Cartographica Neerlandica Map Text for Ortelius Map No. 180


Text, translated from the 1590 Latin 4 Add, 1591 German 4 Add., 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1609/1612 Latin/Spanish [but text in Latin] edition & 1624L Parergon/1641 Spanish [but text in Latin]:

180.1. {1590L4Add Add{JUDEA and ISRAEL.
Names, exposition and description on certain places on this map.

180.2. ADER or Eder, [means] tower. The Jews call a flock or herd Eder, {1591G4add{although others prefer to think that the word means defect or want}1591G4Add}. {1606E only{I do not know whether for those places it means floor or plot of ground, which the Romans refer to by the word Aream}1606E only}. At this place some write that the nativity or birth of our Saviour Christ was by the angels announced to the shepherds.
180.3. BEERSABE, [means] the well of the oath, or the well of confirmation of the oath, so called because Abimelech, king of Gerar made a covenant near this place, first with Abraham, Gen. 21 {1608/1612I instead{12}1608/1612I instead}, then with Isaac, Gen. 26. When Jacob, going into Ægypt, came to this well, he was commanded by a voice from heaven that he should boldly go down to Ægypt without fear, as God promised him that from his seed should come the captain or leader of the people, and the redeemer of Israel, Gen. 46 {1591G4Add & 1602G instead{24}1591G4Add & 1602G instead}. It is also called the fountain of fullness. For Hagar, the servant of Abraham, when she was expelled with her son Ismael by Sara, her mistress, wandered up and down this place, ready to die soon with her son {1602G & 1606E only{for want of drink}1602G & 1606E only}, but the angel showed her this well, from which she and her child drunk their fill and were satisfied, Gen. 21. Nor is that Beersabee [from] Gen. 22.3, [&] King 13. different from this one.
180.4. BETHANIA [means] the house of obedience or the house of affliction, or the house of the grace of God, where our Saviour manifested his infinite power by sufficient testimony, as he raised Lazarus from death to life again, who had been lying [dead] by its walls for three {1591G4Add & 1602G instead{four}1591G4Add & 1602G instead} days. This place is spoken of in Matth. 21, Marc 11.14, John. 11.12.
180.5. BETHABARA, [means] the house of crossing over or the ferry house. Here the waters of the Jordan were divided into two channels, and therefore they provided a safe passage to Joshua and all the children of Israel through the middle of this river, Josh. 3.4. Here John baptized Christ and many others, Matth. 3. Moreover Saint John speaks of this place in the first and tenth chapter of his Gospel.
180.6. BETHEL, Gen. 12. To this place Abraham moved his household after his departure from Sichem. For there is no doubt that these two were different places. First it was called Luza that is, almond tree, {1606E only{or place where almond trees grow plentifully}1606E only}. There Jacob saw God standing on a ladder, as is related in the 28th chapter of Genesis. After that event, the place was called by the new name of Bethel, that is, the house of God. In the same place Jeroboam erected the golden calf, to imitate the example of the patriarchs and holy men before him, who worshipped God in that place. Then the prophets changed the good name of Bethel and called it Bethaven, that is, the house of villainy.
180.7. BETHAISDA, [means] the house of corn, {1606E only{provisions or hunting}1606E only}. Here Philip, Andreas and Petrus the apostles of Christ were born, John. 1. The evangelists Mattheus and Marcus have also mentioned this place, Matth. 2, Marc. 6. CANA the Greater, the country of Syrophœnissa {1591G4Add & 1602G instead{Cananaeans}1591G4Add & 1602G instead}, whose daughter was cured by Christ, possessed as she was by the devil, Matth.15, Marc.7 {1606E instead{8}1606E instead}, about which more below under Sarepta.
180.8. CANA the Lesser, a town in Galilea in which Christ with his presence and [his] miracle of turning water into wine honourably graced matrimony. Cana means reed or cane.
