III. THE JOURNEYS OF JACOB.
The life of Jacob is related with more of detail than that of any other person in Old Testament history; yet there is great uncertainty concerning the division of its periods. His first sixty years were passed near Beersheba; then twenty years in Haran, and fifty years in Canaan (though some of the best chronologers allow forty years in Haran, and thirty years in Canaan); and seventeen years in Egypt. The principal places named in Jacob's journeys are: 1. Beersheba, now Bir es Seba, a well-known place in the south of Palestine. 2. Bethel, now Beitin, 10 miles north of Jerusalem. 3. Haran, now bearing the same name. (See under Abraham's life, Journey No. 1.) 4. Mizpah, called also Jegar-sahadutha, "the heap of witness," perhaps the important place afterward known as Ramoth-gilead, now es Salt, 13 miles south of the Jabbok. But this seems too far south to represent the event, and we are inclined to place it at some unknown mountain between the Jabbok and the Hieromax. 5. Mahanaim, probably at Mahneh, 10 miles north of the Jabbok. 6. Peniel, afterward Penuel, unknown, but somewhere on the brook Jabbok. 7. Succoth, "booths," recently identified as Tell Darala, a mile north of the Jabbok, in the Jordan Valley. 8. Shalem, "peace." If this refers to a place, it is Salim, 3 miles east of Shechem. But some read the sentence, "Jacob came in peace [i. e., in safety] to Shechem." (Gen. 33:18.) 9. Ephrath, the place of Rachel's death and burial, near Bethlehem.
The Journeys of Jacob may be arranged as follows:
1. The Flight to Haran. (Gen. 28:10-29:14.) Fearing the vengeance of Esau after the stolen blessing, Jacob hastily left his home at Beersheba, and journeyed northward to Haran. At Bethel he saw the vision of the heavenly ladder, and arrived safely at Haran, distant 450 miles from Beersheba. Here he remained either 20 or 40 years, according to different views, and married his two wives.
2. The Return to Canaan. (Gen. 31-33.) At Mizpah he made a treaty with Laban; at Mahanaim was comforted by a vision of angels; at Peniel wrestled with "the angel of God," and was reconciled to his brother Esau; and at Salim (if that be the name of a place), near Shechem, he rested in the Land of Promise.
3. The Residence in Canaan. (Gen. 34-45.) The slaughter of the Shechemites by Simeon and Levi, caused Jacob to move his increasing clan further south. At Bethel he renewed the covenant with God. (Gen. 35:1-15.) Near Ephrath, or Bethlehem, his beloved wife Rachel died and was buried. (Gen. 35:10-20.) At Hebron he met once more his aged father, and remained during most of his after-life in the land. (Gen. 35:27.) While Jacob was living at Hebron, Joseph was sold a slave to the Midianites, at Dothan, on the southern slopes of Mount Gilboa, and by them taken down to Egypt. (Gen. 37.)
4. The Descent into Egypt. (Gen. 45-50.) At the invitation of Joseph, then prince in Egypt, Jacob left Hebron to go down into Egypt. At Beersheba he offered sacrifices, and received divine guidance. His home was fixed in the Land of Goshen, a small but fertile district between the eastern channel of the Nile and the desert, the modern province of es Shurkiyeh, including the Wady Tumilat. Here the family of Jacob remained until they became "a great nation," a period variously estimated at from 200 to 400 years, or even longer.
5. The Burial Procession. (Gen. 50.) After the death of Jacob, his embalmed body was borne from Egypt to Hebron. The direct route was not taken, probably on account of the hostility of the Philistine and Amorite tribes; but the procession passed around the south of the Dead Sea, through the land of Moab, and crossed the Jordan at Abel-mizraim, near Jericho, a place afterward known as Beth-hoglah; and thence to Hebron, where the last of the three fathers of the chosen people was laid to rest in the ancestral sepulchre.
OUTLINE FOR REVIEW.
I. Journeys of Abraham. 1. Ur to Haran. 2. Haran to Canaan. (Shechem, Bethel.) 3. Visit to Egypt. (Return to Bethel.) 4. Removal to Hebron. 5. Pursuit of Elamites. (Dan, Hobah, Salem.) 6. Settlement at Beersheba. 7. Offering of Isaac. (Moriah.) 8. Burial of Sarah. (Hebron.)
II. Journeys of Isaac. 1. Beer-lahai-roi. 2. Gerar. 3. Rehoboth. 4. Beersheba. 5. Hebron.
III. Journeys of Jacob. 1. Flight to Haran. (Beersheba, Bethel, Haran.) 2. Return to Canaan. (Mizpah, Mahanaim, Peniel, Shechem.) 3. Residence in Canaan. (Bethel, Bethlehem, Hebron, Dothan.) 4. Descent into Egypt. (Beersheba, Goshen.) 5. Burial Procession. (Abel-mizraim, Hebron.)
