CHAPTER II.

THE JOURNEY TO JOPPA.

The crowing of the cock had already announced the near approach of morning, yet all was still in the streets of Jerusalem and in the temple, when Elisama, Helon, and the faithful Sallu, their upper garments girt short around them, with sandals on their feet, and staves in their hands, passed through the gate of Ephraim, and took the road to Anathoth.

They entered the territory of the tribe of Benjamin as soon as they had passed the gate. Jerusalem lay on the confines of Judah and Benjamin, as the metropolis of the whole people, and not belonging to any one tribe exclusively. Since the return from the captivity the distinction of the tribes had been obliterated, with the exception of that of Levi, and, strictly speaking, only the name remained in the case of the others, as a cherished memorial of former times.

A beautiful and fruitful plain, yet with something of declivity, lay before them, the only level ground in the immediate vicinity of the city. On whichever side you quit Jerusalem, the ground falls, for Jerusalem stands elevated and conspicuous on the surface of the earth, as it does in the history of the world. It was growing light when they came into the King’s valley, so called because it was here that Melchisedec, priest of the Most High God and King of Salem had met Abram,[9] returning triumphant from his battle with Chedorlaomer and his confederate kings, and brought wine and bread to the patriarch and blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” Here too the king of Sodom came to meet Abram. They passed along this beautiful valley, which was beginning to be brightened by the first beams of the sun; the sickle of the reapers was heard on every side, and they congratulated themselves on being permitted to visit scenes where holy men had walked. “These,” said Elisama, “are truly consecrated spots; the memory of the events which passed here lives from generation to generation, and has outlasted the pillar which Absalom raised yonder, hoping to perpetuate his name by this monument, when he had no son to preserve it.[10] He had no son, because he had shown that he could not teach him to honour a father; his monument has disappeared; no man mentions the pillar of Absalom; but the friendly meeting of the kings will be handed down to the latest posterity, in the name which this valley bears.”

Footnote 9:

Gen. xiv. 18.

Footnote 10:

2 Sam. xviii. 18.

Helon was silent; for he perceived that his uncle had involuntarily awakened a thought in his own mind, which never failed to give him pain. Elisama had no children, and he regarded this as a grievous punishment from heaven, for some unknown sin which he had committed. With an agitated voice he turned to Helon and gave him his hand; “Be thou,” he said, “my son! Like Absalom, I have sinned. I did indeed honour my father to his dying day; but the ways of the Lord are unsearchable; he is righteous, and it becomes me to say with David, 'Who can tell how often he transgresseth! Cleanse thou me from secret faults.'”

“I am thy son,” replied Helon, and pressed Elisama’s hand. “But here while Israel rejoices around us, in this lovely valley, in the blessing of the harvest, let joy and thankfulness alone occupy our minds.”

They proceeded on their way. The fields of barley stood, golden ripe, on either side of the road; troops of reapers were on their way to the harvest, and the sound of the sickle, the song of the labourer, and the rolling of the threshing-wain resounded through the air. While rows of the reapers were busy in cutting down the grain, others were binding up the sheaves, tying the stalks not far from the ears. Here a corner of the field was left for the poor;[11] there a field already reaped was affording them a gleaning. Some were carrying their sheaves to the threshing-floor, others were loading them on waggons to convey them thither. They past one of these threshing-floors: it was an open place in the fields, where the soil had been made hard and smooth by stamping; the width was on an average from thirty to forty paces, and oxen, unmuzzled, according to the law, were treading out the grain.[12] In another, which belonged to a rich man, a servant sat upon the threshing-wain, guiding the beasts, who dragged this machine, with its iron-shod wheels, over the sheaves, while another, following behind, shook up the straw with a fork. All were enlivening their various labours with a song; and such passages as these might frequently be heard,

He watereth the hills from his chambers, The earth is satisfied with the fruit of his works. He causeth grass to grow for cattle, And herb for the service of man, Bringing forth bread out of the earth.—Ps. civ.

Or this,

Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; Thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks, The vallies also are covered over with corn, They shout for joy and sing.—Ps. lxv.

Footnote 11:

Lev. xix. 9.

Footnote 12:

Deut. xxv. 4.

The travellers joined in these festive songs, and, according to ancient custom, pronounced, at every field which they passed, the benediction,

The blessing of Jehovah be upon you! We bless you in the name of Jehovah.—Ps. cxxix. 8.

