Chapter 41
Bethany. Beth-hene.
Bethany seems to be the same with
Beth-hene among the Talmudists. Of which they write thus. They treat
in the place, noted in the margin, concerning eating of fruits the
seventh year, and concerning Beor, of which we have spoke
before. They inquire, How long one may eat of these or the other
fruits?--And they state the business thus: "They eat Olives (say they)
until the last ceases in Tekoa. R. Eleazar saith, Until the last
ceases in Gush Chalab" (in the tribe of Asher). "They eat dry figs,
until green figs cease in Beth-hene. R. Judah saith, The green
figs of Beth-hene are not mentioned; unless in respect of the tenths;
as the tradition is. The figs of Beth-hene, and the dates of Tubni,
are bound to be tithed." The Gloss is this; "They are not mentioned in
the schools among fruits, unless in respect of tithing." These words
are recited in Erubhin: where the word Beth-hene is writ,
Beth-jone, and Tubni is writ Tubina.
Beth-hene certainly seems to be
the same altogether with our Bethany; and the name to be drawn
from the word Ahene, which signifies the "dates of palm-trees,"
not come to ripeness: as the figs also signifies "green-figs," that
is, such figs as are not yet ripe.
And now take a prospect a little of
mount Olivet. Here you may see olive-trees; and in that place is
Gethsemane, "The place of oil-presses." There you may see palm-trees
growing; and that place is called Bethany, "The place of dates." And
we may observe in the gospel-history, how those that met Christ, as he
was going forward from Bethany, had branches of palm-trees ready at
hand. There you may see fig-trees growing; and that place was called
Bethphage, "The place of green-figs."
Therefore, some part of Olivet was
called Bethany from the palm-trees; there was a town also, called of
the same name, over-against it. The town was fifteen furlongs distant
from Jerusalem. And the coast of that name went on, till it reached
the distance of a sabbath-day's journey only from the city.
Chapter 42
Scopo
In that manner as mount Olivet lay
over-against the city on the east, the valley of Kedron running
between,--so, on the north, behind a valley somewhat broader,
stretched out from Sion northward, the land swelled into a hill, at
the place which from thence was called Zophim; because thence there
was a prospect on all sides, but especially towards the city.
Concerning it Josephus thus: "Caesar,
when he had received a legion by night from Ammaus, the day after
moving his tents thence, He entered into Scopo so called. Where the
city appeared, and the greatness of the Temple shining out: as that
plain tract of land, touching upon the north coast of the city, is
truly called Scopus, The Viewer."
Hence those canons and cautions: "He
that pisseth, let him turn his face to the north: he that easeth
nature, to the south. R. Josi Ben R. Bon saith, The tradition is, From
Zophim and within":--that is, if this be done by any one from Zophim
inwards, when he is now within the prospect of the city; when he
pisseth, let him turn his face to the north, that he do not expose his
modest parts before the Temple: when he easeth nature, let him turn
his face to the south, that he expose not his buttocks before it.
"If any one, being gone out of
Jerusalem, shall remember, that holy flesh is in his hand, if he be
now gone beyond Zophim, let him burn it in the place where he is."
(For it is polluted by being carried out of the walls of Jerusalem.)
"But if he be not beyond Zophim, let him go back, and burn it before
the Temple." Where the Gloss thus; "Zophim is a place whence the
Temple may be seen." But another Gloss doth not understand the thing
here of that proper place, but of the whole compass about the city,
wheresoever the city could first be seen. So R. Eliezer, of Abraham,
going from the south to Jerusalem, "The third day they came to Zophim:
but when he came to Zophim, he saw the glory of the Divine Majesty
sitting upon the Mount" (Moriah).
Chapter 43
Ramah. Ramathaim Zophim. Gibeah.
