm liv.
260 – Its original name was Hazazon-Tamar (_the pruning of the
palm_), on account of the palm-groves which surrounded it
(Gen. xiv. 7; 2 Chr. xx. 2). Wilton’s _Negeb_, 120. “We
were now in the ‘wilderness of Engedi,’ where David and
his men lived among ‘the rocks of the wild goats’....
The whole scene is drawn to the life. On all sides the
country is full of caverns, which might then serve as
lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for
outlaws at the present day.”――Robinson, _Bib. Res._ I.
p. 500.
261 – See Psalm lvii.
262 – Psalms liv., lvii., lxiii. by their titles relate to this
period, and it has been remarked that “probably these
Psalms made the Psalter so dear to Alfred and to Wallace
during their like wanderings.”――Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Art.
_David_.
263 – See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Hachilah_.
264 – “I noticed, at all the encampments which we passed, that
the sheikh’s tent was distinguished from the rest by a
tall spear stuck upright in the ground in front of it; and
it is the custom, when a party is out on an excursion for
robbery or for war, that when they halt to rest, the spot
where the chief reclines is thus designated.... The cruse
of water is in exact accordance with the customs of the
people at this day. No one ventures to travel over these
deserts without his cruse of water, and it is very common
to place one at the ‘bolster,’ so that the owner can
reach it during the night. The Arabs eat their dinner
in the evening, and it is generally of such a nature as
to create thirst, and the quantity of water which they
drink is enormous. The _cruse_ is, therefore, in perpetual
demand.”――Thomson’s _L. and B._ 367.
265 – Compare the story of the Persian king and Themistocles.
266 – Wilton’s _Negeb_, p. 207.
267 – “A lasting memorial of this battle was the law, which
traced its origin to the arrangement made by David,
formerly in the attack on Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 13), and
now again more completely, for the equal division of the
plunder amongst the two-thirds who followed to the field,
and the one-third who remained to guard the baggage”
(1 Sam. xxx. 21–25). Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
268 – See Robinson, _Bib. Res._ II. 325. “Shunem (_Sulem_)
afforded an admirable camping-ground for a large army,
_Jebel ed Dûhy_ rising abruptly behind, and the top
of it commanding a perfect view of the great plain in
every direction, so that there could be no surprise,
nor could their march be impeded, or their retreat cut
off.”――Thomson’s _Land and the Book_, 451.
269 – Probably the same as the Spring of Harod or _Trembling_,
at which Gideon’s three hundred lapped (see p. 247), and
“identical with the fountain of Jalûd, a few miles to
the east of the modern village of Jezreel.” Hewitt’s
_Scripture Geography_, p. 33.
270 – “The rock on which Endor is built has been hollowed out
by the hand of nature into large caverns, whose dark and
gloomy entrances brought involuntarily to my mind the
witch of the days of Saul.” Van de Velde, II. 383.
271 – Beth-shan (now _Beisan_) was one of the Canaanite
strongholds which the Israelites had never taken. (See
p. 225.) Situated on a _tell_ or hill, about 200 ft.
high, on the slope of the range of Gilboa, it was a very
strong position, with nearly perpendicular sides, and was
abundantly supplied with water. Thomson, 455. Stanley, _S.
and P._ 346.
272 – Jabesh-gilead “was on the mountain-range east of the
Jordan, _in full view of Beth-shan_, and these brave
men would creep up to the _tell_, without being seen,
while the deafening roar of the noisy cascades leaping
through the deep ravines dividing the city would render
it impossible for them to be heard.” Thomson, _The Land
and the Book_, p. 445. Van de Velde, II. p. 360.
273 – See pp. 283, 284.
274 – See p. 44.
275 – See p. 215.
276 – See p. 53.
277 – Compare the combat of the Horatii and Curiatii. _Livy_, I.
xxiv., xxv.
278 – See p. 210, and Art. _Ishbosheth_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
279 – See p. 219.
280 – “The situation of Jerusalem is in several respects
singular amongst the cities of Palestine. Its elevation is
remarkable, occasioned, not from its being on the summit
of one of the numerous hills of Judæa, like most of the
towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of
one of the highest table-lands of the country. Hebron,
indeed, is higher still, by some hundred feet; and from
the south, accordingly, the approach to Jerusalem is by
a slight descent. But from every other side, the ascent
is perpetual; and, to the traveller approaching Jerusalem
from the west or east, it must always have presented the
appearance, beyond any other capital of the then known
world――we may add, beyond any important city that has ever
existed on the earth――of a _mountain city, enthroned on a
mountain fastness_.” (Comp. Ps. lxviii. 15, 16; lxxxvii. 1;
cxxv. 1; lxxvi. 1, 2; lxvi. 4.) But besides being thus
elevated, Jerusalem was separated from the rocky plateau
of which it forms a part by deep and precipitous ravines
on its south-eastern, southern, and western sides, out of
which the rocky slopes of the city “rose like the walls
of a fortress out of its ditches, so that from them it
must have appeared quite impregnable.” “Something of the
same effect is produced by those vast rents which, under
the name of ‘Tago,’ surround or divide Ronda, Alhama, and
Granada, on the table-lands which crown the summits of the
Spanish mountains. But in Palestine, Jerusalem alone is so
entrenched, and from this cause derived, in great measure,
her early strength and subsequent greatness.” Stanley’s
_Sinai and Palestine_, p. 172. Robinson’s _Bib. Res._ I.
258–260.
281 – Stanley’s _Sinai and Palestine_, p. 176.
282 – See p. 225, and Kitto’s _Daily Bible Illustr._ III. 340.
283 – Joseph. _Ant._ VII. 3. § 1. See Article _Jerusalem_ in
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._ Kurtz’s _Sacred History_, p. 183.
284 – “It was necessary for the commerce of Phœnicia that she
should enjoy the friendship of whatever power commanded
the great lines of inland traffic, which ran through
Cœle-Syria and Damascus, by Hamath and Tadmor, to the
Euphrates.” Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 97.
Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_, pp. 201–205. Heeren’s _Researches_,
II. pp. 116, 117.
285 – See p. 124. Blunt’s _Coincidences_, p. 130.
286 – i. _The Army._ In early times all males above twenty and
under fifty years of age were required to serve in the
wars, and formed a kind of national militia (Deut. xx.
5–9). A standing army, as we have already seen, was
first formed at the early part of Saul’s reign (1 Sam.
xiii. 2; xiv. 52). Under David the national forces were
divided into twelve divisions of 24,000 men, each division
commanded by its own officer, and liable to be called on
to serve in their respective months (1 Chr. xxvii. 1–15).
Unlike the armies of the surrounding nations, that of
the Israelites was composed only of infantry, and but few
chariots were as yet introduced (2 Sam. viii. 4). Over the
entire force of the nation JOAB was commander-in-chief by
right of his services before Jebus, and whenever the king
was absent, he led the troops to battle.
ii. _The Royal Body-guard_, or _the Cherethites and
Pelethites_. To defend the person of the king a force was
now for the first time organized, consisting of foreign
mercenaries, the command of which was entrusted to the
Levite BENAIAH, the son of the high-priest Jehoiada.
(For whose exploits, see 2 Sam. xxiii. 20, 21; 1 Chr.
xi. 22–25.)
iii. _The Heroes_ or _Mighty Men_. Round the king when
a fugitive in the cave of Adullam had gathered, as we
have seen, a body of six hundred men. This number David
always preserved, but elevated it to a sort of military
Order, with the special title of the GIBBORIM, _Heroes_
or _Mighty Men_. This body was divided into 3 divisions of
200 each, and 30 divisions of 20 each. The lowest rank in
this order consisted of the captains of the 30 divisions,
who were known as _the Thirty_; then came the captains of
the three larger divisions, who were known as _the Three_;
and lastly, the commander of the whole force, who was
known as _the Captain of the Mighty Men_, and was at this
time ABISHAI, David’s nephew (2 Sam. xxiii. 8–39; 1 Chr.
xi. 9–47). See Articles _David_ and _Army_ in Smith’s
_Bibl. Dict._ Kitto’s _Bibl. Illustr._ III. pp. 301–304.
