A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 29-NUM. xviii.

This was their ready cry on all occasions; and it is not likely that God in his providence, or Moses in his policy, would have trusted them so near a country whose idols, and whose fleshpots, they were ever hankering after, and from which such mighty efforts and miracles had been employed to deliver them.

In the continuation of this supposed route, Moseroth is conjectured to be the present Fountains of Moses, so called, or Ain-el-Mousa, seven or eight miles from Suez. This would bring them again nearly into their old track in the desert of Etham or Shur; and it is strange that no mention should be made of these well-known places. But Moses says, that, after leaving Kadesh-barnea, 'they turned, and took their journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea; and they compassed mount Seir many days,' Deut. ii. 1: plainly implying, that the retrograde route was not by the Mediterranean and towards Egypt, but towards the nearest point of the Red Sea in the route next designed for them; stretching along the western side of the desert of Sin and mount Seir to Ezion-geber. What is meant by the way of the Red Sea, is further distinctly told us in Numbers xxi. 4; where it is said, that the Israelites, departing from Mount Hor, journeyed by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom;' or, in other words, to get to the eastern side of that mountainous country by crossing the plain of Elath and Ezion-geber. The whole of this scheme of the western route of the Israelites is, in fact, founded in a misconception of the true extent and position of mount Seir. It is true, that the precise situation of Libnah, or of either of the other stations in the desert after leaving mount Sinai, cannot be accurately known; but the general course of the route from Sinai to Kadeshbarnea, and from thence to Ezion-geber, is sufficiently indicated.

There is a curious anachronism in the above map. It was published in 1808; but has the route of Burckhardt in 1812 marked on it, without, however, adopting any of the improvements indicated by his discoveries. It retains, indeed, all the old errors; the insulated and northern position of Mount Hor-the double peak of a single mountain, representing Sinai and Horeb-the forked extremity of the gulf of Elah or Acaba-and the undefined position of the desert of Sin; while Mount Seir is laid down, by letters only, transversely across the desert of Paran. The labours of Burckhardt have enabled us to correct these errors; while the description of Moses directs us where to trace the course from Kadeshbarnea to Ezion-geber.

Thus far all is clear: but the ensuing part of the journey is, for the most part, but ill explained by commentators; nor has any map come within the inspection of the author, in which it is intelligibly laid down. The passage from the western to the eastern side of Mount Seir, round by Ezion-geber, is uniformly represented as one continuous route; Mount Seir itself is variously distorted from its true position; Mount Hor, an eminence of the former, is carried high up towards the borders of Moab, where it will be seen that it could not possibly have been; and very confused notions are entertained of the true situation of the desert of Sin. These inaccuracies have arisen, in part, from a strange inattention to the scripture narrative, and, in part, from the geographical errors more or less inseparable from the

want of a correct knowledge of the true features of a country.

With respect to the first cause of error, it will be the author's fault, and not any want of precision in the scripture account, if this part of the journey be not rendered sufficiently perspicuous; and to obviate the latter, Burckhardt has furnished us with abundant information. It will be found, indeed, that, instead of a single passage through the plain of Elath and Ezion-geber, this plain was twice passed, or at least, that the places situated in it were twice visited; and that Mount Seir, instead of having been merely doubled by a straight course, down one side and up the other, was four times skirted at its southern extremity, well illustrating the passage which says Ye have encompassed this mountain long enough.' In Numbers xxxiii, 36, 37, after the Israelites are described as having descended to Ezion-geber from their long sojourn in the desert on the north, it is said, ' And they removed from Ezion-geber, and pitched in the wilderness of Sin, which is Kadesh, and they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.' In chapter xx. 1, 22, it is said, Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Sin, in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh. And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mount Hor:' where Aaron died, and was buried; and where a thirty days' mourning was performed for him. In chapter xxi. 4, it is said, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom.' In other words, the children of Israel, from their first descent to Ezion-geber, ascended northwards, up the desert of Sin, to Kadesh; and from Kadesh to Mount Hor, 'in the edge of Edom;' where having buried Aaron, and paid the last respects to his memory, they turned again southwards, to the plain of Elath and Ezion-geber, to compass the land of Edom, and enter the plains of Midian.

In order to the better understanding of the relative position of these places, it will be necessary first to describe that of Mount Seir; which will form a key to the rest. Mount Seir of Edom is a mountain chain, which, under the modern names of Djebel Sherar, Djebel Hesma, and Djebal, extends from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the northern one of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, about a hundred miles. On its western side, it rises boldly from a valley which accompanies its whole length; but sinks by an easier slope towards the east, into the elevated plains of Arabia Petræa. Its western border is so strong, as to be easily defended; so that the Israelites, when denied a passage by the king of Edom, dared not make any attempt to force one, but were compelled to return, and get round the mountain by the plain of Ezion-geber. It was on a conspicuous eminence on this western border, called Hor, about forty miles north from the plain of Elath, that Aaron died, and was buried by the Israelites-an office in which, either not alarmed, or informed of their pious intention, the Edomites do not appear to have molested them. Tradition has preserved the situation of this mount; which is still visited as the tomb of Aaron, by both Mahometans and Christians.

