A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, Book 3 · Body of book · Chapter 9
Here the Map of the Land of Ephraim is to be inserted.
THE TRIBE OF EPHRAIM. CHAP. 9.
§ 1. EPhraim the younger Son of Ios…ph was blest by his grandfather Iacob, Ephraim why accounted the eldest.laying*Gen. …8. 14. his right hand on his head (the print of whose fingers remained visible in the happiness of Ephraims posterity) that behinde Manasseh in age, he should prove before him in honour; which came to pass accordingly. Such was his increase in Egypt that they amounted to forty‡Numb. 1. 33. thousand five hundred men, all whose carkasses fell in the wilderness, and a new generation of thirty two*Num. 26. 37. thousand five hundred entred the land of Promise.
§. 2. A Princely and puissant Tribe. Ephraim (saith David) is the strength of‡Psal. 60. 7. my head, A princely and puissant Tribe.and is often put by a honorable Synecdoche for all the ten Tribes or wholeaIsa. 7. 2. Kingdome of Israel. The people thereof were active, valiant, ambitious of honour, but withall hasty, humorous, hard to be pleased, forward enough to fight with their foes, and too forward to fall out with their friends, counting other mens honour to be their injury, except they might be admitted joint purchasers with them in all gallant undertakings. This caused their contest, first with*Judg. 8. 2. Gideon, who pacified them with his compliance, & afterwards with Iephthah, where their Braul was hightned into a Battell, (how quickly doe hot spirits hatch words into blowes!) of which we have‡In Gad § 20. spoked before.
§ 3. This Tribe was subject to a naturall imperfection of lisping, The Ephraimites had a naturall lisping.the cause whereof we leave to others to dispute, whether got by imitation, or some heredit…y defect in their tongue, or proceeding from some secret quality in their soil, as it is observed in a village at Charleton inbCamd. Brit. in Lecest. Leicestershire, that the people therein are troubled with wharling in their utterance. The best is, men must answer to God for their vitious habits, not naturall impediments, and better it is to lispe the language of Canaan; then plainly to pronounce the speech of Ashdod.
§ 4. Sure I am,But were valiant and fortunate. no Tribe, Iudah excepted, can vie eminent persons with Ephraim, as Deborah and Abdon, both Judges of Israel, the one by he… cJudg. 4 5.habitation whilest living, the other by hisdJudg. 12. 15. sepulcher when dead, truly collected to be of this Tribe, as alsoc1 Kin. 11. 26. Ieroboam and all the Kings of Israel …
§ 5. … The bounds of Ephraim.Dan on the south, … But as for the particular … and flexures … borders of this Tribe, they are so many, and so small, they will be scattered out of our memories, except bound together as, we finde them in the text.
§ 6. Condemn not this our diligence for needless curiosity,Exactness why necessary herein. but know, that every meer-stone that standeth for a land-mark, though in substance but a hard flint, or plain pibble, is a precious stone in virtue, and is cordiall against dangerous controversies between party and party, and therefore it is of great consequence to be well skilled in the out-limits and boundaries of this, or any other considerable ….
§ 7. The particular bounds therefore of this Tribe … exactly as followeth.Ephraims particular bounds.
| South. | West. | North. | East. |
| 1 From Iordan by … to the … 2 Thence to the wilderness that goeth up from …, throughout moun… …. 3 Thence to …, thence to be bord…s Hereof no doubt was Hushai the Archite. … Ataroth. 4 Thence westward to the coasts of Iapble…i. 5 Thence to the coasts of Beth-horon …. 6 Then…e … Gezer, thence to the sea. | The Medditerranean Sea. | Northwest. 1 From the sea to … K…na. thence to … ▪ Northeast. 2 Thence to Beth-hor…n the upper, thence to Michm…ha 3 Thence went about unto … eastward. 4 And passed on the east to …. 5 Thence to At…roth. 6 Thence to …, and so to …. | The river …. |
We reserve the satisfying of such difficulties as in…umber these borders, to our fifth …nd last book, intending it shall serve our four former in the same office wherein the Spleen attendeth on the Liver. For, as that is the drain or sewer of the feculent and melancholy bloud: so we design our last book of objections for the Repository of all hard doubts and difficulties, that the rest of our work may be more cheerfull and pleasant in the reading thereof.
§ 8. Amongst these limitary towns,Gezer given to the …. besides the B…th-horons, both of them with Uzzen-Sherah, g1 Chr. 7. 24.founded by Sherah the daughter of Ephraim the younger (the greatest Buildress in the whole Bible) Gezer is most remarkable. The King … was … by Ioshu…, hJosh. 12. 1….and the City was given to the Levites, but kept by the Canaanites in defiance of all the powers ofiJudg. 1. 29. Ephraim, untill Pharaoh taking it, burning it, and killing the Canaanites therein gave it for ak1 King. 9. 16. present to his daughter Solomons wife. Behold here two titles on foot at once, and the question is which should take effect. Whether the title of the Levites deriving it from GodslJosh. 21. 21. grant, though (a main matter) they never had the possession of Gezer given them, or that of Pharaohs daughter claiming it as a donative from her father. The best is, the cause was to be tried before the wisdome and integrity of Solomon, who no doubt, being so bountifull to the Temple, would not be injurious to the Ministers thereof, but that as he gave the child to the true mother, he would ad…udge the City to the originall owners thereof, though making his Queen some reparation otherwise. Proceed we now to the description of this Tribe, and will begin with two eminent Cities in the south part thereof.
§ 9. Rama, Ramathaimzophineotherwisea1 Sam. 1. 1. Ramathaim-Zophim (because consisting of two towns, and seated in the land ofb1 Sam. 9. 5. Zuph) was the place, where Samuel wasc1 S…m. 1. 19. born wonderfully, of a long barren mother,d1 Sam. 7. 17. lived unblamably, (as appears by thee1 Sam. 12. 14. nationall testimony of his integrity) died peaceably, and wasf1 Sam. 25. 1. buried honorably. Naioth nere Rama was the name of his house, where David sometime conversed with Samuel, two eminent Prophets then living together under the same roof.
§ 10. Yea,Saul prophectes. the very aire of this place seems propheticall, seeing Saul coming hither to attach David, was by the great well that is in S…chu (the Helicon of heavenly raptures) strangely inspired, and stripping himself, fell ag1 Sam. 19. 21. prophecying a day and a night together.
§ 11. This Saul continued constantly a carnall man, though we meet with many spirits, which successively possessed, and deserted him, 1. The spirit of prophecy, whichh1 Sam. 10. 10. twice ravished, then finally forsook him. 2. The Spirit of the Lord, fitting him for government, whichi1 Sam. 16. 14. departed from him after David was anointed. 3. AnkIbidem. evill spirit which troubled him, partly allayed by Davids musick. 4. His vitall and animall Spirits, which partially forsook him at the witches sad news, when he fell all along on the earth, and there was nol1 Sam. 28. 20. strength in him. 5. His spirit, or soul, finally forced from him by his own sword on mount Gilboa. What need then have men to try them1 John 4. 1. Spirits before they trust them, seeing so many of them may be in one and the same person?