287 – See note 215.
288 – See pp. 49, 50.
289 – See p. 304.
290 – See p. 192.
291 – See p. 256.
292 – Already mentioned as the place where the bedstead of the
giant Og was deposited (see p. 186). It was on the road
between Heshbon and Bosra, on the edge of the desert, near
one of the sources of the Jabbok. Afterwards from Ptolemy
Philadelphus (B.C. 285–247) it received the name of
_Philadelphia_, and in the Christian era became the seat
of a bishop and one of the 19 sees of “Palestina Tertia.”
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Rabbah_.
293 – See p. 271.
294 – See p. 165.
295 – To this sad period belong Psalms xxxii. li.
296 – “The ruins which now adorn the ‘royal city’ are of a
later Roman date; but the commanding position of the
citadel remains, and the unusual sight of a living stream,
abounding in fish, marks the significance of Joab’s song
of victory――_I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken
the city of waters_.” _Sinai and Palestine_, p. 323.
297 – See Kitto’s _Daily Bibl. Illustr._ III. 395.
298 – A village about six miles to the south of Bethlehem, the
birthplace of the prophet _Amos_ (Am. i. 1).
299 – See p. 238.
300 – See the dates in margin, 2 Sam. xv.
301 – What was Ahithophel’s motive for this defection is
not stated; but it is to be remembered that he was
the grandfather of Bath-sheba (Comp. 2 Sam. xx. 3 and
xxiii. 34), and was doubtless well aware of the sad fate
of Uriah, his son Eliam’s brother-officer. See Blunt’s
_Coincidences_, p. II. x. pp. 136, 137. Art. _Ahithophel_,
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
302 – See Ps. xli. 9; lv. 12, 13, 20.
303 – Probably an inhabitant of Erech, a place of uncertain site.
See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
304 – Compare the account of Abner and Rizpah, p. 320.
305 – To this period belong Psalms iii., iv., xlii.
306 – Thomson, _The Land and the Book_, p. 490.
307 – Ibid.
308 – “Now for the first time called _Israel_, as distinct
from Judah. But it is likely that, although it now first
appears, this distinction had actually grown up while
David reigned over Judah only, and Ishbosheth over the
other tribes.” Kitto, _Bibl. Illustr._ III. 424.
309 – Sometimes called Abel-maim, _Abel on the waters_ (2 Chr.
xvi. 4). “Taking advantage of an oblong knoll of natural
rock that rises above the surrounding plain, the original
inhabitants raised a high mound sufficiently large for
their city. With a deep ‘trench’ (2 Sam. xx. 15) and
strong wall, it must have been almost impregnable. The
country on every side is most lovely, well watered, and
very fertile. The neighbouring fountains and brooks would
convert any part of this country into a paradise of fruits
and flowers; and such, no doubt, was Abel, when she was
called a ‘mother in Israel.’” (2 Sam. xx. 19.) Thomson,
_The Land and the Book_, p. 217.
310 – See Calendar, p. 155, and Article _Rizpah_, in Smith’s
_Bib. Dict._
311 – See Rawlinson’s _Five Great Monarchies_, II. 333, _n._
312 – Jahn’s _Hebrew Commonwealth_, p. 76.
313 – The life of David admits of a fivefold division.
(i) His shepherd life at Bethlehem; (ii) His courtier
life with Saul at Gibeah; (iii) His life as an outlaw;
(iv) His Kingly life at Hebron during 7½ years, and
(v) at Jerusalem during 33 years, in all 40. His history
will be ever memorable, whether we regard _the work he
achieved_, or _his own personal character_.
(i) _His work._ “He had succeeded to a kingdom distracted
with civil dissension, environed on every side, or
occupied by powerful and victorious enemies, without
a capital, almost without an army, without any bond of
union between the tribes. He left a compact and united
state, stretching from the frontier of Egypt to the foot
of Lebanon, from the Euphrates to the sea. He had crushed
the power of the Philistines, subdued or curbed all the
adjacent kingdoms; he had formed a lasting and important
alliance with the great city of Tyre. He had organized
an immense disposable force: every month 24,000 men,
furnished in rotation by the tribes, appeared in arms,
and were trained as the standing militia of the country.
At the head of his army were officers of consummate
experience, and, what was more highly esteemed in the
warfare of the time, of extraordinary personal activity,
strength, and valour[314].” He had also given especial
attention to the management of public worship, as the
most efficacious means of promoting religion and morality,
and, consequently, obedience to the Invisible, Supreme
Monarch. The solemn transfer of the Ark of the Covenant,
at which almost all the people were present, had made
a deep impression on their minds, and had awakened them
to a sincere adoration of Jehovah. These favourable
dispositions he had upheld and strengthened by suitable
regulations in the service of the priests and Levites,
and especially by the instructive and animating Psalms,
which were composed partly by himself, and partly by other
poets and prophets[315]. “In comparison with the hymns
of David, the sacred poetry of all other nations sinks
into mediocrity. They have embodied so exquisitely the
universal language of religious emotion that they have
entered, with unquestioned propriety, into the ritual
of the holier and more perfect religion of Christ. The
songs which cheered the solitudes of the desert caves of
Engedi, or resounded from the voice of the Hebrew people
as they wound along the glens or the hill-sides of Judea,
have been repeated for ages in almost every part of the
habitable world, in the remotest islands of the ocean,
among the forests of America or the sands of Africa[316].”
(ii) _His character._ Obedience to the Divine commands
was ever with David the axiom of his life, and in every
step he took he shewed the greatest anxiety to act as
God’s servant (2 Sam. ii. 1; 1 Sam. xxiii. 2, 4). All
deliverance from danger, and all victories from first to
last, he ascribed to the Divine aid, and neither in the
hour of danger, nor the more trying hour of prosperity,
did he go after “strange gods,” or introduce any
idolatrous rites. It was, probably, to this feature of his
administration that God referred, when He described him as
_a man after His own heart_ (1 Sam. xiii. 14, Comp. Acts
xiii. 22), rather than to his private virtues. And yet
these were of no mean order. “Shepherd, soldier, poet,
king, the romantic friend, the chivalrous leader, the
devoted father,” he was eminent alike for his exalted
piety, and his noble patriotism. “During a war of seven
years he never lifted his sword against a subject, and
at the end of it he punished no rebels, and remembered no
offence but the murder of his rival (2 Sam. iv. 10–12).”
The adultery with Bath-sheba, the murder of Uriah, the
numbering of the people, with a view, probably, to foreign
conquests, are the deep blots on his fame, and the chief
instances in which he forgot alike himself and his God.
“And yet when we look at the piety of his youth, the depth
of his contrition, the strength of his faith, the fervour
of his devotion, the loftiness and variety of his genius,
the largeness and warmth of his heart, his eminent valour
in any age of warriors, his justice and wisdom as a ruler,
and, above all, his adherence to the worship and will of
God, we may well regard him as a model of kingly authority
and spiritual obedience[317].”
Moreover, not only was he the ancestor of Christ after the
flesh, not only was the blessing of the Promise expressly
transferred to his family, but in his humiliation and
exaltation, as the king of the people of God, and as the
vanquisher of heathen nations, he was a type of HIM whose
coming he foretold in many of the Psalms, and who is not
called the son of Abraham, or of Jacob, or of Moses, but
the “_Son of David_.” Kurtz’s _Sacred History_, p. 189;
Article _David_, in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
314 – Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 305.
