3841 (B. c. 159) by the illustrious general Judas Maccabæus ; and about sixty-five years afterwards Jannæus burnt their city Gaza, and incorporated the remnant of the Philistines with such Jews as he placed in their country. of Egypt, towards the great Desert of Shur, which lies | between Egypt and Palestine,) and by the desert of Sin, or Beersheba, the southern shore of the Dead Sea, and the river Arnon; and on the north by the chain of mountains termed Antilibanus, near which stood the city of Dan: hence in the Sacred Writings we frequently meet with the ex-fourth son of Abraham by Keturah. (Gen. xxv. 2.) In the pression, from Dan to Beersheba, in order to denote the whole length of the land of Israel. 2. The MIDIANITES were the descendants of Midian, the Scriptures two different places are assigned as the territory of the Midianites: the one almost the north-east point of the III. The Land of Canaan, previously to its CONQUEST by Red Sea, where Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a the Israelites, was possessed by the descendants of Canaan, prince or priest. These western or southern Midianites were the youngest son of Ham, and grandson of Noah; who also called Cushites, because they occupied the country that divided the country among his eleven sons, each of whom originally belonged to Cush. They retained the knowledge was the head of a numerous clan or tribe. (Gen. x. 15-19.) of the true God, which appears to have been lost among the Here they resided upwards of seven centuries, and founded eastern or northern Midianites who dwelt on the east of the numerous republics and kingdoms. In the days of Abraham, Dead Sea. (Gen. xxv. 2—6. xxxvii. 28. Exod. ii. iii. xviii.) this region was occupied by ten nations; the Kenites, the These northern Midianites were either subject to or allied Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, to the east of Jordan; and with the Moabites; and their women were particularly inwestward, the Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, Amorites, strumental in seducing the Israelites to idolatry and other Canaanites, Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (Gen. xv. 18-crimes; which wickedness was punished by Jehovah with 21.) These latter in the days of Moses were called the the almost total destruction of their nation (Num. xxii. 4— Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, 7. xxv. xxxi. Josh. xiii. 21.); although they afterwards re Hivites, and Jebusites (Deut. vii. 1. Josh. iii. 10. xxiv. 11.); covered so much of their former strength as to render the Isthe Hivites being substituted for the Rephaims. These seven raelites their tributaries, and for seven years greatly oppressed nations were thus distributed :— them. From this bondage, Gideon delivered his countrymen with a very inferior force, and almost annihilated the Midianites, whose surviving remnants are supposed to have been incorporated with the Moabites or Ammonites. The Hittites or sons of Heth, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwelt in the mountains, or hill country of Judæa, southward; the Canaanites dwelt in the midland by the sea, westward, and by the coast of Jordan eastward; and the Girgashites, or Gergesenes, along the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee; and the Hivites in Mount Lebanon, under Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh or Gilead, northward. (Compare Num. xiii. 29. Josh. xi. 3. Judges iii. 3. and | Matt. viii. 28.) Of all these nations the Amorites became the most powerful, so as to extend their conquests beyond the river Jordan over the Kadmonites; whence they are sometimes put for the whole seven nations, as in Gen. xv. 16. Josh. xxiv. 15. and 2 Sam. xxi. 2. These nations were the people whom the children of Israel were commanded to exterminate. Within the period of seven years Moses conquered two powerful kingdoms on the east, and Joshua thirty-one smaller kingdoms on the west of Jordan, and gave their land to the Israelites; though it appears that some of the old inhabitants were permitted by Jehovah to remain there, to prove their conquerors, whether they would hearken to the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses; and the nations thus spared were afterwards suffered to oppress the Israelites with great severity. (Num. xxi. 21-35. xxxii. and xxxiv. Deut. ii. 26—37. iii. 1—20. Josh. vi. 21. Judges 1. 4.) Nor were they finally subdued until the reigns of David and Solomon, who reduced them to the condition of slaves the latter employed 153,600 of them in the most servile parts of his work, in building his temple, palace, &c. (2 Sam. v. 6-8. 1 Chron. xi. 4-8. 1 Kings ix. 20. 2 Chron. ii. 17, 18. and viii. 7, 8.) Besides these devoted nations there were others, either settled in the land at the arrival of the Israelites, or in its immediate environs, with whom the latter had to maintain many severe conflicts: they were six in number. 