§ 12. In the new Testament this Rama is called Arimathe…, Arimathea.whereof wasnMat. 27. 57. Ioseph that honourable counseller, who so freely resigned his own sepulcher to the body of our Saviour, and with Nicodemus provided for the decent interring thereof.
§ 13. Shiloh succeeds (in a narrow southern spong of this Tribe) where after the conquering of Canaan, Shiloh why the f…rst place of the Ark…s …sidence.the Tabernacle was solemnly set up, and remained there almost four hundred years. This place was for that purpose preferred before others, partly because almost the center of the land, and partly in honourable respect tooJosh. 18. 1. Ioshua, extracted from, and living in this Tribe of Ephraim; and pity it was that God and the Prince should be parted. Perchance the allusion of Shiloh withpIs…. 8. 6. Shiloah, orqJohn 9. 7. Siloam, (which is by interpretation sent, clearly pointing at our Saviour) might promote this place for the erection of the Tabernacle therein.
§ 14. At Shiloh there was an anniversary dancing of the daughters thereof (probably collected out of all Israel coming then to the Tabernacle) where the Benjamites as yet unprovided for wives,Here Benjamites … them wives. lying in ambush in the vineyards, violentlyrJudg. 21. 23. seised some of those maides for their brides, (happy man be his dole) making strange matches, if each interest concerned therein be seriously considered.
§ 15. First for the Fathers of these virgins.Equivocation. Did this equivocating expedient satisfie their consciences, who had formerlysIudg. 21. 1. sworn not to give their daughters to the Benjamites to wife, and yet now by laying the design tJudg. 21. 20.themselves did in effect give these women in marriage to these men?
§ 16. Secondly,Match-lottery. for the young men. What assurance had they, they could love, not choosing the fittest whom they liked of, but catching the first they lighted on? Or that they could be beloved, storming their wives with violence, in stead of taking their affections by mutual composition?
§ 17. As for these Brides of fortune, Goldenchance.may we not presume that many of them which danced this day, wept on the morrow? Yet one thing might comfort them, they were all richly married to mighty matches of landed men, seeing the fair and fruitfull Tribe of Benjamin, with all the Cities therein was to be shared amongst their six hundred husbands alone, as the sole survivers and absolute heires of the whole Countrey.
§ 18. In Shiloh Eli lived Priest,Eli at Shiloh connives at his wicked sons. and Judge of Israel, whither Elkanah and Hannah, Samuels parents, repaired to Gods publick worship. This Hannah though silentu1 Sam. 1. 7. when twi…ted by Peninnah for barrenness, found her tongue when herewIbid. v. 15. taxed by Eli of drunkenness: because a meer sufferer in the former, but in the latter a sinner, had the accusation been true. Samuel (here prayed for) afterward here served God in a linen Ephod, and though generally there was ax1 Sam. 3. 1. dearth of visions in this age, here he had many revealed unto him. But Eli's dim eies connived here at his sons impieties. Whose servant with hisy1 Sam. 2. 13. Trident (an Innovation, no doubt, and none of the utensils made by Moses according to the pattern of the mount) would have raw flesh for his Master; so that, what between the raw flesh here sacrilegiously stolne, and the strange flesh wherewith those PriestszIbid. v. 22. abused themselves at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, any pious eares would nowa1 Sam. 3. 11. tingle to hear their faults, as hereafter at their punishment.
§ 19. For soon after happned the destruction of Hophni and Phinehas, Afterwards sadly destroyed.(slain in battell) the Arkes captivity, Eli's heart-breaking with the news, neck-breaking with his fall, the death of Phinehas his wife newly delivered, whose son got the sad name (not of Benoni, a name calculated for private pangs, but) ofb1 Sam. 4. 21. Ichabod from this sorrowfull accident, because born in this grand eclipse when the glory was departed from Israel.
§ 20. Yea the very city of Shiloh it self,Shiloh sinkes in silence with the Tabernacle. may seem in some sort to expire on the same occasion, which, as it owed its life and lustre to the Tabernacles residence therein, so sinks down in silence at the captivity thereof. For we finde no after mention of any eminent act therein, onelyonly that Ahijah the Prophet long after livedc1 King. 14. 2. there. He was the Jewish Tiresias, though blinde, a Seer, who discerning Ieroboams wife through her disguise, foretold the death of her sick son Abijah. So much of Shiloh; proceed we now to the more northern and mountainous part of this Tribe.
§ 21. Amongst the remarkable places in mount Ephraim, The possession given to Ioshua.we find Timnath Serah, or Timnath*Iudg. 2. 9. Heres (by inversion of the letters) on the northside of the hill Gaash, whereaIosh. 19. 49, 50. when they had made an end of dividing the land, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Ioshua. See here his publick spirit, not improving his power, though Comānder in chief, to pickout the fattest pastures, fairest meadows, fertilest fields for himselfe, but (as if he counted it possession enough for him to have gained possessions for others) when the meanest man was first served, he was contented to stand to the peoples courtesie, what they would bestow upon him. If it sound to the praise of a Generalls valour, to come last out of the field when it is won, no less is the commendation of his temperance to come last into it when it is divided. In Timnath Serah, asked and built by him, Ioshua afterwards wasbIosh. 24. 30. buried; and as Saint Hierome reports that in his time the Sun was depicted on his monument. This I dare boldly say, that whereas modern Heralds blazon armes by the specious titles of Planets, their fancy is with most truth appliable to Ioshua's shield, bearing Sol and Luna indeed, having made both Sun and Moon stand still by his pr…yers. Also Eleazar the High priest was*Iosh. 24. 33. buried in mount Ephraim, in an hill which pertained to Phinehas his son.
§ 22. Tirzah was another city near mount Eph…aim, Tirzah once Metropolis of the kingdome of Israel.whose King was conquered bycIosh. 12. 24. Ioshua. In the days of Solomon it was a place of great repute, Thou art beautifull, ô my Love, asdCant. 6. 4. Tirzah; comely as Ierusalem, terrible as an army with banners. Ieroboam chose it to be hise1 Kin. 14. 17. Royall-seat (perchance because nearf1 King. 11. 26. Zereda his native place) where he and his successours lived for welnigh sixty years. Indeed Baasha had a project to make Ramah the place of his residence, as nearer to Ierusalem, and therefore more convenient to mark the motions of the Kings of Iudah; but frustrated of his designe he was fain tog1 King. 15. 21. return to Tirzah, h1 King. 16. 9.reigned and was buried here. Elah, Baasha's son, was here drinking in the house of Azzah his steward, when a dear reckoning was brought in, and no less then his life extorted from him by Zimri his successour. Afterwards, when Tirzah was taken, Zimri either out of envy that the royall Palace should survive him, or desire to prevent a more shamefull death, burnt himself, and the Kings house together. We read of King Asa, that after his death, his subjects made a very greati2 Chr. 16. 14. burning for him; but Zimri exceeded, making a bone-fire for and of himself when alive; herein standing alone, except seconded bykIustin. lib. 1. Sardanapalus, who in like manner destroyed himself on the same occasion. Thus dyed Zimri, a King onelyonly for a week, whose Reign like a winters day was short and dirty; yet long enough to leave this taunt for Iezebels mouth,l2 King. 9. 31. and Proverb to posterity, Had Zimri peace, that slew his Master? Hard by is*2 King. 15. 16. Tiphsaph, where King Menahem barbarously ripped up the women with child, because the city opened not to receive him.
