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Title: A Class-Book of Biblical History and Geography

Author: H. S. Osborn

Release date: November 21, 2017 [eBook #56019]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CLASS-BOOK OF BIBLICAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY ***

A

CLASS-BOOK

OF

BIBLICAL HISTORY

AND

GEOGRAPHY:

WITH NUMEROUS MAPS.

BY

PROF. H. S. OSBORN, LL. D.

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.

COPYRIGHT, 1890.

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY.

Transcriber’s Notes

The cover image was provided by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Punctuation has been standardized.

This book was written in a period when many words had not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated with a Transcriber’s Note.

Footnotes are identified in the text with a superscript number and have been accumulated in a table at the end of the text.

Transcriber’s Notes are used when making corrections to the text or to provide additional information for the modern reader. These notes have been accumulated in a table at the end of the book and are identified in the text by a dotted underline and may be seen in a tool-tip by hovering the mouse over the underline.

Several maps at the end of this book were displayed over two pages. In reproducing these as illustrations, a small strip was lost due to the binding.

PREFACE.

THIS work is a Class-Book of the Old and the New Testaments treated as consecutive history. It includes the Jewish history of the centuries between the close of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New.

It presents those important elements of Biblical history which distinguish it from all other histories and which illustrate the plan and the purpose of the Bible as one Book. Whatever modern scholarship has accomplished to aid in the understanding of the original languages of Scripture in important points has been made use of, and whatever monumental or topographic discoveries would contribute to a better understanding of the geography or archæology of the text-statements have been introduced where the history required it.

The history of the centuries between the close of the Old Testament canon and the beginning of the Christian era includes that of its Jewish literature. This history greatly helps us to appreciate that singular tenacity with which the earliest Christian church held to the Mosaic ritual.

In the treatment of this history we have allowed no space for mere opinions or speculations. The work is purely historical, and its text is illustrated only by that which is pertinent and well authenticated, in either geographic or archæological discovery.

The entire subject matter is divided into Periods and chapters and subdivided into sections and paragraphs, the latter presented in such a form as generally to suggest to the teacher the question and to the reader the topic of the paragraph.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PERIOD I.

THE ANTE-DILUVIAN ERA.

CHAPTER I.

Creation, Eden: Chronology and its Sources.

CHAPTER II.

The Significance of Names.

CHAPTER III.

The Descendants of Adam.

CHAPTER IV.

The Lineage of the Patriarchs.

CHAPTER V.

The Flood.

PERIOD II.

THE PATRIARCHAL ERA AFTER THE FLOOD TO THE DEATH OF JACOB.

CHAPTER I.

The Two Ararats. The Sons of Japheth.

CHAPTER II.

The Sons of Ham. Their More Recent Names.

CHAPTER III.

The Descendants of Shem. Job.

CHAPTER IV.

The Confusion of Tongues.

CHAPTER V.

The History of Abram and his Times.

CHAPTER VI.

The Patriarchs Isaac and Jacob.

CHAPTER VII.

Egyptian Testimonies.

PERIOD III.

THE THEOCRACY TO THE JUDGES.

CHAPTER I.

The Israelites in Egypt.

CHAPTER II.

The Physical Geography of Sinai and the Desert.

CHAPTER III.

The Entrance into Canaan.

CHAPTER IV.

The Battles of the Conquest.

CHAPTER V.

The Introduction of Idolatry.

PERIOD IV.

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES.

CHAPTER I.

The Nature of the Office. The Chronology.

CHAPTER II.

The Scribes of the Age.

PERIOD V.

THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS TO THE CAPTIVITY.

CHAPTER I.

Origin of the Monarchy. Reign of Saul.

CHAPTER II.

The Reigns of David and of Solomon.

CHAPTER III.

The Division of the Kingdom.

CHAPTER IV.

Analysis of the Reigns of Judah and Israel.

CHAPTER V.

The Institution of the Prophetical Office.

PERIOD VI.

THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH TO THE CLOSE OF THE CANONICAL PERIOD.

CHAPTER I.

The Various Captivities.

CHAPTER II.

The Comparative Religious Spirit.

CHAPTER III.

The Captivity Ended.

CHAPTER IV.

The Canonical Books. Samaritan Pentateuch.

CHAPTER V.

What Was Scripture? The Septuagint.

CHAPTER VI.

The Origin of the Talmud.

CHAPTER VII.

Concluding Remarks.

PERIOD VII.

THE NEW TESTAMENT ERA.

CHAPTER I.

From the Birth of Christ to his Public Ministry.

CHAPTER II.

The Public Ministry of our Saviour.

CHAPTER III.

From the First Passover to the Second.

CHAPTER IV.

From the Second Passover to the Third.

CHAPTER V.

The Third Passover.

CHAPTER VI.

The Beginning of the Christian Church.

CHAPTER VII.

The Gospel for Gentiles as well as Jews. Paul’s First Mission.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Second and Third Missionary Tours of Paul.

CHAPTER IX.

Paul at Rome. The Seven Churches. Colosse and Hierapolis.

BIBLICAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY.

PERIOD I.

THE ANTE-DILUVIAN ERA.

CHAPTER I.

CREATION: CHRONOLOGY AND ITS SOURCES.

1. The first book of the Bible, which is Genesis, begins with a history of the Creation. The words “In the beginning,” with which it opens, give us no chronological data by which we are able to form any estimate of the time. Seven divisions, called “days,” have special appointments assigned to each in that which is usually called “the work of creation,” including the appointment of a day of rest.

Before the beginning of the days there existed a state of chaos, the earth being “without form and void” and darkness being upon the face of the waters.

The first act was the calling into being LIGHT The appointment of Day and Night closed the work of the first day.

The separation of the waters beneath “the firmament,” or expanse, from those above “the firmament” constituted the work of the second day.

The formation of dry land, called earth, and the appearance of vegetable growth, called grass, herbs, and trees, occurred on the third day.

On the fourth day lights appeared in “the firmament,” or expanse, and on the fifth day the first animal life moved in the waters and birds in the air, the latter called “winged fowl.” On the sixth day the earth brought forth living creatures, “cattle, creeping things, and beasts;” and finally man was created, made after God’s image, with dominion over all that had been here created.

The seventh day was set apart as a day of rest, a day of which it is said, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” Gen. 2:3.

2. After the creation of man he was placed in a garden which the Lord God planted “eastward in Eden.” The locality of Eden is unsettled, but the opinion of many scholars is that it is not far off from the head of the Persian Gulf. The garden is described as “eastward in Eden,” and it is supposed to have been in the eastern part of a district called Eden. Prof. Sayce derives Eden from an ancient word meaning “the desert.” If this be correct, the garden of Eden was more remarkable for its contrast with the great Syrian desert in its immediate vicinity. The rivers mentioned by name are Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. The Euphrates at the present day joins the ancient Hiddekel, which is now called the Tigris, at a point one hundred miles northwest from the Persian Gulf, and the stream formed by the union of the two rivers is called the Shat el-Arab. The Pison and Gihon have not been satisfactorily identified.

It should be remembered that the geographical condition of this region is very unlike that which existed at the time we are considering. Dr. Delitzsch calculates that a delta of between forty and fifty miles in length has been formed since the sixth century B. C. Prof. Sayce says that in the time of Alexander, B. C. 323, the Tigris and Euphrates flowed, by different mouths, into the sea (gulf), as did also the Eulæus, or modern Karun, in the Assyrian epoch.[1]

The increment of land about the delta has been found to be a mile in thirty years, which is about double the increase of any other delta, owing to the nature of the soil over which the rivers pass.[2] Under these changes it is probable that any but very large streams might disappear.

3. The Euphrates passes along a course of more than 1,780 miles from the head-waters of the Mourad Chai[3] and for about 700 miles it passes through a nearly level country on the east of the great Syrian desert. It varies in depth from eight to twenty feet to its junction with the Tigris; after its union with the Tigris its depth increases. It is navigable for about 700 miles or more from the Persian Gulf.

The Tigris is shorter, being about 1,150 miles in length, and navigable for rafts for 300 miles. Some of the extreme head-sources of this river approach those of the Euphrates within the distance of two or three miles. The name Hiddekel is the same word as Hidiglat, which is its name in the Assyrian inscriptions, as Purat is the ancient Assyrian for Perath in Hebrew.[4]

The land of Havilah, which was encompassed entirely by the river Pison, is unknown, but the “Ethiopia” encompassed by the river Gihon is in the Hebrew called Cush, and recent discoveries have proved that in very early times Cushite people inhabited a part of the region near the head of the Persian Gulf.

There is little doubt that the land so called was a part of the plain of Babylonia where the cities of Nimrod were planted, Gen. 10:10, Nimrod being a son of Cush.

These discoveries show that, in after ages, the Cushites left Babylonia and emigrated southward along the Persian Gulf into Arabia, of which they occupied a very large part, and from its southern part crossed over to Africa to the country which in after times was called by the Greek geographers Ethiopia.

Dr. F. Delitzsch supposes that Havilah was the district lying west of the Euphrates and reaching to the Persian Gulf, and that the Cush of the text was the land adjoining on the east, having the present Shat el-Nil for its border line. The long stream west of the Euphrates, which was known to the Greeks as Pallacopas, Dr. Delitzsch considers as the Pison, and the Shat el-Nil as the Gihon (see the map). The Garden of Eden he places at that part where the Euphrates and Tigris approach each other very nearly, being at that place only twenty-five miles apart.[5]

4. In the Garden of Eden the Lord God put the first pair. Of the man it is said that he was placed in the garden “to dress it and to keep it;” and of the woman, that she should be “a help meet for him.” How long this state of things continued is not related, but, through the serpent, temptation entered into the mind of Eve, and she gave of the forbidden fruit unto her husband and they did eat, “and their eyes were opened,” apparently to the sense of guilt in violating the command which forbade them to “eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The curse then followed, and they were driven out from the garden, to which they were never to return.

5. After the expulsion Cain and Abel were born, and the first murder took place in the killing of Abel by Cain, the latter being punished by being driven out “from the presence of the Lord.” Cain went eastward and dwelt in the land of Nod, and his first-born son, Enoch, built the first city, which was named after him, Enoch. Neither the land of Nod nor the city Enoch has been certainly located.

6. We now have an account of the descendants of Adam, with the statement of their several ages. Upon this statement of ages a chronology has been based, usually called the Biblical Chronology. It is derived from that account which is recorded in the Hebrew, the language in which the history was originally written. But there is another account which was given in the earliest extant translation of the Hebrew history, and this is called the Septuagint Greek, made about 286 B. C.; and the chronology of this old translation differs materially from the Hebrew original. There is yet another authority, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the manuscript of which is kept at Shechem, in Palestine, and is the oldest known manuscript of the Bible in the world, having been written before the Captivity and in the old Hebrew letters.[6]

These are the only three records of any importance, and the variations in these records are seen in the following table:[7]

Lived before

birth of sons.

After birth

of sons.

Total.

HEB.

SAM.

SEP.

HEB.

SAM.

SEP.

HEB.

SAM.

SEP.

Adam

130

230

800

700

930

Seth

105

205

807

707

912

Enos

90

190

815

715

905

Cainan

70

170

840

740

910

Mahalaleel

65

165

830

730

895

Jared

162

62

162

800

785

800

962

847

962

Enoch

65

65

165

300

300

200

365

Methuselah

187

67

187

782

653

782

969

720

969

Another translation

of Septuagint

167

802

165

Lamech

182

53

188

595

600

565

777

653

753

Noah

500

It will be seen by the above table that the Hebrew text affords data which give us 1,656 years from the creation of Adam to the Flood, for we must add 100 to Noah’s age of 500, since the Flood began when Noah was 600 years old (Gen. 7:6). The Samaritan text takes away 100 years from the life of Jared, 120 from that of Methuselah, and 129 from that of Lamech, as compared with the Hebrew text, making the Flood occur 1,307 after Adam’s creation, while the Septuagint adds 100 to the lives of each of the first five and to that of Enoch, and six to that of Lamech, making the Flood begin 2,262 years after the creation of Adam, according to one reading of the Septuagint, or 2,242 according to another.

So that the aggregates of time from the Creation to the Flood, as deduced from the Hebrew, the Samaritan, and the Septuagint, severally are 1,656, 1,307, and 2,262. The Samaritan is the oldest manuscript, but it cannot be made certain that the dates as given in that manuscript have suffered no alteration; and hence the Hebrew account has been followed in our entire English version, the chronology of which was arranged by Archbishop Ussher (usually written Usher), A. D. 1580,[8] but it “is of no inspired authority and of great uncertainty.”

7. The subject of Biblical Chronology, as derived from data recorded in the Scripture, is necessarily unsettled; and this is so partly because[9] the sacred writers speak of descendants of a given progenitor as his sons, in accordance with Eastern custom, and partly perhaps from the use of letters, for figures, in the early manuscripts,[10] which have suffered changes in subsequent transcriptions. But although these variations occur, discoveries connected with the remains of other nations than the Jewish, and connected with other histories than the Jewish, are beginning to throw light upon the Scripture history and chronology.

These collateral histories allude to persons and events of Jewish history and afford such data that in many instances we can determine from them the actual year of Scripture events. This aid is particularly important as derived from both Assyrian and Egyptian discoveries, and this we shall have reason hereafter to show.

CHAPTER II.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMES.

1. In the earliest periods of human history names, either for persons, places, or things, had meanings which were in some sense applicable to the person, place, or thing named. This was specially true in Hebrew history, and of this we have already had illustrations; for when Eve was brought to Adam “he called her name woman, because she was taken out of man,” but afterwards, because Eve in the Hebrew meant life, he “called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”

Adam’s name denoted his relation to the ground (Hebrew, Adamah), from the dust of which he was taken; and as Eve’s body was derived from that of Adam, the name of the two was Adam (Gen. 5:2), which was the name given by God “in the day when they were created,” and this name was exclusively the description of the first man and the first woman.

In Gen. 2:23 we have the generic name given to the race in the Hebrew terms “Ish” and “Ishah” for “man” and “woman,” given by Adam to himself and to the woman: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman (Ishah), because she was taken out of man (Ish).”

2. The root, or primitive meaning, of Ish is uncertain, but from its subsequent use we may infer that it denoted a characteristic of humanity higher than that expressed by the word Adam, and may have occurred to the father of men while naming the animals as an appellative distinguishing his own from the inferior order of the animate creation.[11]

It is remarkable that the ancient Assyrian name for the first man is Admu or Adamu, the Assyrian form of the Hebrew Adam.[12]

3. In the Hebrew history, therefore, names are not to be regarded as mere sounds or combinations of sounds, attached at random to certain objects or persons, so as to become the audible signs by which we distinguish them from each other, but very frequently proper names had a deeper meaning and were more closely connected in men’s thoughts with character and condition than among any other ancient nation with the history and literature of which we are acquainted.[13] Thus it is that, as Archbishop Trench says, words are often the repositories of historical information.[14]

CHAPTER III.

THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM.

1. As the history proceeds it becomes very plain that the descendants of Adam are selected with a purpose, which a general acquaintance with Scripture reveals. That purpose was to record the ancestry of Abraham and so of the children of Israel. Other descendants are occasionally mentioned when any interesting or important event suggests itself to the historian, but the main purpose is never lost sight of.

Thus the descendants of Cain are briefly enumerated through his first-born, Enoch, “the teacher,” as his name signifies. He was the first builder of a city, and may, as Geikie suggests, have been the first to teach men “the culture of city life,” or “the elements of physical life.”

2. His descendants were Irad, “the swift one,” perhaps because of his hunter’s life; Mehujael, “the stricken of God,” for some unrecorded transgression; Methusael, probably bearing the name God in the syllable “el,” and meaning “champion of God,” suggesting some religious act; as if, even among the race of Cain, God “had not left himself without a witness.”[15]

3. But we find Lamech, “a wild man,” who first introduces polygamy, for ever hereafter to be associated in origin with the race of Cain. One of his two wives was named Adah, a Hebrew term for “ornament,” and is found in the compounds Adaiah, “whom Jehovah adorns,” and Maadiah, “ornament from Jehovah.” There must have been a personal attraction which made the name appropriate.

4. In the other wife’s name, Zillah, it has been supposed that the termination “ah” has reference to the name of Jehovah; it is more probable, however, that the meaning is confined to the root of this word, which signifies “a shade.” To her son, Tubal-Cain, we are indebted for the first work in copper and iron, as the sentence “instructor of every artificer in brass and iron” means. Perhaps we may say “bronze” for “brass,” since brass is a compound of zinc and copper, and bronze is a compound of tin and copper, and the latter has been discovered in the most ancient ruins, which has not been true as to brass. Brass, however, is used in Scripture in some instances as the name for copper.[16] Chisels have been taken from ruins in Egypt containing copper 94 per cent., tin 5.9, and iron 0.1; and a bowl from Nimrud, about twenty miles south of Nineveh, was composed of copper 89.57 per cent., and of tin 10.43. In the sepulchral furniture with which the oldest of the Chaldæan tombs were filled we already find more bronze than copper.[17] The excavations at Warka, the ancient Erech of Gen. 10:10, ninety-five miles southeast of Babylon, seem to prove that the ancient Chaldæans made use of iron before the Egyptians.[18]

5. The name given to Jabal, the son of Adah, suggests that he led a pastoral life with his cattle. His name means “wanderer,” and hence he was very appropriately “the father of such as dwell in tents.” “His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ;” the latter name suggesting some wind instrument or pipe. His name significantly means “the player.”

6. To this list of “first things” may be added the first instance of poetical utterance, for the address of Lamech to his wives is in the form of the earliest Hebrew poetry. Gen. 4:23.

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice,

Wives of Lamech, hear my speech.

I have slain a man for wounding me,

A young man for hurting me.

If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold,

Surely Lamech seventy-and-seven.

With this ends the history of the descendants of Cain. The history of those descendants of Adam through whom the children of Israel traced their lineage is begun in the fifth chapter of Genesis.

CHAPTER IV.

THE LINEAGE OF THE PATRIARCHS.

1. Ten generations are given, from Adam to the Flood, and the remarkably long lives of the Patriarchs have suggested to many the probability of error or misunderstanding. Some have supposed that each name represents a tribe, the lives of whose leading members have been added together. Others have understood the years to mean only months, and others that numbers and dates are liable in the course of years to become obscured and exaggerated.[19]

2. But as to all these opinions it must be remembered, First, that the era from the creation of Adam to the Flood, 1,656 years, is to be divided by the number ten, the number of the Patriarchs, which would require an individual length of life much longer than that enjoyed at the present day; and, Secondly, no scientific reasons can be offered why human life should be limited in duration to its present length. It varies now according to the contingencies of accident and disease, and old age itself may be only a modified form of disease and not essential to a human organism. A clock made to run twenty-four hours is expected to run down in about that time, but the clock-maker may, by adding one wheel, or to the length of the weight-cord, or by some other very simple rearrangement, make the very same clock run a week or a month. It is only a question of life, about which, as to its nature, we know little or nothing. Thirdly, as to the historic probability, it is a fact that traditions other than those of the Hebrew nation represent that in the earliest ages there was an enjoyment of exceedingly long lives. The chronology of Berosus, a Chaldæan priest and historian, B. C. 279 to 255, gives to the ten Babylonian kings who in the earliest traditions of that people reigned before the Babylonian deluge 2,221 years, or only 21 years less than the period given in the Septuagint as having elapsed between the Creation and the Deluge.[20] The earliest Aryan tradition states that the first man lived 1,000 years in Paradise.

Other nations have kept the same tradition of long lives in the earliest times, which nations could not have received the tradition from the Scriptures.

3. But there is a probability arising from the fitness of long lives, and that is seen in the necessity of a history which could thus be obtained by tradition when no written language existed. It will be seen that from Adam to the Flood tradition was delivered through only one person, so that Lamech could repeat to Noah what Adam had narrated to him of all the dealings of God in Eden and after the expulsion. Although Lamech lived during the lifetimes of all the Patriarchs down to the Flood, which took place 1,656 years after the creation of Adam, he himself was only 777 years old at death. Thus we see that tradition was more trustworthy then than at any time since.

4. Moreover, Shem lived nearly a century before the death of Lamech, who could have narrated the story of Eden and the trials and experiences of his after-life, as well as the history of the Patriarchal times, to Shem, who was alive in the times of Abraham and his son Isaac. By that time writing was invented, and doubtless much of the history of the times before and after the Flood had been committed to writing, which was invented several centuries before the death of Shem, as we learn from the ancient Chaldæan records.

5. After the Flood long lives continued, but in much shorter terms, Arphaxad, Salah, and Eber each lived about four centuries, and each of the next three patriarchs lived over 200 years, and it was not till after the time of Judah, seven centuries after the Flood, that the length of a human life was reduced to about a century.

CHAPTER V.

THE FLOOD.

1. The Scripture statement of the occasion of the Flood is very brief. It is made plain, however, that the wickedness of men was so great that “the earth was filled with violence and corrupt before God.”

2. Noah was commanded to prepare an ark for his own safety and that of his family; and he was also directed to provide for the preservation of a large number of “fowls, cattle, and creeping things.”

3. Between the time of the announcement of the divine intention to destroy “man whom he had created” and the occurrence of the Flood God gave a warning era of 120 years, at the close of which the Flood began. “The waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days.” After this time they were abated, and gradually retired till the earth was dry, and Noah and his family left the ark in which he had remained twelve months and ten days, or from the six hundred and first year, second month, and seventeenth day to the six hundred and second year, second month, and twenty-seventh day of Noah’s life.

4. An interesting fact may here be stated. A few years ago there were discovered by excavations at the ancient site of Nineveh, on the Tigris, the palace of Assur-bani-pal, in which had been stored some 10,000 tablets of a library gathered by this king B. C. 968. These tablets were shipped to the British Museum, of which George Smith, the Assyriologist, was librarian, and a large number of them translated. Among these tablets was found a record of the Deluge, which was read by Mr. Smith in December, 1872, before the Society of Biblical Archæology in London.

5. The record states that the tradition recorded is copied from a more ancient account which was in existence in the times of a king of the city of Accad (Gen. 10) many years after the time of Nimrod, who founded it. The remains of this city have been recently discovered forty-three miles north-northwest from Babylon.

The name of the king of Accad was Sargon I., whose date appears from the monuments to have been about 3800 B. C. This Chaldæan history of the Deluge is so similar to that of the Scriptures as to leave no doubt that both record the same fact.

6. The simple narration as it occurs in Genesis is so free from the irrelevant and unnecessary additions of the Chaldæan account as to show that the Biblical account is a record of true history. As the Chaldæan account is dated long before Abram left Chaldæa, and hence long before the birth of Moses, it could never have been derived from Scripture, and proves that a tradition of such an event as that of the Flood must have existed very early in the history of the race.

PERIOD II.

THE PATRIARCHAL ERA AFTER THE FLOOD TO THE DEATH OF JACOB.

CHAPTER I.

THE TWO ARARATS. THE SONS OF JAPHETH.

1. Although the tradition of the Flood seems to have reached to almost every nation, it has been referred locally to some part of Western Asia, and particularly to that part known as Armenia. The Scriptures tell us that the ark rested upon “the mountains of Ararat,” Gen. 8:4, not upon any particular mountain called Ararat, as it has been assumed.

2. The word Ararat is found in the Assyrian inscriptions for Armenia.[21] A mountain 500 miles north of Babylon is called Mt. Ararat by travellers, and seems first to have been announced as the “Mt. Ararat” in A. D. 1250, as Bochart says.

The other claimant is 50 miles north of Nineveh and is called Mt. Kudur, the meaning being “the great ship.”[22] This view is supported by older historians, such as Berosus and others. The Mt. Ararat of present travellers is a solitary double peak, called Mt. Massis by the Armenians, which rises 17,500 feet above the sea.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF RACES.

3. The tenth chapter of Genesis is considered one of the most remarkable chapters because of the aid it affords in tracing the early emigrations and distributions of the race. In this chapter the descendants of the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, are given. The descendants of Shem are known among scholars as Shemites or Semites, as those of Ham are known as Hamites. Although Shem is named first in order, Japheth is called the elder (ver. 21), and the genealogy begins with him.

THE SONS OF JAPHETH: THEIR MORE RECENT NAMES.

4. (a) Gomer. These were the Cimmerians of antiquity, the Cimbri of Roman times, and the Cymry or Celts still existing. Their ancient country was north of the Black Sea, including the Crimea and the shores of the Sea of Azov.

The name Crimea is a corruption of the ancient name. It is to this north land Ezekiel refers in chap. 38:2, 6. A part of them went southward to Asia Minor when driven out by the Scythians, and some emigrated to the west of Europe and to Britain. The Welsh call themselves Cymry. “The SONS OF GOMER” were “ASHKENAZ, RIPHATH, and TOGARMAH.”

5. Ashkenaz. The name means “THE HORSE MILKERS,” and suggests some race of a wandering tribe of the same general country of the Cimmerians or of that land northeast of them. The names Ascanius, a river and lake in Asia Minor, and Scandia and Scandinavia, suggest that they may have entered Phrygia, as Bochart supposes, but the associations are uncertain. They seem in later times to have in some degree returned to a region near Armenia, since Jeremiah associates them with Ararat, Jer. 51:27.

6. Riphath seems to be suggested by the name of the Rhiphæan Mountains in the distant regions of the north of Scythia. More probably we may find some intimation of their presence near Armenia in the name Riphates, which is that of a mountain range in that vicinity.

7. Togarmah is supposed to be represented by the tribes of the Caucasus, Georgians and Armenians, who call themselves “the House of Torgona,” the latter word being the same as Togarmah.

8. (b) Magog, the name of the second son of Japheth, was also the name of a country. Slavonic tribes in the north and northeast of Europe are supposed to be comprehended under this term as descendants from the grandson of Japheth, and the original country of Magog was the Caucasian Mountains and the country around the northern part of the Caspian Sea.

9. In the time of the prophet Ezekiel they had become a powerful people and had overrun the north of Europe. The Russians are, and the Scythians were, the descendants of Magog, and Gog is the “prince of Rosh,” of Meshech, and of Tubal. They are described by Ezekiel, chaps. 38:15 and 39:3, as a wild race of mounted men armed with the bow. This seems also to describe the Scythians who invaded Palestine B. C. 625, and left the evidence of their presence in the city called Scythopolis, formerly Beth-shean, now Beisan, on the Jordan.[23]

10. (c) Madai is the name by which the Medes are known on the Assyrian monuments. Their country was south of the Caspian Sea.

11. (d) Javan was the progenitor of the Greeks, and the name occurs on the Assyrian monuments as Javanu; a term also used by Darius, the Mede.[24]

12. The sons of Javan were: (1.) ELISHAH, who settled in the northwest of Asia Minor from the Propontis eastward throughout Mysia and Lydia and the adjacent islands. (2.) TARSHISH, supposed to be the ancestor of the Etruscans who inhabited the northern part of Italy; but the name as it occurs in Isa. 23:6–10; Ezek. 27:12 and 38:13, seems to refer to a city on the southern coast of Spain whither Jonah attempted to escape. Jonah 1:3. (3.) KITTIM. This name is afterwards spelled Chittim, but it is the same word in the Hebrew text. It has the plural ending (im), and therefore refers to a people of that name. In Isa. 23:1, 12, Chittim refers to the island of Cyprus; but when “the isles of Chittim” are mentioned, as in Jer. 2:10 and in Ezek. 27:6, the phrase includes the island of Crete and the islands along the coast of Asia Minor and the Ægean Sea, thus embracing a great sea district, with probably all Greece. In Dan. 11:30 Chittim includes Macedonia, because of its supposed settlement from the former, as Bochart shows.[25]

(4.) DODANIM is the same as Rodanim, which is also in plural form, and refers to the Greeks of the island of Rhodes, which is particularly one of the islands of Kittim or Chittim.

13. The other sons of Japheth were: (e) Tubal and (f) Meshech and (g) Tiras. Of these Tubal and Meshech appear as tribes neighboring with the Scythians and other northern tribes, and perhaps remained about the southeastern parts of the Black Sea. The Tubal of Isa. 66:19 was, as supposed, in Spain; but a tribe called Tyrrhenians in later times settled the islands of Lemnos and Imbros.[26] The name is supposed to be derived from the turreted walls by which the early Tyrrhenians surrounded their fortifications, and not from Tyre, as some have said; this Bochart shows. Tiras is supposed by some to represent ancient Thrace, but this is doubtful, as the people seem to have been associated with the Achæans, Lydians, Sicilians, and Sardinians fourteen centuries B. C., in an invasion of Egypt, as Chabas shows.[27] They seem in remote antiquity to have been seafarers and pirates upon the Italian seas and Greek Archipelago.[28]

CHAPTER II.

THE SONS OF HAM. THEIR MORE RECENT NAMES.

1. (a) Cush was the first mentioned son. Dr. Franz Delitzsch has shown that the Assyrian monuments now prove that Cushites settled in the early ages of the world near the northwest of the Persian Gulf. They afterwards migrated southward along the western shore of the Persian Gulf and onward to the south and southwest of Arabia. Some of these crossed the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb to Africa, and there established themselves in that part now known as Abyssinia, and called first by the Greek geographers Ethiopia.

2. The Hebrew name Cush is translated Ethiopia twenty of the twenty-one times it occurs in the Scripture. There can be no reasonable doubt that in the first mention of the word Ethiopia in Gen. 2:13 the region northwest of the Persian Gulf is meant. In after ages the Cushites had established themselves in Arabia, and the inhabitants in that region were called Cushites, or as it is in our English translation, “Ethiopians,” as in the case of Moses’ wife, who is called an “Ethiopian woman,” Num. 12:1, but it is “Cushite” in the Hebrew.

The varying meanings of the name Cushite afford an indication that all these passages of Scripture could not have been written in the same period of time.

3. The earliest monuments in Egypt make a strong distinction between the Ethiopians south of Egypt and the negro races, for although the Ethiopians were of a dark or dusky skin, they had straight hair, thin noses, and the form of the head of different shape. It is not apparent that any reference in Scripture is made to the negro race as such; the passage in Jer. 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin?” may apply to the dark Ethiopian and not to the negro, whose native land was west of Ethiopia.[29]

4. Five races spring from CUSH: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtecha. These have generally been referred to large tribes settling in Arabia. From Raamah we have the nations Sheba and Dedan. These have been located in Arabia, and it was the queen of the former who visited Solomon, 1 Kin. 10:1 and 2 Chron. 9:1. Dedan was a district north of Sheba, and its inhabitants seem by caravans to have traded and settled northward until the time of Abraham, Gen. 25:3, when their descendants were numerous enough to be known by the old name of their ancestors.

5. Cush begat Nimrod, whose exceptional prowess and enterprise gave him precedence over all his brethren. He was a mighty hunter upon the plains of Babylon, and from the monuments of Assyria it seems that the lion was the chief object of his hunting expeditions. He was the founder of some of the earliest cities. The first mentioned is BABEL, afterwards called Babylon by the Greeks, which was built upon the Euphrates.

6. At that early time this city was about one hundred and seventy-five miles northwest from the head of the Persian Gulf, but it is now three hundred miles, the land having been extended southeastward by the annual deposits brought down by the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. ERECH, the second city of Nimrod, was seventy-five miles northwest (now 200) of the same gulf; ACCAD, recently discovered by Rassam, was forty-five miles almost due north from Babylon; and CALNEH about fifty miles southeast of Babylon; it is now called Niffer.

7. The land of Shinar was the district corresponding with that now known as the land of Chaldæa. “Out of that land went forth Asshur and builded Nineveh” is the statement made, and the monuments recently discovered have remarkably corroborated this text, for the history shows the importance of Asshur, and that Nineveh, which was the capital of the Assyrian kingdom, was a more recent city than Babylon.[30] Its ruins are two hundred and seventy-five miles north by west from Babylon and upon the Tigris River.

8. But it will be seen that Asshur was a son of Shem, while Nimrod was a son of Ham, and recent discovery has sustained the distinction, showing that another people preceded the Assyrians and Babylonians which were not descendants of Shem. In connection with Nineveh are mentioned “the city REHOBOTH”[31] and CALAH: the former is not known, and the latter is supposed to be at the ruins nearly twenty miles south of Nineveh, now called Nimrud, and a few miles north of the latter is supposed to be the site of Resen.

Further excavations are needed to attest the accuracy of these identifications.

9. (b) Mizraim is mentioned as the second son of Cush, and is supposed to have colonized Egypt. The word is in the dual form and indicates the double land of Egypt, which from the earliest times was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt.

(1.) Mizraim’s descendants are LUDIM, probably simply a name for the Egyptians themselves; they held themselves “the best of all men,”[32] and they were the same as Libyans or Lubim, 2 Chron. 12:3; 16:8; Nah. 3:9. The Libyans of the most ancient era inhabited the west of the Nile and parts near the Mediterranean Sea. They appear of bright complexions as represented upon the Egyptian monuments.

(2.) “ANAMIM and LEHABIM and NAPHTUHIM and PATHRUSIM” appear to be only names of the people of the different settlements along the Nile and not distinct races. (3.) The CASLUHIM have been identified with a people settling east of the Delta near the Mediterranean coast towards Palestine, and seemed to have been of Phœnician origin (Ebers). (4.) CAPHTORIM were the earliest settlers on the coast of the Delta or on its Mediterranean shore, even before the Egyptians occupied that part of Egypt (Ebers). The Philistines of Palestine (southwest coast) were descendants of both Casluhim and Caphtorim. “Kaft” was the Egyptian name of the latter people, who early settled in the island of Crete, but also, as we have stated, on the seacoast of the Nile, and gradually moved through the lands of the Casluhim to their final resting-place in Palestine.[33]

10. Thus the passage in Amos 9:7 is explained by the discovery that the Philistines came from Caphtor (Crete), but they passed through the land of the Casluhim. This explains Deut. 2:23, wherein the inhabitants of Azzah (or Gaza) are called Caphtorim, but more distinctly in Jer. 47:4, “the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.” So that the Philistines, who came originally from Crete (Caphtor), settled on the Delta coast, and thence passing through the land of Casluhim, settled in Philistia, as Ebers has shown.[34]

11. A migration of the earliest Phœnicians to the coasts of the Delta is generally accepted as leading to the invention of the alphabet, for these settlers soon learned the new form of hieroglyphics (called the hieratic or priestly form), and afterwards improved these signs, as in the Phœnician alphabet. The most ancient manuscript in hieratic is referred to an age in the third millennium B. C., or perhaps about 2500 B. C. In the trading intercourse between Egypt and Phœnicia this new form was introduced into Phœnicia, where the full alphabetic forms were originated. Wise men of that day must have very generally adopted the improved letters, and in the course of the centuries, but certainly before the time of the Exodus, the alphabet on the Phœnician model was well formed. De Rougé has shown that the Phœnicians adopted these hieratic forms long before the Exodus.[35]

12. This alphabet must have been known to Moses, and perhaps to all the elders of Israel, and became that Hebrew alphabet which furnished the source of the lettering of the law and its accessories.

The similarity between the old Hebrew and the Phœnician letters has been fully shown in the discoveries of tablets near Tyre and in the Moabite stone, so called, which was discovered at some ruins east of the Dead Sea, upon the site of the ancient Dibon. It is probable therefore that the first elements of the alphabetic form of letters were invented about this era of the world’s history, when the Phœnicians began their trading with the races upon the shores of Egypt, which we have last mentioned.

13. The next son of Ham is (c) PHUT. The hieroglyphics of Egypt represent the nation east of the Red Sea and along the northern half of the coast as the people of Punt, and this people is supposed to be meant by Phut or Put. They traded in incense and turquoise (a blue mineral not so hard as quartz but as heavy). They were a wandering tribe of a dusky hue, but entirely distinct from the Cushites on whose confines they dwelt.

14. The last mentioned descendant of Ham was (d) CANAAN. He begat Sidon, the firstborn of eleven heads of tribes or nations. Sidon became in after centuries the name of the chief city of Phœnicia. The rest of the descendants of Canaan formed the Canaanites.

15. A very important fact should be noticed here. These Canaanites spoke a Shemitic language, but they were, as here seen, descendants of Ham through Canaan. Recent discoveries show that long before their settlement in the land of Canaan they are met with first in Southern Arabia, from whence they made their way northward to certain islands in the Persian Gulf, their next resting-place being on the flat shores of the Persian Gulf at the mouth of the Euphrates. They then emigrated to the shores of Phœnicia, carrying the name Canaan, or, as they pronounced it, Chna, “the low-lying,” to their new inheritance on the shores of Phœnicia. Their associations were Shemitic and their language also, although they were by descent Hamitic.

The temples still standing in the times of the Romans upon the islands in the Persian Gulf were Phœnician, and the inhabitants claimed to be the original stock of the famous race of Palestine.[36] “Canaanite” in after times became the term used to signify a merchant or trader, from the habits of the people.[37]

16. The people of Heth, another son of Canaan, became in later times a very powerful nation, whose history has only recently been brought to light. Their name as Hittites has been found in the Egyptian records, from which it is shown that at one time, so early as that of Moses, they were sufficiently powerful to resist the forces of the king, Rameses II., of Egypt. On one of the Egyptian monuments they are represented as making a treaty with the Egyptian monarch which was as favorable to them as to him, B. C. 1333 (Brugsch).

17. Sidon, the city of that name, was early a fishing station of the Phœnicians on the coast of the Mediterranean west of the Lebanon Mountains, twenty-two miles north of Tyre. This place, now in existence, yet bears the name of the ancient son of Canaan.

18. The Canaanites were “spread abroad” over what is now known as Palestine, from Sidon to Gaza and Gerar, “as thou goest to Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim, even unto Lasha,” Gen. 10:19. Gaza is well known, being 150 miles southwest of Sidon and about two miles from the shore of the Mediterranean, and is now a town of 15,000 inhabitants. Sodom and Gomorrah are not certainly located, being by some supposed to have been at the south end of the Dead Sea, but by others at the north end. Neither of the remaining names can be identified with any known sites. But it is plain that the Canaanites occupied the whole of Palestine west of the Jordan and as far north as the Lebanon Mountains, the Arvadites and Hamathites extending beyond them more than 130 miles north of Sidon. See the map.

CHAPTER III.

THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM. JOB.

1. The descendants of Shem are next given: (a) ELAM was north of the Persian Gulf and east of the Tigris; Shushan was its capital in later times. (b) ASSHUR was the origin of the name Assyria. The Assyrian monuments show that Nineveh was built after Babylon, and that the Assyrians were a later people than the Babylonians and derived their literature from them, and also that they were a Shemitic nation. (c) ARPHAXAD was settled north of Assyria on the table-land between Oroomiah and Van. (d) LUD appears to be represented by Lydia in western Asia Minor, though at first it was a wider district. (e) ARAM settled in Syria near the Upper Euphrates, and as far west as the Upper Lebanon Mountains north of Palestine, which we learn from the Assyrian inscriptions. The four children of Aram are UZ, HUL, GETHER, and MASH. Uz is thought to be the district east of the Jordan known as the Hauran, parts of which are very fertile. This was the land of Job, and is reckoned in Arabia by Josephus.[38] The remaining three names are associated with the following lands: first, HUL, with el-Huleh, a region in Northern Palestine, at the head-waters of the Jordan; second, GETHER, with the district of Ituræa between the waters of the lake el-Huleh and Uz; third MASH, with a site known as Maisel Jebel. But these identifications are only probable.

2. Arphaxad had a son Salah who begat Eber, whose descendants were the ancestors of Abraham through Peleg, in whose days “was the earth divided.” Peleg appears to have settled near the Euphrates, since a city named Phaliga once existed at the place where the river Chaboras falls into the Euphrates from the east.

3. The descendants of Peleg’s brother, Joktan, thirteen in number, seem to have found their early settlements in Southern Arabia and as far south as Isfor on the southeast coast, which is supposed to represent the SEPHAR of the text, Gen. 10:30.

This closes a table which is generally considered to be the most important as well as the most ancient list of nations in existence.

THE HISTORY OF JOB.

4. This history is contained in the book of the same name. The author of this book is not known. It may have been written by Job himself. The history is that apparently of a chief who lived in the land of Uz, which was probably in the region we have already described. Many think that the land of Uz was in Northern Arabia or in Idumæa.

5. Job, according to one writer (Wamys) was an Arabian prince, who is represented as living in his family and enjoying a life of unalloyed prosperity, the consequence of his exemplary piety and rectitude. Suddenly the scene changes, and this excellent man is visited by a series of overwhelming calamities, which are the result of a transaction which passed in the council of the Most High, into the secret of which the reader is for the moment admitted, as stated in Job 1:8–13. During his affliction Job is visited by his friends. Instead of comforting him, these friends ascribe his calamities to some great sin, for which he is now punished. Job’s friends affirm that great suffering is a proof of great guilt, and exhort him to repent and confess.[39] Job denies this, Job 4:5–31:40. At the close of their dialogue another and younger friend of the patriarch intervenes to modify the view taken by the others.

6. At length the Lord condescends to interpose in the controversy. From the midst of a whirlwind, in words of incomparable grandeur and sublimity he silences the murmurings of his servant, bidding him reflect on the glory of creation and learn the stupendous power and wisdom of Him whose purposes are good, though unexplained, and with whom it is useless for a created being to contend. Thereupon Job acknowledges his error, and the whole party are convinced of forming false estimates of the Lord’s administration. Job is restored to prosperity and prays for his friends, who are accepted in their offering and received back into favor.

7. The book of Job, from internal evidence, is probably one of the earliest productions of Biblical literature. The names of his friends, the Temanite and the Shuhite, and the mention of the Sabæans, indicate the Idumæan parts of Northern Arabia as the scene of the history. The long life of Job, which appears to have been about 200 years, indicates a period in the second or third century following the Flood, or before the time of Abraham. But neither the date of the composition nor the location of Uz can be settled any further than we have already stated.

One of the proofs of the very early origin of this composition is found in its reference to the ancient seal, Job 38:14, which was rolled over the clay, covering it with figures; hence the illustration used in the above passage. The cylindrical seals were used in the early Babylonian era.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES.

1. The next subject which is presented in the sacred text is the confusion of tongues at the building of the tower of Babel, Gen. 11:1–10. In this passage of the Scripture history we have an extremely condensed view of an event which must have been one of greater importance than would appear from the very concise manner in which it is described. All that we know from Scripture is that a certain part of the human race coming from the East settled upon the plains of Shinar, and there began the erection of the highest known tower, with the purpose of making themselves a name before they were “scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” They began the tower, using brick from the clay which abounds upon the plain of Babylon and bitumen, called “slime” in the text, for mortar. During the building of this city and tower their language, which up to this period was the same, became confused, so that, being unable to understand each other, they were forced to desist, “and they left off to build the city.” This is the brief history.