180.9. CANANÆA is the name of a country so called after Canaan, the son of Cham. Canaan means merchant, and indeed, the descendants of Canaan, living on the coast, did trade as merchants. For Sidon, the son of Canaan built the city of Sidon. And in the tenth chapter of Genesis the land of Canaan is described in such a manner that it is certain that it contained all that area which the Israelites later possessed, from the Jordan all the way to the sea, and along it as far as Ægypt. There was [then] as yet no distinction between Philistiim and Canaan. For Canaan was older than Philistiim, who were not born from Canaan but from Misraim. But later, when the power and jurisdiction of the nation of the Philistines grew to some height and greatness, they caused the country, especially [the part] all along the sea coast, from Tyre Southwards to be called after their name PALESTINA.
180.10. And in the 13th chapter of the book of Joshua there are five cities of the Philistines listed: Azotus, Accaron, Ascalon, Geth and Gaza. When therefore the Canaanites because they occupied places near the Jordan were utterly destroyed, their name gradually began to fade away. And although the Philistines too, who had greatly enlarged their bounds and territories in that area which was later given to the tribes of Juda, Benjamin, Simeon, Manasse and Isischar were driven from there, and mostly perished, yet they retained, as I said, some strong cities along the coast South of Tyrus, and once greatly flourished, lording over others. Yet within a while they grew weaker and and began to be commanded by others. In the time of Abraham the seat and court of Abimelech was at Gerar, who in the 26th chapter of Gen. is named [as the] king of the Palestines.
180.11. The city of Gerar was situated in that country which was afterwards possessed by the tribe of Juda, not far from Hebron, and was indeed located between Hebron and Gaza. It is therefore conceivable that the name of Cananæa [or] Canaan is somewhat older, and encompasses more nations than that of the Philistines, who never possessed all that land and area of ground which the Israelites later enjoyed. Yet, because the Philistines had certain large cities on the sea coast, the name of Palæstina, because of their trading was more famous and better known to the Greek writers than [was] Canaan or Cananæa. Herodotus says in his Polymnia that the Phœnicians and Syrians possessing Palæstina sent 300 sailing ships to Xerxes and later he adds that the whole country, all the way from the outskirts of Ægypt to Phœnicia was called Palestina.
180.12. And therefore, after this time, the Greek, {not in 1591G4Add & 1602G{as did Ptolemæus}not in 1591G4Add & 1602G}, have included Judæa, Samaria and Galilea under the name of Palæstina, in spite of the fact that the Philistines did not possess such a large place and area of ground. But often names are given to countries after some main province of it, that in power and command surpasses the rest. The grammatical interpretation and etymology of the word Philistiim is thought to be [related to the fact] that this nation lives along the sea coast where earthquakes occur very frequently, covering whole towns and cities with sand, besprinkling and soiling them with dust and dirt. {1606E only{For the word [Philistiim] in the Hebrew tongue means sprinklers, or besprinklings, as when something is besprinkled and soiled with dust, or otherwise it means shakings, as when a building is violently shaken and moved by an external force, whereby it is endangered and ready to collapse}1606E only}. Similarly Ascalon and Azotus have their names given to them after {1606E{Esh, [that is]}1606E} fire.
180.13. CAPERNAUM, that is, pleasant and delightful village. Here Christ first began to preach his Gospel, Matth. 4, Luc. 4 and 7. For he was a citizen of that area, taking himself to that place when he fled fearing Herodes when he put John the Baptist to death. Therefore they demanded from Christ and his disciples a didrachma {1591G4Add, 1602G & 1606E only{as poll money, as they did from the rest of the citizens and dwellers in this city}1591G4Add, 1602G & 1606E only}. This city is mentioned in Matth. 8.11.17, Marc. 1.2.5.9, Luc. 4.7, Joh. 2.6.
180.14. DALMANUTHA that is, the poor mans living place. Christ and his disciples also came into this area, Matth. 16, Marc. 8.
