Sidelights on the Bible

Front matter

Book /-v4- Y

Copyiight N°

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Foreword

V them is essential to a clear understanding of the Scriptures. Without such knowledge, indeed, not a little in the Bible would he meaningless to us. Again, the Bible is full of figures and illustrations. Christ in particular made constant use of them, drawing them from every source. An understanding of the facts and usages upon which these illustrations are based would illumine whole classes of Scripture passages. Consider also what light has been thrown upon the historic portions of the Bible by recent discoveries in the valleys of the Nile and the Euphrates, and by the decipherment of hieroglyphic and cuneiform inscriptions which have been preserved from the remotest past. By the incidental references of the latter to Scripture persons, places, and events, many of the statements of the Bible have been confirmed, others have been supplemented, and a background of reality has been furnished for not a few of the Biblical narrations. Moreover, some knowledge of New Testament background is requisite to a full understanding of it. If, in addition to these sources of information, one has been privileged oneself to visit Bible lands, to look upon the scenes of Bible events, and to see these customs as they are still illustrated in the common life of the people, the Bible will ever after be to him a new hook, from the new sense of its reality which he will thus have gained.

A few of these sidelights upon the Bible, treated

VI

FOREWORD with sufficient fulness in each case to illumine the more prominent Scripture passages to which they relate, and to give to the ordinary Bible student a glimpse into the wide field of investigation to which they introduce him, are herewith presented. The aim has been to provide in brief and inexpensive form an epitome of the essential facts contained in the numerous, often elaborate treatises on these subjects. So extensive is this literature that comparatively few, even of the well-equipped libraries, contain all the standard works of this character. It is hoped that this book may not only prove interesting in itself and helpful in clearing up many otherwise obscure passages and allusions in the sacred Word, but also tend to stimulate to a broader and more intelligent study of the entire Bible.

F. T. L.

1. On the Way.

2. Crossing the Apostle’s Track.

3. In Palestine, the Scene of

Christ’s Life and Work.

4. In Syria. Lebanon Mountains,

Baalbek, Damascus.

5. View from Mount Hermon.

Chapter I

W E all know how much a knowledge of the geography of a country helps to an intelligent understanding of the events which are transpiring within it. When reports of wars in Cuba, in the Philippines, in South Africa, in China, or between Japan and Russia in Manchuria, were accompanied by maps on which the places referred to and the position of contending forces were designated, we were greatly aided in grasping the situation and our interest was correspondingly enhanced. It is the same when we read of plague-, or faminesmitten districts in India, of massacres in Turkey or Russia, of explorations in the Dark Continent or in the frozen regions north or south, of the strategic position of the Hawaiian Islands, of the Panama Canal matters, of the wreck of an ocean steamer, or of transactions of importance in any part of the world. Ho matter how well informed in general one may be in regard to the geography of 1 any land, it is always helpful, refreshing to the memory, to he able, when there is occasion, at once to glance at a map. Newspapers recognize this and aim promptly to provide needed helps of this character. A book of travels nowadays without accompanying maps and diagrams would be regarded as unpardonably incomplete.

It is the same in our study of the events of the past. Ancient history would lose much of its charm without illustrative maps. For an intelligent study of the migration of Abraham, the wanderings in the wilderness, the conquest of Canaan, the exile and the return, the movements of our Savior, or the missionary journeys of the great apostle, maps are indispensable. Geography and history are closely connected. Each throws light upon the other. Efforts to awaken interest in the Bible, or to popularize it, whether made in the home, in the classroom, or from the pulpit, will not reach the full measure of success if they neglect the maps which modern scholarship has provided, or the photographs or other views which give such vividness to Biblical scenes and incidents. Nazareth, Bethlehem, Mount Tabor, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan, or Jerusalem, may in this way be made as familiar to us as towns and cities in our own country. A practical lesson in Bible Geography now and then in the Sunday School or from the pulpit, would be wholesome.

The subject of Biblical geography has, within the past generation, received special attention at the hands of Christian scholars of various lands, and this has imparted a new impulse to the exploration of sacred localities. The sites of many cities in Bible countries have been clearly identified, others are in process of being determined, while others still are as yet matters of dispute or are wholly conjectural. As if the Bible itself were intended to interest us in a study of the lands in which its authors lived, allusions to its scenery, its rivers and lakes, its valleys and mountains, its towns and cities, abound on almost every page from Genesis to Revelation.

