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 nations heard, and were afraid. Pangs came upon the Philistines.
Rejoice not, thou whole Philistia, as though the rod of him that beateth thee were broken: For out of the serpent's root, there shall come an adder, and the fruit shall be a fiery worm.
Mourn, ye ports; weep, ye cities; and fear thou, O whole Philistia, for there shall come from the North a smoke, whose power no man may abide.
Thou Tyre and Sidon and all the borders of the Philistines: what have ye to do with me? Will ye defy me? Well, if ye will needs defy me, I shall recompense you, even upon your head, and that right shortly:
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, with all their goods which they had gotten, and souls which they had begotten in Haran. And they departed to go into the land of Canaan. And when they were come into the land of Canaan,
Then the LORD appeared unto Abram and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." And he built an altar there unto the LORD which appeared to him.
And that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt, even unto the great river Euphrates: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, read more. the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Giants, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."
The LORD God of heaven which took me from my father's house and from the land where I was born, and which spake unto me and sware unto me saying 'unto thy seed will I give this land' - he shall send his angel before thee, that thou mayest take a wife unto my son from thence.
for I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing at all wherefore they should have put me into this dungeon."
The nations heard, and were afraid. Pangs came upon the Philistines.
And Moses and Aaron took these men, above named, and gathered all the congregation together, the first day of the second month, and reckoned them after their birth and kindreds and houses of their fathers by name from twenty years and above, head by head; read more. as the LORD commanded Moses, even so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, in their generations, kindreds and houses of their fathers - when they were numbered every man by name, all that were males from twenty years and above, as many as were able to go forth in war - were numbered in the tribe of Reuben, forty six thousand and five hundred. Among the children of Simeon, their generation in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - when every man's name was told, of all the males from twenty years and above, whatsoever was meet for the war - were numbered in the tribe of Simeon forty nine thousand and three hundred. Among the children of Gad, their generation in their kindreds and households of their fathers - when they were told by name, from twenty years and above, all that were mete for the war - were numbered in the tribe of Gad forty five thousand, six hundred and fifty. Among the children of Judah, their generation in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - by the number of names, from twenty years and above, all that were able to war - were told in the tribe of Judah seventy four thousand and six hundred. Among the children of Issachar, their generation, in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - when their names were counted, from twenty years and above, whatsoever was apt for war - were numbered in the tribe of Issachar fifty four thousand and four hundred. Among the children of Zebulun, their generation, in their kindreds and houses of their fathers -after the number of names, from twenty years and above, whosoever was mete for the war - were counted in the tribe of Zebulun fifty seven thousand and four hundred. Among the children of Joseph, first among the children of Ephraim, their generation, in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - when the names of all that were apt to the war were told, from twenty years and above - were in number in the tribe of Ephraim, forty thousand, and six hundred. Among the children of Manasseh, their generation, in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - when the names of all that were apt to war were told, from twenty and above - were numbered in the tribe of Manasseh thirty two thousand and two hundred. Among the children of Benjamin, their generation, in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - by the tale of names, from twenty years and above of all that were mete for war - were numbered in the tribe of Benjamin thirty five thousand and four hundred. Among the children of Dan, their generation in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - in the sum of names of all that was apt to war, from twenty years and above - were numbered in the tribe of Dan fifty seven thousand and seven hundred. Among the children of Asher, their generation, in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - when they were summed by name, from twenty years and above, all that were apt to war - were numbered in the tribe of Asher forty one thousand and five hundred. Among the children of Naphtali, their generation in their kindreds and houses of their fathers - when their names were told, from twenty years and above, whatsoever was mete to war - were numbered in the tribe of Naphtali fifty three thousand and four hundred. These are the numbers which Moses and Aaron numbered with the twelve princes of Israel: of every house of their fathers, a man. And all the numbers of the children of Israel, in the houses of their fathers, from twenty years and above, whatsoever was mete for the war in Israel, drew unto the sum of six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, "Command the children of Israel and say unto them, 'When ye come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall unto your inheritance; the land of Canaan with all her coasts. read more. And your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, so that your south quarter shall be from the side of the salt sea eastward, and shall fetch a compass from the south up to Akrabbim, and reach to Zin. And it shall go out on the south side of Kadesh Barnea, and go out also at Hazaraddar, and go along to Azmon. And shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and shall go out at the sea. And your west quarter shall be the great sea, which coast shall be your west coast. And this shall be your north quarter: ye shall compass from the great sea unto mount Hor. And from mount Hor, ye shall compass and go unto Hamath, and the end of the coast shall be at Zeded, and the coast shall reach out to Ziphron and go out at Hazarenan. And this shall be your north quarter. And ye shall compass your east quarter from Hazarenan to Shepham. And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And then descend and go out at the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. And then go down along by Jordan, and leave at the salt sea. And this shall be your land with all the coasts thereof round about.'"
