IBLEAM, a town belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh.

ICONIUM, a very ancient city of Asia Minor, subsequently the capital of Lycaonia, and at one time the head of a tetrarchy, which consisted of fourteen towns. It derived its name from Eixónov, Medusa's image, which was placed here by Jason. This city, which still exists under its modern name of Cuniah, is situated in a fruitful and agreeable country, on the main road from Syria through Cilicia to Constantinople, and is the residence of a pacha. When St Paul and Barnabas were compelled to leave Antioch they proceeded to Iconium, and preached the gospel in the city with the greatest success, Acts xiii. 51; xiv. 1. Their enemies succeeded in procuring their expulsion from Iconium also, the unbelieving Jews having "stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evilaffected against the brethren;" but it was not done without difficulty, for "the multitude of the city was divided, and part held with the Jews, and part with the Apostles." St Paul proceeded to Lystra, where he was followed by a party of malignant Jews from Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia, who persuaded the citizens of Derbe to stone him, and he was taken out of the city to all appearance dead. The Apostle alludes to these persecutions in his Second Epistle to Timothy (iii. 10, 11), when he says, "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, pur pose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me."

ments of the Israelites in the Wilderness, Numb. xxi. 11.

IJON, look, eye, fountain, a frontier town of the Israelites taken and plundered by Benhadad, king of Syria, 1 Kings xv. 20.

ILLYRICUM, joy, rejoicing, ILLY RIA, or ILLYRIS, a country of Europe the boundaries of which have never been precisely ascertained. It was divided into Illyria Barbara and Illyria Græca, the former comprising Iapydia, Liburnia, and Dalmatia, the latter including the modern Turkish province of Albania. Illyricum is only mentioned by St Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, where he observes that "from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, he had fully preached the gospel of Christ," Rom. xv. 19.—“ The words import," says Dr Paley, "that St Paul had come to the confines of Illyricum, and that these confines were the external boundary of his travels. He considers Jerusalem as the point from which he commenced, and is here viewing the space over which his travels had extended. Illyricum was the part which he mentions to the Romans, because it lay in a direction from Jerusalem towards Rome, and pointed out to the Roman readers the place nearest them to which his travels from Jerusalem had brought him. It was upon his second visit to Macedonia, almost immediately before the writing of this Epistle, that he approached Illyricum.”

IRON, a town betonging to the tribe of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38.

IRPEEL, a town in the tribe of Benjamin, Josh. xviii. 27.

ISCARIOTH, a village in the tribe of Ephraim, which some of the ancient

IDUMEA. See EDOM.

ISHMAELITES, the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, by an Egyptian woman whom he married. Ishmael became the father of a numerous posterity. He had twelve sons, from whom are derived the twelve Arab tribes still in existence, and who retain the character of their progenitor, that he would be a wild man. See ARABIA.

ISH-TOB, a country at the north extremity of the mountains of Gilead towards Lebanon, 2 Sam. x. 6.

ISRAELITES, a name commonly applied to the Jews, who were so called from the appellation given by the mysterious wrestler to their great ancestor Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 24. Its literal signification is, a prince with God, or one that wrestleth with God, as if it had been written Ishrael.

The term Israel, however, is restricted in Scripture, and means the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, designated the Kingdom of Israel, as distinct from the kingdom of Judah. In this sense it is considered in this article, which contains a sketch of the origin, progress, and final overthrow of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes.

Every reader of Scripture history is familiar with the celebrated revolt of the Hebrews which took place in the reign of Rehoboam. It was distinctly declared to his father Solomon, who in his latter years had been drawn into idolatrous practices by his wives, that his kingdom would be “rent,” and would be given to his "servant," 1 Kings xi. 11: "Notwithstanding," said the Divine announcement," in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake; but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit, I will not rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe (including Benjamin) to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, which I have chosen." The person who was to head the revolt was Jeroboam, at that time an exile in Egypt, who returned as soon as he heard of Solomon's death and the accession of Rehoboam, and who was unanimously chosen the leader of the disaffected Tribes.

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The coronation of Rehoboam took place at Shechem, the capital of the powerful tribe of Joseph, and the “ gregation of Israel," as they are termed by the inspired historian, embraced that opportunity to present a petition and remonstrance to the king. They complained of the severe government of his father Solomon-that he had made their "yoke heavy," and they proffered their willing allegiance if he would grant them relief. They wished, in short, to enter into a new stipulation with Rehoboam as heir to the crown, a precaution which had been neglected at the accession of Solomon. The particular grievances of which the people complained were the tributes exacted by Solomon for the expenses of his family, his buildings, and the maintenance of his vast establishments. The tribute of the conquered nations, the presents from foreign princes, and the profits of his commercial speculations, were not adequate to the wants of this munificent Oriental prince, and he was obliged to institute a regular system of taxation similar to that existing in European monarchies, which brought all his subjects more or less under its operation. It also appears that he required extraordinary grants for particular undertakings, for, notwithstanding the present of "six-score talents of gold" from Hiram, king of Tyre, he ordered a levy " to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer," 1 Kings ix. 15. Thus it was that under Solomon the Israelites first sensibly experienced the consequences which Samuel bad warned them would result from their preference of monarchical government to the sacred theocracy of which God was the head and governor. These facts are of great importance as illustrative of the history of the memorable revolt of the Ten Tribes. It must be remembered, moreover, that even at the present time the Oriental feeling is completely opposed to an organized system of taxation from which none can escape. Although the

