PRAISE AND EXTOL AND HONOUR THE KING OF HEAVEN, ALL WHOSE WORKS ARE TRUTH, JOHN X. 13-.7. 13 them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he-is an-hireling, and 14 careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known 15 of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even-so know-I the Father: and I-lay-down my 16 life for the sheep. And other sheep I-have, which are not of this fold: them-also I must bring, and they-shall-hear my voice; and there-shall-be one fold, and one shep17 herd. Therefore doth-my-Father love me, because I lay-down my life, that I-might SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. 15. As the Father knoweth, &c.-see Mt. xi. 27, § 29, p. 228. Jno. x. 14. know my sheep-'The Lord knoweth one fold-Eze. xxxvii. 22, I will make them one them that are his,' 2 Ti. ii. 19. nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all:'- see our known of mine-1 Jno. v. 20, 'And we know that Lord's intercessory prayer, Jno. xvii. 20, .1, § 87the Son of God is come,' &c. Eph. ii. 14, He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of par. tition between us ;'-see also 1 Pe. ii. 25, Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned,' &c. one shepherd-Eze. xxxvii. 24, &c., And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: &c.-Hos. i. 11, Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.' I lay down, &c.-see ch. xv. 13, § 87, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down,' &c. 16. other sheep, &c.-The sheep that were scattered during the cloudy and dark day,' Eze. xxxiv. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth,' Is. xi. 12. p. (49)-lvi. 3, 7, 8, Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: ... 7, Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,... for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 8, The Lord GoD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.' 17. because I lay down my life-Is. liii. 12, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death:' &c.-He. ii. 9, 'We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [or, a little while inferior to "] for the suffer ing of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.' NOTES. [Jno. x. 10-3. False teachers come only to seduce church members, murder their souls, or plunder and persecute them; but I am come to manifest the method of obtaining spiritual and eternal life; yea, to purchase it for them, and to bestow it upon them, in the most undeserved, unexpected, eminent, inconceivably large, and everlasting manner. I am the eminently and infinitely good Shepherd of the church, foretold by the prophets, and I not only lead, protect, and feed, but give my very life for the sheep. But they who, from selfish views, become pastors in the church, having no real affectionate concern for their people, are unwilling to hazard their life, reputation, or secular interests, in their service; but are alway ready to shift for themselves, and leave the people to be seduced or perverted, as Satan and his emissaries please.] 14. Know my sheep. The word know here is used in the sense of affectionate regard, or love. Thus the word 'knoweth," in ver. 15, is in ver. 17 explained by 'doth.... love." Am known of mine. That is, he is known and loved as their Saviour and Friend. 15. I lay down my life for the sheep. That is, I give my life as an atoning sacrifice for their sins. I die in their place, to redeem them from sin and death. See ver. 17, .8, supra. [16. Other sheep. These have by some been thought to be the Jews living out of Canaan; by others, the Gentiles: but they seem to be neither exclusively; but rather, they are that people who were intended to embrace both the lost sheep of the house of Israel,' as distinguished from the house of Judah. people spoken of as the children of God that were scattered abroad, ch. xi. 52, § 58, p. 133.] [I have. He calleth those things which be not as The though they were,' Rom. iv. 17. This purpose was in Them also I must bring. Bring into the church and kingdom of heaven. This was to be done, not by his personal ministry, but by the labours of his apostles and other ministers. One fold. One church; there shall be no distinetion, no peculiar national privileges. The partition between the Jews and Gentiles shall be broken down, and the same religion shall be presented to all; Eph. ii. 11, Christ hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;'-Rom. x. 12, There is no dif ference between the Jew and the Greek :" One shepherd. That is, the Lord Jesus-the common Saviour, Deliverer, and Friend of all true believers, in whatever land they were born, and whatever tongue they may speak. Christians of all denominations and countries should feel going to the same eternal home. that they are une-redeemed by the same blood, and 17. I lay down my life. I give myself to die for my people, in Jewish and Pagan lands. I offer myself a sacrifice to shew the willingness of my Father to save them, to make an atonement, and thus to open the way for their salvation. dead, and glorified, and still carry on the work of [That I might take