Helon felt now the full force of the prophecy of Jehovah by Isaiah;[13] “They joy before thee, according to the joy in harvest.” They had travelled about three sabbath-days' journies through this exhilarating scene, when they reached the little town of Anathoth; their road to Joppa did not necessarily take them through it, but it was the birth-place of Jeremiah, and Elisama and Helon could not refuse themselves the pleasure of hallowing the remembrance of the prophet, who had been the guest of their family, on his own natal soil. It was here that this man of God had spent his childhood—here, as a youth, he had received the call of Jehovah; and when Helon, in his boyish days, had heard from his father or his mother, or his uncle, any anecdote of their prophet, the names of Jeremiah and of Anathoth bad always been connected together.

Footnote 13:

Isaiah ix. 3.

They halted at the gate, and asked to be shown the field of Hanameel, which Jeremiah bought from the son of his father’s brother,[14] when the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, a transaction which Jehovah designed to be an omen that the people then dispersed should be again collected together, and return to occupy their ancient possessions. “For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, they shall still buy houses, fields, and vineyards in this land.” One of the severest denunciations of the prophet, was that delivered against Anathoth, in which, as his own city, he was least held in honour.

Footnote 14:

Jer. xxxvii. 7.

Thus saith Jehovah against the men of Anathoth, Who seek thy life and command thee, “Prophesy not in the name of Jehovah Lest thou die by our hand.” Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Behold, I will punish them: The young men shall die by the sword; Their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, And there shall be no remnant of them. For I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth In the time when I visit them.—Jer. xi.

It was fearfully accomplished on this city of the priests; but so was also the word spoken at the purchase of the field of Hanameel; for at the return from the captivity one hundred and twenty-eight men undertook to rebuild the city of their fathers.[15]

Footnote 15:

Ezra ii. 23.

Helon’s ancestors, strictly speaking, derived their extraction from this city of the priests in the tribe Benjamin, and therefore he regarded this as his own city. He imagined a resemblance between himself, as he was now about to assume the sacerdotal office, and the calling of the prophet Jeremiah, and repeated the account of it to his uncle, as they returned from seeing the field of Hanameel.

The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, “Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee, And before thou camest forth out of the womb I had chosen thee, And I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” And I replied, “Ah, Lord God! Behold I cannot speak; For I am a child.” But the Lord said unto me, “Say not, I am a child: For thou shalt go to all to whom I shall send thee, And thou shalt speak whatsoever I command thee. Be not afraid of them; For I am with thee to help thee;” So saith Jehovah. Then Jehovah put forth his hand And touched my mouth, And said to me, “Behold I put my words into thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee before nations and kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build up and to plant again.”—Jer. i.

But he had scarcely repeated this passage, when he began humbly to feel that it would be better for him to keep all such comparisons out of view. He left this remarkable place with regret; but it had ceased for several generations to be the abode of his ancestors; Elisama had neither kindred nor even acquaintance there, and they had a long journey still before them.

They left Mizpah, Emmaus, Rama, and Kiriath-jearim to the north. Helon lamented that they could not visit them all, but must bend their course directly from Anathoth to Bethshemesh. Bethshemesh is the ancient city of the priests in Judah, to which the alarmed Philistines brought back the ark of the covenant, and where blamable curiosity respecting sacred things was severely punished.[16]

Footnote 16:

1 Sam. vi. 19.

From Bethshemesh they followed the road to Modin, a spot which their admiration and loyalty towards the Maccabees would not allow them to pass without notice. What could be more interesting to sons of Israel, who had just come from a land which was still a house of bondage to their nation, than the place where the heroes who had emancipated Judah had begun their work in the might of Jehovah, and with his blessing. In this little village of Modin lived the pious father with his five valiant sons, whose family bore the name of the _Hammerer_, Maccabæus. When the frenzy of Antiochus Epiphanes had arisen to the highest pitch, and Jerusalem bent beneath his oppression, the aged Mattathias, in this insignificant spot, declared, “Though all nations in the dominions of the king obey him, so that every one falleth away from the worship of his fathers, and obeyeth the commands of the king, yet I and my sons and my brothers will not depart from the law of our fathers.”[17] So he spoke, and punished the first apostate whom he saw, and overturned the altars of the king, not in blind unauthorized fury, but in holy zeal for the rights of his people. He and his family quitted their abode, took refuge in the mountains, and collected around them the noblest and the bravest of the nation. The father died; but his spirit rested upon his sons; one after another fought and conquered for the law of Jehovah; until at length, the son of Simon, our Hyrcanus, obtained the meed of so many exploits, in the united dignities of prince and priest.

