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William Smith
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(Jehovah helps), a town on the east of Jordan, in or near to Gilead. ( Numbers 32:1 , 3 ; 1 Chronicles 26:31 ) We first hear of it in possession of the Amorites, and as taken by Israel after Heshbon, and on their way from thence to Bashan. ( Numbers 21:32 ) It seems to have given its name to a district of dependent or “daughter” towns, ( Numbers 21:32 ) Authorized Version “villages,” 1 Macc. 5:8 , the “land of Jazer.” ( Numbers 32:1 )
(emptying), a stream which intersects the mountain range of Gilead, comp. ( Joshua 12:2 , 5 ) and falls into the Jordan on the east about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. It was anciently the border of the children of Ammon. ( Numbers 21:24 ; 2:37 ; 3:16 ) It was on the south bank of the Jabbok that the interview took place between Jacob and Esau, ( Genesis 32:22 ) and this river afterward became, toward its western part, the boundary between the kingdoms of Sihon and Og. ( Joshua 12:2 , 5 ) Its modern name is Wady Zurka .
(dry). Father of Shallum, the fifteenth king of Israel. ( 2 Kings 15:10 , 13 , 14 ) Jabesh-gilead, or Jabesh in the territory of Gilead. In its widest sense Gilead included the half tribe of Manasseh, ( 1 Chronicles 27:21 ) as well as the tribes of Gad and Reuben, ( Numbers 32:1-42 ) east of the Jordan; and of the cities of Gilead, Jabesh was the chief. It is first mentioned in ( Judges 21:8-14 ) Being attacked subsequently by Nahash the Ammonite, it gave Saul an opportunity of displaying his prowess in its defence. ( 1 Samuel 11:1-15 ) Eusebius places it beyond the Jordan, six miles from Pella on the mountain road to Gerasa; where its name is probably preserved in the Wady Yabes.
(whom Jehovah makes joyful), a chieftain of Manasseh on the east of Jordan. ( 1 Chronicles 5:24 ) (B.C. 320.)
(the living). The founder of the fifth dynasty of the kingdom of Israel, son of Jehoshaphat. ( 2 Kings 9:2 ) He reigned over Israel 28 years, B.C. 884-856. His first appearance in history is when he heard the warning of Elijah against the murderer of Naboth. ( 2 Kings 9:25 ) In the reigns of Ahaziah and Jehoram, Jehu rose to importance. He was, under the last-named king, captain of the host in the siege of Ramoth-gilead. During this siege he was anointed by Elisha’s servant, and told that he was appointed to be king of Israel and destroyer of the house of Ahab. ( 2 Kings 9:12 ) The army at once ordained him king, and he set off full speed for Jezreel. Jehoram, who was lying ill in Jezreel, came out to meet him, as it happened on the fatal field of Naboth. ( 2 Kings 9:21-24 ) Jehu seized his opportunity, and shot him through the heart. ( 2 Kings 9:24 ) Jehu himself advanced to the gates of Jezreel and fulfilled the divine warning on Jezebel as already on Jehoram. He then entered on a work of extermination hitherto unparalleled in the history of the Jewish monarchy. All the descendants of Ahab that remained in Jezreel, together with the officers of the court and the hierarchy of Eastward, were swept away. His next step was to secure Samaria. For the pretended purpose of inaugurating anew the worship of Baal, he called all the Bailouts together at Samaria. The vast temple raised by Ahab, ( 1 Kings 16:32 ) was crowded from end to end. The chief sacrifice was offered, as if in the excess of his zeal, by Jehu himself. As soon as it was ascertained that all, and none but, the idolaters were there, the signal was given to eighty trusted guards, and sweeping massacre removed at one blow the whole heathen population of the kingdom of Israel. This is the last public act recorded of Jehu. The remaining twenty-seven years of his long reign are passed over in a few words, in which two points only are material:—He did not destroy the calf-worship of Jeroboam:— The transjordanic tribes suffered much from the ravages of Hazael. ( 2 Kings 10:29-33 ) He was buried in state in Samaria, and was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. ( 2 Kings 10:35 ) His name is the first of the Israelite kings which appears in the Assyrian monuments. Jehu son of Hanani; a prophet of Judah, but whose ministrations were chiefly directed to Israel. His father was probably the seer who attacked Asa. ( 2 Chronicles 16:7 ) He must have begun his career as a prophet when very young. He first denounced Baasha, ( 1 Kings 16:1 , 7 ) and then, after an interval of thirty years, reappeared to denounce Jehoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab. ( 2 Chronicles 19:2 , 3 ) He survived Jehoshaphat and wrote his life. ch. ( 2 Chronicles 20:34 ) A man of Judah of the house of Hezron. ( 1 Chronicles 2:38 ) A Simeonite, son of Josibiah. ( 1 Chronicles 4:35 ) Jehu the Antothite was one of the chief of the heroes of Benjamin who joined David at Ziklag. ( 1 Chronicles 12:3 )
(whom God sets free), A judge about B.C. 1143-1137. His history is contained in ( Judges 11:1 ; Judges 12:8 ) He was a Gileadite, the son of Gilead and a concubine. Driven by the legitimate sons from his father’s inheritance, he went to Tob and became the head of a company of freebooters in a debatable land probably belonging to Ammon. ( 2 Samuel 10:6 ) (This land was east of Jordan and southeast of Gilead, and bordered on the desert of Arabia.—ED.) His fame as a bold and successful captain was carried back to his native Gilead; and when the time was ripe for throwing off the yoke of Ammon, Jephthah consented to become the captain of the Gileadite bands, on the condition, solemnly ratified before the Lord in Mizpeh, that int he event of his success against Ammon he should still remain as their acknowledged head. Vowing his vow unto God, ( Judges 11:31 ) that he would offer up as a burn offering whatsoever should come out to meet him if successful, he went forth to battle. The Ammonites were routed with great slaughter; but as the conqueror returned to Mizpeh there came out to meet him his daughter, his only child, with timbrels and dancing. The father is heart-stricken; but the maiden asks only for a respite of two months in which to prepare for death. When that time was ended she returned to her father, who “did with her according to his vow.” The tribe of Ephraim challenged Jephthah’s right to go to war as he had done, without their concurrence, against Ammon. He first defeated them, then intercepted the fugitives at the fords of Jordan, and there put forty-two thousand men to the sword. He judged Israel six years, and died. It is generally conjectured that his jurisdiction was limited to the transjordanic region. That the daughter of Jephthah was really offered up to God in sacrifice is a conclusion which it seems impossible to avoid. (But there is no word of approval, as if such a sacrifice was acceptable to God. Josephus well says that “the sacrifice was neither sanctioned by the Mosaic ritual nor acceptable to God.” The vow and the fulfillment were the mistaken conceptions of a rude chieftain, not acts pleasing to God.—ED.)
