from the careful observations of some travellers, that the distinction of former and latter rains no longer exists. These rains, however, were always chilly (Ezra x. 9. and Sol. Song ii. 11.), and often preceded by whirlwinds (2 Kings iii. 16, 17.) that raised such quantities of sand as to darken the sky, or, in the words of the sacred historian, to make the heavens black with clouds and wind. (1 Kings xviii. 45.) In Egypt the barley harvest precedes the summer. This may explain Jer. viii. 20. where the harvest is put first in the description,The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.2

The rains descend in Palestine with great violence; and as whole villages in the East are constructed only with palm branches, mud, and tiles baked in the sun (perhaps corresponding to and explanatory of the untempered mortar noticed in Ezek. xiii. 11.), these rains not unfrequently dissolve the cement, such as it is, and the houses fall to the ground. To these effects our Lord probably alludes in Matt. vii. 25-27. "In the East it is as common to say there is the sound of rain, as it is in England to say there is the appearance of rain; this may illustrate 1 Kings xviii. 44. "Sometimes this expression refers to thunder as the precursor, and at other times to a blowing noise in the clouds, which indicates that rain is at hand. In the vicinity of a hill or tall trees, the sound is the loudest; and it is worthy of notice that Elijah was in the vicinity of Mount Carmel." 3 Very small clouds are likewise the forerunners of violent storms and hurricanes in the east as well as in the west: they rise like a man's hand (1 Kings xviii. 44.), until the whole sky becomes black with rain, which descends in torrents, that rush down the steep hills, and sweep every thing before them. In our Lord's time, this phenomenon seems to have become a certain prognostic of wet weather. He said to the people, When ye see THE cloud (THN Nɛpéλŋv) rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; AND SO IT IS. (Luke xii. 54.)

5. The SUMMER comprehended the latter half of Sivan, the whole of Thammuz, and the former half of Ab, that is, from the beginning of June to the beginning of August. The sky is cloudless; and the dews are inconsiderable. The heat of the weather increases, and the nights are so warm that the inhabitants sleep on their house-tops in the open air. All kinds of fruit ripen in this season.

6. The HOT SEASON included the latter half of Ab, the whole of

1 Lowthian's Narrative of a recent Visit to Jerusalem in 1843-44. pp. 82. 143. Margouliouth's Pilgrimage to the Land of my Fathers, vol. ii. pp. 225, 226.

2 Jowett's Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, &c. p. 144. London, 1822. 8vo. Roberts's Oriental Illustrations of the Scriptures, p. 210.

A similar phenomenon is noticed by Homer (Iliad, lib. iv. 275-278.) and also takes place in Abyssinia. Mr. Bruce, speaking of the phenomena attending the inundation of the Nile, says,-Every morning, "about nine, a small cloud, not above four feet broad, appears in the east, whirling violently round, as if upon an axis; but, arrived near the zenith, it first abates its motion, then loses its form, and extends itself greatly, and seems to call up vapours from all opposite quarters. These clouds having attained nearly the same height, rush against each other with great violence, and put me always in mind of Elijah foretelling rain on Mount Carmel." Travels, vol. v. p. 336. 8vo

5 The article here is unquestionably demonstrative. See Bp. Middleton's Doctrine of the Greek Article, p. 327. (first edit.)

Elul, and the former half of Tisri, that is, from the beginning of August to the beginning of October. During the chief part of this season the heat is intense, though less so at Jerusalem than in the plain of Jericho there is no cold, not even in the night, so that travellers pass whole nights in the open air without inconvenience. Lebanon is for the most part free from snow, except in the caverns and defiles where the sun cannot penetrate. During the hot season, it is not uncommon in the East Indies for persons to die suddenly, in consequence of the extreme heat of the solar rays (whence the necessity of being carried in a palanquin). This is now commonly termed a coup-de-soleil, or stroke of the sun. The son of the woman of Shunem appears to have died in consequence of a coup-de-soleil (2 Kings iv. 19, 20.)1; and to this fatal effect of the solar heat the psalmist alludes (Psal. cxxi. 6.), as he also does to the effect of the lunar rays, which in Arabia (as well as in Egypt) are singularly injurious to the eyes of those who sleep in the open air. "The moon here really strikes and affects the sight when you sleep exposed to it much more than the sun indeed, the sight of a person, who should sleep with his face exposed at night, would soon be utterly impaired or destroyed."2 At Cairo, "in the hot weather most people sleep in the open air; all wrapping up their heads and faces, that the moon may not shine upon them."3

