Learning



Ebenezer, stone, of help, the place where Samuel erected a monument, in grateful remembrance of the divine help, given in answer to prayer, in a great battle with the Philistines. 

The same place had before witnessed the defeat of Israel and the capture of the ark. 

1 Samuel 4. 

Bible Dictionary.



The Philistines were a warlike people that inhabited the fertile plain that lies along the Mediterranean Sea south of Mount Carmel.

Mizpeh. The word Mizpeh means watchtower, a lofty place, and was the name borne by several places. Every Mizpeh was a station of observation, commanding a wide view, from which friend or foe could be seen and signalized. 

The Mizpeh referred to in this lesson is supposed to be a peak situated about five miles north-west of Jerusalem, and rising six hundred feet above the plain of Gibeon.  

Jabesh Gilead was a city situated on a mountain five or six miles east of the Jordan and twelve miles directly east of the southern part of the Gilboa range. It was about forty-four miles north and twenty-three miles east of Jerusalem, or about fifty-two miles from that place in a direct line. The mountain on which it stood was on the south side of a wady that opens into the Jordan valley about twenty-three miles south of the Sea of Galilee.

The Ammonites occupied the territory lying between Ar'-non and Jab'-bok, having the country of Moab on the south and south-west, and the tribes of Reuben and Gad on the west. 

Their capital city, Rab'-bah, or Rab'-bath-Am'- mon, was situated forty-five miles east of Jerusalem, and about ten miles farther north. It was a place of great natural strength, and Moses says, "The border of the children of Ammon was strong." Numbers 21:24. These people were the descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot.

Bethlehem means House of bread, and is the name applied to two places in the Holy Land. The most noted of these is situated six miles south of Jerusalem on a rocky ridge, which slopes gently toward the west, but breaks off rather abruptly on other sides, especially toward the east. Near the eastern brow of the hill stands a large, strong building called the Church of the Nativity. This church covers the cave where Christ is supposed to have been born. 

The sides of the hill on which the town is built are terraced and covered with fig-trees, olive groves, and vineyards. The valleys below were once so fertile that the place was called Ephrath, [ef-rath], which means the fruitful.

The Valley of Elah is the place where David killed Goliath. The place where the battle must have been fought was about fourteen miles south-west of Jerusalem on the road to Gaza. 

Near Shochoh [sho'-ko], at a place where two wadys meet, the valley is about a mile wide. This little basin is flat and fertile, and through it winds a torrent bed, its banks fringed with acacia bushes, and its bottom covered with smooth round stones. The Philistines encamped on the south side of the valley and the Israelites on the north side.

 "The ridges on each side rise to the height of about five hundred feet, and have a uniform slope, so that the armies ranged along them could see the combat in the valley."