Seven other persons bearing the same name as the prophet are mentioned in the Old Testament:— Jeremiah of Libnah, father of Hamutal wife of Josiah. ( 2 Kings 23:31 ) (B.C. before 632.) 2,3,4. Three warriors—two of the tribe of Gad— in David’s army. ( 1 Chronicles 12:4 , 10 , 13 ) (B.C. 1061-53.) One of the “mighty men of valor” of the transjordanic half-tribe of Manasseh. ( 1 Chronicles 5:24 ) (B.C. 782.) A priest of high rank, head of the second or third of the twenty-one courses which are apparently enumerated in ( Nehemiah 10:2-8 ; 12:1 , 12 ) (B.C. 446-410). The father of Jazaniah the Rechabite. ( Jeremiah 35:3 ) (B.C. before 606.) (whom Jehovah has appointed) was “the son of Hilkiah of the priests that were in Anathoth.” ( Jeremiah 1:1 ) History.—He was called very young (B.C. 626) to the prophetic office, and prophesied forty-two years; but we have hardly any mention of him during the eighteen years between his call and Josiah’s death, or during the short reign of Jehoahaz. During the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, B.C. 607-598, he opposed the Egyptian party, then dominant in Jerusalem, and maintained that they only way of safety lay in accepting the supremacy of the Chaldeans. He was accordingly accused of treachery, and men claiming to be prophets had the “word of Jehovah” to set against his. ( Jeremiah 14:13 ; 23:7 ) As the danger from the Chaldeans became more threatening, the persecution against Jeremiah grew hotter. ch. 18. The people sought his life; then follows the scene in ( Jeremiah 19:10-13 ) he was set, however, “as a fenced brazen wall,” ch. ( Jeremiah 15:20 ) and went on with his work, reproving king and nobles and people. The danger which Jeremiah had so long foretold at last came near. First Jehoiakim, and afterwards his successor Jehoiachin, were carried into exile, 2Kin 24 ; but Zedekiah, B.C. 597-586, who was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, was more friendly to the prophet, though powerless to help him. The approach of an Egyptian army, and the consequent departure of the Chaldeans, made the position of Jeremiah full of danger, and he sought to effect his escape from the city; but he was seized and finally thrown into a prison-pit to die, but was rescued. On the return of the Chaldean army he showed his faith in God’s promises, and sought to encourage the people by purchasing the field at Anathoth which his kinsman Hanameel wished to get rid of. ( Jeremiah 32:6-9 ) At last the blow came. The city was taken, the temple burnt. The king and his princes shared the fate of Jehoiachin. The prophet gave utterance to his sorrow in the Lamentations. After the capture of Jerusalem, B.C. 586, by the Chaldeans, we find Jeremiah receiving better treatment; but after the death of Gedaliah, the people, disregarding his warnings, took refuge in Egypt, carrying the prophet with them. In captivity his words were sharper and stronger than ever. He did not shrink, even there, from speaking of the Chaldean king once more as “the servant of Jehovah.” ( Jeremiah 43:10 ) After this all is uncertain, but he probably died in Egypt. Character.—Canon Cook says of Jeremiah, “His character is most interesting. We find him sensitive to a most painful degree, timid, shy, hopeless, desponding, constantly complaining and dissatisfied with the course of events, but never flinching from duty...Timid in resolve, he was unflinching in execution; as fearless when he had to face the whole world as he was dispirited and prone to murmuring when alone with God. Judged by his own estimate of himself, he was feeble, and his mission a failure; really, in the hour of action and when duty called him, he was in very truth ’a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land.’ ch. ( Jeremiah 1:18 ) he was a noble example of the triumph of the moral over the physical nature.” (It is not strange that he was desponding when we consider his circumstances. He saw the nation going straight to irremediable ruin, and turning a deaf ear to all warnings. “A reign of terror had commenced (in the preceding reign), during which not only the prophets but all who were distinguished for religion and virtue were cruelly murdered.” “The nation tried to extirpate the religion of Jehovah;” “Idolatry was openly established,” “and such was the universal dishonesty that no man trusted another, and society was utterly disorganized.” How could one who saw the nation about to reap the awful harvest they had been sowing, and yet had a vision of what they might have been and might yet be, help indulging in “Lamentations”?—ED.)
(place of fragrance), a city of high antiquity, situated in a plain traversed by the Jordan, and exactly over against where that river was crossed by the Israelites under Joshua. ( Joshua 3:16 ) It was five miles west of the Jordan and seven miles northwest of the Dead Sea. It had a king. Its walls were so considerable that houses were built upon them. ch. ( Joshua 2:15 ) The spoil that was found in it betokened its affluence. Jericho is first mentioned as the city to which the two spies were sent by Joshua from Shittim. ( Joshua 2:1-21 ) It was bestowed by him upon the tribe of Benjamin, ch. ( Joshua 18:21 ) and from this time a long interval elapses before Jericho appears again upon the scene. Its second foundation under Hiel the Bethelite is recorded in ( 1 Kings 16:34 ) Once rebuilt, Jericho rose again slowly into consequence. In its immediate vicinity the sons of the prophets sought retirement from the world; Elisha “healed the spring of the waters;” and over against it, beyond Jordan, Elijah “went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” ( 2 Kings 2:1-22 ) In its plains Zedekiah fell into the hands of the Chaldeans. ( 2 Kings 25:5 ; Jeremiah 39:5 ) In the return under Zerubbabel the “children of Jericho,” 345 in number, are comprised. ( Ezra 2:34 ; Nehemiah 7:36 ) Under Herod the Great it again became an important place. He fortified it and built a number of new palaces, which he named after his friends. If he did not make Jericho his habitual residence, he at last retired thither to die, and it was in the amphitheater of Jericho that the news of his death was announced to the assembled soldiers and people by Salome. Soon afterward the palace was burnt and the town plundered by one Simon, slave to Herod; but Archelaus rebuilt the former sumptuously, and founded a new town on the plain, that bore his own name; and, most important of all, diverted water from a village called Neaera to irrigate the plain which he had planted with palms. Thus Jericho was once more “a city of palms” when our Lord visited it. Here he restored sight to the blind. ( Matthew 20:30 ; Mark 10:46 ; Luke 18:35 ) Here the descendant of Rahab did not disdain the hospitality of Zaccaeus the publican. Finally, between Jerusalem and Jericho was laid the scene of his story of the good Samaritan. The city was destroyed by Vespasian. The site of ancient (the first) Jericho is placed by Dr. Robinson in the immediate neighborhood of the fountain of Elisha; and that of the second (the city of the New Testament and of Josephus) at the opening of the Wady Kelt (Cherith), half an hour from the fountain. (The village identified with jericho lies a mile and a half from the ancient site, and is called Riha . It contains probably 200 inhabitants, indolent and licentious and about 40 houses. Dr. Olin says it is the “meanest and foulest village of Palestine;” yet the soil of the plain is of unsurpassed fertility.—ED.)
