great events, for the church and for the world, depended upon the shepherd sons of Jacob driving their flocks from Shechem to a place lying in the route of the caravan proceeding to Egypt. There would have been no Ishmaelite traders passing by Shechem to the land of the Pharaohs, where they had a ready market for their slaves. Then we may allow our imaginations to take free scope in trying to realize what would have been the wholly changed after-history of Israel. Joseph's trials in that land where, recording his first experiences, he could say, I heard a language that I understood not (Ps. lxxxi.)—his elevation to the second place in the kingdom-the after-history of Israel there— the raising up of Moses-the deliverance of the Hebrew nation from bondage-the glorious march through the great wilderness-the possession of Canaan-and all the lessons of grace and promises of the Messiah, and preparations for his appearing-were made by God to stand out in connection with that change from Shechem to Dothan. The removal of the flocks by the sons of Jacob was thus one great link in that wonderful chain of incidents to which we have referred, which were guided by God in order to bring out many of his great purposes of grace for the world. I believe it will be found that this feature in the moral government of God is linked up with the lives of most of the men whom he has signally blessed as instruments of good for his church. If we knew them intimately, we might generally find some seemingly trifling incident made use of to introduce them to great acts, and the church and the world to great blessing. The special and particular providence of God has thus its most striking illustrations in what man is ready to overlook as trivial and uninteresting.

The site of Dothan, or the "Two Wells," has been fully identified. "But what," says Dr. Robinson, "most interested us in connection with this fine plain, was a green and well-marked Tell in its southeastern part (S. 55° E.), at the distance of three or four miles, bearing the name of Dothan. At the southern foot of the Tell is a fountain called el-Hûfireh. Here, then, was the ancient and long-sought Dothain, or Dothan, where the sons of Jacob were pasturing their father's flocks when they sold their brother Joseph to the Ishmaelites of Midian, passing by on their way to Egypt. Eusebius and Jerome place it rightly at twelve Roman miles north of the city of Samaria. Just in that very situation, the name thus still exists in the mouths of the common people-although overlooked by all modern travellers, as not being on any usual road; and especially by the crusaders, who thought they found Dothan at the Khân Jubb Yûsuf, south-east of Safed. R.

Parchi notes it correctly in the fourteenth century. We learned also at Ya'bud that the great road from Beisân and Yez'in (Jezreel) to Ramleh and Egypt still leads through this plain; entering it on the west of Jenin, passing near the well of Kefr Kûd, and bending southwestwards around the hill of Za'bud to the great western plain. It is easy to see, therefore, that the Midianites to whom Joseph was sold, coming from Gilead, had crossed the Jordan near Beisân, and were proceeding to Egypt along the ordinary road. It could not have been difficult for Joseph's brethren to find an empty cistern in which to secure him. Ancient cisterns are very common even now along the roads and elsewhere; and many villages are supplied only with rain water. It may also be remarked of Joseph's brethren, that they were evidently well acquainted with the best tracts of pasturage. They had fed their flocks for a time in the plain of the Mûkhna by Shechem (Nâblus), and had afterwards repaired to the still richer pasturage here around Dothan."

The first intention of the majority of Joseph's brethren was to slay him, but they were diverted from this by the proposal of Reuben to cast him into one of those empty pits, or cisterns, alluded to in the extract given above. Satisfied with themselves for this departure from their murderous designs, "they sat down to eat bread." If Reuben's purpose were to take occasion to set Joseph free, it was soon thwarted. They lifted up their eyes, and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, and our flesh: and his brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt" (ver. 25-28). During this transaction Reuben appears to have been absent. Thus his intense grief when he returned "The child is not, and I, whither shall I go?" That very emotional nature which, uncontrolled, led him into deep guilt (xlix. 4) would lead him to take compassion on Joseph. It is indeed likely that the transaction between his brethren and the Ishmaelites was kept secret from him. He continued to cherish the impression that, after he left them, his brethren had slain Joseph. Thus, when their guilt meets them in Egypt, and, conscience-stricken, they remembered Joseph, it is recorded

-"And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child? and ye would not hear; therefore, behold, also his blood is required" (xlii. 21, 22).

The Ishmaelites were carrying down to Egypt "spicery, and balm, and myrrh." The Hebrew necoth, rendered here "spicery," occurs in chap. xliii. 11, where it is translated "spices." It is not, as has been alleged, a general term used, as the word "spicery" is with us, to include many different kinds. It is specific, and, equally with the balm and the myrrh, denotes a particular spice. Thus, retaining the original form of the words, the Ishmaelitish merchants were carrying into Egypt necoth (spices), tzeri (balm), and lot (myrrh). Can each of these be fully identified?