315 – Jahn’s _Hebrew Commonwealth_, p. 75.
316 – Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 307.
317 – Angus, _Bible Handbook_, p. 437; Jahn’s _Hebrew
Commonwealth_, p. 76; Chandler’s _Life of David_,
pp. 582–587.
318 – See _Table of Weights and Measures_ in the _Appendix_,
pp. 492, 493. “Each country needed what the other could
supply. The wheat of the plains of Galilee and the
oil of the hill-country of Judah maintained the royal
household of Hiram (Comp. Acts xii. 20); the skill of
the Phœnician artists supplied the want of it among the
Israelites.”――Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_, p. 355.
319 – See p. 346. Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 311.
320 – Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 315.
321 – “These successive terraces were an imitation of the
Assyrian style of architecture, which at this time
prevailed more or less all over Syria, and particularly
at Tyre.” Lewin’s _Jerusalem_, p. 255; Art. _Palace_ in
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
322 – The chief architect of the Temple was Hiram (1 K. vii.
13, 40), called also Huram in 2 Chr. ii. 13; iv. 11, 16,
an Israelite on his mother’s side, of the tribe of Dan or
Naphtali, by birth a Tyrian.
323 – In 2 Chron. iii. 4, the height is said to have been 120
cubits. See Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. p. 313.
324 – See p. 122.
325 – “Such a copious use of gold was a practice known to
the Phœnicians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians.”
Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 107.
326 – The functions of the priests and Levites had already been
duly arranged by David. (i) The Priests were divided into
24 courses (1 Chr. xxiv. 1–19; 2 Chr. xxiii. 8; Luke i. 5),
each of which served in rotation for one week, the special
services of the week being assigned by lot (Luke i. 9).
(ii) Of the Levites 24,000 were over the work of the
temple; 6,000 were officers and judges; 4,000 were porters
or sentries, and as such bore arms (1 Chr. ix. 19; 2 Chr.
xxxi. 2); 4,000 formed the choir of singers and musicians.
See Arts. _Priests_ and _Levites_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
327 – Comp. Psalms xxiv, xlvii, xcvii, xcviii, cvi.
328 – See p. 153.
329 – So called from its cedar pillars. Similarly the halls of
the Nimroud palace “were supported by rows of pillars,
not of stone, but of wood, and the Hall of Lebanon was
supported by 3 rows of cedar pillars, 15 in a row, making
45 in the whole.” Lewin’s _Jerusalem_, p. 270. Rawlinson’s
_Bampton Lectures_, p. 106.
330 – Baalath was a town of Dan near the Philistine plain. For
the two Beth-horons, see p. 212. “The importance of the
road on which the two Beth-horons are situated, the main
approach to the interior of the country from the hostile
districts on both sides of Palestine――Philistia and Egypt
on the west, Moab and Ammon on the east――at once explains
and justifies the frequent fortification of these towns
at different periods of the history. This road is still,
as in ancient times, the great road of communication and
heavy transport between Jerusalem and the sea-coast.”
Robinson’s _Bibl. Res._ II. 252. Smith’s _Bib. Dict._,
Art. _Beth-horon_.
331 – The exact site of Gezer has not been found, but it must
have been between the lower Beth-horon and the sea, on the
regular coast-road of communication with Egypt. Smith’s
_Bibl. Dict._
332 – For Hazor see pp. 201, 214. For Megiddo (now _el-Lejjûn_),
see p. 240. It was a principal station on the caravan
route from Egypt to Damascus, “and for a long while
possessed a large khan, mentioned by Maundrell and many
travellers after him.” Van de Velde, I. 353.
333 – Tiphsah (= πόρος, “a ford”), the Thapsacus of the Greeks
and Romans, “must have been a place of considerable
trade, the land-traffic between the East and West passing
through it, first on account of its fordway (which was
the lowest upon the Euphrates), and then on account of
its bridge, while it was likewise the point where goods
were both embarked for transport down the stream, and
also disembarked from boats which had come up to it, to be
conveyed on to their final destination by land.” Smith’s
_Bib. Dict._
334 – “A region variously identified with (i) the south of
Arabia, (ii) Sofala on the coast of Africa opposite to
Madagascar, and (iii) India; the first was probably its
locality, though the Jewish fleets may also have visited
India.” Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_, p. 357.
335 – Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 322. “Notwithstanding
the long export of silver from the mines of Tartessus by
the Phœnicians, who drew from them the wealth by which
they founded so many powerful colonies, the Carthaginians,
who succeeded the Phœnicians in their possession, derived
from them the revenues by which they were enabled to pay
their mercenary armies. Even in the Roman times 40,000
men were employed as miners within a circuit of 400 stadia
near Carthagena, and the workings yielded a revenue to the
republic of 20,500 drachmas daily.” Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_,
p. 211.
336 – “The Palace of Solomon was below the Temple Platform,
and in laying the solid foundations of Millo, provision
had been made for a double passage from the Palace to
the Temple, about 250 ft. long and 42 ft. wide, formed
of bevelled stones, and rising by a gentle incline to
one of the gates of the Inner Temple. This marvellous
subterranean approach, impregnable from its nature to
the ravages of time, still remains, though painfully
disfigured; it is called to this day the Temple of
Solomon.” Lewin’s _Jerusalem_, p. 270.
337 – See Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 326–328; Art.
_Solomon_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Jahn’s _Hebrew
Commonwealth_, 78, 79; Kitto’s _Daily Bible Illustrations_,
IV. 127–132.
338 – See p. 254.
339 – The disunion of the kingdom of Solomon, though apparently
sudden, had been brought about by many pre-disposing
causes. From the earliest period there had been a jealous
rivalry between the powerful tribes of Ephraim and Judah,
like that between the houses of York and Lancaster in our
own history.
For upwards of 400 years the leadership of the nation
had been practically in the hands of Ephraim. From this
tribe had come the great hero Joshua; to it belonged, at
least by his place of birth, the great prophet Samuel;
and though from “little Benjamin” had come the first king,
yet hereditary ties as well as geographical position had
united it to the house of Joseph. Within the boundaries,
moreover, of Ephraim had been the sanctuaries of Shechem
and Shiloh, which would naturally make it the resort of
numbers from all parts of the country. Hence the spirit
of jealousy this tribe was ever ready to evince if any
exploit was performed or advantage gained in which it
had not the lion’s share. Hence its complaints against
Gideon[340], against Jephthah[341], against David[342].
But its influence, hitherto so great, began to wane when
the victories of the latter prince exalted the tribe of
Judah to its proud pre-eminence. For seven years Ephraim
supported Ishbosheth’s rival throne at Mahanaim, but when
he died, and David captured Jebus, gave to the nation
a fortress and a capital, and transferred thither the
Tabernacle, the glories of Shechem and of Shiloh began
to vanish away. For a time David’s personal influence
preserved the semblance of union, and many Ephraimites
were in high favour about his person (1 Chr. xii. 30;
xxvii. 10, 14), but the restoration of the king after the
rebellion of Absalom was the signal for an outburst of
the old rivalry, which well-nigh precipitated a disruption
(2 Sam. xx. 1), and when the smouldering feelings of
jealousy were fanned into exasperation by the oppressive
taxation of Solomon and the insane folly of his son,
a leader only was required, like Jeroboam, to make the
separation complete. See Blunt’s _Script. Coincid._ 164–175.
340 – See p. 249.
341 – See p. 257.
342 – See p. 342.
343 – “The whole area of Palestine was nearly equal to that
of the kingdom of Holland (13,610 sq. m.), or rather
more than that of the 6 northern counties of England
(13,136 sq. m.). The kingdom of Judah was rather less than
Northumberland, Durham, and Westmoreland (3,683 sq. m.);
the kingdom of Israel was very nearly as large as
Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumberland (9,453 sq. m.).”