I

The world of the Old Testament embraces the seas and lands from the river of Egypt on the west, to the Persian Gulf on the east, and from the northern part of the Red Sea on the south, to the southern part of the Caspian Sea on the north. The total extent of the territory embraced was about 1,400 miles from east to west, and 900 miles from north to south, aggregating perhaps a million and a-quarter square miles. Deducting from this such bodies of water as are included in it, possibly 150,- 000 square miles, there is left an area about onethird the size of the United States apart from Alaska. More than one-half of this region — that portion which is directly to the east and southeast of Palestine — is uninhabitable desert. This would leave the portion actually habitable as less than one-eighth the size of the American republic. Palestine itself, or that part of the Holy Land west of the Jordan — the main theater of Biblical history — is very sniall. England is nearly five times as large, Scotland and Ireland about three times. It is hardly as large as Wales, or about the size of Vermont or Hew Hampshire.

Turning now to some of the geographical features of this Old Testament world in detail, we notice first its seas. (See maps for all following references.) Some of them are large bodies of water. The Caspian Sea, which occupies the northeast corner of this world, is the largest body of water surrounded by land on the globe. Into the Persian Gulf at the southeast, two of the great rivers of Old Testament history empty their waters — the Tigris, called in the Bible Hiddekel, and the Euphrates, the great river of the Bible world, (Gen. ii:14). The Red Sea on the southwest has two arms at its north end, between which is the wilderness where the Israelites lived their nomadic life for forty years after the exodus. The Dead Sea, called in the Bible the “ Salt Sea,” (Josh, xviii: 19), is about 100 miles north of the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Its length is forty-seven miles and it has an average width of ten miles. In some places it is 1,300 feet deep, although its surface is 1,300 feet lower than the Mediterranean. The southern part of the sea is an extensive lagoon not more than twenty feet deep. During the rainy season its waters may rise fifteen feet. It has no known outlet. So intensely salt is the water that it is impossible for one to sink in it. This has repeatedly been tested. One simply floats upon the surface. The little sea or lake of Galilee — once surrounded by cities, its waters covered with boats, and around whose borders much of our Lord’s ministry was passed — is really an expansion of the river Jordan. It is thirteen miles in length, and about seven miles in width at its widest part. Its greatest depth is less than 200 feet. The waters of Merom, a few miles farther north, and beside which Joshua gained a decisive victory over the combined armies of the kings of the northern section of Palestine, (Josh. xi:7, 8), is also an expansion of the Jordan. It is tringular in shape, about three miles across, located in a swampy region, and is surrounded by jungles. Measurements vary somewhat with the amount of the rainfall. It lies seven feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and is from ten to sixteen feet in depth. The Mediterranean or “ great sea toward the going down of the sun,” (Josh. i:4), forms the western boundary of the Holy Land and the regions to the north of it. It was on this sea that Jonah is represented as hav-

'6 ing made his memorable voyage (Jonah i:3), and that Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Pome, (Acts xxvii).

The nucleus of the mountain system of the Old Testament world is found in the land of Armenia, midway between the Caspian Sea and Asia Minor. Here five great mountain ranges have their origin, with only a part of which, however, are we now particularly concerned. The Ararat mountains, referred to in the story of Noah and the flood, (Gen. viii:4), run nearly east and west, in three parallel sections. One of the peaks of the most northern of the three sections is the traditional resting-place of the ark. It is 18,000 feet high, the highest summit of the group. The Lebanon range, starting from the west side of the Ararat group, runs in a southwesterly direction along the Mediterranean coast toward the Ped Sea. In Syria it is divided into two parallel branches, Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Mount Hermon, which is 9,200 feet high and overlooks Palestine, is the southern termination of the Anti-Lebanon range. This has always been a landmark of northern Palestine. South of Palestine, this Lebanon range forms the Sinaitic group, on one of the peaks of which the Law was given, (Ex. xix:16 and if). The other ranges are the Caspian, bending around the south end of the Caspian Sea and extending eastward ; the Zagros, which forms the eastern watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, running generally southeast to the north shore of the Persian Gulf; and the Taurus range, which runs in a westerly direction, following the north shore of the Mediterranean. As a young man Paul lived in sight of this latter range. Tarsus, his native place, is but a few miles to the southward.

