Pounded idsummer, 1896, AWARDED TO A. M. D. Hughes, B.A. First-Class Honours in the Final Classical School, Oxford* W. R. Batho, M.A. (Oxon.) BSc. (Lond.) First-Class Honours in the Final Mathematical School, Oxford. Examiners. Head Master. Ulrich Middeldorf f ' Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/smallerdictionar00smit_0 THE DEAD SEA A SMALLER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. KOll THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND YOUNG PERSONS. By SIR WILLIAM SMITH, D.C.L., LL.D. SSUtlj |tlaps anb , Illustrations. LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1893. ( iii ) PREFACE. The 4 Larger Dictionary of the Bible ’ is mainly intended for Divines and Scholars, and the 4 Concise Dictionary ’ for Families and Students ; but a smaller and more elementary work is needed for the use of Schools, Sunday School Teachers, and Young Persons in general. I have accordingly drawn up from the former works this 4 Smaller Dictionary ’ myself, and have spared no pains to adapt it to the wants of the persons for whom it is intended. It contains such an account of Biblical anti- quities, biography, geography, and natural history as a young person is likely to require in the study of the Bible. Judgment is needed in knowing what subjects ought to be omitted as well as inserted in such a work as the present ; but it is confidently believed that those for whom the book is chiefly designed will not turn in vain for the information of which they are in quest. It contains every name in the Bible and Apocrypha respecting which anything can be said ; it gives an account of each of the books of the Bible ; it explains the civil and religious institu- tions, the manners and customs of the Jews, as well as of the various nations mentioned or alluded to in Scripture ; in fine, it seeks to render the same service to the study of the Bible as the Smaller Classical Dictionaries have done for the study of the Greek and Boman Classics in schools. In addition to the woodcuts inserted in the text, thirty-one separate views are given of some of the most important places mentioned in the Bible ; and several maps are added to illustrate the articles relating to geography and histcry. VVM. SMITH. London , May 19 th, 1866. 8m. d. b. l ( V ) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. THE DEAD SEA . . Frontispiece. 2. ANTIOCH . To face page 33 3. ASSOS . . „ 51 4. ATHENS RESTORED .............. „ 53 5. BETHANY . . „ 71 6. BETHLEHEM „ 73 7. BOZRAH. „ 79 8. CAESAREA . . „ 81 9. COLOSSAE „ 103 0. CORINTH „ 105 xl. DAMASCUS „ 115 12. WILDERNESS OF ENGEDI ............ „ 159 13. PLAIN OF ESDRAELON „ 165 14. GADARA . „ 183 15. SEA OF GENNESARET OR GALILEE. ........ „ 189 16. HEBRON „ 207 17. JERUSALEM AND MOUNT OF OLIVES ........ . 251 18. JEZREEL ,, 265 19. LAODICEA 293 20. CHAIN OF LEBANON ,, 297 21. LYDDA „ 313 22. NAZARETH „ 371 23. PERGAMOS ,, 425 24. ROME RESTORED „ 47 7 25. SAMARIA „ 487 26. SARDIS AND MOUNT TMOLUS .......... „ 495 27. SHECHEM „ 513 28. THE TABERNACLE RESTORED . ,, 517 29. MOUNT TABOR 551 30. TARSUS „ 555 SI. THYATIRA . „ 567 VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. SEPARATE MAPS. 2. THE HOLY LAND, TO ILLUSTRATE THE NEW TESTA- MENT To face pane 257 33. THE HOLY LAND DIVIDED AMONG THE TWELVE TRIBES „ 401 34. ST. PAUL’S FIRST AND SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNIES . „ 415 35. ST. PAUL’S THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY „ 416 36. SOLOMON’S DOMINIONS, THE KINGDOMS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL, AND THE LANDS OF THE CAPTIVITIES ... „ 533 37. WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES ........ „ 599 MAPS INSERTED IN THE TEXT. 38. PLAN OF JERUSALEM On page 249 39. MAP OF PALESTINE, TO ILLUSTRATE THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY - . „ S89 A SMALLER DICTIONARY Of THE BIBLE, AARON AARON A r ARON, the son of Amram and Jochebed, and the elder brother of Moses and Miriam (Nnm. xxvi. 59, xxxiii. 39). He was a Levite, and is first mentioned in Ex. iv. 14, as one who . could “ speak well.” He was appointed by Jehovah to be the Interpreter and “Mouth” (Ex. iv. 16) of his brother Moses, who was “ slow of speech ; ” and accordingly he was not only the organ of communication with the Israelites and with Pharaoh (Ex.iv. 30, vii. 2), but also the actual instrument of working most of the miracles of the Exodus. (See Ex. vii. 19, &c.) Thus on the way to Mount Sinai, during the battle with Amalek, Aaron is mentioned with Hur, as staying up the weary hands of Moses, when they were lifted up for the victory of Israel (not in prayer, as is sometimes ex- plained, but) to bear the rod of God (see Ex. xvii. 9). Through all this period he is men- tioned as dependent upon his brother, and deriving all his authority from him. The contrast between them is even more strongly marked on the arrival at Sinai. Moses at once acts as the mediator (Gal. iii. 19) for the people, to come near to God for them, and to speak His words to them. Aaron only approaches with Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel, by special command, near enough to see God’s glory, but not so as to enter His immediate presence. Left then, on Moses’ departure, to guide the people, Aaron is tried for a moment on his own re- sponsibility, and he fails from a weak in- ability to withstand the demand of the people for visible “ gods to go before them.” Pos- sibly it seemed to him prudent to make an image of Jehovah, in the well-known form of Egyptian idolatry (Apis or Mnevis), rather than to risk the total alienation of the people to false gods ; and his weakness was rewarded by seeing a “ feast to the Lord” (Ex.xxxii. 5) degraded to the lowest form of heathenish 8m. D. B. sensuality, and knowing, from Moses’ words and deeds, that the covenant with the Lord was utterly broken. He repented of his sin, and Moses gained forgiveness for him (Heut. ix. 20.). — Aaron was now conse- crated by Moses to the new office of the high-priesthood. The order of God for the consecration is found in Ex. xxix., and the record of its execution in Lev. viii. The solemnity of the office, and its entire depend- ence for sanctity on the ordinance of God, were vindicated by the death of his sons, Nadab and Abihu, for “offering strange fire ” on the altar (Lev. x. 1, 2). From this time the history of Aaron is almost entirely that of the priesthood, and its chief feature is the great rebellion of Korah and the Levites against his sacerdotal dignity, united with that of Dathan and Abiram and the Reuben- ites against the temporal authority of Moses [Korah]. — The only occasion on which his In- dividual character is seen is one of presumption. The murmuring of Aaron and Miriam against Moses clearly proceeded from their trust, the one in his priesthood, the other in her pro- phetic inspiration, as equal commissions from God (Num. xii. 2). On all other occasions he is spoken of as acting with Moses in the guidance of the people. Leaning as he seems to have done wholly on him, it is not strange that he should have shared his sin at Meri- bah, and its punishment [Moses] (Num. xx. 10-12). Aaron’s death seems to have followed very speedily. It took place on Mount Hor, after the transference of his robes and office to Eleazar (Num. xx. 28). This mount is still called the “Mountain of Aaron.” [Hor.] — The wife of Aaron was Elisheba (Ex. vi. 23) ; and the two sons who survived him, Eleazar and Ithamar. The high-priesthood descended to the former, and to his descend- ants until the time of Eli, who, although ol the house of Ithamar, received the high- B ABIATHAB AB 2 priesthood, and transmitted it to his children ; with them it continued till the accession of Solomon, who took it from Abiathar, and restored it to Zadok (of the house of Eleazar) [Abiathar]. AB ( father ), an element in the composi- tion of many proper names, of which Abba is a Chaldaic form, the syllable affixed giving* the emphatic force of the definite article. Applied to God by Jesus Christ (Mark xiv. 36), and by St. Paul (Bom. viii. 15 ; Gal. iv. 6). AB. [Months.] ABAD'DON. [Apollyon.] AB'ANA, one of the 44 rivers of Damascus ” (2 K. v. 12). The Barada and th eAxvaj are now the chief streams of Damascus, the former representing the Abana and the latter the Pharpar of the text. The Barada rises in the Antilibanus, at about 23 miles from the city, after flowing through which it runs across the plain, till it loses itself in the lake or marsh Bahret el-Kvbliyeh. AB'ABIM, a mountain or range of high- lands on the east of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, facing Jericho, and forming the eastern wall of the Jordan valley at that part. Its most elevated spot was “ the Mount Nebo, 4 head ’ of 4 tbe* Pisgah,” from which Moses viewed the Promised Land before his death. These mountains are mentioned in Num. xxvii. 12, xxxiii. 47, 48, and Deut. xxxii. 49. AB'BA [Ab]. AB'DON. 1. A judge of Israel (Judg. xii. 13, 15), perhaps the same person as Bedan in 1 Sam. xii. 11. — 2. Son of Micah, a contem- porary of Josiah (2 Chr. xxxiv. 20), called Achbor in 2 K. xxii. 12.— 3. A city in the tribe of Asher, given to the Gershonites (Josh, xxi. 30; 1 Chr. vi. 74). ABED'NEGO (i. e. servant of Nego , per- haps the same as Nebo), the Chaldaean name given to Azariah, one of the three friends of Daniel, miraculously saved from the fiery furnace (Dan. iii.). A'BEL, the name of several places in Palestine, probably signifies a meadow. 1. A'bel-beth-ma'achah, a town of some im- portance (2 Sam. xx. 19), in the extreme N. of Palestine, which fell an early prey to the invading kings of Syria (1 K. xv. 20) and Assyria (2 K. xv. 29). In the parallel pass- age, 2 Chr. xvi. 4, the name is changed to Abee-maim, “ Abel on the waters.” It is also called simply Abel (2 Sam. xx. 14, 18). — 2. A'bel-mizra'im, i. e. the mourning of Egypt, the name given by the Canaanites to the floor of Atad, at which Joseph, his bro- thers, and the Egyptians made their mourn- ing for Jacob (Gen. 1. 11 L It was beyond I (on the east of) Jordan. [Atad.] — 3. A'bet> shit'tim, 44 the meadow of the acacias,” in the 44 plains ” of Moab ; on the low level of the Jordan valley. Here — their last rest- ing-place before crossing the Jordan — Israel 44 pitclied from Bethjesimoth unto A. Shittim ” (Num. xxxiii. 49). The place is most fre- quently mentioned by its shorter name of Shittim. [Shit""™.] — - 4. A'bel-me'holah (“ meadow of the dance ”), in the N. part of the Jordan valley (1 K. iv. 12), to which the routed Bedouin host fled from Gideon (Judg. vii. 22). Here Elisha was found at his plough by Elijah returning up the valley from Horeb (1 K. xix. 16-19). A'BEL (i. e. breath , vapour , transitoriness , probably so called from the shortness of his life), the second son of Adam, murdered by his brother Cain (Gen. iv. 1-16). Jehovah showed respect for Abel’s offering, but not for that of Cain, because, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 4), Abel 44 by faith offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” The expression 44 sin,” i. e. sin- offering 44 lieth at the door” (Gen. iv. 7), seems to imply that the need of oacrifiocB of blood to obtain forgiveness was already re- vealed. Our Lord spoke of Abel as the first martyr (Matt, xxiii. 35) ; so did the early church subsequently. The traditional site of his murder and his grave are pointed out near Damascus. A'BI, mother of king Hezekiah (2 K. xviii. 2), written Abijah in 2 Chr. xxix. 1. ABI'AH, second son of Samuel, whom to- gether with his eldest son Joel he made judge in Beersheba (1 Sam. viii. 2 ; 1 Chr. vi. 28). ABI-AL'BON. [Abiel.] ABI'ATHAB, high-priest and fourth in descent from Eli, who was of the line of Ithamar, the younger son of Aaron. Abia- thar was the only one of all the sons of Ahimelech the high-priest who escaped the slaughter inflicted upon his father’s house by Saul, in revenge for his having inquired of the Lord for David, and given him the shew- bread to eat (1 Sam. xxii.). Abiathar having become high-priest fled to David, and was thus enabled to inquire of the Lord for him (1 Sam. xxiii. 9, xxx. 7 ; 2 Sam. ii. 1, v. 19, &c.). He adhered to David in his wander- ings while pursued by Saul; he was wit> him while he reigned in Hebron (2 Sam. ii. 1-3), the city of the house of Aaron (Josh, xxi. 10-13) ; he carried the ark before him when David brought it up to Jerusalem (1 Chr. xv. 11 ; 1 K. ii. 26) ; he continued faithful to him in Absalom’s rebellion (2 Sam. xv. 24, 29, 35, 36, xvii. 15-17, xix. 11) and 44 was afflicted in all wherein David was ABIB 3 ABIMELECH afflicted.” When, however, Adonijah set himself up for David’s successor on the throne, in opposition to Solomon, Abiathar sided with him, while Zadok was on Solo- mon’s side. For this Abiathar was deprived of the high-priesthood, and we are told that “ Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar” (1 K. ii. 27, 35), thus fulfilling the prophecy of 1 Sam. ii. 30. — Zadok was descended from Eleazar, the elder son of Aaron. He is first mentioned in 1 Chr. xii. 28, and is said to have joined David while he reigned in Hebron. From this time we read, both in the books of Samuel and Chro- nicles, of “ Zadok and Abiathar the priests.” There were, henceforth, two high-priests in the reign of David, and till the deposition of Abiathar by Solomon, when Zadok became the sole high-priest. In Mark ii. 26, we find Abiathar spoken of as the high-priest in whose time David ate the shew-bread : this may perhaps be accounted for, if Abiathar was the person who persuaded his father to allow David to have the bread, and if the loaves were given by him with his own hand to David. A'BIB. [Months.] A f BIEL. 1. Father of Kish, and conse- quently grandfather of Saul (1 Sam. ix. 1), as well as of Abner, Saul’s commander-in- chief (1 Sam. xiv. 51). This is seen by the following table : — Ariel Saul Abner. —2. One of David’s mighty men (1 Chr. xi. S3). In 2 Sam. xxiii. 31 he is called Abi-al- son. ABI-E'ZER, eldest son of Gilead, and de- scendant of Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 2 ; 1 Chr. vii. 18 ; Num. xxvi. 30, where the name is given in the contracted form Jeezer). He was the ancestor of the great judge Gideon. [Gideon.] The name also occurs in Judg. vi. 34, viii. 2 ; and in an adjectival form (“the Abiezrite”) in Judg. vi. 11, 24, viii. 82. ABIGAIL. 1. The beautiful wife of Nabal, a wealthy owner of goats and sheep in Carmel. When David’s messengers were slighted by Nabal, Abigail supplied David and his fol- lowers with provisions, and succeeded in appeasing his anger. Ten days after this Nabal died, and David sent for Abigail and made her his wife (1 Sam. xxv. 14, &e.). By her he had a son, called Chileab in 2 Sam. xii. 3 ; but Daniel in 1 Chr. iii. 1. — 2. A sis.er of David, married to Jether the Ish- maelite, and mother, by him, of Amasa (1 Chr. ii. 17). The statement in 2 Sam. xvii, 25 that the mother of Amasa was an Israelite is doubtless a transcriber’s error. ABI'HU, the second son (Num. iii. 2) of Aaron by Elisheba (Ex. vi. 23). Being, to- gether with his elder brother Nadab, guilty of offering strange fire to the Lord, he was consumed by fire from heaven (Lev. x. 1, 2). ABI'JAH or ABI'JAM. 1. Son and suc- cessor of Rehoboam on the throne of Judah (1 K. xiv. 31 ; 2 Chr. xii. 16). He is called Abijah in Chronicles, Abijam in Kings. He began to reign b.c. 959, and reigned three years. He endeavoured to recover the king- dom of the Ten Tribes, and made war on Jeroboam. He was successful in battle, and took several of the cities of Israel. We are told that he walked in all the sins of Reho- boam (idolatry and its attendant immorali- ties, 1 K. xiv. 23, 24), and that his heart “ was not perfect before God, as the heart of David his father.” He was succeeded by Asa. — 2. Son of Jeroboam I. king of Israel, died in his childhood, just after Jeroboam’s wife had been sent in disguise to seek help for him, in his sickness, from the prophet Abijah (1 K. xiv.) — S. A descendant of Eleazar, who gave his name to the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests were divided by David (1 Chr. xxiv. 10; 2 Chr. viii. 14; Neh. xii. 4, 17). To the course of Abijah or Abia belonged Zacharias the father of John the Baptist (Luke i. 5). ABI'JAM. [Abijah, No. 1.] AB'ILA. [Abilene.] ABlLE'NE (Luke iii. 1), a tetrarchy of which the capital was Abila, a city situated on the eastern slope of Antilibanus, in a dis- trict fertilised by the river Barada. Its name probably arose from the green luxuriance of its situation, “Abel” perhaps denoting “a grassy meadow.” [See p. 2.] The name, thus derived, is quite sufficient to account for the traditions of the death of Abel, which are associated with the spot, and which are localised by the tomb called Nebi Habil , on a height above the ruins of the city. The city was 18 miles from Damascus, and stood in a remarkable gorge called Sick Wady Barada , where the river breaks down through the mountain towards the plain of Damascus. ABIM'ELECH {father of the king), the name of several Philistine kings, was pro- bably a common title of these kings, like that of Pharaoh among the Egyptians, and that of Caesar and Augustus among the Romans. Hence in the title of Ps. xxxiv. the name of Abimelech is given to the king, who is called Achish in 1 Sam, xxi. 11. — 1. A Philistine. B 2 ABIRAM 4 ABNER sing of Gerar (Gen. xx., xxi.), who, exercis- ing the right claimed by Eastern princes, of collecting all the beautiful women of their dominions into their harem (Gen. xii. 15 Esth. ii. 3), sent for and took Sarah. A similar account is given of Abraham’s con- duct on this occasion, to that of his behaviour towards Pharaoh [Abraham]. — 2. Another king of Gerar in the time of Isaac, of whom a similar narrative is recorded in relation to Rebekah (Gen. xxvi. 1, &c.). — 3. Son of the iudge Gideon by his Shechemite concubine (Judg. Viii. 31). After his father’s death he murdered all his brethren, 70 in number, with the exception of Jotham the youngest, who concealed himself ; and he then per- suaded the Shechemites to elect him king. Sbechem now became an independent state, and threw off the yoke of the conquering Israelites. When Jotham heard that Abime- lech was made king, he addressed to the Shechemites his fable of the trees choosing a king (Judg. ix. 1). After Abimelech had reigned three years, the citizens of Shechem rebelled. He was absent at the time, but he returned and quelled the insurrection. Shortly after he stormed and took Thebez, but was struck on the head by a woman with the fragment of a mill-stone (comp. 2 Sam. xi. 21) ; and lest he should be said to have died by a woman, he bade his armour-bearer slay him. Thus God avenged the murder of his brethren, and fulfilled the curse of Jotham. ABI'RAM. 1. A Reubenite, son of Eliab, who with Dathan and On, men of the same tribe, and Korah a Levite, organised a con- spiracy against Moses and Aaron (Num. xvi.). Bor details, see Korah.] — 2. Eldest son of Hiel, the Bethelite, who died when his father aid the foundations of Jericho (1 K. xvi. 34), and thus accomplished the first part of the curse of Joshua (Josh. vi. 26). AB'ISHAG, a beautiful Shunammite, taken into David’s harem to comfort him in his ex- treme old age (1 K. i. 1-4). After David’s death Adonijah induced Bathsheba, the queen-mother, to ask Solomon to give him Abishag in marriage ; but this imprudent petition cost Adonijah his life (1 K. ii. 13, &e.). [Adonijah.] ABISHA'I, the eldest of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and brother to Joab and Asahel (1 Chr. ii. 16). Like his two brothers he was the devoted follower of David. He was his companion in the desperate night expedition to the camp of Saul (1 Sam. xxvi. 6-9). On the outbreak o? Absalom’s rebellion he remained true to the king, and commanded a third part of the army in the decisive battle against Absalom. He rescued David from the hands of a gigantic Philistine, Ishbi-benob (2 Sam. xxi. 17). Hifi personal prowess on this, as on another occa- sion, when he fought single-handed against three hundred, won for him a place as captain of the second three of David’s mighty men (2 Sam. xxiii. 18 ; 1 Chr. xi. 20). ABISHU'A, son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, and father of Bukki, in the genealogy of the high-priests (1 Chr. vi. 4, 5, 50, 51 ; Ezr. vii. 4, 5). ABLUTION. [Purification.] AB'NER, son of Ner, who was the brother of Kish (1 Chr. ix. 36), the father of Saul. Abner, therefore, was Saul’s first cousin [see Table, p. 3], and was made by him com- mander-in-chief of his army (1 Sam. xiv. 51, xvii. 57, xxvi. 3-14). After the death of Saul David was proclaimed king of Judah in Hebron ; and some time subsequently Abner proclaimed Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, as king of Israel, at Mahanaim beyond Jordan. War soon broke out between the two rival kings, and “ a very sore battle ” was fought at Gibeon between the men of Israel under Abner, and the men of Judah under Joab, son of Zeruiah, David’s sister (1 Chr. ii. 16). When the army of Ishbosheth was defeated, Joab’s youngest brother Asahel pursued Abner, and in spite of warning refused to leave him, so that Abner in self-defence was forced to kill him. After this the war con- tinued, success inclining more and more to the side of David, till at last the imprudence of Ishbosheth deprived him of the counsels and generalship of the hero who was in truth the only support of his tottering throne. Abner had married Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, and this, according to the views of Oriental courts, might be so interpreted as to imply a design upon the throne. Rightly or wrongly, Ishbosheth so understood it, and he even ventured to reproach Abner with it. Abner, incensed at his ingratitude, opened negotia- tions with David, by whom he was most favourably received at Hebron. He then undertook to procure his recognition through- out Israel ; but after leaving his presence for the purpose was enticed back by Joab, and treacherously murdered by him and his bro- ther Abishai, at the gate of the city, partly no doubt from fear lest so distinguished a convert to their cause should gain too high a place in David’s favour, but ostensibly in re- taliation for the death of Asahel. This mur- der caused the greatest sorrow and indigna- tion to David ; but as the assassins were too powerful to be punished, he contented him- self with showing every public token of respect tc Abner’s memory, by following the bier and pouring forth a simple dirge ove* the slain |2 Sam. iii. 33, 341. ABOMINATION 5 ABRAHAM ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, men- tioned by our Saviour as a sign of the ap- proaching destruction of Jerusalem, with reference to Dan. ix. 27, xi. 31, xii. 11. The Jews considered the prophecy of Daniel as fulfilled in the profanation of the Temple under Antiochus Epiphanes, when the Israel- ites themselves erected an idolatrous altar upon the sacred altar, and offered sacrifice thereon : this altar is described as “an abo- mination of desolation” (1 Macc. i. 54, vi. 7). The prophecy however referred ultimately to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and consequently the “abomination” must describe some occurrence connected with that event. It appears most probable that the profanities of the Zealots constituted the abomination, which was the sign of impend- ing ruin. The introduction of the Roman standards into the Temple, regarded by many as the “ desolation,” took place after the de- struction of the city. A r BRAHAM or A r BRAM, as his name appears in the earlier portion of the history, was the son of Terah, and founder of the great Hebrew nation. His family, a branch of the descendants of Shem, was settled in Ur of the Chaldees, beyond the Euphrates. Terah had two other sons, Nahor and Haran. Haran died before his father in Ur of the Chaldees, leaving a son Lot; and Torah, taking with him Abram, with Sarai his wife, and his grandson Lot, emigrated to Haran in Mesopotamia, where he died. On the death of his father, Abram, then in the 75 th year of his age, with Sarai and Lot, pursued his course to the land of Canaan, whither he was directed by divine command (Gen. xii. 5), when he received the general promise that he should become the founder of a great nation, and that all the families of the earth should be blessed in him. He passed through the heart of the country by the great highway to Shechem, and pitched his tent beneath the terebinth of Moreh (Gen. xii. 6). Here he received in vision from Jehovah the further revelation that this was the land which his descendants should inherit (xii. 7). The next halting-place of the wanderer was on a mountain between Bethel and Ai (Gen. xii. 8). But the country was suffering from famine, and Abram, finding neither pasture for his cattle nor food for his household, journeyed still southwards to the rich corn-lands of Egypt. There, fearing that the great beauty of Sarai might tempt the powerful monarch of Egypt and expose his own life to peril, he arranged that Sarai should represent herself as his sister, which her actual relationship to him, as probably the daughter of his bro- ther Haran, allowed her to do with some semblance of truth. But her beauty was reported to the king, and she was taken into the royal harem. The deception was discovered, and Pharaoh with some indigna- tion dismissed him from the country (xii. 10-20). Abram left Egypt with great pos- sessions, and, accompanied by Lot, returned by the south of Palestine to his former en- campment between Bethel and Ai. The in- creased wealth of the two kinsmen was the ultimate cause of their separation. The soil was not fertile enough to support them both : their herdsmen quarrelled ; and, to avoid dissensions in a country where they were surrounded by enemies, Abram proposed that each should follow his own fortune. Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan, rich and well-watered as the garden of Jehovah; while Abram quitted the hill-fastness between Bethel and Ai, and pitched his tent among the oak-groves of Mamre, close to Hebron (Gen. xiii.). The chiefs of the tribes who peopled the plain of the Jordan had been subdued in a previous irruption of northern warriors, and for twelve years had been the tributaries of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. Their re- bellion brought down upon Palestine and the neighbouring countries a fresh flood of in- vaders from the north-east, who joined battle with the revolted chieftains in the vale of Siddim. The king of Sodom and his con- federates were defeated, their cities plun- dered, and a host of captives accompanied the victorious army of Chedorlaomer. Among them were Lot and his family. Abram, then confederate with Mamre the Amorite and his brethren, heard the tidings from a fugitive, and hastily arming his trusty slaves, started in pursuit. He followed the track of the conquerors along the Jordan valley, came up with them by Dan, and in a night-attack completely routed their host, and checked for a time the stream of northern immigration. The captives and plunder were all recovered, and Abram was greeted on his return by the king of Sodom, and by Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who mysteriously appears upon the scene to bless the patriarch, and receive from him a tenth of the spoil (Gen. xiv.). After this, the thrice-repeated promise that his descendants should become a mighty nation and possess the land in which he was a stranger, was confirmed with all the solemnity of a religious ceremony (Gen. xv.). Ten years had passed since, in obedience to the divine command, he had left his father’s house, and the fulfil- ment of the promise was apparently more distant than at first. At the suggestion of Sarai, who despaired of having children of her own, he took as his concubine Hagar, ABRAHAM 6 ABSALOM her Egyptian maid, who bare him Ishmael in the 86th year of his age (Gen. xvi.). [Hagar; Ishmael.] But this was not the accomplish- ment of the promise. Thirteen years elapsed, during which Abram still dwelt in Hebron, when the last step in the revelation was made, that the son of Sarai, and not Ishmael, should inherit both the temporal and spiritual blessings. The covenant was renewed, and the rite of circumcision established as its sign. This most important crisis in Abram’s life is marked by the significant change of his name to Abraham, “ father of a multi- tude ; ” while his wife’s from Sarai became Sarah. In his 99th year Abraham was cir- cumcised, in accordance with the divine com- mand, together with Ishmael and all the males of his household, as well the slaves born in his house as those purchased from the foreigner (Gen. xvii.). The promise that Sarah should have a son was repeated in the remarkable scene desircbed in ch. xviii. Three men stood before Abraham as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day. The patriarch, with true Eastern hospitality, wel- comed the strangers, and bade them rest and refresh themselves. The meal ended, they foretold the birth of Isaac and went on their way to Sodom. Abraham accompanied them, and is represented as an interlocutor in a dialogue with Jehovah, in which he pleaded in vain to avert the vengeance threatened to the devoted cities of the plain (xviii. 17-33). — In remarkable contrast with Abraham’s firm faith with regard to the magnificent fortunes of his posterity stands the incident which occurred during his temporary resi- dence among the Philistines in Gerar, whither he had, for some cause, removed after the destruction of Sodom. Sarah’s beauty won the admiration of Abimelech, the king of the country ; the temporizing policy of Abraham produced the same results as before ; and the narrative of ch. xx. is nearly a repetition of that in ch. xii. 11-20. Abimelech’s dignified rebuke taught him that he was not alone in recognising a God of justice. — At length Isaac, the long-looked for child, was born. His birth was welcomed by all the rejoicings which could greet the advent of one whose future was of such rich promise, Sarah’s jealousy, aroused by the mockery of Ishmael at the “ great banquet ” which Abraham made to celebrate the weaning of her son (Gen. xxi. 9), demanded that, with his mother Hagar, he should be driven out (Gen. xxi. 10). The patriarch reluctantly con- sented, consoled by the fresh promise that Ishmael too should become a great nation. But the severest trial of his faith was yet to come. For a long period the history is al- most silent. At length he receives the strange command to take Isaac, his only son, and offer him for a burnt-offering at an appointed place. Such a bidding, in direct opposition to the promptings of nature and the divine mandate against the shedding of human blood, Abraham hesitated not to obey. His faith, hitherto unshaken, supported him in this final trial, “ accounting that God was able to raise up his son, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure ” (Heb. xi. 19). The sacrifice was stayed by the angel of Jehovah, the promise of spiritual blessing for the first time repeated, and Abraham with his son returned to Beersheba, and for a time dwelt there (Gen. xxii.). But we find him after a few years in his original residence at Hebron, for there Sarah died (Gen. xxiii. 2), and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, which Abraham purchased of Ephron the Hittite, for the exorbitant price of 400 shekels of silver. The mosque at Hebron is believed to stand upon the site of the sepulchral cave. — The remaining years of Abraham’s life are marked by but few inci- dents. In his advanced age he commissioned the faithful steward of his house to seek a wife for Isaac from the family of his brother Nahor, binding him by the most solemn oath not to contract an alliance with the daughters of the degraded Canaanites among whom he dwelt (Gen. xxiv.). After Isaac’s marriage with Rebecca, and his removal to Lahai-roi, Abraham took to wife Keturah, by whom he had six children, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbok, and Shuah, who became the ancestors of nomadic tribes inhabiting the countries south and south-east of Palestine. Keturah occupied a position inferior to that of a legitimate wife. Her children, like Ishmael, were dismissed with presents, and settled in the East country during Abraham’s lifetime, and Isaac was left sole heir of his father’s wealth. — Abraham lived to see the gradual accomplishment of the promise in the birth of his grandchildren Jacob and Esau, and witnessed their growth to man- hood (Gen. xxv. 26). At the goodly age of 175 he was “gathered to his people,” and laid beside Sarah in the tomb of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael (Gen. xxv 7-10).— -From the intimate communion which Abraham held with the Almighty, he is dis- tinguished by the high title of “ the 4 friend of God” (2 Chr. xx. 7 ; Is. xli. 8 ; Jam. ii. 23); and El-Kkalil , “the friend,” is the appellation by which he is familiarly known in the traditions of the Arabs, who have given the same name to Hebron, the place of his residence. AB'SALOM ( father of peace), third son of ABSALOM 7 ACELDAMA David by Maacbah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur, a Syrian district adjoining the N.E. frontier of the Holy Land. Absalom had a sister, Tamar, who was violated by her half-brother Amnon, David’s eldest son by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess. The natural avenger of such an outrage would be Tamar’s full brother Absalom. He brooded over the wrong for two years, and then invited all the princes to a sheep-shearing feast at his estate in Baal-hazor, on the borders of Ephraim and Benjamin. Here he ordered his servants to murder Amnon, and then fled for safety to his grandfather’s court at Geshur, where he remained for three years. At the end of that time he was brought back by an artifice of Joab, who sent a woman of Tekoah to entreat the king’s interference in an imaginary case similar to Absalom’s. David, however, would not see Absalom for two more years ; but at length Joab brought about a recon- ciliation. Absalom now began at once to prepare for rebellion, urged to it partly by his own restless wickedness, partly perhaps by the fear lest Bathsheba’s child should sup- plant him in the succession, to which he would feel himself entitled as being now David’s eldest surviving son. Absalom tried to supplant his father by courting popularity, standing in the gate, conversing with every suitor, and lamenting the difficulty which he would find in getting a hearing. He also maintained a splendid retinue (2 Sam. xv. 1), and was admired for his personal beauty and the luxuriant growth of his hair, on grounds similar to those which had made Saul accept- able (1 Sam. x. 23). It is probable too that the great tribe of Judah had taken some offence at David’s government, perhaps from finding themselves completely merged in one united Israel. But whatever the causes may have been, Absalom raised the standard of revolt at Hebron, the old capital of Judah, now supplanted by Jerusalem. The revolt was at first completely successful ; David fled from his capital over the Jordan to Mahanaim in Gilead. Absalom occupied Jerusalem, and by the advice of Ahithophel took possession of David’s harem, in which he had left ten concubines. This was considered to imply a formal assumption of all his father’s royal rights (comp, the conduct of Adonijah, 1 K. ii. 13 ff.), and was also a fulfilment of Nathan’s prophecy (2 Sam. xii. 11.) But David had left friends who watched over his interests. The vigorous counsels of Ahi- thophel were afterwards rejected through the crafty advice of Hushai, who insinuated him- self into Absalom’s confidence to work his ruin, and Ahithophel himself, seeing hi& ambitious hopes frustrated, went home to j Giloh, and committed suicide. At last, after being solemnly anointed king at Jerusalem (xix. 10), Absalom crossed the Jordan to attack his father, who by this time had rallied round him a considerable force, whereas had Ahithophel’ s advice been followed, he would probably have been crushed at once. A decisive battle was fought in Gilead, in the wood of Ephraim. Here Absalom’s forces were totally defeated, and as he himself was escaping, his long hair was entangled in the branches of a terebinth, where he was left hanging while the mule on which he was riding ran away from under him. He was despatched by Joab in spite of the prohibition of David, who, loving him to the last, had desired that his life might be spared. He was buried in a great pit in the forest, and the conquerors threw stones over his grave, an old proof of bitter hostility (Josh. vii. 26). ACT CAD, one of the cities in the land of Shinar (Gen. x. 10). Its position is quite uncertain. AC'CHQ (the Ptolemais of the Maccabees and N. T.), now called Acca, or more usually by Europeans, St. Jean d? Acre , the most im- portant sea-port town on the Syrian coast, about 30 miles S. of Tyre. It was situated on a slightly projecting headland, at the northern extremity of that spacious bay, which is formed by the bold promontory of Carmel on the opposite side. In the division of Canaan among the tribes, Accho fell to the lot of Asher, but was never wrested from its original inhabitants (Judg. i- 31) ; and hence it is reckoned by the classical writers among the cities of Phoenicia. No further mention is made of it in the O, T. history, but it rose to importance after the dismemberment of the Macedonian empire. Along with the rest of Phoenicia it fell to the lot of Egypt, and was named Ptolemais, after one of the Ptolemies, probably Soter. It was afterwards taken by Antiochus the Great, and attached to his kingdom. The only notice of it in the N. T. is in connexion with St. Paul’s passage from Tyre to Caesarea (Acts xxi. 7). ACEL'DAMA, “the field of blood;” the name given by the Jews of Jerusalem to a field near Jerusalem purchased by Judas with the money which he received for the betrayal of Christ, and so called from his violent death therein (Acts i. 19). This is apparently at variance with the account of St. Matthew (xxvii. 8), according to which the “ field of blood ” was purchased by the priests with the 30 pieces of silver, after they had been cast down by Judas, as a burial- : place for strangers, the locality being well | known at the time as “ the field of the Potter.” ACHAIA 8 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES And accordingly ecclesiastical tradition ap- pears, from the earliest times, to have pointed out two distinct spots as referred to in the two accounts. The “ field of blood 55 is now shown on the steep southern face of the valley or ravine of Hinnom. It was believed in the middle ages that the soil of this place had the power of very rapidly consuming bodies buried in it, and in consequence either of this, or of the sanctity of the spot, great quantities of the earth were taken away ; amongst others by the Pisan Crusaders in 1218 for their Campo Santo at Pisa, and by the Empress Helena for that at Pome. ACHA'IA signifies, in the N. T., a Homan province, which included the whole of the Peloponnesus and the greater part of Hellas proper with the adjacent islands. This pro- vince, with that of Macedonia, comprehended £he whole of Greece : hence Achaia and Macedonia are frequently mentioned together in the N. T. to indicate all Greece (Acts xviii. 12, xix. 21 ; Horn. xv. 26, xvi. 5 ; l Cor. xvi. 15 ; 2 Cor. ii. 1, ix. 2, xi. 10 ; l Thess. i. 7, 8). In the time of the em- peror Claudius, it was governed by a Pro- consul, translated in the A. Y. “ deputy ” of Achaia (Acts xviii. 12). A'CHAN ( troubler ) an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, who, when Jericho and all that it contained were accursed and devoted to de- struction, secreted a portion of the spoil in his tent. For this sin Jehovah punished Israel by their defeat in the attack upon Ai. When Achan confessed his guilt, and the booty was discovered, he was stoned to death with his whole family by the people in a valley situated between Ai and Jericho, and their remains, together with his property, were burnt (Josh. vii. 16-22). From this event the valley received the name of Achor (i. e. trouble), [Achos]. A'CHISH, a Philistine king of Gath, who in the title to the 34th Psalm is called Abi- melech. David twice found a refuge with him when he fied from Saul. On the first occasion, being recognised by the servants of Achish as one celebrated for his victories over the Philistines, he was alarmed for his safety, and feigned madness (1 Sam. xxi. 10-13). [David.] From Achish he fied to the cave of Adullam. On a second occasion David fied to Achish with 600 men (1 Sam. xxvii. 2), and remained at Gath a year and four months. ACH'METHA. [Ecbatana.] A'CHOH, YALLEY OF, or “valley of trouble, 5 * the spot at which Achan, the “troubler of Israel, 5 * was stoned (Josh. vii. 24, 26). On the N. boundary of Judah (xv. 7 ; also Is. lxv. 10 ; Hos. ii. 15). ACH'SAH, daughter of Caleb. Her father promised her in marriage to whoever should take Debir. Othniel, her father’s younger brother, took that city, and accordingly re- ceived the hand of Achsah as his reward. Caleb, at his daughter’s request, added to her dowry the upper and lower springs, which she had pleaded for as peculiarly suit- able to her inheritance in a south country (Josh. xv. 15-19; Judg. i. 11-15). ACH'SHAPH, a city within the territory of Asher, named between Beten and Alamme- J lech (Josh. xix. 25) ; originally the seat of a Canaanite king (xi. 1, xii. 20). ACH'ZIB. 1. A city in the lowlands of Judah, named with Keilah and Mareshah (Josh. xv. 44 ; Mic. i. 14). It is probably the same with Chezib and Chozeba, which see. — 2. A town belonging to Asher (Josh, xix. 29), from which the Canaanites were not expelled (Judg. i. 31) ; afterwards Ecdippa. It is now es-Zib , on the sea-shore, 2 h. 20 m. N. of Acre. ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, a second treatise by the author of the third Gospel, traditionally known as Luke. The identity of the writer of both books is strongly shown by their great similarity in style and idiom, and the usage of particular words and com- pound forms. It is, at first sight, somewhat surprising that notices of the author are wanting, generally, in the Epistles of St. Paul, whom he must have accompanied for some years on his travels. But no Epistles were, strictly speaking, written by St. Paul while our writer was in his company, before his Homan imprisonment ; for he does not seem to have joined him at Corinth (Acts xviii.), where the two Epistles to the Thessa- lonians were written, nor to have been with him at Ephesus (ch. xix.), whence, perhaps, the Epistle to the Galatians was written ; nor again to have wintered with him at Corinth (ch. xx. 3) at the time of his writing the Epistle to the Homans, and, perhaps, that to the Galatians. — The book commences with an inscription to one Theophilus, who was probably a man of birth and station. But its design must not be supposed to be limited to the edification of Theophilus, whose name is prefixed only, as was customary then as now, by way of dedication. The readers were evidently intended to be the members of the Christian Church, whether Jews or Gentiles ; for its contents are such as are of the utmost consequence to the whole Church. They are The fulfilment of the promise of the Father by the descent of the Holy Spirit , and the results of that outpouring , by the disper- sion of the Gospel among Jews and Gentiles . Under these leading heads all the personal ADAH 9 ADAM and subordinate details may be ranged. Im- mediately after the Ascension, St. Peter, the first of the Twelve, designated by our Lord as the Pock on whom the Church was to be built, the holder of the keys of the kingdom, becomes the prime actor under God in the founding of the Church. He is the centre of the first great group of sayings and doings. The opening of the door to Jews (ch. ii.) and Gentiles (ch. x.) is his office, and by him, in good time, is accomplished. But none of the existing twelve Apostles were, humanly speaking, fitted to preach the Gospel to the cultivated Gentile world. To be by divine grace the spiritual conqueror of Asia and Europe, God raised up another instrument, from among the highly-educated and zealous Pharisees. The preparation of Saul of Tarsus for the work to be done, the progress, in his hand, of that work, his journeyings, preach- ings, and perils, his stripes and imprison- ments, his testifying in Jerusalem and being brought to testify in Pumie, — these are the subjects of the latter half of the book, of which the great central figure is the Apostle Paul. It seems most probable that the place of writing was Pome, and the time about two years from the date of St. Paul’s arrival there, as related in ch. xxviii. 30. This would give us for the publication the year 63 a.d., according to the most probable assignment of the date of the arrival of St. Paul at Pome. A'DAH ( ornament , beauty), 1. The first of the two wives of Lamech, by whom were born to him Jabal and Jubal (Gen. iv. 19). — .2. A Hittitess, one of the three wives of Esau, mother of Eliphaz (Gen. xxxvi. 2, 10, 12, 16). In Gen. xxvi. 34 she is called Bashemath. AD'AM, the name given in Scripture to the first man. It apparently has reference to the ground from which he was formed, which is called in Hebrew Adamah. The idea of red- ness of colour seems to be inherent in either word. The creation of man was the work of the sixth day. His formation was the ultimate object of the Creator. It was with reference to him that all things were de- signed. He was to be the “ roof and crown ” of the whole fabric of the world. In the first nine chapters of Genesis there appear to be three distinct histories relating more or less to the life of Adam. The first extends from Gen. i. 1 to ii. 3, the second from ii. 4 to iv. 26, the third from v. 1 to the end of ix. The word at the commencement of the two latter narratives, which is rendered there and else- where generations , may also be rendered history. The object of the first of these narratives is to record the creation ; that of the second to give an account of paradise, the original sin of man, and the immediate pos- terity of Adam; the third contains mainly the history of Noah, referring, it would seem, to Adam and his descendants principally in relation to that patriarch. The name Adam was not confined to the father of the human race, but like homo was applicable to woman as well as man , so that we find it said in Gen. v. 2, “male and female created He them, and called their name Adam in the day when they were created.” The man Adam was placed in a garden which the Lord God had planted “ eastward in Eden,” for the purpose of dressing it and keeping it. [Eden.] Adam was permitted to eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden but one, which was called the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The prohibition to taste the fruit of this tree was enforced by the menace of death. There was also another tree which was called “ the tree of life.” Some suppose it to have acted as a kind of medicine, and that by the continual use of it our first parents, not created immortal, were pre- served from death. While Adam was in the garden of Eden, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air were brought to him to be named, and whatsoever he called every living creature that was the name thereof. Thus the power of fitly designating objects of sense was possessed by the first man, a faculty which is generally considered as indicating mature and extensive intellectual resources. Upon the failure of a companion suitable for Adam among the creatures thus brought to him to be named, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and took one of his ribs from him, which He fashioned into a woman and brought her to the man. At this time they are both described as being naked without the consciousness of shame. Such is the Scripture account of Adam prior to the Fall. The first man is a true man, with the powers of a man and the innocence of a child. He is moreover spoken of by St. Paul as being “ the figure of Him that was to come,” the second Adam, Christ Jesus (Bom. v. 14). By the subtlety of the serpent, the woman who was given to be with Adam, was beguiled into a violation of the one command which had been imposed upon them. She took of the fruit of the forbidden tree and gave it to her husband. The propriety of its name was immediately shown in the results which fol- lowed : self-consciousness was the first-fruits of sin ; their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. Though the curse of Adam’s rebellion of necessity fell upon him, yet the very prohibition to eat of the tree o- life after his transgression was probably a ADAM 10 ADONIJAH manifestation of Divine mercy, because the greatest malediction of all would have been to have tbe gift of indestructible life super- added to a state of wretchedness and sin.-— | Adam is stated to have lived 930 years. His sons mentioned in Scripture are Cain, Abel, and Seth: it is implied however that he had others. AD'AM, a city on the Jordan “be- side Zaretan,” in the time of Joshua (Josh. iii. 16). AD f AMAH, one of the “ fenced cities ” of Naphtali, named between Chinnereth and ha-Ramah (Josh. xix. 36). ADAMANT, the translation of the Hebrew word Shamir in Ez. iii. 9 and Zech. vii. 12. In Jer. xv;i. 1 it is trans- lated “ diamond.’’ In these three pas- sages the word is the representative of some stone of excessive hardness, and is used metaphorically. Since the Hebrews appear to have been unacquainted with the true diamond, it is very probable, from the expression in Ez. iii. 9, of “adamant harder than flint,” that by Shamir is intended Emery, a variety of Corundum , a mineral inferior only to the diamond in hardness. Emery is exten- sively used for polishing and cutting gems and other hard substances. AD f AMI, a place on the border of Naphtali (Josh. xix. 33). A'DAR, a place on the south boundary of Judah (Josh. xv. 3). A'DAR. [Months.] AD'ASA, a place in Judaea, about 4 miles from Bethhoron (1 Macc. vii. 40, 45). ADDER. This word is used for any poisonous snake, and is applied in this general sense by the translators of the A. V. They use in a similar way the synonymous term asp . The word adder occurs five times in the text of the A. V. (see below), and three times in the margin as synonymous with cockatrice, viz. Is. xi. 8, xiv. 29, lix. 5. It represents four Hebrew words :• — 1. 9 Acshub is found only in Ps. cxl. 3, “ They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent, adders’ poison is under their lips.” The latter half of this verse is quoted by St. Paul from the LXX in Rom. iii. 13. ’ Acshub may be represented by the Toxicoa of Egypt and North Africa. — 2. Pethen. [Asp.] — 3. Tsepha , or Tsiphoni, occurs five times in the He- brew Bible. In Prov. xxiii. 32 it is trans- lated adder, and in Is. xi. 8, xiv. 29, lix. 5, Jer. viii. 17, it is rendered cockatrice . From Jeremiah we learn that it was of a hostile nature, and from the parallelism of Is. xi. 8 it appears that the Tsiphoni was considered even more dreadful than the Pethen. — 4. Shephiphon occurs only in Gen. xlix. 17, where it is used to characterise the tribe of Dan : “ Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.” Horned Ceraste*. j The habit of lurking in the sand and biting | at the horse’s heels, here alluded to, suits the j character of a well-known species of veno- | mous snake, and helps to identify it with the celebrated horned viper, the asp of Cleopatra {Cerastes), which is found abundantly in the dry sandy deserts of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. The Cerastes is extremely veno- mous ; Bruce compelled a specimen to scratch eighteen pigeons upon the thigh as quickly as possible, and they all died in nearly the same interval of time. AD'MAH, one of the “ cities of the plain,” always coupled with Zeboim (Gen. x. 19, xiv. 2, 8 ; Deut. xxix. 23 ; Hos. xi. 8). ADO'NI-BE'ZEK ( lord of Bezek), king of Bezek, a city of the Canaanites. [Bezek.] This chieftain was vanquished by the tribe of Judah (Judg. i. 3-7), who cut off his thumbs and great toes, and brought him prisoner to Jerusalem, where he died. He confessed that he had inflicted the same cruelty upon 70 petty kings whom he had conquered. ADONI'JAH {my Lord is Jehovah ), the fourth son of David by Haggith, born at Hebron, while his father was king of Judah (2 Sam. iii. 4). After the death of his three brothers, Amnon, Chileab, and Absalom, he became eldest son; and when his father’s strength was visibly declining, put forward his pretensions to the crown.. David promised Bathsheba that her son Solomon shouM in- herit the succession (1 K. i. 30), for there was no absolute claim of primogeniture in these Eastern monarchies. Adonijah’s cause was espoused by Abiathar and Joab, the famous commander of David’s army. [Joab.] His name and influence secured a large number of followers among the captains ol the royal army belonging to the tribe o? Judah (comp. 1 K. i. 9, 25) ; and these, to ADONIRAM II ADORATION gether with all the princes, except Solomon, were entertained by Adonijah at a great sacrificial feast held “ by the stone Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel.” [Enrogel.] Nathan and Bathsheba, now thoroughly alarmed, apprised David of these proceedings, who immediately gave orders that Solomon should be conducted on the royal mule in solemn procession to Gihon, a spring on the W. of Jerusalem (2 Chr. xxxii. 30). [Gihon.] Here he was anointed and proclaimed king by Zadok, and joyfully recognised by the people. This decisive measure struck terror into the opposite party, and Adonijah fled to sanctuary, but was pardoned by Solomon on condition that he should “ show himself a worthy man,” with the threat that “if wickedness were found in him he should die” (i. 52). The death of David quickly fol- lowed on these events ; and Adonijah begged Bathsheba, who as “ king’s mother ” would now have special dignity and influence [Asa], to procure Solomon’s consent to his marriage with Abishag, who had been the wife of David in his old age (1 K. i. 3). This was regarded as equivalent to a fresh attempt on the throne [Absalom ; Abner] ; and therefore Solomon ordered him to be put to death by Benaiah, in accordance with the terms of his previous pardon. ADONI'RAM (1 K. iv. 6 ; by an unusual contraction Aboram, 2 Sam. xx. 24, and I K. xii. 18 ; also Hadoram, 2 Chr. x. 18), chief receiver of the tribute during the reigns of David (2 Sam. xx. 24), Solomon (1 K. iv. 6), and Rehoboam (1 Iv. xii. 18). This last monarch sent him to collect the tribute from the rebellious Israelites, by whom he was stoned to death. ADO'NI-ZE'DEK {lord of justice ), the Amorite king of Jerusalem who organised a league with four other Amorite princes against Joshua. The confederate kings having laid siege to Gibeon, Joshua marched to the relief of his new allies and put the besiegers to night. The five kings took refuge in a cave at Makkedah, whence they were taken and slain, their bodies hung on trees, and then buried in the place of their concealment (Josh. x. 1-27). ADOPTION, an expression metaphorically used by St. Paul in reference to the present and prospective privileges of Christians (Rom. viii. 15, 23 ; Gal. iv. 5 ; Eph. i. 5). He probably alludes to the Roman custom of adoption, by which a person, not having children of his own, might adopt as his son one born of other parents. The effect of it was that the adopted child was entitled to the name and sacra privata of his new father, and ranked as his heir-at-law : while the father on his part was entitled to the pro- perty of the son, and exercised towards him all the rights and privileges of a father. In short the relationship was to all intents and purposes the same as existed between a natural father and son. The selection of a person to be adopted implied a decided pre- ference and love on the part of the adopter : and St. Paul aptly transfers the well-known feelings and customs connected with the act to illustrate the position of the Christianised Jew or Gentile. The Jews themselves were unacquainted with the process of adoption : indeed it would have been inconsistent with the regulations of the Mosaic law affecting the inheritance of property : the instances occasionally adduced as referring to the cus- tom (Gen. xv. 3, xvi. 2, xxx. 5-9) are evi- dently not cases of adoption proper. ADORA r IM, a fortified city built by Reho- boam (2 Chr. xi. 9), in Judah. Adoraim is probably the same place with Adora (1 Macc. xiii. 20), unless that be Dor, on the sea- coast below Carmel. Robinson identifies it with Dura , a “ large village ” on a rising ground west of Hebron. ADORATION. The acts and postures by which the Hebrews expressed adoration bear a great similarity to those still in use among Oriental nations. To rise up and suddenly prostrate the body was the most simple Adoration. Modern Egyptian. (Lane.) method ; but, generally speaking, the pros- tration was conducted in a more formal manner, the person falling upon the knee and then gradually inclining the body until the forehead touched the ground. Such prostration was usual in the worship of Je- hovah (Gen. xvii. 3 ; Ps. xcv. 6). But it was by no means exclusively used for that purpose ; it was the formal mode of receiving visitors (Gen. xviii. 2), of doing obeisance to one of superior station (2 Sam. xiv. 4), and of showing respect to equals (1 K. ii. 19). ADRAMMELECH 12 ADULTERY Occasionally it was repeated three times (1 Sam. xx. 41), and even seven times (Gen. xxxiii. 3). It was accompanied by such acts as a kiss (Ex. xviii. 7), laying hold of the knees or feet of the person to whom the adoration was paid (Matt, xxviii. 9), and kissing the ground on which he stood (Ps. Ixxii. 9 ; Mic. vii. 17). Similar adoration was paid to idols (1 K. xix. 18) : sometimes however prostration was omitted, and the act consisted simply in kissing the hand to the object of reverence (Job xxxi. 27), and in kissing the statue itself (Hos. xili. 2). ADRAM'MELECH. 1. The name of an idol introduced into Samaria by the colonists from Sepharvaim (2 K. xvii. 31). He was worshipped with rites resembling those of Molech, children being burnt in his honour. The first part of the word probably means fire. Adrammelech was probably the male power of the sun, and Anammelech, who is mentioned with Adrammelech as a com- panion-god, the female power of the sun. — 2. Son of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who, together with his brother Sharezer, murdered their father in the temple of Nis- roch at Nineveh, after the failure of the As- syrian attack on Jerusalem. The parricides escaped into Armenia (2 K. xix. 37 ; 2 Chr. xxxii. 21 ; Is. xxxvii. 38). The date of this event was b.c. 680. ADRAMYT'TIUM, a seaport in the pro- vince of Asia [Asia], situated in the district anciently called Aeolis, and also Mysia (see Acts xvi. 7). Adramyttium gave, and still gives, its name to a deep gulf on this coast, opposite to the opening of which is the island of Lesbos. [Mitylene.] It has no Biblical interest, except as illustrating St. Paul’s voyage from Caesarea in a ship belonging to this place (Acts xxvii. 2). Ships of Adra- myttium must have been frequent on this coast, for it was a place of considerable traffic. The modern Adramyti is a poor village, but it is still a place of some trade and shipbuilding. A'DRIA, more properly A'DRIAS. It is important to fix the meaning of this word as used in Acts xxvii. 27. The word seems to have been derived from the town of Adria, near the Po ; and at first it denoted the part of the Gulf of Venice which is in that neigh- bourhood. Afterwards the signification of the name was extended, so as to embrace the whole of that gulf. Subsequently it obtained a much wider extension, and in the apostolic age denoted that natural division of the Mediterranean which had the coasts of Sicily, Italy, Greece, and Africa for its boundaries. This definition is explicitly given by almost a contemporary of St. Paul, the geographer Ptolemy, who also says that Crete is bounded on the west by Adrias. Later writers state that Malta divides the Adriatic sea from the Tyrrhenian sea, and the isthmus of Corinth the Aegean from the Adriatic. It is through ignorance of these facts, or through the want of attending to them, that writers have drawn an argument from this geographical term in favour of the false view which places the apostle’s shipwreck in the Gulf of Venice. [Melita.] A’DRIEL, son of Barzillai, to whom Saul gave his daughter Merab, although he had previously promised her to David (1 Sam. xviii. 19). His five sons were amongst the seven descendants of Saul whom David sur- rendered to the Gibeonites in satisfaction for the endeavours of Saul to extirpate them (2 Sam. xxi. 8). ADUL'LAM, Apocr. Odollam, a city of Judah in the lowland or Shefelah (Josh, xv. 35) ; the seat of a Canaanite king (Josh, xii. 15), and evidently a place of great anti- quity (Gen. xxxviii. 1, 12, 20). Fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 7), it was one of the towns reoccupied by the Jews after their re- turn from Babylon (Neh. xi. 30), and still a city in the times of the Maccabees (2 Macc. xii. 38). — Adullam was probably near Deir Dub- bdn , 5 or 6 miles N. of Eleutheropolis. The limestone cliffs of the whole of that locality are pierced with extensive excavations, some one of which is doubtless the “ cave of Adul- lam,” the refuge of David (1 Sam. xxii. 1 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 13 ; 1 Chr. xi. 15). ADULTERY. The parties to this crime were a married woman and a man who was not her husband. The toleration of poly- gamy, indeed, renders it nearly impossible to make criminal a similar offence committed by a married man with a woman not his wife. The Mosaic penalty was that both the guilty parties should be stoned, and it applied as well to the betrothed as to the married woman, provided she were free (Deut. xxii. 22-24). A bondwoman so offending was to be scourged, and the man was to make a trespass offering (Lev. xix. 20-22). At a later time, and when, owing to Gentile example, the marriage tie became a looser bond of union, public feeling in regard to adultery changed, and the penalty of death was seldom or never inflicted. Thus, in the case of the woman brought under our Lord’s notice (John viii.), it is likely that no one then thought of stoning her in fact, though there remained the written law ready for the purpose of the caviller. It is likely also that a divorce, in which the adulteress lost her dower and rights of maintenance, &c., was the usual remedy, suggested by a wish to ADUMMIM 13 AGE avoid scandal and the excitement of com- miseration for crime. The expression in St. Matthew (i. 19) “to make her a public example,” probably means to bring the case before the local Sanhedrim, whioh was the usual course, but which Joseph did not pro- pose to take, preferring repudiation, because that could be managed privately. The famous trial by the waters of jealousy (Num. v. 11-29), was probably an ancient custom, which Moses found deeply seated, and which is said to be paralleled by a form of ordeal called the “ red water ” in Western Africa. The forms of Hebrew justice all tended to limit the application of this test. When adultery ceased to be capital, as no doubt it did, and divorce became a matter of mere convenience, it would be absurd to suppose that this trial was continued. And when adultery became common, it would have been impious to expect the miracle which it sup- posed. ADUM'MIM, “ the going up to ” or “ OF,” one of the landmarks of the boundary of Benjamin, a rising ground or pass “ over against Gilgal,” and “ on the south side of the ‘torrent * ” (Josh. xv. 7, xviii. 17), which is the position still occupied by the road leading up from Jericho and the Jordan valley to Jerusalem, on the south face of the gorge of the Wady Kelt . The pass is still infested by robbers, as it was in the days of our Lord, of whose parable of the Good Samaritan this is the scene. AE'GYPT. [Egypt.] AE'NON, a place “near to Salim,” at which John baptized (John iii. 23). It was evidently west of the Jordan (comp. iii. 22, with 26, and with i. 28), and abounded in water. This is indicated by the name, which is merely a Greek version of a Chaldee word, signifying “ springs.” Aenon is given in the Onomasticon as 8 miles south of Scythopolis “ near Salem and the Jordan.” AERA. [Chronology.] AETHIO'PIA. [Ethiopia.] AFFINITY. [Marriage.] AG'ABUS, a Christian prophet in the apostolic age, mentioned in Acts xi. 28 and xxi. 10. He predicted (Acts xi. 28) that a famine would take place in the reign of Claudius “throughout all the world.” As Greek and Roman writers used “ the world ” of the Greek and the Roman world, so a Jewish writer would use it naturally of the Jewish world or Palestine. Josephus men- tions a famine which prevailed in Judaea in the reign of Claudius, and swept away many of the inhabitants. This, in all probability, is the famine to which Agabus refers. a'GAG, possibly the title of the kings of Amalek, like Pharaoh of Egypt. One king of this name is mentioned in Num. xxiv. 7, and another in 1 Sam. xv. 8, 9, 20, 32. The latter was the king of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared, together with the best of the spoil, although it was the well-known will of Jehovah that the Amalekites should be extirpated (Ex. xvii. 14 ; Deut. xxv. 17). For this act of disobedience Samuel was com- missioned to declare to Saul his rejection, and he himself sent for Agag and cut him in pieces. [Samuel.] — Haman is called the Agagite in Esth. iii. 1, 10, viii. 3, 5. The Jews consider him a descendant of Agag the Amalekite, and hence account for the hatred with which he pursued their race. AGAGITE. [Agag.] AGATE is mentioned four times in the text of the A. Y. ; viz. in Ex. xxviii. 19, xxxix. 12; Is. liv. 12; Ez. xxvii. 16. In the two former passages, where it is re- presented by the Hebrew word shebo, it is spoken of as forming the second stone in the third row of the high priest’s breastplate ; in each of the two latter places the original word is cadced , by which, no doubt, is in- tended a different stone. [Ruby.] — Our English agate derives its name from the Achates, on the banks of which, according to Theophrastus and Pliny, it was first found ; but as agates are met with in almost every country, this stone was doubtless from the earliest times known to the Orientals. It is a silicious stone of the quartz family. AGE, OLD. In early stages of civiliza- tion, when experience is the only source of practical knowledge, old age has its special value, and consequently its special honours. A further motive was superadded in the case of the Jew, who was taught to consider old age as a reward for piety, and a signal token of God’s favour. For these reasons the aged occupied a prominent place in the social and political system of the Jews. In private life they were looked up to as the depositaries of knowledge (Job xv. 10) : the young were ! ordered to rise up in their presence (Lev. xix. 32) : they allowed them to give their opinion first (Job xxxii. 4) : they were taught to regard grey hairs as a “ crown of glory ” and as the “ beauty of old men ” (Prov. xvi. 31, xx. 29). The attainment of old age was regarded as a special blessing (Job v. 26), not only on account of the pro- longed enjoyment of life to the individual, but also because it indicated peaceful and prosperous times (Zech. viii. 4 ; 1 Macc. xiv. 9 ; Is. lxv. 20). In public affairs age carried weight with it, especially in the infancy o 3 the state : if formed under Moses the mail qualification of those who acted as the re- AGRICULTURE 14 AGRICULTURE presentatives of the people in all matters of difficulty and deliberation. The old men or Elders thus became a class, and the title gradually ceased to convey the notion of age, and was used in an official sense, like Patres, Senatores, and other similar terms. [Elders.] Still it would be but natural that such an office was generally held by men of advanced age (1 K. xii. 8). AGRICULTURE. This, though promi- nent in the Scriptural narrative concerning Adam, Cain, and Noah, was little cared for by the patriarchs. The pastoral life was the means of keeping the sacred race, whilst yet a family, distinct from mixture and locally unattached, especially whilst in Egypt. When, grown into a nation, they conquered their future seats, agriculture supplied a similar check on the foreign intercourse and speedy demoralisation, especially as regards idolatry, which commerce would have caused. Thus agriculture became the basis of the Mosaic commonwealth. Taken in connexion with the inalienable character of inheritances, it gave each man and each family a stake in the soil, and nurtured a hardy patriotism. “The land is Mine” (Lev. xxv. 23) was a dictum which made agriculture likewise the basis of the theocratic relation. Thus every family felt its own life with intense keenness, and had its divine tenure which it was to guard from alienation. The prohibition of culture in the sabbatical year formed, under this aspect, a kind of rent reserved by the Divine Owner. Landmarks were deemed sacred (Deut. xix. 14), and the inalienability of the heritage was ensured by its reversion to the owner in the year of jubilee ; so that only so many years of occupancy could be sold (Lev. xxv. 8-16, 23-35). The prophet Isaiah (v. 8) denounces the contempt of such restrictions by wealthy grandees, who sought to “ add field to field,” erasing families and depopulating districts. Rain. — The abundance of water in Pales- tine, from natural sources, made it a contrast to rainless Egypt (Deut. viii, 7, xi. 8-12). Rain was commonly expected soon after the autumnal equinox. The common scriptural expressions of the “ early ” and the “ latter rain ” (Deut. xi. 14 ; Jer. v. 24 ; Hos. vi. 3; Zech. x. 1; Jam. v. 7) are scarcely confirmed by modern experience, the season of rains being unbroken, though perhaps the fall is more strongly marked at the beginning and the end of it. Crops. — The cereal crops of constant men- tion are wheat and barley, and more rarely rye and millet (?). Of the two former, to- gether with the vine, olive, and fig, the use of irrigation, the plough and the harrow, mention is made in the book of Job (xxxi. 40; xv. 33; xxiv. 6; xxix. 19; xxxix. 10). Two kinds of cummin (the black variety called “fitches,” Is. xxviii. 27), and such podded plants as beans and lentiles, may be named among the staple produce. Ploughing and Sowing .< — The plough was probably very light, one yoke of oxen usually sufficing to draw it. Mountains and steep places were hoed (Is. vii. 25). New ground and fallows, the use of which latter was familiar to the Jews (Jer. iv. 3 ; Hos. x. 12), were cleared of stones and of thorns (Is. v. 2) early in the year, sowing or gathering from “ among thorns ” being a proverb for slovenly husbandry (Job v. 5 ; Prov. xxiv. 30, 31). Sowing also took place without pre- vious ploughing, the seed, as in the parable of the sower, being scattered broadcast, and ploughed in afterwards. The soil was then brushed over with a light harrow, often of thorn bushes. In highly irrigated spots the seed was trampled in by cattle (Is. xxxii. 20), as in Egypt by goats. The more formal rou- tine of heavy western soils must not be made the standard of such a naturally fine tilth as that of Palestine generally. During the rains, if not too heavy, or between their two periods, would be the best time for these operations ; thus 70 days before the passover was the time prescribed for sowing for the “ wave-sheaf,” and probably, therefore, for that of barley generally. The oxen were urged on by a goad like a spear (Judg. iii. 31). The custom of watching ripening crops and threshing floors against theft, or damage, is probably ancient. Thus Boaz slept on the floor (Ruth iii. 4, 7). Barley ripened a week or two before wheat, and as fine harvest weather was certain (Prov. xxvi. 1 ; 1 Sam. xii. 17 ; Am. iv. 7), the crop chiefly varied with the quantity of timely rain. The pro- portion of harvest gathered to seed sown was often vast, a hundredfold is mentioned, but in such a way as to signify that it was a limit rarely attained (Gen. xxvi. 12 ; Matt. xiii. 8). Sowing a field with divers seeds was forbidden (Deut. xxii. 9). Reaping and threshing . — The wheat, &c., were reaped by the sickle, or pulled up by the roots. They were bound in sheaves — a pro- cess prominent in Scripture. The sheaves or heaps were carted (Am. ii. 13) to the floor — a circular spot of hard ground, probably, as now, from 50 to 80 or 100 feet in diameter. Such floors were probably permanent, and became well known spots (Gen. 1. 10, 11 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16, 18). On these the oxen, &c., forbidden to be muzzled (Deut. xxv. 4), trampled out the grain, as we find represented on the Egyptian monuments. At a later time AGRICULTURE 15 AHAB the Jews used a threshing- sledge called morag (Is. xli. 15 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 22 ; 1 Chr.xxi. 23), probably resembling the ndreg , still employed in Egypt — a stage with three rollers ridged with iron, which, aided by the driver’s weight, crushed out, often injuring, the grain, as well as cut or tore the straw, which thus became fit for fodder. Lighter grains were beaten out with a stick (Is. xxviii. 27). The use of animal manure is proved frequent by such recurring expressions as “ dung on the face of the earth, field,” &c. (Ps. Ixxxiii. 10 ; 2 K. ix. 37 ; Jer. viii. 2, &c.). Winnowing . — The “shovel” and fan” (Is. xxx. 24), the precise difference of which is doubtful, indicate the process of winnow- ing — a conspicuous part of ancient husbandry Winnowing with wooden shovels (Wilkinson, Thebes.) (Ps. xxxv. 5 ; Job xxi. 18 ; Is. xvii. 13), and important, owing to the slovenly thresh- ing. Evening was the favourite time (Ruth iii. 2) when there was mostly a breeze. The “ fan ” (Matt. iii. 12) was perhaps a broad shovel which threw the grain up against dbe wind. The last process was the shaking in a sieve to separate dirt and refuse (Am ix. 9). Fields and floors were not commonly en- closed ; vineyards mostly were, with a towei and other buildings (Num. xxii. 24 ; Ps. Ixxx. 13 ; Is. v. 5 ; Matt. xxi. 33 ; coinp. Judg. vi. 11). Banks of mud from ditches were also used. — With regard to occupancy, a tenant might pay a fixed money rent (Cant, viii. 11), or a stipulated share of the fruits (2 Sam. ix. 10 ; Matt. xxi. 34), often a half or a third ; but local custom was the only rule. A passer-by might eat any quantity of corn or grapes, but not reap or carry off fruit (Deut. xxiii. 24, 25 ; Matt. xii. 1). — The rights of the corner to be left, and of glean- ing [Corner; Gleaning], formed the poor man’s claim on the soil for support. For his benefit, too, a sheaf forgotten in carrying to the floor was to be left ; so also with regard to the vineyard and the olive-grove (Lev. xix. 9, 10; Deut. xxiv, 19). Besides there seems a probability that every third year a second tithe, besides the priests’, was paid for the poor (Deut. xiv. 28, xxvi. 12 ; Am. iv. 4 ; Tob. i. 7). AGRIP'PA. [Herod.] A'GUR, the son of Jakeh, an unknown Hebrew sage, who uttered or collected the sayings of wisdom recorded in Prov. xxx. A'HAB. 1. Son of Omri, seventh king of Israel, reigned b.c. 919-896. He married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal king of Tyre ; and in obedience to her wishes, caused a temple to be built to Baal in Samaria itself, and an oracular grove to be consecrated to Astarte. (See 1 K. xviii. 19.) How the worship of God was restored, and the idola- trous priests slain, in consequence of “ a sore famine in Samaria,” is related under Elijah. One of Ahab’s chief tastes was for splendid architecture, which he showed by building an ivory house and several cities. Desiring to add to his pleasure-grounds at Jezreel the vineyard of his neighbour Naboth, he pro- posed to buy it or give land in exchange for it ; and when this was refused by Naboth, a false accusation of blasphemy was brought against him, and not only was he himself stoned to death, but his sons also, as we learn from 2 K. ix. 26. Thereupon Elijah declared that the entire extirpation of Ahab’s house was the penalty appointed for his long course of wickedness, now crowned by this atrocious crime. The execution, however, of the sen- tence was delayed in consequence of Ahab’s deep repentance (1 IC. xxi.). — Ahab under- took three campaigns against Benhadad II. king of Damascus, two defensive and one offensive. In the first, Benhadad laid siege to Samaria, but was repulsed with great lose AHASUERUS 16 AHAYA (1 K. xx. 1-21). Next year Benhadad again invaded Israel by way of Aphek, on the E. of Jordan. Yet Ahab’s victory was so complete that Benhadad himself fell into his hands ; bat was released (contrary to the will of God as announced by a prophet) on condition of restoring all the cities of Israel which he held, and making “ streets ” for Ahab in Damascus ; that is, admitting into his capital permanent Hebrew commissioners, in an independent position, with special dwellings for themselves and their retinues, to watch over the com- mercial and political interests of Ahab and his subjects (1 K. xx. 22-34). After this great success Ahab enjoyed peace for three years, when he attacked Ramoth in Gilead on the east of Jordan, in conjunction with Jeliosha- phat king of Judah, which town he claimed as belonging to Israel. But God’s blessing did not rest on the expedition, and Ahab was told by the prophet Micaiah that it would fail. Ahab took the precaution of disguising him- self, so as not to offer a conspicuous mark to the archers of Benhadad ; but he was slain by a “certain man who drew a bow at a ven- ture.” When he was brought to be buried in Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood as a servant was washing his chariot .; a partial fulfilment of Elijah’s prediction (1 K. xxi. 19), which was more literally accomplished in the case of his son (2 K. ix. 26). 2. A lying prophet, who deceived the captive Israelites in Babylon, and was burnt to death by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. xxix. 21). AHASUE'RUS, the name of one Median and two Persian kings mentioned in the O. T. The following is a list of the Medo-Persian kings from Cyaxares to Artaxerxes Longi- manus, according to their ordinary classical names. The Scriptural names conjectured to correspond to them are added in italics. — 1. Cyaxares, king of Media, son of Phraortes, grandson of Deioces and conqueror of Nine- veh, began to reign b.c. 634 : Ahasuerus. 2. Astyages his son, last king of Media, b.c. 594 : Darius the Mede . 3. Cyrus, son of his daughter Mandane and Cambyses, a Persian noble, first king of Persia, 559 : Cyrus . 4. Cambyses his son, 529 : Ahasuerus . 5. A Magian usurper, who personated Smerdis, the younger son of Cyrus, 521 : Artaxerxes. 6. Darius Ilystaspis, raised to the throne on the overthrow of the Magi, 521 : Darius. 7. Xerxes his son, 485 : Ahasuerus. 8. Arta- xerxes Longimanus (Macrocheir), his son, 465-495 : Artaxerxes. — 1. In Dan. ix. 1, Ahasuerus is said to be the father of Darius the Mede. Now it is almost certain that Cy- axares is a form of Ahasuerus, grecised into Axares with the prefix Cy or Kai. The son this Cyaxares was Astyages, and it is no improbable conjecture that Darius the Mede was Astyages, set over Babylon as viceroy by his grandson Cyrus, and allowed to live there in royal state. [Darius.] This first Ahasu- erus, then, is Cyaxares, the conqueror of Nineveh. And, in accordance with this view, we read in Tobit xiv. 15 that Nineveh was taken by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus, i. e. Cyaxares. — 2. In Ezr. iv. 6 the enemies of the Jews, after the death of Cyrus, desirous to frustrate the building of Jerusalem, send accusations against them to Ahasuerus king of Persia. This must be Cambyses. He was plainly called after his grandfather, who was not of royal race, and therefore it is very likely that he also assumed the kingly name or title of Cyaxares, which had been borne by his most illustrious ancestor. — 3. The third is the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. Hav- ing divorced his queen Vashti for refusing tc appear in public at a banquet, he married, four years afterwards, the Jewess Esther, cousin and ward of Mordecai. Five years after this, Haman, one of his counsellors, having been slighted by Mordecai, prevailed upon the king to order the destruction of all the Jews in the empire. But before the day appointed for the massacre, Esther and Mor* decai overthrew the influence which Haman had exercised, and so completely changed his feelings in the matter, that they induced him to put Haman to death, and to give the Jews the right of self-defence. This they used so vigorously, that they killed several thousands of their opponents. This Ahasuerus is pro- bably Xerxes (the names being identical) : and this conclusion is fortified by the resem- blance of character, and by certain chrono- logical indications. As Xerxes scourged the sea, and put to death the engineers of his bridge because their work was injured by a storm, so Ahasuerus repudiated his queen Vashti because she would not violate the de- corum of her sex, and ordered the massacre of the whole Jewish people to gratify the malice of Haman. In the third year of the reign of Xerxes was held an assembly to ar- range the Grecian war. In the third year of Ahasuerus was held a great feast and as^ sembly in Shushan the palace (Esth. i. 3). In the seventh year of his reign Xerxes re- turned defeated from Greece, and consoled himself by the pleasures of the haram. In the seventh year of his reign “ fair young virgins were sought ” for Ahasuerus, and he replaced Vashti by marrying Esther. The tribute he “ laid upon the land and upon the isles of the sea” (Esth. x. 1) may well have been the result of the expenditure and ruin of the Grecian expedition. AH'AVA, a place (Ezr. viii. 15), or a rivei AHAZ 17 AHIMAAZ (viii. 21), on the hanks of which Ezra col- lected the second expedition which returned with him from Babylon to Jerusalem. Per- haps it is the modern Sit , on the Euphrates, due east of Damascus. A’HAZ, eleventh king of Judah, son of Jo- tham, reigned 741-726. At the time of his accession, Rezin king of Damascus and Pekah king of Israel had recently formed a league against Judah, and they proceeded to 1-ay siege to Jerusalem. Upon this Isaiah hastened to give advice and encouragement to Ahaz, and it was probably owing to the spirit of energy and religious devotion which he poured into his counsels, that the allies failed in then- attack on Jerusalem (Is. vii. viii. ix.). But the allies inflicted a most severe injury on Judah by the capture of Elath, a flourishing port on the Red Sea ; while the Philistines invaded the W. and S. (2 K. xvi. ; 2 Chr. xxviii.). The weakminded and helpless Ahaz sought deliverance from these numerous troubles by appealing to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, who freed him from his most formidable enemies by invading Syria, taking Damascus, killing Rezin,' and depriving Israel of its Northern and trans-Jordanic districts. But Ahaz had to purchase this help at a costly price : he became tributary to Tiglath-pileser, sent him all the treasures of the Temple and his own palace, and even appeared before him in Damascus as a vassal. He also ventured to seek for safety in heathen ceremonies; making his son pass through the fire to Mo- lech, consulting wizards and necromancers (Is. viii. 19), sacrificing to the Syrian gods, introducing a foreign altar from Damascus, and probably the worship of the heavenly bodies from Assyria and Babylon ; and “ The altars on the top (or roof) of the upper cham- ber of Ahaz ” (2 K. xxiii. 12) were connected with the adoration of the stars. AHAZI'AH. 1. Son of Ahab and Jezebel, eighth king of Israel, reigned b.c. 896-895. After the battle of Ramoth in Gilead, in which Ahab perished [Ahab], the vassal king of Moab refused his yearly tribute of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams with their wool (comp. Is. xvi. 1). Before Ahaziah could take measures for enforcing his claim, he was seriously injured by a fall through a lattice in his palace at Samaria. In his health he nad worshipped his mother’s gods, and now he sent to inquire of the oracle of Baalzebub in the Philistine city of Ekron whether he should recover his health. But Elijah, who now for the last time exercised the prophetic office, rebuked him for this impiety, and an- nounced to him his approaching death. The only other recorded transaction of his reign, bis endeavour to join the king of Judah in Sm. D. B trading to Ophir, is related under Jehosha- phat (1 K. xxii. 49-53 ; 2 K. i. ; 2 Chr. xx. 35-37). — 2. Fifth king of Judah, son of Je- horam and Athaliah (daughter of Ahab), and therefore nephew of the preceding Ahaziah, reigned one year, b.c. 884. He is called Azariah, 2 Chr. xxii. 6, probably by a copy- ist’s error, and Jehoahaz, 2 Chr. xxi. 17. He was 22 years old at his accession (2 K. viii. 26 ; his age, 42 in 2 Chr. xxii. 2, is also a copyist’s error). Ahaziah was an idolater, and he allied himself with his uncle Jehoram king of Israel, brother and successor of the preceding Ahaziah, against Hazael, the new king of Syria. The two kings were, however, defeated at Ramoth, where Jehoram was severely wounded. The revolution carried out in Israel by Jehu under the guidance of Elisha broke out while Ahaziah was visiting his uncle at Jezreel. As Jehu approached the town, Jehoram and Ahaziah went out to meet him ; the former was shot through the heart by Jehu, and Ahaziah was pursued and mortally wounded. He died when he reached Megiddo. AHI'AH or AHI'JAH. 1. Son of Ahitub, grandson of Phinehas, and great-grandson of Eli, succeeded his father as high-priest in the reign of Saul (1 Sam. xiv. 3, 18). Ahiah is probably the same person as Ahimelech the son of Ahitub ; though he may have been his brother. 2. A prophet of Shiloh (IK. xiv. 2), hence called the Shilonite (xi. 29), in the days of Solomon and of Jeroboam king of Israel, of whom we have two remarkable prophecies extant : the one in 1 K. xi. 31-39, addressed to Jeroboam, announcing the rend- ing of the ten tribes from Solomon ; the other in 1 K. xiv. 6-16, delivered in the prophet’s extreme old age to Jeroboam’s wife, in which he foretold the death of Abijah, the king’s son, who was sick, and the destruction of Jeroboam’s house on account of the image* which he had set up. Jeroboam’s speech concerning Ahijah (1 K. xiv. 2, 3) shows the estimation in which he held his truth and prophetic powers (comp. 2 Chr. ix. 29). AHI’JAH. [Ahiah.] AHI'KAM, son of Shaphan the scribe, an influential officer at the court of Josiah, was one of the delegates sent by Hilkiah to consult Huldah (2 K. xxii. 12-14). In the reign of Jehoiakim he successfully used his influence to protect the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. xxvi. 24). He was the father of Geda- liah. [Gedaliah.] AHIM’AAZ, son of Zadok, the high -priest in David’s reign, and celebrated for his swift- ness of foot. During Absalom’s rebellion he carried to David the important intelligence that Ahithophel had counselled an immediate C AHIMAN 18 AIN attack upon David and his followers, and that, consequently, the king must cross the Jordan without the least delay (2 Sam. xv. 24-37, xvii. 15-22). Shortly afterwards he was the first to bring 1 to the king the good news of Absalom’s defeat, suppressing his knowledge of the death of his son, which was announced soon afterwards by another (2 Sam. xviii. 19-33). AHI'MAN, one of the three giant Anakim who inhabited Mount Hebron (Num. xiii. 22, 33), seen by Caleb and the spies. The whole race were cut off by Joshua (Josh. xi. 21), and the three brothers were slain by the tribe of Judah (Judg. i. 10). AHIM’ELECH, son of Ahitub (1 Sam. xxii. 11, 12), and high-priest at Nob in the days of Saul. He gave David the shew- bread to eat, and the sword of Goliath ; and for so doing was, upon the accusation of Doeg the Edomite, put to death with his whole house by Saul’s order. Abiathar alone escaped. [Abiathar.] AHIN'OAM. 1. The daughter of Ahimaaz and wife of Saul (1 Sam. xiv. 50).- — 2. A native of Jezreel who was married to David during his wandering life (1 Sam. xxv. 43). She lived with him and his other wife Abi- gail at the court of Achish (xxvii. 3), was taken prisoner with her by the Amalekites when they plundered Ziklag (xxx. 5), but was rescued by David (18). She is again mentioned as living with him when he was king of Judah in Hebron {2 Sam. ii. 2), and was the mother of his eldest son Amnon (iii. 2). AHITH'OPHEL ( brother of foolishness), a native of Giloh, was a privy councillor of David, whose wisdom was highly esteemed, though his name had an exactly opposite signification (2 Sam. xvi. 23). He was the grandfather of Bathsheba (comp. 2 Sam. xi. 3 with xxiii. 34). When Ahithophel joined the conspiracy of Absalom, David prayed Jehovah to turn his counsel to foolishness (xv. 31), alluding possibly to the significa- tion of his name. David’s grief at the trea- chery of his confidential friend found ex- pression in the Messianic prophecies (Ps. xli. 9, Iv. 12-14). — In order to show to the people that the breach between Absalom and his father was irreparable, Ahithophel per- suaded him to take possession of the royal harem (2 Sam. xvi. 21). David, to counter- act his counsel, sent Hushai to Absalom. Ahithophel had recommended an immediate pursuit of David ; but Hushai advised delay, his object being to send intelligence to David, and to give him time to collect his forces for a decisive engagement. When Ahithophel saw that Hushai’s advice prevailed, be despaired of success, and returning to his own home “ put his household in order and hanged him- self” (xvii. 1-23). APII'TUB. 1. Father of Ahimelech, or Ahijah, the son of Phinehas, and grandson of Eli, and therefore of the family of Ithamar (1 Sam. xiv. 3, xxii. 9, 11). — 2. Son of Amariah, and father of Zadok the high-priest (1 Chr. vi. 7, 8 ; 2 Sam. viii. 17), of the house of Eleazar. AH'OLAH, and AHO'LIBAH, two sym- bolical names, are described as harlots, the former representing Samaria, and the latter Judah (Ez. xxiii.). AHOLIBA'MAH, one (probably the second) of the three wives of Esau. She was the daughter of Anah, a descendant of Seir the Horite (Gen. xxxvi. 2, 25). In the earlier narrative (Gen. xxvi. 34) Aholibamah is called Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite. It appears that her proper personal name was i Judith, and that Aholibamah was the name which she received as the wife of Esau and foundress of three tribes of his descendants. A f I ( heap of ruins), a city lying east of Bethel and “ beside Bethaven ” (Josh. vii. 2, viii. 9). It was the second city taken by Israel after the passage of the Jordan, and was “utterly destroyed” (Josh. vii. 3-5, viii., ix. 3, x. 1, 2, xii. 9). AI'JALON, “ a place of deer or gazelles.” I. A city of the Kohathites (Josh. xxi. 24 ; 1 Chr. vi. 69), originally allotted to the tribe of Dan (Josh. xix. 42 ; A. V. “ Ajalon ”), which tribe, however, was unable to dis- possess the Amorites of the place (Judg. i. 35). Aijalon was one of the towns fortified by Eehoboam (2 Chr. xi. 10), and the last we hear of it is as being in the hands of the Philistines (2 Chr. xxviii. 18 ; A. V. “Aja- lon ”). Being on the very frontier of the two kingdoms, we can understand how Aijalon should be spoken of sometimes (1 Chr. vi. 69, comp, with 66) as in Ephraim, and sometimes (2 Chr. xi. 10 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 31) as in Judah and Benjamin. It is represented by the modern Tcilo, a little to the N. of the Jaffa road, about 14 miles out of Jerusalem. — 2. A place in Zebulun, mentioned as the burial-place of Elon, one of the Judges (Judg. xii. 12). AI'JELETH SHA'HAR (i.e. the hind of the morning dawn), found once only in the Bible, in the title of Ps. xxii. It probably describes to the musician the melody to which the psalm was to be played,— -“ a Psalm of David, ad- dressed to the music-master who presides over the band called the Morning Hind.” AIN. 1. One of the landmarks on the eastern boundary of Palestine (Num. xxxiv. 11). is Diobably 9 Ain el-’Azy, the main AJALON 19 ALEXANDER III. source of the Orontes. — 2. One of the south- ernmost cities of Judah (Josh. xv. 32), after- wards allotted to Simeon (Josh. xix. 7 ; 1 Chr. iv. 32) and given to the priests (Josh. xxi. 16). A'JALON. [Aijalon.] AKRAB'BIM, “ the ascent of,” and “the going up to ; ” also “ Maaleh-acrabbim ” ( = “the scorpion-pass”). A pass between the south end of the Dead Sea and Zin, forming one of the landmarks on the south boundary at once of Judah (Josh. xv. 3) and of the Holy Land (Num. xxxiv. 4). Also the boundary of the Amorites (Judg. i. 36). As to the name, scorpions abound in the whole of this district. ALABASTER occurs in the N. T. only in the notice of the alabaster-box of ointment which a woman brought to our Lord when He sat at meat in the house of Simon the leper at Bethany, the contents of which she poured on the head of the Saviour (Matt, xxvi. 7 ; Mark xiv. 3 ; Luke vii. 37). The ancients considered alabaster to be the best succeeded his father b.c. 336. Two years afterwards he crossed the Hellespont (b.c. 334) to carry out the plans of his father, and execute the mission of Greece to the civilised world. The battle of the Granicus was fol- lowed by the subjugation of western Asia ; and in the following year the fate of the East was decided at Issus (b.c. 333). Tyre and Gaza were the only cities in western Syria which offered Alexander any resistance, and these were reduced and treated with unusual severity (b.c. 332). Egypt next submitted to him; and in b.c. 331 he founded Alex- andria, which remains to the present day the most characteristic monument of his life and work. In the same year he finally de- feated Darius at Gaugamela ; and in b.c. 330 his unhappy rival was murdered by Bessus, satrap of Bactria. The next two years were occupied by Alexander in the consolidation of his Persian conquests and the reduction of Bactria. In b.c. 327 he crossed the Indus, penetrated to the Hydaspes, and was there material in which to preserve their oint- j forced by the discontent of his army to turn ments. In Mark xiv. 3, the woman who j westward. He reached Susa, b.c. 325, and brought “the alabaster-box of ointment of ! proceeded to Babylon, b.c. 324, which he spikenard ”• is said to break the box before chose as the capital of his empire. In the pouring out the ointment, which probably j next year (b.c. 323) he died there in the only means breaking the seal which kept the j midst of his gigantic plans ; and those who essence of the perfume from evaporating. inherited his conquests left his designs un- achieved and unattempted (cf. Dan. vii. 6, viii. 5, xi. 3). — The famous tradition of the visit of Alexander to Jerusalem during his Phoenician campaign, which is related by Josephus, has been a fruit- ful source of controversy. The Jews, it is said, had provoked his anger by refusing to transfer their allegiance to him when summoned to do so during the siege of Tyre, and after the reduction of Tyre and Gaza he turned towards Jerusalem. Jaddua (Jaddus) the high- priest (Neh. xii. 11, 22) went out to meet him, clad in his robes of hyacinth and gold, and accompanied by a train of priests and citizens arrayed in white. Alexander was so moved by the solemn spectacle that he did reverence to the holy name inscribed upon the tiara of the high-priest; and when Parmenio expressed surprise, he replied that “ he Alabaster Vessels^— From the British Museum. The inscription had see ? the god whom Jaddua repre- on the centre -vessel denotes the quantity it holds. AL'AMOTH (Ps. xlvi. title; 1 Chr. xv. 20), a word of exceedingly doubtful meaning, some interpreting it to mean a musical in- strument, and others a melody. ALEXAN'DER III., king of Macedon, sur- named the great, the son of Philip and Olympias, was born at Pella, b.c. 356, and sented in a dream at Dium, encou- raging Him to cross over into Asia, and promising him success.” After this it is said that he visited Jerusalem, offered sacrifice there, heard the prophecies of Da- niel which foretold his victory, and con- ferred important privileges upon the Jews. — In the prophetic visions of Daniel the em- blem bv which Alexander is typified (a he- C 2 ALEXANDER BALAS 20 ALGUM TREES goat) suggests the notions of strength and speed ; and the universal extent (Dan. viii. 5, . . . from the west on the face of the whole earth) and marvellous rapidity of his con- quests (Dan. L c ., he touched not the ground ) are brought forward as the characteristics of his power, which was directed by the strongest personal impetuosity (Dan. viii. 6, in the fury of his power ) . He ruled with great dominion, and did according to his will (xi. 3), “ and. there was none that could deliver of his hand” (viii. 7). out Coin of Lysim&chus, King of Thrace, representing head ol Alexander the Great as a young Jupiter Amnion. ALEXAN'DER BA'LAS was, according to some, a natural son of Antiochus TV. Epi- phanes, but he was more generally regarded a3 an impostor who falsely assumed the con- nexion. He claimed the throne of Syria, in 152 b.c., in opposition to Demetrius Soter, and gained the warm support of Jonathan, the leader of the Jews (1 Mace. ix. 73). In 150 b.c. he completely routed the forces of Deme- trius, who himself fell in the retreat (1 Macc. x. 48-50). After this Alexander married Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy YI. Philo- metor. But his triumph was of short dura- tion. After obtaining power he gave himself up to a life of indulgence ; and when Deme- trius Nicator, the son of Demetrius Soter, landed in Syria, in 147 b.c., the new pre- tender found powerful support (1 Macc. x. 67 fif.). In the following year Ptolemy de- serted Alexander, who was defeated (1 Macc. xi. 15), and fled to Abae in Arabia, where he was murdered, b.c. 146 (1 Macc. xi. 17). The narrative in 1 Macc. shows clearly the partiality which the Jews entertained for Alexander; and the same feeling was ex- hibited afterwards in the zeal with which they supported his son Antiochus. [Antio- chus YI.] ALEXAN'DER. 1. Son of Simon the Cyrenian, who was compelled to bear the sross for our Lord (Mark xv. 21). — 2. One of the kindred of Annas the high-priest (Acts iv. 6). — 3. A Jew at Ephesus, whom his countrymen put forward during the tumult raised by Demetrius the silversmith (Acte xix. 33), to plead their cause with the mob. — 4. An Ephesian Christian, reprobated by St. Paul in 1 Tim. i. 20, as having, together with one Hymenaeus, put from him faith and a good conscience, and so made shipwreck concerning the faith. This may be the same with — 5. Alexander the coppersmith, men- tioned by the same apostle (2 Tim. iv. 14) as I having done him many mischiefs. | ALEXAN'DRIA (3 Macc. iii. 1 ; Acts xviii. 1 24, vi. 9), the Hellenic, Roman, and Chris- tian capital of Egypt, was founded by Alexander the Great, b.c. 332, who himself traced the ground-plan of the city. The work thus begun was con- tinued after the death of Alexander by the Ptolemies. Under the despotism of the later Ptolemies the trade of Alex- andria declined, but its population and wealth were enormous. Its import- ance as one of the chief corn-ports of Rome secured for it the general favour of the first emperors. Its population was mixed from the first. According to Josephus, Alexander himself assigned to the Jews a place in his new city. Their numbers and importance were rapidly increased under the Ptolemies by fresh immi- grations and untiring industry. The Septua- gint translation was made for their benefit, under the first or second Ptolemy. Philo esti- mates the number of the Alexandrine Jews in his time at little less than 1,000,000 ; and adds, that two of the five districts of Alexandria were called “ Jewish districts,” and that many Jews lived scattered in the remaining three. Julius Caesar and Augustus confirmed to them the privileges which they had enjoyed before, and they retained them, with various interrup- tions, during the tumults and persecutions of later reigns. According to the common legend, St. Mark first “ preached the Gospel in Egypt, and founded the first Church in Alexandria.” At the beginning of the 2nd century the number of Christians at Alex- andria must have been very large, and the great leaders of Gnosticism who arose there (Basilides, Yalentinus) exhibit an exaggera- tion of the tendency of the Church. ALGUM or ALMUG TREES ; the former occurring in 2 Chr. ii. 8, ix. 10, 11, the latter in 1 K. x. 11, 12. There can be no question that these words are identical. From 1 K. x. 11, 12, 2 Chr. ix. 10, 11, we learn that the almug was brought in great plenty from Ophir for Solomon’s Temple and house, and for the construction of musical instruments. It is probable that this tree is the red sandal-wood, which is a native of India and Ceylon. The wood is very heavy, hard, ALLEGORY 21 ALLON and fine grained, and of a beautiful garnet colour. ALLEGORY, a figure of speech, which has been defined by Bishop Marsh, in accordance with its etymology, as “ a representation of one thing which is intended to excite the re- presentation of another thing ; ” the first re- presentation being consistent with itself, but requiring, or capable of admitting, a moral or spiritual interpretation over and above its literal sense. In every allegory there is a twofold sense ; the immediate or historic, which is understood from the words, and the ultimate, which is concerned with the things signified by the words. The allegorical in- terpretation is not of the words, but of the things signified by them ; and not only may, but actually does, coexist with the literal in- terpretation in every allegory, whether the narrative in which it is conveyed be of things possible or real. An illustration of this may be seen in Gal. iv. 24, where the apostle gives an allegorical interpretation to the historical narrative of Hagar and Sarah ; not treating that narrative as an allegory in itself, as our A. V. would lead us to suppose, but drawing from it a deeper sense than is conveyed by the immediate representation. ALLELU'IA, so written in Rev. xix. 7, foil., or more properly Hallelujah, “ praise ye Jehovah,” as it is found in the margin of Ps. civ. 35, cv. 45, cvi., cxi. 1, cxii. 1, cxiii. 1 (comp. Ps. cxiii. 9, cxv. 18, cxvi. 19, exvii. 2). The literal meaning of “Halle- lujah ” sufficiently indicates the character of the Psalms in which it occurs, as hymns of praise and thanksgiving. They are all found in the last book of the collection, and bear marks of being intended for use in the temple- service ; the words “ praise ye Jehovah ” being taken up by the full chorus of Levites. In the great hymn of triumph in heaven over the destruction of Babylon, the apostle in vision heard the multitude in chorus like the voice of mighty thunderings burst forth, “ Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” responding to the voice which came out of the throne saying “ Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great” (Rev. xix. 1-6). In this, as in the offering of incense (Rev. viii.), there is evident allusion to the service of the temple, as the apostle had often witnessed it in its fading grandeur. ALLIANCES. On the first establishment of the Hebrews in Palestine no connexions were formed between them and the surround- ing nations. But with the extension of their power under the kings, they were brought more into contact with foreigners, and alli- ances became essential to the security of their commerce. Solomon concluded two important treaties exclusively for commercial purposes , the first with Hiram, king of Tyre, originally with the view of obtaining materials and workmen for the erection of the Temple, and afterwards for the supply of ship-builders and sailors (IK. v. 2-12, ix. 27) : the second with a Pharaoh, king of Egypt ; by this he secured a monopoly of the trade in horses and other products of that country (1 K. x. 28, 29). After the division of the kingdom the alliances were of an offensive and defen- sive nature. When war broke out between Amaziah and Jeroboam II. a coalition was formed between Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah on the one side, and Ahaz and Tiglath- pileser, king of Assyria, on the other (2 K. xvi. 5-9). By this means an opening was afforded to the advances of the Assyrian power ; and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as they were successively attacked, sought the alliance of the Egyptians, who were strongly interested in maintaining the independence of the Jews as a barrier against the encroachments of the Assyrian power (2 K. xvii. 4, xix, 9, 36 ; Is. xxx. 2). On the restoration of independence Judas Mac- cabeus sought an alliance with the Romans as a counterpoise to the neighbouring state of Syria (1 Macc. viii.). Treaties of a friendly nature were at the same period con- cluded with the Lacedaemonians (1 Macc. xii. 2, xiv. 20). — The formation of an alli- ance was attended with various religious rites : a victim was slain and divided into two parts, between which the contracting parties passed (Gen. xv. 10). That this custom was maintained to a late period appears from Jer. xxxiv. 18-20. Generally speaking the oath alone is mentioned in the contracting of alliances, either between na- tions (Josh. ix. 15) or individuals (Gen. xxvi. 28, xxxi. 53 ; 1 Sam. xx. 17 ; 2 Iv. xi. 4). The event was celebrated by a feast (Gen. 1. c. ; Ex. xxiv. 11; 2 Sam. iii. 12, 20). Salt, as symbolical of fidelity, was used on these occasions. Occasionally a pillar or a heap of stones was set up as a memorial of the alliance (Gen. xxxi. 52). Presents were also sent by the party soliciting the alliance (1 K. xv. 18 ; Is. xxx. 6 ; 1 Macc. xv. 18). The fidelity of the Jews to their engagements was conspicuous at all periods of their history (Josh. ix. 18), and any breach of covenant was visited with very severe punishment (2 Sam. xxi. 1 ; Ez. xvii. 16). AL'LON, a large strong tree of some de- scription, probably an oak. The word is found in two names in the topography of Palestine. — 1 . Allon, more accurately Elon, a place named among the cities of Naphtali ALMON-DIBLATITAIM 22 ALPIIAEUS (Josh. xix. 33). Probably the more correct construction is to take it with the following word, L e. “ the oak by Zaanannim,” or “ the oak of the loading of tents,” as if de- riving its name from some nomad tribe fre- quenting the spot. [Elon.] — 2. Ai/lon- ba'cruth (“oak of weeping”), the tree under which Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah, was buried (Gen. xxxv. 8). AL 'MON-DIBLATHA'IM, one of the latest stations of the Israelites, between Dibon-gad and the mountains of Abarim (Num. xxxiii. 46, 47). It is probable that Almon-dibla- Ihaim is identical with Beth-diblathaim. ALMOND-TREE ; ALMOND. This word »s found in Gen. xliii. 11 ; Ex. xxv. 33, 34, xxxvii. 19, 20 ; Num. xvii. 8 ; Eccies. xii. 5 ; T er. i. 11, in the text of the A. V. It is inva- riably represented bv the same Hebrew word shdked), which sometimes stands for the whole tree, sometimes for the fruit or nut. The almond-tree, whose scientific name is Amygdaius communis , is a native of Asia and North Africa, but it is cultivated in the milder parts of Europe. The height of the tree is about 12 or 14 feet ; the flowers are pink, and arranged for the most part in pairs ; the leaves are long, ovate, with a serrated margin, and an acute point. The covering of the fruit is downy and succulent, enclosing the hard shell which contains the kernel. It is curious to observe, in connexion with the almond-bowls of the golden candlestick, that, in the language of lapidaries, Almonds are pieces of rock-crystal, even now used in adorning branch -candlesticks. ALMS. The duty of alms-giving, especi- ally in kind, consisting chiefly in portions to be left designedly from produce of the field. the vineyard, and the oliveyard (Lev. xix. 9, 10, xxiii. 22 ; Deut. xv. 11, xxiv. 19, xxvi. 2-13 ; Ruth ii. 2), is strictly enjoined by the Law. Every third year also (Deut. xiv. 28) each proprietor was directed to share the tithe of his produce with “the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” The theological estimate of alms- giving among the Jews is indicated in the following passages: — Job xxxi. 17; Prov. x. 2, xi. 4 ; Esth. ix. 22 ; Ps. cxii. 9 ; Actf- ix. 36, the case of Dorcas ; x. 2, of Cornelius; to which may be added, Tob. iv. 10, 11, xiv. 10, 11 ; and Ecclus. iii. 30, xl. 24. And the Talmudists went so far as to interpret righte- ousness by almsgiving in such passages at- ! Gen. xviii. 19; Is. iiv. 14; Ps. xvii. 15. — ! The Pharisees were zealous in almsgiving, ! but too ostentatious in their mode of per- | formance, for which our Lord finds fauli i with them (Matt. vi. 2). — The duty of re- i lieving the poor was not neglected by the I Christians (Matt. vi. 1-4 ; Luke xiv. 13 ; Acts xx. 35 ; Gal. ii. 10). Every Christian was exhorted to lay by on the first day oi each week some portion of his profits, to be applied to the wants of the needy (Acts xi. 30 ; Rom. xv. 25-27 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 1-4). It was also considered a duty specially incum- bent on widows to devote themselves to such ministrations (1 Tim. v. 10). ALMUG-TREES. [Algum-Trees.] ALOES, LIGN ALOES (in Heb. Ahalim , Ahdloth ), the name of a costly and sweet- smelling wood which is mentioned in Num xxiv. 6, Ps. xiv. 8, Prov. vii. 17, Cant. iv. 14, John xix. 39. It is usually identified with the Aquilaria Agallochum, a tree which supplies the agallochum , or aloes-wood ol commerce, much valued in India on account of its aromatic qualities for purposes of fumi- gation and for incense. This tree grows tc the height of 120 feet, being 12 feet in girth. It is, however, uncertain whether the Ahalim or Ahdloth is in reality the aioes-wood ot commerce ; it is quite possible that some kind of odoriferous cedar may be the tree denoted by these terms. AL'PHA, the first letter of the Greel alphabet, as Omega is the last. Its signi- ficance is plainly indicated in the context, “ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev. xxii. 13, i. 8, 11, xxi. 6), which maybe compared with Is. xli. 4. Both Greeks and Hebrews employed the letters of the alphabet a*- numerals. ALPHABET. [Whiting.] ALPHAE'US, the father of the Apostle James the Less (Matt. x. 3; Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. 15; Acts i. 18), Testamen- tum) y the latter met with the most general acceptance, and perpetuated itself in the lan- guages of modern Europe, whence the terms Old Testament and New Testament , though the Greek word properly signifies “ Cove- nant” rather than “Testament.” But the application of the word Bible to the collected books of the Old and New Testaments is not to be traced further back than the 5 th cen- tury of our era. — II. The existence of a col- lection of sacred books recognised as autho- ritative, leads naturally to a more or less systematic arrangement. The Prologue to Ecclesiasticus mentions “ the law and the prophets and the other Books.” In the N. T. there is the same kind of recognition. “ The Law and the Prophets ” is the shorter (Matt, xi. 13, xxii. 40 ; Acts xiii. 15, &c.) ; “the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms ” (Luke xxiv. 44), the fuller statement of the division popularly recognised. The arrangement of the books of the Hebrew text under these three heads, requires however a further notice — 1. The Law, containing Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, natu- rally continued to occupy the position which it must have held from the first as the most ancient and authoritative portion. In the Hebrew classification the titles were taken from the initial words, or prominent words in the initial verse ; in that of the LXX. they were intended to be significant of the subject of each book. — 2. The next group presents a more singular combination. The arrangement stands as follows : — t Joshua. F1,W J Judges. tAcXer j 1 & 2 SamueL l 1 & 2 Kings. Prophets Later ( Isaiah. Greater . . . . < Jeremiah. ( Ezekiel. < The twelve Lesser < minor ( Prophets. — the Hebrew titles of these books correspond- ing to those of the English bibles. — 3. Last in order came the group known to the Jews as Cethubim, including the remaining books BIBLE 75 BIRTH-DAYS of the Hebrew Canon, arranged in the follow- ing order, and with subordinate divisions : (o) Psalms, Proverbs, Job. (&) The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther — the five rolls. ( c ) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles. — The history of the arrangement of the Books of the New Testament presents some variations, not with- out interest, as indicating differences of feel- ing or modes of thought. The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles uniformly stand first. They are so far to the New what the p entateuch was to the Old Testament. The position of the Acts as an intermediate book, the sequel to the Gospels, the prelude to the Epistles, was obviously a natural one. After this we meet with some striking differences. The order in the Alexandrian, Vatican and Ephraem MSS. (ABC) gives precedence to the Catholic Epistles, and this would appear to have been characteristic of the Eastern Churches. The Western Church on the other hand, as represented by Jerome, Augustine, and their successors, gave priority of position to the Pauline Epistles. The Apocalypse, as might be expected from the peculiar cha- racter of its contents, occupied a position by itself. — III. Division into Chapters and Verses . — The Hebrew of the Old Testament. It is hardly possible to conceive of the litur- gical use of the books of the Old Testament, without some kind of recognised division. The references however in Mark xii. 26 and Luke xx. 37, Rom. xi. 2 and Acts viii. 32, indicate a division which had become familiar, and show that some at least of the sections were known popularly by the titles taken from their subjects. In like manner the ex- istence of a cycle of lessons is indicated by Luke iv. 17 ; Acts xiii. 15, xv. 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 14. The Talmudic division is on the following plan. The Law was in the first instance divided into fifty-four Parshioth , or sections, so as to provide a lesson for each Sabbath in the Jewish intercalary year. Co-existing with this there was a subdivi- sion into lesser Parshioth. A different ter- minology was employed for the Elder and Later Prophets, and the division was less uniform. The name of the sections in this case was Haplitaroth. Of the traditional di- visions of the Hebrew Bible, however, that which has exercised most influence in the received arrangement of the text, was the subdivision of the larger sections into verses ( Pesukim ). These do not appear to have been used till the post-Talmudic recension of the text by the Masoretes of the 9th century. The chief facts that remain to be stated as to the verse division of the Old Testament are, that it was adopted by Stephens in his edition of the Vulgate, 1555, and by Frellon in that of 1556 ; that it appeared for the first time in an English translation, in the Geneva Bible of 1560, and was thence transferred to the Bishops’ Bible of 1568, and the Authorised Version of 1611. With the New Testament, the division into chapters adopted by Hugh de St. Cher superseded those that had been in use previously, appeared in the early edi- tions of the Vulgate, was transferred to the English Bible by Coverdale, and so became universal. As to the division into verses, the absence of an authoritative standard left more scope to the individual discretion of editors or printers, and the activity of the two Stephenses caused that which they adopted in their numerous editions of the Greek Tes- tament and Vulgate to be generally received. In the Preface to the Concordance, published by Henry Stephens, 1594, he gives an account of the origin of this division. The whole work was accomplished “ inter equitandum ” on his journey from Paris to Lyons. While it was in progress men doubted of its success. No sooner was it known than it met with universal acceptance. The edition in which this division was first adopted was published in 1551. It was used for the English version published in Geneva in 1560, and from that time, with slight variations in detail, has been universally recognised. BID'KAR, Jehu’s “ captain,” originally his fellow-officer (2 K. ix. 25) ; who com- pleted the sentence on Jehoram son of Ahab. BIG'THAN and BIG'THANA, an eunuch (chamberlain, A. V.) in the court of Aha- suerus, one of those “who kept the door” and conspired with Teresh against the king’s life (Esth. ii. 21). The conspiracy was de- tected by Mordecai. BIK'ATH-AVEN, Amos i. 5 marg. [Aven 1 .] BIL'DAD, the second of Job’s three friends. He is called “the Shuhite,” which implies both his family and nation (Job ii. 11). BIL'HAH, handmaid of Rachel (Gen. xxix. 29), and concubine of Jacob, to whom to right. Rev. : Castor and Pollux mounted, advancing to right. In the exergue BPETTIDN. CATS occur only in Baruch vi. 22. The Greek word, as used by Aristotle, has more particular reference to the wild cat. Hero- dotus (ii. 66) applies it to denote the domestic animal. The context of the passage in Baruch CATERPILLAR 89 CENSER appears to point to the domesticated animal. Perhaps the people of Babylon originally pro- cured the cat from Egypt. The domestic cat of the ancient Egyptians is supposed by some to be identical with the Felis maniculata. CATERPILLAR. The representative in the A.Y. of the Hebrew words chdsil and yelek . — 1. Chdsil occurs in 1 Iv. viii. 37 ; 2 Chr. vi. 28 ; Ps. lxxviii. 46 ; Is. xxxiii. 4 ; Joel i. 4 ; and seems to he applied to a .ocust, perhaps in its larva state. — 2. Yelek. [Locust.] CAVE. The chalky limestone of which the rocks of Syria and Palestine chiefly consist presents, as is the case in all limestone for- mations, a vast number of caverns and natural fissures, many of which have also been artifi- cially enlarged and adapted to various pur- poses both of shelter and defence. The most remarkable caves noticed in Scripture are : — 1. That in which Lot dwelt after the destruc- tion of Sodom (Gen. xix. 30). 2. The cave of Machpelah. (xxiii. 17). 3. Cave of Mak- kedah (Josh. x. 10). 4. Cave of Adullam (1 Sam. xxii. 1). 5. Cave of Engedi (xxiv. 3). 6. Obadiah’s cave (1 K. xviii. 4). 7. Eli- jah’s cave in Horeb (xix. 9). 8, 9. The rock sepulchres of Lazarus, and of our Lord (John xi. 38 ; Matt, xxvii. 60). CEDAR. The Heh. word erez , invariably rendered “ cedar ” by the A. V., stands for that tree in most of the passages where the word occurs. The erez, or “ firmly rooted and strong tree,” from an Arabic root which has this signification, is particularly the name of the cedar of Lebanon ( Cedrus Libani) ; but that the word is used in a wider sense to de- note other trees of the Coniferae is clear from some Scriptural passages where it occurs. For instance, the “cedar wood” mentioned in Lev. xiv. 6 can hardly be the wood of the Lebanon cedars, seeing that the Cedrus Li- bani could never have grown in the peninsula of Sinai. There is another passage (Ez. xxvii. 5), in which perhaps erez denotes some fir ; in all probability the Linus Halepensis , which grows in Lebanon, and is better fitted for furnishing ship -masts than the wood of the Cedrus Libani. The Cedrus Libani, Pinub Halepensis , and Juniperus excelsa, were pro- bably all included under the term erez ; though there can be no doubt that by this name is more especially denoted the cedar of Lebanon, as being the firmest and grandest of the conifers. As far as is at present known, the cedar of Lebanon is confined in Syria to one valley of the Lebanon range, viz., that of the Kedisha river, which flows from near the highest point of the range westward to the Mediterranean, and enters the sea at the port of Tripoli. The grove is at the very upper part of the valley, about 1 5 miles from the sea, 6500 feet above that level, and its position is moreover above that of all other arboreous vegetation. CE'DRON. In this form is given in the N. T. the name of the brook Kidron in the ravine below the eastern wall of Jerusalem (John xviii. 1, only). Beyond it was the garden of Gethsemane. [Kidron.] CEILING. The descriptions of Scripture (1 K. vi. 9, 15, vii. 3 ; 2 Chr. iii. 5, 9 ; Jer. xxii. 14 ; Hag. i. 4), and of Josephus, show that the ceilings of the Temple and the palaces of the Jewish kings were formed of cedar planks applied to the beams or joints crossing from wall to wall, probably with sunk panels, edged and ornamented with gold, and carved with incised or other patterns, sometimes painted (Jer. xxii. 14). CELOSYRIA. [Coelesyria.] CEN r CHREA (accurately CENCHREAE), the eastern harbour of Corinth ( i . e. its harbour on the Saronic Gulf) and the emporium of its trade with the Asiatic shores of the Mediter- ranean, as Lechaeum on the Corinthian Gulf connected it with Italy and the west. St. Paul sailed from Cenchreae (Acts xviii. 18) on his return to Syria from his second missionary journey ; and when he wrote his epistle to the Romans in the course of the third journey, an organised church seems to have been formed here (Rom. xvi. 1). CENSER. A small portable vessel of metal fitted to receive burning coals from the altar, and on which the incense for burning was sprinkled (2 Chr. xxvi. 18 ; Luke i. 9). The only distinct precepts regarding the use of the censer are found in Num. iv. 14, and in Lev. xvi. 12. Solomon prepared “censers of pure gold” as part of the same furniture (1 K. vii. 50; 2 Chr. iv. 22). Possibly their genera, use may have been to take up coals from the brazen altar, and convey the incense while CENSUS 90 CHALDEA burning to the 44 golden altar,” or 44 altar of incense,” on which it was to be offered morn- ing and evening (Ex. xxx. 7, 8). SoUzziah, when he was intending “to burn incense upon the altar of incense,” took a censer in his hand” (2 Chr. xxvi. 16, 19). The word rendered “ censer ” in Hebr. ix. 4 probably means the “ altar of incense.” CENSUS. [Taxing.] CENTURION. [Army.] CEPHAS. [Peter.] CHAFF. The Heb. words rendered chaff in A. V. do not seem to have precisely the same meaning : chdshash = dry grass , hay ; and occurs twice only in O. T., viz., Is. v. 24, xxxiii. 11. Mots is chaff separated by winnowing from the grain — the husk of the wheat. The carrying away of chaff by the wind is an ordinary Scriptural image of the de- struction of the wicked, and of their power- lessness to resist God’s judgments (Ps. i. 4 ; Is. xviii. 13 ; Hos. xiii. 3 ; Zeph. ii. 2). CHAIN. Chains were used, 1. as badges of office; 2. for ornament; 3. for confining prisoners. 1. The gold chain placed about Joseph’s neck (Gen. xli. 42), and that pro- mised to Daniel (Dan. v. 7), are instances of the first use. In Ez. xvi. 11, the chain is mentioned as the symbol of sovereignty. 2. Chains for ornamental purposes were worn by men as well as women in many countries both of Europe and Asia, and probably this was the case among the Hebrews (Prov. i. 9). The necklace consisted of pearls, corals, &c., threaded on a string. Besides the necklace, other chains were worn (Jud. x. 4) hanging down as far as the waist, or even lower. Some were adorned with pieces of metal, shaped in the form of the moon (“ round tires like the moon,” A. V. ; Is. iii. 18). The Midianites adorned the necks of their camels with it (Judg. viii. 21, 26). To other chains were suspended various trinkets — as scent-bottles (Is. iii. 20) and mirrors (Is. iii. 23). Step-chains were attached to the ankle- rings, which shortened the step and produced a mincing gait (Is. iii. 16, 18). 3. The means adopted for confining prisoners among the Jews were fetters similar to our handcuffs (Judg. xvi. 21 ; 2 Sam. iii. 34 ; 2 K. xxv. 7 ; Jer. xxxix. 7). Among the Romans, the prisoner was handcuffed to one, and occa- sionally to two guards (Actsxii. 6, 7, xxi. 33). CHALCEDONY, only in Rev. xxi. 19. The name is applied in modern mineralogy to one of the varieties of agate. There can, however, be little doubt that the stone to which Theophrastus refers, as being found in the island opposite Chalcedon and used as a solder, must have been the green transparent carbonate of copper, or our copper emerald. CHALDE'A, more correctly CHALDAE'A, properly only the most southern portion of Babylonia, is used in Scripture to signify that vast alluvial plain which has been formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris — at least so far as it lies to the west of the latter stream. This extraordinary flat, unbroken except by the works of man, ex- tends a distance of 400 miles along the course of the rivers, and is on an average about 100 miles in width. The general aspect of the country is thus described by a modern traveller, who well contrasts its condition now with the appearance which it must have presented in ancient times. “ In former days,” he says, “the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and watercourses, which spread over the sur- face of the country like a network. The wants of a teeming population were supplied by a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands rising from a golden sea of waving corn, stood frequent groves of palm-trees and plea- sant gardens, affording to the idler or tra- veller their grateful and highly- valued shade. Crowds of passengers hurried along the dusty roads to and from the busy city. The land was rich in corn and wine. How changed is the aspect of that region at the present day ! Long lines of mounds, it is true, mark the courses of those main arteries which formerly diffused life and vegetation along their banks, but their channels are now bereft of moisture and choked with drifted sand ; the smaller offshoots are wholly effaced. 4 A drought is upon her waters,’ says the prophet, 4 and they shall be dried up ! ’ All that remains of that ancient civilisation — that 4 glory of kingdoms,’ — 4 the praise of the whole earth,’ — is recognisable in the numerous mouldering heaps of brick and rubbish which overspread the surface of the plain. Instead of the luxurious fields, the groves and gardens, nothing now meets the eye but an arid waste — the dense population of former times is vanished, and no man dwells there.” (Loftus’s Chaldaea , pp. 14-15). The true Chaldaea is always in the geographers a dis- tinct region, being the most southern portion of Babylonia, lying chiefly (if not solely) on the right bank of the Euphrates. Babylonia above this is separated into two districts, called respectively Amordacia and Auranitis. The former is the name of the central ter- ritory round Babylon itself ; the latter is ap- plied to the regions towards the north, where Babylonia borders on Assyria. Cities. — Babylonia was celebrated at all times for the number and antiquity of its cities. The most important of those which have been identified CHALDEANS 91 CHAMELEON are Borsippa ( Birs-Nimrud ), Sippara or Se- ■pharvaim ( Mosaib ), Cutha [Ibrahim), Calneh [Niffer), Erech ( Warka ), Ur [Mugheir), Chil- mad [Kalwadha), Larancha (Senkereh), Is [Hit), Duraba ( Akkerkuf ) ; but besides these there were a multitude of others, the sites of which have not been determined. The ex- traordinary fertility of the Chaldaean soil has been noticed by various writers. It is said to be the only country in the world where wheat grows wild. Herodotus declared (i. 193) that grain commonly returned 200-fold to the sower, and occasionally 300-fold. The palm was undoubtedly one of the principal objects of cultivation. The soil is rich, but there is now little cultivation, the inhabitants subsist- ing chiefly upon dates. More than half the country is left dry and waste from the want of a proper system of irrigation ; while the remaining half is to a great extent covered with marshes owing to the same neglect. CHALDE'ANS, or CHAL'DEES, appear in Scripture, until the time of the Captivity, as the people of the country which has Babylon for its capital, and which is itself termed Shinar ; but in the Book of Daniel, while this meaning is still found (v. 30, and ix. 1), a new sense shows itself. The Chaldeans are classed with the magicians and astronomers ; and evidently form a sort of priest class, who have a peculiar “tongue” and “learning” (i. 4), and are consulted by the king on re- ligious subjects. The same variety appears in profane writers. It appears that the Chaldeans [Kaldai or Kaldi) were in the earliest times merely one out of the many Cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain known afterwards as Chaldaea or Baby- lonia. Their special seat was probably that southern portion of the country which is found to have so late retained the name of Chaldaea. Here was Ur “ of the Chaldees,” the modern Mugheir, which lies south of the Euphrates, near its junction with the Shat - el-Hie. In process of time, as the Kaldi grew in power, their name gradually pre- vailed over those of the other tribes inhabit- ing the country ; and by the era of the Jewish captivity it had begun to be used generally for all the inhabitants of Babylonia. It had come by this time to have two senses, both ethnic : in the one it was the special appel- lative of a particular race to whom it had be- longed from the remotest times, in the other it designated the nation at large in which this race was predominant. It has been ob- served above that the Kaldi proper were a Cushite race. This is proved by the remains of their language, which closely resembles the Oalla or ancient language of Ethiopia. Now U appears by the inscriptions that while, both in Assyria and in later Babylonia, the Shemitic type of speech prevailed for civil purposes, the ancient Cushite dialect was retained, as a learned language for scientific and religious literature. This is no doubt the “ learning ” and the “ tongue ” to which reference is made in the Book of Daniel (i. 4). The Chaldeans were really the learned class ; they were priests, magicians, or astronomers, and in the last of the three capacities they probably effected discoveries of great import- ance. In later times they seem to have de- generated into mere fortune-tellers. Costumes of the Chaldeans. (Rawlinson. From Ancient Monuments.) CHALDEES. [Chaldeans.] CHAMBEBLAIN. Erastus, “ the cham- berlain ” of the city of Corinth, was one of those whose salutations to the Homan Chris- tians are given at the end of the Ep. ad- dressed to them (Bom. xvi. 23). The office which he held was apparently that of public treasurer, or arcarius, as the Yulgate renders his title. These arcarii were inferior ma- gistrates, who had the charge of the public chest ( area publico), and were under the authority of the senate. They kept the ac- counts of the public revenues. The office held by Blastus, “the king’s chamberlain ,” was entirely different from this (Acts xii. 20). It was a post of honour which involved great intimacy and influence with the king. The margin of our version gives “ that was over the king’s bedchamber.” Eor Chamberlain as used in the O. T., see Eunuch. CHAMELEON, the translation of the Hebrew coach, which occurs in the sense of some kind of unclean animal in Lev. xi. 30. Others suppose it to be the lizard, known by the name of the “Monitor of the Nile” [Monitor Niloticus , Grey), a large strong CHAMOIS 92 CHEBAR reptile common in Egypt and other parts of Africa. CHAMOIS, the translation of the Hebrew zemer in Deut. xiv. 5. But the translation is incorrect ; for there is no evidence that the chamois has ever been seen in Palestine or the Lebanon. It is probable that some moun- tain sheep is intended. CHA'NAAN, the manner in which the word Canaan is spelt in the A. Y. of the Apocrypha and N. T. (Jud. v. 3, 9, 10 ; Bar. iii. 22 ; Sus. 56 ; 1 Macc. ix. 37 ; Actsvii. 11, xiii. 19). CHAPITER, the capital of a pillar ; also possibly a roll moulding at the top of a building or work of art, as in the case (1) of the pillars of the Tabernacle and Temple, and of the two pillars called especially Jachin and Boaz ; and (2) of the lavers belonging to the Temple (Ex. xxxviii. 17 ; IK. vii. 27, 31, 38). CHARGER, a shallow vessel for re- ceiving water or blood, also for presenting offerings of fine flour with oil (Num. vii. 79). The daughter of Herodias brought the head of St. John the Baptist in a charger (Matt. xiv. 8) : probably a trencher or platter. [Basin.] CHARIOT, a vehicle used either for war- like or peaceful purposes, but most commonly the former. Of the latter use the following only are probable instances as regards the Jews, 1 K. xviii. 44, and as regards other nations, Gen. xli. 43, xlvi. 29 ; 2 K. v. 9 ; Acts viii. 28. The earliest mention of chariots in Scripture is in Egypt, where Joseph, as a mark of distinction, was placed in Pharaoh’s second chariot (Gen. xli. 43) and later when he went in his own chariot to meet his father on his entrance into Egypt from Canaan (xlvi. 29). In the funeral procession of Jacob chariots also formed a part, possibly by way of escort or as a guard of honour (1. 9). The next mention of Egyptian chariots is for a warlike purpose (Ex. xiv. 7). In this point of view chariots among some nations of antiquity, as elephants among others, may be regarded as filling the place of heavy artillery in modern times, so that the military power of a nation might be esti- mated by the number of its chariots. Thus Pharaoh in pursuing Israel took with him 600 chariots. The Canaanites of the valleys of Palestine were enabled to resist the Israelites successfully in consequence of the number of their chariots of iron, i. e. perhaps armed with iron scythes (Josh. xvii. 18 ; Judg. i. 19). Jabin, king of Canaan, had 900 chariots (Judg. iv. 3). The Philistines in Saul’s time had 30,000 (1 Sam. xiii. 5). David took from Hadadezer, king of Zobah, 1000 chariots (2 Sam. viii. 4), and from the Syrians a little later 700 (x. 18), who, m order* to recover their ground, collected 32,000 chariots (1 Chr. xix. 7). Up to this time the Israelites possessed few or no chariots, partly no doubt in consequence of the theocratic pro- hibition against multiplying horses, for fear of intercourse with Egypt, and the regal despot- ism implied in the possession of them (Deut. xvii. 16 ; 1 Sam. viii. 11, 12). But to some extent David (2 Sam. viii. 4), and in a much greater degree Solomon, broke through the prohibition. He raised, therefore, and main- tained a force of 1400 chariots (1 K. x. 25) by taxation on certain cities agreeably to Eastern custom in such matters (1 K. ix. 19, x. 25). From this time chariots were regarded as among the most important arms of war, though the supplies of them and of horses appear to have been mainly drawn from Egypt (1 K. xxii. 34; 2 K. ix. 16, 21, xiii. 7, 14, xviii. 24, xxiii. 30 ; Is. xxxi. 1). Most commonly two persons, and sometimes three, rode in the chariot, of whom the third was employed to carry the state umbrella (2 K. ix. 20, 24 ; 1 K. xxii. 34 ; Acts viii. 38). A second chariot usually accompanied the king to battle to be used in case of necessity (2 Chr. xxv. 34). The prophets allude fre- quently to chariots as typical of power (Ps. xx. 7, civ. 3 ; Jer. li. 21 ; Zech. vi. 1). In the N. T., the only mention made of a chariot, except in Rev. ix. 9, is in the case of the Ethiopian or Abyssinian eunuch of Queen Candace (Acts viii. 28, 29, 38). Jewish chariots were no doubt imitated from Egyp- tian models, if not actually imported from Egypt. CHE'BAR, a river in the “land of the Chaldaeans ” (Ez. i. 3), on the banks of which some of the Jews were located at the time of the captivity, and where Ezekiel saw his earlier visions (Ez. i. 1, iii. 15, 23, &c.}. It is commonly regarded as identical with the CHEDORLAOMER 93 CHERUB Habor, or river of Gozan, to which some por- tion of the Israelites were removed by the Assyrians (2 K. xvii. 6). But this is a mere conjecture. Perhaps the Chebar of Ezekiel is the Nahr Malcha or Royal Canal of Nebu- chadnezzar — the greatest of all the cuttings in Mesopotamia. CHEDORLAO'MER, a king of Elam, in the time of Abraham, who with three other chiefs made war upon the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar, and reduced them to servitude (Gen. xiv. 17). The name of a king is found upon the bricks recently discovered in Chaldaea, which is read Kudar-mapula. This man has been sup- posed to be identical with Chedorlaomer, and the opinion is confirmed by the fact that he is further distinguished by a title which may be translated “ Ravager of the west.” CHEESE is mentioned only three times in the Bible, and on each occasion under a dif- ferent name in the Hebrew (Job x. 10 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 18 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 29). It is difficult to decide how far these terms correspond with our notion of cheese ; for they simply express various degrees of coagulation. It may be observed that cheese is not at the present day common among the Bedouin Arabs, butter being decidedly preferred ; but there is a substance, closely corresponding to those mentioned in 1 Sam. xvii. ; 2 Sam. xvii., con- sisting of coagulated buttermilk, which is dried until it becomes quite hard, and is then ground : the Arabs eat it mixed with butter. CHEM'ARIMS, THE. This word only occurs in the text of the A. V. in Zeph. i. 4. In 2 K. xxiii. 5 it is rendered “ idolatrous priests,” and in Hos. x. 5 “ priests,” and in both cases “chemarim” is given in the margin. So far as regards the Hebrew usage of the word it is exclusively applied to the priests of the false worship, and was in all probability a term of foreign origin. CHE'MOSII, the national deity of the Moabites (Num. xxi. 29; Jer. xlviii. 7, 13, 46). In Judg. xi. 24, he also appears as the god of the Ammonites. Solomon introduced, and Josiah abolished, the worship of Chemosh at Jerusalem (1 K. xi. 7 ; 2 K. xxiii. 13). Jerome identifies him with Baal-Peor ; others with Baal-Zebub, on etymological grounds ; others with Mars, and others with Saturn. CHER'ETHITES and PEL'ETHITES, the life-guards of King David (2 Sam. viii. 18, xv. 18, xx. 7, 23; 1 K. i. 38, 44 ; 1 Chr. xviii. 17). These titles are commonly said to signify “ executioners and couriers.” It is plain that these royal guards were em- ployed as executioners (2 K. xi. 4), and as couriers (1 K. xiv. 27). But it has been con- jectured that they may have been foreign mercenaries. They are connected with the Gittites, a foreign tribe (2 Sam. xv. 21) ; ana the Cherethites are mentioned as a nation (1 Sam. xxx. 14), dwelling apparently on the coast, and therefore probably Philistines, of which name Pelethites may be only another form. CHE'RITH, THE BROOK, the torrent-bed or wady in which Elijah hid himself during the early part of the three years’ drought (1 K. xvii. 3, 5). The position of the Cherith has been much disputed. The argu- ment from probability is in favour of the Cherith being on the east of Jordan, and the name may possibly be discovered there. CHER'UB, CHER'UBIM. The symbolical figure so called was a composite creature- form, which finds a parallel in the religious insignia of Assyria, Egypt, and Persia, e. g. the sphinx, the winged bulls and lions of Nineveh, &c. The Hebrew idea seems to limit the The winged female Sphinx. (Wilkinson.) number -of the cherubim. A pair (Ex. xxv. 18, &c>) were placed on the mercy-seat of the ark : a pair of colossal size overshadowed it in Solomon’s Temple with the canopy of their contiguously extended wings. Ezekiel, i. 4-14, speaks of four, and similarly the apo- calyptic “beasts” (Rev. iv. 6) are four. So at the front or east of Eden were posted “ the cherubim,” as though the whole of some re- cognised number. The cherubim are placed beneath the actual presence of Jehovah, whose moving throne they appear to draw (Gen. iii. 24 ; Ez. i. 5, 25, 26, x. 1, 2, 6, 7 ; Is. vi. 2, 3, 6). The glory symbolising that pre- sence which eye cannot see rests or rides on them, or one of them, thence dismounts to the temple threshold, and then departs and mounts again (Ez. x. 4, 18 ; comp, ix. 3; Ps. xviii. 10). There is in them an entire absence of human sympathy, and even on the mercy-seat they probably ap- peared not merely as admiring and wonder- ing (1 Pet. i. 12), but as guardians of the covenant and avengers of its breach. Those CHESALON 94 CHILDREN on the ark were to be placed with wings stretched forth, one at each end of the mercy- seat, and to he made “ of the mercy-seat.” They are called the cherubim of glory (Heb. lx. 5), as on them the glory, when visible, rested. They were anointed with the holy oil, like the ark itself, and the other sacred furniture. Their wings were to be stretched upwards, and their faces “ towards each other and towards the mercy-seat.” It is remark- able that with such precise directions as to their position, attitude, and material, nothing, save that they were winged, is said concern- ing their shape. On the whole it seems likely that the word “ cherub ” meant not only the composite creature-form, of which the man, lion, ox, and eagle were the ele- ments, but, further, some peculiar and mystical form, which Ezekiel, being a priest, would know and recognise as “ the face of a cherub ” (Ez. x. 14) ; but which was kept secret from all others ; and such probably were those on the ark, though those on the hangings and panels might be of the popular device. What this peculiar cherubic form was is per- haps an impenetrable mystery. It might well be the symbol of Him whom none could behold and live. For as symbols of Divine attributes, e. g. omnipotence and omniscience, not as representations of actual beings, the cherubim should be regarded. CHE'SALON, a place named as one of the landmarks on the west part of the north boundary of Judah (Josh. xv. 10), probably A esla, about six miles to the N.E. of Ain- si terns, on the western mountains of Judah. CHE'SIL, a town in the extreme south of Palestine, named with Hormah and Ziklag (Josh. xv. 30). In Josh. xix. 4 the name Bethue occurs in place of it, whence we may conclude that Chesil was an early variation of Bethul. CHESTNUT-TREE (Heb. ’ armon : Gen. xxx. 37 ; Ezek. xxxi. 8) : it is spoken of as one of the glories of Assyria, for which the “plane-tree” ought probably to have been substituted. The context of the passages where the word occurs indicates some tree which thrives best in low and rather moist situations, whereas the chestnut-tree is a tree which prefers dry and hilly ground. CHESUL'LOTII (lit. “the loins”), one of the towns of Issachar, deriving its name, perhaps, from its situation on the slope of some mountain (Josh. xix. 18). From its position in the lists it appears to be between Jezreel and Shunem ( Salam ). CHET'TIIM, 1 Macc. i. 1. [Chittim.] CHE'ZIB, a name which occurs but once (Gen. xxxviii. 5), probably the same as Achzib. CHI'DON, the ? name which in 1 Chr. xiii. 9 is given to the threshing-floor at which the accident to the ark toox p.aee. In the parallel account in 2 Sam. vi. the name is given as Nachon. CHILDREN. The blessing of offspring, but especially of the male sex, is highly valued among all Eastern nations, while the absence is regarded as one of the severest punishments (Gen. xvi. 2 ; Deut. vii. 14 ; 1 Sam. i. 6 ; 2 Sam. vi. 23 ; 2 K. iv. 14 ; Is. xlvii. 9 ; Jer. xx. 15 ; Ps. cxxvii. 3, 5). As soon as the child was born, it was washed in a bath, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in swaddling clothes. Arab mothers sometimes rub their children with earth or sand (Ez. xvi. 4 ; Job xxxviii. 9 ; Luke ii. 7). On the 8th day the rite of circumcision, in the case of a boy, was performed, and a name given, sometimes, but not usually, the same as that of the father, and generally conveying some special meaning. At the end of a certain time the mother was to make an offering of purification of a lamb as a burnt-offering, and a pigeon or turtle-dove as a sin-offering, or in case of poverty, two doves or pigeons, one as a burnt-offering, the other as a sin- offering (Lev. xii. 1-8; Luke ii. 22). The period of nursing appears to have been some- times prolonged to three years (Is. xlix. 15 ; 3 Macc. vii. 27). Nurses were employed in cases of necessity (Ex. ii. 9 ; Gen. xxiv. 59, xxxv. 8 ; 2 Sam. iv. 4 ; 2 K. xi. 2 ; 2 Chr. xxii. 11). The time of weaning was an oc- casion of rejoicing (Gen. xxi. 8). Arab children wear little or no clothing for four or five years : the young of both sexes are usually carried by the mothers on the hip or the shoulder, a custom to which allusion is made by Isaiah (Is. xlix. 22, lxvi. 12). Both boys and girls in their early years were under the care of the women (Prov. xxxi. 1). Afterwards the boys were taken by the father under his charge. Those in wealthy families had tutors or governors, who were sometimes CHILEAB 95 CHRISTIAN eunuchs (Num. xi. 12; 2 K. x. 1. 5; Is. xlix. 23 ; Gal. iii. 24 ; Esth. ii. 7). Daughters usually remained in the women’s apartments till marriage, or, among the poorer classes, were employed in household work (Lev. xxi. 9 ; Num. xii. 14 ; 1 Sam. ix. 11 ; Prov. xxxi. 19, 23 ; Ecclus. vii. 25, xlii. 9 ; 2 Macc. iii. 19). The firstborn male children were regarded as devoted to God, and were to he redeemed by an offering (Ex. xiii. 13 ; Num. xviii. 15 ; Luke ii. 22). The authority of parents, especially of the father, over children was very great, as was also the reverence enjoined by the law to he paid to parents. The disobedient child, the striker or reviler of a parent, was liable to capital punishment, though not at the independent will of the parent. The inheritance was divided equally between all the sons except the eldest, who received a double portion (Deut. xxi. 17 ; Gen. xxv. 31, xlix. 3 ; 1 Chr. v. 1, 2 ; Judg. xi. 2, 7). Daughters had by right no portion in the inheritance ; but if a man had no son, his inheritance passed to his daughters, who were forbidden to marry out of their father’s tribe (Num. xxvii. 1, 8, xxxvi. 2, 8). CHIL'EAB. [Abigail.] CHIM'HAM, a follower, and probably a son of Barzillai the Gileadite, who returned from beyond Jordan with David (2 Sam. xix. 37, 38, 40). David appears to have be- stowed on him a possession at Bethlehem, on which, in later times, an inn or Khan was standing (Jer. xli. 17). CHIN'NERETH, SEA OF (Num. xxxiv. 11 ; Josh. xiii. 27), the inland sea, which is most familiarly known to us as the “ lake of Gennesareth.” It seems likely that Chinne- reth was an ancient Canaanite name existing long prior to the Israelite conquest. CHINOS. The position of this island in re- ference to the neighbouring islands and coasts could hardly be better described than in the detailed account of St. Paul’s return voyage from Troas to Caesarea (Acts xx. xxi.). Having come from Assos to Mitylene in Lesbos (xx. 14), he arrived the next day over against Chios (v. 15), the next day at Samos and tarried at Trogy Ilium (ib.) : and the following day at Miletus (ib.) : thence he went by Cos and Rhodes to Patara (xxi. 1). Chios is separated from the mainland by a strait of only 5 miles. Its length is about 32 miles, and in breadth it varies from 8 to 18. CHIS'LEU. [Months.] CHIT'TIM, KITTIM, a family or race de- scended from Javan (Gen. x. 4 ; 1 Chr. i. 7 ; A. V. Kittim), closely related to the Dodanim, and remotely to the other descendants of J avan. Chittim is frequently noticed in Scrip- ture i Balaam predicts that a fleet should thence proceed for the destruction of Assyria (Num. xxiv. 24) : in Is. xxiii. 1, 12, it appears as the resort of the fleets of Tyre : in Jer. ii. 10, the “isles of Chittim” are to the far west, as Kedar to the east of Palestine : the Tyrians procured thence the cedar or box- wood, which they inlaid with ivory for the decks of their vessels (Ez. xxvii. 6) : in Dan xi. 30, “ ships of Chittim ” advance to the south to meet the king of the north. At a later period we find Alexander the Great de- scribed as coming from the land of Chettiim (1 Macc. i. 1), and Perseus as king of the Citims (1 Macc. viii. 5). Josephus considered Cyprus as the original seat of the Chittim, adducing as evidence the name of its prin- cipal town, Citium. Citium was without doubt a Phoenician town. From the town the name extended to the whole island of Cyprus, which was occupied by Phoenician colonies. The name Chittim, which in the first instance had applied to Phoenicians only, passed over to the islands which they had occupied, and thence to the people who suc- ceeded the Phoenicians in the occupation of them. Thus in Macc., Chittim evidently = Macedonia. CHI'UN. [Remphan.] CHLO'E, a woman mentioned in 1 Cor. i. 11. CHORA'ZIN, one of the cities in which our Lord’s mighty works were done, but named only in His denunciation (Matt. xi. 21 ; Luke x. 13). St. Jerome describes it as on the shore of the lake, two miles from Capernaum, but its modern site is uncertain. CHRIST. [Jesus.] CHRISTIAN. The disciples, we are told (Acts xi. 26), were first called Christians at Antioch on the Orontes, somewhere about a.d. 43. The name, and the place where it was conferred, are both significant. It is clear that the appellation “ Christian ” was one which could not have been assumed by the Christians themselves. They were known to each other as brethren of one family, as disciples of the same Master, as believers in the same faith, and as distinguished by the same endeavours after holiness and consecra- tion of life ; and so were called brethren (Acts xv. 1, 23 ; 1 Cor. vii. 12), disciples (Acts ix. 26, xi. 29), believers (Acts v. 14), saints (Rom. viii. 27, xv. 25). But the outer world could know nothing of the true force and significance of these terms. To the con- temptuous Jew they were Nazarenes and Galilaeans, names which carried with them the infamy and turbulence of the places whence they sprung, and from whence no- thing good and no prophet might come. The Jews could add nothing to the scorn which CHRONICLES 96 CHRONICLES these names expressed, and had they endea- voured to do so they would not have defiled the glory of their Messiah by applying his title to those whom they could not hut regard as the followers of a pretender. The name “ Christian,” then, which, in the only other cases where it appears in the N. T. (Acts xxvi. 28; 1 Pet. iv. 16), is used con- temptuously, could not have been applied by the early disciples to themselves, nor could it have come to them from their own nation the Jews ; it must, therefore, have been imposed upon them by the Gentile world, and no place could have so appropriately given rise to it as Antioch, where the first Church was planted among the heathen. Its inhabitants were celebrated for their wit and a propensity for conferring nicknames. The Emperor Julian himself was not secure from their jests. Apollonius of Tyana was driven from the city by the insults of the inhabitants. Their wit, however, was often harmless enough ; and there is no reason to suppose that the name “ Christian ” of itself was intended as a term of scurrility or abuse, though it would natu- rally be used with contempt. Suidas says the name was given in the reign of Claudius, when Peter appointed Evodius bishop of Antioch, and they who were formerly called Nazarenes and Galilaeans had their name changed to Christians. CHRONICLES, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF, the name originally given to the record made by the appointed historiographers in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In the LXX. these books are called Paralipomena (i. e. things omitted), which is understood as meaning that they are supplementary to the books of Kings. The Yulgate retains both *,he Hebrew and Greek name in Latin cha- racters, Bib re jammim, or hajamim, and Paralipomenon. The constant tradition of the Jews is that these books were for the most part compiled by Ezra. In fact, the internal evidence as to the time when the book of Chronicles was compiled, seems to tally remarkably with the tradition concern- ing its authorship. As regards the plan of the book, of which the book of Ezra is a con- tinuation, forming one work, it becomes ap- parent immediately we consider it as the compilation of Ezra or some one nearly con- temporary with him. One of the greatest difficulties connected with the captivity and the return must have been the maintenance of that genealogical distribution of the lands which yet was a vital point of the Jewish economy. Another difficulty intimately con- nected with the former was the maintenance of the temple services at Jerusalem. This could only be effected by the residence of the priests and Levites in Jerusalem in the ordei of their courses : and this residence was only practicable in case of the payment of the ap- pointed tithes, first-fruits, and other offerings. But then again the registers of the Levitical genealogies were necessary, in order that it might be known who were entitled to such and such allowances, as porters, as singers, as priests, and so on ; because all these offices went by families ; and again the payment of the tithes, first-fruits, &c., was dependent upon the different families of Israel being established each in his inheritance. Obviously therefore one of the most pressing wants of the Jewish community after their return from Babylon would be trusty genealogical records. But further, not only had Zerubbabel, and after him Ezra and Nehemiah, laboured most earnestly to restore the temple and the public worship of God there to the condition it had been in under the kings of Judah; but it ap- pears clearly from their policy, and from the language of the contemporary prophets t Haggai and Zechariah, that they had it much at heart to re-infuse something of national life and spirit into the heart of the people, and to make them feel that they were still the inheritors of God’s covenanted mercies, and that the captivity had only temporarily inter- rupted, not dried up, the stream of God’s favour to their nation. Now nothing could more effectually aid these pious and patriotic designs than setting before the people a com- pendious history of the kingdom of David, which should embrace a full account of its prosperity, should trace the sins which led to its overthrow, should carry the thread through the period of the captivity, and con- tinue it as it were unbroken on the other side ; and those passages in their former his- tory would be especially important which exhibited their greatest and best kings as engaged in building or restoring the temple, in reforming all corruptions in religion, and zealously regulating the services of the house of God. As regards the kingdom of Israel or Samaria, seeing it had utterly and hopelessly passed away, and that the existing inhabitants were among the bitterest “ adversaries of Judah and Benjamin,” it would naturally en- gage very little of the compiler’s attention. These considerations explain exactly the plan and scope of that historical work which con- sists of the two books of Chronicles and the book of Ezra. For after having in the first eight chapters given the genealogical divisions and settlements of the various tribes, the compiler marks distinctly his own age and his own purpose, by informing us in ch. ix. 1 of the disturbance of those settlements by the Babylonish captivity, and, in the follow- CHRYSOLITE 97 CHURCH ing verses, of the partial restoration of them at the return from Babylon (2-24) ; and that this list refers to the families who had re- turned from Babylon is clear, not only from the context, but from its reinsertion, Neh. xi. 3-22, with additional matter evidently ex- tracted from the public archives, and relating to times subsequent to the return from Babylon, extending to Neh. xii. 27, where Nehemiah’s narrative is again resumed in continuance with Neh. xi. 2. Having thus shown the re-establishment of the returned families, each in their own inheritance ac- cording to the houses of their fathers, the compiler proceeds to the other part of his plan, which is to give a continuous history of the kingdom of Judah from David to his own times, introduced by the closing scene of Saul’s life (ch. x.), which introduction is itself prefaced by a genealogy of the house of Saul (ix. 35-44). As regards the materials used by Ezra, they are not difficult to discover. The genealogies are obviously transcribed from some register, in which were preserved the genealogies of the tribes and families drawn up at different times ; while the history is mainly drawn from the same documents as those used in the Books of Kings. [Kings, Books ^f.] CHRYSOLITE, one of the precious stones in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 20). It has been already stated [Beryl] that the chrysolite of the ancients is identical with the modern Oriental topaz, the tarshish of the Hebrew Bible. CHRYSOPRASE occurs only in Rev. xxi. 20. The true chrysoprase is sometimes found in antique Egyptian jewellery set alter- nately with hits of lapis-lazuli ; it is not im- probable therefore that this is the stone which was the tenth in the walls of the j heavenly Jerusalem. CHUB, the name of a people in alliance with Egypt in the time of Nebuchadnezzar (Ez. xxx. 5), and probably of northern Africa, or of the lands near Egypt to the South. CHUN, a city of Hadadezer (1 Chr. xviii. 8), called Berothai in 2 Sam. viii. 8. CHURCH. I. The derivation of the word church is uncertain. It is generally said to be derived from the Greek kuriakon (wpiaKov), “ belonging to the Lord.” But the derivation has been too hastily assumed. It is probably connected with kirk , the Latin circus, cir cu- ius, the Greek kuklos (kvkAos). — II. Ecclesia ( €KK\r)aCa ), the Greek word for Church, originally meant an assembly called out by the magistrate, or by legitimate authority. This is the ordinary classical sense of the word. But it throws no light on the nature of the institution so designated in the New Sm. D. B. Testament. For to the writers of the N.T. the word had now lost its primary significa- tion, and was either used generally for any meeting (Acts xix. 32), or more particularly, it denoted ( 1 ) the religious assemblies of the Jews (Deut. iv. 10, xviii. 16) ; (2) the whole assembly or congregation of the Israelitish people (Acts vii. 38 ; Heb. ii. 12 ; Ps. xxii. 22; Deut. xxxi. 30). It was in this last sense that the word was adopted and applied by the writers of the N. T. to the Christian congregation. The chief difference between the words “ ecclesia ” and “ church,” would probably consist in this, that “ ecclesia ” primarily signified the Christian body, and secondarily the place of assembly, while the first signification of “ church ” was the place of assembly, which imparted its name to the body of worshippers. — III. The Church as described in the Gospels . — The word occurs only twice. Each time in St. Matthew (Matt, xvi. 18, “On this rock will I build my Church;” xviii. 17, “Tell it unto the Church ”). In every other case it is spoken of as “ the kingdom of heaven ” by St. Matthew, and as “ the kingdom of God ” by St. Mark and St. Luke. St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, never use the expression “ kingdom of heaven.” St. John once uses the phrase “ kingdom of God ” (iii. 3). St. Matthew occasionally speaks of “the king- dom of God” (vi. 33, xxi. 31, 43), and sometimes simply of “ the kingdom” (iv. 23, xiii. 19, xxiv. 14). In xiii. 41 and xvi. 28, it is “ the Son of Man’s kingdom.” In xx. 21, “thy kingdom,” i. e, Christ’s. In the one Gospel of St. Matthew the Church is spoken of no less than thirty-six times as “the kingdom.” Other descriptions or titles are hardly found in the Evangelists. It is Christ’s household (Matt. x. 25), the salt and light of the world (v. 13, 15), Christ’s flock (Matt. xxvi. 31 ; John x. 1), its members are the branches growing on Christ the Vine (John xv.) ; but the general description of it, not metaphorically but directly, is, that it is a kingdom (Matt. xvi. 19). From the Gospel then, we learn that Christ was about to establish His heavenly kingdom, on earth, which was to be the substitute for the Jewish Church and kingdom, now doomed to destruc; tion (Matt. xxi. 43). — IV. The Church as described in the Acts and in the Epistles — its Origin , Nature , and Constitution. — From the Gospels we learn little in the way of detail as to the kingdom which was to be established. It was in the great forty days which inter- vened between the Resurrection and the Ascension that our Lord explained specifically to His Apostles “the things pertaining to the kingdom p? God ” (Acts i. 3), that is, his F CHURCH 98 CHURCH future Church. — Its Origin. — The removal of Christ from the earth had left his followers a shattered company with no bond of external or internal cohesion, except the memory of the Master whom they had lost, and the recollection of his injunctions to unity and love. They continued together, meeting for prayer and supplication, and waiting for Christ’s promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. They numbered in all some 140 persons, namely, the eleven, the faithful women, the Lord’s mother, his brethren, and 120 disciples. They had faith to believe that there was a work before them which they were about to be called to perform ; and that they might be ready to do it, they filled up the number of the Twelve by the appointment of Matthias “ to be a true witness ” with the eleven “ of the Resurrection.” The Day of Pentecost is the birth-day of the Christian Church. The Spirit, who was then sent by the Son from the Father, and rested on each of the Disciples, combined them once more into a whole — combined them as they never had before been combined, by an internal and spiritual bond of cohesion. Before they had been individual followers of Jesus, now they became his mystical body, animated by His Spirit. — Its Nature. — “ Then they that gladly received his word were baptized .... and they continued stedfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers ” (Acts ii. 41). Here we have indirectly exhibited the essential conditions of Church Communion. They are (1) Baptism, Baptism implying on the part of the recipient repentance and faith ; (2) Apostolic Doctrine ; (3) Fellowship with the Apostles; (4) the Lord’s Supper ; (5) Public Worship. Every requisite for church-mem- bership is here enumerated not only for the Apostolic days, but for future ages. St. Luke’s treatise being historical, not dogma- tical, he does not directly enter further into the essential nature of the Church. The community of goods, which he describes as being universal amongst the members of the infant society (ii. 44, iv. 32), is specially declared to be a voluntary practice (v. 4), not a necessary duty of Christians as such (comp. Acts ix. 36, 39, xi. 29). From the illustrations adopted by St. Paul in his Epistles, we have additional light thrown upon the nature of the Church. The passage which is most illustrative of our sub- ject in the Epistles is Eph. iv. 3, 6. Here we see what it is that constitutes the unity of the Church in the mind of the Apostle : (1) unity of Headship, “ one Lord (2) unity of belief, “one faith;” (3) unity of Sacra- ments, “ one baptism : ” (4) unity of hope of eternal life, “ one hope of your calling ;” (5) unity of love, “ unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ; ” (6) unity of organisation, “one body.” The Church, then, at this period was a body of baptized men and women who believed in Jesus as the Christ, and in the revelation made by Him, who were united by having the same faith, hope, and animating Spirit of love, the same Sacra- ments, and the same spiritual invisible Head. — What was the Constitution of this body ? — On the evening of the Day of Pentecost, the 3140 members of which it consisted were (1) Apostles, (2) previous Disciples, (3) converts. At this time the Church was not only morally but actually one congregation. Soon, how- ever, its numbers grew so considerably that it was a physical impossibility that all its members should come together in one spot. It became, therefore, an aggregate of con- gregations, though without losing its essential unity. The Apostles, who had been closest to the Lord Jesus in his life on earth would doubtless have formed the centres of the several congregations. Thus the Church continued for apparently some seven years, but at the end of that time “ the number of disciples was ” so greatly “multiplied” (Acts vi. 1) that the twelve Apostles found them- selves to be too few to carry out these works unaided. They thereupon for the first time exercised the powers of mission intrusted to them (John xx. 21), and by laying their hands on the Seven who were recommended to them by the general body of Christians, they appointed them to fulfil the secular task of distributing the common stock. It is a question which cannot be certainly answered whether the office of these Seven is to be identified with that of the deacons elsewhere found. We incline to the hypothesis which makes the Seven the originals of the Deacons. From this time therefore, or from about this time, there existed in the Church — (1) the Apostles ; (2) the Deacons and Evangelists ; (3) the multitude of the faithful. We hear of no other Church-officer till the year 44, seven years after the appointment of the deacons. We find that there were then in the Church of Jerusalem officers named Presbyters (xi. 30) who were the assistants of James, the chief administrator of that Church (xii. 17). The circumstances of their first appointment are not recounted. No doubt they were similar to those under which the Deacons were appointed. The name of Presbyter or Elder implies {hat the men selected were of mature age. By the year 44, therefore, there were in the Church of Jerusalem — (1) the Apostles holding the government of the whole body in their own CHURCH 09 CINNEROTH hands : (2) Presbyters invested by the Apostles with authority for conducting public worship in each congregation ; (3) Deacons or Evangelists similarly invested with the lesser power of preaching and of baptizing unbelievers, and of distributing the common goods among the brethren. The same order was established in‘ the Gentile Churches founded by St. Paul, the only difference being that those who were called Presbyters in Jerusalem bore indifferently the name of Bishops (Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1,2; Tit. i. 7) or of Presbyters (1 Tim. v. 17 ; Tit. i. 5) elsewhere. It was in the Church of Jerusa- lem that another order of the ministry found its exempler. James the brother of the Lord remained unmolested during the perse- cution of Herod Agrippa in the year 44, and from this time he is the acknowledged head of the Church of Jerusalem. A consideration of Acts xii. 17, xv. 13, 19 ; Gal. ii. 2, 9, 12 ; Acts xxi. 18, will remove all doubt on this point. Whatever his pre-eminence was, he appears to have borne no special title indi- cating it. The example of the Mother Church of Jerusalem was again followed by the Pauline Churches. Timothy and Titus had probably no distinctive title, but it is impossible to read the Epistles addressed to' them without seeing that they had an authority superior to that of the ordinary bishops or priests (1 Tim. iii., v. 17, 19 ; Tit. i. 5). Thus, then, we see that where the Apostles were themselves able to superintend the Churches that they had founded, the Church-officers consisted of — (1) Apostles; (2) Bishops or Priests ; (3) Deacons and Evangelists. When the Apostles were unable to give personal superintendence, they delegated that power which they had in common to one of themselves, as in Jerusa- lem, or to one in whom they had confidence, as at Ephesus and in Crete. As the Apostles died off, these Apostolic Delegates necessarily multiplied. By the end of the first century, when St. John was the only Apostle that now survived, they would have been esta- blished in every country, as Crete, and in every large town where there were several bishops or priests, such as the seven towns of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation. These superintendents appear to be addressed by St. John under the name of Angels. With St. John’s death the Apostolic College was extinguished, and the Apostolic Delegates or Angels were left to fill their places in the government of the Church, not with the full unrestricted power of the Apostles, but with authority only to be exercised in limited dis- tricts. In the next century we find that these officers bore the name of Bishops, while those who in the first century were called indifferently Presbyters or Bishops had now only the title of Presbyters. We conclude, therefore, that the title bishop was gradually dropped by the second order of the ministry, and applied specifically to those who repre- sented what James, Timothy, and Titus had been in the Apostolic age. CHU SH r AN -RISH ATHA’IM, the king of Mesopotamia who oppressed Israel during eight years in the generation immediately following Joshua (Judg. iii. 8). The seat of his dominion was probably the region between the Euphrates and the Khabour. Chushan- Rishathaim’s yoke was broken from the neck of the people of Israel at the end of eight years by Othniel, Caleb’s nephew (Judg. iii. 10), and nothing more is heard of Mesopo- tamia as an aggressive power. The rise of the Assyrian empire, about b.c. 1270, would naturally reduce the bordering nations to insignificance. CHU'ZA (properly CHUZAS), the house- steward of Herod Antipas (Luke viii. 3). CILIC'IA, a maritime province in the S.E. of Asia Minor, bordering on Pamphylia in the W., Lycaonia and Cappadocia in the N., and Syria in the E. The connexion between the Jews and Cilicia dates from the time when it became part of the Syrian kingdom. In the Apostolic age they were still there in considerable numbers (Acts vi. 9). Cilicia was from its geographical position the high road between Syria and the West, it was also the native country of St. Paul ; hence it was visited by him, firstly, soon after his conversion (Gal. i. 21 ; Acts ix. 30) ; and again in his second apostolical journey, when he entered it on- the side of Syria, and crossed Antitaurus by the Pylae Ciliciae into Lycaonia (Acts xv. 41). CINNAMON, a well-known aromatic sub- stance, the rind of the Laurus cinnamomum , called Korunda-gauhdh in Ceylon. It is mentioned in Ex. xxx. 23 as one of the com- ponent parts of the holy anointing oil, which Moses was commanded to prepare — in Prov. vii. 17 as a perfume for the bed — and in Cant. iv. 14 as one of the plants of the garden which is the image of the spouse. In Rev. xviii. 13 it is enumerated among the merchandise of the great Babylon. It was imported into Judaea by the Phoenicians or by the Arabians, and is now found in Suma- tra, Borneo, China, &c., but chiefly, and of the best quality, in the S.W. part of Ceylon. CIN r NEROTH, ALL, a district named with the “land of Naphtali” and other northern places as having been laid waste by Benhadad (1 K. xv. 20). It was possibly I the small enclosed district north of Tiberias* H 2 CIRCUMCISION 100 CITIES OF REFUGE and by the side of the lake, afterwards known as “ the plain of Gennesareth.” CIRCUMCISION was peculiarly, though not exclusively, a Jewish rite. It was enjoined upon Abraham, the father of the nation, by God, at the institution, and as the token, of the Covenant, which assured to him and his descendants the promise of the Messiah (Gen. xvii.). It was thus made a necessary condition of Jewish nationality. Every male child was to be circumcised when eight days old (Lev. xii. 3) on pain of death. If the eighth day were a Sabbath the rite was not postponed (John vii. 22, 23). Slaves, whether homeborn or purchased, were cir- cumcised (Gen. xvii. 12, 13) ; and foreigners must have their males circumcised before they could be allowed to partake of the passover (Ex. xii. 48), or become Jewish citizens. It seems to have been customary to name a child when it was circumcised (Luke i. 59). The use of circumcision by other nations besides the Jews is to be gathered almost entirely from sources ex- \ traneous to the Bible. The rite has been found to prevail extensively both in ancient and modern times. The biblical notice of the rite describes it as distinctively Jewish ; so that in the N. T. “ the circumcision ” and “ the uncircumcision ” are frequently used as synonyms for the Jews and the Gentiles. Circumcision certainly belonged to the Jews as it did to no other people, by virtue of its divine institution, of the religious privileges which were attached to it, and of the strict regulations which enforced its observance. Moreover, the O.T. history incidently discloses the fact that many, if not all, of the nations with whom they came in contact were uncir- cumcised. The origin of the custom amongst one large section of those Gentiles who follow it, is to be found in the biblical record of the circumcision of Ishmael (Gen. xvii. 25). Though Mohammed did not enjoin circum- cision in the Koran, he was circumcised him- self, according to the custom of his country ; and circumcision is now as common amongst the Mohammedans as amongst the Jews. The process of restoring a circumcised person to his natural condition by a surgical operation was sometimes undergone. Some of the Jews in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, wishing to assimilate themselves to the heathen around them, “ made themselves uncircumcised ” (1 Macc. i. 15). Against having recourse to this practice, from an excessive anti-Judaistic tendency, St. Paul cautions the Corinthians (1 Cor. vii. 18). The attitude which Christianity, at its intro- duction, assumed towards circumcision was one of absolute hostility, so far as the necessiiy of the rife to salvation, or its possession of any religious or moral worth were concerned (Acts xv. ; Gal. v. 2). The Abyssinian Christians still practise circum- cision as a national custom. CIS, the father of Saul (Acts xiii* 21), usually called Kish. CISTERN, a receptacle for water, either conducted from an external spring, or pro- ceeding from rainfall. The dryness of the summer months between May and September, in Syria, and the scarcity of springs in many parts of the country, make it necessary to collect in reservoirs and cisterns the rain- water, of which abundance falls in the inter- mediate period. The larger sort of public tanks or reservoirs are usually called in A. V. “ pool,” while for the smaller and more private it is convenient to reserve the name cistern. Both pools and cisterns are frequent throughout the whole of Syria and Palestine. On the long forgotten way from Jericho to Bethel, “ broken cisterns ” of high antiquity are found at regular intervals. Jerusalem depends mainly for water upon its cisterns, of which almost every private house possesses one or more, excavated in the rock on which the city is built. The cisterns have usually a round opening at the top, sometimes built up with stonework above and furnished with a curb and a wheel for the bucket (Eccl. xii. 6), so that they have externally much the appearance of an ordinary well. The water is conducted into them from the roofs of the houses during the rainy season, and with care remains sweet during the whole summer and autumn. In this manner most of the larger houses and public buildings are supplied. Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons and places of confinement. Joseph was cast into a “ pit ” (Gen. xxxvii. 22), and his “ dungeon ” in Egypt is called by the same name (xii. 14). Jeremiah was thrown into a miry though empty cistern, whose depth is indicated by the cords used to let him down (Jer. xxxviii. 6). CITHERN (1 Macc. iv. 54), a musical instrument, resembling a guitar, most pro- bably of Greek origin, employed by the Chaldeans, and introduced by the Hebrews into Palestine on their return thither after the Babylonian captivity. CITIES OF REFUGE. Six Levitical cities specially chosen for refuge to the involuntary homicide until released from banishment by the death of the high-priest (Num. xxxv. 6, 13, 15 ; Josh. xx. 2 , 7, 9). There were three on each side of Jordan. 1. Kedesh, in Naphtali (1 Chr. vi. 76). 2. Shechem, in Mount Ephraim (Josh. xxi. 21 ; 1 Chr. vi. 67 ; 2 Chr. x. 1). 3. Hebron, in Judah CITIMS 01 CLOUD (Josli. xxi. 13 ; 2 Sam. v. 5 ; 1 Chr. vi. 55, xxix. 27 ; 2 Chr. xi. 10). 4. On the E. side of Jordan — Bezer, in the tribe of Reuben, in the plains of Moab (Deut. iv. 43 ; Josh. xx. 8, xxi. 36 ; 1 Macc. v. 26). 5. Ramoth-Gilead, in the tribe of Gad (Deut. iv. 43 ; Josh. xxi. 38 ; 1 K. xxii. 3). 6. Golan, in Bashan, in the half-tribe of Manasseh (Deut. iv. 43 ; Josh. xxi. 27 ; 1 i Chr. vi. 71). CIT'IMS, 1 Macc. viii. 5. [Chittim.] CITIZENSHIP. The use of this term in j Scripture has exclusive reference to tht- usages of the Roman empire. The privilege cf Roman citizenship was originally acquired ;n various ways, as by purchase (Acts xxii. 28), by military services, by favour, or by manumission. The right once obtained de- scended to a man’s children (Acts xxii. 28). Among the privileges attached to citizenship, we may note that a man could not be bound or imprisoned without a formal trial (Acts xxii. 29), still less be scourged (Acts xvi. 37 ; Cic. in Verr . v. 63, 66). Another privilege attaching to citizenship was the appeal from a provincial tribunal to the emperor at Rome (Acts xxv. 11). CITRON. [Apple Tree.] CLAUDA (Acts xxvii. 16), a small island nearly due W. of Cape Matala on the S. coast of Crete, and nearly due S. of Phoenice, now Gozzo. CLAU'DIA, a Christian woman mentioned j in 2 Tim. iv. 21, as saluting Timotheus. I There is reason for supposing that this Claudia was a British maiden, daughter of ‘ king Cogidubnus, an ally of Rome, who took the name of his imperial patron, Tiberius Claudius. She appears to have become the wife of Pudens, who is mentioned in the same verse. CLAU'DIUS, fourth Roman emperor, reigned from 41 to 54 a.d. He was the son of Nero Drusus, was born in Lyons Aug. 1, b.c. 9 or 10, and lived private and unknown till the day of his being called to the throne, January 24, a.d. 41. He was nominated to the supreme power mainly through the | influence of Herod Agrippa the First, Inj the reign of Claudius there were several | famines, arising from unfavourable harvests, and one such occurred in Palestine and Syria (Acts xi. 28-30) under the procurators Cuspius Fadus and Tiberius Alexander, which perhaps lasted some years. Claudius was induced by a tumult of the Jew’s in Rome, to expel them from the city (cf. Acts xviii. 2). The date of this event is uncertain. After a weak and foolish reign he was poisoned by his fourth wife Agrippina, the mother o'* Nero, Oct. 13, a.d. 54. CLAU'DIUS LYS'IAS. [Lysias.] CLAY. As the sediment of water remain- ing in pits or in streets, the word is used frequently in O. T. (Is. lvii. 20 ; Jer. xxxviii. 6 ; Ps. xviii. 42), and in N. T. (John ix. 6), a mixture of sand or dust with spittle. It is also found in the sense of potter’s clay (Is. xli. 25). The great seat of the pottery of the present day in Palestine is Gaza, where are made the vessels in dark blue clay so frequently met with. Another use of clay was for sealing (Job xxxviii. 14). Wine jars in Egypt were sometimes sealed with clay ; mummy pits were sealed with th*. same substance, and remains of clay are still found adhering to the stone door-jambs. Our Lord’s tomb may have been thus sealed (Matt, xxvii. 66), as also the earthen vessel containing the evidences of Jeremiah’s pur- chase (Jer. xxxii. 14). The seal used for public documents was rolled on the moist clay, and the tablet was then placed in the fire and baked. The practice of sealing doors with clay to facilitate detection in case of malpractice is still common in the East. CLEM'ENT (Phil. iv. 3), a fellow-labourer of St. Paul, when he was at Philippi. It was generally believed in the ancient church, that this Clement was identical with the Bishop of Rome, who afterwards became so cele- brated. CLE'OPAS, one of the two disciples who were going to Emmaus cn the day of the re- surrection (Luke xxiv. 18). It is a question whether this Cleopas is to be considered as identical with Cleophas (accur. Clopas) or Alphaeus in John xix. 25. On the whole, it seems safer to doubt their identity. CLEOPAT'RA. 1. The ‘ ‘ wife of Ptolemy ” (Esth. xi. 1) was probably the granddaughter of Antiochus, and wife of Ptol. YI. Philo- metor. — 2. A daughter of Ptol. YI. Philometor and Cleopatra (1), who was married first to Alexander Balas b.c. 150 (1 Macc. x. 58), and afterwards given by her father to Deme- trius Nicatorwhen he invaded Syria (1 Macc. xi. 12). During the captivity of Demetrius in Parthia, Cleopatra married his brother Antiochus YII. Sidetes. She afterwards mur- dered Seleucus, her eldest son by Demetrius ; and at length was herself poisoned b.c. 120 by a draught which she had prepared for her second son Antiochus YIII. CLE'OPHAS. [Cleopas ; Alphaeus.] CLOTHING. [Dress.] CLOUD. The shelter given, and refresh- ment of rain promised, by clouds, give them their peculiar prominence in Oriental imagery, and the individual cloud in an ordinary cloud- less region becomes well defined and is dwelt upon like the individual tree in the bare CLOUD, PILLAR OF 102 COLOSSE landscape. When a cloud appears, rain is ordinarily apprehended, and thus the “ cloud without rain” becomes a proverb for the man of promise without performance (Prov. xvi. 15; Is. xviii. 4, xxv. 5; Jude 12; comp. Prov. xxv. 14). The cloud is a figure of transitoriness (Job xxx. 15 ; Hos. vi. 4), and of whatever intercepts di\ine favour or human supplication (Lam. ii. 1, iii. 44). Being the least substantial of visible forms, it is the one amongst material things which suggests most easily spiritual being. Hence it is the recog- nised machinery by which supernatural ap- pearances are introduced (Is. xix. 1 ; Ez. i. 4 ; Rev. i. 7). A bright cloud, at any rate at times, visited and rested on the Mercy Seat (Ex. xxix. 42, 43 ; 1 K. viii. 10, 11 ; 2 Chr. v. 14 ; Ez. xliii. 