180.15. DAMASCUS is at a distance from Jerusalem of 42 German miles. Breitenbach writes that Damascus is a six {1608/1612I instead{seven}1608/1612I instead} days journey from Jerusalem. The map shows it {not in 1602G{to be located at mount Antilibanon}not in 1602G}. It is a very ancient city which also at this day is very populous and much frequented by merchants. Various etymologies and reasons for the imposition of this name have been advanced by various authors. I consider Sack of blood to be the most likely one, because old opinions have it that in this place Abel was slain {1591G4Add, 1602G & 1606E only{by his brother}1591G4Add & 1602G only} Cain}1606E only}. Surely, it is very probable and generally agreed upon, that our first parents {1606E only{Adam and Eve}1606E only} first lived not far from this place.
180.16. DECAPOLIS [is] the name of a province in the uttermost outskirts of Phœnicia and Galilea, which comprises ten cities. Although those authors who write about them do not fully agree which ones they should be, it is certain in the judgment of everyone that these were neighbouring cities. It is that country which lies between Damascus and Sidon, and between lake Genesareth and Cæsarea Philippi.
180.17. EMMAUS was later called Nicopolis. In my judgment this Greek name is only an interpretation after the meaning of the Hebrew name, which means the mother of strength. {not in 1591G4Add & 1602G{Others claim that it means mother of counsel}not in 1591G4Add & 1602G}.
180.18. EPHRATA is also called Bethlachem or Bethlehem, as our books have it. Ephrata means abundance, fertility, a fertile soil bringing forth all kinds of fruits. For in the whole world there was no place more fruitful than Ephrata, that is, than Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ, the lord of heaven and earth, and the redeemer of all mankind, was born. The prophet Micheas predicted in his fifth chapter that he [Christ] would be born in this place. And therefore it was called Bethlachem, that is, the house of bread. In the same place was also located Bethacaris, {1606E only{(Beth-haccarem I think he means)}1606E only}, that is, house of the vineyards. Bethlachem was the native place of David, where he was anointed king of Israel, 1. King. 16.17.
180.19. GALGAL. This word means wheel, or turning round like a wheel, or the rolling of anything that is round. It may be that this name was given to the place, and that it prospered since, because Joshua, the captain of the Israelites from his camp and standing garrisons here used to draw new supplies and armies, with which he conquered and overcame the enemies, and by chasing the surrounding people up and down, and by vexing them continually, he finally utterly destroyed them. Here the royal army and camp resided until the time that the whole land was divided into twelve tribes, and was [then] freely possessed and inhabited by the Israelites. These were the first camps that the children of Israel had in Judæa, the land of promise, and here the manna ceased. For now they began to eat and live on the fruits of the land. Here also was the Passover celebrated, and almost all were circumcised here that had crossed the Jordan. For those that had been circumcised in Ægypt had died long since in the wilderness, Josh. 4.5. The same Galgala is mentioned in 1. King. 11.15, 2. King. 19.4. King. 4.
180.20. GALILEA means limit or bound. {1606E only{It was a country situated on the borders of Judea}1606E only}.
180.21. GAZA, AZOTVS, ASCALON, GETH [and] ACCARON. The explanation of these names is the following: Gaza or Aza means strength or power. Azotus or Asdod robbing or spoiling, or else fire of the beloved, {1606E only{or rather, in my judgment, fortification, bulwark, blockhouse or monument, for that is what it means most properly in Arabic, a near dialect of the Hebrew tongue. For the theme or Arabic root Schadada means to strengthen, fortify, bind together, or enclose with a defence, Psalm. 147.13, Gen. 12.10, Avicen. lib. 2, tractatu 2, cap. 596, Luc. 12, 35. From this is derived [the] Teshdid, a note or mark used by grammarians, equivalent to Dagesh forte in Hebrew, so named because of its power and force. For it doubles the power of the letter over which it is put, [and] therefore its form is like that of the Greek omega or our double oo.
