testimony who appears most credible unto them such power we have assumed to our selves in these differences to follow those who we conceive have the best authority Herein having a speciall regard to those that lived upon the place and preferring their judgments above others though otherwise of greater learning because in matters of fact done in his presence the eyes of a child are to be beleeved before the eares of a man § 5. Where both authours appear of equall authority in themselves and number of followers we have umpired the difference by pitching on a middle number betwixt both For instance Seiglerus makes it fourteen thousand paces or fourteen miles betwixt Zidon and Tyre eminent Marts and therefore the distance betwixt them might be notoriously known whilst Vadianus makes it two hundred furlongs or twenty miles Here to part the difference equall we have insisted on 17 miles § 6. However when this and much more caution is used by us our Scale of miles is so farre from pretending to the exactness of those left-handed Gibeonites to hit the mark at an haires-breadth and not misse that a large and charitable latitude must still be allowed us in a subject so hard and full of uncertainty Yea the holy Spirit it self speaks not positively of distances of places but with words of qualification About threescore furlongs from Ierusalem to Emmaus About five and twenty or thirty furlongs they had rowed on the Sea as if five in thirty made no considerable difference If the same favour may be but allowed our scale of miles I doubt not but it will acquit it self against all just exception § 7. Now for the further managing of our Scale of miles we request the Reader not to extend it therewith to measure all the properties or History-pictures in our Map for then some men would appear Giants yea monsters many miles long expecting him rather to carry a scale in his own eyes for surveying such portraitures Yea in generall I undertake nothing in defence or excuse of those pictures to be done according to the rule of Art as none of my work ornamentall not essentiall to the Maps onely this I will say that eminency in English Gravers is not to be expected till their Art be more countenanced and encouraged Nor would I have the Scale applied to Cities drawn in Prospective as to Rabbah in the Tribe of Gad c. which then will fall out bigger then indeed they were desiring the Reader onely to understand them to be fair and populous Cities and therefore made more large and conspicuous then the rest § 8. Such Towns as stand as one may say on tiptoes on the very umstroke or on any part of the utmost line of any Map unresolved in a manner to stay out or come in are not to be presum'd placed according to exactness but onely signifie them there or thereabouts Nor is this without precedents in the best Geographers so in their maps to make the generall continuation of neighbouring countreys clearer thereby § 9. If any difference on accurate comparing arise in the distances betwixt the same places presented in severall Maps some such will escape in defiance of all diligence we hope the same will appear inconsiderable such moats not being before the sight but in the corner of the eye will little if at all hinder the light of a Geographical truth Surely as in the strictest laws of Horse-racers some wast of weight is allowed to the Riders so me thinks some favour ought to be afforded an Author in measuring and making many Maps were it but for the shaking of his weary hand in so tedious a work But if such differences appear somewhat great let those be relied on as the truest where such places are set down datâ operâ of set purpose so that it is the very work of that Map to describe them let those I say be credited before the distances in other Maps where such places come in onely of complement or are brought in by the by to fashion and fill up the otherwise empty borders thereof CHAP. 15. How the different qualities of places in our Maps are distinguished by their severall Characters § 1. MAy the Reader be pleased to learn the language of the severall Characters of the places used in our Map which speak much in little and are very usefull for the clearing of the history 1 All Cities markt with Coronets were anciently the Royall seats of the thirty one Kings of Canaan at and before the time of Ioshua 2 All Cities surrounded with double circles the reason whereof hereafter belong to the Tribe of Levi. 3 All Cities having banners or flags placed upon them shew the conjecturall position thereof when we have no assurance of their exact situation One side of which flags humbly confesseth our want of certainty the other as earnestly craveth better information 4 When places are noted with Asterisks it imports difference of Divines some making them proper names others meerly appellative 5 Places which have both flags and Asterisks upon them are as I may say doublehatcht with uncertainty not onely their position being doubtfull but it is questionable whether they be proper names or no. 6 Places mentioned onely in the Apocrypha are signed with a Crescent or half-moon inverted in some allusion to the difference of Armes of younger brethren such books being accounted of the Fathers but of a second rank and reputed but Deutero-canonicall by learned Romanists Say not that a Barre of bastardy better befitted them being taken out of Apocrypha writings For what though those writings were never penned by Prophets of whom none betwixt Malachi and Iohn the Baptist never written in Hebrew never owned by the Iews Gods people for Canonicall to whom the oracles of God were committed and which is mainly materiall Christ reproved them not for this neglect never prophesied of Christ to whom all the Prophets beare witness never solemnly quoted by Christ and his Apostles yet because ancient and because it may be said of them as of Abijah the sonne of Ieroboam in them there is found sone good thing toward the Lord they deserve from unprejudic'd judgments a reverent respect 7 Places noted with ◠cross in a circle are such whereof no mention in Scripture but onely in humane writers Iosephus Pliny and the like 8 Such as have on them an half-moon with the points upward are modern places in the possession of the Turk Of these very few and those either of high note in themselves or because seated on high rodes We confess these no essentiall part but conceive them a fit copartment for our subject in hand And thus among the flock of cities in our Map by looking on their brand their owner and nature are quickly known § 2. Some will conceive these had better been thrown together without any distinction seeing the learned doe not need and the unlearned will not
to sing as an harlot Siren songs to allure Merchants to be her lovers as before counting trade and profit t◠be her richest pleasure And so she did flourish againe as much or more then ever during the Persian Monarchy about two hundred six years till Alexander the great made her change her tune alter her notes and turn her merry love songs into mournfull Elegies on her selfe For being denied by the Tyrians in their City to sacrifice to Hercules the Tutelar God of that place Alexander not so superstitious as ambitious with vast pains and expence as one whom no perill could affright nor labour weary sacked the City putting such to the sword as resisted and causing two thousand moe to be hung up in rank on the sea shore At which time he built a Castle of his own name now corruptly called Sandalium two miles south of the City § 19. Yet Tyre afterwards recovered it self to considerable greatness like a cunning Broaker though often proving quite bankrupt she set up again though having nothing to give her credit but the conveniency of her situation as indeed an harlot needs no other wares then her self to set up her trading Insomuch that the Poets fiction of the Phoenix springing again out of his own ashes being disclaimed by naturall History for a falshood may mythologically finde a truth in and probably fetch its ground from this Phoenix or Phoenician City of Tyre always arising fresh and fair out of his own ruines In our Saviours time it was a stately place and yet though with Dives it was clothed in purple Tyre could not with him fare deliciously every day unless beholding to Herods land of Galilee to afford it constant provision because its countrey was nourished by the Kings Countrey Sensible hereof when Herod was highly displeased with these of Tyre and Sidon they politickly compounded the breach knowing that to fight with him who fed them was the ready way to be famished and opening the breast of Blastus the Kings Chamberlain with a golden key through that passage they made their access to pacifie King Herod § 20. Tyre at this day is reduced almost to nothing Here it is seasonably remembred that Ethbaal Father of Iezebel was the King as Tyre was the chief City of the Sidonians and I finde a great conformity betwixt the fortunes of his daughter and this place In their 1 Outward happiness She a crowned Queen and Tyre a Crowning City whose Merchants were Princes 2 Inward wickedness both of them styled Harlots in Scripture 3 Finall wofulness she eaten up by the dogs to the short reversion of her skull feet and palmes and Tyre so consumed by all-devouring time that now no other then an heap of Ruines yet have they a reverent respect and doe instruct the pensive beholders with their exemplary frailty Enough of Tyre if not too much fearing that long since the Reader hath sadly sympathized with the sufferings of Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander guessing their pains to be great in the long siege of this place by the proportion of their own patience in reading our tedious description thereof All I will adde is this that though Tyre was a sink of sin yet is this recorded in excuse of her profaneness and mitigation of her punishment that if the miracles done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have long since repented in sackcloth and ashes § 21. Two bowes shoot from the east gate of Tyre the place is showen where the woman made that spirituall-carnall exclamation Blessed is the wombe that bare thee and the paps that gave thee suck when Christ not disproving her words diverted his Auditours from this and directed them to a more necessary trut◠Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it A little mile south of old Tyre are four fair pits the least twenty five cubits square commonly called Solomons Cisterns Surely the water of them is more clear then is the place alledged out of the Canticles to prove Solomon the Authour thereof where but obscure and oblite mention is made of those water-works More probable some King of Tyre made these and the neighbouring Aqueducts for the use of the City § 22. Seventeen miles north of Tyre lay the City of Sidon so named from the eldest son of Canaan A city of great antiquity seeing Tyre is termed by the Prophet the daughter of Sidon Sure here the Hebrew proverb held true As is the mother so is the daughter both of these Cities being of great wealth and wickedness Insomuch that to live carelesse quiet and secure is in Scripture phrase to live after the manner of the Zidonians § 23. It was also a place of very great extent therefore termed in holy writ Zidon Rabbah or great Zidon Not that there was ever a lesser Zidon though there be one grand Cairo it followeth not there is also a pety Cairo but it is emphatically so named in comparison of other Cities Yea Diodorus Siculus and Pomponius Mela make Sidon the greatest city of all Phenicia understand then anciently whilest as yet she suckled Tyre her little infant which afterwards outgrew her mother in greatness This haply is the reason why Homer so often making honorable mention of Sidon is so silent of Tyre because reputing this latter a parcell of the former § 24. Many and great were the fortifications of Sidon but in vain was the arme of flesh with it when God himself saith Behold I am against thee O Zidon whereupon in generall it felt the same destruction with Tyre which here we forbear to repeate Onely we will adde that as bad a place as Sidon was after Christs resurection a Church was quickly converted therein and Saint Paul sailing to Rome touched here and was courteously refreshed by his friends § 25. Near the east-gate of Sidon they shew the place where the Syrophenician woman begged so importunately for the cure of her daughter not disheartned though likened to a dog by our Saviour In deed she shewed one of the best qualities of a dog in keeping her hold where once she had well fastened not giving over or letting goe untill she had gotten what she desired § 26. So much for the City of Sidon The Countrey of Sidon was larger adequate almost to Phenicia and full of many fair harbours Amongst these Zarephah or Zarepta styled both in the old and new Testament a City of Sidon The land round about it was fruitfull of the best Wine as we have formerly observed During the three years drought in Israel here dwelt that widow whose thrift had so evenly ordered her bread and oile that a little of both were left till she got a spring in her cruse by entertaining the Prophet Elijah As for her son restored to life by Elijah that he was Ionah that eminent
hundred years after So that herein Breidenâ—ach seemeth to speak as S. Peter did in the same place not knowing what he said More likely it is that there may at this day remain some ruines of Oratories erected many years since seeing there was there a Monastery inhabited by Friers untill they being molested by the Arabians to use my Authors expression took their holinesse away with them and left the mountain behind them § 29. The greatest stream of Kishon runneth northward thorow the midst of this Tribe not far from the City of Naim where Christ meeting the widowes onely Child carried forth to be buried miraculously restored him to life Hereabouts also was the City Aijalon where Elon Judge of Israel was buried of whom nothing else is recorded save his name time of his rule ten years and place of his interment Slight him not because so little is reported of him it tending much to the praise of his Policy in preventing forein invasions and domestick commotions so that the land enjoyed peace as far better then victory as health is to be preferred before a recovery from sickness Yea times of much doing are times of much suffering and many martiall aâ—chievements are rather for the Princes honour then the peoples ease § 30. From Naim the river Kishon glides by the northern skirts of mount Carmel beholding the place where Eliah did execution on Baals Priests on this occasion All Israel met on mount Carmel concluding him the true God who answered by fire unto their sacrifices Baals Priests being vainly clamorous in invoking their Idol whose petitions finde no answer from heaven except the echo in the aire descanting in derision on their importunate bawlings discontented hereat they cut themselves with knives and lancers the ready way to make bloud but not fire to come Then enters Eliah on his work and to prevent all suspicion of fraud he three times caused four barrels of water to be powred on the Altar If any here demand how they came by such plenty of water a precious commodity after three years and six months drought when springs wells and brooks were dried up it is answered it was fetched from the sea hard by whose brackish water though useless to quench the thirsts of men and beasts was proper enough therewithall to trie the present experiment Hereupon at Eliahs prayers fire from heaven licked up the water and consumed the Sacrifice The Prophet taking advantage of this juncture of time whilest the people of Israel were possessed with an high opinion of his power and person King Ahab stood admiring at the miracle Baals Priests stood dispirited with guiltiness and wonder and Iazebel their active Patroness absent at great distance being a single man slew four hundred and fifty of them without any resistance Formerly their flattering hands rather acting and doing did theatrically in superstitious formalities let out some drops of wild bloud in the surface of their flesh whereas now Eliah in true earnest with an unpartial arme gave vent to their heart bloud by the brook Kishon which presently carrieth both their gore and its own water into the Mediterranean Sea § 31. However though Satan then was silent when in credit most concerned to speak in answer to Baals Priests it seems he found his tongue afterwards and here pretended to informe people of their fortune Suetonius tells us that Vespasian in Iudea took counsell from the oracle of the God CARMELUS which foretold his good success in whatsoever he should undertake which God we conceive was some Spirit of delusion thogh then speaking truly having his residence in or nigh this mountain of Carmel § 32. As for Carmel in generall it was so delicious a place that more pleasure was hardly to be fancied then here to be found It consisted of high hills where the wicked thought in vain by hiding themselves in the height thereof to be secured from divine justice a fruitfull vale pleasant river of Kishom and a goodly forrest so that the feet of Sennacherib did itch to enter it as his fingers did long to fell the fair Cedars in Lebanon From this Carmel the platform of pleasure other delightfull places are so named as copies and transcripts of this the originall yea the name is sometimes rendered appellatively for any fruitfull field § 33. From the top hereof we may easily discover two neighbouring townes Cain and Caiaphas the one named from the murderer of Abel the other from the active contriver of his death whose bloud speaketh better things then that of Abel But neither appearing in Scripture it is enough to name them More northerly we behold the valley of Iiphthah-el or river thereof the same word in Hebrew expressing both as indeed it is hard to finde a vale especially in winter without a rivolet therein And if I mistake not the BOURNE in Wilt-shire and the west signifieth both the river and the dale down which it runneth In the vale nigh the river of Iiphthah-el stood the city Zebulun so beautifully built saith Iosephus let him forfeit his fingers when he measures any thing to loss which concerns his own countrey that Cestius the Roman Governour who burnt it admired the houses therein as corrivalls with those of Tyre Zidon and Berytus in magnificence More southward is Cana called commonly the lesse though greatened with Christs first miracle wrought there at a mariage turning water into wine How many matches have been made to which Christ was never invited guest yea the riot and revels thereat would fright his gracious presence from the place Hence the rivolet runneth to Iokneam surnamed of Carmel from the vicinity thereof the King whereof was destroyed by Ioshua and the City afterwards bestowed upon the Levites § 34. Having mentioned the Levite-cities an importunate difficulty whilest I hoped silently to slip by it plucketh me back in my passage It resulteth from the ensuing parallel Joshua 21. 34 35. And unto the families of the children of Mâ—râ—ri the rest of the Levites out of the Tribe of Zebulun Jokneam with her suburbs and Kartah with her suburbs Dimnah with her suburbs Nahalol with her suburbs four cities 1 Chron. 6. 77. Vnto the rest of the children of Merari was given out of the Tribe of Zebulun Rimmon with her suburbs Tabor with her suburbs The difficulty is double first four Cities are mentioned in Ioshua and but two in Chronicles Secondly those two fall out by their different names nothing like the four formerly assigned them § 35. In solution hereof some will say that the Levites might have six cities in Zebulun But why should this tribe being not the biggest be most bountifull unto them Was it because Zebuluns lot advantaged by the sea-situation thereof was larger in worth then in view and so the Merchant adventurers of this tribe making gainfull voyages and profitable
her most modest behaviour For at the sight of him though at some distance she lighted from her Camel counting it ill manners to ride when her husband and master went a foot as also to give an earnest of her future good housewifery that she would prefer industry before ease honest pain before pleasure The she vailed her self partly to shew that the beams of her beauty were hereafter to be appropriated to Isaac alone partly in confession of subjection being now under covert-baron the command and protection of a husband Well I dare compare yea prefer this vailed wives chastity before the virginity of many vailed votaries § 18. More south is the river of Egypt the utmost limit not onely of this Tribe but of all Israel Indeed by the river of Egypt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often mentioned in Exodus onely Nilus is intended But this stream which some conceive is particularly called Shichos is termed the River of Egypt not because it is in but is in the high way to Egypt Otherwise the traveller who sits down on the banks thereof shall never come thither In the Septuagint Rhinocolura is put for this river of Egypt being a long named city of short note seated on the influxe thereof into the sea Only this Rhinocolura is famous in heathen History because hither as into an Hospitall all those malefactors were sent whose noses were cut off for their offences a punishment inflicted on the Egyptians by an Ethiopian King who conquered them Hence had it the name of Rhinocolura or the place of nose-maimed people But ô how great must that city be which in our age should contain all those whose faces are nose-less not by others cruelty but their own luxury § 19. As for other cities in this Tribe of Simeon they were many but obscure It is observable that most of them are written with an Aliàs first as they are named Iosh. 19. secondly as they are called 1 Chron. 2. None need to wonder at their different denominations Here I interpose nothing of the severall writing of the same places 1 According to exact Criticks in spelling them 2 According to vulgar tongues in pronouncing them Onely we commend to the Readers notice that the book of Chronicles was written after the return from Captivity and about eighteen generations after the days of Ioshua And therefore some difference of letters after so large a time is no strange thing For seeing here we have no continuing city it cannot be expected that any city should have a continuing name And yet great places longest retain their names unaltered as London from Taeitus to our times whereas small cities like these in Simeon are as often alterable as passed into the possession of severall owners Yea seeing it was the custome of the Iews to call their lands after their own names this haply might change Beth-lebaoth in this Tribe into Beth-birei when it came into the possession of a new landlord § 20. So much of this small Tribe whose portion was too little for his people and therefore they made two happy expeditions to enlarge their quarters one in the reign of Hezekiah to the entrance of Gedor even unto the east side of the valley a place of good and fat pasture for they of Ham Canaanites had dwelt there of old Mice sometimes may be mens tasters to teach them which is best for their palate and those heathen were wise enough to settle themselves in the richest soile whence now the Simeonites expelled them This Gedor was in the division of the land allotted to the Tribe of Iudah Now if any demand by what right the Simeonites might invade this which was assigned to Iudah they may know that in case a strong hold could not be reduced into subjection by that Tribe to which it belonged it was not an act of injustice but valour for the next Tribe to undertake the conquest thereof As by their judiciall law if one dyed not having issue by his wife the next of kin might 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and was heire as I may say to marry his brothers wife so when Iudah through some defect or debility was unable to improve his Patrimony in Gedor to profit by casting out the heathen who violently detained it Simeon his next neighbour in situation suecceding to the right of his brother attempted and effected the conquest thereof Herein onely it holds not proportion because the seed so raised up was accounted to his dead brother whereas here Simeon made bold himself quietly to possess what victoriously he had acquired Wonder not that this petty Tribe in overcoming Gedor did more then puissant Iudah could performe for always the battell is not to the strong and weaker means watching advantages may perfect what more powerfull have left uneffected This Gedor grudge not reader to sally with thine eye a little out of this Tribe being still in this map lay on the north of the river Sorek and was one of the 31. regall cities of the Canaanites As for the Simeonites second voiage against the Amalekites in mount Seir more proper thereof hereafter in the description of Edom. § 21. Now that which straightned the portion of Simeon was the multitude of Philistines inhabiting the sea coasts allotted to but never possessed by this Tribe Askelon was a prime city in those parts once won by Iudah assisting Simeon but after recovered by the Philistines Samson being cast to give his companions thirty change of raiment went neither to the Merchant for the stuffe nor Taylor for making of them but knowing the Philistines garments would best fit Philistines bodies he marched directly to Askelon where finding thirty Philistines he bestowed their corps on the earth and their cases on their fellow-countrey men This caused that active antipathy betwixt Askelon and Israel Tell it not in Gath nor publish it in Askelon Near to this city there was a lake by which Semiramis is said to be born there fed and relieved by Doves Hence the Poet Tibullus Alba Palaestino sancta columba Syro The milke-white Dove esteem'd divine By Syrians of Palestine But because no mention of this in Scriptures we forbear further prosecution thereof § 22. Going along south by the sea side here styled the sea of the Philistines we come at last to Azzah or Gaza the fifth satrapy of the Philistines once conquered by Iudah but soon after returning to the former owners Samson who carried the gates thereof away could not bring himself hither again without the guidance of another Pain here was added to his blindness when set to grinde in a mill scorn to his pain when sent for at a solemn feast to be the musician to make sport or rather the Instrument ready tuned for every wanton eye tongue and hand to play upon But such as mock at other mens miseries sometimes laugh so long till their own hearts
by David in Zion under the cover of a Tent which he had pitched for that purpose 2 The Tabernacle of the Congregation made by Moses in the wilderness wherein the Priests attended about their publick sacrifices This about Solomons time was translated from Shiloh to Gibeon as a place of more eminency and conveniency for divine service because a City of the Levites Herein on the high place in Gibeon Solomon offered to God a thousand burnt offerings and which was most acceptable a zealous prayer requesting wisdome of God who bestowed both it and wealth and honour upon him Thus those who chiefly desire grace receive it the jewell and at least a competency of outward provisions for a cabinet to keep it in Some hundred years after by the great waters which are in Gibeon Iohanan the son of Karcah recovered the remnant of the poor Israelites left in the land after the captivity of Babylon from Ismael a Prince of the bloud royall who had a design to carry them away captive unto the Ammonites § 42. Next Gibeon we take the City of Gibeah into our serious consideration not as nearest in situation but in sound of like name insomuch that some have unwarily confounded them as the same place Gibeah lay in the south-west part of this Tribe whose inhabitants were bad men but good markes-men right shooters at an haires breadth and faile not but unrighteous livers A Levite coming with his concubine and servant from Bethlehem declined to lie at Ierusalem because then an heathen City and though late recovered this Gibeah for his lodging place Alas what was this but from the fire into the furnace so excessive hot was the lust of the people of this City But charity therein was as cold none inviting this Levite to his house untill an old man and he also no inhabitant but a stranger of mount Ephraim coming from his work out of the field at even Industry is the fewel of hospitality kindely entertained him in his house In fine the Levites concubine was by violence and variety of lust of the men of this City abused to death Oh the justice of divine proceedings She had formerly been false to her husband Culpa libido fuit poena libido fuit By lust she sinned and 't was just She should be punished by lust This villany being declared to all Israel a consultation thereon and first in a fair way the offenders are demanded to justice which denied and all the Tribe of Benjamin engaging themselves to defend the damnable deed of those of Gibeah all Israel resolves in a nationall war to revenge so foul a murder § 43. Here let us stand still and wonder that an army united amongst themsâ—lves as one man most in number best in cause wisest in counsell as who had asked and obtained the advice of God himself to goe on in this war should once and again be defeated by those who were weaker and wickeder then themselves I cannot challenge the army of Israel for any eminent sin at this time yet it is very suspicious they were carnally confident of the conquest as accounting the victory eleven to one on their side However the next battel made amends for all wherein all the ravenoâ—s wolves of Benjamin with their dams and whelps at home were utterly destroyed except six hundred and those cooped up in a grate and hid in the rock of Rimmon Thus what once was sadly said of Ioseph was now more true of Benjamin One is not And the whole Tribe had finally been extinguished had not provision been made to supply them with wives as formerly hath been observed § 44. Afterwards this Gibeah got the surname of Saul because he was born lived and buried here In this Gibeah of Saul five of his sons amongst whom a Mephibosheth but not the Mephibosheth were in Davids reign hanged up on the hill before the Lord to expiate Sauls murdering of the Gibeonites How strangely was his zeale transposed turning the back of his sword towards the Amalekites whom God commanded him to destroy and using the edge thereof against the Gibeonites whom by oath he was bound to preserve Here Rizpah Sauls concubine covered the corps of such as were executed with sackcloth to keep birds and beasts from feeding upon them § 45. Her kindness to the dead is told to King David who not onely gave the hearing but the practising of so good an example and thereby is put in minde to shew mercy to the bones of Saul and Ionathan which he fetched from Iabesh-Gilead and buried hard by in Zelah in the sepulcher of Kish his Father Shewing thereby that his former severity to Sauls sons proceeded from a publick desire of his subjects good no private design of revenge upon Saul whose corps he so solemnly interred Corpses which were but wanderers whilest hung up by the Philistines in their City of Bethshan were but sojourners when buried by the Gileadites in the land of Gad but now became house-keepers when brought home to the proper place of the sepulcher of their Fathers § 46. Hard by Gibeah was Migron a small City where Saul for some time abode with his men under a Pomegranate-tree Say not that such a tree was a simple palace for a Prince for in those hot Countreys pleasant was the residence for some short time under the shadow thereof Yea our Countrey-man Bede can tell you how in our cold climate Anno Domini 601. Augustine the Monke held a Synode under an Oake called Augustines Ake in old English which tree our learned Antiquary placeth in the confines of Worcester-shire Nor far from Migron is Ramah a City built by Baasha jealous that Israel would revolt to Iudah on Asa's reformation of Religion to stop all intercourse betwixt the two kingdomes Not that the armes of so small a City could reach seventy miles from the sea to Iordan but because Ramah was greater in command then compass as advantageously seated on some roade or pass of importance But Baasha diverted by the invasion of Benhadad King of Assyria desisted from his building for which he had made so large preparation that Asa afterwards repaired the neighbouring cities of Geba and Mizpah with the stones provided for the fortifying of Ramah § 47. Mizpah now mentioned lay some eight miles hence full north When in the days of Samuel the seat of justice was annuall for the time and tripartite for the place Mizpah had a fair share thereof Samuel went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah lying in a kinde of triangle and judged Israel in all those places and his return was to Ramah for there was his house State-affairs made not the good man to forget his family spending three Terms abroad on the publick and the Vacation at home on his private occasions At Mizpah was a generall reformation
the salt-sea to Beth-hoglah 2 Thence by the north of Beth-araba 3 Thence it went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben 4 Thence towards Debir from the valley of Achor 5 So northwards looking to Gilgal before the going up to Adummin on the south side of the river 6 Thence towards the water of Enshemesh 7 Thence to Enrogel Thence by the vally of Benhinnom unto the south of IerusaleÌ„ 8 Thence to the top of the mountain at the end of the vally of Rephaim 9 Thence to the fountain of Nephtoah 10 Thence to the cities of mount Ephron 11 Thence to Kiriath-jearim 1 From Kiriath-jearim westward it compasseth unto mount Seir. 2 Thence it passeth along to the side of mount Iearim or Chesalon 3 Thence went down to Bethshemesh 4 Thence passed on to Timnah 5 Thence unto the side of Ekron northward 6 Thence was drawn to Shichron 7 Thence passed along to mount Baalah 8 Thence went out unto Iabneel 9 Thence the west border ended at the Great Sea These west bounds of Iudah were afterwards altered falling into the middest of the Tribe of Dan. Now as in the body of a man if an inspection might be made into it whilest he is alive every nerve and artery therein then flushed up with the spirits is easily to be discerned which after death shrink almost invisible past discovering so each small angle and turning of Iudah's bounds in Ioshua's time was then plainly to be perceived which now adays the land long since being in a manner dead and desolate are not at all conspicuous nor fall they under any accurate observation § 15. Amongst all these limitary places Kadesh-Barnea is onely of eminency whither the children of Israel came and where they stayed some time after their coming out of Egypt in the very edge and entrance of the land of Canaan Thus that land was like a rich robe whose utmost hem the Iews were permitted to touch onely that their fingers might feel the fineness thereof but were denied to wear it and remanded to wander another way many years for the punishment of their infidelity And thus many come to the Kadesh-Barnea of common illumination who never attain to the true Canaan of holiness here or happiness hereafter § 16. In describing this spacious Tribe we will begin with the eleven royall Cities therein whose Kings were destroyed by Ioshua These according to their dignities may thus be reckoned up 1 Ierusalem whereof largely hereafter 2 Hebron 3 Debir 4 Libnah 5 Lachish 6 Adullam 7 Geder 8 Iarmuth 9 Eglon. 10 Arad 11 Hepher These royall Cities though scattered here and there in this Tribe need no other Herauld in our map to proclaime them to the Readers notice being quickly found out by their coronets graven upon them From these we shall proceed to other towns of eminency reserving the rivolets and wildernesses to close this our description § 17. Hebron was the principall royall city belonging to Iudah seven years senior in its building to Zoan a City in Egypt more anciently it was called Kiriath-Arba that is say some the City of four men because of four Patriarchs as they reckon them up Adam Abraham Isaac and Iacob buried therein But I wonder any should delight in their own wild conjectures when the text tendereth us a certainty herein assuring us that this Arba from whom Kiriath-Arba or Hebron was named was a great man among the Anakims This City stood in the vale of Mamre so called from Mamre a person of quality in this place who with Aner and Eshcol were Abrahams loving associates and valiant assistants in conquering Cheder-laomer and rescuing the captive Sodomites Abraham Isaac and Iacob lived here successively and from the vale of Hebron Ioseph was sent on a loving visit to his brethren when for his good will they sold him to the Ishmaelites § 18. Hereabouts was that great entertainment made wherein the covert of a tree was the dining-room the ground probably the board Abraham the Caterer Sarah the Cook veal and welcome their cheer Angels in the shape of men Christ in the notion of an Angel the guests and the last promise of Isaac the free-offering they gave for their entertainment Yea in Hebron Isaac was born suckled weaned persecuted by Ishmael till at last he mocked both himself and his mother Haâ—gar quite out of his Fathers family § 19. Near Hebron was the cave of Machpelah purchased by Abraham of Ephron the Hittite with the field about it and all the trees therein at the price of four hundred shekells of silver for the burying of Sarah himself and his family For here Isaac Ishmael though formerly the one perscuted the other lovingly agreed to bury Abraham their Father Iacob Esau though formerly the one designed the others death lovingly agreed to bury Isaac their Father Ioseph and his brethren though formerly they envied and sold him lovingly agreed to bury Iacob their Father And thus though branglings and brawlings may happen betwixt brethren when young all animosities ought to be buried in the grave of their Fathers § 20. In the time of Ioshua Hebron had a King whom he conquered and subdued and afterwards this place was made a City of Refuge and assigned with twelve moe in this Tribe and Benjamin unto the Priests the sons of Aaron who were above common Levites as employed in ordinary attendance about the Tabernacle Herein God provided not onely for their conveniency accommodating them with habitations near Ierusalem as the place hereafter intended for his publick service but chiefly for their conscience placing them in these two Tribes whom he foresaw would alone persevere in when the others would apostate from the true Religion Yea the Priests had the best and biggest places in Iudah as Hebron Debir Libnah formerly Royall afterwards Sacerdotall Cities God allowing his Ministers large maintenance and indeed a beggerly Clergy is the forerunner of a bankrupt Religion § 21. But although the City of Hebron pertained to the Priests the suburbs thereof by Gods appointment belonged to Caleb and his posterity This Caleb was that young-old man whose strength contradicted his years so able and active at fourscore and five either for advice or execution But here he eate not the bread of idleness being first to clear and conquer Hebron before he could possess it from the Giant-Amorite-Anakims dwelling therein These Amorites though as the Prophet describes them high as the Cedars and strong as the Oakes had notwithstanding to follow this Metaphor much wastfull sap in their mighty big bodies whilst Caleb all heart as his name imports though less and lower by Gods assistance easily overcame them If any demand How came Anakims hither seeing Hebron so lately was smitten by Ioshua A learned author answers that it is probable whilest Ioshua afterwards was employed in the north in conquering the
the future Michal's daughter should never mock her husband on the like occasion punishing her with perpetuall barrenness § 29. Look on the prospect of this map especially the eastern parts thereof and behold it overspread with trees of all sorts Olive Pine Mulberry Firre c. Of the last saith the Psalmist and the fir-trees are a refuge for the Storkes breeding here in the greater abundance because forbidden by the Leviticall law to be fed upon A speckled bird therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 niger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 albus black and white and is remarkable for their love to their parents feeding them in their old age Hence called Chesida in Hebrew that is the mercifull bird and in Dutch Oudevaer that is the carrier of the old one because every Stork is an Aeneas bearing his Anchises on his back carrying his Parent when for age it cannot fly of it self Some have confidently reported that Storks will not live save in a Republick who may with as much truth affirm that an Eagle the Soveraign of birds will not breed in a Common-wealth Not to say that Storks were named in the Monarchy of Adam preserved in the Arke in the Monarchy of Noah Ieremy who lived in the kingdome of Iudah upbraided the ignorance of the people therein Yea the Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times Which birds had they known their times and the Iews not known the birds as frequent and familiar with them both the Prophets illustration had beed obscure and exprobration improper for his present purpose Finis Libri secundi To the Right Honourable JOHN LORD ROSSE Son to the Right Honourable JOHN EARL OF RVTLAND MY LORD IT hath been charged by Foreiners on our English Gentry that many of them very knowing beyond the seas have been strangers in their native Countrey as able to give a better account of the Spaw then our own Bath the diving of the Spanish Anas under ground then of our own Rivers Diverill in Wiltshire and Mole in Surrey wherein the same wonders of Nature are set forth in a lesser Edition How just this accusation is for the present I have no leasure to enquire but am afraid that too many of our nation are guilty of a greater Ignorance That being quic◠sighted in other kingdomes and Countreys they are altogether blinde as touching Judea and the land of Palestine the Home for their meditations who are conversant in all the historicall passages of Scripture Yet I would not have any wilfully to expose themselves as Saint Paul was against his will to perils of waters perils of Robbers perils by the Heathen c. personally to pace and trace the land of Canaan who rather conceive that precept to Abraham Arise walk through the land in the breadth thereof and in the length thereof may be performed by us even whilest we also follow the counsell of Joash to Amaziah Abide now at home This may be done by daily and diligent perusing of the Scriptures and comparing the same with it self Diamonds onely cut Diamonds as also by consulting with such as have written the description of that Countrey Amongst whom give me leave though the unworthiest of thousands to tender these my endevours to your Honours serious perusall and patronage hoping my pains herein may conduce to the better understanding of the History of the Bible I confess the doctrinall part of the Scripture is in it self most instructive to salvation But as the rare relation of the woman of Samaria first drew her neighbours to the sight of our Saviour which afterwards believed on him not for her words but his own worth so the delightfull stories in the Bible have allured many youth especially to the reading thereof the light the historicall part first inviting their eyes whose hearts were afterwards inflamed with the heat the holy fire in the doctrine of Gods word Give me leave therefore my Lord humbly to commend to your Honour the constant reading of that which eminently is termed The Scripture and the Bible or Book all other being but scribling and Pamphlets in comparison thereof They contain what will make you wise unto salvation and the study thereof will render your Lordship more truely honourable then your outward extraction Great indeed was the priviledge of Ruth for whom purposely some handfuls were let fall for her to gather up But greater the honour done to your Ancestors by our English Kings above an hundred years since who scattered some flowers and other ornaments out of their own Armes therewith to deck and adorn those of your family Yet know my Lord that the Bereans are pronounced more noble then those of Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of minde searching the Scriptures daily whether those things were so And by the same proportion your exact skill industriously attained in Gods word shall make your soul increase with the increase of God far more honourable then that Augmentation in Heraldry which was conferred on your Ancestours Remember I pray what David writes I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandement is exceeding broad Oh imperfect perfection which hath an end And indeed David lived in an Age wherein he saw Goliah the strongest overcome Asahel the swiftest overtaken Achitophel the wisest befooled and Absalom the fairest deformed with a violent death Yet still the immortall word out-lived all casualties and triumphed in defiance of opposition Wherefore as the Jews were to provide a chest by the side of the Ark wherein the Law was to be placed and kept so I wish your Honour a large heart to be a repository for this Broad commandement of God that therein you may carefully lay up and treasure the same which when all earthly perfections prove false and fading will furnish your soul with holiness here and happiness hereafter which is the daily prayer of Your Honours most humble servant THO. FULLER Here followeth the description of Jerusalem THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF IERVSALEM The third Book CHAP. I. Of the severall names and generall situation of Jerusalem § 1 WHen a woman often altereth her surname it is a signe she hath been many times married denominating of his wife from him being parcell of the maritall priviledge But when a City in diverse Ages hath different names this speaks her successive subjection to severall Lords new owners imposing on her new appellations as in our present subject plainly appears For the City which we are to describe was called 1 Salem in the days of Abraham when Melchisedec was King and probably first founder thereof Then it was but a small place the greatest Giant had once the cradle of his infancy when mount Moriah afterwards in the midst of the City and a forest of houses was as yet but a thicket of thornes wherein the Ram the
exchange for Isaac was caught by the hornes 2 Iebus A name either of the whole or principall part thereof so we read of the Levite that he came over against Iebus which is Ierusalem 3 Ierusalem so called as the Fathers generally affirme as the product of the union of Iebus and Salem B for sounds sake being changed into R which notwithstanding the propriety of the Hebrew tongue will not permit For though chopping of letters be her coÌ„mon practise yet the Iews as they always married within their own Tribe so they exchanged letters of the same Linage same Instrument Labials for Labials Gutturals for Gutturals whereas betwixt Beth Resh in Hebrew no such affinity Besides the turning of a tender melting B. into a surly rigid R. is not to levigate or mollifie but to make the name the harder in pronunciation This drives others to seek out the Etymology thereof as signifying in Hebrew The vision of peace But seeing Abraham called an eminent place whereon it stood Iehovah-Iireh The Lord will be seen perchance from the echo of the name Iireh added to Salem that is peace shall be seen or provided the City might be called Ierusalem where having the essentiall Consonantâ— the most various point-vowels are not so considerable Forget we not that even in Davids time when the name of Ierusalem was in fashion the City was sometimes still called Salem For in Salem is his Tabernacle and his dwelling in Sion Thus it is usuall in England in common discourse to cut off the former part of long-named Cities Wesâ—chester Southhampton Kingstone on Hull whilest the remnant Chester Hampton Hull sufficiently express them to ordinary capacities 4 Hierosolyma which indeed is no new name but the old name in a new language translated into Greek Some Fathers will have it compounded from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Temple and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Solomon that is Solomons Temple as if the mixing of these Languages did promise if not prophesie in after ages a joint interest of Iew and Gentile in the mysteries of Religion But Saint Hierome is zealous against this Fancy impatient that in the name of the principall City of the Iews a Greek word should not onely be mingled with but preferred before the Hebrew It is safer therefore to say that Hierosolyma is nothing else but Ierusalem grecized or made Greek and the conceit of the Temple of Solomon rather a witty allusion thereto then a solid deduction thereof 5 Solyma being onely the half of the former For whereas Hierosolyma being a confluence of six short syllables was unmanagable in ordinary verse Poets served this name as the Ammonites the cloaths of Davids Ambassadours cut it off in the middle An Solymum cinerem Palmetaque capta subibis Wilt thou go under Salems dust forsaken Vnder the palme-trees lately captive taken I conceive the name of Solyma not used by Authors till after our Saviours suffering though Iosephus and probably out of him Tacitus writes that Homer makes mention thereof as indeed we finde it twice in his Poems never for this City in Iudea but for a place and people in Lycia I will not say that the curtling of Ierusalem into Solyma after our Saviours time was a sad prognostick that this spacious City should suddenly in the fire of civill war be boiled away to the half yea afterwards shrink to so unconsiderable a smalness that a monosyllable yea a bare letter were too long a name for it 6 Aelia so named from Aelius Hâ—drianus the Emperour who built some part of it again and made it a Garrison 7 Ierusalem recovering the ancient name again whilest for some hundred of years it was in the possession of the Christians 8 Cuds so called at this day by the Mahometans who are the present owners thereof which signifies Holy in their language Here we omit those many appellations given Ierusalem in Scripture The faithfull City the City of the great King the holy City because these are not proper names but glorious Epithets thereof § 2. Concerning the generall situation of Ierusalem three things herein are remarkable first it was placed as Iosephus reports in the very middle of Iudea But herein criticall exactness is not to be observed the heart it self is not so unpartially in the midst of the body but that if not in position yet in motion it propends to the left side for Ierusalem inclines more to the south of the Countrey As Ierusalem was the navell of Iudea so the Fathers make Iudea the middest of the world whereunto they bring not to say bow those places of Scripture Thou hast wrought salvation in the midst of the earth Indeed seeing the whole world is a round Table and the Gospell the food for mens souls it was fitting that this great dish should be set in the midst of the Board that all the guests round about might equally reach unto it and Ierusalem was the Center whence the lines of salvation went out into all lands Yea Ptolemy dividing the then-known world into seven Climats placed Ierusalem as the Sun in the fourth Climat proportionably to what is said in the Propheâ— I have set it in the midst of the Nations and the Countreys that are round about her § 3. Secondly it had high mountains under it and lower about it which as dutifull servants at distance seemed to attend it Ierusalem had a mountain for her footstool and her floor was higher then the roof of other Cities no doubt the Emblem of the strength stateliness and stability of Gods Church in glory High and hard climbing thither but plain and pleasant dwelling there § 4. Lastly it was distanced from the sea welnigh forty miles having no navigable River near unto it For God intended not Ierusalem for a staple of trade but for a ROYALL EXCHANGE OF RELIGION chiefly holding correspondency with Heaven it self daily receiving blessings thence duly returning praises thither Besides God would not have his virgin people the Iews wooed with much less wedded to outlandish fashions And if Eusebius may be credited for the self same reason Plato in imitation of Ierusalem would have that City wherein the modell of his imaginary Common-wealth should be set up to be seated some miles from the sea lest forein merchandize should by degrees bring in forein manners into it CHAP. II. The particular Situation Circuit Populousness Beauty and strength thereof § 1 IT will be pain-worthy to enquire into the exact situation of Ierusalem in what Tribe it was placed the rather because severall testimonies of Scripture entitle both Iudah and Benjamin unto the possession thereof For IUDAH Josh. 15. 63. And for the Iebusites the inhabitants of Ierusalem the children of Iudah could not drive them out but the Iebusites dwell with the children of Iudah at Ierusalem unto this day Judg. 1. 8. Now the children of Iudah had fought against
sorts in sundry places serving for different employments Gates 1 In the out-wall giving ingâ—ess and egress to passengers the sole subject of our present discourse 2 In the in-walls like Temple-bar opening out of Fleet-street into the Strand being partitions within Ierusalem Such the Iron-gate through which Saint Peter went out of prison to the house of Mary the mother of Iohn Mark. 3 Leading to the Courts of the Temple as Saint Austins-gate into Saint Pauls Church-yard such the beautifull gate c. 4 Of the Kings palace like Bulwark gate and Iron-gate leading to London tower as the gate whereby the horses came into the Kings house Now such as promiscuously make all these to be out-gates of Ierusalem ingage themselves in difficulties and deceivâ— others thereby For prevention whereof we will onely insist on the gates of the first qualification § 2. Begin we with the Sheep-gate on the east of Ierusalem in Nehemiahs time owing the reparation thereof to Eliâ—shib the high Priest and his brethren Through this gate the sheep were driven in and all other cattell designed for sacrifice as the nearest way to the Temple § 3. Next followeth the Golden-gate not mentioned in Scripture but meeâ—ly depending on humane authority so called because gilt all over vulgar beholders who carry no touchstones in their eyes accounting all massie gold which is richly gilded Popish authours adde that when our Saviour in an humble but solemn equipage rode on an Asse colt to the Temple this gate opened unto him of its own accord a prety proportionable fiction For if the Iron-gate opened to Peter a Disciple no less then a Golden-gate could offer entrance to Christ his Master Onely here 's the difference we receive the one as recorded in Scripture and reâ—uâ—e the other as not reported therein especially our Saviour having â—o fair an occasion to make mention thereof For when the Pharisees questioned him for not silencing the Childrens Hosaâ—aâ—s and when he returned thâ—t if they should hold their peace the stones would immediately â—ry out how easie had it been for him to adde that the very walls of the City had already opened their mouthes their gates to receivâ— him § 4. Thirdly the Horse-gate by the Kings palace through which the grooms brought the Kings horâ—â—s to water them in the brook of Kidron yet some erroneously make this the same with the Water-gate The Prophet points at the exact position thereof towards the east and we finde the mention but not the reedifying of this gate in Nehemiah a Presumpâ—ion that it was not so ruinous as the rest and not needing much reparation As for 〈◊〉 who cryed Treason Treason the fox the finder when she was the greatest Traitour herself on the Comparing of Scripture it will appear that the Horse-gate whereat she was killed was not this City gate but another so named leading from the Temple to the the Kings Palace § 5. Fourthly the Water-gate In a fall or declivity of ground full east So called because thereat all the â—ewers channels and water-courses of the City flowed out and ran into the brook Cedron No mention in Nehemiah of the repairing hereof for the reason aforesaid Indeed if in his time the Iews had de no vo from the very ground begun the building of the walls and gates thereof it had been impossible they could have finished that work in two and fifty days Whereby it appears they onely mended those places which were most in dilapidation This was the East-gate emphatically so called by the Prophet and opened into the valley of the children of Hinnom § 6. Thus far the gates on the east of Ierusalem On the south thereof where Sion or the City of David lay we meet with no gates at all the precipice of the rock affording no passable ascent on that side so that men must goe first through Ierusalem and then into Sion I dare not say that herein Ierusalem was a type of the Militant as Sion more mounted of the Triumphant Church although there be no access for those which are without into the happiness of the latter but by taking the holiness of the former in their passage thereunto § 7. Come we now to the west in the southermost part whereof we light on the Fountain-gate near the pool of Shiloah whence it took its name nigh to which on the inside were those stately staires whereby men went up to the City of David This gate was in Nehemiahs time repaired by Shallum the Son of Col-hozeh § 8. Next to this the Dung-gate A gate in greatness though but a postern for the private use thereof through which the offall and excrements of the City were conveyed Appliable to this place is that which the Apostle speaketh of some parts of the body Nay much more thosâ— members of the body which seem to be feeble are necessary This gate though of small honour was of great use and all Ierusalem had been a Dung-City but for the Dung-gate Yea the noisomer soile carried out hereat and conveyed hence into the gardens thereabouts was by natures Chymistry converted into wholesome herbs and fragrant flowers growing there The Dung-gate in the days of Nehemiah was set up with the doors locks and bars thereof by Malchiah the son of Rechab § 9. Next follows the Valley-gate commonly but wrongfully placed on the east side of the City chiefly on this account because the valley of Kidron lyeth on that side thereof As if this valley alone was near Ierusaâ—lem which by the Psalmist is described with the mountains round about it and so by necessary consequence must be surrounded with vallies interposed betwixt it and those mountains This gate stood in the north-west opening into the valley of Carcases lying betwixt it and Mount Calvary Here Nehemiah began and ended his surveying the ruins of the walls going by night because loth to be seen and loth to see so sad a sight This valley-gate was in his time repaired by Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah § 10. Having thus surveyed the east south and west come we now to the northern part of the City Where first we finde the Corner-gate whose angular position speaks it to participate of two points being seated in the very flexure of the wall from the east to the north It was distanced from the gate of Ephraim just four hundred cubits all which space of the wall was broken down by Ioash King of Israel when he conquered Amaziah that his Army might march in triumphantly with the greater state Pride we see hath not onely an high neck but also a broad breast especially when setting her armes by her side so large a passage must be cleared for her entrance Afterwards King Uzziah rebuided this gate and adorned it with towers yea fortified all the turning of the wall
the premises so plain to the contrary the dimensions of Cyrus his Temple appear larger then those of Solomons if the ensuing parable be seriously perused 1 King 6. 2. And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord the length thereof was threescore cubits and the breadth thereof twenty cubits and the height thereof thirty cubits Ezra 6. 3. Let the foundations thereof be strongly laid the height thereof threescore cubits and the breadth thereof threescore cubits Behold here how Cyrus his Temple was thirty Cubits higher just as high again and forty cubits broader thrice as broad as Solomons And although the length of this second Temple is not expressed yet an ordinary judgement will infer by the symmetrie of building that the length thereof must needs be much greater to manage such a breadth in any due proportion of Architecture This so strong an evidence to the contrary would almost have perswaded one to beleeve that their old men were either deceived with their dim eyes or mistaken in their fraile memories and that this Temple was greater then the former did not the infallible testimonies of the Prophets so peremptorily avouch the comparative smalness thereof in respect of Solomons § 3. Many are the solutions which the learned produce in satisfaction of this difficulty But first as for their conjecture that Zorobabel at the building of this Temple purposely abated of those dimensions assigned by Cyrus as too great for him to compass contenting himself with a less scantling but more proportionable to the weak power of his people I can in no wise concur with them therein For in such deâ—alcation of measures by Cyrus allotted he shewed little courtship to his master the Emperour in distrusting the performance of his promises and less religion to the Lord his God in not beleeving that he who miraculously had stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to appoint would also vigorously inable him or his successours to effect the aforesaid assignment in building of his Temple § 4. Some suspect a mistake of numbers in Cyrus his Grant which notwithstanding will very hardly be admitted For seeing the laws of the Medes and Persians could never be altered they were highly concerned to be accurate and exact in their entering and inrolling all Deeds on Record Oâ—hers justly make a difference in the measures and whilest Solomons were sufficiently known to have been of the first measure they conceive Cyrus his cubits to be common ones but half as large as the former And thus this second Temple though sixty cubits high was for the main body thereof but just even with Solomons Temple Mean time it came far short of Solomons in this respect because Solomons had amost beautifull Porch in nature of a Tower-steeple one hundred and twenty cubits high that was double the body of the Temple whilest no such aspiring building graced the second Temple being all of one uniforme height § 5. This difficulty in the height thus satisfied by the difference of cubits let none be troubled at the breadth of this second Temple tripling that of Solomons seeing here breadth is taken as elsewhere in Scripture for the full extent of a thing on every side Thus in the Revelation Saint Iohn speaking of the numberless army of Gog and Magog describes them to goe upon the breadth of the earth that is on the whole space of the surface thereof Nor is the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rekbo which properly signifieth his breadth and is used 1 King 6. 2. used in Ezra but the Chaldee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as Ribera observeth importeth the expansion or spreading of a thing quaquaversum on every side On which consideration it is judiciously rendered by Tremellius not latitudine but amplitudine ejus not the breadth but the largeness thereof So that Cyrus gave order that the bigness of this Temple length and breadth put together should not exceed threescore cubits perchance forty in length and twenty in breadth and so both when first founded and when fully finished it came far short of the dimensions of Solomons CHAP. III. After many obstructions finished at last § 1. NOw went the building hopefully on probable in some competent time to come to perfection when the Samaritans the envious enemies of Israel first by fraud then force endevour to obstruct their proceedings First they tender their service to be fellow-builders with the Iews claiming a joynt-interest in their Temple as serving the same God which by Zorobabel and the Elders of Israel was wisely refused as knowing such seeming helpers would prove reall hinderers Thus when Satan transformes himself into an Angel of light as pretending to sing Gloria in excelsis with the rest of those heavenly Spirits it is onely out of design to disturbe their harmony and if possible to put that celestiall Quire out of â—une § 2. Their first project failing the Samaritanes accuse the City of Ierusalem in the Court of Artaxerxes King of Persia to have been formerly a rebellious city referring themselves to the Court-rolls for the proof thereof See what it is to be a Rebell on record their posterity may fare the worse for it many years after Indeed it cannot be denied but that Zedekiah King in Ierusalem though sworn by God to the contrary rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar so that this suggestion of the Samaritans had too much of truth though more of malice therein For hence they inferred were the place rebuilt the people would return to their former stubbornness whereby in process of time the Persian Monarchy would be deprived of all command and revenue on this side the river of Iordan § 3. Power and Profit are the two apples of Princes eyes woundable with the least touch thereof No wonder therefore if upon the premises a Prohibition was presently from Artaxerxes sent and served upon the Iews commanding them to desist from building till farther order should be given them Thus the work ceased till the second of Darius Mean time private palaces in Ierusalem were finished and garnished with ceiled work whilest Gods Temple lay waste Did not those privaâ—e houses blush at their own bravery as serving-men may be justly ashamed to see themselves finer then their Masters § 4. Then arose Haggai and Zachary and encouraged the people to build again What must the Pulpit be obeyed before the Throne In the word of a King there is power but is there more in the mouth of a Prophet Oh! a greater then Artaxerxes was here these Prophets being warranted by divine inspiration On goes the Temple afresh whilest the enemies of Israel seek in vain to hinder it the second time For upon search the originall grant of Cyrus is produced from amongst the Records of the Medes in pursuance whereof Darius did not onely give leave and liberty to the Iews to build their Temple with a penalty
their backs with a staffe in their hands to intimate their ambulatory and ever-moving condition Here we may remember how Hagar being with child with Ishmael was found by the Angell wandering in the wilderness and as if the pregnant mothers condition had made an impression on her child and his posterity we find their home to be in a constant roving and wandering in a desert Countrey Leave we these Ishmaelites and come to men of a milder temper and more fixed habitations I mean the Moabites § 13. MOab Son and Gran-child of Lot was incestuously begotten on his edest daughter in his drunkenness after which act no more mention of Lot or what befel him in the history of the Bible drunkenness makes men to forget and to be forgotten drowning their memories in neglect and obscurity onely after this the new Testament epithets him Righteous Lot That Spirit of meekness naming good men not from the obliquity of some acts but habituall integrity of their hearts Yea for love to Lot God granted many great favours to the Moabites assisting them to conquer the Giants Emims and peaceably possessing them of their Countrey with speciall command to the Israelites not to disturb or molest them in this enjoiment thereof § 14. Yet the Moabites ill requited Israels kindness unto them That falling out which was first begun betwixt the servants and heardsmen was afterwards continued and increased betwixt the Sons and posterity of Lot and Abraham Yea upon all occasions the Moabites were backfriends to Israel witness Balak who barked at and Eglon who bit them whom Israel served eighteen years Note by the way that under the Judges all the heathen which bordered on Israel Edom almost onely excepted the cause whereof hereafter Aramites Ammonites Midianites Philistines c. did all successively â—yrannize over Israel No shrub growing about on the banks of Canaan was so little but it was big enough for God thence to gather a Rod to whip his wanton children Now if it be any ease to the sickâ—man to have his bed not disease often altered Israel had the favour of exchange of tyrants and variety of oppressors amongst whom I dare say the Moabites were none of the mildest More might be said of their malice to the Iews but I spare them for good Ruth their Countreywomans sake who when all her sister Orpha's complementall Religion came off with a kiss persevered to wait on Marah her mother-in-law for so she desired to be called into the land of Canaan § 15. But because the Moabites could not be perswaded to love David was the first who forced them to fear the Kings of Israel Moab is my washpot that is one condemned to servile imployments yea such was Davids absolute command over this countrey that he measured the Moabites with a line casting them down to the ground even with two lines measured he to put to death and with one full line to keep alive At the first sight he may seem to have killed two and saved one A merciless proportion But on better consideration it may possibly be that the preservative might equal both the destructivelines though not in number in measure as one overflowing cup may contain as much as two sparingly filled What caused this severity in David against the Moabites the Scripture is silent and I had rather be so too then affirm with the presumptuous Rabbins without warrant that it was because the King of Moab had slain Davids Father and Mother whom he had left there for protection whilst Saul persecuted him § 16. If any object this Act of David was a breach of Gods command Distresse not the Moabites neither contend with them in battell it is answered 1 This prohibition was temporary to Moses conducting the Israelites that they should not molest Moab in their passage by his countrey out of Egypt 2 Israel might not begin with offensive war to provoke them but being stricken might strike again and follow their blow as David did 3 Moab might be distressed to subjection not to ejection might be brought into obedience not dispossessed of their countrey After the defection of the ten Tribes from the house of David Moab remained tributary to the Kings of Israel till the death of wicked but valiant Ahab After which time Moab rebelled and though attempted was never reduced into obedience by the Kings of Israel § 17. Moab had the river Arnon on the north the Dead-sea on the west Edom on the south and Arabia on the east It contained about a square of an hundred miles fit for grazing and the peoples industry following Natures guidance to their own profit principally imployed it to that use Yea Mesha their King is tearmed a sheep-master Husbandry doth no more eclipse the resplendent beams of Majesty then the oile in the Lamp hindreth the bright shining thereof Guess the greatness of the Grist by the Toll the multitude of Moabs flocks from the Tribute he rendered to the Kings of Israel a hundred thousand Lambs and a hundred thousand Rams with the wooll § 18. To come now to the particulardescription of Moab let it not be censured for a needless Tautology in this Map that therein all the cities of Reuben are again represented being done deliberately on a double consideration 1 Formerly that land belonged to Moab before Sihon King of the Amorites had forcibly wrested it away from them 2 After the Reubenites were carried away captive by Tiglath-Pileser the Moabites reassumed their ancient possessions as appears by the Prophets As for the particular description of those cities we remit the Reader to what formerly hath been written in the Tribe of Reuben § 19. In the north-east bound of Moab towards Midian in the border of Arnon which is in the utmost coasts stood a nameless city where Balak met Balaam standing as it were on his tiptoes on the very last labell of his land to reach forth welcome to that false Prophet who hither rode in state with his two men to attend him whilst many Ministers of the Truth are forced to be slaves to others and servants to themselves But that these two men of Balaam were Iannes and Iambres the â—gyptian enchanters the Chaldee Paraphrase shall never perswade me whilst the distance of time and place protest against the possibility thereof Not to say that it is likely that the sorcerers so frequent in the presence of Pharaoh had long before waited on their Master through the red sea to another world Hence Balak conducted Balaam to Kiriath-huzoth or the city of streets which at that time seems to be the Metropolis of Moab § 20. Mizpah of Moab followeth where the Father and Mother of David reposed themselves whilst their Son was persecuted by Saul Ar of Moab and Rabbah of Moab were also places of great note in this land and besides these many other cities of inferiour note But
count them in specie but for more safety or expedition computed the people by their Paschall Lambes proportioning such a number of men to a Lambe Others read it He numbred them as Lambes that is now grown meek and quiet whereas at the first there were some animosities of the people against him Shall Saul reign over us contentedly submitting themselves to his command But I take Telaim for a true City and the same with Telem Iosh. 15. 24. which you may finde in our description CHAP. XV. Objections against the Land of Moriah answered Philol. I Perceive the imperfection of your description by the omitting of a memorable valley therein namely the vale of Baca mentioned by the Psalmist pronouncing him blessed who passing through the vale of Baca maketh it a Well You in stead of passing through pass by this vale unmentioned Aleth I reserved my observations on this vale for this place Some render it appellatively The vale of weeping meaning thereby the militant condition of a Christian in this life incumbred with constant afflictions If so this vale of Baca is too big to come under my description all the mountains in the world being but part of this valley the extent whereof is adequate to the whole earth But if you be pleased to take this vale for a proper place I embrace the opinion of learned Ainsworth on the text that this vale of Baca or Mulberry trees for so also it signifieth was near to Ierusalem out of the tops of which trees God sounded the Alarum to David when he conquered the Philistines CHAP. XVI Objections against the City of Jerusalem answered Philol. VVHat is charged unjustly on Saint Paul and his companions that they had turned the world upside down may truly be laid to your charge you have in your description of Ierusalem tumbled all things topsie turvy in the position of the gates thereof yea the foundations of the City as presented by you are out of course and contrary to the rules of other writers Aleth Let God be true and every man a liar In this particular I profess my self a pure Leveller desiring that all humane conceits though built on most specious bottomes may be laid flat and prostrated if opposing the written Word In conformity whereunto we are bound to dissent from such Authors otherwise honouring them for their severall deserts to accommodate the Description of the Gates and Towers of Ierusalem according to a threefold eminent Directory which we finde in Nehemiah Philol. Give us I pray you an account of them in order Aleth The first main Scripture direction we are to observe is the night survey which Nehemiah took of the walls or rather ruines of Ierusalem described in this manner NEHEM 2. 13 14 15. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley even before the Dragon Well to the Dung port and viewed the walls of Ierusalem which were broken down and the gates thereof were consumed with fire Then went I out to the gate of the fountain and to the Kings pool but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass Then went I up in the night by the brook and viewed the wall and turned back and entred by the gate of the valley and so returned The second is the severall reparations where the same were required done on the Gates and walls of the City by severall persons in a circular form from the Sheep-gate surrounding the whole City till they returned to the same place where they began Whose names we have carefully inscribed on those portions of buildings upon which their cost and pains were expended The third but most materiall because most declaratory of the method of the Gates is the solemn Processions which the people divided into two Quires made round about the walls each of them measuring a Semi-circle both of them incompassing the whole circumference of Ierusalem and at last joining together in the best meeting place the Temple of God First Quire Nehem. 12. 31. One great company went on the right hand upon the wall towards the Dung-gate consisting of half the Princes of Iudah and Ezra the Scribe before them And at the fountain-gate which is over against them they went up by the staires of the City of David at the going up of the wall above the house of David even unto the water-gate eastward Second Quire Nehem. 12. 38 39. And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them and I after them and the half of the people upon the wall from beyond the Tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall And from above the gate of Ephraim and above the old-gate and above the fish-gate and the tower of Hananeel and the tower of Meah even unto the sheep-gate and they stood still in the prison-gate So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God Now I request the Reader with his eye to examine whether the walls of Ierusalem as designed in our draught agree not with these directions of Scripture To purchase the favour whereof I pass not for the frowns of any Authors Omne excelsum cadet down with whatever dare oppose our embracing of the Text. This we hope for the main will satisfie any indifferent Reader otherwise if being as impossible for me in this short discourse to meet with the severall exceptions of private fancies as for a Geographer in the Map-generall of a Countrey to set down the house of every particular person Philol. You set Sion south of Ierusalem clean contrary to the description of the Psalmist Beautifull for situation the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion on the Sides of the North the City of the great King Aleth The place by you alleadged is difficult much canvassed by Comments who fasten upon it two principall interpretations 1 Sense Some make this verse a description of Sion alone the latter clause by Apposition so referring unto it that Sion it self is solely charactered to be the City on the side of the North. 2 Sense Others make this verse the full description of all Ierusalem consisting of two principall parts by the figure of Asyndeton coupled together 1. Sion Beautiful for situation the â—oy of the whole earth is Mount Sion 2. Properly Jerusalem On the sides of the North the City of the great King That the latter is the truer interpretation we send the Reader to the voluminous labours of Villalpandus proving the same out of Scripture Iosephus and other Authors Besides though time and casualty hath made many alterations on Ierusalem yet what Peter in his time said of Davids sepulcher even in our age true of mount Sion it is with us unto this day standing still full south of Ierusalem as Travellers doe affirme no doubt in the ancient place and posture thereof For although Ioseph could remove the Egyptians from one end of the borders of the land