There was a certain Ramah, in the
tribe of Benjamin,
Joshua 18:25, and that within sight of Jerusalem, as it seems,
Judges 19:13; where it is named with Gibeah:--and elsewhere,
Hosea 5:8; which towns were not much distant. See
1 Samuel 22:6; "Saul sat in Gibeah, under a grove in Ramah." Here
the Gemarists trifle: "Whence is it (say they) that Ramah is placed
near Gibea? To hint to you, that the speech of Samuel of Ramah was the
cause, why Saul remained two years and a half in Gibeah." They blindly
look over Ramah in the tribe of Benjamin,--and look only at Ramah in
Ephraim, where Samuel was born.
His native town is very often called
Ramah, once Ramathaim Zophim,
1 Samuel 1:1. "There was a certain man of Ramathaim": that is, one
of the two Ramaths, which were surnamed also 'Zophim.' A like form of
speech is that
1 Samuel 18:21; "In one of the two, thou shalt be my son-in-law."
That town of Samuel was Ramath Zophim; and this of Benjamin, was
Ramath Zophim also: but by a different etymology, as it seems:--that,
it may be, from Zuph, Saul's great-great-grandfather, whence that
country was so called,
1 Samuel 9:5; this, from Zophim, of which place we have spoke in
the foregoing chapter.
Gibeah was Saul's town. "The town
called Gabath-Saul. This signifieth Saul's-hill, which is distant from
Jerusalem about thirty furlongs." Hence you may guess at the distance
of Rama from Jerusalem. Josephus calls the neighbouring place of
Gibeah, "the long Valley of Thorns": perhaps, the valley under the
rock Seneh: of which mention is made,
1 Samuel 14:4.
Chapter 44
Nob. Bahurim.
That Nob was placed in the land of
Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem, whence Jerusalem also might be
seen,--the words of the Chaldee paraphrast, upon
Isaiah 10:32, do argue. For so he speaks; "Sennacherib came and
stood in Nob, a city of the priests, before the walls of Jerusalem;
and said to his army, 'Is not this the city of Jerusalem, against
which I have raised my whole army, and have subdued all the provinces
of it? Is it not small and weak in comparison of all the
fortifications of the Gentiles, which I have subdued by the valour of
my hand?' He stood nodding with his head against it, and wagging his
hand up and down," &c. Where Kimchi thus; "Jerusalem might be seen
from Nob. Which when he saw from thence, he wagged his hand, as a man
is wont to do, when he despiseth any thing," &c. And Jarchi thus;
"When he stood at Nob, he saw Jerusalem," &c.
The Talmudists do concur also in the
same sense with the Chaldee paraphrast, and in his very words; adding
this moreover,--that all those places, which are numbered-up by Isaiah
in the place alleged, were travelled through by the enemy with his
army in one day.
The tabernacle sometime resided at
Nob, when that was destroyed, it was translated to Gibeon. "And the
days of Nob and Gibeon" (they are the words of Maimonides) "were
seven-and-fifty years."
We meet with mention of Bahurim,
2 Samuel 16:5. It was a Levitical city, the same with Almon,
Joshua 21:18; which is also called Alemeth,
1 Chronicles 6:60. Those words, "And David came to Bahurim," in
the place alleged in the Book of Samuel, the Chaldee renders, "And
David the king came to Almath." Where Kimchi thus; "Bahurim was a city
of the Benjamites, and is called in the Books of the Chronicles, 'Alemeth';
for Bahurim and Alemeth are the same." Both sound as much as, young
men.
Chapter 45
Emmaus. Kiriath-jearim.
"From Beth-horon to Emmaus it was
hilly."--It was sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem.--"To eight
hundred only, dismissed the army, (Vespasian) gave a place, called
Ammaus, for them to inhabit: it is sixty furlongs distant from
Jerusalem."
I inquire, whether this word hath the
same etymology with Emmaus near Tiberias, which, from the 'warm
baths,' was called Chammath. The Jews certainly do write this
otherwise...
"The family (say they) of Beth-Pegarim,
and Beth Zipperia was out of Emmaus."--The Gloss is this;
"Emmaus was the name of a place, whose inhabitants were Israelite
gentlemen, and the priests married their daughters."
