Reference: Palestine
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Denotes, in the Old Testament, the country of the Philistines, which was that part of the land of promise extending along the Mediterranean Sea on the varying western border of Simeon, Judah, and Dan, Ex 15:14; Isa 14:29,31; Joe 3:4. Palestine, taken in later usage in a more general sense, signifies the whole country of Canaan, as well beyond as on this side of the Jordan; though frequently it is restricted to the country on this side that river; so that in later times the words Judea and Palestine were synonymous. We find also the name of Syria-Palestina given to the land of promise, and even sometimes this province is comprehended in Coele-Syria, or the Lower Syria. Herodotus is the most ancient writer known who speaks of Syria-Palestina. He places it between Phoenicia and Egypt. See CANAAN.
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The peoples shall hear and be afraid; sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because thou didst break the rod of him that smote thee: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Philistia, art dissolved; for there shall come from the north a smoke, and not one shall be left in thy assemblies.
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head;
Easton
Illustration: Physical Map of Palestine Illustration: Palestine, Illustrating the New Testament
Originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Ex 15:14; Isa 14:29,31; Joe 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered "Philistia" in Ps 60:8; 83:7; 87:4; 108:9) occurs in the Old Testament.
Not till a late period in Jewish history was this name used to denote "the land of the Hebrews" in general (Ge 40:15). It is also called "the holy land" (Zec 2:12), the "land of Jehovah" (Ho 9:3; Ps 85:1), the "land of promise" (Heb 11:9), because promised to Abraham (Ge 12:7; 24:7), the "land of Canaan" (Ge 12:5), the "land of Israel" (1Sa 13:19), and the "land of Judah" (Isa 19:17).
The territory promised as an inheritance to the seed of Abraham (Ge 15:18-21; Nu 34:1-12) was bounded on the east by the river Euphrates, on the west by the Mediterranean, on the north by the "entrance of Hamath," and on the south by the "river of Egypt." This extent of territory, about 60,000 square miles, was at length conquered by David, and was ruled over also by his son Solomon (2Sa 8; 1Ch 18; 1Ki 4:1,21). This vast empire was the Promised Land; but Palestine was only a part of it, terminating in the north at the southern extremity of the Lebanon range, and in the south in the wilderness of Paran, thus extending in all to about 144 miles in length. Its average breadth was about 60 miles from the Mediterranean on the west to beyond the Jordan. It has fittingly been designated "the least of all lands." Western Palestine, on the south of Gaza, is only about 40 miles in breadth from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, narrowing gradually toward the north, where it is only 20 miles from the sea-coast to the Jordan.
Palestine, "set in the midst" (Eze 5:5) of all other lands, is the most remarkable country on the face of the earth. No single country of such an extent has so great a variety of climate, and hence also of plant and animal life. Moses describes it as "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt not eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass" (De 8:7-9).
In the time of Christ the country looked, in all probability, much as now. The whole land consists of rounded limestone hills, fretted into countless stony valleys, offering but rarely level tracts, of which Esdraelon alone, below Nazareth, is large enough to be seen on the map. The original woods had for ages disappeared, though the slopes were dotted, as now, with figs, olives, and other fruit-trees where there was any soil. Permanent streams were even then unknown, the passing rush of winter torrents being all that was seen among the hills. The autumn and spring rains, caught in deep cisterns hewn out like huge underground jars in the soft limestone, with artificial mud-banked ponds still found near all villages, furnished water. Hills now bare, or at best rough with stunted growth, were then terraced, so as to grow vines, olives, and grain. To-day almost desolate, the country then teemed with population. Wine-presses cut in the rocks, endless terraces, and the ruins of old vineyard towers are now found amidst solitudes overgrown for ages with thorns and thistles, or with wild shrubs and poor gnarled scrub (Geikie's Life of Christ).
From an early period the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan, who retained possession of the whole land "from Sidon to Gaza" till the time of the conquest by Joshua, when it was occupied by the twelve tribes. Two tribes and a half had their allotments given them by Moses on the east of the Jordan (De 3:12-20; comp. Nu 1:17-46; Jos 4:12-13). The remaining tribes had their portion on the west of Jordan.
