FOUNTAIN. A greater uniformity in the translation of Hebrew terms would have con tributed much to the clearness of many passages in the A. V. This remark is especially applicable to the word fountain. For example the term or -i4z, is rendered fountain ' in Ter. vi. 7 ; As a fountain (Sept. Xcitcxos), casteth out her waters.' Its literal meaning, like its cogitate Arab. is ' well ' or 'pit,' front -IND, Arab. jt,,), to dig.' It may have living water or not; but it does not convey the idea of water at all.
rinu is also translated fountain, in Eccl. xii. 6 (Sept. rnyii). In the tWo other places where it is ased, the A. V. has ` spring' (Is. xxxv. 7; xlix. to). It signifies a source' or 'spring' of water, from the root rn)., Arab. to gush or bub L...
ble forth.' -on, from the root -np, to dig a well,' is ren dered fountain in many passag,es, but mostly in a figurative sense ; as fountain of life ' (1'rov. xiii. 14) ; 'fountain of wisdom' (xviii. 4), etc.
i+.3; or I:nyn is the only proper equivalent for our word futinain. Its original sig,nification is eye ;' and so it is used in the vast majority of cases in Scripture; but it is also frequently employed to denote a fountain of living water (Gen. xvi. 7). Its force and meaning are unfortunately sometimes obscured by the rendering in the A. V., well ;' as in Exod. xv. 27; in Elim were twelve wells of water;' that is, not artificial wells, but natuml fountahts, as still seen in Wady Ghurundel (13art lett's Forty Days in the Desert, p. 43)• Some of the fountains of Palestine are of great size and beauty. All the perennial rivers anc' streams in the country have thcir sources in foun tains, and draw comparatively little strength from surface water. Such are the fountains of the Jordan at Dan and Banias ; of the Abana at Eijelt and Zebedany; of the Leontes at Chalcis and Baalbek; of the Orontes at Ain and Lebweh ; of the Adonis at Afka etc. Palestine is a country of mountains and hill's ; and it abounds in foun tains of lesser note. The murmur of their waters
is heard in every dell; and the luxuriant foliage which surrounds tliem is seen on every plain. They have given names to many of its cities and villages ; as En-shemesh, and En-gedi, and En tappah, and Enon. Advantage was taken of , these fountains to supply some of the great cities of Palestine with water. An aqueduct some ten miles in length brought water to Jerusalem from a fountain near Solomon's Pools. A much lomger one conveyed an abundant supply to Damascus, from the great fountain at Eijeh. But perhaps the most remarkable works of this kind are at Tyre, where several copious springs were sur rounded with massive walls, so as to raise the water to a sufficient height. Aqueducts, sup ported on arches, then conveyed it to the city, (See Handbook for S. and P., pp. 142, 555, 390).
Palestine can also boast of several warm foun tains, famous from time immemonal for their medicinal properties. They are confined to the volcanic valley of the Jordan. The most celebrated are those of Tiberias (or Hammath, Josh. xix. 35), Amatha, near the ruins of Gadara, and Callirhoe, on the north-eastern shore of the Dead Sea. They are all strongly impregnated with sulphur. The temperature of that of Tiberias is 44° Fahr. (Handbook/or S. and P., pp. 310, 320, 423; Plin. Hist. Nat., v. is; Joseph. Antiq. XViii. 2. 3 ; Bell. jud. i. 33. 5; Lightfoot, Opp. ii. 224).
Fountains are much more rare on the eastern side of the Jordan, than on the western. There are a few among the mountains of Gilead; but in the great plateaus of Moab on the south, and Bashan on the north, they are almost unknown. This arises in part from the physical structure of the country, and in part from the dryness of the climate. Huge cisterns and tanks were constructed to supply the want of fountains.—J. L. P.