6.

Of Geba.

PART III. In the fame chap. xiii. ver. 3. we read, that Jonathan, the son of Saul, fmote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba. Now among the cities of Benjamin mentioned Josh. xviii. we read of Gaba, Gibeath, and Gibeon; and Josh. xxi. ver. 17. we read, that the two cities given. to the children of Aaron out of the tribe of Benjamin, were Gibeon and Geba. Whence it is not to be doubted, but that Gaba, chap. xviii. was the fame with Geba, chap. xxi. Some have been of opinion, that this Geba or Gaba was also the fame with Gibeah; but this opinion is difcountenanced, not only by Gibeath (which in all probability was the fame with Gibeah) being expressly named as a diftinct city from Gaba, (Josh. xviii.) but also by the circumstances mentioned in this 13th chapter of 1 Samuel, and elsewhere. For we read, chap. x. ver. 26. that Gibeah was the city where Saul dwelt, and hence, chap. xi. ver. 4. it is called Gibeah of Saul; and agreeably, chap. xiii. ver. 2. we read, that Saul chofe him three thousand men of Ifrael; whereof two thoufand were with Saul in Michmash and mount Bethel, and a thousand with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin, i. e. in the royal city of Saul. And in ver. 3. we presently read next, that Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: which was therefore diftinct from Gibeah, it being not likely, that the Philistines fhould have a garrifon in the city where Saul was wont to refide. The words Geba and Gibeah do in the Hebrew tongue denote an hill; and hence fome understand, by Geba in this place, fome hill on the coafts of the Philistines. So the word Gibeah is rendered in our Bible, chap. vii. ver. 1. The men of Kirjath-jearim brought the ark of the Lord into the house of Abinadab in the hill, which others render in Gibeah; and so it is rendered in our own Bible, 2 Sam. vi. 4.

7.

of Shual,

The other places mentioned in chap. xiii. have been alOf the land ready fpoken of, except the land of Shual, ver. 17. (which and valley feems to have been that part of Ephraim which lay about b Ophrah, the city of Gideon, before fpoken of) and the

of Zeboim.

Chap. vi. §. 7. of Vol. I. Part II.

valley of Zeboim. Of this laft name we read of two places CHAP. I. in Scripture; one whereof was one of the four cities de- SECT. H. ftroyed with Sodom; the other appertained to the tribe of Benjamin, as we learn from Neh. xi. 34. And this, without doubt, is the Zeboim here meant, which gave name to the adjoining valley, called here the valley of Zeboim.

8.

Bozez, and

In chap. xiv. we have mention made of a place called Migron, (ver. 2.) and two rocks, one called Bozez, the Of Migron, other Seneh. Migron was not far from Gibeah, as is Sench. plain from ver. 2; and as to the two rocks, the text exprefsly fays, that the fore front of the one was fituate northward over against Michmafh, and the other fouthward over against Gibeah, ver. 5.

In ver. 47. of this chapter we are informed of the power of Saul, that he fought against all his enemies; amongst whom are mentioned the Kings of Zobah. That the country of Zobah pertained to the Syrians, is evident from 2 Sam. x. 6, 8. where we read expressly of the Syrians of Zobah; and from their being hired by the Ammonites, (as is mentioned in the fame place,) it appears, that Zobah lay in the parts of Syria adjoining to the Ammonites. And this is further confirmed from 2 Sam. viii. 3. compared with 1 Chron. xviii. 3. where we are informed, that David fmote the King of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates; and 2 Chron. viii. 3. we read, that Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah, and prevailed against it, and there built Tadmor, or Palmyra. From comparing together these several texts of Scripture, it feems clear, that the kingdom of Zobah lay on the borders of Nephtali, and the half tribe of Manaffeh beyond Jordan, and fo between the land of Ifrael and the river Euphrates, stretching from the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, to the land of Hamath. Hence Sabe and Barathena, mentioned by Ptolemy as cities of Arabia Deferta, in the confines of Palmyrene, feem to have been no other than Zobah and Berothai men

9.

Of Zobah.

PART III. tioned in the Scriptures, 2 Sam. viii. 8. See more, chap. ii. §. 29.

10.

In 1 Sam. xv. we read, that Saul was by God's direction Of Telaim. fent to deftroy the Amalekites. To which end he gathered the Ifraelites together to Telaim, which in all probability was the fame place with Telem, reckoned among the cities of Judah, Jofh. xv. 24. And this place was very proper for this purpose, as lying in the fouth part of the tribe of Judah, and so in the part adjoining to the Amalekites, as well as Edomites.

11.

Of the city
Carmel.

12.

hem.