Nearly all the rivers of the Old Testament world, especially the largest of them, have their origin in the mountain system of Armenia, and nearly all of them follow the mountain lines. The Euphrates flows west 400 miles, then south about as far, then in a southeasterly direction 1,000 miles, when it unites with the Tigris. It is navigable for 1,100 miles, and has in all ages formed the principal route of travel between eastern and western Asia. Eor 800 miles before it reaches Babylon, which is on its banks, it flows through a desert and does not receive a single tributary. At Babylon it is nearly a mile wide. At its annual overflow it sometimes rises twelve feet.

The Nile is the one river of Egypt. It rises in the center of the continent, its sources having been discovered through the explorations of recent years, and flows north to the Mediterranean, into which, through several mouths, it empties its waters. It was along the banks of this river that the Israelites were compelled to make bricks during their Egyptian bondage. Its waters, with their rich deposits upon the soil from its yearly overflow, have made Egypt the fertile land that it is. Memphis, its early capital, was located on this river. The Jordan, really the only river of Palestine, is yet one of the most important mentioned in Bible history. Taking its rise in three large springs at the base of Mount Hermon, it flows southward in a zigzag course to the Dead Sea. Its current is rapid. The springs which form its source are 1,700 feet above tide water. Below Merom the river descends by a fall of 60 feet to the mile. Erom the Sea of Galilee, which is 682 feet below the Mediterranean, the river flows through a gorge 65 miles long to the Dead Sea, which, as has already been said, is 1,300 feet below the Mediterranean. On either side of this gorge there is a barrier of cliffs, from two to eight miles apart, except at the plain of the Jordan, just north of the Dead Sea, which is fourteen miles wide. The plain itself lies about 400 feet above the level of the Dead Sea. Around this plain are mountains, some of which rise to a height of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above it. It was in the portion of the plain east of the Jordan that the Israelites encamped before their invasion of the land of promise, and it was at Gilgal on the west of the river, that they had their headquarters during its conquest, (Josh. v:10, x:15, etc.). The direct length of the Jordan is 134 miles, hut through its windings, its channel is increased to 200 miles. In its entire progress it falls over 3,000 feet — an average of 22 feet to the mile. It varies in width from 80 to 180 feet, and in depth from three or four to twelve feet. There were never, on its banks, any great cities, yet many interesting events of Bible history are associated with it.

The Old Testament world has three natural divisions — somewhat like those of the United States. The eastern slope extends from Mount Zagros eastward to the desert. Here is Armenia. Media is on the west of the Caspian Sea, and Persia is south of Media. The central plain lies between the Zagros and the Lebanon. In this plain are Assyria on the north, Elam on the south. Mesopotamia and Chaldea are between the Tigris and Euphrates, the former to the north, and the latter to the south. West of the Euphrates is the desert of Arabia. The Mediterranean slope is between the Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea. The lands of this slope, beginning with the south, are Egypt, the Wilderness, Canaan or Palestine, Syria, Phoenicia, Asia Minor.

Pour great empires ruled in succession over most of the Old Testament world. (1) The early Chaldean Empire, with Ur for its earlier, and Babylon for its later capital. Ur is referred to in the story of Abraham, (Gen. xi:31). (2) The

Assyrian Empire, with Nineveh for its capital, was located on both sides of the Tigris. At one time its people were rulers of all the lands to the westward as far as the Mediterranean. It was to Nineveh that the prophet Jonah is represented as having been sent, whither, after seeking to evade his duty, he was finally constrained, reluctantly, to go, (Jonah i:l-3, iii :1— 3). (3) The Baby-

lonian Empire, (about B. C. 625-536), was established by Nebuchadrezzar, with Babylon as its capital. The fall of this noted city is referred to in connection with the story of Belteshazzar and the hand-writing on the wall, (Dan. v:30, 31). (4) The Persian Empire, (about 536 to 330 B. C.), was established by Cyrus, with Shushan, or Susa, for its capital, the scene of the story of Queen Esther, (Esther i:2, ii:8), and where Nehemiah was acting as cupbearer to the king when the desire seized him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its broken walls, (Neh. i:l). Haran, (Gen. xi:31, xii:4, 5), the home for a season of Abraham after migrating from Br of the Chaldees, was in Mesopotamia. Damascus, which is frequently referred to in connection with the wars between Israel and Syria, was the capital of Syria. Tyre was the commercial metropolis of Phoenicia. The main events of Old Testament history, outside of Palestine, cluster about the places we have now named.

