The historie of the holy vvarre by Thomas Fuller ...

Chap. 18.

A Pisgah-sight, or short survey of Palestine in generall; and how it might maintain 1300000 men.

PAlestine is bounded on the North with mount Libanus; West with the mid-land-sea; South, with the wildernesse of Paran, parting it from Egypt; and East, with the mountains of Gilead, and the river of Arnon. To give it the most favourable dimen∣sions; From the foot of Libanus to Beersheba, North and South, may be allowed 210 miles: and from Ramoth-gilead to Endor, East and West, seventy; which is the constant breadth of the countrey. In which compasse in Davids time were main∣tained † 1.1 thirteen hundred thousand men, besides women, chil∣dren, and impotent persons: and yet the tribes of† 1.2 Benjamin and Levi were not reckoned. True this must needs be, for truth hath said it: Yet is it wonderfull. For though the united Provin∣ces in the Low-countreys maintain as many people in as little a plot of ground, yet they feed not on home-bred food; but have Poland for their granary, the British ocean for their fish-pond, High-Germany for their wine-cellar; and by the benefit of their harbours unlock the store-houses of all other countreys. It fa∣red not thus with the Jews, whose own countrey fed them all. And yet the seeming impossibility of so many kept in so small a land will be abated, if we consider these particulars:

1. People in those hot countreys had not so hot appetites for the quantity of the meat eaten, nor gluttonous palates for the variety of it.

2. The countrey rising and falling into hills and vales, gained many acres of ground: whereof no notice is taken in a map; for therein all things presented are conceived to be in plano: And so the land was farre roomthier then the scale of miles doth make it.

3. They had pasturage to feed their cattel in, in out-coun∣treys beyond Palestine. Thus the tribe of† 1.3 Reuben grased their cattel east-ward, even to the river Euphrates.

4. Lastly, the soyl was transcendently fruitfull, as appeareth by that great† 1.4 bunch of grapes carried by two men: For though many a man hath not been able to bear wine, it is much that one should be loaden with one cluster of grapes.

If any object against the fruitfulnesse of this countrey; That there were many wildernesses therein, as those of Maon, Ziph, Carmel, Gibeon, Judah, and these must needs cut large thongs out of so narrow a hide: it is answered, That these wildernesses took up no great space, as probably being no bigger then our least forrests in England. As for the greater deserts, we must not conceive them to lie wholly waste, but that they were but thin∣ly inhabited: for we find* 1.5 fix cities with their villages in the wildernesse of Judah.

Principall commodities of this countrey were, 1. Balm, which* 1.6 wholly failed not long after our Saviours passion; whether because the type was to cease when the truth was come, or because that land was unworthy to have so sove∣reign bodily physick grow in her, where the Physician of the soul was put to death.

2. Honey, and that either distilled by bees those little chy∣mists (and the pasture they fed on was never a whit the barer for their biting) or else rained down from heaven, as that which * 1.7 Jonathan tasted, when his sweet meat had like to have had sowre sauce, and to have cost him his life.

Besides these, milk, oyl, nuts, almonds, dates, figs, olives: So that we may boldly say, no countrey had better sauce and better meat, having fowl, fish in sea, lakes, and rivers; flesh of sheep, goats, bucks, and kine.

Mines of gold and silver with pearls and precious stones, Judea rather had not then wanted; either because God would not have his people proud or covetous; or because these are not essentiall to mans life; or because nature bestoweth these commodities in recompense on barren countreys.

Horses they had none but what they bought out of Egypt for service, using asses for burden, oxen for drawing, and mules for travel. And for many hundred years they used no horses in bat∣tel, till David took some from* 1.8 Hadadezer. The greatest incon∣venience of the land was that it had wild beasts; and their sheep were not securely folded like ours in England, which stand more in danger of men then wolves.

The chief river of the countrey was Jordan: over which the Israelites passed on foot; afterwards Elijah made a bridge over it with his cloke: and our Saviour washed the water hereof, by being baptized in it. This ariseth from the springs of Jor and Dan; whence running south he enlargeth himself first into the waters of Merom, then into the lake of Genesareth or Tiberias; and hence recovering his stream, as if sensible of his sad fate, and desirous to deferre what he cannot avoid, he fetcheth many turnings and windings, but all will not excuse him from falling into the Dead sea. Authours are very fruitfull on the barrennesse

of this sea, (where Sodome once stood) writing how on the banks thereof grow those hypocrite apples and well-complexi∣oned dust (the true emblemes of the false pleasures of this world) which touched fall to ashes.

Notes

• † 1.1

  2 Sam. 24. 9.
• † 1.2

  1 Chron., 21. 6.
• † 1.3

  1 Chron. 5. 9, 10.
• † 1.4

  Num. 13. 23.
• * 1.5

  Iosh. 15. 61.
• * 1.6

  Munster, in Terra san∣cta pag. 1017. & in Aegypt. pag. 1135.
• * 1.7

  1 Sam. 14. 27.
• * 1.8

  2 Sam. 8. 4.