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 heard, and they will be angry: pain took those inhabiting Philistia.
Thou shalt not rejoice Philistia, all of thee, because the rod of him striking thee was broken: for from the root of the serpent shall come forth a viper, and his fruit burning flying.
Wail, thou gate; cry out, thou city; all thou Philistia, melting away, for from the north a smoke coming, and none being alone in his appointments.
And also what are ye to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the circuits of Philistia? do ye requite to me a recompense? and if ye recompense to me, swiftly and speedily I will turn back your recompense upon your 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 will take Sand his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their riches which they acquired, and the souls which they acquired in Haran, and they came forth to go into the land of Canaan; and they shall come into the land of Canaan.
And Jehovah shall be seen to Abram, and will say, To thy seed will I give this land, and he will build there an altar to Jehovah, being seen to him.
In that day Jehovah cut out a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed gave I this land from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites; read more. The Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims; And the Amorites and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Jehovah, God of the heavens, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, and who spake to me, and who sware to me, saying, To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his messenger before thy face, and thou shalt take a wife to my son from thence.
For by stealing, I was stolen from the land Of the Hebrews: and also here, I have not done anything that they put me in the pit
The peoples heard, and they will be angry: pain took those inhabiting Philistia.
And Moses will take, and Aaron, these men which were called by names: And they gathered together all the assembly in one of the second month, and they will declare their birth according to their families, according to the the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war read more. As Jehovah commanded Moses, and he reviewed them in the desert of Sinai. And the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, shall be their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, according to their heads, every male from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. Those being reviewed for the tribe of Reuben, six and forty thousand and five hundred. For the sons of Simeon, their generations according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, they being reviewed according to the number of names, according to their heads, every male from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Simeon, nine and fifty thousand and three hundred. For the sons of Gad, their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Gad, five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty. And for the sons of Judah, their generations according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Judah, four and seventy thousand and six hundred. For the sons of Issachar, their generations according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from They being reviewed for the tribe of Issachar, four and fifty thousand and four hundred. For the tribe of Zebulon, their generations according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Zebulon, seven and fifty thousand and four hundred. For the sons of Joseph, for the sons of Ephraim, their generations according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Ephraim, forty thousand and five hundred. For the sons of Manasseh, their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Manasseh, two and thirty thousand and two hundred. For the sons of Benjamin, their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Benjamin, five and thirty thousand and four hundred. For the sons of Dan, their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Dan, two and sixty thousand and seven hundred. And for the tribe of Asher, their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war. They being reviewed for the tribe of Asher, one and forty thousand and five hundred. The sons of Naphtali, their generations, according to their families, according to the house of their fathers, according to the number of names, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war They being reviewed for the tribe of Naphtali, three and fifty thousand and four hundred. These, they being reviewed, which Moses reviewed, and Aaron, and the chiefs of Israel, twelve men: one man was for the house of their father. And all the sons of Israel shall be reviewed according to the house of their fathers, from the son of twenty years and above, all going forth to war in Israel. And all being reviewed shall be six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.
