For some miles along the road, or from the eminences which skirt it, Jerusalem is visible. Age after age, invading armies, or bands of pilgrims, approaching from the north, as they have turned the crest of Scopus, have gained their first view of the city—a view in some respects even finer than that from Olivet. Here the first crusaders halted at break of day, and as Jerusalem burst upon their view, they knelt, and with tears of gladness, kissed the sacred soil. Richard Cœur de Lion, leaving his camp at Ajalon, pressed forward alone, and as he ascended one of these hills, buried his face in his mailed hands, and exclaimed, “Oh! Lord God, I pray Thee that I may never look upon Thy holy city, if so be that I rescue it not from Thine enemies.”
RAMAH.
A complete itinerary of the villages along this route is given us by the prophet Isaiah, describing the march of the Assyrian army. Beginning at Ai, near Bethel, about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, “he is passed to Migron, at Michmash he hath laid up his baggage; they are gone over the passage; they have taken up their lodging (i.e. halted for the night), at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. As yet shall he remain at Nob that day.” Having thus seized all the villages on his line of march, he has reached the immediate precincts of the city, where the camp of the Assyrians is yet pointed out. Confident of victory, “he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem;” but “the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror, and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.”[[173]]
Nearly all the villages here enumerated can be identified, and not a few of them still bear their ancient names. A Concordance or a reference-Bible will show what an affluence of historical associations lie all around us—Ai, the scene of Joshua’s first great battle—Migron, where the army of Saul encamped in his campaign against the Philistines—Michmash, the scene of Jonathan’s heroic exploit—Ramah, the home of Samuel—Gibeah, the birth-place of Saul—Gallim and Laish the abode of Phalti the husband of Michal, when torn away from David—Anathoth, the residence of Jeremiah, and Nob where in the house of Ahimelech the priest, the sword of Goliath was laid up, and the shew-bread was placed before the Lord, of which David “did eat when he was a hungred, and they that were with him.”
ANATHOTH.
Apart from its historical associations, there is little to interest in the district through which we pass. A bleak, wind-swept, rock-strewn moor or a series of rounded hills where the grey limestone comes up to the surface, with only a few patches of meagre vegetation on the shallow soil, make up the scene. There is, however, one steep conical hill rising above the others, which arrests attention. Like the Jebel Fureidis near Bethlehem, it is conspicuous from every direction. Its modern name Neby Samwil—The Tomb of Samuel—embalms the memory of the prophet, who here judged Israel. With very strong probability it is identified with Mizpeh, i.e. the Watch-tower, a name exactly appropriate to this lofty eminence, from which a view is gained over the whole of Southern Palestine. Here the prophet summoned Israel to war against their oppressors, or convened them for judgment; here “he took a stone and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto, hath the Lord helped us;” and here was heard, for the first time, the cry of devout loyalty, so often repeated since, “God save the king.”[[174]]
About two hours after leaving Jerusalem, we reach a small town, Bireh, the Beeroth of the Gibeonites,[[175]] but which has a deeper interest from its connection with the life of our Lord. It was the first stage for the pilgrims returning northward from Jerusalem, where they halted for the night. The stragglers who had lingered in the city here rejoined their companions and resumed their journey to Galilee on the following morning. The Child Jesus having tarried behind in Jerusalem, “Joseph and His mother knew not of it; but they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought Him amongst their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking Him.”[[176]]
A little to the north-west of Beeroth, we approach an Arab village, standing on the ridge of a hill with a valley on either side. To the eastward the ridge rises considerably, giving an extensive view over the Jordan valley. A desolate moorland, strewn with ruins, stretches away to the north. As we enter the village, the first of the wretched and squalid houses which comprise it, makes some pretension to architectural decorations in a form not uncommon through central Palestine—over the doorway a couple of willow-pattern plates are let into the wall. The modern name, Beitîn, is but a reminiscence of its ancient and venerable one Bethel. But except the name there is little to remind us that we are on a spot so memorable in Jewish history. A large reservoir, similar to those at Solomon’s Pools and Hebron,—three hundred and fourteen feet long by two hundred and seventeen wide, constructed of massive Jewish masonry, may not improbably go back to a very early period. It is now empty except after heavy rains; but it was formerly filled by the springs at which Abram doubtless watered his flocks and herds when, entering the land of Canaan, “he pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east, and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.”[[177]]