An Analysis and Summary of New Testament History ...

of the New Testament may be divided into that of the
Jewish and the Gentile nations, which exactly correspond
to the two great divisions of gospel and apostolic history

into which the inspired annals of our Saviour and his apostles are naturally separated. Accordingly the present outline is arranged under the two following heads. 1. The Jewish nation, or Palestine, in which our Saviour taught and suffered. 2. The Gentile nations, comprising Syria, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Northern Greece or Macedonia, Southern Greece or Achaia, Italy, and some of the islands in the Mediterranean, which together formed the more extended theatre on which the apostles faithfully preached the gospel of their Lord and Master, in obedience to his last commands.

2 I. The Jewish nation, or Palestine. This included a tract of country enclosed between the mountains of Lebanon, the Mediterranean Sea, and the deserts of Arabia and Syria. It was bounded on the north by the highlands of Syria and Phoenicia; east, by the deserts of Syria; south, by Arabia Petræa; west, by the Mediterranean. Its extreme length is about 180 miles; its width in the north scarcely exceeds 20 miles, whilst in the south it has been variously estimated at from 45 to 60 miles.

Face of the country.-The country consists of two sets of highlands ranging north and south, enclosing the valley of the Jordan, the lake of Tiberias, and the Dead Sea. These highlands are formed by the chains of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, which run nearly parallel through Palestine on opposite sides of the Jordan, and finally connect themselves with Mount Horeb and Sinai near the Gulf of Suez. Both chains give out numerous lateral spurs, some of the western range extending so as to project, like Mount Carmel, in bold headlands on the coast. These subordinate ranges, with the west declivity of Libanus, and the east declivity of Anti-Libanus, are by far the most fertile portions of the mountain system; for the mountains which surround the Dead Sea,

and those to the west of the Jordan, are arid, stony, and full of precipices and caverns, and have a melancholy desolate appearance, harmonizing well with that of the desert, by which they are bounded on the east. The principal mountains in the western highlands are, Carmel, Tabor, Gilboa, and the two heights of Ebal and Gerizim: on the east of Jordan is Mount Gilead. The river Jordan seems like the natural centre of the whole country. It flows from the low grounds of Mount Hermon in the north, and reaches first the waters of Merom, and then the Sea of Galilee, called also Lake Tiberias, or Gennesareth, from whence it precipitates itself down a succession of rapids into the Dead Sea, the waters of which are calculated to be more than 1300 feet below the level of the Mediterranean. From both sides of the western highlands, several small streams run into the Mediterranean or the Jordan, of which the most important is the Kishon; on its eastern side the Jordan receives the Yarmuk and the Jabbok, whilst farther southward the river Arnon falls into the Dead Sea. Palestine thus consists chiefly of rugged hills and narrow valleys. It possesses, however, the fertile plains of Esdraelon and Sharon on the west of Jordan, and on the east is the extensive and valuable plain of the Hauran, called Auranitis, which trenches on the desert.

Divisions.-The river Jordan naturally divided Pales- 4 tine into two great divisions of territory. 1. West of the Jordan, which included the three districts of Galilee, Samaria, and Judæa. 2. East of the Jordan, which bore the general name of Peræa, or "The country on the opposite side," but also was subdivided into various districts, of which Peræa, in the more limited sense, only formed a portion.

1st, West of the Jordan: 1. Galilee, or the northern 5 district. This territory, anciently occupied by the four

tribes of Naphtali, Asher, Zebulun, and Issachar, was not called by the collective name of Galilee until after the return from Babylon. The highlands of Syria bounded it on the north; Phoenicia, on the west, cut it off from the Mediterranean by a narrow slip of lowland territory; the river Jordan and Sea of Galilee sharply divided it on its eastern side from the various districts of Peræa; and Samaria bounded it on the south. It was divided into two parts. 1. Upper or Northern Galilee, called also Galilee of the Gentiles from its mixed population. Its principal city was Cæsarea Philippi. 2. Lower or Southern Galilee, of which the chief towns were Tiberias, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Nain, and Cæsarea Stratonis. Here our Saviour lived until he commenced his ministry in his 30th year; and although he visited other provinces, yet it was here that he chiefly resided, and where he made his first appearance to the apostles after his resurrection.

From the earliest times a Gentile influence pervaded the whole of Galilee. Few, if any, names are found in it of ancient holy seats, connected with the wanderings of the Hebrew patriarchs; whilst the idolatrous rule of those besotted monarchs, who made Israel to sin, stifled all strong zeal for the true worship of Jehovah. In every external respect, however, Galilee was a most favoured country. "The Galilæans," says Josephus, "are warlike from infancy, and have always been numerous. The land is universally rich and plentiful, and full of plantations of every variety of trees; insomuch that its exuberance invites the most slothful husbandman. It is thickly strewed with populous cities and villages, holding from 500 to 1000 inhabitants each. In short, though in size it is inferior to Peræa, yet it is superior in power, for it is every where cultivated and every where productive." The people spoke a dialect of the vernacular

Syriac different from that of Judæa, and which was of course accounted rude and impure, as all provincial dialects are considered to be in comparison with that of the metropolis.

2. Samaria, or the central district. - Samaria lies 6 with Galilee and Judæa north and south, and with the Jordan and Mediterranean east and west. It is principally table land, diversified with hills, in ridges and numerous knolls. The soil, according to Josephus, was soft to the plough and fertile ; less watered by streams than Galilee ; but all the water was peculiarly sweet, and the grass such as to give an unusual abundance of milk to the cattle. Its principal cities in the time of our Saviour were, Sebaste, on the site of the ancient Samaria, Sychar, etc. The Samaritans were a mixed race, and were descendants of the few Jews left behind at the Assyrian captivity, and of colonists from different parts of the Assyrian empire. Their religion thus assumed a mixed character. Idolatry was associated with the worship of Jehovah. They at length became jealous of the second Temple built at Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity by Zerubbabel, and erected a temple for themselves on Mount Gerizim. Hence arose that inverate enmity between the Jews and Samaritans, which subsequently became proverbial; and at festival seasons, when the religious life among both parties was in its fullest vigour, their hostility was most powerfully developed, and our Saviour felt its influence on more than one occasion.

3. Judæa, or the southern district.-Judæa was a 7 name sometimes given to the whole country west of the Jordan, and even sometimes included a considerable portion of the eastern territory; but under the Romans it only denoted the district to the southward of Samaria, between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, with the ancient Idumæa on its south. It is Judæa in this limited

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An Analysis and Summary of New Testament History ...: With Copious Notes ...