The Overflow of Jordan
Josh. 3:15.-Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest.
REV. W. M. THOMSON, D. D.—I visited the scene of this miracle (Israel's dry-shod march across Jordan) on the 1St of April, and found barley harvest about Jericho already ended. I also found the river full to the brim, and saw evidence in abundance that it had overflowed its banks very recently. Harvest in the vale of the Lower Jordan comes on about the middle of March. The Jordan does not depend upon tributaries for ifs steady supply of water, but is almost wholly formed and fed by certain great fountains, which arise far north, around the base of snowy Hermon, and in this fact we find an explanation of the overflow of the river so late in the season as March. These immense fountains do not feel the effects of the early winter rains at all. It requires the heavy and long-continued storms of mid-winter before they are moved in the least; and it is not until toward the close of winter, when the melting snows of Hermon and Lebanon, with the heavy rains of the season, have penetrated through the mighty masses of these mountains, and filled to overflowing their hidden chambers and vast reservoirs, that the streams gush forth in their full volume. The Hûleh—marsh and lake—is filled, and then Gennesaret rises, and pours its accumulated waters into the swelling Jordan about the first of March. Thus it comes to pass that it does actually” overflow all its banks during all the time of harvest; " nor does it soon subside, as other short rivers do, when the rains cease.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 453-455.
PROF. J. L. PORTER, A. M.-It was in the month of April I visited this "holy place" on the Jordan (the Pilgrims' bathing-place). It was already the time of harvest, for the people of Jericho were reaping their little fields upon the plain. And we are told that "Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest." The fact is still true, though Palestine is changed. The heavy rains of early spring falling on the northern mountains, and the winter snows melting on the sides of Hermon, send a thousand tributaries to the sacred river. It rises to the top of the lower banks, and when I was there, the ruddy, swollen waters had flowed over and covered portions of the verdant meadows on each side.—Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 112.
Stone Knives
Josh. 5:2.—At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives (knives of flints), and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
REV. HENRY WRIGHT PHILLOTT, M. A.—The knives of the Egyptians, and of other nations in early times, were probably only of hard stone, and the use of the stone or "flint knife” was sometimes retained for sacred purposes after the introduction of iron and steel.—Smith's Dict. of the Bible, p. 1572.
PROF. H. B. HACKETT, D. D., LL. D.—It is well known that in the Sinaitic Peninsula stone or flint knives have often been discovered on opening ancient places of sepulture. The Abyssinian tribes at the present day use flint knives in performing circumcision.—Smith's Dict. of the Bible, p. 5573.
The Curse of Jericho
Josh. 6:26.—And Joshua adjured them, at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
ROSENMULLER. —This curse, according to 1 Kings 16:34, was fulfilled in one Hiel, who lost his eldest son, Abiram, when he laid the foundation, and his youngest son, Segub, when he built the gate.—Note In loco.
DR. JOHN KITTO.-In the ancient history of other nations, we meet with many instances of prohibitions to rebuild a city destroyed in war, with imprecations against those who should attempt it. Strabo states that it was believed that Troy had not been rebuilt on its former site from the dread of a curse which Agamemnon was supposed to have pronounced against him that should do so. This, he adds, was an ancient custom; and, as a further instance, mentions that Croesus, after he had destroyed Sidene, uttered a curse against him who should rebuild its walls. The Romans, also, after the destruction of Carthage, by Scipio Africanus, pronounced a curse upon him who should presume to rebuild that city.
—Pict. Bib. In loco.
