^ The wilderness of Judsea is not a barren waste of sand and land without water, as a major portion of the Occidental world believes it to be. " Wilderness," as the word is now understood, is altogether a misnomer. The " Wilds of Judaa " would be more correctly descriptive. The wilderness of Judaea is about forty miles long and ten miles broad. It stretches along the western coast of the Dead Sea and the southern portion of the Jordan
448 THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
Valley. This land of plateaus rises by steps westward from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet. This district presents a series of chalky, flint-strewn eminences and small plains separated by narrow torrent beds, worn deep by the winter rains, and here and there by terrific rocky gorges forming gloomy precipitous rifts through the beds of limestone. These gorges are veritable " valleys of the shadow of death " ; for in these cragged mountains there are innumerable caves, both natural and hewn in the solid rock of the " everlasting hills " (Heb. iii. 6). In these caves still live numerous wild beasts. Lions have been extinct since the days of the Crusaders, who hunted and killed till they exterminated as much life as they could during their occupation of the country. Leopards are rare, and bears are now found only in the Lebanon ranges ; but hyenas, wolves, wildcats, and jackals still roam at will over the country, as also birds of prey, such as eagles and vultures of great size and strength and beauty. All these are the natural " enemies " of the flocks of sheep and goats.^
3. One word is translated " shadow of death " (Heb. tsalmdveth). The same word (differently punctuated) means "deep shadow" or " deep gloom." And it is practically certain that this is the word the Psalmist used, although the Ancient Versions and all the great English Versions take it in the former way. In any case, it is evident from the Psalm itself that the reference is not to death. The Psalm is a series of pictures of a believer's life, and confidences. And after " the valley of the shadow of death " comes " the prepared table," and " the anointed head," — and " the mantling cup," and " goodness and mercy following to the end " ; — and then " the death," or rather no death at all, for it is leapt over, or left out as almost a thing which is not, — " Surely good- ness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life " : and then, without one break, " and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Driver's translation (in The Parallel Psalter) is, "Yea, though I walked in a ravine of deathly gloom, I would fear no evil."
To think only of dying is greatly to narrow the application of David's words ; especially now, under the dispensation of the Spirit. If death throws down tremendous shadow, Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. As a rule, believers do not find the avenue to the other world dark ; on
^ A. F. Mamreov, A Day vnlh the Good Shepherd, 16.
PSALM XXIII. 4 449
the contrary, the eternal light flings its radiance on their path ; the eternal peace attends them ; the eternal love is shed abroad within their bosom ; not seldom they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
^ John Bunyan knew the Bible well, and he also had an intimate knowledge of the Christian life. Where does he place " the Valley of the Shadow of Death " in The Pilgrim's Progress ? Not at the very end of the pilgrimage, — he puts the bridgeless river there, — but in the middle of the pilgrim's way.^
^ After this long misery of haunted loneliness (in the Valley of the Shadow of Death) there comes the infinite relief of the human voice, as Christian hears great words spoken by a man going before him. . . . The verse which the unseen man is repeating is from the 23rd Psalm, where there is as yet no word of ending, and the comfort comes simply from the fact that God is with the man. By and by the day breaks, and Bunyan, who was intensely sensitive to the changes of light and darkness, finds a deep satisfaction in the new light. His poems of sunrise are well worth consulting. There is in them that authentic note of true poetry which reminds us sometimes of Chaucer and sometimes of Spenser. They contain the finest touches in his printed poems. The verse that Christian utters is, " He hath turned the shadow of death into the morning " : it is the same that is engraved upon the tombstone of Dr. Guthrie.^
4. But this need not lead us away from the associations with which our old translation has invested the words. For it is not only darkness that the poet is describing, but the darkness where death lurks for the poor sheep — the gorges, in whose deep shadows are the lairs of wild beasts, and the shepherd and his club are needed. It stands thus for every dismal and deadly passage through which the soul may pass, and, most of all, it is the Valley of the Shadow of Death. There God is with men no less than by the waters of repose, or along the successful paths of active life.