A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs; To Which Are Appended a Brief Consideration of the Geography and History of Palestine, and a Chapter on Churches of Christ in Great BritainJanes, Don Carlos
Religion
A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs; To Which Are Appended a Brief Consideration of the Geography and History of Palestine, and a Chapter on Churches of Christ in Great Britain
Janes, Don Carlos
Churches of Christ -- Great Britain; Palestine -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
Jaffa is the Joppa of the Bible, and has a good deal of interesting
history. When "Jonah rose to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of
Jehovah," he "went down to Joppa and found a ship going unto Tarshish:
so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to
Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah." (Jonah 1:3.) His unpleasant
experience with the great fish is well known. When Solomon was about to
build the first temple, Hiram sent a communication to him, saying: "We
will cut wood out of Lebanon as much as thou shalt need; and will bring
it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to
Jerusalem" (2 Chron. 2:16). In the days of Ezra, when Zerubbabel
repaired the temple, we read that "they gave money also unto the masons,
and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and oil, unto them of Sidon,
and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, unto
Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia"
(Ezra 3:7). It was the home of "a certain disciple named Tabitha," whom
Peter was called from Lydda to raise from the dead. (Acts 9:36-43.)
Simon the tanner also lived in Joppa, and it was at his house that Peter
had his impressive vision of the sheet let down from heaven prior to his
going to Caesarea to speak the word of salvation to Cornelius and his
friends. (Acts 10:1-6.)
The city is built on a rocky elevation rising one hundred feet above
the sea, which has no harbor here, so that vessels do not stop when the
water is too rough for passengers to be carried safely in small boats.
Extensive orange groves are cultivated around Jaffa, and lemons are also
grown, and I purchased six for a little more than a cent in American
money. Sesame, wine, wool, and soap are exported, and the imports are
considerable. The train reached the station about the middle of the day,
and the ship did not leave till night, so I had ample time to visit the
"house of Simon the tanner." It is "by the sea side" all right, but
looks too modern to be impressive to the traveler who does not accept
all that tradition says. I paid Cook's tourist agency the equivalent of
a dollar to take me through the custom house and out to the ship, and I
do not regret spending the money, although it was five times as much as
I had paid the native boatman for taking me ashore when I first came to
Jaffa. The sea was rough--very rough for me--and a little woman at my
side was shaking with nervousness, although she tried to be brave, and
her little boy took a firm hold on my clothing. I don't think that I was
scared, but I confess that I did not enjoy the motion of the boat as it
went sliding down from the crest of the waves, which were higher than
any I had previously ridden upon in a rowboat. As darkness had come, it
would have been a poor time to be upset, but we reached the vessel in
safety. When we came alongside the ship, a boatman on each side of the
passenger simply pitched or threw him up on the stairs when the rising
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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