saida, Gadara, Gerasa, Geshur, and Jabesh-Gilead. This tribe was greatly indebted to the bravery of Jair, who took threesome cities, besides several small towns or villages, which he called Havoth-Jair, or the Dwellings of Jair. (1 Chron. ii. 23. Num. xxxii. 41.)

The remaining nine tribes and a half were settled on the western side of the Jordan.

The canton of the tribe of JUDAH was bounded on the east by the Dead Sea; on the west, by the tribes of Dan and Simeon, both of which lay between it and the Mediterranean Sea; on the north, by the canton of the tribe of Benjamin; and on the south, by Kadesh-Barnea, and the Desert of Paran or Zin. Judah was reckoned to be the largest and most populous of all the twelve tribes; and its inhabitants were the most valiant; it was also the chief and royal tribe, from which, in subsequent times, the whole kingdom was denominated. The most remarkable places or cities in this tribe were Adullam, Azekah, Bethlehem, Bethzor, Debir or Kiriath-sepher, Emmaus, Engedi, Kiriatharba or Hebron, Libnah, Makkedah, Maon, Massada, Tekoah, and Ziph.

The inheritance of the tribes of DAN and of SIMEON was within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, or was taken out of the portion at first allotted to the latter. The boundaries of these two tribes are not precisely ascertained; though they are placed by geographers to the north and south-west of the canton of Judah, and consequently bordered on the Mediterranean Sea. The principal cities in the tribe of Dan, were Ajalon, Dan or Lesham, Eltekeh, Eshtaol, Gath-rimmon, Gibbethon, Hirshemesh, Joppa, Modin, Timnath, and Zorah. The chief cities in the tribe of Simeon, were Ain, Beersheba, Hormah, and Ziklag.

The canton allotted to the tribe of BENJAMIN lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph, contiguous to Samaria on the north, to Judah on the south, and to Dan on the west, which last parted it from the Mediterranean. It did not contain many cities and towns, but this defect was abundantly supplied by its possessing the most considerable, and the metropolis of all the city of Jerusalem. The other places of note in this tribe were Anathoth, Beth-el, Gibeah, Gibeon, Gilgal, Hai, Mizpeh, Ophrah, and Jericho.

To the north of the canton of Benjamin lay that allotted to the tribe of EPHRAIM, and that of the other HALF TRIBE OF MANASSEH. The boundaries of these two districts cannot be ascertained with precision. The chief places in Ephraim, were Bethoron the Nether and Upper, Gezer, Lydda, Michmash, Naioth, Samaria, Shechem, Shiloh, and TimnathSerah. After the schism of the ten tribes, the seat of the kingdom of Israel being in Ephraim, this tribe is frequently used to signify the whole kingdom. The chief places in the half tribe of Manasseh, were Abel-meholath, Bethabara, Bethsham (afterwards called Scythopolis), Bezek, Endor, Enon, Gath-rimmon, Megiddo, Salim, Ophrah, and Tirzah. To the north, and more particularly to the north-east of the half tribe of Manassel, lay the canton of ISSACHAR, which was bordered by the celebrated plain of Jezreel, and its northern boundary was Mount Tabor. The chief cities of Issachar, were Aphek, Bethshemesh, Dothan, Kishon, Jezreel, Naim or Nain, Ramoth, and Shunem.

On the north and west of Issachar resided the tribe of ZEBULUN. Its chief places were Bethlehem, Cinnereth or Chinnereth, Gath-hepher, Jokneam, Remmon-Methoar, and

Shimroncheron.

names of their respective presidents, are enumerated in I Kings iv. 7-19. From the produce of these districts every one of these officers was to supply the king with provisions for his household, in his turn, that is, each for one month in the year. The dominions of Solomon extended from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt, they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1 Kings iv. 21.) Hence it appears that the Hebrew monarch reigned over all the provinces from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, even to the frontiers of Egypt. The Euphrates was the eastern boundary of his dominions; the Philistines were westward, on the Meditterranean Sea; and Egypt was on the south. Solomon therefore had, as his tributaries, the kingdoms of Syria, Damascus, Moab, and Ammon; and thus he appears to have possessed all the land which God had covenanted with Abraham to give to his posterity.

