the plain of Gennesareth is "the unparalleled garden of God." 1 "The land of Naphtali is everywhere covered with fruitful fields and vines; and the fruits of this region are renowned for their wonderful sweetness." 2 "If nature could influence mind, if it could create genius, Naphtali would be the land of poets." The Rabbis testify that the shores of the Lake were "covered with cities, villages, and market-places."4 "For sixteen miles about Sepphoris the region was fertile, flowing with milk and honey."5 "Galilee is a land of water-brooks, abounding in timber, fertile, and beautiful." The words of the dying lawgiver in regard to the four tribes which settled in this section lead us to expect that they were to occupy a region of great richness and beauty, or, in other words, applying to the territory what was said of the people, "a land full of the blessing of Jehovah."7 All that we know of the country since confirms the impression given by Moses. Renan with glowing language, speaks of this region as "a country very green, and full of shade and pleasantness, the true country of the Canticle of Canticles and of the songs of the well-beloved."8 We must make room for the statement of Josephus who, as military governor of the province, knew thoroughly its characteristics and resources. Of the country in general: "It is throughout rich in soil and pasturage, producing every variety of tree, and inviting by its productiveness even those who have the least inclination for agriculture; it is everywhere tilled, no part allowed to lie idle, and is everywhere productive." 9 And of the plain of Gennesareth he speaks as "admirable both for its natural properties and its beauty." 10 "Such is the fertility of the soil that it rejects no plant, and accordingly all are here cultivated by the husbandman; for so genial is 1 Keim, i. 311. 8 Porter, Cities of Bashan, 263. 2 Neubauer, 180, and refs. to Talmud. Neubauer, 185, and refs. to Talmud; Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 15, "Amoenis circumseptum oppidis." Neubauer, 192, and refs. to Talmud. Rawlinson, Monarchies (ed. in 3 vols.), 2. 448. Life of Jesus, 96 (Eng. tr.). 9 Wars, 3. 3. 2, 3. Deut. xxxiii. 23. 10 Ibid. 3. 10. 8. the air that it suits every variety. The walnut, which delights beyond other trees in a wintry climate, grows here luxuriantly, together with the palm-tree which is nourished by heat; and near to these are figs and olives, to which a milder atmosphere has been assigned. One might style this an ambitious effort of Nature, doing violence to herself in bringing together plants of discordant habits, and an admirable rivalry of the seasons, each, as it were, asserting her right to the soil; for it not only possesses the extraordinary virtue of nourishing fruits of opposite climes, but also maintains a continual supply of them. Thus it produces those most royal of all, the grape and the fig, during ten months, without intermission, while the other varieties ripen the year round." Then he goes on to speak of "the genial temperature of the air," the plain being "irrigated by a highly fertilizing spring," and of the fish similar to those found in the lake of Alexandria.1 There can be no doubt that this land had been infinitely favored by nature. The Hebrew phrase, "a land flowing with milk and honey," might best express the exceeding fertility and richness of Galilee at the time of Christ. The capabilities of the soil were perhaps fully developed by skilful labor.2 The industrious farmers devoted their chief attention to the crops best adapted to their soil, and which at the same time found the readiest market; hence, in many cases, meadow and pasture-land were turned into tillage, because the cultivation of grain and fruits was found to be more profitable than the raising of cattle. The rich fields were sometimes so parcelled out that the plow could no longer be used, and the soil must be turned up with the spade. Yet in the open fields where the plow was used, the workmen prided themselves on being able to turn and lay a furrow with skill, which would never have been attempted in the stony fields of Judea. With such a soil, and under such a cultivation it is not surprising that the country became a 8 Hausrath, 1. 8. 1 Wars, 3. 10. 8. 2 Graetz, 3. 391. * Hausrath, 1. 352; Luke ix. 62; see Luke xvi. 3. paradise in beauty. All the trees and fruits of Palestine flourished here to perfection. It was even asked why the fruits of Gennesareth were not found in Jerusalem at the time of the feasts? and reply was made, "so that no one may be tempted to come to the feasts merely for the sake of enjoying those fruits."2 Here were found all the productions which made Italy rich and beautiful, with the additional advantage that here also "the palm and the balm tree flourished in great luxuriance;" in the eyes of the Romans "these palm groves were beautiful and lofty." In a word, forests in many cases covered its mountains and hills, while its uplands, gentle slopes, and broader valleys were rich in pastures, meadows, cultivated fields, vineyards, olive-groves, and fruit trees of every kind. Here in this "garden that has no end," flourished the vine, the olive, and the fig, the oak, the hardy walnut, the terebinth, and the hot-blooded palm, the cedar, cypress, and balsam, the fir-tree, the pine, and sycamore, the bay-tree, the myrtle, the almond, the pomegranate, the citron, and the beautiful oleander. These, with still many other forest, fruit, and flowering trees, and shrubs, and aromatic plants, together with grains and fruits, to which should be added an infinite profusion of flowers, made up that wonderful variety of natural productions which adorned and enriched the region where was the home of Jesus.5 1 Graetz, 3. 