THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
cated at Amherst (A.B., 1857) and Newton Theological Institution (1860). In 1860 he was ordained to the ministry of his denomination; was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Waterville, Me. (1860- 1865) ; professor of ecclesiastical history at Newton Theological Institution until 1867, and of systematic theology at Crozer Theological Seminary (1868-82), and president of Colby University (1882-89). In 1889 he resigned on account of failing health, and spent the next three years chiefly in travel; he was professor of Biblical literature at Colby University (1892-1900), and retired in 1900. He has written Outlines of Theology (Upland, Pa., 1873).
PERiEA.
Varied Use of Term (§ 1). Inhabitants in Early Period (§ 2). Early History; Roads and Cities (§ 3). Jewish Peraia (§4). Non-Jewish Persea (§ 5).
Persea is the Greek form for the Hebrew expression " (the land) beyond the Jordan." Inasmuch as the Hebrew expression took form west of the Jordan, it follows that the region referred to lay east of the river. The Greek word Peraia as first found in Polybius and Strabo is applied to the coast regions of Asia Minor; Josephus introduced it into Palestine and applied it to that part of the
region east of the Jordan which was i. Varied inhabited by Jews. Eusebius used the Use of word in a more general way. The New- Term. Testament reproduction of the Scptua-
gint rendering of the Hebrew " beyond the Jordan " (Mark hi. 8; Matt. iv. 25) refers to the more limited region. This article, however, deals with the larger area connoted by the word, viz., that from the Yarmuk to the boundaries of the Moabites in the district of Heshbon, a region closely connected with Hebrew history from the period of the settlement until the conquest by the Assyrians, and again in Maccabean times. For the natural features of the country see Palestine, II., § 12.
The name usually applied in the Old Testament is Gilead, originally belonging to a place and a mountain and then extended to the district. As given to a city, Gilead is found in Judges x. 17; Hos. vi. 8, xii. 11, for which the Septuagint sometimes uses Gilgal, located by Burckhardt at Jal'ad or Jal'ud three hours south of the Jabbok. The mountain of the name is probably the
modern Jebel Jal'ad, on the northern
2. Inhabi- declivity of which the ruins are situated.
tants in Probably Gen. xxxi. has reference to
Early this mountain as the boundary between
Period. Jacob (Israel) and Laban (Aram), and
Gilead is taken as compounded of the two Hebrew (and Aramaic) words for " stone-heap " and " witness," a popular etymology. The mention in Cant. iv. 1, vi. 5, implies that the mountain was used as a pasture land for goats. In the Old Testament Gilead, meaning a region, is used in widely different senses. It may designate the entire land east of the Jordan (Gen. xxxvii. 25; Josh. xxii. 9; II Kings x. 33; Amos i. 3); sometimes a distinction is made between Gilead and Bashan (Josh, xiii. 11; II Kings x. 33), and a third district is
sometimes added, viz. Jazer (II Sam. xxiv. 5). At the entrance of the Hebrews this region was inhabited by the Ammonites, while immediately north of them dwelt Aramean tribes. Schumacher's discovery in the year 1900 of Bet Rihab, doubtless the Beth-rehob of II Sam. x. 6-8, makes probable that Aram Zobah is to be sought east of the Jordan and in the eastern part of Gilead, a fact which explains the campaigns of both Saul and David. From II Sam. x. 6, it is likely that the Land of Tob (cf. Judges xi. 3, 5) is to be placed in this region. That Gilead was anciently thickly inhabited by Arameans is clear. The " people of the east " of Gen. xxix. 1 must have been Arameans (cf. Gen. xxxi.). The Israelitic tribes settled here were Manasseh and Gad. The family of Jair (q.v.) had the northern part, that near the Jabbok; the family of Machir was settled southward of Jair, but probably at a later time owing to the campaign of Saul. These two families seem to compose the half-tribe of Manasseh which inhabited Gilead, the rest of the Manassites dwelling in Argob and Bashan, and the family of Machir was doubtless the leading one (Josh. xvii. 1). The southern part of Gilead was inhabited by Gad (a tribe which in the genealogical scheme is not accredited with full blood but is derived from Zilpah the maid of Leah, Gen. xxx. 10). This is corroborated by the Moabite Stone (q.v.): " And the men of Gad occupied the land of Ataroth from of old, and the king of Israel built Ataroth for himself." The possessions of Gad were not clearly defined, especially toward the south, where those of Reuben joined them. II Sam. xxiv. 5 uses the order Gad, Jazer, Gilead, as though Gad was on the extreme south; elsewhere the Jabbok is the northern boundary of Gad (Deut. hi. 16), while Mahanaim is also said to be the boundary between Manasseh and Gad (Josh. xiii. 24-27). According to the delimitation indicated in Josh. xiii. 24-27, 30-31, the larger part of Gilead belonged to Gad, and in Judges v. 17 Gilead is used for Gad, while according to verse 14 Machir (Manasseh) had not settled in Gilead. In I Sam. xiii. 7 Gad and Gilead designate the region east of the Jordan, in Num. xxxii. 26 Gilead is the land of Reuben and Gad (cf. Deut. iii. 12). So that Jair and Machir inhabited the northern half of Gilead, and Reuben and Gad the southern half.
According to the preceding, therefore, Gilead, properly the name of a region (not of a tribe), denotes the districts of el-Belka (south of the Nahr el-Zerka) and 'Ajlun (northward to the Yarmuk). In early Hebrew times the name Gad was applied to the southern part; Josh. xiii. 24—27 deals with the frontiers of the tribe Gad. Gilead was celebrated for its pasturage (Mic. vii. 14) and for its balsam (Jer. viii. 22). For Gilead Israel was often compelled to give battle. On the south dwelt the 3. Early Moabites, on the east the Ammonites, History; and on the northeast the Arameans. Roads and The conquests of Saul and David en- Cities, sured the possession to Israel for a long period. Between 900 and 780 b.c. it was often in the hands of the Syrians; Jeroboam reconquered it, but in 733 b.c. it was taken by the Assyrians, though in post-exilic times Jews formed a part