VI. Under this division the Holy Land continued till after the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from his son Rehoboam, and erected themselves into a separate kingdom under Jeroboam, called the KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. The two other tribes of Benjamin and Judah, continuing faithful to Rehoboam, formed the Kingdom of JudaH. This kingdom comprised all the southern parts of the land, consisting of the allotments of those two tribes, together with so much of the territories of Dan and Simeon as were intermixed with that of Judah: its royal city or metropolis was Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamín. The kingdom of Israel included all the northern and middle parts of the land, occupied by the other ten tribes; and its capital was Samaria, in the tribe of Ephraim, situated about thirty miles north-east of Jerusalem. But this division ceased, on the subversion of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, after it had subsisted two hundred and fifty-four years.

VII. The Holy Land fell successively into the hands of the Syrian kings, the Greeks and Romans. IN THE TIME OF JESUS CHRIST it was divided into five separate provinces, viz. Galilee, Samaria, Judæa, Perea, and Idumæa.

1. GALILEE. This portion of the Holy Land is very frequently mentioned in the New Testament: its limits seem to have varied at different times. It comprised the country formerly occupied by the tribes of Issachar, Naphtali, and Asher, and by part of the tribe of Dan; and is divided by Josephus into Upper and Lower Galilee.

Upper Galilee abounded in mountains; and from its vicinity to the cities of Tyre and Sidon, it is called the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon. (Mark vii. 31.) The principal city in this region was Caesarea Philippi; through which the main road lay to Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon.

Lower Galilee was situated in a rich and fertile plain, between the Mediteranean Sea and the Lake of Gennesareth: according to Josephus, this district was very populous, containing upwards of two hundred cities and towns. The principal cities of Lower Galilee, mentioned in the New Testament, are Tiberias, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Nain, Cæsarea of Palestine, and Ptole mais.

Galilee was most honoured by our Saviour's presence. "Hither Joseph and Mary returned with him out of Egypt, and here he resided until his baptism by John. (Matt. ii. 22, 23. Luke ii. 39-51. Matt. iii. 13. Luke iii. 21.) Hither he returned after his baptism and temptation (Luke iv. 14.): and, The tribe of ASHER was stationed in the district to the after his entrance on his public ministry, though he often north of the half tribe of Manasseh, and west of Zebulun; went into other provinces, yet so frequent were his visits to consequently it was a maritime country. Hence it was said this country, that he was called a Galilean. (Matt. xxvi. 69.) (Judg. v. 17.) that Asher continued on the sea-shore, and abode The population of Galilee being very great, our Lord had in his creeks. Its northern boundary was Mount Libanus or many opportunities of doing good; and being out of the Lebanon; and on the south it was bounded by Mount Car-power of the priests at Jerusalem, he seems to have preferred mel, and the canton of Issachar. Its principal cities were it as his abode. To this province our Lord commanded his Abdon, Achshaph, Helkath, Mishal, and Rehob. This tribe apostles to come and converse with him after his resurrection never possessed the whole extent of district assigned to it, (Matt. xxviii. 7. 16.): and of this country most, if not the which was to reach to Libanus, to Syria, and Phoenicia, and whole, of his apostles were natives, whence they are all styled included the celebrated cities of Tyre and Sidon. by the angels men of Galilee." (Acts i. 11.)

Lastly, the tribe of NAPHTALI or Nephtali occupied that district in the northern part of the land of Canaan, which lay between Mount Lebanon to the north, and the sea of Cinnereth (or Gennesareth) to the south, and between Asher to the West, and the river Jordan to the east. Its chief places were Abel or Abel-Beth-Maachah, Hammoth-dor, Harosheth of the Gentiles, Kedesh, and Kiriathaim.

