But our search was fruitless; no trace of ruins or of substructions is anywhere to be seen; the surface of the ground being mostly covered with large rocks in their natural position. 1 In consequence of this examination, I do not hesitate to regard Jeba as the Gibeah of Saul. It was here that our guide, whom we took from ErRâm, told us of ruins lying eastward from Jeba.

"We left Er-Râm at ten o'clock, and came in ten minutes to the Jerusalem road, at a place called Khuraib er-Râm, 'Ruins of Er-Râm,' to the west of the path, bearing from that place S. 55° W. Here are some eight or ten ruined arches in a line parallel to the road; and the foundations of as many more parallel to these. They may probably have belonged to a large khan for travellers and caravans. There are also several cisterns."

II. RAMAH, mentioned as a city in the mountains of Ephraim, was the native place of Samuel, (1Sam. 1. 19; 2. 11; 7. 17;) and afforded a temporary refuge to David, (1Sam. 19;) it is more fully expressed

.Ramathaim Zophim רמתים צופים by

Professor Robinson, in his account of his excursions from Jerusalem to Bethel, observes, "The tradition that here (Neby Samwil) is the tomb of the Prophet Samuel, necessarily includes the supposition that this spot is the Ramah or Ramathaim Zophim of the Old Testament, the birth-place, residence, and burial-place of that prophet. That this was a different city from the Ramah near Gibeah of Saul, (now Er-Rám,) on the east of the Nabulus road, is obvious, for the latter is only half an hour from Gibeah, Saul's residence; and its situation does not at all accord with the circumstance of his first visit to Samuel when in search of his father's asses, nor with David's subsequent flight to Samuel for refuge. But the same difficulties lie with almost equal force against the supposition, that the present Neby Samwil can be the Ramah of the prophet. As such it could not well have been unknown to Saul; since as being the highest point in the country, and not more than an hour and a half or two hours distant from his native place, it must have been before his eyes, if not in Gibeah itself, yet whenever he went out into the adjacent fields. But there are still greater difficulties. There can be little doubt that the visit of Saul to Samuel, above alluded to, took place in Ramah, when the prophet entertained him in his own house. At his departure in order to return to Gibeah, the prophet anoints him as king, and describes his way home as leading him by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin.' (1Sam. 10. 1,2.) This circumstance is decisive against the identity of Neby Samwil with Ramah. The site of Rachel's tomb cannot well be called in question; and therefore the Ramah of the prophet must have been so situated, that a person going from it to Gibeah would naturally, or at least without difficulty, pass near to the present sepulchre N.W. of Bethlehem. But from Neby Samwil, Gibeah lies about E.N.E. and not more than two hours distant; while the tomb of Rachel bears directly south at the distance of nearly three hours. Hence, any step taken from Neby Samwil towards the sepulchre of Rachel, only carries a person away from Gibeah.

"The true site of the Ramah of Samuel seems to have been early forgotten; since both Eusebius and Jerome place it, with still less probability, in the plain near Diospolis or Lydda. Yet the present tradition as to the prophet's tomb must have sprung up not long after their day; for apparently Procopius alludes to this spot when he relates that Justinian caused a wall and a well to be constructed for the monastery of St. Samuel in Palestine. At the close of the seventh century Adamnanus describes the ground north of Jerusalem as rocky and

rough, as far as to the city of Samuel or Ramah. The Crusaders found here the name of St. Samuel; and with little or no regard to consistency, held the place to be also the Shiloh of Scripture; or, as Brocardus expresses it, Mount Shiloh, which is now called St. Samuel.' Here stood a Latin convent of the order of Præmonstrants, which was plundered by the troops of Saladin as he was preparing to besiege Jerusalem in A.D. 1187. To the same period probably belongs the Latin church, now converted into a mosk. From that time onward to the present day, the natives have known the place only as Neby Samwil; while the monks and travellers have varied in describing it either as Shiloh or Ramah. In later centuries the name of Ramah has predominated. Most travellers have been contented to adopt the information of their monastic guides; although a few have ventured to call in question its accuracy.