4) and was by later writers named Shechinah. CLOUD, PILLAR OF. This was the active form of the symbolical glory-cloud, betoken- ing God’s presence to lead His chosen host, or to inquire and visit offences, as the luminous cloud of the sanctuary exhibited the same under an aspect of repose. The cloud, which became a pillar when the host moved, seems to have rested at other times on the tabernacle, whence God is said to have “ come down in the pillar ” (Num. xii. 5 ; so Ex. xxxiii. 9, 10). It preceded the host, apparently resting on the ark which led the way (Ex. xiii. 21, xl. 36, &c. ; Num. ix. 15-23, x. 34). CNI'DUS is mentioned in 1 Macc. xv. 23, as one of the Greek cities which contained Jewish residents in the 2nd century b.c., and in Acts xxvii. 7, as a harbour which was passed by 3t. Paul after leaving Myra, and before running under the lee of Crete. It was a city of great consequence, situated at the extreme S.W. of the peninsula of Asia Minor, on a promontory now called Cape Crio , which projects between the islands of Cos and Rhodes (see Acts xxi. 1). COAT. [Dress.] COCK. In the N. T. the “ cock” is men- tioned in reference to St. Peter’s denial of our Lord, and indirectly in the word “ cock- crowing” (Matt. xxvi. 34 ; Mark xiv. 30, xiii. 35, &c.). We know that the domestic cock and hen were early known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and as no mention is made in the O. T. of these birds, and no figures of them occur on the Egyptian monu- ments, they probably came into Judaea with the Romans, who, as is well known, prized these birds both as articles of food and for coek -fighting. COCKATRICE. [Adder.] COCKLE (Heb. boshah ) occurs only in Job xxxi. 40. We are inclined to believe that the bosliah denotes any bad weeds or fruit, and may in Job signify bad or smutted barley. COELE-SYR'IA, “the hollow Syria,” was (strictly speaking) the name given by the Greeks, after the time of Alexander, to the remarkable valley or hollow which intervenes between Libanus and Anti-Libanus, stretch- ing a distance of nearly a hundred miles. But the term was also used in a much wider sense. In the first place it was extended so as to include the inhabited tract to the east of the Anti-Libanus range, between it and the desert, in which stood the great city of Damascus ; and then it was further carried on upon that side of Jordan, through Tra- chonitis and Peraea, to Idumaea and the borders of Egypt. The only distinct refer- ence to the region, as a separate tract of country, which the Jewish Scriptures con- tain, is probably that in Amos (i. 5), where “the inhabitants of the plain of Aven” are threatened in conjunction with those of Damascus. In the Apocryphal Books there is frequent mention of Coele-Syria in a some- what vague sense, nearly as an equivalent for Syria (1 Esd. ii. 17, 24, 27, iv. 48, vi. 29, vii. 1, viii. 67 ; 1 Macc. x. 69 ; 2 Macc. iii. 5, 8, iv. 4, viii. 8, x. 11). In all these cases the word is given in A. V. as Celosyria. COFFIN. [Burial.] COLLEGE, THE. In 2 K. xxii. 14 it is said in the A. V. that Huldah the prophetess “ dwelt in Jerusalem in the college ” (Heb. mishneh ), or, as the margin has it, “in the second part.” The same part of the city is undoubtedly alluded to in Zeph. i. 10 (A. V. “the second”). It is probable that the mishneh was the “ lower city,” built on the hill Akra. COLONY, a designation of Philippi, in Acts xvi. 12. After the battle of Actium, Augustus assigned to his veterans those parts of Italy which had espoused the cause of Antony, and transported many of the ex- pelled inhabitants to Philippi, Dyrraehium, and other cities. In this way Philippi was made a Roman colony with the “Jus Ita- licum.” COLOS'SE (more properly COLOS'SAE), a city in the upper part of the bg^in of the Maeander, on one of its affluents named the Lycus. Hierapolis and Laodicaea were in its immediate neighbourhood (Col. ii. 1, iv. 13, 15, 16 ; see Rev. i. 11, iii. 14). Colossae fell, as these other two cities rose in import- ance. It was situated close to the great road which led from Ephesus to the Euphrates. Hence our impulse would be to conclude that St. Paul passed this way, and founded or confirmed the Colossian Church on his third missionary journey ''Acts xviii. 23, xix. 1). COLOSSAE, COLOSSIANS, EPISTLE TO THE 103 CONEY The most competent commentators, however, agree in thinking that Col. ii. 1, proves that St. Paul had never been there, when the Epistle was written. That the Apostle hoped to visit the place on being delivered from his Roman imprisonment is clear from Phi- lemon 22 (compare Phil. ii. 24). COLOSSIANS, THE EPISTLE TO THE, was written by the Apostle St. Paul during his first captivity at Rome (Acts xxviii. 16), and apparently in that portion of it (Col. iv. 3, 4) when the Apoctle’s imprisonment had not assumed the more severe character which seems to be reflected in the Epistle to the Philippians (ch. i. 20, 21, 30, ii. 27), and which not improbably succeeded the death of Burrus in a.d. 62, and the decline of the influence of Seneca. This epistle was ad- dressed to the Christians of the city of Colos- sae, and was delivered to them by Tychicus, whom the Apostle had sent both to them (ch. iv. 7, 8) and to the church of Ephesus (ch. vi. 21), to inquire into their state and to administer exhortation and comfort. The epistle seems to have been called forth by the information St. Paul had received from Epaphras (ch. iv. 12 ; Philem. 23) and from Onesimus, both of whom appear to have been natives of Colossae. The main object of the epistle is to warn the Colossians against a spirit of semi-Judaistic and semi-Oriental philosophy which was corrupting the simpli- city of their belief, and was noticeably tend- ing to obscure the eternal glory and dignity of Christ. The striking similarity between many portions of this epistle and of that of the Ephesians may be accounted for, (1) by the proximity in time at which the two epis- tles were written; (2) by the high probabi- lity that in two cities of Asia within a mo- derate distance from one another, there would be many doctrinal prejudices, and many social relations, that would call forth and need pre- cisely the same language of warning and ex- hortation. The shorter and perhaps more vividly expressed Epistle to the Colossians seems to have been first written, and to have suggested the more comprehensive, more systematic, but less individualizing, epistle to the church of Ephesus. CONCUBINE. The difference between wife and concubine was less marked among the Hebrews than among us, owing to the absence of moral stigma. The concubine’s condition was a definite one, and quite inde- pendent of the fact of there being another woman having the rights of wife towards the same man. The difference probably lay j in the absence of the right of the bill of di- vorce, without which the wife could not be fepudiated. With regard to the children of ! wife and concubine, there was no such differ- ence as our illegitimacy implies; the latter were a supplementary family to the former, their names occur in the patriarchal gene- alogies (Gen. xxii. 24; 1 Chr. i. 32), and their position and provision would depend on the father’s will (Gen. xxv. 6). The state of concubinage is assumed and provided for by the law of Moses. A concubine would generally be either (1) a Hebrew girl bought of her father ; (2), a gentile captive taken in war; (3), a foreign slave bought, or (4), a Canaanitish woman, bond or free. The rights of (1) and (2) were protected by law (Ex. xxi. 7 ; Deut. xxi. 10-14), but (3) was un- recognised, and (4) prohibited. Free Hebrew women also might become concubines. So Gideon’s concubine seems to have been of a family of rank and influence in Shechem, and such was probably the state of the Levite’s concubine (Judg. xx.). The ravages of war among the male sex, or the impoverishment of families might often induce this condition. The case (1) was not a hard lot (Ex. xxi.). The provisions relating to (2) are merciful and considerate to a rare degree. In the books of Samuel and Kings the concubines mentioned belong to the king, and their con- dition and number cease to be a guide to the general practice. A new king stepped into the lights of his predecessor, and by Solo- mon’s time the custom had approximated to that of a Persian harem (2 Sam. xii. 8, xvi. 21 ; 1 K. ii. 22). To seize on royal concu- bines for his use was thus an usurper’s first act. Such was probably the intent of Ab- ner’s act (2 Sam. iii. 7), and similarly the request on behalf of Adonijah was construed (1 K. ii. 21-24). CONEY, ( Shdphan ), a gregarious animal of the class Pachydermata, which is found in Palestine, living in the caves and clefts of the rocks, and has been erroneously identi- fied with the Rabbit or Coney. Its scientific name is Hyrax Syriacus. In Lev. xi. 5 and in Deut. xiv. 7 it is declared to be unclean, because it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof. In Ps. civ. 18 we are told “the Hyrax Syriacus. (From a specimen in the British Museum, i CONGREGATION 104 CORBAN rocks are a refuge for the coneys,” and in Prov. xxx. 26 that “ the coneys are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” The Hyrax satisfies exactly the ex- pressions in the two last passages. Its colour is grey or brown on the back, white on the belly ; it is like the alpine marmot, scarcely of the size of the domestic cat, having long hair, a very short tail, and round ears. It is found on the Lebanon and in the Jordan and Dead Sea valleys. CONGREGATION. This describes the He- brew people in its collective capacity under its peculiar aspect as a holy community, held together by religious rather than political bonds. Sometimes it is used in a broad sense as inclusive of foreign settlers (Ex. xii. 19) ; but more properly, as exclusively appro- priate to the Hebrew element of the popu- lation (Num. xv. 15). Every circumcised Hebrew was a member of the congregation, and took part in its proceedings, probably from the time that he bore arms. The con- gregation occupied an important position under the Theocracy, as the comitia or na- tional parliament, invested with legislative and judicial powers ; each house, family, and tribe being represented by its head or father. The number of these representatives being inconveniently large for ordinary business, a further selection was made by Moses of 70, who formed a species of standing committee (Num. xi. 16). Occasionally indeed the whole body of the people was assembled at the door of the tabernacle, hence usually called the tabernacle of the congregation (Num. x. 3). The people were strictly bound by the acts of their representatives, even in cases where they disapproved of them (Josh, ix. 18). After the occupation of the land of Canaan, the congregation was assembled only on matters of the highest importance. In the later periods of Jewish history the congregation was represented by the San- hedrim. CONI' AH. [Jeconiah.] CONSECRATION. [Priest.] CONVOCATION. This term is applied in- variably to meetings of a religious character, in contradistinction to congregation. With one exception (Is. i. 13), the word is peculiar to the Pentateuch. CO 'OS, Acts xxi. 1. [Cos.] COPPER, Heb. Nechoslieth , in the A.V. always rendered “brass,” except in Ezr. viii. 27, and Jer. xv. 12. This metal is usually found as pyrites ( sulphur et of copper and iron), malachite (carb. of copper), or in the state of oxide, and occasionally in a native state, principally in the New World. It was almost exclusively used by the ancients for common purposes ; for which its elastic and ductile nature rendered it practically avail- able. We read in the Bible of copper, pos- sessed in countless abundance (2 Chr. iv. 18), and used for every kind of instrument; as chains (Judg. xvi. 21), pillars (1 K. vii. 15- 21), lavers, the great one being called “the copper sea” (2 K. xxv. 13 ; 1 Chr. xviii. 8), and the other temple vessels. These were made in the foundry, with the assistance of Hiram, a Phoenician (1 K. vii. 13), although the Jews were not ignorant of metallurgy (Ez. xxii. 18 ; Deut. iv. 20, &c.), and appear to have worked their own mines (Deut. viii. 9 ; Is. li. 1 ) . W p e read also of copper mirrors (Ex. xxxviii. 8; Job xxxvii. 18), and even of copper arms, as helmets, spears, &c. (1 Sam. xvii. 5, 6, 38 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 16). The expression “bow of steel,” in Job xx. 24; Ps. xviii. 34, should be rendered “ bow of copper.” They could hardly have applied copper to these purposes without possessing some judicious system of alloys, or perhaps some forgotten secret for rendering the metal harder and more elastic than we can make it. The only place in the A. V. where “copper” is mentioned is Ezr. viii. 27 (cf. 1 Esd. viii. 57). These vessels may have been of orichalcum, like the Persian or Indian vases found among the treasures of Darius. In Ez. xxvii 13 the importation of copper vessels to the markets ol Tyre by merchants of Javan, Tubal, and Meshech is alluded to. Probably these were the Moschi, &c., who worked the copper-mines in the neighbour- hood of Mount Caucasus. In 2 Tim. iv. 14 xaA/cevs is rendered “ coppersmith,” but the term is perfectly general. CORAL occurs only, as the somewhat doubtful rendering of the Hebrew rdmoth , in Job xxviii. 18, and in Ez. xxvii. 16. But “ coral ” has decidedly the best claim of any other substances to represent rdmoth. With regard to the estimation in which coral was held by the Jews and other Orientals, it must be remembered that coral varies in price with us. Pliny says that the Indians valued coral as the Romans valued pearls. CORBAN, an offering to God of any sort, bloody or bloodless, but particularly in fulfil- ment of a vow. The law laid down rules for vows, 1. affirmative; 2. negative (Lev. xxvii. ; Num. xxx.). Upon these rules the traditionists enlarged, and laid down that a man might interdict himself by vow, not only from using for himself, but from giving to another, or receiving from him some parti- cular object whether of food or any other kind whatsoever. The thing thus interdicted was considered as Corban. A person might thus exempt himself from any inconvenient CORINTH. CORE 105 CORINTHIANS, FIRST EPISTLE TO obligation under plea of corban. It was prac- tices of this sort that our Lord reprehended (Matt. xv. 5; Mark vii. 11), as annulling the spirit of the law. COR'E, Jude 11. [Korah, 1.] CORIANDER. The plant called Corian- drum sativum is found in Egypt, Persia, and India, and has a round tall stalk ; it bears umbelliferous white or reddish flowers, from which arise globular, greyish, spicy seed- corns, marked with fine striae. It is mentioned twice in the Bible (Ex. xvi. 31 ; Num. xi. 7). CORINTH. This city is alike remarkable for its distinctive geographical position, its eminence in Greek and Roman history, and its close connexion with the early spread of Christianity. Geographically its situation was so marked, that the name of its Isthmus has been given to every narrow neck of land between two seas. But, besides this, the site of Corinth is distinguished by another con- spicuous physical feature — viz. the Acroco- rinthus , a vast citadel of rock, which rises abruptly to the height of 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and the summit of which is so extensive that it once contained a whole town. The situation of Corinth, and the possession of its eastern and western har- bours (Cenchreae and Lechaeum), are the secrets of its history. In the latest pas- sages of Greek history Corinth held a con- spicuous place. It is not the true Greek Corinth with which we have to do in the life of St. Paul, but the Corinth which was re- built and established as a Roman colony. The distinction between the two must be care- fully remembered. The new city was hardly less distinguished than the old, and it ac- quired a fresh importance as the metropolis of the Roman province of Achaia. Corinth was a place of great mental activity, as well as of commercial and manufacturing enter- prise. Its wealth was so celebrated as to be proverbial ; so were the vice and profligacy of its inhabitants. The worship of Yenus here was attended with shameful licentious- ness. All these points are indirectly illus- trated by passages in the two epistles to the Corinthians. Corinth is still an episcopal see. The city has now shrunk to a wretched village, on the old site, and bearing the old name, which, however, is corrupted into Gortho. The Posidonium, or sanctuary of Neptune, the scene of the Isthmian games, from which St. Paul borrows some of his most striking imagery in 1 Cor. and other epistles, was a short distance to the N.E. of Corinth, at the narrowest part of the Isthmus, near the har- bour of Schoenus (now Kalamdki) on the Sa- ronic gulf. The exact site of the temple is doubtful ; but to the south are the remains of the stadium, where the foot-races were run (1 Cor. ix. 24) ; to the east are those of the theatre, which was probably the scene of the pugilistic contests (ib. 26) : and abundant on the shore are the small green pine-trees which gave the fading wreath (ib. 25) to the victors in the games. CORINTHIANS, FIRST EPISTLE TO THE, was written by the Apostle St. Paul toward the close of his nearly three-years’ stay at Ephesus (Acts xix. 10, xx. 31), which we learn from 1 Cor. xvi. 8, probably termi- nated with the Pentecost of a.d. 57 or 58. The bearers were probably (according to the common subscription) Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who had been recently sent to the Apostle, and who, in the conclusion of this epistle (ch. xvi. 17), are especially com- mended to the honourable regard of the church of Corinth. This varied and highly characteristic letter was addressed not to any party, but to the whole body of the large (Acts xviii. 8, 10) Judaeo-Gentile (Actsxviii. 4) church of Corinth, and appears to have been called forth, 1st, by the information the Apostle had received from members of the household of Chloe (ch. i. 11), of the divi- sions that were existing among them, which were of so grave a nature as to have already induced the Apostle to desire Timothy to visit Corinth (ch. iv. 17) after his journey to Macedonia (Acts xix. 22) ; 2ndly, by the information he had received of a grievous case of incest (ch. v. 1), and of the defective state of the Corinthian converts, not only in regard of general habits (ch. vi. 1, sq.) and church discipline (ch. xi. 20 sq.), but, as it would also seem, of doctrine (ch. xv.) ; 3rdly, by the inquiries that had been specially ad- dressed to St. Paul by the church of Corinth on several matters relating to Christian prac- tice. Two special points deserve separate consideration : — 1. The state of parties at Co- rinth at the time of the Apostle’s writing. The few facts supplied to us by the Acts ot the Apostles, and the notices in the epistle, appear to be as follows : — The Corinthian church was planted by the Apostle himself (1 Cor. iii. 6), in his second missionary journey (Acts xviii. 1, sq.). He abode in the city a year and a half (ch. xviii. 11). A short time after the Apostle had left the city the eloquent Jew of Alexandria, Apollos, went to Corinth (Acts xix. 1). This circumstance of the visit of Apollos, appears to have formed the commencement of a gradual division into two parties, the followers of St. Paul, and the followers of Apollos (comp. ch. iv. 6). These divisions, however, were to be multi- plied ; for, as it w'ould seem, shortly after the departure of Apollos, Judaizing teachers. CORINTHIANS, SECOND EPISTLE TO 106 CORN supplied probably with letters of commenda- tion (2 Cor. iii. 1) from the church of Je- rusalem, appear to have come to Corinth and to have preached the Gospel in a spirit of direct antagonism to St. Paul personally. To this third party we may perhaps add a fourth that, under the name of “the followers of Christ ” (ch. i. 12), sought at first to separate themselves from the factious adherence to particular teachers, but eventually were driven by antagonism into positions equally secta- i rian and inimical to the unity of the church. At this momentous period, before parties had become consolidated, and had distinctly with- drawn from communion with one another, the Apostle writes ; and in the outset of the epistle (ch. i.-iv. 21) we have his noble and impassioned protest against this fourfold rending of the robe of Christ.— 2. The num- ber of epistles written by St. Paul to the Co- rinthian church will probably remain a subject of controversy to the end of time. The well-known words (ch. v. 9) do certainly seem to point to some former epistolary com- munication to the church of Corinth. The whole context seems in favour of this view, though the Greek commentators are of the contrary opinion, and no notice has been taken of the lost epistle by any writers of antiquity. CORINTHIANS, SECOND EPISTLE TO THE, was written a few months subsequently to the first, in the same year, — and thus, if the dates assigned to the former epistle be correct, about the autumn of a.t>. 57 or 58, a short time previous to the Apostle’s three months’ stay in Achaia (Acts xx. 3). The place whence it was written was clearly not Ephesus (see ch. i. 8), but Macedonia (ch. vii. 5, viii. 1, ix. 2), whither the Apostle went by way of Troas (ch. ii. 12), after waiting a short time in the latter place for the return of Titus (ch. ii. 13). The Vatican MS., the bulk of later MSS., and the old Syr. version, assign Philippi as the exact place whence it was written ; but for this assertion we have no certain grounds to rely on : that the bearers, however, were Titus and his as- sociates (Luke?) is apparently substantiated by ch. viii. 23, ix. 3, 5. The epistle was occasioned by the information which the Apostle had received from Titus, and also, as it would certainly seem probable, from Ti- mothy, of the reception of the first epistle. This information, as it would seem from our present epistle, was mainly favourable ; the better part of the church were returning back to their spiritual allegiance to their founder (ch. i. 13, 14, vii. 9, 15, 16), but there was still a faction, possibly of the Judaizing mem- bers (comp. ch. xi. 22), that were sharpened into even a more keen animosity against the Apostle personally (ch. x. I, 10), and more strenuously denied his claim to Apostleship. The contents of this epistle are thus very va- ried, but maybe divided into three parts : — 1st, the Apostle’s account of the character of his spiritual labours, accompanied with notices of his affectionate feelings towards his converts ch. i.-vii.) ; 2ndly, directions about the col- lections (ch. viii., ix.) ; 3rdly, defence of his own Apostolical character (ch. x.-xiii. 10). The principal historical difficulty connected with the epistle relates to the number of visits made by the Apostle to the church of Corinth. The words of this epistle (ch. xii. 14, xiii. 1, 2) seem distinctly to imply that St. Paul had visited Corinth twice before the time at which he now writes. St. Luke, however, only mentions one visit prior to that time (Acts xviii. 1, sq.) ; for the visit recorded in Acts xx. 2, 3, is confessedly subsequent. We must assume that the Apostle made a visit to Corinth which St. Luke did not record, probably during the period of his three years’ residence at Ephesus. CORMORANT. The representative in the A. V. of the Hebrew words kdath and shdldc. As to the former, see Pelican. Shdldc occurs only as the name of an unclean bird in Lev. xi. 17 ; Deut. xiv. 17. The word has been variously rendered. The etymology points to some plunging bird : the common cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo ), which some writers have identified with the Shdldc , is unknown in the eastern Mediterranean ; another species is found S. of the Red Sea, but none on the W. coast of Palestine. CORN. The most common kinds were wheat, barley, spelt (A. V., Ex. ix. 32, and Is. xxviii. 25, “rie;” Ez. iv. 9, “fitches”), and millet ; oats are mentioned only by rab- binical writers. Corn-crops are still reckoned at twentyfold what was sown, and were an- ciently much more. “ Seven ears on one stalk” (Gen. xli. 22) is no unusual pheno- menon in Egypt at this day. The many- eared stalk is also common in the wheat of Palestine, and it is of course of the bearded kind. Wheat (see 2 Sam. iv. 6) was stored in the house for domestic purposes. It is at present often kept in a dry well, and perhaps the “ground corn” of 2 Sam. xvii. 19 was meant to imply that the well was so used. From Solomon’s time (2 Chr. ii. 10, 15), as agriculture became developed under a settled government, Palestine was a corn-exporting country, and her grain was largely taken by her commercial neighbour Tyre (Ez. xxvii. 17 ; comp. Am. viii. 5). “Plenty of corn” was part of Jacob’s blessing (Gen. xxviii. 28 ; comp. Ps. Ixv. 13). CORNELIUS 107 COUNCIL CORNE'LIUS, a Roman centurion of the Italian cohort stationed in Caesarea (Acts x. 3, &c.), a man full of good works and alms- deeds. With his household he was baptised by St. Peter, and thus Cornelius became the first-fruits of the Gentile world to Christ. CORNER. The “ corner ” of the field was not allowed (Lev. xix. 9) to he wholly reaped. It formed a right of the poor to carry off what was so left, and this was a part of the maintenance from the soil to which that class were entitled. On the principles of the Mo- saic polity every Hebrew family had a hold on a certain fixed estate, and could by no ordinary and casual calamity be wholly beg- gared. Hence its indigent members had the claims of kindred on the “ corners,” &c., of the field which their landed brethren reaped. In the later period of the prophets their con- stant complaints concerning the defrauding the poor (Is. x. 2 ; Am. v. 11, viii. 6) seem to show that such laws had lost their prac- tical force. Still later, under the Scribes, minute legislation fixed one-sixtieth as the portion of a field which was to be left for the legal “ corner.” The proportion being thus fixed, all the grain might be reaped, and enough to satisfy the regulation subse- quently separated from the whole crop. This “ corner ” was, like the gleaning, tithe-free. CORNER-STONE, a quoin or corner-stone, of great importance in binding together the sides of a building. Some of the corner-stones in the ancient work of the Temple founda- tions are 17 or 19 feet long, and 7 \ feet thick. At Nineveh the corners are sometimes formed of one angular stone. The phrase “ corner- stone ” is sometimes used to denote any prin- cipal person, as the princes of Egypt (Is. xix. 13), and is thus applied to our Lord (Is. xxviii. 16 ; Matt. xxi. 42 ; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7). CORNET (Heb. Shophdr ), a loud-sounding instrument, made of the horn of a ram or of a chamois (sometimes of an ox), and used by the ancient Hebrews for signals, for an- nouncing the “Jubile” (Lev. xxv. 9), for proclaiming the new year, for the purposes of war (Jer. iv. 5, 19 ; comp. Job xxxix. 25), as well as for the sentinels placed at the watch-towers to give notice of the approach of an enemy (Ez. xxxiii. 4, 5). Shophdr is generally rendered in the A. V. “ trum- pet,” but “cornet” (the more correct trans- lation) is used in 2 Chr. xv. 14 ; Ps. xcviii. 6 ; Hos. v. 8 ; and 1 Chr. xv. 28. “Cornet” is also employed in Dan. iii. 5, 7, 10, 15, for the Chaldee Keren (literally a horn). The silver trumpets which Moses was charged to furnish for the Israelites, were to be used for the following purposes : for the calling toge- ther of the assembly, for the journeying of camps, for sounding the alarm of war, and for celebrating the sacrifices on festivals and new moons (Num. x. 1-10). In the age of Solomon the “ silver trumpets ” were in- creased in number to 120 (2 Chr. v. 12) ; and, independently of the objects for which they had been first introduced, they were now employed in the orchestra of the Temple as an accompaniment to songs of thanks- giving and praise. The sounding of the cornet was the distinguishing ritual feature of the festival appointed by Moses to be held on the first day of the seventh month under the denomination of “ a day of blowing trum- pets” (Num. xxix. 1), or “memorial of blowing of trumpets” (Lev. xxiii. 24) > [Trumpets, Feast of.] COS or CO'OS (now Stanchio or Stanho). This small island of the Grecian Archipelago has several interesting points of connexion with the Jews. It is specified as one of the places which contained Jewish residents (1 Macc. xv. 23). Julius Caesar issued an edict in favour of the Jews of Cos. Herod the Great conferred many favours on the island. St. Paul, on the return from his third mis- sionary journey, passed the night here, after sailing from Miletus. The chief town (of the same name) was on the N.E. near a pro- montory called Scandarium : and perhaps it is to the town that reference is made in the Acts (xxi. 1). COTTON, Heb. carpas (comp. Lat. car- basus ) Esth. i. 6, where the Yulg. has carba- sini color is, as if a colour, not a material (so in A. Y. “green”) were intended. There is a doubt whether under Shesh , in the earlier, and Buts , in the later books of the O. T., rendered in the A. Y. by “ white linen,” “ fine linen,” &c., cotton may have been included as well. The dress of the Egyptian priests, at any rate in their ministrations, was without doubt of linen (Herod, ii. 37). Cotton is now both grown and manufactured in various parts of Syria and Palestine ; but there is no proof that, till they came in contact with Persia, the Hebrews generally knew of it as a distinct fabric from linen. [Linen.] COUCH. [Bed.] COUNCIL. 1. The great council of the Sanhedrim, which sat at Jerusalem. [San- hedrim.] 2. The lesser courts (Matt. x. 17 ; Mark xiii. 9), of which there were two at Jerusalem, and one in each town of Palestine. The constitution of these courts is a doubtful point. The existence of local courts, how- ever constituted, is clearly implied in the passages quoted from the N. T. ; and perhaps the “judgment” (Matt. v. 21) applies to them. 3. A kind of jury or privy council i (Acts xxv. 12), consisting of a certain num« COURT 103 CRETE ber of assessors, who assisted Roman go- vernors in the administration of justice and other public matters. COURT (Heb. chdtser ), an open enclosure, applied in the A. V. most commonly to the enclosures of the Tabernacle and the Temple (Ex. xxvii. 9, xl. 33 ; Lev. vi. 16 ; IK. vi. 36, vii. 8 ; 2 K. xxiii. 12 ; 2 Chr. xxxiii. 5, &c.) COVENANT. The Heb. berith means pri- marily “ a cutting,” with reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two, and passing between the parts in ratifying a covenant (Gen. xv. ; Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19). In the N. T. the corresponding word is dia- thece (Sia^/cr?), which is frequently, though by no means uniformly, translated testament in the Authorised Version. In its Biblical meaning of a compact or agreement between two parties, the word is used — 1. Improperly , of a covenant between God and man. Man not being in any way in the position of an inde- pendent covenanting party, the phrase is evidently used by way of accommodation. Strictly speaking, such a covenant is quite unconditional, and amounts to a promise (Gal. iii. 15 ff.) or act of mere favour (Ps. lxxxix. 28). Thus the assurance given by God after the Flood, that a like judgment should not be repeated, and that the recur- rence of the seasons, and of day and night, should not cease, is called a covenant (Gen. ix. ; Jer. xxxiii. 20). Consistently with this representation of God’s dealings with man under the form of a covenant, such covenant is said to be confirmed, in conformity to human custom, by an oath (Dent. iv. 31 ; Ps. lxxxix. 3), to be sanctioned by curses to fall upon the unfaithful (Deut. xxix. 21), and to be accompanied by a sign, such as the rainbow (Gen. ix.), circumcision (Gen. xvii.), , or the Sabbath (Ex. xxxi. 16, 17). — 2. Pro- ! perly , of a covenant between man and man , i. e. a solemn compact or agreement, either between tribes or nations (1 Sam. xi. 1 ; Josh. ix. 6, 15), or between individuals (Gen. xxxi. 44), by which each party bound him- self to fulfil certain conditions, and was as- sured of receiving certain advantages. In making such a covenant God was solemnly invoked as witness (Gen. xxxi. 50), and an oath was sworn (Gen. xxi. 31). A sign or witness of the covenant was sometimes framed, such as a gift (Gen. xxi. 30), or a pillar, or heap of stones erected (Gen. xxxi. 52). The marriage compact is called “ the covenant of God” (Prov. ii. 17 ; see Mai. ii. 14). The word covenant came to be applied to a sure ordinance such as that of the shew -bread (Lev. xxiv. 8); and is used figurativfiy in such expressions as a covenant with death | (Is. xxviii. 18), or with the wild beasts (Hos. ii. 18). COW. [Bull.] CRANE. There can be little doubt that the A. V. is incorrect in rendering sits by “ crane,” which bird is probably intended by the Hebrew word ’dgur, translated “ swal- low,” by the A. V. [Swallow.] Mention is made of the sus in Hezekiah’s prayer (Is. xxxviii. 14), “Like a sus or an ’dgur so did I twitter ” ; and again in Jer. viii. 7 these two words occur in the same order, from which passage we learn that both birds were mi- j gratory. According to the testimony of most of the ancient versions, sus denotes a “ swallow.” CRES'CENS (2 Tim. iv. 10), an assistant of St. Paul, said to have been one of the seventy disciples. According to early tradi- tion, he preached the Gospel in Galatia. Later tradition makes him preach in Gau., and found the Church at Vienne. CRETE, the modern Candia. This large island, which closes in the Greek Archipelago on the S., extends through a distance of 140 miles between its extreme points of Cape Salmone (Acts xxvii. 7) on the E. and Cape Criumetopon beyond Phoenice or Phoenix (ib. 12) on the W. Though extremely bold and mountainous, this island has very fruit- ful valleys, and in early times it was cele- brated for its hundred cities. It seems likely that a very early acquaintance existed be- tween the Cretans and the Jews. There is no doubt that Jews were settled in the island in considerable numbers during the period between the death of Alexander the Great and the final destruction of Jerusalem. Gor- tyna seems to have been their chief residence j (1 Macc. xv. 23). Thus the special mention of Cretans (Acts ii. 11) among those who were at Jerusalem at the great Pentecost is just what we should expect. No notice is given in the Acts of any more direct evan- gelisation of Crete ; and no absolute proof can be adduced that St. Paul was ever there before his voyage from Caesarea to Puteoli. The circumstances of St. Paul’s recorded visit were briefly as follows : — The wind being con- trary when he was off Cnidus (Acts xxvii. 7), the ship was forced to run down to Cape Salmone, and thence under the lee of Crete to Fair Havens, which was near a city called Lasaea (v. 8). Thence, after some delay, an attempt was made, on the wind becoming favourable, to reach Phoenice for the purpose of wintering there (v. 12). The next point of connexion between St. Paul and this island is found in the epistle to Titus. It is evident from Tit. i. 5, that the Apostle himself was here at no long interval of time before he CRETES 109 CROWN wrote the letter. In the course of the letter (Tit. i. 12) St. Paul adduces from Epimenides, a Cretan sage and poet, a quotation in which the vices of his countrymen are described in dark colours. The truth of their statement is abundantly confirmed by other ancient writers. CRETES (Acts ii. 11). Cretans, inhabit- ants of Crete. CRIS'PUS, ruler of the Jewish synagogue at Corinth (Acts xviii. 8) ; baptized with his family by St. Paul (1 Cor. i. 14). According to tradition, he became afterwards Bishop of Aegina. CROSS. As the emblem of a slave’s death and a murderer’s punishment, the cross was naturally looked upon with the profoundest horror. But after the celebrated vision of Constantine, he ordered his friends to make a cross of gold and gems, such as he had seen, and “ the towering eagles resigned the flags unto the cross,” and “ the tree of curs- ing and shame ” “ sat upon the sceptres and was engraved and signed on the foreheads of kings” (Jer. Taylor, Life of Christ , iii. xv. 1). The new standards were called by the name Labarum, and may be seen on the The Labas’um. (From a coin in the British Museum.) coins of Constantine the Great and his nearer successors. The Latin cross, on which our Lord suffered, was in the form of the letter T, and had an upright above the crossbar, on which the “ title ” was placed. There was a projection from the central stem, on which the body of the sufferer rested. This was to prevent the weight of the body from tearing away the hands. Whether there was also a support to the feet (as we see in pictures), is doubtful. An inscription was generally placed above the criminal’s head, briefly ex- pressing his guilt, and generally was carried before him. It was covered with white gyp- sum, and the letters were black. It is a question whether tying or binding to the cross was the more common method. That our Lord was nailed , according to prophecy, is certain (John xx. 25, 27, &c. ; Zech. xii. 10 ; Ps. xxii. 16). It is, however, extremely probable that both methods were used at once. The cross on which our Saviour suf- fered is said to have been discovered in a.d. 326, and to this day the supposed title, or rather fragments of it, are shown to the people once a year in the church of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme at Rome. It was not till the 6th century that the emblem of the cross became the image of the crucifix. As a symbol the use of it was frequent in the early Church. It was not till the 2nd century that any par- ticular efficacy was attached to it. [Cruci- fixion.] | CROWN. This ornament, which is both : ancient and universal, probably originated i from the fillets used to prevent the hair from being dishevelled by the wind. Such fillets are still common, and they may be seen on the sculptures of Persepolis, Nineveh, and Egypt ; they gradually developed into tur- bans, which by the addition of ornamental or precious materials assumed the dignity of mitres or crowns. Both the ordinary priests and the high-priest wore them. The common “bonnet” (Ex. xxviii. 37, xxix. 6, &c)., formed a sort of linen fillet or crown. The mitre of the high-priest (used also of a regal crown, Ez. xxi. 26) was much more splendid (Ex. xxviii. 36 ; Lev. viii. 9). It had a second fillet of blue lace, and over it a golden diadem (Ex. xxix. 6). The gold band was tied behind with blue lace (embroidered with flowers), and being two fingers broad, bore the inscription “ Holiness to the Lord ” (comp. Rev. xvii. 5). There are many words in Scripture denoting a crown besides those mentioned : the head-dress of bridegrooms (Is. Ixi. 10; Bar. v. 2; Ez. xxiv. 17), and of women (Is. iii. 20) ; a head-dress of great splendour (Is. xxviii. 5) ; a wreath ol flowers (Prov. i. 9, iv. 9) ; and a common tiara or turban (Job xxix. 14 ; Is. iii. 23) The general word is 'atarah , and we must attach to it the notion of a costly turban irradiated with pearls and gems of priceless value, which often form aigrettes for feathers, as in the crowns of modern Asiatic sovereigns. CROWN OF THORNS 110 CRUCIFIXION Such was probably the crown, which with its precious stones weighed (or rather “ was worth ”) a talent, taken by David from the king of Ammon at Rabbah, and used as the state crown of Judah (2 Sam. xii. 30). In Rev. xii. 3, xix. 12, allusion is made to “ many crowns ” worn in token of extended dominion. The laurel, pine, or parsley crowns given to victors in the great games of Greece are finely alluded to by St. Paul (1 Cor. ix. 25 ; 2 Tim. ii. 5, &c.). Ctowns worn by Assyrian kings. (From Nimroud and Kouyunjik). CROWN OF THORNS, Matt, xxvii. 29. Our Lord was crowned with thorns in mock- ery by the Roman soldiers. The object seems to have been insult, and not the infliction of pain as has generally been supposed. The Rhamnus or Spina Christi, although abundant in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, cannot be the plant intended, because its thorns are so strong and large that it could not have been woven into a wreath. Had the acacia been intended, as some suppose, the phrase would have been different. Obviously some small flexile thorny shrub is meant ; perhaps Cap- paris spinosa. CRUCIFIXION was in use among the Egyptians (Gen. xl. 19), the Carthaginians, the Persians (Esth. vii. 10), the Assyrians, Scythians, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. Among the Romans also the degradation was a part of the infliction, and the punishment if applied to freemen was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. Our Lord was condemned to it by the popular cry of the Jews (Matt, xxvii. 23) on the charge of sedition against Caesar (Luke xxiii. 2), although the San- hedrim had previously condemned him on the totally distinct charge of blasphemy. The scarlet robe, crown of thorns, and other in- sults to which our Lord was subjected were illegal, and arose from the spontaneous petu- lance of the brutal soldiery. But the punish- ment properly commenced with scourging, after the criminal had been stripped. It was inflicted not with the comparatively mild rods, but the more terrible scourge (2 Cor. xi. 24, 25), which was not used by the Jews (Deut. xxv. 3). Into these scourges the sol- diers often stuck nails, pieces of bone, &c., tc heighten the pain, which was often so intense that the sufferer died under it. In our Lord’s case, however, this infliction seems neither to have been the legal scourging after sentence, nor yet the examination by torture (Acts xxii. 24), but rather a scourging before the sen- tence, to excite pity and procure immunity from further punishment (Luke xxiii. 22 ; John xix. 1). The criminal carried his own cross, or at any rate a part of it. The place of execution was outside the city (1 K. xxi. 13; Acts vii. 58; Heb. xiii. 12), often in some public road or other conspicuous place. Arrived at the place of execution, the sufferer was stripped naked, the dress being the per- quisite of the soldiers (Matt, xxvii. 35). The cross was then driven into the ground, so that the feet of the condemned were a foot or two above the earth, and he was lifted upon it, or else stretched upon it on the ground, and then lifted with it. Before the nailing or binding took place, a medicated cup was given out of kindness to confuse the senses and deaden the pangs of the sufferer (Prov. xxxi. 6), usually “ of wine mingled with myrrh,” because myrrh was soporific. Our Lord refused it that his senses might be clear (Matt, xxvii. 34 ; Mark xv. 23). He was crucified between two “ thieves ” or “ male- factors,” according to prophecy (Is. liii. 12) ; and was watched according to custom by a party of four soldiers (John xix. 23) with their centurion (Matt, xxvii. 66), whose ex- press office was to prevent the stealing of the body. This was necessary from the lingering character of the death, which sometimes did not supervene even for three days, and was at last the result of gradual benumbing and starvation. But for this guard, the persons might have been taken down and recovered, as was actually done in the case of a friend of Josephus. Fracture of the legs was espe- cially adopted by the Jews to hasten death (John xix. 31). But the unusual rapidity of our Lord’s death was due to the depth of His previous agonies, or may be sufficiently ac- counted for simply from peculiarities of con- stitution. Pilate expressly satisfied himself of the actual death by questioning the cen- turion (Mark xv. 44). In most cases the CRUSE 111 CUPBEARER body was suffered to rot on the cross by the action of sun and rain, or to be devoured by birds and beasts. Sepulture was generally therefore forbidden ; but in consequence of Deut. xxi. 22, 23, an express national excep- tion was made in favour of the Jews (Matt, xxvii. 58). This accursed and awful mode of punishment was happily abolished by Con- stantine. CRUSE, a vessel for holding water, such as was carried by Saul when on his night expedition after David (1 Sam. xxvi. 11, 12, 16), and by Elijah (1 K. xix. 6). In a simi- lar case in the present day this would be a globular vessel of blue porous clay about 9 inches diameter, with a neck of about 3 inches long, a small handle below the neck, and opposite the handle a straight spout, with an orifice about the size of a straw, through which the water is drunk or sucked. CRYSTAL, the representative in the A. Y. of two Hebrew words. — 1. Zeciicith occurs only in Job xxviii. 17, where “glass” pro- bably is intended. — 2. Kerach occurs in nu- merous passages in the O. T. to denote “ ice,” “ frost,” &c. ; but once only (Ez. i. 22), as is generally understood, to signify “ crystal.” The ancients supposed rock-crystal to be merely ice congealed by intense cold. The similarity of appearance between ice and crystal caused no doubt the identity of the terms to express these substances. The Greek word occurs in Rev. iv. 6, xxii. 1. It may mean either “ ice ” or “ crystal.” CUBIT. [Measures.] CUCKOO (Heb. shachaph). There does not appear to be any authority for this trans- lation of the A. V. ; the Heb. word occurs twice only (Lev. xi. 16 ; Deut. xiv. 15), as the name of some unclean bird, and may pro- bably indicate some of the larger petrels, which abound in the east of the Mediter- ranean. CUCUMBERS (Heb. kishshuim) . This word occurs, in Nuni. xi. 5, as one of the good things of Egypt for which the Israelites longed. There is no doubt as to the meaning of the Hebrew. Egypt produces excellent cucumbers, melons, & c., the Cucumis chate being the best of its tribe yet known. This plant grows in the fertile earth around Cairo after the inundation of the Nile, and not elsewhere in Egypt. The C. chate is a va- riety only of the common melon (C. melo) ; it was once cultivated in England and called “the round-leaved Egyptian melon;” but it is rather an insipid sort. Besides the Cucu- mis chate , the common cucumber (C. sativus ), of which the Arabs distinguish a number of varieties, is common in Egypt. “ Both Cu- cumis chate and C. sativus ,” says Mr. Tris- tram, “ are now grown in great quantities in Palestine : on visiting the Arab school in Jerusalem (1858) I observed that the dinner which the children brought with them to school consisted, without exception, of a piece of barley-cake and a raw cucumber, which they eat rind and all.” The “lodge in a garden of cucumbers ” (Is. i. 8) is a rude temporary shelter, erected in the open grounds where vines, cucumbers, gourds, &c., are grown, in which some lonely man or boy is set to watch, either to guard the plants from robbers, or to scare away the foxes and jackals from the vines. CUMMIN, one of the cultivated plants of Palestine (Is. xxviii. 25, 27 ; Matt, xxiii. 23). It is an umbelliferous plant something like fennel. The seeds have a bitterish warm taste with an aromatic flavour. The Maltese are said to grow it at the present day, and to thresh it in the manner described by Isaiah. CUP. The cups of the Jews, whether of metal or earthenware, were possibly bor- rowed, in point of shape and design, from Egypt and from the Phoenicians, who were celebrated in that branch of workmanship. Egyptian cups were of various shapes, either with handles or without them. In Solomon’s time all his drinking-vessels were of gold, none of silver (1 K. x. 21). Babylon is com- pared to a golden cup (Jer. li. 7). The great laver, or “ sea,” was made with a rim like the rim of a cup ( Cos ), “with flowers of lilies ” (1 K. vii. 26), a form which the Per- sepolitan cups resemble. The common form of modern Oriental cups is represented in the accompanying drawing. The cups of the N. T. were often no doubt formed on Greek and Roman models. They were sometimes of gold (Rev. xvii. 4). Modem Egyptian drinking-cup, one-fifth of the real size. (Lane.) CUPBEARER. An officer of high rank with Egyptian, Persian, Assyrian, as well as Jewish monarchs (1 K. x. 5). The chief cup- bearer, or butler, to the king of Egypt was the means of raising Joseph to his high po- sition (Gen. xl. 1, 21, xli. 9). Rabshakeh appears from his name to have filled a like office in the Assyrian court (2 K. xviii. 17), CUSH 112 CYPRUS Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes Longimanus king of Persia (Neh. i. 11, ii. 1). CUSH, the name of a son of Ham, appar- ently the eldest, and of a territory or terri- tories occupied by his descendants. — -1. In the genealogy of Noah’s children Cush seems to be an individual, for it is said “ Cush begat Nimrod” (Gen. x. 8 ; 1 Chr. i. 10). — 2. Cush as a country appears to be African in all pas- sages except Gen. ii. 13. We may thus dis- tinguish a primeval and a post-diluvian Cush. The former was encompassed by Gihon, the second river of Paradise : it would seem therefore to have been somewhere to the northward of Assyria. It is possible that the African Cush was named from this elder country. In the ancient Egyptian inscrip- tions Ethiopia above Egypt is termed Keesh or Kesh, and this territory probably perfectly corresponds to the African Cush of the Bible. The Cushites however had clearly a wider extension, like the Ethiopians of the Greeks, but apparently with a more definite ethnic relation. The Cushites appear to have spread along tracts extending from the higher Nile to the Euphrates and Tigris. History affords many traces of this relation of Babylonia, Arabia, and Ethiopia. Zerah the Cushite (A. Y. “ Ethiopian ”) who was defeated by Asa, was most probably a king of Egypt, cer- tainly the leader of an Egyptian army. CU'SHAN (Hab. iii. 7), possibly the same as Cushan-rishathaim (A. Y. Chushan-) king of Mesopotamia (Judg. iii. 8, 10). CU'SHI. Properly “ the Cushite,” “ the Ethiopian,” a man apparently attached to Joab’s person (2 Sam. xviii. 21, 22, 23, 31, 32). CUTH or CU f THAH, one of the countries whence Shalmaneser introduced colonists into Samaria (2 K. xvii. 24, 30). Its position is undecided ; but it may perhaps be identified with the Cossaei, a warlike tribe, who occu- pied the mountain ranges dividing Persia and Media. CUTTING OFF FROM THE PEOPLE. [Excommunication. ] CUTTINGS [IN THE FLESH]. The pro- hibition (Lev. xix. 28) against marks or cuttings in the flesh for the dead must be taken in connexion with the parallel passages (Lev. xxi. 5 ; Deut. xiv. 1), in which shaving the head with the same view is equally for- bidden. The ground of the prohibition will be found in the superstitious or inhuman practices prevailing among heathen nations. The priests of Baal cut themselves with knives to propitiate the god “ after their manner ” (1 K. xviii. 28). Lucian, speaking of the Syrian priestly attendants of this mock deity, says, that using violent gestures they cut their arms and tongues with swords. The prohibition, therefore, is directed against practices prevailing not among the Egyptians whom the Israelites were leaving, but among the Syrians, to whom they were about to be- come neighbours. But there is another usage contemplated more remotely by the prohibi- tion, viz,, that of printing marks, tattooing, to indicate allegiance to a deity, in the same manner as soldiers and slaves bore tattooed marks to indicate allegiance or adscription. This is evidently alluded to in the Revelation of St. John (xiii. 16, xvii. 5, xix. 20), and, though in a contrary direction, by Ezekiel (ix. 4), by St. Paul (Gal. vi. 17), in the Reve- lation (vii. 3), and perhaps by Isaiah (xliv. 5) and Zechariah (xiii. 6). CYMBAL, CYMBALS, a percussive mu- sical instrument. Two kinds of cymbals are mentioned in Ps. cl. 5, “loud cymbals” or castagiiettes , and “ high-sounding cymbals.” The former consisted of four small plates of brass or of some other hard metal ; two plates were attached to each hand of the per- former, and were struck together to produce a great noise. The latter consisted of two larger plates, one held in each hand, and struck together as an accompaniment to other instruments. The use of cymbals was not necessarily restricted to the worship of the Temple or to sacred occasions : they were employed for military purposes, and also by Hebrew women as a musical accompaniment to their national dances. Both kinds of cym- bals are still common in the East in military music, and Niebuhr often refers to them in his travels. The “ bells ” of Zech. xiv. 20, were probably concave pieces or plates of brass which the people of Palestine and Syria attached to horses by way of ornament. CYPRESS (Heb. tirzdh). The Heb. word is found only in Is. xliv. 14. We are quite unable to assign any definite rendering to it. The true cypress is a native of the Taurus. The Hebrew word points to some tree with a hard grain, and this is all that can be posi- tively said of it. CY'PRUS. This island was in early times in close commercial connexion with Phoenicia ; and there is little doubt that it is referred to in such passages of the O. T. as Ez. xxvii. 6. [Chittim.] Possibly Jews may have settled in Cyprus before the time ol Alexander. Soon after his time they were numerous in the island, as is distinctly im- plied in 1 Macc. xv. 23. The first notice of it in the N. T. is in Acts iv. 36, where it i& mentioned as the native place of Barnabas. In Acts xi. 19, 20, it appears prominently in connexion with the earliest spreading of Christianity, and is again mentioned in con- CYRENIUS 113 BAB ARE II nexion -with the missionary journeys of St. Paul (Acts xiii. 4-13, xv. 39, xxi. 3), and with his voyage to Rome (xxvii. 4). The island became a Roman province (b.c. 58) under circumstances discreditable to Rome. At first its administration was joined with that of Cilicia, but after the battle of Actium it was separately governed. In the first di- vision it was made an imperial province ; but the emperor afterwards gave it up to the Senate. The proconsul appears to have re- sided at Paphos on the west of the island. CYBE'NE, the principal city of that part of northern Africa, which was anciently called Cyrenaica, and also (from its five chief cities) Pentapolitana. This district was that wide projecting portion of the coast (correspond- ing to the modern Tripoli ), which was sepa- rated from the territory of Carthage on the one hand, and that of Egypt on the other. The points to be noticed in reference to Cy- rene as connected with the N. T. are these, — - that, though on the African coast, it was a Greek city ; that the Jews were settled there in large numbers, and that under the Romans it was politically connected with Crete. The Greek colonisation of this part of Africa under Battus began as early as b.c. 631. After the death of Alexander the Great, it became a dependency of Egypt. It is in this period that we find the Jews established there with great privileges, having been introduced by Ptolemy the son of Lagus. Soon after the Jewish war they rose against the Roman power. In the year b.c. 75 the territory of Cyrene was reduced to the form of a pro- vince. On the conquest of Crete (b.c. 67) the two were united in one province, and together frequently called Creta-Cyrene. The numbers and position of the Jews in Cyrene prepare us for the frequent mention of the place in the N. T. in connexion with Chris- tianity, Simon, who bore our Saviour’s cross (Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21 ; Luke xxiii. 26) was a native of Cyrene. Jewish dwellers in Cyrenaica were in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts ii. 10). They even gave their name to one of the synagogues in Jerusalem (ib. vi. 9). Christian converts from Cyrene were among those who contributed actively to the formation of the first Gentile church at An- tioch (xi. 20). Lucius of Cyrene (xiii. 1) is traditionally said to have been the first oishop of his native district. CYRE'NIUS, the literal English rendering in the A. Y. of the Greek name, which is Itself the Greek form of the Roman name of Quirinus. The full name is Publius Sul- picius Quirinus. He was consul b.c. 12, and made governor of Syria after the banishment of Archelaus in a.d. 6. He was sent to make Saff. D. B. an enrolment of property in Syria, and made accordingly, both there an*h *hat monarch (b.c. 164) he claimed ! his liberty and the recognition of his claim by the Roman senate in preference to that of his cousin Antiochus V. His petition was re- fused, he left Italy secretly, and landed with a small force at Tripolis in Phoenicia (2 Macc. xiv. 1 ; 1 Macc. vii. 1). The Syrians soon declared in his favour (b.c. 162), and An. tiochus and his protector Lysias were put to death (1 Macc. vii. 2, 3 ; 2 Macc. xiv. 2). His campaigns against the Jews were unsuc- cessful. In b.c. 152, Alexander Balas was brought forward, with the consent of the Roman senate, as a claimant to the throne. The rivals met in a decisive engagement (b.c. 150), and Demetrius, after displaying the greatest personal bravery, was defeated and slain (1 Macc. x. 48-50). DEME'TRIUS II., “ The Victorious ” (Ni- cator), was the elder son of Demetrius Soter. He was sent by his father, together with his brother Antiochus, with a large treasure, to Cnidus, when Alexander Balas laid claim to the throne of Syria. When he was grown up he made a descent on Syria (b.c. 148), and was received with general favour (1 Macc. x. 67 ff.). His campaigns against Jonathan and the Jews are described in 1 Macc. x., xi. In b.c. 138, Demetrius was taken prisoner by Arsaces VI. (Mithridates), whose dominions he had invaded (1 Macc. xiv. 1-3). Mithridates treated his captive honourably, and gave him his daughter in marriage. When Antiochus Sidetes, who had gained possession of the Syrian throne invaded Parthia, Phraates employed Demetrius to effect a diversion. In this Demetrius suc- Tetr^drachm ( Attic talent) of Demetrius IX K DEMON 130 DENARIUS eeeded, and when Antiochus fell in tattle, he again took possession of the Syrian crown (b.c. 128). Not long afterwards a pretender, supported by Ptol. Physcon, appeared in the field against him, and after suffering a defeat he was assassinated, according to some by his wife, while attempting to escape by sea. DEMON. Its usage in classical Greek is various. In Homer, where the gods are but supernatural men, it is used interchangeably with “god afterwards in Hesiod, when the idea of the gods had become more exalted and less familiar, the “demons” are spoken of as intermediate beings, the messengers of the gods to men. In the Gospels generally, in James ii. 19, and in Rev. xvi. 14, the demons are spoken of as spiritual beings, at enmity with God, and having power to afflict man, not only with disease, but, as is marked by the frequent epithet “unclean,” with spiritual pollution also. They “believe” the power of God “ and tremble ” (James ii. 19) ; they recognise the Lord as the Son of God (Matt. viii. 29 ; Luke iv. 41); and acknowledge the power of His name, used in exorcism, in the place of the name of Jehovah, by His appointed messengers (Acts xix. 15) ; and look forward in terror to the judgment to come (Matt. viii. 29). The description is precisely that of a nature akin to the angelic in knowledge and powers, but with the em- phatic addition of the idea of positive and active wickedness. DEMONIACS. This word is frequently used in the N. T., and applied to persons suffering under the possession of a demon or evil spirit, such possession generally showing itself visibly in bodily disease or mental derangement. It has been maintained by many persons that our Lord and the Evan- gelists, in referring to demoniacal possession, spoke only in accommodation to the general belief of the Jews, without any assertion as to its truth or its falsity. It is concluded that, since the symptoms of the affliction were frequently those of bodily disease (as dumbness, Matt. ix. 32 ; blindness, Matt, xii. 22; epilepsy, Mark ix. 17-27), or those seen in cases of ordinary insanity (as in Matt, viii. 28 ; Mark v. 1-5), and since also the phrase “ to have a devil ” is constantly used in connexion with, and as apparently equiva- lent to, “ to be mad” (see John vii. 20, viii. 48, x. 20, and perhaps Matt. xi. 18 ; Luke vii. 33), the demoniacs were merely persons suffering under unusual diseases of body and mind. But demoniacs are frequently distin- guished from those afflicted with bodily sick- ness (see Mark i. 32, xvi. 17, 18; Luke vi. 17, 18), even, it would seem, from the epilep- tic (Matt. iv. 24) ; the same outward signs are sometimes referred to possession, sometimes merely to disease (comp. Matt. iv. 24, with xvii. 15 ; Matt. xii. 22, with Mark vii. 32, &c.) ; the demons are represented as speak- ing in their own persons with superhuman knowledge, and acknowledging our Lord tc be, not as the Jews generally called him, son of David, but Son of God (Matt. viii. 29 ; Mark i. 24, v. 7 ; Luke iv 41, &c.). All these things speak of a personal power of evil. Nor does our Lord speak of demons as per- sonal spirits of evil to the multitude alone, but in His secret conversations with His disciples, declaring the means and conditions by which power over them could be exercised (Matt. xvii. 21). Twice also He distinctly con- nects demoniacal possession with the power of the evil one ; once in Luke x. 18, to the seventy disciples, where He speaks of his power and theirs over demoniacs as a “ fall of Satan,” and again in Matt. xii. 25-30, when He was accused of casting out demons through Beelzebub, and, instead of giving any hint that the possessed were not really under any direct and personal power of evil, He uses an argument, as to the division of Satan against himself, which, if possession be unreal, becomes inconclusive and almost insincere. Lastly, the single fact recorded of the entrance of the demons at Gadara (Mark v. 10-14) into the herd of swine, and the effect which that entrance caused, is suffi- cient to overthrow the notion that our Lord and the Evangelists do not assert or imply any objective reality of possession. We are led, therefore, to the ordinary and literal interpretation of these passages, that there are evil spirits, subjects of the Evil One, who, in the days of the Lord Himself and His Apostles especially, were permitted by God to exercise a direct influence over the souls and bodies of certain men. This influence is clearly distinguished from the ordinary power of corruption and temptation wielded by Satan through the permission of God. The dis- tinguishing feature of possession is the com- plete or incomplete loss of the sufferer’s reason or power of will ; his actions, his words, and almost his thoughts are mastered by the evil spirit (Mark i. 24, v. 7 ; Acts xix. 15), till his personality seems to be destroyed, or, if not destroyed, so overborne as to produce the consciousness of a twofold will within him, like that sometimes felt in a dream. DENA'RIUS, A. V. “ penny ” (Matt. xviiL 28, xx. 2, 9, 13, xxii. 19 ; Mark vi. 37, xii. 15, xiv. 5; Luke vii. 41, x. 35, xx. 24 ; John vi. 7, xii. 5 ; Rev. vi. 6), a Roman silver coin, in the time of Our Saviour ano the Apostles. It took its name from its DEPUTY 131 DEUTERONOMY being first equal to ten “asses,” a number afterwards increased to sixteen. It was the principal silver coin of the Roman common- wealth. From the parable of the labourers in the vineyard it would seem that a denarius was then the ordinary pay for a day’s labour (Matt. xx. 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, IS). DEPUTY. The uniform rendering in the A. V. of the Greek word which signifies “proconsul” (Acts xiii. 7, 8, 12, xix. 38). The English word is curious in itself, and to a certain extent appropriate, having been applied formerly to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. DER'BE (Acts xiv. 20, 21, xvi. 1, xx. 4). The exact position of this town has not yet been ascertained, but its general situation is undoubted. It was in the eastern part of the great upland plain of Lycaonia, which stretches from Iconitjm eastwards along the north side of the chain of Taurus. It must have been somewhere near the place where the pass called the Cilician Gates opened a way from the low plain of Cilicia to the table-land of the interior ; and probably it was a stage upon the great road which passed this way. DESERT, a word which is sparingly em- ployed in the A. V. to translate four Hebrew terms, of which three are essentially different in signification. A “desert,” in the sense which is ordinarily attached to the word, is a vast, burning, sandy plain, alike destitute of trees and of water. Here, it is simply necessary to show that the words rendered in the A. Y. by “ desert,” when used in the historical books, denoted definite localities ; rnd that those localities do not answer to the eommon conception of a “ desert.” — 1 . ArI- bah. This word means that very depressed and enclosed region — the deepest and the hottest chasm in the world — the sunken valley north and south of the Dead Sea, but more particularly the former. [Arabah.] Arabah in the sense of the Jordan Valley is translated by the word “ desert ” only in Ez. xlvii. 8. In a more general sense of waste, deserted country — a meaning easily suggested by the idea of excessive heat contained in the root — “ Desert,” as the rendering of Arabah , occurs in the prophets and poetical books ; as Is. xxxv. 1, 6, xl. 3, xli. 19, li. 3 ; Jer. ii. 6, v. 6, xvii. 6, 1. 12; but this general sense is never found in the historical books. — 2. Midbar. This word, which our transla- tors have most frequently rendered by “desert,” is accurately the “pasture ground.” It is most frequently used for those tracts of waste land which lie beyond the cultivated ground in the immediate neighbourhood of the towns and villages of Palestine, and which are a very familiar feature to the traveller in that country. In the poetical books “desert” is found as the translation of Midbar in Deut. xxxii. 10 ; Job xxiv. 5 ; Is. xxi. 1 ; Jer. xxv. 24. — 3. Charbaii, appears to have the force of dryness, and thence of desolation. It does not occur in any historical passages. It is rendered “ desert ” in Ps. cii. 6 ; Is. xlviii. 21 ; Ezek. xiii. 4. The term commonly employed for it in the A. V. is “ waste places ” or “ desola- tion.” — 4. JeshImon with the definite article, apparently denotes the waste tracts on both sides of the Dead Sea. In all these cases it is treated as a proper name in the A. Y. Without the article it occurs in a few pas- sages of poetry ; in the following of which it is rendered “desert.” Ps. Ixxxviii. 40 ; cvi. 14 ; Is. xliii. 19, 20. DEUTERONOMY, which means “ the re- petition of the law,” consists chiefly of three discourses delivered by .Moses shortly before his death. Subjoined to these discourses are the Song of Moses, the Blessing of Moses, and the story of his death. — I. The first dis- course (i. 1 — iv. 40). After a brief historical introduction, the speaker recapitulates the chief events of the last 40 years in the wilderness, and especially those events which had the most immediate bearing on the entry of the people into the promised land. To this discourse is appended a brief notice of the severing of the three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan (iv. 41-43). — II. The second discourse is introduced like the first by an explanation of the circumstances under which if was delivered (iv. 44-49 V It extends from chap. v. 1 — xxvi. 19, and contains a recapitulation, with some modifi- cations and additions, of the Law already given on Mount Sinai. — III. In the third discourse (xxvii. 1 — xxx. 20), the Elders of Israel are associated with Moses. The people are commanded to set up stones upon Mount Ebal, and on them to write “ all the words of this law.” Then follow the several curses to be pronounced by the Levites on Ebal (xxvii. 14-26), and the blessings on Gerizim (xxviii. 1-14). — IY. The delivery of the Law as written by Moses (for its still further preservation) to the custody of the K 2 DEVIL 132 DIAMOND Levites, and a charge to the people to hear it read once every seven years (xxxi.) : the Song of Moses spoken in the ears of the people (xxxi. 30-xxxii. 44) : and the bless- ing of the twelve tribes (xxxiii.). — V. The Book closes (xxxiv.) with an account of the death of Moses, which is first announced to him in xxxii. 48-52. — It has been maintained by many modern critics that Deuteronomy is of later origin than the other four books of the Pentateuch ; but the book bears witness to its own authorship (xxxi. 19), and is expressly cited in the N. T. as the work of Moses (Matt. xix. 7,8 ; Mark x. 3 ; Acts iii. 22, vii. 37). The last chapter, contain- ing an account of the death of Moses, was of course added by a later hand, and perhaps formed originally the beginning of the book of Joshua. [Pentateuch.] DEVIL. The name describes Satan as slandering God to man, and man to God. The former work is, of course, a part of his great work of temptation to evil ; and is not only exemplified but illustrated as to its general nature and tendency by the narrative of Gen. iii. The effect is to stir up the spirit of freedom in man to seek a fancied in- dependence; and it is but a slight step further to impute falsehood or cruelty to God. The other work, the slandering or accusing man before God is, as it must necessarily be, unintelligible to us. The essence of this accusation is the imputation of selfish motives (Job i. 9, 10), and its refu- tation is placed in the self-sacrifice of those “ who loved not their own lives unto death.” [Satan; Demon.] DEW. This in the summer is so copious in Palestine that it supplies to some extent | the absence of rain (Ecclus. xviii. 16, xiiii. j 22), and becomes important to the agricul- turist. As a proof of this copiousness the well-known sign of Gideon (Judg, vi. 37, 39, | 40) may be adduced. Thus it is coupled in the divine blessing with rain, or mentioned j as a prime source of fertility (Gen. xxvii. 28 ; Deut. xxxiii. 13 ; Zech. viii. 12), and its withdrawal is attributed to a curse (2 Sam. i. 21 ; IK. xvii. 1 ; Hag. i. 10). It becomes a leading object in prophetic ima- gery by reason of its penetrating moisture without the apparent effort of rain (Deut. xxxii. 2 ; Job xxix. 19 ; Ps. cxxxiii. 3 ; Rrov. xix. 12 ; Is. xxvi. 19 ; Hos. xiv. 5 ; Mic. v. 7) ; while its speedy evanescence typifies the transient goodness of the hypo- crite (Hos. vi. 4, xiii. 3). DIADEM. What the “diadem” of the Jews was we know not. That of other na- tions of antiquity was a fillet of silk, two inches broad, bound round the head and tied j behind, the invention of which is attributed to Liber. Its colour was generally white ; sometimes, however, it was of blue, like that of Darius ; and it was sown with pearls or other gems (Zech. ix. 16), and enriched with gold (Rev. ix. 7). It was peculiarly the mark of Oriental sovereigns (1 Macc. xiii. 32). A crown was used by the kings of Israel, even in battle (2 Sam. i. 10) ; but in all probability this was not the state crown (2 Sam. xii. 30), although used in the coronation of Joash (2 K. xi. 12). In Esth. i. 11, ii. 17, we have cether for the turban worn by the Persian king, queen, or other eminent persons to whom it was conceded as a special favour (viii. 15). The diadem of the king differed from that of others in hav- ing an erect triangular peak. The words in Ez. xxiii. 15 mean long and flowing turbans of gorgeous colours. Obverse of Tetradrachm of Tigranes, king of Syria. DIAL. The word ma'aloth is the same as that rendered “steps” in A. V. (Ex. xx. 26 ; 1 K. x. 19), and “degrees” In A. V. (2 K. xx. 9, 10, 11 ; Is. xxxviii. 8), where, to give a consistent rendering, we should read with the margin the “ degrees ” rather than the “ dial ” of Ahaz. In the absence of any materials for determining the shape and structure of the solar instrument, which certainly appears intended, the best course is to follow the most strictly natural meaning of the words, and to consider that the ma’aloth were really stairs, and that the shadow (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top) fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented. DIAMOND (Heb. yahalom), a precious stone, the third in the second row on the breastplate of the High-priest (Ex. xxviii. 18, xxxix. 11), and mentioned by Ezekiel (xxviii. 13) among the precious stones of the king of Tyre. Some suppose yahalom to be the “ emerald.” Respecting shdmir , which is translated “ diamond ” in Jer. xvii, 1. see under Adamant. DIANA 133 DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE DIAN'A. This Latin word, properly de- noting a Roman divinity, is the representative of the Greek Artemis , the tutelary goddess of the Ephesians, who plays so important a part in the narrative of Acts xix. The Ephesian Diana, was, however, regarded as invested with very different attributes, and is rather to he identified with Astarte and other female divinities of the East. The coin below will give some notion of the image of the true Ephesian Diana, which was grotesque and archaic in character. The head wore a mural crown, each hand held a bar of metal, and the lower part ended in a rude block covered with figures of animals and mystic inscriptions. This idol was regarded as an object of peculiar sanctity, and was believed to have fallen down from heaven (Acts xix. 35). The cry of the mob (Acts xix. 28), “ Great is Diana of the Ephesians !” and the strong expression in ver. 27, “whom all Asia and the world worshippeth,” may be abundantly illustrated from a variety of sources. The term “ great ” was evidently a title of honour recognised as belonging to the Ephesian goddess. We find it in in- scriptions. Greek imperial copper coin of Ephesus and Smyrna. DIB ’LATH (accurately Di blah), a place named only in Ez. vi. 14, as if situated at one of the extremities of the land of Israel, is perhaps only another form of Riblah. DI'BON. 1. A town on the east side of Jor- dan, in the rich pastoral country, which was taken possession of and rebuilt by the children of Gad (Num. xxxii. 3, 34). From this cir- cumstance it possibly received the name of Dibon-Gad (Numb, xxxiii. 45, 46). Its first mention is in Num. xxi. 30, and from this it appears to have belonged originally to the Moabites. We find Dibon counted to Reuben in the lists of Joshua (xiii. 9, 17). In the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah, however, it was again in possession of Moab (Is. xv. 2; Jer. xlviii. 18, 22, comp. 24). In the same denunciations of Isaiah it appears, probably, under the name of Dimon. In modern times the name Dhiban has been dis- covered as attached to extensive ruins on the Roman road, about three miles north of the Arnon [Wady Modjeb). — 2. One of the towns which were re-inhabited by the men of Judah after the return from captivity (Neh. xi. 25), identical with Dimonah. DI'BON-GAD. [Dibon.] DIDRACHMON. [Monet; Shekel.] DID'YMUS, that is, the Twin , a surname of the Apostle Thomas (John xi. 16, xx. 24, xxi. 2). [Thomas.] DIK'LAH (Gen. x. 27 ; 1 Chr. i. 21), a son of Joktan, whose settlements, in common with those of the other sons of Joktan, must be looked for in Arabia. The name in Hebrew signifies “ a palm-tree” hence it is thought that Diklah is a part of Arabia con- taining many palm-trees. DI'MONAH, a city in the south of Judah (Josh. xv. 22), perhaps the same as Dibon in Neh. xi. 25. DI'NAH, the daughter of Jacob by Leah (Gen. xxx. 21). She accompanied her father from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and, having ventured among the inhabitants, was violated by Shechem the son of Hamor, the chieftain of the territory in which her father had settled (Gen. xxxiv.). Shechem proposed to make the usual reparation by paying a sum to the father and marrying her (Gen. xxxiv. 12). But in this case the suitor was an alien, and the crown of the offence con- sisted in its having been committed by an alien against the favoured people of God ; he had “wrought folly in Israel” (xxxiv. 7). The proposals of Hamor, who acted as his deputy, were framed on the recognition of the hitherto complete separation of the two peoples ; he proposed the fusion of the two by the establishment of the rights of inter- marriage and commerce. The sons of Jacob, bent upon revenge, availed themselves of the eagerness, which Shechem showed, to effect their purpose ; they demanded, as a condi- tion of the proposed union, the circumcision of the Shechemites. They therefore assented ; and on the third day, when the pain and fever resulting from the operation were at the highest, Simeon and Levi, own brothers to Dinah, attacked them unexpectedly, slew all the males and plundered their city. DI'NAITES (Ezr. iv. 9), the name of some of the Cuthaean colonists who were placed in the cities of Samaria after the captivity of the ten tribes. DIN'HABAH (Gen. xxxvi. 32 ; 1 Chr. i. 43), the capital city, and probably the birth- place, of Bela, son of Beor, king of Edom. DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE (Acts xvii. 34), an eminent Athenian, converted to Christianity by the preaching of St. Paul. He is said to have been first bishop of Athens, The writings which were once attributed tc DIONYSUS 134 DIVINATION aim are now confessed to be the production of some neo-Platonists of the 6th century. DIONY'SUS (2 Macc. xiv. 33 ; 3 Macc. ii. 29), also called Bacchus, the god of wine. His worship was greatly modified by the incorporation of Eastern elements, and assumed the twofold form of wild orgies and mystic rites, To the Jew, Dionysus would necessarily appear as the embodiment of paganism in its most material shape, sanc- tioning the most tumultuous passions and the worst excesses. DIOSCORIN'THIUS. [Months.] DIOT'REPHES, a Christian mentioned in 3 John 9, but of whom nothing is known. DISCIPLE. [Schools.] DISPERSION, THE JEWS OF THE, or simply The Dispersion, was the general title applied to those Jews who remained settled in foreign countries after the return from the Babylonian exile, and during the period of the second Temple. The Disper- sion, as a distinct element influencing the entire character of the Jews, dates from the Babylonian exile. Outwardly and inwardly, by its effects both on the Gentiles and on the people of Israel, the Dispersion appears to have been the clearest providential prepara- tion for the spread of Christianity. At the beginning of the Christian era the Dispersion was divided into three great sections, the Babylonian, the Syrian, the Egyptian. Pre- cedence was yielded to the first. From Babylon the Jews spread throughout Persia, Media, and Parthia. The Greek conquests in Asia extended the limits of the Dispersion. Seleucus Nicator transplanted large bodies of Jewish colonists from Babylonia to the capitals of his western provinces. His policy was followed by his successor Antiochus the Great ; and the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes only served to push forward the Jewish emigration to the remoter districts of his empire. Large settlements of Jews were established in Cyprus, in the islands of the Aegaean, and on the western coast of Asia Minor. The Jews of the Syrian provinces gradually formed a closer connexion with their new homes, and together with the Greek language adopted in many respects Greek ideas. This Hellenizing tendency, however, found its most free development at Alexandria. The Jewish settlements esta- blished there by Alexander and Ptolemy I. became the source of the African dispersion, which spread over the north coast of Africa, and perhaps inland to Abyssinia. At Cyrene and Berenice (Tripoli) the Jewish inhabitants formed a considerable portion of the popula- tion. The Jewish settlements in Rome were consequent upon the occupation of Jerusalem by Pompey, b.c. 63. The captives and emigrants whom he brought with him wore located in the trans-Tiberine quarter. Id the reign of Claudius the Jews became objects of suspicion from their immense numbers; and the internal disputes led to their banishment from the city (Acts xviii. 2). This expulsion, if general, can only have been temporary, for in a few years the Jews at Rome were numerous (Acts xxviii. 17 ff.). The influence of the Dispersion on the rapid promulgation of Christianity can scarcely be overrated. The course of the apostolic preaching followed in a regular progress the line of Jewish settlements. The mixed assembly from which the first converts were gathered on the day of Pente- cost represented each division of the Disper- sion (Acts ii. 9-11 ; (1) Parthians . . . . Mesopotamia; (2) Judaea (i. e. Syria). . . . Pamphylia ; (3) Egypt . . . Greece ; (4) Romans . . . ), and these converts naturally prepared the way for the apostles in the interval which preceded the beginning of the separate apostolic missions. St. James and St. Peter wrote to the Jews of the Dispersion (Jam. i. 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 1). DIVINATION has been universal in all ages, and all nations alike civilized and savage. Numerous forms of divination are mentioned, such as divination by rods (Hos. iv. 12) ; divination by cups (Gen. xliv. 5) ; consultation of Teraphim (Zech. x. 2 ; Ez. xxi. 21 ; 1 Sam. xv. 23) [Teraphim] ; divination by the liver (Ez. xxi. 21) ; divi- nation by dreams (Deut. xiii. 2, 3 ; Judg. vii. 13 ; Jer. xxiii. 32), &c. Moses forbade every species of divination because a prying into the future clouds the mind with super- stition, and because it would have been an incentive to idolatry : indeed the frequent denunciations of the sin in the prophets tend to prove that these forbidden arts presented peculiar temptations to apostate Israel. But God supplied his people with substitutes for divination, which would have rendered it superfluous, and left them in no doubt as to his will in circumstances of danger, had they continued faithful. It was only when they were unfaithful that the revelation was withdrawn (1 Sam. xxviii. 6 ; 2 Sam. ii. 1 ; v. 23, &c.). Superstition not unfrequently goes hand in hand with scepticism, and hence, amid the general infidelity prevalent through the Roman empire at our Lord’s coming, imposture was rampant ; as a glance at the pages of Tacitus will suffice to prove. Hence the lucrative trades of such men as Simon Magus (Acts viii. 9), Bar-jesus (Acts viii. 6, 8), the slave with the spirit of Python (Acts xvi. 16), the vagabond Jews, exorcists DIVORCE 135 DOTHAN (Luke xi. 19 ; Acts xix. 13), and others (2 Tim. iii. 13; Rev. xix. 20, &c.), as well as the notorious dealers in magical books at Ephesus (Acts xix. 19). DIVORCE. The law regulating this sub- ject is found Deut. xxiv. 1-4, and the cases in which the right of a husband to divorce his wife was lost, are stated ib. xxii. 19, 29. The ground of divorce is a point on which the Jewish doctors of the period of the N. T. widely differed ; the school of Shammai seeming to limit it to a moral delinquency in the woman, whilst that of Hillel extended it to trifling causes, e. g ., if the wife burnt the food she was cooking for her husband. The Pharisees wished perhaps to embroil our Saviour with these rival schools by their question (Matt. xix. 3) ; by His answer to which, as well as by His previous maxim (v. 31), he declares that but for their hardened state of heart, such questions would have no place. Yet from the distinction made, “ but I say unto you,” v. 31, 32, it seems to follow, that he regarded all the lesser causes than “fornication ” as standing on too weak ground, and declined the question of how to interpret the words of Moses. DI'ZAHAB, a place in the Arabian Desert, mentioned Deut. i. 1, is identified with Dahab, a cape on the W. shore of the Gulf of Akabah. DOD'AI, an Ahohite who commanded the course of the 2nd month (1 Chr. xxvii. 4). It is probable that he is the same as Dodo, 2. DQ'DANIM, Gen. x. 4 ; 1 Chr. i. 7 (in some copies and in marg. of A. V. 1 Chr. i. 7, Rodanim), a family or race descended from Javan, the son of Japhet (Gen. x. 4 ; 1 Chr. i. 7). The weight of authority is in favour of the former name. Dodanim is regarded as identical with the Dardani, who were found in historical times in Illyricum and Troy. DO'DO. 1. A man of Bethlehem, father of Elhanan, who was one of David’s thirty captains (2 Sam. xxiii. 24 ; 1 Chr. xi. 26). He is a different person from — 2. Dodo the Ahohite, father of Eleazar, the 2nd of the three mighty men who were over the thirty (2 Sam. xxiii. 9 ; 1 Chr. xi. 12). He, or Ms son — in which case we must suppose the words “Eleazar son of” to have escaped from the text — probably had the command of the second monthly course (1 Chr. xxvii. 4). In the latter passage the name is Dodai. DO'EG, an Idumaean, chief of Saul’s herd- men. He was at Nob when Ahimeleck gave David the sword of Goliath, and not only gave information to Saul, but when others declined the office, himself executed the king’s order to destroy the priests of Nob, with their families, to the number of 85 persons, together with all their property (1 Sam. xxi. 7, xxii. 9, 18, 22 ; Ps. Iii.) . DOG, an animal frequently mentioned in Scripture. It was used by the Hebrews as a watch for their houses (Is. lvi. 10), and fcr guarding their flocks (Job xxx. 1). Then also as now, troops of hungry and semi-wild dogs used to wander about the fields and streets of the cities, devouring dead bodies and other offal (1 K. xiv. 11, xvi. 4, xxi. 19, 23, xxii. 38, 2 K. ix. 10, 36 ; Jer. xv. 3, Ps. lix. 6, 14), and thus became such objects of dislike that fierce and cruel enemies are poetically styled dogs in Ps. xxii. 16, 20. Moreover the dog being an unclean animal (Is. lxvi. 3), the terms, dog , dead dog , dog's head were used as terms of reproach, or of humility in speaking of one’s self (1 Sam. xxiv. 14 ; 2 Sam. iii. 8, ix. 8, xvi. 9; 2K. viii. 13). Stanley mentions that he saw on the very site of Jezreel the descendants of the dogs that devoured Jezebel, prowling on the mounds without the walls for offal and carrion thrown out to them to consume. DOORS. [Gates.] DOPH'KAH, a place mentioned Num. xxxiii. 12, as a station in the Desert where the Israelites encamped ; see Wilderness. DOR (Josh. xvii. 11; 1 K. iv. 11 ; 1 Macc. xv. 11), an ancient royal city of the Canaanites (Josh. xii. 23), whose ruler was an ally of Jabin king of Hazor against Joshua (Josh. xi. 1, 2). It was probably the most southern settlement of the Phoenicians on the coast of Syria. It appears to have been within the territory of the tribe of Asher, though allotted to Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 1 1 ; Judg. i. 27). The original inhabitants were never expelled ; but during the prosperous reigns of David and Solomon they were made tributary (Judg. i. 27, 28), and the latter monarch stationed at Dor one of his twelve purveyors (1 K. iv. 11). Jerome places it on the coast, “ in the ninth mile from Caesarea, on the way to Ptolemais.” Just at the point indicated is the small village of Tantura ; probably an Arab corruption of Horn, con- sisting of about thirty houses, wholly con- structed of ancient materials. DQ'RA. 1 Macc. xv. 11, 13, 25. [Dor.] DOR'CAS. [Tabitba.] DO’THAIM. [Dothan.] DO'THAN, a place first mentioned (Gen. xxxvii. 1 7 ) in connexion with the history of Joseph, and apparently as in the neighbour- hood of Shechem. It next appears as the residence of Elisha (2 K. vi. 13). Later still we encounter it under the name of Dothaim, as a landmark in the account of DOVE 136 DRESS Holofernes’s campaign against Bethulia (Jud. It. 6, vii. 3, 18, viii. 3). It was known to Eusebius, who places it 1 2 miles to the N. of Sebaste (Samaria) ; and here it has been dis- covered in our own times, still bearing its ancient name unimpaired. DOYE (Heb. Yondh). The first mention of this bird occurs in Gen. viii. The dove’s rapidity of flight is alluded to in Ps. Iv. 6 ; the beauty of its plumage in Ps. lx viii. 13 ; its dwelling in the rocks and valleys in Jer. xlviii. 28, and Ez. vii. 16; its mournful voice in Is. xxxviii. 14, lix. 11 ; Nah. ii. 7 ; its harmlessness in Matt. x. 16 ; its sim- plicity in Hos. vii. 11, and its amativeness in Cant. i. 15, ii. 14. Doves are kept in a domesticated state in many parts of the East. In Persia pigeon-houses are erected at a distance from the dwellings, for the purpose of collecting the dung as manure. There is probably an allusion to such a custom in Is. lx. 8. DOVE’S DUNG. Various explanations have been given of the passage in 2 K. vi. 25, which describes the famine of Samaria to have been so excessive, that “ an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.” Bochart has laboured to show that it denotes a species of cicer, “ chick-pea,” which he says the Arabs call usndn , and sometimes improperly “ dove’s or sparrow’s dung.” It can scarcely be believed that even in the worst horrors of a siege a j substance so vile as is implied by the literal rendering should have been used for food. DOWRY. [Marriage.] DRACHM (2 Macc. iv. 19, x. 20, xii. 43 ; Luke xv. 8, 9), a Greek silver coin, varying in weight on account of the use of different talents. In Luke (A. V. “ piece of silver ”) denarii seem to be intended. [Money ; Silver, piece of.] DRAGON. The translators of the A. V., apparently following the Vulgate, have ren- dered by the same word “dragon” the two Hebrew words Tan and Tannin , which appear to be quite distinct in meaning. — I. The former is used, always in the plural, in Job xxx. 29 ; Is. xxxiv. 13, xliii. 20 ; in Is. xiii. 22 ; in Jer. x. 22, xlix. 33 ; in Ps. xliv. 19 ; and in Jer. ix. 11, xiv. 6, li. 37 ; Mic. i. 8. It is always applied to some creatures inhabiting the desert, and we should conclude from this that it refers "ather to some wild beast than to a serpent. The Syriac renders it by a word which, according to Pococke, means a “ jackal.” — II. The word tannin seems to refer to any great monster, whether of the land or the sea, being indeed more usually applied to some kind of serpent or reptile, but not ex- clusively restricted to that sense. When we examine special passages we find the word used in Gen. i. 21, of the great sea-monsters, the representatives of the inhabitants of the deep. On the other hand, in Ex. vii. 9, 10, 12, Deut. xxxii. 33, Ps. xci. 13, it refers to land-serpents of a powerful and deadly kind. In the N. T. it is only found in the Apoca- lypse (Rev. xii. 3, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, &c.), as applied metaphorically to “ the old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,” the description of the “ dragon ” being dictated by the sym- bolical meaning of the image rather than by any reference to any actually existing crea- ture. The reason of this scriptural symbol is to be sought not only in the union of gigantic power with craft and malignity, of which the serpent is the natural emblem, but in the record of the serpent’s agency in the temptation (Gen. iii.). DRAM. [Daric.] DREAMS. The Scripture declares, that the influence of the Spirit of God upon the soul extends to its sleeping as well as its waking thoughts. But, in accordance with the principle enunciated by St. Paul in 1 Cor. xiv. 15, dreams, in which the understanding is asleep, are placed below the visions of prophecy, in which the understanding plays its part. It is true that the book of Job, standing as it does on the basis of “ natura religion,” dwells on dreams and “ visions in i deep sleep ” as the chosen method of God’s revelation of Himself to man (see Job iv. 13, vii. 14, xxxiii. 15). But in Num. xii. 6 ; Deut. xiii. 1, 3, 5 ; Jer. xxvii. 9 ; Joel ii. 28, &c., dreamers of dreams, whether true or false, are placed below “ prophets,” and even below “ diviners and similarly in the climax of 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, we read that “ Jehovah answered Saul not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim [by symbol], nor by prophets.” Under the Christian dispensa- tion, while we read frequently of trances and visions, dreams are never referred to as vehicles of divine revelation. In exact ac- cordance with this principle are the actual records of the dreams sent by God. The greater number of such dreams were granted, for prediction or for warning, to those who were aliens to the Jewish covenant. And, where dreams are recorded as means of God’s revelation to his chosen servants, they are almost always referred to the periods of their earliest and most imperfect knowledge of Him. DRESS. This subject includes the follow- ing particulars : — 1. Materials. 2. Colour and decoration. 3. Name, form, and mode of wearing the various articles. 4. Special DRESS 137 DRESS usages relating thereto. — 1. The earliest and simplest robe was made out of the leaves of a tree, portions of which were sewn together, so as to form an apron (Gen. iii. 7). After the fall, the skins of animals supplied a more durable material (Gen. iii. 21), which was adapted to a rude state of society, and is stated to have been used by various ancient nations. Skins were not wholly disused at later periods : the “mantle ” worn by Elijah appears to have been the skin of a sheep or some other animal with the wool left on. It was characteristic of a prophet’s office from its mean appearance (Zech. xiii. 4 ; cf. Matt, vii, 15). Pelisses of sheepskin still form an ordinary article of dress in the East. The art of weaving hair was known to the Hebrews at an early period (Ex. xxvi. 7, xxxv. 6) ; the sackcloth used by mourners was of this material. John the Baptist’s robe was of camel’s hair (Matt. iii. 4). Wool, we may presume, was introduced at a very early period, the flocks of the pastoral families being kept partly for their wool (Gen. xxxviii. 12) : it was at all times largely employed, particularly for the outer garments (Lev. xiii. 47 ; Deut. xxii. 11 ; &c.). It is probable that the acquaintance of the Hebrews with linen, and perhaps cotton, dates from the period of the captivity in when they were instructed in the manufacture (1 Chr. iv. 21). After their return to Palestine we have frequent notices of linen. Silk was not introduced until a very late period (Rev. xviii. 12). The use of mixed material, such as wool and flax, was forbidden (Lev. xix. 19 ; Deut. xxii. 11). — 2. Colour and decoration. The pre- vailing colour of the Hebrew dress was the natural white of the materials employed, which might be brought to a high state of brilliancy by the art of the fuller (Mark ix. 3). It is uncertain when the art of dyeing became known to the Hebrews ; the dress worn by Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 3, 23) is variously taken to be either a “ coat of divers colours,” or a tunic furnished with sleeves and reaching down to the ankles. The latter is probably the correct sense. The notice of scarlet thread (Gen. xxxviii. 28) implies some acquaintance with dyeing. The Egyp- tians had carried the art of weaving and embroidery to a high state of perfection, and from them the Hebrews learned various methods of producing decorated stuffs. The elements of ornamentation were — (1) weav- ing with threads previously dyed (Ex. xxxv. 25) ; (2) the introduction of gold thread or wire (Ex. xxvii. 6 ff.) ; (3) the addition of figures. These devices may have been either woven into the stuff, or cut out of other stuff and afterwards attached by needlework : in the former case the pattern would appear only on one side, in the latter the pattern might be varied. Robes decorated with gold (Ps. xlv. 13), and at a later period with silver thread (cf. Acts xii. 21), were worn by royal personages ; other kinds of em- broidered robes were worn by the wealthy both of Tyre (Ez. xvi. 13) and Palestine (Judg. v. 30; Ps. xlv. 14). The art does not appear to have been maintained among the Hebrews : the Babylonians and other eastern nations (Josh. vii. 21 ; Ez. xxvii. 24), as well as the Egyptians (Ez. xxvii. 7), excelled in it. Nor does the art of dyeing appear to have been followed up in Pales- tine : dyed robes were imported from foreign countries (Zeph. i. 8), particularly from Phoenicia, and were not much used on account of their expensiveness : purple (Prov. xxxi. 22 ; Luke xvi. 19) and scarlet (2 Sam. i. 24) were occasionally worn by the wealthy. The surrounding nations were more lavish in their use of them : the wealthy Tyrians (Ez. xxvii. 7), the Midian- itish kings (Judg. viii. 26), the Assyrian nobles (Ez. xxiii. 6), and Persian officers (Esth. viii. 15), are all represented in purple. — 3. The names, forms, and mode of wearing the robes. It is difficult to give a satisfactory account of the various articles of dress men- tioned in the Bible. The general character- istics of Oriental dress have indeed preserved a remarkable uniformity in all ages : the modern Arab dresses much as the ancient Hebrew did ; there are the same flowing robes, the same distinction between the outer and inner garments, the former heavy and warm, the latter light, adapted ' to the rapid and excessive changes of temperature in those countries ; and there is the same dis- tinction between the costume of the rich and the poor, consisting in the multiplication of robes of a finer texture and more ample di- mensions. Hence the numerous illustrations of ancient costume, which may be drawn from the usages of modern Orientals, supply- ing in great measure the want of contempo- raneous representations. The costume of the men and women was very similar ; there was sufficient difference, however, to mark the sex, and it was strictly forbidden to a woman to wear the appendages such as the staff, signet-ring, and other ornaments, or according to Josephus, the weapons of a man ; as well as to a man to wear the outer robe of a woman (Deut. xxii. 5). We shall first describe the robes which were common to the two sexes, and then those which were peculiar to women. (I.) The cethoneth was the most essential article of dress. It was DRESS 138 DRESS a closely-fitting: garment, resembling in form and use our shirt , though unfortunately translated coat in the A. Y. The material of which it was made was either wool, cotton, or linen. The primitive cethoneth was with- out sleeves and reached only to the knee. Another kind reached to the wrists and ankles. It was in either case kept close to the body by a girdle, and the fold formed by the overlapping of the robe served as an inner pocket. A person wearing the cetho- | noth alone was described as naked , A. V. j The annexed woodcut (fig. 1) represents the Fja- \. — An Egyptian. (Lane’s Modern Egyptians.) simplest style of Oriental dress, a long loose shirt or cethoneth without a girdle, reaching nearly to the ankle. (2.) The sadin appears to have been a wrapper of fine linen, which might be used in various ways, but especially as a night-shirt (Mark xiv. 51). (3.) The m$zl was an upper or second tunic, the dif- ference being that it was longer than the first. As an article of ordinary dress it was worn by kings (1 Sam. xxiv. 4), prophets (1 Sam. xxviii. 14), nobles (Job i. 20), and youths (1 Sam. ii. 19). It may, however, be doubted whether the term is used in its specific sense in these passages, and not rather for any robe that chanced to be worn over the cethoneth. Where two tunics are mentioned (Luke iii. 11) as being worn at the same time, the second would be a meil ; travellers generally wore two, but the prac- tice was forbidden to the disciples (Matt. x. 10 ; Luke ix. 3). The dress of the middle ! and upper classes in modern Egypt (fig. 2) Fig. 2.— An Egyptian of the upper classes. ( Lane.) illustrates the customs of the Hebrews. (4.) The ordinary outer garment consisted of a quadrangular piece of woollen cloth, probably resembling in shape a Scotch plaid. The size and texture would vary with the means of the wearer. The Hebrew terms referring to it are — simlah, sometimes put for clothes generally (Gen. xxxv. 2, xxxvii. 34 ; Ex. iii. 22, xxii. 9 ; Deut. x. 18 ; Is. iii. 7, iv. 1) ; beged, which is more usual in speaking of robes of a handsome and substantial cha- racter (Gen. xxvii. 15, xli. 42 ; Ex. xxviii. 2 ; 1 K. xxii. 10 ; 2 Chr. xviii. 9 ; Is. lxiii. 1) ; cesuth , appropriate to passages where covering or protection is the prominent idea (Ex. xxii. 26 ; Job xxvi. 6, xxxi. 19) ; and lastly lebush , usual in poetry, but specially applied to a warrior’s cloak (2 Sam. xx. 8), priests’ vestments (2 K. x. 22), and royal apparel (Esth. vi. 11, viii. 15). Another term, mad, is specifically applied to a long cloak (Judg. iii. 16 ; 2 Sam. xx. 8), and to the priest’s coat (Lev. vi. 10). The beged might be worn in various ways, either wrapped round the body, or worn over the shoulders, like a shawl, with the ends or “skirts” hanging down in front; or it might be thrown over the head, so as to con- ceal the face (2 Sam. xv. 30 ; Esth. vi. 12). The ends were skirted with a fringe and bound with a dark purple riband (Num. xv. DRESS 139 DRESS 38) : it was confined at the waist by a girdle, and the fold, formed by the overlapping of the robe, served as a pocket. — The dress of the women differed from that of the men in regard to the outer garment, the cetho7ieth being worn equally by both sexes (Cant. v. 3). The names of their distinctive robes were as follow : — (1) mitpachath [veil, wimple , A. V.), a kind of shawl (Ruth iii. 15 ; Is. iii. 22) ; (2) md’ataphah ( mantle , A. V.), another kind of shawl (Is. iii. 22) ; (3) tsaiph [veil, A. V.), probably a light summer dress of handsome appearance and of ample dimensions ; (4) radid [veil, A. V.), a similar robe (Is. iii. 23 ; Cant. v. 7); (5) petMgi [stomacher, A. V.), a term of doubtful origin, but probably significant of a gay holiday dress (Is. iii. 24) ; (6) gilyonim (Is. iii. 23), also a doubtful word, probably means, as in the A. Y., glasses. The gar- ments of females were terminated by an ample border of fringe ( skirts , A. Y.), which concealed the feet (Is. xlvii. 2 ; Jer. xiii. 22). Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate some of the peculiarities of female dress ; the former is an Egyptian woman in her walking dress ; the latter represents a dress, probably of great antiquity, still worn by the peasants in the south of Egypt. The references to Greek or Roman dress are few : the (2 Macc. xii. 35 ; Matt, xxvii. 28) was either the paludamentum, the military scarf of the Roman soldiery, or the Greek chlamys itself, which was introduced under the Emperors : Fig. 3. — An Egyptian Woman, (hano.) Fig. 4. — A Woman of the southern province of Upper Egypt. (Lane.) it was especially worn by officers. The travelling cloak referred to by St. Paul (2 Tim. iv. 13) is generally identified with the Roman paenula, of which it may be a corruption. It is, however, otherwise ex- plained as a travelling-case for carrying clothes or books. — 4. Special usages relating to dress. The length of the dress rendered it inconvenient for active exercise ; hence the outer garments were either left in the I house by a person working close by (Matt. I xxiv. 18) or were thrown off when the occa- | sicn arose (Mark x. 50 ; John xiii. 4 ; Acts vii. 58), or, if this was not possible, as in the case of a person travelling, they were girded up (1 K. xviii. 46 ; 2 K. iv. 29, ix. 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 13) ; on entering a house the upper garment was probably laid aside and re- sumed on going out (Acts xii. 8). In a sitting posture, the garments concealed the feet : this was held to be an act of rever- ence (Is. vi. 2). The number of suits possessed by the Hebrews was considerable : a single suit consisted of an under and upper garment. The presentation of a robe in | many instances amounted to installation or investiture (Gen. xii. 42 ; Esth. viii. 15; Is. xxii. 21) ; on the other hand, taking it away amounted to dismissal from office (2 Macc. iv. 38). The production of the best robe was a mark of special hcnour in a DRINK 140 DURA household (Luke xv. 22). The number of robes thus received or kept in store for presents was very large, and formed one of the main elements of wealth in the East (Job xxii. 16 ; Matt. vi. 19 ; James v. 2), so that to have clothing = to be wealthy and power- ful (Is. iii. 6, 7). On grand occasions the entertainer offered becoming robes to his guests. The business of making clothes devolved upon women in a family (Prov. xxxi. 22 ; Acts ix. 39) ; little art was re- quired in what we may term the tailoring department ; the garments came forth for the most part ready made from the loom, so that the weaver supplanted the tailor. DRINK, STRONG. The Hebrew term shecar , in its etymological sense, applies to any beverage that had intoxicating qualities. We may infer from Cant. viii. 2 that the Hebrews were in the habit of expressing the juice of other fruits besides the grape for the purpose of making wine ; the pomegranate, which is there noticed, was probably one out of many fruits so used. With regard to the application of the term in later times we have the explicit statement of Jerome, as well as other sources of information, from which we may state that the following beverages were known to the Jews : — 1. Beer , which was largely consumed in Egypt under the name of zythus , and was thence introduced into Palestine. It was made of barley ; cer- tain herbs, such as lupin and skirrett, were used as substitutes for hops. 2. Cider, which is noticed in the Mishna as apple-wine. 3. Honey -wine, of which there were two sorts, one, consisting of a mixture of wine, honey, and pepper : the other a decoction of the juice of the grape, termed debash (honey) by the Hebrews, and dibs by the modern Syrians. 4. j Cate-wine, which was also manufactured in Egypt. It was made by mashing the fruit in water in certain proportions. 5. Various other fruits and vegetables are enumerated by Pliny as supplying materials for factitious or home-made wine, such as figs, millet, the ca- rob fruit, &c. It is not improbable that the Hebrews applied raisins to this purpose in the simple manner followed by the Arabians, viz., by putting them in jars of water and burying them in the ground until fermenta- tion takes place. DROMEDARY. [Camel.] DRUSIL'LA, daughter of Herod Agrippal. (Acts xii, 1, 19 ff.) and Cypros. She was at first betrothed to Antiochus Epiphanes, prince of Commagene, but was married to Azizus, king of Emesa. Soon after, Felix, procurator of J udaea, brought about her geduction by means of the Cyprian sorcerer Simon, and took her his wife. In Acts xxv. 24, we find her in company with Felix at Caesarea. Felix had by Drusilla a son named Agrippa, who, together with his mother, perished in the eruption of Vesuvius under Titus. DULCIMER (Heb. Sumphoniah ), a mu- sical instrument, mentioned in Dan. iii. 5, 15, probably the bagpipe. The same instrument is still in use amongst peasants in the N.W. of Asia and in Southern Europe, where it is known by the similar name Sampogna or Zampogna. DU'MAH. 1. A son of Ishmael, most probably the founder of the Ishmaelite tribe of Arabia, and thence the name of the prin- cipal place, or district, inhabited by that tribe (Gen. xxv. 14 ; 1 Chr. i. 39 ; Is. xxi. 11).. A city in the mountainous district of Judah, near Hebron (Josh. xv. 52) repre- sented by the ruins of a village called ed - Davmeh , 6 miles south-west of Hebron. DUNG. The uses of dung were twofold, as manure, and as fuel. The manure con- sisted either of straw steeped in liquid ma- nure (Is. xxv. 10), or the sweepings (Is. v. 25) of the streets and roads, which were care- fully removed from about the houses and col- lected in heaps outside the walls of the towns at fixed spots (hence the dung-gate at Jeru- salem, Neh. ii. 13), and thence removed in due course to the fields. The mode of ap- plying manure to trees was by digging holes about their roots and inserting it (Luke xiii. 3), as still practised in Southern Italy. In the case of sacrifices the dung was burnt out- side the camp (Ex. xxix. 14 ; Lev. iv. 11, viii. 17 ; Num. xix. 5) : hence the extreme opprobrium of the threat in Mai. ii. 3. Par- ticular directions were laid down in the law to enforce cleanliness with regard to human ordure (Deut. xxiii. 12 ff.) : it was the gross- est insult to turn a man’s house into a recep- tacle for it (2 K. x. 27 ; Ezr. vi. 11 ; Dan. ii. 5, iii. 29, “dunghill” A. V.) ; public esta- blishments of that nature are still found in the large towns of the East. — The difficulty of procuring fuel in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt has made dung in all ages valuable as a sub- stitute : it was probably used for heating ovens and for baking cakes (Ez. iv. 12, 15), the equable heat, which it produced, adapt- ing it peculiarly for the latter operation. Cow’s and camel’s dung is still used for a similar purpose by the Bedouins. DUNGEON. [Prison.] DU'RA, the plain where Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden image (Dan. iii. 1) has been sometimes identified with a tract a little be- low Tekrit , on the left bank of the Tigris, where the name Bur is still found. M. Op- pert places the plain (or, as he calls it, the * 4 valley ”) of Dura to the south-east of Baby- DUST 141 EARTH ion in the vicinity o I the mound of Dowair or Duair. DUST. [Mourning.] I TtAGLE (Heb. nesher). The Hebrew word, j which occurs frequently in the O. T. may denote a particular species of the Fal- conidae, as in Lev. xi. 13; Deut. xiv. 12, where the nesher is distinguished from the ossifrage , osprey , and other raptatorial birds ; but the term is used also to express the griffon vulture ( Vultur fulvus) in two or three passages. At least four distinct kinds of eagles have been observed in Palestine, viz. the golden eagle [Aquila Chrysaetos ), the spotted eagle ( A . naevia ), the commonest species in the rocky districts, the imperial eagle [Aquila Seliaca ), and the very common Circaetos gallicus , which preys on the nu- merous reptilia of Palestine. The Heb. nesher may stand for any of these different species, though perhaps more particular reference to the golden and imperial eagles and the griffon vulture may be intended. The passage in Mic. i. 16, “Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle,”' may refer to the griffon vulture [Vultur fulvus)) in which case the simile is peculiarly appropriate, for the whole head and neck of this bird are destitute of true J feathers. The “eagles” of Matt. xxiv. 28, j Luke xvii. 37, may include the Vultur fulvus \ and Neophron per cnopterus ; though, as eagles j frequently prey upon dead bodies, there is no ! Aquila Heliaca. necessity to restrict the Greek word to the Vulturidae. The figure of an eagle is now and has been long a favourite military ensign. The Persians so employed it ; a fact which illustrates the passage in Is. xlvi. 11. The same bird was similarly employed by the As- syrians and the Romans. EARNEST (2 Cor. i. 22, v. 5 ; Eph. i. 14). The equivalent in the original is arrhabon (appapdiv), a Graecised form of the Heb. ’em- bon , which was introduced by the Phoenicians into Greece, and also into Italy, where it re- appears under the forms of arrhabo and arrha. The Hebrew word was used gene- rally for pledge (Gen. xxxviii. 17), and in its cognate forms for surety (Prov. xvii. 18) and hostage (2 K. xiv. 14). The Greek derivative, however, acquired a more technical sense as signifying the deposit paid by the purchaser on entering into an agreement for the pur- chase of anything. EARRINGS. The material of which ear- rings were made was generally gold (Ex. xxxii. 2 ) , and their form circular. They were worn by women and by youth of both sexes (Ex. l.c.). Egyptian Earrings. From Wilkinson. It has been inferred from the passage quoted, and from Judg. viii. 24, that they were not worn by men : these passages are, however, by no means conclusive. The earring appears to have been regarded with superstitious reve- rence as an amulet. On this account they were surrendered along with the idols by Jacob’s household (Gen. xxxv. 4). Chardin describes earrings, with talismanic figures and characters on them, as still existing in the East. Jewels were sometimes attached to the rings. The size of the earrings still worn in eastern countries far exceeds what is usual among ourselves ; hence they formed a handsome present (Job xlii. 11), or offering to the service of God (Num. xxxi. 50). EARTH. The term is used in two widely different senses: (1) for the material of which the earth’s surface is composed ; (2) as the name of the planet on which man EARTHENWARE 142 EBAL dwells. The Hebrew language discriminates between these two by the use of separate terms, Adamdh for the former, Erets for the latter. — I. Adamah is the earth in the sense of soil or ground, particularly as being sus- ceptible of cultivation. The earth supplied the elementary substance of which man’s body was formed, and the terms adam and adamah are brought into juxtaposition, implying an etymological connexion (Gen. ii. 7 ). — II. Erets is applied in a more or less extended sense : — 1. to the whole world (Gen. i. 1) ; 2. to land as opposed to sea (Gen. i. 10) ; 3. to a country (Gen. xxi. 32) ; 4. to a plot of ground (Gen. xxiii. 15) ; and 5. to the ground on which a man stands (Gen. xxxiii. 3). EARTHENWARE. [Pottery.] EARTHQUAKE. Earthquakes, more or less violent, are of frequent occurrence in Palestine, as might be expected from the numerous traces of volcanic agency visible in the features of that country. The recorded instances, however, are but few ; the most remarkable occurred in the reign of Uzziah (Am. i. 1 ; Zech. xiv. 5), which Josephus connected with the sacrilege and consequent punishment of that monarch (2 Chr. xxvi. 18 ff.). From Zech. xiv. 4 we are led to infer that a great convulsion took place at this time in the Mount of Olives, the moun- tain being split so as to leave a valley be- tween its summits. Josephus records some- thing of the sort, but his account is by no means clear. We cannot but think that the two accounts have the same foundation, and that the Mount of Olives was really affected by the earthquake. An earthquake occurred at the time of our Saviour’s crucifixion (Matt, xxvii. 51-54), which may be deemed mira- culous rather from the conjunction of cir- cumstances than from the nature of the phenomenon itself. Earthquakes are not unfrequently accompanied by fissures of the earth’s surface ; instances of this are recorded in connexion with the destruction of Korah and his company (Num. xvi. 32), and at the time of our Lord’s death (Matt, xxxvii. 51); the former maybe paralleled by a similar occurrence at Oppido in Calabria a.d. 1783, where the earth opened to the ex- tent of 500, and a depth of more than 200 feet. EAST. The Hebrew terms, descriptive of the east, differ in idea, and, to a certain ex- tent, in application; (1) kedem properly means that which is before or in front of a person, and was applied to the east from the custom of turning in that direction when de- scribing the points of the compass, before , behind , the right and the Left , representing respectively E.. W, S., and N. (Job xxiii. 8, 9) ; (2) mizrach means the place of the sun’s rising. Bearing in mind this etymo- logical distinction, it is natural that kedem should be used when the four quarters of the world are described (as in Gen. xiii. 14, xxviii. 14 ; Job xxiii. 8, 9 ; Ez. xlvii. 18 ff.), and mizrach when the east is only distin- guished from the west (Josh. xi. 3 ; Ps. 1. 1, ciii. 12, cxiii. 3 ; Zech. viii. 7), or from some other one quarter (Dan. viii. 9, xi. 44 ; Am. viii. 12); exceptions to this usage occur in Ps. evii. 3, and Is. xliii. 5 ; each, however, admitting of explanation. Again, kedem is used in a strictly geographical sense to de- scribe a spot or country immediately before another in an easterly direction ; hence it occurs in such passages as Gen. ii. 8, iii. 24, xi. 2, xiii. 11, xxv. 6 ; and hence the sub- sequent application of the term, as a proper name i Gen. xxv. 6, eastward , unto the land of Kedem), Id the lands lying immediately eastward of Palestine, viz. Arabia, Mesopo- tamia and Babylonia; on the other hand mizrach is used of the far east with a less definite signification (Is. xli. 2, 25, xliii. 5, xlvi, 11). EASTER. The occurrence of this word in the A. Y. of Acts xii. 4, is chiefly noticeable as an example of the want of consistency in the translators. In the earlier English ver- sions Easter had been frequently used as the translation of pascha (tt do-xa). At the last revision Passover was substituted in all pas- sages but this. [Passover.] E r BAL. 1. One of the sons of Shobal the son of Seir (Gen. xxxvi. 23 ; 1 Chr. i. 40). — 2. Obal the son of Joktan (1 Chr. i. 22 ; comp. Gen. x. 28). E'BAL, MOUNT, a mount in the promised land, on which, according to the command of Moses, the Israelites were, after their en- trance on the promised land, to “ put ” the curse which should fall upon them if they disobeyed the commandments of Jehovah. The blessing consequent on obedience was to be similarly localised on Mount Gerizim (Deut. xi. 26-29). Ebal and Gerizim are the mounts which form the sides of the fertile valley in which lies Nablus, the ancient She- chem — Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south. One of the most serious varia- tions between the Hebrew text of the Penta- teuch and the Samaritan text, is in reference to Ebal and Gerizim. In Deut. xxvii. 4, the Samaritan has Gerizim, while the Hebrew (as in A. V.) has Ebal, as the mount on which the altar to Jehovah, and the inscription of the law were to be erected. Upon this basis they ground the sanctity of Gerizim and the authenticity of the temple and holy place, which did exist and stiil exist there. The EBEB 143 ECCLESIASTES modern name of Ebal is Sitti Salamiyah , from a Mohammedan female saint, whose tomb is standing on the eastern part of the ridge, a little before the highest point is reached. E'BED (many MSS. have Eber), father of Gaal, who with his brethren assisted the men of Shechem in their revolt against Abimelech (Judg. ix. 26, 28, 30, 31, 35). E'BED-MEL'ECH, an Aethiopian eunuch in the service of king Zedekiah, through whose interference Jeremiah was released from prison (Jer. xxxviii. 7 ff., xxxix. 15 ff.). His name seems to be an official title— Xing’s slave , i. e. minister. EB'EN-E'ZER (“ the stone of help ”), a stone set up by Samuel after a signal defeat of the Philistines, as a memorial of the “ help ” received on the occasion from Jehovah (1 Sam. vii. 12). Its position is carefully de- fined as between Mizpeh and Shen. E 7 BER, son of Salah, and great-grandson of Shem (Gen. x. 24 ; 1 Chr. i. 19). For con- fusion between Eber and Heber see Heber. EBI'ASAPH, a Kohathite Levite of the family of Korah, one of the forefathers of the prophet Samuel and of Heman the singer (1 Chr. vi. 23, 37). The same man is pro- bably intended in ix. 19. The name appears also to be identical with Abiasaph, and in one passage (1 Chr. xxvi. 1) to be abbrevi- ated to Asaph. Diospyros ebenum. EBONY (Keb. hobnim) occurs only in Ez. xx vii. 15, as one of the valuable commodities imported into Tyre by the men of Dedan. The best kind of ebony is yielded by the Diospyros ebenum , a tree which grows in Ceylon and Southern India. There is every reason for believing that the ebony afforded by the Diospyros ebenum was imported from India or Ceylon by Phoenician traders. ECBAT'ANA (Heb. Achmethd'). It is doubtful whether the name of this place is really contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. Many of the best commentators understand the expression, in Ezr. vi. 2, differently, and translate it “ in a coffer.” In the apocryphal books Ecbatana is frequently mentioned (Tob, iii. 7, xiv. 12, 14; Jud. i. 1, 2 ; 2 Macc. ix. 3, &c.). Two cities of the name of Ecbatana seem to have existed in ancient times, one the capital of Northern Media, the Media Atropatene of Strabo ; the other the metro- polis of the larger and more important pro vince known as Media Magna. The site oi the former appears to be marked by the very curious ruins at Takht-i-Suleiman (lat. 36° 28 f , long. 47° 9 f ); while that of the latter is occupied by Hamadan , which is one of the most important cities of modern Persia. There is generally some difficulty in determining, when Ecbatana is mentioned, whether the northern or the southern metropolis is in- tended. Few writers are aware of the exist- ence of the two cities, and they lie sufficiently near to one another for geographical notices in most cases to suit either site. The north- ern city was the “ seven-walled town ” de- scribed by Herodotus, and declared by him to have been the capital of Cyrus (Herod, i. 98, 99, 153) ; and it was thus most probably there that the roll was found which proved to Darius that Cyrus had really made a decree allowing the Jews to rebuild their temple. The peculiar feature of the site of Takht-i - Suleiman is a conical hill rising to the height of about 150 feet above the plain, and covered both on its top and sides with massive ruins of the most antique and primitive character, ! In the 2nd book of Maccabees (ix. 3, &c.) the Ecbatana mentioned is undoubtedly the south- ern city, now represented both in name and site by Hamadan. This place, situated on the northern flank of the great mountain called formerly Orontes, and now Elwend, was per- haps as ancient as the other, and is far better known in history. If not the Median capital of Cyrus, it was at any rate regarded from the time of Darius Hystaspis as the chief city of the Persian satrapy of Media, and as such it became the summer residence of the Persian kings from Darius downwards. The Ecbatana of the book of Tobit is thought by Sir H. Bawlinson to be the northern city. ECCLESIAS'TES. The title of this book is in Hebrew Koheleth , a feminine noun, sig- nifying one who speaks publicly in an assembly , and hence rendered in the Septuagint \)j Eccle- siastes, which is adopted in the English ver- sion. Koheleth is the name by which Solomon ECCLESIASTICUS 144 EDOM ©peaks of himself throughout the book. “ The words of the preacher (Heb. Koheleth ) the son of David, king of Jerusalem ” (i. 1). The apparent anomaly of the feminine termination indicates that the abstract noun has been transferred from the office to the person hold- ing it. The Book is that which it professes to be — the confession of a man of wide expe- rience looking back upon his past life and looking out upon the disorders and calami- ties which surround him. The writer is a man who has sinned in giving way to selfish- ness and sensuality, who has paid the penalty of that sin in satiety and weariness of life, but who has through all this been under the discipline of a divine education, and has learnt from it the lesson which God meant to teach him. It is tolerably clear that the recurring burden of “ Vanity of vanities ” and the teaching which recommends a life of calm enjoyment, mark, whenever they occur, a kind of halting-place in the succession of thoughts. ECCLESIAS'TICUS, one of the books of the Apocrypha, is the title given in the Latin Version to the book which is called in the Septuagint The Wisdom op Jesus the Son of Sirach. The word designates the character of the writing, as publicly used in the ser- vices of the Church. The writer describes himself as Jesus (i. e. Jeshua) the son of Sirach , of Jerusalem (i. 27), but we know nothing of the author. The language in which the book was originally composed was Hebrew, i. e. perhaps the Aramean dialect ; and the Greek translation incorporated in the LXX. was made by the grandson of the author in Egypt “ in the reign of Euergetes,” perhaps Ptolemy VII. Physcon, who also bore the surname of Euergetes (b.c. 1 TO- UT). ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. No historical notice of an eclipse occurs in the Bible, but there are passages in the prophets which contain manifest allusion to this phenomenon (Am. viii. 9 ; Mic. iii. 6 ; Zech. xiv. 6 ; Joel ii. 10, 31, iii. 15). Some of these notices probably refer to eclipses that occurred about the time of the respective compositions : thus the date of Amos coincides with a total eclipse, which occurred Feb. 9, b.c. 7 84, and was visible at Jerusalem shortly after noon ; that of Micah with the eclipse of June 5, b.c. 716. A passing notice in Jer. xv. 9 coin- cides in date with the eclipse of Sept. 30, b.c. 610, so well known from Herodotus’s ac- count (i. 74, 103). The darkness that over- spread the world at the crucifixion cannot with reason be attributed to an eclipse, as the moon was at the full at the time of the Passover. E'DAR, TOWER OF (accur. Eder), a place named only in Gen. xxxv. 21. According to Jerome it was 1000 paces from Bethlehem. E'DEN. 1. The first residence of man, called in the Septuagint Paradise. The latter is a word of Persian origin, and describes an extensive tract of pleasure land, somewhat like an English park ; and the use of it sug- gests a wider view of man’s first abode than a garden. The description of Eden is as follows : — “ And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden eastward And a river goeth forth from Eden to water the garden ; and from thence it is divided and becomes four heads (or arms). The name of the first is Pison : that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where is the gold. And the gold of that land is good : there is the bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon ; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel ; that is it which floweth before Assyria. And the fourth river, that is Euphrates” (Gen. ii. 8-14). In the eastern portion then of the region of Eden was the garden planted. The Hiddekel is the Tigris ; but with regard to the Pison and Gihon, a great variety of opinion exists. Many ancient writers, as Josephus, identified the Pison with the Ganges, and the Gihon with the Nile. Others, guided by the position of the two known rivers, identify the two unknown ones with the Phasis and Araxes, which also have their sources in the highlands of Armenia. Others, again, have transferred the site to the sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes, and place it in Bactria ; others, again, in the valley of Cash- mere. Such speculations may be multiplied ad infinitum, and have sometimes assumed the wildest character. — 2. One of the marts which supplied the luxury of Tyre with richly embroidered stuff's. It is associated with Haran, Sheba, and Asshur. In 2 K. xix. 12, and Is. xxxvii. 12, “the sons of Eden” are mentioned with Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, as victims of the Assyrian greed of conquest. In the absence of positive evidence, pro- bability seems to point to the N.W. of Meso- potamia as the locality of Eden. — 3. Beth- Eden, “ house of pleasure ;” probably the name of a country residence of the kings o t Damascus (Am. i. 5). E'DOM, IDUME'A, or IDUMAE'A. The name Edom was given to Esau, the first-borL son of Isaac, and twin brother of Jacob, when he sold his birthright to the latter for a meal of lentil pottage. The peculiar colour of the pottage gave rise to the name Edom, which signifies “red” (Gen. xxv. 29-34). The country which the Lord subsequently gave EDOM 145 EDREI to Esau was hence called the “ field of Edom” 'Gen. xxxii. 3), or “land of Edom” (Gen. xxxvi. 16 ; Num. xxxiii. 37), and his de- scendants were called the Edomites. Probably its physical aspect may have had something to do with this. Edom was previously called Mount Seir (Gen. xxxii. 3, xxxvi. 8), from Seir the progenitor of the Horites (Gen. xiv. 6, xxxvi. 20-22). The name Seir was perhaps adopted on account of its being descriptive of the “rugged” character of the territory. The original inhabitants of the country were called Horites , from Hori, the grandson of Seir (Gen. xxxvi. 20, 22), because that name was descriptive of their habits as “ Troglo- dytes,” or “ dwellers in caves.” Edom was wholly a mountainous country. It embraced the narrow mountainous tract (about 100 miles long by 20 broad) extending along the eastern side of the Arabah from the northern end of the gulf of Elath to near the southern end of the Dead Sea. It was separated from Moab on the N. by the “ brook Zered” (Deut. ii. 13, 14, 18), probably the modern Wady - el-Ahsy. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah ( Buseireh ) near the northern border (Gen. xxxvi. 33; Is. xxxiv. 6, lxiii. 1 ; Jer. xlix. 13, 22). But Sela (Petra) appears to have been the principal stronghold in the days of Amaziah (b.c. 838; 2 K. xiv. 7): Elath and Eziongeber were the sea ports (2 Sam. viii. 14 ; 1 K. ix. 26). — Esau’s bitter hatred to his brother Jacob for fraudulently obtaining his blessing appears to have been inherited by his latest posterity. The Edomites peremptorily refused to permit the Israelites to pass through their land (Num. xx. 18-21). For a period of 400 years we hear no more of the Edomites. They were then attacked and defeated by Saul (1 Sam. xiv. 47). Some forty years later David overthrew their army in the “ Valley of Salt,” and his general, Joab, following up the victory, destroyed nearly the whole male population (1 K. xi. 15, 16), and placed Jewish garrisons in all the strongholds of Edom (2 Sam. viii. 13, 14). In the reign of Jehoshaphat (b.c. 914) the Edomites attempted to invade Israel in con- junction with Ammon and Moab, but were miraculously destroyed in the valley of Bera- ohah (2 Chr. xx. 22). A few years later they revolted against Jehoram, elected a king, and for half a century retained their independence (2 Chr. xxi. 8). They were then attacked by Amaziah, and Sela their great stronghold was captured (2 K. xiv. 7 ; 2 Chr. xxv. 11, 12). Yet the Israelites were never able again completely to subdue them (2 Chr. xx viii. 17). When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem the Edomites joined him, and took an active part in the plunder of the city and Sm. D. B. slaughter of the Jews. Their cruelty at that time seems to be specially referred to in the 137th Psalm. It was on account of these acts of cruelty committed upon the Jews in the day of their calamity that the Edomites were so fearfully denounced by the later prophets (Is. xxxiv. 5-8, lxiii. 1-4 ; Jer. xlix. 17 ; Lam. iv. 21 ; Ez. xxv. 13, 14 ; Am. i. 11, 12 ; Obad. 10 sq.). On the conquest of Judah, the Edomites, probably in reward for their services during the war, were permitted to settle in southern Palestine, and the whole plateau between it and Egypt, which now usually bore the Greek name cf Idumaea ; but they were about the same time driver, out of Edom Proper by the Nabatheans. For more than four centuries they continued to prosper. But during the warlike rule of the Maccabees they were again completely sub- dued, and even forced to conform to Jewish laws and rites, and submit to the government of Jewish prefects. The Edomites were now incorporated with the Jewish nation, and the whole province was often termed by Greek and Roman writers Idumaea. Immediately before the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, 20,000 Idumaeans were admitted to the Holy City, which they filled with robbery and bloodshed. From this time the Edomites, as a separate people, disappear from the page of history. — Little is known of their religion ; but that little shows them to have been ido- laters (2 Chr. xxv. 14, 15, 20). Their habits were singular. The Horites, their predecessors in Mount Seir, were, as their name implies, troglodytes , or dwellers in caves ; and the Edomites seem to have adopted their dwellings as well as their country. Everywhere we meet with caves and grottoes hewn in the soft sandstone strata. Those at Petra are well known. The nature of the climate, the dryness of the soil, and their great size, render them healthy, pleasant, and commodious habitations, while their security made them specially suitable to a country exposed in every age to incessant attacks of robbers. ED'REI. 1. One of the two capital cities of Bashan (Num. xxi. 33 ; Deut. i. 4, iii. 10 ; Josh. xii. 4). In Scripture it is only men- tioned in connexion with the victory gained by the Israelites over the Amorites under Og their king, and the territory thus acquired. The ruins of this ancient city, still bearing the name JEdr’a , stand on a rocky promontory which projects from the S.W. corner of the Lejah. The ruins are nearly three miles in circumference, and have a strange wild look, rising up in black shattered masses from the midst of a wilderness of black rocks. — 2. A town of northern Palestine, allotted to the tribe L EGLAH 146 EGYPT of Nanhtali, and situated near Kedesh (Josli. six. 37). About two miles south of Kedesh is a conical rocky hill called Tell Khuraibeh , the “ Tell of the ruin,” which may be the site of Edrei. EG'LAH, one of David’s wives during his reign in Hebron, and the mother of his son Ithream (2 Sam. iii. 5; 1 Chr. iii. 3). Ac- cording to the ancient Hebrew tradition, she was Michal. EGLA'XM, a place named only in Is. xv. 8, probably the same as En-eglaim. EG'LON. 1. A king of the Moabites ( Judg. iii. 12 ff.), who, aided by the Ammonites and the Amalekites, crossed the Jordan and took “ the city of palm-trees.” Here, according to Josephus, he built himself a palace, and continued for eighteen years to oppress the children of Israel, who paid him tribute. He was slain by Ehud. [Ehud.] — 2. A town of Judah in the low country (Josh. xv. 39). During the struggles of the conquest, Eglon was one of a confederacy of five towns, which under Jerusalem attempted resistance, by attacking Gibeon after the treaty of the latter with Israel (Josh. x.). The name sur- vives in the modern Ajlan , a shapeless mass of ruins, about 10 miles from Eleutheropolis and 14 from Gaza, on the S. of the great maritime plain. EGYPT, a country occupying the north- eastern angle of Africa. Its limits appear always to have been very nearly the same. In Ezekiel (xxix. 10, xxx. 6) the whole country is spoken of as extending from Migdol to Syene, which indicates the same limits to the east and the south as at pre- sent. — Names . The common name of Egypt in the Bible is “ Mizraim,” or more fully 6i the land of Mizraim.” In form Mizraim is a dual, and accordingly it is generally joined with a plural verb. When, therefore, in Gen. x. 6, Mizraim is mentioned as a son of Ham, we must not conclude that anything more is meant than that Egypt was colonized by descendants of Ham. The dual number doubtless indicates the natural division of the country into an upper and a lower region. The singular Mazor also occurs, and some suppose that it indicates Lower Egypt, but there is no sure ground for this assertion. The Arabic name of Egypt, Mizr , signifies “red mud.” Egypt is also called in the Bible “the land of Ham” (Ps. cv. 23, 27 ; comp. Ixxviii. 51), a name most probably referring to Ham the son of Noah ; and “ Rahab,” the proud or insolent : both these appear to be poetical appellations. The common ancient Egyptian name of the country is written in hieroglyphics KEM, which was perhaps pronounced Chem. This name sig- nifies, alike in the ancient language and in Coptic, “ black,” and may be supposed to have been given to the land on account of the blackness of its alluvial soil. We may reason- ably conjecture that Kem is the Egyptian equivalent of Ham, and also of Mazor, these two words being similar or even the same in sense. Under the Pharaohs Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower, “ the two regions.” In subsequent times this double division ob- tained. In the time of the Greeks and Romans ! Upper Egypt was divided into the Hepta- nomis and the Thebai's, making altogether three provinces, but the division of the whole country into two was even then the most usual. — General appearance , Climate , $c. The general appearance of the country cannot have greatly changed since the days of Moses. The Delta was always a vast level plain, al- though of old more perfectly watered than now by the branches of the Nile and numerous canals, while the narrow valley of Upper Egypt must have suffered still less alteration. Anciently, however, the rushes must have been abundant ; whereas now they have almost disappeared, except in the lakes. The whole country is remarkable for its extreme fer- tility, which especially strikes the beholder when the rich green of the fields is contrasted with the utterly bare yellow mountains or the sand-strewn rocky desert on either side. The climate is equable and healthy. Rain is not very unfrequent on the northern coast, but inland very rare. Cultivation nowhere de- pends upon it. This absence of rain is men- tioned in Deut. (xi. 10, 11) as rendering artificial irrigation necessary, unlike the case of Palestine, and inZech. (xiv. 18) as peculiar to the country. Egypt has been visited in all ages by severe pestilences. Famines are fre- quent, and one in the middle ages, in the time of the Fatimee Khaleefeh El-Mustansir- billah, seems to have been even more severe than that of Joseph. The inundation of the Nile fertilises and sustains the country, and makes the river its chief blessing. The Nile was on this account anciently worshipped. The rise begins in Egypt about the summer solstice, and the inundation commences about two months later. The greatest height is attained about or somewhat after the au- tumnal equinox. The inundation lasts about three months. — Cultivation , Agriculture , fyc. The ancient prosperity of Egypt is attested by the Bible as well as by the numerous monuments of the country. As early as the age of the Great Pyramid it must have been densely populated. The contrast of the pre- sent state of Egypt to its former prosperity is more to be ascribed to political than to physical causes. Egypt is naturally an agri- EGYPT 147 EGYPT cultural country. As far back as the days of Abraham, we find that when the produce failed in Palestine, Egypt was the natural re- source. In the time of Joseph it was evi- dently the granary, at least during famines, of the nations around. The inundation, as taking the place of rain, has always rendered the system of agriculture peculiar ; and the artificial irrigation during the time of low Nile is necessarily on the same principle. Vines were extensively cultivated. Of other fruit-trees, the date-palm was the most com- mon and valuable. The gardens resembled the fields, being watered in the same manner by irrigation. On the tenure of land much Jight is thrown by the history of Joseph. Before the famine each city and large village had its fields (Gen. xli. 48) ; but Joseph gained for Pharaoh all the land, except that of the priests, in exchange for food, and required for the right thus obtained a fifth of the produce, which became a law (xlvii. 20-26). — Reli- gion . The basis of the religion was Nigritian fetishism, the lowest kind of nature-worship, differing in different parts of the country, and hence obviously indigenous. Upon this were engrafted, first, cosmic worship, mixed up with traces of primeval revelation, as in Babylonia ; and then, a system of personifica- tions of moral and intellectual abstractions. There were three orders of gods — the eight great gods, the twelve lesser, and the Osirian group. There was no prominent hero-wor- ship, although deceased kings and other in- dividuals often received divine honours. The great doctrines of the immortality of the soul, man’s responsibility, and future rewards and punishments, were taught. Among the rites, circumcision is the most remarkable : it is as old as the time of the ivth dynasty. The Israelites in Egypt appear during the op- pression, for the most part, to have adopted the Egyptian religion (Josh xxiv. 14 ; Ez. xx. 7, 8). The golden e&E, or rather steer, was probably taken from the bull Apis, cer- tainly from one of the sacred bulls. Rem- phan and Chiun were foreign divinities adopted into the Egyptian Pantheon. Ash- toreth was worshipped at Memphis. Doubt- less this worship was introduced by the Phoenician Shepherds. — Army. There are some notices of the Egyptian army in the 0. T. They show, like the monuments, that its most important branch was the chariot-force. The Pharaoh of the Exodus led 600 chosen chariots besides his whole chariot- force in pursuit of the Israelites. The warriors fighting in chariots are probably the “horsemen” men- tioned in the relation of this event and else- where, for in Egyptian they are called the “ horse” or “cavalry.” We have no subse. quent indication in the Bible of the constitu- tion of an Egyptian army until the time of the xxiind dynasty, when we find that Shi shak’s invading force was partly composed at foreigners; whether mercenaries or allies, cannot as yet be positively determined, al- though the monuments make it most probable that they were of the former character. The army of Necho, defeated at Carchemish* seems to have been similarly composed, although it probably contained Greek mercenaries, who soon afterwards became the most important foreign element in the Egyptian forces.-— Domestic Life . The sculptures and paintings of the tombs give us a very full insight into the domestic life of the ancient Egyptians. What most strikes us in their manners is the high position occupied by women, and the entire absence of the harem system of seclusion. Marriage appears to have been universal, at least with the richer class; and if polygamy were tolerated it was rarely practised. There were no castes, although great classes were very distinct. The occupations of the higher class were the superintendence of their fields and gardens ; their diversions, the pursuit of game in the deserts, or on the river, and fishing. The tending of cattle was left to the most despised of the lower class. The Egyptian feasts, and the dances, music, and feats which accompanied them, for the diversion of the guests, as well as the common games, were probably introduced among the Hebrews in the most luxurious days of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The account of the noon- tide dinner of Joseph (Gen. xliii. 16, 31-34} agrees with the representations of the monu- ments. The funeral ceremonies were fai more important than any events of the Egyp- tian life as the tomb was regarded as the onij true home. — Magicians. We find frequent reference in the Bible to the magicians of Egypt (Gen. xli. 8; Ex. vii. 11, &c.). The monuments do not recognise any such art, and we must conclude that magic was secreth j practised, not because it was thought to b« S unlawful, but in order to give it importance. — I Industrial Arts. The industrial arts held an important place in the occupations of the Egyptians. Tbe workers in fine flax and the weavers of white linen are mentioned in a manner that shows they were among the chief contributors to the riches of the country (Is. xix. 9). The fine linen of Egypt found its way to Palestine (Prov. vii. 16). Pottery was a great branch of the native manufac- tures, and appears to have furnished employ- ment to the Hebrews during the bondage (Ps. lxxxi. 6, lxviii. 13 ; comp. Ex. i. 14). — Festivals. The religious festivals were nume- rous, and some of them were, in the days of L 2 EGYPT 148 EGYPT Herodotus, kept with great merrymaking and license. The feast which the Israelites cele- brated when Aaron had made the golden calf seems to have been very much of the same character. — History . The ancient history of Egypt may be divided into three portions : — the old monarchy, extending from the foun- dation of the kingdom to the invasion of the Hyksos ; the middle, from the entrance to the expulsion of the Hyksos ; and the new, from the re-establishment of the native mo- narchy by Amosis to the Persian conquest. — (1.) The Old Monarchy. Memphis was the most ancient capital, the foundation of which is ascribed to Menes, the first mortal king of Egypt. The names of the kings, divided into :hirty dynasties, are handed down in the ists of Manetho,* and are also known from the works which they executed. The most memorable epoch in the history of the Old Monarchy is that of the Pyramid kings, placed in Manetho’s fourth dynasty. Their names ire found upon these monuments : the builder )f the great pyramid is called Suphis by Manetho, Cheops by Herodotus, and Khufu )r a Shufu, in an inscription upon the pyramid. The erection of the second pyramid is attri- buted by Herodotus and Diodorus to Cheph- ren ; and upon the neighbouring tombs has been read the name of Khafra , or Shafre . The builder of the third pyramid is named Mycerinus by Herodotus and Diodorus ; and in this very pyramid a coffin has been found bearing the name Menkura. The most power- ful kings of the Old Monarchy were those of Manetho’s twelfth dynasty : to this period are assigned the construction of the Lake of Moeris and the Labyrinth. — (2.) The Middle Mo- narchy. Of this period we only know that a nomadic horde called Hyksos f for several centuries occupied and made Egypt tributary ; that their capital was Memphis ; that in the Sethroite nome they constructed an immense earth-camp, which they called Abaris ; that at a certain period of their occupation two in- dependent kingdoms were formed in Egypt, one in the Thebaid, which held intimate re- lations with Ethiopia ; another at Xois, among the marshes of the Nile; and that, finally, the Egyptians regained their independence, •md expelled the Hyksos, who thereupon re- tired into Palestine. The Hyksos form the fifteenth , sixteenth , and seventeenth dynasties. Manetho says they were Arabs, but he calls the six kings of the fifteenth dynasty Phoe- * Manetho was an Egyptian priest who lived under .he Ptolemies in the 3rd century B.C. and wrote in Greek a history of Egypt, in which he divided the kings into thirty dynasties. The work itself is lost, but the lists of dynasties have been preserved by the Christian writers. t This, their Egyptian name, is derived by Manetho txom Uyk. a king, and Sos, a shepherd. nicians. — (3.) The Hew Monarchy extends from the commencement of the eighteenth to the end of the thirtieth dynasty. The kingdom was consolidated by Amosis, who succeeded in expelling the Hyksos, and thus prepared the way for the foreign expeditions which his successors carried on in Asia and Africa, ex- tending from Mesopotamia in the former to Ethiopia in the latter continent. The glorious era of Egyptian history was under the nine- teenth dynasty, when Sethi I., b.c. 1322, and his grandson, Rameses the Great, b.c. 1311, both of whom represent the Sesostris of the Greek historians, carried their arms over the whole of Western Asia and southwards into Soudan , and amassed vast treasures, which were expended on public works. Under the later kings of the nineteenth dynasty the power of Egypt faded : the twentieth and twenty-first dynasties achieved nothing worthy of record; but with the twenty-second we enter upon a period that is interesting from its associations with Biblical history, the first of this dynasty, Sheshonk I. (Seconchis) b.c. 990, being the Shishak who invaded Judaea in Rehoboam’s reign and pillaged the Temple (1 Kings xiv. 25). Probably hi3 successor, Osorkon I., is the Zerah of Scripture, de- feated by Asa. Egypt makes no figure in Asiatic history during the xxiiird and xxivth dynasties : under the xxvth it regained, in part at least, its ancient importance. This was an Ethiopian line, the warlike sovereigns of which strove to the utmost to repel the onward stride of Assyria. So, whom we are disposed to identify with Shebek II. or Se- i bichus, the second Ethiopian, made an alliance | with Hoshea the last king of Israel. Tehrah or Tirhakah, the third of this house, advanced ! against Sennacherib in support of Hezekiah. After this, a native dynasty again occupied the throne, the xxvith, of Sai'te kings. Psam- etek I. or Psammetichus I. (b.c. 664), who may be regarded as the head of this dynasty, warred in Palestine, and took Ashdod, Azotus, after a siege of twenty-nine years. Neku or Necho, the son of Psammetichus, continued the war in the East, and marched along the coast of Palestine to attack the king of As- syria. At Megiddo Josiah encountered him (b.c. 608-7), notwithstanding the remon- strance of the Egyptian king, which is very illustrative of the policy of the Pharaohs in the east (2 Chr. xxxv. 21), no less than is his lenient conduct after the defeat and death of the king of Judah. The army of Necho was after a short space routed at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, b.c. 605-4 (Jer. xlvi. 2), The second successor of Necho, Apries, or Pha- raoh-Hophra, sent his army into Palestine to 1 the aid of Zedekiah (Jer. xxxvii. 5, 7, 11). EHUD 149 ELAM 00 that the siege of Jerusalem was raised for a time, and kindly received the fugitives from the captured city. He seems to have been afterwards attacked by Nebuchadnezzar in his own country. There is, however, no cer- tain account of a complete subjugation of Egypt by the king of Babylon. Amasis, the successor of Apries, had a long and pros- perous reign, and somewhat restored the weight of Egypt in the East. But the new power of Persia was to prove even more ter- rible to his house than Babylon had been to the house of Psammetichus, and the son of Amasis had reigned but six months when Cambyses reduced the country to the con- dition of a province of his empire b.c. 525. — With respect to the difficult question of the period of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, the following remarks may suffice. The chronology of Egypt is now so far settled that the accession of the eighteenth dynasty may he regarded as fixed to within a few years of b.c. 1525. The era of the Exodus, in the system of Ussher, is b.c. 1491. The obvious conclusion agrees with the statement of Manetho, that Moses left Egypt under Amosis, the first king of the eighteenth dynasty. The same king, as we have already seen, ex- pelled the Shepherd Kings ; and there is, in fact, no doubt that the great power of the eighteenth dynasty was connected with this expulsion. In this change of dynasty many writers see a natural explanation of the “new king who knew not Joseph.” If this view is correct, Joseph would have come into Egypt under one of the later kings of the Shepherd dynasty. But, plausible as this theory is, the uncertainty in which Scriptural chronology is involved prevents us from coming to any definite conclusion. Lepsius and other emi- nent Egyptologers place the arrival of the Israelites under the eighteenth dynasty, and the Exodus under the nineteenth , in the year 1314 b.c. He identifies the chief oppressor, from whom Moses fled, with the great king of the nineteenth dynasty, Rameses II., and the Pharaoh of the Exodus with his son and successor Menptah, or Phthahmen. Mr. Poole, however, takes an entirely opposite view, and places not only the arrival of the Israelites in Egypt, but also the Exodus, within the dynasties of the Shepherd kings. It seems impossible to come to any defi- nite conclusion upon the subject. The diffi- culty of a solution is still further increased by the uncertainty as to the length of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, whether it was 215 years, according to the Sep- tuagint, or 430 years according to the Hebrew. E'HUD, son of Gera of the tribe of Ben- jamin (Judg. iii. 15), the second Judge of the Israelites. In the Bible he is not called a Judge but a deliverer (l. e.) : so Othniel (Judg. iii. 9) and all the Judges (Neh. ix. 27). As a Benjamite he was specially chosen to destroy Eglon, who had established him- self in Jericho, which was included in the boundaries of that tribe. He was very strong, and left-handed. [Eglon.] EK'RON, one of the five towns belonging to the lords of the Philistines, and the most northerly of the five (Josh. xiii. 3). Like the other Philistine cities its situation was in the lowlands. It fell to the lot of Judah (Josh. xv. 45, 46 ; Judg. i. 18), and indeed formed one of the landmarks on his north border. We afterwards, however, find it mentioned among the cities of Dan (Josh, xix. 43). But it mattered little to which tribe it nominally belonged, for before the monarchy it was again in full possession ol the Philistines (1 Sam. v. 10). ’HMr, the modern representative of Ekron, lies at about 5 miles S.W. of Ramleh. In the Apocrypha it appears as Accaron (1 Macc. x. 89, only). E'LAH. 1. The son and successor of Baasha, king of Israel (1 K. xvi. 8-10) ; his reign lasted for little more than a year (comp, ver. 8 with 10). He was killed, while drunk, by Zimri, in the house of his steward Arza. who was probably a confederate in the plot. — 2. Father of Hoshea, the last king of Israel (2 K. xv. 30, xvii. 1). ELAH, THE YALLEY OF (=Yalley of the Terebinth), a valley in (not “ by,” as the A. Y. has it) which the Israelites were encamped against the Philistines when David killed Goliath (1 Sam. xvii. 2, 19). It is once more mentioned in the same connexion (xxi. 9). It lay somewhere near Socoh of Judah and Azekah, and was nearer Ekron than any other Philistine town. So much may be gathered from the narrative of 1 Sam. xvii. E'LAM seems to have been originally the name of a man, the son of Shem (Gen. x. 22 ; 1 Chr. i. 17). Commonly, however, it is used as the appellation of a country (Gen. xiv. 1,9; Is. xi. 11 ; xxi. 2 ; Jer. xxv. 25 ; xlix. 34-39 ; Ez. xxxii. 24 ; Dan. viii. 2). The Elam of Scripture appears to be the pro- vince lying south of Assyria and east of Persia Proper, to which Herodotus gives the name of Cissia (iii. 91, v. 49, &e.), and which is termed Susis or Susiana by the geo- graphers. It appears from Gen. x. 22, that this country was originally peopled by de- scendants of Shem, closely allied to the Ara- maeans (Syrians) and the Assyrians ; and from Gen. xiv. 1-12, it is evident that by the time of Abraham a very important power had ELATH 150 ELEAZAR been built up in the same region. It is plain that at this early time the predominant power in Lower Mesopotamia was Elam, which for a while held the place possessed earlier by Babylon (Gen. x. 10), and later by either Babylon or Assyria. E'LATH, E ? LOTH, the name of a town of the land of Edom, commonly mentioned to- gether with Ezion-geber, and situate at the head of the Arabian Gulf, which was thence called the Elanitic Gulfi It first occurs in the account of the wanderings (Deut. ii. 8), and in later times must have come under the rule of David in his conquest of the land of Edom (2 Sam. viii. 14). We find the place named again in connexion with Solomon’s navy (1 K. ix. 26; comp. 2 Chr. viii. 17). It was apparently included in the revolt of Edom against Joram recorded in 2 K. viii. 20 ; but it was taken by Azariah (xiv. 22). After this, however, “ Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath, and drave out the Jews from Elath, and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt there to this day ” (xvi. 6). From this time the place is not mentioned until the Roman period, during which it became a frontier- town of the south, and the residence of a Christian bishop. The Arabic name is Eyleh. EL-BETH'EL, the name which Jacob is said to have bestowed on the place at which God appeared to him when he was flying from Esau (Gen. xxv. 7). EL'DAD and ME 'DAD, two of the 70 elders to whom was communicated the pro- phetic power of Moses (Num. xi. 16, 26). Although their names were upon the list which Moses had drawn up (xi. 26), they did not repair with the rest of their brethren to the tabernacle, but continued to prophesy in the camp. Moses being requested by Joshua to forbid this, refused to do so, and expressed a wish that the gift of prophecy might be diffused throughout the people. ELDER. The term elder or old man , as the Hebrew literally imports, was one of ex- tensive use, as an official title, among the Hebrews and the surrounding nations. It had reference to various offices (Gen. xxiv. 2, 1. 7 ; 2 Sam. xii. 17; Ez. xxvii. 9). As betokening a political office, it applied not only to the Hebrews, but also to the Egyp- tians (Gen. 1. 7), the Moabites and Midianites (Num. xxii. 7). Wherever a patriarchal sys- tem is in foice, the office of the elder will be found, as the keystone of the social and poli- tical fabric ; it is so at the present day among the Arabs, where the Sheikh (= the old man) is the highest authority in the tribe. The earliest notice of the elders acting in concert as a political body is at the time of the Exo- dus. They were the representatives of the ! people, so much so that elders and people are occasionally used as equivalent terms (comp. Josh. xxiv. 1 with 2, 19, 21 ; 1 Sam. viii. 4 with 7, 10, 19). Their authority was unde- fined, and extended to all matters concerning the public weal. When the tribes became settled the elders were distinguished by dif- ferent titles according as they were acting as national representatives, as district governors over the several tribes (Deut. xxxi. 28 ; 2 Sam. xix. 11), or as local magistrates in the provincial towns, whose duty it was to sit in the gate and administer justice (Deut. xix. 12 ; Ruth iv. 9, 11 ; 1 K. xxi. 8). Their number and influence may be inferred from 1 Sam. xxx. 26 ff. They retained their posi- tion under all the political changes which the Jews underwent : under the Judges (Judg. ii. 7 ; 1 Sam. iv. 3) ; under the kings (2 Sam. xvii. 4) ; during the captivity (Jer. xxix. 1 ; Ez. viii. 1) ; subsequently to the return (Ezr. v. 5, vi. 7, 14, x. 8, 14) ; under the Maccabees, when they were described some- times as the senate (1 Macc. xii. 6 ; 2 Macc* i. 10, iv. 44, xi. 27), sometimes by their or- dinary title (1 Macc. vii. 33, xi. 23, xii. 35) ; and, lastly, at the commencement of the Christian era, when they are noticed as a distinct body from the Sanhedrim. St. Luke describes the whole order by the collective term rrpeo-pvTrjpiov (Luke xxii. 66 ; Acts xxii. 5). With respect to the elders in the Chris- tian Church, see Bishop. ELE'ALEH, a place on the east of Jordan, taken possession of and rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben (Num. xxxii. 3, 37). By Isaiah and Jeremiah it is mentioned as a Moabite town (Is. xv. 4, xvi. 9 ; Jer. xlviii. 34). ELEA'ZAR, 1. Third son of Aaron, by Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, After the death of Nadab and Abihu without chil- dren (Lev. x. 1 ; Num. iii. 4), Eleazar was appointed chief over the principal Levites (Num. iii. 32). With his brother Ithamar he ministered as a priest during their father’s lifetime, and immediately before his death was invested on Mount Hor with the sacred gar- ments*, as the successor of Aaron in the office of High-priest (Num. xx. 28). One of his first duties was in conjunction with Moses to superintend the census of the people (Num. xx vi. 3). After the conquest of Canaan by Joshua he took part in the distribution of the land (Josh. xiv. 1). The time of his death is not mentioned in Scripture. — 2. The son of Abinadab, of the hill of Kirjath-jearim (1 Sam. vii. 1). — 8. The son of Dodo the Ahohite, i. e . possibly a descendant of Ahoah of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. viii. 4) ; one of the three principal mighty men of David’s army (2 Sam. xxiii. 9; 1 Chr. xi. 12). — 4. EL-ELOHE-ISRA EL 151 ELIJAH Surnamed Ayaran (1 Macc. ii. 5), the fourth son ol Mattathias, who fell by a noble act of self-dsvotion in an engagement with Antio- chus Eupator, b.c. 164 (1 Macc. vi. 43 ff.). In a former battle with Nicanor, Eleazar was appointed by Judas to read “ the holy book ” before the attack, and the watchword in the fight — “ The help of God ” — was his own name (2 Macc. viii. 23). EL-EL'OHE-IS'RAEL, the name bestowed by Jacol on the altar which he erected facing the city of Shechem (Gen. xxxiii. 19, 20). ELEPHANT. The word does not occur in the text of the canonical Scriptures of the A. V., but is found as the marginal reading to Behemoth, in Job xl. 15. “ Elephants ’ teeth ” is the marginal reading for “ ivory ” in 1 K. x. 22 ; 2 Chr. ix. 41. Elephants however are repeatedly mentioned in the 1st and 2nd books of Maccabees, as being used in warfare (1 Macc. vi.). ELXTJ'THERUS, a river of Syria men- tioned in l Macc. xi. 7 ; xii. 30. It sepa- rated Syria from Phoenicia, and formed the northern limit of Coele-syria. It is the mo- dern Nthr-el-Kebir, “ Great River.” £ r LI was descended from Aaron through Ithamar the youngest of his two surviving sons (Lev. x. 1, 2, 12 ; comp. 1 K. ii. 27 with 2 Sam. viii. 17; 1 Chr. xxiv. 3). As the histo'y makes no mention of any high- priest of the line of Ithamar before Eli, he is generally supposed to have been the first of that line vho held the office. From him, his sons having died before him, it appears to have passed to his grandson, Ahitub (1 Sam. xiv. 3), md it certainly remained in his family till Abiathar, the grandson of Ahitub, was “ thrrst out from being priest unto the Lord ” bvSolomon for his share in Adonijah’s rebellion (l K. ii. 26, 27 ; i. 7), and the high- priesthood passed back again to the family of Eleazar inthe person of Zadok (1 K. ii. 35). Its return ;o the elder branch was one part of the punishment which had been denounced against El during his lifetime, for his cul- pable negligence (1 Sam. ii. 22-25) when his sons by thdr rapacity and licentiousness pro- faned the p-iesthood, and brought the rites of religion nto abhorrence among the people 1 Sam. ii. 27-36, with 1 K. ii. 27). Not- withstandirg this one great blemish, the cha- racter of Ei is marked by eminent piety, as shown by Ms meek submission to the divine judgment (: Sam. iii. 18), and his supreme re- gard for the ark of God (iv. 18). In addition to the office oi high-priest he held that of judge, being the inmediate predecessor of his pupil Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 6, 15-17), the last of the judges. He died at the advanced age of 98 years (1 San. iv. 15), overcome by the dis- astrous intelligence that the ark of God had been taken in battle by the Philistines, who had also slain his sons Hophni andPhinehas. ELI'AKIM. 1. Son of Hilkiah ; master of Hezekiah’s household (“ over the house,” as Is. xxxvi. 3), 2 K. xviii. 18, 26, 37. He succeeded Shebna in this office, after he had been ejected from it as a punishment for his pride (Is. xxii. 15-20). Eliakim was a good man, as appears by the title emphatically applied to him by God, “ my servant Elia- kim ” (Is. xxii. 20), and as was evinced by his conduct on the occasion of Sennacherib’s in- vasion (2 K. XYiii. 37, xix. 1-5), and also in the discharge of the duties of his high station, in which he acted as a “ father to the inha- bitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah” (Is. xxii. 21). — 2. The original name of Jehoiakim king of Judah (2 K. xxiii. 34 ; 2 Chr. xxxvi. 4). ELI'AS, the form in which the name of Elijah is given in the A. V. of the Apocrypha and N. Test. ELIE'ZER. 1. Abraham’s chief servant, called by him “ Eliezer of Damascus ” (Gen. xv. 2). There is an apparent contradic - tion in the A. V., for it does not appear how, if he was “ of Damascus,” he could he “born in Abraham’s house” (ver. 3;. But the phrase “ son of my house,” only im- ports that he was one of Abraham’s house- hold, not that he was born in his house. It was, most likely, this same Eliezer who is de- scribed in Gen. xxiv. 2. — 2. Second son of Moses and Zipporah, to whom his father gave this name, “ because, said he, the God of my father was my help, that delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh ” (Ex. xviii. 4 ; 1 Chr. xxiii. 15, 17). He remained with his mother and brother Gershom, in the care of Jethro his grandfather, when Moses returned tc Egypt (Ex. iv. 18) she having been sent back to her father by Moses (Ex. xviii. 2), though she set off: to accompany him, and went part of the way with him. ELI'HU, one of the interlocutors in the book of Job. [Job.] He is described as the “ son of Baraehel the Buzite,” and thus ap- parently referred to the family of Buz, the son of Nahor, and nephew of Abraham (Gen. xxii. 21). ELI' J AH has been well entitled “ the grandest and the most romantic character that Israel ever produced.” Certainly there is no personage in the O. T. whose career is more vividly portrayed, or who exercises on us a more remarkable fascination. “ Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead,” is lite- rally all that is given us to know of his pa- rentage and locality. To an Israelite of the tribes west of Jordan the title “ Gileadite ” ELIJAH 152 ELIJAH must have conveyed a similar impression, though in a far stronger degree, to that which the title “ Celt ” does to us. What the High- lands were a century ago to the towns in the Lowlands of Scotland, that, and more than that, must Gilead have been to Samaria or Jerusalem. It is impossible rightly to esti- mate his character without recollecting this fact. It is seen at every turn. Of his ap- pearance as he “ stood before ” Ahab, with the suddenness of motion to this day cha- racteristic of the Bedouins from his native hills, we can perhaps realise something from the touches, few, but strong, of the narra- tive. His chief characteristic was his hair, long and thick, and hanging down his back ; which, if not betokening the immense strength of Samson, yet accompanied powers of endur- ance no less remarkable. His ordinary cloth- ing consisted of a girdle of skin round his loins, which he tightened when about to move quickly (1 K. xviii. 46). But in addition to this he occasionally wore the “ mantle,” or cape, of sheepskin, which has supplied us with one of our most familiar figures of speech. In this mantle, in mo- ments of emotion, he would hide his face (1 K. xix. 13), or when excited would roll it up as into a kind of staff. The solitary life in which these external peculiarities had been assumed had also nurtured that fierceness of zeal and that directness of address which so distinguished him. It was in the wild lone- liness of the hills and ravines of Gilead that the knowledge of Jehovah, the living God of Israel, had been impressed on his mind, which was to form the subject of his mission to the idolatrous court and country of Israel. The northern kingdom had at this time forsaken almost entirely the faith in Jehovah. The worship of t?he calves had been a departure from Him ; but still it would appear that even in the presence of the calves Jehovah was acknowledged, and they were at any rate a national institution, not one imported from the idolatries of any of the surrounding countries. But the case was quite different when Ahab introduced the foreign religion of his wife’s family, the worship of the Phoe- nician Baal. It is as a witness against these two evils that Elijah comes forward. — 1. What we may call the first Act in his life embraces between three and four years — three years and six months for the duration of the drought, according to the statements of the New Testament (Luke iv. 25 ; James v. 17), and three or four months more for the journey to Horeb, and the return to Gilead (1 K. xvii. 1 — xix. 21). His intro- duction is of the most startling description : he suddenly appears before Ahab, as with the unrestrained freedom of eastern manners he would have no difficulty in doing, and pro- claims the vengeance of Jehovah for the apostasy of the king. What immediate action followed on this we are not told ; but it is plain that Elijah had to fly before some threat- ened vengeance either of the king, or more probably of the queen (comp. xix. 2). Perhaps it was at this juncture that Jezebel “ cut off the prophets of Jehovah ” (1 K. xviii. 4). He was directed to the brook Cherith. There in the hollow of the torrent-bed he remained, supported in the miraculous manner with which we are all familiar, till the failing of the brook obliged him to forsake it. His next refuge was at Zarephath, a Phoenician town lying between Tyre and Sidon, certainly the last place at which the enemy of Baal would be looked for. The widow woman in whose house he lived seems, however, to have been an Israelite, and no Baal-wor- shipper, if we may take her adjuration by “ Jehovah thy God ” as an indication. Here Elijah performed the miracles of prolonging the oil and the meal ; and restored the son of the widow to life after his apparent death. In this, or some other retreat, an interval of more than two years must have elapsed. The drought continued, and at last the full horrors of famine, caused by the failure of the crops, descended on Samaria. The king and his chief domestic officer dividel between them the mournful duty of ascertaining that neither round the springs, which are so fre- quent a feature of central Palesthe, nor in the nooks and crannies of the m*st shaded torrent-beds, was there any of tie herbage left, which in those countries is so certain an indication of the presence of moisture. It is the moment for the reappearance *f the pro- phet. He shows himself first to tie minister. There, suddenly planted in his pith, is the man whom he and his master have been seeking for more than three yea's. Before the sudden apparition of that vild figure, and that stern, unbroken counteiance, Oba- diah could not but fall on his faje. Elijah, however, soon calms his agitatioi — “ As Je- hovah of hosts liveth, before whan I stand, I will surely show myself to Ahab ” and thus relieved of his fear that, as on a firmer occa- sion, Elijah would disappear befcre he could return with the king, Obadiah dtparts to in- form Ahab that the man they se>k is there, Ahab arrived, Elijah makes hB charge — “ Thou hast forsaken Jehovah aid followed the Baals.” He then commands that all Is- rael be collected to Mount Carmel with the four hundred and fifty prophets «f Baal, and the four hundred of Asherah (Asbtaroth), the latter being under the especial protection of ELIJAH 153 ELIJAH the queen. There are few more sublime stories in history than this. On the one hand the solitary servant of Jehovah, accom- panied by his one attendant ; with his wild shaggy hair, his scanty garb and sheepskin cloak, but with calm dignity of demeanour and the minutest regularity of procedure, re- pairing the ruined altar of Jehovah with twelve stones — on the other hand the 850 prophets of Baal and Ashtaroth, doubtless in all the splendour of their vestments (2 K. x. 22), with the wild din of their vain repe- titions and the maddened fury of their dis- appointed hopes, and the silent people sur- rounding a.l. The conclusion of the Tong day need only be glanced at. The fire of Jehovah consuming both sacrifice and altar — the pro- phets of Baal killed, it would seem by Eli- jah’s own hand (xviii. 40) — the king, with an apathy almost unintelligible, eating and drinking in the very midst of the carnage of his own adherents— the rising storm — the ride across the plain to Jezreel, a distance of at least 1 6 miles ; the prophet, with true Arab endurance, running before the chariot, but also with true Arab instinct stopping Bhort of the city, and going no further than .he “ entrance of Jezreel.” So far the Aiumph had been complete ; but the spirit of Jezebel was not to be so easily overcome, and her first act is a vow of vengeance against the author of this destruction. Elijah takes refuge in flight. The danger was great, and the refuge must be distant. The first stage on the journey was Beersheba. Here Elijah halted. His servant he left in the town ; while he himself set out alone into the wilderness. His spirit is quite broken, and he wanders forth over the dreary sweeps of those rocky hills wishing for death. But God, who had brought His servant into this difficulty, provided him with the means of escaping from it. The prophet was wakened from his dream of despondency beneath the solitary bush of the wilderness, was fed with the bread and the water which to this day are all a Bedouin’s requirements, and went for- ward, in the strength of that food, a journey of forty days to the mount of God, even to Horeb. Here, in the cave, one of the nume- rous caverns in those awful mountains, he remained for certainly one night. In the morning came the “ word of Jehovah ” — the question, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” In answer to this invitation the Prophet opens his griefs. The reply comes in that ambiguous and indirect form in which it seems necessary that the deepest communica- tions with the human mind should be couched, to be effectual. He is directed to leave the cavern and stand on the mountain in the open air, face to face with Jehovah. Then, as before with Moses ( Ex. xxxiv. 6), “ The Lord passed by,” passed in all the terror of His most appalling manifestations ; and pene- trating the dead silence which followed these, came the mysterious symbol — the “ still small voice,” and still as it was it spoke in louder accents to the wounded heart of Elijah than the roar and blaze which had preceded it. To him no less unmistakably than to Moses, centuries before, it was proclaimed that Jehovah was “ merciful and gracioug, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth.” Elijah knew the call, and at once stepping forward and hiding his face in hie mantle, stood waiting for the Divine com- munication. Three commands were laid on him — three changes were to be made. Of these three commands the two first were re- served for Elisha to accomplish, the last only was executed by Elijah himself. His first search was for Elisha. Apparently he soon found him ; we must conclude at his native place, Abel-meholah. Elisha was ploughing at the time, and Elijah “ passed over to him ” — possibly crossed the river — and cast his mantle, the well-known sheepskin cloak, upon him, as if, by that familiar action, claiming him for his son. A moment of hesitation, and then commenced that long period of service and intercourse which con- tinued till Elijah’s removal, and which after that time procured for Elisha one of the best titles to esteem and reverence — “ Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” — 2. Ahab and Jezebel now probably believed that their threats had been effectual, and that they had seen the last of their tormentor. After the murder of Naboth, Ahab loses no time in entering on his new acquisition. But his triumph was a short one. Elijah had received an intimation from Jehovah of what was taking place, and rapidly as the accusation and death of Naboth had been hurried over, he was there to meet his ancient enemy on the very scene of his crime. And then follows the curse, in terms fearful to any Oriental — peculiarly terrible to a Jew — and most of all significant to a suc- cessor of the apostate princes of the northern kingdom. The whole of Elijah’s denuncia- tion may possibly be recovered by putting together the words recalled by Jehu, 2 K. ix. 26, 36, 37, and those given in 1 K. xxi. 19- 25. — 3. A space of three or four years now elapses (comp. 1 K. xxii. 1, 51 ; 2 K. i. 17) before we again catch a glimpse of Elijah. Ahaziah has met with a fatal accident, and is on his death-bed (2 K. i. 1, 2 ; 1 Iv c xxii. 51). In his extremity he sends to an oracle or shrine of Baal at the Philistine town of ELIJAH 154 ELIPHAZ Ekron, to ascertain the issue of his illness. But the oracle is nearer at hand than the distant Ekron. An intimation is conveyed to the prophet, probably at that time inhabit- ing one of the recesses of Carmel, and, as on the former occasions, he suddenly appears on the path of the messengers, without preface or inquiry utters his message of death, and as rapidly disappears. But this check only roused the wrath of Ahaziah. A captain was despatched, with a party of fifty, to take Elijah prisoner. “ And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.” A second party was sent, only to meet the same fate. The altered tone of the leader of a third party brought Elijah down. But the king gained nothing. The message was de- livered to his face in the same words as it had been to the messengers, and Elijah was allowed to go harmless. — 4. It must have been shortly after the death of Ahaziah that Elijah made a communication with the southern kingdom. When Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began “ to walk in the ways of the kings of Israel,” Elijah sent him a letter denouncing his evil doings, and pre- dicting his death (2 Chr. xxi. 12-15). In its contents the letter bears a strong resemblance to the speeches of Elijah, while in the details of style it is very peculiar, and quite differ- ent from the narrative in which it is em- bedded. — 5. The closing transaction of Eli- jah’s life introduces us to a locality hereto- fore unconnected with him. It was at Gil- gal — probably on the western edge of the hills of Ephraim — that the prophet received the divine intimation that his departure was at hand. He was at the time with Elisha, who seems now to have become his constant companion, and whom he endeavours to per- , suade to remain behind while he goes on an errand of Jehovah. But Elisha will not so easily give up his master. They went to- gether to Bethel. Again Elijah attempts to escape to Jericho, and again Elisha protests that he will not be separated from him. At Jericho he makes a final effort to avoid what they both so much dread. But Elisha is not to be conquered, and the two set off across the undulating plain of burning sand, to the distant river — Elijah in his mantle or cape of sheepskin, Elisha in ordinary clothes. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets ascend the abrupt heights behind the town to watch what happens in the distance. Talking as they go, the two reach the river, and stand on the shelving bank beside its swift brown current. But they are not to stop even here. It is as if the aged Gileadite cannot rest till he again sets foot on his own side of the river. He rolls up his mantle as into a staff, and with his old energy strikes the waters a* Moses had done before him, — strikes them a# if they were an enemy ; and they are divided hither and thither, and they two go over on dry ground. “ And it came to pass as they still went on and talked, that, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by the whirlwind into the skies.” — And here ends all the direct information which is vouchsafed to us of the life and work of this great Prophet. How deep was the impression which he made on the mind of the nation may be judged of from the fixed belie*' which many centuries after prevailed that Elijah would again appear for the relief and restoration of his country. But on the other hand, the deep impression which Elijah had thus made on his nation only renders mort remarkable the departure which the image conveyed by the later references to him evinces, from that so sharply presented in the records of his actual life. With the ex- ception of the eulogiums contained in the catalogues of worthies in the book of Jesus the son of Sirach (xlviii.) and 1 Macc. ii. 58, and the passing allusion in Luke ix. 54, none of these later references allude to his works of destruction or of portent. They all set forth a very different side of his character to that brought out in the historical narrative. They speak of his being a man of like pas- sions with ourselves (James v. 17) ; of his kindness to the widow of Sarepta (Luke iv. 25) ; of his “ restoring all things ” (Matt, xvii. 11) ; “ turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ” (Mai. iv. 5, 6 ; Luke i. 17). E LIM (Ex. xv. 27 ; Num. xxxiii. 9), the second station where the Israelites encamped after crossing the Bed Sea. It is distin- guished as having had “ twelve wells (rather ‘ fountains ’) of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees.” ELIM'ELECH, a man of the tribe of Judah and of the family of the Hezronites, whc dwelt in Bethlehem-Ephratah in the days of the Judges. In consequence of a great dearth in the land he went with his wife Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to dwell in Moab, where he and his sons died without posterity (Ruth i. 2, 3, &c.). EL'IPHAZ. 1. The son of Esau and Adah, and father of Teman (Gen. xxxvi. 4 ; 1 Chr. i. 35, 36).— 2 . The chief of the “three friends ” of Job. He is called “ the Teman- ite ; ” hence it is naturally inferred that he was a descendant of Teman. On him falls the main burden of the argument, that God’? ELISABETH 155 ELISHA retribution in this world is perfect and cer- tain, and that consequently suffering must be a proof of previous sin (Job iv., v., xv., xxii.). The great truth brought out by him is the unapproachable majesty and purity of God (iv. 12-21, xv. 12-16). [Job.] ELIS' ABETH, the wife of Zacharias and mother of John the Baptist. She was herself of the priestly family, and a relation (Luke i. 36) of the mother of our Lord. ELISE'US, the form in which the name Elisha appears in the A. V. of the Apocry- pha and the N. T. (Ecclus. xlviii. 