1. The PHILISTINES were the descendants of Mizraim, the second son of Ham; who, migrating from Caphtor or the north-eastern part of Egypt, very early settled in a small strip of territory along the sea-shore, in the south-west of Canaan, having expelled the Avites, who had before possessed it. (Deut. ii. 23. Amos ix. 7. Jer. xlvii. 4.) The district occupied by the Philistines was in the time of Joshua distinguished into five lordships, denominated, from the chief towns, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron. They were the most formidable enemies perhaps whom the children of Israel had to encounter: and of the inveteracy of their enmity against the latter, we have abundant evidence in the Sacred Writings. Though they were subdued by David, and kept in subjection by some succeeding monarchs, yet they afterwards became so considerable, that from them the Holy Land was called by the Greeks Palestine, which appellation it retains to this day. The country was finally subdued about the year of the world It is a point, much in dispute among writers on the geography of the Bible, whether the "river of Egypt" means the Nile, or the Sichor mentioned in Josh. xiii. 3. and Jer. ii. 18. Dr. Hales, however, has shown at length that the Nile is the river intended; and upon his authority we have considered "the river of Egypt," and the Nile, as the same river. See his Analysis of Chronology, vol. i. pp. 413, 414. For a full investigation of the boundaries of the promised land, see Michaelis's Commentaries on the Law of Moses, vol. i. pp. 55-97. 3, 4. The MOABITES and AMMONITES were the descendants of the incestuous offspring of Lot. (Gen. xix. 30-38.) The Moabites dwelt on the east of the Jordan, in a tract whence they had expelled the Emims, a gigantic aboriginal race.The Ammonites had their residence north-east of the Moabites, which territory they had wrested from the Zamzummim, another gigantic tribe. The country occupied by these two tribes was exceedingly pleasant and fertile; they were violently hostile to the Israelites, whom they at different times terribly oppressed. They were conquered by David, and for about 150 years continued in subjection to the Israelites. On the division of the kingdom they fell to the share of the ten tribes; and after several attempts to regain their liberty under succeeding kings of Israel (some of whom severely chastised them, and imposed heavy tributes upon them), they are supposed to have effected their complete liberation during the unhappy reign of Ahaz. 5. The AMALEKITES were descended from Amalek the son of Ham, and grandson of Noah, and were very formidable enemies to the Israelites. They were settled on the south coast westward of Jordan, and first opposed the Israelites after their departure from Egypt, but were defeated and doomed to destruction (Exod. xvii. 8-16. Deut. xxv. 17— 19.); which was commenced by Saul, and finished by David. 6. The EDOMITES were the descendants of Esau or Edom: they possessed themselves of the country southward of Judæa and the Red Sea, which was originally occupied by the Horites, who are supposed to have been finally blended with their conquerors. It was a mountainous tract, including the mountains of Seir and Hor, and the provinces of Dedan, Teman, &c. They were governed by dukes or princes, and afterwards by their own kings. (Gen. xxxvi. 31.) Inveterate foes to Israel, they continued independent until the time of David, by whom they were subdued and rendered tributary, in completion of Isaac's prophecy, that Jacob should rule Esau. (Gen. xxvii. 29.) The Edomites bore their subjection with great impatience; and at the end of Solomon's reign, Hadad the Edomite, who had been carried into Egypt during his childhood, returned into his own country, where he procured himself to be acknowledged king. (1 Kings xi. 21, 22.) It is probable, however, that he reigned only in the eastern part of Edom; for that part, which lay directly to the south of Judæa, continued subject to the kings of Judah until the reign of Jehoram, against whom the Edomites rebelled. (2 Chron. xxi. 8-10.) They were also discomfited by Amaziah king of Judah, who slew one thousand men, and cast ten thousand more from a precipice. But their conquests were not permanent. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, the Edomites joined him, and encouraged him to raze the very foundations of the city (Ezek. xxv. 12—14. XXXV. 3-5. Obad. 10-16. Psal. cxxxvi. 7. Lam. iv. 21.): but their cruelty did not continue long unpunished. Five years after the capture of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar humbled all the states around Judæa, and particularly the territory of the Edomites.' 