(whose people are many). The first king of the divided kingdom of Israel, B.C. 975-954, was the son of an Ephraimite of the name of Nebat. He was raised by Solomon to the rank of superintendent over the taxes and labors exacted from the tribe of Ephraim. ( 1 Kings 11:28 ) he made the most of his position, and at last was perceived by Solomon to be aiming at the monarchy. He was leaving Jerusalem, when he was met by Ahijah the prophet, who gave him the assurance that, on condition of obedience to his laws, God would establish for him a kingdom and dynasty equal to that of David. ( 1 Kings 11:29-40 ) The attempts of Solomon to cut short Jeroboam’s designs occasioned his flight into Egypt. There he remained until Solomon’s death. After a year’s longer stay in Egypt, during which Jeroboam married Ano, the elder sister of the Egyptian queen Tahpenes, he returned to Shechem, where took place the conference with Rehoboam [ Rehoboam ], and the final revolt which ended in the elevation of Jeroboam to the throne of the northern kingdom. Now occurred the fatal error of his policy. Fearing that the yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem would undo all the work which he effected, he took the bold step of rending the religious unity of the nation, which was as yet unimpaired, asunder. He caused two golden figures of Mnevis, the sacred calf, to be made and set up at the two extremities of his kingdom, one at Dan and the other at Bethel. It was while dedicating the altar at Bethel that a prophet from Judah suddenly appeared, who denounced the altar, and foretold its desecration by Josiah, and violent overthrow. The king, stretching out his hand to arrest the prophet, felt it withered and paralyzed, and only at the prophet’s prayer saw it restored, and acknowledged his divine mission. Jeroboam was at constant war with the house of Judah, but the only act distinctly recorded is a battle with Abijah, son of Rehoboam, in which he was defeated. The calamity was severely felt; he never recovered the blow, and soon after died, in the 22d year of his reign, ( 2 Chronicles 13:20 ) and was buried in his ancestral sepulchre. ( 1 Kings 14:20 ) Jeroboam II., the son of Joash, the fourth of the dynasty of Jehu. (B.C. 825-784.) The most prosperous of the kings of Israel. He repelled the Syrian invaders, took their capital city Damascus, ( 2 Kings 14:28 ) and recovered the whole of the ancient dominion from Hamah to the Dead Sea. ch ( 2 Kings 14:25 ) Ammon and Moab were reconquered, and the transjordanic tribes were restored to their territory, ( 2 Kings 13:5 ; 1 Chronicles 5:17-22 ) but it was merely an outward restoration.
(the habitation of peace), Jerusalem stands in latitude 31 degrees 46’ 35” north and longitude 35 degrees 18’ 30” east of Greenwich. It is 32 miles distant from the sea and 18 from the Jordan, 20 from Hebron and 36 from Samaria. “In several respects,” says Dean Stanley, “its situation is singular among the cities of Palestine. Its elevation is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest table-lands of the country. Hebron indeed is higher still by some hundred feet, and from the south, accordingly (even from Bethlehem), the approach to Jerusalem is by a slight descent. But from any other side the ascent is perpetual; and to the traveller approaching the city from the east or west it must always have presented the appearance beyond any other capital of the then known world—we may say beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth—of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of Jordan, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with jericho or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness.”—S. & P. 170, Jerusalem, if not actually in the centre of Palestine, was yet virtually so. “It was on the ridge, the broadest and most strongly-marked ridge of the backbone of the complicated hills which extend through the whole country from the plain of Esdraelon to the desert.” Roads.—There appear to have been but two main approaches to the city:— From the Jordan valley by Jericho and the Mount of Olives. This was the route commonly taken from the north and east of the country. From the great maritime plain of Philistia and Sharon. This road led by the two Beth-horons up to the high ground at Gibeon, whence it turned south, and came to Jerusalem by Ramah and Gibeah, and over the ridge north of the city. Topography.—To convey an idea of the position of Jerusalem, we may say, roughly, that the city occupies the southern termination of the table-land which is cut off from the country round it on its west, south and east sides by ravines more than usually deep and precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the table-land, the one on the west and the other on the northeast of the city, and fall rapidly until they form a junction below its southeast corner. The eastern one—the valley of the Kedron, commonly called the valley of Jehoshaphat—runs nearly straight from north by south. But the western one—the valley of Hinnom— runs south for a time, and then takes a sudden bend to the east until it meets the valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent may be gathered from the fact that the level at the point of junction -about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of each— is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which they began their descent. So steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the promontory at whose feet they run, as to leave on the beholder almost the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress rather than of valleys formed by nature. The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine running up it from south to north, called the valley of the Tyropoeon, rising gradually from the south, like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west is the higher and more massive, on which the city of Jerusalem now stands, and in fact always stood. The hill on the east is considerably lower and smaller, so that to a spectator from the south the city appears to slope sharply toward the east. Here was the temple, and here stands now the great Mohammedan sanctuary with its mosques and domes. The name of Mount , Mount, Mountain Zion has been applied to the western hill from the time of Constantine to the present day. The eastern hill, called Mount , Mount, Mountain Moriah in ( 2 Chronicles 3:1 ) was as already remarked, the site of the temple. It was situated in the southwest angle of the area, now known as the Haram area, and was, as we learn from Josephus, an exact square of a stadium, or 600 Greek feet, on each side. (Conder (“Bible Handbook,” 1879) states that by the latest surveys the Haram area is a quadrangle with unequal sides. The west wall measures 1601 feet, the south 922, the east 1530, the north 1042. It is thus nearly a mile in circumference, and contains 35 acres.—ED.) Attached to the northwest angle of the temple was the Antonia, a tower or fortress. North of the side of the temple is the building now known to Christians as the Mosque of Omar, but by Moslems called the Dome of the Rock. The southern continuation of the eastern hill was named Ophel , which gradually came to a point at the junction of the valleys Tyropoeon and Jehoshaphat; and the norther BEZETHA, “the new city,” first noticed by Josephus, which was separated from Moriah by an artificial ditch, and overlooked the valley of Kedron on the east; this hill was enclosed within the walls of Herod Agrippa. Lastly, ACRA lay westward of Moriah and northward of Zion, and formed the “lower city” in the time of Josephus. Walls.