Josephus, mentioning some noblemen,
slain by Simeon the tyrant, numbers one Aristeus, who was "a scribe of
the council, and by extraction from Ammaus." By the same author
is mentioned also, "Ananus of Ammaus," one of the seditious of
Jerusalem; who nevertheless at last fled over to Caesar.
Kiriath-jearim was before-time called
Baale,
2 Samuel 6:2; or Baalath,
1 Chronicles 13:6. Concerning it, the Jerusalem writers speak
thus; "We find, that they intercalated the year in Baalath. But
Baalath was sometimes assigned to Judah, and sometimes to Dan. Eltekah,
and Gibbethon, and Baaleth; behold, these are Judah." (Here is
a mistake of the transcribers, for it should be written, of Dan,
Joshua 19:44.) "Baalah, and Jiim, and Azem,--behold, these are of
Dan" (it should be written, of Judah,
Joshua 15:29); "namely, the houses were of Judah,--the fields of
Dan."
In
Psalm 132:6; "We heard of it" (the ark) "in Ephratah" (that is,
Shiloh, a city of Ephraim); "we found it in the fields of the wood"
(that is, in Kiriath-jearim,
1 Samuel 7:1, &c.).
Chapter 46
The country of Jericho,
and the situation of the City.
Here we will borrow Josephus' pencil,
"Jericho is seated in a plain, yet a certain barren mountain hangs
over it, narrow, indeed, but long; for it runs out northward to the
country of Scythopolis,--and southward, to the country of Sodom, and
the utmost coast of the Asphaltites."
Of this mountain mention is made,
Joshua 2:22, where the two spies, sent by Joshua, and received by
Rahab, are said to "conceal themselves."
"Opposite against this, lies a
mountain on the other side Jordan, beginning from Julias on the north,
and stretched southward as far as Somorrha, which bounds the rock of
Arabia. In this is a mountain, which is called the Iron
mountain, reaching out as far as the land of Moab. But the country
which lies between these two mountainous places, is called the
Great Plain, extended from the village Ginnaber to the lake
Asphaltites, in length a thousand two hundred furlongs" (a hundred and
fifty miles), "in breadth, a hundred and twenty furlongs" (fifteen
miles); "and Jordan cuts it in the middle."
Hence you may understand more plainly
those things that are related of "the plains of Jericho,"
2 Kings 25:5; and what "the region about Jordan," means,
Matthew 3:5.
"Jericho is distant from Jerusalem a
hundred and fifty furlongs" (eighteen miles and three quarters), "and
from Jordan sixty furlongs" (seven miles and a half). "The space from
thence to Jerusalem is desert and rocky; but to Jordan and the
Asphaltites, more plain, indeed, but alike desert, and barren."
This our author asserts the same
distance between Jericho and Jordan elsewhere, in these words: "But
the Israelites, travelling forward fifty furlongs from Jordan,
encamped the distance of ten furlongs from Jericho": that is, in
Gilgal, in the east coast of Jericho,
Joshua 4:19.
But concerning the distance between
Jericho and Jerusalem, he does not seem to agree with his countrymen.
For, however they, according to their hyperbolical style, feign very
many things to be heard from Jerusalem as far as Jericho,--to wit, the
sound of the gate of the Temple, when it was opened,--the sound of
Migrephah, or the little bell, &c. yet there are some of them, who
make it to be the distance of 'ten parsae.' "Rabbath Bar Bar Channah
saith, Rabbi Jochanan saith, from Jerusalem to Jericho were ten
parsae: and yet, from thence thither the voice of the high priest,
in the day of expiation, pronouncing the name Jehovah, was
heard, &c. The hinges of the gates of the Temple are heard as far
as the eighth bound of the sabbath"; that is, as far as a sabbath-day's
journey eight times numbered. The Gloss hath these words; "The hinges,
indeed, not farther, but the gates themselves are heard to Jericho."