And when we had conquered this land the same time, I gave from Aroer, which is upon the river of Arnon, and half mount Gilead and the cities thereof unto the Reubenites, and Gadites. And the rest of Gilead and all Bashan the kingdom of Og, I gave unto the half tribe of Manasseh: all the region of Argob with all Bashan was called the land of Giants. read more. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi, and called the towns of Bashan after his own name: the towns of Jair unto this day. And I gave half Gilead unto Machir. And unto Reuben and Gad, I gave from Gilead unto the river of Arnon and half the valley and the coast, even unto the river Jabbok which is the border of the children of Ammon, and the fields and Jordan with the coast, from Chinnereth even unto the sea in the field which is the salt sea under the springs of Pisgah eastward. And I commanded you the same time, ye Reuben and Gad, saying, 'The LORD your God hath given you this land to enjoy it: see that ye go harnessed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are men of war among you. Your wives only, your children and your cattle - for I know that ye have much cattle - shall abide in your cities which I have given you, until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren as well as unto you, and until they also have conquered the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then return again every man unto his possession which I have given you.'
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of rivers of water, of fountains and of springs that spring out both in valleys and hills: a land of wheat and of barley, of vines, fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees with oil and of honey: read more. a land wherein thou shalt not eat bread in scarceness, and where thou shalt lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou shalt dig brass.
And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh went before the children of Israel, armed, as Moses charged them. About forty thousand, trimmed for war, went before the LORD unto battle; even unto the wild fields of Jericho.
But there was no smith throughout the land of Israel. For the Philistines thought that then the Hebrews might make them swords or spears.
And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river throughout all the land of the Philistines unto the borders of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all days of his life.
And the king of Assyria brought from Babylon and from Cuthah, and from Avva and from Hamath and from Sepharvaim, and put them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. And they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof. But at the beginning of their dwelling, they feared not the LORD. Wherefore the LORD sent lions upon them, which slew them. read more. Then men told the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations which thou hast translated and put in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land, and therefore he hath sent lions upon them, which slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land." Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Carry thither one of the priests which ye brought thence, and let him go and dwell there, and teach them the fashion how to serve the God of the country." And then one of the priests which they had carried thence, went and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. Howbeit, every nation made their own gods and put them in the houses of the Hill altars which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where they dwelt.
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he caused it to be proclaimed throughout all his empire, yea and by writing also, saying, "Thus sayeth Cyrus the king of Persia: 'The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the land and hath commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. read more. Whosoever now among you is of his people, the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel. He is the God that is at Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth yet in any manner of place, where he is a stranger, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with good and cattle, beside that which they willingly offer, for the house of God at Jerusalem.'"
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I stretch out my shoe; Philistia shall be glad of me.
{To the Chanter, a Psalm of the sons of Korah} LORD, thou art become gracious unto thy land; thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.
I will think upon Rahab and Babylon, with them that know me. Behold ye the Philistines also, and they of Tyre, with they of the Ethiopians; lo, there was he born.
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I stretch out my shoe; upon Philistia will I triumph."
Rejoice not, thou whole Philistia, as though the rod of him that beateth thee were broken: For out of the serpent's root, there shall come an adder, and the fruit shall be a fiery worm.
Mourn, ye ports; weep, ye cities; and fear thou, O whole Philistia, for there shall come from the North a smoke, whose power no man may abide.
The land of Judah also shall make the Egyptians afraid, whoso doth but speak upon it, shall put them in fear: And that because of the counsel which the LORD of Hosts hath devised against them.
Moreover, thus said the LORD God, "This same is Jerusalem. I set her in the midst of the Heathen and nations that are round about her:
They will not dwell in the LORD's land, but Ephraim turneth again into Egypt, and eateth unclean things among the Assyrians.