—These are described by Josephus. The first or old wall was built by David and Solomon, and enclosed Zion and part of Mount Moriah. (The second wall enclosed a portion of the city called Acra or Millo, on the north of the city, from the tower of Mariamne to the tower of Antonia. It was built as the city enlarged in size; begun by Uzziah 140 years after the first wall was finished, continued by Jotham 50 years later, and by Manasseh 100 years later still. It was restored by Nehemiah. Even the latest explorations have failed to decide exactly what was its course. (See Conder’s Handbook of the Bible, art. Jerusalem.) The third wall was built by King Herod Agrippa, and was intended to enclose the suburbs which had grown out on the northern sides of the city, which before this had been left exposed. After describing these walls, Josephus adds that the whole circumference of the city was 33 stadia, or nearly four English miles, which is as near as may be the extent indicated by the localities. He then adds that the number of towers in the old wall was 60, the middle wall 40, and the new wall 99. Water Supply—(Jerusalem had no natural water supply, unless we so consider the “Fountain of the Virgin,” which wells up with an intermittent action from under Ophel. The private citizens had cisterns, which were supplied by the rain from the roofs; and the city had a water supply “perhaps the most complete and extensive ever undertaken by a city,” and which would enable it to endure a long siege. There were three aqueducts, a number of pools and fountains, and the temple area was honeycombed with great reservoirs, whose total capacity is estimated at 10,000,000 gallons. Thirty of these reservoirs are described, varying from 25 to 50 feet in depth; and one, call the great Sea, would hold 2,000,000 gallons. These reservoirs and the pools were supplied with water by the rainfall and by the aqueducts. One of these, constructed by Pilate, has been traced for 40 miles, though in a straight line the distance is but 13 miles. It brought water from the spring Elam, on the south, beyond Bethlehem, into the reservoirs under the temple enclosure.—ED.) Pools and fountains.—A part of the system of water supply. Outside the walls on the west side were the Upper and Lower Pools of Gihon , the latter close under Zion, the former more to the northwest on the Jaffa road. At the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat was Enrogel , the “Well of Job,” in the midst of the king’s gardens. Within the walls, immediately north of Zion, was the “Pool of Hezekiah.” A large pool existing beneath the temple (referred to in Ecclus. 1:3 ) was probably supplied by some subterranean aqueduct. The “King’s Pool” was probably identical with the “Fountain of the Virgin,” at the southern angle of Moriah. It possesses the peculiarity that it rises and falls at irregular periods; it is supposed to be fed form the cistern below the temple. From this a subterranean channel cut through solid rock leads the water to the pool of Siloah, The Pool Of or Siloam , which has also acquired the character of being an intermittent fountain. The pool of which tradition has assigned the name of Bethesda is situated on the north side of Moriah; it is now named Birket Israil . Burial-grounds.—The main cemetery of the city seems from an early date to have been where it is still—on the steep slopes of the valley of the Kedron. The tombs of the kings were in the city of David, that is, Mount Zion. The royal sepulchres were probably chambers containing separate recesses for the successive kings. Gardens.—The king’s gardens of David and Solomon seem to have been in the bottom formed by the confluence of the Kedron and Himmon. ( Nehemiah 3:15 ) The Mount of Olives, as its name, and the names of various places upon it seem to imply, was a fruitful spot. At its foot was situated the garden of Gethsemane. At the time of the final siege the space north of the wall of Agrippa was covered with gardens, groves and plantations of fruit trees, enclosed by hedges and walls; and to level these was one of Titus’ first operations. We know that the Gennath (i.e. “of gardens”) opened on this side of the city. Gates.—The following is a complete list of the gates named in the Bible and by Josephus, with the reference to their occurrence:— Gate of Ephraim. ( 2 Chronicles 25:23 ; Nehemiah 8:16 ; 12:39 ) This is probably the same as the— Gate of Benjamin. ( Jeremiah 20:2 ; 37:13 ; Zechariah 14:10 ) If so, it was 400 cubits distant from the— Corner gate. ( 2 Chronicles 25:23 ; 26:9 ; Jeremiah 31:38 ; Zechariah 14:10 ) Gate of Joshua, governor of the city. ( 2 Kings 23:8 ) Gate between the two walls. ( 2 Kings 25:4 ; Jeremiah 39:4 ) Horse gate. ( Nehemiah 3:28 ; 2 Chronicles 23:15 ; Jeremiah 31:40 ) Ravine gate (i.e. opening on ravine of Hinnom). ( 2 Chronicles 26:9 ; Nehemiah 2:13 , 15 ; 3:13 ) Fish gate. ( 2 Chronicles 33:14 ; Nehemiah 3:13 ; Zephaniah 1:10 ) Dung gate. ( Nehemiah 2:13 ; 3:13 ) Sheep gate. ( Nehemiah 3:1 , 32 ; 12:39 ) East gate. ( Nehemiah 3:29 ) Miphkad. ( Nehemiah 3:31 ) Fountain gate (Siloam?). ( Nehemiah 12:37 ) Water gate. ( Nehemiah 12:37 ) Old Gate. ( Nehemiah 12:39 ) Prison gate. ( Nehemiah 12:39 ) Gate Harsith (perhaps the Sun; Authorized Version East gate). ( Jeremiah 19:2 ) First gate. ( Zechariah 14:10 ) Gate Gennath (gardens). Jos B.J. v. 4, - 4. Essenes’ gate. Jos. B.J. 4, - 2. To these should be added the following gates to the temple:—Gate Sur, ( 2 Kings 11:6 ) called also gate of foundation. ( 2 Chronicles 23:5 ) Gate of the guard, or behind the guard, ( 2 Kings 11:6 , 19 ); called the high gate. ( 2 Kings 15:35 ; 2 Chronicles 23:20 ; 27:3 ) Gate Shallecheth. ( 1 Chronicles 26:16 ) At present the chief gates are— The Zion’s gate and the dung gate, in the south wall; St. Stephen’s gate and the golden gate (now walled up), in the east wall; The Damascus gate and Herod’s gate, in the north wall; and The Jaffa gate, in the west wall. Population.—Taking the area of the city enclosed by the two old walls at 750,000 yards, and that enclosed by the wall of Agrippa at 1,500,000 yards, we have 2,250,000 yards for the whole. Taking the population of the old city at the probable number of the one person to 50 yards, we have 15,000 and at the extreme limit of 30 yards we should have 25,000 inhabitants for the old city, and at 100 yards to each individual in the new city about 15,000 more; so that the population of Jerusalem, in its days of greatest prosperity, may have amounted to from 30,000 to 45,000 souls, but could hardly ever have reached 50,000; and assuming that in times of festival one-half was added to this amount, which is an extreme estimate, there may have been 60,000 or 70,000 in the city when Titus came up against it. (Josephus says that at the siege of Jerusalem the population was 3,000,000; but Tacitus’ statement that it was 600,000 is nearer the truth. This last is certainly within the limits of possibility. Streets, houses, etc.—Of the nature of these in the ancient city we have only the most scattered notices. The “east street,” ( 2 Chronicles 29:4 ) the “street of the city,” i.e. the city of David, ( 2 Chronicles 32:6 ) the “street facing the water gate,” ( Nehemiah 8:1 , 3 ) or, according to the parallel account in 1 Esdr. 9:38 , the “broad place of the temple towards the east;” the “street of the house of God,” ( Ezra 10:9 ) the “street of the gate of Ephraim,” ( Nehemiah 8:16 ) and the “open place of the first gate toward the east,” must have been not “streets,” in our sense of the word, so much as the open spaces found in easter towns round the inside of the gates. Streets, properly so called, there were, ( Jeremiah 5:1 ; 11:13 ) etc.; but the name of only one, “the bakers’ street,” ( Jeremiah 37:21 ) is preserved to us. The Via Dolorosa, or street of sorrows, is a part of the street thorough which Christ is supposed to have been led on his way to his crucifixion. To the houses we have even less clue; but there is no reason to suppose that in either houses or streets the ancient Jerusalem differed very materially from the modern. No doubt the ancient city did not exhibit that air of mouldering dilapidation which is now so prominent there. The whole of the slopes south of the Haram area (the ancient Ophel), and the modern Zion, and the west side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, presents the appearance of gigantic mounds of rubbish. In this point at least the ancient city stood in favorable contrast with the modern, but in many others the resemblance must have been strong. Annals of the city.