(4) There is a manifest verification and corroboration of this testimony in the close association of Bethsaida with Capernaum and Chorazin in the judgment pronounced upon them by our Lord because of their peculiar privileges (Mt 1121-23). There is no uncertainty with respect to the import of this denunciation. It could not apply to a Gentile city like JulLas, for it is here con- trasted with the Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon. It is evident, also, that its significance inheres in the peculiar privileges of Bethsaida through oft-repeated manifestations of supernatural power in connexion with the ministry of Jesus. In other words, it was in the very centre of that field of wonders in Galilee, honoured above all other places in the land as the residence of Jesus, to which multitudes flocked from every quarter. We have the record of three brief visits of Jesus to the semi-heathen population on the eastern side of the Lake, mainly for rest and retirement, but there is no record of ' many mighty works' in any of the towns or cities of this region. This of itself seems to be'an unanswerable argument against the proposed identifica- tion of the city to which Jesus refers in this connexion with the Herodian city of Juliaa in the province of Gaulanitis.
The generally accepted site of Bethsaida of Galilee is 'Aiii et-Tdbigha. It is situated at the head of a charming little bay on the northern side of the spur which runs out into the Lake at Khan Mimjeh. Here, by the ruins of some old mills, is a copious stream of warm, brackish water, fed by several fountains, one of which is the largest spring-head in Galilee. Its course, which now winds and descends amid a tangled mass of rank vegetation to the Lake, was formerly diverted to the plain of Gennesaret by a strongly built reservoir, still standing, which raised the water to an elevation of twenty feet or more. Thence it was carried by an aqueduct and a rock-hewn trench to the northern end of the plain. There is little to indicate the site of the citv, except an occasional pier of the aqueduct and tlie substructures of a few ancient buildings long since overthrown and forgotten.
The natural features of 'Ain et-Tdbigha are a safe harbour, a good anchorage, a lovely outlook over the entire lake, a shelving, shelly beach, ad- mirably adapted to the landing of fishing boats, a coast free from debris and driftwood ; and a warm bath of water, where shoals of fish ofttimes crowd together by myriads, ' their backs gleaming above the surface as they bask and tumble in the water ' (Macgregor, Mob Roy on the Jordan, p. 337). Al- though surrounded by desolate wastes, this is still the chief ' Fishertown ' on the Lake, where nets are dried and mended, and where fish are taken and sorted for the market, as in the days of Andrew, Simon, and Philip.
LiTERATORE.— Andrews, Life ofourLord'^, pp. 230-236 ; Kobin- son, BRP'^u. 413, and iii. 358, 369 ; Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 418, also Topog. of the Holy Land, pp. 259-261 ; G. A. Smith, HGHL 457 f.; 'Thomson, Land and Book, ii. 423; Stewart, Mem. Places among the Holy Hills, pp. 128-138 ; Reland, p. 653 ; Macgregor, op. cit. pp. 834-343 and 360-372 ; Merrill, Pict. Pal. i. 322 ; Ewing in Hastings' DB i. p. 282 ; Baedeker-Socin, Pal. 255 f.; Buhl, GAP 241 ff.; Sanday, Sacred Sites (f the Gospels, 41 f., 46, 48, 91, 96. R. L. STEWART.
BETROTHAL
BETRAYAL.—
The Gr. verb for betray' is T«/i«5iSe.«(. Titpiio^i; never occurs in the sense of ' betraj-al ' in the NT ; in the Gospels it is used of ■ the traditim of the elders ' (Mt 152- 3- 6= Mk 73- 6- 8. 9- 1-'), bv St. Paul also of the Christian tradition (1 Co 112, 2 Th a'-J 36). Tf »S.rr,-, ' traitor/ occurs in Lk 616 ; cf. Ac 752, 2 Ti 3^.
Had Jesus not been lietrayed into the hands of His enemies, His death -would hardlj' have been averted, but it would have been delayed. They would fain have seized Him and made short work of Him, but they dared not. He was the popular hero, and they perceived that His arrest would excite a dangeVous tumult. The goodwill of the multitude was as a bulwark about Him and kept His enemies at bay, malignant but impotent. The crisis came on 13th Nisan, two days before tlie Passover (Mt 26'-5=>Ik 14'-2=Lk 22i-=). He had met the rulers in a succession of dialectical en- counters in the court of the Temple, and had completed their discomfiture by hui-ling at them in presence of the multitude a crushing indictment. Enraged beyond endurance, they met and debated what they should do. They were resolved upon His death, and they would fain have seized Him and slain Him out of hand ; but they dared not, and they agreed to wait until the Feast was over and the throng of worshippers had quitted Jeru- salem. 'They took counsel together to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; but they said: Not during the Feast, lest there arise a tumult among the people.'
Such was the situation when, all unexpectedly, an opportunity for immediate action presented itself. Judas, 'the man of Kerioth,' one of the Twelve, waited on the high priests, probably while Jesus was engaged with the Greeks (Jn 12-°-'™), and offered, for sufficient remuneration, to betray Him into their hands. Judas was a disappointed man. He had attached himself to Jesus, believing Him to be the Mes.siah, and expecting, in accord- ance with the current conception of the Messianic Kingdom, a rich recompense when tlie Master should ascend the throne of His father David, and confer offices and honours upon His faithful fol- lowers. The period of his discipleship had been a process of disillusionment, and latterly, when he jierceived the inevitable issue, he had determined to abandon what he deemed a sinking cause, and save what he might from the wTeck. It may be also that he desired to be avenged on the Master who, as he deemed, had fooled him with a false hope.* He therefore went to the high priests and asked what they would give him to betray Jesus into their hands". They leaped at the proposal, and offered him thirty shekels. It was the price of a slave,t and they named it in contempt not of Jesus but of Judas. Even while they trafficked with him, they despised the wTetch. Impervious to contempt, he accepted their offer ; and, as though in haste to be rid of him, they paid him the money on the spot.