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PALESTINE AND SYRIA.

PALESTINE.

CHAPTER 1.

Introduction-Names, Divisions, and Boundaries of the Holy Land.

HAVING Completed my visit to those interesting countries, Egypt and Greece, the cradle and nursery of the arts and sciences, as well as of those institutions which all civilized nations are now enjoying the fruits of in common; 1 became desirous of seeing the Land of Israel,—a country, which during two and three thousand years, was the only section of the earth, where the worship of the true God was perpetuated:

the Holy Land in fine,-the birth-place of that religion, "which pure from the lips of its author, and the pen of his apostles," is calculated to diffuse universal happiness, ameliorate the condition, and perfect the nature of man*.

This country has in different ages been called by various namest, which have been derived either from its inhabitants, or from the extraordinary circumstances attached to it.-In the sacred volume it is more particularly called:

1. The LAND OF CANAAN, from Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, and grandson of Noah, who settled here after the confusion of Babel, and divided the country among his eleven children, each of whom became the head of a numerous tribe, that ultimately became a distinct nation. (Gen. x. 15, et seq.)

See Appendix, No. 1.

The author deems it not inopportune at this stage of his Journal to refresh the memory of some of his readers by laying before them a succinct explanation of the names, divisions, boundaries, and inhabitants of the countries it purposes to treat of. In this resumed sketch, he has made use of the authority of the Rev. Thomas Hartwell Horne, B.D., in his "Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Scriptures."'

2. The LAND OF ISRAEL*; from the Israelites, or posterity of Jacob, having settled themselves there.

3. The LAND OF JEHOVAH, or the LORD'S LAND. (See Hos. ix. 3- Deut. xxx. 20-and Lev. xxv. 23.)

4. The LAND OF PROMISE; from the promise made by Jehovah to Abraham, that his postery should possess it; who being Hebrews, this region was thence called the "Land of the Hebrews†."

5. The HOLY LAND; which appellation is to this day conferred on it by all Christians, because it was chosen by God to be the immediate seat of his worship, and was consecrated by the presence, actions, miracles, discourses, and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ; and also because it was the residence of the holy patriarchs, prophets, and apostles.

The whole world was divided by the ancient Jews into two general parts, the "Land of Israel," Land the " and out of Israel," that is, all the countries inhabited by the "nations of the world," or the Gentiles.

So called from the patriarch Abraham, surnamed the Hebrew, from his having passed over the Euphrates into the land of Canaan. After the Exodus from Egypt they were generally called Israelites, and on their return from the Babylonish captivity they were denominated Jews, from the tribe of Judah, the most considerable of the twelve tribes.

6. The LAND OF JUDAH. Under this appellation, was at first comprised only that part of the region which was allotted to the tribe of Judah. In subsequent times, when that tribe excelled all the others in dignity, the whole of Israel appears to have been called Judah or Judæa. After the separation of the tribes, that portion of the land which belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who formed a separate kingdom, was distinguished by the appellation of the "Land of Judah" or of Judæa, which last name the whole country retained during the existence of the second temple and under the dominion of the Romans.

7. The appellation of PALESTINE, by which the whole land appears to have been called in the days of Moses, is derived from the Philistines, a people who migrated from Egypt, and, having expelled the aboriginal inhabitants, settled on the borders of the Mediterranean, where they became so considerable as to give their name to the whole country, though they, in fact. possessed only a small part of it.

The LIMITS of the Holy Land have been variously stated, but, from the latest and most accurate maps, it appears to have extended nearly two hundred

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