This description of Mount Seir will facilitate that of the desert of Sin. There is, as was observed, a valley

The next encampment mentioned, after the return from Mount Hor, is at Zalmonah. Where Zalmonah was is not known; but it was probably in or near the plain of Elath, as there was no water in Sin. This was a long march; but the people could not tarry in a region which was destitute of the most indispensable article of subsistence. Besides, the period of their wandering was now drawing to a conclusion; and they were hastening with confidence to the termination of their fatigues and privations in the promised land. The same reason led them, by stages of thirty miles, by Punon, Oboth, and Ije-abarim, to the brook Zared; where they arrived at the end of the thirty-eighth year from the time of their leaving Kadesh-barnea, and the fortieth from their de│parture from Egypt, and when all the adults then living were dead. This brook, which appears to be the Wady Beni Hammed, descends from the mountains of Kerek, and falls into the Dead Sea near the middle of its

A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 28—NUM. xviii. stretching along the whole western side of Mount Seir; | across Mount Seir, or through the land of Edom, to which, like it, extends from the Dead Sea on the north, Canaan. Defeated in this object, nothing was left for to the Red Sea on the south. This valley is a sandy them but to return to the plain of Ezion-geber, and to plain, at a low level, having the chain of Mount Seir on make the circuit of the mountain on its southern side. the east, and a ridge of hills, of a lower elevation than those of Seir, on the west, and separating it from the desert of Paran. It is about five miles across; and is at present known in its northern part, by the name of El Ghor, and in its southern, by that of El Araba: it appears before the catastrophe of Sodom, to have afforded a course for the Jordan into the Red Sea. This can be no other than the desert of Sin, or Kadesh; with which it accords in all the required conditions. It had no water; neither is there any there now:-from hence messengers were sent to request a passage through the country of the Edomites; and from hence only, with any show of purpose, could such a request be sent from hence, also, the Israelites ascended Mount Hor; and from hence only could the ascent of that mountain be made without penetrating the whole breadth of Edom from the opposite side, where it is clear that they never yet had been :-and, lastly, into this desert it was that the Israelites entered from the plain of Elath and Ezion-western shore. From the Zared, the Israelites made geber; and this valley does strictly open from that plain, and is the only desert region answering to the name and the narrative into which they possibly could enter: they could not, in fact, move from their encampment at Eziongeber in any other direction, without passing to the east of Mount Seir, which, as has been shown, they did not do till after their return from Mount Hor, or retracing their steps into the desert of Paran, which it is equally certain they did not do.

This desert was likewise called Kadesh: in which also was a place more particularly so termed, and situated in the uttermost border' of Edom, that is to say, at the very foot of the chain, bordering on the desert; from whence the Israelites sent messengers to the king of Edom to solicit a passage through his country. No situation can be allotted more probable as the position of this place, than that by which the modern road passes from Maan, on the east of Mount Seir, by the Wady Mousa, through the mountains, and across the valley of the Ghor or desert of Sin, to Gaza-the very route, in fact, of the Nabathæi from their capital Petra. As this is one of only two or three routes, at great distances, which penetrate the region of Seir; as it passes close by mount Hor; and as that mountain would be most easy of access by its means from the valley below; we cannot hesitate in fixing the position of Kadesh Proper at the point where the road, quitting the mountains, enters on that valley.

To recapitulate. The children of Israel having arrived at Ezion-geber from the desert of Paran, and at the southern foot of Mount Seir, made a detour northwards up the desert of Sin, or El Araba, on the western side of that mountain, and separated from the desert of Paran by a ridge of hills, but which formed no part of Mount Seir. This course they pursued to Mount Hor, in the edge of Edom,' a mountainous eminence rising abruptly from the eastern side of the desert of Sin, and standing on the western edge of Seir. Here they staid to bury Aaron, and to complete their mourning for his loss. The purpose for which they entered the desert of

Sin was obviously to obtain a shorter and better passage

one march across the Arnon, the Modjeb of modern geography, to Dibon Gad; the ruins of which, under the name of Diban, are shown about four miles to the north of the river. From Dibon, the encampments of Beer, Almon-diblathaim, Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Bamoth, brought them to the mountains of Abarim, on the east of the Jordan; which mountains they crossed at Pisgah, a part of the chain, where Moses was indulged with a bird's-eye view of the promised land, and where he died. Descending from these mountains, they pitched between Beth-jesimoth and Abel-shittim, on the banks of the Jordana itself; whose waters, deep and rapid, were divided for their passage, as those of the Red Sea had been. And thus this extraordinary journey of forty years terminated with a similar miracle to that with which it commenced.