—If, as is possible, Salem is the same with Jerusalem, the first mention of Jerusalem is in ( Genesis 14:18 ) about B.C. 2080. It is next mentioned in ( Joshua 10:1 ) B.C. 1451. The first siege appears to have taken place almost immediately after the death of Joshua—cir. 1400 B.C. Judah and Simeon “fought against it and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.” ( Judges 1:8 ) In the fifteen centuries which elapsed between this siege and the siege and destruction of the city by Titus, A.D. 70, the city was besieged no fewer than seventeen times; twice it was razed to the ground, on two other occasions its walls were levelled. In this respect it stands without a parallel in any city, ancient or modern. David captured the city B.C. 1046, and made it his capital, fortified and enlarged it. Solomon adorned the city with beautiful buildings, including the temple, but made no additions to its walls. The city was taken by the Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Jehoram, B.C. 886, and by the Israelites in the reign of Amaziah, B.C. 826. It was thrice taken by Nebuchadnezzar, in the years B.C. 607, 597 and 586, in the last of which it was utterly destroyed. Its restoration commenced under Cyrus, B.C. 538, and was completed under Artaxerxes I., who issued commissions for this purpose to Ezra, B.C. 457, and Nehemiah, B.C. 445. In B.C. 332 it was captured by Alexander the Great. Under the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae the town was prosperous, until Antiochus Epiphanes sacked it, B.C. 170. In consequence of his tyranny, the Jews rose under the Maccabees, and Jerusalem became again independent, and retained its position until its capture by the Romans under Pompey, B.C. 63. The temple was subsequently plundered by Crassus, B.C. 545, and the city by the Parthians, B.C. 40. Herod took up his residence there as soon as he was appointed sovereign, and restored the temple with great magnificence. On the death of Herod it became the residence of the Roman procurators, who occupied the fortress of Antonia. The greatest siege that it sustained, however, was at the hands of the Romans under Titus, when it held out nearly five months, and when the town was completely destroyed, A.D. 70. Hadrian restored it as a Roman colony, A.D. 135, and among other buildings erected a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the temple. He gave to it the name of AElia Capitolina, thus combining his own family name with that of the Capitoline Jupiter. The emperor Constantine established the Christian character by the erection of a church on the supposed site of the holy sepulchre, A.D. 336. Justinian added several churches and hospitals about A.D. 532. It was taken by the Persians under Chosroes II in A.D. 614. The dominion of the Christians in the holy city was now rapidly drawing to a close. In A.D. 637 the patriarch Sophronius surrendered to the khalif Omar in person. With the fall of the Abassides the holy city passed into the hands of the Fatimite dynasty, under whom the sufferings of the Christians in Jerusalem reached their height. About the year 1084 it was bestowed upon Ortok, chief of a Turkman horde. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1099, and for eighty-eight years Jerusalem remained in the hand of the Christians. in 1187 it was retaken by Saladin after a siege of several weeks. In 1277 Jerusalem was nominally annexed to the kingdom of Sicily. In 1517 it passed under the sway of the Ottoman sultan Selim I., whose successor Suliman built the present walls of the city in 1542. Mohammed Aly, the pasha of Egypt, took possession of it in 1832; and in 1840, after the bombardment of Acre, it was again restored to the sultan. (Modern Jerusalem, called by the Arabs el-Khuds, is built upon the ruins of ancient Jerusalem. The accumulated rubbish of centuries is very great, being 100 feet deep on the hill of Zion. The modern wall, built in 1542, forms an irregular quadrangle about 2 1/2 miles in circuit, with seven gates and 34 towers. It varies in height from 20 to 60 feet. The streets within are narrow, ungraded, crooked, and often filthy. The houses are of hewn stone, with flat roofs and frequent domes. There are few windows toward the street. The most beautiful part of modern Jerusalem is the former temple area (Mount Moriah), “with its lawns and cypress tress, and its noble dome rising high above the wall.” This enclosure, now called Haram esh-Sherif, is 35 acres in extent, and is nearly a mile in circuit. On the site of the ancient temple stands the Mosque of Omar, “perhaps the very noblest specimen of building-art in Asia.” “It is the most prominent as well as the most beautiful building in the whole city.” The mosque is an octagonal building, each side measuring 66 feet. It is surmounted by a dome, whose top is 170 feet from the ground. The church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is claimed, but without sufficient reason, to be upon the site of Calvary, is “a collection of chapels and altars of different ages and a unique museum of religious curiosities from Adam to Christ.” The present number of inhabitants in Jerusalem is variously estimated. Probably Pierotti’s estimate is very near the truth,—20,330; of whom 5068 are Christians, 7556 Mohammedans (Arabs and Turks), and 7706 Jews.—ED.)
(even, level), the son of Asher, whose descendants the Jesuites were numbered in the plains of Moab at the Jordan of Jericho. ( Numbers 26:44 ) (B.C. 1451.) He is elsewhere called Isui , ( Genesis 46:17 ) and Ishuai . ( 1 Chronicles 7:30 )
“The life and character of Jesus Christ,” says Dr. Schaff, “is the holy of holies in the history of the world.” NAME.—The name Jesus signifies saviour . It is the Greek form of Jehoshua (Joshua). The name Christ signifies anointed. Jesus was both priest and king. Among the Jews priests were anointed, as their inauguration to their office. ( 1 Chronicles 16:22 ) In the New Testament the name Christ is used as equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah (anointed), ( John 1:41 ) the name given to the long-promised Prophet and King whom the Jews had been taught by their prophets to expect. ( Matthew 11:3 ; Acts 19:4 ) The use of this name, as applied to the Lord, has always a reference to the promises of the prophets. The name of Jesus is the proper name of our Lord, and that of Christ is added to identify him with the promised Messiah. Other names are sometimes added to the names Jesus Christ, thus, “Lord,” “a king,” “King of Israel,” “Emmanuel,” “Son of David,” “chosen of God.” II. BIRTH.—Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, God being his father, at Bethlehem of Judea, six miles south of Jerusalem. The date of his birth was most probably in December, B.C. 5, four years before the era from which we count our years. That era was not used till several hundred years after Christ. The calculations were made by a learned monk, Dionysius Exiguus, in the sixth century, who made an error of four years; so that to get the exact date from the birth of Christ we must add four years to our usual dates; i.e. A.D. 1882 is really 1886 years since the birth of Christ. It is also more than likely that our usual date for Christmas, December 25, is not far from the real date of Christ’s birth. Since the 25th of December comes when the longest night gives way to the returning sun on his triumphant march, it makes an appropriate anniversary to make the birth of him who appeared in the darkest night of error and sin as the true Light of the world. At the time of Christ’s birth Augustus Caesar was emperor of Rome, and Herod the Great king of Judea, but subject of Rome. God’s providence had prepared the world for the coming of Christ, and this was the fittest time in all its history. All the world was subject to one government, so that the apostles could travel everywhere: the door of every land was open for the gospel. The world was at peace, so that the gospel could have free course. The Greek language was spoken everywhere with their other languages. The Jews were scattered everywhere with synagogues and Bibles. III. EARLY LIFE.