Who can abide it?—Joel ii.
It was late when our travellers retired to rest; yet they arose early, to reach Joppa before the heat of the day. Elisama left a present with the master of the house, as a return for his hospitality, and they took leave of each other, one saying, “God reward thee;” the other acknowledging it as a gift of God, that such guests had taken up their abode with him.
They had not travelled more than seven sabbath-days’ journies, when [Joppa], the Beautiful, as its name implies, rose before them. It is close to the sea, is built upon a rising ground, and offers on all sides picturesque and varied prospects. Towards the west the open sea extends; towards the east spreads the fertile plain of Sephela, reaching as far as Gaza, in which are the fifteen principal cities of the Philistines: towards the north, as far as Carmel, the flowery meads of Sharon are seen, and through the dark summits of the hills of Ephraim and Judah on the east, a piercing sight can even discern [one of the towers of Jerusalem]. A thin veil of morning vapour lay on the blue hills, on the distant plains and the boundless sea. Our travellers gazed on the scene with such a fulness of tranquil delight, that it was long ere they remembered that they had business in the city. Elisama inquired at the gate for his friend, and going to his house was received by him with a hearty greeting. His first question was respecting the residence of the genealogist. He was told that he no longer lived in Joppa, but was gone to Ziklag. Elisama was provoked that he should have received false information in Jerusalem, but Helon pacified his uncle, by reminding him that they had enjoyed a pleasant journey and this mistake would afford him an opportunity of seeing the south-west side of Judah. Elisama would gladly have taken his departure instantly, and Helon have followed him; but their host insisted that they should remain with him till the morrow. Elisama agreed, on condition that he should furnish Helon with a guide, to conduct him to the harbour, and show him what was remarkable in it. He called for this purpose one of his sons, who was of nearly Helon’s age, and they went down to the shore. Here Solomon had landed his cedar-wood from Lebanon,[[23]] to be used in his works of architecture, and it was by the same haven that the materials for the building of the second temple were imported. Simon the Maccabee had improved the harbour and fortified the city, which Jonathan had taken from a Syrian garrison.[[24]] Helon, well acquainted with the celebrated harbours of Egypt, examined it critically, and not being in his present mood inclined to praise any thing connected with commerce, he excited some displeasure in the mind of his companion, by observing how inadequately it was sheltered from the north wind. It was about noon when they arrived at home, and found the elders sitting around the fountain in the court. “Do you remember,” said Elisama to Helon, “that this was the place at which the prophet Jonah embarked on a voyage, which had nearly terminated fatally for him, when he endeavoured to escape from the mission to which God had appointed him.”[[25]] Helon was about to answer, when he saw his host knit his brow and start up. “You remind me,” said he, “of an accursed heathen, who arrived here lately with a Phœnician caravan, a lively and acute Greek, who kept himself aloof from all the rest, and amused himself by turning the Tyrians into ridicule. This son of Belial had the assurance to ask me, if the history of our prophet was not a new version of the [Grecian story of Andromeda], who was exposed here to the jaws of a sea-monster, and delivered by Perseus. What his Grecian fable may be I know not, but I was so enraged at his insinuation, that——”[that——”]
“This can be no other than our Myron,” said Elisama. “How long since was he here?[here?]” “About three weeks,” replied his host. “It is the same,” said Elisama. “He came with us from Egypt as far as Gaza. The Greeks are a nation of scoffers, but it shall one day fare with them, praised be Jehovah, as it has fared with Samaria in our days.”
“Were that glory also reserved to our Hyrcanus,” said his host, “I would do what this man has done,” pointing to a Nazarite who had just entered the court.
It was a wild looking figure which presented itself to their view. His upper garment was of rough hair, and his locks hung far down upon his shoulders, tangled and neglected, and showing that it was long since they had been shorn.