12 ; Luke iv. 27). ELI'SHA, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah. The attendant and disciple of Elijah, and subsequently his successor as prophet of the kingdom of Israel. The earliest mention of his name is in the command to Elijah in the cave at Horeb (1 K. xix. 16, 17). But our first introduction to the future prophet is in the fields of his native place. Abel-meholah was probably in the valley of the Jordan. Elijah, on his way from Sinai to Damascus by the Jordan valley, lights on his successor en- gaged in the labours of the field. To cross to him, to throw over his shoulders the rough mantle — a token at once of investiture with the prophet’s office, and of adoption as a son — was to Elijah but the work of an instant, and the prophet strode on as if what he had done were nothing — “ Go back again, for what have I done unto thee ?” Elisha was not a man who, having put his hand to the plough, was likely to look back ; he delayed merely to give the farewell kiss to his father and mother, and preside at a parting feast with his people, and then followed the great prophet on his northward road. Seven or eight years must have passed between the call of Elisha and the removal of his master, and during the whole of that time we hear nothing of him. But when that period had elapsed he reappears, to become the most prominent figure in the history of his country during the rest of his long life. In almost every respect Elisha presents the most com- plete contrast to Elijah. The copious col- lection of his sayings and doings which are preserved from the 3rd to the 9th chapter of the 2nd book of Kings, is full of testimonies to this contrast. Elijah was a true Bedouin child of the desert. If he enters a city it is only to deliver his message of fire and be gone. Elisha, on the other hand, is a civi- lised man, an inhabitant of cities. And as with his manners so with his appearance. The touches of the narrative are very slight ; but we can gather that his dress was the ordinary garment of an Israelite, the beged , , probably similar in form to the long abbeyeh | of the modern Syrians (2 K. ii. 12), that his hair was worn trimmed behind, in contrast to the disordered locks of Elijah (ii. 23, as explained below), and that he used a walking- staff (iv. 29) of the kind ordinarily carried by grave or aged citizens (Zech. viii. 4). The call of Elisha seems to have taken place about four years before the death of Ahab. He died in the reign of Joash, the grandson of Jehu. This embraces a period of not less than 65 years, for certainly 55 of which he held the office of “prophet in Israel ” (2 K. v. 8). — After the departure of his master, Elisha returned to dwell at Jericho (2 K. ii. 18). The town had been lately rebuilt (1 K. xvi. 34), and was the residence of a body of the “ sons of the prophets ” (2 K. ii. 5, 15). One of the springs of Jericho was noxious at the time of Elisha’s visit. At the request of the men of Jericho he remedied this evil. He took salt in a new vessel, and cast it into the water at its source in the name of Jehovah. — 2. We next meet with Elisha at Bethel, in the heart of the country, on his way from Jericho to Mount Carmel (2 K. ii. 23). His last visit had been made in company with Elijah on their road down to the Jordan (ii. 2). Here the boys of the town were clus- tered, waiting, as they still wait at the entrance of the villages of Palestine, for the chance passer-by. In the short-trimmed locks of Elisha, how were they to recognise the successor of the prophet, with whose shaggy hair streaming over his shoulders they were all familiar ? So with the license of the Eastern children they scoff at the new comer as he walks by — “ Go up, roundhead ! go up, roundhead ! ” For once Elisha assumed the sternness of his master. He turned upon them and cursed them in the name of Jehovah, and we all know the catastrophe which fol- lowed. — 3. Elisha extricates Jehoram king of Israel, and. the kings of Judah and Edom, from their difficulty in the campaign against Moab, arising from want of water (iii. 4-27). This incident probably took place at the S.E. end of the Dead Sea. — 4. The widow of one of the sons of the prophets is in debt, and her two sons are about to be taken from her and sold as slaves. She has no property but a pot of oil. This Elisha causes (in his absence, iv. 5) to multiply, until the widow has filled with it all the vessels which she could borrow. — 5. The next occurrence is at Shunem and Mount Carmel (iv. 8-37). The story divides itself into two parts, separated from each other by several years, (a.) Elisha, probably on his way between Carmel and the Jordan valley, calls accidentally at Shunem. Here he is hospitably entertained by a woman of substance, apparently at that time ignorant ELISHA 156 ELISHA of the character of her guest. There is no occasion here to quote the details of this charming narrative. (&.) An interval has elapsed of several years. The hoy is now old enough to accompany his father to the corn-field, where the harvest i« proceeding. The fierce rays of the morning sun are too powerful for him, and he is carried home to his mother only to die at noon. She says nothing of their loss to her husband, hut depositing her child on the bed of the man of God, at once starts in quest of him to Mount Carmel. No explanation is needed to tell Elisha the exact state of the case. The heat af the season will allow of no delay in taking the necessary steps, and Gehazi is at once despatched to run back to Shunem with the' utmost speed. He takes the prophet’s walking-staff in his hand, which he is to lay on the face of the child. The mother and Elisha follow in haste. Before they reach the village the sun of that long, anxious, summer afternoon must have set. Gehazi meets them on the road, but he has no reassur- ing report to give, the placing of the staff on the face of the dead boy had called forth no sign of life. Then Elisha enters the house, goes up to his own chamber, “ and he shut the door on them twain and prayed unto Jehovah.” The child is restored to life. — 6. The scene now changes to Gilgal, apparently at a time when Elisha was residing there (iv. 38—41). The sons of the prophets are sitting round him. It is a time of famine. The food of the party must consist of any herbs that can be found. The great caldron is put on at the command of Elisha, and one of the company brings his blanket full of such wild vegetables as he has collected, and empties it into the pottage. But no sooner have they begun their meal than the taste betrays the presence of some noxious herb, and they cry out, “ There is death in the pot, O man of God ! ” In this case the cure was effected by meal which Elisha cast into the stew in the caldron. — 7. (iv. 42-44). This in all proba- bility belongs to the same time, and also to the same place as the preceding. A man from Baal-shalisha brings the man of God a present of the first-fruits, which under the law (Num. xviii. 8, 12; Deut. xviii. 3, 4) were the perquisite of the ministers of the sanctuary. — 8. The simple records of these domestic incidents amongst the sons of the prophets are now interrupted by an occurrence of a more important character (v. 1-27). The chief captain of the army of Syria, to whom his country was indebted for some signal success, was afflicted with leprosy (v. 27). One of the members of his establish- ment f s an Israelite girl, kidnapped by the marauders of Syria in one of their forays over the border, and she brings into that Syrian household the fame of the name and skill of Elisha. The news is communicated by Naaman himself to the king. Benhadad had yet to learn the position and character of Elisha. He writes to the king of Israel a letter very characteristic of a military prince. With this letter, and with a present, and a full retinue of attendants (13, 15, 23), N aaman proceeds to Samaria, to the house of Elisha. Elisha still keeps in the background, and while Naaman stands at the doorway, con- tents himself with sending out a messenger with the simple direction to bathe seven times in the Jordan. The ind( pendent behaviour ol the prophet, and the simplicity of the pre- scription, all combined to enrage Naaman. His slaves, however, knew how to deal with the quick but not ungenerous temper of theii master, and the result is that he goes down to the Jordan and dips himself seven times, “ and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” His first business after his cure is to thank his bene- factor. He returns with his whole following, and this time he will not be denied the presence of Elisha ; but making his way in, and standing before him, he gratefulh acknowledges the power of the God of Israel, and entreats him to accept the present which he has brought from Damascus. Elisha is firm, and refuses the offer, though repeated with the strongest adjuration. But Gehaz: cannot allow such treasures thus to escape him. So he frames a story by which the generous Naaman is made to send back with him to Elisha’s house a considerable present in money and clothes. He then went in and stood before his master as if nothing had happened. But the prophet was not to be so deceived. His heart had gone after his ser- vant through the whole transaction, even to its minutest details, and he visits Gehazi with the tremendous punishment of the leprosy, from which he has just relieved Naaman. — 9* (vi. 1-7 ). We now return to the sons of the prophets ; but this time the scene appears to be changed, and is probably at Jericho, and during the residence of Elisha there. As one of them was cutting at a tree overhanging the stream, the iron of his axe flew off and sank into the water. His cry soon brought the man of God to his aid. The stream of the Jordan is deep up to the very bank, especially when the water is so low as to leave the wood dry, and is moreover so turbid that search would be useless. But the place at which the lost axe entered the water is shown to Elisha ; he breaks off a stick and casts it into the stream, and the ELISHA 157 ELISHAH iron appears on the surface, and is recovered by its possessor. — 10. (vi. 8-23). Elisha is now residing at Dothan, halfway on the road between Samaria and Jezreel. The incursions of the Syrian marauding hands (comp. v. 2) still continue. Their manoeu- vres are not hid from the man of God, and by his warnings he saves the king “ not once nor twice.” A strong party with chariots is despatched to effect the capture of Elisha. They march by night, and before morning take up their station round the base of the eminence on which the ruins of Dothan still stand. Elisha’s servant is the first to dis- cover the danger. But Elisha remains un- moved by his fears. He prays to Jehovah, and the whole of the Syrian warriors are struck blind. Then descending, he offers to lead them to the person and the place which they seek. He conducts them to Samaria. There, at the prayer of the prophet, their sight is restored, and they find themselves not in a retired country village, but in the midst of the capital of Israel, and in the pre- sence of the king and his troops. After such a repulse it is not surprising that the marauding forays of the Syrian troops ceased. — 11. (vi. 24 — vii. 2). But the king of Syria could not rest under such dishonour. He abandons his marauding system, and gathers a regular army, with which he lays siege to Samaria. The awful extremities to which the inhabitants of the place were driven need not here be recalled. — 12. (viii. 1-6). We now go back several years to an incident con- nected with the lady of Shunem, at a period antecedent to the cure of Naaman and the transfer of his leprosy to Gehazi (v. 1, 27). Elisha had been made aware of a famine which Jehovah was about to bring upon the land for seven years ; and he had warned his friend the Shunammite thereof that she might provide for her safety. At the end of the seven years she returned to her native place, to find that during her absence her house with the field-land attached to it had been appropriated by some other person. To the king therefore the Shunammite had recourse And now occurred one of those rare coincidences which it is impossible not to ascribe to something more than mere chance. At the very moment of the en- trance of the woman and her son the king was listening to a recital by Gehazi of “ all the great things which Elisha had done.” The woman was instantly recognised by Gehazi. From her own mouth the king hears the repetition of the wonderful tale, and, whether from regard to Elisha, or struck by the extraordinary coincidence, orders her land to be restored with the value of all its produce during her absence. — 13. (viii. 7-15). Hitherto we have met with the prophet only in his own country. We now find him at Damascus. He is there to carry out the command given to Elijah on Horeb to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. At the time of his arrival Benhadad was prostrate with his last illness. The king’s first desire is naturally to ascertain his own fate ; and Hazael is commissioned to be the bearer of a present to the prophet, and to ask the question on the part of his master, “ Shall I recover of this disease ? ” The reply, probably originally ambiguous, is doubly uncertain in the present doubtful state of the Hebrew text; but the general conclusion was unmistakable : — “Jehovah hath showed me that he shall surely die.” But this was not all that had been revealed to the prophet. If Benhadad died, who would be king in his stead but the man who now stood before him 1 The prospect was one which drew forth the tears of the man of God. At Hazael’s request Elisha confesses the reason of his tears. But the prospect is one which has no sorrow for Hazael. His only doubt is the possibility of such good fortune for one so mean. “But what is thy slave, dog that he is, that he should do this great thing 1 ” To which Elisha replies, “Jehovah hath showed me that thou wilt be king over Syria.” Returning to the king, Hazael tells him only half the dark saying of the man of God — “ He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.” But that was the last day of Ben- hadad’s life. — 14. (ix. 1-10). Two of the injunctions laid on Elijah had now been carried out ; the third still remained. The time was come for the fulfilment of the curse upon Ahab by anointing Jehu king over Israel. Elisha’s personal share in the trans- action was confined to giving directions to one of the sons of the prophets. [Jehij.] — 15. Beyond this we have no record of Elisha’s having taken any part in the revolution of Jehu, or the events which followed it. He does not again appear till we find him on his deathbed in his own house (xiii. 14-19). — 16. (xiii. 20-22). The power of the prophet, however, does not terminate with his death. Even in the tomb he restores the dead to life. ELI'SHAH, the eldest son of Javan (Gen. x. 4). The residence of his descendants is described in Ez. xxvii. 7, as the “isles of Elishah,” whence the Phoenicians obtained their purple and blue dyes. Some connect the race of Elishah with the Aeolians, others with Elis, and in a more extended sense Peloponnesus, oi even Hellas. It, appear* ELISHAMA 158 EMBALMING correct to treat it as the designation of a race rather than of a locality. ELISH f AMA, son of Ammihud, the “prince” or “ captain ” of the tribe of Ephraim in the Wilderness of Sinai (Num. i. 10, ii. 18, vii. 48, x. 22). From 1 Chr. vii. 26 we find that he was grandfather to the great Joshua. ELISHE'BA, the wife of Aaron (Ex. vi. 2S). She was the daughter of Amminadab, and sister of Naashon the captain of the host of Judah (Num. ii. 3). ELISHU'A, one of David’s sons, horn after his settlement in Jerusalem (2 Sam. v. 15 ; 1 Chr. xiv. 5). EL'KANAH. 1. Son, or rather grandson (see 1 Chr. vi. 22, 23 [7, 8]) of Korah, according to Ex. vi. 24. — 2. Another Ko- hathite Levite, was son of Jeroham, and father of Samuel the illustrious Judge and Prophet (1 Chr. vi. 27, 34). All that is known of him is contained in the above notices and in 1 Sam. i. 1, 4, 8, 19, 21, 23, and ii. 2, 20. EL f KOSH, the birthplace of the prophet Nahum, hence called “ the Elkoshite,” Nah. i. 1. Two widely differing Jewish traditions assign as widely different localities to this place. In the time of Jerome it was be- lieved to exist in a small village of Galilee. Others assign it to Alkush, a village on the east hank of the Tigris, about two miles north of Mosul. The former is more in accordance with the internal evidence afforded by the prophecy, which gives no sign of having been written in Assyria. EL'LASAB,, the city of Arioch (Gen. xiv. 1), seems to be the Hebrew representative of the old Chaldaean town called in the native dialect Larsa or Larancha. Larsa was a town of Lower Babylonia or Chaldaea, situated nearly halfway between Ur ( Mug- heir ) and Erech ( Warka ), on the left bank of the Euphrates. It is now Senkereh. ELM, Hos. iv. 13. See Oak. EL'NATHAN, the maternal grandfather of Jehoiachin (2 K. xxiv. 8), is doubtless the same man with Elnathan the son of Achbor (Jer. xxvi. 22, xxxvi. 12, 25). E'LON. 1. A Hittite, whose daughter was one of Esau’s wives (Gen. xxvi. 34, xxxvi. 2). — 2. The second of the three sons attributed to Zebulun (Gen. xlvi. 14 ; Num. xxvi. 26) ; and the founder of the family of the Elonites. — 3. Elon the Zebulonite, who judged Israel for ten years, and was buried in Aijalon in Zebulun (Judg. xii. 11, 12). — 4. One of the towns in the border of the tribe of Dan (Josh. xix. 43). ELOTH. [Elath.] EL'TOLAD, one of the cities in the south of Judah (Josh. xv. 30) allotted to Simeon (Josh. xix. 4) ; and in possession of that tribe until the time of David (1 Chr. iv. 29). ELU'L, Neh. vi. 15 ; 1 Macc. xiv. 27, [Months.] EL r YMAS, the Arabic name of the Jew- ish magus or sorcerer Barjesus (Acts xiii. 6 ff.). EMBALMING, the process by which dead bodies are preserved from putrefaction and decay. It was most general among the Egyptians, and it is in connexion with this people that the two instances which we meet with in the O. T. are mentioned (Gen. 1. 2, 26). Of the Egyptian method of em- balming there remain two minute accounts, which have a general kind of agreement, though they differ in details. Herodotus (ii. 86-89) describes three modes, varying in completeness and expense, and practised by persons regularly trained to the profession who were initiated into the mysteries of the art by their ancestors. The emhalmers first removed part of the brain through the nostrils, by means of a crooked iron, and destroyed the rest by injecting caustic drugs. An incision was then made along the flank with a sharp Ethiopian stone, and the whole of the intestines removed. The cavity was rinsed out with palm-wine, and afterwards scoured with pounded perfumes. It was then filled with pure myrrh pounded, cassia, and other aromatics, except frankincense. This done, the body was sewn up and steeped in natron for seventy days. When the seventy days were accomplished, the emhalmers washed the corpse and swathed it in bandages of linen, cut in strips and smeared with gum. They then gave it up tc the relatives of the deceased, who provider’ The mummy’s head, seers at in open panel of the coffin. ( Wilkinson.) WILDERNESS OF ENGEDI. EMERALD 159 ENGEDI for it a -wooden case, made in the shape of a man, in which the dead was placed, and deposited in an erect position against the wall of the sepulchral chamber. The second mode of embalming cost about 20 minae. In this case no incision was made in the body, nor were the intestines removed, but cedar-oil was injected into the stomach by the rectum. The oil was prevented from escaping, and the body was then steeped in natron for the appointed number of days. On the last day the oil was withdrawn, and carried off with it the stomach and intestines in a state of solution, while the flesh was consumed by the natron, and nothing was left but the skin and bones. The body in this state was returned to the relatives of the deceased. The third mode, which was adopted by the poorer classes, and cost but little, consisted in rinsing out the intestines with syrmaea, an infusion of senna and cassia, and steeping the body for the usual number of days in natrum. It does not appear that embalm- ing, properly so called, was practised by the Hebrews. EMERALD, a precious stone, first in the second row on the breastplate of the high- priest (Ex. xxviii. 18, xxxix. 11), imported to Tyre from Syria (Ez. xxvii. 16), used as a seal or signet (Ecclus. xxxii. 6), as an orna- ment of clothing and bedding (Ez. xxviii. 13 ; Jud. x. 21), and spoken of as one of the foundations of Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 19 ; Tob. xiii. 16). The rainbow round the throne is compared to Emerald in Rev. hr. 8. EMERODS (Deut. xxviii. 27 ; 1 Sam. v. 6, 9, 12, vi. 4, 5, 11), probably hemorrhoidal tumours , or bleeding piles, are intended. These are very common in Syria at present, oriental habits of want of exercise and im- proper food, producing derangement of the liver, constipation, &c., being such as to cause them. E'MIMS, a tribe or family of gigantic stature which originally inhabited the region along the eastern side of the Dead Sea. They were related to the Anakim, and were generally called by the same name ; but their conquerors the Moabites termed them Emim - — that is “terrible men” (Deut. ii. 11) — most probably on account of their fierce aspect. EMMAN'UEL, Matt. i. 23. [Immanuel.] EMMA'US, the village to which the two disciples were going when our Lord appeared to them on the way, on the day of His resur- rection (Luke xxiv. 13). Luke makes its distance from Jerusalem sixty stadia (A. V. “ threescore furlongs ”), or about 7 J miles; and Josephus mentions “ a village called Emmaus ” at the same distance. The site of Emmaus remains yet to be identified. EMMA'US, or NICOP'OLIS ( 1 Macc. iii. 40), a town in the plain of Philistia, at the foot of the mountains of Judah, 22 Roman miles from Jerusalem, and 10 from Lydda. It was fortified by Bacchides, the general of Antiochus Epiphanes, when he was engaged in the war with Jonathan Maccabaeus (1 Macc. ix. 50). It was in the plain beside this city that Judas Maccabaeus so signally defeated the Syrians with a mere handful of men, as related in l Macc. iii. 57, iv. 3, &c. A small miserable village called ’ Amwas still occupies the site of the ancient city. EM'MOR, the father of Sychem (Acts vii. 16). [Hamor.] EN, at the beginning of many Hebrew words, signifies a spring or fountain. EN'-DOR, a place in the territory of Issachar, and yet possessed by Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 11). Endor was long held in memory by the Jewish people as connected with the great victory over Sisera and Jabin. It was here that the witch dwelt whom Saul consulted (1 Sam. xxviii. 7). It was known to Eusebius, who describes it as a large village 4 miles S. of Tabor. Here to the N. of Jelel Duhy the name still lingers. The distance from the slopes of Gilboa to Endor is 7 or 8 miles, over difficult ground. EN-EGLA'IM, a place named only by Eze- kiel (xlvii. 10), apparently as on the Dead Sea ; but whether near to or far from Engedi, on the west or east side of the Sea, it is impossible to ascertain. EN-GAN'NIM. 1. A city in the low- country of Judah, named between Zanoah and Tappuah (Josh. xv. 34). — 2. A city on the border of Issachar (Josh. xix. 21), allotted with its “ suburbs ” to the Ger- shonite Levites (xxi. 29), probably Jenin , the first village encountered on the ascent from the great plain of Esdraelon into the hills of the central country. ENGED'I, a town in the wilderness of Judah (Josh. xv. 62), on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Ez. xlvii. 10). Its original name was Hazazon-Tamar, on account of the palm-groves which surrounded it (2 Chr. xx. 2 ; Ecclus. xxiv. 14.) Its site is about the middle of the western shore of the lake, at the fountain of Ain Jidy f from which the place gets its name. It was immediately after an assault upon the “ Amorites, that dwelt in Hazazon-Tamar,” that the five Mesopotamian kings were attacked by the rulers of the plain of Sodom (Gen. xiv. 7 ; comp. 2 Chr. xx. 2). Saul was told that David was in the “ wilderness of Engedi and he took “ 3000 men, and went to seek EN-MISHPAT 160 EPHAH David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats' 1 (1 Sam. xxiv. 2-4). The vine- yards of Engedi were celebrated by Solomon (Cant.i. 14). EN-MISH'PAT, Gen. xiv. 7. [Kadesh.] E f NOCH. 1. The eldest son of Cain (Gen. iv. 17), who called the city which he built after his name (18). — 2. The son of Jared and father of Methuselah (Gen. v. 21 if. ; Luke iii. 28). In the Epistle of Jude (v. 24) he is described as “ the seventh from Adam ;” and the number is probably noticed as con- veying the idea of divine completion and rest, while Enoch was himself a type of per- fected humanity. After the birth of Methu- selah it is said (Gen. v. 22-4) that Enoch “ walked with God 300 years . . . and he was not ; for God took him.” The phrase “ walked with God ” is elsewhere only used of Noah (Gen. vi. 9 ; cf. Gen. xvii. 1, &c.), and is to be explained of a prophetic life spent in immediate converse with the spiri- tual world. In the epistle to the Hebrews the spring and issue of Enoch’s life are clearly marked. — Both the Latin and Greek fathers commonly coupled Enoch and Elijah as historic witnesses of the possibility of a resurrection of the body and of a true human existence in glory; and the voice of early ecclesiastical tradition is almost unanimous in regarding them as “the two witnesses” (Rev. xi. 3 ff.) who should fall before “ the beast.” ENOCH, THE BOOK OF. The first trace of its existence is generally found in the Epistle of St. Jude (14, 15), but the words of the Apostle leave it uncertain whether he derived his quotation from tradition or from writing, though the wide spread of the book m the second century seems almost decisive in favour of the latter supposition. Consider- able fragments are preserved in the Chrono- graphia of Georgius Syncellus (about 792 a.d.), and these, with the scanty notices of earlier writers, constituted the sole remains of the book known in Europe till the close of the last century. Meanwhile, however, a report was current that the entire book was preserved in Abyssinia; and at length, in 1773, Bruce brought with him on his return from Egypt three MSS. containing the com- plete Ethiopic translation. The Ethiopic translation was made from the Greek, and probably towards the middle or close of the fourth century. But it is uncertain whether the Greek text was the original, or itself a translation from the Hebrew. In its present shape the book consists of a series of revela- tions supposed to have been given to Enoch and Noah, which extend to tne most varied aspects of nature and life, and are designed to offer a comprehensive vindication of the action of Providence. Notwithstanding the quotation in St. Jude, and the wide circula- tion of the book itself, the apocalypse of Enoch was uniformly and distinctly separated from the canonical scriptures. E'NON, a place “ near to Salim,” at which John baptized (John iii. 23). It was evi- dently west of the Jordan (comp. iii. 22, with 26, and with i. 28), and abounded in water. This is indicated by the name, which is merely a Greek version of a Chaldee word, signifying “springs.” Aenon is given in the Onomas - ticon as 8 miles south of Scythopolis “ near Salem and the Jordan.” E'NOS. The son of Seth ; properly called Enosh, as in 1 Chr. i. 1 (Gen. iv. 26, v. 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 ; Luke iii. 38). EN-RO'GEL, a spring which formed one of the landmarks on the boundary-line between Judah (Josh. xv. 7) and Benjamin (xviii. 16). Here, Jonathan and Ahimaaz remained, after the flight of David, awaiting intelligence from within the walls (2 Sam. xvii. 17) ; and here, by the stone Zoheleth, which is close to En-rogel, Adonijah held the feast, which was the first and last act of his attempt on the crown (1 K. i. 9). It may be identified with the present “ Fountain of the Virgin,” ’Ain Timm ed-Daraj — the pe- rennial source from which the Pool of Siloam is supplied. EN-SHEM'ESH, a spring which formed one of the landmarks on the north boundary of Judah (Josh. xv. 7) and the south boundary of Benjamin (xviii. 17), perhaps Ain-Haud or Ain-Chot — the “ Well of the Apostles:” — about a mile below Bethany. EPAE'NETUS, a Christian at Rome, greeted by St. Paul in Rom. xvi. 5, and designated as his beloved, and the first fruit of Asia unto Christ. EP'APHRAS, a fellow-labourer with the Apostle Paul, mentioned Col. i. 7, as having taught the Colossian church the grace of God in truth, and designated a faithful minister of Christ on their behalf. He was at that time with St. Paul at Rome (Col. iv. 12), and seems by the expression there used to have been a Colossian by birth. We find him again mentioned in the Epistle to Philemon (ver. 23), which was sent at the same time as that to the Colossians. Epaphras may be the same as Epaphroditus, but the notices in the N. T. do not enable us to speak with ar.y confidence. EPAPHRODI'TUS (Phil. ii. 25, iv. 18). See above under Epaphras. E'PHAH, the first, in order, of the sons of Midian (Gen. xxv. 4 ; 1 Chr, i. 33), after- wards mentioned by Isaiah (lx. 8, 7). EPHAH 161 EPHESUS EPHAH. [Measures.] E'PHER, the second, in order, of the sons of Midian (Gen. xxv. 4 ; 1 Chr. i. 33). E r PHES-DAM f MIM, a place between Socoh and Azekah, at which the Philistines were encamped before the affray in which Goliath was killed (1 Sam. xvii. 1). Under the shorter form of Pas-dammim it occurs once again in a similar connexion (1 Chr. xi. 13). EPHESIANS, THE EPISTLE TO THE, was written by the Apostle St. Paul during his first captivity at Rome (Acts xxviii. 16), apparently immediately after he had written the Epistle to the Colossians [Colossians, ep. to], and during that period (perhaps the early part of a.d. 62) when his imprisonment had not assumed the severer character which seems to have marked its close. This epistle was addressed to the Christian church at Ephesus. [Ephesus.] Its contents may be divided into two portions, the first mainly doctrinal (ch. i. — iii.), the second hortatory and practical. The Apostle reminds his con- verts that they had been redeemed from sin by grace, and not by works, and he exhorts them to walk worthy of this calling, and to keep the unity of the Spirit. EPH'ESUS, the capital of the Roman pro- vince of Asia, and an illustrious city in the district of Ionia, nearly opposite the island of Samos. St. Paul’s life furnishes illustrations of the mercantile relations of Ephesus with Achaia on the W., Macedonia on the N., and Syria on the E. As to the relations of Ephesus to the inland regions of the continent, these also are prominently brought before us in the Apostle’s travels. The “ upper coasts” (Acts xix. 1) through which he passed, when about to take up his residence in the city, were the Phrygian table-lands of the interior. Two great roads at least, in the Roman times, led eastward from Ephesus ; one through the passes of Tmolus to Sardis (Rev. iii. 1) and thence to Galatia and the N.E., the other round the extremity of Pactyas to Magnesia, and so up the valley of the Maeander to lconium, whence the communication was direct to the Euphrates and to the Syrian Antioch. There seem to have been Sardian and Magnesian gates on the E. side of Ephesus correspond- ing to these roads respectively. There were also coast-roads leading northwards to Smyrna and southwards to Miletus. By the latter of these it is probable that the Ephesian elders travelled when summoned to meet Paul at the latter city (Acts xx. 17, 18). Conspicuous at the head of the harbour of Ephesus was the great temple of Diana or Artemis, the tutelary divinity of the city. This building was raised on immense substructions, in con- sequence of the swampy nature of the ground. Sm. D. B. The earlier temple, which had been begun before the Persian war, was burnt down in the night when Alexander the Great was born ; and another structure, raised by the enthusiastic co-operation of all the inhabi- tants of “ Asia ” had taken its place. The magnificence of this sanctuary was a proverb throughout the civilised world. In conse- quence of this devotion the city of Ephesus* was called vcutcopos (Acts xix. 35) or “war- den ” of Diana. Another consequence of the celebrity of Diana’s worship at Ephesus was, that a large manufactory grew up there of portable shrines, which strangers purchased, and devotees carried with them on journeys or set up in their houses. Of the manufac- turers engaged in this business, perhaps Alexander the “ coppersmith ” (2 Tim. iv. 14) was one. The case of Demetrius the “ silversmith ” is explicit. The city was celebrated for its magical arts. In illustra- tion of the magical books which were publicly burnt (ver. 19) under the influence of St. Paul’s preaching, it is enough here to refer to the Ephesian Writings (mentioned by Plutarch and others), which were regarded as a charm when pronounced, and when written down were carried about as amulets. Asia was a proconsular province ; and in harmony with this fact we find proconsuls (A. V. “ deputies ”) specially mentioned (ver. 38). Again we learn from Pliny (v. 31) that Ephesus was an assize-town ; and in the sacred narrative (ver. 38) we find the court- days alluded to as actually being held (A. V. “ the law is open ”) during the uproar. Ephesus itself was a “ free city,” and had it? own assemblies and its own magistrates The senate is mentioned by Josephus ; and St. Luke, in the narrative before us, speaks of “ the people ” and of its customary assem- blies (ver. 39, A. Y. “a lawful assembly”). We even find conspicuous mention made of one of the most important municipal officers of Ephesus, the “ Town-Clerk ” or keeper of the records, whom we know from other sources to have been a person of great in- fluence and responsibility. It is remarkable how all these political and religious cha- racteristics of Ephesus, which appear in the sacred narrative, are illustrated by inscrip- tions and coins. The coins of Ephesus are full of allusions to the worship of Diana in various aspects. The Jews were established there in considerable numbers (Acts ii. 9, vi. 9). It is here, and here only, that we find disciples of John the Baptist explicitly men- tioned after the ascension of Christ (Acts xviii. 25, xix. 3). The case of Apollos (xviii. 24) is an exemplification further of the intercourse between this place and Alex- M EPHOD 162 EPHRAIM andria. The first seeds of Christian truth were possibly sown at Ephesus immediately after the Great Pentecost (Acts U.). In St. Paul’s stay of more than two years (xix. 8, 10, xx. 31), which formed the most important passage of his third circuit, and during which he laboured, first in the synagogue (xix. 8), and then in the school of Tyrannus (ver. 9), and also in private houses (xx. 20), and during which he wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians, we have the period of the chief evangelization of this shore of the Aegean. The address at Miletus shows that the church at Ephesus was thoroughly orga- nised under its presbyters. At a later period Timothy was set over them, as we learn from the two epistles addressed to him. Among St. Paul’s other companions, two, Trophimus and Tychicus, were natives of Asia (xx. 4), and the latter probably (2 Tim. iv. 12), the former certainly (Acts xxi. 29), natives of Ephesus. In the same connexion we ought to mention Onesiphorus (2 Tim. i. 16-18) and his household (iv. 19). On the other hand must be noticed certain specified Ephesian antagonists of the Apostle, the sons of Sceva and his party (Acts xix. 14), Hy- menaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. i. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. 14), and Phygellus and Hermogenes (2 Tim. i. 15). The whole place is now utterly desolate, with the exception of the small Turkish village at Ayasaluk. The ruins are of vast extent. EPHOD, a sacred vestment originally ap- propriate to the high-priest (Ex. xxviii. 4), but afterwards worn by ordinary priests (1 Sam. xxii. 18), and deemed characteristic of the office (1 Sam. ii. 28, xiv. 3 ; Hos. iii. 4). For a description of the robe itself see High- Phiest. The importance of the Ephod as the receptacle of the breastplate led to its adop- tion in the idolatrous forms of worship insti- tuted in the time of the Judges (Judg. viii. 27, xvii. 5, xviii. 14 ff.). E'PHRAIM, the second son of Joseph by his wife Asenath. The first indication we have of that ascendancy over his elder brother Manasseh, which at a later period the tribe of Ephraim so unmistakably possessed, is in the blessing of the children by Jacob, Gen. xlviii. Ephraim would appear at thai time to have been about 21 years old. He was born before the beginning of the seven years of famine, towards the latter part of which Jacob had come to Egypt, 17 years before his death (Gen. xlvii. 28). Before Joseph’s death Ephraim’s family had reached the third generation (Gen. 1. 23), and it must have been about this time that the affray mentioned in 1 Chr. vii. 21 occurred. To this early period too must probably be re- | ferred the circumstance alluded to in Pb. 1 xxviii. 9. It is at the time of the sending of the spies to the Promised Land that we are first introduced to the great hero to whom the tribe owed much of its subsequent great- ness. Under Joshua the tribe must have taken a high position in the nation, to judge from the tone which the Ephraimites assumed on occasions shortly subsequent to the con- quest. The boundaries of the portion of Ephraim are given in Josh. xvi. 1-10. The south boundary was coincident for part of its length with the north boundary of Benjamin. It extended from the Jordan on the E., at the reach opposite Jericho, to the Mediterra- nean on the W., probably about Joppa. On the N. of Ephraim and Manasseh were the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Issachar. The territory thus allotted to the “ house of Joseph” may be roughly estimated at 55 miles from E. to W. by 70 from N. to S., a portion about equal in extent to the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk combined. But though similar in size, nothing can be more different in its nature from those level counties than this broken and hilly tract. Central Palestine consists of an elevated dis- trict which rises from the flat ranges of the wilderness on the south of Judah, and termi- nates on the north with the slopes which de- scend into the great plain of Esdraelon. On the west a flat strip separates it from the sea, i and on the east another flat strip forms the valley of the Jordan. Of this district the northern half was occupied by the great tribe i we are now considering. This was the Har- | Ephraim , the “ Mount Ephraim,” a district i which seems to extend as far south as Ramah | and Bethel (1 Sam. i. 1, vii. 17 ; 2 Chr. xiii. I 4, 19, compared with xv. 8), places but a I few miles north of Jerusalem, and within the | limits of Benjamin. After the revolt of Jeroboam, the history of Ephraim is the history of the kingdom of Israel, since not only did the tribe become a kingdom, but the kingdom embraced little besides the tribe. This is not surprising, and quite susceptible of explanation. North of Ephraim the country appears never to have been really taken possession of by the Israelites. And in addition to this original defect there is much in the physical formation and circum- stances of the upper portion of Palestine to explain why those tribes never took any active part in the kingdom. But on the other hand the position of Ephraim was alto- gether different. It was one at once of great richness and great security. Her fertile plains and well watered valleys could only be reached by a laborious ascent through steep and narrow ravines, all but impassable for EPHRAIM 163 EPISTLE an army. There is no record of any attack on the central kingdom, either from the Jordan valley or the maritime plain. On the north side, from the plain of Esdraelon, it was more accessible, and it was from this side that the final invasion appears to have been made. E'PHRAIM. In “ Baal-hazor which is by Ephraim ” was Absalom’s sheep-farm, at which took place the murder of Amnon, one of the earliest precursors of the great revolt (2 Sam. xiii. 23). There is no clue to its situation. E'PIIRAIM, a city “in the district near the wilderness” to which our Lord retired with his disciples when threatened with violence by the priests (John xi. 54). Per- haps Ophrah and Ephraim are identical, and their modern representative is ei-Taiyibeh. It is situated 4 or 5 miles east of Bethel, and 18 from Jerusalem. E'PHRAIM, GATE OF, one of the gates of the city of Jerusalem (2 K. xiv. 13 ; 2 Chr. xxv. 23 ; Neh. viii. 16, xii. 39), probably at or near the position of the present “ Damascus gate.” E'PHRAIM, THE WOOD OF, a wood, or rather a forest on the E. of Jordan, in which the fatal battle was fought between the armies of David and of Absalom (2 Sam. xviii. 6). The name is probably derived from the slaughter of Ephraim at the fords of Jordan by the Gileadites under Jephthah (Judg. xii. 1. 4, 5). EPHRA'IN, a city of Israel, which with its dependent hamlets Abijah and the army of Judah captured from Jeroboam (2 Chr. xiii. 19). It has been conjectured that this Eph- rain or Ephron is identical with the Ephraim by which Absalom’s sheep-farm of Baal-hazor was situated ; with the city called Ephraim near the wilderness in which our Lord lived for some time ; and with Ophrah, a city of Benjamin, apparently not far from Bethel. But nothing more than conjecture can be arrived at on these points. EPH'RATAH, or EPH'RATH. 1. Second wife of Caleb the son of Hezron, mother of Hur, and grandmother of Caleb the spy, ac- cording to 1 Chr. ii. 19, 50, and probably 24, and iv. 4. — 2. The ancient name of Bethle- hem- Judah, as is manifest from Gen. xxxv. 16, 19, xlviii. 7. EPH'RON. 1. The son of Zochar, a Hittite, from whom Abraham bought the field and cave of Machpelah (Gen. xxiii. 8-17 ; xxv. 9, xlix. 29, 39, 1. 13). — 2. A very strong city on the east of Jordan between Carnaim (Ashteroth-Karnaim) and Beth- shean, attacked and demolished by Judas Mac- eabaeus (1 Macc. v. 46-52 * 2 Macc. xii. 27). EPH'RON, MOUNT. The « cities cf Mount Ephron” formed one of the land- marks on the northern boundary of the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 9). EPICURE r ANS, THE, derived their name from Epicurus (342-271 b.c.), a philosopher of Attic descent, whose “ Garden” at Athens rivalled in popularity the “Porch” and the “ Academy.” The doctrines of Epicurus found wide acceptance in Asia Minor and Alexandria, and they gained a brilliant advo- cate at Rome in Lucretius (95-50 b.c.). The obj-ect of Epicurus was to find in philosophy a practical guide to happiness. True plea- sure and not absolute truth was the end at which he aimed ; experience and not reason the test on which he relied. It is obvious that a system thus framed would degenerate by a natural descent into mere materialism ; and in this form Epicureism was the popular philosophy at the beginning of the Christian era. When St. Paul addressed “ Epicureans and Stoics” (Acts xvii. 18) at Athens, the philosophy of life was practically reduced to the teaching of those two antagonistic schools. EPIPH'ANES (1 Macc. i. 10, x. 1). [An- TIOCHUS EPIPHANES.] EP'IPHI (3 Macc. vi. 38), name of the eleventh month of the Egyptian Vague year, and the Alexandrian or Egyptian Julian year. EPISTLE. The Epistles of the N. T. in their outward form are such as might be ex- pected from men who were brought into con- tact with Greek and Roman customs, them- selves belonging to a different race, and so reproducing the imported style with only partial accuracy. They begin (the Epistle to the Hebrews and 1 John excepted) with the names of the writer, and of those to whom the Epistle is addressed. Then follows the formula of salutation. Then the letter itself commences, in the first person, the singular and plural being used indiscriminately. When the substance of the letter has been com- pleted, come the individual messages. The conclusion in this case was probably modified by the fact that the letters were dictated to an amanuensis. When he had done his work, the Apostle took up the pen or reed, and added, in his own large characters (Gal. vi. 11) the authenticating autograph. In one in- stance, Rom. xvi. 22, the amanuensis in his own name adds his salutation. An allusion in 2 Cor. iii. 1 brings before us another class of letters which must have been in frequent use in the early ages of the Christian Church, by which travellers or teachers were com- mended by one church to the good offices of others. M 2 EE, 164 ESAU EE, first-born of Judah. Er “was wicked in the sight of the Lord ; and the Lord slew him.” It does not appear what the nature of his sin was ; but, from his Canaanitish birth on the mother’s side, it was probably connected with the abominable idolatries of Canaan (Gen. xxxviii. 3-7 ; Num. xxvi. 19). EE'ECH, one of the cities of Nimrod’s kingdom in the land of Shinar (Gen. x. 10), doubtless the same as Orchoe, 82 miles S. and 43 E. of Babylon, the modern designa- tions of the site, Warka , Irka , and Irak , bearing a considerable affinity to the original name. EEAST r US, one of the attendants or dea- cons of St. Paul at Ephesus, who with Timothy was sent forward into Macedonia while the Apostle himself remained in Asia (Acts xix. 22). He is probably the same with Erastus who is again mentioned in the salutations to Timothy (2 Tim. iii. 20), though not the same with Erastus the chamberlain, or rather the public treasurer, of Corinth (Eom. xvi. 23). ESA'IAS, the form of the name of the prophet Isaiah in the N. T. [Isaiah.] E'SAE-HA'DDQN, one of the greatest of the kings of Assyria, was the son of Senna- cherib (2 K. xix. 37) and the grandson of Sargon who succeeded Shalmaneser. Nothing is really known of Esar-haddon until his ac- cession (ab. b.c. 680 ; 2 K. xix. 37 ; Is. xxxvii, 38). He appears by his monuments to have been one of the most powerful — if not the most powerful — of all the Assyrian mo- narchs. He carried his arms over all Asia between the Persian Gulf, the Armenian mountains, and the Mediterranean. In con- sequence of the disaffection of Babylon, and its frequent revolts from former Assyrian kings, Esar-haddon, having subdued the sons of Merodach-Baladan who headed the national party, introduced the new policy of substi- tuting for the former government by viceroys, a direct dependence upon the Assyrian crown. He is the only Assyrian monarch whom we find to have actually reigned at Babylon, where he built himself a palace, bricks from which have been recently recovered bearing his name. His Babylonian reign lasted thirteen years, from b.c. 680 to b.c. 667 ; and it was doubtless within this space of time that Manasseh, king of Judah, having been seized by his captains at Jerusalem on a charge of rebellion, was brought before him at Babylon (2 Chr. xxxiii. 11) and detained for a time as prisoner there. As a builder of great works Esar-haddon is particularly distinguished. Besides his palace at Babylon, he built at *east three others in different parts of his dominions, either for himself or his son. The south-west palace at Nimrud is the best preserved of his constructions. It is con- jectured that Esar-haddon died about b.c. 660. E'SAU, the eldest son of Isaac, and twin- brother of Jacob. The singular appearance of the child at his birth originated the name (Esau means hairy, Gen. xxv. 25). This was not the only remarkable circumstance con- nected with the birth of the infant. Even in the womb the twin-brothers struggled to- gether (xxv. 22). Esau’s robust frame and “ rough” aspect were the types of a wild and daring nature. The peculiarities of his cha- racter soon began to develope themselves. He was, in fact, a thorough Bedouin, a “ son of the desert,” who delighted to roam free as the wind of heaven, and who was impatient of the restraints of civilized or settled life. His old father, by a caprice of affection not uncommon, loved his wilful, vagrant boy ; and his keen relish for savoury food being gratified by Esau’s venison, he liked him all the better for his skill in hunting (xxv. 28). An event occurred which exhibited the reck- less character of Esau on the one hand, and the selfish, grasping nature of his brother on the other. Jacob takes advantage of his brother’s distress to rob him of that which was dear as life itself to an Eastern patriarch. Esau married at the age of 40, and contrary to the wish of his parents. His wives were both Canaanites; and they “were bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Eebekah ” (Gen. xxvi. 34, 35). The next episode in the his- tory of Esau and Jacob is still more painful than the former. Jacob, through the craft of his mother, is again successful, and secures irrevocably the covenant blessing. Esau vows vengeance. But he knew not a mother’s watchful care. By a characteristic piece of domestic policy Eebekah succeeded both in exciting Isaac’s anger against Esau, and ob- taining his consent to Jacob’s departure. When Esau heard that his father had com- manded Jacob to take a wife of the daughters of his kinsman Laban, he also resolved to try whether by a new alliance he could propitiate his parents. He accordingly married his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael (xxviii. 8, 9). This marriage appears to have brought him into connexion with the Ish- maelitish tribes beyond the valley of Arabah. He soon afterwards established himself in Mount Seir ; still retaining, however, some interest in his father’s property in Southern Palestine. He was residing in Mount Seir when Jacob returned from Padan-aram, and had then become so rich and powerful that the impressions of his brother’s early offences seem to have been almost completely effaced. It does not appear that the brothers again I I PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. ESAY 165 ESHCOL met until the death of their father about 20 years afterwards. They united in laying Isaac’s body in the cave of Machpelah. Of Esau’s subsequent history nothing is known ; for that of his descendants see Edom. E'SAY, the form of the name of Isaiah in Ecclus. xlviii. 20, 22 ; 2 Esd. ii. 18. [Isaiah.] ESDRAE'LON. This name is merely the Greek form of the Hebrew word Jezreel. It occurs in this exact shape only twice in the A. Y. (Jud. iii. 9, iv. 6). In Jud. iii. 3 it is Esdraelom, and in i. 8 Esdrelom, with the addition of “ the great plain.” In the O. T. the plain is called the Yalley of Jezreel; by Josephus “ the great plain.” The name is derived from the old royal city of Jezreel, which occupied a commanding site, near the eastern extremity of the p.ain, on a spur of Mount Gilboa. “ The Great plain of Esdrae- lon” extends across Central Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee. The western section of it is properly the plain of Accho, or ’ Akka . The main body of the plain is a triangle. Its base on the east extends from Jenin (the ancient Engannim) to the foot of the hills below Nazareth, and is about 15 miles long : the north side, formed by the hills of Galilee, is about 12 miles long; and the south side, formed by the Samaria range, is about 18 miles. The apex on the west is a narrow pass opening into the plain of 'Alika. From the base of this triangular plain three branches stretch out eastward, like fingers from a hand, divided by two bleak, grey ridges — one bearing the familiar name of Mount Gilboa ; the other called by Franks Little Hermon, but by natives Jebel ed-Duhy. The central branch is the richest as well as the most celebrated. This is the “Valley of Jezreel” proper — the battle-field on which Gideon triumphed, and Saul and Jonathan were over- thrown (Judg. vii. 1, sq. ; 1 Sam. xxix. and xxxi.). Two things are worthy of special notice in the plain of Esdraelon. 1. its wonderful richness. 2. its desolation. If we except the eastern branches, there is not a single inhabited village on its whole sur- face, and not more than one-sixth of its soil is cultivated. It is the home of the wild wandering Bedouin. ES'DRAS. The form of the name of Ezra the scribe in 1 and 2 Esdras. ES'DRAS, FIRST BOOK OF, the first in order of the Apocryphal books in the English Bible. It was never known to exist in Hebrew and formed no part of the Hebrew Canon. As regards the contents of the book, and the author or authors of it — the first chapter is a transcript of the two last chapters of 2 Chr. for the most part verbatim, , and only in one or two parts slightly abridged and paraphrased. Chapters iii., iv., and v., to the end of v. 6, are the original portions of the book, and the rest is a transcript more or less exact of the book of Ezra, with the chapters transposed and quite otherwise ar- ranged, and a portion of Nehemiah. Hence a twofold design in the compiler is discernible. One to introduce and give Scriptural sanction to the legend about Zerubbabel ; the other to explain the great obscurities of the book of Ezra, in which however he has signally failed. As regards the time and place when the com- pilation was made, the original portion is that which alone affords much clue. This seems to indicate that the writer was tho- roughly conversant with Hebrew, even if he did not write the book in that language. He was well acquainted too with the books of Esther and Daniel (1 Esdr. iii. 1, 2 sqq.), and other books of Scripture {ib. 20, 21, 39, 41, &c., and 45 compared with Ps. cxxxvii. 7). But that he did not live under the Persian kings, appears by the undiscriminating way in which he uses promiscuously the phrase Medes and Persians , or, Persians and Medes , according as he happened to be imitating the language of Daniel or of the book of Esther. ES'DRAS, THE SECOND BOOK OF, in the English Version of the Apocrypha, and so called by the author (2 Esdr. i. 1). The original title, “ the Apocalypse of Ezra,” is far more appropriate. Chapters iii.-xiv. con- sist of a series of angelic revelations and visions in which Ezra is instructed in some of the great mysteries of the moral world, and assured of the final triumph of the righteous. The date of the book is uncertain, but there can be no doubt that it is a genuine product of Jewish thought. The Apocalypse was pro- bably written in Egypt ; the opening and closing chapters certainly were. Though this book is included among those which are “ read for examples of life” by the English Church, no use of it is there made in public worship. E'SEK, a well, which the herdsmen ca Isaac dug in the valley of Gerar (Gen> xx vi. 20). ESH-BA'AL, the fourth son of Saul, ac- cording to the genealogies of 1 Chr. viii. 3 1 and ix. 39, is doubtless the same person as ISH-BOSKETH. ESH'BAN, a Horite ; one of the four sons of Dishan (Gen. xxxvi. 26 ; 1 Chr. i. 41). ESH'COL, brother of Mamre the Amorite, and of Aner ; and one of Abraham’s com- panions in his pursuit of the four kings w r ko had carried off Lot (Gen. xiv. 13, 24). ESH'COL, THE YALLEY, OR THE ESHEAN 166 ESTHER, BOOK OF BROOK OF, a wady in the neighbourhood of Hebron, explored by the spies who were sent by Moses from Kadesh-barnea (Num. xxxiii. 9 ; Dent. i. 24). The name is still attached to a spring of fine water called ’ Ain-Eshkali, in a valley about two miles north of Hebron. ESH'EAN, one of the cities of Judah (Josh. xv. 52). E'SHEK, a Benjamite, one of the late de- scendants of Saul (1 Chr. viii. 39). ESH f K ALONITES, THE, Josh. xiii. 3. [Ashkelon.] ESH'TAOL, a town in the low country — the Shefelah — of Judah, afterwards allotted to Dan (Josh. xv. 33, xix. 41). Here Samson spent his boyhood, and hither after his last exploit his body was brought (Judg. xiii. 25, xvi. 31, xviii. 2, 8, 11, 12). ESHTEMO'A, and in shorter form ESHTE- MOH r , a town of Judah, in the mountains (Josh. xv. 50), allotted to the priests (xxi. 14 ; 1 Chr. vi. 57). It was one of the places frequented by David and his followers during the long period of their wanderings (1 Sam. xxx. 28, comp. 31). Its site is at Semu’a , a village seven miles south of Hebron. Eshte- moa appears to have been founded by the descendants of the Egyptian wife of a certain Mered (1 Chr. iv. 17). ESSE'NES, a Jewish sect, W'ho, according to the description of Josephus, combined the ascetic virtues of the Pythagoreans and Stoics with a spiritual knowledge of the Divine Law. It seems probable that the name sig- nifies “ seer,” or “ the silent, the mysterious ” As a sect the Essenes were distinguished by an aspiration after ideal purity rather than by any special code of doctrines. From the Maccabaean age there was a continuous effort among the stricter Jews to attain an absolute standard of holiness. Each class of devotees was looked upon as practically impure by their successors, who carried the laws of purity still further ; and the Essenes stand at the extreme limit of the mystic asceticism which was thus gradually reduced to shape. To the Pharisees they stood nearly in the same relation as that in which the Pharisees them- selves stood with regard to the mass of the people. There were isolated communities of Essenes, which were regulated by strict rules, analogous to those of the monastic in- stitutions of a later date. All things were held in common, without distinction of pro- perty ; and special provision was made for the relief of the poor. Self-denial, temperance, and labour — especially agriculture — were the marks of the outward life of the Essenes ; ourity and divine communion the objects of their aspiration. Slavery, war, and com- merce were alike forbidden. Their best- known settlements were on the N.W. shore of the Dead Sea. ES'THER, the Persian name of Hadassah, daughter of Abihail the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Esther was a beautiful Jewish maiden, whose ancestor Kish had been among the captives led away from Jeru- salem by Nebuchadnezzar when Jehoiachin was taken captive. She was an orphan with- out father or mother, and had been brought up by her cousin Mordecai, who had an office in the household of Ahasuerus king of Persia, and dwelt at “ Shushan the palace.” When Yashti was dismissed from being queen, and all the fairest virgins of the kingdom had been collected at Shushan for the king to make choice of a successor to her from among them, the choice fell upon Esther. The king was not aware, however, of her race and parentage ; and so, on the representation of Haman the Agagite that the Jews scattered j through his empire were a pernicious race, he | gave him full power and authority to kill i them all, young and old, women and children, j and take possession of their property. The j means taken by Esther to avert this great j calamity from her people and her kindred are l fully related in the book of Esther. History ! is wholly silent both about Yashti and Esther. | Herodotus mentions only one of Xerxes’ | wives ; Scripture mentions two only, if in- deed either of them were wives at all. It seems natural to conclude that Esther, a cap- tive, and one of the harem, was not of the highest rank of wives, but that a special honour, with the name of queen, may have been given to her, as to Yashti before her, as the favourite concubine or inferior wife, whose offspring, however, if she had any, would not have succeeded to the Persian throne. ES'THER, BOOK OF, one of the latest of the canonical books of Scripture, having been “written late in the reign of Xerxes, or early in that of his son Artaxerxes Longimanus. The author is not known, but may very pro- bably have been Mordecai himself. Those who ascribe it to Ezra, or the men of the Great Synagogue, may have merely meant that Ezra edited and added it to the canon of Scripture, which he probably did. The book of Esther is placed among the hagiographa by the Jews, and in that first portion of them which they call u the five rolls.” It is some- times emphatically called Megillah (“ roll”), without other distinction, and is read through by the Jews in their synagogues at the feast of Purim. It has often been remarked as a peculiarity of this book that the name of God does not once occur in it. The style of writing is remarkably chaste and simple. It ETAM 167 EUNUCH does not in the least savour of romance. The Hebrew is very like that of Ezra and parts of the Chronicles ; generally pure, but mixed with some words of Persian origin, and some of Chaldaic affinity. In short it is just what one would expect to find in a work of the age to which the book of Esther professes to belong. As regards the Septuagint version of the book, it consists of the canonical Esther with various interpolations prefixed, interspersed, and added at the close. Though, however, the interpolations of the Greek copy are thus manifest, they make a consistent and in- telligible story. But the Apocryphal addi- tions as they are inserted in some editions of the Latin Yulgate, and in the English Bible, are incomprehensible. E'TAM. 1. A village of the tribe of Simeon, specified only in the list in 1 Chr. iv. 32 (comp. Josh. xix. 7). — 2. A place in Judah, fortified and garrisoned by Behoboam (2 Chr. xi. 6). Here, according to the state- ments of Josephus and the Talmudists, were the sources of the water from which Solomon’s gardens and pleasure-grounds were fed, and Bethlehem and the Temple supplied. E'TAM, THE BOCK, a cliff or lofty rock, into a cleft or chasm of which Samson retired after his slaughter of the Philistines (Judg. xv. 8, 11). This natural stronghold was in the tribe of Judah ; and near it, probably at its foot, was Lehi or Bamath-lehi, and En- hakkore (xv. 9, 14, 17, 19). The name Etam was held by a city in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem (2 Chr. xi. 6), which is known to have been situated in the extremely uneven and broken country round the modern Urtas. Here is a fitting scene for the adventure of Samson. E'THAM, one of the early resting-places of the Israelites when they quitted Egypt, the position of which may be very nearly fixed in consequence of its being described as “ in the edge of the wilderness” (Ex. xiii. 20; Num. xxxiii. 6, 7). Etham may be placed where the cultivable land ceases, near the Seba Bidr or Seven Wells , about three miles from the western side of the ancient head of the gulf. E'THAN. 1 . Ethan the Ezhahite, one of the four sons of Mahol, whose wisdom was excelled by Solomon (1 K. iv. 31 ; 1 Chr. ii. 6 ) . His name is in the title of Ps. lxxxix. — 2. Son of Kishi or Kushaiah ; a Merarite Levite, head of that family in the time of king David (1 Chr. vi. 44), and spoken of as a “singer.” With Heman and Asaph, the heads of the other two families of Levites, Ethan was appointed to sound with cvmbals (xv. 17, 19). ETH'ANIM. [Months.] ETHBA'AL, king of Sidon and father of Jezebel (1 K. xvi. 31). Josephus represents him as king of the Tyrians as well as the Sidonians. We may thus identify him with Eithobalus, who, after having assassinated Pheles, usurped the throne of Tyre for 32 years. The date of Ethbaal’s reign may be given as about b.c. 940-908. E'THER, one of the cities of Judah in the low country, the Shefelah (Josh. xv. 42), allotted to Simeon (xix. 7). ETHIOPIA. The country which the Greeks and Homans described as “ Aethiopia” and the Hebrews as “ Cush ” lay to the S. of Egypt, and embraced, in its most extended sense, the modern Nubia, Sennaar , Kordofan , and northern Abyssinia , and in its more definite sense the kingdom of Meroe. Syene marked the division between Ethiopia and Egypt (Ez. xxix. 10). The Hebrews do not appear to have had much practical acquaint- ance with Ethiopia itself, though the Ethio- pians were well known to them through their intercourse with Egypt. The inhabitants of Ethiopia were a Hamitic race (Gen. x. 6). They were divided into various tribes, of which the Sabaeans were the most powerful. The history of Ethiopia is closely interwoven with that of Egypt. The two countries were not unfrequently united under the rule of the same sovereign. Shortly before our Saviour’s birth a native dynasty of females, holding the official title of Candace (Plin. vi. 35), held sway in Ethiopia, and even resisted the advance of the Homan arms. One of these is the queen noticed in Acts viii. 27. ETHIOPIAN WOMAN. The wife of Moses is so described in Num. xii. 1. She is else- where said to have been the daughter of a Midianite, and in consequence of this some have supposed that the allusion is to another wife whom Moses married after the death of Zipporah. ETHIOPIANS. Properly “Cush” or “Ethiopia ” in two passages (Is. xx. 4 ; Jer. xlvi. 9). Elsewhere “ Cushites,” or inhabi- tants of Ethiopia (2 Chr. xii. 3, xiv. 12 [11], 13 [12], xvi. 8, xxi. 16 ; Dan. xi. 43 ; Am. ix. 7 ; Zeph. ii. 12). EUBU'LUS, a Christian at Home men- tioned by St. Paul (2 Tim. iv. 21). EUEB'GETES. [Ptolemy.] EUNI'CE, mother of Timotheus (2 Tim. i. 5). EUNUCH. The law (Deut. xxiii. 1 ; comp. Lev. xxii. 24) is repugnant to thus treating any Israelite. The origination of the practice is ascribed to Semiramis, and is no doubt as early, or nearly so, as Eastern despotism itself. The complete assimilation of the kingdom of Israel, and latterly of Judah to the neighbouring models of despotism, is EUODIAS 168 EVANGELIST traceable in the rank and prominence of eunuchs (2 K. viii. 6, ix. 32, xxiii. 11, xxv. 19 ; Is. lvi. 3, 4 ; Jer. xxix. 2, xxxiv. 19, xxxviii. 7, xli. 16, lii. 25). They mostly ap- pear in one of two relations, either military as “ set over the men of war,” greater trustworthiness possibly counterbalancing inferior courage and military vigour, or asso- ciated, as we mostly recognise them, with women and children. We find the Assyrian Rab-Saris, or chief eunuch (2 K. xviii. 17), employed together with other high officials as ambassador. It is probable that Daniel and his companions were thus treated, in fulfil- ment of 2 K. xx. 17, 18; Is. xxxix. 7; comp. Dan. i. 3, 7. The court of Herod of course had its eunuchs, as had also that of Queen Candace (Acts viii. 27.) EUC/DIAS, a Christian woman at Philippi (Phil. iv. 2). The name is correctly Eu- ODIA. EUPHRATES is probably a word of Aryan origin, signifying “ the good and abounding river.” It is most frequently denoted in the Bible by the term “the river.” The Euphrates is the largest, the longest, and by far the most important of the rivers of Western Asia. It rises from two chief sources in the Armenian mountains, and flows into the Persian Gulf. The entire course is 1780 miles, and of this distance more than two- thirds (1200 miles) is navigable for boats. The width of the river is greatest at the distance of 700 or 800 miles from its mouth — that is to say, from its junction with the Khabour to the village of Werai. It there averages 400 yards. The annual inundation of the Euphrates is caused by the melting of the snows in the Armenian highlands. It occurs in the month of May. The great hydraulic works ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar had for their chief object to control the inun- dation. The Euphrates is first mentioned in Scripture as one of the four rivers of Eden (Gen. ii. 14). Its celebrity is there suffi- ciently indicated by the absence of any ex- planatory phrase, such as accompanies the names of the other streams. We next hear of it in the covenant made with Abraham (Gen. xv. 18), where the whole country from “ the great river, the river Euphrates ” to the river of Egypt is promised to the chosen race. During the reigns of David and Solo- mon the dominion of Israel actually attained to the full extent both ways of the original promise, the Euphrates forming the boundary of their empire to the N.E., and the river of Egyptto the S.W. This wide-spread territory was lost upon the disruption of the empire under Rehoboam ; and no more is heard in Scripture of the Euphrates until the expedition of Necho against the Babylonians in the reign of Josiah. The river still brings down as much water as of old, but the precious ele- ment is wasted by the neglect of man ; the various watercourses along which it was in former times conveyed are dry; the main channel has shrunk ; and the wate. stagnates in unwholesome marshes. EUPOL'EMUS, the “ son of John, the son of Accos,” one of the envoys sent to Rome by Judas Maccabaeus, cir. b.c. 161 (1 Macc. viii. 17 ; 2 Macc. iv. 11). He has been identified with the historian of the same name, but it is by no means clear that the historian was of Jewish descent. EUROC'LYDON, the name given (Acts xxvii. 14) to the gale of wind which off the south coast of Crete seized the ship in which St. Paul was ultimately wrecked on the coast of Malta. It came down from the island, and therefore must have blown, more or less, from the northward. EU'TYCHUS, a youth at Troas (Acts xx. 9), who sitting in a window, and having fallen asleep while St. Paul was discoursing far into the night, fell from the third story, and being taken up dead, was miraculously restored to life by the Apostle. EVANGELIST, means “the publisher of glad tidings,” and therefore seems com- mon to the work of the Christian ministry generally ; yet in Eph. iv. 11, the “ evange- lists ” appear on the one hand after the “apostles” and “prophets:” on the other before the “ pastors ” and “ teachers.” This i passage accordingly would lead us to think of them as standing between the two other groups — sent forth as missionary preachers of the Gospel by the first, and as such pre- paring the way for the labours of the second. The same inference would seem to follow the occurrence of the word as applied to Philip in Acts xxi. 8. It follows from what has been said that the calling of the Evangelist is the proclamation of the glad tidings to those who have not known them, rather than the instruction and pastoral care of those who have believed and been baptised. It follows also that the name denotes a work rather than an order . The Evangelist might or might not be a Bishop-Elder or a deacon. The Apostles, so far as they evangelized (Acts viii. 25, xiv. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 17), might claim the title, though there wei'e many Evange- lists who were not Apostles. If the Gospel was a written book, and the office of the Evangelists was to read or distribute it, then the writers of such books were preeminently the Evangelists. In later liturgical language the word was applied to the reader of the Gospel for the day. EVE 169 EXCOMMUNICATION EVE, the name given in Scripture to the first woman. The account of Eve’s creation is found at Gen. ii. 21, 22. Perhaps that which we are chiefly intended to learn from the narrative is the foundation upon which the union between man and wife is built, viz., identity of nature and oneness of origin. Through the suhtiltv of the serpent, Eve was beguiled into a violation of the one command- ment which had been imposed upon her and Adam. The Scripture account of Eve closes with the birth of Seth. E'VI, one of the five kings or princes of Midian, slain by the Israelites (Num. xxxi. 8 ; Josh. xiii. 21). E'VIL-MER'ODACH (2 K. xxv. 27), the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar. He reigned hut a short time, having ascended the throne on the death of Nebuchadnezzar in b.c. 561, and being himself succeeded by Neriglissar in b.c. 559. He was murdered by Neriglissar. EXCOMMUNICATION. I. Jewish Excom- munication . — The Jewish system of excom- munication was threefold. For a first offence a delinquent was subjected to the penalty of Niddui. The twenty-four offences for which it was inflicted are various, and range in heinousness from the offence of keeping a fierce dog to that of taking God’s name in vain. The offender was first cited to appear in court ; and if he refused to appear or to make amends, his sentence was pronounced. The term of this punishment was thirty days ; and it was extended to a second and to a third thirty days when necessary. If at the end of that time the offender was still contumacious, he was subjected to the second excommunication termed Cherem , a word meaning something devoted to God (Lev. xxvii. 21, 28 ; Ex. xxii. 20 [19] ; Num. xviii. 14). Severer penalties were now attached. The sentence was delivered by a court of ten, and was accompanied by a solemn malediction. Lastly followed Sham- mathast which was an entire cutting off from the congregation. The punishment of excom- munication is not appointed by the Law of Moses. It is founded on the natural right of self-protection which all societies enjoy. The case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num. xvi.), the curse denounced on Meroz (Judg. v. 23), the commission and proclamation of Ezra (vii. 26, x. 8), and the reformation of Nehemiah (xiii. 25), are appealed to by the Talmudists as precedents by which their pro- ceedings are regulated. In the New Testa- ment, Jewish excommunication is brought prominently before us in the case of the man that was born blind (John ix.). The ex- pressions here used refer, no doubt, to the first form of excommunication, or Niddui. In Luke vi. 22, it has been thought that our Lord referred specifically to the three forms of Jewish excommunication : “ Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shal. separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.” The three words very accurately express the simple separation, the additional malediction, and the final ex- clusion of niddui , cherem , and shammdthd . — II. Christian Excommunication. — Excom- munication, as exercised by the Christian Church, is not merely founded on the natural right possessed by all societies, nor merely on the example of the Jewish Church and nation. It was instituted by our Lord (Matt, xviii. 15, 18), and it was practised and commanded by St. Paul (1 Tim. i. 20 ; 1 Cor. v. 11 ; Tit. iii. 10). In the Epistles we find St. Paul frequently claiming the right to exercise discipline over his converts (comp. 2 Cor. i. 23, xiii. 10). In two cases we find him exercising this authority to the extent of cutting off offenders from the Church. What is the full meaning of the expres- sion, “ deliver unto Satan,” is doubtful. All agree that excommunication is con- tained in it, but whether it implies any further punishment, inflicted by the extraordinary powers committed specially to the Apostles, has been questioned. Introduction into the Church is, in St. Paul’s mind, a translation from the kingdom and power of Satan to the kingdom and government of Christ. This being so, he could hardly more naturally de- scribe the effect of excluding a man from the Church than by the words, “ deliver him unto Satan.” In addition to the claim to ex- ercise discipline, and its actual exercise in the form of excommunication, by the Apostles, we find Apostolic precepts directing that dis- cipline should be exercised by the rulers of the Church, and that in some cases excom- munication should be resorted to (2 Thess. iii. 14 ; Pom. xvi. 17 ; Gal. v. 12 ; Tim. vi. 3 ; Tit. iii. 10 ; 2 John 10 ; 3 John 10 ; Rev. ii. 20). There are two passages still more important to our subject (Gal. i. 8, 9 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 22). It has been supposed that these two expressions, “ let him be Anathema,” “ let him be Anathema Maran- atha,” refer respectively to the two later stages of Jewish excommunication — the che- rem and the shammdthd. The Nature of Excommunication is made more evident by the acts of St. Paul than by any investigation of Jewish practice or of the etymology of words. We thus find, (1) that it is a spiritual penalty, involving no temporal pun- ishment, except accidentally ; (2) that it con- EXILE 170 EZEKIEL sists in separation from the communion of the Church ; (3) that its object is the good of the sufferer (1 Cor. v. 5), and the protection of the sound members of the Church (2 Tim. iii. 17) ; (4) that its subjects are those who are guilty of heresy (1 Tim. i. 20), or gross immorality (1 Cor. v. 1) ; (5) that it is in- flicted by the authority of the Church at large (Matt, xyiii. 18), wielded by the high- est ecclesiastical officer (1 Cor. v. 3 ; Tit. iii. 10) ; (6) that this officer’s sentence is pro- mulgated by the congregation to which the offender belongs (1 Cor. v. 4), in deference to his superior judgment and command (2 Cor. ii. 9), and in spite of any opposition on the part of a minority (lb. 6) ; (7) that the exclusion may be of indefinite duration, or for a period; (8) that its duration may be abridged at the discretion and by the in- dulgence of the person who has imposed the penalty (lb. 8) ; (9) that penitence is the condition on which restoration to commun- ion is granted (lb. 7) ; (10) that the sentence is to be publicly reversed as it was publicly promulgated (lb. 10). EXILE. [Captivity.] EX'ODXJS (that is, going out [of Egypt]), the second book of the Law or Pentateuch, It may be divided into two principal parts : I. Historical, i. 1-xviii. 27 ; and II. Legis- lative, xix. 1-xl. 38. The former of these may be subdivided into (1.) the preparation for the deliverance of Israel from their bond- age in Egypt ; (2.) the accomplishment of that deliverance. I. (1.) The first section (i. 1-xii. 36) contains an account of the following particulars : — The great increase of Jacob’s posterity in the land of Egypt, and their oppression under a new dynasty, which ocaupied the throne after the death of Joseph (ch. i.) ; the birth, education, and flight of Moses (ii.) ; his solemn call to be the de- liverer of his people (iii. 1-iv. 17), and his return to Egypt in consequence (iv. 18-31) ; his first ineffectual attempt to prevail upon Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, which only resulted in an increase of their burdens (v. 1-2 1 ) ; a further preparation of Moses and Aaron for their office, together with the ac- count of their genealogies (v. 22-vii. 7) ; the successive signs and wonders, by means of which the deliverance of Israel from the land of bondage is at length accomplished, and the institution of the Passover (vii. 8-xii. 36). (2.) A narrative of events from the departure out of Egypt to the arrival of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. II. The solemn establishment of the Theocracy on Mount Sinai. This book in short gives a sketch of the early history of Israel as a nation : and the history has three clearly marked stages. First we see a nation enslaved ; next a nation redeemed ; lastly a nation set apart, and through the blending of its religious and political life consecrated to the service of God. EX'ODUS, THE, of the Israelites from Egypt. On the date of this event, see Egypt, p. 149. The history of the Exodus itself commences with the close of that of the Ten Plagues. [Plagues of Egypt.] In the night in which, at midnight, the firstborn were slain (Ex. xii. 29), Pharaoh urged the de- parture of the Israelites (ver. 31, 32). They at once set forth from Raineses (ver. 37, 39), apparently during the night (ver. 42), but towards morning, on the 15th day of the first month (Num. xxxiii. 3). They made three journeys and encamped by the Red Sea. Hera Pharaoh overtook them, and the great miracle occurred by which they were saved, while the pursuer and his army were destroyed. [Red Sea, Passage of.] EXORCIST. The use of the term exor- cists in Acts xix. 13 confirms what we kno\v from other sources as to the common practice of exorcism amongst the Jews. That some, at least, of them not only pretended to, but possessed, the power of exorcising, appears by our Lord’s admission when he asks the Pharisees, “ If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your disciples cast them out ?” (Matt. xii. 27). What means were employed by real exorcists we are not informed. David, by playing skilfully on a harp, pro- cured the temporary departure of the evil spirit which troubled Saul (1 Sam. xvi. 23). It was the profane use of the name of Jesus as a mere charm or spell which led to the disastrous issue recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (xix. 13-16). The power of casting out devils was bestowed by Christ while on earth upon the Apostles (Matt. x. 8) and the seventy disciples (Luke x. 17-19), and was, according to His promise (Mark xvi. 17), exercised by believers after His Ascension (Acts xvi. 18) ; but to the' Christian miracle, whether as performed by our Lord nimself or by His followers, the N. T. writers never apply the terms “ exorcise ” or “ exorcist.” EXPIATION. [Sacrifice.] EZE'KIEL, one of the four greater pro- phets, was the son of a priest named Buzi, and was taken captive in the captivity of Jehoia- chin, eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem. He was a member of a commu- nity of Jewish exiles who settled on the banks of the Chebar, a “ river ” or stream of Babylonia. It was by this river “ in the land of the Chaldaeans ” that God’s message first reached him (i. 3). His call took place “ in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s cap- tivity,” b.c. 595 (i. 2), “in the thirtieth EZION-GABER 171 EZRA year in the fourth month.” The latter ex- pression is uncertain. It now seems gene- rally agreed that it was the 30th year from the new era of Nabopolassar, father of Nebu- chadnezzar, who began to reign b.c. 625. The use of this Chaldee epoch is the more appropriate as the prophet wrote in Babylo- nia, and he gives a Jewish chronology in ver. 2. The decision of the question is the less important because in all other places Ezekiel dates from the year of Jehoiachin’s captivity (xxix. 17, xxx. 20, et passim). We learn from an incidental allusion (xxiv. 18) — the only reference which he makes to his personal history — that he was married, and had a house (viii. 1) in his place of exile, and lost his wife by a sudden and unforeseen Btroke. He lived in the highest considera- tion among his companions in exile, and their elders consulted him on all occasions (viii. 1, xi. 25, xiv. 1, xx. 1, &c.). The last date he mentions is the 27 th year of the captivity (xxix. 17), so that his mission ex- tended over twenty-two years, during part of which period Daniel was probably living, and already famous (Ez. xiv. 14, xxviii. 3). He is said to have been murdered in Babylon by some Jewish prince whom he had convicted of idolatry, and to have been buried in the tomb of Shein and Arphaxad, on the banks of the Euphrates. The tomb, said to have been built by Jehoiachin, was shown a few' days’ journey from Bagdad. Ezekiel was distin- guished by his stern and inflexible energy of will and character ; and we also observe a devoted adherence to the rites and ceremonies of his national religion. . The depth of his matter , and the marvellous nature of his visions, make him occasionally obscure. The book is divided into two great parts — of which the destruction of Jerusalem is the turning-point ; chapters i.-xxiv. contain pre- dictions delivered before that event, and xxv.-xlviii. after it, as we see from xxvi. 2. Again, chapters i.-xxxii. are mainly occupied with correction, denunciation, and reproof, while the remainder deal chiefly in consola- tion and promise. A parenthetical section in the middle of the book (xxv.-xxxii.) contains a group of prophecies against seven foreign nations, the septenary arrangement being apparently intentional. There are no direct quotations from Ezekiel in the New Testa- ment, but in the Apocalypse there are many parallels and obvious allusions to the later chapters (xl.-xlviii.). E'ZION - GA'BER, or E'ZION - GE'BER (Num. xxxiii. 35 ; Deut. ii. 8 ; 1 K. ix. 26, xxii. 48 ; 2 Chr. viii. 17), the last station named for the encampment of the Israelites before they came to the wilderness of Zin. It probably stood at Ain el-Ohudyan , about ten miles up what is now the dry bed of the Arabah, but which was probably then the northern end of the gulf. EZ'RA, called Esdras in the Apocrypha, the famous Scribe and Priest, descended from Hilkiah the high-priest in Josiah’s reign, from whose younger son Azariah sprung Seraiah, Ezra’s father, quite a different person from Seraiah the high-priest (Ezr. vii. 1). All that is really known of Ezra is contained in the four last chapters of the book of Ezra and in Neh. viii. and xii. 26. From these passages we learn that he was a learned and pious priest residing at Babylon in the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus. The origin ol his influence with the king does not appear, but in the seventh year of his reign, in spite of the unfavourable report which had been sent by Rehum and Shimshai, he obtained leave to go to Jerusalem, and to take with him a company of Israelites, together with priests, Levites, singers, porters, and Nethi- nim. The journey of Ezra and his com- panions from Babylon to Jerusalem took just four months ; and they brought up with them a large free-will offering of gold and silver, and silver vessels. It appears that his great design was to effect a religious reformation among the Palestine Jews, and to bring them back to the observation of the Law of Moses, from which they had grievously declined. His first step, accordingly, was to enforce a separation from their wives upon all who had made heathen marriages, in which num- ber were many priests and Levites, as well as other Israelites. This was effected in little more than six months after his arrival at Jerusalem. With the detailed account of this important transaction Ezra’s autobiography ends abruptly, and we hear nothing more of him till, 13 years afterwards, in the 20th of Artaxerxes, we find him again at Jerusalem with Nehemiah “ the Tirshatha.” It seems probable that after he had effected the above- named reformation, and had appointed com- petent judges and magistrates, with authority to maintain it, he himself returned to the king of Persia. The functions he executed under Nehemiah’s government were purely of a priestly and ecclesiastical character. But in such he filled the first place. As Ezra is not mentioned after Nehemiah’s departure for Babylon in the 32nd Artaxerxes, and as everything fell into confusion during Nehe- miah’s absence (Neh. xiii.), it is not unlikely that Ezra may have died or returned to Babylon before that year. There was a Jew- ish tradition that he was buried in Persia. The principal works ascribed to him by the Jews are : — 1. The institution of the Great EZRA, BOOK OF 172 FALLOW-DEER Synagogue. 2. The settling the canon of Scripture, and restoring, correcting, and editing the whole sacred volume. 3. The introduction of the Chaldee character instead of the old Hebrew or Samaritan. 4. The au- thorship of the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and, some add, Esther ; and, many of the Jews say, also of the hooks of Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve prophets. 5. The establishment of synagogues. EZ'RA, BOOK OF, is a continuation of the books of Chronicles. Like these books, it consists of the contemporary historical jour- nals kept from time to time, which were after- wards strung together, and either abridged or added to, as the case required, by a later hand. That later hand, in the book of Ezra, was doubtless Ezra’s own, as appears by the four last chapters, as well as by other matter inserted in the previous chapters. The chief portion of the last chapter of 2 Chr. and Ezr. i. was probably written by Daniel. As re- gards Ezr. ii., and as far as iii. 1, it is found (with the exception of clerical errors) in the 7th ch. of Nehemiah, where it belongs beyond a shadow of doubt. The next portion ex- tends from iii. 2 to the end of ch. vi. With the exception of one large explanatory addi- tion by Ezra, extending from iv. 6 to 23, this portion is the work of a writer contem- porary with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and an eye-witness of the rebuilding of the Temple in the beginning of the reign of Darius Hy- staspis. That it was the prophet Haggai be- comes tolerably sure when we observe further the remarkable coincidences in style. Ezr. iv. 6-23 is a parenthetic addition by a much later hand, and, as the passage most clearly shows, made in the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus. The compiler who inserted ch. ii. , a document drawn up in the reign of Artaxerxes to illustrate the return of the captives under Zerubbabel, here inserts a notice of two historical facts — of which one occurred in the reign of Xerxes, and the other in the reign of Artaxerxes — to illustrate the opposition offered by the heathen to the rebuilding of the Temple in the reign of Cyrus and Cambyses. The last four chapters, beginning with ch. vii., are Ezra’s own, and continue the history after a gap of fifty- eight years — from the sixth of Darius to the seventh of Artaxerxes. It is written partly in Hebrew, and partly in Chaldee. The Chaldee begins at iv. 8, and continues to the end of vi. 18. The letter or decree of Artaxerxes, vii. 12-26, is also given in the original Chal- dee. The period covered by the book is eighty years, from the first of Cyrus, b.c. 536, to the beginning of the eighth of Ar- taxerxes b.c. 456. 1 F ABLE. Of the fable, as distinguished from the Parable [Parable], we have but two examples in the Bible, (1.) that of the trees choosing their king, addressed by Jotham to the men of Shechem (Judg. ix. 8-15) ; (2.) that of the cedar of Lebanon and the thistle, as the answer of Jehoash to the challenge of Amaziah (2 K. xiv. 9). The fables of false teachers claiming to belong to the Christian church, alluded to by writers of the N. T. (1 Tim. i. 4, iv. 7 ; Tit. i. 14 ; 2 Pet. i. 16), do not appear to have had the character of fables, properly so called. FAIR HAVENS, a harbour in the island of Crete (Acts xxvii. 8), though not men- tioned in any other ancient writing, is still known by its own Greek name, and appears to have been the harbour of Lasaea. These places are situated four or five miles to the E. of Cape Matala, which is the most con- spicuous headland on the S. coast of Crete, and immediately to the W. of which the coast trends suddenly to the N. FAIRS, a word which occurs only in Ez. xxvii. and there no less than seven times (ver. 12, 14, 16, 19, 22, 27, 33) : in the last of these verses it is rendered “ wares,” and this we believe to be the true meaning of the word throughout. FALLOW-DEER (Heb. yachmur). The Heb. word, which is mentioned only in Deut. xiv. 5 and in 1 K. iv. 23, is probably the Alcelaplius bubalis of Barbary and N. Africa. It is about the size of a stag and lives in herds. Alcelaptius bubalis. FAMINE 173 FASTS FAMINE. In the whole of Syria and Arabia, the fruits of the earth must ever he dependent on rain ; the watersheds having feM large springs, and the small rivers not being sufficient for the irrigation of even the level lands. If therefore the heavy rains of November and December fail, the sustenance of the people is cut off in the parching drought of harvest-time, when the country is almost devoid of moisture. Egypt, again, owes all its fertility to its mighty river, whose annual rise inundates nearly the whole land. The causes of dearth and famine in Egypt are occasioned by defective inundation, preceded and accompanied and followed by prevalent easterly and southerly winds. The first fa- mine recorded in the Bible is that of Abraham after he had pitched his tent on the east of Bethel (Gen. xii. 10). We may conclude that this famine was extensive, although this is not quite proved by the fact of Abraham’s going to Egypt ; for on the occasion of the second famine, in the days of Isaac, this pa- triarch found refuge with Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar (Gen. xxvi. 1 sq.). We hear no more of times of scarcity until the great famine of Egypt which “ was over all the face of the earth.” We have men- tioned the chief causes of famines in Egypt : this instance differs in the providential re- currence of seven years of plenty, whereby Joseph was enabled to provide against the coming dearth, and to supply not only the population of Egypt with corn, but those of the surrounding countries (Gen. xli. 53-57). The modern history of Egypt throws some curious light on these ancient records of fa- mines ; and instances of their recurrence may be cited to assist us in understanding their course and extent. The most remark- able famine was that of the reign of the Fatimee Khaleefeh, El - Mustansir billah, which is the only instance on record of one of seven years’ duration in Egypt since the time of Joseph (a.h. 457-464, a.d. 1064- 1071). Vehement drought and pestilence con- tinued for seven consecutive years, so that the people ate corpses, and animals that died of themselves. The famine of Samaria re- sembled it in many particulars ; and that very briefly recorded in 2 K. viii. 1,2, affords another instance of one of seven years. In Arabia, famines are of frequent occurrence. FARTHING. Two names of coins in the N. T. are rendered in the A. V. by this word. — 1. Ko8pai/Tq<; y quadrans (Matt. v. 26 ; Mark xii. 42), a coin current in Palestine in the time of Our Lord. It was equivalent to two lepta (A. V. “mites”). The name quadrans was originally given to the quarter of the j Roman as, or piece of three unciae, therefore j also called teruncius. — 2. acro-dpiov (Matt. x. 29 ; Luke xii. 6), properly a small as, assa- rium , but in the time of Our Lord used as the Gr. equivalent of the Lat. as. The ren- dering of the Vulg. in Luke xii. 6 makes it probable that a single coin is intended by two assaria. FASTS. — I. One fast only was appointed by the law, that on the day of Atonement. There is no mention of any other periodical fast in the O. T., except in Zech. vii. 1-7, viii. 19. From these passages it appears that the Jews, during their captivity, observed four annual fasts, in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months. Zechariah simply dis- tinguishes the fasts by the months in which they were observed ; but the Mishna and St. Jerome give statements of certain his- torical events which they were intended to commemorate. The number of annual fasts in the present Jewish Calendar has been multiplied to twenty-eight. — II. Public fasts were occasionally proclaimed to express na- tional humiliation, and to supplicate divine favour. In the case of public danger, the proclamation appears to have been accom- panied with the blowing of trumpets (Joel ii. 1-15). The following instances are recorded of strictly national fasts : — Samuel gathered “ all Israel ” to Mizpeh and proclaimed a fast (1 Sam. vii. 6) ; Jehoshaphat appointed one “throughout all Judah” when he was preparing for war against Moab and Ammon (2 Chr. xx. 3) ; in the reign of Jehoiakim, one was proclaimed for “ all the people in Jerusalem and all who came thither out of the cities of Judah,” when the prophecy of Jeremiah was publicly read by Baruch (Jer. xxxvi. 6-10; cf. Baruch i. 5); three days after the feast of Tabernacles, when the second temple was completed, “ the children of Israel assembled with fasting and with sackclothes and earth upon them ” to hear the law read, and to confess their sins (Neh. ix. 1). There are references to general fasts in the Prophets (Joel i. 14, ii. 15 ; Is. lviii.), and two are noticed in the books of the Mac- cabees (1 Macc. iii. 46-47 ; 2 Macc. xiii. 10- 12). — III. Private occasional fasts are re- cognised in one passage of the law (Num. xxx. 13). The instances given of individuals fasting under the influence of grief, vexation, or anxiety, are numerous. — IV. In the N. T. the only references to the Jewish fasts are the mention of “ the Fast,” in Acts xxvii. 9 (generally understood to denote the Day of Atonement), and the allusions to the weekly fasts (Matt. ix. 14 ; Mark ii. 18 ; Luke v. 33, xviii. 12 ; Acts x. 30). These fasts origin- I ated some time after the captivity. They i were observed on the second and ffth days o* FAT 174 FESTIVALS the week, which being appointed as the days for public fasts, seem to have been selected for these private voluntary fasts. — V. The Jewish fasts were observed with various de- grees of strictness. Sometimes there was en- tire abstinence from food (Esth. iv. 16, &c.). On other occasions, there appears to have been only a restriction to a very plain diet (Dan. x. 3). Those who fasted frequently dressed in sackcloth or rent their clothes, put Ashes on their head and went barefoot (1 K. xxi. 27 ; Neh. ix. 1 ; Ps. xxxv. 13). — VI. The sacrifice of the personal will, which gives to fasting all its value, is expressed in the old term used in the law, afflicting the soul . FAT. The Hebrews distinguished between the suet or pure fat of an animal, and the fat which was intermixed with the lean (Neh. viii. 10). Certain restrictions were imposed upon them in reference to the former : some parts of the suet, viz., about the stomach, the entrails, the kidneys, and the tail of a sheep, which grows to an excessive size in many eastern countries, and produces a large quantity of rich fat, were forbidden to be eaten in the case of animals offered to Jehovah in sacrifice (Lev. iii. 3, 9, 17, vii. 3, 23). The ground of the prohibition was that the fat was the richest part of the animal, and there- fore belonged to Him (iii. 16). The pre- sentation of the fat as the richest part of the animal was agreeable to the dictates of natural feeling, and was the ordinary practice even of heathen nations. The burning of the fat of sacrifices was particularly specified in each kind of offering. FAT, i. e. Vat. The word employed in the A. V. to translate the Hebrew term yekeb , in Joel ii. 24, iii. 13. The word commonly used for yekeb is 44 winepress ” or 44 winefat,” and once “pressfat” (Hag. ii. 16). The 44 vats ” appear to have been excavated out of the native rock of the hills on which the vineyards lay. FATHER. The position and authority of the father as the head of the family is ex- pressly assumed and sanctioned in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over His creatures. It lies of course at the root of that so-called patriarchal government (Gen. iii. 16 ; 1 Ccr. xi. 3), which was introductory to the more definite systems which followed, and which in part, but not wholly, super- seded it. The father’s blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit, but his male- diction special injury, on those on whom it fell (Gen. ix. 25, 27, xxvii. 27-40, xlviii. 15, 20, xlix.) ; and so also the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the wel- fare of his descendants (2 K. v. 27). The command to honour parents is noticed by St. Paul as the only one of the Decalogue which bore a distinct promise (Ex. xx. 12 ; Eph. vi. 2), and disrespect towards them was condemned by the Law as one of the worst of crimes (Ex. xxi. 15, 17 ; 1 Tim. i. 9). It is to this well recognised theory of parental au- thority and supremacy that the very various uses of the term 44 father ” in Scripture are due. 44 Fathers ” is used in the sense of seniors (Acts vii. 2, xxii. 1), and of parents in general, or ancestors (Dan. v. 2 ; Jer. xxvii. 7 ; Matt, xxiii. 30, 32). FATHOM. [Measures.] FEASTS. [Festivals.] FE'LIX, a Roman procurator of Judaea, appointed by the Emperor Claudius, whose freedman he was, on the banishment of Ven- tidius Cumanus in a.d. 53. Tacitus states that Felix and Cumanus were joint procur- ators ; Cumanus having Galilee, and Felix Samaria. Felix was the brother of Claudius’s powerful freedman Pallas. He ruled the province in a mean, cruel, and profligate manner. His period of office was full of troubles and seditions. St. Paul was brought before Felix in Caesarea. He was remanded to prison and kept there two years, in hopes of extorting money from him (Acts xxiv. 26, 27). At the end of that time Porcius Festus [Festus] was appointed to supersede Felix, who, on his return to Rome, was accused by the Jews in Caesarea, and would have suffered the penalty due to his atrocities, had not his brother Pallas prevailed with the Emperor Nero to spare him. This was probably in the year 60 a.d. The wife of Felix was Drusilla, daughter of Herod Agrippa I., the former wife of Azizus King of Emesa. FERRET, one of the unclean creeping things mentioned in Lev. xi. 30. The animal referred to was probably a reptile of the lizard tribe. The Rabbinical writers seem to have identified this animal with the hedgehog. FESTIVALS. — I. The religious times or- dained in the Law fall under three heads : — (1.) Those formally connected with the insti- tution of the Sabbath; (2.) The historical or great festivals ; (3.) The Day of Atonement. — (1.) Immediately connected with the in- stitution of the Sabbath are — (a) The weekly Sabbath itself. (5) The seventh new moon or Feast of Trumpets, (c) The Sabbatical Year. ( d ) The Year of Jubilee. — (2.) The great feasts are : — ( a ) The Passover. (6) The Feast of Pentecost, of Weeks, of Wheat- harvest, or, of the First-fruits, (e) The Feast of Tabernacles, or of Ingathering. On each of these occasions every male Israelite was commanded 44 to appear before the Lord,” that is, to attend in the court of the taker- FESTUS, PORCIUS 175 FIRMAMENT n&cle or the temple, and to make his offering with a joyful heart (Deut. xxvii. 7 ; Neh. viii. 9-12). The attendance of women was voluntary, hut the zealous often went up to the Passover. On all the days of Holy Con- vocation there was to he an entire suspension of ordinary labour of all kinds (Ex. xii. 16 ; Lev. xvi. 29, xxiii. 21, 24, 25, 35). But on the intervening days of the longer festivals work might he carried on. Besides their re- ligious purpose, the great festivals must have had an important bearing on the maintenance of a feeling of national unity. The frequent recurrence of the sabbatical number in the organization of these festivals is too remark- able to be passed over, and seems when viewed in connexion with the sabbatical sacred times, to furnish a strong proof that the whole sys- tem of the festivals of the Jewish law was the product of one mind. The agricultural significance of the three great festivals is clearly set forth in the account of the Jewish sacred year contained in Lev. xxiii. The times of the festivals were evidently ordained in wisdom, so as to interfere as little as pos- sible with the industry of the people. — (3.) For the Day of Atonement see that article. — II. After the captivity, the Feast of Purim (Esth. ix. 20 sq.) and that of the Dedication (1 Macc. iv. 56) were instituted. FES'TUS, POR'CIUS, successor of Felix as procurator of Judaea (Actsxxiv. 27), sent by Nero probably in the autumn of the year 60 A.i). A few weeks after Festus reached his province he heard the cause of St. Paul, who had been left a prisoner by Felix, in the presence of Herod Agrippa II. and Bernice his sister (Acts xxv. 11, 12). Judaea was in the same disturbed state during the procu- ratorship of Festus, which had prevailed through that of his predecessor. He died probably in the summer of 62 a.d., having ruled the province less than two years. FIG, FIG-TREE (Heb. teendh ), a word of frequent occurrence in the O. T., where it signifies the tree Ficus Carica of Linnaeus, and also its fruit. The fig-tree is very com- mon in Palestine (Deut. viii. 8). Mount Olivet was famous for its fig-trees in ancient times, and they are still found there. 44 To sit under one’s own vine and one’s own fig- tree ” became a proverbial expression among the Jews to denote peace and prosperity (1 K. iv. 25 ; Mic. iv. 4 ; Zech. iii. 10). FIR (Heb. berosh , beroth Is. xiv. 8 ; Ez. xxvii. 5, &c.). As the term “cedar” is in all probability applicable to more than one tree, so also “ fir ” in the A. Y. represents probably one or other of the following trees : - — I Pinus aylvestris, or Scotch fir ; 2. larch ; 3. Cupressus semper virens, or cypress, all which are at this day found in the Le- banon. FIRE is represented as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence, and the instrument of his power, in the way either of approval or of destruction (Ex. iii. 2, xiv. 19, &c.). Parallel with this application of fire and with its symbolical meaning is to be noted the similar use for sacrificial purposes, and the respect paid to it, or to the heavenly bodies as symbols of deity, which prevailed among so many nations of antiquity, and of which the traces are not even now extinct : e. g. the Sabaean and Magian systems of worship, and their alleged connexion with Abraham ; the occasional relapse of the Jews themselves into sun-, or its corrupted form of fire-wor- ship (Is. xxvii. 9 ; Deut. xvii. 3, &c.), the worship or deification of heavenly bodies or of fire, prevailing to some extent, as among the Persians, so also even in Egypt. Fire for sacred purposes obtained elsewhere than from the altar was called “ strange fire,” and for the use of such Nadab and Abihu were punished with death by fire from God (Lev. x. 1, 2 ; Num. iii. 4, xxvi. 61). FIREPAN, one of the vessels of the Temple service (Ex. xxvii. 3, xxxviii. 3 ; 2 K. xxv. 15 ; Jer. Iii. 19). The same word is elsewhere rendered 44 snuff-dish ” (Ex. xxv. 38, xxxvii. 23 ; Num. iv. 2) and “censer” (Lev. x. 1, xvi. 12 ; Num. xvi. 6 if.). There appear, therefore, to have been two articles so called : one, like a chafing-dish, to carry live coals for the purpose of burning incense ; another, like a snuffer-dish, to be used in trimming the lamps, in order to carry the snuffers and convey away the snuff. FIRKIN. [Weights and Measures.] FIRMAMENT. The Hebrew term rdkia , so translated, is generally regarded as ex- pressive of simple expansion , and is so ren- dered in the margin of the A. Y. (Gen. i. 6). The root means to expand by beating, whether by the hand, the foot, or any instru- ment. It is especially used of beating out metals into thin plates (Ex. xxxix. 3 ; Num. xvi. 39). The sense of solidity , therefore, is combined with the ideas of expansion and tenuity in the term. The same idea of solidity runs through all the references to the rdkia. In Ex. xxiv. 10, it is represented as a solid floor. So again, in Ez. i. 22-26, the “firmament” is the floor on which the throne of the Most High is placed. Further, the office of the rakia in the economy of the world demanded strength and substance. It was to serve as a division between the waters above and the waters below (Gen. i. 7). In keeping with this view the rakia was pro- vided with 44 windows” (Gen. vii. 11; Is. FIRST-BORN 176 FITCHES xxiv. 18 ; Mai. iii. 10) and “ doors” {Ps. Ixxviii. 23), through which the rain and the snow might descend. A secondary purpose which the rdkia served was to support the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1. 14), in which they were fixed as nails, and from which, consequently, they might be said to drop off (Is. xiv. 12, xxxiv. 4 ; Matt, xxiv. 29). FIRST-BORN. Under the Law, in memory of the Exodus, the eldest son was regarded as devoted to God, and was in every case to be redeemed by an offering not exceeding 5 shekels, within one month from birth. If he died before the expiration of 30 days, the Jewish doctors held the father excused, but liable to the payment if he outlived that time (Ex. xiii. 12-15, xxii. 29 ; Num. viii. 17, xviii. 15, 16 ; Lev. xxvii. 6). The eldest son received a double portion of the father’s in- heritance (Deut. xxi. 17), but not of the mother’s. Under the monarchy, the eldest son usually, but not always, as appears in the case of Solomon, succeeded his father in the kingdom (1 K. i. 30, ii. 22). The male first- born of animals was also devoted to God (Ex. xiii. 2, 12, 13, xxii. 29, xxxiv. 19, 20). Unclean animals were to be redeemed with the addition of one-fifth of the value, or else put to death ; or, if not redeemed, to be sold, and the price given to the priests (Lev. xxvii. 13, 27, 28). FIRST-FRUITS. 1. the Law ordered in general, that the first of all ripe fruits and of Uquors, or, as it is twice expressed, the first of first-fruits, should be offered in God’s house (Ex. xxii. 29, xxiii. 19, xxxiv. 26). 2. On the morrow after the Passover sabbath, t. e. on the 16th of Nisan, a sheaf of new corn was to be brought to the priest, and waved before the altar, in acknowledgment of the gift of fruitfulness (Lev. xxiii. 5, 6, 10, 12, ii. 12). 3. At the expiration of 7 weeks from this time, i. e. at the Feast of Pentecost, an oblation was to be made of 2 loaves of eavened bread made from the new flour, which were to be waved in like manner with the Passover sheaf ( Ex. xxxiv. 22 ; Lev. xxiii. 15, 17 ; Num. xxviii. 26). 4. The feast of ingathering, i. e. the Feast of Taber- nacles in the 7 th month, was itself an ac- knowledgment of the fruits of the harvest (Ex. xxiii. 16, xxxiv. 22 ; Lev. xxiii. 39). These four sorts of offerings were national. Besides them, the two following were of an individual kind. 5. A cake of the first dough that was baked, was to be offered as a heave-offering (Num. xv. 19, 21). 6. The first-fruits of the land were to be brought in a basket to the holy place of God’s choice, and there presented to the priest, who was to set the basket down before the altar (Deut. xx vi. 2-11). — The offerings were the per- quisite of the priests (Num. xviii. 11 ; Deut. xviii. 4). Nehemiah, at the Return from Captivity, took pains to reorganize the offer- ings of first-fruits of both kinds, and to ap- point places to receive them (Neh. x. 35, 37, xii. 44). An offering of first-fruits is men- tioned as an acceptable one to the prophet Elisha (2 K. iv. 42). FISH. The Hebrews recognised fish as one of the great divisions of the animal kingdom, and, as such, give them a place in the account of the creation (Gen. i. 21, 28), as well as in other passages where an ex- haustive description of living creatures is in- tended (Gen. ix. 2 ; Ex. xx. 4 ; Deut. iv, 18; 1 K. iv. 33). The Mosaic law (Lev. xi. 9, 10) pronounced unclean such fish as were devoid of fins and scales : these were and are regarded as unwholesome in Egypt. Among the Philistines, Dagon was repre- sented by a figure, half man and half fish (1 Sam. v. 4). On this account the worship of fish is expressly prohibited (Deut. iv. 18). In Palestine, the Sea of Galilee was and still is remarkably well stored with fish. Jeru- salem derived its supply chiefly from the Mediterranean (comp. Ez. xlvii. 10). The existence of a regular fish-market is implied in the notice of the fish-gate, which was probably contiguous to it (2 Chr. xxxiii. 14 ; Neh. iii. 3, xii. 39 ; Zeph. i. 10). FITCHES (i. e. Vetches), the representa- tive in the A. V. of the two Heb. words cussemeth and ketsach. As to the former see Rye. Ketsach denotes without doubt the Nigella sativa, an herbaceous annual plant belonging to the natural order Ranunculaceae FLAG 177 FOOD and sub-order Helleboreae , which grows in she S. of Europe and in the N. of Africa. FLAG, the representative in the A. V. of Jhe two Heb. words achu and suph. 1. Achu , a word, according to Jerome, of Egyptian origin, and denoting “any green and coarse herbage, such as rushes and reeds, which grows in marshy places.” It seems probable that some specific plant is denoted in Job viii. 11. The word occurs once again in Gen. lxi. 2, 18, where it is said that the seven well-favoured kine came up out of the river and fed in an achu . It is perhaps the Cyperus esculentus. 2. Suph (Ex. ii. 3, 5 ; Is. xix. 6) appears to be used in a very wide sense to denote “ weeds of any kind.” FLAGON, a word employed in the A. Y. to render two distinct Hebrew terms : 1. Ashishah (2 Sam. vi. 19 ; 1 Chr. xvi. 3 ; Cant. ii. 5 ; Hos. iii. 1). It really means a cake of pressed raisins. 2. Nebel (Is. xxii. 24), is commonly used for a bottle or vessel, originally probably a skin, but in later times a piece of pottery (Is. xxx. 14). FLAX. Two words are used for this plant in the O. T., or rather the same word slightly modified. Eliminating all the places where the words are used for the article manufac- tured in the thread , the piece , or the made up garment , we reduce them to two (Ex. ix. 31 ; Josh. ii. 6). It seems probable that the cultivation of flax for the purpose of the manufacture of linen was by no means con- fined to Egypt ; but that originating in India it spread over Asia at a very early period of antiquity. That it was grown in Palestine even before the conquest of that country by the Israelites appears from Josh. ii. 6. The various processes employed in preparing the flax for manufacture into cloth are indicated : — 1. The drying process. 2. The peeling of the stalks, and separation of the fibres. 3. The hackling (Is. xix. 9). That flax was one of the most important crops in Palestine appears from Hos. ii. 5, 9. ELEA, an insect twdce only mentioned in Scripture, viz., in 1 Sam. xxiv. 14, xxvi. 20. Fleas are abundant in the East, and afford the subject of many proverbial expressions. FLESH. [Food.] FLINT. The Heb. challdmish is rendered flint in Deut. viii. 15, xxxii. 13 ; Ps. cxiv. 8 ; and Is. 1. 7. In Job xxviii. 9 the same word is rendered rock in the text, and flint in the margin. In Ez. iii. 9 the English word “ flint ” occurs in the same sense, but tnere it represents the Heb. Tzor. FLOOD. [Noah.] FLOUR. [Bread.] FLUTE (1 K. i. 4, marg. [Pipe]), a musical ‘ustrument mentioned amongst others (Dan. Sm. D. B, iii. 5, 7, 10, 15) as used at the worship of the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. FLUX, BLOODY (Acts xxviii. 8), the same as our dysentery, which in the East is, though sometimes sporadic, generally epi- demic and infectious, and then assumes its worst form. FLY, FLIES. 1. Zebub occurs only i» Eccl. x. 1 and in Is. vii. 18, and is probably a generic name for any insect. The zebub from the rivers of Egypt has been identified with the zimb of which Bruce gives a descrip- tion, and which is evidently some species of Tabanus. 2. ’Arob (“ swarms of flies ,” “divers sorts of flies,” A. V.), the name of the insect, or insects, which God sent to punish Pharaoh; see Ex. viii. 21-31; Ps. lxxviii. 45, cv. 31. As the ’ drob are said to have filled the houses of the Egyptians, it seems not improbable that common flies ( Muscidae ) are more especially intended. The identification of the ’drob with the cock- roach is purely gratuitous. FOOD. The diet of Eastern nations has been in all ages light and simple. As com- pared with our own habits, the chief points of contrast are the small amount of animal food consumed, the variety of articles used as accompaniments to bread, the substitution of milk in various forms for our liquors, and the combination of what we should deem heterogeneous elements in the same dish, or the same meal. The chief point of agree- ment is the large consumption of bread, the importance of which in the eyes of the Hebrew is testified by the use of the term lechem (originally food of any kind) specifi- cally for bread, as well as by the expression “ staff of bread ” (Lev. xxvi. 26 ; Ps. cv. 16 ; Ez. iv. 16, xiv. 13). Simpler prepara- tions of corn were, however, common ; some- times the fresh green ears were eaten in a natural state, the husks being rubbed off by the hand (Lev. xxiii. 14 ; Deut. xxiii. 25 ; 2 K. iv. 42 ; Matt. xii. 1 ; Luke vi. 1) ; more frequently, however, the grains, after being carefully picked, were roasted in a pan over a fire (Lev. ii. 14), and eaten as “ parched corn,” in which form they were an ordinary article of diet, particularly among labourers, or others who had not the means of dressing food (Lev. xxiii. 14 ; Ruth ii. 14 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 17, xxv. 18 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 28) : this practice is still very usual in the East. Sometimes the grain was bruised (A. Y. “beaten,” Lev. ii. 14, 16), and then dried in the sun ; it was eaten either mixed with oil (Lev. ii. 15), or made into a soft cake (A. Y. “dough;” Num. xv. 20; Neh. x. 37; Ez. xliv. 30). The Hebrews used a great variety N FOOD 178 FOREST if articles (John xxi. 5) to give a relish to wead. Sometimes salt was so used (Job vi. 5), as we learn from the passage just quoted ; sometimes the bread was dipped into the sour wine (A. V. “ vinegar ”) which the labourers drank (Ruth ii. 14) ; or, where meat was eaten, into the gravy, which was either served up separately for the purpose, as by Gideon (Judg. vi. 19), or placed in the middle of the meat-dish, as done by the Arabs. Milk and its preparations hold a conspicuous place in Eastern diet, as afford- ing substantial nourishment ; sometimes it was produced in a fresh state (Gen. xviii. 8), but more generally in the form of the modern leban , i. e. sour milk (A. Y. “ butter Gen. xviii. 8 ; Judg. v. 25 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 29). Fruit was another source of subsistence : figs stand first in point of importance ; they were generally dried and pressed into cakes. Grapes were generally eaten in a dried state as raisins. Fruit-cake forms a part of the daily food of the Arabians. Of vegetables we have most frequent notice of lentils (Gen. xxv. 34 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 28, xxiii. 11 ; Ez. iv. 9), which are still largely used by the Be- douins in travelling ; beans (2 Sam. xvii. 28 ; Ez. iv. 9), leeks, onions, and gar lick, which were and still are of a superior quality in Egypt (Num. xi. 5). The modern Arabians consume but few vegetables : radishes and leeks are most in use, and are eaten raw with bread. In addition to these classes we have to notice some other important articles of food : in the first place, honey, whether the natural product of the bee (1 Sam. xiv. 25 ; Matt. iii. 4), which abounds in most parts of Arabia, or of the other natural and artificial productions included under that head, espe- cially the dibs of the Syrians and Arabians, i. e. grape-juice boiled down, which is still extensively used in the East ; the latter is supposed to be referred to in Gen. xliii. 11, and Ez. xxvii. 17. With regard to oil, it does not appear to have been used to the ex- tent we might have anticipated. Eggs are not /ften noticed, but were evidently known as articles of food (Is. x. 14, lix. 5 ; Luke xi. 12). The Orientals have been at all times sparing in the use of animal food : not only does the excessive heat of the climate render it both unwholesome to eat much meat, and expensive from the necessity of immediately consuming a whole animal, but beyond this the ritual regulations of the Mosaic law in ancient, as of the Koran in modern times, have tended to the same result. The prohi- bition expressed against consuming the blood of any animal (Gen. ix. 4) was more fully developed in the Levitical law, and enforced by the penalty of death (Lev. iii, 17, vii. 26, xix. 26 ; Deut. xii. 16 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 32 ft*, ; Ez. xliv. 7, 15). Certain portions of the fat of sacrifices were also forbidden (Lev. iii. 9, 10) , as being set apart for the altar (Lev. iii. 16, vii. 25 ; cf. 1 Sam. ii. 16 ff. ; 2 Chr. vii. 7). In addition to the above, Christians were forbidden to eat the flesh of animals, portions of which had been offered to idols. All beasts and birds classed as unclean (Lev. xi. 1 ff. ; Deut. xiv. 4 ff.) were also pro- hibited. U nder these restrictions the Hebrews were permitted the free use of animal food : generally speaking they only availed them- selves of it in the exercise of hospitality (Gen xviii. 7), or at festivals of a religious (Ex. xii. 8), public (1 K. i. 9 ; 1 Chr. xii. 40), or private character (Gen. xxvii. 4 ; Luke xv. 23) : it was only in royal households that there was a daily consumption of meat (IK. iv. 23 ; Neh. v. 18). The animals killed for meat were — calves (Gen. xviii. 7 ; 1 Sam. xxviii. 24 ; Am. vi. 4) ; lambs (2 Sam. xii. 4 ; Am. vi. 4) ; oxen, not above three years of age (1 K. i. 9 ; Prov. xv. 17 ; Is. xxii. 13 ; Matt. xxii. 4) ; kids (Gen. xxvii. 9 ; Judg. vi. 19 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 20) ; harts, roe- bucks, and fallow-deer (1 K. iv. 23) ; birds of various kinds ; fish, with the exception of such as were without scales and fins (Lev. xi. 9 ; Deut. xiv. 9). Locusts, of which certain species only were esteemed clean (Lev. xi. 22), were occasionally eaten (Matt, iii. 4), but considered as poor fare. FOOTMAN, a word employed in the Auth. Version in two senses. 1. Generally, to dis- tinguish those of the people or of the fighting- men who went on foot from those who were on horseback or in chariots. But, 2. The word occurs in a more special sense (in 1 Sam. xxii. 17 only), and as the translation of a different term from the above. This passage affords the first mention of the existence of a body of swift runners in at- tendance on the king, though such a thing had been foretold by Samuel (1 Sam. viii. 11) . This body appears to have been after- wards kept up, and to have been distinct from the body-guard — the six hundred and the thirty — who were originated by David. See 1 K. xiv. 27, 28 ; 2 Chr. xii. 10, 11 ; 2 K. xi. 4, 6, 11, 13, 19. In each of these cases the word is the same as the above, and is rendered “ guard but the translators were evidently aware of its signification, for they have put the word “ runners ” in the margin in two instances (1 K. xiv. 27 ; 2 E xi. 13). FOREST. Although Palestine has never been in historical times a woodland country, yet there can be no doubt that there was much more wood formerly than there ia at FORTUNATUS 179 FOX present. (1.) The wood of Ephraim clothed the slopes of the hills that bordered the plain of Jezieel, and the plain itself in the neigh- bourhood of Bethshan (Josh. xvii. 15 ff.). (2.) The wood of Bethel (2. K. ii. 23, 24) was situated in the ravine which descends to the plain of Jericho. (3.) The forest of Hareth (1 Sam. xxii. 5) was somewhere on the border of the Philistine plain, in the southern part of Judah. (4.) The wood through which the Israelites passed in their pursuit of the Philistines (1 Sam. xiv. 25) was probably near Aijalon (comp. v. 31). (5.) the “wood” (Ps. cxxxii. 6) implied in the name of Kirjath-jearim (1 Sam. vii. 2) must have been similarly situated, as also (6.) were the “ forests ” in which Jotham placed his forts (2 Chr. xxvii. 4). (7.) The plain of Sharon was partly covered with wood (Is. lxv. 10). (8.) The wood in the wilder- ness of Ziph, in which David concealed him- self (1 Sam. xxiii. 15 ff.), lay S.E. of Hebron. The house of the forest of Lebanon (1 K. vii. 2, x. 17, 21 ; 2 Chr. ix. 16, 20) was so called probably from being fitted up with cedar. FORTUNA'TUS (1 Cor. xvi. 17), one of three Corinthians, the others being Stephanas and Achaicus, who were at Ephesus when St. Paul wrote his first Epistle. There is a Fortunatus mentioned at the end of Clement’s first Epistle to the Corinthians, who was possibly the same person. FOUNTAIN. Among the attractive fea- tures presented by the Land of Promise to the nation migrating from Egypt by way of the desert, none would be more striking than th •> nstural gush of waters from the ground. The springs of Palestine, though short-lived, are remarkable for their abundance and beauty, especially those which fall into the Jordan and its lakes throughout its whole course. The spring or fountain of living water, the “ eye ” of the landscape, is dis- tinguished in all Oriental languages from the artificially sunk and enclosed well. Jerusa- lem appears to have possessed either more than one perennial spring, or one issuing by more than one outlet. In Oriental cities generally public fountains are frequent. Traces of such fountains at Jerusalem may perhaps be found in the names En-Rogel (2 Sam. xvii. 17), the “ Dragon- well ” or foun- tain, and the “ gate of the fountain ” (Neh, ii. 13, 14). FOWL. Several distinct Hebrew and Greek words are thus rendered in the A. V. of the Bible. Of these the most common is ’ophy which is usually a collective term for all kinds of birds. In 1 K. iv. 23, among the daily provisions for Solomon’s table, “ fatted fowl ” are included. In the N. T. the word translated “ fowls ” is most fre- quently that which comprehends all kinds of birds (including ravens , Luke xii. 24). [Sparrow.] FOX (Heb. shu'al). Probably the “jackal ” is the animal signified in almost all the passages in the O. T. where the Hebrew term occurs. The sliu'alim of Judg. xv. 4 are evidently “jackals,” and not “foxes,” for the former animal is gregarious, whereas the latter is solitary in its habits. With respect to the jackals and foxes of Palestine, there is no doubt that the common jackal of the country is the Canis aureics, which may be heard every night in the villages. A vulpine Fountain at Nazareth. (Roberta Cants Syriacus. FRANKTNOKNSE 180 FULLER animal, under the name of Canis Syriacus , occurs in Lebanon. The Egyptian Vulpes Niloticus , and doubtless the common fox of our own country, are Palestine species. FRANKINCENSE, a vegetable resin, brit- tle, glittering, and of a bitter taste, used for the purpose of sacrificial fumigation (Ex. xxx. 34-36). It is obtained by successive incisions in the bark of a tree called the arbor thuris , the first of which yields the purest and whitest kind ; while the produce of the after incisions is spotted with yellow, and as it becomes old loses its whiteness altogether. The Hebrews imported their frankincense from Arabia (Is. lx. 6 ; Jer. vi. 20), and more particularly from Saba; but it is remarkable that at present the Arabian Libanum, or Olibanum, is of a very inferior kind, and that the finest frankincense im- ported into Turkey comes through Arabia from the islands of the Indian Archipelago. There can be little doubt that the tree which produces the Indian frankincense is the Bos- we.llia serrata of Roxburgh, or Boswellia thurifera of Colebrooke. It is still extremely uncertain what tree produces the Arabian Olibanum. FROG. The mention of this reptile in the O. T. is confined to the passage in Ex. viii. 2-7, «fec., in which the plague of frogs is de- scribed, and to Ps. lxxviii. 45, cv. 30. In the N. T. the word occurs once only in Rev. xvi. 13. There is no question as to the ani- mal meant. The only known species of frog which occurs at present in Egypt is the Rana esculenta , the edible frog of the continent. FRONTLETS, or PHYLACTERIES (Ex. xiii. 16 ; Dent. vi. 8,xi. 18 ; Matt, xxiii. 5). These “ frontlets ” or “ phylacteries ” were strips of parchment, on which were written four passages of Scripture (Ex. xiii. 2-10, 11-17 ; Deut. vi. 4-9, 13-23) in an ink pre- pared for the purpose. They were then rolled up in a case of black calfskin, which was attached to a stiffer piece of leather, having a thong one finger broad, and one and a half cubits long. They were placed at the bend of the left arm. Those worn on the forehead were written on four strips of parch- ment, and put into four little cells within a square case, on which the letter was written. The square had two thongs, on which Hebrew letters were inscribed. That phylacteries were used as amulets is certain, and was very natural. The expression “they make broad their phylacteries ” (Matt, xxiii. 5) refers not so much to the phylactery itself, which seems to have been of a prescribed breadth, as to the case in which the parch- ment was kept, which the Pharisees, among their other pretentious customs (Mark vii. 3, 4 ; Luke v. 33, &c.), made as conspicuous as they could. It is said that the Pharisees wore them always, whereas the common people only used them at prayers. The modern Jews only wear them at morning prayers, and sometimes at noon. In our Lord’s time they were worn by ail Jews, ex- cept the Karaites, women, and slaves. Boys, at the age of thirteen years and a day, were bound to wear them. The Karaites explained Deut. vi. 8, Ex. xiii. 9, &c., as a figurative command to remember the law, as is certainly the case in similar passages (Prov. iii. 3, vi. 21, vii. 3; Cant. viii. 6, &c.). It seems clear to us that the scope of these injunctions favours the Karaite interpretation. FULLER. The trade of the fullers, so fai as it is mentioned in Scripture, appears tv have consisted chiefly in cleansing garments and whitening them. The process of fulling or cleansing cloth consisted in treading or stamping on the garments with the feet or with bats in tubs of water, in which some alkaline substance answering the purpose o t soap had been dissolved. The substances used for this purpose which are mentioned in Scripture are natrum (Prov. xxv. 2C ; Jer. ii. 22) and soap (Mai. iii. 2). Other sub- stances also are mentioned as being employed in cleansing, which, together with alkali, seem to identify the Jewish with the Roman process, as urine and chalk. The process of whitening garments was performed by rub- bing into them chalk or earth of some kind. Creta Cimolia (Cimolite) was probably the earth most frequently used. The trade of the fullers, as causing offensive smells, and also as requiring space for drying clothes FULLER’S FIELD, THE 181 GAD appears to have been carried on at Jerusalem outside the city. FULLER’S FIELD, THE, a spot near Jerusalem (2 K. xviii. 17 ; Is. vii. 3, xxxvi. 2) so close to the walls that a person speaking from there could be heard on them (2 K. xviii. 17, 26). One resort of the fullers of Jerusalem would seem to have been below the city on the south-east side. But Rab- shakeh and his “ great host ” must have come from the north ; and the Fuller’s Field was therefore, to judge from this circum- stance, on the table-land on the northern side of the city. FUNERALS. [Burial.] FURLONG. [Measures.] FURNACE. Various kinds of furnaces are noticed in the Bible, such as a smelting or calcining furnace (Gen. xix. 28 ; Ex. ix. 8, 10, xix. 18), especially a lime-kiln (Is. xxxiii. 12 ; Am. ii. 1) ; a refining furnace (Prov. xvii. 3, xxvii. 21 ; Ez. xxii. 18 if.) ; a large furnace built like a brick-kiln (Dan. iii. 22, 23). The Persians were in the habit of using the furnace as a means of inflicting capital punishment (Dan. 1. c. ; Jer. xxix. 22 ; 2 Macc. vii. 5 ; Hos. vii. 7). ( a A'AL, son of Ebed, aided the Sheche- mites in their rebellion against Abi- melech (Judg. ix.). GA'ASH. On the north side of “ the hill of Gaash” was the city which was given to Joshua (Josh. xxiv. 30 ; Judg. ii. 9 ; comp. Josh. xix. 49, 50). It does not appear to have been recognized. GA'BA. The same name as Geba. It is found in the A. V. in Josh, xviii. 24 ; Ezr. ii. 26 ; Neh. vii. 30. GAB'BATTIA, the Hebrew or Chaldee ap- pellation of a place, also called “ Pavement,” where the judgment-seat or bema was planted, from his place on which Pilate delivered our Lord to death (John xix. 13). The place was outside the praetorium, for Pilate brought Jesus forth from thence to it. It is sug- gested that Gabbatha is a mere translation of “ pavement.” It is more probably from an ancient root signifying height or roundness. In this case Gabbatha designated the ele- vated Bema; and the “pavement” was pos- sibly some mosaic or tesselated work, either forming the bema itself, or the flooring of the court immediately round it. GA'BRIEL. The word, which is not in itself distinctive, but merely a description of the angelic office, is used as a proper name or title in Dan. viii. 16, ix. 21, and in Luke i. 19, 26. In the ordinary traditions, Jewish and Christian, Gabriel is spoken of as one of the archangels. In Scripture he is set forth only as the representative of the angelic nature in its ministration of comfort and sympathy to man. GAD, Jacob’s seventh son, the first-born of Zilpah, Leah’s maid, and whole-brother to Asher (Gen. xxx. 11-13, xlvi. 16, 18). The word means either “fortune” or “troop;” hence Leah said at his birth — “ a troop (of children) cometh” (Gen. xxx. ii. ; comp, xlix. 19). Of the childhood and life of the patriarch Gad nothing is preserved. At the time of the descent into Egypt seven sons are ascribed to him. The alliance between the tribes of Reuben and Gad was doubtless in- duced by the similarity of their pursuits. Of all the sons of Jacob these two tribes alone returned to the land which their forefathers had left five hundred years before, with their occupations unchanged. At the halt on the east of Jordan we find them coming forward to Moses with the representation that they “ have cattle ” — “ a great multitude of cattle,” and the land where they now are is a “ place for cattle.” They did not, however, attempt to evade taking their proper share of the difficulties of subduing the land of Canaan, and after that task had been effected the^ were dismissed by Joshua “ to their tents,” to their “ wives, their little ones, and their cattle,” which they had left behind them in Gilead. The country allotted to Gad appears, speaking roughly, to have lain chiefly about the centre of the land east of Jordan. The south of that district — from the Arnon (I Vady Mojeb), about halfway down the Dead Sea, to Heshbon, nearly due east ol Jerusalem — was occupied by Reuben, and at or about Heshbon the possessions of Gad com- menced. They embraced half Gilead, as the oldest record specially states (Deut. iii. 12), or half the land of the children of Ammon (Josh. xiii. 25), probably the mountainous district which is intersected by the torrent Jabbok, including, as its most northern town, the ancient sanctuary of Mahanaim. On the east the furthest landmark given is “ Aroer, that faces Rabbah,” the present Amman (Josh, xiii. 25). West was the Jordan (27). Such was the territory allotted to the Gadites, but there is no doubt that they soon extended themselves beyond these limits. The official records of the reign of Jotham of Judah (1 Chr. v. 11, 16) show them to have been at that time established over the whole of Gilead, and in possession of Bashan as far as Salcah, and very far both to the north and the east of the border given them originally, while the Manassites were pushed still further northwards to Mount Hermon (1 Chr. v. 23). The character of the tribe is throughout GAD 182 GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO THE strongly marked — fierce and warlike — “strong men of might, men of war for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, their faces the faces of lions, and like roes upon the mountains for swiftness.” Gad was carried into captivity by Tiglath-Pileser (1 Chr. v. 26), and in the time of Jeremiah the cities of the tribe seem to have been inhabited by the Ammonites. GAD, “ the seer,” or “ the king’s seer,” i. e. David’s (1 Chr. xxix. 29 ; 2 Chr. xxix. 25 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 11 ; 1 Chr. xxi. 9), was a “ prophet” who appears to have joined David when in the hold (1 Sam. xxii. 5). He re- appears in connexion with the punishment inflicted for the numbering of the people (2 Sam. xxiv. 11-19 ; 1 Chr. xxi. 9-19). He wrote a book of the Acts of David (1 Chr. xxix. 29), and also assisted in the arrange- ments for the musical service of the “ house af God” (2 Chr. xxix. 25). GAD. Properly “ the Gad,” with the article. In the A. V. of Is. lxv. 1 1 the clause “ that prepare a table for that troop ” has in the margin instead of the last word the proper name “ Gad,” which evidently denotes some idol worshipped by the Jews in Babylon, though it is impossible positively to iden- tify it. GAD' ABA, a strong city situated near the river Hieromax, east of the Sea of Galilee, over against Scythopolis and Tiberias, and sixteen Homan miles distant from each of those places. Josephus calls it the capital of Peraea. A large district was attached to it. Gadara itself is not mentioned in the Bible, but it is evidently identical with the “country of the Gadarenes,” or Gergesenes (Matt. viii. 28 ; Mark v. 1 ; Luke viii. 26, 37). The ruins of this city, now called Tim Keis , are about two miles in circumference. Gadara derives its greatest interest from having been the scene of our Lord’s miracle in healing the demoniacs (Matt. viii. 28-34 ; Mark v. 1-21 ; Luke viii. 26-40). The whole circumstances of the narrative are strikingly illustrated by the features of the country. Another thing is worthy of notice. The most interesting remains of Gadara are its tombs, which dot the cliffs for a considerable distance round the city. Gadara was captured by Yespasian on the first outbreak of the war with the Jews; all its inhabitants massacred ; and the town itself, with the surrounding villages, reduced to ashes. GAI'US. [John, Second and Third Epistles of.] GAL'AAD, the Greek form of the word Gilead. GALA'TIA, is literally the “ Gallia” of the East- The Galatians were in their origin a stream of that great Keltic torrent which poured into Greece in the third century before the Christian era. Some of these invaders moved on into Thrace, and appeared on the shores of the Hellespont and Bosporus, when Nicomedes I., king o f Bithynia, being then engaged in a civil war, invited them across to help him. At the end of the Bepublic, Galatia appears as a dependent kingdom ; a i the beginning of the Empire as a province (a.d. 26). The Boman province of Galatia may be roughly described as the central region of the peninsula of Asia Minor, with the pro- vinces of Asia on the west, Cappadocia on the east, Pamphylia and Cilicia on the south, and Bithynia and Pontus on the north. These Eastern Gauls preserved much of their ancient character, and something of their ancient language. The prevailing speech, however, of the district was Greek. The inscriptions found at Ancyra are Greek, and St. Paul wrote his Epistle in Greek. It is difficult at first sight to determine in what sense the word Galatia is used by the writers of the N. T., or whether always in the same sense. In the Acts of the Apostles the journeys of St. Paul through the district are mentioned in very general terms. On all ac- counts it seems most probable that Galatia is used by St. Luke as an ethnographical term, and not for the Boman province of that name. GALATIANS, THE EPISTLE TO THE, was written by the Apostle St. Paul not long after his journey through Galatia and Phrygia (Acts xviii. 23), and probably in the early portion of his two years’ and a half stay at Ephesus, which terminated with the Pente- cost of a.d. 57 or 58. The Epistle appears to have been called forth by the machinations of Judaizing teachers, who, shortly before the date of its composition, had endeavoured to seduce the churches of this province into a recognition of circumcision (v. 2, 11, 12, vi. 12, sq.), and had openly sought to de- preciate the apostolic claims of St. Pan. (comp. i. 1, 11). The scope and contents of the Epistle are thus— -(1) apologetic (i., ii.) and polemical (iii. iv.) ; and (2) hortatory and practical (v., vi.) : the positions and de- monstrations of the former portion being used with great power and persuasiveness in the exhortations of the latter. Two historical questions require a brief notice : — 1. The number of visits made by St. Paul to the churches of Galatia previous to his writing the Epistle. These seem certainly to have been two. The Apostle founded the churches of Galatia in the visit recorded Acts xvi. 6, during his second missionary journey, about a.d. 51# and revisited them at the period and i ■ GADAEA. GALBANUM 183 GALL on the occasion mentioned Acts xviii. 23, when he went through the country of Galatia and Phrygia. On this occasion it would seem probable that he found the leaven of Judaism beginning to work in the churches of Galatia. 2. Closely allied with the preceding question is that of the date, and the place from which the Epistle was written. It was probably written about the same time as the Epistle to the Romans at Corinth, during the three months that the Apostle stayed there (Acts xx. 2, 3), apparently the winter of a.d. 57 or 58. GALBANUM, one of the perfumes em- ployed in the preparation of the sacred incense (Ex. xxx. 34). The galbanum of commerce is brought chiefly from India and the Levant. It is a resinous gum of a brownish yellow colour, and strong, disagreeable smell, usually met with in masses, but sometimes found in yellowish tear -like drops. But, though galbanum itself is well known, the plant which yields it has not been exactly deter- mined. GAL'EED, the name given by Jacob to the heap which he and Laban m^de on Mount Gilead in witness of the coven? it then entered into between them (Gen. xxxi. 47, 48 ; comp. 23, 25). GAL'ILEE. This name, which in the Roman age was applied to a large province, seems to have been originally confined to a little “circuit” of country round Kedesh- I Naphtali, in which were situated the twenty towns given by Solomon to Hiram, king of Tyre, as payment for his work in conveying timber from Lebanon to Jerusalem (Josh, xx. 7; 1 K. ix. 11). They were then, or subsequently, occupied by strangers, and for this reason Isaiah gives to the district the name “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Is. ix. 1). It is probable that the strangers increased in number, and became during the captivity the great body of the inhabitants; extending themselves also over the surrounding country, they gave to their new territories the old name, until at length Galilee became one of the largest provinces of Palestine. In the time of our Lord all Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee (Acts ix. 31 ; Luke xvii. 11 ; Joseph. B. J. iii. 3). The latter included the whole northern section of the country, including the ancient territories of Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali. On the west it was bounded by the territory of Ptolemais, which probably included the whole plain of Akka to the foot of Carmel. The southern border ran along the base of Carmel and of the hills of Samaria to Mount Gilboa, and then descended the valley of Jezreel by Scythopolis to the Jordan. The river Jordan, the Sea oi Galilee, and the upper Jordan to the fountain at Dan, formed the eastern border ; and the northern ran from Dan westward across the mountain ridge till it touched the territory of the Phoenicians. Galilee was divided into two sections, “Lower” and “Upper.” Lower Galilee included the great plain of Esdraelon with its offshoots, which run down to the Jordan and the Lake of Tiberias ; and the whole of the hill-country adjoining it on the north to the foot of the mountain-range. It was thus one of the richest and most beautiful sections of Palestine. The chief towns of Lower Galilee were Tiberias, Tarichaea, at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, and Sepphoris. The towns most celebrated in N.T. history are Nazareth, Cana, and Tiberias (Luke i. 26 ; John ii. 1, vi. 1). Upper Galilee embraced the whole mountain-range lying between the upper Jordan and Phoenicia. To this region the name “Galilee of the Gentiles” is given in the O. and N. T. (Is. ix. 1 ; Matt. iv. 15). The town of Caper- naum, on the north shore of the lake, was in upper Galilee. Galilee was the scene of the greater part of our Lord’s private life and public acts. His early years were spent at Nazareth ; and when He entered on His great work He made Capernaum His home (Matt, iv. 13. ix. 1). It is a remarkable fact that the first three Gospels are chiefly taken up with our Lord’s ministrations in this pro- vince, while the Gospel of John dwells more upon those in Judaea. The nature of our Lord’s parables and illustrations was greatly influenced by the peculiar features and pro- ducts of the country. The Apostles were all either Galileans by birth or residence (Acts i. 11). After the destruction of Jerusalem, Galilee became the chief seat of Jewish schools of learning, and the residence of their most celebrated Rabbins. GALILEE, SEA OF. [Gennesabeth.] GALL, the representative in the A. V. of the Hebrew words merer ah , or merordh , and rosh. 1. Merer dh or merorah denotes ety- mologically “ that which is bitter see Job xiii. 26, “thou writest bitter things against me.” Hence the term is applied to the “bile” or “gall” from its intense bitterness (Job xvi. 13, xx. 25) ; it is also used of the “poison” of serpents (Job 14), which the ancients erroneously believed was their gall. 2. Rosh , generally translated “gall” by the A. V. is in Hos. x. 4 rendered “ hem- lock in Deut. xxxii. 33, and Job xx. 16, rosh denotes the “poison” or “venom” of serpents. From Deut. xxix. 18, and Lam. iii. 19, compared with Hos. x. 4, it is evident that the Heb. term denotes some bitter, and GALLEY 184 GAMES perhaps poisonous plant. Other writers have supposed, and with some reason (from Deut. xxxii. 32), that some berry-bearing plant must be intended. Gesenius understands “ poppies.” The capsules of the Papaveraceae may well give the name of rosh (“ head ”) to the plant in question, just as we speak of poppy heads. The various species of this family spring up quickly in corn-fields, and the juice is extremely bitter. A steeped solu- tion of poppy heads may be “ the water of gall” of Jer. viii. 14. The passages in the Gospels which relate the circumstance of the Roman soldiers offering our Lord, just before his crucifixion, “ vinegar mingled with gall,” according to St. Matthew (xxvii. 34), and “wine mingled with myrrh,” according to St. Mark’s account (xv. 23), require some consideration. “ Matthew, in his usual way,” as ELengstenberg remarks, “ desig- nates the drink theologically : always keeping his eye on the prophecies of the O. T., he speaks of gall and vinegar for the purpose of rendering the fulfilment of the Psalms more manifest. Mark again (xv. 23), according to his way, looks rather at the outward quality of the drink.” “ Gall ” is not to be under- stood in any other sense than as expressing the bitter nature of the draught. Notwith- standing the almost concurrent opinion of ancient and modern commentators that the “ wine mingled with myrrh ” was offered to our Lord as an anodyne, we cannot readily come to the same conclusion. Had the sol- diers intended a mitigation of suffering, they would doubtless have offered a draught drugged with some substance having narcotic properties. The drink in question was pro- bably a mere ordinary beverage of the Romans. GALLEY. [Ship.] GAL'LIO. Junius Annaeus Gallic, the Roman pro-consul of Achaia when St. Paul was at Corinth, a.d. 53, under the Emperor Claudius (Acts xviii. 12). He was brother to Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the philosopher. Jerome in the Chronicle of Eusebius says that he committed suicide in the year 65 A.D. GAMA'LIEL. 1. Son of Pedahzur ; prince or captain of the tribe of Manasseh at the census at Sinai (Num. i. 10, ii. 20, vii. 54, 59), and at starting on the march through the wilderness (x. 23). — 2. A Pharisee and celebrated doctor of the law, who gave prudent worldly advice in the Sanhedrim re- specting the treatment of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts v. 34 ff.). We learn from Acts xxii. 3 that he was the preceptor of St. Paul. He is generally identified with the very celebrated Jewish doctor Gamaliel. This Gamaliel was son of Rabbi Simeon, and grand- son of the celebrated Hillel ; he was president of the Sanhedrim under Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, and is reported to have died eighteen years before the destruction of Jeru- salem. GAMES. Among the Greeks the rage for theatrical exhibitions was such that every city of any size possessed its theatre and stadium. At Ephesus an annual contest was held in honour of Diana. It is probable that St. Paul was present when these games were proceeding. A direct reference to the ex- hibitions that took place on such occasions is made in 1 Cor. xv. 32. St. Paul’s Epistles abound with allusions to the Greek contests, borrowed probably from the Isthmian games, at which he may well have been present during his first visit to Corinth. These con- tests (2 Tim. iv. 7 ; 1 Tim. vi. 12) were divided into two classes, the pancratium , con- sisting of boxing and wrestling, and the pentathlon , consisting of leaping, running, quoiting, hurling the spear, and wrestling. The competitors (1 Cor. ix. 25 ; 2 Tim. ii. 5) required a long and severe course of previous training (1 Tim. iv. 8), during which a par- ticular di.st was enforced (1 Cor. ix. 25, 27). In the Olympic contests these preparatory ex- ercises extended over a period of ten months, during the last of which they were conducted under the supervision of appointed officers. The contests took place in the presence of a vast multitude of spectators (Heb. xii. 1), the competitors being the spectacle (1 Cor. iv. 9 ; Heb. x. 33). The games were opened by the proclamation of a herald (1 Cor. ix. 27), whose office it was to give out the name and country of each candidate, and especially tc announce the name of the victor before the assembled multitude. The judge was selected for his spotless integrity (2 Tim. iv. 8) : his office was to decide any disputes (Col iii. 15) and to give the prize (1 Cor. ix. 24 ; Phil. iii. 14), consisting of a crown (2 Tim. ii. 5, iv. 8) of leaves of wild olive at the Olympic games, and of pine, or at one period, ivy, at the Isthmian games. St. Paul alludes to two only out of the five contests, boxing and running, most frequently to the latter. In boxing (cf. 1 Cor. ix. 26) the hands and arms were bound with the cestus , a band of leather studded with nails. The foot-race (2 Tim. iv. 7) was run in the stadium (1 Cor. ix. 24), an oblong area, open at one end and rounded in a semicircular form at the other, along the sides of which were the raised tiers of seats on which the spectators sat. The judge was stationed by the goal (Phil. iii. 14), which was clearly visible from one end of the sta- dium to the other. GARDEN 185 GATE GARDEN. Gardens in the East, as the Hebrew word indicates, are inclosures, on the outskirts of towns, planted with various trees and shrubs. From the allusions in the Bible we learn that they were surrounded by hedges of thorn (Is. v. 5), or walls of stone (Prov. xxiv. 31). For further protection lodges (Is. i. 8; Lam. ii. 6) or watch towers (Mark xii. 1) were built in them, in which sat the keeper (Job xxvii. 18) to drive away the wild beasts and robbers, as is the case to this day. The gardens of the Hebrews were planted with flowers and aromatic shrubs (Cant. vi. 2, iv. 16), besides olives, fig-trees, nuts, or walnuts (Cant. vi. 11), pomegranates, and others for domestic use (Ex. xxiii. 11 ; Jer. xxix. 5 ; Am. ix. 14). Gardens of herbs, or kitchen-gardens, are mentioned in Deut. xi. 10, and 1 K. xxi. 2. Cucumbers -were grown in them (Is. i. 8 ; Bar. vi. 70), and probably also melons, leeks, onions, and garlick, which are spoken of (Num. xi. 5) as the productions of a neighbouring country. The rose-garden in Jerusalem, said to have been situated westward of the temple mount, is remarkable as having been one of the few gardens which, from the time of the prophets, existed within the city walls. But of all the gardens of Palestine none is pos- sessed of associations more sacred and im- perishable than the garden of Gethsemane, beside the oil-presses on the slopes of Olivet. In a climate like that of Palestine the neigh- bourhood of water was an important consi- deration in selecting the site of a garden. To the old Hebrew poets “ a well-watered gar- den,” or “ a tree planted by the waters,” was an emblem of luxuriant fertility and ma- terial prosperity (Is. lviii. 11; Jer. xvii. 8, xxxi. 12). From a neighbouring stream or cistern were supplied the channels or con- duits, by which the gardens were intersected, and the water was thus conveyed to all parts (Ps. i. 3 ; Eccl. ii. 6 ; Ecclus. xxiv. 30). It is matter of doubt what is the exact meaning of the expression “to water with the foot” in Deut. xi. 10. — The Hebrews made use of gardens as places of burial (John xix. 41). Manasseh and his son Amon were buried in the garden of their palace, the garden of Uzza (2 K. xxi. 18, 26). — The retirement of gardens rendered them favourite places for devotion (Matt. xxvi. 36 ; John xviii. 1 ; cf. Gen. xxiv. 63). In the degenerate times of the monarchy they were selected as the scenes of idolatrous worship (Is. i. 29, lxv. 3, lxvi. 17) and images of the idols were probably erected in them. — The traditional gardens and pools of Solomon, supposed to be alluded to in Eccl. ii. 5, € s are shown in the Wady Urtas (i. e . Ilortus), about an hour and a quarter to the south of Bethlehem. The “ king’s garden,” mentioned in 2 K. xxv. 4; Neh. iii. 15; Jer. xxxix. 4, lii. 7, was near the pool of Siloam, at the mouth of the Tyropoeon, north of Bir Eyub, and was formed by the meeting of the valleys of Jehoshaphat and Ben Hinnom. GARLICK (Num. xi. 5), is the Allium Sa- tivum of Linnaeus, which abounds in Egypt. GARMENT. [Dress.] GATE. The gates and gateways of eastern cities anciently held, and still hold, an im- portant part, not only in the defence but in the public economy of the place. They are thus sometimes taken as representing the city itself (Gen. xxii. 17, xxiv. 60; Deut. xii. 12 ; Judg. v. 8 ; Ruth iv. 10 ; Ps. lxxxvii. 2, cxxii. 2). Among the special purposes for which they were used may be mentioned — 1. As plaoes of public resort (Gen. xix. 1, xxiii. 10, xxxiv. 20, 24; 1 Sam. iv. 18, &c.}. 2. Places for public deliberation, adminis- tration of justice, or of audience for kings and rulers, or ambassadors (Deut. xvi. 18, xxi. 19, xxv. 7 ; Josh. xx. 4 ; Judg. ix. 35, &c.). 3. Public markets (2 K. vii. 1). In heathen towns the open spaces near the gates appear to have been sometimes used as places for sacrifice (Acts xiv. 13; comp. 2 K. xxiii. 8). Regarded therefore as positions of great importance the gates of cities were carefully guarded and closed at nightfall (Deut. iii. 5 ; Josh. ii. 5, 7 ; Judg. ix. 40, 44). They con- tained chambers over the gateway (2 Sam. xviii. 24). The doors themselves of the larger gates mentioned in Scripture were two-leaved, plated with metal, closed with locks and fast- ened with metal bars (Deut. iii. 5 ; Ps. cvii. 16 ; Is. xlv. 1, 2). Gates not defended by iron were of course liable to be set on fire by an enemy (Judg. ix. 52). The gateways of royal palaces and even of private houses were often richly ornamented. Sentences from the Law were inscribed on and above the gates (Deut. vi. 9 ; Is. liv. 12 ; Rev. xxi. 21). The gates of Solomon’s Temple were very mas- sive and costly, being overlaid with gold and carvings (1 K. vi. 34, 35 ; 2 K. xviii. 16). Those of the Holy Place were of olive-wood, two-leaved, and overlaid with gold ; those of the temple of fir (1 K. vi. 31, 32, 34 ; Ez. xii. 23, 24). The figurative gates of pearl and precious stones (Is. liv. 12 ; Rev. xxi. 21) may be regarded as having their types in the massive stone doors which are found in some of the ancient houses in Syria. These are of single slabs several inches thick, sometimes 10 feet high, and turn on stone pivots above. The parts of the doorway were the threshold (Judg. xix. 27) ; the side-posts, the lintel (Ex. xii. 7). In the Temple, Le- GATH 186 GEBA vites, and in houses of the wealthier classes, and in palaces, persons were especially ap- pointed to keep the door (Jer. xxxv. 4 ; 2 K. xii. 9, xxv. 18, &c.). GATH, one of the five royal cities of the Philistines (Josh. xiii. 3 ; 1 Sam. vi. 17) ; and the native place of the giant Goliath (1 Sam. xvii. 4, 23). It probably stood upon the con- spicuous hill now called Tell-es-Sqfieh, upon the side of the plain of Philistia, at the foot of the mountains of Judah; 10 miles E. of Ashdod, and about the same distance S. by E. of Ekron. It is irregular in form, and about 200 ft. high. Gath occupied a strong position (2 Chr. xi. 8) on the border of Judah and Philistia (1 Sam. xxi. 10; 1 Chr. xviii. 1) ; and from its strength and resources forming the key of both countries, it was the scene of frequent struggles, and was often captured and recaptured (2 Chr. xi. 8, xxvi. 6 ; 2 K. xii. 17 ; Am. vi. 2). The ravages of war to which Gath was exposed appear to have destroyed it at a comparatively early period, as it is not mentioned among the other royal cities by the later prophets (Zeph. ii. 4 ; Zech. ix. 5, 6). It is familiar to the Bible student as the scene of one of the most romantic incidents in the life of king David (1 Sam. xxi. 10-15). GATH-HE'PHER, or GIT'TAH-HE'PHER, a town on the border of the territory of Zebu- lun, not far from Japhia, now Ydfa (Josh, xix. 12, 13), celebrated as the native place of the prophet Jonah (2 K. xiv. 25). El-Mesh - had , a village 2 miles E. of Sefurieh , is the ancient Gath-hepher. GATH-RIM'MON. 1. A city given out of the tribe of Dan to the Levites (Josh. xxi. 24 ; 1 Chr. vi. 69), situated on the plain of Philistia, apparently not far from Joppa (Josh. xix. 45). — 2. A town of the half tribe of Manasseh west of the Jordan, assigned to the Levites (Josh. xxi. 25). The reading Gath-rimmon is probably an error of the transcribers. GA'ZA (properly Azzah ), one of the five chief cities of the Philistines. It is remark- able for its continuous existence and import- ance from the very earliest times. The secret of this unbroken history is to be found in the situation of Gaza. It is the last town in the S.W. of Palestine, on the frontier to- wards Egypt. The same peculiarity of situ- ation has made Gaza important in a military sense. Its name means “the strong;” and this was well elucidated in its siege by Alex- ander the Great, which lasted five months. In Gen. x. 19 it appears, even before the call of Abraham, as a “ border ” city of the Ca- naanites. In the conquest of Joshua the territory of Gaza is mentioned as one which he was not able to subdue (Josh. x. 41, xi. 22, xiii. 3). It was assigned to the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 47), and that tribe did ob- tain possession of it (Judg. i. 18) ; but they did not hold it long ; for soon afterwards we find it in the hands of the Philistines (Judg. iii. 3, xiii. 1, xvi. 1, 21) ; indeed it seems to have been their capital ; and apparently con- tinued through the times of Samuel, Saul, and David to be a Philistine city (1 Sam. vi. 17, xiv. 52, xxxi. 1 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 15). Solomon became master of “Azzah” (1 K. iv. 24). But in after times the same trouble with the Philistines recurred (2 Chr. xxi. 16, xxvi. 6, xxviii. 18). The passage where Gaza is mentioned in the N. T. (Acts viii. 26) is full of interest. It is the account of the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch on his return from Jerusalem to Egypt. The words “ which is desert ” have given rise to much discussion. The probability is, that they refer to the road, and are used by the angel to inform Philip, who was then in Samaria, on what route he would find the eunuch. Besides the ordinary road from Jerusalem by Ramleh to Gaza, there was another, more favourable for carriages (Acts viii. 28), further to the south through Hebron, and thence through a district com- paratively without towns and much exposed to the incursions of people from the desert. The modern Ghuzzeh is situated partly on an oblong hill of moderate height, and partly on the lower ground. The climate of the place is almost tropical, but it has deep wells of excellent water. There are a few palm-trees in the town, and its fruit-orchards are very productive. But the chief feature of the neighbourhood is the wide-spread olive-grove ! to the N. and N.E. GAZ'ARA, a place frequently mentioned in the wars of the Maccabees, and of great importance in the operations of both parties (1 Macc. ix. 52, xiii. 53, xiv. 7, 33, 34, 36, xv. 28, xvi. 1 ; 2 Macc. x. 32-36). There is every reason to believe that Gazara was the same place as the more ancient Gezer or Gazer. GA'ZER, 2 Sam. v. 25 ; 1 Chr. xiv. 16. [Gezer.] GE'BA, a city of Benjamin, with “sub- urbs,” allotted to the priests (Josh. xxi. 17 ; 1 Chr. vi. 60). It is named amongst the first group of the Benjamite towns ; apparently those lying near to and along the north boundary (Josh, xviii. 24). Here the name is given as Gab a. During the wars of the earlier part of the reign of Saul, Geba was held as a garrison by the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii. 3), but they were ejected by Jonathan. Later in the same campaign we find it re- ferred to to define the position of the two GEBAL 187 GENEALOGY rocks which stood in the ravine below the garrison of Michmash, in terms which fix Geba on the south and Michmash on the north of the ravine (1 Sam. xiv. 5 ; the A. V. has here Giheah). Exactly in accordance with this is the position of the modern village of Jeba , which stands picturesquely on the top of its steep terraced hill, on the very edge of the great Wady Suweinit , looking north- wards to the opposite village, which also re- tains its old name of Miikhmas. GE'BAL, a proper name, occurring in Ps. lxxxiii. 7, in connexion with Edom and Moab, Ammon and Amalek, the Philistines and the inhabitants of Tyre. The contexts both of the psalm and of the historical records will justify our assuming the Gebal of the Psalms to be one and the same city with the Gebal of Ezekiel (xxvii. 9), a maritime town of Phoenicia. From the fact that its inhabit- ants are written “ Giblians ” in the Vulg., and “ Biblians ” in the LXX., we may infer their identity with the Giblites, spoken of in con- nexion with Lebanon by Joshua (xiii. 5), and that of their city with the “Biblus” (or Byblus) of profane literature. It is called Jebail by the Arabs, thus reviving the old Biblical name. GEDALI'AH, son of Ahikam (Jeremiah’s protector, Jer. xxvi. 24), and grandson of Shaphan the secretary of king Josiah. After the destruction of the Temple, b.c. 588, Ne- buchadnezzar departed from Judaea, leaving Gedaliah with a Chaldean guard (Jer. xl. 5) at Mizpah, to govern the vine-dressers and husbandmen (Jer. lii. 16) who were exempted from captivity. Jeremiah joined Gedaliah ; and Mizpah became the resort of Jews from various quarters (Jer. xl. 6, 11). He was murdered by Ishmael two months after his appointment. GE'DER. The king of Geder was one of the 31 kings who were overcome by Joshua on the west of the Jordan (Josh. xii. 13). It is possible that it may be the same place as the Geder named in 1 Chr . iv. 39. GED'EROTH, a town in the low country of Judah (Josh. xv. 41 ; 2 Chr. xxviii. 18). GEDO'R, a town in .he mountainous part of Judah (Josh. xv. 58), a few miles north of Hebron. Robinson discovered a Jedur halfway between Bethlehem and Hebron, about two miles west of the road. GEHA'ZI, the servant or boy of Elisha. He was sent as the prophet’s messenger on two occasions to tho good Shunammite (2 K. iv.) ; obtained fraudulently money and garments from Naaman, was miraculously smitten with incurable leprosy, and was dis- missed from the prophet’s service (2 K. v.). Later in the history he is mentioned as being engaged in relating to King Joram all the great things which Elisha had done (2 K. viii.). GEHEN'NA. [Hinnom.] GEMARI'AH. 1. Son of Shaphan the scribe, and father of Michaiah. He was one of the nobles of Judah, and had a chamber in the house of the Lord, from which Baruch read Jeremiah’s alarming prophecy in the ears of all the people, b.c. 606 (Jer. xxxvi.). — 2. Son of Hilkiah, was made the bearer of Jeremiah’s letter to the captive Jews (Jer. xxix.). GEMS. [Stones, Precious.] GENEALOGY. In Hebrew the term for genealogy or pedigree is “ the book of the generations and because the oldest his- tories were usually drawn up on a genea- logical basis, the expression often extended to the whole history, as is the case with the Gospel of St. Matthew, where “ the book of the generation of Jesus Christ” includes the whole history contained in that Gospel. The promise of the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob successively, and the separation of the Israelites from the Gentile world ; the expectation of Messiah as to spring from the tribe of Judah ; the ex- clusively hereditary priesthood of Aaron with its dignity and emoluments ; the long suc- cession of kings in the line of David ; and the whole division and occupation of the land upon genealogical principles by the tribes, families, and houses of fathers, gave a deeper importance to the science of genealogy among the Jews than perhaps any other nation. With Jacob, the founder of the nation, the system of reckoning by genealogies was much further developed. In Gen. xxxv. 22-26, we have a formal account of the sons of Jacob, the patriarchs of the nation, repeated in Ex. i. 1-5. In Gen. xlvi. we have an exact gene- alogical census of the house of Israel at the time of Jacob’s going down to Egypt. When the Israelites were in the wilderness of Sinai, their number was taken by Divine command “ after their families, by the house of their fathers.” According to these genealogical di- visions they pitched their tents, and marched, and offered their gifts and offerings, chose spies, and the whole land of Canaan was par- celled out amongst them. When David esta- blished the temple services on the footing which continued till the time of Christ, he divided the priests and Levites into courses and companies, each under the family chief. When Hezekiah reopened the temple, and restored the temple services which had fallen into disuse, he reckoned the whole nation by genealogies. When Zerubbabel brought back the captivity from Babylon, one cf his first GENEALOGY 188 GENESIS cares seems to have been to take a census of those that returned, and to settle them ac- cording to their genealogies. Passing on to the time of the birth of Christ, we have a striking incidental proof of the continuance of the Jewish genealogical economy in the fact that when Augustus ordered the census of the empire to be taken, the Jews in the province of Syria immediately went each one to his own city. Another proof is the exist- ence of our Lord’s genealogy in two forms as given by St. Matthew and St. Luke. The mention of Zacharias, as “of the course of Abia,” of Elizabeth, as “ of the daughters of Aaron,” and of Anna the daughter of Pha- nuel, as “ of the tribe of Aser,” are further indications of the same thing. From all this it is abundantly manifest that the Jewish genealogical records continued to be kept till near the destructipn of Jerusalem. But there can be little doubt that the registers of the Jewish tribes and families perished at the destruction of Jerusalem, and not before. It remains to be said that just notions of the nature of the Jewish genealogical records are of great importance with a view to the right interpretation of Scripture. Let it only be remembered that these records have respect to political and territorial divisions, as much as to strictly genealogical descent, and it will at once be seen how erroneous a conclusion it may be, that all who are called “ sons ” of such or such a patriarch, or chief father, must necessarily be his very children. If any one family or house became extinct, some other would succeed to its place, called after its own chief father. Hence of course a census of any tribe drawn up at a later pe- riod, would exhibit different divisions from one drawn up at an earlier. The same prin- ciple must be borne in mind in interpreting any particular genealogy. Again, when a pedigree was abbreviated, it would naturally specify such generations as would indicate from what chief houses the person descended. But then as regards the chronological use of the Scripture genealogies, it follows from the above view that great caution is necessary in using them as measures of time, though they are invaluable for this purpose whenever we can be sure that they are complete. The Jewish genealogies have two forms, one giv- ing the generations in a descending, the other in an ascending scale. Examples of the de- scending form maybe seen in Ruth iv. 18-22, or 1 Chr. iii. Of the ascending 1 Chr. vi. 33-43 (A. Y.) ; Ezr. vii. 1-5. Females are named in genealogies when there is anything remarkable about them, or when any right or property is transmitted through them. See Gen. xi. 29, xxii. 23, xxv. 1-4, xxxv. 22-26 ; Ex. vi. 23 ; Num. xxvi. 33 ; 1 Chr. ii. 4, 19, 50, 35, &c. GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST. The New Testament gives us the genealogy of but one person, that of our Saviour. The follow- ing propositions will explain the true con- struction of these genealogies : — 1. They are both the genealogies of Joseph i. e. of Jesus Christ, as the reputed and legal son of Jo- seph and Mary. 2. The genealogy of St. Matthew is Joseph’s genealogy as lega. suc- cessor to the throne of David. St. Luke’s is Joseph’s private genealogy, exhibiting his real birth, as David’s son, and thus showing why he was heir to Solomon’s crown. The simple principle that one evangelist exhibits that genealogy which contained the successive heirs to David’s and Solomon’s throne, while the other exhibits the paternal stem of him who was the heir, explains all the anomalies of the two pedigrees, their agreements as well as their discrepancies, and the circumstance of there being two at all. 3. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was in all probability the daughter of Jacob, and first cousin to Joseph her husband. GENERATION. In the long-lived Patri- archal age a generation seems to have been computed at 100 years (Gen. xv. 16 ; comp. 13, and Ex. xii. 40) ; but subsequently the reckoning was the same which has been adopted by other civilised nations, viz., from thirty to forty years (Job xlii. 16). For generation in the sense of a definite period of time, see Gen. xv. 16 ; Deut. xxiii. 3, 4, 8, &c. As an indefinite period of time : — for time past , see Deut. xxxii. 7 ; Is. MiL 12 ; for time future, see Ps. xlv. 17, lxxii. 5, &c. Generation is also used to signify the men of an age, or time, as contemporaries (Gen. vi. 9 ; Is. liii. 8) ; posterity , especially in legal formulae (Lev. iii. 17, &c.) ; fathers , or an - cestors (Ps. xlix. 19). GENES'ARETH. [Gennesaret.] GEN'ESIS, the first book of the Law or Pentateuch, so called from its title in the Sep- tuagint, that is, Creation. Respecting its inte- grity and author, see Pent.' teuch. The book of Genesis (with the first chapters of Exodus) describes the steps which led to the establish- ment of the Theocracy. It is a part of the writer’s plan to tell us what the Divine pre- paration of the world was, in order to show, first, the significance of the call of Abraham, and next, the true nature of the Jewish theo- cracy. He begins with the creation of the world, because the God who created the world and the God who revealed Himself to the fathers is the same God. The book of Genesis has thus a character at once special and universal. It embraces the world ; if SEA OF GENNESARET OR GALILEE. GENESIS 189 GENTILES speaks of God as the God of the whole human race. But as the introduction to Jewish his- tory, it makes the universal interest subor- dinate to the national. Eive principal persons are the pillars, so to speak, on which the whole superstructure rests : Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. — I. Adam. The creation of the world, and the earliest history of mankind (ch. i.-iii.). As yet no divergence of the different families of man. — II. Noah. The history of Adam’s descendants to the death of Noah (iv.-ix.). Here we have (1) the line of Cain branching off while the his- tory follows the fortunes of Seth, whose de- scendants are (2) traced in genealogical suc- cession, and in an unbroken line as far as Noah, and (3) the history of Noah himself (vi.-ix.), continued to his death. — III. Abra- ham. Noah’s posterity till the death of Abra- ham (x.-xxv. 18). Here we have (1) the peopling of the whole earth by the descend- ants of Noah’s three sons (xi. 1-9). The his- tory of two of these is then dropped, and (2) the line of Shem only pursued (xi. 10-32) as far as Terah and Abraham, where the genea- logical table breaks off. (3) Abraham is now the prominent figure (xii.-xxv. 18). But as Terah had two other sons, Nahor and Haran (xi. 27), some notices respecting their families are added. Lot’s migration with Abraham into the land of Canaan is mentioned, as well as the fact that he was the father of Moab and Ammon (xix. 37, 38), nations whose later history was intimately connected with that of the posterity of Abraham. Nahor remained in Mesopotamia, but his family is briefly enu- merated (xxii. 20-24), chiefly no doubt for Rebekah’s sake, who was afterwards the wife of Isaac. Of Abraham’s own children, there branches off first the line by Ishmael (xxi. 9, &c.), and next the children by Keturah ; and the genealogical notices of these two branches of his posterity are apparently brought together (xxv. 1-6, and xxv. 12-18), in order that, being here severally dismissed at the end of Abraham’s life, the main stream of the narrative may flow in the channel of Isaac’s fortunes. — IV. Isaac. Isaac’s life (xxv. 19-xxxv. 29), a life ; u itself retiring and uneventful. But in h_ sons the final separation takes place, leaving .he field clear for the great story of the chosen seed. Even when Nahor’s family comes on the scene, as it does in ch. xxix., we hear only so much of it as is necessary to throw light on Jacob’s history. — V. Jacob. The history of Jacob and Joseph (xxxvi. 1). Here, after Isaac’s death, we have (1) the genealogy of Esau (xxxvi.), who then drops out of the narrative, in order that (2) the history of the Patriarchs may be carried on without intermission to the death of Joseph (xxxvii.-l.). — It will be seen that a specific plan is preserved through- out. The main purpose is never forgotten. God’s relation to Israel holds the first place in the writer’s mind. It is this which it is his object to convey. The history of that chosen seed, who were the heirs of the pro- mise and the guardians of the Divine oracles, is the only history which interprets man’s relation to God. By its light all others shine, and may be read when the time shall come. Meanwhile, as the different families drop off here and there from the principal stock, their course is briefly indicated. Beyond all doubt, then, we may trace in the book of Genesis a systematic plan. GENNES'ARET, SEA OF, called in the O.T. “ the Sea of Chinnereth,” or “ Cin- neroth ” (Num. xxxiv. 11; Josh. xii. 3), from a town of that name which stood on or near its shore (Josh. xix. 35). At its north- western angle was a beautiful and fertile plain called “ Gennesaret ” (Matt. xiv. 34 ; Mark vi. 53), from which the name of the lake was taken. The lake is also called in the N.T. “ the sea of Galilee,” from the pro- vince of Galilee which bordered on its western side (Matt. iv. 18; Mark vii. 31 ; John vi. 1) ; and “the sea of Tiberias,” from the celebrated city (John vi. 1). Its modern name is Ba hr Tubarxyeh. Most of our Lord’s public life was spent in the environs of the Sea of Gennesaret. This region was then the most densely peopled in all Palestine. No less than nine cities stood on the very shores of the lake. The sea of Gennesaret is of an oval shape, about thirteen geographical miles long, and six broad. The river Jordan enters it at its northern end, and passes out at its southern end. In fact the bed of the lake is just a lower section of the great Jordan valley. Its most remarkable feature is its deep depression, being no less than 700 feet below the level of the ocean. The scenery is bleak and monotonous. The great depression makes the climate of the shores almost tropical. This is very sensibly felt by the traveller in going down from the plains of Galilee. In summer the heat is intense, and even in early spring the air has some- thing of an Egyptian balminess. The water of the lake is sweet, cool, and transparent ; and as the beach is everywhere pebbly it has a beautiful sparkling look. It abounds in fish now as in ancient times. GENTILES. In the O. T. the Heb. gcyim signifieu the nations, the surrounding nations, foreigners as opposed to Israel (Neh. v. 8), and was used with an invidious meaning. In the N. T. it is used as equivalent to Greek. But the A. V. is not consistent in its transla GERA 190 GERSIION tion of the word Hellen , sometimes rendering it by “Greek” (Acts xiv. 1, xvii. 4 ; Rom. i. 16, x. 12), sometimes by “ Gentile” (Rom. ii. 9, 10, iii. 9 ; 1 Cor. x. 32). The latter use of the word seems to have arisen from the almost universal adoption of the Greek language. GE'RA, one of the “ sons,” i. e. descend- ants, of Benjamin, enumerated in Gen. xlvi. 21, as already living at the time of Jacob’s migration into Egypt. He was son of Bela (1 Chr. viii. 3). The text of this last passage is very corrupt ; and the different Geras there named seem to reduce themselves into one — the same as the son of Bela. Gera, who is named (Judg. iii. 15) as the ancestor of Ehud, and in 2 Sam. xvi. 5, as the ancestor of Shimei who cursed David, is probably also the same person. GERAH. [Weights and Measures.] GE'RAR, a very ancient city south of Gaza. It occurs chiefly in Genesis (x. 19, xx. 1, xx vi. 16) ; also incidentally in 2 Chr. xiv. 13, 14. It must have trenched on the “ south ” or “ south country ” of later Palestine. From a comparison of xxi. 32 with xxvi. 23, 26, Beersheba would seem to be just on the verge of this territory, and perhaps to be its limit towards the N.E. GER'GESENES. [Gadara.] GER'IZIM. On the position of Mount Gerizim, see Ebal. It is an important question whether Gerizim was the mountain on which Abraham was directed to offer his son Isaac (Gen. xxii. 2, and sq.). First, then, let it be observed that it is not the mountain, but the district which is there called Moriah, and that antecedently to the occurrence which took place “upon one of the mountains” in its vicinity — a consideration which of itself would naturally point to the locality, already known to Abraham, as the plain or plains of Moreh, “the land of vision,” “the high land ;” and therefore consistently “ the land of adora- tion,” or “ religious worship,” as it is vari- ously explained. That all these interpreta- tions are incomparably more applicable to the natural features of Gerizim and its neigh- bourhood, than to the hillock (in comparison) upon which Solomon built his temple, none can for a moment doubt who have seen both. [Moriah.] The Samaritans, therefore, through whom the tradition of the true site of Gerizim has been preserved, are probably not wrong when they point out still — as they nave done from time immemorial — Gerizim as the hill upon which Abraham’s “ faith was made perfect.” Another tradition of the Samaritans is far less trustworthy: viz., that Mount Gerizim was the spot where Melchise- dech met Abraham — though there certainly was a Salem or Shalem in that neighbourhood (Gen. xxxiii. 18). Lastly, the altar which Jacob built was not on Gerizim, as the Samaritans contend, though probably about its base, at the head of the plain between it and Ebal, “ in the parcel of a field ” which that patriarch purchased from the children of Hamor, and where he spread his tent (Gen. xxxiii. 18-20). Here was likewise his well (John iv. 6), and the torijb of his son Joseph (Josh. xxiv. 32), both of which are still shown. — We now enter upon the second phase in the history of Gerizim. According to Josephus, a marriage contracted between Manasseh, brother of Jaddus, the then high- priest, and the daughter of Sanballat the Cuthaean (comp. 2 K. xvii. 24), having created a great stir amongst the Jews, who had been strictly forbidden to contract alien marriages (Ezr. ix. 2 ; Neh. xiii. 23), Sanballat, in order to reconcile his son-in-law to this unpopular affinity, obtained leave from Alexander the Great to build a temple upon Mount Gerizim, and to inaugurate a rival priesthood and altar there to those of Jerusalem. “ Samaria thenceforth,” says Prideaux, “ became the common refuge and asylum of the refractory Jews.” Gerizim is likewise still to the Samaritans what Jerusalem is to the Jews, and Mecca to the Mahometans. GER'SHOM. 1. The first-born son of Moses and Zipporah (Ex. ii. 22, xviii. 3). The name is explained in these passages as = “ a stranger there,” in allusion to Moses’ being a foreigner in Midian — “ For he said, I have been a stranger ( Qer ) in a foreign land.” Its true meaning, taking it as a Hebrew word, is “ expulsion.” The circum- cision of Gershom is probably related in Ex. iv. 25. — 2. The form under which the name Gershon — the eldest son of Levi — is given in several passages of Chronicles, viz., 1 Chr. vi. 16, 17, 20, 43, 62, 71, xv. 7. GERSHON, the eldest of the three sons of Levi, born before the descent of Jacob’s family into Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 11 ; Ex. vi. 16). But, though the eldest born, the families of Gershon were outstripped in fame by their younger brethren of Kohath, from whom sprang Moses and the priestly line of Aaron. At the census in the wilderness of Sinai the whole number of the males of the sons of Gershon was 7500 (Num.iii. 22), midway between the Kohathites and the Merarites. The sons of Gershon (the Gershonites) had charge of the fabrics of the Tabernacle — the coverings, curtains, hangings, and cords (Num. iii. 25, 26, iv. 25, 26) ; for the transport of these they had two covered wagons and four oxen (vii. 3, 7). In the encampment their station was behind the Tabernacle, on the west side (Num. iii. 23’ GESHUR 191 GIBEAH In the apportionment of the Levitical cities thirteen fell to the lot of the Gershonites. These were in the northern tribes — two in Manasseh beyond Jordan, four in Issachar, four in Asher, and three in Naphtali. GE'SHUR, a little principality in the north-eastern corner of Bashan, adjoining the province of Argob (Deut. iii. 14), and the kingdom of Aram (Syria in the A. V. ; 2 Sam. xv. 8 ; comp. 1 Chr. i. 23). It is highly probable that Geshur was a section of the wild and rugged region now called el-Lejah. [Argob.] GESH'URI and GESH'URITES. 1. The inhabitants of Geshur (Deut. iii. 14 ; Josh, xii. 5, xiii. 11). — 2. An ancient tribe which dwelt in the desert between Arabia and Philistia (Josh. xiii. 2 ; 1 Sam. xxvii. 8). GETHSEM'ANE, a small “farm” (A. Y. “ place ;” Matt. xxvi. 36 ; Mark xiv. 32), situated across the brook Kedron (John xviii. 1), probably at the foot of Mount Olivet (Luke xxii. 39), to the N.W., and about £ or % of a mile English from the walls of Jerusa- lem. There was a “ garden,” or rather orchard, attached to it, to which the olive, fig, and pomegranate doubtless invited resort by their hospitable shade. And we know from the Evangelists Luke (xxii. 39) and John (xviii. 2) that our Lord ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. But Gethsemane has not come down to us as a scene of mirth ; it was the scene of the Agony of the Son of God on the evening preceding His Passion. A modern garden, in which are eight vener- able olive-trees, and a grotto to the north, detached from it, and in closer connexion with the Church of the Sepulchre of the Virgin, are pointed out as the true Gethsemane. Against the contemporary antiquity of the olive-trees, it has been urged that Titus cut down all the trees round about Jerusalem. The probability would seem to be that they were planted by Christian hands to mark the spot : unless, like the sacred olive of the Acropolis, they may have reproduced them- selves. GEZ'ER, an ancient city of Canaan, whose king, Horam, or Elam, coming to the assist- ance of Lachish, was killed with all his people by Joshua (Josh. x. 33, xii. 12). It formed one of the landmarks on the south boundary of Ephraim, between the lower Beth-horon and the Mediterranean (xvi. 3), the western limit of the tribe (1 Chr. vii. 28). It was allotted with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites (Josh. xxi. 21 ; 1 Chr. vi. 67) ; but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed (Judg. i. 29) ; and even down to the reign of Solomon the Canaanites were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel (1 K. ix. 16). Ewald takes Gezer and Geshur to be the same. In one place Gob is given as identical with Gezer (1 Chr. xx. 4 ; comp. 2 Sam. xxi. 18.) GIANTS. 1 . They are first spoken of in Gen. vi. 4, under the name Nephilim. We are told in Gen. vi. 1-4 that “ there were Nephilim in the earth,” and that afterwards the “ sons of God ” mingling with the beautiful “ daugh- ters of men ” produced a race of violent and insolent Gibborim (A. Y. “mighty men”). But who were the parents of these giants ? who are “ the sons of God ” ? They were most probably the pious Sethites, though the prevalent opinion both in the Jewish and early Christian Church is that they were angels. It was probably this ancient view which gave rise to the spurious Book of Enoch, and the notion quoted from it by St. Jude (6), and alluded to by St. Peter (2 Pet. ii. 4). 