Hardly had this instance of divine favor occurred in Lydda, when a
new occasion for a similar effort presented itself, in the neighboring
seaport town of Joppa. A female disciple of the faith of Christ,
in that city, by name Tabitha, or in the Greek, Dorcas, (both names
meaning Gazelle,) had distinguished herself and honored her religious
profession, by the generous and charitable deeds which constantly
employed her hands. This lady, so respected by all, and so loved by the
poor, who gave witness to her goodness,――such an honor to the religious
community which she had joined,――seemed to have so nobly done her part
in life, that the order of Providence had apparently called her to rest
from these labors, in that sleep from which no piety nor usefulness can
save or recall their possessor. After a few days of illness, she died,
and was, after the usual funeral ablutions, laid in an upper chamber,
to await the burial. In the midst of the universal grief for this
sad loss, the members of the church at Joppa, knowing that Peter was
in Lydda, within a few hours’ journey, sent two messengers to him, to
beg his presence among them, as some consolation in their distress.
Peter, on hearing of this occasion for his presence, with great
readiness accompanied the messengers back, and on arriving at Joppa,
went straight to the house of mourning. He was immediately led into
the chamber, where he found a most affecting testimony to the nature of
the loss which the afflicted community had suffered. Around the dead,
stood the widows who, in their friendlessness, had been relieved by
the sympathy of Dorcas, now pouring their tears and uttering their
lamentations over her, and showing that even the garments which they
wore were the work of her industrious hand,――that hand which, once
so untiring in these labors of love, was now cold and motionless in
death. From that resistless doom, what mortal voice could ever recall
even one so amiable and useful? But, while they were sorrowing thus,
Peter ordered them all to leave him alone with the dead; and when all
witnesses were removed, he kneeled and prayed. The words of that prayer
are not recorded; and it is only by its successful efficiency that
we know it to have been that fervent effectual prayer of a righteous
man, which availeth much. It was such a prayer as, of old, the son
of Shaphat offered over the dead child of the Shunamite, when alone
with him; and its effect was not less mighty. Rising at length, and
turning towards the body, he said “Tabitha, arise!” Awaking from the
unbreathing sleep of death, as from a light slumber of an hour, she
opened her eyes, and when she saw the majestic man of God alone, and
herself robed for the tomb, she sat up and gazed in amazement. Peter,
then, giving her his hand, lifted her from the funeral couch, and
calling in the brethren and the widows; he presented her to their
astonished eyes, alive. Their overwhelming joy and wonder, we are left
to imagine. The story, when made known through the city, brought many
to acknowledge the truth of that religion whose minister could work
such wonders; and many believed in Christ. The field of labor which now
opened to Peter in this place, seemed so wide that he did not continue
his journey any further at that time, but took up his abode, for
several days, in Joppa, lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, whose
house stood by the sea, near the water.
_Joppa_, now called _Jaffa_.――This was from very early times a
place of great importance, from the circumstance of its being
the nearest seaport to Jerusalem. It is mentioned in reference
to this particular of its situation, in 2 Chronicles ii. 17,
where it is specified (in Hebrew יפו _Japho_) as the port to which
the cedar timber from Lebanon should be floated down in rafts,
to be conveyed to Jerusalem for building the temple. It stood
within the territories of the tribe of Dan, according to Joshua
xix. 46, and lies about East-North-east from Jerusalem. Strabo,
(xvi.) in describing it, refers to it as the scene of the
ancient Grecian fable of Andromeda rescued from the sea-monster
by Perseus. He describes its site as “quite elevated,――so much
so, indeed, that it was a common saying that Jerusalem might
be seen from the place; the inhabitants of which city use it
as their seaport, in all their maritime intercourse.” Josephus
mentions that it was added to the dominions of Herod the
Great by Augustus. Its present appearance is thus described by
travelers.
“It is situated in latitude 32 degrees 2 minutes North, and
longitude 34 degrees 53 minutes East, and is forty miles West
of Jerusalem. Its situation, as the nearest port to the Holy
City, has been the chief cause of its importance. As a station
for vessels, according ♦to Dr. Clarke, its harbor is one of
the worst in the Mediterranean. Ships generally anchor about a
mile from the town, to avoid the shoals and rocks of the place.
The badness of the harbor is mentioned, indeed, by Josephus.
(Josephus, Antiquities, book xv. chapter 9.) * * * The road
is protected by a castle built on a rock, and there are some
storehouses and magazines on the sea-side. The coast is low,
but little elevated above the level of the sea; but the town
occupies an eminence, in the form of a sugar-loaf, with a
citadel on the summit. The bottom of the hill is surrounded with
a wall twelve or fourteen feet high, and two or three feet thick.
* * * There are no antiquities in Jaffa: the place would seem to
be too old to have any――to have outlived all that once rendered
it interesting. The inhabitants are estimated at between four
and five thousand souls, of whom the greater part are Turks
and Arabs; the Christians are stated to be about six hundred,
consisting of Roman Catholics, Greeks, Maronites, and Armenians.”
[Modern Traveler, Palestine, pp. 41, 42.]
♦ “io” replaced with “to”
_Dorcas._――This is the Greek translation of the old Hebrew צבי
(_Tsebi_,) in the Aramaic dialect of that age, changed into תביתא
(_Tabitha_,) in English, “_gazelle_,” a beautiful animal of the
antelope kind, often mentioned in descriptions of the deserts
of south-western Asia, in which it roams; and not unfrequently
the subject of poetical allusion. The species to which it is
commonly supposed to belong, is the _Antilopa Dorcas_ of Prof.
Pallas, who named it on the supposition that it was identical
with this animal, called by the Greeks, Δορκας, (_Dorkas_,) from
Δερκο, (_Derko_,) “to look,” from the peculiar brightness of
“its soft black eye.”