Thou Tyre and Sidon and all the borders of the Philistines: what have ye to do with me? Will ye defy me? Well, if ye will needs defy me, I shall recompense you, even upon your head, and that right shortly:
And the Lord shall inherit Judah which is his part in the holy ground, and he shall choose Jerusalem yet again.
Then said the Jews, "Forty six years was this temple a building: and wilt thou raise it up in three days?"
By faith he removed into the land that was promised him, as into a strange country, and dwelt in tabernacles: and so did Isaac, and Jacob, 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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Then Lot lift up his eyes, and beheld all the country about Jordan: that it was a plenteous country of water. For, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was round about Zoar, even as the pleasant garden of the LORD, and as the land of Egypt.
And the LORD appeared unto him in the oak grove of Mamre as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day.
for I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing at all wherefore they should have put me into this dungeon."
And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water and seventy date trees, and they pitched there by the water.
Wherefore the land shall not be sold forever, because that the land is mine, and ye but strangers and sojourners with me:
The Amalekites dwell in the south country, and the Hittites, Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along by the coast of Jordan."
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of rivers of water, of fountains and of springs that spring out both in valleys and hills: a land of wheat and of barley, of vines, fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees with oil and of honey: read more. a land wherein thou shalt not eat bread in scarceness, and where thou shalt lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou shalt dig brass.
from the wilderness and this Lebanon unto the great river Euphrates; and all the land of the Hittites, even unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coasts.
And the children of Israel pitched their tents in Gilgal, and held the feast of Passover the fourteenth day of the month, at even, in the fields of Jericho. And they ate of the corn of the land on the morrow after Passover, sweet cakes and parched corn in the selfsame day.
And so Joshua took all the land, the hills and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the low country, and the plains, and the mountain of Israel, with the low country of the same,
in the upper land, and nether land, in plains, and springs of water, in the wilderness, and south country the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perezites, the Hivites and the Jebusites:
from Shihor in Egypt unto the borders of Ekron northward, which land was counted to pertain unto the Cananites, even to the five lords of the Philistines: the Gazathites, Ashdothites, Eshkalonites, Gittites, Ekronites, with the Avites, from the south. All the land of the Cananites, and Mearah that pertaineth to the Sidonians, even unto Aphek, and to the borders of the Amorites. read more. And the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon toward the sun rising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon until thou come to Hamath, all the inhabiters of the hill country, from Lebanon unto the hot waters even all the Sidonians. I will cast them out from before the children of Israel, and see that thou in any wise divide it by lot unto the children of Israel to inherit, as I have commanded thee.
And she said, "Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a southward and dry land: give me also springs of water." Then he gave her springs of water, both above and beneath.
Ekron with their towns and villages. And from Ekron out to the sea, all that lieth about Ashdod with their villages. read more. Ashdod with her towns and villages. Gaza with her towns and villages, even unto the river of Egypt: and the great sea with the coasts that lie thereon.
and goeth down westward, even unto the coasts of Japhleti, and unto the coasts of Bethhoron the nether, and so to Gezer, and the ends of their coasts came to the sea.
And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher, Bethshean, and her towns: and the inhabiters of Dor, with the towns pertaining to the same: and the inhabiters of Endor with the towns of the same: and the inhabiters of Taanach with her towns and the inhabiters of Megiddo with the towns of the same, even three countries:
She said unto him, "Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a southward and a dry land. Give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her springs both above and beneath.
And the LORD was with Judah that he conquered the mountains, but they could not drive out the inhabiters of the valleys, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses said. And he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. read more. And the children of Benjamin did not cast out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. And in like manner the house of Joseph went up to Bethel and the LORD with them, and the house of Joseph searched out Bethel which before time was called Luz. And the spies saw a man come out of the city and they said unto him, "Show us the way into the city, and we will show thee mercy." And he showed them the way into the city, and they smote it with the edge of the sword, but let the man and all his household go free. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day. Neither did Manasseh expel Bethshean with her towns, neither Taanach with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Dor with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Ibleam with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Megiddo with her towns, and so the Cananites went to and dwelt in the said land.