2. The Rephaim, a name which frequently occurs. The earliest mention of them is the record of their defeat by Chedorlaomer and some allied kings at Ashteroth Karnaim (Gen. xiv. 5). Extirpated, however, from the east of Pales- tine, they long found a home in the west (2 Sam. xxi. 18, sq. ; 1 Chr. xx. 4). It is pro- bable that they had possessed districts west of the Jordan in early times, since the “ Yalley of Rephaim” (2 Sam. v. 18 ; 1 Chr. xi. 15 ; Is. xvii. 5), a rich valley S.W. of Jerusalem, derived its name from them. They were probably an aboriginal people of which the Emim, Anakim, and Zuzim were branches. GIB'BETHGN, a town allotted to the tribe of Dan (Josh. xix. 44), and afterwards given with its “ suburbs” to the Kohathite Levites (xxi. 23). GIB'EAH, a word employed in the Bible to denote a “ hill.” Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are — 1. Gibeah, a city in the mountain-district ol Judah, named with Maon and the southern Carmel (Josh. xv. 57 ; and crmp. 1 Chr. ii. 49, &Co). — 2. Gibeath, is enumerated among tbe last group of the towns of Benjamin, next to Jerusalem (Josh, xviii. 28). It is generally taken to be the place which after- wards became so notorious as “ Gibeah-of- Benjamin ” or “ of-Saul.” But this was five or six mil s north of Jerusalem. The name being in the “ construct state ” — Gibeath and not Gibeah — may it not belong to the follow- ing name Kirjath, and denote the hill ad- joining that town ? — 3. The place in which the Ark remained from the time of its retuim by the Philistines till its removal by David (2 Sam. vi. 3, 4 ; comp. 1 Sam. vii. 1, 2). — 4* Gibeah-of-Benjamin, first appears in the GIBEON 192 GIER-EAGLE tragical story of the Levite and his concubine (Judg. xix., xx.). It was then a “city,” with the usual open street or square (Judg. xix. 15, 17, 20), and containing 700 “chosen men” (xx. 15), probably the same whose skill as slingers is preserved in the next verse. In many particulars Gibeah agrees very closely with Tuleil-eUFul , a conspicuous eminence just four miles north of Jerusalem, to the right of the road. We next meet with Gibeah-of-Benjamin during the Philistine wars of Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam. xiii., xiv.). It now bears its full title. As “ Gibeah-of- Benjamin” this place is referred to in 2 Sam. xxiii. 29 (comp. 1 Chr. xi. 31), and as “ Gibeah ” it is mentioned by Hosea (v. 8, lx. 9, x. 9), but it does not again appear in the history. It is, however, almost without doubt identical with — 5. Gibeah-of-Satjl. This is not mentioned as Saul’s city till after his anointing (1 Sam. x. 26), when he is said to have gone “ home ” to Gibeah. In the subsequent narrative the town bears its full name (xi. 4). — 6. Gibeah-in -the-Field, named only in Judg. xx. 31, as the place to which one of the “ highways ” led from Gibeah-of-Benjamin. It is probably the same as Geba. The “ meadows of Gaba ” (A. Y. Gibeah; Judg. xx. 33) have no con- nexion with the “ field,” the Hebrew words being entirely different. GIB'EON, one of the four cities of the Hivites, the inhabitants of which made a league with Joshua (ix. 3-15), and thus escaped the fate of Jericho and Ai (comp. xi. 19). Gibeon lay within the territory of Benjamin (xviii. 25), and with its “ suburbs ” was allotted to the priests (xxi. 17), of whom it became afterwards a principal station. It retains its ancient name almost intact, FI- Jib. Its distance from Jerusalem by the main road is as nearly as possible 6j miles ; but there is a more direct road reducing it to 5 miles. GIB'EONITES, THE, the people of Gibeon and perhaps also of the three cities associated with Gibeon (Josh. ix. 17) — Hivites ; and who on the discovery of the stratagem by which they had obtained the protection of the Israel- ites, were condemned to be perpetual bondmen, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the house of God and al- tar of Jehovah (Josh. ix. 23, 27). Saul ap- pears to ha\e broken this covenant, and in a fit of enthusiasm or patriotism to have killed some and devised a general massacre of the rest (2 Sam. xxi. 1, 2, 5). This was expiated many years after by giving up seven men of Saul’s descendants to the Gibeonites, who hung them or crucified them “ before Jehovah ” — as a kind of sacrifice — in Gibeah, Saul’s own GIB'LITES, THE. [Gebal.] GID'EON, a Manassite, youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, an undistinguished family who lived at Ophrah, a town probably on the west of Jordan (Judg. vi. 15). He was the fifth recorded Judge of Israel, and for many reasons the greatest of them all. When we first hear of him he was grown up and had sons (Judg. vi. 11, viii. 20), and from the apostrophe of the angel (vi. 12) we may conclude that he had already distinguished himself in war against the roving bands of nomadic robbers who had oppressed Israel for seven years, and whose countless multi- tudes (compared to locusts from their terrible devastations, vi. 5) annually destroyed all the produce of Canaan, except such as could be concealed in mountain-fastnesses (vi. 2). It was probably during this disastrous period that the emigration of Elimelech took place (Ruth i. 1, 2). When the angel appeared, Gideon was threshing wheat with a flail in the winepress, to conceal it from the preda- tory tyrants. His call to be a deliverer, and his destruction of Baal’s altar, are related in Judg. vi. After this begins the second act of Gideon’s life. Clothed by the Spirit of God (Judg. vi. 34; comp. 1 Chr. xii. 18; Luke xxiv. 49), he blew a trumpet, and was joined by Zebulun, Naphtali, and even the reluctant Asher. Strengthened by a double sign from God, he reduced his army of 32,000 by the usual proclamation (Deut. xx. 8 ; comp. 1 Macc. iii. 56). By a second test at “ the spring of trembling ” he again reduced the number of his followers to 300 (Judg. vii. 5, sq.).. The midnight attack upon the Midian- ites, their panic, and the rout and slaughter that followed, are told in Judg. vii. The memory of this splendid deliverance took deep root in the national traditions (1 Sam. xii. 11 ; Ps. lxxxiii. 11 ; Is. ix. 4, x. 26 ; Heb. xi. 32). After this there was a peace of 40 years, and we see Gideon in peaceful posses- sion of his well-earned honours, and surround- ed by the dignity of a numerous household (viii. 29-31). It is not improbable that, like Saul, he had owed a part of his popularity to his princely appearance (Judg. viii. 18). In this third stage of his life occur alike his most noble and his most questionable acts, viz., the refusal of the monarchy on theocra- tic grounds, and the irregular consecration of a jewelled ephod formed out of the rich spoils of Midian which proved to the Israelites a temp- tation to idolatry, although it was doubtless intended for use in the worship of Jehovah. GIER-EAGLE, an unclean bird mentioned in Lev. xi. 18 and Deut. xiv. 17. There is no reason to doubt that the racham of the Heb. Scriptures is identical in reality as in GIHON 193 GILGAL name with the racham, of the Arabs, viz., the Egyptian vulture. Egyptian Vulture. GI'IION. 1. The second river of Paradise (Gen. ii. 13). [Eden]. — 2. A place near Jerusalem, memorable as the scene of the anointing and proclamation of Solomon as king (I K. i. 33, 38, 45). GILALAI', one of the priests* sons at the consecration of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. xii. 36). GILBO'A, a mountain range on the eastern side of the plain of Esdraelon, rising over the city of Jezreel (comp. 1 Sam. xxviii. 4 with xxix. 1). It is only mentioned in Scripture in connexion with one event in Israelitish history, the defeat and death of Saul and Jonathan by the Philistines (1 Sam. xxxi. 1 ; 2 Sam. i. 6, xxi. 12 ; 1 Chr. x. 1, 8). Of the identity of Gilboa with the ridge which stretches eastward, from the ruins of Jezreel, no doubt can be entertained. The village is now called Jelbou. GIL'EAD. 1. A mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Am- mon (Gen. xxxi. 21 ; Deut. iii. 12-17). It is sometimes called “ Mount Gilead ” (Gen. xxxi. 25), sometimes “the land of Gilead” (Num. xxxii. 1) ; and sometimes simply “ Gilead” (Ps. lx. 7 ; Gen. xxxvii. 25) ; but a comparison of the several passages shows that they all mean the same thing. The name Gilead, as is usual in Palestine, describes the physical aspect of the country. It signi- fies “ a hard rocky region.” The statements in Gen. xxxi. 48, are not opposed to this etymology. The old name of the district Sm. D. B. was Gilead, but by a slight change in the pronunciation, the radical letters being re- tained, the meaning was made beautifully applicable to the “ heap of stones ” Jacob and Laban had built up — “ the heap of witness.” Those acquainted with the modern Arabs and their literature will see how intensely such a play upon the word would be appreciated by them. The mountains of Gilead have a real elevation of from two to three thousand feet ; but their apparent elevation on the western side is much greater, owing to the depression of the Jordan valley, which averages about 1000 feet. Their outline is singularly uni- form, resembling a massive wall running along the horizon. The name Galaad occurs several times in the history of the Maccabees (1 Macc. v. 9, sq.). — 2. Possibly the name of a mountain west of the Jordan, near Jezreel (Judg. vii. 3). We are inclined, however, to think that the true reading in this place should be Gilboa. — 3. Son of Machir, grand- son of Manasseh (Num. xxvi. 29, 30). — 4. The father of Jephthah (Judg. xi. 1, 2). GIL'EADITES, THE (Judg. xii. 4, 5; Num. xxvi. 29 ; Judg. x. 3), a branch of the tribe of Manasseh, descended from Gilead. There appears to have been an old standing feud between them and the Ephraimites, who taunted them with being deserters. GIL'GAL. 1, The site of the first camp of the Israelites on the west of the Jordan* the place at which they passed the first night after crossing the river, and where the twelve stones were set up which had been taken from the bed of the stream (Josh. iv. 19, 20, comp. 3) ; where also they kept their first passover in the land of Canaan (v. 10). It was in the “ end of the east of Jericho ” (A.Y. “ in the east border of Jericho ”) ap- parently on a hillock or rising ground (v. 3, comp. 9) in the Arboth- Jericho (A. V. “ the plains ”), that is, the hot depressed district of the Ghor which lay between the town and the Jordan (v. 10). We again encounter Gilgal in the time of Saul, when it seems to have exchanged its military associations for those of sanctity. We again have a glimpse of it, some sixty years later, in the history of David’s return to Jerusalem (2 Sam. xix.). Its site is uncertain. — But, 2. it was certainly a distinct place from the Gilgal which is con- nected with the last scene in the life of Elijah, and with one of Elisha’s miracles (2 K. ii.). The mention of Baal-shalisha (iv. 42) gives a clue to its situation, when taken with the notice of Eusebius, that that flace was fifteen miles from Diospolis (Lydda) towards the north. In that very position stand now the ruins bearing the name of Jiljilieh , i. e. Gil- gal. — 3. The “king op the nations ok O GILOH 194 GOAT 3ilgal,” or rather perhaps the “king of Goim-at-Gilgal,” is mentioned in the cata- logue of the chiefs overthrown by Joshua (Josh, xii. 23). — 4. A Gilgal is spoken of in Josh. xv. 7, in describing the north border of Judah. GI'LOH, a town in the mountainous part of Judah, named in the first group, with Debir and Eshtemoh (Josh. xv. 51) ; it was the native place of the famous Ahithophel (2 Sam. xv. 12). GIRDLE, an essential article of dress in the East, and worn both by men and women. The common girdle was made of leather (2 K. i. 8 ; Matt. iii. 4), like that worn by the Bedouins of the present day. A finer girdle was made of linen (Jer. xiii. 1 ; Ez. xvi. 10), embroidered with silk, and sometimes w T ith gold and silver thread (Dan. x. 5 ; Rev. i. 13, xv. 6), and frequently studded with gold and precious stones or pearls. The manu- facture of these girdles formed part of the employment of women (Prov. xxxi. 24). The girdle was fastened by a clasp of gold or silver, or tied in a knot so that the ends hung down in front, as in the figures on the ruins of Persepolis. It was worn by men about the loins (Is. v. 27, xi. 5). The girdle of women was generally looser than that of the men, and was worn about the hips, except when they were actively engaged (Prov. xxxi. 17). The military girdle was worn about the waist; the sword or dagger was suspended from it (Judg. iii. 16 ; 2 Sam. xx. 8 ; Ps. xlv. 3). Hence girding up the loins denotes preparation for battle or for active exertion. In times of mourning, girdles of sackcloth were worn as marks of humiliation and sorrow (Is. iii. 24, xxii. 12). In conse- quence of the costly materials of which girdles were made, they were frequently given as presents (1 Sam. xviii. 4 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 11). They were used as pockets, as among the Arabs still, and as purses, one end of the girdle being folded back for the purpose (Matt. x. 9 ; Mark vi. 8). The girdle worn by the priests about the close-fitting tunic (Ex. xxviii. 39, xxxix. 29), is described by Josephus as made of linen so fine of texture as to look like the slough of a snake, and embroidered with flowers of scarlet, purple, blue, and fine linen. It was about four fingers broad, and was wrapped several times round the priest’s body, the ends hanging down to the feet. The “ curious girdle ” (Ex. xxviii. 8) was made of the same mate- rials and colours as the ephod, that is of “ gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.” Josephus describes it as sewn to the breastplate. After passing once round it was tied in front upon the seam, the ends hanging down. GIR'GASHITES, THE, one of the nations who were in possession of Canaan before th' entrance thither of the children of Israel (Gen. x. 16, xv. 21; Deut. vii. 1 ; Josh. iii. 10, xxiv. 11 ; 1 Chr. i. 14 ; Neh. ix. 8). GITTA'IM. [Gittites.] GIT'TITES, the 600 men who followed David from Gath, under Ittai the Gittite (2 Sam. xv. 18, 19), and who probably acted as a kind of body-guard. Obed-edom “the Gittite ” may have been so named from the town of Gittaim in Benjamin (2 Sam. iv. 3 ; Neh. xi. 33), or from Gath-rimmon. GIT'TITH, a musical instrument, by some supposed to have been used by the people of Gath ; and by others to have been employed at the festivities of the vintage (Ps. viii., lxxxi., lxxxiv.). GLASS. The Heb. word occurs only in Job xxviii. 17, where in A. V., it is rendered “ crystal.” In spite of the absence of specific allusion to glass in the sacred writings, the Hebrews must have been aware of the inven- tion. From paintings representing the pro- cess of glass-blowing which have been dis- covered at Beni-Hassan, and in tombs at other places, we know that the invention is at least as remote as the age of Osirtasen the first (perhaps a contemporary of Joseph), 3500 years ago. Fragments too of wine- vases as old as the Exodus have been dis- covered in Egypt. The art was also known to the ancient Assyrians. In the N. T. glass is alluded to as an emblem of brightness (Rev. iv. 6, xv. 2, xxi. 18). GLEANING. The gleaning of fruit trees, as well as of cornfields, was reserved for the poor. [Corner.] GLEDE, the old name for the common kite ( milvus ater) occurs only in Deut. xiv. 13 among the unclean birds of prey. GNAT, mentioned only in the proverbial expression used by our Saviour in Matt, xxiii. 24. GOAD (Judg. iii. 31 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 21). But the Hebrew word in the latter passage probably means the point of the 'ploughshare The former word does probably refer to the goad, the long handle of which might be used as a formidable weapon. The instrument, as still used in the countries of southern Europe and western Asia, consists of a rod about eight feet long, brought to a sharp point and sometimes cased with iron at the head. GOAT. There appear to be two or three varieties of the common goat ( Hircus aega- grus ) at present bred in Palestine and Syria, but whether they are identical with those which were reared by the ancient Hebrews it is not possible to say. The most marked varieties are the Syrian goat ( Capra Mam- GOAT, SCAPE 195 GOD brica, Linn.), and the Angora goat ( Capra Angorensis, Linn.), with fine long hair. As to the “wild goats” (1 Sam. xxiv. 2 ; Job xxxix. 1, and Ps. civ. 18) it is not at all im- probable tha; some species of ibex is denoted. Long-eared Syrian goat. GOAT, SCAPE. [Atonement, Day of.] GOB, a place mentioned only in 2 Sam. xxi. 18, 19, as the scene of two encounters between David’s warriors and the Philistines. In the parallel account in 1 Chr. xx. 4, the name is given as Gezeu. GOD. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures two chief names are used for the one true divine Being — Elohim, commonly translated God in our Version, and Jehovah, translated Lord. Elohim is the plural of Eloah (in Arabic Allah), a form which occurs only in poetry and a few passages of later Hebrew (Neh. ix. 17 ; 2 Chr. xxxii. 15). It is also formed with the pronominal suffixes, as Eloi, my God , with the dependent genitive, and with an epithet, in which case it is often used in the short form, El (a word signifying strength ), as in El-Skaddai, God Almighty , the name by which God was specially known to the patriarchs (Gen. xvii. 1, xxviii. 3 ; Ex. vi. 3). The etymology is uncertain, but it is generally agreed that the primary idea is that of strength , power to effect ; and that it properly describes God in that cha- racter in which He is exhibited to all men in His works, as the creator, sus ainer, and su- preme governor of the world. Hence it is used to denote any being believed in and worshipped as God ; hut in the sense of a heathen deity, or a divine being spoken of indefinitely, the singular is most often used, and the plural is employed, with the strict idea of number, for the collective objects of polytheistic worship, the gods , the gods of the heathen. It is also used for any being that strikes an observer as god-like (Sam. xxviii. 13), and for kings, judges, and others en- dowed with authority from God (Psalm lxxxii. 1, 6, viii. 6, xcvii. 7, &c. ; Ex. xxi. 6, xxii. 7, 8). The short form El is used for a hero , or mighty man , as Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. xxxi. 11), a sense derived at once from the meaning of strength. The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea, that it referred to the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, hardly finds now a supporter among scholars. It is either what grammarians call the plural of majesty , or it denotes the fulness of divine strength, the sum of the powers displayed by God. Jehovah denotes specifically the one true God, whose people the Jews were, and who made them the guardians of His truth. The name is never applied to a false god, nor to any other being, except One, the An gel- Jehovah, who is thereby marked as one with God, and who appears again in the New Covenant as “ God manifested in the flesh.” Thus much is clear ; but all else is beset with difficulties. At a time too early to be traced, the Jews abstained from pro- nouncing the name, for fear of its irreverent use. The custom is said to have been founded on a strained interpretation of Lev. xxiv. 1 6 ; and the phrase there used, “ The Name ” ( Shema ), is substituted by the Rabbis for the unutterable word. They also call it “ the name of four letters” (111 PP)> “the great and terrible name,” “ the peculiar name,” “ the separate name.” In reading the Scrip- tures, they substituted for it the word Adonai (Lord), from the translation of which by Kvpiog in the LXX., followed by the Vulgate, which uses Dominus, we have got the Loud of our Version. Our translators have, how- ever, used Jehovah in four passages (Ex. vi. 3 ; Psalm lxxxiii. 18 ; Is. xii. 2, xxvi. 4), and in the compounds, Jehovah- Jireh, Jeho- vah-Nissi, and Jehovah-Shalom (Jehovah shall see , Jehovah is my Banner, Jehovah is Peace , Gen. xxii. 14 ; Ex. xvii. 15 ; Judges vi. 24) ; while the similar phrases Jehovah- Tsidkenu and Jehovah-Shammah are translated, “ the Loud our righteousness,” and “ the Lord is there” (Jer. xxiii. 6, xxxiii. 16; Ezek. xlviii. 35). In one passage the abbreviated form Jah is retained (Psalm Ixviii. 4). The O 2 GOG 196 GOLIATH substitution of the word Lord is most un- happy ; for, while it in no way represents the meaning of the sacred name, the mind has constantly to guard against a confusion with its lower uses, and, above all, the direct personal bearing of the name on the reve- lation ’of God through the whole course of Jewish history is kept injuriously out of sight. The key to the meaning of the name is unquestionably given in God’s revelation of Himself to Moses by the phrase “ I am that I am,” in connexion with the state- ment, that He was now first revealed by his name Jehovah (Ex. iii. 14, vi. 3). Without entering here upon questions of Hebrew philology, we must be content to take as established the etymological con- nexion of the name Jehovah with the He- brew substantive verb, with the inference that it expresses the essential, eternal, un- changeable Being of Jehovah. But more, it is not the expression only, or chiefly, of an absolute truth : it is a practical revelation of God, in His essential, unchangeable relation to His chosen people, the basis of His Cove- nant. This is both implied in the occasion on which it is revealed to Moses, and in the fifteenth verse of Ex. iii. And here we find the solution of a difficulty raised by Ex. vi. 3, as if it meant that the name Jehovah had not been known to the patriarchs. There is abundant evidence to the contrary. As early as the time of Seth, “men began to call on the name of Jehovah” (Gen. iv. 25). The name is used by the patriarchs them- selves (Gen. xviii. 14 ; xxiv. 40 ; xxvi. 28 ; xxviii. 21). It is the basis of titles, like Jehovah-Jireh , and of proper names, like Moriah and Jochebed. Indeed, the same reasoning would prove that the patriarchs did not know God as JElohim , but exclu- sively as JSl-Shaddai. But, in fact, the word name is used here, as elsewhere, for the attributes of God. He was about, for the first time, fully to reveal that aspect of His character which the name implied. GOG. [Magog.] GO 'LAN, a city of Bashan (Deut. iv. 43) allotted out of the half tribe of Manasseh to the Levites (Josh. xxi. 27), and one of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan (xx. 8). Its very site is now unknown. It gave its name to the province of Gaulanitis, which is frequently mentioned by Josephus. It lay east of Galilee, and north of Gadaritis [Gadara]. The Jordan from the Sea of Galilee to its fountains at Dan and Caesarea- Philippi, formed its western boundary. It corresponds to the modern province of Jaulan (which is the Arabic form of the Hebrew Golan). The greater part of Gaulanitis is a flat and fertile table-land, well watered, and clothed with luxuriant grass. GOLD, the most valuable of metals, from its colour, lustre, weight, ductility, and other useful properties. Hence it is used as an emblem of purity (Job xxiii. 10) and no- bility (Lam. iv. 1). Gold was known from the very earliest times (Gen. ii. 11). It was at first chiefly used for ornaments, &c. (Gen. xxiv. 22). Coined money was not known to the ancients till a comparatively late period ; and on the Egyptian tombs gold is repre- sented as being weighed in rings for com- mercial purposes. (Comp. Gen. xliii. 21.) Gold was extremely abundant in ancient times (1 Chr. xxii. 14 ; 2 Chr. i. 15, ix. 9 ; Nah. ii. 9 ; Dan. iii. 1) ; but this did not depreciate its value, because of the enormous quantities consumed by the wealthy in fur- niture, &c. (1 K. vi. 22, x. passim; Cant, iii. 9, 10 ; Esth. i. 6 ; Jer. x. 9). The chief countries mentioned as producing gold are Arabia, Sheba, and Ophir (1 K. ix. 28, x. 1 ; Job xxviii. 16). Other gold-bearing coun- tries were Uphaz (Jer. x. 9 ; Dan. x. 5) and Parvaim (2 Chr. iii. 6). Metallurgic pro- cesses are mentioned in Ps. lxvi. 10 ; Prov. xvii. 3, xxvii. 21 ; and in Is. xlvi. 6, the trade of goldsmith (cf. Judg. xvii. 4) is alluded to in connexion with the overlaying of idols with gold-leaf. GOL'GOTHA, the Hebrew name of the spot at which our Lord was crucified (Matt, xxvii. 33; Mark xv. 22; John xix. 17). By these three Evangelists it is interpreted to mean the “ place of a skull.” St. Luke’s words are really as follows — “ the place which is called ‘a skull’” — not, as in the other Gospels, “ of a skull,” thus employing the Greek term exactly as they do the Hebrew one. Two explanations of the name are given : (1) that it was a spot where ex- ecutions ordinarily took place, and therefore abounded in skulls. Or (2) it may come from the look or form of the spot itself, bald, round, and skull-like, and therefore a mound or hillock, in accordance with the common phrase — for which there is no direct autho- rity — “ Mount Calvary.” Whichever of these is the correct explanation, Golgotha seems to have been a known spot. GOLI'ATH, a famous giant of Gath, who “ morning and evening for forty days ” de- fied the armies of Israel (1 Sam. xvii.). He was possibly descended from the old Bephaim [Giants], of whom a scattered remnant took refuge vith the Philistines after their dis- persion by the Ammonites (Deut. ii. 20, 21 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 22). His height was “six cubits and a span,” which, taking the cubit at 21 inches, would make him 104 feet high. GOMEB 197 GOSPELS But the LXX. and Josephus read 11 four cubits and a span.” The scene of his combat with David was the Valley of the Terebinth, between Shochoh and Azekah, probably among the western passes of Benjamin, al- though a confused modern tradition has given the name of Ain Jahlood (spring of Goliath) to the spring of Harod (Judg. vii. 1). In 2 Sam. xxi. 19, we find that another Goliath of Gath was slain by Elhanan, also a Bethlehemite. GO'MEB, the eldest son of Japheth, and the father of Ashkenaz, Biphath, and To- garmah (Gen. x. 2, 3). His name is sub- sequently noticed hut once (Ez. xxxviii. 6) as an ally or subject of the Scythian king Geg. He is generally recognised as the pro- genitor of the early Cimmerians, of the latter Cimbri and the other branches of the Celtic family, and of the modern Gael and Cymry, the latter preserving, with very slight devi- ation, the original name. GOMOB'EAH, in the N. T. written GO- MOB 'BHA, o^e of the five “cities of the plain,” or *' vale of Siddim,” that under their respective kings joined battle there with Chedorlaomer (Gen. xiv. 2-8) and his allies, by whom they were discomfited till Abraham came to the rescue. Four out of the five were afterwards destroyed by the Lord with fire from heaven (Gen. xix. 23-29). One of them only, Zoar or Bela, which was its ori- ginal name, was spared at the request of Lot, in order that he might take refuge there. Of these Gomorrah seems to have been only second to Sodom in importance, as well as in the wickedness that led to their overthrow. What that atrocity was may be gathered from Gen. xix. 4-8. Their geographical position is discussed under Souom. GOPHEB WOOD, only once in Gen. vi. 14. Two principal conjectures have been pro- posed : — 1. That the “ trees of Gopher” are any trees of the resinous kind, such as pine, fir, &c. 2. That Gopher is cypress. GO'SHEN, the name of a part of Egypt where the Israelites dwelt for the whole period of their sojourn in that country. It is usually^ called the “ land of Goshen,” but also Goshen simply. It appears to have borne another name, “the land of Bameses” (Gen. xlvii. 11), unless this be the name of a district of Goshen. It was between Joseph’s residence at the time and the frontier of Palestine, and apparently the extreme pro- vince towards that frontier (Gen. xlvi. 29). The results of an examination of Biblical evidence are that the land of Goshen lay between, the eastern part of the ancient Delta and the western border of Palestine, that it was scarcely a part of Egypt Proper, was inhabited by other foreigners besides the Israelites ; that it was a pasture-land, espe- cially suited to a shepherd-people, and suffi- cient for the Israelites, who there prospered, and were separate from the main body of the Egyptians. These indications seem to indicate the Wadi-t-Tumeylat , the valley along wffiich anciently flowed the canal of the Bed Sea. GOSPELS. The name Gospel (from god and spell , Angl. Sax. good message or news, which is a translation of the Greek eva.yy4h.Lov) is applied to the four inspired histories ot the life and teaching of Christ contained in the New Testament, of which separate ac- counts are given in their place. They were all composed during the latter half of the first century : those of St. Matthew and St. Mark some years before the destruction of Jerusalem ; that of St. Luke probably about a.d. 64 ; and that of St. John towards the close of the century. Before the end of the second century, there is abundant evi- dence that the four Gospels, as one collection, were generally used and accepted. As a matter of literary history, nothing can be better established than the genuineness of the Gospels. On comparing these four books one with another, a peculiar difficulty claims attention, which has had much to do with the controversy as to their genuineness. In the fourth Gospel the narrative coincides with that of the other three in a few pas- sages only. Putting aside the account of the Passion, there are only three facts which John relates in common with the other Evan- gelists. Two of these are, the feeding of the five thousand, and the storm on the Sea of Galilee (ch. vi.). The third is the anointing of His feet by Mary. Whilst the others pre- sent the life of Jesus in Galilee, John follows him into Judaea ; nor should we know, but for him, that our Lord had journeyed to Jerusalem at the prescribed feasts. The re- ceived explanation is the only satisfactory one, namely, that John, writing last, at the close of the first century, had seen the other Gospels, and purposely abstained from writing anew what they had sufficiently recorded. — In the other three Gospels there is a great amount of agreement. If we suppose the history that they contain to be divided into sections, in 42 of these all the three narra- tives coincide, 12 more are given by Matthew and Mark only, 5 by Mark and Luke only, and 14 by Matthew and Luke. To these must be added 5 peculiar to Matthew, 2 to Mark, and 9 to Luke ; and the enumeration is complete. But this applies only to general coincidence as to the facts narrated : the GOSPELS 198 GOZAN amount of verbal coincidence, that is, the passages either verbally the same, or coin- ciding in the use of many of the same words, is much smaller. Various theories have been proposed to account for this phenomenon. (1). The first and most obvious suggestion would be, that the narrators made use of each other’s work. Accordingly many have endeavoured to ascertain which Gospel is to be regarded as the first ; which is copied from the first ; and which is the last, and copied from the other two. But the theory in its crude form is in itself most improb- able ; and the wonder is that so much time and learning have been devoted to it. It assumes that an Evangelist has taken up the work of his predecessor, and, without sub- stantial alteration, has made a few changes in form, a few additions and retrenchments, and has then allowed the whole to go forth under his name. (2). The supposition of a common original from which the three Gos- pels were drawn, each with more or less modification, would naturally occur to those who rejected the notion that the Evangelists had copied from each other. But if all the Evangelists had agreed to draw from a common original, it must have been widely if not universally accepted in the Church ; and yet there is no record of its existence. If the work was of high authority, it would have been preserved, or at least mentioned ; if of lower authority, it could not have be- come the basis of three canonical Gospels. (3). There is another supposition to account for these facts. It is probable that none of the Gospels was written until many years after the day of Pentecost on which the Holy Spirit descended on the assembled disciples. From that day commenced at Jerusalem the work of preaching the Gospel and converting the world. Now their preaching must have been, from the nature of the case, in great part historical ; it must have been based upon an account of the life and acts of Jesus of Nazareth. Nor is there anything unna- tural in the supposition that the Apostles intentionally uttered their witness in the same order, and even, for the most part, in the same form of words. It is supposed, then, that the portions of the three Gospels which harmonise most exactly owe their agreement to the fact that the apostolic preaching had already clothed itself in a set- tled or usual form of words, to which the writers inclined to conform without feeling bound to do so ; and the differences which occur, often in the closest proximity to the harmonies, arise from the feeling of indepen- dence with which each wrote what he had seen and heard, or, in the case of Mark and Luke, what apostolic witnesses had told him. GOURD. 1 . Kikdyon only in Jon. iv. 6-10. The plant, which is intended by this word, and which afforded shade to the prophet Jonah before Nineveh, is the JRicinus com- munis , or castor-oil plant, which, formerly a native of Asia, is now naturalised in America, Africa, and the south of Europe. This plant varies considerably in size, being in India a tree, but in England seldom attaining a greater height than three or four feet. The leaves are large and palmate, with serrated lobes, and would form an excellent shelter for the sun-stricken prophet. The seeds contain the oil so well known under the name of “ castor-oil,” which has for ages been in high Castor-oil plant. repute as a medicine. 2. With regard to the “wild gourds” (pakku’oth) of 2 K. iv. 39, which one of “the sons of the prophets ” gathered ignorantly, supposing them to be good for food, there can be no doubt that it is a species of the gourd tribe {Cucurbitaceae ) , which contains some plants of a very bitter and dangerous character. As several kinds of Cucurbitaceae , such as melons, pumpkins, &c., are favourite articles of refreshing food amongst the Orientals, we can easily under- stand the cause of the mistake. GO'ZAN seems in the A. V. of 1 Chr. v. GRAPE 199 GROVE to be the name of a river ; but in Kings (2 K. xvii. 6, and xviii. 11) it is evidently applied not to a river but a country. Gozan was tbe tract to which the Israelites were carried away captive by Pul, Tiglatb-Pileser, and Shalmaneser, or possibly Sargon. It is probably identical with tbe Gauzanitis of Ptolemy, and may be regarded as represented by tbe Mygdonia of other writers. It was the tract watered by tbe Habor, tbe modern Khabour, tbe great Mesopotamian affluent of tbe Euphrates. GRAPE. [Vine.] GRASS. This is tbe ordinary rendering of it produces pods, shaped like a horn, varying in length from 6 to 10 inches, and about a finger’s breadth, or rather more. HYMEN AE'US, the name of a person occurring twice in the correspondence be- tween St. Paul and Timothy ; the first time classed with Alexander (1 Tim. i. 20) ; and the second time classed with Philetus (2 Tim. ii. 17, 18). In the error with which he was charged he stands as one of the earliest of the Gnostics. As regards the sentence passed upon him — it has been asserted by some writers of eminence, that the “ delivering to Satan ” is a mere synonym for ecclesiastical excommunication. Such can hardly be the case. As the Apostles healed all manner of bodily infirmities, so they seem to have possessed and exercised the same power in inflicting them — a power far too perilous to be continued when the manifold exigen- cies of the Apostolical age had passed away (Acts v. 5, 10, ix. 17, 40, xiii. 11). Even apart from actual intervention by the Apos- tles, bodily visitations are spoken of in the case of those who approached the Lord’s Supper unworthily (1 Cor. xi. 30). HYMN. Among the later Jews the word hymn was more or less vague in its appli- cation, and capable of being used as occasion should arise. To Christians the Hymn has always been something different from the Psalm ; a different conception in thought, a different type in composition. There is some dispute about the hymn sung by our Lord and his Apostles on the occasion of the Last Supper ; but even supposing it to have been the Hallel , or Paschal Hymn, consisting of Pss. cxiii.-cxviii., it is obvious that the word hymn is in this case applied not to an indi- vidual psalm, but to a number of psalms chanted successively, and altogether forming a kind of devotional exercise which is not unaptly called a hymn. In the jail at Phi- lippi, Paul and Silas “ sang hymns ” (A. Y. “ praises ”) unto God, and so loud was their song that their fellow-prisoners heard them. This must have been what we mean by sing- ing, ana not merely recitation. It was in fact a veritable singing of hymns. And it is remarkable that the noun hymn is only used in reference to the services of the Greeks, and in the same passages is clearly distin- guished from the psalm (Eph. v. 19, Col. iii. 16), “psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.” HYSSOP. fHeb. ezob.) The ezob was IBHAE, 224 IDOLATRY used to sprinkle the doorposts of the Israel- ites in Egypt with the blood of the paschal lamb (Ex. xii. 22) ; it was employed in the purification of lepers and leprous houses (Lev. xiv. 4, 51), and in the sacrifice of the red heifer (Num. xix. 6). In consequence of its detergent qualities, or from its being associated with the purificatory services, the Psalmist makes use of the expression, “ purge me with ezob ” (Ps. li. 7). It is described in 1 K. iv. 33 as growing on or near walls. Bochart decides in favour of marjoram, or some plant like it, and to this conclusion, it must be admitted, all ancient tradition points. But Dr. Royle, after a careful investigation of the subject, arrives at the conclusion that the hyssop is no other than the caper-plant, or capparis spinosa of Linnaeus. The Arabic name of this plant, asuf, by which it is sometimes, though not commonly, described, bears considerable resemblance to the Hebrew. I 'BHAR, one of the sons of David (2 Sam. v. 15; 1 Chr. iii. 6, xiv. 5) born in Jerusalem. IB'LEAM, a city of Manasseh, with vil- lages or towns dependent on it (Judg. i. 27). It appears to have been situated in the terri- tory of either Issachar or Asher (Josh. xvii. 11). The ascent of Gur was “at Ibleam ” (2 K. ix. 27), somewhere near the present Jenin , probably to the north of it. IB'ZAN, a native of Bethlehem of Zebulon, who judged Israel for seven years after Jephthah (Judg. xii. 8, 10). ICH’ABOD, the son of Phinehas, and grandson of Eli (l Sam. iv. 21). ICO'NIUM, the modern Konieh , was the capital of Lycaonia. It was on the great line of communication between Ephesus and the western coast of the peninsula on one side, and Tarsus, Antioch, and the Euphrates on the other. Iconium was a well chosen place for missionary operations (Acts xiv. 1, 3, 21, 22, xvi. 1, 2, xviii. 23). The Apos- tle’s first visit was on his first circuit, in company with Barnabas; and on this occa- sion he approached it from Antioch in Pisidia, which lay to the west. ID'DQ. 1. A seer whose “ visions ” against Jeroboam incidentally contained some of the acts of Solomon (2 Chr. ix. 29). He appears to have written a chronicle or story relating to the life and reign of Abijah (2 Chr. xiii. 22), and also a book “concerning genealo- gies ” in which the acts of Rehoboam were recorded (xii. 15). These books are lost, but they may have formed part of the foun- dation of the existing books of Chronicles. — S3. The grandfather of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. i. 1, 7), although in other places Zechariah is called “ the son of Iddo ” (Ezr. v. 1 ; vi. 14). Iddo returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Neh. xii. 4). — 3. The chief of those who assem- bled at Casiphia, at the time of the second caravan from Babylon. He was one of the Nethinim (Ezr. viii. 17 ; comp. 20). IDOLATRY, strictly speaking, denotes the worship of deity in a visible form, whether the images to which homage is paid are symbolical representations of the true God, or of the false divinities which have been made the objects of worship in His stead. — I. History of Idolatry among the Jews . — The first undoubted allusion to idolatry or idolatrous customs in tbe Bible is in the account of Rachel’s stealing her father’s teraphim (Gen. xxxi. 19), a relic of the worship of other gods, whom the ancestors of the Israelites served “ on the other side of the river, in old time ” (Josh. xxiv. 2). These he consulted as oracles (Gen. xxx. 27, A. Y. “ learned by experience ”) though without entirely losing eight of the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, to whom he appealed when occasion offered (Gen. xxxi. 53), while he was ready, in the pre- sence of Jacob, to acknowledge the benefits conferred upon him by Jehovah (Gen. xxx. 27). Such, indeed, was the character of most of the idolatrous worship of the Israel- ites. Like the Cuthean colonists in Samaria, who “ feared Jehovah and served their own gods ” (2 K. xvii. 33), they blended in a strange manner a theoretical belief in the true God with the external reverence which they were led to pay to the idols of the nations by whom they were surrounded. During their long residence in Egypt, the country of symbolism, they defiled them- selves with the idols of the land, and it was long before the taint was removed (Josh, xxiv. 14 ; Ez. xx. 7). To these gods Moses, as the herald of Jehovah, flung down the gauntlet of defiance, and the plagues of Egypt smote their symbols (Num. xxxiii. 4). Yet, with the memory of their deliverance fresh in their minds, their leader absent, the Israelites clamoured for some visible shape in which they might worship the God who had brought them out of Egypt (Ex. xxxii.). Aaron lent himself to the popular cry, and chose as the symbol of deity one with which they had long been familiar — the calf — em bodiment of Apis, and emblem of the pro- ductive power of nature. For a while the erection of the tabernacle, and the establish- ment of the worship which accompanied it, satisfied that craving for an outward sign which the Israelites constantly exhibited* IDOLATRY 225 IDOLATRY 4 ,nd for the remainder of their march through the desert, with the dwelling-place of Jehovah in their midst, they did not again degenerate into open apostasy. But it was only so long as their contact with the nations was of a hostile character that this seeming orthodoxy was maintained. During the lives of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, they kept true to their allegiance ; hut the generation following, who knew not Jehovah, nor the works he had done for Israel, swerved from the plain path of their fathers, and were caught in the toils of the foreigner (Judg. ii.). From this time forth their history becomes little more than a chronicle of the inevitable sequence of offence and punish- ment (Judg. ii. 12, 14). By turns each conquering nation strove to establish the worship of its national god. Thus far idolatry is a national sin. The episode of Micah, in Judg. xvii. xviii. sheds a lurid light on the secret practices of individuals, who without formally renouncing Jehovah, though ceasing to recognise Him as the theo- cratic King (xvii. 6), linked with His wor- ship the symbols of ancient idolatry. In later times the practice of secret idolatry was carried to greater lengths. Images were set up on the corn-floors, in the wine- vats, and behind the doors of private houses (Is. Ivii. 8 ; Hos. ix. 1, 2) ; and to check this tendency the statute in Deut. xxvii. 15 was originally promulgated. Under Samuel’s administration a fast was held, and purifi- catory rites performed, to mark the public renunciation of idolatry (1 Sam. vii. 3-6). But in the reign of Solomon all this was forgotten. Each of his many foreign wives brought with her the gods of her own nation ; and the gods of Ammon, Moab, and Zidon, were openly worshipped. Rehoboam, the son of an Ammonite mother, perpetuated the worst features of Solomon’s idolatry (1 K. xiv. 22-24) ; and in his reign was made the great schism in the national religion : when Jeroboam, fresh from his recollec- tions of the Apis worship of Egypt, erected golden calves at Bethel and at Dan, and by this crafty state-policy severed for ever the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (1 K. xii. 26-33). The successors of Jeroboam followed in his steps, till Ahab, who married a Zidonian princess, at her instigation (1 K. xxi. 25) built a temple and altar to Baal, and revived all the abominations of the Amorites (1 K. xxi. 26). Compared with the worship of Baal, the worship of the calves was a venial offence, probably because it was morally less detestable and also less anti-national (IK. xii. 28 ; 2 K. x. 28-31). Henceforth Baal- worship became so completely identified with $m. U. 3, the northern kingdom that it is described m walking in the way or statutes of the kings of Israel (2 K. xvi. 3, xvii. 8), as dis- tinguished from the sin of Jeroboam. The conquest of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser was for them the last scene of the drama of abominations which had been enacted un- interruptedly for upwards of 250 years. The first act of Hezekiah on ascending the throne was the restoration and purification of the temple which had been dismantled and closed during the latter part of his father’s life (2 Chr. xxviii. 24, xxix. 3). The icono- clastic spirit was not confined to Judah and Benjamin, but spread throughout Ephraim and Manasseh (2 Chr. xxxi. 1), and to all external appearance idolatry was extirpated. But the reform extended little below the surface (Is. xxix. 13). With the death of Josiah ended the last effort to revive among the people a purer ritual, if not a purer faith. The lamp of David, which had long shed but a struggling ray, flickered for a while and then went out in the darkness of Babylonian captivity. But foreign exile was powerless to eradicate the deep inbred tendency to idolatry. One of the first difficulties with which Ezra had to contend was the haste with which his countrymen took them foreign wives of the people of the land, and followed them in all their abominations (Ezr. ix.). The conquests of Alexander in Asia caused Greek influence to be extensively felt, and Greek idolatry to be first tolerated, and then practised, by the Jews (1 Macc. i. 43-50, 54). The attempt of Antiochus to establish this form of worship was vigorously resisted by Mattathias (1 Macc. ii. 23-26). The erection of synagogues has been assigned as a reason for the comparative purity of the Jewish worship after the captivity, while another cause has been discovered in the hatred for images acquired hy the Jews in their inter- course with the Persians. — II. Objects of Idolatry . — In the old religion of the Semitic races the deity, following human analogy, was conceived of as male and female : the one representing the active, the other the passive principle of nature ; the former the source of spiritual, the latter of physical life. The sun and moon were early selected as outward symbols of this all-pervading power, and the worship of the heavenly bodies was not only the most ancient but the most pre- valent system of idolatry. Taking its rise in the plains of Chaldea, it spread through Egypt, Greece, Scythia, and even Mexico and Ceylon (Comp. Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3 ; Job xxxi. 26-28). It is probable that the Israelites learnt their first lessons in sun- worship from the Egyptians, in whose re- Q. IDOLATRY 226 INCENSE ligious system that luminary, as Osiris, held a prominent place. The Phoenicians wor- shipped him under the title of “ Lord of heaven.” As Molech or Milcom, the sun was worshipped by the Ammonites, and as Chemosh by the Moabites. The Hadad of the Syrians is the same deity. The Assyrian Bel or Belus, is another form of Baal. By the later kings of Judah, sacred horses and chariots were dedicated to the sun-god, as by the Persians (2 K. xxiii. 11). The moon, worshipped by the Phoenicians under the name of Astarte or Baaltis, the passive power of nature, as Baal was the active, and known to the Hebrews as Ashtaroth or Ashtoreth, the tutelary goddess of the Zidonians, appears early among the objects of Israelitish idolatry. In the later times of the monarchy, the planets, or the zodiacal signs, received, next to the sun and moon, their share of popular adora- tion (2 K. xxiii. 5). Beast-worship, as exemplified in the calves of Jeroboam, has already been alluded to. There is no actual proof that the Israelites ever joined in the service of Dagon, the fish-god of the Philis- tines, though Ahaziah sent stealthily to Baal- zebub, the fly-god of Ekron (2 K. i.), and in later times the brazen serpent became the object of idolatrous homage (2 K. xviii. 4). Of pure hero-worship among the Semitic races we find no trace. The singular rever- ence with which trees have been honoured is not without example in the history of the Hebrews. The terebinth at Mamre, beneath which Abraham built an altar (Gen. xii. 7, xiii. 18), and the memorial grove planted by him at Beersheba (Gen. xxi. 33), were in- timately connected with patriarchal worship. Mountains and high places were chosen spots for offering sacrifice and incense to idols (1 K. xi. 7, xiv. 23) ; and the retirement of gardens and the thick shade of woods offered great attractions to their worshippers (2 K. xvi. 4 ; Is. i. 29 ; Hos. iv. 13). The host of heaven was worshipped on the house-top (2 K. xxiii. 12 ; Jer. xix. 3, xxxii. 29 ; Zeph. i. 5). — III. Punishment of Idolatry . — If one main object of the Hebrew polity was to teach the unity of God, the extermination of idolatry was but a subordinate end. Je- hovah, the God of the Israelites, was the civil head of the State. He was the theo- cratic king of the people, who had delivered them from bondage, and to whom they had taken a willing oath of allegiance. Idolatry, therefore, to an Israelite was a state offence (1 Sam. xv. 23), a political crime of the gravest character, high treason against the majesty of his king. But it was much more than all this. While the idolatry of foreign nations is stigmatised merely as an abomina- tion in the sight of God, which called for his vengeance, the sin of the Israelites is regarded as of more glaring enormity and greater moral guilt. In the figurative language of the prophets, the relation between Jehovah and his people is represented as a marriage bond (Is. liv. 5 ; Jer. iii. 14), and the wor- ship of false gods with all its accompaniments (Lev. xx. 56) becomes then the greatest of social wrongs (Hos. ii. ; Jer. iii., &c.). The first and second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code. The individual offender was devoted to destruction (Ex. xxii. 20) ; his nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and deliver him up to punish- ment (Deut. xiii. 2-10), but their hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence of two witnesses at least, he was stoned (Deut. xvii. 2-5). To attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal enormity (Deut. xiii. 6-10). IDUME'A. [Edom.] I'JE-AB f AR,IM, one of the later halting places of the children of Israel (Num. xxi. 11, xxxiii. 44). It was on the boundary — the S.E. boundary — of the territory of Moab ; in the waste uncultivated “ wilderness ” on its skirts (xxi. 11). I' JON, a town in the north of Palestine, belonging to the tribe of Naphtali. It was taken and plundered by the captains of Ben- hadad (1 K. xv. 20 ; 2 Chr. xvi. 4), and a second time by Tiglath-pileser (2 K. xv. 29). It was situated a few miles N.W. of the site of Dan, in a fertile and beautiful little plain called Merj * Ayun . ILLYR'ICUM, an extensive district lying along the eastern coast of the Adriatic from the boundary of Italy on the north to Epirus on the south, and contiguous to Moesia and Macedonia on the east (Rom. xv. 19). IMMAN'UEL, that is, God with us, the symbolical name given by the prophet Isaiah to the child who was announced to Ahaz and the people of Judah, as the sign which God would give of their deliverance from their enemies (Is. vii. 14). It is applied by the Apostle Matthew to the Messiah, born of the Virgin (Matt. i. 23). It would therefore appear that the immediate reference of the prophet was to some contemporary occur- rence, but that his words received their true and full accomplishment in the birth of the Messiah. INCENSE. The incense employed in the service of the tabernacle was compounded oi the perfumes stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. All incense which was not made of these ingredients was forbidden INDIA 227 INN to be offered (Ex. xxx. 9). Aaron, as high- priest, was originally appointed to offer incense, but in the daily service of the second temple the office devolved upon the inferior priests, from among whom one was chosen by lot (Luke i. 9), each morning and even- ing. The times of offering incense were specified in the instructions first given to Moses (Ex. xxx. 7, 8). The morning in- cense was offered when the lamps were trimmed in the Holy place, and before the sacrifice, when the watchman set for the purpose announced the break of day. When the lamps were lighted “ between the even- ings,” after the evening sacrifice and before the drink-offerings were offered, incense was again burnt on the golden altar, which “ belonged to the oracle ” (1 K. vi. 22), and stood before the veil which separated the Holy place from the Holy of Holies, the throne of God (Rev. viii. 4). When the priest entered the Holy place with the incense, all the people were removed from the temple, and from between the porch and the altar (cf. Luke i. 10). Profound silence was observed among the congregation who were praying without (cf. Rev. viii. 1), and at a signal from the prefect the priest cast the incense on the fire, and bowing reverently towards the Holy of Holies retired slowly backwards, not pro- longing his prayer that he might not alarm the congregation, or cause them to fear that he had been struck dead for offering un- worthily (Lev. xvi. 13 ; Luke i. 21). On the day of atonement the service was dif- ferent. The offering of incense has formed a part of the religious ceremonies of most ancient nations. It was an element in the idolatrous worship of the Israelites (Jer. xi. 12, 17, xlviiL 35; 2 Chr. xxxiv. 25). Look- ing upon incense in connexion with the other ceremonial observances of the Mosaic ritual, it would rather seem to be symbolical, not of prayer itself, but of that which makes prayer acceptable, the intercession of Christ. In Rev. viii. 3, 4, the incense is spoken of as something distinct from, though offered with, the prayers of all the saints (cf. Luke i. 10) ; and in Rev. v. 8 it is the golden vials, and not the odours or incense which are said to be the prayers of saints. INDIA. The name of India does not occur in the Bible before the book of Esther, where it is noticed as the limit of the territories of Ahasuerus in the east, as Ethiopia wag in the west (i. 1 ; viii. 9). The India of the book of Esther is not the peninsula of Hindostan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab and perhaps Scinde. In 1 Macc. viii. 8, India is reckoned among the countries which Eumenes, king of Pergamus, received out of the former possessions of Antiochus the Great. A more authentic notice of the country occurs in 1 Macc. xi. 37. But though the name of India occurs so seldom, the people and productions of that country must have been tolerably well known to the Jews. There is undoubted evidence that an active trade was carried on between India and Western Asia. The trade opened by Solomon with Ophir through the Red Se consisted chiefly of Indian articles. Tht- connexion thus established with India led to the opinion that the Indians were included under the ethnological title of Cush (Gen. x. 6). INK, INKHORN. [Writing.] INN. The Hebrew word ( mdlon ) thus rendered literally signifies “ a lodging-place for the night.” Inns, in our sense of the term, were, as they still are, unknown in the East, where hospitality is religiously practised. The khans, or caravanserais, are the representatives of European inns, and these were established but gradually. It is doubtful whether there is any allusion to them in the Old Testament. The halting- place of a caravan was selected originally on account of its proximity to water or pasture, by which the travellers pitched their tents and passed the night. Such was undoubtedly the “ inn” at which occurred the incident in the life of Moses, narrated in Ex. iv. 24 (Comp. Gen. xlii. 27). On the more fre- quented routes, remote from towns (Jer. ix. 2), caravanserais were in course of time erected, often at the expense of the wealthy. The following description of one of those on the road from Bagdad to Babylon will suffice for all : — “ It is a large and substantial square building, in the distance resembling a fortress, being surrounded with a lofty wall, and flanked by round towers to defend the inmates in case of attack. Passing through a strong gateway, the guest enters a large court, the sides of which are divided into numerous arched compartments, open in front, for the accommodation of separate parties and for the reception of goods. In the centre is a spacious raised platform, used for sleeping upon at night, or for the devo- tions of the faithful during the day. Between the outer wall and the compartments are wide vaulted arcades, extending round the entire building, where the beasts of burden are placed. Upon the roof of the arcades is an excellent terrace, and over the gateway an elevated tower containing two rooms — one of which is open at the sides, permitting the occupants to enjoy every breath of air that passes across the heated plain. The terrace is tolerably clean ; but the court and a 2 INSTANT 228 ISAAC stabling below are ankle-deep in chopped straw and filth.” (Loftus, Chaldea , p. 13.) INSTANT, INSTANTLY, in the A. V., means urgent, urgently, or fervently, as will be seen from the following passages (Luke vii. 4, xxiii. 23 ; Acts xxvi. 7 ; Rom. xii. 12). In 2 Tim. iv. 2 we find “ he instant in season and out of season.” The literal sense is “ stand ready ” — “ be alert ” for whatever may happen. IRON is mentioned with brass as the earliest of known metals (Gen. iv. 22). As it is rarely found in its native state, hut gener- ally in combination with oxygen, the know- ledge of the art of forging iron, which is attributed to Tubal Cain, argues an acquaint- ance with the difficulties which attend the smelting of this metal. The natural wealth of the soil of Canaan is indicated by describ- ing it as “aland whose stones are iron” (Deut. viii. 9). The book of Job contains passages which indicate that iron was a metal well known. Of the manner of pro- curing it, we learn that “ iron is taken from dust” (xxviii. 2). The “ furnace of iron” (Deut. iv. 28 ; IK. viii. 51) is a figure which vividly expresses hard bondage, as represented by the severe labour which at- tended the operation of smelting. Sheet- iron wa3 used for cooking utensils (Ez. iv. 3 ; cf. Lev. vii. 9). That it was plentiful in the time of David appears from 1 Chr. xxii. 3. The market of Tyre was supplied with bright or polished iron by the merchants of Dan and Javan (Ez. xxvii. 19). The Chalybes of the Pontus were celebrated as workers in iron in very ancient times. The produce of their labour is supposed to be alluded to in Jer. xv. 12, as being of superior quality. IR'-SHEM'ESH, a city of the Danites (Josh. xix. 41), probably identical with Beth-shemesh, and if not identical, at least connected with Mount Heres (Judg. i. 35). ISAAC, the son whom Sarah, in accordance with the Divine promise, bore to Abraham in the hundredth year of his age, at Gerar. In his infancy he became the object of Ishmael’s jealousy; and in his youth the victim, in intention, of Abraham’s great sacrificial act of faith. When forty years old he married Rebekah his cousin, by whom, when he was sixty, he had two sons, Esau and Jacob. In his seventy-fifth year he and his brother Ishmael buried their father Abraham in the cave of Machpelah. From this abode by the well Lahai-roi, in the South Country, Isaac was driven by a famine to Gerar. Here Jehovah appeared to him and hade him dwell there and not go over into Egypt, and re- newed to him the promises made to Abraham. Here he subjected himself, like Abraham in the same place and under like circumstance* (Gen. xx. 2), to a rebuke from Abimelech the Philistine king for an equivocation. Here he acquired great wealth by his flocks ; but was repeatedly dispossessed by the Philistines of the wells which he sank at convenient stations. At Beer sheba J ehovah appeared to him by night and blessed him, and he built an altar there : there, too, like Abraham, he received a visit from the Philistine king Abimelech, with whom he made a covenant of peace. After the deceit by which Jacob acquired his father’s blessing, Isaac sent his son to seek a wife in Padan-aram ; and all that we know of him during the last forty-three years of his life is that he saw that son, with a large and prosperous family, return to him at Hebron (xxxv. 27) before he died there at the age of 180 years. He was buried by his two sons in the cave of Mach- pelah. In the N. T. reference is made to the offering of Isaac (Heb. xi. 17 ; and James ii. 21) and to his blessing his sons (Heb. xi. 20). As the child of the promise, and as the progenitor of the children of the promise, he is contrasted with Ishmael (Rom. ix. 7, 10; Gal. iv. 28; Heb. xi. 18). In our Lord’s remarkable argument with the Sad- ducees, his history is carried beyond the point at which it is left in the O. T., and beyond the grave. Isaac, of whom it was said (Gen. xxxv. 29) that he was gathered to his people, is represented as still living to God (Luke xx. 38, &c.) ; and by the same Divine authority he is proclaimed as an acknowledged heir of future glory (Matt, viii. 11, &c.). It has been asked what are the persecutions sustained by Isaac from Ishmael to which St. Paul refers (Gal. iv. 29) ? Rashi relates a Jewish tradition of Isaac suffering personal violence from Ishmael, a tradition which some think was adopted by St. Paul. In reference to the offering up of Isaac by Abraham, the primary doctrines taught are those of sacrifice and substitution, as the means appointed by God for taking away sin ; and, as co-ordinate with these, the need of the obedience of faith, on the part of man, to receive the benefit (Heb. xi. 17). A confusion is often made between Isaac and the victim actually offered. Isaac himself is generally viewed as a type of the Son of God, offered for the sins of men ; but Isaac, himself one of the sinful race for whom atonement was to be made, — Isaac, who did not actually suffer death,— was no fit type of Him who “ was slain, the just for the unjust.” But the animal, not of the human race, which God provided and Abraham offered, was, in the whole history of sacrifice, the recognised ISAIAH 229 ISAIAH type of “ the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.” Isaac is the type of humanity itself, devoted to death for sin, and submitting to the sentence. ISAI'AH, the prophet, son of Amoz. The Hebrew name, our shortened form of which occurs with other persons [see Jesaiah, Jeshaiah], signifies Salvation of Jahu (a shortened form of Jehovah). He prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (Is. i. 1). Isaiah must have been an old man at the close of Hezekiah’s reign. The ordinary chronology gives 758 b.c. for the date of Jotham’s accession, and 698 for that of Hezekiah’s death. This gives us a period of sixty years. And since his ministry commenced before Uzziah’ s death (how long we know not), supposing him to have been no more than twenty years old when he began to prophesy, he would have been eighty or ninety at Manasseh’s acces- sion. Rabbinical tradition says that Isaiah was sawn asunder in a trunk of a tree by order of Manasseh, to which it is supposed that reference is made in Hebrews xi. 37. — I. Chs. i.-v. contain Isaiah’s prophecies in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham. — Ch. i. is very general in its contents. — Chs. ii.-iv. are one prophesying, — the leading thought of which is that the present prosperity of Judah should be destroyed for her sins, to make room for the real glory of piety and virtue ; while ch. v. forms a distinct dis- course, whose main purport is that Israel, God’s vineyard, shall be brought to desola- tion. — Ch. vi. describes an ecstatic vision that fell upon the prophet in the year of Uzziah’s death. — Ch. vi., vii., delivered in the reign of Ahaz, when he was threatened by the forces of Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria. As a sign that Judah was not yet to perish, he announces the birth of the child Immanuel, who should “ know to refuse the evil and choose the good,” before the land of the two hostile kings should be left desolate. — Ch. viii.-ix. 7. As the Assyrian empire began more and more to threaten the Hebrew commonwealth with utter overthrow, the prediction of the Messiah, the Restorer of Israel, becomes more positive and clear. The king was bent upon an alliance with Assyria. This Isaiah stedfastly opposes. — Ch. ix. 8-x. 4, is a pro- phecy delivered at this time against the kingdom of Israel (ix. 8-x. 4). — Ch. x. 5-xii. 6, is one of the most highly wrought passages in the whole book, and was pro- bably one single prophecy. It stands wholly disconnected with the preceding in the cir- sumstances which it presupposes ; and to what period to assign it, is not easy to de- termine. — Ch. xiii.-xxiii., contain chiefly a collection of utterances, each of which is styled a “burden.” ( a .) The first (xiii. 1- xiv. 27) is against Babylon. The ode of triumph (xiv. 3-23), in this burden is among the most poetical passages in all literature. (5.) The short and pregnant “burden” against Philistia (xiv. 29-32), in the year that Ahaz died, was occasioned by the revolt of the Philistines from Judah, and their successful inroad recorded in 2 Chr. xxviii. 18. (c.) The “burden of Moab ” (xv. xvi.) is remarkable for the elegiac strain in which the prophet bewails the disasters of Moab, and for the dramatic character of xvi. 1-6. ( /A"’' A. iMISiM • Monumcnl , ,, i J ian of Jerusalem. JERUSALEM 250 JERUSALEM land, the one on the west and the other on the north-east of the city, and fall rapidly until they form a junction below its south- east corner. The eastern one — the valley of the Kedron, commonly called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, runs nearly straight from north to south. But the western one — the valley of Hinnom — runs south for a time and then takes a sudden bend to the east until it meets the Valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent may be gathered from the fact, that the level at the point of junction — about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of each — is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which they commenced their descent. Thus, while on the north there is no material dif- ference between the general level of the country outside the walls, and that of the highest parts of the city ; on the other three sides, so steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the promontory, at whose feet they run, as to leave on the beholder almost the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress, rather than of valleys formed by nature. The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine run- ning up it from south to north, called the valley of the Tyropoeon, rising gradually from the south like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, and dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west is the higher and more massive on which the city of Jerusalem now stands, and in fact always stood. The hill on the east is considerably lower and smaller, so that, to a spectator from the south, the city appears to slope sharply towards the east. Here was the Temple, and here stands now the great Mohammedan sanctuary with its mosques and domes. — The name of Mount Zion has been applied to the western hill from the time of Constantine to the present day ; but not- withstanding it seems certain that up to the time of the destruction of the city by Titus, the name was applied exclusively to the eastern hill, or that on which the Temple stood. From the passages in 2 Sam. v. 7, and 1 Chr. xi. 5-8, it is quite clear that Zion and the city of David were identical, for it is ihere said, “ David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David.” “ And David dwelt in the castle, therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, even from Miilo round about, and Joab repaired the rest of the city.” There are numberless passages in which Sion is spoken of as a Holy place in such terms as are never applied to Jerusalem and which can only be understood as applied to the Holy Temple Mount (Ps. ii. 6, lxxxvii. 2, &c.). When from the Old Testament we turn to the Books of the Maccabees, we come to some passages written by persons who cer- tainly were acquainted with the localities, which seem to fix the site of Zion with a considerable amount of certainty (1 Macc. iv. 37 and 60, vii. 33). — The eastern hill, called Mount Moriah in 2 Chron. iii. 1, was, as already remarked, the site of the Temple. It was situated in the south-west angle of the area, now known as the Haram area, and was, as we learn from Josephus, an exact square of a stadium, or 600 Greek feet, on each side. Attached to the north- west angle of the Temple was the Antonia, a town or fortress. North of the side of the Temple is the building now known to Chris- tians as the Mosque of Omar, but by Moslems called the Dome of the Rock. This building is, according to Mr. Fergusson’s theory, the identical church which Constantine erected ever the rock containing the tomb of Christ. According to this view the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , which stands on the western hill, has no right to its name. The southern continuation of the eastern hill was named Ophel, which gradually came to a point at the junction of the valleys Tyropoeon and Jehoshaphat ; and the northern Bezetha, “ the New City,” first noticed by Josephus, which was separated from Moriah by an artificial ditch, and overlooked the valley of Kedron on the E. ; this hill was enclosed within the walls of Herod Agrippa. Lastly, Acra lay westward of Moriah and northward of Zion, and formed the “ Lower City ” in the time of Josephus. — Gates. — The follow- ing is a complete list of those which are named in the Bible and Josephus, with the references to their occurrences : — 1. Gate of Ephraim. 2 Chr. xxv. 23 ; Neh. viii. 16, xii. 39. This is probably the same as the — 2. Gate of Benjamin. Jer. xx. 2, xxxvii. 13; Zech. xiv. 10. If so, it was 400 cubits distant from the — 3. Corner gate. 2 Chr. xxv. 23, xxvi. 9 ; Jer. xxxi. 38 ; Zech. xiv. 10. 4. Gate of Joshua, governor of the city. 2 K. xxiii. 8. 5. Gate between the two walls. 2 K. xxv. 4 ; Jer. xxxix. 4. 6. Horse gate. Neh. iii. 38 ; 2 Chr. xxiii. 15 ; Jer. xxxi. 40. 7. Ravine gate [i.e. opening on ravine of Hinnom). 2 Chr. xxvi. 9 ; Neh. ii. 13, 15, iii. 13. 8. Fisb gate. 1 Chr. xxxiii. 14 ; Neh. iii. 1 ; Zeph. i. 16. 9. Dung gate. Neh. ii. 13, iii. 13. 10. Sheep gate. Neh. iii. 1, 32, xii. 39. 11. East gate. Neh. iii. 29. 12. Miphkad. Neh. iii. 31. 13. Fountain gate (Siloam?) dust from His feet. He came in His journey to Sichem, which the Jews in mockery had changed to Sychar. Wearied and athirst He sat on the side of Jacob’s well. A woman from the neighbouring town came to draw from (the well, and was astonished that a Jew should address her as a neighbour, with a request for water. The conversation that ensued might be taken for an example of the mode in which Christ leads to Plimself the souls of men. In this remarkable dialogue are many things to ponder over. The living water which Christ would give ; the an- nouncement of a change in the worship of Jew and Samaritan ; lastly, the confession that He who speaks is truly the Messiah, are all noteworthy. Jesus now returned to Galilee, and came to Nazareth, His own city. In the Synagogue He expounded to the people a passage from Isaiah (lxi. 1), telling them that its fulfilment was now at hand ir. His person. The same truth that had filled the Samaritans with gratitude, wrought up to fury the men of Nazareth, who would have destroyed Him if He had not escaped out of their hands (Luke iv. 16-30). He came now to Capernaum. On his way hither, when He had reached Cana, He healed the son of one of the courtiers of Herod Antipas (John iv. 46-54), who “ himself believed, and his whole house.” This was the second Galilean miracle. At Capernaum He wrought many miracles for them that needed. Here two disciples who had known him before, namely, Simon Peter and Andrew, were called from their fishing to become “ fishers of men” (Matt. iv. 19), and the two sons of Zebedee received the same summons. After healing on the Sabbath a demoniac in the Synagogue, He returned the same day to Simon’s house, and healed the mother-in-law of Simon, who was sick of a fever. At sun- set, the multitude, now fully aroused by what they had heard, brought their sick to Simon’s door to get them healed. He did not refuse His succour, and healed them all (Mark i. 29-34). He now, after showering down on Capernaum so many cures, turned His thoughts to the rest of Galilee, where other “lost sheep” were scattered: — “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth ” (Mark i. 38). The journey through Galilee, on which He now entered, must have been a general circuit of that country. — 2. Second year of the ministry . — Jesus went up to Jerusalem to “ a feast of the Jews,” which was probably the Passover. At the pool Bethesda ( = house of mercy), which was near me sheep-gate (Neh. iii. 1) on the ■Bible Du.tS<>imr\ . .'jOphrah^p NEW TESTAMENT. I JESUS CHRIST 257 JESUS CHRIST north-east side of the Temple, Jesus saw many infirm persons waiting their turn for the healing virtues of the water (John v. 1-18). Among them was a man who had an infirmity thirty-eight years : Jesus made him whole by a word, bidding him take up his bed and walk. The miracle was done on the Sabbath; and the Jews, who acted against Jesus, rebuked the man for carrying his bed. It was a labour, and as such forbidden (Jer. xvii. 21). In our Lord’s justification of Himself, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John v. 17), there is an une- quivocal claim to the divine nature. An- other discussion about the Sabbath arose from the disciples plucking the ears of corn as they went through the fields (Matt. xii. 1-8). The time of this is somewhat un- certain ; some would place it a vear later, just after the third Passover : but its place is much more probably here. Our Lord quotes cases where the law is superseded or set aside, because He is One who has power to do the same. And the rise of a new law is implied in those words which St. Mark alone has recorded : “ The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” The law upon the Sabbath was made in love to men, to preserve for them a due measure of rest, to keep room for the worship of God. The Son of Man has power to re-adjust this law, if its work is done, or if men are fit to receive a higher. This may have taken place on the way to Jerusalem after the Passover. On another Sabbath, probably at Capernaum, to which Jesus had returned, the Pharisees gave a far more striking proof of the way in which their hard and narrow and unloving interpretation would turn the beneficence of the Law into a blighting op- pression. Our Lord entered into the syna- gogue, and found there a man with a withered hand — some poor artisan perhaps whose handiwork was his means of life. Jesus was about to heal him— which would give back life to the sufferer — which would give joy to every beholder, who had one touch of pity in his heart. The Pharisees interfere : “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day?” Their doctors would have allowed them to pull a sheep out of a pit ; but they will not have a man rescued from the depth of misery. Rarely is that loving Teacher wroth, but here His anger, mixed with grief, showed itself : He looked round about upon them “ with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts,” and answered their cavils by healing the man (Matt. xii. 9-14 ; Mark iii. 1-6; Luke vi. 6-11). — In placing the ordination or calling of the Twelve Apostles )ust before the Sermon on the Mount, we are Sm. H. B. under the guidance of St. Luke (vi. 13, 17)* But this more solemn separation for their work by no means marks the time of their first approach to Jesus. That which takes place here is the appointment of twelve disciples to be a distinct body, under the name of Apostles. They are not sent forth to preach until later in the same year. The number twelve must have reference to the number of the Jewish tribes : it is a number selected on account of its symbolical mean- ing, for the work confided to them might have been wrought by more or fewer. In the four lists of the names of the Apostles preserved to us (Matt, x., Mark iii., Luke vi., Acts i.), there is a certain order pre- served, amidst variations. The two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee, are always named the first ; and of these Simon Peter ever holds the first place. Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, are always in the next rank ; and of them Philip is always the first. In the third rank James the son of Alpheus is the first, as Judas Iscariot is always the last, with Simon the Zealot and Thaddaeus be- tween. Some of the Apostles were certainly poor and unlearned men ; it is probable that the rest were of the same kind. Four of them were fishermen, not indeed the poorest ©f their class ; and a fifth was a “ publican,” one of the tax-gatherers, who collected the taxes farmed by Romans of higher rank. From henceforth the education of the twelve Apostles will be one of the principal features of the Lord’s ministry. First He instructs them; then He takes them with Him as companions of His wayfaring ; then He sends them forth to teach and heal for Him. The Sermon on the Mount , although it is meant for all the disciples, seems to have a special reference to the chosen Twelve (Matt, v. 11). — About this time it was that John the Baptist, long a prisoner with little hope of release, sent his disciples to Jesus with the question, “ Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another ? ” In all the Gospels there is no more touching inci- dent. The great privilege of John’s life was that he was appointed to recognize and bear witness to the Messiah (John i. 31). Aftei languishing a year in a dungeon, after learn- ing that even yet Jesus had made no steps towards the establishment of His kingdom of the Jews, and that his following consisted of only twelve poor Galileans, doubts began to cloud over his spirit. Was the kingdom of Messiah as near a3 he had thought? Was Jesus not the Messiah, but some forerunner of that Deliverer, as he himself had been ? There is no unbelief; he does not suppose S JESUS CHRIST 258 JESUS CHRIST that Jesus has deceived; when the doubts arise, it is to Jesus that he submits them. But it was not without great depression and perplexity that he put the question, “ Art thou He that should come ? ” The scope of the answer given lies in its recalling John to the grounds of his former confidence. — Now commences the second circuit of Galilee (Luke viii. 1-3), to which belong the parables in Matt. xiii. ; the visit of our Lord’s mother and brethren (Luke viii. 19-21), and the account of His reception at Nazareth (Mark vi. 1-6). During this time the twelve have journeyed with Him. But now a third circuit in Galilee is recorded, which probably oc- curred during the last three months of this year (Matt. ix. 35-38) ; and during this circuit, after reminding them how great is the harvest and how pressing the need of labourers, He carries the training of the dis- ciples one step further by sending them forth by themselves to teach (Matt. x. xi.). They went forth two and two ; and our Lord con- tinued His own circuit (Matt. xi. 1), with what companions does not appear. After a journey of perhaps two months’ duration the twelve return to Jesus, and gave an account of their ministry. The third Passover was now drawing near ; but the Lord did not go up to it. He wished to commune with His Apostles privately upon their work, and, we may suppose, to add to the instruction they had already received from Him (Mark vi. 30, 31). He therefore went with them from the neighbourhood of Capernaum to a moun- tain on the eastern shore of the Sea of Tiberias, near Bethsaida Julias, not far from the head of the sea. Great multitudes pur- sued them; and here the Lord, moved to compassion by the hunger and weariness of the people, wrought for them one of His most remarkable miracles. Out of five barley loaves and two small fishes, He produced food for five thousand men besides women and children. After the miracle the disciples crossed the sea, and Jesus retired alone to a mountain to commune with the Father. They were toiling at the oar, for the wind was contrary, when, as the night drew to- wards morning, they saw Jesus walking to them on the sea, having passed the whole night on the mountain. They were amazed and terrified. He came into the ship and the wind ceased. When they reached the shore of Gennesaret the whole people showed their faith in Him as a Healer of disease (Mark vi. 53-56) ; and He performed very many miracles on them. Yet on the next day the great discourse just alluded to was uttered, and “ from that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him ” (John vi. 66). — 3. Third year of the Ministry . — Hearing perhaps that Jesus was not coming to the feast, Scribes and Pharisees from Jeru- salem went down to see Him at Capernaum (Matt. xv. 1). Leaving the neighbourhood of Capernaum our Lord now travels to the north-west of Galilee, to the region of Tyre and Sidon. The time is not strictly deter- mined, but it was probably the early summer of this year. It does not appear that He retired into this heathen country for the pur- pose of ministering ; more probably it was a retreat from the machinations of the Jews (Matt. xv. 21-28 ; Mark vii. 24-30). Re- turning thence He passed round by the north of the sea of Galilee to the region of Deca- polis on its eastern side (Mark vii. 31-37). In this district He performed many miracles, and especially the restoration of a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech, re- markable for the seeming effort with which He wrought it. To these succeeded the feed- ing of the four thousand with the seven loaves (Matt. xv. 32). He now crossed the Lake of Magdala, where the Pharisees and Sadducees asked and were refused a “ sign.” After they had departed Jesus crossed the lake with his disciples. At Bethsaida Julias, He restored sight to a blind man ; and here, as in a former case, the form and preparation which He adopted are to be remarked (Mark viii. 22-26). The ministry in Galilee is now drawing to its close. Through the length and breadth of that country Jesus has pro- claimed the kingdom of Christ, and has shown by mighty works that He is the Christ that was to come. Many thousands had actually been benefited by the miracles ; and yet of all these there were only twelve that really clave to Him, and one of them was Judas the traitor. With this rejection an epoch of the history is connected. He begins to unfold now the doctrine of His passion more fully. The doctrine of a suffering Messiah, so plainly exhibited in the prophets, had receded from sight in the current religion of that time. The announcement of it to the disciples was at once new and shocking. Turning now to the whole body of those who followed Him, He published the Christian doctrine of self-denial. The Apostles had just shown that they took the natural view of suffering, that it was an evil to be shunned. They shrank from conflict, and pain, and death, as it is natural men should. But Jesus teaches that, in com- parison with the higher life, the life of the soul, the life of the body is valueless (Matt, xvi. 21-28 ; Mark viii. 31-38 ; Luke ix. 22- 27). The Transfiguration, which took place just a week after this conversation, is to be JESUS CHRIST 259 JESUS CHRIST understood in connexion with it. The minds of the twelve were greatly disturbed at what they had heard. Now, if ever, they needed support for their perplexed spirits, and this their loving Master failed not to give them. He takes with Him three chosen disciples, Peter, John, and James, who formed as it were a smaller circle nearer to Jesus than the rest, into a high mountain apart by them- selves. There are no means of determining the position of the mountain. The three disciples were taken up with Him, who should afterwards he the three witnesses of His agony in the garden of Gethsemane : those who saw His glory in the holy mount would be sustained by the remembrance of it when they beheld His lowest humiliation. Mean- time amongst the multitude below a scene was taking place which formed the strongest contrast to the glory and the peace which they had witnessed, and which seemed to justify Peter’s remark, “It is good for us to be here.” A poor youth, lunatic and pos- sessed by a devil, was brought to the disciples who were not with Jesus, to be cured. They could not prevail ; and when Jesus appeared amongst them the agonized and disappointed father appealed to Him, with a kind of com- plaint of the impotence of the disciples. What the disciples had failed to do, Jesus did at a word. He then explained to them that their want of faith in their own power to heal, and in His promises to bestow the power upon them, was the cause of their in- ability (Matt. xvii. 14-21 ; Mark ix. 14-29 ; Luke ix. 37-43). Once more did Jesus foretell His sufferings on their way back to Capernaum (Mark ix. 30-32). — Third year , from, the Feast of Tabernacles . — The Feast of Tabernacles was now approaching. His brethren set out for the feast without Him, and He abode in Galilee for a few days longer (John vii. 2-10). Afterwards He set out, taking the more direct but less fre- quented route by Samaria. St. Luke alone records, in connexion with this journey, the sending forth of the seventy disciples. This event is to be regarded in a different light from that of the twelve. The seventy had received no special education from our Lord, and their commission was of a temporary kind. The number has reference to the Gentiles, as twelve had to the Jews ; and the scene of the work, Samaria, reminds us that this is a movement directed towards the stranger. After healing the ten lepers in Samaria, He came about the midst of the feast to Jerusalem. The Pharisees and rulers sought to take Him ; some of the people, however, believed in Him, but concealed their opinion for fear of the rulers. To this division of opinion we may attribute the failure of the repeated attempts on the part of the Sanhedrim to take One who was openly teaching in the Temple (John vii. 11-53 : see esp. ver. 30, 32, 44, 45, 46). The officers were partly afraid to seize in the presence of the people the favourite Teacher ; and partly were themselves awed and attracted by Him. The history of the woman taken in adultery belongs to this time. To this place belongs the account, given by John alone, of the heal- ing of one who was born blind, and the con- sequences of it (John ix. 1-41, x. 1-21). The well-known parable of the good shep- herd is an answer to the calumny of the Pharisees, that He was an impostor and breaker of the law, “ This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath-day ” (ix. 16). — We now approach a difficult por- tion of the sacred history. The note of time given us by John immediately afterwards is the Feast of the Dedication, which was cele- brated on the 25th of Kisleu, answering nearly to December. According to this Evangelist our Lord does not appear to have returned to Galilee between the Feast of Tabernacles and that of the Dedication, but to have passed the time in and near Jerusalem. Matthew and Mark do not allude to the Feast of Tabernacles. Luke appears to do so in ix. 51 : but the words there used would imply that this was the last journey to Jeru- salem. Now in St. Luke’s Gospel a large section, from ix. 51 to xviii. 14, seems to belong to the time preceding the departure from Galilee ; and the question is how is this to be arranged, so that it shall harmonize with the narrative of St. John 1 In most Harmonies a return of our Lord to Galilee has been assumed, in order to find a place for this part of Luke’s Gospel. Perhaps this great division of Luke (x. 17-xviii. 14) should be inserted entire between John x. 21 and 22. Some of the most striking para- bles, preserved only by Luke, belong to this period. The parables of the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the unjust steward, the rich man and Lazarus, and the Pharisee and publican, all peculiar to this Gospel, belong to the present section. The instructive ac- count of Mary and Martha and the miracle of the ten lepers belong to this portion of the narrative. Besides these, scattered say- ings that occur in St. Matthew are here re- peated in a new connexion. The account of the bringing of young children to Jesus unites again the three Evangelists (Matt. xix. 13- 15 ; Mark x. 13-16 ; Luke xviii. 15-17). On the way to Jerusalem through Peraea, to the Feast of Dedication, Jesus again puts before the minds of the twelve what they are S 2 JESUS CHRIST 260 JESUS CHRIST never now to forget, the sufferings that await Him. They “ understood none of these things,” for they could not reconcile this foreboding of suffering with the signs and announcements of the coming of His king- dom (Matt. xx. 17-19; Mark x. 32-34; Luke xviii. 31-34). In consequence of this new, though dark, intimation of the coming of the kingdom, Salome, with her two sons, James and John, came to bespeak the two places of highest honour in the kingdom. Jesus tells them that they know not what they ask ; that the places of honour in the kingdom shall be bestowed, not by Jesus in answer to a chance request, but upon those for whom they are prepared by the Father. As sin ever provokes sin, the ambition of the ten was now aroused, and they began to be much displeased with James and John. Jesus once more recalls the prin- ciple that the childlike disposition is that which He approves (Matt. xx. 20-28 ; Mark x. 35-45). The healing of the two blind men at Jericho is chiefly remarkable among the miracles from the difficulty which has arisen in harmonizing the accounts. Mat- thew speaks of two blind men, and of the occasion as the departure from Jericho ; Mark of one, whom he names, and of their arrival at Jericho ; and Luke agrees with him. This point has received much discussion ; but the view of Lightfoot finds favour with many eminent expositors, that there were two blind men, and both were healed under similar circumstances, except that Barti- maeus was on one side of the city, and was healed by Jesus as He entered, and the other was healed on the other side as they departed (Matt. xx. 29-34 ; Mark x. 46-52 ; Luke xviii. 35-43). The calling of Zacchaeus has more than a mere personal interest. He was a publican, one of a class hated and despised by the Jews. But he was one who sought to serve God. From such did Jesus wish to call His disciples, whether they were pub- licans or not (Luke xix. 1-10). We have reached now the Feast of Dedication ; but, as has been said, the exact place of the events in St. Luke about this part of the ministry has not been conclusively deter- mined. After being present at the feast, Jesus returned to Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John had formerly baptised, and abode there. How long He remained here does not appear. It was probably for some weeks. The sore need of a family in Bethany, who were what men call the intimate friends of our Lord, called Him thence. Lazarus was sick, and his sisters sent word of it to Jesus, whose power they well knew. It was not till Lazarus had been four days in the grave that the Saviour appeared on the scene. But with the power of God he breaks the fetters of brass in which Lazarus was held by death, and at His word the man on whom corrup- tion had already begun to do its work, came forth, alive and whole (John xi. 1-45). A miracle so public, for Bethany was close to Jerusalem, and the family of Lazarus well known to many people in the mother-city, could not escape the notice of the Sanhedrim. A meeting of this Council was called without loss cf time, and the matter discussed. We now approach the final stage of the history, and every word and act tend towards the great act of suffering. Each day is marked by its own events or instructions. Our Lord entered into Bethany on Friday the 8th of Nisan, the eve of the Sabbath, and remained over the Sabbath. — Saturday , the 9th of Nisan ( April 1st). — As he was at supper in the house of one Simon, surnamed “ the leper,” a relation of Lazarus, who was at table with Him, Mary, full of gratitude for the wonder- ful raising of her brother from the dead, took a vessel containing a quantity of pure oint- ment of spikenard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair, and anointed His head likewise. — Passion Week. Sunday the 10 th day of Nisan (April 2nd). — When He arrives at the Mount of Olives He commands two of His disciples to go into the village near at hand, where they would find an ass, and a colt tied with her. With these beasts, impressed as for the service of a king, He was to enter into Jerusalem. The disciples spread upon the ass their ragged cloaks for Him to sit on. And the multi- tudes cried aloud before Him, in the words of the 118th Psalm, “Hosanna, Save now I blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” All the city was moved. Blind and lame came to the Temple when He arrived there and were healed. After working mi- racles in the Temple He returned to Bethany. The 10th of Nisan was the day for the sepa- ration of the paschal lamb (Ex. xii. 3). Jesus, the Lamb of God, entered Jerusalem and the Temple on this day, and although none but He knew that He was the Paschal Lamb, the coincidence is not undesigned (Matt. xxi. 1-11, 14-17; Mark xi. 1-11; Luke xix. 29-44 ; John xii. 12-19). — Mon- day the 1 Ith of Nisan (April Zrd). — The next day Jesus returned to Jerusalem, again to take advantage of the mood of the people to instruct them. On the way He approached one of the many fig-trees which grew in that quarter, and found that it was full of foliage, but without fruit. He said, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever ! ” and the fig-tree withered away (Matt. xxi. 18. 19 ; JESUS CHRIST 261 JESUS CHRIST Mark si. 12-14). Proceeding now to the Temple, He cleared its court of the crowd of traders that gathered there (Matt. xxi. 12, 13 ; Mark xi. 15-19 ; Luke xix. 45-48). In the evening he returned again to Bethany. — Tuesday the 12 th of Nisan ( April 4.th). — On this the third day of Passion week Jesus went into Jerusalem as before, and visited the Temple. The Sanhedrim came to Him to call Plim to account for the clearing of the Temple. “ By what authority doest thou these things ? ” The Lord answered this question by another. They refused to answer, and Jesus refused in like manner to answer them. To this time belong the parables of the two sons (Matt. xxi. 23-32 ; Mark xi. 27-33 ; Luke xx. 1-8), of the wicked hus- bandman, and of the wedding garment (Matt, xxi. 33-46, xxii. 1-14 ; Mark xii. 1-12 ; Luke xx. 9-19). Another great discourse belongs to this day, which, more than any other, presents Jesus as the great Prophet of His people. On leaving the Temple His dis- ciples drew attention to the beauty of its structure, its “ goodly stones and gifts,” their remarks probably arising from the threats of destruction which had so lately been uttered by Jesus. Their Master an- swered that not one stone of the noble pile should be left upon another. When they reached the Mount of Olives the disciples, or rather the first four (Mark), speaking for the rest, asked him when this destruction should be accomplished. To understand the answer it must be borne in mind that Jesus warned them that He was not giving them an histo- rical account such as would enable them to anticipate the events. “ Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Ealher only.” Exact data of time are to be purposely withheld from them. Accordingly two events, analogous in character but widely sundered by time, are so treated in the prophecy that it is almost impossible to disentangle them. The destruction of Jerusalem and the day of judg- ment — the national and the universal days of account — are spoken of together or alter- nately without hint of the great interval of time that separates them. The conclusion which Jesus drew from his own awful warn- ing was, that they were not to attempt to fix the date of his return. The lesson of the parable of the Ten Yirgins is the same (Matt, xxiv. 44, xxv. 13). And the parable of the Talents, here repeated in a modified form, teaches how precious to souls are the uses of time (xxv. 14-30). In concluding this mo- mentous discourse, our Lord puts aside the destruction of Jerusalem, and displays to our eyes the picture of the final judgment (Matt. xxv. 31-46). With these weighty words ends the third day. — Wednesday the 13 th of Nisan ( April 5th). — This day was passed in retire- ment with the Apostles. Satan had put it into the mind of one of them to betray Him ; and Judas Iscariot made a covenant to betray Him to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver (Matt. xxvi. 14-16 ; Mark xiv. 10, 11 ; Luke xxii. 1-6). — Thursday the 14 th of Nisan (April Qth). — On “ the first day of unleavened bread,” the disciples asked their Master where they were to eat the Passover. He directed Peter and John to go into Jeru- salem, and to follow a man whom they should see bearing a pitcher of water, and to demand of him, in their Master’s name, the use of the guestchamber in his house for this pur- pose. All happened as Jesus had told them, and in the evening they assembled to cele- brate, for the last time, the paschal meal. The sequence of the events is not quite clear from a comparison of the Evangelists. The order seems to be as follows. When they had taken their places at table and the supper had begun, Jesus gave them the first cup to divide amongst themselves (Luke). It was customary to drink at the paschal supper four cups of wine mixed with water; and this answered to the first of them. There now arose a contention among the disciples which of them should be the greatest ; per- haps in connexion with the places which they had taken at this feast (Luke). After a solemn warning against pride and ambition Jesus performed an act which, as one of the last of His life, must ever have been remem- bered by the witnesses as a great lesson of humility. He rose from the table, poured water into a basin, girded himself with a towel, and proceeded to wash the disciples’ feet (John). After all had been washed, the Saviour explained to them the meaning of what He had done. “ If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (Matt. xxvi. 17-20; Mark xiv. 12-17; Luke xxii. 7-30; John xiii. 1-20). From this act of love it does not seem that even the traitor Judas was excluded. But his treason was thoroughly known ; and now Jesus denounces it. One of them should betray Him. The traitor having gone straight to his wicked object, the end of the Saviour’s ministry seemed already at hand. He gave them the new commandment, to love one another, as though it were a last bequest to them (Matt. xxvi. 21-25 ; Mark xiv. 18-21 ; Luke xxii. 21-23 ; John xiii. 21-35). Towards the close of the meal Jesus instituted the sacrament of the JESUS CHRIST 262 JESUS CHRIST Lord’s Supper (Mat,*;, xxvi. 26-29 ; Mark xiv. 22-25 ; Luke xxii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23-25). The denial of Peter is now foretold, and to no one would such an announcement be more incredible than to Peter himself (Matt. xxvi. 31-35 ; Mark xiv. 27-31 ; Luke xxii. 31-38 ; John xiii. 36-38). That great final discourse, which John alone has re- corded, is now delivered. Although in the middle of it there is a mention of departure (John xiv. 31), this perhaps only implies that they prepared to go ; and then the whole discourse was delivered in the house before they proceeded to Gethsemane (John xiv.-xvii.). — Friday the 15 th of Nisan ( April 7 th), including part of the eve of it. — 44 When they had sung a hymn,” which perhaps means, when they had sung the second part of the Hallel, or song of praise, which con- sisted of Psalms cxv.-cxviii., the former part (Psalms cxiii.-cxiv.) having been sung at an earlier part of the supper, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Jesus takes only hi3 three proved companions, Peter, James, and John, and passes with them farther into the garden, leaving the rest seated, probably near the entrance. No pen can attempt to describe what passed that night in that se- cluded spot. He tells them 44 my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death : tarry ye here and watch with me,” and then leav- ing even the three He goes further, and in solitude wrestles with an inconceivable trial. The words of Mark are still more expressive — 44 He began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (xiv. 33). The former word means that he was struck with a great dread ; not from the fear of physical suffering, how- ever excruciating, we may well believe, but from the contact with the sins of the world, of which, in some inconceivable way, He felt the bitterness and the weight. He did not merely contemplate them, but bear and feel them. It is impossible to explain this scene in Gethsemane in any other way. The dis- ciples have sunk to sleep. It was in search of consolation that He came back to them. The disciple who had been so ready to ask 44 Why cannot I follow thee now?” must hear another question, that rebukes his for- mer confidence — 44 Couldest not thou watch one hour ? ” A second time He departs and wrestles in prayer with the Father. A second time He returns and finds them sleeping. The same scene is repeated yet a third time ; and then all is concluded. Henceforth they ma y sleep and take their rest; never more shall they be asked to watch one hour with Jesus, for His ministry in the flesh is at an end. This scene is in complete contrast to tho Transfiguration (Matt. xxvi. 36-46 ; Mark xiv. 32-42 ; Luke xxii. 39-46 ; John xviii. 1). Judas now appeared to complete his work. In the doubtful light of torches, a kiss from him was the sign to the officers whom they should take. Peter, whose name is first given in John’s Gospel, drew a sword and smote a servant of the high-priest and cut off his ear ; but his Lord refused such succour, and healed the wounded man. All the disciples forsook Him and fled (Matt, xxvi. 47-56 ; Mark xiv. 43-52 ; Luke xxii. 47-53 ; John xviii. 2-12). There is some difficulty in arranging the events that imme- diately follow, so as to embrace all the four accounts. On the capture of Jesus He was first taken to the house of Annas, the father- in-law of Caiaphas the high-priest. It might appear from the course of John’s narrative that the examination of our Lord, and the first denial of Peter, took place in the house of Annas (John xviii. 13, 14). But the 24th verse is retrospective ; and probably all that occurred after verse 14 took place not at the house of Annas, but at that of Caiaphas. The house of the high-priest consisted probably, like other Eastern houses, of an open central court with chambers round it. Into this court a gate admitted them, at which a woman stood to open. As Peter passed in, the portress took note of him ; and after- wards, at the fire which had been lighted, asked him, 44 Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples?” (John). All the zeal and boldness of Peter seems to have deserted him. He had come as in secret ; he is determined so to remain, and he denies his Master! Feeling now the danger of his situation, he went out into the *\)reh, and there some one, or, looking at all the accounts, probably se- veral persons, asked him the question a second time, and he denied more strongly. About an hour after, when he had returned into the court, the same question was put to him a third time, with the same result. Then the cock crew ; and Jesus, who was within sight, probably in some open room communi- cating with the court, 44 turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto Him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Matt. xxvi. 57, 58, 69-75 ; Mark xiv. 53, 54, 66-72 ; Luke xxii. 54-62 ; John xviii. 13-18, 24-27). The first interrogatory to which our Lord was subject (John xviii. 19-24) was addressed to Him by Caiaphas, probably befote the Sanhedrim had time to assemble. It was the questioning of an in- quisitive person who had an important cri- minal in his presence, rather than a formal examination. The Lord’s refusal to answer JESUS CHRIST 263 JESUS CHRIST is thus explained and justified. When the more regular proceedings begin He is ready to answer. A servant of the high-priest, knowing that he should thereby please his master, smote the cheek of the Son of God with the palm of his hand. But this was only the beginning of horrors. At the dawn of day the Sanhedrim, summoned by the high- priest in the course of the night, assembled, and brought their band of false witnesses, whom they must have had ready before. These gave their testimony, but even before this unjust tribunal it could not stand ; it was so full of contradictions. At last two false witnesses came, and their testimony was very like the truth. Even these two fell into contradictions. The high-priest now with a solemn adjuration asks Him whether He is the Christ the Son of God. He answers that He is, and foretells His return in glory and power at the last day. This is enough for their purpose. They pronounce Him guilty of a crime for which death should be the punishment (John xviii. 19-24 ; Luke xxii. 63-71 ; Matt. xxvi. 59-68 ; Mark xiv. 55-65). Although they had pronounced Jesus to be guilty of death, the Sanhedrim possessed no power to carry out such a sen- tence. As soon as it was day they took Him to Pilate, the Roman procurator. The hall of judgment, or praetorium, was probably a part of the tower of Antonia near the Tem- ple, where the Roman garrison was. Pilate hearing that Jesus was an offender under their law, was about to give them leave to treat him accordingly ; and this would have made it quite safe to execute him. From the first Jesus found favour in the eyes of Pilate, and He pronounced that he found no fault in Him. Not so easily were the Jews to be cheated of their prey. They heaped up accusations against Him as a disturber of the public peace (Luke xxiii. 5). Pilate was no match for their vehemence. Finding that Jesus was a Galilean, he sent Him to Herod to be dealt with ; but Herod, after cruel mockery and persecution, sent Him back to Pilate. Now commenced the fearful struggle between the Roman procurator, a weak as well as cruel man, and the Jews. The well- known incidents of the second interview are soon recalled. After the examination by Herod, and the return of Jesus, Pilate pro- posed to release Him, as it was usual on the feast-day to release a prisoner to the Jews out of grace. Pilate knew well that the priests and rulers would object to this ; but it was a covert appeal to the people. The multitude, persuaded by the priests, preferred another prisoner, called Bar abbas. Now came the scourging, and the blows and insults of the soldiers, who, uttering truth when they were only reviling, crowned Him and ad- dressed Plim as King of the Jews. Accord- ing to John, Pilate now made one more effort for His release. He still sought to release Jesus : but the last argument, which had been in the minds of both sides all along, was now openly applied to him : “If thou let this man go, thou art not Csesar’s friend.” This decided the question. He delivered Jesus to be crucified (Matt, xxvii. 15-30 ; Mark xv. 6-19 ; Luke xxiii. 17-25 ; John xviii. 39, 40, xix. 1-16). John mentions that this oc- curred about the sixth hour, reckoning pro- bably from midnight. In Mark the Jewish reckoning from six in the morning is fol- lowed. One Person alone has been calm amidst the excitements of that night of hor- rors. On Him is now laid the weight of His cross, or at least of the transverse beam of it ; and, with this pressing Him down, they proceed out of the city to Golgotha or Cal- vary, a place the site of which is now uncer- tain. As He began to droop, His persecu- tors, unwilling to defile themselves with the accursed burthen, lay hold of Simon of Cyrene and compel him to carry the cross after Jesus. After offering Him wine and myrrh, they crucified Him between two thieves. Nothing was wanting to His humiliation ; a thief had been preferred before Him, and two thieves share His punishment. Pilate set over Him in three languages the inscription, “ Jesus, the King of the Jews.” The chief-priests took exception to this that it did not de- nounce Him as falsely calling Himself by that name, but Pilate refused to alter it. One of the two thieves underwent a change of heart even on the cross : he reviled at first (Matt.) ; and then, at the sight of the constancy of Jesus, repented (Luke) (Matt, xxvii. ; Mark xv. ; Luke xxiii. ; John xix.). In the depths of His bodily suffering, Jesus calmly commended to John (?), who stood near, the care of Mary his mother. “Be- hold thy son ! behold thy mother.” From the sixth hour to the ninth there was dark- ness over the whole land. At the ninth hour (3 p.m.) Jesus uttered with a loud voice the opening words of the 22nd Psalm, all the inspired words of which referred to the suf- fering Messiah. One of those present dipped a sponge in the common sour wine of the soldiers and put it on a reed to moisten the sufferer’s lips. Again He cried with a loud voice, “ It is finished ” (John), “ Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit ” (Luke) ; and gave up the ghost (Matt, xxvii. 31-56 ; Mark xv. 20-41 ; Luke xxiii. 33-49 ; John xix. 17-30). On the death of Jesus the veil which covered the most Holy Place of the JESUS CHRIST 264 JETHRO Temple, the place of the more especial pre- sence df Jehovah, was rent in twain. There was a great earthquake. Many who were flead rose from their graves, although they returned to the dust again after this great token of Christ’s quickening power had been given to many (Matt.). The Jews, very zea- lous for the Sabbath in the midst of their murderous work, begged Pilate that He would put an end to the punishment by breaking the legs of the criminals that they might be taken down and buried before the Sabbath, for which they were preparing (Deut. xxi. 23 ; Joseph. B. J. iv. 5, § 2). Those who were to execute this duty found that Jesus was dead and the thieves still living. The death of the Lord before the others was, no doubt, partly the consequence of the previous mental suffering which He had undergone, and partly because His will to die lessened the natural resistance of the frame to dissolution. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council but a secret disciple of Jesus, came to Pilate to beg the body of Jesus, that he might bury it. Nicodemus assisted in this work of love, and they anointed the body and laid it in Joseph’s new tomb (Matt, xxvii. 50-61 ; Mark xv. 37-47 ; Luke xxiii. 46-56; John xix. 30- 42 ). — Saturday the 1 6th of Nisan (April 8 th ). — The chief priests and Pharisees, with Pilate’s permission, set a watch over the tomb, “ lest His disciples come by night and steal Plim away, and say unto the people He is risen from the dead.” (Matt, xxvii. 62- 66 ). — Sunday the 17 th of Nisan (April 9th). — The Sabbath ended at six on the evening of Nisan 16th. Early the next morning the resurrection of Jesus took place. The exact hour of the resurrection is not mentioned by any of the Evangelists. Of the great mystery itself, the resumption of life by Him who was truly dead, we see but little. The women, who had stood by the cross of Jesus, had pre- pared spices on the evening before, perhaps to complete the embalming of our Lord’s body, already performed in haste by Joseph and Nicodemus. They came very early on the first day of the week to the Sepulchre. When they arrive they find the stone rolled away, and Jesus no longer in the Sepulchre. He had risen from the dead. Mary Mag- dalene at this point goes back in haste ; and at once, believing that the body has been removed by men, tells Peter and John that the Lord has been taken away. The other women, however, go into the Sepulchre, and they see an angel (Matt. Mark). The two angels, mentioned by St. Luke, are probably two separate appearances to different mem- bers of the group ; for he alone mentions an indefinite number of women. They now leave the Sepulchre, and go in haste to make known the news to the Apostles. As they were going, “ Jesus met them, saying, All hail.” The eleven do not believe the account when they receive it. In the mean time Peter and John came to the Sepulchre. They ran, in their eagerness, and John arrived first and looked in; Peter afterwards came up, and it is characteristic that the awe which had prevented the other disciple from going in appears to have been unfelt by Peter, who entered at once, and found the grave- clothes lying, but not Him who had worn them. This fact must have suggested that the removal was not the work of human hands. They then returned, wondering at what they had seen. Mary Magdalene, how- ever, remained weeping at the tomb, and she too saw the two angels in the tomb, though Peter and John did not. They address her, and she answers, still, however, without any suspicion that the Lord is risen. As she turns away she sees Jesus, but in the tumult of her feelings does not even recognise Him at His first address. But He calls her by name, and then she joyfully recognises her Master. The third appearance of our Lord was to Peter (Luke, Paul) ; the fourth to the two disciples going to Emmaus in the evening (Mark, Luke) ; the fifth in the same evening to the eleven as they sat at meat (Mark, Luke, John). All of these occurred on the first day of the week, the very day of the Resurrection. Exactly a week after, He ap- peared to the Apostles, and gave Thomas a convincing proof of His resurrection (John) ; this was the sixth appearance. The seventh was in Galilee, where seven of the Apostles were assembled, some of them probably about to return to their old trade of fishing (John). The eighth was to the eleven (Matt.), and probably to five hundred brethren assembled with them (Paul) on a mountain in Galilee. The ninth was to James (Paul) ; and the last to the Apostles at Jerusalem just before the Ascension (Acts). JETH'RO was priest or prince of Midian, both offices probably being combined in one person. Moses spent the forty years of his exile from Egypt with him, and married his daughter Zipporah. By the advice of Jethro, Moses appointed deputies to judge the con- gregation and share the burden of govern- ment with himself (Ex. xviii.). On account of his local knowledge he was entreated to remain with the Israelites throughout their journey to Canaan (Num. x. 31, 33). It is said in Ex. ii. 18 that the priest of Midian whose daughter Moses married was Reuel ; afterwards at ch. iii. 1, he is called Jethro. I JEZKEEL. JEW 265 JEZREEL as also in ch. xviii. : but in Num. x. 29 “ Hobab the son of Raguel the Midianite ” is apparently called Moses’ father-in-law (comp. Judg. iv. 11). Some commentators take Jethro and Reuel to be identical, and call Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses. JEW. This name was properly applied to i member of the kingdom of Judah after the separation of the ten tribes. The term first makes its appearance just before the captivity of the ten tribes (2 K. xvi. 6). After the Return the word received a larger applica- tion. Partly from the predominance of the members of the old kingdom of Judah among those who returned to Palestine, partly from the identification of Judah with the religious ideas and hopes of the people, all the mem- bers of the new state were called Jews (Judaeans), and the name was extended to the remnants of the race scattered through- out the nations (Dan. iii. 8, 12 ; Ezr. iv. 12, 23, &c. ; Neh. i. 2, ii. 16, v. 1, &c. ; Esth. iii. 4 ff., &c.). Under the name of “ Judae- ans,” the people of Israel were known to classical writers (Tac. H. v. 2, &e.). The force of the title “ Jew ” is seen particularly in the Gospel of St. John, who very rarely uses any other term to describe the opponents of our Lord. The name, indeed, appeared at the close of the apostle’s life to be the true antithesis to Christianity, as describing the limited and definite form of a national re- ligion ; but at an earlier stage of the progress of the faith, it was contrasted with Greek as implying an outward covenant with God (Rom. i. 16, ii. 9, 10; Col. iii. 11, &c.), which was the correlative of Hellenist [Hel- lenist], and marked a division of language subsisting within the entire body, and at the same time less expressive than Israelite , which brought out with especial clearness the privileges and hopes of the children of Jacob (2 Cor. xi. 22 ; John i. 47 ; 1 Macc. i. 43, 53, and often). JEW'EL. [Precious Stones.] JEW'RY, the same word elsewhere ren- dered Judah and Judaea. It occurs several times in the Apoc. and N. T., but once only in the O. T. (Dan. v. 13). Jewry comes to us through the Norman-Erench, and is of frequent occurrence in Old English. JEZ'EBEL, wife of Ahab, king of Israel, and mother of Athaliah, queen of Judah, and Ahaziah and Joram, kings of Israel. She was a Phoenician princess, daughter of “ Ethbaal king of the Zidonians.” In her hands her husband became a mere puppet (1 K. xxi. 25). The first effect of her in- fluence was the immediate establishment of the Phoenician worship on a grand scale in the court of Ahab. At her table were sup- ported no less than 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 of Astarte (1 K. xvi. 31, 32, xviii. 19). The prophets of Jehovah, who up to this time had found their chief refuge in the northern kingdom, were attacked by her orders and put to the sword (IK. xviii. 13 ; 2 K. ix. 7). When at last the people, at the instigation of Elijah, rose against her min- isters, and slaughtered them at the foot of Carmel, and when Ahab was terrified into submission, she alone retained her presence of mind. The next instance of her power is still more characteristic and complete. When she found her husband cast down by his dis- appointment at being thwarted by Naboth, she took the matter into her own hands, with a spirit which reminds us of Clytem- nestra or Lady Macbeth (IK. xxi. 7). She wrote a warrant in Ahab’s name, and sealed it with his seal. To her, and not to Ahab, was sent the announcement that the royal wishes were accomplished (1 K. xxi. 14), and she bade her husband go and take the vacant property ; and on her accordingly fell the prophet’s curse, as well as on her hus- band (1 K. xxi. 23). We hear no more of her for a long period. But she survived Ahab for 14 years, and still, as queen-mother (after the Oriental custom), was a great per- sonage in the court of her sons, and, as such, became the special mark for the vengeance of Jehu. She was looking out from the window of the palace, which stood by the gate of the city, as Jehu approached. The new king looked up from his chariot. Two or three eunuchs of the royal harem showed their faces at the windows, and at his com- mand dashed the ancient princess down from the chamber. She fell immediately in front of the conqueror’s chariot. The merciless destroyer passed on ; and the last remains of life were trampled out by the horses’ hoofs. The body was left in that open space called in modern Eastern language “ the mounds,” where offal is thrown from the city-walls. The dogs of Eastern cities, which prowl around these localities, and which the pre- sent writer met on this very spot by the modern village which occupies the site of Jezreel, pounced upon this unexpected prey. JEZ'REEL. 1. A city situated in the plain of the same name between Gilboa and Little Hermon, now generally called Es- draelon. [Esdraelon.] It appears in Josh, xix. 18, but its historical importance dates from the reign of Ahab, who chose it for his chief residence. The situation of the modern village of Zerin still remains to show the fitness of his choice. In the neighbourhpod. or within the town probably, was a temple and grove of Astarte, with an establishment JOAB 266 JOANNA of 400 priests supported by Jezebel (1 K. xvi. 33 ; 2 K. x. 11). The palace of ALab (1 K. xxi. 1, xviii. 46), probably contain- ing his “ivory house ” (1 K. xxii. 39), was on the eastern side of the city, forming part of the city wall (comp. 1 K. xxi. 1 ; 2 K. ix. 25, 30, 33). The seraglio, in which Jezebel lived, was on the city wall, and had a high window facing eastward (2 K. ix. 30). Close by, if not forming part of this seraglio, was a watch-tower, on which a sentinel stood, to give notice of arrivals from the disturbed district beyond the Jordan (2 K. ix. 17). An ancient square tower which stands among the hovels of the modern village may be its representative. The gateway of the city on the east was also the gateway of the palace (2 K. ix. 34). Whether the vineyard of Naboth was here or at Samaria is a doubtful question. Still in the same eastern direction are two springs, one 12 minutes from the town, the other 20 minutes. The latter pro- bably both from its size and situation, was known as “ the Spring of Jezreel ” (mis- translated A. V. “ a fountain,” 1 Sam. xxix. 1). With the fall of the house of Ahab the glory of Jezreel departed. — 2. A town in Judah, in the neighbourhood of the southern Carmel (Josh. xv. 56). Here David in his wanderings took Ahinoam the Israelitess for his first wife (1 Sam. xxvii. 3, xxx. 5). JO'AB, the most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David’s sister. Their father is unknown, but seems to have resided at Bethlehem, and to have died before his sons, as we find men- tion of his sepulchre at that place (2 Sam. ii. 32). Joab first appears after David’s ac- cession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle Asahel, the younger brother of Joab ; and when David afterwards received Abner into favour, Joab treacherously mur- dered him. [Abner.] There was now no rival left in the way of Joab’s advancement, and at the siege of Jebus he was appointed for his prowess commander-in-chief — “ cap- tain of the host ” — the same office that Abner had held under Saul, the highest in the state after the king (1 Chr. xi. 6 ; 2 Sam. viii. 16). In this post he was content, and served the king with undeviating fidelity. In the wide range of wars which David undertook, Joab was the acting general. He was called by the almost regal title of “Lord” (2 Sam. xi. 11), “ the prince of the king’s army” (1 Chr. xxvii. 34). — 1. His great war was against the Ammonites which he conducted in person. It was divided into three cam- paigns. At the siege of Kabbah, in the last campaign, the ark was sent with him, and the whole army was encamped in booths or huts round the beleaguered city (2 Sam. xi. 1, 11). Joab took the lower city on the river, and then sent to urge David to come and take the citadel (2 Sam. xii. 26-28). — 2. The services of Joab to the king were not confined to these military achievements. In the entangled relations which grew up in David’s domestic life, he bore an important part, (a) The first occasion was the un- happy correspondence which passed between him and the king during the Ammonite war respecting Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. xi. 1- 25). (5) The next occasion on which it was displayed was in his successful endeavour to reinstate Absalom in David’s favour, after the murder of Amnon (2 Sam. xiv. 1-20). (c) The same keen sense of his master’s interests ruled the conduct of Joab no less, when the relations of the father and son were reversed by the successful revolt of Absalom. His former intimacy with the prince did not impair his fidelity to the king. He followed him beyond the Jordan, and in the final battle of Ephraim assumed the responsibility of taking the rebel prince’s dangerous life in spite of David’s injunction to spare him, and when no one else had courage to act so decisive a part (2 Sam. xviii. 2, 11-15). The king transferred the command to Amasa. ( d ) Nothing brings out more strongly the good and bad qualities of Joab than his conduct in this trying crisis of his history. With his own guard and the mighty men under Abishai he went out in pursuit of the remnants of the rebellion. In the heat of pursuit, he encountered his rival Amasa, more leisurely engaged in the same quest. At “the great stone” in Gibeon, the cousins met. Joab’s sword was attached to his girdle ; by design or accident it protruded from the sheath ; Amasa rushed into the treacherous embrace, to which Joab invited him, holding fast his beard by his own right hand, whilst the unsheathed sword in his left hand plunged into Amasa’s stomach ; a single blow from that practised arm, as in the case of Abner, sufficed to do its work. — 3. There is something mournful in the end of Joab. At the close of his long life, his loyalty, so long unshaken, at last wavered. “ Though he had not turned after Absalom he turned after Adonijah ” (1 K. ii. 28). This probably filled up the measure of the king’s long cherished resentment. The re- vival of the pretensions of Adonijah after David’3 death was sufficient to awaken the suspicions of Solomon. Joab fled to the shelter of the altar at Gibeon, and was there slain by Benaiah. JOAN'NA, the name of a woman, occur- ! ring twice in Luke (viii. 3, xxiv. 10), but JOASH 267 JOB evidently denoting- the same person. In the first passage she is expressly stated to have been “ wife of Chuza, steward of Herod,” that is, Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. JO'ASH, contr. from Jehoash. 1. Son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and the only one of his children who escaped the murderous hand of Athaliah. After his father’s sister Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high- priest, had stolen him from among the king’s sons, he was hid for six years in the cham- bers of the Temple. In the 7 th year of his age and of his concealment, a successful re- volution, conducted by Jehoiada, placed him on the throne of his ancestors, and freed the country from the tyranny and idolatries of Athaliah. For at least 23 years, while Je- hoiada lived, this reign was very prosperous. But, after the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell into the hands of bad advisers, at whose sug- gestion he revived the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth. When he was rebuked for this by Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, Joash caused him to be stoned to death in the very court of the Lord’s house (Matt, xxiii. 35). The vengeance imprecated by the murdered high-priest was not long delayed. That very year, Hazael king of Syria came up against Jerusalem, and carried off a vast booty as the price of his departure. Joash had scarcely escaped this danger, when he fell into another and fatal one. Two of his servants, taking advantage of his severe ill- ness, some think of a wound received in battle, conspired against him, and slew him in his bed in the fortress of Millo. Joash’s reign lasted 40 years, from 878 to 838 b.c. — 2. Son and successor of Jehoahaz on the throne of Israel from b.c. 840 to 825, and for two full years a contemporary sovereign with the preceding (2 K. xiv. 1 ; comp, with xii. 1, xiii. 10). When he succeeded to the crown, the kingdom was in a deplorable state from the devastations of Hazael and Ben- hadad, kings of Syria. On occasion of a friendly visit paid by Joash to Elisha on his deathbed, the prophet promised him deliver- ance from the Syrian yoke in Aphek (IK. xx. 26-30). He then bid him smite upon the ground, and the king smote thrice and then stayed. The prophet rebuked him for staying, and limited to three his victories over Syria. Accordingly Joash did beat Benhadad three times on the field of battle, and recovered from him the cities which Hazael had taken from Jehoahaz. The other great military event of Joash’s reign was his successful war with Amaziah king of Judah. The grounds of this war are given fully in 2 Chr. xxv. The two armies met at Beth- shemesh, that of Joash was victorious, put the army of Amaziah to the rout, took him prisoner, brought him to Jerusalem, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and plundered the city. He died in the 15th year of Ama- ziah king of Judah, and was succeeded by his son Jeroboam II. — 3. The father of Gideon, and a wealthy man among the Abiez- rites (Judg. vi. 11, 29, 30, 31, vii. 14, viii. 13, 29, 32). JOB, the patriarch, the name of one of the books of the O. T. His residence in the land of Uz, which took its name from a son of Aram (Gen. x. 23), or Nahor (Gen. xxii. 21), marks him as belonging to a branch of the Aramaean race, which had settled in the lower part of Mesopotamia (probably to the south or south-east of Palestine, in Idumaean Arabia), adjacent to the Sabaeans and Chaldaeans. The opinions of Job and his friends are thus peculiarly interesting as exhibiting an aspect of the patriarchal re- ligion outside of the family of Abraham, and as yet uninfluenced by the legislation of Moses. The form of worship belongs essen- tially to the early patriarchal type ; with little of ceremonial ritual, without a separate priesthood, it is thoroughly domestic in form and spirit. Job is represented as a chieftain of immense wealth and high rank, blameless in all the relations of life. One question could be raised by envy ; may not the good- ness which secures such direct and tangible rewards be a refined form of selfishness ? Satan, the accusing angel, suggests the doubt, “ doth Job fear God for nought ? ” and asserts boldly that if those external blessings were withdrawn Job would cast off his allegiance — “ he will curse thee to thy face.” The problem is thus distinctly propounded which this book is intended to discuss and solve. Can goodness exist irrespective of reward ? The accuser receives permission to make the trial. He destroys Job’s property, then his children ; and afterwards, to leave no possible opening for a cavil, is allowed to inflict upon him the most terrible disease known in the East. Job’s wife breaks down entirely under the trial. Job remains steadfast. He repels his wife’s suggestion with the simple words, “ What ! shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil ?” “ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” The question raised by Satan was thus an- swered. — 2. Still it is clear that many points of deep interest would have been left in obscurity. Entire as was the submission of Job, he must have been inwardly perplexed by events to which he had no clue. An opportunity for the discussion of the provi- dential government of the world is afforded by the introduction of three men, represent- JOBAB 268 JOHN THE APOSTLE ing the wisdom and experience of the age, who came to condole with Job on hearing of his misfortunes. After a long discussion between Job and his three friends, Elihu, a young man, who had listened in indignant silence to the arguments of his elders (xxxii. 7), now addresses himself to both parties in the discussion, and specially to Job. He shows that they had accused Job upon false or insufficient grounds, and failed to convict him or to vindicate God’s justice. Job again had assumed his entire innocence, and had arraigned that justice (xxxiii. 9, 11). Je- hovah at length appears in the midst of a storm, and in language of incomparable grandeur He reproves and silences the mur- murs of Job. He rebukes the opponents of Job, and vindicates the integrity of the patriarch. The restoration of Job’s external prosperity, which is the result of God’s per- sonal manifestation, symbolizes the ultimate compensation of the righteous for all suffer- ings undergone upon earth. — The date of the book is doubtful, and there have been many theories upon the subject. The language approaches far more nearly to the Arabic than any other Hebrew production. On the other hand, there are undoubtedly many Aramaic words, and grammatical forms, which some critics have regarded as a strong proof that the writer must have lived dur- ing, or even after the captivity. This hypothesis is now universally given up as un- tenable ; and it has been proved that these Aramaisms are such as characterise the antique and highly poetic style. It may be regarded as a settled point that the book was written long before the exile ; while there is absolutely nothing to prove a later date than the Pentateuch. This impression is borne out by the style. The total absence of any allusion, not only to the Mosaic Law, but to the events of the Exodus, the fame of which must have reached the country of Job, on any hypothesis respecting its locality, is a strong argument for the early age both of the patriarch and of the book. JO'BAB. 1. The last in order of the sons of Joktan (Gen. x. 29 ; 1 Chr. i. 23). — 2. One of the “ kings ” of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 33, 34 ; 1 Chr. i. 44, 45). JQCHEB'ED, the wife and at the same time the aunt of Amram, and the mother of Moses and Aaron (Ex. ii. 1, vi. 20 ; Num. xx vi. 59). JO'EL. 1. Eldest son of Samuel the pro- phet (1 Sam. viii. 2 ; 1 Chr. vi. 33, xv. 17), and father of Heman the singer. — 2. The second of the twelve minor prophets, the son of Pethuel, probably prophesied in Judah in the reign of Uzziah. We find, what we should expect on the supposition of Joel being the first prophet to Judah, only a grand outline of the whole terrible scene which was to be depicted more and more in detail by subsequent prophets. The proxi- mate event to which the prophecy related was a public calamity, then impending on Judah, of a twofold character: want of water, and a plague of locusts, continuing for several years. The prophet exhorts the people to turn to God with penitence, fasting, and prayer; and then (he says) the plague shall cease, and the rain descend in its sea- son, and the land yield her accustomed fruit. Nay, the time will be a most joyful one ; for God, by the outpouring of His Spirit, will extend the blessings of true religion to heathen lands. The prophecy is referred to in Acts ii. JOHN, the same name as Johanan, a con- traction of Jehohanan, “ Jehovah’s gift.” 1. The father of Mattathias, and grandfather of the Maccabaean family (1 Macc. ii. 1.). — 2. The eldest son of Mattathias surnamed Caddis, who was slain by “ the children of Jambri ” (1 Macc. ii. 2, ix. 36-38). — 3. The father of Eupolemus, one of the envoys whom J udas Maccabaeus sent to Rome ( 1 Macc. viii. 1 7 ; 2 Macc. iv. 1 1 ) . — 4. The son of Simon, the brother of Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. xiii. 53, xvi. 1). — 5. One of the high-priest’s family, who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment upon the Apostles Peter and John (Acts iv. 6). — Q. The Hebrew name of the Evangelist Mark (Acts xii. 12, 25, xiii. 5, 13, xv. 37). JOHN THE APOSTLE was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee, and of Salome, and brother of James, also an apostle. He was probably younger than his brother, whose name commonly precedes his (Matt. iv. 21, x. 3, xvii. 1, &c.), younger than his friend Peter, possibly also than his Master. His call, and that of his brother, to be first disciples and then apostles of our Lord, are related under James. Peter and James and John come within the innermost circle of their Lord’s friends. Peter is throughout the leader of that band ; to John belongs the yet more memorable distinction of being the disciple whom Jesus loved. He hardly sustains the popular notion, fostered by the received types of Christian art, of a nature gentle, yielding, feminine. The name Boanerges (Mark iii. 1 7 ) implies a vehemence, zeal, intensity, which gave to those who had it the might of Sons of Thunder. [James.] The three are with him when none else are, in the chamber of death (Mark v. 37), in the glory of the transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 1), when he forewarns them of the destruction JOHN THE APOSTLE 269 JOHN THE BAPTIST of the Holy City (Mark xiii. 3, Andrew, in this instance with them), in the agony of Gethsemane. When the betrayal is accom- plished, Peter and John, after the first mo- ment of confusion, follow afar off, while the others simply seek safety in a hasty flight (John xviii. 15). The personal acquaintance which existed between John and Caiaphas enabled him to gain access both for himself and Peter, hut the latter remains in the porch, with the officers and servants, while John himself apparently is admitted to the council- chamber, and follows Jesus thence, even to the praetorium of the Roman Procurator (John xviii. 16, 19, 28). Thence he followed, accompanied probably by his own mother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magda- lene, to the place of crucifixion. The teacher who had been to him as a brother leaves to him a brother’s duty. He is to he as a son to the mother who is left desolate (John xix. 26-27). The Sabbath that followed was spent, it would appear, in the same company. He receives Peter, in spite of his denial, on the old terms of friendship. It is to them that Mary Magdalene first runs with the tidings of the emptied sepulchre (John xx. 2) ; they are the first to go together to see what the strange words meant. Not without some hearing on their respective characters is the fact that John is the more impetuous, running on most eagerly to the rock-tomb ; Peter, the least restrained by awe, the first to enter in and look (John xx. 4-6). For at least eight days they continued in Jerusalem (John xx. 26). Then, in the interval between the re- surrection and the ascension, we find them still together on the sea of Galilee (John xxi. 1). Here too there is a characteristic differ- ence. John is the first to recognise in the dim form seen in the morning twilight the presence of his risen Lord ; Peter the first to plunge into the water and swim towards the shore where He stood calling to them (John xxi. 7). The last words of the Gospel reveal to us the deep affection which united the two friends. It is not enough for Peter to know his own future. That at once suggests the question, “ And what shall this man do ? ” (John xxi. 21). The history of the Acts shows the same union. They are of course together at the ascension and on the day of Pentecost. Together they enter the Temple as worshippers (Acts iii. 1) and protest against the threats of the Sanhedrim (iv. 13). The persecution which was pushed on by Saul of Tarsus did not drive him or any of the apostles from their post (viii. 1). The sharper though shorter persecution which followed under Herod Agrippa brought a great sorrow to him in the martyrdom of his brother (Acts xii. 2). His friend was driven to seek safety in flight. Fifteen years after St. Paul’s first visit he was still at Jerusalem and helped to take part in the settlement of the great controversy between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians (Acts xv. 6). His subsequent history we know only by tradi- tion. There can he no doubt that he removed from Jerusalem and settled at Ephesus, though at what time is uncertain. Tradition goes on to relate that in the persecution under Domitian he is taken to Rome, and there, by his boldness, though not by death, gains the crown of martyrdom. The boiling oil into which he is thrown has no power to hurt him. He is then sent to labour in the mines, and Patmos is the place of his exile. The accession of Nerva frees him from danger, and he returns to Ephesus. Heresies continue to show themselves, but he meets them with the strongest possible protest. The very time of his death lies within the region of conjecture rather than of history, and the dates that have been assigned for it range from a.d. 89 to a.d. 120. JOHN TPIE BAPTIST was of the priestly race by both parents, for his father Zacharias was himself a priest of the course of Abia, or Abijah (1 Chr. xxiv. 10), offering incense at the very time when a son was promised to him ; and Elizabeth was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke i. 5). His birth — a birth not according to the ordinary laws of nature, but through the miraculous interposition of almighty power — was foretold by an angel sent from God, and is related at length in the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke. The birth of John preceded by six months that of our Lord. John was ordained to be a Nazarite from his birth (Luke i. 15). Dwelling by himself in the wild and thinly peopled region westward of the Dead Sea, he prepared himself for the wonderful office to which he had been divinely called. The very appearance of the holy Baptist was of itself a lesson to his countrymen ; his dress was that of the old prophets — a garment woven of camel’s hair (2 K. i. 8), attached to the body by a leathern girdle. His food was such as the desert afforded — locusts (Lev. xi. 22) and wild honey (Ps. lxxxi. 16). And now the long secluded hermit came forth to the discharge of his office. His supernatural birth — his hard ascetic life — his reputation for extraordinary sanctity— and the generally prevailing expectation that some great one was about to appear — these causes, without the aid of miraculous power, for “ John did no miracle” (John x. 41), were sufficient to attract to him a great multitude from “ every quarter” (Matt. iii. 5). Brief and startling JOHN, GOSPEL OF 270 JOHN, EPISTLES OF was his first exhortation to them, “ Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Many of every class pressed forward to confess their sins and to be baptised. The preparatory baptism of John was a visible sign to the people, and a distinct acknowledgment by them, that a hearty renunciation of sin and a real amendment of life were necessary for admission into the kingdom of heaven, which the Baptist proclaimed to be at hand. But the fundamental distinction between John’s baptism unto repentance, and that baptism accompanied with the gift of the Holy Spirit which our Lord afterwards ordained, is clearly marked by John himself (Matt. iii. 11, 12). Jesus Himself came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptised of John. [Jesus.] From incidental notices we learn that John and his disciples continued to baptise some time after our Lord entered upon his ministry (see John iii. 23, iv. 1 ; Acts xix. 3). We gather also that John instructed his disciples in certain moral and religious duties, as fast- ing (Matt. ix. 14 ; Luke v. 33) and prayer (Luke xi. 1). But shortly after he had given his testimony to the Messiah, John’s public ministry was brought to a close. In daring disregard of the divine laws, Herod Antipas had taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip; and when John reproved him for this, as well as for other sins (Luke iii. 19), Herod cast him into prison. The place of his confinement was the castle of Machaerus — a fortress on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. It was here that reports reached him of the miracles which our Lord was working in Judaea. Respecting the message which John sent to our Saviour, see Jesus, p. 257. Nothing but the death of the Baptist would satisfy the resentment of Herodias. A court festival was kept at Machaerus in honour of the king’s birthday. After supper, the daughter of Herodias came in and danced before the company, and so charmed was the king by her grace that he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask. Salome, prompted by her abandoned mother, demanded the head of John the Baptist. Herod gave instructions to an officer of his guard, who went and executed John in the prison, and his head was brought to feast the eyes of the adulteress whose sins he bad de- nounced. His death is supposed to have occurred just before the third passover, in the course of the Lord’s ministry. JOHN, GOSPEL OF. No doubt has been entertained at any time in the Church, either of the canonical authority of this Gospel, or of its being written by St. John* Ephesus and Patmos are the two places mentioned by early writers as the place where this Gospel was written ; and the weight of evidence seems to preponderate in favour of Ephesus. The Apostle’s sojourn at Ephesus probably began after St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians was written, i. e . after a.d. 62. Eusebius specifies the fourteenth year of Domitian, i. e. a.d. 95, as the year of his banishment to Patmos. Probably the date of the Gospel may lie about midway between these two, about a.d. 78. After the destruction of Jerusalem a.d. 69, Ephesus probably became the centre of the active life of Eastern Christendom. It contained a large church of faithful Christians, a multitude of zealous Jews, an indigenous population devoted to the worship of a strange idol whose image was borrowed from the East, its name from the West. The Gospel was obviously addressed primarily to Christians, not to heathens. There can be little doubt that the main object of St. John, who wrote after the other Evan- gelists, is to supplement their narratives, which were almost confined to our Lord’s life in Galilee. [See further, Gospel.-] — The following is an abridgment of its contents ; — A. The Prologue i. 1-18. — B. The History , i. 19-xx. 29. a. Various events relating to our Lord’s ministry, narrated in connexion with seven journeys, i. 19-xii. 50 : — 1. First journey, into Judaea and beginning of His ministry, i. 19-ii. 12. 2. Second journey, at the Passover in the first year of His ministry, ii. 13-iv. 3. Third journey, in the second year of His ministry, about the Passover, v. 4. Fourth journey, about the Passover, in the third year of His ministry, beyond Jordan, vi. 5. Fifth journey, six months before His death, begun at the Feast of Tabernacles, vii.- x. 21. 6. Sixth journey, about the Feast of Dedication, x. 22-42. 7. Seventh journey in Judaea towards Bethany, xi. 1-54. 8. Eighth journey, before His last Passover, xi. 55-xii. b. History of the death of Christ, xiii.-xx. 29. 1. Preparation for His Passion, xiii.-xvii. 2. The circumstances of His Passion and Death, xviii. xix. 3. His Resurrection, and the proofs of it, xx. 1-29. — C. The Conclusion , xx. 30-xxi. : — 1. Scope of the foregoing his- tory, xx. 30, 31. 2. Confirmation of the authority of the Evangelist by additional historical facts, and by the testimony of the elders of the Church, xxi. 1-24. 3. Reason of the termination of the history, xxi. 25. JOHN, THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF. There can be no doubt that the Apostle John was the author of this Epistle. Like the Gospel it was probably written from Ephesus, and most likely at the close of the first century. It was primarily meant for the churches of Asia under St. John’s in- spection, to whom he had already orall5 JOHN, EPISTLES OF 271 JONAH delivered his doctrine (i. 3, ii. 7). In the introduction (i. 1-4) the Apostle states the purpose of his Epistle. It is to declare the Word of life to those whom he is addressing, in order that he and they might be united in true communion with each other, and with God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ. The first part of the Epistle may he con- sidered to end at ii. 28. The Apostle begins afresh with the doctrine of sonship or com- munion at ii. 29, and returns to the same theme at iv. 7. His lesson throughout is, that the means of union with God are, on the part of Christ, His atoning blood (i. 7, ii. 2, iii. 5, iv. 10, 14, v. 6) and advocacy (ii. 1) — on the part of man, holiness (i. 6), obedience (ii. 3), purity (iii. 3), faith (iii. 23, iv. 3, v. 5), and above all love (ii. 7, iii. 14, iv. 7, v. 1). There are two doubtful passages in this Epistle, ii. 23, “ but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also,” and v. 7, “ For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.” It would appear without doubt that they are not genuine. JOHN, THE SECOND AND THIRD EPISTLES OF. These two Epistles are placed by Eusebius in the class of “ disputed ” books, and he appears himself to be doubtful whether they were written by the Evange- list, or by some other John. The evidence of antiquity in their favour is not very strong, but yet is considerable. In the 5th century they were almost universally received. The title and contents of the Epistles are strong arguments against a fabricator, whereas they would account for their non-universal re- ception in early times. The Second Epistle is addressed e/cAe^T# /cvpia. An individual woman who had children, and a sister and nieces, is clearly indicated. Whether her name is given, and if so, what it is, has been doubted. According to one interpretation she is “ the Lady Electa,” to another, “ the elect Kyria,” to a third, “ the elect Lady.” The English version is probably right, though here too we should have expected the article. The Third Epistle is addressed to Gaius or Caius. We have no reason for identifying him with Caius of Macedonia (Acts xix. 29), or with Caius of Derbe (Acts xx. 4), or with Caius of Corinth (Rem. xvi. 23 ; 1 Cor. i. 14), or with Caius Bishop of Ephesus, or with Caius Bishop of Thessalonica, or with Caius Bishop of Pergamos. He was probably a convert of St. John (Ep. iii. 4), and a layman of wealth and distinction (Ep. iii. 5) in some city near Ephesus. The object of St. John in writing the Second Epistle was to warn the lady to whom he wrote against abetting the teaching known as that of Basilides and his followers, by perhaps an undue kindness displayed by her towards the preachers of the false doc- trine. The Third Epistle was written for the purpose of commending to the kindness and hospitality of Caius some Christians who were strangers in the place where he lived. It is probable that these Christians carried this letter with them to Caius as their in- troduction. JOK'MEAM, a city of Ephraim, given with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites (1 Chr. vi. 68). The situation of Jokmeam is to a certain extent indicated in 1 K. iv. 12, where it is named with places which we know to have been in the Jordan valley at the extreme east boundary of the tribe. JOK'NEAM, a city of the tribe of Zebulun, allotted with its suburbs to the Merarite Le- vites (Josh. xxi. 34). Its modern site is Tell Kaimon, an eminence which stands just below the eastern termination of Carmel. JOK f SHAN, a son of Abraham and Ke- turah (Gen. xxv. 2, 3 ; 1 Chr. i. 32), whose sons were Sheba and Dedan. JO K 'TAN, son of Eber (Gen. x. 25 ; 1 Chr. i. 19), and the father of the Joktanite Arabs. Scholars are agreed in placing the settlements of Joktan in the south of the peninsula. The original limits are stated in the Bible, “ their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar, a mount of the East ” (Gen. x. 30). The ancestor of the great southern peoples was called Kahtan, who, say the Arabs, was the same as Joktan. JOK'THEEL. 1. A city in the low coun. try of Judah (Josh. xv. 38), named next to Lachish. — 2. “God-subdued,” the title given by Amaziah to the cliff (A.V. Selah) — the stronghold of the Edomites — after he had captured it from them (2 K. xiv. 7). The parallel narrative of 2 Chr. xxv. 11-13 sup- plies fuller details. JO r NA, the father of the Apostle Peter (John i. 42), who is hence addressed as Simon Barjona ( i . e. son of Jona) in Matt. xvi. 17. JON'ADAB, son of Shimeah and nephew of David. He is described as “very subtil” (2 Sam. xiii. 3). His age naturally made him the friend of his cousin Amnon, heir to the throne (2 Sam. xiii. 3). He gave him the fatal advice for ensnaring his sister Tamar (5, 6). Again, when, in a later stage of the same tragedy, Amnon was murdered by Absalom, and the exaggerated report reached David that all the princes were slaughtered, Jonadab was already aware of the real state of the case (2 Sam. xiii. 32, 33). JO'NAH, the fifth of the Minor Prophets, according to the order of our Bible, was the son of Amittai, and a native of Gath- JONAS 272 JONATHAN iiepher, a town of Lower Galilee in Zebulun (2 K. xiv. 25). He lived after the reign of Jehu, when the losses of Israel (2 K. x. 32) began ; and probably not till the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II. The general opinion is that Jonah was the first of the prophets. The king of Nineveh at this time is supposed to have been Pul, who is placed b.c. 750. Our English Bible gives b.c. 862. Having already, as it seems, prophesied to Israel, he was sent to Nineveh. The time was one of political revival in Israel ; but ere long the Assyrians were to be employed by God as a scourge upon them. The prophet shrank from a commission which he felt sure would result (iv. 2) in the sparing of a hostile city. He attempted therefore to escape to Tarshish. The Providence of God, however, watched over him, first in a storm, and then in his being swallowed by a large fish for the space of three days and three nights. [On this subject see art. Whale.] After his deliverance, Jonah executed his commission ; and the king, “ believing him to be a minister from the supreme deity of the nation,” and having heard of his miraculous deliverance, ordered a general fast, and averted the threat- ened judgment. But the prophet, not from personal, but national feelings, grudged the mercy shown to a heathen nation. He was therefore taught, by the significant lesson of the “ gourd, ” whose growth and decay brought the truth at once home to him, that he was sent to testify by deed, as other pro- phets would afterwards testify by word, the capacity of Gentiles for salvation, and the design of God to make them partakers of it. This was “ the sign of the prophet Jonas ” (Luke xi. 29, 30). But the resurrection of Christ itself was also shadowed forth in the history of the prophet (Matt. xii. 39, 41, xvi. 4). The mission of Jonah was highly symbolical. The facts contained a concealed prophecy. The old tradition made the burial- place of Jonah to be Gathhepher : the modern tradition places it at Nebi-Yunus, opposite Mosul. JO 'NAS. 1. The prophet Jonah (Matt, xii. 39, 40, 41, xvi. 4). 2. Father of Peter CJohn xxi. 15-17). [Jona.] JON'ATHAN, that is, “ the gift of Jeho- vah,” the eldest son of king Saul. He was regarded in his father’s lifetime as heir to the throne. Like Saul, he was a man of great strength and activity (2 Sam. i. 23). He was also famous for the peculiar martial exercises in which his tribe excelled — archery and slinging (1 Chr. xii. 2). His bow was to him what the spear was to his father : “ the bow of Jonathan turned not back ” (2 Sam. i. 22). It was always about him (1 Sam. xviii. 4, xx. 35). His life may be divided into two main parts. — 1. The war with the Philistines, commonly called, from its locality, “ the war of Michmash” (1 Sam. xiii. 21). The Philistines were still in the general command of the country ; an officer was stationed at Geba, either the same as Jonathan’s position or close to it. In a sud- den act of youthful daring Jonathan slew this officer, and thus gave the signal for a general revolt. But it was a premature attempt. The Philistines poured in from the plain, and the tyranny became more deeply rooted than ever. From this oppres- sion, as Jonathan by his former act had been the first to provoke it, so now he was the first to deliver his people. Without commu- nicating his project to any one, except the young man, whom, like all the chiefs of that age, he retained as his armour-bearer, he sallied forth from Gibeah to attack the gar- rison of the Philistines stationed on the other side of the steep defile of Michmash (xiv. 1). A panic seized the garrison, thence spread to the camp, and thence to the surrounding hordes of marauders ; an earthquake com- bined with the terror of the moment. Saul and his little band had watched in astonish- ment the wild retreat from the heights of Gibeah : he now joined in the pursuit. Jonathan had not heard of the rash curse (xiv. 24) which Saul invoked on any one who ate before the evening, and he tasted the honey which lay on the ground as they passed through the forest. Jephthah’s dreadful sac- rifice would have been repeated ; but the people interposed in behalf of the hero of that great day; and Jonathan was saved (xiv. 24-46). — 2. "But the chief interest of his career is derived from the friendship with David, which began on the day of David’s return from the victory over the champion of Gath, and continued till his death. Their last meeting was in the forest of Ziph, during Saul’s pursuit of David (1 Sam. xxiii. 16-18). From this time forth we hear no more till the battle of Gilboa. In that battle he fell, with his two brothers and his father, and his corpse shared their fate (1 Sam. xxxi. 2, 8). His ashes were buried first at Jabesh- Gilead (ib. 13), but afterwards removed with those of his father to Zelah in Benjamin (2 Sam. xxi. 12). The news of his death oc- casioned the celebrated elegy of David. He left a son, Mephibosheth. [Mephibosheth.] — 2. Son of Shimeah, brother of Jonadab, and nephew of David (2 Sam. xxi. 21 ; 1 Chr. xx. 7). Like David, he engaged in a single combat, and slew a gigantic Philis- tine of Gath (2 Sam. xxi. 21). — 3. The son of Abiathar, the high-priest, is the last descend- JOPPA 273 JOSEPH ant of Eli, of whom we hear anything. He appears on the day of David’s flight from Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 36, xvii. 15-21), and on the day of Solomon’s inauguration (1 K. i. 42, 43). — 4. The son, or descendant, of Ger- shom the son of Moses (Judg. xviii. 30). [Micah.] — 5. Son of Joiada, and his successor in the high-priesthood (Neh. xii. 11, 22, 23). JOP'PA, or Japho, now Jaffa, a town on the S.W. coast of Palestine, in the portion of Dan (Josh. xix. 46). Having a harbour attached to it — though always, as still, a dangerous one — it became the port of Jerusa- lem in the days of Solomon, and has been ever since. Here Jonah “ took ship to flee from the presence of his Maker.” Here, on the house-top of Simon the tanner, “ by the seaside,” St. Peter had his vision of tolerance (Acts xi. 5). The existing town contains about 4000 inhabitants. JO'RAM. [Jehoram.] JOK/DAN, the one river of Palestine, has a course of little more than 200 miles, from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea. It is the river of the “great plain ” of Palestine — the “ Descender ” — if not “ the river of God ” in the book of Psalms, at least that of His chosen people throughout their history. There were fords over against Jericho, to which point the men of Jericho pursued the spies (Josh. ii. 7 ; comp. Judg. iii. 28). Higher up, perhaps over against Succoth, some way above where the little river Jabbok ( Zerka ) enters the Jordan, were the fords or passages of Beth- barah (probably the Bethabara of the Gospel), where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites (Judg. vii. 24), and where the men of Gilead slew the Ephraimites (xii. 6). These fords undoubtedly witnessed the first recorded passage of the Jordan in the O. T. (Gen. xxxii. 10). Jordan was next crossed, over against Jericho, by Joshua the son of Nun (Josh. iv. 12, 13). From their vicinity to Jerusalem the lower fords were much used ; David, it is probable, passed over them in one instance to fight the Syrians (2 Sam. x. 17); and subsequently when a fugitive him- self, in his way to Mahanaim (xvii. 22) on the east bank. Thus there were two cus- tomary places, at which the Jordan was ford- able ; and it must have been at one of these, if not at both, that baptism was afterwards administered by St. John, and by the dis- ciples of our Lord. Where our Lord was baptised is not stated expressly ; but it was probably at the upper ford. These fords were rendered so much the more precious in those days from two circumstances. First, it does not appear that there were then any bridges thrown over, or boats regularly esta- Sm. D. B. blished on, the Jordan. And secordly, be- cause “ Jordan overflowed all his banks all the time of harvest” (Josh. iii. 15). The channel or bed of the river became brimful, so that the level of the water and of the banks was then the same. The last feature which remains to be noticed in the Scriptural account of the Jordan is its frequent mention as a boundary : “ over Jordan,” “ this,” and “ the other side,” or “ beyond Jordan,” were expressions as familiar to the Israelites as “across the water,” “ this,” and “ the other side of the Channel,” are to English ears. In one sense indeed, that is, in so far as it was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan, it was the eastern boundary of the promised land (Nura. xxxiv. 12). The Jordan rises from several sources near Panium [Bdnids j, and passes through the lakes of Merom (Huleh) and Gennesaret. The two principal features in its course are its descent and its windings. From its fountain-heads to the Dead Sea, it rushes down one continuous inclined plane, only broken by a series of rapids or precipitous falls. Between the lake of Gennesaret and the Dead Sea there are 27 rapids ; the depression of the lake of Gennesaret below the level of the Mediter- ranean is 653 feet ; and that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet. Its sinuosity is not so re- markable in the upper part of its course. The only tributaries to the Jordan below Gennesaret are the Yarmuk (Hieromax) and the Zerka (Jabbok). Not a single city ever crowned the banks of the Jordan. Still Bethshan and Jericho to the W., Gerasa, Pella, and Gadara to the E. of it, were im- portant cities, and caused a good deal of traffic between the two opposite banks. The physical features of the Ghor, through which the Jordan flows, are treated of under Pales- tine. JO'SEPH. 1. The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Bachel, is first mentioned when a youth, seventeen years old. Jacob seems then to have stayed at Hebron with the aged Isaac, while his sons kept his flocks. Joseph, we read, brought the evil report of his brethren to his father, and they hated him because his father loved him more than them, as the “ son of his old age,” and had shown his preference by making him a dress, which appears to have been a long tunic with sleeves, worn by youths and maidens of the richer class (Gen. xxxvii. 2). The hatred of Joseph’s brethren was increased by his telling of a dream foreshowing that they would bow down to him, which was followed by another of the same import. They had gone to Shechem to feed the flock ; and Joseph was sent thither from the vide of T JOSEPH 274 JOSEPH Hebron by his father to bring him word of their welfare and that of the flock. They were not at Shechem, but were gone to Dothan, which appears to have been not far distant, pasturing their flock like the Arabs of the present day, wherever the wild country was unowned. On Joseph’s approach, his brethren, except Reuben, resolved to kill him ; but Reuben saved him, persuading them to cast him into a dry pit, to the intent that he might restore him to his father. Accordingly, when Joseph was come, they stripped him of his tunic and cast him into the pit, “and they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels.” Judah suggested to his brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmeel- ites, and accordingly they took him out of the pit and sold him “ for twenty [shekels] of silver” (ver. 28). His brethren pretended to Jacob that Joseph had been killed by some wild beast, taking to him the tunic stained with a kid’s blood. The Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, “ an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the executioners, an Egyptian ” (xxxix. 1; comp, xxxvii. 36). Joseph prospered in the house of the Egyptian, who, seeing that God blessed him, and pleased with his good service, “ set him over his house, and all [that] he had he gave into his hand” (xxxix. 4, comp. 5). His master’s wife, with the well-known profligacy of the Egyptian women, tempted him, and failing, charged him with the crime she would have made him commit. Potiphar, incensed against Joseph, cast him into prison, where he remained for at least two years, and perhaps longer. In the prison, as in Potiphar’s house, Joseph was found worthy of complete trust, and the keeper of the prison placed everything under his control. After a while, Pharaoh was incensed against two of his officers, “ the chief of the cup- bearers ” and the “ chief of the bakers,” and cast them into the prison where Joseph was. Each dreamed a prophetic dream, which Joseph interpreted. “ After two years,” Joseph’s deliverance came. Pharaoh dreamed two prophetic dreams. “He stood by the river [the Nile]. And, behold, coming up out of the river seven kine [or { heifers ’], beautiful in appearance and fat-fleshed ; and they fed in the marsh-grass. And, behold, seven other kine coming up after them out of the river, evil in appearance, and lean- fleshed” (xli. 1-3). These, afterwards de- scribed still more strongly, ate up the first seven, and yet, as is said in the second ac- count, when they had eaten them remained gjs lean as before (xli. 1-4, 17-21). Then Pharaoh had a second dream, — “Behold, seven ears of corn coming up on one stalk, fat [or ‘ full,’ ver. 22] and good. And, be- hold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprouting forth after them ” (ver. 5, 6). These, also described more strongly in the second account, devoured the first seven ears (ver. 5-7, 22-24). In the morn- ing Pharaoh sent for the “ scribes ” and the “ wise men,” and they were unable to give him an interpretation. Then the chief of the cupbearers remembered Joseph, and told Pharaoh how a young Hebrew, “ servant tc the captain of the executioners,” had inter- preted his and his fellow-prisoner’s dreams. “ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they made him hasten out of the prison : and he shaved [himself], and changed his raiment, and came unto Pharaoh” (ver. 14). The king then related his dreams, and Joseph, when he had disclaimed human wisdom, de- clared to him that they were sent of God to forewarn Pharaoh. There was essentially but one dream. Both kine and ears sym- bolized years. There were to be seven years of great plenty in Egypt, and after them seven years of consuming and “very heavy famine.” On the interpretation it may be remarked, that the kine represented the animal products, and the ears of corn the vegetable products, the most important object in each class representing the whole class. Having interpreted the dream, Joseph coun- selled Pharaoh to choose a wise man and set him over the country, in order that he should take the fifth part of the produce of the seven years of plenty against the years of famine. To this high post the king appointed Joseph, made him not only governor of Egypt, but second only to the sovereign. He also “ gave him to wife Asenath daughter of Poti- pherah, priest [or 4 prince ’J of On.” Joseph’s first act was to go throughout all the land of Egypt. During the seven plenteous years there was a very abundant produce, and he gathered the fifth part, as he had advised Pharaoh, and laid it up. Before the year of famine Asenath bare Joseph two sons. When the seven good years had passed, the famine began (Gen. xli. 54-57). Famines are not very unfrequent in the history of Egypt. [Famine.] After the famine had lasted for a time, apparently two years, Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought : and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house (xlvii. 13, 14). When all the money of Egypt and Canaan was exhausted, barter became neces- sary. Joseph then obtained all the cattle of Egypt, and in the next year, all the land. JOSEPH 275 JOSEPH except that of the priests, and apparently, as a consequence, the Egyptians themselves. He demanded, however, only a fifth part of the produce as Pharaoh’s right. Early in the time of famine, which prevailed equally in Canaan and Egypt, Jacob reproved his helpless sons and sent them to Egypt, where he knew there was corn to be bought. Ben- jamin alone he kept with him. Joseph was now governor, an Egyptian in habits and speech. His brethren did not know him, grown from the boy they had sold into a man. Joseph remembered his dreams, and behaved to them as a stranger, using, as we afterwards learn, an interpreter, and spoke hard words to them, and accused them of being spies. In defending themselves they spoke of their household. The whole story of Joseph’s treatment of his brethren is so graphically told in Gen. xlii.-xlv., and is so familiar that it is unnecessary here to repeat it. After the removal of his family into Egypt, Jacob and his house abode in the land of Goshen, Joseph still ruling the country. Here Jacob, when near his end, gave Joseph a portion above his brethren, doubtless including the “parcel of ground” at Shechem, his future burying-place (comp. Johniv. 5). Then he blessed his sons, Joseph most earnestly of all, and died in Egypt. “And Joseph fell upon his face, and wept upon him, and kissed him” (1. 1). When he had caused him to be embalmed by “ his servants the physicians ” he carried him to Canaan, and laid him in the cave of Mach- pelah, the burying-place of his fathers. Then it was that his brethren feared that, their father being dead, Joseph would punish them, and that he strove to remove their fears. We know no more of Joseph than that he lived “a hundred and ten years,” having been more than ninety in Egypt ; that he “ saw Ephraim’s children of the third” [generation], and that “the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were borne upon Joseph’s knees ; ” and that dying he took an oath of his brethren that they should carry up his bones to the land of pro- mise : thus showing in his latest action the faith (Heb. xi. 22) which had guided his whole life. Like his father he was em- balmed, “ and he was put in a coffin in Egypt” (1. 26). His trust Moses kept, and laid the bones of Joseph in his inheritance in Shechem, in the territory of Ephraim his offspring. As to the dynasty which ruled in Egypt during Joseph’s residence, see Egypt. — 2. Son of Heli, and reputed father of Jesus Christ. All that is told us of Joseph in the N. T. may be summed u? in a few words. He was a just man, and Ol the house and lineage of David. The public registers also contained his name under the reckoning of the house of David (John i. 45 • Luke iii. 23 ; Matt. i. 20 ; Luke ii. 4), He lived at Nazareth in Galilee, and it is probable that his family had been settled there for at least two preceding generations, possibly from the time of Matthat, the common grand- father of Joseph and Mary, since Mary lived there too (Luke i. 26, 27). He espoused Mary, the daughter and heir of his uncle Jacob, and before he took her home as his wife received the angelic communication re- corded in Matt. i. 20. When Jesus was 12 years old Joseph and Mary took him with them to keep the Passover at Jerusalem, and when they returned to Nazareth he continued to act as a father to the child Jesus, and was reputed to be so indeed. But here our know- ledge of Joseph ends. That he died before our Lord’s crucifixion, is indeed tolerably certain, by what is related, John xix. 27, and perhaps Mark vi. 3 may imply that he was then dead. But where, when, or how he died, we know not. — 3. Joseph of Ari- mathaea, a rich and pious Israelite, is de- nominated by Mark (xv. 43), an honourable counsellor, by which we are probably to understand that he was a member of the Great Council, or Sanhedrim. He is further characterised as “a good man and a just” (Luke xxiii. 50), one of those who, bearing in their hearts the words of their old pro- phets, were waiting for the kingdom of God (Mark xv. 43 ; Luke ii. 25, 38, xxiii. 51). We are expressly told that he did not “ con- sent to the counsel and deed” of his col- leagues in conspiring to bring about the death of Jesus ; but he seems to have lacked the courage to protest against their judgment. At all events we know that he shrank, through fear of his countrymen, from pro- fessing himself openly a disciple of our Lord. The crucifixion seems to have wrought in him the same clear conviction that it wrought in the Centurion who stood by the cross ; for on the very evening of that dreadful day, when the triumph of the chief priests and rulers seemed complete, Joseph “went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus.” Pilate consented. Joseph and Nicodemus then having enfolded the sacred body in the linen shroud which Joseph had bought, consigned it to a tomb hewn in a rock, a tomb where no human corpse had ever yet been laid. The tomb was in a garden belonging to Joseph, and close to the place of crucifixion. There is a tradition that he was one of the seventy disciples. — 4. Joseph, called Barsabas, and surnamed Justus; one of the two persons chosen by T 2 JOSHUA 276 JOSHUA, BOOK OF the assembled church (Acts i. 23) as worthy to fill the place in the Apostolic company from which Judas had fallen. JOSH'UA, whose name appears in the various forms of Hoshea, Oshea, Jehoshua, Jeshua, and Jesus, was the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim (1 Chr. vii. 27), and was nearly forty years old when he shared in the hurried triumph of the Exodus. He is mentioned first in connexion with the fight against Amalek at Rephidim, when he was chosen by Moses to lead the Israelites (Ex. i xvii. 9). When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive for the first time the two Tables, Joshua, who is called his minister or servant, accompanied him part of the way, and was the first to accost him in his descent (Ex. xxxii. 17). Soon afterwards he was one of the twelve chiefs who were sent (Num. xiii. 17) to explore the land of Canaan, and one of the two (xiv. 6) who gave an en- couraging report of their journey. The 40 years of wandering were almost passed, and Joshua was one of the few survivors, when Moses, shortly before his death, was directed (Num. xxvii. 18) to invest Joshua solemnly and publicly with definite authority, in con- nexion with Eleazar the priest, over the people. And after this was done, God Him- self gave Joshua a charge by the mouth of the dying Lawgiver (Deut. xxxi. 14, 23). Under the direction of God again renewed (Josh. i. 1), Joshua assumed the command of the people at Shittim, sent spies into Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal, circumcised the people, kept the passover, and was visited by the Captain of the Lord’s Host. A miracle made the fall of Jericho more terrible to the Canaanites. In the first attack upon Ai the Israelites were repulsed : it fell at the second assault, and the invaders marched to the relief of Gibeon. In the great battle of Bethhoron the Amorites were signally routed, and the south country was open to the Israelites. Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal, master of half of Palestine. In the north, at the waters of Merom, he defeated the Canaanites under Jabin king of Hazor ; and pursued his suc- cess to the gates of Zidon and into the valley of Lebanon under Hermon. In six years, six tribes with thirty-one petty chiefs were conquered ; amongst others the Anakim — the old terror of Israel — are especially re- corded as destroyed everywhere except in Philistia. Joshua, now stricken in years, proceeded in conjunction with Eleazar and the heads of the tribes to complete the divi- sion of the conquered land ; and when all was allotted, Timnath-serah in Mount Kohraim was assigned by the people as Joshua’s peculiar inheritance. After an interval of rest, Joshua convoked an as- sembly from all Israel. He delivered tw; solemn addresses reminding them of the marvellous fulfilment of God’s promises to their fathers, and warning them of the con- ditions on which their prosperity depended ; and lastly, he caused them to renew their covenant with God, at Shechem, a place already famous in connexion with Jacob (Gen. xxxv. 4), and Joseph (Josh. xxiv. 32). He died at the age of 110 years, and was buried in his own city, Timnath-serah. JOSH'UA, BOOK OF. This book has been regarded by many critics as a part oi the Pentateuch, forming with the latter one complete work ; but there do not appear to be sufficient grounds for this opinion. The fact that the first sentence of Joshua begins with a conjunction does not show any closei connexion between it and the Pentateuch than exists between Judges and it. The re- ferences in i. 8, viii. 31, xxiii. 6, xxiv. 26, to the “ book of the law ” rather show that that book was distinct from Joshua. Other references to events recorded in the Penta- teuch tend in the same direction. No quo- tation (in the strict modern sense of the word) from the Pentateuch can be found in Joshua. — The book may be regarded as con- sisting of three parts : (I.) The conquest of Canaan, (II.) The partition of Canaan, (III.) Joshua’s farewell. — I. The preparations for the war and the passage of the Jordan, ch. 1-5 ; the capture of Jericho, 6 ; the conquest of the south, 7-10 ; the conquest of the north, 11 ; recapitulation, 12. — II. Territory assigned to Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, 1 3 ; the lot of Caleb and of the tribe of Judah, 14, 15 ; Ephraim and half Manasseh, 16, 17 ; Benjamin, 18 ; Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan, 19 ; the appointment of six cities of refuge, 20; the as- signment of forty-eight cities to Levi, 21 ; the departure of the transjordanic tribes to their homes, 22. This part of the book has been aptly compared to the Domesday-book of the Norman conquerors of England. The docu- ments of which it consists were doubtless the abstract of such reports as were supplied by the men whom Joshua sent out to describe the land. In the course of time it is pro- bable that changes were introduced into their reports by transcribers adapting them to the actual state of the country in later times, when political divisions were modified, new towns sprang up and old ones disappeared. — III. Joshua’s convocation of the people and first address, 23 ; his second address at Shechem, and his death, 24. Nothing is really known as to the authorship of the JOSIAH 277 JUDAEA book. Joshua himself is generally named as the author by the Jewish writers and the Christian Fathers ; hut no contemporary assertion or sufficient historical proof of the fact exists, and it cannot be maintained with- out qualification. The last verses (xxiv. 29- 33) were obviously added at a later time. Some events, such as the capture of Hebron, of Debir (Josh. xv. 13-19, and Judg. i. 10-15), of Leshem (Josh. xix. 47, and Judg. xviii. 7), and the joint occupation of Jerusalem (Josh, xv. 63, and Judg. i. 21) probably did not occur till after Joshua’s death. JOSI f AH. The son of Amon and Jedidah, succeeded his father b.c. 641, in the eighth year of his age, and reigned 31 years. His history is contained in 2 K. xxii.-xxiv. 30 ; 2 Chr. xxxiv., xxxv. ; and the first twelve chapters of Jeremiah throw much light upon the general character of the Jews in his days. He began in the eighth year of his reign to seek the Lord ; and in his twelfth year, and for six years afterwards, in a personal pro- gress throughout all the land of Judah and Israel, he destroyed everywhere high places, proves, images, and all outward signs and relics of idolatry. The temple was restored under a special commission ; and in the course of the repairs Hilkiah the priest found that hook of the Law of the Lord which quickened so remarkably the ardent zeal of the king. The great day of Josiah’s life was the day of the Passover in the eighteenth year of his reign. After this, his endeavours to abolish every trace of idolatry and super- stition were still carried on. But the time drew near •which had been indicated by Huldah (2 K. xxii. 20). When Pharaoh- Necho went from Egypt to Carchemish to carry on his war against Assyria, Josiah, possibly in a spirit of loyalty to the Assyrian king, to whom he may have been bound, opposed his march along the sea-coast. N echo reluctantly paused and gave him battle in the valley of Esdraelon. Josiah was mor- tally wounded, and died before he could reach Jerusalem. He was buried with ex- traordinary honours. JO'THAM. 1, The youngest son of Gideon (Judg. ix. 5), who escaped from the massacre of his brethren. His parable of the reign of the bramble is the earliest example of the kind. — 2. The son of king Uzziah or Azariah and Jerushah. After administering the kingdom for some years during his father’s leprosy, he succeeded to the throne b.c. 758, when he was 25 years old, and reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. ^Je was contemporary with Pekah and with the prophet Isaiah. His history is contained in 2 K. xv. and 2 Chr. xxvii. JU'BAL, a son of Lamech by Adah, and the inventor of the “ harp and organ ” (Gen. iv. 21), probably general terms for stringed and wind instruments. JUBILEE, THE YEAR OF, the fiftieth year after the succession of seven Sabbatical years, in which all the land which had been alienated returned to the families of those to whom it had been allotted in the origina 1 distribution, and all bondmen of Hebrew blood were liberated. The relation in which it stood to the Sabbatical year and the general directions for its observance are given Lev. xxv. 8-16 and 23-55. Its hearing on lands dedicated to Jehovah is stated Lev. xxvii. 16-25. There is no mention of the Jubilee in the book of Deuteronomy, and the only other reference to it in the Pentateuch is in Num. xxxvi. 