See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Article _Kingdom of Israel_.
344 – See p. 250.
345 – See p. 358, n.
346 – The month of the Vintage in Northern Palestine. See the
Calendar, p. 155.
347 – “This success is found to have been commemorated by
Shishak on the outside of the great temple of Karnak; and
here in a long list of captured towns and districts, which
Shishak boasts of having added to his dominions, occurs
the ‘_Melchi Yuda_,’ or kingdom of Judah, the conquest
of which by this king is thus distinctly noticed in the
Egyptian records.” Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 126;
Herod. II. p. 376.
348 – Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 127.
349 – Hadad or Adad was a Syrian god, probably the sun, still
worshipped at Damascus in the time of Josephus (_Ant._ IX.
4, 6), and from it several Syrian names are derived, as
Hadadezer, i.e. _Hadad has helped_, Ben-Hadad, _worshipper
of Hadad_.
350 – “In the territory of Ephraim, the fertile plains and to a
certain extent wooded hills, which have been often noticed
as its characteristic ornaments, at once gave an opening
to the formation of parks and pleasure-grounds similar
to those which were the ‘Paradises’ of Assyrian and
Persian monarchs. One of these was Tirzah (_Tellûzah?_)
of unknown site, but evidently near Shechem, and of
proverbial beauty,” Cant. vi. 4. Stanley’s _S. and P._ 243.
It “was to Shechem what Windsor is to London, and had
been the seat of a Canaanitish king before the conquest of
the country by the Israelites” (Josh. xii. 24). Porter’s
_Handbk._ II. 348.
351 – “No better site for a capital could have been selected
in the length and breadth of Palestine, combining a
strong position, rich environs, central situation, and
an elevation sufficient to catch the cool healthy breezes
from the sea.” Porter’s _Handbook_, II. 345. “Situated on
its steep height, in a plain itself girt in by hills, it
was enabled, not less promptly than Jerusalem, to resist
the successive assaults made upon it by the Syrian and
Assyrian armies. The first were baffled altogether, the
second took it only after a three years’ siege, that
is three times as long as that which reduced Jerusalem”
(2 Kings xviii. 10). Stanley, _S. and P._ 244.
352 – The meaning of the expression “making streets in Samaria,”
1 Kings xx. 34.
353 – Ithobalus = _Baal with him_, Ethbaal = _with Baal_.
354 – Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_, p. 362. The date of Ethbaal’s reign
may be given at about B.C. 940–908. Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
355 – See p. 219.
356 – See p. 256.
357 – That is, for 3 years and 6 months (Comp. Lk. iv. 25).
“The annals of Tyre record a drought of a year’s duration
in the reign of Ithobaal, who continued to reign at Tyre
during a considerable portion of Ahab’s reign in Israel.”
Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_, 362; Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_,
128, 129.
358 – Carmel, nearly always found with the definite article, =
_the park_, or _the well-wooded place_, and is famous even
now for its “impenetrable brushwood of evergreens and oaks.”
(See Isai. xxxiii. 9, xxxv. 2; Mic. vii. 14; Amos i. 2.)
This well-known ridge, rising at the west end about 600,
and the east about 1600 feet above the sea, stretches from
the Mediterranean inland a little more than 12 miles, and
separates the plain of Esdraelon from the plain of Sharon.
359 – Stanley’s _S. & P._ 353. “We descended to the Mohrakah, or
‘place of sacrifice.’ It is a glade overlooking the plain,
somewhat in the shape of an amphitheatre, and completely
shut in on the north by the well-wooded cliffs down which
we had come. No place could be conceived more adapted by
nature to be that wondrous battle-field of truth. In front
of the principal actors in the scene, with the king and
his courtiers by their side, the thousands of Israel might
have been gathered on the lower slopes, witnesses of the
whole struggle to its stupendous result.” Tristram’s _Holy
Land_, p. 117.
360 – Obtained from a neighbouring fountain, Josephus _Ant._
VIII. 13, § 5, which even now is found close beneath
_el-Mohrakah_ (“the burning”), the spot pointed out
as the scene of this event. “In the upper part of the
amphitheatre to the left is an ancient fountain, overhung
by a few magnificent trees, among them a noble specimen of
the Turkey oak. The reservoir of the spring is stone-built
and square, about 8 ft. deep, and the old steps which
once descended to it may still be traced. The water is of
some depth, and is perennial. This was corroborated by the
existence of molluscs attached to the stones within the
cistern. _In that three years’ drought, when all the wells
were dry, and the Kishon had first sunk to a string of
pools, and then finally was lost altogether, this deep
and shaded spring fed from the roots of Carmel remained._”
Tristram’s _Holy Land_, pp. 117, 118.
361 – “Immediately below [the ♦Mohrakah], on the banks of the
Kishon, was a small flat-topped green knoll, ‘Tell Cassis,
’ _the Mound of the Priests_, marking in its name the very
spot where Elijah slew the prophets of Baal, when he had
brought them down to the brook Kishon.” Tristram’s _Holy
Land_, pp. 117, 118.
362 – “This conduct of Elijah, when rightly understood, was
full of important instruction. As God’s minister he had
overwhelmed the king with shame and confusion in the
presence of his subjects. The natural tendency of this
would be to lower him in their eyes, and lessen their
respect for his authority. It was not the intention,
however, to weaken the government, nor to encourage
rebellion. The prophet was, therefore, divinely directed
to give a testimony of respect and honour to the king,
as public and striking as from necessity had been the
opposition and rebuke to his idolatry. The mode of doing
honour to Ahab, by running before his chariot, was in
accordance with the customs of the East, even to this day.
I was reminded of this incident more than 20 years ago at
Jaffa, when Mohammed Aly came to that city with a large
army to quell the rebellion of Palestine. The camp was
on the sand hills south of the city, while Mohammed Aly
stopped inside the walls. The officers were constantly
going and coming, preceded by runners, who always kept
just ahead of the horses, no matter how furiously they
were ridden; and, in order to run with the greater ease,
they not only ‘girded their loins’ very tightly, but also
tucked up their loose garments under the girdle, lest they
should be incommoded by them. This, no doubt, did Elijah.”
Thomson’s _Land and the Book_, p. 485. Kitto’s _Daily
Bible Illustr._ IV. 271, 272.
363 – Or rather a species of _broom_ very abundant in the
desert of Sinai, and capable of “affording shade and
protection, both in heat and storm, to travellers.” Smith’s
_Bib. Dict._; Thomson’s _Land and the Book_, p. 611.
364 – See p. 249.
365 – “In the cuneiform annals of an Assyrian king we have a
very curious and valuable confirmation of the power of
Damascus at this time――of its being under the rule of a
monarch named Benhadad, who was at the head of a great
confederacy of princes, and who was able to bring into
the field, year after year, vast armies, with which he
repeatedly engaged the whole force of Assyria. We have
accounts of three campaigns between the Assyrians on
the one side, and the Syrians, Hittites, Hamathites, and
Phœnicians, united under the command of Benhadad, on the
other, in which the contest is maintained with spirit,
the armies being of a large size, and their composition
and character such as we find described in Scripture.”
Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 130, and notes;
Rawlinson’s _Herod._ I. 464, 465.
366 – “Probably _local governors_ or _magistrates_, who took
refuge in Samaria during the invasion, while the ‘young
men’ were their _attendants_.”――Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
367 – See Keil on 1 K. xx. 16.
368 – See Kitto’s _Daily Bible Illustr._ IV. pp. 286, 287.