it again. Be raised up from the redemption. See this same sentiment sublimely expressed in Phil. ii. 5-11.] PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. Jno. x. 14, .5. Christ the Mediator stands equally related to man and God. He knows his people, and is known of them; he is known of, and does know the Father, and he desires to reconcile us to the Father, by the sacrifice of himself. [16 ver. If we would prove that we are of those other sheep, who are to be made one with the true people of God from the beginning, let us allow ourselves to be led by Jesus. Let us listen to his voice, and let us 116] prepare for the time when the unity of the whole family of God will be made manifest, under the direction, protection, and blessed reign, of the one Shepherd, the Prince of Peace.] 17 ver. Let those who desire to see consummated the blissful union of the people of God, be followers of him who laid down his life that he might take it again. Let them learn his self-denial, forbearance, and love. AND HIS WAYS JUDGMENT: AND THOSE THAT WALK IN PRIDE HE IS ABLE TO ABASE.-Dan. iv. 37. JOHN X. 18-21. THE SCRIPTURE HATH CONCLUDED ALL UNDER SIN, THAT THE PROMISE 18 take it again. No-man taketh it from me, but I lay-it-down of myself. I-have power to-lay-it-down, and I-have power to-take it again. This commandment have-I-received of my Father. 19 There was a-division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 20, And 21 many of them said, He-hath a-devil, and is-mad; why hear-ye him? Others said, These are not the words of-him-that-hath-a-devil. Can a-devil open the-eyes of-theblind? SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. Jno. x. 18. I lay it down of myself-Ps. xl. 7, 'Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,'-Ph. ii. 8, And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." take it again-see ch. ii. 19, § 12, p. 82. 19. a division-see ch. vii. 12, p. 91. 20. a devil-see ch. viii. 48, 52, p. 106. and is mad-His own friends had said, 'He is beside himself,' Mk. iii. 21, § 30, p. 233. Can... open the eyes, &c.-alluding to the case recorded ch. ix. His works were, equally as his This commandment, &c.—ch. xiv. 31, § 87, 'As the words, contradictory to the supposition, that he was Father gave me commandment, even so I do.' other than what he had declared himself, ch. viii. 12. NOTES. Jno. x. 18. No man taketh it from me. obdels alpes authν &' èμoù, No one taketh it from me' [by force] We may paraphrase the passage thus: No one [not even the Father] compelleth me to die for my flock. I have, of my own will, undertaken to lay down my life for it. By the same will I shall return again to life.' [This commandment, &c. This charge, or commission, received I from my Father.' In this whole passage our Lord affirms that he is about to undergo death spontaneously; that the malice of those who may plot against his life could avail nothing, even were it not decreed that he should undergo death for the salvation of his people; that no force could take away his life, if he were unwilling to part with it; that he freely lays down that life for the salvation of his flock; and that if they shall kill him, it will not be without his own consent. He asserts, moreover, that he lays down his life,-so, however, as to receive it back; and therefore that his death is not to be considered as coming under the common law of mortality, by which all that go down to the tomb return to the dust; but that it is altogether peculiar to itself; since, after a few days, he will rise from the sepulchre, and return to life. He then affirms that his death happens, not by any fate or necessity, but by the eternal counsels of his Father.'-Tittman.] [On the strong and irrefragable proof supplied by this passage to the divinity of Christ, see Dr. Whitby, Abp. Magee, Dr. P. Smith, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Greswell. The point of our Lord's argument is, as Dr. Smith observes, the spontaneousness of the act, which he performs in obedience to his Father's will, and for which the Father loveth him. The èron, commission, of the Father refers, not only to the resuming of life, but to the whole transaction, the laying down and receiving again; and this is a repetition of the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, that "all things are of the Father, and through the Son; that God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, and sent him into the world, that the world through him might be saved." So it is written of him, Rom. iv. 25, that he "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justifi cation." Dr. Smith ably refutes the Unitarian gloss by which ovoía is supposed to imply a delegated authority; showing its inconsistency, both with the rest of scripture (see Lu. xii. 5; Rom. ix. 21; and Ac. i. 7), and especially from the context here.'Bloomf.J [14-.8. 