And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, Command the sons of Israel, and say to them, When ye coming into the land of Canaan (this the land which shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan with her bounds), read more. And to you was the south side from the desert of Zin upon the hands of Edom, and to you was the south boundary from the extremity of the salt sea eastward. And to you turned the boundary from the south to the ascending of Akrabbim, and it passed over Zin: and its going forth was from the south to Kadesh-Barnea, and it went forth to the Enclosure of the Threshing Floor, and it passed over to Azmon: And the boundary turned from Azmon to the torrent of Egypt, and the goings out were the sea. And the boundary of the sea, and it was to you the great sea; and this shall be the boundary to you, the boundary of the sea. And this shall be to you the north boundary: from the great sea ye shall mark out to you mount Hor. From mount Hor ye shall mark out to you to the going in of Hamath: and the goings out were to Zedad. And the boundary went forth to Ziphron, and the goings out were the Enclosure of Enan: this shall be to you the north boundary. And mark out to you to the east boundary, from the Enclosure of Enan to Shepham. And the boundary went down from Shepham to Riblah, from the east to Ain; and the boundary went down and it struck upon the shoulder of the son of Chinnereth eastward. And the boundary went down to Jordan, and its goings out were to the salt sea. This shall be to you the land according to the boundaries round about
And this land we possessed in that time from Aroer which is by the torrent Arnon, and half the mount of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gates. And the remnant of Gilead and all Bashan from the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob and all Bashan, it will be called the land of Rephaims. read more. Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the region of Argob, even to the boun of Geshuri and Maachathi; and he call them according to his name, Bashan-Havath-Jair, even to this day.. And to Machir I gave Gilead. And to the Reubemtes and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the torrent Anion, the midst of the torrent and the boundary and even to the emptying of the torrent, the boundary of the sons of Ammon. And the sterile region, and Jordan, and the boundary from Chinnereth, and even to the sea of the desert, the salt sea under the ravines of Pisgah from the sunrising. And I shall command you in that time, saying, Jehovah your God gave to you this land to possess it; ye shall pass over armed before your brethren, the sons of Israel, all sons of strength. Only your wives and your little ones and your cattle (I knew that much cattle to you) they shall dwell in your cities which I gave to you, Till when Jehovah shall cause your brethren to rest as you, and they also shall possess the land which Jehovah, your God, gave to them on the other side of Jordan: and ye turned back each to his possession which I gave to you.
For Jehovah thy God brings thee to a good land, a land of torrents of water, fountains, and depths going forth in the valley and in the mountain; A land of wheat and barley and the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate, a land of the olive tree, of oil and honey; read more. A land where thou shalt eat bread in it not with poverty; thou shalt not want any thing in it; a land whose stones, iron, and out of its mountains thou shalt hew out brass.
And the sons of Reuben will pass through, and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, brave in battle, before the sons of Israel, as Moses spake to them. About forty thousand drawn out for war, passed over before Jehovah to war, to the desert of Jericho.
And an artificer will not be found in all the land of Israel: (for the rovers said, Lest the Hebrews shall make a sword or spear:)
And Solomon was ruling over all kingdoms from the river to the land of the rovers, and even to the bound of Egypt: they were bringing a gift and serving Solomon all the days of his life.
And the king of Assur will come from Babel and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and sepharvaim, and he will set in the cities of Shomeron instead of the sons of Israel: and they will possess Shomeron and dwell in her cities. And it will be in the beginning of their dwelling there, they will not fear Jehovah; and Jehovah will send against them lions, and they will be killing among them. read more. And they will say to the king of Assur, saying, The nations which thou carriedst into exile, and thou wilt set in the cities of Shomeron, knew not the judgment of the God of the land, and he will send among them lions, and behold them slaying them because they knew not the judgment of the God of the land. And the king of Assur will command, saying, Carry there one of the priests which ye brought from thence; and they shall go and dwell there, and he shall teach them the judgment of the God of the land. And one of the priests which they carried into exile from Shomeron will come and dwell in the house of God, and he will be teaching them how they shall fear Jehovah. And the nation, nation, will be making his gods, and will put in the house of the heights which the Samaritans made, nation, nation, in their cities which they dwell there.
In one year to Cyrus the king of Persia, to complete the word of Jehovah from the month of Jeremiah, Jehovah roused up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he will cause a voice to pass through in all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, Thus said Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth Jehovah gave to me, the God of the heavens; and he charged upon me to build for him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah. read more. Who among you from all his people? His God shall be with him, and he shall go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and he shall build the house of Jehovah God of Israel, (he is the God) Which is in Jerusalem. And every one being left in all the places where he sojourned there, the men of his place shall lift him up with silver and with gold, and with substance, and with cattle, with a voluntary gift to the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
Moab the pot of my washing; over Edom I will cast out my shoe: for me, Philistia shouted for joy.
To the overseer: to the sons of Korah a chanting. O Jehovah, thou didst delight in thy land: thou didst turn back the captivity of Jacob.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babel to those knowing me: behold the rovers, and Tyre, with Cush; this was born there.