369 – Now called _Fîk_, a considerable village on the top of
a mountain (Thomson, p. 388), at the head of the _Wady
Fîk_, 6 miles east of the sea of Galilee, “the great road
between Damascus, Nablous, and Jerusalem, still passing
through the village.” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
370 – “This tremendous destruction was caused, as I suppose,
by an earthquake; and after having seen the effects
of the earthquake in Safed and Tiberias, I can easily
understand this narrative. We are not required to limit
the catastrophe to the falling of a single wall; or,
if this be insisted on, we have only to suppose that it
was the wall of the city, and a little consideration will
convince any one familiar with Oriental fortifications
that it might overwhelm a whole army. Those ramparts were
very lofty and massive. An open space was always left along
their base, and this would be packed, from end to end, by
the remnants of Benhadad’s mighty host, and escape from
the falling towers would be impossible. Burckhardt informs
us that the town is built round the base of a hill, in
the shape of a crescent, and this peculiarity of the site
would render the destruction only the more extensive and
inevitable.” Thomson’s _Land and the Book_, p. 389.
371 – “The place of execution was by the large tank or reservoir,
which still remains on the slope of the hill of Samaria,
immediately outside the walls.” Article _Naboth_, in
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
372 – “Now _Es-Salt_, situated on a hill, isolated to a great
extent from the loftier mountains round it by deep ravines
on the east and west, which unite on the south. Probably
from its commanding position in the territory of Gad,
as well as its strength, it was chosen by Moses as the
City of Refuge for that tribe (Deut. iv. 43; Josh. xx. 8;
xxi. 38). Afterwards it became the residence of one of
Solomon’s commissariat officers” (1 K. iv. 13). Smith’s
_Bib. Dict._
373 – Comp. Homer, _Il._ I. 106.
374 – See p. 397, note.
375 – See p. 307, note.
376 – See Psalm cxxxvi. 1. Comp. also Ps. xlviii. and xcii.,
Joel iii. 2, 12.
377 – Van de Velde, II. 30; Thomson’s _Land and the Book_,
p. 606. Tekoa was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. xi. 6), was
afterwards the birthplace of the prophet Amos (Am. i. 1),
and gave its name to the adjacent desert on the east
(2 Chr. xx. 20). Robinson, _Bibl. Res._ I. 486, 7. “It
is remarkable that this is the usual route taken in the
present day by such predatory bands from Moab as make
incursions into southern Palestine. They pass round the
southern end of the Dead Sea, then up the road along its
western shore to _Ain-Jidy_, and thence towards Hebron,
Tekoa, and Jerusalem, as the prospects of plunder seem
most inviting.” Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._
378 – “The name of _Bereikût_ still survives, attached to
ruins in a valley of the same name, lying between Tekoa
and the main road from Bethlehem to Hebron, a position
corresponding accurately enough with the locality of the
battle as described 2 Chr. xx.” Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._
379 – “It was when our Lord and His disciples were on
their journey through this very district from Galilee
to Jerusalem, and when smarting from the churlish
inhospitality of some Samaritan villagers, that――led to it
by the distant view of the heights of Carmel, or, perhaps,
by some traditional name on the road――the impetuous zeal
of James and John, the ‘sons of thunder,’ burst forth,
_Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from
heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did?_ For the
answer of our Lord to this question see Lk. ix. 51–56.”
Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._
380 – See p. 202.
381 – Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._ Art. _Elisha_. Ever since the time
of Josephus a large spring N. W. of the present town, and
called _Ain-en-Sultân_, has been pointed out as the spring
in question.
382 – See Keil on 2 K. iii. 20.
383 – Compare the conduct of the Lacedæmonians in the Megarid,
Thuc. I. 108.
384 – The modern _Kerak_ lies about 6 miles from Rabbath-Moab,
and some 10 miles from the Dead Sea. “Its situation is
truly remarkable. It is built upon the top of a steep
hill, surrounded on all sides by a deep and narrow valley,
which again is completely inclosed by mountains rising
higher than the town, and overlooking it on all sides.
It must have been from these surrounding heights that the
Israelite slingers hurled their volleys of stones after
the capture of the place had proved impossible (2 K.
iii. 25).” Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._, Art. _Kir-Moab_.
385 – A few years after this event, and before the visit
of Naaman to Samaria (comp. 2 K. viii. 4 with 1,
2, 3), in consequence of a famine predicted by Elisha,
the Shunammite retired to the rich low lands of the
Philistines. At the close of the dearth she returned to
her native place, to find her house and fields in the
possession of a stranger. Thereupon, with her son, she
repaired to Samaria, and as the king was listening to the
story of _all the great things which Elisha had done_, and
especially the crowning miracle at Shunem, she drew near,
was recognised by Gehazi, and confirmed the wondrous
tale in person. The king, struck by the remarkable
circumstances, ordered her land to be restored to her,
with the value of the fruits of it during her sojourn
amongst the Philistines. “It is still common for even
petty sheikhs to confiscate the property of a person
who is exiled for a time, or who moves away temporarily
from his district; especially is this true of widows
and orphans, and the Shunammite was now a widow.” See
Thomson’s _Land and the Book_, p. 458.
386 – These were probably first-fruits and perquisites of
the priests, see p. 134 (a), Numb. xviii. 8, 12; Deut.
xviii. 3, 4.
387 – Not “one,” but “he,” Naaman, went in and told his “lord,”
the king, 2 K. v. 4, as in the Vulgate.
388 – The ABANA, the Χρυσοῤῥόας of the Greeks, and now the
_Barada_, was the chief river of Damascus and flowed
through it, and was the main source of its beauty and
fertility, having even now 14 villages and 150,000 souls
dependent on it; the PHARPAR, now the _Awaj_, is further
from Damascus, “a small lively river.” Robinson, _Bibl.
Res._ III. 448.
389 – “According to Movers (_Phœn._ I. 196, &c.) Rimmon was the
abbreviated form of Hadad-Rimmon (as Peor of Baal-Peor),
Hadad being the sun-god of the Syrians. Combining this
with the pomegranate, which was his symbol, Hadad-Rimmon
would then be the sun-god of the late summer, who ripens
the pomegranate and other fruits, and, after infusing into
them his productive power, dies, and is mourned with _the
mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon_,” Zech.
xii. 11. Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._
390 – See p. 58, and note 40.
391 – See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Art. _Hazael_.
392 – The cuneiform inscriptions “mention Hazael as king of
Damascus immediately after Ben-hadad; and Jehu is the
first Israelite king mentioned by name on any inscription
hitherto discovered.” Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_,
p. 131; Layard’s _Nineveh_, I. p. 396.
392a – “The cuneiform inscriptions show that towards the close
of his reign Ben-hadad was exposed to the assaults of a
great conqueror, who was bent on extending the dominion
of Assyria over Syria and Palestine. Three several attacks
appear to have been made by this prince upon Ben-hadad,
who, though he had the support of the Phœnicians, the
Hittites, and the Hamathites, was unable to offer any
effectual resistance to the Assyrian arms. His troops
were worsted in several engagements, and in one of them
he lost as many as 20,000 men. It may have been these
circumstances which encouraged Hazael to murder him and
seize the throne, which Elisha declared would certainly
one day be his.” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Rawlinson’s _Five
Great Monarchies_, II. pp. 361, 362.
393 – “Jehu and his party could be seen for at least 6 miles,
and there was time enough to send messenger after
messenger to meet him.” Thomson, _Land and the Book_,
p. 460.
394 – In the E. V. translated “the garden-house.” See Stanley,
_S. and P._ p. 349. Robinson places it at _Jenîn_, still
surrounded by the “orchards” and “gardens” which gave its
ancient name. See Van de Velde, I. p. 361.
395 – See p. 380.
396 – Established, probably, “at or near the town of Jabez in
Judah (1 Chr. ii. 55).” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
397 – On the position of this Altar in reference to the Holy
Place, see above, p. 120.