180.22. Again, Shadid means strong, hard, stubborn, Matth. 25.24, Psalm. 60.5, as also in Mahomets Alkoran, in the 32nd Azoara. Shadda [is] strength, power, 2. Pet. 2.11. Firmamentum, the firmament, anything that is solid and firm, Psalm. 73.4}1606E only}. Ascalon, [is] keeper of fire, or fire of ignominy. Geth means wine press. Accaron [means] barrenness, weakness, feebleness, plucking up by the roots, a body or stump of a tree. These were the chief cities of the nation of the Philistines, who were so mighty a people that all of the country of Judæa {1606E only{or Israel}1606E only}, all the way from Ægypt to Phœnicia, was after their name called PALÆSTINA. This power and greatness of theirs continued from the first arrival of the Israelites into the Holy Land to the days of king Ezechia, 4. Reg. 18. During this entire period they waged almost continuous cruel wars with the Israelites.
180.23. GEHENNA, the valley of Hinnon, [the name] is compounded of Ge meaning valley, and Hinnon {1606E only{the proper name of a man to whom that piece of ground belonged}1606E only}. It was a valley in the [area of the] tribe of Benjamin, where those devilish sacrifices were made, in which they burnt and sacrificed children to their idols. Due to this cruel custom, it happened that this name was afterwards used figuratively for hell and place of the damned, and indeed, the etymology also seems to support this meaning, for Hinnon is a spoiler, a destroyer, conspirator or traitor, {1606E only{Josh. 15.18, Matth. 18}1606E only}.
180.24. GENEZARETH [is] a lake in Galilea with very pure water, well provided with various sorts of fish. It was called like this because of the pleasantness of the country around it, for Genesar means the Princes orchard. Moreover, the two cities close by and the lake are [together] called Cinnereth after its form and shape. For Cinnereth is {1606E only{in Hebrew as Cinnor, that is}1606E only}, harp, {1606E only{a kind of musical instrument that the Romans call Cithara, which is undoubtedly derived from the Hebrew word Cinnor just mentioned. This place, written in various ways, you will find mentioned in various places in the Holy Script, [as in] 1. Machab. 11, Matth. 14, [and] Marc. 6.
180.25. In the first verse of the 6th chapter of the Gospel of St. John it is called the sea of Galilea, because it is situated in Lower Galilea or the sea of Tiberias after the city of Tiberias, so named by the flattering Herodus, the Tetrarch, in honour of Tiberius Cæsar, emperor of Rome, as reported by Josephus in the 18th chapter of his 4th book on the wars of the Jews, and by Egesippus in the 26th chapter of his 3rd book on the destruction of Jerusalem}1606E only}.
180.26. GERAR means peregrination, because Abraham, coming from Hebron sojourned in Gerar, where his wife Sara was violently taken from him by Abimelech, the king of that place, whose straying lust was punished by God, so that he was forced to restore to Abraham his wife, before he had ever come near to her, as is shown in the 20th chapter of Genesis. Here Isaac was born, Gen. 21, as promised by Christ, after Hagar, forced by hunger, had fled from the well to Abimelech, king of Gerar, Gen. 26.
180.27. HAI, as in Genes. 13, means heap. It was located close to Bethel. Saint Hieronymus, attempting to render the Hebrew letter {not in 1591G4Add & 1602G{Ain writes it [as] Hagai, and says that in his time it was parva [Greek lettering except for 1608/1612I] ereipia, a small heap of rubbish}not in 1591G4Add & 1602G}.
180.28. HEBRON. When Abraham returned from Ægypt after his long peregrination, looking for a new place to settle down, he left Bethel and travelled to Hebron. Hebron, often mentioned in various places in the Holy Script, had many more ancient names, of which one was Cariath-arbe, that is, [in Greek lettering:] Tetrapolis, Four cities. For in antiquity they divided the principal metropolitan cities into four parts {1606E only{(wardens we would call them)}1606E only}. The first was the court of the prince [king], also for the council, the nobility and the priests.
180.29. The second was for the soldiers and military men. The third was reserved for the farmers. In the fourth, the craftsmen and tradesmen dwelt. There was also the valley of Mamre, so called after an Ammenite {not in 1606E{called Amorrhæus}not in 1606E} who owned it, Gen. 14. and who made an alliance with Abraham. Here three guests who went to destroy Sodom and Gomorrha were received as guests by Abraham. There Abraham buried his wife Sara, Gen. 23. And some think it was called Ciriath-arbe that is, [in Greek lettering, except for 1606E & 1608/1612I:] tetrapolis, the city of 4 great men, because 4 patriarchs were buried here, [namely] Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Gen. 25,35,49.
