Volume 2

32 Life of Jesus Christ
extended through the middle of the country, and assumed
in this place almost the exact shape of a wolfs claw. The
people were good, hospitable souls, and well-inclined to
Jesus, whose coming they were expecting. Kibzaim was a
Levitical city. Jesus put up near the school with one of
the head men.
There arrived also to salute Jesus, Lazarus, Martha,
Johanna Chusa, the son of Simeon (who was employed at
the Temple), and the old servant of the first named. They
were on their way to the wedding at Cana, and had been
informed by messengers that they would here meet Jesus.
Jesus, from the very first, always treated Lazarus with distinction
and as a very dear friend. And yet I never heard
Him ask: How is such or such a one of thy relatives or acquaintances?
Kibzaim was a solitary place hidden away in a corner
of the mountain. The inhabitants subsisted chiefly by the
cultivation of fruits. The manufacture of tents and carpets
was also carried on, and many were engaged in sandalmaking.
Jesus spent the Sabbath here, and cured several
sick persons by a word of command. Some were dropsical
and others simpletons. They were brought on litters to
Jesus and set down in front of the school. Jesus took a
repast at the house of a distinguished Levite. After the
Sabbath He went again to Sichar, where He arrived late,
and passed the night at an inn appointed for Him.
Lazarus and his party went from Kibzaim straight to
Galilee.
Early next morning, Jesus went from Sichar northeastwardly
toward Thebez. In Sichar, or Sichem, He could
not teach. There were no Jews there. The inhabitants
were made up of Samaritans and some others who had
settled there either after the Babylonian Captivity, or in
consequence of a war. They used to go up to the Temple
at Jerusalem, though they did not join in the Jewish
sacrifices. Near Sichem is that beautiful field which Jacob