from the city unto the highways. And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array. . . and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore and the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel . . . So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah;

and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise out of the city. And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, surely they are smitten down before us But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed; for they saw that evil was come upon them. Therefore

they turned their backs before the men of Israel . . . but the battle overtook them . . . Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease, over against Gibeah toward the sun-rising And they turned, and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon (and) six hundred men abode in the rock Rimmon four months.. -Judges xx. 14, &c. (See the whole of chapters xix. XX. xxi.)

...

دو

"And Saul also went home to Gibeah..." (after Samuel had anointed him king over Israel.)—1 Samuel x. 26. (See also xi. 4.)

"Saul went up to his house, to Gibeah of Saul."1 Samuel xv. 34.-See also xxii. 6. (See Michmash.)

"Then came up the Ziphites to Saul in Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah?"—1 Samuel xxiii. 19. (See also xxvi. 1.)

"And they.. brought (the ark of God) out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah."-2 Samuel vi. 3.

"Let seven men of his (Saul's) sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul; . . . and Rizpah. . took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night."-2 Samuel xxi. 6-10.

"Gibeah of Saul is fled."-Isaiah x. 29.

"Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah."-Hosea v. 8.

"They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah."-Hosea ix. 9.

"Oh Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah."-Hosea x. 9.

[See also Joshua xviii. 28; 1 Sam. xiv. 2; xxiii. 19; 1 Sam. x. 26, xi. 4, xiv. 2, 5, 16, xv. 34, xxiii. 19, xxvi. 1; Judges xix. 14.]

Gibeah of Benjamin was the birthplace of king Saul, and continued to be his residence after he began his reign; and here Jonathan's adventure against the Philistines took place. Here the Gibeonites hanged up the seven descendants of Saul, when Rizpah "took sackcloth and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night."

The dreadful wickedness of some of the inhabitants of Gibeah led to the almost total destruction of the tribe of Benjamin, when the city and its neighbourhood

became the scene of fierce contest with the rest of the children of Israel, and “the flame of the city ascended up to heaven." Jerome speaks of Gibeah as level with the ground when he wrote, and it has been ever since unvisited by travellers.-See ROBINSON, vol. ii. p. 115.

Jeba, which Dr. Robinson says with little doubt represents the ancient Gibeah, "lies upon a low and rather round eminence on a broad ridge, which shelves down toward the Jordan valley, and spreads out below the village into a fine sloping plain with fields of grain. The views of the Dead Sea and Jordan, and of the Eastern mountains, were here (very) extensive; while across the deep ravine on the north we could see the next village on our route, the ancient Michmash, lying directly over against Jeba. . about N.E.

"The village of Jeba is small, . . and is half in ruins. Among these are occasionally seen large hewn stones, indicating antiquity. There is here the ruin of a square tower,.. and a small building having the appearance of an ancient church.

"Besides Michmash, we could here see several other villages (amongst which was that of) Rimmon. This village forms a remarkable object in the landscape; being situated on and around the summit of a conical chalky hill, and visible in all directions. There can be little doubt of its being the identical rock Rimmon,' to which the remnant of the Benjamites fled after the slaughter of the tribe at Gibeah."-ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. ii. p. 113.

MICHMASH. (MÜKHMAS.)

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"SAUL chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Mcihmash

1 About fifteen miles north of Jerusalem.

and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. . . . And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel ..and they came up and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. . . . And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. . . . And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.”—1 Sam. xiii. 2, 5, 16, 23. (Read whole chapter.)

...

"Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side. . . . And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side. . . the fore-front (or tooth, marg.) of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah. And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. . . . And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armour-bearer after him and they fell before Jonathan. And the watchman of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away. . . and Saul and all the people that were with him... came to the battle.... and the battle passed over unto Bethaven . . . and they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon."-1 Samuel xiv. 1, 4-6, 13, 16, &c.

"At Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: they are gone over the passage. -Isaiah x. 28, 29. [See also Ezra ii. 27, xi. 31.]

The descent into the

"We left Jeba for Mukhmâs. valley was (steep and long.) . . . We reached the bottom in half an hour. It begins in the neighbourhood of (Bethel and Beer;) and . . . its sides form precipitous walls. On the right, . . . below where we crossed, it passes off between high perpendicular precipices, which (our guide said) continue a great way down and increase in grandeur. In one of them is a large cavern

"This steep precipitous valley is probably the passage of Michmash mentioned in Scripture. In the valley, just at the left of where we crossed, are two hills of a conical or rather spherical form, having steep rocky sides, with small (valleys) running up behind each so as almost to isolate them. One is on the side towards Gibeah, and the other towards Michmash. These would seem to be the two rocks mentioned in connexion with Jonathan's adventure. This valley appears to have been, at a later time, the dividing line between the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim: Geba, on the south side of this valley, was the northern limit of Judah and Benjamin,2 while Bethel on its north side, further west, was on the southern border of Ephraim.3

"Crossing the valley. . and ascending with difficulty for fifteen minutes, we came upon the slope on which Michmash stands, a low ridge between two small valleys

We reached the village at 12 o'clock. It was even more desolate than Anathoth, but bears marks of having been a much larger and stronger place than any of the others we had passed. There are many foundations of large hewn stones; and some columns were lying among them. . . We could look back upon Gibeah."ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. ii. p. 115-117.