A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE END OF DEUT. Their form of government, might, in the like manner, a be different, according to the part of the country which they inhabited, though in the main, it looks as if it had been aristocratical rather than monarchical. Jethro, indeed, in our translation is called a priest, and because the word in the original does equally signify a prince, it has generally been concluded, that he had the honour of being both. Mention is likewise made of other princes; and the five who fell by the hand of Israel, are sometimes styled kings, and sometimes dukes of Midian: so that this nation seems to have been governed by a multitude of dukes, or petty princes, who, perhaps, in their own jurisdiction, were independent on each other, and yet some way or other, were in Moses' time, feudatory under Sihon, king of the Amorites. Sihon had indeed made a conquest from the Moabites of the best part of the country he then possessed, and having settled himself in their place, made several of the neighbouring princes tributary to him; but refusing a passage to the Hebrews, and coming without any provocation to attack them, he himself was slain, and his whole army routed; Heshbon, his capital city, was taken, and all the rest of his dominions distributed among the Israelites. There were the several nations on the other, that is, on the east side of Jordan, which God delivered into the hands of his people; and more we shall have to say of them, as they meet us in our way. In the mean time the progress which the Israelites have hitherto made, the enemies they have vanquished, and the kingdoms they have seized and divided among themselves, notwithstanding all the artifices to prevent them, do sufficiently verify that conclusion, at the end of their leader's last exhortation: "Happy art thou, O Israel! Who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help; and who is the sword of thy excellency! Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine, and his heavens shall drop down dew.'b a It is reckoned good policy in a general, when he has any great design in agitation, which cannot so well be executed without passing through a neutral country, not to ask leave at first, because too much civility would lay him under the suspicion of fear; but first of all to enter the prince's country, and then to send and desire permission for his troops to march through it. But this was not Moses' practice. He first sent ambassadors to the king of the Amorites, with this peaceable message: 'Let me pass through thy land, we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink the waters of the well; but we will go along by the king's highway, till we be past the borders? Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only I will pass through on my feet,' Num. xxi. 22. After so civil a message as this, if Sihon thought not proper to let the children of Israel pass through his country, he might have contented himself with so doing, because it does not appear that the Israelites ever threatened to force their passage. But when, instead of acting upon the defensive, which was all that in reason he should have done, he sets himself at the head of his forces, and marches out to fight, the war must be deemed unjust on his side, and the fate he met with no more than his desert.-Calmet's Dictionary. In hot countries where showers were less frequent, the morn ing and evening dews were a great refreshment to the earth, and productive of much plenty, as was fully exemplified in the blessed land of Canaan, which was fruitful and abounding with every CHAP. IV.-On the Land of Canaan. BY THE EDITOR. THOUGH reference has already been made, both in a geographical and historical point of view, to Canaan, we think it may be instructive to insert a few additional paragraphs on the same subject. The land of Canaan is, on many accounts, entitled to more particular consideration; but chiefly because it was the residence of the chosen seed, and the theatre of our redemption. When the Maker of heaven and earth appointed to the nations their inheritance, the country which is bounded on the west, by the Mediterranean, on the east by the river Jordan, the lake Asphaltites, and the sea of Tiberias, on the north by the mountain Antilibanus, and on the south by Idumea, fell to the lot of Canaan, one of the sons of Ham. It extends about 200 miles in length and 80 in breadth. From the grandson of Noah, by whom it was peopled, it was first called the land of Canaan. It has since been distinguished by other names, as the land of promise, the holy land, Judea, from the tribe of Judah, which possessed its finest and most fertile divisions, and Palestine, from the Philistines, by whom a great part of it was inhabited. The descendants of Canaan, the original possessor of this highly interesting country, are thus enumerated by Moses :- Canaan begat Sidon, his first-born, and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Senite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.' All these families were settled at first within the limits of Canaan, but the increase of population, or what is more likely, the spirit of emigration and adventure, which is strongly felt in countries where much land remains to be occupied, soon carried them beyond the prescribed limits of their paternal inheritance. The original extent of the land of Canaan, is accurately stated by Moses in these