Neither did Manasseh expel Bethshean with her towns, neither Taanach with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Dor with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Ibleam with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Megiddo with her towns, and so the Cananites went to and dwelt in the said land. But as soon as Israel was waxed mighty, they put the Cananites to tribute: but expelled them not. read more. In like manner Ephraim expelled not the Cananites that dwelt in Gezer, but the Cananites dwelt still in Gezer among them. Neither did Zebulun expel the inhabiters of Kitron, neither the inhabiters of Nahalol; but the Cananites dwelt among them and became tributaries. Neither did Asher cast out the inhabiters of Acco, neither the inhabiters of Sidon, of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, nor of Rehob, but the Asherites dwelt among the Cananites the inhabiters of the land, and drave them not out. Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabiters of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabiters of Bethanath, but dwelt amongst the Cananites the inhabiters of the land. Nevertheless the inhabiters of Bethshemesh, and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them. And the Amorites kept the children of Dan in the mountains, and suffered them not the come down to the valleys. And so the Amorites went and dwelled in mount Heres in Aijalon and in Shaalbim. Neverthelater, the hand of Joseph waxed heavy upon them, so that they became tributaries.
But there was no smith throughout the land of Israel. For the Philistines thought that then the Hebrews might make them swords or spears.
And David arose and fled the same day from the presence of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
Should I take my bread, my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men which I know not whence they be?"
And David arose, and he and the six hundred men that were with him went unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
And there happened to be an unthrifty fellow named Sheba, the son of Bichri a man of Benjamin which blew a trumpet and said, "We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse, O Israel.
For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, went up and took Gezer and burnt it with fire, and slew the Cananites that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a present unto his daughter that was Solomon's wife.
And over the oxen that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite. And over the oxen in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai.
After that came the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them the Amanim, against Jehoshaphat to battle. And there came that told Jehoshaphat, saying, "There cometh a great multitude against thee from the other side the sea out of Syria. And see, they be in Hazazontamar," which is Engedi.
"And tomorrow ye shall go down to them: see, they come up at Ziz, and ye shall meet them in the flags of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel.
And all the congregation of Judah with the priests and Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel and the strangers, both that came out of the land of Israel and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced:
and I said unto them, "Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they are yet standing in the watch, the doors shall be shut and barred." And there were certain citizens of Jerusalem appointed to be watchmen every one in his watch, and about his house.
Mine own brethren pass over by me, as the water brook that hastily runneth through the valleys. But they that fear the hoarfrost, the snow shall fall upon them. read more. When their time cometh, they shall be destroyed and perish: and when they be set on fire, they shall be removed out of their place,
It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
For thy hand is heavy upon me both day and night, and my moisture is like the drought in Summer. Selah.
{To the Chanter, a song of the children of Korah upon Alamoth} God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;
The hill of Zion is like a fair plant, whereof all the land rejoiceth: upon the north side lieth the city of the great King.
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I stretch out my shoe; Philistia shall be glad of me.
The mountains also shall bring peace, and the little hills righteousness unto the people.
There shall be a heap of corn in the earth, high upon the hills; his fruit shall shake like Lebanon, and shall be green in the city like grass upon the earth.
He cast out the heathen before them, caused their land to be divided among them for a heritage, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
{Upon Gittith, a Psalm of the sons of Korah} O how amiable are thy dwellings, thou LORD of Hosts!
I will think upon Rahab and Babylon, with them that know me. Behold ye the Philistines also, and they of Tyre, with they of the Ethiopians; lo, there was he born.
So is this great and wide sea also, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships over, and there is that Leviathan, whom thou hast made, to take his pastime therein.
They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters, these men see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. read more. For at his word, the stormy wind ariseth, and lifteth up the waves thereof. They are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep; their soul melteth away in the trouble. They reel to and fro, they stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. So when they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, he delivereth them out of their distress. He maketh the storm to cease, so that the waves are still. Then are they glad, because they are at rest; and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.
For the LORD hath chosen Zion, to be a habitation for himself; he hath longed for her.
He giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels. Who is able to abide his frost? read more. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them; he bloweth with his wind, and the waters flow.
It shall come to pass in the last days that the mount of the house of the LORD, shall be set in the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills: and all nations shall resort thereto.
And Jerusalem shall be a tabernacle for a shadow because of heat in the daytime, and place and refuge where a man may keep him from weather and rain.
Rejoice not, thou whole Philistia, as though the rod of him that beateth thee were broken: For out of the serpent's root, there shall come an adder, and the fruit shall be a fiery worm.
Mourn, ye ports; weep, ye cities; and fear thou, O whole Philistia, for there shall come from the North a smoke, whose power no man may abide.
And in mercy shall the throne be prepared, and he shall sit upon it in the truth, in the tabernacle of David: judging, and seeking judgment, and making haste unto righteousness.
