[2] When the birth of Christ was adopted as an era of chronology, about A. D. 400 a mistake of four years was made by the historian who first fixed it. Hence the year in which Christ was born was in reality B. C. 4. [3] We give Mount Hor the traditional location, east of the Desert of Zin; but there is strong reason for finding it west of the Desert of Zin, near Ka'desh-bar'ne-a. [4] Called in the Revised Version "guilt offering." [5] This is called in the Revised Version "the meal offering"; that is, the offering to God of a meal to be eaten. It might be called "food offering." [6] According to Josephus; the fact is not stated in the Bible. [7] The ecclesiastical year began with the month Abib, or Nisan, in the spring: the civil year with the month Ethanim in the fall. [8] The Old Testament name for the Sea of Gal'i-lee is Chin'ne-reth (ch as k), a word meaning "harp-shaped." [9] The account of the sun and moon standing still is an extract from an ancient poem, and is so printed in the Revised Version. The subject is discussed in Geikie's Hours with the Bible, footnote with chapter 13. [10] With regard to the destruction of the Ca'naan-ites: 1. Such destruction was the almost universal custom of the ancient world. 2. It was observed by the Ca'naan-ites, who were among the most wicked of ancient peoples. 3. It was necessary if Is'ra-el was to be kept from the corruption of their morals, and upon Is'ra-el's character depended the world in after ages. 4. As a result of failing to extirpate the Ca'naan-ites a vastly greater number of the Is'ra-el-ites were destroyed during the succeeding centuries. [11] With Jeph'thah is associated the only instance of human sacrifice offered to Je-ho'vah in all Bible history; and this was by an ignorant freebooter, in a part of the land farthest from the instructions of the tabernacle and the priesthood. When we consider that the practice of human sacrifice was universal in the ancient world, and that not only captives taken in war, but also the children of the worshipers, were offered (2 Kings 3. 26, 27; Mic. 6. 7), this fact is a remarkable evidence of the elevating power of the Is'ra-el-ite worship. [12] With regard to Da'vid's crimes against U-ri'ah and his wife, note that no other ancient monarch would have hesitated to commit such an act, or would have cared for it afterward; while Da'vid submitted to the prophet's rebuke, publicly confessed his sin, and showed every token of a true repentance. [13] Notice that while the prophets had been friendly to Da'vid, they were strongly opposed to Sol'o-mon, and gave aid to his enemy Jer-o-bo'am (1 Kings 11. 29-39). [14] The dimensions as given in the Bible are all in cubits, a measure of uncertain length, which I have estimated at eighteen inches; consequently all the figures given in this study are to be regarded as approximate, not exact.