There is an hyperbole in their measuring of the space, as well as in
the rest.
"And that plain burns in the summer,
and, by too much heat, renders the air unhealthful: for it is all
without water, except Jordan; the palms that grow in whose banks are
more flourishing and more fruitful than those that grow more remote."
"Near Jericho is a very plentiful
spring, and very rich for watering and moistening the ground; it
riseth near the old city, and Jesus the son of Nave took it. Of which
spring there is a report, that, in former times, it did not only make
the fruits of the earth and of the trees to decay, but also the
offspring of women; and was universally unwholesome and harmful to
all: but it was changed into a better condition by Elizeus, &c. (see
2 Kings 2:21). So that those waters, which before were the cause
of barrenness and famine, did thenceforth produce fruitfulness and
abundance: and they have so great a virtue in their watering, that
whatsoever place they touch, they bring on to a very speedy ripeness."
"And they overflow the plain seventy
furlongs in length, and twenty in breadth: and there they nourish very
fair and thick gardens of palm-trees of divers kinds, &c. That place
also feeds bees, and produceth opobalsamum, and cyprinum, and
myrobalanum: so that one might not call it amiss, 'a divine country,'"
&c.
Strabo speaks like things, "Jericho
is a plain surrounded with mountains, which in some places bend to it
after the manner of a theatre. A grove of palm-trees is there, with
which are mixed also other garden plants, a fruitful place, abounding
with palm-trees for the space of a hundred furlongs, all well watered,
and full of habitations. The royal court and paradise of balsam is
there," &c.
And Pliny; "Jericho, planted with
groves of palms, and well watered with springs," &c.
Hence the city is called, the "city
of palm-trees,"
Deuteronomy 34:3, and
Judges 1:16: where for that, which, in the Hebrew, is From the
city of palm-trees, the Targum hath From the city Jericho:
which nevertheless Kimchi approves not of, reckoning the city of
palm-trees to be near Hebron: whom see. See also the Targum upon
Judges 3:13, and Kimchi there; and the Targum upon
Judges 4:5.
When you take a view of that famous
fountain, as it is described by Josephus, thence you understand what
waters of Jericho the Holy Ghost points out in
Joshua 16:1.--And when you think of that most pleasant country
watered from thence, let that Rabbinical story come into your mind, of
The gift of Jericho, of five hundred cubits square, granted to
the sons of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law: of which see Baal Turim, upon
Numbers 10:29, and the Rabbins upon
Judges 1.
Chapter 47
Jericho itself.
We read, that this city was not only
wasted by Joshua with fire and sword, but cursed also. "Cursed be he
before the Lord, who shall rise up and build that city Jericho,"
Joshua 6:26. "Nor was another city to be built (says the
Talmudists), which was to be called by the name of Jericho: nor was
Jericho itself to be built, although to be called by another name."
And yet I know not by what chance this city crept out of dust and
rubbish, lived again, and flourished, and became the second city to
Jerusalem. The same persons which were just now cited, suppose that
the restorer of it was Hiel, the son of Jehoshaphat, to wit, the same
with Jechiel,
2 Chronicles 21:2; "Hiel (say they) was of Jehoshaphat, and
Jericho of Benjamin." And that is a just scruple, which R. David
objects,--how it came about, that the pious king Jehoshaphat should
suffer such a horrid thing to be done within his kingdom? Much more,
how this should have been done by his son? Let them dispute the
business; we hasten somewhere else.
That, which ought not to be
done,--being once done, stands good. Hiel did a cursed thing in
building Jericho: yet Jericho was not to be cursed, being now built. A
little after its restoration, it was made noble by the schools of the
prophets,
2 Kings 2:5; and it flourished with the rest of the cities of
Judea unto the destruction of the nation by the Babylonians.
