The Rand-McNally Bible Atlas Part 5

[Ill.u.s.tration: EMPIRE OF AMRAPHEL OR HAMMURABI.]

6. =The Settlement at Beersheba.= (Gen. 20-25.) After the destruction of the cities of the plain, Abraham moved southward, and made his home at Beersheba, on the desert border, now _Bir es Seba_. Here he spent most of his later years, as after various journeys we find him each time encamped at Beersheba.

7. =The Offering of Isaac.= (Gen. 22.) From Beersheba Abraham took his son Isaac, at G.o.d's command, to offer him as a burnt offering in "the land of Moriah." Some authorities accept the Samaritan tradition, that this place was Mount Gerizim; but we see no sufficient reason to dissent from the general view, that it was Mount Moriah, at Jerusalem, ten centuries afterward the site of the Temple. After this sublime token of his faith in G.o.d, the patriarch returned to his tent at Beersheba.

8. =The Burial of Sarah.= (Gen. 23.) We find Abraham again at Hebron, in his old age. Here Sarah died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah.

This is undoubtedly covered by the Mohammedan mosque so sacredly guarded against the intrusion of travelers. The after events of Abraham's history may have taken place at Hebron or at Beersheba, as neither place is named as his residence at the time of Isaac's marriage or his own death. He was buried in the family sepulchre at Hebron, beside the body of Sarah.

II. THE JOURNEYS OF ISAAC.

The life of Isaac, though longer than the lives of Abraham and Jacob, was spent in a comparatively small range of territory, and with comparatively few events. We have not noted upon the map the lines of his journeyings; but the localities may be seen, as far as they are identified, upon the map of Palestine, on page 58.

The homes of Isaac were as follows: 1. Beer-lahai-roi, "Well of the Life of Vision," _i. e._, where life remained after seeing G.o.d; an unknown locality in the south of Canaan, between Bered and Kadesh. It was so named by Hagar, after meeting an angel, before the birth of Ishmael.

(Gen. 16:13.) 2. Gerar. (Gen. 26:1.) This was the chief city of the Philistines in that age; and is now called _Kirbet el Gerar_. The wells dug by Isaac, and seized by the Philistines, were probably in the region near this city. 3. Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22) is probably at the _Wady_ (Valley) _er Ruhaibeh_, south of Beersheba. 4. Beersheba. (Gen.

26:23-35.) Here he made a treaty of peace with the Philistine king, and remained for many years. It was his home during the strife of Jacob and Esau, and from this place Jacob departed on his long visit to Haran.

(Gen. 28:10.) 5. Hebron. (Gen. 35:27.) Here, beside the tomb of his parents, Isaac at last met his son Jacob, and here he died and was buried, at the age of 180 years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE PATRIARCHS BEFORE AND AFTER THE DELUGE.]

III. THE JOURNEYS OF JACOB.

The life of Jacob is related with more of detail than that of any other person in Old Testament history; yet there is great uncertainty concerning the division of its periods. His first sixty years were pa.s.sed near Beersheba; then twenty years in Haran, and fifty years in Canaan (though some of the best chronologers allow _forty_ years in Haran, and _thirty_ years in Canaan); and seventeen years in Egypt. The princ.i.p.al places named in Jacob's journeys are: 1. Beersheba, now _Bir es Seba_, a well-known place in the south of Palestine. 2. Bethel, now _Beitin_, 10 miles north of Jerusalem. 3. Haran, now bearing the same name. (See under Abraham's life, Journey No. 1.) 4. Mizpah, called also Jegar-sahadutha, "the heap of witness," perhaps the important place afterward known as Ramoth-gilead, now _es Salt_, 13 miles south of the Jabbok. But this seems too far south to represent the event, and we are inclined to place it at some unknown mountain between the Jabbok and the Hieromax. 5. Mahanaim, probably at _Mahneh_, 10 miles north of the Jabbok. 6. Peniel, afterward Penuel, unknown, but somewhere on the brook Jabbok. 7. Succoth, "booths," recently identified as _Tell Darala_, a mile north of the Jabbok, in the Jordan Valley. 8. Shalem, "peace." If this refers to a place, it is _Salim_, 3 miles east of Shechem. But some read the sentence, "Jacob came in peace [_i. e._, in safety] to Shechem." (Gen. 33:18.) 9. Ephrath, the place of Rachel's death and burial, near Bethlehem.

The Journeys of Jacob may be arranged as follows:

1. =The Flight to Haran.= (Gen. 28:10-29:14.) Fearing the vengeance of Esau after the stolen blessing, Jacob hastily left his home at Beersheba, and journeyed northward to Haran. At Bethel he saw the vision of the heavenly ladder, and arrived safely at Haran, distant 450 miles from Beersheba. Here he remained either 20 or 40 years, according to different views, and married his two wives.

