FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA
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Illustration: JERUSALEM.
FROM
DAN TO BEERSHEBA
A DESCRIPTION OF THE
WONDERFUL LAND
WITH
MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS
AND
A PROLOGUE BY THE AUTHOR CONTAINING THE LATEST
EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES
BY
JOHN P. NEWMAN, D.D., LL.D.
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Member
of the London Society of Biblical Archæology
REVISED EDITION
NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON
CINCINNATI: CRANSTON & CURTS
Copyright, 1892, by
JOHN P. NEWMAN,
NEW YORK.
TO
MY WIFE,
THE
JOY
OF
MY LIFE.
This edition of Bishop Newman’s book on Palestine――_From Dan to
Beersheba_――is demanded by its introduction into the course of study
prescribed for the undergraduates in our Annual Conferences, who,
during their ministry, will have frequent occasion to refer to the
history, topography, and customs of the Holy Land, of which this book
so fully and clearly treats.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The two Boundaries.――The parallel Mountains. ―― The great Valley.
―― Inspired Eulogies. ―― Sterile Soil. ―― Gibbon Comparison.
―― Natural and miraculous Causes of present Sterility. ――
Testimonies of pagan Authors on the ancient Productions of
Palestine. ―― Land coveted by the great Nations of Antiquity.
―― A Land of Ruins. ―― Present Fertility and Fruits. ――
Richness of the North. ―― Volney on the Variety of the Climate
of Palestine. ―― Beauties of Spring in the Promised Land. ――
Flowers. ―― Magnificent Scenery. ―― Standard of Landscape
Beauty. ―― Palestine is a World in Miniature. ―― Illustrations.
―― Prophetical Descriptions of the twelve Tribeships. ――
Wonderful Correspondence.
CHAPTER II.
Location of Jerusalem. ―― Strong defensive Position of the City.
―― Surrounding Hills and Valleys. ―― Its Situation compared
to that of Athens and Rome. ―― True Meaning of the 125th Psalm.
―― Tower of Psephinus. ―― The two Valleys. ―― Height of the
adjacent Mountains. ―― A City without Suburbs. ―― Modern Wall.
―― Goliath’s Castle. ―― Immense Stones of Solomon’s Age. ――
Ancient Portals. ―― Beautiful Corner-stone. ―― Pinnacle of
the Temple from which Christ was tempted to throw himself. ――
Golden Gate. ―― Tower of Antonia. ―― Objection to Prophecy
answered. ―― The Bevel the Sign of Jewish Masonry. ―― Great
Cave beneath the City. ―― Wanderings by Torchlight. ――
Solomon’s Quarry. ―― Tyropean Valley. ―― Five Hills of
Jerusalem. ―― Mount Zion. ―― Royal Abode. ―― Herod’s three
Towers. ―― Splendid Church of St. James. ―― House of Caiaphas.
―― Scene of the Last Supper and of Pentecost. ―― Tomb of David.
―― Royal Plunderers. ―― Proof of its Antiquity. ―― Home of the
Lepers. ―― Sad Sight. ―― Akra. ―― Bezetha. ―― Napoleon’s
Church.
CHAPTER III.
Mount Moriah. ―― Site of Solomon’s Temple. ―― Surrounding Walls.
―― Great Fosse. ―― Pasha’s Palace. ―― Council Chamber of the
Jewish Sanhedrim. ―― Jews’ Place of Wailing. ―― Their cruel
Treatment. ―― Scene on Friday Afternoon. ―― Mournful Spectacle.
―― High-priest. ―― Prophecy fulfilled. ―― Solomon’s Bridge. ――
Its Antiquity. ―― Temple Area. ―― Tower of Antonia. ―― Shrines
within the Inclosure. ―― Imposing View. ―― Dome of the Chain.
―― Mosque of Omar. ―― Its grand Exterior. ―― Its History.
―― Its Portals. ―― Its magnificent Interior. ―― Sacred Rock
within the Mosque. ―― Traditions. ―― Scene of the Offering of
Isaac and of other Scriptural Events. ―― Mosque of El-Aksa. ――
Its Interior and History. ―― Solomon’s subterranean Passageway.
―― Extraordinary Workmanship. ―― Mosque of Jesus. ―― Solomon’s
great Vaults. ―― They reflect his Genius. ―― Evidence of their
Antiquity. ―― Solomon’s great Lake beneath his Temple. ―― His
Work. ―― Vicissitudes of Mount Moriah.
CHAPTER IV.
Valley of the Dead. ―― Tombs of the Judges. ―― Of El-Messahney.
―― Of the Kings. ―― Valley of the Kidron. ―― Pillar of Absalom.
―― Traditional Tombs. ―― Jews’ Cemetery. ―― Funeral Procession.
―― Mount of Offense. ―― Virgin’s Fountain. ―― Gardens of
Siloam. ―― Bridal Party. ―― Pool of Siloam. ―― Of En-Rogel. ――
Vale of Hinnom. ―― Burning of Children. ―― Valley of Slaughter.
―― Potters’ Field. ―― Solomon’s Coronation. ―― Pools of Gihon.
―― Pool of Hezekiah. ―― Supply of Water.
CHAPTER V.
Laws of the Credibility of Tradition. ―― Dean Trench on Words.
―― Scenes of the historical Events of Christianity not well
defined. ―― Palm Sunday in Jerusalem. ―― Crossing the Mount
of Olives. ―― Journey to Bethany. ―― Site of the City. ―― Home
of Mary and Martha. ―― Tomb of Lazarus. ―― Christ frequented
Bethany. ―― To his Visits is due its Significance. ―― Touching
Legends. ―― Resurrection of Lazarus. ―― Scene of Christ’s
triumphal March to Jerusalem. ―― Garden of Gethsemane. ―― Old
Gardener. ―― Walls and Iron Gate. ―― Place of Sweet Repose.
―― Flowers. ―― Pictures. ―― Aged Olive-trees. ―― Overwhelming
Emotions. ―― Ascent of the Mount of Olives. ―― Three Paths.
―― David’s Ascent. ―― Connection of the Mount with the two
Dispensations. ―― Scene of the Ascension. ―― True Place. ――
Commanding View from the Summit of Olivet. ―― Passion Week
in Jerusalem. ―― Footsteps of our Lord. ―― Good Friday in
the Holy City. ―― Visit to the Garden. ―― Lord’s Supper.
―― Sleepless Night. ―― Calvary. ―― True Location. ―― Its
Appearance. ―― Appropriate Place. ―― Via Dolorosa. ―― Pilate’s
Judgment-hall. ―― Ecce Homo Arch. ―― Legendary Stations. ――
Crucifixion of Christ dramatized by the Latin Monks. ―― The
Procession. ―― Ascent to Calvary. ―― Tumult. ―― Spectators.
―― Sermons. ―― The Cross. ―― Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
―― Architecture. ―― Scene in the Court. ―― The Façade. ――
Imposing Interior. ―― Chapel of the Greeks. ―― Rotunda. ――
Dome. ―― Holy Sepulchre. ―― Magnificent Decorations. ―― Its
Interior. ―― The Tomb. ―― Holy Shrines. ―― Not the Tomb of
Christ. ―― Difficulties of the Question. ―― Evidence for its
Identity. ―― Objections. ―― Argument against the Site.
CHAPTER VI.
Forty Days and forty Nights in the Holy City. ―― Inside View
of Jerusalem. ―― Streets. ―― Buildings. ―― Commerce. ―― A
Cosmopolitan City. ―― Government Officials. ―― Taxation.
―― Population. ―― Turks. ―― Dervishes. ―― Fast of Ramadan.
―― Feast of Beiram. ―― Moslem Sects. ―― Their Creeds.
―― Quarter of the Jews. ―― Their wretched Condition. ――
Their Nationalities. ―― Pensioners. ―― Jewish Passover. ――
Ceremonies witnessed. ―― Jewish Sabbath in Jerusalem. ――
Synagogue. ―― Education. ―― Mr. Touro and Sir Moses Montefiore.
―― Religious and Industrial Institutions. ―― Christian Sects
in the Holy City. ―― Armenians. ―― Their Wealth. ―― Greeks.
―― Their Influence. ―― Latins. ―― Their Edifices. ―― Monastic
Quarrels. ―― Curious Scene. ―― Rivalry between France and
Russia. ―― Russian Gold. ―― Protestant Christianity in
Jerusalem. ―― English Church. ―― House of Charity. ―― The
two Slave Girls.
CHAPTER VII.
Road to Jericho. ―― Delay. ―― Caravan. ―― Robbers. ―― Ladies.
―― Scenery. ―― Waters of Enshemesh. ―― Wilderness of Judea.
―― Scene of Christ’s Temptation. ―― Thieves of Jericho. ――
Parable of the Good Samaritan. ―― Brook Cherith. ―― Wild
Region. ―― Elijah fed by the Ravens. ―― First View of the
Plain of the Jordan. ―― Evening at Jericho. ―― Ruins of the
ancient City. ―― Historical Events. ―― Fountain of Elisha. ――
’Ain Dûk. ―― Castle of Doch. ―― Jericho of the New Testament.
―― Scene of Herod’s Death. ―― Town of Riha. ―― Site of Gilgal.
―― Great Events. ―― Sunrise on the Plain of Jericho. ――
Richness of the Plain. ―― Quarantania. ―― Description of
Turkish Soldiers. ―― The Ride. ―― Banks of the Jordan. ――
Sources of the Sacred River. ―― The ten Fountains. ―― The
three Lakes. ―― Descent and Sinuosities of the River. ―― Glen
through which it flows. ―― Flowers and Trees on its Banks.
―― Birds in its Shrubbery and Beasts in its Thickets. ―― Its
Color. ―― Depth. ―― Rapidity. ―― Twenty-seven Rapids. ―― Falls.
―― Islands in the River. ―― Roman Bridges. ―― Brook Jabbok. ――
Jacob and the Angel. ―― War Scenes. ―― Entrance of the Jordan
into the Dead Sea. ―― Meaning of Jordan. ―― Pilgrim’s Ford. ――
Charming Scenery. ―― Mountains of Moab. ―― Vision of Balaam.