From the conquest till the time of Saul, about four hundred years, the people were governed by judges. For a period of one hundred and twenty years the kingdom retained its unity while it was ruled by Saul and David and Solomon. On the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ascended the throne; but his conduct was such that ten of the tribes revolted, and formed an independent monarchy, called the kingdom of Israel, or the northern kingdom, the capital of which was first Shechem and afterwards Samaria. This kingdom was destroyed. The Israelites were carried captive by Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, B.C. 722, after an independent existence of two hundred and fifty-three years. The place of the captives carried away was supplied by tribes brought from the east, and thus was formed the Samaritan nation (2Ki 17:24-29).
Nebuchadnezzar came up against the kingdom of the two tribes, the kingdom of Judah, the capital of which was Jerusalem, one hundred and thirty-four years after the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. He overthrew the city, plundered the temple, and carried the people into captivity to Babylon (B.C. 587), where they remained seventy years. At the close of the period of the Captivity, they returned to their own land, under the edict of Cyrus (Ezr 1:1-4). They rebuilt the city and temple, and restored the old Jewish commonwealth.
For a while after the Restoration the Jews were ruled by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and afterwards by the high priests, assisted by the Sanhedrin. After the death of Alexander the Great at Babylon (B.C. 323), his vast empire was divided between his four generals. Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria fell to the lot of Ptolemy Lagus. Ptolemy took possession of Palestine in B.C. 320, and carried nearly one hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Jerusalem into Egypt. He made Alexandria the capital of his kingdom, and treated the Jews with consideration, confirming them in the enjoyment of many privileges.
After suffering persecution at the hands of Ptolemy's successors, the Jews threw off the Egyptian yoke, and became subject to Antiochus the Great, the king of Syria. The cruelty and opression of the successors of Antiochus at length led to the revolt under the Maccabees (B.C. 163), when they threw off the Syrian yoke.
In the year B.C. 68, Palestine was reduced by Pompey the Great to a Roman province. He laid the walls of the city in ruins, and massacred some twelve thousand of the inhabitants. He left the temple, however, unijured. About twenty-five years after this the Jews revolted and cast off the Roman yoke. They were however, subdued by Herod the Great (q.v.). The city and the temple were destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were put to death. About B.C. 20, Herod proceeded to rebuild the city and restore the ruined temple, which in about nine years and a half was so far completed that the sacred services could be resumed in it (comp. Joh 2:20). He was succeeded by his son Archelaus, who was deprived of his power, however, by Augustus, A.D. 6, when Palestine became a Roman province, ruled by Roman governors or procurators. Pontius Pilate was the fifth of these procurators. He was appointed to his office A.D. 25.
Exclusive of Idumea, the kingdom of Herod the Great comprehended the whole of the country originally divided among the twelve tribes, which he divided into four provinces or districts. This division was recognized so long as Palestine was under the Roman dominion. These four provinces were, (1) Judea, the southern portion of the country; (2) Samaria, the middle province, the northern boundary of which ran along the hills to the south of the plain of Esdraelon; (3) Galilee, the northern province; and (4) Peraea (a Greek name meaning the "opposite country"), the country lying east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. This province was subdivided into these districts, (1) Peraea proper, lying between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; (2) Galaaditis (Gilead); (3) Batanaea; (4) Gaulonitis (Jaulan); (5) Ituraea or Auranitis, the ancient Bashan; (6) Trachonitis; (7) Abilene; (8) Decapolis, i.e., the region of the ten cities. The whole territory of Palestine, including the portions alloted to the trans-Jord
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And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
And the LORD appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land, and there he built an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed shall I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite read more. and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.
The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred and who spoke unto me and swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from there.
for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; neither have I done anything here that they should put me into the prison.
The peoples shall hear and be afraid; sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
And Moses and Aaron took these men who were designated by their names, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first of the second month, and they were gathered by their lineages, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls, read more. as the LORD had commanded Moses; and he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. And the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred. Of the sons of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, those that were numbered of him, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. Of the sons of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Judah, were seventy-four thousand six hundred. Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand four hundred. Of the sons of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred. Of the sons of Joseph: of the sons of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand five hundred; and of the sons of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand two hundred. Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred. Of the sons of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. Of the sons of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand five hundred. Of the sons of Naphtali, by their generations, after their families, by the houses of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war, those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred. These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the twelve princes of Israel, one man for each house of his fathers. So were all those that were numbered of the sons of Israel, by the houses of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; all those that were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Command the sons of Israel and say unto them, When ye have entered into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders), read more. you shall have on the side of the Negev from the wilderness of Zin unto the borders of Edom, and your border towards the Negev shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward. And this border shall turn from the Negev to the ascent of Akrabbim and pass on to Zin, and the going forth thereof shall be from the Negev to Kadeshbarnea and shall go on to Hazaraddar and pass on to Azmon; and the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the western sea. And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border; this shall be your west border. And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you Mount Hor. From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath, and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad, and the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan; this shall be your north border. And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham, and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border shall descend and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea; this shall be your land with the borders thereof round about.
