proceeded against Jerusalem until he had taken Lachish (comp. Jer. xxxiv. 7, with xxxix. 1). In the time of Jerome, Lachish was a village, about twenty miles south-west of Jerusalem.

12. "Gezer."-The king of Gezer was he who came to the relief of Lachish when besieged by Joshua, and was utterly defeated and slain (ch. x. 33). But it is not there said that his city was taken; it was probably too distant at the time. We learn from chap. xvi. 10, that the Ephraimites, in whose lot this town lay, did not expel the inhabitants, but put them under tribute. In the time of Solomon, however, the king of Egypt took and burnt the place, destroying the Canaanites who dwelt in it; after which he gave the place to his daughter, the wife of Solomon, who rebuilt it, together with several other towns. (See I Kings xvi. 17.) Gezer was in the southern border of the tribe of Ephraim, about fifteen miles N.W. by N. from Jerusalem. In the time of Jerome it was a small town, bearing the name of Gazara.

14. “Hormah....Arad."-From this it seems that the kingdom of Arad was distinct from that of Hormah; whence we may conclude that Hormah was not a town of the king of Arad, but of an ally who had assisted him in his attack on the Israelites, as recorded in Num. xxi. (see the note there). Although the king of Hormah was defeated by Joshua, the city of that name was not destroyed till after his death (see Judg. i. 17).

15. “ Libnah.”—This town appears to have been a few miles to the north of Lachish. It was given to the priests (ch. xxi. 13), which perhaps accounts for its revolt from king Joram, when "he did evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Kings viii. 22; 2 Chron. xxi. 10). The place must have been of considerable importance, as we find that the king of Assyria, after he had despatched Rabshakeh from Lachish against Jerusalem, went himself to take Libnah. It existed as a village in the time of Eusebius and Jerome.

It was

"Adullam."-This place is chiefly noted in later times from a cave in its neighbourhood, which furnished a retreat to David when he fled from Gath (1 Sam. xxii. 1), and where he collected a party of about four hundred men. one of the towns fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. x. 7). Eusebius says it was a very large town even in his time. 17. "Tappuah."-There seem to be two, if not three, places of this name. One in the tribe of Judah (ch. xv. 34); another in the mountains of the same tribe (v. 53), distinguished by the prefix Beth (Beth-tappuah); and a third, distinguished by the prefix En or Ain (En-tappuah), on the boundary between the tribes Ephraim and Manasseh, but belonging to the former (ch. xvii. 7, 8). Tappuah means an apple, probably including also, like the analogous Arabic word, peaches, citrons, apricots, &c. These towns may therefore have been denominated from the abundance of the fruit of this kind which their districts produced.

18. "Aphek."-There are several places of this name; and there seem to be more than there really are. In 1 Sam. iv. there is an Aphek where the Philistines encamped while the Israelites were encamped at Ebenezer, and when, in the action which ensued, the ark of God was taken. There is also an Aphekah mentioned in ch. xv. 53; probably the same as this. We also find, in 1 Sam. xxix. 1, that there was an Aphek in the great plain of Esdraelon, where the Philistines encamped, as did the Israelites at Jezreel, previously to the great battle in which Saul was killed. Then there was another Aphek in the tribe of Asher (ch. xiii. 4, and xix. 30); and one more, belonging to the kings of Syria, to which Benhadad fled when defeated by Ahab (1 Kings xx. 30). As this last city seems to have been in Lebanon, and Asher's territory extended into those mountains, it is probable that the two last are identical, the rather as this tribe left unconquered a great part of its allotted territory. (See the note on the text last referred to.)

"Lasharon."-Biblical scholars, regarding the prefixed as the mark of the genitive, read simply "of Sharon," as in the margin of our version. The town is doubtless the same as the Saron, near Lydda, mentioned in Acts ix. 35. It stood in the beautiful and fertile plain extending from Cæsarea to Joppa, along the coast-which is mentioned with so much admiration by the sacred poets. (See Cant. ii. 1.)