1. Necoth (spices).-Two plants may be selected from many named by interpreters as those which supplied the "spicery." Bochart pleads strongly for one of the Storax family (Styraceae), a natural order of plants noted for the aromatic resin which they yield. The common storax (Styrax officinale) grows to the height of from ten to twelve feet. It is a native of Syria, and is found flourishing luxuriantly in several parts of the e south of Europe. The resin is drawn from the tree by making an incision in the bark. One species of styrax (S. benzoin) yields the well-known gum benjamin, which is burnt as incense in Roman Catholic churches. The resin which exudes from the punctured bark, both of the common storax and the gum benjamin tree, is still much used in Asia and in Europe, both as an odour and in medicine. The other plant believed to be that from which the

spicery" was obtained, is the gum tragacanth shrub (Astragalus tragacantha), one of the pod-bearers (Leguminosa). This conclusion is drawn from the derivation of the word. The Arabic name for the gum-yielding astragalus points to it as the representative of the

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so-called "spice-tree." Much more can be alleged in favour of this interpretation than of that of the storax. This plant would be found in abundance in the region through which these merchants passed, as they pursued the caravan route from the extreme north of Palestine to Egypt. It grows in some of the islands of the Levant, and is to be met with in the south of Europe.

2. Tzeri, balm.-Doubt may exist in regard to the něcōth, but little, if any, should be associated with this, because the grounds of identification are much more sure. Nevertheless, many interpreters continue to surround it with uncertainty. This results from regarding it in the light of references made to it by ancient writers, who took little pains to determine the group even of the balm-yielding trees. In this notice I shall look, first, at those passages of Sacred Writ in which the word tzeri occurs, and, second, at the opinions of profane writers regarding it.

The first mention of balm is made in the verse now under notice. Here it is simply spoken of as an article in which the Midianite merchantmen of the caravan from Gilead to Egypt traded. In the next passage we have more information. When Jacob gave his reluctant consent to his sons to make a second visit to Egypt, during the famine, he said "Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds" (Gen. xliii. 11). The conclusion which has been generally drawn from this is, that the tree which yielded the balm was a native of Palestine; and some have even alleged, that the passage implies that the plant was peculiar to Syria. But it is very doubtful if the words "best fruits of the land" can be held to include the vegetable productions specially named-" balm, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds." "A little honey" is mentioned in the list, between the balm and the spices. No more, then, is implied than that Palestine reckoned these among its characteristic articles of trade. The trees which supplied the balm, and myrrh, and spices, might no more be either natives of the land, or peculiar to it, than the vine and the apricot are indigenous in Britain. The prophet Jeremiah refers to balm more frequently than any other Scripture writer. His first use of it is in the oft-quoted text-"Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" (Jer. viii. 22.) These questions were asked at a peculiarly critical period in the history of Israel. The nation was on the eve of destruction. The king was a weak pleasure-lover, the nobles

were sunk in sensuality and given to oppression, the prophets prophesied smooth things to a backsliding people, the priests "healed the hurt of the daughter of Zion slightly," and all the prospects of prosperity which the reforming work under Josiah had inaugurated were blighted. "Peace! peace!" was proclaimed when there was no peace. On the contrary, the dogs of war were on the very eve of being let loose on flocks doomed to slaughter. Egypt had, when harvest should come, promised help, and the people reckoned on salvation therefrom, but the prophet could cry in bitterness and sorrow, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (ver. 20). He knew, indeed, where help might be obtained, for "the Lord was in Zion as her king;" but the nation refused to believe this. There was a physician in Gilead, and abundance of balm-a covenant God ready to heal them, and the treasures of his grace prepared; but it was all as nought to those bent on backsliding. Thus his deep grief"For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me" (ver. 21). "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?" It is clear from this that the curative power of the tzeri, or balm, was highly esteemed in the time of Jeremiah (B.C. 580), that it was still to be had in the district of Mount Gilead, and that there was a class of men there who applied the balm to the wounds of those who resorted thither.

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When the same prophet was sent with "the word of the Lord against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt," he represents the hopelessness of all efforts to escape the scourge of the hosts of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, by saying " Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured" (xlv. 11). Egypt thus used the tzeri as one among her many medicines, and was in the habit of sending to Gilead for it. Thus the Midianite caravan.

What the king of Babylonia had been to Egypt, Cyrus with his Medo-Persian armies was to be to Babylonia-"Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord" (Jer. 1. 10). Contemplating the results, the prophet exclaims-" Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed" (li. 8). No mention is made here of Gilead; but the mind of the prophet was possessed with joy as he anticipated the return of the captives to familiar scenes-"I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead" (l. 19). The