Like as the heat in a dry place wasteth all things, so shalt thou suppress the noise of the aliens. The heat is abated with the shadow of the cloud; even so shall God assuage the noise of the cruel tyrants.
From this time forth thou shalt never be called the forsaken, and thy land shall no more be called the wilderness. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, that is, my beloved; and thy land Beulah, that is, a married woman: for the LORD loveth thee, and thy land shall be inhabited.
"'I have showed also, how I took thee up being but a child, and gave thee a pleasant land for thine heritage; yea, and a goodly Host of the Heathen: and how I commanded thee, that thou shouldest call me Father only, and not to shrink from me.
"For thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I will set up Jacob's tents again, and defend his dwelling place. The city shall be builded in her old estate, and their houses shall have their right foundation.
Therefore thus the LORD sayeth, of Jehoiakim the king of Judah: There shall none of his generation sit upon the throne of David. His dead corpse shall be cast out, that the heat of the day and the frost of the night may come upon him.
even in the day that I lift up mine hand over them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt, into a land that I have provided for them, which floweth with milk and honey, and it is a pleasant land among all others:
But I swore unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land, which I gave them: a land that floweth with milk and honey, and is a pleasure of all lands.
Thou son of man, prophesy upon the mountains of Israel, and speak, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O ye mountains of Israel:
Yea out of one of the least of these horns, there came up yet another horn, which waxed marvelous great: toward the south, toward the east, and toward the fair pleasant land.
Shortly, when he cometh, he shall handle him as he list, and no man shall be so hardy as to stand against him. He shall stand in the pleasant country, which through him shall be destroyed.
he shall enter also into the fair pleasant land. Many cities and countries shall decay, except Edom, Moab and the best of the children of Ammon, which shall escape from his hand.
They will not dwell in the LORD's land, but Ephraim turneth again into Egypt, and eateth unclean things among the Assyrians.
Thou Tyre and Sidon and all the borders of the Philistines: what have ye to do with me? Will ye defy me? Well, if ye will needs defy me, I shall recompense you, even upon your head, and that right shortly:
Again: I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, that ye might have the Amorites' land in possession.
'Some of you have I overthrown as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: so that ye were as a brand plucked out of the fire. Yet will ye not turn unto me,' sayeth the LORD.
And the Lord shall inherit Judah which is his part in the holy ground, and he shall choose Jerusalem yet again.
but scattered them among all Gentiles, whom they knew not. Thus the land was made so desolate, that there traveled no man in it neither to nor fro, for that pleasant land was utterly laid waste."
The LORD shall preserve the tents of Judah, like as afore time: so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the citizens of Jerusalem, shall be but little regarded in comparison of the glory of Judah.
And ye shall flee unto the valley of my hills, for the valley of the hills shall reach unto Asia. Yea, flee shall ye, like as ye fled for the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. And the LORD my God shall come, and all saints with him.
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Jewry, and all the regions round about Jordan,
"Whosoever heareth of me these sayings, and doeth the same, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house on a rock: And abundance of rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that same house, and it fell not: because it was grounded on the rock. read more. And whosoever heareth of me these sayings, and doeth them not the same, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And abundance of rain descended, and the floods 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, when Jesus had finished those sayings, he got him from Galilee, and came in to the coasts of Jewry beyond Jordan;
And behold, the veil of the temple did rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake,
By faith he removed into the land that was promised him, as into a strange country, and dwelt in tabernacles: and so did Isaac, and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
Hastings
PALESTINE
1. Situation and name.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
and the Horites in their own mount Seir unto the plain of Elparan, which bordereth upon the wilderness.
The nations heard, and were afraid. Pangs came upon the Philistines.
And the lords said unto them, "Let them live, that they may be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation," as the lords said unto them.