§ 23. Besides cities, many private dwellings were sprinkled on mount Ephraim; Private houses on mount Ephraim.as the house of thatmIudg. 19. 1. Levite, whose concubine the men of Gibeah abused to death: the house of Micah, well stored with Idols, where first the five spies, then the sixe hundred men of Dan, took up their lodgings, when marching to Laish: Ungratefull guests! who in stead of discharging their quarters, plundered theirnIud. 18. 2. 24. Land-lord, taking his Images and priest away with them. Thirdly, the house of Deborah under a oIud. 4. 5.Palme-tree betwixt Ramah and Bethel, where she judged Israel. A tree then the Westminster Hall of the whole Land, made the seat of justice in an open place, partly that all people might have free access with their Petitions thereunto, without doors or porters to exclude any; partly that so publick a place might minde Judges, parties, and witnesses of fair and clear proceeding without secret or sinister reservations, having heaven Gods Throne in view, and before their eyes. This Palme was preferred for this purpose before other trees, because far and fair spreading, it afforded much people a shady conveniency under the branches thereof; not to insist on (a text rather for fancy to descant, then judgement to comment on) the resemblances betwixt the growth of Palmes and judiciall proceedings. Which, as that plant improves it self by pressures, ought in fine to flourish in defiance of all opposition.
§ 24. But the most*Esay 7. 9. observable place in the north of this Tribe is the City of Samaria, Samaria built by Omri.built by Omri, (because the royall Palace was burnt at Tirzah, as is aforesaid) on an hill bought by him for two talents of silver, and called by him Samaria, fromp1 King. 16. 24. Shemer the former owner of that place. Strange, it should take the denomination rather from him that sold it, then him that bought it: except this was part of the bargain, which appears not in Scripture. Sure we are, though the name of Omri was not preserved in the place, the Statutes of Omri were observed by the people, according to theqMic. 6. 16. Prophets complaint, and his impious injunctions obliged men to the practise thereof. Samaria proved afterwards a beautifull City, & was the principal place of the residence & burial of the Kings of Israel.
§ 25. Stately was the Kings Palace therein.The stately buildings in Samaria. Hence King Ahaziah Ahabs son had a mortall fall through a lattice in his upperr2 King. 1. 2. chamber: possible this mischance had been prevented, had the house or chamber been built according to Gods direction,sDe…t. 22. 8. with batlements, that men might not fall from thence. But likely it is, the Fabrick thereof was fashioned according to the Mode of the Sidonian architecture. Hard by Ahab built an t1 King. 22. 39.Ivory-house. Conceive it chequered, inlaid, and adorned therewith; otherwise all the Elephants in India and Affrick would not afford materialls for such a structure: not to say, the crookedness and smalness of their teeth, made them useless for beames in that building. A frequent Synecdoche, to denominate the house from the principall materialls therein, like Leaden-hall in London; not because wholly built, but onelyonly covered with that metall. But alass, what good would an Ivory-house do Ahab, whilest he had an Ebony soul in the midst thereof, blacked over with impieties. Baals temple u1 King 16. 32.built by Ahab, and turned byw2 King. 10. 25. 27. Iehu into a Iakes, was a structure of great State, into which Baals Priests were trained by a device, and slain. The greatest place of receipt in Samaria (which might serve them for a market-stead, or rather for a seat of Justice) was that voide x1 Kin. 22. 10.place at the entring of the gate; of such a latitude, that it was able to receive at once the Kings of Israel and Iudah, with their royall retinue.
§ 26. But amongst all the structures in Samaria, The King of Syria's streets in Samaria.none more eminent then the streets built therein by the King of Syria. A thing scarce to be paralleled, that a forein King should be permitted to erect streets in the Metropolitan City of another Kingdome. If any alledge that Peter Earl of Savoy built his palace in the Strand (known by the name of Savoy at this day) and that there is a street betwixt Aldersgate and Smithfield called Britons street, from the ancient lodgings of the Duke of Britain therein; neither of the instances amount to the matter in hand. The former palace being erected, as I take it, for the Earles abode here when in banishment. And as for the latter, it appears not that the Dukes of Britain were at any cost in building it: whereas the Kings of Syria founded the Fabrickes of those streets in the city of Samaria, and never inhabited therein. It seems when Omri began the new building of Samaria, either he requested the assistance of the King of Syria (as a neighbouring Prince in amity with him) to help him in the work; (no shame to beg the first clouts of friends, for an infant-city) or else the Syrian Kings civilly tendered their service, to give it as good handsell to so good a work, or as a Royall Largess amongst the inferiour builders thereof. For mine own part I conceive that the Kings of Damascus, got some conquest of Samaria not mentioned in Scripture, and then built these streets, as a monument of their victory and bridle to over-awe the city. The rather because Benhadad being afterwards overcome by Ahab profered the like favour and freedome unto him, if it pleased him to accept thereof,y1 Kin. 20. 34. And thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my Father made in Samaria.
§ 27. We meet in Scripture with three famous sieges of Samaria. First siege of Samaria.Once when Benhadad not content with Ahabs submission, (profering to hold all he had by homage from him) would have all the wealth of the city in specie surrendered unto him, vainly vaunting thatz1 King. 20. 10. the dust of Samaria could not suffice for handfulls for all the people that followed him. Surely the Scavengers were very diligent in sweeping so populous a place, or else it was a most hyperbolicall expression. But grant Samaria could not yeeld dust enough to fill the hands, the mountains near unto it could afford dirt enough to stop the mouths of most of his army, who few days after were thereon miraculouslya1 King. 20. 21. defeated.
§ 28. A second siege was in the reign of King Ioram, when the famine was so great,The second siege of Samaria that an Asses head, and a cab of dung was sold at unconscionable rates: the former for food, the latter most probably for fewell, and surely not to drain peter to make powder thence, an invention unknown in that age. Nor was the sudden plenty, occasioned by the Syrians flight, less admirable, all provision being brought down in an instant to a very unexpected low price. So that he that here knew beforehand what would be cheap or dear, needed but a few minutes to make him a rich Merchant. But this showre of plenty caused a floud of people to flock to the gates of Samaria, where that infidell Prince, who despaired of Gods power and Elisha's prophecy, wasb2 King. 7. 17. overwhelmed in the multitude; living so long to have his eyes confute his tongue, but not to have his taste confirme his eyes; beholding, but not partaking of the plenty.
§ 29. The third and last siege when the city was taken and destroyed by Salmaneser King of Assyria, The third and last siege of Samaria.in the reign of Hosea King of Israel, a King who was the best, or rather the least bad of all that sate on that throne. Of whom it is said, he was evill in the sight of the Lord, bute2 King. 17. 2. not as the Kings of Israel, that were before him. It may therefore seem wonderfull that the ruin of the kingdome should happen in his reign: but what shall we say? When a vessell is already brimfull, the addition of the least drop more, will make it run over.