"A few words respecting the probable extent of the land of Zuph may not be out of place. Samuel was descended from an ancestor named Zuph, an Ephrathite of Bethlehem; his city was called in full, Ramathaim Zophim, and lay apparently in a tract spoken of as the land of Zuph. Under these circumstances, the name Ramathaim Zophim probably signifies nothing more than Ramah of the Zophites, or descendants of Zuph. But where are we to look for this land and city of the Zophites? Saul departing from Gibeah of Benjamin in search of his father's asses, went first through Mount Ephraim on the north and through other places, and then 'passed through the land of the Benjamites, (of course from north to south,) and came to the land of Zuph,' and the city of Samuel. As he returned from this city to Gibeah, apparently after travelling some distance, he was to pass near Rachel's sepulchre, in the (southern) border of Benjamin, at Zelzah.' These circumstances show conclusively, that the land of Zuph and the city of Samuel were situated in the south of the territory of Benjamin, in such a position that a person proceeding thence to Gibeah would not unnaturally pass in the vicinity of Rachel's tomb. This is a known point; and I have already spoken of the reasons which forbid any attempt to disturb its general position." See RACHEL.

"The name Ramah signifies 'a height;' and we made it a particular point of inquiry to ascertain, whether on the high grounds around the tomb of Rachel, and especially towards the west, there are any traces either of a name or site, which might be regarded as the remains of the city of Samuel. We inquired of many persons, who were born and had spent their lives in the immediate vicinity; but no one knew aught of any such name or site. It is only since my return to Europe, that the thought has occurred to my mind, whether a reminiscence of Ramathaim Zophim and of the land of Zuph, may not be contained in the name Soba. The letters of this name correspond to those of the Hebrew Zuph and Zophim; (ph or p being not unfrequently changed into b;) and its position on a lofty hill south of the land of Benjamin, accords in the main with the view above given.

"At first sight, two difficulties seem to militate against this hypothesis. The one arises out of the position of Soba; since it might be made a question, whether a person returning from Soba to Gibeah, would naturally pass in the vicinity of Rachel's tomb. If he took the present direct road from Soba to Jerusalem or its vicinity, passing near El-Kustul, he certainly would not approach the sepulchre of Rachel; but if, crossing the great Wady Isma'in, he followed up Wady el-Werd, he would by this detour come near enough to the sepulchre to satisfy all the conditions of the case. It is sufficient, if we suppose that the Zelzah mentioned lay on the high

ground north of Rachel's tomb, not far from the convent of Mar Elyas, or more probably still further towards the N.W. The distance from Soba to the vicinity of Jerusalem, or the direct course, is two and a half hours; on the route along the Wady el-Werd and the Valley of Rephaim, it would probably be three hours or more. So that, other circumstances being equal, the identity of the name might, perhaps, be held to counterbalance the apparent circuitousness of the route. The other difficulty refers not to Soba alone, but to every portion of Ramah which places it on the south of Benjamin. Elkanah, the father of Samuel, is said to have been a man of Ramathaim Zophim, of Mount Ephraim;' which certainly implies that the city itself was situated on Mount Ephraim. Here, then, apparently is a circumstance directly at variance with our preceding conclusion; since the mountains south of Benjamin belong not to Ephraim, but to Judah. But as the circumstances above adduced seem conclusively to fix the position of Ramah on the south of Benjamin, may we not suppose that the mountains of Ephraim continued to bear that name quite through the land of Benjamin; much as the Swiss mountains may be said to extend into Italy, or the Welsh mountains into England? This, indeed, has been assumed by Bachiene, on the ground that in the first division of the land by Joshua at Gilgal, the territory of Benjamin was actually given to Ephraim; not having been assigned to Benjamin until the later division at Shiloh. All this may be true in part; but still, the heights round about the sepulchre of Rachel could not well have been any other than the mountains of Judah.