banishing them south of Arnon Fourthly Reubenites on whom Moses bestowed it after Sihon was conquered and killed Fifthly Moabites again For it seems after the captivity of the Reubenites by Tilgath Pilneser 1 Chron. 5. 26. they made a re-entry on their old possessions seeing those cities formerly inhabited by the Reubenites are prophecied against by Isaiah and Ieremiah under the notion of places belonging to the people of Moab to be destroied by Shalmaneser and Nabuchadnezzar § 3. This Countrey had Iordan on the west dividing it from Ephraim and Benjamin the River Arnon on the east and south parting it from the kingdome of Moab and on the north confined on the Tribe of Gad. The extent thereof from east to west may be allowed forty two miles not exceeding thirty five from north to south A Countrey excellent for grazing not as if defective in corn and wine wherein it shared with the rest of the Tribes besides the benefits of some Mineralls and medicinall waters whereof in due place but because exceeding in conveniencies for Cattell Pastures to feed Woods to shade and Rivers to wateâ— them Therefore was it bestowed upon the Tribes of Reuben Gad and half Manasseh which much abounded in cattell In which three we may observe some shadowes of Primogeniture which might imbolden them to petition to be first served Reuben the eldest of Iacob by his wife Gad eldest by Zilpah his concubine and Manasseh first born of Ioseph But these Tribes as first planted were first plucked up God carved unto them the first cut of the Land and after called for the Voider to take it first from them For they falling from the house of David and following Ieroboam through rebellion to Idolatry and not being warned with the terrible blow Hazael gave them shroudly shrubbing their branches God rent them up by the roots in the days of Pekah by the hand of Tilgath-Pilneser King of Assyria some twenty years before the generall captivity of their brethren at the end of the reign of Hosheah 2 Kings 17. 6. § 4 Leaving the people come we to survey the places and memorable actions in this Tribe In the northâ—east corner thereof near the banks of Arnon we finde the tract or territory of Aroer For though Aroer the City was undoubtedly entire in the Tribe of Gad yet it plainly appears that at least a Moity of the countrey adjacent so called from the city was possessed by the Reubenites A populous place it was the Prophet mentioning the cities of Aroer though their names or number is not expressed Probably Arnon one of the principall Tell yee it in Arnon says Ieremy surely not to the fishes in the River but to a City seated on the brink thereof and thence denominated as Hull in York-shire so commonly called from the Rivolet running by it § 5. Going south-west having the stream of Arnon for our guide we leave Kedemoth not far from the north bank thereof The Septuaginâ— read Kedson for Kedemoth and the Vulgar without any warrant read Iethson for Kedson so procreative is one errour of another This Kedemoth was one of the four Peculiars of the Levites wherein they were accommodated with Safety Pleasure and Profit Safety in the City it self within whose walls they dwelt in secure habitations Pleasure in their suburbs reaching a thousand Cubits from the wall round about little less then an English mile where they had houses of retirement with stalls and stables for their cattell Profit in their glebe land extending two thousand Cubits from their suburbs on every side improved for pasture tillage and vineyards For thus the survey of the Levites lands Numb 35. 4 5. though the difficult place is capable of severall senses is expounded by learned Rabbi Maimonie and we in our Maps have described them accordingly Now though herein we have given the Levites lands the largest and most favourable bounds seeing I am unable to endow them they shall lose nothing by my restrictive measuring thereof yet know that narrower limits are assigned them by Tremellius as shall hereafter be presented in Diagram we have prepared for that purpose § 6. Behold here Levi's curse turned into a blessing Divide them in Iacob and scatter them in Israel Now the dividing of them proved the disposing of them for their own and others advantage Their scattering was their ranking for the best behoof of the people for whose instruction they were intended They were the Salt of the earth and therefore God sprinkled them here and there the more conveniently to season the whole nation Insomuch that some English Parishes are more remote from their Mother-church then most places in Canaan were distant from the Cities of the Levites We must not forget that in Ieroboams apostasie the religious Levites forsook their Cities and fled to Ierusalem preferring voluntary exile before wealthy homes on the condition of an Idolatrous compliance It appears not in Scripture how these Cities and lands thus left were disposed of Whether Ieroboam himself seised on them converting them into demeans of his Crown or whether he suffered them to revert to those respective Tribes from whom they were taken so fastning his subjects affections unto him with nailes of gold of their own profit Either course may be conceived a cause to hasten the captivity of the people it being just that those who swallow Gods morsels should be spewed out of their own possessions § 7. Round about this City is the wilderness of Kedemoth not wholly abandoned to solitariness but as the rest of this kinde more thinly inhabited It abounded with wild beasts Lions Bears Bores Wolves Foxes where the pleasure in hunting the game did not recompense the pains and dangers of the shepheards lying constant Perdues in defence of their flocks From this wilderness Moses sent messengers to Sihon King of the Amorites for peaceable passage through his countrey But Sihon path-wise and land-foolish by denying a civility drew destruction on himself and subjects For seeking in fight to traverse it for their pedibus ambulando he was by a firme Ejection outed of his whole kingdome § 8. To return to Arnon Hereabouts the children of Israel passed over it miraculously with dry feet saith Adricomius But the miracle seems rather of his then Gods making the Scripture being silent therein and the river not of that depth or breadth but that it was fordable especially with the help of Camels Mules and Asses Many miles hence this river solitarily runs on as sensible of its sad fate suddenly to fall into the dead-Sea at Ashdoth-pisgah Where all his comfort is to have the company of two other Brooks whereof the eastermost runs near to Betzar or Bozra A City of refuge belonging to the Levites Merarites whereof there were six in the whole Countrey of Canaan with a provision that they should adde three more mans mercy must increase proportionably with his means if God
in slavery should multiply more then when they were at liberty consider 1 Some Plants Palme trees and Camomile the more deprest the further they expand themselves 2 Infant Nations like infants grow more discernibly at the first then when they approach their full stature 3 God purposely to defeat the designe of Pharaoh to destroy the Israelites blessed them with transcendent fruitfulness 4 The breeders in the wilderness were visited with many casualties bringing them to untimely ends whereas all those in Egypt though painfull in their livings were healthfull in their lives But the most memorable Accident in this place was the Idolatry of the Israelites to Baal-peor an Idoll conceived by most learned men to be Priapus And who could worship him with piety whom none with modesty can describe It seems that Moab and Midian perceiving Sâ—hon King of the Amorites overthrown in battell counterfeited amity with them and pretending to shew them being strangers the courtesie of the countrey made them an entertainment which could not be courtlike and compleat without the company of their women The Israelites beholding the Midianitish women first liking their faces then tasting their feasts stepped from their Boards to their Beds thence to their Altars adding spirituall to corporall fornication This was done by the advice of Balaam whose counsell did more hurt then his curse All his charmes could have done them no harm had he not raised these female spirits to improve them which cost the lives of twenty four thousand Israelites dying of the Plague till the Javelin of Phinehas executing of judgment stopped Gods fiery sword amongst them § 20. Let us now request the Reader to climbe up the hills of Abarim Nebo and Pisgah These are a ledge of mountains rising by degrees from east to west So that some have compared Abarim to the Chancell Nebo to the Church and Pisgah to the steeple In mount Nebo the Authour of the Maccabees speaks of a Cave wherein Ieremy laid the Tabernacle and the Arke and the Altar of Incense and so stopped the door But the same Authour in the conclusion of his book confesseth that his work is like wine tempered with water and we take this story to be no genuine juice of the grape and value it accordingly On Pisgah Moses surveyed the whole land of Canaan and although he was advantaged by the height of the place and clearness of his eyes no whit abated in their sight at an hundred and twenty years of age yet much of miracle must needs be admitted in so plain and far discovery Here Moses was buried being priviledged above other servants of God whose souls Angels convey to heaven that an Angel was his Sexton to cover his body in earth Here he concealed Moses his grave lest the Israelites should goe a whoring after it Destroying Idolatry is a pious but preventing it a more provident Act crushing it in the occasions thereof Let none condemn this for a needless caution as if no fear that they who sometimes would stone Moses while living should adore him when dead For the crooked nature of the Iews was bowed to Extremes and had no mean betwixt hating and adoring Besides when the memories of eminent men hated or envied when living have passed the purgation of death it is usuall for their former enemies to fall in love with them § 21. May the reader now conceive himself standing on the top of mount Pisgah Where though content with a narrower compass then what Moses discerned he descrieth a fair Prospect round about him Not to repeat the places of the west because mentioned before looking south ward behold the City of Nebo at the foot of its namesake mountain and both of them so called from Nebo and Idoll God hereabouts worshipped We read indeed how Reuben changed the names of the Cities of Nebo and Baalmeon because their old names taken from false Gods resented of Idolatry But so hard it is to unhabit mens mouths from old ill customes that it seems their ancient names still prevailed in common discourse Criticks start many controversies concerning this Idoll of Nebo as First whether not originally a Babylonish Deity Secondly whether under it the Moon as the Sun under Bell was not mystically adored Thirdly whether the same with Chemosh and Baal-Peor which is the opinion of Saint Ierome and if not wherein lay the difference But it shall never trouble me whether the fictitious Serpents of Iannes and Iambres the Egyptian enchanters were made alike or did differ in some particulars seeing the reall serpents of Moses devoured them all up And seeing long since the service of the true God hath confuted and confounded all worship of false Idols I list not to trade in the curiosities of distinctions betwixt them § 22. Eastward behold Kiriathaim or the two-towns like Bridge-North in Shropshire two lesser Cities being modelled into one Here lived the Emims shrowdly smote by Chederlaomer which probably did facilitate the Moabites in their victory over them Iahaza a City of the Levites where the Israelites in battell vanquished Sibon King of the Amorites A little further see the City of Medeba before the walls whereof a double battell was fought and won at once by Ioab against the Aramites and Abishai against the Ammonites And it seems that the latter of these had at this time the City in their possession whither they retreated after their overthrow For what else doe those words import The children of Ammon likewise fled before Abishai his Brother and entred into the City except any conceiving it inconsistent with the present potency of David to have any of his enemies nestled in his dominion will by the City understand Rabbah the Metropolis of Ammon next year besieged and sacked by Ioab As for Medeba there needs no other evidence to speak her ancient greatness then that Ptolemy by name takes notice thereof though placing it in Arabia which name it retained in the days of Saint Ierome § 23. But northward is the most pleasant Prospect over the fair and fruitfull Plains of Moab Nor need any wonder why the Plain is so called seeing Moab had nothing on the north of Arnon after the time of Moses when they recollect how lately all this land was possessed by the Moabites before Sihon forcibly expulsed them Now to prove that places sometimes are termed by their ancient Inhabitants though some hundred years after we that live in London need not goe no further then the Old Iury so called from the Iews once dwelling there now banished thence three hundred years agoe But we keep the Reader too long upon the top of this bleak and cold mountain 'T is time to come down when we have told him that though Pisgah here be taken for a proper name yet it is often used as an appellative for any eminent ridge of a hill which aspires above his fellowes Know also that all the Countrey hereabouts
was called Pisgah in the days of Saint Ierome § 24. Having now for a while reposed our selves in the pleasant Plains of Moab let us not tire when our task in this Tribe grows so near to an end Going a little northward we cannot misse the three Stations whither Balak brought Balaam to curse the Israelites For having first freely feasted Balaam at Kiriath-Huzzoth his chief City in the land of Moab he brought him over Arnon onely to see the utmost skirts of the people hoping if he could but kindle his curse in any corner it would quickly burn all the house of Israel But thrice he struck fire to no purpose 1t. In Bamoth Baal or the high places of Baal 2ly In the field of Zophim at the top of the hill 3ly In the top of Peor which looks towards Ieshimon building in each place seven Altars and sacrificing a Bullock and Ram on every of them What was the designe of the Sorcerer Conceived he that heaven was covetous like himself and might be bribed with sacrifices Surely the stench of his hypocrisie out-sented all the smell of his burnt offerings Or thought he by often changing the scene to act the more upon God He that is the same yesterday and to day and for ever receives no more impression from the shifting of place then from the changing of time Or did he hope with the mystery of his numbers Thrice seven Altars to flatter heaven into a consent All numbers are but bare Cyphers to him that is infinite O how he sweats for the wages of iniquity How is his tongue distracted between the Spirit of God and the spirit of gold All in vain the further he goes the worser he speeds but the better he speaks falling at last from â—lenting to down right blessing of Israel However though he did not his work he received his wages And if Balak at that time did not pay him with gold yet afterwards the Israelites did with steel justly slaying him with the sword § 25. Pass we now still more northward by the place where Elias ascending to heaven in a Chariot of fire left his mantle and a double portion of his spirit to Elisha his servant and successour and by Mephaah a City of the Levites to Sibmah so famous for her fruitfull vinyards Going through which the Reader may eat grapes to the full at his own pleasure A liberty lawfully allowed him but beware putting up any into his vessell lest he be apprehended for a trespasser For the same law which provides for his necessity punisheth his covetousness And what is this whole world with the wealth thereof but a vinyard wherein happy he who hath enough to serve his turn seeing when he dieth he shall carry nothing away with him It seems in Sibmah there was some one signall vine eminent for greatness above the rest or else that all her vines grew so close and uniform that they resembled one entire and continued tree The Prophets always addressing themselves unto it in the singular number O vine of Sibmah I will weep for thee c. § 26. Our work is ended when we have viewed the north part of this Tribe where it confineth on Gad. Where we onely meet with one place of note Heshbon anciently the royall Palace of Sihon King of the Amorites afterwards a City of the Levites Which the Scripture placeth sometimes in Reuben and sometimes in Gad. To accommodate this difference without making of two Cities of the same name such multiplication unwarrantable save where absolute necessity enforceth it I finde no fitter expedient then by setting Heshbon so equally between these two Tribes as partially in both and totally in neither Thus Bristoll is situated betwixt Glocester and Somerset shires and yet challengeth to be an absolute Liberty of it self as this Heshbon also was an entire demeans of the Levites One fair gate it had called Beth Rabbim gate nigh to which were most clear and pleasant fishponds to which the eyes of the Spouse are compared by Solomon Not that she was troubled with watery eyes like Leah the resemblance being recounted amongst her perfections not defects or that her eyes as some may fancy are compared to Pools moistened with teares for her sins but because of her clear and perspicuous vision and apprehension of heavenly Mysteries § 27. As for the mountains of Emek which Mr. More in his Map without alledging any warrant from Scripture otherwise his constant custome makes the bounds betwixt Reuben and Gad I have placed them accordingly yet so that the Reader without a miraculous Faith may remove these mountains to some other place when he finds just cause for the same At which time also when proceeding on more infallible principles for their situation let him take down our conjecturall Flags from the tops of Mephaah Zerethshahar c. now placed but by guesse and let him dispose of them if he can in a more exact position § 28. So much for Reuben not forgetting how in the days of Solomon when the land was divided into Purveyer-ships to make monthly provisions for his Courts Gebar the son of Uri had al the country once of Siâ—on King of the Amorites but then possest by Reuben in his circuit whence no doubt plenty of good fare out of this Pasture-countrey so abounding in cattell was brought to Ierusalem Now we have placed the name of Amorites on the sinister front of this our description because they were the old inhabitants of this Countrey our constant custome through this Book in the adverse page opposite to the Tribes name to insert one of the seven Nations of Canaan former owners of that land conceiving it to conduce much to the illustration of Scripture § 29. Modern Heralds by Commission authorized from the Jewish Rabbines assign to Reuben for armes Argent three Bars waveè azure in allusion to Iacobs Legacy Unstable as water thou shalt not excell For as water cannot hold it self but as it is held in a vessell so Reuben could not contain himself within the bounds of chastity till shame and sorrow did reclaim him Besides as water once shed is never to be gathered up again so Reuben could never after recollect his lost credit to recover the full favour of his Father Though once he endevoured to gather up some spilt drops of his reputation by projecting the deliverance of Ioseph from his brethren but his design miscarried § 30. For mine own part I cannot concur with the common opinion that these three Bars waveè were the Armes of Reuben principally because Armes are honorary ensignes assign'd or assum'd for the greater grace of the bearer Improbable therefore that this Tribe to perpetuate the infamy of their ancestour would always have water running in their shield as if Reubens crime were the Reubenites credit like such whom the Apostle reproves that glory in their shame Rather let us hearken
Sauls and his sons corps they took down from Bethshan bring them home burn the flesh and bury the bones thereof under a tree neare the City The Iews generally interring their dead under some Oak pleased perchance with the parallel that as those plants seemingly dead in winter have every spring an annuall resurrection so mens dry bones shall have new sap put into them at the day of Judgment David afterwards removed the bones of Saul and Ionathan buried them in the sepulchre of Kish their father in Zelab in the Countrey of Benjamin § 24. From the fords of Ephraim Iordan taketh his course by the Cities of Ataroth and Debir of which we can say neither more nor less but that they are called Ataroth and Debir For these places let Ataroth-shophan Beth-haran c. march in the same rank are so short-lived in Scripture that they live onely to be named and presently vanish away without any more mention of them Not long after Iordan leaving this Tribe runneth into Reuben § 25. More inland in Gad lay the large and fruitfull Countrey of Gilead whereof more fitly and fully in the next Tribe For though this Tribe of Gad had South-Gilead in her borders yet under favour I conceive that North-Gilead which belonged to Manasseh was the firstand best Countrey of that name Now whereas we read in Scripture that Gad had all the Cities of Gilead and few verses after that Manasseh had half Gilead know that Gilead is taken restrictively in the former and generally in the latter acception § 26. Ramoth-Gilead called also Ramoâ—h-mizpeh was metropolis of Gad-Gilead It belonged to the Levites and was also a City of refuge afterwards won by the King of Aram. Then alas that city which so often had saved others from the pursuit of their enemies could not preserve it self from the sword of the Syrians Here it was verified Quod non capit Christus rapit fiscus For upon Ieroboams introducing of Idolatry the pious Levites were outed of their possessions and now the pagan Syrians revenging their quarrell ejected Israel out of this City wrongfully wrested from the Levites § 27. However not long after Ahab and Iehoshaphat with joint forces besieged it when the army of the Syrians bad them both battell Iehoshaphat at Ahabs perswasion pretending his honour but intending therein his own safety appeared in his Princely equipage whilest the other disguised himself in the army Now the Syrians having received speciall orders to fight neither against small nor great save onely with the King of Israel mistake Iehoshaphat for the King of Israel directed in their conjectures unto him by the lustre of his royall Robes Bravery betrays men to danger and not onely sets up a fair mark but giveth malice the right ground to throw at it And was it not just with God that Iehoshaphat who in complement had profest to Ahab I am as thou art should in realty be taken to be the same indeed But upon his crying out the Syrians apprehend their errour and desist from further pursuing him § 28. But divine Justice continues the chace of Ahab Guilt cannot hide it self in a croud and there is no way for a notorious sinner to disguise himself from Gods eye but by his sincere repentance A man draws a bow at adventures and all-seeing providence guiding blind chance to the joints of Ahabs armour mortally wounds him It seems not onely the Corselet but also the putting on thereof must be of proof to fence death out which otherwise will creep in at a small cranny Yet Ahab was staid up in his chariot til even then the Sun his life set together Some years after King Iehoram Ahabs son at the same place received wounds of more honour and less danger when forcibly he recovered this Ramoth-Gilead from the Kings of Syria But of all Iehorams hurts here received none went so near his heart as that in this City a son of the Prophets sent by Elisha did anoint Iehu a Captain of the Hoste to be his successour and King of Israel § 29. We had wholly forgotten no shame to confess and amend our faults the small Countrey of Sharon in the north-east part of this tribe It seems it was parcell of the demeans of the Crown in the days of King David where his heards were fed under the care and charge of Shetrai the Sharonite David we see was not onely a good man and good King but also a good husband stocking this his land to his best profit knowing full well soon would the State of his Court-hall be abated if the thrift in his countrey Kitchin were not preserved Nor was Sharon a place less pleasant then profitable where plenty of fragrant roses grew to which Christ the Churches spouse is pleased to resemble himself not for any fading condition but fair sight sweet smell and cordiall vertues wherein he excelled § 30. Here some will inquire In what capacity did David hold his land in Sharon and elsewhere where his cattell was grased seeing being Iesse's youngest Son little land was left him from his Father and none at all in the Tribe of Gad. The difficulty is increased because in so pent and populous a countrey scarce a foot thereof but related to some owner not having power to alienate it from his heires to whom at the farthest it was to revert at the year of Iubilee when all dead possessions had a resurrection to their proper owners We conceive David held this land by one of the following Titles 1 By the fundamentall establishment of the Crown For sure when that Kings were made publick provision was made for their Princely support who as Lords of Manors have commonage sance number amongst their Tenants might feed their cattell any where in their own dominions 2 By improvement of wast grounds which fell to the King as Lord of the Soile Yea seeing God made provisionary Laws for the Kings behaviour four hundred years before any King was in Israel why might not a reserve of land be also left at the partition of the countrey by lot for their Kings future maintenance 3 By mutuall compact some subjects on valuable consideration as perchance the relaxing the tribute due from every person to his Prince might part not with the propriety but present profit of their land for the Kings conveniency 4 By attainder of Traitours whose lands it seems were at least for some term of time at the Kings disposall witness Davids granting all Mephibosheth had unto Ziba 5 By conquest as most probable it is this Sharon was won from the Ammonites when Rabba was taken from them However we may prefume that Davids title though unknown to us was undoubted in it self free from the least suspicion of injustice according to his own counsell Trust not in oppression become not vain in robbery
Disciples frequently repairing hither when he affected retiredness Here also learned men on good likelyhood Scripture being silent of the particular place conceive the miracle of loaves multiplied wrought by our Saviour And to avoid confusion we must carefully observe that this was twice wrought Place Guests Meate Fragments Gospels A desert nigh Tiberias 5000 men 5 loaves two fishes 12 baskets ful Mat. 14. 20 Mar. 6. 43. Lu. 9. 16. 10. 6. 23 Christs mountaiâ—â— 4000 men 7 loaves a few litle fishes 7 baskets ful Mat. 17. 37. Mark 8. 1. Behold in the latter though the meat was the more the mouths fewer yet fewer fragments did remain And good reason that our Saviour in working of miracles should observe no other proportion then his own pleasure § 19. Following still the Sea shore and going westward we light on the City Cinnereth which some conceive gave the name to the lake adjoining and also to the land thereabouts For when Benhadad in favour to King Asa to remove Baasha from besieging Ramah inroded Israel he smote all Cinneroth with all the land of Naphtali Some five miles westward we meet with Bethsaida of Galilee in English a hunting house Nor is it unlikely that at first it was a Mansion meerly made for recreation the neighbouring Desert frequently visited by our Saviour when desiring privacy affording the pleasure of the Game From a house it grew to be a village so called by Saint Marke and thence proceeded to be a City so graced in other Gospells Nor need learned men so trouble themselves about the difference seeing in a short time Hague in Holland may be an instance a great town with addition of walls may at pleasure commence a small City It was the native place of Peter Andrew Philip and another staple City of Christs miracles whose ingratitude forced our Saviours expression Woe unto thee Chorazin woe unto thee Bethsaida c. § 20. In the confines of Bethsaida Christ by the hand led forth a blind man out of the town spat on his eyes so restoring him to a confused and imperfect sight to see men walking as trees well might his spittle give half sight whose breath gave man whole life at the Creation and then putting his hands upon his eyes compleatly cured him But how came it to pass that he who other whiles healed at distance by the Proxie of his word Subveniens priùs quà m veniens curing before coming to his Patients should here be so long not to say tedious in working a miracle Even so Saviour because it pleased thee Let us not raise cavills where we should rather return thanks seeing Christ that our dull meditations might keep pace with his actions did not onely goe slowly on set purpose but even stayed in the mid way of a miracle doing it first by halves that our conceptions might the better overtake him § 21. To clear this Corner before we goe hence north-east of Bethsaida on a tridented mountain standeth Saphetta two parts whereof are inhabited by the Turks and one by the Iews and is at this day a very considerable Place Here the Iews live in the greatest liberty or rather in the least slavery of any place under heaven having some tolerable Priviledges allowed them by the Turk So that they who get wealth enough elsewhere here seem to have some shew of a common-wealth Yea here there is a University of Iews And though commonly that Nation count their children to have learning enough if able to cheat Christians in their bargains here they give them studious education and the pure Hebrew tongue as also at Thessalonica now Salonichi in Greece is here usually spoken but industriously acquired the Iews being neitheâ— born to foot of land nor word of language then what they purchase by their paines What shall we say if this little place be left still to keep possession as an earnest that God in due time upon their conversion may possibly restore the whole countrey unto them § 22. Three Cities follow southwest Naphtali a city properly so called Thisbe different from the native place of Eliah and Naasson all their credits depending on the two first verses of the book of Tobit Now as Comoedians though often they adorn their interludes with fancies and fictions yet are very carefull always to lay their scene right in a true place which is eminently and notoriously known so grant the book of Tobit guilty of improbabilities and untruths surely the author thereof would be punctuall in describing the place past possibility of confutation Yet since the same book presents us with the pedegree of the Angell Raphael with Ananias the great his Father and Sammajas his grandfather contrary to our Saviours character that they neither marry nor are given in marriage and so by consequence can neither get nor can be begotten we may as justly suspect his Geography as Genealogy and conceive him false in the position of towns who is fabulous in the extraction of Angels And if Naphtali and Thisbe pass for reall places yet not onely doubtfull but desperate is the case of the City Naasson not being founded on the rock of the Greek text where no such town appears but on the quick-sand of the erroneous Vulgar Latine translation § 23. Having thus surveyed the east and south parts of this Tribe lest the other coasts thereof should justly complain of neglect we return to mount Libanus to give an account of the remainder In this Map though not in this Tribe no trespass I hope to look over the hedge behold Heliopolis in English the City of the Sun But how well it brooks the name they can best tell who of certain report that the height of the mountains adjoining shadow it from the Sun the better half of the day Was it therefore by the same figure that the mountains are so called from moving that Heliopolis got this name Or because the Sun as all other Blessings are valued is most worshipped where it is most wanted Not far hence the river Fons hortorum Libani or the fountain of the gardens of Libanus with which the banks thereof on either side are enamelled fetcheth his originall running thence by Hamah afterwards called Epiphania often mentioned in Scripture Thus far came the twelve spies sent to search the land and this place passeth in Scripture from the entring of Hamah for the northern Boundary of the land of Israel not onely before the expression of Dan came into request but also long after the mention thereof in holy Writ was disused We shall in due place speake as of Hamah the great so named by the Prophet since called Antiochia in Coelosyria and by vulgar unskilfulness often confounded with this Hamah in Naphtali so also of Ashimah the topicall or peculiar Idoll of this place § 24. Hence that river runneth by Hazor anciently the Metropolis of the Canaanites
where very many of their Kings met together against Ioshua to his great advantage Had he sought them in their severall Cities to what expence of time and paines would it have amounted Whereas now their malice did his work all of them meeting together having but one neck in effect which here they tendred to the Axe of divine justice Hazor by Ioshua was burnt and more then an hundred years after was probably reedified by Iabin the Second into whose hand God is said to have sold his people Not far off this river of Gardens leaveth Naphtali and visâ—teth the Tribe of Asher § 25. But before we leave the river let this memorandum be entred that some hold this is the same with the Sabbatariam river mentioned in Pliny which is said to run six days and lie still the seventh whence it gained the name Were this true as Solomon sent the sluggard to the Pismire to learn industry well might profane persons be remitted to this river thereby to be instructed in the Sabbaths due observation But most listen to it as to a fable and the Hurlers in Cornwall men metamorphosed into stones as tradition reports for playing on the Lords day may fitly serve to build a bridge over this river It much shakes the credit of this report because Iosephus relates it clean contrary namely that this river lies still sixe days and onely runs the seventh adding how Titus the Emperour going from Iury to Antioch took a journey by the way to behold the same But indeed learned Casaubon not onely observeth herein the Copies of Iosephus to be corrupted but also giveth his advice for the amendment of the same So that by right pointing his words and some other small alteration Iosephus and Pliny may be made to agree However modern travellers bring us no intelligence of such alternation or intermitting course of any river hereabouts and some perchance will be ready to say that since the Jewish Sabbath hath been swallowed up in the Christians Lords day this river hath discontinued his former custome lest what anciently was ceremonious be now adays censured for superstitious § 26. Let us now traverse this tribe southeast where we câ—not miss Abel a City sometimes single sometimes double represented unto us namely 1t. Abel of Bethmaacah as if the former were but parcell of the latter 2ly Abel and Bethmaacah as if different but bordering Cities 3ly Abel-Bethmaacah as if both made up one and the same place In this City Sheba the rebell pursued by Ioab and his own guiltiness took covert so that the storme of a furious assault was ready to fall upon it when the breath of a wise woman blew it cleare away who so ordered it that Sheba's head was cast over the wall See how his head which thought to turn all Israel upside down when whirled in the aire was tossed and tumbled about And pity it is any bullets should be shot into that city which would cast such fireballs out of it We know the wicked mans not the wise womans name and yet when his vertueless name shall rot her nameless vertue shall remain But Abel wanted such another wise woman to protect it when furiously taken by Beâ—â—hadad and at last finally destroied by Tiglath-Pilesar § 27. But in the very midst of this Tribe the oake-trees of Zahanaim fair and far spread themselves For Tremellius reads it Quercetum Zahanaim The oake-tree place of Zahanaim where our translations render it the plain of Zahanaim A difference not so great but that our age can accommodate which being wastfull in woods hath expounded into plains many places which formerly were dark with the thickest oake-trees Here Iael the wife of Heber the Kenite dwelt in her tent whither Sisera who went forth with nine hundred charets but was glad to come home on two legs fled for security having quitted his chariot Not that he thought himself swifter but safer without it seeing his chariot which in fight was the strength to cover in flight was the mark to discover him And here Iael w th a hammer nail dispatched him for which she was blessed by Deborah § 28. The mention of her blessing minds us of the curse of Meroz and consequently to inquire where the same was seated Well may we look for it in any Tribe which we finde in no Tribe Yea learned men doe so differ in their verdict that some will have Meroz to be 1 The Devill himself as Nicholas Lyra whose opinion is rejected and refuted by all that mention it 2 A potent Person in these parts having many Tenants and Reteiners 3 A Countrey full of populous inhabitants 4 A City near the place where the battell against Sisera was fought Grant the last as most probable new Quaere's are ingendred whether a City of Caananites or Israelites and where to be placed For the exact position whereof we refer the reader to those our learned Divines which in these unhappy dissensions have made that Text so often the subject of their Sermons We have placed it in this tribe not far from Kedesh whence Barak first went forth with his men in the place where Mercators Maps have a city called Meroth a rush-candle is better then no light our onely motive for the situation thereof Mean time consider that as the Disciples observed that the figtree cursed by our Saviour was in their return withered away so this city after Deborah's execration so dwindled by degrees that nothing is left of Meroz but Meroz nothing surviving of the thing but the name Which name let the reader behold in our Map as the mast of that ship whose keel is swallowed up in the quicksands A Sea-mark to all posterity to beware and not to be negligent when they are called to be auxiliaries to Gods cause in distress § 29. And now our hand is in about conjecturall places we must not forget Madon once a roiall city certainly hereabouts because Iobab the King thereof was conquered by Ioshua at the waters of Merom though all our industry cannot discover the particular position thereof Happy our condition that in things concerning salvation we have Christs gracious promise Seek and ye shall finde though in these meaner maters our search often wanteth success We are bold to place it near Dan one of the fountains of Iordan the rather because Brocard findes a place thereabouts called Medan by the Turks at this day Where I pray let it stand till better information for rather then with Adrichomius we should leave it out of our Maps it is better to put it under any penthouse then quite shut it out of doors Let Dan-javan the third station where Ioab pitched his tent when he numbred the people be joined unto it § 30. To return to the place where Meroz is set with far more certainty we place Harrosheth of the Gentiles the native
plough as elsewhere God threatens the disobedient Iews the earth that is under thee shall be iron but that this land should afford plenty of those metalls according to the testimony of Eumaeus in Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Sidon I â—oast to be born where's brasse in aboundance Besides the great commodities of the sea with the convenient havens thereof Debora complains that when Zebulun and Naphtali most concerned as nearest danger ingaged themselves against Sisera Asher continued on the Seashore and abode in his breaches And no wonder if being Merchants they preferred profit before perill especially being in a safe place where the iron chariots of Iabin King of Canaan could not approach them § 3. The worst mischief in this Tribe was that after the death of Ioshua the Canaanites quartered so hard on the men of Asher that they detained no fewer then seven great cities from them Yea perchance something may be pickt out of the expression of the holy Spirit for whereas the Canaanites are said to dwell amongst those of Zebulun the Asherites the phrase being altered in the following verse are said to dwell among the Canaanites as if those pagans were the principall Land-lords ingrossing all memorable places in this Tribe to themselves whilest the Asherites lived amongst them as Tenants at will by the others leave Nor was this fully remedied untill the victorious reigns of David and Solomon § 4. In the north-west part of this Tribe neer the sea side we first meet with Misrepothmaim that is the boyling of waters though uncertain whether done artificially by fire or naturally by the Sun Here great plenty of salt was made in brine-pits a necessary and gainfull commoditie However Tremellius rendreth Misrepothmaim fornaces vitrarias Glass-furnaces and we know store of the best sort of that brickle ware was made hereabouts Ioshua having foiled the Kings of Canaan at the waters of Merom pursued them thus far to the shore of the Mediterranean where his foes had the free choise whether they would be killed with the sword or drowned in the sea Hard by is Mearah which signifieth a cave and so some translations render it though others retain the Hebrew word being the northern boundary of the land of Canaan and an impregnable underground fortification of the Zidonians Yea many hundred years after in the Holy War when the Christians possessed Palestine they manfully defended it untill the garison therein corrupted with money basely betrayed it unto the Saracens § 5. Observe by the way that the hills in Palestine generally had in their sides plenty of caves and those of such laxity and receit that ours in England are but conny-boroughs if compared to the palaces which those hollow places afforded Neither wonder that the cave of Makkedah could contain five Kings together or that Obadiah could hide an hundred Prophets by fifty fifty in a cave or that about four hundred men abode with David in the cave of Adullam or that six hundred Benjamites lurk't for four moneths in the rock of Rimmon when Strabo hath reported that towards Iturea which beginneth not far off there be sharp mountains having deep deâ—s in them whereof one is able to receive four thousand Men. These caves being only a cellar by nature were by Art contrived into severall rooms and by industry fortified even unto admiration So well man'd they could not be stormed well victualled they could not be starved and not having any combustible matter about them fire-free they could not be burned so thick they could not be battered so high they could not be scaled and so low they could not be undermined But these Inns gave entertainment to any guests and as sometimes they gave shelter to pious people in persecution so often they afforded harbour to theeves and vagabonds The Psalmist glanceth on such places in that his expression Thou art of more honour and might then the hills of the robbers and our Saviour directly pointeth at them when he complaineth that they had turned the house of God into a den of theeves § 6. To proceed hereabouts we can quickly discover an ancient City wrongfully placed by the presumption of Authors namely Enoch built by Cain in the land of Nod which one tells us was at the foot of mount Libanus and that vast foundations thereof are at this day to be seen Surely Cains wandring humour bloudy hands are always attended with roving feet seems to have possessed these Authors brains stragling in the position of this place so far from the truth and the text which describeth it east of Eden But we may seek the City Enoch with more probability to finde it amongst the Henochii a people seated by Pliny neer the Bactrians in the east country § 7. But before we goe farther we will alter our former method hoping such variety will prove the more pleasant and because most memorable Places in Asher are mentioned in Ioshua where the Possessions of this Tribe were first allotted him we will briefly comment on those verses wherein the Bounds of his Inheritance are described Ioshua 19. 24. And the fifth lot came out for the Tribe of the Children of Asher according to their Families To prevent all Quarrels the Land on this side Iordan was divided by lot betwixt the nine Tribes and an half much of providence being couched under the seeming casualty thereof for although their Portions fell not to them in such seniority as they sate down at Pharaoh's Table the first-born according to his Birth-right and the youngest according to his youth yet an excellent method was observed therein For The first Lot fell to Iudah the Tribe Royall of whom the Chief Rulers and Christ himself was to descend The second to the sons of Ioseph Ephraim and Manasses to whom on Reubens forfeiting thereof the Birth-right belonged The third to Benjamin Iacobs youngest but next best beloved son by Rachel his dearest wife The fourth fifth and sixth for Simeon Zebulun and Issachar his sons by Leah so that all Iacobs children by his wives were provided for first before those he had by his Concubines received any Possessions The seventh for Asher Iacobs son by Zilpah handmaid to Leah his first wife and therefore her child in seniority preferred Gad his elder brother being already provided for on the other side Iordan The eight and ninth for Naphtali and Dan born of Bilhah handmaid to Rachel the younger sister and Iacobs second wife We know who said in another case I sleep but my heart awaketh So see here though drowzie Chance in the Lot is commonly challenged to have slept out her eyes and to become stark blind yet is there a concealed vigilancy therein ordered by divine Providence Verse 25. And their border was Helkah and Hali and Beten and Achshaph In expounding these words for the maine we
follow learned Masius though loth to erre with any willing to venture sooner on his then any other Authors judgement herein May the Reader find out Helkah in our Mappe in the South-east part thereof not farre from the Sea thence let his eies start and with good successe following the names in the Text and the pricks in our Mappe for his direction surround the Borders of this Tribe Helkah was afterwards given to the Levites Gershonites to be one of their foure Cities in this Tribe had Achshaph and formerly been a Royall City of the Canaanites whose King had been conquered by Ioshua Verse 26. And Alamelech and Amad and Mishael and reacheth to Carmel Westward and Shihor Libnah Mishael or Mashal was another City of the Levites By this the Border of Asher ran Southwestward to Carmell understand thereby not the mountain so called lying more South in Zebulun but the Plain lying under the same more towards the North. Shihor Libnah that is the white River Now for streames to take their names from their colours is no news to them that have heard of Albis in Germany Melas in Thracia and two Rivers called Blackwater the one in the South the other in the North of Ireland But whether this River in Asher took the whitenesse from the foaming water therein or Chalk-banks like our Albion on both sides or from the materials of glasse or crystall growing there let others dispute whilst we onely observe that Album Promontorium or the white Promontory is by Pliny placed hereabouts Verse 27. And turneth toward the Sun rising to Beth Dagon and reacheth to Zebulun and to the Valley of Iiphthabel toward the Northside of Bethemek and Neiel and goeth out to Cabul on the left hand The Map will make all these flexures plain Beth Dagon that is the Temple of Dagon but how came this Idol of the Philistims to travell thus farre almost to Phoenicia Surely it never came hither on its own legges as the Psalmist observes Feet have they but they walk not but was brought by the Superstition of the Canaanites which borrowed this Idol from their neighbours Concerning Cabul quaere whether it were the name of a particular place or the same with the Land of Cabul which I conceive lay more Northward which Solomon afterward bestowed on Hiram King of Tyre Verse 28. And Hebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah even unto great Zidon Hebron differing from a greater City of the same name in the Tribe of Iudah Rehob that is large or spacious this name speaking it a City of great receipt Unto this place came the twelve Spies sent to discover the Land and this City was afterwards bestowed upon the Levites This Kanah the great is conceived by some the birth place of Simon the Canaanite the disciple of Christ. Great Zidon was given to never gained by this Tribe whose Borders reached to Zidon exclusively so that Ashers lips might touch the cup but not taste the liquor of so sweet a City Verse 29. And then the Coast turneth to Ramah and to the strong City Tyre aud the Coast turneth to Hosah and the outgoings thereof are at the Sea from the coast to Achzib Turneth namely towards the South Ramaâ— that is an high place as the name importeth therefore seated by us on a Mountain Such Maps as place Ramah in a valley are guilty of as great a Solecisme in Geography as he in gesture who speaking O Heavens pointed to the Earth Wonder not that in Palestine we meet with so many Ramahs Towns seated on a rising or advantage of ground seeing it was so mountainous a Countrey Equivalent whereunto we have the frequent name of Upton in England whereof I have told Smile good Reader but doe not jeer at my curiosity herein no fewer then three and thirty in the Alphabeticall names of Speeds descriptions Tyre like Zidon was never possest by the Asherites neither was Achzib neer to Helkah where we first began our preambulation about this Tribe and now redit labor actus in orbem we have walked the Round and encompassed the Bounds thereof Verse 30. Ummah also and Aphek and Rehob twenty and two Cities with their Villages This is the inheritance of the Tribe of the children of Asher according to their families these Cities with their Villages All the former were limitary places in the Tribe of Asher these three last were more Inland Cities in the heart of the Countrey To avoid tautology â—ehob here must be allowed a distinct City from that mentioned before § 8. But of all these Cities Aphek was most remarkable whose King was killed by Ioshua and neer whereunto Benhadad lately beaten by Ahab on the Mountains of Samaria with his new model'd Army in a new place hoped for new successe For in stead of the thirty two Kings of more pomp then puissance to his Army he placed so many Captaines seeing it is not the shining of the hilt but the sharpnesse of the edge of the sword must do the the deed And resolved to fight in the Plain conceiving the Gods of the Israelites though by Benhadads swelling words lofty language one might rather have collected the Syrian Gods to have been the Gods of the MouÌ„tains Then appeared he with a mighty Host against whom the Israelites marched forth like two little flocks of Kids Behold here a wonder the Kids kill the Wolves and a hundred thousand Syrian footmen were kill'd in one day From the field they flie into the City of Aphek What was it to try whether the God of Israel concluded now God of the Countrey be it hilly or plain were God of the City also They found it so by sad experience when the wall of the City fell on twenty and seven thousand of them that were left which wall if cruell to kill was charitable to bury them § 9. Yet Ahab afterwards lost the advantage of this victory when contrary to Gods flat command on Benhadads feigned submission he indulged life unto him which caused his own death and destruction not long after Thus foolish pity in stead of breaking whets the knife for it's own throat and they who onely take out the teeth and sting of such serpents which they should kill outright shall finde the very stumps and tail remaining enough to bite and sting them to death § 10. Baanah the sonne of Hushai was Solomons purveyor in Asher and in Aloth What this Aloth should be a deep silence is in all Comments I conceive it a hilly Countrey appendent to Asher ascending with mountains according to the notation of the Hebrew word Herein our guesse is seconded by plenty of Gradati montes Staired mountains which goe up by degrees found in these parts and one most eminent whereof Iosephus takes especiall notice being an hundred furlongs north of Ptolemais called scala Tyriorum or the Tyrians Ladder How neer our conjecture is bowled to the
Prophet it may be ranked with the making of Dinah Iacobs daughter to be Iobs wife and with Ruth her being daughter to Eglon King of Moab all which three traditions are equally improbable in themselves altogether ungrounded on Scripture and yet peremptorily affirmed of the Jewish Doctors Nor have I ought else to observe of this City save that the Hebrew name of Zarephah signifieth a conflatory or melting place where metals whereof plenty in this Province were made fuâ—il by the fire in their furnaces § 27. Accho remains to be observed in the south part of this Tribe and confines of Zebulun A learned writer conceiveth it called Ace by Grecians from affording medicine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek to Hercules when hurt in his conflict with the Lernaean Serpent Whereas indeed Ace is plainly derived from Accho the Scriputre name of this City Thus those who take aime from the Greek tongue to shoot at the Etymologies of Hebrew places come wide of the mark This city was afterwards called Ptolemais from one of the Kings of Egypt Here I forbear to recite how Ionathan through the perfidiousness of Tryphon and his own over credulity was trained into this city taken and murdered Saint Paul sailing from Tyre touched here saluted the brethren and abode with them one day As for Achzib a city of Asher whence they could not expell the Canaanites it was seated nine miles north of Ptolemais being a tolerable harbour and called Ecdippa afterwards § 28. Many were the rivolets in this Tribe but those no sooner delivered out of the wombe of their fountains but devoured in the grave of the Ocean onely Belus hath got a name though not in Scripture running through the Cendevian Lake famous for its inexhausted sands turning all things it toucheth into glass As for the sepulcher of Memnon whom the Poets feign the son of the Morning and Iosephus erects his monument near the river Belus we take no notice thereof being hereafter to finde his tombe the dew of whose birth is as the wombe of the morning in a far distant place § 29. The Armes usually assigned to Asher are azure a standing cup covered Or relating to Iacobs blessing he shall yeeld royall dainties A cup being taken here by a Synedochicall metonymie for all plentifull Provisions Asher otherwise affording dishes as well as cups and esculents as well as variety of beverage But should the shield of this Tribe be as full of charge as the land thereof was fruitfull of commodities what was the credit of the countrey would be the disgrace of the Coate of Asher Here the Map of Zebulun is to be inserted THE TRIBE OF ZEBVLVN CHAP. 6. § 1. ZEbulun tenth son of Iacob by Leah his wise had his posterity so increased in Egypt that fifty seven thousand four hundred were extracted from him All which dying in the wilderness for their manifold disobedience their next generation being sixty thousand five hundred possessed the land of Canaan Honourable mention on all occasions is made of this Tribe in Scripture How forwâ—rd were they in their expedition against Sisera in so much as out of Zebulun they came down that handled the pen of the writer Gown-men turned Sword-men Clerks became Captains changing their penknives into swords Thus the peaceableness of their profession can bail none to stay at home when eminent danger arrests all at the suite of the Commonwealth to serve in person abroad David calls them the Princes of Zebulun c. and well might he afford them that style of dignity who attended him at Hebron with an army so absolutely accomplished For 1 Number fifty thousand 2 Skill expert in war which could keep ranke 3 Weapons with all instruments of war 4 Loyalty they were not of double hearts Yet in all ages of all the numerous Tribe of Zebulun we finde but two Grandees expressed by name Elon a peaceable Judge and Ionah an eminent Prophet But what shall we say A greater then Ionah was here even Christ himself the honour and dishonour though not of the tribe of the land of Zebulun honor because here miraculously conceived poorly painfully bread brought up here frequent in preaching working of miracles dishonour because carelesly neglected and scornfully contemned yea dispightfully persecuted of his own countreymen § 2. Zebulun had Asher on the north-west Naphtali on the north-east Issachar on the south the Mediterranean on the west and Galilean sea on the east thereof This maritime position of this Tribe Iacob foresaw in his Prophecy Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the Sea and he shall be for an haven of ships and his border shall be unto Zidon Which Charter of sea conveniencies is renewed and enlarged by Moses in his blessing Rejoyce Zebulun in thy going out and Issachar in thy tents They shall call the people unto the mountains and there shall they offer Sacrifices of righteousness for they shall suck of the abundance of the Seas and treasures hid in the sand Where though these two Tribes be made Partners and joint sharers in marine interests and are promised equall profit thereby yet Issachar it seems loved land and an home life best imploying his canvase rather for Tents then Sails whilest the sea and going out in long voiages was rather Zebuluns delight So have I seen chickens and ducklings hatched under the same hen no sooner unhoused out of their shels but presently the one falls a pecking on the ground the other a padling in the water § 3. Nor let any be staggered at the close of Iacobs Prophecy wherein he foretelleth Zebuluns border shall be unto Sidon finding this Tribe to fall many miles short and south of that place For Sidon is not there to be taken for the City but Countrey so named And the land of the Sidonians or Phenicians extended to Accho or Ptolemais a city thereof on which the north bound of Zebulun did confine Greater will be the difficulty to assigne a cleare reason why in the first book of Chronicles where the Pedegrees of all the other Tribes are reckoned up Zebulun and Dan as considerable and deserving as the rest is omitted The best is places not persons concern our present subject and I hope I shall not betray such indiscretion to leave the plain and ready Rode of my work in hand to enter into the wood not to say the bog of an impertinent question § 4. We begin with the sea of Galilee the eastern boundary of this Tribe called always a sea by three of the Evangelists but generally a Lake by Saint Luke Indeed amongst lakes it may be accounted for a Sea such the greatness amongst seas reputed for a lake such the sweetness and freshness of the water therein The extent thereof is most variously reported amongst Authors Iosephus makes it an hundred furlongs long and sixe broad Pliny
returnes were obliged in conscience to be more liberall to the maintenance of Gods Ministers Or are two of the Levites cities left out in Chronicles omission in such cases for reasons to us unknown is no contradiction and the other two the same though unlike in sound with the two last mentioned in Ioshua Indeed I deny not but the towns at the same time may have two names nothing alike Medena alià s Newport in the Isle of Wight may be an instance thereof But for all I can finde still I languish in expectation of a better solution Yet let not his good will be slighted who though unable to cure the wound whilest Commentatours on the place suffer it to lie festering in silence desires to wash it and keep it clean till a more skilfull hand apply an effectuall plaister thereunto § 36. In Solomons division of the land into twelve purveyour-ships Zebulun had no distinct officer over him but belonged to the territory of Baanah the Son of Ahilud who besides many places he had in Manasseh extended his Jurisdiction even beyond Iokneam The Armes of Zebulun confirmed unto him by custome and Rabbinicall tradition were Argent a ship with Maste and tackling sable An honourable Bearing the same with the Coate armour of Albertus free Baron of Alasco in Poland â—ave that his ship is without sailes with this Motto Deus dabit vela God will send sailes and Zebuluns accomplished with all the accoutrements thereof Here the Map of Issachar is to be inserted THE TRIBE OF ISSACHAR CHAP. 7. § 1. ISsachar the fift Son which Iacob begat on Leah his wife had his posterity so increased in Egypt that from thence came forth of this Tribe fifty four thousand and four hundred All which falling in the wilderness for their frequent tempting of God their Sons grew Iudah and Dan excepted more numerous then any other Tribe insomuch that sixty four thousand and three hundred of twenty years old and upward appeared at their second solemn muster in the plaines of Moab Tolah the Judge was of this Tribe Baasha and Elah Kings of Israel fair Abishag the Shunamite wife or rather bed-fellow to aged David with another Lady if in beauty not in goodness her inferiour of the same city who so kindly entertained the Prophet Elisha § 2. Issachar had the sea on the west Iordan on the east Zebulun on the north Manasseh on the south A fair fruitfull countrey for as all Canaan is called the pleasant land so it is particularly observed of Issachars portion he saw the land that it was pleasant and bowed his shoulder to bear and became a servant unto tribute This Tribe better acquitted it self in the Subsidie then in the Muster-book they were the best Yeomantry of Israel towards the advancing of raâ—es and taxes They loved rest and a sedentary life Blame them not if sensible of the goodness of their soile they were loath to leave home because certain to remove to their loss and are compared to an Asse couching between two burthens § 3. Yet were not the men of Issachar of such servile natures but that they could be valiant when just occasion was offered them They were as willing and resolute as any other in helping Barak in the battell against Sisera Yet even then we may observe they marched not far from their own habitations the field being fought in the bowells of their countrey And well might his Asse finde both heels and teeth to kick and bite such as offer to take his Hay from his rack and Provender a way from his manger § 4. Nor let the resembling of Issachar to an Asse depress this Tribe too low in our estimation The strength of his back not stupidity of his head gave the occasion thereunto 〈◊〉 in one point of excellent skill this Tribe surpassed all others being men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to doe Now seeing time Ianus-like hath two faces one looking backward Chronology the other forward Prognostication the question will be in which of these lay the learning of the Issacharites A learned man conceives them onely like husbandmen weather-wise by their own rurall observations Sure more is imported in that expression and not onely Almanack but Chronicle-skill contained therein so that from deductions from former they could make directions for the future times Oh for a little of Issachars art in our age to make us understand these intricate and perplexed times and to teach us to know what we ought to doe to be safe with a good conscience So much of the persons in this Tribe come we now to survay the eminent places contained therein § 5. In the south confines thereof stood the regal city of Iezreel For though the valley of Iezreel belonged to Manasseh the city it self must pertain to Issachar otherwise the sixteen cities assigned him Iosh. 19. will fall short of that number In Iezreel Ahab had a Princely Palace haply the joynter-house of Iezebel besides a garden-house adjoining and here in the city lived Naboth as hard by lay his vineyard which Ahab could not obtain from him either by purchase or exchange § 6. Some will finde more equity in Ahabs offers then discretion in Naboths refusall But blame him not if loth to offend his God to accommodate his King Being no doubt in his conscience perswaded that his earthly possession was the earnest of his heavenly inheritance and that his parting with the former voided his title to the latter Besides his vineyard six hundred years since the partition of the land by lot had pertained to his ancestours probably moe ages then Ahabs new erected palace had belonged years to his family § 7. On the denyall Ahab falls sullen-sick No meat will down with him for lack of a salad because wanting Naboths vineyard for a garden of herbes till Iezebel undertook the business A letter is made up of her braines her husbands hand and seal to the Elders of Iezreel enjoining them to set up two men of Belial to accuse Naboth of blasphemy against God and the King She took it for granted plenty of such persons were to be found in so populous and vicious a place Oh the ancient order of Knight of the poste for money to depose any falshood Hereupon Naboth is stoned to death and his Sons also flatly contrary to Gods command which in this case had provided The children shall not be put to death for their fathers but every man shall be put to death for his own sin But this was donâ— to clear all claimes and prevent all pretenders of tiâ—les unto the inheritance § 8. Thuâ— Naboths vineyard was for Ahabs use turned into a garden of â—erbes Surely the bitter wormwood of Divine revenge grew plentiâ—â—lly thereâ—n Foâ— in the same place his Son Ioram and gran-child
was brought hither for the instant occasion and afterwards returned back unto Shiloh § 51. Dothan lay east of Shechem wherein the Prophet Elisha for some time made his abode Here he was complained of to the King of Syria for being the pick-lock of his Cabinet-councels and therefore an army was ordered to apprehend him But why so many to attach a single person and his servant Indeed no more then needed For Elisha alone was an army in himself being the horsemen of Israel and chariots thereof His servant seeing themselves surrounded cryes out till having his eyes opened he discovereth themselves guarded with a fiery army on the tops of the mountains Thus Angels are good mens Janizaries to protect them and those Natives of heaven grudge not to guard those who are onely free Denizens thereof The Syrians are smitten with blindness and they that came for the destruction are glad to follow the direction of Elisha Indeed to whom should blind men goe but to the Prophet the Seer to guide them He leads them for the present the wrong way to their intents and desires but in fine the right way to Gods glory and their safety in stead of Dothan bringing them to Samaria How easily are those misled who lack the use of eyes And alass whither will implicire faith and blind obedience steer the followers thereof Yet here all came off in a peaceable close so that their lives being saved sight restored bodies feasted and mindes better informed they returned to Damascus If I must be a captive may I be a prisoner to a pious Prophet so shall I be best used and my ransome easiliest procured § 52. This Dothan I take to be the very place where Ioseph found his brethren and there was put into the pit and sold to the Merchants For being sent by his Father to Shechem he was by a man directed to Dothan whither his brethren had removed their flocks and which probably was not far off but some few miles from the former place Wherefore when formerly in the description of Zebulun we placed Dothan in the northern parts of that Tribe threescore miles from Shechem therein we were carried away with the common current of other mens judgements and now have watched our advantage to swim back again and shew our private opinion in the position thereof And besides the aforesaid text setling Dothan near Shechem in this Tribe of Ephraim it is proportionable to divine providence that the place whereon Ioseph was betrayed and pit wherein he was put should in after ages fall to the possession of the sons of Ephraim descended from him § 53. But here a materiall Question will be started how Ioseph could properly say that he was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews when the Hebrews at that time had none inheritance in it no not so much as to set their foot on Say not that Ioseph being a child when taken away might be allowed to speak incongruously for we behold his words as uttered by him when a man And surely he who then could expound dreames could express himself in proper language Some conceive it was termed the Land of the Hebrews 1 From those few Hebrews the family of Iacob living there though not as inhabitants but onely as sojourners therein 2 It was the Land of the Hebrews by promise and in due time should be theirs by possession 3 The Land of the Hebrews though not in linage in language the Canaanites speaking the same tongue with Iacobs family 4 Some conceive this land anciently belonged to Heber as all Asia to the sons of Shem and that the Canaanites had before Abrahams time encroached on that Countrey To strengthen this last conjecture we must remember that Melchisedech King of Salem who generally is conceived to be Shem the ancestour of the Hebrews still retained his kingdome in the land of Canaan And it might be that the other Hebrews were ejected by the Canaanites If so the Israelites afterwards got the land under Ioshua by a double Right of Conquest and Recovery § 54. In this Tribe no doubt was the city Ephraim in a Countrey near to the wilderness where our Saviour that Sun of righteousness clouded himself for a time when the Iews took counsell to kill him Wonder not that we cannot find the exact situation of this place For Christ chose it on purpose for the privacy and obscurity thereof Thus though willing to lay down he was not willing to cast away his life unfit to be a Saviour of mankind if a destroyer of himself And though he knew well that all the weights of mans craft and cruelty could not make the clock of his time strike one minute before his hour was come yet he counted it his duty by Prudentiall means to endevour self-preservation § 55. Two eminent places remain which we have reserv'd for the last because of the uncertainty of their particular situation though both of them certainly in this Tribe One the hill of Phinehas which was given him in mount Ephraim Let no sacrilegious hands hasten hither with their Spades and Mattocks to pare and abate this hill as too large a possession for the high Priest seeing a greater had been too small for his deserts who stood up and executed judgement and so the plague ceased This Hill of Phinehas certainly was with in the circumference of some Leviticall city in this Tribe and we conjecturally have placed it within the circuit of Beth-horon the upper Here religious Eleazar the son of Aaron was buried in this hill belonging to his son Phinehas § 56. The other the Mount of Amaleck in the land of Ephraim But how came the Amalekites to have any thing in the heart of Ephraim whose own countrey lay two hundred miles more south-ward near the Red-sea And yet it is no wonder to finde theeves and robbers such were the Amalekites in any place who like the Devill their father goe to and fro in the earth walking up and down therein But we are confident this mountain was so called from some eminent thing here done or suffered by the Amalekites For we finde them joined with the Midianites in the days of Gedeon to destroy Israel and finde afterwards this Tribe of Ephraim very succesfull in doing execution on the remains of the Midianitish Army when defeated Why then might not this mountain of Amalek be so named from some Amalekites then slain in this place As Danes-end in the west-side of Hartford-shire took its name from a battell thereby wherein the Danes were overthrown In Pirathon a town on mount Amalek Abdon one of the peaceable Judges in Israel was interred § 57. I conceived all memorable places described in this Tribe but on review do discover a guilty town lurking besides Ephraim as if conscious of the treachery committed therein it endevoured to
