Lake

LAKE. There were three great Lakes in Judæa; the Lake Asphaltites, the Lake of Isa. xxii. 11.Tiberias, and the Lake Semechon. There was also in the Borders as you go towards Egypt, the Lake Sirbon. All these Lakes are to be sought for under their proper Articles. Besides these great Lakes, there were some Pools called also by this Name; as the Lake of Cendervia, from whence the little River Beleus flowed, to the East of Ptolemais; the Lake near Cæsarea of Palestine, the Lake Phiala, at the Foot of Libanus; the Lake Jazer, and that of Hesebon beyond Jordan. Isaiah speaks likewise of a Lake which Manasseh caused to be made, between the two Walls of Jerusalem.

There is Mention in the Book of Samuel 1 Sam. xxx. 30.of the Lake Ashan; there was a Lake probably near the City of Ashan, which belonged to the Tribe of Judah. See Joshua xv. 42. The Hebrew¹ reads Cor Ashan, which is the Town of Ashan just now mentioned. It was given at first to Judah, and afterwards a Cession of it was made to Simeon. Joshua xix. 7. St. Jerom read Bebor-Asan, in Lacu Asan, instead of Becor-Acan.

1 Macc. ix. 33.The Lake Asphar, spoken of in the Maccabees, is no other than the Asphaltite, or the Dead Sea. See ASPHALTITE.

Isai. li. 1. Ps. vii. 16. Ps. xxviii. 1.Lacus is often used for a Cistern. Consider the Hole of the Lake whence they were taken out, says Isaiah, that is to say, the Covenant of your Fathers and Mothers. And as their Tombs were generally Holes dug in Rocks, or under Ground, wherein the Bodies of the dead were disposed in a Sort of Niches, and lay long concealed, the Scripture likewise often calls Tombs, Lakes; for Example, Lacum aperuit & effodit eum, & incidit in terram, quam fecit. And again, Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my Rock, be not silent to me, answer me, lest, if thou be silent to me, Assimulabor descendentibus in lacum, who go down into the Grave, the Pit.

Lacus, Fossa, Cisterna. Zach. ix. 11. Jer. xxxviii. 6, 7, 8. Jer. Thr. iii. 56. Ezek. xxxii. 23.The Hebrew Word Bor signifies in General, a Pit, a Cistern, a Lake, a Sepulcher, a hollow deep Place, wherein wild Beasts are shut up such as Lions, and Slaves, as is still practiced at this Day in Africk, and other Places. Zachary says, Emisisti vinctos tuos de lacu, out of Prison. Jeremiah was cast into Prison, which Prison was a Well without Water, that had nothing in it besides Mud. Lacus novissimus signifies the deepest, the furthest Part of the Tomb or Prison: Invocavi nomen tuum, Domine, de lacu novissimo. And Ezekiel speaking of the King of Assyria’s Sepulcher says, that it is placed in the deepest Part of the Cave: Quorum Sepulcra data sunt in novissimis laci.

And as in Palestine, Wine and Oil were reserved in great Tubs or subtertanean Cisterns, in the Manner almost wherein Water is preserved; these Tubs are likewise called Lakes: For this Reason, when they are talking of a Press, they say, they dig a Lake or subterraneous great Tub, for receiving the Gen. iv. 18, 19, 20, &c. Mark xii. 1. Antiq. l. i. c. 5. Rev. xiv. 19. 20.Wine: Vineam plantavit homo, & circumdedit sepem, & fodit lacum. And St. John in the Revelations says, that the Lord had sent his Angel to gather the Grapes, which he cut and put into the Lake of God’s Wrath, that he had trodden them; that the Blood came out of them, and overflowed the Length of sixteen hundred Furlongs. See the Article WINE-PRESS.

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