"There is, however, another consideration, which seems to relieve the position of Soba from the difficulty in question, and this adds something to the probability of its identity with Ramah. I have already remarked that the mountain ridge west of Wady Beit Hanina, of which the hill of Soba forms a part, is a continuation of the ridge of Neby Samwil and the high grounds around, extending in the south-west quite out to the plain at the north of Wady Sûrât. Now all this mountainous tract stands in immediate connexion with the proper mountains of Ephraim around El-Bîreh, and further north; it is separated entirely by the great Wady Beit Hanîna from the proper mountains of Judah towards the south; and further, as we shall see, the greater part of it did not even fall within the later limits of the tribe of Judah. Under these circumstances, it seems not too much to assume that this tract west of the great Wady, a regular continuation of Mount Ephraim, including Neby Samwil, might have continued to bear the name of Ephraim; while the wady would naturally form the dividing line between this range and the proper mountains of Judah. That the name Mount Ephraim did actually thus extend through Benjamin, is rendered probable by the fact, that we nowhere hear of any mountains of Benjamin; and further, the rebel Sheba, a Benjamite, is also said to have been a man of Mount Ephraim.'

6

"In view of all these suggestions, it seems to me that the hypothesis which would identify Soba with the Ramah of Samuel, is not without some slight grounds of support; and in total absence of anything more definite, is not perhaps to be wholly rejected without consideration."

Speaking of Er-Ramleh, Professor Robinson observes in another place: "We may now inquire, whether there is any evidence to connect the present Ramleh with our ancient Ramah; either the Ramathaim Zophim of Samuel, or the Arimathea of the New Testament? Since the time of the Crusades, such a connexion has b een generally assumed, chiefly upon the strength of a

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supposed identity or resemblance of the two names, supported by the ancient mention of a Ramah or Ramathaim in the vicinity.

"That a place called Ramathem or Ramatha did anciently exist in this region, somewhere not far distant from Lydda, admits of little question. In the letter of Demetrius Nicator to Lasthenes, preserved in the First Book of Maccabees, and Josephus, he speaks expressly of the districts Apherima, Lydda, and Ramathem, which had been annexed to Judæa from Samaria. Further, both Eusebius and Jerome mention an Armatha Sophim in the Thamnitic region near to Lydda, and regard it as the city of Samuel, and the Arimathea of the New Testament. This testimony is decisive as to the existence of a place and district called Ramathem, not far from Lydda, and within the region or toparchy of Thamna. But does this evidence go to show any connexion between this Ramathem and the modern Ramleh? In itself it certainly does not; and after having had the subject long before my mind, I am constrained to admit that the balance of probabilities seems to be against the identity of the two.

"First, the two names, Ramah (Ramathaim) and Ramleh, instead of being identical or even kindred, are totally diverse both in etymology and meaning. Ramleh signifies "sand," and is appropriately applied to the town as situated in a sandy plain; while Ramah is a height, hill,' and is, therefore, here wholly inapplicable. The names, too, come from different roots, and have no more etymological affinity than Ramah and Bramah, or Poland and Portland. The Arabian history of the founding of Ramleh affords an easy explanation, why the name should have been adopted; while as to Ramah, the supposition would be far more probable, that it was situated upon one of the hills not far distant from Lydda towards the east.

