Zebulun. The western side was occupied by the camp of Ephraim, made up of the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. On the southern wing lay the camp of Reuben, which was composed of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. The northern wing was held by the camp of Dan, which contained the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Napthali. The entire camp formed a town of tents, with lanes, streets, and squares, of very great extent, resembling the groundplan of ancient Babylon, and comprising no fewer than the vast multitude of 603,550 men. Jewish authorities state the circumference of the entire camp at twelve miles, an estimate which is scarcely exaggerated; for the intervals were great and numerous, and the whole number of souls which it enclosed must have exceeded two millions. The movement of so vast a body, much trouble as it must have involved, was facilitated by the precise regulations to which it was subjected. As soon as the pillar of cloud began to rise, all was in active but regulated movement. The people struck their tents; the priests enveloped the sacred utensils, and delivered them to the Levites. The tabernacle was taken down, and every part carefully prepared for removal. draperies were put under the care of the Gershonites; the boards and pillars, of the Merarites. The more sacred objects, such as the ark and altars, were borne by poles on the shoulders of the Kohathites. The boards, poles, and coverings, were carried in conveyances drawn each by two oxen. When all was ready, the signal for marching was given by silver trumpets from the mouths of the Levites; and the bearers of the ark moved forward, followed by the camp of Judah. Then the waggons moved, with the cloths and boards of the tabernacle. While these were going on, another signal was given; on hearing which, Reuben's camp advanced under the leading of its standard. Then came the Kohathites, bearing the sacred utensils. These were followed by Ephraim's camp. Dan brought up the rear. The The remarks of Josephus are worth citing: When they set up the tabernacle, they received it into the midst of their camp, three of the tribes pitching their tents on each side of it; and roads were cut through the midst of these tents. It was like a wellappointed market, and every thing was there ready for sale in due order; and all sorts of artificers were in the shops; and it resembled nothing so much as a city that sometimes was moveable, and sometimes fixed. The priests had the first places about the tabernacle; then the Levites, who, as their whole multitude was reckoned from thirty days old, were 23,880 males. And, during the time that the cloud stood over the tabernacle, they thought proper to remain in the same place, as supposing that God there inhabited among them; but when that removed, they also journeyed' (Antiq. iii. 12, 5). There can be little doubt that this wellregulated arrangement had a lasting influence on the formation of the Hebrew camp, as it existed during war in later days. The absence of detailed information on the subject is the less to be regretted, because it refers to practices and involves thoughts that are growingly distasteful to the mind of Christians (1 Sam. xvii. 20; xxvi. 5. Judg. vii. 19. 1 Sam. xxx. 24). Sanitary and other considerations required certain things to be done 'without the camp.' 'The flesh of the bullock, and his skin and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin-offering' (Exod. xxix. 14). The leper, all the days wherein the plague shall be in him, was unclean: 'he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be' (Lev. xiii. 46). Hence, without the camp' came to be accounted a degraded place; for which reason our Lord is represented as suffering like a leper and a sin-offering, without the camp or city; and his followers are exhorted to go forth unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach' (Heb. xiii. 11—13). 6 CAMPHIRE is the English translation of a word, kopher, in the margin rendered cypress, apparently related to gopher (Gen. vi. 14). By the Greeks the kopher was called kupros, cypress.' Gopher, kopher, kupros, and cypress, may possibly be variations of the same word, though the objects they represent are different. Kopher, 'camphire', in the margin cypress', found twice in the Bible (Cant. i. 14; iv. 13) denotes the plant called by the Arabs henna, Egyptian privet, Lawsonia inermis. This shrub grows in Palestine and Egypt, reaching to the height of ten or twelve feet, and producing from May to August clusters of very fragrant flowers of a lilac colour. Throughout Egypt, India, Persia, Arabia, and Greece, it is held in universal estimation for its beauty and the sweet perfume it exhales. Mohammed pronounced it the chief of the sweet-scented flowers of this world and of the next. The henna grows on hills of the