―― Vision of Moses. ―― His Death. ―― Crossing of the Jordan by
the Israelites. ―― Probable Place. ―― Overflowing of the River.
―― Causes. ―― Translation of Elijah. ―― Cure of Naaman. ――
Baptismal Stations of John the Baptist. ―― Bethabara. ―― Ænon.
―― Scene of Christ’s Baptism here. ―― The Argument for it.
―― Journey to the Dead Sea. ―― Robbers. ―― Features of the
Sea. ―― Delightful Bath. ―― Dimensions of the Sea. ―― Its Bed
coeval with the Upper and Lower Valleys. ―― Sea larger than
formerly. ―― No Outlet. ―― Its Waters evaporate. ―― Peninsula.
―― Island. ―― Surrounding Mountains. ―― Hot Springs of
Callirrhoe. ―― Sublime Chasm. ―― Castle of Machaerus. ―― Wild
Glen. ―― River Arnon. ―― Scenery. ―― City of Kerak. ―― Ruins
of Zoar. ―― Location of Sodom. ―― Manner of its Destruction.
―― Mountain of Salt, cause of the saltness of the Sea. ――
Lot’s Wife. ―― Ruins of Masada. ―― Besieged by Flavius Silva.
―― Tragical Death of 600 Sicarii, their Wives and Children. ――
Fountain of the Kid. ―― David and Saul. ―― Maon. ―― The Home
of Abigail. ―― Journey to Bethlehem. ―― Wilderness of Engedi.
―― A Night with the Monks of Mâr Sâba. ―― The Monastery. ――
Bethlehem. ―― Its Names. ―― Antiquity. ―― History. ―― Convent
of the Franciscans. ―― The Stable of the Nativity. ―― Present
Condition. ―― Pictures. ―― The Manger. ―― Tomb of St. Paula.
―― Cell of St. Jerome. ―― Basilica of St. Helena. ―― Evidence
that this is the Birthplace of Christ. ―― Stable in a House.
―― Situation of Bethlehem. ―― Population. ―― Beautiful Women.
―― Herodium. ―― Tomb of Herod the Great. ―― Cave of Adullam.
―― Hiding-place of David. ―― Its Wonders.
CHAPTER VIII.
En Route for Hebron. ―― Travelers. ―― Beautiful Scenery. ――
Ancient Travelers. ―― Evening. ―― Gray’s Elegy. ―― Search
for Lodgings. ―― Hebron. ―― Its Name. ―― Origin. ―― Home of
Abraham. ―― History. ―― Location of the City and its Environs.
―― Pools. ―― Cave of Machpelah. ―― The Mosque over it. ――
Tombs of the Patriarchs and their Wives. ―― Prince of Wales.
―― Isaac still Lives. ―― Identity of the Cave. ―― Evidence.
―― United in Death. ―― Beersheba. ―― Its ancient Wells. ――
Events of the Past. ―― Changeless Customs. ―― Abraham and the
Angels. ―― Dining with an Arab Sheikh. ―― Grapes of Eshcol. ――
Abraham’s Oak. ―― Ruins. ―― Pool of Solomon. ―― His Aqueduct.
―― Plains of Rephaim.
CHAPTER IX.
Land of the Philistines. ―― Its Limits. ―― Fell to the Lot of
Simeon and Dan. ―― Origin of the Philistines. ―― The meaning
of the Name. ―― Their royal Cities. ―― Their God and Goddess.
―― Journey thither. ―― Valley of Roses. ―― Baptism of the
Eunuch. ―― Home of John the Baptist. ―― Slaughter of the Jews
in the City of Bether. ―― Site of Bethshemesh. ―― Home of
Samson. ―― Village of Zorah. ―― Field where the Angel appeared.
―― Town of Timnath. ―― Lair of the Lion. ―― Home of Delilah.
―― Oriental Weddings. ―― Valley of Shochoh. ―― Scene of the
Conflict between David and Goliath. ―― Correspondence between
Scripture and the natural Features of the Place. ―― The Valley.
―― The Brook. ―― The smooth Stones. ―― The Sling. ―― The
Mountains. ―― The Champions. ―― The Victory. ―― Home of
Goliath. ―― Gath. ―― David’s feigned Insanity. ―― Road to
Eleutheropolis. ―― Its Location. ―― Great Caves. ―― Site
of Lachish. ―― Its great Battle-field. ―― Sennacherib and
Hezekiah. ―― Byron’s Hebrew Melody. ―― Gaza. ―― Palm-groves.
―― Direction of the Road. ―― Site of the City. ―― Modern City.
―― Ancient Ruins. ―― Christian Church. ―― Home of Giants. ――
Gates that Samson carried away. ―― His Prison. ―― The great
Feast. ―― Samson called. ―― His Presence alarms the Multitude.
―― Feats of Strength. ―― Death Scene. ―― He is a Failure.
―― Alexander the Great wounded at Gaza. ―― A Moslem City. ――
Ascalon. ―― Route thither. ―― Stood near the Sea. ―― Ruins. ――
Desolation. ―― History. ―― Adorned by Herod. ―― Captured by
the Crusaders. ―― Road to Ashdod. ―― Beautiful Gardens. ―― No
Ruins. ―― Dagon and the Ark. ―― Road to Joppa. ―― Villages.
―― Joppa on the Sea. ―― Its Antiquity. ―― Floats of Pine and
Cedar. ―― House of Simon. ―― Substantial Structure. ―― Peter’s
Vision. ―― Appearance of the Town. ―― Gate of the City.
―― Population. ―― Jews. ―― Nubian Magician. ―― Magnificent
Orange-groves. ―― Ramleh. ―― Franciscans. ―― Traditions.
―― Antiquities. ―― Tower. ―― View. ―― Ludd. ―― Eneas cured
of Palsy. ―― Church of St. George. ―― Beautiful Ruin. ――
Nether Bethhoron. ―― Wretchedness. ―― Upper Bethhoron.
―― Battle-field of Gibeon. ―― The Battle. ―― Wonderful
Correspondence. ―― Testimony of the Rocks. ―― Ajalon. ―― Sun
and Moon stand still. ―― City of Gibeon. ―― Modern Town. ――
Gibeonites. ―― History. ―― Death of the Gladiators. ―― Pool
of Gibeon. ―― Murder of Amasa. ―― Solomon’s Dream. ―― “The
Look-out.” ―― Mizpeh. ―― National Rendezvous. ―― Ebenezer
Stone. ―― Saul chosen King. ―― Minaret. ―― Vast and
magnificent Prospect.
CHAPTER X.
Northern Palestine. ―― Gibeah. ―― Birthplace of King Saul. ――
Historical Events. ―― Thrilling Story of Rizpah watching her
Dead Sons. ―― Identity of the City. ―― Field of the Arrow.
―― Parting of David and Jonathan. ―― Nob. ―― Massacre of the
Priests. ―― The View. ―― Birthplace of Jeremiah. ―― Geba. ――
Pottage. ―― Benighted. ―― Yusef Shang, of Beeroth. ―― A Night
of strange Experience. ―― Town of Beeroth. ―― Ancient Bethel.
―― Its Desolation. Site of the City. ―― Abraham’s Altar. ――
Parting of Abraham and Lot. ―― The Fountain. ―― Jacob’s Flight
and Dream. ―― Idolatry. ―― Prophecy fulfilled. ―― Route to
Shiloh. ―― Romantic Scenery. ―― Robbers’ Fountain. ―― Wild
Glen. ―― Robbers. ―― Their Dance. ―― Sinjil. ―― Shiloh. ――
Remains. ―― Site discovered in 1838. ―― Tower. ―― Damsels
of Shiloh carried off. ―― Death of Eli. ―― Approach of the
Robbers. ―― An Attack. ―― Resistance. ―― Again assailed. ――
Again resist. ―― Revolvers drawn. ―― Escape. ―― Overtaken.
―― Third Attack. ―― Revolvers in demand. ―― Sixteen against
Four. ―― Serious Moment. ―― One of the Party whipped. ―― Narrow
Escape. ―― Lebonah. ―― Ride to Nablous. ―― Grand View. ――
Evening on the Plain of Mukhrah. ―― Antiquity of Nablous. ――
History. ―― Its beautiful Situation. ―― Population. ―― Inside
View of the Town. ―― Character of the People. ―― Christian
School. ―― Origin of the Samaritans. ―― Remnant of the Nation.
―― Their Creed. ―― Their religious Peculiarities. ―― Their
High-priest. ―― Their sacred Writings. ―― Vale of Shechem.
―― Its Length and Beauty. ―― Cursings and Blessings of the
Law. ―― The Scene. ―― Great Congregation. ―― Twin Mountains.
―― Jacob’s Well. ―― History. ―― Sweet Water. ―― Evidence of
its Antiquity. ―― Jesus at the Well. ―― Woman of Samaria. ――
Accuracy of its evangelical History. ―― Well Sold. ―― Tomb of
Joseph. ―― Symbol of his Life. ―― Ascent of Mount Ebal. ――
Twenty Lepers. ―― Ascent of Mount Gerizim. ―― Almond-groves.
―― Ruins on the Summit. ―― Holy of Holies of the Samaritans.
―― Traditions. ―― Not the Scene of the Offering of Isaac. ――
Samaritan Passover. ―― Impressive Moment. ―― Lambs slain. ――
The Feast.
CHAPTER XI.
A Price for Politeness. ―― Escort. ―― Picturesque Scenery. ――
Samaria. ―― Its Founder. ―― Its Vicissitudes. ―― Residence
of Elisha. ―― Famine. ―― City beautified by Herod. ―― Its
Location. ―― Hill of Omri. ―― Grand Ruins. ―― Tomb of John
the Baptist. ―― Temple of Augustus. ―― Prediction fulfilled.
―― Departure for Cæsarea. ―― Night on the Plain of Sharon. ――
The Sick brought out. ―― Plain of Sharon. ―― The Lost Lake. ――
Cæsarea uninhabited. ―― Dangers. ―― History. ―― Imperial City
under Herod the Great. ―― Grand Ruins. ―― St. Paul a Prisoner.