"It is somewhat remarkable, too, if this ancient Ramah occupied the site of Ramleh, so near to Lydda, and in full view from that place, that none of the early pilgrims should allude to it. Both the Bourdeaux pilgrim in A.D. 333, and St. Willibald, about A.D. 765, mention Lydda and Emmaus (Nicopolis); and it is hardly conceivable that they should have passed by Ramah or Arimathea, which in that case lay almost between, without some notice as the city of Samuel and of Joseph. Yet they have no allusion to the name or place; and the first mention of it, is made by the monk Bernard a century later, who speaks of it only as Ramleh. All this goes to sustain the testimony of Abulfeda and William of Tyre. Further, by combining several notices of Eusebius and Jerome, it appears to follow that the Ramah (Arimathea) of which they speak, did actually lie somewhere eastward from Lydda, as I have above conjectured. It was, as we have seen, in the Thamnitic region near to Lydda. But Thamna, which gave name to a toparchy, is described by the same writers as a large village in the borders of Lydda, on the way to Jerusalem. And from another passage it appears that the Thamnitic district extended not less than fifteen Roman miles on the north (or north-east) of Lydda; which point they still describe as in the borders of the latter city, although this was the head of a different toparchy. Hence as the district in which their Ramah lay, stretched thus far on the east and north of Lydda, we are hardly entitled to assume that it also extended around to the south-west of that town, so as to include a place so near it in that direction as Ramleh. Nor is their expression near by Lydda,' (juxta Diospolin,) to be pressed to an extreme; Lydda itself is said to be 'near to Joppa, although the two places are three hours distant from each other.

"Hence, as this Ramah seems to have been situated on the east of Lydda, and the name implies that it stood upon a 'height,' we are most probably to look for it somewhere in the tract of hills between the mountain and the plain. We, however, fell in with no further trace of it; and my purpose here has been, not so much to show where it lay, as to point out the circumstances which render it improbable that Ramah was identical with Ramleh.

"In accordance with this view, and with the testimony of Abulfeda, most of the earliest Crusaders speak of the place only as Ramleh, and appear not to have thought of any Ramah. Yet the hypothesis of their identity must have soon sprung up, for Benjamin of Tudela, not long after A.D. 1160, speaks of the place as the ancient Ramah, and relates the fable of the bones of Samuel. Yet the scholars of the age did not adopt the common view; for, twenty years afterwards, William of Tyre expressly rejects it, and follows the testimony of Arabian writers, that Ramleh had been first founded by Mohammedans. But the influence of his learning could not stem the tide of legend-loving credulity; and in the time of Brocardus, a century later, we find Ramleh fully installed as the Arimathea of Joseph, and also as the Ramathaim Zophim of Samuel in Mount Ephraim. Yet long before this time the present Neby Samwil was already held to be the latter place.

"I have already adduced reason enough to show that the city of Samuel could not have been at Neby Samwil, and still less at Ramathem (Arimathea) of Eusebius and Jerome, near Lydda, wherever this may have lain. The idea that this Ramah may have been the Arimathea of the New Testament, is not in itself improbable; and it may be said, too, that these fathers lived near the Apostolic age, when a correct tradition might still be extant. Yet on the other hand, in the very same article, they make the place also to have been the city of Samuel, which is impossible; and they also make Nicopolis to have been the Emmaus of the New Testament, in direct contradiction to the specification of Scripture; for the Emmaus of Luke was only sixty stadia distant from Jerusalem, while Nicopolis cannot be much less than one hundred and sixty. Hence, the positions of both the Scriptural Arimathea and Emmaus must, I think, be still regarded as alike unsettled." See ARIMATHEA.

III. A place called Ramah, of which nothing remarkable is recorded, is mentioned in Joshua 19. 29, among the cities of the tribe of Asher; and another Ramah, or perhaps the same, is included among the possessions of Naphtali, in another part of the same chapter (v. 36).

RAMESES, DDDY (Exod. 1. 11; 12.37; Numb. 33. 3.) Amongst the labours to which the Hebrews were subjected in Egypt under the reign of the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph, the Scriptures mention the construction of the cities Pithom and Rameses.