3 See an interesting and accurately compiled history of the Edomites in the Biblical Repository, vol. iii. pp. 250-266. Andover, Massachusetts, 1833, IV. On the conquest of Canaan by the children of Israel, JOSHUA DIVIDED IT INTO TWELVE PARTS, which the twelve tribes drew by lot, according to their families: so that, in this division, every tribe and every family received their lot and share by themselves, distinct from all the other tribes. Thus, each tribe remained a distinct province, in which all the freeholders were not only Israelites, but of the same tribe, or descendants from the same patriarch: and the several families were placed together in the same neighbourhood, receiving their inheritance in the same part or subdivision of the tribe. Or, each tribe may be said to live together in one and the same county, and each family in one and the same hundred so that the inhabitants of every neighbourhood were relations to each other, and of the same family. Nor was it permitted that an estate in one tribe should become the property of any person belonging to another tribe. In order to preserve as nearly as possible the same balance, not only between the tribes, but between the heads of families and the families of the same tribes, it was further provided that every man's possession should be unalienable. The wisdom of this constitution had provided for a release of all debts and servitudes every seventh year (Deut. xv. 1, 2. 12.), that the Hebrew nation might not moulder away from so great a number of free subjects, and be lost to the public in the condition of slaves. It was moreover provided, by the law of jubilee, which was every fiftieth year, that then all lands should be restored, and the estate of every family, being discharged from all incumbrances, should return to the family again. For this there was an express law. (Lev. xxv. 10.) Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you, and ye shall return every man to his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. It is further enacted, And the land shall not be sold for ever (or, as in the margin, be quite cut off, or alienated from the family); for the land is mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. By this agrarian law of the Hebrews, all estates were to be kept in the same families, as well as the same tribes to which they originally belonged at the first division of the land by Joshua; so that how often soever a man's estate had been sold or alienated from one jubilee to another, or through how many hands soever it had passed, yet in fifty years every estate must return to the heirs of the persons who were originally possessed of it. had their portions, as distinct tribes, in consequence of Jacob having adopted them. The northern parts of the country were allotted to the tribes of Asher, Naphtali, Zebulon, and Issachar; the middle parts to that of Ephraim and one half of the tribe of Manasseh; the southern parts to those of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and Simeon; and the country beyona Jordan, (which was first conquered by the Israelites, before the subjugation of the whole land of Canaan), was allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the other half tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Levi, indeed (which formed in effect a thirteenth tribe), possessed no lands. By divine command there were assigned to the Levites, who were appointed to minister in holy things, without any secular incumbrance, the tenths and first-fruits of the estates of their brethren. Forty. eight cities were appropriated to their residence, thence called Levitical cities: these were dispersed among the twelve tribes, and had their respective suburbs, with land surrounding them. Of these cities the Kohathites received twentythree, the Gershonites thirteen, and the Merarites twelve; and six of them, three on each side of Jordan,? were appointed to be CITIES OF REFUGE, whither the inadvertent manslayer might flee, and find an asylum from his pursuers, and be secured from the effects of private revenge, until cleared by a legal process. (Num. xxxv. 6—15. Deut. xix. 4-10. Josh. xx. 7, 8.) The way to these cities the Israelites were commanded to make good, so that the man-slayer might flee thither without impediment, and with all imaginable expedition: and according to the Rabbins, there was an inscription set up at every cross road-“ Asylum, Asylum." It has been thought that there is an allusion to this practice in Luke iii. 4-6., where John the Baptist is described as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. He was the Messiah's forerunner, and in that character was to remove the obstacles to men fleeing to him as their asylum, and obtaining the salvation of God. It is remarkable that all the sacerdotal cities lay within the southern tribes, eight belonging to Judah and four to Benjamin, and only one to Simeon, which is supposed to have been situated