Footnote 17:

1 Maccab. ii.

Simon, in the brilliant days of his prosperity, caused the sepulchre of his family to be enlarged, and made it one of the most splendid works of architecture in the country. Elisama and Helon hastened to visit it, and admired the lofty work of hewn stones, the seven pyramids raised upon it in honour of the five sons and their parents, the tall columns which surrounded it, and the emblems of their victories carved in stone upon the monument.[18]

Footnote 18:

1 Maccab. xiii. 27.

“May Jehovah increase them a thousand times!” said Elisama. “May Jehovah bless this heroic family of priests!” exclaimed Helon: and as they pursued their way and looked back on the lofty monument, they observed to each other, that even in the destruction of Samaria, that is to the third generation, God continued to prosper them. Reclining under the shadow of a few lofty palms, which stood by the road side, where they could see the towering mausoleum, they refreshed their bodies in the shade, and cheered their minds with the thought of Jehovah’s mercies.

At length they arose and set forward on their way, and reached the limit of their first day’s journey, Lydda, which bears also the names of Lod and Diospolis. In a direct line they were forty sabbath-days’ journies from Jerusalem, but their circuitous route made it amount to a good deal more. In the neighbourhood of this city, the rich corn-land of Ono bordered on the fertile pastures of Sharon, which extends northward from the Mediterranean sea. Close to the gate was a large house, where men in festal attire were going in and out, and the open gate seemed to invite the presence of the stranger.

“Let us turn in hither,” said Elisama; “hospitality never fails among those who are celebrating a feast.”

The master of the house came to the outer court to receive them, and conducting them to the house, bade them welcome to the feast of the winnowing, which he was celebrating.[19] As the threshing-floor where this feast was usually held was very near his house, he was accustomed to transfer it thither. He led them into the inner court, where his guests were assembled; the slaves untied the latchets of their sandals, and washed their feet. Elisama was much fatigued and enjoyed repose; but he was not allowed to enjoy it long, for they were speedily called to the meal. A great abundance of dishes was placed upon the table, the servants were treated as the chief persons, and milk, honey, wine, fruit, cheese, rice, and flesh, were so plentifully supplied, that they could not be consumed, though the appetite of the guests was keen.

Footnote 19:

Ruth iii. 1, 2.

“Our doctors of the law,” said the master of the house, “reckon the making a feast among good works, and I feel this doubly at the feast of the winnowing, which I make for my servants.” Helon attached himself to the priests and Levites of the place, who, according to the ancient custom of Israel, had also been invited;[20] they received him into their circle and related to him at his request the history of Lydda. This town had been taken possession of by those who had returned from the captivity of the tribe of Benjamin;[21] it had afterwards been reckoned with Samaria, and finally along with Rama and Apherama had been restored to the hero Jonathan by Demetrius Soter.[22] From this subject it was an easy transition to the victory over the Samaritans which the sons of Hyrcanus had just achieved. All these particulars arrested his attention, but none more than a description which an aged Levite gave of the desolation caused by a flight of locusts which he had witnessed in his youth. These locusts are of about the length and thickness of a finger; their numbers are countless, and they form swarms which extend for several leagues in breadth. Such a swarm, when approaching, appears like a mist; when it is arrived, it resembles the falling of thick flakes of snow: the air is darkened and filled with a fearful murmur: they cover the ground and all that grows on it, often to a foot in height, devouring every green thing, grass, corn, and the trunks of young trees. They creep into the houses, destroy clothes and furniture, and besides this, lay their eggs in the ground, which in the course of fifteen or sixteen days become young locusts. The south-east wind brings them, and it is happy for the land when it also drives them into the sea.

Footnote 20:

Deut. xii. 17, 18.

Footnote 21:

Ezra ii. 33.

