CHAPTER III.

THE STATE OF THE JEWS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY.

Palestine---its different names---its former fertility---its present dcsolate state---its divisions---mountains, Lebanon, Hermon, Tabor, &c.---plains---deserts---forests--seas--the dead sea---sea of Tiberias--rivers---Jordan---the land of the Moabites of Midian--the tribe of Reuben---the country of the Ammonites---Galilee---Gad---half tribe of Manasseh---lower Galilee, tribes of Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar --half tribe of Manasseh---Ephraim---Samaria---Judea, tribe of Benjamin---Jerusalem---tribes of Judah, Dan, and Simeon---the Philistines---Edom---description of the eastern buildings from Dr. Shaw--tents---their furniture---dress of the inhabitants---their diet--Herod's death--reign of Archelaus---government of Pilate---degenerate state of the *Jews.

FROM the time of our Lord's conversation with the Jewish teachers to the commencement of the ministry of John the Baptist, not a single fact is related by the evangelists; here, therefore, we have a convenient opportunity to exhibit such a view of the state of Palestine, natural, political, and religious, as may enable the reader to understand more clearly the history of those important transactions, which, in the succeeding chapters, it is intended to relate.

The country which was the scene of our Lord's ministry was first called the land of Canaan, from Noah's grandson, by whom it was peopled; but it has since been more distinguished by other names, such as the Land of Promise, the Land of God, the Land of Israel, the Holy Land, and sometimes, by way of pre-eminence, the Land. It has, again, been called Palestine, from the Philistines, who possessed great part of it; and Juda, or Judea Palæstina, from Judah, whose tribe was the most considerable of the twelve, and possessed the most fertile portion of the land. It was inclosed on the west by the Mediterranean; and on the east by the lake Asphaltites, the Jordan, the sca of Tiberias, or of Galilee, and the Samachonite lake; to the north it had the mountains of Libanus, or rather of Antilibanus, or the province of Phoenicia; and to the south that of Edom, or Idumea, from which it was likewise parted by another ridge of high mountains. It must be here observed, that we have confined ourselves to that part which is properly called the Land of promise; as for the other part, viz. that which belonged to two tribes and an half on the other side Jordan, and which was called Peræa, and the land or kingdoms of Og, Sihon, &c. their boundaries are more difficult to be determined. It is about two hundred miles in length, and eighty in breadth, and extends from 31° 30′′ to 33° 20′′" of north latitude, and from 34° 50′ to 37° 15′ of cast

tongitude from Greenwich. It is therefore placed under the fourth and fifth climates, so that its longest day is about fourteen hours fifteen minutes.

The climate of this country, Palestine, is certainly very happy, its situation being neither too far south, nor too far north. But the limits of this country appear so small, considering that it is likewise intersected by high ridges or mountains, woods, deserts, &c. that many learned men have been induced to question what we read of its fertility and populousness in former times. It must be owned, indeed, that when we compare its antient and flourishing state, when it was cultivated with the utmost diligence, by persons well skilled in every branch of agriculture, with what it has been since the total extirpation of the Jews out of it, and more especially since it fell into the hands of the Turks, the contrast is amazingly great but when we consider the many evident causes which have contributed to effect this change, and its fruitfulness, in some instances, at the present day, we find not the least reason to doubt the truth of what the sacred historians have related. Moses describes it, before it was possessed by the Israelites, as a land flowing with milk and honey. It even exceeded Egypt, so much celebrated by the antients, in the vast numbers of cattle which it produced, and in the quantity and excellence of its wine, oil, and fruits.

But its fertility has been called in question, and Voltaire, and other infidel writers, have raised difficulties and objections against the authority of scripture, from the pretended sterility of the land of Judea. In answer to which, the abbè Guenee, about 1780, communicated to the academy, inscriptions, and belles lettres, at Paris, Two Memoirs concerning the fertility of Palestine, in order to show that such objections had no solid foundation.