II

During the period between the close of the Old Testament canon and the Advent, the course of Empire moved westward 1,000 miles, and the capital of the world passed from Asia to Europe. Jerusalem and Rome became the eastern and western limits of the NEW TESTAMENT WORLD.

Of the sects mentioned in the New Testament, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea have already been described. The iEgean Sea, between Asia Minor and Greece, was familiar to Paul. In this sea is the island of Patmos, (Rev. i:9), where John had the vision which formed the basis of the book of Revelation. The Adriatic Sea comprised that portion of the Mediterranean which lies between the southern extremity of Italy and Greece. The Mediterranean Sea as far west as Italy, was known to the New Testament world.

In the book of Acts we have reference to Cyprus, which Paul and Barnabas visited on their first missionary journey, (Acts xiii :4) ; Crete, southeast of Greece, mentioned in the account of Paul’s voyage to Rome, (Acts xxvii:7, 12, 13, 21) ; Cauda, a little island to the south of Crete, (xxvii:16); Melita, or Malta, now the British stronghold, where the apostle was shipwrecked, (Acts xxviii:l); and Sicily, of which Syracuse, (Acts xxviii:12), visited by Paul on his way to Rome, was an important city.

The lands of the New Testament world belong to three continents. Libya and Egypt are in Africa, Egypt being less prominent here than in Old Testament times ; Palestine, Phoenicia, Syria, and Asia Minor, belong to Asia ; Thrace, Macedonia, Greece or Achaia, Illyricum, and Italy, are in Europe. Of the fourteen provinces in Asia Minor, three of them, Pontus, Paphlagonia, and Bithynia, bordered on the Black Sea. Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, on the west, bordered on the iEgean — these provinces together forming the region which is termed “ Asia ” in the book of Acts, (Acts vi:9, xxi:27, etc). Here the seven churches which were addressed in Bevelation, (Kev. i:4), were located. Bordering on the Mediterranean were Lycia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia. In the interior were five provinces — Phrygia, Lycaonia, Pisidia, Galatia, and Cappadocia. It was to the Galatian Christians that Paul addressed one of his most vigorous epistles, (Gal. i:2).

A few of the cities which are prominently referred to in the New Testament, chiefly in the book of Acts, may be mentioned. Among them were Alexandria in Egypt, (Acts xviii :24) ; Caesarea, the political capital of Judea, (Acts xxiii:33), on its western coast, where Paul was imprisoned for two years; Bethlehem, in the southern part of Palestine, where Christ was born, (Luke ii :4— 7 ) ; Nazareth, at the north, the home of his youth and young manhood, (Luke ii:39); and Jerusalem, with its remarkable history in the Old Testament and the New, where Christ preached, where He was finally arrested and crucified. There was Damascus, too, near which Paul was converted, (Acts ix:3), which was the southern capital of Syria, as Antioch, the scene of Paul’s labors for a year, (Acts xi:25, 26), was the northern. Tarsus, in the province of Cilicia, was his birthplace, (Acts xxii:3). Ephesus, which was the scene of Paul’s labors for three years, the site of the temple to the goddess Diana, and where the uproar caused by the silversmiths occurred, (Acts xix), was in Lydia. It is believed that the apostle John also labored here, and that here he died. Philippi and Thessalonica in Macedonia were visited by Paul and Silas on the second missionary journey, when the gospel was first introduced into Europe, (Acts xvi:12, xvii:l). At the former place they were scourged and imprisoned, in the second they barely escaped a similar experience. Berea, too, they visited, (Acts xvii:10). At Athens, from the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, Paul delivered his address on the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, (Acts xvii:16 and ff). At Corinth he founded and built up a church, (Acts xviii:l-ll), to which he afterward wrote two of his most practical epistles. Rome, the proud capital of the Roman empire and mistress of the world at that time, was the scene of Paul’s imprisonment while waiting for his trial before Csesar, (Acts xxviii:16), and from here he wrote several of his most spiritual epistles. To the Christians here he had previously addressed his notable epistle “ to the Romans.” Here also, it is believed, he suffered martyrdom.