Footnote 22:

1 Maccab. xi. 34.

The aged Levite had retained such a lively impression of the misery of those times, that he could not cease from describing the plague itself, and the still more dreadful evils of pestilence and famine which it left behind. Helon listened to him with shuddering, and then broke out in the words in which the prophet Joel describes them:

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of the Lord cometh—it is nigh at hand. A day of darkness and gloom— A day of clouds and thick darkness. As twilight spreads over the mountains, So now a people, great and strong. There hath not been ever the like, Nor shall be from generation to generation. A flame devoureth before them, And behind them a fire burneth. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness: Yea, nothing shall escape them. Their form is as the form of horses, And they leap as horsemen leap. They run like the noise of chariots on the mountain tops, Like the noise of fire that devoureth the stubble. They are a strong people, arrayed for battle. Before them nations tremble, And all their faces glow. They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; They march every one straight forward, And they shall not break their ranks. No one shall thrust another, They shall walk every one in his own path. They break through the midst of swords, And interrupt not their march; They run to and fro in the city, They mount the wall and climb up the houses, They enter the windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble, The sun and moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their light. Jehovah thunders before his army: For his hosts are very great And mighty is he that executeth his word. The day of the Lord is great and terrible, Who can abide it?—Joel ii.

It was late when our travellers retired to rest; yet they arose early, to reach Joppa before the heat of the day. Elisama left a present with the master of the house, as a return for his hospitality, and they took leave of each other, one saying, “God reward thee;” the other acknowledging it as a gift of God, that such guests had taken up their abode with him.

They had not travelled more than seven sabbath-days’ journies, when Joppa, the _Beautiful_, as its name implies, rose before them. It is close to the sea, is built upon a rising ground, and offers on all sides picturesque and varied prospects. Towards the west the open sea extends; towards the east spreads the fertile plain of Sephela, reaching as far as Gaza, in which are the fifteen principal cities of the Philistines: towards the north, as far as Carmel, the flowery meads of Sharon are seen, and through the dark summits of the hills of Ephraim and Judah on the east, a piercing sight can even discern one of the towers of Jerusalem. A thin veil of morning vapour lay on the blue hills, on the distant plains and the boundless sea. Our travellers gazed on the scene with such a fulness of tranquil delight, that it was long ere they remembered that they had business in the city. Elisama inquired at the gate for his friend, and going to his house was received by him with a hearty greeting. His first question was respecting the residence of the genealogist. He was told that he no longer lived in Joppa, but was gone to Ziklag. Elisama was provoked that he should have received false information in Jerusalem, but Helon pacified his uncle, by reminding him that they had enjoyed a pleasant journey and this mistake would afford him an opportunity of seeing the south-west side of Judah. Elisama would gladly have taken his departure instantly, and Helon have followed him; but their host insisted that they should remain with him till the morrow. Elisama agreed, on condition that he should furnish Helon with a guide, to conduct him to the harbour, and show him what was remarkable in it. He called for this purpose one of his sons, who was of nearly Helon’s age, and they went down to the shore. Here Solomon had landed his cedar-wood from Lebanon,[23] to be used in his works of architecture, and it was by the same haven that the materials for the building of the second temple were imported. Simon the Maccabee had improved the harbour and fortified the city, which Jonathan had taken from a Syrian garrison.[24] Helon, well acquainted with the celebrated harbours of Egypt, examined it critically, and not being in his present mood inclined to praise any thing connected with commerce, he excited some displeasure in the mind of his companion, by observing how inadequately it was sheltered from the north wind. It was about noon when they arrived at home, and found the elders sitting around the fountain in the court. “Do you remember,” said Elisama to Helon, “that this was the place at which the prophet Jonah embarked on a voyage, which had nearly terminated fatally for him, when he endeavoured to escape from the mission to which God had appointed him.”[25] Helon was about to answer, when he saw his host knit his brow and start up. “You remind me,” said he, “of an accursed heathen, who arrived here lately with a Phœnician caravan, a lively and acute Greek, who kept himself aloof from all the rest, and amused himself by turning the Tyrians into ridicule. This son of Belial had the assurance to ask me, if the history of our prophet was not a new version of the Grecian story of Andromeda, who was exposed here to the jaws of a sea-monster, and delivered by Perseus. What his Grecian fable may be I know not, but I was so enraged at his insinuation, that——”

Footnote 23:

2 Chron. ii. 16.

Footnote 24:

1 Maccab. xiv. 5, 6.

Footnote 25:

Jonah i. 3.