19, 20. "Madon...Hazor... Shimron-meron... Achshaph.”—These were the four northern kings who organized the grand confederacy against the Israelites (ch. xi. 1). Hazor seems to have been the presiding state in this part of the country; and although it was utterly defeated, the king killed, and the capital burnt down, it recovered its strength in time, and about 160 years later was so powerful as to hold the Israelites themselves in subjection, when they had sinned against God. See Jud. iv. The last of these four towns, Achshaph, is supposed to be the same as the Achzib of Judg. i. 31. This place was situated upon the coast, about ten miles north of Acre (the Accho and Ptolemais of Scripture), where, upon a hill near the sea, there is still a small village, bearing the name of Zib, and which is rendered conspicuous by a few palm trees which rear themselves above its dwellings. This was in the lot of Asher, but that tribe did not gain possession of it.

21. "Taunach... Megiddo."-Both these towns are mentioned in Judg. v. 19, so as to show that they were not far from the river Kishon, or very distant from each other. Manasseh, to whom both towns belonged, could not drive out the inhabitants; but they were ultimately enabled to exact tribute from them (xvii. 11-13). Yet Taanach is in xxi. 25, mentioned as a Levitical city. Megiddo was rebuilt by Solomon (1 Kings ix. 15). Ahaziah, king of Judah, died here of the wounds he received from Jehu's people (2 Kings ix.), and near this place Joshua received the wounds of which he died, in a battle with the king of Egypt. 2 Chron. xxxv.

22. "Kedesh."-There are two places of this name; one in the tribe of Judah (xv. 23), and the other in that of Naphtali (xix. 37). The latter is thought to be here meant, as it is mentioned with others that were situated in the northern parts of Canaan. This was afterwards a Levitical city, and a city of refuge (xx. 7).

23. "Dor, in the coast of Dor."-This seems to have been a place of considerable importance in later times, and is placed by Jerome nine miles to the north of Cæsarea. It was in the tribe of Manasseh, but like Taanach and Megiddo was not possessed by it, because "the Canaanites would dwell in that land" (Judg. i. 27 ; Josh. xvii. 11). When Solomon divided the country into twelve governments, one of them was "the region of Dor," the governor of which was his own son-in-law (1 Kings iv. 11). It is mentioned in the books of the Maccabees and in Josephus, under the name of Dora. Mr. Buckingham, who, in his Travels in Palestine,' has fully traced its history, describes it as a small village with not more than forty or fifty dwellings, without a mosque, but having a khan for the accommodation of travellers. There is here a small port formed by a range of rocky islets at a short distance from the sandy beach. A ruined castle stands on the north of the town; but there is nothing to convey an idea of the former extent and importance of the place. It is now called Tortoura.

"King of the nations of Gilgal."-Certainly not the Gilgal where the Hebrews formed their first encampment. Wa terland, Boothroyd, and others read the word rendered "nations" as a proper name, and for "Gilgal" read "Galile with the Septuagint, thus translating, "king of Goim in Galilee." Compare with Isa. xi. 1; see also the note on rel

xiv. 1. We allow the conjecture there stated to apply to this text; but its application to Tidal's kingdom is more doubtful, as there neither Gilgal nor Galilee are expressed.

24. "Tirzah."-It is no where said to what tribe this place belonged. Some place it in Manasseh, and others in Ephraim. After the separation into two kingdoms, Tirzah soon became the capital of Israel, or at least a principal seat of the court, until Samaria was built by Omri and made the metropolitan city. (See 1 Kings xii. 25; xiv. 17; xv. 33; xvi. 6, 8, 9, 15, 17, 23, 24.) The town seems to have been so pleasantly situated, that "beautiful as Tirzah," became a proverbial and poetical expression of comparison (Cant. vi. 45.

"All the kings thirty and one.”—See the note on Judg. i. 7.

Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof.
This was the inheritance of the children of
Reuben after their families, the cities and
the villages thereof.

24 And Moses gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad, even unto the children of Gad according to their families.

25 And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah;

26 And from Heshbon unto Ramathmizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir;

27 And in the valley, Beth-aram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and his border, even unto the edge of the sea of Chinnereth on the other side Jordan eastward.

28 This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities, and their villages.

29 And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families.

30 And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities:

31 And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families.

32 These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward.

33 "But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.

10 Num. 32. 39. 11 Chap. 18. 7. 18 Num. 18. 20.

12

Verse 1. "Joshua was old.”—He was 110 years old at his death; and as the Jews say that the survey and division of the land occupied seven years, and as he does not appear to have lived long after that, he was at this time probably about a hundred years of age.