The first city M. Champollion finds is the place which bears the name of Thoum in the Itinerary of Antoninus; the second is perhaps to be recognised in a little village, which at the present time has the name of Ramsis. This village, noticed by several travellers, (Niebuhr, Sonnini, &c.,) preserves still the ruins of an ancient town, placed on the borders of a canal which conveyed the waters of the Nile to the Lake Mareotis. It is situated two leagues and a half north-west from the place called Eshlime, by D'Anville, in his map of Modern Egypt, which the Arabs now call Aschlemeh, forming a part of Lower Egypt beyond the Delta.

Professor Robinson, speaking of the route of the

RAMOTH, л (Josh. 21. 38,) a city in the mountains of Gilead, often called also Ramoth-Gilead, and sometimes Ramoth-Mizpeh, or the Watch-tower. (Josh. 13. 26.) This city belonged to the tribe of Gad; it was assigned to the Levites, and was one of the cities of refuge beyond Jordan. (Deut. 4. 43; Josh. 20.8; 21. 38.) It became celebrated during the reigns of the later kings of Israel, and was the occasion of several wars between these princes and the kings of Damascus, who had conquered it, and from whom the kings of Israel endeavoured to regain it. (1Kings 22. 3-36; 2Kings 8. 28,29.) Ahab, king of Israel, was killed in battle with the Syrians before this place, (2Chron. 18. 3,4,5;) and afterwards Jehoram, king of Judah, was dangerously wounded; Jehu, the son of Nimshi, was here anointed king of Israel by a young prophet sent by Elisha. (2Kings 9. 1-10.) After this time Ramoth is no more mentioned in the Scriptures, and though it no doubt shared in the revolutions of the country beyond Jordan, its history cannot now be traced. It is supposed to be now represented by a small town called Ramya, twelve miles south-west of Jeraish, and one hundred south of Damascus. Gesenius, however, places it at Szalt, in the province of Belka, a few miles north-east of Ramya. Szalt lies on the descent of a hill, protected by a castle, and is surrounded on all sides by steep mountains. In the midst of the city, there is a beautiful fountain, to which there is a subterranean passage from the castle.

RAMPART. See ARMS, ARMOUR, ARMY.

RANSOM, 1 pidyon. (Exod.21.30.) Ransom is a price paid to recover a person or thing from one who detains that person or thing in captivity. Hence prisoners of war, or slaves, are said to be ransomed, when they are liberated in exchange for a valuable consideration. Whatever is substituted or exchanged in compensation for the party is his ranson; but the word ransom is more extensively taken in Scripture. A man is said to ransom his life, that is, to substitute a sum of money instead of his life as the penalty of certain offences, (Exod. 21. 30; Job 36. 18; Psalm 49. 7;) and some kind of sacrifices, as the sin and trespassofferings, might be regarded as ransoms, that is, as substitutes for the offerer. In like manner Our blessed Lord is said to give Himself a ransom for all, (1Tim. 2.6; Matt. 20. 23; Mark 10. 43,) a substitute for them, bearing sufferings in their stead, undergoing that penalty which would otherwise attach to them. (Rom. 3. 34; 7. 23; 1Cor. 1. 30; Eph. 1. 7; 4. 30; Heb. 9. 13.)

RAVEN, 1 oreb, (Gen. 8. 7;) kopağ, (Luke 12.24;) corvus, corax, a well known bird of prey, of the genus Corvus, regarded as unclean by the Mosaic law. (Levit. 11. 15.)

The raven is an active predatory bird found in most countries of the earth, and particularly abundant in the East. It seems to have been, as it still is, very common in Palestine, as the numerous allusions to it in

the Scriptures, both of the Old and the New Testaments, show that its peculiar appearance and habits were wellknown.

The Raven.

The blackness of the raven is proverbial: "His locks are bushy and black as a raven." (Cantic. 5. 11.) Our Saviour instructs his disciples to trust in the care and kindness of heaven: "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, neither have storehouse, nor barn; and God feedeth them. How much better are ye than the fowls!" (Luke 12. 24.) Solomon, speaking of the peculiar regard and veneration due to the worthy persons and salutary instructions of parents, observes, that an untimely fate and the want of decent interment may be expected from the contrary: and that leering eye which throws wicked contempt on a good father, and insolent disdain on a tender mother, shall be dug out of the unburied exposed corpse by the ravens of the valley and eaten up by the young eagles. (Prov. 30. 17.)