The following facts may be noted as constituting a providential preparation for the introduction of Christianity into the world : the Roman government had extended its sway over many different lands; while many languages were spoken in the Roman empire, the Greek language was spoken everywhere ; although there were many races, the Jewish race was everywhere found, and their synagogues furnished a center of missionary operations in every city ; while there were many religions, there was no deep-seated conviction as to the truth of any one of them. Everywhere serious-minded people were hungering after a knowledge of the true God. These facts make it clear that the times were ripe and the conditions favorable for the introduction of Christianity — more favorable than they had been before or have been since. Together they constitute a providential preparation for the advent of Christ and, the inauguration of His spiritual kingdom.

III

As we examine the map of Palestine we cannot but he impressed with the smallness of the

Holy Land proper. It is but a narrow strip of country bordering on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, hardly large enough to be noticed as compared with the regions adjacent. Yet small as as it is, and isolated by the desert on the east and south, by the Mediterranean on the west, and mountains to the north, it was the theater of momentous events, and of most of the important events of Bible history. It lay between great empires — Egypt on the southwest, and Assyria and Babylonia on the east — was indeed the passageway between them. Ho land is so hallowed in its associations, or so abounds in sacred memories. It was mainly the scene of God’s revelation to man, the land which suggested to Jewish prophets the striking imagery of their discourses, the land of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, above all, the land of the earthly life of our Lord.

The most ancient name of the Holy Land, Canaan, meaning low-land, was derived from its inhabitants who seem to have occupied the most fertile regions found in the country. After the conquest by Joshua, it was called the “ Land of Israel,” this name being applied to the whole territory at first, although later it had reference only to the dominion of the Ten Tribes. The name Palestine is a modernized form of the word Philistine, the name of a heathen race which occupied the southwest portion of the country. Palestine proper, the land of the twelve tribes, embraces both Canaan and the region to the east of the Jordan. Not all of Palestine was possessed by Israel during most of its history, for the plain along this seashore was held by the Philistines on the south and the Phoenicians on the north. As popularly used now, the names “ Palestine ” and “ Holy Land ” are generally understood to refer to the portion of the country extending from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.

The country to the west of the Jordan is 143 miles in length from north to south, with an average breadth of forty miles. It has an area of about 6,500 square miles, or Considerably less than Massachusetts, or about one-eighth the size of Illinois, Wisconsin, or Iowa. Including the land to the east of the Jordan, or covering the entire domain of the twelve tribes, the extent of territory would be nearly doubled, or equivalent in area to Massachusetts and Connecticut combined, or a-quarter the size of either of the western states just mentioned. The area of the entire land of promise during the reigns of Solomon and David, was only 60,000 square miles, a little less than the New England states, or a little larger than Illinois. The coast line from Gaza, the southernmost town, to Sidon on the northern boundary, is about 180 miles in length, or a little less than the distance from Boston to Albany, or from Chicago to the Mississippi river. From Sidon to the Jordan the distance is

25 miles. The Dead Sea is about 60 miles east of Gaza. The country thus varies in width from 25 to 60 miles. From the sources of the Jordan at the foot of Mount Hermon, to the south end of the Dead Sea, it is 160 miles.

Topographically, the country is divided into four sections. There is first the maritime plain which lies along the coast of the Mediterranean for the entire length of the country, broken only by Mount Carmel, north of which it is quite narrow and is called Phoenicia. South of Carmel the width of this plain varies from eight miles at the north to twenty miles at the south. The surface is undulating and the soil is very fertile. The central part of the country, the most important zone of Palestine, is mountainous throughout its whole extent, it being a continuation of the Lebanon range. The average height of the mountains in upper Galilee is 2,800 feet, although there are some which are higher. The hill country of Judea is from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea level. Between the mountainous part and the plain at the west, there are foothills which are from 300 to 500 feet high, forming a kind of irregular terrace. The Negeb or South country begins just south of Hebron and slopes southward to the Arabian desert. The valley of the Jordan is a remarkable depression growing gradually deeper to the southward. It really extends, like an immense canal, from the foot of Mount Hermon to the eastern arm of the Red Sea. To the east of the Jordan valley is a lofty table-land, which stretches away to the desert. Much of it is fertile and adapted to pasturage, a fact which, in the allotment of the land, determined the choice of those tribes which had flocks. The northern part of this territory was known as Bashan, the central as Gilead, the southern as Moab.

