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216

VARIOUS MEANINGS OF "BEFORE.

being composed of two words, the one,

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"al," signifying

upon," and the other, " penè," "face ;" and in precisely this form it occurs one hundred and ten times in the Old Testament. In a great number of cases it is translated correctly" upon the face," as in the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis,-" upon the face" of the waters. This is the literal meaning. In this sense it occurs in a majority of the one hundred and ten times. Again, it is translated "toward," as in Gen. xviii., when the angel, on parting from Abraham, looked toward Sodom (ver. 16), and in Gen. xix. 19,-" toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards all the land of the plain,"-in which cases it could not signify eastward of those places. But, more definitely, in Lev. xiv. 7, it is translated "into," where a bird was let loose (al penè) into the field. Again, in Lev. xvi. 14, it is said, sprinkle it with his finger "upon" the mercy-seat eastward; where the Hebrew words are translated “upon,” and the direction "eastward" accompanies them, showing that the words translated "upon" do not determine the direction; hence the direction itself is given. Let me refer to Josh. xv. 8. Speaking of the border of Judah, near Jerusalem, the passage reads, "It went up to the top of the mount that lieth before' [al penè] the valley of Hinnom westward;" here, "before" signifies to the westward. Again, Josh. xviii. 14 of the border of Benjamin it is said that it "ran southward from the hill that lieth before' Beth-horon southward:" here "before" signifies to the southward. Two verses after, a mountain is spoken of that lay "before" the valley of the son of Hinnom, and "which is in the valley of the giants on the north," where "before" may mean north. Therefore, while the words may and do sometimes signify eastward, "towards the sunrising" (Numb. xxi. 11), this may be only because the object described as " before" was in the east, as in the case of the "high place" of an idol on the hill that is "before" Jerusalem builded by Solomon (1 Kings xi. 7), and not because the words in themselves signified eastward.

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What is the meaning, therefore, in the passage referring to Elijah? The most appropriate meaning is "upon" or "in full view of," whether that view be had from east, south, west, or north. This is the meaning in Deut. xxxii. 49," Get thee into this mount Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against' Jericho ;* and behold the land of Canaan ;" and again, the same words are admirably translated "in sight of," Numb. iii. 4,"in sight of Aaron." In the sixty-eight passagest in which this word "before" occurs, the most unusual signification would be that which would render "before Jordan" on the east of the river. "Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook CHERITH, that is before [meaning upon, in sight of] the Jordan." So he went and dwelt by the brook CHERITH that is before (upon) the Jordan.

Dr. Bonar asks what idea is conveyed in the phrase "before the Nile." We answer, the same idea that would be conveyed should he say that "Richmond is upon the Thames," or that "Philadelphia is upon or in sight of the Delaware." No objection can be had to this understanding of the phrase on the ground that such a distinction was unnecessary, all the brooks being upon the Jordan; for no prophet roamed over a larger compass of land than Elijah. In this chapter we read of his obedience to an order which sent him from CHERITH to Zarephath, on the sea-coast, more than one hundred and ten miles air-line north of Wady Kelt, where the valleys and brooks turned toward the Mediterranean. There the brooks were "before" the Mediterranean. The next order sends him to Horeb, two hundred and thirty miles south of Wady Kelt, where the brooks are "before" the Red Sea; and again, in the same chapter (1 Kings xix. 8), we read that he is sent to the wilderness

*When it might very properly be translated "before" for it was in "the face," or meeting of the Jordan, and "before" they crossed on entering the land.

† That is, sixty-eight before that in the passage under consideration.

218

MEANING OF THE PASSAGE.

of Damascus, about three hundred and thirty-five miles north-east of his last resting-place, and where the brooks find their way into the lakes east of Damascus. In a country, therefore, where we find that some of the brooks and valleys run into and look upon the Lake of Merom, north of Tiberias, and others into the Lake of Tiberias itself, and others again belong to the Dead Sea or to the Mediterranean, we can see nothing superfluous in designating the brook CHERITH as belonging to the Jordan. The word Cherith signifies "separation," or "division ;" and this name is applicable to the deep cuts made in these hills by the torrent Kelt, which has united the numerous water-courses north-east of Jerusalem, and has come down cutting its way through to the Jordan. And thus I am disposed to understand the word of the Lord to his servant after he had aroused Ahab's anger by the announcement of the coming drought :—“ Get thee away from Ahab by turning eastward, and hide yourself amid the ravines and caverns of the brook CHERITH, which is upon the Jordan.”

CHAPTER XVIII.

ON THE PLAIN OF JERICHO.

HERE on the plain around Jericho were associations which were pleasant to the prophet, not only in its past history, but in its present inhabitants. When, with Elisha, he went on that mysterious walk from GILGAL to BETHEL, on the way to the Jordan, when "the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind" (2 Kings ii. 1), that part of the Jordan just in front of us was the place chosen, where by a miraculous power he divided its waters, and, with Elisha alone, passed over and then disappeared from before his eyes in the ridge of mountains just beyond the river east of us. Besides, here dwelt the sons of the prophets at a period after the date of Elijah's concealment in these gorges; and when, still later, he took that strange journey across the river to his chariot of fire, fifty of them, who resided at Jericho, "went and stood to view afar off" (2 Kings ii. 7) a scene of which they had some premonitions (2 Kings ii. 5). As to the concealment of Elijah in a valley so near to his friends and those who honoured him, the fact that his own friends were ignorant of his presence in the region would more effectually have caused Ahab's messengers to despair of finding him than would concealment in the caverns." *

Some have supposed that the Wady Kelt was a constant stream, and would not answer the description of the pas

*According to Obadiah's account, Ahab sent abroad for Elijah, and made the kingdoms and nations swear they had not met with him (1 Kings xviii. 10).

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sage, "for the brook dried up." But it must be remembered that the context intimates it would be a brook that would not dry up easily until some time after "there had been no rain in the land;" and such indeed is the character of the stream. So, then, of the three "claimants for the honour of Cherith," the one east of Jordan has no determinate claims, either as based upon the idea conveyed by the word "before" or that of "eastward," as the latter would signify simply a general direction, and not due east, which is the supposed direction of the Wady Alias from the position occupied by the prophet at the time he was commanded to depart for Cherith. The second claimant is the Wady Fasael, fifteen miles north of us, and running east to the Jordan. The only reason given for its claim is that it contains a "living fountain." This wady is described as steep and rocky, and scorching winds from the plain of the Jordan sweep up the valley as from a fire. Van de Velde, who travelled here, remarks that his guides as well as himself thought they "should die while in this gigantic furnace, till they came to a fountain of living water, which keeps the leaves of the trees only in the immediate vicinity green, while everything around is consumed by drought and heat." This spring is the Ain Fasael. The choice of such a valley, in the time of the exceeding drought which came upon that land wherein Elijah was directed to find Cherith, would not have been consistent with that consideration with which the Lord seemed to provide for his prophet wherever he went, and which is most beautifully suggested in a previous passage of his history (1 Kings xix. 5, 7). The very fact which seems to be urged in its favour-that there are living waters there-would be rather against than in favour of its claims; since "the brook dried up," while the living waters did not; for Ahab at this very season directs his steward to go out to "all fountains of water and all brooks" (1 Kings xviii. 5) and get grass,—from which it is fair to infer that there were some still flowing, especially the living waters.

But this description of living waters in this valley,

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