Then Judah said unto Simeon his brother, "Come with me into my lot, and let us fight against the Cananites: And I likewise will go with thee into thy lot." And so Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Cananites and Perezites 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 slew the Cananites and Perezites. But Adonibezek fled, and they followed after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. Then Adonibezek said, "Three score and ten kings having their thumbs and great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table wherefore as I have done so God hath done to me again." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. And after that, the children of Judah went even to fight against the Cananites that dwelt in the mountain, in the south, and in the low country. And Judah went unto the Cananites that dwelt in Hebron, which before time was called Kiriatharba. And slew Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. And from thence they went to the inhabiters of Debir, whose name in old time was called Kiriathsepher. And Caleb said, "He that smiteth Kiriathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife." And Othniel the son of Kenaz Caleb's younger brother took it: to whom he gave Achsah his daughter to wife, and as they went she counseled him to ask of her father a field. And then she lighted off her ass, and Caleb said unto her, "What aileth thee?" She said unto him, "Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a southward and a dry land. Give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her springs both above and beneath. And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees, with the children of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah that lieth in the South of Arad, and dwelt among the people. And Judah went and Simeon with him, and they slew the Cananites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it, and called the name of the city Hormah. And Judah took Gaza with the coasts thereof, and Ashkelon with the coasts thereof, and Ekron with the coasts thereof. And the LORD was with Judah that he conquered the mountains, but they could not drive out the inhabiters of the valleys, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses said. And he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. And the children of Benjamin did not cast out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. And in like manner the house of Joseph went up to Bethel and the LORD with them, and the house of Joseph searched out Bethel which before time was called Luz. And the spies saw a man come out of the city and they said unto him, "Show us the way into the city, and we will show thee mercy." And he showed them the way into the city, and they smote it with the edge of the sword, but let the man and all his household go free. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day. Neither did Manasseh expel Bethshean with her towns, neither Taanach with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Dor with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Ibleam with her towns, neither the inhabiters of Megiddo with her towns, and so the Cananites went to and dwelt in the said land. But as soon as Israel was waxed mighty, they put the Cananites to tribute: but expelled them not.
Then all the children of Israel went out: and there gathered a congregation together as it had been but one man, even from Dan to Beersheba and out of the land of Gilead, unto the land to Mizpeh.
Then said David unto Saul, "As thy servant kept his father's sheep, there came a Lion and likewise a Bear, and took a sheep out of the flock.
And the men that were with him, did David carry up also, every man with his house. And they dwelt in the towns of Hebron.
And Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, "Wherefore liest thou with my father's concubine?"
And within a little while, heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
And the king of Assyria brought from Babylon and from Cuthah, and from Avva and from Hamath and from Sepharvaim, and put them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. And they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof. But at the beginning of their dwelling, they feared not the LORD. Wherefore the LORD sent lions upon them, which slew them. read more. Then men told the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations which thou hast translated and put in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land, and therefore he hath sent lions upon them, which slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land." Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Carry thither one of the priests which ye brought thence, and let him go and dwell there, and teach them the fashion how to serve the God of the country." And then one of the priests which they had carried thence, went and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. Howbeit, every nation made their own gods and put them in the houses of the Hill altars which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where they dwelt. The men of Babylon made Succothbenoth; The men of Cuth made Nergal; They of Hamath made Ashima; The Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; And the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire unto Adrammelech and Annamelech, the gods of Sepharvites. And they feared the LORD, yet they made them priests of the lowest of the people, for the Hill altars; which sacrificed for them in the houses of the Hill altars. And so they feared the LORD, and yet served their own gods after the manner of the people from whence they were brought. Unto this day they do after the old manner: they neither fear the LORD, neither do after their own ordinances and customs, and after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob whose name he called Israel, and made a covenant with them and charged them, saying, "Fear not any other gods, nor bow yourselves to them nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But to the LORD which brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm: him fear and to him bow and to him do sacrifice. And the ordinances, customs, law and commandment which I wrote for you, see that ye be diligent to do for evermore, and fear not any other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you, see ye forget not, and that you fear none other gods: but the LORD your God ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you out of the hands of all your enemies." Howbeit, they heard not, but did after the old manner. And even so did these nations fear the LORD and serve their images thereto: and so did their children, and their children's children too. Even as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
Rejoice not, thou whole Philistia, as though the rod of him that beateth thee were broken: For out of the serpent's root, there shall come an adder, and the fruit shall be a fiery worm.
Mourn, ye ports; weep, ye cities; and fear thou, O whole Philistia, for there shall come from the North a smoke, whose power no man may abide.
Children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God. For he hath given you a teacher of righteousness, and will make descend unto you the first rain and the later, as at the beginning.
Thou Tyre and Sidon and all the borders of the Philistines: what have ye to do with me? Will ye defy me? Well, if ye will needs defy me, I shall recompense you, even upon your head, and that right shortly:
Then said he to the people, "When ye see a cloud rise out of the west straightway ye say, 'We shall have a shower,' 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.