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people eventually pay more than such a system would exact, they rather prefer the contingencies of uncertain demand when they do not know beforehand what they are to pay, and have reason to hope that nothing will be required, or that the demand, being unequal, may not fall individually on themselves-to the positive knowledge and certainty that at a stated period a proportion of their income will be taken from them, without any hope of postponement or exemption. This feeling is entertained even by the person who benefits by such demands, and instances have been known of the governors of Oriental cities preferring to hazard their income on the chance results of fines and exactions, rather than receiving a regular salary equal or even superior to what they might hope to secure. Another fact must also be taken into account connected with the circumstances of this revolt. All the taxes of the Israelites were taken directly from the produce of their grounds and cattle, and even a light contribution raised in this way would be felt more severely and paid more reluctantly than a heavier one raised indirectly on articles of consumption —a refinement of finance, it has been appropriately observed, which does not appear to have been understood in the days of Solomon.

The matter thus assumed a very serious import, as it completely involved the union of the Tribes. Rehoboam, who was in the fortieth year of his age at the time of his accession, and who therefore could not plead the rashness or inexperience of youth for his conduct, required three days to deliberate on the proposal. In the interval, if he had listened to the advice of his grave and well informed councillors, he might perhaps have deprived Jeroboam of an opportunity of revolting; but he rashly preferred the advice of some young men who had been educated with him at his father's court, and instead of soothing the people on the third day, he told them that, instead of complying with their demand, or even examining if their grievances were well

founded, he had resolved to govern them with greater severity than his father had done :-" My father," he said, "made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." He speaks of a simple scourge, and places it in opposition to another more painful which is designated a scorpion, probably to denote a comparison between the pain respectively occasioned by the scourge and the reptile, although the Rabbins generally think that the scorpion was composed of knotty and thorny twigs, by which the flesh was severely lacerated-scourges similar to those used among the Romans as a means of torture, and particularly by masters in the punishment of their slaves. This threat produced the celebrated and significant exclamation from the remonstrants, “To your tents, O Israel! Now see to thine own house, David." They instantly renounced their allegiance to the posterity of David, whom they contemptuously designated the son of Jesse, in allusion to his origin: "What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse." The triumphs of David and the splendour of Solomon were alike forgotten. Adoram, whom Rehoboam sent to quell the tumult, and who was the receiver-general of the tribute, was murdered by the exasperated people, and the king himself" made speed to get him up to his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.” Ten of the Tribes were included in the revolt, Judah and Benjamin alone remaining faithful to Rehoboam, and these are often mentioned in the Jewish history as one tribe, having incorporated their interests, and the city of Jerusalem being partly in the one tribe and partly in the other.

The tribes chose Jeroboam, the chief ringleader of the revolt, to be their king, and the new monarchy was designated the Kingdom of Israel, to distinguish it from the Kingdom of Judah. The territorial possessions of the kingdom of Israel included the provinces or cantons of the Ten Tribes, together with all the tribu

tary nations as far as the Euphrates; while Rehoboam's kingdom was limited to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, including Philistia and Edom, which made it scarcely a fourth part of the dominions of Solomon. Jeroboam was of the tribe of Ephraim or Joseph, which had in ancient times received some obscure promises of a crown, Gen. xlix. 26; Deut. xxxiii. 16. The tribe of Ephraim had all along envied the precedence of Judah, and was now made the instrument of its correction and humiliation. Humanly speaking, the revolt was caused by the rashness of Rehoboam, who had calculated on overawing the malcontents by using high and threatening language; but the inspired historian gives us also another cause, which was indeed the real one: "The cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam." This was in the reign of Solomon, immediately before Jeroboam was compelled to escape into Egypt for his treasonable practices.

Rehoboam arrived safely at Jerusalem without receiving any insult from the revolters, and he immediately adopted measures to put down the insurrection. He mustered an army of 180,000 men out of the two faithful tribes; but while he was preparing for war, the Prophet Shemaiah was commissioned to prohibit any hostilities on the part of Rehoboam. "Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the Children of Israel. Return every man to his house, for this thing is from me." The advice was followed, but there existed continual animosities and collisions between the two kings during their respective reigns.

