On the west, from the river of Egypt to the city Acco or Ptolemais, or rather as far as Achzib, or Ecdippam, Josh. xix. 28, 29, the boundary was the Mediterranean sea called in

,The Philistines .הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן הַיָּם הַגָּדוֹל הַיָּם ,Hebrew

who were conquered by David, dwelt on its southern shore, within the limits just mentioned. They often threw off the yoke.

From Achzib, the boundary received a direction north into the mainland, and ran contiguous to Phoenicia seventy-eight English miles, to lat. 34°, terminating at Apheca, which is situated between Biblum, or Gible, and Baal-Gad or Baalbec. Phoenicia, therefore, was not included in the territory of the Hebrews; Josh. xiii. 2-6. Comp. Num. xxxiv. 6, and Josh. xix. 24-31.

The northern boundary extended, with many deviations, from Apheca to the east, touched in Colesyria upon the kingdom of Hamath, and enclosed the city of Baal-Gad, lat. 34o, near which appears to have been situated the city of Dan, so often mentioned as being on the northern frontier of the kingdom. Thence the line ran south-east to Arabia Deserta, so as to exclude the kingdom of Damascus; the whole of which, with the cities of Betack and Bairuth, was at last occupied by the armies of David. It recovered, however, its freedom under his successors, and gave much trouble to the kingdom of Israel.

On the east, the limit assigned was the Euphrates; Deut. xi. 24. This boundary, however, cannot be accurately determined, on account of the extensive deserts which exist in that direction. The mountains of Gilead, of which the people took possession in the time of Moses, run into the barren waste which skirts the bank of the Euphrates, and, as we learn, 1 Chron. v. 9, 16, supplied pasture to the tribes of Gad and Reuben. The tribes beyond Jordan subdued a large tract of country, during the reign of Saul; 1 Chron. v. 19, et seq. The Ammonites possessed the land eastward of the river Arnon, and the Moabites inhabited the region to the south of the same river: so that the Arnon was the boundary which separated the Hebrews on the east from the Ammonites, and on the south from the Moabites, until this nation was subdued by David, [1 Chron. xviii. xix.] who extended the frontiers of his dominions as far as 35° 15' N. lat. where stood the city Thipsach, or Thapsacus. From these facts it is clear that David and Solomon reigned over an extensive

kingdom, reaching from 28° to 35° N. lat. and from 52° to 59° East longitude.

§. 14. FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY; MOUNTAINS. Palestine is a mountainous country. Two ranges, the one on the east, the other on the west side of the Jordan, extend from Syria into Arabia, interrupted, however, in various places, by valleys and level tracts of greater or less extent. The principal mountains are,

1: Mount Lebanon. It is formed of two ridges, which run north almost parallel from lat. 33° 12' to lat. 34° 32', leaving a valley in the middle, which is called Coelesyria, 1 ban andy, Jos. xi. 17. These mountains first rise about three miles north of ancient Tyre, where the river Leontes, now called Kasmie, which flows from Colesyria, or the valley between the mountains, empties itself into the sea. The western ridge is denominated Libanus, by the Greeks, and the eastern, Antilibanus; but the Hebrews do not make this distinction of names, denominating both ridges by the common name of Lebanon, or Libanus. Libanus runs north from the mouth of the Leontes, bending a little to the east, it leaves on the borders of the sea a plain varying in breadth. It projects in some places into the sea, and forms several promontories, two of which deserve notice; one, near the mouth of the Lycus, now called Nahr el Kelb, lat. 33° 50', the other, lat. 34° 16', called o pow. Anciently these mountains were famous for their cedars, of which thirty or forty, though according to Aryda only fourteen, of great size and antiquity, still remain, together with many smaller ones. Antilibanus runs at first from the mouth of the Leontes, in an eastern direction, but soon takes a northern course and parallel with Libanus. It is much higher than the latter, and is covered with perpetual snows, Jer. xviii. 14. Snow may also be found on Libanus during summer in the clefts and fissures which are exposed to the north,

["It has been calculated by Spanheim, that the remotest points of the Holy Land, as divided by Joshua, and possessed by king David, were situated at the distance of three degrees of latitude, and as many of longitude, including in all about 26,000 square miles." Russell, Connection, i. 188.]

d Irby and Mangles, who visited Lebanon in October, 1817, say about fifty. Remarkable for being all together in one clump." Travels, p. 209.]

and is often brought down into the neighbouring cities and mingled with the drink of the inhabitants, in order to render it cool and refreshing, Prov. xxv. 13. The highest peak of Antilibanus was called by the Hebrews, Hermon; by the Sidonians, Sirion, [Ps. xxix. 6;] and by the Amorites, Shenir, Deut. iii. 9. In later times these three names were given to three separate summits, 1 Chron. v. 23. The part towards Damascus was called Amana, from which flow the two rivers Amana and Pharpar, 2 Kgs. v. 12. The pine and the fir flourish on Antilibanus. The height of these mountains is about 9000 feet. Their appearance is grand and imposing, and has furnished many of the images which occur in the Scriptures. Isa. x. 34; xxix. 17; xxxv. 2.