Moab the pot of my washing; upon Edom I will cast my shoe; over Philistia will I shout for joy.
Thou shalt not rejoice Philistia, all of thee, because the rod of him striking thee was broken: for from the root of the serpent shall come forth a viper, and his fruit burning flying.
Wail, thou gate; cry out, thou city; all thou Philistia, melting away, for from the north a smoke coming, and none being alone in his appointments.
And the land of Judah was to Egypt for consternation, all which shall have it in remembrance shall be afraid to himself from the face of the counsel of Jehovah of armies which he shall counsel against it
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: this is Jerusalem; I set her in the midst of the nations and lands round about her.
They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah; and Ephraim turned back to Egypt, and in Assur they shall eat the unclean thing.
And also what are ye to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the circuits of Philistia? do ye requite to me a recompense? and if ye recompense to me, swiftly and speedily I will turn back your recompense upon your head;
And Jehovah inherited Judah his portion upon the holy land, and he yet chose Jerusalem.
Then said the Jews, In forty-six years was this temple built, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as a strange land, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs 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 will lift his eyes and will see all the environs of Jordan, that all was watered, before that Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, as the garden of Jehovah as the land of Egypt in thy coming to Zoar.
And Jehovah will be seen to him at the oaks of Mamra: and he will sit at the entrance of his tent at the heat of the day.
For by stealing, I was stolen from the land Of the Hebrews: and also here, I have not done anything that they put me in the pit
And they will come to Ailam; and twelve fountains of water there, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
And the land shall not be sold to be cut off, for the land is to me; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
Amalek will dwell in the land of the south; and the Hittites and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, will dwell in the mountain; and the Canaanites will dwell by the sea, and by the hand of Jordan.
For Jehovah thy God brings thee to a good land, a land of torrents of water, fountains, and depths going forth in the valley and in the mountain; A land of wheat and barley and the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate, a land of the olive tree, of oil and honey; read more. A land where thou shalt eat bread in it not with poverty; thou shalt not want any thing in it; a land whose stones, iron, and out of its mountains thou shalt hew out brass.
From the desert and this Lebanon, and even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and even to the great sea, from the going down of the sun, shall be your bound.
And the sons of Israel will encamp in Gilgal, and they will do the passover in the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the plain of Jericho. And they will eat from the grain of the land from the morrow of the passover, unleavened and roasted in the self-same day.
And Joshua will take all this land, the mountain and all the south, and all the land of Goshen, and the plain, and the desert region and the mountain of Israel, and its plain;
In the mountain and in the plain and in the desert, and in the ravines and in the desert, and in the south, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite:
From Sihor, which is upon the face of Egypt, even to the bound of Ekron to the north, it will be reckoned to the Canaanite; five lords of Philisteim; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, and the Avites: From the south all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah which is to the Sidonians, even to Aphek, even to the bound of the Amorite: read more. And the land of the Giblites and all Lebanon from the sunrising from lord Gad under mount Hermon, even to the entrance of Hamath. All inhabiting the mountains from Lebanon to Misrephoth-Maim, all the Sidonians, I will drive them out from before the sons of Israel: only separate it to Israel in inheritance as I commanded thee.
And she will say, Thou wilt give to me a blessing; for a south land thou gavest me, and give to me springs of water: and he will give to her the springs above and the springs beneath.
Ekron and her daughters and her enclosures: From Ekron and the sea, all which was upon the hand of Ashdod, and their enclosures: read more. Ashdod, her daughters and her enclosures: Gaza, her daughters and her enclosures, even to the torrent of Egypt, and the great sea and the bound:
And it went down to the sea to the bound of Japhleti even to the bound of the House of Horon the lower, and even to Gezer: and its goings out were the sea.
And there will be to Manasseh in Issachar and in Asher, the House of Rest, and, her daughters, and Ibleam and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Dor and her daughters, and the inhabitants of En-Dor and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her daughters, three heights.