Gerizim and Ebal
Josh. 8:33-35.—And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger as he that was born among them; half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
LIEUT. S. ANDERSON, R. E.—This spot, the site of the ancient Shechem, the city of refuge, is unrivaled in Palestine for beauty and luxuriance. There are two mountains parallel to each other, almost meeting at their bases, but one mile and a half apart at their summits. They enclose a beautiful little valley between them, not more than Too yards wide at the narrowest part, and widening out in both directions. The town of Nablus is situated at the narrowest part of the vAle. The mountain on the north is Ebal, that on the south Gerizim, and the vale lies east and west. An excursion was made to the summit of Mount Ebal, 1,200 feet above the vAle. Just below the summit, there is a break in the regular slope of the hill, and a small but steep valley comes up from the vale below almost to the summit, forming a vast natural amphitheater, in height equal to that of the mountain. Immediately opposite to this the steep slope of Mount Gerizim is similarly broken by a valley forming a second natural amphitheater of equal beauty and grandeur. In these two lateral valleys were assembled the twelve tribes of Israel, under Joshua, six tribes on Gerizim and six tribes on Ebal. The Levites and the ark were in the strip of the vale, and the blessings and cursings were read before the whole congregation. Nothing is wanting in the natural beauty of the site to add to the solemnity and impressiveness of such a scene.—Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 361.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—The acoustic properties of this valley (Shechem) are interesting, the more so that several times they are incidentally brought to our notice in Holy Writ, as on the occasion, when Jonathan "went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem; "and when at a far more eventful period, we read that all Israel were gathered together there, " half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal," when Joshua read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law... before all the congregation of Israel, with the women and the little ones and the strangers that were conversant among them." This very statement has been made the ground for a recent objection against the veracity of the narrative. Yet it is impossible to conceive a spot more admirably adapted for the purpose than this one, in the very center of the newly acquired land, nor one which could more exactly fulfill all the required conditions. Let us imagine the chiefs and the priests gathered in the center of the valley, the tribes stretching out as they stood in compact masses, the men of war and heads of families, half on the north and half on the south, crowding the slopes on either side, the mixed multitude, the women and the children, extending along in front till they spread into the plain beyond, but still in sight: and there is no difficulty, much less impossibility, in the problem. A single voice might be heard by many thousands, shut in and conveyed up and down by the enclosing hills. In the early morning we could not only see from Gerizim a man driving his ass down a path on Mount Ebal, but could hear every word he uttered as he urged it on; and in order to test the matter more certainly, on a subsequent occasion two of our party stationed themselves on opposite sides of the valley, and with perfect ease recited the commandments antiphonally.—The Land of Israel, p. 151.
Gibeon
Josh. 10:2.—They feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty men.
MR. GEORGE GROVE, Crystal Palace.—The traveler who pursues the northern camel-road from Jerusalem, turning off to the left at Tuleil el-Ful (Gibeah) on that branch of it which leads westward to Jaffa, finds himself, after crossing one or two stony and barren ridges, in a district of a more open character. This is the central plateau of the country, the “land of Benjamin," and these round hills are the Gibeahs, Gebas, Gibeons, and Ramahs, whose names occur so frequently in the records of this district. Retaining its ancient name almost intact, El-Jib (Gibeon) stands on the northernmost of a couple of these mamelons, just at the place where the road to the sea parts into two branches, the one by the lower level of the Wady Suleiman, the other by the heights of the Bethhorons to Lydda and Joppa.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 916.
DEAN STANLEY, D. D.—The village of El-Jib, both by its name and situation, is incontestably identified with the ancient Gibeon.—Sinai and Palestine, P. 212.
REV. W. M. THOMSON, D. D.—El-Jib, the Gibeon of the Bible, is situated on an isolated and rocky hill of moderate elevation, with plains, valleys, and higher mountains all around it. Remains of ancient buildings, tombs, and quarries indicate a large and important city, though it is now a miserable hamlet.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 545.
Battle of Beth-Horon
Josh. 10:10, 11.—And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
MR. GEORGE GROVE, Crystal Palace.—There is no room for doubt that the two Beth-horons still survive in the modern villages of Beit'ur et-Tahta and Beit'ur el-Tôka, which were first noticed by Dr. Clarke, and have been since visited by Dr. Robinson, Mr. Stanley, and others. Besides the similarity of the name, and the fact that the two places are still designated as "upper" and "lower," all the requirements of the narrative are fulfilled in this identification. The road is still the direct one from the site which must have been Gibeon (El-Jib), and from Michmash (Mukhmas) to the Philistine Plain on the one hand, and Antipatris on the other. On the mountain which lies to the southward of the nether village is still preserved the name (Yalo) and the site of Ajalon, so closely connected with the proudest memories of Beth-horon; and the long descent between the two remains unaltered from what it was on that great day, "which was like no day before or after it." From Gibeon to the Upper Beth-horon is a distance of about four miles of broken ascent and descent. The ascent, however, predominates, and this, therefore, appears to be the "going up" to Beth-horon, which formed the first stage of Joshua's pursuit. With the upper village the descent commences; the road rough and difficult even for the mountain paths of Palestine. This rough descent from the upper to the lower Beit'ur is the “going down" to Beth-horon of the Bible narrative. Standing on the high ground of the upper village, and overlooking the wild scene, we may feel assured that it was over this rough path that the Canaanites fled to their native lowlands.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 292.
