our Lord's accusers
to defile themselves by entering the praetorium (xviii. 28), and the
Jewish method of embalming (xix. 40). Jewish opinions are faithfully
reflected, _e.g._ as to the importance attached to the religious
schools (vii. 15); the disparagement of the Jews of the "dispersion"
(vii. 35); the scorn felt by many Jews for the provincials of Galilee
(i. 46; vii. 41, 52), and the idea of the soul's pre-existence (ix. 2).

II. _The author was a Jew of Palestine._

He shows a minute acquaintance with the geography of the Holy Land. At
the present day elaborate guide-books and histories make it possible
for a very clever writer to disguise the fact that he has not visited
the land in which he lays the scene of his story. But even at the
present day such procedure is dangerous, and likely to be detected. In
ancient times it was almost impossible. Yet no one has ever detected
an error in the geography of this Gospel. The writer mentions Cana of
Galilee (ii. 1, 11), a place not noticed by any earlier writer, and
Bethany beyond Jordan (i. 28); he knows the exact distance from
Jerusalem to the better-known Bethany (xi. 18); the "deep" well of
Jacob at Sychar (iv. 11); the city of Ephraim near the wilderness (xi.
54); Aenon near to Salim, where John baptized (iii. 23). This word
Aenon is an Aramaic word signifying "springs," and even Renan ridicules
the notion of such a name having been invented by Greek-speaking
sectaries at Ephesus. The place was too obscure to be known to
ordinary travellers, and, on the other hand, such a name cannot have
been invented by a Gentile.

The topography of Jerusalem is described with equal nicety. We may
notice viii. 20; ix. 7; x. 23; xviii. 1, 15; xix. 17, 41; and
particularly the pool near the sheep-gate, having five porches (v. 2),
and the place which is called the Pavement, "but in the Hebrew
Gabbatha" (xix. 13). Even a person who had heard of Solomon's porch
and of Golgotha might well have been ignorant of the sheep-gate and the
Pavement, unless he had been in Jerusalem.

Lastly, the writer shows an acquaintance not only with the {90} Jewish
feasts, but also with facts connected with them which imply special
knowledge on his part. He could not have gathered from the Old
Testament the fact that the later Jews were in the habit of keeping a
feast in honour of the dedication of the temple after its profanation
by Antiochus Epiphanes (x. 22), nor would he have learned h