Small as it is, the Jordan is the one river of the country. There are a number of mountain brooks and torrents which are large and rapid during the rainy season, although their beds are dry most of the year. The brook Kishon, “ that ancient river,” (Judges v:21), flows along the foot of Carmel into the Mediterranean. At certain times of the year it is possible to ride on horseback in its bed. The river Leontes, now the Litany, forms the northern boundary of Palestine, the brook Besor the southern. Both these streams empty into the Mediterranean. Prom the central mountain region, the Parah — the “ waters of iEnon,” (John iii:23) — flows east and empties into the Jordan. The brook Kidron, (John xviii:l), flows past Jerusalem, then turns eastward and empties into the Dead Sea. On the east of the Jordan valley there are two or three rivers. The river Jabbok, (Gen. xxxii:22) descends from the table-land and enters the Jordan a little south of a point about half the distance from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The brook Cherith, (I Kings xvii:3), by tradition the place where Elijah was fed by the ravens, probably flows into the J ordan also, from the east. The river Arnon, (Deut. ii :24) flows into the Dead Sea about the middle of its eastern shore.

The summit of Mount Hermon, (Psa. cxxxiii:3) on the northern boundary of the country, is often, even in summer, more or less covered with snow. Mount Tabor, oval-shaped, is a little west of the Sea of Galilee, (Ps. lxxxix:12). Little Tabor, called in the Bible the “ hill of Moreh,” where Gideon was victorious over the Midianites, (Judges vii), is south of Tabor. At Mount Gilboa, still farther south, Saul and Jonathan lost their lives, (I Sam. xxxi:l-6). Mount Carmel, at the eastern end of which Elijah’s contest with the priests of Baal took place, (I Kings xviii:20 and fl), is due west of the Sea of Galilee, and projects into the Mediterranean. Mounts Ebal and Gerizim are near the center of the country. In the narrow valley between them, the Israelites, led by Joshua, assembled to hear the blessings and the cursings read, Joshua viii :30— 35 ), in accordance with the direction of Moses before his death. The Mount of Olives is just east of Jerusalem. Erom it Jesus ascended, (Acts i :9— 12). Mount Kebo, where

Moses died, and whence he had seen the promised land, (Deut. xxxiv), is a little to the eastward of the Jordan near the head of the Dead Sea.

Among the places in the Holy Land which are particularly associated with Bible incidents are the following: Gaza, the scene of Samson’s exploits and of his death, (Judges xvi:21 and ff), on the coast at the south; Joppa, the seaport of Jerusalem, from which Jonah set sail, (Jonah i:3), and where Peter had a notable vision, (Acts x:l-16); farther north, also on the coast, Caesarea, at the time of Christ the political capital of Judea, and the scene of Paul’s imprisonment for two years, (Acts xxiii:33). Tyre, which Christ visited, and Sidon, (Matt. xv:21), are on the coast still farther north. Hebron, in the southern central part of Palestine, was the burial place of the patriarchs, (Gen. xxiii: 17-20, xxv:8-10, 1:12-14:). Bethlehem, a few miles south of Jerusalem, was the birthplace of David, (I Sam. xvi:l, 19, 20), and later of David’s greater Son, (Luke ii:4-7). Jerusalem was the center of interest during most of the Old Testament history and all of the Hew. Bethel, the scene of Jacob’s vision of the ladder reaching to heaven and of angels ascending and descending upon it, (Gen. xxviii:10-19), was nine or ten miles north of Jerusalem. Shechem, (Gen. xxxvii:12, 13, etc.), near which Jacob’s well was located, lies between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Samaria, capital of the northern Kingdom, (I Kings xvi:23, 24) was on a hill a few miles northwest of Shechem. Nazareth, the early home of Jesus, (Luke ii:51), was on a hillside in Galilee and on the northern border of the plain of Esdraelon. Capernaum was on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee, (Matt. iv:13). Dan was at one of the sources of the Jordan, (Gen. xiv:14). The towns of the eastern table-land were few and unimportant.