And she will say to him, Give to me a blessing: for thou gavest to me a south land, and give to me fountains of water. And Caleb will give to her the fountains above and the fountains below.
And Jehovah will be with Judah; and be will inherit the mountain because there was no driving out the inhabitants of the valley, for to them the chariot of iron. And they will give to Caleb, Hebron, as Moses space: and he will drive out from thence the three sons of Anak. read more. And the Jebusite dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not drive out; and the Jebusite dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem even to this day. And the house of Joseph they also will go up to the house of God and Jehovah with them. And the house of Joseph will examine in the house of God. And the name of the city before, was Almond tree. And they watching will see a man coming out of the city, and they will say to him, Show to us the entrance of the city, and we will do mercy with thee. And he will show them the entrance of the city, and they will smite the city with the mouth of the sword: and that man and all his family they sent away. And the man will go up to the land of the Hittites, and he will build a city and call its name Luz; this its name till this day. And Manasseh did not drive out the House of Rest and her daughters, and Tanach and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Dor and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Ibleam and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her daughters; and the Canaanite wills to dwell in that land.
And Manasseh did not drive out the House of Rest and her daughters, and Tanach and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Dor and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Ibleam and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her daughters; and the Canaanite wills to dwell in that land. And it will be when Israel was strong, and he will put the Canaanite to tribute; and driving out, they did not drive out read more. And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanite dwelling in Gezer; and the Canaanite dwelt in his midst in Gezer. Zebulon did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol; and the Canaanite will dwell in his midst, and they will be for tribute. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Zidon and Ahlab and Achzib and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob: And the Asherite dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they drove not out Naphtali drove not out the inhabitants of the House of the Sun, and the inhabitants of the House of Affliction; and he dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of the House of the Sun, and of the House of Response, they were to them for tribute. And the Amorites will press the sons of Dan to the mountain: for they gave not to come down to the valley: And the Amorite willed to dwell in mount Heres and in Ajalon, and in Shaalbim: and the hand of the house of Joseph will be heavy, and they will be for tribute
And an artificer will not be found in all the land of Israel: (for the rovers said, Lest the Hebrews shall make a sword or spear:)
And David will rise and flee in that day from the face of Saul, and he will come to Achish, king of Gath.
And took I my bread and my water, and my slaughter which I slaughtered for my shearers, and gave to men whom I knew not from whence they are?
And David will rise and pass over, he and six hundred men that are with him, to Achish, son of Maoch, king of Gath.
And a man of Belial was met with there, and his name Sheba, son of Bichri, a man, a Jaminite: and he will strike upon the trumpet and say, No portion to us in David, and no inheritance to us in the son of Jesse: a man to his tent to Israel.
Pharaoh king of Egypt came up, and he will take Gezer and burn it in fire, and he killed the Canaanite dwelling in the city, and he will give it a sending to his daughter, Solomon's
And over the cattle feeding in Sharon, Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the cattle in the valleys, Shaphat son of Adlai:
And it will be after this, the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon came, and with them from the Ammonites against Jehoshaphat for war. And they will come and announce to Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude coming against thee from beyond the sea from Aram in HazazonTamar; this the fountain of the kid.
To-morrow go ye down against them: behold them coming up in the ascent of brightness; and ye found them in the end of the valley before the desert of Jeruel.
And all the convocation of Judah will rejoice, and the priests and the Levites, and all the convocation coming from Israel, and the strangers coming from the land of Israel, and those dwelling in Judah.
And it will be said to them, The gates of Jerusalem shall not be opened till the sun being hot; and till they standing by shall shut the doors and fasten: and setting up watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a man in his watch, and a man before his house.
My brethren dealt faithlessly as a torrent; as a channel of torrents they shall pass away; Being darkened because of ice, upon them the snow will be hid: read more. In the time they will flow of they became extinct: in its heat they were extinguished from their place.
From the extremity of the heavens his going forth and his circuits upon their extremities and no hiding from his heat.