―― Death of Herod Agrippa. ―― Athlit. ―― Mount Carmel. ――
Scene of the Sacrifice. ―― Great Event. ―― Abode of Elisha.
CHAPTER XII.
Plains of Palestine. ―― No Farm-houses. ―― Great Plain of
Esdraelon. ―― Its Fertility. ―― Topography. ―― River Kishon.
―― World’s Battle-field. ―― Waters of Megiddo. ―― Deborah and
her Victory. ―― Jeneen. ―― Bethshean. ―― Encampment. ―― Modern
Sheikhs and ancient Patriarchs. ―― City of Ruins. ―― Jabesh
Gilead. ―― Pella. ―― Gideon’s Fountain. ―― Mount Gilboa. ――
Battles. ―― Jezreel. ―― Napoleon and the Turks. ―― Shunem.
―― Nain. ―― Endor. ―― Witch’s Cave. ―― Saul and Samuel. ――
Witches. ―― Mount Tabor. ―― Its Form. ―― Woods. ―― View. ――
Misnomer. ―― Transfiguration. ―― It occurred at Night. ――
Argument. ―― Benighted Party.
CHAPTER XIII.
Jerusalem and Capernaum the great Centres of our Lord’s
Ministry. ―― Christ a limited Traveler. ―― Judea and Galilee
contrasted. ―― Provinces of Galilee. ―― The Herods. ―― Meaning
of Galilee. ―― Sea of Galilee. ―― Its Characteristics. ――
Hallowed Associations. ―― Imperial City of Tiberias. ―― Founded
by Herod Antipas. ―― His Crimes. ―― John the Baptist. ―― It
became a Jewish City and the Metropolis of the Race. ―― Home
of eminent Scholars. ―― Now an Arab Town. ―― Citizens. ――
Miraculous Draught of Fishes. ―― Jesus never visited it.
―― Warm Baths of Tiberias. ―― Site of Tarichea. ―― Naval
Engagement. ―― Bridge of Semakh. ―― River Jarmuk. ―― City
of Gadara. ―― Ruins. ―― Tombs. ―― Not the Scene of the
Destruction of the Swine. ―― Argument. ―― Ruins of Gamala. ――
Near here was the Scene of the Miracle. ―― Mouth of the Jordan.
―― Bethsaida Julias. ―― Feeding of the Five Thousand. ―― Our
Lord Walking on the Sea. ―― Home of Mary Magdalene. ―― Rich
Plain of Gennesaret. ―― Parables. ―― Site of Capernaum. ――
Fountain of the Fig. ―― Thrilling History of the City as
connected with Christ. ―― The Woe. ―― Desolation. ―― Bethsaida.
―― Birthplace of Peter, James, and John. ―― Not Bethsaida
Julias. ―― Influence of natural Scenery upon the Formation
of Character. ―― Chorazin. ―― Sudden Gale upon the Sea. ――
Extensive Remains of the City. ―― Without an Inhabitant. ――
Upper Jordan. ―― Waters of Merom. ―― Tell el-Kâdy. ―― City of
Dan. ―― Its Fountain. ―― Cæsarea Philippi. ―― Town of Hasbeiya.
―― Fountain. ―― Highest perennial Source of the Jordan. ――
Mount Hermon. ―― Vast and grand Prospect from its lofty
Summit. ―― Scriptural Allusions. ―― “Valley of the Pigeons.”
―― Sublime Ravine. ―― Mount of Beatitudes. ―― Battle of Hattin.
―― Defeat of the Crusaders. ―― Triumph of Saladin. ―― Route
to Nazareth. ―― Its authentic History is not older than the
Christian Era. ―― Its Valley and Mountains. ―― Population.
―― Schools. ―― Legendary Sites. ―― Scene of the Annunciation.
―― House and Shop of Joseph. ―― Pictures. ―― Fountain. ――
Beautiful Girls of Nazareth. ―― Mount of Precipitation. ――
True Mount. ―― View. ―― Scene of our Lord’s Childhood and
Manhood.
CHAPTER XIV.
Phœnicia. ―― Its Extent and Fertility. ―― Origin of the
Phœnicians. ―― Their Commerce. ―― Their Learning. ―― Departure
from Nazareth. ―― Cana of Galilee. ―― First Christian Wedding.
―― Beautiful Vale of Abilîn. ―― Plain of Accho. ―― City of
’Akka. ―― Names. ―― Metropolis of the Crusaders. ―― Their
Destruction. ―― Gibbon. ―― The Moslem Nero. ―― Napoleon’s
Defeat. ―― Road to Tyre. ―― Summer Palace. ―― Excavations. ――
Wild and dangerous Pass. ―― Antiquity of Tyre. ―― Three Tyres.
―― Stupendous Water-works. ―― Continental Tyre. ―― Sins and
Judgments. ―― Glory departed. ―― How Prophecy was fulfilled.
―― Insular Tyre. ―― Tyre of the Crusaders. ―― Cathedral. ――
Tomb of Hiram. ―― Wonderful Temple. ―― Sarepta. ―― Zidon. ――
Gardens. ―― Ancient Glory. ―― Wars. ―― Harbor. ―― Citadel. ――
Tombs. ―― Interesting Discoveries. ―― Ornaments.
CHAPTER XV.
Mountains of Lebanon. ―― Grand Scenery. ―― Sublime View. ――
Mountain Traveling. ―― Scriptural Allusions. ―― Cedars of
Lebanon. ―― Their Number, Appearance, and symbolic Character.
―― Population of the Mountains. ―― Districts and Peculiarities
of the Druzes and Maronites. ―― New Road. ―― Crossing the
Mountains. ―― Plain of the Bukâ’a. ―― Leontes. ―― A swollen
River. ―― Ancient Cities. ―― Imposing Cavalcade. ―― Wives of
the Pasha of Damascus. ―― First View of Damascus. ―― Splendor
and Enjoyments of the Interior of the City. ―― Great Plain
of Damascus. ―― Abana and Pharpar. ―― Scene of St. Paul’s
Conversion. ―― City without Ruins. ―― Antiquity and thrilling
History of Damascus. ―― House of Judas. ―― Home of Ananias.
―― “Street called Straight.” ―― Naaman’s Palace. ―― Tombs of
the Great. ―― Location of Damascus. ―― Walls and Gates. ―― Old
Castle. ―― Great Mosque. ―― Gardens of Damascus. ―― Commerce
of the City. ―― Curiosities in the Bazars. ―― Population.
―― Christian Citizens. ―― Origin of the Massacre of 1860. ――
Its Progress. ―― Terrible Scenes. ―― American Vice-Consul.
―― Ruins. ―― Sad Results. ―― Defense of the Christians by
Abd-el-Kader. ―― Visit to the Chieftain of Algiers. ―― Our
Reception. ―― Testimonials. ―― His Appearance. ―― Conclusion.
―― Political History of Palestine. ―― Its Condition under the
Turks. ―― It is now in a Transition State. ―― Possessions of
European Nations. ―― Future of the Holy Land. ―― Christian
Missions. ―― Decline of Mohammedanism. ―― Religious Liberty.
―― Future Glory.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Jerusalem
Maps of Southern and Northern Palestine
Immense Stones of Solomon’s Age
Golden Gate――Interior View
Mount Zion and Tower of Hippicus
Jews’ Place of Wailing
Solomon’s Bridge
Mount Moriah, with a View of the Mosque of Omar
Solomon’s subterranean Passage-way
Tombs of the Judges
Tombs of the Kings
Absalom’s Pillar restored
Tombs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat
Fountain of the Virgin
Pool of Siloam
Lower Pool of Gihon
Pool of Hezekiah
Bethany
Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives
Via Dolorosa and the Arch of the Ecce Homo
Church of the Holy Sepulchre――Front View
View of the Holy Sepulchre
Ground Plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
View of Modern Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives
Raven
Plain of Jericho and View of the Dead Sea, from the North
Shooting the Rapids
Dead Sea
Masada
Convent of Mâr Sâba
View of Bethlehem
Cave of the Nativity
Interior of the Church of the Nativity
Tomb of Herod the Great――Herodium
Hebron
Urtâs
Solomon’s Pools
Gaza
Ruins of Askelon
Ashdod
Joppa from the North
Ramleh, or the “Look-out”
Church of St. George
Gibeon
Nablous
Jacob’s Well
Samǎria
Ancient Cæsarea
Women grinding at a Mill
Arab Encampment
Jezreel
Nain
Mount Tabor
Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee
Ruins and Tombs of Gadara
Plain of Gennesaret and Home of Mary Magdalene
Upper Jordan
“Valley of the Pigeons”
Nazareth
Acre from the East
Ladder of Tyre
Tyre
Has el-’Aĭn
Tomb of Hiram
Sidon
Cedars of Lebanon
PROLOGUE.
The Land and the Book are inseparable. Like prophecy and history they
complement each other. They are the reciprocal witnesses of the same
great truth. They stand or fall together. Our chief interest in
Palestine is the confirmation of scriptural allusions to its topography,
the scene of personal and national history. The sacred writers make
incidental references to towns and cities, to valleys and mountains, to
lakes and rivers, to battlefields and other scenes of important events,
around which will forever cluster the most hallowed associations of
our religious faith. They make these allusions with an accuracy of
statement which to-day is in proof of the sincerity of their purpose
and the truthfulness of their record. There is a sublime naturalness
in their narration which is monumental evidence of the facts which they
have transmitted to mankind. These frequent off-hand references clearly
indicate that the sacred writers resided in Bible Lands, that they
witnessed the events they recorded, and were familiar with the times,
places, and persons of which they wrote.
Unbelievers realize the force of this argument and have sought, but
in vain, to charge the inspired penmen with inaccuracy, and thus throw
distrust upon their history; but they have found to their consternation,
both by personal observation and the testimony of travelers, that the
Bible is the most reliable handbook of Palestine extant.