“This can be no other than our Myron,” said Elisama. “How long since was he here?” “About three weeks,” replied his host. “It is the same,” said Elisama. “He came with us from Egypt as far as Gaza. The Greeks are a nation of scoffers, but it shall one day fare with them, praised be Jehovah, as it has fared with Samaria in our days.”

“Were that glory also reserved to our Hyrcanus,” said his host, “I would do what this man has done,” pointing to a Nazarite who had just entered the court.

It was a wild looking figure which presented itself to their view. His upper garment was of rough hair, and his locks hung far down upon his shoulders, tangled and neglected, and showing that it was long since they had been shorn.

Helon had never yet seen a Nazarite, for they were seldom to be met with but in the Holy Land. But he was acquainted with all the passages in the law relative to this kind of vow,[26] by which a man for a time consecrated himself, abstained from wine and from all the produce of the vine, and allowed no razor to come upon his person, nor any contact of a dead body to pollute him. This Nazarite was a Jew of Maresa, who had been one of those that had lost their house and home, when, a year and a half before, the Samaritans, at the command of the king of Syria, had inflicted great injury on the Jews, who had settled again in Maresa, subsequently to its devastation by Judas Maccabæus. In his wrath he had vowed himself to Jehovah, till the time when the atrocities of the Samaritans should cease and Samaria be razed to the foundations. He was just come from the camp of Israel, and was expressing his joy and gratitude that Jehovah had so soon accomplished the object of his vow. He had seen the houses and the ramparts of Samaria levelled, amidst the songs of the soldiery, and the spot on which the city had stood furrowed with trenches of water and converted into a desert. He had much to relate of the preparations which Hyrcanus had made for the reception of his victorious sons, and he announced his intention of going up to the Holy City, at the next feast of the new moon, to have his head shorn there, and offer a sacrifice for the termination of his Nazarite’s vow. This led them into a wide field of discourse, and the Nazarite remained to partake of the evening meal, though he could not taste the choice wine with which the citizen of Joppa regaled his guests. One remark of the Nazarite threatened to destroy the harmony of sentiment which had hitherto reigned between him and Elisama. He praised, among others, Hilkiah and Ananias, (the sons of that Onias who had built Leontopolis) who, being the principal advisers of Cleopatra the queen of Egypt, had prevailed on her not to consent to the sending of the auxiliaries whom, to the amount of six thousand men, her son and joint regent, Ptolemy Lathyrus, had despatched to Antiochus Cyzicenus, to raise the siege of Samaria. Every thing which was connected with the Hellenists of Egypt was intolerable to Elisama, and above all, to hear their chiefs mentioned with praise in the Holy Land itself. Their host made peace between them, remarking that Jehovah had himself decided in this case, by the miserable and ignominious fate which had befallen these auxiliaries; and they were completely reconciled when the Nazarite spoke of Iddo as his friend. They separated in peace and love, and with the hope to meet again in a few days in the presence of Jehovah, at the rejoicings for the victory. On the following morning, Elisama, quite refreshed, grasped his staff, and, with Helon and Sallu, set out for Ziklag.

Footnote 26:

Numb. vi.

Their road led them first through Gazara, which had been a city of the Philistines, burnt after they were conquered, and rebuilt by Solomon,[27] and very recently strongly fortified by the Maccabees;[28] next to Noba, celebrated for the terrible vengeance which Saul took there upon the priest Ahimelech, and on all the other inhabitants, for their crime in giving to David, when he fled from before Saul, the loaves of the shew-bread and the sword of Goliath.[29] Leaving this place they descended from the hills into the plain of Sephela. They here came again into the scenes of harvest, and reached the town of Gath, which stands at the limit of the territory of Dan, hearing on every side shouts of joy and pious thankfulness. Gath was once the fourth among the five chief cities of the Philistines, and in later times an apple of discord between them and the Israelites, passing from the hand of one party to that of the other. The giant Goliath was a Philistine of Gath. It had been razed by king Uzziah,[30] and since that time had been a very insignificant place.