180.30. JABOC, the river Jaboc, means emptiness, or scattering, or wrestling. The things done here and the histories recorded are in agreement with the etymology and reason of the name. For here Jacob wrestled with the angel, and therefore he was afterwards called Israel, that is prince of God, or prevailing with God. But Jacob called the place where he wrestled Penuel, that is: seeing God, or in the face of God.
180.31. JERICHO. Some explain this [name] as moon, others as month, or his smell. We support the last explanation of fragrant smell, {1606E only{rather than either of the earlier two}1606E only}, because the pleasant and fragrant smell which partly comes from its gardens and {1602G, 1603L, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{orchards with their rare and excellent balsam, a plant only growing in this place, and partly from the}1602G, 1603L, 1606E & 1608/1612I only} Palm trees which grow here in greater abundance than anywhere else in the world. And therefore, in 34. of Deut. is called the city of palm trees.
180.32. JERUSALEM, that is, the vision of peace. It covers two mountains on which it is located. The name of one is Zion, on which there was the castle or palace of David. Now Sion means watch tower or beacon. The name of the other [hill] is Moria, upon which the temple of Salomon was built. Its very name shows that the fathers in old times performed sacrifices in that place. And Abraham led his son Isaac to this mountain to sacrifice him to the Lord. Concerning the etymology of mor-iah we are satisfied with the derivation [provided] by Abraham, who calls it God shall see. Therefore, let this be accepted that mor-iah means the beholding or appearance of God. Yet, other etymologies and derivations are not altogether besides the purpose nor to be rejected [either], as these: the illumination of God, or the fear of God.
180.33. JORDANIS. a famous river running through the middle of the country, originating from the foot of mount Libanus. It has two springs or heads, {1606E only{like our river Thames}1606E only}, one called by the name of Jor, which name in Hebrew means brook. The other by the name of Dan. These [then] meet and run in one course together, and are called by one name: Jordan, compounded from the names of its two sources.
180.34. MACHANAIM, that is, {1606E only{two}1606E only} camps, Gen. 23. These are the camps of God, as Jacob himself calls the place. For when he returned from Mesopotamia through Gilead, the angels of God met him. After which he called this place {1606E only{Manahaim}1606E only}, the tents or camp of God, that is, the presence and guard or garrison of the Lord.
180.35. NAIM [is] a city so called after its pleasant location, {1606E only{as appears from the etymology of the word, for Nahim means pleasant, delightful}1606E only}. Our Saviour Christ, coming from Capernaum entered Naim, and at the very gate and entrance of the city, he raised the only son of a widow from death to life, and thus turned the heaviness and mourning of his mother into joy and gladness.
180.36. SALEM was the dwelling place of Melchisedeck. Josephus says that it was this town which was later called Jerusalem. I will not challenge this opinion accepted by so many great and learned men. But there was another Salem [too], which was later called Sichem, as has been recorded in the 33rd chapter of Gen. as we mentioned before. You can therefore see how Abraham, Loth, [and] Melchisedeck (who was the same as Sem, the son of Noe) lived not far from one another.
180.37. SAMARIA, [that is] the keeper of God. {1606E only{(Note here that our author mistook the name of a man for the name of a place, for Samariah, 1. Chron. 12.5 was one of Davids friends who went with him when he fled from the presence of Saul, or otherwise one of the sons of Harim after the number of those that had married strange wives, as is clear from 1. Esdr 10.32 where the city in the Hebrew tongue was not called Samaria but Shomrom)}1606E only}.
