But these stories would be without point were it not for other elements which enter into them and attach them to this and that particular locality.  In this aspect we have first of all to consider that the patriarchs are regarded as the founders of the popular worship at Shechem, Bethel, Beersheba, and Hebron, as we saw above, I.II.1.  “In perfect correspondence...".  A whole series of stories about them are cultus-myths; in these they discover by means of a theophany that a certain spot of earth is holy ground; there they erect an altar, and give it the name of the place.  They dwell exclusively at places which were afterwards regarded as primeval sanctuaries and inaugurate the sacrifices which are offered there.  The significance of these stories is entirely bound up with the locality; they possess an interest only for those who still sacrifice to Jehovah on the same altar as Abraham once did, under the same sacred oak of Moreh or Mamre.  In the same way the patriarchs discover or excavate the caves, or springs, or wells, and plant the trees, which their posterity still count sacred or at least honourable, after the lapse of thousands of years.  In some cases also striking or significant formations of the earth’s surface receive a legendary explanation from the patriarchal age.  Were the Dead Sea not there, Sodom and Gomorrha would not have perished; were there not a small flat tongue of land projecting into the marsh from the south-east, Lot would have directed his flight straight to the mountains of his sons Moab and Ammon, and would not have made the detour by Zoar, which only serves to explain why this corner was not included in the ruin to the area of which it properly belongs.  The pillar of salt into which Lot’s wife was turned was still pointed out in the days of Josephus; perhaps the smoke of the furnace which Abraham saw from the Jewish shore the morning after the catastrophe has some connection with the town of the same name which was situated there. 1

****************************************** 1 Joshua HNB#N xv. 62 is no doubt more correctly HKB#N:  the name, having the article prefixed to it, must be susceptible of a clear meaning. *****************************************

The origin of Mount Gilead is explained from its historical significance:  it is an immense mound which was once heaped up by Laban and Jacob in order to serve as a boundary between Aram and Israel.  In many instances the names of places gave rise to a legend which does not always hit upon the true reason of the name.  The spring of Lahai Roi, for example, is an instance of this.  The discovery of this spring saved Hagar and Ishmael from dying of thirst.  Hagar called the name of Jehovah who spoke with her, El Roi (God of Seeing), for she said, “Have I seen God, and am I kept in life after my seeing?” Wherefore the well is called Beer Lahai Roi (he lives who sees me); it is between Kadesh and Berdan.  According to Judges xv. 18-20, 2Samuel xxiii. 11, a more correct interpretation of Lahai Roi would be " jawbone of the antelope “—­this being the appearance presented by a series of rocky teeth standing close together there. 1