words:- The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; and as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.'3 But the sacred historian informs us, that several Canaanitish families, in process of time, settled in the circumjacent countries: his words are- And afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad,' namely, beyond their original bounds, which he then proceeds to describe. The true situation of the inheritance of Sidon, the first-born of Canaan, is clearly determined by the famous city of that name. Sidon was one of the most ancient cities in the world, and long the wealthiest and greatest of which Phoenicia could boast. It was very strong both by nature and art. On the north side, a citadel, built on an inaccessible rock, and environed on all sides by the sea; and on the south side, another fort defended the mouth of the harbour. Secured on all sides against the assaults of her enemies, and enriched by the extensive commerce which she carried on with the surrounding nations of Asia and Europe, her inhabitants lived in profound security, and indulged, without restraint, in every voluptuous gratification. So great was their A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE END OF DEUT. luxury, that' to live after the manner of the Sidonians,' | escaped in their ships, and laid the foundation of Tyre, became a sort of proverbial phrase for living quietly and securely in ease and pleasure. But their wealth and luxury do not seem, at least for several ages, to have enervated their minds, and destroyed their powers of exertion, and habits of industry; for we know, from the testimony of an inspired writer, that in the days of Solomon, 'none were skilled to hew timber like the Sidonians.' They are represented by writers, both sacred and profane, as excellent artificers in several other professions or trades; and in proof of this fact, many of them were retained in the pay of Solomon, and employed as his principal workmen in building the temple of Jehovah. " 2 Though the Tyrians were accustomed to boast of the great antiquity of their city, it cannot be doubted that Sidon can trace her history to a still remoter date; for in the same chapter, where the prophet Isaiah records the vain boast of the Tyrians, he expressly calls Tyre the daughter of Sidon; by which he means that the Tyrians were a colony of the Sidonians. Indeed, Tyre rose by degrees to a height of greatness and splendour, which her illustrious parent was never able to reach; yet it is evident from ancient writers, that she was for several ages greatly her inferior. The former was distinguished by the name of the strong city, so early as the days of Joshua ; but in the very same passage, the latter receives the more significant and honourable title of the great Sidon,' to intimate that she was then the capital of Phœnicia. Nor ought it to be forgotten, that Homer never mentions Tyre in any part of his writings, while he often celebrates the ingenuity and industry of the Sidonians. Many years after Sidon was built, says an ancient writer, the Sidonians being attacked by the king of Ascalon, a Sidon was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, who, however, consented to receive the submission of the Sidonians, and permitted them to retain their own kings. Entering afterwards into a league with Nectanebus, king of Egypt, against Darius Ochus, king of Persia, they were besieged by the latter; when in despair they burnt their ships and their city; in which latter was so great a quantity of gold and silver melted down by the fire, that Ochus sold the ashes for a considerable sum of money. The city was, however, soon rebuilt; as about eighteen years after, we find it submitting to Alexander. It subsequently shared in the fortunes of the rest of Phoenicia, being alternately oppressed by the Grecian kings of Syria and Egypt; while its trade, together with that of Tyre, was diverted to Alexandria; though its declension was never so complete as that of the latter city. After the subversion of the Grecian empire by the Romans, Sidon fell into the hands of the latter; who, to put an end to the frequent revolt of the inhabitants deprived it of its freedom. It then fell successively under the power of the Saracens, the Seljukian Turks, and the Sultans of Egypt, who in 1289, that they might never more afford shelter to the Christians, destroyed both it and Tyre. But it again recovered, and has ever since been in the possession of the Ottoman Turks. Sidon, at present called Saide, is still a considerable trading town, and the chief mart for Damascus and Upper Syria; but the port is nearly choked up with sand. Though presenting an imposing appearance at a distance, as it rises from the water's edge, it is like all Turkish towns ill-built and dirty, and full of ruins; having still discoverable, without the walls, some fragments of columns and other remains of the ancient city. Mr Conner made the number of inhabitants 15,000; of whom 2000 are Christians, chiefly Maronites, and 400 Jews, who have one synagogue. They are principally employed in spinning cotton; which, with some silk, and boots and shoes, or slippers, of Morocco leather, form the chief articles of commerce.