V. The next remarkable division was made by king SOLO-
Mos, who divided the kingdom, which he had received from
his father David, into twelve provinces or districts, each un-
der a peculiar officer. These districts, together with the
VOL. II.
C

The Galileans spoke an unpolished and corrupt dialect of the Syriac, confounding and using y (ain) or (aleph), ɔ (caph) for (beth), ♬ (lau) for ▼ (daleth); and also frequently changed the gutturals. This probably proceeded from their great communication and intermixture with the neighbouring nations. It was this corrupt dialect that led to the

Well's Geography of the Old and New Testament, vol. ii. p. 137.

Dr. Lightfoot, to whom we are indebted for the above reinark, has

given several histances in Hebrew and English, which are sufficiently amus ing. One of these is as follows: A certain woman intended to say before the judge, My Lord, I had a picture, which they stole; and it was so great

At this time the city was som such parts as were not encompasst a where there was only one WI the north side, at the tower called Hin, te is ir engines could make any impression on tended to the place called the Astus and to the esote them. What Agrippa eculd not accomplish, the Jews subse house, and it terminated at the western cluster of the tem & quand, when Jerusalem was besieged by But, proceeding westward, in a contrary direction, the histo de Ringa is wall was twenty cubits high, above which rian says, that it began at the same place, and extended were barlemens of two cubits, and turrets of three cubits, through a place called Bethso, to the gate of the Esseres, making in all an altitude of twenty-five cubits. Numerous then taking a turn towards the south, it nacted to the place towers, constructed of solid masonry, were erected at certain called Ophlas, where it was joined to the casters cleister of distinges ; in the third wall, there were ninety; in the middle the temple. The second wall commenced at the gute Gen- wall, there were forty; and in the old wall, sixty. The nath, and encompassed only the northern quarter of the city, towers of Hippieus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne, erected by as far as the tower Antonia. The third wail began at the Herod the Great, and dedicated to the memories of his friend, tower Hippicus, whence it reached as far as the north quarter las brother, and his wife, were pre-eminent for their height, of the city, passed by the tower Psephines, till it came to their massive architecture, their beauty, and the conveniences the monument of Helena, queen of Adiabene. Thence it, with which they were furnished. According to Josephus the passed by the sepulchres of the kings; and, taking a dire circumference of Jerusalem, previously to its siege and detion round the south-west corner, passed the Fuller's Mona-struction by the Romans, was thirty-three furlongs, or nearly ment, and joined the old wall at the valley of Kodron. This, four miles and a hait: and the wall of circumvallation, conthird wall was commenced by Agrippa, to defend the newly structed by order of Titus, he states to have been thirty-nine erected part of the city called Bezetha; but he did not finish furlongs, or four miles eight hundred and seventy-five paces.

pronkension of lamming the displeasure of the em s His intention was to have erected it with

The St W X3 x STEN TREST is in length by ten cubits in breadth; so

• Observationes Philologica ac Geographice. pp. 21-4.

Amstelæ dami, 1747. Svo

De Bell Jud. lib. vi e 6. *Ilaria expagg. Briggsprong AA potep, are the words of Jess. phos, which Preus renders alla fata calle ante divisus (Intred, ad Nov. Test. p. 522), formerly divided by another broad valley." The rendering above given is that of Mr. Whiston.

•M D'Anville bas elaberately investigated the extent of Jerusalem, as described by Joseplans, in his learned Dissertation sur l'Etendue de l'ancienne Jerusa'cn'erde son Temple," the accuracy of whose details Vis count Chateaubriand has attested in his Itinerary to and from Jerusalem. This very rare dissertation of D'Auville is reprinted in the Bible de Vence, tom vi pp. 43 81. 8th edition.