It flourished more under the second
Temple, so that it gave place to no city in Judea; yea, all gave place
to it, besides Jerusalem. A royal palace was in it, where Herod ended
his days: a Hippodromus, where the Jewish nobility, being imprisoned
by him, were to be slain, when he expired: an amphitheatre, where his
will was publicly opened, and read over; and sometime a sessions of
the Sanhedrim, and "a noble troop of those, that waited in their
courses at the Temple."
"The elders sometime assembled
together in the chamber Beth-gadia in Jericho: the Bath Kol went
forth, and said to them, There are two among you, who are fit to
receive the Holy Ghost, and Hillel is one of them: they cast their
eyes upon Samuel the Little, as the second. Another time the elders
assembled together in a chamber in Jafne; the Bath Kol went forth, and
said, There are two among you, who are fit to receive the Holy Ghost,
and Samuel the Little is one of them: they cast their eyes upon R.
Lazar. And they rejoiced, that their judgment agreed with the sentence
of the Holy Ghost."
"There is a tradition, that there
were, at Jerusalem, twenty-four thousand men of the station; and half
a station" (that is, twelve thousand men) "at Jericho. Jericho also
could have produced a whole station; but because she would give place
to Jerusalem, she produced only the half of a station."
Behold! five hundred men of every
course residing at Jericho! But what were they? They were ready at
hand to supply any courses that wanted, if there were any such at
Jerusalem; and they took care of supplying them with necessaries, who
officiated at Jerusalem. Hence it is the less to be wondered at, if
you hear of a priest and a Levite passing along in the parable of him,
that travelled between Jerusalem and Jericho,
Luke 10:31,32.
In so famous and populous a town,
there could not but be some council of three-and-twenty, one, at
least, of more remark, if not more,--when so many of the stations
dwelling there were at hand, who were fit to be employed in
government; and so many to be governed.
"The men of Jericho are famed
for six things done by them: in three of which the chief council
consented to them, but in the other three they consented not." Those
things, concerning which they opposed them not, were these:--
I. "They ingrafted, or folded,
together, palm-trees every day." Here is need of a long commentary,
and they produce one, but very obscure. The business of the men of
Jericho was about palm-trees; which they either joined together, and
mingled males with females, or they ingrafted, or (as they commonly
say) inoculated the more tender sprouts of the branches into those,
that were older. So much indulgence was granted them by the wise men
concerning the time, wherein these things are done, which elsewhere,
would scarcely have been suffered; unless, as it seems, the nature of
the place, and of the groves of palms, required it.
II. "They folded up the recitations
of their phylacteries": that is, either not speaking them out
distinctly; or omitting some doxologies or prayers; or pronouncing
them with too shrill a voice. See the Gemara and the Gloss.
III. "They reaped, and gathered-in
their sheaves, before the sheaf [of first-fruits] was offered":
and this, partly, because of the too early ripeness of their corn in
that place; and, partly, because their corn grew in a very low valley,
and therefore it was not accounted fit to be offered unto the Mincha,
or daily sacrifice. See the Gloss.
The three things, concerning which
the wise men consented not to them, were these:--
I. Such fruits and branches, also
certain fruits of the sycamine-trees, which their fathers had devoted
to sacred uses,--they alienated into common.
II. "They ate, on the sabbath-day,
under the tree, such fruits, as fell from the tree," although they
were uncertain whether they had fallen on the sabbath-day or the eve
of the sabbath: for such as fell on the sabbath were forbidden.
III. They granted a corner of the
garden for herbs, in the same manner as a corner of the field was
granted for corn.
Let the description of this city and
place be concluded with those words of the Talmud, in the place noted
in the margin: "Do they use a certain form of prayer upon balsam?
Blessed be he, who hath created the ointment of our land." The Gloss
is, "The ointment of our land: for it grows at Jericho; and, for its
smell, it is called Jericho: and it is that Pannag of which
mention is made in the Book of Ezekiel. 'Judah and the land of Israel
were thy merchants in wheat of Minnith and Pannag.' This I have seen
in the book of Josephus Ben Gorion." Judge, reader.