In the first of them the author proves, that from the captivity of Babylon to the war of Adrian, Judea was always considered as a rich and fertile country. The positive and multiplied authorities of the writers of that period, Jews, Greeks, and Romans, not only attest, in general, the fertility of that country, but many of these writers, entering into a particular detail of these circumstances, prove it from the nature of the climate, the qualities of the soil, and the excellence and variety of its productions. These are confirmed by proofs of another kind, but which are of a very convincing nature, even those resulting from a great number of medals, struck under the reigns of Syria and Judea, and under the Romans, both by Jews and Pagans, and which all bear the symbols of a rich fertility. To these proofs are added a multitude of facts, recorded in the history of the Jews during this period; the efforts of the neighbouring kings to conquer their country; the long and bloody wars that the Jews carried on with vigour, and, sometimes, with success, against powerful princes and nations; the tribute and taxes they paid to the kings of Egypt and Syria, to the Romans, and to their own princes; the magnificence of their sovereigns, and particularly of Herod; the troops he raised and kept on foot; the temples, fortresses, palaces, and cities, which he erected and embellished, not only in his own country, but in Syria, Asia Minor, and even in Greece; the immense sums he lavished among the Romans; the donations he made among his own people; and the vast treasures which he left behind him: all these circumstances concur in proving the fertility and richness of Palestine, during that period.

In the second memoir the abbe Guenee considers the state of Palestine, as it was from the time of the emperor Adrian to the caliphate of Omar, which comprehends a period of four centuries. From sundry facts he shows, that it could not then have been the barren country which it has been represented by rome sceptical writers. He particularly mentions the project formed by Adrian of rebuilding and embellishing Jerusalem, of reforming it into a Roman colony, of giving it its own name, a project of which he

could never have entertained a thought, if Judea, which he had seen and examined with his own eyes, had appeared to him such a barren and wretched country, as it is said to have been by some, who neither have seen that country, nor examined the matter with care and attention. Our author also produces a variety of other facts to show, that Judea, after all that it had suffered from the desolation of war, both in antient and later times, still remained, at the period in question, fertile, rich, and populous. This is the idea which the writers of the time, Pagan and Christian, as well as Jewish, have given of Palestine. Antoninus Martyr, a citizen of Placentia, who, in the sixth century, travelled to Palestine, and composed an account of his voyage, which is still extant, says, that the canton of Nazareth was not inferior to Egypt in corn and fruits, and that though the territory of that city was not very extensive, it abounded in wine, and oil, and excellent honey. The country about Jericho appeared to him still more fertile. He saw mount Tabor, which he represents as surrounded with cities; and he observed in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, vine-yards, great plantations of fruit trees, and, through the whole country, a considerable number of hospitals, monasteries, and beautiful edifices. Our learned abbé, in concluding his work, acknowledges, that the opulence and fertility of Judea might begin to diminish towards the middle of the period treated of in his second memoir; but he does not think that any argument can be drawn from hence, against its having been, at the commencement of this period, in a flourishing state; and much less can any proof be brought from hence, that in preceding periods, under the kings, or under the administration of Moses, the country of Palestine was a barren and uncultivated district.

Besides, it ought to be considered, that it was then inhabited by an industrious people, who knew how to improve every inch of their land, and had made even the most desert and barren places to yield some kind of productions, by proper care and manure; so that the very rocks, which now appear quite bare and naked, were made to produce corn, pulse, or pasture, being, by the industry of the old inhabitants, covered with mould, which, through the laziness of the succeeding proprietors, has been since washed off with rains and storms. We may add, that the kings themselves were not above encouraging all kind of agriculture, both by precept and example, and, above all, that they had the divine blessing promised to their honest endeavours and industry; whereas, it is now, and hath been long since, inhabited by a poor, lazy, and indolent people, groaning under an intolerable servitude, and all manner of discouragements, by which their aversion to labour and agriculture, farther than what barely serves to supply their present wants, is become, in a manner, natural and invincible. We may farther observe, with the judicious Mr. Maundrel, that there is no forming an idea of its antient flourishing state, when under the influence of heaven, from what it is now under a visible curse. And if we had not several concurring testimonies from profane authors, who have extolled the fecundity of Palestine; that single one of Julian the apostate, a sworn enemy to Jews and Christians, as well as to all the sacred writings, would be more than sufficient to prove it, who frequently makes mention, in his epistles, of the perpetuity, as well as excellence and great abundance, of its fruits and product. The visible effects of God's anger, which this country has felt, not only under Titus Vespasian, but much more since that emperor's time; in the inundations of the northern barbarians, of the Saracens, and of the more cruel and destructive Christians during the holy war, and in the oppression it now feels under the Turkish yoke, may be easily supposed to be more than sufficient to have wrought the dismal change we are speaking of, and to have reduced the far greater part into a mere desert.

