The ordinary way of reckoning the length of a journey was not by miles, but by time (Gn 30^ °''" Tn., Jon S'* c'v Ti^na, Lk 2** 7)ixipas 656s), and this makes it diflicult to determine accurately the distances covered. Moses asked that the children of Israel should be permitted to go into the wilder- ness a three days' journey (Ex 5^), and in Gn 3P'' it is said that Laban pursued after Jacob a seven days' journey. There would be a gi-eat difl'erence between the speed of these two companies, and consequently in the ground traversed. In hilly districts the progress would be less than in tlie flat country, and a small company or a single indi- vidual would go faster than a caravan. An ordi- nary day's journey might be put down at about 20 miles, Init it would require an extraordinary stretch of imagination to make that fit in with Nu Ipi. In Lk 2^'»it probably meant not more than 6 miles, for tliese festal caravans, with their crowds, moved at a leisurely pace ; and tradition has it that the halting-place was Beeroth, which is 6 miles north of Jerusalem.
Tlie longer the journey the slower the pace, for provision for man and tjeast and equipment for the way had to be carried. ' Take victuals with you for the journey' (Jos 9") was the rule and not the exception. Tliis led Christ to say to tlie Twelve, wlien He sent them out, ' Provide neither gold nor silver for your journey' (Mt lO**- '^ !1), so that they might not be hampered by these tilings, and that they might receive a much-needed lesson in faith.
Reference is made in Ac V^ to a Sabbath day's journey {o-aPfidTov 656s). This is the only place where tlie plirase occurs. Olivet is said to be a Sabbath day's journey from Jerusalem. The ex- pression is very indefinite. Joseplius in one place
{Ant. XX. viii. 6) gives the distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives as 5 furlongs, and in another as 6 (BJ V. ii. 3). Schleusner makes it 7^ stadia or furlongs. The ditt'erence seems to lie in the vary- ing length of the cubit, which in the older Hebrew measurement was longer than in tiie later. The result is the same — 2000 cubits, which would bring it into conformity with Rabbinical law, ' Let no man go walking from his place beyond 2000 ells on the seventh day ' (Jerus. Targ. on Ex 16^**). A Sabbath day's journey was by common consent 2000 cubits or ells, though .some Rabbis allowed a kind of sliding scale, and spoke of the greater journey (2800), the medium (2000), and the smaller (1800). This was purely Rabbinical, and deduced from (1) Ex 16-"-' 'Abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day ' ; (2) from tlie distance between the Ark and the people on the march (Jos 3'*) ; and (3) from the conditions laid down as to the cities of refuge (Nu 355). In Ex 1629 the 'place' by a process of Rabbinical reasoning became the city where a man dwelt ; and it was argued that ' if one who committed murder accidentally was allowed to take this journey of 2000 ells on the Sabbath day without violating the sanctity of the day, innocent people might do the same.' By a little ingenuity a Sabbath day's journey could be considerably extended. If a person desired to do so, he had simply to carry to some point within the Sabbatical limit tAvo meals before the Sabbath began, one of which he had to eat and the other to bury ; and that place became for him his dwelling-place. It is even alleged that by fixing his eye upon a tree or wall within the prescribed limit, and uttering certain words, he could make that his starting- point.
In NT times it was customary, as indeed it is to-day, to accompany a departing guest on a part of his way (Ro 15^^ Ac 15^ 1 Co W) as a token of goodwill and aftection.
Literature.— Thomson, LB; G. A. Smith, HGHL; W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches ; Conder, Palestine ; PEPSt ; RP ; artt. in Hastings' DB, Extra Vol. pp. 368-402.
R. Leggat. TREASURE. — The word 'treasure' upon the lips of a Hebrew signifies a store of anything that constitutes wealth — of corn and wine and oil, as well as of gold and silver and precious stones (Mt \2>^'^). Hence spiritually the Mord suggests an apt figure of the true eternal riches. Just as on earth the worldly-wise may lay up stores of wealth, so in the heavens the man who seeks after spiritual things may lay up for himself an eternal treasure. It has been imagined by some commentators that by 'treasure in heaven' our Lord means merely the reward which shall be given hereafter to all who suffer loss for His sake on earth. ' Go and sell that thou hast, and give to tlie poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ' (Mt 19-i, Mk 10^', Lk 18^-), they take to mean merely, ' Give away thine earthly wealth, and God sLall give thee instead heavenly blessedness ' ; but so to interpret the words is to miss by far the most valuable part of their teaching. It Avas this interpretation that formed the chief justification for the monkish asceticism of the IStiddle Ages. It gave rise to a false spiritualism, to the fatal and irreconcilable dualism of sacred and secular. In addressing the words to the rich young man, our Lord was treat- ing a particular case, the case of one Avhose spiritual aspirations Avere crusiied beneath the burden of his Avoalth. The treasure in heaven sviiich Christ told him he should liaA'e Avas not to be gained by the simple process of denuding him- self of his Avorldly possessions — God Avould not step in to supply in the next Avorld Aviiat he had voluntarily sacrificed in this. Such teaciiing Avould