Saul haying fmitten the Amalekites, and took their King, came to Carmel, ver. 12. whereby is to be underftood in this text, not the famous mountain fo called, but a city of the fouth part of the tribe of Judah, mentioned Josh. xv. 55, and which seems to have given name to the territory round it. Of this city or country was Nabal, the husband of Abigail, whom David married; and from chap. xxv. we find that it lay in the south parts of Judah. Eufebius and Jerom tell us, that there was in their time a town, called Carmelia, ten miles from Hebron to the eaft, and wherein the Romans kept a garrifon, which might very well be the fame with the Carmel here mentioned.

In chap. xvi. Samuel is fent by God to Bethlehem, to Of Bethle- anoint David. I have spoken of this place in chap. ii. §. 3. of our Saviour's Journeyings, or the firft part of my Geography of the New Teftament, it being the birthplace of our bleffed Saviour, as well as of King David, from whom our Saviour was defcended according to the flesh. To what is there faid, I fhall add here, that this place is otherwife called Ephrath, or Ephratah; and fo sometimes Bethlehem-Ephratah, fometimes BethlehemJudah, namely, to distinguish it from another Bethlehem, lying in the tribe of Zabulon. It lies about fix miles from Jerufalem to the fouth, or fouth-weft, in the way to Hebron, as Eufebius and Jerom tell us; who add, that the monument of Jeffe, the father of David, was fhewn

here.

here in their time. Mr. Maundrell tells us, that about CHAP. I. one hour and a quarter's distance from Bethlehem fouth- SECT. II. ward, are fhewn thofe famous fountains, pools, and gardens, which are faid to have been the contrivance and delight of King Solomon. To these works and places of pleasure that great prince is fupposed to allude, Ecclef. ii. 5, 6. where, amongst the other inftances of his magnificence, he reckons up his gardens, and vineyards, and pools.

As for the pools, they are three in number, lying in a row above each other; being fo difpofed, that the waters of the uppermoft may defcend into the fecond, and those of the second into the third. Their figure is quadrangular. The breadth is the fame in all, amounting to about ninety paces. In their length there is fome difference; the first being about one hundred and fixty paces long, the fecond two hundred, the third two.hundred and twenty. They are all lined with wall and plaistered, and contain a great depth of water. Clofe by the pools is a pleasant castle of a modern ftructure; and about the distance of one hundred and forty paces from them, is the fountain, from which principally they derive their waters. This the friars will have to be that fealed fountain, to which the holy spouse is compared, Cant. iv. 12. And, in confirmation of this opinion, they pretend a tradition, that King Solomon shut up these springs, and kept the door of them fealed with his fignet, to the end that he might preserve the waters for his own drinking, in their natural freshness and purity. Nor was it difficult thus to fecure them, they rifing under ground, and having no avenue to them, but by a little hole like to the mouth of a narrow well. Through this hole you defcend directly down, but not without fome difficulty, for about four yards; and then arrive in a vaulted room fifteen paces long, and eight broad. Joining to this is another room of the same fashion, but fomewhat lefs. Both these rooms are covered with handsome stone arches, very ancient, and perhaps, fays my author, the work of Solomon himself.

You

PART III.

You find here four places, at which the water rifes. From these separate fources it is conveyed by little rivulets into a kind of bason, and from thence is carried by a large fubterraneous paffage down into the pools. In the way, before it arrives at the pools, there is an aqueduct of brickpipes, which receives part of the stream, and carries it by many turnings and windings about the mountains to Jerufalem.

Below the pools here runs down a narrow rocky valley, inclosed on both fides with high mountains. This the friars will have to be the inclosed garden, alluded to in the fame place of the Canticles before cited: A garden inclofed is my fifter, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain fealed. What truth there is in this conjecture, I cannot, fays Mr. Maundrell, abfolutely pronounce. As to the pools, it is probable enough they may be the fame with Solomon's, there not being the like ftore of excellent fpring-water to be met with any where elfe, throughout all Palestine, or the Holy Land. But for the gardens one may fafely affirm, that if Solomon made them in the rocky ground, which is now affigned for them, he demonftrated greater power and wealth in finishing his defign, than he did wisdom in choofing the place for it. Le Bruyn fays, that he knows not how to be of their mind, that take them to be the work of Solomon, fince he perceives not the least probability for it; yet he has given us a draught of them.

What has hitherto been spoken of lies to the south of Bethlehem. On the west thereof is fhewn the well of David, fo called, because it is held to be the fame with that, the waters whereof David fo paffionately thirsted after, 2 Sam. xxiii. 15. It is a well, or rather a cistern, fupplied only with rain, without any natural excellency in its waters to make them defirable; but we are told, that David's spirit had a further aim. The forementioned paffage of Scripture runs thus: And David was then in an hold, and the garrifon of the Philiftines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed, and faid, O that one would