out bad humours are nimble to supply the place seised on this City To recover the same Nadab the son of Ieroboam besieged it but was so far from taking the City that before it he lost his own life by the trechery of Baasha conspiring against him This siege continued more then twenty years no doubt with intervalls of cessation for here Omâ—i a great Commander was in service when by the souldiery voted King of Israel After which election he had not so much minde to take the City as a Crown vigorously to prosecute his new title and to suppress Tibâ—â— his Corrivall So much of the siege but nothing of the taking of Gibbethon so that it was still violently possessed by the Philistines § 17. The south-east part of this Tribe is still to survey Where the brook Zorek creeps faintly out of the Tribe of Iudah Not far from whose banks we light on Zorah and Eshtaol two twin-cities the one seldome mentioned in Scripture without the other Except one will call them man and wife because Machaneh-Dan betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol was joint issue of them both For when six hundred men out of these two cities marched towards the taking of Leshem here they met probably by mutuall agreement the most convenient place betwixt them behind that is west of Kiriath-jearim These did call this the first place of their station Machaneh-Dan and the last Dan both from Dan their Ancestour without naming any intermediate places As in all undertaking the first motion which founds and the last which finisheth it are most memorable It seems that afterwards a town was built in that place where their tents were pitched as a fortunate ground handselled with good success where Samson seems to have had his education § 18. But his birth at Zorah Where he was the son of a long barren mother a regiment in Scripture of such eminent Persons Isaac Iacob Samuel Samson Iohn Baptist c. as if besides higher causes nature had long thriftily reserved her utmost strength to expend it at last with more credit Here an Angel appearing to Manoahs wife both told her that she should be a mother and taught her how she should be a nurse with the ceremonious breeding of her son No Wine must come in no rasor on him Hercules the Pagan-Samson in some sort may seem by the luxury of Poets wits to ape this Iewish Hercules Neither of them otherwise mounted then on their legs otherwise defensively armed then with their skin and clothes A â—aw-bone a sword to the one a Club to the other Both of them very like for their valour and too like for their wantonness women being the destruction of them both § 19. But as Samsons lustre did rise so it did set in this Tribe Hereabouts born and buried in the grave of his Father Manoah betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol Reader let me invite thee with me solemnly to behold his sepulchre that therein both of us may bury all our vain thoughts of eternity here He that hereafter shall presume on his own might as immortall hath not strongeâ— brains but a weakâ—â— back then Samson § 20. To goe back to 〈◊〉 which now grows confident and bold with the accession of the brook 〈◊〉 so named as the vine in Hampshire from bunches of grapes there growing whereof one was the load for two men Surely Bacâ—husâ—id â—id not so drown Ceres in this Countrey nor did God the wise master of the feast entertain the Iews his daily guests with sucâ— liquid diet but that we may justly presume the land afforded bread and meat in a plentifull proportion to their wine But when the spies brought this home to the camp of the Israelites at Kadesh-barnea they likeâ— the wine but not the reckoning which was to be paid for it not so pleased with the bigness of the grapes as frighted at the bulkes of the Giants § 21. Nor is there any other considerable City remaining in this Tribe save Timâ—ah where Iudah sheared his sheep and at Pethah-enaim or the opening of the ways committed incest with Thamar his unknown daughter-in-law whom after wards he commanded to be brought forth and burnt Thus easier iâ—â—s for one to cause another to be consumed to ashes then to quench the least spark of lust in our own soul. Afterwards Samson going with his Parents to wooe his wife killed a young Lion in the vineyards of Timnah and the text saith he told not his Father or â—other what he had done Herein his silence no less commendable then his valour But indeed true prowess pleaseth it self more in doing then reporting its own atchievements Not long after the Bees made a hive of the Lions body And did not this land flow with honey when it was powred into a carkass for want of other vessells to receive it Honey which in fine proved gall to the Philistines For though they read his riddle by plowing with his heifer he payed his forfeit by killing their Countrey men Hence afterwards Samson to revenge the injuries offered unto him sent forth his Foxes which proved incendiaries of the corn and grain of the Philistines § 22. So much for the places of this Tribe of whose situation we have any certainty from Gods word or good Authors On the rest we hang out our conjecturall Flag Which whilest some censure for the Ensignes of our ignorance others I hope will approve as the colours of our modesty Especially having done our best endevour in ranking them and in default of demonstrations the most probability hath ever been accounted the next heir apparent to Truth The best is such places are onely of name not of note but once mentioned in Ioshua without any memorable actions done in them and so any mistake in the false posture will prove less dangerous Mountains of eminency this Tribe affords none save mount Seir puny hills far different from those in Edom and mount Baalah Both parcels of the south-west bounds of Iudah as originally they were assigned But seeing those limits were afterward discomposed by a new division and re-assignment of them to this Tribe the out-list of Iudah fell into the midst of Dans whole cloth those antiquated borders are 〈◊〉 the less remarkable And as for other mountains although this whole was mountainous yet there was a parity in her hills none exceeding high oneâ—â— such advantages of ground swelling above the plain seemed to be the full breasts and fair nipples of that land which flowed with milke and honey § 23. A fair reserve of land in not of the Tribe is still behind long expecting our company to come and describe it namely Philistia or a part of the land of the Philistines These were a warlike people none of the seven nations of the Canaanites which God drave out before Israel but descended from Miâ—zraim the son of Cham. In the race of military atchievements they started with the first
contented to join together so that not David but his necessities chose them to attend him who now in adversity discovered their impious dispositions But David to avoid this showre of stones ready to rain upon him run for shelter to God his Rock in whom he comforted himself Thus as it is always darkest just before the Day dawneth so God useth to visite his servants with greatest afflictions when he intendeth their speedy advancement For immediately after David not onely recovered his loss with advantage but also was proclaimed King of Israel though some war arose for a time between him and Ishbosheth § 6. But the most memorable places of this Tribe are seated on or near the brook of Bezor which arising in Iudah takes his course southwest not far from Ethar or Etan in the north-east corner of this Tribe In the rock of Etan near the City of that name Samson reposed himself whence the men of Iudah brought him down bound with two cords and delivered him to the Philistines but he presently found his spirits and in that place the jaw-bone of an Asse Bad weapons are better then none and it matters not what they be so that they be weilded by Samsons arme that guided by Gods hand This jaw-bone which used to feed on grass here eat up a thousand men Hereupon the place was called Rama-Lehi the lifting up of a jawbone § 7. Thus Samsons thirst of revenge was allayed with the bloud of the Philistines but the quenching of one thirst was the kindling of another How quickly can God tame fury into faintness with want of water In this straight he hath his recourse by prayer to God who cleaves a hollow place in the jaw Heaven can make dry bones live yea give life to others as here to Samson water presently flowing out thereof Let poets fondly brag of Hippocrene a fountain from a horses hoof most true it is that a spring did flow from the jawbone of an Asse Except any be pleased which indeed is most probable not to take Lehi in Hebrew for the materiall jaw-bone but for the Countrey thereabouts so newly named by Samson out of a hollow place of the earth whereof God produced this fountain § 8. Hence Bezor runneth by Ain the onely City belonging to the Levites in this Tribe Indeed both Simeon and Levi were cursed to be scattered in Israel and this City of the Levites scattered in Simeon may seem to be dispersed in a dispersion One City it seems was proportionable to this small and mangled Tribe Thus even the poorest must have some Preachers to instruct them and afford those Preachers maintenance for their instruction At Gerar the brook Bezor receives from the south a Tributary rivolet fetching its fountain out of the wilderness of Kadesh a place full of strong and stately trees But what saith the Psalmist The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness yea the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh As if this of all other was most sturdy and stubborn to withstand the summons of Gods voice but all in vain the least whisper of his mouth sending a palsey into the foundations thereof § 9. In the confines of this wilderness stood three remarkable Cities which lest the Reader should mistake we have marked with circles on the tops of them Not that any evill spirits moved therein seeing these were the places where David haunted whilest Saul persecuted him and to whose inhabitants he sent part of his spoile taken from the Amalekites for a present An act no less politick then just with the same both discharging the shot of his former entertainment and for the future obliging them by his bounty to be really sensible of his right of succession to the Crown The first of these Corashan elsewhere onely called Ashan The second South-Ramoth and Hormah the last and most observable because of three eminent places of that name in or near the Land of Canaan 1 Where the disobedient Israelites were destroyed by the Canaanites 2 Where the Canaanites were destroyed by the penitent Israelites 3 Where the Tribes of Iudah and Simeon associating together destroyed the Canaanites being properly in this Tribe We see that destruction so Hormah soundeth in Hebrew gives the name to them all And wonder not then that in a Countrey the Seat of war there were so many towns of this sad denomination but pray rather that God would seasonably settle a peace in England lest therein be found more Hormahs then were in Israel § 10. As for Gerar the City above mentioned it was anciently a kingdome of the Philistines whose Kings seem all to be called Abimelech's To one of these Abraham falsely affirmed that Sarah his wife was his sister and afterwards Isaac see the powerfull influence of Parents faults on their childrens practise to another of the same name offended in the like falshood This latter Abimelech looking out of his window beheld Isaac sporting with Rebekah gestures not unlawfull as done but as seen and from this familiarity greater his charity then Isaacs caution therein interpreted her to be not his harlot but his wife § 11. Afterwards Isaac outed of the City dwelt in the neighbouring valley of Gerar and whithersoever he removed Gods blessing and the Philistines envy followed him He grew fat in estate his enemies lean at the fight thereof which made them spitefully stop the wells which his Father had digged Happy that they could neither dam up nor drain dry the dew of Divine blessing from falling upon him which if possible to effect their malice would have attempted But Isaac afterwards sunk these wells the second time and he called their names after the names by which his Father had called them See his humility herein not varying from his Fathers will in an indifferent matter whereas many now adays count it the greatest honour of this age in all things to diffent from the former Besides these renewed wells Isaac had new ones of his own making as namely 1 Esech that is striâ—e so called because his heardmen and the Gerarites strove about it 2 Sitnah that is hatred so named on the like occassion 3 Rekoboth that is enlargement which he peaceably possessed God making room for him The two former pass for the emblems of our militant condition in this life the last typyifieth our happy estate in a better and more roomthy place In my Fathers house there be many mansions § 12. This vale of Gerar was the Granary of Canaan whither the Patriarchs retired in time of famine for plenty dwelt there when penury was elsewhere Nor will it be amiss to insert the testimony of a Modern traveller to shew how the Countrey hereabouts even at this day retains an indeleble character of its former fruitfulness We passed this day through the most pregnant and pleasant valley that ever eye beheld On the right hand
inhabitants thereof being trained by a dissembled flight of their foes into their own destruction Now although such ambushes are now adays unambushed by the generall suspicion all have of them yet in the infancy of the world when battells were meerly managed by main might and downright blowes men bringing all their forces above board such lying in wait was an unusuall stratagem and perchance may justly be referred to Ioshua as the first inventor thereof § 36. West of Ai betwixt Bethel and Ai was the mountain where Abraham and Lot long lived lovingly together until the contest betwixt their heardsmen when the land was grown too little for their substance Poverty preserveth amity when riches oft-times make rents among friends Hard by was the City and wilderness of Beth-aven which signifies the house of vanity Strange that any should impose on a place except in derision so ill and unlucky a name Yet hath not Solomon in effect set the same on the whole world Vanity of vanities all is vanity But Beth-aven seems emphatically so called for some eminent Idolatry committed therein Neer this place was the wood wherein when it rained honey from heaven the Israelites being in pursuit of the Philistines wanted hands to receive it having them bound up by Sauls adjuration not to eat before night I see neither piety nor policy but humour and headiness in Sauls resolution the way to encrease their stomach and not their valour Might not a cursory meal been allowed them in a running march a snatch and away Here Ionathans eyes were opened with tasting a little honey and presently his eyes were opened again in a sadder sense seeing himself liable to death for breaking his Fathers command Nor was it his own innocence and invincible ignorance of the law but the peoples interposing which preserved him alive Yet will not this one good act of popular violence make amends for those many mischiefs which their impetuous exorbitances in other cases have produced § 37. Still westward of Beth-aven stood Gibeon termed a royall City in Scripture that is a fair and princely place otherwise in all the transactions betwixt this City and the Israelites we meet with no King thereof which may almost perswade us to believe it a popular State The inhabitants thereof with clouted old shooes mouldy bread and a lie farther fetched then their journey pretending their dwellings at great distance deceived the congregation of Israel then camped at Gilgal For the smoke of those ovens wherein their bread was baked might almost be perceived from Gibeon to Gilgal which space Ioshua marched over with his foot-army in one night However hereby they saved their lives onely for their cheat were condemned to be Nethinims or Deodands that is people given to God to hew wood draw water and doe the drudgery of the Tabâ—rnacle and Temple a condition which they gladly accepted of so sweet is life in it self though sawced with servitude § 38. Afterwards Ioshua with a miraculous victory here conquered the five Kings of Canaan which assembled themselves to besiege Gibeon in revenge of their defection to the Israelites Never had battell more of God therein for he himself brought up or rather let down the train of Artillery killing the Canaanites with hail-stones from heaven as they fled in the going down to Bethoron unto Azekah Here Ioshua by his faithfull prayer stopt a Giant in his full career as he was running his race staying the Sun in Gibeon to attend his execution on his enemies This was as I may say the Barnady day of the whole world the very longest which that climate ever did or shal behold when time was delivered of twins two days joined together without any night interposed How the heavens this extraordinary accident notwithstanding were afterwards reconciled to their regular motions and how the expence of so much delay was repaired by future thrift I mean this staying of the Sun made up in the years account by his swifter moving afterwards I leave to be audited and cast up even by Astronomers Mean time the foresaid five Kings were first hid then stopt in the cave of Makkâ—dah till Ioshua commanded them to be brought forth and his souldiers to set their feet on their necks and David in his expression many years after reflecteth hereon Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies c. Then were those five Kings hanged by Makkedah a regall City of the Canaanites which at that time was taken and the King thereof destroyed by Ioshua § 39. To return to Gibeon it was afterwards one of the four Cities in this Tribe which were allotted to the Levites and yet we finde it the Theater chiefly of martial atchievements for by the great pool in Gibeon in Helkath-hazzurim or thâ— field of strong men was Abner with the host of Israel worsted by Ioab Generall for David when Asahel like a wild Roe wild for his rashness Roe for his swiftness would not be perswaded from pursuing of Abner untill nigh the hill Amnah which lieth before Giah he taught Asahel the great difference between a nimble leg a and vigorous arme smiting him with his spear under the fifth rib § 40. Under the same rib at the great stone which is in Gibeon Ioab jealous of Amasa his cousin-german Ambition owns no alliance and is onely of kin to it self basâ—ly murdered him in this manner Ioab had a sword hanging on his loines and as he went it used to fall out as if it sought for another sheath bâ—sides what it had already Surely he had put his sword in this careless posture thus to play at in and out to cover his intended murder under some pretence of casualty as if in his embraces his weapon had hurt Amasa by unhappy accident Vain excuse for certainly his sword could not of its own accord have gone so quickly and so deeply to Amasa's fifth rib had not Ioab's steddy aime both dispatched it on that errand and directed it to that place Amasa thus slain all the people passing by make an halt at his corps and every one that came by him stood still untill his body was removed Where amongst so many gazing on his corps it is hard if the active thoughts of some did not light on this observation of divine justice that he now was treacherously slain who so lately had been the Generall to a Traitor § 41. In the beginning of the reign of King Solomon Gibeon was a publick place of divine worship where part of the Tabernacle resided Here two things are carefully to be observed 1 The Arke it self This being taken out of the Tabernacle at Shiloh by Hophni and Phinehas never returned thither again But from the land of the Philistines was brought back first to Bethshemesh thence to Kiriath-jearim thence to the house of Obed-Edom and at last fixed and setled
of the people when conscious of their sins and sensible of Gods anger they drew water that is plentifully powred forth tears before the Lord. Say not that their weeping was a labour in vain and such drawing of water like the bottomless buckets of the Belides never to be filled ineffectuall for the expiation of sin because no sorrow for the same is sufficient seeing not the intrinsecall worth of their tears but Gods gracious appretiation of the sincerity thereof gave the value to their weeping Afterwards at Mizpah Saul out of modesty or policy was hid among the stuffe when found there fetched thence and presented to the people for their king appearing so proper a person that nature might seem to design him for supremacy and mark him out to be the Overseer of Israel who was higher then any of the people from the shoulders and upwards § 48. In the days of King Baasa Asa King of Iudah frighted with fear made a pit in Mizpah for his retreating place No doubt though the entrance and orifice thereof did promise no more then a plain pit yet it was contrived into rooms and fortified with substructions therein fit for the receipt of a Prince Wonder not that he would prefer to trust his person here rather then within the walls of his royall City Ierusalem for surely this was not provided for a place of long residence but for present privacy and sudden safety if extremity required it After the Babylonish captivity when Gedaliah was made governour of those poor Iews which were left to till the land he made Mizpah the seat of his short government Thus have I often seen fishermen when they have caught store of fish cast the young fry worth neither the keeping nor killing into the river again to be breeders in which consideration the King of Babylon preserved these poor Iews from destruction Slight not Gedaliahs place as disgracefull to be Prince of beggers for they were in a thriving way and probable to improve themselves to a considerable condition had not Ismael an unhappy name to persecute Gods children a Prince of the bloud killed him with his followers casting them into the midst of the pit that Asa made now employed to bury the dead but first intended to preserve the living In the days of the Maccabees whilest Ierusalem was possessed and profaned by the heathens they repaired to Mizpah as a place formerly fortunate for that purpose to fast pray and beg Gods blessing on their undertakings against their enemies § 49. South of Mizpah lay the place called Eben-ezer that is the stone of help so named by way of Prolepsis in Scripture 1 Sam. 4. 1. for otherwise for the present this place was no help but an hindrance to the Israelites who here were twice beaten in battell by the Philistines At the second time they brought their Reserve I mean the Ark into the field carnally conceited that victory would fly along with them on the wings of the Cherubims over the Mercyâ—seat But the sanctity of the Ark did not so much invite as the profaneness of the managers Hophni and Phinehas did repell Gods gracious presence from going along therewith insomuch as the Ark it self was taken captive and carried into the land of the Philistines Some years after the Philistines again charge the Israelites in the same place presuming on their former victories that in so fortunate a place they might prescribe for conquest but God turned the tide of their success At the importunate suit of Samuel whose prayers were more potent then formerly the presence of the Ark to obtain victory the Philistines were routed and smitten untill they came under Bethcar Whereupon Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen and called it Eben-ezer the stone of help to perpetuate so memorable a conquest § 50. Hard by is Beeroth once a City of the Gibeonites with Chephirah not far off afterwards the birth-place of Baanah and Rechab the murderers of Ishbosheth Gittaim whither those of Beeroth fled for fear of the Philistines saith Tremellius when Saul was slain and west thereof Bozer and Seneh two famous rocks which Ionathan and his armour-bearer clambred up upon their hands and feet They found it more hard to come at then to conquer their enemies yet wheÌ„ on the top of the rock they were but at the bottome and beginning of their work They lay about them and kill many in a little space so that they climbed not up the hill so slowly but their enemies more swiftly ran down the same Yet such as will justifie Ionathans act herein for pious and prudent must retrait to Divine inspiration and plead that his undertaking as his success was extraordinary otherwise his tempting of God had been higher then the rock he climbed up to adventure himself on such visible disadvantages § 51. Anathoth remains lying hence south-east a city of the Levites yea of the Priests yea of the High-priests as a country-house or retiring place for them out of the populous city of Ierusalem Abiathar being deprived of the priest-hood for practising with Ioab without the privity of David to promote Adonijah to the Crown was sent hither by Solomon and confined to live privately on his own lands Hence plainly appears the power of the Kings of Israel over the Priests which on their misdemeanour in civill matters were subject to secular punishment But Ieremy the Prophet was the honour of Anathoth that man of mourning famous for his book De Tristibus or most poeticall Lamentations though therein not bemoaning his own but the publick calamities born in this city As here he drew his first so he was likely to have drawn his last breath by the conspiracy of the people against him had not God frustrated their wicked designe Herein the observation of our Saviour was verified A Prophet is not without honour save in his own countrey and his own house Afterwards Ieremy at Anathoth bought the ground of his unclâ— Hanameel with all the formalities of bargain and sale most solâ—mnly passed betwixt them Is a Prophet amongst the purchasers commonly they are as clear from money as the Apostles were but this was râ—ally yet mystically done to foreâ—ell the future felicity of Israel after the captivity of Babylon that men should have setled estates with good title to and tâ—nure of their land therein § 52. Michmash is still behinde which we name last because not entirely in this Tribe but in the confines of Benjamin and Ephraim It lay cast from Beth-aven often mentioned in Scripture as the Rendesvouz sometimes of the Israelites in the reign of Saul and sometimes of the Philistines The latter marched hence three severall ways on design to extirpate all the smiths in Israel Mark their motions 1 One party went the way that leadeth to Ophrah to the land of Shual
For as the elbows of garments ought to be made the strongest as most subject to wearing out so walls being the cloaths of Cities without which they are naked wise Uzziah adjudged it necessary that this Corner-gate and wall bending thereabout should have most cost and care expended in the fortification thereof § 11. No mention of the repairing of this gate in Nehemiah which prompteth us with these conjectures 1 Either that it was then dammed up Ierusalem after the captivity being large in extent and thin in people many uninhabited places being left therein probably in policy they contracted the number of their gates the multiplying whereof did require more money and men to guard them Or rather 2 Being so lately built by Uzziah it might notneed much mending as left standing and undemolished by the Babylonians For in the sacking of a City it often fareth with the gates as with the men thereof it is hard if some doe not escape and survive the destruction Yea sometimes conquerours are pleased to spare some parcell of walls out of pity not to the place but to themselves finding the structure thereof of so firme constitution that it requires more pains then it will return profit in the levelling thereof § 12. Next comes the gate of Ephraim so called not because standing in but opening towards the Tribe of Ephraim I deny not but that some Ephraimites after their return from captivity dwelt in Ierusalem from whose habitations hard by this gate might in probability borrow his name but prefer the former notation as most naturall For usuall it is both for streets and gates to take their denomination from such places though at great distance to which they lead Witness Kentish-street in South-wark for that it is the way saith my authour leading into that County the street it self otherwise being in Surrey and witness Winchester-gate in Sarisbury so named because through it travellers pass to Winchester a City twenty miles off and an instance best known to Scholars Trumpington-street in Cambridge so called from a village some two miles thence This gate was probably destroyed when Ioash King of Israel entring Ierusalem brake down four hundred cubits of the wall from the gate of Ephraim to the Coâ—â—er-gate where I conceive the particle from is to be taken inclusively so that both the gates were cast into that account the rather because Pride and Cruelty always when they make measure give in the advantage § 13. Next the Old-gate so called as Bonsrerius will have it because extant here ever since Melchisedec was the founder thereof If so it was an Old-old-gate indeed But as men having out lived all Registers account themselves so gates having outlasted all memories are accounted by others more ancient then truely they are However no wonder if in Nehemiahs time the decays of so old a fabrick called to the charity of Iehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodajah jointly to repair them § 14. Next the Fish-gate By mistake generally placed in the west wal meerly because Ioppa on the Mediterranean sea whence they fancy all fish as if no moe ways to the water then one must come to Ierusalem lay on the west thereof Whereas in Scripture we finde no express of fish for mans eating but one which eat a man Ionab his Whale mentioned from thatplace whilst whole sholes were caught in the Sea of Galilee or lake of Tiberias lying north of Ierusalem Indeed Tyre lying almost full north from this City was the staple place which furnished it with fish as appears in Nehemiah which through this gate was brought to Ierusalem Surely the provisions of any populous place in long time will tire if onely going on feet or flying on wings and not also swimming with fins having fish as well as flesh and fowl for their repast as here in Ierusalem And although no sacrifices of fish were by God appointed to be offered unto him yet hence the less wholesomeness or cleanness of them cannot justly be inferred because they were improper for offerings living in an element wherein men had no conversation This gate was repaired by the sons of Hassenaah § 15. The gate of Benjamin doth onely remain he the least in his fathers family this the last amongst the gates of Ierusalem standing in the north east part thereof Indeed we finde two gates of Benjamin in Ierusalem two of the same name in one City no wonder the double New-gate in London the later new made postern into Moor-fields may be an instance thereof one called the high-gate of Benjamin where Pashur put the Prophet Ieremy in the stocks which was by the house of the Lord and therefore probably a gate of the Temple The other was an out-gate of the City leading into the land of Benjamin whither Ieremy was going to separate himself when the Captain of the guard in this gate seised him in his passage falsly accused him and occasioned his imprisonment § 16. Here I cannot but wonder at many learned men who make this Gate of Benjamin to be the same with the Corner-gate I deny not but that in many Cities it is usuall for one and the same gate to have severall names as I have learnt from my industrious and judicious friend in his description of Canterbury how Burgate and Saint Michaels-gate are the same and so Newin-gate and Saint Georges-gate in that ancient City But the fancy of the foresaid authors is directly oppossite to the words of the Prophet foretelling that Ierusalem should be inhabited from Benjamin gate unto the place of the first gate unto the corner-gate c. where we may behold these two gates Benjamin and the Corner-gate set at terms at great distance and a considerable space interposed This gate was not repaired in Nehemiahs time for the reasons formerly alledged § 17. These are all the gates of Ierusalem whereof express mention in Scripture Some fancy another called the Needles-eye so low and little onely men might enter thereat These conceive our Saviours expression It is easier for a Camel to goe through the eye of a needle then for a rich man trusting in his riches to enter into the kingdome of God intended this small postern where the bunch on the Camels back was the Porter to shut it against him for entering in thereat But we listen hereunto as to a fable and account the threading of Saint Wilfrides needle as a conceit though much later and of a different nature to have as much gravity and truth therein CHAP. IV. Of the Towers on or about Ierusalem § 1. BEsides these gates Ierusalem was beautified and fortified with many towers proportionably interplaced though we finde but few of them recorded by name Amongst these we meet with the tower of Meah that is the hundred tower so called either because so many cubits high or so many distanced
from some other tower or because a just Century of towers was at it begun or finished It was built after the captivity by Eliashib and his brethren the Priests § 2. The Tower of furnaces standing in the West north of the Valley gate jointly repaired by Malchiah and Hashub So called thinks Adrichomius from fire kept there as a signall to seafaring men But oh woefull those Mariners who in a dark night had no better direction then what they received thence above forty miles from the sea and many mountains interposed rather it might serve for some Beacon or land-mark or might take its name from some fire in the corpse du gard constantly preserved therein § 3. The tower of Hananeel in the east part So called no doubt from the first builder thereof It was in Nehemiahs time repaired by Eliashib the high Priest and his brethren § 4. The Tower that lyeth out from the Kings high house nigh unto which Palal the son of Uzai repaired in Nehemiahs time Not that the prominency of this extravagant Tower hindred the uniformity of the walls but the fencing of the City required such situation thereof § 5. The Great tower that lyeth out different from the former else the builders of the wall in Nehemiahs time made no progress in the work in the east of the City over against which the Tekoites did repair § 6. The Tower of David furnished with an armory at the southwest turning of the wall over against which Ezer the son of Ioshua repaired Christ compareth the neck of his spouse to this Tower for the whiteness and proportionable length thereof § 7. But among all these most remarkable was the Tower of Siloe near unto the water of Siloe whence it fetcht its name on the west side of the City which killed eighteen men with the fall thereof Yet the stones of this tower fell not more heavy on their bodies then the censure of uncharitable Iews did on their memories condemning them for the greatest sinners in all Ierusalem as whose offences were mounted so high that nothing less or lower then the fall of a tower could depress their Persons and impieties to the pit of perdition False position to maintain that those have wrought the most sin who are brought to most shame and confuted by our Saviour assuring the Iews if they did not repent they should likewise perish likewise certitudine non similitudine poenae Yea in a mysticall meaning those incredulous Iews who rejected our Saviour did not onely fall on a stone and so were broken but also the stone fell on them by reason of their infidelity and ground them to powder § 8. We will conclude with the Tower of Ophel so named from darkness as some would have it because always cloudy and misty at the high top thereof But though the Etymology of Ophel be obscure the situation and use thereof is clear in Scripture over against the Water-gate where the Nethinims had their habitation Understand not all of them at once but so many of their society as for the time being were in ordinary attendance about the Temple whilest the rest lived in other Cities assigned unto them § 9. These Nethinims were descended from those Gibeonites who for their fallacy put on Ioshua and the people of Israel were condemned to the drudgery of Gods service Thus the fathers lying tongues cost their children many aking armes and weary backs with hewing of wood and drawing of water Saul was a great persecutour David a grand preserver of them who first made them a Corporation He and his Princes appointing them for the service of the Levites when first we finde them called Nethinims to bury the odious name of Gibeonites that is persons given to to pious uses These for many generations approving their industry in Gods service washed out the staines of their Fathers falshood with the sweat of their fidelity and in proces of time though Hivites by extraction attained to some honour above the natives of Israel For whereas the sons of Barzillai were put by their places in the Priesthood because they could not clear their pedegree the Nethinims continued in their place whose genealogies were exactly derived Yea whereas other Israelites were subject to heavy taxes after their captivity the Nethinims were exempted from all tribute pity their purses and persons should both bear burdens by the bounty of the Kings of Persia. Whose liberality though a Pagan to Gods worship like the precious ointment on Aâ—rons head which ran down to his beard even to the skirts of his garment flowed from the Priests and Levites by the singers and porters to the Netâ—inims the very verge and utmost hem of Temple officers by his especiall grace taking order that it should not be lawfull to impose toll tribute or custome upon them § 10. Many moe towers not mentioned in Scripture were about Ierusalem as the Tower of women remarkablâ— in Iosephus But why iâ— was so called what have women to doe with war I will give him a satisfactory answer who first resolves me why the Roman Fortification of twelve acres of ground neer Dorchester is called Maidens-castle But we refer all the towers of Iosephus his reporting not appearing in Scripture to our particular Map of Ierusalem as by him described Come we now to make some observations on such as were the builders of the City walls in the days of Nehemiah because it was built on the same Area or floor with that in Solomons time and we meet with many remarkables in the history thereof CHAP. V. Observations on the repairers of the walls of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah § 1. MInisters ought to leade the Van and be the first and forwardest in all pious projects Behold here Eliashib the high Priest with the Priests his brethren begin the work and built the Sheep-gate A gate ministeriall unto the Temple through which the sheep were brought intended for sacrifices and therefore as it was fit it should have the preheminence to be first repaired so the Priests were the most proper persons to be imployed therein Of this gate it is solely and singularly said that they sanctified it which dedication speaks it set apart to holy service as introductory of the offerings into the house of God § 2. Great is the influence of the Pastours example on the peoples practise Many hands make light work behold a troop of builders cometh of all Professions private persons publick officers whole families of all jointly Levites Merchants Gold-smiths Apothecaries c. of all Places from Iericho Tekoa Gibeon Mizpah Zanoah c. Sexes both men and women Next repaired Shallion the son of Halloesh the ruler of the half of Ierusalem he and his daughters What had their tender hands any skill to carve stones or weak shoulders any
and gardens about it wild beasts of all kinds if humane Authors may be beleeved had their habitation Here the bellowing Harts are said to harbour the throating Bucks to lodge the belling Roes to bed the beating Hares to forme the tapping Conies to sit and the barking Foxes to kennell Strange musick to be heard in the midst of a populous place and very pleasant that such a woody retiredness should be afforded in the heart of a City Yet Solomons minde when mounted on these seeming felicities was as far from reaching true contentment as the tired traveller when on the top of the next hill will be from touching the skies which whilest he was in the valley seemed contiguous thereunto § 2. The length of this house was an hundred breadth fifty height thirty cubits whereby it appears both longer and broader then the Temple it self And no wonder for who will deny that White-Hall stands on more ground then Westminster-Abby-Church Besides in measuring the Temple onely the covered part thereof is reckoned on without the Courts wherein the greatest capacity thereof did consist whereas no doubt Courts and all are taken in to make up the aforesaid dimensions in Solomons house But grant the Kings Palace outspread the Temple in greatness the Temple out-topped it in height whose towred porches ascended an hundred and twenty cubites In this house Solomons golden shields and targets wer kept till carried away by Shishak King of Egypt § 3. Besides this Solomon had another house in Ierusalem which was thirteen years in building and a third which he made for his wife the daughter of Pharaoh Say not they needed two houses which had two Religions for we finde not that she ever seduced Solomon to idolatry nor are the Egyptian Idols reckoned up among those severall superstitions which his second brood of wives brought into Ierusalem Enough to perswade some that this match was made by dispensation if not direction of God himself typifying the calling of the Gentiles and that Pharaohs daughter afterwards became a convert following the Psalmists counsell Forget also thine own people and thy fathers house Hereabouts also was the Golden throne of Solomon to which those golden Lions gave a stately ascent It was the prayer of loyall Benaiah make the throne of Solomon greater then the throne of my Lord King David which accordingly came to pass whether taken for this his materiall throne or for the largeness and fulness of his royall authority § 4. Pass we by the Castle of Antiochus built by him as a bridle to the City as also the Palace of the Maccabees wherein for many yeaâ—s they made their residence first built by Simon west of the Temple In Christs time Herod the great had in Ierusalem a most magnificent house wherein his grandchild Herod Antipas Tetrarch of Galilee kept his passeover when Pilate sent Christ unto him to be examined by him Right glad was Herod of this occasion because though formerly much conversing with Iohn the Baptist yet Iohn did no miracle which he now in vain hoped to behold from our Saviour For he that would not work a miracle at his mothers motion would not doe it for his persecutors pleasure Let Herod take this for a sign that Christ was the Son of God because he would shew no sign for the will of man However the silent shew of our Saviour wrought a reconciliation betwixt him and Pilate which before were at enmity betwixt themselves But alass the innocent Lambe is not long liv'd when thus both Wolfe and Fox are agreed against him § 5. Appendant to this Palace was the prison wherein Peter was put and being to dye the next day was found in a dead sleep the night before I question whether Herod who condemned him slept half so soundly He must be smote before he could be waked and his shackles fell off easier then his sleep The Rhemish note tells us that the chains wherewith he was bound are still preserved at Rome in the Church of Petri ad vincula But if those there be the true chains I dare boldly say that others of richer metall and finer making more worth and less weight are daily worn by Peters pretended successour § 6. Pilates Palace must not be forgotten wherein our Saviour was accused by the Iews near whereunto was the Judgement-hall called Gabbatha or the Pavement But how even or smooth soever the stones were laid in the floor thereof most rough harsh and unequall justice was administred in this place when our Saviour therein was condemned This was the place into which the high-Priests prepared for the Passeover would not enter for fear of pollution O my soul enter not into their secrets whose feâ—â— are swift to shed bloud but legs lame to lift themselves over the threshold of a judgement-hall for fear of defilement Now all these Princely Palaces were not extant in this City at the same time but successively and therefore as Poets when they present Persons who lived in severall ages on the same stage lay their scene in the Elysian fields so to put these Palaces together the reader must suppose their dust and ruines did all meet on the floor of this City though made in our map in a flourishing estate the better to adorn our description of Ierusalem CHAP. X. Of the Colledges in Jerusalem § 1. PAss we now from the Court to the Innes-of-Court namely such places wherein youth had liberall education The Iews tell us of four hundred and fourscore Synagogues at Ierusalem for this purpose We will insist onely on such as we finde named in Scripture and begin with Huldah's colledge wherein that Prophetess lived in the days of Iosiah Perchance a female foundation of women alone and she the Presidentress thereof though surely not bound with any monasticall vow of virginity because there also styled the wife of Shallum § 2. Next in the days of the Maccabees we take notice of the Grecian Colledge or Gymnasium erected by Iason the high Priest wherein the Jewish youth were taught to wrestle ride horses and other Grecian accomplishments Indeed archery was an ancient Jewish exercise David taught the children of Israel the use of the how as it is written in the book of Iasher but these were pure heathenish imployments Here also they were taught to wear a garment called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some translate Hats others buskins though head and feet are far asunder which whether it were the generall garbe of the Grecians or onely an Academicall habit to distinguish the Students from common Citizens let others enquire But the worst of all was here they were taught not onely uncircumcision of omission neglecting the observing thereof on infants but also the uncircumcision of commission practising to make themselves uncircumcised studiously deleting the character of that Sacrament out of their
eyes Of these buildings in Libanus that tower which looks towards Damascus was the principal to which the Nose of the Spouse in the Canticles is compared for the whiteness uniformity and proportionable largeness thereof whereby the generousness and animosity of the Church is intimated The Philosopher telleth us that a tower-fashioned Nose round and blunt at the top is a signe of magnanimity § 12. From this tower we may take the Prospect of all the adjacent countrey wherein we take no notice of the division of Syria according to humane writers but confine our selves to Scripture expressions 1 Rehob 2 Aram or Maachah 3 Syria of Damascus 4 Zobah 5 The land of Hamah 6 Syrophoenicia 7 Coelosyria 8 Phoenicia Aram Rehob or Beth-Rehoh so called from a principall City therein lay south east of mount Libanus Herein was Dan the place where Abraham overtook the four Kings who after many victories had took Lot and his wife captives By Dan we understand not the city of Dan formerly Laish which some hundreds of years after was so named though Levi is said vertually to pay tithes in the loines of Abraham Dan cannot be conceived formally to name cities being as yet in the body of his great Grandfather but the eastermost fountain of Iordan anciently called Dan. And surely springs the issue of nature are seniours to all cities the result of Art Here Abraham overtook them and with three hnndred and odde men conqueredand pursued them being numerous and flushed with former victorys to Hobah which is on the left side of Damascus Thus that army which is but a handfull of men managed by Gods hand will work wonders Hereby Lot recovered his liberty the King of Sodome his subjects they their goods the Auxiliaries of Aner Eshcol and Mamre received their pay out of the spoile Melchisedec had the tithes Abraham the honour and God the glory of the victory § 13. Aram-Maachah lay southeast of Aram-beth-Rehoh the King thereof appeared very active though bringing into the field but a thousand men in the battell against King David It seems Ioab the politick Generall reputed these Syrians valiant who took the choicest men of Israel under his own conduct to oppose them consigning the refuse under Abishai against the Ammnoites presuming they would fly of course if the other were worsted as indeed it came to pass Appendants to this Aram-Maachah were 1 Geshur hereof Talmai the King and Maachah his daughter was maried to David and mother to Absalom No wonder then if the child proved a cross to his Father begotten on a heathen woman contrary to Gods command And here Absalom changing his climate not conditions staid three years clouded with his Fathers displeasure for murdering his brother Amnon 2 Ishtoh which contributed twelve thousand men in the generall engagement of the Syrians against King David 3 The land of Tob that is the good-land or Goth-land if you please so called from the goodness thereof Though all the good we know of it is this that it afforded a safe refuge to Iephthah when persecuted by his brethren who hence was solemnely fetched to be Judge of Israel Adrichomius and other Authours here make the Land of Uz where Iob dwelt I cannot blame any place to be desirous of so pious a man to be an inhabitant therein But both Iobs friends and foes forbid the situation of the land of Uz here abouts His foes the Sabeans his friends Eliphaz the Temanite c. who are known to live far south of this place of whom properly in the description of Edom. 14. Aram of Damascus succeeds lying northeast of Aram-Maachah watered with the rivers of Abanah and Pharphar This Abanah in humane writers is called Chrysoroas or golden-streame from the yellowness of his banks and water Otherwise as little gold is to be found in his chanell as at the golden grove in Caermarthen-shire or at the golden-vale in Herefordshire However Abanah and Pharphar were highly beholden to Naaman who preferred them before all the waters of Israel as possibly they might equall yea exceed them in some outward respects But what if the water in the Cistern chance to be clearer then that in the Font Know it is divine institution which puts the difference betwixt them leaving the one a plain Element and making the other a soveraigne Sacrament This river Chrysoroas running northward is afterwards swallowed up in the sandy ground and there is the visible end thereof So that Solomons rule All rivers run into the Sea must admit of an exception or exposition namely either openly or secretly as no doubt this river hath an underground recourse to the Ocean § 15. Coming near to Damascus we finde the place where Saint Paul was cast down to the ground as he went with a Commission from the high Priest to persecute the Saints of Damascus Now seeing Damascus was not in Iudea if any demand why Paul should straggle so far from his own Countrey hear his own answer Being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even unto strange cities and it is reason enough for the actions of blind zeale that they are the actions of blind zeale Besides it seems the high Priests at Ierusalem had a kind of Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction over the Iews in all places Some seeming contradiction but on serious thoughts easily reconciled appears in the history of Saint Pauls travells Acts 9.7 The men also which journeyed with him stood amazed hearing a voice but seeing no man Acts 22.9 Moreover they that were with me saw indeed a light and were afraid but heard not the voice of him that spakâ— unto me For two things considerable in this viâ—ion 1 The generals thereof communicated to his fellow-travellers that they might attest the truth of this miraculous accident No seeming fancy but really acted Hereupon they heard confusedly that there was a sound but heard not distinctly what that sound was and were admitted to see a light but did not discover the person of Iesus appearing 2 The particulars thereof imparted to Paul alone as calculated onely for his conversion whose eares and eyes plainly heard and saw the voice and apparition Hence Saint Paul was conducted to the city of Damascus whither we follow after him § 16. Damascus is by some conceived to have been founded by Eliezer Abrahams Steward onely because he is styled Eliezer of Damascus But if so then signall was the piety of Eliezer who preferred rather to live a servant in Abrahams good family then to rule as a Lord in a great city of his own building Various was the success and fortune of Damascus under severall Lords and we will onely instance in such as are mentioned in Scripture 1 It was inhabited by the Syrians and accounted the Metropolis of the Countrey 2 It was probably conquered by David when he put garisons into Aram of Damascus 3 In the days
of others waxed cold could warm himself with his own well gotten goods But afterwards Barnabas that Son of consolation comforting the bowels of the Saints as well by his works as words deeds as doctrine sold his possessions and tendered the price thereof at the feet of the Apostles Such practises were sincerely performed in the primitivetimes superstitiously imitated with opinion of merit in after ages and scornfully derided by too many in our days so far from parting with the propriety that they will not appropriate a part of their goods to good uses We finde Saint Paul preaching in two cities in Cyprus Salamis where there was a Synagogue of the Iews and Paphos where Venus was worshipped thence surnamed Paphia and where Elymas the sorcerer was struck blind for opposing Saint Paul We cannot recover Paphos proportionably into this Map behold it therefore peeping in but excommuned the lines thereof § 34. But to return to the Continent where we fall on Syrophoenicia whose mixt name speakes its middle situation betwixt Syria and Phenice so that if those two countrys should fall out no fitter umpire to arbitrate their difference then Syrophoeniâ—ia participating of and therefore presumed impartiall to both Of this Countrey was that bold begger who would have no saying nay but importunate in the behalf of her daughter no whit discouraged with the disadvantage of her person disaffection of the disciples miserable mediatours interceding for her repulse deep silence and afterwards disdainful denial of Christ himself would not desist as if her zeal was heated with the Antiperistasis of the cold comfort she received till the violence of her faith had wrested a grant from our Saviour The bounds of Syrophoenicia are variously assigned the principall cities whereof are Laodicea different from that to which Saint Iohn wrote and whose lukewarm temper made health it self sick thereof § 35. Next we finde on the sea the city of Gebalâ— in Ptolemy and Strabo Gabala and the Inhabitants therein and thereabouts termed Giblites in Scripture These led the Van in the grand conspiracy against Israel Gebal and Ammon and Amalek the Philistims with the inhabitants of Tyre Asher also c. But Solomon taught their hands another lesson not to fight against Gods people but to help to finish his Temple At the Coronation of Tyre the Queen-Mart of the world so largely described by Ezekiel where all neighbouring Cities as in Grand-Sergeantry held their places by some speciall attendance about her the Ancients of Gebal and the wisemen thereof were her calkers to stop the leakes and chinks in her ships so cunning were the Giblites in that imployment Yet all their curiosity in this kind could not keep out the deluge of divine anger from entring their own City which at this day hath drowned Gebal in utter destruction § 36. More south the river Eleutherus arising out of Libanus shaped his course to the sea so being the northern boundary of Phoenicia In this river saith reverend Beza was the Eunuch baptized by Philip therein making an unexcusable mistake For except the Eunuch in his travell went like the Sun on Abaz his dial backwards it was impossible for him going to Gaza and so into Aethiopia his own countrey once to come near this river lying far north quite the contrary way Had Beza in stead of the Eunuch baptized placed the Emperour Barbarossa drowned here it had born better proportion to truth However from this learned mans mistake I collect comfortable confidence of pardon for my faults committed in this our description For seeing so strong legs are prone to stumble surely the falls of my feeble feet will be freely forgiven me by the charitable Reader § 37. Near the running of Eleutherus into the midland sea stood Antaradus so called because opposite to Aradus Arvad in Scripture a city of remarkable antiquity situation and subsistence Well doth Strabo call this an ancient place seeing it retained its name more then two thousand years from Arvad the ninth son of Canaan even till after the time of our Saviour The city is seated in an Island seven furlongs in compass and twenty distant from the Continent being all a main rock industry and ingenuity will make wealth grow on a bare stone watered in peace from the main land in war with an engine consult with our Author for the forme thereof which limbeck-like extracted sweet water out of the brackish Ocean The citizens of this place served Tyre in a double office by land as souldiers The men of Arvad with thine army were upon the walls round about by water as failers The inhabitants of Arvad were thy mariners which sufficiently speaks their dexterity in either Element § 38. Next the men of Arvad the Prophet mentioneth the Gammadims the joint naming them probably insinuates the vicinity of their habitation which were in the Tower of Tyre as a garison to defend them By Gammadims some understand Pygmies of a Cubit-high equall to the standard of Ehuds dagger because Gamad signifies a cubit in the Hebrew tongue But how ill doth this measure agree with martiall men except any will say that as the Iebusites in a proud confidence of the naturall strength of mount Sion placed the lame and blind to man the same so the Tyrians presumed that dwarfes were tall enough to make good their giant fortifications More likely is the conjecture of Tremellius that the Gammadims were a people in Phoenicia inhabiting a part thereof which ran out bowed and bended into the sea And we know that Ancona in Italy and Elbow-lane in London receive names from the same fashion And seeing Cornish-men are so called from the forme of their Countrey dwelling in a land which by degrees is contracted or narrowed into the likeness of an horn why not Gammadims Cubit-men from the similitude of their countrey in the situation thereof Here to fortifie his conjecture Tremellius produceth a place in Pliny of Gamala a city in Phoenicia since swallowed up where he conceiveth the L. to be changed into the D. that the Gammadims were inhabitants thereof However for quietness sake may the Reader be contented to suffer them to remain there in our Map if not as dwellers onely as sojourners untill such time as learned men shall provide a more proper place for them § 39. And now on a suddain we are fallen unawares against our propounded order on Phoenicia of the name and nature of which countrey formerly in the Tribe of Asher The chief havens therein were Tripolis so called say some because it hath been thrice build by others because three Cities Tyre Sidon and Aradus concurred to the building thereof Next is the promontory called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gods face which no whit afrighted the Pirates and sea-robbers who had a Castle hard by called Castellum praedonum from their mischievous cruelty Botrus succeeds whose name
signifieth a bunch of grapes either from plenty of wine growing there or because the houses in this compacted city were built in a cluster though now become so thin scarce any two of them stand together Byblus the birth-place of Philo commonly surnamed Byblius Barutis anciently a good haven now decayed Adonius so called from the minion of Venus worshipped hereabouts and Licus are the chief rivers in this countrey having many other smaller brooks and Climax the mountain of most note whose figure like that figure in Rhetorick ascends like a staire-case by degrees §40 Coelosyria is onely behind or hollow Syria so called because lying in a concavity betwixt the mountains of Libanus and Antilibanus Though Ptolemy and others stretch the name thereof in a large acception even as far as Arabia Full it was of fair cities but none we meet with named in Scripture and therefore forbear the further prosecution thereof Onely to cover the nakedness of our map we mention four modern villages under the command of the Turkes where and where alone the Syriack tongue is spoken at this day namely Hatcheeth Sharri Blouza and Eden The last the seat of a Bishop of the Maronites who have a poor Patriarch residing at Tripoli and the people here against all sense conceive this Eden to be the place of Paradise Worse errours they maintain in point of doctrine concurring with the Greek Church but in discipline late reconciled to Rome where the Pope on his own cost gives some of their children education Honest harmeless people these Maronites are happy in the ignorance of luxury and so hospitable that in stead of receiving they return thanks to any western Christians which will accept of their entertainment § 41 There remains nothing more in the Map for me to acquaint the Reader with save onely that we have set the modern stages or Innes we must have all wares in our pack not knowing what kind of chapmen we shall light on betwixt Aleppo and Damascus and so forwards to Ierusalem Amongst these Canes or Turkish Innes Marra and Cotefey are most beautifull the latter little inferiour to the old Exchange in London built by a Bashaw ô let not Christians confound whilest Turkes found places for publick use for the benefit of travellers being both a Castell for their protection and a Colledge for their provision Where on the founders cost sufficient food is afforded both them and their cattell As for some Christian travellers who scorned to feed thereon it seems that either they were not soundly hungry or were not of the solid judgment of Eliah who surely would have taken meate from the hands of Turkes who refused not flesh from the beakes of Ravens Here the Map of Midian Moab Ammon Edom is to be inserted THE DESCRIPTION OF MIDIAN MOAB AMMON EDOM CHAP. 2. § 1. BEfore we come to the particular description of the Countreys something for satisfaction why Midian first and why Midian and Moab together In giving Midian the Precedency we observe seniority he being extracted from Abraham the uncle by Keturah his wife whilest Moab came from Lot the nephew by his own daughter As for putting them together we are loath to confess our poverty that lack of larger instructions to furnish forth severall Maps was any cause of our conjoining them together The main motive is not onely the vicinity of their habitation but also correspondency of severall atchievements betwixt them which makes them often coupled together in Scripture Thus Hadad King of Edom smote Midian in the field of Moab The Elders of Moab and the Elders of Midian were jointly imployed to fetch Balaam The daughters of Moab and the daughters of Midian enticed the Israelites to whoredome and Idolatry § 2. Midian consisted of two families one seated southward near the Red-sea serving the true God not so purely but with the mixture of superstitions where Iethro Moses his father-inâ—law lived of whom God willing hereafter The other Idolaters planted more eastward the subject of our present discourse This distance of place and difference of Religions gave probability to their opinions who fancy them two distinct nations which is seemingly confirmed because the former is called Madian in the new Testament But though in some cases we confess that the difference of a letter may make more then a literall difference yet here it is not enough to make a reall distinction seeing Hebrew words made Greek often suffer greatermutations then of a vowell Midian into Madian Others are startled because the Midianites are sometimes termed Ishmaelites whereas the latter come from Hagar the former from Keturah But it is probable surely such as reject our conjecture will substitute a better in the room thereof that because Ishmael was the eldest son of Abraham chief of the house all those eastern people descended from Abraham were denominated by the genericall name of Ishmaelites § 3. It is as difficult precisely to define the bounds as impossible compleatly to describe the Countrey of Midian For besides the mixture and conjunction not to say confusion of these eastern people interfering amongst themselves in their habitations the Midianites especially led erraticall lives and therefore had uncertain limits They dwelt most in tents which we may call moving towns and extempore cities set up in a few houres and in fewer taken down and dissolved Next morning oft times found them many miles off from the place where last night left them And if we wonder at the wildness of their wandring and rudeness of their roving abroad they will admire as much at the stilness of our station and dulness of our constant dwelling in one place And no doubt they observed a method in their removalls as there is a regularity as well in the motion of the Planets as of the fixed Stars § 4. For the generall we dare avouch they had Reuben and Gad on the west Moab on the south Ammon on the north the Ishmaelites or Hagarens on the east Some place them more south hard by the Dead-sea but therein surely mistake For when Gideon had the Midianites in chace out of the land of Canaan they betook not themselves southward and surely such Foxes when hunted would hast home to their own kennels but ran through the Tribe of Gad full east to their proper habitations But now what a slender account shall we make of the towns and places in Midian But I conceive it better to present the Reader with a map without cities or those cities without names then those names without truth or at least wise that truth without certainty and a fair blank is to be preferred before a full paper blurred over with falshoods § 5. But first we doe behold those castles and cities of Midian all on a bright fire burnt by Eleazer and the twelve thousand Israelites whereof no one man slain in the action wherein they killed all the males of that countrey and females
sheep of Israel not debased by mixture of Gentilisme in their bloud like the Samaritans whom Christ declined whilest he constantly conversed with these Galileans Philol. You say that the City Naasson depends meerly upon the credit of the vulgar translation Tobit 1. Whereas looking on the Hebrew Map graven at Amsterdam by Abraham Goos but designed and made by another Abraham a great Rabbin skilled in the land and language of his own nation this Naasson appears there in Hebrew characters the Author no doubt having good assurance for the same Whose Map I can tell you is much valued by many Antiquaries as appears by their difficult procuring dear purchasing and carefull preserving thereof And you may finde it solemnly set up at the upper end of Sion Colledge Library Aleth It ill becomes me to detract from the pains of any being also my self a man under authority of the pens and tongues of others and Candidate for the Readers good will in this my description Yet give me leave plainly to profess that the Map by you alleadged answereth not the great price and generall praise thereof being nothing else but Adrichomius his Map translated into Hebrew What once Sir Iohn Old Castle Lord Cobham spoke jeastingly that the Priests made Christ to be boots and spurs and all in the Sacrament may I serously say that Adrichomius with his faults and failings dross dirt and all together without any correction is cast into this Abrahams overvalued description so that the Map you alledge is not gold but mean metall gilded over containing surreptitious names out of the Vulgar Latine therein Hebraized and presenting many spurious places utterly disclaimed in the Originall CHAP. VI. Objections against Asher answered Philol. I Admire you have altogether omitted the River Eleutherus in this Tribe much mentioned in Maccabees and which Adrichomius makes to fall into the Mediterranean in the mid-way betwixt Zidon and Tyre Yea M. George Sandys in his travels going from Sarepta to Tyre crossed a little valley divided by the River Eleutherus called Casmire at this day by the inhabitants thereabouts Aleth By what name or title soever the water he there went over is known at this day sure I am it cannot be the ancient Eleutherus which by Ptolemy Strabo and generall consent of all Authors falls above sixty miles more northward into the Mediterranean And therefore the error of Adrichomius and others herein is briefly taxed by judicious Sir Walter Ralegh Philol. You make Asher to border on Zidon contrary to the description of Wolsegangus Wiseburgius and learned Tostatus who set Zebulun in the same place as the most north-west of all the Tribes and alleadge Iacobs words to avouch the same prophecying that Zebuluns borders shall be unto Zidon Aleth Gods Word the coast of the Countrey and all good authors justifie our description those two onely excepted which you alleadge being both deceived by taking Zidon restrictively in Iacobs prophecy for the City so called whereas the whole Countrey thereby is intended as Sarepta is called a City of Zidon and the name of Zidonians adequate to Phenicians in which sense Zebulun confined on the Countrey though Asher onely on the City of Zidon Philol. You peremptorily place the defeat of Benâ—adad and fall of Apheks wall on his flying Army in this Tribe not remembring the while that there is another Aphek in Issachar nearer to Samaria which puts in with more probability to be the theater whereon that tragical accident was acted Aleth I confess Aphek a place in Issachar but finde it not charactered to be a City such an one as our Aphek in Asher is described and whose walls are therefore more probable to doe the foresaid execution However be it known unto you whensoever two places are with equall likelihood corrivals for actions therein atchieved we adjudge it to that place that falls first under our description Thus the start of half an hour bestows on the elder twin the whole inheritance To avoid confusion and prevent repetition first come first serv'd the place first occurring carries away all history in our describing thereof CHAP. VII Objections against Zebulun answered Philol. YOu very confidently make Iordan continue his unâ—ixit stream clean through the Galilean-sea a course somewhat irregular in nature without alleadging any authority for the proof of so improbable a passage Aleth Excellent Authors avouch the same Tacitus amongst others tells us of this River Unum atque alterum lacum integer perfluit tertio â—etinetur One and another lake viz. the waters of Merom and Galilean-sea it runneth through entire but is stopped in the third namely in Asphaltite-lake or Dead-sea More full is the testimony of Philostorgius and deserveth our serious perusall thereof Who speaking of this River 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which saith he passeth through the lake of Tiberias cutting it in the middle and flowing clean through it in its own proper channell Which cutting of the lake implies the entire continuance of Iordans water otherwise that knife doth not cut the loaf but is cut by the loaf which is broken in the dividing thereof Philol. I wonder you pass over Shimron-Meron in such silence which appears a place of great note yea a Royall City in the days of Ioshua as the Coronet thereupon doth inform us Aleth I confess it signed with a Coronet and with something more a flag of uncertainty having nothing sure of the location thereof the chiefest cause that I willingly declined the mention of it However we will scrue our selves into as much certainty of this place as may be extracted out of Scripture and observe the four first wreaths of my scrue are undoubtedly the fifth and last more then probably true as followeth 1 Shimron-Meron was one of the Royall Cities whose King Ioshua destroyed 2 The same City is elsewhere called plainly Shimron without any addition 3 It lay on the northern part of the land because the King thereof associated in the northern and second combination of the Canaanites against Ioshua 4 A City named Shimron was alloted to the Tribe of Zebulun 5 Most probably this is the same Shimron whose King was destroyed by Ioshua This is all which my best industry could collect out of Scripture or good Authors concerning the situation of this place Philol. What mean you by that third smooty circle which as the Meteor Halo about the Sun surroundeth the Levites City of Iockneam Aleth It signifieth nothing being a meer aberration of the Graver which now but obscure will in process of Printing wholly disappear And I could hartily wish no other faults in our Maps would be of longer continuance Philol. You make the Galilean-sea all along the east boundary of this Tribe Whereas I am altogether of the minde of Masius that no part of Zebulun touched on that sea with him principally grounding my opinion on the Scriptures silence which mentioneth not any conterminating of this Tribe
trav 3. b. 150. p. s Gen. 21. 33. t Amos 5. 5. 8. 14. u 2 King 18. 4. w Gen. 21. 31. x Gen. 26. 33. y Gen. 46. 4. z 1 Sam. 8. 2. a 2 Chr. 19. 4. b 1 King 19. 3. c 1 Sam. 30. 10. d Amos 5. 24. e Gen. 21. 14. r Gen. 21. 16. g 1 King 19. 4. h Gen. 16. 14. i Gen. 24. 62. k Gen. 24. 64. l Gen. 24. 65. * Strabo Geog. lib. 16. p. 759. m 1 Chr. 3. 19. n Heb. 13. 14. o Psal. 19. 11. p Iosh. 19. 6. q 1 Chr. 4. 31. r 1 Chr. 4. 39. s Iosh. 15. 58. t Iud. 1. 34. 35. u Mat. 22. 24. w Eccles. 9. 11. x Josh. 12. 13. y 1 Chr. 4. 42. z Judg. 1. 28. a Judg. 14. 19. b 2 Sam. 1. 20. c Diod. Siculus libro 13. d â— Exod. 23. 31. e Judg. 1. 18. Judg. 16. 3. 21. 25. f Judg. 16. 30. g Ier. 47. 1. h Zeph. 2. 4. i Act. 8. 26. k Ier. 47. 5. l Sand. trav lib. 3. p. 149. m Isa. 2. 6. n Ezek. 25. 15. o Amos 1. 8. p Zach. 9. 6. q Deut. 33. r Gen. 49. 5 6. s Exod. 32. 26. Ben-oni his name changed to Benjamin a Gen. 35. 18. b Numb 1. 37. The dysaster and recruâ—t of Benjamin c Numb 26. 4. d Iudg. 21. 16. e Iudg. 20. 47. The words of the Psalmist well to be weighed f Psal. 68. 27. g 1 Sam. 9. 21. h Esther 2. 5. i Iudg. 3. 15. k 2 Chr. 11. 28. l Phil. 3. 5. m 2 Sam. 4. 2. n Iosh. 18. 11. Benjamin placed between Ioseph 〈◊〉 o Mat. 10. 29. p Deut. 33. 12. The smal compâ—ss of this Tribe recompensed with the goodness of the ground q Gen. 43. 34. r Anti Iâ—d li. 5. cap. 1. * Iosh. 18. 20. Eminent actâ—ons on the banks of Iâ—rdan s 2 Sam. 19. â—8 t 2 Sam. 19. 17. u 2 Sam. 20. 1. Pitifull provisions for a Colledge w Psal. 74. 6. x 2 King 6. 6. Controversies concerning the position of the Altar Ed. * Josh. 22. 10. †In loâ—is Heb. lit E. * In locum y Iosh. 22. 11. z Anti. Iud. l. 5. cap. 1. p. 143. a M. Ioseph Mâ—de in his Sermon of the reverence of Gods house b Psal. 78. 9. The Iewish Stone henge c Iosh. 4. 20. d Mat. 3. 9. Remarkables happening at Gilgal in the days of Ioshua e Joâ—h 5. 9. f Numb 32. 1. g As may be collected by the overflowing of Iordan and by comparing Iosh. 3. 15. with 1 Chr. 12. 15. h Josh. 5. 12. i Mat. 13. 52. Gilgall a Court or a Colledge k 1 Sam. 6. 14. * 1 Sam. 12. 18. l 1 Sam. 18. 9. m 1 Sam. 15. 33. 2 King 4. 38. n 2 King 4. 43. o 2 King 4. 41. Gilgall a sink of Idolatry p Hos. 4. 15. 9. 15. q Amos 4. 4. 5. 5. r Josh. 18. 19. The south-bound of Benjamin s See Josh. 18. 15. c. The fountain of the sun t Act. 7. 42. u Camd. Brit. in Summersetshire p. 233. w Compare Josh. 25. 7. with Josh. 18. 17. x Iosh. 18. 17. y In locis Heb. lit B. The Egyptians passionate bewailâ—ng of Iacob z Gen. 50. 11. a Gen. 50. 7. b Gen. 50. 3. c Gen. 50. 10. d 1 Thes. 4. 13. The north borders of Benjamin e Josh. 18. 13. f Josh. 19. 12. Beth-el why so called g Gen. 28. 12. h Gen. 28. 22. i Gen. 32. 10. k Gen. 35. 1. Deborah buried near Beth-el l Gen. 35. 4. m Gen. 35. 8. n Camd. Brit. pag. 787. â—eth-el jointly belonging to Ephraim and Benjamin o Josh. 18. 22. p Judg. 1. 25. q 1 Sam. 7. 16. Ieroboams calfe set up in Beth-el r 1 King 13. 6. s 1 Kin. 13. 24. t 1 King 13. 25. u Num. 22. 33. w Eccles. 9. 1. Children of Bethel why curled and killed by Elisha x 2 King 2. 23 y 2 King 2. 3. A Colledge of Prophets at Beth-el z Amos 7. 13. Iosiah burns the dead bones at Beth-el a 2 King 23. 16. b 1 King 13. 2. c 2 King 23. 18 d Holy State cap. of Company e Iosh. 18. 13. Quere how Benjamin westward could boder on thâ— Sea f Iosh. 18. 14. g Description of Gad num 7. h 2 Sam. 2. 13. i Ier. 41. 12. k Vid. Macium in locum Vzzah slain for his presumption 1 Sam. 7. 2. l 1 Sam. 6. 7. m 1 Sam. 4. 3. n 2 Sam. 6. 7. Iewish severall inventions to thresh out their grain * 2 Sam. 6. 6. o Deut. 25. 4. p Prov. 20. 26. q Amos 3. 4. r Camd. Brit. p. Ierichâ— a pleasant place s 2 King 2. 21. 2 King 2. 19. Miraculously taken t Iosh. 6. 16. Iericho termed a city of Palmes u Deut 34. 3. w Judg. 3. 13. x Vid Adagium Palmam ferre The walls of Ierichâ— unhappily built again y 1 Kin. 16. 34. Iericho first belonging to Israel afterwards to Iudah z 1 â—in 16. 34. a 2 Chr. 28. 15. b Ezra 2. 34. c Nehe. 3. 2. Zacâ—eus converted at Iericho d Luke 19. 4. Plaines of Iericâ—â— e 2 King 25. 5. g Luke 10. 33. Ai at last taken by Ioshua h Iosh. 7. 5. i Iosh. 7. 24. k Hosea 2. 15. The melliâ—â—uous wood near Beth-aven l Gen. 12. 8. m Gen. 13. 9. n Eccles. 1. 2. o 1 Sam. 14. 23. p 1 Sam. 14. 45. Gibeoâ—ites overreach the Isrâ—â—lites q Josh. 10. 2. r Josh. 10. 9. s Iosh. 9. 27. t Iosh. 10. 11. u Iosh. 10. 12. w Josh. 10. 16. x Psal. 8. 40. y Josh. 10. 28. Gibeon the Cock-pit of war though a city belonging to the Lâ—vites z Josh. 2â— 17. a 2 Sam. 2. 24. Amasa basely murdered by Iâ—ab b 2 Sam. 20. 8. c 2 Sâ—m 20. 8. d 2 Sam. 20. 12. e 2 Sam. 17. 25. Gibeâ—n a place of publick worship f 1 Sam. 4. 4. g 1 Sam. 6. 18. h 1 Sam. 7. 1. i 2 Sam. 6. 10. k 2 Sam. 6. 17. l 2 Chr. 1. 3. Giheaâ— distinct from Gibeon a wicked city m Judg. 20. 16. n Judg. 19. 12. o Judg. 19. 16. p Judg. 19. 2. Israel twice worsted by Benjamin q Judg. 20. r Judg. 20. 47. s Gen. 41. 13. t Description of Ephraim Gibeah why surnamed of Saul u 1 Sam. 11. 4. w 2 Sam. 21. 6. x 1 Sam. 15. 9. y 2 Sam. 21. 11. Saul buried by David in Gibeah z 1 Sam. 31. 10. Migron and Ramah a 1 Sam. 14. 2. b Lib. 2. cap. 2. c Camd. Bâ—it fol. 436. d 1 King 15. 17 e 1 Kin. 15. 22. Mizpah for a long time the seat of Juâ—ice f 1 Sam. 7. 16. * 1 Sam. 7. 6. g 1 Sam. 10. 17. h 2 Chr. 2. 18. i Sam. 10. 23. Asa his pit in Mizpaâ— employed otherwise then it was intended l Ier. 41. 9. m See our description of Asher § 5. n Ier. 40. 6. o Ier. 41.