'And being the infinitely good, and the chief Shepherd of the church, I perfectly know, exactly observe, and tenderly care for, all my chosen people, who are, by my Father's gift, my own purchase, and their self-dedication, my peculiar property; and they spiritually know me and my doctrine, and fiducially and affectionately embrace me, and hearken to it. And as the Father perfectly knows, loves, approves, and confides in me, I also am perfectly acquainted with him and all his counsels, and trust in him, and delight to do his will. Such is my love to him and to my chosen people, that I am willing and ready to lay down my life in their stead, that they may obtain eternal salvation. And besides those Jews which I have called, or will effectually call, into my church, I must, in pursuance of my eternal engagements, and in justice to my purchase of them, effectually bring in multitudes also of chosen Gentiles, and unite them with those Jews in the gospel church, new covenant, or heavenly state, under my special care, influences, and government. And not only doth my Father love me as his only-begotten Son, but even on account of my zeal for the manifestation of his glory in the salvation of sinful men, in so cheerfully dying for the expiation of their sins, that I might rise again for their justification. No man, by either stratagem or force, can deprive me of my life without my own consent; but, as absolute proprietor thereof, I voluntarily lay it down, and will, by my own power, rise from the dead, after making satisfaction for the sins of my people, according to the commandment and will of my Father.'-Brown.] 21. not the words, &c.-They were expressive of the great commandment, being full of the truest love to man, and the most entire submission to God.-See ver. 18. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. Jno. x. 18. There was no power but the power of love, constraining Jesus to give up his life for us. Let the same law, according to the will of the Father, constrain us to live, or, if need be, die for the brethren. Let us see that our efforts for the benefit of others are according to the command of the Father. 20 ver. Let not the followers of Christ be surprised if they should be spoken of as their Master was. They can scarcely meet with a worse reception than being accused-i. Of having the spirit of evil. ii. Of being mad. iii. Of being not worth hearing. The transactions which belong to the feast of Tabernacles as such, must be considered to be continued down to ch. x. 21; after which it is probable Jesus would leave Jerusalem, and, according to his usage, return to Capernaum. The two months' interval between this feast and the next, we cannot suppose to have been spent in Judæa-especially as there is no intimation to that effect in St. John; but we may suppose it to have been spent in Galilee; because Mt. xix. 1, and Mk. x. 1, compared with the circumstances of the history before and after them, may safely lead to the inference that all, or by far the greatest part of the time between the third feast of Tabernacles and the ensuing Passover, before the point of time when our Lord passed into Judæa out of Peræa, was spent in Galilee; in which case St. John would naturally be silent about it. But if this interval was spent in Galilee, we may take it for granted it would be spent at CaperOur Lord's circuits, for the present, were all over, and the winter season was at hand; no place would be so likely to be made the scene of a temporary, but stationary residence, as the usual place of his abode; and had he not been known to have remained there, for some time after the last return which they mention, St. Matthew and St. Mark would not describe his final departure thence so soon, apparently, after that return, though in reality six months later than it.'-Greswell.-See ADDENDA, § 59, p. 139, Suggestions on the probable place, &c., of Luke ix. 51-62,' et seq. naum. VOL. II] BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART:-Matt. v. 8. [117 BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST MIGHT BE GIVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE.-Gal. iii. 22. IF THOU WILT RETURN, O ISRAEL, SAITH THE LORD, RETURN UNTO ME AND IF THOU GEOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. JERUSALEM-see pp. 42, .3, 181-..5, Vol. I. and Section 82, p. 271, infra. THE POOL OF SILOAM. JOHN ix. 7, p. 110-see Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches. 'From the cemeteries we proceeded eastward along the Tyropoon and valley of Hinnom, which also the southern wall of the city, passing by the Zion corresponds to the language of Josephus. In the account of Jerome, we have the first correct mention gate, and then descending along the slope towards the valley of the Tyropoon or Cheesemakers. A of the irregular flow of the waters of Siloam. path soon leaves the wall, and leads obliquely down the slope S. E. in the direction of Siloam. In this part it becomes steep; and the Tyropoon, as it comes down from the wall near the great mosk, is also steep, and forms a deep ravine with banks almost precipitous. At its lower end it turns east, and issues into the vale of the Kidron. Here, still within the Tyropeon, is the Pool of Siloam, a small deep reservoir in the form of a parallelogram, into which the water flows from under the rocks, out