on the frontier of Judah, and to have remained under the control of the latter tribe. This was wisely and providentially designed to guard against the evils of schism between the southern and northern tribes. For, by this arrangement all the sacerdotal cities (except one) lay in the faithful tribes of Judah and Benjamin, to maintain the nation tribes. Otherwise the kingdom of Judah might have experienced a scarcity of priests, or have been burthened with the maintenance of those who fled from the kingdom of Israel (2 Chron. xi. 13, 14.), when the base and wicked policy of Jeroboam made priests of the lowest of the people to officiate in their room. It was at first an excellent constitution, considering the de-al worship in them, in opposition to the apostacy of the other sign of this government, to make so equal a division of the land among the whole Hebrew nation, according to the poll; it made provision for settling and maintaining a numerous and a brave militia of six hundred thousand men, which, if their force was rightly directed and used, would be a sufficient defence not only against any attempts of their less powerful neighbours, to deprive them of their liberty or religion; but considering moreover the natural security of their country, into which no inroads could be made, but through very difficult passes, it was a force sufficient to defend them against the more powerful empires of Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. The wisdom of this constitution is yet further observable, as it provided against all ambitious designs of private persons, or persons in authority, against the public liberty; for no person in any of the tribes, or throughout the whole Hebrew nation, had such estates and possessions, or were allowed by the constitution to procure them, that could give any hopes of success in oppressing their brethren and fellow-subjects. They had no riches to bribe indigent persons to assist them, nor could there at any time be any considerable number of indigent persons to be corrupted. They could have no power to force their fellow-subjects into a tame submission to any of their ambitious views. The power in the hands of so many freeholders in each tribe, was so unspeakably superior to any power in the hands of one or of a few men, that it is impossible to conceive how any such ambitious designs should succeed, if any person should have been found so weak as to attempt them. Besides, this equal and moderate provision for every person wisely cut off the means of luxury, with the temptations to it from example. It almost necessarily induced the whole Hebrew nation to be both industrious and frugal, and yet gave to every one such a property, with such an easy state of liberty, that they had sufficient reason to esteem and value them, and endeavour to preserve and maintain them.' In this division of the land into twelve portions, the posterity of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph), • Lowman on the Civil Government of the Hebrews, pp. 46-49. Of the country beyond Jordan, which was given by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh (Deut. iii. 12-17. Josh. xii. 1—6. xiii.), the tribe of REUBEN obtained the southern part, which was bounded on the south from Midian by the river Arnon; on the north, by another small river; on the east, by the Ammonites and Moabites; and on the west by the river Jordan. Its principal cities were Ashdod-Pizgah, Bethabara, Beth-peor, Bezer, Heshbon, Jahaz, Kedemoth, Medeba, Mephaath, and Midian. The territory of the tribe of GAD was bounded by the river Jordan on the west, by the canton of the half tribe of Manasseh on the north, by the Ammonites on the east, and by the tribe of Reuben on the south. Its chief cities were Betharan (afterwards called Julias), Debir, Jazer, Mahanaim, Mizpeh, Penuel, Rabbah, or Rabboth (afterwards called Philadelphia), Succoth, and Tishbeth. The region allotted to the HALF TRIBe of Manasseh, on the eastern side of the Jordan, was bounded on the south by the territory of the tribe of Gad; by the sea of Cinnereth (afterwards called the lake of Gennesareth and the sea of Galilee), and the course of the river Jordan from its source towards that sea, on the west; by Mount Lebanon, or more properly Mount Hermon, on the north and north-east; and by Mount Gilead on the east. Its principal cities were Ashtaroth-Carnaim, Auran, Beeshterah, Beth tribe of Reuben; Ramoth Gilead, in that of Gad; and Golan, in the half The cities of refuge on the eastern side of Jordan were Bezer, in the tribe of Manasseh. Those on the western side of Jordan were, Hebron, in the tribe of Judah; Shechem, in that of Ephraim; and Kedesh-Naphtali, in that of Naphtali. Most of the North American nations had similar places of refuge (either a house or a town), which afforded a safe asylum to a man-slayer, Indians, pp. 158, 159, 416. who fled to it from the revenger of blood. Adair's History of the American Godwin's Moses and Aaron, p. 78. Jenning's Jewish Antiquities, book ii. ch. 5. p. 295. Edinb. 