|The length of Perea was from Macherus to Pella: the breadth from Philadelphia to Jordan.|
|The mountainous part of it was mount Macvar, and Gedor,| &c. |The plain of it was Heshbon, with all its cities, which are in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-Meon,| &c. |The valley of it is Beth-Haran, and Beth-Nimrah, and Succoth,| &c.
The mention of the mountains of Macvar occurs in that hyperbolical tradition of R. Eleazar Ben Diglai, saying, |The goats in the mountains of Macvar sneezed at the smell of the perfume of the incense in the Temple.| The word Macherus is derived from Macvar.
The whole country, indeed, which was beyond Jordan, was called Perea: but it was so divided, that the southern part of it was particularly called Perea; the other part was called Batanea, Auranitis, Trachonitis. So it is called by Josephus, because, by the donation of Augustus, |Perea and Galilee came into the possession of Herod Antipas: and Batanea, and Trachon, and Auranitis, into that of Philip.|
Bashan passed into Batanea, according to the Syriac idiom, that changeth Shin into Thau: Batanin, in the Samaritan interpreter; Matanin, in the Targumists, by the alternate use of Mem and Beth, which is not unusual with them.
Golan was the chief city of this country, Joshua 20:8. Whence is Gaulonitis, and that |Upper and Nether Gaulonitis.|
In the Jews we read, |Trachon, which is bounded at Bozra.| Not Bozrah of Edom, Isaiah 63:1; nor Bezer of the Reubenites, Joshua 20:8; but another, to wit, Bosorra, or Bosor, in the land of Gilead. Concerning which, see Josephus, and the First Book of Maccabees, 5:26.
While we speak of the difference between Bezer and Bozrah, we cannot pass by a simple example of this thing, propounded by the Babylonian Talmudists. |The prince of Rome| [viz. Samael, the angel of death, as the Gloss tells us] |did formerly commit a threefold error; as it is written, 'Who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?' In this matter he errs, because there is no refuge but in Bezer, and he betook himself to Bozrah,| &c.
|Batanea is bounded by Trachonitis.|
Auranitis. -- Josephus sometimes calls it 'Abranitis.' -- |Caesar (saith he) gave to Herod [the Great] Trachon, and Batanea, and Abranitis|; and that, that he should restrain and subdue the robbers, who most miserably vexed those countries, &c.