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south of the Dead Sea; and then they came up and smote the Amalekites, 
in a position to the south-west of the Dead Sea, after which they went 
and attacked Engedi ; so that if the cities stood here (pointing to the map 
at the north end of the sea), they must have come from Engedi in this 
direction. Supposing the cities stood here (pointing to the south end), then 
they turned back from Engedi, having come, as I believe, from the land of the 
Amalekites across the high land called the Negeb, over which there is a road 
descending on Engedi, and then they turned southward to this spot (pointing 
to the south-western shore of the Dead Sea). But in going northward from 
Sodom after its capture, they may either have marched along the eastern side of 
the Dead Sea, ascending the heights of Moab, traversing Gilead in the route of 
the Israelites under Moses when invading Bashan, and then descending again 
to the upper valley of the Jordan, where Abraham attacked them ; or they 
may have followed the western shore of the Dead Sea as far as Engedi, and 
then, there being no path along the shore farther north, ascended the moun- 
tains and crossed over by very difficult, but still practicable roads for horse- 
men and camel-men, into the valley of the Jordan at Jericho. While making 
this march Abraham would naturally have heard of them. Therefore, what- 
ever be the difficulty, it is equally applicable to either theory, but it is greater 
when applied to the theory which places the cities in the north. 
Rev. C. Lloyd Engstrom. — During a lecture at a meeting recently held 
under the auspices of a leading London society a suggestion was made by a 
well-known lecturer, which I think was quite insufficient to account for the 
miracle of the “ heaping ” up of the water. It was* that a large piece of rock 
might have fallen and blocked the river at, I think, the Damieh ford. 
Dr. Porter. — I am particularly well acquainted with that section of the 
river'. All I can say in reference to the theory just alluded to is, that we have 
heard of the Irish legend, which tells how the giant Einn M‘Coul moved 
large rocks into the sea and made a roadway from Ireland to Scotland, and 
it would require some such rocks as he must have employed, to do what has 
been suggested in the case of the Jordan. There are in reality three valleys 
or ravines : there is the great valley, measuring at the place indicated at 
least six miles in width ; that would require a tolerably large rock. Then there 
is the lower ravine through which the Jordan itself runs, and it is about 
three-quarters of a mile in width at the)place pointed out ; that also would 
take a pretty large piece of rock to block up the passage. Upon every 
ground I believe that the miracle was an absolute miracle; the Hebrew 
words can only mean, “the w T aters stood and rose up one heap,” just as the 
waters must have risen up on each side of the Israelites, when they passed 
through the Red Sea. (Hear, hear.) This I believe to be the true meaning 
of the Hebrew words, and it is utterly impossible for any one visiting the 
ford of Damieh, to imagine that the river could have been stopped at that 
point by any naturally -placed or falling rock. 
Mr. R. W. Dibdin. — With regard to the word “ Shibboleth,” mentioned in 
the seventeenth paragraph, I wish to know whether the same difficulty is found 