-ED. sometime before the destruction of Troy. This event happened, according to Josephus, about 240 years before the building of Solomon's temple. But after the taking of Sidon, by the Persians, the city of Tyre rapidly increased in wealth and greatness, and became in a short time, the capital of Phoenicia, and the mart of the whole earth. At the time it was besieged by Alexander, it was in every respect, the greatest commercial city in the world. Including ancient Tyre it was nineteen miles in circuit: the houses were spacious and magnificent, consisting of several stories, and higher that those of Rome. Pre-eminent in riches and splendour, rose the magnificent temples of Olympian Jove, Astarte, and other deities adored by the Tyrians, constructed by Hiram, adorned with pillars of gold, glittering with precious stones, and enriched with the splendid offerings of many kings. The city was defended by a wall of great height, formed of huge stones cemented with lime, Two harbours received its innumerable vessels, one looking towards Sidon, the other to Egypt. Strabo places it nearly at the distance of twenty-five miles from Sidon, its renowned parent. The inhabitants of Tyre, like the Sidonians, from whom they derived their origin, were distinguished for the acuteness and versatility of their genius. They were skilled in arithmetic and astronomy: but in the mechanical parts they were scarcely equalled, certainly not surpassed, by any people. For the brilliant colour known to the ancients by the name of the Tyrian purple, the kings of the east were indebted to their ingenuity. The fabrics produced in the Sidonian looms rivalled the fine linen of Egypt; while the productions of the artificer in iron, in brass, and in crystal, were not less remarkable for the beauty of the device, than for the delicacy of the execution. It is, therefore, a true account which the inspired prophet has given of the greatness and splendour of Tyre. Isaiah calls her, a mart of nations; the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth; and Ezekiel, who alluding to old Tyre, places her at the entry of the sea;' and in another passage, to the new city, in the heart of the seas,' recounts the various nations that carried on a lucrative commerce with the Tyrians. and riches produced among all ranks of her citizens, and But the pride and luxury which her unrivalled power above all, the cruel and unbrotherly triumph in which the Tyrians indulged, when the chosen people of God yielded to the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and were led away captive beyond the river of Babylon, excited against them the displeasure of heaven. As a just punishment of their crimes, continental Tyre was taken and destroyed by the Chaldeans, after a siege of thirteen years; © But from the mention of it in the time of Joshua, (chap. xix. 29,) noticed above, it must have been much more ancient than this.-ED. c At the end of this long period, continental Tyre was taken by assault and utterly destroyed, the ruins of which were afterwards called Pale Tyrus, or Old Tyre. But before this was effected, the inhabitants, foreseeing what must happen, and the blockade of Nebuchadnezzar, for want of a navy to second his land operations, being incomplete, transported all their valuable effects into a small island about a third of a mile from the shore, where they laid the foundations of New Tyre, which, by the vast resources of its trade, rose in a few years to an equal eminence A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE END OF DEUT. of a burying-place; and adds in a subsequent verse, Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth ;' which sufficiently proves their claim to that part of the family inheritance. The principal settlements of the Hittites, were in the mountainous part of the country; for the Hittites are mentioned with the Jebusites as dwelling in the mountains. The city of Hebron was originally called Kirjath Arba, or the city of Arba, a great man among the Anakims. It was a place of great antiquity; for, according to Moses, it was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt, the naval city of the Pharaohs, the ancient kings of Egypt; and was one of the oldest cities in that kingdom. Hebron was situated among the mountains, on the ridge which runs southward from Jerusalem. It became famous for the long residence of Abraham in its neighbourhood, and for being the burying-place of his family. In succeeding times, it was the chosen abode of David during the first seven years of his reign; and is supposed to have been the dwelling-place of Zacharias and Eliza beth, the parents of John the baptist. Hebron was also one of the cities of refuge, and was given to the tribe of Levi, by the appointment of Jehovah. and remained in a state of ruin and desolation seventy years, a term of equal duration with the captivity of Judah, whom they had so barbarously insulted in the hour of her distress. At the end of that period, Tyre recovered | her wealth and splendour; an event which the prophet Zechariah describes in these striking terms: and Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. But with her commerce and prosperity, her wickedness returned; and the judgments of God quickly followed. In fulfilment of ancient prophecies which sealed her doom, and even described the manner of her future destruction, Alexander besieged, and took, and set the city on fire: but so great was the forbearance of heaven, so numerous and efficient were her resources, that in the short period of nineteen years, she was able to withstand the fleets of Antigonus, and to sustain a siege of fifteen months before she was taken. But the time of her final desolation at length arrived; and nothing could