180.38. This city was the seat of the kings of Israel, the metropolitan of the ten tribes, where their princes usually kept court. It was battered and levelled to the ground by Hyrcanus, {1606E only{the high priest of the Jews}1606E only}. It was later rebuilt by Herodes, the son of Antipater, {1606E only{and then, to honour Augustus Cæsar}1606E only}, called by the {1606E only{Greek}1606E only} name of Sebaste, {1606E only{that is, AUGUSTA}1606E only}. Here Philippus (whose consorts and fellow helpers were Peter and John) first preached the Gospel, Act. 8.5. Samaria is mentioned in 3 king. 18.19 {not in 1606E{22}not in 1606E}{1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1624LParergon only{22 and 24}1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1624LParergon only} and in king. 6.7.10.17.
180.39. SAREPTA [means] melting house, refining or cleansing house. For the Sidonians who first invented the manner of making glass, first erected and built their furnaces or glass factories here. In the time of that great famine which raged and spread over all of Judæa, Elias, by the providence and command of God was sent to the widow {1606E only{of Sarepta}1606E only}, whom he saved, together with her son, from famine and death, 3. King 18 {1591G4Add, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1624LParergon have instead{17}1591G4Add, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1624LParergon instead}. Moreover, in the 15th chapter of St. Matthew mention is made of the Canaanite woman who entreated Christ {1606E only{to heal her daughter}1606E only}.
180.40. SICHEM or Sechem, Gen. 12. This is where Abraham went immediately after he came from Charran in Mesopotamia. Sichem was located in that part of the country which afterwards was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim, near the famous mountain of Garyzim, and not far from where, not many years after {1591G4Add & 1602G instead{after many centuries}1591G4Add & 1602G instead}, the city of Samaria was built. The word Sichem means shoulder, and the city was perhaps so named after the location near mount Garyzim. But the name of the son of Hemor was also Sichem, after whom some think that this place received its name. This town is often mentioned in the Holy Script.
180.41. In the last chapter of Joshua we find specifically written that the bones of Joseph were buried in this place, as we also find recorded in the 7th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The same Sichem we also find mentioned in the 9th {1606E has instead{11th}1606E instead} and 21st chapter of the book of Iud. and in the 12th [chapter] of the 3rd book of King. Ieroboam built Sichem on mount Ephraim. It is the same place which is mentioned in the 4th chapter of the Gospel by St. John and is named Sichar, the last syllable being different either on purpose or by chance, {1606E only{God knows, I cannot tell}1606E only}. In the time of St. Hieronymus it was [called] Neapolis, Naples. This is the place which in 33. of Gen. was called both Sichem and Salem. Now, there was another Salem in this country, as we have seen before.
180.42. SICLAG. In this place David lived for a year and 4 months, and it came to pass that ever after, the kings of Juda held this town as their own inheritance, 1. Reg. 27. This city, in the absence of David, was sacked and burned, 1. Reg. 30.
180.43. SODOM, GOMORRHA, ADAMA, SEBOIM and SEGOR were the five cities situated in the valley of Siddim, that is, the plain valley or the valley of the salt pits, {1606E{Gen. 14.10}1606E}, which because of their great fertility and pleasant location was compared to paradise or the garden of God, {not in 1591G4Add & 1602G{or to Ægypt, the garden of the world}not in 1591G4Add & 1602G}, Gen. 13. {1606E only{10}1606E only}. There are many asphalt pits here, {1606E only{(bitumen the Romans call it)}1606E only}, Gen. 13 {1606E has instead{14.10}1606E instead}. In that same place we now find mare salsum, the salt sea, also called Mare Mortuum, the dead sea, or lacus [in Greek lettering except for 1606E & 1608/1612I] asphaltitès, the lake of asphalt, {1606E only{a kind of liquid matter like pitch, that comes out of the earth and is therefore called Pissaphaltus.