For day and night thy hand will be heavy upon me: my moisture was turned into the dryness of summer. Silence.
To the overseer for the sons of Korah, with the female voice: a song. O God, to us refuge and strength, helping greatly, being found in straits For this we will not fear in the changing of the earth, and in the moving of the mountains into the heart of the seas.
Fair of elevation, the joy of all the earth, is mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
Moab the pot of my washing; over Edom I will cast out my shoe: for me, Philistia shouted for joy.
The mountains shall lift up peace to the people, and the hills in justice.
There shall be diffusion of grain in the earth upon the head of the mountains; its fruit shall shake as Lebanon, and they shall blossom from the city as the grass of the earth.
And he will cast out the nations from their face, and he will divide them by lot in the measure of inheritance, and he will cause the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
To the overseer upon the stringed instrument: to the sons of Korah, a chanting. How beloved are thy tents, O Jehovah of armies!
I will make mention of Rahab and Babel to those knowing me: behold the rovers, and Tyre, with Cush; this was born there.
This great and broad sea, hands there of the creeping thing, and no number of the beasts, small with great There the ships will go: the sea monster thou didst form to play in it
They shall go down to the sea in ships, doing work in many waters. They saw the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep. read more. And he will say, and he will cause the spirit of storm to stand up, and its waves will rise up. They will go up to the heavens, they will go down to the depths: their soul will be melted with evil. They will reel and stagger as he intoxicated, and all their wisdom will be swallowed down. And they will cry to Jehovah in straits to them, and he will bring them forth from their distresses. He will set the storm for a calm, and their waves will be still And they will be glad that they will subside, and he will guide them to the harbor of their desire.
For Jehovah chose in Zion; for he desired it for a dwelling to himself.
Giving snow as wool: he will scatter the hoarfrost as ashes. Casting his ice as morsels: before his cold who shall stand? read more. He will send his word and melt them: his wind shall blow, the waters will flow.
And it was in the last days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be prepared upon the head of the mountains, and lifted up above the hills; and all nations flowed to it
And a booth shall be for a shadow by day from heat, and for a refuge, and for a hiding place from the storm, and from rain.
Thou shalt not rejoice Philistia, all of thee, because the rod of him striking thee was broken: for from the root of the serpent shall come forth a viper, and his fruit burning flying.
Wail, thou gate; cry out, thou city; all thou Philistia, melting away, for from the north a smoke coming, and none being alone in his appointments.
And the throne was set up in mercy: and he sat upon it in truth in the tent of David, judging and seeking judgment, and hastening justice.
As the heat in Zion the noise of strangers thou shalt bring down; the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the song of the terrible shall be humbled.
It shall no more be said to thee, Forsaken; and to thy land it shall no more be said, Desolation; for it shall be called to thee, My delight in her, and to thy land, Married: for Jehovah delighted in thee, and thy land shall be married.
And I said, How shall I place thee among the sons, and I will give to thee a land of desire, an inheritance of glory of the armies of nations? And saying, Ye shall call to me, My father; and ye shall rot turn back from after me.
Thus said Jehovah, Behold me turning back the captivity of Jacob's tents, and I will compassionate his habitations; and the city was built upon her hill, and the palace sat upon its judgment
For this, thus said Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, He sitting upon the throne of David shall not be to him, and his corpse shall be cast out to the heat in the day, and to the cold in the night
In that day I lifted up my hand to them to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt to the land which I spied out for them flowing milk and honey; this the glory to all lands:
And also I lifted up my hand to them in the desert, not to bring them in to the land which I gave flowing milk and honey; this the glory to all lands
And thou son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah:
And from one of them came forth one horn of a little thing, and it will be great exceedingly to the south to the sunrisings, and to the glories.
And he coming against him will do according to his will, and none standing before his face: and he shall stand in the land of glory, and it was finished in his hand.
And he came into the land of glory, and many shall be weak: and these shall escape from his hand, Edom and Moab, and the first of the sons of Ammon.
They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah; and Ephraim turned back to Egypt, and in Assur they shall eat the unclean thing.