During one of my visits to Jerusalem I chanced to meet a venerable
English barrister who had made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to write
a book against the Bible founded on the supposed discrepancies between
the Land and the Book; and I subsequently met him at Beyroot, after his
_fruitless_ journey from “Dan to Beersheba.” While at Mosul, opposite
ancient Nineveh, I met George Smith, sent forth by a London journalist
to explore the Assyrian ruins, and who, as archæologist and philologist,
ranks with Layard and Rassam. He went out an unbeliever, but such is
the agreement between the record of the ruins and the record of the
Book, that Mr. Smith returned to London a believer, and lectured before
the Society of Biblical Archæology on the marvelous synchronisms of the
Assyrian tablets and the sacred historians.
_From Dan to Beersheba_ was written to verify these references. It
has the advantage of having been written on the scene of the recorded
event, in notes taken for future elaboration of all that had transpired
thereon, whether in sacred or profane history. It was my custom, from
which I seldom deviated, to read on the spot every reference in the
Bible to each locality I visited, and to record my observations and
impressions while my mind was aglow with the recollections of the
hallowed associations of the place and impressed with the extraordinary
agreement between the inspired narration and the present aspect of the
scene where the grand events had transpired; so that the traveler of
to-day, with this book in hand, will have his memory refreshed and his
mind inspired by a picture of what once occurred on the accredited
historic site.
Through all the turbulent centuries since Christ ascended, Palestine
has been a “changeless land,” whose social customs, mechanic arts,
commercial and manufactural methods have suffered little from contact
with Western civilization, and it should be the ambition of Christendom
to preserve it _intact_ to the last generation of mankind. Providence
calls us to preserve this monumental land. The changeful influence of
the mighty West is seen to-day on lower Egypt, on Asia Minor, on Grecia
and Rome in Europe, but Palestine abides the same forever; as Christ
and his apostles left it we now see it, and so should it be seen by
all future ages. Impelled by sectarian zeal or for political purposes,
the nations of Europe have sought supremacy there, and the Promised
Land is the larger factor in the Eastern Question, but neither France,
nor Russia, nor England should take possession, but rather a syndicate,
representing all nations and all creeds, should hold it in fee simple
by purchase from the Sultan subject to such rights of property as may
vest in the present inhabitants.
It is a land of buried cities which await the coming of the spade.
Names are to be verified, places are to be identified, dates are to be
reconciled. The whole land should be open to research. Modern Jerusalem
should be removed. The Jerusalem of Solomon and of Christ is from two
to three hundred feet buried beneath the present city. That religious
metropolis of the world has suffered twenty-seven sieges, and eleven
cities have been built upon the ancient site. Each conqueror leveled
the _débris_ and thereon reared his new capital. Vital questions await
the spade of the explorer. Much has been accomplished within the last
twenty years, and more awaits the efforts of the future.
The whole of western Palestine has been surveyed, and the biblical
gains have been immense. Not less than six hundred and twenty-two names
west of the Jordan are given by the sacred writers. Of these we had
knowledge of two hundred and sixty-two, and by the survey one hundred
and seventy-two were discovered and added to our list, leaving one
hundred and eighty-eight to be uncovered by the archæologist. Some of
these are insignificant, but others are of intense interest, such as
Mamre, Gethsemane, and Arimathea, around which cluster most hallowed
memories. The surveyors have determined the boundaries of the tribes,
the march of armies, the routes of pilgrims, merchants, and kings.
Beautiful Tirzah, royal residence of Jeroboam, has been identified,
with its enchanting landscape――“Beautiful as Tirzah, comely as
Jerusalem”――and in the rocks are to be seen the tombs of the kings
of Israel. The famous battlefield of Sisera and Deborah has been
traced, the relative positions of the contending hosts by the waters
of Megiddo, the path of the flight of Sisera, when “the river Kishon
swept them away, that river of battles, the river Kishon,” the site of
the black tent of Heber the Kenite, where the generous Jael gave the
royal fugitive Leban a delicious preparation of curdled milk, and then,
when he infringed upon oriental etiquette and insulted her womanhood by
forcing himself into the women’s apartments, the avengeful Jael drove
the iron tent-peg into the offender’s brain.
The “Brook Cherith,” from which Elijah drank, and the “Valley of
Achor,” where Achan was stoned, have been identified, and the site of
Bethabara, dear to all Christians, has been recovered. The native name
Abârah, a passage or ferry, now marks one of the fords of the Jordan,
just above where the Jalûd debouches into the sacred river, and means
the same as Bethabara――a “ferry.” This disarms the critics of the
fourth gospel, inasmuch as Cana of Galilee is but twenty-two miles
from Abârah, a day’s journey, while from the traditional site of our
Lord’s baptism the distance is eighty miles. Forty fords of the Jordan
have been identified; hundreds of ancient names have been recovered;
the site of Gilgal has been determined; the tombs of Joshua and of
Nun, and the tombs of Eleazar and Phinehas, successors of Aaron in
the priesthood, have been rescued from oblivion, and are to be seen in
Mount Ephraim, south of Shechem, all of which appear of great antiquity.
In the first chapter of this book I gave what seemed to me at the
time the wonderful correspondence between the prophetical descriptions
of the twelve tribeships and the present aspects and conditions
of those twelve sections, as to climate, physical features, soil,
cultivation, and natural products, and the recent surveys more than
confirm this correspondence. It is now apparent that the boundaries of
the tribal possessions were rivers, ravines, ridges, and the watershed
lines of the country, and, above all, the fertility of the soil was
in accordance with the density of population, and this density is now
indicated by the larger number of ancient ruins.
While excavations have been made with more or less success in all the
notable sections of the land, those of chief interest to the biblical
scholar are in and about the holy city. There shafts have been sunk
through the _débris_ one hundred and twenty-five feet below the present
surface of the ground. In those researches the foundation stones of the
walls of the temple area were laid bare; Phœnician jars were found, on
which are Phœnician characters; a subterranean passage was uncovered,
a secret passage for troops from the citadel to the temple in times of
danger; old aqueducts were brought to light; the ancient wall on Mount
Ophel was traced hundreds of feet; the first wall on Mount Zion, and
the probable site of the second wall, on which so much depends touching
both the Temple and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, were discovered.
The explorer has confirmed the historical statement of the glories of
the temple of God, one thousand feet long and two hundred feet high,
the grandest structure ever dedicated to divinity.
In their explorations they found fragments of earthenware at a depth
of ninety feet, belonging to the city of the Jebusites, B.C. 1500;
they uncovered pavements, one of mezzah stone, and between the
pavements rubbish twenty feet deep, and under a second pavement was
found Haggai’s seal, bearing the Hebrew inscription, “Haggai, son of
Shebaniah,” B.C. 500. And in those depths of the ages were found lamps,
dishes, stone weights, and a Phœnician jar, standing upright where the
workmen of King Hiram of Tyre left it 3,000 years ago, and beautiful
vases of black ware covered with crimson glaze. They were rewarded for
their patient toil by uncovering immense columns, broken arches, vast
vaults, the bases of great towers, and large water tanks, four hundred
feet long, subterranean passageways, with their steps _in situ_,
and strong triple gates; they exhumed the lower courses of Solomon’s
city wall, seven hundred feet long and whereon are painted Phœnician
characters in red paint, still bright, and they brought to light a
stone cross inscribed, “The light of Christ shines forth for all.” For
these magnificent results we are indebted to two Americans, Robinson
and Barclay, and to two Englishmen, Warren and Conder.
In my visits to the holy city I experienced a keen regret that I was
not treading the streets trodden by Christ and his apostles. They
are hidden beneath the accumulated rubbish of ages. As I walked the
crooked, neglected lanes of modern Jerusalem I felt I was treading upon
the buried temples and palaces and avenues of Solomon’s glorious reign
which await a resurrection by the spade, when the crescent goes down
and the cross goes up. The regret I had experienced was relieved when
I stood upon Mount Moriah, whose summit remains in its form and aspect
as when Jesus “walked in Solomon’s Porch;” or when I crossed the little
stone bridge which spans the Kedron, so often pressed by his weary feet;
or when I sat on the slopes of Olivet and “beheld the city” which in
its former majesty and glory rose before his divine vision.
Until the uncivilized and uncivilizing Turk is driven from the holy
city, and until Christendom owns that religious metropolis of the world,
and until the archæologist can pursue his noble work unmolested, two
questions will remain in dispute――the site of Calvary and the site
of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Greeks and Latins claim that both
are within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a claim which rests upon
the traditions of centuries, but which can never be substantiated
beyond a doubt until the second wall of the Jerusalem of Christ can be
definitely traced. Both English and American explorers of to-day place
Calvary on the ridge over the Grotto of Jeremiah, north of the city and
near the Damascus Gate. From immemorial time this has been called the
“Hill of Execution;” it resembles the human skull, and the Jews esteem
it accursed, and exclaim as they pass it, “Cursed be he who destroyed
our nation by aspiring to be king thereof.” And to the west of the hill,
two hundred yards north of the Damascus Gate, on one side is a lane
leading to St. Stephen’s Church, and opposite is an arched gateway of
stone, with wooden door, which opens into a garden, and in the garden
is the tomb. The tomb has never been finished, yet it has been occupied;
its construction is Herodian, about the time of Christ; it has been
occupied for only one burial; it is a Jewish tomb and designed for one
of wealth and influence; it has been used for Christian worship, and
upon its walls can now be traced faintly a frescoed cross with the
sacred monograms.
Interesting and remarkable as are the recoveries thus far made, a
larger future awaits the archæologist. There are venerable traditions
which point to hidden vaults and subterranean passageways beneath
ancient Jerusalem wherein were secreted during the last and fatal
siege of the city the Ark of the Covenant, the autograph copy of the
Pentateuch, and the sacred vessels of the temple which were brought
back from Babylon, and these traditions have been confirmed by the
excavations of the present day. And there is good reason to believe
that St. Matthew’s gospel in Hebrew, together with some of the
apostolic letters, were deposited in a place of security when the storm
of persecution burst upon the Church in Jerusalem. A few inscriptions
have been found and translated, illustrative of the Scripture record.