There are two facts worthy of mentioning in this place. The first is, that the whole of the tribes, during their wanderings in the desert, had sustained a decrease of only 1820; their numbers being at this time 601,730, and before, 603,550. The other fact alluded to is, that as all the males above twenty years of age at Kadeshbarnea fell subsequently in the wilderness, none who crossed the Jordan, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, could exceed fifty-eight; consequently the whole of the adult males may be considered as effective for the purposes of war.

The map, illustrative of the journeyings of the Israelites, has been carefully constructed, so as to exhibit the physical features of the country, as laid down by Burck

puted at thirty yards, and its depth about nine feet; but from a The average breadth of this celebrated stream may be com the rapidity of its current, it discharges a much greater body of water than many rivers of larger dimensions; it rolls, indeed, so powerful a volume of deep water into the Dead Sea, that the attempt to swim across it at its point of entrance. Its banks ant strongest and most expert swimmer would be foiled in any beautifully picturesque, being shaded by the thick foliage of closely planted trees, and so beset with tamarisks, willows, oleander, and other shrubs, that the stream is not visible, except its annual overflowing takes place in the first month, which on the nearest approach. Its waters are generally turbid, and

answers to our March.

A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES. A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 28-NUM. xviii. hardt and others; and the line of route has been taken | God, which he communicated to the people, in what from the map which Mr Mansford constructed to accompany the preceding article, in his Scripture Gazetteer.

A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv, 28-NUM. xviii.

precept to that purpose before, that whoever was guilty | standard of the camp of Judah was first. It consisted of of the like offence, whether stranger or Israelite, was to undergo the same punishment.

Nay, and not long after this, another instance of the divine severity was upon a man, who by a post-fact-law was likewise adjudged to be stoned to death, for violating the Sabbath, which God had so strictly enjoined to be observed, by gathering some sticks on that day. There was no penalty annexed to the violation of this commandment; and therefore the people who brought him before Moses, were ordered to keep him in custody, until he should know the divine pleasure concerning Sabbathbreakers; and when he acquainted them, that such transgressors were to be punished with death, they immediately led him out of the camp, and there stoned and buried him.

the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, the sons of Leah, which pitched on the east side of the tabernacle, towards the rising of the sun. On the south side was the standard of the camp of Reuben, under which were the tribes of Reuben and Simeon, the sons of Leah likewise, and that of Gad, the son of Zilpah, her maid. On the west side was the standard of the camp of Ephraim, under which were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. And on the north side was the standard of the camp of Dan and Naphtali, the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid, and that of Asher the son of Zilpah. Between these four great camps and the tabernacle, were pitched the four less camps of the priests and the Levites, who had their attendance about it. On the east side encamped Moses and Aaron, and Aaron's sons, who had the charge of the sanctuary. On the south side were the Kohathites, a part of the Levites descended from Kohath, the second son of Levi. On the west side were the Gershonites, another part of the Levites, descended from Gershon, Levi's eldest son; and on the north side were the Merarites, the remaining part of the Levites, who sprang from Merari, Levi's youngest son,

While the Israelites lay encamped in the wilderness of Sinai, God appointed Moses first to renew the ordinance of the passover, and then, with the help of Aaron, and the heads of each tribe, to make a general muster of the men that were able to bear arms; which accordingly was done, and the whole number, exclusive of the tribe of Levi, which were appointed to attend the service of the tabernacle, amounted to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men; and upon this muster, God appointed their encampment, ever after, to be in-Whenever they were to decamp, which always was this manner.

The whole body of the people were disposed under four large battalions, so placed as to enclose the tabernacle, and each under one general standard. The

Num xv. 31, &c.

relling with a man of the tribe of Dan, because he would not let him encamp in the same district, brought his cause before Moses; but that being condemned at his tribunal, he began, out of mere rage and madness, to blaspheme. Of all this, however, Moses himself says nothing, out of a scruple, as we may well suppose, to relate the circumstances of a crime which his very thoughts

detested.-Saurin's Dissertations, 58.

a During the sojourning of the children of Israel in the wilderness, they seem to have had a divine dispensation from observing

This was the order of the Israelites encamping; and in like manner, the method of their marching was thus,

when the pillar of cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the trumpet sounded, and upon the first alarm, the standard of Judah being raised, the three tribes which belonged to it set forward; whereupon the tabernacle was immediately taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites attended the wagons, with the boards and staves of it. When these were on their march, a second alarm was sounded, upon which the standard of Reuben's camp advanced with the three tribes under it; and after them followed the Kohathites bearing the sanctuary, which, because it was more holy, and not so cumbersome as the pillars and boards of the tabernacle, was not put into a wagon, but carried upon their shoulders. Next followed the standard of Ephraim's camp, with the three tribes belonging to it; and last of all, the other three tribes under the standard of Dan brought up the rear.

