the Amorites, between the river Arnon on the south, and Jabbok on the north. Beyond them, to the north, was the kingdom of Basan, &c. On the east side of the river Arnon were the Ammonites, who descended from Ammon, the younger of Lot's sons. Thirdly, When the country was subdued by the children of Israel, it was divided into twelve parts, like so many provinces or shires, called tribes, according to the number of Jacob's twelve sons'; only Levi's family, who were to attend on the priest's office and holy rites, without any worldly incumbrance, had, besides the first-fruits, and their share of the offerings, the tenth of the product of all the country, and no distinct part or lot, but had towns allotted them, dispersed among all the tribes, which towns had their suburbs, and some land round about them'. And Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, having been adopted by Jacob, were made heads of tribes, and they two are reckoned instead of Joseph and Levi; so the twelve tribes were, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Dan, Asher, Naphthali, Zebulon, Issachar, Gad, Reuben, Ephraim, and Manasseh; of which Reuben's and Gad's and half Manasseh's tribe had their part beyond Jordan". Dan was reckoned the utmost ancient town northwards of Canaan, as Beersheba was southwards: hence that saying in Scripture, from Dan to Beersheba, that is, from one end of the land to the other. Fourthly, When Jeroboam made the breach, four hundred and seventy-six years after their first settlement, the kingdom was divided, and one part, which adhered to Rehoboam, Solomon's son, was called the kingdom of Judah, consisting of two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, the chief city whereof was Jerusalem; i Josh. xiii. to chap. xxi. xxxv. Josh. xxi. m Gen. xlviii. xii, 1 Numb. k Numb. xviii. 21. • 1 Kings and the part that Jeroboam reigned over was called the kingdom of Israel, and consisted of the remaining ten tribes, of which Samaria was the chief city. Fifthly, When the Assyrians, about two hundred and fifty-four years after the division above-mentioned, had carried captive those of the children of Israel, or the ten tribes, they placed strangers in the chiefest part of the country, viz. Samaria; some remains of the ten tribes still continuing in the northern parts of Galilee; of which afterwards. Sixthly, When the Babylonians, a little above a hundred and thirty years after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, had carried away captive the people of the kingdom of Judah, their part of the country lay desolate and uninhabited till the Jews returned from their captivity. Seventhly, After the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, and so in the time of the second temple, and in the days of Christ, the chief part of their country, on this side Jordan, was divided into three distinct provinces; as Judæa being the south part, Samaria about the middle, and Galilee the north part of these Judæa was the most renowned, in which was the city of Jerusalem, and therein the temple. Samaria was where the Cuthites or Samaritans dwelt, whose ancestors the king of Assyria sent thither, when he had carried away captive the ten tribes of the children of Israel". Upon this account these Samaritans were odious to the Jews. Galilee was divided into the Upper, that lay most northward, called Galilee of the Gentiles, because it was next them, or nearly encompassed by them, and possibly inhabited by Gentiles as well as Jews; and the Lower Galilee, that was next to Samaria. In Galilee, on the sea-coast, was Cæsarea, a city built by Herod, and made the metropolis or head city of P 2 Kings xvii. 24. the province of Palestine by the Romans, and the residence of the Roman governors of Judæa, such as Felix and Festus, who are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. In the same country was Nazareth, the place where Joseph and Mary lived, and our Lord Christ, till his manifestation of himself: whence his followers were called Nazarenes. Here also were Bethsaida and Capernaum, which places are so often mentioned in the New Testament for Christ's resorting so much to them, and teaching the people there. Near this sea was also the mount or hill on which Christ sat when he preached the sermon. Again, Galilee was the country out of which Christ chose twelve Apostles, and which he was wont much to frequent. Here also he shewed himself alive after his resurrection. And yet this part of the country, and the people in it, were despised by the rest of the Jews, as rude and unlearned. Their very speech was broad, and differed from others. Hence Peter was