2. From the recently discovered Assyrian history, recorded upon the tablets now in the British Museum, it appears that the Babylonians of the earliest ages had a tradition of this tower and of the sudden confusion of tongues. The event seems to indicate that the determination of the early descendants of Noah, probably under Nimrod or his immediate successors, was to settle on the plains and build a vast metropolis and a tower, whose height should serve the double purpose of a means of direction or as a guide to the city, and also of an advertisement of their immense wealth and enterprise amid the surrounding tribes.

3. The divine intention was, however, that the command given to Noah and his descendants, that they should replenish the earth, should be literally executed, and it was the divine intervention which prevented all the people from remaining in that land.

As we have said, the word Babel in the Greek form is Babylon; but the word which originally meant “confusion” in the Hebrew seems to have been changed from that form originally given it into Bab, or “gate,” el, of “God,” for the actual original Hebrew word for “confusion,” as Buxtorf shows from the Rabbinical word for “confusion,” is Bilbal, or Bilbul. Oppert[40] has shown that the word is distinctly of Assyrian derivation, from Balal, to “confound.” Similar changes from original forms have frequently occurred. Thus Beth-lehem is now Beit-lahm the former meaning “house of bread,” and the latter “house of meat.” Borsippa, the name of the ruined tower near Babylon, supposed to be the Tower of Babel, is now called Bar-Sab, the former (Borsippa) meaning the “tower of languages,” the latter (Bar Sab) meaning the “shattered altar,” as Geikie has mentioned.

4. In studying the early parts of Biblical history the student should be mindful that history and traditions as recorded by the Assyrians were borrowed, or, more truly speaking, derived, from the early records of the Babylonian and Chaldæan nations, as in some cases is stated upon Assyrian tablets. This fact we have illustrated, page 26. The original records were kept at the old Chaldæan city of Erech, 90 miles southeast of Babylon, at the present ruins of Warka. Assur-bani-pal, the Assyrian king, beside being a great warrior, was also one who encouraged literature and had an immense library, for those days, 10,000 tablets from which were removed to the British Museum. In his time, 668–647 B. C., the ancient Chaldæan tongue was translated into Assyrian, and in this library at Nineveh was a lexicon of the Chaldæo-Turanian language with the meaning of the words put in Assyrian cuneiform.[41] This showed that so many years had passed that the ancient Chaldæan language was, at that time, nearly lost.

5. Those records, both of the Chaldæan and of the later Assyrian ages, have not only been of great service to the student of ancient history, but they have added much to the explanation and corroboration of Biblical history, as we shall hereafter have occasion to show.

6. The ruins of both Nineveh and Babylon bear some names which are reminiscences of Nimrod, but these seem to have been applied at some comparatively recent date. The chief structure bearing the name of Nimrod is the Birs Nimrud, or Tower of Nimrod, ten miles southwest of the modern town of Hillah, which is near the ruins of Babylon. The large mass of burned brick at this place seems to have been originally erected in the form of a steep pyramid some six hundred feet in height and of the same length at its base. It is extremely ancient, as its Assyrian name proves, which name, Saggatu, “the high temple,” is an old Accadian word.

7. Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 604–562, one of the greatest builders among the Babylonian kings, says of himself that he builded additions to it, although Tiglath-pileser repaired it one hundred years before. It is now a bare hill of yellow sand and bricks a few miles west of the banks of the Euphrates, reaching a height of about 200 feet, a vast mass of brick-work jutting from the mound to a further height of 37 feet. It is very probable that these are the most ancient remains to be found in Babylonia, and in its form seems to have furnished a universal model for all succeeding temples and towers in that region.[42]

CHAPTER V.

THE HISTORY OF ABRAM AND HIS TIMES.

1. The promise that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed renders the history of Abram one of great interest, especially as recent discoveries of the monuments and literature of ancient Chaldæa have given us more correct knowledge of those early ages than had been acquired for more than 3,000 years. In the eleventh chapter of Genesis, beginning at the tenth verse, is given the ancestry of Abraham, the father of the Hebrews. Abram, afterward called Abraham, for reasons stated in chapter 17:5, was the ninth from Shem. Until the birth of Abram his ancestors appear to have lived in the region known as Chaldæa. Abram’s birthplace was Ur, 150 miles southeast of Babylon and a few miles west of the Euphrates. The ruins of Ur include, at the present day, a part of an ancient temple dedicated to the moon. This temple seems to have been erected many years before the days of Abram. A vast number of tombs surround it and the city, in the times of Abram, must have been a place for burial and considered sacred. Eupolemus, a Greek writer who is quoted by Eusebius, speaks of it in his time, about 446 B. C., as “the place of the Chaldees.”[43] Its ruins on a vast mound are so largely cemented with bitumen that this fact has given rise to its present name, Mugheir, which means “bitumen.” The tablets and bricks bear the ancient name of Ur as well as the names of its earliest kings and the builder of its temples.

2. Although at the present day the Persian Gulf is about 140 miles distant from Ur, only the deposits from the rivers Euphrates and Tigris have removed the waters of the gulf to this distance. Certain coast marks show that the sea must have sent its waters up the river to a distance of nearly, if not quite, 124 miles, and in the time of Abram Ur must have been a maritime city.

3. From this city Terah, Abram’s father, removed with his family to Haran. This city was 580 miles northwest of Ur on the banks of a small tributary stream which runs seventy miles southward before it joins the Euphrates. Both Ur and Haran were the seats of the Moon-god, called “Sin” in the Chaldee language. This deity was masculine in the same language and the Sun-god was feminine, as is apparent from the omens of that day as seen in the following translations of certain priestly utterances and directions by Prof. Sayce.[44]

Of the month Elul it is said: He shall make his free-will offering to the Sun, the mistress of the world, and to the Moon, the supreme god.... The fifteenth day is sacred to the Sun, the Lady of the House of Heaven.... The Moon the Lord of the month.

4. In this age we read that the seventh day was “a day of rest,” and the very ancient name for “rest” was very similar to the word Sabbath used in the Hebrew, and special observance of the day was ordered by the priests; thus “the shepherd of mighty nations (king) must not eat flesh cooked on the fire or in the smoke. He must not drive a chariot. He must not issue royal decrees; the lifting up of his hands finds favor with the god,” etc.[45]

5. It is plain therefore that the seventh day was a day of rest, a sacred day, in the time of ancient Babylonish kings. It was so in the era of earliest Chaldæan records, and it was not an institution derived only from the Jewish nation, but the day was regarded as a Sabbath among the Chaldæans in the time and long before the days of Abram, for the records above translated and preserved in the library of Assur-bani-pal, King of Assyria, as we have said, page 26, were derived from far more ancient records, existing even before the Deluge, of which latter event they give a history. So that the Chaldæan records of the Creation, the Deluge, and the Sabbath may very reasonably have been derived from one and the same source.

6. The name Abram is of Babylonish-Assyrian derivation, but was changed by the Lord into Abraham, which was a purely Hebrew name, as is recorded in Gen. 17:5.[46]

7. It is not stated how long Terah remained in Ur after the birth of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, but the removal was not made until Lot was born to Haran and until the death of the latter. Then Terah left Ur for Haran, six hundred miles northwest, where they remained probably many years (see Gen. 12:5).

8. The fact that Abram’s name occurs first in the mention of the three is no proof, judging from the Scripture method of naming sons, that Abram was the oldest, but only that he was the most important character, for Shem is mentioned first in the three Shem, Ham, and Japheth, although Japheth is called the elder, Gen. 10:21, Shem being the most important as the head of the Hebrew race.

Abram was probably born when Terah was 130 years old, for it must be remembered that there is no good reason for supposing that the three sons of Terah were born in the same year, but only that one of the three mentioned (Gen. 11:26) was born when Terah was 70 years of age and the two others at some time after. If Abram was born when Terah was 130 and lived to be 75 years old at the death of his father, his father’s age would have been 205 as given in the text. It seems that Haran was the elder of the three, though mentioned last as in the case of Noah’s three sons.

9. Abram, at the call of the Lord, left with a large retinue of servants and crossed the Euphrates and came into Canaan, probably by the way of Damascus. He immediately entered into the land known then as Canaan, and the first place named on his way is “Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh.” Sichem is the place also called Shechem, and the word Sichem is in the Hebrew precisely the same as Shechem, the variation being one due only to the translator of the Hebrew name into English.

10. Shechem is almost exactly half way between Dan on the north and Beersheba on the south. It was therefore not till Abram arrived in the midst of the land that he erected an altar to Jehovah after the Lord had promised that to his seed He would give this land, Gen. 12:7. Various tribes of Canaanites occupied the whole future land of Israel, Gen. 10:19.

11. The plain of Moreh was a mile east of the city, or town, of Shechem. It is evident that both Moreh and Shechem were names of Canaanites, as Shechem is seen in Gen. 33; 34; Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2, and other places, as a personal name.

12. The word translated “plain” is equally applicable to a grove of trees, and it may be that Abram chose this grove as a shelter from the heat. Twenty-seven miles north of Shechem is probably the hill called in Judg. 7:1, after the same person, the hill of Moreh. The city of Shochen, which exists at the present time, is between the high hills of Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north.

For the reasons why the word “plain” should be rendered “oak” see Josh. 24:26 and Judg. 9:6, wherein it is evident that a pillar by the oak is meant. Also see that the word “oak” is in the Hebrew exactly the same as that translated “plain” in the text referred to above, Gen. 12:6, and this identical oak seems to have been used for an important purpose many years after. In Deut. 11:30 the name is in the plural, leading us to suppose that it was a grove continuing through many centuries. Groves always were important and sometimes sacred, as it appears from the action of Abraham, for in Gen. 21:33 it is stated that “Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.”

13. The next place visited by Abram was an unknown place between Bethel and Hai.[47] Bethel was not so named until 160 years afterwards, by Jacob, Gen. 28:19. Hai and Ai[48] are the same, and this place was probably a Canaanitish town at this time. The distance south of Shechem was 20 miles to the place occupied by the patriarch, where he seems to have remained only to build an altar and then moved on, evidently seeking pasture for his flocks and herds.

EGYPT FIRST MENTIONED.

14. The name of Egypt occurs now for the first time in Scripture, and we may judge of its importance from the fact that the name occurs six hundred and thirteen times, twenty-four of which number are to be found in the New Testament. In this instance the mention is made about 1920 B. C.,[49] and the kingdom is referred to as fully established and well known.

The occasion of Abram’s visit was the famine existing in the land of Canaan. Abram journeys southward with the intention of entering Egypt to provide sustenance for himself and his retinue against this famine.

15. The condition of Egypt at or just before the time of Abram’s first visit was one of great prosperity. The reigning Pharaohs, generally called those of the twelfth dynasty, were most probably the Usertesens and the Amen-emhats. Under this dynasty the sceptres of Upper and Lower Egypt were united. All the kings were powerful and prosperous and art flourished, the Sun temple at Heliopolis (six miles northeast of the present Cairo) was magnificently restored, and in the Fayum on the west of the Nile (about 50 miles southwest of Cairo) the practice of building pyramids was revived. Here was the vast lake or inland sea made by Amen-emhat III., to receive the overplus waters of the annual overflow of the Nile and to distribute them in case of need. This king also built the great labyrinth in the Fayum, the latter name being an alteration of the Egyptian word for “sea,” namely “Piom.”

16. During this period fortifications were erected on the northeastern frontier of Egypt, which appear to have extended across the whole of the present isthmus of Suez (Socin). The term Shur used six times in Scripture is now supposed to refer to this “wall.”[50]

17. As the pyramids of Gizeh were built in the fourth dynasty (the most recent date of which is given by Wilkinson as 2450 B. C.), they had been in existence more than 400 years before Abram’s visit. The Sphinx was then existing also, as seems probable from an inscription found by M. Mariette, which indicates that there was a “temple of the Sphinx” in the time of Cheops,[51] the builder of the great pyramid. It seems also probable that the rule of the foreigners, called the Shepherd Kings, had begun before Abram’s visit.

18. These foreigners took possession of Lower Egypt and drove the original rulers up the Nile to Thebes and other parts of Upper Egypt. Long before this period emigrants from the East had been admitted to Egypt and had settled in various places upon the rich lands of the Delta, until, finding themselves sufficiently powerful, they usurped all authority without a battle. They were called the Shepherd kings, or Hyksos, from what was supposed to be their employment. They governed Lower Egypt for about five hundred years, until they were finally driven out by the Egyptian royal family.

19. Abram’s first visit seems to have been made at or near the beginning of the Hyksos era. The most recent date of the beginning of the rule of the Shepherd Kings is that of Wilkinson, 2091 B. C., and if the date usually given for the visit of Abram was 1920 B. C., then these invaders had already had possession of the land for over 170 years. Egypt was therefore renowned and its rulers were of a race acquainted with the employments to which Abram was not a stranger. They spoke the dialect of Canaan, as it is very evident that many came from the region of Canaan.

20. In this age the horse is not mentioned as in Egypt. Oxen and asses and sheep are found depicted upon the walls and tablets, but the horse does not appear in Egypt till the reign of Thothmes I., who met with them in his wars in Assyria. This king was the third Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty.[52] This dynasty began immediately after the expulsion of the Hyksos. So that while it is probable that the horse might have been known only as a foreign animal, it was introduced into Lower Egypt by Thothmes I., and Egypt became known after this for its fine breed of horses, which took the place of the asses previously used throughout the land. It is for this reason that Abram’s list of animals excludes the horse, Gen. 12:16.

THE FIRST BATTLE.

21. The next important occurrence in the history of Abram is that of the first battle mentioned in Scripture. Abram had returned to Canaan with large additions to his herds. This increase brought about a necessary separation between Abram and Lot. Abram settled in Hebron, while Lot chose his residence in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of the plain. Soon after four kings from Chaldæa approached Canaan on a tour of conquest, and passing to the south and east of the Dead Sea went down to Mt. Seir and thence to Kadesh, then called En-mishpat, and thence north to Hazezon-tamar. They then met the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah in battle, defeated them, and carried off Lot and others captives. Upon knowledge of this captivity Abram set out to overtake the invaders. He was joined by the forces of the three Amorites confederate with him, and found the kings at Dan, about 140 miles from Hebron northward, as they were leaving the country on their way home to Chaldæa. A battle now took place at night, and the four kings were defeated, and Lot and other captives, together with the stolen goods, were all retaken and brought back in safety.

SODOM AND GOMORRAH.

22. The exact location of these cities has not yet been discovered. They were, with the other cities of the plain, situated very near the Dead Sea, and the traditions place them at the western part of the southern end, where there is a salt hill five miles long, called the hill of Sodom, Jebel Usdum. There are good reasons for supposing that when Abram and Lot stood overlooking the land from the heights near Bethel, Lot chose the region north of the Dead Sea, which was visible, in preference to the southern part, which was more than forty miles distant. But from the Scripture account, considered in view of the evident volcanic nature of this part of Palestine and the fearful earthquakes which have happened in the vicinity in recent times, there is reason to believe that some terrible convulsion not only buried the cities, but submerged the plain at the south end of the sea, and no other interpretation seems to suit the history, which definitely states that the plain and all that grew upon it were destroyed, the water system of the plain being all entirely changed. The submerged plain at the south, therefore, which is covered for the area of about fifty square miles with water only a few feet deep, has given occasion for the theory that the cities of the plain are to be sought beneath these waters, which are by some supposed to cover the vale of Siddim.

23. Hazezon-tamar is the same as En-gedi, 2 Chron. 20:2. It is upon the west shore of the Dead Sea, twenty-three miles south of the mouth of the Jordan. Hobah, whither Abram pursued the kings, is two miles north of Damascus.

24. Abram was near Hebron, twenty miles west of the Dead Sea, when the news reached him of the defeat of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and the capture of Lot. Hebron is almost equidistant from the north and south ends of the Dead Sea, at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet above the Mediterranean, while the waters of the Dead Sea are 1,293 feet below those of the Mediterranean.

25. The recent discoveries in Chaldæa and the surrounding countries show that the names of these four kings—Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, are names which have in large part been found on the tablets and in the history of the countries mentioned. Amraphel is the same in the Hebrew as Amarphal, and it was so translated in the Septuagint made more than 250 B. C. This name was that of a viceroy of Sumir, the district around and south of Babylon, called Shinar in Genesis, and the name Amar-pal has been found “borne by private persons on two cylinders of ancient workmanship” (Lenormant). The Septuagint has for Tidal, Thargal, which seems to be the proper spelling; the difference between the two spellings in the original Hebrew is only that between an r and a d, which in that language is exceedingly small. In the Akkadian (same as Accadian), which was the language used in the ancient Chaldæan times, Turgal meant “great chief.”[53] This king was chief of a people called the Gutium in the monumental inscriptions, and this tribe or small nation has been identified with the Goim of the Hebrew text, which in our English version is translated “nations.” So that the “Tidal king of nations,” of the text in Genesis, is shown to be the “great chief” of a tribe living in Northern Babylonia, of which one part became afterwards the nation of the Assyrians.[54]

Chedorlaomer, the monuments show us, was truly an Elamite name, Chedor, or Kudur, forming part of several names of the early kings of that district, and Laomer, or Lagamar, being the name of a most important Elamite god. The name Arioch is very similar to that of the son of an Elamite king who was king of Larsa, which itself is similar to the Hebrew name Ellasar, and the circumstances have led the best Assyriologists to believe that they are the very same.

26. The monumental records show that this king of Elam, on a previous occasion, when Abram was still at Haran, had passed over the Euphrates and conquered Phœnicia and a country to the south. He is called both king of Elam and king of Phœnicia, as the land of Canaan was called by name “Martu,” “the land of the setting sun,” or Phœnicia. So that 14 years before, at the time when Chedorlaomer crossed the Euphrates on his first expedition, Abram may have beheld the troops of that king whom he afterward conquered, with his viceroys, when they came on their second invasion of Canaan. At that time Abram was with his father Terah at Haran, as we may see from the dates in the context, Gen. 16:3; 14:5.

THE ISHMAELITES.

27. Some years after this battle we have the account of the birth of Ishmael, the son of Abram by Hagar. As the descendants of Ishmael exerted great influence in years afterward, it is well at this point to study the early history of this son of Abram. When Isaac was born Ishmael was about 16 years of age, Gen. 17:21, 25; 21:1, 8, and until the day of the divine promise to Abram, at which time his name was changed to Abraham, he was evidently, from the context, greatly attached to Ishmael. Moreover, Abram was considered by his neighbors as “a mighty prince among them,” Gen. 23:6. Under these circumstances this only son must have been allowed privileges and attentions at the hands of the hundreds of Abram’s servants such as an heir apparent to all the wealth of Abram would be certain to receive. When, however, Sarah became the mother of Isaac a change necessarily transpired. Ishmael was no longer the expected heir. Hagar’s spirit of self-importance, which showed itself before so positively that she was forced to leave the family, was now repeated in some disagreeable actions of her son Ishmael, and, despite the persistent love of Abraham, Ishmael and his mother were summarily dismissed from the family.

28. There can be no reasonable doubt that the action of Abraham in sending Hagar and her son out upon the desert with only sufficient food to support them for a time was greatly or almost entirely influenced by the direct revelation to Abraham that the divine interference would be exerted on behalf of the exiles. That had been assured, as we see in verses 12 and 13 of chapter 21. At the same time both the mother and son, after all the preceding years of privilege, would naturally imagine that a great wrong had been done them, and Ishmael readily became a wild wanderer upon the vast deserts east of Egypt.

He was the progenitor of twelve great tribes whose names in part are recognized among some of the tribes existing at the present day and whose characters are accurately represented in the description of what they were to be, as it occurs in Gen. 16:12, and the expression “he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren” simply alludes to the fact that his race should be wanderers upon the desert without any fixed habitation, this being the life of all the most pleasurable to the desert Arabs.

29. As Abraham was 99 years of age when Ishmael was 13, Gen. 17:24, 25, and died at 175, it is plain that Ishmael must have been about 90 years of age at Abraham’s death. The love and reverence which Ishmael had for the patriarch were apparent after this long time in the fact that at the death of the latter, Isaac and Ishmael united to perform the burial at the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, Gen. 25:9.

HEBRON AND MACHPELAH.

30. Hebron is a very old city, having been founded long before Abram’s time, and it is in existence at present. It is south of Jerusalem eighteen miles, and is unlike nearly all the cities in Palestine in that it is situated in a valley. The cave of Machpelah is on the east side of the valley, which runs nearly north and south.

This city becomes important in Biblical history at the time when Sarah, the wife of Abraham, died, and then this cave was purchased by Abraham as a family burying-place. It was the first spot possessed by any of the ancestors of the Hebrew race in Palestine. Here Sarah and Abraham were buried and in after times Leah and Isaac, and Jacob’s remains were, by his desire, removed from Egypt and placed by the side of his wife Leah.

Although Hebron has suffered several attacks and partial destruction, it is probable that the sacredness of the place may have protected it so that the actual remains of some of the bodies deposited there may yet be there, under Moslem guardianship.

After the birth of Isaac, Abraham remained in the region of Gerar, whose precise location is not known, although it must have been in the southwest of Canaan and in the land of the Philistines. From thence he removed to Beersheba.[55]

BEERSHEBA AND GERAR.

31. Beersheba bears, at the present day, the same name and contains two wells, one about 12 feet in diameter, the other about 5 feet. The larger appears to be very old and may well have existed since the days of the patriarch. It is about 40 feet deep to the water and is still used daily by the Arabs. The exact distance from Hebron to Beersheba is twenty-six and a half miles southwest. There are some ruins 24 miles southwest by south from Beersheba, called Umel Jerar, which possibly may indicate where the ancient Gerar was.

32. From Beersheba Abraham travelled with Isaac to Mt. Moriah, which was at the present site of Jerusalem and distant in an air line 45 miles northeast. Here his obedience and faith were severely tried in the command to offer up, as a burnt-offering, his only son Isaac. This act might have been more trying to the faith of Abraham because it was the practice of the Canaanites at that time. That the immolation of children was practised by the Phœnicians at that age and in the land of Chaldæa is proved by an Accadian text which expressly states that sin may be expiated by the vicarious sacrifice of the eldest son.[56] In after times it was practised by the Moabites, 2 Kings 3:27. But Abraham’s faith never failed him, and the offering was accepted, though the act was arrested.

33. Abraham after this purchased the cave of Machpelah, of which we have spoken, where Sarah was buried, and he himself was laid away in the same place at his death, having given all his possessions to his son Isaac, except some smaller gifts to his other children by his second wife Keturah, when he sent them away from Isaac his son “unto the east country.”

34. The character of Abraham has been revered among the Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians alike in all ages and parts of the world. His tomb now existing at Hebron is among the very few places in the East about which there has never been any doubt. The structure, now a mosque, is a Mohammedan addition to a building which was in part erected near the beginning of the Christian era.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PATRIARCHS ISAAC AND JACOB.

1. Isaac, as appears from sacred history, towards the close of his father’s life, dwelt in the “south country,” a term given to the large district far to the south of Hebron, where also Abraham was probably living at the same time.

The exact place called Beer-lahai-roi, or “the spring of Lahai-roi,” is not known, but it was that spring, called a “well,” which was mentioned in connection with the first departure of Hagar, and it was evidently on the way towards Egypt, between Kadesh and Bered, some thirty miles nearly south of Beersheba.

2. The pastures were excellent here, and Isaac, now about 40 years of age, had come into possession of large herds whose care devolved upon him. It was here that he received his wife, whom his father Abraham had selected for him from among his kindred in the far-off land of Mesopotamia in preference to the people of the land where he dwelt, who were Hittites, and descendants of Canaan the son of Ham, Abraham being a descendant of Shem. The Philistines who dwelt on the southwest coast of Canaan and of whom the Abimelech of the text was king, were formerly a mixed race. In this age they are considered to be the immediate descendants of a tribe which took possession of the dry, salt region stretching from the Delta of the Nile on the coast around towards Canaan. Here, in early times, they became the great salt producers and of great importance to the salt fisheries which supplied various surrounding countries. The Mt. Casios in their territory was the “Kas-lokh,” or “dry” “burnt up hill” of the ancient Egyptians, hence the name of Casluhim, of the Hebrew text, as that of the people from whom the Philistines were derived, Gen. 10:14.

3. They seem many years before to have left the Phœnician shores and settled near the coast of the Egyptian Delta. Thence they moved to the salt regions, but they adapted themselves fully to the Egyptian method of life and literature, as appears from their history gathered from the ancient records. These records have fully corroborated the statement of Genesis.[57]

4. In the time of Abram they had taken possession of the southwestern part of Palestine and had largely modified their habits of life. They are represented on the monuments of Egypt as fine-looking warriors, wearing a head-dress of peculiar and very ornamental form, with the back of the neck protected, and when marching, moving in great order, using the javelin and the short sword for close combat.

5. At this time, about B. C. 1800, the Philistines had not arrived at that condition of power and wealth which they possessed in later centuries. They afterward became most formidable enemies of the Israelites, and possessed at least five grand cities. In this era of their history Gerar seems to be the residence of the king, Abimelech, as it was of his father of the same name in the time of Abraham, 90 years before. Being a small tribe, its king was anxious to form an alliance with Isaac, whose household and possessions had become very great, and, judging from the context, his retinue of servants and his wealth exceeded all that Abraham had possessed before him.

6. There are, at present, two wells at Beersheba of the same general architecture, and both seem to be very ancient. The one about 300 feet off from the large one, spoken of before, is only about five feet in diameter. As the men of Gerar, at Abraham’s death, filled up “all the wells” built by the patriarch, it is probable that the second well was dug by the servants of Isaac and called also Beersheba as commemorative of the second oath of treaty made by Abimelech, the second of that same name mentioned in Scripture, and his commander-in-chief, as Phicol means.

The life of Isaac seems to have been spent chiefly in the region of Beersheba, but he died at Hebron, at the age of 180 years. Esau and Jacob are his only sons named in the sacred history.

JACOB.

7. Jacob was a native of Beersheba, and, having incurred the displeasure of his brother Esau by the practice of a deceitful act towards his father, as narrated in the text, Gen. 27, fled to the same region whence his father obtained his own wife, and there found his wives Leah and Rachel in Mesopotamia.

In that act of deceit he was aided by his mother, who probably never lived to see again the son she loved so much. Jacob returned not for many years, although when his mother parted with him she supposed it was for “a few days,” Gen. 27:44. He returned to Hebron shortly before the death of his father, in whose burial, in the cave of Machpelah, both his sons, Esau and Jacob, united, Gen. 35:29.

8. Jacob and his twelve sons remained near Hebron for some time after the death of his father Isaac, when an event occurred which changed the history of the entire family and led to their long residence in the land of Egypt.

Joseph, the son of Jacob’s old age, because of jealousy on the part of his brethren, was sold by them to a party of trading merchants, called “Ishmaelites.” These “came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.”

Gilead was the large district east of the Jordan, beginning some 15 miles southwest of Damascus, and whose southern limit was a few miles north of the Dead Sea. Their way towards Egypt was by Dothan, where the brethren were tending their father’s flock.

Dothan was a Canaanitish town about five miles southwest of the Carmel range of mountains and thirteen miles north of Shechem. It was fully 900 feet above the sea, and on the south of a beautiful plain five miles long and two wide.

9. The Ishmaelites sold Joseph in Egypt, where, through his ability to interpret the dream of Pharaoh, he became, under the king, the second ruler of Egypt and prepared for the seven years of famine which were preceded by seven years of extraordinary harvests. The famine in Egypt was attended by famine in Canaan, as also in other lands. This condition of famine caused Jacob to send his sons into Egypt for corn. It should be remembered that in these countries the word “corn” was applied to almost any kind of grain, but especially to wheat and barley, as indeed it is at the present day in several other countries. It is not probable that Indian maize, called corn in our land, was ever referred to in Scripture.

At the second visit of the patriarch’s sons, Joseph, who recognized them at the first visit, made himself known unto them and sent them back with the direction to bring his father, and all that made up the entire family, into Egypt.

10. After some hesitation on the part of Jacob, he left Hebron, and passing through Beersheba, started on his way to Egypt, where he arrived and was met by Joseph, on the plains of Goshen. Recent discovery has located this region about 40 miles northeast of the present Cairo, in its central point, with a diameter of about 15 miles.[58]

Jacob was introduced to the reigning Pharaoh when he was 130 years of age. His interview was followed by the settlement of the entire family, with all their herds and possessions, in the district above mentioned. This was a small district included in a much larger one called, in after times, the land of Rameses, which name had reference to a second king of that name, Rameses II., who was the great builder monarch, and who lived not long before the time of the Exodus. He died when Moses was 80 years of age.

[The student of Biblical chronology should use considerable caution in accepting the dates and surmises offered by some writers in connection with this history. The ages already given us in the text, namely, 130 for Jacob when Joseph was 39 by the texts preceding, show that Jacob was 91 years of age at Joseph’s birth, but by Gen. 31:38 he had been at least 14 years with Laban, in Mesopotamia, just preceding the birth of Joseph. So that 14 years before the birth of Joseph he left his home for Haran, at the age of 77. It seems somewhat probable that Jacob was 40 years in Haran, and that he means to make that assertion when, in Gen. 31:38, 41, he separates the two 20 years. This affords more time for his sons to grow to the ages of that manhood necessary for the after occurrences narrated in the history. For the eldest, Reuben and Simeon, were born not until the marriage with Leah, and this appears to have been only seven years before the birth of Joseph. Six years after the birth of Joseph, Jacob leaves with all his family for Shechem, where he remains eight years. It appears, therefore, that Simeon and Levi, when they attacked and overthrew Shechem and sacked the town, were not over 19 or 20 years of age, as six of the last years and re-engagement for six years in Mesopotamia, and eight in Shechem, and perhaps a year on the travel, and various stoppages, give grounds for that supposition, if Jacob was only 20 years with Laban. It would then be as follows, remembering that Reuben was the first-born of the sons of Jacob:

8th year. Reuben born first year after Jacob’s marriage.

14th year. The rest born during the six remaining years; Joseph now born.

20th year. At the close of the last seven years Jacob is newly employed for six years, which, with the previous 14 years, makes 20 years with Laban, Gen. 31:38.

21st year. Jacob and all the family start for Canaan, and reach Shechem, including stoppages, in the 21st year, or 13th year after Reuben’s birth.

When Jacob arrived in Shechem he bought land, dug a well, and is considered as resident for eight years.

29th year. At the close of this year Simeon and Levi attack the Shechemites. This would make Reuben about 21 or 22, and Simeon and Levi 19 and 20, but old enough, with their servants and probably others, to have executed their revenge. But we must understand that this is the extreme shortest period, and several circumstances might have detained them longer on their journeys and made the sons older.

In the above calculation it is not necessary to suppose that Jacob was any longer than 20 years engaged with Laban. It is impossible to suppose, with some writers, that Jacob was only 40 years of age when he left his home for Haran.]

11. Jacob, having had the land of Goshen, in Egypt, appointed him, remained there until his death at 147 years of age, having dwelt in the land of Egypt 17 years.

As Joseph died at 110 years of age, he lived 56 years after the death of Jacob, as governor of Egypt, very probably, since the last account of him was that “they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” He lived to see his great grandchildren, and therefore was prominent in Egypt for a term of 80 years.

CHAPTER VII.

EGYPTIAN TESTIMONIES.

The recovery of the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the many discoveries of monuments illustrating the early history and literature of that nation, have added great interest to the study of Scripture and established the accuracy of Biblical accounts of this period.

1. The articles which the Ishmaelites carried to Egypt at the time Joseph was sold are, in part, recorded in a list upon one of the tablets at Edfu, on the Nile. The first and second of the articles named in Gen. 37:25 are recorded by name, the article rendered “spicery” being the name of a gum found in Syria.

2. The price of a common slave of Joseph’s age is recorded in the time of Rameses XIII. as about $10. This agrees with the statement, Gen. 37:28, where it is stated that Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver, shown to be shekels of about 50 to 56 cents’ value, which was high, but Egyptian records show that young men from Syria were unusually valuable.[59]

3. The existence of slavery is frequently alluded to upon the monuments and in manuscripts, wherein those who had lost slaves offer rewards to any one who will bring them back. Moreover, Syrian slaves are recorded as of great value, and a treaty record is still preserved, made between Rameses II. and the king of the Hittites, in which it is agreed to return fugitive slaves.

4. The statement has been made by several Greek historians that the Egyptians never cultivated the grape nor drank wine. Therefore the statement that Pharaoh drank the juice of the grapes, or wine, and had a chief butler, as stated in Gen. 40, was said to be inaccurate. But the discoveries show that not only were vineyards cultivated, but the grapes were pressed in the wine-press, grapes were eaten, and wine made and used before the time of Joseph.

5. Various terms as descriptive of official position, of names of places and objects of art or commerce, are now shown to be of ancient Egyptian origin, although brought into the Hebrew language. The use of these terms and names proves that the early Israelites were in familiar contact with the Egyptians.

6. The name of Rameses, used in the history of Joseph, as afterward in the history of the Israelites, has been shown to be that of the chief Pharaoh of Egypt, and his mummy has recently been recovered with his name and titles inscribed upon his body, and certified to by the high-priest.

7. The singular remark made by the writer of Genesis concerning the shepherds, 46:34, has been thoroughly attested by the history of the incursion of the Shepherd Kings, who oppressed the land, seized upon the government in the Delta, and drove the native kings up the Nile to Thebes, occupying and ruling the land for about 500 years. It was at the close of their rule that Joseph is supposed to have entered Egypt.

8. The keeping of the birthday of Pharaoh as stated in Gen. 40:20 is fully attested in the history of the early Egyptian periods. An inscription of the era of the Exodus tells us that the birthday of Rameses II. “caused joy in heaven.”[60] Great gatherings and feasts were had, and the king dispensed his favors as he saw fit.[61]

9. The name for the Nile used in the Hebrew is the Egyptian name for that river found in the papyri, and translated in our English version as “the river.” It is not the word the Hebrews used for a river, and its use proves that the writer was familiar with Egyptian usage.

10. The statement as to the offices of chief butler and chief baker, as appointed to the Pharaoh, is remarkably attested by the Egyptian records, which show that these two were very high and important offices, “for both had the responsible duty of protecting the king’s life from poison.”[62]

11. A most remarkable illustration of the accuracy of Joseph’s history, as narrated in Genesis, is seen in the statement that he was required to change his clothes and be shaven before going into the presence of the king. Among the kindred of Joseph shaving was never practised, except as a disgrace. But with the Egyptian the law of cleanliness required shaving, not only of the chin, but of the hair also. Not only every priest, but the king himself, was shaven, and the appearance of great heads of hair, and even of beard, in some pictures is due to the wigs and artificial beards worn by priests and laymen alike to cover the bald head. All foreigners were known by being unshorn.

The accuracy of Scripture in its references to the land of Egypt in ancient times has been proved only since the discovery of the meaning of the hieroglyphics, as Greek historians knew little of Egypt in its ancient history, and their accounts were erroneous, as is frequently apparent in Herodotus.[63]

PERIOD III.

THE THEOCRACY TO THE JUDGES.

CHAPTER I.

THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.

1. How long after the death of Joseph the Israelites remained in Goshen until they were enslaved has not as yet been determined. The account in the book of Exodus opens with the significant expression that “there arose up a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph.” It has been supposed that Joseph was governor under the last of the Shepherd Kings, but this supposition is uncertain, and perhaps wrong, for the long life of Joseph after he came into Egypt, namely 80 years, added to the necessarily advanced age of the Pharaoh who was upon the throne on the arrival of Joseph, would, with greater probability, lead us to suppose that Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt was extended through more than one reign of the Shepherd Kings.

2. But at the end of the happy, quiet Shepherd era, among the descendants of Jacob in Goshen there came a change. The Israelites became enslaved, for the mandate of the Pharaoh of the period went forth to set over them taskmasters and to afflict them with burdens, the object being to put a stop to their excessive growth in numbers.

3. As we have said, the Shepherd Kings ruled Egypt for about 500 years. Towards the close of their rule and, as it is generally supposed, under a king whose name is recorded as Apopi, or, as the Greek historians spell the name, Aphobis, Joseph came into Egypt, and the long war between the legitimate kings and the uprising rulers was continued for about 80 years.

Finally these Shepherd Kings were driven out of the Delta by a Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty,[64] and from that period about 400 years transpired, during which the 18th dynasty passed away and a new dynasty, the 19th, came into power. Of this 19th dynasty two kings passed away before the celebrated Seti I. began to reign. Rameses II. was the son of Seti I., and his reign (67 years) was the longest of any of this dynasty.

4. Moses, at the age of forty, was driven into the desert of Sinai, on the east of Egypt, where he escaped from the wrath of the reigning Pharaoh, and where he remained 40 years, until the death of the king. The Pharaoh with whom Moses’ name is thus associated must have reigned a long time, and the reign of Rameses II. meets the conditions of the history, not only as to time, but also as to the name. It is for these reasons that the Egyptian Rameses II. is supposed to be the Pharaoh alluded to in the first chapter of the book of Exodus, as the Scripture Rameses.

5. After the death of Rameses, Moses returned to Egypt from his 40 years’ residence in the desert of Sinai. As his life in those parts was spent in the shepherd occupation, he was well acquainted with the region, and in a large degree fitted for the work to which he was called by the Lord, to take charge of the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt.

By divine command he appeared before the reigning Pharaoh and demanded, in the name of Jehovah, the release of his brethren, who, in all, must have been about 2,000,000. This number, though not stated, may be supposed to be correct as based upon the fact that at the departure from Egypt the able men numbered 600,000.

6. The unwillingness of the king to let the people go was finally subdued by a series of remarkable plagues. The most singular feature of these inflictions is found in the fact that in every case they seem to have attacked the Egyptians in the most important elements of either their national greatness or in the direction of their greatest comforts and reliance. Another singular feature in the whole course of affliction was their progressive seriousness.

7. The first plague appeared in the sudden change of the waters of the Nile into blood. The Nile was not only the great source of water supply, but was supposed to be under the immediate care of the gods of Egypt. Hymns have come down to us composed in the honor of the personified Nile. These were composed before the time of Moses, and give the names of their chief gods to the waters of the great river. The Nile was “the representative of all that was good.” This plague made it necessary that the people should begin digging wells near the banks of the river and elsewhere throughout all Egypt.

8. The second plague, of frogs, attacked in like manner, but more directly, the religious superstitions. The frog-headed deity Heki was the wife of the god of the cataracts of the Nile, who also was represented with a frog’s head. The frog was the symbol of renewed life after death, and was worshipped as such.

9. The third plague was more intense; it afflicted man and brute alike. The ground brought forth insects, “lice” so called, in such abundance that even the priests could not cleanse themselves. The priests were not allowed to use woollen in any of their garments, because of the likelihood that it would harbor this vile evil, which was one greatly abhorred. Insects of every kind, even gnats, were considered unclean. Priests and people were alike unclean.

10. The fourth plague, of flies, was somewhat similar, being an insect curse, but now the curse was winged.

11. The fifth plague, of “murrain,” was far more serious, as it not only touched the honor of the Egyptian faith in the worship of Isis and Osiris, to whom the cattle were sacred, but caused the death of the cattle throughout Egypt. It troubled in yet more serious degree the temple and the market, the priest and the people.

12. The sixth was yet more distressing, for it sent boils and “blains” upon man and beast, not even the magicians being able to stand in the presence of Moses “because of the boils.”

13. The seventh plague was one not only of hail, but of fearful displays of lightning and peals of thunder, such as were never before known in the land.

14. The eighth was a terrific visitation of locusts which began, in unprecedented numbers, to eat up all vegetation left by the hail.

15. The ninth was intense darkness, in which plague not only was there an exceeding discomfort felt throughout the land, but the sun, which was the most sacred object of reverence, the supreme god of Egypt, withdrew his light before the command of Moses, as servant of the most high God.

16. The tenth plague was by far the most fearful of all. It was to the Egyptians both distressing and ominous. The first-born was, in a most loving sense, the most important member of the family—the one, above all the rest, upon whom the privileges of birthright were laid and who was, accordingly, regarded with special attention and love. Besides, in this fearful and sudden death of the first-born in every place there was felt, as never before, the presence of some awful power immediately back of this plague, which seemed to them to presage the approach of the destruction of the entire nation, and hence their outcry, “We be all dead men,” Exod. 12:33.

The Exodus, or the “departure,” began immediately, and Moses and Aaron, who had anticipated the result of this last plague, had prepared all the Israelites by giving them sufficient notice for a hurried flight.

CHAPTER II.

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SINAI AND THE DESERT.

1. It is necessary that we should obtain a general knowledge of the country over which the Israelites were now to travel. The land of Goshen, where the great majority of the Israelites were stationed, was included, probably, in the greater district of Rameses, as we have said. They left some general rendezvous early in the morning for Succoth, which was twenty or twenty-five miles southeast of the district of Goshen. The treasure city Pithom, mentioned with Rameses in the first chapter of Exodus (verse 11), was in Succoth, as a recent discovery has shown. The west arm of the Red Sea was about sixty miles farther south. The triangular district of the country between the two northern arms of the Red Sea, to which they were going, is a mountainous tract gradually ascending from the Gulf of Suez, or western arm, to the mountainous region of Horeb, of which Sinai was a chief mountain.[65] These mountains are entirely of granite. The large plain at the base of Sinai is 400 feet above the sea. The Sinai mountain seems to rise directly up from this plain to the height of from 1,200 to 1,500 feet, and in some parts, at its base, the rock is for a long distance almost perpendicular, like a high bluff above the level soil. Parts of the rocky heights are 2,000 feet above the plain.

2. North of this region, about 50 miles, a sandy stretch of country comes abruptly to a general rise of sandstone cliffs, which extend many miles east and west, and the granite rocks disappear, having been left behind in Horeb.

It is 200 miles, a little east of north, from Mt. Sinai to the south end of the Dead Sea and to the lower limits of the land of Canaan, whither the Israelites were journeying. Mt. Sinai is about 35 miles from the western and about 25 from the eastern arm of the Red Sea.

THE ISRAELITES IN THE DESERT.

3. The recent discovery of Succoth and the treasure city Pithom fixes this place as that of the first encampment of the Israelites at the Exodus. One inscription calls the place Petum (the “abode” of Tum) in the city of Thuku, or “Pithom in the city of Succoth.”