divert or retard the full accom- | plishment of the divine purpose long before expressed by an inspired prophet: Thus saith the Lord God, behold I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth her waves to come up and they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock: it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.' To show the certainty of this fearful sentence, it ised as remarkably fertile and pleasant; a circumstance repeated: I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.' And again; ' I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.'2 The exact fulfilment of this prediction in all its parts, is attested by so many travellers of unimpeachable veracity, who beheld and examined the ruins of this once great, powerful, and splendid city, that the most stubborn unbeliever is awed into silence." with the old city which had been destroyed. The rage of Nebuchadnezzar was so great at finding the place almost deserted, and entirely cleared of every thing valuable, that he razed the buildings to the ground, and killed every inhabitant that could be found. Two hundred years afterwards, Alexander, by forming a causeway from the mainland to the island, reduced New Tyre, after a seven months' siege.-ED. In the immediate neighbourhood of this city, was the plain of Mamre, called in another passage of Scripture, the vale of Hebron. It lies on the south side of the town, at a distance of about two miles; and is represent sufficiently attested by the protracted residence of the venerable patriarch, who had a right to select the richest pastures of Canaan. His tent was pitched under the shade of a spreading oak, from whence, reposing at his ease, he could see his flocks and his herds feeding at large on the surrounding hills. But what chiefly recommended Mamre and its umbrageous oak to him, was the vision of angels with which he was honoured, on their way to execute the vengeance of God in the cities of the plain; a circumstance which has rendered that fertile vale memorable to every succeeding age. Next to the Hittites in the same tract of country, were planted the sons of Jebus, who seem to have been its original inhabitants. The capital city of their possessions was called Jebus, in honour of their venerable founder; a name which it afterwards exchanged for Jerusalem, one of the most celebrated on the records of history. These facts are explicitly stated by the inspired writer: And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land.' This city is first mentioned in Scripture under the name of Salem, which is by interpretation, peace; the capital of the kingdom over which Melchizedek reigned. The name by which it was afterwards known, seems to be compounded of both Jebus and Josh. xiv. 15. 41 Chr. xi. 4. a Tyre has again partially revived: Mr Buckingham, who visited it in 1816, represents it as containing 800 substantial stone built houses, and from 5000 to 8000 inhabitants. But Mr Jowett, on the authority of the Greek archbishop, reduces this number to less than 4000; namely, 1200 Greek catholics, 100 Maronites, 100 Greeks, 1000 Moutonalis, and 100 Turks. b It is at present called Hebroun and Khalyl, is situated in a Mr Jowett observed numerous and beautiful columns stretched hilly country, twenty miles south of Jerusalem, at the foot of an along the beach, or standing in fragments,.half buried in the eminence, on which are some ruins, the misshapen remains of au sand that has been accumulating for ages. The broken aqueduct, ancient castle. The adjacent country is a sort of oblong hollow, and the ruins which appear in its neighbourhood, exist as an 5, or 6 leagues in length, and not disagreeably varied by rocky affecting monument of the fragile and transitory nature of earthly hillocks, groves of fir-trees, and often plantations of vines and grandeur." The old, or continental Tyre, has long since dis-olive-trees. Here are some small manufactories of cotton, soap, appeared, and its very site, like that of Nineveh and Babylon, and trinkets; in consequence of which, Hebron is the most cannot now be accurately recognised.-ED. powerful village in this quarter.-ED. A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE END OF DEUT. great number of persons connected with it, whom the sacred writer distinguishes from the men of the city. Now, since both were concerned in making Abimelech king, it is natural to conclude, that the men of the city were the inferior inhabitants, and the house of Millo the chief men of the place: both of whom on this occasion met in the senate-house, to set the crown upon the head of their favourite. Salem, and to have been originally written Jebussalem, | city of Shechem then had also its house of Millo, and a but, for the sake of the sound, afterwards softened into Jerusalem. In Hebrew the word assumes the dual form, and is commonly read Jerusalaim; probably to denote that the city consisted of two parts, of which one was the old city, where Melchizedek and the Jebusites dwelt; and the other the new city built by David and his successors on the throne of Israel and Judah, which for its extent might be regarded as a new city, or new Jerusalem. This term, the Greeks, adapting it to their language, according to their usual practice, changed into Hierosolyma, which literally signifies the sacred city. The house of Millo upon Mount Zion, appears to have been a place of great strength, and essentially connected with the defence of Jerusalem; for