And this land, which we inherited at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half of Mount Gilead and the cities thereof, I gave unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead and all Bashan (fertile ground), being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh: all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. read more. Jair, the son of Manasseh, took all the country of Argob unto the border of Geshuri and Maachathi and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day. And I gave Gilead unto Machir. And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon, half the valley for a border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the sons of Ammon, the plain also and the Jordan and the border thereof from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward. And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it; ye shall pass armed before your brethren, the sons of Israel, all that are valiant. Only your wives and your little ones and your livestock (for I know that ye have much livestock) shall abide in your cities which I have given you until the LORD has given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also inherit the land which the LORD your God has given them beyond the Jordan; then shall ye return each man unto his possession, which I have given you.
For the LORD thy God brings thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of waters, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olives, of oil, and honey; read more. a land in which thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack any thing in it, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou may dig brass.
And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh passed armed before the sons of Israel, as Moses had said unto them. About forty thousand men prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, towards the plains of Jericho.
Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, Lest peradventure the Hebrews make swords or spears.
And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.
And the king of Assyria brought Gentiles from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Ava and from Hamath and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there that they did not fear the LORD; therefore, the LORD sent lions against them, which slew some of them. read more. Therefore, they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The Gentiles, which thou hast removed and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the judgment of the God of that land; therefore, he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them because they do not know the judgment of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry there one of the priests whom ye brought from there; and let them go and dwell there and teach them the judgment of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. However each nation made gods of their own and put them in the houses of the high places which those of Samaria had made, each nation in their city in which they dwelt.
Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The LORD God of the heavens has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. read more. Who is there among you of all his people? Let God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever may remain of all the places where they remained a stranger, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts, with freewill gifts for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
Moab is my washpot; over Edom I will cast out my shoe; Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land; thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those that know me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this one was born there.
Moab shall be my washpot; over Edom I will cast my shoe; over Philistia I will triumph.
Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because thou didst break the rod of him that smote thee: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Philistia, art dissolved; for there shall come from the north a smoke, and not one shall be left in thy assemblies.
And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt; every one that makes mention of it shall be afraid in himself because of the counsel of the LORD of the hosts which he has determined against it.
Thus hath the Lord GOD said: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the Gentiles and of the lands that are round about her.
They shall not remain in the land of the LORD; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt and to Assyria where they shall eat unclean food.
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head;
And the LORD shall possess Judah his portion in the holy land and shall still choose Jerusalem.
Then said the Jews, This temple was forty-six years in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?
By faith he sojourned in the promised land, as in a strange country, dwelling in booths with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
Fausets
Peleshet. Four times in KJV, found always in poetry (Ex 15:27; Isa 14:29,31; Joe 3:4); same as Philistia (Ps 60:8; 87:4; 83:7 "the Philistines".) The long strip of seacoast plain held by the Philistines. The Assyrian king Ivalush's inscription distinguishes "Palaztu on the western sea" from Tyre, Samaria, etc. (Rawlinson, Herodotus 1:467.) So in the Egyptian Karnak inscriptions Pulusata is deciphered. The Scriptures never use it as we do, of the whole Holy Land. (See CANAAN for the physical divisions, etc.) "The land of the Hebrew" Joseph calls it, because of Abraham's, Isaac's, and Jacob's settlements at Mamre, Hebron, and Shechem (Ge 40:15). "the land of the Hittites" (Jos 1:4); so Chita or Cheta means the whole of lower and middle Syria in the Egyptian records of Rameses II. In his inscriptions, and those of Thothmes III, Tu-netz, "Holy Land," occurs, whether meaning "Phoenicia" or "Palestine". In Ho 9:3 "land of Jehovah," compare Le 25:23; Isa 62:4.
