Bethel southwards, and Dan northwards, formerly called Lasha, or Laish.

To the tribe of Levi no division of land was assigned: its place was supplied by the tribe of Ephraim, the younger of Joseph's sons, Josh. xiv. 4. But it was abundantly compensated; "for the priesthood of THE LORD was their inheritance;" and they were most wisely distributed throughout the rest of the tribes, to keep up the national worship, and for the education of youth; for forty-eight cities were appropriated throughout all the tribes for the residence of the three families of the sons of Levi, namely, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari.

To the Kohathites were allotted twenty-three cities; namely, to the sons of Aaron, the high-priest, descended from Kohath, thirteen cities out of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon; and to the rest of that family, ten more out of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and Half-Manasseh, westwards.

To the children of Gershon, thirteen cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, and Naphthali, and out of Half-Manasseh, eastwards.

And to the children of Merari, twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulon. In all forty-eight cities.

Of these Levitical cities, there were thirteen that were properly sacerdotal; namely, those assigned to the sons of Aaron, to whom the priesthood was exclusively confined, for though all were Levites, these only could be priests. And the legal economy of High-priest, Priest, and Levite, has been adopted in the Christian, of Bishop, Priest, and Deacon.

It is remarkable, that all the sacerdotal cities lay within the southern tribes; eight belonging to Judah, four to Benjamin, which are specified, and only one to Simeon. Compare the lists in Joshua, xxi. 13-19; and 1 Chron. vi. 60. That one must have been Juttah, which is omitted in the latter list. And this may furnish a good comparative estimate of the territory of each of these tribes.

This was wisely allotted by Providence, to guard, as it were, against the evils of the schism between the southern and northern tribes. For by this arrangement, all the sacerdotal cities, except one, lay in the faithful tribes of Judah and Benjamin, to keep up the national worship in them, in opposition to the apostacy of the other tribes. And even that one sacerdotal city of Simeon might have remained under the controul of Judah, as

being situated on his frontier. Otherwise, the kingdom of Judah might have experienced a scarcity of priests, or have been burthened with the maintenance of those who fled from the kingdom of Israel, 2 Chron. xi. 13, 14. when the base and wicked policy of Jeroboam made priests of the lowest of the people, without learning or religion, to officiate in their room.

Out of all the Levitical cities, six were selected to be cities of refuge, that "the slayer who killed any person unawares, might flee thither for refuge from the avenger of blood," Josh. xx. 2. Of these, three were in the eastern departments, and three in the western, placed in the most convenient stations in the middles and extremities of the united states.

In tracing the route of the Israelites through the desarts of Arabia Petræa, in their way to Canaan, some confusion was occasioned by the similitude of the names of different places, or by the difference of the names assigned to the same places. Several instances of the same occur in the subsequent course of their history. To instance a few :

1. Besides Mount Hermon, on the northern frontier, which was a branch of Mount Lebanon, as we have seen, there was another, midland, which lay to the south of Mount Tabor, not far from Nazareth, Ps. lxxxix. 12. celebrated for its copious dews, Ps. cxxxiii. 3. "We were sufficiently instructed of this by experience," says that intelligent traveller, Maundrel, “our tents being wet with it, as if it had rained all night.” (March 22,) p. 74.

2. From the eastern end of Lebanon also, branched off a southern ridge, which inclosed "the land of Mizpeh," called also "the land of Gilead," from the convention made there between Jacob and Laban, his father-in-law. Gen. xxxi. 48. Hence, Ramoth Mizpeh, Josh. xiii. 26, appears to be the same as Ramoth Gilead, Josh. xx. 8; which latter name at length superseded the former.

3. A considerable Geographical difficulty, which has greatly embarrassed commentators, may be easily removed by a slight alteration of the arrangement of the translation: thus:

"When the Midianites from the east had crossed the river Jordan, to invade the western tribes, Gideon, who followed them from Gilead, by the Divine command, dismissed the greater part of his army by proclamation: "Whosoever, from Mount Gilead, is fearful and afraid, let him return [home], and depart

early. So there returned [home] twenty-two thousand of the people." Judges vii. 3. The present translation is: "Whosoever is fearful or afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand." To solve the difficulty of departing from Mount Gilead, another mount of the same name has been introduced on the west of Jordan, of which there is no trace; or the word "Gilead" has supposed to have been a corruption of Gilboa ; near which the armies were encamped, equally unfounded. See Wells, Vol. II. p. 297.

JERUSALEM.

The metropolis of the prerogative tribe of Judah, is frequently styled in Scripture," the Holy City;" Isa. xlviii. 2; Dan. ix. 24; Neh. xi. 1; Matt. iv. 5; Rev. xi. 2; &c.: because "THE LORD chose it out of all the tribes of Israel to place his name there," his temple, and his worship; Deut. xii. 5; xiv. 23; xvi. 2; xxvi. 2; &c. And to be the centre of union in religion and government, for all the tribes of the commonwealth of Israel. Psalm cxxii. 3-5.

It was also held in high veneration by the Gentiles. Herodotus, who visited Palestine, calls it "the great city of Cadytis ;" and represents it as "little inferior to Sardis," in his opinion. B. 2 and 3. Here Kaduriç is evidently taken from the Syriac,

, Kadutha, signifying "the holy," from the Hebrew, TP, Kadushah, "holy;" which is found inscribed on ancient Jewish shekels; b, Ierusalem Kadushah," Jerusalem the Holy." See Polyglott Bible; Walton's Apparatus; De Siclorum Formis, p. 38.

The original name of the city was Salem, signifying "peace." And "Melchizedek, King of Salem," in Abraham's days, was also "Priest of THE MOST HIGH GOD." Gen. xiv. 18. He was probably a Jebusite prince; for Jerusalem is called Jebus; 1 Chron. xi. 4. And the strong fort of Jebus, built on Mount Sion, was contiguous thereto. When David reduced this fort, he built "the city of David" around it, and downwards, as far as Millo, or the House of Assembly; 2 Sam. v. 6-9. And thus formed the southern quarter of the city; which became gradually united with the ancient city, in the western quarter, on the hill called Acra, by Josephus; to which the eastern quarter was