The great desert now begins, stretching eastward from Succoth for about 200 miles, a very desolate and barren region, to the country of Edom and the great valley of Arabah, which valley runs northward directly from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, a distance of 115 miles. The chief divine object in directing the course of the Israelites southeast from Egypt to the region of Horeb and then around by the Gulf of Akabah, rather than by the short course to Canaan by the coast, is expressed in the Scripture, and was one of discipline, Exod. 13:17, and preparation for the new life they were destined to live.

4. Many misapprehensions of the real difficulty of this long travel have resulted from a failure to comprehend the largeness of the company. It must be remembered that so large a number as 2,000,000 people, with their herds and flocks, their tents, the Tabernacle, and other baggage, must have covered a much larger space than is sometimes allowed by some readers of this history. Thus in crossing the Red Sea and stopping at stations and fording the Jordan on their arrival at Canaan, and in settling upon plains, before and after, it must be always kept in mind that no narrow line or small surface less than several square miles would in any way represent that necessary area over which the moving body travelled, or rested when it came to a halt. In its course at evening the advanced officers would soon lay out upon the area to be occupied the plan for encampment, and in a short time that space of land, which an hour before was the prowling-ground for a few wild beasts of the desert, would become the site of a city of 2,000,000 inhabitants, with long streets and squares lighted with the magnificent and mysterious flame which accompanied them during all their wanderings.

5. The habits of eating and drinking in that day were very different from anything now customary in our midst. The plainest food, and frequently only one meal a day and one draught of water in 24 hours, is sufficient for the Bedouin of the desert. We are therefore wrong in comparing the habits of the times of the Exodus with those of the present day.

6. Very few of the stations named after crossing the Red Sea can be certainly located. But after leaving Mt. Sinai, at three days’ journey Prof. Palmer discovered the evidences of an ancient camp, surrounded by an immense number of graves, and this place is generally supposed to mark the site of a station called Kibroth-hattaavah, or “the graves of gluttony,” the history of which is found in Num. 11:31–35. A day’s journey north of this the same explorer discovered other extensive remains of stone heaps and circles covering the hillsides in every direction. As the next station of the Israelites is called Hazeroth, which means “the circles,” and as the Arabs still call this place the “look-outs of Hazeroth,” it seems that the site of another station is known.

7. After this it is difficult to trace their course until they reached Kadesh, which is 140 miles due east of their first camping-ground in Egypt, namely, Succoth, and at present seems identical with the spot called Ain Gadis, or the spring of Kadesh, 170 miles north by east from Sinai, and 65 miles southwest of the Dead Sea.

There is evidence that anciently a great population was scattered over this region of Ain Gadis, and considerable verdure exists even at present. This appears to have been the general camping-ground of the Israelites for a large part of the thirty-seven years before they finally started to enter the promised land. The sad history of the event which brought this long delay is recorded in Num. 14.

CHAPTER III.

THE ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN.

1. After the long residence in the region of Kadesh the Israelites took up their march to Canaan. The generation now existing had been almost altogether born in the desert, and had been raised under the tutelage of Moses and his brother Aaron. Miriam, the sister, had undoubtedly added much to the influence which her brothers exerted by her nearer relation to the female population. The discipline had had its full effect during this long period, and there had grown up a vigorous and well-ordered race, totally different from the race that had left Egypt forty years before.

2. It is probable that during this long period Moses had written out much, if not all, of the Scriptures usually attributed to him under the title of “the books of Moses.” Although there is no definite statement in Scripture that all of these books, called the Pentateuch, are the composition of Moses, certain parts are spoken of as those of his personal writing. But of the five books the parts spoken of are only in the closing chapters of the last book, namely, Deuteronomy, and as the five have never been known except as forming one roll or volume, the general belief and tradition attribute the whole five to Moses as author. The impression that Moses was the author of Genesis, and that this book of Genesis was the beginning of “The Law,” is apparent in the writings of Longinus, the Greek author, A. D. 270, who quotes Gen. 1:3 as “the beginning of Moses’ law.”[66]

3. The census of the nation at this time shows that nearly 2,000 men had disappeared, and perhaps this lessening of the population was due to the deaths of the strangers and aliens who had become mixed in the vast crowd at the time of their departure from Egypt.

The first census was taken at Sinai in the second year after the crossing of the Red Sea, Num. 1:46, and was 603,550. The second census was taken nearly 40 years afterwards, just before the entrance into the promised land, Num. 26:51, and was 601,730, the difference being 1,820. The census included only the able-bodied men fit for war and over 20 years of age.

4. Moses died upon Mt. Pisgah without crossing the Jordan, Aaron died on Mt. Hor, and Miriam died at Kadesh. These leaders being dead, the authority to take charge was vested in Joshua.

MT. HOR, MT. NEBO, MT. PISGAH.

5. Mt. Hor is 45 miles south of the Dead Sea, having the ruins of the city Petra near its eastern base. Wandering Arab tribes control all access to these two places, but a small chapel marks the spot, according to tradition, where Aaron died on the top of the mountain.

Pisgah is supposed to be a high plateau ten miles east of the mouth of the Jordan, and Mt. Nebo a higher portion of the same general range, but it is at a short distance east of that part where the high table-land of Moab begins to descend to the Dead Sea. From this elevation very extensive views of the land west of the Jordan may be had.

THE ERA OF JOSHUA.

6. From the high table-land of Moab the Israelites descended to the eastern Jordan plains a few miles north of the Dead Sea, and soon crossed the river and landed upon the wide plain west of the banks. The crossing must have occupied the bed of the river for a long distance.

On entrance upon the land of Canaan proper the hosts of Israel renewedly consecrated themselves to the service of Jehovah at Gilgal. They accepted Joshua as their commander, and began their first attempt at subduing the Canaanites by an attack on Jericho.

GILGAL AND JERICHO.

7. The first of these names represents simply a gathering-place of the Israelites when the dedication of themselves to the Lord took place. Its position is supposed to have been at a place still called Gilgal, in the Arabic Jiljulieh, nearly three miles west of the Jordan and six miles north-northwest of its mouth. Jericho at this time was near the present Ain es Sultan, a very fine spring one and a quarter miles northwest from the present little Arab village called Er Riha or Jericho by travellers, and five miles west of the river. After its destruction at this time it was rebuilt B. C. 918, 1 Kin. 16:34, at the mouth of the valley of the Kelt, which is the ancient valley of Achor, and existed at that place in the time of our Saviour. The present miserable Arab village Er Riha and the tower near it were built during the crusades.

The name Gilgal signifies a “rolling” and also a “circle,” and probably the twelve stones taken from the bed of the Jordan were placed in the form of a circle, making the real significance more emphatic, but the true significance of the name is given in the passage, Josh. 5:9, as a rolling off “the reproach of Egypt,” as described in that chapter. There were two other towns bearing this name of which mention is made hereafter.

THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN.

8. Jericho was inhabited at this time by a luxurious people and one that evidently had profited greatly by the richness of the vast plain of the Jordan. The mention of the precious metals, “the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron,” Josh. 6:19, the “goodly Babylonish garment,” the 200 shekels of silver, the wedge of gold of 50 shekels’ weight stolen by Achan, Josh. 7:21, and the references to Baal-peor in the historic connection, prove their wealth and suggest the nature of their idolatry. Recent historic discoveries show the cruelty and fearful depravity of the people with whom they were associated. They were therefore given over to destruction in accordance with the customs of that time.

The name Jericho seems to mean the “city of the moon,” a name given to the city because of the early worship of the moon at that place under the title Ashtoreth, which doubtless was derived from the earlier title of the Babylonian Astarte, the goddess of love. It was given about this time to a city in Bashan called Ashteroth Karnaim, meaning Ashtoreth of the two horns, Gen. 14:5.

CANAAN.

9. This was the name of the land which the Israelites were now to conquer. The name was well known to the Egyptians, and we find it upon the monuments in Egypt and in Assyria. A description of this land occurs in Egyptian records as early as the time of Thothmes III. (1600 B. C., Brugsch), also in the reign of Rameses II., “the Pharaoh of the oppression” (1350 B. C., Brugsch), and from these descriptions it is plain that the land was settled by numerous tribes who were well provided with the comforts of living.

They were not only numerous, but many of their cities were strongly defended by fortresses. The list of articles recovered by Rameses II. after his battles in Canaan bore testimony to the wealth of the people and to the luxuries of their times, for among many other articles were ivory, ebony, chariots inlaid with gold and silver, suits of armor, fragrant woods, gold dishes with handles, collars and ornaments of lapis lazuli, silver dishes, vases of silver, precious stones, brazen spears, etc., “the plunder in fact of a rich and civilized country.”[67]

THE AMORITES.

10. The land of Canaan at the time of Joshua was no barbarous or ill-defended region. In the assault upon the Canaanitish city of Dapur[68] by Rameses II. the standard of the Amorites appears hoisted on the highest tower of its citadel.[69] From the pictures of the Amorites upon the monuments in Egypt they were armed with the bow and the oblong shield, and used chariots of solid construction fit for rough ground, and it is probable that the “sons of Anak,” Num. 13:33, were a distinguished clan among the Amorites and not a distinct people.[70] They were selected for their size and strength.

THE HITTITES.

11. It has been only recently that the history of the Hittites has come to light. The earliest references to this people in secular history are those which are found in the history of Assyria. They are first mentioned in Scripture as the sons of Heth, Gen. 23:3, in connection with the purchase by Abraham of the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. But fifty-three years before that event the Amorites seem to have been an important tribe, and fought under the direction of Abraham the first battle recorded in Scripture, Gen. 14.

The tribe of Hittites grew to be a strong and remarkable nation of warriors, extending their conquests into Assyria and far into Asia Minor. Their name occurs in Homer[71] under the form of “Ketaioi” and in the Egyptian annals in the time of the great conqueror, Thothmes III., B. C. 1600, wherein it is recorded that he received the tribute from the “chief of the great Kheta,” or Hittites, which tribute consisted in gold, slaves, and cattle. Thus it appears that in a few centuries after the time when Abram bought the cave of Machpelah of the sons of Heth, B. C. 1860, they had become a great people. Before the Exodus they were the powerful rivals of Egypt.

12. Until recently the expression in the book of Joshua (1:4) that the land of the Hittites extended “from Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” seemed to be an exaggeration. But the recent discovery of the ruins of their great capital, Carchemish, situated upon the Euphrates, and the mention of another city not far off, namely Pethor, where Balaam dwelt, beside many remains extending far into Asia Minor, all prove that it was no exaggeration, but historic truth, which is recorded in the book of Joshua concerning their extended empire. They were finally conquered by the Assyrians, and their great cities, Carchemish and Pethor, captured, 719 years before the Christian era, and they never again rose to power.

The other Canaanitish tribes were unimportant.

THE LANGUAGE OF CANAAN.

13. The discovery in A. D. 1868 of the Moabite stone, at Dibon, the ruins of which city are twelve miles east of the Dead Sea, shows that the Moabites in that region spoke a language similar to the Hebrew.

The date of this stone is about 900 B. C. Its inscription is a remarkable corroboration of the history contained in 2 Kings 3.

Discoveries at Sidon, a Phœnician town on the Mediterranean, and at other places, show that a modified Hebrew was very generally the language of all the Canaanites.

14. The pertinacity with which the more devout and learned of the Israelites held to the Hebrew during the captivity in Assyria, and ever since amid all nations and lands, proves that they never forgot the language which Abraham spoke, but cherished it during their residence in the land of Egypt, and it is probable that before their entrance into Canaan they had entirely ceased to speak what little they knew of the Egyptian tongue. They were the more able and ready, therefore, to receive the ten commandments and all the rest of those laws which were written in the Hebrew. And, moreover, there could have been very little if any difficulty in their understanding the language of the inhabitants into whose land they had now come.

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CANAAN.

15. The land of Canaan was bounded on the west by the Mediterranean, on the east by the Jordan, on the south by the desert, and on the north by the mountains of Lebanon. This was the land of promise.

At Jericho the valley of the Jordan is a depressed plain about 850 feet below the Mediterranean, and the surface of the Dead Sea on the south is still lower, being 1,293 feet below the Mediterranean, so that from ancient Jericho to the Dead Sea, six miles distant, the valley of the Jordan falls rapidly.

Jerusalem is very nearly due west of the mouth of the Jordan, and is placed on the highest land, with the exception of the Mount of Olives, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean on that line of latitude, being about 2,600 feet higher than the sea.

16. About 60 miles in a straight line due north of the Dead Sea the Jordan issues from the Sea of Galilee, the waters of which were called, in our Saviour’s time, the Sea of Tiberias and the Lake of Gennesaret. The shape of the lake is oval, but broader in the northern half, its length north and south being nearly thirteen miles and greatest breadth about seven miles. Its surface is 682 feet below the level of the Mediterranean and the hills on the eastern shore rise to the height of the great eastern plateau of the table-land of ancient Bashan, which is 2,000 feet above the Mediterranean. The waters are fresh and abound with fish.

17. In the times of Joshua and of the early occupation of the land by the Israelites, the lake was called Chinnereth (Num. 34:11) and Chinneroth (Josh. 11:2), [pron. Kin´nereth and Kin´neroth], and a city of the same name existed on its western shore very near the present site of Tiberias. Traces of this ancient city have been recently (1887) discovered just outside the southern walls.

Ten miles north of the Sea of Galilee is a smaller reedy lake four miles long, which is supposed to be the “waters of Merom” (Josh. 11:5), but now known as Huleh by the Arabs. Into the northern end the upper Jordan finds its way as it descends from the lower parts of Mt. Hermon. The surface of this lake is seven feet above the Mediterranean, and extended plains are on the west and for several miles northward, beyond which the land rapidly rises into the mountains.

18. The country is uplifted midway between the Jordan and the Mediterranean and forms an irregularly broad mountainous ridge stretching from the far south to the borders of the plain of Esdraelon, called in Scripture “the valley of Megiddo.” This plain is the largest in Palestine and extends from near the Mediterranean on the west to a valley plain near the Jordan valley on the east, where it is called the valley of Jezreel. It is generally about 100 feet above the sea level, or 150 in its highest average level.

In various parts it has been the chosen battle-ground of several of the fiercest contests in Biblical and in modern warfare.

North of the plain of Jezreel the land rises again into the broken and irregular hill country of Galilee until the region of the Lebanon Mountains appears.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BATTLES OF CONQUEST.

1. The capture of Jericho was not the result of battle, but was due to the divine interference in behalf of the Israelites. Jericho was a strong city and well defended by strong walls, and the destruction of these walls under the simple process described in the text was not only a lesson of great significance to the Israelites, but it indicated to the Canaanitish tribes the mystery of that power with which they were now called to deal.

Under Joshua three great battles completed the general conquest of Canaan and transferred to the Israelites the cities of thirty kings, Josh. 12:9–24, and if we include the king of Jericho the number will be thirty-one.

Nearly all of the book of Joshua is composed of the history of these battles and of the division of the land among the tribes after the conquest.

2. The first of these battles took place on the high land west of Jericho, at a town called Ai (pronounced A´-i). The site of this ancient town is known, and it was not far off from the site of Bethel, which is 13 miles west by north from the position of Jericho at that time. Ai, now called Haiyan, was two miles, or a little more, east of Bethel.

Just north of Ai is a high elevation, 2,570 feet above the Mediterranean, whereas the site of Jericho at the fountain of Elisha[72] is 700 feet below, so that the troops of Joshua had a march of about 1,500 feet ascent up a rocky ravine. Bethel is still higher (2,890 feet).

3. The first great battle of Ai was preceded by defeat in what may be called a mere skirmish, as only 3,000 were engaged. This defeat seems to have been divinely allowed, to place a terrible emphasis upon the truth that disobedience to the commands of God, even of a small part of the people, would certainly be followed by punishment.

The result was terrible, not only in the national mortification consequent upon the defeat, but in the lesson that no transgressor could escape either by hiding himself or his stolen spoils, which in this case had been buried in the ground and covered by the tent, Josh. 7:11–26.

4. The valley of Achor, where the fearful punishment was inflicted, is, without question, the present Wady Kelt, near the opening of which, upon the plain of Jordan, was the city of Jericho.

The battle was renewed, all the people of war were engaged, and the victory was complete.

5. The next event of great importance was the gathering of all the people in a central part of the land at two mountains called Ebal and Gerizim. This gathering was in execution of the command of Moses, Deut. 27, and was intended to cause them to renew their covenant with God and to set before them the blessings which should be granted upon obedience and the curses which should follow disobedience.

EBAL AND GERIZIM.

6. The location for this great gathering was admirably chosen. Ebal is a mountain whose highest point is 3,077 feet above the Mediterranean. Gerizim, right opposite, and southward, is 2,849 feet, and between them is the valley, whose surface is about 1,600 feet above the sea. In this valley, which runs east and west, is Shechem, on the southern side and partly built upon the ascent of Mt. Gerizim. The gathering may have taken place on the west of the city, where the valley is bounded on the north by that part of the western extent of the Ebal range which slightly recedes from the line of the valley and takes the form of an amphitheatre. But there is ample room on the east, where the elevations of both sides are far greater. The valley opens eastward upon the great level plain of Moreh, several square miles in extent. Where the valley opens upon this plain is the well of Jacob (John 4:6), and not far north of this well is the traditional tomb of Joseph, Josh. 24:32, whose embalmed body they buried there after they had conquered the country.

7. The vicinity of this well and the former history made this ground sacred to the Israelites, for here was Jacob’s first settlement and property, purchased of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, 280 years before. Even before that purchase by Jacob it was sacred, because that 189 years before Jacob’s time Abraham built here an altar to the Lord after that He had appeared to him and promised to give this land unto his seed, Gen. 12:6, 7.

The altar built here by Joshua, Josh. 8:30, was therefore the third altar erected in this vicinity, the first by Abraham and the second by Jacob, Gen. 33:20.

It is very probable that the great battle at Ai was fought with the view of clearing the way for the uninterrupted passage of the entire hosts of Israel to the plain just spoken of, called the plain of Moreh, which stretches out eastward from the bases of Ebal and Gerizim, and was 20 miles north of Ai.

8. Shechem never was a large town before the conquest. After it was despoiled by the sons of Jacob and all the inhabitants destroyed or taken captive, Gen. 34, it does not appear as re-settled until after the arrival of the Israelites at their first great national convention at Ebal, as described in the eighth chapter of the book of Joshua.

9. The second great battle or campaign began at Gibeon. This place has been identified with an elevated ruin five and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem. It should be remembered that the Israelites returned to the camp at Gilgal near the ford of the Jordan, this being their first great camping-place, and remaining such during their first seven[73] years, until they removed to Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle in that place, Josh. 18:1.

During the second campaign Joshua conquered nearly all the southern half of Palestine.

10. The third great campaign began with the greatest battle of the conquest, at the waters of Merom, Josh. 11:5. Here a great plain exists eight or nine miles in extent north and south, having the waters of the lake with a part of the upper stream of the Jordan on the east border. In this battle the Israelites came off victors, and then followed a series of reprisals, which with previous wars consumed about five years.

During all these years the women and children, with the herds and flocks, remained at Gilgal on the plains of the Jordan near Jericho.

11. The next great move was to SHILOH. This place was upon the highland 2,230 feet above the sea, nineteen miles north of Jerusalem and about the same distance from the camping-ground at Gilgal. We suppose that the Gilgal of this time was about three miles southeast of ancient Jericho and at the pool now called that of Jiljulieh.

Some remains of Shiloh, now called Seilun, yet appear, partly on a low hill surrounded by higher hills. Jerome says that in his time, A. D. 340–420, it was in ruins. The top of the hill has been levelled for several hundred feet, where are found some ancient foundations and hewn stones, and here, as is supposed, was the site of the Tabernacle. A little over a half-mile to the northeast is a spring called the spring of Seilun, and a pool where the seizure of the young women described in Judg. 21:19–23 might very easily have taken place.

12. Shiloh remained the religious capital and the city where the Ark and the Tabernacle rested for about 300 years, until the Ark was removed to the battlefield, 1 Sam. 4:3, and captured by the Philistines, after which it was never returned to Shiloh. The Tabernacle and the brazen altar were also removed and set up at Gibeon before the Temple at Jerusalem was built, 1 Chron. 16:39; 21:29, 30. Gibeon was five and a half miles northwest of Jerusalem and 2,535 feet above the sea.

For the history of the capture of the Ark, its restoration to Israel, and its remaining at Kirjath-jearim many years before its placement in the Temple at Jerusalem, read 1 Sam. 4 and 6 with 7:1, and 2 Sam. 6, also 1 Kin. 8:1–8.

The tradition that the Ark was hidden by the prophet Jeremiah in a cavern in Mt. Pisgah has arisen from a statement in the second book of Maccabees, 2 Mac. 2:4, written about B. C. 144. But before this time there was a tradition among the Jews, which was recorded in the Babylonian Talmud,[74] that the Ark was hidden in a chamber of the Temple buildings, and out of this seems to have grown the other and later tradition. The Ark was probably burned at the destruction of the Temple under Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 588, 2 Chron. 36:19.

13. Kirjath-jearim, where the Ark remained so long, 1 Sam. 7:2, was seven miles west by north of Jerusalem. In this connection it is necessary to say that, while the statement in 1 Sam. 7:2 leaves the impression in the English translation that 20 years was the whole time during which the Ark remained at that place, yet “the sense clearly expressed in the original” is that from the first placing of the Ark at Kirjath-jearim 20 years transpired of anxious expectation that Jehovah would interpose for the deliverance of his people before that Samuel gave them any hope.[75]

The Ark remained at Kirjath-jearim from about the time of Eli’s death through the reign of Saul and until David took it from thence to Jerusalem, with the exception of the three months during which it was at the house of Obed-edom, 2 Sam. 6. That was from about B. C. 1140 to B. C. 1042, or nearly one hundred years.

14. The next great work performed at Shiloh was the division of the land among the tribes of Israel. At this time, about 1444 B. C., we have the first recorded survey, and this was described by the cities then existing and “in a book,” which was probably attended with the first map of the land.

Of the twelve tribes, the Levites received no district in the division, they having been devoted to the service of the Tabernacle. Of the remaining eleven tribes, Manasseh had a section of land east of the Jordan as well as one west.

15. After this division the appointment of six cities of refuge was made both east and west of the Jordan, and very nearly equally distributed north and south. Of these six cities only the three west of the Jordan have been identified with present towns. One was KEDESH, now called Kades, four miles west by north of the “waters of Merom.” It was on a hill overlooking the plain on the west of the “waters,” which are now known by the name of the Lake of el-Huleh. The second city of refuge west of the Jordan was SHECHEM, sixty-three miles towards the south; and the third HEBRON, eighteen miles south of Jerusalem and about fifty south of Shechem. Those east of Jordan were probably very nearly on the same latitude, namely, GOLAN, east of Kedesh; RAMOTH in Gilead, east of Shechem, probably identified with the town now called es Salt, twelve miles east of Jordan on an elevation 2,500 feet above the Mediterranean and twenty miles north of the Dead Sea; and BEZER, not yet identified, but east of the Dead Sea, on the plains of Reuben.

16. The object of this appointment of cities of refuge was to protect the unintentional manslayer from the vengeance of his pursuer. Any one who had “unwittingly” Josh. 20:3, slain a man might fly to the nearest city of refuge and “declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city,” and dwell there until his case was decided by “the congregation for judgment” and until the death of the high-priest. The guilty party, if an intentional manslayer, was delivered up to the avenger. See Deut. 19:11.

The cities of refuge, as we have seen, were as equally distributed throughout the land as the positions of important and accessible cities would admit.

17. The blood feud had existed for centuries under the traditionary demand of “a life for a life,” and this demand, without the slightest regard to the intention of the manslayer, was customary and even obligatory, so that the nearest relative of the slain man was charged with the duty of destroying the manslayer whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself. This custom was modified by the appointment of the cities of refuge and by the institution of laws associated with their appointment, so that thereafter the innocent slayer should not suffer equally with the guilty, although the fact that he had shed blood even unintentionally would subject him to the inconvenience of separation from his family for a time.

18. The rehearsal of the Law at the great convention at Shechem, the division of the land among the tribes, and the appointment of cities of refuge[76] were equally in accordance with the directions of Moses, and they followed upon the entrance and conquest as soon as it was possible to carry them into execution. The three events are therefore in accordance with the spirit of the times and the provisions of the law, and are properly connected with the age of Joshua, although some writers have thought that the appointment of the cities of refuge took place some centuries later.

CHAPTER V.

THE INTRODUCTION OF IDOLATRY.

1. During the life of Joshua and of the elders or officers who outlived their leader and were acquainted with the early history of the nation, the Israelites held to their obedience to and reverence for the Mosaic law in all its bearings upon them. But after this era of about thirty years a remarkable defection took place, and the generation which grew up was drawn into alliances and such social intercourse with the inhabitants that many were won over to the faith and rites of Canaanitish idolatry.

2. It should be remembered that these Canaanitish tribes were not only possessed of riches, but they showed considerable advance in the knowledge of art, and their idolatries were attended by a degree of mystery and splendor which we are not accustomed to attribute to them. These conditions are only suggested by certain intimations in the Scriptural records, but plainly shown by recent discoveries, wherein the luxuries and riches of these nations are described by the victors in their records of tribute and capture, as we have shown.

3. The fascination of this splendid idolatry had its influence upon the people who had spent their early lives in the monotony of the desert and of a worship which was devoid of images or of anything which could impress itself upon the sight, except the distant and inaccessible pillar of fire and cloud or the rarely seen and approachless Ark, with a few other objects of which many had only occasionally heard. But in the land of the Canaanites and of their own tribes they met the symbols of the worship of Baal and of Ashtoreth upon almost every high hill and in every beautiful grove; they saw their sacred sculptures frequently and their ornamented temples, some remains of which are found upon the mountains of Lebanon at the present day. And those who could not see them were daily entertained with vivid descriptions of the altars and the gold and silver ornaments associated with the worship of the moon as Ashtoreth and of the sun as Baal.

4. Baal was the chief god of Canaan, whose worship was manifold and spread through the Canaanitish tribes under varied names, which, though differing in form, always suggested the same cruel or obscene worship. Hence the term in Scripture Baalim,[77] the plural of Baal. Thus there was the Baal-thammuz, Ezek. 8:14; Baal-moloch (the fire Baal), 2 Kin. 23:10; Baal-zebub, 2 Kin. 1:2, presiding over that decomposition which gave rise to new life, for zebub, “flies,” symbolized that life; hence the Jewish form in the time of Christ of Beelzebub as a burlesque upon the word and worship, since zebul (the Greek in the New Testament) was a sarcasm intended to mean dung, and Satan was thus contemptuously called lord of the dung-heap or Beelzebul. A change of place also changed the form of the name—Baal-hermon, Baal-hazor, Baal-meon, etc.

5. The worship of Baal and of Ashtoreth was attended by great cruelty and debauchery. These features were stamped upon all the ceremonies of their worship and the precepts of their religion. No other people ever rivalled them in the mixture of bloodshed and debauchery.[78] Every influence for good seemed to have been banished from their religion. Their most frightful worship was that of Baal-moloch, referred to above. In this children were burned alive by their parents; and this practice in honor of Baal was carried by the Phœnicians even to Carthage, where it became an institution of the State.

6. It was to avoid the contamination of these various idolatries that Moses commanded the extermination of the Canaanites, and it was due to the fact that they permitted the Canaanites to reside among them that the Israelites soon fell into their ways of worship, and in after years they were led in some degree to adopt even the rites of the bloody Moloch.

PERIOD IV.

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES.

ABOUT B. C. 1402–1060 (USSHER), BUT FROM HISTORY APPARENTLY OVER 400 YEARS.

CHAPTER I.

THE NATURE OF THE OFFICE. THE CHRONOLOGY.

1. Soon after the death of Joshua the conquest of the land was continued under the lead of the tribe of Judah. But the Israelites soon began to be affiliated with the inhabitants. Intermarriages, commercial and social intercourse brought about the change whereby the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth took the place of the ancient service of the God of their fathers, and the Israelites seemed to be given up to the idolatries of the surrounding nations.

2. A long series of captivities and servitudes now began which introduced a new class of public officers, called Judges, who united the office of general-in-chief and of referee in civil cases, thus partaking somewhat of the duties indicated by the name “judge” by which they are called in Scripture.

3. But the duties of the so-called judge varied with the times and the person. Gideon declined to rule, delegating all rule to Jehovah, and acted only as deliverer. His son Abimelech coveted the office of king, and was the only king during this period and the first king in any part of Israel. Eli judged Israel 40 years, 1 Sam. 4:18, and was a noted high-priest. Samuel judged all the days of his life, 1 Sam. 7:15, and was also the first of the long unbroken series of prophets, uniting with this accredited and newly created office that of sacrifice and intercession for the people, 1 Sam. 7:5. Samuel closed the line of Judges.

4. The period of the Judges presents us with a most singular form of government and totally unlike any other form which either had preceded or did succeed it. These rulers were generally divinely appointed, but at times seem to have been elected by the people, as in the case of Jephthah and Abimelech, Judg. 11:6; 9:3.

5. The most remarkable fact connected with the history of the times of the Judges, from about B. C. 1400–1060, is found in the private and public idolatry of the Israelites. This idolatry should be considered in view of the covenant their fathers had solemnly made at Sinai, and more especially in view of the warnings by Moses, reiterated by Joshua, and despite the consecration of themselves at Shechem. Many who were living at this time had formed a part of the great convention of consecration and covenant held under Joshua. Notwithstanding all these promises of loyalty to God, there seems to have been no form of idolatry into which they did not fall. The cause of this strange defection is very forcibly presented in Judg. 3:5–8.

Another remarkable feature of this age is seen in the renewals of idolatry after equally repeated deliverances from distressful servitudes followed by temporary reforms.

6. One constant cause of the persistent idolatry was doubtless to be found in the continued social relations of the Israelites with the tribes of the Canaanites. The wisdom of the forewarnings of Moses, Deut. 7:3–5, and of Joshua, and of the command made very early in their history that the Canaanites should be driven out from the land, and that no association should be had with them, is now very apparent, Exod. 34:16. The non-observance of the command was followed by these intimate relations all over the land. At least seven tribes are named, Judg. 1, as living together with the Canaanites. Even Judah, Benjamin, and the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusalem together at this time, Josh. 15:63 and Judg. 1:21.

7. The Canaanites therefore were admitted into the nation of Israelites by a kind of naturalization, and they brought in with them their customs and idolatries, although they themselves were made tributary.

8. The history of the times of the Judges is derived mainly from the books of Judges, Ruth, and 1 Samuel. But considerable light is added from the records of surrounding nations, especially from those of the Egyptians. In a poem by the poet laureate of the times of Rameses II., B. C. 1350, it is asserted that the Hittites in a battle on the plain of Esdraelon had 2,500 chariots of war. This was before the Israelites left Egypt, and the monuments record that Rameses III. captured 994 Canaanitish chariots.

The goddess Ashtoreth was, according to Naville, the patroness of war-chariots, and although the chariots taken by Joshua were drawn by horses, Josh. 11:6, we find them on some of the monuments represented as drawn by oxen, and it is said that oxen have been trained to run fast.

It should be remembered that the use of scythes or swords attached to the wheels or sides of chariots does not appear to have been in vogue until after this period.[79]

9. The Israelites had no war chariots until the time of David, 2 Sam. 8:4, and it is highly improbable that at that time they were used for war purposes, but only as baggage or forage wagons, and the remaining number taken in battle were disjointed, crippled, or destroyed, as the Hebrew text is translated in the Septuagint, and not that the horses were “houghed,”[80] as in our English version.

10. Solomon, B. C. 992, gathered chariots from Egypt and horses, although he was a man of peace, and it does not appear for what purpose the chariots were used except for display; but the act was certainly in direct violation of the law, Deut. 17:14–20, and marked the beginning of that king’s departure from the service of Jehovah.

11. The chronology of the times of the Judges is not clearly made out. It cannot be determined that the Judges all reigned consecutively or that any one Judge had authority over any larger district than that of a few tribes. The Scriptural order seems to be as follows:

Conquerors.

Duration of

servitude

The Judge.

Duration in

office, or

“Rest.”

Began to

rule B. C.

(Ussher).

Chushan-rishathaim

8 years.

1402

Othniel

40 years.

1394

Eglon

18 years.

1354

Ehud

80 years.

1336

Philistines

?

Shamgar

?

?

Jabin, a Canaanite

king at Hazor

20 years.

1316

Deborah and

Barak

40 years.

1296

Midianites and

Amalekites, etc.

7 years.

1256

Gideon

40 years.

1249

Civil war

Abimelech

3 years.

1209

Tola

23 years.

1206

Jair

22 years.

1183

Philistines and Ammon

18 years.

1161

Jephthah

6 years.

1143

Ibzan

7 years.

1137

Elon

10 years.

1130

Abdon

8 years.

1120

Philistines

40 years.

1112

Samson

20 years.

Eli

40 years.

Samuel

All the days

of his life,

1 Sam.  7:15.

dies 1060

SAUL

1095

FIRST YEAR

OF REIGN.

The period of the Judges closed at the time when Saul was appointed king, B. C. 1095. Joshua died B. C. 1426, as is supposed, but some[81] have thought that at least thirty years passed between the death of Joshua and the first servitude, and the general opinion is that at least four hundred years, or even four hundred and fifty, must be taken as the length of time from Joshua to Saul, the first king. By adding the time of the servitudes and those of the rules of the Judges, including the time from the death of Joshua, we have about the sum stated in Acts 13:20. But it is difficult to reconcile the chronology of this period with that of other periods because of the want of sufficient fulness of statement in the history of the Judges.[82]

CHAPTER II.

THE SCRIBES OF THE AGE.

1. It should be remembered that during these ages in all prominent nations the office of scribe or historian was a very important one, the existence of which was very general. Before the Exodus the historians accompanied the kings of Egypt and Assyria in their expeditions. Several references to such persons are found in the Scriptures, 2 Kin. 25:19; 2 Chron. 26:11, as especially belonging to the army. They are called “remembrancers” and “writers of chronicles” or “recorders” in the time of David, 2 Sam. 8:16. There were also poets, who described the events of the national history or the prowess of the king, not only in Egypt and Assyria, long before David, but also in Israel. The book of Jasher referred to in Josh. 10:13 and 2 Sam. 1:18 was probably a poetic history of heroic acts, very similar to one discovered in Egypt, called the poem of Pentaur, celebrating the courage of the Pharaoh, Rameses II., who was contemporary with Moses.

2. The number of writers of different kinds must have been much greater than is generally supposed. At a very early period during the residence of the Israelites in Egypt the taskmasters were always accompanied with “writers,” called “officers” in our version, Exod. 5:6, and we find them pictured on the monuments, with their tablets and reeds, writing even while walking. The children of Israel had scribes also on their brick-fields to check off the records of those who wrote for the taskmasters, Exod. 5:15, 19. So also the Judges in “the gates”[83] had their writers, Deut. 16:18, also called “officers.”

Writers were employed for such engineering purposes as are recorded in Josh. 18:9, and these were not simply draughtsmen who mapped the country in a book, but also recorded the position of cities, of which not less than four hundred and eleven are mentioned by name.

3. In more recent times there arose the class of writers called by the Hebrews “Sopherim” or “scribes,” who appear to have been high officers of the State or secretaries, recording edicts of the king besides the many important occurrences of history.

4. That writers or scribes existed at so early a period as that when the Israelites were in the desert is certain from the statement in Num. 11:16, where Moses is commanded to assemble these writers with the seventy elders. It is plain from these instances that there were numbers in the camp who were expert writers, and it is highly probable that many of the people were instructed through their writings, not only then, but during all the residence of the Israelites in Canaan.

5. There were men then, as now, peculiarly fitted to record current events, or interested in genealogy, or gifted with poetic talent, and their inclinations led them to make records which were interesting at those periods, or to make “books” which were known to be faithful and authentic; and hence in no less than fourteen instances there seem to be references to such books throughout the Old Testament writings: Num. 21:14; Josh. 10:13; 1 Sam. 10:25; 1 Kin. 4:32, 33; 11:41; 1 Chron. 27:24; 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 12:15; 20:34; 33:19; 35:25.

6. It is certain therefore that in the times of the monarchy public records were carefully kept, and even long before that time the people were not without their historians, who wrote down all important events and preserved and copied writings for others then living and for those who should come after them.

PERIOD V.

THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS TO THE CAPTIVITY.

FROM B. C. ABOUT 1095 TO B. C. 588, 507 YEARS.

CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF THE MONARCHY. REIGN OF SAUL.

1. One of the most evident results of the intimate associations of the Israelites with the Canaanitish tribes was the desire to have a king.

In the transition from the era of the Judges to that of the Kings there arose a man whose earliest days had been passed in the precincts of the Tabernacle at Shiloh under the care of Eli, the priest and judge of Israel. He seems to have been one whose evident piety and clear and manly judgment had impressed the people with a reverence for him from his earliest days. No other person in the times of the Judges seems to have been known so universally as uniting in one man divine authority and wisdom, and of no other had it been said that “all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord,” 1 Sam. 3:20.

2. With Samuel, as we have said, the line of the Judges closes. By divine direction he gratified the demands of the people by appointing Saul king over Israel, but not without a solemn warning as to the despotism with which the kings, in the future, would rule over them.

The whole land now becomes united under one ruler as a king, but at the same time strongly influenced by the prophetic authority of Samuel, who seems never to have lost power, either over the people or the king.

3. Dan and Beersheba were towns which in common speech limited the whole land, the former on the north, the later on the south. Dan was the name of only the tribe on the Mediterranean west of Jerusalem until the time that a colony from this tribe migrated to the extreme north of Canaan, beyond all the tribes, and drove out a company of Sidonians who had settled by themselves near the southern parts of Mt. Hermon, in a place before called Laish. This town the Danites conquered, and, taking possession of the place, named it Dan, after their ancestor.

Scarcely anything remains of this ancient city, but its location, called Tel el-Kady is beautiful, at the head of the plain of Huleh, nearly twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee. There are two fine springs at the ancient site and the elevation is 505 feet above the Mediterranean, which is twenty-five miles distant, on the west, to a point near the city of Tyre, which then existed. Dan was in the region assigned to the tribe of Naphtali.

4. Beersheba was exactly 148 miles south-southwest of Dan. Here the only remains consist of two very ancient large wells. The site still bears the ancient name and is twenty-seven miles southwest from Hebron. The wells contain excellent water and show the rope-grooves of many centuries in the massive stones with which they are lined and curbed.

5. The introduction of Saul to the full possession of the kingly office and authority was after his first battle, near a place east of the Jordan, called Jabesh-gilead.

The Ammonites had come up against this city from the south and demanded its unconditional surrender. In their distress they sent to their brethren, at Gibeah, where Saul resided. Saul seems to have had, at this time, but little to do as king, and it was not until he returned from the field, where he had been attending to his cattle, that on inquiry he learned the condition of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead and their appeal for help to their brethren, who were publicly lamenting their inability to give them any aid.

6. Saul immediately hewed a yoke of oxen into pieces, and sending messengers with pieces of the oxen throughout the entire land of Israel, made wise use of the name of Samuel in union with his own, in the threat, “Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen,” 1 Sam. 11:7.

No such universal call to united effort had before sounded over the land for ages. It was the sword of the king and the authority of Samuel the prophet of the Lord, and the call was honored from Dan to Beersheba. The messengers from the besieged city were hurried back with the cheering reply from the gathering army, “To-morrow by that time the sun be hot ye shall have help,” 1 Sam. 11:9.

JABESH-GILEAD.

7. Jabesh-gilead is not certainly identified, but it was not far off from a valley known as Wady Jabes, or Yabes, about twenty miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, in the land of Gilead.

Bezek, where the hosts gathered before they started to cross the Jordan, was some plain near the Jordan not yet identified.

8. Three hundred and thirty thousand of Israel gathered themselves together in three bands and hastily crossed the Jordan in the night, and before the heat of day they had slain and routed the Ammonites in the greatest battle that had been known in Canaan for several centuries.

So great was the reaction from the long-continued indifference to united effort, and especially to the publicly expressed lack of confidence in Saul, that, in keeping with their rude manners, they demanded the immediate execution of those who had spoken against the king.

9. But Samuel turned this feeling into another channel. He summoned a great gathering similar to the one called by Joshua 300 years before at Shechem, but at this time the assembly was at Gilgal. Here they renewed their promises to God and to the king. This was the Gilgal which was upon the plains of Jericho, and of which we have already spoken.

10. Saul now became king in its fullest sense. His first act was to appoint a standing army of 3,000. By an ill-timed attack upon an outpost of the Philistines the anger of that entire nation was aroused at a time when the Israelites were unprepared to meet them. Samuel was called upon for advice and service, but Saul’s impatience and disobedience to the directions of the prophet discouraged Samuel so greatly that he withdrew from Saul. Jonathan by a stratagem executed in the night, 1 Sam. 14, created a panic in the Philistine army, and the Israelites, gathering together from various hiding-places to which they had fled in their fear, joined in pursuit, until the Philistines were driven back to their own country, which was upon the southwest coast of Palestine about forty miles distant.

But the repeated instances of disobedience, coupled with deception, on the part of Saul led Samuel to withdraw from the king entirely and for ever, and by divine appointment he anointed David, in private, to be successor to Saul. David’s appointment was suspected, and it aroused the bitter jealousy of the king, which was shown by his continued pursuit and persecution of David, until the great and final battle of Saul’s reign, which took place on the plain of Jezreel, against the Philistines, about B. C. 1056.

SAUL’S LAST BATTLE.

11. This battle, with its associated geography and incidental history, requires some knowledge of the localities of SHUNEM, GILBOA, and EN-DOR.

The Philistines, with whom Saul was soon to contend, had approached the great plain of Esdraelon from their coast on the southwest. They had passed up the plain of Sharon northward along the shore of the Great Sea and entered through the pass of Mt. Carmel, which range limits this plain on the southwest, and thus they had entered the plain which we have already described, page 101.

Saul had gathered his army, and passing northward along the central elevated ridge, had reached the same plain at the town of En-gannim, which is on the edge of the southern border and overlooks the plain. Shunem was ten miles north. Here the Philistines were now gathering in their forces from the west, since the pass is sixteen miles west of Shunem.

It is an interesting fact that Gen. Kleber, under Napoleon I. in his battle with the Turks, 1799, drew up his smaller army of fifteen hundred in a square occupying exactly the same ground which a part of the Philistine army covered at this time, while the Turks with their twenty-five thousand covered more of the same battle-ground on the north.[84]

12. Shunem, now called Solam, is on the west and southern end of the short hill range running east, and supposed to be the hill of Moreh, but the Philistines occupied the plain on the south of this ridge-end, for Saul’s army was across the valley on the west end of Mt. Gilboa and immediately opposite the Philistines. Between the two armies was the valley of Jezreel running down eastward to Beth-shean in the valley of Jordan. The town of Jezreel, which gave name to the valley, was south of Shunem—Shunem on the Philistines’ side, Jezreel on that of Saul.

