Outline Studies in the Old Testament for Bible Teachers

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

SIXTH STUDY

The Land of Palestine

Part One

We have followed the history of the Is´ra-el-ites to their encampment on the border of their promised land. Before taking up the study of their conquest of Ca´naan let us obtain some conception of the country with which the greater part of Bible history is connected—the land of Pal´es-tine.

I. Let us notice its Names at different periods:

1. The earliest name was Ca´naan, "lowland," referring only to the section between the river Jor´dan and the Med-i-ter-ra´ne-an Sea, of which the inhabitants most widely known were the Ca´naan-ites, dwelling on the lowland plains (Gen. 12. 5).

2. After the conquest by Josh´u-a it was called Is´ra-el, though in later times of Old Testament history the name referred only to the northern portion, the southern kingdom being called Ju´dah (Judg. 18. 1; 1 Kings 12. 20).

3. In the New Testament period its political name was Ju-de´a, which was also the name of its most important province (Mark 1. 5).

4. Its modern name is Pal´es-tine, a form of the word "Phi-lis´tine," the name of a heathen race which in early times occupied its southwestern border (Isa. 14. 29).