distract us Some place them near the mountain of Sinai But that barren desert affords no more livelyhood then the Law there delivered could give life unto men Others seat them neare Sin by Ptolomy Simyra in the northern bound of the land And a third sort whom we will follow in the very south point thereof at the entrance of Egypt near Pelusium called Sin in the Scriptures whence the desert of Sin hath its name 15. 4 Arvadites These lived north of the Zidonians whereof largely in the description of mount Libanus 16. 5 Zemarites More uncertain for situation then the former because no more mention of them Had the land whereon they lived like the floor of Bels Temple been strowed with ashes some print of their footsteps would have remained whereas now no marks to discover them Learned men thus groping in the dark some seek for lack of other light to light a candle from a glow-worm their conceit being no better who from the vicinity of the sound make these Zemarites inhabit mount Shemir afterwards Samaria which is confuted by the Hebrew Orthography More probably they may be placed at Zemaraim a City afterwards of Benjamin 17. 6 Hamathites As formerly we had too little here we have too much direction finding two eminent places equâ—lly probable for their habitation Hamath on the north of Nepthali and another many miles off called Hamah the great and afterwards Antiochia And perchance they might remove from the one to the other So much of the nations descended from Canaan amongst whom the Philistims are not reckoned whose five Satrapies possessed the South-west part of the land because they came not from Canaan but from Mizraim his elder Brother of whom God willing largely hereafter in the descriptions of the tribes of Dan and Simeon To conclude Let the reader beware lest deceived with the similitude of sounds he condemne the generation of the righteous and mistake true Israelites by birth to be Canaanites by descent as namely 1 Caleh the Kenite undoubtedly of the tribe of Iudah onely his grandfathers name was Kenaz 2 Vriah the Hittite 3 Ornan the Iebusite so loyal so liberal to David The first might be a Proselyte Hittite but more likely an Israelite whose Father was called Heth and the latter of the tribe of Iudah or Benjamin who lived promiscuously with the Iebusites in the City of Iebus or Ierusalem 4 Hushi the Archite who out-achitophelled Achitophell in his policy was probably an Ephraimite of the borders of Archi otherwise unlikely that David would have chosen a stranger to have been his Cabinet counsellour 5 Simon the Cananite Christs Disciple certainly a Iew otherwise our Saviour would not have entertained him in so near a relation born it seems in Cana of Galile So much for caution lest Demetrius who was well reported of all men suffer for Demetrius Diana's silver-smith and these reall Iews be misrepresented under the notion of heathen extraction CHAP. 8. The second solemn division of the land of Canaan into thirty one Kingdomes § 1. NExt to the distinguishing of this land into seven nations we must observe the division thereof amongst one and thirty Kings Strange that their scepters except very short did not justle one another in so narrow a Countrey But we must know that the Genius of that age delighted not so much in scraping much together as in having absolute authority in that little which was their own Pride is commonly the sinne of young men covetousness of old folk The world in the youth thereof more affected honour then wealth high titles then large treasure And these Royolets contented themselves that their crowns though not so big were as bright their scepters though not so great were as glistering as those of the mightiest Monarchs being as absolute Soveraignes in their own small territories § 2. Let us consider how these one and thirty kingdomes were afterwards disposed of and how they were shared amongst the severall Tribes In reckoning up their names we observe the method in Ioshua as he marshalls them upon order following Kingdomes of 1. Iericho 2. Ali. 3. Ierusalem 4. Hebâ—oâ— 5. Iarmuth 6. Laâ—hish 7. Eglon. 8. Gezer 9. Dâ—ber 10. Gâ—der 11. Hormah 12. Arad 13. Libnath 14. Adullaâ—â— 15. Makkedaâ— 16. Bethel 17. Tappuah 18. Hepher 19. Aphek 20. Lasharon 21. Madâ—n 22. Haâ—or 23. Shimrâ—n-Mâ—ron 24. Achshaph 25. Taâ—â—aâ—h 26. Megiddo 27. Kedesh 28. Iâ—â—â—eam of Caâ—mel 29. Dor in the coasts of Dor. 30. The nations of Gilgal 31. Tirza allotted to 1. Benjamin 2. Benjamin 3. Benâ—amin Iudah 4. Iudaâ— 5. Iudah 6. Iudah 7. Iudah 8. â—phraim 9. Iudah 10. Iudah Simâ—on 11. Simeon 12. Iudah 13. Iudah 14. Iudah 15. Beâ—jamin 16. Benjamin 17. Manasseh cis Iâ—r 18. Mâ—nasâ—cis Iâ—r 19. Asâ—er 20. Zebulon 21. Nephâ—hali 22. Nephthali 23. Zebulon 24. Asher 25. Manas. cis Iâ—r 26. 〈◊〉 cisâ—or 27. Nephthali 28. Zebulon 29. Manasseb Issachar 30. Bâ—njaâ—in 31. Ephraim By the King of the nations of Gilgal understand a Soveraign over a miscellaneous company of people the master-bee of a swarm not yet fixed in an hive having a sufficient territory for his men but no considerable Metropolis of his kingdome In this Catalogue Sihon and Og are not reckoned whose dominions lay â—ast of Iordan and they make up thirty three Kings in all So much of these Cities for the present whereof largely hereafter in those respective Tribes to which they belong § 3. Amongst these Kings one may visibly discover two distinct combinations 1 In the southern circuit of Canaan Adoni-bezek King of Ierusalem seems to be chief of this knot at whose sending the Kings of Hebron Iarmuth Lachish Eglon c. assembled themselves against Ioshua and were destroyed by him 2 In the northern Association There Iâ—bin the King had the precedency with whom the Kings of Madon Shimron and Achshaph c. confederated themselves against Ioshua with the same success Had all at once ingaged against Ioshua the task had been hard had he fought them all severally the work had been long to subdue them For these thirty and one Kings who made up a full moneth in their number how many years would they have made up in their resistance Whereas now divine providence fitting the strength of Ioshua's arm parcelled his foes into two bundles that he might the more easily at two blows strike through both of them § 4. And here we present the Reader with a draught of the land as it was in the days of Abraham and continued till the time of Ioshua not well satisfied whether more properly to term it old or new Canaan If we count from the beginning of the world downwards it was young or new Canaan because nearest the creation if we reckon backwards from our time the old Canaan If the Reader discover any difference betwixt this and the next Map of the same land as it was constituted
day and night hope to come This cannot be meant of those departed this life before Saint Pauls time which were past hope and in possession of the promise but of such as served God then when this speech was uttered 3 By the superscription of S. Iames his Epistle To the twelve Tribes which are scattered abroad greeting Being Christian Iews probably dispersed from Ierusalem after the martyrdome of Saint Stephen § 6. To conclude what in the Law God prescribed concerning the fields he was pleased graciously to practise upon the persons of the Israelites Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard neither shalt thou gather every grape in thy vineyard He suffered a small racemation to remain still preserving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not wholly discomposing the solemn Jury of the twelve Tribes which untill Christs time were made the thinner but not the fewer by all their calamities For although thorough continuance of time suddain and great changes in their condition laziness and neglect casuall losing and spightfull embezeling of their Records mixt mariages with heathens and many other accidents the intireness of their Pedegrees was much perplext and interrupted yet by tradition from their parents they knew in generall their extraction from those Tribes though unable particularly to clear the immediate series of their descents CHAP. 10. Of Palestine rent into two kingdomes under Rehoboam and their severall strengths balanced § 1. THe next solemn division the land of Canaan fell under was when it was cloven by the ten Tribes defection into the kingdomes of Iudah and Israel § 2. The kingdome of Iudah consisted chiefly of the Tribe of Iudah which alone was so powerfull and populous that the men thereof in the muster made by King David amounted in number to moe then the half of all the other Tribes there expressed Besides the body of this Tribe very considerable were the appurtenances thereof namely Some of Simeon whose inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the Tribe of Iudah Dan part of whose possession was taken out of what originally was assigned to Iudah These must be presumed to beare a State-sympathy to the kingdome of Iudah ingaged thereunto by the position of their countrey Yea we finde it expressed in Scripture that Beersheba a City of Simeon and Gath Zorah and Ajalon Cities of Dan did belong to and were fortified by the Kings of Iudah § 3. Besides these two thirds of the Tribe of Benjamin pertained to the same kingdome as also all the Levites which left their Cities in Israel and clave to the house of David These though properly the eyes of the land had hands also and contributed to the strength of the kingdome Adde hereunto all the well-affected which out of all the Tribes of Israel resorted to Ierusalem For the by-ditches of Dan and Bethel did not so drain the peoples devotion but that much thereof ran in the right chanel to the Temple and no doubt many violently kept at home had their hearts at Ierusalem and their bodies in Israel to which kingdome all the rest of the Tribes did belong § 4. Here it will be richly worth our pains to enter on a comparative estimate of these two Kingdomes which of them exceeded in puissance Herein we shall carry an impartiall hand and indeed though the controversie be betwixt two Kings there is nothing to be got by flattering of either § 5. We will compare them first in that wherein Solomon placeth the honour of a King the multitude of their subjects And here any clear judgment will find for the Kings of Israel § 6. Secondly if the extent of their dominions be surveyed and our eye in the Map made umpirer therein the case is clear in view without measuring that Israel was the greatest § 7. Thirdly if their Cities be numbred the result will be this Iudah had the Sun Ierusalem Israel had the Moon Samaria and most Starres of the first magnitude Ieriâ—ho Iezreel Mahanaim c. § 8. Fourthly if their ports and naval power be considered neither will be found very active that way contentedly yeelding their sea-trading to the Phenicians Yet Israel had the advantage of havens and marine accommodations bordering most on the Mediterranean Iudah also to hold the scales even had Ezion-Gaber a considerable port on the Red-sea as may appear by Ahaziahs request to Iehosaphat Let my servants goe with thy servants in the ships plainly importing that the men of Iudah were the Cape-merchants and prime mariners in those seas by whose courtesie the subjects of the Kings of Israel were admitted to trafique there However Ezion-Gaber on the Red-sea was but a key to the back-door little of the East-Indies being then known and less traded to whereas the havens on the Midland-sea opened the broad gates of commerce to the most and best frequented parts of the world § 9. Fifthly if the absoluteness of their Kings power be stated in their respective dominions here in the opinions of some the upper hand must be adjudged to Iudah The Kings whereof in administration of justice or rather revenge often exercised arbitrary power making use of their prerogative above law As appears by Solomons proceedings against the lives of Shimei Ioab and Adoniah and more plainly in Iehoram's executing his own brethren by his peremptory pleasure without legall conviction of them Whereas no monument is extant of such arbitrary proceedings in the kings of Israel more confining themselves to legall courses Yea the very murder of Naboth carried the face of a judiciall process wherein legall n formalities of witnesses though suborned were observed in a solemn Session The reason why the Kings of Iudah were more unlimited in their power was say they because they derived their title immediately from the God of heaven confirmed in Davids familie by severall descents But the Kings of Israel being Creatures of their own subjects made by popular election on condition to remit their taxes and burdens and seldome above three of the same stock in a direct succession were fain to ingratiate themselves with remitting much of that royall rigour used by the Kings of Iudah And this is assigned by a judicious Author as a principall cause why Israel never returned to their former subjection to Davids family because the scepter of Iudah was too heavy for them and they lived under more liberty in their own kingdome § 10. Sixtly if their forain impressions made by them on neighbouring Princes be considered the balance is so even it is hard to say on which side the beam breaketh For as memorable were the victories of the Kings of Israel against the Syrians so no lesse fortunate the fights of some Kings of Iudah against the Ethiopians and other enemies And as the kingdome of Moab till the death of Ahab was tributary to Israel so Edom untill the end of the reign of Iehosaphat was in subjection to the
crown of Iudah § 11. Seventhly if their home-achievements each against other be recounted the truest touch-stone of their severall strengths God often made them alternately hold up one another whilst he whipt them both for their sinnes But although Abijah once got a remarkable conquest of Ieroboam yet generally Israel worsted Iudah overpowering them with multitude of men Thus Baasha cooped up Asa in his own land Ioash overcame Amaziah and took Ierusalem and Pekah almost utterly consumed Ahaz and his kingdome § 12. To conclude if their lasting and continuance be measured herein Iudah clearly carrieth away the preheminence Grant Israel beat Iudah at hand yet Iudah beat Israel at length even out of distance For whilst the Babylonish captivity did onely snuffe Iudah for seventy years blazing the brighter when they returned from banishment the Assyrian conquest utterly extinguished Israel from ever appearing again in a formed Common-wealth in their own Countrey CHAP. 11. Of the partition of the Land into the Provinces of Galilea Samaria and Judea § 1. WHen these two kingdomes had determined the division of the twelve Tribes was out of date Palestine began to be distinguished into three Provinces whose number and posture we find in the Evangelists being traced in order by the feet of our Saviour 1. He left Iudea 2. And departed again into Galilee 3. And he must needs goe through Samaria It being denied to our Saviour himself to travail per saltum à termino ad terminum sine medio so that he could not ordinarily pass from Iudah in the south to Galilee in the north without traversing Samaria which lay in the midst betwixt both § 2. To begin with Iudea or Iury it is not taken here in that large acception wherein it contained the whole Countrey and entire subject of this our book in which sense Herod the great is styled King of Iudea but is taken as elsewhere it is termed the Province of Iudea for a third part of the whole land consisting of the ground formerly belonging to Iudah Benjamin Simeon Dan and Reuben For that this Province reached eastward beyond the River plainly appears in the Evangelists affirming that Christ came from Galilee into the Coasts of Iudea beyond Iordan A spacious Countrey it was and in our Saviours time the proper habitation of the principall Iews Nor is it amiss to observe that a portion of land with the governments of Lidda and Ramah lying in the juncture of Benjamin and Ephraim was in the time of the Maccabees taken from Samaria by King Demetrius and by him assigned to Iudea in reward of the friendship and faithfulness of the Iews in his service which gore or gusset of ground was called Apherema that is a thing taken away because parted from Samaria and pieced to Iudea § 3. Samaria succeeds whereby we understand not the City of that name for a long time Metropolis of the kingdome of Israel but a countrey formerly pertaining to Ephraim and Manasseh and Gad peopled after the Assyrian captivity with colonies brought thither from Babylon and the neighbouring Dominions At first this land did not fadge well with these new inhabitants Lions sent by God disturbing their quiet possession untill a Priest of the Israelites was remanded to teach them the manner of the God of the land But what betwixt an ignorant Master and indocible Scholars nothing was learnt to purpose He taught them no true worship but onely Ieroboams divinity as appears by their appointing out Priests of themselves for their high-places and they jumbled together their own numerous Idols with the service of God In so much as they are said to fear the Lord and in the next verse not to fear the Lord not that there is any contradiction in the text but an open opposition betwixt their pretence and practise seeing such as fear God otherwise then his will in his Word prescribes fear him not in effect § 4. However afterwards the Samaritans quitted their multitude of Idols and patched up a religion amongst themselves wherein 1 They adored one Deity but him so erroneously that Christ flatly told them yee worship that which you know not 2 They acknowledged onely the five books of Moses for Canonicall 3 They had a Temple on mount Gerizim stickling for the honour and holiness thereof to equall yea exceed that at Ierusalem 4 They expected a Saviour beleeving him as able so willing to resolve all important difficulties When Messiah is come he will tell us all things 5 They falsly accounted themselves extracted from the ancient Hebrew Patriarchs Thus the Samaritan woman had it rise in her mouth our Father Iacob though in very deed he was no more her Father then the man she kept company with was her husband being neither lineally descended from the one nor lawfully maried to the other Hear what Iosephus hath to this purpose The Samaritans says he are of this nature that when the Iews are high in fortune and success presently they embrace society with them and deduce the series of their own descent from the Patriarch Ioseph and his sonnes Ephraim and Manasseb But when the Iews are depressed and low in estate then they disclaim all kindred defie all affinity with them professing themselves as indeed they are to be originally Medes and Persians § 5. Generally great was the Antipathy betwixt the Samaritans and Iews The former persecuting every face that did but look towards Ierusalem on which bare account they churlishly denied our Saviour entertainment in their town because his behaviour was as though he would goe to Ierusalem Nor came the Iews behind them in hatred so far from familiar conversing with them that a Iew would rather contentedly endure thirst then to quench it crave drink of a Samaritan lest such hands should defile the water with the very drawing of it Yea when the malice of the Iews meant mortally to wound our Saviours reputation they said he was a Samaritan and had a Devill However the deluge of sin did not so generally drown all the Samaritans but that some dry Islands some good men were found amongst them One eminent for his gratitude to God being the tithe of the lepers cleansed by Christ who alone returned to give him thanks another no less commendable for his charity to man being Physitian Surgeon Host and in a word neighbour to the unknown traveller wounded by theeves in his journey to Iericho § 6. Galilee remaines so called as Melanchthon will have it because in Hebrew signifying a bound or limit lying in the northern marches of the land It was twofold The Upper formerly belonging to the tribes of Asher Nephthali and Manasseh beyond Iordan The Lower formerly belonging to the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar The upper Galilee is also called Galilee of the Gentiles or Galilaea Gojim whereof many reaasons are rendred
the lesser Canaan possessed by the Iews yet it was within the bounds of the larger Canaan that Countrey once belonging to the Archites and Arvadites the sons of Canaan § 4. Now whosoever shall with a Compasse in his hand survey the extent of these Tetrarchies will finde them to fall out very uneven in their dimensions some much larger then others Indeed they were measured with no other scale then the favour and friendship of the Emperour so that the best befriended at Rome got most dominion in Palestine Yet were these Tetrarchies as justly divided as our English Hundreds and those perchance equall in their primitive institution for number of men seeing we count threescore and eight hundreds in Kent and but six in Lancashire accounted little less in the compass thereof Nor was the Revenues of these Tetrarchies less unequall then their extent the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or yearly income of Trachonitis with the appurtenances belonging to Philip amounting as Iosephus computeth it but to an hundred talents whilest Galilee with its appendents returned two hundred and Iudea advantaged with the friendly City of Ierusalem yeelded four hundred talents yearly to the Governour § 5. Indeed exactness in observing the bounds of these Tetrarchies is not to be expected which in process of time passed under all parts of numeration Multiplied Subtracted Added to new Divided made moe made fewer made other then in their primitive establishment Let not therefore the Reader be moved if sometimes he find moe Tetrarchies sometimes fewer then four mentioned by good Authours in Palestine seeing as Salmasius informs us the word Tetrarchy in after-ages was negligently taken for a part or parcell of dominion without relating to the exact proportion of a fourth part Thus it is usuall for barbarous tongues to seduce words as I may say from their native purity custome corrupting them to signifie things contrary to their genuine and grammaticall notation Who knows not but that the word Moity both in law and true language importeth the just midst and true half of a thing though small moity in ordinary discourse is taken for any Canton or small portion And in a more proper instance though the Cinque Ports are notoriously known to be five as the name signifieth yet reckoned up with their members they make seven as I doubt not but six yea moe Tetrarchies may sometimes be told in Palestine § 6. And now to take our farewell of the severall divisions of this land mentioned in Scripture for on such onely we insist it will not be amiss to minde the Reader that besides the foresaid partitions we finde some other territories in Iudea having proper names and bounds to themselves but the latter so excentricall that they fall out neither even with any one Tribe nor adequate to any of the Provinces or territories formerly described Such are 1 Idumea sometimes taken more strictly for the south part of Iudea sometimes more largely as always in the old Testament for the land of Edom and the adjacent Dominion 2 Perea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to cross the water is frequent in the travels of our Saviour being a countrey containing all the land once belonging to Reuben Gad and Manasseh on the east of Iordan 3 Decapolis that is a land with ten Cities therein the just proportion of command given to the good servant who improved his five to ten pounds Take thou authority over ten Cities However such is the variety even betwixt good authors that amongst them the ten Cities of Decapolis are almost ten severall ways reckoned up We will onely set down two the most authentick computations of them Pliny his account 1 Damascus 2 Opoton 3 Philadelphia once Rabba 4 Raphana 5 Seythopolis once Bethsan 6 Gaddara 7 Hippon 8 Pella 9 Galasa for Gerasa 10 Canatha Brochard his account 1 Tiberias 2 Sephet 3 Kedesh-nepthali 4 Hazor 5 Capernaum 6 Caesarea Philippi 7 Iotopata 8 Bethsaida 9 Chorazin 10 Scythopolis The reason of their great difference may be this that in continuance of time some of these ancient Cities fell into decay or disfavour to forfeit their franchises whilst later places might succeed to their lost immunities § 7. Here we pass over in silence the division of Iudea into the Hill-countrey and the Low-countrey because this distinction is not appropriate to Palestine but usuall and obvious in all other kingdomes I remember whilest I lived in the West of England and confines of Summerset-shire hearing a labourer speak much of his long living in the low-countreys I demanded of him whether he had ever been at Amsterdam He answered that he had never been there but often at Taunton Whereby I plainly perceived what low-countreys he meant namely the flat and levell of Summerset-shire under Quantock-hills according to the language of the people in those parts Thus when the Tribe of Iudah is said to conquer the Canâ—anites in the low-countrey we understand the champion and plain-field in Iudea which lay at the foot of the mountains § 8. We meet in Scripture with many other petite tracts of ground honoured with names of lands as the land of Hepher the land of Dor the land of Zuph the land of Shual c. and in the new Testament the land of Gennesareth with many other These may be compared to our Gilsland in Cumberland Cleveland in York-shire Marishland in Norfolk Lovingland in Suffolk Portland in Dorset-shire places which sound so big that if measured by the ear and length of syllables they would be accounted Kingdomes or Counties at least whereas surveyed by the sight and scale of miles they appeare like the aforesaid lands in Palestine very small and little parcells of ground whereof largely as we light on them hereafter in our severall descriptions CHAP. 13. How the Hebrews measured places Of their cubits furlongs miles and Sabbath-days-journeys § 1. THe Hebrews distanced their places by severall measures some arbitrary casuall and uncertain others certain as reduced to a constant standard Of the former was their measuring of land by paces for we read when David solemnly brought the Ark into Ierusalem when he had gone six paces he offered oxen and fallings But here we are left at a loss in point of certainty taking it rather for an ambulatory then a Geometricall pace and then how vast the difference herein For Saul being higher from the shoulders upward then the rest of Israel by the symmetry of parts his pace must be presumed proportionably longer then other men Nor more certain was the Hebrews measuring their land by a bow-shoot as Hagar is said to set her son Iâ—hmael a good way off as it were a bow-shoot which if at rovers or randome admits of variation according to the strength of the bow might or sleight of the archer weight or fashion of the arrow § 2. As little certainty is
And now he that shall cast his eye over the Plain on the east of Iordan shall finde it well stockt with multitudes of goodly sheep which caused Deborah's expostulation Why abodest thou Reuben amongst the sheepfolds to heare the bleating of the flockes And yet no wonder if he preferred such musick before the clashing of swords and sounding of trumpets in the battail against the Canaanites seeing naturally men chuse profitable ease before honourable danger The tails of those sheep both for fat and wooll were incredibly great some of them a Cubit long So that nature who hath tyed the tails to other creatures may seem to have tyed the Syrian sheep to their tails which with great difficulty they drag after them This is the reason why it is expresly commanded in the law that when a sheep is sacrificed for a Peace-offering the fat thereof and the whole tail not observed in Kine or Goats taken off hard by the backbone was to be offered that part being for bulk and value considerable in their sheep which is contemptible in other creatures § 15. To goe back to the River having left that place behind us where the Ferry-boat passed over to carry David and his houshold after his conquest of Absalom We are now arrived at that memorable place where God magnified Ioshua heartened his own people and shrivelled up the hearts of their enemies by drying up the waters of Iordan whilest the Israelites passed over in this admirable Equipage 1 The Priests went into the river bearing the Ark in homage whereunto Iordan reverently retreated very farre from the river Adam which is besides Zaretan and they stood on firm ground in the midst thereof till all the Israelites were passed over 2 Reuben Gad and half Manasseh led the Van about forty thousand men of Armes the residue of them in all about an hundred thousand remaining at home to husband their ground guard their houses govern their families 3 After them the other Tribes followed and it is observed that they hasted not with a distrustfull haste as suspicious that the returning waters might drown the hindmost of them but an industrious speed and mannerly quickness as not willing to make God wait upon them in continuing a Miracle longer then necessity did require 4 When all were over the Priests with the Ark who first entred last left the water all dangerous designes are begun and finished by Gods assistance and then Iordan whose streams hitherto suspended returned into his channell 5 A duplicate or double monument was erected to perpetuate the memory hereof being a Grand Iury of great stones Of these twelve were solemnely set up on the land in the Tribe of Benjamin at Gilgal and the other twelve the counterpart of this deed were left in the midst of the river Some perchance may admire that Ioshua should set this latter invisible monument in a place where it is drowned both in water and obscurity But this River-mark was such as possibly the tops of the stones might appear at low water or if wholly hidden and dangerous for boats to approach the â—ailers constant care to avoid them in their passage called the occasion of placing them there to their daily remembrance § 16. We must not dissemble the difference betwixt Authors about the situation of the aforesaid City of Adam but once mentioned in Scripture and therefore as the Hebrews have a Proverb of words but once named that they have no kindred and alliance more difficult to know the true posture thereof The best is this Adam though having no kindred hath some company to notifie it Adam besides Zaretan and one Zaretan is sufficiently known to have been in the half Tribe of Manasseh west of Iordan not far from the sea of Galilee Hence learned Masius concludes that the waters of Iordan were cut off full seventy miles together north of the peoples passage over it To which opinion under favour we can in no wise consent Conceiving rather that just against Iericho the river was dried up for whereas the station of Iordan was most wonderfull the Israelites had lost all the sight of this wonder on their right side if done out of distance so many miles from their view Place we therefore on these reasons and the example of others both Adam and Zaretan in the Tribe of Reuben § 17. Some difference also there is betwixt Divines concerning the latitude of their passage over the river Some conceiving it onely to amount to the proportion of a fair alley lane or path of such receit alone as admitted the Israelites in a full and free march a competent number a brest and that the waters as in the Red sea standing still on both sides were a wall to them on the right hand and on the left as the Graver in our Map hath designed it Others doe not onely make a gap through Iordan but pluck down the whole hedge thereof maintaining that all the water of that river on the left hand betwixt their passage over and the Dead sea failed and were cut off or dried up Which latter opinion is most agreeable to Scripture and reason for seeing the stream of Iordan south of their going over was not supplied with any reciprocall or refluous tide out of the Dead sea the stopping of the waters above must necessarily command their defection beneath and that the channell by consequence for the time being was dried up § 18. Iordan having now closed his streams together runs by Livias a City which Herod built and so named in honour of Livia the Mother of Tiberius Caesar. For to enfavour themselves with the Emperour the Jewish Kings called many Cities by their names Augusta Tiberias two Cesarea's Iulias Livias as if Palestine had been a Register book of the Imperiall Roman family § 19. Let us now take an account of the inland Parts of this Tribe and return to the place where the Israelites passed over Arnon Betwixt Egypt and Arnon they had forty severall stations and then entred into the Promised land In comemoration whereof probably God did order that an offender should receive but forty stripes what Judge soever counts them too few would think thirty too many if he felt them himself and then be freed from further punishment Coming into Canaan their one and forty and first fixing there was at the foot of mount Abarim and edge of the wilderness of Kedâ—moth Hence they removed to Abelshittim where Deuteronomie was made the second Edition of the Law revised and enlarged by God the Author thereof Here the people of Israel were numbred the second time And although some particular Tribes were encreased amongst whom those three that pitched on the east side of the Tabernacle Iudah Issachar and Zebulun God and the rising Sun make any thing fruitfull yet in the whole they were diminished one thousand eight hundred and twenty Let such as admire hereat that people being
to Aben Ezra who allots to the banner of Reuben a man or male child others a mandrake others put mandrakes in his hand relating to Leahs words at his birth calling him Reuben that is See a Son causing her to forget her pain for joy that a man child was borne into the world § 31. The proper place for the standard of this Tribe was to be the first of the three Tribes which pitched on the south of the Tabernacle Thus though Reuben lost the Primacy of power over all he still kept the precedency of place before one quarter of his brethren Whence parents may be taught that though on just ground they disinherit yet not so wholly to dishearten their eldest sons but still suffer some remembrances of a birthright ever to remain unto them FINIS Here the Map of Gad is to be inserted The third Book THE TRIBE OF GAD § 1. GAd eldest Son of Iacob by Zilpah so increased in Egypt that forty five thousand six hundred and fifty males of twenty years old and upward of this Tribe were numbred at Mount Sinai all which falling in the wilderness for their tempting of God with this disobedience a new generation of forty thousand and five hundred entred the Land of Canaan This Tribe affordeth very martiall men For such of them as repaired to David in Ziglag are described Men of war fit for the battell that could handle shield and buckler whose faces were like to the faces of Lyons and were as swift as the Roes upon the mountaines Yet I meet not with any publick Magistrate extracted from Gad though the Genealogists rank Iehu with four of his Posterity successive Kings of Israel amongst the Gadites but on no other ground then because at the first time he is found mentioned in Scripture he was imployed a Commander at the siege of Ramoth Gilead a City in this Tribe It seems that as the English-law makes a charitable provision for children left by their parents that the Parish wherein they are first taken up must maintain them so Genealogists the better to methodize the pedegrees of the Iews in Scripture reduce Persons of unknown Parentage to those respective Tribes in whose grounds they first light on the mention of them But let Iehu pass for a Gadite the rather because so puisant a Prince will prove a credit rather then a charge to that Tribe to which he is related § 2. The land of this Tribe was of a double nature For what lay north of the river Iabbok was anciently the possession of Og King of Basan But what lay south of the river had its property more intricate and incumbred with often exchange of her owners and on the right understanding thereof depends no less then the asserting of the innocence of the Israelites the confuting of the cavill of the Ammonites and the reconciling of a seeming contradiction in Scripture Take it thus briefly 1t. It was the Land of certain Giants called Zamzummims 2ly It was possessed by the Ammonites who destroied those Giants and this Countrey was accounted a moity or one half of their dominion 3ly It was subdued by Sihon King of the Amorites who cast out the Ammonites when also he destroied the Moabites such as were south of Iabbok and dwelt in their stead Lastly after the overthrow of Sihon Moses gave it to the Tribe of Gad for their inheritance Thus God by ringing the Changes of successive Lords in this Land made musick to his own glory Behold we here what the Psalmist saith Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypt thou preparest room before it the method and manner of which preparation is most remarkable First God in his providence foresaw that the Countrey of the Canaanites was without other addition too narrow to receive the numerous people of Israel Secondly God in his goodness resolved out of love to righteous Lot that his posterity should not totally lose their possession nor would he suffer the Israelites their kinsmen to deprive them of any parcell thereof giving them a flat command to the contrary Lastly God in his justice permitted Sihon King of the Amorites should win part of the Countrey from Moab and Ammon and suddenly sends the Israelites to conquer the conquerour and now lawfully to inherit what the other had wrongfully taken away And thus he prepared room for his Vine § 3. By this time we plainly perceive that in the Ammonites demand to Iephtha there was some truth blinded with more falshood that the countenance of the former might pass the latter unsuspected Israel took away saith the King my Land when they came out of Egypt from Arnon even unto Iabbok and unto Iordan now therefore restore these Lands again peaceably True it was that this Land was once theirs and so it is plainly called Ioshua 13. 25. but most false that ever the Israelites took Inch of ground from them save onely mediately and at the second hand taking it from Sihon who took it from the Ammonites We report the rest to Iephtha's answer who first with a fair ambassie and then with a famous victory confuted the Ammonites antiquated title to this territory pleading that the Israelites had three hundred years peaceably possessed the same Now if upon a strict account some years fall short of that sum the matter is not much because souldiers love to fill their mouths with a round number and too hundred fifty and odde with a good sword may well be counted three hundred years currant though not compleate § 4. The Tribe of Gad had the kingdome of Ammon on the east the half Tribe of Manasseh on the north Reuben on the south and the river Iordan on the west The length thereof from Aroer to Iordan may be computed thirty five miles and the breadth thereof from Mahanaim to Dibon falls out a little less A Tribe inferiour to none for fair rivers fruitfull Pastures shady woods superiour to most for populous Cities and memorable actions atchieved therein As for Balme or Balsame it was a peculiar commodity of this Countrey Thus the Prophet betwixt grief anger and pity demands Is there no balme in Gilead and again Goe up into Gilead and take balm O virgin In describing this Countrey we will follow the streams of Arnon Iabbok and Iordan which with some little help lent us besides will afford us the conveniency to behold all remarkable mounts in this Countrey § 5. In the eastern part of this Tribe the rivers of Arnon and Iabbok though running contrary ways arise not far asunder according to the exact observation of Iosephus who saith that the land of Sihon King of the Amorites lay in nature and fashion like an Island betwixt the three rivers of Iordan Arnon and Iabbok so near are the fountains of the latter together The heads of their springs are found in a mountainous and rocky soil affording great plenty of Iackalls
open access 5 But ride on Asses partly that Petitioners though lame and weak might keep pace with them on the way when relating their grievances and partly by that patient creature to shew the slow but sure proceeding of justice and indeed the Judges foot-pace to the sentence is the accused parties post-speed to his grave We finde among these thirty cities but one of them named which is Camon wherein the body of Iair was buried And it is probable that Ira the Iairite so high in favour about King David was an inhabitant of this countrey § 15. More south lay Ashteroth-karnaim or in English the two horned Ashteroth either so named from some forked building or street therein Horn-church in Essex and Horn-castle in Lincolne-shire so called on the like occasion or because the Idol Ashteroth that is the Moon horned in her waxing or waning was worshipped therein or lastly because a fair and gallant City and all strength mirth and jollity are called horns in the Hebrew Yet may we say to the men of Ashteroth in the words of the Psalmist Set not up your horns so high neither speak presumptuous words Horns which first were well blunted by Chedorlaomer when he smote the Rephaims or Giants in Ashteroth-karnaim and afterwards were broken quite off when Og King of Bashan who reigned in this City was overthrown For hard by is Edrei another City wherein Og resided and neer which he bid battell to the children of Israel when he with all his Giant-like race which peopled this place was extinguished For though the Countrey of Pigmies be a Poets-tale this Land of Giants is a Scripture-truth However no eye can now distinguish betwixt the ashes of Giants and dust of dwarfs death having long since levelled all alike in the grave § 16. Such remarkable places as remain in this Tribe will easily be found out if we follow the stream of Iordan and such rivolets as pay tribute thereunto Iordan having newly recovered himself out of the waters of Merom into a competent channell receiveth from the east Hermon a small brook running by Golan a Levites City of refuge whence the neighbouring countrey in Iosephus called Gaulonitis and after Iordan falleth betwixt Capernaum and Chorazin into the sea of Galilee This Chorazin was the place where Christs miracles and preaching were sowen so thick and where the peoples thankfulness for the one and practise of the other came up so thin that it caused that curse Woe be to thee Chorazin c. A woe which at this day hath wasted it from a populous city to a ruinous village As for their conceit that Antichrist should be born in Chorazin I take it to be a meer Monkish device to divert mens eyes from seeking him in the right place where he is to be found § 17. More south-ward the brook Cherith having viewed at some distance Beeshterah afterwards called Bosrah a city of the Levites called also Ashtaroth And it is questionable whether this or Ashtaroth-Carnaim whereof formerly were the Metropolis of Og King of Bashan runneth into the Sea of Galilee By the banks hereof the Ravens brought Eliah bread and flesh in the morning and evening and he drank of the river It seems Dinners are but innovations whilest break-fasts and suppers are mens most ancient and naturall meales Here Eliah having the subâ—â—ance of sustenance cared not for the ceremony of a Table or complement of a Carpet How little will preserve life but how much must maintain luxury After a while this River dried up Collect not thence that the brook was inconsiderably little but that the drought had been extraordinarily long § 18. As for the cities of Hippus Iulias and Gamala whereof as deep silence in Scripture as frequent mention in Iosephus it is enough to name them In the last of these Iosephus reports Iudas of Galilee to be born that grand impostor who in the days of the taxing pretended himself the Champion of popular liberty to protect them from such unreasonable payments Multitudes of men flocked after him for spare their purses and win the hearts of the Vulgar But Iudas having goâ—ten power fell a pillaging all people taking from them the whole griest of their estate so to save the owners from paying toll unto Cesar. How smooth and tender are the gums of Infant-treason but oh how sharp are the teeth thereof when once grown to full greatness However he and his followers came afterward unto confusion and is the second instance alleadged by Gamaliel to prove that councells which are not of God will come to nought The Son of Geber was Solomons purveyer in this half Tribe of Manasseh § 19. The Armes assigned to Ioseph are a tree proper growing by a Well founded on the words of Iacob Gen. 49. 22. David may seem hence to have borrowed his Simile of a blessed man He shall be like a tree planted by the waters side But Ioseph had more not onely a Well before to refresh but a wall behind to support him and his boughs may Heralds word it in their own language grew over the wall Partly foretelling the fruitfulness of Iosephs posterity and partly pointing at the particular posision of his inheritance For as some think Iordan was the wall on the east of the Land of Canaan properly so called and the children of Ioseph having their root planted and main body growing on the other side of the river spread their branches over this wall half Manasseh having his portion on the east side of Iordan To conclude though those Armes did generally belong to the whole house of Ioseph yet custome hath appropriated them to Manasseh alone other Ensigns being assigned to Ephraim whereof God willing hereafter Here the Map of Naphtali is to be inserted THE TRIBE OF NAPHTALI CHAP. 4. § 1. NAphtali Son of Iacob by Bildah his Concubine was multiplied during the aboad of his posterity in Egypt to fifty and three thousand four hundred All which dying in the desert their Sons being fourty five thousand foure hundred entred the Land of Canaan A Tribe acquitting it self considerable in relation to the rest though we meet but with two or rather but with one and a half Glories thereof The former Barak the son of Abinoham who acted by Deborah did act so valiantly against Sisera The half-one Hiram a Naphtalite though his Father was a man of Tyre that curious Artificer in Solomons Temple Other eminent persons though unknown doubtless were of this Tribe for in their martiall addresses to David in Hebron none appeared in more excellent equipage for number and warlike accoutrements And of Naphtali a thousand Captains and with them with shield and speare thirty and seven thousand § 2. This Tribe bordered plainly intimated though not expressed in the bounding thereof on mount Libanus on the north and reacheth as is plainly expressed to Zebulun
some to be the primitive fountain of Iordan Yet Iosephus tells us of Phiala a spring above two hundred furlongs off and therefore out of the bounds of this Tribe into which Philip the Tetrarch cast chaâ—â—e to try the experiment and it was rendred up again in the streame of Iordan Whence he concluded that this river entertained an underground intelligence with that fountain But we are not to take notice where rivers are secretly conceived but where they are visibly born and therefore date the originall thereof from the apparent heads of Ior and Dan which keeping themselves sole and single for a short time are soon wedded together And from the confluence of their names and streams Iordan is begotten § 8. To pass by Scripture commendations it is called by â—olinus eximiae suavitatis amnis a river of excellent sweetness But as if Rivers as well as Men were too prone to be proud of their good properties it is very subject to overswell the banks in which notion perhaps it is also called by the aforesaid Solinus Ambitiosus amnis an haughty and ambitious river But what saith the Prophet The pride of Iordan is spoiled namely in some extraordinary drought and thence dearth which he there foretelleth To keep the golden mean As Iordan sometimes must be acknowledged to mount too high so Naaman depressed it too low in his valuation whose ignorance and passion preferred Abana and Pharphar the rivers of Damascus before it § 9. At the aforesaid confluence stands the famous city of Laish which at first it seems was a free State living in subjection to none and yet in slavery to their own intemperance They were far from the Zidonians that is as one measureth it about thirty miles half that distance being too much to receive thence seasonable succour in their suddain surprize by the Danites In taking which town the prophecy of Moses was fulfilled Dan is a Lions whelp he shall leape from Bashan It seems that the Danites came on the east-side of the City and might for a time secretly repose themselves in Bashan Whence on a suddain Lion-like saliant in his Posture when he seizeth on his prey they leaped on the city and were felt being on them before seen coming towards them The City was afterwards called Dan and the Danites possessed a tract or territory of ground which otherwise seems to lie within the Tribe of Naphtali but was not possessed by them § 10. But as we must praise the prowesse and policy so we detest the Idolatry of these Danites who hither brought and here erected the graven Image stoln from Micah worshiping it untill the day of the captivity of the land that is as Tremellius well expoundeth it till the Ark was taken captive and restored when there followed a generall reformation in the days of Samuel This place then purged was not long after defiled again with the same sin For here Ieroboam set up one of his golden Calves making Priests of the meanest of the people And although where a Calfe is the God a wispe of Hay is good enough to be the Priest yet hainous was the offence because done by Ieroboam in the disgrace of Religion The erection of these Calves was pretended for the ease of the people of Israel to spare their tedious travell thrice a year to Ierusalem but in effect occasioned that they were sent a longer journey on a worse errant even into irrecoverable captivity Thus to spare a step in the path of piety is to spend many in the ready road to misery § 11. In the time of our Saviour this Dan was called Cesarea-Philippi built in honour of Tiberius Cesar by Philip the Tetrarch Who in so nameing it as wise to remember himself was also mannerly to prefer the Emperour This Philip being Tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis made this Cesarea as conveniently seated betwixt both the place of his principall residence Neare this place Peter gave Christ that excellent testimony of his being the Son of God As for the two statues of melted brasse which here are said to be set up by that woman whose Fluxe of bloud Christ cured the one resembling our Saviour the other her self in humble posture touching the hem of his garment I had rather the Reader receive it from the Authours themselves then my relation Chiefly because it seems improbable that she who so lately had sepent all her substance upon Physicians should so quickly recrute her self as to be able to goe to the cost of such a Monument § 12. Leaving now the territory of Dan we enter on Naphtali and Iordan running hence after some miles expatiateth it self into the waters of Merom or the Samocâ—onite-lake This was a Sea in winter and in Sommer a thicket of reeds affording shelter to Lions and Wolves and which now a days are more dangerous to travellers then either wild Arabians Behold saith the Prophet He shall come up like a Lion from the swelling of Iordan that is most fierce and furious who having lodged there quietly all sommer in the shade is vexed to be rouzed by the rising of the waters in winter and therefore is ready to revenge this wrong on the next object he meets Near these waters Ioshua gave that famous overthrow to Iabin senior King of the Canaanites pursuing the chace as far as Zidon On the west of this lake where Daphnis a rivolet falleth into it they place Riblah accounted a terrestriall Paradise for the sweet situation thereof But grant it pleasant in it self it was a sad place to King Zedâ—kiah who having first beheld the slaughter of his Sons had here his own eyes bored out Thus mans tyranny accomplisheth Gods justice whilest Zedekiah had now leasure enough to bethink himself how he deserved this punishment who indevored to put out the eyes of Israel by persecuting the Prophets and imprisoning the Seers thereof Afterwards Iordan recovering it self out of the lake and contented with a competent stream is passable at the ford of Iacob so called because tradition reports that Patriarch there to have gone over this river with the company of God and his staffe At this day there is a beautifull bridge built over retaining the name of Iacobs bridge kept in excellent repaire as being the high-way betwixt Damascus and Ierusalem And well may tâ—e Turkes afford it seeing the unconscionable toll which they extort of Christian passengers for Caphar or custome will serve almost to build all the arches thereof with silver § 13. Here let us hold a while and desiring to please all palats let us temper the harshness of old matters with the mixture of a modern passage If the Reader should ever travell this way from Damascus to Ierusalem and so into Egypt he may repose himself for a night in the Cave east of this bridge on the other side Iordan A Cave is a publick building
mark I know not but hope the Reader before he knocks this away will lay a better in the room thereof So much of Asher whose countrey was much straitned by the Phoenicians their mortall enemies lying within his bounds though never subdued which we now come to describe § 11. Phoenicia is often mentioned in Scripture and is so called as some will have it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from plenty of palm trees growing therein as others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the many slaughters formerly made in that warlike Nation To omit other antiquated deductions thereof prettiest because newest is that of a modern Author from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bhene-Anak Pheanak Phoenik the sons of Anak as the fathers and founders of the people of this Country A long slender Country it is having the bounds thereof by severall Authors variously assigned but generally extended from the Sea to Mount Libanus in breadth and in length from Carmel to the River Canis in the north a tract of an hundred miles and upwards § 12. The inhabitants hereof were transcendently ingenious whose wits like the gold wire they so much dealt with were ductile and pliable to all inventions From a pin to a pillar nothing was so small but their skill could work nothing so great but their industry could atchieve Whatsoever was pretty for children to play with or neat for women to weare or necessary for man to use in any one of these the Phoenicians were so expert nature might seem to design them for that alone and so dextrous in all of them it were hard to say wherein they excelled They could weave clothes with the smallest thred dresse them with the finest work dye them with the freshest colours embroider them with the richest cost and then either sell them to others to their great profit or weare them with as much pride themselves They were excellent Architects Solomon himself who well knew the most cunning workmen in every craft confessing to Hiram There is not amongst us any that can skill to he◠timber like the Sidonians They are also conceived the first founders of Letters Arithmetick Astronomy with the working in glasse and severall other rare devices § 13. Tyre was the chiefest city in Phoenicia situate at the entrance of the Sea Elegantly the Prophet termeth the harvest of the river her revenue an harvest lasting all the yeare long every day sowing at the setting forth and reaping at the return of her Ships Tyre said of her self I am of perfect beauty which coming out of her own mouth was rather proudly then falsly spoken If it be accounted one of the stateliest sights in the world to see a stout Ship under saile how beautifull was it to behold the Tyrian Gallies with all their accoutrements Planks of the Fir-trees of Senir Masts of the Cedars of Lebanon Oares of the Oaks of Bashan Hatches of the ivory of Chittim Sailes with broidered work oh vanity top and top gallant out of Egypt blue and purple Carpets for covering from the Iles of Elisha with Giblites for Calkers Arvadites for Mariners Persians c. for Souldiers and Tyrians her own Townsmen for Pilots so keeping the honour and haply seeking to preserve the mysteries of their harbour to themselves § 14. Passe we from their Ships to their Shops which we finde fraught with commodities of all kindes Whose Merchants are Princes saith the Prophet and it seems that Tyramus a good word for a good King till customary using thereof in the worst sense infected it had its originall from the Pride and Magnificence of the Tyrian Merchants This city is termed a Mart of Nations both because all Nations were there to sell and there to be sold they traded the persons of men and not onely armes but armies were here to be bought and horsemen as well as horses were chaffered in their markets § 15. Now as Tyre was dispersed all over the world in the severall Colonies planted by her in forein parts so the World was contracted into Tyre whither Merchants from all countries did repair Compare Ezek. 27. with Gen. 10. and it will appear that most of those nations which departed from Babel in a confusion met in Tyre in such a method as now inabled through industry observation and entercourse they could understand the languages and traffique one with another We intend a little to insist both upon the commodities and countries of such as hither resorted For though I dare not goe out of the bounds of Canaan to give these Nations a visit at their own homes yet finding them here within my Precincts it were incivility in me not to take some acquaintance of them In setting down of their severall places I have wholly followed let my candle goe out in a stink when I refuse to confess from whom I have lighted it Bochartus in his holy Geography Their severall trades we rank according to the twelve great Companies in London Let not the comparison as ominous offend any Tyre since being reduced to a ruinous heap seeing the Parallel is onely intended to shew the like latitude of commerce betwixt them However it is neither unseasonable on this occasion nor improper for my profession every Minister in this respect being the Cities Remembrancer to minde London not to trust in uncertain riches seeing pride and unthankfulness may quickly levell the highest bank of wealth yea strongest mountain of outward greatness 1 Merchant-Mercers Such as traded in Silkes Byssus in latine though rendred fine-linnen in our translation blue and purple being Egyptians Syrians and from the Isles of Elisha By Elisha understand Peloponnesus wherein an ancient ample countrey called Elis and part thereof termed Alisium by Homer where the adjacent Islands Co Carpathus Cythera Rhodes Gyarus c. are eminent for plenty of purple Here some wil object it was a real tautology to bring purples to Tyre seeing by generall confession the best of the world were made in that place In answer whereunto know that these Elishian purples being of a different die and dress from those of Tyre were a distinct commodity It is so far from being needless pains that it may bring considerable Profit to carry Char-coals to New-castle And these courser purples though not for the Tyrians own wearing might be for their barter with other Nations Not to say but that the peevish principle might possess the people of Tyre to slight homebred and prize forein wares so that the Tyrians Ladies might prefer those purples best for their own use which were fetched the farthest off 2 Merchant-Grocers Such as traffiqued with the chief of all spices being those of Sheba and Raamah both being places in Arabia the happy Great no doubt was the fragrancy of these spices brought over land to Tyre whereas such as are conveyed into England by ship from India have the less vigour of that land where they grow and the
measures it to be sixteen miles long and six broad Munster assignes it to be twenty German miles eighty English in compass Bunting contracts it to twelve in length four miles and somewhat more in breadth Biddulph a late English Divine and eye-witness thereof computes it eight leagues in length and five in breadth three miles to all leagues whom for the main we have followed Others assigne it other dimensions all agree it is not very great But what it wants in bigness it hath in variety of names called the Sea of 1 Cinnereth onely in the old Testament from a City of that name in the Tribe Naphtali Others conceive it so named from Kinnor an Harp in Hebrew which it is said in shape to resemble sure the high winds sometimes make but bad musick to the eares of mariners when playing thereupon 2 Gennesareth 3 Tiberias cities of note in our Saviours time flourishing thereon 4 Galilee the countrey which almost on all sides surrounded it Small vessels sometimes termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ships sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boates or Barges went to and again in this sea Gally-like sailing or rowing or perchance both as they saw their advantage They were little of strength because no Pirates to molest them and not great of burthen not comparable to the ship wherein Saint Paul sailed on the Mediterranean Sea carrying two hundred threescore and sixteen souls which for the greatness thereof might be Admirall of all the Navy in the new Testament The river of Iordan runneth through the midst of this Sea and mingleth not therewith but preserveth his own stream intire which some impute to the swiftness yea rapidness of his course not at leasure to take notice of much less to unite with any water he meets in the way before he come to his journeys end at the dead Sea § 5. This was the onely and all the seas that ever our Saviour sailed upon It is reported of wise Cato that he repented he ever went thither by Sea whither he might have gone by land But see here Wisdome it self who by going about might have passed to any place on the other side of the Sea preferred the use of a ship not to spare his own pains whereof none more liberall but to 1 Shew natures intent of the Sea made as well to be sailed as the ground to be gone upon 2 Take occasion to manifest his Deity in working of miracles thereon 3 Comfort seafaring-men in their distresses praying to such a Saviour as had an exprerimentall knowledge of the danger on both elements And here amongst the many voyages of our Saviour who often crossed the length and breadth of this sea-lake let us take account of some most remarkable And first in generall we may observe that after the working of some extraordinary miracle which might have great influence on peoples affections as the feeding of so many thousands Christ presently put to sea clouding himself in obscurity and shunning popularity so far that it should venture a drowning if offering to follow after him § 6. The first voyage we will insist on was when our Saviour sailed in Simons ship who formerly had fished all night getting nothing save a drowzie head and empty hands untill casting his net at Christs command he caught such store of fish both his and his partners ship began to sink O when will any earthly thing fall out even to our desires We always finde fish either none at all or too many and a surfeit of wealth is as dangerous as a famine thereof The fish were now ready to return into the water from whence they came and not by their wit but weight had caught their fishermen had not Christ by miracle brought all safe to shore § 7. A second when the Disciples put to sea at the command but without the person of their Master Tossed they were on the waves rowing with great pains to little purpose for the wind was contrary till looking at last they see Iesus walking on the water Then were the words of the Psalmist literally true Thy way is in the Sea and thy path in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known The Disciples unable to conceive such a mystery conclude it was a Ghost It is not worth our enquiry what Ghost or whence good or evill of man or devill this wild guess being the effect of their fright then which no more professed foe to a cleare judgment Christ quickly discovering himself Peter requests a commission to meet him which granted he walks for a while on the water till his Faith first then feet failing him he began to answer the name of Cephas proving himself a stone not by the stability but the heaviness thereof and began to sink till Christ saved him Nor was Christ sooner in the ship but the ship was at the land Thus those many strokes at the oares which the Disciples had taken before were not meerly lost but onely laid up and now restored them in their speedy arrivall Yea the sails of the ship were not now on the mast but in the keel thereof Christs person did the deed Thus projects driven on without Gods gracious presence are but driven on whilest such designes fly to their wished end which take God along with them § 8. The third and last voyage we will insist on was when the ship was not upon but under the sea covered with the waves Yea it was now full of water and the Disciples of fear whilest Christ him self was fast asleep having a pillow under his head and a softer under his heart a clear conscience See we here our Saviour a perfect because an imperfect Man his infirmities speake the reality of his humanity Working had made him weary weariness had caused him to sleep much out of a desire to be refreshed more out of a designe to be awaked Here all cry out Master save us we perish Danger will make the profane to pray the wilfull-dumbe to speak who will finde a tongue rather then lose a life No doubt Iudas himselfe who afterwards sold him was now as clamorous as any to be saved by him Christ awakes and rebukes first the Disciples for being too fearfull and despairing then the winds and waves for being too bold and presumptuous Both obey owning their Creatours voice as well may his words who made them at first make them now to be quiet § 9. Many more were the voiages our Saviour made on the Sea as when after the feeding of so many thousands they had but one loafe in the ship and on our Saviours caveat of the leaven of the Pharisees their jealousies grew solicitous for food Had they not besides that one loafe in their Cup-board twelve moe in their memory five at one batch and seven at another on the recollection whereof their mindes might feed to depend