At present, a late traveller states that the circumference of
Jerusalem cannot exceed three miles.1

5. During the time of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem was adorned with numerous edifices, both sacred and civil, some of which are mentioned or alluded to in the New Testament. But its chief glory was the temple, described in a subsequent part of this volume; which magnificent structure occupied the northern and lower top of Sion, as we learn from the Psalm1st (xlviii. 2.); Beautiful for situation, the joy (or delight) of the whole earth, is Mount Sion. On her north side is the city if the great king. Next to the temple in point of splendour, was the very superb palace of Herod, which is largely described by Josephus it afterwards became the residence of the Roman procurators, who for this purpose generally claimed the royal palaces in those provinces which were subject to kings. These dwellings of the Roman procurators in the provinces were called Prætoria: Herod's palace therefore was Pilate's prætorium (Matt. xxvii. 27. John xvii. 28.): and in some part of this edifice was the armoury or barracks of the Roman soldiers that garrisoned Jerusalem, whither Jesus was conducted and mocked by them. (Matt. xxvii. 27. Mark xv. 16.) In the front of this palace was the tribunal, where Pilate sat in a judicial capacity to hear and determine weighty causes; being a raised pavement of mosaic work (sprey), the evangelist informs us that in the Hebrew language it was on this account termed Gabbatha (John xix. 13.), i. e. an elevated place. In this tribunal the procurator Florus sat, A. D. 66; and, in order to punish the Jews for their seditious behaviour, issued orders for his soldiers to plunder the upper market-place in Jerusalem, and to put to death such Jews as they met with; which commands were executed with savage barbarity."

by God to persons labouring under the most desperate dis

eases.13

(2.) The Pool of Siloam (John ix. 7.) was two-fold, viz. Upper and Lower. The Upper Reservoir or Pool (Isa. vii. 3.), called the King's Pool in Neh. ii. 14., probably watered the king's gardens (Neh. iii. 15.), while the Lower Pool seems to have been designed for the use of the inhabitants. Both these reservoirs were supplied from the fountain of Siloam: but which of them is to be understood in John ix. 7. it is now impossible to determine.

6. During the reigns of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was the metropolis of the land of Israel; but after the defection of the ten tribes under Jeroboam, it was the capital of the kings of Judah, during whose government it underwent various revolutions. It was captured four times without being demolished, viz. by Shishak, sovereign of Egypt, (2 Chron. xii.), from whose ravages it never recovered its former splendour; by Antiochus Epiphanes, who treated the Jews with singular barbarity; by Pompey the Great, who rendered the Jews tributary to Rome; and by Herod, with the assistance of a Roman force under Sosius. It was first entirely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and again by the Emperor Titus, the repeated insurrections of the turbulent Jews having filled up the measure of their iniquities, and drawn down upon them the implacable vengeance of the Romans. Titus ineffectually endeavoured to save the temple: it was involved in the same ruin with the rest of the city, and, after it had been reduced to ashes, the foundations of that sacred edifice were ploughed up by the Roman soldiers. Thus literally was fulfilled the prediction of our Lord, that not one stone should be left upon another that should not be thrown down. (Matt. xxiv. 2.)is On his return to Rome, Titus was honoured with a triumph, and to commemorate his conquest of Judæa, a triumphal arch was erected, which is still in existence. Numerous medals of Judæa vanquished were struck in honour of the same event. The Emperor Adrain erected a city on part of the former site of Jerusalem, which he called lia Capitolina: it was afterwards greatly enlarged and beautified by Constantine the Great, who restored its ancient name. During that emperor's reign the Jews made various efforts to rebuild their temple; which, however, were always frustrated: nor did better success attend the attempt made, a. D. 363, by the apostate emperor Julian. An earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fiery eruption, compelled the workmen to abandon their design.