398 – See p. 273.
399 – Or 52 years, if the Interregnum be included.
400 – See pp. 401 and notes 376‒378.
401 – From both these latter prophets we gain several important
hints respecting the moral condition of the kingdom of
Israel at this time. The calf-worship was celebrated with
all its former splendour at Bethel, which was the site
of the royal sanctuary (Am. vii. 13), while the nation
was distinguished for licentiousness, drunkenness, and
oppression of the poor and needy (Am. ii. 7, 8, iv. 1; Hos.
i. 2, iv. 12–14, xiii. 6). See Dr Pusey’s _Introduction to
Hosea_.
402 – See p. 157.
403 – See p. 362.
404 – In our Version the date of this visit is placed in
B.C. 860. Others would place it in the later part of the
reign of Jeroboam II., or about B.C. 780; Rawlinson even
later, B.C. 760–750, during a temporary depression of
the Assyrian power; see the _Five Great Monarchies_,
pp. 390–392, and notes.
405 – Rawlinson’s _Five Great Monarchies_, Vol. II. p. 391.
406 – “There is a remarkable parallel to this in a Persian
practice mentioned by Herodotus, IX. 24. In the mourning
for Masistius, a little before the battle of Platæa, the
Persian troops not only shaved off their own hair, but
similarly disfigured their horses and their beasts of
burden.” Rawlinson’s _Five Great Monarchies_, II. 276,
note.
407 – See Kiel _in loc._, and Art. _Menahem_ in Smith’s _Bib.
Dict._
408 – Called in the Septuagint Phalôch or Phalôs, and in the
Assyrian records _Phal-lukha_ and _Iva-lush_; the annals
of this monarch are scanty; but “in the most important
record we possess of his reign, there is a notice of his
having taken tribute from _Beth-Khumri_, or Samaria, as
well as from Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Idumæa, and Philistia.”
Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 133.
409 – This was the occasion of the important prophecy of Isaiah
vii. 1–16.
410 – This was the first captivity of any considerable portion
of Israel. See Map. The captives were located in Upper
Mesopotamia on the affluents of the _Bilikh_ and the
_Khabour_, from about ♦Haran to Nisibis, the Gozan of
Scripture. Rawlinson’s _Five Great Monarchies_, II. 398.
411 – Rawlinson’s _Five Great Monarchies_, II. 423; _Herodotus_,
Vol. I. p. 473. See Chron. Table in the _Appendix_, p. 488.
412 – “It has been usual to ascribe the capture of Samaria to
Shalmaneser; and this is certainly the impression which
the Scriptural narrative leaves. But the assertion is not
made expressly (comp. 2 K. xvii. 3, and xviii. 10), and if
we may trust the direct statement of Sargon, the successor
of Shalmaneser upon the throne, we must consider that he,
and not Shalmaneser, was the actual captor of the city.
Sargon relates that he took Samaria in his first year,
B.C. 721, and carried into captivity 27,280 families. It
would appear, therefore, that Shalmaneser died, or was
deposed, while Hoshea still held out, and that the final
captivity of Israel fell into the reign of his successor.”
Rawlinson’s _Hdtus._ I. 472. No king employed so generally
or on so large a scale, the practice of wholesale
deportation of his subjects as Sargon. See Rawlinson’s
_Five Great Monarchies_, II. p. 423.
413 – “As Gaza in Greek became Ca_d_ytis, Ach_z_ib Ec_d_ippa so
M’go_z_an became Myg_d_onia.” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
414 – See Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Art. _Nehushtan_.
415 – See Calendar, p. 155.
416 – Kenrick’s _Phœnicia_, p. 378; _Five Great Mon._ II. 405.
417 – Or perhaps the 27th, B.C. 700; see Rawlinson’s _Hdtus._
I. 479 _n._
418 – The route of the Assyrians may be traced in the vivid
language of Isai. x. 28–34. The annals of Sennacherib
contain a full account of this campaign; see Rawlinson’s
_Bampton Lectures_, pp. 142, 143; _Five Great Monarchies_,
II. p. 425.
419 – “Properly a _ring_, such as in our country is placed
through the nose of a bull, and similarly used in the
East for leading about lions and other animals, as also
prisoners, as in the case of Manasseh (2 Chr. xxxiii. 11;
A.V. _in the thorns_). See Isai. xxxvii. 29; Ezek. xxix. 4,
xxxviii. 4.” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
420 – See for the view here taken, Rawlinson’s _Five Great
Monarchies_, Vol. II. p. 442; _Bampton Lectures_, p. 143.
421 – The Egyptians naturally ascribed their deliverance to
the interposition of their own gods. Rawlinson’s _Hdtus._
Vol. II. p. 141.
422 – _Five Great Mon._ Vol. II. p. 445; comp. 2 K. xix. 36.
423 – In the opinion of some, Hezekiah’s illness preceded
the first invasion of Sennacherib by several years, and
Merodach-Baladan’s visit is placed by them about the year
B.C. 713, the 14th of Hezekiah (Comp. 2 K. xx. 6; Is.
xxxviii. 5). Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; Rawlinson’s _Hdtus._
Vol. I. p. 479 _n._
424 – “From the time of Sargon, Merodach-Baladan and his family
were the champions of Babylonian independence, and headed
the popular party in resisting the Assyrian monarchs.”
“The real object of the mission was most likely to effect
a league between Babylon, Judea, and Egypt (Is. xx. 5, 6),
in order to check the growing power of the Assyrians.
Hezekiah’s exhibition of ‘all his precious things’
would thus have been not a mere display, but a mode of
satisfying the Babylonian ambassadors of his ability to
support the expenses of a war.” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._;
Rawlinson’s _Herod._ I. 503.
425 – See Blunt’s _Scriptural Coincidences_, Pt. III. 5.
426 – Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Art. _Manasseh_; and see p. 436.
427 – Comp. Heb. xi. 37: but see Art. _Isaiah_ in Smith’s _Bib.
Dict._
428 – Either shortly before or after this visit to Jerusalem,
Esarhaddon invaded Egypt, defeated Tirhakah, took his
capital, and became master of the country as far as Thebes
or Diospolis, the No or No-Amon of Scripture. Rawlinson,
_Five Great Monarchies_, II. p. 475.
429 – “One is greatly surprised at first hearing that the
generals of an _Assyrian_ king, on capturing a rebel,
carried him to _Babylon_ instead of Nineveh. ‘What has a
king of Assyria to do with Babylon?’ one naturally asks.
The reply is, that Esarhaddon, and he _only of all the
Assyrian kings_, actually was king of Babylon; that he
built a palace, and occasionally held his court there, and
that consequently a captive was as likely to be brought to
him at that city as at the metropolis of Assyria-Proper.”
Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 145, and _Hdtus._
Vol. I. p. 482.
430 – After the example of Sargon, Esarhaddon “gathered men
from Babylon, Orchoë, Susa, Elymais, Persia, and other
neighbouring regions, and entrusting them to an officer
of high rank, ‘the great and noble Asnapper,’ had them
conveyed to Palestine and settled over the whole country,
which until this time must have been somewhat thinly
peopled.” Comp. Ezra iv. 2, 9, 10; Rawlinson’s _Five Great
Monarchies_, II. p. 477.
431 – See p. 372.
432 – Partly from dissensions with the _Medes_ (B.C. 634–603),
who were attempting to seize the dominion over the East,
but still more in consequence of the great _Scythian_
invasion, about B.C. 630, described by Herodotus (I.
civ.–cvi.), Assyria had been greatly weakened, her cities
being desolated, and her palaces dismantled or destroyed.