Just one mile and a half southeast of the valley of Jezreel is the “Fountain of Jezreel,” now a large body of water fed by a spring called Ain Jalud. This is probably both the Fountain of Jezreel of 1 Sam. 29:1, and the “water” referred to in Judg. 7:4. It is also the “well of Harod” of the first verse.

It was just two centuries before this battle that Gideon at this place obtained his great victory over the Midianites, and it was, perhaps, chosen by Saul because of the fountain.

13. As Saul had more than 300,000 warriors in his battle with the Ammonites and was as fully aware of the seriousness of a conflict with the Philistines as he was there with the Ammonites, it is probable that he brought into the field as many as he then had. The Philistines had a much larger number than Saul, and the total number therefore in conflict could not have been less than 700,000.

The evening before the morning of the battle Saul came fully to the conclusion that the Philistines were too strong for the forces under his command. In his forlorn belief in the spirit world and in the existence of Samuel, although three years dead, he determined upon an interview with the prophet if it were possible by a witch’s power of incantation to obtain it. As soon as it was dark, Saul, disguised, and with two trusty servants, crossed the valley from Gilboa northward to the village of En-dor, where in the caves near at hand there dwelt such a woman as he sought. The distance from the Fountain of Jezreel is about seven miles north. The interview with Samuel, which seems to have been as unlooked for and as terrible to the witch as it was dreadful and disheartening to Saul, is recorded in 1 Sam. 28:3–25.

14. Early the next day the battle began. The place called Aphek, where the main centre or headquarters of the Philistines was located, is not known, but was probably a mile southwest of Shunem, where the left wing of the army extended upon the line of its approach. The Philistines had the army of Saul at terrible disadvantage from the fact that his troops were drawn up southeast of them against the foot of Gilboa and slightly covering its sides, and thus elevated to the shafts of the archers. It was at about this age that the bow in war was used with terrible fatality by some of the African nations, and the Philistines had added this weapon to their javelins and short arms.[85]

15. It was a battle of arrows against swords and slings, and the archers won the victory, and after a long day’s fearful contest Saul and his three sons lay dead among the defeated thousands that covered the flanks of Gilboa.

Beth-shean was in sight eastward down the valley of Jezreel. It probably was never a Jewish but always a Canaanitish city, and here the Philistines the next day carried the headless trunk of Saul’s body and nailed it upon the outside walls with the bodies of his sons, while the salted head of the king was sent to the land of the victors to be carried around through the cities of the Philistines on exhibition.

Large numbers of the Philistines now took possession of the vacated cities, and many of the Israelites crossed the Jordan to find other homes until better times should come.

ZIKLAG AND THE SOUTH COUNTRY.

16. Among the vast numbers of the Philistine army, as they came upon the plain from Mt. Carmel, David’s royal friend, King Achish, occupied the rear, and David and his small band would be distinguished from the lack of the conventional army uniform, which could be seen at a great distance. The appearance of the Philistines in war was specially distinguishable from that of all other warriors by a peculiar head-dress and tightly-fitting tunic, leaving the arms bare.

But David’s presence formed ground for suspicion, and he was dismissed to return with his men to Ziklag. The situation of this place is not known, but from various circumstances it could not have been far off from the hill country of Judæa and in the general vicinity and south of Gath, since Achish, who gave him the place, was king of that city.[86]

17. On his return to Ziklag, finding that the Amalekites of the far south had burned his city and carried off all the families, David and his men pursued after them, recovered all, and returned to Ziklag. “The south” was a special term for that country beginning somewhere about Beersheba and reaching fifty or sixty miles south, and perhaps farther.

18. The duration of Saul’s reign was about forty years, or as the commonly received chronology presents it, from 1095 B. C. to 1056 B. C., and at the latter date Saul and his eldest son Jonathan died upon the battlefield.

In this great battle the Philistines, as we have said, used bows and arrows, and in this respect had a great advantage over the Israelites, who were not taught the use of this instrument in war until after this battle, 2 Sam. 1:18, and in the reign of David.

CHAPTER II.

THE REIGNS OF DAVID AND OF SOLOMON.

1. Upon the death of Saul and Jonathan the kingdom of Israel was ruled by two kings, David and the son of Saul, Ish-bosheth, whom Abner, the captain-general of Saul’s host, had made king over all Israel excepting Judah, which was loyal to David, 2 Sam. 2:4. Saul’s son reigned only two years, when he was assassinated by two of his “captains of bands.” After this event the chief men of Israel came to David, who was at Hebron, and entered into a league with him, by which he became king over all Israel at the age of forty years.

After seven years of reign at Hebron he attacked the city of the Jebusites, 18 miles north of Hebron. This place was known as JERUSALEM in after ages, although at that time called Jebus, 1 Chron. 11:4. The position of Jebus was an exceedingly strong one.

2. From recent examinations, by shafts and excavations, the site of the Jebus of David’s time was a rocky eminence, precipitous towards the east, south, and southwest, with access on other sides except for a short space on the north. The top was unevenly level, but only a part of this top seems to have been occupied by the city of Jebus, the southern part having a fortification distinct from the walled-up portion on the north and northeast. This part was taken by David on his arrival, and the remaining part, after some delay, was captured in a very courageous attack by an officer whose name was Joab.

3. The present circumference of the walls of Jerusalem is 2¾ miles very nearly; but although these walls include the larger part of the hill, there still remains a portion, called Mt. Zion, on the southwest, which is not included, and it is this part that was captured by David and was called the city of David or Zion.

Due west from the city the Mediterranean is 36 miles distant and the Jordan is 18 miles due east. On the east side, in the time of David, a part of the city wall rose nearly 100 feet above the channel of the Kidron, and from the representations of fortified cities of these times, as they are met with upon the tablets both of Egypt and of Assyria, the stones of the walls were placed with great skill. Some of the ancient stones of the city are even now laid upon solid rock eighty feet below the soil at the base of the present wall on the east side and the southeast corner.

4. The reign of David was noted for successful wars with the Philistines on the southwest, the Amalekites on the south, the Moabites and Ammonites on the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea, the Syrians in the region of Damascus, together with a king on the north. From the circumstances narrated, this king must have been one of great wealth and power and was probably a king of the Hittites, as that nation had at this period grown in extent and in military strength and held large landed property near the Euphrates. He is recorded as king of Zobah, a region not exactly identified, but very probably a district north of Damascus, between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, but lying east of Hamath (the modern Hama) which is 110 miles north of Damascus. In one of the Assyrian inscriptions Zobah is spoken of as between the Euphrates and Hamath, which latter place belonged to another king (2 Sam. 8:9). Beside these lands, he conquered Edom and placed garrisons there.

5. David reigned from B. C. 1056 to B. C. 1015, or about forty years according to the commonly received chronology, and was over 70 years of age at his death, just before which he appointed Solomon, his son, at about the age of 20, to succeed him.

The reign of Solomon was unlike the two previous in that it was one of entire rest from war until at the extreme close. A large part of Solomon’s reign was devoted to building the Temple and several palaces and cities, beside the construction of a navy upon the Red Sea and the erection of various treasure cities for his chariots and for his horsemen.

6. This age in Israel was characterized as one of great wealth and splendor, such as had not been known before. It was also distinguished for the wisdom of Solomon.

His policy of peace was greatly strengthened by leagues and alliances with the kings about him, chiefly through marriages, after the custom of Oriental kings at that day.

The Pharaoh whose daughter he married, and for whom he built a palace in Jerusalem, came up and burned a city called Gezer and slew the Canaanites who dwelt there, giving the city to his daughter, 1 Kings 9:16.

GEZER.

7. Gezer has recently been discovered, with a Hebrew and Greek inscription on the surface of a large rock which identifies the town by name. The location of the place is not quite 20 miles west by north of Jerusalem, and its position upon a high ridge, which is nearly a mile long, makes it probable that it was a formidable town. It was, before its capture by Pharaoh, a standing menace to the authority of Solomon, as it seems at that time to have been independent. It is probable that its destruction was instigated by Solomon, who thereby exhibited the interest Pharaoh had in him and, at the same time, avoided the unwelcome task of exposing his own people to the casualties of warfare.

8. The prayer of Solomon at the beginning of his reign was for wisdom and judgment in the execution of his kingly authority and in his government of the people. Of this wisdom he possessed an unparalleled share. But, while wise in the control of others, he lost power over himself and was led into grievous idolatry through his associations. This open worship of the deities of the nations with whom he had entered into league through his marriages will always remain as a warning against the insidious power of evil associations, even in the case of the wisest.

CHAPTER III.

THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM.

1. Solomon after a reign of 40 years[87] was succeeded by his son Rehoboam, who, through the adoption of evil counsel, brought on a great rebellion and division which resulted in the formation of the two kingdoms—one of Judah, with its chief city at Jerusalem, and the other of Israel, with its capital at Shechem. Jeroboam soon removed to Tirzah, where the capital, or royal residence, remained for many years until Samaria became the capital, and continued to be so until the captivity, 1 Kings 16:23.

TIRZAH.

This city has been identified with a village now inhabited and which is called Teiasir, eleven miles north by east of Shechem and twelve miles east-northeast of Samaria. It is 995 feet above the Mediterranean on the main road to Beth-shean. But formerly Tirzah was, by Dr. Robinson, supposed to be found in a village called Telluzah, six miles due east of Samaria, built upon a hill 1,940 feet above the Mediterranean and commanding a magnificent view eastward. This place, in its position, well deserves the name “Tirzah,” which means “beauty.” It is probably referred to in the Song of Solomon, 6:4. It was thirty-four miles a little east of due north from Jerusalem. But neither of these places can with certainty be called the Tirzah of this history.

Samaria was private property at this time, having no settlement upon it until nearly fifty years after the division of the kingdom, when it was bought by Omri, king of Israel, from Shemer, and, after him, named Samaria.

2. There is a great chronological difficulty in adjusting the reigns of the kings of Judah and of Israel.

It arises, in some degree, from the fact that the number of months is omitted in the statements of the years during which the reigns continued, for the whole number of years only is given. Moreover the statements are not always clear in relation to the epoch from which the number given is to be counted. But more recently collateral history, both Egyptian and Assyrian, has supplied certain data whereby considerable aid has been furnished in the settlement of some of the difficulties.

Under the supposition that the commonly accepted chronology is correct and that the division of the kingdom, at the death of Solomon, took place B. C. 975, the kingdom of Israel lasted 253 years and the kingdom of Judah 387 years, that is from B. C. 975 to B. C. 722 for Israel and from B. C. 975 to B. C. 588 for Judah.

3. The captivity of Israel took place B. C. 722, at the taking of Samaria by Sargon, the general of Shalmaneser. In the book of Kings we have the account of the attack of Shalmaneser upon Samaria, 2 Kings 17:6; 18:10. In the last passage, the phrase “they took it” appears to refer to the fact that both Shalmaneser and Sargon laid siege to Samaria, for although the former began the siege, he died suddenly before the city was taken, and Sargon, who had seized upon the throne of Assyria, immediately returned and completed the siege.

Sargon’s own account of the siege and of the captivity remarkably agrees with the statement in the book of Kings. These facts are derived from the Assyrian tablets.

4. In regard to this king of Assyria, Sargon by name, the verse in Isaiah 20:1 was for twenty-five centuries the only known evidence of his existence. It was not until recently, when the mound which covered his palace was excavated, that the name came to view. It was then discovered that he was one of the greatest kings of Assyria, and his history was recorded upon the large alabaster slabs which lined a part of his palace.

Judah was carried into captivity B. C. 588. The whole number of rulers, from Rehoboam the first king to Zedekiah the last, inclusive of both, was 20, of which number there was one queen, Athaliah, who reigned six years.

5. The line of descent of the Messiah passed through Judah and through all its kings except the last (Zedekiah), and the third and fourth from the last, namely, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. The kings of Israel were none of them in this line. It was for this reason that the tribe of Judah was the most important and prominent of all the tribes.

6. The captivity of Judah took place under Nebuchadnezzar, called also Nebuchadrezzar, Ezek. 29:19. This king succeeded to the throne of Babylon B. C. 604. His father was the first king of Babylon after the fall of Nineveh and death of its king Assur-bani-pal, the Sardanapalus of the Greek historians.

7. Immediately after the fall of Nineveh, B. C. 626, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar, founded the independent monarchy of Babylon, B. C. 625, and at the death of Nabopolassar, B. C. 604, Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne. He was a general of great energy and enterprise and became so well known, even to the Greeks, that according to Josephus,[88] he was compared with Hercules for his valor and deeds.[89] The prophet Jeremiah compares him with an eagle swooping down on his prey,[90] and Ezekiel represents him as a great eagle with great wings.[91] He was intrusted by his father with the entire management of the attack upon Nechoh, who had come up from Egypt in battle against the city Carchemish on the Euphrates, B. C. 606. This city was over five hundred miles northwest from Babylon on the west bank of the river.

8. With a fine army he attacked Nechoh, and defeated him with so dreadful a slaughter that the Egyptian king retreated rapidly to the Nile. Nebuchadnezzar followed him through Palestine to Pelusium, a city on the sea-coast frontiers of Egypt, about seventy miles east of the Nile. At this place he heard of the death of his father, at Babylon, and committing the army and his prisoners into the hands of his trusty generals, he left and, with a small escort, crossed the desert and arrived at Babylon, 700 miles distant to the east. Here he found that the chief of the priestly caste of the Chaldæans had held the government for him since the death of his father.[92] He then peaceably succeeded his father.

9. But the kingdom of Judah had not yet submitted to Nebuchadnezzar. He, therefore, after settling the new order of rule at Babylon, returned to Syria, B. C. 602, and attacked Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and placed him under tribute. Three years had not passed before this Hebrew king, counting on help from the king of Egypt, rebelled against the king of Babylon, and dying soon after, left the odium of the rebellion, together with the regal succession, to his son Jehoiachin.

10. This king of Judah had reigned only three months when Nebuchadnezzar sent an army into Judah and soon after arrived in person; and the king of Judah was forced to submit to the king of Babylon, and, with 10,000 of his best citizens, he was taken prisoner and carried to Babylon. The uncle of the king of Judah, whose name was changed to Zedekiah, that is, “the righteousness of Jehovah,” was placed upon the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. His previous name was Mattaniah, that is, “gift of Jehovah,” and Nebuchadnezzar, in giving him this new name, evidently intended it as a suggestion to the king that he was expected to sustain the truthful character of that Jehovah whom he professed to serve; for the king of Babylon had made Zedekiah promise by oath and covenant, swearing by his God, to be faithful to him, 2 Chron. 36:13; Ezek. 17:13, B. C. 599.

In the same manner Pharaoh-nechoh changed the name of Eliakim to Jehoiakim, when he advanced him to the throne eleven years before, B. C. 610. 2 Kings 23:34. He simply changed the ordinary name, El, god, to that most holy name of the Israelites’ divinity, namely Jehovah.

11. After eleven years of reign Zedekiah rebelled, and then the final siege of Jerusalem took place, and the Jews were forced by starvation to yield to the king. During the delay required by the siege, Nebuchadnezzar remained at a place called Riblah (now Ribla) 200 miles north of Jerusalem and 70 miles northeast of Beirût, pleasantly located in the valley between the Lebanon ranges and on the east side of the river Orontes. This place was made sadly prominent eighteen years before by the imprisonment of Jehoahaz, the successor of Josiah, king of Judah. He was taken captive and removed from Jerusalem and left at this place by Pharaoh-nechoh when he was on his way to his terrible defeat by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, B. C. 606. But on his retreat he carried Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died, 2 Kings 23:33, 34.

12. When the generals of Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jerusalem, they brought Zedekiah and the royal family to Riblah, where it appears that the king of Babylon upbraided Zedekiah for his violation of his oath, and then slew his sons before his eyes. This was his last and dreadful vision, for immediately after, according to the custom of these kings depicted upon the monuments, “he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with fetters of brass and carried him to Babylon,” 2 Kings 25:7.

13. The king of Babylon now left the completion of the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of captives to one of his chief army officers, called “the captain of the guard.” This officer sent off all the treasure of the Temple and of the various palaces, and then having burned the Temple and all the chief houses, he broke down the walls and so completely destroyed the city that the ruler, who was left to take charge of the few poor remaining, resided at Mizpah,[93] a village, not certainly but very probably, identified with a place on a high hill five miles west by north from Jerusalem.

14. Judah was now finally carried away captive, and the seventy years of captivity foretold by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 24:11; 29:10) are to be reckoned from the first captivity, B. C. 606, when Daniel and others were carried to Babylon in the third year of Jehoiakim, 2 Kings 24:1, 2. These seventy years terminated when Cyrus, in the first year of his reign at Babylon, B. C. 536, made his proclamation permitting the Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild the temple, Ezra 1:11.

15. About 50,000 accepted the invitation, but a large number preferred to remain, as we shall more fully explain hereafter.

CHAPTER IV.

ANALYSIS OF THE REIGNS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL.

1. Of the twenty sovereigns of Judah, Manasseh reigned the longest, namely fifty-five years. He was the fourteenth king and began to reign at twelve years of age, B. C. 698.

The shortest reigns in Judah were those of Jehoiachin and Jehoahaz, who reigned only about three months each, near the close of the kingdom, B. C. 600 and B. C. 610. Both of these kings were deposed by foreign kings.

2. Of the nineteen sovereigns of Israel, the one who continued longest upon the throne was Jeroboam, the second of that name. His reign continued forty-one years, from B. C. 825 to B. C. 784. He was the thirteenth king.

The shortest reign was that of Zimri, who committed suicide by burning himself in his palace at Tirzah, with all its riches, B. C. 930, when he found he was about to be taken. He usurped the throne and held it only seven days. He was the fifth king.

MORAL CHARACTER OF THE KINGS.

3. Of the twenty sovereigns of Judah, twelve were continually idolatrous. They seemed to be entirely unmindful of the previous history of the nation and of the claims of Jehovah upon their reverence or gratitude. The Temple service seems to have been continued by the priests at Jerusalem, but, from the warnings of the prophets, it appears that even the priests proved faithless and frequently allowed themselves to be led in accordance with the passions and violence of the kings, so that irreverence and sacrilege were common.

The treasures of the Temple, those vessels, ornaments, and trophies which were sacred to its use, or placed there in commemoration of victories and in honor of the Lord, were repeatedly seized by the kings and given to their enemies, or used for private purposes, and, in some instances, removed to give place for idolatrous practices. Parts of the Temple considered sacred to the name of Jehovah were desecrated by altars built for the worship of the hosts of heaven, and graven images were erected upon the Temple grounds, in defiance of the law.

4. The kings themselves frequently gave public examples of their contempt for Jehovah by the service and worship of the gods of surrounding nations, by erecting temples and altars and by planting groves upon high places and setting up images of Baal and Ashtoreth throughout the land and in prominent towns, so that the people were constantly drawn into idolatry and their children made to dwell in the presence and under the influence of idolatrous emblems, as seen throughout the kingdom.

5. The above mentioned facts are specially applicable to twelve kings out of the twenty of Judah, but the character of the reigns of Israel was even worse. Of its nineteen kings, not one was free from idolatry. At the very beginning of their history the first king, Jeroboam, who had spent about five years in Egypt at the court of Shishak, erected a golden calf at Bethel and one at Dan in the north, and invited the people to worship at these shrines in preference to the “house of the Lord,” the Temple, at Jerusalem.

6. This worship of the golden calf was a repetition of the same worship which was performed 500 years before at Mt. Sinai, soon after the Israelites came out of Egypt, and Jeroboam the king in instituting it repeated the words which were uttered at Mt. Sinai,[94] namely, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,” Exod. 32:4.

7. The selection of the calf was suggested by the prominence which that animal,[95] as the symbol of divine power, attained in Egypt. The costly adornment and preservation of the sacred living bull, or Apis, and the magnificent funeral ceremonies and entombment of the dead Apis are frequently alluded to on the monuments of Egypt. Long before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt the veneration of the sacred bull had been exhibited in services and obsequies, so general throughout Lower Egypt, and so imposing, that the effect upon the population must have been far more solemn and impressive than anything we can conceive of at the present day. The costly burial places, called “Serapeums,” some of which yet exist, and the granite sarcophagi show beyond any question how reverent and imposing the worship of the bull must have been.

8. In the expression used at Mt. Sinai and by Jeroboam the word “gods” has the force of the singular number, being that word sometimes applied to Jehovah and always used in the plural number, called “the plural of excellence;” so that while translated in this phrase “gods,” to the Hebrew it was the same as “god;” hence there was only one calf-image at any place.

It is both remarkable and memorable that notwithstanding the bold and careless manner in which Jeroboam’s contempt for the worship of Jehovah was exhibited, yet in the later history of his life, when a bitter sorrow was coming upon him, he acted the part of Saul and applied for help to the prophet whose counsel he had abused. The results were the same and the record is in 1 Kings 14.

9. It should be remembered that while the kings and many of the people departed from their covenanted service of Jehovah, and the land was full of idolaters, there were, at all times, those who in the privacies of their homes were faithful servants of the Most High.

This fact was brought out in the time of the prophet Elijah; for when the prophet in his despair supposed he was the only surviving worshipper of God, the Lord revealed to him the truth that at that very moment there were 7,000 in Israel who had never bowed the knee to Baal, but were faithful to Jehovah, 1 Kings 19:18. Even in the household of the idolatrous Ahab there was one who held so persistently to the ancient faith in Jehovah, that, despite the cunning, power, and vengeance of Jezebel, he succeeded in hiding and feeding one hundred of the prophets of the Lord, probably in several caves. This man, Obadiah by name, was governor of Ahab’s house, 1 Kings 18:3, and not the prophet, who lived about 587 B. C.

10. Frequently, during the darkest times of the two kingdoms, there suddenly appeared an antecedently unknown messenger of God, who bore with him the evidence that he was a member of a reserved force of faithful ones whose existence had never been published in the annals of the kingdom; and these unknown servants existed in both kingdoms alike, and were of both sexes, as we find in the cases of Huldah, whose knowledge of the law made her worthy of consultation by the king, and of Hannah before her, and of that nameless woman dwelling in the walled city Abel, who, although “peaceable and faithful in Israel,” had power enough simply by her wise counsel to turn back the fierce army of Joab, 2 Sam. 20:19.

ABEL.

This place was also called Abel-beth-maachah. It was upon the level land twelve miles north by west of the waters of Merom, lake Huleh, and is now called Abl. Abel means “meadow.” The village is over 1,000 feet above the lake Huleh (1,074 feet), and is a Christian village.

11. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that although at court and by the kings the law of the Lord was little known and read, it might yet have been thoroughly studied and observed by many in private.

CHAPTER V.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE PROPHETICAL OFFICE.

1. But a most remarkable feature of the times of the kings, both of Judah and Israel, appeared in that religious body called the Prophets.

The name “prophet” was originally given by God to Abraham, Gen. 20:7, and seemed to imply a familiarity with God, or that the one to whom it was applied had divine authority to speak for God. The prophets, therefore, were not confined in their utterances to a mere foretelling of events, but, in addition, were made the messengers of God and uttered commands as well as advice by his appointment and in his stead.

2. They received divine messages in several ways: (1) by impulses, commanding and influencing their thoughts while awake, as in the case of Elisha, 2 Kings 3:15; (2) by audible sounds, as in the case of Samuel when a child, 1 Sam. 3:10, and when older and a prophet, as recorded in 1 Sam. 9:15 and in other passages; (3) and by visions, or dreams, as in the cases of Isaiah, Isa. 1:1, Micaiah, 1 Kings 22:17, and Daniel, Dan. 10:1, 7.

3. There was a class who were officially known as prophets, whose lives were chiefly devoted to this office, and these were distinguished by a term which has come down to the present time and is in use among the Arabs in the regions of Palestine and Syria. This is the term “Neby” used by the natives as a title of a sacred person and associated with tombs throughout these lands, and it is the same word used in the times of Abraham, Gen. 20:7.

4. There was, however, another class of prophets who seem to have been used for special occasions and who were commissioned for one prophetic act, after which they do not appear again in history, 2 Chron. 9:29; 1 Kings 16:1–4; 2 Chron. 19:2; 15:1–8, and elsewhere. These, however, may in some instances have been chosen from one of those collections, or schools, of the prophets which existed from the time of Samuel to a period several centuries later, 1 Sam. 19:18, 19. “Naioth” in this passage alludes to the “habitations” in Ramah, which appear to have been “colleges” of the prophets. There were such colleges or schools at Bethel and Jericho, 2 Kings 2:3, 5. In these schools the law was studied, and perhaps psalmody, as we find that in some passages references are made to the instrumental performances of the prophets, 1 Sam. 10:5.

5. Of all the prophets the utterances of only sixteen have come down to us in distinct books. Of these it is customary to speak of four as THE GREATER, or major, prophets, and of twelve as THE MINOR prophets, but these terms have reference only to the extent of their writings. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are included in the term major, and their prophecies, as written, are composed in the following order, only as to the number of verses in each prophecy as that prophecy appears in the English authorized version: Jeremiah (including Lamentations, which has 154 verses) 1,518 verses, Isaiah 1,292, Ezekiel 1,273, and Daniel 357.

6. Of the minor prophets, the order, in point of number of verses in each book, is as follows: Zechariah 211, Hosea 197, Amos 146, Micah 105, Joel 73, Habakkuk 56, Malachi 55, Zephaniah 53, Jonah 48, Nahum 47, Haggai 38, Obadiah 21.

The prophecy of Jeremiah, including Lamentations, ranks, in order of number of verses, next after Genesis, which contains 1,533 verses.

This analysis of the books of the major prophets shows not only their comparative importance, as to size, among the sixteen prophetical books, but also among all the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament; for Genesis, in point of number of verses, is second only to the book of Psalms, and Jeremiah’s writings are the third in this order.

7. In point of time, there seems to have been an entirely uninterrupted line of such prophets as we have described from the age of Samuel to the return from the captivity, an era of nearly 750 years (from B. C. 1141 to B. C. 397).

Some of even the greatest of the prophets, as Elijah and Elisha, never committed their prophecies to writing. In a very large degree, however, their words and acts are recorded in various histories, as the historian had need to make reference to them in explaining certain events he was narrating in the history of the kingdoms of Judah and of Israel.

Of those prophets whose prophecies are given in distinct books, Jonah was the first mentioned in point of time, and Malachi was the last, probably B. C. 397.

After the death of Malachi the prophetic institution, as an order, seems to have closed, and it was so understood by some of the ancient Jewish writers, as appears in the apocryphal books.[96]

PERIOD VI.

THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH TO THE CLOSE OF THE CANONICAL PERIOD.

B. C. 588–397(?).

CHAPTER I.

THE VARIOUS CAPTIVITIES.

1. By the words “the captivity” is generally meant the final captivity of Judah, which was the last of a series of captivities both of Israel and of Judah. As a knowledge of these captivities is not only important in the study of Jewish history, but has a bearing upon the authenticity of the Scripture, they should all be carefully distinguished. We therefore give a full list as follows.

THE VARIOUS CAPTIVITIES.

2. The first captivity, B. C. about 733, was that of the tribes east of the Jordan, by a king of Assyria bearing two names in Scripture, which were formerly supposed to be the names of two distinct kings. But a recently discovered list of Babylonian kings shows that the two names are those of the same king, and therefore the reading of the verse, 1 Chron. 5:26, is correct in which the two names of this king, namely, Pul and Tilgath-pilneser, are spoken of as in the singular number.

Pul seized the throne B. C. 745, and died 727.[97] The dates in our marginal references (2 Kin. 15:19) are too early. This king carried away “the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah and Habor and Hara and to the river Gozan,” 1 Chron. 5:26; see also 2 Kings 15:29.

HALAH, HABOR, HARA, THE RIVER GOZAN.

3. Halah is probably identified with a mound now called Gla, on the river Khabour, which is a tributary to the Euphrates. It is about 430 miles northeast of Jerusalem and 330 northeast of Babylon.

Habor was probably on the river Khabour, but its site has not been identified.

Hara is about 100 miles northwest of Gla and is supposed to be the same as Haran, to which Terah and Abraham migrated from Ur of the Chaldees. It is situated upon the river Belik, which runs southward about seventy miles and then joins the Euphrates.

The river Gozan was probably the same as the Khabour, as the province of Gozan, through which it ran, seems to be identified with the Gauzanitis of Ptolemy. Its mouth is about 100 miles east of that of the river Belik, which also empties into the Euphrates. After the Khabour no other river is tributary to the Euphrates for 500 miles of its course. The mouth of the Khabour is 300 miles northwest of Babylon.

4. The second captivity, B. C. 721. Twenty years afterward, at the siege of Samaria, the Assyrian king Sargon carried off a larger and more important number. This king gives an account of this siege, in remarkable corroboration of the Scripture history, and states that he “carried off 27,280 of its citizens.” Nevertheless a large number remained in the region around and many fled who returned afterward, 2 Kings 17:6.

5. “The cities of the Medes” here spoken of had been only recently conquered by Tiglath-pileser. In an inscription, towards the end of his reign, he mentions Parthia (parts of Media), Nisæa, and other places that paid him tribute. It was in 736 B. C. that he made a great expedition in the east, farther than any of his predecessors, reaching the frontiers of India. He was succeeded by Shalmaneser, B. C. 727, who died and was succeeded by Sargon, B. C. 721, the year of the capture of Samaria.[98] The war of the first captivity (page 158) was carried on between B. C. 733–731 by Tiglath-pileser, and it was then that the first recorded instance occurred of the practice of transplanting the whole people of a conquered country to places far distant from their native land and replacing them by other captives.[99] Such was afterward the act of Esar-haddon in regard to Samaria, as stated in Ezra 4:2. This king reigned B. C. 681–668.[100]

The captivity B. C. 721 was the last captivity in any form of Israel, which is known as “the northern kingdom,” in contradistinction from Judah, “the southern kingdom.” It comprised “the ten tribes.”

6. The third captivity, B. C. 606. Of the captivities of Judah, the first happened when Daniel and others were carried off to Babylon, B. C. 606, 2 Kings 24:2; 2 Chron. 36:6; Dan. 1:3, when but a few were sent to Babylon.

7. The fourth captivity, B. C. 599–598. The second deportation to Babylon from Judah was in B. C. 599–598, when 10,000 captives were taken from Jerusalem, 2 Kings 24:12, and from the surrounding country 3,023, Jer. 52:28. The king Jehoiachin was also taken captive.

8. The fifth and final captivity, B. C. 588. In the third great captivity of Judah Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem by burning the Temple and pulling down the walls and the houses.

Perhaps in all 100,000 were carried off at various times. While this number was comparatively small, it represented the very strength of the kingdom of Judah, with which tribe the promise of the Messiah alone rested, and it was of this tribe that the majority of those who returned to Palestine were composed.

The captives of Judah remained in or around Babylon during the entire term of their captivity.

9. The captivity of Manasseh. In this connection there is another captivity merely referred to in one verse in 2 Chron. 33:11. It is the captivity of Manasseh by the king of Assyria. In this verse it is said that this king of Judah was carried captive to Babylon, and for a time it was thought by some critics that this was an incorrect statement, since the king of Assyria was at Nineveh. But among the inscriptions at present in the British Museum were found those of the history of Esar-haddon, who reigned from B. C. 681 to B. C. 668. In this history it is stated that he went to Syria and conquered and destroyed Sidon and held court at Damascus, summoning twenty-two kings to meet him there; and second among the names is that of “the king of Judah.” This was in the year B. C. 672.[101] It is recorded that he rebuilt Babylon, and we find that both he and his son held their courts and judged vassal princes like Manasseh at Babylon.[102] Esar-haddon gathered men from Babylon and other places and planted them in Samaria, and hence we have the account given us in Ezra 4:2, 9, 10.

10. Although the “seventy years” of captivity pronounced against Judah by the prophet Jeremiah (25:12; 29:10) are supposed to begin B. C. 606, yet the destruction of Jerusalem and the last deportation of Judah, B. C. 588, closed up the list of captivities both of Judah and of Israel. Both communities now existed, but, with small exception, only as captives in Assyria or as exiles in various other lands.

CHAPTER II.

THE COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT.

1. As a people, the Jews of the northern kingdom never were so warmly attached to the Temple worship as those of the southern, and hence all the Psalms which alluded to Jerusalem[103] and the Temple are supposed to have been written by the exiles of Judah, that is of the southern kingdom, who went into captivity B. C. 588 under Nebuchadnezzar, and were settled in Babylon or its vicinity. For the entire seventy years the people of Judah and those of Israel were separated by several hundred miles of country.

2. During the many years of captivity, Israel, that is the ten tribes, probably mingled with other nations in their midst and became very largely estranged from the father-land. There were fewer of the ties of religious faith with them than with Judah. Even the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, when they returned from the captivity and entered into their city Jerusalem and into the cities and lands surrounding, brought wives from the heathen about them,[104] the very priests and Levites being also guilty, Ezra 9:1, although the Mosaic law prohibited such marriages.

3. Such heathen intermarriages among the members of the tribes would, after 185 years, be less objected to than among the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and would naturally be followed by not only indifference to any return, but also by forgetfulness of the land and of the history of their origin, and it is not surprising that when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin accepted the permission granted by Cyrus, the king of Babylon, to return to Palestine, the ten tribes, as a whole, remained in Assyria and never returned, but probably became lost by being absorbed into the nations with whom they associated.

CONDITION DURING THE CAPTIVITY.

4. During the captivity the Jews in Assyria and Babylonia were allowed great privileges. They were considered more in the light of colonists than of slaves, and from the histories, both sacred and secular, we learn that, as stated in the books of Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel, they were occasionally employed in high positions in the state and at court. Nehemiah, though born at Babylon during the captivity, was a Jew of the tribe of Judah, but was cup-bearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus, at Susa. Ezra also enjoyed great consideration at the Persian court during the reigns of several of the kings of Persia. And from the book of Esther it is evident that the Jews prospered greatly during the reign of Xerxes.

5. The prophets, during the captivity of Judah, were earnest in their endeavors to preserve the integrity and reverence of the people, and it was largely due to them that many of the observances of the Mosaic law, and a loving remembrance of the Temple and of Jerusalem, prevailed so far as it did in spite of the idolatries of the people by whom they were surrounded. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with Obadiah, were the prophets of the captivities.

PROPHETS DURING THE CAPTIVITY.

6. Before the captivity Jeremiah[105] had foretold the captivity of Judah, for seventy years, in Babylon, Jer. 25:8–12, and also the fall of Babylon (verses 13–38). His faithfulness endangered his life, and when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem he found Jeremiah in prison and released him, offering him a residence in Babylon. The prophet, however, chose to remain with the remnant of Judah who were not carried away, and when this remnant fled to Egypt, for fear of Nebuchadnezzar, they took Jeremiah with them. See the account in Jer. 43:6.

7. A recent remarkable discovery has been made, in Egypt, of the palace of Pharaoh-hophra, the Egyptian king who reigned at the time Jeremiah was carried to Egypt, about B. C. 585. The prophet protested against the departure to Egypt of the remnant of which we have spoken, and forewarned them that Nebuchadnezzar would go to Egypt and would overcome Pharaoh-hophra and would pitch his tent in the court of this palace. Several clay cylinders have been picked up in the vicinity bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar, and proving that he had been here, and the brick pavement, or court, before the palace, which seems to be alluded to in Jer. 43:9, has been uncovered. It was here that the prophet hid the stones at the place he foretold as that where Nebuchadnezzar should set his pavilion. The palace was at Tahpanhes (pronounced tah´-pan-heez), Jer. 43:8–13.

TAHPANHES.

8. Tahapenes, also written Tahpanhes, Jer. 43:7, 9, or Tehaph´nehes, Ezek. 30:18, was an Egyptian city on the east of the Delta, seventy-eight miles east-northeast from the present Cairo, and upon the most eastern branch of the Nile. In 1886 Mr. Petrie discovered, at this place, the palace above alluded to, at which the Pharaoh (Hophra) then reigning probably received king Zedekiah’s daughters, to which there seems a reference in the traditional name “Castle of the Jew’s daughter.” The place is now called Tell Defenneh, but there exist only ruins covered by a mound.

DANIEL.

9. Daniel went into captivity six or seven years before the captivity of Ezekiel, when Nebuchadnezzar first laid siege to Jerusalem, B. C. 606. At this time the king of Babylon took captive Daniel and his companions, who were young and of noble families, and had them sent to his palace to be educated for the king’s service. The Assyrian records show that it was a custom among the kings to select young men of talent and educate them at royal expense, that they might be special officers at court. Daniel was so chosen, with three others, and they were “taught the learning and the tongue of the Chaldæans,” Dan. 1:4. Their great skill and wisdom roused a jealousy among the princes of the court against the companions of Daniel, and while Daniel was absent on some commission, or other duty, his companions were condemned to be burned alive, but were delivered by divine interference, Dan. 3.

EZEKIEL.

10. The prophet Ezekiel went into captivity with Jehoiachin king of Judah, eleven years before the final captivity, and was placed with a Jewish company at the river Chebar, which may be the same as “The royal Canal,” just north of Babylon, and which was dug by Nebuchadnezzar to unite the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris. This prophet was skilled in the law and a faithful priest and teacher, and his influence was great among the captives.

OBADIAH.

11. Obadiah was the fourth prophet, whose prophecies seem to have been delivered about B. C. 587, or during the captivity of Judah and soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. He appears as specially commissioned to foretell the punishment of the Edomites for their pride and insulting rejoicing at the destruction of Jerusalem and the distress of the Jews. According to Josephus, this warning received its fulfilment about five years after the prophecy.

ASSYRIAN KINGS OF THE CAPTIVITY.

12. Of the kings of Assyria and Babylon during the captivities the first mentioned in Scripture is Tiglath-pileser, of whom and his successors we have already spoken, pages 159, 160. These kings were active only in the captivities of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar was connected with the captivities of Judah.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

Nebuchadnezzar began to reign B. C. 604. During his reign of forty-three years Babylon rose to its highest splendor and remained a magnificent city until his death in B. C. 562. His madness, spoken of by Daniel, is not distinctly stated in Assyrian history, but an inscription, now in the East India House at London, gives an account of the various works of Nebuchadnezzar, and abruptly says that his heart was hardened against the Chaldæan astrologers. “He would grant no benefactions for religious purposes. He intermitted the worship of Merodach, and put an end to the sacrifice of victims. He labored under the effects of enchantment.”

This last sentence seems to accord with the statement of Daniel (chapters 1–4). The record referred to was found in the ruins on the Tigris.

13. The son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar was Evil-merodach, B. C. 561. He released the captive king of Judah, Jehoiachin, and treated him as a prince and with special favor. His sister’s husband, Neriglissar, succeeded him B. C. 559. He is mentioned in 2 Kings 25:27; Jer. 52:31.

14. This Neriglissar, or, as the monuments present it, Nergal-Sharezer, held the throne only three years, and was followed by his son, a minor, who perished in a conspiracy of the nobles after a reign of only nine months. One of these nobles, Nabonidus by name, ascended the throne and held it till the city was captured by Cyrus. It was his son, Belshazzar, who, as eldest son, reigned with his father when Babylon was taken, his father having entrusted him with the care of the city while he, with the main part of the army, was engaged with Cyrus, eight miles off at Borsippa.

15. Cyrus did not assume the rule of Babylon immediately as its titular king. He was supreme over all Asia from India to the Bosphorus, but, for some reason, a Median prince was established for a time as nominal king, although Cyrus retained all the power. That prince was Darius, the son of Cyaxares, a childless man of sixty-two years of age. When, two years after his appointment, he died, Cyrus assumed the power and became king of Babylon.[106]

CHAPTER III.

THE CAPTIVITY ENDED.

1. In the first year of his reign, B. C. 536, Cyrus issued a decree of liberty to the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, Ezra 1:2–4.

2. No more than 42,360, including children, could be persuaded to return. But in addition there were over 7,000 male and female servants. Of the priestly clans, only four out of twenty-four were ready to go out, but these added 4,000. Of the Levites, only seventy-four cared to leave Babylon. This multitude, of about 50,000, set out as a caravan to reach Palestine, many of them having to travel the whole distance on foot, as only 8,136 animals, for carriage, accompanied them. The journey occupied about four months and when they arrived they found much of the land preoccupied by the surrounding nations.

But, after much labor and considerable opposition, the Temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt and, after longer delay, the walls arose from the ruins. B. C. 516 is the date of the second Temple, and B. C. 445 of the rebuilt walls.

THE NUMBER OF THE JEWS AS A RACE.

3. The number of those who returned to Palestine was small compared with the number of the Jews as a race at this time. During the reign of David a census of the nation was taken. Of this census there are two accounts, one in 2 Sam. 24:9, the other in 1 Chron. 21:5. The first gives 800,000 as the number in Israel, and 500,000 in Judah, of those “who drew the sword.” In these statements the tribes of both Levi and Benjamin were omitted, the former because they were not subject to military duty, and the latter for the reason stated in the text, 1 Chron. 21:6.

4. This census made the number of men capable of bearing arms 1,300,000. It seems from 1 Chron. 27:1 that there was a standing army of 24,000, renewed every month from Israel, and drawn from an established organization of twelve times that number, which Joab, who took the census, may not have included in the number of the census of Israel, 2 Sam. 24:9, but which has been added by the writer of 1 Chron. 21:5. This increases the number by about 300,000, so that the total would be about 1,600,000 of both Israel and Judah, with the exception of the number lost by a pestilence which immediately followed upon the census. But the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, which were not numbered, as we have shown above, would fully replace the number lost by the pestilence. Hence at the time of David the able-bodied men of the entire nation were about 1,600,000, and this number could not have been materially lessened at the beginning of the captivities.

5. An important fact connected with the captivities was that the members of the ablest families, the wealthiest and most influential, were chiefly included among the captives, and, in the case of Judah, not only the most learned, but the most devoutly attached to the Mosaic law of all the tribes, went into captivity.