Nevertheless, if we may credit those who have viewed it in this doleful condition, they will tell us, there are, still, such visible signs of its natural richness and fertility,

as plainly show, that the bare want of culture is the principal, if not the only cause, of its present poverty and barrenness. We shall hint, as a fair proof of this, what a learn

ed traveller hath written of it from his own observations.

"The Holy Land," says Dr. Shaw, "were it as well peopled and cultivated, as in former times, would still be more fruitful than the very best part of the coast of Syria and Phenice; for the soil is generally much richer, and, all things considered, yields a preferable crop. Thus the cotton that is gathered in the plains of Ramah, Esdrælon, and Zebulun, is in greater esteem than what is cultivated near Sidon and Tripoli. Neither is it possible, that pulse, wheat, or any sort of grain, to be more excellent than what is sold at Jerusalem. The barrenness, or scarcity, which some authors may either ignorantly or maliciously complain of, doth not proceed from the incapacity or natural unfruitfulness of the country, but from the want of inhabitants, and the great aversion there is to labour and industry in those few who possess it. There are, besides, such perpetual discords and depredations among the petty princes who share this fine country, that, allowing it was better peopled, yet there would be small encouragement to sow, when it was uncertain who should gather in the harvest. Otherwise the land is a good land, and still capable of affording its neighbours the like supplies of coru and oil, which it is known to have done in the time of Solomon."

And Volney, in his travels in Egypt and Syria, observes, that though the whole of Palestine is almost an entire level plain, without either river or rivulet in summer,. and only watered by the winter torrents, the soil is yet good, and may even be termed førtile; so when the winter rains do not fail, every thing springs up in abundance, and the earth, which is black and fat, retains moisture sufficient for the growth of grain and vegetables during the summer. More doura, sesarum, watermelus, and beans, are sown here, than in any other part of the country. They also raise cotton, barley, and wheat; but though the latter be most esteemed, it is less cultivated, for fear of too much inviting the avarice of the Turkish governors, and the rapacity of the Arabs.

Judea, in its largest sense, was divided into maritime and inland, as well as into mountainous and champaign; and again subdivided into Judea on this side, and Judea beyond Jordan. But the most considerable division is that which was made among the twelve tribes by lot, to prevent all murmuring and discontent among that stubborn peo-ple, if these two and a half were seated beyond Jordan, and the rest on this side. The. next remarkable division was made by king Solomon, who divided his kingdom into twelve provinces or districts, each under a peculiar officer, and every one of these was to supply the king with provisions in his turn, that is, each for one month in the year. But the most fatal division of all was that obtained under his imprudent son Jeroboam, who became head of this new monarchy, styled the kingdom of Israel, in opposition to that of Judah, the which distinguished the kingdom of Rehoboam. Under the second temple the distinction lasted a considerable time, and as the same bloody hatred and hostilities continued between these two kingdoms, that of Israel took the name of Samaria from its capital. The inhabitants were a mixture of the old Israelites, and of new colonies sent thither by the kings of Assyria after their conquest of it, till they were subdued by the Maccabees, and their metropolis destroyed. Under the Romans it began to be divided into tetrarchies and toparchies; the larger were of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee Upper and Lower; the lesser, those of the Geraritica, Sarona, and others of less note, all which lay on this side of the Jordan. The rest, on the other side, were of Gilead, Paræa, Gaulonitis, Auranitis, Betaneu, and Decapolis. Josephus. mentions another division, in Gabinius's time, into five districts, or, as he styles them,: suredria, or councils, agreeable to the Roman manner; these were Jerusalem, Jericho, and Sephoris, on this side Jordan; and Gadaris and Amathus on the other.

