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against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die... And the men of his city ... did as Jezebel had sent unto them... And... when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead ... Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab... behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he has gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? . . . In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."-1 Kings xxi. 1, &c.

"And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel, of the wounds which the Syrians had given him... and Ahaziah... king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.". 2 Kings viii. 29.

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So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu . . . And the watchman told, saying

the driving is like the driving of Jehu . . . for he driveth furiously. And Joram said, make ready ... And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite . . . And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram and he sunk

down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him; Surely I have

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seen yesterday the blood of Naboth

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requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. . . And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window . . . And (Jehu) lifted up his face to the window. . . and he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall. and he trode her under foot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her. . . and they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands . . . and he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake .. In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel. . ."-2 Kings ix. 16, &c.

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"And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria . . . Then (Jehu) wrote (unto the bringers up of Ahab's sons) saying, If ye be mine. . . take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time . . . And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel . . . And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining."-2 Kings x. 1, &c.

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"And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall

come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel . . . Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea ... and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

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."-Hosea i. 4, 5, 10, 11.

"And the earth shall bear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.”—Hosea ii. 22.

"June 16th... Our grand object to-day was the position of the ancient Jezreel... Setting out from Jenîn1 (at a quarter to five in the morning) we struck out upon the noble plain,2 on a course about north by east towards the western extremity of the mountains of Gilboa. ... We thus crossed the arm of the plain, which here extends up south-east, and found all the water-courses, though now dry, running off westwards, as do also those from the southern hills; all going to swell in the rainy season that ancient river, the river Kishon,' as it flows towards the Mediterranean Perched high

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on the summit of one of the naked peaks of Gilboa, the village Wezar was a conspicuous object, and apparently had been once a fortress

"The path now led over occasional roots of the mountain; and from such points we had extensive views of all the extent of the great plain, spread out upon our left, and of the long blue ridge of Carmel beyond. The prospect was charming for its rich fertility and beauty. Yellow fields of grain, with green patches of cotton and millet interspersed, chequered the landscape like a carpet. The plain itself was almost without villages... At seven o'clock we reached Zer'în3. . . As we approached (it) there was only a very gentle rise of the surface, like a low swell; and it was therefore unex

1 A town situated south of Jezreel, on the borders of the great plain, toward Samaria.

2 Of Esdraelon, or Jezreel.

3 "Zer'în stands on the brow of a deep broad valley, running east to the Jordan, a second arm of the great plain."-ROBINSON'S RESEARCHES, Table of Contents, vol. iii.

pected to us, on reaching Zer'în, to find it standing upon the brow of a very steep rocky descent, of one hundred feet or more towards the north-east, where the land sinks off at once into a great fertile valley, running down along the northern wall of the mountains of Gilboa. This valley is itself a broad deep plain... enclosed between the ranges of Gilboa and little Hermon, (and) about an hour in breadth; and below Zer❜în continues down quite to the plain of the Jordan at Beisân (Bethshan). We could see the Acropolis of Beisân, lying much lower than Zer'în

"In the valley directly under Zer'în is a considerable fountain; and twenty minutes further east, another larger one under the northern side of Gilboa, called 'Ain Jâlûd. Zer'în itself thus lies comparatively high, and commands a wide and noble view; extending down the broad low valley on the east to Beisân, and to the mountains of Ajlûn beyond the Jordan; while towards the west it includes the whole great plain quite to the long ridge of Carmel. It is a most magnificent site for a city; which, being itself thus a conspicuous object in every part, would naturally give its name to the whole region. There could, therefore, be little question, that in and around Zer'în, we had before us the city, the plain, the valley, and the fountain, of the ancient Jezreel.1

"Jezreel is first mentioned as belonging to the tribe of Issachar; and it constituted afterwards a part of the kingdom of Ishbosheth. It became more notorious under Ahab and Jezebel, who, though residing at Samaria, had a palace here; and it was to enlarge the grounds of this palace, that the king desired the vineyard of Naboth, and gave occasion for the sad story of the latter.

"In the retributions of Divine Providence, the same

1 Valley of Jezreel. Josh. xvii. 16; Judges vi. 33; Hos. i. 5. Fountain at Jezreel. 1 Sam. xxix. 1.

2 Josh. xix. 18; 2 Sam. ii. 8, 9.

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place became the scene of the massacre of Jezebel herself, her son Joram, and all the house of Ahab, by the hand of Jehu. Still later, Jezreel is alluded to by the prophet Hosea.

"In the days of Eusebius and Jerome it was still a large village, called Esdraela.... In A.D. 1183, Saladin encamped by the fountain... but deserted it on the approach of the Christians... after destroying the village. In A.D. 1217, a Christian host advanced through this valley to Beisân. Zer'în then contained hardly twenty houses. . . at the present day... (it) has perhaps somewhat more; but they are nearly in ruins, and the place contains few inhabitants. The principal mark of antiquity we saw, was a sarcophagus, with sculptured ornaments, lying on the left of our path just as we entered the village... There is a square tower of some height, partly in ruins; from the several windows of which we enjoyed a splendid view of the adjacent country in all directions... Tell Beisân, the Acropolis of that place, was quite distinct down the great valley far below us. So Bethshean (Beisân,) is said to be "beneath Jezreel."—(1 Kings iv. 12.)

"The valley of Jezreel is celebrated in Scripture history for the remarkable victory of Gideon, and the last fatal overthrow of Saul. The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the East, had come over Jordan and pitched in the valley of Jezreel; and Gideon had gathered the Israelites of the northern tribes together, and encamped at the well of Herod, probably on Mount Gilboa; since "the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley." Here Gideon went down to the host, and heard the dream; and then, with his three hundred men, attacked and miraculously routed the whole host of Midian. Against Saul, the Philistines came up and pitched in Shunem (Sôlam), and Saul and all Israel pitched in Gilboa; afterwards the Philistines are said

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1 Judges vi. 33, 35, vii. 1, 8.

2 Judges vii. 9-25.

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