1808. saida, Gadara, Gerasa, Geshur, and Jabesh-Gilead. This tribe was greatly indebted to the bravery of Jair, who took threescore cities, besides several small towns or villages, which he called Havoth-Jair, or the Dwellings of Jair. (1 Chron. ii. 23. Num. xxxii. 41.) The remaining nine tribes and a half were settled on the western side of the Jordan. The canton of the tribe of JUDAH was bounded on the east by the Dead Sea; on the west, by the tribes of Dan and Simeon, both of which lay between it and the Mediterranean Sea; on the north, by the canton of the tribe of Benjamin; and on the south, by Kadesh-Barnea, and the Desert of Paran or Zin. Judah was reckoned to be the largest and most populous of all the twelve tribes; and its inhabitants were the most valiant; it was also the chief and royal tribe, from which, in subsequent times, the whole kingdom was denominated. The most remarkable places or cities in this tribe were Adullam, Azekah, Bethlehem, Bethzor, Debir or Kiriath-sepher, Emmaus, Engedi, Kiriatharba or Hebron, Libnah, Makkedah, Maon, Massada, Tekoah, and Ziph. The inheritance of the tribes of DAN and of SIMEON was within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, or was taken out of the portion at first allotted to the latter. The boundaries of these two tribes are not precisely ascertained; though they are placed by geographers to the north and south-west of the canton of Judah, and consequently bordered on the Mediterranean Sea. The principal cities in the tribe of Dan, were Ajalon, Dan or Lesham, Eltekeh, Eshtaol, Gath-rimmon, Gibbethon, Hirshemesh, Joppa, Modin, Timnath, and Zorah. The chief cities in the tribe of Simeon, were Ain, Beersheba, Hormah, and Ziklag. names of their respective presidents, are enumerated in 1 Kings iv. 7-19. From the produce of these districts every one of these officers was to supply the king with provisions for his household, in his turn, that is, each for one month in the year. The dominions of Solomon extended from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt, they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1 Kings iv. 21.) Hence it appears that the Hebrew monarch reigned over all the provinces from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, even to the frontiers of Egypt. The Euphrates was the eastern boundary of his dominions; the Philistines were westward, on the Mediterranean Sea; and Egypt was on the south. Solomon therefore had, as his tributaries, the kingdoms of Syria, Damascus, Moab, and Ammon; and thus he appears to have possessed all the land which God had covenanted with Abraham to give to his posterity. VI. Under this division the Holy Land continued till after the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from his son Rehoboam, and erected themselves into a separate kingdom under Jeroboam, called the KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. The two other tribes of Benjamin and Judah, continuing faithful to Rehoboam, formed the KINGDOM OF JUDAH. This kingdom comprised all the southern parts of the land, consisting of the allotments of those two tribes, together with so much of the territories of Dan and Simeon as were intermixed with that of Judah: its royal eity or metropolis was Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamín. The kingdom of Israel included all the northern and middle parts of the land, occupied by the other ten tribes; and its capital was Samaria, in the tribe of Ephraim, situated about thirty miles north-east of Jerusalem. But this division ceased, on the subversion of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, after it had subsisted two hundred and fifty-four years. The canton allotted to the tribe of BENJAMIN lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph, contiguous to Samaria on the north, to Judah on the south, and to Dan on the west, which last parted it from the Mediterranean. It did not contain VII. The Holy Land fell successively into the hands of many cities and towns, but this defect was abundantly sup- the Syrian kings, the Greeks and Romans. IN THE TIME OF plied by its possessing the most considerable, and the metro-JESUS CHRIST it was divided into five separate provinces, viz. polis of all the city of Jerusalem. The other places of note in this tribe were Anathoth, Beth-el, Gibeali, Gibeon, Gilgal, Hai, Mizpeh, Ophrah, and Jericho. To the north of the canton of Benjamin lay that allotted to the tribe of EPHRAIM, and that of the other HALF TRIBE OF MANASSEH. The boundaries of these two districts cannot be ascertained with precision. The chief places in Ephraim, were Bethoron the Nether and Upper, Gezer, Lydda, Michmash, Naioth, Samaria, Shechem, Shiloh, and