2. "The borders of the Philistines."-The Philistines were descended from Mizraim, the second son of Ham (Gen. x. 14), by whom Egypt was settled. They seem to have left that country at a very early period, and to have settled on the coast of Canaan, expelling the Avites by whom it had previously been occupied (Deuf. ii. 3; Amos ix. 7; Jer. xlvii. 4). They soon became so powerful as to give to the whole country the name of "Palestine," by which it was known even in the time of Moses (Exod. xv. 14), and under which it is mentioned by Greek and Roman writers. The territory of the Philistines was very inconsiderable in extent, being merely a narrow strip extending about sixty miles along the coast, from the " river of Egypt" nearly to the bay of Joppa. This country was very fertile; and we are probably to look for the source of their power in the commerce which they appear to have carried on. It is certain that they were the most powerful and lasting enemies that the Israelites had to encounter; and the history of the wars between the two people fills a very large space in the historical books of Scripture. Their land fell to the lot of Judah; but that tribe never dispossessed them of their territory; and wars between them and the Hebrews continued to be waged from the commencement of the Jewish commonwealth to its dissolution at the captivity. After the Jews were again settled in their own country, the wars between their old enemies were revived. Judas Maccabæus defeated them and took Azotus (B.c. 159); and about sixty-five years after, Gaza was burnt by Alexander Janneus. After this, the Philistines seem to have been incorporated with the Jews who settled in their country. And hence the Philistines, who are before us from the commencement to the conclusion of the Old Testament history, are not once mentioned in the New Testament. We see that at the present time their little territory was divided into five principalities or commonwealths, the chiefs of which are distinguished by the peculiar title of DD, seranim, which almost every version differently renders (our own by "lords" and "princes"). It is probable that saran was the title which the Philistines themselves gave to the chief officer of their little states, the government of which seems to have been aristocratic. See the note on 1 Sam.

xxvii. 22.

"Geshuri."-From the context the Geshurites must be the same as those mentioned in 1 Sam. xxvii. 8, where it is said that while David lived among the Philistines, he went and invaded the Geshurites and other nations which "were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt." In verses 11, 13, another nation of Geshurites are mentioned as being situated at the other, the northern, extremity of the land, on the other side Jordan, that is, to the north of Bashan, within mount Hermon. Some Biblical chorographers think that they find a third Geshur in the "Geshur in Syria" of 2 Sam. xv. 8, the king of which was the father-in-law of Absalom, who fled thither after he had caused his brother Ammon to be murdered, and remained there three years till Joab had made his peace with the king. (See 2 Sam. iii. 3; xiii. 37, 38.) We do not, however, see any reason for establishing a difference between the Geshurites of Hermon and those of Syria, since the denomination of "Syria" reaches in the Scripture to the very borders of Palestine. The Geshurites either of the south or north were never expelled; but, as we see from verse 13, the latter were so far subdued that they were obliged to admit the Israelites to participate in the occupation

of their land.

3. "Sihor, which is before Egypt."-This river is unquestionably the same as "the river of Egypt," whatever that river were. See the notes on Gen. xv. 18, and Num. xxxiv. 5. This text affords an additional proof that the "river of Egypt" and "Sihor" are not the Nile; for the territory of the Philistines, along the Mediterranean, certainly did not extend to the Nile; but it did extend to the vicinity of El Arish, near which we believe the river ought to be placed.

4. "To the borders of the Amorites."-We must conclude that this much dispersed people had a colony in the north, as well as in the south and east, unless we prefer to conclude that by some accident the letter has been transposed,

and that we ought to read Aramites, that is, Syrians. Syria certainly was the northern boundary of Palestine, but we nowhere else learn that Amorites were there.

5. "The land of the Giblites."-This people had their capital, called Gebal, on the sea shore, under Lebanon, upwards of forty miles N.N.E. from Sidon, and therefore far beyond the limits of the territory which the Israelites ever permanently possessed. This, with other passages, seems to sanction the conclusion that, in the definition of boundaries, respect was sometimes had to the limits which might have been obtained, if the people had had that faith in the Lord's promise which would have rendered them invincible, and the want of which kept them from the complete occupation of their promised country. On this view, the definition of boundaries may have had in view the limits of the kingdom in the time of David and Solomon, when the power of the Hebrews attained its highest point. But in other explanations of boundary, there seems to be a reference to that extent of country which was actually and permanently possessed and occupied by the children of Abraham. The Giblites worked with the people of Solomon and the king of Tyre in preparing wood and stone for the temple (1 Kings v. 18, marginal reading); and in Ezek. xxvii. 9, the people of Gebal are described as employed in fitting out the ships of Tyre, on which state the Giblites seem to have been dependent both in the time of Solomon and Ezekiel. The chief town is no doubt the Gabel of Pliny, and the Byblus of the Greeks. Indeed, the Septuagint has the latter name for "Gebal" in the last cited text. It is still called Gebal, and exists as a small town, surrounded by a wall, parts of which seemed to Burckhardt to have been built in the time of the Crusades.

