p. 14 | BIBLES! BIBLES! by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 9, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 35.

BIBLES! BIBLES!

By Editor

Another Bible

A Better Bible

To New and Old Subscribers

Last winter we offered a "magnificent" Bible with the SIGNS OF THE TIMES to new subscribers only. That offer and Bible gave most complete satisfaction, and we received testimonial after testimonial expressing thanks that we had placed such a splendid Bible in the hands of our patrons. We are now able to offer a far better Bible, to both new and old subscribers, and we propose to show some of its striking features from week to week. If our former offer was

Magnificent

and Unparalleled

this one is doubly so.

A remarkable feature of this book is the immense # ILLUSTRATED # BIBLE TREASURY

Containing, illustrative of the text, over 350 illustrations, the larger part being fine half-tones, printed on a high-grade paper, thus bringing out clearly and beautifully the effects of this class of work. There are upwards of 30 full-page and over 100 half-page and two-thirds-page illustrations. In this part are sections on the Old Testament, side-lights being brought in from history and explorations; the New Testament; History and Chronology of the Bible; Geography of Bible Lands; Treasury of Bible Science, treating of the Astronomy of the Bible, Birds, Mammals, Minerals, Plants, Reptiles, Fishes, etc., Calendars, Weights, Measures, etc., all copiously illustrated,—in short, a # BIBLE DICTIONARY

An entirely new and exceedingly valuable feature is the # COMBINED BIBLE CONCORDANCE which includes, in one alphabetical list, a Concordance, Subject Index, and Dictionary of Proper Names. This must be seen to be appreciated.

Besides the above is a fine set of MAPS, with complete INDEX, thus making # Over 650 Pages of Valuable Bible Helps

Described as a whole, this Bible is a Teachers' Edition, minion type (the style most used), divinity circuit, round corners, red under gold edges, with the cover leather lined to edges—an important adjunct to the substantial nature of the binding.

Specimen Page of the ILLUSTRATED BIBLE TREASURY. Copyrighted by Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1896. PALESTINE: ITS HISTORICAL AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

IX. ESDR AELON.

This great triangle of plain, lying between the hills of Samaria and those of Galilee, was held by the Canaanites till Deborah won it for Israel. It continued to be traversed by foreign war and traffic, and to the end was the classic battlefield of the history of the Bible. The natural entrances to it are the three corners of the triangle — the pass of the Kishon at Tel el-Kasis, the glen between Tabor and Nazareth, and the valley south of En-gannim or Jenin, with the entrance from Jordan Valley at Jezreel, and that from Sharon at Megiddo, the modern Lejjun. The plain is extremely fertile, but boggy and almost impassable in winter. It has never had towns upon it, and only one or two villages, a sufficient testimony to its defencelessness.

X. GALILEE AND THE LAKE.

1. THE PROVINCE.—Originally the Galilee of the Gentiles lay between Esdraelon (which it comprised on the south) and the river Kasimiyeh or Leontes on the north, the Maritime Plain on the west, and the Lake of Galilee, including the eastern coast of Itlis, on the east. Exclusive of that it measured about 50 miles north and south by 25 to 35 east and west. It fell into three belts running east and west—Esdraelon; Lower Galilee, a series of parallel ranges, none over 1850 feet, crossing from the plateau along Tiberias to Haifa and Acre; and Upper Galilee, a series of plateaus surrounded by hills from 2000 to 4000 feet. The line between the two Galilees ran from the north end of the lake and to the south of Safed, between Kefr Anân and Er-Rameh westward to Acre.

2. ITS FEATURES.—To her dependence on Lebanon, Galilee owes her much water and fertility. The country is well wooded, with stretches of good corn-land. There are many volcanic elements in the geology, and earthquakes are frequent. Great roads pass chiefly from west to east, and also from north to south. The greatest thoroughfare is the so-called Way of the Sea, connecting Damascus with the Levant. It seems to have skirted the north coast of the lake and passed through Capernaum, crossing Jordan by the present Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob. These are the roads which appear so frequently in the parables of our Lord. Nazareth lay within sight of several, in a basin on the hills, just above Esdraelon.

3. THE LAKE.—The life of Galilee was concentrated on her lake. It lies in a great ditch 680 feet below the level of the sea. The atmosphere is hot and heavy, but broken by sudden and violent storms. The lake is in shape a pear or a harp, nearly 13 miles long, by 8 broad at the bulging end. Trees are hardly to be seen either on the narrow coast-lines east or west, or on the sloping moors to the north, or on the plain of Gennesaret to the north and west. But in our Lord's time there must have been great woods, and Gennesaret, now mostly a marsh, must have been luxuriously fertile.

There were at least nine considerable towns round the lake. On the west lay Tiberias, the new capital of Herod Antipas, with Magdala on Gennesaret, and Taricheæ where the fish were cured, probably to the south. On the west shore, after it trends east to the mouth of the Jordan, are the sites of Capernaum, Chorazin a little inland, and Bethsaida on the east of Jordan. There was only one Bethsaida, called "of Galilee," though it lay east of Jordan, for the name of the province extended right round the lake.

Down the eastern shore lay Gergesa, on the lake, and farther south on the hills above lay Aphek (now Fîk), and Hippos, one of the Decapolis. Gadara lay about an hour and a half from the south-east corner of the lake, on the heights over the Yarmuk, and about 2300 feet above the lake. The lake must have been girdled with towns and villages. But the atmosphere can never have been very fresh. Fevers have always abounded.

OUR OFFER. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES one year, and the BIBLE, to a NEW name, postpaid, $3.00

The SAME PRICE to any old subscriber who renews for ONE YEAR.

FREE. How to obtain the Bible Free, or at a very small outlay, and at the same time do a good work for the SIGNS.

We will send a Bible FREE to any one sending us seven new names at one time, at $1.00 each, or $7.00. If any of these seven desire a Bible, add $2.00 to their subscription.

To any one sending us two new names, or one new name and one renewal, for one year each, we will send the papers and one Bible for $3.75; two Bibles, $5.75.

To any one sending us three new names, or two new names and one renewal, for one year each, we will send the papers and one Bible for $4.50; two Bibles, $6.50; three Bibles, $8.50.

To any one sending us four new names, or three new names and one renewal, for one year each, we will send the papers and one Bible for $5.00; two Bibles, $7.00; three Bibles, $9.00; four Bibles, $11.00.

NOTE.—All names under any portion of this offer must be sent us at one time.

NOTE.—We can not sell the Bible separate from the above offers. NOTE.—The Bibles and papers will be sent to different addresses if desired.

This offer goes into effect Oct. 1, 1897, and will continue through October, November and December. Send in your orders at once.