391; Tobler, Nazareth, 19. 2 Lightfoot, 1. 155; Neubauer, 45, and refs. to Talmud. In Solomon's time this region supplied many of the luxuries for the table and palace of the king, 1 Kings iv. 12; Ritter, 4. 339. See Ewald, 3. 295. 8 Tac. Hist. v. 6. * See hills about Jotapata, Wars, 3. 7. 8. At the time of the invasion under Joshua the mountains of Gilboa and the country adjacent were covered with dense forests," Ritter, 2. 328; Van de Velde, 1. 293. Tobler, Nazareth, 34; von Raumer, 105; Stanley, S. and P. 357; Hausrath, 1. 4, 5; Tristram, Nat. Hist. Bib. 10, and elsewhere; Tobler, Nazareth, 14 et seq. for present productions: indigo, rice, and sugar-cane, Ritter, 2. 241; barley, millet, pulse, oranges, and even that civilizing weed - tobacco! Keim, 1. 601. See the excellent and careful account of the shrubs, grains, and fruits, etc., in Arnaud, 341-362: pear, apricot, cherry, mulberry, etc. Tristram, Nat. Hist. Bib. 335. NOTE. In connection with the physical features of Galilee we might men VI. THE WATERS OF GALILEE. Galilee was a well-watered country. The words of promise spoken to the Hebrews in regard to the land which they were to enter, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths springing from valleys and hills," 1 would be truer of Galilee than of any other section. The lakes of this province, with their blue transparent waters, contribute not a little to the charming beauty of the landscapes." The water of lake Merom is sweet, as is also that of lake Tiberias, and crystal clear. The Rabbis find it difficult to praise enough their beautiful lake, which was justly the pride of their whole land. They speak of its "gracefully flowing" or "gliding waters."5 Jehovah, they said, had created seven seas, and of these he had chosen the sea of Gennesareth as his special delight. The Jordan, the only stream in Palestine deserving the name of "river," with its "sources," its "floods," and its remarkably winding course, belonged, at least in its upper and finer half, to Galilee. Perhaps the Litany, where it bends from a southerly to a westerly course, touched upon the northen frontier of this province. Here belonged the Kishon, the famous "river of battle," called in the song of Deborah and Barak" that ancient river."7 It took its rise near the foot of Tabor, went a winding course across the tion the plains and marshes above and around Lake Merom, where wild animals abounded, and which formed perhaps, the best hunting ground in the country. Herod the Great was celebrated as a hunter. Hausrath, 1. 4, 351. Herod hunting, Ant. 15. 7.7; 16. 8. 4; 16. 10. 3. See 16. 11. 8. Wars, 1. 26. 2. On the game of Palestine and Herod's skill as a hunter, see especially Wars, 1. 21. 13. 1 Deut. viii. 7. 2 Ritter, 3. 200. 3 Graetz, 3. 391. * Keim, 1. 600; Wars, 3. 10. 7. 5 Lightfoot, 1. 143. 6 On the seven seas of Palestine, see Neubauer, 24, who gives names, de.. and references. Lightfoot, 1. 12. In the view of the Christian, in a far higher sense than was thought of by the Rabbis, God has indeed chosen the sea of Galilee, and blessed it beyond all other seas of the earth, Hausrath, 1. 350. On the depth of the lake, see Ritter, 2. 237: "one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty-six feet." 'Judg. v. 21. plain of Esdraelon, and entered the bay of Acre near the foot of Carmel. A principal feeder of this stream came from Gilboa and Engannim. It received "the waters of Megiddo" not far from the town of the same name. When the Kishon was at its height, it would be, partly on account of its quicksands, as impassable as the ocean itself to a retreating army.1 The river Belus should also be mentioned, which entered the sea near Acre, and from the fine sand of whose bed the Phoenicians, according to tradition, first made glass.2 "No less than four springs pour forth their almost full-grown rivers through the plain" of Gennesareth.3 "Beautiful springs, characteristic of the whole valley of the Jordan, are unusually numerous and copious along the western shore of the lake." 4 Half an hour north of the town of Tiberias are five or six profuse springs lying near together and called the "cool fountains," to distinguish them from the hot ones south of the city.5 Ritter speaks of "the hundred brooks" that distribute their waters through the neighborhood of Banias "carrying fertility everywhere." Thomson speaks of "the ample supply of water" about Ayun. Six streams have been counted flowing into lake Huleh from the mountains lying west of it, the largest of which is from forty to fifty feet wide.8 Then the abundance of dew which falls about Tabor, remarked by Burckhardt, Robinson, and others, was of the utmost importance to vegetation in that immediate neighborhood. The "dew of Hermon" was long ago praised,10 and the rich vegetation of the surrounding region is due to this fructifying influence. The perpetual snow on Hermon proved no doubt an infinite blessing to the people of this province, freshening the atmosphere by day, and 1 Van de Velde, 1. 289. - 6 2 In Josh. xix. 26, appears the name in which has often been identified with the river Belus, Arnaud, 251, 252, and references. Fürst's Lexicon under these words. Mr. Grove in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 4. 2996, col. 2, doubts the identity, and doubts even if "Shichor Libnath," refers to any river at all. 3 Stanley, S. and P. 366. 62. 192. 7 Heb. Ijon? 225. • Ibid. 6 Ritter, 2. 262. Ibid. 2. 318. 10 Ps. cxxxiii. 3. 11 See a glowing description of this in Van de Veide, 1.127. |