On a steep rock adjoining the north-west corner of the temple stood the Tower of Antonia, on the site of a citadel that had been erected by Antiochus Epiphanes in order to annoy the Jews; and which, after being destroyed by them, Was rebuilt by the Maccabean prince John Hyrcanus, B. C. 135. Herod the Great repaired it with great splendour, uniting nits interior all the conveniences of a magnificent palace, with ample accommodations for soldiers. This citadel (in which a Roman legion was always quartered) overlooked the two outer courts of the temple, and communicated with its cloisters by means of secret passages, through which the military could descend and quell any tumult that might arise during the great festivals. This was the guard to which Pilate alJuded, as already noticed. (Matt. xxvii. 65.) The tower of From the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans to the Antonia was thus named by Herod, in honour of his friend present time, that city has remained, for the most part, in a Mark Antony and this citadel is "the castle" into which state of ruin and desolation; "and has never been under the St. Paul was conducted (Acts xxi. 34, 35.), and of which government of the Jews themselves, but oppressed and mention is made in Acts xxii. 24. As the temple was a fort- broken down by a succession of foreign masters-the Roress that guarded the whole city of Jerusalem, so the tower mans, the Saracens, the Franks, the Mamelukes, and last by of Antonia was a fortress that entirely commanded the the Turks, to whom it is still subject. It is not, therefore, temple. only in the history of Josephus, and in other ancient writers, Besides the preceding edifices, Josephus mentions a house that we are to look for the accomplishment of our Lord's or palace at the extremity of the upper city, which had been predictions: we see them verified at this moment before our erected by the princes of the Asmonæan family, from whom eyes, in the desolate state of the once celebrated city and it was subsequently called the Asmonean Palace. It ap- temple of Jerusalem, and in the present condition of the pears to have been the residence of the princes of the Hero-Jewish people, not collected together into any one country, dian family (after the Romans had reduced Judæa into a pro- into one political society, and under one form of government, vince of the empire), whenever they went up to Jerusalem. but dispersed over every region of the globe, and every where In this palace, Josephus mentions Berenice and Agrippa as treated with contumely and scorn."16 residing, and it is not improbable that it was the residence of Herod the tetrarch of Galilee when he went to keep the solemn festivals at that city; and that it was here that our Saviour was exposed to the wanton mockery of the soldiers, who had accompanied Herod thither, either as a guard to his person, or from ostentation. (Luke xxiii. 7-11.)12

There were several pools at Jerusalem (pa), two of which are mentioned in the New Testament, viz. (1.) The Pool of Bethesda, which was situated near the sheep-gate or sheep-market (John v. 2.), not far from the ple. It had five porticoes, for the reception of the sick; and it was most probably called Bethesda, or the house of rey, from the miraculous cures there mercifully vouchsafed

Jolliffe's Letters from Palestine, p. 103.

Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. c. 9. § 3. De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 21. § 1. et lib. v. c. 113 Cicero contra Verrem, action. ii. lib. v. c. 12. (op. tom. iv. p. 96. ed. pont)

ad. lib. v. c. 35. et 41. (tom. iv. pp. 125. 142.) Compare Josephus, de Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 15. § 5. c. 17. § 8. Josephins, de Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 14. §8.

Id Ant. Jud. lib. xii. c. 5. $4.

14. lib. rv. c. 11.54.

Ibid. lib. xiii. c. 6. § 6.

10 De Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 5. § 8.

"De Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 15. § 1. and c. 16. § 3. Schulzii Archæologia Biblica, pp. 27-30.

7. The modern city of Jerusalem contains within its walls several of the hills, on which the ancient city is supposed to have stood; but these are only perceptible by the ascent and descent of the streets. When seen from the Mount of Olives, on the other side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, it presents an inclined plane, descending from west to east. An embattled wall, fortified with towers and a Gothic castle, encompasses the city all round, excluding, however, part of Mount Sion, which it formerly enclosed. Notwithstanding its seemingly strong position, it is incapable of sustaining a severe assault, because, on account of the topography of the land, it has no means of preventing the approaches of an enemy; and, on the other hand, it is commanded, at the distance of a gunshot, by the Djebel Tor, or the Mount of Olives, from which

13 Parkhurst's Lexicon voce. Bp. Pearce (and after him, Dr. Boothroyd), Jahn, Rosenmüller, Kuinöel, and other modern commentators, have supposed the pool of Bethesda to have been a medicinal bath. The reader will find a brief statement, and satisfactory refutation of this notion in Dr Bloomfield's Annotations on the New Testament, vol. ii. pp. 148-156. 14 Robinson's Gr. Lexicon to the New Test. voce Ziλwak.

15 For a full view of the predictions of Jesus Christ concerning the de struction of Jerusalem and their literal fulfilment, see vol. i. Appendix, No. VI. chap. ii. sect. iii.

16 Bp. Porteus's Lectures on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, vol. ii. p. 215.