Greek isles, pouring its sweetness on the vales beneath. Its blossoms form the favourite bouquet of the Grecian females. From its leaves, which are oval and of a very bright green, a dye is prepared which imparts to the tips of the fingers and toes, the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, a hue which is yellowish red, or a deep orange. To this practice Moore alludes: 'Thus some bring leaves of henna to imbue The dried leaves are preserved as a scent, and an extract prepared from them is employed HENNA-FLOWER. This plant Shaw speaks of as forming the chief branch of trade at Gabs, in Africa. He says, it is cultivated in all their gardens, putting out its little flowers in clusters which yield a most grateful smell, like cam phor' (114). Mariti likens the flower to a bunch of grapes, remarking, 'The buds are less than the top of a needle. They open all at a time, and form a very lovely tuft, resembling an upturned cluster of grapes. The orientals set great value on the flowers, a nosegay of which is accounted a very acceptable present.' From Rauwolf we learn that, on account of the grateful odour they afford, these shrubs are during winter kept within doors in pots. The aged Mohammedan perfumes his beard by holding his face over the vapour arising from a preparation of the odoriferous henna. In Egypt the flowers are carried about the streets for sale, the seller as he proceeds calling aloud, 'O odours of Paradise! O flowers of the henna!" The application made of these facts in Canticles (i. 14) is striking: A henna-posy is my beloved, CANA OF GALILEE. CANA (H.), a town in Galilee, where the Saviour performed his first miracle by turning water into wine, as if he intended symbolically to represent the transition from the beggarly element of John's work to the noble and inspiring mission on which he was then entering (John ii. 1). This Cana, different from Kanah in Josh. xix. 28, does not occur in the Old Testament, but is mentioned by Josephus as a village in Galilee. It has commonly been identified with Kefr Kenna, a small village, an hour and a half northeast from Nazareth, on one of the roads to Tiberias. Robinson rejects this notion, partly on philological grounds, and fixes, instead, on the ruin Kana el-Jelil (Cana of Galilee), the name of which, he says, is identical with Cana, and stands the same in the Arabic version of the New Testament. It lies about three hours' distance, almost due north, from Nazareth, beyond the plain el-Buttauf, and at the foot of the northern hills, on the slope of an eminence not far on the east of Kefr Menda. Cana was the native place of Nathanael (John xxi. 2). CANAAN (H. low land) is the name that was given to the country which is more commonly termed Palestine, from the Greek representative of the Hebrew term for Philistia, or the land of the Philistines, which was only a small part of Canaan, lying on the south-west. The older name was Canaan (Gen. xii. 15), which, as intimated 1 above, denotes a low country; the name being assigned by those who dwelt in the high lands lying eastward of Canaan, which to them was a low-lying country (Pays Bas, Niederland). The name is only relatively descriptive of the entire country, which, regarded in itself, is in many parts hilly. Its origin may, however, be accounted for thus: it was originally given with propriety to the low lands which stretch along the Phoenician coast on the north-west, the inhabitants of which, spreading over the country at large, carried with them, and gave to the country generally, the name Canaan. But when the Canaanites were at a later period thrust by the Israelites into the narrow limits of the Phoenician coast, then Phoenicia, properly so called, again, for the most part at least, received the name of Canaan (Hos. xii. 7. Zeph. i. 11. Obad. 20, in the original. Isa. xxiii. 11). Hence the woman who in Matthew (xv. 22) is termed 'a woman of Canaan' is called by Mark (vii. 26) a Syro-Phoenician.' In Gen. xl. 15, the country is termed 'the land of the Hebrews,' the term being employed in a somewhat loose and general manner. When Israel had obtained possession of the country, it was naturally designated the land of Israel (Judg. xix. 29. 