discovered', that he was a Galilean, for his speech betrayed him; and they were generally esteemed a barbarous and rough people, remarkable neither for religion nor good manners; so that the Jews and Gentiles thought that they could not reproach our Saviour and his Apostles more than by calling them Galileans'. Hence appears the humility of Christ, in choosing such a place to live in; and his divine power too, who founded his church, and converted the world by such instruments as were most unlikely in themselves to pro, duce any thing either great or good". As for that part of the country which lay on the east side of Jordan, formerly the seat of the Amorites, and after them of the tribes of Reuben and 9 Matt. v. vi. and vii. Matt. c. 87. vii. 52. r Lightfoot. Centuria Chorog. in t See John i. 46. and chap, s Matt. xxvi. 73. Gad, it was called Peræa, or the country beyond Jordan; on the north side of which was Iturea and Trachonitis. The bordering country on the south had the same name as formerly, namely, Idumæa. The river Jordan runs along this country from north to south". "As you pass along the plains of Jericho, towards this river, within about a furlong of it, there runs along a small descent, which you may fitly call the first or outermost bank; as far as which the river does, or at least anciently did, overflow at some seasons of the year, viz. at the time of harvest". After having descended the outermost bank, you go about a furlong upon a level strand, before you come to the immediate bank of the river. This second bank is beset with bushes and trees, such as tamarisk, willows, oleanders, &c. that you can see no water till you have made your way through them. In this thicket anciently (and the same is reported of it at this day) several sorts of wild beasts were wont to harbour themselves, whose being washed out of their covert by the overflowings of the river, gave occasion to that allusion, Jer. xlix. 19. He shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan." This river, when it has run down as far as the Lower Galilee, opens into a broad water, viz. into the sea of Galilee, which is called also the sea of Tiberias, and the lake of Genesareth, because on the banks thereof was the city of Tiberias, and a tract of land called Genesareth. It is reckoned to be about twelve or fifteen miles in length, and five or six in breadth". Josephus writes, "The breadth thereof is forty furlongs, and ▾ The head or source thereof is at a place called Phiala, where the water stands always at a stay, the bason brimful; whence it passes under ground to Panion, and there comes forth again. See Josephus, W. book iii. chap. 18. w Josh. iii. 15. * Maundrell's Journey to Jerusalem. y Thevenot's Travels, Part I. b. ii. chap. 55. besides those a hundred more (or a hundred and forty) in length2; and that it has in it great variety of fish, which, for taste and shape, are not to be found any where else." Beyond this the river grows narrow, and runs along to the very south end of the country, falling at last into the Dead sea, where of old was Sodom and Gomorrah, which were consumed by fire and brimstone thrown down from heaven. Sometimes, there is mention made in Scripture of a wilderness or desart. But the desarts among the Jews were not places altogether uninhabited, but as with us the country is in respect to cities or principal towns, so were the desarts in the Jews' land, namely, places more open and common, where were hills and woods, and some towns here and there such was the wilderness of Judæa, and the wilderness of Paran, where Nabal dwelt. A judicious modern author says of the wilderness of St. John Baptist, "A wilderness it is called, as being very rocky and mountainous, but it is well cultivated, and produces plenty of corn, and vines, and olive trees." Again, we often read in Scripture of caves and dens in the mountains and rocks; some of which were large, such as those in which Obadiah hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets, by fifty in a cave. The five kings discomfited by Joshua hid themselves in a cave in Makkedah; and David escaped to the cave Adullam". These caves and dens seem to have been cut out of the rocks and mountains for a shelter and refuge in time of war; and it is probable the Canaanites, a warlike and gigantic people, might have digged many of them, and that the Israelites increased the number. Thus we find, a Ibid. z Josephus, W. b. iii. chap. 9. Hudson's edit. sect. vii. b. iii. chap. 18. b Lightfoot, Horæ in Matt. iii. 1. c Matt. iii, 1. and Luke i. 80. d 1 Sam. xxv. 1, 2. e Maundrell's Travels. f 1 Kings xviii. 13. g Josh. x. 16. 1 Sam. xxii. 1. |