These Scythian hordes penetrated into Palestine as far as
Ashdod, but were repulsed by Psammetichus, and on their
return a portion, probably attracted by the situation
of Beth-shan (See p. 313), settled there, whence its Greek
name Scythopolis, “the city of the Scythians.” Milman’s
_History of the Jews_, I. 391; Rawlinson’s _Herod._ Vol. I.
485, _Five Gt. Mon._ II. 512.
433 – Called by Manetho _Nechao_, by Herodotus Νεκώς, on the
monuments _Neku_, the son and successor of the first
Psammetichus. His defeat of the Syrians in a great battle
is mentioned by Herod. II. 159, and is said to have taken
place at Magdŏlus (= _Migdal-el_, in the tribe of Naphtali,
Josh. xix. 38), which is identified with the _Magdala_
of Matt. xv. 39, probably in consequence of a confusion
between this name and Megiddo. Rawlinson’s _Herod._ II.
246 _n._
434 – Not the classical Circesium, but higher up the Euphrates,
“occupying nearly the site of the later _Mabog_, or
Hierapolis.” Smith’s _Bib. Dict._; _Dict. Geog._ Art.
_Hierapolis_.
435 – “At the upper end of the valley of Lebanon, some 35 miles
beyond Baalbec, and about 10 days’ journey from Jerusalem,”
on the great road between Palestine and Babylonia.
Describing the advantages of its position, Dr Robinson
says that it lies “on the banks of a mountain-stream in
the midst of a vast and fertile plain, yielding the most
abundant supplies of forage. From this point the roads
were open either by Aleppo and the Euphrates to Nineveh,
or by Palmyra to Babylon ... by the end of Lebanon and the
coast to Palestine and Egypt, or through the Bŭkâa and the
Jordan valley to the centre of the Holy Land.” Robinson’s
_Bib. Res._ III. 545.
436 – For the moral and religious degradation of the country
at this period, see Jer. xix.; Ezek. viii.; for the
king’s vindictive persecution of righteous prophets, Jer.
xxvi.; for his impiety in cutting up the roll containing
Jeremiah’s prophecy, Jer. xxxvi.; for his luxury and
tyranny, as also his selfishness in building splendid
palaces while his kingdom was so impoverished, Jer. xxii.
13–17.
437 – In 2 K. xxiv. 14, 16, the numbers are given as 7,000
soldiers, 1,000 artificers and smiths, and 2,000 others,
whose occupation is not mentioned.
438 – Rawlinson’s _Herod._ Vol. I. 515. For the prophecies of
Jeremiah during the reign of Zedekiah, see chaps. xxi.
xxiv. xxvii. 12–22, xxviii. xxix. xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv.
xxxvii. xxviii.
439 – Thus were fulfilled the apparently contradictory
prophecies in Jer. xxxii. 4, and Ezek. xii. 13.
440 – Or Mizpah. For notices of this place on previous occasions,
see pp. 272, 280, 375.
441 – Before passing on, a few remarks may here be subjoined
respecting the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, which now
came to an end.
I. _Their respective duration._ The kingdom of Israel
lasted from B.C. 975 to B.C. 721, or 254 years. The
kingdom of Judah lasted from B.C. 975 to B.C. 588, or 387
years, thus outliving her more populous and powerful rival
by 133 years.
II. _Their mutual relations._ These, as we have seen,
were dictated by three different lines of policy:――
(i) _Mutual animosity from_ B.C. 975–918.
The first three kings of Judah, Rehoboam, Abijah,
and Asa, persisted in the hope of regaining their
authority over the Ten Tribes, and for nearly 60
years there was war between the two kingdoms.
(ii) _Close alliance, and united hostility to Syria_,
B.C. 918–884.
With the accession of Jehoshaphat there sprang
up an alliance between the two kingdoms, cemented
by intermarriage, and prompted probably by
the necessity of joint action in resisting the
encroaching power of Syria.
(iii) _Fresh animosity, and the gradual decline of
both kingdoms before the advancing power of the Assyrian
Empire_, B.C. 884–588.
The alliance between the kingdoms was rudely
shattered by the accession of Jehu to the throne of
Israel. He put Ahaziah to death, and the hostility
thus begun reached its highest pitch under Amaziah,
Jehoash, and Pekah.
III. _Their contrasts._
1. _In the kingdom of Judah_, (a) There was always
a fixed capital and a venerated centre of religion;
(b) the army was always subordinate; (c) the succession
was interrupted by no revolution; (d) the priests
remained faithful to the crown.
2. _In the kingdom of Israel_, (a) There was no
fixed capital, and no real religious centre; (b) the
army was often insubordinate; (c) the succession was
constantly interrupted, so that out of 19 kings there
were no less than 9 dynasties, each ushered in by
a revolution; (d) the authorized priests left the
kingdom in a body, and the priesthood established by
Jeroboam had no Divine sanction and no promise; it
was corrupt in its very source. Hence in the kingdom
of Israel the _prophets_ were the regular ministers
of God, and, especially during the second of the
two periods above mentioned, their ministry was
distinguished by far more extraordinary events
than in the kingdom of Judah, whose annals offer no
prophetical deeds like those of Elijah and Elisha. See
Arts. _Kingdom of Judah and Israel_ in Smith’s _Bib.
Dict._; Jahn’s _Hebrew Commonwealth_. For the _Table_
of Kings and Prophets, see the Appendix.
442 – Milman’s _History of the Jews_, I. 407, 408.
443 – See Jahn’s _Hebrew Commonwealth_, pp. 112, 113.
444 – The Psalms which appear to belong to this period are, Psls.
x. xiii.–xv. xxv.–xxvii. xxxvi. xxxvii. xlix. l. liii.
lxvii. lxxvii. lxxx. lxxxviii. lxxxix. xcii. xciii. cxxiii.
cxxx. cxxxvii.
445 – See p. 452.
446 – See p. 449.
447 – An interpretation now generally understood to indicate
(i) the Chaldean, (ii) Medo-Persian, (iii) Macedonian, and
(iv) Roman empires, which last gives way to (v) the kingdom
of Messiah.
448 – Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, notes, p. 439; _Herod._
Vol. I. pp. 628, 629.
449 – Smith’s _Bib. Dict._, Art. _Nebuchadnezzar_. Dr Pusey,
on the other hand, writes, “Whether the image was formed
in reminiscence of that emblem of human might, which
Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream, and of which the
head was declared to represent himself, or whether it was
himself whom he intended to be worshipped in it, it was
plainly some test of allegiance required of all peoples,
nations, and languages, in his whole empire.” _Lectures
on Daniel_, p. 440.
450 – Ibid. p. 442, and the note.
451 – Along the shores of the Persian Gulf. Rawlinson’s _Herod._
Vol. I. p. 513.
452 – Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 160 and notes;
_Herod._ Vol. I. pp. 512, 513; Smith’s _Bib. Dict._,
Art. _Nebuchadnezzar_.
453 – “I have examined,” says Sir H. Rawlinson, “the bricks
_in situ_, belonging perhaps to a hundred different towns
and cities in the neighbourhood of Baghdad, and I never
found any other legend than that of Nebuchadnezzar, son of
Nabopolassar, king of Babylon.” Nine-tenths of the bricks
amidst the ruins of Babylon are stamped with his name.
Compare his own words as recorded in Dan. iv. 30: “Is not
this great Babylon, _which I have built_?”
454 – Probably what the Greeks called Lycanthropy λυκανθρωπία),
wherein the sufferer fancies himself a beast, quits
the haunts of men, and leads the life of a beast. For
instances and details, see Dr Pusey’s _Lectures on Daniel_,
pp. 425–435; Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 165;
_Herod._ Vol. I. p. 516.
