And thus he saved
the city.
The men of Jabesh-gilead never forgot Saul and his kindness to
them. Forty years later the disastrous battle of Gilboa was
fought. In this battle both Saul and Jonathan were slain. The next
day when the Philistines searched for spoils among the dead they
found Saul and his three sons, and they cut off his head to carry
it as a trophy to Philistia; but they took the headless trunks of
the king and his sons to Beth-shan and fastened them against its
walls as a terrible warning to the Israelites. But, "when the
inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines
had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and went all night and
took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of
Bethshan and came to Jabesh and burnt them there. And they took
their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted
seven days." (II. Samuel 31:11-13.)
Off to the left a little way I see Tabakat Fahil, identified as
Pella, the place to which the Christians of Jerusalem fled just
before the siege of Titus in obedience to the prophetic warning of
Christ.
It is two o'clock when we reach the Jordan Valley, at a point a
little south of Beth-shan, which is on the west side of the river.
We now turn northward and pursue our way steadily near the
mountains until after five o'clock; then we turn toward the river,
which we reach at sun-down.
The Jordan Valley is covered with a growth of thorn said to be
like that used in the crowning of Christ at the time of his mock-
trial. We eat of a delicious yellow berry now ripening on these
thorns. We pass two or three small villages, the names of which I
could not learn. We cross a number of small streams this
afternoon, the largest of which is the Tayibeh. All of these
streams are thickly lined with reeds and pink oleander; so thick
is this growth in some places that the streams are completely
hidden. Our Arab guide springs down into each of these water-
brooks and hands drink to us, but he drinks, I think, after the
manner of the drinking of "Gideon's three hundred," in the time of
their being tested; that is, by a quick movement of the hand
throwing water into his mouth.
Pushing rapidly across the open valley we startle gazelles from
their hiding-places among the reeds. Then, near the river, we pass
several encampments of Bedouins whose tents are black as those of
Kedar. At last, after being in the saddle all of ten hours, just
at sun-set, we reach the Jordan at the bridge of Jisr el Mejamia,
six miles south of the Sea of Galilee.