wher Hezekiah discovered that Sennacherib meditated the built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.' From the intimate connexion between the repairing of Millo and the making of darts and other implements of war, it has been conjectured by some writers that one part of that public building was occupied as an armoury, in which there is nothing improbable. The possessions of the Philistines were divided into five lordships, denominated from their chief towns, Gaza, Ashdod, Eshkalon, Gath, and Ekron. Gaza lay in the southern extremity of that narrow strip of country which submitted to the arms of the Philistines; and the city of Gaza, from which the lordship took its name, stood in the south-west angle of the land of Canaan. This was the city whose gates Samson carried away to the top of the hill, and where he was kept in prison by his cruel and ungenerous enemies. It was famous for the temple of Dagon, which the renowned Israelite pulled down upon himself and his unfeeling tormentors, in revenge for the loss of his sight and his liberty. This place was afterwards chosen by the Persians, to be the treasury where they deposited the tribute of the western provinces of their immense empire; whence all riches received, at length, among the people of those countries, the name of Gaza. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great, as the prophet had foretold, and consigned to perpetual desolation. The city built by Constantine, and called by the name of Gaza, is nearer to the sea than the ancient city, and by consequence does not affect the truth of the prediction. The old city founded by the Jebusites before Abra-reduction of Jerusalem, 'he strengthened himself, and ham arrived in Canaan, is styled by some writers the city of Melchizedek, not because he was the founder, but because it was the seat of his government. This ancient city was so strongly fortified both by nature and art, that the people of Israel could not drive out the Jebusites, its original inhabitants, but were reduced to live with them at Jerusalem. The armies of Israel indeed seized the city; but the Jebusites kept possession of the strong fort which defended the town, till the reign of David, who took it by storm, and changed its name to the city of David, to signify the importance of the conquest, and to perpetuate the memory of the event. Having chosen Jerusalem for the place of his residence and the capital of his kingdom, he adorned the fortress with a royal palace for his own accommodation, and a variety of other buildings, which, from the continual additions made to them in succeeding reigns, increased to the size of a considerable city, and covered nearly the whole of Mount Zion. The largeness of the city of David, may be inferred from the expression of the sacred historian: David built round about from Millo and inward.'' This passage, and particularly the word Millo, has greatly exercised the genius and divided the sentiments of commentators; and is therefore entitled to more particular notice. That Millo was situate in the city of David, the inspired historian expressly asserts. 2 It seems to have been a public building, where the king and his princes met in council about affairs of state. The words of the historian are: And this is the reason of the levy (or tax) which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.' But every ground of hesitation is removed by the sacred writer of the second book of Kings, who calls it expressly the house of Millo.' That it was a public building, in one of whose apartments the council of state met to deliberate upon public affairs, is rendered extremely probable by one of the kings of Judah losing his life there by the hands of his princes; for we are told, that the servants of king Joash arose and made a conspiracy, and slew him in the house of Millo,' whither he had probably come to consult with his princes and other principal persons upon some affairs of state. 3 Next to Gaza, northward, rose the city of Askelon, styled by the Greeks and Latins, Ascalon, and situate also on the sea shore. It is said to have been famous among the idolatrous nations of antiquity, for a temple dedicated to Decreto, the mother of Semiramis, who was adored here under the form of a mermaid; and for a temple of Apollo, in which Herod, the father of Antipater, and grandfather of Herod the great, officiated as priest. Above Ascalon, still farther to the north, stood the city of Ashdod, called by the Greeks, Azotus, and mentioned under that name in the Acts of the Apostles. It lies near the shores between Gaza and Joppa, and was This interpretation is greatly strengthened by a pas-distinguished by the temple of Dagon. Into this temple sage in the book of Judges, which informs us, that all the captive ark of Jehovah was brought, by the triumphthe men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house ant idolaters, and set by the side of their unsightly idol. of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king.' The But their joy was of short duration, the object of their 12 Sam. v. 9. 12 Chron. xxxii. 5. '2 Kings xii. 20. 4 2 Chron. xxxii. 