of a smaller basin hewn in the solid rock a few feet further up, to which is a descent by a few steps. This is wholly an artificial work; and the water comes to it through a subterraneous channel from the Fountain of Mary, higher up in the valley of Jehoshaphat. The hill or ridge Ophel, lying between the Tyropoon and the valley of Jehoshaphat, ends here, just over the Pool of Siloam, in a steep point of rock, forty or fifty feet high. Along the base of this the water is conducted from the pool in a small channel hewn in the rocky bottom, and is then led off to irrigate gardens of fig and other fruit trees and plants lying in terraces quite down to the bottom of the valley of Jehoshaphat, a descent still of some forty or fifty feet. The waters of Siloam, as we saw them, were lost in these gardens..... We now passed along up the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is here narrow, and the sides high and steep. On our right, clinging to the rocky side of the mount of Offence, so called, are the stone hovels of the straggling village of Siloam, Kefr Selwan, many of which are built before caves, or rather excavated sepulchres; while in various places the sepulchres themselves, without addition, are used as dwellings. A little further up the valley, under the western hill, is the Fountain of the Virgin (called by some travellers the Fountain of Siloam, in distinction from the Pool of Siloam below, but without any good reason), a deep excavation in the solid rock, evidently artificial, into which one descends by two successive flights of steps. The water is apparently brought hither by some unknown, and perhaps artificial channel, and flows off through a subterraneous passage under the hill Ophel to the Pool of Siloam.-Vol. I. pp. 341, ..2. SILOAM.-The name Siloah or Siloam, which has obtained such celebrity in the christian world, is found only three times in the scriptures as applied to waters: once in the prophet Isaiah, who speaks of it as running water; again as a pool in Nehemiah; and lastly, also as a pool in the account of our Lord's miracle of healing the man who had been born blind. None of these passages afford any clue as to the situation of Siloam. But this silence is amply supplied by the historian Josephus, who makes frequent mention of Siloam as a fountain; and says expressly, that the valley of the Tyropæon extended down to Siloam; or in other words, Siloam was situated in the mouth of the Tyropeon, on the S. E. part of the ancient city, as we find it at the present day. Its waters, he says, were sweet and abundant. Of the same tenor is the account of the Itin. Hieros. A.D. 333, that to those going out of the city in order to ascend mount Zion, the pool" of Siloam lay below in the valley on the left. More definite is the testimony of Jerome, about the close of the same century. This father says expressly that "Siloam is a fountain at the foot of mount Zion, whose waters do not flow regularly, but on certain days and hours, and issue with a great noise from hollows and caverns in the hardest rock." Again, in speaking of Gehenna, he remarks, that "the idol Baal was set up near Jerusalem, at the foot of mount Moriah, where Siloam flows." Moriah must here be taken as including Ophel, the ridge which runs from it towards the south; and the mention of the idol Baal limits the position of Siloam to the gardens at the mouth of Siloam is mentioned both as a fountain and pool by Antoninus Martyr, early in the seventh century; and as a pool by the monk Bernhard in the ninth. Then come the historians of the crusades, who also place Siloam as a fountain in its present site, near the fork of two valleys. William of Tyre mentions its irregular flow; and another speaks of it both as a fountain and a pool. According to Benjamin of Tudela, about A.D. 1165, there was then here an ancient edifice; and Phocas, in 1185, says the fountain was surrounded by arches and massive columns, with gardens below. Then follow Brocardus, A.D. 1283, and Marinus Sanutus, A.D. 1321, who both speak of the fountain and the pool; and the latter does not forget its irregular flow..... Thus far, all the historical notices refer only to the present Siloam, in the mouth of the valley of the Tyropaeon, which still exhibits both a fountain and a reservoir; and they all have no reference to the fountain of the Virgin Mary further up the valley of Jehoshaphat, with which, as we have seen, the waters of Siloam stand in connection. The mention of gardens around Siloam, and of its waters as flowing down into the valley of the Kidron, is decisive on this point; for neither of these circumstances could ever have been applicable to the other fountain. Indeed, singular as the fact must certainly be accounted, there seems to be nothing which can be regarded as an allusion to the Fountain of Mary, during the long series of ages, from the time of Josephus down to the latter part of the fifteenth century. At that time, Tucher (A.D. 1479), Breydenbach, and F. Fabri, as also Zuallardo and Cotovicus, a century later, mention distinctly the two fountains of Siloam and Mary, but