We must now consider Jeroboam as the acknowledged head of the separate kingdom of Israel, which occupies a most interesting portion of sacred history. He began to secure his newly acquired throne by repairing and fortifying Shechem and Penuel, the former of which he constituted his metropolis. These two places had been almost destroyed, the one by

Gideon, and the other by Abimelech, Judges viii. 17; ix. 45. Shechem continued to be the capital of the kingdom until Samaria was built by Omri. But there was still one thing which Jeroboam feared might in time reconcile the revolted tribes to the house of David, namely, their going three times a year to Jerusa-, lem. Afraid to hazard the inconstancy of the people, he resolved to sacrifice religion to his safety. He accordingly set up two golden calves at Bethel and Dan, the extremities of his kingdom, and he commanded his subjects to repair thither for the worship of God, without proceeding to Jerusalem. This bold stroke of policy was accompanied by other innovations. He changed the feast of tabernacles from the fifteenth day of the seventh month to the fifteenth of the eighth month. He made priests of the "lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi." By the Law none but a Levite of Aaron's family could be a priest, and none but a Levite could officiate in the subordinate services of religion. Hence it is evident from Jeroboam's conduct, that none of the Priests and Levites had sanctioned the revolt, and he was thus compelled to appoint persons out of any of the tribes who were willing to accept the office. read of any high priest in the kingdom of Israel, and perhaps no one was ever bold enough formally to assume the office; but as we find Jeroboam immediately afterwards himself burning incense, and as this was a function discharged by the high priest, it appears that the king designed to unite the high priesthood and the royal dignity in his own person, at least on great occasions. Such an union of the priestly and regal offices has had other examples in the East. The arbitrary changes effected by Jeroboam became afterwards so interwoven with the constitution of the kingdom of Israel, that even his pious successors did not venture to abolish them, or attempt to re-establish the authority of the fundamental law.

We never

We thus perceive that in the kingdom

of Israel there was, from the very first, the greatest disregard of the Divine commands. Jeroboam had received no promise of an eternal kingdom as David had, yet the assurance was given to him that if he obeyed the Law as David had done, the throne would continue in his family, 1 Kings xi. 37, 38; xii. 23, 24; 2 Chron. xi. 1-4; xii. 15. But he trusted little to these promises, and the setting up of the golden calves-an imitation of the Apis and Mnevis of the Egyptians, among whom he had long dwelt in exile -was a flagrant violation of the worship of God. It is true, indeed, as in the case of the golden calf set up in the Wilderness, that no apostacy from Jehovah to false deities was immediately intended; and, being distrustful of the Divine promises, he was not without reason afraid, that if his subjects went three times to Jerusalem every year, as the Law required, they might soon return to their allegiance to the house of David. It was, however, a gross irregularity, and an infusion of idolatrous ideas into the worship of the true God. He seems to have adopted many Egyptian ideas during his exile in Egypt, by which he was influenced in his selection of the symbols of the golden calves. He probably thought that this was the least offensive contriv ance by which his object could be attained; and in that object his successors also were so much interested, that they took special care to keep up this symbolical worship. Hence it is said of all of them, that they "departed not from the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."

The dedication of the golden calves was proclaimed throughout the kingdom of Israel, and a great concourse of people had assembled at Bethel, where Jeroboam officiated in person at the altar, when a prophet was sent from Judah to announce to him the Divine indignation at his proceedings, and that "a child of the house of David, Josiah by name," would offer upon that altar "the priests of the highplaces that burnt incense upon it, and men's bones would be burnt upon it."

This clear, distinct, and remarkable prophecy purported what was to be done by a prince who was not born till 360 years afterwards. Jeroboam stretched out his arm to cause the prophet to be apprehended, but to his great surprise it withered. It was, however, restored on his submission, and the prophet departed. The fate of this unfortunate "man of God," about whose identity there have been many conjectures, is minutely related by the inspired historian, 1 Kings xiii. 11-32; but Jeroboam was nothing moved at these extraordinary events. He "returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the highplaces: whosoever would he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high-places."

The conduct of Jeroboam was of considerable advantage to the king of Judah. The tribe of Levi, dispersed throughout all the tribes, resorted in great numbers to Jerusalem from their respective cities, accompanied by many belonging to the revolted tribes, who were indignant at the golden calves of Jeroboam, and who repaired to the holy city to worship God according to the Law of Moses. Rehoboam soon saw his subjects as numerous and powerful as those of his rival; and if he had acted in a prudent and religious manner, the kingdom of Israel would soon have been weakened, for, as Professor Jahn observes, "Divine Providence was favourable or adverse to the kingdom of Judah according as the people obeyed or transgressed the Law; only here the royal family remained unchanged, in accordance with the promise given to David. We indeed meet with many idolatrous and rebellious kings, but they are always succeeded by those of purer mind, who put a stop to idolatry, re-established theocracy in the hearts of their subjects, and by the aid of Prophets, Priests, and Levites, and the services of the Temple, restored the knowledge and worship of God." But unfortunately for Rehoboam, he had scarcely continued three years in the observance of true religion, when