And also what are ye to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the circuits of Philistia? do ye requite to me a recompense? and if ye recompense to me, swiftly and speedily I will turn back your recompense upon your head;
And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and I will cause you to come into the desert forty years to possess the land of the Amorite.
I overthrew among you as God overthrows Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye shall be as a fire-brand snatched from the burning: and ye turned not back even to me, says Jehovah.
And Jehovah inherited Judah his portion upon the holy land, and he yet chose Jerusalem.
And I will toss them about among all the nations which they knew not: and the land was desolate after them from passing through and from turning back: and they shall set the land of desire for a desolation.
And Jehovah saved the tents of Judah first, so that the glorying of the house of David shall not be magnified, and the glorying of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, against Judah.
And ye fled to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to the side, and ye fled as ye fled from the face of the shaking in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah: and Jehovah my God came, all the holy ones with thee.
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all round about Jordan;
Therefore, every one which hears these my words and does them, I will liken him to a discerning man which built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and rivers came, and winds blew, and fell upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock. read more. And every one hearing these my words and doing them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, which built his house upon sand. And the rain descended, and rivers came, and winds blew and struck upon that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.
And it was when Jesus finished these words he removed from Galilee, and came from the bounds of Judea beyond Jordan;
And, behold, the covering of the temple was cleft in two, from above to below; and the earth was shaken; and the rocks were cleft:
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as a strange land, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise:
Hastings
PALESTINE
1. Situation and name.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the Horites in their mountain Seir to Ael Paran, which is by the wilderness.
The peoples heard, and they will be angry: pain took those inhabiting Philistia.
And the chiefs will say to them, They shall live; and shall be cutting wood and drawing water to all the assembly as the chiefs spake to them.
And Judah will say to Simeon his brother, Go up with me into my lot, and we will fight against the Canaanite; and I also went up with thee into thy lot, and Simeon will go with him. And Judah will go up, and Jehovah will give the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand; and they will smite them in Bezek, ten thousand men, read more. And they will find lord Bezek in Bezek: and they will war against him, and will smite the Canaanite and the Perizzite. And lord Bezek will flee, and they will pursue after him and take him; and they will cut off the thumbs of his hands and of his feet And lord Bezek will say, Seventy kings with the thumbs of their hands and their feet being cut off, were gathering under my table; as I did so God requited me. And they will bring him to Jerusalem, and he will die there. And the sons of Judah will war against Jerusalem and will take it, and will smite it with the mouth of the sword, and they cast the city into fire. And afterward the sons of Judah went down to war against the Canaanite dwelling in the mountain, and in the south, and in the plain. And Judah will go against the Canaanite dwelling in Hebron: (and the name of Hebron before, the city of Arba:) and they will smite Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai. And he will go from thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before, the city of the Book. And Caleb will say, Whoever shall smite the city of the Book and take it, and I will give to him Achsah my daughter for a wife. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, the small, will take it from him, and he will give to him Achsah his daughter for a wife. And it will be in her coming she will stimulate him to ask from her father a field: and she will descend from off the ass; and Caleb will say to her, What to thee? And she will say to him, Give to me a blessing: for thou gavest to me a south land, and give to me fountains of water. And Caleb will give to her the fountains above and the fountains below. And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, went up from the city of palm-trees with the sons of Judah to the desert of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and he went up and dwelt with the people: And Judah will go up with Simeon his brother, and they will smite the Canaanite dwelling in Zephath, and they will exterminate it, and he will call the name of the city, Hormah. And Judah will take Gaza and, its bounds, and Askelon and her bounds, and Ekron and her bounds. And Jehovah will be with Judah; and be will inherit the mountain because there was no driving out the inhabitants of the valley, for to them the chariot of iron. And they will give to Caleb, Hebron, as Moses space: and he will drive out from thence the three sons of Anak. And the Jebusite dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not drive out; and the Jebusite dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem even to this day. And the house of Joseph they also will go up to the house of God and Jehovah with them. And the house of Joseph will examine in the house of God. And the name of the city before, was Almond tree. And they watching will see a man coming out of the city, and they will say to him, Show to us the entrance of the city, and we will do mercy with thee. And he will show them the entrance of the city, and they will smite the city with the mouth of the sword: and that man and all his family they sent away. And the man will go up to the land of the Hittites, and he will build a city and call its name Luz; this its name till this day. And Manasseh did not drive out the House of Rest and her daughters, and Tanach and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Dor and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Ibleam and her daughters, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her daughters; and the Canaanite wills to dwell in that land. And it will be when Israel was strong, and he will put the Canaanite to tribute; and driving out, they did not drive out
And all the sons of Israel will go forth, and the assembly will be gathered together as one man, from Dan even to the Well of the Oath, and the land of Gilead to Jehovah to Mizpeh.