After that the Israelites had, for some time, continued in ease and rest, not far from the skirts of Mount Sinai, the pillar of the cloud gave them a signal to decamp; but they had not marched above three days into the wilderness, before they began to complain of the weariness of their journey, and to murmur against God; which so provoked him, that he sent down fire, and destroyed the loiterers, and such as were found in the extreme parts of the camp; so that though, upon Moses' intercession, the fire ceased, the place never

the ordinances both of circumcision and the passover. Circum-
cision did not consist with their itinerant course of life, and for
the celebration of the passover, they had not, in every encamp-
ment, all the materials that were necessary. But having now
rested in the confines of the holy mount for almost the space of a
whole year, after the tabernacle was set up, the high priest con-
secrated, and his first oblation honoured with a gracious accept
ance, God thought it not an improper time to re-ordain the
celebration of the passover, that so remarkable a deliverance, as
their escape out of Egypt, which, by their repeated desires of
returning thither, seemed, in a great measure, to have been for-
gotten, might not be altogether obliterated. And if it should be
asked, whence they could have a sufficiency of lambs and kids for
so vast a multitude to feast on; there is no reason to deny, even
supposing they had not a supply of their own, but that they
might traffic with the Ishmaelites, and ancient Arabs inhabiting
these parts, for such a number of small cattle, and being not far
distant from Midian, (Exod. iii. 1.) by the interest of Jethro,
might from thence he furnished with such a quantity of meal for
unleavened bread, as this one passover, as this was the only one
they kept in the wilderness, may be presumed to require.-Le-Lamy's Introduction, b. 1.
Clerc's Commentary, and Poole's Annotations.

6 All the twelve tribes were distinguished from one another by particular standards, and each standard is supposed by some to have been of the colour of that stone in Aaron's pectoral, upon which the name of the tribe whereunto it belonged was written. The figures on the standards of the four principal tribes that we have mentioned, are these,-In that of Judah was borne a lion; in that of Ephraim, an ox; in that of Reuben, the head of a man;

are indeed the four most perfect animals, forasmuch as the lion is the most noble among wild beasts; the ox among beasts of labour; the eagle among birds; and the man among all other creatures.

immediately from heaven like lightning, or did issue from the The fire which God sent upon the Israelites, came either pillar of the cloud which went before the tabernacle; or, according to the conjecture of a learned commentator, that which is here called fire, might be a hot burning wind, in these desert places sion preternaturally raised in the rear of the army, to punish the not unusual, and many times very pestilential, and on this occa stragglers, and such as, out of a pretence of weariness, lagged

and in that of Dan, an eagle and a serpent in his talons; which behind.-Le Clerc's Commentary.

A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 28—NUM. àviil. theless obtained the name of Taberah, which signifies them, began to envy him; but to give some colour to burning.

their quarrel, they pretended to fall out with him upon | account of his marrying a foreigner, whom they called in contempt an Ethiopian. This Moses could not but perceive; but as it was a personal pique, he took no notice of it. God, however, would not suffer it to go off so ; and therefore calling Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before the door of the tabernacle, he sharply rebuked the two latter. He gave them to understand the disparity in point of divine revelation, between them and him, and, to leave a brand upon their contumaciously affecting an equality, he immediately smote Miriam e with a leprosy ; and though, upon Moses' intercession, he promised to remove it, yet because the offence was public, he ordered her to be turned out of the camp for seven days, in the manner of any common leper, that others might be deterred from the like seditious practices. After several encampments, the people came at length to a KadeshBarnea, on the frontiers of Canaan, where Moses was commanded to choose twelve fit men, out of each tribe one, among whom were Joshua and Caleb, to take a view of the country: and accordingly, having received their instructions from him, to examine diligently into the strength of its cities and inhabitants, the nature and fer

b The Jewish commentators make the difference between

Moses and other prophets, to consist in these particulars: 1st, That God spake to others by a mediator, that is, as they explain tion of any other. 2dly, That they never prophesied, but their it, by some angel; but to him by himself, without the intervensenses were all bound up, either in visions or in dreams; whereas he was perfectly awake as we are, when we discourse one with another. 3dly, That after the vision was over, they were oftentimes left so weak and feeble, that they could scarce stand upon their feet, (as appears from Dan. viii. 18;) whereas Moses spake Ha-with the divine Majesty without any consternation or alteration. And 4thly, That no prophet but he could know the mind of God when he pleased, because he communicated himself to them only when he thought proper; whereas Moses might at any time have recourse to God, to inquire of him, and receive an answer.-Patrick's Commentary.