Chapter 48
Some miscellaneous matters belonging
to the Country about Jericho.
Let us begin from the last encampings
of Israel beyond Jordan.
Numbers 33:49: "They encamped near Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth unto
Abel-shittim."--"From Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim were twelve
miles." It is a most received opinion among the Jews, that the tents
of the Israelites in the wilderness contained a square of twelve
miles. So the Targum of Jonathan, upon Number 2:2; "The encamping of
Israel was twelve miles in length, and twelve miles in breadth." And
the Gemarists say, "It is forbidden a scholar to teach a tradition
before his master, yea, not to do it, until he be twelve miles distant
from him, according to the space of the encamping of Israel. But
whence is that space proved? 'And they encamped near Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth
to Abel-shittim.'--How far is that? Twelve miles."
They believe, also, that the bulk of
the host took up the same space, while they passed Jordan. Nor is it
unfit so to believe: for it, indeed, seems at least to have taken up a
very large space in its passage: this especially being observed, that,
while the ark stood in the middle of Jordan, none might come within
two thousand cubits near it,
Joshua 3:4. When, therefore, it is said, "that the people passed
over against Jordan," it is to be understood of the middle of the
host,--or of those that carried the ark, and of those that went next
after the ark.
From Abel to Jordan, were sixty
furlongs (seven miles and a half). The breadth of Jordan from bank to
bank was but of a moderate space. The Jerusalem Talmudists do write
thus of it, in some part of it: "A fire sometime passed over Jordan"
(that is, a flame kindled on this bank flew over to that). "But how
far is the flame carried? R. Eleazar saith, For the most part to
sixteen cubits; but when the wind drives it, to thirty.--R. Judah
saith, To thirty cubits; and, when the wind drives it, to fifty.--R.
Akibah saith, To fifty cubits; and when the wind blows, to a hundred."
From Jordan to Gilgal were fifty
furlongs (six miles and a quarter). Therefore the whole journey of
that day, from Abel to Gilgal, was fourteen miles, or thereabouts. The
Talmudists, being deceived by the ambiguity of the word Gilgal,
extend it to sixty miles, and more: whom see afterward quoted in the
eighty-eighth chapter. It is thus said in Midras Tillin, "Saul went,
in one day, threescore miles."
Of the stones, set up by Joshua in
Jordan and Gilgal, the Gemarists have these words:--"R. Judah saith,
Aba Chalaphta, and R. Eleazar Ben Mathia, and Chaninah Ben Chakinai,
stood upon those stones, and reckoned them to weigh forty sata each."
Chapter 49
Hebron
From Jericho we proceed to Hebron,
far off in situation, but next to it in dignity: yea, there was a
time, when it went before Jerusalem itself in name and honour;--namely,
while the first foundations of the kingdom of David were laid; and, at
that time, Jericho was buried in rubbish, and Jerusalem was trampled
upon by the profane feet of the Jebusites.
Hebron was placed, as in the
mountainous country of Judea, so in a place very rocky, but yet in a
very fruitful coast.
"There is no place, in all the land
of Israel, more stony than Hebron: thence, a burying-place of the dead
is there." The Gemarists sift what that means: "Hebron was built seven
years before Zoan in Egypt,
Numbers 13:22." And they reduce it to this sense, which you may
find cited also in R. Solomon, upon that text of Moses, "There is no
land more excellent than Egypt; as it is said, 'As the garden of the
Lord, as Egypt': nor is there in Egypt any place more excellent than
Zoan; as it is said, 'Her princes were in Zoan'; and yet Hebron was
seven times nobler, however it were rocky, than Zoan." For this
tradition obtained among them, "Rams from Moab, lambs from Hebron."
And to this they apply that of Absalom, "Let me go, I pray, to Hebron,
that I may pay my vow.--And why to Hebron?--R. Bar Bar Chanan saith,
He went thither, that thence he might fetch lambs for sacrifice. For
the turf was fine, yielding grass acceptable to sheep," &c.