seem to have no knowledge of their connection. This seems to have been first brought to notice by Quaresmius, in the beginning of the seventeenth century. The hypothesis that the Fountain of Mary is the true Fountain of Siloam, and the other merely the Pool of Siloam, which has found favour in modern times among the Franks, seems to have sprung up only in the early part of the eighteenth century, and is destitute of all historical foundation. The first mention of it which I find is in a suggestion of Pococke, A.D. 1738; and the same is expressed more definitely by Korte about the same time. The reser 'The general features of Siloam have already been described-a small deep reservoir in the mouth of the basin excavated in the solid rock a few feet higher Tyropœon, into which the water flows from a smaller up; and then the little channel, by which the stream is led off along the base of the steep rocky point of Ophel, to irrigate the terraces and gardens extending into the valley of Jehoshaphat below. The distance from the eastern point of Ophel nearest this latter valley to the said reservoir is 255 feet. voir is 53 feet long, 18 feet broad, and 19 feet deep; but the western end is in part broken down. Several columns are built into the side walls; perhaps belonging to a former chapel, or intended to support a roof; but there is now no other appearance of important ruins in the vicinity. No water was standing in the reservoir as we saw it; the stream from the fountain only passed through and flowed off to the gardens. The smaller upper basin or fountain is an excavation in the solid rock, the mouth of which has probably been built up, in part, in order to retain the water. A few steps lead down on the inside to the water, beneath the vaulted rock; and close at hand, on the outside, is the reservoir. The water finds its way out beneath the steps into the latter. This basin is perhaps five or six feet in breadth, forming merely the entrance, or rather the termination, of the long and narrow subterranean passage beyond, by which the water comes from the Fountain of the Virgin.'Vol. I. p. 493-..8. *See § 23, p. 186, Vol. I. of this work. 118] GREAT PEACE HAVE THEY WHICH LOVE THY LAW:-Psalm cxix. 165. [VOL. II. WILT PUT AWAY THINE ABOMINATIONS OUT OF MY SIGHT, THEN SHALT THOU NOT REMOVE.-Jer. iv. 1. AND THOU SHALT SWEAR, THE LORD LIVETH, IN TRUTH, IN JUDGMENT, AND IN RIGHTEOUSNESS 'FOUNTAIN OF THE VIRGIN.-On the west side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, 1,100 feet northwards from the rocky point at the mouth of the Tyropoon, is situated the Fountain of the Virgin Mary; called by the natives 'Ain Um ed-Deraj, Mother of Steps.'... Some have held it to be the Gihon, the Rogel, and the Dragon-well of scripture; so that, in fact, it has been taken alternately for every one of the fountains which anciently existed at Jerusalem. It is unquestionably an ancient work; indeed, there is nothing in or around the Holy City, which bears more distinctly the traces of high antiquity. It is not improbable, that this was the "King's Pool" of Nehemiah, and the "Pool of Solomon" mentioned by Josephus, near which the wall of the city passed, as it ran northwards from Siloam along the Valley of Jehoshaphat to the eastern side of the temple.'.... See Biblical Researches, Vol. I. p. 498, and see § 23, p. 186, Vol. I. Treasury Harmony for entrance to this fountain. DR. ROBINSON'S EXPLORATION OF THE SUBTERRANEAN COMMUNICATION OF THE FOUNTAIN OF THE VIRGIN,' WITH THE POOL OF SILOAM.' 'We found it to be the current belief at Jerusalem, | the hope of finding some such lateral passage, by ci both among natives and foreigners, that a passage which water might come in from another quarter. existed quite through between the two fountains; We found, however, nothing of the kind. The way but no one had himself explored it, or could give any seemed interminably long; and we were for a time definite information respecting it. We therefore suspicious that we had fallen upon a passage different determined to examine it ourselves, should a fit from that which we had before entered. But at opportunity occur. Repairing one afternoon (April length, after having measured 950 feet, we arrived at 27th) to Siloam, in order to measure the reservoir, our former mark of 800 feet traced with smoke upon we found no person there; and the water in the basin the ceiling. This makes the whole length of the pasbeing low, we embraced this opportunity for accom- sage to be 1,750 feet; or several hundred feet greater plishing our purpose. Stripping off our shoes and than the direct distance externally; a result scarcely stockings, and rolling our garments above our knees, conceivable, although the passage is very winding. we entered, with our lights and measuring tapes in We came out again at the fountain of Siloam. our hands. The water was low, nowhere over a foot in depth, and for the most part not more than three or four inches, with hardly a perceptible current. The bottom is every where covered with sand, brought in by the waters. The passage is cut wholly through the