4. The year was inaugurated on the Day of Atonement with the blowing of trumpets throughout the land, and by a proclamation of universal liberty. Josephus states that all debts were remitted in the year of Jubilee ; but the Scripture speaks of the remission of debts only in connexion with the Sabbatical Year (Deut. xv. 1, 2), and the Jewish writers say expressly that the remis- sion of debts was a point of distinction be- tween the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee. The Jewish writers in general consider that the Jubilee was observed till the destruction of the first temple. But there is no direct his- torical notice of its observance on any one occasion, either in the books of the O. T., or in any other records. The only passages in the Prophets which can be regarded with much confidence, as referring to the Jubilee in any way, are Is. v. 7, 8, 9, 10, lxi. 1, 2 ; Ez. vii. 12, 13, xlvi. 16, 17, 18. The Ju- bilee is to be regarded as the outer circle of that great Sabbatical system which comprises within it the Sabbatical year, the sabbatical month, and the sabbath day. But the Jubilee is more immediately connected with the body politic ; and it was only as a member of the state that each person concerned could parti- cipate in its provisions. It was not distin- guished by any prescribed religious observance peculiar to itself, like the rites of the sabbath day and of the sabbatical month. As far as legislation could go, its provisions tended to restore that equality in outward circum- stances which was instituted in the first set- tlement of the land by Joshua. JU'CAL, son of Shelemiah (Jer. xxxviii. 1) JU'DA, one of the Lord’s brethren, enu- merated in Mark vi. 3. [Judas, p. 280.] JUDAE'A, or JUDE'A, a territorial divi- sion which succeeded to the overthrow of the ancient landmarks of the tribes of Israel I and Judah in their respective captivities JUDAH 278 JUDAH, KINGDOM OF The word first occurs Dan. v. 13 (A.Y. “ Jewry ”), and the first mention of the “ province of Judaea ” is in the book of Ezra (v. 8) ; it is alluded to in Neh. xi. 3 (A. Y. “ Judah ”), and was the result of the division of the Persian empire mentioned by Hero- dotus (iii. 89-97), under Darius (comp. Esth. viii. 9 ; Dan. vi. 1). In the Apocryphal Books the word “ province ” is dropped, and throughout the books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, and Maccabees, the expressions are the “ land of Judaea,” “Judaea” (A. Y. frequently “ Jewry ”), and throughout the N. T. In a wide and more improper sense, the term Judaea was sometimes extended to the whole country of the Canaanites, its ancient inhabi- tants ; and even in the Gospels we seem to read of the coasts of Judaea “ beyond Jor- dan” (Matt. xix. 1; Mark x. 1). Judaea was, in strict language, the name of the third district, west of the Jordan, and south of Samaria. It was made a portion of the Roman province of Syria upon the deposition of Archelaus, the ethnarch of Judea in a.d. 6, and was governed by a procurator, who was subject to the governor of Syria. JU'DAH, the fourth son of Jacob and the fourth of Leah, the last before the temporary cessation in the births of her children. His whole-brothers were Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, elder than himself — Issachar and Ze- bulun younger (see Gen. xxxv. 23). Of Judah’s personal character more traits are preserved than of any other of the patriarchs, with the exception of Joseph. In the matter of the sale of Joseph, he and Reuben stand out in favourable contrast to the rest of the brothers. When a second visit to Egypt for corn had become inevitable, it was Judah who, as the mouthpiece of the rest, headed the remonstrance against the detention of Benjamin by Jacob, and finally undertook to be responsible for the safety of the lad (xliii. 3-10). And when, through Joseph’s artifice, the brothers were brought back to the palace, he is again the leader and spokesman of the band. So too it is Judah who is sent before Jacob to smooth the way for him in the land of Goshen (xlvi. 28). This ascendancy over his brethren is reflected in the last words addressed to him by his father. His sons were five. Of these, three were by his Canaanite wife Bath-shua. They are all in- significant : two died early ; and the third, Shelah, does not come prominently forward, either in his person or his family. The other two, Pharez and Zerah, were illegitimate sons by the widow of Er, the eldest of the former family. As is not unfrequently the case, the illegitimate sons surpassed the legi- timate, and from Pharez, the elder, were de- scended the royal and other illustrious families of Judah. The three sons went with their father into Egypt at the time of the final removal thither (Gen. xlvi. 12 ; Ex. i. 2). When we again meet with the families of Judah they occupy a position among the tribes similar to that which their progenitor had taken amongst the patriarchs. The numbers of the tribe at the census at Sinai were 74,600 (Num. i. 26, 27), considerably in advance of any of the others, the largest of which — Dan — numbered 62,700. On the borders of the Promised Land they were 76,500 (xxvi. 22), Dan being still the nearest. During the march through the desert Judah’s place was in the van of the host, on the east side of the Tabernacle, with his kinsmen Issachar and Zebulun (ii. 3-9, x. 14). During the conquest of the country the only incidents specially affecting the tribe of Judah are — (1) the misdeed of Achan, who was of the great house of Zerah (Josh. vii. 1, 16-18) ; and (2) the conquest of the mountain district of Hebron by Caleb, and of the strong city Debir, in the same locality, by his nephew and son-in-law Oth- niel (Josh. xiv. 6-15, xv. 13-19). — The boundaries and contents of the territory allotted to Judah are narrated at great length, and with greater minuteness than the others, in Josh. xv. 20-63. The north boundary, for the most part coincident with the south boundary of Benjamin, began at the embouchure of the Jordan, entered the hills apparently at or about the present road from Jericho, ran westward to En-shemesh, probably the present Ain-Haud , below Be- thany, thence over the Mount of Olives to Enrogel , in the valley beneath Jerusalem; went along the ravine of Hinnom, under the precipices of the city, climbed the hill in a N.W. direction to the water of the Nephtoah (probably Lifta ), and thence by Kirjath-Jea- rim (probably Kuriet-el~Enab ), Bethshemesh ( Ain-Shems ), Timnath, and Ekron to Jab- neel on the sea-coast. On the east the Dead Sea, and on the west the Mediterranean formed the boundaries. The southern line is hard to determine, since it is denoted by places many of which have not been iden- tified. It left the Dead Sea at its extreme south end, and joined the Mediterranean a: the Wady el-Arish. This territory is in average length about 45 miles, and in average breadth about 50. JU'DAH, KINGDOM OF. When the dis- ruption of Solomon’s kingdom took place at Shechem, only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But almost immediately afterwards, when Rehoboam conceived the design of establishing his authority ovei JUDAH, KINGDOM OF 279 JUDAS ISCARIOT Israel by force of arms, the tribe of Ben- jamin also is recorded as obeying his sum- mons, and contributing its warriors to make up his army. Two Benjamite towns, Bethel and Jericho, were included in the northern kingdom. A part, if not all, of the territory of Simeon (1 Sam. xxvii. 6 ; 1 K. xix. 3 ; comp. Josh. xix. 1) and of Dan (2 Chr. xi. 10 ; comp. Josh. xix. 41, 42) was recognised as belonging to Judah ; and in the reigns of Abijah and Asa the southern kingdom was enlarged by some additions taken out of the territory of Ephraim (2 Chr. xiii. 19, xv. 8, xvii. 2). The kingdom of Judah possessed many advantages which secured for it a longer continuance than that of Israel. A frontier less exposed to powerful enemies, a soil less fertile, a population hardier and more united, a fixed and venerated centre of administration and religion, an hereditary aristocracy in the sacerdotal caste, an army always subordinate, a succession of kings which no revolution interrupted : — to these and other secondary causes is to be attri- buted the fact that Judah survived her more populous and more powerful sister kingdom by 135 years, and lasted from b.c. 975 to b.c. 536. (a.) The first three kings of Judah seem to have cherished the hope of re-estab- lishing their authority over the Ten Tribes ; for sixty years there was war between them and the kings of Israel. The victory achieved by the daring Abijah brought to Judah a temporary accession of territory. Asa ap- pears to have enlarged it still farther, (b.) Hanani’s remonstrance (2 Chr. xvi. T) pre- pares us for the reversal by Jehoshaphat of the policy which Asa pursued towards Israel and Damascus. A close alliance sprang up with strange rapidity between Judah and Israel. Jehoshaphat, active and prosperous, repelled nomad invaders from the desert, curbed the aggressive spirit of his nearer neighbours, and made his influ- ence felt even among the Philistines and Arabians. Amaziah, flushed with the re- covery of Edom, provoked a war with his more powerful contemporary Jehoash the conqueror of the Syrians ; and Jerusalem was entered and plundered by the Israelites. Under Uzziah and Jotham, Judah long en- joyed political and religious prosperity, till Ahaz became the tributary and vassal of Tig- lath-Pileser. (c.) Already in the fatal grasp of Assyria, Judah was yet spared for a che- quered existence of almost another century and a half after the termination of the king- dom of Israel. The consummation of the ruin came upon them in the destruction of the Temple by the hand of Nebuzaradan, amid the wailings of prophets, and the taunts of heathen tribes released at length from the yoke of David . JU'DAS, surnamed BAR 'SABAS, a leading member of the Apostolic church at Jeru- salem (Acts xv. 22), endued with the gift of prophecy (ver. 32), chosen with Silas to accompany Paul and Barnabas as delegates to the church at Antioch, to make known the decree concerning the terms of admission of the Gentile converts (ver. 27). After em- ploying their prophetical gifts for the con- firmation of the Syrian Christians in the faith, Judas went back to Jerusalem. JU'DAS OF GALILEE, the leader of a popular revolt “ in the days of the taxing ” ( i.e . the census, under the prefecture of P. Sulp. Quirinus, a.d. 6, a.tt.c. 759), referred to by Gamaliel in his speech before the San- hedrim (Acts v. 37). According to Josephus, Judas was a Gaulonite of the city of Gamala, probably taking his name of Galilaean from his insurrection having had its rise in Ga- lilee. His revolt had a theocratic character, the watchword of which was, “We have no Lord or master but God.” Judas himself perished, and his followers were dispersed. With his fellow-insurgent Sadoc, a Pharisee, Judas is represented by Josephus as the founder of a fourth sect, in addition to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. The Gaulonites, as his followers were called, may be regarded as the doctrinal ancestors of the Zealots and Sicarii of later days. JU'DAS ISCAR'IOT. He is sometimes called “ the son of Simon” (John vi. 71, xiii. 2, 26), but more commonly called (the three Synoptic Gospels give no other name) Isca- riotes (Matt. x. 4 ; Mark iii. 19 ; Luke vi. 16, &c.). In the three lists of the Twelve there is added in each case the fact that he was the betrayer. The name Iscariot has received many interpretations more or less conjectural. The most probable are — (1) From Kerioth (Josh. xv. 25), in the tribe of Judah. On this hypothesis his position among the Twelve, the rest of whom be- longed to Galilee (Acts ii. 7), would be ex- ceptional ; and this has led to (2) From Kartha in Galilee (Kartan, A.Y. Josh. xxi. 32). (3) From scortea, a leathern apron, the name being applied to him as the bearer of the bag and=Judas with the apron. — Of the life of Judas, before the appearance of his name in the lists of the Apostles, we know absolutely nothing. What that appearance implies, however, is that he had previously declared himself a disciple. He was drawn, as the others were, by the preaching of the Baptis^ or his own Messianic hopes, or the “ gracious words ” of the new Teacher, to leave his former life, and to obey the cal] of JUDAS ISCARIOT 280 JUDAS, THE LORD’S BROTHER the Prophet of Nazareth. The choice was not made, we must remember, without a pre- vision of its issue (John vi. 64). The germs of the evil, in all likelihood, unfolded them- selves gradually. The rules to which the Twelve were subject in their first journey (Matt. x. 9, 10) sheltered him from the temptation that would have been most dan- gerous to him. The new form of life, of which we find the first traces in Luke viii. 3, brought that temptation with it. As soon as the Twelve were recognised as a body, travel- ling hither and thither with their Master, receiving money and other offerings, and re- distributing what they received to the poor, it became necessary that some one should act as the steward and almoner of the small society, and this fell to Judas (John xii. 6, xiii. 29). The Galilean or Judaean peasant found himself entrusted with larger sums of money than before, and with this there came covetousness, unfaithfulness, embezzlement. It was impossible after this that he could feel at ease with One who asserted so clearly and sharply the laws of faithfulness, duty, unselfishness. The narrative of Matt, xxvi., Mark xiv. , places this history in close connexion with the fact of the betrayal. It leaves the motives of the betrayer to conjecture. During the days that intervened between the supper at Bethany and the Paschal or quasi-Paschal gathering, he appeared to have concealed his treachery. At the last Supper he is present, looking forward to the consummation of his guilt as drawing nearer every hour. Then come the sorrowful words which showed him that his design was known. “ One of you shall betray me.” After this there comes on him that paroxysm and insanity of guilt as of one whose human soul was possessed by the Spirit of Evil — “ Satan entered into him ” (John xiii. 27). He knows that garden in which his Master and his companions had so often rested after the weary work of the day. He comes, accompanied by a band of officers and servants (John xviii. 3), with the kiss which was probably the usual salutation of the disciples. The words of Jesus, calm and gentle as they were, showed that this was what embittered the treachery, and made the suffering it inflicted more acute (Luke xxii. 48). What followed in the confusion of that night the Gospels do not record. The fever of the crime passed away. There came back on him the recollection of the sinless right- eousness of the Master he had wronged (Matt, xxvii. 3). He repented, and his guilt and all that had tempted him to it became hate- ful. He carried back the thirty pieces of Rilver to the chief priests, and confessed his aim, hoping perhaps that good might yet be done by this assertion of Christ’s innocence. Their only answer was to throw the responsi- bility upon him ; and casting down the money on the pavement of the Temple he went and hanged himself. His death was made more horrible to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem by the circumstance recorded by St. Luke in the Acts ; but most awful of all is the sen- tence which was more than once pronounced upon him by the Lord, and with which Peter dismisses his name from the apostles’ list, “from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” With a scrupulousness which is the most striking example of religious formalism glossing over moral deformity, the chief priests decided that the thirty silver pieces, as the price of blood, must not be put back into the treasury, so they purchased with them the potter’s field, without the city, as a burial place for strangers. It seems to be implied in the narrative that the field thus purchased was also the place where Judas committed suicide, and the double memorial of the scene and the price of blood was preserved by its name, Aceldama, the field of blood (Matt, xxvii. 3-10 ; Acts i. 18, 19). It is hardly necessary to point out that “ purchased ” in the latter passage is an instance of a common figure of speech, implying indirect agency. [Aceldama.] JUDE, or JU'DAS, LEBBE'US and THAD- DE'US (A. V. “ Judas the brother of James ”), one of the Twelve Apostles ; a member, toge- ther with his namesake “ Iscariot,” James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, of the last of the three sections of the Apostolic body. The name Judas only, without any distinguishing mark, occurs in the lists given by St. Luke vi. 16 ; Acts i. 13 ; and in John xiv. 22 (where we find “ Judas not Iscariot ” among the Apostles), but the Apostle has been generally identified with “ Lebbeus whose surname was Tbaddeus ” (Matt. x. 3 ; Mark iii. 18). Much difference of opinion has existed from the earliest times as to the right interpretation of the words ’IouSa? ’la/cwjSov. The generally received opinion is that the A. V. is right in translating “ Judas the brother of James.” But we prefer to follow nearly all the most eminent critical authorities, and render the words “Judas the son of James.” The name of Jude occurs only once in the Gospel narrative (John xiv. 22). Nothing is certainly known of the later history of the Apostle. Tradition connects him with the foundation of the church at Edessa. JU'DAS MACCABAE'US. [Maccabees.] JU'DAS, THE LORD’S BROTHER. Among the brethren of our Lord mentioned by the people of Nazareth (Matt. xiii. 55 ; Mark vi. JUDE, EPISTLE OF 281 JUDGES, BOOK OF 3) occurs a “ Judas,’ 9 whe has been some- times identified with the Apostle of the same name. It has been considered with more probability that he was the writer of the Epistle which bears the name of “ Jude the brother of James.” JUDE, EPISTLE OF. Its author was probably Jude, one of the brethren of Jesus, the subject of the preceding- article. Although the canonicity of this Epistle was questioned in the earliest ages of the Church, there never was any doubt of its genuineness. The ques- tion was never whether it was the work of an impostor, but whether its author was of sufficient weight to warrant its admission into the Canon. This question was gradually decided in its favour. There are no data from which to determine its date or place of writing. The object of the Epistle is plainly enough announced, ver. 3 : the reason for this exhortation is given ver. 4. The re- mainder of the Epistle is almost entirely occupied by a minute depiction of the adver- saries of the faith. The Epistle closes by briefly reminding the readers of the oft-re- peated prediction of the Apostles — among whom the writer seems not to rank himself — that the faith would be assailed by such enemies as he has depicted (ver. 17-19), ex- horting them to maintain their own stead- fastness in the faith (ver. 20, 21), while they earnestly sought to rescue others from the corrupt example of those licentious livers (ver. 22, 23), and commending them to the power of God in language which forcibly recalls the closing benediction of the Epistle to the Romans (ver. 24, 25 ; cf. Rom. xvi. 25-27). This Epistle presents one peculiarity, which, as we learn from St. Jerome, caused its authority to be impugned in very early times — the supposed citation of apocryphal writings (ver. 9, 14, 15). The former of these passages, containing the reference to the contest of the archangel Michael and the devil “ about the body of Moses,” was sup- posed by Origen to have been founded on a Jewish work called the “ Assumption of Moses.” As regards the supposed quotation from the Book of Enoch, the question is not so clear whether St. Jude is making a cita- tion from a work already in the hands of his readers, or is employing a traditionary pro- phecy not at that time committed to writing. The larger portion of this Epistle (ver. 3-16) is almost identical in language and subject with a part of the Second Epistle of Peter (2 Pet. ii. 1-19). This question is examined in the article Peter, Sbcond Epistle of. JUDGES. The Judges were temporary and special deliverers, sent by God to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors, not su- preme magistrates, succeeding to the authority of Moses and Joshua. Their power only extended over portions of the country, and some of them were contemporaneous. Their name in Hebrew is Shophetim , which is the same as that for ordinary judges , nor is it applied to them in a different sense.* For, though tneir first work was that of deliverers and leaders in war, they then administered justice to the people, and their authority supplied the want of a regular government. But the only recognised central authority was still the oracle at Shiloh, which sunk into a system of priestly weakness and dis- order under Eli and his sons. Even while the administration of Samuel gave something like a settled government to the South, there was scope for the irregular exploits of Sam- son on the borders of the Philistines ; and Samuel at last established his authority as Judge and prophet, but still as the servant of Jehovah, only to see it so abused by his sons as to exhaust the patience of the people, who at length demanded a King, after the pattern of the surrounding nations. The following is a list of the Judges, whose history is given under their respective names : — First Servitude, to Mesopotamia — First Judge : Othniel. Second Servitude, to Moab — Second Judge : Ehud ; Third Judge : Shamgar. Third Servitude, to Jabin and Sisera — Fourth Judge : Deborah and Barak Fourth Servitude, to Midian — Fifth Judge : Gideon ; Sixth Judge : Abimelech ; Seventh Judge : Tola ; Eighth Judge : Jair. Fifth Servitude, to Ammon — Ninth Judge : Jephthah ; Tenth Judge : Ibzan ; Eleventh Judge : Elon ; Twelfth Judge : Abdon. Sixth Servitude, to the Philistines- Thirteenth Judge : Samson ; Fourteenth Judge : Eli. Fifteenth Judge : Samuel. On the Chronology of the Judges, see the following article. JUDGES, BOOK OF, of which the book of Ruth formed originally a part, contains the history from Joshua to Samson. As the history of the Judges occupies by far the greater part of the narrative, and is at the same time the history of the people, the title of the whole book is derived from that portion. The book * The Hebrew word is tho same as that of the Car- thaginian 11 Suffetes,” the name of the magistrates whom we find in the time of the Punic wars. JUDGES, BOOK OF 282 JUDITH, THE BOOK OF may be divided into two parts — (I.) Ch. i.-xvi. — The subdivisions are — (a) i.-ii. 5, which may be considered as a first introduc- tion, giving a summary of the results of the war carried on against the Canaanites by the several tribes on the west of Jordan after Joshua’s death, and forming a continuation of Josh. xii. (5) ii. 6-iii. 6. — This is a second introduction, standing in nearer relation to the following history, (c) iii. 7-xvi. — The words, “ and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,” which had been already used in ii. 11, are employed to intro- duce the history of the thirteen Judges com- prised in this book. An account of six of these thirteen is given at greater or less length. The account of the remaining seven is very short, and merely attached to the longer narratives. We may observe in ge- neral on this portion of the book, that it is almost entirely a history of the wars of deliverance. (II.) Ch. xvii.-xxi. — This part has no formal connexion with the preced- ing, and is often called an appendix. No mention of the Judges occurs in it. It con- tains allusions to “ the house of God,” the ark, and the high-priest. The period to which the narrative relates is simply marked by the expression, “ when there was no king in Israel” (xix. 1 ; cf. xviii. 1). It records (a) the conquest of Laish by a portion of the tribe of Dan, and the establishment there of the idolatrous worship of Jehovah already instituted by Micah in Mount Ephraim. ( b ) The almost total extinction of the tribe of Benjamin. The date is marked by the men- tion of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (xx. 28). From the above account it will be observed that the history ceases with Samson, excluding Eli and Samuel ; and then at this point two historical pieces are added — xvii.- xxi. and the book of Ruth — independent of the general plan and of each other. This is sufficiently explained by the supposition, that the books from Judges to 2 Kings formed one work. [Kings, Books of.] In this case the histories of Eli and Samuel, so closely united between themselves, are only deferred on account of their close connexion with the rise of the monarchy. And Judg. xvii.-xxi. is inserted both as an illustration of the sin of Israel during the time of the Judges, in which respect it agrees with i.-xvi., and as presenting a contrast with the better order prevailing in the time of the kings. If we adopt the view, that Judges to 2 Kings form one book, the final arrangement of the whole must have been after the thirty-seventh year of Jelioiacliin’s captivity, or b.c. 562 (2 K. xxv. 27.) — The time commonly assigned to the period contained in this book is 299 years. The dates which are given amount to 410 years when reckoned consecutively ; and Acts xiii. 20 would show that this was the computation commonly adopted, as the 450 years seem to result from adding 40 years for Eli to the 410 of this book. But a difficulty is created by xi. 26, and in a still greatei degree by 1 K. vi. 1, where the whole period from the Exodus to the building of the Temple is stated as 480 years. On the whole, it seems safer to give up the attempt to ascertain the chronology exactly. The successive narratives give us the history of only parts of the country, and some of the occurrences may have been contemporary (x. 7). JUDGMENT-HALL. The word Praeto- rium is so translated five times in the A. V. of the N. T. ; and in those five passages it denotes two different places. 1. In John xviii. 28, 33, xxix. 9, it is the residence which Pilate occupied when he visited Jeru- salem. The site of Pilate’s praetorium in Jerusalem has given rise to much dispute, some supposing it to be the palace of king Herod, others the tower of Antonia ; but it was probably the latter, which was then and long afterwards the citadel of Jerusalem. 2. In Acts xxiii. 35 Herod’s judgment-hall or praetorium in Caesarea was doubtless a part of that magnificent range of buildings, the erection of which by king Herod is de- scribed in Josephus. — The word “palace,” or “ Caesar’s court,” in the A. V. of Phil. i. 13, is a translation of the same word prae- torium. It may here have denoted the quarter of that detachment of the Praetorian Guards which was in immediate attendance upon the emperor, and had barracks in Mount Palatine. JU'DITH, the heroine of the apocryphal book which bears her name, who appears as an ideal type of piety (Jud. viii. 6), beauty (xi. 21), courage, and chastity (xvi. 22 ff.). JU'DITH, THE BOOK OF, one of the books of the Apocrypha, like that of Tobit, belongs to the earliest specimens of historical fiction. The narrative of the reign of “Ne- buchadnezzar king of Nineveh ” (i. 1), of the campaign of Holofernes, and the deliverance of Bethulia, through the stratagem and cour- age of the Jewish heroine, contains too many and too serious difficulties, both historical and geographical, to allow of the supposition that it is either literally true, or even care- fully moulded on truth. It belongs to the Maccabaean period, which it reflects not only in its general spirit but even in its smaller traits. The text exists at present in two distinct recensions, the Greek and the Latin. The former evidently is the truer represent:!- JULIA 283 KAN AH tire of the original, and it seems certain that the Latin was derived, in the main, from the Greek by a series of successive alterations. JU 'LIA, a Christian woman at Rome, pro- bably the wife, or perhaps the sister, of Philo- logus, in connexion with whom she is saluted by St. Paul (Rom. xvi. 15). JU’LIUS, the centurion of “ Augustus* band,’* to whose charge St. Paul was de- livered when he was sent prisoner from Caesarea to Rome (Acts xxvii. 1, 3). JU'NIA, a Christian at Rome, mentioned by St. Paul as one of his kinsfolk and fellow- prisoners, of note among the Apostles, and in Christ before St. Paui (Rom. xvi. 7). JUNIPER (l K. xix. 4, 5; Ps. cxx. 4 ; Job xxx. 4). The word which is rendered in A. Y. juniper is beyond doubt a sort of broom, Genista monosperma, G. raetam of Forskal, answering to the Arabic Rethem. It is very abundant in the desert of Sinai, and affords shade and protection, both in heat and storm, to travellers. The Rothem is a leguminous plant, and bears a white flower. It is also found in Spain, Portugal, and Palestine. JU ’PITER (the Greek Zeus). Antiochus Epiphanes dedicated the Temple at Jerusalem to the service of Zeus Olympius (2 Macc. vi. 2), and at the same time the rival temple on Gerizim was devoted to Zeus Xenius ( Jupiter hospitalis , Yulg.) . The Olympian Zeus was the national god of the Hellenic race, as well as the supreme ruler of the heathen world, and as such formed the true opposite to Jehovah. The application of the second epithet, “ the God of hospitality,” is more obscure. Ju- piter or Zeus is mentioned in one passage of the N. T., on the occasion of St. Paul’s visit to Lystra (Acts xiv. 12, 13), where the expres- sion “ Jupiter, which was before their city,” means that his temple was outside the city. JUST'US. 1. A surname of Joseph called Bar- sabas (Acts i. 23). — 2. A Christian at Corinth, with whom St. Paul lodged (Acts xviii. 7). — 3. A surname of Jesus, a friend of St. Paul (Col. iv. 11). ABZEE’L, one of the “ cities ” of the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 21), the native place of the great hero Benaiah-ben-Jehoiada (2 Sam. xxiii. 20 ; 1 Chr. xi. 22). After the captivity it was reinhabited by the Jews, and appears as Jekabzeel. KA'DESH, KA'DESH-BARNE'A (Kadesh means holy : it is the same word as the krabic name for Jerusalem, Rl-Khuds). This place, the scene of Miriam’s death, was the farthest point which the Israelites reached in their direct road to Canaan ; it was also that whence the spies were sent, and where, on their return, the people broke out into mur- muring, upon which their strictly penal term of wandering began (Num. xiii. 3, 26, xiv. 29-33, xx. 1 ; Deut. ii. 14). It is probable that the term “ Kadesh,” though applied to signify a “ city,” yet had also a wider appli- cation to a region, in which Kadesh-Meribah certainly, and Kadesh-Barnea probably, indi- cates a precise spot. In Gen. xiv. 7 Kadesh is identified with En-Mishpat, the “ fountain of judgment,” and is connected with Tamar or Hazazon Tamar. Precisely thus stands Kadesh-Barnea in the books of Numbers and Joshua (comp. Ezek. xlvii. 19, xlviii. 28 ; Num. xxxiv. 4; Josh. xv. 3). The name of the place to which the spies returned is “Kadesh” simply, in Num. xiii. 26, and is there closely connected with the “ wilderness of Paran ;” yet the “wilderness of Zin ” stands in near conjunction, as the point whence the “ search ” of the spies commenced (ver. 21). Again, in Num. xx., we find the people encamped in Kadesh after reaching the wilderness of Zin. Hence it has been supposed that there were two places of the name of Kadesh, one in the wilderness of Paran, and the other in that of Zin ; but it is more probable that only one place is meant, for whether these tracts were contiguous, and Kadesh on their common border, or ran into each other, and embraced a common terri- tory, to which the name “ Kadesh,” in an extended sense, might be given, is compara- tively unimportant. Kadesh must be placed in a site near where the mountain of the Amorites descends to the low region of the Arabah and Dead Sea ; but its exact locality cannot be ascertained. Dean Stanley would identify it with Petra. KAD'MIEL, one of the Levites who with his family returned from Babylon with Zerub- babel (Ezr. ii. 40 ; Neh. vii. 43). He and his house are prominent in history on three occasions (Ezr. iii. 9 ; Neh. ix. 4, 5, x. 9). KAD'MONITES, THE, a people named in Gen. xv. 19 only ; one of the nations who at that time occupied the land promised to the descendants of Abram. The name is pro- bably a synonym for the Bene-Kedem — the “ children of the East.” KA'NAH. 1. One of the places which formed the landmarks of the boundary of Asher ; apparently next to Zidon-rabbah, or “great Zidon ” (Josh. xix. 28). — 2. The River, a stream falling into the Mediterra- nean, which formed the division between the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh, the former on the south, the latter on the north (Josh. xvi. 8, xvii. 9). KAREAH 281 KETURAH K ARE' AH, the father of Johanan and Jonathan, who supported Gedaliah’s autho- rity and avenged his murder (Jer. xl. 8, 13, 15, 16, xli. 11, 13, 14, 16, xlii. 1, 8, xliii. 2, 4, 5). KAR'KOR, the place in which Zebah and Zalmunna were again routed by Gideon (Judg. viii. 10), must have been on the east of Jordan. KE'DAR, the second in order of the sons of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 13 ; 1 Chr. i. 29), and the name of a great tribe of the Arabs, settled on the north-west of the peninsula and the confines of Palestine. The “ glory of Kedar ” is recorded by the prophet Isaiah (xxi. 13-17) in the burden upon Arabia; and its importance may also be inferred from the “ princes of Kedar ” mentioned by Ez. (xxvii. 21), as well as the pastoral cha- racter of the tribe. They appear also to have been, like the wandering tribes of the present day, “archers” and “mighty men” (Is. xxi. 17 ; comp. Ps. cxx. 5). That they also settled in villages or towns, we find from Isaiah (xlii. 11). The tribe seems to have been one of the most conspicuous of all the Ishmaelite tribes, and hence the Rab- bins call the Arabians universally by this name. KE’DEMAH, the youngest of the sons of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 15 ; 1 Chr. i. 31). KE'DEMOTH, one of the towns in the dis- trict east of the Dead Sea allotted to the tribe of Reuben (Josh. xiii. 18) ; given to the Merarite Levites (Josh. xxi. 37 ; 1 Chr. vi. 79). It possibly conferred its name on the “ wilderness,” or uncultivated pasture land, “ of Kedemoth ” (Num. xxi. 23 ; Deut. ii. 26, 27, &c.) . KE'DESH. 1. In the extreme south of Judah (Josh. xv. 23). — 2. A city of Issachar, allotted to the Gershonite Levites (1 Chr. vi. 72). The Kedesh mentioned among the cities whose kings were slain by Joshua (Josh. xii. 22), in company with Megiddo and Jokneam of Carmel, would seem to have been this city of Issachar. — 3. Kedesh : also Kedesh in Galilee : and once, Judg. iv. 6, Kedesh-Naphtali. One of the fortified cities of the tribe of Naphtali, named between Hazor and Edrei (Josh. xix. 37) ; appointed as a city of refuge, and allotted with its “ suburbs ” to the Gershonite Levites (xx. 7, xxi. 32 ; 1 Chr. vi. 76). It was the resi- dence of Barak (Judg. iv. 6), and there he and Deborah assembled the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali before the conflict, being pro- bably, as its name implies, a “ holy place ” of great antiquity. It was taken by Tiglath- Pileser in the reign of Pekah (2 K. xv. 29). It is identified wdth the village Kades> which lies 4 miles to the N.W. of the upper part of the Sea of Merom. KED'RON, properly Kidron. [Kidhon.] KE'ILAH, a city of the Shefelah or low- land district of Judah (Josh. xv. 44). Its main interest consists in its connection with David (1 Sam. xxiii. 7-13). It is represented by Kila , a site with ruins, on the lower road from Beit Jibrin to Hebron. KEM'UEL, son of Nahor by Milcah, and father of Aram (Gen. xxii. 21). KE'NAN = Cain an, the son of Enos (1 Chr. i.2). KE’NAZ, son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, was one of the dukes of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 15, 42 ; 1 Chr. i. 53). KE'NEZITE, or KENIZZITE (Gen. xv. 19), an Edomitish tribe (Num. xxxii. 12 ; Josh. xiv. 6, 14). KE'NITE, THE, and KE'NITES, THE, a tribe or nation, first mentioned in company with the Kenizzites and Kadmonites (Gen. xv. 19). Their origin is hidden from us. But we may fairly infer that they were a branch of the larger nation of Midian — from the fact that Jethro, who in Exodus (see ii. 15, 16, iv. 19, &c.) is represented as dwelling in the land of Midian, and as priest or prince of that nation, is in Judges (i. 16, iv. 11) as distinctly said to have been a Kenite. The important services rendered by the sheikh of the Kenites to Moses during a time of great pressure and difficulty, were rewarded by the latter with a promise of firm friendship between the two peoples. The connexion then commenced lasted as firmly as a connexion could last between a settled people like Israel and one whose ten- dencies were so ineradicably nomadic as the Kenites. They seem to have accompanied the Hebrews during their wanderings (Num. xxiv. 21, 22; Judg. i. 16; comp. 2 Chr. xxviii. 15). But the wanderings of Israel over, they forsook the neighbourhood of the towns, and betook themselves to freer air — to “the wilderness of Judah, which is to the south of Arad” (Judg. i. 16). But one of the sheikhs of the tribe, Heber by name, had wandered north instead of south (Judg. iv. 11). The most remarkable development of this people is to be found in the sect or family of the Rechabites. KE'NIZZITE. (Gen. xv. 19). [Kenezite.] KE'REN-HAP'PUCH, the youngest of the daughters of Job, born to him during the period of his reviving prosperity (Job xlii. 14). KETU'RAH, the wife whom Abraham “ added and took ” (A. V. “ again took ”) besides, or after the death of, Sarah (Gen. xxv. 1 ; 1 Chr. i. 32). Some critics think that Abraham took Keturali after Sarah’s KEY 285 KING death ; but it is more probable that he took her during Sarah’s lifetime (comp. Gen. xvii. 17; xviii. 11; Rom. iy. 19; Heb. xi. 12). That she was strictly speaking his wife is also very uncertain. In the record in 1 Chr. i. 32, she is called a “concubine ” (comp. Gen. xxv. 5, 6). KEY. The key of a native Oriental lock is a piece of wood, from 7 inches to 2 feet in length, fitted with wires or short nails, which, being inserted laterally into the hollow bolt which serves as a lock, raises other pins within the staple so as to allow the bolt to be drawn back. But it is not difficult to open a lock of this kind even without a key, viz. with the finger dipped in paste or other ad- hesive substance. The passage Cant. v. 4, 5, is thus probably explained. KEZI'A, the second of the daughters of Job, born to him after his recovery (Job xlii. 14). KEZI'Z, of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 21) and the eastern border of the tribe. KIB'ROTH-HATTA'AVAH, Num. xi. 34 ; marg. “ the graves of lust ” (comp, xxxiii. 17). From there being no change of spot mentioned between it and Taberah in xi. 3, it is probably, like the latter, about three days’ journey from Sinai (x. 33), and near the sea (xi. 22, 31). If Hudhera be Haze- roth, then “ the graves of lust ” may be per- haps within a day’s journey thence in the direction of Sinai. KID. [Goat.] KID ’RON (or KED'RON), THE BROOK, a torrent or valley — not a “ brook,” as in the A. Y. — close to Jerusalem. It lay between the city and the Mount of Olives, and was crossed by David in his flight (2 Sam. xv. 23, comp. 30), and by our Lord on His way to Gethsemane (John xviii. 1 ; comp. Mark xiv. 2G ; Luke xxii. 39). Its connexion with these two occurrences is alone sufficient to leave no doubt that the Kidron is the deep ravine on the east of Jerusalem, now commonly known as the “Valley of Jehoshaphat.” [Map, p. 249.] The distinguishing peculiarity of the Kidron valley — that in respect to which it is most frequently mentioned in the O. T. — is the impurity which appears to have been ascribed to it. In the time of Josiah it was the common cemetery of the city (2 K. xxiii. 6; comp. Jer. xxvi. 23, “graves of the common people ”). At present it is the favourite resting-place of Moslems and Jews, the former on the west, the latter on the east of the valley. The channel of the valley of Jehoshaphat is nothing more than the dry bed of a wintry torrent, bearing marks of being occasionally swept over by a large volume of water. KING, the name of the Supreme Ruler ot the Hebrews during a period of about 50(> years previous to the destruction of Jerusa- lem, b.c. 586. The immediate occasion of the substitution of a regal form of govern- ment for that of Judges, seems to have been the siege of Jabesh-Gilead by Nahash, king of the Ammonites (1 Sam. xi. 1, xii. 12), and the refusal to allow the inhabitants of that city to capitulate, except on humiliating and cruel conditions (1 Sam. xi. 2, 4-6). The conviction seems to have forced itself on the Israelites that they could not resist their for- midable neighbour unless they placed them- selves under the sway of a king, like sur- rounding nations. Concurrently with this conviction, disgust had been excited by the corrupt administration of justice under the sons of Samuel, and a radical change was desired by them in this respect also (1 Sam. viii. 3-5). Accordingly the original idea of a Hebrew king was twofold : first, that he should lead the people to battle in time of war ; and, 2ndly, that he should execute judg- ment and justice to them in war and in peace (1 Sam. viii. 20). In both respects the de- sired end was attained. To form a correct idea of a Hebrew king, we must abstract our- selves from the notions of modern Europe, and realise the position of Oriental sovereigns. Besides being commander-in-chief of the army, supreme judge, and absolute master, as it were, of the lives of his subjects, the king exercised the power of imposing taxes on them, and of exacting from them personal service and labour. And the degree to which the exaction of personal labour might be carried on a special occasion is illustrated by King Solomon’s requirements for building the temple. In addition to these earthly powers, the King of Israel had a more awful claim to respect and obedience. He was the vicegerent of Jehovah (1 Sam. x. 1, xvi. 13), and as it were His son, if just and holy (2 Sam. vii. 14 ; Ps. lxxxix. 26, 27, ii. 6, 7). He had been set apart as a consecrated ruler. Upon his head had been poured the holy anointing oil, which had hitherto been re- served exclusively for the priests of Jehovah. He had become, in fact, emphatically “the Lord’s Anointed.” A ruler in whom so much authority, human and divine, was em- bodied, was naturally distinguished by out- ward honours and luxuries. He had a court of Oriental magnificence. When the power of the kingdom was at its height, he sat on a throne of ivory, covered with pure gold, at the feet of which were two figures of lions. The king was dressed in royal robes (1 K. xxii. 10 ; 2 Chr. xviii. 9) ; his insignia were, a crown or diadem of pure gold, or perhaps KINGS, BOOKS OF 286 KINGS, BOOKS OF radiant with precious gems (2 Sam. i. 10, xii. 30 ; 2 K. xi. 12 ; Ps. xxi. 3), and a royal sceptre. Those who approached him did him obeisance, bowing down and touching the ground with their foreheads (1 Sam. xxiv. 8 ; 2 Sam. xix. 24) ; and this was done even by a king’s wife, the mother of Solomon (1 K. i. 16). Their officers and subjects called them- selves his servants or slaves, though they do not seem habitually to have given way to such extravagant salutations as in the Chal- daean and Persian courts (1 Sam. xvii. 32, 34, 36, xx. 8 ; 2 Sam. vi. 20 ; Dan. ii. 4). As in the East to this day, a kiss was a sign of respect and homage (1 Sam. x. 1, perhaps Ps. ii. 12). He lived in a splendid palace, with porches and columns (IK. vii. 2-7). All his drinking vessels were of gold (1 K. x. 21). He had a large harem, which in the time of Solomon must have been the source of enormous expense. As is invariably the case in the great eastern monarchies at pre- sent, his harem was guarded by eunuchs; translated “ officers ” in the A. V. for the most part (1 Sam. viii. 15 ; 2 K. xxiv. 12, 15 ; 1 K. xxii. 9 ; 2 K. viii. 6, ix. 32, 33, xx. 18, xxiii. 11 ; Jer. xxxviii. 7). The law of succession to the throne is somewhat ob- scure, but it seems most probable that the king during his lifetime named his successor. This was certainly the case with David (1 K. i. 30, ii. 22) ; and with Rehoboam (2 Chr. xi. 21, 22). At the same time, if no partiality for a favourite wife or son intervened, there would always be a natural bias of affection in favour of the eldest son. KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF, originally only one book in the Hebrew Canon, form in the LXX. and the Vulgate the third and fourth books of Kings (the books of Samuel being the first and second). It must also be remembered that the division between the books of Kings and Samuel is equally artificial, and that in point of fact the historical books commencing with Judges and ending with 2 Kings present the appear- ance of one work, giving a continuous history of Israel f^m the time of Joshua to the death of Jehoiachin. The Books of Kings contain the history from David’s death and Solomon’s accession to the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem, with a supplemental notice of an event that oc- curred after an interval of twenty-six years, viz. the liberation of Jehoiachin from his prison at Babylon, and a still further exten- sion to Jehoiachin’s death, the time of which is not known, but which was probably not long after his liberation. The history there- fore comprehends the whole time of the Is- raelitish monarchy, exclusive of the reigns of Saul and David. As regards the authorship of the books, but little difficulty presents it- self. The Jewish tradition, which ascribes them to Jeremiah, is borne out by the strong- est internal evidence, in addition to that of the language. The last chapter, especially as compared with the last chapter of the Chronicles, bears distinct traces of having been written by one who did not go into cap- tivity, but remained in Judaea after the destruction of the Temple. This suits Jere- miah. The events singled out for mention in the concise narrative are precisely those of which he had personal knowledge, and in which he took special interest. The writer in Kings has nothing more to tell us concerning the Jews or Chaldees in the land of Judah, which exactly agrees with the hypothesis that he is Jeremiah, who we know was car- ried down into Egypt with the fugitives. In fact, the date of the writing and the position of the writer seem as clearly marked by the termination of the narrative at v. 26, as in the case of the Acts of the Apostles. But though the general unity and continuity of plan lead us to assign the whole history in a certain sense to one author, yet it must be borne in mind that the authorship of those parts of the history of which Jeremiah was not an eye-witness — that is, of all before the reign of Josiah — would have consisted merely in selecting, arranging, inserting the con- necting phrases, and, when necessary, slightly modernising the old histories which had been drawn up by contemporary prophets through the whole period of time. (See e.g. 1 K. xiii. 32.) For, as regards the sources of information, it may truly be said that we have the narrative of contemporary writers throughout. There was a regular series of state-annals both for the kingdom of Judah and for that of Israel, which embraced the whole time comprehended in the books of Kings, or at least to the end of the reign of Jehoiakim (2 K. xxiv. 5). These annals are constantly cited by name as “ the Book of the Acts of Solomon” (1 K. xi. 41); and after Solomon, “ the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, or, Israel ” (e. g. 1 K. xiv. 29, xv. 7, xvi. 5, 14, 20 ; 2 K. x. 34, xxiv. 5, &c.) ; and it is manifest that the author of Kings had them both before him, while he drew up his history, in which the reigns of the two kingdoms are harmonized, and these annals constantly appealed to. But, in addi- tion to these national annals, there were also extant, at the time that the Books of Kings were compiled, separate works of the several prophets who had lived in Judah and Israel. Thus the acts of Uzziah, written by Isaiah, were very likely identical with the history KINGS, BOOKS OF 287 KINGS, BOOKS OF of his reign in the national chronicles ; and part of the history of Hezekiah we know is identical in the chronicles and in the pro- phet. The chapter in Jeremiah relating to the destruction of the Temple (lii.) is identical with that in 2 K. xxiv., xxv. — Relation of the Books of Kings to those of Chronicles . — It is manifest, and is uni- versally admitted, that the former is by fax the older work. The language, which is quite free from the Persicisms of the Chro- nicles and their late orthography, clearly points out its relative superiority in regard to age. Its subject also, embracing the king- dom of Israel as well as Judah, is another indication of its composition before the king- dom of Israel was forgotten, and before the Jewish enmity to Samaria, which is apparent in such passages as 2 Chr. xx. 37, xxv., and in those chapters of Ezra (i.-vi.) which be- long to Chronicles, was brought to maturity. While the Books of Chronicles therefore were written especially for the Jews after their return from Babylon, the Book of Kings was written for the whole of Israel, before their common national existence was hope- lessly quenched. Another comparison of considerable interest between the two his- tories may be drawn in respect to the main design, that design having a marked relation both to the individual station of the supposed writers, and the peculiar circumstances of their country at the time of their writing. Jeremiah was himself a prophet. He lived while the prophetic office was in full vigour, in his own person, in Ezekiel, and Daniel, and many others, both true and false. Ac- cordingly, we find in the Books of Kings great prominence given to the prophetic office. Ezra, on the contrary, was only a priest. In his days the prophetic office had wholly fallen into abeyance. That evidence of the Jews being the people of God, which consisted in the presence of prophets among them, was no more. But to the men of his generation, the distinctive mark of the continuance of God’s favour to their race was the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem, the restoration of the daily sacrifice and the Levitical worship, and the wonderful and providential renewal of the Mosaic institutions. The chief in- strument, too, for preserving the Jewish remnant from absorption into the mass of Heathenism, and for maintaining their na- tional life till the coming of Messiah, was the maintenance of the Temple, its ministers, and its services. Hence we see at once that the chief care of a good and enlightened Jew of the age of Ezra — and all the more if he were himself a priest — would naturally be to en- hance the value of the Levitical ritual, and the dignity of the Levitical caste. And in compiling a history of the past glories of his race, he would as naturally select such pas- sages as especially bore upon the sanctity of the priestly office, and showed the deep con- cern taken by their ancestors in all that related to the honour of God’s House, and the support of his ministering servants. Hence the Levitical character of the Books of Chronicles, and the presence of several de- tailed narratives not found in the Books of Kings, and the more frequent reference to the Mosaic institutions, may most naturally and simply be accounted for, without resort- ing to the absurd hypothesis that the cere- monial law was an invention subsequent to the Captivity. (2 Chr. xxix., xxx., xxxi., com- pared with 2 K. xviii. is perhaps as good a specimen as can be selected of the distinctive spirit of the Chronicles. See also 2 Chr. xxvi. 16-21, compared with 2 K. xv. 5 ; 2 Chr. xi. 13-17, xiii. 9-20, xv. 1-15, xxiii. 2-8, compare with 2 K. xi. 5-9, and vers. 18, 19, compare with ver. 18, and many other pas- sages.) Moreover, upon the principle that the sacred writers were influenced by natural feelings in their selection of their materials, it seems most appropriate that while the prophetical writer in Kings deals very fully with the kingdom of Israel, in which the prophets were much more illustrious than in Judah, the Levitical writer, on the con- trary, should concentrate all his thoughts round Jerusalem, where alone the Levitical caste had all its power and functions, and should dwell upon all the instances preserved in existing muniments of the deeds and even the minutest ministrations of the priests and Levites, as well as of their faithfulness and sufferings in the cause of truth. From the comparison of parallel narratives in the two books, it appears that the results are precisely what would naturally arise from the circum- stances of the case. The writer of the Chro- nicles, having the Books of Kings before him, made those books to a great extent the basis of his own. But also having his own per- sonal views, predilections, and motives in writing, composing for a different age, and for people under very different circumstances ; and, moreover, having before him the original authorities from which the Books of Kings were compiled, as well as some others, he naturally rearranged the older narrative as suited his purpose and his taste. He gave in full passages which the other had abridged, inserted what had been wholly omitted, omitted some things which the other had in- serted, including nearly everything relating to the kingdom of Israel, and showed the colour of his own mind, not only in the na- KIR-HARASETH 288 KIR OF MOAB ture of the passages which he selected from the ancient documents, but in the reflections which he frequently adds upon the events which he relates, and possibly also in the turn given to some of the speeches which he records. KIR-HARA'SETH (2 K. iii. 25). KIR- HA'RESH (Is. xvi. 11). KIR-HARE'SETH (Is. xvi. 7). KIR-LIE'RES (Jer. xlviii. 31, 36). These four names are all applied to one place, probably Kir-Moab. KIR'IAH, apparently an ancient or archaic word, meaning a city or town. It may be compared to the word ‘‘burg” or “bury ” in our own language. Closely related to Kiriah is Kereth, apparently a Phoenician form, which occurs occasionally (Job xxix. 7 ; Prov. viii. 3). This is familiar to us in the Latin garb of Carthago, and in the Parthian and Armenian names Cirta, Tigrano- Certa. As a proper name it appears in the Bible under the forms of Kerioth, Kartah, Kartan ; besides those immediately following. KIRI ATH A 'IM. [Kirjathaim.] KIR'IOTH, a place in Moab, the palaces of which were threatened by Amos with de- struction by fire (Am. ii. 2) ; unless indeed the word means simply “ the cities ” — which is probably the case also in Jer. xlviii. 4. KIR' J ATH, the last of the cities enume- rated as belonging to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 28), probably identical with the better known place Kirjath-Jearim. KIRJATHA f IM. — 1. On the east of the Jordan, one of the places which were taken possession of and rebuilt by the Reubenites, and had fresh names conferred on them (Num. xxxii. 37, and see 38), the first and last of j which are known with some tolerable degree of certainty (Josh. xii. 19). It existed in the time of Jeremiah (xlviii. 1, 23) and Eze- kiel (xxv. 9 — in these three passages the A. V. gives the name Kiriathaim). By Euse- bius it appears to have been well known. He describes it as a village entirely of Chris- tians, 10 miles west of Medeba, “close to the Baris.” — 2. A town in Naphtali not men- tioned in the original lists of the possession allotted to the tribe (see Josh. xix. 32-39), but inserted in the list of cities given to the Gershonite Levites, in 1 Chr. (vi. 76), in place of Kartan in the parallel catalogue, Kartan being probably only a contraction thereof. KIR'JATII-AR'BA, an early name of the city which after the conquest is generally known as Hebron (Josh. xiv. 15 ; Judg. i. 10). The identity of Kirjath-Arba with Hebron is constantly asserted (Gen. xxiii. 2, xxxv. 27 ; Josh. xiv. 15, xv. 13, 54, xx. 7, xxi. 11). KIR' J ATH- A 'RIM, an abbreviated form of the name Kirjath-Jearim, which occurs only in Ezr. ii. 25. KIR'JATH-BA'AL. [Kirjath-Jearim.] KIR'JATH-HU'ZOTH, a place to which Balak accompanied Balaam immediately after his arrival in Moab (Num. xxii. 39). KIR'JATH-JE'ARIM, first mentioned as one of the four cities of the Gibeonites (Josh„ ix. 17) : it next occurs as one of the land- marks of the northern boundary of Judah (xv. 9) and as the point at which the western and southern boundaries of Benjamin coin- cided (xviii. 14, 15) ; and in the two last passages we find that it bore another, perhaps earlier, name — that of the great Canaanite deity Baal, namely Baalah and Kirjath- Baal. It is reckoned among the towns of Judah (xv. 60). It is included in the genea- logies of Judah (1 Chr. ii. 50, 52) as founded by, or descended from, Shobal, the son of Caleb-ben-Hur. “ Behind Kirjath-jearim ” the band of Danites pitched their camp before their expedition to Mount Ephraim and Laish, leaving their name attached to the spot for long after (Judg. xviii. 12). [Ma- haneh-dan.] Hitherto beyond the early sanctity implied in its bearing the name of Baal, there is nothing remarkable in Kir- jath-jearim. It was no doubt this reputation for sanctity which made the people of Beth- shemesh appeal to its inhabitants to relieve them of the Ark of Jehovah, which was bring- ing such calamities on their untutored inex- perience (1 Sam. vi. 20, 21). In this high place the ark remained for twenty years (vii. 2). At the close of that time Kirjath-jearim I lost its sacred treasure, on its removal by David to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (1 Chr. xiii. 5, 6 ; 2 Chr. i. 4 ; 2 Sam. vi. 2, &c.). To Eusebius and Jerome it appears to have been well known. They describe it as a village at the ninth mile between Jerusalem and Diospolis (Lydda). These requirements are exactly fulfilled in the modern village of Kuriet-el-Enab — now usually known as Abu Gosh , from the robber-chief whose head-quar- ters it was — on the road from Jaffa to Jeru- salem. KIR'JATH-SAN'NAH. [Debir.] KIR'JATH-SE'PHER. (Judg. i. 11, 12.) [Debir.] KIR OF MOAB, one of the two chief strongholds of Moab, the other being Ar of Moab. The name occurs only in Is. xv. 1, though the place is probably referred to under the names of Kir-heres, Kir-haraseth, &c. It is almost identical with the name Kerak , by which the site of an important city in a high and very strong position at the S.E. of the Dead Sea is known at this day. It* KISH 289 KNOP situation is truly remarkable. It is built upon the top of a steep hill, surrounded on all sides by a deep and narrow valley, which again is completely inclosed by mountains rising higher than the town, and overlooking it on all sides. KISH. 1. The father of Saul ; a Ben- jamite of the family of Matri, according to 1 Sam. x. 21, though descended from Becher according to 1 Chr. vii. 8, compared with 1 Sam. ix. 1. — 2. Son of Jehiel, and uncle to the preceding (1 Chr. ix. 36). — 3. A Ben- jamite, great grandfather of Mordecai (Esth. ii. 5). — 4. A Merarite, of the house of Mahli, of the tribe of Levi. His sons married the daughters of his brother Eleazar (1 Chr. xxiii. 21, 22, xxiv. 28, 29), apparently about the time of King Saul, or early in the reign of David, since Jeduthun the singer was the son of Kish (1 Chr. vi. 44, compared with 2 Chr. xxix. 12). KISH ’ION, one of the towns on the boun- dary of the tribe of Issachar (Josh. xix. 20), which with its suburbs was allotted to the Gershonite Levites (xxi. 28 ; A. Y. Kishon). KI'SHON, THE RIVER, a torrent or winter stream of central Palestine, the scene of two of the grandest achievements of Is- raelite history — the defeat of Sisera (Judg. iv.), and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1 K. xviii. 40). The Nahr Mukutta , the modern representative of the Kishon, is the drain by which the waters of the plain of Esdraelon, and of the mountains which enclose that plain, find their way to the Mediterranean. Like most of the so-called “rivers” of Palestine, the perennial stream forms but a small part of the Kishon. During the greater part of the year its upper portion is dry, and the stream confined to a few miles next the sea. The part of the Kishon at which the prophets of Baal were slaughtered by Elijah was doubtless close below the spot on Carmel where the sacrifice had taken place. KI'SON, an inaccurate mode of represent- ing the name Kishon (Ps. lxxxiii. 9). KISS. Kissing the lips by way of affec- tionate salutation was customary amongst n^ar relatives of both sexes, both in Patri- archal and in later times (Gen. xxix. 11 ; Cant. viii. 1). Between individuals of the same sex, and in a limited degree between those of different sexes, the kiss on the cheek as a mark of respect or an act of salutation has at all times been customary in the East, and can hardly be said to be extinct even in Europe. In the Christian Church the kiss of charity was practised not only as a friendly salutation, but as an act symbolical of love and Christian brotherhood (Rom, xvi. 16 ; 1 Sm. D. B. Cor. xvi. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 12 ; 1 Thess. v» 26 ; 1 Pet. v. 14). The written decrees of a sovereign are kissed in token of respect ; even the ground is sometimes kissed by Orientals in the fulness of their submission (Gen. xli. 40 ; 1 Sam. xxiv. 8 ; Ps. lxxii. 9 ; &c.). Kissing is spoken of in Scripture as a mark of respect or adoration to idols (1 K. xix. 18 ; Hos. xiii. 2). KITE (Heb. ayyah). The Hebrew word thus rendered occurs in three passages, Lev. xi. 14, Deut. xiv. 13, and Job xxviii. 7 : in the two former it is translated “ kite ” in the A. V., in the latter “ vulture.” It is enume- rated among the twenty names of birds men- tioned in Deut. xiv. (belonging for the most part to the order Raptor es), which were con- sidered unclean by the Mosaic Law, and for- bidden to be used as food by the Israelites. The allusion in Job alone affords a clue to its identification. The deep mines in the re- cesses of the mountains from which the labour of man extracts the treasures of the earth are there described as “a track which the bird of prey hath not known, nor hath the eye of the ayyah looked upon it.” The ayyah may possibly be the “kite,” but there is no certainty on the subject. Kite. KIT'RON, one of the towns from which Zebulun did not expel the Canaanites (Judg. i. 30). In the Talmud it is identified with “ Zippori,” i.e. Sepphoris, now Seffurieh. KIT'TIM. Twice written in the A. Y. for Chittim (Gen. x. 4 ; 1 Chr. i. 7). KNEADING-TROUGHS. [Bread.] KNOP. A word employed in the A. V. to translate two terms, which refer to soniv IT KOHATH 290 LACHI3H architectural or ornamental object, but which have nothing in common. 1. Caphtor. This occurs in the description of the candlestick of the sacred tent in Ex. xxv. 31-36, and xxxvii. 17-22. 2. The second term, Pekcfim, is found only in 1 K. vi. 18, and vii. 24. The word no doubt signifies some globular thing resembling a small gourd, or an egg, though as to the character of the ornament we are quite in the dark. The following woodcut of a portion of a richly ornamented Aoor-step or slab from Kouyunjik, probably represents something approximating to the “ knop and the flower ” of Solomon’s Temple. Border of a Slab from Kouyunjik. KO'HATH, second of the three sons of Levi, from whom the three principal divisions of the Levites derived their origin and their name (Gen. xlvi. 11; Exod. vi. 16, 18; Num. iii. 17; 2 Chr. xxxiv. 12, &c.). Ko- hath was the father of Amram, and he of Moses and Aaron. From him, therefore, were descended all the priests ; and hence those of the Kohathites who were not priests vere of the highest rank of the Levites, though not the sons of Levi’s first-born. In the journey in gs of the Tabernacle the sons of Kohath had charge of the most holy portions of the vessels (Num. iv.). It appears from Ex. vi. 18 — 22, compared with 1 Chr. xxiii. 12, xx vi. 23-32, that there were four families of sons of Kohath — Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites. Of the personal history of Kohath we know nothing, except that he came down to Egypt with Levi and Jacob (Gen. xlvi. 11), that his sister was Jochebed (Ex. vi. 20), and that he lived to the age of 133 years (Ex. vi. 18). KQ'BAH. 1. Third son of Esau by Aholi- bamah (Gen. xxxvi. 5, 14, 18 ; 1 Chr. i. 35). He was born in Canaan before Esau migrated to Mount Seir (xxxvi. 5-9), and was one of the “ dukes ” of Edom. — 2. Another Edom- itish duke of this name, sprung from Eliphaz, Esau’s son by Adah (Gen. xxxvi. 16). — 3. Son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. He was leader of the famous rebellion against his cousins Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, for which he paid the penalty of perishing with his followers by an earthquake and flames of fire (Num. xvi. xxvi. 9-11). The particular grievance which rankled in the mind of Korah and his company was their exclusion from the office of the priest- hood, and their being confined — those among them who were Levites — to the inferior ser- vice of the tabernacle. Korah’s position as leader in this rebellion was evidently the result of his personal character, which was that of a bold, haughty, and ambitious man. From some cause which does not clearly ap- pear, the children of Korah were not involved in the destruction of their father (Num. xxvi. 11). Perhaps the fissure of the ground which swallowed up the tents of Dathan and Abi- ram did not extend beyond those of the Beu- benites. From ver. 27 it seems clear that Korah himself was not with Dathan and Abiram at the moment. He himself was doubtless with the 250 men who bare cen- sers nearer the tabernacle (ver. 19), and perished with them by the “ fire from Jeho- vah ” which accompanied the earthquake. In the N. T. (Jude 11) Korah is coupled with Cain and Balaam. KOB/AHITE (1 Chr. ix. 19, 31), KOB'- HITE, or KOB'ATHITE, that portion of the Kohathites who were descended from Korah, and are frequently styled by the synonymous phrase Sons of Korah. They were an im- portant branch of the singers (2 Chr. xx. 19). Hence we find eleven Psalms (or twelve, if Ps. 43 is included under the same title as Ps. 42) dedicated or assigned to the sons of Korah, viz. Ps. 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, 88. L A'BAN, son of Bethuel, brother of Bebe- kah, and father of Leah and Bachel. The elder branch of the family remained at Haran when Abraham removed to the land of Canaan, and it is there that we first meet with Laban, as taking the leading part in the betrothal of his sister Bebekah to her cousin Isaac (Gen. xxiv. 10, 29-60, xxvii. 43, xxix. 4). The next time Laban appears in the sacred narrative it is as the host of his nephew Jacob at Haran (Gen. xxix. 13, 14). The subsequent transactions by which he secured the valuable services of his nephew are related under Jacob. LA CEDEMO'NIAN S, the inhabitants ot Sparta or Lacedaemon, with whom the Jews claimed kindred (1 Macc. xii. 2, 5, 6, 20, 21 ; xiv. 20, 23 ; xv. 23 ; 2 Macc. v. 9). LA'CHISII, a city of the Amorites, the king of which joined with four others, at the invitation of Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, to chastise the Gibeonites for their league with Israel (Josh. x. 3, 5). They were LAHAI-ROI, THE WELL 291 LAMP routed by Joshua at Bethhoron, and the king- of Lachish fell a victim, with the others under the trees at Makkedah (ver. 26). The destruction of the town shortly followed the death of the king- (ver. 31-33). In the spe- cial statement that the attack lasted two days, in contradistinction to the other cities which were taken in one (see ver. 35), we gain our first glimpse of that strength of position for which Lachish was afterwards remarkable. Lachish was one of the cities fortified and garrisoned by Rehoboam after the revolt of the northern kingdom (2 Chr. xi. 9). It was chosen as a refuge by Amaziah from the conspirators who threatened him in Jeru- salem, and to whom he at last fell a victim at Lachish (2 K. xiv. 19; 2 Chr. xxv. 27). In the reign of Hezekiah, it was one of the cities taken by Sennacherib when on his way from Phoenicia to Egypt. This siege is con- sidered by Layard and Hincks to be depicted on the slabs found by the former in one of the chambers of the palace at Kouyunjik. But though the Assyrian records appear to assert the capture of Lachish, no statement is to be found either in the Bible or Josephus that it was taken. After the return from captivity, Lachish with its surrounding “ fields ” was re-occupied by the Jews (Neh. xi. 30). By Eusebius and Jerome, in the Onomasticon , Lachish is mentioned as “ 7 miles from Eleutheropolis, towards Daroma,” i.e. towards the south. LAHA'I-RO'I, THE WELL. In this form is given in the A. V. of Gen. xxiv. 62, and xxv. 11, the name of the famous well of Hagar’s relief, in the oasis of verdure round which Isaac afterwards resided. LAVISH, the city which was taken by the Danites, and under its new name of Dan be- came famous as the northern limit of the nation (Judg. xviii. 7, 14, 27, 29). [Dan.] In the A. Y. Laish is again mentioned in the account of Sennacherib’s march on Jerusalem (Is. x. 30). This Laish is probably the small village, Laishah, lying between Gallim and Anathoth, and of which hitherto no traces have been found. LAVISH, father of Phaltiel, to whom Saul had given Michal, David’s wife (1 Sam. xxv. 44 ; 2 Sam. iii. 15). LAKES. [Palestine.] LA'KUM, properly LAKKUM, one of the places which formed the landmarks of the boundary of Naphtali (Josh. xix. 33). LAMBS formed an important part of al- most every sacrifice (Ex. xxix. 38-41 ; Num. x xviii. 9, 11, xxix. 2, 13-40, &c.). On the Paschal Lamb see Passover. LA'MECH, properly Lemech. — 1. The fifth dneal descendant from Cain (Gen. iv. 18-24). He is the only one except Enoch, of the posterity of Cain, whose history is related with some detail. His two wives, Adah and Zillah, and his daughter Naamah, are, with Eve, the only antediluvian women whose names are mentioned by Moses. His three sons — Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain, are celebrated in Scripture as authors of useful inventions. The remarkable poem which Lamech uttered has not yet been explained quite satisfactorily. It may be rendered : — Adah and Zillah ! hear my voice, Ye wives of Lamech ! give ear unto my speech. For a man had I slain for smiting me. And a youth for wounding me : Surely sevenfold shall Cain be avenged. But Lamech seventy and seven. It may perhaps be regarded as Lamech’s song of exultation on the invention of the sword by his son Tubal-cain, in the possession of which he foresaw a great advantage to himself and his family over any enemies. — 2. The father of Noah (Gen. v. 29). LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. The Hebrew title of this Book, IZcah, is taken, like those of the five Books of Moses, from the Hebrew word with which it opens. It contains the utterance of Jeremiah’s sorrow upon the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. It consists of five chapters, each of which, however, is a separate poem, complete in itself, and having a distinct subject, but brought at the same time under a plan which includes them all. The book has supplied thousands with the fullest utterance for their sorrows in the critical periods of national or individual suffering. We may well believe that it soothed the weary years of the Babylonian exile. On the ninth day of the month of Ab (July- August), the Lamentations of Jeremiah were read, year by year, with fasting and weeping, to commemorate the misery out of which the people had been delivered. It enters largely into the order of the Latiu Church for the services of Passion-week. LAMP. 1 . That part of the golden candle- stick belonging to the Tabernacle which bore the light ; also of each of the ten candlesticks placed by Solomon in the Temple before the Holy of Holies (Ex. xxv. 37 ; 1 K. vii. 49 ; 2 Chr. iv. 20, xiii. 11 ; Zech. iv. 2). The lamps were lighted every evening, and cleansed every morning (Ex. xxx. 7, 8). 2. A torch or flambeau, such as was carried by the soldiers of Gideon (Judg. vii. 16, 20 ; comp. xv. 4). The use of lamps fed with oil in marriage processions is alluded to in the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. xxv. 1). Modern Egyptian lamps consist of small glass vessels with a tube at the bottom containing a cotton-wick twisted round a piece of straw. U 2 LANCET 292 LATCHET For night-travelling, a lantern composed of waxed cloth strained over a sort of cylinder of wire-rings, and a top and bottom of per- forated copper. This would, in form at least, answer to the lamps within pitchers of Gideon. LANCET. This word is found in 1 K. xviii. 28 only. The Hebrew term is Romach, which is elsewhere rendered, and appears to mean a javelin, or light spear. In the original edition of the A. Y. (1611) the word is “ lancers.” LANGUAGE. [Tongues, Confusion of.] LAO DICE' A, a town in the Roman pro- vince of Asia, situated in the valley of the Maeander, on a small river called the Lycus, with Colossae and Hierapolis a few miles distant to the west. Built, or rather rebuilt, by one of the Seleucid monarchs, and named in honour of his wife, Laodicea became under the Roman government a place of some im- portance. Its trade was considerable : it lay on the line of a great road ; and it was the seat of a convenUis . From Rev. iii. 17, we should gather it was a place of great wealth. It was soon after this occurrence that Christianity was introduced into Lao- dicea, not, however, as it would seem, through the direct agency of St. Paul. We have good reason for believing that when, in writing from Rome to the Christians of Colossae, he sent a greeting to those of Laodicea, he had not personally visited either place. But the preaching of the Gospel at Ephesus (Acts xviii. 19-xix. 41) must in- evitably have resulted in the formation of churches in the neighbouring cities, especi- ally where Jews were settled : and there were Jews in Laodicea. In subsequent times it became a Christian city of eminence, the see of a bishop, and a meeting-place of councils. The Mohammedan invaders de- stroyed it ; and it is now a scene of utter desolation: but the extensive ruins near Denislu justify all that we read of Laodicea in Greek and Roman writers. One Biblical subject of interest is connected with Laodicea. From Col. iv. 16 it appears that St. Paul wrote a letter to this place when he wrote the letter to Colossae. The question arises whether we can give any account of this Laodicean epistle. Wieseler’s theory is that the Epistle to Philemon is meant. Another view maintained by Paley and others, is that the Epistle to the Ephesians is intended. Ussher’s view is that this last epistle was a circular letter sent to Laodicea among other places. The apocryphal Lpistola ad Lao - dicenses is a late and clumsy forgery. LAP'IDOTH, the husband of Deborah the prophetess (Judg. iv. 4). LAPWING (Heb. duciphath ) occurs only in Lev. xi. 19, and in the parallel passage of Deut. xiv. 18, amongst the list of those birds which were forbidden by the law of Moses to be eaten by the Israelites. Com- mentators generally agree that the Hoopoe is the bird intended. The hoopoe is not now eaten except occasionally in those countries where it is abundantly found — Egypt, France, Spain, &c., &c. The hoopoe is an occasional visitor to this country, arriving for the most part in the autumn. Its crest is very elegant, the long feathers forming it are each of them tipped with black. LASE'A (Acts xxvii. 8), a city of Crete, the ruins of which were discovered in 1856, a few miles to the eastward of Fair Havens. LA'SHA, a place noticed in Gen. x. 19 as marking the limit of the country of the Canaanites. It lay somewhere in the south- east of Palestine. Jerome and other writers identify it with Callirhoe, a spot famous for hot springs near the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. LATCHET, the thong or fastening by which the sandal was attached to the foot. It occurs in the proverbial expression in Gen. xiv. 23, and is there used to denote something trivial or worthless. Another semi-pro- verbial expression in Luke iii. 16 points to LAODICEA. LATIN 293 LAW the fact that the office of bearing and un- fastening the shoes of great personages fell to the meanest slaves. LATIN, the language spoken by the Ro- mans, is mentioned only in John xix. 20, and Luke xxiii. 38. LATTICE. The rendering in A. Y. of three Hebrew words. 1. JEshndb, which oc- curs but twice, Judg. v. 28, and Prov. vii. 6, and in the latter passage is translated “ case- ment” in the A. Y. In both instances it stands in parallelism with “window.” 2. Kharaccim (Cant. ii. 9), is apparently synony- mous with the preceding, though a word of later date. 3. Sebacah , is simply “a net- work ” placed before a window or balcony. Perhaps the network through which Ahaziah fell and received his mortal injury was on the parapet of his palace (2 K. i. 2). LAYER. 1. In the Tabernacle, a vessel of brass containing water for the priests to wash their hands and feet before offering sacrifice. It stood in the court between the altar and the door of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxx. 19, 21). It rested on a basis, i. e. a foot, though by some explained to be a cover of copper or brass, which, as well as the laver itself, was made from the mirrors of the women who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle-court (Ex. xxxviii. 8). The form of the laver is not specified, but may be as- sumed to have been circular. Like the other vessels belonging to the Tabernacle, it was, together with its “ foot,” consecrated with oil (Lev. viii. 10, 11). 2. In Solomon’s Temple, besides the great molten sea, there were ten lavers of brass, raised on bases (1 K. vii. 27, 39), five on the N. and S. sides respectively of the court of the priests. Each laver contained 40 of the measures called “ bath.” They were used for washing the animals to be offered in burnt - offerings (2 Chr. iv. 6). The dimensions of the bases with the lavers, as given in the Hebrew text, are 4 cubits in length and breadth, and 3 in height. There were to each 4 wheels of 1^ cubit in diameter, with spokes, &c., all cast in one piece. LAW. The word is properly used, in Scripture as elsewhere, to express a definite commandment laid down by any recognised authority. The commandment may be general, or (as in Lev. vi. 9, 14, &c., “ the law of the burnt-offering,” &c.) particular in its bear- ing ; the authority either human or divine. But when the word is used with the article, and without any words of limitation, it refers to the expressed will of God, and, in nine cases out of ten, to the Mosaic Law, or to the Pentateuch, of which it forms the chief Lxjrtion. The Hebrew word, torah , lays more stress on its moral authority, as teach- ing the truth, and guiding in the right way ; the Greek nomos (vo/aos), on its constraining power, as imposed and enforced by a recog- nised authority. The sense of the word, how- ever, extends its scope, and assumes a more abstract character in the writings of St. Paul. Nomos , when used by him with the article, still refers in general to the Law of Moses ; but when used without the article, so as to embrace any manifestation of “law,” it in- cludes all powers which act on the will of man by compulsion, or by the pressure of external motives, whether their commands be or be not expressed in definite forms. The occasional use of the word “law ” (as in Rom. iff. 27, “law of faith;”) to denote an internal principle of action, does not really militate against the general rule. It should also be noticed that the title “ the Law ” is occasionally used loosely to refer to the whole of the Old Testament (as in John x. 34, re- ferring to Ps. lxxxii. 6 ; in John xv. 25, referring to Ps. xxxv. 19 ; and in 1 Cor. xiv. 21, referring to Is. xxviii. 11, 12). — The question has been frequently discussed how far the Mosaic Law has any obligation or existence under the dispensation of the Gospel. As a means of justification or salva- tion, it ought never to have been regarded, even before Christ : it needs no proof to show that still less can this be so since He has come. But yet the question remains whether it is binding on Christians, even when they do not depend on it for salvation. It seems clear enough, that its formal coercive au- thority as a whole ended with the close of the Jewish dispensation. It referred through- out to the Jewish covenant, and in many points to the constitution, the customs, and even the local circumstances of the people. That covenant was preparatory to the Chris- tian, in which it is now absorbed ; those customs and observances have passed away. It follows, by the very nature of the case, that the formal obligation to the Law must have ceased with the basis on which it is grounded. But what then becomes of the declaration of our Lord, that He came “ not to destroy the Law, but to perfect it,” and that “ not one jot or one tittle of it shall pass away”? what of the fact, consequent upon it, that the Law has been reverenced in all Christian churches, and had an important influence on much Christian legislation ? The explanation of the apparent contradic- tion lies in the difference between positive and moral obligation. To apply this principle practically there is need of much study and discretion, in order to distinguish what is local and temporary from what is universal. LAWYER 294 LAZARUS and what is mere external form from what is the essence of an ordinance. LAWYER. The title 44 lawyer ” is gene- rally supposed to be equivalent to the title 44 scribe,” both on account of its etymological meaning, and also because the man, who is also called a 44 lawyer ” in Matt. xxii. 35 and Luke x. 25, is called 44 one of the scribes” in Mark xii. 28. If the common reading in Luke xi. 44, 45, 46, be correct, it will be decisive against this. By the use of the word vo/j.lk6s (Tit. iii. 9) as a simple ad- jective, it seems more probable that the title 4 4 scribe ” was a legal and official designation, but that the name vo[ukos was properly a mere epithet signifying one <£ learned in the law,” and only used as a title in common parlance (comp, the use of it in Tit. iii. 13, 44 Zenas the lawyer ”). LAYING ON OF BANDS. [Baptism.] LAZARUS, another form of the Hebrew name Eleazar. — 1. Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary (John xi. 1). All that we know of him is derived from the Gospel of St. John, and that records little more than the facts of his death and resurrection ; but we may, with at least some measure of pro- bability, fill up these scanty outlines. (1.) The language of John xi. 1, implies that the sisters were the better known. Lazarus is 44 of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha.” From this, and from the order of the three names in John xi. 5, we may reasonably infer that Lazarus was the youngest of the family. (2.) In Luke x. 38 and John xii. 1, 2, a feast is given to Jesus by Martha and Mary ; but in Matt, xxvi. 6, Mark xiv. 3, the same feast appears as occurring in “the house of Simon the leper.” A leper, as such, would have been compelled to lead a separate life, and certainly could not have given a feast and received a multitude of guests. Among the conjectural explanations which have been given of this difference, the hypothesis that this Simon was the father of the two sisters and of Lazarus, that he had been smitten with leprosy, and that actual death, or the civil death that followed on his disease, had left his children free to act for themselves, is at least as probable as any other, and has some support in early ecclesiastical traditions. (3.) All the circumstances of John xi. and xii., point to wealth and social position above the average. (4.) A comparison of Matt, xxvi. 6, Mark xiv. 3, with Luke vii. 36, 44, suggests another conjecture that harmonises with and in part explains the foregoing. If Simon the leper were also the Pharisee, it would explain the fact just noticed of the friendship between the sisters of Lazarus and the members of that party in Jerusalem. It would follow on this assumption that the Pharisee, whom we thus far identify with the father of Lazarus, was probably one of the members of that sect, sent down from Jerusalem to watch the new teacher. (5.) One other conjecture may yet be hazarded. There are some coincidences which suggest the identification of Lazarus with the young ruler that had great possessions, of Matt, xix., Mark x., Luke xviii. The age (Matt, xix. 20, 22) agrees with what has been be- fore inferred (see above, 1), as does the fact of wealth above the average with what we know of the condition of the family at Bethany (see 2). If the father were an in- fluential Pharisee, if there were ties of some kind uniting the family with that body, it would be natural enough that the son, even in comparative youth, should occupy the position of a 44 ruler.” But further, it is of this rich young man that St. Mark uses the emphatic word (“ Jesus, beholding him, loved him”) which is used of no others in the Gospel-history, save of the beloved apostle and of Lazarus and his sisters (John xi. 5). — Combining these inferences then, we get an insight into one aspect of the life of the Divine Teacher and Friend, full of living interest. The village of Bethany and its neighbourhood were a frequent retreat from the controversies and tumults of Jerusalem (John xviii. 2 ; Luke xxi. 37, xxii. 39). At some time or other one household, wealthy, honourable, belonging to the better or Nico- demus section of the Pharisees (see above, 1, 2, 3) learns to know and reverence him. Disease or death removes the father from the scene, and the two sisters are left with their younger brother to do as they think right. In them and in the brother over whom they watch, He finds that which is worthy of His love. But two at least need an education in the spiritual life. A few weeks pass away, and then comes the sickness of John xi. One of the sharp malignant fevers of Pa- lestine cuts off the life that was so precious. The sisters know how truly the Divine Friend has loved him on whom their love and their hopes centered. They send to him in the belief that the tidings of the sickness will at once draw Him to them (John xi. 3). Slowly, and in words which (though afterwards understood otherwise) must at the time have seemed to the disciples those of one upon whom the truth came not at once but by degrees, he prepares them for the worst. 44 This sickness is not unto death ”— 44 Our friend Lazarus sleepeth ” — 44 Lazarus is dead.” The work which he was doing as a teacher or a healer (John x. 41, 42) in Beth a- LEAD 295 LEAF, LEAVES ^ • bara, or the other Bethany (John x. 40 and i. 28), was not interrupted, and continues for two days after the message reaches him. Then comes the journey, occupying two days more. When He and His disciples come, three days have passed since the burial. The friends from Jerusalem, chiefly of the Pharisee and ruler class, are there with their consolations. The sisters receive the Pro- phet, each according to her character. His sympathy with their sorrow leads Him also to weep. Then comes the work of might as the answer of the prayer which the Son offers to the Father (John xi. 41, 42). The stone is rolled away from the mouth of the rock- chamber in which the body had been placed. “ He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes ; and his face was bound about with a napkin.” One scene more meets us, and then the life of the family which has come before us with such daylight clearness lapses again into obscurity. In the house which, though it still bore the father’s name {sup, 1), was the dwelling of the sisters and the brother, there is a supper, and Lazarus is there, and Martha serves, no longer jealously, and Mary pours out her love in the costly offering of the spikenard ointment, and finds herself once again mis- judged and hastily condemned. After this all direct knowledge of Lazarus ceases. The resurrection of Lazarus is recorded only by St. John. The writers of the first three Gospels confined themselves, as by a deli- berate plan, to the miracles wrought in Galilee (that of the blind man at Jericho being the only exception). — 2. The name of a poor man in the well-known parable of Luke xvi. 19-31. The name of Lazarus has been perpetuated in an institution of the Christian Church. The leper of the Middle Ages appears as a Lazzaro. Among the orders, half-military and half-monastic, of the 12tli century, was one which bore the title of the Knights of St. Lazarus (a.d. 1119), whose special work it was to minister to the lepers, first of Syria, and afterwards of Europe. The use of lazaretto and lazar- house for the leper-hospitals then founded in all parts of Western Christendom, no less than that of lazzarone for the mendicants of Italian towns, are indications of the effect of the parable upon the mind of Europe in the Middle Ages, and thence upon its later speech. LEAD, one of the most common of metals, found generally in veins of rocks, though seldom in a metallic state, and most com- monly in combination with sulphur. It was early known to the ancients, and the allusions to it in Scripture indicate that the Hebrews were well acquainted with its uses. The rocks in the neighbourhood of Sinai yielded it in large quantities, and it was found in Egypt. That it was common in Palestine is shown by the expression in Ecclus. xlvii. 18 (comp. 1 K. x. 27). It was among the spoils of the Midianites which the children of Israel brought with them to the plains of Moab, after their return from the slaughter of the tribe (Num. xxxi. 22). The ships of Tarshish supplied the market of Tyre with lead, as with other metals (Ez. xxvii. 12).- Its heaviness, to which allusion is made in Ex. xv. 10, and Ecclus. xxii. 14, caused it to be used for weights, which were either in the form of a round flat cake (Zech. v. 7), or a rough unfashioned lump or “ stone ” (ver. 8) ; stones having in ancient times served the purpose of weights (comp. Prov. xvi. 11). In modern metallurgy lead is used with tin in the composition of solder for fastening metals together. That the ancient Hebrews were acquainted with the use of solder is evident from Isaiah xli. 7. No hint is given as to the composition of the solder, but in all probability lead was one of the materials employed, its usage for such a pur- pose being of great antiquity. In Job. xix. 24 the allusion is supposed to be to the prac- tice of carving inscriptions upon stone, and pouring molten lead into the cavities of the letters, to render them legible, and at the same time preserve them from the action of the air. In modern metallurgy lead is em- ployed for the purpose of purifying silver from other mineral products. The alloy is mixed with lead, exposed to fusion upon an earthen vessel, and submitted to a blast of air. By this means the dross is consumed. This process is called the cupelling operation, with which the description in Ez. xxii. 18- 22 accurately coincides. LEAF, LEAVES. The word occurs in the A. V. either in the singular or plural number in three different senses. 1. Leaf of a tree. The olive leaf is mentioned in Gen. viii. 11. Fig-leaves formed the first covering of our parents in Eden. The barren fig-tree (Matt, xxi. 19 ; Mark xi. 13) on the road between Bethany and Jerusalem, “ had on it nothing but leaves .” The oak-leaf is mentioned in Is. i. 30, and vi. 13. The righteous are often compared to green leaves (Jer. xvii. 8). The ungodly on the other hand are “as an oak whose leaf fadeth ” (Is. i. 30). In Ez. xlvii. 12 ; Rev. xxii. 1, 2, there is probably an al- lusion to some tree whose leaves were used by the Jews as a medicine or ointment ; in- deed, it is very likely that many plants and leaves were thus made use of by them, as by the old English herbalists. 2. Leaves oi doors. The Hebrew word, which occurs LEAH 296 LEBANON very many times in the Bible, and which in 1 K. vi. 32 (margin) and 34 is translated “ leaves ” in the A. Y., signifies beams, ribs, sides, &c. 3. Leaves of a book or roll occurs in this sense only in Jer. xxxvi. 23. The Hebrew word (literally doors ) would perhaps be more correctly translated columns. LE’AH, the daughter of Laban (Gen. xxix. 16). The dulness or weakness of her eye3 was so notable, that it is mentioned as a con- trast to the beautiful form and appearance of her younger sister Rachel. Her father took advantage of the opportunity which the local marriage-rite afforded to pass her off in her sister’s stead on the unconscious bridegroom, and excused himself to Jacob by alleging that the custom of the country forbade the younger sister to be given first in marriage. Jacob’s preference of Rachel grew into hatred of Leah, after he had married both sisters. Leah, however, bore to him in quick suc- cession Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, then Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, before Rachel had a child. She died some time after Jacob reached the south country in which his father Isaac lived. She was buried in the family grave in Machpelah (ch. xlix. 31). LEASING, “ falsehood.” This word is re- tained in the A. Y. of Ps. iv. 2, v. 6, from the older English versions ; but the Hebrew word of which it is the rendering is else- where almost uniformly translated “ lies ” (Ps. xl. 4, lviii. 3, &c.). LEATHER. The notices of leather in the Bible are singularly few ; indeed the word occurs but twice in the A. Y., and in each instance in reference to the same object, a girdle (2 K. i. 8 ; Matt. iii. 4.). There are, however, other instances in which the word “ leather ” might with propriety be substi- tuted for “ skin ” (Lev. xi. 32, xiii. 48 ; Num. xxxi. 20). LEAYEN. Yarious substances were known to have fermenting qualities ; but the ordi- nary leaven consisted of a lump of old dough in a high state of fermentation, which was inserted into the mass of dough prepared for baking. The use of leaven was strictly for- bidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire. It is in reference to these prohibitions that Amos (iv. 5) ironically bids the Jews of his day to “ offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven .” In other instances, where the offering was to be consumed by the priests, and not on the altar, leaven might be used. Yarious ideas were associated with the pro- hibition of leaven in the instances above quoted. But the most prominent idea, and the one which applies equally to all the cases of prohibition, is connected with the cor- ruption which leaven itself had undergone, and which it communicated to bread in the process of fermentation. It is to this pro- perty of leaven that our Saviour points when he speaks of the “ leaven ( i.e . the corrupt doctrine) of the Pharisees and of the Saddu- cees ” (Matt. xvi. 6) ; and St. Paul, when he speaks of the “ old leaven ” (1 Cor. v. 7). LEB'ANON, a mountain range in the north of Palestine. The name Lebanon sig- nifies “ white,” and was applied either on account of the snow, which, during a great part of the year, covers its whole summit, or on account of the white colour of its lime- stone cliffs and peaks. It is the “ white mountain ” — the Mont Blanc of Palestine. Lebanon is represented in Scripture as lying upon the northern border of the land of Israel (Deut. i. 7, xi. 24 ; Josh. i. 4). Two distinct ranges bear this name. They run in parallel lines from S.\Y. to N.E. for about 90 geog. miles, enclosing between them a long fertile valley from 5 to 8 miles wide, anciently called Coele-Syria. The western range is the “ Libanus ” of the old geogra- phers, and the Lebanon of Scripture. The eastern range was called “ Anti-Libanus ” by geographers, and “ Lebanon toward the sun- rising” by the sacred writers (Josh. xiii. 5). 1 . Lebanon — the western range — commences on the south of the deep ravine of the Litany, the ancient river Leontes, which drains the valley of Coele-Syria, and falls into the Medi- terranean five miles north of Tyre. It runs N.E. in a straight line parallel to the coast, to the opening from the Mediterranean into the plain of Emesa, called in Scripture the “ Entrance of Hamath ” (Num. xxxiv. 8). Here Nahr el-Kebir — the ancient river Eleu- therus — sweeps round its northern end, as the Leontes does round its southern. The average elevation of the range is from 6000 to 8000 ft. ; but two peaks rise considerably higher. On the summits of both these peaks the snow remains in patches during the whole summer. The line of cultivation runs along at the height of about 6000 ft. ; and below this the features of the western slopes are entirely different. The rugged limestone banks are scantily clothed with the ever- green oak, and the sandstone with pines ; Yrhile every available spot is carefully culti- vated. The cultivation is wonderful, and shows what all Syria might be if under a good government. Fig-trees cling to the naked rock ; vines are trained along narrow ledges ; long ranges of mulberries, on ter- races like steps of stairs, cover the more gentle declivities ; and dense groves of olives fill up the bottoms of the glens. Hundreds of villages are seen — here built amid laby- rinths of rocks, there clinging like swallows’ CHAIN OF LEBANON. LEBBAEUS 297 LEES nests to the sides of cliffs ; while convents, no less numerous, are perched on the top of every peak. The vine is still largely culti- vated in every part of the mountain. Leba- non also abounds in olives, figs, and mulber- ries ; while some remnants exist of the forests of pine, oak, and cedar, which for- merly covered it (1 K. v. 6 ; Ps. xxix. 5 ; Is. xiv. 8; Ezr. iii. 7). Considerable num- bers of wild beasts still inhabit its retired glens and higher peaks ; the writer has seen jackals, hyenas, wolves, bears, and panthers (2 K. xiv. 9 ; Cant. iv. 8 ; Hab. ii. 17). Along the base of Lebanon runs the irregular plain of Phoenicia ; nowhere more than two miles wide, and often interrupted by bold rocky spurs, that dip into the sea. The main ridge of Lebanon is composed of Jura lime- stone, and abounds in fossils. Long belts of more recent sandstone run along the western slopes, which is in places largely impreg- nated with iron. Lebanon was originally inhabited by the Hivites and Giblites (Judg. iii. 3 ; Josh. xiii. 5, 6). The whole moun- tain range was assigned to the Israelites, but was never conquered by them (Josh. xiii. 2-6 ; Judg. iii. 1-3). During the Jewish monarchy it appears to have been subject to the Phoenicians (1 K. v. 2-6 ; Ezr. iii. 7). From the Greek conquest until modern times Lebanon had no separate history. — 2. Anti - Libanus. — The main chain of Anti-Libanus commences in the plateau of Bash an, near the parallel of Caesarea-Philippi, runs north to Hermon, and then north-east in a straight line till it sinks down into the great plain of Emesa, not far from the site of Riblah. Hermon is the loftiest peak ; the next highest is a few miles north of the site of Abila, beside the village of Bludan , and has an elevation of about 7000 feet. The rest of the ridge averages about 5000 ft. ; it is in general bleak and barren, with shelving gray declivities, gray cliffs, and gray rounded summits. Here and there we meet with thin forests of dwarf oak and juniper. The western slopes descend abruptly into the ‘Bu- ka’ a ; but the features of the eastern are entirely different. Three side ridges here radiate from Hermon, like the ribs of an open fan, and form the supporting walls of three great terraces. Anti-Libanus is only once distinctly mentioned in Scripture, where it is accurately described as “ Lebanon toward the sun-rising ” (Josh. xiii. 5). “ The tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus ” (Cant. vii. 4) is doubtless Hermon, which forms the most striking feature in the whole panorama round that city. LEBBAE'US. This name occurs in Matt, x. 3, according to Codex D (Bezae) of the sixth century, and in the received Text. In Mark iii. 18, it is substituted in a few unim- portant MSS. for Thaddaeus. [Jude.] LEECH. [Horse-Leech.] LEEKS (Heb. chdtsir). The word chdtstr , which in Num. xi. 5 is translated leeks , occurs twenty times in the Hebrew text. The He- brew term, which properly denotes grass, is derived from a root signifying “ to be green,’* and may therefore stand in this passage for any green food, lettuce, endive, &c. ; it would thus be applied somewhat in the same manner as we use the term “ greens ; ” yet as the chdtsir is mentioned together with onions and garlick in the text, and as the most ancient versions unanimously under- stand leeks by the Hebrew word, we may be satisfied with our own translation. There is, however, another and a very ingenious inter- pretation of chdtsir, first proposed by Hengs- tenberg, and received by Dr. Kitto ( Pictor . Bible, Num. xi. 5), which adopts a more literal translation of the original word, for, says Dr. Kitto, “ among the wonders in the natural history of Egypt, it is mentioned by travellers that the common people there eat with special relish a kind of grass similar to clover .” This plant (of which the scientific name is Trigonella foenum Graecum ) is si- milar to clover, but its leaves more pointed, and great quantities of it are eaten by the people. The leek is too well-known to need description. Its botanical name is Allium porrum . LEES. The Hebrew shemer bears the radical sense of preservation , and was applied LEGION 298 LEOPARD to “ lees ” from the custom of allowing the wine to stand on the lees in order that its colour and body might he better preserved. Hence the expression “ wine on the lees,” as meaning a generous full-bodied liquor (Is. xxv. 6). Before the wine was consumed, it was necessary to strain off the lees ; such wine was then termed “well refined” (Is. xxv. 6). To drink the lees, or “ dregs,” was an expression for the endurance of extreme punishment (Ps. lxxv. 8). LEGION, the chief sub-division of the Roman army, containing about 6000 in- fantry, with a contingent of cavalry. The term does not occur in the Bible in its pri- mary sense, but appears to have been adopted in order to express any large number, with the accessory ideas of order and subordination (Matt. xxvi. 53 ; Mark v. 9). LE'HABIM, occurring only in Gen. x. 13, the name of a Mizraite people or tribe. There can be no doubt that they are the same as the ReBU or LeBU of the Egyptian inscrip- tions, and that from them Libya and the Libyans derived their name. These primi- tive Libyans appear to have inhabited the northern part of Africa to the west of Egypt, though latterly driven from the coast by the Greek colonists of the Cyrenaica. LE'HI, a place in Judah, probably on the confines of the Philistines* country, between it and the cliff Etam ; the scene of Samson’s well-known exploit with the jawbone (Judg. xv. 9, 14, 19). It contained an eminence — Ramath-lehi, and a spring of great and last- ing repute — En-hak-kore. It may perhaps be identified with Beit-Likiyeh , a village about 2 miles below the upper Beth-horon. LEM f UEL, the name of an unknown king to whom his mother addressed the prudential maxims contained in Prov. xxxi. 1-9. The Rabbinical commentators identified Lemuel with Solomon. Others regard him as king or chief of an Arab tribe dwelling on the borders of Palestine, and elder brother of Agur, whose name stands at the head of Prov. xxx. LENTILES (Heb. ’adashzm). The word occurs in the four following passages : — Gen. xxv. 34, 2 Sam. xvii. 28, xxiii. 11, and Ez. iv. 9. There are three or four kinds of len- tiles, all of which are still much esteemed in those countries where they are grown, viz. the South of Europe, Asia, and North Africa : the red lentile is still a favourite article of food in the East ; it is a small kind, the seeds of which after being decorticated, are commonly sold in the bazaars of India. The modern Arabic name of this plant is identical with the Hebrew ; it is known in Egypt and Arabia, Syria, &c., by the name ’Adas. Lentile bread is still eaten by the poor of Egypt. LEOPARD (Heb. namer ) is invariably given by the A. V. as the translation of the Hebrew word, which occurs in the seven fol- lowing passages, — Is. xi. 6 ; Jer. v. 6, xiii. 23 ; Dan. vii. 6 ; Hos. xiii. 7 ; Cant. iv. 8 ; Hab. i. 8. Leopard occurs also in Ecclus. xxviii. 23, and in Rev. xiii. 2. Prom Cant, iv. 8, we learn that the hilly ranges of Le- banon were in ancient times frequented by these animals. They are now not uncom- monly seen in and about Lebanon, and the southern maritime mountains of Syria. Under the name namer , which means “ spotted, 51 it is not improbable that another animal, namely the cheetah (Gueparda jubata), may be included ; which is tamed by the Maho- Leopard ( Leopardus varius .) LEPER 299 LEUMMIM metans of Syria, who employ it in hunting the gazelle. LEPER, LEPROSY. The predominant and characteristic form of leprosy in Scrip- ture is a white variety, covering either the entire body, or a large tract of its surface ; which has obtained the name of lepra Mo- saica . Such were the cases of Moses, Miriam, Naaman, and Gehazi (Ex. iv. 6 ; Num. xii. 10 ; 2 K. v. 1, 27 ; comp. Lev. xiii. 13). But, remarkably enough, in the Mosaic ri- tual-diagnosis of the disease (Lev. xiii., xiv.), this kind, when overspreading the whole sur- face, appears to be regarded as “ clean ” (xiii. 12, 13, 16, 17). The Egyptian bondage, with its studied degradations and privations, and especially the work of the kiln under an Egyptian sun, must have had a frightful ten- dency to generate this class of disorders ; hence Manetho asserts that the Egyptians drove out the Israelites as infected with leprosy — a strange reflex, perhaps, of the Mosaic narrative of the “ plagues” of Egypt, yet probably also containing a germ of truth. The sudden and total change of food, air, dwelling, and mode of life, caused by the Exodus, to this nation of newly-emancipated slaves, may possibly have had a further ten- dency to produce skin-disorders, and severe repressive measures may have been required in the desert-moving camp to secure the public health, or to allay the panic of infec- tion. Hence it is possible that many, per- haps most of this repertory of symptoms may have disappeared with the period of the Ex- odus, and the snow-white form, which had pre-existed, may alone have ordinarily con- tinued in a later age. But it is observable that, amongst these Levitical symptoms, the scaling, or peeling off of the surface, is no- where mentioned, nor is there any expression in the Hebrew text which points to exfolia- tion of the cuticle. The principal morbid features are a rising or swelling, a scab or baldness, and a bright or white spot (xiii. 2). But especially a white swelling in the skin, with a change of the hair of the part from the natural black to white or yellow (3, 10, 4, 20, 25, 30), or an appearance of a taint going “ deeper than the skin,” or again, “raw flesh” appearing in the swelling (10, 14, 15), were critical signs of pollution. The mere swelling, or scab, or bright spot, was remanded for a week as doubtful (4, 21, 26, 31), and for a second such period, if it had not yet pronounced (5). If it then spread (7, 22, 27, 35), it was decided as polluting. But if after the second period of quarantine the trace died away and showed no symptom of spreading, it was a mere scab, and the patient was adjudged clean (6, 23, 34). This tendency to spread seems especially to have been relied on. A spot most innocent in all other respects, if it “ spread much abroad,” was unclean ; whereas as before remarked, the man so wholly overspread with the evil that it could find no farther range, was on the contrary “clean” (12, 13). These two opposite criteria seem to show, that whilst the disease manifested activity, the Mosaic law imputed pollution to and imposed segre- gation on the sufferer, but that the point at which 't might be viewed as having run its course was the signal for his readmission to communion. It is clear that the leprosy of Lev. xiii., xiv. means any severe disease spreading on the surface of the body in the way described, and so shocking of aspect, or so generally suspected of infection, that pub- lic feeling called for separation. — It is now undoubted that the “ leprosy ” of modern Syria, and which has a wide range in Spain, Greece, and Norway, is the Elephantiasis Graecorum . It is said to have been brought home by the crusaders into the various coun- tries of Western and Northern Europe. It certainly was not the distinctive white le- prosy, nor do any of the described symptoms in Lev. xiii. point to elephantiasis. “ White as snow ” (2 K. v. 27) would be as inapplic- able to elephantiasis as to small-pox. — There remains a curious question as regards the leprosy of garments and houses. Some have thought garments worn by leprous patients intended. This classing of garments and housewalls with the human epidermis, as leprous, has moved the mirth of some, and the wonder of others. Yet modern science has established what goes far to vindicate the Mosaic classification as more philoso- phical than such cavils. It is now known that there are some skin-diseases which ori- ginate in an acarus, and others which proceed from a fungus. In these we may probably find the solution of the paradox. The ana- logy between the insect which frets the human skin and that which frets the garment that covers it, between the fungous growth that lines the crevices of the epidermis and that which creeps in the interstices of ma- sonry, is close enough for the purposes of a ceremonial law. It is manifest also that a disease in the human subject caused by an acarus or by a fungus would be certainly contagious, since the propagative cause could be transferred from person to person. LE'SHEM, another form of Laish, after- wards Dan, occurring in Josh. xix. 47. LET'USHIM, the name of the second of the sons of Dedan, son of Jokshan (Gen. xxv. 3). LE'UMMIM, the name of the third of the LEVI 300 LEYITES descendants of Dedan, son of Jokshan, Gen. xxv. 3, being in the plural form like his brethren, Asshurim and Letushim. LE'VI. 1. The name of the third son of Jacob by his wife Leah. The name, derived from lavah , “ to adhere,” gave utterance to the hope of the mother that the affections of her husband, which had hitherto rested on the favoured Rachel, would at last be drawn to her. “ This time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons” (Gen. xxix. 34). The new-born child was to be a fresh link binding the parents to each other more closely than before. Levi, with his brother Simeon, avenged with a cruel slaughter the outrage of their sister Dinah. [Dinah.] Levi, with his three sons, Gershon, Kohath, Merari, went down to Egypt with his father Jacob (Gen. xlvii. 11). When Jacob’s death draws near, and the sons are gathered round him, Levi and Si- meon hear the old crime brought up again to receive its sentence. They, no less than Reu- ben, the incestuous first-born, had forfeited the privileges of their birthright (Gen. xlix. 5-7). [Levites.] — 2. Son of Alphaeus (Mark ii. 14 ; Luke v. 27, 29). [Matthew.] LEVI'ATHAN occurs five times in the text of the A. V., and once in the margin of Job iii. 8, where the text has “ mourning.” In the Hebrew Bible the word livyathan , which is, with the foregoing exception, always left untranslated in the A. V., is found only in the following passages : Job iii. 8, xli. 1 ; Ps. lxxiv. 14, civ. 26 ; Is. xxvii. 1. In the margin of Job iii. 8, and text of Job xli. 1, the crocodile is most clearly the animal de- noted by the Hebrew word. Ps. lxxiv. 14 also clearly points to this same saurian. The context of Ps. civ. 26 seems to show that in this passage the name represents some animal of the whale tribe ; but it is somewhat uncertain what animal is denoted in Is. xxvii. 1. As the term leviathan is evidently used in no limited sense, it is not improbable that the “leviathan the piercing serpent,” or “leviathan the crooked serpent,” may denote some species of the great rock-snakes which are common in South and West Africa. LEWIS, improperly given as a proper name in 1 Esd. ix. 14. It is simply a corruption of “ the Levite ” in Ezr. x. 15. LE'VITES. The analogy of the names of the other tribes of Israel would lead us to in- clude under these titles the whole tribe that traced its descent from Levi. The existence of another division, however, within the tribe itself, in the higher office of the priesthood as limited to “ the sons of Aaron,” gave to the common form, in this instance, a peculiar meaning. Most frequently the Levites are distinguished, as such, from the priests (1 K. viii. 4 ; Ezr. ii. 70 ; John i. 19, &c.), and this is the meaning which has perpetuated itself. Sometimes the word extends to the whole tribe, the priests included (Num. xxxv. 2 ; Josh. xxi. 3, 41 ; Ex. vi. 25 ; Lev. xxv. 32, &c.). Sometimes again it is added as an epithet of the smaller portion of the tribe, and we read of “the priests the Levites” (Josh. iii. 3 ; Ez. xliv. 15). The history of the tribe and of the functions attached to its several orders is essential to any right appre- hension of the history of Israel as a people. It will fall naturally into four great periods. I. The time of the JExodus — There is no trace of the consecrated character of the Levites till the institution of an hereditary priesthood in the family of Aaron, during the first with- drawal of Moses to the solitude of Sinai (xxviii. 1). The next extension of the idea of the priesthood grew out of the terrible crisis of Ex. xxxii. The tribe stood forth, separate and apart, recognising even in this stern work the spiritual as higher than the natural. From this time they occupied a distinct position. The tribe of Levi was to take the place of that earlier priesthood of the first- born as representatives of the holiness of the people. As the Tabernacle was the sign of the presence among the people of their unseen King, so the Levites were, among the other tribes of Israel, as the royal guard that waited exclusively on Him. When the people were at rest they encamped as guardians round the sacred tent (Num. i. 51, xviii. 22). When on the march no hands but theirs might strike the tent at the commencement of the day’s journey, or carry the parts of its struc- ture during it, or pitch the tent once again when they halted (Num. i. 51). It was ob- viously essential for such a work that there should be a fixed assignment of duties ; and now accordingly we meet with the first out- LEVITES 301 LEYITES lines of the organization which afterwards became permanent. The division of the tribe into the three sections that traced their descent from the sons of Levi, formed the groundwork of it. The work which they all had to do required a man’s full strength, and therefore, though twenty was the starting- point for military service (Num. i.), they were not to enter on their active service till they were thirty (Num. iv. 23, 30, 35). At fifty they were to be free from all duties but those of superintendence (Num. viii. 25, 26). The Kohathites, as nearest of kin to the priests, held from the first the highest offices. They were to bear all the vessels of the sanc- tuary, the ark itself included (Num. iii. 31, iv. 15 ; Deut. xxxi. 25), after the priests had covered them with the dark-blue cloth which was to hide them from all profane gaze. The Gershonites had to carry the tent-hang- ings and curtains (Num. iv. 22-26). The heavier burden of the boards, bars, and pillars of the tabernacle fell on the sons of Merari. The Levites were to have no terri- torial possessions. In place of them they were to receive from the others the tithes of the produce of the land, from which they, in their turn, offered a tithe to the priests, as a recognition of their higher consecration (Num. xviii. 21, 24, 26 ; Neh. x. 37). When the wanderings of the people should be over and the tabernacle have a settled place, great part of the labour that had fallen on them would come to an end, and they too would need a fixed abode. Distinctness and diffu- sion were both to be secured by the assign- ment to the whole tribe of forty-eight cities, with an outlying “ suburb ” (Num. xxxv. 2) of meadow-land for the pasturage of their flocks and herds. The reverence of the people for them was to be heightened by the selection of six of these as cities of re- fuge. Through the whole land the Levites were to take the place of the old household priests, sharing in all festivals and rejoicings (Deut. xii. 19, xiv. 26, 27, xxvi. 11). Every third year they were to have an additional share in the produce of the land (Deut. xiv. 28, xxvi. 12). To “the priests the Le- vites ” was to belong the office of preserving, transcribing, and interpreting the law (Deut. xvii. 9-12, xxxi. 26). II. The period of the Judges . — The successor of Moses, though be- longing to another tribe, did faithfully all that could be done to convert this idea into a reality. The submission of the Gibeonites enabled him to relieve the tribe-divisions of Gershon and Merari of the most burdensome of their duties. The conquered Hivites be- came “ hewers of wood and drawers of water 99 for the house of Jehovah and for the congregation (Josh. ix. 27). As soon as the conquerors had advanced far enough to proceed to a partition of the country, the forty-eight cities were assigned to them. III. The Monarchy . — The rule of Samuel, himself a Levite, tended to give them the position of a ruling caste. The reign of Saul, in its later period, was the assertion of a self-willed power against the priestly order. The reign of David, however wrought the change from persecution to honour. When his kingdom was established, there came a fuller organisation of the whole tribe. Their position in relation to the priesthood was once again definitely recog- nised. When the ark was carried up to its new resting-place in Jerusalem, their claim to be the bearers of it was publicly acknow- ledged (1 Chr. xv. 2). In the procession which attended the ultimate conveyance of the ark to its new resting-place the Levites were conspicuous, wearing their linen ephods, and appearing in their new character as minstrels (1 Chr. xv. 27, 28). In the worship of the tabernacle under David, as afterwards in that of the Temple, we may trace a de- velopment of the simpler arrangements of the wilderness and of Shiloh. The Levites were the gatekeepers, vergers, sacristans, chorist- ers of the central sanctuary of the nation. They were, in the language of 1 Chr. xxiii. 24-32, to which we may refer as almost the locus classicus on this subject, “ to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah, in the courts, and the chambers, and the purifying of all holy things.” This included the duty of providing “for the shew-bread, and the fine flour for meat-offer- ing, and for the unleavened bread.” They were, besides this, “ to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even.” They were lastly “ to offer ” — i.e. to assist the priest in offering — “ all burnt- sacrifices to Jehovah in the sabbaths and on the set feasts.” They lived for the greater part of the year in their own cities, and came up at fixed periods to take their turn of work (1 Chr. xxv. xxvi.). The educa- tion which the Levites received for their peculiar duties, no less than their connexion more or less intimate with the schools of the prophets, would tend to make them the teachers of the others, the transcribers and interpreters of the Law, the chroniclers of the times in which they lived. We have some striking instances of their appearance in this new character. The two books of Chronicles bear unmistakable marks of having been written by men whose interests were all ga- thered round the services of the Temple, and who were familiar with its records. Thf LEVITICUS 302 LICE revolt of the ten tribes, and the policy pur- sued by Jeroboam, led to a great change in the position of the Levites. They were the witnesses of an appointed order and of a central worship. He wished to make the priests the creatures and instruments of the king, and to establish a provincial and di- vided worship. The natural result was, that they left the cities assigned to them in the territory of Israel, and gathered round the metropolis of Judah (2 Chr. xi. 13, 14). In the kingdom of Judah they were, from this time forward, a powerful body, politically, as well as ecclesiastically. IV. After the Captivity . — On the return from Babylon, the Levites take their old places in the Temple and in the villages near Jerusalem (Neh. xii. 29), and are present in full array at the great feast of the Dedication of the Wall. The two prophets who were active at the time of the Return, Haggai and Zechariah, if they did not belong to the tribe, helped it forward in the work of restoration. The last prophet of the O. T. sees, as part of his vision of the latter days, the time when the Lord “ shall purify the sons of Levi ” (Mai. iii. 3). Dur- ing the period that followed the Captivity they contributed to the formation of the so- called Great Synagogue. They, with the priests, formed the majority of the permanent Sanhedrim, and as such had a large share in the administration of Justice even in capital cases. They take no prominent part in the Maccabaean struggles, though they must have been present at the great purification of the Temple. They appear but seldom in the history of the N. T. Where we meet with their names it is as the type of a formal heartless worship, without sympathy and without love (Luke x. 32). The mention of a Levite of Cyprus in Acts iv. 36 shows that the changes of the previous century had carried that tribe also into “ the dispersed among the Gentiles.” LEVIT'ICUS. The Book, which is so called because it relates principally to the Levites and Priests, consists of the following principal sections : — I. The laws touching sacrifices (chap, i.-vii.). II. An historical section containing, first, the consecration of Aaron and his sons (chap, viii.) ; next, his first offering for himself and his people (chap, ix.) ; and lastly, the destruction of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, for their presumptuous offence (chap. x.). III. The laws concerning purity and impurity, and the appropriate sacrifices and ordinances for putting away impurity (chap, xi.-xvi.). IV. Laws chiefly intended to mark the separa- tion between Israel and the heathen nations (chap, xvii.-xx.). V. Laws concerning the priests (xxi., xxii.) ; and certain holy days and festivals (xxiii., xxv.), together with an episode (xxiv.). The section extends from chap. xxi. 1 to xxvi. 2. VI. Promises and threats (xxvi. 2-46). VII. An appendix containing the laws concerning vows (xxvii.). LIB'ANUS. [Lebanon.] LIBERTINES. This word, which occurs once only in the N. T. (Acts vi. 9), is the Latin Libertini, that is “ freedmen.” They were probably Jews who, having been taken prisoners by Pompey and other Roman generals in the Syrian wars, had been re- duced to slavery, and had afterwards been emancipated, and returned, permanently or for a time, to the country of their fathers. LIB'NAII. 1. A city which lay in the south-west part of the Holy Land, taken by Joshua immediately after the rout of Beth- horon. It belonged to the maritime lowland of Judah, among the cities of which district it is enumerated (Josh. xv. 42). It was ap- propriated with its “ suburbs ” to the priests (Josh. xxi. 13 ; 1 Chr. vi. 57). In the reign of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat it “ re- volted ” from Judah at the same time with Edom (2 K. viii. 22 ; 2 Chr. xxi. 10). On completing or relinquishing the siege of Lachish — which of the two is not quite cer- tain — Sennacherib laid siege to Libnah (2 K. xix. 8 ; Is. xxxvii. 8). It was the native place of Hamutal, or Hamital, the queen of Josiah, and mother of Jehoahaz (2 K. xxiii. 31) and Zedekiah (xxiv. 18 ; Jer. Iff. 1). Its exact site is uncertain. — 2. One of the stations at which the Israelites encamped, on their journey between the wilderness of Sinai and Kadesh (Num. xxxiii. 20, 21); and the only conjecture which appears to have been made concerning it is that it was identical with Laban, mentioned in Deut. i. 1. LIB r NI, eldest son of Gershon, the son of Levi (Ex. vi. 17 ; Num. iii. 18 ; 1 Chr. vi. 17, 20), and ancestor of the family of the Libnites (Num. iii. 21, xxvi. 58). LIB'YA occurs only in Acts ii. 10, in the periphrasis “the parts of Libya about Cyrene,” which obviously means the Cyrenaica. The name Libya is applied by the Greek and Roman writers to the African continent, generally however excluding Egypt. LICE (Heb. cinnim , cinnam ). This word occurs in the A. V. only in Ex. viii. 16-18, and in Ps. cv. 31 ; both of which passages have reference to the third great plague of Egypt. The Hebrew word has given occasion to whole pages of discussion. Some com- mentators, and indeed modern writers gene- rally, suppose that gnats are the animals intended by the original word ; while, on the other hand, the Jewish Rabbis, Josephus and LIGN ALOES 303 LINEN others, are in favour of the translation of the A. V. Upon the whole it appears that there is not sufficient authority for departing from the translation of the A. Y. LIGN ALOES. [Aloes.] LIGURE (Heb. Jes/iem), a precious stone mentioned in Ex. xxviii. 19, xxxix. 12, as the first in the third row of the high-priest’s breastplate. It is impossible to say, with any certainty, what stone is denoted by the Heb. term ; but perhaps tourmaline , or more definitely the red variety known as rubellite has better claims than that of any other mineral. Rubellite is a hard stone and used as a gem, and is sometimes sold for red sapphire . LILY (Heb. shushdn , shoshanndh). Al- though there is little doubt that the Hebrew word denotes some plant of the lily species, it is by no means certain what individual of this class it especially designates. If the shushdn or shoshanndh of the 0. T. and the KpCvov of the Sermon on the Mount be iden- tical, which there seems no reason to doubt, the plant designated by these terms must have been a conspicuous object on the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret (Matt. vi. 28 ; Luke xii. 27) ; it must have flourished in the deep broad valleys of Palestine (Cant. ii. 1), among the thorny shrubs ( ib . ii. 2) and pastures of the desert ( ib . ii. 16, iv. 5, vi. 3), and must have been remarkable for its rapid and luxuriant growth (Hos. xiv. 5 ; Ecclus. xxxix. 14). That its flowers were brilliant in colour would seem to be indicated in Matt, vi. 28, where it is compared with the gor- L.fi’um Chalcedonioum. geous robes of Solomon ; and that this colour was scarlet or purple is implied in Cant. v. 13. There appears to be no species of lily which so completely answers all these re- quirements as the Lilium Chalcedonicum, or Scarlet Martagon, which grows in profusion in the Levant. But direct evidence on the point is still to be desired from the observa- tion of travellers. — The Phoenician architects of Solomon’s temple decorated the capitals of the columns with “ lily-work,” that is, with leaves and flowers of the lily (1 K. vii.), cor- responding to the lotus-headed capitals of Egyptian architecture. The rim of the “ brazen sea ” was possibly wrought in the form of the recurved margin of a lily flower (1 K. vii. 26). LINEN. 1. As Egypt was the great centre of the linen manufacture of antiquity, it is in connexion with that country that we find the first allusion to it in the Bible. Joseph, when promoted to the dignity of ruler of the land of Egypt, was arrayed “ in vestures of fine linen ” (shesh, marg. “silk,” Gen. xli. 42), and among the offerings for the taber- nacle of the things which the Israelites had brought out of Egypt were “blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen ” (Ex. xxv. 4, xxxv. 6). — 2. But in Ex. xxviii. 42, and Lev. vi. 10, the drawers of the priests and their flowing robes are said to be of linen (bad ) ; and the tunic of the high-priest, his girdle and mitre, which he wore on the day of atonement, were made of the same material (Lev. xvi. 4). From a comparison of Ex. xxviii. 42 with xxxix. 28 it seems clear that bad and shesh were synonymous. — 3. Buts , always translated “fine linen,” except 2 Chr. v. 12, is apparently a late word, and probably the same with the Greek /3 uo-cro?, by which it is represented by the LXX. It was used for the dresses of the Levite choir in the temple (2 Chr. v. 12), for the loose upper garment worn by kings over the close-fitting tunic (l Chr. xv. 27), and for the vail of the temple, embroidered by the skill of the Tyrian artificers (2 Chr. iii. 14). The dress of the rich man in the parable was purple and fine linen (jSvVcro?, Luke xvi. 19). “Fine linen,” with purple and silk, are enumerated in Rev. xviii. 12 as among the merchandise of the mystical Babylon. — 4, 5. Etun (Pro v. -vii. 16) and sadin (Judg. xiv. 12, 13) also signify linen. But the general term which included all those already mentioned was pishteh, which was employed — like our “ cotton ” — to denote not only the flax (Judg. xv. 14) or raw material from which the linen was made, but also the plant itself (Josh. ii. 6), and the manufacture from it. It is generally opposed to wool, as a LINUS 304 LIZARD vegetable product to an animal (Lev. xiii. 47, 48, 52, 59 ; Deut. xxii. 11 ; Prov. xxxi. 13; Hos. ii. 5, 9), and was used for nets (Is. xix. .9), girdles (Jer. xiii. 1), and measuring- lines (Ez. xl. 3), as well as for the dress of the priests (Ez. xliv. 17, 18). LI'NUS, a Christian at Rome, known to St. Paul and to Timothy (2 Tim. iv. 21), who was the first bishop of Rome after the apostles. LION. At present lions do not exist in Palestine ; but they must in ancient times have been numerous. The names Lebaoth (J.osh. xv. 32), Beth-Lebaoth (Josh. xix. 6), Arieh (2 K. xv. 25), and Laish (Judg. xviii. 7 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 44), were probably derived from the presence of or connexion with lions, and point to the fact that they were at one time common. They had their lairs in the forests which have vanished with them (Jer. v. 6, xii. 8 ; Am. iii. 4), in the tangled brushwood (Jer. iv. 7, xxv. 38 ; Job xxxviii. 40), and in the caves of the mountains (Cant, iv. 8 ; Ez. xix. 9 ; Nah. ii. 12). The cane- brake on the banks of the Jordan, the “ pride ” of the river, was their favourite haunt (Jer. xlix. 19, 1. 44; Zech. xi. 3). The lion of Palestine was in all probability the Asiatic variety, described by Aristotle and Pliny as distinguished by its short curly mane, and by being shorter and rounder in shape, like the sculptured lion found at Ar- ban. It was less daring than the longer maned species, but when driven by hunger it not only ventured to attack the flocks in the desert in presence of the shepherd (Is. xxxi. 4 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 34), but laid waste towns and villages (2 K. xvii. 25, 26 ; Prov. xxii. 13, xxvi. 13), and devoured men (1 K. xiii. 24, xx. 36 ; 2 K. xvii. 25 ; Ez. xix. 3, 6). The shepherds sometimes ventured to encounter the lion single-handed (1 Sam. xvii. 34) ; and the vivid figure employed by Amos (iii. 12), the herdsman qf Tekoa, was but the transcript of a scene which he must nave often witnessed. At other times they pursued the animal in large bands, raising loud shouts to intimidate him (Is. xxxi. 4), and drive him into the net or pit they had prepared to catch him (Ez. xix. 4, 8). Be- naiah, one of David’s heroic body-guard, had distinguished himself by slaying a lion in his den (2 Sam. xxiii. 20). The kings of Persia had a menagerie of lions (Dan. vi. 7, &c.). When captured alive they were put in a cage (Ez. xix. 9), but it does not appear that they were tamed. The strength (Judg. xiv. 18 ; Prov. xxx. 30 ; 2 Sam. i. 23), courage (2 Sam. xvii. 10 ; Prov. xxviii. 1 ; Is. xxxi. 9 ; Nah. ii. 11), and ferocity (Gen. xlix. 9 ; Num, xxiv. 4) of the lion wore proverbial. ^e “lion-faced” warriors of Gad were among David’s most valiant troops (1 Chr. xii. 8) ; and the hero Judas Maccabeus is described as “like a lion, and like a lion’s whelp roaring for his prey” (1 Macc. iii. 4). Among the Hebrews, and throughout the O. T., the lion was the achievement of the princely tribe of Judah, while in the closing book of the canon it received a deeper signi- ficance as the emblem of him who “prevailed to open the book and loose the seven seals thereof” (Rev. v. 5). On the other hand its fierceness and cruelty rendered it an appro- priate metaphor for a fierce and malignant enemy (Ps. vii. 2, xxii. 21, lvii. 4 ; 2 Tim. iv. 17), and hence for the arch-fiend himself (1 Pet. v. 8). The figure of the lion was employed as an ornament both in architec- ture and sculpture. Persian Lion (from specimen in the Zoological Gardens). LIZ'ARD (Heb. letddh, Lev. xi. 30). Lizards of various kinds abound in Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia. The lizard denoted by the Hebrew word is probably the Fan- Foot Lizard ( Ptyodactylus Gecko), which is common in Egypt and in parts of Arabia, and perhaps is also found in Palestine. It is reddish brown, spotted with white. The The Fan-Foot Lizard {Ptyodactylus Qccte.) LO-AMMI 305 LOCUST Geckos live on insects and worms, which they swallow whole. They derive their name from the peculiar sound which some of the species utter. LO-AM'MI, i.e. “not my people,” the figurative name given by the prophet Hosea to his second son by Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim (Hos. i. 9), to denote the rejection of the kingdom of Israel by Jehovah. Its significance is explained in ver. 9, 10. LOAN. The Law strictly forbade any interest to be taken for a loan to any poor person, and at first, as it seems, even in the case of a foreigner ; but this prohibition was afterwards limited to the Hebrews only, from whom, of whatever rank, not only was no usury on any pretence to be exacted, but relief to the poor by way of loan was en- joined, and excuses for evading this duty were forbidden (Ex. xxii. 25 ; Lev. xxv. 35, 37 ; Deut. xv. 3, 7-10, xxiii. 19, 20). As commerce increased, the practice of usury, and so also of suretyship, grew up ; but the exaction of it from a Hebrew appears to have been regarded to a late period as dis- creditable (Prov. vi. 1, 4, xi. 15, xvii. 18, xx. 16, xxii. 26 ; Ps. xv. 5, xxvii. 13 ; Jer. xv. 10 ; Ez. xviii. 13, xxii. 12). Systematic breach of the law in this respect was cor- rected by Nehemiah after the return from captivity (Neh. v. 1, 13). The money- changers, who had seats and tables in the Temple, were traders whose profits arose chiefly from the exchange of money with those who came to pay their annual half- shekel. The Jewish law did not forbid tem- porary bondage in the case of debtors, but it forbade a Hebrew debtor to be detained as a bondsman longer than the 7 th year, or at farthest the year of Jubilee (Ex. xxi. 2 ; Lev. xxv. 39, 42 ; Deut. xv. 9). LOAVES. [Bread.] LOCUST, a well-known insect, which com- mits terrible ravages on vegetation in the countries which it visits. In the Bible there are frequent allusions to locusts ; and there are nine or ten Hebrew words which are supposed to denote different varieties or species of this family. The most destructive of the locust tribe that occur in the Bible lands are the Oedipoda migr'itoria and the Acridium peregrinum , and as both these species occur in Syria and Arabia, &c., it is most probable that one or other is denoted in those passages which speak of the dreadful devastations committed by these insects. Locusts occur in great numbers, and some- times obscure the sun (Ex. x. 15 ; Jer. xlvi. 23; Judg. vi. 5, vii. 12; Joel ii. 10; Nah. til. 15). Their voracity is alluded to in Ex. 12, 15 ; Joel i. 4, 7, 12, and ii. 3 ; Deut. Sk. D. B. xxviii. 38 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 46, cv. 34 ; Is. xxxiii. 4. They are compared to horses — Joel ii. 4 ; Bev. ix. 7. They make a ^earful noise in their flight (Joel ii. 5 ; Bev. ix. 9). Locust ( Oedipoda migratoria ). They have no king (Prov. xxx. 27). Then irresistible progress is referred to in Joel ii. 8, 9. They enter dwellings, and devour even the woodwork of houses (Ex. x. 6 ; Joel ii. 9, 10). They do not fly in the night (Nah. iii. 17). The sea destroys the greater num- ber (Ex. x. 19 ; Joel ii. 20). Their dead bodies taint the air (Joel ii. 20). The flight of locusts is thus described by M. Olivier ( Voyage dans V Empire Othoman , ii. 424) : “ With the burning south winds (of Syria) there come from the interior of Arabia and from the most southern parts of Persia clouds of locusts ( Acridium peregrinum ), whose ravages to these countries are as grievous and nearly as sudden as those of the heaviest hail in Europe. We witnessed them twice. It is difficult to express the effect produced on us by the sight of the whole atmosphere filled on all sides and to a great height by an innumerable quantity of these insects, whose flight was slow and uniform, and whose noise resembled that of rain : the sky was dark- ened, and the light of the sun considerably weakened. In a moment the terraces of the houses, the streets, and all the fields were covered by these insects, and in two days they had nearly devoured all the leaves of the plants. Happily they lived but a short time, and seemed to have migrated only to reproduce themselves and die ; in fact, nearly all those we saw the next day had paired, and the day following the fields were covered with their dead bodies.” — Locusts were used as food (Lev. xi. 21, 22 ; Matt. iii. 4 ; Mark i. 6). There are different ways of preparing locusts for food : sometimes they are ground and pounded, and then mixed with flour and feocust (Acridium Peregnnum\ y LOD 306 LORD’S SUPPER water and made into cakes, or they are salted and then eaten ; sometimes smoked ; boiled or roasted ; stewed, or fried in butter. From ignorance of this fact, some persons have erro- neously asserted that the locusts which formed part of the food of the Baptist were not the insect of that name, hut the long sweet pods of the locust-tree, “ St. John’s bread,” as the monks of Palestine call it. LOD. [Lydda.] LO'-DEBAR, a place named with Ma- hanaim, Rogelim, and other trans-Jordanic towns (2 Sam. xvii. 27), and therefore no doubt on the eastern side of the Jordan. It was the native place of Machir-hen-Ammiel (ix. 4, 5). LOG. [Weights and Measures.] LO'IS, the grandmother of Timothy, and doubtless the mother of his mother Eunice (2 Tim. i. 5). It seems likely that Lois had resided long at Lystra ; and almost certain that from her, as well as from Eunice, Timothy obtained his intimate knowledge of che Jewish Scriptures (2 Tim. iii. 15). LOOKING-GLASSES. [Mirrors.] LORD. [God.] LORD’S DAY, THE (v Kvpta/oj *Hp.epa, Rev. i. 10 only), the weekly festival of our Lord’s resurrection, and identified with “ the first day of the week,” or “ Sunday,” of every age of the Church. Scripture says very little concerning this day. But that little seems to indicate that the divinely in- spired apostles, by their practice and by their precepts, marked the first day of the week as a day for meeting together to break bread, for communicating and receiving instruction, for laying up offerings in store for charitable purposes, for occupation in holy thought and prayer. The first day of the week so de- voted seems also to have been the day of the Lord’s Resurrection. The Lord rose on the first day of the week, and appeared, on the very day of His rising, to His followers on five distinct occasions — to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to St. Peter separately, to ten Apostles collected together. After eight days, that is, according to the ordinary reckoning, on the first day of the next week, He appeared to the eleven. On the day of Pentecost, which in that year fell on the first day of the week, “ they were all with one accord in one place,” had spiritual gifts con- ferred on them, and in their turn began to communicate those gifts, as accompaniments of instruction, to others. At Troas ( Acts xx. 7), many years after the occurrence at Pentecost, when Christianity had begun to assume something like a settled form, St. Luke records the following circumstances. St. Paul and his companions arrived there, and “abode seven days, and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came to- gether to break; bread, Paul preached unto them.” In 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, that same St, Paul writes thus : “ Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches in Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gather- ings when I come.” In Heb. x. 25, the correspondents of the writer are desired “ not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some is, but to exhort one another,” an injunction which seems to imply that a regular day for such assembling existed, and was well known ; for otherwise no rebuke would lie. And lastly, in the passage given above, St. John describes himself as being in the Spirit “ on the Lord’s Day.” Taken separately, perhaps, and even all together, these passages seem scarcely adequate to prove that the dedica- tion of the first day of the week to the pur- poses above mentioned was a matter of apostolic institution, or even of apostolic practice. But, it may be observed, that it is at any rate an extraordinary coincidence, that almost immediately we emerge from Scripture, we find the same day mentioned in a similar manner, and directly associated with the Lord’s Resurrection ; that it is an extraordinary fact that we never find its dedication questioned or argued about, but accepted as something equally apostolic with Confirmation, with Infant Baptism, with Ordination, or at least spoken of in the same way. The results of our examination of the principal writers of the two centuries after the death of St. John are as follows. The Lord’s Day (a name which has now come out more prominently, and is connected more explicitly with our Lord’s resurrection than before) existed during these two cen- turies as a part and parcel of apostolical, and so of Scriptural Christianity. It was never defended, for it was never impugned, or at least only impugned as other things received from the apostles were. It was never con- founded with the Sabbath, but carefully dis- tinguished from it. Religiously regarded, it was a day of solemn meeting for the Holy Eucharist, for united prayer, for instruction, for alms-giving. [Sabbath.] LORD’S SUPPER (Kvpioucou 8elnvov). The words which thus describe the great central act of the worship of the Christian Church occur but in one single passage of the N. T. (1 Cor. xi. 20). I. It was instituted on that night when Jesus and his disciples LORD’S SUPPER 307 LORD’S SUFPER met together to eat the Passover (Matt. xxvi. 19; Mark xiv. 16; Luke xxii. 13). The Paschal feast was kept by the Jews of that period in the following order. (1) The members of the company that were joined for this purpose met in the evening and re- clined on couches (comp. Matt. xxvi. 20 ; Luke xxii. 14 ; and John xiii. 23, 25). The head of the household, or celebrant, began by a form of blessing “ for the day and for he wine,” pronounced over a cup, of which ne and the others then drank. (2) All who were present then washed their hands ; this also having a special benediction. (3) The table was then set out with the paschal lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and the dish known as Charoseth, a sauce made of dates, figs, raisins, and vinegar, and designed to commemorate the mortar of their bondage in Egypt. (4) The celebrant first, and then the others, dipped a portion of the bitter herbs into the Charoseth and ate them. (5) The dishes were then removed, and a cup of wine again brought. Then followed an interval which was allowed theoretically for the ques- tions that might be asked by children or proselytes, who were astonished at such a strange beginning of a feast, and the cup was passed round and drunk at the close of it. (6) The dishes being brought on again, the celebrant repeated the commemorative words which opened what was strictly the paschal supper, and pronounced a solemn thanks- giving, followed by Ps. cxiiL and cxiv. (7) Then came a second washing of the hands, with a short form of blessing as before, and the celebrant broke one of the two loaves or cakes of unleavened bread, and gave thanks over it. All then took portions of the bread and dipped them, together with the bitter herbs, into the Charoseth, and so ate them. (8) After this they ate the flesh of the paschal lamb, with bread, &c., as they liked ; and after another blessing, a third cup, known especially as the “cup of blessing,” was handed round. (9) This was succeeded by a fourth cr.p, and the recital of Ps. cxv.-cxviii. followed by a prayer, and this was accord- ingly known as the cup of the Hallel, or of the Song. (10) There might be, in con- clusion, a fifth cup, provided that the “ great Hallel ” (possibly Psalms cxx.-cxxxviii.) was sung over it. — Comparing the ritual thus gathered from Rabbinic writers with the N. T., and assuming that it represents sub- stantially the common practice of our Lord’s time ; and that the meal of which He and His disciples partook, was either the passover itself, or an anticipation of it, conducted ac- cording to the same rules, we are able to point, though not with absohj^p certainty, to the points of departure which the old practice presented for the institution of the new. To (1) or (3), or even to (8), we may refer the first words and the first distribution of the cup (Luke xxii. 17, 18) ; to (2) or (7), the dipping of the sop of John xiii. 26; to (7), or to an interval during or after (8), the dis- tribution of the bread (Matt. xxvi. 26 ; Mark xiv. 22 ; Luke xxii. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24) ; to (9) or (10) (“after supper,” Luke xxii. 20) the thanksgiving, and distribution of the cup, and the hymn with which the whole was ended. — The narratives of the Gospels show how strongly the disciples were im- pressed with the words which had given a new meaning to the old familiar acts. They leave unnoticed all the ceremonies of the Passover, except those which had thus been transferred to the Christian Church and per- petuated in it. Old things were passing away, and all things becoming new. They had looked on the bread and the wine as memorials of the deliverance from Egypt. They were now told to partake of them “in remembrance” of their Master and Lord. The festival had been annual. No rule was given as to the time and frequency of the new feast that thus supervened on the old, but the command “ Do this as oft as ye drink it” (1 Cor. xi. 25), suggested the more con- tinual recurrence of that which was to be their memorial of one whom they would wish never to forget. The words, “ This is my body,” gave to the unleavened bread a new character. They had been prepared for language that would otherwise have been so startling, by the teaching of John (vi. 32-58), and they were thus taught to see in the bread that was broken the witness of the closest pos- sible union and incorporation with their Lord. The cup which was “ the new testament in His blood,” would remind them, in like manner, of the wonderful prophecy in which that new covenant had been foretold (Jer. xxxi. 31-34). — II. In the account given by the writer of the Acts of the life of the first disciples at Jerusalem, a prominent place is given to this act, and to the phrase which indicated it. He describes the baptized members of the Church as continuing stead- fast in or to the teaching of the apostles, in fellowship with them and with each other, and in breaking of bread and in prayers (Acts ii. 42). We can scarcely doubt that this implies that the chief actual meal of each day was one in which they met as brothers, and which was either preceded or followed by the more solemn commemorative acts of the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup. It will be convenient to antici- pate the language and the thoughts uf a X 2 LORD’S SUPPER 308 LO-RUHAMAH somewhat .later date, and to say that, ap- parently, they thus united every day the Agape or feast of Love with the celebration of the Eucharist. It would be natural that in a society consisting of many thousand members there should be many places of meeting. The congregation assembling in each place would come to be known as “ the Church” in this or that man’s house (Rom. xvi. 5, 23 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 19 ; Col. iv. 15 ; Philem. ver. 2). When they met, the place of honour would naturally be taken by one of the apostles, or some elder representing him. It would belong to him to pronounce the blessing and thanksgiving, with which the meals of devout Jews always began and ended. The bi'ead (unless the converted Jews were to think of themselves as keeping a perpetual passover) would be such as they habitually used. The wine (probably the common red wine of Palestine, Prov. xxiii. 31) would, according to their usual practice, be mixed with water. At some time, before or after the meal of which they partook as such, the bread and the wine would be given with some special form of words or acts, to indicate its character. New converts would need some explanation of the meaning and origin of the observance. What would be so fitting and so much in harmony with the precedents of the Paschal feast as the nar- rative of what had passed on the night of its institution (1 Cor. xi. 23-27) ? With this there would naturally be associated (as in Acts ii. 42) prayers for themselves and others. Their gladness would show itself in the psalms and hymns with which they praised God (Heb. ii. 46, 47 ; James v. 13). The analogy of the Passover, the general feeling of the Jews, and the practice of the Essenes may possibly have suggested ablutions, partial or entire, as a preparation for the feast (Heb. x. 22 ; John xiii. 1-15). At some point in the feast those who were present, men and women sitting apart, would rise to salute each other with the “ holy kiss ” (1 Cor. xvi. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 12). The next traces that meet us are in 1 Cor., and the fact that we find them is in itself significant. The com- memorative feast has not been confined to the personal disciples of Christ, or the Jewish converts whom they gathered round them at Jerusalem. The title of the “cup of bless- ing ” (1 Cor. x. 16), has been imported into the Greek Church. The synonym of “the cup of the Lord ” (1 Cor. x. 21) distinguishes it from the other cups that belonged to the Agapd, or Love feast. The word “fellow- ship ” is passing by degrees into the special signification of “ Communion.” The apostle refers to his own office as breaking the bread and blessing the cup (1 Cor. x. 16). The table on which the bread was placed was the Lord’s Table. But the practice of the Agape, as well as the observance of the commemora- tive feast, had been transferred to Corinth, and this called for a special notice. Evils had sprung up which had to be checked at once. The meeting of friends for a social meal, to which all contributed, was a suffi- ciently familiar practice in the common life of Greeks of this period ; and the club-feasts were associated with plans of mutual relief or charity to the poor. The Agape of the new society would seem to them to be such a feast, and hence came a disorder that alto- gether frustrated the object of the Church in instituting it. What was to be the remedy for this terrible and growing evil St. Paul does not state explicitly. He reserves formal regulations for a later personal visit. In the mean time he gives a rule which would make the union of the Agape and the Lord’s Supper possible without the risk of profanation. They were not to come even to the former with the keen edge of appetite. They wete to wait till all were met, instead of scrambling tumultuously to help themselves (1 Cor. xi. 33, 34). In one point, however, the custom of the Church of Corinth differed apparently from that of Jerusalem, The meeting for the Lord’s Supper was no longer daily (1 Cor. xi. 20, 33). The directions given in 1 Cor. xvi. 2, suggest the constitution of a celebration on the first day of the week. The meeting at Troas is on the same day (Acts xx. 7). A change gradually takes place. The Lord’s Supper is separated from the Agapd, and the latter finally dies out. The morning celebra- tion of the Supper takes the place of the evening. In Acts xx. 11 we have an ex- ample of the way in which the transition may have been effected. The disciples at Troas meet together to break bread. The hour is not definitely stated, but the fact that St. Paul’s discourse was protracted till past midnight, and the mention of the many lamps indicate a later time than that com- monly fixed for the Greek Secirvov. Then came the teaching and the prayers, and then, towards early dawn, the breaking of bread, which constituted the Lord’s Supper, and for which they were gathered together. If this midnight meeting may be taken as indicating a common practice, originating in reverence for an ordinance which Christ had enjoined, we can easily understand how the next step would be to transfer the celebration of the Eucharist permanently to the morning hour, to which it had gradually been approximating. L O -RU H A ' M AH, i. e. “ the uncompas- sionated,” the name of the dt ughter of Hosta LOT 309 LUCIFER, the prophet, given to denote the utterly ruined condition of the kingdom of Israel (Hos. i. 6). LOT, the son of Haran, and therefore the nephew of Abraham (Gen. xi. 27, 31). His sisters were Milcah the wife of Nahor, and Iscah, by some identified with Sarah. Haran died before the emigration of Terah and his family from Ur of the Chaldees (ver. 28), and Lot was therefore born there. He removed with the rest of his kindred to Charran, and again subsequently with Abraham and Sarai to Canaan (xii. 4, 5). With them he took refuge in Egypt from a famine, and with them returned, first to the “South” (xiii. 1), and then to their original settlement between Bethel and Ai (ver. 3, 4). But the pastures of the hills of Bethel, which had with ease contained the two strangers on their first arrival, were not able any longer to bear them, so much had their possessions of sheep, goats and cattle increased. Accordingly they separated, Lot choosing the fertile plain of the Jordan, and advancing as far as Sodom (Gen. xiii. 10-14). The next occurrence in the life of Lot is his capture by the four kings of the East, and his rescue by Abram (Gen. xiv. ). For details see Abraham. The last scene preserved to us in the history of Lot is too well known to need repetition. He is still living in Sodom (Gen. xix.). But in the midst of the licentious corruption of that city, he preserves some of the delightful characteristics of his wandering life, his fervent and chivalrous hospitality (xix. 2, 8), the unleavened bread of the tent of the wilderness, the water for the feet of the way- farers, affording his guests a reception iden- tical with that which they had experienced that very morning in Abraham’s tent on the heights of Hebron (comp, xviii. 3, 6). His deliverance from the guilty and condemned city points the allusion of St. Peter (2 Pet. ii. 6-9). Where Zoar was situated, in which he found a temporary refuge during the destruction of the other cities of the plain, we do not know with absolute certainty. — The end of Lot’s wife is commonly treated as one of the difficulties of the Bible. But it surely need not be so. It cannot be neces- sary, as some have done, to create the details of the story where none are given. On these points the record is silent. The value and the significance of the story to us are con- tained in the allusion of Christ (Luke xvii. 32). Later ages have not been satisfied so to leave the matter, but have insisted on identifying the “ pillar ” with some one of the fleeting forms which the perishable rock of the south end of the Dead Sea is constantly assuming in its process of decomposition and liquefaction. — From the incestuous inter- course between Lot and his two daughters sprang the nations of Moab and Ammon. LOT. The custom of deciding doubtful questions by lot is. one of great extent and high antiquity. The religious estimate of them may be gathered from Prov. xvi. 33. The following historical or ritual instances are — 1. Choice of men for an invading force (Judg. i. 1, xx. 10). 2. Partition (a) of the soil of Palestine among the tribes (Num. xxvi. 55 ; Josh, xviii. 10 ; Acts xiii. 19). (5) of Jerusalem ; it. e. probably its spoil or captives among captors (Obad. 11) ; of the land itself in a similar way (1 Macc. iii. 36). (c) Apportionment of possessions, or spoil, or of prisoners, to foreigners or captors (Joel iii. 3 ; Nah. iii. 10 ; Matt, xxvii. 35). 3 ( a ) Settlement of doubtful questions (Prov. xvi. 33, xviii. 18). ( b ) A mode of divination among heathens by means of arrows, two inscribed, and one without mark (Hos. iv. 12 ; Ez. xxi. 21). (c) Detection of a criminal (Josh. vii. 14, 18). ( d ) Appointment of per- sons to offices or duties, as above in Achan’s case, (e) Selection of the scape-goat on the Day of Atonement (Lev. xvi. 8, 10). 4. The use of words heard or passages chosen at random from Scripture. LO'TAN, the eldest son of Seir the Horite (Gen. xxxvi. 20, 22, 29 ; 1 Chr. i. 38, 39). LOTS, FEAST OF. [Purim.] LOYE-FEASTS (Jude 12, and 2 Pet. ii. 13). [Lord’s Supper.] LU'BIM, a nation mentioned as contribut- ing, together with Cushites and Sukkiim, to Shishak’s army (2 Chr. xii. 3) ; and appar- ently as forming with Cushites the bulk of Zerah’s army (xvi. 8), spoken of by Nahum (iii. 9) with Put or Phut, as helping No-Amon (Thebes), of which Cush and Egypt were the strength ; and by Daniel (xi. 43) as paying court with the Cushites to a conqueror of Egypt or the Egyptians. Upon the Egyptian monuments we find representations of a people called Rebu, or Lebu, who correspond to the Lubim, and who may be placed on the Afri- can coast to the westward of Egypt, perhaps extending far beyond the Cyrenaica. LU'CAS (Philem. 24). [Luke.] LU'CIFER, found in Is. xiv. 12, coupled with the epithet “ son of the morning,” clearly signifies a “ bright star,” and pro- bably what we call the morning star. In this passage it is a symbolical representation of the king of Babylon, in his splendour and in his fall. Its application from St. Jerome downwards, to Satan in his fall from heavers., arises probably from the fact that the Baby- lonian Empire is in Scripture represented as the type of tyrannical and self-idolising LUCIUS 310 LUKE power, and especially connected with the empire of the Evil One in the Apocalypse. LU'CIUS. 1. A Roman consul who is said to have written the letter to Ptolemy (Euer- getes), which assured Simon I. of the protec- tion of Rome (cir. b.c. 139-8 ; 1 Macc. xv. 10, 15-24). The whole form of the letter shows that it cannot be an accurate copy of the original document. Lucius may perhaps be identified with Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who was consul b.c. 139. — 2. Lucius of Cy- rene is first mentioned in the N. T. in com- pany with Barnabas, Simeon, called Niger, Manaen, and Saul, who are described as pro- phets and teachers of the church at Antioch (Acts xiii. 1). Whether Lucius was one of the seventy disciples, is quite a matter of conjecture ; but it is highly probable that he formed one of the congregation to whom St. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 10) ; and there can hardly be a doubt that he was one of “ the men of Cy- rene ” who, being “ scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen,” went to Antioch preaching the Lord Jesus (Acts xi. 19, 20). It is commonly supposed that Lucius is the kinsman of St. Paul, men- tioned by that Apostle as joining with him in his salutation to the Roman brethren (Rom. xvi. 21), and who is said by tradition to have been ordained bishop of the church of Cenchreae. LUD, the fourth name in the list of the children of Shem (Gen. x. 22 ; comp. 1 Chr. i. 17), supposed to have been the ancestor of the Lydians. LU'DIM (Gen. x. 13 ; 1 Chr. i. 11), a Mizraite people or tribe. From their position at the head of the list of the Mizraites, it is probable that the Ludim were settled to the west of Egypt, perhaps further than any other Mizraite tribe. Lud and the Ludim are mentioned in four passages of the pro- phets (Is. lxvi. 19 ; Jer. xlvi. 9; Ez. xxvii. 10, xxxviii. 5). There can be no doubt that but one nation is intended in these passages, and it seems that the preponder- ance of evidence is in favour of the Mizraite Ludim. LU'HITII, THE ASCENT OF, a place in Moab, occurs only in Is. xv. 5, and the pa- rallel passage of Jeremiah (xlviii. 5). In the days of Eusebius and Jerome it was still known, and stood between Areopolis (Rabbath- Moab) and Zoar. LUKE, or LUCAS, is an abbreviated form of Lucanus. It is not to be confounded with Lucius (Acts xiii. 1 ; Rom. xvi. 21), which belongs to a different person. The name Luke occurs three times in the N. T. (Col. iv. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 11; Philem. 24), and pro- bably in all three, the third evangelist is the person spoken of. Combining the traditional element with the scriptural, we are able to trace the following dim outline of the Evan- gelist’s life. He was born at Antioch in Syria, and was taught the science of medicine. The well known tradition that Luke was also a painter, and of no mean skill, rests on the authority of late writers. He was not born a Jew, for he is not reckoned among them “ of the circumcision ” by St. Paul (comp. Col. iv. 11 with ver. 14). The date of his conversion is uncertain. He joined St. Paul at Troas, and shared his journey into Mace- donia. The sudden transition to the first person plural in Acts xvi. 9, is most natu- rally explained, after all the objections that have been urged, by supposing that Luke, the writer of the Acts, formed one of St. Paul’s company from this point. As far as Philippi the Evangelist journeyed with the Apostle. The resumption of the third person on Paul’s departure from that place (xvii. 1) would show that Luke was now left behind. During the rest of St. Paul’s second mission- ary journey we hear of Luke no more. But on the third journey the same indication reminds us that Luke is again of the company (Acts xx. 5), having joined it apparently at Philippi, where he had been left. With the Apostle he passed through Miletus, Tyre, and Caesarea to Jerusalem (xx. 5, xxi. 18). Be- tween the two visits of Paul to Philippi seven years had elapsed (a.d. 51 to a.d. 58), which the Evangelist may have spent in Philippi and its neighbourhood, preaching the Gospel. There remains one passage, which, if it refers to St. Luke, must belong to this period. “ We have sent with him” (i. e. Titus) “ the brother whose praise is in the gospel through- out all the churches” (2 Cor. viii. 18). The subscription of the Epistle sets forth that it was “ written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas,” and it is an old opinion that Luke was the companion of Titus, al- though he is not named in the body of the Epistle. If this be so, we are to suppose that during the “ three months ” of Paul’s sojourn at Philippi (Acts xx. 3) Luke was sent from that place to Corinth on this errand. He again appears in the company of Paul in the memorable journey to Rome (Acts xxvii. 1). He remained at his side during his first imprisonment (Col. iv. 14 ; Philem. 24) ; and if it is to be supposed that the Second Epistle to Timothy was written during the second imprisonment, then the testimony of that Epistle (iv. 11) shows tha* he continued faithful to the Apostle to thr end of his afflictions. After the death of St. Paul, the acts of his faithful companion are LUKE, GOSPEL OF 311 LYCAONIA hopelessly obscure to us. In the well-known passage of Epiphanius, we find that Luke, receiving the commission to preach the Gos- pel, preaches first in Dalmatia and Gallia. As to his age and death, there is the utmost uncertainty. He probably died a martyr, be- tween a.d. 75 and a.d. 100. LUKE, GOSPEL OF. The third Gospel is ascribed, by the general consent of ancient Christendom, to “ the beloved physician,” Lnke, the friend and companion of the Apostle Paul. From Acts i. 1, it is clear that the Gospel described as “ the former treatise ” was written before the Acts of the Apostles ; but how much earlier is uncertain. Perhaps it was written at Caesarea during St. Paul’s imprisonment there, a.d. 58-60. The preface, contained in the first four verses of the Gospel, describes the object of its writer. Here are several facts to be ob- served. There were many narratives of the life of our Lord current at the early time when Luke wrote his Gospel. The ground of fitness for the task St. Luke places in his having carefully followed out the whole course of events from the beginning. He does not claim the character of an eye-witness from the first ; but possibly he may have been a witness of some part of our Lord’s doings. The ancient opinion, that Luke wrote his Gospel under the influence of Paul, rests on the authority of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Eusebius. The two first assert that we have in Luke the Gospel preached by Paul ; Origen calls it “ the Gospel quoted by Paul,” alluding to Rom. ii. 16 ; and Eusebius refers Paul’s words, “ according to my Gospel ” (2 Tim. ii. 8), to that of Luke, in which Je- rome concurs. The language of the preface is against the notion of any exclusive influ- ence of St. Paul. The four verses could not have been put at the head of a history composed under the exclusive guidance of Paul or of any one apostle, and as little could they have introduced a gospel simply communicated by another. The truth seems to be that St. Luke, seeking information from every quarter, sought it from the preaching of his beloved master, St. Paul ; and the apostle in his turn employed the knowledge acquired irom other sources by his disciple. Upon the question whether Luke made use of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark see Gospels. — The Evan- gelist professes to write that Theophilus “ might know the certainty of those things wherein he had been instructed ” (i. 4). This Theophilus was probably a native of Italy, and perhaps an inhabitant of Rome, for in tracing St. Paul’s journey to Rome, places j which an Italian might be supposed not to I know are described minutely (Acts xxvii. 8, 1 12, 16); but when he comes to Sicily and Italy this is neglected. Hence it would ap- pear that the person for whom Luke wrote in the first instance was a Gentile reader ; and accordingly we fin' 1 traces in tbe Gospel of a leaning towards Gentile rather than Jewish converts. It has never been doubted that the Gospel was written in Greek. Whilst He- braisms are frequent, classical idioms and Greek compound words abound. The num- ber of words used by Luke only is unusually great, and many of them are compound words for which there is classical authority. On comparing the Gospel with the Acts it is found that the style of the latter is more pure and free from Hebrew idioms. LUNATICS. This word is used twice in the N. T. (Matt. iv. 24, xvii. 15). It is evi- dent that the word itself refers to some dis- ease, affecting both the body and the mind, which might or might not be a sign of pos- session. By the description of Mark ix. 17-26, it is concluded that this disease was epilepsy. LUZ. It seems impossible to discover with precision whether Luz and Bethel re- present one and the same town — the former the Canaanite, the latter the Hebrew name — or whether they were distinct places, though in close proximity. The latter is the natural inference from two of the passages in which Luz is spoken of (Gen. xxviii. 19 ; Josh. xvi. 2, xviii. 13). Other passages, however, seem to speak of the two as identical (Gen. xxxv. 6 ; Judg. i. 23). The most probable conclusion is that the two places were, during the times preceding the conquest, distinct, Luz being the city and Bethel the pillar and altar of Jacob : that after the destruction of Luz by the tribe of Ephraim the town of Bethel arose. — 2. When the original Luz was destroyed, through the treachery of one of its inhabitants, the man who had intro- duced the Israelites into the town went into the “ land of the Hittites ” and built a city, which he named after the former one (Judg. i. 26). Its situation, as well as that of the 44 land of the Hittites,” has never been dis- covered, and is one of the favourite puzzles of Scripture geographers. LYCAO'NIA, a district of Asia Minor. From what is said in Acts xiv. 11 of “the speech of Lycaonia,” it is evident that the inhabitants of the district, in St. Paul’s day, spoke something very different from ordinary Greek. Whether this language was some Syrian dialect, or a corrupt form of Greek, has been much debated. The fact that the j Lycaonians were familiar with the Greek I mythology is consistent with either supposi- 1 tion. Lycaonia is for the most part a drear y LYCIA 312 LYSIAS plain, bare of trees, destitute of fresh water, and with several salt lakes. After the pro- vincial system of Eome had embraced the whole of Asia Minor, the boundaries of the provinces were variable ; and Lycaonia was, politically, sometimes in Cappadocia, some- times in Galatia. It is interesting to see these rude country people, when Paul and Barnabas worked miracles among them, rushing to the conclusion that the strangers were Mercury and Jupiter, whose visit to this very neighbourhood forms the subject of one of Ovid’s most charming stories (Ovid, Metam. viii. 626). Nor can we fail to notice how admirably St. Paul’s address on the occasion was adapted to a simple and im- perfectly civilised race (xiv. 15-17). This was at Lystra, in the heart of the country. Further to the east was Derbe (ver. 6), not far from the chief pass which leads up through Taurus, from Cilicia and the coast, to the central table-land. At the western limit of Lycaonia was Iconium (ver. 1), in the direction of Antioch in Pisidia. A good Roman road intersected the district along the line thus indicated. On St. Paul’s first missionary journey he traversed Lycaonia from west to east, and then returned on his steps (ver. 21 ; see 2 Tim. iii. 11). On the se- cond and third journeys he entered it from the east; and after leaving it, travelled in the one case to Troas (Actsxvi. 1-8), in the other to Ephesus (Acts xviii. 23, xix. 1). LYC'IA is the name of that south-western region of the peninsula of Asia Minor which is immediately opposite the island of Rhodes. The Lycians were incorporated in the Persian Empire, and their ships were conspicuous in the great war against the Greeks (Herod, vii. 91, 92). After the death of Alexander the Great, Lycia was included in the Greek Se- leucid kingdom, and was a part of the terri- tory which the Romans forced Antiochus to cede. It was not till the reign of Claudius that Lycia became part of the Roman pro- vincial system. At first it was combined with Pamphylia. Such seems to have been the condition of the district when St. Paul visited the Lycian towns of Patara (Acts xxi. 1), and Myra (Acts xxvii. 5). At a later period of the Roman empire Lydia was a separate province, with Myra for its capital. LYD'DA, the Greek form of the name (Acts ix. 32, 35, 38), which appears in the Hebrew records as Lod, a town of Benjamin, founded by Shamed or Shamer (1 Chr. viii. 12 ; Ezr. ii. 33 ; Neh. vii. 37, xi. 35). It is still called Lidd, or Ludd , and stands in part of the great maritime plain which an- ciently bore the name of Sharon. It is 9 miles from Joppa, and is the first town on the northernmost of the two road3 between that place and Jerusalem. The watercourse out- side the town is said still to bear the name of Abi-Butrus (Peter), in memory of the Apostle. It was destroyed by Vespasian, and was probably not rebuilt till the time of Ha- drian, when it received the name of Diospolis. When Eusebius wrote (a.d. 320-330) Dios- polis was a well-known and much- frequented town. The modern town is, for a Moham- medan place, busy and prosperous. LYD'IA, a maritime province in the west of Asia Minor, bounded by Mysia on the N., Phrygia on the E., and Caria on the S. The name occurs only in 1 Macc. viii. 8 (the rendering of the A. V. in Ez. xxx. 5 being for Ludim) ; it is there enumerated among the districts which the Romans took away from Antiochus the Great after the battle of Magnesia in b.c. 190, and transferred to Eu- menes II. king of Pergamus. For the con- nexion between Lydia and the Lud and Ludim of the O. T., see Ludim. Lydia is included in the “Asia” of the N. T. LYD'IA, the first European convert of St. Paul, and afterwards his hostess during his first stay at Philippi (Acts xvi. 14, 15, also 40). She was a Jewish proselyte at the time of the Apostle’s coming ; and it was at the Jewish Sabbath-worship by the side of a stream (ver. 13) that the preaching of the Gospel reached her heart. Her native place was Thyatira, in the province of Asia (ver. 14 ; Rev. ii. 18). Thyatira was famous for its dyeing-works ; and Lydia was connected with this trade, either as a seller of dye, or of dyed goods. We infer that she was a person of considerable wealth. LYSA'NIAS, mentioned by St. Luke in one of his chronological passages (iii. 1) as being tetrarch of Abilene ( i . e. the district round Abila) in the 15th year of Tiberius, at the time when Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee, and Herod Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis. LYS'IAS, a nobleman of the blood-royal (1 Macc. iii. 32 ; 2 Macc. xi. 1), who was entrusted by Antiochus Epiphanes (cir. b.c. 166) with the government of southern Syria, and the guardianship of his son Antiochus Eupator (1 Macc. iii. 32 ; 2 Macc. x. 11). He carried on the war against Judas Macca- baeus. After the death of Antiochus Epi- phanes b.c. (164), Lysias assumed the go- vernment as guardian of his son, who was yet a child (1 Macc. vi. 17). The war against the Jews was renewed ; and Lysias was be- sieging Jerusalem when he received tidings of the approach of Philip, to whom Antiochus had transferred the guardianship of the prince (1 Macc. vi. 18 ; 2 Macc. xiii.). He defeated ! To face %>. 313 . LYSIAS 313 MACCABEES, THE Philip (b.c. 163), and was supported at Rome ; out in the next year, together with his ward, fell into the hands of Demetrius Soter, who put them both to death (1 Macc. vii. 2-4 ; 2 Macc. xiv. 2). LY'SIAS, CLAU'DIUS, “ chief captain of the band,” that is, tribune of the Roman co- hort, who rescued St. Paul from the hands of the mfuriated mob at Jerusalem, and sent him under a guard to Felix, the governor or proconsul of Caesarea (Acts xxi. 31, seq., xxiii. 26, xxiv. 7). LYSIM'ACHUS. 1. “ A son of Ptolemaeus of Jerusalem,” the Greek translator of the book of Esther (comp. Esth. ix. 20). — 2. A brother of the high-priest Menelaus, who was left by him as his deputy during his absence at the court of Antiochus. He fell a victim to the fury of the people (2 Macc. iv. 29-42). LYS'TRA has two points of interest in con- nexion respectively with St. Paul’s first and second missionary journeys — (1) as the place where divine honours were offered to him, and where he was presently stoned (Acts xiv.) ; (2) as the home of his chosen companion and fellow-missionary Timotheus (Acts xvi. 1). Lystra was in the eastern part of the great plain of Lycaonia ; and its site may be iden- tified with the ruins called Bin-bir-Kilisseh , at the base of a conical mountain of volcanic structure, named the Karadagh . M A'ACAH. 1 . The mother of Absalom, also called Maachah (2 Sam. iii. 3). — 2. Maa- cah, and (in Chr.) Maachah. A small kingdom in close proximity to Palestine, which appears to have lain outside Argob (Deut. iii. 14) and Bashan (Josh. xii. 5). These districts, pro- bably answering to the Lejah and Jauldn of modern Syria, occupied the space from the Jordan on the west to Salcah on the east and Mount Hermon on the north. Maacah must therefore be placed somewhere to the east of the Lejah. The Ammonite war was the only occasion on which the Maacathites came into contact with Israel, when their king assisted the Ammonites against Joab with a force which he led himself (2 Sam. x. 6, 8 ; 1 Chr. xix. 7). MA'ACHAH. 1. The daughter of Nahor by his concubine Reumah (Gen. xxii. 24). — 2. The daughter, or more probably grand- daughter, of Absalom, named after his mo- ther ; the third and favourite wife of Reho- boam, and mother of Abijah (1 K. xv. 2 ; 2 Chr. xi. 20-22). The mother of Abijah is elsewhere called “ Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeuh” (2 Chr. xiii. 2). It is pro- bable that “Michaiah” is the error of a tran- scriber, and that “ Maachah ” is the true reading in all cases. During the reign of her grandson Asa she occupied at the court of Judah the high position of “ King’s Mother” (comp. 1 K. ii. 19), which has been compared with that of the Sultana Valide in Turkey. It may be that at Abijah’s death, after a short reign of three years, Asa was left a minor, and Maachah acted as regent, like Athaliah under similar circumstances. If this conjec- ture be correct, it would serve to explain the influence by which she promoted the practice of idolatrous worship. M A f ALEH-ACR AB 'BIM, the full form of the name (Josh. xv. 3) which in its other oc- currences is given in the A.Y. as “ the ascent of, or the going up to, Akrabbim.” [Akrabbim.] MACCABEES, THE. This title, which was originally the surname of Judas, one of the sons of Mattathias, was afterwards ex- tended to the heroic family of which he was one of the noblest representatives. The origi- nal term Maccabi was probably formed from Makkabdh , “ a hammer,” giving a sense not unlike that in which Charles Martel derived a surname from his favourite weapon. Although the name Maccabees has gained the widest currency, that of Asmonaeans, or Hasmonae - ans, is the proper name of the family, which is derived from Cashmon, great grandfather of Mattathias. 1. The causes of the Maccabaean war are pointed out under Antiochus IY. (1 Macc. v. 62). The stand- ard of independence was first raised by Mattathias, a priest of the course of Joiarib, which was the first of the twenty-four courses (1 Chr. xxiv. 7), and consequently of the noblest blood. He seems, however, to have been already advanced in years when the rising was made, and he did not long survive the fatigues of active service. He died b.c. 166, and “ was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin.” — 2. Mattathias himself named Judas — apparently his third son — as his successor in directing the war of inde- pendence (1 Macc. ii. 66). The energy and skil 1 of “ the Maccabee,” as Judas is often called in 2 Macc., fully justified his father’s preference. After gaining several victories over the other generals of Antiochus, and defeating Lysias, whom Antiochus Epiphanes left in the government of the Palestinian provinces, Judas was able to occupy Jerusa- lem, except the “tower” (1 Macc. vi. 18, 19), and purified the Temple (1 Macc. iv. 36, 41-53) on the 25th of Cisleu, exactly three years after its profanation (1 Macc. i. 59). The accession of Demetrius brought with it fresh troubles to the patriot Jews. A large party of their countrymen, with Alcimus at their head, gained the ear of the king, and he sent Nicanor against Judas. Nicanor was defeated, first at Capharsalama, and again in MACCABEES, THE 314 MACCABEES, BOOKS OF a decisive battle at Adasa, near to the glorious field of Betlihoron (b.c. 161) on the 13th Adar (1 Macc. vii. 49; 2 Mace. xv. 36), where he was slain. This victory was the greatest of Judas’s successes, and practically decided the question of Jewish independence, but it was followed by an unexpected reverse. A new invasion under Bacchides took place. Judas was able only to gather a small force to meet the sudden danger. Of this a large part deserted him on the eve of the battle ; but the courage of Judas was unshaken, and he fell at Eleasa, the Jewish Thermopylae, fighting at desperate odds against the invad- ers. His body was recovered by his brothers, and buried at Modin “ in the sepulchre of his fathers” (b.c. 161). — 3. After the death of Judas the patriotic party seems to have been for a short time wholly disorganised, and it was only by the pressure of unpara- lelled sufferings that they were driven to renew the conflict. For this purpose they offered the command to Jonathan, surnamed Apphus ( the wary), the youngest son of Mattathias. After two or three campaigns Bacchides accepted terms which Jonathan proposed ; and upon his departure Jonathan ‘‘judged the people at Michmash ” (1 Macc. ix. 73), and gradually extended his power. The claim of Alexander Balas to the Syrian crown gave a new importance to Jonathan and his adherents. The success of Alexander led to the elevation of Jonathan, who assumed the high-priestly office (1 Macc. x. 21) ; and not long after he placed the king under fresh obligations by the defeat of Apollonius, a general of the younger Demetrius (1 Macc. x.). After the death of Alexander, Jonathan at- tached himself to Antiochus VI. He at last fell a victim to the treachery of Tryphon, who put him to death b.c. 144 (1 Macc. xi. 8-xii. 4). — 4. As soon as Simon, the last remaining brother of the Maccabaean family, heard of the detention of Jonathan in Ptole- mais by Tryphon, he placed himself at the head of the patriot party. He made over- tures to Demetrius II. (b.c. 143), which were favourably received, and the independence of the Jews was at length formally recognised. The long struggle was now triumphantly ended, and it remained only to reap the fruits of victory. This Simon hastened to do. The prudence and wisdom for which he was already distinguished at the time of his father’s death (1 Macc. ii. 65), gained for the Jews the active support of Borne (1 Macc. xv. 16-21), in addition to the confirmation of earlier treaties. After settling the external relations of the new state upon a sure basis, Simon regulated its internal administration. With two of his sons he was murdered at Dok by Ptolemaeus, b.c. 135 (1 Macc. xvi. 11-16). — 5. The treason of Ptolemaeus failed in its object. Johannes Hyrcanus, one oi the sons of Simon, escaped from the plot by which his life was threatened, and at once assumed the government (b.c. 135). At first he was hard pressed by Antiochus Sidetes, and only able to preserve Jerusalem on con- dition of dismantling the fortifications and submitting to a tribute, b.c. 133. He reduced Idumaea, confirmed the alliance with Borne, and at length succeeded in destroying Sama- ria, the hated rival of Jerusalem, b.c. 109. The external splendour of his government was marred by the growth of internal divi- sions ; but John escaped the fate of all the older members of his family, and died in peace, b.c. 106-5. His eldest son Aristo- bulus I., who succeeded, was the first who assumed the kingly title, though Simon had enjoyed the fulness of the kingly power. — The great outlines of the Maccabaean contest, which are somewhat hidden in the annals thus briefly epitomised, admit of being traced with fair distinctness. The disputed succes- sion to the Syrian throne (b.c. 153) was the political turning-point of the struggle, which may thus be divided into two great periods. During the first period (b.c. 168-153) the patriots maintained their cause with varying success against the whole strength of Syria : during the second (b.c. 153-139) they w r ere courted by rival factions, and their inde- pendence was acknowledged from time to time, though pledges given in times of danger were often broken when the danger was over. The war, thus brought to a noble issue, if less famous is not less glorious than any of those in which a few brave men have suc- cessfully maintained the cause of freedom or religion against overpowering might. For it is not only in their victory over external difficulties that the heroism of the Maccabees is conspicuous : their real success was as much imperilled by internal divisions as by foreign force. MACCABEES, BOOKS OF. Four books which bear the common title of “ Macca- bees ” are found in some MSS. of the LXX. Two of these were included in the early cur- rent Latin versions of the Bible, and thence passed into the Vulgate. As forming part of the Vulgate they were received as canonical by the council of Trent, and retained among the apocrypha by the reformed churches. The two other books obtained no such wide circulation, and have only a secondary con- nexion with the Maccabaean history. 