6. What became of a large part of the Jewish people just before these times is plain from the references to those who had fled during the various wars of the captivities, or who might have been taken captive or retired to other nations than the Assyrian, 2 Kings 25:4, 22, 26; 2 Chron. 28:17, 18; Jer. 29:4; 41:10. So that we may reasonably suppose that large numbers, especially from the ten tribes of Israel, either remained in Palestine after the captivity, or departed to the east of the Jordan or to Egypt, and perhaps to other countries. A considerable number of the people of Judah who were left after the beginning of the captivity went down as we have said, page 166, into Egypt, taking the prophet Jeremiah with them;[107] but all probably perished there, as foretold by that prophet, Jer. 42:19–22.

CONDITION OF JERUSALEM AT THE RETURN.

7. Jerusalem was in ruins. Its walls were broken down, and its palaces and Temple and all the chief houses and monuments of every description were levelled and burned so far as was possible. Judging from the allusions to the destroyed city which are occasionally found in Jewish writers, and from the accounts of similar destructions by Assyrian and Babylonish kings, it is probable that the city was more utterly ruined and made more uninhabitable than ever before or since.

In the time of Amaziah, king of Judah, B. C. 826, the wall for about 600 feet was broken down by Jehoash, king of Israel, 2 Kings 14:13, but the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar’s “captain of the guard” was far more terrible, since it extended to the entire city, as well as to the walls, and probably to the smallest dwellings.

THE HISTORY AFTER THE RETURN.

8. The worship at Jerusalem soon became prominently important throughout the land. The strict observance of the Law and a deep hatred of idolatry seem fully to have occupied the minds of the people, and the feast of the Passover was observed at Jerusalem with the other feasts, in strict accordance with the Law. The sacrifices were made and burnt-offerings offered before the foundations of the Temple were laid, only the altar having been set up upon the former site and in the open air.

9. Very few, if any, of those Jews who had been scattered abroad came from the remnants of the ten tribes around the distant places of northern Assyria and from the other regions; but a new immigration, under Ezra, came from Babylon bringing in about 6,000 more.[108] This last immigration was not until fifty-eight years after the second Temple had been built under Zerub´babel,[109] who went out with the Jews from Babylon under the edict of Cyrus, at the first departure of the captives, B. C. 588.

10. Much of the history of these times is derived from the historian Josephus, but something may be learned from the writings of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai encouraged Zerubbabel in the building of the Temple, Ezra 5:1, 2. He first appears in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, B. C. 521. About two months[110] after Haggai the prophet Zechariah began to prophesy in Jerusalem. Malachi, the last of the prophets, uttered his warnings and reproofs, and foretold the coming Messiah, about 125 years after Haggai and Zechariah, or probably about B. C. 397.

11. One of the books of the Bible contains the history of Esther, which reveals to us the extent of Jewish settlement and growth in the Persian provinces at about the era of Xerxes, who came to the throne of Persia B. C. 485, fifty years after the return of the Jews to Palestine.[111]

Cyrus had been succeeded by his son Cambyses, whose reign was spent chiefly in attempting to reconquer Egypt, until his death by suicide, B. C. 522. He was succeeded by Darius, who reigned till B. C. 486, and during that reign the Jews had peace and prosperity, both in Palestine and Persia.

At the death of Darius, Xerxes began his reign of twenty-one years. This king, known as Xerxes among the Greeks, was called Ahasuerus among the Hebrews, and is so presented to us in the book of Esther.

12. The king was spending his time at his splendid capital Susa, when he gave a feast of unexampled extravagance. It was at this feast that he became enraged at his queen because she refused to present herself, at the order of the king, before the half-drunken revellers of the occasion. The queen was deposed, and Esther was chosen in her place. The new queen was an orphan maiden of the tribe of Benjamin, and, about B. C. 478, she appeared before the king and the royal crown was placed upon her head.

Through jealousy a plot was originated by Haman to destroy the Jews. This plot was prevented by Esther, and the Jews were permitted to defend themselves and slay all who should attempt their destruction, throughout the “one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” of the Empire.

13. The recent explorations, by the French archæologist M. Marcel Dieulafoy, in the extensive mounds of the site of ancient Susa, have shown a very surprising accuracy in the description, both of the palace and its ornaments, as found in the book of Esther. “The brilliant coloring of the glazed tiles, the gorgeous decoration of the palace walls, the handsome friezes and enormous capitals,”[112] forming part of the collection brought together at the Musée du Louvre, together with the plan of the palace, its courts and gardens, afford sufficient evidence that the unknown author of the history of Esther must have been well acquainted not only with the structure of the palace, but with the customs of the people.

SUSA.

14. Susa was the Greek name of the place called Shushan in Neh. 1:1, and frequently so in the book of Esther.[113] It has been identified with extensive ruins 175 miles north of the Persian Gulf and 275 miles east of Babylon. One of the mounds shows the remains of a vast palace with one central hall containing thirty-six columns about sixty feet in height. Other halls and columns with porches make it certain that this is the palace called so frequently “Shushan the palace” in the history of Esther. It was the capital of Elam, the country around being called Susiana. It was an ancient city and was captured by the Assyrian king Assur-bani-pal about B. C. 650. When the father of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar king of Babylon, and Cyaxares king of Media, conquered Nineveh and divided the empire between them, Shushan fell to Babylon. The wealth of the city may be known from the fact that at the Macedonian conquest of this region Alexander found treasure here of the value of $60,000,000. It is situated on the east bank of the Shapur River, which is supposed to have been the Ulai (pronounced u´-la-i) of the book of Daniel, Dan. 8:1, 2, 27.

15. It was in the palace in Susa that Nehemiah held the office of cup-bearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes, B. C. 446, thirty-two years after Esther was crowned, B. C. 478.

16. It is shown by this history that the Jews, fifty-eight years after their freedom was granted them, B. C. 536 to B. C. 478, had already spread over the provinces of Persia. The extent of these provinces was such, according to Rawlinson, that Persia deserved the title of a mighty empire,[114] having in the middle of the sixth century before the Christian era “established itself on the ruins of the Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms.”

The monotheistic nature of the religion of the Persians, and the fact that it allowed no idolatry nor any representation of the Supreme Being under any material form,[115] rendered the Jewish settlement far less objectionable in Persia than in any other land, and it is, therefore, not improbable that the Jewish population was greater in the Persian Empire alone than it was at the same period in Palestine after the return from Babylon.

The population of Susa in the time of Xerxes is supposed to have been about “a half a million.”[116]

17. As the recently discovered monuments have, in several instances, enabled us to correct the errors of the Greek writers of this age, we have given a complete view of the Persian successions from Cyrus to Alexander the Great.[117]

Cyrus, B. C. 538. Captured Babylon. The Persian army entered Babylonia from the south. June 16 the Persian general Gobryas marched in. In October Cyrus himself entered his new capital.

B. C. 536. THE PROCLAMATION to the Jews, ending captivity.

B. C. 529. DEATH OF CYRUS.

Cambyses, B. C. 529. Invaded and conquered Egypt; entered Ethiopia—Oasis of Ammon; committed suicide after eight years’ reign alone, two years having been with Cyrus. GOMATES, a Magian, usurped the throne for less than a year, from six to eight months.

Darius I., B. C. 521. Son of Hystaspes. Slew Gomates. ZOROASTRIANISM declared the religion of the empire. SUSA revolted and BABYLON also; the former soon subdued, but Babylon required two years, the Persians entering during a festival by marching along the dry channel of the Euphrates. Herodotus errs in attributing this work to Cyrus. The city was taken B. C. 519, in June. Eight consecutive revolts. Darius conquered all and centralized the empire in himself. He conquered the Punjab (India). The Thracian coast and Macedonia became tributary. Darius died in the 63d year of his age, 36th of his reign, B. C. 486.

Xerxes, B. C. 486. Attempted to continue the war with Athens. Lost his army, lost the Ægean isles, the Greek colonies of Asia Minor, the coast of Thrace, and the command of the Hellespont. Before this campaign he burned the temple of Belus in Babylon. He was murdered B. C. 466. He invaded Egypt B. C. 484. It was during this reign that Esther became queen.

Artaxerxes I., B. C. 466. Longimanus, so called from his long hands. Succeeded after crushing the Bactrians under Hystaspes and murdering another brother. B. C. 455 put down a revolt in Egypt. B. C. 449 treaty of peace between Athens and Persia in which the Greek colonies in Asia Minor were relinquished. A satrap of Syria extorted terms of peace. It was during this reign that Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king at Susa, called Shushan.

Xerxes II., B. C. 425. Assassinated, after forty-five days’ reign, by his illegitimate brother Sogdianus, and he in turn by Ochus after six months. He took the name of Darius.

Darius II., B. C. 424. Called Nothus. His reign a series of revolts for nineteen years. He lost Egypt, but by the destruction of the Athenian power regained the Greek colonies of Asia Minor.

Artaxerxes II., B. C. 405. Called Mnemon from his great memory. His younger brother, who was satrap in Asia Minor, revolted and with 113,000 soldiers, 13,000 of whom were Greeks under Xenophon, fought for the Persian throne, but lost his life at Cunaxa, and the retreat of the Greeks under Xenophon became one of the great feats of history. Sparta’s forces, however, made themselves masters of Western Asia B. C. 399–395, but it was restored through Persian gold and dissension at home. Died B. C. 359.

Ochus, B. C. 359. He destroyed all the other princes of the royal family. He failed at first to recover Egypt and lost Phœnicia and Cyprus, but his general Bagoas reconquered Egypt and destroyed Sidon, and for six years there was peace until B. C. 338, when Ochus was poisoned.

Arses, B. C. 338. Was raised to the throne by Bagoas after murdering all his brothers. Two years after, Arses and his children were murdered and Bagoas placed the crown on the head of Codomannus, who took the name of Darius III.

Darius III., B. C. 336. Called Codomannus. B. C. 334 his army was defeated by Alexander the Great at the plain of Issus, near the northeast corner of the Mediterranean.

Alexander. Alexander then passed on to Tyre and besieged and captured it. After this he visited Jerusalem during the high-priesthood of Jaddua and did honor to the city and Temple.[118]

Alexandria built B. C. 332. He then captured Gaza and entered Egypt and the Oasis of Ammon. He returned to Babylonia, and B. C. 331 at Gaugamela, ten miles east of Nineveh, defeated Darius, who fled and was murdered. The Persian Empire fell now to Alexander.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CANONICAL BOOKS. SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH.

1. The word “Canon” is a Greek word and means a “measure,” or “rule.” It was first used in the fourth century of the Christian era to designate the authorized books of the Bible.

But the question arises, By whom were these books determined? The history is as follows.

2. During the captivity of Judah a spirit of reverence for the Law arose, and after they came back to Palestine it was cherished to an extent never before known.

3. At no time in the history of the Jews had a period existed when a true Canon of the Old Testament writings could better have been formed. The large number of learned and devout men who were found by Ezra competent to explain the Scriptures, as recorded by Nehemiah, chapters eight and nine, proves that the study of the Law had not been neglected during the captivity; and, as we know, several of the prophets uttered their prophecies to the nation not long before, as well as soon after, the return.

4. The tradition seems to be well sustained that this was the era when more careful attention was paid to the “collecting, authenticating, and defining the canonical books of the Old Testament and in multiplying copies of them, by careful transcription,”[119] than ever before or since.

5. The traditions of the various sects had not yet distracted attention from that which was more trustworthy in Jewish history and in the clearer and more certain deliverances of their ancient seers and prophets.

6. We must now remember that all the books, except the Mosaic books of the Pentateuch, were in separate manuscripts. Those which Ezra had were either copies of those which had escaped the destruction of Jerusalem, or they were the original manuscripts themselves.

7. That some manuscripts did escape that destruction is evident from the words of Daniel (9:2), by which we see that he, while in Babylon, was in possession of the writings of Jeremiah and of other books “and of the Law of Moses the servant of God,” verses 11, 13, seventeen years before the close of the captivity, namely B. C. 553.

But even without any definite statement as to the actual existence of the manuscripts of the Old Testament books, it is incredible that with all their devotion to the Law there should have been no copies in the possession of any one. When we remember their intense regard for their ancient history and for the songs of Zion; and when we consider the reverential learning and ability of such men as Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi and others, it is not reasonable to suppose that there should have been no copies of the sacred books extant at the time of the return.

8. Ezra was not only skilled in the Hebrew, but also in the Chaldee, called Aramaic. He was thoroughly acquainted with the literature of the Jewish nation and deeply imbued with the spirit of his office as priest and scribe. And Ezra was not alone in this respect.

9. It was in his time, as the Jewish writings tell us, that able and devout men among the Jews, called elders, were assembled under Ezra’s direction with the purpose of forming a body sometimes called the Great Council or Synagogue.

These elders, with Ezra and probably Nehemiah, the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and years afterward Malachi, continued to meet through many years, some of the most learned and devout taking the places of those who died, until the death of one “Simon the Just,” about B. C. 300,[120] when this council was apparently resolved into that court of the Jews called the “Sanhedrin.” Jewish tradition asserts that the entire number of the Great Synagogue was one hundred and twenty, during about as many years.

10. This body of “The Great Synagogue” determined the number of the books.

A letter to some of the Jews in Egypt after the Temple was built states that Nehemiah had already collected “a library” in the Temple.

In this account it is said that Nehemiah, while founding a library, gathered together the writings concerning the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about offerings.[121] But the chief object was to collect those writings which were not only ancient and were copies of the ancient history, but those which had to do with the relations of God to the people and their duties towards God.

11. From many allusions to these times it is evident that there never was a period when the people were so willing, and even earnestly desirous, to learn and obey whatever was duty.[122]

What was now wanted by the whole Jewish people was such a collection from all their literature that it should be well authenticated and trustworthy as history, and at the same time authoritative as a guide and as a rule of faith and practice.

12. From what we have now said, it is evident that no one was more competent for the work of gathering these records than were Ezra and his associates, and the Jewish records assert that he, with Nehemiah and others, performed this work of gathering and selecting, and thus forming that collection of the ancient writings which not only he, but those of this the most learned and devout age, considered to be truthful, and, as Josephus says, “directions of God,” or as Eusebius quoted him, “justly considered divine.”

13. When these writings were gathered and pronounced to be the books which, Josephus says, were those “comprising a record of all time and justly confided in,” as he declares, “no one ever after ventured to add anything to them, nor take away from them, nor alter them.”[123] The Old Testament was now formed and settled and the Canonical period was closed.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE SYNAGOGUE.

14. The meaning of the word synagogue is simply “a gathering together,” but the name became, in after years, a term for the place and building where the Jews gathered for worship, and this meaning continues to the present day.

15. After the exile began, the Jews, having no temple in Babylonia, may have had meeting-places, but the synagogue, as it existed in the time of our Saviour and since, does not appear to have been instituted till long after the return from the captivity.

16. Immediately after the captivity the synagogue became fully organized as a place where the Jews gathered to read the law, and have it read and explained in the language of the people; for during the captivity the ancient pure Hebrew was to a great extent forgotten among the common people, and the Chaldæan language, which was that of their conquerors, was adopted. This language was unlike the ancient Hebrew, and was called the Aramæan or Aramaic, and after the captivity, at the synagogues, there were always present some who were able to read and explain the books of the law in both dialects,[124] Neh. 8:8. Although the institution of the synagogue, simply as such a gathering as we have just mentioned, took place before the second Temple was finished, it was continued ever afterward.

17. The distinctive purpose of the Temple was for the offering of the sacrifices, and that of the synagogues was for prayer and hearing the Scriptures. In later times, just before and after the Christian era, it became in addition a place for the meeting of Jewish courts, and not only was sentence pronounced in these courts, but punishment followed upon sentence immediately. Hence we read that scourging might, at some time, be inflicted there. See Matt. 10:17; Mark 13:9, and elsewhere.

WHO WERE THE SAMARITANS?

18. When the ten tribes were carried away captive by Sargon, B. C. 721, other nations were transferred from the region to which these captives were taken, according to the custom which we have mentioned (pages 160 and 161). A large number of other captives from other lands were imported to Samaria, the former capital and region of the ten tribes. Many of these imported heathen captives joined with the remnant of the Israelites still remaining after the captivity, and made up a mixed worship of Jehovah as taught by one of the priests, 2 Kings 17:34. This priest, at their request, the king of Assyria returned to them, to teach them the Jewish way of worship, 2 Kings 17:27. This state of things continued in Samaria until after the return of Judah from the captivity.

When the Jews undertook to rebuild the Temple under Zerubbabel, these Samaritans made application to join them in that work and were refused. The refusal aroused their enmity and active opposition, which was greatly increased in after times, as we shall see.

SHECHEM AND SAMARIA.

19. Shechem was thirty miles north from Jerusalem and five miles southeast from the city of Samaria. The district of Samaria must be distinguished from the city of Samaria; the latter having been the residence of the kings of Israel, or of the northern kingdom, for many years. At the time of Alexander the Great the Samaritans were expelled from this city because of a mutiny against one of his appointed governors of Syria; but a remnant was permitted to occupy Shechem,[125] where they have dwindled down to the present day.

THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH.

20. One very ancient copy of the Pentateuch, or first five books, called the Law of Moses, remains among this remnant of the Samaritans, at Shechem in Palestine. It is written in the ancient Hebrew letters used before the captivity, and this particular copy is the oldest in the world, so far as is at present known.

It is written in the pure old Hebrew language, but contains only the first five books of the Old Testament in one single roll. It is called the Samaritan, only because it is owned by the Samaritans and has been in their possession from a period several centuries before the Christian era down to the present time.[126]

21. It has been proven that during and after the captivity all the writings of the Scriptures, and especially the books of Moses, were transcribed only into the square forms of Hebrew letters which are now used in all our Hebrew Bibles.[127] It seems highly probable therefore that this Samaritan manuscript has been in existence ever since the time when, at the request of the Samaritans, the Assyrian king sent back a priest (page 190) to teach them, and “he taught them the fear of the Lord,” 2 Kings 17:28, B. C. 720.

22. But it is proper here to state that this manuscript is thought, by some, to owe its origin to the time when Nehemiah expelled from Jerusalem the grandson of the high-priest, Manasseh by name, because he had married the daughter of Sanballat, their Samaritan enemy. This expulsion of Manasseh took place B. C. 434 (according to Ussher). After this Sanballat built a Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim and made Manasseh high-priest.[128] The enmity already existing between the Jews and the Samaritans was made more bitter by this act, and it continued ever after.

23. But although the Samaritans at some time must have obtained their copy of the Law of Moses from the Jews, as the latter say, yet it is not probable that this copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch was obtained from them after this enmity sprang up, and, moreover, because it is written in those letters in which Ezra did not write the law after the captivity. If it was written before, then there is at least one manuscript copy which escaped the misfortunes of the captivity and has come down to the present day.

24. This manuscript has been mentioned by several of the early fathers of the third century and has been copied several times during the past three centuries. With the exception of some dates, the variations from the present Hebrew copies are unimportant.

CHAPTER V.

WHAT WAS SCRIPTURE? THE SEPTUAGINT.

1. The first five books, called the books of Moses, seem always to have existed in one roll, and these constituted “The Law,” and were the only Scriptures read in the synagogues until the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, B. C. 168,[129] who bitterly persecuted the Jews and forbade the use of the Law in the synagogues. During the time of this prohibition, only the Prophets were read, in the place of the Law, but when the persecution ceased the Jews began the reading of the Law again, but continued the reading of the prophets.[130]

2. In order that the Pentateuch should be read through in one year, the entire work was divided into fifty-four sections,[131] so as to supply a portion for each Sabbath.[132] These divisions were made long before the time of the persecution just referred to; indeed the earliest Hebrew writers think they existed almost so far back as the time of Moses.[133]

3. In the time of Ezra the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, Esther, Malachi, and possibly Daniel, were not included in the Canonical books of that time, simply because they were either not completed or too recently completed. Scripture, or the Bible as we would call it, consisted only of the five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, in one roll. The Psalms of David were sung in the Temple worship, but no other books appear to have been used in public worship until the time we have already stated, B. C. 168. But the Jewish writers included in the word “prophets” some of the historical books.[134]

Ezra is considered by both ancient Jews and by modern scholars to be the author both of the Chronicles and of Ezra.[135] Nehemiah was the author of the book bearing his name, and this is the last historical book of Scripture, as Malachi is the last prophetic book. The book of Nehemiah contains the history of the Jews from a period beginning 12 years after the close of the book of Ezra, B. C. 456, to about 110 years after the Captivity, or B. C. 426, with the exception we shall hereafter state, p. 219. Esther became queen of Xerxes B. C. 478.[136] The inscription on the rocks at Behustan, 215 miles northeast of Babylon, has shown that this king was the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther, which was written some years after she became queen.

4. In regard to the size of those ancient books, it should be remembered that it was not always convenient to bind together in any way more than a very few of them in one volume. They were in rolls, as the word “volume” means, and when we know that one ancient roll of only the Law of Moses, of average size, in manuscript, which is preserved in the Collegiate Library, Manchester, England, is 160 feet long and 20 inches wide, we may readily see that very few could be handled at a time.

THE ORDER OF THE BOOKS.

5. The books of the Old Testament were named in the order of their importance in Jewish estimation, and not as we would name them to-day in the order of their position in the single volume of our Bibles. The books of the Law always took precedence in the order, then the Prophets, and after them the Psalms, as three general divisions, and this statement included all, Luke 24:44. That some of the books were kept in separate rolls to a very late period is evident even in the time of Christ, for when he appeared in the synagogue at Nazareth only the roll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and from this he read, Luke 4:17.

6. But in the enumeration of the books individually, except in the case of the five “books of the Law,” which, as we have said, have never been known otherwise than in one volume, it is evident that some variations of the exact order have occurred. These variations had their origin in the Septuagint[137] translation, wherein the translators not only changed the Hebrew order, but the Hebrew names of some, and even divided some of the books, making two or more out of one.

7. As an illustration of the changes in names of the books, the translators gave the Greek names: GENESIS, “the beginning;” EXODUS, “the going out;” LEVITICUS, “concerning Levitical law;” NUMBERS (of Latin derivation), because the book contains the census of the tribes or numbers;[138] DEUTERONOMY, the Greek for “the repeated law,” because of the repetition of the law.

8. The Jews used the initial Hebrew words of each book in the Pentateuch for its name; but this does not occur afterwards. The books of Samuel were one with the older Jews, and so were the books of Kings; but the Greek translators made them the first and second books of the “kingdoms,” and the books of Kings came in course as the third and fourth books, and this is the reason for the additions to the titles in our English Bibles, “otherwise called the first book, the second book, etc., of Kings.”

END OF THE CANONICAL PERIOD.

9. By this term is meant the end of that time whose history is included in the latest of the Old Testament books. Some of these books contain histories which extend to a period nearer the Christian era than do the histories of others, as in the case of the books of the Chronicles, of Esther, of Ezra, and Nehemiah.

10. The books of the Old Testament, which are thirty-nine in number, present the records of events which transpired during the course of more than 3,500 years, or from the creation of Adam to the third century before the Christian era. But we must keep in mind the distinction between the time when events occurred and the time when such events were first recorded. There yet remains another date, namely that of the period when the collator or collators of all these manuscripts produced his or their own work of collecting and arranging them into one history or one volume. Let us suppose a case.

11. A historian undertakes to write a true history of the times of the Norman conquest. In gathering the materials for this history he visits the libraries and collections and finds an old manuscript-history of events written by some one who was on the field at the battle of Hastings, and another written by one who lived in the times soon after and had heard from living witnesses of the exploits of the warrior Hereward in his contests with the Normans. In another manuscript he finds a collection of the ballads of those times commemorating the acts of some brave knight and some reminiscences of that age as communicated by tradition to immediate descendants. With these and other materials he compiles the history desired.

12. Such a history of the Norman conquest of England would be credible, first, if the editor or compiler in his researches truthfully found and wisely used such manuscripts as we have described; and second, if the manuscripts and his other authorities were in themselves trustworthy. But how is this to be tested? We read the new book when finished, and in order to learn something satisfactory upon these two points we now start out upon our examinations. Our question is, Was there ever such an event as the battle of Hastings? How shall we get testimony?

13. The geography of the country, local remains, and other facts may furnish us with evidence for or against. In one chapter of the book it is stated that there was an old castle in which William lodged the night before the battle, and that there is from it no view north, but a fair view towards the south.

We visit Hastings and find the remains of an old castle, and we see high hills on the north and none on the south. Herein we see some corroboration of the history. But now some one shows that there is no evidence that any battle ever was fought at Hastings, and the oldest manuscripts sustain the objection, and show that the battle of the conquest was fought at a place called Senlac.

This now throws a doubt upon the whole history. There is contradiction, perhaps error. We go back to the study of the manuscripts and we find that a more recent collator of the history of the conquest, writing with a view to readers of his own times, introduced the new name, “Hastings,” as better understood than another name, Senlac, and all subsequent copyists followed his manuscript.

But the early name, “Senlac,” is found nowhere, while it still remains true that no battle was fought at Hastings. Additional doubt shadows the whole history. But now in a monastery an old manuscript is found, written centuries ago, describing some of the old abbeys, among which one is mentioned named “Battle Abbey,” followed by a short explanation, stating that it is located at the village called “Battle,” quite near Hastings. The last part is an interpolation in the manuscript, and evidently written many years after the writing of the original manuscript, and both authors are unknown.

We now visit the village of Battle, near Hastings, and find local traditions handed down in connection with an old abbey still remaining and built upon the spot where Harold fell. Arrow-heads and fragments of battle-axes are found and are shown to us; the former are found scattered over the hills only on one side. This corroborates another statement, that the Normans used bows and arrows, while the Anglo-Saxons used only battle-axes.

All these discoveries strengthen the links in the chain of evidences between facts and their history, until all doubts are cleared away and even the “validity of doubt itself is doubtful.”

14. Just such a course of research, of discovery, and of success in final vindication has attended almost every historical announcement in Scripture.

15. At the close of the Canonical period, whatever books made up the Canon were so rigidly guarded ever afterwards in every way, by memorizing, by commentary and paraphrase, by increasing the copies in manuscripts, and by numbering letters and words, that it is impossible that any material difference exists between them and the books which make up the Old Testament of the present day. These books have not been changed in any important respect during the 2,200 years which have transpired since the close of the Canon.

16. But now the chief discussion is upon the question, Did the books, at the close of the Canonical period, fairly represent those books which the original authors wrote before the Canon was closed? In other words, have we a true copy of the books of Moses and true copies of those who wrote after him? The second question is, Were those ancient books trustworthy—were they truly historical? Did Ezra and the others wisely and truly use the old manuscripts, and were those manuscripts trustworthy?

17. Now it will be perceived that we occupy the position of those who undertook to corroborate the history of the battle of Hastings. We shall proceed somewhat as we did then.

From the repeated and varied discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, and Palestine we have a repetition of the names of kings and of cities never known before the present century except as they were mentioned in Scripture. They have been recently found recorded upon the monuments which had been buried centuries before the captivity, and brought to light only in the present century. Inscriptions have been discovered which repeated historical statements of early Scripture books, some of which statements had either been omitted entirely by every Greek historian or had been contradicted by them, but which, when the hieroglyphic and cuneiform languages could be read, were proved to be accurate statements—thus giving testimony to the fact that the Scripture accounts were more ancient and more accurate than any of the Greek or other histories.

18. Again: peculiar terms of art occur in the Scriptures, with official titles, trade names, allusions to customs, and forms of expression, the origins of which have been found only among the nations where, or about which, these particular books of Scripture purport to have been written; and they could be recognized only after the hieroglyphic histories of these ancient nations could be read.

The inferences from all these parallelisms are apparent: these Scripture books are truly historical, they contain the records of facts and are trustworthy.

At what time all these histories were committed to writing, or who were the writers, we are not in all cases able to show; but inability in this respect does not disprove the fact of authenticity.

VARIATIONS IN THE BOOKS.

19. When we consider the ages through which many of the books of the Bible have passed, and the singular conditions upon which they have thus passed through those ages, we may readily appreciate the claim of a supernatural preservation.

There are writings, more ancient than those of the Mosaic manuscripts, which have come down to us from long before the time of Moses; such are the so-called “Books of the Dead,” found in the tombs of Egypt;[139] but these writings, as soon as they were finished, were immediately locked up amid the spices, the darkness and protection of the tomb, till recently brought out, while the contents of the books of the Mosaic Law, and other manuscripts of Scripture, have come percolating down through the ages, doing battle all that time with thousands of scribes, and indeed with any transcriber who felt inclined to copy a book; and that work of transcribing has continued from the period when the Mosaic manuscripts were completed down to the period of the return from the captivity, or of the close of the Canon—that is over a thousand years—and from that period to the present.

Excepting variations in some numerical figures and in a few names, which may be accounted for, and in some cases corrected, all the rest of the variations are of so small importance that the Bible, as we possess it, may well be considered a literary monument, standing alone and unexampled amid the literature of all time. And this not only for its singular preservation, but for that evident unity of purpose, persistent through all its variety of subjects and authors, until the time when the last prophetic utterance closed the Canon.

Then there stood out in luminous form a finished work, whose pages exhibit the proof of a systematic plan, designed from the very beginning to fill out progressively its mysterious pages, until the last letter was complete, in order that a world might see, in one volume, the object of creation, the necessity of law, the illustrations of judgment and of providence, and the redemption and coming salvation of the race.

THE SEPTUAGINT, B. C. 286–285. (?)

20. The conquest of the Persians under Alexander introduced the Greek language into Western Asia and other lands. This introduction prepared the way for a very extensive circulation of the entire Old Testament writings throughout the surrounding nations and even the world. For up to this time all the Old Testament was in the Hebrew language; but as soon as the translation into the Greek was made, of which we shall now speak, even those who could not speak Greek could easily find those who could, because among the learned and unlearned there were many who knew Greek who did not understand the Hebrew.

When, therefore, the death of Alexander was followed by the partition of his conquests among his generals, Egypt became, in B. C. 322, governed by the Ptolemies, the second of whom, Ptolemy Philadelphus, B. C. 286–247, had the Law of Moses, that is the first five books, translated from the Hebrew into the Greek.

21. Under the first of the Ptolemies (Soter) the Alexandrian Museum was founded for the reception of learned men, as well as of literary treasures, and Alexandria soon superseded Athens as the chief nursery of Greek literature. Under his successor and son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, the library of the Museum contained 90,000 volumes of distinct works, but 400,000 with the duplicates.

Beginning with some period in the reign of the first Ptolemy (Soter), the Jews were attracted to Alexandria in large numbers as settlers, to whom this Ptolemy assigned a suburb on the coast towards the east. The city became the resort of some of the wisest and ablest men of the age, including such men as Apelles the painter, Euclid the mathematician, and many others, artists and scholars.

22. But under Ptolemy II., Philadelphus, B. C. 283, the Museum became most prosperous, and among its members were numbered grammarians, natural philosophers, astronomers, physicians, poets, and Greek philosophers of the schools.[140] It was under this state of things that the translation above referred to was asked by the king and was undertaken, according to tradition, by seventy of the most learned Jews of that date, and hence called “The translation of the seventy,” or the Septuagint.

23. Although at first only the Pentateuch was translated, the other books were, in after years, gradually added to this translation. The Septuagint was used among the Jews not only of Alexandria, but of Palestine also, and during the times of our Saviour and the apostles was more frequently quoted than was the original Hebrew.[141]

CHAPTER VI.

THE ORIGIN OF THE TALMUD.

1. It will be remembered that although under Cyrus the Jews were permitted full liberty to return to Palestine, not all the Jewish nation accepted the privilege. A very large number of the wealthiest, and indeed of the most learned classes, remained behind. They did much for the support of the Temple and for other objects among those who had returned to Palestine, but they themselves continued the synagogue service in Babylonia and in Persia, as appears from various statements and allusions, not only in Jewish writings, but also in other history.

2. Among those Jews, however, who had returned to Palestine there arose very early a class of devout and earnest students of the Law and of the other books of Scripture. There began also a most diligent collection of the traditions of the Jewish race and the opinions of the learned. Meanwhile a very constant correspondence was cherished between the colonists abroad and those in the Holy Land, and both at home and abroad there were those who were learned in the Law and in the other books.

The whole object of study and correspondence among the learned was to explain and illustrate the sacred literature in all its branches. The information thus gained laid the foundation of that which was soon to be called the Talmud, a name literally meaning Doctrine or Instruction.

3. But before we treat further on this remarkable work it is well to consider certain conditions which added much to the formation of the Talmud.

Although the Jews reformed forever from all tendency to idolatry, they nevertheless differed among themselves on many details of both faith and practice, and hence there grew up an exceedingly critical study of the literature and teachings of the book.

THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS.

4. Between the close of the Canonical period and the Christian era there arose many intellectual and studious ones, who ranged themselves under three general and widespread schools.

(1) The Traditionalists, called by the Jews the Masoretic School, or Pharisees.

(2) The Philosophic school, of whom were the Sadducees.

(3) The Kabalistic school.

The first of these confined themselves strictly to Scripture and tradition. They derived their name from the Hebrew word masar, to deliver, as from hand to hand.

The second entered the paths of speculation unknown to the fathers. They were pleased with the Greek philosophy, due to their contact with the schools of Alexandria. They strove to harmonize the principles of Judaism with the doctrines of Pythagoras, the philosophy of Plato, and the logic of Aristotle. Thus, as virtue was its own reward, they taught that there can be no future reward, and therefore that there was no future life and no resurrection; and this was the belief of the Sadducees.

The third school, Kabalistic, believed in the mysteries, or secret meaning of the words of the Law. They thought they could detect secret truths in the words, and sometimes the letters of the words, which others could not apprehend. They taught that the truths were to the words of Scripture what the soul is to the body, and that we are mistaken if we see only the letter in the Scripture, and fail to ascend by the help of the letter to the ideas of the Infinite Mind.[142]

5. From the men of the Masoretic school, who devoted themselves strictly to the Law and Tradition, arose a series of academies, or scholastic institutions. Those were presided over by the most learned members of that body, which, as we have said, followed upon the Great Synagogue after the death of Simon the Just, and which was called the Sanhedrin, or council.[143] This council, about this time, became the seat of supreme legislative power among the Jews, in both civil and ecclesiastical matters, but was subsequently divested of some of its powers by Gabinius, the Roman governor of Syria, B. C. 57.[144] It is referred to in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22; 26:59; Acts 4:15; 5:27, etc.).

6. But the Sanhedrin, which was presided over by the high-priest, became the centre of learning and authority so far back as B. C. 200 years.

The priesthood was recognized as the legitimate ministers of the altar; but the people, with whom the Mosaic Law was supreme, entering as it did into all the details of their lives, regarded the expositors and interpreters of that Law with the highest honor. With them “the voice of the rabbi” became “the voice of God.”[145]

7. For many years before the Christian era the Sanhedrin was the highest authority in matters of faith, and its utterances, or more particularly those of the most learned of its members, both in traditions and in opinions, became so numerous that from being only orally delivered, they were committed to writing, and these writings and opinions upon the Law were the foundation of that voluminous work called the Talmud, with its divisions.

FORM OF THE TALMUD.

8. The Talmud therefore in the main was the growth of centuries, beginning from about B. C. 220 to several centuries after Christ. It was composed of the text of the Law, both the written law and that which was believed to be additional law, although only handed down from age to age, but never written. This was called the oral law. All this comprised that part of the Talmud called “the repetition,” or in the Hebrew the MISHNA. Then came the “Commentary” upon every part, and this was called the GAMARA.

THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD.

9. As there had been a very large and learned class of Jews in Babylon from the Captivity to the time of Christ, there was also a corresponding number of very important schools in several cities on the Euphrates and east of it. These also gathered a Talmud, with its Mishna and Gamara; but this—called the Babylonian Talmud—was of later origin than the Jerusalem Talmud.

A WONDERFUL MEMORY.

10. The various traditions which in all variety of expression, as unwritten laws, as commentaries and opinions, went to make up the Talmud, with its Mishna and Gamara, had remained unwritten for generations because there was a rule given out by some of their learned men and teachers that “things delivered by word of mouth must not be recorded.” But about A. D. 180 one of the most influential and wisest of their number, Rabbi Jehudah, decided that the time had come when the Mishna must be committed to writing. Rabbi Jehudah, for whom the greatest veneration existed, began with his fellow-laborers the heavy task of reducing all these traditions and decisions of many generations to a written form, and this work was performed at Tiberias (on the lake of the same name, 70 miles north of Jerusalem), where a celebrated school existed after Titus had destroyed Jerusalem.[146] It is a memorable fact that for nearly four centuries the vast amount of literature which composed the Talmud had been stored only in the memory of the learned members of the Jewish nation.

11. The vastness of this labor of memorial possession may be comprehended in some degree when we learn that of only one rabbi[147] 300 magisterial sentences are recorded in the Talmud, and years before his time Rabbi Hillel[148] reduced 600 or 700 sections, which had been known before only in a complicated mass, into orders, divisions, chapters, and verses, whereby they could be better memorized.

12. Although this cultivation of the memory was carried on to a very great extent among the Jews during one or two centuries before the Christian era, and to a degree unexcelled by any other nation, there are evidences that long before the Captivity the cultivation of the memory was largely encouraged.

13. Manuscripts were rare and costly, and therefore methods were adopted, as in the composition of several of the Psalms, of Proverbs, and Lamentations, which were aids to memorizing. One method was by beginning consecutive verses or sections with consecutive letters of the alphabet. Psalm 119 is composed of 176 verses, divided into a number of sections, the whole number of sections equal to the letters in the Hebrew alphabet (22), and all the eight verses of each section begin with the same letter. In Proverbs 31:10–31, the initial letters of all the verses follow the order of the Hebrew alphabet. The Lamentations of Jeremiah are composed in five poems, each, excepting the third, consisting of 22 sections or verses, a verse for each letter in the alphabet. The first four poems begin with the first letter of the alphabet, and in each poem, which makes one chapter, the after sections continue in their initial letters to follow the order of the alphabet. In the third chapter however the stanzas are in sets of three of the Bible verses, and each verse in the set begins with the same letter of the alphabet, but all the sets are in the alphabetical order. Such methods suggest the work of memorizing.

14. Again, we may say that, in view of all these facts, it does not seem possible that “the Law” could have been forgotten in the Captivity among all the learned and devout men, some of whom were prophets. It would seem that even without the written copies of the Law, Ezra, if he had so desired, could not have, as some suppose, introduced into the Law an entirely new book of Leviticus or Deuteronomy, and yet no one amid all the Jews have discovered the forgery.

CHAPTER VII.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

WE add the following remarks in the nature of a general review and inference, which are more appropriate to this era of the Jewish history than to any other.

1. There never was a time when the Jewish people exhibited such a humble and yet determined spirit of obedience to the Mosaic Law as when they returned from the Captivity. All the history of those times as derived from the Jewish writings, both sacred and secular, fully attests this spirit. All their hopes for the future, both political and religious, were conditioned upon outward obedience to the requirements of the Law as explained by the teachings of their ancient prophets or illustrated and made more impressive in the Psalms or songs of Israel and pictured to them in the happier days of the Temple service. All that appertained to the history of the past was precious. This fact, as we have shown, was illustrated in many ways.

2. Moreover, from the Scripture history of Ezra and Nehemiah, it is plain that a large body of skilled men, ably instructed in the Law and acquainted with the sacred writings of the Jewish people, were among the captives before the close of the Captivity. The Levites and priests were in existence, and the prophets were among them, and they met in various places for worship and for the songs of Zion. The condition of the Jews in Babylonia and elsewhere was favorable to the cultivation of their literature, and they were allowed many privileges.

It is plain from the letter of Artaxerxes, Ezra 7:11, and from other testimonies, that not only Ezra but many others studied the Jewish writings long before the close of the Captivity. The Samaritan Pentateuch in its letters may offer evidence on this point, for the new letters in which the Law and the canonized books were written very probably found their origin in the reverence in which the Jews held the sacred writings during the Captivity.

These new letters, as we have said, are called the “square form,” but they were called by the early Jews[149] “the Ashuri” character, Ashuri meaning, according to Maimonides, the sacred character, and they were probably invented specially for sacred writings.

The old Samaritan letters were not sacred. They were used in various modifications by the Canaanites; they were used by the Moabites, as we see on the Moabite stone, discovered in 1868 at Dibon, east of the Dead Sea; they were also used by the Phœnicians,[150] and have been found upon Assyrian weights associated with the cuneiform, probably for the convenience of the merchants and tradesmen,[151] upon the coins of Judæa, and upon one coin of Jehu, king of Israel.[152] It was therefore a common character, and it was strictly in keeping with the Jewish sentiment of exclusiveness and separation of themselves from all the nations around that they should clothe their sacred writings in a letter peculiarly sacred. At any rate we have no other origin for this new form of lettering, which was never known before the Captivity, and which was used after the Captivity exclusively for the sacred writings, as we learn from the Talmuds of both Jerusalem and Babylonia.[153]

3. The various sects of Pharisees, with their oral tradition and “unwritten law,” and the Kabalists, with their fanciful and secret interpretations, had not arisen at the time of Ezra. The Scriptures were gathered and copied mainly for instruction; and, as we learn from Ezra and Nehemiah, the people were as earnest as the teachers in their desire that the Scriptures should be known and distinctly understood, and this object appears to have been sincerely pursued in the work prosecuted at that time. At this period the exclusive demand was for those writings which should enlighten the people as to duty, both in regard to the divine law and providence, and for such writings as should illustrate their history as under the Law and as seen in God’s dealings with their fathers. That the influence of the Law and of the teachings of their prophets powerfully controlled their actions and lives is evident from the fact that they never again fell into idolatry. Their truthfulness to their promises and their good faith as a people were so apparent that these traits frequently led to their appointment to positions of trust and privilege among several of the surrounding nations.

4. It was under these conditions of character and motive that the learned scribes of these times made the first general collection of Hebrew literature then existing. The names of several books[154] which were extant either at the time of this gathering of the Canonical Books or before, are mentioned in the Scriptures; but if they had been considered worthy of the Canon they would probably have been preserved by copy or repetition. All that was valuable or important to the histories which were preserved in the Scriptures was extracted from them and contained in the Canonical Books as we have them at present.

Judging from certain statements in the genealogies and in the concluding history, the book of Chronicles was the last that was written. The book of Nehemiah however has some additions, Neh. 12:10, 11, 22, of genealogies which bring the high-priests down to the time of Alexander the Great, as Josephus (Vol. V., Book II., ch. 8) shows, who states that Jaddua, whose name occurs in the book of Nehemiah, was high-priest and the last under the Persian rule, and must therefore have lived in the time when Alexander the Great, after the battle of Issus, B. C. 334, visited Jerusalem, B. C. 332, during the high-priesthood of Jaddua.

