Sôba to Gibeah, would naturally pass in the vicinity of Rachel's tomb. If he took the present direct road from Sôba to Jerusalem or its vicinity, passing near el-Kŭstůl, he certainly would not approach the sepulchre of Rachel; but if, crossing the great Wady Isma'în, he followed up Wady el-Werd, he would by this detour come near enough to the sepulchre to satisfy all the conditions of the case. It is sufficient, if we suppose that the Zelzah mentioned lay on the high ground north of Rachel's tomb, not far from the convent of Mår Elyâs, or more probably still further towards the northwest. The distance from Sôba to the vicinity of Jerusalem, on the direct course, as we have seen, is two and a half hours; on the route along Wady el-Werd and the valley of Rephaim it would probably be three hours or more. So that, other circumstances being equal, the identity of the name might perhaps be held to counterbalance the apparent circuitousness of the route.' The other difficulty refers not to Sôba alone, but to every position of Ramah which places it on the south of Benjamin. Elkanah, the father of Samuel, is said to have been a "man of Ramathaim-Zophim, of Mount Ephraim;" which certainly implies that the city itself was situated on Mount Ephraim. Here then apparently is a circumstance directly at variance with our preceding conclusion; since the mountains south of Benjamin belong not to Ephraim, but to Judah. But as the circumstances above adduced seem conclusively to fix the position of this Ramah on the south of Benjamin, may we not suppose that the mountains of Ephraim continued to bear that name quite through the land of Benjamin; much as the Swiss mountains may be said to extend into Italy, or the Welsh mountains into England? This indeed has been assumed by Bachiene, on the ground that in the first division of the land by Joshua at Gilgal, the territory of Benjamin was actually given to Ephraim; not having been assigned to Benjamin until the later division at Shiloh. All this may be true in part; but still, the heights round about the sepulchre of Rachel, could not well have been any other than the mountains of Judah. There is however another consideration, which seems to relieve the position of Sôba from the difficulty in question, and thus adds something to the probability of its identity with Ramah. I have already remarked, that the mountain ridge west 1 On comparing upon the map the positions of Soba, Rachel's tomb, and Jerusalem or Gibeah, I am free to confess, that the circuitous route required by the above view, is too great to admit of very much reliance being placed upon the reasoning in the text. Still, the apparent identity of the name, and the further corroborating circumstances presented in the text, restrain me from at once rejecting the hypothesis.. 1 Sam. 1, 1. Th. sq. Josh. c. 16. c. 18, 1 sq. See Bachiene of Wady Beit Hanina, of which the hill of Sôba forms a part, is a continuation of the ridge of Neby Samwil and the high grounds around, extending in the southwest quite out to the plain at the mouth of Wady Surâr.' Now all this mountainous tract stands in immediate connection with the proper mountains of Ephraim around el-Bîreh and further north; it is separated entirely by the great Wady Beit Hanîna from the proper mountains of Judah towards the south; and further, as we shall see, the greater part of it did not even fall within the later limits of the tribe of Judah. Under these circumstances, it seems not too much to assume, that this tract west of the great Wady, a regular continuation of Mount Ephraim, including Neby Samwil, might have continued to bear the name of Ephraim; while the Wady would naturally form the dividing line between this range and the proper mountains of Judah. That the name Mount Ephraim did actually thus extend through Benjamin, is rendered probable by the fact, that we nowhere hear of any mountains of Benjamin; and further, the rebel Sheba, a Benjamite, is also said to have been "a man of Mount Ephraim.' In view of all these suggestions, it seems to me, that the hypothesis which would identify Sôba with the Ramah of Samuel is not without some slight grounds of support; and, in the total absence of anything more definite, is not perhaps to be wholly rejected without consideration.-Yet after all, there is perhaps a question lying back of this whole discussion, viz. Whether the city where Saul and the servant came to Samuel was his own city Ramah ? The name of the city is nowhere given; and the answer of the maidens would perhaps rather imply that Samuel had just arrived, possibly on one of his yearly circuits, in which he judged Israel in various cities." 