Timnath-serah or Timnath-heres, the residence of Joshua, was in mount Ephraim; and he was buried in a hill called Gaash on his own land. Otherwise, neither the place, nor the hill is any way remarkable. Jos. xix. 50; xxiv. 30; Jud. ii. 9. Lebonah was a little east of Shiloh and therefore in Ephraim. Jud. xxi. 19. Zemaraim was in mount Ephraim, where there was a great slaughter of Israelites, by Abijah, king of Judah. 2 Chron. xiii. 4, 17. Uzzen-sherah is incidentally mentioned as being built by a woman, whose name was Sherah, who also built Beth-horon the upper, and the nether. 1 Chron. vii. 24.

Gob is supposed to be another name for Gezer, and therefore in the same tribe, namely Ephraim. Gob and Gezer represent each other in the following parallel passages: 2 Sam. xxi. 18; 1 Chron. xx. 4. Jeshanah was near to Bethel, on the borders of Benjamin, but is considered as belonging to Ephraim. 2 Chron. xiii. 19. Ephraim the town is supposed to be named from its location in the tribe of Ephraim. 2 Chron. xiii. 19. Shamir was the residence of Tola, one of the judges, and was in mount Ephraim; but it is possible that he did not dwell in the territory of Ephraim; as the elevated region, that passed under the name of mount Ephraim, extended into other territory, both north and south. Tola belonged to the tribe of Issachar. Jud. x. 1. So Ramah, the residence of Samuel, was in mount Ephraim; but there are forcible reasons for believing that his residence was Ramah in Benjamim. 1 Sam. i. 1.

Zeeb, the name of a wine-press, appears to have been in the tribe of Ephraim. It took its name from the Midian king Zeeb, who was slain there. Jud. vii. 25. Oreb was the name of the stone that marked the spot where the Midianite king Oreb was slain. Jud. vii. 25. Tirzah was the royal seat of the kings of Israel, from the time of Jeroboam to Omri, who changed the seat of government to a new city, which he built and called

Samaria. Jos. xii. 24; 1 K. xiv. 17; xv. 21; 2 K. xv.

14, 16.

SECTION VI.-TOWNS AND CITIES OF MANASSEH, WEST OF
THE JORDAN.

These towns and other localities are spoken of in the record, as belonging to Manasseh; but it must be remembered that half this tribe received an inheritance east of the Jordan; and it is the half that settled on the west side, that is here referred to. As Manasseh was north of Ephraim, those places that are common to both boundaries, must be between them, or on the northern line of Ephraim. They are Michmethah, Tappuah or En-tappuah, and the river Kanah.

Add to these the following that belonged to Manasseh, but were located in the tribes of Issachar and Asher, Jos. xvii. 11, and we will have all the towns that belonged to this half tribe, so far as the present description gives us the information. They are Bethshean, Ibseam, Dor, En-dor, Taanach and Megiddo.

Kanah. This river emptied into the Mediterranean sea. In Bethshean or Bethshan, the Philistines hung up the bodies of Saul and his sons, after the battle in which the latter were slain. Of course the mountain of Gilboa, the place of the battle, was near. Bethshan was west of

the Jordan, but not far from that river. It was near the eastern extremity of the great plain of Esdrælon, seventy-five miles east of north, from Jerusalem. It was once taken and occupied by the Scythians, and from them received the name Scythopolis. It is now called Bysan, and has perhaps a hundred families. It is twenty-four miles south of Tiberias. 1 Sam. xxxi. 10, 12; 1 Chron. vii. 29; 1 K. iv. 12; Jud. i. 27; 1 Mac. xii. 29.

Ibleam was a city of the Levites, and the same as Bileam. 1 Chron. vi. 70. Dor was situated on the Mediterranean, not far from mount Carmel, at the extreme west of the valley of Esdrælon. Its situation on a high point of land, running out into the sea, rendered

its position a very strong one. It is now called Tortura. Jos. xi. 2; xii. 23; Jud. i. 27; 1 K. iv. 11; 1 Chron vii. 29. It is nine miles from Cæsarea toward Ptolemais. En-dor, or Fountain of Dor was the residence of the woman, who had a "familiar spirit," whom Saul consulted on the eve of his last battle. It was four miles south of mount Tabor, and seven or eight from Gilboa. Jos. xvii. 11; 1 Sam. xxviii. 7, 8.