1. The First Book of Maccabees contains a history of the patriotic struggle, from the first resistance of Mattathias to the settled MACCABEES, BOOKS OF 315 MACEDONIA sovereignty and death of Simon, a period of thirty-three years (b.c. 168-135). The open- ing chapter gives a short summary of the conquests of Alexander the Great, and de- scribes at greater length the oppression of Antiochus Epiphanes. The great subject of the book begins with the enumeration of the Maccabaean family (ii. 1-5), which is followed by an account of the part which the aged Mattathias took in rousing and guiding the spirit of his countrymen (ii. 6-70). The re- mainder of the narrative is occupied with the exploits of his five sons. Each of the three divisions into which the main portion of the book thus naturally falls, is stamped with an individual character derived from its special hero. The great marks of trustworthiness are everywhere conspicuous. Victory and failure and despondency are, on the whole, chronicled with the same candour. There is no attempt to bring into open display the work- ing of providence. The testimony of antiquity leaves no doubt but that the book was first written in Hebrew. Its whole structure points to Palestine as the place of its composition. There is, however, considerable doubt as to its date. Perhaps we may place it between b.c. 120-100. The date and person of the Greek translator are wholly undetermined. — 2. The Second Book of Maccabees. — The history of the Second Book of the Maccabees begins some years earlier than that of the First Book, and closes with the victory of Judas Maccabaeus over Nicanor. It thus embraces a period of twenty years, from b.c. 180 (?) to b.c. 161. For the few events noticed during the earlier years it is the chief autho- rity ; during the remainder of the time the narrative goes over the same ground as 1 Macc., but with very considerable differences. The first two chapters are taken up by two letters supposed to be addressed by the Pales- tinian to the Alexandrine Jews, and by a sketch of the author’s plan, which proceeds without any perceptible break from the close of the second letter. The main narrative occupies the remainder of the book. This presents several natural divisions, which appear to coincide with the “five books” of Jason on which it was based. The first (c. iii.) contains the history of Heliodorus (cir. b.c. 180). The second (iv.-vii.) gives varied details of the beginning and course of the great persecution (b.c. 175-167). The .bird (viii.-x. 9) follows the fortunes of Judas to the triumphant restoration of the Temple service (b.c. 166, 165). The fourth (x. 10- xiii.) includes the reign of Antiochus Eupator (b.c. 164-162). The fifth (xiv., xv.) records the treachery of Alcimus, the mission of Ni- oanor, and the crowning success of Judas (b.c. 162, 161). The writer himself dis- tinctly indicates the source of his narrative — “ the five books of Jason of Cyrene ” (ii. 23), of which he designed to furnish a short and agreeable epitome for the benefit of those who would be deterred from studying the larger work. .His own labour, which he de- scribes in strong terms (ii. 26, 27 ; com. xv. 38, 39), was entirely confined to condensa- tion and selection ; all investigation of detail he declares to be the peculiar duty of the original historian. Of Jason himself nothing more is known than may be gleaned from this mention of him. The district of Cyrene was most closely united with that of Alex- andria. In both the predominance of Greek literature and the Greek language was abso- lute. The work of Jason must therefore have been composed in Greek ; and the style of the epitome proves beyond doubt that the Greek text is the original. It is scarcely less certain that the book was compiled at Alex- andria. — The Second Book of Maccabees is not nearly so trustworthy as the First. In the Second Book the groundwork of facts is true, but the dress in which the facts are presented is due in part at least to the nar- rator. It is not at all improbable that the error with regard to the first campaign of Lysias arose from the mode in which it was introduced by Jason as a prelude to the more important measures of Lysias in the reign of Antiochus Eupator. In other places (as very obviously in xiii. 19 ff.) the compiler may have disregarded the historical dependence of events while selecting those which were best suited for the support of his theme. The latter half of the book (cc. viii.-xv.) is to be regarded not as a connected and com- plete history, but as a series of special inci- dents from the life of Judas, illustrating the providential interference of God in behalf of His people, true in substance, but embellished in form. — 3. The Third Book of the Mac- cabees contains the history of events which preceded the great Maccabaean struggle, be- ginning with b.c. 217. — 4. The Fourth Book of Maccabees contains a rhetorical narrative of the martyrdom of Eleazer and of the “ Maccabaean family,” following in the main the same outline as 2 Macc. MACEDO’NIA, the first part of Europe which received the Gospel directly from St. Paul, and an important scene of his sub- sequent missionary labours and those of his companions. It was bounded by the range of Haemus or the Balkan northwards, by the chain of Pindus westwards, by the Cambunian hills southwards, by which it is separated from Thessaly, and is divided on the east from Thrace by a less definite mown* MACHIR 316 MAGDALA tain-boundary running southwards from Hae- mus. Of the space thus enclosed, two of the most remarkable physical features are two great plains, one watered by the Axius, which comes to the sea at the Thermaic gulf, not far from Thessalonica ; the other by the Strymon, which, after passing near Philippi, flows out below Amphipolis. Between the mouths of these two rivers a remarkable pe- ninsula projects, dividing itself into three points, on the farthest of which Mount Athos rises nearly into the region of perpetual snow. Across the neck of this peninsula St. Paul travelled more than once with his companions. This general sketch sufficiently describes the Macedonia which was ruled over by Philip and Alexander, and which the Romans con- quered from Perseus. At first the conquered country was divided by Aemilius Paulus into four districts. This division was only tem- porary. The whole of Macedonia, along with Thessaly and a large tract along the Adriatic, was made one province and centralised under the jurisdiction of a proconsul, who resided at Thessalonica. We have now reached the definition which corresponds with the usage of the term in the N. T. (Acts xvi. 9, 10, 12, &c.). Three Roman provinces, all very fa- miliar to us in the writings of St. Paul, divided the whole space between the basin of tbe Danube and Cape Matapan. The bor- der town of Illyricum was Lissus on the Adriatic. The boundary - line of Achaia nearly coincided, except in the western por- tion, with that of the kiugdom of modern Greece, and ran in an irregular line from the Acroceraunian promontory to the bay of Thermopylae and the north of Euboea. By subtracting these two provinces, we define Macedonia. The account of St. Paul’s first journey through Macedonia (Acts xvi. 10- xvii. 15) is marked by copious detail and well-defined incidents. At the close of this journey he returned from Corinth to Syria by sea. On the next occasion of visiting Europe, though he both went and returned through Macedonia (Acts xx. 1-6), the nar- rative is a very slight sketch, and the route is left uncertain, except as regards Philippi. The character of the Macedonian Christians is set before us in Scripture in a very fa- vourable light. The candour of the Be- reans is highly commended (Acts xvii. 11) ; the Thessalonians were evidently objects of St. Paul’s peculiar affection (1 Thess. ii. 8, 17-20, iii. 10) ; and the Philippians, besides their general freedom from blame, are noted as re- markable for their liberality and self-denial (Phil. iv. 10, 14-19 ; see 2 Cor. ix. 2, xi. 9). MACH'IR. 1. The eldest son (Josh. xvii. 1) of the patriarch Manasseh by an Aramite or Syrian concubine (1 Chr. vii. 14). His chil- dren are commemorated as having been ca- ressed by Joseph before his death (Gen. 1. 23). At the time of the conquest the family of Machir had become very powerful, and a large part of the country on the east of Jor- dan was subdued by them (Num. xxxii. 39 ; Deut. iii. 15). So great was their power that the name of Machir occasionally super- sedes that of Manasseh. — 2. The son of Am- miel, a powerful sheykh of one of the trans- Jordanic tribes, who rendered essential service to the cause of Saul and of David successively — in each case when they were in difficulty (2 Sam. ix. 4, 5, xvii. 27-29). MACH'PELAH. [Hebron.] MADA'I (Gen. x. 2) is usually called the third son of Japhet, and the progenitor of the Medes. But probably all that is intended is, that the Medes, as well as the Gomerites, Greeks, Tibareni, Moscbi, &c., descended from Japhet. MA'DIAN, Acts vii. 29. [Midi an.] MAD'MANNAH, one of the towns in the south district of Judah (Josh. xv. 31). In the time of Eusebius and Jerome, it was called Menoi's, and was not far from Gaza. The first stage southward from Gaza is now el-Minydy , which is perhaps the modern re- presentative of Menoi's, and therefore of Madmannah. MAD'MENAH, one of the Benjamite vil- lages north of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of which were frightened away by the approach of Sennacherib along the northern road (Is. x. 31). MA/DON, one of the principal cities of Canaan before the conquest, probably in the north. Its king joined Jabin and his confe- derates in their attempt against Joshua at the waters of Merom, and like the rest was killed (Josh. xi. 1, xii. 19). MAG'BISH, a proper name in Ezr. ii. 30, but whether of a man or of a place is doubt- ful ; probably the latter, as all the names from Ezr. ii. 20 to 34, except Elam and Harim, are names of places. MAG'DALA. The name Magdala does not really exist in the Bible. It is found in the received Greek text and the A. V. of Matt. xv. 39 only ; but the chief MSS. and versions exhibit the name as “ Magadan.” Into the limits of Magadan Christ came by boat, over the lake of Gennesareth, after His miracle of feeding tbe four thousand on the mountain of the eastern side (Matt. xv. 39) ; and from thence, after a short encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees, He re- turned in the same boat to the opposite shore. In the present text of the parallel narrative of St. Mark (viii. 10) we find the MAGDIEL 317 MAGI “ parts of Daimanutha,” on the western edge of the lake of Gennesareth. The Magdala, which conferred her name on “Mary the Magdal-ene,” one of the numerous Migdols, i.e. towers, which stood in Palestine, was probably the place of that name which is mentioned ii* the Jerusalem Talmud as near Tiberias, and this again is as probably the modern el-Mejdel, a miserable little Muslim village, on the water’s edge at the south-east corner of the plain of Gennesareth. By the Jews the word megaddeld is used to denote a person who platted or twisted hair, a prac- tice then much in use amongst women of loose character. Magdalum is mentioned as between Tiberias and Capernaum, as early as by Willibald, a.d. 722. MAG'DIEL, one of the “ dukes” of Edom, descended from Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 43 ; 1 Chr. i. 54). MAGI (A. V. “wise men”). I. In the Hebrew text of the O. T. the word occurs but twice, and then only incidentally. In Jer. xxix. 3 and 13 we meet, among the Chaldaean officers sent by Nebuchadnezzar to Jerusalem, one with the name or title of Rab-Mag. This word is interpreted, as equi- valent to chief of the Magi. Historically the Magi are conspicuous chiefly as a Persian religious caste. Herodotus connects them with another people by reckoning them among the six tribes of the Medes (i. 101). They appear in his history of Astyages as interpreters of dreams (i. 120), the name having apparently lost its ethnological and acquired a caste significance. But as they appear in Jeremiah among the retinue of the Chaldaean king, we must suppose Nebuchad- nezzar’s conquests led him to gather round him the wise men and religious teachers of the nations which he subdued, and that thus the sacred tribe of the Medes rose under his rule to favour and power. The Magi took their places among “ the astrologers and star-gazers and monthly prognosticators.” It is with such men that we have to think of Daniel and his fellow-exiles as associated. The office which Daniel accepted (Dan. v. 11) was probably identical with that of the liab-Mag who first came before us. The name of the Magi does not meet us in the Biblical account of the Medo-Persian kings. — II. The word presented itself to the Greeks as connected with a foreign system of divina- tion, and it soon became a by-word for the worst form of imposture. This is the predo- minant meaning of the word as it appears in the N. T. The noun and the verb derived from it are used by St. Luke in describing the impostor, who is therefore known dis- tinctively as Simon Magus (Acts viii. 9). Another of the same class (Bar-jesus) is de- scribed (Acts xiii. 8) as having, in his cog- nomen Elymas, a title which was equivalent to Magus. — III. In one memorable instance, however, the word retains its better mean- ing. In the Gospel of St. Matthew (ii. 1-12), the Magi appear as “ wise men ” — properly Magians — who were guided by a star from “ the East ” to Jerusalem, where they sud- denly appeared in the days of Herod the Great, enquiring for the newborn king of the Jews, whom they had come to worship. As to the country from which they came, opi- nions vary greatly ; but their following the guidance of a star seems to point to the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, where astronomy was early cultivated by the Chaldaeans. The religion of Zoroaster remaining pure from the grosser forms of idolatry, preserved the hope of a great deliverer, who should reform the world, and establish a reign of universal peace. That some tradition, influenced possi- bly by the Jews of the dispersion, went so far as to make this deliverer a “ King of the Jews,” seems a fair inference from the direct form of their enquiry for Him. As to the sign which guided them, the chief difficulties have arisen from the attempt to find a natural explanation ; for the plain narrative of St. Matthew evidently represents it as a miracle vouchsafed for the occasion. The ingenious conjecture of certain astronomers, that the appearance of the star was caused by a re- markable conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is now exploded. The approach of the two planets was not at all near enough for them to be mistaken for a single star ; nor could habitual observers of the heavens fail to re- cognise the positions of such well-known pla- nets. Besides, their “ standing over the place where the young child was,” so as to define the spot on the surface of the earth, is utterly inconceivable. It only remains for us to be content with the obvious explana- tion, that some new luminary, whether me- teoric or celestial, was made to appear, in a manner distinct enough to the eyes of prac- tised astronomers, expressly to guide the sages on their way. Their arrival and en- quiries threw Jerusalem into commotion. With his usual craft, Herod summoned the Sanhedrim, and learnt that the Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem. Having enquired from the Magi the time of the star’s appear- ance, as a guide to that of the child’s birth, he professed his desire to worship the new- born king, and sent them on to discover his abode. The star again guided them over the five miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and at length stood still above the house where Jesus was. They paid Him their willing MAGIC 318 MAKTESH homage, and presented their costly gifts, the first-fruits of the wealth and wisdom of the Gentile world. By means of a dream, a form of divination which they were wont to follow with implicit faith, they were warned by God not to return to Herod, and they departed into their own country by another route, perhaps by Hebron and round the southern end of the Dead Sea. According to a late tradition, the Magi are represented as three kings, named Gaspar, Melchior, and Beltha- zar, who take their place among the objects of Christian reverence, and are honoured as the patron saints of travellers. Among other relics supplied to meet the demands of the market which the devotion of Helena had created, the bodies of the Magi were dis- covered somewhere in the East, were brought to Constantinople, were thence transferred to Milan, and were in 1162 finally deposited in the cathedral of Cologne, where the shrine of the Three Kings is shown as the greatest of its many treasures. MAGIC, MAGICIANS. [Divination ; Magi.] MA'GOG. In Gen. x. 2 Magog appears as the second son of Japhbth in connexion with Gomer (the Cimmerians) and Madai (the Medes) : in Ez. xxxviii. 2, xxxix. 1, 6, it appears as a country or people of which Gog was the prince, in conjunction with Meshech (the Moschici), Tubal (the Tibareni), and Rosh (the Roxolani). In the latter of these senses there is evidently implied an etymo- logical connexion between Gog and Ma-gog, the Ma being regarded by Ezekiel as a prefix significant of a country. In this case Gog contains the original element of the name, which may possibly have its origin in some Persian root. The notices of Magog would lead us to fix a northern locality : it is ex- pressly stated by Ezekiel that he was to come up from “ the sides of the north ” (xxxix. 2), from a country adjacent to that of Togarmah or Armenia (xxxviii. 6), and not far from “ the isles ” or maritime regions of Europe (xxxix. 6). The people of Magog further appear as having a force of cavalry (xxxviii. 15), and as armed with the bow (xxxix. 3). From the above data, we may conclude that Magog represents the important race of the Scythians. MAHA'LALEEL, the fourth in descent >om Adam, according to the Sethite genea- logy, and son of Cainan (Gen. v. 12, 13, 15- 17 ; 1 Chr. i. 2). MAH'ALATH, the title of Ps. liii., and MAH'ALATH-LEAN'NOTH, the title of Ps. lixxviii. The meaning of these words is uncertain. The conjecture is, that Mahalath is a guitar, and that Leannoth has reference to the character of the psalm, and might be rendered “to humble, or afflict,” in which sense the root occurs in verse 7. MAHANA'IM, a town on the east of the Jordan, signifying two hosts or two camps , a name given to it by Jacob, because he there met “ the angels of God ” (Gen.^xxii. 1, 2 ). We next meet with it in the records of the conquest (Josh. xiii. 26 and 29). It was within the territory of Gad (Josh. xxi. 38, 39), and therefore on the south side of the torrent Jabbok. The town with its “ sub- urbs ” was allotted to the service of the Merarite Levites (Josh. xxi. 39 ; 1 Chron. vi. 80). From some cause — the sanctity oj its original foundation, or the strength of its position — Mahanaim had become in the time of the monarchy a place of mark (2 Sam. ii. 9, 12, iv. 6). The same causes which led Abner to fix Ishbosheth’s residence at Mahanaim probably induced David to take refuge there when driven out of the western part of his kingdom by Absalom (2 Sam. xvii. 24; 1 K. ii. 8). Mahanaim w r as the seat of one of Solomon’s commissariat officers (1 K. iv. 14) ; and it is alluded to in the Song which bears his name (vi. 13). There is a place called Mahneh among the villages of the east of Jordan, though its exact posi- tion is not certain. MAH'ANEH-DAN (the “Camp-of-Dan :”), the position of which is specified with great precision, as “behind Kirjath-jearim ” (Judg. xviii. 12), and as “between Zorah and Esh- taol ” (xiii. 25). MA'HER-SIIA'LAL - HASH - BAZ, i. e., hasten-booty , speed-spoil , whose name was given by Divine direction, to indicate that Da- mascus and Samaria were soon to be x>lundered by the king of Assyria (Is. viii. 1-4). MAH'LAH, the eldest of the five daughters of Zelophehad, the grandson of Manasseh (Num. xxvii. 1-11). MAH'LI. 1. Son of Merari, the son of Levi, and ancestor of the family of the Mah- lites (Num. iii. 20 ; 1 Chr. vi. 19, 29, xxiv. 26). — 2. Son of Mushi, and grandson of Merari (1. Chr. vi. 47, xxiii. 23, xxiv. 30). MAH'LON, the first husband of Ruth. He and his brother Chilion were sons of Eli- melech and Naomi, and are described as “ Ephrathites of Bethlehem -judah ” (Ruth i. 2, 5 ; iv. 9, 10 ; comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 12). MAK'KEDAH, a place memorable in the annals of the conquest of Canaan as the scene of the execution by Joshua of the five confederate kings (Josh. x. 10-30). The catalogue of the cities of Judah in Joshua (xv. 41) place it in the maritime plain, but its site is uncertain. MAK'TESH, a place, evidently in Jcru- MALA CHI 319 MANAEN sal cm, the inhabitants of which are denounced byZephaniah (i. 11). Ew aid conjectures that it was the “ Phoenician quarter ” of the city. The meaning of “ Maktesh ” is probably a deep hollow, literally a “ mortar.” This the Targum identifies with the torrent Kedron. MALACHI (that is, the angel or messenger of Jehovah) is the last, and is therefore called “the seal” of the prophets, and his prophecies constitute the closing book of the canon. Of his personal history nothing is known. That Malachi was contemporary with Nehemiah is rendered probable by a comparison of ii. 8 with Neh. xiii. 15 ; ii. 10-16 with Neh. xiii. 23, &c. ; and iii. 7-12 with Neh. xiii. 10, &c. That he prophesied after the times of Haggai and Zechariah is inferred from his omitting to mention the restoration of the Temple, and from no allu- sion being made to him by Ezra. The captivity was already a thing of the long past, and is not referred to. The existence of the Temple-service is presupposed in i. 10, iii. 1, 10. The Jewish nation had still a political chief (i. 8), distinguished by the same title as that borne by Nehemiah (Neh. xii. 26). Hence we may conclude that Malachi delivered his prophecies after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Neh. xiii. 6), and subsequently to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus (u.c. 420). From the striking parallelism between the state of things indicated in Malachi’s pro- phecies and that actually existing on Nehe- miah’s return from the court of Artaxerxes, it is on all accounts highly probable that the efforts of the secular governor were on this occasion seconded by the preaching of “Je- hovah’s messenger,” and that Malachi oc- cupied the same position with regard to the reformation under Nehemiah, which Isaiah held in the time of Hezekiah, and Jeremiah in that of Josiah. The last chapter of canon- ical Jewish history is the key to the Iasi chapter of its prophecy. The whole pro- phecy naturally divides itself into three sections, in the first of which Jehovah is represented as the loving father and ruler of His people (i. 2-ii. 9) ; in the second, as the supreme God and father of all (ii. 10-16) ; and in the third, as their righteous and final judge (ii. 17-end). The prophecy of Malachi is alluded to in the N. T. (comp. Mark i. 2, ix. 11, 12 ; Luke i. 17 ; Rom. ix. 13). MAL'CHI-SHU'A, one of the sons of king Saul (1 Sam. xiv. 49, xxxi. 2 ; 1 Chr. viii. 33, ix. 39). MAL'CHLS, the name of the servant of the high-priest, whose right ear Peter cut off at the time of the Saviour’s apprehension in the garden (Matt. xxvi. 51 ; Mark xiv. 47 ; Luke xxii. 49-51 ; John xviii. 10). He was the personal servant of the high-priest, and not one of the bailiffs or apparitors of the Sanhedrim. It is noticeable that Luke the physician is the only one of the writers who mentions the act of healing. MALLOWS (Job xxx. 4). By the Hebrew word malluach we are no doubt to under- stand some species of Orache, and in all pro- bability the Atriplex halimus of botanists. MAM'MON (Matt. vi. 24 ; Luke xvi. 9), a word which often occurs in the Chaldee Tar- gums of Onkelos, and later writers, and in the Syriac Version, and which signifies “ riches.” It is used in St. Matthew as a personification of riches. MAM'RE, an ancient Amorite, who with his brothers Eshcol and Aner was in alli- ance with Abram (Gen. xiv. 13, 24), and undei the shade of whose oak- grove the patriarch dwelt in the interval between his residence at Bethel and at Beersheba (xiii. 18, xviii. 1). In the subsequent chapters Mamre is a mere local appellation (xxiii. 17, 19, xxv. 9, xlix. 30, 1. 13). MAN'AEN is mentioned in Acts xiii. 1 m MANASSEH 320 MANASSEH one of the teachers and prophets in the ahurch at Antioch at the time of the appoint- ment of Saul and Barnabas as missionaries to the heathen. He is said to have been brought up ((rvvrpo^os) with Herod, that is Herod Antipas. T1 re are two interpreta- tions of (ruvTpoog ; one that it means edu- cated with another ; and the second, that it denotes foster-brother, brought up at the same breast, so that Manaen’s mother would have been also Herod’s nurse. MANAS'SEH, that is, forgetting , the eldest son of Joseph, by his wife Asenath (Gen. xii. 51, xlvi. 20), so called by Joseph because “ God hath-made-me-forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” Both he and Eph- raim were born before the commencement of the famine. Whether the elder of the two sons was inferior in form or promise to the younger, or whether there was any external reason to justify the preference of Jacob, we are not told. [Ephraim.] The position of the tribe of Manasseh during the march to Canaan was with Ephraim and Benjamin on the west side of the sacred Tent. The Chief of the tribe at the time of the census at Sinai was Gamaliel ben-Pedahzur, and its numbers were then 32,200 (Num. i. 10, 35, ii. 20, 21, vii. 54-59). In the division of the Promised Band half of the tribe of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan, in the district embracing the hills of Gilead with their inaccessible heights and impassable ravines, and the al- most impregnable tract of Argob (Josh. xiii. 29-33). Here they throve exceedingly, pushing their way northward over the rich plains of Jaulan and Jedur to the foot of Mount Hermon (1 Chr. v. 23). But they gradually assimilated themselves to the old inhabitants of the country, and on them descended the punishment which was ordained to be the inevitable consequence of such misdoing. They, first of all Israel, were carried away by Pul and Tiglath-Pileser, and settled in the Assyrian territories (1 Chr. v. 25, 26). The other half tribe settled to the west of the Jordan, north of Ephraim (Josh. xvii.). For further particulars, see Ephraim. MANAS'SEH, the thirteenth king of Judah, son of Hezekiah and Hephzibah (2 K. xxi. I), ascended the throne at the age of 12. His accession was the signal for an entire change in the religious administration of the kingdom.. Idolatry was again established, and he consecrated idolatrous altars in the Sanctuary itself (2 Chr. xxxiii. 4). Every faith was tolerated but the old faith of Israel. This was abandoned and proscribed. The aged Isaiah, according to the old Jewish tradition, was put to death. [Isaiah.] But the persecution did not stop there. It at- tacked the whole order of the true prophets, and those who followed them. Betribution came soon in the natural sequence of events. The Babylonian alliance, which the king had formed, bore the fruits which had been pre- dicted. The rebellion of Merodach-Baladan was crushed, and then the wrath of the As- syrian king fell on those who had supported him. Judaea was again overrun by the Assyrian armies, and this time the invasion was more successful than that of Sennacherib. The city apparently was taken. The king himself was made prisoner and carried off to Babylon in the 22nd year of his reign, ac- cording to a Jewish tradition. There his eyes were opened, and he repented, and his prayer was heard, and the Lord delivered him (2 Chr. xxiii. 12-13). The period that followed is dwelt upon by the writer of 2 Chr. as one of a great change for the better. The compassion or death of Esar- haddon led to his release, and he returned after some uncertain interval of time to Jeru- salem. The old faith of Israel was no longer persecuted. Foreign idolatries were no longer thrust, in all their foulness, into the Sanc- tuary itself. The altar of the Lord was again restored, and peace-offerings and thank- offerings sacrificed to Jehovah (2 Chr. xxxiii. 15, 16). But beyond this the reformation did not go. The other facts known of Manasseh’s reign connect themselves with the state of the world round him. The Assyrian monarchy was tottering to its fall, and the king of Judah seems to have thought that it was still possible for him to rule as the head of a strong and independent king dom. He fortified Jerusalem (2 Chr. xxvii. 3), and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. There was, it must be re- membered, a special reason. Egypt was become strong and aggressive under Psammi- tichus. About this time we find the thought of an Egyptian alliance again beginning to gain favour. The very name of Manasseh’s son, Amon, identical in form and sound with that of the great sun-god of Egypt, is pro- bably an indication of the gladness with which the alliance of Psammitichus was wel- comed. As one of its consequences, it in- volved probably the supply of troops from Judah to serve in the armies of the Egyptian king. If this was the close of Manasseh’s reign, we can understand how it was that on his death he was buried as Ahaz had been* not with the burial of a king, in the sepul- chres of the house of David, but in the garden of Uzza (2 K. xxi. 26), and that long after- wards, in spite of his repentance, the Jews held his name in abhorrence. He was sue- MANASSITES 321 MANNA ceeded by bis son Amon, b.c. 642. Little is added by later tradition to the 0. T. nar- rative of Manasseh’s reign. The prayer that bears his name in the Apocrypha cannot be considered as identical with that referred to in 2 Chr. xxxiii. The original is extant in Greek ; and it is the work of a later writer, who has endeavoured to express, not without true feeling, the thoughts of the repentant king. MANASS'ITES, THE, that is, the members of the tribe of Manasseh. The word occurs but thrice in the A. V. viz. Deut. iv. 43 ; Judg. xii. 4 ; and 2 K. x. 33. MAN'DRAKES (Heb. duddivi) are men- tioned in Gen. xxx. 14, 15, 16, and in Cant, vii. 13. From the former passage we learn that they were found in the fields of Mesopo- tamia, where Jacob and his wives were at one time living, and that the fruit was ga- thered “ in the days of wheat-harvest,” i.e. in May. From Cant. vii. 13 we learn that the plant in question was strong-scented, and that it grew in Palestine. The translation Tho Mandrake ( Atropa Mandrcyjora). Sm. D. B. in the A. Y. is probably correct. It has beeE objected that the mandrake is far from odori- ferous, the whole plant being, in European estimation at all events, very fetid. But, on the other hand, it is well known that the mandrakes are prized by the Arabs for their odour, and that Orientals set an especial value on strongly- smelling things that to more delicate European senses are unpleas- ing. That the fruit was fit to be gathered at the time of wheat-harvest is clear from the testimony of several travellers. Sehultze found mandrake-apples on the 15th of May. Hasselquist saw them at Nazareth early in May. Dr. Thomson found mandrakes ripe on the lower ranges of Lebanon and Hermon towards the end of April. The mandrake [Atropa mandragora ) is closely allied to the well-known deadly nightshade {A. bella- donna), and belongs to the order Solanaceae. MA'NEH. [Weights and Measures.] MANGER. This word occurs only in con- nexion with the birth of Christ in Luke ii. 7, 12, 16. The original term is a.Tvri, which is found but once besides in the N. T., viz. Luke xiii. 15, where it is rendered by “ stall.” The word in classical Greek un- doubtedly means a manger, crib, or feeding trough ; but according to Schleusner its real signification in the N. T. is the open court- yard, attached to the inn or khan, into which the cattle would be shut at night, and where the poorer travellers might unpack their ani- mals and take up their lodging, when they were either by want of room or want of means excluded from the house. MAN'NA (Heb. man). The most impor- tant passages of the O. T. on this topic are the following : — Ex. xvi. 14-36 ; Num. xi. 7-9; Deut. viii. 3, 16; Josh. v. 12; Ps. lxxviii. 24, 25 ; Wisd. xvi. 20, 21. From these passages we learn that the manna came every morning except the Sabbath, in the form of a small round seed resembling the hoar frost ; that it must be gathered early, before the sun became so hot as to melt it ; that it must be gathered every day except the Sabbath ; that the attempt to lay aside for a succeeding day, except on the day im- mediately preceding the Sabbath, failed by the substance becoming wormy and offen- sive ; that it was prepared for food by grind- ing and baking ; that its taste was like fresh oil, and like wafers made with honey, equally agreeable to all palates ; that the whole nation subsisted upon it for forty years ; that it sud- denly ceased when they first got the new corn of the land of Canaan ; and that it was always regarded as a miraculous gift directly from God, and not as a product of nature. I The natural products of the Arabian deserts Y MANNA 322 MARESHAH and other Oriental regions, which bear the name of manna, have not the qualities or uses ascribed to the manna of Scripture. The manna of Scripture we regard as wholly mi- raculous, and not in any respect a product of nature. The Hebrew word man , by which this substance is always designated in the Hebrew Scriptures, is the neuter interro- gative pronoun (what V ) ; and the name is derived from the inquiry [man liu , what is this?) which the Hebrews made when they fh-st saw it upon the ground. The substance now cal.ed manna in the Arabian desert through which the Israelites passed, is col- lected in the month of June from the tar fa or tamarisk shrub (Tamar ix gallica ). Ac- cording to Burckhardt it drops from the thorns on the sticks and leaves with which the ground is covered, and must be gathered early in the day, or it will be melted by the sun. The Arabs cleanse and boil it, strain it through a cloth, and put it in leathern bot- tles ; and in this way it can be kept unin- jured for several years. They use it like honey or butter with their unleavened bread, but never make it into cakes or eat it by itself. The manna of European commerce comes mostly from Calabria and Sicily. It is gathered during the months of June and July from some species of ash (Ornus Eu - ropaea and Ornus rotundifolia ), from which it drops in consequence of a puncture by an insect resembling the locust, but distinguished from it by having a sting under its body. The substance is fluid at night, and resembles the dew, but in the morning it begins to harden. MANO'AH, the father of Samson ; a Danite, native of the town of Zorah (Judg. xiii. 2). [Samson.] MA'ON, one of the cities of the tribe of Judah, in the district of the mountains (Josh. xv. 55). Its interest for us lies in its connexion with David (1 Sam. xxiii. 24, 25). The name of Maon still exists in Mam , a lofty conical hill, south of, and about 7 miles distant from, Hebron. MA'RAH, that is bitterness, a place which lay in the wilderness of Shur or Etham, three days’ journey distant (Ex. xv. 23-24, Num. xxxiii. 8) from the place at which the Is- raelites crossed the Red Sea, and where was a spring of bitter water, sweetened subse- quently by the casting in of a tree which “ the Lord showed ” to Moses. It has been suggested that Moses made use of the berries of the plant Ghurkud . Howarah , distant 164 hours from Ayoun Mousa , has been by many identified with it, apparently because it is the bitterest water in- the neighbourhood. MARAN'ATHA, an expression used by St. Paul at the conclusion of his first Epistle to the Corinthians (xvi. 22). It is a Grecised form of the Aramaic words mar an dthd, “ our Lord cometh.” MARCHESHVAN. [Months.] MAR'CUS, the Evangelist Mark (Col. iv. 10; Philem. 24 ; 1 Pet. v. 13). [Mark.] MAR'ESIIAH, one of the cities of Judah in the district of the Shefelah or low country (Josh. xv. 44). It was one of the cities for- tified and garrisoned by Rehoboam after the rupture with the northern kingdom (2 Chr. xi. 8). It is mentioned once or twice in the history of the Maccabaean struggles (1 Macc. v. 66 ; 2 Macc. xii, 35). About 110 b.c. it j was taken from the Idumaeans by John Hyr- canus. It was in ruins in the 4th century, [ when Eusebius and Jerome describe it as iu Taxuirix Gallica. MARK 323 MARK, GOSPEL OF the second mile from Eleutheropolis. S.S.W. of Beitjibrin — in all probability Eleuthero- polis — and a little over a Roman mile there- from, is a site called Marash , which is very possibly the representative of the ancient Mareshah. MARK. Mark the Evangelist is probably the same as “John whose surname was Mark” (Acts xii. 12, 25). John was the Jewish name, and Mark (Marcus), a name of frequent use among the Romans, was adopted afterwards, and gradually superseded the other. John Mark was the son of a cer- tain Mary, who dwelt at Jerusalem, and was therefore probably born in that city (Acts xii. 12). He was the cousin of Barnabas (Col. iv. 10). It was to Mary’s house, as to a familiar haunt, that Peter came after his de- liverance from prison (Acts xii. 12), and there found “many gathered together pray- ing ; ” and probably John Mark was con- verted by Peter from meeting him in his mother’s house, for he speaks of “Marcus my son ” (1 Pet. v. 13). The theory that he was one of the seventy disciples is without any warrant. Another theory, that an event of the night of our Lord’s betrayal, related by Mark alone, is one that befell himself, must not be so promptly dismissed (Mark xiv. 51, 52). The detail of facts is remark- ably minute, the name only is wanting. The most probable view is that St. Mark sup- pressed his own name, whilst telling a story which he had the best means of knowing. Anxious to work for Christ, he went with Paul and Barnabas as their “ minister ” on their first journey ; but at Perga, he turned back (Acts xii. 25, xiii. 13). On the second journey Paul would not accept him again as a companion, but Barnabas his kinsman was more indulgent ; and thus he became the cause of the memorable “ sharp contention ” between them (Acts xv. 36-40). Whatever was the cause of Mark’s vacillation, it did not separate him for ever from Paul, for we find him by the side of that Apostle in his first imprisonment at Rome (Col. iv. 10 ; Philem. 24). In the former place a possible journey of Mark to Asia is spoken of. Some- what later he is with Peter at Babylon (1 Pet. v. 13). On his return to Asia he seems to have been with Timothy at Ephesus when Paul wrote to him during his second impri- sonment (2 Tim. iv. 11). — The relation of Mark to Peter is of great importance for our view of his Gospel. Ancient writers with one consent make the Evangelist the Inter- preter of the Apostle Peter. Some explain this word to mean that the office of Mark was to translate into the Greek tongue the Aramaic discourses of the Apostle; whilst others adopt the more probable view that Mark wrote a Gospel which conformed more exactly than the others to Peter’s preaching, and thus “ interpreted ” it to the church at large. The report that Mark was the com- panion of Peter at Rome , is no doubt of great antiquity. Sent on a mission to Egypt by Peter, Mark there founded the church of Alexandria, and preached in various places, then returned to Alexandria, of which church he was bishop, and suffered a martyr’s death. But none of these later details rest on sound authority. MARK, GOSPEL OF. The characteristics of this Gospel, the shortest of the four in- spired records, will appear from the discus- sion of the various questions that have been raised about it. — I. Sources of this Gospel. — The tradition that it gives the teaching of Peter rather than of the rest of the Apostles, has been alluded to above. Moreover there are peculiarities in the Gospel which are best explained by the supposition that Peter in some way superintended its composition. Whilst Mark goes over the same ground for the most part as the other Evangelists, and especially Matthew, there are many facts thrown in which prove that we are listening to an independent witness. Thus the hum- ble origin of Peter is made known through him (i. 16-20), and his connexion with Ca- pernaum (i. 29) ; he tells us that Levi was “the son of Alphaeus ” (ii. 14), that Peter was the name given by our Lord to Simon (iii. 16), and Boanerges a surname added by Him to the names of two others (iii. 17) ; he assumes the existence of another body of disciples wider than the Twelve (iii. 32, iv. 10, 36, viii. 34, xiv. 51, 52) : we owe to him the name of Jairus (v. 22), the word “ carpenter ” applied to our Lord (vi. 3), the nation of the “ Syrophoenician ” woman (vii. 26) ; he substitutes Dalmanutha for the “ Magdala” of Matthew (viii. 10) ; he names Bartimaeus (x. 46) ; he alone mentions that our Lord would not suffer any man to carry any vessel through the Temple (xi. 16) ; and that Simon of Cyrene was the father of Alex- ander and Rufus (xv. 21). All these are tokens of an independent writer, different from Matthew and Luke, and in the absence of other traditions it is natural to look to Peter. — II. This Gospel written primarily for Gentiles.— The Evangelist scarcely refers to the O. T. in his own person. The word Law does not once occur. The genealogy of our Lord is likewise omitted. Other matters in- teresting chiefly to the Jews are likewise omitted ; such as the references to the O. T. and Law in Matt. xii. 5-7, the reflexions on the request of the Scribes and Pharisees for a Y 2 MAKE, GOSPEL OF 324 MARRIAGE sign, Matt. xii. 38-45 ; the parable of the king’s son, Matt. xxii. 1-14 ; and the awful denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees in Matt, xxiii. Explanations are given in some places which Jews could not require ; thus, Jordan is a “ river ” (Mark i. 5 ; Matt. iii. 6) ; the Pharisees, &c., “ used to fast ” (Mark K. 18 ; Matt. ix. 14), and other cus- toms of theirs are described (Mark vii. 1-4 ; Matt. xv. 1,2); “ the time of figs was not yet,” i. e. at the season of the Passover (Mark xi. 13 ; Matt. xxi. 19) ; the Saddu- cees’ worst tenet is mentioned (Mark xii. 18); the Mount of Olives is “over against the temple ” (Mark xiii. 3 ; Matt. xxiv. 3) ; at the Passover men eat “ unleavened bread” (Mark xiv. 1, 12; Matt. xxvi. 2, 17), and explanations are given which Jews would not need (Mark xv. 6, 16, 42 ; Matt, xxvii. 15, 27, 57). From the general testimony of these and other places, whatever may be ob- jected to an inference from one or other amongst them, there is little doubt but that the Gospel was meant for use in the first instance amongst Gentiles. — III. Time tvhen the Gospel was written. — This is uncertain. It is not likely that it dates before the refer- ence to Mark in the epistle to the Colossians (iv. 10), where he is only introduced as a relative of Barnabas, as if this were his greatest distinction; and this epistle was written about a.d. 62. On the other hand it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem (xiii. 13, 24-30, 33, &c.). Probably, there- fore, it was written between a.d. 63 and 70. — IV. Language . — The Gospel was written in Greek ; of this there can be no doubt if ancient testimony is to weigh. — V. Genuine- ness of the Gospel. — All ancient testimony makes Mark the author of a certain Gospel, and that this is the Gospel which has come down to us, there is not the least historical ground for doubting.— VI. Style and Diction. The purpose of the Evangelist seems to be to place before us a vivid picture of the earthly acts of Jesus. The style is peculiarly suit- able to this. He uses the present tense in- stead of the narrative aorist, almost in every chapter. Precise and minute details as to persons, places, and numbers, abound in the narrative. All these tend to give force and vividness to the picture of the human life of our Lord. On the other side, the facts are not very exactly arranged. Its conciseness sometimes makes this Gospel more obscure than the others (i. 13, ix. 5, 6, iv. 10-34). Many peculiarities of diction may be noticed ; amongst them the following : — 1. Hebrew (Aramaic) words are used, but explained for Gentile readers (iii. 17, 22, v. 41, vii. 11, 34, ix. 43, x. 46, xiv. 36, xv. 22 34). 2. Latin words are very frequent. 3. Unusual words or phrases are found here. 4. Diminutives are frequent. 5. The substantive is often repeated instead of the pronoun ; as (to cite from ch. ii. only) ii. 16, 18, 20, 22, 27, 28. 6. Negatives are accumulated for the sake of emphasis (vii. 12, ix. 8, xii. 34, xv. 5, i. 44). 7. Words are often added to adverbs for the sake of emphasis (ii. 20, v. 5, vi. 25, also vii. 21, viii. 4, x. 20, xiii. 29, xiv. 30, 43). 8. The same idea is often repeated under another expression, as i. 42, ii. 25, viii. 15, xiv. 68, &c. 9. And sometimes the repetition is effected by means of the opposite, as in i. 22, 44, and many other places. 10. Sometimes emphasis is given by simple reite- ration, as in ii. 15, 19. 11. The elliptic use of !W, like that of on-co? in classical writers, is found, v. 23. 12. The word inepioT^v i 3 used twenty-five times in this Gospel. 13. Instead of crv/x/3ovA.ioi/ Aajaj3dvetv of Matt. Mark has avpPovhiov 7rotetv, iii. 6, xv. 1, 14. There are many words peculiar to Mark. The diction of Mark presents the difficulty that whilst it abounds in Latin words, and in expressions that recall Latin equivalents, it is still much more akin to the Hebraistic diction of Matthew than to the purer style of Luke. MARRIAGE. The topics which this sub- ject presents to our consideration in con- nexion with Biblical literature may be ar- ranged under five heads : — I. Its origin and history. — The institution of marriage dates from the time of man’s original creation. No sooner was the formation of woman effected, than Adam recognised in that act the will of the Creator as to man’s social condition. “ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh” (ii. 24). From these words, coupled with the circumstances attendant on the formation of the first woman, we may evolve the following principles : — (1) The unity of man and wife, as implied in her being formed out of man, and as expressed in the words “ one flesh ; ” (2) the indissolubleness of the marriage bond, except on the strongest grounds (comp. Matt, xix. 9) ; (3) monogamy, as the original law of marriage ; (4) the social equality of man and wife ; (5) the subordination of the wife to the husband (1 Cor. xi. 8, 9 ; 1 Tim. ii. 13) ; and (6) the respective duties of man and wife. In the patriarchal age Polygamy prevailed (Gen. xvi. 4, xxv. 1, 6, xxviii. 9, xxix. 23, 28 ; 1 Chr. vii. 14), but to a great extent divested of the degradation which in modern times attaches to that practice. Di- vorce also prevailed in the patriarchal age, though but one instance of it is recorded (Gen. xxi. 14). The Mosaic law aimed at MARRIAGE 325 MARRIAGE mitigating rather than removing evils which were inseparable from the state of society in that day. Its enactments were directed (1) to the discouragement of polygamy; (2) to obviate the injustice frequently consequent upon the exercise of the rights of a father or a master; (3) to bring divorce under some restriction ; and (4) to enforce purity of life during the maintenance of the matrimonial bond. In the post-Babylonian period mono- gamy appears to have become more prevalent than at any previous time : indeed we have no instance of polygamy during this period on record in the Bible, all the marriages noticed being with single wives (Toh. i. 9, ii. 11 ; Susan, vers. 29, 63 ; Matt, xviii. 25 ; Luke i. 5 ; Acts v. 1). The practice of poly- gamy nevertheless still existed ; Herod the Great had no less than nine wives at one time. The abuse of divorce continued un- abated. Our Lord and His Apostles re-es- tablished the integrity and sanctity of the marriage -bond by the following measures : — (1) by the confirmation of the original char- ter of marriage as the basis on which all regulations were to be framed (Matt. xix. 4, 5) ; (2) by the restriction of divorce to the case of fornication, and the prohibition of re- marriage in all persons divorced on improper grounds (Matt. v. 32, xix. 9 ; Rom. vii. 3 ; 1 Cor. vii. 10, 11) ; and (3) by the enforce- ment of moral purity generally (Heb. xiii. 4, &c.), and especially by the formal condem- nation of fornication, which appears to have been classed among acts morally indifferent by a certain party in the Church (Acts xv. 20). — II. The conditions of legal marriage are decided by the prohibitions which the law of any country imposes upon its citizens. In the Hebrew commonwealth these prohi- bitions were of two kinds, according as they regulated marriage (i.) between an Israelite and a non-Israelite, and (ii.) between an Israe- lite and one of his own community. — (i.) The prohibitions relating to foreigners were based on that instinctive feeling of exclusiveness, which forms one of the bonds of every social body, and which prevails with peculiar strength in a rude state of society. The only distinct prohibition in the Mosaic law refers to the Canaanites, with whom the Is- raelites were not to marry on the ground that it would lead them into idolatry (Ex. xxxiv. 16 ; Deut. vii. 3, 4). But beyond this, the legal disabilities to which the Am- monites and Moabites were subjected (Deut. xxiii. 3), acted as a virtual bar to intermar- riage with them, totally preventing the mar- riage of Israelitish women with Moabites, but permitting that of Israelites with Moa- bite women, such as that of Mahlon with Ruth. The prohibition against marriages with the Edomites or Egyptians was less stringent, as a male of those nations received the right of marriage on his admission to the full citizenship in the third generation of proselytism (Deut. xxiii. 7, 8). There were thus three grades of prohibition — total in regard to the Canaanites on either side ; total on the side of the males in regard of the Ammonites and Moabites ; and temporary on the side of the males in regard of the Edo- mites and Egyptians, marriages with females in the two latter instances being regarded as legal. The progeny of illegal marriages be- tween Israelites and non-Israelites was de- scribed under a peculiar term mamzer (A. Y. “ bastard ” ; Deut. xxiii. 2). — (ii.) The regu- lations relative to marriage between Israelites and Israelites were based on considerations of relationship. The most important passage relating to these is contained in Lev. xviii. 6- 18, wherein we have in the first place a general prohibition against marriages, between a man and the “ flesh of his flesh,” and in the second place special prohibitions against marriage with a mother, stepmother, sister, or half-sis- ter, whether “ born at home or abroad,” grand- daughter, aunt, whether by consanguinity on either side, or by marriage on the father’s side, daughter-in-law, brother’s wife, step- daughter, wife’s mother, step-grand-daughter, or wife’s sister during the lifetime of the wife. An exception is subsequently made (Deut. xxv. 5-9) in favour of marriage with a brother’s wife in the event of his having died childless. The law which regulates this has been named the “ Levirate,” from the Latin levir , “ brother-in-law.” The first in- stance of this custom occurs in the patriarchal period, where Onan is called upon to marry his brother Er’s widow (Gen. xxxviii. 8). The Levirate marriage was not peculiar to the Jews ; it has been found to exist in many eastern countries, particularly in Arabia, and among the tribes of the Caucasus. — III. The modes by which marriage was effected . — The customs of the Hebrews and of Oriental na- tions in regard to marriage, differ in many respects from those with which we are fami- liar. In the first place, the choice of the bride devolved not on the bridegroom him- self, hut on his relations or on a friend de- puted by the bridegroom for this purpose. The consent of the maiden was sometimes asked (Gen. xxiv. 58) ; but this appears to have been subordinate to the previous consent of the father and the adult brothers (Gen. xxiv. 5 1 , xxxiv. 11). Occasionally the whole business of selecting the wife was left in the hands of a friend. The selection of the bride was followed by the espousal, which was a MARRIAGE 326 MARRIAGE formal proceeding, undertaken by a friend or legal representative on the part of the bride- groom, and by the parents on the part of the bride ; it was confirmed by oaths, and accom- panied with presents to the bride. These presents were described by different terms, that to the bride by mohar (A. V. “dowry”), and that to the relations by mattan. Thus Shechem offers “ never so much dowry and gift” (Gen. xxxiv. 12), the former for the bride, the latter for the relations. It would undoubtedly be expected that the mohar should be proportioned to the position of the bride, and that a poor man could not on that account afford to marry a rich wife (1 Sam. xviii. 23). The act of betrothal was cele- brated by a feast, and among the more modern Jews it is the custom in some parts for the bridegroom to place a ring on the bride’s finger. Some writers have endea- voured to prove that the rings noticed in the O. T. (Ex. xxxv. 22 ; Is. iii. 21) were nup- tial rings, but there is not the slightest evi- dence of this. The ring was nevertheless regarded among the Hebrews as a token of fidelity (Gen. xli. 42), and of adoption into a family (Luke xv. 22). Between the be- trothal and the marriage an interval elapsed, varying from a few days in the patriarchal age (Gen. xxiv. 55), to a full year for virgins and a month for widows in later times. Dur- ing this period the bride-elect lived with her friends, and all communication between her- self and her future husband was carried on through the medium of a friend deputed for the purpose, termed the “ friend of the bride- groom ” (John iii. 29). She was now virtually regarded as the wife of her future husband. Hence faithlessness on her part was punish- able with death (Deut. xxii. 23, 24), the husband having, however, the option of “putting her away” (Matt. L 19; Deut. xxiv. 1). — We now come to the wedding itself ; and in this the most observable point is, that there were no definite religious cere- monies connected with it. It is probable, in- deed, that some formal ratification of the espousal with an oath' took place, as implied in some allusions to marriage (Ez. xvi. 8 ; Mai. ii. 14), particularly in the expression, “the covenant of her God” (Prov. ii. 17), as applied to the marriage bond, and that a blessing was pronounced (Gen. xxiv. 60 ; Ruth iv. 11, 12), sometimes by the parents (Tob. vii. 13). But the essence of the mar- riage ceremony consisted in the removal of the bride from her father’s house to that of the bridegroom or his father. The bride- groom prepared himself for the occasion by putting on a festive dress, and especially by placing on his head the handsome turban described by the term peer (Is. lxi. 10 ; A.V. “ ornaments”), and a nuptial crown or gar- land (Cant. iii. 11) : he was redolent of myrrh and frankincense and “ all powders of the merchant ” (Cant. iii. 6). The bride prepared herself for the ceremony by taking a bath, generally on the day preceding the wedding. The notices of it in the Bible are so few as to have escaped general observation (Ruth iii. 3 ; Ez. xxiii. 40 ; Eph. v. 26, 27). The dis- tinctive feature of the bride’s attire was the “ veil ” — a light robe of ample dimensions, which covered not only the face but the whole person (Gen. xxiv. 65 ; comp, xxxviii. 14, 15). This was regarded as the symbol of her submission to her husband (1 Cor. xi. 10). She also wore a peculiar girdle, named Icishshurim , the “ attire ” (A. V.), which no bride could forget (Jer. ii. 32) ; and her head was crowned with a chaplet, which was again so distinctive of the bride, that the Hebrew term calldh , “ bride,” originated from it. If the bride were a virgin, she wore her hair flowing. Her robes were white (Rev. xix. 8), and sometimes embroidered with gold thread (Ps. xlv. 13, 14), and covered with perfumes (Ps. xlv 8) : she was further decked out with jewels (Is. xlix. 18, lxi. 10 ; Rev. xxi. 2). 'When the fixed hour arrived, which was generally late in the evening, the bridegroom set forth from his house, attended by his groomsmen (A. Y. “companions,” Judg. xiv. 11 ; “ children of the bride-cham- ber,” Matt. ix. 15), preceded by a band of musicians or singers (Gen. xxxi. 27 ; Jer. vii. 34, xvi. 9 ; 1 Macc. ix. 39), and accompanied by persons bearing flambeaux (2 Esdr. x. 2 ; Matt. xxv. 7 ; compare Jer. xxv. 10 ; Rev. xviii. 23, “ the light of a candle”). Having reached the house of the bride, who with her maidens anxiously expected his arrival (Matt, xxv. 6), he conducted the whole party back to his own or his father’s house, with every demonstration of gladness (Ps. xlv. 15). On their way back they were joined by a party of maidens, friends of the bride and bride- groom, who were in waiting to catch the procession as it passed (Matt. xxv. 6). The inhabitants of the place pressed out into the streets to watch the procession (Cant. iii. 11). At the house a feast was prepared, to which all the friends and neighbours were invited (Gen. xxix. 22 ; Matt. xxii. 1-10 ; Luke xiv. 8 ; John ii. 2), and the festivities were pro- tracted for seven, or even fourteen days (Judg. xiv. 12 ; Tob. viii. 19). The guests were provided by the host with fitting robes (Matt, xxii. 11), and the feast was enlivened with riddles (Judg. xiv. 12) and other amuse- ments. The bridegroom now entered into direct communication with the bride, and MARRIAGE 327 MARS’ HILL the joy of the friend was “ fulfilled ” at hearing the voice of the bridegroom (John iii. 29) conversing with her, which he re- ga:ded as a satisfactory testimony of the success of his share in the work. The last act in the ceremonial was the conducting of the bride to the bridal chamber (Judg. xv, 1 ; Joel ii. 16), where a canopy was pre- pared (Ps. xix. 5; Joel ii. 16). The bride was still completely veiled, so that the deception practised on Jacob (Gen. xxix. 23' was very possible. A newly married mm was exempt from military service, or fr«m any public business which might draw hin away from his home, for the space of a yvos is used five times ; in the rest of the N. T. only once, in Ep. to Hebrews. 5. The phrase “kingdom of heaven,” about thirty-three times; other writers use “kingdom of God,” which is found also in Matthew. 6. “ Heavenly Father,” used about six times ; and “ Father in heaven ” about sixteen, and without ex- planation, point to the Jewish mode of speak- ing in this Gospel. — III. Genuineness of the Gospel. — The genuineness of the two first chapters of the Gospel has been questioned, but is established on satisfactory grounds. 1. All the old MSS. and versions contain them ; and they are quoted by the Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. 2. Their con- tents would naturally form part of a Gospel intended primarily for the Jews. 3. The commencement of ch. iii. is dependent on ii. 23 ; and in iv. 13 there is a reference to ii. 23. 4. In constructions and expressions they are similar to the rest of the Gospel. — IV. Time when the Gospel was written. — Nothing can be said on this point with cer- tainty. The most probable supposition is that it was written between 50 and 60. — V. Purpose of the Gospel. — The Gospel itself tells us by plain internal evidence that it was written for Jewish converts, to show them in Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah of the 0. T. whom they expected. Jewish converts over all the world seem to have been intended, and not merely Jews in Palestine. It is pervaded by one principle, the fulfilment of the Law and of the Messianic prophecies in the person of Jesus. MATTHI'AS, the Apostle elected to fill the place of the traitor Judas (Acts i. 26). All beyond this that we know of him for certainty is that he had been a constant attendant upon the Lord Jesus during the whole course of His ministry ; for such was declared by St. Peter to be the necessary qualification of one who was to be a witness of the resurrec- tion. It is said that he preached the Gospel and suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia. MAZ'ZARQTH. The margin of the A. Y. of Job xxxviii. 32 gives “ the twelve signs ” as the equivalent of “ Mazzaroth,” and this ic in all probability its true meaning. ME' AH, THE TOWER, OF, one of the towers of the wall of Jerusalem when rebuilt by Nehemiah (iii. 1, xii. 39), appears to have been situated somewhere at the north- east part of the city, outside of the walls of Zion. MEALS. Our information on this subject is but scanty : the early Hebrews do not seem to have given special names to their several meals, for the terms rendered “dine” and “dinner ” in the A. Y. (Gen. xliii. 16 ; Prov. xv. 17) are in reality general expres- sions, which might more correctly be ren- dered “ eat ” and “ portion of food.” In the N. T. we have the Greek terms apicrrov and Seinvov, which the A. Y. renders respectively “dinner” and “supper” (Luke xiv. 12; John xxi. 12), but which are more properly “ breakfast ” and “ dinner.” There is some uncertainty as to the hours at which the meals were taken : the Egyptians undoubtedly took their principal meal at noon (Gen. xliii. 16) ; labourers took a light meal at that time (Ruth ii. 14 ; comp. ver. 17) ; and occasion- ally that early hour was devoted to excess and revelling (1 K. xx. 16). It has been inferred from those passages (somewhat toe hastily, we think) that the principal meal generally took place at noon : the Egyptians do indeed still make a substantial meal at that time ; but there are indications that the Jews rather followed the custom that prevails among the Bedouins, and made their principal meal after sunset, and a lighter meal at about 9 or 10 a.m. The posture at meals varied at various periods : there is sufficient evidence that the old Hebrews were in the habit of sitting (Gen. xxvii. 19 ; Judg. xix. 6 ; 1 Sam. xx. 5, 24 ; 1 K. xiii. 20), but it does not hence follow that they sat on chairs ; they may have squatted on the ground, as was the occasional, though not perhaps the general custom of the ancient Egyptians. The table was in this case but slightly elevated above the ground, as is still the case in Egypt. As luxury increased, the practice of sitting was exchanged for that of reclining : the first intimation of this occurs in the prophecies of Amos (iii. 12, vi. 4). The custom may have been borrowed in the first instance from the Babylonians and Syrians, among whom it prevailed at an early period (Esth. i. 6, vii. 8). In the time of our Saviour reclining was the universal custom, as is implied in the terms used for “ sitting at meat,” as the A. Y. incorrectly has it. The couch itself is only once mentioned (Mark vii. 4 ; A. V. “table ”), but there can be little doubt that the Roman triclinium had been introduced, and that the arrangements of the tables re- sembled those described by classical writers. Generally speaking, only three persons re- MEALS 333 MEDAD dined on each couch, hut occasionally four or even five. The couches were provided with cushions on which the left elbow rested in support of the upper part of the body, while the right arm remained free : a room provided with these was described as eorpa)- ixevov , lit. 44 spread” (Mark xiv. 15; A. Y. “furnished”). As several guests reclined on the same couch, each overlapped his neighbour, as it were, and rested his head on or near the breast of the one who lay be- hind him ; he wa3 then said to 4 4 lean on the bosom” of his neighbour (John xiii. 23, xxi. 20). The ordinary arrangement of the couches was in three sides of a square, the fourth being left open for the servants to bring up the dishes. Some doubt attends the question whether the females took their meals along with the males. The cases of Ruth amid the reapers (Ruth ii. 14), of El- kanah with his wives (1 Sam. i. 4), of Job’s sons and daughters (Job i. 4), and the general intermixture of the sexes in daily life, make it more than probable that they did so join ; at the same time, as the duty of attending upon the guests devolved upon them (Luke x. 40), they probably took a somewhat irre- gular and briefer repast. Before commencing the meal, the guests washed their hands. This custom was founded on natural decorum ; not only was the hand the substitute for our knife and fork, but the hands of all the guests were dipped into one and the same dish. Another preliminary step was the grace or blessing, of which we have but one instance in the O. T. (1 Sam. ix. 13), and more than one pronounced by our Lord Himself in the N. T. (Matt. xv. 36 ; Luke ix. 16 ; John vi. 11). The mode of taking the food differed in no material point from the modern usages of the East ; generally there was a single dish into which each guest dipped his hand (Matt. xxvi. 23) ; occasion- ally separate portions were served out to each (Gen. xliii. 34 ; Ruth ii. 14 ; 1 Sam. i. 4). A piece of bread was held between the thumb and two fingers of the right hand, and was dipped either into a bowl of melted grease (in which case kwas termed 44 a sop,” John xiii. 26), or into the dish of meat, whence a piece was conveyed to the mouth between the layers of bread. At the conclu- sion of the meal, grace was again said in conformity with Deut. viii. 10, and the hands were again washed. Thus far we have de- scribed the ordinary meal ; on state occasions more ceremony was used, and the meal was enlivened in various ways. Such occasions were numerous, in connexion partly with public, partly with private events. On these occasions a sumptuous repast was prepared ; the guests were previously invited (Esth. v. 8 ; Matt. xxii. 3), and on the day of the feast a second invitation was issued to those that were bidden (Esth. vi. 14 ; Prov. ix. 3 ; Matt. xxii. 3). The visitors were received with a kiss (Tob. vii. 6 ; Luke vii. 45) ; water was produced for them to wash their feet with (Luke vii. 44) ; the head, the beard, the feet, and sometimes the clothes, were perfumed with ointment (Ps. xxiii. 5 ; Am. vi. 6 ; Luke vii. 38 ; John xii. 3) ; on special occasions robes were provided (Matt. xii. 11) ; and the head was decorated with wreaths (Is. xxviii. 1 ; Wisd. ii. 7, 8 ; Joseph. Ant. xix. 9, § 1). The regulation of the feast was under the superintendence of a special officer (John ii. 8 ; A. Y. 44 governor of the feast ”), whose business it was to taste the food and the liquors before they were placed on the table, and to settle about the toasts and amusements ; he was generally one of the guests (Ecclus. xxxii. 1,2), and might there- fore take part in the conversation. The places of the guests were settled according to their respective rank (Gen. xliii. 33 ; 1 Sam. ix. 22 ; Luke xiv. 8 ; Mark xii. 39 ; John xiii. 23) ; portions of food were placed be- fore each (1 Sam. i. 4 ; 2 Sam. vi. 19 ; 1 Chr. xvi. 3), the most honoured guests receiving either larger (Gen. xliii. 34 ; comp. Herod, vi. 57) or more choice (1 Sam.ix. 24) portions than the rest. The meal was enlivened with music, singing, and dancing (2 Sam. xix. 35: Ps. Ixix. 12 ; Is. v. 12 ; Am. vi. 5), or with, riddles (Judg. xiv. 12) ; and amid these en- tertainments the festival was prolonged foi several days (Esth. i. 3, 4). ME'ARAH, a place named in Josh. xiii. 4 only. The word means in Hebrew a cave, and it is commonly assumed that the reference is to some remarkable cavern in the neigh- bourhood of Zidon. MEASURES. [Weights and Measures.] MEAT. It does not appear that the word 44 meat ” is used in any one instance in the A. Y. of either the O. or N. Testament, in the sense which it now almost exclusively bears of animal food. The latter is denoted uniformly by “flesh.” The only possible exceptions to this assertion in the O. T. are : — ( a ,) Gen. xxvii. 4, &c., 44 savoury meat.” (5.) Ib. xiv. 23 , 44 corn and bread and meat.” The only real and inconvenient ambiguity caused by the change which has taken place in the meaning of the word is in the case of the “meat-offering,” which consisted solely of fine flour, seasoned with salt, and mixed with oil and frankincense. It is described in Lev. ii. and vi. 14-23. MEAT-OPFERING. [Meat.] ME'DAD. [Eldad and Medad.] MEDAN 834 MEDES ME'DAN, a son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2 ; 1 Chr. i. 32). It has been supposed, from the similarity of the name, that the tribe descended from Medan was more closely allied to Midian than by mere blood-relation, and that it was the same as, or a portion of, the latter. There is, how- ever, no ground for this theory beyond its plausibility. ME'DEBA, a town on the eastern side of Jordan, first alluded to in Num. xxi. 30. Here it seems to denote the limit of the ter- ritory of Heshbon. It next occurs in the enumeration of the country divided amongst the Transjordanic tribes (Josh. xiii. 9), as giving its name to a district of level downs called “the Mishor of Medeba,” or “the Mishor on Medeba.” At the time of the conquest Medeba belonged to the Amorites, apparently one of the towns taken from Moab by them. In the time of Ahaz Medeba was a sanctuary of Moab (Is. xv. 2). It has retained its name down to our own times, and lies 4 miles S.E. of Heshbon , on a rounded but rocky hill. MEDES, ME r DIA. Media lay north-west of Persia Proper, south and south-west of the Caspian, east of Armenia and Assyria, west and north-west of the great salt desert of Iram. Its greatest length was from north to south, and in this direction it extended from the 32 nd to the 40 th parallel, a distance of 550 miles. In width it reached from about long. 45° to 53° ; but its average breadth was not more than from 250 to 300 miles. The division of Media commonly recognised by the Greeks and Romans was that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene. 1. Media Atropatene corresponded nearly to the modern Azerbijan , being the tract situated between the Caspian and the mountains which run north from Zagros. 2. Media Magna lay south and east of Atropatene. It contained great part of Kurdistan and Luristan , with all Ardelan and Irak Ajemi. It is indicative of the division, that there were two Ecbatanas — one, the northern, at Takht-i- Suleiman : the other, the southern, at Hamadan , on the flanks of Mount Orontes — respectively the capitals of the two districts. [Ecbatana.] Next to the two Ecbatanas, the chief town in Media was undoubtedly Rhages — the Ruga of the inscriptions. — It may be gathered from the mention of the Medes, by Moses, among the races descended from Japhet [Madai], that they were a nation of very high anti- quity ; and it is in accordance with this view that we find a notice of them in the primitive Babylonian history of Berosus, who says that ths Medes conquered Babylon at a very remote period (cir. b.c. 2458), and that eight Median monarchs reigned there consecutively, over a space of 224 years. The deepest ob- scurity hangs, however, over the whole his- tory of the Medes from the time of their bearing sway in Babylonia (b.c. 2458-2234) to their first appearance in the cuneiform inscriptions among the enemies of Assyria, about b.c. 880. Herodotus represents the decadence of Assyria as greatly accelerated by a formal revolt of the Medes, and places this revolt about b.c. 708. He gives a suc- cession of kings— Deioces, Phraortes, Cyax- ares, and Astyages. But the cuneiform records of Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esar- haddon clearly show that the Median king- dom did not commence so early as Herodotus imagined. These three princes, whose reigns cover the space extending from b.c. 720 to b.c. 660, all carried their arms deep into Media, and found it, not under the dominion of a single powerful monarch, but under the rule of a vast number of petty chieftains. It cannot have been till near the middle of the 7th century b.c. that the Median kingdom was consolidated, and became formidable to its neighbours. Cyaxares, the third Median monarch, took Nineveh and conquered As- syria, b.c. 625. The limits of the Median Empire cannot be definitely fixed. From north to south its extent was in no place great, since it was certainly confined between the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates on the one side, the Black and Caspian Seas on the other. From east to west it had, however, a wide expansion, since it reached from the Halys at least as far as the Caspian Gates, and possibly further. It was separated from Babylonia either by the Tigris, or more pro- bably by a line running about half-way between that river and the Euphrates. Of all the ancient Oriental monarchies the Me- dian was the shortest in duration. It was overthrown by the Persians under Cyrus, b.c. 558. — The treatment of the Medes by the victorious Persians was not that of an or- dinary conquered nation. The two nations were closely akin ; they had the same Aryan or Iranic origin, the same early traditions, the same language, nearly the same religion, and ultimately the same manners and cus- toms, dress, and general mode of life. Medes were advanced to stations of high honour and importance under Cyrus and his successors. — The customs of the Medes nearly resembled those of their neighbours, the Armenians and the Persians ; but they were regarded as the inventors, their neighbours as the copyists. They were brave and warlike, excellent riders, and remarkably skilful with the bow. The flowing robe, so well known from the Persepolitan sculptures, was their native MEDES 335 MEDICINE dress, and was certainly among tlie points for which the Persians were beholden to them. References to the Medes . — The refer- ences to the Medes in the canonical Scriptures are not very numerous, hut they are striking. We first hear of certain “ cities of the Medes,” in which the captive Israelites were placed by “ the king of Assyria ” on the destruction of Samaria, b.c. 721 (2 K. xvii. 6, xviii. 11). This implies the subjection of Media to As- syria at the time of Shalmaneser, or of Sar- gon, his successor, and accords very closely with the account given by the latter of certain military colonies whieh he planted in the Median country. Soon afterwards Isaiah Drophesies the part which the Medes shall take in the destruction of Babylon (Is. xiii. 17, xxi. 2) ; which is again still more dis- tinctly declared by Jeremiah (li. 11 and 28), who sufficiently indicates the independence of Media in his day (xxv. 25). Daniel re- lates the fact of the Meao-Persic conquest (v. 28, 31), giving an account of the reign of Darius the Mede, who appears to have been made viceroy by Cyrus (vi. 1-28). In Ezra we have a mention of Achmetha (Ecbatana), “ the palace in the province of the Medes,” where the decree of Cyrus was found (vi. 2-5) — a notice which accords with the known facts that the Median capital was the seat of government under Cyrus, but a royal residence only and not the seat of go- vernment under Darius Hystaspis. Finally, in Esther, the high rank of Media under the Persian kings, yet at the same time its subordinate position, are marked by the fre- quent combination of the two names in phrases of honour, the precedency being in every case assigned to the Persians. In the Apocrypha the Medes occupy a more pro- minent place. The chief scene of one whole book (Tobit) is Media ; and in another (Jud- ith) a very striking portion of the narrative belongs to the same country. The mention of Rhages in both narratives as a Median town and region of importance is geographi- cally correct ; and it is historically true that Phraortes suffered his overthrow in the Rha- gian district. MEDICINE. Egypt was the earliest home of medical and other skill for the region of the Mediterranean basin, and every Egyptian mummy of the more expensive and elaborate sort, involved a process of anatomy. Still we have no trace of any philosophical or rational system of Egyptian origin; and medicine in Egypt was a mere art or profes- sion. The practice of physic was not among the Jews a privilege of the priesthood. Any one might practise it, and this publicity must have kept it pure. Nay, there was no Scriptural bar to its practice by resident aliens. We read of “ physicians,” “ healing,” &c., in Ex. xxi. 19 ; 2K. viii. 29; 2 Chr. xvi. 12 ; Jerem. viii. 22. At the same time the greater leisure of the Levites and their other advantages would make them the students of the nation, as a rule, in all science, and their constant residence in cities would give them the opportunity, if carried out in fact, of a far wider field of observation. The reign of peace of Solomon’s days must have opened, especially with renewed Egyptian intercourse, new facilities for the study. He himself seems to have included in his favour- ite natural history some knowledge of the medicinal uses of the creatures. His works show him conversant with the notion of remedial treatment (Prov. iii. 8, vi. 15, xii. 18, xvii. 22, xx. 30, xxix. 1 ; Eccles. iii. 3) ; and one passage indicates considerable knowledge of anatomy. The statement that King Asa (2 Chr. xvi. 12) “sought not to Jehovah but to the physicians,” may seem to countenance the notion that a rivalry of actual worship, based on some medical fan- cies, had been set up. The captivity at Babylon brought the Jews in contact with a MEDICINE 336 MEDICINE new sphere of thought. We know too little of the precise state of medicine in Babylon, Susa, and the “ cities of the Medes,” to de- termine the direction in which the impulse so derived would have led the exiles. The book of Ecclesiasticus shows the increased regard given to the distinct study of medi- cine, by the repeated mention of physicians, &c., which it contains, and which, as pro- bably belonging to the period of the Ptolemies, it might be expected to show. Rank and honour are said to be the portion of the physician, and his office to be from the Lord (xxxviii. 1, 3, 12). The repeated allusions to sickness in vii. 35, xxx. 17, xxxi. 22, xxxvii. 30, xxxviii. 9, coupled with the former re- cognition of merit, have caused some to sup- pose that this author was himself a physician. In Wisd. xvi. 12, plaister is spoken of ; anoint- ing, as a means of healing, in Tob. vi. 8. To bring down the subject to the period of the N. T., St. Luke, “the beloved physician,” who practised at Antioch whilst the body was his care, could hardly have failed to be conversant with all the leading opinions cur- rent down to his own time. The medicine and surgery of St. Luke were probably not inferior to those commonly in demand among educated Asiatic Greeks, and must have been, as regards their basis, Greek and not Jewish. — Among special diseases named in the O. T. are, ophthalmia (Gen. xxix. 17), which is perhaps more common in Syria and Egypt than anywhere else in the world ; especially in the fig season, the juice of the newly-ripe fruit having the power of giving it. It may occasion partial or total blindness (2 K. vi. 1 8) . The eye-safVe (Rev. iii. 18), was a remedy common to Orientals, Greeks, and Romans. Several diseases are mentioned, the names of which are derived from various words, sig- nifying to burn or to be hot (Lev. xxvi. 16 ; Deut. xxviii. 22). The “burning boil,” or “ of a boil ” (Lev. xiii. 23) is merely marked by the notion of an effect resembling that of fire, like our “ carbuncle it may possibly find an equivalent in the Damascus boil of the present time. The diseases rendered “ scab ” and “ scurvy ” in Lev. xxi. 20, xxii. 22, Deut. xxviii. 27, may be almost any skin disease. Some of these may be said to ap- proach the type of leprosy. The “ botch l shechm ) of Egypt” (Deut. xxviii. 27), is so vague a term as to yield a most uncertain sense ; the plague, as known by its attendant bubo, has been suggested. It is possible that the Elephantiasis Graecorum may be intended. The same word is used to express the “boil” of Hezekiah. In Deut. xxviii. 35, is men- tioned a disease attacking the “knees and legs,” consisting in a “ sore botch which cannot be healed,” but extended, in the sequel of the verse, from the “ sole of the foot to the top of the head.” The latter part of the quotation would certainly accord with Ele- phantiasis Graecorum. The Elephantiasis Graecorum is what now passes under the name of “ leprosy ” — the lepers, e. g. of the huts near the Zion gate of modern Jerusalem are elephantiasiacs. [Leprosy.] The disease of king Antiochus (2 Macc. ix. 5-10, &c.) is that of a boil breeding worms. There is some doubt whether this disease be not allied to phthiriasis, in which lice are bred, and cause ulcers. In Deut. xxviii. 65, it is pos- sible that a palpitation of the heart is in- tended to be spoken of (comp. Gen. xlv. 26). In Mark xi. 17 (comp. Luke ix. 38) we have an apparent case of epilepsy. The expres- sion of Ex. ix. 10, a “boil” flourishing, or ebullient with blains, may perhaps be a disease analogous to phlegmonous erysipelas, or even common erysipelas. The “ withered hand ” of Jeroboam (1 K. xiii. 4-6), and of the man, Matt. xii. 10-13 (comp. Luke vi. 10), is such an effect as is known to follow from the obliteration of the main artery of any member, or from paralysis of the principal nerve, either through disease or through injury. The case of the widow’s son restored by Elisha (2 K. iv. 19), was probably one of sunstroke. The disease of Asa “ in his feet ” which attacked him in his old age (1 K. xv. 23 ; 2 Chr. xvi. 12), and became exceeding great, may have been either oedema , swelling, or podagra , gout. The disease of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 33) may be viewed as a species of the melancholy known as Lycanthropia. Persons so affected wander like wolves in sepulchres by night, and imitate the howling of a wolf or a dog. Here should be noticed the mental malady of Saul. His melancholy seems to have had its origin in his sin. Music, which soothed him for a while, has entered largely into the milder modern treatment of lunacy. The palsy meets us in the N. T. only, and in fea- tures too familiar to need special remark. Gangrene, or mortification in its various forms, is a totally different disorder from the “canker” of the A. V. in 2 Tim. ii. 17. Both gangrene and cancer were common in all the countries familiar to the Scriptural writers, and neither differs from the modern disease of the same name. The bite or sting of venomous beasts can hardly be treated as a disease ; but in connexion with the “ fiery (i. e. venomous) serpents ” of Num. xxi. 6, and the deliverance from death of those bitten, it deserves a notice. The brazen figure was symbolical only. It was custom- ary to consecrate the image of the affliction. MEGIDDO 337 MELCHIZEDEK either in its cause or in its effect, as in the golden emerods, golden mice, of 1 Sam. vi. 4, 8, and in the ex-votos common in Egypt, even before the Exodus; and these may be compared with this setting up of the brazen serpent. The scorpion and centipede are natives of the Levant (Rev. ix. 5, 10), and, with a large variety of serpents, swarm there. — Among surgical instruments or pieces of apparatus the following only are alluded to in Scripture. A cutting instrument, sup- posed a “sharp-stone” (Ex. iv. 25). The “ knife ” of Josh. v. 2 was probably a more refined instrument for the same purpose. An “awl” is mentioned (Ex. xxi. 6) as used to bore through the ear of the bondman who refused release, and is supposed to have been a surgical instrument. The “ roller to bind ” of Ez. xxx. 21 was for a broken limb, as still used. A scraper, for which the “ potsherd” of Job was a substitute (Job ii. 8). — Ex. xxx. 23-25 is a prescription in form. An occa- sional trace occurs of some chemical know- ledge, e. g . the calcination of the gold by Moses ; the effect of “ vinegar upon natrum” (Ex. xxxii. 20 ; Prov. xxv. 20 ; comp. Jer. ii. 22); the mention of “the apothecary” (Ex. xxx. 35 ; Eccles. x. 1), and of the mer- chant in “powders” (Cant, iii, 6), shows that a distinct and important branch of trade was set up in these wares, in which, as at a modern druggist’s, articles of luxury, &c., are combined with the remedies of sickness. Among the most favourite of external reme- dies has always been the bath. There were special occasions on which the bath was cere- monially enjoined. The Pharisees and Es- senes aimed at scrupulous strictness of all such rules (Matt. xv. 2 ; Mark vii. 5 ; Luke xi. 38). River-bathing was common, but houses soon began to include a bath-room (Lev. xv. 13; 2 K. v. 10; 2 Sam. xi. 2; Susanna 15). MEGID'DO was in a very marked position on the southern rim of the plain of Esdraelon, on the frontier-line of the territories of the tribes of Issachar and Manasseh, and com- manding one of those passes from the north nto the hill-country which were of such critical importance on various occasions in the history of Judaea (Judith iv. 7). The first mention occurs in Josh. xii. 21, where Megiddo appears as the city of one of the kings whom Joshua defeated on the west of the Jordan. The song of Deborah brings the place vividly before us, as the scene of the great conflict between Sisera and Barak. The chariots of Sisera were gathered “ unto the river of Kishon ” (Judg. iv. 13); Barak went down with his men “ from Mount Tabor ” into the plain (iv. 14) ; “ then ’ Sm. D. B. j fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo” (v. 19). The chief historical interest of Megiddo is concentrated in Josiah’s death. When Pharaoh-Necho came from Egypt against the king of Assyria, Josiah joined the latter, and was slain at Megiddo (2 K. xxiii. 29), and his body was carried from thence to Jerusalem (ib. 30). The story is told in the Chronicles in more detail (2 Chr. xxxv. 22-24). There the fatal action is said to have taken place “in the valley of Megiddo.” This calamity made a deep and permanent impression on the Jews. Thus, in the language of the prophets (Zech. xii. 11), “the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon ” becomes a poetical expression for the deepest and most despair- ing grief ; as in the Apocalypse (Rev. xvi. 16) Armageddon, in continuance of the same imagery, is presented as the scene of terrible and final conflict. Megiddo is the modern el-Lejjun f which is undoubtedly the Legio of Eusebius and Jerome. There is a copious stream flowing down the gorge, and turning some mills before joining the Kishon. Here are probably the “waters of Megiddo” of Judg. v. 19. ME'HUNIMS, THE, a people against whom king Uzziah waged a successful war (2 Chr. xxvi. 7). Although so different in its English dress, yet the name is in the original merely the plural of Maon [Maon]. The latest ap- pearance of the name Mehunims in the Bible is in the lists of those who returned from the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezr. ii. 50, A. Y. “Mehunim;” Neh. vii. 52, A. Y. “ Meunim”). MELCHIZ'EDEK, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abram in the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s val- ley, brought out bread and wine, blessed Abram, and received tithes from him (Gen. xiv. 18-20). The other places in which Mel- chizedek is mentioned are Ps. cx. 4, where Messiah is described as a priest for ever, “after the order of Melchizedek,” and Heb. v., vi., vii., where these two passages of the O.T. are quoted, and the typical relation of Mel- chizedek to our Lord is stated at great length. There is something surprising and mysterious in the first appearance of Melchizedek, and in the subsequent reference to him. Bearing a title which Jews in after ages would recog nise as designating their own sovereign, bear- ing gifts which recall to Christians the Lord’s Supper, this Canaanite crosses for a moment the path of Abram, and is unhesitatingly re- cognised as a person of higher spiritual rank than the friend of God. Disappearing as suddenly as he came in, he is lost to the saci sd "writings for a thousand years. The Z MELITA 338 MEMPHIS faith of early ages ventured to invest his per- son with superstitious awe. Jewish tradi- tion pronounces Melchizedek to he a survivor of the Deluge, the patriarch Shem. The way in which he is mentioned in Genesis would rather lead to the inference that Melchizedek was of one hlood with the children of Ham, among whom he lived, chief (like the King of Sodom) of a settled Canaanitish trihe. And as Balaam was a prophet, so Melchizedek was a priest among the corrupted heathen, not self-appointed, hut constituted hy a spe- cial gift from God, and recognised as such by Him. The “ order of Melchizedek,” in Ps. cx. 4, is explained to mean “manner” = likeness in official dignity=a king and priest. The relation between Melchizedek and Christ as type and antitype is made in the Ep. to the Hebrews to consist in the following par- ticulars. Each was a priest, (1) not of the Levitical trihe ; (2) superior to Abraham ; (3) whose beginning and end are unknown ; (4) who is not only a priest, hut also a king of righteousness and peace. — A fruitful source of discussion has been found in the site of Salem. [Salem.] MEL/ITA, the modern Malta. This island has an illustrious place in Scripture, as the scene of that shipwreck of St. Paul which is described in such minute detail in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts xxvii.). The wreck pro- bably happened at the place traditionally known as St. Paul’s Bay. Malta is in the track of ships between Alexandria and Pu- teoli : and this corresponds with the fact that the “Castor and Pollux,” an Alexandrian vessel, which ultimately conveyed St. Paul to Italy, had wintered in the island (Acts xxviii. 11). As regards the condition of the island of Melita, when St. Paul was there, it was a dependency of the Roman province of Sicily. Its chief officer (under the governor of Sicily) appears from inscriptions to have had the title of TTpurog MeAiraiW, or Primus Melitensium, and this is the very phrase which St. Luke uses (xxviii. 7). Melita, from its position in the Mediterranean, and the excellence of its harbours, has always been important both in commerce and war. It was a settlement of the Phoenicians at an early period, and their language, in a cor- rupted form, continued to be spoken there in St. Paul’s day. MELONS (Heb. abattichim ) are mentioned only in Num. xi. 5. By the Hebrew word we are probably to understand both the Melon ( Cucumis melo ) and the water Melon ( Cucurbita citrullus). The water-melon, which is now extensively cultivated in all hot countries, is a fruit not unlike the com- mon melon, but the leaves are deeply lobed and gashed, the flesh is pink or white, and contains a large quantity of cold watery juice without much flavour ; the seeds are black. Cucurbita citrullus. MEM'PHIS, a city of ancient Egypt, situ- ated on the western bank of the Nile in lati- tude 30° 6' N. It is mentioned by Isaiah (xix. 13), Jeremiah (ii. 16, xlvi. 14, 19), and Ezekiel (xxx. 13, 16), under the name of Noph ; and by Hosea (ix. 6) under the name of Moph in Hebrew, and Memphis in our English version. Though some regard Thebes as the more ancient city, the monuments of Memphis are of higher antiquity than those of Thebes. Herodotus dates its foundation from Menes, the first king of Egypt. The city is said to have had a circumference of about 19 miles. Its overthrow was distinctly predicted by the Hebrew prophets (Is. xix. 13 ; Jer. xlvi. 19). The latest of these pre- dictions was uttered nearly 600 years before Christ, and half a century before the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses (cir. b.c. 525). Hero- dotus informs us that Cambyses, enraged at the opposition he encountered at Memphis, committed many outrages upon the city. The city never recovered from the blow inflicted by Cambyses. The rise of Alexandria has- tened its decline. The Caliph conquerors founded Fostat (Old Cairo) upon the opposite bank of the Nile, a few miles north of Mem- phis, and brought materials from the o.d city to build their new capital (a.d. 638). At length so comp ete was the ruin of Memphis, MENAHEM 339 MERAB that for a long time its yery site was lost. Recent explorations have brought to light many of its antiquities. MEN'AIIEM, son of Gadi, who slew the usurper Shallum and seized the vacant throne of Israel, b.c. 772. His reign, which lasted ten years, is briefly recorded in 2 K. xv. 14- 22. It has been inferred from the expression in verse 14, “ from Tirzah,” that Menahem was a general under Zechariah stationed at Tirzah, and that he brought up his troops to Samaria and avenged the murder of his mas- ter by Shallum. He maintained the calf- worship of Jeroboam. The contemporary prophets, Hosea and Amos, have left a melan- choly picture of the ungodliness, demoralisa- tion, and feebleness of Israel. In the brief history of Menahem, his ferocious treatment of Tiphsah occupies a conspicuous place. But the most remarkable event in his reign is the first appearance of a hostile force of Assyrians on the north-east frontier of Israel. King Pul, however, withdrew, having been con- verted from an enemy into an ally by a timely gift of 1000 talents of silver. MENE' (lit. “numbered”). The first word of the mysterious inscription written upon the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, in which Daniel read the doom of the king and his dynasty (Dan. v. 25, 26). MENELA'US, a usurping high-priest who obtained the office from Antiochus Epiphanes (about b.c. 172) by a large bribe (2 Macc. iv. 23-25), and drove out Jason, who had obtained it not long before by similar means. He met with a violent death at the hands of Antiochus Eupator (cir. b.c. 163), which seemed in a peculiar manner a providential punishment of his sacrilege (xiii. 3, 4). According to Josephus he was a younger brother of Jason and Onias, and, like Jason, changed his pro- per name Onias, for a Greek name. In 2 Maccabees, on the other hand, he is called a brother of Simon the Benjamite (2 Macc. iv. 23). MEPHA'ATH, a city of the Reubenites, one of the towns dependent on Heshbon (Josh, xiii. 18), lying in the district of the Mishor (comp. 17, and Jer. xlviii. 21, A. Y. “ plain”), which probably answered to the modern Belka. It was one of the cities allotted with their suburbs to the Merarite Levites (Josh, xxi. 37 ; 1 Chr. vi. 79). Its site is uncer- tain. MEPHIBO'SHETH, the name borne by two members of the family of Saul — his son and his grandson. — 1 Saul’s son by Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, his concubine (2 Sam. xxi. 8). He and his brother Armoni were among the seven victims who were surren- dered by David to the Gibeonites, and by them crucified in sacrifice to Jehovah, tc avert a famine from which the country was suffering. — 2. The son of Jonathan, grandson of Saul, and nephew of the preceding. His life seems to have been, from beginning to end, one of trial and discomfort. The name of his mother is unknown. When his father and grandfather were slain on Gilboa he was an infant but five years old. He was then living under the charge of his nurse, probably at Gibeah, the regular residence of Saul. The tidings that the army was destroyed, the king and his sons slain, and that the Philis- tines were sweeping all before them, reached the royal household. The nurse fled, carry- ing the child on her shoulder. But in her panic and hurry she stumbled, and Mephi- bosheth was precipitated to the ground with such force as to deprive him for life of the use of both feet (2 Sam. iv. 4). After the accident which thus embittered his whole ex- istence, Mephibosheth was carried with the rest of his family beyond the Jordan to the mountains of Gilead, where he found a refuge in the house of Machir ben-Ammiel, a power- ful Gadite or Manassite sheykh at Lo-debar, not far from Mahanaim, which during the reign of his uncle Ishbosheth was the head- quarters of his family. By Machir he was brought up, there he married, and there he was living at a later period, when David having completed the subjugation of the ad- versaries of Israel on every side, heard of his existence from Ziba. David invited him to Jerusalem, and there treated him and his son Micha with the greatest kindness. From this time forward he resided at Jerusalem. Of Mephibosheth’s behaviour during the re- bellion of Absalom we possess two accounts — his own (2 Sam. xix. 24-30), and that of Ziba (xvi. 1-4). They are naturally at variance with each other. In consequence of the story of Ziba, he was rewarded by the possessions of his master. Mephibosheth’s story — which, however, he had not the op- portunity of telling until several days later, when he met David returning to his kingdom at the western bank of Jordan — was very dif- ferent to Ziba’s. That David did not dis- believe it is shown by his revoking the judgment he had previously given. That he did not entirely reverse his decision, but allowed Ziba to retain possession of half the lands of Mephibosheth, is probably due partly to weariness at the whole transaction, but mainly to the conciliatory frame of mind in which he was at that moment. “ Shall there any man be put to death this day ? ” is the key-note of the whole proceeding. ME'RAB, the eldest daughter of king Saul (1 Sam. xiv. 49). In accordance with the 2 2 MERAIOTH 340 MERODACH BA LAD AN promise which he made before the engage- ment with Goliath (xvii. 25), Saul betrothed Merab to David (xviii. 17). Before the mar- riage Merab’s younger sister Michal had dis- played her attachment for David, and Merab was then married to Adriel the Meholathite, to whom she bore five sons (2 Sam. xxi. 8). MERAI'OTH, a descendant of Eleazar the son of Aaron, and head of a priestly house (1 Chr. vi. 6, 7, 52). It is apparently an- other Meraioth who comes in between Zadok and Ahitub in the genealogy of Azariah (1 Chr. ix. 11, Neh. xi. 11), unless the names Ahitub and Meraioth are transposed, which is not improbable. MER'ARI, third son of Levi, and head of the third great division of the Levites, the Merarites. He was born before the descent of Jacob into Egypt, and was one of the seventy who accompanied Jacob thither (Gen. xlvi. 8, 11). At the time of the Exodus, and the numbering in the wilderness, the Mera- rites consisted of two families, the Mahlites and the Mushites, Mahli and Mushi being either the two sons, or the son and grandson, j of Merari (1 Chr. vi. 19, 47). Their chief | at that time was Zuriel. Their charge | was the boards, bars, pillars, sockets, pins, I and cords of the tabernacle and the court, I and all the tools connected with setting them | up. Owing to the heavy nature of the mate- I rials which they had to carry, four waggons and eight oxen were assigned to them ; and in the march both they and the Gershonites followed immediately after the standard of Judah, and before that of Reuben, that they might set up the tabernacle against the ar- rival of the Kohathites (Num. iii. 20, 33-37, iv. 29-33, 42-45, vii. 8, x. 17, 21). In the division of the land by Joshua, the Merarites had twelve cities assigned to them, out of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, of which one was Ramoth-Gilead, a city of refuge, and in later times a frequent subject of war between Israel and Syria (Josh. xxi. 7, 34-40 ; 1 Chr. vi. 63, 77-81). In the days of Hezekiah the Merarites were still flourishing (2 Chr. xxix. 12, 15). After the return from captivity Shemaiah represents the sons of Merari, in 1 Chr. ix. 14, Neh. xi. 15. There were also at that time sons of Jeduthun under Obadiah or Abda, the son of Shemaiah (1 Chr. ix. 16 ; Neh. xi. 17). MERCU'RIUS, properly Hermes, the Greek deity, whom the Romans identified with their Mercury the god of commerce and bargains. Hermes was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Maia the daughter of Atlas, and is constantly represented as the companion of his father in his wanderings upon earth. The episode of Baucis and Philemon (Ovid, Metam. viii. 620- 724) appears to have formed part of the folk- lore of Asia Minor, and strikingly illustrates the readiness with which the simple people of Lystra recognised in Barnabas and Paul the gods who, according to their wont, had come down in the likeness of men (Acts xiv. 11). They called Paul “Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker ; ” identifying in him as they supposed by this characteristic, the herald of the gods and of Jupiter, the eloquent orator, inventor of letters, music, and the arts. MERCY-SEAT (Ex. xxv. 17, xxxvii. 6 ; Heb. ix. 5). This appears to have been merely the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, not another surface affixed thereto. It was that whereon the blood of the yearly atone- ment was sprinkled by the high-priest ; and in this relation it is doubtful whether the sense of the word in the Heb. is based on the material fact of its “ covering ” the Ark, or derived from this notion of its reference to the “ covering” (i. e. atonement) of sin. MER'IBAH. In Ex. xvii. 7 we read, “ he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah,” where the people murmured, and the rock was smitten. [For the situa- tion see Rephidim.] The name is also given to Kadesh (Num. xx. 13, 24, xxvii. 14; Deut. xxii. 51 “ Meribah-kadesh ”), because there also the people, when in want of water, strove with God. MERIB-BA r AL, son of Jonathan the son of Saul (1 Chr. viii. 34, ix. 40), doubtless the same person who in the narrative of 2 Samuel is called Mephibosheth. MER'ODACH, a Babvlonian god (Jer. 1 . 2 ). MER'ODACH-BAL'ADAN is mentioned as king of Babylon in the days of Hezekiah, both in the second book of Kings (xx. 12) and in Isaiah (xxxix. 1). In the former place he is called Berodach-Baladan. The orthography “ Merodach ” is, however, to be preferred. The name of Merodach-Baladan has been recognised in the Assyrian inscrip- tions. It appears there were two reigns of this king, the first from b.c. 721 to b.c. 709, when he was deposed ; and the second, after his recovery of the throne in b.c. 7 02, which lasted only half a year. There is some doubt as to the time at which he sent his ambassadors to Hezekiah, for the purpose of enquiring as to the astronomical marvel of which Judaea had been the scene (2 Chr. xxxii. 31), but it appears to have been b.c. 713. The real object of the mission was most likely to effect a league between Babylon, Judaea, and Egypt (Is. xx. 5, 6), in order to check the growing power of the Assyrians. The league, however, though designed, does not seem to have taken effect. Sargon sent expeditions MEROM 341 MESOPOTAMIA both into Syria and Babylonia — seized the stronghold of Ashdod in the one, and com- pletely defeated Merodach-Baladan in the other. That monarch sought safety in flight, and lived for eight years in exile. At last he found an opportunity to return. In b.c. 703 or 702, Babylonia was plunged in anarchy — the Assyrian yoke was thrown off, and various native leaders struggled for the mastery. Under these circumstances the exiled monarch seems to have returned, and recovered his throne. Merodach-Baladan had obtained a body of troops from his ally, the king of Susiana ; but Sennacherib defeated the combined army in a pitched battle. Merodach-Baladan fled to “ the islands at the mouth of the Euphrates.” He lost his recovered crown after wearing it for about six months, and spent the remainder of his days in exile and obscurity. ME'ROM, THE WATERS OF, a place memorable in the history of the conquest of Palestine. Here, after Joshua had gained possession of the southern portions of the country, a confederacy of the northern chiefs assembled under the leadership of Jabin, king of Hazor (Josh. xi. 5), and here they were encountered by Joshua, and completely routed (ver. 7). It is a remarkable fact that though by common consent the “ waters of Merom ” are identified with the lake through which the Jordan runs between Banias and the Sea of Galilee — the Bahr el-Huleh of the modern Arabs — yet that identity cannot be proved by any ancient record. In form the lake is not far from a triangle, the base being at the north and the apex at the south. It measures about 3 miles in each direction. The water is clear and sweet ; it is covered in parts by a broad-leaved plant, and abounds in water-fowl. ME'ROZ, a place mentioned only in the Song of Deborah and Barak in Judg. v. 23, and there denounced because its inhabitants had refused to take any part in the struggle with Sisera. Meroz must have been in the neighbourhood of the Kishon, but its real position is not known : possibly it was de- stroyed m obedience to the curse. ME'SECH, ME'SHECH, a son of Japheth (Gen. x. 2 ; 1 Chr. i. 5), and the progenitor of a race frequently noticed in Scripture in connexion with Tubal, Magog, and other northern nations. They appear as allies of Gog (Ez. xxxviii. 2, 3, xxxix. 1), and as supplying the Tyrians with copper and slaves (Ez. xxvii. 13) ; in Ps. cxx. 5, they are no- ticed as one of the remotest, and at the same time rudest nations of the world. Both the name and the associations are in favour of ■he identification of Meshech with the Moschi f a people on the borders of Colchis and Ar- menia. ME'SHA. 1. The name of one of the geo- graphical limits of the Joktanites when they first settled in Arabia (Gen. x. 30), probably in north-western Yemen. — 2. The king of Moab in the reigns of Ahab and his sons Ahaziah and Jehoram, kings of Israel (2 K. iii. 4), and tributary to the first. When Ahab had fallen in battle at Ramoth Gilead, Mesha seized the opportunity afforded by the confusion consequent upon this disaster, and the feeble reign of Ahaziah, to shake off the yoke of Israel and free himself from the burdensome tribute of “ a hundred thousand wethers and a hundred thousand rams with their wool.” When Jehoram succeeded to the throne of Israel, one of his first acts was to secure the assistance of Jehoshaphat, his father’s ally, in reducing the Moabites to their former condition of tributaries. The united armies of the two kings marched by a circuitous route round the Dead Sea, and were joined by the forces of the king of Edom. The Moabites were defeated, and the kinp took refuge in his last stronghold and de- fended himself with the energy of despair. With 700 fighting men he made a vigorous attempt to cut his way through the beleaguer- ing army, and when beaten back, he with- drew to the wall of his city, and there, in sight of the allied host, offered his first-born son, his successor in the kingdom, as a burnt- offering to Chemosh, the ruthless fire-god of Moab. His bloody sacrifice had so far the desired effect that the besiegers retired from him to their own land. ME'SHACH, the Chaldaean name given to Mishael, one of the three friends of Daniel miraculously saved from the fiery furnace (Dan. i. 6, 7, iii.). MESOPOTAMIA, is the ordinary Greek rendering of the Hebrew Aram-Naharciim, or “ Syria of the two rivers.” If we look to the signification of the name, we must re- gard Mesopotamia as the entire country between the two rivers — the Tigris and the Euphrates. This is a tract nearly 700 miles long, and from 20 to 250 miles broad, ex- tending in a south-easterly direction from Telek (lat. 38° 23', long. 39° 18') to Kurnah (lat. 31°, long. 47° 30'). The Arabian geo- graphers term it “the Island,” a name which is almost literally correct, since a few miles only intervene between the source of the Tigris and the Euphrates at Telek. But the region which bears the name of Mesopotamia, par excellence , both in Scripture, and in the classical writers, is the north-western portion of this tract, or the country between the g eat bend of the Euphrates (lat. 35° t' MESSIAH 342 MESSIAH 37° 30') and the upper Tigris. We first hear of Mesopotamia in Scripture as the country where Nahor and his family settled after quitting Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. xxiv. 10). Here lived Bethuel and Laban ; and hither Abraham sent his servant, to fetch Isaac a wife “ of his own kindred ” (ib. ver. 38). Hither too, a century later, came Jacob on the same errand ; and hence he returned with his two wives after an absence of 21 years. After this we have no mention of Mesopotamia, till the close of the wanderings in the wilderness (Deut. xxiii. 4). About half a century later, we find, for the first and* last time, Mesopotamia the seat of a powerful monarchy (Judg. iii.) . Finally, the children of Ammon, having provoked a war with David, “ sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-Ma- achah, and out of Zobah” (1 Chr. xix. 6). According to the Assyrian inscriptions Meso- potamia was inhabited in the early times of the empire (b.c. 1200-1100) by a vast num- ber of petty tribes, each under its own prince, and all quite independent of one another. The Assyrian monarchs contended with these chiefs at great advantage, and by the time of Jehu (b.c. 880) had fully established their iominion over them. On the destruction of the Assyrian empire, Mesopotamia seems to have been divided between the Medes and the Babylonians. The conquests of Cyrus brought it wholly under the Persian yoke ; and thus it continued to the time of Alex- ander. MESSI'AII. This word ( Mashiach ) which answers to the word Christ (Xpccrro?) in the N. T., means anointed ; and is applicable in its first sense to any one anointed with the holy oil. It is applied to the high-priest in Lev. iv. 3, 5, 16. The kings of Israel were called anointed , from the mode of their con- secration (1 Sam. ii. 10, 35, xii. 3, 5, &c.). This word also refers to the expected Prince of the chosen people who was to complete God’s purposes for them, and to redeem them, and of whose coming the prophets of the old covenant in all time spoke. It is twice used in the N. T. of Jesus (John i. 41, iv. 25, A. Y. “ Messias ”) ; but the Greek equivalent the Christ , is constantly applied, at first with the article as a title, exactly the Anointed One , but later without the article, as a proper name, Jesus Christ. The pre- sent article contains a brief survey of the expectation of a Messiah among the Jews. The earliest gleam of the Gospel is found in the account of the fall (Gen. iii. 15). Many interpreters would understand by the seed of the woman, the Messiah only ; but it is easier to think with Calvin that mankind, after they are gathered into one army by Jesus the Christ the Head of the Church, are to achieve a victory over evil. The blessings in store for the children of Shem are re- markably indicated in the words of Noah, “ Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem ” (Gen. ix. 26). Next follows the promise to Abraham, wherein the blessings to Shem are turned into the narrower channel of one family (Gen. xii. 2, 3). The promise is still indefinite ; but it tends to the undoing of the curse of Adam, by a blessing to all the earth through the seed of Abraham, as death had come on the whole earth through Adam. A great step is made in Gen. xlix. 10, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” This is the first case in which the promises distinctly centre in one person. The next passage usually quoted is the prophecy of Balaam (Num. xxiv. 17-19). The star points indeed to the glory, as the sceptre denotes the power of a king. But it is doubtful whether the prophecy is not ful- filled in David (2 Sam. viii. 2, 14) ; and though David is himself a type of Christ, the direct Messianic application of this place is by no means certain. The prophecy of Moses (Deut. xviii. 18) claims attention. Does this refer to the Messiah ? The refer- ence to Moses in John v. 45-47, “ He wrote of me,” seems to point to this passage. The passages in the Pentateuch which relate to “ the Angel of the Lord ” have been thought by many to bear reference to the Messiah. The second period of Messianic prophecy would include the time of David. Passages in the Psalms are numerous which are ap- plied to the Messiah in the N. T. ; such as Ps. ii., xvi., xxii., xl., cx. The advance in clearness in this period is great. The name of Anointed, i. e. King, comes in, and the Messiah is to come of the lineage of David. He is described in His exaltation, with His great kingdom that shall be spiritual rather than temporal, Ps. ii., xxi., xl., cx. In other places He is seen in suffering and humiliation, Ps. xxii., xvi., xl. After the time of David the predictions of the Messiah ceased for a time ; until those prophets arose whose works we possess in the canon of Scripture. The Messiah is a king and Ruler of David’s house, who should come to i eform and restore the Jewish nation and purify the church, as in Is. xi., xl.-lxvi. The blessings of the restoration, however, will not be con- fined to Jews; the heathen are made to share them fully (Is. ii. lxvi.). The passage of Micah v. 2 (comp. Matt. ii. 6^ left no doubl METHEG-AMMAH 343 MICAIi in the mind of the Sanhedrim as to the birth- place of the Messiah. The lineage of David is again alluded to in Zechariah xii. 10-14. The time of the second Temple is fixed by Haggai ii. 9 for Messiah’s coming ; and the coming of the Forerunner and of the Anointed are clearly revealed in Mai. iii. 1, iv. 5, 6. The fourth period after the close of the canon of the O. T. is known to us in a great measure from allusions in the N. T. to the expectation of the Jews. The Pharisees and those of the Jews who expected Messiah at all, looked for a temporal prince only. The Apostles themselves were infected with this opinion, till after the Resurrection, Matt. xx. 20, 21 ; Luke xxiv. 21 ; Acts i. 6. Gleams of a purer faith appear, Luke ii. 30, xxiii. 42 ; John iv. 25. On the other hand there was a sceptical school which had discarded the expectation altogether. The expectation of a golden age that should return upon the earth, was common in heathen nations. This hope the Jews also shared; hut with them it was associated with the coming of a particular Person, the Messiah. It has been asserted that in Him the Jews looked for an earthly king, and that the existence of the hope of a Messiah may thus he accounted for on natural grounds and without a divine revelation. But the prophecies refute this : they hold out not a Prophet only, but a King and a Priest, whose business it should he to set the people free from sin, and to teach them the ways of God, as in Ps. xxii., xl., cx. ; Is. ii., xi., liii. In these and other places too the power of the coming One reaches beyond the Jews and embraces all the Gentiles, which is contrary to the ex- clusive notions of Judaism. A fair consider- ation of all the passages will convince that the growth of the Messianic idea in the pro- phecies is owing to revelation from God. METH'EG-AM'MAH, a place which David took from the Philistines, apparently in his last war with them (2 Sam. viii. 1). Ammah may he taken as meaning “ mother-city ” or “metropolis” (comp. 2 Sam. xx. 19), and Metheg-ha-Ammah “the bridle of the mother- city ” — viz. of Gath, the chief town of the Philistines. METHU'SAEL, the son of Mehujael, fourth in descent from Cain, and father of Lamech (Gen. iv. 18). METHU'SELAH, the son of Enoch, sixth in descent from Seth, and father of Lamech (Gen. v. 25-27). MI'CAH (the same name as Micaiah) [Micaiah]. 1 . An Israelite whose familiar story is preserved in the xviith and xviiith chapters of Judges. From this interesting narrative we see (1.) bow completely some of the most solemn and characteristic enact- ments of the Law had become a dead letter Micah was evidently a devout believer in Jehovah. His one anxiety is to enjoy the favour of Jehovah (xvii. 13) ; the formula of blessing used by his mother and his priest invokes the same awful name (xvii. 2, xviii. 6) ; and yet so completely ignorant is he of the Law of Jehovah, that the mode which he adopts of honouring Him is to make a molten and graven image, teraphim or images of domestic gods, and to set up an unauthorised priesthood, first in his own family (xvii. 5 ) ? and then in the person of a Levite not of the priestly line (ver. 12). (2.) The story also throws a light on the condition of the Levites. Here we have a Levite belonging to Beth- lehem-Judah, a town not allotted to his tribe ; next wandering forth to take up his abode wherever he could find a residence ; then undertaking the charge of Micah’s idol- chapel ; and lastly, carrying off the property of his master and benefactor, and becoming the first priest to another system of false worship. But the transaction becomes still more remarkable when we consider (3.) that this was no obscure or ordinary Levite. He belonged to the chief family in the tribe, nay, we may say to the chief family of the nation, for though not himself a priest, he was closely allied to the priestly house, and was the grandson of no less a person than the great Moses himself. (4.) The nar- rative gives us a most vivid idea of the terrible anarchy in which the country was placed, when “there was no king in Israel, and eve^y man did what was right in his own eyes,” and shows how urgently neces- sary a central authority had become. A body of six hundred men completely armed, besides the train of their families and cattle, traverses the length and breadth of the land, not on any mission for the ruler or the nation, as on later occasions (2 Sam. ii. 12, &c., xx. 7, 14), but simply for their private ends. Entirely disregarding the rights of private property, they burst in wherever they please along their route, and plunder- ing the valuables and carrying off persons, reply to all remonstrances by taunts and threats. As to the date of these interesting events, the narrative gives us no direct in- formation ; but we may at least infer that it was also before the time of Samson, because in this narrative (xviii. 12) we meet with the origin of the name Mahaneh-dan, a place which already bore that name in Samson’s childhood (xiii. 25). — 2 . The sixth in order of the minor prophets. To distinguish him from Micaiah the son of Imlah, the contem- porary of Elijah, he is called the Morasthite, MICAIAH 344 MICHAL that is a native of Moresheth, or some place of similar name, which Jerome and Eusebius call Morasthi and identify with a small village near Eleutheropolis to the east, where for- merly the prophet’s tomb was shown, though in the days of Jerome it had been succeeded &y a church. It is stated in the superscrip- tion to his prophecies that Micah exercised the prophetical office during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, giving thus a maximum limit of 59 years (b.c. 756- 697), from the accession of Jotham to the death of Hezekiah, and a minimum limit of 16 years (b.c. 742-726), from the death of Jotham to the accession of Hezekiah. In either case he would be contemporary with Hosea and Amos during part of their ministry in Israel, and with Isaiah in Judah. With respect to one of his prophecies (iii. 12) it is distinctly assigned to the reign of Hezekiah (Jer. xxvi. 18), and was probably delivered before the great passover which inaugurated the reformation in Judah. According to the most probable arrangement ch. i. was de- livered in the contemporary reigns of Jotham king of Judah and of Pekah king of Israel ; ii. 1 — iv. 8 in those of Ahaz, Pekah, and Hosea ; iii. 12 being assigned to the last year of Ahaz, and the remainder of the book to the reign of Hezekiah. But, at whatever time the several prophecies were first de- livered, they appear in their present form as an organic whole, marked by a certain re- gularity of development. Three sections, omitting the superscription, are introduced by the same phrase, “hear ye,” and represent three natural divisions of the prophecy — i., ii., iii.-v., vi.-vii. — each commencing with rebukes and threatenings and closing with a promise. The style of Micah has been com- pared with that of Hosea and Isaiah. His diction is vigorous and forcible, sometimes obscure from the abruptness of its transi- tions, but varied and rich in figures derived from the pastoral (i. 8, ii. 12, v. 5, 7, 8, vii. 14) and rural life of the lowland country (i. 6, iii. 12, iv. 3, 12, 13, vi. 15), whose vines and olives and fig-trees were celebrated (1 Chr. xxvii. 27, 28), and supply the pro- phet with so many striking allusions (i. 6, iv. 3, 4, vi. 15, vii. 1, 4), as to suggest that, like Amos, he may have been either a herds- man or a vine-dresser, who had heard the howling of the jackals (i. 8, A. Y. “ dragons ”) as he watched his flocks or his vines by night, and had seen the lions slaughtering the sheep (v. 8). The language of Micah is quoted in Matt. ii. 5, 6, and his prophecies are alluded to in Matt. x. 35, 36 ; Mark xiii. 12 ; Luke xii. 53 ; John vii. 42. MICAI'AH, the same name as Micah, both meaning the same thing, “Who like Jeho- vah 1 ” — Micaiah, the son of Imlah, was ? prophet of Samaria, who, in the last year of the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, predicted his defeat and death, b.c. 897 (1 K. xxii. 1-35 ; 2 Chr. xviii.). MI'CHAEL, “one,” or “the first of the chief princes” or archangels (Dan. x. 13 ; comp. Jude 9), described in Dan. x. 21 as the “ prince ” of Israel, and in xii. 1 as “ the great prince which standeth” in time of conflict “ for the children of thy people.” All these passages in the O. T. belong to that late period of its Revelation, when, to the general declaration of the angelic office, was added the division of that office into parts, and the assignment of them to individual angels. As Gabriel represents the ministra- tion of the angels towards man, so Michael is the type and leader of their strife, in God’s name and His strength, against the power of Satan. In the O. T. therefore he is the guardian of the Jewish people in their an- tagonism to godless power and heathenism. In the N. T. (see Rev. xii. 7) he fights in heaven against the dragon — “ that old ser- pent called the Devil and Satan, which de- ceiveth the whole world ; ” and so takes part in that struggle, which is the work of the Church on earth. There remains one passage (Jude 9 ; comp. 2 Pet. ii. 11) in which we are told that “Michael the archangel, when con- tending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” The allusion seems to be to a Jewish legend attached to Deut. xxxiv. 6. MI'CHAL, the younger of Saul’s two daughters (1 Sam. xiv. 49). The king had proposed to bestow on David his eldest daughter Merab ; but before the marriage could be arranged an unexpected turn was given to the matter by the behaviour of Michal, who fell violently in love with the young hero. The marriage with her elder sister was at once put aside. Saul eagerly caught at the opportunity which the change afforded him of exposing his rival to the risk of death. The price fixed on Michal’s hand was no less than the slaughter of a hundred Philistines. David by a brilliant feat doubled the tale of victims, and Michal became his wife. Shortly afterwards she saved David from the assassins whom her father had sent to take his life (1 Sam. xix. 11-17). But when the rupture between Saul and David had become open and incurable, she was married to another man, Phalti or Phaltiel of Gallim (1 Sam. xxv. 44). After the death of her father and brothers at Gilboa, David com- pelled her new husband to surrender Michal MICHMASH 345 MIDIAN to him (2 Sam. iii. 13-16). How Michal comported herself in the altered circum- stances of David’s household we are not told ; but it is plain from the subsequent occur- rences that something had happened to alter the relations of herself and David. It was the day of David’s greatest triumph, when he brought the ark of Jehovah from its tem- porary resting-place to its home in the newly- acquired city. Michal watched the procession approach from the window of her apartment ; the motions of her husband shocked her as undignified and indecent, “ she despised him in her heart.” After the exertions of the long day were over, the king was received by his wife with a hitter taunt. David’s re- tort was a tremendous one, conveyed in words which once spoken could never he recalled. All intercourse between her and David ceased from that date (2 Sam. vi. 20-23). Her name appears (2 Sam. xxi. 8) as the mother of five of the grandchildren of Saul. But it is probably more correct to substitute Merab for Michal in this place. MICH 'MASH, a town which is known to us almost solely by its connexion with the Philistine war of Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam. xiii., xiv.). It has been identified with great probability in a village which still bears the name of Mtikhmas, about 7 miles north of Jerusalem. The place was thus si- tuated in the very middle of the tribe of Benjamin. In the invasion of Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah, it is mentioned by Isaiah (x. 28). After the captivity the men of the place returned (Ezr. ii. 27 ; Neh. vii. 31). At a later date it became the residence of Jonathan Maccabaeus, and the seat of his government (1 Macc. ix. 73). In the time of Eusebius and Jerome it was “ a very large village retaining its ancient name, and lying near Hamah in the district of Aelia (Jerusa- lem) at 9 miles distance therefrom.” Im- mediately below the village the great wady spreads out to a considerable width — perhaps half a mile ; and its bed is broken up into an intricate mass of hummocks and mounds, some two of which, before the torrents of 3000 winters had reduced and rounded their forms, were probably the two “ teeth of cliff” — the Bozez and Seneh of Jonathan’s adventure. Bight opposite is Jeba (Geba) on a curiously terraced hill. MICEL'METHAH, a place which formed one of the landmarks of the boundary of the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh on the western side of Jordan (Josh. xvii. 7). The po- sition of the place must be somewhere on the east of and not far distant from Shechem. MICH 'TAM. This word occurs in the titles of six Psalms (xvi. lvi.«lx.), all of which are ascribed to David. The marginal reading of our A. V. is “ a golden Psalm,” while in the Geneva version it is described as “ a certain tune.” From the position which it occupies in the title we may infer that michtam is a term applied to these Psalms to denote their musical character, but beyond this everything is obscure. MID 'IAN, a son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2 ; 1 Chr. i. 32) ; progenitor of the Midianites, or Arabians dwelling principally in the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. Southwards they extended along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Eyleh [Sinus Aelaniticus) ; and northwards they stretched along the eastern frontier of Palestine. Midian is first mentioned, as a people, when Moses fled, having killed the Egyptian, to the “ land of Midian” (Ex. ii. 15), and married a daughter of a priest of Midian (21). The “land of Midian,” or the portion of it specially referred to, was probably the peninsula of Sinai. The next occurrence of the name of this people in the sacred history marks their northern settlement on the border of the Promised Land, “ on this side Jordan [by] Jericho ” in the plains of Moab (Num. xxii. 1-4). It was “on this side Jordan,” that the chief doings of the Midianites with the Israelites took place. The influence of the Midianites on the Israelites was clearly most evil, and directly tended to lead them from the injunc- tions of Moses. The events at Shittim occa- sioned the injunction to vex Midian and smite them. Twelve thousand men, a thousand from each tribe, went up to this war, a war in which all the males of the enemy were slain. After a lapse of some years, the Midianites appear again as the enemies of the Israelites. They had recovered from the devastation of the former war, probably by the arrival of fresh colonists from the desert tracts over which their tribes wandered ; and they now were sufficiently powerful to be- come the oppressors of the children of Israel. Allied with the Amalekites, and the Bene - Kedem , they drove them to make dens in the mountains and caves and strongholds, and wasted their crops even to Gaza, on the Mediterranean coast, in the land of Simeon. The Midianites had oppressed Israel for seven years ; but were finally defeated with great slaughter by Gideon. [Gideon.] — The Mi- dianites are described as true Arabs. The spoil taken in both the war of Moses and that of Gideon is remarkable. The gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead (Num. xxxi. 22), the “jewels of gold, chains, and brace- lets, rings, earrings, and tablets ” (50) taken by Moses, is especially noteworthy; and it is confirmed by the booty taken by Gideor MIGDAL-EL 346 MILK (Judg. viii. 21, 24-26). We have here a wealthy Arab nation, living by plunder, de- lighting in finery ; and, where forays were impossible, carrying on the traffic southwards into Arabia, the land of gold — if not natu- rally, by trade — and across to Chaldaea ; or into the rich plains of Egypt. MIG'DAL-EL, one of the fortified towns of the possession of Naphtali (Josh. xix. 38 only), possibly deriving its name from some ancient tower — the “ tower of El, or God.” MIG'DAL-GAD, a city of Judah (Josh. xv. 37) in the district of the Shefelah , or mari- time lowland. MIG'DOL, the name of one or two places on the eastern frontier of Egypt, cognate to Migdol , which appears properly to signify a military watchtower, or a shepherd’s look- out. 1. A Migdol is mentioned in the ac- count of the Exodus (Ex. xiv. 2 ; Num. xxxiii. 7, 8). We suppose that the position of the encampment was before or at Pi- hahiroth, behind which was Migdol, and on the other hand Baal-zephon and the sea, these places being near together. The place of the encampment and of the passage of the sea we believe to have been not far from the Persepolitan monument, which is made in Linant’s map the site of the Serapeum. 2. A Migdol is spoken of by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The latter prophet mentions it as a boundary- town, evidently on the eastern border, corre- sponding to Seveneh, or Syene, on the southern (xxix. 10, xxx. 6). In the prophecy of Jere- miah the Jews in Egypt are spoken of as dwelling at Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Noph, and in the country of Pathros (xliv. 1) ; and in that foretelling, apparently, an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, Migdol, Noph, and Tahpanhes are again mentioned together (xlvi. 14). It seems plain, from its being spoken of with Memphis, and from Jews dwelling there, that this Migdol was an important town, and not a mere fort, or even military settle- ment. After this time there is no notice of any place of this name in Egypt, excepting of Magdolus, by Hecataeus of Miletus, and in the Itinerary of Antoninus, in which Magdolo is placed twelve Homan miles to the south- ward of Pelusium, in the route from the Sera- peum to that town. This latter place most probably represents the Migdol mentioned by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Its position on the route to Palestine would make it both strate- gically important and populous, neither of which would be the case with a town in the position of the Migdol of the Pentateuch. MIG'RON, a town or a spot — for there is nothing to indicate which — in the neighbour- hood of Saul’s city, Gibeah, on the very edge of the district belonging to it (1 Sam. xiv. 2). Migron is also mentioned in the list of the places disturbed by Sennacherib’s ap- proach to Jerusalem (Is. x. 28). But here its position seems a little further north than that indicated in the former passage. In Hebrew, Migron may mean a “ precipice,” and it is not impossible, therefore, that two places of the same name are intended. MIL f COM. The “ abomination ” of the children of Ammon, elsewhere called Molech (1 K. xi. 7, &c.) and Malcham (Zeph. i. 5, marg. “ their king ”), of the latter of which it is probably* a dialectical variation. MILE, a Roman measure of length, equal to 1 6 1 8 English yards. It is only once noticed in the Bible (Matt. v. 41), the usual method of reckoning both in the N. T. and in Josephus being by the stadium. The mile of the Jews is said to have been of two kinds, long or short, dependent on the length of the pace, which varied in different parts, the long pace being double the length of the short one. MILE'TUS (Acts xx. 15, 17, less correctly called Miletum in 2 Tim. iv. 20). In the context of Acts xx. 6 we have the geogra- phical relations of Miletus brought out as distinctly as if it were St. Luke’s purpose to state them. In the first place it lay on the coast to the S. of Ephesus. Next, it was a day’s sail from Trogyllium (ver. 15). More- over, to those who are sailing from the north, it is in the direct line for Cos. All these details correspond with the geographical facts of the case. The site of Miletus has now re- ceded ten miles from the coast, and even in the Apostle’s time it must have lost its strictly maritime position. The passage in the second Epistle to Timothy, where Miletus is men- tioned, presents a very serious difficulty to the theory that there was only one Roman im- prisonment. As to the history of Miletus itself, it was far more famous five hundred years before St. Paul’s day, than it ever be- came afterwards. In early times it was the most flourishing city of the Ionian Greeks. In the natural order of events, it was absorbed in the Persian empire. After a brief period of spirited independence, it received a blow from which it never recovered, in the siege conducted by Alexander, when on his Eastern campaign. But still it held, even through the Roman period, the rank of a second-rate trading town, and Strabo mentions its four harbours. At this time it was politically in the province of Asia, though Caria was the old ethnological name of the district in which it was situated. MILK. As an article of diet, milk holds a more important position in Eastern countries than with us. It is not a mere adjunct in cookery ; or restricted to the use of the young, MILL 347 MILLO although it is naturally the characteristic food af childhood, both from its simple and nutri- tive qualities (1 Pet. ii. 2), and particularly as contrasted with meat (1 Cor. iii. 2 ; Heb. v. 12) : but beyond this it is regarded as sub- stantial food adapted alike to all ages and classes. Not only the milk of cows, but of sheep (Deut. xxxii. 14), of camels (Gen. xxxii. 15), and of goats (Prov. xxvii. 27) was used ; the latter appears to have been most highly prized. Milk was used some- times in its natural state, and sometimes in a sour coagulated state : the former was named chaldb , and the latter chemah. In the A. V. the latter is rendered “ butter,” but there can be no question that in every case (except perhaps Prov. xxx. 33) the term refers to a preparation of milk well known in Eastern countries under the name of leben. The method now pursued in its preparation is to boil the milk over a slow fire, adding to it a small piece of old leben or some other acid in order to make it coagulate. The refreshing draught which Jael offered “ in a lordly dish ” to Sisera (Judg. v. 25) was leben . Leben is still extensively used in the East : at certain seasons of the year the poor almost live upon it, while the upper classes eat it with salad or meat. It is still offered in hospitality to the passing stranger, exactly as of old in Abraham’s tent (Gen. xviii. 8). MILL. The mills of the ancient Hebrews probably differed but little from those at pre- sent in use in the East. These consist of two circular stones, about 18 inches or two feet in diameter, the lower of which is fixed, and has its upper surface slightly convex, fitting into a corresponding concavity in the upper stone. The latter has a hole in it through which the grain passes, immediately above a pivot or shaft which rises from the centre of the lower stone, and about which the upper stone is turned by means of an up- right handle fixed near the edge. It is worked by women, sometimes singly and sometimes two together, who are usually seated on the bare ground (Is. xlvii. 1, 2) “ facing each other ; both have hold of the handle by which the upper is turned round on the ‘ nether ’ millstone. The one whose right hand is dis- engaged throws in the grain as occasion re- quires through the hole in the upper stone. It is not correct to say that one pushes it half round, and then the other seizes the handle. This would be slow work, and would give a spasmodic motion to the stone. Both retain their hold, and pull to or push from , as men do with the whip or crosscut saw. The proverb of our Saviour (Matt. xxiv. 41) is true to life, for women only grind. I can- not recall an instance in which men were at the mill.” (Thomson, The Land and tht Book , c. 34.) The labour is very hard, and the task of grinding in consequence performed only by the lowest servants (Ex. xi. 5), and captives (Judg. xvi. 21 ; Job xxxi. 10 ; Is. xlvii. 1, 2 ; Lam. v. 13). So essential were mill-stones for daily domestic use, that they were forbidden to be taken in pledge (Deut. xxiv. 6), in order that a man’s family might not be deprived of the means of preparing their food. The hand-mills of the ancient Egyptians appear to have been of the same character. “ They had also a large mill on a very similar principle ; but the stones were of far greater power and dimensions ; and this could only have been turned by cattle or asses, like those of the ancient Homans, and of the modern Cairenes” (Wilkinson). It was the millstone of a mill of this kind, driven by an ass, which is alluded to in Matt, xviii. 6. With the moveable upper millstone of the hand-mill the woman of Thebez broke Abimelech’s skull (Judg. ix. 53). MILLET (Heb. dochan) occurs only in Ez. iv. 9. Dr. Hoyle maintains that the true dukhun of Arab authors is the Panicum milia- ceum, which is universally cultivated in the East. It is probable that both the Sorghum vulgare , and the Panicum miliaceum , were used by the ancient Hebrews and Egyptians, and that the Heb. dochan may denote either of these plants. MIL'LO, a place in ancient Jerusalem. Both name and place seem to have been already in existence when the city was taken from the Jebusites by David (2 Sam. v. 9 ; 1 Chr. xi. 8). Its repair or restoration was one of the great works for which Solomon raised his “ levy” (1 K. ix. 15, 24, xi. 27) ; and it formed a prominent part of the fortifi- cations by which Hezekiah prepared for the approach of the Assyrians (2 Chr. xxxii. 5). The last passage seems to show that “ the Millo ” was part of the “ city of David,” that is of Zion (comp. 2 K. xii. 20). If “ Millo ” be taken as a Hebrew word, it would be de- rived from a root which has the force of “ fill- ing ; ” but the only ray of light which we can obtain as to the meaning of the word is from the LXX. Their rendering in every case (excepting only 2 Chr. xxxii. 5) is y aicpo a word which they employ nowhere else in the O. T. Now y aicpa means “ the citadel,” and it is remarkable that it is the word used with unvarying persistence throughout the Books of Maccabees for the fortress on Mount Zion. It is therefore perhaps not too much to assume that the word Millo was employed in the Hebrew original of 1 Maccabees. MIL'LO, THE HOUSE OF. 1. Apparently I a family or clan, mentioned in Judg. ix. 6, MINGLED PEOPLE 348 MINT 20 only, in connexion with the men or lords of Shechem. — 2. The “ house of Millo that goeth down to Silla ” was the spot at which king Joash was murdered by his slaves (2 K. xii. 20). There is nothing to lead us to sup- pose that the murder was not committed in Jerusalem, and in that case the spot must be connected with the ancient Millo (see pre- ceding article). MINGLED PEOPLE. This phrase, like that of “ the mixed multitude,” which the Hebrew closely resembles, is applied in Jer. xxv. 20, and Ez. xxx. 5, to denote the miscellaneous foreign population of Egypt and its frontier-tribes, including every one, says Jerome, who was not a native Egyptian, but was resident there. It is difficult to attach to it any precise meaning, or to iden- tify with the mingled people any race of which we have knowledge. “ The kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,” are the same apparently as the tributary kings (A. Y. “ kings of Arabia ”) who brought pre- sents to Solomon (1 K. x. 15) ; the Hebrew in the two cases is identical. The “ mingled people ” in the midst of Babylon (Jer. 1. 37), were probably the foreign soldiers or merce- nary troops, who lived among the native population. MINISTER. This term is used in the Y.V. to describe various officials of a religious and civil character. In the O. T. it answers to the Hebrew meshdreth , which is applied (1) to an attendant upon a person of high rank (Ex. xxiv. 13 ; Josh. i. 1 ; 2 K. iv. 43) ; (2) to the attaches of a royal court (1 K. x. 5 ; 2 Chr. xxii. 8 ; comp. Ps. civ. 4), where, it may be observed, they are distinguished from the “ servants ” or officials of higher rank ; (3) to the Priests and Levites (Is. lxi. 6; Ez. xliv. 11; Joel i. 9, 13; Ezr. viii. 17 ; Neh. x. 36). In the N. T. we have three terms, each with its distinctive meaning — Aet rovpyog, v7rr)peTr )<; , and Sia/coi/os. The first answers most nearly to the Hebrew meshd- reth, and is usually employed in the LXX. as its equivalent. It betokens a subordinate public administrator (Rom. xiii. 6, xv. 16; Heb. viii. 2). In all these instances the ori- ginal and special meaning of the word, as used by the Athenians of one who performs certain gratuitous public services, is pre- served. The second term, vTrrjperrig, differs from the two others in that it contains the idea of actual and personal attendance upon a superior. Thus it is used of the attendant in the synagogue, the chazan of the Talmu- dists (Luke iv. 20), whose duty it was to open and close the building, to produce and replace the books employed in the service, and generally to wait on the officiating priest or teacher. The idea of personal attendance comes prominently forward in Luke i. 2 ; Acts xxvi. 16. In all these cases the etymo- logical sense of the word (vno epenj?, literally a “ sub-rower ,” one who rows under com- mand of the steersman) comes out. The third term, fiicucorosr, is the one usually em- ployed in relation to the ministry of the Gos- pel : its application is twofold, in a general sense to indicate ministers of any order, whe- ther superior or inferior, and in a special sense to indicate an order of inferior ministers. [Deacon.] MIN'NITH, a place on the east of the Jor- dan, named as the point to which Jephthah’s slaughter of the Ammonites extended (Judg. xi. 33). A site bearing the name Menjah, is marked in Van de Yelde’s Map, at 7 Roman miles east of Heshbon. The “ wheat of Min- nith ” is mentioned in Ez. xxvii. 17, as being supplied by Judah and Israel to Tyre ; but there is nothing to indicate that the same place is intended, and indeed the word is thought by some not to be a proper name. MINSTREL. The Hebrew word in 2 K. iii. 15 properly signifies a player upon a stringed instrument like the harp or kinnor [Harp]. The “minstrels” in Matt. ix. 23, were the flute-players who were employed as professional mourners to whom frequent allu- sion is made (Eccl. xii. 5 ; 2 Chr. xxxv. 25 ; Jer. ix. 17-20). MINT occurs only in Matt, xxiii. 23, and Luke xi. 42, as one of those herbs, the tithe MIRACLES 349 MIRACLES of which the Jews were most scrupulously exact in paying. The woodcut represents the horse mint (M. sylvestris ) which is com- mon in Syria. MIRACLES. The word “ miracle ” is the ordinary translation, in our Authorized Eng- lish version, of the Greek word Semeion (crrjjutetoi/), which signifies “ a sign.” The habitual use of the term “ miracle ” has tended to fix attention too much on the phy- sical strangeness of the facts thus described, and to divert attention from what may be tailed their signality. A miracle may be de- fined to be a plain and manifest exercise by a man, or by God at the call of a man, of those powers which belong only to the Creator and Lord of nature ; and this for the declared ob- ject of attesting that a divine mission is given to that man. It is not therefore the wonder , the exception to common experience, that consti- tutes the miracle , as is assumed both in the popular use of the word, and by most ob- jectors against miracles. No phenomenon in nature, however unusual, no event in the course of God’s providence, however unex- pected, is a miracle, unless it can be traced to the agency of man (including prayer under the term agency), and unless it be put forth as proof of a divine mission. Prodigies and special providences are not miracles. On the other hand, it is a mere petitio principii , to argue against all miracles, on the ground that if we could see the secret manner of God’s working, we might find them to be consistent with some higher law unknown to our experience. For it is not so much the violation of law, as the manifest application of it to a special occasion, that attests the immediate power of God. — In the case of the Old Testament Miracles , in order fully to understand their evidential character, we must consider the general nature and design of the dispensation with which they were connected. The general design of that dis- pensation appears to have been to keep up in one particular race a knowledge of the one true God, and of the promise of a Messiah in whom “ all the families of the earth ” should be “ blessed.” And in order to this end, it appears to have been necessary that, for some time, God should have assumed the character of the local tutelary Deity and Prince of that particular people. And from this peculiar relation in which He stood to the Jewish people resulted the necessity of frequent miracles, to manifest and make sensibly per- ceptible His actual presence among and go- vernment over them. The miracles, therefore, of the Old Testament are to be regarded as evidential of the theocratic government ; and this again is to be conceived of as subordinate to the further purpose of preparing the way for Christianity, by keeping up in the world a knowledge of the true God and of His pro- mise of a Redeemer. With respect to the character of the Old Testament miracles, we must also remember that the whole structure of the Jewish economy had reference to the peculiar exigency of the circumstances of a people imperfectly civilized, and is so dis- tinctly described in the New Testament, as dealing with men according to the “ hardness of their hearts,” and being a system of “ weak and beggarly elements,” and a rudimentary instruction for “ children ” who were in the condition of “ slaves.” — The New Testament Miracles do not seem to have been generally denied by the opponents of Christianity. They appear to have preferred adopting the expedient of ascribing them to art, magic, and the power of evil spirits. We know that in two instances, in the Gospel narrative, the cure of the man born blind and the Resur- rection, the Jewish priests were unable to pretend such a solution and were driven to maintain unsuccessfully a charge of fraud. The circumstances of the Christian miracles are utterly unlike those of any pretended in- stances of magical wonders. This difference consists in (1.) The greatness, number, com- pleteness, and publicity of the miracles. (2.) The natural beneficial tendency of the doc- trine they attested. (3.) The connexion of them with a whole scheme of revelation ex- tending from the first origin of the human race to the time of Christ. The Ecclesiastical Miracles are not delivered to us by inspired historians ; nor do they seem to form any part of the same series of events as the mira- cles of the New Testament. The miracles of the New Testament (setting aside those wrought by Christ Himself) appear to have been worked by a power conferred upon par- ticular persons according to a regular law, in virtue of which that power was ordinarily transmitted from one person to another, and the only persons privileged thus to transmit that power were the Apostles . The only ex- ceptions to this rule were, (1.) the Apostles themselves, and (2.) the family of Cornelius, who were the first-fruits of the Gentiles. In all other cases, miraculous gifts were con- ferred only by the laying on of the Apostles' hands. By this arrangement, it is evident that a provision was made for the total ceas- ing of that miraculous dispensation within a limited period ; because, on the death of the last of the Apostles, the ordinary channels would be all stopped through which such gifts were transmitted in the Church. One passage has, indeed, been appealed to as seeming to indicate the permanent residence MIRIAM 350 MISREPHOTH-MAIM of miraculous powers in the Christian Church through all ages, Mark xvi. 17, 18. But — (1.) That passage itself is of doubtful autho- rity, since we know that it was omitted in most of the Greek MSS. which Eusebius was able to examine in the 4th century ; and it is still wanting in some of the most important that remain to us. (2.) It does not neces- sarily imply more than a promise that such miraculous powers should exhibit themselves among the immediate converts of the Apostles. And (3.) this latter interpretation is sup- ported by what follows — “ And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the ivord with the accompanying signs.” Moreover, the ecclesiastical miracles are improbable (1.) as varying from the analogy of nature ; (2.) as varying from the analogy of the Scripture miracles ; (3.) as resembling those legendary stories which are the known product of the credulity or imposture of mankind. MIR'IAM, the sister of Moses, was the eldest of that sacred family ; and she first appears, probably as a young girl, watching her infant brother’s cradle in the Nile (Ex. Si. 4), and suggesting her mother as a nurse (ib. 7). The independent and high position given by her superiority of age she never lost. “ The sister of Aaron” is her Biblical distinction (Ex. xv. 20). In Num. xii. 1 she is placed before Aaron ; and in Mic. vi. 4 reckoned as amongst the Three Deliverers. She is the first personage in that household to whom the prophetic gifts are directly as- cribed — “ Miriam the Prophetess ” is her acknowledged title (Ex. xv. 20). The pro- phetic power showed itself in her under the same form as that which it assumed in the days of Samuel and David, — poetry, accom- panied with music and processions (Ex. xv. 1-19). She took the lead, with Aaron, in the complaint against Moses for his marriage with a Cushite. “ Hath Jehovah spoken by Moses ? Hath He not also spoken by us ? ” (Num. xii. 1, 2). A stern rebuke was ad- ministered in front of the sacred Tent to both Aaron and Miriam. But the punishment fell on Miriam, as the chief offender. The hate- ful Egyptian leprosy, of which for a moment the sign had been seen on the hand of her younger brother, broke out over the whole person of the proud prophetess. How grand was her position, and how heavy the blow, is implied in the cry of anguish which goes up from both her brothers. And it is not less evident in the silent grief of the nation (Num. xii. 10-15). This stroke, and its removal, which took place at Hazeroth, form the last public event of Miriam’s life. She died to- wards the close of the wanderings at Kadesh, and was buried there (Num. xx. 1). Her tomb was shown near Petra in the days of Jerome. According to Josephus, she was married to the famous Hun, and, through him, was grandmother of the architect Beza- leel. MIRROR. Two Hebrew words in Ex. xxxviii. 8, and Job xxxvii. 18 are rendered “looking glass” in the A. Y., but from the context evidently denote a mirror of polished metal. The Hebrew women on coming out of Egypt probably brought with them mirrors like those which were used by the Egyptians, and were made of a mixed metal, chiefly copper, wrought with admirable skill, and susceptible of a bright lustre. The metal ol which the mirrors were composed, being liable to rust and tarnish, required to be constantly kept bright (Wisd. vii. 26 ; Ecclus. xii. 11). The obscure image produced by a tarnished or imperfect mirror, appears to be alluded to in 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Egypti an Mirror. MISH'AEL. [Meshach.] MIS'REPHOTH-MA'IM, a place in north- ern Palestine, in close connexion with Zidon- rabbah, i. e. Si don (Josh. xi. 8, xiii. 6). Taken as Hebrew, the literal meaning of the name is “burnings of waters,” and accord- ingly it is taken by the old interpreters to mean “ warm waters,” whether natural, t. e. hot baths or springs — or artificial, i. e. salt, glass, or smelting works. Dr. Thomson treats Misrephoth-maim as identical with a collection of springs called Ain-Musheirifeh MITE 351 MIZPAH on the sea-shore, close under the Has en~ Nakhura ; hut this has the disadvantage of being very far from Sidon. May it not rather he the place with which we are familiar in the later history as Zarephath? MITE, a coin current in Palestine in the time of our Lord (Mark xii. 41-44 ; Luke xxi. 1-4). It seems in Palestine to have been the smallest piece of money, being the naif of the farthing, which was a coin of very low value. From St. Mark’s explanation, “ two mites, which make a farthing ” (ver. 42), it may perhaps he inferred that the farthing was the commoner coin. In the Graeco-Homan coinage of Palestine, the two smallest coins, of which the assarion is the more common, seem to correspond to the farthing and the mite, the larger weighing about twice as much as the smaller. MITRE. [Crown.] MITYLE'NE, the chief town of Les- bos, and situated on the east coast of the island. Mitylene is the intermediate place where St. Paul stopped for the night between Assos and Chios (Acts xx. 14, 15). The town itself was celebrated in Roman times for the beauty of its buildings. In St. Paul’s day it had the privileges of a free city. MIXED MULTITUDE. When the Israel- ites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, the first stage of the Exodus from Egypt, there went up with them “ a mixed multi- tude” (Ex. xii. 38; Num. xi. 4). They were probably the offspring of marriages contracted between the Israelites and the Egyptians ; and the term may also include all those who were not of pure Israelite blood. MI'ZAR, THE HILL, a mountain ap- parently in the northern part of trans- Jordanic Palestine, from which the author of Psalm xlii. utters his pathetic appeal (ver. 6). MIZ'PAH, and MIZ'PEH, “ a watch- tower,” the name of several places in Palestine. — 1. The earliest of all, in order of the narrative, is the heap of stones piled up by Jacob and Laban (Gen. xxxi. 48) on Mount Gilead (ver. 25), to serve both as a witness to the covenant then entered into, and also as a landmark of the boundary be- tween them (ver. 52). This heap received a name from each of the two chief actors in the transaction — Galeed and Jegar Saha- dtjtha. But it had also a third, viz. Miz- pah, which it seems from the terms of the narrative to have derived from neither party, but to have possessed already. The name remained attached to the ancient meeting- place of Jacob and Laban, and the spot where their conference had been held became a sanctuary of Jehovah, and a place for solemn conclave and deliberation in times of difficulty long after. On this natural “ watch-tower,” did the children of Israel assemble for the choice of a leader to resist the children of Ammon (Judg. x. 17) ; and when the out- lawed Jcphthah had been prevailed on to leave his exile and take the head of his people, his first act was [to go to “ the Mizpah,” and on that consecrated ground utter all his words “before Jehovah.” At Mizpah he seems to have henceforward resided ; there the fatal meeting took place with his daughter on his return from the war (xi. 34), and we can hardly doubt that on the altar of that sanctuary the father’s terrible vow was consummated. It seems most probable that the “ Mizpeh-Gilead ” which is mentioned here, and here only, is the same as the ham-Mizpah of the other parts of the narrative ; and both are pro- bably identical with the Ramath-Mizpeh and Ramoth-Gilead, so famous in the later history. Mizpah still retained its name in the days of the Maccabees, by whom it was besieged and taken with the other cities of Gilead (1 Macc. v. 35). — 2. A second Miz- peh, on the east of Jordan, was the Mizpeh- Moab, where the king of that nation was living when David committed his parents to his care (1 Sam. xxii. 3). — 3. A third was The Land of Mizpeh, or more accurately “ of Mizpah,” the residence of the Hivites who joined the northern confederacy against Israel, headed by Jabin king of Hazor (Josh, xi. 3). No other mention is found of this district in the Bible, unless it be identical with — 4. The Valley of Mizpeh, to which the discomfited hosts of the same confederacy were chased by Joshua (xi. 8), perhaps iden- tical with the great country of Coele-Svria. — 5. Mizpeh, a city of Judah (Josh. xv. 38) ; in the district of the Shefelah or maritime lowland. — 6. Mizpeh, in Josh, and Samuel ; elsewhere Mizpah a “city” of Benjamin, named in the list of the allotment between Beeroth and Chephirah, and in apparent proximity to Ramah and Gibeon (Josh, xviii. 26). Its connexion with the two last- named towns is also implied in the later history (1 K. xv. 22 ; 2 Chr. xvi. 6 ; Neh„ iii. 7). It was one of the places fortified by Asa against the incursions of the kings of the northern Israel (1 K. xv. 22 ; 2 Chr. xvi. 6 ; Jer. xii. 9) ; and after the destruc- tion of Jerusalem it became the residence of the superintendent appointed by the king of Babylon (Jer. xl. 7, &c.), and the scene of his murder and of the romantic incidents connected with the name of lshmael the son MIZPEH 352 MOAB of Nethaniah. But Mizpah was more than this. In the earlier periods of the history of Israel, at the first foundation of the monarchy, it was one of the three holy cities which Samuel visited in turn as judge of the people (vii. 6, 16), the other two being Bethel and Gilgal. But, unlike Bethel and Gilgal, no record is preserved of the cause or origin of a sanctity so abruptly announced, and yet so fully asserted. With the conquest of Jeru- salem and the establishment there of the Ark, the sanctity of Mizpah, or at least its reputation, seems to have declined. We hear of no religious act in connexion with it till that affecting assembly called to- gether thither, as to the ancient sanctuary of their forefathers, by Judas Maccabaeus, “when the Israelites assembled themselves together and came to Massepha over against Jerusalem ; for in Maspha was there afore- time a place of prayer for Israel ” ( 1 Macc. iii. 46). The expression “ over against,” no less than the circumstances of the story, seems to require that from Mizpah the City or the Temple was visible. These conditions are satisfied by the position of Scopus, the broad ridge which forms the continuation of the Mount of Olives to the north and east, from which the traveller gains, like Titus, his first view, and takes his last farewell, of the domes, walls, and towers of the Holy City. MIZ'PEH. [Mizpah.] MIZ'RAIM, the usual name of Egypt in the O. T., the dual of Mazor, which is less frequently employed. It is probably derived from the Arabic word Mizr , which signifies “ red earth or mud.” Mizraim first occurs in the account of the Hamites in Gen. x., where we read, “ And the sons of Ham ; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan ” (ver. 6 ; comp. 1 Chr. i. 8). In the use of the name Mizraim for Egypt there can be no doubt that the dual indicates the two regions (Upper and Lower Egypt) into which the country has always been divided by nature as well as by its inhabitants. MNA'SON is honourably mentioned in Scripture, like Gaius, Lydia, and others, as one of the hosts of the Apostle Paul (Acts xxi. 16). It is most likely that his resi- dence at this time was not Caesarea, but Jerusalem. He was a Cyprian by birth, and may have been a friend of Barnabas (Acts iv. 36), and possibly brought to the know- ledge of Christianity by him. MO'AB, MO'ABITES. Moab was the son of Lot’s eldest daughter, the progenitor of the Moabites, and the elder brother of Ben- Ammi, the progenitor of the Amin'Miites (Gen. six. 371. Zoar was the cradle of the race of Lot. From this centre the brother-tribes spread themselves. The Moabites first in- habited the rich highlands which crown the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far north as the mountain of Gilead, from which country they expelled the Emims, the original inhabitants (Deut. ii. 11). But they themselves were after- wards driven southwards by the warlike Amorites, who had crossed the Jordan, and were confined to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary (Num. xxi. 13 ; Judg. xi. 18). The territory occupied by Moab at the period of its greatest extent, before the invasion of the Amorites, divided itself naturally into three distinct and independent portions. Each of these portions appears to have had its name by which it is almost invariably designated. (1) The enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon was the “ field of Moab” (Ruth i. 1, 2, 6, &c.). (2) The more open rolling country north of the Arnon, opposite Jericho, and up to the hills of Gilead, was the “land of Moab” (Deut. i. 5, xxxii. 49 &c.). (3) The sunk district in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley, tak- ing its name from that of the great valley itself — the Arabah — was the Arboth-Moab, the dry regions — in the A.V. very incorrectly rendered the “ plains of Moab ” (Num. xxii. 1, &c.). — The Israelites, in entering the Promised Land, did not pass through the Moabites (1 Judg. xi. 18), but conquered the Amorites, who occupied the country from which the Moabites had been so lately ex- pelled. After the conquest of Canaan the relations of Moab with Israel were of a mixed character. With the tribe of Ben- jamin, whose possessions at their eastern end were separated from those of Moab only by the Jordan, they had at least one severe struggle, in union with their kindred the Ammonites (Judg. iii. 12-30). The feud continued with true Oriental pertinacity to the time of Saul. Of his slaughter of the Ammonites we have full details in 1 Sam. xi., and amongst his other conquests Moab is especially mentioned (1 Sam. xiv. 47). But while such were their relations to the tribe of Benjamin, the story of Ruth, on the other hand, testifies to the existence of a friendly intercourse between Moab and Bethlehem, one of the towns of Judah. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. The relation- ship was sufficient to warrant his visiting the land, and committing his parents to the protection of the king of Moab, when hard pressed by Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4). But here all friendly relations stop for ever. The MODIN MOLECH next time the name is mentioned is in the account of David’s war, who made them tri- butary (2 Sam. viii. 2 ; 1 Chr. xviii. 2). At the disruption of the kingdom, Moab seems to have fallen to the northern realm. At the death of Ahab, eighty years later, the Moabites threw off the yoke (1 K. i. 1, iii. 4). They afterwards fought against the united forces of Israel, Judah, and Edom, but were defeated with great loss (2 K. iii. ; 2 Chr. xx. 1). Isaiah (xv., xvi., xxv. 10-12) pre- dicts the utter annihilation of Moab ; and they are frequently denounced by the sub- sequent prophets. For the religion of the Moabites see Chemosh, Molech, Peor. MO'DIN, a place not mentioned in either Old or New Testament, though rendered im- mortal by its connexion with the history of the Jews in the interval between the two. It was the native city of the Maccabaean family (1 Macc. xiii. 25), and as a necessary conse- quence contained their ancestral sepulchre (ii. 70, ix. 19, xiii. 25-30). At Modin the Maccabaean armies encamped on the eves of two of their most memorable victories — that of Judas over Antiochus Eupator (2 Macc. xiii. 14), and that of Simon over Cendebeus (1 Macc. xvi. 4), the last battle of the veteran chief before his assassination. The only indication of the position of the place to be gathered from the above notices is contained in the last, from which we may infer that it was near “ the plain ” i. e. the great mari- time lowland of Philistia (ver. 5). By Eu- sebius and Jerome it is specified as near Diospolis, i. e. Lydda ; while the notice in the Mishna states that it was 1 (Homan) mile from Jerusalem. At the same time the des- cription of the monument seems to imply that the spot was so lofty as to be visible from the sea, and so near that even the details of the sculpture were discernible therefrom. All these conditions, excepting the last, are tolerably fulfilled in either of the two sites called Latrun and Kubdb. The mediaeval and modern tradition places Modin at Soba, an eminence south of Kurietel-enab ; but this being not more than 7 miles from Jerusalem, while it is as much as 25 from Lydda and 30 from the sea, and also far re- moved from the plain of Philistia, is at variance with every one of the conditions implied in the records. MQ'LADAH, a city of Judah, one of those which lay in the district of “ the south,” next to Edom (Josh. xv. 26, xix. 2). In the latter tribe it remained at any rate till the reign of David (1 Chr. iv. 28), but by the time of the captivity it seems to have come back into the hands of Judah, by whom it was reinhabited after the captivity Sm. D. B. (Neh. xi. 26). In the Onomasticon a place named Malatha is spoken of as in the in- terior of Daroma ; and further it is men- tioned as 4 miles from Arad and 20 from Hebron. It may be placed at el-Milh, which is about 4 English miles from Tell Arad , 17 or 18 from Hebron* and 9 or 10 due east of Beersheba. MOLE. 1. Tinshemeth (Lev. xi. 30). It is probable that the animals mentioned with the tinshemeth in the above passage denote different kinds of lizards ; perhaps, there- fore, the chameleon may be the animal intended. — 2. Chephor peroth is rendered “ moles ” in Is. ii. The Chameleon. ( Chameleo vulgaris.) MO r LECH. The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian, and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites. Among these were human sacrifices, purifications and ordeals by fire, devoting of the first-born, mutilation, and vows of perpetual celibacy and virginity. The root of the word Molech is the same as that of melee or “king.” The first direct historical allusion to Molech-worship is in the description of Solomon’s idolatry in his old age (1 K. xi. 7). Two verses before, the same deity is called Milcom. Most of the Jewish interpreters say that in the worship of Molech the children were not burnt, but made to pass between two burning pyres, as a purificatory rite. But the allusions to the actual slaughter are too plain to be mistaken. Compare Deut. xii. 31 ; Ps. cvi. 37, 38 ; Jer. vii. 31, xix. 5 ; Ez. xvi. 20, 21, xxiii. 37. The worship of Molech is evidently alluded to, though not expressly mentioned, in con- nexion with star-worship and the worship of Baal in 2 K. xvii. 16, 17, xxi. 5, 6, which seems to show that Molech, the flame-god, and Baal, the sun-god, were worshipped with the same rites. According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow within, and was situated without 2 A MOLOCH 354 MONEY Jerusalem. Kimchi (on 2 K. xxiii. 10) describes it as “set within seven chapels, and whoso offered, fine flour they open to him one of them ; (whoso offered) turtle- doves or young pigeons they open to him two ; a lamb, they open to him three ; a ram, they open to him four ; a calf, they open to him five ; an ox, they open tc him six ; and so whoever offered his son they open to him seven. And his face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbour. And they kindled it with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up the ghost.” “ The tabernacle of Moloch ” mentioned in Acts vii. 43, was more probably a shrine or ark in which the figure of the god was carried in processions. Molech, “the king,” was the lord and master of the Ammonites ; their country was his possession (Jer. xlix. 1), as Moab was the heritage of Chemosh ; the princes of the land were the princes of Mal- cham (Jer. xlix. 3; Am. i. 15). His priests were men of rank (Jer. xlix. 3), taking pre- cedence of the princes. The priests of Molech, like those of other idols, were called Che- marim (2 K. xxiii. 5; Hos. x. 5; Zeph, i, 4). MO'LOCH, the same as Molech. MONEY. We have no evidence of the use of coined money before the return from the Babylonian captivity ; but silver was used for money, in quantities determined by weight, at least as early as the time of Abraham ; and its earliest mention is in the generic sense of the price paid for a slave (Gen. xvii. 13). The 1000 pieces of silver paid by Abimelech to Abraham (Gen. xx. 16), and the 20 pieces of silver for which Joseph was sold to the Xshmeelites (Gen. xxxvii. 28) were probably rings such as we see on the Egyptian monu- ments in the act of being weighed. In the first recorded transaction of commerce, the cave of Machpelah is purchased by Abraham for 400 shekels of silver, and it was this just weight that was recognised as current with the merchant (“ money” is not in the origi- nal : Gen. xxiii. 15, 16). The shekel weight of silver was the unit of value through the whole age of Hebrew history, down to the Babylonian captivity. In only one place is there a mention of so many shekels of gold as a sum of money (1 Chr. xxi. 25), and even here, in the older parallel passage, silver only is mentioned (2 Sam. xxiv. 9). In the transaction between Naaman and Gehazi, the “six thousand of gold” (2 K. v. 5, where pieces is not in the original) probably denotes shekels, like the “six hundred of gold” in 1 K. x. 16. — After the Captivity we have the earliest mention of coined money , in allusion, as might have been expected, to the Persian coinage, the gold Baric (A. V. dram: Ezra ii. 69, viii. 27; Neh. vii. 70, 71, 72). [Daric.] No native Jewish coinage appears to have existed till Anti- ochus VII. Sidetes granted Simon Macca- baeus the licence to coin money (b.c. 140) ; and it is now generally agreed that the oldest Jewish silver coins belong to this period. They are shekels and half-shekels of the weight of 220 and 110 grains. With this silver there was associated a copper coinage, some pieces of which have been supposed to reach as high as Judas Maccabaeus ; but probably none are really older than John HyTcanus (b.c. 135), from whom the series is continued, almost without interruption, to the end of the Asmonaean house. Most of them are marked as the half or quarter (doubtless of the shekel ), their average weight being 23 5 J and 132 grains; and there is a third piece of about 82 grains, which seems to be the sixth of a shekel. The abundant money of Herod the Great , which is of a thoroughly Greek character, and of copper only, seems to have been a continuation of the copper coinage of the Maccabees, with some adapta- tion to the Homan standard. In the money of the New Testament we see the native copper coinage side by side with the Graeco- Roman copper, silver, and gold. An interest- ing illustration occurs in our Lord’s first commission to the Apostles. St. Matthew (x. 9), with comprehensive generality, men- tions all the three metals, “ Provide neither gold, nor silver , nor brass, in your girdles.” St. Mark (vi. 8) names only the copper (x^A- Egyptian weighing rings for mone? MONEY-CHANGERS 355 MONTH tcov) which formed the common native cur- rency. St. Luke (ix. 3) uses the general word for money ( apyvpiov ). — The coins men- tioned by the Evangelists, and first those of silver, are the following : — The stater is spoken of in the account of the miracle of the tribute-money. The receivers of didrachms demanded the tribute, but St. Peter found in the fish a stater , which he paid for our Lord and himself (Matt. xvii. 24-2T). The stater was therefore a tetradrachm, and it is note- worthy that at this period almost the only Greek Imperial silver coin in the East was a tetradrachm, the didrachm being probably unknown, or very little coined. The di- drachm is mentioned as a money of account in the passage above cited, as the equivalent of the Hebrew shekel. The denarius , or Roman penny, as well as the Greek drachm , then of about the same weight, are spoken of as current coins (Matt. xxii. 15-21 ; Luke xx. 19-25). Of copper coins the farthing and its half, the mite, are spoken of, and these probably formed the chief native currency. MONEY-CHANGERS (Matt. xii. 12 ; Mark xi. 15; Johnii. 15). According to Ex. xxx. 13-15. every Israelite who had reached or passed the age of twenty must pay into the sacred treasury, whenever the nation was numbered, a half-shekel as an offering to Jehovah. The money-changers whom Christ, for their impiety, avarice, and fraudulent dealing, expelled from the Temple, were the dealers who supplied half-shekels for such a premium as they might be able to exact, to the Jews from all parts of the world, who assembled at Jerusalem during the great fes- tivals, and were required to pay their tribute or ransom money in the Hebrew coin. MONTH. The terms for “ month ” and “ moon ” have the same close connexion in the Hebrew language, as in our own. From the time of the institution of the Mosaic law downwards the month was a lunar one. The cycle of religious feasts commencing with the Passover, depended not simply on the month, but on the moon ; the 14th of Abib was co- incident with the full moon; and the new moons themselves were the occasions of regu- lar festivals (Num. x. 10, xxviii. 11-14). The commencement of the month was gene- rally decided by observation of the new moon. The usual number of months in a year was twelve, as implied in 1 K. iv. 7 ; 1 Chr. xxvii. 1-15 ; but inasmuch as the Hebrew months coincided with the seasons, it follows as a matter of course that an addi- tional month must have been inserted about every third year, which would bring the number up to thirteen. No notice, however, is taken of this month in the Bible. In the modern Jewish calendar the intercalary month is introduced seven times in every 19 years. The usual method of designating the months was by their numerical order, e. g. “the second month ” (Gen. vii. 11), “the fourth month” (2 K. xxv. 3) ; and this was generally retained even when the names were given, e. g. “ in the month Zif, which is the second month ” (1 K. vi. 1), “ in the third month, that is, the month Sivan ” (Esth. viii. 9). An exception occurs, however, in regard to Abib in the early portion of the Bible (Ex. xiii. 4, xxiii. 15 ; Deut. xvi. 1), which is always mentioned by name alone. The practice of the writers of the post-Babylonian period in this respect varied : Ezra, Esther, and Zechariah specify both the names and the numerical order ; Nehemiah only the former ; Daniel and Haggai only the latter. The names of the months belong to two dis- tinct periods ; in the first place we have those peculiar to the period of Jewish independence, of which four only, even including Abib, which we hardly regard as a proper name, are mentioned, viz. : Abib, in which the Passover fell (Ex. xiii. 4, xxiii. 15, xxxiv. 18 ; Deut. xvi. 1), and which was established as the first month in commemoration of the Exodus (Ex. xii. 2) ; Zif, the second month (1 K. vi. 1, 37) ; Bui, the eighth (1 K. vi. 38) ; and Ethanim, the seventh (1 K. viii. 2). In the second place we have the names which prevailed subsequently to the Babylonish Captivity ; of these the following seven ap- pear in the Bible :* — Nisan, the first, in which the Passover was held (Neh. ii. 1 ; Esth. iii. 7 ) ; Sivan, the third (Esth. viii. 9 ; Bar. i. 8) ; Elul, the sixth (Neh. vi. 15 ; 1 Macc. xiv. 27); Chisleu, the ninth (Neh. i. 1; Zech. vii. 1 ; 1 Macc. i. 54) ; Tebeth, the tenth (Esth. ii. 16) ; Sebat, the eleventh (Zech. i. 7 ; 1 Macc. xvi. 14) ; and Adar, the twelfth (Esth. iii. 7, viii. 12 ; 2 Macc. xv. 36). The names of the remaining five occur in the Talmud and other works; they were, Iyar, the second (Targum, 2 Chr. xxx. 2) ; Tam- muz, the fourth ; Ab, the fifth ; Tisri, the seventh ; and Marcheshvan, the eighth. The name of the intercalary month was Yeadar, i. e. the additional Adar.- — Subsequently to the establishment of the Syro-Macedonian Empire, the use of the Macedonian calendat was gradually adopted for purposes of litera- ture or intercommunication with other coun- tries. The only instance in which the Mace- donian names appear in the Bible is in 2 Macc. xi. 30, 33, 38, where we have notice of Xanthicus in combination with another named Dioscorinthius (ver. 21), which does not ap- pear in the Macedonian calendar. It is most probable that the author of 2 Macc. or a 2 A 2 MOON 356 MORDECAI copyist was familiar with the Cretan calendar, which contained a month named Dioscurus, holding the same place in the calendar as the Macedonian Dystrus, i. e. immediately before Xanthicus, and that he substituted one for the other. — The identification of the Jewish months with our own cannot be effected with precision on account of the variations that must inevitably exist between the lunar and the solar month. Nisan (or Abib) answers to March ; Zif or lyar to May ; Sivan to June ; Tammuz to July ; Ab to August ; Elul to September ; Ethanim or Tisri to October ; Bui or Marcheshvan to November ; Chisleu to December ; Tebeth to January ; Sebat to February ; and Adar to March. MOON. The moon held an important place in the kingdom of nature, as known to the Hebrews. In the history of the creation (Gen. i. 14-16), it appears simultaneously with the sun. Conjointly with the sun, it was appointed “ for signs and for seasons, and for days and years ;” though in this respect it exercised a more important influ- ence, if by the “seasons” we understand the great religious festivals of the Jews, as is particularly stated in Ps. civ. 19, and more at length in Ecclus. xliii. 