It is narrated that this high-priest was succeeded by Onias, his son, and he by “Simon the Just,” who was called by the Jews the last of the men of the Great Synagogue. It was during the priesthood of this Simon that, according to the general opinion of both Jewish and Christian writers, the final addition was made to the Canon of the Old Testament. Simon, who was not only high-priest, but a man of great learning and of most fervent piety and devotion to the Law, is said to have added the books of Chronicles, of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and the prophecy of Malachi; after which, as Josephus writes, there was no further change, omission, or addition. The Old Testament Canon was closed then for ever.

PERIOD VII.

THE NEW TESTAMENT ERA.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF OUR SAVIOUR.

THE PLANTING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.

1. No other people have had stronger motives for cherishing the memories of their past than have had the Jews.

One of the most important sources of Jewish pride was found in their genealogical records. The history of the return from captivity and of the renewed settlement in Palestine, as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, shows how important these records were considered to be. But the most important of all the records were those which traced any lineage up to David, and there is no reason to believe that a true line of descent was ever forgotten.

Not only the genealogy of the male members, but also that of the female members of a family, were preserved, as we may learn from Scripture accounts and certainly from secular history. A supposed defect in the genealogy of the mother of John Hyrcanus, a high-priest, B. C. 108, was the cause of bloodshed in Jerusalem[155] because of the insult offered to the high-priest by the bare announcement of such a defect, although it was shown that the genealogical records certified her descent from a Jewish tribe.

2. The Virgin Mary’s genealogy was as important as that of Joseph, her reputed husband, although her husband’s genealogy might have been perfect, as in the instance given in the last paragraph. In the case of Hyrcanus, his father’s origin, according to the Jewish law, was without defect; it was the mother’s pedigree which was assailed.

Especially was it important to the priest’s office that the mother of the candidate for this office should be of unquestioned Jewish descent.

3. It is for this reason that while the writer of the first Gospel (Matthew) opens his history of the Messiah with the answer to the important question, Whose son is he? the writer of the third Gospel (Luke) gives the lineage of his mother. So that, whether Christ’s pedigree be traced through the line of Joseph or of Mary, it is undeniable that he was descended from David and from Abraham.[156]

NAZARETH AND BETHLEHEM.

4. These two places, which are brought into prominence at this part of the history, were 68 miles apart, Bethlehem being not quite five miles, a little west of south, from Jerusalem, and Nazareth 63 miles north of Jerusalem, if the distances be measured in a straight line.

5. Nazareth is a village of about 5,000 inhabitants, situated in a plain surrounded almost entirely by hills. The place is not mentioned in the Old Testament, nor in Josephus, but twenty-nine times in the New Testament. The city itself rises in part upon the sides of a hill on its northwest side, but the little plain at the south end of the city is 1,144 feet above the sea level, and the top of the hill northwest of the city 1,602 feet, or 458 feet higher.[157] The country slopes from Nazareth southward to the northern limit of the plain of Esdraelon, two miles distant, where the level is about 300 feet above the sea. The Mediterranean is twenty-one miles west from Nazareth, and the southernmost shore of the Sea of Galilee is seventeen miles due east of the city. The soil has always been fertile and the climate pleasant. It has one fine spring which supplies the entire city, as it must have done in the time of Christ.

6. Bethlehem contains nearly the same population as Nazareth, but its surroundings are the reverse of those at Nazareth, Bethlehem being upon an elevation. A church, erected by Constantine, A. D. 330, still remains, which furnishes us with the style of architecture of the earliest Christian period.

This was the city of David and of his father Jesse, and hence always held dear by his descendants, and to this town Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to be enrolled in accordance with the decree issued by Cæsar Augustus, as stated in Luke 2:1. The decree was only for the enrolment. The actual collecting of the taxes did not take place for some years afterward, as is recorded in Josephus, when the rebellion took place, which is alluded to in Acts 5:37, against the actual levying of the taxes.[158]

THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR.

7. During their stay at Bethlehem Jesus was born. The crowd was great of the many who came to this small town to be registered by the officers taking the census, and the accommodations for his parents were poor, for the record states “there was no room for them in the inn” and she “laid him in a manger.” It was here that he was visited by

THE WISE MEN.

8. These men, usually known as “the Magi,” belonged to a class of astrologers whose office it was to study omens, or signs, as drawn from the planets. They were descendants of a class which was noted for learning and influence in the flourishing ages of Babylon and Nineveh, but neither of these cities was in existence at this time. As many of the Magi had retired eastward to Persia after the fall of Babylon, it is probable that these came from the Persian dominion to Jerusalem, expecting that there they should learn something of the new king.

9. The coming of the Messiah had long been the hope of the captive Jews, and as a large number of the people, some of influence and wealth, existed at this time in the Persian dominions, there can be but little doubt that these “wise men” were roused to make the journey they did, and to greet the advent of a king who, to them, after seeing the celestial sign, was more than simply a “King of the Jews.”

10. These men had a reputation which was highly regarded in Jerusalem, and to Herod they were not strangers of a common class. Hence to him their inquiry carried great importance. His consultation with the Sanhedrin, which was the most learned body in Jerusalem at that time, soon showed that the Messiah, according to the prophets, was to be born in Bethlehem, Micah. 5:2. To this place, guided by the supernatural sign, they came, found the child, and offered their gifts.

HEROD AND HIS SUCCESSOR.

11. The effort of Herod to destroy Jesus in an indiscriminate slaughter of the children of Bethlehem of a certain age, failed of its intention. Joseph, having been warned in a dream, took the young child and his mother and fled into Egypt before the destruction took place.

12. Egypt at this time was entirely under Roman control. Many Jews inhabited Alexandria and were in affluent circumstances; two of them had been chief officers of the armies of Cleopatra. The two refugees, with the child, in that land were safely beyond the power of Herod, and there they remained until the death of Herod, which took place about a year after their departure from Bethlehem.

13. Archelaus, who succeeded Herod, was his son, but he inherited none of the enterprise and mental ability, but only the atrocious cruelty of his father; and the complaints of the Jews occasioned his deposition and the confiscation of his property. Joseph and Mary, fearing the consequences of coming within the power of Archelaus, after the death of Herod returned to Nazareth in Galilee.

THE EARLY CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.

14. One incident only is recorded of Jesus from this time until he arrived at manhood. This incident was his visit to the Temple at Jerusalem, when only twelve years of age. His parents, with their friends, had visited the city to attend the great feast of the Passover. The celebration of that feast being over, they had started upon their return in company with crowds of those who were passing along the only highway leading northward from the city. Jesus had stopped at the Temple and was conversing with the learned doctors, or teachers, of the Law.

15. The peculiar significancy of this visit at this time is stated in Mal. 3:1, and it was the first time that he had ever referred to the great object of his divine mission. This divine mission he announced to his mother when she, having sought for and found him in the Temple, gently reproved him for remaining behind.

From this time to that when he entered upon his public ministry our Saviour remained at Nazareth, and as the Scriptural record informs us, he was subject to his parents and “increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man,” Luke 2:51, 52.

THE INTERIM.

16. Events now transpired in the history of the Jews which are important to a full understanding of the future ministry of our Saviour.

It is evident, in accordance with the ancient prophecy by Jacob in his dying hour,[159] that the “sceptre had departed from Judah,” for “Shiloh” had come. This Shiloh had been interpreted in all their chief commentaries to mean the Messiah.[160] These commentaries were the Targums of which we have written, page 189, note. The expression in Mal. 3:1, that “he shall suddenly come to his temple,” appears to have been fulfilled when Jesus visited the Temple as spoken of already, that is, when at the age of twelve he suddenly appeared asking and answering questions of the astonished doctors of the Law in whose midst he sat, Luke 2:47.

THE CHRISTIAN ERA.

17. Before we proceed it is necessary that we should know that not even at the present time are we fully assured as to the exact date of the birth of Christ. It is generally supposed that Dionysius Exiguus, the monk who introduced in A. D. 527 the custom of dating events from the birth of Christ, mistook the time of that event by exactly four years. That is, the birth took place four years before the time asserted in that chronology known as Anno Domini. But recent discoveries seem to prove that the true statement is that the error is one of five years, as Prof. Sattler of Munich asserts in an essay published by him in 1883. This statement he bases upon the discovery of four copper coins which were struck under Herod Antipas, seeming to prove that Christ was born 749 years after the foundation of Rome, and not, as usually accepted, 754.

But, with this explanation, we shall continue to use the common date, while we keep in memory that our era is at least four years in error, so that the actual birth of Christ took place four or five years before A. D. 1.

THE HERODS.

18. The name Herod will be found applied to no less than five different rulers in New Testament times. Their dates of office enable us frequently to determine the dates of events referred to in the Scriptures.

The following facts are all that are necessary to distinguish the Herods. Herod the Great had five wives, but the descendants of only four are referred to in the New Testament, as follows:

Herod the Great, Matt. 2:1. He was made king by Julius Cæsar, B. C. 37, and died B. C. 4, that is, before the common era, but really in the first year of Christ.

He had two sons by Malthace, a Samaritan, namely, Herod Antipas and Archelaus. The latter succeeded him after some delay, but, although called king by the people, was only tetrarch, with the promise conditionally made that he should be king. He was deposed through complaint of his atrocious cruelty, and banished to Vienna, now called Lyons, where he died.[161]

The names of the other members of this family of Herods may be seen in the following table.

HEROD married:

MARIAMNE, granddaughter of Hyrcanus.

│

└─ ARISTOBULUS—Married his niece, Berenice, daughter of Salome, Herod’s sister. Slain by his father, B. C. 6.

│

├─ HEROD—king of Chalcis; died A. D. 48.

│

├─ HEROD AGRIPPA I.—Succeeded to tetrarchy of Herod Philip II. A. D. 37; and to Herod Antipas A. D. 40; Judæa and Samaria added A. D. 41; married Cypros, granddaughter of Phasael, brother of Herod the Great; died A. D. 44.

│

├─ AGRIPPA II.—king of Chalcis A. D. 48–53; succeeded to tetrarchy of Philip II., A. D. 53–100; died A. D. 100—the last prince of the line.

│

├─ BERNICE or BERENICE—Married Herod king of Chalcis, her uncle. After his death she returned to her brother for a time. A woman of great lack of virtue.

│

└─ DRUSILLA—Married to Felix, after separation from Azizus king of Emesa.

│

└─ AGRIPPA—being her son by Felix. Died A. D. 79.

│

└─ HERODIAS:

1. Married Philip I.

2. Married Herod Antipas.

MARIAMNE, daughter of Simon, high-priest.

│

└─ PHILIP I.—Married Herodias; lived in private.

MALTHACE, a Samaritan.

│

├─ HEROD ANTIPAS—Tetrarch of Galilee, married daughter of Aretas, then married Herodias. Deposed and banished A. D. 40.

│

└─ ARCHELAUS—Deposed as we have said.

CLEOPATRA, of Jerusalem.

│

└─ HEROD PHILIP II.—Tetrarch of Ituræa and Trachonitis, died A. D. 33–34. He married Salome, daughter of Herodias by Philip I.

19. The Herods mentioned in the New Testament simply by the name “Herod” are three.

(1) Herod the Great.

(2) Herod Antipas, referred to in Matt. 14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29; Luke 3:1, 19, 20; 8:3; 9:7–9; 23:7–12, 15; Acts 4:27; called “the king” in Matt. 14:9; Mark 6:22, 25–27; and “king Herod” in Mark 6:14. He was son of Herod the Great, as was the Herod for whom Herodias left her husband. Therefore John the Baptist reproved him for taking for a wife Herodias, and she, because of her hatred of the Baptist for this reproof, moved her daughter Salome to ask, as her reward for pleasing Herod (Antipas) by her dancing, that he would present her with the head of John in a platter.

(3) Herod Agrippa I., Acts 12:1–23. The sickness referred to in this passage occurred A. D. 44. He was grandson of Herod the Great.

Others of this family of Herods are mentioned in Scripture, but not by the name of Herod, as in the case of

(4) Philip I., of Matt. 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19. In the table he is marked Philip I., but only to distinguish him from his brother of the same name, Herod Philip. But Philip I. lived in private station and is only mentioned as the husband of Herodias, as recorded in the passage just given.

(5) Philip II., of Luke 3:1, is called “tetrarch of Ituræa and of the region of Trachonitis.” It was after this Philip that Cæsarea Philippi, at the foot of Mt. Hermon, received its name, to distinguish it from the other Cæsarea, on the coast south of Mt. Carmel, the latter being called Cæsarea Palestina. He was also called Herod, but in Scripture only Philip. He married Salome the daughter of Herodias, his niece, the young woman referred to in Matt. 14:6. He was a son of Herod the Great, as was Philip I.

(6) Agrippa, of Acts 25 and 26, is also called king Agrippa in the New Testament, a title given him by Claudius, the Roman emperor, A. D. 52.

20. Of the females of the Herodian family, four are mentioned in the New Testament, Herodias, Salome, Bernice, and Drusilla. Salome is not named, but simply called “the daughter of Herodias.” Herodias is mentioned in Matt. 14:3–11 and in Mark and Luke, where the same incident is recorded. Bernice (or Berenice) was niece of Herodias and married her uncle, Herod king of Chalcis, who died A. D. 48. She then lived with her brother Agrippa II. Drusilla was sister of Bernice and was married to Azizus, king of Emessa in Syria, now Homs; but at the persuasion of Felix she left her husband and married Felix, who was procurator of Judæa, according to Josephus. He was succeeded by Porcius Festus about 61 or 62 A. D., having been accused of great cruelty after his departure to Rome. The scene described in Acts 23 and 24 occurred just before his visit to Rome, and that in Acts 25 and 26 soon after. Felix had driven out the banditti and impostors from the country, and to this Tertullus alludes in his address as given in Acts 24:2.

IDUMÆA.

21. Before the Captivity of the Jews to Babylon the name Idumæa designated the land east of the great valley Arabah which runs south of the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. Petra was its capital. But during the Captivity the Idumæans gradually extended their settlements to that part of Judæa south of Jerusalem, including Hebron. After the return from Babylon, the Idumæans became the enemies of the Jews until the time of the Maccabees, when they were conquered and required either to leave the country or change their religion for that of the Jews. They chose the latter alternative under John Hyrcanus, about B. C. 130, and were governed by Jewish prefects.

When, therefore, Antipater the father of Herod the Great, and Herod himself, are said to be “Idumæans,” the allusion is to this district south of Judæa, which was at that time called Idumæa. This is the Greek term for Edom. The name is used, Isa. 34:5, 6, in the former sense, namely, of the country east of the Arabah, before the Captivity; but in Ezek. 36:5 in the sense used after the Captivity, and in the latter sense also in Mark 3:8.

CHAPTER II.

THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF OUR SAVIOUR.

1. As soon as Jesus arrived at the age of about thirty he left Nazareth, and probably passing down the valley of the Jordan, went on his way to Bethabara, John 1:28.

BETHABARA.

2. John, the forerunner of Jesus, was baptizing at this place, the site of which is not known, but from the meaning of the name, “the house of the ferry, or ford,” it must have been on the banks of the Jordan. Moreover as John was preaching in Judæa, Matt. 3:1, and apparently baptizing in the parts of Jordan near at hand, Bethabara must have been not far off from the locality now identified with it, namely, somewhere east of the present plain of Jericho, but from John 3:26 it is plain that the place was “beyond,” that is east of Jordan. The name Beth-barah of Judg. 7:24 may refer to another place farther up the Jordan, as the word “ford” may have been then, as it is now, applied to several places.

THE WILDERNESS.

3. After the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist at Bethabara he was immediately subjected to several very severe spiritual trials called temptations of the devil, Matt. 4:1. These temptations were preceded by a period of fasting which continued forty days, after which the attacks of the evil spirit took place as recorded in Matt. 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4, but omitted by John.

4. “The wilderness” was probably the uninhabited country west of the northern end of the Dead Sea, a region which seems never to have been settled; and the immediate scene of the temptation is celebrated in tradition as that rough and hilly ridge west of the plain of Jericho called by the Latin Church Quarantania.

DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES.

5. Soon after his triumphant victory over the devil in the temptations our Saviour gained some of his disciples and departed from this region to Galilee.

It is plain from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John that the Baptist was near the region of our Saviour’s trial by the temptations, and was left behind when Jesus and Andrew, Simon Peter and Philip, the new disciples, left for Galilee. These were added to James and John afterward in Galilee, Luke 5:10; and to others, who though now believers, and called simply disciples, constituted afterward that band of twelve who are distinguished by the more important name of apostles, that is, envoys, or messengers.

6. Of these, Andrew was the first to follow Jesus. The others were Simon, called Peter, James and his brother John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, called also Levi, Simon the Zealot, Lebbæus, surnamed Thaddæus, called also Judas, or Jude, James, called “the less” to distinguish him from the other James, called “the greater,” and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him, and who, when he hung himself, was replaced by Matthias, Acts 1:15–26.

THE GENERAL ORDER OF EVENTS. CANA.

7. After his baptism in the Jordan and departure to Galilee, the first event which brought him before the great Jewish public took place at Cana of Galilee.

CANA OF GALILEE, JOHN 2:11.

Some variance of opinion seems to exist as regards the identification of this place. There are two places, each of which is pointed out as the Cana of the Gospel. One is eight miles due north of Nazareth and the other three and a half miles northeast of it. The one is on the north side of an extensive plain and is entirely in ruins, while the other is now an inhabited village. Early tradition seems to claim the former, but the latter is now, and appears always to have been, on the direct line to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee from Nazareth, and it may be due to this fact that many have supposed it to be the Cana of the Gospel. But the names are not exactly alike, the former having been for many centuries called Kana of Galilee and the latter only Kenna. The ruins show that the former was a much finer village than the latter in every way, and had a Roman road on its south connecting the Mediterranean with the Sea of Galilee. It is probable, therefore, that it was at this Cana that two of our Lord’s miracles were performed as stated in John 2:11 and 4:46–54.

CHAPTER III.

FROM THE FIRST PASSOVER TO THE SECOND.

1. As is generally supposed, the first miracle, at Cana, was performed during the first year of our Lord’s public ministry. His attendance upon the first Passover at Jerusalem brings us to consider the state of the city at the time of his visit.

At the great event of a Passover the city would be crowded with visitors, not only from Judæa and the surrounding country, but from distant lands. At this time the Jews were scattered over almost every province under Roman control, and even beyond the Roman Empire.

Josephus informs us that for these occasions immense preparations were made, not only to accommodate the people, but also that they might bring with them their flocks, and he estimates that at the Passover celebrated in the time of Nero the number of lambs sacrificed was 256,500.[162]

2. The presence of Jews from so many countries would of necessity bring into the city not only purchasers, but tradesmen with various moneys requiring an exchange or brokerage; and some of the Rabbinical writers say that an immense traffic was carried on in cattle and other animals for victims and for food, and much extortion was practised, a great part of the profits of which went to the priests.[163]

It was on this occasion of his first Passover that our Saviour drove out the sheep and oxen and upset the tables of the exchangers, as recorded in John 2:15, using the material with which the animals were bound for a whip or scourge.

3. From the very evident divine power which the Saviour exhibited at this Passover, a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, sought an interview with him at night, John 3, at which time Christ made the announcement of his special mission to this world in those remarkable words: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” John 3:14, 15.

4. The Passover being ended, Jesus left Jerusalem, but seems to have remained in Judæa near the Jordan, perhaps on the plain at the north end of the Dead Sea. John was baptizing in the same region. It must have been somewhere on these plains that Herod Antipas met the Baptist and received the reproof of which we have spoken before. This Herod[164] was the ruler of Galilee and Peræa, and was at first married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, but forsook her for Herodias, the wife of his half-brother (see preceding table). This brought on a war with Aretas on the confines of his territory on the south, and it is probable that on his way to meet Aretas Herod received the reproof from the Baptist and condemned the latter to imprisonment in his castle at Machærus.

MACHÆRUS AND PERÆA.

5. This castle was seven miles east of the Dead Sea, and the ruins remain at a place about 25 miles south of the north end of the sea. It is 3,800 feet above its level and 2,507 feet above the Mediterranean. Josephus says that John the Baptist was imprisoned here, and here he must have been beheaded. The region of Peræa extended from this place to Pella, near the Jordan, about 60 miles north, and Herod Antipas was at that time ruler of all Galilee and Peræa, which included the castle Machærus.

ENON AND SALIM.

6. During the Saviour’s stay in Judæa, after the Passover just spoken of, it appears that he remained for a time near the Jordan while his disciples baptized. The two preachers were therefore not far distant from each other, and the disciples of John, evidently with a spirit of rivalry, communicated the fact that greater crowds attended the ministry of Jesus.

This brought out the testimony of John to the greater glory and future progress of the gospel of Jesus. John was at this time at “Enon near Salim,” and the sites of these two places have not yet been settled.

Enon is the Greek form of the Aramaic word for “springs,” and Salim is the word for “peace,” and both of these words are frequently found in varying forms in several places.

It has been thought that the little village now called Salim, not far east of Shechem, was the site of the Scripture Salim, and that Enon was to be identified with a little ruin called Ainun, nearly eight miles northeast. But apart from the fact that these places are not near each other, they are entirely too near the very heart of the Samaritan district, Salim being only four miles east of Shechem.

It is not at all probable that John ever left Judæa, and it is exceedingly improbable that he would have gone into the Samaritan region to baptize. There is a little valley three or four miles northeast of Jerusalem which yet bears a name somewhat similar to Salim, where there are waters described by Dr. Barclay; but neither of these Biblical places has yet been satisfactorily identified.

7. Our Saviour now left Judæa and passed to Galilee upon the shortest road, which leads through Samaria, John 4:3. The season seems to have been in December, John 4:35, as it was “four months to harvest,” which began in April. On the way he sat down upon the well called Jacob’s, and the scene described in John 4 took place.

JACOB’S WELL, SYCHAR, John 4.

8. Jacob’s well has always been identified with that well cut in the solid rock which is about a mile and a half east by south from Shechem. It formerly had a small chapel built over it, in the fourth century, and was about 80 feet in depth when examined by the writer, but the original depth must have been greater, for there are many stones at the bottom. It is not now a well of constant supply, but varies with the season, and was dry when we examined it. Hence perhaps the remark of our Saviour, John 4:10, in which he alludes to “living water.”

Sychar was probably at the little village now called Askar, about one-half of a mile northeast from the well. Some have supposed that Sychar and Shechem were the same; but it is not probable that the woman spoken of in the context would have walked a mile and a half from Shechem, where there was an abundance of water, to draw water from this deep well. The probabilities are that Askar was the site of Sychar, where there are caves and remains of ancient tombs.

MATT. 4:12–17; MARK 1:14, 15; LUKE 4.

9. Jesus passed through Samaria to Galilee, stopping for a short time in Nazareth, Matt. 13:53–58; and then going to Capernaum, announced as he went the great object of his mission, and especially that the appointed time had arrived which had been foretold for the appearance of the Messiah as spoken of in the prophets, Mark 1:14, 15. That he himself was this Messiah he distinctly asserted at Jacob’s well to the Samaritan woman, John 4:26.

10. Passing on from Nazareth he again visited Cana, where the miracle of the healing of the nobleman’s son was performed, John 4:46–54. He then went down to Capernaum, which hereafter seems to have been adopted as his favorite place of abode.

CAPERNAUM.

11. This place has not yet been certainly identified. Some have supposed that it was on the west side of the Sea of Galilee at a place called Khan Minyeh, which is on the plain of Gennesaret, five miles southwest of the mouth of the Upper Jordan; others have located it at a ruin farther north of this sea, called Tell Hum. To some this name seems to be all that remains of the ancient name Capernaum, which, as they think, means the village (caper) of Nahum (Naum).

At Capernaum many of our Saviour’s miracles were performed, and the place is referred to sixteen times by name.

12. A miracle performed here at this time in the history confirmed the faith of Andrew, Peter, James, and John, who were fishing in the waters of the sea not far off from the village, Luke 5:1–11.

Soon after this the restoring of the demoniac to his senses in the synagogue took place, Luke 4:33, and immediately after this the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother, as recorded in the same chapter. Many other miracles were performed the same evening.

13. Jesus then began to travel throughout Galilee, preaching and healing. One miracle on this journey is recorded, that of healing a leper, as narrated in Matt. 8:2; Mark 1:40; Luke 5:12. On his return to Capernaum he heals a paralytic, Matt. 9:2; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:18.

In the narrative of this last-mentioned miracle we have an illustration of the use of double names among the Jews, for Matthew, 9:9, calls himself Matthew, whereas the other evangelists in their accounts called him Levi,[165] and moreover Matthew adopts the usual method of Greek historians in speaking of themselves in the third person to avoid egotism. Compare Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:29.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SECOND PASSOVER AND THE TRANSACTIONS UNTIL THE THIRD PASSOVER. TIME ONE YEAR.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA, JOHN 5:2.

1. Very recent discoveries have led to the belief that this pool was not at the so-called Birket Israel on the left hand of the entrance through the gate of St. Stephen—the eastern gate of Jerusalem—but on the right hand of the same entrance at the French church of St. Anne. It is about 160 feet on the right of the gate as you enter into the city. Here there has recently (1888) been discovered a tank in the rock under the church, reached by a flight of 24 steps, and more recently a twin pool by its side, which is supposed to identify the place, according to early writers. The remains of the five porches are still to be seen.[166]

2. In his attendance upon the second Passover Jesus performed the miracle of healing at the crowded pool of Bethesda, but left with the man whom he had restored no name or clew whereby he should know him. Soon after however, meeting the man in the Temple, Jesus warned him as to his future life; and thus the healed man was informed, and he reported to those who inquired of him the name of his benefactor. This act of healing was performed on the Sabbath day, and the consequent command of Jesus, “Take up thy bed and walk,” was made the occasion of bitter resentment on the part of the Jews. This gave the opportunity to our Lord for uttering one of the most distinct avowals of his equality with God as his Father, and the assertion that their own Jewish Scriptures testified of him. He then departed for Galilee.

HISTORICAL OCCURRENCES OF THIS YEAR IN THE ORDER OF TIME, WITH THE HARMONY OF REFERENCES AND LOCALITIES.

3. On the way to Galilee. The disciples pluck ears of corn on the Sabbath, Matt. 12:1; Mark 2:23; Luke 6.

In Galilee. The healing of the withered hand on the Sabbath, Matt. 12:9; Mark 3:1; Luke 6:6.

Immediately after the last mentioned miracle he retired to the Sea of Galilee, and the greatness of the interest manifested in him can be understood by the extent of country from which the crowds came, as indicated in Mark 3:7, 8, for it appears that the people came not only from Galilee, but “from Judæa and from Jerusalem and Idumæa and from the east of Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon.”

4. Near Gennesaret. Jesus chooses the twelve apostles, Matt. 10:1; Mark 3:13; alluded to again, Mark 6:7. This he did after a night spent in prayer on a mountain, Luke 6:12, 13. This transaction seems to have taken place on some one of the hills south of the plain of Gennesaret, while on his way to Capernaum.

5. Near Gennesaret. The Sermon on the Mount and a probable repetition of a part on the plain of Gennesaret, as narrated in Luke 6:17; Matt. 5. In this and the following chapters St. Matthew has gathered a large collection of the precepts and teachings of Jesus which occurred at this time, but which are only in part narrated in Luke.

6. Same place. The Lord’s Prayer as narrated in Matthew, and probably repeated upon another occasion, as seen in Luke 11:1.

7. Capernaum. The centurion’s servant healed, Matt. 8:5; Luke 7:1.

Nain. The widow’s son raised from the bier upon which he was carried, Luke 7:11.

8. This place was 59 miles north of Jerusalem and 20 miles southwest of the plain of Gennesaret. En-dor is two miles northeast of it on the same northern flank of the ridge. The scenery is very beautiful towards the north and west, and suggests the fitness of the name, which means “beauty.” Immediately south, one mile distant, the mountain range rises to the height of 1,690 feet above the Mediterranean, and on the northern flank of this range the village is built, itself at the height of 744 feet. It overlooks the great plain of Esdraelon. The only reference to this place is found in Luke 7:11–17.

9. In Galilee. John the Baptist while in prison sends messengers to Jesus, Matt. 11:2; Luke 7:19. Jesus had now performed a large part of his life’s work, and in some degree he now reviews it and in several places sums up the amount done. He reviews also the instances in which he had been unsuccessful in persuading some to believe upon his mission and accept him as the true Messiah. In this review he mentions Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and compares their advantages with those enjoyed by Tyre and Sidon.

CHORAZIN AND BETHSAIDA, Matt. 11:21; Luke 10:13.

10. The site of the former of these places is unknown. Excepting the similarity of the names, Kerazeh and Chorazin, we have nothing to show that the ruin called by the former name is identical with the place known in Scripture by the latter name. The ruin called Kerazeh is two and a half miles from the northern shore of the lake and about 900 feet higher than its surface. The ruins of a supposed synagogue are to be found there, and near them is a spring.

Against this supposed site of Chorazin it is said that Jerome[167] speaks of it as one of the cities which were upon the shores of the lake. In reply it is said the traveller Willibald, going northward in the beginning of the eighth century, says that he went from Tiberias by Magdala, now called Mejdel, to Capernaum, thence to Bethsaida, thence to Chorazin, and thence to the fountains of the Jordan,[168] so that the order of localities thus stated makes Chorazin probably off the lake.[169] Kerazeh appears to answer to all that the Scripture claims for Chorazin both in name and locality.

11. As to Bethsaida, there are supposed to have been two of this name, which means “fish-house;” the one is just east of the Jordan, about a mile above the place where it empties into the northern end of the lake. This was the eastern Bethsaida, and at about this period of our Saviour’s life Herod Philip, the tetrarch, had greatly enlarged and beautified the place and given it the name “Julias” in honor of the daughter of Augustus; and here he was buried, A. D. 33, in a costly tomb which he had erected for himself.

It was near this Bethsaida that Jesus fed the five thousand with the five loaves and two fishes, and after dismissing the crowd retired into one of the neighboring hills to pray.[170]

12. Place uncertain, probably Capernaum. At the house of Simon the Pharisee, while “at meat,” Christ’s feet are anointed by a woman who is called “a sinner,” Luke 7:36. Another anointing by a woman took place at a much later period, and perhaps a third just before his betrayal, John 11:2; 12:2. Anointing was very common in those days. The so-called alabaster-box was not necessarily of any one material, much less of the material known now as alabaster. The same Greek term is used by Herodotus[171] in exactly the same form used in Matt. 26:7; Mark 14:3; Luke 7:37, and the vessel might have been of marble, of glass, or metal.[172] Theocritus[173] writes of “golden alabasters filled with Syrian ointments.”

It was customary to anoint the head and also the feet of a guest on certain occasions, and the alabastron was common among persons of means. There is therefore no sufficient reason to suppose that this anointing was so rare an instance that the several accounts in the Gospels refer to only one event. The other accounts besides that referred to at the beginning of this section are found in Matt. 26:6; Mark 14:3, which appear to describe one and the same occasion, shortly before his betrayal, and John 11:2; 12:2, which description is somewhat similar to that of the preceding Gospels.

13. Galilee. Our Saviour makes visits with the twelve through Galilee the second time. Luke 8:1. This seems to have been in Galilee, judging from the context as compared with Matt. 12:46; Mark 3:31, and following verses in the next chapter. He seems to have visited extensively, as the Greek phrase, “city by city and village by village,” signifies.

14. The following incidents are supposed to have taken place about this time and in the following order, all in Galilee:

(1.) The healing of the demoniac, Matt. 12:22. A somewhat similar case occurred before, Matt. 9:32. In this passage the utterances of our Saviour define the solemnity of the office of the Holy Spirit in a most fearful sense, and again in Mark 3:28, 29. This healing is repeated, Luke 11:14.

(2.) The scribes and Pharisees seek from him a sign to prove his authority, Matt. 12:38; repeated with additional remarks, Matt. 15:1; also Mark 8:11; and more urgently in John 6:31. It was in reply to one of these requests that Jesus announced that the sign superior to all others should take place after his death, for that after death he should rise again on the third day, Matt. 12:40, drawing from the history of Jonah an illustration of his own burial for three days only.

(3.) The declaration that his true disciples were his nearest relatives, Matt. 12:46; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:19.

(4.) Jesus takes dinner with a Pharisee and denounces the sect, Luke 11:37.

(5.) Jesus instructs a multitude when he declares that whosoever shall confess him before men shall be confessed by him before the angels of God, Luke 12:1.

15. By the lake. (1.) The parable of the sower, Matt. 13:3; Mark 4:2; Luke 8:4.

(2.) The parable of the tares, Matt. 13:24.

(3.) Sea of Galilee. Jesus calms the tempest, Matt. 8:24–27; Mark 4:37–41; Luke 8:22–25.

(4.) He heals the demoniacs of the country of the Gergesenes, stilling the tempest by a word as he crosses, Matt. 8:23; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26.

GADARA, GERGESA.

16. The location of Gadara (pronounced Gad´-ara) was at the present Um Keis, where the ruins are extensive and four fine springs exist. Um Keis is seven miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, upon the level surface of a steep hill. It is thought that the term Gadarenes referred to the general region of which Gadara was the capital, and Gergesenes to the town of Gergesa, on the lake, where the miracle occurred, and which belonged to the district of the Gadarenes.

Gadara is first mentioned in secular history when captured by Antiochus the Great, B. C. 218. It was taken by the Jews twenty years afterwards, but destroyed during their civil wars, and rebuilt by Pompey to please his freedman, who was a Gadarene. When the proconsul of Syria, Gabinius, changed the constitution of Judæa, dividing it into five districts having governing councils, Gadara was made the seat of one of these councils, and became a chief city or capital of the country around.

It is probable that Gergesa is properly identified in the ruin Kersa on the east shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, almost equi-distant from the north and the south ends. It was once surrounded by a wall, the ruins of which still remain. Just south of it the hills come down very precipitously into the water, as they do in no other place on the shore, Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26; Matt. 8:28.

17. Capernaum. The feast given to our Lord by Levi, who is also called Matthew, takes place at this time, Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:29.

The raising of Jairus’ daughter, and the healing of the woman who touched the hem of his garment, Matt. 9:20; Mark 5:25; Luke 8:43.

Two blind men and a dumb man healed, Matt. 9:27.

18. Nazareth. Christ appears here, but is rejected the second time, Matt. 13:54; Mark 6:1. The first time was soon after his baptism, Luke 4:16.

Galilee. Jesus makes with his disciples a third circuit through Galilee, Matt. 9:35; Mark 6:6. The passage in Luke 13:22 gives quite another circuit on his final journey towards Jerusalem, which took place probably the following year.

Jesus sends out the twelve, two by two, Matt. 10:1, 5; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1.

Herod (Antipas), who had slain John the Baptist, hears of Jesus, and supposes that John has risen, Matt. 14:1; Mark 6:14; Luke 9:7.

Northeast coast of the lake. The five thousand are fed. Jesus afterwards walks upon the water, Matt. 14:15–33; Mark 6:35–51; Luke 9:12–17 (Luke omits the walking on the water); John 6:5–21.

CHAPTER V.

THE THIRD PASSOVER.

1. Many incidental circumstances have led commentators to suppose that the third Passover transpired about this time. The following incidents are therefore attributed to him after the third Passover. We therefore, in accordance with the above supposition, recount the events for the next six months to the Feast of Tabernacles. The chief reason for asserting the third Passover at this time is, that according to John 6:4, the Passover “was nigh” at the time of the feeding of the five thousand.

2. Capernaum. Jesus replies to the Pharisees who object to eating with unwashed hands, Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:1, in which the washing was not for cleanliness but religious ceremony.

3. Region of Tyre and Sidon. The Syro-phœnician woman’s daughter healed, Matt. 15:21; Mark 7:24.

TYRE AND SIDON.

These were Phœnician towns, twenty-five miles distant from each other, and upon the Mediterranean seacoast. They are mentioned in history long before the building of Jerusalem. The first is mentioned in Scripture in Josh. 19:29 for the first time, while Sidon is spoken of by name many years before, in Gen. 10:19, as being a prominent Canaanitish city, B. C. 2350.

In the time of our Saviour they were both inhabited places, and Tyre was a city of great importance. At present they are considerable towns of from 5,000 (Tyre) to 15,000 (Sidon) inhabitants. Tyre is almost due west from Mt. Hermon.

Decapolis. The deaf and dumb healed, Mark 7:32. It is probable that this case is to be distinguished from those mentioned in Matt. 9:32; 12:22, which may have happened at previous times, as the surrounding circumstances suggest.

DECAPOLIS.

4. This region contained ten principal cities, as the name signifies. Pliny gives the names Scythopolis (or old Beth-shean), Philadelphia, Raphana, Gadara, Hippos, Dios, Pella, Gerasa, Canatha, and Damascus as constituting the ten. Josephus says Otopos instead of Canatha. The region was inhabited by many foreigners, and hence might have contained more swine than any truly Jewish region. Hence the mention of large numbers of swine in the healing of the demoniac, for among the strictly Jewish districts the keeping of swine would not have been permitted. This district may be described generally as east of the Lake of Gennesaret and of that part of Jordan which is south of the lake as far as Scythopolis or Beth-shean, fifteen miles south of the lake and four miles west of the Jordan. The cities of the list have not all been identified. Scythopolis, Philadelphia, Gadara, Damascus, and possibly Hippos and Pella, are known, but the district of Decapolis has not yet been satisfactorily defined.

5. Scythopolis we have already described, page 132. Philadelphia was the name given to the present Ammon by Ptolemy Philadelphus. It is a ruin on the high tableland twenty-three miles east of the Jordan and nearly thirty miles northeast of the Dead Sea. It is the old Rabbath-Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites in the time of Moses, Deut. 3:11. Its ruins are very extensive.

6. Damascus is yet an important city fifty-five miles east of the Mediterranean coast, situated on an extensive plain bounded on the north by spurs of the Anti-Lebanon range.

Excavations seem to show that the greater part of Damascus is built upon ancient ruins of the former city. Its population at present (1890) is supposed to be about 125,000. Hippos, another city of the Decapolis, is supposed to have been upon the south shore of the Sea of Galilee; and Pella, whither many Christians fled just before the destruction of Jerusalem, is about three miles east of the Jordan, up in the hills eighteen miles south of the Sea of Galilee.

Decapolis region. The four thousand are fed near the lake, Matt. 15:32; Mark 8:1.

DALMANUTHA. MAGDALA.

7. Dalmanutha is the place which Jesus approached on his return from the east of the lake to the west, according to Mark 8:10, after feeding the four thousand. Matthew states that he came into the coasts of Magdala. They must have been in the same vicinity. Magdala is now called Mejdel, the village still being inhabited. It is immediately upon the shore, and a little more than three miles north of Tiberias. But between Mejdel and Tiberias there is a spring and a good landing place with some remains. The place is called Ain el-Fuliyeh, and may have had the above name of Dalmanutha, as the soil is richer than that around and shows evidences of a former settlement. The place seems to have assumed in recent times the name Ain Barideh, “the cold spring.”

The boat in crossing evidently landed between these two villages of Dalmanutha and Mejdel.

8. On the shore. The Pharisees again demand a “sign,” or proof, of his authority, Matt. 16:1; Mark 8:11. The former time is recorded in Matt. 12:38.

Crossing the lake. He warns his disciples of the leaven against the Pharisees. Matt. 16:6; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1 may refer to this time or may have been on another occasion.

Bethsaida (Julias). The blind man healed, Mark 8:22.

Near Cæsarea-Philippi. Jesus foretells his death. The transfiguration takes place. He heals immediately afterward a demoniac whom his disciples could not heal, Matt. 16:21; 17:14; Mark 8:31; 9:17; Luke 9:38.

9. Passing through Galilee to Capernaum. He foretells his death and resurrection the second time, Matt. 17:22; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:44.

Capernaum. The tribute money taken from the fish, Matt. 17:24.

The seventy are sent out after they had received the lesson upon humility, Matt. 18:1; Mark 9.

JESUS GOES UP TO THE FEAST OF THE TABERNACLES.

10. The nature of this feast is described in Lev. 23:33. It was celebrated on the fifteenth day after the new moon in October, and was the great “harvest home” of the Jews. All dwelt in booths, called “tabernacles,” for eight days, of which the last day was “the great day of the feast.” The later Jews added the pouring of water mingled with wine upon the morning sacrifices of each day, amid sounding of trumpets and horns and the singing of a passage from Isa. 12:3. This may have suggested the announcement made by our Saviour as given in John 7:37, 38.

THE LINE OF TRAVEL.

11. Jesus leaves Capernaum, passes through Galilee by Nazareth, taking the shortest route direct to Jerusalem through Samaria, probably by Jacob’s well, which was situated on the main road, the same to-day as then. This was in October. His brethren had gone on before, John 7:10, and he delayed till the crowd had decreased and then started. Hence he did not appear till the third or fourth day of the feast, and then he began to teach.

On his way, in Samaria. The ten lepers are cleansed, Luke 17:12.

He rebukes James and John for wishing to call down fire upon the Samaritans, Luke 9:54.

12. Jerusalem. Jesus teaches in the Temple, John 7:14.

The woman taken in adultery, John 8:3.

They attempt to stone him for saying, “Before Abraham was, I am,” John 8:58.

A lawyer instructed. Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25.

They threaten to stone him for saying, “I and my Father are one,” John 10:31.

Bethany. Jesus visits the house of Martha and Mary, Luke 10:38.

Near Jerusalem. He teaches his disciples to pray, Luke 11:1.

Jerusalem. The man born blind is healed on the Sabbath, John 9:1.

Bethany. He goes to “beyond Jordan,” where John at first baptized, and there hearing of the sickness of Lazarus, goes to Bethany and raises him, John 11:1.

Jerusalem. Caiaphas, the high-priest, suggests the death of Jesus, who retires to Ephraim, John 11:47, 54.

EPHRAIM, JOHN 11:54.

13. The site of this town has not certainly been identified, but Dr. Robinson has given good reasons for supposing that it was situated at a village now called Taiyibeh, twelve miles a little east of north from Jerusalem. It is off the present main road of travel, to the east, and in the midst of a very rough and untravelled country, but there are the remains of a good Roman road running down from this place to the valley of the Jordan, and about a mile and a half below the village there are two Roman mile-posts still standing on that old road. It is probable that here our Saviour retired from the danger that seemed to threaten him in Jerusalem. After leaving Ephraim he seems to have taken the main road down to the plain of Jordan and crossed to the other side, called Peræa.

14. Peræa. Great numbers follow Christ here, and the following is a brief history of what transpired in that region:

He heals the infirm woman on the Sabbath, Luke 13:10.

He is warned against Herod, Luke 13:31.