A tablet has been recovered on which is an inscription in Greek――the
characters are monumental in size――which is a notice to strangers not
to pass through the sacred inclosure of the temple: “No stranger is
to enter within the balustrade round the temple inclosure; whoever is
caught will be responsible to himself for his death, which will ensue.”
This recalls the episode recorded in Acts xxi, 26, when St. Paul,
after his purification, was accused of introducing into the temple
the Gentile Trophimus of Ephesus, which caused a riot, that was
quelled by the intervention of the Tribune, who rescued Paul. In the
Pool of Siloam there was discovered an inscription, the letters of
which closely resemble those on the Moabite stone. On this tablet,
twenty-seven inches square, is recorded in six lines a commemoration
of the completion of the tunnel, which is a third of a mile long and
connects the Virgin’s Fount with the Pool of Siloam, and dates back to
the reign of Solomon. And at Bethphage a stone was uncovered on which
are frescoes representing the raising of Lazarus and the triumphal
procession in honor of our Lord, and strong arguments are adduced that
on this stone the Saviour rested when he sent his disciples to the city.
These are but intimations of the future, when biblical research can be
carried forward unhindered by the greed of the Turk or the fanaticism
of the Jew.
While we wait patiently for the incoming of that better day, Jerusalem
is attracting the attention of all peoples. Palestine is still the
“high bridge” of the nations, over which the commerce of the world
must pass from west to east. The old saying of Scripture is still true:
“I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the nations,” and for some wise
purpose it is destined to be the religious metropolis of the world.
Sixty thousand people dwell within her walls; eight thousand Turks hold
the city and rule it with an iron hand. They have neither patriotism
nor honor; they are robbers in the disguise of government officials.
Forty-two thousand Jews have come from Spain, Poland, and the ends of
the earth, who are paupers, and who divide their time between wailing
over their departed glory and living on the charity of others. Ten
thousand Christians are denizens of the once proud city, who stand
guard over the “sacred places” and are the thrift and hope of the place.
Four thousand orthodox Greeks and four thousand orthodox Latins watch
each other with a jealous eye, and are ready for the fray whenever
the “Silver Star of Bethlehem is stolen.” The Arminian Christians are
merchant princes; the Syrians live on the venerable past; the Copts
and Abyssinians are few and poor; and the four hundred Protestants
represent the brain, the heart, the enterprise, the piety, and the
charity of modern Jerusalem. They are American and Scotch Presbyterians,
German Lutherans, and Anglican Episcopalians. They have founded
hospitals, organized schools, built churches, created a healthful
literature, and are the energy of public opinion. While many are
waiting for the restoration of the Jews these noble Protestant
Christians are preparing the way for the coming of the Lord, when
Jerusalem shall be rebuilt and made holy and once again be the joy of
the whole earth.
Illustration: ‡ signature of John P. Newman.
Illustration: NORTHERN PALESTINE.
Illustration: SOUTHERN PALESTINE.
FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA.
CHAPTER I.
The two Boundaries. ―― The parallel Mountains. ―― The great
Valley. ―― Inspired Eulogies. ―― Sterile Soil. ―― Gibbon’s
Comparison. ―― Natural and miraculous Causes of present
Sterility. ―― Testimonies of pagan Authors on the ancient
Productions of Palestine. ―― Land coveted by the great Nations
of Antiquity. ―― A Land of Ruins. ―― Present Fertility and
Fruits. ―― Richness of the North. ―― Volney on the Variety
of the Climate of Palestine. ―― Beauties of Spring in the
Promised Land. ―― Flowers. ―― Magnificent Scenery. ―― Standard
of Landscape Beauty. ―― Palestine is a World in Miniature.
―― Illustrations. ―― Prophetical Descriptions of the twelve
Tribeships. ―― Wonderful Correspondence.
THE boundaries of Palestine are defined by the sacred writers according
to the Land of Possession and the Land of Promise. The extreme length
of the former is 180 miles from north to south, the average breadth
50 miles from east to west, and it has a superficial area of 14,000
square miles. The latter is 360 miles long, 100 broad, and contains
2,800 square miles, being three and a half times larger than New
Jersey, twice as large as Maryland, of equal extent with South Carolina,
and of exact proportion to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont
combined. The limits of the lesser area are from “Dan to Beersheba”
north and south, and from the Jordan to the Mediterranean east and
west. The boundaries of the greater area are from the “Waters of Strife,
in Kadesh,” on the south, to the “entrance of Hamath” on the north,
and from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the western border
of the Arabian Desert.[1] Moses describes the Land of Promise;[2]
Samuel, the Land of Possession;[3] the former, what was included in the
original grant; the latter, what was actually possessed by the “chosen
people.” And although the twelve tribeships remained substantially the
same as surveyed by Joshua, yet both David and Solomon held dominion
from the Nile to the Euphrates, and in them was fulfilled God’s promise
to Abraham.[4]
It is the remark of an eminent writer that “there is no district on
the face of the globe containing so many and such sudden transitions as
Palestine, being at once a land of mountains, plains, and valleys.”[5]
Far to the north, at the “entering of Hamath,” commence two parallel
ranges of limestone mountains, extending southward to the Desert of Tîh
and Arabia Petræa, which are branches of the ancient Taurus chain, and
a continuation of that mountain tract stretching from the Bay of Issus
to the Desert of Arabia, called Lebanon. The western ridge attains its
greatest altitude, opposite Ba’albek, in Jebel Mukhmel, whose summit
rises 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. Continuing southward
to the point opposite Tyre, the chain is broken by the River Leontes
flowing through a sublime gorge into the Mediterranean. Decreasing
in height, but expanding in breadth, the ridge continues south of
the ravine to the hills of Nazareth and the wooded cone of Tabor,
where it is broken again by the great plain of Esdraelon, through
which the Kishon flows to the sea, separating the hills of Galilee
from the mountains of Samaria. Coming up from the Bay of ’Akka in a
southeasterly direction is Mount Carmel, immediately to the south of
which are the hills of Samaria. Rising from the southern border of
Esdraelon, and stretching southward thirty-three miles, they terminate
in Ebal and Gerizim, where the chain is broken for the third time by
the Plain of Mukhnah. Beyond this vale are the mountains of Ephraim,
extending to Bethel, where the Heights of Benjamin begin, which extend
to the valley of the Kedron. Here the ridge takes the name of the “Hill
Country of Judea,” running in a wide, low, irregular mountain tract
to the southern limit of Palestine. Excepting the promontory of Carmel,
the southern section of the Lebanon range is farther removed from the
sea, leaving at its base a maritime plain more than 150 miles long,
embracing the beautiful Sharon on the north, and the Land of Philistia
on the south.
Twenty miles to the east of the Lebanon, and at the “entering of
Hamath,” the anti-Lebanon chain begins, running parallel to the former
in a southwestern direction. Though of less general altitude than
its companion ridge, it includes Mount Hermon, 10,000 feet high, and
rivaling in the grandeur of its form and the sublimity of its scenery
the loftiest peaks of Syria. Thirty-three miles south of Hermon the
eastern range sweeps round the Sea of Galilee, taking the name of the
Mountains of Gilead along the east bank of the Jordan, and the names of
Ammon and Moab along the shore of the Dead Sea, and finally terminating
with the hills of Arabia Petra at the head of the Bay of Akabah.
Next to these mountain chains, the most remarkable feature in the
physical geography of Palestine is the great valley, which, commencing
amid the ruins of ancient Antioch, runs southward between the two
parallel ridges of Lebanon and anti-Lebanon. Measuring more than 300
miles in length, and being from seven to ten miles broad, it serves as
the bed of the Orontes, the Litâny, and the Jordan. Bearing the name of
Cœlesyria, its southern section has an elevation of 2300 feet above the
sea; but from its westerly branch, through which the Leontes flows to
the village of Hasbeiya, it rapidly descends, and at its intersection
with the Plain of el-Hûleh, a distance of less than twenty miles,
_it is on a level with the sea_. At the Lake of Tiberias it has a
depression of 653 feet, and reaches its greatest depth in the chasm of
the Dead Sea, the surface of whose waters is 1312 feet below the level
of the Mediterranean.
To the cursory observer there is an air of extravagance in the
inspired descriptions of the Promised Land. Dwelling with delight upon
the fruits of the soil, the pleasures of the climate, and the grandeur
of the scenery, the poets and historians of the Bible ascribe to it a
marvelous fertility, and in their glowing encomiums other lands sink
into insignificance when compared to the favored inheritance of Jacob,
and even the rich valley of the Nile is to be cheerfully exchanged
for the rich hills and valleys of Palestine.[6] Such was to be its
richness, that from the “cattle on a thousand hills,” and from the
thymy shrubs and the numberless bees inhabiting its venerable forests,
it was to be “a land flowing with milk and honey.”[7] Such was to be
its fruitfulness, that the “threshing was to reach unto the vintage,
and the vintage reach unto the sowing-time.”[8]
Such was to be its metallic wealth, that it was to be “a land whose
stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper.”[9]
Unlike Egypt, which is dependent upon the Nile for a supply of water,
it was to be a country superior in its mountain springs and in its
“early and latter rains.”[10] Repeating the eulogistic utterances of
Moses, and realizing the promises he had made, five centuries later
David sings, “The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are
covered with corn; they shout for joy; they also sing. The Lord causeth
the grass to grow for cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he
may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the
heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine.”[11]
But, whatever may have been the appearance of Southern Palestine in
those distant ages, it appears at present, especially its mountain
regions, to be little better than a vast limestone quarry, covered with
small gray stones, offensive to the eye, painful to the foot of man and
beast, and seemingly incapable of a harvest. An aspect so sterile and
forbidding induced the author of “The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire” to institute the comparison that “Palestine is a territory
scarcely superior to Wales either in fertility or extent.”[12]
Conceding this apparent barrenness, the causes of the change which
has taken place in the lapse of so many centuries are at once natural
and miraculous. The frequent changes of government, the rapacity of
officials, the insecurity of property, the religious animosity of rival
sects, the barbarian ignorance of the peasantry as to the enlightened
principles of agriculture, together with a moral degradation
universally prevalent, are adequate causes, when operating during a
long series of years, to change the face of any country, and doom it to
almost irreclaimable barrenness. It is also true that the destruction
of the woods of any section on the earth’s surface, and particularly
the trees on the mountain-tops, which invite and arrest the passing
clouds, tends to the diminution of rain and to the consequent evils of
the drought. The condition of Germany since the disappearance of its
great forests, and of Greece since the fall of the large plane-trees
which once shaded the bare landscape of Attica,[13] illustrates the
fact that where the land is denuded of its herbage and foliage, which
casts a cooling shade upon the ground, the scorching rays of the sun
penetrate more certainly and intensely, promoting evaporation, causing
the springs and fountains to fail, and at the same time increasing the
absorbent capacity of the soil;[14] but where the valleys are clothed
with verdure, and the mountains with forests, a larger quantity of
moisture is retained in the ground, a lower temperature exists in
the atmosphere, and the clouds are drawn to the spot in obedience to
meteorological laws.[15] To Titus belongs the shame of having stripped
the hills about Jerusalem of their magnificent olive-groves, and,
from the destruction of the Holy City to the present century, Southern
Palestine has been a vast common for the marauding and predatory bands
of Saracens and Persians, of Mamelukes and Turks, whose innumerable
herds and flocks have wandered at liberty over gardens and fields,
through groves and forests, consuming and destroying both plants and
trees, and thereby diminishing the usual quantity of rain in the proper
seasons.
