It is formed by the union of two springs, the uppermost arises in Mount Lebanon, about twelve miles north. of Cæsarea Philippi; the other proceeds from the lake named Phiala. One of these springs was "Jor," and the other "Dan," which names united, gave rise to the word JOR-DAN; on the latter of these, the town of Dan was situated, which had been formerly called "Laish." See Dan. (Judges, xviii. 29.) It is written in Deut. i. 1, "these are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan." The word translated on "this side," also signifies "beyond," or "at the passage." It is so translated in Joshua, xii. 7.

JOSEPH, the husband of Mary. (Matth. i. 18, 19.) Also the nearest of kin to Heli, the father of Mary; hence, was espoused to her according to law. He was the natural, that is by birth, son of Jacob, and the legal son of Heli; or, as we call it, son-in-law; hence called by Luke, the son of Heli, in virtue of his being Mary's husband. See Mary. Genealogy.

JOSIAH. See Huldah.

JOSEPHUS, the Jewish historian, was born within a few years of Christ; and wrote his history about A. D. 64. He has always been esteemed a faithful and impartial historian; and was a true Jew to the hour of his death. Some have supposed, from the remarks he made respecting Christ, that he must have been secretly a Christian. I hold no such opinion; but quite the reverse. I believe him to have been a faithful Jew to the last; and that he introduced, most artfully, that very passage, respecting Christ, in order to invalidate the statements of the Sacred writers, and thus, under cover, to give Chris

tianity a fatal stab. My reasons for so thinking, will be found under the head of Interpolation, which see.

A tolerably correct opinion may be formed of the high estimation in which Josephus, as a historian, was held by the most eminent men in all classes of society, Jew, Christian, and Heathen. Joseph Scaliger, one of the most learned, and competent judges, says, in his book De Emendatione Temporum, p. 17, "Josephus is the most diligent, and the greatest lover of truth, of all writers; nor are we afraid to affirm of him, that it is more safe to believe him, not only as to the affairs of the Jews, but also as to those that are foreign to them, than all the Greek and Latin writers; and this because his fidelity and his compass of learning, are every where conspicuous."

JOTHAM. In 2 Kings, xv. 33, it is said, that Jotham reigned sixteen years; yet in the preceding verse, mention is made of the twentieth year of his reign! Is not this a contradiction? No! For kings and their sons often reigned together, during the Hebrew monarchy. In this case, the thirty-third verse, alludes to the length of time Jotham reigned alone; but the thirtieth verse, includes the four years he reigned together with his father Uzziah, who, being a leper, was therefore, unfit for the sole government! Thus the twenty years of his reign are easily accounted for, and this apparent contradiction, most easily reconciled. If the men of this country, (America,) who so justly boast of having thrown off the bondage of an earthly king, would, with equal courage, throw off the bondage of their spiritual king, the king of darkness, the greatest tyrant that ever reigned, what a glorious freedom, what a glorious emancipation would all then enjoy!

JUDAS. It is written in Matt. xxvii. 5, that Judas went and hanged himself. Luke, in Acts, i. 18, relates those circumstances only which followed after he had hanged himself, viz. that, "falling headlong," (perhaps by the rope breaking, or that to which he had fastened it, giving way,) "he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." There is no knowing how long, (perhaps weeks or even months,) he might have remained suspended, (for it is probable he hung himself in some unfrequented part of the neighbouring woods,) even till decomposition of his body had far advanced, and then falling from a very low height indeed, would be quite sufficient to cause a rupture or bursting of the parietes of the abdomen, and the consequent gushing out of his intestines or bowels on the ground.

Again, it is written in Matt. xxvii. 5, that, "he (Judas) cast down the pieces of silver in the temple." And in Acts, i. 18, "Now this man purchased a field with the reward of his iniquity;" which we find in Matt. xxvii. 7, actually occurred, for it is written, "the chief priests bought with them," (the pieces of silver-the reward of iniquity.) "the Potter's field to bury strangers in." So that "the reward of iniquity," of Judas's iniquity, "bought the Potter's field;" consequently it was Judas, who, by his iniquity, in betraying his Lord and master, actually bought this field, although it was the priests who handed over the money for the field to its owners: they were the agents, he was the principal. As it may be said of any rich man, he purchased such a piece of land, or he built such a mansion, although, in the first instance, he might have never seen either the land nor its owner; and in the second instance, he might have never touched one article with which his house was built. It is said, Rothschild has purchased the old Prison in Walnut

street, (Philadelphia,) for a hotel, although Rothschild was never in Philadelphia, never saw the said prison, nor its owners! How then did he purchase it? I answer his money purchased it. So did Judas's money purchase the Potter's field. See Jeremiah.

Lastly. There is no reason whatsoever for supposing, that Judas was eternally lost; but quite the reverse, for he confessed his iniquity in betraying the innocent blood, (Matth. xxvii. 4,) and the agony of his repentance and sorrow was such that it set him mad: and in his insanity he hung himself! In Acts, i. 25, the "he" refers not to Judas, but to Matthias.

pronoun

JUDGMENT, Judging, or forming a correct opinion, is always in proportion to the knowledge we possess of the thing to be valued or the circumstance to be judged. If we know but little about it, the opinion we come to, will be, in all probability, erroneous. Thus if we wish to purchase a piece of land, a ship, or a horse, if we are but indifferently acquainted with these articles, we will ask the opinion of some one in whose knowledge of the article we have confidence; for the obvious reason that we believe his judgment of it will be more correct than ours, because he knows more about it. Again, how often do we form an erroneous opinion of the merits of a trial in court, or the history of a transaction, when we know only a part of the case; so that when we have heard the whole case, we often come to the very opposite conclusion. Now although no man of common sense, will for a moment, question the truth of this statement, yet Infidels, in coming to conclusions respecting detached parts of transactions recorded in the Bible, act upon the very opposite principle; which, if the other be true, this must be false! That is, they come to conclusions on a

matter, and express their opinions respecting it, with as much confidence and boldness, as if they knew all the circumstances of the case, when in fact, perhaps, only the one-hundredth part of it is recorded. Finally, it is an incontrovertible maxim, that while it is only wise and just to judge of the meaning of a passage, according to the spirit of the whole document in which the passage is, it is equally unwise and unjust to judge of the whole record, by insulated, detached, or ambiguous passages. Yet this, also, is what infidels do in attempting to invalidate the Sacred Scriptures. See Cruelties.

JUDGMENT. At the last great day, the Son of the MOST HIGH will come in the clouds of heaven to judge every man according to his works, and demonstrate, in the midst of the inhabitants of (perhaps) myriads of worlds, his justice, wisdom, and mercy. It has been proved, that for that occasion, a surface of ground, not larger than New Jersey, will be sufficient for all who have existed since the creation to that day, to stand on! The great probability that that day is not far distant, can be proved by a number of circumstances; and for the certainty of which, see article Jerusalem.

K.

KINGS, were given to the Jews as a curse for their having rebelled against Jehovah, previous to which their government, as appointed by God himself, was purely republican. 1 Sam. viii. 7. 18; xii. 3. 25. The first Christian church, also, as organized by the apostles, was purely republican. Acts ii. 44, vi. 3. And the principle is forcibly inculcated by the Lord Jesus himself, in Matt.