§ 30. Afterwards Samaria was peopled with Colonies of the Assyrians; A Christian Church in Samaria.great back friends to the rebuilding of Ierusalem, as the books of Ezra and Nehemiah doe sufficiently declare. Our Saviour therefore gave in charge to the disciples, when sent to preach, IntofMat. 10. 5. any city of the Samaritans enter yee not. But this was but a temporary prohibition, for after Christs ascension and the persecution about Steven, Samaria quickly received the Gospell by the preaching ofgAct. 8. 5. 14. 25. & 9. 31. Philip the Evangelist. Here afterwards happened the great contest betwixt the two Simons, Peter and Magus. The latterhAct. 8. 19. profering money to buy the gift of bestowing the holy Ghost. But leaving them we may observe Gods gradation in giving his holy Spirit. First, to those that were purely Iews iniAct. 2. 4. Ierusalem; Then to such as were partly Iews in Samaria; Lastly, to such as were purely GentileskAct. 10. 44. in Cesarea, where Cornelius was baptized.
§ 31. Near Samaria was a fountain to wash,Memorable places near Samaria. and house to sheare the sheep. Nigh to which in the rode to Iezreel, Iehu met twol2 King. 10. 14. and fourty men comming on a visite of respect, to salute the late slain sons of the King of Israel. Wherefore because the persons they came to waite on were not in this world, Iehu took order to send them all to the grave, that they might be more perfectly informed how it fared with those, whom they came to salute. Hard by is the Lazar-house, wherein lived thosem2 King. 7. 3. 4. Levit. …3. 46. Lepers, who being bandied betwixt two deaths of the famine and the sword, preferred to put themselves on sudden and doubtfull, rather then on slow but certain destruction; and first brought to Samaria the tydings of the Syrians tents left empty of men, and full of provision.
§ 32. We must not forget the people near Samaria, The pool of Samaria.wherein Ahabs chariot was washed, though some difference appears betwixt the prediction and performance thereof. Prediction. 1 King. 21. 19. Thus saith the Lord, In the place where the dogs licked the bloud of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy bloud, even thine. Performance. 1 King. 22. 28.2 King. 6. 25. 26. And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his bloud, and they washed his armour according to the word of the Lord, which he spak.
The difficulty is this; the dogs licked the bloud of Ahab at Samaria whereas Naboth was stoned atn1 King. 21. 1. Iezreel, twenty miles and more northward. To reconcile which difference, Rabbi Salomon conceives that though Ahabs chariot was washed at Samaria, his armour was washed at Iezreel, where (saith he) the royall armory was kept. Others fancy an out-let of the poole of Samaria in the river Kison, which many miles off glided by the vineyard of Naboth, so that his bloud might be carried thither down the stream. Lastly, it is generally answered, that those words, In the place, are not to be taken restrictively for the same numericall spot of ground, but extensively for the same Land, countrey, and kingdome, which then was fulfilled according to the Prophets prediction. Not to say, that some understand, In the place where the dogs licked, that is, pro eo quod, in stead, in lieu, or in requitall of thy cruelty, dogs shall lick thy bloud, &c. Nor have I ought else to observe of Samaria, save that Herod called the name thereof Sebaste from a fair Temple erected here, in the honour of Augustus Cesar.
§ 33. Hard by,Curs…g and blessing on Ebal and Gerizim. are Ebal and Gerizim, twin-mountains of equall height, on which, in the days ofaJosh. 8. 34. Ioshua, after the conquest of the land, the people of Israel, according to GodsbDeut. 11. 29. command, assembled themselves, with theircIosh. 8 35. women, little ones, and strangers, in manner and method following,
On mount Gerizim to bless.
1dDeut. 27. 12. Simeon.
2 Levi.
3 Iudah.
4 Issachar.
5 Ioseph.
6 Benjamin.
On mount Ebal to curse.
1 Reuben.
2 Gad.
3 Asher.
4 Zebulun.
5 Dan.
6 Naphtali.
See we here, both the Royall and Sacerdotall tribes (Iudah and Levi) on the blessing side; all cursings and imprecations (save when of absolute necessity) ill becoming the mouths of Magistrates and Ministers. In this action, the Levites appeared in a double capacity; as publick officers, so they spake to the men of Israel with a loudeDeut. 27. 14. voice; and as private persons, so they contributed their Amen, with the rest of the people.
§ 34. Here it will be demanded,How they might be heard form one moūt to another seeing the sides of this Quire were so far asunder, how could the Levites voices be distinctly heard from one mountain to another, especially if the whole city of Sechem (as thefBeniamin in …. pa. 38. Rabbin will have it) lay interposed betwixt them: and may not divine service as well be warranted in a language unknown, as unheard; both being equally understood? For answer whereunto, we must know, that the very make, and fashion of these mountains (pick'd out by Gods providence for that purpose) might advantage much the articulate audibility of the Levites voices, especially if (as some fancy them) they bended tops, hanged over and leaned inwards, so, as it were with mutuall consent, more conveniently to reach the sound from the one to the other. We know whatgGiraldus Cambrensis. See Camdens Brit…in Merionith-shire. some have written of the mountains in Merionith-shire, so even in height that the shepheards may talke together on the tops of them, yet so, that if haply they appoint to meet together, they can hardly doe it from morning to night. Besides, the people knew before hand, the very numericall words, both of the blessings, and cursings, which the Levites were to pronounce, and this rendred their voice intelligible at the greater distance. For, our eares and eyes quickly own those objects far off, with which formerly they have been familiarly acquainted. Lastly, the Levites uttered no long continued orations, but short speeches severally distinguished, with the full periods of the peoples Amen, which gave fair notice to their neighbours on the next mountain, when to begin, and end their attention; and sentences so plainly pointed, are more easily understood at greater distance.
§ 35. On mount Ebal, A solmn Altar built on mount Ebal.where the curses were pronounced, a solemn Altar was, according tohDeut. 27. 5. Gods command, set up by Ioshua; and burnt, andiJosh. 8. 31. peace offerings, were sacrificed thereon. No more then needed, for otherwise, the maledictions had no sooner been uttered, but condemnation, and execution had instantly ensued, if these sacrifices, with the merits of Christ typified therein, had not seasonably interceded. This altar was made of whole stones, without Iron lift upon it, and was plaistered over, serving also for a table-book (the stones being the leaves, and in the plaistering were the letters thereof) wherein, by Gods command, all thekDeut. 27. 8. 32 words of the law were written very plainly: not that all Deuteronomy, much less all the Pentateuch was registred thereon (where should they finde, and how should they fetch stones in folio for so voluminous a work?) but, either the thirteen cursings (with their opposite blessings) mentioned there; or else the ten Commandements, the Breviate, and abstract of the whole law.
