CHAPTER XII.

JOURNEY FROM JERUSALEM BACK TO THE COAST BY GIBEON, EMMAUS, BETH-HORON, and Lydda.

TIME passes, and at last my preparations for leaving Jerusalem were completed. Soon after mid-day I left the city along the road to Bethel, and bade a last farewell to Zion. I was accompanied by my travelling companion as before, and for a few miles by a friend from Jerusalem, a faithful servant of Christ and missionary of the Jews. We were followed by Solomon our dragoman, and a sufficient portion of horses, mules, and muleteers. I passed through the encampment of Turkish soldiers without the walls. It had all the accompaniments of oriental pomp. The tents were covered with black lamb-skins for the soldiers, and with striped cloth for those of the officers. The horses, splendidly harnessed, were fastened by the fore fetlock-joint. There was a small display of artillery respectably mounted on carriages. This guard is stationed here to check the savage Bedouins, who acknowledge no master, and to enforce the payment of tribute from strangers, whether entering or leaving the Holy City. Thus the recollections of the Mussulman, no less than those of the Christian, inspire a reverential feeling for the town in which David dwelt, and in which Christ was

264

GIHON-MIZPEH-HOUSE OF ZACHARIAS.

crucified. Turning to the right, I crossed the line of the ravine, and proceeded west by north till I came to the upper fountain of Gihon. It is dug in the rock like the pools of Solomon beyond Bethlehem, plastered within, and supported by buttresses. Here Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king over Israel. Entering the mountains, the paths become rugged. The hills unite at their bottom, but are rounded off at the top, and scanty verdure covers their sides. Ruined cottages and convents are seen everywhere, with a few solitary trees dotting the slopes. Proceeding over the hill, I came to the convent of the Holy cross, and then to the tombs of the illustrious Maccabees. Again I had a distant view of the country of the prophet Samuel, his birth and burial place, and of the site of Mizpeh, a city of Benjamin, where the tribes often assembled, where Samuel offered sacrifice and judged the people, and where Saul was chosen king by lot. Here too is said by some to be Shiloh, so long a station of the Ark.

Our missionary friend pointed out the convent of St. John where the Baptist was born. I was delighted to cast my eyes on the reputed scene of the interview mentioned in the Gospels between the mother of our Lord and the mother of his forerunner. "And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill-country with haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo,

CAVE OF JOHN-VALLEY OF ELAH.

265

as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his hand-maid: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." How important was the subject of these mutual gratulations! Mark, too, that the two babes were still but in the womb; but both mothers were instructed from heaven of the high character of those to whom they were to give birth. I passed the cave of St. John. It is situated on the edge of a deep rocky ravine, the vicinity still abounding in locust trees, indicating that whatever may have been the food of the Baptist, the fruit of this tree is what the early Christians understood by the locusts mentioned in the Gospel. Close by the cave there is a small fountain of fresh water supplied by a stream from the rock; and also the ruins of a small monastery that had been built over the early residence of the forerunner of Christ.

I next descended into the valley of Turpentine, or Elah, to visit the scene of the conflict between the youthful David and Goliath; than which, whether taken as a mere historical detail, or considered as the stepping-stone of a herd-boy to the crown of a powerful state, nothing can be more remarkable. Of all the speeches recorded as spoken by warriors on the field of battle in ancient or modern times, was there ever a better than that of the stripling son of the aged Jesse? "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I

Ꮓ

266 SCENE OF DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." So it was, and so it has ever been in all the battles that ever were fought in every age and portion of the world."For all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou!" Elah is a narrow valley running from east to west, with a small stream quite dried up when and where I visited it. The place of encampment was carefully pointed out, by my very intelligent friend the missionary. It is at a bend of the valley, and where it narrows into a broad deep ravine. surveyed it from the spot where David is said to have gathered his five smooth stones, and I selected the same number and sort of stones to bring home as a remembrance of the place. A well of water under the bank, with a few olive trees above, is said to mark the spot of the Shepherd's triumph over the impious and haughty champion of Gath. It was told me that when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh, to meet David, he halted at the foot of a rock, which I noticed, and leant his huge body and back on the face of it, when David hastened and ran towards the army to meet the Philistine. "And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth." Dr. Richardson says Saul and his men probably occupied the side of the valley which is nearest to Jerusalem, on which

We

ESHCOL-BATTLE-FIELD OF JOSHUA.

267

the ground is higher and more rugged than on the other side, which was occupied by the Philistines. Not so as it was pointed out to me. The back of the Philistines was said to be towards Jerusalem, as also was the face of Saul and his host. The fact of the Philistines retreating to Ekron, and David bringing the head to Jerusalem, seems to be nothing to the purpose. I here parted with my friend and fellowdisciple of our Lord, who had shown me no little kindness in Jerusalem, and whom I hope to meet in the new Jerusalem above.

I passed on the left the valley of Sorek, said to be the Eshcol of olden times, from whose vine-clad brook the spies carried away the enormous cluster of grapes which furnished the Tribes in the wilderness with ocular demonstration of the fertility of their promised possessions. I saw the battlefield where Joshua gained the victory over the five kings at Gibeon, "and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon; and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. Then spake Joshua, and said in the sight of all Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it, or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel." The afternoon was by this time far spent, and it had been arranged before starting from Jerusalem to stop for the night at Upper Beth-horon. I was still far from it; the path was rugged and almost trackless over among the mountains of Judea, and to a certainty I was again to be overtaken by darkness. Following the track of the routed army of the five kings as near as we could, and taking rather