—Jesus, having a manger at Bethlehem for his cradle, received a visit of adoration from the three wise men of the East. At forty days old he was taken to the temple at Jerusalem; and returning to Bethlehem, was soon taken to Egypt to escape Herod’s massacre of the infants there. After a few months stay there, Herod having died in April, B.C. 4, the family returned to their Nazareth home, where Jesus lived till he was about thirty years old, subject to his parent, and increasing “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” The only incident recorded of his early life is his going up to Jerusalem to attend the passover when he was twelve years old, and his conversation with the learned men in the temple. But we can understand the childhood and youth of Jesus better when we remember the surrounding influences amid which he grew. The natural scenery was rugged and mountainous, but full of beauty. He breathed the pure air. He lived in a village, not in a city. The Roman dominion was irksome and galling. The people of God were subject to a foreign yoke. The taxes were heavy. Roman soldiers, laws, money, every reminded them of their subjection, when they ought to be free and themselves the rulers of the world. When Jesus was ten years old, there was a great insurrection, ( Acts 5:37 ) in Galilee. He who was to be King of the Jews heard and felt all this. The Jewish hopes of a Redeemer, of throwing off their bondage, of becoming the glorious nation promised in the prophet, were in the very air he breathed. The conversation at home and in the streets was full of them. Within his view, and his boyish excursions, were many remarkable historic places,—rivers, hills, cities, plains,—that would keep in mind the history of his people and God’s dealings with them. His school training. Mr. Deutsch, in the Quarterly Review, says, “Eighty years before Christ, schools flourished throughout the length and the breadth of the land: education had been made compulsory. While there is not a single term for ’school’ to be found before the captivity, there were by that time about a dozen in common usage. Here are a few of the innumerable popular sayings of the period: ’Jerusalem was destroyed because the instruction of the young was neglected.’ ’The world is only saved by the breath of the school-children.’ ’Even for the rebuilding of the temple the schools must not be interrupted.’” His home training. According to Ellicott, the stages of Jewish childhood were marked as follows: “At three the boy was weaned, and word for the first time the fringed or tasselled garment prescribed by ( Numbers 15:38-41 ) and Deuteronomy 22:12 His education began at first under the mother’s care. At five he was to learn the law, at first by extracts written on scrolls of the more important passages, the Shema or creed of (2:4) the Hallel or festival psalms, Psal 114, 118, 136 , and by catechetical teaching in school. At twelve he became more directly responsible for his obedience of the law; and on the day when he attained the age of thirteen, put on for the first time the phylacteries which were worn at the recital of his daily prayer.” In addition to this, Jesus no doubt learned the carpenter’s trade of his reputed father Joseph, and, as Joseph probably died before Jesus began his public ministry, he may have contributed to the support of his mother. (IV. PUBLIC MINISTRY.—All the leading events recorded of Jesus’ life are given at the end of this volume in the Chronological Chart and in the Chronological Table of the life of Christ; so that here will be given only a general survey. Jesus began to enter upon his ministry when he was “about thirty years old;” that is, he was not very far from thirty, older or younger. He is regarded as nearly thirty-one by Andrews (in the tables of chronology referred to above) and by most others. Having been baptized by John early in the winter of 26-27, he spent the larger portion of his year in Judea and about the lower Jordan, till in December he went northward to Galilee through Samaria. The next year and a half, from December, A.D. 27, to October or November, A.D. 29, was spent in Galilee and norther Palestine, chiefly in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee. In November, 29, Jesus made his final departure from Galilee, and the rest of his ministry was in Judea and Perea, beyond Jordan, till his crucifixion, April 7, A.D. 30. After three days he proved his divinity by rising from the dead; and after appearing on eleven different occasions to his disciples during forty days, he finally ascended to heaven, where he is the living, ever present, all-powerful Saviour of his people. Jesus Christ, being both human and divine, is fitted to be the true Saviour of men. In this, as in every action and character, he is shown to be “the wisdom and power of God unto salvation.” As human, he reaches down to our natures, sympathizes with us, shows us that God knows all our feelings and weaknesses and sorrows and sins, brings God near to us, who otherwise could not realize the Infinite and Eternal as a father and friend. He is divine, in order that he may be an all-powerful, all-loving Saviour, able and willing to defend us from every enemy, to subdue all temptations, to deliver from all sin, and to bring each of his people, and the whole Church, into complete and final victory. Jesus Christ is the centre of the world’s history, as he is the centre of the Bible.—ED.)
(the two cities). On the east of the Jordan, one of the places which were taken possession of and rebuilt by the Reubenites, and had fresh names conferred on them, ( Numbers 32:37 ) and see ( Numbers 32:38 ) the first and last of which are known with some tolerable degree of certainty. ( Joshua 12:19 ) It existed in the time of Jeremiah, ( Jeremiah 48:1 , 23 ) and Ezekiel. ( Ezekiel 25:9 ) In the three passages named the Authorized Version gives the name Kiriathaim . By Eusebius it appears to have been well known. He describes it as a village entirely of Christians, ten miles west of Medeba, “close to the Baris.” A town in Naphtali not mentioned in the original list of the possession allotted to the tribe, see ( Joshua 19:32-39 ) but inserted in the list of cities given to the Gershonite Levites in ( 1 Chronicles 6:76 ) in place of Kartan in the parallel catalogue, Kartan being probably only a contraction thereof.
(to whom Jehovah is God). Eldest son of Samuel the prophet, ( 1 Samuel 8:2 ; 1 Chronicles 6:33 ; 15:17 ) and father of Heman the singer. (B.C. 1094.) In ( 1 Chronicles 6:36 ) Authorized Version, Joel seems to be merely a corruption of Shaul in ver. 24. A Simeonite chief. ( 1 Chronicles 4:35 ) A descendant of Reuben. Junius and Tremellius make him the son of Hanoeh, while others trace his descent through Carmi. ( 1 Chronicles 5:4 ) (B.C. before 1092.) Chief of the Gadites, who dwelt in the land of Bashan. ( 1 Chronicles 5:12 ) (B.C. 782.) The son of Izrahiah, of the tribe of Issachar. ( 1 Chronicles 7:3 ) The brother of Nathan of Zobah, ( 1 Chronicles 11:38 ) and one of David’s guard. The chief of the Gershomites in the reign of David. ( 1 Chronicles 15:7 , 11 ) A Gershonite Levite in the reign of David, son of Jehiel, a descendant of Laadan, and probably the same as the preceding. ( 1 Chronicles 23:8 ; 26:22 ) (B.C. 1014.) The son of Pedaiah, and a chief of the half-tribe of Manasseh west of Jordan, in the reign of David. ( 1 Chronicles 27:20 ) (B.C. 1014.) A Kohathite Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 29:12 ) (B.C. 726.) One of the sons of Nebo, who returned with Ezra, and had married a foreign wife. ( Ezra 10:43 ) (B.C. 459.) The son of Zichri, a Benjamite. ( Nehemiah 11:9 ) The second of the twelve minor prophets, the son of Pethuel, probably prophesied in Judah in the reign of Uzziah, about B.C. 800. The book of Joel contains a grand outline of the whole terrible scene, which was to be depicted more and more in detail by subsequent prophets. The proximate event to which the prophecy related was a public calamity, then impending on Judah, of a two-plague of locusts—and continuing for several years. The prophet exhorts the people to turn to God with penitence, fasting and prayer; and then, he says, the plague shall cease, and the rain descendent in its season, and the land yield her accustomed fruit. Nay, the time will be a most joyful one; for God, by the outpouring of his Spirit, will extend the blessings of true religion to heathen lands. The prophecy is referred to in Acts 2 .