§ 36. But mount Gerizim was the Holy of holies to the Samaritans, Two sects of Samaritans the first Idolaters.in after ages commonly calling it the blessed mountain, and confining their publick service, and sacrifices, to that place. Here, to avoid confusion, we must take notice of two distinct sorts, or sects of Samaritans, differing much amongst themselves, in.
| 1 Antiquity. | 2 Extraction. | 3 Religion. | 4 Place of their worship. |
| One from Hez…kiahs time. | Heathens by descent. | Heret…call. | Any where in the province of Samaria. |
| Another from … ti…e. | Mongrel-Iews. | Idolatrous. | In mount Gerizim alone. |
We begin with the former, being colonies of Assyrians, planted by Salmaneser in the place of the ten Tribes, which he had carried away into finall captivity. These at first were devoured with Lions, saith the l2 King. 17. 25.Scripture, thoughmAntiq. lib. 9. cap. 14. Iosephus affirmeth, that the plague; the Samaritan Chronicle, that the famine destroyed them. Presumption in them to deviate from Gods word; for though both plague and famine may in some sense be allowed to be Lions, that is, devourers; yet such as confound them, destroy Gods solemn Quadripartite of his punishments; making three members, of his four sore judgements mentioned in thenEzek. 1…. 21. Prophet, coincidere, to interfeer, yea run all into one. Afterward, a Jewish Priest was at their request sent out of Assyria, to teach these Samaritans theo2 King. 17. 27 manner of the God of the land. He is called Ezdras bypContr. Haeres. lib. 1. pag. 5. … Epiphanius, by others q…bn. Patrik. in …. Arab.Lun, and by some Zacharias; but seeing God hath concealed his name, it is no whit materiall to know it, especially, except he had taught them better divinity. For he instructed them not to serve God as they ought, in his Temple then extant at Ierusalem, but in their own countrey, according to the direction of Ieroboam; and then, no wonder, if the Samaritans were guilty of abominable impieties. For, as water neither will, nor can naturally ascend higher, then just levell to the spring, or fountain, whence it is derived: so these people were capable of no purer service of God, then as they were principled by this superstitious Priest, who either did not know, or would not teach them the true Religion. Yea, their practise fell short of his precepts, not worshipping one God alone, but every city had also a severallr2 King. 17. 29, 30, 31. Idoll to themselves, according to the nations, whence they were descended. These were the ancient Idolatrous Samaritans, which, as Chrysostome saith, did foreign, mingle what was not to be conjoined, and which in process of time were well wasted, and few (if any of them) extant in the days of our Saviour.
§ 37. These were succeeded with a second sort of hereticall Samaritans, The second Sect hereticall.beginning in the government of Nehemiah, whosNehe. 13. 28. reporteth, that one of the sons of Iojada, the son of Eliashib the high-priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, and therefore I chased him from me. This Priest is by Iosephus tAnti. Iud. li. 11. cap. 7. 8.called Manasse; who thus driven away from Ierusalem, went with other Iews, guilty of the like mongrell-matches, to the Samaritans their wives kindred, and there (as the JewishuZemach. David part. prim. pag. 26. …. b. writers relate) built an Anti-temple on mount Gerizim, where a medly nation devised a miscellaneons worship of God, rejecting all the Scriptures, save the five books of Moses, and maintaining many abominable superstitions. And yet they were not so bad, as Epiphanius wHaeres. 9.makes them, charging them by a far-fetch'd consequence, to worship heathen Gods, because placing sanctity in that mountain, wherein Iacob buried his Idols,xGen. 35. 4. whilst some tax them to adore a Dove, the Armes of the Kings of Babylon, and others unjustly accuse them, utterly to deny the resurrection; we remit the Reader to our learnedyHotting. Exercit. Anti-mor. Authour, who cleareth them from these false aspersions; and, though we our selves will not take the pains to plead their cause, let us have the patience, to hear others speak for the worst of men, when unjustly traduced.
§ 38. But the main difference in matter of Religion,Samaritans for their own advantage falsifie the text. betwixt the Samaritans, and Iews, is no less briefly, then cleerly, and truly stated in those words of the woman to our Saviour,zIohn 4. 20. Our Fathers [Samaritans] worshipped in this mountain [Gerizim,] and yee [Iews] say, that in Ierusalem is the place where men ought to worship. The contest grew high betwixt them, each zealous to assert the transcendent holiness of their Temple; insomuch, that the Samaritans made the text false, to make their title true, wilfully depraving the originall. For, whereas we read in the Hebrew, both that aDeut. 27. 12.Moses directed, and Ioshua bIosh. 8. 30.erected an Altar on mount Ebal, thecVid. Sam. Pent. Deut. 27. 4. Samaritan Pentateuch make the same built on mount Gerizim, in the very place where afterwards their mock-Temple was set up, so to gain thereunto the greater reputation of holiness. This false foundation laid, they proceeded thereon, to vaunt of the excellency of their divine service, exceeding the Iews in
1 Antiquity,1 King. 6. 1. it bearing date from this solemn Altar, four hundred and odde years before the structure of the Temple by Solomon. And, if the Iews once offered to plead the originall of their Temple from Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac on mount Moriah, then the Samaritans to outvy them, derived the seniority and sanctity of their mountain, from the first apparition God made todGen. 12. 6, 7. Abraham, and first Altar Abraham made to God in the land of Canaan, both in this, before Isaac was ever promised.
2 Constant continuance, pretending an uninterrupted succession of divine service in this place, whilest they objected the long intermission of Gods worship in Ierusalem, lying wast during the seventy years of the captivity in Babylon.
But, oh how light and slight, how few and feeble are the Samaritan arguments for the place of their worship, if compared to the numerous, ponderous, pregnant proofes Iews can produce, for Gods presence fixed in Ierusalem! The Samaritans therefore were wise in their generation, to admit alone of the five books of Moses for canonicall (wherein all their supposed evidences, for the matter in controversie, are contained) seeing otherwise, had they accepted of the rest of the Prophets in the old Testament, their witness had utterly overthrown the fundamentals of their Religion, which so frequently make Ierusalem the proper center of all pious mens devotion. One instance for many;ePsal. 78. 67, 68, 69. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Ioseph, and chose not the Tribe of Ephraim; but chose the Tribe of Iudah, the mount Sion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like-high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. Here Ephraim is singled out by himself, as of all the Tribes, most probable in after-ages to justle with Iudah, for the place of Gods publick service (in whose portion was mount Gerizim, besidesfIosh 18. 1. Iosh. 16. 6. Shiloh where the tabernacle so long resided) and yet he is cleerly cast, and the cause adjudged against him, by the immediate determination of God himself.
§ 39. We have no more to say of the Samaritan temple on mount Gerizim, The testimony of the son of Sirach.save onelyonly thatg2 Macc. 6. 2. Antiochus afterward turned it for a time into the temple of Iupiter that keepeth hospitality. Sure I am, the Samaritans practised small hospitality in the countrey hereabouts; denying to give our Saviour entertainment in their townshLuk. 9. 53. because he was going to Ierusalem. The truth is, this temple was destroyed, somewhat before the time of our Saviour, by IohniZemach. David parte 1…. pag. 26. Hyrcanus, after it had flourished above two hundred years: but, when the temple was taken away, the mountain remained, in which the Samaritans continued their adoration. We conclude all with the words of the son ofkEccles. 50 25. Sirach, There be two manner of nations which my heart abhorreth, and the third is no nation: They that sit upon the mountains of Samaria, and they that dwell amongst the Philistines, and that foolish people that dwell in Sichem. Meaning by the first, the Idolatrous, by the last, the hereticall Samaritans, who indeed were no distinct nation (as Leopards, and mules, are properly no creatures) but a mixture of Iews, and heathen, blended together.