He dines with a chief Pharisee on the Sabbath, Luke 14:1.

The parables of the lost sheep and of the prodigal son, Luke 15:11–32.

The parables of the unjust steward and of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16.

The warnings that Christ’s coming will be sudden, Luke 17:20.

The parables of the importunate widow, Luke 18:1, and Pharisee and publican, Luke 18:10.

He gives precepts respecting divorce, Matt. 19:3.

He blesses little children, Matt. 19:13; Mark 10:13; Luke 18:15.

The visit of the rich young man, Matt. 19:16; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18.

Parable of the laborers in the vineyard, Matt. 20:1.

On the way up to Jerusalem. Jesus for the third time foretells his crucifixion and resurrection, but his disciples do not understand him, Matt. 20:17; Mark 10:32; Luke 18:31.

15. Near the Jordan. James and John make their ambitious request through their mother, Matt. 20:20; Mark 10:35.

West of Jericho. He heals two blind men, Matt. 20:30; Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35.

Visits Zacchæus, Luke 19:1–10.

Nearer to Jerusalem. Parable of the ten pounds, Matt. 25:14–30; Luke 19:11–27.

Bethany. The supper given by Simon the leper, Matt. 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; John 12:1–11; from John it seems that this feast took place six days before the Passover, and on the next day was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Just east of Bethany. The sending for the ass and colt, followed by the triumphal entry of our Saviour into Jerusalem. Matt. 21:17. Mark 11:1–11 and Luke 19:29–40 speak only of the colt.

16. Descending the Mount of Olives. Christ weeps over Jerusalem, Luke 19:41–44.

Jerusalem. He makes a triumphal entry into Jerusalem and visits the Temple, Matt. 21:12–17. This passage includes the statement of the overturning the money-changers’ tables on the first day. Mark 11:12 states that this act was performed on the day following. As he performed the same act at his first Passover, two years before, John 2:13–17, he may have done the same thing twice, on two successive days. Also read Luke 19:45.

Bethany. He retires at evening to Bethany, Matt. 21:17; Mark 11:11.

BETHANY AND BETHPHAGE.

17. Bethany was a little over a mile east of the lower part of the city, about a mile and a half southeast from St. Stephen’s gate, if measured along the road.

Bethphage has not been certainly identified, but it was probably at a place one half-mile south of the Church of the Ascension, which is on the top of the Mount of Olives. It was on the way from Bethany to Jerusalem, where the road from Bethany winds around the south of the highest part of the Mount of Olives. This was the supposition of Dr. Barclay, and seems probable to the writer, who visited the place.

On the way from Bethany to Jerusalem. The fig-tree cursed, Matt. 21:19; Mark 11:12.

18. Jerusalem. Christ’s authority demanded, Matt. 21:23; Mark 11:27; Luke 20:1.

Parable of the two sons, Matt. 21:28.

Parable of the wicked husbandmen, Matt. 21:33–41; Mark 12:1; Luke 20:9.

Of the marriage of the king’s son, Matt. 22:2.

The cunning of the Pharisees regarding tribute to Cæsar, Matt. 22:15; Mark 12:13; Luke 20:21.

The artful question of the Sadducees answered in respect to the resurrection, Matt. 22:23; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27.

A lawyer’s question, Which is the greatest commandment? Matt. 22:35; Mark 12:28.

Jesus’ question as to why David calls the son Lord, Matt. 22:42; Mark 12:35; Luke 20:41.

He warns them against the scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 23:2–36; Mark 12:38–40; Luke 20:46, 47.

The widow’s two mites, Mark 12:41; Luke 21:1.

Some Greeks desire to see Jesus, John 12:20.

19. Mount of Olives. Warnings and foretelling of the destruction of Jerusalem, Matt. 24:3–51; Mark 13:3–37; Luke 21:7–36.

The ten virgins and the parable of the five talents, Matt. 25:1–30.

A distinct announcement that he shall come in glory with the angels, Matt. 25:31–46; such an announcement was made before his transfiguration, but only in brief allusion, see Mark 8:38.

Jerusalem. The chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people take counsel to destroy Jesus, Matt. 26:3; Mark 14:1, 2; Luke 22:2.

Jesus appoints a place where he shall eat the passover, Matt. 26:17; Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7.

The Lord’s Supper instituted at the close of the eating of the passover, Matt. 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–26; Luke 22:19, 20. From the last quotation, with its context both before and after, it is plain that the institution followed the passover; read also from John 13:2.

Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. This includes Judas’ feet, as seen in the record by John, 13:4–30.

Jesus, after the departure of Judas, gives a remarkable series of comforting instructions and exhortations to the apostles.

20. Gethsemane. He retires to Gethsemane and prays while his disciples sleep, Matt. 26:36; Mark 14:32; Luke 22:39.

Betrayed by Judas, he is led away to Annas, who sends him bound to the high-priest Caiaphas, who was with the Sanhedrin as they were assembled, expecting Jesus at that hour, Matt. 26:47; Mark 14:43; Luke 22:47.

ANNAS, CAIAPHAS, PILATE.

21. Annas had been high-priest, but had been deposed by the procurator of Judæa; Caiaphas, who was made high-priest, was his son-in-law.[174]

Annas was a man of great influence and was probably at this time president of the Sanhedrin.[175] Hence as he had been made a deputy by the previous procurator and discharged some of the functions of the office, he was called a high-priest.

22. Pilate succeeded to the office of procurator A. D. 26, and gave to the Jewish priests the management of their own affairs, in order to conciliate them, but at times he was exceedingly cruel and exacting.[176] As an instance, when he desired to bring water into Jerusalem from a distance of twenty-five miles, to aid in the enterprise he seized upon the money laid up in the Temple for sacred purposes. This act so enraged the Jews that they assembled by thousands at the palace gates demanding the restoration of the money. Pilate ordered his soldiers to disperse them, and they with their short daggers charged the crowds into the very precincts of the Temple, slaying great numbers even upon the altars of their sacrifices.[177]

23. Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin lead Jesus to Pilate, Matt. 27:2; Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1; John 18:28.

Pilate endeavors to deliver Jesus from death, but finally gives him over to crucifixion, Matt. 27:11–26; Mark 15:9–15; Luke 23:4–24; John 18:38; 19:16.

The supernatural darkness, from the sixth hour (twelve, midday) to the ninth hour (three in the afternoon), Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44.

The rending of the veil of the Temple, Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45.

24. This veil was sixty feet high and of very heavy material, according to Jewish writers. A veil to cover the holy place was used in the temples of Diana at Ephesus and of Jupiter at Olympia, and as they were of the same material, of woollen and richly embroidered and in color purple, it seems they must have been suggested by the veil in the Jewish Temple, which was of the same material, work, and color. The Jewish veil was the inner one separating the “Holy of holies” from the other part of the sanctuary.[178] For the original description see Exod. 26:31.

The earthquake, Matt. 27:51. Rocks rent and graves opened, Matt. 27:52.

Centurion surprised, Matt. 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47; Luke adds “all the people.”

Women beholding afar off, Matt. 27:55, 56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49; John 19:25; John states that some stood by the cross.

25. Joseph of Arimathæa applies for the body of Jesus, Matt. 27:57–60; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–53; John 19:38.

Nicodemus brings spices to the sepulchre, John 29:39.

The Jews, by Pilate’s permission, set a watch, Matt. 27:62–66.

The descent of an angel who rolls away the stone, Matt. 28:2; Mark 16:5; Mark says a young man was sitting in the sepulchre when the two Marys came with spices. Luke 24:4 states two men (angels) stood at the sepulchre. John 21 mentions no angel at the first visit, but afterward Mary Magdalene on her return sees two angels in the sepulchre, John 20:11, 12.

26. The chief priests bribe the soldiers to keep the secret, Matt. 28:11–15.

The two disciples, Peter and Cleopas, going to Emmaus, see Jesus, Luke 24:13–35.

EMMAUS.

27. The site of this town has not been identified beyond doubt. But the village Amwas, fifteen miles northwest by west from Jerusalem, has been supposed to be the place. Its distance is almost too great for the disciples to have travelled in the time specified, and it is farther off than the sixty furlongs which is given as its distance from Jerusalem in Luke 24:13. But the distance is given in several of the old manuscripts as 160 furlongs instead of sixty; especially is it so stated in the old Sinaitic manuscript. This fact, with the similarity of name, and the statement by Jerome that it was at this place, formerly called Nicopolis, leads to the general impression that the site of Emmaus is to be found at Amwas.

28. Jesus suddenly appears to the apostles as they are gathered in a room, Thomas being absent, and again eight days afterward when Thomas was present. This is according to John 20:19–29. Luke only mentions the one appearance in the room, Luke 24:36–48; also in Mark only one appearance in the room as they sat at meat or together, Mark 16:14; but this appearance is omitted in Matthew.

The apostles and perhaps many others go into Galilee, Matt. 28:16, 17; Mark makes no statement, nor does Luke, in reference to the going into Galilee. John 21:1–23 gives the meeting of Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias.

After this he meets the apostles and over 500 brethren at once; is “seen of James,” and finally “of all the apostles,” having led them out to Bethany, where his ascension took place, 1 Cor. 15:6, 7; Luke 24:49–53.

CHAPTER VI.

THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

1. Immediately after the departure of our Saviour the disciples recovered all their faith and courage and returned to Jerusalem from Bethany.

The first act of the apostles was to restore their number to twelve, made eleven by the apostasy of Judas. Two nominations were made of men who, like themselves, had been companions of the Saviour from the baptism of John to the ascension (Acts 1:21). The men nominated were Joseph, called Barsabas, and Matthias; the latter was chosen by lot.

2. The appointment, or selection, by lot was considered sacred among the ancients; and was performed, as to the mode of the lot, by casting into some vessel a number of little tablets, pebbles, or strips of leather or papyrus, upon which were inscribed the names or some distinguishing marks. The vessel was then shaken, and that name, or its representative, which first fell upon the floor determined the choice. In the time of Homer the lot was cast into a helmet and shaken.[179] In Prov. 16:33 the same idea of casting the lot into a vessel is intended, with the addition that the result is guided by the Lord, for the English word “lap” in the passage just quoted in the Hebrew signifies “the opening,” i. e., of the urn or vessel into which the lot was cast.

The use of lots is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament; at first over the scapegoat, as described in Lev. 16:8; then in the division of the holy land, Num. 34:13, and, with supernatural results, at the detection of Achan, Josh. 7:14, 18, and Jonah 1:7; also in the division of the priests into their orders, 1 Chron. 24:1–5.

The term for “lot” in the Latin is clerus, and the persons chosen to any priestly office, or set apart by due ordination to the service of God, in the Christian church as a body, are called the “clergy,” declarative of the fact that their possession of or appointment to the sacred office is by divine decision, as was always supposed to be the case in the ancient priestly appointment by lots.

PENTECOST.

3. The next annual feast took place on the fiftieth day after the Passover and was called Pentecost, the Greek word for the fiftieth. It was called the Feast of Weeks, Deut. 16:10, also the Feast of Harvest, Exod. 23:16, or of the Firstfruits, Num. 28:26. It lasted but one day, and upon that day two loaves of the first wheat were offered at the Temple. The festival now called Whitsunday was suggested by this festival.

When the time for this feast arrived there was at Jerusalem a remarkable gathering which shows to what extent the Jewish nation had already been scattered over the world. There were visitors from Parthia, Media, and Elam, from 600 to 700 miles on the east; from Mesopotamia, about 400 miles on the northeast; from Cappadocia, 500 miles on the north and midway between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; from Pontus lying on the Black Sea; and from that part of Asia Minor then called “Asia.”

This last mentioned district, although it afterward gave its name to the whole vast continent, at this time comprised only the extreme southwestern parts of the peninsula, such as Caria and Lydia and a part of Mysia, its chief city being Ephesus. This was in after times the region of the “seven churches” of Revelation.[180] There were gathered Jews from Phrygia and Pamphylia, 500 to 600 miles off towards the northwest, the former on the high tableland and the latter on the low seacoast southeast. They were there from Egypt on the southwest, and from Libya and Cyrene, 400 miles west of the Nile, on the African coast, and from Rome, nearly 1,500 miles to the northwest; also from the island of Crete, 600 miles west by north, and from Arabia on the southeast.

4. It was upon the occasion of this great gathering to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost that Peter exhibited the beginning of that remarkable Christian courage, knowledge, and endurance which characterized him ever after. He was now not only the orator, but the able Christian expositor of the prophets and of the Psalms. The general outline of his address at this time is given us in Acts 2:14–40, but the effect was so great that 3,000 came out publicly and were baptized on that one day.

5. The extreme poverty of the little band of apostles, as a whole, is evident;[181] but after the Pentecost some of those who were added contributed to the general fund, and there was no suffering after the organization was complete, Acts 4:34. Even those who immediately after the crucifixion returned to their trades were enabled to devote their whole time to mission work, so far as we have any records of them, Acts 6:4.

THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESS.

6. From the various notices of additions to their number and from the official appointment of seven men of ability to disburse the funds and attend to the needy, Acts 6:3, it is evident that the numbers of the early church before the first great persecution began must have amounted to many thousands, Acts 2:42, 47; 5:14; 6:1, 7.

THE FIRST PERSECUTION.

7. Of the seven men appointed to attend to the management of the general treasury and to the claims of the poor, the chief was Stephen. His exceeding prominence in public work, his very extensive knowledge of the Law, and his aggressive ability in defending the gospel gave great offence to some of the Jews. The result was his arraignment before the Sanhedrin and examination upon the two points which to the Jews were the dearest of all, namely, the sanctity of the Temple and the supremacy of the Law.

Stephen answered the inquiry of the high-priest, Acts 7:1, by a history accompanied by unmistakable Scripture proof that although Solomon himself was the builder, the Temple was no better than the worshippers, and he quoted the prophecy of Isaiah, 66:1, 2, to show that the temple which the Lord honored was the poor and contrite spirit. He then immediately charged the Sanhedrin as being unworthy of the Temple themselves and in heart violaters of the Law in that they had both betrayed and murdered the one of whom the Law spoke, thus ending the address with the most terrific charges of infidelity both to the Temple and to the Law. No such words had ever been uttered before the Sanhedrin since it had existed.

He was immediately dragged out of the city and stoned to death. Stephen was the first Christian martyr.

8. This death was the signal for the first persecution. The immediate effect of this persecution was to scatter the members of the Christian community of Jerusalem not only throughout Samaria and Galilee, but even to Phœnicia, Antioch, and Cyprus, and they went preaching the same doctrines which had been taught in Jerusalem, Acts 11:19.

The city of Samaria was at this time one of the most beautiful in Palestine. It was presented to Herod the Great by Augustus, and in honor of the emperor Herod named it Sebaste.[182]

9. One of “the seven,”[183] of whom we have spoken was Philip, who went to this city and preached the new doctrine with great success.

One of the visitors from distant lands was an officer of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had come from that country to attend the celebration at Jerusalem and was returning, when by divine direction Philip left Samaria to join him on the homeward road. This officer accepted the company of Philip on the way, and the latter presented the new doctrine with such ability that the Ethiopian officer, who was well acquainted with the Scriptures through the Greek translation (the Septuagint), became the first recorded convert from that distant country of Ethiopia.

CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.

10. At the stoning of Stephen there was a young man present who made himself conspicuous by keeping the outer garments of those who engaged in the act of stoning the martyr. This man was Saul, a Hebrew name, afterward changed into the Roman form of Paul. He was a native of Tarsus, a large and celebrated city of Cilicia, a district on the northern coast of the Mediterranean, but the most eastern on that coast. Tarsus was a city of learned institutions and learned men. The tutors of two emperors of Rome dwelt there, and it was a favored city in many respects, being a place of large commerce. Young Saul was sent to Jerusalem at an early age and became a pupil of Gamaliel.

This Gamaliel was considered not only one of the most learned in the Hebrew literature but also in the Greek, and he was president of the Sanhedrin. He afterward transferred the locality of the Sanhedral schools from Jerusalem to Jamnia, the Jabneel of Josh. 15:11.

11. Jabneel, or Jabneh, now called Yebneh, is thirteen miles due south of Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, and must be distinguished from the Jamnia seaport four and a half miles northwest, which is sometimes referred to by the same name, but not so in Scripture. In the time of the Maccabees the coast town was a more important seaport than Joppa. During the crusades Jabneh was called Ibelin.[184] It is built on a hill and is four miles from the sea.

12. In carrying out his enmity against the Christians Saul determined to visit Damascus, where several synagogues existed.

Damascus was about 150 miles by road northeast from Jerusalem. Obtaining letters of introduction from the high-priest, he set out to accomplish his purpose. On the way, before entering Damascus, he was arrested by a supernatural vision and was changed from the condition of a bitter and determined enemy to that of an equally determined advocate of the Christian faith, and, after a season of apparent preparation, he returned to Jerusalem.

But this addition to the Christian community was attended with such vexation and such disappointment to the Jews that “they went about to slay him,” and it was thought best by his brethren that Saul should depart for Tarsus. At his departure the persecution ceased.

AZOTUS, CÆSAREA, LYDDA, JOPPA.

13. These places now come into notice in connection with the missionary tours of Philip, the departure of Saul to Tarsus, and the visit of Peter to those who had lately joined the new fellowship.

Philip, after leaving the Ethiopian officer of Queen Candace, travelled northward on the coast of the Mediterranean till he reached Azotus. This was the most important city of the Philistines in the time of David, and was known as Ashdod, but by the Greeks called Azotus. It is three miles inland from the coast, and situated on the slope of a large hill 140 feet above the sea level. It is twenty-one miles north from Azotus to Joppa, and thirty-two from Joppa to Cæsarea, and along this way on foot Philip travelled, preaching as he went.

Cæsarea was built by Herod the Great upon the former site of a little village called Strato’s Tower, and named after Cæsar Augustus. It was magnificently constructed as a city and as a harbor, and vessels sailed between it and many distant parts of the Mediterranean: hence it was at this time and long afterward the great shipping port of Palestine. Josephus gives us a full description of the city, and states that its completion was celebrated, B. C. 13, by splendid games. It was the chief residence of the Roman officers and governors of Judæa.

14. We have evidences that a Christian church had been planted here at a very early period, and in A. D. 200 it became the residence of a bishop who was primate of all the bishops in Palestine, Jerusalem included. Origen taught here in the third century, and here Eusebius was educated and afterward became its bishop; he died A. D. 340. In A. D. 1101 Cæsarea was captured from the Moslems by Baldwin I., and among the rich booty was found a hexagonal vase of green crystal supposed to have been a sacramental cup, and this plays an important part in mediæval poetry as the “holy grail.”

15. It was to this port that Saul was taken to find a passage direct for Tarsus, which was about 300 miles north. Tarsus is ten miles off the coast and twelve or fifteen miles from the present Mersina, or ancient Soli, which was its port.

16. Philip went to Cæsarea from Azotus, preaching in all the cities, and here he seems to have finally settled, as years after, when Paul returned from his last missionary tour, he stopped at his house and stayed with Philip before going up to Jerusalem. At that time Philip had four daughters who were gifted with the spirit of prophecy, Acts 21:9. It is probable, therefore, that the extensive Christian influence which pervaded Cæsarea for so many centuries afterward was greatly due to the early work and presence of Philip. We should not confound the two Philips: (1) Philip the apostle, and (2) this Philip, who is sometimes called Philip the evangelist. The latter probably died in Cæsarea, but the apostle in Asia Minor.

17. Lydda and Joppa. Joppa is upon the sea-coast thirty-five miles northwest from Jerusalem, measured on a straight line, and Lydda is twelve miles southeast of Joppa. Joppa is mentioned in the inscriptions of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, who reigned B. C. 705–681, as Jo-ap-pa, so that the name Joppa is ancient, and the place was the seaport of Jerusalem in the time of Solomon, B. C. 1015, at which he received wood “out of Lebanon,” 2 Chron. 2:16. This is the first mention in Scripture.

It is now called Yafa, and its population is much greater than that which generally appears in the guide-books, being about 18,000, as the author has been informed by a long resident physician. Both of these places are on the great coast-plain known as the plain of Sharon, or Saron, which was, in the time of Solomon, a great pasture-land, 1 Chron. 27:29.

It is probable that at this time greater opportunity was allowed the Christians to work on in peace, not only because of the conversion of Saul, but because at the death of Tiberius, March, A. D. 37, Caligula became emperor, and the attention of the Jews was violently drawn to care for themselves.

On his accession to power Caligula ordered that divine honors should be paid to him throughout the empire. In furtherance of this order he directed that an image of himself should be placed in the Holy of holies, the most sacred place in the Temple at Jerusalem. Such a profanation of the Temple was so abhorrent to the Jews that it seemed at one time to the prefect of Syria, Pétronius, that the Jews must be exterminated if the order was carried out, and he wrote to Caligula in accordance with his impression. But the emperor was inexorable, and it is impossible to say what would have been the result had not Caligula been assassinated, on the 24th of January, A. D. 41.[185]

18. A. D. 38. It was during these troublous times in the Jewish community that the apostle Peter went to Lydda in the course of his visits to the Christian churches. There he raised Æneas from a sick-bed, Acts 9:33, and going from Lydda to Joppa he raised Dorcas to life, Acts 9:40.

A. D. 41. Peter now visited Cæsarea by the invitation of Cornelius, the centurion, or captain of a band called the Italian band, or cohort, probably because it was a company of soldiers who were all from Italy, enlisted under Roman orders.

The soldiers usually employed were provincial, that is, belonging to the country where they were stationed; but in this case they were sent here from Italy and were generally composed of both infantry and cavalry, serving as a body-guard for the governor, and were probably at this time garrisoning Cæsarea.[186]

CHAPTER VII.

THE GOSPEL FOR GENTILES AS WELL AS JEWS. FIRST MISSIONARY TOUR OF PAUL AND BARNABAS.

1. It is a remarkable fact that, although the apostles were so fully persuaded of the verity and power of the gospel, they had not yet learned the intent and universality of its application to the Gentiles and to all the human race, and though commissioned by their Master to preach it “to all the world,” still held that the Jewish people were the only chosen race and all others were unclean, and that it was unlawful to associate, or eat, and commune freely with any but that race. Hence up to this time the gospel had been preached with the intent of converting only Jews to the Christian faith.

2. In view of these strong prejudices a remarkable “vision in a trance,” Acts 11:5, on the housetop, at Joppa, was granted Peter, whereby for the first time he was led to comprehend the fact that hereafter spiritual cleanliness should, in the divine sight and purposes, for ever cancel all obligations to the merely ceremonial, and he was then directed to immediately proceed to the house and to the Gentile company awaiting him at Cæsarea. The history is recorded in Acts 10.

3. On his return to Jerusalem he communicated the new order, that now the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, and he narrated his vision and the consequent visit to Cæsarea. All of which was accepted without discussion and with very evident satisfaction.

Saul however, having been forced to leave Palestine, travelled throughout Cilicia and Syria, Gal. 1:21, until he was invited back to Jerusalem.

4. At this time, about A. D. 41, Antioch was a city of large population and many Jews inhabited the place, who became strong adherents to the new faith, and it was now that, at this place, the name Christian was applied to all who were followers of Christ, although at first they themselves did not accept the name.

THE TWO ANTIOCHS.

Antioch in Syria was 300 miles north of Jerusalem and about fifteen miles from the Mediterranean shore, where was its port, then called Seleucia. It was the most beautiful city of Syria and at that time the most important.

Antioch in Pisidia, however, which is now called Yalobatch, is 500 miles northwest of Jerusalem and 100 north of the coast of the Mediterranean. This Antioch is partly on the southern declivity of a long range of mountains and owes its ancient name to the same king who gave name to the Syrian Antioch. This king was Seleucus, king of Syria, whose father’s name, Antiochus, he gave to these cities and his own to Seleucia, fifteen miles off, on the coast, of which we have already spoken.

Antioch was at this time the adopted city of a very active community of Christians, many of whom were Grecians and others Gentiles. Paul, whose special talents and education admirably fitted him for this class of converts, being now at Tarsus, was sent for, and he remained in Antioch for about a year; when he, with others, began a series of missionary tours whereby the gospel was not only extended throughout Western Asia but introduced into Europe, as we shall soon see.

5. A. D. 42. About this period there came to Antioch a prophet, by name Agabus, one of a number who not only foretold events but seemed endowed with extraordinary powers of exposition of the divine word.[187] This prophet announced that a great famine would soon call for generosity on the part of the church at Antioch towards the poorer members of the community in Judæa, Acts 11:28.

This announcement was made during the reign of Claudius, A. D. 41–54, of which reign Tacitus says that it was distinguished for earthquakes, bad harvests, and general scarcity.[188] The Christians in Antioch, therefore, sent contributions to Jerusalem and commissioned Saul and Barnabas for the purpose of conveying these gifts, Acts 11:29.

For the first time we now read of the term “presbyters” in the Greek, or seniores in the Vulgate translation, and called “elders” in the English version, Acts 11:30.

6. At this time Herod Agrippa (see table page 229) ruled in Judæa. Claudius had known him as an earnest advocate of his rule before his succession to the empire, and he therefore rewarded Herod with the addition of Samaria and Judæa to those possessions of Philip Antipas which he before possessed. Herod had been imprisoned by Tiberius, but Caligula restored him to liberty and presented him with a golden chain of the same weight as the iron one he had worn in prison, and this chain he dedicated to the Temple when, A. D. 42, he arrived in Jerusalem. This Herod courted the favor of the Jews by many public acts. In his time the northern section of Jerusalem, now inclosed with a wall, was a suburb; and he inclosed it and, had not the prefect of Syria compelled him to stop, he would have strengthened all the fortifications of the city.

7. It was evidently, therefore, because it pleased the Jews, and probably at their instigation, that he wilfully put to death James, the son of Zebedee, with the sword and proceeded to perpetrate the same atrocity with Peter, having imprisoned him for that purpose. The history of this act of Herod and of the escape of Peter is given in Acts 12. Herod, being not only disappointed, but evidently alarmed, at the mystery of Peter’s escape, retired immediately from Jerusalem to Cæsarea and there met his sudden death, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, after seven years’ reign in Palestine.

8. The dominion of these districts, Judæa, Samaria, and Galilee, now reverted to the prefect of Syria, and they were fully incorporated with the Roman Empire.[189]

JUDÆA, SAMARIA, AND GALILEE.

The boundaries of these districts cannot be exactly traced. Judæa was the most important; and its north border began at the Jordan and probably ran up the valley of the Farah to the Jewish city Akrabeh, thence westward along the course of the valley of the present river Ballut, coming out at the city Antipatris; and although the plain of Sharon was politically a part of Judæa, Herod having possession of the maritime towns, yet strictly the line followed the river out to the sea.

This line formed the north boundary of Judæa and the south boundary of Samaria, in the strictly Jewish sense.

Of Galilee, the south boundary began at the Jordan east of Beth-shean, which was a Samaritan city. It ran along, probably, south of Mt. Gilboa, westward and just north of Jenin, the ancient En-gannim, which was within the Samaritan border, and probably along the ridge of Carmel. At the end of the ridge, near the sea, Galilee seems to have claimed the modern Haifa, a village then called Sycaminon, and in this vicinity the seashore was in Galilee. The border line of Galilee thence retired inland, the coast plain belonging to Phœnicia. It then ran northeasterly to the angle formed by the Leontes River, now called the Kasimiyeh, then northward a short distance, and then east by south to Banias, thence southward, including some towns east of the upper Jordan and the Sea of Galilee, forming that part of Galilee called “Galilee beyond Jordan.”

The extreme southern boundary of Judæa, in the political sense, is mentioned in one of the rabbinical writings as from Petra to Ascalon, but Ascalon itself did not belong to Judæa.[190]

The apostles now seem to have “left Jerusalem for wider fields of action.”[191]

9. After a special religious consecration (Acts 13:3), Barnabas and Saul, accompanied by John Mark, a nephew of Barnabas, set out from Antioch on the first missionary tour to foreign countries.

Seleucia was nearly four miles north of the mouth of the Orontes, upon which river the city of Antioch was built. From this port the missionaries set sail for Cyprus, 130 miles distant.

Salamis at this time was a populous city on the southeastern shore of Cyprus. In this city there was a colony of Jews, and Barnabas was a native of Cyprus, and therefore the visitors did not feel themselves entirely strangers. But they passed along the southern coast road until Paphos, 100 miles distant, was reached. Here the apostle Paul met with the proconsul Sergius Paulus.

A PROCONSUL.

10. From the time of Augustus, B. C. 27, the provinces were of two kinds, Senatorial and Imperial. The former were governed by a proconsul, who was appointed by lot and had no military power, and was in office for one year only.

The latter, or imperial provinces, were governed by a legate or commissioner chosen directly by the emperor, and he served so long as the emperor wished. He always went out to his province with military pomp as a commander.

11. Syria was an imperial province, and was governed by a legate or commissioner of the emperor stationed at Antioch. Judæa, however, was a special province, and its distance from Antioch and its peculiar people required a special officer under the commissioner at Antioch, and this officer was called a procurator. He had his headquarters at Cæsarea, Acts 23:23, wore the military dress, and had a cohort as a body-guard, Matt. 27:27, called in this passage “the soldiers of the governor;” moreover, he had the power of life and death, Matt. 27:26, in his own province.

12. At the interview which Saul had with the proconsul, called here the “deputy,” there was one of the class known at that day as sorcerers. This man greatly interfered with the apostle’s effort to explain the new faith to the proconsul, who had requested instruction.

13. Peter had encountered one of this class before, Acts 8:9. The apostle now addressed the so-called sorcerer in terrible rebuke, foretelling his immediate blindness for a season, and thereby showing that behind the earnest and reasonable presentation of the great truths of the new faith which had fully persuaded the proconsul there lay the reserved authority of so great supernatural power to attest the divinity of the doctrine.[192] That this is the meaning of the verse in Acts 13:12 is evident from a verse in Luke 4:32, which shows that it was the method of confirming the doctrine, and not the doctrine itself, which caused the astonishment spoken of in the verse.

14. From this time Saul’s name is changed into Paul, and the other name never occurs again in Scripture. The apostle and his companions now sailed from Paphos to the city of Perga in Pamphylia, 175 miles northwest. Mark left them at Perga and returned to Jerusalem for reasons not explained in the text.

Perga exists as a ruin six or seven miles from the seacoast and about 15 miles northeast of a seaport called Adalia by the Turks, the ancient Attalia, built by Attalus, the king of Pergamos, 159–138 B. C., and hence its name. It has at present about 8,000 inhabitants, and surrounds the port as an amphitheatre, the streets rising one above another.

15. From Perga the apostle proceeded to Antioch, now called Yalobatch, about 90 miles north of Perga. The plain upon which Perga is situated is about 20 miles wide on the seacoast, and stretches eastward for about 30 miles. East of Perga the Eurymedon River comes down through the plain into the sea, and its sources are high in the ridges north of Perga. It is probable that up the valley of this river the apostles passed to the high table-land of Pisidia upon which Antioch is placed.

16. When they had arrived at Antioch they awaited the Sabbath-gathering at the synagogue, and being, as the custom was, invited to speak to the assembled Jews and strangers, the apostle Paul presented the connection between the promises of the Old Testament and the fulfilment of these promises in the coming and the teachings of Christ.

The impression made was so important and favorable that another gathering of a great crowd assembled on the following Sabbath. At this time, however, the Jews and Jewish women created so great and so public opposition that the apostle was led to announce that hereafter he should devote his labors to the conversion of the Gentiles and leave the Jews to the consequences of their bitter opposition to the gospel he was called to preach.

But a church was planted here in spite of the opposition, which caused the departure of the apostles across the country to Iconium, about 85 miles southeast.

ICONIUM.

17. This city is located upon the large plain which stretches eastward 80 or 90 miles with little interruption. On the southeast a solitary mountain rises at a distance of about 30 miles, “like a lofty island in the midst of the sea.”[193] The height of this mountain is nearly 4,000 feet above the plain. In March its top is generally covered with snow. Here are the ruins of many tombs, churches, and other apparently public buildings, and these ruins have given rise to the Turkish name Bin-bir-ka-lessi, or the “thousand-and-one churches.” With general consent this place is supposed to mark the site of Lystra, which became the next place of visit by the apostles after leaving Iconium. The name of this singular mountain in the Turkish is Kara-dagh, or Black Mountain.

The plain upon which Iconium is located is supposed to be 3,900 feet above the Mediterranean. Iconium was a Greek city, if we may judge from the large number of Greek ruins and inscriptions yet remaining, many of which are built into the walls of the town.

Here Barnabas and Saul proceeded to work as at Antioch, and addressed the Jews gathered at the synagogue in that place. But although their success was great a division of opinion resulted, and the Jews made preparations to assault their visitors, but they fled to Lystra.

18. The identification of Lystra with Bin-bir-ka-lessi has not been proved, but the supposed position at the ruins above mentioned is on a large depression on the north side of the Kara-dagh Mountain. The village, not far off, is inhabited by Greeks.

At Lystra the two missionaries found no synagogue, and addressed the citizens in some public place. Here Paul restored a man who had been born lame, and the consequent amazement produced by this miracle induced the priest of Jupiter to bring oxen and garlands to the gates of the temple with the intent of offering sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas, who, despite their most earnest protestations, found it difficult to prevent the sacrifices.

But the Jewish enmity was apparent again. Some of the members of the synagogues in Antioch and Iconium followed the apostle and Barnabas across the plain, and so bitterly prejudiced the inhabitants that they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. Under the care of the disciples he revived, and the next day departed for Derbe.

Derbe has not yet been identified, but it is supposed to be at a ruin about 25 miles east of Kara-dagh, called Divle.

19. There Barnabas and Paul made apparently a short visit, during which they preached to many; but nothing more is stated than that they now returned upon the same line of travel, revisiting and encouraging their converts at Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, and thence returning to Perga.

Here they remained and preached, and then departed for Attalia, the seaport, distant about 15 miles southwest, whence they sailed on return to Antioch in Syria.

20. But the old question of observance of the Law of Moses, which had been agitated before and had never been satisfactorily quieted, now reappeared under such conditions that it demanded immediate and most serious attention. Some troublesome Jewish converts visiting Antioch proclaimed, as if charged with the authority of the elders at Jerusalem, that the Greek and other Gentile converts must submit to the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic Law or they could not be saved. The discussion became so unpleasant at Antioch that a delegation, consisting of the apostle Paul, Barnabas, and others, went to Jerusalem to present the subject to a general council for decision.

21. After the discussion in this general council, it was decided that nothing should be required of the new Gentile converts except abstinence “from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.” With this, the only concession to the Law of Moses, they returned to Antioch and announced to the assembled multitudes the decision of the council, which now and for ever set the question at rest. Henceforward all Christian converts were free from the restrictions and rites of the Mosaic Ceremonial Law.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SECOND AND THIRD MISSIONARY TOURS.

1. A. D. 53. A few days afterward, Acts 15:36, Paul and Silas set out upon a second journey. The expressed object was to revisit the churches they had planted. Barnabas preferred his nephew as companion; but Paul, fearing that the desertion which had previously taken place on the part of Mark might be repeated, preferred to associate himself with Silas.

Barnabas and Mark left for Cyprus, while Paul and Silas started for Derbe, not as before by sea, but northward, by land, across the mountain known as Amanus, the pass of this range being about twenty miles north of Antioch in Syria. This pass is now known as that of Beilan, which lets the traveller down upon the famous plain of Issus, where, B. C. 333, Alexander the Great had met and defeated the Persian king Darius. Crossing this plain to the extreme northeastern end of the Mediterranean, now called the Gulf of Iskanderun (or Alexandretta), an additional distance of about twenty-five or thirty miles from the mountain pass, they had then the towns of Mopsuesta and Tarsus on the Roman road on the plain directly west as they turned around the corner of the coast.[194]

2. It appears, however, that they soon reached the pass north of Tarsus, by which they made their ascent to the great high tableland. This pass was probably that of the so-called “Silician Gates,” twenty-two or twenty-three miles north of Tarsus, at the top of which is the supposed site of Derbe, about fifty miles a little north of west, upon the great plain we have before described.

3. From Derbe they passed westward to Lystra. Here Paul found Timothy, a young convert from the last visit, as mentioned, Acts 16. Thence they came to Iconium.

They now left the former route, and judging from the direction of the old roads and general routes of travel between important cities at that time, it is probable that their course was through Laodicea (now called Ladik),[195] Philomelium, and Synnada, the last two known at present as Ak-sher and Eski Kara-hisser, or the “old black castle.”

Ladik is twenty-four or five miles northwest of Iconium and has many remains of antiquity. It is now a small place of only 500 inhabitants. Ak-sher, or the “white city” of the Turks, is about sixty-five miles northwest of Iconium and contains about 1,500 houses, and is the Philomelium of Strabo, the geographer. There is a remarkable salt lake ten miles north of it, which is dry in summer and affords much salt at that season, but in the winter is full and extends some twenty or thirty miles westward.

4. The next point which seems to have been on the course of travel was near the great centre of the present opium manufacture of Asia Minor, namely, the place called “the opium black castle,” or Aphium Kara-hissar of the Turks. This place is on the northern base of a hill on the south side of the river of the Ak-sher lake before spoken of. This river is a small stream whose source is in the hills west of the town, but it is lost in the lake, having no other outlet. Very fine marble quarries existed in this region in ancient times.[196]

5. From this place it is thought probable, judging, as we have said, from the lines of travel well known in those days, that the missionaries went northeastward, first to Pessinus, now Bali-hissar, and then Ancyra, the present Angora, famous for its fine-haired goats and containing a population of perhaps 35,000. But nothing is known certainly of the exact places visited, only that it is stated they went “throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia,” and then probably on the same route back to Synnada, and “passing by,” that is on the borders of Mysia, came down to Troas.

6. Troas was at this time a very important seaport on the northwest of Asia Minor near the site of ancient Troy and opposite the southeast extremity of the island of Tenedos, four miles distant. It is now called Eski Stamboul, i. e., Old Constantinople.

7. From here Paul and Silas set sail directly towards Samothrace, an island in the Ægean Sea northwest from Troas, and landed at Neapolis on the shore of Macedonia. Thence they travelled about twelve miles north to Philippi, which was a Roman military colony. Here the events occurred which are described in Acts 16:12–40.

8. From Philippi the travellers took the Roman road to Amphipolis. This city stood on high ground about three miles from the sea and thirty-three from Philippi. It was colonized by Athenians and called Amphipolis from being nearly surrounded by the river Strymon.

9. The next point reached was Apollonia, but the exact location is not known. It is laid down in some of the ancient itineraries as being thirty miles from Amphipolis. Thence they travelled to Thessalonica, thirty-seven miles distant from Apollonia. This was a very important place and is even now second only to Constantinople. Its present name is Saloniki and it is at the head of the Thermaic Gulf. It was a busy commercial town at the time of the visit of the two missionaries. Here Paul and Silas remained for several weeks, publicly explaining and proving the new doctrines of the gospel, Acts 17:1–10.

10. Opposition from the Jews arising, they left for Berœa. Berœa is now called Verria, and is sixty miles west by north from Thessalonica. It is a large town at present, having some 20,000 inhabitants. Here the usual vexation and opposition on the part of the Jews made it necessary that the apostle Paul should leave the town, and at night and alone he went down to the seashore to a shipping town about twenty-five miles distant, called Dium, and from thence he set sail for Athens, which was by sea about 270 miles distant. We now may read the history as recorded in Acts 17.

11. Athens at the time of the apostle’s visit was included in the Roman province of Achaia. It was not then in its palmiest days of prosperity, but it was nevertheless the centre of art and learning and a city of great voluptuousness and idolatry. It contained one large Agora, “the market” or place of assembling of its citizens, a large square or open place which not only contained but was surrounded by the finest sculptures and buildings perhaps at that time existing in the world. The apostle came here alone, 1 Thess. 3:1, and while waiting for his companions he met and preached to many in the Agora, until he attracted so much attention that he was invited to the great assembling-place on the north of the Agora called the Areopagus, where the most important court or council of the Areopagus was held. Solon gave the court censorial and political powers, but St. Paul was called here more because of the curious desire of the Athenians to hear about this new doctrine. At this place he delivered that masterly address recorded in Acts 17.[197]

His labors at Athens did not meet with much success, although some were persuaded and believed, and one of the court itself, Dionysius by name, who afterwards became a bishop of a Christian community formed there. Paul soon left Athens for Corinth.[198]

12. Corinth was a rival of Athens in luxury and magnificence, in commerce and in wealth, and was perhaps even in art second only to Athens. It was situated upon the isthmus of the Peloponnesus and noted for its Acropolis, built upon an elevation 1,886 feet above the city on the south. It was sacked and nearly destroyed by the Romans, B. C. 146, and nearly all the treasures of art were carried to Rome, but the city was restored under Julius Cæsar. Only a few ruins remain. The modern town is on the Gulf of Corinth, three miles north from the site of the old city, and contains about 2,600 inhabitants. It is 45 miles a little south of due west from Athens.[199] Here Paul remained for nearly two years, A. D. 52, 53, and preached with great success; and while here he wrote the Epistle to the Thessalonians[200] and planted other churches in Achaia, 2 Cor. 1:1.

13. Cenchreæ was five and a half miles east-southeast of Corinth on the shore of the Gulf of Ægina. It was an important port at the time when the apostle visited it. At present it is called Kekriais[201] and is not inhabited; the only remains are of an ancient dry dock. From this place Paul set sail for Ephesus, 235 miles almost due east.

14. Ephesus is 35 miles south-southeast from Smyrna, near where the river Cayster empties into the Gulf of Scala Nova. It was the capital of Ionia and had one of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation. The ruins which remain consist chiefly of a magnificent theatre, supposed to be large enough to accommodate 30,000 people, a stadium or gymnasium, besides walls and towers and remains of the temple of Diana, for which it was most famous. The worship of Diana was attended with the study and practice of magic in various forms, and the “magical letters” spoken of by many classic authors[202] as “Ephesian letters” were in use at the time of the apostle’s visit. The temple was in its splendor also at that time.[203]

On this the first visit, A. D. 54, of the apostle to Ephesus he remained but a short time, and then departed for Jerusalem, Acts 18:19–21, and thence down to Antioch.

THE THIRD MISSIONARY TOUR.

15. In this tour the starting-place was at Antioch, as in the former tour. The churches planted in Galatia and Phrygia were visited, perhaps on the line of travel previously chosen, and then a course was taken direct to Ephesus, which now became the centre of the apostle’s labors, A. D. 54–57.