5. A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE end of deut. God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go to its own place;' and the destructive calamity which hung over their devoted city was averted. stupid veneration was cast prostrate before the symbol | out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the of the divine presence, and broken in pieces, and a severe but righteous vengeance inflicted on themselves, for their presumption. The passage is too important to be omitted. And when they of Ashdod rose early on the morrow, behold Dagon was fallen on his face to the earth, before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon and set him in his place again. And when they rose early on the morrow morning, behold Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground, before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold, only the stump of Dagon was left to him.' Nor was this all; The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the men of Ashdod; and he destroyed and smote them with emrods, even Ashdod, and the coast thereof. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. They sent, therefore, and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel thither.' ' Gath, lying still farther to the north than Ashdod, was memorable in the history of the Old Testament, for being the birthplace of the giant Goliah, who defied the armies of the living God, and suffered the punishment due to his impiety, from the hand of David. The city was dismantled by this prince, but was afterwards rebuilt by Rehoboam his grandson, and after being again dismantled by Azias, king of Judah, was totally destroyed by Hazael, king of Syria. But from this catastrophe it gradually recovered, and retained its ancient name in the days of Eusebius and Jerome, who place it about four miles from Eleutheropolis, towards Diospolis, or Lydda. Gath suffered severely while the ark of the covenant was detained within its walls: The hand of the Lord,' says the sacred writer, was against the city with a very great destruction; and he smote the men of the city, both small and great; and they had emrods in their secret parts. Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron.'2 This city was placed in the northern extremity of the country, which submitted to the yoke of the Philistines. It was called by the Greeks Accaron; was a place of great wealth and power, and held out a long time against the armies of Israel. Ekron is frequently mentioned in the holy Scriptures, and particularly for the idolatrous worship of Beelzebub, that is, the lord of flies; a name given him by the Jews, either in contempt of his divinity, and the rites of his worship, or in allusion to the numerous swarms of flies which attended his sacrifices. But whatever might be the reason for distinguishing by this name, certain it is, in this city was the principal seat of his worship: here he was held in the highest honour, and is therefore called in Scripture, the God of Ekron.' The inhabitants of Ekron, less hardened in crime, or less insensible to danger than their neighbours, were the first that advised the Philistines to restore the ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel. The Ekronites cried The land of Canaan was reserved by the wisdom and goodness of Heaven, for the possession of his peculiar people, and the display of the most stupendous wonders. The theatre was small, but admirably situated for the convenient observation of the human race,-at the junction of the two great continents of Asia and Africa, and almost within sight of Europe. From this highly favoured spot, as from a common centre, the report of God's wonderful works, the glad tidings of salvation through the obedience and sufferings of his eternal Son, might be rapidly and easily wafted to every part of the globe, and circulated through every nation. When the most High, therefore, fixed the boundaries of the post-diluvian kingdoms, he reserved the inheritance of Canaan, for the future seat of his glory; and while powerful states, and extended empires rose and flourished, in the circumjacent regions, his secret providence parcelled out the land of promise among a number of petty kings, whose individual weakness and jarring interests, gave them an easy prey to the armies of Israel. To this arrangement the inspired prophet certainly refers in these words, 'Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask thy father, and he will show thee, thy elders, and he will tell thee.' When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people, according to the number of the children of Israel. Canaan and his posterity were directed to take possession of Palestine, rather than any other branch of Noah's descendants, because he had already fallen under the solenın malediction of his grandfather Noah, for his unnatural conduct; and they were permitted to fill up the measure of their iniquity by a general corruption of manners, and particularly, by departing from the knowledge of the true God, to the service of idols; and therefore might be justly driven out, when the time fixed in the divine purpose arrived, to make room for the chosen people of Jehovah. Their bounds,' says the inspired writer, 'he set, according to the number of the children of Israel;' for Canaan and his eleven sons exactly correspond with the twelve tribes, into which the family of Jacob was divided. 3 CHAP. V.-On the Mountains of Canaan. BY THE EDITOR. PALESTINE is, in general, a mountainous country; even the whole of Syria, of which the Holy Land is reckoned a part, is in some degree a chain of mountains, branching off in various directions, from one great and leading ridge. Whether the traveller approach it from the sea, 3 Paxton's Illustrations, vol. 1. p. 92-118. |