From the time of harvest, that is, from the middle of April to the middle of September, it neither rains nor thunders. (Prov. xxvi. 1.; 1 Sam. xii. 17.) During the latter part of April, or about the middle of the harvest, the morning cloud is seen early in the morning, which disappears as the sun ascends above the horizon. (Hos. vi. 4., xiii. 3.) These light fleecy clouds are without water (vepeλai avdpo); and to them the Apostle Jude (verse 12.) compares the false teachers, who even then began to contaminate the church of Christ. In Deut. xxxii. 2. the doctrine of Jehovah is compared to the rain, and clouds are the instruments by which rain is distilled

1 Egmont and Heyman (who travelled in Palestine in the beginning of the eighteenth century), found the air about Jericho extremely hot, and say that it destroyed several persons the year before they were there. The army of King Baldwin IV. suffered considerably from this circumstance near Tiberias. The heat at the time was so unusually great, that as many died by that as by the sword. After the battle, in their return to their former encampment, a certain ecclesiastic, of some distinction in the church and in the army, not being able to bear the vehemence of the heat, was carried in a litter, but expired under Mount Tabor.--Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 4.

2 Carne's Letters from the East, p. 77. A nearly similar account is given by Mr. R. R. Madden, who travelled in the East, between the years 1824 and 1827. (Travels in Turkey, &c. vol. ii. pp. 197, 198.) The deadly influence of the moon is equally felt in the East and West Indies. Thus, in the East Indies, meat hung up, if exposed to moonlight, will not take the salt, but taints and spoils speedily: whereas the same kind of meat, if kept from the moonlight, will take salt and keep good for some time. (Christian Observer for 1808, p. 754. Roberts's Oriental Illustrations of Scripture, p. 355.) And at Demerara the moon strikes (similarly to the sun) with a coup-de-lune; so that people walk out at night with umbrellas or paralunes. Such, indeed, are the effects of the lunar rays upon fish, as to make it part from the bones. (From information communicated to the author by the Rev. Mr. Elliott, missionary at Demerara.) Capt. Costello states that, in 1825, the sight of many soldiers of his regiment, who were quartered in the Bermudas, was affected by blindness by night, from the effect of the lunar rays. (Athenæum for June, 1845, p. 597.)

3 Curzon's Visits to the Monasteries of the Levant, p. 34.

upon the earth. In arid or parched countries, the very appearance of a cloud is delightful, because it is a token of refreshing showers; but when sudden winds arise, and disperse these clouds, the hope of the husbandman and shepherd is cut off. The false teachers alluded to, are represented as clouds; they have the form and office of teachers of righteousness, and from such appearances pure doctrine may naturally be expected. But these are clouds without water; they distil no refreshing showers, because they contain none; and they are carried about by their passion, as those light and fleecy clouds in question are carried by the winds.1