The holy land, Zec 2:12; 7:14, "land of desire"; Da 8:9. "the pleasant land"; Da 11:16,41, "the glorious (or goodly) land"; Eze 20:6,15, "a land that I had espied for them flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands." God's choice of it as peculiarly His own was its special glory (Ps 132:13; 48:2; Jer 3:19 margin "a good land, a land of brooks of water (wadies often now dry, but a few perennial), of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills (the deep blue pools, the sources of streams), a land of wheat, barley, vines, figtrees, pomegranates, oil olive, honey (dibs, the syrup prepared from the grape lees, a common food now) ... wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass" (De 8:7-9). "The land of the Amorite" (Am 2:10).
The land of Israel in the larger sense (1Sa 13:19); in the narrower sense of the northern kingdom it occurs 2Ch 30:25. After the return from Babylon "Judaea" was applied to the whole country S. and N., and E. beyond Jordan (Mt 19:1). "The land of promise" (Heb 11:9). "Judaea" in the Roman sense was part of the province "Syria," which comprised the seaboard from the bay of Issus to Egypt, and meant the country from Idumea on the S. to the territories of the free cities on the N. and W., Scythopolis, Sebaste, Joppa, Azotus, etc. The land E. of Jordan between it and the desert, except the territory of the free cities Poilu, Gadara, Philadelphia, was "Perea." From Dan (Banias) in the far N. to Beersheba on the S. is 139 English miles, two degrees or 120 geographical miles. The breadth at Gaza from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea is 48 geographical miles; at the Litany, from the coast to Jordan is 20 miles; the average is 34 geographical or 40 English miles. About the size of Wales. The length of country under dominion in Solomon's days was probably 170 miles, the breadth 90, the area 12,000 or 13,000 square miles.
The population, anciently from three to six millions, is now under one million. The Jordan valley with its deep depression separates it from the Moab and Gilead highlands. Lebanon, Antilebanon, and the Litany ravine at their feet form the northern bound. On the S. the dry desert of Paran and "the river of Egypt" bound it. On the western verge of Asia, and severed from the main body of Asia by the desert between Palestine and the regions of Mesopotamia and Arabia, it looks on the other side to the Mediterranean and western world, which it was destined by Providence so powerfully to affect; oriental and reflective, yet free from the stagnant and retrogressive tendencies of Asia, it bore the precious spiritual treasure of which it was the repository to the energetic and progressive W. It consists mainly of undulating highlands, bordered E. and W. by a broad belt of deep sunk lowland.
The three main features, plains, hills, and torrent beds, are specified (Nu 13:29; Jos 11:16; 12:8). Mount Carmel, rising to the height of above 1,700 ft., crosses the maritime plain half way up the coast with a long ridge from the central chain, and juts out into the Mediterranean as a bold headland. The plain of Jezreel or Esdraelon on its northern side, separating the Ephraim mountains from those of Galilee, and stretching across from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley, was the great battlefield of Palestine. Galilee is the northern portion, Samaria the middle, Judaea the southern. The long purple wall of Gilead and Moab's hills on the eastern side is everywhere to be seen. The bright light and transparent air enable one from the top of Tabor, Gerizim or Bethel at once to see Moab on the E. and the Mediterranean on the W. On a line E. of the axis of the country and running N. and S. lie certain elevations: Hebron 3,029 ft. above the sea; Jerusalem, 2,610; Olivet, 2,724; Neby Samwil on the N., 2,650; Bethel, 2,400; Ebal and Gerizim, 2,700; Little Hermon and Tabor, N. of the Esdraelon plain, 1,900.
The watershed sends off the drainage of the country in streams running W. to the Mediterranean and E. to the Jordan, except at the Esdraelon plain and the far N. where the drainage is to the Litany. Had the Jews been military in character, they would easily have prevented their conquerors from advancing up the precipitous defiles from the E., the only entrances to the central highlands of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, from the Jordan valley; as Engedi (2Ch 20:1-2,16) and Adummim, the route between Jericho and Jerusalem by which Pompey advanced when he took the capital. The slope from the western valleys is more gradual, as the level of the plain is higher, and the distance up the hills longer, than from the eastern Jordan depression; still the passes would be formidable for any army with baggage to pass. From Jaffa up to Jerusalem there are two roads: the one to the right by Ramleh and the wady Aly; the other the historic one by Lydda and the Bethorons, or the wady Suleiman, and Gibeon.