them from a small spark to a fire to a flame but sunlike arising in perfect lustre gaines the greatest reputation amongst people Because in some respect he is like Melchisedek without Father without Mother without descent whilst the admiring vulgar transported with his preaching and ignorant of his extraction on earth will charitably presume his Pedegree from heaven and his breeding as calling to be divine § 16. The cruell Nazarites brought Christ to the brow of the hill with full intent to cast him down headlong All in vaine For Christs death was to come a clean contrary way not by throwing him down but by lifting him up And he passing thorow the midst of them went his way Not that as the Rhemists interpret it to make way for their transubstantiation he penetrated contrary to the nature of a body thorow the very breasts of the people but that either he smote them with blindness that they did not see or else struck them with fear that they dared not to stay him the power of his Person wedge-like cleaving its way and forcing a lane for his passage in the midst of the people § 17. Expect not here â—hat I should write any thing of the opinions of the hereticall Nazarenes taking their name from this City of Nazareth and are commonly but corruptly called Nostranes at this day Much less will I trouble my self and the reader with the severall stages of the Chappel of the Angelical-salutation A Chappell which well may pity the pains and perils of such pilgrims as repair thereunto having it self had an experimentall knowledge how tedious travail is in its own often removealls flitting first from Nazareth to Flumen a City in Illyrium thence for the unworthiness of the inhabitants translated to a wood in the Picene field and thence again because the wood was infected with theeves carried by Angels into the ground of two brethren who falling out about parting the profit thereof was the fourth and last time conveyed into the high way where ever since not because weary but welcome it is pleased to make its abode But I remember the precept of the Apostle nor give heed to fables and therefore proceed to more profitable matter § 18. To returne to Nazareth the nameless rivolet arising near thereunto runneth north betwixt Dothan on the east and Sephoris on the west At the former Ioseph was conspired against by his brethren The cause of their hating of him besides his Fathers loving him was the reporting what he saw in his sleep dreames of his future preferment and what he saw waking no dreames of his brethrens present debauchedness who resolved to murther him O how they saw the anguish of his soul made visible in his bended knees held up hands weeping eyes wailing words and all to no purpose Into the pit he is put whilst his brethren fall a feasting oh with what heart could they say grace either before or after meat whilst it was so sad with Ioseph Stars they say are seen the clearest even in day time by those that are in deep pits Surely divine providence appeared brightest to Ioseph in that condition Indeed Reuben endevoured his restitution to his Father Iudah his preservation from death but neither being privy to others designe unwittingly countermined one another had not God wrought all for the best Ishmaelitish Merchants and Midianites in their company pass by bearing Spices and Balm and myrrh to carry down into Egypt To them Ioseph is sold of whom we take our leave for the present not doubting in due time and place to meet him again Mean time may those merchants be carefull to carry him safe for among all the spices they were laden with none more fragrant and precious then the perfume of this captives innocence So much for Dothan onely I will adde that I have placed it here out of a peaceable compliance with the judgements of learned men otherwise I shall not spare to manifest my private opinion on just occasion § 19. On the west of this rivolet was Sephoris afterwards called Dio-caesarea not to be omitted though not mentioned in Scripture because accounted by Iosephus the greatest City in Galilee where the Jewish Sanhedrin for some time had its residence Let the same Authour inform you how this City was burned by Varus how molested by the seditious how basely it deserted Iosephus was bravely recovered by him plundred by his souldiers and the spoile thereof restored again with severall passages of high concernment in the Jewish history A little more northward this brook falls into Iordan the less which afterwards payes its tribute to the sea of Galilee § 20. Which sea runneth Southward by Gittah-hepher or Gath-hepher as most place it the birth-place of Ionah the Prophet His name in Hebrew a Dove to which he answered rather in his speedy flight from Gods service then in any want of Gall whereof he manifested too much in his anger without cause or measure Ionaâ— therefore being born here in the heart of neather Galilee no less untrue then uncharitable was that assertion of the high Priests and Pharisees Search and look for out of Galilee cometh no Prophet Except their words herein referred to the future not to what was passed and that also onely in relation to the Prophet Paramount the Messiah of Israel More south the sea ran by Magdala a turreted town as the name thereof imports and common tradition is all the argument we have that Mary surnamed Magdalen that eminent penitent was so called from this place because living others say richly landed therein Into the coasts of Magdala Christ came from sea when the Pharisees tempted him to shew them a signe from heaven In the parallel place in the Gospell of Saint Mark the same Countrey is called Dalmanutha different names it seems for the same territory § 21. Going forward on the sea side still southward we meet with the influx of a riyolet thereunto fetching his fountain from the heart of the Countrey near the City of Bethulia nigh unto which was acted the atchievments of Iudith against Holofernes § 22. Form Bethulia the rivolet running full east is swallowed up in the Galilean Sea beholding the high seated City of Iotopata some two miles distant from the inlet thereof The stout defending of this place against the Romans with no less wisdome then valour was the master-piece of Flavius Iosephus in the behalfe of his Countrey-men And now having made necessary mention of his name pardon a digression in giving a free Character of his writings whereof next holy writ we have made most use in this book § 23. It must be confessed that he was guilty of some unexcusable faults namely of Boasting immoderately of his own birth valour learning piety Levity inserting frivolous fables of the root Boras c. And yet we will not confine natures
Davids words guilty of infidelity seeing it is easier to withhold rain from a mountain then to remove it from its foundation and cast it into the sea and yet our Saviour assures us this shall be done if in faith desired But be it known David intended not his curse should take effect but meerly to manifest his great grief and to shew how far he was from delighting at the death of his greatest enemy Better to fall under Davids Dirae as he was a Poet then as he was a Prophet the latter lighting heavily indeed as Iudas in Achitophel could witness the weight thereof Nor remaineth any thing more observable in this Tribe save in the east part thereof on Iordan they shew Pilgrims the place where Naaman patient at last by his servants perswasion washed seven times and was cleansed of his Leprosie § 24. Thus all the remarkable places of Issachar but not all those in Issachar are already by us described For as the text expresly saith the Tribe of Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher even three Countries that is lying in Issachar and Asher but environed round with those Tribes possessions yet pertaining to the portion of Manasseh Let none blame Divine Providence of ill Architecture for not well contriving the rooms in the house of Israel the division of the land by lot not being well designed wherein Issachars Chamber his portion was made a thorough-fare Manasseh having three closets three small countreys within the same So that neither Tribe could enjoy his own with privacy and intireness and Manasseh if but stepping out of the high-way must in a manner trespass on Issachar or crave leave of him to come through his to his own inheritance But know all was ordered by the counsell of Gods will for reasons best known to himself who would not have his children Churles to ingross habitations by themselves but by such mixture of their portions invited yea ingaged their persons to mutuall intercourse seeing the very lots of their Tribes gave loving visits and their Countreys by Gods own appointment came so curteously and confidently one within another § 25. But very hard it is to conceive how Manasseh could have any land within Asher which Tribe lay many miles more northward and beyond the Tribe of Zebulun interposed The Jewish Rabbins being much perplext at the Pedegree of Aâ—zel why it is twice reckoned up in Chronicles use to say that they need four hundred Camels loaden with Commentaries to give the true reason thereof But their expression is more appliable to this present difficulty how Manasseh could have any ground in Asher except as we have presented it in our Map some part of Asher lay southward at distance dis-jointed from the main body of that Tribe which we have formerly described Who knows not that pieces of Parishes parcells of Manors portions of Counties though far off dismembred relate unto them notwithstanding the intermediate distance betwixt them § 26. But let not Issachar or Asher repine that Manasseh had so much land in their Countreys seeing though the right was assigned unto them the Canaanites for a long time till about Davids reign kept all the same in their possession as will appear by the ensuing parallel Joshua 17. 11. And Manasseh had in Issachar and Asher Bethshean and her towns and Ibleam and her towns and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns and the inhabitants of Taanch and her towns and the inhabitants of Meggido and her towns even three Countrys Judges 1. 27. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns nor Taanach and her towns nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns but the Canaanites would dwell in that land Of Bethshean more conveniently hereafter By Ibleam Ahaziah was wounded as was formerly observed Dor mentioned for a sea-town in Ptolemy had the King thereof conquered by Ioshua Endor whither Sisera's souldiers defeated in fight not far off at Taanach which alsoâ—was a regall city in the days of Ioshua and afterwards belonged to the Levites fled were pursued perished and became as the dung of the earth Hither Saul repaired to a witch to raise Samuel and received cold comfort from the dead or Devill rather informing him of his future destruction so that Saul formerly sick with fear of the worst lived to hear Satan toll his passing-bell in his sad predictions § 27. But Megiddo was the most eminent City Manasseh had in Issachar The King hereof was destroyed by Ioshua and many years after Iosiah was slain in the vale of Megiddo bidding Pharaoh Necho battell in his march against Charchemish by Euphrates Never Prince shewed more devotion in his life or less discretion in his death courting that danger which declined him seeing Pharaoh desired peaceably to depart But haply Iosiah conceived himself ingaged to fight him in point of 1 Honour because without leave he had made his land an high way to pass through it 2 Policy suspicious though Pharaoh went forth as a friend he would returne as a foe especially if puffed up with success in his expedition But what shall we say it was the sin of his subjects would not suffer Iosiah to keep quiet at home Their impieties made him to march thrust him into the field forced him into the fight yea shot the fatall arrow which wounded him at the heart § 28. Now let none be troubled because Iosiah who rather deserved two lives seems to have two deaths one text making him to die at Megiddo another at Ierusalem Understand it death arrested him with a mortall wound at Megiddo but did not imprison him till he came to Ierusalem where he expired Much less let any challenge God as worse then his word with Iosiah having promised him by his Prophet to be gathered to his Fathers in peace for besides that that promise principally related to the captivity of Babylon from which Iosiah was exempted even such may be said to die in peace which swim to their graves in their own bloud if withall imbarqued in a good conscience § 29. All Israel and principally the Prophet Ieremy dropped many a precious teare on his hearse whose Lamentations are an Elegy on Iosiah's death yea their grief was no land-flood of present passion but a constant channell of continued sorrow streaming from an annuall fountain it being made an Ordinance in Israel The Prophet speaking of a grand and generall grieving for mens sins compareth it to the mourning of Hadadrimmon conceived to be a place hard by in the valley of Megiddon § 30. Iehosaphat the son of Paruah was Solomons purvey our in Issachar but the dis-jointed piece of Manasseh in this Tribe pertained partly to Baanah the son
to fall out with their friends counting other mens honour to be their injury except they might be admitted joint purchasers with them in all gallant undertakings This caused their contest first with Gideon who pacified them with his compliance afterwards with Iephthah where their Braul was hightned into a Battell how quickly doe hot spirits hatch words into blowes of which we have spoked before § 3. This Tribe was subject to a naturall imperfection of lisping the cause whereof we leave to others to dispute whether got by imitation or some hereditâ—â—y defect in their tongue or proceeding from some secret quality in their soil as it is observed in a village at Charleton in Leicestershire that the people therein are troubled with wharling in their utterance The best is men must answer to God for their vitious habits not naturall impediments and better it is to lispe the language of Canaan then plainly to pronounce the speech of Ashdod § 4. Sure I am no Tribe Iudah excepted can vie eminent persons with Ephraim as Deborah and Abdon both Judges of Israel the one by heâ— habitation whilest living the other by his sepulcher when dead truly collected to be of this Tribe as also Ieroboam and all the Kings of Israel 〈…〉 § 5. 〈…〉 Dan on the south 〈…〉 But as for the particular 〈◊〉 and flexures 〈…〉 borders of this Tribe they are so many and so small they will be scattered out of our memories except bound together as we finde them in the text § 6. Condemn not this our diligence for needless curiosity but know that every meer-stone that standeth for a land-mark though in substance but a hard flint or plain pibble is a precious stone in virtue and is cordiall against dangerous controversies between party and party and therefore it is of great consequence to be well skilled in the out-limits and boundaries of this or any other considerable 〈◊〉 § 7. The particular bounds therefore of this Tribe 〈◊〉 exactly as followeth South West North. East 1 From Iordan by 〈◊〉 to the 〈…〉 2 Thence to the wilderness that goeth up from 〈◊〉 throughout moun◠〈◊〉 3 Thence to 〈◊〉 thence to be bordâ—â—s 〈…〉 Ataroth 4 Thence westward to the coasts of Iapbleâ—i 5 Thence to the coasts of Beth-horon 〈…〉 6 Thenâ—e 〈◊〉 Gezer thence to the sea The Medditerranean Sea Northwest 1 From the sea to 〈…〉 Kâ—na thence to 〈◊〉 Northeast 2 Thence to Beth-horâ—n the upper thence to Michmâ—â—ha 3 Thence went about unto 〈…〉 eastward 4 And passed on the east to 〈◊〉 5 Thence to Atâ—roth 6 Thence to 〈◊〉 and so to 〈◊〉 The river 〈◊〉 We reserve the satisfying of such difficulties as inâ—umber these borders to our fifth â—nd last book intending it shall serve our four former in the same office wherein the Spleen attendeth on the Liver For as that is the drain or sewer of the feculent and melancholy bloud so we design our last book of objections for the Repository of all hard doubts and difficulties that the rest of our work may be more cheerfull and pleasant in the reading thereof § 8. Amongst these limitary towns besides the Bâ—th-horons both of them with Uzzen-Sherah founded by Sherah the daughter of Ephraim the younger the greatest Buildress in the whole Bible Gezer is most remarkable The King 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 by Ioshuâ— and the City was given to the Levites but kept by the Canaanites in defiance of all the powers of Ephraim untill Pharaoh taking it burning it and killing the Canaanites therein gave it for a present to his daughter Solomons wife Behold here two titles on foot at once and the question is which should take effect Whether the title of the Levites deriving it from Gods grant though a main matter they never had the possession of Gezer given them or that of Pharaohs daughter claiming it as a donative from her father The best is the cause was to be tried before the wisdome and integrity of Solomon who no doubt being so bountifull to the Temple would not be injurious to the Ministers thereof but that as he gave the child to the true mother he would adâ—udge the City to the originall owners thereof though making his Queen some reparation otherwise Proceed we now to the description of this Tribe and will begin with two eminent Cities in the south part thereof § 9. Rama otherwise Ramathaim-Zophim because consisting of two towns and seated in the land of Zuph was the place where Samuel was born wonderfully of a long barren mother lived unblamably as appears by the nationall testimony of his integrity died peaceably and was buried honorably Naioth nere Rama was the name of his house where David sometime conversed with Samuel two eminent Prophets then living together under the same roof § 10. Yea the very aire of this place seems propheticall seeing Saul coming hither to attach David was by the great well that is in Sâ—chu the Helicon of heavenly raptures strangely inspired and stripping himself fell a prophecying a day and a night together § 11. This Saul continued constantly a carnall man though we meet with many spirits which successively possessed and deserted him 1. The spirit of prophecy which twice ravished then finally forsook him 2. The Spirit of the Lord fitting him for government which departed from him after David was anointed 3. An evill spirit which troubled him partly allayed by Davids musick 4. His vitall and animall Spirits which partially forsook him at the witches sad news when he fell all along on the earth and there was no strength in him 5. His spirit or soul finally forced from him by his own sword on mount Gilboa What need then have men to try the Spirits before they trust them seeing so many of them may be in one and the same person § 12. In the new Testament this Rama is called Arimatheâ— whereof was Ioseph that honourable counseller who so freely resigned his own sepulcher to the body of our Saviour and with Nicodemus provided for the decent interring thereof § 13. Shiloh succeeds in a narrow southern spong of this Tribe where after the conquering of Canaan the Tabernacle was solemnly set up and remained there almost four hundred years This place was for that purpose preferred before others partly because almost the center of the land and partly in honourable respect to Ioshua extracted from and living in this Tribe of Ephraim and pity it was that God and the Prince should be parted Perchance the allusion of Shiloh with Shiloah or Siloam which is by interpretation sent clearly pointing at our Saviour might promote this place for the erection of the Tabernacle therein § 14. At Shiloh there was an anniversary dancing of the daughters thereof probably collected out of all Israel coming then to the
Tabernacle where the Benjamites as yet unprovided for wives lying in ambush in the vineyards violently seised some of those maides for their brides happy man be his dole making strange matches if each interest concerned therein be seriously considered § 15. First for the Fathers of these virgins Did this equivocating expedient satisfie their consciences who had formerly sworn not to give their daughters to the Benjamites to wife and yet now by laying the design themselves did in effect give these women in marriage to these men § 16. Secondly for the young men What assurance had they they could love not choosing the fittest whom they liked of but catching the first they lighted on Or that they could be beloved storming their wives with violence in stead of taking their affections by mutual composition § 17. As for these Brides of fortune may we not presume that many of them which danced this day wept on the morrow Yet one thing might comfort them they were all richly married to mighty matches of landed men seeing the fair and fruitfull Tribe of Benjamin with all the Cities therein was to be shared amongst their six hundred husbands alone as the sole survivers and absolute heires of the whole Countrey § 18. In Shiloh Eli lived Priest and Judge of Israel whither Elkanah and Hannah Samuels parents repaired to Gods publick worship This Hannah though silent when twiâ—ted by Peninnah for barrenness found her tongue when here taxed by Eli of drunkenness because a meer sufferer in the former but in the latter a sinner had the accusation been true Samuel here prayed for afterward here served God in a linen Ephod and though generally there was a dearth of visions in this age here he had many revealed unto him But Eli's dim eies connived here at his sons impieties Whose servant with his Trident an Innovation no doubt and none of the utensils made by Moses according to the pattern of the mount would have raw flesh for his Master so that what between the raw flesh here sacrilegiously stolne and the strange flesh wherewith those Priests abused themselves at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation any pious eares would now tingle to hear their faults as hereafter at their punishment § 19. For soon after happned the destruction of Hophni and Phinehas slain in battell the Arkes captivity Eli's heart-breaking with the news neck-breaking with his fall the death of Phinehas his wife newly delivered whose son got the sad name not of Benoni a name calculated for private pangs but of Ichabod from this sorrowfull accident because born in this grand eclipse when the glory was departed from Israel § 20. Yea the very city of Shiloh it self may seem in some sort to expire on the same occasion which as it owed its life and lustre to the Tabernacles residence therein so sinks down in silence at the captivity thereof For we finde no after mention of any eminent act therein onely that Ahijah the Prophet long after lived there He was the Jewish Tiresias though blinde a Seer who discerning Ieroboams wife through her disguise foretold the death of her sick son Abijah So much of Shiloh proceed we now to the more northern and mountainous part of this Tribe § 21. Amongst the remarkable places in mount Ephraim we find Timnath Serah or Timnath Here 's by inversion of the letters on the northside of the hill Gaash where when they had made an end of dividing the land the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Ioshua See here his publick spirit not improving his power though ComaÌ„nder in chief to pickout the fattest pastures fairest meadows fertilest fields for himselfe but as if he counted it possession enough for him to have gained possessions for others when the meanest man was first served he was contented to stand to the peoples courtesie what they would bestow upon him If it sound to the praise of a Generalls valour to come last out of the field when it is won no less is the commendation of his temperance to come last into it when it is divided In Timnath Serah asked and built by him Ioshua afterwards was buried and as Saint Hierome reports that in his time the Sun was depicted on his monument This I dare boldly say that whereas modern Heralds blazon armes by the specious titles of Planets their fancy is with most truth appliable to Ioshua's shield bearing Sol and Luna indeed having made both Sun and Moon stand still by his prâ—yers Also Eleazar the High priest was buried in mount Ephraim in an hill which pertained to Phinehas his son § 22. Tirzah was another city near mount Ephâ—aim whose King was conquered by Ioshua In the days of Solomon it was a place of great repute Thou art beautifull ô my Love as Tirzah comely as Ierusalem terrible as an army with banners Ieroboam chose it to be his Royall-seat perchance because near Zereda his native place where he and his successours lived for welnigh sixty years Indeed Baasha had a project to make Ramah the place of his residence as nearer to Ierusalem and therefore more convenient to mark the motions of the Kings of Iudah but frustrated of his designe he was fain to return to Tirzah reigned and was buried here Elah Baasha's son was here drinking in the house of Azzah his steward when a dear reckoning was brought in and no less then his life extorted from him by Zimri his successour Afterwards when Tirzah was taken Zimri either out of envy that the royall Palace should survive him or desire to prevent a more shamefull death burnt himself and the Kings house together We read of King Asa that after his death his subjects made a very great burning for him but Zimri exceeded making a bone-fire for and of himself when alive herein standing alone except seconded by Sardanapalus who in like manner destroyed himself on the same occasion Thus dyed Zimri a King onely for a week whose Reign like a winters day was short and dirty yet long enough to leave this taunt for Iezebels mouth and Proverb to posterity Had Zimri peace that slew his Master Hard by is Tiphsaph where King Menahem barbarously ripped up the women with child because the city opened not to receive him § 23. Besides cities many private dwellings were sprinkled on mount Ephraim as the house of that Levite whose concubine the men of Gibeah abused to death the house of Micah well stored with Idols where first the five spies then the sixe hundred men of Dan took up their lodgings when marching to Laish Ungratefull guests who in stead of discharging their quarters plundered their Land-lord taking his Images and priest away with them Thirdly the house of Deborah under a Palme-tree betwixt Ramah and Bethel where she judged
Israel A tree then the Westminster Hall of the whole Land made the seat of justice in an open place partly that all people might have free access with their Petitions thereunto without doors or porters to exclude any partly that so publick a place might minde Judges parties and witnesses of fair and clear proceeding without secret or sinister reservations having heaven Gods Throne in view and before their eyes This Palme was preferred for this purpose before other trees because far and fair spreading it afforded much people a shady conveniency under the branches thereof not to insist on a text rather for fancy to descant then judgement to comment on the resemblances betwixt the growth of Palmes and judiciall proceedings Which as that plant improves it self by pressures ought in fine to flourish in defiance of all opposition § 24. But the most observable place in the north of this Tribe is the City of Samaria built by Omri because the royall Palace was burnt at Tirzah as is aforesaid on an hill bought by him for two talents of silver and called by him Samaria from Shemer the former owner of that place Strange it should take the denomination rather from him that sold it then him that bought it except this was part of the bargain which appears not in Scripture Sure we are though the name of Omri was not preserved in the place the Statutes of Omri were observed by the people according to the Prophets complaint and his impious injunctions obliged men to the practise thereof Samaria proved afterwards a beautifull City was the principal place of the residence burial of the Kings of Israel § 25. Stately was the Kings Palace therein Hence King Ahaziah Ahabs son had a mortall fall through a lattice in his upper chamber possible this mischance had been prevented had the house or chamber been built according to Gods direction with batlements that men might not fall from thence But likely it is the Fabrick thereof was fashioned according to the Mode of the Sidonian architecture Hard by Ahab built an Ivory-house Conceive it chequered inlaid and adorned therewith otherwise all the Elephants in India and Affrick would not afford materialls for such a structure not to say the crookedness and smalness of their teeth made them useless for beames in that building A frequent Synecdoche to denominate the house from the principall materialls therein like Leaden-hall in London not because wholly built but onely covered with that metall But alass what good would an Ivory-house do Ahab whilest he had an Ebony soul in the midst thereof blacked over with impieties Baals temple built by Ahab and turned by Iehu into a Iakes was a structure of great State into which Baals Priests were trained by a device and slain The greatest place of receipt in Samaria which might serve them for a market-stead or rather for a seat of Justice was that voide place at the entring of the gate of such a latitude that it was able to receive at once the Kings of Israel and Iudah with their royall retinue § 26. But amongst all the structures in Samaria none more eminent then the streets built therein by the King of Syria A thing scarce to be paralleled that a forein King should be permitted to erect streets in the Metropolitan City of another Kingdome If any alledge that Peter Earl of Savoy built his palace in the Strand known by the name of Savoy at this day and that there is a street betwixt Aldersgate and Smithfield called Britons street from the ancient lodgings of the Duke of Britain therein neither of the instances amount to the matter in hand The former palace being erected as I take it for the Earles abode here when in banishment And as for the latter it appears not that the Dukes of Britain were at any cost in building it whereas the Kings of Syria founded the Fabrickes of those streets in the city of Samaria and never inhabited therein It seems when Omri began the new building of Samaria either he requested the assistance of the King of Syria as a neighbouring Prince in amity with him to help him in the work no shame to beg the first clouts of friends for an infant-infant-city or else the Syrian Kings civilly tendered their service to give it as good handsell to so good a work or as a Royall Largess amongst the inferiour builders thereof For mine own part I conceive that the Kings of Damascus got some conquest of Samaria not mentioned in Scripture and then built these streets as a monument of their victory and bridle to over-awe the city The rather because Benhadad being afterwards overcome by Ahab profered the like favour and freedome unto him if it pleased him to accept thereof And thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus as my Father made in Samaria § 27. We meet in Scripture with three famous sieges of Samaria Once when Benhadad not content with Ahabs submission profering to hold all he had by homage from him would have all the wealth of the city in specie surrendered unto him vainly vaunting that the dust of Samaria could not suffice for handfulls for all the people that followed him Surely the Scavengers were very diligent in sweeping so populous a place or else it was a most hyperbolicall expression But grant Samaria could not yeeld dust enough to fill the hands the mountains near unto it could afford dirt enough to stop the mouths of most of his army who few days after were thereon miraculously defeated § 28. A second siege was in the reign of King Ioram when the famine was so great that an Asses head and a cab of dung was sold at unconscionable rates the former for food the latter most probably for fewell and surely not to drain peter to make powder thence an invention unknown in that age Nor was the sudden plenty occasioned by the Syrians flight less admirable all provision being brought down in an instant to a very unexpected low price So that he that here knew beforehand what would be cheap or dear needed but a few minutes to make him a rich Merchant But this showre of plenty caused a floud of people to flock to the gates of Samaria where that infidell Prince who despaired of Gods power and Elisha's prophecy was overwhelmed in the multitude living so long to have his eyes confute his tongue but not to have his taste confirme his eyes beholding but not partaking of the plenty § 29. The third and last siege when the city was taken and destroyed by Salmaneser King of Assyria in the reign of Hosea King of Israel a King who was the best or rather the least bad of all that sate on that throne Of whom it is said he was evill in the sight of the Lord but not as the Kings of Israel that were before him It may therefore seem wonderfull that
blessings mentioned there or else the ten Commandements the Breviate and abstract of the whole law § 36. But mount Gerizim was the Holy of holies to the Samaritans in after ages commonly calling it the blessed mountain and confining their publick service and sacrifices to that place Here to avoid confusion we must take notice of two distinct sorts or sects of Samaritans differing much amongst themselves in 1 Antiquity 2 Extraction 3 Religion 4 Place of their worship One from Hezâ—kiahs time Heathens by descent Heretâ—call Any where in the province of Samaria Another from 〈◊〉 tiâ—e Mongrel Iews Idolatrous In mount Gerizim alone We begin with the former being colonies of Assyrians planted by Salmaneser in the place of the ten Tribes which he had carried away into finall captivity These at first were devoured with Lions saith the Scripture though Iosephus affirmeth that the plague the Samaritan Chronicle that the famine destroyed them Presumption in them to deviate from Gods word for though both plague and famine may in some sense be allowed to be Lions that is devourers yet such as confound them destroy Gods solemn Quadripartite of his punishments making three members of his four sore judgements mentioned in the Prophet coincidere to interfeer yea run all into one Afterward a Jewish Priest was at their request sent out of Assyria to teach these Samaritans the manner of the God of the land He is called Ezdras by Epiphanius by others Lun and by some Zacharias but seeing God hath concealed his name it is no whit materiall to know it especially except he had taught them better divinity For he instructed them not to serve God as they ought in his Temple then extant at Ierusalem but in their own countrey according to the direction of Ieroboam and then no wonder if the Samaritans were guilty of abominable impieties For as water neither will nor can naturally ascend higher then just levell to the spring or fountain whence it is derived so these people were capable of no purer service of God then as they were principled by this superstitious Priest who either did not know or would not teach them the true Religion Yea their practise fell short of his precepts not worshipping one God alone but every city had also a severall Idoll to themselves according to the nations whence they were descended These were the ancient Idolatrous Samaritans which as Chrysostome saith did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mingle what was not to be conjoined and which in process of time were well wasted and few if any of them extant in the days of our Saviour § 37. These were succeeded with a second sort of hereticall Samaritans beginning in the government of Nehemiah who reporteth that one of the sons of Iojada the son of Eliashib the high-priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite and therefore I chased him from me This Priest is by Iosephus called Manasse who thus driven away from Ierusalem went with other Iews guilty of the like mongrell-matches to the Samaritans their wives kindred and there as the Jewish writers relate built an Anti-temple on mount Gerizim where a medly nation devised a miscellaneons worship of God rejecting all the Scriptures save the five books of Moses and maintaining many abominable superstitions And yet they were not so bad as Epiphanius makes them charging them by a far-fetch'd consequence to worship heathen Gods because placing sanctity in that mountain wherein Iacob buried his Idols whilst some tax them to adore a Dove the Armes of the Kings of Babylon and others unjustly accuse them utterly to deny the resurrection we remit the Reader to our learned Authour who cleareth them from these false aspersions and though we our selves will not take the pains to plead their cause let us have the patience to hear others speak for the worst of men when unjustly traduced § 38. But the main difference in matter of Religion betwixt the Samaritans and Iews is no less briefly then cleerly and truly stated in those words of the woman to our Saviour Our Fathers Samaritans worshipped in this mountain Gerizim and yee Iews say that in Ierusalem is the place where men ought to worship The contest grew high betwixt them each zealous to assert the transcendent holiness of their Temple insomuch that the Samaritans made the text false to make their title true wilfully depraving the originall For whereas we read in the Hebrew both that Moses directed and Ioshua erected an Altar on mount Ebal the Samaritan Pentateuch make the same built on mount Gerizim in the very place where afterwards their mock-Temple was set up so to gain thereunto the greater reputation of holiness This false foundation laid they proceeded thereon to vaunt of the excellency of their divine service exceeding the Iews in 1 Antiquity it bearing date from this solemn Altar four hundred and odde years before the structure of the Temple by Solomon And if the Iews once offered to plead the originall of their Temple from Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac on mount Moriah then the Samaritans to outvy them derived the seniority and sanctity of their mountain from the first apparition God made to Abraham and first Altar Abraham made to God in the land of Canaan both in this before Isaac was ever promised 2 Constant continuance pretending an uninterrupted succession of divine service in this place whilest they objected the long intermission of Gods worship in Ierusalem lying wast during the seventy years of the captivity in Babylon But oh how light and slight how few and feeble are the Samaritan arguments for the place of their worship if compared to the numerous ponderous pregnant proofes Iews can produce for Gods presence fixed in Ierusalem The Samaritans therefore were wise in their generation to admit alone of the five books of Moses for canonicall wherein all their supposed evidences for the matter in controversie are contained seeing otherwise had they accepted of the rest of the Prophets in the old Testament their witness had utterly overthrown the fundamentals of their Religion which so frequently make Ierusalem the proper center of all pious mens devotion One instance for many Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Ioseph and chose not the Tribe of Ephraim but chose the Tribe of Iudah the mount Sion which he loved And he built his sanctuary like-high palaces like the earth which he hath established for ever Here Ephraim is singled out by himself as of all the Tribes most probable in after-ages to justle with Iudah for the place of Gods publick service in whose portion was mount Gerizim besides Shiloh where the tabernacle so long resided and yet he is cleerly cast and the cause adjudged against him by the immediate determination of God himself § 39. We have no more to say of the Samaritan temple on mount Gerizim save onely that Antiochus afterward
Leshemites pursie with long peace then to undertake those two warlike nations well breathed daily in military Discipline And sudden surprisals were foretold in this Tribe § 5. But grant the measure in this Tribe but short the ware thereof was very fine the Countrey being passing fruitfull in commodities Herein grew that bunch of Grapes of prodigious greatness in gathering whereof by the hand of the spies sent to search the Land the Israelites took Livery and Seisin of the fruits of the Countrey Besides this Tribe did drive some sea-trade Deborah complains Why did Dan remain in ships though the Iews generally were mean Mariners and Merchants Partly because the fatness of their soile so stuck by their sides it unactived them for forein adventures and natures bounty unto them gave their industry a Writ of ease to sit at home And partly because being divided as an Island from the Continent of the World in Religion from other Countries it cut off their comfortable commerce with other nations though since their wofull Posterity have proved the Capemerchants of the world § 6. First to survey the west side on the sea therein we are accosted with Ioppa a strong City seated on an high rock so that Strabo reports that Ierusalem may thence be discovered which a modern Traveller concludes impossible At the bottome thereof a haven formerly most convenient So ancient a place that some make it first founded and so named from Iapheth before the floud But it is utterly improbable that Noah being himself busied about building an Arke which threatned the worlds destruction would suffer his son to erect a City as promising a fixt habitation Hither all the timber of the Temple cut down and carved in mount Lebanon was brought by the Tyrians in floates and hence by Carts conveyed to Ierusalem Hither Ionah fled and took shipping for Tarshish conceived by some to be the Countrey of Cilicia by others the city Tarsus therein But be it Sea or Land Countrey or City sure it was not Niniveh whither God had sent him Here charitable Dorcas which made coates and garments for the poor widows whilest she was with them the lanthorn of mens good deeds cast the best light when carried before them and done in their life time lived dyed and was revived by Saint Peter Here he lodged in the house of Simon a Tanner by the sea-side water we know is very necessary in that occupation though salt water onely usefull to wash raw hides and therein beheld that vision wherein the Epitome of all creatures were in a sheet represented unto him Of this great City at this day onely two old towers doe survive it being questionable whether the place be more ruinous or the poor Moors more ragged that dwell therein A bad haven much obstructed with sands and exposed to the fury of the north wind The best commendation of this harbour is that Iury had no better scarce another as if God condemned the seacoasts thereof to danger as the Continent to barrenness § 7. Near unto Ioppa is Lydda some six miles North-west where Peter cured Enâ—as truly pious of the palsie which eight years had afflicted him Here Saint George is reported to have been beheaded and his tombe is shewed in this place All I will adde is I hope without offence this ensuing Parallel In Ioppa In Lydda The valour of Perseus is celebrated for freeing Andromeda daughter to King Cepheus tyed with chaines to the rockes from the fury of a sea monster to which she was exposed The puissance of Saint George is remembred for delivering the nameless and onely daughter of a certain King of Libya from a fiery Dragon to whom she was tendered by lot to be devoured It is pity these two stories should be parted asunder which will both in full latitude be believed together Hard to say whether nearer the two places or two reports He that considers the resemblance of their complexions will conclude Fancy the father Credulity the mother of both though we need not presently reject all the story of Saint George for fictitious for some improbable circumstances appendent thereunto Nor have I ought else to observe of Lydda save that in Saint Hieroms time it was called Diospolis § 8. To return to Ioppa the port of Ierusalem And let us a little way accompany the Pilgrims in the road thitherwards Take the character of the Countrey on the credit of a late eye-witness A most pleasant plain yeelding Tyme and Hyssope and other fragrant herbs without tillage or planting growing so high that they came to the knees of our Asses Nor need any wonder at the stature of this ground Hyssope in Iury different from wall-Hyssope or mosse rather the last and lowest step of natures storehouse and Solomons study seeing good Authors have affirmed that haec planta in Iudaeâ arborescit hyssope doth tree it in Iudea And what is called by Matthew and Mark Calamus a reed cane or speare is rendred an Hyssope-stalke by Saint Iohn Because as a learned man concludes Hyssope here sprouted so high that thereof an instrument might be made to lift up the sponge to our Saviours mouth hanging on the Cross. And thus we see that as always one of Iob's messengers escaped to bring the sad tydings of their fellows destruction so even at this day some stragling vallies in Palestine have made hard shift by their own fruitfulness still continuing to informe the world how plentifull this Countrey was before barrenness by Gods appointment seised on the generality thereof § 9. To proceed in the road to Ierusalem as the best guide to direct us in the survey of the north of this Tribe It passeth not far from Shaalâ—im a City of Dan but in the confines of Ephraim Where though the Amorites dwelt in despight of the Danites yet the Tribe of Ephraim made them tributaries A little further this high-way takes its farewell of the Tribe of Dan but with full intent shortly to visite it again For having passed over a corner of Ephraim which baggeth into the south it returns into Dan and goes forward by Modin the City of Mattathias and his sons where the seven sepulchers of the Maccabees each a high Pyramid on a square basis and all mounted on a steep hill are a conspicuous sea-mark to the Mariners many miles distant Charitable monuments which being erected for the honour of the dead are imployed for the safety of the living Few miles hence this high-way finally leaves this Tribe And therefore we leave it onely wishing the passengers therein a prosperous journey to Ierusalem That such as goe thither about business may dispatch the same to their own contentment such as travell out of curiosity may have their expectation so satisfied as to countervaile all their paines and charges and such as goe thither out of superstitious opinion to merit may have their
erroneous judgements better rectified and informed § 10. Nor doth ought else observable offer it self in this corner of the Tribe save Aijalon where Ioshua's prayer arrested the Moon to stand still assigned by God to the Levites But the Amorites took the boldness to keep possession thereof Hear the words of the Scripture And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountaines for they would not suffer them to come down into the valley but the Amorites would dwell in mount Herez in Aijalon and in Shaalbim The genuine sense is that though the Amorites generally pent the Danites up in the mountains yet in these three places though mountainous in their situation they crossed their common custome not out of necessity but designe as sensible of their own profit that these transcended the vallies in fertility and therefore placed themselves therein Let others dispute how it came to pass that the Priests whom God intended men of peace by their profession had a controversiall City appointed them incumbred with enemies so that they must win it before they could wear it As also how the Levites could live when the Land allotted them was sequestred in the hand of a forein foe It will be for enough us to observe that in all ages the Church being imbarked in the same bottome with the State ran an equall hazard therein according to her proportion And when the whole Tribe of Dan like the Parish in generall was straitned in its processions well might the Priests maintenance be abated accordingly § 11. We goe back now to Ioppa where standing on the rocks an indifferent fight may easily discern those ships into which the heathen people of Ioppa with much courtesie but more craft invited the Iews with their wives and their children to goe aboard for they made them pay their lives the fraight for their voyage wilfully drowning two hundred of them Whose bloud Maccabeus revenged with a contrary but as cruell an Element burning all their ships in their harbour with such as were found therein Hard by is Iamnia a little haven which may be rendred Seaton in English whose mischievous intention against the Iews Maccabeus punished by burning their towne by night Which bone-fire was beheld two hundred and fourty furlongs off as far as Ierusalem A thing not incredible that fire it self should be seen so far by the light whereof other things in darkness are discovered especially when mounted high on its throne with the advantage of pitch cordage and other navall and combustible matter Some doe conceive that this Iamnia is the same with Iabneh the wall whereof was broken down by Uzziah the puissant King of Iudah § 12. Hence the sea running southward provides it self to entertain a nameless brook which Mercator cals Naphtoah and others making signes as unable to speak the true name thereof the brook of the land of the Philistines because otherwhiles the northern boundary of their dominion We had rather give it no name then a nick-name And because the course thereof affords us conveniency to visite the middle parts of this Tribe we will accept of his courtesie and follow the guidance thereof § 13. This brook hath its birth and infancy in the Tribe of Iudah whence flowing into Dan he runneth through the desert of Modin which is full of rocks and those of holes and those once of men flying out of the neighbouring Cities from the persecution of the Pagans Herein a thousand of them were slain by the fury of their enemies or rather by the fondness of their own superstition refusing to make resistance on the Sabbath day A sad accident But the parent of a good event because putting the surviving Iews in a posture of defence and teaching them more wise and valiant resolutions Yea not long after hereabouts they obtained a victory over the numerous army of Cendebaeus Nor will any slight this brook as inconsiderable when they read how it ran in the midst betwixt the armies of the Iews and Pagans and was so deep that the hardiest of the former durst not adventure to wade it before first incouraged by the example of their Generall Except any will say they did not so much fear the depth of the river as the height of the banks of the other side to wit the puissant army of their enemies § 14. Going further on the river we come into the Countrey of Makats that is as learned Tremelius well observeth the border or boundary if you please the Marches betwixt this Tribe and their professed enemies the Philistines It is impossible to define the limits thereof seeing the Countrey was the constant Cock-pit of war and the ground thereof sometimes marched forward sometimes retreated backward according to the variety of martiall success Great is the difference betwixt the same sea at high and low water mark and so this Countrey must needs be much disproportioned to it self when extended in a full tyde and when contracted in a low ebbe of success § 15. In this Countrey of Makats Bethshemesh was a principall City belonging to the Levites and reputed part of Iudah but except some Labell of land tacked to Iudah surrounded about with the Tribe of Dan. A case obvious in the dividing of Countreys Who knows not how Worcester-shire hath speckled all the adjacent Counties with snips and shreds belonging unto it though environed with other shires and that at considerable distance Hither the kine drawing the Cart and lowing as they went to their Calves at home nature in them was not rooted out but overruled brought the Arke and rested it near a great stone in the field of Ioshua a Bethshemite At what time the Bethshemites were reaping their harvest in the valley Instantly at so good news their Sicles lost their edges and could cut no more corn that day The Arke-home is to be preferred before Harvest-home But oh how hard is it to keep hungry eyes from feeding on forbidden objects All the Bethshemites were Levites but not Priests much less high-Priests to whom alone and that onely anniversary the survey of those mysteries did belong Besides at this time Bethshemesh from a City was enlarged to be a Countrey such the confluence of Israelites from all places Otherwise no back of one City might seem broad enough for so great a rode whereby fifty thousand and threescore and ten men were destroyed by the Plague for their Curiosity in prying into the Arke § 16. Gibbethon is another prime place in Makats allotted by God to the Levites of Kohath and no doubt by them peaceably possessed for many years seeing nothing to the contrary doth appear But after the days of Ieroboam it is said to belong to the Philistines Probably when the Levites loyall both to God and their King upon the idolatrous defection of Israel willingly deserted their own Cities the Philistines taking advantage thereof when much good bloud is let
ran with the swiftest and held out with the longest Having aâ— King in the days of Abraham and continuing themselves in a considerable condition till after the captivity Returning almost as many forcible impressions as they received from the Israelites What though Shâ—â—gar smote Samson 〈◊〉 and Samuel humbled them yet they grew so great in the reigne of Saul that they left all the Israelites swordlesâ— though afterwards there was one sword too many in Saulâ— hand wherewith he slew himself when overcome by the Philistines Indeed David brought them and Solomon kept them under But in the days of Ioram they so recovered themselves that they plundered Iudah rifled the Kings palace killed and carried captive the seed royall Uzziah after ordered them into obedience but under Ahaz they regnined their lost cities and wan more unto them In a word of the heathen people left for thornes in the sides of the Iewes none had sharper prickles or pierced nearer to their hearts then the Philistines Yea such their puissance that from them the Greeks and Latinos called all this land Palestinaâ— because the Philistines lived on the sea-coast most obvious to the notice of foreiners As in deed a small Port makes a greater report in the eares of strangers far off then a land-locked place though far greater in proportion § 24. The bounds of Philistia are not precisely to be set down For whilest tame cattell are kept in pastures beasts of prey such this warlike people are onely bounded by their own ravenous appetite The best way to measure the borders of the Philistines is to behold the sins of the Israelites For when they were encreased then the Countrey of the Philistines was accordingly enlarged Thus in the days of King Saul they roved and ranged as far as Dor and Bethshean in the half Tribe of Manasseh and had Garisons in the heart of most Tribes of Israel But their constant habitation their den as I may terme it was atract of ground from Gath in the north to Gaza in the south Some fifty miles in length and about halfe as broad in the lands allotted to Iudah Dan and Simeon Their government was a mixture of Monarchy and Aristocracy For as their chiefe Cities had Kings over them which seem absolute in their own dominions so these kingdomes were but Cantons in relation to the whole as members making up one entire Common-wealth § 25. There need no other evidence be produced to prove the fruitfulness of their Countrey then the vastness of their bodies whereof the rankness of their ground must be allowed a partiall cause Our English Proverb saith shew me not the meate but shew me the man The well batling of the Giants bred in Philistia chiefly in Gath their Seminary being Heteroclites redundants from the rules of nature sufficiently attests the fertility of their soil Some of these Giants had their hands branching out into six fingers though they who had one fewer had enough to kill them Let Naturalists curiously inquire whether or no this stock of Giants be wholly spent in our age And if so what the true causes thereof Whether intemperance of diet or over early marriage seeing every one that is raw to work count themselves ripe to wed Let them consult whether nature hath not some other way recompensed in our age that want of strength by giving them quicker wits wheras in voluminous men commonly there is much empty margent However mens lesser strength and stature amounts not to a proof of an universall decay in nature as a most learned pen hath unanswerably demonstrated § 26. One thing more we must observe of the Philistines that they are also called Cherethims or Cherethites in Scripture Know also that the Cherethites were a kind of lifegard to King David Now because it is improbable that so wise a Prince would intrust his Person in the protection of the Philistines his conquered enemies therefore learned Tremellius by Cherethites understands such Israelites as afterwards possessed the Countrey of the Philistines expulsed by David Which seems to some but a forced interpretation For what unlikelyhood was it that David might entertain Proselyte Philistines converts to the Iewish religion if there were such to be attendants about his body Not to instance in the French Kings double gard of Scots and Switzars as improper to this purpose because though forein yet free and friendly nations David out of policy might retain such to wait upon him both for their present encouragement and future engagements of the fidelity of the Philistines Whose service might not onely be free from danger but full of advantage especially when they were under the conduct of so wise and valiant an Israelite as Benajah the son of Iehojada placed governour over them To render this still more probable Consider how Ittai the Gittite with six hundred men of Gath was no native of Israel as appears by Davids words thou art a stranger and an exile and yet was intrusted with the Command of a Terce of the army in the battell against Absolom Wherein he excellently acquitted himself according to his loyall resolution to attend the Kings fortunes whether in life or death § 27. Come we now to describe the Countrey Philistia where in the north part thereof we finde Gath a regall City before Achish the son of Maoch the King whereof David to save his life counterfeited himself mad But whether guilty or no in so doing Divines have not yet determined It would incline me to the more charitable side that he had good warrant for what he did because at the same time understand it immediately before or after he composed two Psalmes Which shew his soul not out of tune solemnly to serve God But David went to Achish a second time with sixe hundred men it seems upon better assurance before-hand then formerly and was with great kindness entertained by him dwelt with him in Gath and after obtained Ziklag from him and by Achish his minde should have been the keeper of his head Achish the son of Maachah tributary no doubt to Solomon was King of Gath. For Shimei confined to Hierusalem by Solomons command and his own consent did fetch from him his fugitive servants Time was when Shimei's tongue ran too fast in railing on David his Master and now his feet moved too far in running after his servants so that breaking the Tedder of his Commission of the pieces thereof a Halter was justly made for his execution This City of Gath was afterwards fortified by Rehoboam and many years after taken by Hazael King of Syria and in the next age had the wall thereof broken down by Uzziah King of Israel § 28. Betwixt Gath and Ekron lying thence south west we are as certain there were Cities as ignorant how to call them For the present let them pass by the name of Samuels Cities
because by his devotion the Cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel from Ekron even unto Gath. See the difference betwixt Priest and Priest both in service and success Vicious Hophni brings forth the Arke into the field fights falls loseth his own life and part of Israels Land to the Philistines Pious Samuel stays and prays at home the Arke is brought back to him he both saves himself and as a bountifull benefactor regaineth the former loss of his Countrey § 29. Ekron was a stately City and commendable was the discretion of her Inhabitants who learning wit from their neighbours woe would not keep the Arke and Gods anger therein but with the speediest conveniency returned it home to Bethshemes Of these Ekronites David afterward killed two hundred and tendered their Foreskins a Dowry for Michal Sauls daughter For though by the condition of his Espousals he contracted but for an hundred Foreskins yet such was the supererogation of his valour Love and Loyalty never give scant measure that he doubled the number And what injustice was it that he that paid her dowry double should enjoy her but halfe seeing Saul afterwards took her away and gave her to another Beelzebub was the grand Idoll of Ekron whose name importeth a Lord of flies Scaliger conceiving it to be a nick-name which the Iews gave it in derision so that the terming it a God of flies was in effect to say a flie for your God In the new Testament Beelzebub passeth for the Prince of the Devills It seems that Hell it self that place of confusion would wholly be confounded if some superiority were not therein observed § 30. More south we again come to the river Sorek on whose banks grew Grapes of goodly greatness yea the Hebrews report them to have been without any kernels But that hereabouts Lust did not grow without shame and sorrow to attend it Samson will sadly witness For in the house of Dalilah by the brook of Sorek he betrayed his strength to her she his person to the Philistines Thus those that sleep on a harlots lap for their Pillow are overtaken with destruction before they dream thereof Hence they carried Samson to Gaza which is welnigh fourty miles off And why so far Partly to render their triumph more glorious baiting him with all eyes gazing on him and partly the more safely to secure him bringing him far from his friends and beyond the reach of any rescue § 31. But as here was the place where Samsons purity was polluted so hard by was the the fountain or water wherein the Ethiopians pollution was purified This was he who being Treasurer to Candace Queen of Ethiopia rode in his chariot and read Isaias when always some unexpected good surprizeth such as are studious in the Scripture Philip was sent to expound it unto him Can a Blackamore change his skin saith the Prophet But see here the virtue of baptismall water washing away the black hue and vicious habits of his naturall Corruption and making him a true Christian convert § 32. But Philip was found at Azotus and Azotus or Ashdâ—d hardby is easily found for a City seated on a Hill cannot be hid This was the third Satrapie of the Philistines in our definition but first in honour as famous for Dagon an Idol there adored who yet had the manners in homage to the Arke to put off his head and hands and fall flat on the ground And hither first they brought the Arke of God This was allotted to the Tribe of Iudah but left unconquered by Ioshua King Uzziah brake down the wall of it and built Cities in the coast of it And soon after Tartan sent by Sargon King of Assyria took it The Maccabees had divers battells near Azotus Here Iudas overthrows Gorgias And spoiles Azotus And again pursues Bacchides But himself is slain Here Ionathan overcomes Demetrius the younger and burns Azotus and the Temple of Dagon And hereabouts Iudas and Iohn prevaile against Cendebeus As for Dagon here adored some make him Patron of grain and he is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Philo Biblius others the President of the sea and we may safely beleeve his Power as much over the one as the other His shape save that it was masculine for sexe resembled the Antick laughed at by the Poet. Desinit in piscem mulier formosa supernè Upwards man-like he ascended Downwards like a fish he ended And yet this Fish had also feet under the taile thereof which feet of a fish seem not to stand with any proportion But what shall we say The uglier his shape the handsomer for an Idol and to keep a Decorum it was fit that he should be as mishapen in his form as monstrous in his worship Far handsomer no doubt were the women of Ashdod or else the Israelites would never have been so enamoured with them as after their return from the captivity by marrying with them to beget a mongrell off-spring whose tongues as if divided Parte per Pale spake half Ashdod and half Hebrew But surely God was afterwards better pleased with the Iews solemn submission and fair putting away of their wives then with the cruelty of the Britons if true what reported which marrying French women in Armorica now called little Britain out of a zeale to preserve their native Language they cut out their wives tongues for fear they should infect their children with a mixture of French As for Metheg-Ammah in Philistia because the learned are not resolved whether thereby a place be designed and if so many take it for Gath or else that thereby is signified that David took the Bridle of Power from the hand of the Philistines see it signed with an Asteriske enough to tell the Reader that we doe not shew but seek a certainty therein § 33. So much for the land in this Tribe If we look on the sea bounding it on the west see Ionah in his ship flying as fast as he could from the presence of the Lord that is from the performance of his Propheticall function in Niniveh Otherwise he was better principled then to conceive it probable in any place to avoid Gods presence and if so erroneously opinioned made the worst of choices to goe down into the sea where Divine power most effectually appears Many carnall reasons might cause his flight as fear to he murthered for delivering so unwelcome a message to that bloody City suspicion that his preaching little regarded in Israel would be less in Niniveh zeal to his Countrey as perceiving the conversion of the Gentiles would prove the rejection of the Iews and a Iealousie as himself confesseth his Prophesie should be disproved on the peoples repentance A terrible tempest persuing the ship works wonders in the mariners 1 Out of the bold came