From the Jewish month Sivan, through the entire months of Tammuz, Ab, and the former part of Elul, corresponding with our months of May, June, July, and August, not a single cloud is to be seen; but during the night, the earth is moistened by a copious DEW, which in the sacred volume is frequently made a symbol of the divine goodness. (Compare Gen. xxvii. 28. and xlix. 25. where the blessing from above is equivalent with dew, Deut xxxii. 2., xxxiii. 13.; Job xxix. 19.; Mic. v. 7.) In Arabia Petræa the dews are so heavy, as to wet to the skin those who are exposed to them: but as soon as the sun arises, and the atmosphere becomes a little warmed, the mists are quickly dispersed, and the abundant moisture, which the dews had communicated to the sands, is entirely evaporated. What a forcible description is this of the transiently good impressions, felt by many, to which the prophet Hosea alludes! (vi. 4.) Other references to the refreshing nature of the dews of Palestine occur in Psal. cxxxiii. 3. and Hos. xiv. 5.2 These dews fall, as in other countries, very fast as well as very suddenly, upon every blade of grass and every spot of earth; whence an active and expeditious soldiery is, in 2 Sam. xvii. 12. by a beautiful figure compared to dew. But, however copious the dews are, they nourish only the more robust or hardy plants; and as the season of heat advances, the grass withers, the flowers fade, every green herb is dried up by the roots and dies, unless watered by the rivulets or by the labour of man.3 To this appearance of the fields, during an eastern summer, the royal psalmist alludes. (Psal. xxxii. 4.) If, at this season, a single spark falls upon the grass, a conflagration immediately ensues, especially if there should be any briars or thorns, low shrubs, or woods contiguous. (Psal. lxxxiii. 14.; Isa, ix. 18., x. 17, 18.; Jer. xxi. 14.

1 Dr. A. Clarke, on Jude 12.

2 Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. p. 325. The very heavy dews which fall in the Holy Land, are noticed by almost every one who has travelled in that country. We shall adduce the testimonies of two or three. Maundrell, travelling near Mount Hermon, in the year 1697, says, "We were instructed by experience, what the Psalmist means by the dew of Hermon (Psal. cxxxiii. 3.), our tents being as wet with it as if it had rained all night." (Travels from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 77.) Dr. E. D. Clarke, when on his journey from Aboukir to Rosetta, in 1801, says, "We had a tent allotted to us for the night; it was double lined; yet so copious are the dews of Egypt" (the climate of which country is similar to that of the Holy Land), "after sunset, that the water ran copiously down the tent-pole." (Travels, vol. iii. p. 365. 8vo.) Mr. Carne says, "The dews had fallen heavily for some nights, and the clothes that covered us were quite wet in the morning." Letters from tho East, p. 178.

Harmer's Observations, vol. i p. 6.

Compare also Exod. xxii. 6. and Joel i. 19, 20.) The face of the country becomes entirely changed; the fields, so lately clothed with the richest verdure and adorned with the loveliest flowers, are converted into a brown and arid wilderness; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth (Isa. xl. 6, 7.)'; the fountains and rivulets are dried up; and the soil becomes so hard as to exhibit large fissures or clefts.

III. The WINDS which prevail in Palestine, are either land winds or sea breezes. The last are cooler, and commonly bring on rain. (Luke xii. 54, 55.): the east wind on the contrary, which blows from the desert, is hot; and as it ordinarily produces a blight, it becomes fatal to the corn and vines. (Job xv. 2.; Gen. xli. 6. 23.; Ezek. xvii. 10., xix. 12.; Hos. xiii. 15.; Jonah iv. 8.; Psal. ciii. 15, 16.) The accounts given by Chardin, Thevenot, Bruce, and Sir R. Ker Porter, respecting the deadly effects of this dry wind of the high places in the wilderness (Jer. iv. 11.) are now known to be erroneous.2 The east wind is particularly dangerous to navigators in the Mediterranean sea. This is alluded to in Psal. xlviii. 7. and Ezek. xxvii. 26. The people of the East generally term every wind an east wind, that blows between the east and north and the east and south. The Euroclydon, which caused the wreck of the vessel in which Paul was sailing to Rome, was one of these tempestuous east winds, aveμos Tupóvikos, that drove every thing before it. (Acts xxvii. 14.) Such winds are common in the Mediterranean to this day, where they are called Levanters, the term Levant meaning that country which lies at the eastern extremity of that sea. The northwest winds prevail from the autumnal equinox till November; the south-west and west winds from November till February; the east wind usually prevails from February until June, which is succeeded by the north wind.