DEAN STANLEY, D. D.—The fugitives had outstripped the pursuers, they had crossed the high ridge of Beth-horon the Upper; they were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether; when, as afterward in the fight of Barak, against Sisera, one of the fearful tempests which from time to time sweep over the hills of Palestine, burst upon the disordered army, and " they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword."—Sinai and Palestine, p. 206.
DIODORUS SICULUS.—When the Persians were on their way to Delphi to spoil the temple, there arose a sudden and incredible tempest of wind and hail, with dreadful thunder and lightning, by which great rocks were rent to pieces and cast upon the heads of the Persians, destroying them by heaps. Those who survived took to flight, terrified by this portent from the immortal gods.—Diod. Sic., 1. xi., c. 1.
DR. HALLEY.—Two remarkable falls of hail happened in April and May, 1697. The latter was the most extraordinary. It occurred in Hertfordshire (England) after a storm of thunder and lightning. Several persons were killed by the hail, their bodies being beaten black and blue. Vast oaks were split by it, and fields of rye cut down as with a scythe. The stones measured from ten to fourteen inches in circumference. Their figures were various, some angular, some oval, some flat. -Philosophical Transactions, No. 229.
DR. NEIL. —A remarkable hail-fall occurred during a thunder-storm in the Orkneys, July 24th, 1818. Mingled with ordinary hail were enormous masses of ice, some as large as the egg of a goose, whereby animals were killed, and several persons wounded. —Edin. Philos. Trans., Vol. IX.
COMMODORE PORTER.—It was in the summer of 1831, at Constantinople.—We had got perhaps a mile and a half on our way down the Bosphorus, when a cloud rising in the west gave indications of an approaching rain. In a few minutes we discovered something falling from the heavens with a heavy splash, and of a whitish appearance. I could not conceive what it was, but observing some gulls near, I supposed it to be them darting for fish; but soon after discovered that they were large balls of ice falling. Immediately we heard a sound like rumbling thunder, or ten thousand carriages rolling furiously over the pavement. The whole Bosphorus was in a foam, as though heaven's artillery had been discharged upon us and our frail machine. Our fate seemed inevitable; our umbrellas were raised to protect us, the lumps of ice stripped them into ribbands. We fortunately had a bullock's hide in the boat, under which we crawled and saved ourselves from further injury. One of the three oarsmen had his hand literally smashed; another much injured in the shoulder; and all more or less injured. A smaller kaick accompanied, with my two servants. They were both disabled, and are now in bed with their wounds; the kaick was terribly bruised. It was the most awful and terrific scene that I ever witnessed, and God forbid that I should ever be exposed to such another. Balls of ice as large as my two fists fell into the boat; and some of them came with such violence as certainly to have broken an arm or leg, had they struck us in those parts. One of them struck the blade of an oar and split it. The scene lasted may be five minutes, but it was five minutes of the most awful feeling that I ever experienced. When it passed over, we found the surrounding hills covered with masses of ice, I cannot call it hail; the trees stripped of their leaves and limbs, and everything looking desolate. Two boatmen were killed in the upper part of the village of Buyukaere; and I have heard of broken Nimes in abundance. Many of the thick brick tiles with which my roof is covered are smashed to atoms, and my house was inundated by the rain that succeeded this visitation. It is impossible to convey an idea of what it was.—Quoted in Pict. Bib.
PLUTARCH.—When the business (between Timoleon and the Carthagenians) came to a decision by the sword, where art is no less requisite than strength, all of a sudden there broke out dreadful thunders from the mountains, mingled with long trails of lightning; after which the black clouds, descending from the tops of the hills, fell upon the two armies in a storm of wind, rain, and hail. The tempest was on the backs of the Greeks, but beat upon the faces of the Barbarians, and almost blinded them with the stormy showers and the fire continually streaming from the clouds.—Plut., Timol., c. 28.
LIVY.—We are told that the Gauls, when plundering Delphi, were destroyed by a storm. A like storm now discomfited the Thracians when they were approaching the summit of the mountain Donuca. They were not only overwhelmed by a deluge of rain, followed by prodigious thick showers of hail, and accompanied with tremendous noises in the sky, peals of thunder, and flashes, of lightning which dazzled their sight; but the thunderbolts also fell so thick on all sides that they seemed to be aimed at their bodies, and not only the soldiers, but their officers also were struck by them and fell. They fled therefore precipitately.—Livy, 1. xl., c. 58.