(lofty), one of the cities on the east of Jordan which were built and fortified by the tribe of Gad when they took possession of their territory. ( Numbers 32:35 )
was of the priestly race by both parents, for his father, Zacharias, was himself a priest of the course of Abia or Abijah, ( 1 Chronicles 24:10 ) and Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. ( Luke 1:5 ) His birth was foretold by an angel sent from God, and is related at length in Luke 1 . The birth of John preceded by six months that of our Lord. John was ordained to be a Nazarite from his birth. ( Luke 1:15 ) Dwelling by himself in the wild and thinly-peopled region westward of the Dead Sea, he prepared himself for the wonderful office to which he had been divinely called. His dress was that of the old prophets—a garment woven of camel’s hair, ( 2 Kings 1:8 ) attached to the body by a leathern girdle. His food was such as the desert afforded—locusts, ( Leviticus 11:22 ) and wild honey. ( Psalms 81:16 ) And now the long-secluded hermit came forth to the discharge of his office. His supernatural birth, his life, and the general expectation that some great one was about to appear, were sufficient to attract to him a great multitude from “every quarter.” ( Matthew 3:5 ) Many of every class pressed forward to confess their sins and to be baptized. Jesus himself came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John. [ Jesus Christ ] From incidental notices we learn that John and his disciples continued to baptize some time after our Lord entered upon his ministry. See ( John 3:23 ; 4:1 ; Acts 19:3 ) We gather also that John instructed his disciples in certain moral and religious duties, as fasting, ( Matthew 9:14 ; Luke 5:33 ) and prayer. ( Luke 11:1 ) But shortly after he had given his testimony to the Messiah, John’s public ministry was brought to a close. In daring disregard of the divine laws, Herod Antipas had taken to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; and when John reproved him for this, as well as for other sins, ( Luke 3:19 ) Herod cast him into prison. (March, A.D. 28.) The place of his confinement was the castle of Machaerus, a fortress on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. It was here that reports reached him of the miracles which our Lord was working in Judea. Nothing but the death of the Baptist would satisfy the resentment of Herodias. A court festival was kept at Machaerus in honor of the king’s birthday. After supper the daughter of Herodias came in and danced the king by her grace that he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask. Salome, prompted by her abandoned mother, demanded the head of John the Baptist. Herod gave instructions to an officer of his guard, who went and executed John in the prison, and his head was brought to feast the eyes of the adulteress whose sins he had denounced. His death is supposed to have occurred just before the third passover, in the course of the Lord’s ministry. (March, A.D. 29.)
This Gospel was probably written at Ephesus about A.D. 78. (Canon Cook places it toward the close of John’s life, A.D. 90-100.—ED.) The Gospel was obviously addressed primarily to Christians, not to heathen. There can be little doubt that the main object of St. John, who wrote after the other evangelists, is to supplement their narratives, which were almost confined to our Lord’s life in Galilee. (It was the Gospel for the Church, to cultivate and cherish the spiritual life of Christians, and bring them into the closest relations to the divine Saviour. It gives the inner life and teachings of Christ as revealed to his disciples. Nearly two-thirds of the whole book belong to the last six months of our Lord’s life, and one-third is the record of the last week.—ED.) The following is an abridgment of its contents: A. The Prologue. ch. ( John 1:1-18 ) B. The History, ch. ( John 1:19 ; John 20:29 ) (a) Various events relating to our Lord’s ministry, narrated in connection with seven journeys, ch. ( John 1:19 ; John 12:50 ) First journey, into Judea, and beginning of his ministry, ch. ( John 1:19 ; John 2:12 ) Second journey, at the passover in the first year of his ministry, ch. ( John 2:13 ; John 4:1 ) Third journey, in the second year of his ministry, about the passover, ch. (5:1). Fourth journey, about the passover, in the third year of his ministry, beyond Jordan, ch. ( John 6:1 ) Fifth journey, six months before his death, begun at the feast of tabernacles, chs. ( John 7:1 ; John 10:21 ) Sixth journey, about the feast of dedication, ch. ( John 10:22-42 ) Seventh journey, in Judea towards Bethany, ch. ( John 11:1-54 ) Eighth journey, before his last passover, chs. ( John 11:55 ; John 12:1 ) (b) History of the death of Christ, chs. ( John 12:1 ; John 20:29 ) Preparation for his passion, chs. John 13:1 ... John 17:1 The circumstances of his passion and death, chs. ( John 18:1 ; 19:1 ) His resurrection, and the proofs of it, ch. ( John 20:1-29 ) C. The Conclusion, ch. ( John 20:30 ; John 21:1 ) Scope of the foregoing history, ch. ( John 20:30 , 31 ) Confirmation of the authority of the evangelist by additional historical facts, and by the testimony of the elders of the Church, ch. ( John 21:1-24 ) Reason of the termination of the history, ch. ( John 21:25 )
(gathered by the people), a city of Ephraim, given with its suburbs to a Kohathite Levites. ( 1 Chronicles 6:68 ) The situation of Jokmeam (in Authorized Version Jokneam ) is to a certain extent indicated in ( 1 Kings 4:12 ) where it is named with places which we know to have been in the Jordan valley at the extreme east boundary of the tribe.
(the descender), the one river of Palestine, has a course of little more than 200 miles, from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea. (136 miles in a straight line.—Schaff.) It is the river of the “great plain” of Palestine—the “descender,” if not “the river of God” in the book of Psalms, at least that of his chosen people throughout their history. There were fords over against Jericho, to which point the men of Jericho pursued the spies. ( Joshua 2:7 ) comp. Judg 3:28 Higher up where the fords or passages of Bethbarah, where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites, ( Judges 7:24 ) and where the men of Gilead slew the Ephraimites. ch. ( Judges 12:6 ) These fords undoubtedly witnessed the first recorded passage of the Jordan in the Old Testament. ( Genesis 32:10 ) Jordan was next crossed, over against Jericho, by Joshua. ( Joshua 4:12 , 13 ) From their vicinity to Jerusalem the lower fords were much used. David, it is probable, passed over them in one instance to fight the Syrians. ( 2 Samuel 10:17 ; 17:22 ) Thus there were two customary places at which the Jordan was fordable; and it must have been at one of these, if not at both, that baptism was afterward administered by St. John and by the disciples of our Lord. Where our Lord was baptized is not stated expressly, but it was probably at the upper ford. These fords were rendered so much more precious in those days from two circumstances. First, it does not appear that there were then any bridges thrown over or boats regularly established on the Jordan; and secondly, because “Jordan overflowed all his banks all the time of harvest.” ( Joshua 3:15 ) The channel or bed of the river became brimful, so that the level of the water and of the banks was then the same. (Dr. Selah Merrill, in his book “Galilee in the Time of Christ” (1881), says, “Near Tarichaea, just below the point where the Jordan leaves the lake (of Galilee), there was (in Christ’s time) a splendid bridge across the river, supported by ten piers.”—ED.) The last feature which remains to be noticed in the scriptural account of the Jordan is its frequent mention as a boundary: “over Jordan,” “this” and “the other side,” or “beyond Jordan,” were expressions as familiar to the Israelites as “across the water,” “this” and “the other side of the Channel” are to English ears. In one sense indeed, that is, in so far as it was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan, it was the eastern boundary of the promised land. ( Numbers 34:12 ) The Jordan rises from several sources near Panium (Banias), and passes through the lakes of Merom (Huleh) and Gennesaret. The two principal features in its course are its descent and its windings. From its fountain heads to the Dead Sea it rushes down one continuous inclined plane, only broken by a series of rapids or precipitous falls. Between the Lake of Gennesaret and the Dead Sea there are 27 rapids. The depression of the Lake of Gennesaret below the level of the Mediterranean is 653 feet, and that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet. (The whole descent from its source to the Dead Sea is 3000 feet. Its width varies form 45 to 180 feet, and it is from 3 to 12 feet deep. -Schaff.) Its sinuosity is not so remarkable in the upper part of its course. The only tributaries to the Jordan below Gennesaret are the Yarmuk (Hieromax) and the Zerka (Jabbok). Not a single city ever crowned the banks of the Jordan. Still Bethshan and Jericho to the west, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara to the east of it were important cities, and caused a good deal of traffic between the two opposite banks. The physical features of the Ghor, through which the Jordan flows, are treated of under Palestina And Palestine .