3

IV. In consequence of the paucity of showers in the East WATER is an article of great importance to the inhabitants. Hence in Lot's estimation, it was a principal recommendation of the plain of Jordan that it was well watered every where (Gen. xiii. 10.); and the same advantage continued in later ages to be enjoyed by the Israelites, whose country was intersected by numerous brooks and streams;

"The very affecting images of Scripture, which compare the short-living existence of man to the decay of the vegetable creation, are scarcely understood in this country. The vendure is perpetual in England. It is difficult to discover a time when it can be said, The grass withereth.' But, let the traveller visit the beautiful plain of Smyrna, or any other part of the East, in the month of May, and revisit it towards the end of June, and he will perceive the force and beauty of these allusions. In May, an appearance of fresh verdure and of rich luxuriance everywhere meets the eye: the face of nature is adorned with a carpet of flowers and herbage, of the most elegant kind. But, a month or six weeks subsequently, how changed is the entire scene! The beauty is gone; the grass is withered; the flower is faded; a brown and dusty desert has taken place of a delicious garden. It is, doubtless, to this rapid transformation of nature that the Scriptures compare the fate of man." Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 237.

2 The evidence, proving that this east wind, by the Arabs called the Sam, and by the Turks called the Simoom, is not the pestilential mortal blast which it was formerly supposed to be, is collected by Dr. Robinson at length in pp. 929-931. of his Edition of Calmet's Dictionary condensed. Boston and New York, 1832. 8vo.

Shaw's Travels in Barbary, &c. vol. ii. pp. 127-133.

whence it is not more emphatically than beautifully described as a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills. And the same preference is given to this day by the Eelauts (a Tartar tribe occupying a district in the northern part of the Persian empire), who carry their flocks to the highest parts of the mountains, where the blessings of pasturage and of good water are to be found in abundance. The knowledge of this circumstance will, perhaps, impart new force to the promises made to the Gentiles by the evangelical prophet. Their pastures shall be in all high places, they shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the sun or heat smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. (Isa. xlix. 9-11.).1 See also Rev. vii. 16, 17.

1. Although RIVERS are frequently mentioned in the Sacred Writings, yet, strictly speaking, the only river in the Holy Land is the Jordan, which is sometimes designated in the Scripture as the river without any addition; as also is the Nile (Gen. xli. 1.; Exod. i. 22., ii. 5., iv. 9., vii. 18., and viii. 3. 9. 11.), and, occasionally, the Euphrates (as in Jer. ii. 18.); in these cases, the tenor of the discourse must determine which is the river actually intended by the sacred writers. The name of river is also given to inconsiderable streams and rivulets, as to the Kishon (Judges iv. 7. and v. 21.) and the Arnon. (Deut. iii. 16.)2

(1.) The principal river which waters Palestine is the JORDAN or Yar-Dan, i. e. the river of Dan, so called because it takes its rise in the vicinity of the little city of Dan. Its true source is in two fountains at Paneas (a city better known by its subsequent name of Cæsarea Philippi), at the foot of Anti-Libanus; its apparent source flows from beneath a spacious cave at the foot of a precipice, in the sides of which are several niches with Greek inscriptions.3 During several hours of its course, it continues to be a small and insignificant rivulet. It flows due south, with a tortuous course interrupted by frequent and most fearful rapids, through the centre of the country; intersecting the lake Merom and the sea or lake of Galilee, and (it is said) without mingling with its water; and it loses itself in the lake Asphaltites or the Dead Sea, into which it rolls a considerable volume of deep water, with such rapidity as to prevent a strong, active, and expert swimmer, from swimming across it. In the neighbourhood of Jericho the bathers are compelled to tie themselves together with ropes, to prevent their being swept off by the rapidity of the current. For two or three miles above its junction with the Dead Sea the Jordan is impregnated with the saline and bituminous matter of the

1 Morier's Second Journey through Persia, p. 121.

2 In a few instances the sea is called a river, as in Hab. iii. 8., where the Red Sea is intended.

Capt. Irby's and Mangles' Travels in Egypt, &c. pp. 287-289.

Carne's Recollections of Travels in the East, p. 38. London, 1830. 8vo.

For a description of the course and navigation of the river Jordan, the reader is referred, necessarily, to Capt. Lynch's Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the river Jordan and the Dead Sea. London, 1849. 8vo.

• Rabbi Schwartz's Descriptive Geography of Palestine, p. 48.