TimnathSerah. After the schism of the ten tribes, the seat of the kingdom of Israel being in Ephraim, this tribe is frequently used to signify the whole kingdom. The chief places in the half tribe of Manasseh, were Abel-meholath, Bethabara, Bethsham (afterwards called Scythopolis), Bezek, Endor, Enon, Gath-rimmon, Megiddo, Salim, Ophrah, and Tirzah. To the north, and more particularly to the north-east of the half tribe of Manasseh, lay the canton of ISSACHAR, which was bordered by the celebrated plain of Jezreel, and its northern boundary was Mount Tabor. The chief cities of Issachar, were Aphek, Bethshemesh, Dothan, Kishon, Jezreel, Naim or Nain, Ramoth, and Shunem. On the north and west of Issachar resided the tribe of ZEBULUN. Its chief places were Bethlehem, Cinnereth or Chinnereth, Gath-hepher, Jokneam, Remmon-Methoar, and Shimroncheron. Galilee, Samaria, Judæa, Peræa, and Idumæa. 1. GALILEE.-This portion of the Holy Land is very frequently mentioned in the New Testament: its limits seem to have varied at different times. It comprised the country formerly occupied by the tribes of Issachar, Naphtali, and Asher, and by part of the tribe of Dan; and is divided by Josephus into Upper and Lower Galilee. Upper Galilee abounded in mountains; and from its vicinity to the cities of Tyre and Sidon, it is called the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon. (Mark vii. 31.) The principal city in this region was Cæsarea Philippi; through which the main road lay to Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon. Lower Galilee was situated in a rich and fertile plain, between the Mediteranean Sea and the Lake of Gennesareth: according to Josephus, this district was very populous, containing upwards of two hundred cities and towns. The principal cities of Lower Galilee, mentioned in the New Testament, are Tiberias, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Nain, Cæsarea of Palestine, and Ptolemais. Galilee was most honoured by our Saviour's presence. "Hither Joseph and Mary returned with him out of Egypt, and here he resided until his baptism by John. (Matt. ii. 22, 23. Luke ii. 39-51. Matt. iii. 13. Luke iii. 21.) Hither he returned after his baptism and temptation (Luke iv. 14.): and, The tribe of ASHER was stationed in the district to the after his entrance on his public ministry, though he often north of the half tribe of Manasseh, and west of Zebulun; went into other provinces, yet so frequent were his visits to consequently it was a maritime country. Hence it was said this country, that he was called a Galilean. (Matt. xxvi. 69.) (Judg. v. 17.) that Asher continued on the sea-shore, and abode The population of Galilee being very great, our Lord had in his creeks. Its northern boundary was Mount Libanus or many opportunities of doing good; and being out of the Lebanon; and on the south it was bounded by Mount Car-power of the priests at Jerusalem, he seems to have preferred mel, and the canton of Issachar. Its principal cities were Abdon, Achshaph, Helkath, Mishal, and Rehob. This tribe never possessed the whole extent of district assigned to it, which was to reach to Libanus, to Syria, and Phoenicia, and included the celebrated cities of Tyre and Sidon. Lastly, the tribe of NAPHTALI or Nephtali occupied that district in the northern part of the land of Canaan, which lay between Mount Lebanon to the north, and the sea of Cinnereth (or Gennesareth) to the south, and between Asher to the west, and the river Jordan to the east. Its chief places were Abel or Abel-Beth-Maachah, Hammoth-dor, Harosheth of the Gentiles, Kedesh, and Kiriathaim. it as his abode. To this province our Lord commanded his apostles to come and converse with him after his resurrection (Matt. xxviii. 7. 16.): and of this country most, if not the whole, of his apostles were natives, whence they are all styled by the angels men of Galilee." (Acts i. 11.) The Galileans spoke an unpolished and corrupt dialect of the Syriac, confounding and using y (ain) or (aleph), ɔ (caph) for (beth), ♫ (iau) for ‐ (duleth); and also frequently changed the gutturals. This probably proceeded from their great communication and intermixture with the neighbouring nations. It was this corrupt dialect that led to the V. The next remarkable division was made by king SOLOMON, who divided the kingdom, which he had received from his father David, into twelve provinces or districts, each under a peculiar officer. These districts, together with the the judge, My Lord, I had a picture, which they stole; and it was so great 1 Well's Geography of the Old and New Testament, vol. ii. p. 137. 2 Dr. Lightfoot, to whom we are indebted for the above remark, has given several instances in Hebrew and English, which are sufficiently amusing. One of these is as follows: A certain woman intended to say before VOL. II. C |