6, 7. Beside^ this, it had its special office in the distribution of light ; it was appointed “ to rule over the night,” as the sun over the day, and thus the appearance of the two founts of light served “ to divide between the day andbetween the night.” The inferiority of its light is occasionally no- ticed, as in Gen. i. 16 ; in Cant. vi. 10 ; and in Is. xxx. 26. The coldness of the night- dews is prejudicial to the health, and parti- cularly to the eyes of those who are exposed to it, and the idea expressed in Ps. cxxi. 6 may have reference to the general or the par- ticular evil effect. The worship of the moon was extensively practised by the nations of the East, and under a variety of aspects. In Egypt it was honoured under the form of Isis, and was one of the only two deities which commanded the reverence of all the Egyptians. In Syria it was represented by that one of the Ashtaroth, surnamed “ Kar- naim,” from the horns of the crescent moon by which she was distinguished. There are indications of a very early introduction into the countries adjacent to Palestine of a species of worship distinct from any that we have hitherto noticed, viz. of the direct homage of the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars, which is the characteristic of Sabianism. The first notice we have of this is in Job (xxxi. 26, 27), and it is observable that the warning of Moses (Deut. iv. 19) is directed against this nature- worship, rather than against the form of moon-worship, which the Israelites must have witnessed in Egypt. At a later period, however, the worship of the moon in its grosser form of idol- worship was introduced from Syria. In the figurative language of Scripture the moon is frequently noticed as presaging events of the greatest importance through the temporary or per- manent withdrawal of its light (Is. xiii. 10 ; Joel ii. 31 ; Matt. xxiv. 29 ; Mark xiii. 24). MOON, NEW. [New Moon.] MORASTHITE, THE, that is, the native of a place named Moresheth. It occurs twice (Jer. xxvi. 18 ; Mic. i. 1), each time as the description of the prophet Micah. MOR'DECAI, the deliverer, under Divine Providence, of the Jews from the destruction plotted against them by Haman the chief minister of Xerxes ; the institutor of the feast of Purim. The incidents of his history are too well known to need to be dwe*t upon. [Esther.] It will be more useful to point out his place in sacred, profane, and rab- binical history respectively. Three things are predicated of Mordecai in the Book of Esther: (1) that he lived in Shushan; (2) that his name was Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shnnei, son of Kish the Benjamite who was taken captive with Jehoiachin ; (3) that he brought up Esther. It is probable that the Mordecai mentioned in Ezr. ii. 2 ; Neh. vii. 7, as one of the leaders of the captives who returned from time to time from Babylon to Judaea, was the same as Mordecai of the Book of Esther. — As regards his place in profane history, the domestic annals of the reign of Xerxes are so scanty, that it would not surprise us to find no mention of Morde- cai. But there is a person named by Ctesias, who probably saw the very chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia referred to in Esth. x. 2, whose name and character present some points of resemblance with Mordecai, viz. Matacas, or Natacas, whom he describes as Xerxes’ chief favourite, and the most powerful of them all. If we suppose the original form of the name to have been Ma- tacai, it would easily in the Chaldee orthogra- phy become Mordecai. — As regards his place in Rabbinical estimation, Mordecai, as is na- tural, stands very high. The interpolations in the Greek book of Esther are one indication of his popularity with his countrymen. The Targum (of late date) shows that this in- creased rather than diminished with the lapse of centuries. It is said of Mordecai that he knew the seventy languages , i. e. the languages of all the nations mentioned in Gen. x., which the Jews count as seventy nations, and that his age exceeded 400 years. He is continually designated by the appelia- MOREH 357 MORTAR ticn “the Just.” Benjamin of Tudela places the tomb of Mordecai and Esther at Hamadan, or Echatana. Others, however, place the tomb of Mordecai in Susa. MO'REH. — 1. The plain, or plains (or, as it should rather be rendered, the oak or oaks), of Moreh. The Oak of Moreh was the first recorded halting place of Abram after his entrance into the land of Canaan (Gen. xii. 6). It was at the “place of She- chem” (xii. 6), close to the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim (Deut. xi. 30). There is reason for believing that this place, the scene of so important an occurrence in Abram’s early residence in Canaan, may have been also that of one even more important, the crisis of his later life, the offering of Isaac, on a mountain in “ the land of Moriah.” Whether the oaks of Moreh had any con- nexion with — 2. The Hill of Moreh, at the foot of which the Midianites and Amalek- ites were encamped before Gideon’s attack upon them (Judg. vii. 1), seems, to say the least, most uncertain. But a comparison of Judg. vi. 33 with vii. 1 makes it evident that it lay in the valley of Jezreel, rather on the north side of the valley, and north also of the eminence on which Gideon’s little band of heroes was clustered. These conditions are most accurately fulfilled if we assume Jebel ed-Duhy :, the “ Little Hermon ” of the modern travellers, to be Moreh, the Ain- Jalood to be the spring of Harod, and Gideon’s position to have been on the north- east slope of Jebel Fukua (Mount Gilboa), be- tween the village of JVuris and the last-men- tioned spring. MORESH'ETH-GATH, a place named by the prophet Micah only (Mic. i. 14), in com- pany with Lachish, Achzib, Mareshah, and other towns of the lowland district of Judah. Micah was himself the native of a place called Moresheth. Eusebius and Jerome, in the Onomasticon , describe Morasthi as a moderate-sized village near Eleutheropolis, to the east. MQRI'AH. — 1. The Land of Moriah. On “ one of the mountains ” in this district took place the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. xxii. 2). What the name of the mountain was we are not told ; but it was a conspicuous one, visible from “ afar off” (ver. 4). Nor does the narrative afford' any data for ascertaining its position. It is most natural to take the “ land of Moriah ” as the same district with that in which the “ Oak (A. Y. “ plain ”) of Moreh ” was situated, and not as that which contains Jerusalem, as the modern tradition, which would identify the Moriah of Gen. xxii. and that of 2 Chr. iii. 1, affirms. — 2. Mount Moriah. The name ascribed, in 2 Chr. iii. 1 only, to the eminence on which Solomon built the Temple; “where He ap- peared to David his father, in a place which David prepared in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” From the mention of Araunah, the inference is natural that the “ appearance ” alluded to occurred at the time of the purchase of the threshing-floor by David, and his erection thereon of the altar (2 Sam. xxiv. ; 1 Chr. xxi.). But it will be observed that nothing is said in the narratives of that event of any “ appearance/’ of Jehovah. A tradition which first appears in a definite shape in Josephus, and is now almost universally accepted, asserts that the “ Mount Moriah ” of the Chronicles is iden- tical with the “ mountain ” in “ the land of Moriah’” of Genesis, and that the spot on which Jehovah appeared to David, and on which the Temple was built, was the very spot of the sacrifice of Isaac. But the single occurrence of the name in this one passage of Chronicles is surely not enough to estab- lish a coincidence, which if we consider it is little short of miraculous. Except in the case of Salem — and that is by no means ascer- tained — the name of Abraham does not ap- pear once in connexion with Jerusalem or the later royal or ecclesiastical glories of Israel. Jerusalem lies out of the path of the patriarchs, and has no part in the history of Israel till the establishment of the monarchy. But in addition to this, Jerusalem is incom- patible with the circumstances of the narra- tive of Gen. xxii. To name only two instances — (1.) The Temple mount cannot be spoken of as a conspicuous eminence. It is not visible till the traveller is close upon it at the southern edge of the valley of Hin- nom, from whence he looks down upon it as on a lower eminence. (2.) If Salem was Jerusalem, then the trial of Abraham’s faith, instead of taking place in the lonely and desolate spot implied by the narrative, where not even fire was to be obtained, and where no help but that of the Almighty was nigh, actually took place under the very walls of the city cf Melchizedek. But, while there is no trace except in the single passage quoted of Moriah being attached to any part of Jerusalem — on the other hand, in the slightly different form of Moreh it did exist attached to the town and the neighbourhood of She- chem,,the spot of Abram’s first residence in Palestine. MORTAR. The simplest and probably most ancient method of preparing corn for food was by pounding it between two stones. The Israelites in the desert appear to have pos- sessed mortars and handmills among their necessary domestic utensils. When the MORTER 358 MOSES manna fell they gathered it, and either ground it in the mill or pounded it in the mortar till it was fit for use (Num. xi. 8). So in the present day stone mortars are used by the Arabs to pound wheat for their national dish kibby. Another word occurring in Prov. xxvii. 22, probably denotes a mortar of a larger kind in which corn was pounded. u Though thou bray the fool in the mortar among the bruised corn with the pestle, yet will not his folly depart from him.” Corn may be separated from its husk and all its good properties preserved by such an opera- tion, but the fool’s folly is so essential a part of himself that no analogous process can remove it from him. Such seems the natural interpretation of this remarkable proverb. The language is intentionally ex- aggerated, and there is no necessity for sup- posing an allusion to a mode of punishment by which criminals were put to death, by being pounded in a mortar. A custom of this kind existed among the Turks, but there is no distinct trace of it among the Hebrews, f T.ch, however, is supposed to be the reference in the proverb by Mr. Roberts, who illustrates it from his Indian experience. MORTER (Gen. xi. 3; Ex. i. 14; Lev. xiv. 42, 45 ; Is. xli. 25 ; Ez. xiii. 10, 11, 14, 15, xxii. 28 ; Nah. iii. 14). The various compacting substances used in Oriental build- ings appear to be — 1. bitumen, as in the Babylonian structures ; 2. common mud or moistened clay ; 3. a very firm cement com- pounded of sand, ashes, and lime, in the proportions respectively of 1, 2, 3, well pounded, sometimes mixed and sometimes coated with oil, so as to form a surface almost impenetrable to wet or the weather. In Assyrian, and also Egyptian brick build- ings stubble or straw, as hair or wool among ourselves, was added to increase the tenacity. MO'SERAH, Deut. x. 6, apparently the same as MOSEROTH, Num. xxxiii. 30, its plural form, the name of a place near Mount Hor. MOUSES (Heb. Mosheh = “ drawn ”), the legislator of the Jewish people, and in a cer- tain sense the founder of the Jewish religion. His birth and education. The immediate pedigree of Moses is as follows : — Levi j I I ! Gershon Kohath Merari Amram = Jochebed _J flur = Miriam Aaron = Elisheba Moses «= Zipporah L J Nadab Abihu Eleazar Ithamar Gersbom Eliezer I I Phineas onathan The fact that he was of the tribe of Levi no doubt contributed to the selection of that tribe as the sacred caste. The story of his birth is thoroughly Egyptian in its scene. The beauty of the new-born babe induced the mother to make extraordinary efforts for its preservation from the general destruction of the male children of Israel. For three months the child was concealed in the house. Then his mother placed him in a small boat or basket of papyrus, closed against the water by bitumen. This was placed among the aquatic vegetation by the side of one of the canals of the Nile. The mother departed as if unable to bear the sight. The sister lingered to watch her brother’s fate. The Egyptian princess came down, after the Homeric simplicity of the age, to bathe in the sacred river. Her attendant slaves fol- lowed her. She saw the basket in the flags, and despatched divers after it. The divers, or one of the female slaves, brought it. It was opened, and the cry of the child moved the princess to compassion. She determined to rear it as her own. The sister was at hand to recommend a Hebrew nurse. The child was brought up as the princess’s son, and the memory of the incident was long cherished in the name given to the foundling of the water’s side — whether according to its Hebrew or Egyptian form. Its Hebrew form is Mosheh, from Mdshdh , “ to draw out ” — “because I have drawn him out of the water.” But this is probably the Hebrew form given to a foreign word. In Coptic, mo = water, and ushe = saved. This is the explanation given by Josephus. The child was adopted by the princess. From this time for many years Moses must be con- sidered as an Egyptian. In the Pentateuch this period is a blank, but in the N. T. he is represented as “ educated in all the wisdom oi the Egyptians,” and as “ mighty in words and deeds” (Acts vii. 22). But the time at last arrived when he was resolved to reclaim his nationality (Heb. xi. 24-26). Seeing an Israel- ite suffering the bastinado from an Egyptian, and thinking that, they were clone he slew the Egyptian, and buried the corpse in the sand. The fire of patriotism which thus turned him into a deliverer from the oppres- sors, turns him into the peace-maker of the oppressed. It is characteristic of the faith- fulness of the Jewish records that his flight is there occasioned rather by the malignity of his countrymen than by the enmity of the Egyptians. He fled into Midian. Beyond the fact that it was in or near the peninsula of Sinai, its precise situation is unknown, There was a famous well (“the well,” Ex. ii, 15) suiTounded by tanks for the watering of MOSES 359 MOSES the flocks of the Bedouin herdsmen. By this well the fugitive seated himself, and watched the gathering of the sheep. There were the Arabian shepherds, and there were also seven maidens, whom the shepherds rudely drove away from the water. The chivalrous spirit which had already broken forth in behalf of nis oppressed countrymen, broke forth again .n behalf of the distressed maidens. They returned unusually soon to their father, and told him of their adventure. Moses, who up to this time had been “ an Egyptian ” (Ex. ii. 19), now became for forty years (Acts vii. 30), an Arabian. He married Zipporah, daughter of his host, to whom he also became the slave and shepherd (Ex. ii. 21, iii. 1). But the chief effect of this stay in Arabia is on Moses himself. It was in the seclusion and simplicity of his shepherd-life that he received his call as a prophet. The tradi- tional scene of this great event is in the val- ley of Shoayb , or Hobab, on the N, side of Jebel Musa. The original indications are too slight to enable us to fix the spot with any certainty. It was at “ the back of the wilderness” at Horeb (Ex. iii. 1), “the mountain of God.” Upon the mountain was a well-known acacia, the thorn-tree of the desert, spreading out its tangled branches thick set with white thorn, over the rocky ground. It was this tree which became the symbol of the Divine Presence : a flame of fire in the midst of it, in which the dry branches would naturally have crackled and burnt in a moment, but which played around it without consuming it. The rocky ground at once became “ holy,” and the shepherd’s sandal was to be taken off no less than on the threshold of a palace or a temple. The call or revelation was twofold — 1. The decla- ration of the Sacred Name expresses the eternal self-existence of the One God. 2. The mission was given to Moses to deliver his people. The two signs are characteristic — the one of his past Egyptian life — the other of his active shepherd life. In the rush of leprosy into his hand is the link be- tween him and the people whom the Egypt- ians called a nation of lepers. In the trans- formation of his shepherd’s staff is the glorification of the simple pastoral life, of which that staff was the symbol, into the great career which lay before it. He returns to Egypt from his exile. His Arabian wife and her two infant sons are with him. She is seated with them on the ass. He appar- ently walks by their side with his shepherd’s staff. On the journey back to Egypt a my- sterious incident occurred in the family. The most probable explanation seems to be, that at the caravanserai either Moses or Gershom was struck with what seemed to be a mortal illness. In some way this illness was connected by Zipporah with the fact that her son had not been circumcised. She in- stantly performed the rite, and threw the sharp instrument, stained with the fresh blood, at the feet of her husband, exclaiming in the agony of a mother’s anxiety for the life of her child — “A bloody husband thou art, to cause the death of my son.” Then, when the recovery from the illness took place, she exclaims again, “ A bloody husband still thou art, but not so as to cause the child’s death, but only to bring about his circumci- sion.” It would seem to have been in conse- quence of this event, whatever it was, that the wife and her children were sent back to Jethro, and remained with him till Moses joined them at Rephidim (Ex. xviii. 2-6). After this parting he advanced into the desert, and at the same spot where he had had his vision encountered Aaron (Ex. iv. 27). From that meeting and cooperation we have the first distinct indication of his personal ap- pearance and character. But beyond the slight glance at his infantine beauty, no hint of this grand personality is given in the Bible. What is described is rather the reverse. The only point there brought out is a singular and unlooked for infirmity. “ I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.” In the solution of this difficulty which Moses offers, we read both the disinterestedness, which is the most distinct trait of his personal character, and the future relation of the two brothers. Aaron spoke and acted for Moses, and was the permanent inheritor of the sacred staff of power. But Moses was the inspiring soul behind. — The history of Moses henceforth is the history of Israel for forty years. It is important to trace his relation to his imme- diate circle of followers. In the Exodus, he takes the decisive lead on the night of the flight. Up to that point he and Aaron appear almost on an equality. But after that, Moses is usually mentioned alone. Aaron still held the second place. Another, nearly equal to Aaron, is Hus, of the tribe of Judah. Mi- riam always held the independent position to which her age entitled her. Her part was to supply the voice and song to her bro- ther’s prophetic power. But Moses is incon- testably the chief personage of the history, in a sense in which no one else is described before or since. He was led into a closer communion with the invisible world than was vouchsafed to any other in the O. T. There are two main characters in which he appears as a Leader and as a Prophet, (a.) As a Leader, his life divides itself into the three epochs — of the march to Sinai ; the march MOSES 360 MOSES from Sinai to Kadesh ; and the conquest of the Transjordanic kingdoms. Of his natural gifts in this capacity, we have hut few means of judging. The two main difficulties which he encountered were the reluctance of the people to submit to his guidance, and the im- practicable nature of the country which they had to traverse. The incidents with which his name was especially connected both in the sacred narrative, and in the Jewish, Arabian, and heathen traditions, were those of supplying water, when most wanted. In the Pentateuch these supplies of water take place at Marah, at Horeb, at Kadesh, and in the land of Moab. Of the three first of these incidents, traditional sites, bearing his name, are shown in the desert at the present day, though most of them are rejected by modern travellers. The route through the wilderness is described as having been made under his guidance. The particular spot of the en- campment is fixed by the cloudy pillar. But the direction of the people first to the Bed Sea, and then to Mount Sinai, is communi- cated through Moses, or given by him. On approaching Palestine the office of the leader becomes blended with that cf the general or the conqueror. By Moses the spies were sent to explore the country. Against his advice took place the first disastrous battle at Hormah. To his guidance is ascribed the circuitous route by which the nation ap- proached Palestine from the east, and to his generalship the two successful campaigns in which Sihon and Og were defeated. The narrative is told so shortly, that we are in danger of forgetting that at this last stage of his life Moses must have been as much a conqueror and victorious soldier as Joshua. (5.) His character as a Prophet is, from the nature of the case, more distinctly brought out. He is the first as he is the greatest example of a prophet in the O. T. In a cer- tain sense, he appears as the centre of a prophetic circle, now for the first time named. His brother and sister were both endowed with prophetic gifts. The seventy elders, and Eldad and Medad also, all “ prophesied ” (Num. xi. 25-27). But Moses rose high above all these. With him the Divine reve- lations were made, “ mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of Jehovah shall he behold ” (Num. xii. 8). Of the especial modes of this more direct communication, four great ex- amples are given, corresponding to four critical epochs in his historical career. (1.) The appearance of the Divine presence in the flaming acacia-tree has been already noticed. No form is described. “ The &nffel,” or “ Messenger,” is snoken of as being “in the flame” (Ex. iii. 2-6). (2.) In the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai, the outward form of the revelation was a thick darkness as of a thunder-cloud, out of which proceeded a voice (Ex. xix. 19, xx. 21). The revelation on this occasion was especially of the Name of Jehovah. On two occasions he is described as having penetrated within the darkness, and remained there suc- cessively, for two periods of forty days, of which the second was spent in absolute seclu- sion and fasting (Ex. xxiv. 18, xxxiv. 28). (3.) It was nearly at the close of those com- munications in the mountains of Sinai that an especial revelation was made to him personally. In the despondency produced by the apostacy of the molten calf, he besought Jehovah to show him “ His glory.” The Divine answer announced that an actual vision of God was impossible. “ Thou canst not see my face ; for there shall no man see my face and live.” He was commanded to hew two blocks of stone, like those which he had destroyed. He was to come absolutely alone. He took his place on a well-known or prominent rock (“ the rock ”) (xxxiii. 21). The cloud passed by (xxxiv. 5, xxxiii. 22). A voice proclaimed the two immutable attri- butes of God, Justice and Love — in words which became part of the religious creed of Israel and of the world (xxxiv. 6, 7). (4.) The fourth mode of Divine manifestation was that which is described as commencing at this juncture, and which continued with more or less continuity through the rest of his career. Immediately after the catastrophe of the worship of the calf, and apparently in consequence of it, Moses removed the chief tent outside the camp, and invested it with a sacred character under the name of “ the Tent or Tabernacle of the congregation ” (xxxiii. 7). This tent became henceforth the chief scene of his communications with God. It was during these communications that a peculiarity is mentioned which apparently had not been seen before. It was on his final descent from Mount Sinai, after his second long seclusion, that a splendour shone on his face, as if from the glory of the Divine Presence. — There is another form of the pro- phetic gift, in which Moses more nearly resembles the later prophets. It is clear that the prophetical office, as represented in the history of Moses, included the poetical form of composition which characterizes the Jew- ish prophecy generally. These poetical ut- terances, whether connected with Moses by ascription or by actual authorship, enter so largely into the full Biblical conception of his character, that they must be here men- tioned. 1. “The song which Moses and the MOSES 361 MOSES children of Israel sung” (after the passage of the Red Sea, Ex. xv. 1-19). 2. A frag- ment of a war-song against Amalek (Ex. xvii. 16). 3. A fragment of a lyrical burst of indignation (Ex. xxxii. 18). 4. Probably, either from him or his immediate prophetic followers, the fragments of war-songs in Num. xxi. 14, 15, 27-30, preserved in the “ book of the wars of Jehovah,” Num. xxi. 14 ; and the address to the well, xxi. 16, 17, 18. 5. The Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 1-43), setting forth the greatness and the failings of Israel. 6. The blessing of Moses on the tribes (Deut. xxxiii. 1-29). 7. The 90th Psalm, “A prayer of Moses, the man of God.” The title, like all the titles of the Psalms, is of doubtful authority, and the Psalm has often been referred to a later author. How far the gradual development of these revelations or prophetic utterances had any connexion with his own character and history, the materials are not such as to justify any decisive judgment. His Egyptian education must, on the one hand, have sup- plied him with much of the ritual of the Israelite worship. The coincidences between the arrangements of the priesthood, the dress, the sacrifices, the ark, in the two countries, are decisive. On the other hand, the procla- mation of the Unity of God, implies distinct antagonism, almost a conscious recoil against the Egyptian system. And the absence of the doctrine of a future state proves at least a remarkable independence of the Egyptian theology, in which that great doctrine held so prominent a place. — The prophetic office of Moses can only be fully considered in con- nexion with his whole character and appear- ance (Hos. xii. 13). He was in a sense peculiar to himself the founder and repre- sentative of his people. And, in accordance with this complete identification of himself with his nation, is the only strong personal trait which we are able to gather from his history (Num. xii. 3). The word “meek” is hardly an adequate reading of the Hebrew term, which should be rather “ much endur- ing.” It represents what we should now designate by the word “ disinterested.” All that is told of him indicates a withdrawal of himself, a preference of the cause of his nation to his own interests, which makes him the most complete example of Jewish patriot- ism. — In exact conformity with his life is the account of his end. The Book of Deutero- nomy describes, and is, the long last farewell of the prophet to his people. It takes place on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year of the wanderings, in the plains of Moab (Deut. i. 3, 5). He is described as 120 years of age, but with his sight and his freshness of strength unabated (Deut. xxxiv. 7). The address from ch. i. to ch. xxx. con- tains the recapitulation of the Law. Joshua is then appointed his successor. The Law is written out, and ordered to be deposited in the Ark (ch. xxxi.) The song and the bless- ing of the tribes conclude the farewell (ch. xxxii., xxxiii.). And then comes the my- sterious close. As if to carry out to the last the idea that the prophet was to live not for himself, but for his people, he is told that he is to see the good land beyond the Jor- dan, but not to possess it himself. The sin for which this penalty was imposed on the prophet is difficult to ascertain clearly. He ascends a mountain in the range which rises above the Jordan valley. The mountain tract was known by the general name of the pisgah. Its summits apparently were dedi- cated to different divinities (Num. xxiii. 14). On one of these, consecrated to Nebo, Moses took his stand, and surveyed the four great masses of Palestine west of the Jordan — so far as it could be discerned from that height. The view has passed into a proverb for all nations. “ So Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah, and he buried him in a ( ravine ’ in the land of Moab, ‘ before * Beth-peor — but no man knoweth of his se- pulchre unto this day . . . And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days” (Deut. xxxiv. 5, 8). This is all that is said in the sacred record. Jewish, Arabian, and Christian traditions have laboured to fill up the detail. His grave, though studiously concealed in the sacred narrative, is shown by the Mussul- mans on the ivest (and therefore the wrong) side of the Jordan, between the Dead Sea and St. Saba. — In the O. T. the name of Moses does not occur so frequently, after the close of the Pentateuch, as might be expected. In the Psalms and the Prophets, however, he is frequently named as the chief of the prophets. In the N. T. he is referred to partly as the re- presentative of the Law — as in the numerous passages cited above — and in the vision of the Transfiguration, where he appears side by side with Elijah. As the author of the Law he is contrasted with Christ, the Author of the Gospel : “ The Law was given by Moses ” (John i. 17). The ambiguity and transitory nature of his glory is set against the per- manence and clearness of Christianity (2 Cor iii. 13-18), and his mediatorial character against the unbroken communication of God in Christ (Gal. iii. 19). His “service” of God is contrasted with Christ’s sonship (Heb. iii. 5, 6). But he is also spoken of as a like- ness of Christ ; and as this is a point of MOTH 362 MOURNING view which has been almost lost in the Church, compared with the more familiar comparisons of Christ to Adam, David, Joshua, and yet has as firm a basis in fact as any of them, it may he well to draw it out in detail, i. Moses is, as it would seem, the only cha- racter of the O. T. to whom Christ expressly likens Himself — “ Moses wrote of me” (John v. 46). It suggests three main points of likeness :—-(#.) Christ was, like Moses, the great Prophet of the people — the last, as Moses was the first. (&.) Christ, like Moses, is a Lawgiver: “Him shall ye hear.” (c.) Christ, like Moses, was a Prophet out of the midst of the nation — •“ from their brethren.” As Moses was the entire representative of his people, feeling for them more than for him- self, absorbed in their interests, hopes, and fears, so, with reverence be it said, was Christ. 2. In Heb. iii. 1-19, xii. 24-29, Acts vii. 37, Christ is described, though more obscurely, as the Moses of the new dispensa- tion — as the Apostle, or Messenger, or Medi- ator, of God to the people- — as the Controller and Leader of the flock or household of God. 3. The details of their lives are sometimes, though not often, compared (Acts vii. 24-28, 35). In Jude 9 is an allusion to an alterca- tion between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses. It probably refers to a lost apo- cryphal book, mentioned by Origen, called the “ Ascension, or Assumption of Moses.” — Respecting the books of Moses, see Penta- teuch. MOTH. By the Hebrew word we are certainly to understand some species of clothes-moth {tinea). Reference to the de- structive habits of the clothes-moth is made in Job iv. 19, xiii. 28; Ps. xxxix. 11, &c. In Job xx vii. 18, “ He buildeth his house as a moth,” it is clear* that allusion is made either to the well-known case of the Tinea pellionella , or some allied species, or else to the leaf-building larvae of some other mem- ber of the Lepidoptera. The clothes-moths belong to the group Tineina , order Lepido - ptera. MOTHER. The superiority of the Hebrew over all contemporaneous systems of legisla- tion and of morals is strongly shown in the higher estimation of the mother in the Jewish family, as contrasted with modern Oriental, as well as ancient Oriental and classical usage. The king’s mother, as appears in the case of Bathsheba, was treated with especial honour (1 K. ii. 19; Ex. xx. 12; Lev. xix. 3; Deut. v. 16, xxi. 18, 21 ; Prov. x. 1, xv. 20, xvii. 25, xxix. 15, xxxi. 1, 30). MOUNT, MOUNTAIN. The Hebrew word har , like the English “ mountain,” is em- ployed both for single eminences more or less isolated, such as Sinai, Gerizim, Ebal, Zion, and Olivet, and for ranges, such as Lebanon. It is also applied to a mountainous country or district. The frequent occurrence through- out the Scriptures of personification of the natural features of the country is very re- markable. The following are all the words used with this object in relation to mountains or hills:— 1. Head, Tosh, Gen. viii. 5 ; Ex. xix. 20 ; Deut. xxxiv. 1 ; 1 K. xviii. 42 ; (A. Y. “top”). 2. Ears, Azndth , Aznoth- Tabor, Josh. xix. 34 : possibly in allusion to some projection on the top of the mountain. 3. Shoulder, Catheph. Deut. xxxiii. 12 ; Josh. xv. 8, and xviii. 16 (“side”). 4 Side, Tsad. Used in reference to a moun- tain in 1 Sam. xxiii. 26 ; 2 Sam. xiii. 34. 5. Loins or Flanks, Cisloth. Chisloth- Tabor, Josh. xix. 12. It occurs also in the name of a village, probably situated on this part of the mountain, Ha-Cesulloth, i. e. the “loins” (Josh. xix. 18). 6. Rib, Tseld. Only used once, in speaking of the Mount of Olives, 2 Sam. xvi. 13, and there translated “ side.” 7. Back, Shecem. Possibly the root of the name of the town Shechem , which may be derived from its situation, as it were on the back of Gerizim. 8. Thigh, Jarcdh. Applied to Mount Ephraim, Judg. xix. 1,18; and to Lebanon, 2 K. xix. 23 ; Is. xxxvii. 24. Used also for the “ sides ” of a cave, 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. 9. The word translated “ covert ” in 1 Sam. xxv. 20 is Sether , from sdthar “ to hide ” and probably refers to the shrubbery or thicket through which Abigail’s path lay. In this passage “ hill ” should be “ mountain.” The Chaldee tur is the name still given to the Mount of Olives, the Jebe', eUTur. MOURNING. (1.) One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studied publicity, and the careful obser- vance of the prescribed ceremonies (Gen. xxiii. 2; Job i. 20, ii. 8; Is. xv. 3, &c.). (2.) Among the particular forms observed the following may be mentioned : — a. Rend- ing the clothes (Gen. xxxvii. 29, 34, xliv, 13, &c.). 5. Dressing in sackcloth (Gen. xxxvii. 34 ; 2 Sam. iii. 31, xxi. 10, &c.). c . Ashes, dust, or earth sprinkled on the per- son (2 Sam. xiii. 19, xv. 32, &c.). d . Black or sad-coloured garments (2 Sam. xiv. 2 ; Jer. viii. 21, &c.). e. Removal of orna- ments or neglect of person (Deut. xxi. 12, 13, &e.). /. Shaving the head, plucking out the hair of the head or beard (Lev. x. 6 ; 2 Sam. xix. 24, &c.). g. Laying bare some part of the body (Is. xx. 2, xlvii. 2, &c.). h. Fasting or abstinence in meat and drink (2 Sam. i. 12, iii. 35, xii. 16, 22, &c.). i. In the same direction may be mentioned MOURNING 363 MULE diminution in offering's to God, and prohibi- tion to partake in sacrificial food (Lev. vii. 20 ; Deut. xx vi. 14). k. Covering' the “ upper lip,” i. e. the lower part of the face, and sometimes the head, in token of silence (Lev. xiii. 45 ; 2 Sam. xv. 30, xix. 4). 1. Cutting the flesh (Jer. xvi, 6, 7, xli. 5). Beating the body (Ez. xxi. 12 ; Jer. xxxi. 19). m. Employment of persons hired for the pur- pose of mourning (Eecl. xii. 5 ; Jer. ix. 17 ; Am. v. 16 ; Matt. ix. 23). n. Akin to this usage the custom for friends or passers-by to join in the lamentations of bereaved or afflicted persons (Gen. 1. 3 ; Judg. xi. 40 ; Job ii. 11, xxx. 25, &c.). o. The sitting or lying posture in silence indicative of grief (Gen. xxiii. 3 ; Judg. xx. 26, &c.). p . Mourning feast and cup of consolation (Jer. xvi. 7, 8). The period of mourning varied. In the case of Jacob it was seventy days (Gen. 1. 3) ; of Aaron (Num. xx. 29), and Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 8), thirty. A further period of seven days in Jacob’s case, Gen. ..10. Seven days for Saul, which may have been an abridged period in time of national danger, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13. (3.) In the last place we may mention — a. The idolatrous “mourning for Tammuz,” Ez. viii. 14, as indicating identity of practice in certain cases among Jews and heathens ; and the custom in later days of offerings of food at graves, Ecclus. xxx. 18. b. The prohibition, both to the high-priest and to Nazarites, against going into mourning even for a father or mother, Lev. xxi. 10, 11 ; Num. vi. 7. The inferior priests were limited to the cases of their near relatives, Lev. xxi. 1, 2, 4. c . The food eaten during the time of mourning was regarded as impure, Deut. xxvi. 14 ; Jer. xvi. 5, 7 ; Ez. xxiv. 17 ; Hos. ix. 4. — With the practices above mentioned, Oriental and other customs, ancient and modern, in great measure agree. Arab men are silent in grief, but the women scream, tear their hair, hands, and face, and throw earth or sand on their heads. Both Mahometans and Christians in Egypt hire wailing women, and wail at stated times. Burckhardt says the women of Atbara in Nubia shave their heads on the death of their nearest relatives — a custom prevalent also among several of the peasant tribes of Upper Egypt. He also mentions wailing women, and a man in dis- tress besmearing his face with dirt and dust in token of grief. In the Arabian Nights are frequent allusions to similar practices. They also mention ten days and forty days as periods of mourning. Lane, speaking of the modern Egyptians, says, “After death the women of the family raise cries of lamenta- tion called welwcleh or wiiwal, uttering the most piercing shrieks, and calling upon the name of the deceased, ‘ O, my master ! O, my resource ! O, my misfortune ! O, my glory!’ (see Jer. xxii. 18). The females of the neighbourhood come to join with, them in this conclamation : generally, also, the family send for two or more nedddbehs, or public wailing women. Each brings a tambourine, and beating them they exclaim, * Alas for him ! ’ The female relatives, domestics, and friends, with their hair dishevelled, and sometimes with rent clothes, beating their faces, cry in like manner, ‘ Alas for him ! ’ These make no alteration in dress, but women, in some cases, dye their shirts, head-veils, and handkerchiefs of a dark-blue colour. They visit the tombs at stated periods ” [Mod. Eg. iii. 152, 171, 195). MOUSE occurs in Lev. xi. 29 ; 1 Sam. vi. 4, 5 ; Is. lxvi. 17. The Hebrew word is in all probability generic, and is not intended to denote any particular species of mouse. The original word denotes a field-ravager, and may therefore comprehend any destructive rodent. It is probable, however, that im 1 Sam. vi. 5, “ the mice that mar the land ” may include and more particularly refer to the short-tailed field-mice [Arvicola agrestis , Flem.), which cause great destruction to the corn-lands of Syria. MOWING. As the great heat of the climate in Palestine and other similarly situated countries soon dries up the herbage itself, hay-making in our sense of the term is not in use. The term “ hay,” therefore, in Prov. xxvii. 25, and Is. xv. 6 is incorrect. The “king’s mowings” (Am. vii. 1), i. e. mown grass (Ps. Ixxii. 6), may perhaps refer to some royal right of early pasturage for the use of the cavalry. MO'ZAH, one of the cities in the allotment of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 26 only), named between hac-Cephirah and Rekem. No trace of any name resembling Mozah has hitherto been discovered. MULBERRY-TREES (Heb. becalm) occur only in 2 Sam. v. 23 and 24, and 1 Chr. xiv. 14. We are quite unable to determine what kind of tree is denoted by the Hebrew word. Though there is no evidence to show that the mulberry-tree occurs in the Hebrew Bible, yet the fruit of this tree is mentioned in 1 Macc. vi. 34. MULE. It is an interesting fact that we do not read of mules till the time of David, just at the time when the Israelites were be- coming well acquainted with horses. After this time horses and mules are in Scripture often mentioned together. In Solomon’s time it is possible that mules from Egypt occasionally accompanied the horses which MUPPIM 364 MUSIC we know the king of Israel obtained from that country ; for though the mule is not of frequent occurrence in the monuments of Egypt, yet it is not easy to believe that the Egyptians were not well acquainted with this animal. It would appear that kings and great men only rode on mules. We do not read of mules at all in the N. T., perhaps therefore they had ceased to be imported. Mules are mentioned in Gen. xxxvi. 24 : — “ This was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father : ” but the A. V. is certainly in- correct ; and the Hebrew word yemim here translated “ mules,” probably means “ warm springs,” as the Vulg. has it. MUP’PIM, a Benjamite, and one of the fourteen descendants of Rachel who belonged to the original colony of the sons of Jacob in Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 21). In Num. xxvi. 39 the name is written Shupham. In 1 Chr. vii. 12, 15, it is Shuppim (the same as xxvi. 16), and viii. 5 Shephuphan. Hence it is probable that Muppim is a corruption of the text, and that Shupham is the true form. MURDER. The principle on which the act of taking the life of a human being was regarded by the Almighty as a capital offence is stated on its highest ground as an outrage on the likeness of God in man, to be punished even when caused by an animal (Gen. ix. 5, 6 ; see also John viii. 44; 1 John iii. 12, 15). The Law of Moses, while it protected the accidental homicide, defined with additional strictness the crime of murder. It pro- hibited compensation or reprieve of the murderer, or his protection if he took refuge in the refuge-city, or even at the altar of Jehovah (Ex. xxi. 12, 14; Lev. xxiv. 17, 21 ; 1 K. ii. 5, 6, 31). If an animal known to be vicious caused the death of any one, not only was the animal destroyed, but the owner also, if he had taken no steps to re- strain it, was held guilty of murder (Ex. xxi. 29, 31). The duty of executing punishment on the murderer is in the Law expressly laid on the “ revenger of blood ; ” but the ques- tion of guilt was to be previously decided by the Levitical tribunal. In regal times the duty of execution of justice on a murderer seems to have been assumed to some extent by the sovereign, as well as the privilege of pardon (2 Sam. xiii. 39, xiv. 7, 11 ; IK. ii. 34). It was lawful to kill a burglar taken at night in the act, but unlawful to do so after sunrise (Ex. xxii. 2, 3). MU'SHI, the son of Merari the son of Kohath (Ex. vi. 19 : Num. iii. 20 ; 1 Chr. vi. 19, 47, xxiii. 21, 23, xxiv. 26, 30). MUSIC. The inventor of musical instru- ments. like the first noet and the first forger of metals, was a Cainite. We learn from Gen. iv. that Jubal the son of Lamech was “ the father of all such as handle the harp and organ,” that is of all 'players upon stringed and wind instruments. The first mention of music in the times after the Deluge is in the narrative of Laban’s inter- view with Jacob (Gen. xxxi. 27). So that, in whatever way it was preserved, the prac- tice of music existed in the upland country of Syria, and of the three possible kinds of musical instruments, two were known and employed to accompany the song. The three kinds are alluded to in Job xxi. 12. On the banks of the Red Sea Moses and the children of Israel sang their triumphal song of de- liverance from the hosts of Egypt ; and Miriam, in celebration of the same event, exercised one of her functions as a prophetess by leading a procession of the women of the camp, chanting in chorus the burden to the song of Moses, “ Sing ye to Jehovah, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.” The triumphal hymn of Moses had unques- tionably a religious character about it, but the employment of music in religious service, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf. The silver trumpets made by the metal workers of the tabernacle, which were used to direct the movements of the camp, point to music of a very simple kind (Num. x. 1-10). The song of Deborah and Barak is cast in a distinctly metrical form, and was probably intended to be sung with a musical accompaniment as one of the people’s songs. The simpler impromptu with which the women from the cities of Israel greeted David after the slaughter of the Philistine, was apparently struck off on the spur of the moment, under the influence of the wild joy with which they welcomed their national champion, “the darling of the songs of Israel” (1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7). Up to this time we meet with nothing like a systematic cultivation of music among the Hebrews, but the establishment of the schools of the pro- phets appears to have supplied this want. Whatever the students of these schools may have been taught, music was an essential part of their practice. Professional musicians soon became attached to the court. David seems to have gathered round him “ singing men and singing women” (2 Sam. xix. 35). Solomon did the same (Eccl. ii. 8), adding to the luxury of his court by his patronage of art, and obtaining a reputation himself as no mean composer (1 K. iv. 32). But the Temple was the great school of music, and it was consecrated to its highest service in the MUSIC 365 MUSTARD worship of Jehovah. Before, however, the elaborate arrangements had been made by David for the temple choir, there must have been a considerable body of musicians throughout the country (2 Sam. vi. 5), and in the procession which accompanied the ark from the house of Obededom, the Levites, with Chenaniah at their head, who had ac- quired skill from previous training, played on psalteries, harps, and cymbals, to the words of the psalm of thanksgiving which David had composed for the occasion (1 Chr. vv. xvi.). It is not improbable that the Levites all along had practised music and that some musical service was part of the worship of the tabernacle. The position which they occupied among the other tribes naturally favoured the cultivation of an art which is essentially characteristic of a leisurely and peaceful life. The three great divisions of the tribe had each a representative family in the choir. Asaph himself appears to have played on the cymbals (1 Chr. xvi. 5), and this was the case with the other leaders (1 Chr. xv. 19), perhaps to mark the time more distinctly, while the rest of the band played on psalteries and harps. The singers were distinct from both, as is evident in Ps. Ixviii. 25, “ the singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, in the midst of the damsels playing with timbrels.” The “ players on instruments ” were the performers upon stringed instruments, like the psaltery and harp. The “ players on in- struments ” in Ps. lxxxvii. 7, were different from these last, and were properly pipers or performers on perforated wind-instruments (see 1 K. i. 40). “The damsels playing with timbrels” (comp. 1 Chr. xiii. 8) seem to indicate that women took part in the temple choir. The trumpets, which are mentioned among the instruments played before the ark (1 Chr. xiii. 8), appear to have been reserved for the priests alone (1 Chr. xv. 24, xvi. 6). As they were also used in royal proclama- tions (2 K. xi. 14), they were probably in- tended to set forth by way of symbol the royalty of Jehovah, the theocratic king of his people, as well as to sound the alarm against His enemies (2 Chr. xiii. 12). — In the private as well as in the religious life of the Hebrews music held a prominent place. The kings had their court musicians (Eccl. ii. 8) who bewailed their death (2 Chr. xxxv. 25), and in the luxurious times of the later monarchy the effeminate gallants of Israel, reeking with perfumes and stretched upon their couches of ivory, were wont at their banquets to accompany the song with the tinkling of the psaltery or guitar (Am. vi. 4-6), and amused themselves with devising musical instruments while their nation was perishing. But while music was thus made to minister to debauchery and excess, it was the legitimate expression of mirth and glad- ness, and the indication of peace and pro- sperity. It was only when a curse was upon the land that the prophet could say, “ the mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth, they shall not drink wine with a song” (Is. xxiv. 8, 9). The bridal proces- sions as they passed through the streets were accompanied with music and song (Jer. vii. 34), and these ceased only when the land was desolate (Ez. xxvi. 13). The music of the banquets was accompanied with songs and dancing (Luke xv. 25). The triumphal processions which celebrated a victory were enlivened by minstrels and singers (Ex. xv. 1, 20 ; Judg. v. 1, xi. 34 ; 1 Sam. xviii. 6, xxi. 11 ; 2 Chr. xx. 28 ; Jud. xv. 12, 13), and on extraordinary occasions they even accompanied armies to battle. Besides songs of triumph there were also religious songs (Is. xxx. 29 ; Am. v. 23 ; Jam. v. 13), “ songs of the temple ” (Am. viii. 3), and songs which were sung in idolatrous worship (Ex. xxxii. 18). Love songs are alluded to in Ps. xlv. title, and Is. v. 1. There were also the doleful songs of the funeral proces- sion, and the wailing chant of the mourners who went about the streets, the professional “ keening ” of those who were skilful in lamentation (2 Chr. xxxv. 25 ; Eccl. xii. 5 ; Jer. ix. 17-20 ; Am. v. 16). The grape gatherers sang as they gathered in the vint- age, and the wine-presses were trodden with the shout of a song (Is. xvi. 10 ; Jer. xlviii. 33) ; the women sang as they toiled at the mill, and on every occasion the land of the Hebrews during their national prosperity was a land of music and melody. — The instru- ments of music which have been represented in our version by some modern word, are treated under their respective titles. MUSTARD occurs in Matt. xiii. 31, xvii. 20 ; Mark iv. 31 ; Luke xiii. 19, xvii. 6. The mustard-tree of Scripture is maintained by Dr. Royle to be the Salvadora persica , which he supposes to be the same as the tree called "j Khar dal (the Arabic for mustard), seeds of which are employed throughout Syria as a substitute for mustard, of which they have the taste and properties. This tree is found all along the banks of the Jordan, near the lake of Tiberias, and near Damascus, and is said to be generally re- cognised in Syria as the mustard-tree of Scripture. But notwithstanding all that has been adduced by Dr. Royle in support of his argument, it will be well to consider whether MUSTARD 366 MYRRH some mustard-plant ( Sinapis ) may not after all be the mustard-tree of the parable. The objection commonly made against any Sinapis being the plant of the parable is, that the seed grew into “ a tree,” or, as St. Luke has it, “a great tree,” in the branches of which the fowls of the air are said to come and lodge. Now in answer to the above objec- tion it is urged with great truth, that the expression is figurative and Oriental, and that in a proverbial simile no literal accuracy is to be expected. It is an error, for which the language of Scripture is not accountable, to assert, as Dr. Royle and some others have done, that the passage implies that birds “ built their nests ” in the tree, the Greek word has no such meaning, the word merely means “to settle or rest upon” any thing for a longer or shorter time ; nor is there any occasion to suppose that the expression “fowls of the air” denotes any other than the smaller insessorial kinds, linnets, finches, &c. Hiller’s explanation is probably the correct one ; that the birds came and settled on the mustard-plant for the sake of the seed, of which they are very fond. Again, what- ever the Sinapis may be, it is expressly said to be a herb, or more properly “ a garden herb.” Irby and Mangles mention the large size which the mustard-plant attains in Palestine. In their journey from Bysan to Adjeloun, in the Jordan valley, they crossed a small plain very thickly covered with her- bage, particularly the mustard-plant, which reached as high as their horses’ heads. Dr. Thomson also says he has seen the Wild Mustard on the rich plain of Akkar as tall as the horse and the rider. If then, the wild plant on the rich plain of Akkar grows as high as a man on horseback, it might attain to the same or a greater height when in a cultivated garden. The expression “ which is indeed the least of all seeds,” is in all probability hyperbolical, to denote a very small seed indeed, as there are many seeds which are smaller than mustard. “ The Lord in his popular teaching,” says Trench ( Notes on Parables, 108), “adhered to the popular language ; ” and the mustard- seed was used proverbially to denote any- thing very minute. MYN'DUS, a town on the coast of Caria, between Miletus and Halicarnassus. We find in 1 Mace. xv. 23 that it was the resi- dence of a Jewish population. MY'RA, an important town in Lycia, and interesting to us as the place where St. Paul, on his voyage to Rome (Acts xxvii. 5), was removed from the Adramyttian ship which had brought him from Caesarea, and entered the Alexandrian ship in which he was wrecked on the coast of Malta. Myra (called Dernbra | by the Greeks) is remarkable still for its i remains of various periods of history. MYRRH, is mentioned in Ex. xxx. 23, as one of the ingredients of the “ oil of holy ointment;” in Esth. ii. 12, as one of the substances used in the purification of women ; in Ps. xlv. 8, Prov. vii. 17, and in several passages in Canticles, as a perfume. The Greek occurs in Matt. ii. 11 amongst the gifts brought by the wise men to the infant Jesus, and in Mark xv. 23, it is said that “ wine mingled with myrrh ” was offered to, but refused by, our Lord on the cross. Myrrh was also used for embalming (see John xix. 39, and Herod, ii. 86). The Balsamodendron myrrha, which produces the myrrh of com- merce, has a wood and bark which emit a strong odour ; the gum which exudes from the bark is at first oily, but becomes hard by exposure to the air : it belongs to the natural order Terebinthaceae . For the “wine mingled I with myrrh,” see Gall. The “myrrh” | mentioned in the A. V. in Gen. xxxvii. 25, j xliii. 1 , is a translation of the Hebrew word I lot, and is generally considered to denote the I odorous resin which exudes from the branches I of the Cistus creticus , known by the name of ladanum or labdanum. It is clear that lot MYRTLE 367 NAAMAN cannot signify “myrrh,” which is not pro- duced in Palestine. There can be no doubt that the Hebrew lot , the Arabic lcidan> the Greek \rj8avov, the Latin and English Id- dan um, are identical. Balsamodendron Myrrha. MYRTLE is mentioned in Neh. viii. 15 ; Is. xli. 19, lv. 13 ; Zech. i. 8, 10, 11. The modern Jews still adorn with myrtle the booths and sheds at the Feast of Tabernacles. Formerly, as we learn from Nehemiah (viii. 15), myrtles grew on the hills about Jeru- salem. “ On Olivet,” says Dean Stanley, “ nothing is now to be seen but the olive and the fig tree : ” on some of the hills, however, near Jerusalem, Hasselquist observed the myrtle. Dr. Hooker says It is not uncom- mon in Samaria and Galilee. The Myrtus communis is the kind denoted by the Hebrew word. MYS'IA (Acts xvi. 7, 8) was the region ! about the frontier of the provinces of Asia I and Bithynia. The term is evidently used | in an ethnological, not a political sense. r 'AMAH (loveliness). 1. One of the four women whose names are preserved in the records of the world before the Flood ; all except Eve being Cainites. She was daughter of Lamech by his wife Zillah, and sister, as is expressly mentioned, to Tubalcain (Gen. iv. 22 only). — 2. Mother of king Re- boboam (1 K. xiv. 21, 31; 2 Chr. xii. 13). On each occasion she is distinguished by the title “ the (not ‘ an,’ as in A. V.) Ammonite.” She was therefore one of the foreign women whom Solomon took into his establishment (1 K. xi. 1). NA'AMAH, one of the towns of Judah in the district of the lowland or Shefelah (Josh. xv. 41). NA’AMAN ( pleasantness ). 1. “Naaman the Syrian” (Luke iv. 27). A Jewish tradi- tion, at least as old as the time of Josephus, and which may very well be a genuine one, identifies him with the archer whose arrow, whether at random or not, struck Ahab with his mortal wound, and thus “ gave deliver- ance to Syria.” The expression in 2 K. v. 1 is remarkable — “ because that by him Je- hovah had given deliverance to Syria.” The most natural explanation perhaps is that Naaman, in delivering his country, had killed one who was the enemy of Jehovah not less than he was of Syria. Whatever the par- ticular exploit referred to was, it had given Naaman a great position at the court of Ben- hadad. He was commander-in-chief of the army, and was nearest to the person of the king, whom he accompanied officially, and supported, when he went to worship in the temple of Rimmon (ver. 18). He was afflicted with a leprosy of the white kind (ver. 27), NAAMATHITE 368 NADAB ■which had hitherto defied cure. The circum- stances of his visit to Elisha are related else- where. [Elisha, p. 156.] — 2 . One of the family of Benjamin who came down to Egypt with Jacob, as read in Gen. xlvi. 21. He was the son of Bela, and head of the family of the Naamites. (Num. xxvi. 40 ; 1 Chr. viii. 3, 4). NAA'MATHITE, the gentilic name of one of Job’s friends, Zophar the Naamathite (Job ii. 11, xi. 1, xx. 1, xlii. 9). There is no other trace of this name in the Bible, and the town whence it is derived, is unknown. NA'BAL (fool) was a sheepmaster on the confines of Judaea and the desert, in that part of the country which bore from its great conqueror the name of Caleb (1 Sam. xxx. 14, xxv. 3). His residence was on the southern Carmel, in the pasture lands of Maon. His wealth, as might be expected from his abode, consisted chiefly of sheep and goats. It was the custom of the shepherds to drive them into the wild downs on the slopes of Carmel; and it was whilst they were on one of these pastoral excursions, that they met a band of outlaws, who showed them unexpected kindness, protecting them by day and night, and never themselves com- mitting any depredations (1 Sam. xxv. 7, 15, 16). Once a year there was a grand ban- quet, on Carmel, “ like the feast of a king ” (xxv. 2, 4, 36). It was on one of these occa- sions that Nabal came across the path of the man to whom he owes his place in history. Ten youths from the chief of the freebooters approached him with a triple salutation — enumerated the services of their master ; and ended by claiming, with a mixture of cour- tesy and defiance, characteristic of the East, “ whatsoever cometh into thy hand for thy servants and for thy son David/’ The great sheepmaster was not disposed to recognise this unexpected parental relation. On hear- ing the demand of the ten petitioners, he broke out into fury, “ Who is David ? and who is the son of Jesse ? ” — “ What runaway slaves aie these to interfere with my own domestic arrangements?” (xxv. 10, 11). The moment that the messengers were gone, the shepherds that stood by perceived the danger that their master and themselves would incur. To Nabal himself they durst not speak (xxv. 17). To his wife, as to the good angel of the household, one of the shep- herds told the state of affairs. She, with the offerings usual on such occasions, loaded the asses of Nabal’ s large establishment — herself mounted one of them, and, with her attendants running before her, rode down the hill towards David’s encampment. David had already made the fatal vow of extermi- nation (xxv. 22). At this moment, as it would seem, Abigail appeared, threw herself on her face before him, and poured forth her petition in language which both in form and expression almost assumes the tone of poetry. She returns with the news of David’s recan- tation of his vow. Nabal is then in at the height of his orgies, and his wife dared not communicate to him either his danger or his escape (xxv. 36). At break of day she told him both. The stupid reveller was suddenly roused to a sense of that which impended over him. “ His heart died within him, and he became as a stone.” It was as if a stroke of apoplexy or paralysis had fallen upon him. Ten days he lingered, “ and the Lord smote Nabal, and he died” (xxv. 37, 38). NA'BOTH, victim of Ahab and Jezebel, was the owner of a small vineyard at Jezreel, close to the royal palace of Ahab (1 K. xxi. 1,2). It thus became an object of desire to the king who offered an equivalent in money, or another vineyard, in exchange for this. Na- both, in the independent spirit of a Jewish landholder, refused. “ Jehovah forbid it to me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.” Ahab was cowed by this reply; but the proud spirit of Jezebel was roused. She took the matter into her own hands. A solemn fast was proclaimed as on the announcement of some great cala- mity. Naboth was “ set on high ” in the public place of Samaria : two men of worth- less character accused him of having “ cursed God and the king.” He and his children (2 K. ix. 26) were dragged out of the city and despatched the same night. The place of execution there, was by the large tank or reservoir, which still remains on the slope of the hill of Samaria, immediately outside the walls. The usual punishment for blasphemy was enforced. Naboth and his sons were stoned; and the blood from their wounds ran down into the waters of the tank below. NABUCHODONO'SQR. [Nebuchadnez- zar]. NA 'CHON’S THRESHING -FLOOR, the place at which the ark had arrived in its progress from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem, when Uzzah lost his life in his too hasty zeal for its safety (2 Sam. vi. 6). NA'CHOR. [Nahor.] NA'DAB (liberal). 1. The eldest son of Aaron and Elisheba, (Ex. vi. 23 ; Num. iii. 2). He, his father and brother, and seventy old men of Israel were led out from the midst of the assembled people (Ex. xxiv. 1), and were commanded to stay and worship God “ afar off,” below the lofty summit of Sinai, where Moses alone was to come near to the Lord. Subsequently (Lev. x. 1) Nadab and NAGGE 369 NAHUM tels brother were struck dead before the sanc- tuary by fire from the Lord. Their offence was kindling the incense in their censers with “ strange ” fire, i.e., not taken from that which burned perpetually (Lev. vi. 13) on the altar. — 2. King Jeroboam’s son, who succeeded to the throne of Israel b.c. 954, and reigned two years (1 K. xv. 25-31). At the siege of Gibbethon a conspiracy broke out in the midst of the army, and the king was slain by Baasha, a man of Issachar. NAG'GE, one of the ancestors of Christ (Lukeiii. 25). It represents the Heb. Nogah (1 Chr. iii. 7). Nagge must have lived about the time of Onias I., and the commencement of the Macedonian dynasty. NAH'ALAL, one of the cities of Zebulun, given with its “suburbs” to the Merarite Levites (Josh. xxi. 35). It is the same which in Josh. xix. 15 is inaccurately given in the A. V. as Nahallal, the Hebrew being in both cases identical. Elsewhere it is called Nahalol (Judg. i. 30). The Jerusalem Tal- mud asserts that Nahalal was in post-biblical times called Mahlul ; and this is identified with the modern Malul , a village in the plain of Esdraelon. NAHA'LIEL {torrents of God), one of the halting-places of Israel in the latter part of their progress to Canaan (Num. xxi. 19). It lay “beyond,” that is, north of the Arnon (ver. 13), and between Mattanah and Bamoth, the next after Bamoth being Pisgah. Its name seems to imply that it was a stream or wady, and it is not impossibly preserved in that of the Wady EncheyJe , which runs into the Mojeb , the ancient Arnon, a short dis- tance to the east of the place at which the road between Babba and Aroer crosses the ravine of the latter river. NAH'ALOL. [Nahalal.] NA'HASH {serpent). 1. King of the Am- monites, who dictated to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead that cruel alternative of the loss of their right eyes or slavery, which roused the swift wrath of Saul, and caused the destruction of the Ammonite force (1 Sam. xi. 1, 2-11). “ Nahash ” would seem to have been the title of the king of the Ammonites rather than the name of an indi- vidual. Nahash the father of Hanun had rendered David some special and valuable service, which David was anxious for an opportunity of requiting (2 Sam. x. 2). — 2. A person mentioned once only (2 Sam. xvii. 25) in stating the parentage of Amasa, the commander - in - chief of Absalom’s army. Amasa is there said to have been the son of a certain Ithra, by Abigail, “daughter of Nahash, and sister to Zeruiah.” By the genealogy of 1 Chr. ii. 16 it appears that Sx. D. B. Zeruiah and Aligail were sisters of David and the other children of Jesse. The ques- tion then arises, How could Abigail have- been at the same time daughter of Nahash'. and sister to the children of Jesse? To this two answers may be given : — 1. The uni- versal tradition of the Babbis that Nahash and Jesse were identical. 2. That Nahash was the king of the Ammonites, ard that the same woman had first been his wif. or concu- bine — in which capacity she had given birth to Abigail and Zeruiah — and afterwards wife to Jesse, and the mother of his children. NA'HATH, one of the “ dukes ” or phy- larchs in the land of Edom, eldest son of Beuel the son of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 13, 17 1 Chr. i. 37). ^ NA'HOB, the name of two persons in the family of Abraham. — 1. His grandfather : the son of Serug and father of Terah (Gen. xi. 22-25). — 2. Grandson of the preceding, son of Terah and brother of Abraham and Haran (Gen. xi. 26, 27). The order of the ages of the family of Terah is not improbably inverted in the narrative ; in which case Nahor, instead of being younger than Abra- ham, was really older. He married Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran ; and when Abraham and Lot migrated to Canaan, Nahor remained behind in the land of his birth, on the eastern side of the Euphrates. Like Jacob, and also like Ishmael, Nahor was the father of twelve sons, and further, as in the case of Jacob, eight of them were the children of his wife, and four of a concubine (Gen. xxii. 21-24). Special care is taken in speaking of the legitimate branch to specify its descent from Milcah — “ the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.” It was to this pure and unsullied race that Abraham and Bebekah in turn had recourse for wives for their sons. But with Jacob’s flight from Haran the intercourse ceased. NAH'SHON, or NAASH'ON, son of Am- minadab, and prince of the children of Judah (as he is styled in the genealogy of Judah, 1 Chr. ii. 10) at the time of the first number- ing in the wilderness (Exod. vi. 23 ; Num. i. 7, &c,). His sister, Elisheba, was wife to Aaron, and his son, Salmon, was husband to Bahab after the taking of Jericho. He died in the wilderness according to Num. xxvi. 64, 65. NA'HUM ( consolation ). Nahum “the El- koshite,” the seventh in order of the minor prophets. His personal history is quite un- known. The site of Elkosh, his native place, is disputed, some placing it in Galilee, others in Assyria. Those who maintain the latter view assume that the prophet’s parents were carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser, and 2 B NAIN 370 NAPHTALI that the prophet was born at the village of Aik ash, on the east bank of the Tigris, two miles north of Mosul. But there is nothing in the prophecy of Nahum to indicate that it was written in the immediate neighbourhood of Nineveh, and in full view of the scenes which are depicted, nor is the language that of an exile in an enemy’s country. No allu- sion is made to the captivity ; while, on the other hand, the imagery is such as would be natural to an inhabitant of Palestine (i. 4), to whom the rich pastures of Bashan, the vineyards of Carmel, and the blossom of Le- banon, were emblems of all that was luxu- riant and fertile. The language employed in i. 15, ii. 2, is appropriate to one who wrote for his countrymen in their native land. In fact the sole origin of the theory that N^hum flourished in Assyria is the name of the village Alkush, which contains his supposed tomb, and from its similarity to Elkosh was appa- rently selected by mediaeval tradition as a shrine for pilgrims. The date of Nahum’s prophecy can be determined with as little precision as his birth-place. It is, however, certain that the prophecy was written before the final downfall of Nineveh, and its capture by the Medes and Chaldaeans (cir. b.c. 625). The allusions to the Assyrian power imply that it was still unbroken (i. 12, ii. 13, 14, iii. 15-17). It is most probable that Nahum flourished in the latter half of the reign of Hezekiah, and wrote his prophecy either in Jerusalem or its neighbourhood. The sub- ject of the prophecy is, in accordance with the superscription, “ the burden of Nineveh,” the destruction of which he predicts. NA'IN, a village of Galilee, the gate of which is made illustrious by the raising of the widow’s son (Luke vii. 12). The modern Nein is situated on the north-western edge of the “ Little Hermon,” or Jebel-ed-Duhy , where the ground falls into the plain of Es- draelon. The entrance to the place, where our Saviour met the funeral, must probably always have been up the steep ascent from the plain; and here, on the west side of the village, the rock is full of sepulchral caves. NA'IOTH, or more fully, “Naioth in Ra- mah ; ” a place in which Samuel and David took refuge together, after the latter had made his escape from the jealous fury of Saul (1 Sam. xix. 18, 19, 22, 23, xx. 1). It is evident from ver. 18, that Naioth was not actually in Hamah, Samuel’s habitual resi- dence. In its corrected form the name sig- nifies “ habitations,” and probably means the huts or dwellings of a school or college of prophets over which Samuel presided, as Elisha did over those at Gilgal and Jericho. NANE'A. The last act of Antiochus Epi- phanes was his attempt to plunder the temple of Nanea at Elymais, which had been en- riched by the gifts and trophies of Alexander the Great (1 Macc. vi. 1-4 ; 2 Macc. i. 13-16). The Persian goddess Nanea is apparently the Moon-goddess. NA'OMI, the wife of Elimelech, and mother- in-law of Ruth (Ruth i. 2, &c., ii. 1, &c., iii. 1, iv. 3, &c.). The name is derived from a root signifying sweetness or pleasantness ; whence we read : — “ Call me not Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara (bitter) .... why call ye me Naomi when Jehovah had testified against me ? ” NA'PHISII, the last but one of the sons of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 15 ; 1 Chr. i. 31). The tribe descended from Nodab was subdued by the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, when “ they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish , and Nodab” (1 Chr. v. 19). NAPH'TALI ( wrestling ). The fifth son of Jacob ; the second child borne to him by Bil- hah, Rachel’s slave. His birth and the be- stowal of his name are recorded in Gen. xxx. 8 : — “ and Rachel said ‘ wrestlings (or con- tortions — naphtule ) of God have I wrestled ( niphtalti ) with my sister and have pre- vailed.’ And she called his name Naphtali.” At the migration to Egypt four sons are at- tributed to Naphtali (Gen. xlvi. 24 ; Ex. i. 4; 1 Chr. vii. 13). When the census was taken at Mount Sinai the tribe numbered no less than 53,400 fighting men (Num. i. 43, ii. 30). But when the borders of the Pro- mised Land were reached, its numbers were reduced to 45,400 (Num. xxvi. 48-50). Dur- ing the march through the wilderness Naph- tali occupied a position on the north of the Sacred Tent with Dan and Asher (Num. ii. 25-31). In the apportionment of the land, the lot of Naphtali was enclosed on three sides by those of other tribes. On the west lay Asher ; on the south Zebulun, and on the east the trans-jordanic Manasseh. The north terminated with the ravine of the Litany or Leontes, and opened into the splendid valley which separates the two ranges of Lebanon. The south boundary was probably very much the same as that which at a later time sepa- rated Upper from Lower Galilee. In the reign of Pekah king of Israel (cir. b.c. 730), Tiglath-Pileser overran the whole of the north of Israel, swept off the population, and bore them away to Assyria. But though the history of the tribe of Naphtali ends here, yet under the title of Galilee the district which they had formerly occupied was des- tined to become in every way far more im- portant than it had ever before been. NAZARETH, NAPHTALI, MOUNT 371 NAZARETH NAPH'TALl, MOUNT. The mountainous district which formed the main part of the inheritance of Naphtali (Josh. xx. 7), answer- ing to “ Mount Ephraim ” in the centre and “ Mount Judah ” in the south of Pa- lestine. NAPH'TUHIM, a Mizraite nation or tribe, mentioned only in the account of the descen- dants of Noah (Gen. x. 13 ; 1 Chr. i. 11). If we may judge from their position in the list of the Mizraites, the Naphtuhim were probably settled at first, either in Egypt or immediately to the west of it. NARCIS’SUS, a dweller at Rome (Rom. xvi. 11), some members of whose household were known as Christians to St. Paul. Some have assumed the identity of this Narcissus with the secretary of the Emperor Claudius ; but this is quite uncertain. NARD. [Spikenard.] NA f THAN ( a givey'). 1. An eminent He- brew prophet in the reigns of David and Solomon. He first appears in the consulta- tion with David about the building of the Temple (2 Sam. vii. 2, 3, 17). He next comes forward as the reprover of David for the sin with Bathsheba ; and his famous apo- logue on the rich man and the ewe lamb, which is the only direct example of his pro- phetic power, shows it to have been of a very high order (2 Sam. xii. 1-12). On the birth of Solomon he was either specially charged with giving him his name, Jedidiah, or else with his education (2 Sam. xii. 25). At any rate, in the last years of David, it is Nathan who, by taking the side of Solomon, turned the scale in his favour. He advised Bathsheba ; he himself ventured to enter the royal presence with a remonstrance against the king’s apathy ; and at David’s request he assisted in the inauguration of Solomon (1 K. i. 8, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24, 32, 34, 38, 45). This is the last time that we hear directly of his intervention in the history. He left two works behind him — a Life of David (1 Chr. xxix. 29), and a Life of Solomon ^2 Chr. ix. 29). The last of these may have been in- complete, as we cannot be sure that he out- lived Solomon. But the biography of David by Nathan is, of all the losses which anti- quity, sacred or profane, has sustained, the most deplorable. His grave is shown at Halhul , near Hebron. — 2. A son of David ; one of the four who were born to him by Bathsheba (1 Chr. iii. 5 ; comp. xiv. 4, and 2 Sam. v. 14). Nathan appears to have taken no part in the events of his father’s or his brother’s reigns. He is interesting to us from his appearing as one of the forefathers of Joseph in the genealogy of St. Luke (iii. 31). — 3. Son, or brother, of one of the mem- bers of David’s guard (2 Sam. xxiii. 36 ; i Chr. xi. 38). NATHAN'AEL, a disciple of Jesus Christ concerning whom, under that name at least, we learn from Scripture little more than his birthplace, Cana of Galilee (John xxi. 2), and his simple truthful character (John i. 47). The name does not occur in the first three Gospels. But it is commonly believed that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person. The evidence for that belief is as follows : St. John, who twice mentions Nathanael, never introduces the name of Bar- tholomew at all. St. Matt. x. 3 ; St. Mark iii. 18 ; and St. Luke vi. 14, all speak of Bartholomew, but never of Nathanael. It may be, that Nathanael was the proper name, and Bartholomew (son of Tholmai) the sur- name of the same disciple, just as Simon was called Bar-Jona, and Joses, Barnabas. It was Philip who first brought Nathanael to Jesus, just as Andrew had brought his brother Simon ; and Bartholomew is named by each of the first three Evangelists immediately after Philip, while by St. Luke he is coupled with Philip precisely in the same way as Simon with his brother Andrew, and James with his brother John. NAZ'ARENE, an inhabitant of Nazareth. This appellative is applied to Jesus in many passages in the N. T. Its application to Jesus, in consequence of the providential arrange- ments by which His parents were led to take up their abode in Nazareth, was the filling out of the predictions in which the promised Messiah is described as a JVetser, i.e. a shoot , sprout , of Jesse, a humble and despised de- scendant of the decayed royal family. When- ever men spoke of Jesus as the Nazarene, they either consciously or unconsciously pro- nounced one of the names of the predicted Messiah, a name indicative both of his royal descent and his humble condition. Once (Acts xxiv. 5) the term Nazarenes is applied to the followers of Jesus by way of contempt. The name still exists in Arabic as the ordi- nary designation of Christians. NAZ'ARETH, the ordinary residence of our Saviour, is not mentioned in the O. T., but occurs first in Matt. ii. 23. It derives its celebrity from its connexion with the his- tory of Christ, and in that respect has a hold on the imagination and feelings of men whicli it shares only with Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is situated among the hills which consti- tute the south ridges of Lebanon, just before they sink down into the Plain of Esdraelon. Of the identification of the ancient site there can be no doubt. The name of the present village is en-Nazirah , the same, therefore, as of old ; it is formed on a hill or mountain 2 B 2 NAZAEITE 372 NAZARITE (Luke iv. 29) ; it is -within the limits of the province of Galilee (Mark i. 9) ; it is near Cana, according to the implication in John ii. 1, 2, 11 ; a precipice exists in the neighbour- hood (Luke iv. 29) ; and, finally, a series of testimonies reach back to Eusebius, the father of Church history, which represent the place as having occupied an invariable position. The modern Nazareth belongs to the better class of eastern villages. It has a population of 3000 or 4000; a few are Mohammedans, the rest Latin and Greek Christians. The origin of the disrepute in which Nazareth stood (John i. 47) is not certainly known. All the inhabitants of Galilee were looked upon with contempt by the people of Judaea because they spoke a ruder dialect, were less cultivated, and were more exposed by their position to contact with the heathen. But Nazareth laboured under a special oppro- brium, for it was a Galilean and not a south- ern Jew who asked the reproachful question whether “any good thing” could come from that source. — Among the “holy places” which the legends have sought to connect with events in the life of Christ, two localities are of special interest. One of these is the “Foun- tain of the Virgin,” situated at the north- eastern extremity of the town, where, accord- ing to one tradition, the mother of Jesus received the angel’s salutation (Luke i. 28). The other place is that of the attempted Pre- cipitation. Above the town are several rocky ledges over which a person could not be thrown without almost certain destruction. But there is one very remarkable precipice, almost perpendicular, and forty or fifty feet high, near the Maronite church, which may well be supposed to be the identical one over which His infuriated townsmen attempted to hurl Jesus. NAZ'ARITE, more properly NAZ'IRITE {one separated ), one of either sex who was bound by a vow of a peculiar kind to be set apart from others for the service of God. The obligation was either for life or for a defined time. There is no notice in the Pen- tateuch of Nazarites for life ; but the regu- lations for the vow of a Nazarite of days are given Num. vi. 1-21. The Nazarite, during the term of his consecration, was bound to abstain from wine, grapes, with every pro- duction of the vine, and from every kind of intoxicating drink. He was forbidden to cut the hair of his head, or to approach any dead body, even that of his nearest relation. When the period of his vow was fulfilled, he was brought to the door of the tabernacle and was required to offer a he lamb for a burnt- offering, a ewe-lamb for a sin-offering, and a ram for a peace-offering, with the usual ac- companiments of peace-offerings (Lev. vii. 12, 13) and of the offering made at the con- secration of priests (Ex. xxix. 2), “a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour min- gled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil” (Num. vi. 15). He brought also a meat-offering and a drink- offering, which appear to have been presented by themselves as a distinct act of service (ver. 17). He was to cut off the hair of “ the head of his separation ” (that is, the hair which had grown during the period of his consecration) at tl^p door of the taber- nacle, and to put it into the fire under the sacrifice on the altar. The priest then placed upon his hands the sodden left shoulder of the ram, with one of the unleavened cakes and one of the wafers, and then took them again and waved them for a wave-offering. Of the Nazarites for life three are mentioned in the Scriptures ; Samson, Samuel, and St. John the Baptist. The only one of these actually called a Nazarite is Samson. We do not know whether the vow for life was ever voluntarily taken by the individual. In all the cases mentioned in the sacred history, it was made by the parents before the birth of the Nazarite himself. — Of the two vows recorded of St. Paul, that in Acts xviii. 18 certainly cannot be regarded as a regular Nazarite vow. All that we are told of it is that, on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, he “ shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.” It is most likely that it was a sort of vow, modified from the proper Naza- rite vow, which had come into use at this time amongst the religious Jews who had been visited by sickness, or any other cala- mity. The other reference to a vow taken by St. Paul is in Acts xxi. 24, where we find the brethren at Jerusalem exhorting him to take part with four Christians who had a vow on them, to sanctify (not purify , as in A. Y.) himself with them, and to be at charges with them, that they might shave their heads. It cannot be doubted that this was a strictly legal Nazarite vow. — The mean- ing of the Nazarite vow has been regarded in different lights. It may be regarded as an act of self-sacrifice. That it was essentially a sacrifice of the person to the Lord is ob- viously in accordance with the terms of the Law (Num. vi. 2). As the Nazarite was a witness for the straitness of the Law, as dis- tinguished from the freedom of the Gospel, his sacrifice of himself was a submission to the letter of the rule. Its outward manifesta- tions were restraints and eccentricities. The man was separated from his brethren that he might be peculiarly devoted to the Lord. This was consistent with the purpose oi NEAPOLIS 373 NEBUCHADNEZZAR divine wisdom for the time for which it was ordained. NEAP'OLIS, is the place in northern Greece where Paul and his associates first landed in Europe (Acts xvi. 11) ; where, no doubt, he landed also on his second visit to Macedonia (Acts xx. 1), and whence certainly he embarked on his last journey through that province to Troas and Jerusalem (Acts xx. 6). Philippi being an inland town, Neapolis was evidently the port, and is represented by the present Kavalla. NEBAI'OTH, NEBAJ'OTH, the “first- born of Ishmael ” (Gen. xxv. 13 ; 1 Chr. i. 29), and father of a pastoral tribe named after him, the “rams of Nebaioth ” being mentioned by the prophet Isaiah (lx. 7) with the flocks of Kedar. From the days of Jerome this people had been identified with the Na- bathaeans, of whom Petra was the capital. NE'BAT, the father of Jeroboam (1 K. xi. 26, xii. 2, 15, &c.),is described as an Ephra- thite, or Ephraimite, of Zereda. NE'BO, MOUNT, the mountain from which Moses took his first and last view of the Promised Land (Deut. xxxii. 49, xxxiv. 1). It is described as in the land of Moab ; fac- ing Jericho ; the head or summit of a moun- tain called the Pisgah ; but notwithstanding the minuteness of this description, no one has yet succeeded in pointing out any spot which answers to Nebo. NE'BO. 1. A town of Reuben on the eastern side of Jordan (Num. xxxii. 3, 38). In the remarkable prophecy adopted by Isaiah (xv. 2) and Jeremiah (xlviii. 1, 22) concerning Moab, Nebo is mentioned in the same connexion as before, but in the hands of Moab. Eusebius and . Terome identify it with Nobah or Kenath, and place it 8 miles south of Heshbon, where the ruins of el - Habis appear to stand at present. — 2. The children of Nebo returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ezr. ii. 29, x. 43 ; Neh. vii. 33). The name occurs between Bethel and Ai, and Lydda, which implies that it was situated in the territory of Benjamin to the N.W. of Jerusalem. This is possibly the modern Beit-Nubah, about 12 miles N.W. by W. of Jerusalem, 8 from Lydda. — 3. Nebo, which occurs both in Isaiah (xlvi. 1) and Jeremiah (xlviii. 1) as the name of a Chaldaean god, is a well known deity of the Babylonians and Assyrians. He w r as the god who presided over learning and letters. His general cha- racter corresponds to that of the Egyptian Thoth, the Greek Hermes and the Latin Mercury. Astronomically he is identified with the planet nearest the sun. In Baby- lonia Nebo held a prominent place from an early time. The ancient town of Borsippa was especially under his protection, and the great temple there (the modern Birs-Nimmd ) was dedicated to him from a very remote age. He was the tutelar god of the most important Babylonian kings, in whose names the word Nabu , or Nebo, appears as an ele- ment. NEBUCHADNEZ'ZAR, or NEBUCHAD- REZ'ZAR, the greatest and most powerful of the Babylonian kings. His name is ex- plained to mean “Nebo is the protector against misfortune.’ , He was the son and successor of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Babylonian Empire. In the lifetime of his father, Nebuchadnezzar led an army against Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, defeated him at Carchemish (b.c. 605) in a great battle (Jer. xlvi. 2-12), recovered Coele-syria, Phoe- nicia, and Palestine, took Jerusalem (Dan, i. 1, 2), pressed forward to Egypt, and was en- gaged in that country or upon its borders when intelligence arrived which recalled him hastily to Babylon. Nabopolassar, after reign- ing 21 years, had died, and the throne was vacant. In some alarm about the succession he hurried back to the capital, accompanied only by his light troops ; and crossing the desert, probably by way of Tadmor or Palmyra, reached Babylon before any dis- turbance had arisen, and entered peaceably on his kingdom (b.c. 604). Within three years of Nebuchadnezzar’s first expedition into Syria and Palestine, disaffection again showed itself in those countries. Jehoiakim, who, although threatened at first with cap- tivity (2 Chr. xxxvi. 6) had been finally maintained on the throne as a Babylonian vassal, after three years of service “ turned and rebelled ” against his suzerain, probably trusting to be supported by Egypt (2 K. xxiv. 1). Not long afterwards Phoenicia seems to have broken into revolt ; and the Chaldaean monarch, who had previously en- deavoured to subdue the disaffected by his generals (ib. ver. 2), once more took the field in person, and marched first of all against Tyre. Having invested that city, and left a portion of his army there to continue the siege, he proceeded against Jerusalem, which submitted without a struggle. According to Josephus, who is here our chief authority, Nebuchadnezzar punished Jehoiakim with death (comp. Jer. xxii. 18, 19, and xxxvi. 30), but placed his son Jehoiachin upon the throne. Jehoiachin reigned only three months ; for, on his showing symptoms of disaffection, Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem for the third time, deposed the young prince (whom he carried to Babylon, together with a large portion of the popula- tion of the city, and the chief of the Temple NEBUCHADNEZZAR 374 NEBUZARADAN treasures), and made his uncle, Zedekiah, king in his room. Tyre still held out ; and it was not till the thirteenth year from the time of its first investment that the city of merchants fell (b.c. 585). Ere this happened, Jerusalem had been totally destroyed. This consummation was owing to the folly of Zedekiah, who, despite the warnings of Jere- miah, made a treaty with Apries (Hophra), king of Egypt (Ez. xvii. 15), and on the strength of this alliance renounced his alle- giance to the king of Babylon. Nebuchad- nezzar commenced the final siege of Jeru- salem in the ninth year of Zedekiah, — his own seventeenth year (b.c. 588), and took it two years later (b.c. 586). One effort to carry out the treaty seems to have been made by Apries. An Egyptian army crossed the frontier, and began its march towards Jerusalem ; upon which Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege, and set off to meet the new foe. According to Josephus a battle was fought, in which Apries was completely de- feated : but the Scriptural account seems rather to imply that the Egyptians retired on the advance of Nebuchadnezzar, and recrossed the frontier without risking an engagement (Jer. xxxvii. 5-8). After an eighteen months’ siege Jerusalem fell. Ze- dekiah escaped from the city, but was cap- tured near Jericho (ib. xxxix. 5) and brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the territory of Hamath, where his eyes were put out by the king’s order, while his sons and his chief nobles were slain. Nebuchadnezzar then re- turned to Babylon with Zedekiah, whom he imprisoned for the remainder of his life ; leaving Nebuzar-adan, the captain of his guard, to complete the destruction of the city and the pacification of Judaea. Gedaliah, a Jew, was appointed governor, but he was shortly murdered, and the rest of the Jews either fled to Egypt, or were carried by Nebuzar-adan to Babylon. The military successes of Nebuchadnezzar cannot be traced minutely beyond this point. It may be gathered from the prophetical Scriptures and from Josephus, that the conquest of Jerusalem was rapidly followed by the fall of Tyre and the complete submission of Phoenicia (Ez. xxvi.-xxviii.) ; after which the Babylonians carried their arms into Egypt, and inflicted severe injuries on that fertile country (Jer. xlvi. 13-26 ; Ez. xxix. 2-20). — We are told that the first care of Nebuchadnezzar, on obtaining quiet posses- sion of his kingdom after the first Syrian expedition, was to rebuild the temple of Bel ( Bel-Merodach ) at Babylon out of the spoils of the Syrian war. He next proceeded to strengthen and beautify the city, which he I renovated throughout, and surrounded with several lines of fortification, himself adding one entirely new quarter. Having finished the walls and adorned the gates magnificently, he constructed a new palace. In the grounds of this palace he formed the celebrated “hanging garden.” But ho did not confine his efforts to the ornamentation and improve- ment of his capital. Throughout the empire, at Borsippa, Sippara, Cutha, Chilmad, Du- raba, Teredon, and a multitude of other places, he built or rebuilt cities, repaired temples, constructed quays, reservoirs, canals, and aqueducts, on a scale of grandeur and magnificence surpassing everything of the kind recorded in history, unless it be the constructions of one or two of the greatest Egyptian monarchs. The wealth, greatness, and general prosperity of Nebuchadnezzar are strikingly placed before us in the book of Daniel. Towards the close of his reign the glory of Nebuchadnezzar suffered a tem- porary eclipse. As a punishment for his pride and vanity, that strange form of mad- ness was sent upon him which the Greeks called Lyeanthropy, wherein the sufferer imagines himself a beast, and quitting the haunts of men, insists on leading the life of a beast (Dan. iv. 33). After an interval of four or perhaps seven years (Dan. iv. 16), Nebuchadnezzar’s malady left him. We are told that “ his reason returned, and for the glory of his kingdom his honour and bright- ness returned;” and he “was established in his kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to him” (Dan. iv. 36). He died in the year b.c. 561, at an advanced age (83 or 84), having reigned 43 years. A son, Evil- Merodach, succeeded him. NEBUSHAS'BAN, one of the officers of Nebuchadnezzar at the time of the capture of Jerusalem. He was Rab-saris, i. e. chief of the eunuchs (Jer. xxxix. 13). Nebu- shasban’s office and title were the same as those of Ashpenaz (Dan. i. 3), whom he pro- bably succeeded. NEBUZAR'ADAN, the Rab-tabbachim, i.e. chief of the slaughterers (A. Y. “ captain of the guard”) a high officer in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. On the capture of Jeru- salem he was left by Nebuchadnezzar in charge of the city (comp. Jer. xxxix. 11). He seems to have quitted Judaea when he took down the chief people of Jerusalem to his master at Riblah (2 K. xxv. 18-20). In four years he again appeared (Jer. lii. 30). Nebuchadnezzar in his twenty- third year made a descent on the regions east of Jordan, including the Ammonites and Moabites, who escaped when Jerusalem was destroyed. Thence he proceeded to Egypt, and, either or NEGINAII 375 NEHEMIAH the way thither or on the return, Nehuzar- aaan again passed through the country and carried off more captives (Jer. lii. 30). NEG'INAH, properly Neginoth , occurs in the title of Ps. lxi., “ to the chief musician upon Neginath.” The LXX. and Vulg evi- dently read “ Neginoth” in the plural, which occurs in the titles of Ps. iv. vi. liv. lv. lxvii. lxxvi., and the margin of Hab. iii. 19, and is perhaps the true reading. Whether the word be singular or plural, it is the general term by which all stringed instruments are described. “ The chief musician on Neginoth ” was therefore the conductor of that portion of the Temple-choir who pJayed upon the stringed instruments, and who are mentioned in Ps. lxviii. 25. NEG r INOTH. [Neginah.] NEIIEMI'AH, son of Hachaliah, and ap- parently of the tribe of Judah. All that we know certainly concerning him is contained in the book which bears his name. We first find him at Shushan, the winter residence of the kings of Persia, in high office as the cup- bearer of king Artaxerxes Longimanus. In the 20th year of the king’s reign i. e. b.c. 445, certain Jews arrived from Judaea, and gave Nehemiah a deplorable account of the state of Jerusalem. He immediately con- ceived the idea of going to Jerusalem to endeavour to better their state, and obtained the king’s consent to his mission. Having received his appointment as governor of Judaea, he started upon his journey : being under promise to return to Persia within a given time. Nekemiah’s great work was re- building, for the first time since their de- struction by Nebuzaradan, the walls of Jerusalem, and restoring that city to its former state and dignity, as a fortified town. In a wonderfully short time the walls seemed to emerge from the heaps of burnt rubbish, and to encircle the city as in the days of old. It soon became apparent how wisely Nehe- miah had acted in hastening on the work. On his very first arrival, as governor, San- ballat and Tobiah had given unequivocal proof of their mortification at his appoint- ment. But when the restoration was seen to be rapidly progressing, their indignation knew no bounds. They made a great con- spiracy to fall upon the builders with an armed force and put a stop to the under- taking. The project was defeated by the vigilance and prudence of Nehemiah. Yarious stratagems were then resorted to to get Nehemiah away from Jerusalem, and if pos- sible to take his life. But that which most nearly succeeded was the attempt to bring him into suspicion with the king of Persia, as if he intended to set himself up as an in- dependent king, as soon as the walls were completed. The artful letter of Sanballat so far wrought upon Artaxerxes, that he issued a decree stopping the work till further orders. It is probable that at the same time he re- called Nehemiah, or perhaps his leave of absence had previously expired. But after a delay, perhaps of several years, he was- permitted to return to Jerusalem, and to crown his work by repairing the Temple, and dedicating the walls. Nehemiah does not indeed mention this adverse decree ; nor should we have suspected his absence at all from Jerusalem, but for the incidental allu- sion in ch. ii. 6, xiii. 6, coupled with the long interval of years between the earlier and later chapters of the book. It seems that the work stopped immediately after the events narrated in vi. 16-19, and that chapter vii. goes on to relate the measures adopted by him upon his return with fresh powers. — During his government Nehemiah firmly repressed the exactions of the nobles, and the usury of the rich, and rescued the poor Jews from spoliation and slavery. He re- fused to receive his lawful allowance as governor from the people, in consideration of their poverty, during the whole twelve years that he was in office, but kept at his own charge a table for 150 Jews, at which any who returned from captivity were welcome. He made most careful provision for the maintenance of the ministering priests and Levites, and for the due and constant cele- bration of Divine worship. Beyond the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, to which Nehemiah’s own narrative leads us, we have no account of him whatever. NEHEMI'AII, BOOK OF, like the pre- ceding one of Ezra, is clearly and certainly not all hy the same hand. [Ezra, Book of.] By far the principal portion, indeed, is the work of Nehemiah ; but other portions are either extracts from various chronicles and registers, or supplementary narratives and reflections, some apparently by Ezra, others, perhaps, the work of the same person who inserted the latest genealogical extracts from the public chronicles. — The main history con- tained in the book of Nehemiah covers about 12 years, viz., from the 20th to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, i. e. from b.c. 445 to 433. The whole narrative gives us a graphic and interesting account of the state of Jerusalem and the returned captives in the writer’s times, and, incidentally, of the nature of the Persian government and the condition of its remote provinces. The documents appended to it also give some further information as to the times of Zerub- babel on the one hand, and as to the con- NEHILOTH 376 NETHINIM tinuation of the genealogical registers and the succession of the high-priesthood to the close of the Persian empire on the other. The view given of the rise of two factions among the Jews — the one the strict religious party ; the other, the gentilizing party, sets before us the germ of much that we meet with in a more developed state in later Jewish history. Again, in this history as well as in the hook of Ezra, we see the bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans acquiring strength and definitive form on both religious and political grounds. The book also throws much light upon the domestic institutions of the Jews. Some of its details give us inci- dentally information of great historical im- portance. NE'HILOTH. The title of Ps. v. in the A. V. is rendered “ to the chief musician upon Nehiloth.” It is most likely that Nehiloth is the general term for perforated wind- instruments of all kinds, as Neginoth denotes all manner of stringed instruments. NEHUSH'TAN, the name by which the brazen serpent, made by Moses in the wilder- ness (Num. xxi. 9), was worshipped in the time of Hezekiah (2 K. xviii. 4). It is evi- dent that our translators by their rendering, “ and he called it Nehushtan,” understood that the subject of the sentence is Hezekiah, and that when he destroyed the brazen ser- pent he gave it the name Nehushtan, “a brazen thing,” in token of his utter contempt. But it is better to understand the Hebrew as referring to the name by which the serpent was generally known, the subject of the verb being indefinite — “and one called it ‘ Ne- hushtan. ’ ” NE'REUS, a Christian at Rome, saluted by St. Paul, Rom. xvi. 15. According to tradi- tion he was beheaded at Terracina, probably in the reign of Nerva. NER'GAL, one of the chief Assyrian and Babylonian deities, seems to have corres- ponded closely to the classical Mars (2 K. xvii. 30). NER'GAL-SHARE'ZER occurs only in Jer. xxxix. 3 and 13. There appear to have been two persons of the name among the “ princes of the king of Babylon,” who ac- companied Nebuchadnezzar on his last ex- pedition against Jerusalem. One of these is not marked by any additional title ; but the other has the honourable distinction of Rab- mag, and it is to him alone that any parti- cular interest attaches. In sacred Scripture he appears among the persons, who, by com- mand of Nebuchadnezzar, released Jeremiah from prison : profane history gives us reason to believe that he was a personage of great importance, who not long afterwards mounted the Babylonian throne. This identification depends in part upon the exact resemblance of name, which is found on Babylonian bricks in the form of Nergal-siiar-uzur ; but mainly it rests upon the title of Bubu-emga , or Rab- Mag, which this king bears in his inscrip- tions. He is the same as the monarch called Neriglissar or Neriglissoor, who murdered Evil-Merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, and succeeded him upon the throne. His reign lasted from b.c. 559 to b.c. 556. NETH'INIM. As applied specifically to a distinct body of men connected with the services of the Temple, this name first meets us in the later books of the 0. T. ; in 1 Chr., Ezra, and Nehemiah. The word, and the ideas embodied in it may, however, be traced to a much earlier period. As derived from the verb natlian (=give, set apart, dedicate), it was applied to those who were specially appointed to the liturgical offices of the Tabernacle. We must not forget that the Levites were given to Aaron and his sons, i. e. to the priests as an order, and were ac- cordingly the first Nethinim (Num. iii. 9, viii. 19). At first they were the only at- tendants, and their work must have been laborious enough. The first conquests, how- ever, brought them their share of the cap- tive slaves of the Midianites, and 320 were given to them as having charge of the Taber- nacle (Num. xxxi. 47), while 32 only were assigned specially to the priests. This dis- position to devolve the more laborious offices of their ritual upon slaves of another race showed itself again in the treatment of the Gibeonites. No addition to the number thus employed appears to have been made during the period of the Judges, and they continued to be known by their old name as the Gibeon- ites. Either the massacre at Nob had in- volved the Gibeonites as well as the priests (1 Sam. xxii. 19), or else they had fallen victims to some other outburst of Saul’s fury, and, though there were survivors (2 Sam. xxi. 2), the number was likely to be quite inadequate for the greater stateliness of the new worship at Jerusalem. It is to this period accordingly that the origin of the class I bearing this name may be traced. The ! Nethinim were those “ whom David and the princes appointed (Heb. gave ) for the service of the Levites” (Ezr. viii. 20). Analogy would lead us to conclude that, in this as in the former instances, these were either prisoners taken in war, or else some of the remnant of the Canaanites. From this time the Nethinim probably lived within the pre- j cincts of the Temple, doing its rougher work, I and so enabling the Levites to take a higher I position as the religious representatives and NETOrHAH 377 NICOLAS instructors of the people. The example set by David was followed by his successor. As- suming, as is probable, that the later Rab- binic teaching represents the traditions of an earlier period, the Nethinim appear never to have lost the stigma of their Canaanite origin. They were all along a servile and subject caste. The only period at which they rise into anything like prominence is that of the return from the captivity. In that re- turn the priests were conspicuous and numer- ous, but the Levites, for some reason unknown to us, hung back. The services of the Ne- thinim were consequently of more importance (Ezr. viii. 17), but in their case also, the small number of those that joined (392 under Zerubbabel, 220 under Ezra, including “ So- lomon’s servants ”) indicates that many pre- ferred remaining in the land of their exile to returning to their old service. Those that did come were consequently thought worthy of special mention. NET'OPHAH, a town the name of which occurs only in the catalogue of those who returned with Zerubbabel from the Captivity (Ezr. ii. 22 ; Neh. vii. 26 ; 1 Esdr. v. 18). But, though not directly mentioned till so late a period, Netophah was really a much oldsr place. Two of David’s guard (1 Chr. xx vii. 13, 15), were Netophathites. The “ villages of the Netophathites ” were the residence of the Levites (1 Chr. ix. 16). From another notice we learn that the parti- cular Levites who inhabited these villages were singers (Neh. xii. 28). To judge from Neh. vii. 26 the town was in the neighbourhood of, or closely connected with, Bethlehem. NETTLE. The Hebrew word so translated in Job xxx. 7 ; Prov. xxiv. 31, was perhaps some species of wild mustard. The Hebrew word translated nettle in Is. xxxiv. 1 3 ; Hos. ix. 6 ; Prov. xxiv. 31, may be understood to denote some species of nettle ( Urtica ). NEW MOON. The first day of the lunar month was observed as a holy day. In ad- dition to the daily sacrifice there were offered two young bullocks, a ram and seven lambs of the first year as a burnt-offering, with tte proper meat-offerings and drink-offerings, and a kid as a sin-offering (Num. xxviii. 11- 15). As on the Sabbath, trade and handi- craft work were stopped (Am. viii. 5), and the Temple was opened for public worship (Ez. xlvi. 3; Is. lxvi. 23). The trumpets were blown at the offering of the special sacrifices for the day, as on the solemn festivals (Num. x. 10 ; Ps. Ixxxi. 3). It was an occasion for state-banquets (1 Sam. xx. 5-24). In later, if not in earlier times, fasting was intermitted at the new moons (Jud. viii. 6). The now moons are generally mentioned so as to show that they were regarded as a peculiar class of holy days, distinguished from the solemn feasts and the Sabbaths (Ez. xlv. 17 ; 1 Chr. xxiii. 31 ; 2 Chr. ii. 4, viii. 13, xxxi. 3; Esr. iii. 5 ; Neh. x. 33). The seventh new moon of the religious year, being that of Tisri, commenced the civiJ year, and had a significance and rites of its own. It was a day of holy convocation. NEW TESTAMENT. [Bible.] NEW YEAR. [Trumpets, Feast of.] NIB'HAZ, a deity of the Avites, introduced by them into Samaria in the time of Shal- maneser (2 K. xvii. 31). There is no certain information as to the character of the deity, or the form of the idol so named. The Rab- bins derived the name from a Hebrew root ndbach , “ to bark,” and hence assigned to it the figure of a dog, or a dog-headed man. NICA'NOR. 1. Son of Patroclus (2 Macc. viii. 9), a general who was engaged in the Jewish wars under Antiochus Epiphanes and Demetrius I. (1 Macc. iii. 38, iv., vii. 26, 49). — 2. One of the first seven deacons (Acts vi. 5). NICODE'MUS, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and teacher of Israel (John iii. 1, 10), whose secret visit to our Lord was the occa- sion of the discourse recorded only by St. John. A constitutional timidity is discernible in the character of the inquiring Pharisee. Thus the few words which he interposed against the rash injustice of his colleagues are cautiously rested on a general principle (John vii. 50). And even when the power of Christ’s love, manifested on the cross, had made the most timid disciple bold, Nicodemus does not come forward with his splendid gifts of affection until the example had been set by one of his own rank, and wealth, and station in society (xix. 39). In these three notices of Nicodemus a noble candour and a simple love of truth shine out in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. We can there- fore easily believe the tradition that after the resurrection he became a professed disciple of Christ, and received baptism at the hands of Peter and John. NICOLA'ITANS. [Nicolas.] NIC'OLAS (Acts vi. 5), a native of An- tioch, and a proselyte to the Jewish faith. When the church was still confined to Jeru- salem, he became a convert; and being a man of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, he was chosen by the whole multitude of the disciples to be one of the first seven deacons, and he was ordained by the apostles. — A sect of Nicolaitans is men- tioned in Rev. ii. 6, 15; but there is no reason except the similarity of name for identifying Nicolas with the sect which our NICOPOLIS 378 NINEVEH Lord denounces, for the traditions on the subject are of no value. It would seem from Rev. ii. 14, that the Nicolaitans held that it was lawful “ to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication,” in opposition to the decree of the church rendered in Acts xv. 20, 29. NICOP'OLIS is mentioned in Tit. iii. 12, as the place where St. Paul was intending to pass the coming winter. Nothing is to be found in the Epistle itself to determine which Nicopolis is here intended. One Ni- copolis was in Thrace, near the borders of Macedonia. The subscription (which, how- ever, is of no authority) fixes on this place, calling it the Macedonian Nicopolis. But we little doubt that Jerome’s view is correct, and that the Pauline Nicopolis was the celebrated city of Epirus. This city (the “ City of Vic- tory ”) was built by Augustus in memory of the battle of Actium. It was on a peninsula to the west of the bay of Actium. NI'GER is the additional or distinctive name given to the Simeon who was one of the teachers and prophets in the Church at Antioch (Acts xiii. 1). NIGHT. [Day.] NIGHT-HAWK. The Hebrew word so translated (Lev. xi. 16; Deut. xiv. 15) pro- bably denotes some kind of owl. NILE, the great river of Egypt. The word Nile nowhere occurs in the A. V. ; but it is spoken of under the name of Sihor [Sihok,], and “ the river of Egypt ” (Gen. xv. 1 8) . On the inundation of the Nile see Egypt. The Nile is constantly before us in the history of Israel in Egypt. Into it the male children were cast ; in it, or rather in some canal or pool, was the ark of Moses put, and found by Pharaoh’s daughter when she went down to bathe. When the plagues were sent, the sacred river — a main support of the people — and its waters everywhere, were turned into blood. NIM'RAH, a place mentioned by this name, in Num. xxxii. 3 only. If it is the same as Beth-nimrah (ver. 36) it belonged to the tribe of Gad. By Eusebius, however, it is cited as a “ city of Reuben in Gilead.” A wady and a town, both called Nimreh , have been met with in JJetheniyeh, east of the Lejah , and five miles north-west of Kuna - wat . NIM'RIM, THE WATERS OF, a stream or brook within the country of Moab, which is mentioned in the denunciations of that na- tion by Isaiah (xv. 6) and Jeremiah (xlviii. 34). We should perhaps look for the site of Nim- rim in Moab proper, i. e. on the south-eastern shoulder of the Dead Sea. NIM'ROD, a son of Cush and grandson of Ham. The events of his life are recorded in Gen. x. 8, ff., from which we learn (1) that he was a Cushite ; (2) that he established an empire in Shinar (the classical Babylonia), the chief towns being Babel, Erech, Accad s and Calneh : and (3) that he extended this empire northwards along the course of the Tigris over Assyria, where he founded a second group of capitals, Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen. (In verse 11 instead of “out of that land went forth Asshur,” we ought to read “ out of that land he went forth to Assyria,” as in the margin.) These events may be held to represent the salient historical facts connected with the earliest stages of the great Babylonian empire. 1. In the first place there is abundant evidence that the race that first held sway in the lower Babylonian plain was of Cushite or Hamitic extraction. The name Cush itself was pre- served in Babylonia and the adjacent coun- tries under the forms of Cossaei, Cissia, Cuthah, and Susiana or Chuzistan. 2. In the second place, the earliest seat of empire was in the south part of the Babylonian plain. The large mounds which for a vast number of centuries have covered the ruins of ancient cities, have already yielded some evidences of the dates and names of their founders, and we can assign the highest antiquity to the towns represented by the mounds of Niffer (perhaps the early Babel, though also identified with Calneh), Warka (the Biblical Erech), Mugheir (Ur), and Sen- her eh (Ellasar), while the name of Accad is preserved in the title Kinzi-Akkad , by which the founder or embellisher of those towns was distinguished. The date of their founda- tion may be placed at about b.c. 2200. — 3. In the third place, the Babylonian empire ex- tended its sway northwards along the course of the Tigris at a period long anterior to the rise of the Assyrian empire in the 13th cen- tury B.C. NIM'SHI. The grandfather of Jehu, who is generally called “the son of Nimshi” (1 K. xix. 16; 2 K. ix. 2, 14, 20; 2 Chr. xxii. 7). NIN'EVEH, the capital of the ancient kingdom and empire of Assyria. The name appears to be compounded from that of an Assyrian deity, “ Nin,” corresponding, it is conjectured, with the Greek Hercules, and occurring in the names of several Assyrian kings, as in “ Ninus,” the mythic founder, according to Greek tradition, of the city. Nineveh is first mentioned in the O. T. in connexion with the primitive dispersement and migrations of the human race. Asshur, or, according to the marginal reading which io generally preferred, Nimrod, is there de- NINEVEH 379 NINEVEH scribed (Gen. x. 11) as extending bis king- dom from tbe land of Sbinar, or Babylonia, in tbe south, to Assyria in tbe north, and founding four cities, of which tbe most famous was Nineveh. Hence Assyria was subsequently known to tbe Jews as “ the land of Nimrod ” (cf. Mic. v. 6), and was be- lieved to have been first peopled by a colony from Babylon. Tbe kingdom of Assyria and of tbe Assyrians is referred to in tbe O. T. as connected with tbe Jews at a very early period ; as in Num. xxiv. 22, 24, and Ps. Ixxxiii. 8 ; but after tbe notice of tbe founda- tion of Nineveh in Genesis no further men- tion is made of tbe city until tbe time of tbe book of Jonah, or tbe 8th century b.c. In this book neither Assyria nor tbe Assyrians are mentioned, tbe king to whom tbe prophet was sent being termed the “king of Nine- veh,” and bis subjects “ the people of Nine- veh.” Assyria is first called a kingdom in tbe time of Menabem, about b.c. 770. Nahum (? b.c. 645) directs bis prophecies against Nineveh ; only once against tbe king of Assyria, cb. iii. 18. In 2 K. (xix. 36) and Is. xxxvii. 37 tbe city is first distinctly mentioned as tbe residence of tbe monarch. Sennacherib was slain there when worship- ping in tbe temple of Nisroch bis god. Zepha- niah, about b.c. 630, couples tbe capital and tbe kingdom together (ii. 13); and this is tbe last mention of Nineveh as an existing city. Tbe destruction of Nineveh occurred b.c. 606. Tbe city was then laid waste, its monuments destroyed, and its inhabitants scattered or carried away into captivity. It never rose again from its ruins. This total disappearance of Nineveh is fully confirmed by tbe records of profane history. The poli- tical history of Nineveh is that of Assyria, of which a sketch has already been given. [Assyria.] — Previous to recent excavations and researches, tbe ruins which occupied tbe presumed site of Nineveh seemed to consist of mere shapeless heaps or mounds of earth and rubbish. Unlike the vast masses of brick masonry which mark the site of Babylon, they showed externally no signs of artificial construction, except perhaps here and there the traces of a rude wall of sun-dried bricks. The only difficulty is to determine which ruins are to he comprised within the actual limits of the ancient city. The principal ruins are — 1, the group immediately opposite Mosul, including the great mounds of Kouyun - •ik and Nelli Yunus; 2, that near the junc- tion of the Tigris and Zab, comprising the mounds of Nimroud and Athur ; 3, Khor sa- lad, about 10 miles to the east of the former river ; 4, Shereef Khan, about 5^ miles to the north of Kouyunjik • and 5, Selamiyah , 3 miles to the north of Nimroud. The first traveller who carefully examined the supposed site of Nineveh was Mr. Bich, formerly political agent for the East India Company at Bagdad ; but his investigations were almost entirely confined to Kouyunjik and the surrounding mounds, of which he made a survey in 1820. In 1843 M. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, fully explored the ruins. They con- sisted of the lower part of a number of halls, rooms, and passages, for the most part wains- coted with slabs of coarse gray alabaster, sculptured with figures in relief, the principal entrances being formed by colossal human- headed winged bulls. No remains of exterior architecture of any great importance were discovered. The calcined limestone and the great accumulation of charred wood and charcoal showed that the building had been destroyed by fire. Its upper part had entirely disappeared, and its general plan could only be restored by the remains of the lower story. The collection of Assyrian sculptures in the Louvre came from these ruins. M. Botta’s dis- coveries at Khorsahad were followed by those of Mr. Layard at Nimroud and Kouyunjik, made between the years 1845 and 1850. The mound of Nimroud was found to contain the ruins of several distinct edifices, erected at different periods. In general plan and in con- struction they resembled the ruins at Khorsa- had — consisting of a number of halls, cham- bers, and galleries, panelled with sculptured and inscribed alabaster slabs, and opening one into the other by doorways generally formed by pairs of colossal human-headed winged bulls or lions. The exterior architecture could not he traced. — The Assyrian edifices were so nearly alike in general plan, con- struction, and decoration, that one descrip- tion will suffice for all. They were built upon artificial mounds or platforms, varying in height, but generally from 30 to 50 feet above the level of the surrounding country, and solidly constructed of regular layers of sun-dried bricks, as at Nimroud, or consisting merely of earth and rubbish heaped up, as at Kouyunjik. This platform was probably faced with stone masonry, remains of which were discovered at Nimroud, and broad flights of steps or inclined ways led up to its summit. Although only the general plan of the ground-floor can now he traced, it is evi- dent that the palaces had several stories built of wood and sun-dried bricks, which, when the building was deserted and allowed to fall to decay, gradually buried the lower chambers with their ruins, and protected the sculptured slabs from the effects of the weather. The depth of soil and rubbish above the alabaster slabs varied from a few NINEVEH 380 NINEVEH inches to about 20 feet. It is to this ac- cumulation of rubbish above them that the bas-reliefs owe their extraordinary preserva- tion. The portions of the edifices still re- maining consist of halls, chambers, and galleries, opening for the most part into large uncovered courts. The wall, above the wainscoting of alabaster, was plastered, and painted with figures and ornaments. The sculptures, with the exception of the human- headed lions and bulls, were for the most part in low relief. The colossal figures usu- ally represent the king, his attendants, and the gods ; the smaller sculptures, which either cover the whole face of the slab, or are divided into two compartments by bands of inscriptions, represent battles, sieges, the chase, single combats with wild beasts, reli- gious ceremonies, &c. &c. All refer to public or national events ; the hunting-scenes evi- dently recording the prowess and personal valour of the king as the head of the people — “ the mighty hunter before the Lord.” The sculptures appear to have been painted — remains of colour having been found on most of them. Thus decorated, without and within, the Assyrian palaces must have dis- played a barbaric magnificence, not however devoid of a certain grandeur and beauty, which no ancient or modern edifice has pro- bably exceeded. These great edifices, the depositories of the national records, appear to have been at the same time the abode of the king and the temple of the gods. — Site of the City . — Much diversity of opinion exists as to the identification of the ruins which may be properly included within the site of ancient Nineveh. According to Sir H. Rawlinson and those who concur in his interpretation of the cuneiform characters, each group of mounds already mentioned represents a separate and distinct city. On the other hand, it has been conjectured, with much probability, that these groups of mounds are not ruins of separate cities, but of forti- fied royal residences, each combining palaces, temples, propylaea, gardens, and parks, and having its peculiar name ; and that they all formed part of one great city built and added to at different periods, and consisting of dis- tinct quarters scattered over a very large area, and frequently very distant one from 'che other. Nineveh might thus be compared with Damascus, Ispahan, or perhaps more appropriately with Delhi. It is thus alone that the ancient descriptions of Nineveh, if any value whatever is to be attached to them, can be reconciled with existing remains. As at Babylon, no great consecutive wall of inclosure comprising all the ruins has been discovered at Nineveh and no such wall ever existed. — Prophecies relating to Nineveh and Illustrations of the 0. T. — These are exclusively contained in the books of Nahum and Zephaniah ; for although Isaiah foretells the downfall of the Assyrian empire (ch. x. and xiv.), he makes no mention of its capital. Nahum threatens the entire destruction of the city, so that it shall not rise again from its ruins : “ With an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof.” “ He will make an utter end : affliction shall not rise up the second time ” (i. 8, 9). “ Thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no one gathereth them. There is no healing of thy bruise ” (iii. 18, 19). Some commen- tators believe that “the overrunning flood” refers to the agency of Water in the destruc- tion of the walls by an extraordinary overflow of the Tigris, and the consequent exposure of the city to assault through a breach ; others, that it applies to a large and devastating army. Most of the edifices discovered had been destroyed by fire, but no part of the walls of either Nimroud or Kouyunjik appears to have been washed away by the river. The likening of Nineveh to “a pool of water ” (ii. 8) has been conjectured to refer to the moats and dams by which a portion of the country around Nineveh could be flooded. The city was to be partly destroyed by fire, “The fire shall devour thy bars,” “then shall the fire devour thee ” (iii. 13, 15). The gateway in the northern wall of the Kouyunjik inclosure had been destroyed by fire as well as the palaces. The population was to be surprised when unprepared, “ while they are drunk as drunkards they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry ” (i. 10). Diodorus states that the last and fatal assault was made when they were overcome with wine. The cap- tivity of the inhabitants, and their removal to distant provinces, are predicted (iii. 18). The palace-temples were to be plundered of their idols, “ out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image” (i. 14), and the city sacked of its wealth : “ Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold” (ii. 9). Eor ages the Assyrian edifices have been despoiled of their sacred images. Only one or two fragments of the precious metals were found in the ruins. Nineveh, after its fall, was to be “ empty, and void, and waste” (ii. 10) ; “ it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste” (iii. 7). These epi- thets describe the present state of the site of the city. But the fullest and the most vivid and poetical picture of its ruined and deserted condition is that given by Zephaniah, who probably lived to see its fall (ii. 13, 14, 15). NISAN 381 NOAH The canals which once fertilised the soil are now dry. Except when the earth is green after the periodical rains the site of the city, as well as the surrounding country, is an arid yellow waste. Many allusions in the 0. T. to the dress, arms, modes of warfare, and customs of the people of Nineveh, as well as of the Jews, are explained hy the Nineveh monuments. Thus (Nah. ii. 3), “the shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet.” The shields and the dresses of the warriors are generally painted red in the sculptures. The magnificent description of the assault upon the city (iii. 1, 2, 3) is illustrated in almost every particu- lar. The mounds huilt up against the walls of a besieged town (Is. xxxvii. 33 ; 2 K. xix. 32 ; Jer. xxxii. 24, &c.), the hattering-ram (Ez. iv. 2), the various kinds of armour, hel- mets, shields, spears, and swords, used in battle during a siege ; the chariots and horses (Nah. iii. 3) are all seen in various bas- reliefs. The interior decoration of the Assyrian palaces is described by Ezekiel, himself a captive in Assyria and an eye- witness of their magnificence (xxiii. 14, 15) ; a description strikingly illustrated by the sculptured likenesses of the Assyrian kings and warriors. The mystic figures seen by the prophet in his vision (ch. i.), uniting the man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle, may have been suggested by the eagle-headed idols, and man-headed bulls and lions, and the sacred emblem of the “wheel within wheel ” by the winged circle or globe fre- quently represented in the bas-reliefs. NI'SAN. [Months.] NIS'ROCH, an idol of Nineveh, in whose temple Sennacherib was worshipping when assassinated by his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer (2 K. xix. 37 ; Is. xxxvii. 38). The word signifies “ the great eagle.” It is identified with the eagle-headed human figure, which is one of the most prominent on the earliest Assyrian monuments, and is always represented as contending with and conquer- ing the lion or the bull. NITRE occurs in Prov. xxv. 20, “ and as vinegar upon nitre ; ” and in Jer. ii. 22. The substance denoted is not that which we now understand by the term nitre , i.e. nitrate of potassa — “ saltpetre ” — but the nitrum of the Latins, and the natron or native carbonate of soda of modern chemistry. The latter part of the passage in Proverbs is well explained by Shaw, who says ( Trav . ii. 387), “the unsuit- ableness of the singing of songs to a heavy heart is very finely compared to the contra- riety there is between vinegar and natron.” NO. [No-Amon.] NO 'AH, the tenth in descent from Adam, in the line of Seth, was the son of Lamech, and grandson of Methuselah. In the reason which Lamech gives for calling his son Noah, there is a play upon the name which it is im- possible to preserve in English. He called his name Noah (Noach, rest), saying “ this same shall comfort us.” Of Noah himself we hear nothing till he is 500 years old, when it is said he begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet. In consequence of the grievous and hopeless wickedness of the world at this time, God resolved to destroy it. “ My spirit,” He says, “ shall not always ‘dwell’ or ‘bear sway’ in man — inasmuch as he is but flesh.” The meaning of which seems to be that whilst God had put His Spirit in man, i.e . not only the breath of life, but a spiritual part capable of recognising, loving, and worshipping Him, man had so much sunk down into the lowest and most debasing of fleshly pleasures, as to have al- most extinguished the higher light within him. Then follows : “ But his days shall be a hundred and twenty years,” which has been interpreted by some to mean, that still a time of grace shall be given for repentance, viz. 120 years before the Flood shall come; and by others, that the duration of human life should in future be limited to this term of years, instead of extending over centuries as before. This last seems the most natural interpretation of the Hebrew words. Of Noah’s life during this age of almost uni- versal apostasy we are told but little. It is merely said, that he was a righteous man and perfect in his generations [i.e. amongst his con- temporaries), and that he, like Enoch, walked with God. St. Peter calls him “ a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. ii. 5). Besides this we are merely told that he had three sons, each of whom had married a wife ; that he built the Ark in accordance with Divine direc- tion ; and that he was 600 years old when the Flood came (Gen. vi. vii.). Both about the Ark and the Flood so many questions have been raised, that we must consider each of these separately. The Ark. — The precise meaning of the Hebrew word ( tebdh ) is un- certain. The word occurs only in Genesis and in Exodus (ii. 3). In all probability it is to the old Egyptian that we are to look for its original form. Bunsen, in his vocabulary, gives tba , “ a chest,” tpt, “ a boat,” and in the Copt. Yers. of Exod. ii. 3, 5, thebi is the rendering of tebdh. This “ chest,” or “ boat,” was to be made of gopher (i.e. cypress) wood, a kind of timber which both for its lightness and its durability was employed by the Phoe- nicians for building their vessels. The planks of the ark, after being put together, were to be protected by a coating of pitch, or rather NOAH 382 NOAH bitumen, which was to he laid on both inside and outside, as the most effectual means of making it water-tight, and perhaps also as a protection against the attacks of marine ani- mals. The ark was to consist of a number of “ nests ” or small compartments, with a view no doubt to the convenient distribution of the different animals and their food. These were to be arranged in three tiers, one above another ; “ with lower, second, and third (stories) shalt thou make it.” Means were also to be provided l'or letting light into the ark. In the A. Y. we read, “ A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above : ” — words which it must be confessed convey no very intelligible idea. The original, however, is obscure, and has been differently interpreted. What the “ win- dow,” or “ light-hole ” was, is very puzzling. It was to he at the top of the ark apparently. If the words “ unto a cubit shalt thou finish it above” refer to the window and not to the ark itself, they seem to imply that this aper- ture, or skylight, extended to the breadth of a cubit the whole length of the roof. But if so, it could not have been merely an open slit, for that would have admitted the rain. Are we then to suppose that some transparent, or at least translucent, substance was em- ployed ? It would almost seem so. But be- sides the window there was to be a door. This was to be placed in the side of the ark. Of the shape of the ark nothing is said ; but its dimensions are given. It was to be 300 cubits in length, 50 in breadth, and 30 in height. Taking 21 inches for the cubit, the ark would be 525 feet in length, 67 feet 6 inches in breadth, and 52 feet 6 inches in height. This is very considerably larger than the largest British man-of-war. It should he remembered that this huge struc- ture was only intended to float on the water, and was not in the proper sense of the word a ship. It had neither mast, sail, nor rudder ; it was in fact nothing but an enor- mous floating house, or oblong box rather. Two objects only were aimed at in its con- struction : the one was that it should have ample stowage, and the other that it should be able to keep steady upon the water. After having given Noah the necessary in- structions for the building of the ark, God tells him the purpose for which it was de- signed. The earth is to be destroyed by water. “ And I, behold I do bring the flood ■ — waters upon the earth — to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life . . . but 1 will establish my covenant with thee, &c.” (vi. 17, 18). The inmates of the ark are then specified. They are to be Noah and his wife, and his three sons with their wives. Noah is also to take a pair of each kind of anima. into the ark with him that he may preserve them alive ; birds, domestic animals, and creeping things are particularly mentioned. He is to provide for the wants of each of these stores “ of every kind of food that is eaten.” It is added, “Thus did Noah; ac- cording to all that God commanded him, so did he.” A remarkable addition to these directions occurs in the following chapter. The pairs of animals are now limited to one of unclean animals, whilst of clean animals and birds (ver. 2), Noah is to take to him seven pairs. — The Flood. — The ark was finished, and all its living freight was ga- thered into it as in a place of safety. Jeho- vah shut him in, says the chronicler, speaking of Noah. And then there ensued a solemn pause of seven days before the threatened destruction was let loose. At last the Flood came ; the waters were upon the earth. The narrative is vivid and forcible, though en- tirely wanting in that sort of description which in a modern historian or poet would have occupied the largest space. But one impression is left upon the mind with pecu- liar vividness, from the very simplicity of the narrative, and it is that of utter deso- lation. From vii. 17 to the end of the chap- ter a very simple but very powerful and impressive description is given of the appal- ling catastrophe. The waters of the Flood increased for a period of 190 days (40-J-150, comparing vii. 12 and 24). And then “ God remembered Noah,” and made a wind to pass over the earth, so that the waters were as- suaged. The ark rested on the seventeenth day of the seventh month on the mountains of Ararat. After this the waters gradually decreased till the first day of the tenth month, when the tops of the mountains were seen. It was then that Noah sent forth, first, the raven, which flew hither and thither, resting probably on the mountain-tops, but not re- turning to the ark ; and next, after an in- terval of seven days (cf. ver. 10), the dove, “ to see if the waters were abated from the ground” [i.e. the lower plain country). “But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark.” After waiting for another seven days he again sent forth the dove, which re- turned this time with a fresh olive-leaf in her mouth, a sign that the waters were still lower. And once more, after another inter- val of seven days, he sent forth the dove, and she “ returned not again unto him any more,” having found a home for herself upon the earth. — Whether the Flood was universa or partial has given rise to much contro- versy ; but there can be no doubt that it was NOAH 383 NOAH universal, so far as man was concerned : we mean that it extended to all the then known world. The literal truth of the narrative obliges us to believe that the whole human race , except eight persons, perished by the waters of the Flood. In the New Testament our Lord gives the sanction of His own autho- rity to the historical truth of the narrative (Matt. xxiv. 37 ; Luke xvii. 26), declaring that the state of the world at His second coming shall be such as it was in the days of Noah. St. Peter speaks of the “ long suffering of God,” which “ waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water,” and sees in the waters of the Flood by which the ark was borne up a type of Baptism, by which the Church is separated from the world (1 Pet. iii. 20, 21). And again, in his Second Epistle (2 Pet. ii. 5), he cites it as an instance of the righteous judgment of God w r ho spared not the old world. But the language of the Book of Genesis does not compel us to sup- pose that the whole surface of the globe was actually covered with water, if the evidence of geology requires us to adopt the hypothesis of a partial deluge. It is natural to suppose that the writer, when he speaks of “ all flesh,” “ all in whose nostrils was the breath of life,” refers only to his own locality. This sort of language is common enough in the Bible when only a small part of the globe is intended. Thus, for instance, it is said that “ all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn;” and that “a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” In these and many similar pas- sages the expressions of the writer are ob- viously not to be taken in an exactly literal sense. Even the apparently very distinct nhrase “ all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered ” may be matched by another precisely similar, where it is said that God would put the fear and the dread of Israel upon every nation under heaven. — The truth of the Biblical narrative is confirmed by the numerous traditions of other nations, which have preserved the memory of a great and destructive flood, from which but a small part of mankind escaped. They seem to point back to a com- mon centre, whence they were carried by the different families of man, as they wan- dered east and west. There is a medal of Apamea in Phrygia struck as late as the time Df Septimius Severus, in which the Phry- gian deluge is commemorated. This medal represents a kind of square vessel floating in the water. Through an opening in it are seen two persons, a man and a woman. Upon the top of this chest or ark is perched a bird, whilst another flies towards it carry- ing a branch between its feet. Before the vessel are represented the same pair as having just quitted it, and got upon the dry land. Singularly enough, too, on some specimens of this medal the letters N12, or NOE, have been found on the vessel, as in the annexed cut. — After the Flood. — Noah’s first act after he left the ark was to build an altar, and to offer sacrifices. This is the first altar of which we read in Scripture, and the first burnt sacrifice. Then follows the blessing of God upon Noah and his sons. All living creatures are now given to man for food ; but express provision is made that the blood (in which is the life) should not be eaten. Medal cf Apamea in Phrygia, representing the Deluge. Next, God makes provision for the security of human life. The blood of man, in which is his life, is yet more precious than the blood of beasts. Hence is laid the first foundation of the civil power. Of the seven precepts of Noah, as they are called, the observance of which was required of all Jewish proselytes, three only are here expressly mentioned. It is in the terms of the blessing and the covenant made with Noah after the Flood that we find the strongest evidence that it extended to all the then known world. Noah is clearly the head of a new human family, the representative of the whole race. It is as such that God makes His covenant with him ; and hence selects a natural phenomenon as the sign of that covenant. The bow in the cloud, seen by every nation under heaven, is an unfailing witness to the truth of God. — Noah now for the rest of his life betook him- self to agricultural pursuits. It is parti- cularly noticed that he planted a vineyard. Whether in ignorance of its properties or otherwise, we are not informed, but he drank of the juice of the grape till he became in- toxicated and shamefully exposed himself in his own tent. One of his sons, Ham, mocked NO-AMON 384 NUMBERS openly at his father’s disgrace. The others, with dutiful care and reverence, endeavoured to hide it. When he recovered from the effects of his intoxication, he declared that a curse should rest upon the sons of Ham. With the curse on his youngest son was joined a blessing on the other two. After this prophetic blessing we hear no more of the patriarch but the sum of his years. NO-A'MON (Nah. iii. 8), NO (Jer. xlvi. 25; Ez. xxx. 14, 15, 16), a city of Egypt, better known under the name of Thebes, or Diospolis Magna. The second part of the first form is the name of Amen, the chief divinity of Thebes, mentioned or alluded to in connexion with this place in Jeremiah, “Behold, I will punish Amon in No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings ; ” and perhaps also alluded to in Ezekiel (xxx. 15). There is a difficulty as to the meaning of No. It seems most reason- able to suppose that No is a Shemitic name, and that Amon is added in Nahum ( l.c .) to distinguish Thebes from some other place bearing the same name, or on account of the connexion of Amen with that city. The de- scription of No- Amon, as “ situate among the rivers, the waters round about it” (Nah. l.c,), remarkably characterizes Thebes. NOB (1 Sam. xxiii. 11; Neh. xi. 32), a sacerdotal city in the tribe of Benjamin, and situated on some eminence near Jerusalem. It was one of the places where the tabernacle, or ark of Jehovah, was kept for a time during the days of its wanderings (2 Sam. vi. 1, &c.). But the event for which Nob was most noted in the Scripture annals, was a frightful massacre which occurred there in the reign of Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 17-19). NO'BAH, an Israelite warrior (Num. xxxii. 42), who during tbe conquest of the territory on the east of Jordan possessed himself of the town of Kenath and the villages or ham- lets dependent upon it, and gave them his own name. For a certain period after the establishment of the Israelite rule the new name remained (Judg. viii. 11). But it is not again heard of, and the original appella- tion, as is usual in such cases, appears to have recovered its hold, which it has since retained ; for in the slightly modified form of Kunawdt if is the name of the place to the present day. NOD. [Cain.] NO'E, the patriarch Noah (Tob. iv. 12; Matt. xxiv. 37, 38 ; Luke iii. 36, xvii. 26, 27). NOPH. [Memphis.] NOSE- JEWEL (Gen. xxiv. 22 ; Ex. xxxv. 22 “ear-ring;” Is. iii. 21; Ez. xvi. 12, “jewel on the forehead”), a ring of metal, sometimes of gold or silver, passed usually through the right nostril, and worn by way of ornament by women in the East. Upon it are strung beads, coral, or jewels. In Egypt it is now almost confined to the lower classes. NUMBERS, the Fourth Book of the Law or Pentateuch. It takes its name in the LXX. and Yulg. (whence our * Numbers ’) from the double numbering or census of the people ; the first of which is given in chaps, i.-iv., and the second in chap. xxvi. — A. Contents . — The Book may be said to contain generally the history of the Israelites from the time of their leaving Sinai, in the second year after the Exodus, till their arrival at the borders of the Promised Land in the fortieth year of their journeyings. It con- sists of the following principal divisions : — I. The preparations for the departure from Sinai (i. 1-x. 10). II. The journey from Sinai to the borders of Canaan (x. 11-xiv. 45). III. A brief notice of laws given, and events which transpired, during the thirty- seven years’ wandering in the wilderness (xv. 1-xix. 22). IY. The history of the last year, from the second arrival of the Israelites in Kadesh till they reach “ the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho ” (xx. l.-xxxvi. 13). Pistacta vera. (Art. ; Wllta.') NUN 385 OBADIAH NUN, the father of the Jewish captain Joshua (Ex. xxxiii. 11, &c.). His genealo- gical descent from Ephraim is recorded in 1 Chr. vii. NURSE. It is clear, both from Scripture and from Greek and Roman writers, that in ancient times the position of the nurse, wherever one was maintained, was one of much honohr and importance. (See Gen. xxiv. 59, xxxv. 8 ; 2 Sam, iv. 4 ; 2 K. xi. 2 ; 3 Macc. i. 20.) The same term is applied to a foster-father or mother, e.g ., Num. xi. 12 ; Ruth ir. 16 ; Is. xlix. 23. NUTS are mentioned among the good things of the land which the sons of Israel were to take as a present to Joseph in Egypt (Gen. xliii. 11). There can scarcely be a doubt that the Hebrew word, here translated “ nuts,” denotes the fruit of the Pistachio tree ( Pistacia vera ), for which Syria and Palestine have been long famous. In Cant, vi. 1 1 a different Hebrew word is translated “ nuts.” In all probability it here refers to the Walnut-tree. According to Josephus the walnut-tree was formerly common, and grew most luxuriantly around the lake of Genne- sareth. NYM'PHAS, a wealthy and zealous Chris- tian in Laodicea, Col. iv. 15. O AK. The following Hebrew words, which appear to be merely various forms of the same root, occur in the O. T. as the names of some species of oak, viz., el, elah, elon , ildn, alldh , and allon. There is much difficulty in determining the exact meanings of the several varieties of the term mentioned above. Some maintain that el, etim, elon , elah, and alldh, all stand for the terebinth-tree ( Pis- tacia terehinthus ), while allon denotes an oak. But if we examine the claims of the terebinth to represent the elah, we shall see that in point of size it cannot compete with some of the oaks of Palestine. Dr. Thomson ( The Land and the Book , p. 243) remarks on this point : “ There are more mighty oaks here in this immediate vicinity ( Mejdel es-Shems) than there are terebinths in all Syria and Pales- tine together.” Two oaks ( Quercus pseudo- coccifera and Q. aegilops ) are well worthy of the name of mighty trees ; though it is equally true that over a greater part of the country the oaks of Palestine are at present merely bushes. OATH. The principle on which an oath is held to be binding is incidentally laid down in Heb. vi. 16, viz. as an ultimate appeal to divine authority to ratify an assertion. There the Almighty is represented as promising or denouncing with an oath, i.e. doing so in the 8m. D. B. most positive and solemn manner. On the same principle, that oath has always been held most binding which appealed to the highest authority, both as regards indivi- duals and communities. As a consequence of this principle, appeals to God’s name on the one hand, and to heathen deities on the other, are treated in Scripture as tests of allegiance (Ex. xxiii. 13, xxxiv. 6; Deut. xxix. 12, &c.). So also the sovereign’s name is sometimes used as a form of obligation (Gen. xlii. 15; 2 Sam. xi. 11, xiv. 19). — Other forms of oath, serious or frivolous, are mentioned, some of which are condemned by our Lord (Matt. v. 33, xxiii. 16-22 ; and see Jam. v. 12). — The forms of adjuration men- tioned in Scripture are — 1. Lifting up the hand. Witnesses laid their hands on the head of the accused (Gen. xiv. 22 ; Lev. xxiv. 14 ; Deut. xxxiii. 40 ; Is. iii. 7). 2. Putting the hand under the thigh of the person to whom the promise was made (Gen. xxiv. 2, xlvii. 29). 3. Oaths were sometimes taken before the altar, or, as some understand the passage, if the persons were not in Jeru- salem, in a position looking towards the Temple (1 K. viii. 31 ; 2 Chr. vi. 22). 4. Dividing a victim and passing between or distributing the pieces (Gen. xv. 10, 17 ; Jer. xxxiv. 18). — As the sanctity of oaths was carefully inculcated by the Law, so the crime of perjury was strongly condemned ; and to a false witness the same punishment was as- signed which was due for the crime to which hb testified (Ex. xx. 7 ; Lev. xix. 12 ; Deut. xix. 16-19; Ps. xv. 4; Jer. v. 2, vii. 9; Ez xvi. 59; Hos. x. 4; Zech. viii. 17). — The Christian practice in the matter of oaths was founded in great measure on the Jewish. Thus the oath on the Gospels was an imitation of the Jewish practice of placing the hands on the book of the Law. — The stringent nature of the Roman military oath, and the penalties attached to infraction of it, are alluded to, more or less certainly, in several places in the N. T., e.g. Matt. viii. 9 ; Acts xii. 19, xvi. 27, xxvii. 42. OB AD l r AH {servant of the Lord), the fourth of the twelve minor prophets. We know nothing of him except what we can gather from the short book which bears his name. The Hebrew tradition that he is the same person as the Obadiah of Ahab’s reign (1 K. xviii. 7-16), is destitute of all founda- tion. The question of his date must depend upon the interpretation of the 11th verse of his prophecy. He there speaks of the con- quest of Jerusalem and the captivity of Jacob. If he is referring to the well-known captivity by Nebuchadnezzar he must have lived at the time of the Babylonish captivity, and 2 C OBED 386 OINTMENT have prophesied subsequently to the year b.c. 588. If, further, his prophecy against Edom found its first fulfilment in the con- quest of that country by Nebuchadnezzar in .the year b.c. 583, we have its date fixed. It must have been uttered at some time in the five years which intervened between those two dates. The only argument of any weight for the early date of Obadiah is his position in the list of the books of the minor prophets. Why should he have been inserted between Amos and Jonah if his date is about b.c. 585 ? The answer seems to be that the prophecy of Obadiah is an amplification of the last five verses of Amos, and was therefore placed next after the book of Amos. The book of Obadiah is a sustained denunciation of the Edomites, melting into a vision of the future glories of Zion, when the arm of the Lord should have wrought her deliverance and have repaid double upon her enemies. O'BED, son of Boaz and Buth the Moabitess (Ruthiv. 17) .The name of Obed occurs only Ruthiv. 17, and in the four genealogies, Ruth iv. 21, 22 ; 1 Chr. ii. 12 ; Matt. i. 5 ; Luke iii. 32. In all these five passages, and in the first with peculiar emphasis, he is said to be the father of Jesse . O'BED-E'DOM. 1. A Levite, described as a Gittite (2 Sam. vi. 10, 11), that is, pro- bably, a native of the Levitical city of Gath- Rimmon in Manasseh, which was assigned to the Kohathites (Josh. xxi. 45). After the death of Uzzah, the ark, which was being conducted from the house of Abinadab in Gibeah to the city of David, was carried aside into the house of Obed-edom, where it con- tinued three months. It was brought thence by David (1 Chr. xv. 25; 2 Sam. vi. 12). — 2. “ Obed-edom the son of Jeduthun” (1 Chr. xvi. 38), a Merarite Levite, appears to be a different person from the last-mentioned. He was a Levite of the second degree and a gatekeeper for the ark (1 Chr. xv. 18, 24), appointed to sound “ with harps on the Sheminith to excel ” (1 Chr. xv. 21, xvi. 5). ODOL'LAM. [Adullam.] OFFERINGS. [Sacrifice.] OG, an Amoritish king, of Bashan, whose rule extended over sixty cities (Josh. xiii. 12). He was one of the last representatives of the giant-race of Rephaim, and was, with his children and his people, defeated and ex- terminated by the Israelites at Edrei, im- mediately after the conquest of Sihon (Deut. in. 1-13 ; Num. xxxii. 33. Also Deut. i. 4, iv. 47, xxxi. 4 ; Josh. ii. 10, ix. 10, xiii. 12, 30). The belief in Og’s enormous stature is corroborated by an appeal to his iron bed- stead preserved in “ Rabbath of the children of Ammon” (Deut. iii. 11). Some have sup- posed that this was one of the common fiat beds used sometimes on the housetops of Eastern cities, but made of iron instead of palm-branches, which would not have sup- ported the giant’s weight. It is more pro- bable that the words mean a “ sarcophagus of black basalt,” a rendering of which they un- doubtedly admit. OIL. [Olive.] OIL-TREE (Heb. ets shemen). The He- brew words occur in Neh. viii. 15 (A. Y. “ pine- branches”), 1 K. vi. 23 (“ olive-tree”), and in Is. xli. 1 9 (“ oil-tree ”) . From the passage in Nehemiah, where the ets shemen is men- tioned as distinct from the “ olive-tree,” it may perhaps be identified with the zackum - tree of the Arabs, the Balanites Aegyptiaca, a well-known and abundant shrub or small tree in the plain of Jordan. The zackum-oil is held in high repute by the Arabs for its medicinal properties. [Olive.] Balanites Aegyptiaca. OINTMENT. — 1. Cosmetic The Greek and Roman practice of anointing the head and clothes on festive occasions prevailed also among the Egyptians, and appears to have had place among the Jews (Ruth iii. 3 ; Eccl. vii. 1 ix. 8 ; Frov. xxvii. 9, 16, &c.). Oil feSE? OLD TESTAMENT 387 OLIVES, MOUNT OF of myrrh, for like purposes, is mentioned Esth. ii. 12. — 2. Funereal. Ointments as well as oil were used to anoint dead bodies and the clothes in which they were wrapped (Matt. xxvi. 12 ; Mark xiv. 3, 8 ; Luke xxiii. 56 ; John xii. 3, 7, xix. 40). — 3. Medi- cinal. Ointment formed an important feature in ancient medical treatment (Is. i. 6). The mention of balm of Gilead and of eye-salve (collyrium) points to the same method (Is. i. 6 ; John ix. 6 ; Jer. viii. 22 ; Rev. iii. 18, &c.). — 4. Ritual. Besides the oil used in many ceremonial observances, a special oint- ment was appointed to be used in consecra- tion (Ex. xxx. 23, 33, xxix. 7, xxxvii. 29, xl. 9, 15). Strict prohibition was issued against using this unguent for any secular purpose, or on the person of a foreigner, and against imitating it in any way whatsoever (Ex. xxx. 32, 33). — A person whose business it was to compound ointments in general was called an “ apothecary ” (Neh. iii. 8 ; Eccl. x. 1 ; Ecclus. xlix. 1). The work was some- times carried on by women “ confectionaries ” (1 Sam. viii. 13). In the Christian Church the ancient usage of anointing the bodies of the dead was long retained. The cere- mony of Chrism or anointing was also added to baptism. OLD TESTAMENT. [Bible.] OLIVE. No tree is more closely associated with the history and civilisation of man. Many of the Scriptural associations of the olive-tree are singularly poetical. It has this remarkable interest, in the first place, that its foliage is the earliest that is mentioned by name, when the waters of the flood began to retire (Gen. viii. 11). Next we find it the most prominent tree in the earliest allegory (Judg. ix. 8, 9). With David it is the em- blem of prosperity and the divine blessing (Ps. Iii. 8, cxxviii. 3). So with the later prophets it is the symbol of beauty, luxuri- ance, and strength.. We must bear in mind, in reading this imagery, that the olive was among the most abundant and characteristic vegetation of Judaea. Turning now to the mystic imagery of Zechariah (iv. 3, 11-14), and of St. John in the Apocalypse (Rev. xi. 3, 4), we find the olive-tree used, in both cases, in a very remarkable way. Finally, in the argumentation of St. Paul concerning the relative positions of the Jews and Gentiles in the counsels of God, this tree supplies the basis of one of his most forcible allegories (Rom. xi. 16-25). The Gentiles are the “ wild olive ” grafted in upon the “ good olive,” to which once the Jews belonged, and with which they may again be incorporated. The olive tree grows freely almost everywhere on the shores of the Mediterranean, but it was peculiarly abundant in Palestine (see Deut. vi. 11, viii. 8, xxviii. 40). Olive-yards are a matter of course in descriptions of the country, like vineyards and cornfields (Judg. xv. 5 ; 1 Sam. viii. 14). The kings had very extensive ones (1 Chr. xxvii. 28). Even now the tree is very abundant in the country. Almost every village has its olive-grove. Certain districts may be specified where at various times this tree has been very luxuri- ant. The cultivation of the olive tree had the closest connexion with the domestic life of the Israelites (2 Chr. ii. 10), their trade (Ez. xxvii. 17 ; Hos. xii. 1), and even their public ceremonies and religious worship. The oil was used in coronations : thus it was an emblem of sovereignty (1 Sam. x. 1, xii. 3, 5). It was also mixed with the offerings in sacrifice (Lev. ii. 1, 2, 6, 15). For the burning of it in common lamps see Matt, xxv. 3, 4, 8. The use of it on the hair and skin was customary, and indicative of cheer- fulness (Ps. xxiii. 5; Matt. vi. 17). It was also employed medicinally in surgical cases (Luke x. 34). See again Mark vi. 13 ; Jam. v. 14, for its use in combination with prayer on behalf of the sick. In Solomon’s temple the cherubim were “ of olive-tree” (1 K. vi. 23), as also the doors (vers. 31, 32) and the posts (ver. 33). As to the berries (Jam. iii. 12; 2 Esd. xvi. 29), which produce the oil, they were sometimes gathered by shaking the tree (Is. xxiv. 13), sometimes by beating it (Deut. xxiv. 20). Then followed the tread- ing of the fruit (Deut. xxxiii. 24 ; Mic. vi. 15). Hence the mention of “ oil-fats” (Joel ii. 24). The wind was dreaded by the culti- vator of the olive, for the least ruffling of a breeze is apt to cause the flowers to fall (Job xv. 33). It is needless to add that the locust was a formidable enemy of the olive (Amos iv. 9). It happened not unfrequently that hopes were disappointed, and that “the labour of the olive failed ” (Hab. iii. 17). As to the growth of the tree, it thrives best in warm and sunny situations. It is of a mo- derate height, with knotty gnarled trunks, and a smooth ash-coloured bark. It grows slowly, but it lives to an immense age. Its look is singularly indicative of tenacious vigour ; and this is the force of what is said in Scripture of its “ greenness,” as emblem- atic of strength and prosperity. The leaves, too, are not deciduous. Those who see olives for the first time are occasionally dis- appointed by the dusty colour of their foliage ; but those who are familiar with them find an inexpressible charm in the rippling changes of their slender grey-green leaves. OLIVES, MOUNT OF. The exact expres- sion “the Mount of Olives” occurs in the 2 C 2 OLIVES, MOUNT OF 388 OLIVES, MOUNT OF O. T. in Zech, xiv. 4 only; in the other places of the O. T. in which it is referred to, the form employed is the “ascent of the olives ” (2 Sam. xv. 30 ; A. V. inaccurately “the ascent of Mount Olivet ”), or simply “the Mount” (Neh. viii. 15), “the mount facing Jerusalem” (1 K. xi. 7), or “the mountain which is on the east side of the city” (Ez. xi. 23). In the N. T. three forms of the word occur : 1. The usual one, “the Mount of Olives.” 2. By St. Luke twice (xix. 29, xxi. 37), “the mount called the Mount of Olives.” 3. Also by St. Luke (Acts i. 12), the “ mount called Olivet.” But in the Greek text, both in the Gospel and the Acts, the same word is used, translated by the Vulgate “ Olive turn,” that is, the Mount of Olives. — It is the well-known emi- nence on the east of Jerusalem, intimately connected with some of the gravest events of the history of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the scene of the flight of David and the triumphal progress of the Son of David, of the idolatry of Solomon, and the agony and betrayal of Christ. It is not so much a “mount” as a ridge, of rather more than a mile in length, running in general direction north and south ; covering the whole eastern side of the city. At its north- ern end the ridge bends round to the west, so as to form an enclosure to the city on that side also. But there is this difference, that whereas on the north a space of nearly a mile of tolerably level surface intervenes be- tween the walls of the city and the rising ground, on the east the mount is close to the walls, parted only by that which from the city itself seems no parting at all — the narrow ravine of the Kidron. It is this por- tion which is the real Mount of Olives of the history. In general height it is not very much above the city : 300 feet higher than the Temple mount, hardly more than 100 above the so-called Zion. The word “ ridge ” has been used above as the only one available for an eminence of some length and even height, but that word is hardly accurate. There is nothing “ridge-like” in the appear- ance of the Mount of Olives, or of any other of the limestone hills of this district of Pales- tine ; all is rounded, swelling, and regular in form. At a distance its outline is almost horizontal, gradually sloping away at its southern end ; but when seen from below the eastern wall of Jerusalem, it divides itself into three, or rather perhaps four, independ- ent summits or eminences. Proceeding from north to south these occur in the following order : Galilee, or Viri Galilaei ; Mount of the A scension ; Prophets, subordinate to the last, and almost a part of it ; Mount of Offence. 1. Of these the central one dis- tinguished by the minaret and domes of the Church of the Ascension, is in every way the most important. Three paths lead from the valley to the summit. The first passes under the north wall of the enclosure of Gethsemane, and follows the line of the depression between the centre and the north- ern hill. The second parts from the first about 50 yards beyond Gethsemane, and striking off to the right up the very breast of the hill, surmounts the projection on which is the traditional spot of the Lamentation over Jerusalem, and thence proceeds directly upwards to the village. The third leaves the other two at the N.E. corner of Geth- semane, and making a considerable detour to the south, visits the so-called “ Tombs of the Prophets,” and, following a very slight de- pression which occurs at that part of the mount, arrives in its turn at the village. Of these three paths the first, from the fact that it follows the natural shape of the ground, is unquestionably older than the others, which deviate in pursuit of certain artificial objects. Every consideration is in favour of its being the road taken by David in his flight. It is, with equal probability, that usually taken by our Lord and His disciples in their morn- ing and evening transit between Jerusalem and Bethany, and that also by which the Apostles returned to Jerusalem after the Ascension. The central hill, which we are now considering, purports to contain the sites of some of the most sacred and impressive events of Christian history. The majority of these sacred spots now command little or no attention ; but three still remain, sufficiently sacred — if authentic — to consecrate any place. These are : (1.) Gethsemane, at the foot of the mount. (2). The spot from which our Saviour ascended on the summit. (3.) The place of the Lamentation of Christ over Jerusalem, halfway up. Of these, Gethsemane is the only one which has any claim to be authentic. [Gethsemane.] — 2. We have spoken of the central and principal portion of the mount. Next to it on the southern side, separated from it by a slight depression, up which the path mentioned above as the third takes its course, is a hill which appears neither to possess, nor to have possessed, any independ- ent name. It is remarkable only for the fact that it contains the “ singular catacomb ” known as the “ Tombs of the Prophets,” probably in allusion to the words of Christ (Matt, xxiii. 29). — 3. The most southern portion of the Mount of Olives is that usually known as the “ Mount of Offence,” Mons Of- fensionis. It rises next to that last men- tioned; and in the hollow between the two. OLIVES, MOUNT OF 389 OMBI more marked than the depressions between the more northern portions, runs the road from Bethany, which was without doubt the road of Christ’s entry to Jerusalem. The title Mount of Offence, or Scandal, was be- stowed on the supposition that it is the “ Mount of Corruption” on which Solomon erected the high places for the gods of his foreign wives (2 K. xxiii. 13; 1 K. xi. 7). The southern summit is considerably lower than the centre one. — 4. The only one of the four summits remaining to be considered is that on the north of the “ Mount of Ascen- sion ” the Karem es Seyad , or Vineyard of the Sportsman; or, as it is called by the modern Latin and Greek Christians, the Viri Galilaei. This is a hill of exactly the same character as the Mount of the Ascension, and so nearly its equal in height that few travel- lers agree as to which is the more lofty. The summits of the two are about 400 yards apart. It stands directly opposite the N.E. corner of Jerusalem, and is approached by the path between it and the Mount of Ascen- sion, which strikes at the top into a cross path leading to el-Isawiyeh and Anata . The Arabic name well reflects the fruitful cha- racter of the hill, on which there are several vineyards, besides much cultivation of other kinds. The Christian name is due to the singular tradition, that here the two angels addressed the Apostles after our Lord’s ascension — “ Ye men of Galilee ! ” This idea, which is so incompatible, on account of the distance, even with the traditional spot of tne Ascension, is of late existence and inex- plicable origin. — The presence of the crowd of churches and other edifices must have rendered the Mount of Olives, during the early and middle ages of Christianity, en- tirely unlike what it was in the time of the Jewish kingdom or of our Lord. Except the high places on the summit, the only buildings then to be seen were probably the walls of the vineyards and gardens, and the towers and presses which were their invariable ac- companiment. But though the churches are nearly all demolished there must be a con- siderable difference between the aspect of the mountain now and in those days when it received its name from the abundance of its -live-groves. It does not now stand so pre- eminent in this respect among the hills in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. It is only in the deeper and more secluded slope leading ap to the northernmost summit that these venerable trees spread into anything like a forest. The cedars commemorated by the Talmud, and the date-palms implied ia the name Bethany, have fared still worse ; there is not one of either to be found within many miles. Two religious ceremonies performed there must have done much to increase the numbers who resorted to the mount. The appearance of the new moon was probably watched for, certainly proclaimed, from the summit. The second ceremony referred to was the burning of the Bed Heifer. This solemn ceremonial was enacted on the central mount, and in a spot so carefully specified that it would seem not difficult to fix it. It was due east of the sanctuary, and at such an elevation on the mount that the officiating priest, as he slew the animal and sprinkled her blood, could see the fa£ade of the sanctu- ary through the east gate of the Temple. To this spot a viaduct was constructed across the valley on a double row of arches, so as to raise it far above all possible proximity with graves or other defilements. It was probably demolished by the Jews themselves on the approach of Titus, or even earlier, when Pompey led his army by Jericho and over the Mount of Olives. This would account sa- tisfactorily for its not being alluded to by Josephus. OLIVET (2 Sam. xv. 30; Acts i. 12). [Olives, Mount of.] OLYM'PAS, a Christian at Borne (Bom. xvi. 15), perhaps of the household of PLiio- logus. O'MAB, son of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, and “ duke ” or phylarch of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 11, 15 ; 1 Chr. i. 36). O'MEGA, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, as Alpha is the first. It is used metaphorically to denote the end of anything : “ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last ” (Bev. i. 8, 11). OMEB. [Weights An© Measures.] OM'BI, originally “captain of the host” to Elaii, was afterwards himself King of Israel, and founder of the third dynasty. When Elah was murdered by Zimri at Tirzah, then capital of the northern kingdom, Omri was engaged in the siege of Gibbethon, situated in the tribe of Dan, which had been occupied by the Philistines. As soon as the army heard of Elah’s death, they proclaimed Omri king. Thereupon he broke up the siege of Gibbethon, and attacked Tirzah, where Zimri was holding his court as king of Israel. The city was taken, and Zimri perished in the flames of the palace, after a reign of seven days. Omri, however, was not allowed to establish his dynasty without a struggle a-gainst Tibni, whom “ half the people” (1 K. xvi. 21) desired to raise to the throne. The civil war lasted four years (cf. 1 K. xvi. 15, with 23). After the defeat and death of Tibni, Omri reigned for six ON 390 ONIAS years in Tirzah ; but at the end of that time he transferred his residence, probably from the proved inability of Tirzah to stand a siege, to the mountain Shomron, better known by its Greek name Samaria, which he bought for two talents of silver from a rich man, other- wise unknown, called Shemer. At Samaria Omri reigned for six years more. He seems to have been a vigorous and unscrupulous ruler, anxious to strengthen his dynasty by intercourse and alliances with foreign states. The probable date of Omri’s accession (i. e. of the deaths of Elah and Zimri) was b.c. 935 ; of Tibni’s defeat and the*beginning of Omri’s sole reign b.c. 931, and of his death b.c. 919. ON, the son of Peleth, and one of the chiefs of the tribe of Reuben who took part with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in their revolt against Moses (Num. xvi. 1). His name does not again appear in the narrative of the conspiracy, nor is he alluded to when refer- ence is made to the final catastrophe. ON, a town of Lower Egypt, which is men- tioned in the Bible under at least two names, Beth-Shemesk (Jer. xliii. 13), corresponding to the ancient Egyptian sacred name Ha-ea, u the abode of the sun,” and that above, corresponding to the common name Ax. On is better known under its Greek name Helio- polis. It was situate on the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point of the Delta, and about twenty miles north-east of Memphis. The chief object of worship at Heliopolis was the sun, whose temple, described by Strabo, is now only re- presented by the single beautiful obelisk, which is of red granite, 68 feet 2 inches high above the pedestal. Heliopolis was anciently famous for its learning, and Eudoxus and Plato studied under its priests. The first mention of this place in the Bible is in the history of Joseph, to whom we read Pharaoh gave “ to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti- pherah, priest of On ” (Gen. xli. 45, comp, ver. 50, and xlvi. 20). O'NAN, the second son of Judah by the Canaanitess, “ the daughter of Shua ” (Gen. vxxviii. 4; 1 Chr. ii. 3). “What he did vas evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and He slew him also,” as He had slain his elder brother (Gen. xxxviii. 9). His death took place before the family of Jacob went down into Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 12 ; Num. xxvi. 19). ONE'SIMUS is the name of the servant or slave in whose behalf Paul wrote the Epistle to Philemon. He was a native, or certainly an inhabitant of Colossae, since Paul in writ- ing to the Church there speaks of him (Col. iv. 9) as “one of you.” Slaves were nuniei- ous in Phrygia, and the name itself of Phry- gian was almost synonymous with that of slave. Onesimus was one of this unfortunate class of persons, as is evident both from the manifest implication in Phil. 16, and from the general tenor of the epistle. The maE escaped from his master and fied to Rome, where in the midst of its vast population he could hope to be concealed. Though it may be doubted whether Onesimus heard the gospel for the first time at Rome, it is beyond question that he was led to embrace the gospel there through the apostle’s instru- mentality. The language in ver. 10 of the letter is explicit on this point. After his conversion, the most happy and friendly rela- tions sprung up between the teacher and the disciple. The situation of the apostle as a captive and an indefatigable labourer for the promotion of the gospel (Acts xxviii. 30, 31) must have made him keenly alive to the sympathies of Christian friendship and de- pendent upon others for various services of a personal nature, important to his efficiency as a minister of the word. Onesimus appears to have supplied this twofold want in an eminent degree. Whether Paul desired his presence as a personal attendant or as a minister of the gospel, is not certain from ver. 13 of the Epistle. ONESIPH'ORUS is named twice only in the N. T., viz., 2 Tim. i. 16-18, and iv. 19. j In the former passage Paul mentions him in I terms of grateful love, as having a noble courage and generosity in his behalf, amid his trials as a prisoner at Rome, when others from whom he expected better things had deserted him (2 Tim. iv. 16) ; and in the latter passage he singles out “ the household | of Onesiphorus ” as worthy of a special greet- I ing. It has been made a question whether j this friend of the apostle was still living when the letter to Timothy was written, | because in both instances Paul speaks of “the household” (in 2 Tim. i. 16) and not separately of Onesiphorus himself. The pro- bability is that other members of the family were also active Christians ; and as Paul wished to remember them at the same time, he grouped them together (2 Tim. iv. 19), and thus delicately recognised the common merit, as a sort of family distinction. It is evident from 2 Tim. i. 18, that Onesiphorus had his home at Ephesus; though if we restrict the salutation near the close of the Epistle (iv. 19) to his family, he himself may possibly have been with Paul at Rome when the latter wrote to Timothy. ONI'AS, the name of five high priests in | the period between the Old and New Testa- ments. — 1. The son and successor of Jaddua, i about b.c. 330-309. According to Josephus ONIONS 391 OPHIR he was father of Simon the Just. — 2. The son of Simon the Just. He was a minor at the time of his father’s death (about b.c. 290), and the high-priesthood was occupied in succession by his uncles Eleazar and Manasseh to his exclusion. He entered on the office about b.c. 240, and retained it till his death, about b.c. 226, when he was suc- ceeded by his son Simon II. — 3. The son of Simon II., who succeeded his father in the high-priesthood, about b.c. 198. Seleucus Philopator was informed by Simon, governor of the Temple, of the riches contained in the sacred treasury, and he made an attempt to seize them by force. At the prayer of Onias, according to the tradition (2 Macc. in.), the sacrilege was averted ; but the high- priest was obliged to appeal to the king him- self for support against the machinations of Simon. Not long afterwards Seleucus died (b.c. 175), and Onias found himself sup- planted in the favour of Antiochus Epiphanes by his brother Jason, who received the high- priesthood from the king. Jason, in turn, was displaced by his youngest brother Menelaus, who procured the murder of Onias (about b.c. 171). — 4. The youngest brother of Onias III., who bore the same name, which he after- wards exchanged for Menelaus. — 5. The son of Onias III., who sought a refuge in Egypt from the sedition and sacrilege which dis- graced Jerusalem. The immediate occasion of his flight was the triumph of “ the sons of Tobias,” gained by the interference of Antiochus Epiphanes. Onias, receiving the protection of Ptol. Philometor, endeavoured to give a unity to the Hellenistic Jews. With this object he founded the Temple at Leontopolis. ONIONS occur only in Num. xi. 5, as one of the good things of Egypt of which the Israelites regretted the loss. Onions have been from time immemorial a favourite article of food amongst the Egyptians. The onions of Egypt are much milder in flavour and less pungent than those of this country. ONO, one of the towns of Benjamin, is flrst found in 1 Chr. viii. 12, where Shamed or Shamer is said to have built Ono and Lod with their “ daughter villages.” A plain was attached to the town, called “ the plain of Ono ” (Neh. vi. 2), perhaps identical with the “valley of craftsmen” (Neh. xi. 36). ONYCHA occurs only in Ex. xxx. 34, as one of the ingredients of the sacred perfume. In Ecclus. xxiv. 15, Wisdom is compared to the pleasant odour yielded by “ galbanum, onyx, and sweet storax.” It is probably the operculum of a Strombus > perhaps S. lenti- ffinosus. ONYX, the translation cf the Heb. sho- har>i ; but there is nothing in the contexts of the several passages (Gen. ii. 12 ; Ex. xxviii. 9, 20 ; 1 Chr. xxix. 2 ; Ez. xxviii. 13) where the Hebrew term occurs to help us to de- termine its signification. Some writers be- lieve that the “ beryl ” is intended ; but the balance of authority is in favour of some variety of the onyx. OPHEL, a part of ancient Jerusalem. The name is derived by the lexicographers from a root of similar sound, which has the force of a swelling or tumour. It does not come forward till a late period of Old Test, history. In 2 Chr. xxvii. 3, Jotham is said to have built much “ on the wall of Ophel.” Manasseh, amongst his other defensive works, “ compassed about Ophel ” [Ibid, xxxiii. 14). From the catalogue of Nehemiah’s repairs to the wall of Jerusalem, it appears to have been near the “water-gate” (Neh. iii. 26) and the “ great tower that lieth out ” (ver. 27). Lastly, the former of these two pas- sages, and Neh. xi. 21, show that Ophel was the residence of the Levites. Josephus in his account of the last days of Jerusalem mentions it four times as Ophla. Ophel was the swelling declivity by which the Mount of the Temple slopes off on its southern side into the Yalley of Hinnom — a long narrowish rounded spur or promontory, which inter- venes between the mouth of the central valley of Jerusalem (the Tyropoeon) and the Kidron, or Yalley of Jehoshaphat. Halfway down it on its eastern face is the “ Fount of the Yirgin,” so called ; and at its foot the lower outlet of the same spring — the Pool of Siloam. O'PHIIt. 1. The eleventh in order of the sons of Joktan, coming immediately after Sheba (Gen. x. 29 ; I Chr. i. 23). From the way in which the sons of Joktan are here described, it is evident that this Ophir cor- responds to some city, region, or tribe in Arabia. — 2. A seaport or region from which the Hebrews in the time of Solomon obtained gold, in vessels which went thither in con- junction with Tyrian ships from Ezion-geber, near Elath, on that branch of the Red Sea which is now called the Gulf of Akabah. The gold was proverbial for its fineness, so that “ gold of Ophir ” is several times used as an expression for fine gold (Ps. xlv. 10 ; Job xxviii. 16 ; Is. xiii. 12 ; 1 Chr. xxix. 4) ; and in one passage (Job xxii. 24) the word “ Ophir ” by itself is used for gold of Ophir, and for gold generally. In addition to gold, the vessels brought from Ophir almug-wood and precious stones. The precise geogra- phical situation of Ophir has long been a subject of doubt and discussion. The two countries which have divided the opinions of OPHIR 392 OUGAN the learned have been Arabia and India, while some have placed it in Africa. There are only five passages in the historical books which mention Ophir by name : three in the Books of Kings (1 K. ix. 26-29, x. 11, xxii. 18), and two in the Books of Chronicles (2 Chron. viii. 18, ix. 10). The latter were probably copied from the former. In addi- tion to these passages, the following verse in the Book of Kings has very frequently been referred to Ophir : “For the king [i,e, Solomon) had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram : once in three years came the navy of Tharshish bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and pea- cocks ” (1 K. x. 22). But there is not sufficient evidence to show that the fleet mentioned in this verse was identical with the fleet mentioned in 1 K. ix. 26-29, and 1 K. x. 11, as bringing gold, almug-trees, and precious stones from Ophir. If the three passages of the Book of Kings are carefully examined, it will be seen that all the information given respecting Ophir is, that it was a place or region accessible by sea from Ezion-geber on the Red Sea, from which imports of gold, almug-trees, and precious stones were brought back by the Tyrian and Hebrew sailors. Now we have seen above that the author of the 10th chapter of Genesis certainly regarded Ophir as the name of some city, region, or tribe in Arabia. And it is almost equally certain that the Ophir of Genesis is the Ophir of the Book of Kings. There is no mention either in the Bible or elsewhere, of any other Ophir ; and the idea of there having been two Ophirs evidently arose from a perception of the obvious meaning of the 10th chapter of Genesis, on the -one hand, coupled with the erroneous opinion on the other, that the Ophir of the Book of Kings could not have been in Arabia. Hence the burden of proof lies on any one who denies Ophir to have been in Arabia. There do not, however, appear to be sufficient data for determining in favour of any one emporium or of any one locality rather than another in Arabia, as having been the Ophir of Solomon. The Book of Kings certainly suggests the infer- ence that there was some connexion between the visit of the Queen of Sheba and the voy- age to Ophir, but this would be consistent with Ophir being either contiguous to Sabaea, or situated on any point of the southern or eastern coasts of Arabia ; as in either of these eases it would have been politic in Solomon to conciliate the good will of the Sabaeans, who occupied a long tract of the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and who might pos- sibly have commanded the Straits of Bab-el- mandeb. In answer to objections against the obvious meaning of the tenth chapter o i Genesis, the alternatives may be stated as follows. Either Ophir, although in Arabia, produced gold and precious stones ; or, if it shall be hereafter proved in the progress of geological investigation that this could not have been the case, Ophir furnished gold and precious stones as an emporium . OPH f NI, a town of Benjamin, mentioned in Josh, xviii. 24, tie same as the Gophna of Josephus, a place which at the time of Ves- pasian’s invasion was apparently so important as to be second only to Jerusalem. It still survives in the modern Jifna or Jufna , 2J miles north-west of Bethel. OPH'RAH. 1. A town in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 23 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 17). Jerome places it 5 miles east of Bethel. It is perhaps et-Taiyibeh , a small village on the crown of a conspicuous hill, 4 miles E.N.E. of Beitin (Bethel). — 2. More fully Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, the native place of Gideon (Judg. vi. 11) ; the scene of his ex- ploits against Baal (ver. 24) ; his residence after his accession to power (ix. 5), and the place of his burial in the family sepulchre (viii. 32). It was probably in Manasseh (vi. 15), and not far distant from Shechem (ix. 1, 5). ORATOR. 1. The A. V. rendering in Is, iii. 3, for what is literally “skilful in whisper, or incantation.” — 2. The title applied to Ter- tullus, who appeared as the advocate or patronus of the Jewish accusers of St. Paul before Felix, Acts xxiv. 1. ORCHARD. [Garden.] O'REB, the “raven” or “crow,” the com- panion of Zeeb, the “ wolf,” was one of the chieftains of the Midianite host which in- vaded Israel, and was defeated and driven back by Gideon. The defeat is but slightly touched upon in the narrative of Judges, but the terms in which Isaiah refers to it (x. 26) are such as to imply that it was a truly awful slaughter. He places it in the same rank with the two most tremendous disasters re- corded in the whole of the history of Israel • — the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, and of the army of Sennacherib (comp. Ps. lxxxiii.). The slaughter was concentrated round the rock at which Oreb fell, and which was long known by his name (Judg. vii. 25 ; Is. x. 26). ORGAN (Gen. iv. 21, Job xxi. 12, xxx. 31, Ps. cl. 4). The Hebrew word ’ ugab or ’ uggab , thus rendered in our version, pro- bably denotes a pipe or perforated wind-in- strument, as the root of the word indicates. In Gen. iv. 21 it appears to be a general term for all wind-instruments. In Job xxi. ORTON 393 OSTRICH 12 are enumerated the three kinds of musical instruments which are possible, under the general terms of the timbrel, harp, and organ . Some identify it with the Pandean pipes, or syrinx, an instrument of unquestionably ancient origin, and common in the East. ORI'ON. That the constellation known to the Hebrews by the name cesil is the same as that which the Greeks called Orion , and the Arabs “ the giant,” there seems little reason to doubt (Job ix. 9, xxxviii. 