While to every candid mind such are sufficient causes for this
apparent sterility, yet to the Christian a miraculous interference
with the ordinary course of nature for the attainment of a moral end
is an additional consideration why Palestine is not now what it was in
the days of Moses and David. Assuming to exercise a special care over
the land, Jehovah represents himself as sending and withholding rain
according to the obedience or disobedience of his chosen people: “Thou
hast polluted the land with thy wickedness, therefore the showers
have been withholden, and there has been no latter rain.”[16] “I have
withholden the rain from you when there were yet three months to the
harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not
to rain upon another city.”[17] Hazardous as it would seem, in human
estimation, to suspend the continuance of rain and national prosperity
upon the continued faithfulness of human beings, yet it most evidently
appears that, so long as the Jews remained faithful and obedient as
a nation, just so long, and no longer, was their land blessed with
prosperity; and, whenever they became guilty of defection, the rains of
heaven were withheld, and their land became desolate. The evil, however,
experienced by the present tiller of the soil is not the want of rain,
but rather its proper distribution. Whatever effect the denudation
of the country of its foliage may have had to diminish the vernal and
summer showers, it is a remarkable fact that it rains more copiously in
Syria than in the United States; but, commencing in November, the rainy
season continues only till February, while during the eight or nine
succeeding months there is scarcely a shower falls. Such an unequal
distribution of rain could not fail to injure the most fertile portions
of the globe.[18]
Though unquestionably true that the structure and composition of
the soil for miles around Jerusalem must always have been essentially
what it is now, of a rough limestone nature, and as such it must have
appeared in the palmiest age of the Jewish commonwealth, yet in those
happier days, under a mild and an enlightened government, no part was
waste; the more fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces,
others were covered with orchards of fruit-trees, while the more
rocky and barren districts were converted into vineyards. But in the
process of time the terraces which supported the soil upon the steep
declivities have been destroyed, and the accumulated earth has been
swept away by the rains, leaving naked hills “where once grew the corn
and crept the vine.”
Those who quote Gibbon against Moses and David with so much triumph,
should also cite pagan authors of higher antiquity and of equal
authority in their favor. In his description of Jericho, Strabo speaks
of “a grove of palms, and a country of a hundred stadia full of springs
and well-peopled.” According to Tacitus, “the inhabitants of Palestine
are healthy and robust, the rains moderate, and the soil fertile.”
Ammianus Marcellinus is even more explicit than his predecessors:
“The last of the Syrias is Palestine, a country of considerable extent,
abounding in clean and well-cultivated land, and containing some fine
cities, none of which yield to the other, but, as it were, being on a
parallel, are rivals.”[19]
Regarding it as a valuable accession to their dominions, Palestine
was a prize for which the Assyrians and Egyptians, the Greeks and
Romans, the Persians and Saracens, fought to conquer and retain. To
each it was the “diamond of the desert;” and coveting the fruits of
the soil, and sighing for the delights of the climate, they each in
turn also contended for the advantages its central position afforded
as a military station between the east and west, the north and south.
Charmed with its gardens, the fascinating Cleopatra induced Antony to
take from Herod the Great the noble plain of Jericho and annex it to
her dominions, that she might possess the celebrated balm and the other
valuable drugs and fruits it then produced.[20] Delighted with its
fertility, its opulence, and populousness, Chosroes of Persia aspired
to its permanent conquest; and, a quarter of a century later, the
Saracens feared to have Omar see Jerusalem, lest the richness of the
surrounding country and the purity of the air might tempt him never to
return to the holy city of Medina. As significant of its fruitfulness,
both Vespasian and Titus caused medals to be struck on which Palestine
is represented by a female under a palm-tree; and there are medals
still extant on which Herod is represented as holding a bunch of grapes,
and the young Agrippa as displaying fruit.[21]
Confirming alike the testimony of both sacred and profane writers,
there are still two traces of the ancient productiveness of the soil.
On the plains, in the valleys, upon the hills, every where, from the
river to the sea, from “Dan to Beersheba,” are ruins――broken cisterns,
prostrate walls, crumbling terraces, and old foundations, indicating
the greatness of an earlier population, and the abundant harvests which
supported the millions once dwelling within these narrow limits. These
silent but unmistakable indications of the populousness of a former age
are more significant than the testimony of Tacitus and Josephus. Though
wanting the air of grandeur of the ruins of Thebes and Palmyra, yet
there is the vineyard tower, the peasant’s cottage, the streets, the
walls, the dwellings of the once large and thriving village; and on the
hillside and in the field is seen the ruined sheepfold, the wine-press,
the ancient oil and flour mill; while along all the highways, and
in many a retired valley, are water-tanks and reservoirs now dry and
broken. Neither in Egypt nor in Greece is the aspect of desolation more
complete. In the one and in the other are the remains of mighty cities,
with their stupendous temples and magnificent palaces; but here, in
close proximity, as one might expect to find in a country of shepherds
and husbandmen, is the mound of ruins, the forsaken village, the
desolate city.
Like the remains of those ancient habitations, there are still
evidences, in the present capacity and products of the soil, sustaining
the claim that the Holy Land was once a land of “wheat and barley,”
of “wine and oil.” As of old, the Plain of Jericho repays the toil of
husbandry, and only requires proper tillage to make it “even as the
garden of the Lord.” For many miles around Joppa the Plain of Sharon
is a vast and beautiful garden, yielding the most delicious oranges,
lemons, plums, quinces, apricots, and bananas. In the Vale of Eshcol
and on the Heights of Urtâs are produced the finest grapes in the world;
while around all the larger towns of Philistia, and in the environs of
Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Gibeon, are the largest and richest
olive-groves, fig and almond orchards in the East.
Though forbidding in aspect and apparently hopelessly sterile, yet,
considering the nature of the soil, the kind of crops it is best
adapted to produce, and the crude husbandry here practiced, the flinty
region of Southern Palestine is equal in productiveness to many of
the best portions of Europe and America. All that can be reasonably
demanded of a country is to yield in fair proportion, with ordinary
appliances, the indigenous fruits of the climate. The mountain tract
from Shiloh to Hebron is the proper region for the olive and the vine,
and one acre of the stony surface of Olivet, planted with olive-trees
and carefully tended, would yield more through the exchanges of
commerce toward human subsistence than a larger tract of the richest
land in New York planted to corn. While corn is simply an article
of food, the olive berry subserves a variety of purposes. Besides
being used by the natives for food, and, as such, in large quantities
exported to other countries, it contains a delicious oil, which,
in domestic life, is the substitute for butter and lard, and in
manufacture is employed in making soap and candles, and for lubricating
machinery.[22] While, as in the days of the Psalmist, the olive and the
grape, together with wheat, barley, and corn, are the staples of life,
yet there are here annually raised in great abundance cauliflowers,
cabbages, radishes, lettuce, beans, peas, onions, garlic, carrots,
beets, leeks, lentiles, celery, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes,
pumpkins, together with the egg-plant and sugar-cane. There are also
cultivated, in all their deliciousness, figs, apricots, peaches, plums,
oranges, lemons, citrons, limes, mandrakes, pomegranates, apples,
pears, dates, bananas, quinces, cherries, watermelons, muskmelons, with
almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. In many northern districts cotton
and tobacco are extensively cultivated, while in all sections herds of
cattle and flocks of sheep and goats are raised for food and raiment.
Possessing a climate marked with the peculiarities of the three zones,
and yielding annually such harvests of grains and fruits for the
sustenance of more than a million and a half of people, the Promised
Land, under an enlightened Christian government, might be restored to
its original fertility and pristine beauty.
Whatever apology is necessary for the vindication of the sacred writers
as to the southern portion of their native land, none, however, is
needed to sustain them in their loftiest praises of all their ancient
territory north of the ruins of Bethel. While in the south “Judah
washed his garments in wine and his cloths in the blood of grapes,”
in the north the powerful house of Joseph had the “precious things of
heaven and the precious things of the lasting hills.” Beyond the tribal
possessions of Benjamin the soil is no less rich than the scenery is
grand; within the inheritance of Ephraim, the Plain of Mukhnah and the
Vale of Shechem resemble vast gardens, while the mountains and valleys
of Samaria, the plains of Sharon and Esdraelon, and the fields and
hills of Galilee, stretching from the lakes to the sea, pronounce their
own eulogy.