And David will say to Saul, Thy servant was feeding for his father among the sheep, and there came the lion and with the bear, and lifted up a sheep from the flock.
And his men which were with him David brought up with him each, and his house: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
And to Saul a concubine, and her name Rizpah, daughter of Aiah: and he will say to Abner, Wherefore wentest thou in to my father's concubine?
And it will be even thus and even thus, and the heavens were darkened with clouds and wind, and there will be a great rain. And Ahab will ride and go to Jezrecl.
And the king of Assur will come from Babel and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and sepharvaim, and he will set in the cities of Shomeron instead of the sons of Israel: and they will possess Shomeron and dwell in her cities. And it will be in the beginning of their dwelling there, they will not fear Jehovah; and Jehovah will send against them lions, and they will be killing among them. read more. And they will say to the king of Assur, saying, The nations which thou carriedst into exile, and thou wilt set in the cities of Shomeron, knew not the judgment of the God of the land, and he will send among them lions, and behold them slaying them because they knew not the judgment of the God of the land. And the king of Assur will command, saying, Carry there one of the priests which ye brought from thence; and they shall go and dwell there, and he shall teach them the judgment of the God of the land. And one of the priests which they carried into exile from Shomeron will come and dwell in the house of God, and he will be teaching them how they shall fear Jehovah. And the nation, nation, will be making his gods, and will put in the house of the heights which the Samaritans made, nation, nation, in their cities which they dwell there. And the men of Babel made Succoth-Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath, made Ashima. And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites were burning their sons in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. And they will be fearing Jehovah, and make to them priests of their ends upon the heights, and they will be doing to them in the houses of the heights. They were fearing Jehovah, and were serving their gods according to the judgment of the nations who carried them into exile from thence, Even to this day they are doing according to the former judgments: they not fearing Jehovah, and not doing according to their laws and according to their judgments and according to the instruction and according to the command which Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, whom he set his name Israel. And Jehovah cut out a covenant with them, and he commanded them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, and ye shall not worship to them, and ye shall not serve them, and ye shall not sacrifice to them. But Jehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an extended arm, him shall ye fear, and to him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye sacrifice. And the laws and the judgments, and the instruction and command which he wrote for you, ye shall watch to do all the days; and ye shall not fear other gods And the covenant which I cut out with you ye shall not forget; and ye shall not fear other gods But Jehovah your God ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you from the hand of all your enemies. And they did not hearken, but! they were doing according to their former judgments. And these nations were fearing Jehovah and were serving their carved images, also their sons and their sons sons; as their fathers did, they are doing even to this day.
Thou shalt not rejoice Philistia, all of thee, because the rod of him striking thee was broken: for from the root of the serpent shall come forth a viper, and his fruit burning flying.
Wail, thou gate; cry out, thou city; all thou Philistia, melting away, for from the north a smoke coming, and none being alone in his appointments.
Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first.
And also what are ye to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the circuits of Philistia? do ye requite to me a recompense? and if ye recompense to me, swiftly and speedily I will turn back your recompense upon your head;
And he said to the crowds, When ye see a cloud rising from the descents, ye say quickly, A heavy shower of rain is coming; and it is so.
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.