fear They were afraid 2 Out of the profane came piety Cryed every man to his God 3 Out of the covetous prodigality Cast their ware into the sea Mean time Ionah was fast asleep in the botome of the ship It is hard to make sense of his actions his flight spake fear his sleeping shewed security formidat audet How doth sin distract men making them as contrary to themselves as to Gods commandements § 34. At last the Master of the ship now vassall to the winds awakes him and Ionah detected by lot and his guilty conscience is cast as a peace offering into the sea where a Whale is provided after three days to bring him safe to the shore who amongst many Land-types was the onely Sea-type as the Serpent the Aire-type of our Saviour § 35. The son of Dekar was Solomons purveyour in Machats and in Shaalbim and Bethshemesh and Elon-Bethanan all places in or near this Tribe The Armes vulgarly assigned to Dan are Vert a Snake or adder argent nowed bâ—ting as some adde let Heralds translate it into the proper terms of Blazonry the heels of an horse whereby the Cavalier mounted on him falls down backwards All grounded on the Blessing of Iacob intimating the slie and subtile disposition of the Danites whose sleight was above their might policy more then their power verified in their sodain and unexpected surprisall of the City of Laish Nor know I how herein to reconcile the particular fancy of Aben Ezra to this received opinion who allots an Eagle for the armes of Dan a creature of most contrary posture and practise to a Snake nothing creeps lower then the one or soares higher then the other except agreeing in the generall qualities of quick-sight and subtilty Here if some say that the Eagle might have been the crest of Dan they will quickly retract their opinion considering crests a modern device and could not be born in that age which was scarce conceived three hundred years since The standard of Dan was erected formost of the three on the north side of the Tabernacle Here the Map of Simeon is to be inserted THE TRIBE OF SIMEON CHAP. 11. § 1. SIMEON second son of Iacob by Leah his wife probably was active in the persecution of his brother Ioseph therefore singled out in Egypt to be a prisoner certainly imbrued his hands with Levi in the bloud of the Shechemites Whereupon Iacob jointly cursed them I will divide them in Iacob and scatter them in Israel Which prediction took a threefold effect in this Tribe namely in their 1 Paucity Scarce any Tribe came more out of Egypt not any by much entred fewer into Canaan So sensible was their diminution that of fiftyâ—nine thousand but twenty two thousand two hundred possessed their inheritance It seemeth that the many mortalities in the wilderness did light heavy on the Simeonites Yea after they were setled in their possessions the Text saith they had not many children neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Iudah And although immediately after it is recorded that the house of their Fathers increased greatly yet the proportion is to be measured not in relation of this to other Tribes but in the reference of these families to others in the same Tribe of Simeon 2 Obscurity Neither Judge nor Prophet extracted from this Tribe save that in this dearth of eminent persons famine will make those crums to be taken up which otherwise would be cast away we must take in Iudith with her Apocrypha atchievements But most sure it is that one notoriously infamous namely Zimri the son of Salu who defied justice and boldly avouched his adultery with a woman of Midian was son to a Prince of Simeon 3 Dispersedness Their Countrey was but a jagged Remnant originally belonging to and still surrounded with Iudah on all sides save on the sea amongst whom their townes were scattered § 2. Yet in process of time as the dispersion of the Levites was turned totally so the scattering of the Simeonites was changed partially into a blessing Their locall mixture with Iudah begate a politicall confederacy with them Come up with me into my lot and likewise I will goe with thee into thy lot Whence a double benefit accrued to the Simeonites 1 Spirituall they were hedged in by their habitation in the right way of Gods worship so that when the ten Tribes made their idolatrous defection under Ieroboam many of the Simeonites persevered in Gods true service and they fell to King Asa in abundance 2 Temporall When the rest of their brethren were finally carried away captive under Hoshed in the sixth year of the reign of King Hezekiah â— probable it is that a considerable number of the Simeonites remained as hath been proved before by their habitation within the lot of Iudah § 3. The Lot of Simeon was transcendently fruitfull having a most temperate aire insomuch that Saint Hierome 〈◊〉 in his time it was termed Regio salutaris the healthy Countrey No marvell then if the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac having their choice of the whole Countrey preferred to live so long in these parts And the latter of them sowing grain near Gerar reaped an hundred fold which was the greatest increase which that Corn returned which fell into good ground in the Gospell § 4. In the north-east corner of this Tribe we findâ— that mountain before Hebron to the top whereof full twenty miles from the City Samson carried the gates of Azzah There he laid them down not in a plain but steep place partly in the gallantry of his strength that not faintness but his free pleasure made him lay them down and partly that in so conspicuous a place the Gazites might easier finde their gates there then fetch them thence A little more westward not far from the banks of the river Sorek stood the City Ziglag which Aâ—hish King of Gath bestowed on David during his abode there If any demand why David when King of Israel did not restore Ziglag to Achish again let such know that besides that Cities once passed into a potent hand are too precious things to be parted with David being crowned King of Israel had an undoubted right derived unto him by Gods grant not onely to this City but to the whole Kingdome of Gath and land of the Philistines which God had given to Iudah though hitherto they were not able to recover it § 5. Afterwards whilest David was marching at least wise in presence with Achish against Saul the Amalekites in his absence burnt Ziglag carrying away all the people therein captive Griefe hereat so prevailed in Davids men at their return that in anguish of their hearts they were ready to stone him Could better be expected from them Behold their originall they were at first men in debt and distress whose severall discontents made them generally
shoulders Remember we the blessing Moses bequeathed to this Tribe The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him and the Lord shall cover him all the day long and he shall dwell between his shoulders particularly pointing at his habitation in Ierusalem built in the borders of Benjamin § 5. Now though Benjamins mess when he sate at Iosephs table was five times as much as any of his brethren yet here it happened his portion was less then all the rest except any will say that onely Benjamins dish was less and meat more because though small the compass of ground allotted to him yet fair and fruitfull the soile many and memorable the cities contained therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The lot of this Tribe was straightned saith fosephus because of the virtue of the soile thereof Yet as little as the land of Benjamin was it was big enough to be divided betwixt two kingdomes the south-west part thereof belonging to the kingdome of Iudah the north-east to Israel with the cities of Gilgal Iericho and Bethel as shall be made plain in the respective description of those places § 6. Iordan is the eastern boundary of this Tribe David returning victoriously from Mahanaim having ferried over this water partly brought thither partly met here a miscellaneous multitude Barzillai and Shimei Mephibosheth and Ziba that is loyalty and treachery faith and falshood mingled together in the same Countrey Here once railing now begging Shimei obtained pardon from him because bringing along with him the best argument in his excuse a thousand men of Benjamin Some will say David shewed Shimei too much mercy and did Mephibosheth too litle justice not righting him against the false accusations of Ziba who better deserved a whole halter then half of the lands of Mephibosheth Such doe not seriously consider the present condition of David who had his hand struck with the sword of justice before his feet in his renewed kingdome were firmely fastned on the throne of authority it had been the ready way to have overturned him and his posterity Here Sheba a Benjamite taking the advantage of the unseasonable contest betwixt Iudah and Israel which should have most interest in David with his trumpet blew rebellion into the eares and hearts of the people had not the dangerous consequence thereof been seasonably prevented by the vigilancy and valour of David and his servants § 7. More south on the banks of the river the children of the Prophets straightned for dwellings went about to enlarge their habitations but meanly provided for that purpose if we consider the 1 Architect a son of the Prophets little skild no doubt in such employment 2 Timber green wood and growing on the banks of Iordan 3 Tools a borrowed hatchet the iron whereof fell into the river Alass how comes it to pass that when houses of the Prophets are to be built the iron forsakes the handle which sticks too stedfastly thereunto when they break them down with axes and hammers But Elisha made all things whole the hatchet came unto the helve swimming above the water § The alter Ed succeeds next more south-ward on the river Formerly we have placed it in the Tribe of Reuben on the east of Iordan but others 〈◊〉 it west of that river in this Tribe Hear the arguments for both For Benjamin 1 It was set up in the borders of Iordan which are in the land of Canaan which land strictly and properly taken was on the west of Iordan 2 It was erected to shew the contesseration of their religions And therefore most probable and proper on the west side of Iordan in the main continent of the land to claim right or rather continue a title of those separatist-Tribes Reuben Gad and Manasseh in point of Gods worship with other Tribes 3 Saint Hiâ—rome and since him learned Tostatus to whose arguments in this controversie we refer the reader with many other Commentators are very positive in placing this Altar west of Iordan in the Tribe of Benjamin For Reuben 1 It was set up over against the land of Canaan Which in proper construction imports it to be on the other side opposite thereunto 2 It had been a meer trespass for the two Tribes and an halfe in aliena Republica to build an altar on the ground of other Tribes and therefore no doubt they did it on their own ground east of Iordan 3 Iosephus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore the Tribe of Reuben and Gad going over the river c. 4 Another Ioseph though a modern yet a learned writer beleeveth that in those elder times that Countrey or territory was counted unhallowed or unclean which had not a place set apart for Gods worship and proveth from the words of Phinebas that the altar was set up on their side lest otherwise having no place consecrated they might be concluded to live in an unhallowed habitation Thus as this altar caused a difference betwixt brethren about the cause why it was erected so hath occsioned a dissension amongst learned men concerning the place where the same was set up The best is the controversie is not of such moment as to concern salvation Let us take heed we be not of that Generation which set not their hearts aright and then the danger is not great though we set this altar on the wrong side of the river However as the devout Iews in the primitive times when the Sabbath was newly changed into the Lords-day kept both Saturday and Sunday holy observing both ex nimia cautela to be sure to keep the right day of Divine worship so for more certainty we have erected two altars one one each side of the river leaving it to the discretion of the judicious Reader to accept or refuse which of them he pleaseth § 9. Come we in the next place to the twelve great stones set up by Ioshua in memoriall that there they passed over the river Iordan on foot Tremellius conceives probably that these were the quarries in Gilgal mentioned Iudg. 3. 19. whence Ehud returned back when he went to kill Eglon King of Moab Others likewise conceive that Iohn baptizing hereabouts did particularly point at these stones in that his expression to the Pharisees God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham They were set up in the Countrey Gilgal the city so called lying some five miles west of the river § 10. Gilgal rolling in Hebrew was so called by Ioshua because the reproach of Egypt was there rolled away from the Israelites and circumcision suspended during their travell being here administred and the Passeover solemnly observed here also Manna ceased the Countrey affording plentifull provisions Miracles and meanes never shine together in the same Horizon but the former setteth when the later ariseth It will perchance be demanded why Manna rained so long seeing
latter been if as zealous for the substance as for the shadow losing their own lives to maintain the type and taking away his life who was the truth thereof Then balsame intended by nature for the curing was the causing of many wounds such deadly blows passed betwixt them § 29. Ioshua took this City with the sound of Rams horns whereat the wall fell down to the ground It troubleth me not to conceive how the rest of the wall falling flat Rahabs house built thereon should stand upright seeing divine power which miraculously gave the Rule might accordingly make the Exception A solemn curse was by Ioshua imposed on those who should rebuild the walls of Iericho so to obliterate the monument of divine power and justice § 30. But Iericho thus dismantled maintained the reputation of a City and though not walled with stone for defence was shaded with trees for pleasure It is called the City of Palmes where Ehud killed Eglon the corpulent King of Moab growing so plentifully round about it These Palmes or Date-trees had scaly barks and the boughs were generally used in all combates of manhood to crown the conquerour For as Erasmus observeth though severall countries on sundry occasions had distinct garlands of victory made of Laurell Olive Myrtle Oake c. yet the Palme-tree carried away the palme from them all and was universally entertained as the Embleme of triumph The worst I wish these trees is that they may never want store of weight seeing Naturalists observe the more they are depressed the more they flourish § 31. But to return to Iericho it is ill hollowing in the eares of a sleeping Lion and worse awaking that dust which God would have dormant in eternall obscurity See this in the walls of Iericho which Hiel the Bethelite affronting heaven built again and according to Ioshua's execration laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first borne and set up the gates thereof in Segub his youngest son that is both the one and the other were then destroied by untimely deaths Strange that seeing his first son drop away he desisted not from that design but such the precipice of bad projects once step in and seldome stop in the way of wickedness Nor can Hiels presumption herein be excused whatsoever is pretended in his behalf being led to this act of contempt by one of these considerations 1 Hâ— mistook Ioshua's curse rather for a patheticall expression then propheticall prediction 2 He conceived the virtue thereof worn out and antiquated after five hundred years continuance 3 He chose rather to bottome his memory on so famous a structure then to build it on his posterity as sooner likely to decay However Hiel got a curse and Iericho walls thereby which afterwards grew to be a potent and populous City § 32. When the twelve Tribes were divided into two kingdomes Iericho probably pertained to Israel as may appâ—ar 1 By the frequent conversing of Eliah and Elisha in this City sufficiently known to have been subjects of the crown of Israel 2 Because Hiel the Bethelite Beth-el belonging to Israel built the walls thereof 3 Because that building bears date in the days of Ahab and is not accounted according to the reign of Iehoshaphat the contemporary King of Iudah Afterwards it was in the possession of the Kings of Iudah because in the reign of Ahaz the captives of Iudah are said to be brought back to Iericho unto their brethren When carried into Babylon no more then three hundred fourty five of this City returned home whose zeale was very forward in repairing the walls of Ierusalem § 33. Here Christ cured blind Bartimeus and Zacheus the Publican one of more state then stature dwelt in this City Long had he wished for a sight of Christ and curiosity in this kinde may sometimes open the door for devotion to enter in But alass he was so low more likely in the crowd to loss himself then finde his Saviour till on a suddain he grows a proper man by getting up into a Sycamore tree Who dares say Sycamores are always barren See one here loaden with good fruit Christ seeing him invites himself to his house and down he comes with more speed no doubt then he gat up to welcome his guest with good cheer though the last-course he brought in was the best protesting a fourfold restitution of what he had wrongfully gotten and giving the half of his remaining estate unto the poor § 34. Iericho was surrounded with plains on every side Hither King Zedekiah fled and here was taken by the forces of Babylon The high-way betwixt Iericho and Ierusalem is infamous for theeving because of the covert the neighbouring wilderness affords and great roads are the best rivers for robbers to fish in Wonder not that so short a way betwixt two such eminent Cities was no better secured seeing some hundred years since little safer was the road betwixt London and Saint Albans till an Abbot of that place cut down the woods that afforded them shelter Reader if thy occasion should call thee to goe from Iericho to Ierusalem I wish thee well guarded but if it be thy hard hap with the man in the Gospell be it history or parable to be robbed and wounded with theeves mayst thou meet with some good Samaritan to convey thee to the Inne and provide necessaries for thee § 35. West of the waters of Iericho stood Ai a small City but great enough to give a check to the full speed of Israels victories Their losse here was inconsiderable in it self no more then thirty six men but dangerous in the consequence thereof Such a flaw in their orient success made them cheap in the worlds valuation and the Canaanites who hitherto had charactred them invincible in their apprehension began hence to collect and conclude a possibility of conquering them Yet not valour too little in such as fought but sin too much in some who staid at home caused this defeat Achan was the man who in fine proved no whit richer for the gold or warmer for the garment he had stolen Detected by lot accused by his conscience convicted by his own confession condemned by Ioshua he with his children and cattle is stoned by the Israelites The place of his execution was called the vale of Achor or the vale of trouble both because Achan actively had troubled Israel with his sin and because here he was justly troubled by them in his punishment As for the promise of the Prophet in after ages that the vale of Achor should be a door of hope understand it mystically that the most deplorable and seemingly desperate estate of the Church is capable of comfort and may in Gods due time be changed into a prosperous condition Achan thus punished how active are the Armes of the Israelites when freed from the fetters of Sacriledge Ai is quickly conquered the
that is north-east 2 Another turned the way to Bethoron that is full west 3 The third to the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim that is south-east Thus dividing themselves they compass their ends and destroyed that necessary profession in all the land For the musick of the harp may better be spared in a common-wealth then the noise of an hammer Indeed I have heard that therâ— is an house on London-bridge built entirely of wood without any mixture of iron-nailes therein therefore commonly called None-such for the rarity of the structure thereof but if any could shew a civilized State extant on earth without the use of smiths therein it deserveth the name of Nâ—neâ—such indeed Yea the very Philistines themselves though they suppressed the military use of smiths for matter of Armes permitted by way of lone their use to sharpen instruments of husbandry This not their bounty but policy suffered as being confident when the Israelites had ploughed harrowed sown their ground reaped housed and threshed their grain then they at pleasure could come up to take bake and eate it themselves § 53. So much for the cities in Benjamin of whose situation we have any certainty A second sort succeeds known by their conjecturall flags to be of doubtfull position Amongst these Nob justly claimeth the precedency made by us within the compass of Anathoth a city of the Priests where Ahimelech victualled David and his men with shew-bread and armed him with the sword of Goliah there kept for a monument Let others enquire why Davids sling was not rather preserved for that purpose seeing it overcame the other A false brother was present by name Doeg nation an Edomite office master of the Kings heardsmen who told al and more then all to Saul adding of his own head that Ahimelech enquired counsell of the Lord for him Sure I am Doeg enquired not of the Lord when he told so damnable an untruth Hereupon Saul condemned the Priest to death and others declining so savage a service Doeg undertook it killing fourscore and five persons which wore a linen Ephod besides women children sucklings and cattel so voracious was the appetite of his sword and so active his cruelty when in commission and armed with authority § 54. The Readers eye may easily discover such places of uncertain position as remain and amongst them Zemaraim so named in Hebrew for plenty of wooll thereabouts as Woollwich in Kent and Woollton in Dorset-shire are so called upon the same occasion We set Zemaraim next Bethel because named next unto it where some place the Zemarites ancient inhabitants of Canaan as we have formerly observed Nigh this city was an hil of the same name whereon King Abijah stood made his excellent oration wanting nothing but a better man to utter it immediately before his miraculous victory over the Army of Ieroboam The Valley of Craftsmen which though it sounds like a Countrey yet because going in equipage with other cities may be concluded a city it self And what are Valladolit or Vallis Olitana in Spaine and Vale-royall in Cheshire but the former a fair city the latter lately an Abby now a village I am almost of opinion that this Valley of craftsmen took its denomination from Solomons work-men of whom we read that in the plain of Iordan in the clay ground they cast all the brasen vessels of the Temple did not the position of that place whereof before lie a little more north-ward We conclude with Zeboim not the same with that city first burnt then drowned in the Daed-sea but another probably built not far thence near the influx of Iordan into the dead-sea § 55. Sâ—imei the son of Elah was Solomons Purveyor in Benjamin The Armes of Benjamin were Gules a Wolfe salient argent in allusion to Iacobs words He shall ravin as a Wolfe in the morning he shall devoure the prey and at night he shall divide the spoil Surely the conformity hereof was not found in the person of Benjamin who appears rather lamb-like then wolvish in that little left of him in Scripture Some conceive they have found the resemblance in the two Sauls of this Tribe the one persecuting David the other the Son of David Christ in his members with raging cruelty But to wave the various Rabbinicall conceits hereof certainly this as al other similitudes of this nature is not to be sought in the disgraceful but commendable qualities of a Wolf Thus when God saith of himself Behold I come as a thief it is not meant injuriously fraudulently mischievously but secretly suddenly irresistibly This premised though wolves and foxes generally hear ill in Scripture yet the former excell in sight descrying things at great distance in sleight of excessive agility of body in might very strong in proportion to the bulk thereof All which properties discover themselves in the Benjamites quick sighted steady handed witness their good mark-men and stout-hearted in a word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that both their valour and success are foretold in this blessing bestowed upon them Here the Map of Judah is to be inserted THE TRIBE OF IVDAH CHAP. 13. § 1. IUDAH foâ—rth son of Iacob by Leab his wife was generally a well-natured man endevouring preservation of his brother Ioseph and an excelleâ—t speaker being the mouth for the rest of his brethren in his eloquent oration to Iosâ—â—h Not that these his good qualities which otherwhiles were allayed with lust and cruelty were the causes buâ— rather the effects of Gods preferring him above the rest of his brethren Of this Tribe threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred canne out of Egypt all which deservedly dying in the wilderness for their disobedience the next generation descended from them being threescore and sixteen thousand and five hundred possessed the land of Canaan § 2. Iudah saith the Scripture prevailed above his brethren and of him came the chiefe rulers so that he may be traced all along by the footsteps of his soveraignty Whilest they were in thâ— wilderness God ordered that the standard of Iudah should pitch first oâ— the east side of the Tabernacle towards the rising of the Sun Perchance to denote that the Sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings should be extracted from that Tribe When Ioshua was dead and the childreâ— of Israel asked of the Lord Who shall goe up first for us to fight against the Candanites It was answered Iudah shall goe up Othniel the first Judge was hence descended and David in whose royall line the Crown lasted for above four hundred years and after the return from captiviâ—y Zorobabel of the Tribe of Iudah is honoured with the style of Governour which office for some time continued in his family In a word besides Princes so puissant was the Tribe in Generalls Ioab Abishdi Amasa
adventurous to drink of the waters thereof so stifling and suffocating is the nature of it In a word this sea hath but one good quality namely that it entertains intercourse with no other seas which may be imputed to the providence of nature debarring it from communion with the Ocean lest otherwise it should infect other waters with its malignity Nor doeth any healthfull thing grow thereon save onely this wholesome counsell which may be collected from this pestiferous lake for men to beware how they provoke divine justice by their lustfull and unnaturall enormities § 9. Heathen writers Tacitus and Pliny take notice of this lake with the qualities thereof but especially Solinus whose testimony but with some variations from Scripture we thought fit to insert and translate though the latter will scarcely be done without some abatement of the native elegancy and expressiveness thereof Longo ab Hierosolymis recessu tristis sinus panditur quem de coelo tactum testatur humus nigra in cinerem soluta Duo ibi oppida Sodomum nominatum alterum alterum Gomorrhum Apud quae pomum gignitur quod habeat speciem licèt maturitatis mandi tamen non potest Nam fuliginem intrinsecus favillaceam ambitio tantùm extimae cutis cohibet quae vel levi tactu pressa fumum exhalat fatiscit in vagum pulverem A good way side of Ierusalem lies ope a melancholy Bay which the black soil being also turned into ashes witnesseth to have been blasted from heaven In it are two towns the one called Sodome the other Gomorrah Wherein grows an apple which though it seem fair and ripe yet cannot be eaten For the compass of the outward rinde onely holds within it an ember-like soot which being but lightly pressed evaporates into smoke and becomes flittering dust § 10. But Lot was preserved and God is said therein to have remembred Abraham though he might have seemed to have forgotten him in refusing to grant to spare Sodome at his request Thus though divine providence may denie good mens prayers in the full latitude of their desires he always grants them such a competent proportion thereof as is most for his glory and their good Lot with his wife are enjoined onely not to look back wherein she disobeyed the commandement either out of 1 High contempt Yet seeing for the main she had been a good woman accompanying her husband many miles from his native to a strange Countrey meerly depending on Gods providence our charity believes her fact proceeding rather from 2 Carelesness or incogitancy having for that instant forgotten the command or 3 Curiosity to behold the manner of so strange and suddain a destruction or 4 Infidelity not conceiving it possible so great a City could be so soon overthrown or 5 Covetousness when she thought on the wealth she had left behinde her or 6 Compassion hearing the whining of swine braying of Asses bleating of sheep lowing of kine crying of children shrieking of women roaring of men and some of them of her own flesh and bloud Were they any or all of these back she looked and was turned into a pillar of salt which Saint Hierome saith was extant in his age-Mean time how sad a case was Lot in bearing about him life and death one halfe of him quick lively and active the other halfe his wife both making but one flesh so strangely and suddainly sensless dead and immoveable § 11. Not far off is the City of Zoar Littleton in English so named by Lot whereas formerly it was called Belah I say by Lot who was the best benefactor to this place which otherwise had been sent the same way of destruction with the other four Cities had not his importunity prevailed with God for the sparing thereof Yet I finde not any monument of gratitude made by the men of Zoar to the memory of Lot their preserver yea they would not afford him a quiet and comfortable being amongst them insomuch that he feared to dwell in Zoar. Either suspecting that they would offer violence to his person or infect his soul with their bad example or that he might be involved in their suddain destruction as a wicked place spared not pardoned by God and allowed to himself for his present refuge not constant habitation Their ill usage of so good a man mindes me of Solomons observation There was a little City and few men within it and there came a great King against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it Now there was found in it a poor wise man and â—e by his wisedome delivered the City yet no man remembred the same poor man No more then Lot was remembred in Zoar though the tutelar Saint thereof But his clear conscience in free doing this courtesie rewarded it self in doing it whilest mercenary souls working onely for the wages of thanks often lose their labour especially in this ungratefull age § 12. From Zoar Lot removed to a neighbouring mountain and dwelt in a cave therein which is shown to travellers at this day Now an hole in an hil could hold him and all his family whose substance formerly was so great the whole Countrey could not afford room for his flocks and heard-men without striving with those of his uncle Abraham Here made drunken by his daughters practise upon him with them he committed incest It is grace not the place can secure mens souls from sin seeing Lot fasting from lust in wanton and populous Sodome â—urfeited thereof in a solitary cave and whilest he carefully fenced the castle of chastity even to make it impregnable against the battery of forein force he never suspected to be surprised by the treachery of his own family § 13. So much for Pentepolis once a countrey of five cities now all turned into one lake Come we now to survey the particular limits of this Tribe That Maxime Qui bene distinguit bene docet holds most true herein the well distinguishing of bounds conduceth much to the true knowledge of this Countrey especially seeing the Holy Spirit hath been so exact in assigning them Where God is pleased to point for man not to vouchsafe a look sheweth that proud earth valueth his eyes as more worth then the hand of heaven § 14. The borders of Iudah with all their particular flexure are thus described in Ioshua East South North. West The Salt-Sea 1 From the south-side of the salt-sea to the going up of Acrabbin 2 Thence to the wilderness of Zin 3 Thence to the south-side unto Kadesh-Barnea 4 Thence to Hezron 5 Thence it went up to Adar 6 Thence fetched a compass to Karkaa 7 Thence it passed to Azmon 8 Thence unto the river of Egypt 9 Thence went out at the Sea Observe we that these south bounds of Iudah are for the main the same with the south limits of the whole land assigned Numbers 34. 1 From the end of Iordan at
blessing brought the possession of the upper and nether springs along with it Know also in after ages the south part of Iudah was called Caleb probably from the large inheritance Caleb obtained in these parts and puissance of his posterity therein Thus the Egyptian giving an account of the passages of the army of the Amalekites confesseth they had been roving upon the coast that belonged to Iudah and upon the south of Caleb § 29. Libnah is the third in honour of the nine royall Cities in the days of Ioshua assigned afterwards for the Priests habitation Long it continued loyall to the Crown of Iudah untill in the days of Iehoram that ungodly unmercifull unsuccesfull unbeloved unlamented King Edom revolted from under the hand of Iudah unto this day then Libnah revolted at the same time Was it casualty or confederacy by mutuall intelligence that both thir defections bare the same date Surely breach of faith is a catching disease yea infectious from one to another But how could the inhabitants of Libnah being Priests whose best livelyhood depended on their personall officiating in the Temple at Ierusalem subsist being cut off from their service and the salary thereof Yea did they not thereby necessarily apostate from their religion to God desert his Temple and their own profession Except any will say easier spoken then proved that at this present not the Priests but some other persons were possessours of Libnah We finde not this City afterwards reduced to the Kings of Iudah whereupon some conceive that henceforward it stood on its own bottome as an absolute Common-wealth § 30. If any object it impossible that Libnah so small a City should subsist here as a free State against all the powers of the Kings of Iudah let such look on little Lucca in Italy and less Geneva in France defended by their foes from their foes environed with enemies on all sides yet so that rather then any one shall subdue them all the rest will assist them Such probably was the position and politick State-poizing of Libnah seated in the vicinity of the Kings of Iudah Israel and the Philistines not to say Egypt though far off might come in as a protectour thereof that it might make a Cordiall of a self-subsistance from the Antidotes of its enemies Afterwards we finde Sennacherib fighting against Libnah whence he sent a railing message to Hezekiah but read nothing of the taking thereof yea probably here the Angel by night did that memorable excution slaying an hundred fourscore and five thousand of his numerous army § 31. Lachish must not be forgotten whose King was destroyed by Ioshua King Amaziah conspired against by his subjects in Ierusalem fled hither in vain for They sent after him to Lachish and slew him there It was a leading City in Idolatry infected from Israel and infecting of Iudah Micah prophesied in particular against this City warning it to prepare for speedy captivity from its enemies O thou inhabitant of Lachish binde the charet to the swift beast she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee And although we finde not Lachish taken by Sennacherib who warred against it yet it escaped not the fury of Nebuchadnezzar though one of the last Cities by him subdued § 32. But Adâ—llam another regall City in Iudah was more ancient where Hirah Iudah's fast friend dwelt though employed by him but as a pandar post factum to carry Tamar the hire of her whoredome In a cave hereabouts repaired to David every one that was in distress and every one that was in debt and every one that was discontented and he became a Captain over them Was this well done of him to be Protector Generall of Out-laws thereby defying justice defrauding creditours defeating Gods command which provided that the debâ—er if not solveable should be sold for satisfaction Alas his need is all that can be alleadged in his excuse Sure I am David promised when in power to make his own choice that his houshold or Court should consist of persons better qualified However these men freely resorting to him were better then those hired by Abimelech vain and light persons and as far to be preferred before them as want is more excusable then wickedness Yea we may charitably believe Davids consorts impoverisht not by their own carelesness but their creditors cruelty § 33. As for Gedar it hath formerly been described in Simeon onely we will adde that Baal-hanan the Gederite was of this place Davids Overseer over the Olive trees and Sycamore trees in the low plain This name of Baal-hanan inverted is the same with Hannibal that great Generall of the Carthaginians See here the affinity of the Hebrew with the Phoenician or Carthaginian tongue Wonder not that Baal-hanan or Hannibal was a fashionable name for potent persons in these parts we finde also a King of Edom so called seeing it signifieth a Lord in grace or favour and our Saviour hath told us such as exercise authority over others are called Gracious Lords As for Iâ—rmuth Eglon and Arad we read nothing of them remarkable since their severall Kings were destroied by Ioshua Of Hepher we shall speak more properly in the close of this Description § And now what a fall must our Description have from the Cities of Kings to the Manor of a clown the fruitfull Carmell not far from the Dead-sea Here folly and wisdome dwelt under the same roof sate at the same table slept in the same bed Nabal and Abigail Are matches made in heaven and was Abigail so ill beloved there to be condemned to such a choice Surely God saw it most for his own glory and her good for the emprovement of her patience This Nabal proved himself a perfect Miser both by his niggardliness to David and prodigality of the King-like dinner he made to his shepheards But both he and his family had been utterly destroyed by David had not the discreet mediation of Abigail been seasonably interposed § 35. After his gluttonous supper Abigail next morning serves Nabal with a thrifty breakfast telling him of the great danger he so narrowly had escaped Hereupon his heart dyed within him Thus some drunkards have been said to have swooned when sober at the serious review of such perils they so neerly escaped in the fits of their distemper Probably feare encreased his sadness suspecting to fall into a relapse of Davids disfavour and that his anger might revert to give him another visite hereafter Thus the wrath of a King though but in reversion is as the roaring of a Lion Yea Nabal became as a stone and no wonder being little better then a stock before such his senseless stupidity But though he was a churl in his miserable living he was bountifull in his seasonable dying freeing Abigail from
an unequall yoke and fitting her with an husband better suiting with her deserts even David himself § 36. But Carmel had not such a fool but that Giloh hard by had as wise a man for the owner thereof even oraculous Ahithophel This was he that gave the wholesomest but Hushai the toothsomest counsell to Absalom best pleasing the palate of a vainglorious traitour Ahithophel advised as a cruel hunter that David should presently be pursued not giving him any breath but either running him down outright or killing him in the form where they should finde him Hushai counselled to prolong the sport for their greater pleasure and seeing all the game was surely in their own hand to give David the larger law to shift away a while for himself that so he might be put to death in the greater state and with more ceremonious magnificence Ahithophel seeing his counsell neglected at Court and foreseeing in the causes Absaloms ruin and Davids return to prevent farther shame and save the executioner the paines fairly went home set his house in order and hanged himself § 37. Tekoah is not far off where a wise woman once lived the subtilest subtilest manager of Ioabs design to David for the bringing back of Absalom and a wiser man Amos called from an heardsman and a gatherer of wild figs to be a Prophet Near Tekoah Iehosaphat obtained a memorable victory against the children of Ammon Moab and Mount Seir though at the first hearing of their coming Iehosaphat is said to have been affraid Did he not discover much cowardice herein considering what multitudes of men Iehosaphat at that time did command Namely 1 Under Adnah the chief of Iudah three hundred thousand mighty men of valour 2 Next to him Iehohanan captain over two hundred and fourscore thousand 3 Next him Amaziah with two hundred thousand mighty men of valour 4 And of Benjamin Eliada with two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield 5 Next him Iehoshabad with an hundred and fourscore thousand ready prepared for the war What need then Iehosaphat fear except as in Gideons case suspecting he had too many for God to give victory by having an Army if well disciplined with advantage of time and place able to to encounter all mankind especially on the defensive side to make good their own Countrey against any invasion § 38. It is answered the suddenness of the news might adde much to his fright that an enemy was come into the bowels of his Countrey Behold they be in Hazeron-Tamar which is Engedi before the first intelligence was brought thereof Secondly Iehosaphat feared not so much his foes as his faults guilty to himself of great offences good men the less sinfull the more sensible thereof and chiefly of his matching at home and marching abroad with the Idolatrous family of Ahab Lastly those vast numbers of his souldiers lately specified were not all at any one time but severally and successively during the five and twenty years of Iehosaphat his reign Wherefore those words in the list of Iehosaphat's Generalls thrice repeated Next him Next him Next him imply not a gradation in honour as if all of them though subordinately were extant together but import a succession of time the latter entering with his men on the office of a Generall after the displacing or death of the former § 39. However Iehosaphat puts his people into a penitent posture falling to fasting and prayer and obtains a memorable conquest which was purely heavens Donative Sine cura without mans care cost or charge to atchieve it Prince and people stand still look on believe God sing Psalmes accounting their conquest gotten because promised by the Prophet Mean time their enemies amazed with ambushments of Gods setting fall foul one on another till Moab and Ammon had destroyed first the Edomites then themselves Three days are the men of Iudah employed in gathering the spoile and so return to Ierusalem with wealth in their hands joy in their hearts musick in their mouths having left behind them the name of Berachah or blessing imposed on the place where this celestiall victory was bestowed upon them § 40. But now it is high time that we enter on the severall Stages and removalls of David in or near this Tribe after that he having formerly suffered much from Saul as a private person began to Prince it and to stand on his guard The text saith he and his men went wheresoever they could go David herein being like the Son and Lord of David who had not where to lay his head Indeed David confesseth that God made the stony rocks for the Conies but yet he himself was glad to be their In-mate and share with them in their habitations and yet his soul was never so discomposed in any hole or cave but that in the darkest of them he could see to make Psalmes and praise his Maker No place came amiss to his pious soul above or under ground all alike to him to serve his God therein Now seeing it is Davids expression of himself that he was hunted as a Partridge on the mountains Partridge a bird innocent whose fine flesh is its greatest guilt and importent not armed with beak or talons whose chiefe might consisteth in the flight thereof Now whilest Saul followed him we will follow Davids Metaphore in our ensuing description But be it premised that Saul was no fair Faulconer who more desiring the prey then the sport came with his nets and setting dogs with full intent to kill David wherever he might catch him § 41. We begin at the cave of Adullam which we may call his nest wherein he composed the fifty seventh and the hundreth fourty second Psalme Hence he made wing taking a long and strong flight to Mizpah in the land of Moab Here the Partridge shewed much of the Stork in him feeding his parents and taking order with the King of Moab for the maintenance of his Father and mother § 42. Hence by the advice of the Prophet Gad not to trust himself again in the cave of Adullam by the forest of Hareth to the City of Keilah The Inhabitants whereof David had lately obliged to himself by saving them from the Philistines notwithstanding which favour God assured him of their intentions to betray him to Saul If a skilfull Gardiner can in the depth of winter by beholding the bare root and knowing the kind thereof foretell when and what flowers the same will bring forth many moneths after well may the God of heaven the searcher of hearts know mens thoughts afar off and infallibly conclude what they will be before they have any being Base Keilites who had rather pick thanks with Saul then pay thanks to David to whom they were due Thus deliver an ungratefull man from a danger and he will be the first to
kid was of consequence how he came so quickly by it The Quere here is more considerable how came Adonibezek by so many Kings to have them all at one time With what Royall drag-net did he fish to catch so many together Where got he these Kings and where got they their kingdomes Canaan being so small a Countrey In answer hereunto in the acception of the word King we must grind the honour thereof the smaller to make the number thereof the greater communicating it to the Sons and Nephews of Toparchicall Princes as honours in Germany equally descended to all in the family and so the number is quickly made up § 22. North of Bethlehem lay the Vale of Ephraim or Vale of Giants men of vast proportions which the ancient Ages plentifully afforded Yea our English Antiquary tells us that Risingham a village in Northumberland in old Saxon is nothing else then the dwelling place of Giants In this vale of Rephaim the Philistines little less then Giants were twice subdued once at Baal-perazim where God by the hand of David brake forth upon them as the breach of waters and again where God not onely gave the success but laid the design how the battell should be managed namely as soon as he himself had sounded a charge out of the Mulberry trees David was to fetch a compass and fiercely to fall on his enemies Well is God styled a man of war who here ordered the battell himself and well did David confess Thou teachest my hands to war and fingers to fight who here received from God particular instructions how to regulate his Army § 23. Mulberry Trees pardon a digression were plentifull in Palestine A tree which may pass for the emblem of prudence slow in consultation swift in execution for it putteth forth its leaves the last of all trees but then as it is said all in one night as if sensible of and ashamed for its former neglect she endevours to overtake other trees with her double diligence Men feed on the fruit Silkworms on the leaves thereof Creatures contemptible in themselves admirable in their qualities appearing Proteus-like in sundry shapes in the same year eggs wormes flies finishing for the most part yearly their life and work together But we leave these mysteries to be discussed by Naturalists and will onely adde that if the originall of silke were well considered Gallants had small cause to be proud of gay clothes for from wormes it came and to wormes shall the wearers therof return § 24. Store of the best silks were made and used in Palestine amongst other favours bestowed by God on the ungratefull Iews this was one I have girded thee about with fine linen and covered thee with silk King Saul was the first who made bravery frequent and fashionable in Israel little state and gallantry being used under the Iudges when the Court and costly clothes began together according to our Saviours saying They that weare soft clothing are in Kings houses I say in the reign of King Saul rich rayment began generally to be worn by the Iews Yee daughters of Israel weep over Saul who clothed you in Scarlet and other delights yea by the confession of the heathen writers best silks both for fineness and colour were in Palestine Pausaniâ—s writes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The silk saith he of Elis in Greece gives not place in point of fineness to silk of the Hebrews but is not like it in yellowness whereby it appears that the Hebrew silk-wormes were as good spinsters and better Dyers then those in Greece setting a better gloss and lustre on their work So much for the silk in Iudea called Shesh in Hebrew whence haply that fine linen or silk is called Shashes worn at this day about the heads of eastern people § 25. But to return to our description north-west from the vale of Giants lay the City of Emaus afterwards called Nicopolis Hither the two Disciples were a travelling being about sixty furlongs from Ierusalem wheÌ„ Christ after his resurrection unknown joined himself to their coÌ„pany They tax him for not knowing the news in Ierâ—salem he reproves them for being ignorant of the sense of the Scriptures which he began to declare unto them O excellent expositor Christ Commenting on his own prophecies all which he first inspired afterwards fulfilled and now interpreted As he put light into their heads so also heat into their hearts which burned all the while he communed with them onely their eyes were held that they knew him not Day and their journey drew both to an end when Christ makes as if he would goe farther Truth cannot lye but did simulate onely to try how welcome his company was to them They constrain him to stay such civill violences prevaile on heaven it self and in breaking of Bread he brake himself unto them their eyes being opened he left them full of joy and amazement Nor have I ought else to observe of Emaus but that many years before Iudas Maccaâ—eus in that place got an eminent conquest and defeated the voluminous Army of Lysias § 26. Hard by Emaus even at this day are showen the ruines of Zachariah his house where Iohn the Baptist was born being the voice of a cryer begot of a dumb Father This was that Zachariah who would not beleeve God without giving him a sign and was punished that men could not understand him without making of signes To this place then in a City in the Hill-country of Iudea the blessed virgin Mary came with hast to congratulate the pregnancy of Elizabeth her Cousen at the musick of whose salutation the babe danced for â—oy and leaped in the womb of Elizabeth § 27. Hard by is the City Gebah belonging to the Priests afterwards made a garrison of the Philistines who therein were smote by Ionathan King Asa afterwards built that is repaired and enlarged this City as also Mizpah with the remainder of those materials which King Baasha had provided for the fortifying of Ramah Cities so neer in situation that after the captivity their inhabitants are counted together in one sum the men of Ramah and Gebah six hundred twenty and one which returned from Babylon § 28. We have hardly recovered into this map the house of Obed-Edom whence David in a most solemn procession brought the Ark to Ierusalem dancing himself before it in a linen Ephod which was not so white but that Michal found spots therein or rather cast dirt thereon censuring David a fool for his indiscretion But when holy zeal is arraigned at the bar of profaneness and condemned either for folly or madness it may appeal from that sentence and challenge its right to be tried by its Peers carnall eyes being incompetent judges of spirituall actions Yea God himself here took the matter in hand so ordering it that for
strength to carry morter Or was it sutable with the modesty of their sex to clime ladders clamber scaffolds seeing there is no acting for any builders but upon such stages Surely they refused no pains proportionable with decency to their power and what was wanting in their persons supplied with their purse expending it perchancâ— out of their own portions And if orphans money put into the Chamber of London be accounted so sure God no doubt did repay what they laid out on the walls of Ierusalem § 3. Now whereas Shallum their Father is styled ruler of the half part of Ierusalem rather subtile then solid is the note of Tremellius thereupon For saith he Ierusalem being in two Tribes Iudah and Benjamin had therefore two rulers thereof Not considering how in the same Chapter other smaller Cities and those undoubtedly whole and entire in one Tribe had notwithstanding two governours over them and those benefactours to the building of Ierusalem As Malchiah the son of Rechab the ruler of part of Beth-haccarem Shallum the son of Col-hozeh the ruler of part of Mizpah Nehemiah the son of Azbuk the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur Hashabiah the ruler of the half part of Keilah Banai the son of Henadad the ruler of the half part of Keilah Now the dividing of the command of the City betwixt two Governours so usuall at this very time and noâ— notably extant in Scripture before or after the days of Nehâ—miah leads us to this probable opinion that immediately upon the Iews return from Babylon the Persian Emperour from whom all Commissions were derived would not entrust any Iew with the sole rule of a strong City but for the better security parted it betwixt two who had joint but distinct dominion therein That whilst they with mutuall jealousie observed the actions each of other both might preserve the interest of their Master § 4. In building the Old gate two co-founders were joined together namely 1 Iehoiada the son of Paseah 2 Meshullam the son of Besodaiah I will not say that as York Minster was built by Percy and Vavasour the one giving stone the other timber to that structure so the building of this gate was in like manner advanced betwixt them but hence observe that it is no shame for one to admit a partner in that weighty work which he caunot weild by himself Blame worthy their pride or peevishness who will not have that good design done at all which can not all be done by themselves § 5. Whereas Malchiah the son of Rechah is recorded builder of the Dung-gate no needless port in that City seeing in populous places Perfumers may be spared with less loss to the publick then Scavangers some conceive this Malchiah to have been a Rechabite by descent and a ceremonious observer of their Ancestours instructions not to drink wine nor build house but to live in tents with other Canonicall obediences Nor was this building of the wall of Ierusalem any breach of their vow partly because a publick no private edifice and partly because those their ceremonious observances probably terminated at the Babylonish captivity This Malchiah they make heir of the family of the Rechâ—bites according to the Propheticall promise that one of that house should not fail to stand before God for ever But whether herein Interpreters doe not take more then the text tenders unto them be it reported to others § 6. It is signally observed that Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired a piece of the wall But where were his five elder brethren Were they dead or absent or idle or impotent The Scripture giveth no account of them onely the sixth son is recorded for his forwardness herein In matters of piety there is no standing on useless yea on dangerous modesty No breach of good manners to goe before our betters in goodness or for the younger brother in nature to gain the birth-right in grace § 7. It is said of Baruch the son of Zabbai verse 20. and of him alone it is said that he earnestly repaired the other piece What did the others work but in jest because this Accent earnestly is onely put over the piece he repaired Is not this mark of honour on him a brand of infamy on the rest No surely though probably his zeal was paramount in the employment and what if the word earnestly set there almost in the very midst amongst all the builders be to be taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 relating to all the rest before and behind it § 8. It is observed that many men repaired onely against their own houses This though at the first sight it may seem the fruit but of a narrow soul and private spirit yet effectually advanced the work Yea it is particularly recorded of Meshullam the son of Berechiah who likely was but a lodger and no house-keeper that he repaired over against his Chamber Oh if order were observed for every one to mend his own heart or house how would personall amendment by degrees quickly produce family-city-countrey-kingdome-reformation How soon are those streets made clean where every one sweeps against his own door § 9. Some doubled their files as Merimoth the son of Urijah the son of Coz who having formerly been a repairer verse 4. comes again the second time to build verse 21. out of doubt the same person as having the same name father and grand-father Let him have double praise for his double pains who not being weary of well doing dealt with the wall of Ierusalem as the Philippians with Saint Paul once and again relieving the necessity thereof § 10. The nobles of Tekoah are taxed for not putting their necks to the work of their Lord. Strange that now they should discover such unseasonable pride Had they not lately returned from Babylon Could not seventy years banishment from their own and captivity in a forein land humble them to purpose Me thinks so long suffering should have broken though not their hearts their stomacks But oh the difference betwixt being low and being lowly No affictions except seasoned and sanctified are sufficient to bring down mens naturall corruption This negligence of the Tekoite nobility in Gods cause was so much the more conspicuous because of the double diligence of the Tekoite commoners therein for they had two shares in this adventure building Nehem. 3. v. 5. and again they had verse 27. another bout in the same service Except any will say that by the Tekoites in the second mention of them their nobility are intended who sensible of their own dishonour for their former backwardness played an after-game to repair their credit which is affirmed without any proof and with little probability § 11. Some here will demand What did Nehemiah himselfe all the while did he onely look on work with his eyes and command others to labour Or was
he like the Scribes and Pharisees who bind heavy burthens and grievous to be born and lay them on mens shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers § 12. It is answered his zeal was active and exemplary in Gods work and therein expressed it self 1 Privatively in forbearing the salary of the Governour which his predecessours did and he might justly receive In this respect one may truly say that each gate tower and piece of wall in Ierusalem was in part repaired with Nehemiah's money because the builders thereof were the better enabled for that work by his remitting unto them the taxe due to him as Governour 2 Positively not onely forbearing his own right but also bearing a large proportion in the work He kept a daily Ordinary thanks being the onely shot his guests were to pay for an hundred and fifty Iews and Rulers besides strangers of the Heathen How many attendants then dined on the reversion at the waiters table and how many poor feasted on the fragments at the Porters lodge It may be presumed many laborers at the wall had gone supperless to bed had they not repaired to Nehemiah's house for their refection As for the opinion of Tremellius that Nehemiah built the Kings palace at his own charge grounding the same on his own translation of the text because I finde no other Authours to follow him therein it is enough barely to mention his opinion § 13. At the Sheep-gate they began to repaire and thereat also they ended The Gold-smiths and Merchants brought up the Rere of the work betwixt the going up of the corner unto the sheep-gate § 14. Within the circumference of the walls lay much ground uninhabited people being loth to live therein except by lot compelled thereunto and all blessed such as willingly offered themselves to dwell therein Strange that the chiefe City should run so low in generall reputation the Gallants of our age being otherwise minded all posting unto the principall place of the kingdome as the fountain of fashions and all delights I read indeed of Histria a province under the Venetian Common-wealth that they are fain to hire people to inhabit there But the reason thereof is visible because of the unwholsomeness of the aire whereas no such pretence for any to decline the City of Ierusalem whose elevated situation conduced much to the purity and wholsomeness thereof § 15. But mens unwillingness to dwell therein took the rise from other reasons as namely 1 The common enemy beheld it with most envious eyes as the proper object of his malice 2 The vast circuit of the City put them to hard duty to guard it 3 Trading was dead therein and little wealth to be gotten at the new erection thereof 4 All coveted the countrey for the privacy pleasure and profit thereof However in after ages Ierusalem grew exceeding populous and had all the vacuities thereof filled yea crowded with inhabitants Thus as it is most easie and thrifty to make childrens garments too big for their bodies because they will quickly grow up to their clothes so providence advised Nehemiah to make the circumference of Infant Ierusalem the larger as which in process of time would soon spread it self to the replenishing thereof CHAP. VI. Of the waters in and about the City § 1. PAss we now from the walls to the water of Ierusalem a most necessary commodity for the well being of mankind True it is Ierusalem was so far from boasting of any navigable river that it had no stream near or about it to drive any water-mils If it be demanded how without such mils so populous a place could subsist and not be famished for want of grinders as a chap-fallen man for lack of use of his teeth Know this was principally supplyed by hand-mils here ordinarily used where multitudes of slaves were in every family As for other waters both for necessity and pleasure Ieâ—â—salem had though no superâ—tuity a self suffiâ—iâ—ncy thereof § 2. The waters in and about Ierusalem are reducible unto three several kinds 1 Partly artificiall as Pools and Conduits 2 Partly naturall as the brook Kidron whereof formerly and the fountain of Siâ—â—am 3 Partly supernaturall as the miracle-working Pool of Bethesda Of the former sort were the Kings fishponds on the south-west not far from the fountain gaâ—â— and near thereunto the pool which was made no doubt with greâ—â— care and cost betwixt the sepulchers of David and house of the mighty men Also the conduit of the upper or old pool in the path â—o the fullers field and probably another of the lower pool all referred by learned mâ—n to Solomon as principall Author thereof § 3. For in the Inventory of his vanities he confesseth of himself I made me pools of water to â—aâ—â—r thâ—reâ—ith the wood that bringeth forth trees Thus he sought for felicity in the aire climbing up with his lofty buildings in the earth diâ—ing low in his deep minigs in the water wading therein through costly aquaducts but found at last that happiness wâ—s super-elementall and not to be found but in heaven § 4. Some may conceive that King Uzziah had a hand in promoting the water-fabricks near Ierusalem finding him a very active Engineer and of whom it is expresly recorded that he digged many wellâ— But what followeth for he had much cattell both in the low Countrey and in the plain The scene therefore of his watry discoveries was laid at greater distance where his cattell were kept and where he was more commendably imployed in his husbandry then afterwards in Gods house any instrument better befitting his hand then a Censer § 5. Not long after probably in the reign of King Ahaz as may partly be collected from the time of Isaiah's Prophecy and plaâ—ing of this passage therein when the siege of Ierusalem was suspected from Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel the Iews fell to the fortifying of their City both with wall and water-works Hereupon the Prophet when the new line about Ierusalem was finished complaineth thereof as followeth Yee have seen also the breaches of the City of David that they are many and yee have gathered together the waters of the lower pool And yee have numbered the houses in Ierusalem and the houses yee have broken down to fortifie the wall Yee made also a ditch betwixt the two walls for the water of the old pool but yee have not looked unto the maker thereof nâ—ither had respect unto him that fashioned it long agoe And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and mourning c. § 6. Not that the Prophet herein reproved the people for provident preventing of danger or politick endevouâ—ing of safety or moderate delighting in pleasure but justly taxed them for 1 Too much confidence in the arme of flesh 2 Unseasonable