6. "Lebanon."-The mountains of Lebanon form the root of the whole mountain system of Palestine. An extended view would perhaps trace them as ramifications southward from the great range of Taurus; but we must content ourselves with the more limited view which illustrates their immediate connection with Palestine. Two parallel ranges of mountains descend from Syria, enclosing between them a large valley which was anciently called Cole-Syria. These are the mountains of Lebanon of the Hebrews, who do not, like the Greeks, distinguish the western ridge as Libanus Proper, and the eastern as Anti-Libanus; but we shall retain this distinction, as convenient in a geographical statement. Arriving in the north of Palestine, the parallel ranges both incline to the west, and Libanus approaches the sea, and terminates near the mouth of the river Leontes, about five miles to the north of old Tyre. The history of Anti-Libanus is more complicated. Contracting the breadth of valley between itself and Libanus, it also advances to the sea, and terminates in the White Cape (Album Promontorium) about five miles south of old Tyre. This part, where Anti-Libanus turns westward and crosses the breadth of Palestine to the sea, is, as the nearest and not the least elevated, to be understood as

the most usual "Lebanon" of the Scripture, in the restricted sense. At the point where this chain turns off eastward, to continue its parallel course with Libanus, it throws out a ramification to continue the southern course it was before pursuing. This might in fact be regarded as the prolongation of the main chain, and that which attends Libanus towards the sea, merely as a branch. At any rate, this continuation southward is of more importance than the other branches of Libanus. At the point of divergence the highest mountains of the range occur; and, together with the first part of the prolongation southward, form the "Hermon" of Scripture. Thence, it may, with the usual interruption of plains and valleys, be traced along the east side of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, the Ghor, and the Gulf of Akaba, under the several denominations of the mountains of Gilead, Abarim, and Seir. This much of the southward continuation of Anti-Libanus, on the east of Jordan. Let us return to the point of divergence at mount Hermon. We have said that there Anti-Libanus inclines westward to the sea, to continue its parallel course with Libanus. This is true. But it will be observed that, after following this direction till it arrives at about the centre of the land's breadth between the Jordan and the sea, it merely sends a dash of mountain towards the west, to complete its duty of attending Libanus, and itself turns southward, and establishes a new parallelism with that other branch which we have traced southward on the cast of Jordan. It runs down through the centre of the country, forming the "mountains of Israel" and "the mountains of Judah." In the south of that tribe, a cross range (see “Halak,” note to ch. xi. 17) may be considered to carry it eastward nearer to the parallel range, from which it then becomes only separated by the broad Ghor between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba, forming the western hills of that valley, of which we have so often spoken. From thence this western range takes the western side of the Gulf of Akaba, and after throwing out the cross range of El Tyh, may be considered to terminate in the grand mountains which are clustered towards the extremity of the peninsula of Sinai. We believe this will be found a correct skeleton view of the mountains of Lebanon: and from this it will appear that all the mountains which bound and traverse the inheritance of Israel, on both sides the Jordan, are, in one way or another, ramifications of these mountains, or, to speak more precisely, of the AntiLibanus. In the note on Mount Halak (chap. xii. 7), it was found convenient to consider the hills which bound the plain of Jordan on the west as forming a ridge distinct from that which traverses the heart of the country; but this ridge being merely a ramification of the central range, we have, in the present more general view, regarded the whole as one line of mountain.