31 ; Am. v. 8). The “giant” of Oriental astronomy was Nimrod, the mighty hunter, who was fabled to have been bound in the sky for his impiety. The two dogs and the hare, which are among the constellations in the neigh- bourhood of Orion, made his train complete. There is possibly an allusion to this belief in “the bands of cesil ” (Job xxxviii. 31). OR'NAN, the same as Araunah (1 Chr. xxi. 15 ; 2 Chr. iii. 1). [Araunah.] OR'PAH, a Moabite woman, wife of Chilion son of Naomi, and thereby sister-in-law to Ruth (Ruth i. 4, 14). OSHE'A. [Joshua.] OSPRAY (Heb. ozniyydh). The Hebrew word occurs in Lev. xi. 13, and Dent. xiv. 12, as the name of some unclean bird. It is probably either the ospray ( Pandion haliae- etus ) or the white-tailed eagle {Haliaeetus albicella). OSSIFRAGE (Heb. peres ). The Hebrew word occurs, as the name of an unclean bird, in Lev. xi. 13, and Deut. xiv. 12. If much weight is to be allowed to etymology, the peres of the Hebrew Scriptures may well be represented by the ossifrage, or bone-breaker ; for peres in Hebrew means “ the breaker.” And the ossifrage ( Gypaetus barbatus) is well deserving of his name. The Lammergeyer , or bearded vulture, as it is sometimes called, is one of the largest of the birds of prey. Ossifrage ( Gypaetus barbatus'). OSTRICH. There can be no doubt that the Hebrew words bath haya’anah , ya’eti , and ranan, denote this bird of the desert. — 1. Bath haya'anah occurs in Lev. xi. 16, Deut. xiv. 15, in the list of unclean birds; and in other passages of Scripture. The A. Y. erro- neously renders the Hebrew expression, which signifies either “ daughter of greediness” or “ daughter of shouting,” by “owl,” or, as in the margin, by “ daughter of owl.” In Job xxx. 29, Is. xxxiv. 13, and xliii. 20, the margin of the A. Y. correctly reads “ os- triches.” The loud crying of the ostrich seems to be referred to in Mic. i. 8. — 2. Ya’en occurs in Lam. iv. 3, where the con- text shows that the ostrich is intended. — S. Ranan , occurs in Job xxxix. 13, where it is clear from the whole passage (13-18) that ostriches are intended by the word. The A. Y. erroneously translates the word “ pea- cocks ; ” but there is a different Hebrew name for peacocks, and this bird was pro- bably not known to the people of Arabia or Syria before the time of Solomon. The “ostrich” of the A. Y. in Job xxxix. 13 is j the representative of the Hebrew notseh, OSTRICH 394 OVEN “ feathers.” — The following short account of the nidifieation of the ostrich ( Struthio came - his) will elucidate those passages of Scripture which ascribe cruelty to this bird in neglect- ing her eggs or young. Ostriches are poly- gamous : the hens lay their eggs promis- cuously in one nest, which is merely a hole scratched in the sand; the eggs are then covered over to the depth of about a foot, and are, in the case of those birds which are found within the tropics, generally left for the greater part of the day to the heat of the sun, the parent-birds taking their turns at incubation during the night. But in those countries which have not a tropical sun os- triches frequently incubate during the day, the male taking his turn at night, and watch- ing over the eggs with great care and affec- tion, as is evidenced by the fact that jackals and other of the smaller carnivora are occa- sionally found dead near the nest, having been killed by the ostrich in defence of the eggs or young. The habit of the ostrich leaving its eggs to be matured by the sun’s heat is usually appealed to in order to confirm the Scriptural account, “ she leaveth her eggs to the earth ; ” but this is probably the case only with the tropical birds. And even if the Hebrews were acquainted with the habits of the tropical ostriches, how can it be said that “ she forgetteth that the foot may crush ” the eggs, when they are covered a foot deep or more in the sand ? We believe the true explanation of this passage is to be found in the fact that the ostrich deposits some of hei eggs not in the nest, but around it ; these lip about on the surface of the sand, to all ap- pearance forsaken ; they are, however, de- signed for the nourishment of the young birds. And this remark will hold good in the passage of Job which speaks of the ostrich being without understanding. It is a general belief amongst the Arabs that the ostrich is a very stupid bird : indeed they have a pro- verb, “ Stupid as an ostrich.” But it by no means deserves such a character, as travellers have frequently testified. “ So wary is the bird,” says Mr. Tristram, “ and so open are the vast plains over which it roams, that no ambuscades or artifices can be employed, and the vulgar resource of dogged perseverance is the only mode of pursuit.” The ostrich is the largest of all known birds, and perhaps the swiftest of all cursorial animals. The feathers so much prized are the long white plumes of the wings. The best come to us from Barbary and the west coast of Africa. OTH'NIEL, son of Kenaz, and younger brother of Caleb, Josh. xv. 17 ; Judg. i. 13, iii. 9 ; 1 Chr. iv. 13. But these passages all leave it doubtful whether Kenaz was his father, or, as is more probable, the more remote ancestor and head of the tribe, whose descendants were called Kenezites (Num 1 xxxii. 12, &c.), or sons of Kenaz. If Je- phunneh was Caleb’s father, then probably he was father of Othniel also. The first mention of Othniel is on occasion of the taking of Kirjath-Sepher, or Debir, as it was afterwards called. Debir was included in the mountainous territory near Hebron, within the border of Judah, assigned to Caleb the Kenezite (Josh. xiv. 12-14) ; and in order to stimulate the valour of the assailants, Caleb promised to give his daughter Achsah to whosoever should assault and take the city. Othniel won the prize. The next mention of him is in Judg. iii. 9, where he appears as the first judge of Israel after the death of Joshua, and their deliverer from the oppression of Chushan-Rishathaim. This with his genea- logy, 1 Chr. iv. 13, 14, which assigns him a son, Hathath, is all that we know of Othniel. OVEN. The Eastern oven is of two kinds — fixed and portable. The former is found only in towns, where regular bakers are em- ployed (Hos. vii. 4). The latter is adapted to the nomad state. It consists of a large jar made of clay, about three feet high, and widening towards the bottom, with a hole for the extraction of the ashes. Each house- hold possessed such an article (Ex. viii. 3) ; and it was only in times of extreme dearth that the same oven sufficed for several fami- lies (Lev. xxvi. 26). It was heated with OWL 395 ox dry twig’s and grass (Matt. vi. 30) ; and the loaves were placed both inside and outside of it. OWL, the representative in the A. V. of the Hebrew words bath haya'andh , yanshuph , cos , kippoz, and Ulith. 1. Bath haya’andh. [Ostrich.] — 2. Yanshuph , or yanshoph , oc- curs in Lev. xi. 17, Deut. xiv. 16, as the name of some unclean bird, and in Is. xxxiv. 11, in the description of desolate Edom, “the yanshoph and the raven shall dwell in it.” The A. Y. translates yanshuph by “ owl,” or “great owl.” The LXX. and Yulg. read ibis, i.e. the Ibis religiosa , the sacred bird of Egypt. 3. Cos , the name of an unclean bird (Lev. xi. 17 ; Deut. xiv. 16) ; it occurs again in Ps. cii. 6. The passage in Ps. cii. 6 points decidedly to some kind of owl. The owl we figure is the Otus ascalaphus , the Egyptian and Asiatic representative of our great horned owl ( Bubo maximus). — 4. Kippoz occurs only in Is. xxxiv. 15 : “There {i.e. in Edom) the kippCz shall make her nest, and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow.” It is hope- less to attempt to identify the animal denoted by this word ; but it may denote some species of owl. — 5. Lilith. The A. V. renders this word by “screech owl” in the text of Is. xxxiv. 14, and by “ night-monster ” in the margin. According to the Rabbins the lilith was a nocturnal spectre in the form of a beautiful woman that ^«vrried off children at night and destroyed \,nem. If, however, some animal be denoted by the Hebrew term, the screech-owl [strix flammed) may well be supposed to represent it, for this bird is found in the Bible lands, and is, as is well known, a frequent inhabiter of ruined places. OX. There was no animal in the rural economy of the Israelites, or indeed in that of the ancient Orientals generally, that was held in higher esteem than the ox ; and de- servedly so, for the ox was the animal upon whose patient labours depended all the ordi- nary operations of farming. Oxen were used for ploughing (Deut. xxii. 10 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 14, &c.) ; for treading out corn (Deut. xxv. 4 ; Hos. x. 11, &c.) ; for draught purposes, when they were generally yoked in pairs (Num. vii. 3 ; 1 Sam. vi. 7, &c.) ; as beasts of burden (1 Chr. xii. 40) ; their flesh was eaten (Deut. xiv. 4 ; 1 K. i. 9, &c.) ; they were used in the sacrifices ; they supplied milk, butter, &c. (Deut. xxxii. 14 ; Is. vii. 22 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 29). Connected with the importance of oxen in the rural economy of PAD AN -ARAM 396 PALACE the Jews is the strict code of laws which was mercifully enacted by God for their protection and preservation. The ox that threshed the corn was by no means to be muzzled ; he was to enjoy rest on the Sabbath as well as his master (Ex. xxiii. 12 ; Deut. v. 14). The law which prohibited the slaughter of any dean animal, excepting as “ an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle,” during the time that the Israelites abode in the wilder- ness (Lev. xvii. 1-6), no doubt contributed to the preservation of their oxen and sheep. It seems clear from Prov. xv. 17, and 1 K. iv. 23, that cattle were sometimes stall-fed, though as a general rule it is probable that they fed in the plains or on the hills of Palestine. The cattle that grazed at large in the open country would no doubt often become fierce and wild, for it is to be remembered that in primitive times the lion and other wild beasts of prey roamed about Palestine. Hence the force of the Psalmist’s complaint of his ene- mies (Ps. xxii. 13). P A'DAN-ARAM. By this name, which signifies “ the table-land of Aram,” the Hebrews designated the tract of country which they otherwise called Aram-naharaim, “ Aram of the two rivers,” the Greek Meso- potamia (Gen. xxiv. 10), and “the field (A.Y. ‘country’) of Aram” (Hos. xii. 13). The term was perhaps more especially applied to that portion which bordered on the Euphrates, to distinguish it from the mountainous dis- tricts in the N. and N.E. of Mesopotamia. It is elsewhere called Padan simply (Gen. xlviii. 7). PAINT [as a cosmetic]. The use of cos- metic dyes has prevailed in all ages in Eastern countries. We have abundant evi- dence of the practice of painting the eyes both in ancient Egypt and in Assyria ; and in modern times no usage is more general. It does not appear, however, to have been by ary means universal among the Hebrews. The notices of it are few ; and in each in- stance it seems to have been used as a mere- tricious art, unworthy of a woman of high character. Thus Jezebel “ put her eyes in painting ” (2 K. ix. 30, margin) ; Jeremiah says of the harlot city, “ Though thou rentest thy eyes with painting” (Jer. iv. 30) ; and Ezekiel again makes it a charac- teristic of a harlot (Ez. xxiii. 40). The ex- pressions used in these passages are worthy of observation, as referring to the mode in which the process was effected. It is thus described by Chandler ( Travels , ii. 140) : “A girl, closing one of her eyes, took the two lashes between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, pulled them forward, and then thrusting in at the external corner a bodkin which had been immersed in the soot, and extracting it again, the particles before ad- hering to it remained within, and were pre- sently ranged round the organ.” The eyes were thus literally “ put in paint,” and were “ sent ” open in the process. A broad line was also drawn round the eye, as represented in the accompanying cut. The effect was an “ Eye, ornamented with Kohl, as represented in ancient paintings.” (Lane, p. 37, new edition.) apparent enlargement of the eye ; and the expression in Jer. iv. 30 has been by some understood in this sense. The Bible gives no indication of the substance out of which the dye was formed. The old versions agree in pronouncing the dye to have been produced from antimony. Antimony is still used for the purpose in Arabia and in Persia, but in Egypt the kohl is a soot produced by burning either a kind of frankincense or the shells of almonds. The dye-stuff was moistened with oil, and kept in a small jar, which we may infer to have been made of horn, from the proper name, Keren-happuch, “ horn for paint” (Job xlii. 14). Whether the custom of staining the hands and feet, particularly the nails, now so prevalent in the East, was known to the Hebrews, is doubtful. The plant, henna , which is used for that purpose, was certainly known (Cant. i. 14 ; A. V. “ camphire ”), and the expressions in Cant, v. 14 may possibly refer to the custom. PALACE. The site of the Palace of Solo- mon was almost certainly in the city itself, on the brow opposite to the Temple, and over- looking it and the whole city of David. The principal building situated within the palace was, as in all Eastern palaces, the great hall of state and audience, called “ The House of the Forest of Lebanon,” apparently from the four rows of cedar pillars by which it was [ supported. It was 100 cubits long, 50 wide, | and 30 high. Next in importance was the i Hall or “ Porch of Judgment,” a quadran- gular building supported by columns, as we learn from Josephus, which apparently stood ' on the other side of the great court, opposite the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The third edifice is merely called a “ Porch of | Pillars.” Its dimensions were 50 by 30 I cubits. Its use cannot be considered as doubtful, as it was an indispensable adjunct to an Eastern palace. It was the ordinary place of business of the palace, and the recep- tion-roon* when the king received ordinary c 397 ) Plan of Solomon’s Palace. PALESTINE 393 PALESTINE visitors, and sat, except on great state occa- sions, to transact the business of the kingdom. Behind this, we are told, was the inner court, adorned with gardens and fountains, and sur- rounded by cloisters for shade ; and there were other courts for the residence of the attendants and guards, and for the women of his harem ; all of which are shown in the plan with more clearness than can be con- veyed by a verbal description. Apart from this palace, but attached, as Josephus tells us, to the Hall of Judgment, was the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter : too proud and im- portant a personage to be grouped with the ladies of the harem, and requiring a residence of her own. Solomon constructed an ascent from his own house to the Temple, “ the house of Jehovah” (1 K. x. 5), which was a subterranean passage 250 feet long by 42 feet wide, of which the remains may still be traced. PALESTI'NA and PALESTINE. These two forms occur in the A. V. but four times in all, always in poetical passages ; the first in Ex. xv. 14, and Is. xiv. 29, 31 ; the second, Joel iii. 4. In each case the Hebrew is Pelesheth , a word found, besides the above, only in Ps. lx. 8, lxxxiii. 7, lxxxvii. 4, and cviii. 9, in all which our translators have rendered it by “ Philistia ” or “ Philistines.” Palestine, in the A. V. really means nothing but Philistia. The original Hebrew word Pelesheth , to the Hebrews signified merely the long and broad strip of maritime plain inhabited by their encroaching neighbours ; nor does it appear that at first it signified more to the Greeks. As lying next the sea, and as being also the high road from Egypt to Phoenicia and the richer regions north of it, the Philistine plain became sooner known to the western world than the country fur- ther inland, and was called by them Syria Palaestina — Philistine Syria. Prom thence it was gradually extended to the country further inland, till in the Roman and later Greek authors, both heathen and Christian, it becomes the usual appellation for the whole country of the Jews, both west and east of Jordan. The word is now so commonly em- ployed in our more familiar language to designate the whole country of Israel, that, although biblically a misnomer, it has been chosen here as the most convenient heading under which to give a general description of the Holy Land, embracing those points which have not been treated under the sepa- rate headings of cities or tribes. This de- scription will most conveniently divide itself into three sections : — I. The Names applied to the country of Israel in the Bible and elsewhere. II. The Land : its situation, aspect, climate, physical characteristics, ia connexion with its history; its structure, botany, and natural history. III. The His- tory of the country is so fully given under its various headings throughout the work, that it is unnecessary to recapitulate it here. I. The Names. — Palestine, then, is desig- nated in the Bible by more than one name : — I. During the Patriarchal period, the Con- quest, and the age of the Judges, and also where those early periods are referred to in the later literature (as Ps. cv. 11), it is spoken of as “ Canaan,” or more frequently “ the Land of Canaan,” meaning thereby the country west of the Jordan, as opposed to “the Land of Gilead” on the east. 2. Dur- ing the monarchy the name usually, though not frequently, employed, is “ land of Israel ” (1 Sam. xiii. 19 ; 2 K. v. 2, 4, &c.). It is Ezekiel’s favourite expression. The pious and loyal aspirations of Hosea find vent in the ex- pression, “land of Jehovah” (Hos. ix. 3). In Zechariah it is “ the Holy land ” (Zech. ii. 12); and in Daniel “the glorious land” (Dan. xi. 41). In Amos (ii. 10) alone it is “ the land of the Amorite.” Occasionally it appears to be mentioned simply as “The Land:” as in Ruth i. 1; Jer. xxii. 27; 1 Macc. xiv. 4 ; Luke iv. 25, and perhaps even xxiii. 44. 3. Between the Captivity and the time of our Lord the name “Judaea ” had extended itself from the southern portion to the whole of the country, even that beyond Jordan (Matt. xix. 1 ; Mark x. 1). In the book of Judith it is applied to the portion between the plain of Esdraelon and Samaria (xi. 19), as it is in Luke xxiii. 5 ; though it is also used in the stricter sense of Judaea proper (John iv. 3, vii. 1). In this narrower sense it is employed throughout 1 Macc. (see especially ix. 50, x. 30, 38, xi. 34). 4. The Roman division of the country hardly coincided with the Biblical one, and it does not appear that the Romans had any distinct name for that which we understand by Pales- tine. 5. Soon after the Christian era we find the name Palaestina in possession of the country. 6. The name most frequently used throughout the middle ages, and down to our own time, is Terra Sancta — the Holy Land. II. The Land. — The Holy Land is not in size or physical characteristics proportioned to its moral and historical position, as the theatre of the most momentous events in the world’s history. It is but a strip of country about the size of Wales, less than 140 miles in length, and barely 40 in average breadth, on the very frontier of the East, hemmed in between the Mediterranean Sea on the one hand, and the enormous trench of the Jordan ( 399 ) Map of Palestine. PALESTINE 400 PALESTINE valley on the other, by which it is effectually cut off from the mainland of Asia behind it. On the north it is shut in by the high ranges of Lebanon and anti-Lebanon, and by the chasm of the Litany. On the south it is no less enclosed by the arid and inhospitable deserts of the upper part of the peninsula of Sinai. — 1. Its position on the Map of the World — as the world was when the Holy Land first made its appearance in history — is a remarkable one. (i.) It is on the very out- post — on the extremest western edge of the East. On the shore of the Mediterranean it stands, as if it had advanced as far as pos- sible towards the West, separated therefrom by that which, when the time arrived, proved to be no barrier, but the readiest medium of communication — the wide waters of the “ Great Sea.” Thus it was open to all the gradual influences of the rising communities of the West, while it was saved from the re- trogression and decrepitude which have ulti- mately been the doom of all purely Eastern States whose connexions were limited to the East only. (ii.) There was however one channel, and but one, by which it could reach and be reached by the great Oriental empires. The only road by which the two great rivals of the ancient world could ap- proach one another — by which alone Egypt could get to Assyria, and Assyria to Egypt — lay along the broad flat strip of coast which formed the maritime portion of the Holy Land, and thence by the Plain of the Lebanon to the Euphrates, (iff.) After this the Holy Land became (like the Netherlands in Eui'ope) the convenient arena on which in successive ages the hostile powers who contended for the empire of the East, fought their battles. —2. It is essentially a mountainous country. Not that it contains independent mountain chains, as in Greece for example, but that every part of the highland is in greater or less undulation. But it is not only a moun- tainous country. The mass of hills which occupies the centre of the country is bordered or framed on both sides, east and west, by a broad belt of lowland, sunk deep below its own level. The slopes or cliffs which form, as it were, the retaining walls of this depres- sion, are furrowed and cleft by the torrent beds which discharge the waters of the hills, and form the means of communication be- tween the upper and lower level. On the west this lowland interposes between the mountains and the sea, and is the Plain op Prilistia and of Sharon. On the east it is the broad bottom of the Jordan Yalley, deep down in which rushes the one river of Pales- tine to its grave in the Dead Sea. Such is the first general impression of the physio- gnomy of the Holy Land. It is a physiognom} compounded of the three main features al- ready named — the plains, the highland hills, and the torrent beds : features which are marked in the words of its earliest describer? (Num. xiii. 29 ; Josh. xi. 16, xii. 8), and which must be comprehended by every one who wishes to understand the country, and the intimate connexion existing between its structure and its history. In the accompany- ing sketch-map an attempt has been made to exhibit these features with greater distinct- ness than is usual, or perhaps possible, in maps containing more detail. — 3. About half- way up the coast the maritime plain is sud- denly interrupted by a long ridge thrown out from the central mass, rising considerably above the general level, and terminating in a bold promontory on the very edge of the Mediterranean. This ridge is Mount Car- mel. On its upper side, the plain, as if to compensate for its temporary displacement, invades the centre of the country and forms an undulating hollow right across it from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley. This central lowland, which divides with its broad depression the mountains of Ephraim from the mountains of Galilee, is the Plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel, the great battle-field of Palestine. North of Carmel the lowland resumes its position by the sea-side till it is again interrupted and finally put an end to by the northern mountains which push their way out of the sea, ending in the white pro- montory of the Has Nalchura. Above this is the ancient Phoenicia. — 4. The country thus roughly portrayed, and which, as before stated, is less than 140 miles in length, and not more than 40 in average breadth, is to all intents and purposes the whole Land of Israel. The northern portion is Galilee ; the centre, Samaria ; the south Judaea. This is the Land of Canaan which was bestowed on Abraham ; the covenanted home of his descendants. The two tribes and a half re- mained on the uplands beyond Jordan ; and the result was, that these tribes soon ceased to have any close connexion with the others, or to form any virtual part of the nation. But even this definition might without impro- priety be further circumscribed ; for during the greater part of the Old Testament times the chief events of the history were confined to the district south of Esdraelon, which con- tained the cities of Hebron, Jerusalem, Bethel, Shiloh, Shechem, and Samaria, the Mount of Olives, and Mount Carmel. The battles of the Conquest and the early struggles of the era of the Judges once passed, Galilee sub- sided into obscurity and unimportance till the time of Christ. — 5. The highland dis- ' PALESTINE 401 PALESTINE trict, surrounded and intersected by its broad lowland plains, preserves from north to south a remarkably even and horizontal profile. Its average height may be taken as 1500 to 1800 feet above the Mediterranean. It can hardly be denominated a plateau, yet so evenly is the general level preserved, and so thickly do the hills stand behind and between one another, that, when seen from the coast or the western part of the maritime plain, it has quite the appearance of a wall. This general monotony of profile is, however, ac- centuated at intervals by certain centres of elevation.* Between these elevated points runs the watershed of the country, sending off on either hand — to the Jordan valley on the east and the Mediterranean on the west- — the long tortuous arms of its many torrent beds. The valleys on the two sides of the watershed differ considerably in character. Those on the east are extremely steep and rugged. This is the case during the whole length of the southern and middle portions of the country. It is only when the junction between the Plain of Esdraelon and the Jordan Valley is reached, that the slopes become gra- dual and the ground fit for the manoeuvres of anything but detached bodies of foot sol- diers. But, rugged and difficult as they are, they form the only access to the upper country from this side, and every man or body of men who reached the territory of Judah, Benjamin, or Ephraim, from the Jor- dan Valley, must have climbed one or other of them. The western valleys are more gra- dual in their slope. The level of the external plain on this side is higher, and therefore the fall less, while at the same time the dis- tance to be traversed is much greater. Here again the valleys are the only means of com- munication between the lowland and the highland. From Jaffa and the central part of the plain there are two of these roads “ going up to Jerusalem : ” the one to the right by Ramleh and the Wady Aly ; the other to the left by Lydda, and thence by the Beth-horons, or the Wady Suleiman , and Gibeon. The former of these is modern, but the latter is the scene of many a famous in- cident in the ancient history. — 6. When the highlands of the country are more closely examined, a considerable difference will be found to exist in the natural condition and appearance of their different portions. The south, as being nearer the arid desert, and * Beginning from the south, these elevations are He- bron, 3029 feet above the Mediterranean; Jerusalem 2610, and Mount of Olives 2724, with Neby Samwil on the north, 2650; Bethel, 2400; Sinjil , 2685; Ebal and Ge- rizim, 2700; “Little Hermon ” and Tabor (on the north side of the Plain of F«draelon), 1900; Stifed, 2775 ; Jebtl Jurmuk, 4000* U. B farther removed from the drainage of the mountains, is drier and less productive than the north. The tract below Hebron, which forms the link between the hills of Judah and the desert, was known to the ancient Hebrews by a term originally derived from its dryness (Negeb). This was the south country. As the traveller advances north of this tract there is an improvement ; but perhaps no country equally cultivated is more monoto- nous, bare, or uninviting in its aspect, than a great part of the highlands of Judah and Benjamin during the largest portion of the year. The spring covers even those bald grey rocks with verdure and colour, and fills the ravines with torrents of rushing water ; but in summer and autumn the look of the country from Hebron up to Bethel is very dreary and desolate. At Jerusalem this reaches its climax. To the west and north- west of the highlands, where the sea-breezes are felt, there is considerably more vegeta- tion. — 7. Hitherto we have spoken of the central and northern portions of Judaea. Its eastern portion — a tract some nine or ten miles in width by about thirty-five in length — which intervenes between the centre and the abrupt descent to the Dead Sea, is far more wild and desolate, and that not for a portion of the year only, but throughout it. This must have been always what it is now — an uninhabited desert, because uninhabitable. — 8. No descriptive sketch of this part of the country can be complete which does not allude to the caverns, characteristic of all limestone districts, but here existing in asto- nishing numbers. Every hill and ravine is pierced with them, some very large and of curious formation — perhaps partly natural, partly artificial — others mere grottoes. Many of them are connected with most important and interesting events of the ancient history of the country. Especially is this true of the district now under consideration. Mach- pelah, Makkedah, Adullam, Engedi, names inseparably connected with the lives, adven- tures, and deaths of Abraham, Joshua, David, and other Old Testament worthies, are all within the small circle of the territory of Judaea. Moreover, there is perhaps hardly one of these caverns, however small, which has not at some time or other furnished a hiding-place to some ancient Hebrew from the sweeping incursions of Philistine or Ama- lekite. — 9. The bareness and dryness which prevail more or less in Judaea are owing partly to the absence of wood, partly to its proximity to the desert, and partly to a scar- city of water, arising from its distance from the Lebanon. But to this discouraging aspect there are some important exceptions. 2 D PALESTINE 402 PALESTINE The valley of Urtds , south of Bethlehem, con- tains springs which in abundance and excel- lence rival even those of Nablus ; the huge “ Pools of Solomon ” are enough to supply a district for many miles round them ; and the cultivation now going on in that neighbour- hood shows what might be done with a soil which requires only irrigation and a mode- rate amount of labour to evoke a boundless produce. — 10. It is obvious that in the ancient days of the nation, when Judah and Benjamin possessed the teeming population indicated in the Bible, the condition and aspect of the country must have been very different. Of this there are not wanting sure evidences. There is no country in which the ruined towns bear so large a proportion to those still existing. Hardly a hill-top of the many within sight that is not covered with vestiges of some fortress or city. But, besides this, forests appear to have stood in many parts of Judaea until the repeated invasions and sieges caused their fall ; and all this vegetation must have reacted on the moisture of the climate, and, by preserving the water in many a ravine and natural reservoir where now it is rapidly dried by the fierce sun of the early summer, must have influenced ma- terially the look and the resources of the country. — 11. Advancing northwards from Judaea the country (Samaria) becomes gra- dually more open and pleasant. Plains of good soil occur between the hills, at first small, but afterwards comparatively large. The hills assume here a more varied aspect than in the southern districts, springs are more abundant and more permanent, until at last, when the district of Jebel Nablus is reached — the ancient Mount Ephraim — the traveller encounters an atmosphere and an amount of vegetation and water which is greatly superior to anything he has met with in Judaea, and even sufficient to recall much of the scenery of the West. Perhaps the springs are the only objects which in them- selves, and apart from their associations, really strike an English traveller with asto- nishment and admiration. Such glorious fountains as those of Ain-jalud or the Ras el- Mukdtta , where a great body of the clearest water wells silently but swiftly out from deep blue recesses worn in the foot of a low cliff of limestone rock, and at once forms a con- siderable stream — are very rarely to be met with out of irregular, rocky, mountainous countries, and being such unusual sights can hardly be looked on by the traveller without surprise and emotion. The valleys which lead down from the uj per level in this dis- trict to the valley of th* Jordan, are less pre- cipitous than in Judaea, The eastern district of the Jebel Nablus contains some of the most fertile and valuable spots in the Holy Land. Hardly less rich is the extensive region which lies north-west of the city of Shechem [Nab- lus), between it and Carmel, in which the mountains gradually break down into the Plain of Sharon. But with all its richness, and all its advance on the southern part of the country, there is a strange dearth of natural wood about this central district. It is this which makes the wooded sides of Car- mel and the park like scenery of the adjacent slopes and plains so remarkable. — 12. No sooner, however, is the Plain of Esdraelon passed, than a considerable improvement is perceptible. The low hills which spread down from the mountains of Galilee, and form the barrier between the plains of Akka and Esdraelon, are covered with timber, of moderate size, it is true, but of thick vigorous growth, and pleasant to the eye. Eastward of these hills rises the round mass of Tabor, dark with its copses of oak, and set off by contrast with the bare slopes of Jebel ed- Duhy (the so-called “ Little Hermon ”) and the white hills of Nazareth. North of Tabor and Nazareth is the plain of el-Buttauf, an upland tract hitherto very imperfectly de- scribed, but apparently of a similar nature tc Esdraelon, though much more elevated. The notices of this romantic district in the Bible are but scanty; in fact till the date of the New Testament, when it had acquired the name of Galilee, it may be said, for all pur- poses of history, to be hardly mentioned And even in the New Testament times the interest is confined to a very small portion — the south and south-west corner, containing Nazareth, Cana, and Nain, on the confines of Esdraelon, Capernaum, Tiberias, and Genne- sareth, on the margin of the Lake. — 13. Few things are a more constant source of surprise to the stranger in the Holy Land than the manner in which the hill tops are, through- out, selected for habitation. A town in a valley is a rare exception. On the other hand scarce a single eminence of the multi- tude always in sight but is crowned with its city or village, inhabited or in ruins, often so placed as if not accessibility but inaccessi- bility had been the object of its builders. And indeed such was their object. These groups of naked forlorn structures, piled irregularly one over the other on the curve of the hill-top, are the lineal descendants, if indeed they do not sometimes contain the actual remains, of the “ fenced cities, great and walled up to heaven,” which are so fre- quently mentioned in the records of the Is- raelite conquest. These hill-towns were not what gave the Israelites their main difficulty PALESTINE 403 PALESTINE in the occupation of the country. Wherever strength of arm and fleetness of foot availed, there those hardy warriors, fierce as lions, sudden and swift as eagles, sure-footed and fleet as the wild deer on the hills (1 Chron. xii. 8 ; 2 Sam. i. 23, ii. 181, easily conquered. It was in the plains, where the horses and chariots of the Canaanites and Philistines had space to manoeuvre, that they failed in dislodging the aborigines. “Judah drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron . . . nei- ther could Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean . . . nor Megiddo,” in the Plain of Esdraelon . . . “ nor could Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer,” on the maritime plain near Ramleh . . . “ nor could Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho ” . . . “ and the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down into the valley” (Judg. i. 19-35). Thus in this case the ordinary conditions of conquest were reversed — the conquerors took the hills, the conquered kept the plains. To a people so exclusive as the Jews there must have been a constant satisfaction in the elevation and inaccessibility of their highland regions. This is evident in every page of their lite- rature, which is tinged throughout with a highland colouring. The “ mountains ” were to “bring peace,” the “little hills, justice to the people : ” when plenty came, the corn was to flourish on the “ top of the moun- tains ” (Ps. lxxii. 3, 16). In like manner the mountains were to be joyful before Jeho- vah when He came to judge His people (Ps. xcviii. 8). What gave its keenest sting to the Babylonian conquest, was the considera- tion that the “ mountains of Israel,” the “ ancient high places,” were become a “ prey and a derision ; ” while, on the other hand, one of the most joyful circumstances of the restoration is, that the mountains “ shall yield their fruit as before, and be settled after their old estates ” (Ezek. xxxvi. 1, 8, 11). We have the testimony of the heathens that in their estimation Jehovah was the “ God of the mountains ” (1 K. xx. 28), and they showed their appreciation of the fact by fighting, when possible, in the lowlands. The contrast is strongly brought out in the re- peated expression of the psalmists. “ Some,” like the Canaanites and Philistines of the lowlands, “ put their trust in chariots, and some in horses ; but we ” — we mountaineers, from our “ sanctuary ” on the heights of “Zion” — “will remember the name of Je- hovah our God,” “ the God of Jacob our father,” the shepherd-warrior, whose only vreapons were sword and bow — the God who is now a high fortress for us — “ at whose command both chariot and horse are fallen,” “ who burneth the chariots in the fire ” (Ps. xx. 1, 7, xlvi. 7-11, Ixxvi. 2, 6). — 14. A few words must be said in general description o i the maritime lowland, which intervenes be- tween the sea and the highlands. This region, only slightly elevated above the level of the Mediterranean, extends without inter- ruption from el-Arish , south of Gaza, to Mount Carmel. It naturally divides itself into two portions, each of about half its length : the lower one the wider ; the upper one the narrower. The lower half is the Plain of the Philistines — Philistia, or, as the Hebrews called it, the Shefelah or Lowland. The upper half is the Sharon or Saron of the Old and New Testaments. The Philistine Plain is on an average 15 or 16 miles in width from the coast to the first beginning of the belt of hills, which forms the gradual approach to the high land of the mountains of Judah. The larger towns, as Gaza and Ashdod, which stand near the shore, are sur- rounded with huge groves of olive, sycamore, and palm, as in the days of King David (1 Chron. xxvii. 28). The whole plain appears to consist of brown loamy soil, light, but rich, and almost without a stone. It is now, as it was when the Philistines possessed it, one enormous cornfield ; an ocean of wheat covers the wide expanse between the hills and the sand dunes of the sea-shore, without inter- ruption of any kind — no break or hedge, hardly even a single olive-tree. Its fertility is marvellous ; for the prodigious crops which it raises are produced, and probably have been produced almost year by year for the last forty centuries, without any of the ap- pliances which we find necessary for success. The Plain of Sharon is much narrower than Philistia. It is about 1 0 miles wide from the sea to the foot of the mountains, which are here of a more abrupt character than those of Philistia, and without the intermediate hilly region there occurring. — 15. The one ancient port of the Jews, the “beautiful” city of Joppa, occupied a position central between the Shefelah and Sharon. Roads led from these various cities to each other, to Jerusalem, Neapolis, and Sebaste in the interior, and to Ptolemais*and Gaza on the north and south. The commerce of Damascus, and, beyond Damascus, of Persia and India, passed this way to Egypt, Rome, and the infant colonies of the west ; and that traffic and the constant movement of troops back- wards and forwards must have made this plain one of the busiest and most populous regions of Syria at the time cf Christ. — 16. 2 D 2 PALESTINE 404 PALM-TREE The characteristics already described are hardly peculiar to Palestine. But there is one feature, as yet only alluded to, in which she stands alone. This feature is the Jordan — the one river of the country. The river is elsewhere described [Jordan] ; but it and the valley through which it rushes down its extra- ordinary descent — must be here briefly cha- racterized. This valley begins with the river at its remotest springs of Hasbeiya on the N.W. side of Hermon, and accompanies it to the lower end of the Dead Sea, a length of about 150 miles. During the whole of this distance its course is straight, and its direction nearly d ue north and south. The springs of Hasbeiya are 1700 feet above the level of the Mediter- ranean, and the northern end of the Dead Sea is 1317 feet below it, so that between these two points the valley falls with more or less regularity through a height of more than 3000 feet. But though the river disappears at this point, the valley still continues its descent below the waters of the Dead Sea till it reaches a further depth of 1308 feet. So that the bottom of this extraordinary crevasse is actually more than 2600 feet below the surface of the ocean. In width the valley varies. In its upper and shallower portion, as between Banias and the lake of Merom {. Htileh ), it is about five miles across. Be- tween the lake of Merom and the sea of Gali- lee it contracts, and becomes more of an ordinary ravine or glen. It is in its tnird and lower portion that the valley assumes its more definite and regular character. During the greater part of this portion, it is about seven miles wide from the one wall to the other. The eastern mountains preserve their straight line of direction, and their massive horizontal wall-like aspect, during almost the whole distance. The western mountains are more irregular in height, their slopes less vertical. North of Jericho they recede in a kind of wide amphitheatre, and the valley becomes twelve miles broad, a breadth which it thenceforward retains to the southern ex- tremity of the Dead Sea. Buried as it is between such lofty ranges, and shielded from every breeze, the climate of the Jordan valley is extremely hot and relaxing. Its enervating influence is shown by the inhabitants of Je- richo. All the irrigation necessary for the cultivation which formerly existed is obtained from the torrents of the western mountains. For all purposes to which a river is ordi- narily applied the Jordan is useless. The Dead Sea, which is the final receptacle of the Jordan, is described elsewhere. [Sea, The Salt.] — 17. Monotonous and uninviting much oi the Holy Land will appear from tise above description to English readers ac- i 7~ customea to the constant verdure, the suc- cession of flowers, lasting almost throughout the year, the ample streams and the varied surface of our own country — we must re- member that its aspect to the Israelites after that weary march of forty years through the desert, and even by the side of the brightest recollections of Egypt that they could conjure up, must have been very different. They entered the country at the time of the Pass- over, when it was arrayed in the full glory and freshness of its brief springtide, before the scorching sun of summer had had time to wither its flowers and embrown its ver- dure. Taking all these circumstances into account, and allowing for the bold metaphors of oriental speech, it is impossible not to feel that those way-worn travellers could have chosen no fitter words to express what their new country was to them than those which they so often employ in the accounts of the conquest — “ a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.” PALMER-WORM (Heb. gazam ), occurs Joel i. 4, ii. 25 ; Am. iv. 9. It is main- tained by many that gazam, denotes some species of locust, but it is more probably a caterpillar. PALM-TREE (Heb. tamar). Under this generic term many species are botanically included ; but we have here only to do with the Date-palm, the Phoenix Dactylifera of Linnaeus. While this tree was abundant generally in the Levant, it was regarded by the ancients as peculiarly characteristic of Palestine and the neighbouring regions. The following places may be enumerated from the Bible as having some connexion with the palm-tree, either in the derivation of the name, or in the mention of the tree as grow- ing on the spot. (1.) At Elim, one of the stations of the Israelites between Egypt and Sinai, it is expressly stated that there were “ twelve wells (fountains) of water, and three-score and ten palm-trees” (Ex. xv. 27 ; Num. xxxiii. 9). (2.) Next, it should be observed that Elath (Deut. ii. 8 ; 1 K. ix. 26 ; 2 K. xiv. 22, xvi. 6 ; 2 Chr. viii. 17, xx vi. 2) is another plural form of the same word, and may likewise mean “the palm- trees.” (3.) No place in Scripture is so closely associated with the subject before us as Jericho. Its rich palm-groves are con- nected with two very different periods, — with that of Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 3 ; Judg. i. 16) and Joshua on the one hand, and that of the Evangelists on the other. What the extent of these palm-groves may have been in the desolate period of Jericho we cannot tell ; but they were renowned in the time of the Gospels and Josephus. The Jewish PALM-TREE 405 PALM-TREE historian mentions the luxuriance of these trees again and again. (4.) The name of Hazezon-Tamar, “ the felling of the palm- tree,” is clear in its derivation. This place is mentioned in the history both of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 7) and of Jehoshaphat (2 Chr. xx. 2). (5.) Another place having the same element in its name, and doubtless the same characteristic in its scenery, was Baal-Tamar (Judg. xx. 33). (6.) We must next men- tion the Tamar, “ the palm,” which is set before us in the vision of Ezekiel (xlvii. 19, xlviii. 28). (7.) There is little doubt that Solomon’s Tadmor, afterwards the famous Palmyra, on another desert frontier far to the N.E. of Tamar, is primarily the same word. (8.) Nor again are the places of the N. T. without their associations with this characteristic tree of Palestine. B ethan v means “ the house of dates ; ” and thus we are reminded that the palm grew in the neighbourhood of the Mount of Olives. This helps our realisation of Our Saviour’s entry into Jerusalem, when the people “ took branches of palm-trees and went forth to meet Him” (John xii. 13 ; comp. Neh. viii. 15). (9.) The word Phoenicia, which occurs twice in the N. T. (Acts xi. 19, xv. 3) is in all probability derived from the Greek word for a palm. (10.) Lastly, Phoenix in the island of Crete, the harbour which St. Paul was prevented by the storm from reaching (Acts xxvii. 12), has doubtless the same derivation. — From the passages where there is a literal reference to the palm-tree, we may pass to the emblematical uses of it in Scrip- ture. Under this head may be classed the following: — (1.) The striking appearance of the tree, its uprightness and beauty, would naturally suggest the giving of its name occasionally to women (Gen. xxxviii. 6 ; 2 Sam. xiii. 1, xiv. 27). (2.) We have notices of the employment of this form in decorative art, both in the real temple of Solomon and in the visionary temple of Ezekiel. This work seems to have been in relief. It was a natural and doubtless cus- tomary kind of ornamentation in Eastern architecture. (3.) With a tree so abundant in Judaea, and so marked in its growth and appearance, as the palm, it seems rather remarkable that it does not appear more frequently in the imagery of the O. T. There is, however, in the Psalms (xcii. 12) the familiar comparison, “ The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree,” which suggests a world of illustration, whether respect b <- had to the orderly and regular aspect of the tree, its fruitfulness, the perpetual greenness of its foliage, or the height at which the foli- age grows, as far as possible from earth and as near as possible to heaven. Perhaps no point is nmre worthy of mention, if we wish to pursue the comparison, than the elasticity of the fibre of the palm, and its determined growth upwards, even when loaded with weights. (4.) The passage in Rev. vii. 9, where the glorified of all nations are des- | cribed as “clothed with white robes and palms in their hands,” might seem to us a purely classical image. But palm-branches were used by Jews in token of victory and peace (1 Mace. xiii. 51 ; 2 Macc. x. 7, xiv. 4). As to the industrial and domestic uses of the palm, it is well known that they are very numerous : but there is no clear allu- sion to them in the Bible. That the ancient Orientals, however, made use of wine and honey obtained from the Palm-tree is evident from Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny. It is indeed possible that the honey mentioned in some places may be palm-sugar. (In 2 Chr. xxxi. 5 the margin has “ dates.”) There may also in Cant. vii. 8, “I will go up to the palm-tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof,” be a reference to climbing for the fruit. So in ii. 3 and elsewhere ( e.g . Ps. i. 3) the fruit of the palm may he intended : but this cannot be proved. It is curious that ’ this tree, once so abundant in Judaea, is now PALSY 406 PARABLE comparatively rare, except in she Philistine plain, and in the old Phoenicia about Beyrouth PALSY. The palsy meets us in the N. T. only, and in features too familiar to need special remark. The words “grievously tormented ” (Matt. viii. 6), may refer to paralysis agitans, or even St. Titus’ dance, in both of which the patient, being never still for a moment save when asleep, might well be so described. The woman’s case who was “ bowed together ” by “ a spirit of in- firmity,” may probably have been paralytic (Luke xiii. 11). PAMPHYL'IA, one of the coast-regions in the south of Asia Minor, having Cilicia on the east, and Lycia on the west. In St. Paul’s time it was not only a regular province, but the Emperor Claudius had united Lycia with it, and probably also a good part of Pisidia. It was in Pamphylia that St. Paul first entered Asia Minor, after preaching the Gospel in Cyprus. He and Barnabas sailed up the river Cestrus to Perga (Acts xiii. 13). The two missionaries finally left Pamphylia by its chief seaport, Attalia. Many years afterwards St. Paul sailed near the coast (Acts xxvii. 5). PANNAG, an article of commerce exported from Palestine to Tyre (Ez. xxvii. 17), the nature of which is a pure matter of con- jecture, as the term occurs nowhere else. A comparison of the passage in Ezekiel with Gen. xliii. 11, leads to the supposition that pannag represents some of the spices grown in Palestine. PAPER. [Writing.] PAPHOS, a town at the west end of Cyprus, connected by a road with Salamis at the east end. Paul and Barnabas travelled, on their first missionary expedition, “through the isle,” from the latter place to the former ' Acts xiii. 6). The great characteristic of Paphos was the worship of Aphrodite or Venus, who was here fabled to have risen from the sea. Her temple, however, was at “Old Paphos,” now called Xuklia. The harbour and the chief town were at “New Paphos,” at some little distance. The place is still called Baffa. PAPY'RUS. [Reed.] PARABLE. The word Parable , in Gr. Parabole (irapaj3oA>?), does not of itself imply a narrative. The juxtaposition of two things, differing in most points, but agreeing in some, is sufficient to bring the comparison thus produced within the etymology of the word. In Hellenistic Greek it acquired a meaning, co-extensive with that of the He- brew mdshdl. That word (= similitude ) had a large range of application, and was applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs (1 Sam. x. 12, xxiv. 13 ; 2 Chr. vii. 20), sometimes to dark prophetic utterances (Num. xxiii. 7, 18, xxiv. 3 ; Ez. xx. 49), sometimes to enig- matic maxims (Ps. lxxviii. 2 ; Prov. i. 6), cr metaphors expanded into a narrative (Ez. xii. 22). In the N. T. itself the word is used with a like latitude. By the Jewish Rabbis the parable was made the instrument for teaching the young disciple to discern the treasures of wisdom of which the “ accursed ” multitude were ignorant. The teaching of Our Lord at the commencement of His ministry was, in every way, the opposite of this. The Sermon on the Mount may be taken as the type of the “ words of Grace ” which he spake, “ not as the scribes.” So for some months He taught in the synagogues and on the sea-shore of Galilee, as He had before taught in Jerusalem, and as yet without a parable. But then there comes a change. The direct teaching was met with scorn, unbelief, hardness, and He seems for a time to abandon it for that which took the form of parables. The question of the dis- ciples (Matt. xiii. 10) implies that they were astonished. Their master was speaking to the multitude in the parables and dark say- ings which the Rabbis reserved for their chosen disciples. Here for them were two grounds of wonder. Here, for us, is the key to the explanation which He gave, that He had chosen this form of teaching because the people were spiritually blind and deaf (Matt. xiii. 13), and in order that they might re- main so (Mark iv. 12). The worth of parables, as instruments of teaching, lies in their being at once a test of character, and in their pre- senting each form of character with that which, as a penalty or blessing, is adapted to it. They withdraw the light from those who love darkness. They protect the truth which they enshrine from the mockery of the scoffer. They leave something even with the careless which may be interpreted and understood afterwards. They reveal, on the other hand, the seekers after truth. These ask the mean- ing of the parable, and will not rest till the teacher has explained it. In this way the parable did its work, found out the fit hearers and led them on. In the parables which remain it is possible to trace something like an order. (A.) There is the group which have for their subject the laws of the Divine Kingdom. Under this head we have — 1. The Sower (Matt. xiii. ; Mark iv. ; Luke viii.). 2. The Wheat and the Tares (Matt. xiii.). 3. The Mustard-Seed (Matt. xiii. ; Markiv.). 4. The Seed cast into the Ground (Mark iv.). 5. The Leaven (Matt. xiii.). 6. The Hid Treasure (Matt. xiii.). 7. The Pearl of Great Prke (Matt. xiii.). 8. The Net cast into the PARABLE 407 PARAN Sea (Matt. xiii.). (B.) When the next par- ables meet us they are of a different type and occupy a different position. They are drawn from the life of men rather than from the world of nature. They are such as these — 9. The Two Debtors (Luke vii.). 10. The Merciless Servant (Matt, xviii.). 11. The Good Samaritan (Luke x.). 12. The Friend at Midnight (Luke xi.). 13. The Rich Fool (Luke xii.). 14. The Wedding Feast (Luke xii.). 15. The Fig-Tree (Luke xiii.). 16. The Great Supper (Luke xiv.). 17. The Lost Sheep (Matt, xviii. ; Luke xv.). 18. The Lost Piece of Money (Luke xv.). 19. The Prodigal Son (Luke xv.). 20. The Un- just Steward (Luke xvi.). 21. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.). 22. The Un- just Judge (Luke xviii.). 23. The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke xviii.). 24. The Labourers in the Yineyard (Matt. xx.). (C.) Towards the close of Our Lord’s ministry, the parables are again theocratic, but the phase of the Divine Kingdom, on which they chiefly dwell, is that of its final consumma- tion. To this class we may refer — 25. The Pounds (Luke xix.). 26, The Two Sons (Matt. xxi.). 27. The Yineyard let out to Husbandmen (Matt. xxi. ; Mark xii. ; Luke xx.). 28. The Marriage-Feast (Matt. xxii.). 29. The Wise and Foolish Yirgins (Matt, xxv.). 30. The Talents (Matt. xxv.). 31. The Sheep and the Goats (Matt. xxv.). It is characteristic of the several Gospels that the greater part of the parables of the first and third groups belong to St. Matthew, emphati- cally the Evangelist of the kingdom. Those ! of the second are found for the most part in St. Luke. — Lastly, there is the law of inter- pretation. It has been urged by some writers, that there is a scope or purpose for each i parable, and that our aim must be to discern j this, not to find a special significance in each circumstance or incident. It may be ques- tioned, however, whether this canon of in- terpretation is likely to lead us to the full meaning of this portion of Our Lord’s teach- ing. It must be remembered that in the great patterns of interpretation which He himself has given us, there is more than ; this. Not only the sower and the seed and : the several soils have their counterparts in j the spiritual life, but the birds of the air, the j thorns, the scorching heat, have each of them a significance. It may be inferred from these two instances that we are, at least, justified in looking for a meaning even in the seeming accessories of a parable. The very form of the teaching makes it probable that there may be, in any case, more than one legiti- mate explanation. A parable may be at once ethical, and in the highest sense of the term prophetic. There is thus a wide field open to the discernment of the interpreter. There are also restraints upon the mere fertility of his imagination. (1.) The analogies must be real, not arbitrary . (2.) The parables are to be considered as parts of a whole, and the interpretation of one is not to over-ride or encroach upon the lessons taught by others. (3.) The direct teaching of Christ presents the standard to which all our interpretations are to be referred, and by which they are to be measured. PARADISE is a word of Persian origin, and is used in the Septuagint as the transla- tion of Eden. [Eden.] The Rabbis in the time of our Saviour taught that there was a region of the world of the dead, of Sheol, in the heart of the earth. Gehenna was on one side, with its flames and torments. Paradise on the other, the intermediate home of the blessed. But in the common belief Paradise was a far-off land, a region where there was no scorching heat, no consuming cold; and the common prayer for the dying or the dead was that their souls might rest in Paradise, in the garden of Eden. It is with this popular belief, that the language of the N. T. connects itself. The old word is kept, and is raised to a new dignity or power. It is significant, indeed, that the word “ paradise ” nowhere occurs in the public teaching of our Lord, or in His intercourse with His own disciples. Connected as it had been with the thoughts of a sensuous happiness, it was not the fittest or the best word for those whom He was training to rise out of sensuous thoughts to the higher regions of the spiritual life. For them, accordingly, the kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of God, are the words most dwelt on. With the thief dying on the cross the case was different (Luke xxiii. 43). We can assume nothing in the robber-outlaw but the most rudimentary forms of popular belief. The answer to his prayer gave him what he needed most, the assurance of im- mediate rest and peace. The word Paradise spoke to him, as to other Jews, of repose, shelter, joy — the greatest contrast possible to the thirst, and agony, and shame of the hours upon the cross. There is a like signi- ficance in the general absence of the word from the language of the Epistles. Here also it is found nowhere in the direct teaching. It occurs only in passages that are apo- j calyptic, and therefore almost of necessity I symbolic (2 Cor. xii. 3 ; comp. Rev. ii. 7). PA 'RAN, EL-PA'RAN. 1. The name Paran corresponds probably in general out- line with the desert Et-Tih. [Kadesh.] Between the wilderness of Paran and that of Zin no strict demarcation exists in the narra- PARCHMENT 408 PASHUR tive, nor do the natural features of the region yield a well-defined boundary. The name of Paran seems, as in the story of Ishmael (Gen. xxi. 21), to have predominated towards the western extremity of the northern desert frontier of EUTih , and in Num. xxxiv. 4 the wilderness of Zin, not Paran, is spoken of as the southern border of the land or of the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 3). Was there, then, a Paran proper, or definite spot to which the name was applied? Prom Deut. i. 1 it should seem there must have been. This is con- firmed by 1 K. xi. 18, from which we further learn the fact of its being an inhabited region ; and the position required by the context here is one between Midian and Egypt. Padan proper is probably the Wady Feiran. — 2. “Mount” Paran occurs only in two poetic passages (Deut. xxxiii. 2 ; Hab. iii. 3). It probably denotes the north-western member of the Sinaitic mountain -group, which lies adjacent to the Wady Feiran . PARCHMENT. [Writing.] PAR'MENAS. One of the seven deacons, “men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” (Acts vi. 5). There is a tradition that he suffered martyrdom at Philippi in the reign of Trajan. PARTHIANS occurs only in Acts ii. 9, where it designates Jews settled in Parthia. Parthia Proper was the region stretching along the southern flank of the mountains which separate the great Persian desert from the desert of Rharesm. It lay south of Hyrcania, east of Media, and north of Sagar- tia. The ancient Parthians are called a “ Scythic ” race, and probably belonged to the great Turanian family. After being sub- ject in succession to the Persians and the Seleucidae, they revolted in b.c. 256, and under Arsaces succeeded in establishing their independence. Parthia, in the mind of the writer of the Acts, would designate this empire, which extended from India to the Tigris, and from the Chorasmian desert to the shores of the Southern Ocean. Hence the prominent position of the name Parthians in the list of those present at Pentecost. Parthia was a power almost rivalling Rome — the only existing power which had tried its strength against Rome and not been worsted in the encounter. The Parthian dominion lasted for nearly five centuries, commencing in the third century before, and terminating in the third century after, our era. PARTRIDGE (Heb. kore ) occurs only 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, and Jer. xvii. 11. The “hunting this bird upon the mountains” (1 Sam. xxvi. 20) entirely agrees with the habits of two well-known species of partridge, viz. Caccabis saxatilis (the Greek partridge) and Ammoperdix Heyii. The expression in Ecclus. xi. 30, “like as a partridge taken (and kept) in a cage,” clearly refers to “a decoy partridge.” Our common partridge {. Perdix cinerea ) does not oecur in Palestine. 7m Partridge. (Caccabis saxatilis.) PARVA'IM, the name of an unknown place or country whence the gold was pro- cured for the decoration of Solomon’s Temple (2 Chr. iii. 6). We may notice the conjecture that it is derived from the Sanscrit purva, “ eastern,” and is a general term for the East. PAS-DAM'MIM. [Ephes-dammim.] PASH' UR. 1. One of the families of priests of the chief house of Malchijah (Jer. xxi. 1, xxxviii. 1 ; 1 Chr. ix. 12, xxiv. 9 ; Neh. xi. 12). In the time of Nehemiah this family appears to have become a chief house, and its head the head of a course (Ezr. ii. 38 ; Neh. vii. 41, x. 3). The individual from whom the family was named was probably Pashur the son of Malchiah, who in the reign of Zedekiah was one of the chief princes of the court (Jer. xxxviii. 1). He was sent, with others, by Zedekiah to Jeremiah at the time when Nebuchadnezzar was preparing his attack upon Jerusalem (Jer. xxi.) Again somewhat later, Pashur joined with several other chief men in petitioning the king that Jeremiah might be put to death as a traitor (Jer. xxxviii.). 2. Another person of this name, also a priest, and “ chief governor of the house of the Lord,” is mentioned in Jer. xx. 1. He is described as “the son of limner” (1 Chr. xxiv. 14), probably the same as Amariah (Neh. x. 3, xii. 2, &c.). In the reign of Jehoiakim he showed himself as hostile to Jeremiah as his namesake the son of Malchiah did afterwards, and put him in PASSOVER 409 PASSOVER the stocks by the gate of Benjamin. For this indignity to God’s prophet, Pashur was told by Jeremiah that his name was changed to Magor-missabib {Terror on every side), and that he and all his house should be carried captives to Babylon and there die (Jer. xx. 1 - 6 ). PASSOVER, the first of the three great annual Festivals of the Israelites, celebrated in the month Nisan, from the 14th to the 21st. The following are the principal pas- sages in the Pentateuch relating to the Pass- over : — Ex. xii. 1-51, xiii. 3-10, xxiii. 14-10, xxxiv. 18-26 ; Lev. xxiii. 4-14 ; Num. ix. 1-14, xxviii. 16-25; Deut. xvi. 1-6. — I. In- stitution and First Celebration of the Passover. — When the chosen people were about to be brought out of Egypt, the word of the Lord came to Moses and Aaron, com- manding them to instruct all the congrega- tion of Israel to prepare for their departure by a solemn religious ordinance. On the tenth day of the month of Abib, the head of each family was to select from the flock either a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year, without blemish. If his family was too small to eat the whole of the lamb, he was permitted to invite his nearest neighbour to join the party. On the fourteenth day of the month he was to kill his lamb, while the sun was setting. He was then to take blood .in a basin, and with a sprig of hyssop to sprinkle it on the two side-posts and the lintel of the door of the house. The lamb was then thoroughly roasted, whole. It was expressly forbidden that it should be boiled, or that *» &one of it should be broken. Unleave#.yA bread and bitter herbs were to be eaten with the flesh. No male who was uncircumcised was to join the company. Each one was to have his loins girt, to hold a staff in his hand, and to have shoes on his feet. He was to eat in haste, and it would seem that he was to stand during the meal. The number of the party was to be calculated as nearly as possible, so that all the flesh of the lamb might be eaten ; but if any portion of it happened to remain, it was to be burned in the morning. No morsel of it was to be carried out of the house. The legislator was further directed to inform the people of God’s purpose to smite the first-born of the Egyp- tians, to declare that the Passover was to be to them an ordinance for ever, to give them directions respecting the order and duration of the festival in future times, and to enjcin upon them to teach their children its mean- ing, from generation to generation. When the message was delivered to the people they bowed their heads in worship. The lambs Were selected, on the fourteenth they were slain, and the blood sprinkled, and in the following evening, after the fifteenth day of the month had commenced, the first pas- chal meal was eaten. At midnight the first- born of the Egyptians were smitten. The king and his people were now urgent that the Israelites should start immediately, and readily bestowed on them supplies for the journey. In such haste did the Israelites depart, on that very day (Num. x xxiii. 3), that they packed up their kneading-troughs containing the dough prepared for the mor- row’s provisions, which was not yet leavened. — II. Observance of the Passover in latek times. — 1. In the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of Exodus there are not only distinct references to the observance of the festival in future ages (e. g. xii. 2, 14, 17, 24-27, 42, xiii. 2, 5, 8-10), but there are several injunc- tions which were evidently not intended for the first passover, and which indeed could not possibly have been observed. In the later notices of the festival in the books of the law there are particulars added which appear as modifications of the original insti- tution (Lev. xxiii. 10-14; Num. xxviii. 16- 25 ; Deut. xvi. 1-6). Hence it is not with- out reason that the Jewish writers have laic great stress on the distinction between “ the Egyptian Passover ” and “ the perpetual Passover.” 2. The following was the gene- ral order of the observances of the Passover in later times : — On the 14th of Nisan every trace of leaven was put away from the houses, and on the same day every male Israelite not labouring under any bodily infirmity or ceremonial impurity, was commanded to appear before the Lord at the national sanc- tuary with an offering of money in proportion to his means (Ex. xxiii. 15; Deut. xvi. 16, 17). Devout women sometimes attended, as is proved by the instances of Hannah and Mary (1 Sam. i. 7 ; Luke ii. 41-42). As the sun was setting, the lambs were slain, and the fat and blood given to the priests (2 Chr. xxxv. 5, 6). The lamb was then roasted whole, and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs ; no portion of it was to be left until the morning. The same night, after the 15th of Nisan had commenced, the fat was burned by the priest and the blood sprinkled on the altar (2 Chr. xxx. 16, xxxv. 11). On the 15th, the night being passed, there was a holy convocation, and during that day no work might be done, except the preparation of necessary food (Ex. xii. 16). On this and the six following days an offer- ing in addition to the daily sacrifice was made of two young bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs of the first year, with meat- offerings, for a burnt-offering, and a goat for PASSOVER 410 PASSOVER a sin-offering (Num. xxviii. 19-23). On the 16th of the month, “the morrow after the sahbath ” ( i.e . after the day of holy convoca- tion), the first sheaf of harvest was offered and waved by the priest before the Lord, and a male lamb was offered as a burnt sacrifice with a meat and drink offering. Nothing necessarily distinguished the four following days of the festival, except the additional burnt and sin-offerings, and the restraint from some kinds of labour. On the seventh day, the 21st of Nisan, there was a holy con- vocation, and the day appears to have been one of peculiar solemnity. As at all the festivals, cheerfulness was to prevail during the whole week, and all care was to be laid aside (Deut. xxvii. 7). 3. [a.) The Paschal Lamb. — After the first Passover in Egypt there is no trace of the lamb having been selected before it was wanted. In later times we are certain that it was sometimes not provided before the 14th of the month (Luke xxii. 7-9; Mark xiv. 12-16). The law formally allowed the alternative of a kid (Ex. xii. 5), but a lamb was preferred, and was probably nearly always chosen. It was to be faultless and a male, in accordance with the established estimate of animal perfection (see Mai. i. 14). Either the head of the family, or any other person who was not ceremonially unclean (2 Chr. xxx. 17), took it into the court of the Temple on his shoul- ders. As the paschal lamb could be legally slain, and the blood and fat offered, only in the national sanctuary (Deut. xvi. 2), it of course ceased to be offered by the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem. The spring festival of the modern Jews strictly consists only of the feast of unleavened bread. (&.) r Fhe Unleavened Bread. — It might be made of wheat, spelt, barley, oats, or rye, but not of rice or millet. It appears to have been usually made of the finest wheat flour. It was probably formed into dry, thin biscuits, not unlike those used by the modern Jews. ( c .) The Bitter Herbs and the Sauce. — Ac- cording to the Mishna the bitter herbs (Ex. xii. 8) might be endive, chicory wild lettuce, or nettles. These plants were important articles of food to the ancient Egyptians. The sauce into which the herbs, the bread, and the meat were dipped as they were eaten (John xiii. 26 ; Matt. xxvi. 23) is not men- tioned in the Pentateuch. ( d .) The Four Cups of Wine. — There is no mention of wine in connexion with the Passover in the Penta- teuch ; but the Mishna strictly enjoins that tnere should never be less than four cups of it provided at the paschal meal even of the poorest Israelite. Two of them appear to be distinctly mentioned Luke xxii. 17, 20. “The cup of blessing ” (1 Cor. x. 16) was probably the latter one of these, and is gene- rally considered to have been the third of the series, after which a grace was said ; though a comparison of Luke xxii. 20 (where it is called “ the cup after supper ”) with a passage in the Talmud, and the designation “ cup of the Hallel ,” suggests that it was the fourth and last cup. (e.) The Hallel. — The service of praise sung at the Passover is not men- tioned in the Law. The name is contracted from Hallelujah . It consisted of the series of Psalms from cxiii. to cxviii. The first portion, comprising Ps. cxiii. and cxiv., was sung in the early part of the meal, and the second part after the fourth cup of wine. This is supposed to have been the “ hymn ” sung by our Lord and His Apostles (Matt, xxvi. 30 ; Mark xiv. 26). (/.) Mode and Order of the Paschal Meal. — Adopting as much from Jewish tradition as is not incon- sistent or improbable, the following appears to have been the usual custom : — All work, except that belonging to a few trades con- nected with daily life, was suspended foi some hours before the evening of the 14tb Nisan. It was not lawful to eat any ordinary food after mid-day. No male was admitted to the table unless he was circumcised, even if he was of the seed of Israel (Ex. xii. 48). It was customary for the number of a party to be not less than ten. When the meal was • prepared, the family was placed round the table, the paterfamilias taking a place of honour, probably somewhat raised above the rest. There is no reason to doubt that the ancient Hebrews sat as they were accustomed to do at their ordinary meals. Our Lord and His Apostles conformed to the usual custom of their time, and reclined (Luke xxii. 14, &c.). When the party was arranged the first cup of wine was filled, and a blessing was asked by the head of the family on the feast, as well as a special one on the cup. The bitter herbs were then placed on the table, and a portion of them eaten, either with or without the sauce. The unlea/vened bread was handed round next, and after- wards the lamb was placed on the table in front of the head of the family. Before the lamb was eaten the second cup of wine was filled, and the son, in accord- nee with Ex. xii. 26, asked his father the meaning of the feast. In reply, an account was given of the sufferings of the Israelites in Egypt, and of their deliverance, with a particular expla- nation of Deut. xxvi. 5, and the first part of the Hallel (Ps. cxiii., cxiv.) was sung. This being gone through, the iamb was carved and eaten. The third cup of wine was poured out and drunk, and soon afterwards PASSOVER 411 PASSOVER the fourth. The second part of the Hallel (Ps. cxy. to cxviii.) was then sung. A fifth wine-cup appears to have been occasionally produced, hut perhaps only in later times. What was termed the greater Hallel (Ps. cxx. to cxxxviii.) was sung on such occasions. The Israelites who lived in the country ap- pear to have been accommodated at the feast by the inhabitants of Jerusalem in their houses, so far as there was room for them (Luke xxii. 10-12; Matt. xxvi. 18). Those who could not he received into the city en- camped without the walls in tents, as the pilgrims now do at Mecca. ( g .) The first Sheaf of Harvest. — The offering of the Qmer, or sheaf, is mentioned nowhere in the Law except Lev. xxiii. 10-14. It is there com- manded that when the Israelites reached the land of promise, they should bring, on the 16th of the month, “ the morrow after the sabbath ” (i. e. the day of holy convocation), the first sheaf of the harvest to the priest, to be waved by him before the Lord. The sheaf was of barley, as being the grain which was first ripe (2 K. iv. 42). (h.) The Chagigah. The daily sacrifices are enumerated in the Pentateuch only in Num. xxviii. 19-23, but reference is made to them Lev. xxiii. 8. Besides these public offerings, there was another sort of sacrifice connected with the Passover, as well as with the other great fes- tivals, called in the Talmud Chagigah , i, e. “ festivity.” It was a voluntary peace-offer- ing made by private individuals. The victim might be taken either from the flock or the herd. It might he either male or female, hut it must be without blemish. The offerer laid his hand upon its head, and slew it at the door of the sanctuary. The blood was sprinkled on the altar, and the fat of the inside, with the kidneys, was burned by the priest. The Dreast was given to the priest as a wave- offering, and the right shoulder as a heave- offering (Lev. iii. 1-5, vii. 29-34). What remained of the victim might be eaten by the offerer and his guests on the day on which it was slain, and on the day following ; but if any portion was left till the third day it was burned (Lev. vii. 16-18). The eating of the Chagigah was an occasion of social festivity connected with the festivals, and especially with the Passover. ( i .) Release of Prisoners. It is a question whether the release of a prisoner at the Passover (Matt, xxvii. 15 ; Mark xv. 6 ; Luke xxiii. 17 ; John xviii. 39) was a custom of Roman origin resembling what took place at the lectisternium (Liv. v. 13), and, in later times, on the birthday of an emperor ; or whether it was an old Hebrew usage belonging to the festival, which Pilate allowed the Jews to retain. (&.) The Second t or Little Passover. — When the Passover was celebrated the second year, in the wilderness, certain men were prevented from keeping it, owing to their being defiled by contact witr, a dead body. Being thus prevented from obeying the Divine command, they came anxiously to Moses to inquire what they should do. He was accordingly instructed to institute a second Passover, to be observed on the 14th of the following month, for the benefit of any who had been hindered from keeping the regular one *n Nisan (Num. ix. 11). The Talmudists called this the Little Passover. (L) Observances of the Passover recorded in Scripture. — Of these, seven are of chief historical importance : — 1. The first Passover in Egypt (Ex. xii.). 2. The first kept in the desert (Num. ix.). 3. That cele- brated by Joshua at Gilgal (Josh. v.). 4. That which Hezekiah observed on the occasion of his restoring the national worship (2 Chr. xxx.). This Passover was not held till the second month, the proper time for the Little Passover. 5. The Passover of Josiah in the eighteenth year of his reign (2 Chr. xxxv.). — 6. That celebrated by Ezra after the return from Babylon (Ezr. vi.). 7 . The last Passover of our Lord’s life. — III. The Last Supper. — Was the supper which our Lord ate with his disciples on the Thursday evening the true Paschal Supper, or did the latter fall on the following evening, the same as that of His crucifixion ? (No point in the Gospel history has been more disputed.) The truth of the former view could never have been ques- tioned, had we possessed the first three Gospels only. They expressly call the Supper of the Thursday evening the Passover ; and even if St. John does not so call it, no infer- ence can be drawn from his silence, any more than from his not mentioning the institution of the Lord’s Supper, considering the supplementary nature of his Gospel. There are, however, other passages in St. John’s narrative of our Saviour’s passion, which seem to suggest the inference that the Passover was yet to be eaten on the Friday evening ; but all these passages admit of another explanation. [For the detailed argu- ment the reader is referred to the larger Dic- tionary.] The crowning application of the paschal rites to the truths of which they were the shadowy promises appears to be that which is afforded by the fact that our Lord’s death occurred during the festival. According to the Divine purpose, the true Lamh of God was slain at nearly the same time as “the Lord’s Passover,” in obedience to the letter of the law. It does not seem needful that, in order to give point to this coincidence, we should (as some have done) draw from it an a priori argu- PATAKA 412 PAUL ment in favour of our Lord’s crucifixion having taken place on the 14th of Nisan. It is enough to know that our own Holy Week and Easter stand as the anniversary of the same great facts as were foreshown in those events of which the yearly Passover was a commemoration. PAT'ARA, a Lycian city situated on the south-western shore of Lycia, not far from the left bank of the river Xanthus. The coast here is very mountainous and bold. Immediately opposite is the island of Rhodes. Patara was practically the seaport of the city of Xanthus, which was ten miles distant. These notices of its position and maritime importance introduce us to the single men- tion of the place in the Bible (Acts xxi. 1 , 2 ). PATH r ROS, gent, noun Pathrusim, a part of Egypt, and a Mizraite tribe. In the list of the Mizraites, the Pathrusim occur after the Naphtuhim, and before the Casluhim ; the latter being followed by the notice of the Philistines, and by the Caphtorim (Gen. x. 13, 14 ; 1 Chr. i. 12). Pathros is mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah (xi. 11), Jeremiah (xliv. 1, 15), and Ezekiel (xxix. 14, xxx. 13-18). It was probably part of or all Upper Egypt, and we may trace its name in the Pathyrite nome, in which Thebes was situate. PATH'RUSIM. [Pathros.] PAT'MOS (Rev. i. 9), a rugged and bare island, is one of the Sporades, and in that part of the Aegean which is called the Icarian Sea. Such a scene of banishment for St. John in the reign of Domitian is quite in harmony with what we read of the custom of the period. Patmos is divided into two nearly equal parts, a northern, and a southern, by a very narrow isthmus, where, on the east side, are the harbour and the town. On the hill to the south, crowning a commanding height, is the celebrated monastery, which bears the name of “ John the Divine.” Halfway up the ascent is the cave or grotto where tradi- tion says that St. John received the Revela- tion. PATRIARCHS. The name Patriarch is applied in the N. T. to Abraham (Heb. vii. 4), to the sons of Jacob (Acts vii. 8, 9), and to David (Acts ii. 29) ; and is apparently intended to be equivalent to the phrase, the “head” or “prince of a tribe,” so often found in the O. T. It is used in this sense by the LXX. in 1 Chr. xxiv. 31, xxvii. 22 ; 2 Chr. xxiii. 20, xxvi. 12. In common usage the title of patriarch is assigned especially to those whose lives are recorded in Scripture previous to the time of Moses. PAT'ROBAS, a Christian at Rome to whom St. Paul sends his salutation (Rom. xvi. 14). Like many other names mentioned in Rom. xvi., this was borne by at least one member of the emperor’s household (Suet. Oalba , 20 ; Martial, Ep. ii. 32, 3). PAU, but in 1 Chr. i. 50, Pai, the capital of Hadar, king of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 39). Its position is unknown. PAUL, the Apostle of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Prominent points in the Life. — Foremost of all is his Conversion. This was the main root of his whole life, outward and inward. Next after this, we may specify his Labours at Antioch. From these we pass to the First Missionary Journey , in the eastern part of Asia Minor. The Visit to Jerusalem was a critical point, both in the history of the Church and of the Apostle. The introduction of the Gospel into Europe , with the memorable visits to Philippi, Athens, and Corinth, was the boldest step in the carrying out of St. Paul’s mission. A third great missionary journey, chiefly characterized by a long stay at Ephesus , is further interesting from its connexion with four leading Epistles. This was immediately followed by the apprehension of St. Paul at Jerusalem , and his imprison- ment at Caesarea. And the last event of which we have a full narrative is the Voyage to Rome. — Saul of Tarsus , before his Con- version. — Up to the time of his going forth as an avowed preacher of Christ to the Gentiles , the Apostle was known by the name of Saul. This was the Jewish name which he received from his Jewish parents. But though a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he was born in a Gentile city. Of his parents we know no- thing, except that his father was of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. iii. 5), and a Pharisee (Acts xxiii. 6), that he had acquired by some means the Roman franchise (“ I was free born,” Acts xxii. 28), and that he was settled in Tarsus. “ I am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city ” (Acts xxi. 39). At Tarsus he must have learnt to use the Greek language with free- dom and mastery in both speaking and writing. At Tarsus also he learnt that trade of “tentmaker ” (Acts xviii. 3), at which he afterwards occasionally wrought with his own hands. There was a goat’s-hair cloth called Cilicium , manufactured in Cilicia, and largely used for tents. Saul’s trade was probably that of making tents of this haircloth. When St. Paul makes his defence before his country- men at Jerusalem (Acts xxii.), he tells them that though born in Tarsus, he had been “ brought up ” in Jerusalem. He must, therefore, have been yet a boy, when he was removed, in all probability for the sake cf his education, to the Holy City of his fathers. PAUL 413 PAUL He learnt, he says, “ at the feet of Gamaliel.” He who was to resist so stoutly the usurpa- tions of the law, had for his teacher one of the most eminent of all the doctors of the .aw. Saul was yet “ a young man ” (Acts vii. 58), when the Church experienced that sudden expansion which was connected with the ordaining of the Seven appointed to serve tables, and with the special power and inspi- ration of Stephen. Amongst those who disputed with Stephen were some “ of them of Cilicia.” We naturally think of Saul as having been one of these, when we find him afterwards keeping the clothes of those suborned witnesses who, according to the law (Deut. xvii. 7), were the first to cast stones at Stephen. “ Saul,” says the sacred writer, significantly, “ was consenting unto his death.” — Saul's Conversion . — The persecutor was to be converted. Having undertaken to follow up the believers “ unto strange cities,” Saul naturally turned his thoughts to Da- mascus. What befell him as he journeyed thither, is related in detail three times in the Acts, first by the historian in his own person, then in the two addresses made by St. Paul at Jerusalem and before Agrippa. St. Luke’s statement is to be read in Acts ix. 3-19, where, however, the words “ It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks,” included in the English version, ought to be omitted. The sudden light from heaven ; the voice of Jesus speaking with authority to His perse- cutor ; Saul struck to the ground, blinded, overcome ; the three days’ suspense ; the coming of Ananias as a messenger of the Lord ; and Saul’s baptism ; — these were the leading features of the great event, and in these we must look for the chief significance of the conversion. The manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God is clearly the main point in the narrative. It was in Damascus that he was received into the Church by Ananias, and here to the astonishment of all his hearers he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, declaring him to be the Son of God. The narrative in the Acts tells us simply that he was occupied in this work, with increasing vigour, for “ many days,” up to the time when imminent danger drove him from Da- mascus. From the Epistle to the Galatians (i. 17, 18) we learn that the many days were at least a good part of “ three years,” and that Saul, riot thinking it necessary vo procure authority to preach from the Apostles that were before him, went after his conver- sion into Arabia, and returned from thence to Damascus. We know nothing whatever of this visit to Arabia ; but upon his departure from Damascus, we are again upon historical ground, and have the double evidence of St. Luke in the Acts, and of the Apostle in his 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians. According to the former, the Jews lay in wait for Saul, intending to kill him, and watched the gates of the city that he might not escape from them. Knowing this, the disciples took him by night and let him down in a basket from the wall. According to St. Paul (2 Cor. xi. 32) it was the ethnarch under Aretas the king who watched for him, desiring to apprehend him. There is no difficulty in reconciling the two statements. Having escaped from Damascus, Saul betook himself to Jerusalem, and there “ assayed to join himself to the disciples ; but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.” Barnabas became his sponsor to the Apostles and Church at Jerusalem, as- suring them — from some personal knowledge, we must presume — of the facts of Saul’s conversion and subsequent behaviour at Damascus. Barnabas’s introduction removed the fears of the Apostles, and Paul “was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.” His Hellenistical education made him, like Stephen, a successful disputant against the “ Grecians ;” and it is not strange that the former persecutor was singled out from the other believers as the object of a murderous hostility. He was therefore again urged to flee ; and by way of Caesarea betook himself to his native city Tarsus. In the Epistle to the Galatians St. Paul adds certain particulars. He tells us that his motive for going up to Jerusalem rather than anywhere else was that he might see Peter ; that he abode with him fifteen days ; that the only Apostles he saw were Peter and James the Lord’s brother ; and that afterwards he came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, remaining unknown by face, though well- known for his conversion, to the Churches in Judaea which were in Christ. — St. Paul at Antioch . — While Saul was at Tarsus, a move- ment was going on at Antioch, which raised that city to an importance second only to that of Jerusalem itself in the early history of the Church. It was there that the Preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles first took root, and from thence that it was afterwards pro- pagated. There came to Antioch, when the persecution which arose about Stephen scat- tered upon their different routes the disciples who had been assembled at Jerusalem, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, eager to tell all who would hear them the good news concerning the Lord Jesus. A great number believed ; and when this was reported at Jerusalem, Barnabas was sent on a special mission to Antioch. As the work grew under his hands, he felt the need of help, went himself to PAUL 414 PAUL Tarsus to seek Saul, and succeeded in bring- ing him to Antioch. There they laboured together unremittingly for “a whole year.” All this time Saul was subordinate to Barna- bas. An opportunity soon occurred for proving the affection of these new disciples towards their brethren at Jerusalem. There came “ prophets ” from Jerusalem to Antioch: “ and there stood up one of them, named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world.” It is obvious that the fulfilment followed closely upon the intimation of the coming famine. For the disciples at Antioch determined to send contributions immediately to Jerusalem ; and the gift was conveyed to the elders of that Church by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Having discharged their errand, Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch, bringing with them another helper, John surnamed Mark, sister’s son to Barna- bas. The work of prophesying and teaching was resumed. Antioch was in constant com- munication with Cilicia, with Cyprus, with all the neighbouring countries. The question must have forced itself upon hundreds of the “ Christians ” at Antioch, “ What is the meaning of this faith of ours, of this baptism, of this incorporation, of this kingdom of the Son of God, for the world ? The Gospel is not for Judaea alone : here are we called by it at Antioch. Is it meant to stop here ? ” The Church was pregnant with a great move- ment and the time of her delivery was at hand. Something of direct expectation seems to be implied in what is said of the leaders of the Church at Antioch, that they were “ minis- tering to the Lord, and fasting,” when the Holy Ghost spoke to them. “ Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Everything was done with orderly gravity in the sending forth of the two missionaries. Their brethren, after fasting and prayer, laid their hands on them, and so they departed . — The first Missionary Journey . — As soon as Barnabas and Saul reached Cyprus, they began to “ announce the word of God,” but at first they delivered their message in the synagogues of the Jews only. When they had gone through the island, from Salamis to Paphos, they were called upon to explain their doctrine to an eminent Gentile, Sergius Paulus, the pro- consul. A Jew, named Barjesus, or Elymas, a magus and false prophet, had attached himself to the governor, and had no doubt interested his mind with what he had told him of the history and hopes of the Jews. Accordingly, when Sergius Paulus heard of the strange teachers who were announcing to the Jews the advent of their true Messiah, he wished to see them and sent for them. The impostor, instinctively hating the Apostles, and seeing his influence over the proconsul in danger of perishing, did what he could to withstand them. Then Saul, “ who is also called Paul,” denouncing Elymas in remark able terms det.ared against him God’s sentence of temporary blindness. The blindness im- mediately falls upon him ; and the proconsul, moved by the scene and persuaded by the teaching of the Apostle, becomes a believer. This point is made a special crisis in the his- tory of the Apostle by the writer of the Acts. Saul now becomes Paul, and begins to take precedence of Barnabas. Nothing is said to explain the change of name. No reader could resist the temptation of supposing that there must be some connexion between Saul’s new name and that of his distinguished Roman convert. But on reflection it does not seem probable that St. Paul would either have wished, or have consented, to change his own name for that of a distinguished con- vert. There is no reason, therefore, why Saul should not have borne from infancy the other name of Paul. In that case he would be Saul amongst his own countrymen, Paulus amongst the Gentiles. The conversion of Sergius Paulus may be said, perhaps, to mark the beginning of the work amongst the Gen- tiles ; otherwise, it was not in Cyprus that any change took place in the method hitherto followed by Barnabas and Saul in preaching the Gospel. Their public addresses were as yet confined to the synagogues ; but it was soon to be otherwise. From Paphos “ Paul and his company ” set sail for the mainland, and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. Here the heart of their companion John failed him, and he returned to Jerusalem. From Perga they travelled on to a place, obscure in secular history, but most memorable in the history of the kingdom of Christ, — Antioch in Pisidia. Here “ they went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and sat down.” Small as the place was, it contained its colony of Jews. What took place here in the synagogue and in the city, is interesting to us not only on account of its bearing on the history, but also because it represents more or less exactly what afterwards occurrec in many other places. The Apostles of Christ sat still with the rest of the assembly, whilst the Law and the Prophets were read. Then the rulers of the synagogue sent to invite them, as strangers but brethren, to speak any word of exhortation which might be in them to the people. Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand, he spoke. The speech is given in Acts xiii. 16-41. The dis- course produced a strong impression ; and PAUL 415 PAUL I the hearers (not “ the Gentiles ”), requested ;.he Apostles to repeat tneir message on the next sabbath. During the week so much in- terest was excited by the teaching of the Apostles, that on the sabbath-day “ almost the whole city came together, to hear the Word of God.” It was this concern of the Gentiles which appears to have first alienated the minds of the Jews from what they had heard. They were filled with envy, and set themselves to oppose bitterly the words which Paul spoke. The new opposition brought out new action on the part of the Apostles. Rejected by the Jews, they became bold and outspoken, and turned from them to the Gentiles. At Antioch now, as in every city afterwards, the unbelieving Jews used their influence with their own adherents amongst the Gentiles, to persuade the authorities or the populace to persecute the Apostles, and to drive them from the place. Paul and Barnabas now travelled on to Iconium, where the occurrences at Antioch were repeated, and from thence to the Lycaonian country which contained the cities Lystra and Derbe. Here they had to deal with uncivilized heathens. At Lystra the aealing of a cripple took place. Thereupon these pagans took the Apostles for gods, ealling Barnabas, who was of the more imposing presence, Jupiter, and Paul, who was the chief speaker, Mercurius. This mis- take, followed up by the attempt to offer sacrifices to them, gives occasion to the recording of an address, in which we see a type of what the Apostles would say to an ignorant pagan audience. Although the people of Lystra had been so ready to wor- ship Paul and Barnabas, the repulse of their idolatrous instincts appears to have provoked them, and they allowed themselves to be persuaded into hostility by Jews who came from Antioch and Iconium, so that they attacked Paul with stones, and thought they had killed him. He recovered, however, as the disciples were standing round him, and went again into the city. The next day he left it with Barnabas, and went to Derbe, and thence they returned once more to Lystra, and so to Iconium and Antioch. In order to establish the Churches after their departure, they solemnly appointed “ elders ” in every city. Then they came down to the coast, and from Attalia they sailed home to Antioch in Syria, where they related the successes which had been granted to them, and especially the “ opening of the door of faith to the Gen- tiles.” And so the First Missionary Journey ended . — The Council at Jerusalem. (Acts xv.; Galatians ii.) Whilst Paul and Barnabas were staying at Antioch, “ certain men from Judaea ” came there and taught the brethren that it was necessary fcr the Gentile con- verts to be circumcised. This doctrine was vigorously opposed by the two Apostles, and it was determined that the question should be referred to the Apostles and elders at Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas themselves, and certain others, were selected for this mission. The Apostles and elders came together, and there was much disputing. At length, St. James gives a practical judg- ment upon the question. The judgment was a decisive one. The injunction that the Gentiles should abstain from pollutions or idols and from fornication explained itself. The abstinence from things strangled and from blood is desired as a concession to the customs of the Jews, who were to be found in every city, and for whom it was still right, when they had believed in Jesus Christ, to observe the Law. St. Paul had completely gained his point. The judgment of the Church was immediately recorded in a letter- addressed to the Gentile brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia . — Second Missionary Journey . — The most resolute courage, indeed, was required for the work to which St. Paul was now publicly pledged. He would not associate with himself in that work one who had already shown a want of constancy. This was the occasion of what must have been a most painful difference between him and his comrade in the faith and in past perils, Barnabas (Acts xv. 35-40). Silas, or Silvanus, becomes now a chief companion of the Apostle. The two went together through Syria and Cilicia, visiting the churches, and so came to Derbe and Lystra. Here they find Timotheus, who had become a disciple on the former visit of the Apostle. Him St. Paul took and circumcised. Paul and Silas were actually delivering the Jerusalem decree to all the churches they visited. They were no doubt triumphing in the freedom secured to the Gentiles. Yet at this very time our Apostle had the wisdom and largeness 01 heart to consult the feelings of the Jews by circumcising Timothy. St. Luke now steps rapidly over a considerable space of the Apostle’s life and labours. “ They went throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia” (xvi. 6). At this time St. Paul was founding “the churches of Galatia” (Gal. i. 2). He himself gives us hints of the circumstances of his preaching in that region, of the reception he met with, and of the ardent, though un- stable, character of the people (Gal. iv. 13-15). St. Paul at this time had not indulged the ambition of preaching his Gospel in Europe.. His views were limited to the peninsula of Asia Minor, Having gone through Phrygia PAUL 416 PAUL and Galatia he intended to visit the western coast ; but “ they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word” there. Then, being on the borders of Mysia, they thought of going back to the north-east into Bithynia ; but again the Spirit of Jesus “ suffered them not.” So they passed by Mysia, and came down to Troas. St. Paul saw in a vision a man of Macedonia, who besought him, saying “ Come over into Macedonia and help us.” The vision was at once accepted as a heavenly intimation; the help wanted by the Mace- donians was believed to be the preaching of the Gospel. It is at this point that the his- torian, speaking of St. Paul’s company, sub- stitutes “we” for “ they.” He says nothing of himself ; we can only infer that St. Luke, to whatever country he belonged, became a companion of St. Paul at Troas. The party, thus reinforced, immediately set sail from Troas, touched at Samothrace, then landed on \ be continent at Neapolis, and from thence journeyed to Philippi. There were a few Jews, if not many, at Philippi ; and when the Sabbath came round, the Apostolic com- pany joined their countrymen at the place by the river-side where prayer was wont to bo made. The narrative in this part is very graphic (xvi. 13). The first convert in Macedonia was but an Asiatic woman who already worshipped the God of the Jews ; but she was a very earnest believer, and besought the Apostle and his friends to honour her by staying in her house. They could not resist her urgency, and during their stay at Philippi they were the guests of Lydia (ver. 40). But a proof was given before long that the preachers of Christ were come to grapple with the powers in the spiritual world to which heathenism was then doing homage. A female slave, who brought gain to her masters by her powers of predic- tion when she was in the possessed state, beset Paul and his company. Paul was vexed by her cries, and addressing the spirit in the girl, he said, “ I command thee m the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” The girl’s masters saw that now the hope of their gains was gone. Paul and Silas were dragged before the magistrates, the multitude clamouring loudly against them, upon the vague charge of “ troubling the city,” and introducing observances which were unlawful for Romans. The magistrates yielded without inquiry to the clamour of the inhabitants, caused the clothes of Paul and Silas to be torn from them, and themselves to be beaten, and then committed them, to prison. This cruel wrong was to be the occasion of a signal appearance of the God of righteousness and deliverance. The nar- rative tells of the earthquake, the jailor’s terror, his conversion, and baptism (xvi. 26- 34). In the morning the magistrates sent word to the prison that the men might be let go. But St. Paul denounced plainly their unlawful acts, informing them moreover that those whom they had beaten and im- prisoned without trial were Roman citizens. The magistrates, in great alarm, saw the necessity of humbling themselves. They came and begged them to leave the city. Paul and Silas consented to do so, and, after paying a visit to “ the brethren ” in the house of Lydia, they departed. Leaving St. Luke, and perhaps Timothy for a short time, at Philippi, Paul and Silas travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, and stopped again at Thessalonica. At this important city there was a synagogue of the Jews. True to his custom, St. Paul went in to them, and for three Sabbath-days proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ, a3 he would have done in a city of Judaea. Again, as in Pisidian Antioch, the envy of the Jews was excited. The mob assaulted the house of Jason, with whom Paul and Silas were staying as guests, and, not finding them, dragged Jason himself and some other brethren before the magistrates. But the magistrates, after taking security of Jason and the rest, let them go. After these signs of danger the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night. They next came to Beroea. Here they found the Jews more noble than those at Thessalonica had been. Accordingly they gained many converts, both Jews and Greeks ; but the Jews of Thessalonica, hearing of it, sent emissaries to stir up the people, and it was thought best that St. Paul should himself leave the city, whilst Silas and Timothy remained behind. Some of “ the brethren ” went with St. Paul as far as Athens, where they left him, carrying back a request to Silas and Timothy that they would speedily join him. There he witnessed the most pro- fuse idolatry side by side with the most pre- tentious philosophy. Either of these would have been enough to stimulate his spirit. To idolaters and philosophers he felt equally urged to proclaim his Master and the Living God. So he went to his own countrymen and the proselytes in the synagogue and declared to them that the Messiah had come ; but he also spoke, like another Socrates, with people m the market, and with the followers of the two great schools of philosophy, Epicureans and Stoics, naming to all Jesus and the Resurrection. The philosophers encountered him with a mixture of curiosity and con- tempt. But any one with a novelty was wel- come to those who “ spent their time in c ! ' w " * «*} am Jon :Jolin Murray, Albemarle St. PAUL 417 PAUL nothing else but either to hear or to tell some new thing.’* They brought him therefore to the Areopagus, that he might make a formal exposition of his doctrine to an assembled audience. Here the Apostle delivered that wonderful discourse, reported in Acts xvii. 22-31. He gained but few converts at Athens, and he soon took his departure and came to Corinth. Athens still retained its old intellectual predominance : but Corinth was the political and commercial capital of Greece. Here, as at Thessalonica, he chose to earn his own subsistence by working at his trade of tent-making. This trade brought him into close connexion with two persons who became distinguished as believers in Christ, Aquila and Priscilla. Labouring thus on the six days, the Apostle went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and there by ex- pounding the Scriptures sought to win both Jews and proselytes to the belief that Jesus was the Christ. He was testifying with un- usual effort and anxiety, when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and joined him. Their arrival was the occasion of the writing of the First Epistle to the Thessa- lonians. This is the first extant example of that work by which the Apostle Paul has served the Church of all ages in as eminent a degree as he laboured at the founding of it in his lifetime. It is notorious that the order of the Epistles in the book of the N. T. is not their real, or chronological order. The two Epistles to the Thessalonians belong — and these alone — to the present Missionary Journey. The Epistles to the Galatians, Romans, and Corinthians, were written during the next j ourney . Those to Philemon, the Colossians, the Ephesians, and the Phi- lippians, belong to the captivity at Rome. — When Silas and Timotheus came to Corinth, St. Paul was testifying to the Jews with great earnestness, but with little success. So “when they opposed themselves and blas- phemed, he shook out his raiment,” and said to them, in words of warning taken from their own prophets (Ezek. xxxiii. 4) ; “ Your blood be upon your own heads ; I am clean, and henceforth will go to the Gentiles.” The Apostle went, as he threatened, to the Gen- tiles, and began to preach in the house of a proselyte named Justus. Corinth was the chief city of the province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul. During St. Paul’s stay, we find the proconsular office held by Gallio, a brother of the philosopher Seneca. Before him the Apostle was summoned by his Jewish enemies, who hoped to bring the Roman authority to bear upon him as an innovator in religion. But Gallio perceived at once, before Paul could “ open his mouth ” Sax. D. B. to defend himself, that the movement was due to Jewish prejudice, and refused to go into the question. “ If it be a question of words and names and of your law,” he said to the Jews, speaking with the tolerance of a Roman magistrate, “ look ye to it ; for I will be no judge of such matters.” Then a singular scene occurred. The Corinthian spectators, either favouring St. Paul, or actuated only by anger against the Jews, seized on the principal person of those who had brought the charge, and beat him before the judg- ment-seat. Gallio left these religious quarrels to settle themselves. The Apostle, therefore, was not allowed to be “hurt,” and remained some time longer at Corinth unmolested. Having been the instrument of accomplishing this work, St. Paul took his departure for Jerusalem, wishing to attend a festival there. Before leaving Greece, he cut off his hair at Cenchreae, in fulfilment of a vow (Acts xviii. 18). He may have followed in this instance, for some reason not explained to us, a custom of his countrymen. [See Nazarite, p. 372.] When he sailed from the Isthmus, Aquila and Priscilla went with him as far as Ephesus. Paul paid a visit to the syna- gogue at Ephesus, but would not stay. Leav- ing Ephesus, he sailed to Caesarea, and from thence went up to Jerusalem and “ saluted the Church.” It is argued, from considera- tions founded on the suspension of naviga- tion during the winter months, that the festival was probably the Pentecost. From Jerusalem, almost immediately, the Apostle went down to Antioch, thus returning to the same place from which he had started with Silas. — Third Missionary Journey , including the stay at Ephesus (Acts xviii. 23-xxi. 17). The great Epistles which belong to this period, those to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Ro- mans, show how the “ Judaizing ” question exercised at this time the Apostle’s mind. St. Paul “ spent some time ” at Antioch, and, during this stay, as we are inclined to believe, his collision with St. Peter (Gal. ii. 11-14), took place. When he left Antioch, he “ went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples,” and giving orders concerning the collection for the saints (1 Cor. xvi. 1). It is probable that the Epistle to the Galatians was written soon after this visit. This Letter was, in all pro- bability, sent from Ephesus. This was the goal of the Apostle’s journeyings through Asia Minor. He came down to Ephesus, from the upper districts of Phrygia. Here he entered upon his usual work. He went into tne synagogue, and for three months he spoke openly, disputing and persuading concerning “ the kingdom of God.” At the end of this 2 E PAUL 418 PAUL time the obstinacy and opposition of some of the Jews led him to give up frequenting the synagogue, and he established the believers as a separate society, meeting “ in the school of Tyrannus.” This continued for two years. During this time many things occurred, of which the historian of the Acts chooses two examples, the triumph over magical arts, and the great disturbance raised by the silver- smiths who made shrines for Diana ; amongst which we are to note further the writing of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Before leaving Ephesus he went into Macedonia, where he met Titus, who brought him news of the state of the Corinthian church. There- upon he wrote the Second Epistle to the Cor- inthians, , and sent it by the hands of Titus and two other brethren to Corinth. The par- ticular nature of this Epistle, as an appeal to facts in favour of his own Apostolic authority, leads to the mention of many interesting fea- tures of St. Paul’s life. His summary, in xi. 23-28, of the hardships and dangers through which he had gone, proves to us how little the history in the Acts is to be regarded as a complete account of what he did and suf- fered. The mention of “ visions and revela- tions of the Lord,” and of the “ thorn (or rather stake) in the flesh,” side by side, is peculiarly characteristic both of the mind and of the experiences of St. Paul. As an in- stance of the visions, he alludes to a trance which had befallen him fourteen years before, in which he had been caught up into para- dise, and had heard unspeakable words. But he would not, even inwardly with himself, glory in visions and revelations without re- membering how the Lord had guarded him from being puffed up by them. A thorn in the flesh was given him, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he should be exalted above measure. Different interpretations have pre- vailed of this “ thorn ; ” but it is almost the unanimous opinion of modern divines that the “ stake ” represents some vexatious bodily infirmity. After writing this Epistle, St. Paul travelled through Macedonia, perhaps to the borders of Illyricum (Rom. xv. 19), and then came to Corinth. The narrative in the Acts tells us that “ when he had gone over those parts (Macedonia), and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months” (xx. 2, 3). There is only one incident which we can connect with this visit to Greece, but that is a very impor- tant one — the writing of his Epistle to the Romans. That this was written at this time from Corinth appears from passages in the Epistle itself, and has never been doubted. The letter is a substitute for the personal visit which he had longed (t for many years ” to pay. Before his departure from Corinth, St. Paul was joined again by St. Luke, as we infer from the change in the narrative from the third to the first person. He was bent on making a journey to Jerusalem, for a spe- cial purpose and within a limited time. With this view he was intending to go by sea to Syria. But he was made aware of some plot of the Jews for his destruction, to be carried out through this voyage ; and he determined to evade their malice by changing his route. Several brethren were associated with him in this expedition, the bearers, no doubt, of the collections made in all the Churches for the poor at Jerusalem. These were sent on by sea, and probably the money with them, to Troas, where they were to await St. Paul. He, accompanied by St. Luke, went north- wards through Macedonia. During the stay at Troas there was a meeting on the first day of the week “ to break bread,” and Paul was discoursing earnestly and at length with the brethren. He was to depart the next morn- ing, and midnight found them listening to his earnest speech. A youth named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and was gradually overpowered by sleep, so that at last he fell into the street or court from the third story, and was taken up dead. The meeting was interrupted by this accident, and Paul went down and fell upon him and embraced him, saying, “ Be not disturbed, his life is in him.” His friends then appear to have taken charge of him, whilst Paul went up again, first pre- sided at the breaking of bread, afterwards took a meal, and continued conversing until daybreak, and so departed. Whilst the ves- sel which conveyed the rest of the party sailed from Troas to Assos, Paul gained some time by making the journey by land. At Assos he went on board again. Coasting along by Mitylene, Chios, Samos, and Trogyllium, they arrived at Miletus. At Miletus, however, there was time to send to Ephesus ; and the elders of the Church were invited to come down to him there. This meeting is made the occasion for recording another charac- teristic and representative address of St. Paul (Acts xx. 18-35). This spoken address to the elders of the Ephesian Church may be ranked with the Epistles, and throws the same kind of light upon St. Paul’s Apostolical relations to the Churches. The course of the voyage from Miletus was by Coos and Rhodes to Patara, and from Patara in another vessel past Cyprus to Tyre. Here Paul and his company spent seven days. From Tyre they sailed to Ptolemais, where they spent one day, and from Ptolemais proceeded, appa- rently by land, to Caesarea. In this place was settled Philip the Evangelist, one of the PAUL 419 PAUL seven, and lie became the host of Paul and his friends. Philip had four unmarried daughters, who “ prophesied,” and who re- peated, no doubt, the warnings already heard. They now “ tarried many days ” at Caesarea. During this interval the prophet Agabus (Acts xi. 28) came down from Jerusalem, and crowned the previous intimations of danger with a prediction expressively deli- vered. At this stage a final effort was made to dissuade Paul from going up to Jerusalem, by the Christians of Caesarea, and by his travelling companions. After a while, they went up to Jerusalem, and were gladly re- ceived by the brethren. This is St. Paul’s fifth and last visit to Jerusalem. — St. Paul's Imprisonment : Jerusalem and Caesarea. — He who was thus conducted into Jerusalem by a company of anxious friends had become by this time a man of considerable fame amongst his countrymen. He was widely known as one who had taught with pre-eminent bold- ness that a way into God’s favour was opened to the Gentiles, and that this way did not lie through the door of the Jewish Law. He had thus roused against himself the bitter enmity of that unfathomable Jewish pride which was almost as strong in some of those who had professed the faith of Jesus, as in their unconverted brethren. He was now approaching a crisis in the long struggle, and the shadow of it has been made to rest upon his mind throughout his journey to Jeru- salem. He came “ ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.” The history of the tu- mults which arose, and in which St. Paul was only saved by the Homan soldiers from being torn in pieces, are related at length in the Acts, and need not be repeated here. At length a conspiracy was formed, by more than forty of the Jews, who bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul. The plot was discovered, and St. Paul was hurried away from Jerusalem. The chief captain, Claudius Lysias, determined to send him to Caesarea, to Felix the governor, or procurator, of Ju- daea. He therefore put him in charge of a strong guard of soldiers, who took him by night as far as Antipatris. From thence a smaller detachment conveyed him to Cae- sarea, where they delivered up their prisoner into the hands of the governor. — Imprison- ment of Caesarea. — St. Paul was henceforth, to the end of the period embraced in the Acts, if not to the end of his life, in Roman custody. This custody was in fact a protec- tion to him, without which he would have fallen a victim to the animosity of the Jews. He seems to have been treated throughout with humanity and consideration. The go- vernor before whom he was now to be tried, according to Tacitus and Josephus, was a mean and dissolute tyrant. After hearing St. Paul’s accusers, and the Apostle’s defence, Felix made an excuse for putting off the matter, and gave orders that the prisoner should be treated with indulgence, and that his friends should be allowed free access to him. After a while, he heard him again. St. Paul remained in custody until Felix left the province. The unprincipled governor had good reason to seek to ingratiate himself with the Jews ; and to please them, he handed over Paul, as an untried prisoner, to his suc- cessor Festus. Upon his arrival in the pro- vince, Festus went up without delay from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and the leading Jews seized the opportunity of asking that Paul might be brought up there for trial, intending to assassinate him by the way. But Festus would not comply with their request. He invited them to follow him on his speedy return to Caesarea, and a trial took place there, closely resembling that before Felix. “ They had certain questions against him,” Festus says to Agrippa, “ of their own super- stition (or religion), and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And being puzzled for my part as to such inquiries, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem to be tried there.” This pro- posal, not a very likely one to be accepted, was the occasion of St. Paul’s appeal to Caesar. The appeal having been allowed, Festus reflected that he must send with the prisoner a report of “the crimes laid against him.” He therefore took advantage of an opportunity which offered itself in a few days to seek some help in the matter. The Jewish prince Agrippa arrived with his sister Bere- nice on a visit to the new governor. To him Festus communicated his perplexity. Agrippa expressed a desire to hear Paul himself. Ac- cordingly Paul conducted his defence before the king ; and when it was concluded Festus and Agrippa, and their companions, consulted together, and came to the conclusion that the accused was guilty of nothing that deserved death or imprisonment. And Agrippa’ s final answer to the inquiry of Festus was, “ This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.” — The Voyage to Rome. — No formal trial of St. Paul ha£ yet taken place. After a while arrangements were made to carry “ Paul and certain other prisoners,” in the custody of a centurion named Julius into Italy ; and amongst the company, whether by favour or from any other reason, we find the historian of the Acts. The narrative of this voyage is accord- ingly minute and circumstantial; but we 2 E 2 PAUL 420 PAUL must refer the reader to articles in this Dic- tionary on the names of places which occur in the narrative. The land on which the wreck took place was found to belong to Malta. The inhabitants of the island re- ceived the wet and exhausted voyagers with no ordinary kindness, and immediately lighted a fire to warm them. This particular kind- ness is recorded on account of a curious inci- dent connected with it. The Apostle was helping to make the fire, and had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on it, when a viper came out of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand they be- lieved him to be poisoned by the bite, and said amongst themselves, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Vengeance suffers not to live.” But when they saw that no harm came of it they changed their minds and said that he was a god. This circum- stance, as well as the honour in which he was held by Julius, would account for St. Paul being invited with some others to stay at the house of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius. After a three months’ stay in Malta the soldiers and their prisoners left in an Alexandrian ship for Italy. They touched at Syracuse, where they stayed three days, and at Rhegium, from which place they were carried with a fair wind to Puteoli, where they left their ship and the sea. At Puteoli they found “ brethren,” for it was an important place, and especially a chief port for the traffic be- tween Alexandria and Rome; and by these brethren they were exhorted to stay a while with them. Permission seems to have been granted by the centurion ; and whilst they were spending seven days at Puteoli news of the Apostle’s arrival was sent on to Rome. — St. Paul at Pome. — On their arrival at Rome the centurion delivered up his prisoners into the proper custody, that of the praetorian prefect. Paul was at once treated with spe- cial consideration, and was allowed to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. He was now therefore free “ to preach the Gospel to them that were at Rome also ; ” and proceeded without delay to act upon his rule — “ to the Jew first.” But, as of old, the reception of his message by the Jews was not favourable. He turned there- fore again to the Gentiles, and for two years he dwelt in his own hired house. These are the last words of the Acts. But St. Paul’s career is not abruptly closed. Before he himself fades out of our sight in the twilight of ecclesiastical tradition, we have letters written by himself, which contribute some particulars to his biography. — Period of the later Epistles. — To that imprisonment to which St. Luke has introduced us — the im- prisonment which lasted for such a tedious time, though tempered by much indulgence — belongs the noble group of Letters to Phi- lemon , to the Colossians , to the Ephesians , and. to the Philippians. The three former of these were written at one time and sent by the same messengers. Whether that to the Philippians was written before or after these, we cannot determine ; but the tone of it seems to imply that a crisis was approaching, and therefore it is commonly regarded as the latest of the four. — In this Epistle St. Paul twice expresses a confident hope that before long he may be able to visit the Philippians in person (i. 25, ii. 24). Whether this hope was fulfilled or not, has been the occasion of much controversy. According to the general opinion, the Apostle was liberated from his imprisonment and left Rome, soon after the writing of the letter to the Philippians, spent some time in visits to Greece, Asia Minor, and Spain, returned again as a prisoner to Rome, and was put to death there. Erom the Pastoral Epistles we may draw the fol- lowing conclusions : — (1.) St. Paul must have left Rome, and visited Asia Minor, and Greece ; for he says to Timothy (1 Tim. i. 3), “ I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I was setting out for Macedonia.” After being once at Ephesus, he was pur- posing to go there again (1 Tim. iv. 13), and he spent a considerable time at Ephesus (2 Tim. i. 18). (2.) He paid a visit to Crete, and left Titus to organize Churches there (Titus i. 5). He was intending to spend a winter at one of the places named Nicopolis (Tit. iii. 12). (3.) He travelled by Miletus (2 Tim. iv. 20), Troas (2 Tim. iv. 13), where he left a cloak or case, and some books, and Corinth (2 Tim. iv. 20). (4.) He is a prisoner at Rome, “ suffering unto bonds as an evil- doer ” (2 Tim. ii. 9), and expecting to be soon condemned to death (2 Tim. iv. 6). At this time he felt deserted and solitary, having only Luke of his old associates, to keep him company; and he was very anxious that Timothy should come to him without delay from Ephesus, and bring Mark with him (2 Tim. i. 15, iv. 16, 9-12). We conclude then, that after a wearing imprisonment of two years or more at Rome, St. Paul was set free, and spent some years in various journeyings eastwards and westwards. Towards the close of this time he pours out his warnings in the Letters to Timothy and Titus. The first to Timothy and that to Titus were evidently written at very nearly the same time. After these were written, he was apprehended again PAUL 421 PEKAH a.nd sent to Rome. The Apostle appears now to have been treated, not as an honourable state prisoner, but as a felon (2 Tim. ii. 9). But he was at least allowed to write this Second Letter to his “ dearly beloved son ” Timothy ; and though he expresses a con- fident expectation of his speedy death, he yet thought it sufficiently probable that it might oe delayed for some time, to warrant him in urging Timothy to come to him from Ephesus. Meanwhile, though he felt his isolation, he was not in the least daunted by his danger. He was more than ready to die (iv. 6), and had a sustaining experience of not being de- serted by his Lord. Once already, in this second imprisonment, he had appeared before the authorities ; and “ the Lord then stood by him and strengthened him,” and gave him a favourable opportunity for the one thing always nearest to his heart, the public declaration of his Gospel. This Epistle, surely no unworthy utterance at such an age and in such an hour even of a St. Paul, brings us, it may well be presumed, close to the end of his life. For what remains, we have the concurrent testimony of ecclesiastical anti- quity, that he was beheaded at Rome, about the same time that St. Peter was crucified there. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth (a.d. 170), says that Peter and Paul went to Italy and taught there together, and suffered mar- tyrdom about the same time. Eusebius him- self adopts the tradition that St. Paul was beheaded under Nero at Rome . — Chronology of St. Paul’s Life . — There are two principal events which serve as fixed dates for deter- mining the Pauline chronology — the death of Herod Agrippa, and the accession of Festus. Now it has been proved almost to certainty that Felix was recalled from Judaea and suc- ceeded by Festus in the year 60. In the autumn, then, of a.d. 60 St. Paul left Caesa- rea. In the spring of 61 he arrived at Rome. There he lived two years, that is, till the spring of 63, with much freedom in his own hired house. After this we depend upon conjecture ; but the Pastoral Epistles give us reasons for deferring the Apostle’s death until 67, with Eusebius, or 68, with Jerome. Simi- larly we can go backwards from a.d. 60. St. Paul was two years at Caesarea (Acts xxiv. 27) ; therefore he arrived at Jerusalem on his last visit by the Pentecost of 58. Before this he had wintered at Corinth (Acts xx. 2, 3), having gone from Ephesus to Greece. He left Ephesus, then, in the latter part of 57, and as he stayed 3 years at Ephesus (Acts xx. 31), he must have come thither in 54. Previously to this journey he had spent “some time” at Antioch (Acts xviii. 23), and our chronology becomes indeterminate. We can only add together the time of a hast? visit to Jerusalem, the travels of the great second missionary journey, which included 1£ year at Corinth, another indeterminate stay at Antioch, the important third visit to Jerusalem, another “long” residence at Antioch (Acts xiv. 28), the first missionary journey, again an indeterminate stay at Antioch (Acts xii. 25) — until we come to the second visit to Jerusalem, which nearly synchronised with the death of Herod Agrippa in a.d. 44. Within this interval of some 10 years the most important date to fix is that of the third visit to Jerusalem ; and there is a great concurrence of the best autho- rities in placing this visit in either 50 or 51. St. Paul himself (Gal. ii. 1) places this visit “14 years after” either his conversion or the first visit. In the former case we have 37 or 38 for the date of the conversion. The conversion was followed by 3 years (Gal. i. 18) spent in Arabia and Damascus, and end- ing with the first visit to Jerusalem ; and the space between the first visit (40 or 41) and the second (44 or 45) is filled up by an indeterminate time, presumably 2 or 3 years, at Tarsus (Acts ix. 30), and 1 year at An- tioch (Acts xi. 26). The date of the martyr- dom of Stephen can only be conjectured, and is very variously placed between a.d. 30 and the year of St. Paul’s conversion. In the account of the death of Stephen St. Paul is called “ a young man ” (Acts vii. 58). It is not improbable therefore that he was born between a.d. 0 and a.d. 5, so that he might be past 60 years of age when he calls himself “Paul the 1 aged” in Philemon 9. PAVEMENT. [Gabbatha.] PEACOCKS (Heb. tucciyyim). Amongst the natural products of the land of Tarshish which Solomon’s fleet brought home to Jeru- salem, mention is made of “ peacocks ” (IK. x. 22 ; 2 Chr. ix. 21), which is probably the correct translation. The Hebrew word may be traced to the Tamul or Malabaric togei, “ peacock.” PEARL (Heb. gdbish). The Heb. word in Job xxviii. 18, probably means “crystal.” Pearls, however, are frequently mentioned in the N. T. (Matt. xiii. 45 ; 1 Tim. ii. 9 ; Rev. xvii, 4, xxi. 21). “ The pearl of great price ” is doubtless a fine specimen yielded by the pearl oyster (Avicula margaritifera ), still found in abundance in the Persian Gulf, which has long been celebrated for its pearl fisheries. PE'KAH, son of Remaliah, originally a captain of Pekahiah king of Israel, murdered his master, seized the throne, and became the 18th sovereign of the northern kingdom (b.c. 757-740). Under his predecessors Israel had been much weakened through the pay- PEKAHIAH 422 PENIEL ment of enormous tribute to the Assyrians (see especially 2 K. xv. 20), and by internal wars and conspiracies. Pekah seems steadily to have applied himself to the restoration of its power. Eor this purpose he sought for the support of a foreign alliance, and fixed his mind on the plunder of the sister kingdom of Judah. He must have made the treaty by which he proposed to share its spoil with Itezin king of Damascus, when Jotham was still on the throne of Jerusalem (2 K. xv. 37) ; but its execution was long delayed, probably in consequence of that prince’s righteous and vigorous administration (2 Chr. xxvii.). When, however, his weak son Ahaz succeeded to the crown of David, the allies no longer hesitated, and formed the siege of Jerusalem (b.c. 742). The history of the war is found in 2 K. xvi. and 2 Chr. xxviii. It is famous as the occasion of the great prophecies in Isaiah vii.-ix. Its chief result was the capture of the Jewish port of Elath on the Red Sea ; but the unnatural alliance of Damascus and Samaria was pun- ished through the final overthrow of the fero- cious confederates by Tiglath-pileser. The kingdom of Damascus was finally suppressed, and Itezin put to death, while Pekah was de- prived of at least half his kingdom, including all the northern portion, and the whole dis- trict to the east of Jordan. Pekah himself, now fallen into the position of an Assyrian vassal, was of course compelled to abstain from further attacks on Judah. Whether his continued tyranny exhausted the patience of his subjects, or whether his weakness em- boldened them to attack him, we do not know ; but, from one or the other cause, Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against him, and put him to death. PEKAHI'AH, son and successor of Mena- hem, was the 17th king of the separate king- dom of Israel (b.c. 759-757). After a brief reign of scarcely two years a conspiracy was organized against him by Pekah, who mur- dered him and seized the throne. PEKO'D, an appellative applied to the Chaldaeans (Jer. 1. 21 ; Ez. xxiii. 23). Au- thorities are undecided as to the meaning of the term. PE'LEG, son of Eber and brother of Joktan (Gen. x. 25, xi. 16). The only incident con- nected with his history is the statement that “ in his days was the earth divided ” — an event which was embodied in his name, Peleg meaning “ division.” This refers to a divi- sion of the family of Eber himself, the younger branch of whom (the Joktanids) migrated into southern Arabia, while the e.der remained in Mesopotamia. PEX/ETHITES. [Cherethites.] PELICAN (Heb. kaath ). Amongst the unclean birds mention is made of the kaath (Lev. xi. 18 ; Deut. xiv. 17). The suppliant psalmist compares his condition to “ a kaath in the wilderness” (Ps. cii. 6). As a mark of the desolation that was to come upon Edom, it is said that “ the kaath and the bittern should possess it” (Is. xxxiv. 11). The same words are spoken of Nineveh (Zeph. ii. 14). In these two last places the A. V. has “ cormorant ” in the text and “ pelican ” in the margin. The best authorities are in favour of the pelican being the bird denoted by kaath. The psalmist, in comparing his pitiable condition to the pelican, probably Pelecanus onocrotulus. has reference to its general aspect as it sits in apparent melancholy mood, with its bill resting on its breast. PEL f ONITE, THE. Two of David’s mighty men, Helez and Ahijah, are called Pelonites (1 Chr. xi. 27, 36). From 1 Chr. xxvii. 10, it appears that the former was of the tribe of Ephraim, and “ Pelonite ” would therefore be an appellation derived from his place of birth or residence. “Ahijah the Pelonite” appears in 2 Sam. xxiii. 34 as “ Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,” of which the former is a corruption. PEN. [Writing.] PEN'IEL, the name which Jacob gave to the place in which he had wrestled with I God : “He called the name of the place PENNY 423 PENTATEUCH ‘Pace of El,’ for I have seen Elohim face to face” (Gen. xxxii. 30). In xxxii. 31, and the other passages in which the name occurs, its form is changed to Pentjel. Prom the nar- rative it is evident that Peniel lay somewhere between the torrent Jabbok and Succoth. PENNY, PENNYWORTH. In the A. Y. of the N. T., “ penny,” either alone or in the compound “ pennyworth,” occurs as the rendering of the Roman denarius (Matt. xx. 2, xxii. 19 ; Mark vi. 37, xii. 15 ; Luke xx. 24; John vi. 7 ; Rev. vi. 6). The denarius was the chief Roman silver coin, and was worth about 9 d. PENTATEUCH, THE, is the Greek name given to the five books commonly called the “ Five Books of Moses.” * In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah it was called “ the Law of Moses ” (Ezr. vii. 6) ; or “ the book of the Law of Moses” (Neh. viii. 1); or simply “the book of Moses” (Ezr. vi. 18; Neh. xiii. 1 ; 2 Chron. xxv. 4, xxxv. 12). This was beyond all reasonable doubt our existing Pentateuch. The book which was discovered in the temple in the reign of Josiah, and which is entitled (2 Chron. xxxiv. 14) “the book of the Law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses,” was substantially, it would seem, the same volume, though it may afterwards have undergone some revision by Ezra. The pre- sent Jews usually called the whole by the name of Torah, i.e. “the Law,” or Torath Moshch , “ the Law of Moses.” The division of the whole work into five parts was pro- bably made by the Greek translators ; for the titles of the several books are not of Hebrew but of Greek origin. The Hebrew names are merely taken from the first words of each book, and in the first instance only designated particular sections and not whole books. The MSS. of the Pentateuch form a single roll or volume, and are divided, not into books, but into the larger and smaller sections called Parshiyoth and Sedarim. The Pive Books of the Pentateuch form a consecutive whole. The work, beginning with the record of Crea- tion, and the history of the primitive world, passes on to deal more especially with the early history of the Jewish family. It gives at length the personal history of the three great Fathers of the family : it then describes how the family grew into a nation in Egypt, tells us of its oppression and deliverance, of its forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, of the giving of the Law, with all its enact- ments both civil and religious, of the con- struction of the tabernacle, of the numbering * rj TTevTaTevxos sc. j3ijSA.os ; Pentatenchus sc. liber ; the fivefold book ; from Tevxos, which meaning originally “ vessel, instrument,” &c., came in Alex- andrine Greek to mean “ beck. of tne people, of the rights and duties of the priesthood, as well as of many important events which befell them before their entrance into the Land of Canaan, and finally concludes with Moses’ last discourses and his death. The unity of the work in its existing form is now generally recognised. It is not a mere collection of loose fragments carelessly put together at different times, but bears evident traces of design and purpose in its compo- sition. Even those who discover different authors in the earlier books, and who deny that Deuteronomy was written by Moses, are still of opinion that the work in its present form is a connected whole, and was at least reduced to its present shape by a single re- viser or editor. Till the middle of last cen- tury it was the general opinion of both Jews and Christians, that the whole of the Penta- teuch was written by Moses, with the excep- tion of a few manifestly later additions — such as the 34th chapter of Deuteronomy, which gives the account of Moses’ death. The first attempt to call in question the popular belief was made by Astruc, Doctor and Professor of Medicine in the Royal College at Paris, and Court Physician to Louis XIV.* He had ob- served that throughout the book of Genesis, and as far as the 6th chapter of Exodus, traces were to be found of two original docu- ments, each characterised by a distinct use of the names of God ; the one by the name Elo- him, and the other by the name Jehovah [God]. Besides these two principal docu- ments, he supposed Moses to have made use of ten others in the composition of the earlier part of his work. The path traced by Astruc has been followed by numerous German writers ; but for the various hypotheses which have been formed upon the subject we must refer the reader to the larger Dictionary. It is sufficient here to state that there is suffi- cient evidence for believing that the main bulk of the Pentateuch, at any rate, was written by Moses, though he probably availed himself of existing documents in the compo- sition of the earlier part of the work. Some detached portions would appear to be of later origin ; and when we remember how entirely, during some periods of Jewish history, the Law seems to have been forgotten, and again how necessary it would be after the seventy years of exile to explain some of its archaisms, and to add here and there short notes to make it more intelligible to the people, nothing can be more natural than to suppose that such laici additions were made by Ezra and Nehemiah. Por an account of the separate books see * His work was published at Brussels in 1753 unde; the title of “Conjectures sur les M4moirea originaux, dont il pardit que Moyse s’est servi pour composer 1(? Livre de Genese.” PENTECOST 424 PERFUMES Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deu- teronomy. PENTECOST, that is, the fiftieth day* or Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks, may be regarded as a supplement to the Passover. It lasted only for one day ; but the modern Jews extend it over two. The people, having at the Passover presented before God the first sheaf of the harvest, departed to their homes to gather it in, and then returned to keep the harvest-feast before Jehovah. From the sixteenth of Nisan seven weeks were reckoned inclusively, and the next or fiftieth day was the Day of Pentecost, which fell on the sixth of Si van (about the end of May ) (Ex. xxiii. 16, xxxiv. 22 ; Lev. xxiii. 15-22 ; Num. xxviii. 26-31 ; Deut. xvi. 9-12 ; 2 Macc. xii. 32; Acts ii. 1, xx. 16; 1 Cor. xvi. 8). The intervening period included the whole of the grain harvest, of which the wheat was the latest crop. Its commencement is also marked as from the time when “thou be- ginnest to put the sickle to the corn.” The Pentecost was the Jewish harvest home, and the people were especially exhorted to rejoice before Jehovah with their families, their ser- vants, the Levite within their gates, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, in the place chosen by God for His name, as they brought a freewill-offering of their hand to Jehovah their God (Deut. xvi. 10, 11). The great feature of the celebration was the presentation of the two loaves , made from the first-fruits of the wheat-harvest, and lea- vened , that is, in the state fit for ordinary food. In this point, as contrasted with the unleavened bread of the Passover, we see the more homely and social nature of the Feast ; while its bounty to the poor is connected with the law which secures them plenty of glean- ings (Lev. xxiii. 22). With the loaves two lambs were offered as a peace-offering ; and all were waved before Jehovah, and given to the priests : the loaves, being leavened, could not be offered on the altar. The other sacri- fices were, a burnt-offering of a young bul- lock, two rams, and seven lambs, with a meat and drink-offering, and a kid for a sin-offer- ing (Lev. xxiii. 18, 19). Till the pentecostal loaves were offered, the produce of the har- vest might not be eaten, nor could any other first-fruits be offered. The whole ceremony was the completion of that dedication of the harvest to God, as its giver, and to whom both the land and the people were holy, which was begun by the offering of the wavesheaf at the Passover. The interval is still re- garded as a religious season. — The Pentecost * This Greek name is not the translation of any corresponding word in the Pentateuch; but the later name of the feast, which naturally grew out of the calculation of its interval from the Passover. is the only one of the three great feasts which is not mentioned as the memorial of events in the history of the Jews. But such a sig- nificance has been found in the fact, that the Law was given from Sinai on the fiftieth day after the deliverance from Egypt (comp. Ex. xii. and xix.). In the Exodus, the people were offered to God, as living first-fruits ; at Sinai their consecration to Him as a nation was completed. The typical significance of the Pentecost is made clear from the events of the day recorded in the Acts of the Apos- tles (Acts ii.). The preceding Passover had been marked by the sacrifice upon the cross of the true Paschal Lamb, and by his offering to his Father as “the first-fruits of them that slept.” The day of Pentecost found his disciples assembled at Jerusalem, like the Israelites before Sinai, waiting for “ the pro- mise of the Father.” Again did God descend from heaven in fire, to pour forth that Holy Spirit, which gives the spiritual discernment of His law ; and the converts to Peter’s preaching were the first-fruits of the spiritual harvest, of which Christ had long before as- sured his disciples. Just as the appearance of God on Sinai was the birthday of the Jewish nation, so was that Pentecost the birthday of the Christian Church. The Pentecost was the last Jewish feast that Paul was anxious to keep (1 Cor. xvi. 8), and Whitsuntide, its successor, was the first annual festival adopted in the Christian Church. PEN'UEL. [Peniel.] PE'GR. 1. A mountain in Moab, from whence, after having ascended the lower or less sacred summits of Bamoth-Baal and Pisgah, the prophet Balaam was conducted by Balak for his final conjurations (Num. xxiii. 28 only). Peor was “ facing Jeshi- mon.” The same thing is said of Pisgah, But unfortunately we are as yet ignorant of the position of all three, so that nothing can be inferred from this specification. In the Onomasticon it is stated to be above the town of Libias (the ancient Beth-aram), and op- posite Jericho. — 2. In four passages (Num. xxv. 18 twice ; xxxi. 16 ; Josh. xxii. 17) Peor occurs as a contraction for Baal-peor. [Baal.] PER'AZIM, MOUNT, a name which occurs in Is. xxviii. 21 only, — unless the place which it designates be identical with the Baal- Perazim mentioned as the scene of one of David’s victories over the Philistines. PERFUMES. The free use of perfumes was peculiarly grateful to the Orientals (Prov. xxvii. 9), whose olfactory nerves are more than usually sensitive to the offensive smells engendered by the heat of their climate. The Hebrews manufactured their perfumes chiefly from spices imported from w PERGAMOS. PERGA 425 PERSIA Arabia, though to a certain extent also from aromatic plants growing in their own country. Perfumes entered largely into the Temple service, in the two forms of incense and ointment (Ex. xxx. 22-38). Nor were they less used in private life : not only were they applied to the person, but to garments (Ps. xlv. 8 ; Cant. iv. 11), and to articles of furniture, such as beds (Prov. vii. 17). On the arrival of a guest the same compliments were probably paid in ancient as in modern times (Dan. ii. 46). When a royal personage went abroad in his litter, attendants threw up “ pillars of smoke ” about his path (Cant, iii. 6). The use of perfumes was omitted in times of mourning, whence the allusion in Is. iii. 24. PER'GA, a city of Pamphylia (Acts xiii. 13), situated on the river Cestius, at a dis- tance of 60 stadia from its mouth, and cele- brated in antiquity for the worship of Artemis (Diana). PER'GAMOS, a city of Mysia, about 3 miles to the N. of the river Caicus, and 20 miles from its present mouth. The name was originally given to a remarkable hill, presenting a conical appearance when viewed from the plain. It was the residence of a dynasty of Greek princes, founded after the time of Alexander the Great, and usually called the Attalic dynasty from its founder Attalus. This Attalic dynasty terminated b.c. 133, when Attalus III., dying at an early age, made the Romans his heirs. His do- minions formed the province of Asia. The sumptuousness of the Attalic princes had raised Pergamos to the rank of the first city in Asia as regards splendour. It became a city of temples, devoted to a sensuous wor- ship ; and being in its origin, according to pagan notions, a sacred place, might not un- naturally be viewed by Jews and Jewish Christians as one “ where was the throne of Satan” (Rev. ii. 13). After the extinction of its independence, the sacred character of Per- gamos seems to have been put even more pro- minently forward. In the time of Martial, Aesculapius had acquired so much prominence that he is called Pergameus deus. From the circumstance of this notoriety of the Per- gamene Aesculapius, and from the serpent being his characteristic emblem, it has been supposed that the expressions “ the throne of Satan ” and “ where Satan dwelleth,” have an especial reference to this one pagan deity, and not to the whole city as a sort of focus of idolatrous worship. PER'IZZITE, THE, and PER'IZZITES, one of the nations inhabiting the Land of Promise before and at the time of its con- quest by Israel. They are continually men- tioned in the formula so frequently occurring to express the Promised Land (Gen. xv. 20 ; Ex. iii. 8, 17,xxiii. 23, xxxiii. 2, xxxiv. 11 ; Deut. vii. 1, xx. 17 ; Josh. iii. 10, ix. 1, xxiv. 11 ; Judg. iii. 5 ; Ezr. ix. 1 ; Neh. ix. 8). They appear, however, with somewhat greater distinctness on several occasions (Gen. xiii. 7, xxxiv. 30 ; Judg. i. 4, 5 ; 2 Esdr. i. 21). The notice in the book of Judges locates them hi the southern part of the Holy Land. The signification of the name is not by any means clear. It possibly meant rustics, dwellers in open, unwalled villages, which are denoted by a similar word. PERSEP'OLIS, mentioned only in 2 Macc. ix. 2, was the capital of Persia Proper, and the occasional residence of the Persian court from the time of Darius Hystaspis, who seems to have been its founder, to the invasion of Alexander. Its wanton destruction by that conqueror is well known. Its site is now called the Chehl-Minar or Forty Pillars. PER'SEUS, the eldest son of Philip V. and last king of Macedonia (b.c. 179-168). The defeat of Perseus by the Romans put an end to the independence of Macedonia, and ex- tended even to Syria the terror of the Roman name (1 Mace. viii. 5). PER'SIA, PERSIANS. Persia Proper was a tract of no very large dimensions on the Persian Gulf, which is still known as Fars, or Farsistan , a corruption of the ancient ap- pellation. This tract was bounded, on the west, by Susiana or Elam, on the north by Media, on the south by the Persian Gulf, and on the east by Carmania. But the name is more commonly applied, both in Scripture and by profane authors, to the entire tract which came by degrees to be included within the limits of the Persian Empire. This em- pire extended at one time from India on the east to Egypt and Thrace upon the west, and included, besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of Western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes upon the north, the Arabian desert, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean upon the south. The only passage in Scripture where Persia designates the tract which has been called above “ Persia Proper ” is Ez. xxxviii. 5. Elsewhere the Empire :s intended. The Persians were of the same race as the Medes, both being branches of the great Aryan stock. Their language was closely akin to the Sanskrit, or ancient lan- guage of India. Modern Persian is its de- generate representative, being, as it is, a motley idiom, largely impregnated with Arabic. The history of Persia begins with their revolt from the Medes and accession of Cyrus the Great, b.c. 558. As usual in tho PERSIA 426 PETER East, this success led on to others. Cyrus defeated Croesus, and added the Lydian em- pire to his dominions. This conquest was followed closely by the submission of the Greek settlements on the Asiatic coast, and by the reduction of Caria and Lycia. The empire was soon afterwards extended greatly towards the north-east and east. In e.c. 539 or 538, Babylon was attacked, and after a stout defence fell before his irresistible bands. This victory first brought the Per- sians into contact with the Jews. The con- querors found in Babylon an oppressed race — • like themselves, abhor rers of idols— and pro- fessors of a religion in which to a great extent they could sympathize. This race Cyrus de- termined to restore to their own country ; which he did by the remarkable edict re- corded in the first chapter of Ezra (Ezr. i. 2-4). He was slain in an expedition against the Massagetae or the Derbices, after a reign of twenty-nine years c Under his son and successor, Cambyses, the conquest of Egypt took place (b.c. 525). This prince appears to be the Ahasuerus of Ezra (iv. 6). In the absence of Cambyses with the army, a conspiracy was formed against him at court, and a Magian priest, Gomates by name, pro- fessing to be Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, whom his brother, Cambyses, had put to death secretly, obtained quiet possession of the throne. Cambyses despairing of the re- covery of his crown, ended his life by suicide. His reign had lasted seven years and five months. Gomates the Magian found himself thus, without a struggle, master of Persia (b.c. 522). His situation, however, was one of great danger and difficulty. There is reason to believe that he owed his elevation to his fellow-religionists, whose object in placing him upon the throne was to secure the triumph of Magianism over the Dualism of the Persians. He reversed the policy of Cyrus with respect to the Jews, and forbad by an edict the further building of the Temple (Ez. iv. 17-22). Darius, the son of Hys- taspes, headed a revolt against him, which in a short time was crowned with complete suc- cess. The reign of Gomates lasted seven months. The first efforts of Darius were directed to the re-establishment of the Oro- masdian religion in all its purity. Appealed to, in his second year, by the Jews, who wished to resume the construction of their Temple, he not only allowed them, confirming the decree of Cyrus, but assisted the work by grants from his own revenues, whereby the Jews were able to complete the Temple as early as his sixth year (Ezr. vi. 1-15). During the first part of the reign of Darius the tranquillity of the empire was disturbed by numerous revolts. After five or six years of struggle, he became as firmly seated on bis throne as any previous monarch. The latter part of his reign was, however, clouded by reverses. The disaster of Mardonius at Mount Athos was followed shortly by the defeat of Datis at Marathon ; and before any attempt could be made to avenge that blow, Egypt rose in revolt (b.c. 486), massacred its Persian garrison, and declared itself inde- pendent. When, after a reign of thirty-six years, the fourth Persian monarch died (b.c. 485), leaving his throne to a young prince of strong and ungoverned passions, it was evi- dent that the empire had reached its highest point of greatness, and was already verging towards its decline. The first act of Xerxes was to reduce Egypt to subjection (b.c. 484), after which he began at once to make pre- parations for his invasion of Greece. It is probable that he was the Ahasuerus of Esther. It is unnecessary to give an account of the well-known expedition against Greece, which ended so disastrously for the invaders. A conspiracy in the seraglio having carried off Xerxes (b.c. 465) Artaxerxes his son, called by the Greeks “ Long-Handed,’* succeeded him, after an interval of seven months, during which the conspirator Artabanus occupied the throne. This Artaxerxes, who reigned forty years, is beyond a doubt the king of that name who stood in such a friendly relation towards Ezra (Ezr. vii. 11-28) and Nehemiah (Neh, ii. 1-9, &c.). He is the last of the Persian kings who had any special connexion with the Jews, and the last but one men- tioned in Scripture. His successors were Xerxes II., Sogdianus, Darius Nothus, Ar- taxerxes Mnemon, Artaxerxes Ochus, and Darius Codomannus, who is probably the “ Darius the Persian” of Nehemiah (xii. 22). These monarchs reigned from b.c. 424 tc b.c. 330. The collapse of the empire undei the attack of Alexander is well known, and requires no description here. On the division of Alexander’s dominions among his generals Persia fell to the Seleucidae, under whom it continued till after the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the conquering Parthians advanced their frontier to the Euphrates, and the Persians became included among their sub- ject-tribes (b.c. 164). Still their nationality was not obliterated. In a.d. 226, the Per- sians shook off the yoke of their oppressors, and once more became a nation. PER'SIS, a Christian woman at Rome (Rom. xvi. 12) whom St. Paul salutes. PESTILENCE. [Plague.] PE 'TER. His original name was Simon, i. e. “ hearer.” He was the son of a man named Jonas (Matt. xvi. 17 ; John i. 43. PETER 427 PETER xxi. 16), and was brought up in his father’s occupation, a fisherman on the sea of Tiberias. He and his brother Andrew were partners of John and James, the sons of Zebedee, who had hired servants. The Apostle did not live, as a mere labouring man, in a hut by the sea-side, hut first at Bethsaida, and after- wards in a house at Capernaum, belonging to himself or his mother-in-law. That he was an affectionate husband, married in early life to a wife who accompanied him in his Apostolic journeys, are facts inferred from Scripture, while very ancient traditions, recorded by Clement of Alexandria and by other early but less trustworthy writers, inform us that her name was Perpetua, that she bore a daughter, or perhaps other children, and suffered martyrdom. — Peter and his brother Andrew, together with their partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were disciples of John the Baptist, when he was first called by our Lord. The particulars of this call are related with graphic minute- ness by St. John. It was upon this occasion that Jeans gave Peter the name Cephas, a Syriac word answering to the Greek Peter, and signifying a stone or rock (John i. 35-42). This first call led to no immediate change in Peter’s external position. He and his fellow- disciples looked henceforth upon our Lord as their teacher, but were not commanded to follow him as regular disciples. They returned to Capernaum, where they pursued their usual business, waiting for a further intimation of His will. The second call is recorded by the other three Evangelists ; the narrative of Luke being apparently supple- mentary to the brief, and, so to speak, official accounts given by Matthew and Mark. It took place on the sea of Galilee near Capernaum — where the four disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John, were fishing. Peter and Andrew were first called. Our Lord then entered Simon Peter’s boat and addressed the multitude on the shore. Im- mediately after that call our Lord went to the house of Peter, where He wrought the miracle of healing on Peter’s wife’s mother. Some time was passed afterwards in attend- ance upon our Lord’s public ministrations in Galilee, Decapolis, Peraea, and Judaea. The special designation of Peter and his eleven fellow-disciples took place some time after- wards, when they were set apart as our Lord’s immediate attendants (see Matt. x. 2-4 ; Mark iii. 13-19, the most detailed account — Luke vi. 13). They appear then first to have received formally the name of Apostles, and from that time Simon bore publicly, and as it would seem all hut ex- clusively, the name Peter, which hitherto been used rather as a characteristic appellation than as a proper name. From this time there can be no doubt that Peter held the first place among the Apostles, to whatever cause his precedence is to be attributed. He is named first in every list of the Apostles ; he is generally addressed by our Lord as their representative ; and on the most solemn occasions he speaks in their name. Thus when the first great secession took place in consequence of the offence given by our Lord’s mystic discourse at Capernaum (see John vi. 66-69), “ Jesus said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away ? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life : and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” Thus again at Caesarea Philippi, St. Peter (speaking as before in the name of the twelve, though, as appears from our Lord’s words, with a peculiar distinctness of personal conviction) repeated that declaration, “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The confirmation of our Apostle in his specia*. position in the Church, his identification with the rock on which that Church is founded, the ratification of the powers and duties attached to the apostolic office, and the pro- mise of permanence to the Church, followed as a reward of that confession. The early Church regarded St. Peter generally, and most especially on this occasion, as the repre- sentative of the apostolic body, a very dis- tinct theory from that which makes him their head, or governor in Christ’s stead. Primus inter pares Peter held no distinct office, and certainly never claimed any powers which did not belong equally to all his fellow-Apostles. This great triumph of Peter, however, brought other points of his character into strong relief. The distinction which he then received, and it may be his consciousness of ability, energy, zeal, and absolute devotion to Christ’s person, seem to have developed a natural tendency to rash- ness and forwardness bordering upon pre- sumption. On this occasion the exhibition of such feelings brought upon him the strongest reproof ever addressed to a disciple by our Lord. In his affection and self-confideuce Peter ventured to reject as impossible the an- nouncement of the sufferings and humilia- tion which Jesus predicted, and heard the sharp words— “ Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me — for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” It is remarkable that on other occasions wffien St. Peter signalized his faith and devotion, he displayed at the time, or immediately afterwards, a PETER 428 PETER more than usual deficiency in spiritual dis- cernment and consistency. Thus a few days after that fall he was selected together with John and James to witness the transfigura- tion of Christ, but the words which he then uttered prove that he was completely bewil- dered, and unable at the time to comprehend the meaning of the transaction. Thus again, when his zeal and courage prompted him to leave the ship and walk on the water to go to Jesus (Matt. xiv. 29), a sudden failure of faith withdrew the sustaining power ; he was about to sink when he was at once reproved and saved by his master. Towards the close of our Lord’s ministry Peter’s characteristics become especially prominent. Together with his brother, and the two sons of Zebedee, he listened to the last awful predictions and warnings delivered to the disciples, in reference to the second advent (Matt. xxiv. 3 ; Mark xiii. 3, who alone mentions these names; Luke xxi. 7). At the last supper Peter seems to have been particularly earnest in the request that the traitor might be pointed out. After the supper his words | drew out the meaning of the significant act of our Lord in washing His disciples’ feet. Then too it was that he made those repeated protestations of unalterable fidelity, so soon to be falsified by his miserable fall. On the morning of the resurrection we have proof that Peter, though humbled, was not crushed by his fall. He and John were the first to visit the sepulchre ; he was the first who entered it. We are told by Luke and by Paul that Christ appeared to him first among the Apostles. It is observable, however, that on that occasion he is called by his original name, Simon, not Peter : the higher designation was not restored until he had been publicly reinstituted, so to speak, by his Master. That reinstitution took place at the sea of Galilee (John xxi.), an event of the very highest import. Slower than John to recognize their Lord, Peter was the first to reach Him : he brought the net to land. The thrice repeated question of Christ referring doubtless to the three protestations and denials, was thrice met by answers full of love and faith. He then received the formal commission to feed Christ’s sheep, rather as one who had forfeited his place, and could not resume it without such an authorization. Then followed the prediction of his martyr- dom, in which he was to find the fulfilment of his request to be permitted to follow the Lord, — With this event closes the first part of Peter’a history. Hencefort he with his colleagues were to establish and govern the Church founded by their Lord, without the support of His presence. The first part of the Acts of the Apostles is occupied by the record of transactions, in nearly all of which Peter stands forth as the recognized leader of the Apostles ; He is the most prominent person in the greatest event after the resur- rection, when on the day of Pentecost the Church was first invested with the plenitude of gifts and powers. The first miracle after Pentecost was wrought by him (Acts iii.). This first miracle of healing was soon followed bv the first miracle of judgment. Peter was the minister in that transaction. [Ana- nias.] When the Gospel was first preached beyond the precincts of Judaea, he and John were at once sent by the Apostles to confirm the converts at Samaria. Henceforth he remains prominent, but not exclusively pro- minent, among the propagators of the Gospel. At Samaria he was confronted with Simon Magus, the first teacher of heresy. About three years later (compare Acts ix. 26, and Gal. i. 17, 18) we have two accounts of the first meeting of Peter and Paul. This inter- view was followed by other events marking Peter’s position — a general apostolical tour of visitation to the Churches hitherto estab- lished (Acts ix. 32), in the course of which two great miracles were wrought on Aeneas and Tabitha, and in connexion with which the most signal transaction after the day of Pentecost is recorded, the baptism of Cor- nelius. That was the crown and consumma- tion of Peter’s ministry. The establishment of a Church in great part of Gentile origin at Antioch, and the mission of Barnabas, be- tween whose family and Peter there were the bonds of near intimacy, set the seal upon the work thus inaugurated by Peter. This transaction was soon followed by the im- prisonment of our Apostle. His miraculous deliverance marks the close of this second great period of his ministry. — The special work assigned to him was completed. From that time we have no continuous history of him. It is quite clear that he retained his rank as the chief Apostle, equally so, that he neither exercised nor claimed any right to control their proceedings. He left Jerusalem, but it is not said where he went. Certainly not to Rome, where there are no traces of his presence before the last years of his life ; he probably remained in Judaea; six years later we find him once more at Jerusalem, when the Apostles and elders came together to consider the question whether converts should be circumcised. Peter took the lead in that discussion, and urged with remarkable cogency the principles settled in the case of Cornelius. His arguments, adopted and en- forced by James, decided that question at once and for ever. It is a disputed point PETER, FIRST EPISTLE OF 429 PETER, SECOND EPISTLE OF whether the meeting between Paul and Peter, of which we have an account in the Galatians (ii. 1-10) took place at this time, or on St. Paul’s return from his great Mis- sionary Journey. The only point of real im- portance was certainly determined before the Apostles separated, the work of converting the Gentiles being henceforth specially en- trusted to Paul and Barnabas, while the charge of preaching to the circumcision was assigned to the elder Apostles, and more particularly to Peter (Gal. ii. 7-9). This arrangement cannot, however, have been an exclusive one. Paul always addressed him- self first to the Jews in every city : Peter and his old colleagues undoubtedly admitted and sought to make converts among the Gentiles. It may have been in full force only when the old and new apostles resided in the same city. Such at least was the case at Antioch, where Peter went soon afterwards. From this time until the date of hi3 Epistles, we have no distinct notices in Scripture of Peter’s abode or work. Peter was probably employed for the most part in building up, and completing the organization of Christian communities in Palestine and the adjoining districts. There is, however, strong reason to believe that he visited Corinth at an early period. The name of Peter as founder, or joint founder, is not associated with any local Church j save those of Corinth, Antioch or Rome, by early ecclesiastical tradition. It may be considered as a settled point that he did not visit Rome before the last year of his life ; but there is satisfactory evidence that he and Paul were the founders of that Church, and suffered death in that city. The time and manner of the Apostle’s martyrdom are less certain. According to the early writers he suffered at, or about the same time with Paul, and in the Neronian persecution. All agree that he was crucified. — The Apostle is said to have employed interpreters. Of far more importance is the statement that Mark wrote his gospel under the teaching of Peter, or that he embodied in that gospel the substance of our Apostle’s oral instruc- tions. [Mark.] The only written docu- ments which Peter has left, are the First Epistle, about which no doubt has ever been entertained in the Church ; and the Second, which has been a subject of earnest contro- versy. PETER, FIRST EPISTLE OF.— The ex- ternal evidence of authenticity is of the strongest kind; and the internal is equally strong. It was addressed to the Churches of Asia Minor, which had for the most part been founded by Paul and his companions. Sup- posing it to have been written at Babylon, it is a probable conjecture that Silvanus, by whom it was transmitted to those Churches, had joined Peter after a tour of visitation, and that his account of the condition of the Christians in those districts determined the Apostle to write the Epistle. The objects of the Epistle were : — 1. To comfort and strengthen the Christians in a season of severe trial. 2. To enforce the practical and spiritual duties involved in their calling. 3. To warn them against special temptations attached to their position. 4. To remove all doubt as to the soundness and completeness of the religious system which they had already received. Such an attestation was especially needed by the Hebrew Christians, who were wont to appeal from Paul’s authority to that of the elder Apostles, and above all to that of Peter. The last, which is perhaps the very principal object, is kept in view throughout the Epistle, and is distinctly stated, ch. v. ver. 12. The harmony of such teaching with that of Paul is sufficiently obvious ; but the indications of originality and independence of thought are at least equally conspicuous. He dwells more frequently than Paul upon the future manifestation of Christ, upon which he bases nearly all his exhortations to pa- tience, self-control, and the discharge of all Christian duties. The Apostle’s mind is full of one thought, the realization of Messianic hopes. In this he is the true representative of Israel, moved by those feelings which were best calculated to enable him to do his work as the Apostle of the circumcision. But while Peter thus shows himself a genuine Israelite, his teaching is directly opposed to Judaizing tendencies. He belongs to the school, or to speak more correctly, is the leader of the school, which at once vindicates the unity of the Law and Gospel, and puts the superiority of the latter on its true basis, that of spiritual development. The Apostle of the circumci- sion says not a word in this Epistle of the perpetual obligation, the dignity or even the bearings of the Mosaic Law. He is full of the Old Testament ; his style and thoughts are charged with its imagery, but he contem- plates and applies its teaching in the light of the Gospel; he regards the privileges and glory of the ancient people of God entirely in their spiritual development in the Church of Christ. PETER, SECOND EPISTLE OF. — The following is a brief outline of its contents : — | The customary opening salutation is followed by an enumeration of Christian blessings and | exhortation to Christian duties (i. 1-13). Re- ferring then to his approaching death, the Apostle assigns as grounds of assurance for believers his own personal testimony as eye PHARAOH 430 PHARAOH witness of the transfiguration, and the sure word of prophecy, that is the testimony of the Holy Ghost (14-21). The danger of being misled by false prophets is dwelt upon with great earnestness throughout the second chapter, which is almost identical in language and subject with the Epistle of Jude. The overthrow of all opponents of Christian truth is predicted in connexion with prophecies touching the second advent of Christ, the destruction of the world by fire, and the pro- mise of new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (iii.). — This Epistle of Peter presents questions of difficulty. We have few references to it in the writings of the early Fathers ; the style differs mate- rially from that of the First Epistle ; and the resemblance amounting to a studied imi- tation, between this Epistle and that of Jude, seems scarcely reconcilable with the position of Peter. Doubts as to its genuineness were entertained by the early Church ; in the time of' Eusebius it was reckoned among the dis- puted books, and was not formally admitted into the Canon until the year 393, at the Council of Hippo. These difficulties however are insufficient to justify more than hesi- tation in admitting its genuineness. Sup- posing, as some eminent critics have be- lieved, that this Epistle was copied by St. Jude, we should have the strongest possible testimony to its authenticity ; but if, on the other hand, we accept the more general opi- nion of modern critics, that the writer of this Epistle copied St. Jude, the following consi- siderations have great weight. It seems quite incredible that a forger, personating the chief among the Apostles, should select the least important of all the Apostolical writings for imitation; whereas it is pro- bable that St. Peter might choose to give the stamp of his personal authority to a document bearing so powerfully upon practical and doc- trinal errors in the Churches which he ad- dressed. The doubts as to the genuineness of the Epistle appear to have originated with the critics of Alexandria, where, however, the Epistle itself was formally recognised at a very early period. The opinions of modern commentators may be summed up under three heads. Many reject the Epistle altogether as spurious. A few consider that the first | and last chapters were written by Peter or j under his dictation, but that the second j chapter was interpolated. But a majority of j names may be quoted in support of the ge- nuineness and authenticity of this Epistle. PHA'RAOH, the common title of the native kings of Egypt in the Bible, corre- sponding to p-ra or ph-ra, “the Sun,” of the hieroglyphics. As several kings are only mentioned by the title “ Pharaoh ” in the Bible, it is important to endeavour to dis- criminate them. — 1. The Pharaoh of Abra~ ham. — At the time at which the patriarch went into Egypt, it is generally held that the country, or at least Lower Egypt, was ruled by the Shepherd kings, of whom the first and most powerful line was the xvth dynasty, the undoubted territories of which would be first entered by one coming from the east. The date at which Abraham visited Egypt was about b.c. 2081, which would accord with the time of Salatis, the head of the xvth dynasty, ac- cording to our reckoning. — 2. The Pharaoh of Joseph. — The chief points for the identifi- cation of the line to which this Pharaoh be- longed, are that he was a despotic monarch, ruling all Egypt, who followed Egyptian cus- toms, but did not hesitate to set them aside when he thought fit ; that he seems to have desired to gain complete power over the Egyp- tians ; and that he favoured strangers. These particulars certainly lend support to the idea that he was one of the Shepherd kings, per- haps Apophis, who belonged to the xvth dy- nasty. He appears to have reigned from Joseph’s appointment (or, perhaps, somewhat earlier) until Jacob’s death, a period of at least twenty-six years, from about b.c. cir. 1876 to 1850, and to have been the fifth or sixth king of the xvth dynasty. — 3. The Pharaoh of the Oppression. — The first perse- cutor of the Israelites may be distinguished as the Pharaoh of the Oppression, from the second, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, especially as he commenced, and probably long carried on, the persecution. The general view is that he was an Egyptian. He has been gene- rally supposed to have been a king of the xviiith or xixth dynasty : we believe that he was of a line earlier than either. If a Shep- herd, he must have been of the xvith or the xviith dynasty. The reign of this king pro- bably commenced a little before the birth of Moses, which we place b.c. 1732, and seems to have lasted upwards of forty years, per- haps much more. — 4. The Pharaoh of the Exodus. — What is known of the Pharaoh of the Exodus is rather biographical than his- torical. He was reigning for about a year or more before the Exodus, which we place b.c. 1652. — 5. Pharaoh , father-in-laic of Mered. — In the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, mention is made of the daughter of a Pharaoh, married to an Israelite ; “ Bithiak the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took ” (1 Chr. iv. 18). This marriage may tend to aid us in determining the age of the sojourn in Egypt. It is perhaps less probable that an Egyptian Pharaoh would have given his daughter in marriage to an Israelite, than PHARAOH 431 PHAREZ that a Shepherd king would have done so, before the oppression. — 6. Pharaoh , brother- in-law of Hadad the Edomite. — This king gave Hadad as his wife the sister of his own wife Tahpenes (1 K. xi. 18-20). He was probably a Tanite of the xxist dynasty. — 7. Pharaoh, father-in-law of Solomon. — The mention that the queen was brought into the city of David, while Solomon’s house, and the Temple, and the city- wall, were building, shows that the marriage took place not later than the eleventh year of the king, when the Temple was finished, having been commenced in the fourth year (1 K. vi. 1, 37, 38). He was probably also a Tanite of the xxist dy- nasty, but it seems certain not the Pharaoh who was reigning when Hadad left Egypt. This Pharaoh led an expedition into Palestine (1 K. ix. 16). — 8. Pharaoh , the opponent of Sennacherib. — This Pharaoh (Is. xxxvi. 6) can only be the Sethos whom Herodotus men- tions as the opponent of Sennacherib, and who may reasonably be supposed to be the Zet of Manetho, the last king of his xxiiird dynasty. Tirhakah, as an Ethiopian, whe- ther then ruling in Egypt or not, is, like So, apparently not called Pharaoh. — 9. Pharaoh Necho. — The first mention in the Bible of a proper name with the title Pharaoh is in the case of Pharaoh Necho, who is also called Necho simply. This king was of the Sai’te xxvith dynasty, of which Manetho makes him either the fifth ruler or the sixth. He- rodotus calls him Nekos, and assigns to him a reign of 16 years, which is confirmed by the monuments. He seems to have been an enterprising king, as he is related to have attempted to complete the canal connecting the Red Sea with the Nile, and to have sent an expedition of Phoenicians to circumnavi- gate Africa, which was successfully accom- plished. At the commencement of his reign (b.c. 610) he made war against the king of Assyria, and, being encountered on his way by Josiah, defeated and slew the king of Judah at Megiddo (2 K. xxiii. 29, 30 ; 2 Chr. xxxv. 20-24). Necho seems to have soon returned to Egypt ; perhaps he was on his way thither when he deposed Jehoahaz. The army was probably posted at Carche- mish, and was there defeated by Nebuchad- nezzar in the fourth year of Necho (b.c. 607), that king not being, as it seems, then at its head (Jer. xlvi. 1, 2, 6, 10). This battle led to the loss of all the Asiatic dominions of Egypt (2 K. xxiv. 7). — 10. Pharaoh Hophra. — The next king of Egypt mentioned in the Bible is Pharaoh Hophra, the second suc- cessor of Necho, from whom he was separated by the six years’ reign of Psammetichus II. He came to the thr