180.44. This they use in those countries for building with stones or bricks, in stead of lime or mortar}1606E only}. Sodom seems to have taken its name from the flat plain where it was located. Gomorrha [is named] after a handful or gavel of corn. {1606E only{In the Arabic language the root signifies to abide, live or stay in a place, Psalm. 25.13, Hebr. 7.23, To prolong life, to cause to live long. Mahomet in the 45th Azzoara, his Alkoran, and the interpreters of the of the Psalms and New Testament often use the word in this sense. And hence Gomor or Homor (for this is how they sometimes express the oriental letter ain) means vitæ prolixitatem, the continuing and number of days of a man's life, Azzoara 31. 32 and 36. Also Psal. 31.11 and 90.9. Finally Magbura is the same as Thebel in Hebrew, or Oecoumene in Greek, that is, so much of the earth as is inhabitable, Psa. 33.81, Psa. 107.7, and in Avicen very often, as also in the Geography by Nazarin, where it is contrasted with Chala, that is, desert, forest, waste, inhabitable. And so I think that the more probable interpretation is to be obtained from Arabic, rather than from Hebrew.
180.45. For such is the situation of the place, whether with respect to the wholesomeness and kindness of the air, or fertility of the soil, that before the flood it was more densely inhabited that there was no better place in all this land}1606E only}. Adama {1606E only{or Admah}1606E only} [means] red earth, {not in 1591G4Add & 1602G{the best kind of soil for arable land}not in 1591G4Add} & 1602G}. Zeboim is a pleasant and beautiful area, Zeor or Sohar [is] a small province.
180.46. THABOR [is] a mountain {1606E only{in [the area of] the tribe of Nephtalim near Chedes}1606E only}. Thabor means purity, cleanliness or {1606E only{(by changing the Thau into Thet, a letter of equal force as an instrument of pronunciation)}1606E only}, a navel, bullion, boss or butt. For it rises up in the middle of a plain, like a navel on a belly. For it is 30 furlongs high {1591G4Add & 1602G only{that is, about 4 miles}1591G4Add & 1602G only}, and its diameter at the flattened top is almost 20 furlongs, {1591G4Add & 1602G only{that is, three an a half miles}1591G4Add & 1602G only}.
180.47. TYRVS is a settlement established from Sidon. Its Hebrew name is Zor, which means rebel or traitor. For it is probable that some of the citizens of Sidon, as a result of a mutiny, departed from the city and found another place [viz. Tyrus]) which was more to their liking. The great Alexander conquered it after he had besieged it for 7 months, putting 7000 citizens to the sword and hanging another 2000.
180.48. ZIDON received its name from Zidon, the son of Canaan, as we find recorded in the 10th chapter of Gen. The word means hunting, or capturing a pray. This city was taken by Ocho, king of Persia by treachery of his soldiers, and subsequently by stragglers and other base sort of people that followed the soldiers, burnt to the ground, in which fire 40,000 people perished. In the 5th chapter of St. Marcus Gospel and the 8th of St. Lucas, mention is made of the country of the Gadarenes, in the history where Christ expelled the devils from a madman, and the devils, joining a herd of swine, took them headlong into a lake.
180.49. This country is by St. Matthew called the country of the Gergesenes, which St. Hieronymus translates as Gerasers. It is therefore understandable that the town of Gerasa, as also suggested by Stephanus, was not located on the South bank of the Jordan, where you find most of the fertile and pleasant plain of Galilea, but towards the desert and waste land, beyond the river on its North bank. Thus the various names of one and the same town are Gerasa, Gadara and Gergesa. The clear lake of Gadarenus of which we have spoken before is not to be considered the same as the lake of Genesareth, but [it is] another one, situated near the town of Gadara, far distant and remote from it, about which Strabo speaks}1591G4Add & 1602G end here} as follows: {not in 1606E, in Greek lettering{esi de kai on tè gadaridi udoor {not in 1608/1612I{esi de kai en tei}not in 1608/1612I} mochthèron limnaion, hota gen Samena ktènè trichas kai hoplas kai kerata apoballes)not in 1606E; 1606E & 1608/1612I contain the translation: The water of lake Gadira is troubled and muddy, and if a beast drinks from it, it will lose its hair, hooves and horns.}1590L4Add, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L/S end here}.
{1606E, 1608/1612I & 1624LP/1641S only{The water also of lake Gadira is troubled and muddy, and any beast that drinks from it will lose its hair, hooves and horns}1606E, 1608/1612I & 1624LP/1641S only}.

Bibliographical sources


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