§ 41. Expect not here from me (as alien from our work in hand) any arguments,Impudency to prefer the Samaritan, before the Hebrew Pentateuch. against their presumption, who have dared to compare, yea prefer the Samaritan Pentateuch, for authenticalness, before the Hebrew Originall. For three things (saithlProv. 30. 21. 23. Solomon) the earth is disquieted, and the fourth it can not bear, namely, an handmaid that is heire to her mistress. How much more intolerable then is it, when a translation, which is, or ought to be, the dutifull servant to the originall, shall presume, (her mistress being extant, and in presence,) to take the place and precedency of her? As here, apographum doth of the autographum, when the Samaritan transcript is by somemVide Exercit. Hottinge…i contra Mori…um. advanced above the canonicall copy in the Hebrew. All I will adde is this, that to the Iews foreign, werenRom. 3. 2. committed the oracles of God: and, to give them their due, they were carefull preservers thereof, being never reproved by our Saviour, (though often for falseglosses thereon) of any forgery in corrupting, depraving, or altering the Letter of the text: whereas no such trust appears, delivered to the charge of the Sama…itans. In a word, such as defend, that the Pentateuch coming from the hereticall (not to say apostate Samaritans) is purer then that in Hebrew, transmitted to us from the Iews, in that age the onelyonlyoAmos 3. 2. true Church of God in the world, may with as much truth maintain, that breath proceeding from putrefied and corrupted lungs, is more healthfull and wholesome, then what cometh from vitals sound and entire.
§ 42. Shechem, Dinah d…flowred in Shechem. Gen. 34. 1.which we lately mentioned, lay betwixt the aforesaid mountains; a place stained with many treacherous practises, which were acted therein. Here Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land, so to please her fancy with gazing on forein fashions. O where was the tent, wherein her great-grand-motherpGen 18. 9. Sarah lived, that now she had left it? Where was theqGen. 24. 65 vaile, wherewith her grand-mother Rebekah covered her face, that now she had lost it? Her own mother L…ahs rGen. 29. 17.eyes, which were weak and tender, (those worse) were better then Dinahs, which were wanton, and wandring. She sees, and is seen, and is lik'd, …nd lusted after, and (whether by force, or fraud) defiled, and still passionately affected; contrary to what commonly happens, that the snuffe of lust goes out in the stinks2 Sam. 13. 15. of loathing. Yea Shechem was so honest in his dishonesty, that he desired to make Dinah the best amends he could give, or she receive, and on any rate went about to purchase the vine to himself, so to colour a title to those unripe grapes, which he had snatched from it. The agreement is made, on condition all the Shechemites should be circumcised; which done, on thetGen. 34. 25. third day (when commonly wounds are more painfull, then when first given) Simeon and Levi kill all the males of the city, and the rest of their brethren fall on the spoile thereof.
§ 42. Long after,Abimelech made King by the Shechemites Abimelech, the base-born and bloody-minded son of good Gedeon, was by the Shechemites (his towns-men by his mothers side) here at theuIudg. 9. 6. stone in the plain, made King of I…rael; whilest Iotham (which of his seventy brethren had onelyonly escap'd his cruelty) from the top of mountwIudg. 4. 7. Gerizim, uttered his parable of the Bramble, kinging it over the trees of the wood. Bramble; which he applied so home to the men of Shechem, that for the present, he left the pricks thereof in the ears of his auditours; the pain whereof they found and felt afterwards in their hearts, when God put a spirit of discord betwixt them, and Abimelech.
§ 43. We finde not the particular cause,Shechem sacked by Abimele…h. but the effects of the discord betwixt them. Insomuch that Abimelech sacked the city of Shechem, and aIudg. 9. 45.sowed it with salt. A formality usuall in that age in execration of peoples perfidiousness: but whence fetching its originall, it is hard to decide. I dare not say, in imitation of God himself, who when he destroyed the wicked cities of Sodome and Gomorrah, turned the fruitfull vales wherein they stood, into thebGen. 14. 3. salt-sea, in token of their perpetuall desolation. Sure I am, the custome hath been imitated in these western parts. For Frederick Barbarossa, for some affronts offered to his Empress by those of Millan, razed the city, and sowed it withcMunsters Cosm. in descr. Italy. salt.
§ 44. The Shechemites retreated into the house of Baal-berith their God, hoping in vain to make it good for their defence.Ab…melech slain at …he tower of Thebez. For Abimelech fetching fuell from the neighbouring mountain of Zalmon dIudg. 9. 48.(whence the Psalmist fetched his expression of spotless purity, white as snow inePsal. 68. 14. Zalmon, which commonly candied the top of this mountain, being the Jewish Albion) and firing the tower of the Temple, slew therein a thousand men and women. Then no doubt thefIudg. 9. 20. 6. house of Millo was destroyed: which I take not for any building in the city of Shechem (though there was a fair street of thatg1 King. 11. 27 name in Ierusalem) but for a potent and puissant family therein, (as the house of the Fuggers in Auspurge) who first advanced Abimelech, and sought, when too late, to suppress. But the weaker sexe revenged on Abimelech his cruelty to them, when besieging the tower of Thebez, which we conceive hard by Shechem, (having no other indication, but this single mention for the posture thereof) a woman broke his brain-pan with a piece of ahIudg. 9. 53. milstone.
§ 45. Though not the salt which was sown,The people petition R…hoboam at Shechem. yet the city of Shechem, grew up again to its former greatness. Hither repaired Rehoboam for the people to make him King. One may haply sent Ieroboams policy & his hand in appointing the place, in his own Tribe of Ephraim, where his party was most puissant:1 King. 11. 31. 37. …. who intending to run a race with Rehoboam for a Crown, chose out the ground most advantageous for himself. Here the people presented Rehoboam with a Petition for the mitigation of the intolerable burdens, whether personall, or pecuniary, which Solomon imposed upon them. How came he to be behind hand who was the most wealthy Prince in the world? Surely not the building of Gods, but his Idols temples impaired his treasure; and women impoverished both his wealth and his wisdome. Seven hundredi1 King. 11. 3. Queens, and not unlikely so many Courts; and three hundred Concubines, which though lesser then the former in honour, might be greater in expence (as the Thiefe in the Candle wasteth more then the burning of the wiek) were able to bankrupt the land of Ophir, with Tarshish given in to boot▪ Rehoboam requires threek1 King. 12. 5. days respite for his answer: the onelyonly act almost wherein he shewed himself wise Solomons son; seeing in matters of such consequence, extemporary returns give men leasure afterwards to meditate their Repentance.
§ 46. The old men advise Rehoboam for remission and mitigation of taxes.Rehoboam followeth the young mens advice. What harm was it if He being now to be married to a Crown should waite on his Bride the wedding-day, that she might obey him all her life after? Especially they counselled him tol2 King. 12. 7. speake good words to the people, though his good deeds might follow at a distance. And truely fair speeches cost the giver nothing, and doe ease, though not cure the discontented receiver. But Rehoboam followed the advice of the young men (hot heads, enough to set a kingdome on fire) not to satisfie, but suppress the peoples desires, threatning to make his little finger heavier then his Fathers loines; (more happy if he had made his head but half as wise) so that the people deserting the house of David, clave to Ieroboam for their King.