1 Sam. xiii. 19). At a later period, as the southern kingdom was most distinguished, the country was termed the land of Judah, - a name which is employed both by Josephus and Tacitus. Roman writers often speak of all Palestine under the name of Idumæa, since the Idumæan Herod the Great was king of Judea, as well as of Idumæa. It is sometimes termed 'the land' simply (Jer. xii. 4), as being the country around which all the religious and personal feelings of the Hebrews clustered. And as Jehovah is represented as promising it as a heritage to the descendants of Abraham (Exod. vi. 8), so is it termed the land of promise' (Heb. xi. 9). The epithets employed in Jer. iii. 19, a pleasant land, a goodly heritage,' have reference to the excellent and lovely qualities for which large portions of the country were celebrated. The close relations in which the Israelites stood with Jehovah, caused Palestine to be denominated the Lord's land' (Hos. ix. 3. Lev. xxi. 23) and 'mine (God's) house' (Hos. ix. 15). As the country was the heritage of a nation whose great duty was to become 'holiness unto Jehovah,' Canaan acquired the name of the holy land' (Zech. ii. 12). Canaan may, in general terms, be described as that part of Western Asia which lies between 310 and 33° 30′ of north latitude, and 34° 10′ and 35° 40′ east longitude. In length it may have been about a hundred and eighty miles: its average breadth could not have exceeded fifty miles, exclusive of the land held by Israelites on the east side of Jordan. It was therefore a small coun try. The epithet 'large,' which was applied to the land (Exod. iii. 8. Neh. ix. 35), must, in consequence, be understood relatively to the original destitution of the Egyptian captives, who as such were without landed possessions. And The position of Canaan on the surface of the globe deserves special attention. It lay in the very centre of the ancient world. On its south-western border it had Egypt, the cradle of civilisation. The fertile lands of Mesopotamia, with the culture of Babylon and Nineveh, were at no very great distance from its eastern boundary. On the line of coast which forms its western limit, it came into actual contact with Phoenician commerce and refinements; while the Mediterranean Sea gave its people a passage to the renowned and opulent Tarshish in Spain, to the mainland and the isles of the Greeks, and to the flourishing cities of Asia Minor. Arabia stretched out from its southern border; and, by means of the Red Sea, even the coast of India was accessible. A simple glance at the map will show the reader, that no spot would have been better chosen than this line of coast, either for receiving or communicating the light of knowledge, and the lofty impulses of religion. Monotheism, planted in Palestine, could not fail to extend its light to surrounding countries. whence, so well as from Jerusalem, could Christian missionaries have gone forth to convert Asia, Africa, and Europe? singular wisdom of Divine Providence, in fixing on Canaan as the spot where should be planted the germs of a great and eventually universal religious renovation, may be illustrated by our attempting to find another part of the Old World possessing greater advantages. Where shall we direct our choice? England, by her navy, is now the great sensorium of modern civilisation; but this land was, in ancient times, sundered from all civilised portions of the earth, and lay barely accessible in a distant and almost unnavigable ocean. Babylon flourished for ages, sending forth rays of light into all quarters of the world; but Babylon, as an inland city, had only an indirect connection with western countries, and could reach the remoter east only with extreme difficulty. Even Egypt, as a central spot, suffers in comparison with Syria; while its extreme fertility, favour as it might an early culture, prevented that high, pure, and constant religious and social development in which the excellence and happiness of man consist. The The fortunate position of Canaan on the surface of the globe attracted the attention of the ancients, who, viewing that position under now obsolete geographical conceptions, spoke of it as being the centre of the earth. Yet, though in error in their exact statement, they conveyed important facts in language which is easily read into modern and less incorrect phraseology. In the prophet Ezekiel (v. 5) we find these words: -Thus saith Jehovah God: This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries round about her.' Theodoret thus expounds these words: 'He gave them the middle of the earth for a dwelling-place: towards the east and north lay Asia; towards the west, Europe, united with them by the sea; towards the south was Africa. This position was assigned in order that the Heathen might learn piety and justice from the Jews.' Jerome remarks on the same passage: The prophet bears witness that Jerusalem lies in the centre of the world, is the navel of the earth. In the midst of the Gentiles is the city placed, that God, who was known in Judea, and whose name was great in Israel, might be known to all nations around.' With this agree the words of the Psalmist (lxxiv. 