solid rock, every where about two feet wide, somewhat winding, but in a general course N.N.E. For the first hundred feet it is from fifteen to twenty feet high; for another hundred feet or more, from six to ten feet; and afterwards not more than four feet high; thus gradually becoming lower and lower as we advanced. At the end of 800 feet it became so low, that we could advance no further without crawling on all fours, and bringing our bodies close to the water. As we were not prepared for this, we thought it better to retreat, and try again another day from the other end. Tracing therefore upon the roof with the smoke of our candles the initials of our names, and the figures 800, as a mark of our progress on this side, we returned with our clothes some what wet and soiled. 'In constructing this passage, it is obvious that the workmen commenced at both ends, and met somewhere in the middle. At the upper end, the work and there was a tendency to go too far towards the was carried along on the level of the upper basin; west under the mountain; for all the false cuts above mentioned are on the right. At the lower end, the excavation would seem to have been begun on a higher level than at present; and when on meeting the shaft from the other end, this level was found to be too high, the bottom was lowered until the water flowed through it; thus leaving the southern end of the passage much loftier than any other part. The bottom has very little descent, so that the two basins are nearly on the same level; the upper one ten feet or more below the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the other some forty feet above the same valley. This alleged etymological signification of the name Siloah subterraneous passage corresponds entirely to the in Hebrew, sent, viz. missio aquæ, an aqueduct. dertaken it is not easy to discover. The upper basin The purpose for which this difficult work was unmust obviously have been excavated at an earlier period than the lower, and there must have been something to be gained, by thus carrying its waters through the solid rock into the valley of the Tyropoon. If the object had been merely to irrigate the gardens which lay in that quarter, this might have pense, by conducting the water around upon the been accomplished with far less difficulty and exoutside of the hill. But the whole looks as if the advantage of a fortified city had been taken into the account; and as if it had been important to carry this water from one point to the other, in such a way that it could not be cut off by a besieging army. Now as this purpose would have been futile, had either of these points lain without the ancient fortiargument, to show that the ancient wall probably fications, this circumstance furnishes an additional ran along the valley of Jehoshaphat, or at least descended to it, and included both Siloam and this upper fountain; which then either constituted or The sand at the bottom has probably a considerable supplied the "King's Pool," or "Pool of Solomon." depth, thus filling up the canal in part; for other--Bib. Res. Vol. I. pp. 341, 493, 501-..5. wise it is inconceivable how the passage could ever have been thus cut through the solid rock. At any rate, only a single person could have wrought in it at a time; and it must have been the labour of many years. There are here many turns and zigzags. In several places the workmen had cut straightforward for some distance; and then, leaving this, had begun again further back at a different angle; so that there is at first the appearance of a passage branching off. We examined all these false cuts very minutely, in 'It was not until three days afterwards (April 30th) that we were able to complete our examination and measurement of the passage. We went now to the Fountain of the Virgin; and having measured the external distance (1,100 feet) down to the point east of Siloam, we concluded, that as we had already entered 800 feet from the lower end, there could now remain not over 300 or 400 feet to be explored. We found the end of the passage at the upper fountain rudely built up with small loose stones, in order to retain the water at a greater depth in the excavated basin. Having caused our servants to clear away these stones, and having clothed (or rather unclothed) ourselves simply in a pair of white Arab drawers, we entered and crawled on, hoping soon to arrive at the point which we had reached from the other fountain. The passage here is in general much lower than at the other end; most of the way we could indeed advance upon our hands and knees; yet in several places we could only get forward by lying at full length, and dragging ourselves along on our elbows. Fountain under the Grand Mosk may have some The legend by which this name is accounted for, relates that the Virgin frequented this fountain before her purification, in order to wash her child's linen. Mr. Greswell, Vol. I. Diss. ii. p. 83, says of the pool of Bethesda, 'We know nothing exactly of the local situation of the pool. It might be within the walls of Jerusalem itself; and the language of St. John (ἔστι δε ΕΝ το ις Ιεροσολώμοις) favours that supposition: in which case it would be the more likely to survive the destruction produced by the siege of Titus. Irenæus thought it the same with the pool of Siloam.' VOL. II.] QUICKEN ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD.-Psalm cxix. 154. (119 AND THE NATIONS SHALL BLESS THEMSELVES IN HIM, AND IN HIM SHALL THEY GLORY.-Jer. iv. 2. THEY THAT BE WISE SHALL SHINE AS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT; THE VILLAGE OF SILOAM. Of the village of Siloam, Mr. Wilde says: Sepulchral grots continue all down the valley of Siloam, having galleries, stairs, and small terraces cut out of the rock, leading from one to the other. They are all now inhabited; and they, with some mud built huts at the bottom of the valley, constitute the village of Siloam, which contains upwards of 1,500 Arabs..... At my first visit to this place, happening to poke my head into one of the cryptæ, I was startled not a little by the unearthly scream of an old Arab crone, who inhabited the interior. The noise she made became the signal for a general outery; the dwellers in the different caves popped their heads out from their holes like so many beavers reconnoitering an enemy; the children ran shouting in all directions; curses fell fast and heavy on the Giaour and the Nazarene; and had I got into the harem of the pasha the alarm could not have been greater than that which I excited among the whole Troglodyte population of this cemetery of the living.' SECTION 56.-(G. 21.)-[Lesson 54, 22 56, .7.]-AT THE FEAST OF DEDICATION, JESUS REVISITS JERUSALEM: PARTICULARS WHICH THEN OCCUrred. John x. 22-39.[Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xxx. pp. 499-516.] INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. Jno. x. 22, .3. At the Feast of the Dedication, which is in winter, Jesus is again in Jerusalem, and walks in Solomon's porch. 24. The Jews surround him, accusing him of keeping them in doubt, and asking to be told plainly whether he be the Messiah. 25. Jesus answers, that he has told them already, and they believed not. He refers them to his works, as sufficiently testifying what he is. 26, .7. Jesus tells them the cause of their unbelief: their not being his sheep. His people receive him as their Prophet, they hear his voice; and as their Priest who knows them; and as their King, whom they follow. 28. Those who receive Christ in these three offices have three great privileges they are given eternal life; they shall never perish; and none shall pluck them out of his hand. 29. Their security is still farther expressed, by his saying, that they are the gift to him of the Father, who is greater than all; and out of whose all-powerful hand no one is able to pluck them. 31. fully expressive of his being the Christ, the Son of 32. good works he had shewn them from the Father, do 39. Jesus having thus declared himself, the Jews again seek to take him, but he escapes out of their hand. No. 56. JOHN X. 22-39. At Jerusalem. 22 And it-was at Jerusalem the feast-of-the-dedication тa eykava, and it-was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. Jno. x. 22. dedication-A great feast was held at the dedication of the first temple, 1 Ki. viii. 63-6, and especially of the altar, 2 Chr. vii. 8, 9-also at the dedication of the second temple, Ez. vi. 16, .7-The present feast was in commemoration of the dedication of the altar, upon the purifying of the temple by Judas Maccabæus-see NOTE-see on a yet future cleansing of the sanctuary, Da. viii. 13, .4.' 23. Solomon's (peace-maker)-Jesus was himself the PRINCE OF PEACE,' by whom the house of God was appointed to be built, 1 Chr. xxii. 9, 10-comp. He. i. 5-see on Christ as the peace-maker, and on the building of the spiritual temple, Eph. ií. 13-22. PRINCE OF LIFE,' and the Saviour from sin, was Solomon's porch-where afterwards Christ, as the boldly declared by Peter, Ac. iii. 11-26-the peace that prevailed among the first disciples was there also manifested, ch. v. 12. NOTES. [Jno. x. 22. The feast of dedication. rà lyxaívia. The word answers in the Sept. to the Heb., handselling, or initiation; and in the New Test. denotes the encænium, or festival of eight days, occurring in the month Kisleu, instituted by Judas Maccabæus in commemoration of the purifying of the temple from heathen pollution, and the renewal of the temple worship, after three years' desuetude and profanation. Unlike all other festivals, which were kept only at Jerusalem, this was celebrated throughout the whole of Judæa. And as lights were kept burning in every house throughout each night of the festival, it is called by Josephus, Ant. xii. 7. 7, para.'-Bloomf.]; and see ADDENDA, p. 124, 'The Feast of Dedication. [23. Solomon's porch. Whence this portico had its name, is a point somewhat disputed. The opinion 120] of the older commentators was, that it was so called, GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING, AND I SHALL LIVE.-Psalm cxix. 144. AND THEY THAT TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE STARS FOR EVER AND EVER.-Dan. xii. 3. |