By this Joshua drove the Canaanites to the plains; the Philistines went up to Michmash, and fled back past Ajalon. The rival empires, Egypt and Babylon-Assyria, could march against one another only along the maritime western plain of Palestine and the Lebanon plain leading toward and from the Euphrates. Thus Rameses II marched against the Chitti or Hittites in northern Syria, and Pharaoh Necho fought at Mefiddo in the Esdraelon plain, the battlefield of Palestine; they did not meddle with the central highlands, "The S. country" being near the desert, destitute of trees, and away from the mountain streams, is drier than the N., where springs abound. (See PHARAOH NECHO; MEGIDDO.) The region below Hebron between the hills and the desert is called the Negeb (the later Daroma) from its dryness. Hence Caleb's daughter, having her portion in it, begged from him springs, i.e. land having springs (Jg 1:15). The "upper and lower springs" spring from the hard formation in the N.W. corner of the Negeb (Jos 15:19); here too Nabal lived, so reluctant to give "his water" (1Sa 25:11).
The verdure and blaze of scarlet flowers which cover the highlands of Judah and Benjamin in spring, while streams pour down the ravines, give place to dreary barrenness in the summit. Rounded low hills, with coarse gray stone, clumps of oak bushes, and the remains of ancient terraces running round them, meet one on each side, or else the terraces are reconstructed and bear olives and figs, and vineyards are surrounded by rough walls with watchtowers. Large oak roots are all that attest the former existence of trees along the road between Bethlehem and Hebron. Corn or dourra fills many of the valleys, and the stalks left until the ensuing seedtime give a dry neglected look to the scene. More vegetation appears in the W. and N.W. The wady es Sumt is named from its acacias. Olives, terebinths, pines, and laurels here and ten miles to the N. at Kirjath Jearim ("city of forests") give a wooded aspect to the scenery.
The tract, nine miles wide and 35 long, between the center and the sudden descent to the Dead Sea, is desolate at all seasons, a series of hills without vegetation, water, and almost life, with no ruins save Masada a
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And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as a garden of the LORD like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zoar.
And the LORD appeared unto him among the terebinth trees of Mamre; and he was sitting in the door of his tent in the heat of the day;
for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; neither have I done anything here that they should put me into the prison.
And they came to Elim, where there were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.
The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
Amalek dwells in the land of the Negev, and the Hittite and the Jebusite and the Amorite dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.
For the LORD thy God brings thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of waters, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olives, of oil, and honey; read more. a land in which thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; thou shalt not lack any thing in it, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou may dig brass.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your borders.
And the sons of Israel encamped in Gilgal and celebrated the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the fruit of the land, unleavened cakes, on the next day after the passover and parched new ears of grain in the same day.
So Joshua took all that land, the mountains and all the region of the Negev and all the land of Goshen and the valleys and the plains and the mountain of Israel and its valleys.
in the mountains and in the valleys and in the plains and in the springs and in the wilderness and towards the Negev: the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
from the Nile, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted among the Canaanites; five cardinals of the Philistines; the Gazathites and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, also the Avites; towards the Negev all the land of the Canaanites and Mearah that is beside those of Sidon unto Aphek to the border of the Amorite; read more. and the land of the Giblites and all Lebanon toward the sunrising, from Baalgad at the root of Mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. All the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon unto the hot springs and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the sons of Israel; only thou shalt divide the country by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
And she answered, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Ekron, with her towns and her villages. From Ekron even unto the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages: read more. Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt and the great sea and the border thereof;
and turns to descend to the westward sea to the border of Japhleti until the border of Bethhoron the lower, and to Gezer, and comes out at the sea.
And Manasseh also had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns and Ibleam and her towns and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, three provinces.
And she said unto him, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
And the LORD was with Judah, who drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses had said, and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak. read more. And the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; thus the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. And also those of the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. And those of the house of Joseph put spies in Bethel (Now the name of the city before was Luz). And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy. And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man go and all his family. And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and called the name of it Luz, which is its name unto this day. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and its towns nor Taanach and its towns nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanite desired to dwell in that land.
Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and its towns nor Taanach and its towns nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanite desired to dwell in that land. And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites under tribute but did not utterly drive them out. read more. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanite that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanite dwelt in Gezer among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanite dwelt among them and became tributaries. Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho nor the inhabitants of Zidon nor of Ahlab nor of Achzib nor of Helbah nor of Aphik nor of Rehob; to the contrary Asher dwelt among the Canaanites that inhabited the land, for they did not drive them out. Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh nor the inhabitants of Bethanath, but he dwelt among the Canaanites that inhabited the land; nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them. And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the mountain, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley. And the Amorites desired to dwell in Mount Heres in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; yet when the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, they made them tributaries.
Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, Lest peradventure the Hebrews make swords or spears.
And David arose and fled that day from the presence of Saul and went to Achish, the king of Gath.
Shall I then take my bread and my water and my slaughtered meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men that I do not know where they are from?
And David arose, and he went over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
And a man of Belial happened to be there, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a man of Jemini, and he blew the shofar, saying, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel.
For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and taken Gezer and burnt it with fire and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city and given it for a gift unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.
and over the cows that fed in Sharon was Shitrai, the Sharonite; and over the cows that were in the valleys was Shaphat, the son of Adlai;
It came to pass after this also that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon and with them others besides the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
Tomorrow ye shall go down against them; behold, they shall come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them next to the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
and I said unto them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot and even with the guards present, let them shut the doors and bar them. And appoint guards of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each one in his watch and each one to be in front of his house.
My brethren have lied to me as a brook; they passed away as an impetuous stream, which was hidden by ice and covered by snow. read more. Which in the time of heat, they vanish; when they are heated, they disappear out of their place;
His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my green growth is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in tribulation. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Moab is my washpot; over Edom I will cast out my shoe; Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
The mountains shall bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness.
There shall be planted a handful of grain in the earth upon the tops of the mountains; its fruit shall thunder like Lebanon; and out of the city they shall blossom like the grass of the earth.
He cast out the Gentiles also before them and divided them an inheritance by line and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their habitations.
How amiable are thy habitations, O LORD of the hosts!
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those that know me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this one was born there.
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are innumerable creeping things, both small and great beasts. There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou didst make to play therein.
Those that go down to the sea in ships that do work in many waters, these have seen the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep. read more. For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves. They mount up to the heavens; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and all of their knowledge is of no avail. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivers them out of their afflictions. He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are at rest; so he brings them into the haven of his will.
For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired her for his habitation.
He who gives snow like wool scatters the hoarfrost like ashes. He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold? read more. He shall send forth his word and melt them; his wind shall blow, and the waters shall flow.
And it shall come to pass in the last of the days or times, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be confirmed as the head of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the Gentiles shall flow unto it.
And there shall be a covert for a shadow in the daytime from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain.
Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because thou didst break the rod of him that smote thee: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Philistia, art dissolved; for there shall come from the north a smoke, and not one shall be left in thy assemblies.
And in mercy shall the throne be established; and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and hastening righteousness.
As the heat in a dry place, thou shalt bring down the pride of the strangers; even as with heat that burns beneath a cloud, thou shalt cause the offshoot of the stout ones to wither.
Thou shalt no longer be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any longer be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah; ; for the will of the LORD shall be in thee, and thy land shall be married.
But I said, How shall I place thee as sons and give thee the desirable land, the heritage that the hosts of Gentiles desire? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father, and shalt not turn away from following me.
Thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob's tents and have mercy on his dwelling places and the city shall be built upon her own hill, and the temple according to her judgment shall stand.
Therefore thus hath the LORD said unto Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David; and his body shall be cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost.
in the day that I lifted up my hand unto them with an oath that I would bring them forth from the land of Egypt into a land that I had prepared for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the most beautiful of all lands,
Yet I also lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, with an oath that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the most beautiful of all lands,
Also, thou son of man, prophesy upon the mountains of Israel and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.
And out of the first of them came forth a little horn, which grew much toward the south and toward the east and toward the desirable land.
And he that comes against him shall do according to his own will, and there shall be no one that can stand before him, and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.
He shall come to the glorious land, and many provinces shall fall, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab and the first of the sons of Ammon.
They shall not remain in the land of the LORD; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt and to Assyria where they shall eat unclean food.
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head;
Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness that you might possess the land of the Amorite.
