II. THE JOURNEYS OF ISAAC.
The life of Isaac, though longer than the lives of Abraham and Jacob, was spent in a comparatively small range of territory, and with comparatively few events. We have not noted upon the map the lines of his journeyings; but the localities may be seen, as far as they are identified, upon the map of Palestine, on [page 58].
The homes of Isaac were as follows: 1. Beer-lahai-roi, "Well of the Life of Vision," i. e., where life remained after seeing God; an unknown locality in the south of Canaan, between Bered and Kadesh. It was so named by Hagar, after meeting an angel, before the birth of Ishmael. (Gen. 16:13.) 2. Gerar. (Gen. 26:1.) This was the chief city of the Philistines in that age; and is now called Kirbet el Gerar. The wells dug by Isaac, and seized by the Philistines, were probably in the region near this city. 3. Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22) is probably at the Wady (Valley) er Ruhaibeh, south of Beersheba. 4. Beersheba. (Gen. 26:23-35.) Here he made a treaty of peace with the Philistine king, and remained for many years. It was his home during the strife of Jacob and Esau, and from this place Jacob departed on his long visit to Haran. (Gen. 28:10.) 5. Hebron. (Gen. 35:27.) Here, beside the tomb of his parents, Isaac at last met his son Jacob, and here he died and was buried, at the age of 180 years.
COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE PATRIARCHS BEFORE AND AFTER THE DELUGE.
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.