5 Another topic which immediately connects itself with the preceding, is the common border between Judah and Benjamin; of which two accounts in an inverse order are given in the book of Joshua. We have already traced it, as it went up from the well of Nehemiah through the valley of Hinnom to the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From that point it was drawn to the water of Nephtoah; and as it passed also by Zelzah not far from Rachel's sepulchre,' it would seem to have followed the plain of Rephaim and so along the Wady el-Werd to 'Ain Yâlo. See the account of this region, p. 5, above. * 2 Sam. 20, 1. 21. All direct tradition respecting the Ramah of Samuel seems to have been very early lost; see above, Vol. I. p. 459. 1 Sam. 9, 6 sq. Ibid. v. 11. 12. 1 Sam. 7, 15-17, "and Samuel... went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places; and his return was to Ramah; for there was his house." Josh. 15, 5-10. 18, 14-19. See under En-Rogel, Vol. I. p. 333. ⚫ 1 Sam. 10, 2. This fountain would then answer to Nephtoah; unless we choose to refer the latter with less probability to 'Ain Kârim, the fountain near the convent of St. John in the Desert. In either case, the next point in the border is the long lost city KirjathJearim. The probable position of this ancient city engaged much of our attention, all the time we were in Jerusalem and the vicinity; without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion. At first, as we know, Kirjath-Jearim, like Beeroth (el-Bîreh), belonged to the territory of Gibeon, and could not therefore well have been very far distant from that city. At a later period, the ark was brought thither from Beth-shemesh; the place was rebuilt and inhabited after the exile; and Eusebius and Jerome speak of it in their day, as a village nine or ten miles from Jerusalem on the way to Diospolis (Lydda). These circumstances, taken together, have quite recently suggested to my mind, whether, after all, the ancient Kirjath-Jearim is not to be recognised in the present Kuryet el-'Enab? The first part of the name (Kirjath, Kuryet, signifying city) is the same in both, and is most probably ancient; being found in Arabic proper names only in Palestine and Syria, and not very frequently even there. The only change then has been, that the ancient City of Forests' has in modern times become the 'City of Grapes." The modern place too is situated on the direct way from Jerusalem to Ramleh and Lydda, just three hours or nine Roman miles from the former city, lying west of Neby Samwil, and therefore not far remote from el-Jib or Gibeon. But Thus then we have a place corresponding both in name and position to the ancient Kirjath-Jearim. I am aware of no objection to this hypothesis; except perhaps the assertion of Josephus, that Kirjath-Jearim was near to Beth-shemesh." the expression 'neighbour city,' is too indefinite to weigh against the preceding considerations; especially as the actual distance does not exceed three or four hours. It might also be asked, Why then, supposing Sôba to have been the Ramah of Samuel, the men of Beth-shemesh should not rather have caused the ark to be transferred to that place, as being nearer than Kir name 'Anâb is still found beyond Hebron ; see above, Vol. I. p. 494. A Betoannaba is spoken of a few miles from Lydda, probably Beit Núba; Reland Pal. p. 661. Joseph. Antiq. 6. 1. 4, yeltova wÓλIV Tois Boaμltais. The same writer says too that Hebron was "not far from Jerusalem," où xóßßw 'lepoσoλúμæv, B. J. 4. 9. 9. Compare also Acts 9, 38. jath-Jearim? But at that time Samuel was still a child, and his native place was probably a small village, having neither the size nor the renown to which it afterwards attained, when it became one of the seats where Samuel judged Israel.' The monks have found the Anathoth of Jeremiah at Kuryet el-'Enab. There was formerly here a convent of the Minorites with a Latin church. The latter remains entirely deserted, but not in ruins; and is one of the largest and most solidly constructed churches in Palestine." Assuming therefore the site of Kirjath-Jearim at the modern Kuryet el-'Enab, the border between Judah and Benjamin probably passed from Nephtoah down the Wady el-Werd, perhaps to its junction with the great Wady; and then across the intervening ridge (on which Sôba is situated) to the valley of Kuryet el-'Enab. This would give a distinct line of valleys separating the two tribes, from the valley of Hinnom for most of the way around to Kirjath-Jearim. From this place, the west border of Benjamin seems to have been drawn obliquely down the mountain to the nether Beth-horon ; while the border of Judah turned westward, perhaps along the ridge between the two branches of Wady Ghurub to Kesla, whence it descended to Beth-shemesh in the mouth of Wady es-Sărâr. Thus originally a corner of Judah ran up for some distance on the west side of Benjamin; including apparently at first the whole breadth of the mountainous tract west of Kirjath-Jearim; for Zorah (Sur'ah), which lay upon the high ground north of Bethshemesh, belonged at first to the tribe of Judah; though subsequently this, and probably the adjacent mountain tract, was assigned to the tribe of Dan.