Before we proceed to consider the topography of this country, it will be proper to give some account of its principal mountains, seas, rivers, lakes, deserts, plains, &c. We begin with the mountains, of which Lebanon is the most distinguished.

Lebanon is a famous chain of mountains, which serves as a common boundary to Syria and Palestine. They have been distinguished by the names of Libanus and Antilibanus, the former name being derived from the whiteness of the snow with which the tops of these mountains are covered, during the greatest part of the year; and the latter, from the situation of that ridge, which is supposed to run in a sort of parallel apposition to the other. It is computed about one hundred leagues in compass, and hath Mesopotamia on the east, Armenia on the north, Palestine on the south, and the Mediterranean on the west. It consists of four ridges of mountains, which rise one above the other; the first of which is very fertile in grain and fruit; the second is barren and rocky, producing nothing but briars and thorns; the third, though still higher, is said to enjoy a constant verdure and spring, the gardens and orchards producing such a variety of fruits, herbs, &c. that it hath been styled an earthly paradise; this presents a striking contrast to the fourth and highest region, which is utterly uninhabitable by reason of the cold. There are several considerable rivers that have their source on this mountain, viz. the Jordan, Rocham, Nahar-Rossian, and Nahar-Cadicha; the first only of which runs through Palestine, and will be spoken of in its place. Besides these are several others of a lesser stream that run between the valleys, particularly that of Abonali, which flows down into the Romantic valley, so called, because surrounded, on all sides, with high rocks. This river runs with a rapid course and great noise, and is so covered with trees that it is hardly to be seen. These rivers, in coming down from such heights, form several beautiful cascades, like those of the Nile. Some antient fathers, as St. Jerome and Eusebius, have described the Liban and Antilaban as one continued ridge, winding about in the form of an horse-shoe, which begins about three or four leagues from the Mediterranean, a little above Smyrna; and running southward, towards Sidon, began, there, to take an eastern course towards Damascus; bending thence northward, towards Laodicea Cabiosa. The western ridge is what is properly called Libanus, as the eastern is Antilibanus, and the hollow between Colosyria. The worst of this mountain is, that it has mostly been, and is still to this day, a place of retreat and refuge for vast numbers of robbers and other desperate people.

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The next in dignity for height is mount Hermon, which, like Lebanon, appears capped with snow, and was once famed for an ancient temple held in great veneration, and much resorted to by the superstitious heathens from all the neighbouring countries; and, in the Psalms, it is celebrated for its refreshing dews, which descended on the adjoining one of Sion. St. Jerome tells us, that its snow was carried away to Tyre, Sidon, &c. to be mixed with the drink of the inhabitants; and that the Chaldees and Samaritans style it the mount of snow.

Mount Tabor has its name from the Hebrew, Thabur, which signifies the navel, on account of its eminent form, and rising, as it were, from a plain; and it is admired for its beauty, regularity, fertility, and constant verdure. It is supposed to be here that our Lord was transfigured.

Carmel stands on the skirts of the sea, and is the most remarkable head of land in all that coast. It extends, eastward, from the sea, as far as the plain of Jezrecl, lately mentioned; and from the bay of its name quite to Cæsarea, on the scuth. It seems to have been so called on account of its fertility. Carmel is the name of the mountain, and of a city built on it, and of an heathen deity worshipped in it, but without either temple or statue; though some temple there must have been on it, since Iamblichus tells us, this place was the favourite retreat of Pythagoras, who spent a good deal of