rejoycing in carnall comforts when drains and for ditches down their own cheeks had been more proper water-works for the present sad occasion 3 Admiring their own handy-works without thankful relating for to God the principall as if they had created those pools and springs of their own industry and ingenuity Whereas all Grottoeâ— conduits and Aquaducts though allowed the lawfull issue of art and off-spring of humane invention are but stiâ—born babes at the best except God quicken and enliven them mediately or immedately with moisture from above He onely is the Father of the rain and is by consequâ—nce the Graâ—d-father of all pools and conduits whatsoever Justly therefore were the Iews reproved for having their stegâ—atick Souls dabling too much in water without once looking up to God according to Davids divâ—â—â—ty freely confessing All my fresh springs are even in thee § 7. But how well soever the ponds pools and conduits were perfected at this time soon after all their curiosities were discomposed when Seâ—â—â—â—heriâ— sent the railing message and letter though words whether spoken or written storme no Cities to King Hâ—zekiah in Ierusalem Who fearing a siege by the assistance of his Princes and people in a short time stopt all the fountains and the brook which ran through the midst of the land saying Why should the Kings of Assyria come and finde much water Hezekiah knew that Sâ—nnacheribs blasphemous tongue would be sooner silenced and his roaring throat easier stopt with Thirst then with any other answer And although Sennacherib out of the plentifull Magazeen of his malice shot his arrows even bitter â—ords â—gainst Hezekiah yet according to Gods promise he came not into Iâ—â—usalem nor did he shoâ—t an arrow there having all his Army soon after confounded from heaven and he himself reprieved from the Angels was executed by his own Sons sword in his own Countrey § 8. Here if any demand what is meant by stopping the brook which ran through the midst of the Land we understand not Cedron thereby which to save them the pains in summer stops it self as onely the cistern to receive the land-flouds from mount Olivet but rather conceive the constant waters of Gihon or Siloam therein intended running through the midst of the Land of Moriah wherein Ierusalem is seated § 9. After Sennacheribs departure Hezekiah fell a fresh on opening those springs hee had formerly obstructed yea to make them reparation he improved them to an higher perfection then at first he found in them for 1 He made a pool and a conduit 2 He stopped up the upper water-course of Gihon and brought it straight to the west side of the City of David 3 He brought water IN TO THE CITY of Ierusalem Hereby no doubt Hezekiah got many a blessing and hearty prayer from the poor servants in the City whose weary shoulders had formerly fetched their water so far off for the use of their masters family § 10. Here some will object that such an altering of the course of this river from the ancient channel thereof and the enticing of it by Art into a new passage was a violence and a trespass offered to Nature Yea did not man herein pretend to more wisdome then his maker as if by such variation he could direct the veines in the body of the earth to a fitter posture then that wherein God himself had disposed them But let such know that when God gave the earth with the water therein as making up one Globe to the Sons of men in the same charter he derived a right unto them to mold it as might be most convenient and advantageous for their habitation And although it belongs to God alone to put a sandy girdle about the loins of the Ocean because otherwise a giant too great for men to manage Hither shalt thou come and no farther yet lesser brooks fall under the jurisdiction of humane industry to order them for mans most commodity § 11. Others will admire that this new river was brought no sooner to Ierusalem and that a project so honourable profitable necessary and feasable lay so long unperformed How came this design to escape the searching eyes of Solomon especially seeing as he confesseth himself he dealt much in that moist Element See we here Solomon himself saw not all things and Hezekiah coming many years after him might supply his omissions And to speak plainly many of Solomons projects were but voluptuous essays for his own personall not to say carnall contentment whereas holy Hezekiah in his undertakings might have a more publick spirit for the generall good of his kingdome § 12. The well or fountain of the Dragon near the Valley gate might be made at the same time probably taking its denomination from some artificiall resemblance of a Dragon about it A conduit in a Dragon-fashion though such Anticks are more commonly presented spitting of fire then venting of water is made here by Adrichomius Tremellius conceiveth it called Dragon or Serpent well because the waters thereof which contrary to other Authors he maketh the same with Siloam glide snake-like soft and gentle yea crooked and winding with many intricate flexures thereof But it is impossible to assign the certain cause of such names as are meerly ad placitum finding a Well and Gate in the Cose of the City of Sarisbury of the same name yet hitherto could never hear any probable reason thereof § 13. Amongst the waters meerly naturall the fountain or pool of Siloah with the stream flowing thence into the brook of Kidron justly claimeth the preheminence Fountain which both in the name and nature thereof was the lively embleme if not the reeall type of our Saviour Name which is by interpretation SENT and we know When the fulness of time was come God SENT forth his Son made of a woman made under the law Nature for the waters thereof as the Prophet observed ran softly 1 To the eye sine impetu moving slowly and not rushing with a rapid stream like an impetuous torrent 2 To the eare sine strepitu stil quiet not offensive to the neighbours with the noise threof So Christ 1 Was leasurable and treatable in his going on foot but if mounted onely on a slow paced Ass and doing not rashly precipitate in his proceedings 2 Not querulous or clamorous in his discourse He shall not strive nor cry neither shall any hear his voice in the streets but meek and quiet Now as God was eminently in the still voice so also was he effectually once in this still water when our Saviour sent the blind-born man hither to wash and thereby he recovered his sight § 14. This was he who afterwards proved so constant a confessor of Christ avouching him a Prophet and his cure by him really effected notwithstanding the Pharisees menacing to the contray Hoping in vain though Christ had
the royall interments Count it not presumption for a Priests body to intrude amongst Princes bones seeing not his pride but the peoples gratitude preferred him to the place because he had done good in Israel towards God and his house Oh if monuments were marshalled according to mens merits what change would it cause in our Churches See we here the care the Iews had of decent burying thâ—ir dead True it is bodies flung in a bog will not stick there at the day of judgement cast into a wood will finde out the way thrown into a dungeon will have free egress left on the highway are still in the ready road to the resurrection Yet seeing they are the Tabernacles of the Soul yea the Temples of the holy Ghost the Iews justly began and Christians commendably continue the custome of their solemn interment § 6. Farther off from the palace we finde the house of the mighty where Davids worthies lived in a Colledge under Ioab their President next the Kings wine-press and his fish-ponds Think not that the Kings of Iudah had onely Crowns Thrones and Scepters the Ensignes of Soveraignty for besides these to maintain their state they had places of profit so thrifty as to make their own wine at the best hand § 7. Next we take notice of the houses of Annas and Caiaphas both alive at once and termed the high-Priests at the same time one by courtesie because lately he had been the other by right because at present possessed of the high-Priesthood Thus that function which ought to have been during life by Gods institution was made alternately annuall by mans innovation Was not the shining of two Suns together in the Jewish Church sadly ominous And was it not high time for God to take away the office when men began wantonly to play at in and out with that holy profession But besides these two high-Priests there was a third that had more right then either to the place our Saviour himself at the present brought a prisoner before them In the house of Annas an officer wrongfully struck him with the palme of his hand and in the house of Caiaphas he was thrice denyed by Peter adjured by the high-Priest adjudged to death spit upon blinded buffeted with other insolencies offered unto him The houses of the high-Priests were far asunder all which distance Christ traced on foot and it is observable that being posted backwards and forwards from Annas to Caiaphas from Caiaphas to Pilate from Pilate to Herod from Herod to Pilate from Gabbatha to Golgotha he traversed all the length and breadth and most of the considerable places in the City Partly to render his passion more publick being made a spectacle to men and Angels partly that his beautifull feet might bring the Gospell of peace into every principall street in Ierusalem § 8. Next followeth the Coenaculum or large upper-room where Christ ended the Passover began the Lords supper and probably afterwards in the same place appeared to his disciples where after his ascension the holy Spirit in fiery cloven tongues fell upon them enabling them to speak all languages for which some senslesly slandered them to be full of new wine For the excess thereof may give men more tongue not moe tongues and is so far from making them speak other that it hinders the pronouncing of their own language As for the house of the Virgin Mary which some make very fair in mouÌ„t Sion I say a better was beneath her desert but a worse was above her estate Sure it is that after hersons sufferings she privately lived in the house of Iohn the Apostle Iohn formerly lay in the boâ—om of Christ Christ once lodged in the womb of Mary and Mary was for ever hid with Christ in God O holy chain ô happy complication § 9. In the last place we come to the prisons those necessary evills in a populous City whereof we finde three severall degrees 1 The dungeon of Malchiah a most nasty place the mud and mire whereof shall not be stirred by my pen lest the ill savour offend the Reader Yet good Ieremiah was forced to lie and like to die therein had not Ebed-melech the blackmore procured his writ of removall 2 The house of Ionathan the Scribe made a prison extraordinary of a private dwelling This little better then the former so that Ieremy counted it a favour at his importunate request to be preferred thence into 3 The court of the prison the best of all bads which was part of the Kings palace where Ieremy remained many days fed with a piece of bread out of the bakers-street a place hard by till Nebuchadnezzar at last gave him a Gaol-delivery § 10. So much of Sion forbearing to enlarge my self in the praises thereof frequent in holy writ As for that expression Gods dwelling is in Sion it seems particularly to relate to that time when the Arke resided there brought in by David and placed by him in the midst of a Tabernacle which he had pitched for it Indeed he designed to make a better casket for that Jewell had not God retrenched his resolution by speciall order intending Solomon for that purpose who many years after removed this Ark into the Temple he erected CHAP. VIII Of Millo AS it is a great grace in a Rhetorician not to have bald and flat but clear and fair Transitions so it is no less beautifull in buildings to have spacious and handsome passages therein For this cause the Kings of Israel counted no cost too much to be bestowed upon this Millo as being the common pass between Sion and Ierusalem It was called Millo that is a filling as some would have it because being naturally a gulfe or concavity it was by great expence levelled to be built upon Others conceive it so named because filled with the confluxe and confluence of people being indeed the largest street in the whole City David began Solomon finished the building thereof But as once Wickam Bishop of Winchester wrote in a wall of Windsor This made Wickam in the same sense it may be said of Millo This made Ieroboam For Solomon taking notice of his activity merit commended men and beauty women to his favour made him surveyour of the works when he built Millo which brought him from a private person into publick notice the first admission is half a degree to honour and gave the occasion of his future greatness In this Millo at the going down to Sillah or to the bulwark King Ioash was cruelly killed by two of his servants CHAP. IX Of the Princely Palaces in this City § 1. PRoceed we now to the Princely palaces in Ierusalem and first we light on the house of the forest of Lebanon built by Solomon So called because an abridgement of that great forest wherein I mean in the groves
bodies § 3. After Christs ascension we finde five Colledges or Synagogues mentioned in one verse all disputing against Saint Steven Out of Asia those of Cilicia and proper Asia Out of Africa those of the Cyrenians and Alexandrians in Egypt Out of Europe those of the Libertines of Rome Behold here an admirable Act hept wherein Saint Steven was the Answerer against whom Opponents were fetched from all the parts of the then known world and all too few to resist the wisedome and Spirit by which he spake What this Synagogue of Libertines was is much controverted by learned men Surely Libertines here are not taken in the modern notion of the word for such as used their liberty for an occasion to the flesh or a cloak of maliciousness though we confess in after ages such grew into a numerous society whereof Satans subtilty and mans corruption the Founders the negligence and conivence of Magistrates the daily Benefactours A Colledge whose gates like those of hell stand always open having no other Statutes then the Students pleasure where the diet is so dear that their Commons cost the souls of such as feed on them without their finall repentance Most probable it is that by Libertines were intended such Romans as were manumised or made free by their Masters whereof Tacitus counts no fewer then four thousand in the City of Rome which professed the Jewish Religion some whereof with most likelyhood had their Synagogues in Ierusalâ—m wherein they were more perfectly instructed in matters both of doctrine and discipline The Gazith or Common-councell must not be omitted coming near to the nature of a Colledge wherein the Sanhedrin or seventy Elders had their judicatory before whom the Disciples were summoned and straitly threatned not to preach and afterwards for disobeying their Order were put into the common Prison In the same place Saint Steven was accused and passed his purgation in that excellent speech that he was no enemy to the Law of Moses if rightly understood CHAP. XI The remainder of private houses and streets in Jerusalem § 1. AMongst the private dwelling in this City we take speciall notice of the house of Mary the mother of Iohn-Mark wherein the Saints were assembled to pray for Peters enlargement Hither he came and knocked at the door when Rhoda portress thereof opened not the gate for gladness whether because loth to lose so much time as the opening thereof did necessarily require conceiving that Peter might better stand without the door then the people stay without the news or because her soul surprized with suddain joy was not at leasure to actuate her hands to open the door yet it informed her feet to run into the house because that motion was not as the other against the stream but went along with the tyde of her affection so desirous to tell the news unto others Sure I am Peter got less harm by this maidens keeping him out for a time out of this godly house then he did by another Damosels letting him into the high-Priests Palace § 2. Adde to this the house of Ananias the high-Priest which stood not far off If therein there was any rotten wall well whitâ—d over it may pass for an embleme of him the hypocriticall owner thereof As this was the house of a false man so we take Veronica's to be a false house yea meer fiction shewn to pilgrimes at this day in the corner of a street Here she is said that meeting our Saviour when carrying his Cross she tâ—ndred unto him her vaiâ—â— therewith wiping off his sweat which vail thereby presently received the lively impression and portraicture of his face and complexion with more probability they might affirme that the picture of his seeâ— remained in the haire of Mary Magdalen § 3. So much for particular houses Now that Ierusalem was digested and methodized into severall streets is most certain whereof such frequent mention in Scripture as sure it is also that many fair market places were found therein where children played with their mates Merchants met with their Chapmen Labourers waited for Masters to hire them and Pharisees bartered their outside sanctity for the greetings and salutations of the people But the order and fashion of their severall streets are to us unknown Scripture affording no certainty therein And though Adrichomius seem so accurate in this point that no London-beadle can be better acquainted with the lanes allies courts corners of the Precinct belonging unto him yet herein he proceeds on his own fancy and meer conjecture Onely we meet with the names of two streets Water-gate-street and Ephraim-gate-street which may justly be concluded more spacious and roomthy then the rest because preferred before all other places in the City to build booths therein at that solemn festivall in the days of Nehemiah In the former of these Ezra assembled the people and read the law before the Congregation § 4. Give me leave to supply out of Iosephus three eminent places though not mentioned in Scripture First the Amphitheatre erected by Herod so capable that it could contain fourscore thousand people if the readers beliefe be so large as to give credit thereunto Here Herod after the fashion of the Romans exposed condemned persons to encounter with Lions Bears Boars c. But whether Saint Paul when after the manner of men he fought with beasts at Ephesus intended such combates with cattell or onely his contesting with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evill beasts such as the Cretians are described to be is not decided by Divines Secondly Castle Antony built by the same Herod in the honour of Antonius to be the keeper yea the Gaoler of the Temple to which he had an underground passage which would hold six hundred men wherein he observed the motions of the Iews lest they should hatch mutinies under the covert of Religion Time was when God himself watched over the Temple to protect it till for the sins of the people he gave it over to be guarded by the jealous eyes of their inveterate enemies Lastly the Hippodrome or place for horse-races where the Chivalry of the City met on severall occasions Sick Herod the great perceiving his end to approach and knowing the same would bring a great joy to the Iews a Tyrants death-day is a solemn festivall in the Calendar of Nature it self in this Hippodrome imprisoned a principall person of every City of Iudea enjoining Salome his sister to kill them at the instant of his expiring that so there might be a generall grief though not for yet at his death whilest no place could laugh heartily being pinched with their particular loss However after his death she discharged those prisoners and we may easily beleeve that these Legatees were not offended with her the Executrix of Herods Will for not disposing the Legacies bequeathed to them according to the minde of the
to the south-east part of the City where without the walls we light on the Potters-field where men of that trade made brittle plate in abundance For although in Solomons time such earthen ware was worthless in this City when silver it self was nothing accounted of and made to be as stones in Ierusalem yet poor people in after ages found such cheap furniture usefull for their estates Here one might have seen those Potters absolutely lording it over their clay purely passive to receive any impression from them and according to their own power and pleasure making of the same lump one vessell unto honour and another unto dishonour Others conceive this Potters-field was onely an inconsiderable wast place where sherds and pieces of broken pots were cast out in a by-corner § 2. Surely it was neither great in extent or value seeing thirty pieces of silver the restored reward of Iudas his treason could purchase the fee-simple thereof except any will say it came at a cheaper rate because intended for a publick and pious use the buriall of strangers Here their dead corps had an Hospitall wherein their lodging and cloathing was freely bestowed upon them and thus our Saviour though himself a Stranger in a borrowed grave by the price of his bloud conferred graves on many Strangers As for the confident report that the earth in this field will in forty eight houres consume the flesh that is laid therein yea retaining that quality though transported into forein Countreys the grave which every where hath a voracious appetite having here as quick a digestion my faith is neither all wax nor all iron herein To speak plainly after long fighting against an Army of Authors affirming the same my beliefe at last is taken captive by their gravity and number to give credit thereunto § 3. It was afterwards called Aceldama or the field of bloud because purchased with the price of Christs bloud and not as some may erroneously conceive because handselled with the bloud of Iudas therein when his bowells gushed out The place of whose self-execution is shewen to pilgrimes some distance hence on the south-west of the City where he who had lived a thiefe to his Master dyed a felon of himself hanged say some on an Elder say others on a Sycomore tree a matter of no concernment § 4. More are we troubled not for Iudas his sake for whom two deaths were not too many but in behalf of the Truth which can be but one to reconcile a seeming difference betwixt two places of Scripture about the manner of his death MATTH 27. 5. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the Temple and departed and went and hanged himself ACTS 1. 18. And falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowells gushed out We understand it thus not that the rope breaking Iudas falling down thence some steep place was paunched on some sharp pile but that the very weight of his body and violence of his headlong motion having no hopes upward in heaven and therefore hasting downward to the center of despair brake his belly in so precipitate a fall Thus as Traitors when hanged are by our law to have their bowells drawn out by the executioner so Iudas served himself so â—o spare others the pains to punish him § 5. Fullers-field must not be forgotten where they stretched and dryed their clothes which they they had washed in the brook of Cedron But all the sope used here by men of that trade could not scoure the indelible stain of impiety out of the credit and conscience of King Ahaz who in the high-way of the Fullers-field peevishly refused a sign which God graciously proffered unto him And mens severall behaviours in matters of this nature deserved to be marked For it was 1 Commendable in Gideon and Hezekiah humbly requesting a sign for farther strengthening of their weak Faith 2 Pardonable in Zacharias craving one out of a mixture of infidelity therefore granted him in loving anger his dumbeness serving as well to correct as confirm him 3 Damnable in the Iews who out of pride and presumption in a daring way demanded and in Herod who out of curiosity expected a signe from Christ and therefore denyed them But most of all in Ahaz in whose nostrills the very perfumes of Heaven sented ill because proffered unto him refusing to accept a sign so freely tendered unto him § 6. East of Aceldama in the valley of the Sons of Hinnon lay Tophet that is Breadth as Saint Hierome expoundeth it because there the Citizens of Ierusalem pent within the walls of their City used to dilate expatiate and recreate their spirits in the walks thereof Pity it was that so pleasant a place should afterwards be poisoned with Idolatry where children were offered to Moloch searing them to death with his burning imbracements of the manner whereof largely herefter For the present let it suffice us to observe that Iosiah is said to defile this place what was it capable of more pollution then what it had before Understand it by burning of dead bones therein he made it as offensive to the nostrils of men as formerly it had been odious in the eyes of God Now as the stinking lake of Avernus in Italy passeth in Pagan Poets for Hell it self so this valley of Ben-hinnon Gehenna in Greek is used in the same sense by our Saviour either because of the abominable impieties here committed by the parents or exquisite torments here endured by the children § 7. We conclude with the place wherein Saint Steven was stoned being on the east of the City some distance from what at this day is termed Saint Stevens-gate nigh which they shew the place where Saul sate when he kept the clothes of those that stoned him Now seeing by Davids law made by the brook Besor he that tarrieth by the stuffe is to be equall sharer in the spoile with those that goe forth to the battell the equity of this ordinance arraigneth Saul guilty alike of the bloud of Saint Steven with those whose wardrobe he kept during the time of the execution But whatsoever Sauls share was in the murther great was his part in the prayer of Saint Steven whose petition Lord lay it not to their charge is justly accounted by Divines a promoting means of his speedier conversion Herâ— the draught of Solomons Temple is to be inserted THE DESCRIPTION OF SOLOMONS TEMPLE CHAP. I. Davids threefold preparation for the Temple § 1. IT will not I hope be censured superstition if at the Threshold of this Temple we fall flat in veneration of the God thereof to guide us in the ensuing discourse The subject whereon we enter is holy ground may both writer and reader put off their shoos and devesting themselves as much as may be of carnall corruption come with simplicity and
of Solomon it was possessed by Rezin a fugitive Syrian who being made a King thereof was a professed enemy to Israel 4 It was won by Ieroboam the second King of Israel who is said to have restored Damascus 5 It was recovered again by the Syrians and Rezin in the days of Ahaz was King thereof 6 It was taken by Tiglath-Peleser King of Assyria who carried all the inhabitants thereof away captive In the new Testament we finde it in subjection to the Roman Emperour under whom Aretas was King a persecuter of Saint Paul § 17. Wonder not that the Roman Emperours ruling over the world should suffer some Kings to reign under them which was their constant practise and whereby they received no small benefit For first hereby they kept their people in more willing obedience when they saw their former government not wholly altered but some shadow thereof still remaining in their Kings continued amongst them Secondly when any distastfull project was set on foot the Emperours used these Kings to promote it so casting the odium upon them which themselves declined while such Kings usually by their immediate dependence durst not displease but doe whatsoever the Emperours enjoined them Thirdly it conduced to the state of their Empire to have Kings homagers thereunto It is but a Farme though of never so great revenues and not reputed a Manor which hath not some free-holders holding of it and owing suit and service unto it Semblably it was part of the Imperiall glory amongst the Romans to have even Kings to hold their Scepters and Crowns by deputation under it as Herod in Iudea Deiotarus in Galatia our Lucius in Britain and this Aretas King of Damascus § 18. Under him Saint Paul had a miraculous deliverance though both Prince and people plotted his destruction and watched the gates day and night that they might kill him But what saith the Psalmist Except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain either to keep out those whom he will have in or to keep in those whom he will have out All the wall shall be one open gate to those whom divine providence will have to escape as here to Saint Paul being let down over the wall by a rope in a basket § 19. Amongst the publick buildings of Damascus the house of Rimmon was most remarkable It troubled the tender Conscience of converted Naaman when his Master went up to worship there that he had so often bowed to that Idoll so an excellent Critick proves the words to be read relating not to his future but former actions Wherefore the Prophets answer Goe in peace is not a toleration of his Idolatry for the time to come but an absolution from his former faults upon Naamans free confession and serious sorrow for the same They shew also in this city the house or rather hole wherein Ananias Saint Pauls ghostly father dwelt or lurked being a Cellar under ground to which pilgrimes descend by many staires who have so filled the walls thereof by writing their names therein that Reader there is no room left to register thy name if going thither § 20. Modern Damascus is a beautifull city The first Damask-rose had its root here and name hence So all Damask silk Linen poulder and plumbes called Damascens Two things at this day are most remarkeable amongst the inhabitants There are no Lawyers amongst them no Advocates or Sollicitors of causes no compacts being made for future performance but Weigh and Pay all bargains being driven with ready money Secondly Physicians here are paid no fee except the patient recover his health And now I perceive that Mahomet was a politick man who entered but once into Damascus and perceiving the pleasures thereof would never return again for fear forsooth lest he should be bewitched with the delightfulness thereof and hindred from the great work he had in hand I indeed perceive that so pleasant a subject hath too long retarded my pen almost forgetfull to goe forward in our description we therefore leave it and proceed § 21. Aram-Zobah lay north-east of Aram-Damascus Hadadezar or Hadarezar was King thereof so glorious a Prince that his servants wore shields of gold in war as if they intended to dazle their enemies eyes with the splendor of their armes but all in vain For the best swords of steel will command the bravest shield of gold and David at Elam got an absolute conquest of him killing Shobach his Captain as formerly he had defeated him and stript him of much rich spoile As for those golden shields they fell not to the shares of any private persons but were treasured up by David for the building of the Temple where this glorious Plate shined in its proper sphear and where Riot and Luxury abused by man was converted into well grounded bounty as bestowed on Gods service Here David houghed the horses of Hadadezar and onely reserved an hundred chariots of them as a Trophee of triumph to be used for state at publick solemnities § 22. Some will censure this as an improvident and unpolitick act and character David as more happy to get then able to use a victory not casually letting slip but wilfully casting such a power of horse out of his hand which managed with a proportionable infantry might have given Law to all the east Countrey Surely it was not done out of a cowardly suspicion lest the Syrians should recover those horses again much less out of consciousness of want of horsemanship in the 〈◊〉 to set riders upon them Rather it was that David being privy to the deceitfulness of mans heart how hard it was to have much humane strength and not to have confidence in it did it to wean his subjects from the arme of flesh that they might more rely on divine protection And he did it to encourage in them what properly is called Manhood that they might not expect victories of equivocall generation begotten betwixt men and horses but such atchieved onely by mans prowess instrumentall to get and Gods providence the principall to give them Yea David might seem to have houghed all the horses in the world with that his short but sharp sentence A horse is but a vaine thing to save a man § 23. It will further be objected that grant these horses not to be used in the wars of Israel yet what needs this wast to spoile Gods good creatures Might they not have been sold for many talents and given to the poor It is answered that David did it in an holy Brave to shew that the Pagans pride was Israels scorn and that he as much disdained to gain wealth by the sale as to get strength by the service of those horses Besides David herein did follow the precept given to and pressed and practised by Ioshua in the like case And indeed multiplying of horses was forbidden the Kings of Israel But after
Davids days the Militia was much altered and managed by horse by the way Absalom was the first Israelite whom we finde riding in a chariot and how he was blest is not unknown Afterwards Solomon brought many horses out of Egypt and an Egyptian wife on the back of them who certainly hindred more then the other helped him and generally the Israelites were more prosperous before their use of horses then ever after Their success was mounted when they fought on foot but scarce went on foot when their armies were mounted on horseback § 24. But to return to Aram-Zobath Two prime cities thereof with four names are mentioned in Scripture Beta and Berothat elsewhere called Tibhah and Chun Here not to say that Beta and Tibhah by Metathesis are the same it is no newes for cities standing in the confines of severall kingdomes and the juncture of severall languages to have double names What the English-man calls Glocester and Worcester the Welsh-men tearm Caer Loyw and Caer-Frangon And probably one of the names of these cities was Hebrew and the other Aramite Both of them afforded much brass to King David Gods receiver generall for that purpose for the building of the Temple But Zobah which gave the name to this Countrey is generally conceived at this day to be called Aleppo though some Iews inhabiting therein count it anciently the city of Sepharvaim from Alep which signifies milke in the Turkish language whereof such plenty here that if via lactea be to be found on earth it is in this place It is so seated on a navigable stream which runs into Euphrates that here the commodities of the East and West doe meet The former from Babylon by water the latter by Land-caravans from Scanderoon and this city is the golden clasp to couple both sides of the world together and we remit the Reader to modern Merchants for further information thereof § 25. And here standing on the utmost verge of our map we could wish it of such extent as might represent to the Reader Aram-Naharam or Mesopotamia otherwise Padan-Aram where Bethuel and Laban dwelt Charran whither Abraham first removed Caldea and Ur a city where he formerly dwelt Babylon and Nineveh the two Emperesses of the world with the rivers which watered and bounded Paradise it self But alass as Prodigalls who have spent their possessions take little delight to see a survey of the lands they have sold the sad remembrancer of their former riot and present wretchedness so small comfort can accrew unto us by the curious enquiry into the ancient place of Paradise having long since in our first Parents forfeited all our right and title thereunto But the main matter forbidding our Pens progress any further is because as Shimei confined by Solomon to Ierusalem suffered justly as an offender for gadding to Gath so Palestine with the neighbouring countreys being the proper subject of our discourse we shall be taken trespassers if found wandering beyond the bounds thereof However I hope without offence my hand may point further then my feet may follow and tell the Reader that the fore-named places lie northeast of the city of Aleppo § 26. The land of Hamah lay west of Aram-Zobah anciently inhabited by the Hamathites descended from the eleventh and youngest Son of Canaan the Son of Cham of whom largely before In the days of David Toi was King of this Countrey who being at war with Hadadezar and hearing how the Israelites had defeated him sent Ioram his Son to King David with presents in his hand and complements in his mouth to congratulate his victory Long after Salmaneser subdued this countrey and extinguished the royall race witness that brag Where is the King of Hamath and of Arpad Though that proud question admits of an answer namely they were even there where their sins set them seeing it was not so much the Assyrian valour as the Syrian wickedness which cast these Kings out of their countrey Riblah was a prime city in this land where Nebuchadnezzar caused the eyes of Zedekiah to be bored out Some conceive this done in the land of Nephtali others with more likelihood in this place and we see Reader our carefulness to please all if possible in this captious age mention it in both Yet because this Riblah was many miles nearer to Babylon and further from Ierusalem it is more probable to be the place as more for Nebuchadnezzars ease and Zedekiahs anguish it adding to the conquerours state to fetch the captive furthest from his own countrey § 27. Hamah the city which gave the name to this countrey was afterwards called Antiochia Seven and twenty cities are said to be of the same name For severall Antiochuses being successively Kings of Syria stocked their dominions with many cities after their names as being either built beautified strengthened or enlarged by them or their Favorites But it matters not how many younger brethren there be of the same family as long as our Antioch is the heire and though not in age in honour to be preferred before all the rest Here the professor of the Gospell formerly termed Beleevers for their faith sometimes Brethren for their love Saints for their holinesse Disciples for their knowledg were for all these first called Christians Probably when many of all nations beleeved the name Christian was given them to bury the difference betwixt Iews and Gentiles thus England and Scotland happily joined in great Britain which two names though remaining afterwards were used as terms of civill difference not odious distinction Had this happened at Rome how would the Tide of Tiber have swoln above all his bounds and banks at the conceit that in her city Religion it self was christened But this Antioch hath still more to brag of The Chair of Saint Peter wherein he sate Patriarch many years before his removeall to Rome and therefore no wonder if Antioch grudge to give Rome the superiority Why should not that place be the prime which was the first Besides Saint Peter was honoured at Antioch murdered at Rome And why should that City receive most credit by him which used most cruelty unto him But let Ecclesiasticall Heralds deduce the pedegree and martiall the precedency of these Churches we will onely adde that this Pharisaicall taking of the upper-hand hath in all ages hindered the giving of the right hand of Christian fellowship § 28. Now surely no malignant quality in this place but a principle of perversness in mens hearts was the cause that so many famous contentions happened in this city of Antioch Here it was that some comming down from Iudea maintained the necessity of circumcision and the legall ceremonies endevouring to set up a religion like those monsters in Africa begotten betwixt severall kindes partaking of both perfect in neither but defective in their very redundancy a â—edley mongrel betwixt Judaisme and Christianity This occasioned the calling of the first great
Ammonites to give them gifts yet we may justly beleeve the same were presented rather with their hands then their hearts bearing a cordiall grudge against Israel § 26. Rabbah was the Metropolis of Ammon called in Scripture the tity of waters because low and plashy in its situation conducing much to the strength thereof rendering all undermining of it uneffectuall But perchance it is so termed from the extraordinary populousness thereof Waters being often used for People in Scripture phrase both being at all times unstable and unconstant and when they get a head implacable neither speaking nor hearing reason both usefull servants but intolerable Masters Here the Iron-bed of Og was preserved for a Relick being nine cubits high and four broad Now though Alexanders souldiers are said to have left shields in India far greater then those which they did or could weare in war onely to possess posterity with a false opinion that his men were mightier then they were yet we may presume this bed of Og was not unproportionably greater then he necessarily used for his ordinary repose No doubt Og confident of his own strength certainly concluded that as he did often lie in health upon that bed so he should quietly die on the same whereas contrary to his expectation he was slain in the field and now his bed served him for a Cenotaph or empty monument § 27. This Rabbah was besieged by Ioab to revenge Hanun King of the Ammonites his despitefull usage of Davids Ambassadours Here Uriah engaged in battell was killed though not conquered by the treacherous retreat of his own countreymen What a deal of doe was here to bring one innocent man to his grave Davids wicked designe Ioabs unworthy compliance Ammons open force Israels secret fraud and yet all too little had not Uriah's own credulous simplicity unspotted loyalty undaunted courage rather to die then to fly concurred to hasten his own destruction Afterwards Ioab having brought the city to terms of yeelding politickly sends for David solemnly to take his place to decline all envy from himself and invest all honour on his Soveraign Here the glorious Crown of this kingdome was taken and set on Davids head and I dare boldly say it became David better then him from whom◠it was taken But oh what a Bridewell or house of correction was provided for the people of this place They were put under saws and under harrows of Iron and under axes of Iron and made to passe through the brick kilne See here Davids patience provoked into fury And was it not just that they who would not civilly like men use Davids Ambassadours should by Davids men be barbarously used like beasts in slavish imployments § 28. The most populous part of the Kingdome of Ammon lay betwixt Aroer and Minnith containing no fewer then twenty Cities so many represented in our Map and had I found their names in Scripture I had imparted them to the Reader All these cities were smote by Iephthah that most valiant Judge of Israel For he passed over to the enemy to fight with them other Judges onely expelling them out of Israel and pursuing them to their own countrey An action of very much prowess in Iephthah to rowze those wild beasts in their own den and no less policy preventing the spoiling of his native soil and translating the Seat of the war into the land of a forein so Here if any demand how the wheat of Minnith comes to be reckoned by the Prophet amongst the staple commodities of the land of Iudah wherewith she bartered with Tyre when Minnith was undoubtedly a city of the Ammonites it is answered 1 This fine wheat might first be denominated from Minnith as originally growing there though afterwards as good and more of that kind grew generally in Iudea Thus some flowers and fruits Province-Roses Burgamo peares c. are as full and fair in other countreys as in that place whence they take their name 2 By Minnith-wheat may be meant wheat winnowed cleansed and dressed after the fine and curious fashion of Minnith Thus they are called Hungar-dollars which are refined to the standard of Hungarian gold in what place or by what Prince soever in Germany they be coined § 29. We must not forget that after the Tribe of Gad was carried away captive by Tiglath-pileser the Ammonites seised on and dwelt in the cities of that Tribe For which reason so many of them are set down in this our Map This caused the complaint of the Prophet Hath Israel no sons Hath he no heire Why then doth their King inherit Gad and his people dwell in his cities Sure I am that Ammon double barred with bastardy and incest though somewhat allied could never legally succeed to the possessions of Israel But in such cases the keenest sword is next to the kin Not to say that Ammon had a title to that kingdome before that Sihon King of the Amorites took that land away from them whereof largely before in the description of Gad. If any aske me what became of the Ammonites in after ages I answer with David he passed away and loe he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found Yea the less there appears of Ammon the more there appears of Gods justice and divine truth foretold by the mouth of Ezekiel I will cut thee off from the people and will cause thee to perish out of the countreys § 30. Esau eldest Son of Isaac was red and hairy at his birth the one shewing his irefull nature the other his hardy constitution He was highly beloved of his Father whilest Iacob was Gods and his Mothers darling chiefly for providing him Venison a consideration beneath so good a man and for which Isaac smarted afterwards sawcing each morsell of his Sons venison in his own teares caused by Esaus unhappy matches and undutifull demeanour This Esau is as generally known in Scripture by the name of Edom given him on this occasion Coming one day hungry from hunting he sold his birthright to his brother Iacob for red pottage red being Edom in Hebrew I confess many flaws may be found in this bargain and sale as namely 1 It was no faire but fraudulent dealing for Iacob to surprize his brother taking advantage of his hunger 2 The contract was not made on a valuable compensation not to say it was Simoniacall to sell or buy such heavenly priviledges 3 The heires of Esau as yet in his loines concerned therein but not consenting thereto might justly question their Fathers grant in passing away what by nature was intailed upon them Wherefore it is safest to turn all our excusing of Iacob into our admiring of Gods wisdome who makes mens crooked actions to tend in a streight line to his own glory And yet we must not forget that even after Esau had satisfied himself with food the text saith Thus Esau despised his birthright It
seems thereby that what his hast and hunger had conveyed his profaneness did deliberately confirme and by that his neglect and contempt he acknowledged a Fine cutting off his heires from any recovery thereof Indeed afterwards Esau made it a main matter of quarrell with his brother but never a matter of conscience in himself But enough hereof onely I will adde the crossing of the common rule Caveat venditor let here the seller beware for God took Esau at his word and accordingly deprived him of his birthright § 31. But Esau set a greater valuation on his Blessing wherein being prevented by Iacob he sought it with teares though they were not a kindely showre of repentance but onely some heate drops of anger and indignation not so much grieved that he had lost as vexed that Iacob had gotten the Blessing At last his importunity got from his Father a Blessing though not the blessing the severall clauses whereof we are seriously to consider because thereon dependeth the right understanding of the conditions of the people and countrey of Edom which we are now to describe Behold thy dwelling shall be the fatnesse of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above Earth is by Isaac first mentioned because by Esau most minded But oh the difference betwixt the dew of heaven in Iacobs and Esau's blessing In the former it signified Gods favour with an undoubted right unto and sanctified use of divine promises service and Sacraments whereas in this blessing of Esau heavenly dew was in effect but earthly dew temporall terrestriall fertility allowed to this mountainous land of Edom whose lean hils were larded with many fruitfull vallies interposed Heathen Authors confesse no less Dulce nemus florentis Idumes The fair grove of flourishing Idumea Quicquid nobile Ponticis nucetis Foecundis cadit aut jugis Idumes What ever noble worth destils On Pontus nut-trees or what fils The fruitfull Idumean Hils However divine providence seems to have suited the Countreys to the conditions of Isaacs children giving plain-dealing Iacob a more low and levell Land and fitting the haughty minde of aspiring Esau with high-swelling and ambitious mountains though he who was nearest to heaven was farthest from God And by thy sword shalt thou live and shalt be thy Brothers Servant It is observable that though God in the time of the Judges made use of almost all other heathen nations bordering on the Iewes successively to oppress that his own people Midianites Ammonites Moabites Philistines c. Yet he never permitted the Edomites at any time to Lord it over Israel because according to Isaacs Blessing subjection to Iacob not soveraignty over him belonged to Esau and his posterity This prophecy of Esau's serving Iacob was fully accomplished in the days of David when he put a Garison in Edom throughout all Edom put he souldiers and all they of Edom became Davids servants and so remained tributaries to the Kings of Iudah and governed by their deputies for one hundred and fifty years and upwards But it shall come to passe when thou shalt get the mastery that thou shalt breake his yoke from thy neck This was fulfilled when the Edomites rebelling against King Iehoram finally recovered their liberty whilest he more cruell to kill his brethren at home then valiant to conquer his enemies abroad could never after reduce them into subjection nor his successors after him § 32. The Horims first inhabited this Countrey of Mount Seir whose Dukes are reckoned up by Moses of whom Duke Anah is most remarkable for his first finding out of Mules as he fed his Father Zibions Asses A creature or rather a living beast which may be called a reall fallacy in nature whose extraction is a conclusion unduely inferred from the premises of an Hee-asse and a Mare joined together Yet this is commendable in Mules they imitate rather the virtues then vices of their Sire and Dam having in them the dulness of the Asse quickened with the metall of the Mare and the Mares stubbornness corrected with the Asses patience Barren they are as to whom God never granted the Charter of increase and yet Pliny reports but it is Pliny who reports it that in Rome Mules are often recorded to beare young ones but then always accounted ominous Let others dispute whether Anah was the Inventour or onely the Repertour of Mules the industrious Founder or the casuall Finder of them Let them also discuss whether such copulations be lawfull for men of set purpose to joine together severall kinds which God hath parted asunder yea they may seem to amount to a tacite upbraiding of Gods want of wisdome or goodness in not providing sufficient Creatures for mans service without such monstrous additionals in nature If they be concluded unlawfull let them argue whether the constant use of Mules be not continuing in a known sin and yet some good men in Scripture rather then they would goe on foot used to ride on them though our Saviour himself accepted of a plaine Asse for his own Saddle § 33. These Horims were at last conquered and exâ—irpated by the Edomites who succeeded them and dwelt in their stead The civill government of the land of Edom was sometimes Ducall sometimes Regall Moses reckoning up eleven Edomite Dukes leaveth it doubtfull whether they were successively one after another or went all a brest as living at the same time which is most probable and so the land divided into Eleven Dukedomes This is most certain that eight severall Kings reigned in Edom one after another and all before there reigned any King over the children of Israel Thus the wicked as they have their portion in this world so they quickly come to full age to possess the same whilest Gods children are long children long kept in nonage and brought up in the School of affliction Now it is recorded in Scripture that every Edomite King had successively a severall city of his royall residence namely Kings Parentage royall-Royall-city Bela The son of â—eor Dimhabah Iobab The son of Zerah Bozrah Husham of the land of Temani Teman Hadad The son of Bedad Avith Samlaâ— Â Masrâ—kah Shaut  Râ—hoboth by the river Baal-banan The son of Achbor  Hadaâ— Â Pan. It is plain those Kings were not by succession and probably they were not by election but onely by strength and power as they could make their parties according to Isaacs prediction By thy sword shalt thou live Now this their frequent removall of their royal City was politickly done 1 To declare the fulnes and freedome of their power and pleasure that they were not confined to follow the footsteps of their predecessours 2 To disperse and communicate civility and courtship into all the parts of their kingdome 3 To honour and adorne the place of their birth for probably their native was their royall city 4 To cut off from one place the occasion of
of Galilee Philol. I admire much at your inconstancy In your Map of Palestine some seven years since prefixed to your Holy War you set Iabesh-Gilead north of the river Iabbok in the Tribe of Manasseh which now you have translated many miles southward into this Tribe It seems you need no other to confute you but your self Aleth I have seen mine error and you see my retractation thereof One day teacheth another To live and not to learn is to loiter and not to live Confessions of our former mistakes are the honourable Trophies of our conquest over our own ignorance The main reason why Iabesh-Gilead could not be so far north is this because Saul marched from Bezek in the Tribe of Ephraim with an army of foot in an afternoon and a night over Iordan unto this City and came hither in the morning-watch Now though we allow that zeal to their brethren in danger spurred on the souldiers and did horse those foot in point of speed yet they almost needed wings in so short a time to goe so long a journey fifty miles at least besides the crossing of two great rivers Iordan and Iabbok and to come thither so early Wherefore with master More we have placed Iabesh-Gilead south of Iabbok some thirty miles from Bezek having the concurrence of other Authors for the position thereof â—hilol You have found a nest of Cities in the Apocrypha and place them all in this Tribe Whereas two of them namely Bozra and Betzer are by learned Tremellius found to be the one in Edom the other in Reuben many miles from the Tribe of Gad. Aleth I deny not but two Cities of the foresaid names are presented in those Countreys but could not be the same with these Cities which Maccabeus relieved It is expresly recorded once and again for the more certainty thereof that these places were in the land of Gilead And that any part of Edom or Reuben was ever reputed to belong to the land of Gilead is as I conceive an opinion unpresidented in any good author and unavouchable by any strong argmâ—nts CHAP. IV. Objections concerning Manasseh beyond Jordan answered Philol. YOu have made the countrey of Manasseh beyond Iordan too large in the dimensions thereof for it being the portion but of half a Tribe is according to your scale of miles little less in proportion then the Countrey which other entire Tribes did possess Aleth I confess the truth of what you alledge which is no whit strange in it self What more common then to call a Twin half a man Yet I doubt not but you have seen such half-men as proper persons as any single-born And the moiety of this Tribe possessed as much ground as most other whole Tribes in Israel This may appear by the number of Cities no fewer then threescore contained therein Yet under favour I conceive that the land east of Iordan was not altogether so civilized but more wilde and warlike then the countrey west thereof Especially this of Manasseh subject to hostile incursions from the north and east and therefore their portion was cut out in the largest size that what they wanted in the quietness they might have in the quanâ—ity of their possessions Philol. You make Chorazin within two miles of Capernaum whereas Mr. More in his Maps placeth it on the west side of the sea of Galilee hard by Bethsaida in my minde with more probability of truth For our Saviour saith Woe be to thee Chorazin woe be unto thee Bethsaida coupling them together in his commination who probably would have joined Capernaum and Chorazin together for the vicinity both of their profaneness and place had they been seated so near together as they are presented in your description Aleth Your argument concludes nothing at all Have you not often seen malefactours manacled together whose places of birth and breeding were farthest asunder So might it be with Chorazin and Bethsaida whilest Capernaum is singled out and set solely by it self in our Saviours threatning as a signall offender most eminent for its ingratitude As for our placing of Chorazin we have therein observed the instructions of Saint Hierome and other good Authours Philol. You make the brook Cherith in this Tribe without rendering any reason why you place it here which Adrichomius no doubt on good ground appointeth to be on the west side of Iordan in the Tribe of Ephraim Aleth The brook is but once mentioned in Scripture and therefore we want exact instructions for the position thereof Yea generally the Maps of Palestine take no notice of this brook As if it had been so dried up with the long drought in the days of Eliah that the channell thereof did not afterwards appear But to the point Two things are observable in Scripture concerning the postâ—re of this Cherith First that Eliah after his message done to Ahab in Samaria was commanded to turn himself Eastward Secondly that the brook Cherith whither he was sent is said to be before Iordan the Hebrew hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tremellius rendereth it è regione Iordanis All which put together clearly speaketh it to have been â—ast of Samaria and on the other side of Iordan where judicious Mr. More in his Map hath placed it whom I conceive my self to follow on good reason CHAP. V. Objections concerning Naphtali answered Philol. YOu make all the Tribe of Naphtali west and on this side the River of Iordan whereas that passage foretold by the Prophet and applied by the Evangelist describes it on the other side The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali by the way of the sea beyond Iordan Galilee of the Gentiles The particle beyond is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek which makes it plain that Naphtali lay on the east side of Iordan Aleth The strength of your objection consists in the words beyond Iordan which are variously rendered by learned men By Tremellius in Isaiah secundum Iordanem by the same Author in Matthew transitus Iordan by Beza secus Iordanem The dicision of the difficulty depends on the proper sense of the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—nebher in Hebrew which barely imports no more then over but which way whether Cis or Trans whether on this side or beyond is to be expounded by the context This flexible nature and promiscuous sense of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gnebher is observed by Tremellius and others so that the text alledged by you renders no more then the land of Naphtali over Iordan without specifying any side of the river Secondly we answer that those words beyond Iordan are so indifferently placed in the Prophet that they may equally be referred to what followeth Galilee of the Gentiles part of which Galilee we have formerly described to lie east of Iordan and therein the City Chorazin wherein our Saviour so frequently conversed Philol. You make two fountains the one Ior the other Dan
surrounded on all sides with Iudah whereas in your Map the northern side thereof is all along fairly flanked with the Tribe of Don. Aleth You may remember what we so lately proved that Dan's portion primitively pertained to Iudah and was a canton cut out thereof In which sense according to Scripture Simeons inheritance was within the children of Iudah's and originally encompassed therewith Philol. Why call you this Tribe a jagged remnant being as whole a cloth as the rest and though not so great as entire as the other Tribes I am not sensible by this your Map of any notorious dispersedness of the Simeonites habitations Aleth Undoubtedly Iudah his portion made many incisures and larcinations into the Tribe of Simeon hindering the entireness thereof Particularly Askelon and Gaza first given to once possessed by Iudah though regained by the Philistines were continued and tyed by some narrow labell of land to the main of Iudah at leastwise had a Church-path as I may terme it a passage to the Temple without going through any part of Simeon But wanting certain instructions how to contrive and carry on such indented conveyances and not willing to confine the Reader to our conjecturall fancies we have left him to his liberty presenting Simeon entire wherein he may frame such incursions of Iudah as comply best with his own opinion Philol. You make this Tribe to range some miles south of Beer-sheba whereas that place passeth currant for the utmost border of the Countrey What more common in Scripture then from Dan to Beer-sheba that is from the north to the south of the land of Canaan Aleth It was the utmost eminent City but not absolutely the farthest place in Palestine as neither mentioned amongst the southern boundaries of the land in generall Numb 34. nor with the utmost limits of the Tribe of Iudah Iosh. 15. In ordinary discourse we measure England east and west from Dover to the Mount as the farthest western place of note though Cornwall stretches seven miles beyond it unto the lands end So Beer-sheba was the remotest remarkable City of Canaan where the cloth as I may say ended though the list thereof reached beyond it to the River of Egypt CHAP. XIII Objections against Benjamin answered Philol. VVHy make you Nob a Levite City in Benjamin within the suburbs of Anathoth Seeing Nob is neither named amongst the four Cities bestowed on the Levites in this Tribe Iosh. 21. 17. nor is it any of the eight and forty belonging unto them throughout the whole Countrey of Canaan Aleth That Nob was in this Tribe appears by that caâ—alogue of Cities presented us in Nehemiah which the Benjamites repossessed after their return from Babylon That it was a Levites yea a Priests City appears too plainly by the Massacre therein on them committed We confess it none of the eight and forty originally assigned to the Levites Yet how they in after-ages were capable of supernumerary Cities more then in their first Charter and how the Mortâ—main of the Levites as I may term it was enlarged with new foundations we have lately answered in the objections of Ephraim whither we refer you for further satisfaction Philol. You make the sons of Saul executed on an hill nigh Gibeah of Saul which your judicious friend will have hung up before the Tabernacle in Gibeon observing therein an exemplary piece of divine justice that whereas Saul had ruined the Tabernacle at Nob his sons were hung up before the same in Gibeon Aleth Not to be a Plaintise against him but a Defendant of my self I conceive him mistaken in confounding Gibeah of Saul with Gibeon distinct Cities as may appear by their severall owners and actions therein performed GIBEON GIBEAH An ancient City of the Hivites whose inhabitants deceived the Israelites given to the Levites in the Tribe of Benjamin where the Tabernacle was set up in the time of Solomon A City in Benjamin hard by Iâ—rusalem distinct from the former whose inhabitants were meer Benjamites and by their lust abused the Levites Concubine to death for which their Tribe was almost extirpated it was afterwards called Gibeah of Saul from his birth and frequent residence therein Now the text expresly saith that the Gibeonites did hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul that is in Sauls native place and Court where he had issued out his cruell edicts for the slaughter of the Gibeonites Philol. But that expression they hanged them in the hill before the Lord imports the same performed in some religious place probably in the prospect or view of the Tabernacle Aleth Before the Lord implies no more then what in the foregoing verse was termed unto the Lord that is in a sacred manner not out of private revenge but in an holy zeal tendering the parties executed an oblation to divine justice and so is interpreted by the Expositors thereon Philol. In your particular Map of Benjamin Iordan runs almost directly south the whole course of whose channell visibly bendeth eastward in your Map generall of Palestine Aleth That generall Map though first placed was last perfected wherein we have amended three mistakes as escaped in our particular descriptions One that wherein you instance another 〈◊〉 Reâ—â—en formerly forgottâ—n to be confessed making that Tribe a little longer from north to south then it is represented in our particular description thereof My care shall be God willing in the second edition to conforme those particular Maps according to these rectisiâ—ations in the generall description CHAP. XIV Objections against Judah answered Philol. WOuld not it affright one to see a dead man walk And will not he in like manner be amazed to see the Dead-sea moving Why have you made the surface of the waters thereof waving as if like other seas it were acted with any tyâ—e which all Authors avouch and your self confesseth to be a standing stinking lake Thinkâ— not to plead that such waving is the impression of the winde thereupon seeing Tacitus affirmes of this sea Neque vento impellitur it is such a drone it will neither goe of it self nor yet be driven of the winde Aleth I will not score it on the account of the Graver that it is onely lascivia or ludicrum coeli the over-activity of his hand And in such cases the flourishings of the Scrivener are no essentiall part of the Bond but behold Mercators and other Authors Maps and you shall finde more motion therein then is here by us expressed The most melancholy body of moisture especially of so great extent is necessarily subject to such simpering in windy weather as inseparable from the liquidity thereof Philol. Why set you Zeboim most northernly of all the five Cities in the Dead-sea in the place where Sodome is situated in all other descriptions Aleth The placing of them is not much materiall whether longwise all in a File as Mr. More sets them