455 – A sickness of this monarch is mentioned by Berosus, and
in the “Standard Inscription” of Nebuchadnezzar he himself
appears to allude to this mysterious passage of his life:
_For four years ... the seat of my kingdom ... did not
rejoice my heart, in all my dominions I did not build a
high place of power, the precious treasures of my kingdom
I did not lay up. In Babylon, buildings for myself and for
the honour of my kingdom I did not lay out. In the worship
of Merodach, my lord, the joy of my heart, in Babylon the
city of his sovereignty, and the seat of my empire, I did
not sing his praises, I did not furnish his altars with
victims, nor did I clear out the canals._ Rawlinson’s
_Bampton Lectures_, p. 166, and notes.
456 – Nabonadius or Nabonnedus = _Nabu-nit_ or _Nabu-nahit_,
i.e. _Nebo blesses_ or _makes prosperous_, known amongst
the Greeks as Labynetus.
457 – Recognised by Isaiah as “a shepherd” of the Lord, an
“anointed king” (Is. xliv. 28; xlv. 1).
458 – Pusey’s _Lectures on Daniel_, p. 120; Rawlinson’s _Bampton
Lectures_, p. 170.
459 – On his accession Nabonadius, it is thought, may have
married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. See Pusey, _Lectures
on Daniel_, p. 402; Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 170.
460 – On the delegated authority of this Darius, see Pusey’s
_Lectures on Daniel_, pp. 122, 123; Rawlinson’s _Bampton
Lectures_, p. 171, and notes, p. 445.
461 – See Art. _Darius_, in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._ Some identify
him with Astyages; others with Cyaxares II., a son of
Astyages; others with Neriglissar, or with Nabonadius;
“each of these views,” observes Prof. Rawlinson, “has its
difficulties, and perhaps it is the most probable view
that he was a viceroy set up by Cyrus, of whom there is at
present no trace in profane history,” _Bampton Lectures_,
p. 171.
462 – Dating, according to Prideaux and Davison (_Lectures on
Prophecy_, VI. 1), from B.C. 606.
463 – The Jews who remained and kept up their national
distinctions were called “The Dispersion” (John vii. 35; 1
Pet. i. 1; James i. 1), and “in course of time they served
a great purpose in diffusing a knowledge of the true God,
and in affording a point for the commencement of the
efforts of the Evangelists of the Christian faith.”
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
464 – The chief effects of the Captivity upon the Jews
were these: (i) The old tendency to idolatry had been
eradicated (Comp. Ezek. xxxvi. 24–28); (ii) There had
sprung up a deep reverence for the letter of the Law,
and for their great Lawgiver Moses; (iii) The love of
agriculture had declined, and had given place to a taste
for commerce and trade; (iv) The vernacular language had
also undergone a change (Neh. viii. 8), the old Hebrew
giving place to the Chaldee.
465 – “The name Ahasuerus is undoubtedly the proper Hebrew
equivalent for the Persian word which the Greeks
represented by Xerxes, ... and we are at once struck
with the strong resemblance which his character bears to
that assigned by the classical writers to the celebrated
son of Darius. Proud, self-willed, amorous, careless of
contravening Persian customs; reckless of human life, yet
not actually bloodthirsty; impetuous, facile, changeable,
the Ahasuerus of Esther corresponds in all respects to the
Greek portraiture of Xerxes, which is not the mere picture
of an Oriental despot, but has various peculiarities
which distinguish it even from the other Persian kings.”
Rawlinson’s _Bampton Lectures_, p. 186.
466 – See Calendar, p. 155.
467 – Identified by the latest researches with the modern _Hit_,
on the Euphrates, due East of Damascus, afterwards known
as the Ihi, or Ihi da-kira, “the spring of bitumen.”
Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
468 – “The power of Persia had received by the Athenians a fatal
blow in the victory obtained at Salamis in Cyprus, B.C.
449. The Great King was obliged to submit to a humiliating
peace, among the articles of which were the abandonment
of the maritime towns, and a stipulation that the Persian
army should not approach within three days’ journey of the
sea. Jerusalem being about this distance from the coast,
and standing so near the line of communication with Egypt,
became a port of the utmost value.” Milman’s _History of
the Jews_, I. p. 435. Jahn’s _Heb. Comm._ p. 142.
469 – Either of Horonaim a town of Moab, or of Horon, _i.e._
Beth-horon; he appears to have held some office at Samaria
under Artaxerxes. Smith’s _Bib. Dict._
470 – See Calendar, p. 155.
471 – Westcott’s _The Bible in the Church_, pp. 298, 299.
472 – See pp. 8, 9.
473 – See p. 18.
474 – See pp. 26, 28.
475 – See p. 71.
476 – See pp. 109, 110.
477 – Psalm cx; ii; xlv.
478 – Dan. vii. 13. Westcott’s _Introduction to the N. T._ p. 87.
Davidson _On Prophecy_, p. 205.
479 – Mic. v. 2; Isai. vii. 14.
480 – Zech. vi. 13; Isai. lxi. 1.
481 – Isai. liii. Comp. also ix. 6; xl. 1, 12; xlii. 1, 4;
xlix. 5–7; lii, liv.
482 – Dan. ix. 26, see Pusey _in loc_.
483 – Gal. iv. 4.
484 – See Butler’s _Analogy_, Part II. ch. v.
485 – Gal. iii. 28.
Transcriber’s Notes.
The following corrections have been made in the text:
Page 178:
Sentence starting: It is probable that Kadesh....
– ‘whereever’ replaced with ‘wherever’
(wherever Moses and the Tabernacle)
Page 186:
Sentence starting: A trophy of this victory,...
– ‘Rabbath’ replaced with ‘Rabbah’
(in the city of Rabbah,)
Page 332:
Sentence starting: Meanwhile the Syrians beyond....
– ‘Hadarezer’ replaced with ‘Hadadezer’
(a general of Hadadezer,)
Page 365:
Sentence starting: REZIN, the Syrian,...
– ‘Rezon’ replaced with ‘Rezin’
(REZIN, the Syrian,)
Page 377:
Sentence starting: As he was besieging Gibbethon....
– ‘Isaachar’ replaced with ‘Issachar’
(of the house of Issachar)
– ‘againt’ replaced with ‘against’
(conspired against him)
Page 476:
Sentence starting: After a fast of three days....
– ‘Esth.’ replaced with ‘Ezra’
(Ezra viii. 32))
Page 482:
Sentence starting: No high places were to be seen....
– ‘Astaroth’ replaced with ‘Ashtaroth’
(the impure orgies of Ashtaroth)
Page 489:
Sentence starting: Manasseh brought to Babylon....
– ‘438’ replaced with ‘445’
(See p. 445 n.)
Page 492:
Table starting: 4. Scripture Measures....
– ‘70’ replaced with ‘720’
│960 │♦720│180│60│30│10│
Index Asenath:
– ‘Asenah’ replaced with ‘Asenath’
(Asenath, Joseph’s wife)
Index Rezin:
– ‘Rezon’ replaced with ‘Rezin’
‘366’ replaced with ‘365’
(Rezin, revolts against Solomon, 365)
Index Temple, the:
– ‘Jehohash’ replaced with ‘Jehoash’
(rifled by Jehoash, 425;)
Index Tarshish:
– ‘Tharshish’ replaced with ‘Tarshish’
(Tarshish, silver mines of, 362)
Footnote 20:
– ‘Araba’ replaced with ‘Arabah’ for consistency
(the Arabah led to the Gulf)
Footnote 361:
Sentence starting: Immediately below [the Mohrakah]....
– ‘Mokrakah’ replaced with ‘Mohrakah’
(Immediately below [the Mohrakah])
Footnote 410:
Sentence starting: The captives were located....
– ‘Harran’ replaced with ‘Haran’
(from about Haran to Nisibis)