(saviour, or whose help is Jehovah). His name appears in the various forms of Hoshea H Oshea , Oshea , Jehoshua , Jeshua and Jesus . The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim. ( 1 Chronicles 7:27 ) (B.C. 1530-1420.) He was nearly forty years old when he shared in the hurried triumph of the exodus. He is mentioned first in connection with the fight against Amalek at Rephidim, when he was chosen by Moses to lead the Israelites. ( Exodus 17:9 ) Soon afterward he was one of the twelve chiefs who were sent, ( Numbers 13:17 ) to explore the land of Canaan, and one of the two, ch. ( Numbers 14:6 ) who gave an encouraging report of their journey. Moses, shortly before his death, was directed, ( Numbers 27:18 ) to invest Joshua with authority over the people. God himself gave Joshua a charge by the mouth of the dying lawgiver. (31:14,23) Under the direction of God again renewed, ( Joshua 1:1 ) Joshua assumed the command of the people at Shittim, sent spies into Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal, circumcised the people, kept the passover, and was visited by the Captain of the Lord’s host. A miracle made the fall of Jericho more terrible to the Canaanites. In the great battle of Beth-horon the Amorites were signally routed, and the south country was open to the Israelites. Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal, master of half of Palestine. He defeated the Canaanites under Jabin king of Hazor. In six years, six tribes, with thirty-one petty chiefs, were conquered. Joshua, now stricken in years, proceeded to make the division of the conquered land. Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim was assigned as Joshua’s peculiar inheritance. After an interval of rest, Joshua convoked an assembly from all Israel. He delivered two solemn addresses, recorded in ( Joshua 23:24 ) He died at the age of 110 years, and was buried in his own city, Timnath-serah. An inhabitant of Beth-shemesh, in whose land was the stone at which the milch-kine stopped when they drew the ark of God with the offerings of the Philistines from Ekron to Beth-shemesh. ( 1 Samuel 6:14 , 18 ) (B.C. 1124.) A governor of the city who gave his name to a gate of Jerusalem. ( 2 Kings 23:8 ) (In the reign of Josiah, B.C. 628.) Jeshua the son of Jozadak. ( Haggai 1:14 ; 2:12 ; Zechariah 3:1 ) etc.
(from Judah), a territorial division which succeeded to the overthrow of the ancient landmarks of the tribes of Israel and Judah in their respective captivities. The word first occurs ( Daniel 5:13 ) Authorized Version “Jewry,” and the first mention of the “province of Judea” is in the book of Ezra, ( Ezra 5:8 ) It is alluded to in ( Nehemiah 11:3 ) (Authorized Version “Judah”). In the apocryphal books the word “province” is dropped, and throughout them and the New Testament the expressions are “the land of Judea,” “Judea.” In a wide and more improper sense, the term Judea was sometimes extended to the whole country of the Canaanites, its ancient inhabitants; and even in the Gospels we read of the coasts of Judea “beyond Jordan.” ( Matthew 19:1 ; Mark 10:1 ) Judea was, in strict language, the name of the third district, west of the Jordan and south of Samaria. It was made a portion of the Roman province of Syria upon the deposition of Archelaus, the ethnarch of Judea, in A.D. 6, and was governed by a procurator, who was subject to the governor of Syria.
(praised, celebrated), the fourth son of Jacob and the fourth of Leah. (B.C. after 1753.) Of Judah’s personal character more traits are preserved than of any other of the patriarchs, with the exception of Joseph, whose life he in conjunction with Reuben saved. ( Genesis 37:26-28 ) During the second visit to Egypt for corn it was Judah who understood to be responsible for the safety of Benjamin, ch. ( Genesis 43:3-10 ) and when, through Joseph’s artifice, the brothers were brought back to the palace, he is again the leader and spokesman of the band. So too it is Judah who is sent before Jacob to smooth the way for him in the land of Goshen. ch. ( Genesis 46:28 ) This ascendancy over his brethren is reflected in the last words addressed to him by his father. The families of Judah occupy a position among the tribes similar to that which their progenitor had taken among the patriarchs. The numbers of the tribe at the census at Sinai were 74,600. ( Numbers 1:26 , 27 ) On the borders of the promised land they were 76,500. ( Genesis 26:22 ) The boundaries and contents of the territory allotted to Judah are narrated at great length, and with greater minuteness than the others, in ( Joshua 15:20-63 ) The north boundary, for the most part coincident with the south boundary of Benjamin, began at the embouchure of the Jordan and ended on the west at Jabneel on the coast of the Mediterranean, four miles south of Joppa. On the east the Dead Sea, and on the west the Mediterranean, formed the boundaries. The southern line is hard to determine, since it is denoted by places many of which have not been identified. It left the Dead Sea at its extreme south end, and joined the Mediterranean at the Wady el-Arish. This territory is in average length about 45 miles, and in average breadth about 50.
of which the book or Ruth formed originally a part, contains a history from Joshua to Samson. The book may be divided into two parts:— Chs. 1-16. We may observe in general on this portion of the book that it is almost entirely a history of the wars of deliverance. Chs. 17-21. This part has no formal connection with the preceding, and is often called an appendix. The period to which the narrative relates is simply marked by the expression, “when there was no king in Israel.” ch. ( Judges 19:1 ; 18:1 ) It records— (a) The conquest of Laish by a portion of the tribe of Dan, and the establishment there of the idolatrous worship of Jehovah already instituted by Micah in Mount Ephraim. (b) The almost total extinction of the tribe of Benjamin. Chs. 17-21 are inserted both as an illustration of the sin of Israel during the time of the judges and as presenting a contrast with the better order prevailing in the time of the kings. The time commonly assigned to the period contained in this book is 299 years. The dates given in the last article amount to 410 years, without the 40 years of Eli; but in ( 1 Kings 6:1 ) the whole period from the exodus to the building of the temple is stated as 480 years. But probably some of the judges were contemporary, so that their total period is 299 years instead of 410. Mr. Smith in his Old Testament history gives the following approximate dates: Periods...Years— Ending about B.C.: From the exodus to the passage of Jordan...40— 1451. To the death of Joshua and the surviving elders...[40]— 1411. Judgeship of Othniel...40— 1371. 4,5. Judgeship of Ehud (Shamgar included)...80— 1291. Judgeship of Deborah and Barak...40— 1251. Judgeship of Gideon...40— 1211. 8,9. Abimelech to Abdon, total...[80]— 1131. Oppression of the Philistines, contemporary with the judgeships of Eli, Samson (and Samuel?)...40— 1091. Reign of Saul (including perhaps Samuel)...40— 1051. Reign of David...40— 1011. Total...480. On the whole, it seems safer to give up the attempt to ascertain the chronology exactly.
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