Ribera in altari Lateranensi infra quod dicitur esse Arca In the Lateran Altar say they in Rome beneath within which IT IS SAID the Ark is but both of them speak so uncertainly and put it on publick fame that they teach us to deny the Truth thereof Philol. You are very briefe in the destruction of the City and Temple by the Romans whereas so memorable a subject deserved a fuller description Aleth It is largely related by Iosephus to whom the Reader is referred onely I will adde a word of the remarkable time thereof God graciously promised his people Neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt goe up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice a year Obedience is better then an Army to secure ones estate As the Meniall-servants of great Persons are protected in some cases from Arrests whilest they waite on their Masters in publick imployment so Gods people were priviledged from damage during their attendance on him thrice a year in his Temple no invasion being found to befall them on that occasion clean through the Scripture But at last in token that they by their wickedness had out-lawed themselves of his protection and he withdrawn his defending of them the Romans besieged them in Ierusalem coming up thither on the solemn feast of the Passeover and soon after both Temple and City was destroyed by Vespasian and Titus his son seventy two years after our Saviours birth Not one stone of the Temple left upon another though three towers of the City Maâ—iamne Phaselus and Hippicus were left standing not out of pity but pride their devouring sword leaving this mannerly bit on purpose that posterity might tast how strong the place was to the greater credit of the conquerours Philol. To adde to the solemnity of the State Titus with his Father Vespasian made a solemn Triumph in Rome wherein the golden Table and Candlestick with other sacred Utensils of the Temple formerly reverenced now derided made once for Gods service now served to adorn the Trophees of Pagans We read what befell Belshazzar when he quaffed in the vessels of the Temple Some perchance might here expect that God to punish the profanaâ—ion of these holy instrumentâ— should then have shewed some signall judgment on the profaners But the case was altered because the date of Ceremonies was then expired the use of Types ended Christ the Truth being come and the Moon may set obscurely without any mans taking notice of her when the Sun is risen Aleth The last and greatest Trophee then carried in triumph was the LAW OF THE IEWS probably that very numericall book the Authentiâ—k or Originall of the Law which by Gods command was constantly to be kept in the Temple And this perchance was permitted by divine providence not without a peculiar mystery therein to shew that the Law which formerly bound men over to damnation was now bound it self in captivity outed of its former dominion deposed from its condemning power having now the Gospell of Grace succeeding in the place thereof Lastly orders were issued out to the Governour of Syria to set the whole land of Iudea to sale which was done accordingly Time was when by the Leviticall Law Iewish land though â—old yet at the year of Iubile was to revert to the ancient owners but now the King of heaven granted such a license of Alienation that it was fully and finally passed away from its ancient possessors Philol. To perpetuate thâ— memory of this Roman conquest besides many other monuments Coins were stamped both in gold and silver with the Image of Vespasian and Titus on the one side and on the reverse a woman placed in a pensive posture under a Palme-tree which tree was the Hieroglyphick of Iudea onely differing herein that the Palme-tree the more depressed the more it flourisheth whereas Iudea sunke under the weight of her woes and never again outgrew her miseries And lest men should miss the fancy of the Impress they are guided thereunto by the Motto subscribed Iudaea capta Iudea taken Aleth What â—an on sight hereof would not call to minde the complaint of the Prophet How doth the City sit solitary that was full of people how is she become as a widow she that was great among the nations and Princess among the Provinces how is she become tributary Great no doubt was the grief of the Iews hereat But few drops seasonably showred would preserve the green blade from withering when much rain cannot revive the roots once withered Eyes dry for their sins are vainly wet after their sufferings and a drought in the Spring is not to be repaired by a deluge in the Autumn CHAP. XX. Objections concerning the Description of Mount Libanus answered Philol. YOu make Libanus to be the north-ridge of these hills and Anti-Libanus to be the south part thereof clean contrary unto learned Munster in his description of it Aleth Munster is singular therein unseconded by any other Authors However the controversie is not important as touching Scripture wherein this distinction appears not at all both the north and south chains of those mountains being promiscuously called Libanus in Holy Writ Some humane Authors lay this distinction in point of east and west so great is the difference among them If I may freely profess my opinion herein I conceive that the inhabitants of this mountain termed the place of their own habitation wheresoever they dwelt Libanus and named the mountains of their overthwart neighâ—bours Anti-Libanus as commonly men account their own Religion onely to be Christianity and all such opinions as are opposite to their own Antichristian Philâ—l In your Map generall of old Canaan the Island of Arvad or Aradus is not above forty miles from Zidon which in this Map of mount Libanus are fourscore miles asunder Indeed I have read of a floating Isle in Scotland moving from place to place with the winde and waves But is this Isle of Aradus fixed to no firmer foundations so that it hath swom forty miles more northward in this then in your former draught thereof Aleth May you be pleased to remember that in our instructions premised to the Reader we gave notice that places standing on the Um-stroke or utmost line of any Map denote not their accurate position but situation thereabouts to clear the continuation of the Countrey Such the location of Arvad in our former Map which in this of mount Libanus is placed according to the true distance thereof Philol. You make the River Abanâ— in heathen Authors Chrysorrhoâ—s to sink into the ground without communicating it self to the sea This is out of the common road of nature that this River should be free from paying tribute to the Ocean to which all smaller waters are indebted Yea and Adrichomius no doubt on good authority maketh it when passing from Damâ—scus to run through a plain called Arch abod and so
into the Syrian or Mediteâ—ranean-sea Aleth His error therein is confuted both by ancient and modern writers Strabo speaking thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Chrysorrhoâ—s beginning from the City and Countrey of Damascus in a manner is wholly spent in drains thence derived for it watereth much ground and that very deep Some thing more may be collected from Ptolemies expression not terming the fall of Chrysorrhoas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his ordinary word the Out-lets or Ejections thereof into the sea but onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the End or determination thereof Where by the degrees by him assigned Beâ—tius in his Maps presenteth this River swallowed up wholly in the sands and the same is confessed by Bellonius an eye-witness thereof and other modern Geographers that it never cometh unto any sea Philol. You have omitted the Vale of Salt in your Map near Aramâ— Zobaâ— neither mentioning in your description that most memorable defeat which David gave the Syrians therein Your modern Merchants of Aleppo will inform you thereof who have been on the very place where the battell was fought as tradition reporteth Aleth I have heard so much from the mouths of my judicious friends which have lived in those parts and have formerly read the same in effect How within halfe a days-journey of Aleppo there is a very great plain without grass growing on it the sand whereof is naturally good salt and after rain being dried again with the Sun the people gather it However I cannot be perswaded that this Salt Vale was the place whereon David gave his enemies that notable overthrow as on the perusall of the following Scriptures will appear 2 Sam. 8. 13 And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting the Syrians in the valley of Salt being eighteen thousand men And he put garrisons in Edom throughout all Edom put he garrisons 1 Chr. 18. 12. Moreover Abishai the sonne of Zerviah slew of the Edomites in the valley of Salt eighteen thousand Inscription of Psal. 60. To the chief Musician upon Sushan-Eduth Michtam of David to teach When he strove with Aram Maharaim and with Aram Zobah when Ioab returned and smote of Edom in the valley of Salt twelve thousand Here under favour I conceive these severall Scriptures intend one and the same victory because fought in the same place the Valley of Salt whilest the seeming contradictions in the names of the Conquerors different numbers and nations of the persons conquered are easiely reconciled 1. Ioab as Generall might give the Command and Abishai Lieutenant Generall do the execution whilest David as Soveraign received the honour of the Action 2. Twelve thousand might be slain on the place and six more kild in the pursuit so making up eighteen thousand in the totall number 3. This slaughter fell on the Edomites who are called Syrians not by their Countrey though Syria taken in a large sense is comprehensive of many nations but cause and confederacy as ingaging themselves to their cost auxiliaries in the same quarrell of the Syrians against King David This battell thus stated with most probability in my opinion it seems fought rather in the land of Edom where there is another Valley of Salt eminent in Scripture and not near Aleppo or Aram Zobah However because Tradition is a Tyrant on the contrary I dare resolve nothing positively but suspend my own and attend the judgments of others herein Philol. You make Marra the next modern stage south of Aleppo whereas there be many moe miles and intermediate lodging-places namely Cane-Toman and Saracoop betwixt them Aleth I confess no less but am sorry your memory is so short that I must so often incultate the same rule unto you That places situate on the Um-stroke such the location of Aleppo in our Map are not in their exact position whilest we onely make a long arme to reach them confusedly into our description though otherwise they be at greater distance then the scale of miles will admit Philol. I wonder you make the Mediterranean from Tripoli to Antioch to run with such a crooked flexure in form of an Hook which certainly will not catch the beleefe of any judicious beholder thereof The rather because no Geographers take cognizance of it and such a bending is disavowed by all modern Maps Aleth Consult Ptolemies Maps as drawn by learned Bertius and they present the fashion thereof accordingly though such an Elbow appears not in the late Cardes of this Countrey No news now adays for Sea to gain Land to lose or reciprocally both to alter their ancient and accept new forms seeing our Cornish-men will tell us that a good piece of their horn is blunted and broken off by the sea whose land formerly stretched out more westward and was called as they say Lioness before the waters devoured both the paws and whole body thereof CHAP. XXI Objections answered against the eastern confines of Palestine Philol. YOu have left the eastern part of this Map altogether empty which you ought to have furnished with moe towns and Cities therein Aleth Whose image and superscription doth this Map bear Is it not of Arabia the desert a wild barren Countrey To make a desert full is as absurd as to paint a Black-more faire Besides whence should the Geographer fetch the names of these Cities except from his own groundless fancy And then as King Edgar is said to have founded in England as many Monasteries as there be weeks in the year a Map-maker might build moe Cities then there be hours therein whilest the Reader must have as much simplicity as the Author dishonesty that gives credit thereunto Philol. You have false pointed to use your own expression the Iewish peregrinations seeing those four intermediate stages Comma's as you term them be Ar Mattanah Nahaliel and Bamoth being named after the stream of Arnon seem on the other side of the River and therefore rather to be placed in the Tribe of Reuben Aleth I have consulted the text and best Comments upon it and cannot yet be convinced but that the same is rightly situate Arnon I conceive divided into many streams therefore plurally termed the brooks of Arnon probably tributary brooks running into that main River and though the places aforesaid lay north of these rivolets they were south of the main Arnon and in the land of Moab However because of their so ambiguous posture being more willing to learn then to teach I am ready to alter them on any better information Philol. You make Iobs sons tent in your Map blown down on his children therein whereas Scripture calleth it expresly an house and otherwise it is unlikely they should be slain with such slight curtains falling upon them Aleth I will not plead that a tent is also termed an house in Scripture phrase that tent-dwelling was most fashionable in the eastern Countries especially in that ancient age that statory or long standing tents were
of more then seven hundred years peaceable possession thereof But this threefold cable was broken with the weight of their sins and so was Israel carried away from their own land to Assyria unto this day Even Lands as well as Goods are moveables though not from their Center from their Owners at leastwise the owners are moveable from their lands § 3. Yet God did not all at once begin and end the captivity of the ten Tribes but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at sundry times and in diverse manners For 1 Pâ—l King of Assyria in the reign of Menahem carried the Reubenites Gadites and half Tribe of Manasseh away to the Cities of the Medes 2 Tiglath-Piâ—â—eser in the days of Pekah transported besides Gilead and the remains of the aforesaid Tribes Galilee namely so much thereof as was in the land of Naphtali unto Assyria 3 Shalmaneser cleared all the rest in the ninth year of Hoshea carrying them away to Halath and Habor by the River Gozan in the Cities of the Medes Probably the second or middle captivity of the Naphtalites afterwards removed themselves into Tartary where Ortelius findes their very name and a City called Tabor Asnoth-Tabor we know was a place in the border of Naphtali imposed no doubt to perpetuate the memory of their native Countrey § 4. Scripture gives us no account what afterwards became of these ten Tribes Onely in Esdras â— book accounted by some as the Apâ—â—rypha of the Apocrypha because never owned for Canonicall either by the Iews Romish Church in generall or Protestant writers we finde them travelling over Euphrates miraculously dried up in their passage towards Arsareth or Tartary a great way namely a journey of a year and an half A long stride indeed and yet might be but little if mending their pace no more then their ancestors did in their passage between Egypt and Canaan But waving Esdras his single testimony these ten Tribes appeare not since in any authenticall relation strange that the posterity of the two Tribes Iudah and Benjamin should be found almost every where whilest the off-spring of the ten Tribes are found no where Thuâ— God hath on them 〈◊〉 that curse which he formerly threatned To scatter them into corners and make the remembrance of them to cease Not that he hath utterly extinguished the being an opinion as unreasonable as uncharitable but hath hitherto concealed the known bâ—ing of so numerous a nation whom we may call the lost-loâ—t sheep of Israel both in respect of their spirituall condition and corporall habitation § 5. Some conceive the modern Amâ—ricans of the Jewish race collecting the same from some resemblances in rites community of customes conformity of clothes fragments of letters foot-steps of knowledge ruines of language though by a casuall coincidence some straggling words of the Athenians may meet in the mouths of the veriest Barbarians and many other Iudaismes amongst the Indians And lately a Jewish Rabbin of Amsterdam tels us that beyond the Cordiller hills and river Maragnon a fair people are found with long beards and rich in clothes living by themselves different in religion from the rest of the Indians whom he will have to be the ten Tribes there remaining in a body together His arguments so prevaile on some formerly contrarily minded as to turn the tyde of their judgment to concur with his with others they make it dead water not to oppose his opinion whilest a third sort listen to his relation as onely priviledged from confutation by the remoteness thereof § 6. For mine own part I behold his report as the Twilight but whether it will prove the morning twilight which will improve it self into full light or that of the evening darkening by degrees into silence and utter obscurity time will discover When the eleven Tribes so virtually may I term them brought news that one lost Tribe Ioseph was found Iacobs heart fainted for he beleeved them not till afterwards he was convinced on clearer evidence How much more then may I be permitted to suspend my judgment when one man brings tydings of ten lost Tribes all found in an instant untill farther proof be made thereof Surely we who now secretly smile at some probable insinuations in his report shall on better assurance have our mouthes filled with laughter not Sarahs laughter of distrust but Abrahams of desire delight and beliefe when his relation shall be confirmed to us from other hands And indeed the messenger deserves to be well paid for his pains who brings clear proof thereof the discovery of the posterity of these ten Tribes being an happy Forerunner and Furtherer of their future conversion CHAP. III. Of the Jews their repossessing their native Countrey § 1. IT is a conceit of the modern Iews that one day they shall return under the conduct of their Messias to the Countrey of Canaan and City of Ierusalem and be re-estated in the full possession thereof If any object that their land now base and barren is not worth the regaining They answer when they shall recover their Countrey the Countrey shall recover its former fruitfulness as if God would effect miracles as fast as man can fancy them With them concur some Protestant Divines maintaining that the Iews shall be restored to a flourishing Common-wealth with the affluence of all outward pomp and pleasure so that they shall fight and conquer Gog and Magog the Turke with many other miraculous achievements One Author so enlargeth the future amplitude of the Jewish State that thereby he occasioned a confining to himself His expressions indiscreetly uttered or uncharitably construed importing that all Christian Princes should surrender their power as homagers to the temporall supreme Empire of the Jewish nation § 2. For the proof of this their position never did the servants of Benhadad more diligently observe or more hastily catch any thing of comfort coming from the mouth of Ahab then the Iews search out and snatch at every gracious promise made to them in the old Testament Such principally as Deut. 30. 3. Then on their repentance the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have compassion upon thee and will return and gather thee from all nations whiter the Lord thy God hath scattered thee Isaiah 11. 12. And he shall set up an Ensigne for the nations and shall assemble the out-casts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Iudah from the four corners of the earth Levit. 26. 44. And yet for all that when they be in the land of their enemies I will not cast them away neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them for I am the Lord their God § 3. This last place the Iews highly price and such of them as live in Germany call it Simiam auream or the Golden Ape And why so Because forsooth in the
effectuall for others § 5. It is safest for such to insert conditionall clauses in their prayers If it may stand with Gods good will and pleasure used by the best men not to say the best in bests in their petitions Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Such wary reservations will not be interpreted in the Court of Heaven want of faith but store of humility in such particulars where such persons have no plenary assurance of Gods pleasure Yea grant the worst that God never intended the future conversion of the Iews yet whilst he hath not revealed the contrary as in the case of Samuels mourning for Saul all mens charitable desires herein cannot but be acceptable to the God of heaven O Lord who art righteous in all thy ways and holy in all thy works we acknowledge and admire the justice of thy proceedings in blinding and hardening the Jews as for their manifold impieties so especially for stoning thy Prophets despising thy Word and crucifying the Lord of life For which thou hast caused them according to the prediction of thy Prophet to abide many days without a King and without a Prince and without a Sacrifice and without an Image and without an Ephod and without Teraphim But thou ô Lord how long How ô Lord holy and true How long Lord with thou be angry for ever Thine anger is said to endure but a Moment but Lord how many Millions of Millions of Moments are contained in sixteen hundred years since thou hast first cast off thy first and ancient people the Jews Remember Abraham Isaac and Jacob not for any merit in their persons which was none but for the mercy in thy promises which is infinite so frequently made and so solemnly confirmed unto them But oh remember the Oratour on thy right hand Christ Jesus our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and the Oratour in thine own bosome thine essentiall and innate Clemency and let these prevaile if it may stand with thy good will and pleasure that thy people the Jews may be received into the armes of thy mercy As once by a wilfull and wofull imprecation they drew the guilt of his bloud on them and on their children so by thy free imputation drop the merit of his bloud on them and on their children For the speedying of whose conversion be pleased to compose the many different judgments of Christians into one truth to unite their disagreeing affections in one love that our examples may no longer discourage but invite them to the embracing of the true Religion Oh mollifie the hearts rectifie the wills unvaile the eyes unstop the ears of those thy people whom hitherto thou hast justly hardened Reveale to their understanding those Oracles which thou hast committed to their keeping That so our Saviour who long since hath been a light to lighten the Gentiles may in thy time be the glory of thy people Israel that so there may be one shepheard and one sheepfold Grant this ô Lord for Christ Jesus his sake to whom with Thee and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory now and forever Amen FINIS Here followes the draught of Fragmenta Sacra Necessary directions for the use of the INDEX AN Index is the bag and baggage of a book of more use then honour even such who seemingly slight it secretly using it if not for need or speed of what they desire to finde Our Table for the better expedition is contrived into severall Columnes The first presenting the names of Scripture places within the land of Palestine If any literall difference appear not onely such as betwixt Zidon Kidron in the Old Siden and Cedron in the New Testament but concerning the same place diversly written the discretion of the Reader wil easily reconcile it Immediately after the name the addition of C. donoteth City F. Field L. Land M. Mountain Pl. Plain Ri. River Ro. Rock S. Stone St. Station of the Iews in the Wilderness T. Town V. Vaile We. Well Wi. Wilderness The second Column interprets the Hebrew names into English though great the variety of Authors in rendring their signification This party proceeds from the laxity of Hebrew words admitting sundry senses partly from the vicinity of Primitives so that the same derivative may seem to spring from two roots and be son as directly to his Father so collaterally to his Vncle I mean to words akin and alluding whence the same in probability may be deduced and this subjecteth it to much variety of interpretation In this diversity we have wholly followed Gregorius Gregorii in his Lexicon Sacrum as a work meerly expository of proper nams though some perchance will say that what is the credit of the good wife she bringeth her food from far is sometimes his discredit in his over strained and far fet derivations Expect not here from me after the meaning of the name a reason of the meaning how conformable to the nature of the place Many Townes were called so because they were called so ad placitum of the first imposer Other places when first denominated had just reason of the same but this kernell long since hath been eaten up by all-devouring time leaving nothing thereof but the huske of the empty name to posterity Now to fix the Hebrew names the better in our memory we have here and there as the propriety of our language and commodities of our Countrey will admit inserted some English Townes as Synonyma's and parallel to the Hebrew in signification The fourth Column is reserved for those texts of Scripture wherein is made either the first or most important mention of those plces As the fifth exhibits the Map wherein the same are to be found The sixth tenders to the Reader the Longitudes of most places and the rest may be supplied by proportion But oh the difference of best Authors herein As in populous Cities an houre is lost in measuring of time the lag clock about noon striking the most when the forwardest strikes the fewest so a whole degree of Longitude is swallowed up betwixt the difference of Geographers Yea so great is the uncertainty therein that in most Maps lines of Longitudes as onely for generall direction ne toto coelo errent serve to lace their Maps that they grow not without forme or fashion but are not reducible to an exact agreement More is the certainty of Latitudes the work of the next Column as greater their concernment in our Description because effectuall in the length of the days and heat of the climate in Palestine It is situated for the main betwixt thirty one and thirty four the longest day being fourteen houres and a quarter though the Iews as if it were always Equinoctiall with them divided both day and night evenly into twelve houres so that the two overplus houres and the quarter fell under the nocturnall computation As
Scraâ—â— in 〈◊〉 Quaest nona f M. Arthur Iackson in locuÌ„ g Deut. 33. 23. h Iudg. 18. 10. i Ios. de bell Iuda li. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 k Lib. 16. in Syria pa. 755. l Virgill m Mat. 10. 5. n Joh. 4. 4. * Iosh. 19. 33 34. o Ios. de bell Iuda li. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p Sâ—lin Polyhist cap. 35. * Iosh. 3. 15. Ier. 12. 5. 49. 19. c. q Zach. 11. 3. r 2 King 5. 12. s Iudg. 18. 28. t Sir Walter Rawleigh Hist. World u Deut. 33. 22. w Iudg. 18. 30. x Vid. ejus annot in loc praedict y Iudg. 7. 4. z 1 King 12. 29. 13. 33. a Luk. 3. 1. b Mar. 16. 13. Maâ— 8. 27. c Euseb. hist. eccles lib. 7. cap. 14. Niceph. hist. eccles lib. 6. cap. 15. d Mar. 5. 26. Luke 8. 43. e Ier. 50. 44. f Iosh. 11. 1. 4 5 g 2 King 22. 6. h Ier. 38. 5 6. i Gen. 32. 10. * Biddulph's Tâ—av k Biddulph's trav p. 103. l 〈…〉 elucidat Teâ— sanc lib. 7. cap. 10. m Gen. 37. 13. 17. n Bâ—dduâ—ph ut pâ—tus o Hen. Buntâ—u Trav. of Câ—hrist pa. 446. Kinnor in Hebrew a harp p Mat. 9. 1. compared with Mar. 2. 1. q Mat. 4. 13. r Mat. 8. 5. s Mat. 8. 14. t Mark 2. 1. u Mat. 9. 18. Mark 5. 22. w Mat. 11. 23. * â— Hieron de loc Hebr. * Mat. 9. 9. Mar. 2. 14. y Mat. 17. 24. z Luke 8. 3. a Mat. 17. 27. * Mat. 26. 29. b 〈◊〉 ca. 63. Concordance c Iosh. 19. 35. d 1 Kin. 15. 20. Iohn 12. 21. * â—r sishing house rather beâ—ausâ— on the lake this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will bear both e Luke 9. 10. Ioh. 1. 44. f Iohn 1. 44. g Mat. 11. 21. h Mar. 8. 25. i Gen. 2. 7. k Biddulph trav pa. 105. l Tobit 5. 12. m Tobit 5. 13. n Mat. 22. 30. o Sir Walter Rawleigh hist. World lib. 2. 1 part pa. 290. p Cant. 4. 15. q Num. 13. 22. r Num. 34. 8. Iosh. 13. 5. Iud. 3. 3. s Ezek. 47. 20. t Amos. 6. â— u 2 Kiâ—g 17. 30. w Iost 11. 10. z Adricho in theat Ter. sanc in Naphta a Nat. hist. lib. â—â— cap. 2. b Prov. 6. 6. c Camb. Brit. in Cornwall d Ios. de bâ—ll Iuda â—â— 7. c. 24. in latine ca. 13. in greâ—k e Exâ—râ— 15. Diatâ— 20. advers Baronium f 2 Sam. 20. 15. g 2 Sam. 20. 14 h 2 King 15. 29. i 2 Sam. 20. 22 k 1 King 15. 20 l 2 King 15. 29 * Judg. 4. 11. m In his notâ—s on Iudg. 5. 23. n Magell in textum o Pet Martyr Sâ—â—rar major pars comment p Iudg. 5. 23. q Mat. 21. 20. * Iosh. 12. 19. * Iosh. 11. 1. * Mat. 7. 7. * 1 Iâ—â—n 〈◊〉 2. * 2 Sam. 24. 6. * Iudg. 4. 2. r Iudg. 4. 6. s Iosh. 20. 7. t See the description of Kedemoth in the Tribe of Reuben u Iudg. 1. 33. w Iosh. 21. 32. x 1 Chr. 6. 76. * 1 King 4. 15. * Rehoboam Basmah and Tashah 1 King 4. 11. y Gen. 49. 21. z In his comments on the place a Iudg. 5. 1. b See our description of Ephraim Paragraph the second a Numb 1. 41. b Num. 26. 47. c Luke 2. 36. d Gen. 49. 10. e Deut. â—3 24. f Deut. 28. 23. g Odyssâ—o 425. h Iudg. 5. 17. i Iudg. 1. 31. k Iudg. 1. 30. Salt and glasse made in Asher l Iosh. 11. 8. m Plin. 〈◊〉 36. Nat. hist. ca. 2â— n Iosh. 13. 4. o Tyr. li. 19 Bel. Sacr. ca. 11. Vast caves in the land of Canaan p Iosh. 10. 23. q 1 King 18. 13. r 1 Sam. 22. 2. s Iudg. 20. 49. t Gâ—og li. â—6 u Psal. 76. 4. w Mat. 21. 13. The city Enoch wrong placed x Io. Viterbien apud Naucler Vid. Adricho in Asher num 39. y Gen. 417. z Nat. hist. li. 2. cap. 16. a Gen. 43. 33. b Iosh. 15. 1. c 1 Chron. 5. 2. d Iosh. 16. 1. e 1 Chron. 5. 2. f Iosh. 18. 11. g Iosh. 19. 1. 10. 17. h Iosh. 19. 24. i Gen. 30. 13. k Iosh. 19. 32. 40. l Cant. 5. 2. m Iosh. 21. 31. 1 Chr. 6. 75. where it is called Hukok n Iosh. 12. 20. o 1 Chr. 6. 74. * Or white Nilus p Nat. hist. lib. 5. cap. 19. q 1 Sam. 5. 2. r Psal. 115. 7. s 1 King 9. 13. t Numb 13. 21. u Iosh. 21. 31. w Mat. 10. 4. x Iosh. 12. 18. y 1 King 20. 1. z 1 King 20. 10 a 1 King 20. 27 b 1 King 20 30. * 1 King 22. 31. c 1 King 4. 16. d Seâ— Niâ— Fullâ—r Misce l. lib. 4. cap. 6. e Bel. Iud. lib. 2. cap. 9. * Act. 11. 19. 15. 3. a Bochâ— Geog. Sanc. parte 2 dâ— lib. â— cap. 1. pag. 362. b 1 King 5. 6. 18. c Ezek. 27. 3. d Isa. 23. 3. e Ezek. 2â— 3. s Ezek. 27. 5. g Isa. 23. 8. h Isa. 23. 3. i Ezek. 27. 13. Ioel 3. 46. k Ezâ—k 27. 14. l 1 Tim 6. 17. m Ezek. 27. 7. n Ezek. 27. 16. o Ezek. 27. 7. p Gen. 10. 4. q Ezek. 27. 22. Gen. 10. 7. Psal. 72. 10. r Ezek. 27. 19. s Ezek. 27. 20. t Nâ—h 13. 16. u Ezâ—k 27. 22. w Ezek. 27. 16. x Bochar Geog Sanc. lâ—b 3. c. 7. y Ezek. 27. 22 z Iust. l. 18. p. 196. a Ezek. 27. 24. b Ezek. ut pri c Ezek. 27. 15. d Iliad 23. 743. 6. 289. Odys 15. 114. 4. 54. c Iosh. 11. 8. f Ezek. 27. 12. g 13. h Brochart Geog. Sanc. i Ezek. 27. 18. k Ezek. 27. 14. l Ezek. 27. 21. m Ezek. 27. 17. a Ezek. 26. 2. b Isa. 23. 9. c Ezek. 26. 3. * Iosh. 19. 29. d Ezek. 30. 18. e Sir Walter Rawlegh 2 book 76. pag. 285. f Ezek 29. 19. 20 g Esay 23. 15. h Ezek. 26. 14. i Esay 23. 15. k Luke â—6 19. l Acts 12. 20. m 1 King 16. 31. n Esay 23. 8. o Esay 23. 15. Revel 2. 21. p 2 King 9. 35. q Sands Trav. li. 3. p. 216. r Mat. 11. 21. s Luke 11. 27 28. t Bradenback de Teâ— Sanc. Sand. Trav. pag. 217. u Cant. 4. 15. w Gen. 10. 15. x Esay 23. 12. y Ezek. 16 44. z Iudg. 18. 7. a Iosh. 11. 8. 19. 28. b Lib. 16. c Lib. 1. â— 12. d Ezek. 28. 22. e Act. 27. 3. f Mat 15. 21. * Obad. ver 20. g 1 King 17. 9 h Luke 9. 26. i Lib. 1. cap. 4. k King 17. 20 l Judg. 1. 3â— m Stephanus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. Nic. Full. lib. 4. Misce. cap. n 1 Mac. 12. 4. * Act. 21. 7. o Plin. l. 5. c. 19. p L. 2. Bel. Iud. cap. 9. q Psal. 110. 3. The Armes of Asher r Gen. 49. 20.
The populousness and puissâ—nce of Zebulun a Num. 1. 31. b Num. 26. 27. c Iudg. 5. 14. d Psal. 68. 27. e 1 Chr. 12. 33. f Iudg. 12. 12. The situation and sea conveniences thereof g Gen. 49. 13. h Deut. 33. 18 19. Zebulun how bordering on Sidon i Gen. 49. 13. k Bochar Geog. Sacr. par pri pag. 342. The severall measures and names of the Galilean Sea l Ios. l. 3. de bel Iud. ca. 18. m Lib. 5. c. 15. Nat. hist. n De Ter. saâ—c o Trav. of Patriarchs p. 446. p Trav. p. 104. q Iosh. 13. 27. Iosh. 19. 35. r Luke 5. 1. s Iohn 6. 1. t Mat. 15. 29. u Luke 5. 2. w Maâ—ke 3. 9. x Luke 8. 23. y Mark 6. 48. z Acts 27. 37. Why our Saviour traversed sea as well as land Christs first voyage a Luke 5. 7. The second voyage saves Peter b Mâ—t. 14. 24. c Psal. 77. 19. d Iohn 6. 21. The third voyage when Christ was fast a sleep e Mat. 8. 24. f Mark 4. 3. 7. g Mar. 4. 39 40. Why Christ never sailed after his resurâ—ection h Mar. 8. 14. i Iohn 21 4. The method of the future description k Vid. Tabulam Ter. Sanc. l Luke 4. 29. The situation and denomination of Nazareth m Tom. 1. epi. 17. ad Marcellam n Cant. 2. 1. * Mar. 6. 3. A Vulgar error o Luke 4. 34. p Iohn 1. 46. q Iohn 19. 19. r Act. 24. 5. Christ no ceremonious Nazarite s Numb 6. 2. t Mat. 11. 19. u Luke 8. 54. x Mat. 2. 23. * Isay 11. 1. The first fruits of Christs preaching in Nazareth y Luke 4. 20. z 2 Sam 17. 7. * John 7. 15. Why Prophets without honour in their own countrey a Heb. 7. 3. The murdering intents of the Nazarites defeated b Iohn 3. 14. * See them on the place The travels of the chappell of Lauretto * See Tâ—reâ—llinus his historia Laâ—rettana c 1 Tim. 1. 4. Ioseph sold by his brethren d Gen. 37. 2. e Gen. 42. 21. f Gen. 37. 25. * verse 22. * verse 26. g Gen. 37. 25. h See description of Ephraims Tribe Sephoris the greatest city in Galilee i De bel Iud. lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 k Josh. 19. 13. l The birth placâ— of Ionah 2 King 14. 25. m Ionah 1. 3. n Ionah 4. 9. o Iohn 7. 52. p Mat. 15. 39. q Mar. 8. 10. Bethulia the stage of the tragedy of Holofernes The high seated city Iotâ—pata The character of Flavius Iosephus Iew and Priest son of Maâ—tathias u Though in his Proeme he promiseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without adding or diminishing any thing w In Apparatu numero 84. Christs Sermon on this sea x Mat. 13. 2. y Exod. 14. 19 20. Tiberias nigh to which Christ multiplied the loaves z Iohn 21. 1. a Ioh. 6. 22 23. b M Biddulph in his Trav. p. 104. M. Biddulphs eye-comment on our Saviours sea-voiage * Mâ—â— 6. 33. The ancient river of Kâ—shon c Judg. 5. 21. d Gen. 1. 9. e Vid. eum in locum f Ad quem utrique excâ—â—citus concurâ—entes manu conseruer unt Trâ—m ibid. The 2 streams of Kishon running into severall seas g Bâ—â—eiden bachius in ter Sacr. h Mat. 17. 1. Mark 9. 2. Luke 9. 30. i In his deâ—cription of Palestin which is neither divided into lâ—aves pâ—ges columns nor chapters k Mâ—t. 7. 7. l Iam. 4. 3. m Luke 9. 33. n Biddulphs Trav. p. 101. The city Naim Judge Elons sepulcher o Luke 7. 11. p Judg. 12. 12. The place where Baals prâ—estâ— were slain by Eliah q 1 King 18. 28. r 1 King 17. 7. The God Carmelus * In Vâ—spâ—siano cap. 5. The pleasure of Carmel a Amos 9. 3. b 2 King 19 32. c Ibid in the marginall note * Vâ—de â—abulas Adrichomii Cain Caiaphas 〈◊〉 c. d Gen. 4. 8. e Joh. 11. 49. f Heb. 12. 2. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g De bel Iâ—d liâ— 2 cap. 32. h Iohn 2. 1. * Iosh. 19. 11. i Iosh. 12. 22. k Iosh. 21. 34. A châ—rlish difficulty Rather waved then sâ—tisfied l Tostatus Tremâ—llius in locum Chroniâ—oâ—um who maketh Dimnah the same with Rimmon Taboâ— with Nahalol The armes of Zâ—bulun m 1 King 4. 12. Issachars numbers and emâ—nent persons a Gen. 30. 17. b Numb 1. 29. c Num. 26. 25. * 1 King 15. 27 d 1 King 1. 4. e Deut. 33. 18 19. f Josh. 19. â—2 His bounds fruitfulnesse g Psal. 106. 24. h Gen. 49. 15. i Gen. 49. 14. Not defective in valour k Judg. 5. 15. Excelling in Chronology l 1 Chr. 12. 32. m Rivâ—t Exerâ— in 49. Genâ—sios n Josh. 19. 18. Iezreel a regall City o Josh. 17. 10. p 2 King 9. 27. q â— King 21. 3. Naboths refusall defended Iezebels murdering of Naboth r 1 King 21. 10 s 2 King 9. 26. t Deut. 24. 16. Divine justâ—ce u 1 King 22. 34. w 2 King 9. 24 Abaziahs double death reconciled x Heb. 9. 27. y 1 King 21. 1. And his doublâ—â—â—riall z 2 King 9. 28. a 2 Chr. 22. 9 The manner of lezebels death b 1 King 19. 2 c Ibidem d 2 King 9. 31. e Ibid. vers 35. f Feet in thosâ— parts naked iâ—â—andalâ— g 2 King 10. 8. The bloud of Iezebel why requâ—red of Iehu h Hose 1. 4. The brave battell against 〈◊〉 i Iudg. 10. 1 2. k Iudg. 5. 19. l Iudg. 5. 14. Sâ—ars waâ—â—curs m Gen. 15. 5. 22. 17. Kishon Gods besome n Iudg. 5. 21. Kishon and Engaâ—â—im o 1 Chron. 6. p Josh. 21 28. q Biddulphs â—ravells p. 113. r Idem ibidem Shâ—nem Abishags birthplach s Iosh. 19. 18. t 1 King 1. 3. u Psal. 103. 5. w 1 King 2. 23. Elisha his honourable landâ—lady x 2 King 4. 17. y 2 King 4. 20. Restored to her lost possessionâ— z 2 Kin. 8. 1. c. a 2 King 4. 13. b 2 King 4. 10. Tabor a city c Iosh. 19. 22. d Iudg. 8. 18. e Ier. 46. 18. f Hos. 5. 1. g Brocardus in Descrip. Terrae Sanc. Itin. ab Acone versuâ— Eurum h Psal. 89. 12. Daâ—arah and Tarichea i Iosh. 19. 12. k Iosh. 21. 28. l 1 Sâ—m 28. 4. m 1 Sam. 29. 1. n 1 Sam. 29. 11. o 1 Sam. 31. 9 10. p 2 Sam. 1. 10. q Speed in the life of Richard the third towards the end Rain on mount Gilboa r 2 Sam. 1. 21. s Descrip. Tâ—r. Sanc. ab Acone versus Notum t Mat. 17. 20. u Act. 1. 20. w Psal. 109. 7. * 1 King 5. Manassâ—h in Issachar x Iosh. 17. 11. y Ephes. 1. 11. And how in Asher z Viz. 1 Chr. 8. 38. 1 Chr. 9. 44. a Opus est quadringâ—ntis camelis onustis Commentariis rationem reddere Mar. Sutra cited by Buxdors in Thesauro sol 202. b 2 King 9. 27. c Iosh.
Ahazâ—ah had a martiall interview with Iehu and were both worsted by him Here Iehu with a shot out of a bow archery fatall both to Ahab and his Son wounded Iehoram to the heart and by speciall order to Bidkarâ— Captain commanded that his corps should be cast into the field of Naboth the Iezrâ—â—lite Oh the exact Topography observed in divine justice so accurate is God not onely in the time but place of his punishment § 9. Greater is the difficulty about the death of King Ahaziah slain about the same time For whereas it is appointed for all men once he seemed twice to die and that in far distant places 2 Kings 9. 27. But when Ahaziah the King of Iudah saw this he fled by the way of the Garden-house and Iehu followed after him and said Smite him also in the charet and they did so at the going up to Gur which is by Ibleam and he fled to Megiddo and died there 2 Chron. 22. 9. And Iehu sought Ahaziah and they caught him for hee was hid in Samaria and brought him to Iehu and when they had slain him they buried him because said they he is the Sonne of Iehosaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart But all is reconciled if we take Samaria not for the city so named but for the whole kingdome of Israel in which notion Ahab is styled King of Samaria that is the ten Tribes whereof Samaria was the Metropolis In this acception Megiddo and all the passage thereunto was in Samaria where Ahaziah hoped in vaine by his flight to hide and conceale himself § 10. All thus agreed concerning the deaâ—h I hope no difference will arise about the buriall of Ahaziah Though in one texâ— his owâ— servants in another Iehu his men are said to buâ—y him The one might doe it by the leave and licence of the other and Iehu his souldiers did deliver Ahaziah's deâ—d corps to his own servants to interre it in Ierusalem § 11. Iezebel survived not long after As Iehu was entering Iezreel she newly painted entertains him with a taunt out of the window to try whether her tongue or his sword were the sharper We meet but with three principall speeches of her in Scripture the first an Idolatrous oath and curse The Gods doe so to me and more also the next a mortall threat and lowd lye If I make not Elijah's like one of their lives by to morrow this time the last an impudent and unseasonable jeer Had Zimri peace that slew his Master Presently she is thrown down headlong and the dogs eat her up to the â—eversion of her skull palmes of her hands and feet What hâ—d the poison of her painting 〈◊〉 deeply pierced into these the naked parts of her body that the dogs were afraid to feed oâ— them However it came to pass Iezebels skull may be worn as a deaths-head in the memories of all wicked persons abusing their power to minde them of their certain ruin without serious repentance The heads also of Ahabs children kill'd in Samaria were laid in two heapes at the entrance of the gates of Iezreel § 12. It may seem strange that seeing Iehu was warranted by commission from heaven in the execution of Ahabs family and friends that God should afterwards threaten by his Prophet I will avenge the bloud of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu But it seems though herein Iehu his chariot went in the path of Gods command yet he did drive it on furiously the pace of his own cruelty vainglory and ambition Thus that officer is a murderer though acting the sentence of the Judge if withall he pleaseth his private malice in executing persons condemned to die The matter of Iehu his act was rewarded the manner revenged by God § 13. The river Kishon runneth through the midst of this Tribe which entring in at Naboths vineyard taketh his course north-ward with a winding channell not far from Shamir in mount Ephraim wherein Tola the Iudge or rather the Iustice of peace in Israel nothing of war being achieved in his government both dwelt and was buried Hence on his western bank Kishon beholds the place where Barak fought that famous battell against Sisera It is recorded to the commendation of such Israelites as assisted him that they took no gain of money Indeed they of Zebulun were by their calling such as handled the pen though now turned sword-men in case of necessity And when men of peaceable professions are on a pinch of extremity for a short time forced to fight they ought not like souldiers of fortune to make a tradeto enrich themselves thereby seeing defence of religion life and liberty are the onely wages they seek for in their service § 14. In this most eminent battell the Stars in their courses fought against Sisera What are the numerous people of Israel meant thereby whom God promised to multiply as the Stars in heaven or are onely the principall officers in their Army intended therein Sure it is safest to embrace the literall sense that those celestiall lights frowning with their malignant aspects caused frights and fears in the hearts of the Canaanites Such as utterly deny all influences of Stars on mens mindes shew therein that the moon hath made too much impression on their crazy judgements and lunatick opinions § 15. But the river of Kishon was not onely a spectatour of this fight but also an actour of a principall part therein For when the Canaanites routed in the battell essayed to wade this river so to recover their countrey on the other side the streame thereof probably lately made more deep and rapid with extraordinary raine the largess of some waâ—ry Planet which fought for Israel swept them away So that what fragments of these Canaanites were left by the Israelites swords glutted with slaughter Kishon was the voider to take them clean away § 16. Hence Kishon runneth on by Kishion the vicinity of the name is argument enough to place it on the banks of this river elsewhere called Kedesh being one of the four cities in this Tribe belonging to the Levites Gershonites More east whereof lay another of the same nature Engannim called Ienine at this day being now a very pleasant place having fine gardens orchards and waters about it as it hath its Hebrew name from a fountain And that we may know that the countrey hereabouts still retaineth more then the ruines of its former fertility a judicious modern traveller tells us that in his whole journey from Damascus to Ierusalem he saw not more fruitfull ground and so much together then he did in two and twenty miles riding betwixt mount Tabor and Engannim § 17. Hence Kishon continuing his course northward leaveth the city Shunem at some distance from his western bank the birth-place of Abishag wife-nurse to King David
to procure heat to his decayed age Time was when he boasted that his youth was renewed as the eagles but eagles notwithstanding the often casting of their bills and years therewith are at last seised on with age and death as it fared then with decrepit David Adonijah David's Son afterwards lost his life for petitioning to have this Abishag for his wife What was his fault Incest or treason Surely neither effected no nor attempted in any clandestine way without leave from the King Let it suffice Solomon saw more then we in this matter his eies also not wanting the magnifying-glass of State-jealousie to improve his discoveries herein But this accident was onely the hilt or handle for Solomon to take hold on Adonijah's former fault was the edge to cut off his life Thus let those who once have been desperately sick of a Princes displeasure and recovered know that the least relapse will prove deadly unto them § 18. In Shunem dwelt that worthy woman who prevailed with her husband to harbour Elisha in his passage this way Gods Prophets are no lumber but the most profitable stuffe wherewith an house can be furnished Landlords prove no losers by such Tenants though sitting rent-free whose dwelling with them pays for their dwelling with them At Elisha's prayer God made this woman barren before the happy mother of an hopefull Son Somes years after this child grown a stripling and going into his Fathers field to see his reapers was there smitten with a deadly sickness So that the corn on the land might pass for the emblem of this childs condition save that that being ripe and ready wooed the cycles to cut it whilst this green grain was mow'n down in the blade thereof At noon the child dyed Had one the same morning beheld the Sun arising out of the east and this child coming forth of his fathers house in perfect health he would not have suspected that the noon of the one would prove the night to the other But by the prayers of Elisha he was restored again unto her § 19. This Shunamite was afterwards seven years absent in the land of the Philistines during which time the profits of her estate as appears by the text x were seised on by the Kings officers Custome it seems intitled the Crown to their revenues which resided not on their lands especially if living as she did in the land of a forein foe She addressed her self by petition to King Ioram for restitution of her meanes Formerly she had no use of the Prophets profer to speake for her to the King or to the Captain of the host who now was fain to prefer her suit in her own person None know what hereafter may befall them Such whose young feet were onely taught to traverse their own ground may in their old age be learnt a harder lesson to trudge abroad in attendance to others Gehazi happily there present attests her the woman whose Son was restored to life and by the Kings command her lands and profits were restored to he Let her under God thank Elisha for this favour for that place in her house where his bed table stool and candlestick stood kept possession for her in her absence of all the rest of her Demesnes and procured the speedy restitution thereof § 20. To return to Kishon which somewhat more northward leaveth this Tribe and entereth into Zebulun having first divided it self into two streames whereof the easternmost being the north-boundary of Issachar runneth by Tabor a city so called from the vicinity of the mountain we formerly described Hereabouts Zeba and Zalmunna made a massacre of many Princelike Israelites for which fact Gideon ordered their execution And here we take notice of two neighbouring mountains lovingly agreeing together 1 Tabor on the north whereof formerly in Zebulun of so eminent note that it passed for a proverbiall expression of any unquestioned certainty As sure as Tabor is among the mountains This place was in after ages much profaned with Idolatry as appears by the Prophet complaining of the priests that they had been a net spred upon Tabor 2 Hermon hard by on the south of this Tribe the top-cliffe whereof is called Hermonium as a modern Traveller doth describe David puts them both together The north and the south thou hast â—reated them Tabor and Hermon shall rejoyce in thy name However others understand the Psalmist of another Hermon that famous mountain formerly described in Manasseh beyond Iordan being the east-border as Tabor was in the heart of the land of Canaan meaning thereby that middle and marches out-side and in-side center and circumference all the whole world must rejoyce in Gods power which made and providence which preserveth them § 21. This east-stream of Kishon in modern Maps called Kedummim runneth to Daberah in the confines of Zebulun but belongeth to this Tribe out of which it was assigned a city for the Levites Then falleth it into the sea of Cinnereth or Tiberias somewhat south of Tarichea a famous city whereof frequent mention in Iosephus but none in Scripture to which we chiefly confine our description § 22. The east part of Issachar is wholly taken up with the mountains of Gilboa where the Armies of the Israâ—lites and the Philistines met having formerly measured most part of this Tribe with their military motions The Philistines marching first from Shunem to Aphek thence to Iezreel backward and forward to finde an advantageous place for fight thence to mount Gilboa where they encountred and conquered the Israelites in battell Saul being here grievously wounded desired his Armour-bearer to slay him who refused it as bearing his Armes for the defence not destruction of his Master Hereupon Saul slew himself and his Armour-bearer followed his example Both which having since cast up their Audit can tell what is gotten by the prodigall thrift of throwing away ones life to prevent the losing thereof Then a fourfold division was made of what remained of Saul His head sent into the land of the Philistines body hung up upon the walls of Bethshean Armour offered in the Temple of Ashtaroth Crown and bracelets brought by the Amalekite to King David For though his tongue spake lies his hands told truth presenting the very regalia of King Saul Wonder not that Saul should weare these ornaments in battell where an helmet had been more proper then a Crown seeing we read in our English Chronicles that in Bosworth-fight King Richards Crown-ornamentall was found among the spoiles in the field and then and there set by the Lord Stanley on the head of King Henry the seventh § 23. David on this dysaster of Sauls death cursed Mount Gilboa Let there be no dew or rain upon you But Brochardus travelling over them Anno Dom. 1283. found and felt both being well wetted in his journey What! were
which had known man What time also they did execution on five Kings of Midian and Balaam the false Prophet their chaplain who fell by the sword of man though he had escaped that of the Angell Some may think strange that the Israelites having conquered this countrey possessed not themselves and their heirs thereof Let such know first that this sandy land was barren it self whose best fruitfulness consisted onely in the largeness thereof Secondly God intended an entire territory to his own people whereas this stragling Countrey was hardly kept though easily conquered Thirdly the Midianites were of the halfe bloud with the Israelites descended from Abraham and therefore God would not have them disinherit their kinsmen of their possessions §6 If we goe out of their cities to take free aire in their countrey see how thick their tents are spread over the face of the earth Whereof though their coverings might seem course their courtains mentioned by the Prophet being both the side walls and roof of their inward rooms were most costly and curious As the Midianites were called the children of the east so none more orient in their apparell and gorgeous accoutrements For if their Camels wore Collers of gold about their necks how rich may their riders be presumed to be in pearles and precious stone § 7. Another great part of their wealth consisted in their cattell amongst which we must take speciall notice of their Dromedaries seeing the most or best of this kind were bredhereabouts A Dromedary is a dwarfcamell nature recompensing his smalness in his swiftness so that he will travellan hundred miles a day and continue at that rate with sparing diet a week together He hath but one bunch on his back the Camell having more the naturall saddle for his Rider to mount upon generally more used for travell then bearing of burdens and of as much more refined service above Camells as Hacknies are above Packhorses In a word as in one respect this beast is the commendable character of perseverance not fleet by fits at the first but holding out a constant and equall tenour in travelling so in another regard it may pass for the emblem of hypocrisie pretending to both symptomes of a clean beast really chewing the cud and seemingly cleaving the hoof but onely on the out side whereas within it is wholly fleshly and entirely round like a platter § 8. Yet all their speed could not save their Masters from the pursuit of Gideon when such a fatall blow was given to the Midianites that the Text saith They lift up their heads no more Yea which is memorable scarce any part of their body appears afterwards in Scripture or any mention of Midianites save with relation to the former defeate which leads us to this conjecture that the remains of that nation which escaped that dismall overthrow shrowded themselves under the names of some neighbouring people probably of the Ishmaelites of whom but a word or two and so to Moab § 9. Nor need the Reader be afraid to adventure amongst them suspecting the Ishmaelites like Ishmael their Father to be wild men Whose hands were against every man and every mans hand against them seeing their fierceness and fury had been well tamed by the Reubenites Gadites and half Tribe of Manasseh in that memorable victory wherein no fewer then an hundred thousand of them were taken captives and those Tribes dwelt in their tents even unto the river Euphrates Conceive it in a cursory condition onely grazing their cattell during the season which amounted not to a constant and settled habitation § 10. The Ishmaelites were descended from Ishmael otherwhiles called Hagarens wherein the difference not great their former name being fetched from their Father the latter but one degree further from Hagar their grandmother Of this Ishmael it was foretold first that he should dwell as also he did die in the presence of all his brethren that is he should not hide his head in holes or creep into corners as afraid of the force of his neighbours but should justifie and avouch his Right in open habitations daring and defying all pretenders to his possessions Secondly it is said he should be Onager homo or a wild-ass-man in which similitude the holy Spirit not using casuall but choice comparisons surely very much is folded up of the Physiognomy both of him and his posterity Wild asses are said to carry a bow in their heels and to finde arrows in the sandy ground where they goe wherein if hunted they doe bestirre themselves with flinging the gravell behind them that therewith they pierce the breasts yea sometimes split the heads of such as pursue them as the Ishmaelites excellent archers laid about them with their arrows to kill and slay such as opposed them § 11. Large were the bounds alotted to Ishmael and divine providence which staked them down within certain limits allowed them a very long teddar They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is from before Egypt till as thou goest towards Assyria a spong of ground somewhat nigh a thousand miles perchance not so entire but interrupted with other nations and not bearing a proportionable breadth consisting generally of the Sandy and stony Arabia so that a span of Isaacs was worth a stride of Ishmaels possession However in relation to Ishmaels posterity that Prophecy he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren admits also of this interpretation that the land alotted him ranged out so far that the bounds and borders thereof abutted on all his kindred Edomites and Israelites his nephews or brothers sons Moabites and Ammonites his cousins once removed Midianites descended of his half brother by Keturah and Egyptians his near kinsmen both by his wife and mother § 12. In this large countrey did dwell the twelve sons of Ishmael which I may call the twelve tribes of the Ishmaelites 1 Nebaioth 2 Kedar 3 Adbeel 4 Mibsam 5 Mishma 6 Duma 7 Massa. 8 Hadar 9 Temah 10 Ietur 11 Naphish 12 Kedemah A learned man from the allusion of letters and similtude of sounds hath found out in stony desert and happy Arabia some places symbolizing with these names and I commend his industry not daring altogether to concur with his judgment conceiving the subject in hand to want a bottome for any to build with certainty thereupon Sooner shall Chymists fixe quick-silver then Geographers place these people in a setled habitation Indeed mention is made of some Townes and Castles no cities they had perchance some strength to retire to but generally Saint Hierome tells us they had neither doors nor bolts but lived in tents in desert places Wherefore as foreiners for matter of clothes paint an Englishman with a pair of sheares in his hand taxing therein his levity in following fashions continuing constant to no kind of apparell so we may present the Ishmaelites besides a bow at
12. 23. d Iudg. 5. 19. e Iosâ— 11. 21. f Psal. 83. 10. g Iosh. 17. 11. Megiddo an eminent city h 2 Chr. 35. 21. Iosiah his death recoâ—ciled i 2 King 23. 29. k 2 Chr. 35. 24. l 2 King 22. 20. Generall grief thereat * See the Sepâ—uâ—gints preface on the Lamentations m 2 Chr. 35. 25. n Zech 12. 11. o 1 King 4. 17. The Armes of Issachar p 1 Kin. 4. 12. q 1 King 4. 11. r Gen. 49. 14. The remainder of Manasseh a Josh. 17. 2. Zelophâ—hâ—ds daughters plea. b Numb 27. 2. 36. 12. c Josh. 17. 4. d 1 Tim. 2. 1â— e Numb 2â—3 Cesarea built by Herod f Act. 23. 35. g Act. 12. 2. * Act. 12. 23. Inhabited by pious people * Act. 10. 1. * Act. 21. 10. * Act. 21. 9. * Camdens Brit. in Brecknockshire Saint Paul his behaviour in Cesarea h Act. 24. 25. * Ioseph lib. 20. i Act. 25. 23. k Iâ—venal Satyr 6. l Translated by Sir Rob. Stapilâ—on m Act. 26. 29. The river Kanah n Act. 23. 23. o Josh. 17. 9. p M. Sands in his travels pag Sâ—gar a modeer invention q Panciâ—ollus de râ—bus inâ—ent lib. 2. â—it 5. Gedeon of a thresher made Judge Israels sad condâ—tion * Iudg. 6. â— * Iudg. 6. 3. * Iudg 6. 11. Gedeons army abridged r Iudg. 7. 3. s Iudg. 7. 5. Gods condescension to Gedâ—on t Iudg. 7. 14. u Iudg. 6. 37. 39 The Midianites assaulted w Judg. 7. 21. x Seneâ— in Troad Improves his victory y Judg. 7. 2â— Gideon occasioneth Idolatry z Judg. 8. 27. a Ibidem b Ibid. v. 32. Abel-meholah the place of Elisha c 1 King 19. 19. d 1 King 7. 46. e â— King 2. 8. f Luke 9. 62. The Vale of Iordan g 1 Kiâ—g 7. 46. h Iohn 3. 23. Gath. Rimmon and the land of Tappuah i Iosh. 21. 25. k 1 Chr. 6. 70. The mountain of Oâ—adiah l Iudg. 7. 3. m Iudg. 7. 1. n 1 Kin. 1â— 13. o Mâ—t. 10. 41. p In Epitaphio Paulae Epist. ad â—â—arcellum The Rephaims their iron chariots q Caesar de Bâ—llo 〈◊〉 r Diod Sâ—c l. 17 Plutaâ—chus in Artaxâ—â—xi ali Bethsan where Bacchus hisn nurâ—e was bâ—iâ—d s Iosh. 17. 11. t 1 Sam. â—1 12. u Plin. Nat. hist. lib. 5. cap. 18. Bezek w See the desâ—ription of the land of Moriah x 1 Sam. 11. 8. Ephraim why accounted the eldest * Gen. â—8 14. ‡ Numb 1. 33. * Num. 26. 37. ‡ Psal. 60. 7. A princely and puissant Tribe a Isa. 7. 2. * Judg. 8. 2. ‡ In Gad § 20. The Ephraimites had a naturall lisping b Camd. Brit. in Lecest. But were valiant and fortunate c Judg. 4 5. d Judg. 12. 15. c 1 Kin. 11. 26. The bounds of Ephraim Exactness why necessary herein Ephraims particular bounds f Hereof no doubt was Hushai the Archite Gezer given to the 〈◊〉 g 1 Chr. 7. 24. h Josh. 12. 1â— i Judg. 1. 29. k 1 King 9. 16. l Josh. 21. 21. Ramathaimzophine a 1 Sam. 1. 1. b 1 Sam. 9. 5. c 1 Sâ—m 1. 19. d 1 Sam. 7. 17. e 1 Sam. 12. 14. f 1 Sam. 25. 1. Saul prophectes g 1 Sam. 19. 21. h 1 Sam. 10. 10. i 1 Sam. 16. 14. k Ibidem l 1 Sam. 28. 20. m 1 John 4. 1. Arimathea n Mat. 27. 57. Shiloh why the fâ—rst place of the Arkâ—s â—â—sidence o Josh. 18. 1. p Isâ— 8. 6. q John 9. 7. Here Benjamites 〈◊〉 them wives r Judg. 21. 23. Equivocation s Iudg. 21. 1. t Judg. 21. 20. Match-lottery Goldenchance Eli at Shiloh connives at his wicked sons u 1 Sam. 1. 7. w Ibid. v. 15. x 1 Sam. 3. 1. y 1 Sam. 2. 13. z Ibid. v. 22. a 1 Sam. 3. 11. Afterwards sadly destroyed b 1 Sam. 4. 21. Shiloh sinkes in silence with the Tabernacle c 1 King 14. 2. The possession given to Ioshua * Iudg. 2. 9. a Iosh. 19. 49 50. b Iosh. 24. 30. * Iosh. 24. 33. Tirzah once Metropolis of the kingdome of Israel c Iosh. 12. 24. d Cant. 6. 4. e 1 Kin. 14. 17. f 1 King 11. 26. g 1 King 15. 21. h 1 King 16. 9. i 2 Chr. 16. 14. k Iustin. lib. 1. l 2 King 9. 31. * 2 King 15. 16. Private houses on mount Ephraim m Iudg. 19. 1. n Iud. 18. 2. 24. o Iud. 4. 5. * Esay 7. 9. Samaria built by Omri p 1 King 16. 24. q Mic. 6. 16. The stately buildings in Samaria r 2 King 1. 2. s Deâ—t 22. 8. t 1 King 22. 39. u 1 King 16. 32. w 2 King 10. 25. 27. x 1 Kin. 22. 10. The King of Syria's streets in Samaria y 1 Kin. 20. 34. First siege of Samaria z 1 King 20. 10. a 1 King 20. 21. The second siege of Samaria b 2 King 7. 17. The third and last siege of Samaria e 2 King 17. 2. A Christian Church in Samaria f Mat. 10. 5. g Act. 8. 5. 14. 25. 9. 31. h Act. 8. 19. i Act. 2. 4. k Act. 10. 44. Memorable places near Samaria l 2 King 10. 14. m 2 King 7. 3. 4. Levit. â—3 46. The pool of Samaria 2 King 6. 25. 26. n 1 King 21. 1. Cursâ—g and blessing on Ebal and Gerizim a Josh. 8. 34. b Deut. 11. 29. c Iosh. 8 35. d Deut. 27. 12. e Deut. 27. 14. How they might be heard form one mouÌ„t to another f Beniamin in 〈◊〉 pa. 38. g Giraldus Cambrensis See Camdens Britâ—in Merionith-shire A solmn Altar built on mount Ebal h Deut. 27. 5. i Josh. 8. 31. k Deut. 27. 8. 32 Two sects of Samaritans the first Idolaters l 2 King 17. 25. m Antiq. lib. 9. cap. 14. n Ezek. 1â— 21. o 2 King 17. 27 p Contr. Haeres lib. 1. pag. 5. â—â— q â—bn Patrik in 〈◊〉 Arab. r 2 King 17. 29 30 31. The second Sect hereticall s Nehe. 13. 28. t Anti. Iud. li. 11. cap. 7. 8. u Zemach David part prim pag. 26. â— b. w Haeres 9. x Gen. 35. 4. y Hotting Exercit Anti-mor Samaritans for their own advantage falsifie the text z Iohn 4. 20. a Deut. 27. 12. b Iosh. 8. 30. c Vid. Sam. Pent. Deut. 27. 4. 1 King 6. 1. d Gen. 12. 6 7. e Psal. 78. 67 68 69. f Iosh 18. 1. Iosh. 16. 6. The testimony of the son of Sirach g 2 Macc. 6. 2. h Luk. 9. 53. i Zemach David parte 1â— pag. 26. k Eccles. 50 25. Impudency to prefer the Samaritan before the Hebrew Pentateuch l Prov. 30. 21. 23. m Vide Exercit. Hottingeâ—i contra Moriâ—um n Rom. 3. 2. o Amos 3. 2. Dinah dâ—flowred in Shechem Gen. 34. 1. p Gen 18. 9. q Gen. 24. 65 r Gen. 29. 17. s 2 Sam. 13. 15. t Gen. 34. 25. Abimelech made King by the Shechemites u Iudg. 9. 6. w Iudg. 4. 7. Shechem sacked by Abimeleâ—h a