An elegant writer has justly observed that “Syria unites different
climates under the same sky, and collects within a small compass
pleasures and productions which nature has elsewhere dispersed at
great distances of time and place. To the advantage which perpetuates
enjoyments it adds another, that of multiplying them by the variety of
its productions.”[23]
Though lying within the same parallels of latitude with Washington
and New Orleans, yet, owing to its peculiar geological structure and
configuration, the climate is essentially different. On the higher
slopes of Lebanon the summer months are cool and pleasant as on our
native Catskills, but in the deep valley of the Jordan, and on the
shores of the Dead Sea, the heat is as intense and debilitating
as on the plains of Southern India. Along the sea-board the same
variety prevails. Where the high mountains crowd down upon the coast,
reflecting the light and heat of a Syrian sun, the region is sultry and
unhealthy, but where the mountains retire and the soil is dry the air
is pure and delightful.
Properly speaking, there are but two seasons in Palestine,
appropriately described in that sublime repetition――“winter and summer,
cold and heat, seed-time and harvest;” but on the mountain range the
four seasons are distinctly perceptible. Though the loftier summits
of Lebanon are covered with snow the year round, yet frost and ice are
only occasionally seen in the vicinity of Jerusalem. While in summer
a gentle breeze from the Mediterranean plays over the central ridge
from morning till night, at other seasons of the year the winds blow
a tornado. Sand-storms arise, blinding to the eyes, and rendering
near objects indistinct; hail-storms are frequent and violent, and, as
of old, the “south wind” blows, lasting for many days at a time, and
frequently assuming all the dreadful characteristics of the sirocco.
Commencing with the beginning of November, the winter rains continue
with short intervals until March, when spring wears her floral mantle,
and, casting its ample folds over the Land of Promise, hides its
otherwise rougher features; then follows the long rainless summer, with
transparent atmosphere and hazy skies alternating, and with intense
heat, parched soil, and streams few and scanty, which is succeeded by
autumn, with its red and golden vintage, and atmosphere of unsurpassed
balminess.
But spring is the most delightful season of the year in the Holy
Land, whether to enjoy the pleasures of the climate or behold the
magnificence of the scenery. Then the skies are bright, the air balmy,
and the vernal sun lights up the landscape with a thousand forms
of beauty. Then sparkling fountains are unsealed, silver brooks go
murmuring by, and wild cascades, leaping from their rocky heights, come
dashing down the mountain side, scattering in their descent wreaths of
rainbow spray. Then the valleys and the hills are clothed with verdure,
the fields are green with grains and grasses, the fig and palm-tree are
in blossom, the almond, apricot, olive, and pomegranate are ripening,
and the cypress, tamarisk, oak, walnut, sycamore, and poplar are
decked with the clean fresh foliage of a new year. Then herds of camels
and buffaloes are browsing on the meadows, and flocks of sheep and
goats go gamboling up the mountain sides. Then, in all the glens, on
all the vast prairie plains, and over all the highest mountains are
flowers blooming――anemones, oleanders, amaranths, arbutuses, poppies,
hollyhocks, daisies, hyacinths, tulips, pinks, lilies, and roses,
growing in unbounded profusion, delighting the senses, and transforming
the land into a garden of flowers.
But whatever is beautiful in the scenery of Palestine is peculiar to
the north. In the south there is a sameness of outline and of color
that wearies the eye and makes one sigh for variety; but north of the
mountains of Ephraim the beholder is charmed with green plains and
fertile valleys, with wooded dells and graceful hills, with rippling
brooks and sylvan lakes, with leaping cascades and rushing rivers, with
sublime chasms and profound ravines; and with lofty mountains, broken
into beetling cliffs and craggy peaks, whose higher summits are capped
with perpetual snow, and down whose furrowed sides rush a thousand
torrents. There the most fastidious taste would be delighted with
the wild mountain gorge encircling Tirzah, and the wilder chasm of
el-Hamâm――with the beautiful glen of el-Haramîyeh, and the more lovely
Vale of Abilîn――with the woodland parks of Carmel and Tabor――with the
crystal lakes of Merom and Gennesaret――with the foaming, rapid waters
of the Jordan, the Leontes, and the Adonis――with Mount Hermon, with
summer at his feet, spring in his lap, and winter on his head――and with
the magnificent scenery of Kadîsha, where the Syrian Alps lift their
awful forms 13,000 feet high, covered with snow 100 feet deep――where
the melting snows feed cascades, which in their descent are beaten into
spray by the rocks, and which, reflecting the sunlight, seem like the
infinite fragments of some gorgeous rainbow――and where rills from the
hills and torrents from the mountains unite to swell the river below,
which, after winding through the noblest and wildest of nature’s chasms,
whose sides are lined with shrubbery, adorned with hamlets, and dotted
with convents high up in the everlasting rocks, and whose solemn bells
awaken the echoes of Lebanon, pours its accumulated waters into the
Western Sea.
If the standard of landscape beauty be the regular alternation of plain
and mountain, as in Greece and Italy; the clean meadows, the well-made
farms and green hills, as in France and England; or the continent-like
prairies, the miniature seas, and multiform mountains of America, then
the Land of Promise must yield the palm to those more highly-favored
countries. But if the combination of all these characteristics on a
smaller scale constitute the beautiful and grand in natural scenery,
Palestine is not unworthily praised by the sacred writers for the
variety and magnificence of its landscape.
Viewed from such a stand-point, the Holy Land is a world in miniature,
possessing the three great terrene features of the globe――sea-board,
plain, and mountain. Yielding the fruits of every climate, and
containing a population corresponding in their physique to that of
the inhabitants of every zone, there is displayed in this variety of
scenery and climate the wisdom of God. Selected by Providence to be the
medium of divine truth to men of all lands, it was necessary that the
national home of the Bible writers should open to their imaginations
the most wonderful and varied of the works of the Creator. Naturally
inclined to express our adoration of the Deity in allusions to his
wisdom and goodness displayed in nature, we experience a unison of
devotion with those who were the oracles of inspired truth to us in
their sublime illustrations, drawn from the sea and land, the valleys
and hills, the climate and fruits, and the beasts and birds of the
country that gave them birth. Had they dwelt at the poles, or on the
equator, or in the heart of Arabia, or on the banks of the Nile, they
could not have given the same universality of expression to the message
they were sent to announce. It is evidence of the presence of that
All-wise Spirit that the prophets and psalmists, the Savior and the
apostles, drew their simplest, noblest figures from nature, such as can
not fail to arrest the attention of the untutored mind in every land,
and inspire intellects of the highest culture with admiration.
Who of all the great maritime nations of earth can fail to appreciate
the Psalmist’s description of his native sea, as from its shore, or
from some mountain-top, he beheld its wonders: “O Lord, how manifold
are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full
of thy riches; so is this great sea, wherein are things creeping
innumerable, both small and great beasts.”[24] And who that has ever
crossed the ocean, or witnessed a storm at sea, does not realize the
perfection of his description: “They that go down to the sea in ships,
that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and
his wonders in the deep; for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind,
which lifteth up the waves thereof: they mount up to heaven, they go
down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.”[25]
The mountaineer feels that the Psalmist sings of
“What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed,”
when he describes, “The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and
the rocks for the conies.”[26] The dweller at the poles is conscious
of a fellow-feeling when he reads those sublime words: “He giveth snow
like wool; he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes: he casteth forth ice
like morsels: who can stand before his cold?”[27]
The nomad of the desert finds his own country portrayed in the graphic
allusions to a “dry and thirsty land where no water is;”[28] to the
“shadow of a great rock in a weary land;”[29] and feels himself kindred
to the patriarchs in his predatory life.[30] They that dwell upon the
equator comprehend that grand but terrific passage descriptive of the
earthquake and volcano, “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth;
he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.”[31] And to the denizens of all
lands are familiar those impressive references to the sun, moon, and
stars; to the “thunder of his power;” to the “lightnings that lighten
the world;” to the storm of hail and rain; to the shepherd on the
mountain, to the husbandman in the field, and to the merchant in the
marts of commerce.
But the correspondence between the prophetic descriptions of the
several tribeships, as given by Jacob and Moses, and the land as
it now appears, is even more exact; and in recalling the former and
in surveying the latter, one knows not which to admire most, the
adaptation of the soil for various products, or the unanswerable
argument afforded for the inspiration of those who wrote. In the final
and permanent division of the territory the portion fell to each tribe
by lot, just as Jacob had foretold in the last moments of his life,
250 years before, and just as Moses had predicted immediately prior
to his demise. Though it was not possible for the former, with his
extraordinary powers of observation and penetration, to have passed
and repassed through the whole length of the land without observing
the peculiarities of each section, and though equally impossible for
the latter, with his capacious mind, and with the means of information
at his command, to have remained ignorant of the chorography of the
several parts, yet the knowledge of those eminent men had no influence
upon the ultimate settlement of the tribes. Human foresight is never
equal to the uncertainties of the lot; only superhuman knowledge can
foretell to whom the lot will fall. In their prophetic visions they
saw the Land of Promise mapped out into tribal possessions, and on each
they read the name of the future inheritor. Years after, when the lots
were drawn by Joshua and Eleazer at Shiloh, each tribe received its
portion exactly on the spot which had been foretold.