II. Carmel. This is a mountainous ridge, which rises about thirteen miles south of Ptolemais, in the vicinity of a large bay formed by the Mediterranean. It stretches south nearly twelve miles, and is about forty in circumference, or, according to D'Arvieux, nearly sixty. The northern and eastern summits are higher than the southern and western. The northern summit or ridge projects into the sea, the southern recedes, and leaves a plain on the shore in the form of a half circle. The name itself is an indication of the fruitfulness of these ridges, and of the valleys which they form; for is a contraction for 72, which means the garden of God, or a very pleasant region. The tops of these mountains are crowded with oaks and firs, the valleys with laurels and olives; nor are they deficient in fountains and rivulets, so grateful to the inhabitants of the east. Carmel was to the Hebrew prophets the source of many poetical images, Isa. xxix. 17; xxxii. 15; xxxv. 2; Micah, vii. 14; Jer. xlviii. 33. Its numerous caves are worthy of notice, many of which existed in ancient times; as well as its passages leading through continuous clefts in the rocks, forming a secure and ready hiding place, Amos ix. 3; 2 Kings ii. 25; iv. 25. There was another mount Carmel, with a city of the same name, in the tribe of Judah, 1 Sam. xxv. 5; xxvii. 3; 2 Sam. iii. 3.

III. Tabor, [in Josephus and the Greek writers, 'Iтaßuρion or 'ATaßupov,] a singular mountain, of an oblong shape, running from north to south, eleven miles east of Carmel, and about nine west of the Jordan, on the northern side of the plain of Jezreel or Efdraelon. It is estimated to be nearly a mile high, and a journey of three hours in circumference at the bottom. On the

top of the mountain is a plain of an oblong figure, like the mountain itself, and three thousand paces in circuit. On this plain there was formerly a city, probably the same with the city Tabor in the tribe of Zebulun, mentioned 1 Chron. vi. 77, and which, in Joshua xxi. 32, is simply called 1977, a city. It is not the same with the Tabor, mentioned 1 Sam. x. 3, which was two miles distant from Jerusalem.

IV. The Mountains of Israel, also called the Mountains of Ephraim, occupied nearly the centre of the whole country. To the south of them were the Mountains of Judah. Both ridges are fruitful, excepting those parts of the mountains of Israel which approach the district of the Jordan, and those extending from the mount of Olives to the plains of Jericho. These tracts are rough and uneven, and abound in hiding places for robbers, Luke x. 30. The highest peak in the mountains of Israel, or Ephraim, seems to be what was formerly called the Rock Rimmon, Judg. xx. 45-47, but it is now called Quarantariae. The mountains Ebal and Gerizim are celebrated, Josh. viii. 30 -35; Deut. xxvii. They are separated from each other merely by an intervening valley, the former being to the north, the latter to the south of Shechem. In the mountains of Judah are numerous caves, some very large, of which Adullam is the most celebrated, 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2. Comp. also Gen. xxiii. 9, 19; Josh. x. 16. There was a city of the same name, see Josh. xv. 35.

V. The Mountains of Gilead, situated east of the Jordan, extend from Antilibanus, or mount Hermon, into Arabia Petræa. The northern part, celebrated for its oaks and pastures, was called Bashan; the middle was Gilead, properly so called. The southern part comprised the mountains Abarim. Among these, in the neighbourhood of Jericho, arose the mountain Pheor or Phegor, and Nebo, from the summit of which, called Pisgah, the whole land of Canaan is visible. Deut. iii. 27; xxxii. 49, 50.

xxxiv. 1, 2; comp. Matt. iv. 8.

e

§. 15. PLAINS.

The most celebrated are, 1. The coast of the Mediterranean

[As being the scene of the forty days' fast which preceded the Temptation of our Lord. A supposition which appears to be utterly unfounded. See Bp. Middleton on Greek Article. Note on St. Matt. iv. 1.]

from the river of Egypt to mount Carmel. The tract from Gaza to Joppa is simply called, the plain. In this plain were the five principal cities of the Philistines, viz. Gaza, Askelon, Azotus, Gath, and Ekron, or Accaron. The country, somewhat hilly, between Joppa and Carmel, was called Sharon, which, however, must be distinguished from a place of the same name situated between Tabor and lake Gennesareth; as well as from a third Sharon, celebrated for its pastures, lying east of the Jordan in the tribe of Gad.

II. The plain of Jezreel, running through the middle of Palestine from west to east, begins at the Mediterranean and mount Carmel, and ends where the river Jordan issues from lake Gennesareth. It is from twenty-three to twenty-eight miles long, and from nine to thirteen broad. The eastern part is called Sharon; the western, the plain of Megiddo. See Judges iv. 1, et seq. vi. 33; vii. 18; 1 Sam. xxix. 1-11; 2 Kings xxiii. 29; 2 Chron. xxxv. 22; 1 Macab. xii. 49.

III. The region or district of Jordan, includes the lands on both banks of the Jordan, from lake Gennesareth to the Dead sea. Its breadth from west to east is thirteen miles, its length from north to south, according to the corrected reading of Josephus, Jewish War, book iv. chap. 8. § 2. is one hundred and thirty-eight miles, which is too long to agree with the distance between lake Gennesareth and the Dead sea. Modern travellers make the length about fifty-six miles. This region may be divided into, I. The plain of Jericho, which is watered and fertilised by a small river, and is eight miles in length, and two and a quarter in breadth. II. The valley of Salt, reaching to the Dead sea, 2 Kings, xiv. 7 ; 1 Chron. xviii. 12; 2 Chron. xxv. 11. III. The plains of Moab, beyond Jordan, in which the Hebrews pitched their tents. Num. xxvi. 3. These plains are called, Num. xxv. 1. and Josh. ii. 1, iii, 1, Shittim, or the valley of Acacia. Various words are applied to level places or valleys, whose different shades of meaning cannot now be accurately determined., however, is a valley which has a torrent flowing through it in the winter; 2, 3, ' is a valley without any such torrent; is perhaps a deep valley, as is a broad valley, or plain. Of these valleys that of Hinnom, near the south wall of Jerusalem, is particularly worthy of mention, for two