PROF. E. Loomis, LL. D.—The size of hailstones varies from one-tenth of an inch or less in diameter to more than four inches. On the 13th of August, 1851, about 1 P. M., hailstones fell in New Hampshire weighing eighteen ounces. The stones were somewhat porous and of irregular shape, and their largest circumference exceeded fifteen inches. A few years since, hailstones weighing sixteen ounces fell in the city of Pittsburgh, and hailstones weighing over half a pound have fallen in several places of the United States. On the 7th of May, 1822, there fell at Bonn, in Germany, hailstones weighing from twelve to thirteen ounces, and stones weighing half a pound have repeatedly fallen in France and Italy. On the 22nd of May, 1851, in the southern part of India, many hailstones fell about the size of oranges.—Treatise on Meteorology, p. 129, 530.
Trampling on the Vanquished
Josh 10:24.—Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
JOHN KITTO, D. D., F. S. A.—This was anciently a common form of expressing triumph over a fallen adversary. When the Persian king Sapor took captive the Roman emperor Valerian, he, for some time, used to put his feet upon his neck when he mounted his horse; and after long captivity, caused him to be flayed. The custom is indeed recorded even on the rocks of the East. One very striking instance appears at Besitoon, in the ancient Media, where the sculptured face of the rock represents a conquering monarch standing with one foot upon the body of a conquered king, whose hands are uplifted in supplication. Another sculptured rock in the same neighborhood represents a crowned figure with one foot upon the head and the other between the shoulders of a prostrate king. The same custom is frequently indicated in the sculptures of Egypt.—Pict. Bib. In loco.
QUINTUS CURTIUS.—Dioxippus, having thrown his enemy Horratas to the ground, drew his sword, and standing over him, placed his foot upon his neck. —Q. Curt., lib. ix., c. 7.
GIBBON.—We are told that Valerian, in chains, but invested with the imperial purple, was exposed to the multitude, a constant spectacle of fallen greatness; and that whenever the Persian monarch mounted on horseback, he placed his foot on the neck of the Roman emperor.—Decline and Fall, chap. x.
ROBERTS.—This, in the East, is a favorite way of triumphing over a fallen foe. In the history of the battles of the gods or giants, particular mention is made of the closing scene-how the conquerors went and trampled on their enemies. Orient. Illust., p. 135.
Eglon and Lachish
Josh. 10:34.-And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it: and they took it on that day.
PROF. J. LESLIE PORTER, M. A.—" From Lachish Joshua passed on to Eglon," and so did we. We were now in the track of the great conqueror, treading the very soil which he trod more than thirty centuries ago, and visiting the sites of those royal cities which he wrested from the Canaanite kings. As we read the brief narrative of his marches and his victories, we are struck with the minute accuracy of his topography. The distance from Lachish to Eglon is just about two miles; and it was thus easy for the Israelites, after the capture of the former, to march on the latter, and “take it the same day."—Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 213.
Chariots of War
Josh. 11:4.—And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people even as the sand that is upon the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
PROF. G. RAWLINSON, M. A.—The military power of the northern races, the Hittites and their allies, is represented in Joshua as consisting especially in the multitude of their chariots. This agrees with the Egyptian accounts, which similarly make the chariots of the Sheta their main force.—Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament, p. 101.
Taanach and Megiddo
Josh. 17:11.—And Manasseh had... Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns.
MR. GEORGE GROVE, Cryst. Pal.—Taanach is almost always named in company with Megiddo, and they were evidently the chief towns of that fine rich district which forms the western portion of the great plain of Esdraelon. There they art still to be found. The identification of Ta' annuk with Taanach may be taken as one of the surest in the whole Sacred Topography. It was known to Eusebius, who mentions it twice in the Onomasticon, as " a very' large village," standing between three and four Roman miles from Legio—the ancient Megiddo.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 3130.
The Hornet
Josh. 24:12.—And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword nor with thy bow.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—Instances are on record in profane history where hornets have multiplied to such a degree as to become a pest to the inhabitants. The furious attack of a swarm of hornets drives cattle or horses to madness, and has even caused, the death of the animals. From the terror they inspire, their attacks may be spoken of in a metaphorical sense, like the Greek and Latin Æstrus, or Gadfly, to signify the panic and alarm with' which the approach of the hosts of Israel would inspire the Canaanites. In the Holy Land we found four species, all very common, but none of them identical with our hornet. When any of our horses had accidentally trodden on a nest, it was necessary to retreat with all speed, for the attack of the enraged insects at once caused a stampede throughout the camp.—Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 322.