Pre-eminently pastoral, Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh
received the vast pasture-fields of Ammon, Gilead, and Bashan,
extending from the River Arnon on the south to the base of Hermon on
the north, and from the Jordan on the west to the desert of Arabia and
the Haurân on the east. Called by the Arabs Belka, they can pronounce
no higher praise upon its rich plains and green sloping hills than in
their pastoral proverb to declare, “Thou canst not find a country like
the Belka.” Deprived of the “excellency of dignity”――the priesthood;
of the “excellency of power”――the kingdom; and of the “double portion”
of wealth and temporal blessings which, by the rights of primogeniture,
belonged to the first-born son of Jacob, here, between the Arnon and
the Jabbok, Reuben was “unstable as water” in the rapid diminution of
his numbers, and in being the first of the tribes to be carried into
captivity by Tiglath Pileser of Assyria;[32] and never producing a
great man to honor his name, and never rising to dignity and influence
in the councils of the nation, here also a father’s curse was fulfilled,
“Thou shalt not excel.”[33] His tribeship extending from the Jabbok to
the Sea of Galilee, and from the Jordan to the desert, and harassed by
the Arabian plunderers on his eastern border, but in turn driving them
from his dominion, it was said of Gad, “A troop shall overcome him, and
he shall overcome at last.”[34]
Occupying the Hills of Bashan, together with the rich and picturesque
regions along the eastern shore of Gennesaret as far north as Mount
Hermon, and rising to distinction in rank and numbers, and in giving
to the nation three eminent characters――“the pious Gideon, the opulent
Jair, and the valiant Jephtha”[35]――the prophetical benediction on
Manasseh was here accomplished: “He also shall become a people, and he
also shall be great.”[36]
Omitted by Moses from the list of the blessed, and sentenced by
his father to be “divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel,” Simeon
occupied with Judah the extreme south; and in one generation after
the exodus from Egypt to Canaan his posterity had decreased more than
37,000 souls.[37] Destined to rule rather than to serve, to be cunning
rather than brave, “Dan shall judge his people; and he shall be a
serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels,
so that his rider shall fall backward.”[38] Unable to subdue the
Philistines, whose lands were allotted to them from the Hills of
Judah to the Mediterranean, the Danites were compelled to conquer new
territory for their rapidly increasing numbers. Described by Moses
to be “a lion’s whelp,” and foretold by him that “Dan shall leap from
Bashan,” a colony of the tribe passed northward to the sources of the
Jordan, and, taking the city of Laish by surprise, 600 armed men, like
a young lion pouncing upon its prey, “leaped from Bashan,” captured and
burnt the town, and upon its ruins founded another city, calling it
“after the name of Dan, their father.” Thus, while at a later period
the southern branch of the tribe gave to the nation Samson, who “judged
Israel twenty years,” the new colony stamped its tribal name upon the
utmost limit of Palestine, which has since passed into the proverbial
saying, “From Dan to Beersheba.”[39] Foretold that “his eyes shall
be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk,” to Judah fell that
mountain region from Jerusalem southward to Arabia, and from the
Dead Sea to the hills which overhang the Mediterranean, and which for
vineyards and pasturage is unsurpassed in all the Holy Land. Here,
in the days of his prosperity, he was seen “binding his foal unto the
vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; and here he washed his
garments in wine, and his cloths in the blood of grapes.” Selected
to be the tribe whence the Messiah should come, “Judah, thou art he
whom thy brethren shall praise.” Ordained to retain his tribeship,
his ensigns, his government “until Shiloh come,” his home was amid
the fastnesses of the Judean Hills, from which, till the appointed
time, when God abandoned him to his enemies, he could not be dislodged.
Ascending to his mountain lair from the swellings of Jordan, “Judah is
a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up;” and after the
Ten Tribes had been scattered, and the identity of Benjamin lost, and
when the foe approached, the “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” confident of
his security, “stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion;
who shall rouse him up?”[40]
By nature a martial people, cruel in war, and ambitious to be free, the
children of Benjamin received that wild highland tract from the Jordan
to Bethhoron, and from Jerusalem to Bethel. Here, on his impregnable
heights, with a courage, an independence, a ferocity, at one time
successfully resisting the combined attack of all the tribes, “Benjamin
shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and
at night he shall divide the spoil.”[41] The Vale of Hinnom being his
southern frontier, Jerusalem originally belonged to Benjamin, but,
failing to dispossess the Jebusites, it was reserved for David, with
the warriors of Judah, to capture the strong-hold of Jebus, and elevate
it to the dignity of an imperial city.[42] It was to this proximity to
the Holy City that Moses refers in those remarkable words, “The beloved
of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him.” The Temple being Jehovah’s
dwelling-place, “The Lord shall cover or protect Benjamin all the day
long;” and as Zion represents the throne and Moses the church――God’s
two shoulders――“he shall dwell between his shoulders.”[43] There is an
air of freedom and an aspect of defiance about the bold, rugged summits
of Benjamin; and moulded among the crags of Gibeon and Gibeah, of
Ramah and Ophrah, of Geba and Michmash, and the mind partaking of the
features of the place of birth, it is no marvel that this tribe gave
to the nation Ehud, the judge;[44] Saul, the king;[45] Jonathan, the
warrior;[46] the inflexible Mordecai,[47] the resolute Esther,[48] and
the heroic Paul.[49]
Rewarded for the most exalted virtues, and possessing the privileges
of the birthright which had been transferred from Reuben, the powerful
house of Joseph, represented by the tribe of Ephraim and the half tribe
of Manasseh, received the heart of Palestine――the garden of the Holy
Land. Stretching its verdant lines from the waters of the Jordan along
the northern boundary of Benjamin to the Mediterranean, and with the
river on the east and the sea on the west, it extended northward to the
Plain of Esdraelon, including the Hills of Samaria. Eminently deserving
the benedictions of two worlds, Joseph was blessed with unbounded
goodness by his dying father and by the Prophet of Abarim. Promised
a numerous posterity, in two and a half centuries from the time
Jacob placed his hands upon the heads of Ephraim and Manasseh, his
descendants had increased to nearly half a million of souls.[50]
“Joseph is a fruitful bough――even a fruitful bough by a well, whose
branches run over the wall;”[51] and in anticipation of the fact,
Moses breaks forth in that sublime strain, “They are the ten thousands
of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”[52] Occupying a
section of land on both sides of the Jordan, the present richness of
which is beyond dispute, Joseph had “the precious things of heaven
from above”――gentle showers, a serene sky, a sublime atmosphere; “the
blessings of the deep that lieth under”――the springs and wells,[53]
“the precious fruits brought forth by the sun,” which come to
perfection once a year; “the precious things put forth by the
moon,” such as mature in a month; “the chief things of the ancient
mountains”――the forests that cover their summits; “the precious things
of the lasting hills”――the metals and minerals which abound within them;
“and his glory is like the firstling of his bullocks, and his horns are
like the horns of unicorns”――the inspired symbols of his strength,
sovereignty, and renown.[54]
Agricultural in his taste and habits, to Issachar fell the immense
and rich Plain of Esdraelon, including the mountains of Carmel, Gilboa,
and Tabor. Patient in labor and invincible in war, but weary in bearing
such burdens, like the overloaded ass lying down with the two panniers
on his back, “Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two
burdens.” Charmed with his possession, and unable to expel the powerful
Canaanites from all his plains and mountains, but convinced that peace
with taxation was better than war, “He saw that rest was good, and
the land that it was pleasant, and he bowed his shoulder to bear, and
became a servant unto tribute.”[55] Valiant in arms when the tyranny
of Sisera became intolerable, “The princes of Issachar were with
Deborah;”[56] and having broken the power of a flaunting foe, “Issachar
shall rejoice in his tents.”[57]
Chosen to be the maritime tribe of the nation, the portion of Zebulun
extended from the Lake of Gennesaret on the east to the Mediterranean
on the west, and trafficking on both waters, “Zebulun shall dwell
at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for an haven of ships.”[58]
As Issachar was to rejoice in his “tents”――in the abundance of his
harvests, “so Zebulun was to rejoice in his going out”――in his
successful voyages. By a mutual interest in agriculture and commerce,
both were to “suck of the abundance of the seas;” and manufacturing
glass from the vitreous sand found on the Mediterranean coast, or
exporting it in large quantities to other countries, both were to
grow rich from the “treasures hid in the sand.” Dealing largely with
the Gentiles, who were attracted to their shore and inland cities by
commercial interests, these favored tribes “shall call the people unto
the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness.”[59]
Though doomed to obscurity in the annals of national greatness, yet,
as if by way of compensation, Asher obtained the fruitful plain
of Accho, “the key of Palestine,”[60] extending from Mount Carmel
to Zidon on the coast. By the richness of the soil, “His bread
shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties;”[61] and possessing
luxuriant olive-groves, “He dipped his foot in oil.”[62] Promised
to be “blessed with children,” the descendants of Asher numbered, on
entering Canaan, 267,000 souls;[63] and on the accession of David to
the throne, the tribe sent an army of 40,000 troops to acknowledge
the new sovereign.[64] Subject to the sudden attacks of the plundering
Phœnicians, whose territory they occupied, and compelled at all times
to be upon their guard, armed with their metallic greaves and sandals,
“Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy
strength be.”[65] Though the Asherites gave Israel neither king, judge,
nor warrior, yet the names of two illustrious widows shine out from the
general obscurity――“Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the
tribe of Aser, which departed not from the temple, but served God with
fastings and prayers night and day;”[66] and the “widow of Sarepta, a
city of Sidon, unto whom Elijah was sent.”[67]
Celebrated for their activity, bravery, and independence, and
represented in the prophetic symbols by a tree planted in a rich soil,
and growing to a prodigious size, Naphtali received “Galilee of the
Gentiles,” whose fruitfulness of soil is only excelled by the beauty
of the scenery: “Naphtali is a spreading oak, producing beautiful
branches.”[68] Foreseeing the prosperity awaiting him, in an eloquent
apostrophe Moses addressed the tribe: “Oh Naphtali, satisfied with
favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord, possess thou the west
and the south.”[69] Embracing within his possession the green hills
and valleys of “Upper Galilee,” together with the Sea of Tiberias, his
posterity grew rich from the fruits of the one and the products of the
other. But, reserved for a higher glory and assigned a more exalted
destiny, the inheritance of Naphtali remained undistinguished for any
great event till the dawn of our own era. Driven from his native city,
our Lord chose Capernaum as his chief residence, situated within this
tribeship.[70] Here was his home during the three most eventful years
of his life; here the Galileans received him gladly; here is the scene
of his greatest miracles and of his most touching parables; here,
on the shore of its inland sea, were born most of his apostles; here
he founded his infant church; and thus enlightened in the persons of
the first Christians and earliest teachers of Christianity, Naphtali
possessed the “west and the south” by the spread of the Gospel among
the southern tribes, and by its more general diffusion over the
“Great Sea” through Europe and America. And now, after more than three
thousand years, each tribal possession retains its ancient physical
characteristics, yields its former agricultural products, while
prophecy has become history in the fortunes and destiny of the whole
nation.