The mountains of Lebanon are most elevated in the north of Palestine, where they make a most conspicuous and striking appearance, whether as viewed from the western sea or the eastern plains. They appear as stretching far away to the north and south, forming the elevated central nucleus of all the mountains of this region, and raising their abrupt and steep summits in grand snow-invested masses, high above the inferior ridges which seem to diverge thence, as from a centre, to the north, the south, and the east. The higher summits of Anti-Libanus are covered with perpetual snow; not, as Dr. Clarke describes it, in patches, as it may be seen during summer upon the tops of very elevated mountains, but investing all the upper part with that perfect white and smooth velvet-like appearance which snow only exhibits when it is very deep;—" a striking spectacle," adds the traveller, “in such a climate, where the beholder, seeking protection from a burning sun, almost considers the firmament to be on fire." The higher parts of Libanus not being above the point of perpetual congelation, are not thus covered with perpetual snow; but, as they border on that point, snow still remains during summer in the clefts and fissures which are exposed to the north. We do not know that any traveller has determined the height of the most elevated part of Libanus with any precision. Jahn, in his Archæologia Biblica,' says the height of Anti-Libanus is about 9000 feet; but the principal summits must be much higher than this; for some of them, as we have seen, are above the line of perpetual congelation, which line cannot in this latitude be much below 11,000 feet; consequently, the higher peaks must be above that elevation, but how much above we do not know. The geological structure of the mountains of Lebanon has not been examined with much attention. Burckhardt says of Anti-Libanus," Its rock is primitive, calcareous, of a fine grain; upon the highest part I found a sandy slate" (Syria,' p. 9). Of Libanus, he nearly repeats this description,-"The whole of the rock is calcareous, and the surface towards the top is so splintered by the atmosphere as to have the appearance of layers of slates." He adds, "I found a small petrified shell, and on breaking a stone which I picked up on the summit, I discovered another similar petrifaction within it." This is rather important, as seeming to show that the structure of the mountains is not of primitive but of either mountain or transition limestone.

We do not here notice the cedars, and other objects and circumstances, which furnished so many fine images to the Hebrew poets. Our statements on these subjects are reserved to illustrate the several texts which refer to them.

11. "Gilead...and all Basnan.”—The beautiful kingdom of Og, on the east of Jordan, extended from the river Jabbok on the south to Mount Hermon on the north. It comprehended three districts, all famous in the Bible for their exuberant fertility and their general excellence. Of these Argob was in the north; Bashan, properly so called, in the middle; and Gilead in the south. Part of Gilead, however, which lay south of the Jabbok, was not included in the kingdom of Bashan. But Argob may seem to be only a district of Bashan; whence the whole of Og's kingdom may be said to consist of all Bashan, and the greater part of Gilead. Or, indeed, it may be that Bashan was the general name for the whole, and Argob and Gilead only of particular districts-the former a small district in the north, and the latter a large one in the south. Parts of this country have been well described by Mr. Buckingham. He crossed the Jordan about ten miles above Jericho, and proceeded north-west to Jerash; consequently, till he came to the Jabbok (Zerka), his journey lay through that part of Gilead which was south of that river, and which had belonged to the Amorites. After ascending two ranges of barren hills, "we found ourselves on plains of nearly as high a level as the summits of the hills themselves, and certainly 800 feet at least above the level of the Jordan. The character of the country, too, was quite different from any thing I had seen in Palestine....We were now in a land of extraordinary richness, abounding with the most beautiful prospects, clothed with thick forests, varied with verdant slopes, and possessing extensive plains of a fine red soil, now covered with thistles, as the best proof of its fertility, and yielding in nothing to the celebrated plains of Zabulon and Esdraelon, in Galilee and Samaria." (Palestine,' vol. ii. p. 104, 8vo. edit.) This continued to be the character of Gilead south of the Jabbok. After passing that river, the travellers entered that part of Gilead which formed the south portion of the kingdom of Bashan: “We ascended the steep on the south side of the Zerka (the Jabbok), and on reaching its summit, came again on a beautiful plain, of an elevated level....We continued our way over this elevated tract, continuing to behold, with surprise and admiration, a beautiful country on all sides of us; its plains covered with a very fertile soil, its hills clothed with forests, at every new turn presenting the most magnificent landscapes that could be imagined. Among the trees the oak was frequently seen, and we know that this territory produced them of old." (Isa. ii. 13; Ezek. xxvii. 6 ; Zech. xi 2.)...." Some learned commentators, indeed, believing that no oaks grew in this supposed desert region, have translated the word by alders, to prevent the appearance of inaccuracy in the inspired writers. The expression of the fat bulls of Bashan, which occurs more than once in the Scriptures, seemed to us equally inconsistent, as applied to a