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that Name even when the Ifraelites first came over Jordan, had thefe five, Nazareth, Nain, Capernaum, Bethfaida, and Tiberias: It was moreover divided into two Parts; Upper Galilee, which extended up as far as the Syriac Sea; and Lower Galilee, which reach'd down to the Sea of Tiberias. The Cities of Paleftine or the Philistines, were five; Gath, Gaza, Asbdod or Azotus, Ekron, and Askelon, which were govern'd by five Lords; or Kings, as they are sometimes call'd.

These are enough for our prefent Enquiry. And we muft obferve, that in After-times, when the ten Tribes were parted off and gone from them, and their Affairs came to be in a flourishing State, their whole Country was call'd Judæa; even the fame which fince the time of our Saviour, has gone by the Name of Palestine, and the Holy Land.

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SECT.

II.

The Metropolis of the HOLY LAND. ⠀

1

Now as all the twelve Tribes were under one and the fame Conftitution and Government,

vernment, it was neceffary that fome one Place should be fix'd upon to be the Metropolis, or Mother-City of the whole Country; which should be the chief Place of Refidence to that Perfon who prefided in the Administration of the Government, and was intrusted with the Supreme Charge of all their Affairs, both religious and civil: To which they might, upon Occafion, refort out of every Tribe and City; as at the folemn Times of Worship, their stated Feasts and Festivals; at their holding the Grand Council; and keeping their High Courts of Judicature; to which all Appeals were to be made.

4, &c.

The Nomination and Appointment of this Place God referv'd to himself. In the Deut. xii, place which the LORD fhall choose in one of 4, thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burntofferings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. And again; If there arife Deut. a matter too hard for thee in judgment, being matters of controverfy within thy gates; then halt thou arife and get thee up unto the place which the LORD thy God fhall choose: And thou shalt come unto the Priests and Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those

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xvii. 8.

days, and inquire; and they fhall fhew thee the fentence of judgment.

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Now the Places which God chofe for this Purpose, were those where his Tabernacle and his Temple ftood. These were two; first, Shiloh in Samaria, in the Allotment of Ephraim, which was afterwards rejected; and then Mount Sion in Jerufa lem, within the Portion of the Tribe of Judab.

SECT. III.

First, S HILO H

Of Shiloh we have the following Account. When the Children of Ifrael had clear'd the Land of Canaan of the ancient Inhabitants, under the Conduct of Joshua, Joshua and divided it among the Tribes; the whole xviii. I. congregation of them affembled together at Shiloh, and fet up the tabernacle of the congregation there. Without question, by the Direction of Joshua: for the doing of which we may conclude he was mov'd by a divine Impulse. The Inheritances are Jofhua divided among the Tribes by lot, in Shixix. 51. loh before the LORD, at the door of the taber

nacle

Xxii. 12.

nacle of the congregation. And afterwards, when the Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Mainaffeh had given the reft fome Umbrage by building an extraordinary Altar, in a different Place, the whole congregation of the Jofhua children of Ifrael, gather'd themselves together at Shiloh to go up to war against them. Again; when they held a Consultation how to fave the Tribe of Benjamin, they come Judges to the house of God, and fix their camp in Shiloh. Then they said, Behold there is a feaft of the LORD in Shiloh yearly, &c.

However, upon fome great Provocation, Shiloh was afterwards rejected; and God chofe Jerufalem for his City, and Mount Sion for the Situation of his Temple; and Shiloh was left defolate and abandon'd to Destruction: as appears from a threatning Denunciation of the LORD against those who came into his holy Temple, and boasted of their being admitted to so great an Honour, though they were utterly unprepar'd and difqualify'd for now unto my place which was in where I fet my Name at the first;

it.

xxi. 2. 12.

19.

Go

ye

Jerem. vii. 12.

Shiloh,

and fee

what I did to it for the wickedness of my peo

ple Ifrael.

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2 Chron.

vi. 4.

SECT. IV.

Afterwards, JERUSALEM..

God appointed Mount Sion in Jerufalem, in the Time of David; who, having overcome the Jebufites, the antient Inhabitants of it; whom Judah and Benjamin, whofe Lot it was, had not been hitherto able to expel; according to God's Direction, plac'd the Ark of the Covenant there, and * made it the Seat of his Empire.

To this Purpose, Solomon introduces the LORD fpeaking to his Father David. Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chofe no city among all the tribes of Ifrael to build an house in, that my Name might be there; neither chofe I any man to be a ruler over my people Ifrael. But I have chefen Jerufalem, that my Name might be there, and have chofen David to be over my people Ifrael. True: for in Shiloh, no Temple was built; only the Ark lodg'd for a while. And tho' God appointed Mofes, Joshua, Samuel, and the reft of the Judges to prefide over their Af

* To which relates the cxxxii Pfalm.

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