You may observe the situation of
Hebron, in respect of Jerusalem, from those things which are related
of a daily custom and rite in the Temple. "The president of the
service in the Temple was wont to say every morning, Go, and see
whether it be time to kill the sacrifice. If it were time, he, that
was sent to see, said, It is light. Mathia Ben Samuel said, The whole
face of the east is light unto Hebron: to whom another answers, Well,"
&c. Upon which words Rambam thus; "There was a high place in the
Temple, whither he who was sent to see went up; and when he saw the
face of the east shining, he said, It is light, &c. And they who were
in the court, said, What! As the light is unto Hebron?--That is, Is
the light come so far, that thine eyes may see Hebron?--And he
answered, Yes." So also the Gloss upon Tamid; "The morning (saith he,
who is on the roof) is seen as far as Hebron; because they could see
Hebron thence."
"And therefore they made mention of
Hebron, (although the east was on that coast), that the memory of the
merit of those, that were buried in Hebron, might occur at the daily
sacrifice." They are the words of the author of Juchaisn, out of which
those are especially to be marked, "Though the east was on that
coast"; or, "Though the east were on that quarter of the heaven."
Consider which words, and consult the Gemarists upon the place quoted:
for they understand those words,--"What! As the light is unto
Hebron?"--of the light reaching as far as Hebron; just as the Gloss
understands them of his eyes reaching thither that went to look. All
which things compared, come at last to this,--if credit may be given
to these authors,--that Hebron, however it be placed south of
Jerusalem, yet did decline somewhat towards the east, and might be
seen from the high towers in the Temple and in Jerusalem. Let the
reader judge.
Of Machpelah, the burying-place near
Hebron, very many things are said by very many men. The city was
called Hebron, that is, a consociation,--perhaps, from the
pairs there buried, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their wives.
Not a few believe Adam was buried
there in like manner: some, that he was buried once, and buried again.
"Adam said, (say they), After my death, they will come perhaps, and,
taking my bones, will worship them; but I will hide my coffin very
deep in the earth, 'in a cave within a cave.' It is therefore called,
the cave Machpelah, or the doubled cave."
Chapter 50
Of the cities of Refuge.
Hebron, the most eminent among them,
excites us to remember the rest. "The Rabbins deliver this; Moses
separated three cities of refuge beyond Jordan, [Deut
4:41-43;] and, against them, Joshua separated three cities in the
land of Canaan, [Josh
20:7,8]. And these were placed by one another, just as two ranks
of vines are in a vineyard: Hebron in Judea against Bezer in the
wilderness: Shechem in mount Ephraim against Ramoth in Gilead: Kedesh
in mount Napthali against Golan in Basan. And these three were so
equally disposed, that there was so much space from the south coast of
the land of Israel to Hebron, as there was from Hebron to Shechem; and
as much from Hebron to Shechem, as from Shechem to Kedesh; and as much
from Shechem to Kedesh, as from Kedesh to the north coast of the
land."
It was the Sanhedrim's business to
make the ways to those cities convenient, by enlarging them, and by
removing every stop, against which one might either stumble or dash
his foot. No hillock or river was allowed to be in the way, over which
there was not a bridge: and the way, leading thither, was, at least,
two-and-thirty cubits broad. And in every double way, or in the
parting of the ways, was written "Refuge, refuge,"--lest he that fled
thither might mistake the way.
The mothers of the high priest used
to feed and clothe those, that for murder were shut up in the cities
of refuge, that they might not pray for the death of their
sons,--since the fugitive was to be restored to his country and
friends at the death of the high priest: but if he died before in the
city of refuge, his bones were to be restored after the death of the
high priest.
The Jews dream, that in the days of
the Messias, three other cities are to be added to those six which are
mentioned in the Holy Scripture,--and they to be among the Kenites,
the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites.
"Let him that kills the high priest
by a sudden chance, fly to a city of refuge; but let him never return
thence."