16. It was at the close of this visit that the remarkable tumult described in Acts 19 took place, A. D. 57.

Paul now left Ephesus for Philippi by Neapolis, as in the previous journey, and thence to Thessalonica and Berœa, and onward by land to Corinth, a journey of about 220 miles through Thessaly and Achaia.

17. But it seems, Rom. 15:19, that at Thessalonica Paul resolved to visit the lands west of Macedonia as far as Illyricum. This was probably in the summer of A. D. 57, and perhaps the autumn. The journey was along the Roman road to Dyrrachium, about 200 miles, and across several ranges of mountains.

While at Dyrrachium it is probable he made a tour about 170 miles to the south to Neapolis, on the Bay of Arta, and returning by the city Apollonia on the Adriatic, came back to Berœa and thence to Corinth. The region which he visited was that Dalmatia referred to in 2 Tim. 4:10. Dalmatia was included in the greater region of Illyricum, and was upon the shore of the Adriatic, being contiguous to Mœsia on the north and Macedonia on the east.

18. After wintering at Corinth, Paul with several friends, Acts 20:4, returned to Achaia, Berœa, and the towns previously visited, to Neapolis, and thence by sea to Troas. At this place the events stated in Acts 20 took place.

Remaining a short time at Troas while his companions took ship, Paul walked across the promontory to Assos, about 25 miles distant by the road, and arrived in time to meet the ship, which had to stop at that city. The place Assos is now a small village known by the name Beiram.

19. From this place they sailed by Mitylene, the capital of the island of the same name, now called Lesbos. Going between the islands and the shore, they passed Chios, Samos, and the promontory and cape at Trogyllium on the then Ionian coast. At Miletus Paul stopped and sent for the elders at Ephesus while the vessel was exchanging freight. Miletus is about 50 miles south of Ephesus. Passing Cos, which is about 55 miles from Miletus, and then the island of Rhodes, they put into Patera in Lycia, which was a seaport of the town of Xanthus, famous for its oracle. Thence, taking another vessel, Acts 21:2, Paul sailed directly for Tyre, on the Phœnician coast. From this city he and his party sailed for Ptolemais, 28 miles southward, where the sea voyage ended.

20. The rest of the journey to Jerusalem was on foot by Cæsarea. The occurrences at Cæsarea are narrated in Acts 21, and on his arrival at Jerusalem Paul was seized in the Temple by a mob comprised of resident Jews, urged on by some who were in attendance upon the feast from foreign parts who had seen Paul abroad in some Asiatic place.

Paul was now protected by the military interference of the Roman chief “captain of the band” stationed at the Temple. The history is minutely given us in Acts 21:32–40. By the order of Festus the governor, called the procurator of Judæa, who succeeded Felix A. D. 61, Paul was taken to Cæsarea.

21. On Paul’s appeal to Cæsar he was taken on board a vessel sailing from Cæsarea and committed to the care of a centurion, Acts 27:1.

The course of the vessel, as stated Acts 27, was first to Sidon, where a short stay was made. Then “under Cyprus,” that is to the east of the island, as the winds were from the northwest and contrary, they “tacked” to Myra, a city of Lycia. This city stands upon a hill about two miles back from the shore. It is now called by its ancient name by the Greeks. Its port is Andriaca.

22. The course thence was to Cnidus, which is at the western end of a peninsula between the islands Rhodes and Cos; there they changed their course to the southward and passed Cape Salmone, on the extreme east of the island of Crete. The wind now was more ahead, that is, against them. Hence they “hardly,” meaning “with difficulty,” reached Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. It is ninety miles from Cnidus to Cape Salmone and seventy from Salmone to Lasea. The island of Crete is 160 miles long, and they remained under Crete and near the shore, hoping to reach Phœnice, which is about forty miles from Lasea.

23. They had not sailed more than about twenty miles before the wind, which had been from the south, changed around and blew so violently from the east that the vessel became unmanageable and they “let her drive.” The course was now west by north seven degrees, and this course was kept from Clauda to Melita, about 500 miles. Clauda is south of Crete twenty miles.

MALTA.

24. Malta is the largest of a group of islands, the one at that time called Melita, now Malta, being the easternmost. The shore is almost entirely precipitous; two or three small bays are found on the northern shore, one of which is supposed to be that into which Paul’s ship was driven. It is fifteen miles from the eastern end of the island, which is twenty miles in length, and this is the only bay on that side with a stream emptying into its waters. The stream is only a very small brook coming down from a source in the southwest. It was running in November when the writer visited the locality.

25. Acts 27:27 to 28:10 should be read in this connection. The island of Malta contains many ancient remains of Phœnician, Greek, and Gothic construction. In the Library at Valetta are three medals and other objects found on the island said to contain Phœnician letters, and Sir W. Drummond has translated a Punic legend found on a square stone in a sepulchral cave which states that it marks the burial-place of Hannibal.

26. After three months’ stay on this island Paul’s company proceeded on their way to Rome, stopping at Syracuse three days. Syracuse at this time seems to have been very populous. It was on the eastern part of Sicily and on the coast, and was the residence, at various times, of some of the most celebrated philosophers and poets, Plato, Simonides, Zeno, and Cicero; and here Archimedes lost his life at the capture of the city by the Romans.

27. Thence the vessel passed to Rhegium, now called Reggio (pronounced red´jo). This place, in Calabria, is the southernmost city and seaport of Italy, and was once a renowned city eight miles southeast of Messina across the strait of the same name. It has a population now of about 20,000.

28. The next day they came to Puteoli, now Pozzuoli (pronounced pot-soo-o´-lee) on a gulf of the same name seven miles southwest of Naples. Its vicinity was celebrated as the residence of wealthy Romans and the port was an important one. But the land has sunken, as the writer found many evidences that parts of the ancient city were covered with the waters of the sea.

29. The main Roman road, called the Appian Way, was now taken, upon which was the marketplace called Apii Forum, forty-three miles from Rome. Its site is supposed to be marked by some ruins near Treponti. Farther on was a place called the “Three Taverns,” about thirty-three Roman miles from the city and near the present Cisterna.

CHAPTER IX.

PAUL AT ROME.

THE SEVEN CHURCHES.

COLOSSE AND HIERAPOLIS.

1. After their arrival at Rome, Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with a soldier who kept him and to whom he was bound with a chain, Acts 28:20. For two years Paul remained at Rome in a hired house, Acts 28:30, teaching and preaching to all those who came to visit him, and no one forbade him, for the Jews at Rome were under so great fear of the Government that they were exceedingly cautious to cause no uproar. They had not long before been expelled from the city in consequence of an uproar, and they were forced to express any objections to the new faith in a very quiet way.[204]

2. We can learn nothing of the subsequent life of the apostle except from notices which occur in the various epistles. It appears that the Jews were unable to gather any definite charge sufficient to sustain them in any plea against Paul. But during this long residence at Rome several epistles were written and many converts were made through the apostle’s efforts.

3. For his success in preaching see Phile. 14. It is evident that Luke was with him, Col. 4:15; Phile. 24; Timothy also, Phile. 1; Col. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; and others; see Col. 4:7; Eph. 6:21; and John Mark was found “profitable to him,” Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:1; Phile. 24; Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:10, wherein we see that Demas afterward forsook him; Col. 1:7.

At this time the case of Onesimus is interesting; see Epistle to Philemon. Onesimus had escaped to Rome and had been converted to the true faith, but after his conversion returned with a letter from Paul to his master.

The Epistle to the Colossians was now written and sent probably by Onesimus and Tychicus, the latter being charged with another epistle, namely, to the Ephesians.

These letters were written probably in the spring of A. D. 62. About this time Paul was cheered by an offering sent from the church in Philippi, who remembered the apostle in his confinement, Phil. 4. This Epistle to the Philippians was also written from Rome and sent by the same one that brought the gift from the church, namely, Epaphroditus.

4. All we know of the apostle after this is from ecclesiastical writers of the early Christian church. From these it has been supposed that he was tried and acquitted of the charges against him and that after this he visited some of the churches he had been instrumental in planting.

In this route it is thought that from Rome he went by Brundusium, thence to Dyrrachium and onward to Macedonia and to the churches there. It is even thought that now he visited Spain, A. D. 64, in accordance with an expression in Rom. 15:24, 28. But these visits are only conjectural.

5. It seems however that he was again arrested and sent to Rome, some think while spending a time at Nicopolis, on the Bay of Actium. In this second imprisonment he was confined as a malefactor, 2 Tim. 2:9, and none would visit him or stand by him, 2 Tim. 1:16; 4:16, and now it is said the second Epistle to Timothy was written. Whether Timothy ever arrived in Rome after this is not known. But the second trial came on, and the history states that he was condemned to be beheaded; and beyond the city walls, along the road to Ostia, the port of Rome, he was led out and executed, a Roman swordsman beheading him.

6. Besides the apostle Paul, only three appear as writers in the remaining parts of Scripture; these are James, “the Lord’s brother,” Peter, and John. James is author of one of the general epistles, evidently intended for universal use and not sent to any one church, and hence called “The Epistle General of James.” It makes the twentieth of the New Testament books.

Peter is last mentioned when at Antioch, as recorded in Gal. 2:11–21. It is supposed from 1 Pet. 5:13 that he remained in Babylon in Chaldæa, where at an early period many Jews were settled, as Josephus shows. He wrote two epistles, which form the twenty-first and twenty-second books of the New Testament, and these were written apparently in his old age. The tradition is that he suffered martyrdom in Rome.

THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA.

7. The only other writer of the New Testament not yet mentioned is John. He wrote three epistles and the book of Revelation, in which are mentioned the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, Rev. 1:11.

Ephesus has already been described.

8. Smyrna was then “the ornament of Asia, with the finest harbor in the world.” Although no mention is made of it in the book of Acts nor in any of the epistles of St. Paul, it may have been one of the earliest churches founded by St. John. Eratosthenes states that Smyrna was built by the Cumæans B. C. 1015, and according to Pliny it took its name from an Amazon, Smyrna by name, who founded it. In the time of the apostles it had a temple and hot springs.[205] It is at present a populous city, built however a little to the south of the ancient site, and contains about 200,000 inhabitants.

9. Pergamos is 50 miles nearly due north from Smyrna. It is described during the Roman period as the finest city of their new province of Asia. Its possession by the Romans was due to the gift of Attalus its king, B. C. 132.

Pergamos was celebrated for its extensive collections of libraries and for the patronage of art and science at its court. All the ruins now found are of the Roman period except a tunnel over the river Selinus, now a small stream. This double tunnel appears to be extremely ancient, and is supposed to be of the time of Attalus. It runs under the present town of Bergamah for 600 feet, with arches of 40 feet diameter and 20 feet high. The present town contains about 30,000 inhabitants. As the artisans were skilled in preparing skins for manuscripts, the skins themselves were known by the name of the place, and hence the name “parchment,” which is only a change of the ancient name of Pergamos.

10. Thyatira is now called Ak-hissar, “the white castle,” from a castle on the white hill back of the plain upon which the city is built. The plain has always been inhabited, and was celebrated at and long before the period of the apostles for its manufacture of dyes,[206] and this art is alluded to in Acts 16:14. It never had any reputation otherwise, but was always a busy trading city. It is 52 or 53 miles northeast of Smyrna, and was a Macedonian colony in the time of Strabo,[207] but before his time it was called Pelopia,[208] upon which site the colony was placed by the Syrian king Seleucus Nicator, a general of Alexander the Great.

11. Sardis, the once proud capital of Lydia, the residence of Crœsus, the wealthiest monarch of his age, and “the queen of Asia,”[209] is now utterly desolate. The site is about 50 miles east of Smyrna, and the river Pactolus is on the west. It is now called Sart, and there are to be found only two or three huts and a water-mill.

If Smyrna be taken as a centre of a great circle, the three cities last mentioned will be nearly on the circumference: Pergamos north, Thyatira northeast, and Sardis east, each about 50 miles from the centre.

12. Philadelphia, the next in order as mentioned in Revelation, is east of Sardis about 30 miles, on the northeastern slope of Mt. Tmolus, near the little stream of the Cogamus, which winds about on the plain and falls into the Hermus near Sardis. It received its name from its founder, Attalus Philadelphus, king of Pergamos, B. C. about 140 years. Strabo says that the city was subject to frequent earthquakes,[210] and Tacitus says that Philadelphia was nearly entirely destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius.[211] Although never a city of much prominence, it has outlasted Ephesus, Sardis, and Laodicea. One-third of the present population, 15,000, are Christians of the Greek Church. It is still surrounded by walls, but they are very much dilapidated.

13. Laodicea was once a rich and flourishing city, but nothing remains of it but a vast stadium, a theatre, and a gymnasium. Laodicea is nearly 100 miles due east of Ephesus, Colosse is 10 or 12 miles southeast, and Hierapolis about the same distance nearly north.

14. Besides the seven cities forming the sites of the famous seven churches of Asia, there are two others to be noticed, Colosse and Hierapolis. The former was written to by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians. Nothing remains but a few fragments of broken columns and building stones.

Hierapolis received its name from its remarkable hot springs. At one place the deadly gas (carbonic dioxide) exhaled from the opening of a cave where the spring was located, and this exhalation caused death to animals and men. This fact originated the superstition that some divinity presided over the city, and hence it became called Hierapolis, “the holy city.” About the time of the apostles there was so great an abundance of the water supply that baths were built in every part of the city. The waters are so heavily charged with lime that they deposit stalactites and stalagmites in every direction, and the whiteness of the rock and ground over which the waters flow is so general that the place may be seen at a great distance, and because of its dazzling whiteness it receives the name of Pembouk Kalessi, “Cotton Castle.” It is only mentioned in Col. 4:13.

The apostle John, who outlived the rest of the apostles, seems to have had a special interest in those seven churches of Asia. He is said to have exercised a pastoral care over them all, but at some time after the death of Paul he went to Ephesus and dwelt there. He was banished to Patmos, probably by the Emperor Domitian, A. D. 95, where he wrote the Revelation.

PATMOS.

This little rugged island was used as a place of banishment of Roman criminals. It is 32 miles west of the coast of Asia Minor, and is rocky and barren and about 28 miles in circumference. It has a port on the east where is a deep indentation. The population at present is 4,000, all Greeks and a seafaring people. On a height above the principal town is a large convent, resembling a fortress, where are said to be some valuable manuscripts.

On his return from banishment John went back to Ephesus, where he died at the great age of 95, A. D. 100. He was known to the last as the Holy Theologian, and the present name of the little village, Ayasoluk, near Ephesus, is the Turkish form of the Greek Hagios-Theologos, the Holy Theologian.

GENERAL MAP OF BIBLE LANDS

ILLUSTRATING

THE ORIGIN OF NATIONS

CANAAN AND ITS TRIBES

BEFORE THE CONQUEST BY JOSHUA

American Tract Society 150 Nassau St New York

ASSYRIA, CHALDEA

MEDIA, ARMENIA, AND SYRIA

American Tract Society 150 Nassau St New York

CANAAN AND ITS TRIBES

BEFORE THE CONQUEST BY JOSHUA

American Tract Society 150 Nassau St New York

SINAI AND THE DESERT OF THE WANDERINGS

American Tract Society 150 Nassau St New York

THE HOLY LAND

IN THE

TIME OF THE KINGS.

SINAI AND THE DESERT OF THE WANDERINGS

American Tract Society 150 Nassau St New York

ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM.

MAP SHOWING THE MISSIONARY TOURS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

American Tract Society 150 Nassau St New York

Footnotes.

1  –

“Ancient Empires of the East,” p. 95. PLINY, N. H., VI.    130.

2  –

“Lippincott’s Gazetteer,” 1881.

3  –

Pronounced Moo-rad’-chi (chi    as in China).

4  –

Geikie, Vol. I., p.    108.

5  –

“Wo lag das Paradies?” Dr.    Delitzsch.

6  –

Of this manuscript we shall give a description hereafter, as also of the Septuagint.

7  –

Schumann’s “Commentary on Genesis.”

8  –

Schaff’s “Bible Dictionary,” p.    184.

9  –

Translation of Society of Biblical Archæology, Vol. IV., p.    315.

10  –

Eichhorn’s “Einleitung,” Vol. I., p. 90. Geikie, Vol. I., p.    83.

11  –

W. F. Wilkinson, “Personal Names in the Bible,” p.    10.

12  –

Delitzsch, “Chaldæan Genealogy,” p.    304.

13  –

Wilkinson, p.    15.

14  –

Trench, “Study of Words.”

15  –

Geikie.

16  –

Copper is as abundant now as then. There is quite a trade in copper between Bagdad and Bassora near the head of the Persian Gulf. All household utensils are made of copper. When Xenophon arrived with his Ten Thousand, B. C. 400, in this region (in his time it was called the land of the Carduchi) he was astonished at the quantity of metallic utensils. Lenormant, “Ancient History of the East,” Vol. II., p.    203.

17  –

Rawlinson, “The Five Great Monarchies,” Vol. I., p.    98.

18  –

Perrot & Chipiez, “Art in Chaldæa.”

19  –

See “Speaker’s Commentary,” Vol. I., p. 62. Geikie, Vol. I., p.    184.

20  –

See Vigouroux and Lenormant, as quoted by Geikie, Vol. I., p.    86.

21  –

So Schrader in Geikie, Vol. I., p.    208.

22  –

Osborn’s “Manual of Biblical Geography.”

23  –

Full references in Bochart’s “Geography,” pp.    192, 193.

24  –

Schrader in Geikie, Vol. I., p.    234.

25  –

Bochart, “Geog. Sac.,” p.    157.

26  –

Ibid., p.    586.

27  –

“Études de l’antiquité historique.” Paris, 1873.

28  –

Geikie, p. 234, Vol. I.

29  –

Lenormant, Vol. II., “Ancient History of the East,” p.    236.

30  –

Some have recently offered a new reading of this text, as follows: “From that land he [Nimrod] went into Assyria;” but, beside what has been above said, Rosenmüller observes that if this had been the meaning the Hebrew would have been different. We may add that the Septuagint translators understood it as it is in our English version, that it was not Nimrod, but Asshur, who built Nineveh.

31  –

It has been supposed by some that the word “Rehoboth” does not refer to a city, but to the “wide street” of Nineveh. The term is used in that sense in an inscription of Esar-haddon, in which he says that he paraded the heads of two kings of Sidon through (Rehoboth) “the streets” of Nineveh. W. A. I., Vol. I., p. 45; in “History of Esar-haddon,” Budge, 1881, p.    41.

32  –

Herodotus, Vol. II., p.    121.

33  –

Geikie, Vol. I., p.    247.

34  –

More fully spoken of page 69.

35  –

The hieratic is written from right to left, as is the Phœnician. See Sayce’s “Ancient Empires of the East,” Scribner, 1886, p.    84.

36  –

Bertheau, as quoted by Geikie, Vol. I., p. 251, and Lenormant, Vol. II., p.    144.

37  –

Job 41:6; Prov.    31:24, where the word “merchant” is Canaanite in the Hebrew.

38  –

“Antiquities,” Vol. I., §    6:4.

39  –

Maclear, p.    24.

40  –

Oppert, “Journal Asiatique,” Vol. X., p. 220; Vol. IX., p. 503. Lenormant, “Langue Primitive de la Chaldée,” p. 355. Geikie, Vol. I., p.    291.

41  –

Lenormant, “Ancient History of the East,” p.    445.

42  –

Geikie, Vol. I., p.    274.

43  –

“Præp Evang.,” IX., 17. Geikie, Vol. I., p.    295.

44  –

A. H. Sayce in the “Hibbert Lectures,” 1887. See also in “Old Testament Student,” 1887, p.    134.

45  –

Sayce, translation as referred to in previous note.

46  –

See Herzog, article “Ur.”

47  –

Pronounced ha´-i   .

48  –

Pronounced a´-i   .

49  –

Hale’s date is B. C. 2078.

50  –

Gen. 16:7; 20:1; 25:18; Exod. 15:22; 1 Sam.    15:7; 27:8. Shur means “wall.”

51  –

Pronounced Ke´-ops.

52  –

Wilkinson’s date is B. C. 1532, but Brugsch gives it as B. C. 1433.

53  –

Sir Henry Rawlinson.

54  –

“La Langue Primitive,” p. 376; in Tomkin’s “Times of Abraham,” p.    181.

55  –

Bir es Seba in the Arabic is the same as Beersheba in the Hebrew.

56  –

Sayce, “Ancient Empires,” p.    200.

57  –

We have mentioned them on page 37.

58  –

Fourth memoir of “The Egypt Exploration Fund,” 1887, p.    15.

59  –

Osborn’s “Ancient Egypt in the Light of Modern Discovery,” p.    82.

60  –

Ebers’ “Konigstöchter,” Vol. I., p.    22 in the note, 40.

61  –

Geikie, Vol. I., p.    468.

62  –

See Geikie, Vol. I., p.    462.

63  –

For illustrations of this fact see “Ancient Empires of the East,” Sayce. Preface.

64  –

Dynasty was the term given to kings of the same family or blood relations.

65  –

This view appears to be the correct one, although there is some variation of opinion.

66  –

Gray’s “Connection between Sacred and Heathen Authors,” p.    563. Longinus “On the Sublime.”

67  –

Lepsius in Geikie, Vol. II., p.    384.

68  –

Supposed to have been Debir, south of Hebron.

69  –

Wilkinson in Tomkins’ “Studies of the Times of Abraham,” p.    86.

70  –

Tomkins, p.    86.

71  –

Odyssey, Book II., l. 521. Gladstone’s “Hom. Synchron.” pp.    174, 182.

72  –

Now called Ain es Sultan.

73  –

Ussher’s time as in the margin of our Bibles.

74  –

The Talmud is described hereafter.

75  –

Bishop Horsley.

76  –

Deut. 27:12; 11:30; Num. 34:13–29; Exod. 21:13; Num. 35:6, 11, 14; Deut.    19:2, 9.

77  –

The affix “im” to a word was equivalent to the letter s    in English.

78  –

Lenormant, Vol. II., p.    223.

79  –

Geikie, Vol. II., p.    466.

80  –

Meaning “hamstrung.” Our version puts horses in italics, showing that it is not in the original.

81  –

Browne in “Ordo Sæculorum,” Vol. I., chap. 5, sec.    3.

82  –

For another solution of the chronology of this period see the “Old Testament Student,” January, 1884.

83  –

The place where the courts were held.

84  –

Burckhardt’s “Travels,” p.    339.

85  –

Osburn’s “Ancient Egypt,” p.    138. London. Samuel Bagster & Sons.

86  –

The place assigned as probable, namely, Astug, is an impossible site, for Ziklag after the Captivity is located between Beersheba and Jerusalem, and Astug was at that time too far off for settlement by returned captives.

87  –

1    Kings 11:42.

88  –

“Antiquities,” IX.   , 11:1.

89  –

Strabo, XV., 1:6. Geikie, Vol. V., p.    339.

90  –

Jer.    48:40; 49:22.

91  –

Ezek.    17:3.

92  –

Lenormant, “Ancient History of the East,” 475, in remarkable corroboration of 2    Kings 24:7.

93  –

Also spelled Mizpeh, the meaning being watch-tower   .

94  –

1    Kings 12:28.

95  –

Under the title of Apis; Greek, Ser-apis, for Osiris-Apis.

96  –

Ecclus.    36:15 and Maccabees 9:27; 14:41.

97  –

T. G. Pinches, in “Trans. Soc. of Biblical Archæology,” May, 1884. Same as Tiglath-pileser, 2    Kings 15:29.

98  –

Lenormant and Chev., “Ancient History of the East,” p.    392.

99  –

Lenormant, 392.

100  –

Idem   , 604.

101  –

Lenormant etc., “Ancient History of the East,” p. 406. Geikie’s date would make it too late, see authorities in Geikie, V., p. 91., and for the translation of cylinders, “History of Esar-haddon,” Budge, 1881, Boston, Osgood & Co., p.    103.

102  –

See Rawlinson’s “Five Great Monarchies,” II., p. 477, English Edition; also Maclear’s “Old Testament History,” p.    445.

103  –

Such as Psalms 79, 102, 126, 137, and others.

104  –

Their tendencies were idolatrous from the beginning, 1 King 14:15. For the comparative morality see p.    150.

105  –

It is not probable that he went to Babylon, but his prophecies were taken there, Dan. 9:2; Jer.    29.

106  –

The discussion of this matter of Darius of Dan. 5:31 may be found in “Translations of the Society of Biblical Archæology,” VI., pp. 1–133; also in Geikie, Vol. VI., p.    398.

107  –

Some remained in Palestine.

108  –

“Old Testament History,” Maclear, p.    476. Ezra 8.

109  –

According to Ussher.

110  –

Zech.    1:1.

111  –

“The Book of Esther,” by Haley, Andover, 1885.

112  –

Full description by Dr. M. Jastrow, Jr., “Sunday-school Times,” Philadelphia, November 17, 1888.

113  –

For the critical account, see “The Book of Esther,” by Haley, Andover, 1885. More recently, “Harper’s Monthly,” June, 1887. “Revue des Etudes Juives,” Avril–   Juin, 1888. “Sunday-school Times.” November 17, 1888.

114  –

Geo. Rawlinson, “The Religions of the Ancient World,” p.    79.

115  –

Idem, p.    86; the utmost that was allowed was the emblem of the winged circle.

116  –

Keil’s “Comments on Esther,” p. 309, “Book of Esther,” Haley, p.    81.

117  –

Chiefly on the authority of A. H. Sayce, “The Ancient Empires of the East.”

118  –

According to Josephus.

119  –

“Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” J. W. Etheridge, M.A., London, 1856, p.    20.

120  –

B. C. 291, Maclear’s “New Testament History,” p. 11; and B. C. 310–290, Westcott’s “Bible in the Church,” p.    300.

121  –

Macc.    2:13.

122  –

For proofs of spiritual activity of this period, B. C. 536, read Ezra 6:16–22. That they had the prophets Haggai and Zechariah with them, read 6:14. That they were ready to worship God anywhere before they had a temple, 3:1–6. That they called Ezra and caused him to read and explain the Law to them, Neh. 8:1, etc.

123  –

Jos., Contra Apion, lib. I., 8. Euseb., “Eccl. History,” lib. III., chap.    10. Josephus lived in the time of the apostles. He was born A. D. 37 and died after A. D. 97 and made this statement 400 years after the Canon, or list, had been closed.

124  –

These men gave rise to a class of writings called “Interpretations,” or in their language Targums, which are also explanations as well as interpretations, and give the ideas of the earliest writers upon Scripture.

125  –

Prideaux, Part I.   , Book 5.

126  –

What is called the Samaritan translation is a translation of this Pentateuch into the Samaritan language and is not the Samaritan Pentateuch.

127  –

The proofs of the use of the square Hebrew since Ezra are found given in Conder’s “Handbook to the Bible” (Gemara, Sanhedrin, f. 21, 22), p. 174. “Horne’s Introd.” II., p. 12–17 for the versions of the Pentateuch (Samaritan), Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” Vol. III.

128  –

In the time of Darius Nothus, B. C. 409, so Prideaux says, “Connection,” Vol. I., pp. 357–   359.

129  –

This is the date of his visit to Jerusalem and profanation of the Temple. Clinton in Woodward and Cates.

130  –

Prideaux, Part II.   , Book 3.

131  –

In Babylon, but formerly in Palestine into 153, for three years’ reading. “The New Testament Scriptures,” Charteris, p. 17. Etheridge, “Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” p.    201.

132  –

The year was not so determined in that era that the same number of weeks, or Sabbaths, would always occur one year with another, some years having as many as fifty-four Sabbaths, or thirteen months. Ayres’ Dictionary, “Chronology.”

133  –

“Talmud,” Berokoth, 12; Etheridge, “Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” p.    201.

134  –

Westcott, “Bible in the Church,” p.    29.

135  –

Westcott, p.    36.

136  –

“The Book of Esther,” Andover, 1885. p.    18.

137  –

Described hereafter, p.    204.

138  –

The Septuagint gave it the name “Numbers,” but the English is the translation of the Greek, but in the other case the Greek words are used in English letters.

139  –

The “Book of the Dead” is found in more than one copy, though originally one, having been added to—hence we use the plural term. Called also “Ritual of the Dead.” Rawlinson’s “Religions of the Ancient World,” p.    26, note.

140  –

Baedeker’s “Egypt,” p.    210.

141  –

Prideaux states that there were 100,000 Jews in Alexandria at this time, B. C. 270.

142  –

Both Josephus and Philo gave descriptions of this class of Jews under the name of Essenes, holy men. See Prideaux, Part II., Bk. 5, also Etheridge’s “Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” p.    21.

143  –

“Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” Etheridge, p.    29.

144  –

See Parkhurst’s Lexicon, “Sanhedrin,” p.    825.

145  –

“Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” Etheridge, p.    29.

146  –

Etheridge, “Introduction to Jewish Literature,” p.    88. Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple burned A. D. 70.

147  –

Simon Ben Yochai, time of the Emperor Antonine. “Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” p.    82.

148  –

He was head of the Sanhedrin B. C. 32. “Introduction to Hebrew Literature,” p.    37.

149  –

In the Gamara, tract Sanhedrin, fol. 21, 22, Conder’s “Handbook,” p.    174.

150  –

As seen in the inscription in the Siloam tunnel, “Echoes of Bible History,” Bishop Walsh, p.    282.

151  –

Conder’s “Handbook to the Bible,” London, 1887, p.    173.

152  –

Recently discovered by Dr.    Ginsburg, in British Museum.

153  –

Bishop Walsh’s “Echoes of Bible History,” p.    257.

154  –

The books are “Jasher,” Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18; “The Acts of Solomon,” 1 Kings 11:41; “The Book of Nathan,” 1 Chron. 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29; “The Prophecy of Ahijah, the Shilonite,” and “Iddo” (Yeddo), “the Seer, against Jeroboam,” 2 Chron. 9:29; “The Book of Shemaiah;” “The Book of Jehu,” the son of Hanani, 2 Chron. 12:15; 20:34; “The Sayings of the Seers,” 2 Chron.    33:19; and the “Lamentations over Josiah,” which are not the same as those over Jerusalem which we have in the Old Testament.

155  –

Josephus’ “Antiquities,” lib. 13, ch. 18. Prideaux, B. II., ch. 5., p.    31.

156  –

Bloomfield’s “Notes,” Matt.    1:1.

157  –

Palestine Exploration Fund Map; but Baedeker 1,788 ft.

158  –

See the full references and statements in Maclear’s “New Testament History,” p. 134. Merivale shows that Cyrenius was twice governor of Syria, and the Greek word πρώτη may refer to the first time, or the enrolment. See also Bloomfield’s “Notes on the New Testament,” Luke 2. “The whole world” is a term frequently used when only all that land and no more was meant. Thus in 2 Sam.    24:8, in the Hebrew, “the whole world” meant, evidently, the whole of that land only. So in Acts 11:28; 17:6; the phrase was used in either way as including only the entire Syria or Judæa to a Jew, or, to a Roman citizen, it was the Roman Empire.

159  –

Gen.    49:10.

160  –

As shown in Prideaux’s “Connection.”

161  –

This place was then in Gaul, now called France.

162  –

“Wars of the Jews,” VI., §    9:3.

163  –

Bloomfield, John 2:14, note.

164  –

Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great by Malthace. See the Table, p.    229.

165  –

Bloomfield, Notes in Matt.    9:9.

166  –

Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration.

167  –

Died A. D. 420.

168  –

Murray’s “Handbook,” 1875, p.    408.

169  –

Baedeker’s “Palestine and Syria,” p.    374.

170  –

Merrill, “Galilee in the time of Christ,” p.    48.

171  –

Herodotus, 3:20, and Athen., p.    268.

172  –

Bloomfield, “Notes,” Matt.    26:7.

173  –

Idyll 15, line 114; Parkhurst, Lex.   , 5; Bloomfield, Luke 8:1.

174  –

Josephus, “Antiquities,” XVII.   , 2:2.

175  –

Ellicott, 333, in Maclear’s “Class Book of the New Testament,” p.    149.

176  –

Prideaux, “Connection,” II., 9, p.    379.

177  –

“Antiquities,” XVIII.   , 3:2.

178  –

Pausanias, V., 12:12, in Bloomfield’s “Notes,” Matt.    27:51.

179  –

As mentioned, “Iliad,” III., l. 315, 316, etc. “Iliad,” VII., l. 175, 176, etc.

180  –

Conybeare and Howson’s, “Life and Travels of St. Paul,” CXIV.

181  –

John 21:2, 3.

182  –

Sebaste being the Greek form of the word Augustus.

183  –

Acts 6:5.

184  –

Baedeker, p.    317.

185  –

Josephus’ “Antiquities,” XIX., 1:11, and Maclear’s “New Testament History,” p.    394.

186  –

These cohorts are mentioned by Arrian; see authority in Bloomfield’s “Notes,” Acts 10:1.

187  –

Maclear, “New Testament History,” p.    403, note.

188  –

Tac., “Ann.,” 12:13; Josephus, “Antiquities,” III., 15:3; XX., 2:5. The famine here foretold took place in Judæa A. D. 44, in the fourth year of Claudius. Josephus, “Antiquities,” XIX.   , 7:2.

189  –

Merivale, VI., 116, 117. Cassius Longinus was now appointed, A. D. 44, to the presidency of Syria, and Cuspius Fadus was appointed governor of Judæa, Josephus, “Antiquities,” XIX., 9:2; XX., 1:1. See Maclear, “New Testament History,” p.    409.

190  –

For authorities and more minute description see Conder’s “Handbook to the Bible,” p. 301, seq.    For Galilee see Merrill’s “Galilee in the time of Christ.”

191  –

Lightfoot “On the Galatians,” p. 285. Maclear, “New Testament History,” p.    40.

192  –

There was a remarkable influx of Oriental sorcerers, astrologers, and soothsayers at this time into Rome and other cities, as Conybeare and Howson show, Vol. I., p.    141.

193  –

Walpole, “Travels in the East,” p.    222.

194  –

Conybeare and Howson place Adana and Ægæ on the course, but Adana is thought to have been planted by Justinian, and Ægæ if at Aias, 35 miles southeast of Adana on the coast, was too far out of the way.

195  –

Not the Laodicea of Scripture.

196  –

Strabo, 12; died A. D. 25; Claudian in “Eutropius,” 2, A. D. 395.

197  –

Conybeare and Howson, Vol. I., pp. 440–   444, second edition.

198  –

Ayres’ Dictionary, “Athens.”

199  –

See account in Lippincott’s “Gazetteer.”

200  –

To the Church at Thessalonica.

201  –

As an educated Greek lady wrote it for the author, Κεχριαῖς   .

202  –

Pliny, 36, chap. 14; Strabo, 12 and 14; Mela, etc.

203  –

Mucianus, A. D. 75, says that in his time the woodwork appeared as new, though nearly 400 years old. Tristram, “Seven Churches of Asia,” p.    14.

204  –

Judæos impulsore Chresto assidué tumultuantes Româ expulit. Suetonius, Claudian, 25.

205  –

Strabo, XIV., chap.    1.

206  –

Pliny V., chap.    31.

207  –

Even in the time of Homer, Iliad, IV.   , 141.

208  –

Strabo, XIII., chap. 4, §    4.

209  –

Tristram, “Seven Churches.”

210  –

Strabo XIII., chap. 4, §    10.

211  –

“Annals,” Vol. II., p.    47.

Transcriber’s Notes.

The following corrections have been made in the text:

1  –

‘Testement’ replaced with ‘Testament’

(canonical books of the Old Testament)

2  –

‘Sandedrin’ replaced with ‘Sanhedrin’

(consultation with the Sanhedrin,)

3  –

‘Prœp.’ replaced with ‘Præp.’

(“Præp Evang.,” IX., 17.)

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Table of Contents

A CLASS-BOOK OF BIBLICAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY:

PREFACE.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PERIOD I. THE ANTE-DILUVIAN ERA.

CHAPTER I. CREATION: CHRONOLOGY AND ITS SOURCES.

CHAPTER II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMES.

CHAPTER III. THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM.

CHAPTER IV. THE LINEAGE OF THE PATRIARCHS.

CHAPTER V. THE FLOOD.

PERIOD II. THE PATRIARCHAL ERA AFTER THE FLOOD TO THE DEATH OF JACOB.

CHAPTER I. THE TWO ARARATS. THE SONS OF JAPHETH.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF RACES.

THE SONS OF JAPHETH: THEIR MORE RECENT NAMES.

CHAPTER II. THE SONS OF HAM. THEIR MORE RECENT NAMES.

CHAPTER III. THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM. JOB.

THE HISTORY OF JOB.

CHAPTER IV. THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES.

CHAPTER V. THE HISTORY OF ABRAM AND HIS TIMES.

EGYPT FIRST MENTIONED.

THE FIRST BATTLE.

SODOM AND GOMORRAH.

THE ISHMAELITES.

HEBRON AND MACHPELAH.

BEERSHEBA AND GERAR.

CHAPTER VI. THE PATRIARCHS ISAAC AND JACOB.

JACOB.

CHAPTER VII. EGYPTIAN TESTIMONIES.

PERIOD III. THE THEOCRACY TO THE JUDGES.

CHAPTER I. THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.

CHAPTER II. THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SINAI AND THE DESERT.

THE ISRAELITES IN THE DESERT.

CHAPTER III. THE ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN.

MT. HOR, MT. NEBO, MT. PISGAH.

THE ERA OF JOSHUA.

GILGAL AND JERICHO.

THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN.

CANAAN.

THE AMORITES.

THE HITTITES.

THE LANGUAGE OF CANAAN.

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CANAAN.

CHAPTER IV. THE BATTLES OF CONQUEST.

EBAL AND GERIZIM.

CHAPTER V. THE INTRODUCTION OF IDOLATRY.

PERIOD IV. THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES.

CHAPTER I. THE NATURE OF THE OFFICE. THE CHRONOLOGY.

CHAPTER II. THE SCRIBES OF THE AGE.

PERIOD V. THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS TO THE CAPTIVITY.

CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF THE MONARCHY. REIGN OF SAUL.

JABESH-GILEAD.

SAUL’S LAST BATTLE.

ZIKLAG AND THE SOUTH COUNTRY.

CHAPTER II. THE REIGNS OF DAVID AND OF SOLOMON.

GEZER.

CHAPTER III. THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM.

TIRZAH.

CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS OF THE REIGNS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL.

MORAL CHARACTER OF THE KINGS.

ABEL.

CHAPTER V. THE INSTITUTION OF THE PROPHETICAL OFFICE.

PERIOD VI. THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH TO THE CLOSE OF THE CANONICAL PERIOD.

CHAPTER I. THE VARIOUS CAPTIVITIES.

THE VARIOUS CAPTIVITIES.

HALAH, HABOR, HARA, THE RIVER GOZAN.

CHAPTER II. THE COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT.

CONDITION DURING THE CAPTIVITY.

PROPHETS DURING THE CAPTIVITY.

TAHPANHES.

DANIEL.

EZEKIEL.

OBADIAH.

ASSYRIAN KINGS OF THE CAPTIVITY.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

CHAPTER III. THE CAPTIVITY ENDED.

THE NUMBER OF THE JEWS AS A RACE.

CONDITION OF JERUSALEM AT THE RETURN.

THE HISTORY AFTER THE RETURN.

SUSA.

CHAPTER IV. THE CANONICAL BOOKS. SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH.

THE INSTITUTION OF THE SYNAGOGUE.

WHO WERE THE SAMARITANS?

SHECHEM AND SAMARIA.

THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH.

CHAPTER V. WHAT WAS SCRIPTURE? THE SEPTUAGINT.

THE ORDER OF THE BOOKS.

END OF THE CANONICAL PERIOD.

VARIATIONS IN THE BOOKS.

THE SEPTUAGINT, B. C. 286‒285. (?)

CHAPTER VI. THE ORIGIN OF THE TALMUD.

THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS.

FORM OF THE TALMUD.

THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD.

A WONDERFUL MEMORY.

CHAPTER VII. CONCLUDING REMARKS.

PERIOD VII. THE NEW TESTAMENT ERA.

CHAPTER I. FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.

NAZARETH AND BETHLEHEM.

THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR.

THE WISE MEN.

HEROD AND HIS SUCCESSOR.

THE EARLY CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.

THE INTERIM.

THE CHRISTIAN ERA.

THE HERODS.

IDUMÆA.

CHAPTER II. THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF OUR SAVIOUR.

BETHABARA.

THE WILDERNESS.

DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES.

THE GENERAL ORDER OF EVENTS. CANA.

CANA OF GALILEE, JOHN 2:11.

CHAPTER III. FROM THE FIRST PASSOVER TO THE SECOND.

MACHÆRUS AND PERÆA.

ENON AND SALIM.

JACOB’S WELL, SYCHAR, John 4.

MATT. 4:12‒17; MARK 1:14, 15; LUKE 4.

CAPERNAUM.

CHAPTER IV. THE SECOND PASSOVER AND THE TRANSACTIONS UNTIL THE THIRD PASSOVER. TIME ONE YEAR.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA, John 5:2.

HISTORICAL OCCURRENCES OF THIS YEAR IN THE ORDER OF TIME, WITH THE HARMONY OF REFERENCES AND LOCALITIES.

CHORAZIN AND BETHSAIDA, Matt. 11:21; Luke 10:13.

GADARA, GERGESA.

CHAPTER V. THE THIRD PASSOVER.

TYRE AND SIDON.

DECAPOLIS.

DALMANUTHA. MAGDALA.

JESUS GOES UP TO THE FEAST OF THE TABERNACLES.

THE LINE OF TRAVEL.

EPHRAIM, JOHN 11:54.

BETHANY AND BETHPHAGE.

ANNAS, CAIAPHAS, PILATE.

EMMAUS.

CHAPTER VI. THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

PENTECOST.

THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESS.

THE FIRST PERSECUTION.

CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.

AZOTUS, CÆSAREA, LYDDA, JOPPA.

CHAPTER VII. THE GOSPEL FOR GENTILES AS WELL AS JEWS. FIRST MISSIONARY TOUR OF PAUL AND BARNABAS.

THE TWO ANTIOCHS.

JUDÆA, SAMARIA, AND GALILEE.

A PROCONSUL.

ICONIUM.

CHAPTER VIII. THE SECOND AND THIRD MISSIONARY TOURS.

THE THIRD MISSIONARY TOUR.

MALTA.

CHAPTER IX. PAUL AT ROME. THE SEVEN CHURCHES. COLOSSE AND HIERAPOLIS.

THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA.

PATMOS.

Footnotes.

Transcriber’s Notes.

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