I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the fire; and ye never returned unto me, said the LORD.
And the LORD shall possess Judah his portion in the holy land and shall still choose Jerusalem.
but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the Gentiles whom they did not know. Thus the land was desolate after them that no man passed through nor returned; for they laid the desirable land desolate.
And the LORD shall keep the tents of Judah as in the beginning, so that the glory of the house of David and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not cause those of Judah to magnify themselves.
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal; and ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the LORD my God shall come, and all his saints with him.
Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and all the region round about Jordan went out to him
Therefore, whosoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him unto a prudent man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded upon a rock. read more. And every one that hears these words of mine and does not do them shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.
And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee and came into the borders of Judaea beyond the Jordan;
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
By faith he sojourned in the promised land, as in a strange country, dwelling in booths with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
Hastings
PALESTINE
1. Situation and name.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The peoples shall hear and be afraid; sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
And the princes said unto them, Let them live but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had said unto them.
And Judah said unto Simeon, his brother, Come up with me into my lot that we may fight against the Canaanite; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hands, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. read more. And they found Adonibezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanite and the Perizzite. But Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered crumbs under my table; as I have done, so God has recompensed me. And they put him into Jerusalem, and there he died. Now the sons of Judah had fought against Jerusalem and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanite that dwelt in the mountains and in the Negev and in the plains. And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba), and they slew Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher). And Caleb said, He that smites Kirjathsepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And it came to pass when he took her that he persuaded her to ask her father for land to cultivate. And she lighted from off her ass, and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. And the sons of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah which is towards the Negev of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanite that inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. Also Judah took Gaza with its border and Askelon with its border and Ekron with its border. And the LORD was with Judah, who drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses had said, and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak. And the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; thus the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. And also those of the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. And those of the house of Joseph put spies in Bethel (Now the name of the city before was Luz). And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy. And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man go and all his family. And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and called the name of it Luz, which is its name unto this day. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and its towns nor Taanach and its towns nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanite desired to dwell in that land. And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites under tribute but did not utterly drive them out.
Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan to Beersheba and the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
And David replied unto Saul, Thy slave was the pastor of his father's sheep, and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
And David brought up his men that were with him, each one with his household, and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine?
And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
And the king of Assyria brought Gentiles from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Ava and from Hamath and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there that they did not fear the LORD; therefore, the LORD sent lions against them, which slew some of them. read more. Therefore, they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The Gentiles, which thou hast removed and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the judgment of the God of that land; therefore, he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them because they do not know the judgment of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry there one of the priests whom ye brought from there; and let them go and dwell there and teach them the judgment of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. However each nation made gods of their own and put them in the houses of the high places which those of Samaria had made, each nation in their city in which they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the LORD and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the LORD and served their own gods after the manner of the gentiles whom they carried away from there. Unto this day they do after the former manners; they do not fear the LORD, neither do they keep his statutes nor his ordinances nor the law and the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, whom he named Israel, with whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor worship them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them, but only the LORD your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes and rights and the law and the commandments, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do every day; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken; to the contrary they did after their former manner. So these Gentiles feared the LORD and served their graven images, and likewise their sons and their grandsons; as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because thou didst break the rod of him that smote thee: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Philistia, art dissolved; for there shall come from the north a smoke, and not one shall be left in thy assemblies.
Ye also, sons of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God for he has given you the former rain according to righteousness, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain as in the beginning.
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head;
And he said also to the people, When ye see the cloud rising out of the west, straightway ye say, A shower comes, and so it is.
Watsons
PALESTINE, taken in a limited sense, denotes the country of the Philistines or Palestines, including that part of the land of promise which extended along the Mediterranean Sea, from Gaza south to Lydda north. The LXX were of opinion that the word Philistiim, which they generally translate Allophyli, signified "strangers," or men of another tribe. Palestine, taken in a more general sense, signifies the whole country of Canaan, the whole land of promise, as well beyond as on this side Jordan, though pretty frequently it is restrained to the country on this side that river; so that in later times the words Judea and Palestine were synonymous. We find, also, the name of Syria Palestine given to the land of promise, and even sometimes this province is comprehended in Coelo-Syria, or the Lower Syria. Herodotus is the most ancient writer we know that speaks of Syria Palestine. He places it between Phenicia and Egypt. See Canaan.