Footnote 27:

1 Kings ix. 15.

Footnote 28:

1 Maccab. ix. 52.

Footnote 29:

1 Sam. xxii. 19.

Footnote 30:

2 Chron. xxvi. 6.

When they reached Gath, they had travelled twelve sabbath-days’ journies: they now entered the tribe of Judah, and had half that distance to travel to Eleutheropolis, a small village. Their road led them through the region which lies in the middle between Maresa and Morescheth. They quickened their pace and arrived late in the evening at Ziklag, having past through Agla, which was twelve miles distant from Eleutheropolis. Ziklag had been the favourite abode of David; Achish, the king of Gath, had assigned it to him for his residence;[31] its destruction by the Amalekites had roused him to take exemplary vengeance upon them, and he had afterwards rebuilt it.

When they arrived at Ziklag, they inquired for the house of the genealogist, and went directly to it. It had long been dark, and Elisama was very weary; and when the genealogist had given them a friendly reception, as his Egyptian kinsmen, and expressed high approbation of Helon’s determination to become a priest, they laid themselves down to rest.

The institution of genealogists may be traced up to the earliest times of Israel’s existence as a nation. Jehovah was their true and only ruler. Under him the people lived in families, which together formed tribes, the families themselves being subdivided into _houses_. Each tribe had its own prince, chosen probably by the _heads of families_, who were themselves chosen by the _heads of houses_. The princes and the heads of families were called elders; their number was seventy-one, and besides them there were judges, and genealogists who kept the registers of the different families. Although at various times the supreme power was by turns in the hands of heroes, kings, princes and high-priests, yet the fundamental principle of the constitution was, that Jehovah was sole and absolute monarch of his people Israel, and that they obeyed him, under all intermediate magistrates, whatever their titles or offices might be. In earlier times the heads of families, the judges, and genealogists of each tribe, assembled occasionally together, under the presidence of the prince of the tribe, for the purpose of joint deliberation; sometimes these officers assembling from all the tribes formed a species of Diet.

Footnote 31:

1 Sam. xxvii. 5.; xxx.

The genealogist of each family was a very important person, and especially in the tribe of Levi, in which so many privileges were attached to purity and certainty of extraction. He who wished to serve as a priest before Jehovah, must not only descend on the father’s side from Aaron, but be of irreproachable birth on that of the mother. The series of Helon’s paternal ancestors had been very exactly carried on in Egypt, and Elisama had brought documents thence with him to establish it. But his mother was also the daughter of a priest, and as her family lived in Judah, it was necessary that the genealogy on this side should be examined into, and the descent shown to be regular.

The following day was occupied with these researches. The genealogist showed the pedigree of his family to Helon; his name was formally entered under that of his mother, and he thus stood on her side among the children of the course of Abia, as on his father’s he belonged to the course of Malchia.

On the fifth day our travellers returned to Jerusalem. Helon, rejoicing in the success of his journey, compared his own lot with that of the children of Habaiah, Hakoz, and Barzillai, of whom Ezra and Nehemiah write, that after their return from the captivity they sought for their registers, and not being able to find them, forfeited their sacerdotal office.[32] On their return they past through Lachish, which Helon had not seen before, of which the prophet Micah said, “Thou art the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion.”[33] This town was taken by Joshua from a Canaanitish prince;[34] it was fortified by Rehoboam.[35] Amaziah was put to death in it;[36] and the ambassadors of Hezekiah came hither with presents to Sennacherib.[37] Next he saw Libna,[38] which, like Lachish, was situated in the plain of Sephela, and was memorable for its defection from king Joram. At last they came to Socho, near which is the grove of terebinths, where David fought with Goliath. In the earlier part of their day’s journey they had also seen the cave of Adullam, doubly memorable as having afforded a hiding-place to David, and as being the place where Judas Maccabæus kept the first sabbath, which we read of as having been celebrated after the atrocities of the king of Syria.[39]

Footnote 32:

Ezra ii. 61. Neh. vii. 63.

Footnote 33:

Micah i. 13.

Footnote 34:

Josh. x. 32.

Footnote 35:

2 Chron. xi. 9.

Footnote 36:

2 Kings xiv. 19.

Footnote 37:

2 Kings xviii. 14.

Footnote 38:

2 Kings viii. 22.

Footnote 39:

1 Sam. xxii. 1. 2 Maccab. xii. 38.

Happy in having stored his memory with many pleasing pictures of the Land of Promise, infinitely more happy in the thought that there was now no obstacle to his admission into the priesthood, Helon greeted the Holy City a second time.