vi. The women and children picking out from the wheat

the tall green stalks, called by the Arabs _Zurwân_, = the Greek _Zizania_, = the _Lollia_ of the Vulgate, = the _tares_ of our version, which if sown designedly throughout the fields would be inseparable from the wheat, from which, even when growing naturally and by chance, these are at first sight hardly distinguishable;

vii. The _mustard-tree_ (in Arabic _Khadel_, in Hebrew _Chardal_, in N.W. India _Khardel_), growing especially on the shores of the Lake, [as also near Damascus, Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea], rising from _a small seed_ into a _large shrub or tree_, 25 ft. high, and producing numerous branches and leaves, among which _the birds take shelter_.

viii. The great _fisheries_, which once made the fame of Gennesaret, with

(1) the busy fishermen plying

(a) the _drag-net_, or _hawling-net_, σαγήνη (Mtt. xiii. 47, 48), the Latin _tragum_ or _tragula_, the English _seine_ or _sean_, sometimes half a mile in length (Trench, _Parables_, 134, n.);

(b) the _casting-net_, ἀμφίβληστρον (Mtt. iv. 18; Mk. i. 16), the Latin _funda_ or _jaculum_, circular in shape, “like the top of a tent” (Thomson, _L. and B._ 402);

(c) the _bag-net and basket-net_, so constructed and worked as to enclose the fish out in deep water (Lk. v. 4–9), Thomson, p. 402.

(2) “The marvellous shoals of fish of various kinds, the most striking phenomenon of the lake” (Tristram, p. 432).

318 ‒ With reference to the sudden and violent tempests, to which the lake is exposed, “we must remember,” writes Thomson, “that it lies low, 600 feet lower than the ocean; that the vast and naked plateaus of the Jaulan rise to a great height, spreading backwards to the wilds of the Hauran, and upward to snowy Hermon; that the water-courses have cut out profound ravines, and wild gorges converging to the head of the lake, and that these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains. And moreover, these winds are not only violent, but they come down suddenly, and often when the sky is perfectly clear,” _The Land and the Book_, p. 374; Tristram, p. 430.

319 ‒ The MSS. in all three Evangelists vary in their readings between Γαδαρηνῶν, Γερασηνῶν, and Γεργεσηνῶν. Gadara, the capital of Peræa, lay S.E. of the southern extremity of Gennesaret, at a distance of about sixty stadia from Tiberias, its country being called Gadaritis. Gerasa lay on the extreme E. limit of Peræa, and was too far from the lake to give its name to any district on its borders. It is the opinion of Dr Thomson that St Matthew, “writing for those intimately acquainted with the topography of the country in detail, names the obscure and exact locality _Gergesa_, while SS. Mark and Luke, writing for those at a distance, simply name the country _Gadara_, as a place of importance, and acknowledged as the capital of the district.” Directly opposite Gennesaret this traveller visited some ruins called by his guide _Kerza_ or _Gersa_, which he identifies with the Gergesa of St Matthew, _Land and Book_, p. 375.

320 ‒ Trench, _Miracles_, p. 170.

321 ‒ Εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον (Lk. viii. 31), translated in the English version _the deep_, which leads to a confusion of ideas. The word occurs here and in Rom. x. 7, where also _Hell_ would be the better translation, and several times in Revelation, as ix. 1, 2, 11; xi. 7; xvii. 8; xx. 1, 3; in which places it corresponds to τάρταρος Tartarus, and γέεννα Gehenna (2 Pet. ii. 4), Trench, _Miracles_, p. 171, n.

322 ‒ At _Kerza_ or _Gersa_, “while there is no precipice running sheer to the sea, but a narrow belt of beach, the bluff behind is so steep, and the shore so narrow, that a herd of swine, rushing frantically down, must certainly have been overwhelmed in the lake before they could recover themselves,” Tristram, p. 462.

323 ‒ Trench, _Miracles_, p. 176.

324 ‒ Decapolis, “the ten cities” (Mtt. iv. 25; Mk. v. 20; vii. 31), all lay, with the exception of Scythopolis, East of the Jordan, and to the E. and S.E. of the sea of Galilee. They were, 1. Scythopolis, 2. Hippos, 3. Gadara, 4. Pella, 5. Philadelphia, 6. Gerasa, 7. Dion, 8. Canatha, 9. Abila, 10. Capitolias. They were rebuilt, partially colonized, and endowed with peculiar privileges immediately after the conquest of Syria by the Romans, B.C. 65. The limits of the territory of Decapolis were not very clearly defined, and the word was sometimes used to designate a large district extending along both sides of the Jordan: see Smith’s _Bibl. Dict._

325 ‒ Trench, _Miracles_, p. 181.

326 ‒ Trench, _Miracles_, p. 186.

327 ‒ Such is the usual explanation of γενέσια. Wieseler, however, and others, consider it refers to a feast kept in honour of his accession to the throne, and so make the date of the Baptist’s execution April 11, A.U.C. 782, since Herod the Great died a few days before the Passover, A.U.C. 750. Wieseler’s _Synopsis_, p. 265; Andrews, p. 254.

328 ‒ Bethsaida-Julias was at the N.E. extremity of the lake of Gennesaret. It had been a village, but was rebuilt and adorned by Herod Philip, who raised it to the dignity of a town, and called it Julias after the daughter of Augustus (Jos. _Ant._ XVIII. 2. 1; _B. J._ II. 9. 1; III. 10. 7).

329 ‒ Jos. _Ant._ XVIII. 5. 2.

330 ‒ Greswell, _Harm._ III. 428, thinks that during the earlier period of the Saviour’s ministry Herod had either been engaged in hostilities with Aretas, or had been on a visit to Rome, whither he went about this time, and so had remained ignorant of what had already taken place. The late mission of the Twelve would be very likely to rouse attention, indicating, as it apparently did, a purpose to disseminate His doctrine more widely, and to make disciples in larger numbers, Andrews, p. 256.

331 ‒ Trench, _Miracles_, p. 262.

332 ‒ Trench, p. 262.

333 ‒ “There is now, and probably always was, one characteristic feature of the Eastern side of the Lake――its _desert character_. Partly this arises from its near exposure to the Bedouin tribes, partly from its less abundance of springs and streams. There is no recess in the Eastern hills; no towns along its banks corresponding to those in the Plain of Gennesaret. Thus the wilder regions became a natural refuge from the active life of the Western shores.” Stanley’s _S. and P._ 379.

334 ‒ Compare Trench, _Miracles_, p. 264.

335 ‒ Consisting some of 50, some of 100, and, in the graphic words of St Mark, showing like so many _garden plots_ (πρασιαὶ πρασιαὶ), on the green turf. “Our English ‘_in ranks_,’ does not reproduce the picture to the eye, giving rather the notion of continuous lines. Wiclif’s was better, ‘_by parties_.’ Perhaps ‘_in groups_’ would be as near as we could get to it in English,” Trench, _Miracles_, p. 265. “In the parts of the plain not cultivated by the hand of man would be found _the much green grass_ (Mk. vi. 39; Jn.