12), - 'God my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.' This middle point, it has been remarked, is the spot on which Christ was crucified, and therefore these words of the Psalmist were inscribed in the church of the holy sepulchre. In the same view, an old Christian poet says, 'Golgotha locus est. Hic medium terræ est, hic est victoriæ signum.' * Golgotha is a place which is the centre of the earth, and the sign of victory.' Indeed, Jerusalem and all Canaan belong to a peninsula formed by the Mediterranean and the Black Sea on the north, the Persian Gulf on the east, the Red Sea on the west, and the Sea of Arabia on the south. This peninsula comprises the high lands of Armenia, and extends to the southern extremity of Arabia. As such it is the theatre of the greatest events of which history gives a record. On the high lands of this peninsula, near the sources of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies, according to the book of Genesis, the cradle of the human race. Not far distant is Ararat, the spot on which Noah settled after the flood, about a middle point between the most northern end of Asia (Behring's Straits) and the Cape of Good Hope, the extreme point of Africa, on the longest landline on the surface of the globe. When, from these central spots, the earth had been twice peopled, Jehovah selected for the dwelling of his chosen people the western part of the peninsula, Canaan, in order to separate them from all the Heathen, and eventually to make them a channel of his grace to the entire globe. On the east and on the south, this narrow strip of country was severed from idolaters by deserts. the north the land was shut in by Lebanon: on the west it was protected by the sea. In so well-environed a country, the seed of a new social existence could germinate successfully, as in a happily located garden. On Yet the instruments of God's judgments found their way through deserts and over mountains, to punish a nation which chose a curse instead of a blessing. No land has been so wasted by war as that which was thus sheltered by sea, mountain, and desert. To pass over Jerusalem in silence, few spots on the earth have had to endure so much bloodshed as Nazareth, and a circuit of ten miles around. Joshua's victory at Merom, Barak's on the Kishon, Gideon's in the plain of Jezreel, Josiah's at Megiddo, Vespasian's near Tabor and Taricheæ, Saladin's victory at Hittin, Bonaparte's at Tabor, Ibrahim Pasha's conquest of Acre, - all these bloody scenes took place in the environs of the spot where the Prince of peace' grew up to manhood. But, as the messengers of God's anger penetrated into this closed and well-defended land, so his divine blessing made way through its barriers over the entire earth. If, for instance, the sea separated the Jews, who were not a seafaring people, from the lands that lay to the west, yet, from the time of Alexander, did this sea bring them into close connection with the most important nations of the earth, individuals of which, under the shelter of Roman citizenship, dwelt in their cities, spread over and settled down in their land. By degrees, the alienation which had been requisite in order to guard against idolatry was worn away, and preparation was made for the publication of the gospel, to which great work most important facilities were given by the very sea which had aforetime been a wall to the monotheism of the Hebrews. If these things are conjointly taken into account, it will be easy for the reader to see why Abraham was called to quit his native country, and journey into Canaan; and why the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, and established in the land of promise; -why and how it was, that from Zion the word of Jehovah went out through all the earth; - why and how, among the peasants of Bethlehem, that shepherd was born whose flock should feed over the entire world. And it is in the midst of so wide a view as that which we have now taken, that we behold a full and complete justification of the divine dealings concerning Israel, and lose from sight small difficulties that might otherwise occupy a disproportionate part of the field of vision, and occasion corresponding pain. The boundaries of Canaan varied at different periods. According to the geographical limits laid down in Gen. x. 19, ancient Canaan formed a triangle, whose apex was Sidon, and whose base was a line drawn from Gaza on the Mediterranean to Gerar, continued to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea; whence ran a nearly perpendicular line northwards through Sodom, up the Jordan, over the Lake of Tiberias, and the waters of Merom, till it came to Lasha (Laish or Dan), where it turned abruptly in a westerly direction on to Sidon. In Numb. xxxiv. 2, seq. are given the boundaries of Canaan, as it was to be conquered by the Israelites. For the western border, the great sea,' the Mediterranean, is given; as a northern limit, Lebanon; Jordan is the eastern; and the southern boundary runs from the end of the Dead Sea, including Kadesh Barnea, to the river of Egypt,' the Rhinokolura, now called the Wady-el-Arish. The passages found in Numb. xxxii. 