2. =The Return to Canaan.= (Gen. 31-33.) At Mizpah he made a treaty with Laban; at Mahanaim was comforted by a vision of angels; at Peniel wrestled with "the angel of G.o.d," and was reconciled to his brother Esau; and at Salim (if that be the name of a place), near Shechem, he rested in the Land of Promise.

3. =The Residence in Canaan.= (Gen. 34-45.) The slaughter of the Shechemites by Simeon and Levi, caused Jacob to move his increasing clan further south. At Bethel he renewed the covenant with G.o.d. (Gen.

35:1-15.) Near Ephrath, or Bethlehem, his beloved wife Rachel died and was buried. (Gen. 35:10-20.) At Hebron he met once more his aged father, and remained during most of his after-life in the land. (Gen. 35:27.) While Jacob was living at Hebron, Joseph was sold a slave to the Midianites, at Dothan, on the southern slopes of Mount Gilboa, and by them taken down to Egypt. (Gen. 37.)

4. =The Descent into Egypt.= (Gen. 45-50.) At the invitation of Joseph, then prince in Egypt, Jacob left Hebron to go down into Egypt. At Beersheba he offered sacrifices, and received divine guidance. His home was fixed in the Land of Goshen, a small but fertile district between the eastern channel of the Nile and the desert, the modern province of _es Shurkiyeh_, including the _Wady Tumilat_. Here the family of Jacob remained until they became "a great nation," a period variously estimated at from 200 to 400 years, or even longer.

5. =The Burial Procession.= (Gen. 50.) After the death of Jacob, his embalmed body was borne from Egypt to Hebron. The direct route was not taken, probably on account of the hostility of the Philistine and Amorite tribes; but the procession pa.s.sed around the south of the Dead Sea, through the land of Moab, and crossed the Jordan at Abel-mizraim, near Jericho, a place afterward known as Beth-hoglah; and thence to Hebron, where the last of the three fathers of the chosen people was laid to rest in the ancestral sepulchre.

OUTLINE FOR REVIEW.

I. _Journeys of Abraham._ 1. Ur to Haran. 2. Haran to Canaan. (Shechem, Bethel.) 3. Visit to Egypt. (Return to Bethel.) 4. Removal to Hebron. 5.

Pursuit of Elamites. (Dan, Hobah, Salem.) 6. Settlement at Beersheba. 7.

Offering of Isaac. (Moriah.) 8. Burial of Sarah. (Hebron.)

II. _Journeys of Isaac._ 1. Beer-lahai-roi. 2. Gerar. 3. Rehoboth. 4.

Beersheba. 5. Hebron.

III. _Journeys of Jacob._ 1. Flight to Haran. (Beersheba, Bethel, Haran.) 2. Return to Canaan. (Mizpah, Mahanaim, Peniel, Shechem.) 3.

Residence in Canaan. (Bethel, Bethlehem, Hebron, Dothan.) 4. Descent into Egypt. (Beersheba, Goshen.) 5. Burial Procession. (Abel-mizraim, Hebron.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: PALESTINE BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

JOURNEYS OF THE PATRIARCHS]

PALESTINE BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

THE knowledge which we possess of the inhabitants of Palestine before the 13th century B.C. is quite scanty. The names of tribes, more or less settled, are given; but we know very little of their language, customs or origin. The description of Palestine during the first eight hundred years after the Deluge may be arranged as follows: 1. The Earliest Inhabitants. 2. The Tribes of the Patriarchal Era. 3. The Nations at the Time of the Conquest. 4. The Surrounding Nations.

I. THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JERICHO AND THE JORDAN.]

In most lands the earliest people have been of an unknown race, as the mound builders of America and the cave dwellers of Europe. Very early in the history of the race a people entered Palestine, and settled upon both sides of the Jordan, generally among the mountains. They were remembered by different names in various parts of the country, but the names show the dread inspired by them among the later tribes. They were doubtless of one race, but whether of Hamitic or Semitic stock is uncertain; and their history is as unknown as their origin. They were already in their decline in the times of Abraham, when the Canaanite races, the second series of inhabitants, were in possession of the land.

They belonged to six tribes or divisions, each having a different name and location, but all bearing the same characteristics, and all regarded as giants by those who came after them. Our princ.i.p.al authorities concerning these archaic peoples are Gen. 14:5-7, and Deut. 2:10-23.

1. The =Rephaim=, "lofty men," are frequently named in the Old Testament, the word being generally translated "giants." In the age of Abraham they were living in the highlands of Bashan, where their capital, Ashteroth Karnaim, "the two-horned Ashtaroth," was taken by the Elamite king, Chedorlaomer, the earliest conqueror in Bible history. By degrees they lost their nationality and were merged with the Amorites, over whom one of their race, the gigantic Og, king of Bashan, ruled at the time of the conquest. They may have settled also west of the Jordan, near what was afterward Jerusalem, since a locality in that vicinity (see map on page 82) was long afterward known as "the Valley of the Rephaim." (2 Sam. 5:18.)