-From Beth-shemesh the border of Judah passed near Timnath and Ekron to Jabneel, apparently the same with Jabneh (Yebna); thus following still the general course of the great valley to the sea." 1 Sam. 7, 16. 17.-There can be no question, but that the ark was brought to Kirjath-Jearim itself; 1 Sam. 7, 2. 1 Chron. 13, 5. 6. But in 2 Sam. 6, 3. 4, both the English version and Luther place the house of Abinadab in Gibeah; and it might therefore seem as if the Gibeah (now Jeb'ah) of Judah was meant, and that KirjathJearim lay near it, not far from Wady el-Musǎrr; see above p. 5. But not to dwell upon the fact, that this would bring Kirjath-Jearim quite away from Gibeon (el-Jib), and far from any road leading from Jerusalem to Nicopolis, I would remark, that the Hebrew na may in this passage properly be rendered a hill; ' and is actually so rendered by the Sept. (8 Boùvos) both here and in 1 Sam. 7, 1. In this last passage also the English version gives it by "hill;" while Luther maintains his consistency at least, and writes Gibeah. The rendering "hill" is indeed necessary, in order to preserve the consistency of the narrative; which represents the ark as carried, not to Gibeah, but to Kirjath-Jearim. See Bonifacius, quoted by Quaresinius Tom. II. p. 14 sq. Josh. 18, 14. Josh. 15, 33. 19, 41. Leaving the high ground west of Wady Bittir at 12.20, we began to descend very gradually towards the village el-Hûsân over a rocky tract. After fifteen minutes we were opposite the head of Wady el-Musŭrr, deep below us on the left; in which appeared a small village called Nühhâlîn bearing S. 5° W. From it the Wady ran W. S. W. The village Hûsân was close on our right at 12.40. Proceeding along the high water-shed between the Wadys Musŭrr and el-Werd, we had not far distant on the left, a village called Fûkîn, which at 1.10 bore S. S. W. It was somewhere about this time, that we came in sight of a place with ruins on the brow of the high mountain ridge towards the south, called Jedûr; which is doubtless the same as the Gedor of the mountains of Judah.' This remained in sight for the whole day. Jeb'ah likewise on its conical hill in Wady Musurr, was continually before our eyes. At 1.40 we came upon the ancient highway from Jerusalem to Askelon and Gaza, which comes down along or across Wady el-Werd from the plain of Rephaim or the tract further west. This road we should have taken from Jerusalem, had we not gone round by Beit Jâla. At the same point was a small ruin on the left called 'Adas. Wishing to visit Beit 'Atâb, in the hope of being able to see much of the country from that lofty spot, we left the ancient road again after five minutes, and turning more to the right proceeded in that direction. As we advanced the hills became more covered and green with shrubs and bushes, chiefly the prickly oak mingled with arbutus. The country however was little cultivated, and most of the villages were deserted or in ruins. At five minutes past two, a small ruin, Hûbîn, was below us in a valley running to the left, bearing S. S. W. At the same time Beit 'Atâb bore N. 75° W. A ruined Khân was also visible at some distance upon the ancient road, bearing S. 65° W. It We reached Beit 'Atâb at ten minutes before 3 o'clock. is situated on a high hill, and is seen from all parts of the country around; but although it overlooks a great extent of the lower region towards the south and west, yet it does not afford so extensive a view of places, as we had hoped to find. The country is full of sites of ruins and villages, some inhabited and some deserted, at least for portions of the year. Beit 'Atâb has several high, square, tower-like houses of two stories; the rest are small and low; but all are of stone, solidly built. In the centre is a ruined tower or castle; but so dilapidated as to be nearly lost among the houses. The place contains perhaps one hundred and fifty men, or a population of six or seven hundred souls. It is the chief town of the district 'Arküb, belonging to the pro 'Josh. 15, 58. 1 Chron. 12, 7. It is doubtful whether the narrative in 1 Chron. 1, 39, refers to the same place. |