It was a custom of punishment in the East, and one which the Orientals dreaded above all others, to expose in the open fields, the bodies of evil doers that had suffered by the laws of their offended country, to be devoured by the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven. The wise man intimates that the raven makes his first and keenest attack on the eye; which perfectly corresponds with his habits, for he always begins his banquet with that part.

The raven it is well known delights in solitude. He frequents the ruined tower or the ruined habitation. In the prophecy of Isaiah 34. 11, it is accordingly foretold, that the raven, with other birds of similar disposition, should fix his abode in the desolate houses of Edom: "The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it. The owl and the raven shall dwell in it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness." The Prophet Zephaniah (2. 14,) in like manner, makes the raven croak over the perpetual desolations of Nineveh: "Both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it, their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds."

One very memorable matter regarding ravens is their being recorded as divinely commissioned to feed the fugitive prophet Elijah. (1Kings 17. 1-6.) Professor Paxton observes: "These voracious and impure animals received a commandment from their Maker, to provide for his prophet by the brook Cherith, near its confluence with the Jordan. The record is couched in these terms: 'Get thee hence and turn eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan; and it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.' In the history of Providence, such commands are by no means uncommon; the locust, the serpent, and the fishes of the sea, have all, in their turn, received the charge to do

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the will of their Almighty Creator. Thus he promised to Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple: 'If I command the locusts to devour the land, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wickedness, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.' The marine serpent that lurks in the deepest caverns of the ocean in like manner hears his voice, and submits to his authority; for Jehovah directed his prophet to address his guilty countrymen in the memorable terms. "Though they be his from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.' Nor was the great fish which he pressed to swallow up the refractory prophet less prompt in its obedience: And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. His providence extends its powerful influence over inanimate objects: 'I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded.' And David, in the spirit, complained of his ancestors, That they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation, though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven.' Even the furious billows of the sea durst not pass the line which his finger has traced without his permission: 'I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness the swaddling-band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.' The inanimate and irrational parts of creation, properly speaking, cannot receive and execute the commands of the Almighty; they are only passive instruments employed by him in his providential dispensations to produce certain effects. To command the ravens, then, is to make use of them in providing necessities for his servant; to impart, for a time, an instinctive care to supply him with food, to which they were by nature entire strangers, and which they ceased to feel when the end was accomplished. A command to sustain the destitute seer, after the brook of which he drank was dried up, was addressed in a very different manner to the widow of Zarephath. It was couched in words addressed to her understanding and heart, while the secret power of Jehovah inclined her to yield a prompt and efficacious obedience. On this occasion a number of ravens were employed, because the service of one was not sufficient to supply the prophet with daily food. But the circumstance entirely accords with the native instincts of that bird; for the ravens go in quest of food in troops, and share in common the spoils of the chase. Following, therefore, the instincts of their nature, which received, for a time, a peculiar direction by the miraculous interposition of Jehovah, a number of ravens associated together, in order to supply the wants of Elijah, whom his country had abandoned to the rage of an impious and cruel prince. And they brought him flesh and bread in the evening, and he drank of the brook.' The Septuagint, in many copies, read the pas sage, "They brought him bread in the morning, and flesh in the evening;' but the common reading is entitled to the preference. It gives a striking display of Divine goodness, that when the whole resources of Israel were exhausted by a long and severe famine, the prophet of the Lord was miraculously and abundantly supplied with nutritious food twice every day. The ravens brought it in the evening and in the morning, which were the stated hours of repast among the Jews and other Oriental nations."

Roberts observes, "Some suppose 'ravens' to be a mistranslation, and that the promise referred to a people who were to feed the prophet. The following quotation