2. The =Zuzim=, "tall ones," are supposed to be the same people with those who in Deut. 2:20 are called =Zamzummim=. They occupied the eastern table-land, south of Bashan and Gilead. Their capital was Ham, a city not yet identified, unless it was (as some suppose) the place afterward known as Rabbath Ammon. These people were also giants, like the Rephaim (Deut. 2:21), were also overswept in the raid of Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:5), and during the time of the Israelites' sojourn in Egypt, were dispossessed by the Ammonites, who occupied their country afterward, until in turn driven out by the Amorites.

3. The =Emim=, "terrible ones," were south of the Zuzim, and therefore directly east of the Dead Sea. They were overcome by Chedorlaomer at Shaveh Kiriathaim, "the dale of the two cities," and their land was afterward occupied by the Moabites.

4. The =Horim=, "cave dwellers," or Horites, occupied Mount Seir, south of the Dead Sea. Their genealogy is given in Gen. 36:20-30, and 1 Chron.

1:38-42. They lived in caves, which are still found in great numbers through that region. They were beaten by Chedorlaomer, and subsequently dispossessed by the descendants of Esau, the Edomites.

5. The =Avim=, "ruins," or "dwellers in ruins," lived in the Shefelah, or foot-hills, between the Philistine plain and the mountains of Judah.

(Deut. 2:23; Josh. 13:2, 3.) They were early conquered by the Caphtorim, a Philistine race, and were in a depressed condition at the time of the entrance of the Israelites. The word Hazerim (Deut. 2:23) means "villages," or "nomad encampments," showing that they were not a settled, but a wandering people.

6. The =Anakim=, "long-necked ones." The name may refer either to their size, or their strength (which in Hebrew comes from a word similar to _neck_). They were descendants of Arba, and divided into three clans, named Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. (Josh. 14:15; 15:14.) Their princ.i.p.al home was at Hebron, called by them Kirjath-arba; but they also occupied a city near it, called Kirjath-sepher, or "book-town," a name which is suggestive of a national literature. Unlike the other races, they seem to have maintained a foothold in the presence of the incoming Canaanite races, and their gigantic appearance struck terror to the Israelite spies during the wandering. (Num. 13.) But they were conquered by Caleb (Josh. 14), and their remnant, driven from the mountains, mingled with the Philistines of the sea-coast plain. One family of this race remained as late as the days of David, that of Goliath and his brothers. (1 Sam.

17:4; 2 Sam. 21:15-22.)

II. THE TRIBES OF THE PATRIARCHAL ERA.

The chosen family came to Palestine about 1921 B.C., according to the common chronology, but probably from two to four hundred years earlier.

At this time these earliest races were already superseded in nearly all the land by later tribes, of Hamitic origin, with which the patriarchs were often brought into contact. Those tribes were often called Canaanites, because the nation of that name was both the original stock and in possession of the richest and best portion of the land.

We notice these tribes, as far as practicable, in the order of their location in the four great natural divisions of the country: the tribes of the maritime plain, those of the mountain region, those of the Jordan Valley, and those of the eastern table-land.

1. Beginning at the north, on the narrow plain by the Mediterranean Sea, we find the =Zidonians=, with their two great cities, Zidon the earlier, and Tyre the later. Perhaps the latter city was not yet founded in the patriarchal age. These people were early famous as the traders of the Mediterranean world, having commercial relations as far as Spain. They occupied a narrow strip of territory between Mount Lebanon and the sea, north of Mount Carmel. Their country was never possessed by the Israelites, and most of the time the relations between the two races were peaceful.

2. Next in order of location we come to the =Canaanites= proper, or that branch of the descendants of Canaan which retained the family name.

While _all_ the tribes of Palestine are often called Canaanites, as descended from one stock, the name strictly belongs only to people who lived in two sections of the country. The word means "lowlanders," and was applied particularly to those dwelling on the maritime plain, on both sides of Mount Carmel, the plain of Esdraelon and that of Sharon; and to those in the Jordan Valley. These together const.i.tuted "the Canaanites on the east and on the west." (Josh. 11:3.) They occupied the richest and most valuable portions of the land. The only city on the coast belonging to the Canaanites existing during the patriarchal age was Joppa, still standing. The Canaanite cities in the Jordan Valley were the "five cities of the plain," Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Zoar, of which all except the last were destroyed by the visitation of G.o.d. (Gen. 19.) Their location was in the plain on the north of the Dead Sea, and there is no reason to suppose that they are covered by its waters. In the time immediately before the conquest we find Jericho has arisen in the place of the destroyed cities, and not far from their site, as the most important city of the Jordan Valley.