Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1867-05-09
I From the New York Observer
THE CITIES OF THE BIBL e


n How many things there are in tn,
l. world which we do not know =
Il many questions at which the wises
n men must bow their heads and say
Y like little children, "We canno
: tellP So much for us to learn anC
}. yet so much that is beyond oul
( reach SO much that we cannot un.
dertand; so much that tries and
q puzzles us!
{ Ah, my young friends, we leave
e our earthly teachers we close our
' books and go out from the school,
4 room to stand on a level with those
! who have never been our guides
but there is one Teacher whom we
, can never afford to leave! Young
and old need Him alike, all the way.
At the very beginning ofour search
after knowledge we must take His
han and never leave it until it has
led BIS over the dark river into the
land where we shall know all things I!
And when we come to pages in our
lives which the great Teacher has
folded and sealed, that we may not
read nor understand, let us say
humbly, owe do not know; God
knows, and he will make it plain to
us hereafter"
/ have been led to think of all
this, simply because have come to
talk with you about another BIZ
BILE Gty whose early history we do
not know. And the first we learn
of tits that there went to dwell
there a man whose whole life was
a life of faith in the Great Teacher.
This man "went out, not knowing
whether he went," out, not knowing
whittier he went," because God call
ed him: he took his life's dearest
treasure to sacrifice it at Gods
command; 1t was hard, he could
not understand it; but God knew
And every step of this great mans
life was like that of little child led
by a fathers hand. What grand
life itwas, too!
This city is a very old one "a ri
val of the wonderful Damascus
but how old, we cannot tell. But
that does not help us because we
do not know when Zoan was built
Hebron is first mentiOnedin Gen.
13: Is, when Abraham and Lot
had separated, and Abraham "came
and dwelt in the plain of Mamre,
whiclr-is in Hebron" This was
3780years ago and it is spoken OF
as a well-known place, even them
1t was situated in valley, among
the mountains" about twenty miles
south of Jerusalem. This valley
or "brook" of Eschol, were the
men who we're sent by Moses to
spy out the land of Canaan cut
branch with such a great cluster of
grapes, and "bare it between two
upon a staff" These spies also
found that the place was inhabited
by giants, the sons Of fAnak, in whose
hands they were as grasshoppers.
The father of this Anai was Arba,
from whom the city received its
original name of KetJath-Arba,
"the city of Arba." (Josh. 21:11.)
1t was some times called Mamre, after
"Mamre the Amorite," confeder-
ate with Abram. ...
Hebron is a city full of interest to
us; being the scene of so many
events in the lives of the patriarchs.
Here God talked with faithful Abra-
ham, and made a covenant with
him. Here Isaac was born. Here
Sarah died, and was buried in the
cave of Machpellah, which Abra-
ham bought from Ephron the Hit
lite. Afterwards, the great patri-
arch, who "died in good old age"
was buried there himself; then
Isaac and Rebekah, Leah and Ja- ,
cob. t...
When the children of Israel en-
5ered the promised land, Hebron '
was one of the cities given to the c
Levites to be a "city of refugee c
There were six of these cities of t
'efuge, where any person who had Il
killed another unintentionally, might
lee for safety; and be allowed to Il
lwell there until the death of the a
high priest, when he could return a
TO his own city. (Josh. 20; ~
At Hebron, David was anointed f
king over Israel and here he reign !
ID for seven years and six months. S
The city was afterwards burned by d
;he Romans. Early in the twelfth il
century it was captured by the cru p
,aders; and since 1887 it has been o
n the hands of the Mohammedans. o
The statements of travellers differ v
considerably in regard to the pres fl
,nt number of inhabitants. Some Il
say 5000, others 1900, and others
Is high as 10000. About 700 of p
he Inhabitants are Jews. There Ii
ire no Christians living there. Ii
The sides of the hills which sur f,
'ound the town are covered with il
uxuriant vineyards; and the grapes Fl
re considered very fine. Olives, n
lgs, pomegranates and other fruits Il
Ilso flourish there. il
The houses are built of stone, "
With fiat roofs and one or two small n
upolas. The city has no walls - "
mt at the entrance of the principal e.
treets there are gates, which are t.
uarded during the day and closed iC
t night. "
The people obtain most of their tt
,ater from the DOols and fountains no