Taanach was one of the first cities that fell by the hand of Joshua. It has been identified as three or four miles from Legio, and is now called Ta'anuk. Jos. xii. 21; xvii. 11; Jud. i. 27; v. 19; 1 K. iv. 12. Megiddo is nearly always associated with Taanach; and it is evident the two were not far apart. There is occasional allusion to the waters of Megiddo. There may have been a fountain near it. It was here that Ahaziah, king of Judah, died, having received his mortal wound from the men of Jehu. It was settled by many of the Ephraimites, though it belonged to Manasseh. Josiah was slain at Megiddo. Jud. i. 27; v. 19; 1 K. ix. 15; 2 K. ix. 27; 1 Chron. vii. 29; 2 Chron. xxxv. 22.

These towns of Manasseh are said to be located in Issachar, and Asher; but which were in Issachar and which in Asher, is not in all cases certain. Some of them are widely separated, Bethshan being at the extreme east of Esdrælon, and Dor at the extreme west, from fifteen to twenty miles apart.

The localities that are named in giving the general boundary of both tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, should receive a moment's attention. They are the Jordan, Jericho, the waters of Jericho, the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho through mount Bethel, Luz, Archi, Ataroth, Japhleti, Bethhoron the nether, Gezer and the sea. Jos. xvi. 1, 3.

Jericho will be noticed in connection with the towns of Benjamin, to which tribe it belonged. That is the proper place for noticing Luz or Bethel. Bethhoron has been noticed already. So has Gezer. The waters of

Jericho are probably some fountain near that city. The wilderness that went up through mount Bethel, is not here named, but in another passage it is called the wilderness of Bethaven. Mount Bethel is named from the city Bethel, near which it was located. And when it is added, "from Bethel to Luz," the reference is to mount Bethel, and not the city; for the city Luz, and the city Bethel, were one and the same. Not making this distinction, expounders have contrived sundry expedients for removing a difficulty that does not exist.

Archi and Ataroth should probably be united as one word, as they are in the Septuagint. There is nothing between them in the Hebrew answering to the preposition. We know nothing of the places. We must make the same confession of Japhleti. The boundary terminates at the sea, meaning the Mediterranean, which bordered on Ephraim for a short space; but we see no evidence that Manasseh extended so far west.

The following are found elsewhere in this history. Gur was near Ibleam in Issachar and probably belonged to Manasseh. 2 K. ix. 27. Gur-baal may be the same as Gur; and if so, all we can say of it, is contained in a single passage. 2 Chron. xxvi. 7. Gath-rimmon was a Levitical city in Manasseh. Jos. xxi. 25. Aner was

another. 1 Chron. vii. 70. Ophrah the residence of Joash, the father of Gideon the Israelite judge, who delivered the children of Israel from bondage to the Midianites, is presumed to belong to Manasseh, as Joash and Gideon are known to have been of that tribe. Jud. vi. 11, 24; viii. 27.

SECTION VII.-TOWNS AND CITIES OF BENJAMIN.

The places here mentioned as being on the border of Benjamin, are the river Jordan, Jericho, wilderness of Beth-aven, Luz or Bethel, Ataroth-adar, nether Bethhoron, Kirjath-jearim. This is the same border as the one we just noticed in connection with Ephraim and Manasseh. The variations are very slight and merely

verbal. Mount Bethel is omitted and one or two other names are inserted. Ataroth-adar appears to stand for Archi-ataroth. Beth-horon the nether, is in both descriptions. The addition of Kirjath-jearim only renders one a little more definite than the other, as Beth-horon and Kirjath-jearim were near together.

It was at this point, too, that the two lines diverge. One goes on west to the sea, and the other turns back toward the Jordan. The places on the southern border of Benjamin are the same as on the northern border of Judah, and need not be repeated. The border of Benjamin is not described farther west than Kirjath-jearim; and it does not appear certain that it extended farther in that direction. Later it extended to the sea.

The towns of Benjamin, according to the list, as we have it in Joshua, are Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avim, Parah, Ophrah, Chepharhaammonai, Ophni, Gaba, Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zelah, Eleph, Jebusi or Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath. Jos. xviii. 21-28.

Jericho was the first city which was attacked and destroyed by Joshua, after entering Canaan. It is called the "city of palm trees." There is a city answering to it at the present day; but whether it occupies the same ground, is not certain. Jos. vi. 1, 26; xviii. 12, 21; Jud. i. 16; iii. 13. It was on the line between Judah and Benjamin, but reckoned to the latter. Beth-arabah was a border town, but it belonged to Benjamin. It corresponds with Arabah, on one of the boundaries, and may be the same as Beth-bara and Beth-abara. If these are identical, they mark the spot where the Israelites crossed the Jordan, and the name (house of passage) may indicate as much. Jos. xv. 6; xviii. 18; Jud. vii. 24; John i. 28. This is also on the Judah list. Beth-hoglah also was a border town; but not claimed by Judah.. Jos. xv. 6.

Bethel dates back to the time of Jacob, from whom it