DAY'S JOURNEY (cia'z jtir-nD, a standard often used in the Bible for reckoning distance (Gen. xxxi:23; Ex. iii:18; Num. xi:31; Deut. i:2; 1 Kings xix:4; 2 Kings iii:9; Jonah iii:3, 4; Luke ii:44; Acts But the term usually meant the actual time covered in a journey rather than any definite dis tance. Its length would vary according to the nature of the ground traversed; on a level plain it would be longer than over a country broken by hills or water courses. Its distance would, again, be conditioned by the circumstances or capabili ties of the traveler ; a messenger on a hasty er rand (Gen. xxxi:23) would achieve better results than a caravan, the rate of which would be regu lated by the slowest beast of burden. A sturdy courier, without undue exertion, might put twenty-five to thirty miles behind him in a day ; while a caravan, with its encumbrances, would not be able to overtake more than about twenty miles at the most. The camel usually proceeds at a rate of about two and one-half miles an hour, and, as six to eight hours would be sufficient [or a day, a caravan (probably implied Luke ii :44) might accomplish fifteen to twenty miles; with much impedimenta, as recorded in the travels of the patriarchs (Gen. xxx :36), or of the Israelites
(Num. x:33), the day's journey would necessarily be much less.—A. Grieve, lIastings' Bib. Diet. (See SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY.) DAYS (daz), signify a period of duration; thus, the days of men are their whole life (l's. xc:9).
Figurative. (t) The days of a tree denote a long, happy period (Is. lxv:22). (2) The days of Christ denote the period of his powerfully gathering the nations to himself and governing his people (Jer. xxiii:6). (3) The days of heaven mark eternal duration (Ps. lxxxix :29). (4) The events that happen in a period xxxvii:18; xxxi:15, and cxix :84; Is. vii:17)• (5) Persons of great age ( Job xxxii :7). (6) The ten days of the church's tribulation denote a short time, or the ten years of persecution, from A. D. 302 to 312 (Rev. ii:to).