Jerusalem Explored, Volume 1—Text

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI.

T. G. (Thomas George) Bonney translation

Origen looks upon this general gathering of mankind in a more extended view than that of Calmet: "Origen thinks that the nations will be gathered together over the face of the whole earth; and that the manifestation of Christ will be like to a blaze of light that covers at once the whole world." S. Jerome expresses himself thus, "It is folly to seek in a small or secret place for Him who is the light of the whole world." (Calmet's Commentary on Joel.) Mariti, L'État présent, &c. p. 132.

The valley of Kidron begins, on the north, near or a little above the Tombs of the Kings, at a height of about 2460 feet above the Mediterranean; at first it is called the Valley of Kidron, or of Jehoshaphat; then Wady er-Nahib (Valley of the Monks), in the neighbourhood of the monastery of S. Saba; and lastly, Wady el-Nar (Valley of Fire), in the last part of its course. The entire descent from the head of the valley to the Dead Sea is about 3690 vertical feet. I have traversed it several times on foot with Bedouins, for the sole purpose of examining all the changes of its sides. Near S. Saba it is very picturesque.

Willibrand (Leo Allat. Sym. p. 149) says, "We saw a church richly adorned and in its midst a monument, covered on all sides with white, i.e. virgin, marble."

The Rabbi Simon, in his commentary on Jeremiah (viii.), gives the following description of the idol Moloch: "All the idol temples were in the city of Jerusalem, except that of Moloch, which was in a place set apart outside the city. It was a statue of bronze with the head of an ox, and with the hands stretched out like those of a man who wishes to receive something from another; within it was quite hollow. Before the image were seven chapels; he who offered a dove, or any other bird, went into the first; he who gave a lamb, or a sheep, into the second; into the third for a wether; into the fourth for a calf; into the fifth for a bull; into the sixth for an ox; while he who sacrificed his own son entered the seventh chapel and embraced the idol, as it is said in Hosea (xiii. 2), 'Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.' The child was set before the idol, beneath which a fire was kindled, till the bronze became red hot; then the priest took the child, and put it between the burning hands of Moloch, while the parents were bound to witness the sacrifice without any expression of feeling. To prevent the cries of the victims reaching them, drums and gongs were sounded! from this comes the name Topheth, which signifies a drum. It was also called Hinnom, because of the cries of the children, from naham, to cry, or, according to another interpretation from the words which the priest used to address to the parents, Jehenelach—this will be of service to thee. King Josiah, in order to render the place an object of horror, 'defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch' (2 Kings xxiii. 10)."

FOOTNOTES:

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Those who made of the Hebrew word Kidron (Cedron) a Greek word, fancy that the name may have been derived from some cedars planted in the ne Note 2 · Nicephorus Callistus expresses himself thus: "She also raised another splendid temple in the garden of Gethsemane to the Mother of God; and Note 3 · These are the words of the empress: "We hear that there is a noble and splendid church dedicated to Mary, Mother of God and perpetual Virgin Note 4 · This is the account of Sebastiano Paoli: "That most venerable Mount Sion also they have profaned and treated with no respect: the Temple of Note 5 · It was Godfrey de Bouillon who brought these monks to Jerusalem and gave them for their abbey the whole of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. "The s Note 6 · In which place was a wonderful work built in the earliest times of the Christian religion, as S. Jerome testifies in his writings. It surpas Note 7 · Brocardus writes: "The Sepulchre of the Virgin is covered with earth to such an extent that the church built upon its site, though its walls Note 8 · Father Geraldo Calvetti, guardian and keeper of Mount Sion, took possession of the Sepulchre. The document which proves this is found in the Note 9 · A firman, granted in 1852, allows the Latins to hold service in the Sepulchre of the Virgin, after the Greeks and the Armenians, enjoining u Note 10 · Father Morone[903], Guardian of the Holy Land, relates that towards the middle of the seventeenth century some tombstones were found near th Note 11 · In 1857 I obtained leave from the Superior of the Greek convent to draw the ground-plan of the church. I set to work, and got as far as the Note 12 · The olive-trees of the Garden of Gethsemane, says Chateaubriand (Itinéraire, Vol. II.), belong at any rate to the later empire. In Turkey, e Note 13 · The various elevations of the hills, and other special localities of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, are drawn in section. (Plate IV.)Note 14 · The Jews had derived the worship of Moloch from the Canaanites. Moloch and Saturn appear to have been the same deity: the way in which they Note 15 · So when Solomon is spoken of, it is said, "Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father" (1 Kings xi. 43)Note 16 · Bede, who wrote in the eighth century (on the authority of Arculf), calls the building of the Cœnaculum a large church. In his time there wa Note 17 · Persons who have seen them have told me that they were of the veined red breccia of Palestine.Note 18 · Mariano Morone da Maleo, Terra Santa nuovamente illustrata. Piacenza, 1669, 4to.