33-42, and Josh. xiii. 15-31, lay down the extent of country which the tribes of Reuben, Dan, and half Manasseh obtained on the east of Jordan. Joshua (xv.-xxi.), narrates how the land of Canaan itself was allotted by Joshua, and the priest Eleazar (comp. Numb. xxxiv. 16-29. Josh. xiv. 1); and defines the borders of the land which was to become the property of the nine and half remaining tribes. It is, however, by no means easy, in applying the facts here given, to lay down with exactness the precise boundaries of particular tribes, or the limits of the whole country, since many of the given data are totally unknown to us. At the same time, the particularity of the narratives is a guarantee of their historical credibility. We If now we put together the facts on which we can rely, we may assign the boundaries of the land in the following manner begin with the western side of the Jordan. The southern limit ran from the south end of the Salt Sea, westward to the embouchure of the river of Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea. On the west, that sea itself was the limit as far as Sidon, since this place was given to Asher (Josh. xix. 28). The northern border ran from a point on the Mediterranean, a little to the north of Sidon, through Hamath to Mount Hor, which was probably a part of Lebanon (Numb. xxxiv. 7-9), and Hazar-Enan, which, says Jerome, was the (western) limit of the territory of Damascus. The eastern boundary extended from Enan to the Sea of Chinnereth (Gennesareth), along the Jordan to the southern limit of the Dead Sea (Numb. xxxiv. 10-12). On the eastern side of Jordan, the two and half tribes obtained the land which Moses took from the Amorite kings, Sihon of Heshbon, and Og of Bashan. The northern boundary of the eastern tribes was Hermon; the western ran from the fountains of the Jordan to the point where the river Arnon flows into the Dead Sea. The eastern district was not so well defined. The limit began with Hermon, and, proceeding in a south-easterly direction, came to Salchah (Deut. iii. 10), which Burckhardt and Buckingham seem to have identified. Thence it passed in an undulating line to Rabbath-Ammon, and so round westwards to the river Arnon, to the north-eastern extremity of the Dead Sea. A line from this point to the southern point of the same sea, unites the eastern with the western territories. The passages found in Josh. xiii. 1-6 and 13, mention what parts the Israelites did not take possession of, or what inhabitants of the country they did not destroy. Yet more accurate information on the subject is given in Judg. i.; iii. 1-3. It has been objected, that Jehovah promised to the descendants of Abraham a land of larger dimensions than that into possession of which they came :-'Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphra tes.' But if by the river of Egypt is meant the Nile, then in the Ishmaelites, who were descendants of Abraham, and who to this day are masters of the land from the Euphrates to the Nile, was the promise strictly fulfilled. In Exod. xxiii. 31, we read a promise made to the Israelites: 'I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river' (Euphrates); which promise took effect in the reign of Solomon. Damascus was conquered by David, who subjected Syria (2 Sam. viii. 6). Solomon held possession of Ezion-geber and Elath on the Red Sea (1 Kings ix. 26), and built Tadmor (Palmyra) in the wilderness (2 Chron. viii. 3-6); and he had dominion over all on this side the river, from Tiphsab (on the Euphrates, Thapsacus) to Gaza (1 Kings iv. 24). Thus, in agreement with the promise, the boundaries of the kingdom under Solomon were from the Red Sea to the Euphrates northwards into the desert, and on the west of Jordan, from Dan (Laish) in the north, to Beersheba in the south, including the entire coast of the Mediterranean, from near Sidon down southward to the river of Egypt. If, however, there were cities such as Sidon itself (Judg. i.), out of which the Israelites did not expel the ancient inhabitants, or which they retained possession of only for a short time, it must be remembered that all the promises were conditional on the obedience of the Israelites; and the nations that remained are expressly said to have been left in order to prove Israel,' 'to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah' (Judg. iii. 2, 4; comp. Dent. xi. 22, seq.). When in process of time it was at last shown that the Israelites would not obey God, they lost their country. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided, and the people fell away from Jehovah. Then the two and half tribes, on the east of the Jordan, and the tribe of Naphtali, were carried away to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings xv. 29. 1 Chron. v. 26). At a later period the tribes on the west of Jordan, excepting Judah and Benjamin, were led captive to Assyria by Shalmaneser, and at last Judah and Benjamin |