§ 47. During this distemper,Adoram stoned by the people. Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the Tribute, unto the people. No doubt in hope that they would reverence his gray-haires, not abating much of an hundred years in age, (having enjoyed that office above threescore years, from the midst of the reign of Kingm2 Sam. 20. 24. David;) or else to give them some orall satisfaction, how all sums had formerly been expended for the publick good. But his sight was offensive to the people, whose very looks seemed to demand a taxe, and his eyes to exact tribute of them: insomuch that the*1 King. 12. 18. people stoned him to death. To lesson all money-officers from publick appearance in popular tumults, being persons most obnoxious to the spight and spleen of the Vulgar. Thus in Iack St…awes Rebellion, their fury fell first and fiercest on Sir Robert Hales Lord of Saint Iohns, and then Lord Treasurer, whom they drew out of the Chappell in the Tower; and without any reverence of his estate or degree, with fell noise and huge cryes struck off his head onnHollir shead. pag. 431. Tower-hill. Nor did Sir …ames Fines, Lord Saie, and Treasurer of England, fare better in …he Rebellion of Iack Cade, whom without any judiciall proceedings, before his confession was ended, theyoIde… … 634. executed at the standard in Cheapside. And now it was high time for Rehoboam to call for his Chariot, and hast to Ierusalem.
§ 48.Iacobs purchase …nd Ios…phs portion. Near to Shechem was the parcell of ground which Iacob bought of the children of Hamor for an hundred pieces of money, whereon he spread his tent, and erected an Altar called God thepGen. 33. 20. God of Israel. Afterwards Iacob gave it as a portion to his son Ioseph, whose bones brought out of Egypt wereqIosh. 24. 32. buried therein. But how Iacob, when he bequeathed this land to Ioseph, could properly call it, A portion.rGen. 48. 22. which he took out of the hands of the Amorites with his sword and by his bow, is a difficulty much perplexing Divines in the solution thereof, meeting onelyonly with Iacobs staffe (though Esau had a bow) in the Tenour of Scripture: We will present the Reader with their best answers, leaving him to chuse which he conceives most probable.
Some conceive
1 That Iacob being a peaceable and plain dealing man, in reproof of such as delight in force and violence, called his money his sword and his bow. And indeed in all ages money is the sharpest sword, and bow that best hits the mark yea*Eccles. 10. 19. answereth all things.
2 That thereby he meant his prayers (the Armes of the Patriarchs and Primitive Christians) whereby he obtained of God, that his posterity being now in his loins, in due time should by their martiall atchievments conquer the countrey; and speakes of the conquest as already made, because of the undoubted assurance of it upon Gods promise.
3 That his sword and his bow import no more then his industry and endevours. Thus the Latine phrase, Fecit proprio marte, carrieth a warlike sound, but a peaceable sense, when one acquires a thing, though in a legall way with his own might, without the assistance of others, as Iacob purchased the foresaid heritage.
4 That his sword related not to his purchase, but to the city ofs… in locum. Shechem, which Simeon and Levi won by their sword, and the sons conquest is reputed to their Father.
Now let none be troubled because Iacob is said to purchase this land of the Amorites, Hamor of whom he bought it being antGen. 34. 2. Hivite: Amorite being there taken in a genericall sense, as all the inhabitants of the eight united Provinces, are comonly called Hollanders.
§ 49. Near to this parcell of ground which Iacob gave to Ioseph, … and Shalem c…ties nigh She…hem.stood the city of Sychar; wherein was the well, at which that excellent discourse passed betwixt our Saviour and theuIohn 4. 5. Samaritan woman, who came thither to draw water. Some also place hereabouts the city Shalem founding it on the words of the text, And Iacob came towGen. 33. 18. Shalem a city of Shechem. Which the Chaldee and other translations read, and Iacob came safe or sound and entire to a city of Shechem. Not that here he was healed of his halting (as some will have it) but rather that hitherto no notorious or eminent dysaster befell his family, which afterwards fell thick and threefold upon it. As the defiling of Dinah; Simeon and Levi slaughtering the Shechemites; Reubens incest; Rachels death; Er and Onan slain by God; Iudah's incest with Tamar; Ioseph sold by his brethren.
§ 50. And now to take our farewell of the countrey about Shechem, Two eminent oakes near Shechem.anciently called thexGen. 12. 6. plain of Moreh: two eminent oakes grew therein. One, under which Iacob buried his heathen Gods, with the superstitious yGen. 35. 4.ear-rings of his family, wherein no doubt, Idols were ingraven. Another, under which was a great stone solemnly set up by Ioshua with the words of the LawzIo…. 24. 27. written thereon, to be a witness against the Israelites, in case afterwards they should deny that God, whom then they generally resolved to serve But the question will be how this latter oake was termed to beaIosh. 24. 26. by the Sanctuary of the Lord; seeing the Tabernacle, and the Sanctuary Lieger therein resided atbIosh. 18.1. Shiloh in those days. If any say that every place where men seriously set their souls to serve God is his Sanctuary; they speake rather an Evangelicall truth, then a proper answer to the present question. This inclines me to conceive, either that by Sanctuary is meant that place of the Altar, which Iacob long before thereabouts erected; or that the Tabernacle not far off, was brought hither for the instant occasion, and afterwards returned back unto Shiloh.
§ 51. Dothan lay east of Shechem, Doth… where the Syrians were smitten with blindness.wherein the Prophet Elisha for some time made his abode. Here he was complained of to the King of Syria, for being the pick-lock of his Cabinet-councels: and therefore an army was ordered to apprehend him. But why so many to attach a single person and his servant? Indeed no more then needed. For Elisha alone was an army in himselfc2 Kin. 13. 14. being the horsemen of Israel and chariots thereof▪ His servant seeing themselves surrounded cryes out, till having his eyes opened, he discovereth themselves guarded with a fiery army on the tops of the mountains. Thus Angels are good mens Janizaries to protect them, and those Natives of heaven grudge not to guard those, who are onelyonly free Denizens thereof. The Syrians areb2 King. 6. 18. smitten with blindness; and they that came for the destruction, are glad to follow the direction of Elisha. Indeed to whom should blind men goe, but to the Prophet, the Seer, to guide them? He leads them, for the present, the wrong way to their intents and desires, but in fine the right way to Gods glory, and their safety; in stead of Dothan, bringing them to Samaria. How easily are those misled who lack the use of eyes? And (alass!) whither will implicire faith, and blind obedience steer the followers thereof? Yet here all came off in a peaceable close; so that their lives being saved, sight restored, bodies feasted, and mindes better informed, they returned to Damascus. If I must be a captive, may I be a prisoner to a pious Prophet, so shall I be best used, and my ransome easiliest procured.