Helon had never yet seen , for they were seldom to be met with but in the Holy Land. But he was acquainted with all the passages in the law relative to this kind of vow,[[26]] by which a man for a time consecrated himself, abstained from wine and from all the produce of the vine, and allowed no razor to come upon his person, nor any contact of a dead body to pollute him. This Nazarite was a Jew of Maresa, who had been one of those that had lost their house and home, when, a year and a half before, the Samaritans, at the command of the king of Syria, had inflicted great injury on the Jews, who had settled again in [Maresa], subsequently to its devastation by Judas Maccabæus. In his wrath he had vowed himself to Jehovah, till the time when the atrocities of the Samaritans should cease and Samaria be razed to the foundations. He was just come from the camp of Israel, and was expressing his joy and gratitude that Jehovah had so soon accomplished the object of his vow. He had seen [the houses and the ramparts of Samaria levelled], amidst the songs of the soldiery, and the spot on which the city had stood furrowed with trenches of water and converted into a desert. He had much to relate of the preparations which Hyrcanus had made for the reception of his victorious sons, and he announced his intention of going up to the Holy City, at the next feast of the new moon, to have his head shorn there, and offer a sacrifice for the termination of his Nazarite’s vow. This led them into a wide field of discourse, and the Nazarite remained to partake of the evening meal, though he could not taste the choice wine with which the citizen of Joppa regaled his guests. One remark of the Nazarite threatened to destroy the harmony of sentiment which had hitherto reigned between him and Elisama. He praised, among others, Hilkiah and Ananias, (the sons of that Onias who had built Leontopolis) who, being the principal advisers of Cleopatra the queen of Egypt, had prevailed on her not to consent to the sending of the auxiliaries whom, to the amount of six thousand men, her son and joint regent, Ptolemy Lathyrus, had despatched to Antiochus Cyzicenus, to raise the siege of Samaria. Every thing which was connected with the Hellenists of Egypt was intolerable to Elisama, and above all, to hear their chiefs mentioned with praise in the Holy Land itself. Their host made peace between them, remarking that Jehovah had himself decided in this case, by the miserable and ignominious fate which had befallen these auxiliaries; and they were completely reconciled when the Nazarite spoke of Iddo as his friend. They separated in peace and love, and with the hope to meet again in a few days in the presence of Jehovah, at the rejoicings for the victory. On the following morning, Elisama, quite refreshed, grasped his staff, and, with Helon and Sallu, set out for Ziklag.
Their road led them first through [Gazara], which had been a city of the Philistines, burnt after they were conquered, and rebuilt by Solomon,[[27]] and very recently strongly fortified by the Maccabees;[[28]] next to Noba, celebrated for the terrible vengeance which Saul took there upon the priest Ahimelech, and on all the other inhabitants, for their crime in giving to David, when he fled from before Saul, the loaves of the shew-bread and the sword of Goliath.[[29]] Leaving this place they descended from the hills into the plain of Sephela. They here came again into the scenes of harvest, and reached the town of Gath, which stands at the limit of the territory of Dan, hearing on every side shouts of joy and pious thankfulness. Gath was once the fourth among [the five chief cities of the Philistines], and in later times an apple of discord between them and the Israelites, passing from the hand of one party to that of the other. The giant Goliath was a Philistine of Gath. It had been razed by king Uzziah,[[30]] and since that time had been a very insignificant place.
When they reached Gath, they had travelled twelve sabbath-days’ journies: they now entered the tribe of Judah, and had half that distance to travel to [Eleutheropolis], a small village. Their road led them through the region which lies in the middle between Maresa and Morescheth. They quickened their pace and arrived late in the evening at Ziklag, having past through Agla, which was twelve miles distant from Eleutheropolis. Ziklag had been the favourite abode of David; Achish, the king of Gath, had assigned it to him for his residence;[[31]] its destruction by the Amalekites had roused him to take exemplary vengeance upon them, and he had afterwards rebuilt it.
When they arrived at Ziklag, they inquired for the house of the genealogist, and went directly to it. It had long been dark, and Elisama was very weary; and when the genealogist had given them a friendly reception, as his Egyptian kinsmen, and expressed high approbation of Helon’s determination to become a priest, they laid themselves down to rest.