§ 52. This Dothan I take to be the very place,Dothan where Ioseph was sold by his brethren where Ioseph found his brethren, and there was put into the pit, and sold to the Merchants. For being sent by his Father tocGen. 37. 12. Shechem, he was by a man directed to Dothan, whither his brethren had removed their flocks, and which probably was not far off, but some few miles from the former place. Wherefore, when formerly in the description of Zebulun, we placed Dothan in the northern parts of that Tribe, threescore miles from Shechem, therein we were carried away with the common current of other mens judgements, and now have watched our advantage to swim back again, and shew our private opinion in the position thereof. And besides the aforesaid text, setling Dothan near Shechem in this Tribe of Ephraim, it is proportionable to divine providence, that the place whereon Ioseph was betrayed, and pit wherein he was put, should in after ages fall to the possession of the sons of Ephraim descended from him.
§ 53. But here a materiall Question will be started,How this countrey was called the land of the Hebrews. how Ioseph could properly say, that he was stolen away out of thefGen. 40. 15. land of the Hebrews; when the Hebrews at that time, had none inheritance in it, no not sogAct. 7. 5. much as to set their foot on? Say not that Ioseph being a child when taken away might be allowed to speak incongruously; for we behold his words as uttered by him when a man. And surely he, who then could expound dreames, could express himself in proper language. Some conceive it was termed the Land of the Hebrews,
1 From those few Hebrews, the family of Iacob, living there, though not as inhabitants, but onelyonly as sojourners therein.
2 It was the Land of the Hebrews by promise, and in due time should be theirs by possession.
3 The Land of the Hebrews, though not in linage, in language; the Canaanites speaking the same tongue with Iacobs family.
4 Some conceive this land anciently belonged to Heber, (as all Asia to the sons of Shem,) and that the Canaanites had before Abrahams time encroached on that Countrey.
To strengthen this last conjecture, we must remember that Melchisedech King of Salem, who generally is conceived to be Shem, the ancestour of the Hebrews, still retained his*Gen. 14. 18. kingdome in the land of Canaan. And it might be that the other Hebrews were ejected by the Canaanites. If so, the Israelites afterwards got the land under Ioshua by a double Right, of Conquest, and Recovery.
§ 54. In this Tribe no doubt was the city Ephraim, The City Ephraim.in ahIoh. 11. 54. Countrey near to the wilderness: where our Saviour that Sun of righteousness clouded himself for a time when the Iews took counsell to kill him. Wonder not, that we cannot find the exact situation of this place. For Christ chose it on purpose for the privacy and obscurity thereof. Thus though willingiIoh. 10. 15. to lay down, he was not willing to cast away his life: unfit to be a Saviour of mankind, if a destroyer of himself. And though he knew well, that all the weights of mans craft and cruelty, could not make the clock of his time strike one minute before hiskIoh. 12. 23. hour was come; yet he counted it his duty, by Prudentiall means to endevour self-preservation.
§ 55. Two eminent places remain,The mount of Phinehas. which we have reserv'd for the last, because of the uncertainty of their particular situation, though both of them certainly in this Tribe. One, the hill of Phinehas, which was given him in mountlIosh. 24. 33. Ephraim. Let no sacrilegious hands hasten hither with their Spades, and Mattocks, to pare and abate this hill as too large a possession for the high Priest, seeing a greater had been too small for his deserts, whomPsal. 106. 30. stood up, and executed judgement, and so the plague ceased. This Hill of Phinehas certainly was with in the circumference of some Leviticall city in this Tribe, and we conjecturally have placed it within the circuit of Beth-horon the upper. Here, religious Eleazar the son of Aaron wasnIosh. 24. 33. buried, in this hill belonging to his son Phinehas.
§ 56. The other the Mount of AmaleckoIudg. 12. 25. in the land of Ephraim. Mou… AmalekBut how came the Amalekites, to have any thing in the heart of Ephraim, whose own countrey lay two hundred miles more south-ward near the Red-sea? And yet it is no wonder to finde theeves, and robbers (such were thepSee our Description of Paran-parag. 20 Amalekites) in any place, who like the Devill their father,qIob. 2. 7. goe to and fro in the earth, walking up and down therein. But we are confident, this mountain was so called from some eminent thing, here done, or suffered by the Amalekites. For we finde them joined with the Midianites in the days ofrIudg. 6. 3. Gedeon, to destroy Israel, and finde afterwards this Tribe of Iudg. 7. 24, 25.Ephraim very succesfull in doing execution on the remains of the Midianitish Army when defeated. Why then might not this mountain of Amalek be so named from some Amalekites then slain in this place? As Danesend, in the west-side of Hartford-shire, took its name from atSee camd. Map▪ of Hartfordshire. battell thereby, wherein the Danes were overthrown. In Pirathon, a town on mount Amalek, Abdon one of the peaceable Judges in Israel, was interred.
§ 57. I conceived all memorable places described in this Tribe,Baal-Hazor stained wi…h Absoloms c…uelty. but on review do discover a guilty town lurking besidesu2 Sam. 13. 23. Ephraim as if conscious of the treachery committed therein, it endevoured to escape our observation, namely Baal-hazor, where Absolom sheared his sheep. If any demand, how he came by any land in this Tribe to feed cattell therein; no doubt he held it by gift or grant from David his Father; and how David when King, became possessed of demesnes in all Tribes, hath wIn Description of Gad. pag. 84.formerly been largely resolved. Nor was it any disgrace to a Kings son to be master of sheep, seeing thexEccles. 5. 9. King himself is maintained by husbandry. As commendable the thrift: so damnable the cruelty of Absolom in this place, causing the murder of his brother Amnon justy2 Sam. 13. 28. when his heart was merry with wine, as if his wild revenge would imitate divine justice, to kill bothzMat. 10. 28. body and soul together. This Amnon was he thata2 Sam. 13. 6. feigned himself sick when he was well, and now dyed before he was sick.
§ 58. Let Archelais not be forgotten,Archelais and Iscariot. half ashamed to bear the name of wicked Archelaus the builderbIosephus Antiq. l…. 17. cap. 19. thereof, son and successour of Herod in Iudea, whose crueltycMat. 2. 22. frighted Ioseph from returning to Beth-lehem, and diverted him to Nazareth. As Archelais took its name from a wicked man: so Iscariot (a village not far from it) gave name to a worse; that traitour of his Master being born in this place, as Adrichomius out of Saint Hierome will have it. But other reasons are rendered of Iudas his syrname, and the place of his exemplarydAct. 1. 18. death is more certainly known, then that of his obscure nativity. As for Apollonia by the sea side, e1 Macc. 13. 13.Addida over against the plain, with some other petite places in Ephraim, they are well known by their severall markes, not to be mentioned in Canonicall Scripture.
§ 59. The Son of Hur was Solomons monethly Purveyour in mountf1 King. 4. 8. Ephraim. The Armes of Ephraim.The standard of Ephraim was pitched first on thegNum. 2. 18. west side of the Tabernacle: Armes anciently depicted thereon, an Oxe sable passant, in a field argent, founded onhDeut. 33. 17. Moses his words, His beauty shall be like the firstling of a bullock, to which we may ad the prophecy of Hosea,iHos. 10. 11. Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the Corn. Which perchance gave occasion to the postnate armes usually assigned to this Tribe, though later by twelve hundred years then their ancient standard erected in the wilderness.